Tell the history of the wild, talk about history; talk about strange things, tell stories. Hello listeners! Here is the Qilu Evening News - Qilu one-point audio column "Beard Says History". About historical anecdotes, celebrity anecdotes, please listen to me slowly...
Beard said that the historical period tells the "most controversial and fashionable in history" Emperor Yongzheng's peculiar hobbies and the mystery of violent death. In this issue, we will talk about the interesting origin of the name of Zhu Yuanzhang, the "most grassroots" and "most experienced" emperor in history.
It is said that on January 23, 1368, The Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang took the throne as emperor in Nanjing, with the national name "Daming". Zhu Yuanzhang can be described as a typical grassroots emperor, from cattle herding dolls to small monks to beggars, from Guo Zixing's guards to rebel marshals, and finally to the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang's interesting story can not be finished, today we will first talk about the story of his name change.
(Illustration: Folk Portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang is a typical pig loin face)
Zhu Yuanzhang was the eighth oldest in his family and was named Zhu Zhongba
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's original name was Zhu Zhongba, and he was born on September 18 of the first year of Emperor Wenzong of the Yuan Dynasty (October 28, 1328 AD), in Haozhou Zhongli (present-day Fengyang, Anhui). Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor peasant family, his father's name was Zhu Shizhen, and his mother was Chen. Zhu Yuanzhang ranked fourth in his own family and eighth among his brothers in the family, so he was named Zhu Zhongba.
According to the inscription of the "Zhu Shide Monument" written by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, Zhu Yuanzhang, a clan surnamed Zhu Yuanzhang, came from Jurong City, Jinling (present-day Jurong City, Jiangsu Province), and his family lived in Zhujia Lane, and Zhu Yuanzhang's generations above lived from agriculture. Because his family was poor and unable to read, Zhu Yuanzhang herded cattle for the landlords in the village from an early age.
When did Zhu Yuanzhang change his name? Why did it change to "Yuanzhang"? Who changed it for him? What are the allusions? This begins with his enlistment in the rebel army and his marriage to the later famous "Horse Queen".
(Illustration: The little monk Zhu Yuanzhang in the film and television stills)
Desperate to become a monk, he later joined the Yellow Turban Army
At that time, the Yuan Dynasty oppressed the people and divided people into four classes, and the Han people under the Mongol rule were untouchables. The Mongols enjoyed all the property of the Han chinese and other ethnic groups without labor, and the only price of killing people was to compensate a donkey; the heavy servitude and the continuous famine caused the vast majority of the population to struggle on the death line.
In 1343, a drought occurred in Haozhou, and the following spring there was a severe plague of locusts and plagues, and within half a month, Zhu Zhongba's father, eldest brother and mother died one after another. Only Zhu Zhongba and his second brother were left, and the family had no money to buy coffins, not even a piece of land to bury their relatives, or a kind neighbor Liu Jizu gave them a cemetery. The brothers found a few torn pieces of clothing to wrap the body and buried their parents on the land of the Liu family.
In order to survive, Zhu Zhongba and his second brother, eldest sister-in-law and nephew were forced to separate and escape from each other.
In desperation, Zhu Zhongba defected to the Gaobin monk of Huangjue Temple, and shaved his head as a little boy for the monk. Soon, there was a famine in the local area, and the temple could not receive alms, so the abbot had to send the monks to travel to the clouds. In this way, Zhu Zhongba, who was only 17 years old, had to leave the monastery and beg along the street.
Zhu Zhongba walked and begged, he went south from Haozhou to Hefei, then turned west into Henan, to Gushi, Xinyang, and then north to Ruzhou, Chenzhou and other places, east through Luyi and Bozhou, and returned to Huangjue Temple in 1348. The three years of traveling in the outer clouds were also the period when the peasant revolt at the end of the Yuan Dynasty was in full swing.
At this time, Guo Zixing, a local tycoon in Dingyuan, joined forces with Sun Deya and others to raise an army, and tens of thousands of people responded. Guo Zixing gathered the crowd to burn incense and became the leader of the local White Lotus Society. After the rebels captured Haozhou, Guo Zixing declared himself a marshal. Subsequently, Guo Zixing insisted on haozhou and issued orders to show his significance, which had a wide impact for a while.
Zhu Zhongba received a letter from his childhood friend Tang He, inviting him to join Guo Zixing's rebel army. Just at this moment, his brother secretly told him that someone knew about the letter and was going to tell the truth. Therefore, Zhu Zhongba simply defected to Guo Zixing's Red Turban Army. This year, Zhu Zhongba was 25 years old.
In order to be worthy of the marshal's adopted daughter, he changed his name to Zhu Yuanzhang after marrying his wife
After Zhu Zhongba joined the army, he was brave in battle and resourceful, and soon gained the appreciation of Guo Zixing, so he transferred Zhu Zhongba to the Shuai Mansion as an errand boy and appointed him as the commander of the Ninth Fu Commander (equivalent to the guard squad leader). Zhu Zhongba was experienced, shrewd and capable, handled things properly, was a pioneer in fighting, and all the booty he obtained was handed over to Marshal Guo Zixing, and he was rewarded, and he said that the merit was everyone's, so he distributed the reward to everyone. Soon, Zhu Zhongba's good reputation in the army spread. Guo Zixing also regarded him as a confidant, and always discussed important matters with him.
(Illustration: Portrait of Empress Ma)
At that time, Guo Zixing had an adopted daughter, who was the daughter of his best friend MaGong. After Ma Gong's death, his youngest daughter was adopted by Guo Zixing. Guo Zixing saw that Zhu Zhongba was a talent, so he married his adopted daughter Ma Shi to Zhu Zhongba, and from then on, zhu Chongba was renamed Zhu Zhongba as Zhu Gongzi in the army. Because he became the son-in-law of the marshal and his prestige in the army was greatly increased, the name Zhu Zhongba was really unpleasant, and he could not see anything outstanding. Therefore, at the suggestion of Guo Zixing, Zhu Yuanzhang officially changed his name from "Zhu Zhongba" to "Zhu Yuanzhang", the character Guorui. Zhu Zhongba changed his name to Zhu Yuanzhang, expressing his wish to serve as a Zhang(Zhang, an ancient jade) for the destruction of the Yuan Dynasty. It also expressed his determination to "destroy the Yuan Dynasty" with the sharp weapon of the country.
(Illustration: Royal portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang)
Since then, Zhu Yuanzhang did not forget the original intention of changing his name, and after many hardships, he finally destroyed the Yuan Dynasty, reclaimed the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun ceded by the Later Jin Dynasty, and pacified the southwest, northwest, and northeast regions, and finally unified China. He became the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty and also made important contributions to the unification of China.
As the most experienced grassroots emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang is also one of the emperors with the most stories, and we will talk about it in detail later.
Well, today's "Beard History" is here, thank you for listening and paying attention.
Author Zhai Hengshui
Anchor Zhai Hengshui
Late Ling Wenxiu