If you ask the fierce emperors in history, in addition to Qin Shi Huang, who is a tyrant, many people will also think of Zhu Yuanzhang, the grandfather of the Ming Dynasty. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang's degree of "ruthlessness" is also not to be underestimated, although he does not exercise tyranny, but in his later years, Zhu Yuanzhang killed many founding heroes, even if they have always been loyal and have no will to rebel, they have not escaped the end of "rabbit dead dog cooking".
Many people must want to ask, why did the founding emperor want to kill the heroes? These heroes are all beings who sell blood and lives for Daming. In fact, from a historical point of view, this is also a kind of helplessness for the emperor to fear "the lord of high merit". Especially for grassroots emperors like Zhu Yuanzhang, if one day in the future, the emperor's power is facing decline, then it is these founding heroes who are most likely to "take advantage of the void".
Speaking of a general named Wang Bi, perhaps many people have not heard of this name, after all, in the historical records, Zhu Yuanzhang's active around him are fierce generals like Chang Yuchun and Xu Da. But in fact, this general named Wang Bi was not only strong in martial arts, but also trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang, but many people ignored his existence.
Wang Bi originally made his fortune in the fields, but was first a mangfu who led the local farmers to protect the village. However, at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang met Wang Bi and saw that Wang Bi was extraordinary and skilled, so he invited Wang Bi to join his team. Wang Bi also thought that Zhu Yuanzhang had a different kind of vision, so he did not say anything and became Zhu Yuanzhang's personal bodyguard.
Wang Bi was not only appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang as a personal bodyguard, but also deeply trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang. Moreover, in the Battle of Poyang Lake, Zhu Yuanzhang had expected that his troop strength was far inferior to Chen Youyu, not to mention that Chen Youyu's men were a group of fishermen who were proficient in water, and he was more likely to be buried in Poyang Lake with a mistake.
Therefore, in an emergency, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Wang Bi and more than 200 sailors to act as a death squad to intercept Chen Youyu's ship. With his brave courage and superior combat strength, Wang Bi caught Chen Youyu off guard on the waterway and made a good start for the Battle of Poyang Lake.
In the "History of Ming", Wang Bi was a "general who always won", and there is no record of Wang Bi's defeat. Speaking of which, when Zhu Yuanzhang sent Blue Jade to the Northern Expedition, in fact, Wang Bi was also sent along. After arriving at the place, Blue Jade found no trace of the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, so he prepared to return home. But Wang Bi stopped Blue Jade and persuaded him to return in vain, so why should he return to his life? Only then did the two men lead their troops to continue to garrison the steppe.
Later, Wang Bi discovered the hiding place of the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty and led the army to pursue all the way, which "drove out the Mongol camp" and captured more than 70,000 enemy troops and thousands of concubines. Although in history, the merits of this Northern Expedition were basically counted on the head of Blue Jade, but objectively speaking, Wang Bi's efforts were also indispensable.
Later, after the "Blue Jade Case", Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly summoned Wang Bi, Fu Youde and other veterans back to Beijing. As a friend of Lan Yu, Wang Bi had already sensed Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions before he could leave. However, Wang Bi was not prepared to rebel or flee, but only instructed his son and family before leaving, saying that no matter what happened in This trip to Beijing and what happened in the future, they should not rebel against Daming.
Sure enough, when Wang Bi rushed to Zhu Yuanzhang's seat, Fu Youde was left with only a separated corpse. Wang Bi did not panic when he saw the situation, but only made a request to Zhu Yuanzhang. He said to Zhu Yuanzhang, I have assisted you for many years, naturally I have no intention of rebellion, and I also know that what Your Majesty is afraid of is not anything else, but the ability of me to lead the troops.
Wang Bi said that he would kill Zhu Yuanzhang and would obey Zhu Yuanzhang's disposition, but he longed for Zhu Yuanzhang not to do anything to his heirs and family. Not only that, Wang Bi also promised that it didn't matter if he died, but the descendants of the Wang family would assist in the inheritance of the Ming Dynasty from generation to generation.
This remark actually poked Zhu Yuanzhang's heart. In fact, in his later years, Zhu Yuanzhang killed the heroes like this for no other reason, but only to stabilize the Zhu family's social welfare and eliminate some unknown threats. Like Wang Bi, an understanding person, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally liked it. Therefore, after Wang Bi's death, Zhu Yuanzhang also personally erected an inscription for Wang Bi and crowned Wang Bi's son as the Marquis of Anyuan. Although he was eventually beheaded by a knife, Wang Bi can also be regarded as a founding hero of the Ming Dynasty who died well.