In the sequence of Chinese feudal emperors, Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, and Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, were the only two cloth emperors. But compared with Liu Bang, who served as the head of the Surabaya Pavilion, Zhu Yuanzhang's experience is undoubtedly more legendary. Beginning with the Red Turban Army in 1352, Zhu Yuanzhang spent 16 years to achieve a three-in-a-row jump from The Bowl Shami to the leader of the military clique to the founding emperor, and the process of reconstructing his social identity is by no means a simple summary of the so-called "mandate of heaven" and other false words.
Today, the Qin Emperor Han Wu has elaborated on zhu Yuanzhang's history through a long article, hoping to get a glimpse of some of the success secrets of the cloth Tianzi.
From the tramp to the Red Turban General (1344-1355): If you don't fly, you will fly, and if you fly, you will soar into the sky
Zhu Yuanzhang, whose original name was Zhu Zhongba, was born in 1328 in a family of sharecroppers who were almost destitute, accompanied by the hardships of starvation and the darkness of Yuan Zhengji. In the spring of 1344, at the age of 16, Zhu Yuanzhang suffered the first major change in his life, drought and plague took the lives of his parents and brothers in just twenty days.
Poor burial, funeral without coffin, after wrapping the corpses of his parents with a few torn clothes, Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk, became a small walking boy at the Huangjue Temple, and was forced to leave the monastery after a few months of wandering, during which he ate and slept in the wind, suffered from cold and warmth.
In 1352, Guo Zixing, a Dingyuan man, and his party Sun Deya and others raised an army in Haozhou, and Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood playmate Tang he brought more than ten brave soldiers to surrender with swords, and sent a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang, who returned to the Huangjue Temple.
For the meeting of his friends, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite hesitant, and he repeatedly asked the god Buddha Bu for the auspicious murder, but the leakage of Tang He's letter made Zhu Yuanzhang no longer have any worries and resolutely embarked on the road of rebellion. On the first day of the first leap month of Leap March in 1352, Zhu Yuanzhang entered haozhou city and joined Guo Zixing's command.
The Ming Taizu Shilu Volume I says: "Zi Xing was open-minded and wise in his words (referring to Zhu Yuanzhang) and could be his wife... It is on the female wife, that is, Empress Xiaocigao".
Zhu Yuanzhang, who joined the Red Turban Army, was soon favored by Guo Zixing and married his adopted daughter Ma Shizhi. After Guo Zixing's death, and because "Zi (referring to Guo Tianxu) could not control the heroic soldiers", Zhu Yuanzhang smoothly became the commander of this Red Turban Army.
But in fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's first step was far from being as obedient as it was in the Records of Reality. After Zhu Yuanzhang defected to Guo Zixing, his identity was only a pawn, as low as grass, so Zhu Yuanzhang, who was still praying sincerely in front of the Buddha a second ago, turned around and took up a knife and gun and fiercely stabbed the chest of the officers and soldiers. With the courage of the battle, after joining the army for two months, Zhu Yuanzhang was promoted to the position of commander-in-chief Guo Zixing's pro-soldier Jiufu Commander.
During the garrison commander, Zhu Yuanzhang's ambition began to grow, he was no longer satisfied with the original intention of joining the rebels just to save his life, and began to show his desire to enter the core circle as a commander. To this end, he took the second step of his development.
The "Chuyang Wang Temple Stele" says: "The first persuasion of Chuyang (referring to Guo Zixing) Guan Gao Emperor in the second room, the second lady also." Chuyang was armed, and took his second son from Emperor Gao to lu Huai, and also the second lady also".
Guo Zixing had a wife and a concubine, Lady Zhang, and the second lady was also Zhang. The history books do not record what kind of means Zhu Yuanzhang used to make the second lady favor him, so much so that he strongly advocated recruiting Zhu Yuanzhang as a son-in-law. Although Guo Zixing listened to the advice of the second lady, he only took his adopted daughter Ma Shi as his wife, and did not marry his own daughter Guo Shi to Zhu Yuanzhang. Of course, Guo Shi later became Zhu Yuanzhang's concubine, which is an afterthought.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who became an adopted son-in-law, still did not enter the core circle of the Marshal's Palace, for this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his hometown in June 1353 to recruit 700 people, "Zi Xingxi, the above is the town fu", at this time Zhu Yuanzhang had a military position, but the 700 people recruited were all absorbed by Guo Zixing, and Zhu Yuanzhang only had Xu Da and more than twenty other people around him. It was not until the spring of 1355, after the Red Turban Army captured Hezhou, that Guo Zixing ordered Zhu Yuanzhang to be the chief defender of Anhui and Hexian County.
However, Guo Zixing's defensive heart against Zhu Yuanzhang has not been put down, and 2 things can be seen:
First, the Red Turban Army in Hexian County was divided into two, led by Zhu Yuanzhang and Guo Zixing's brother-in-law Zhang Tianyou respectively, and the "Gatekeeper also had a gap with Shang (referring to Zhu Yuanzhang)" contained in the Ming Shilu also confirmed that Zhu Yuanzhang did not have absolute control over the Red Turban Army in Hexian County; second, shortly after the capture of Hexian County, Guo Zixing became suspicious of Zhu Yuanzhang and rushed from Chuzhou to Heyang to "want to supervise".
The reason for the suspicion may be that he found that Zhu Yuanzhang had the potential to sit on the throne and was worried that he would not be able to control it in the future. However, Guo Zixing died of illness in that year, and his suspicions did not bring substantial limitations to Zhu Yuanzhang, but gave Zhu Yuanzhang the opportunity to inherit the "inheritance" of the Guo family in its entirety.
After Guo Zixing's death, his son Guo Tianxu inherited Guo Zixing's subordinates under the edict of King Xiaoming, but at this time, the rebel army had been divided, and Guo Tianxu's jurisdiction was only Zhang Tianyou, Shao Rong, Zhao Jizu and other old Guo clans, and had no authority over Zhu Yuanzhang's department, but at this time, due to external military pressure, the contradictions between the rebels were not intensifying.
In June 1355, the rebel army crossed the river to capture Taiping Road, imitating the Yuan system to set up the Taiping Xingguo Wing Marshal's Palace, Guo Tianxu became the marshal of the capital, zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Tianyou were the left and right deputy marshals, because the Yuan Dynasty respected the right, so Zhu Yuanzhang at this time was actually the "three hands".
After three years in the army, Zhu Yuanzhang achieved the leap from a pawn to the core circle of the Guo military group, and Zhu Yuanzhang had a gambling stake in the world.
From the "Three Hands" to the King of Wu (1355-1362): Carving the heart of the goose claw, wolf nature to deal with things
After the rebels crossed the river, Zhu Yuanzhang's position was below Guo and Zhang, but only a few months later, Guo and Zhang were killed at the same time as "coincidentally". Regarding the cause of death of the two men, the Ming Taizu Shilu Vol. 3 makes the following record:
"Chen Dai rebelled first, and joined forces with Yuan Fushou to refuse... Our division was defeated, and both Tianyou and Marshal Guo were killed in battle. ”
After the rebels captured Taiping Road in June 1355, The Fangshanzhai militia marshal Chen Xian led tens of thousands of troops to attack, but was defeated by the rebels, and Chen Daixian led the crowd to surrender. In September of that year, Chen Xixian offered a plan to invite marshals Guo, Zhang, and Zhu to join forces to attack Jiqing (Nanjing), but Zhu Yuanzhang was convinced that "this thief is deceitful and the most trustworthy", and adopted the strategy of "Gu Xuzhi, not going", and stayed in Taiping Province and did not send troops.
However, Guo and Zhang attacked Jiqing together as agreed, and Zhu Yuanzhang had already seen through Chen Xi's plan to surrender first, but did not explicitly inform Guo and Zhang, so that "Guo xian invited Marshal Guo to drink, killed him, captured Marshal Zhang to offer his blessings, and also killed him".
However, although Guo and Zhang died, there were still two major obstacles in front of Zhu Yuanzhang. One is that Guo Zixing still has a young son, Guo Tianjue, who is the legal heir to the throne; the other is that the generals shao rong and Zhao Jizu of Guo's old department are not subordinate to Zhu Yuanzhang.
After Guo Tianshu's death, his brother Guo Tianjue was unable to command the army because of his young age, so Zhu Yuanzhang was quite direct in disposing of Guo Tianjue, and in July 1358, "the right Lord Guo Tianjue plotted rebellion and cursed it", Zhu Yuanzhang killed Guo Tianjue on the charge of conspiracy rebellion, and did not think of the friendship between the in-laws and the lord.
However, in disposing of Shao Rong and Zhao Jizu, Zhu Yuanzhang took a lot of trouble. After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended to the throne, the power vacuum he left behind was filled by Shao and Zhao, who commanded Guo's old department. At this time, the newly formed military group actually had no shadow of the Guo clan, but was composed of Zhu Yuanzhang's concubines and the Shao and Zhao armies.
However, killing with a knife and committing the sin of desire can no longer be used. After the rebels crossed the river, the main enemy they faced was no longer the yuan dynasty officials, but Xu Shouhui (later Chen Youyi), Zhang Shicheng and other people, who were looking at the tiger, and the military groups in these two places did not respect the orders of King Xiaoming, but became one and the same.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang still needed to rely on the military strength of Shao and Zhao. Although Shao Rong was the second in command of the new military clique, he was not actually a subordinate of Zhu Yuanzhang, but a privy council associate (local military leader) who was nominally the same as Zhu Yuanzhang as The Xiaoming King, and the two were colleagues and had a common superior, the Xiaoming King.
To this end, Zhu Yuanzhang adopted a three-step strategy.
The first step was to set up a pre-chief commander-in-chief under the name of Xingzhongshu Province, with Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and other concubines serving in it. With reference to the Yuan Dynasty system, Xingzhongshu Province was the highest local authority, and the Privy Council was the highest military institution, but after the pro-soldier command and envoy division was set up, the command of the military was divided, and Zhu Yuanzhang crossed the Privy Council and the pro-soldiers to command the two military institutions of the envoy department, and the balance of power began to tilt.
The second step was to promote Shao Rong to the position of Pingzhang of Xingzhongshu Province, Zhao Jizu to participate in the government affairs in the name of King Xiaoming, and to further strip Shao and Zhao of their influence on the Privy Council with high-ranking officials, and Zhu Yuanzhang to take the position of Chancellor of Xing zhongshu Province. After his promotion, Shao Rong's control over his direct subordinate army was not damaged, so he did not perceive the mystery. However, the relationship between Zhu Yuanzhang and Shao Rong and others changed from colleagues to superiors and subordinates, and Zhu Yuanzhang was able to rationally allocate lower-level officers in Shao and Zhao.
The third step was to change the Privy Council to the Metropolitan Governor's Palace, to control the internal and external military affairs, and the first Metropolitan Governor was Zhu Wenzheng, The Nephew of Zhu Yuanzhang. Shao and Zhao also served in the name of promotion in the Governor's Mansion and Xingzhongshu Province.
After these three steps, Shao and Zhao changed from the commanders who controlled the first army in the past to the deputy commanders of the whole army, seemingly expanding their power, but in essence they lost complete control of the pro-army, but Shao and Zhao did not become vigilant about this, but in August 1361, they led their troops along the river to the west to break Chen Youyu, and in March 1362, they quelled the rebellion in Juzhou and made a great contribution.
In order to cope with the future decisive battle with Chen Youyi, Zhu Yuanzhang urgently needed to complete the dictatorial integration of the existing military clique. In July 1362, a familiar scene reappeared, "Pingzhang Shaorong, the suffragan Zhao Jizu plotted rebellion and ambushed". Since then, Zhu Yuanzhang has established a military group under his full control.
Iii. From the subordinates of the Great Song Dynasty to the founding emperors (1362-1368): Dormant and patient, directly attacking the key points
In 1363, Chen Youyi was defeated in the Battle of Poyang Lake. In the same year, Zhang Shicheng killed Liu Futong, King Xiaoming fled into Zhu Yuanzhang's territory, and the Song regime survived in name only. However, Zhu Yuanzhang, who already had the strength to found the country and build a new century, put on a posture of dormancy and forbearance.
For the Xiaoming King, who had become a puppet, Zhu Yuanzhang still respected the Lord, obeyed the orders, and led the army to fight as the King of Wu of the Great Song Dynasty. Internally, Zhu Yuanzhang quietly began the transformation from a military clique to a state power.
The first is the stripping of military power. Military power is the most direct threat to imperial power in previous dynasties, and Zhu Yuanzhang knows the key to this. Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and others were transferred from the commander of the pro-military capital to Zhongshu Province, and the former governor of the metropolitan capital, Zhu Wenzheng, was removed from his official post by Zhu Yuanzhang in 1365 on the grounds of "guilt", and military affairs were taken care of by 4 governors of the metropolitan government, and the power of dispatching troops and commanding troops was separated.
After that, Zhu Yuanzhang also set up a similar organization on the basis of the command of the general system and the envoys in front of the account, that is, the later Guard Post.
The Ming Shilu says: "Gengwu, Wu DeLong Bao Tao Fei Xiong Wei Wu Guang Wu Xing Wu Ying Wu Ying Wu Ying Wu Ying So far as to strike out the wings and set up a guard.".
The second is to establish a systematic government agency. In the early days of the uprising, the main task of the rebels was military combat, so although it was named Zhongshu Province, the rebels seemed to be a military group and did not have a completely independent government agency.
At the same time as the transformation of military power, Zhu Yuanzhang changed the route of the newly occupied areas into prefectures, set up a capital governor's office, and declared that "wise men and gentlemen have those who can follow each other and make meritorious achievements, and I will use them with courtesy.", enriching the military and political organs in various localities with literati and Confucians, and the political power is quite rudimentary.
After completing the transformation from a military clique to a state, Zhu Yuanzhang began to dispose of his titular monarch, King Xiaoming. In 1366, when Zhu Yuanzhang invited King Xiaoming to enter Ying Tianfu and pass through Guazhou, King Xiaoming died in the river, and Zhu Yuanzhang cleared the legal obstacles to the founding of his own yuan.
After that, with the military victory over Zhang Shicheng's regime in 1367, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting on half the wall of Jiangnan, no longer had any restraints on this step towards the emperor. In the first month of 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang declared himself emperor in Nanjing, established the Ming Dynasty, and achieved a magnificent transformation from a tramp to a generation of male lords in 16 years.