Historically, how to deal with meritorious servants has always been an important issue facing monarchs, a little careless, high merit and shock the lord, they will pose a threat to their own emperor position, therefore, this has also become a huge test, so the history of the relationship between kings and subjects can be described as very rare, slightly better situation, such as Zhao Kuangyin, also a cup of wine to release the military power, so that the generals who put the yellow robe on their bodies became a rich man.
However, in ancient times, the most unfortunate was Li Shanchang, in his later years, he returned to his hometown and made a living from farming at home, but he was already over the age of ancient, and he still could not avoid the fate of being in a different place.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, can be said to be the lowest-born monarch in history, so it was particularly difficult for him to lay down the Jiangshan, which naturally was indispensable to a group of loyal men to follow, and when Zhu Yuanzhang was the leader of the peasant army to pacify Chuzhou, Li Shanchang went to defect and was responsible for the management of literature and history books. Because he was conscientious and responsible, in the future, his position also rose, and Zhu Yuanzhang fought on the front line, often handing over the affairs of the rear to Li Shanchang.
Whether it is distributing grain and grass and raising materials, Li Shanchang has completed the task better and better, so Zhu Yuanzhang once commented on Li Shanchang after becoming emperor: "Shanchang stayed in the country, transported grain reserves, and supplied equipment, and there was never a shortage. He also governed the rear, harmonized the army and the people, and made peace between the upper and lower levels. This is The Divine giving this man the right. His merits are known only to others, but others may not know them all. At that time, Xiao He had the merit of giving, and under a thousand years, everyone praised it, compared with the good chief, Xiao He may not have passed it. From these words, it is enough to reflect the trust in Li Shanchang.
Therefore, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he was given the title of Duke of Xuanguo, and at the same time served as zuo Xiangguo, Li Shanchang was involved in the discussion of military affairs, and by the time Hongwu was 4 years old, Li Shanchang was already an extremely popular subject, zhu Yuanzhang did not say anything about his treatment, Li Shanchang's younger brother Li Cunyi served as a servant, and Li Cunyi's sons Li Shen and Li You were both officials of the herds. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang even gave Li Shanchang two gold medals to avoid death, which could ensure that Li Shanchang would not die twice and his son would avoid death once. Of course, the death penalty for avoiding death does not include pardoning for a crime, and a flag is also set up here.
Although Li Shanchang became famous, Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicions were gradually increasing, and in 1380, hu Weiyong was killed for rebellion, and a large number of them were involved, and Hu Weiyong was the person recommended by Li Shanchang at that time, so it was difficult for him to escape from the interference, although Li Shanchang's position was not removed, but there was also a gap between the monarchs and the courtiers.
The point is that Li Shanchang has been proud of his achievements since he was a day old, generous in appearance and jealous on the inside, and once secretly excluded and suppressed those who he did not like, so he offended many people.
Therefore, many officials ran to Zhu Yuanzhang and fiercely joined him, which also made Zhu Yuanzhang more and more disgusted with him, and when Hongwu was twenty-three years old (1390), Li Shanchang at this time also understood that he had to think about the countermeasures for the safety of his old age, so he told the old man to return to his hometown and returned home to work as a farmer, Zhu Yuanzhang did not embarrass him, and also rewarded him with a large circle of land to let him live in peace in his old age.
However, Li Shanchang still could not hide from bad luck, it turned out that someone involved the collusion between Li Shanchang's brother and Hu Weiyong, and the angry Zhu Yuanzhang put him in prison for careful interrogation, according to the "History of Ming", he did not expect Li Cunyi to confess Li Shanchang, and the confession reads: Hu Weiyong once found someone to persuade Li Shanchang to plot a big deal with him, but Li Shanchang said, "My old man." I die, Ru waits for himself! ”
Li Shanchang's meaning is very clear, you want to create Zhu Yuanzhang's reaction, I am about to die, do not interfere, you look at it yourself! Although he did not join Hu Weiyong, watching the fire from the other side and concealing the lack of retribution also made Zhu Yuanzhang extremely angry, and immediately ordered Li Shanchang's entire family to be beheaded, and in this way, Li Shanchang, who was farming in his home, took his wife, daughters, brothers and nephews and more than seventy other people to be executed. In fact, now that li shanchang is in a high position of authority, even if he helps Hu Weiyong to rebel, how many benefits can he get than he can get now? It is also necessary to risk killing the head, so this set of confessions is likely to be fabricated, but the founding hero lost his life because of it.