King Xiangwu of Dong'ou and Tang guo of Xinguo were one of the youngest of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor. In addition to him, there was Also Zhou Dexing, the Marquis of Jiangxia, and when these two were still bare-chested, they played with Zhu Yuanzhang in the mud together! More importantly, Tang He was also Zhu Yuanzhang's "revolutionary guide", and it was Tang He who pulled Zhu Yuanzhang into the ranks of the Red Turban Army! Tang He, who was then a thousand generals, even did not hesitate to condescend and gave Zhu Yuanzhang, who was only a small soldier at that time, a "follower". In later days, Tang He had always been a concubine of Zhu Yuanzhang's concubines, and his position in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was far from being comparable to that of the "outsiders" such as Chang Yuchun, Feng Sheng, and Deng Yu. It does not seem too much to say that he is "Lu Xie of the Ming Dynasty", but his ending is much better than that of the little Lu Xie who was born on the same day of the same month of the same year as Han Gaozu...
However, why was it that when Zhu Yuanzhang was a meritorious warrior in the third year of Hongwu, Tang He did not even have a duke, but was only given the title of Marquis of Zhongshan? The answer given publicly by Zhu Yuanzhang was Tang He and "alcoholism and killing, not by the law." Is that also a reason? If Chang Yuchun hadn't died, when he heard this reason, he would have laughed and sobbed... Alcoholism, killing, often meet the spring which has not been done? Obviously, this reason given by Zhu Yuanzhang is just an excuse to prevaricate the world.
▲Portrait of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang
Tang He, as the first marquis whose status is second only to the "Six Dukes of the Founding Of the People's Republic", whether he can be made a duke is between Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts, and if Zhu Yuanzhang puts one more duke in the third year of Hongwu, then he will definitely be the "Seventh Duke of the Founding of the Country"! So, why didn't Zhu Yuanzhang give Tang and the duke in the end? Let's first see which six dukes were crowned by Zhu Yuanzhang in the third year of Hongwu? Li Shanchang, Xu Da, Chang Mao, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Deng Yu. Among them, the reason why Chang Mao was able to be made a duke was not because of military merit, but because his old son often met spring. To put it bluntly, Chang Mao is the top of his Lao Tzu's lack of often encountering spring, and his duke is actually often encountering spring. Although the title of Zheng Guogong of Changmao was the first seal, in fact, it was equivalent to inheritance, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not shy away from this.
▲ Kaiping Zhongwu King, Duke of Eguo Chang Yu Chun portrait
Li Wenzhong was Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew and adopted son, before the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang raised him as his own son, Li Wenzhong even followed his mother's surname, and was changed to Zhu Wenzhong by his uncle Zhu Yuanzhang. If he really had the surname Zhu and was Zhu Wenzheng's nephew instead of a nephew of Zhu Yuanzhang, then he would be the second King of Jingjiang! However, he was a nephew and a different surname after all, and when the Ming Dynasty was about to open the Yuan Dynasty and establish the country, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble in the future, Zhu Yuanzhang finally decided to let him "recognize his ancestors and return to the ancestors" and changed his surname to Li again. As a compensation, Zhu Yuanzhang gave his nephew a duke of course! What's more, Li Wenzhong himself was the founding father of the Ming Dynasty and had made great achievements in battle, even if he was not Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with being made a duke by military merit. As Zhu Yuanzhang's only nephew, placing him in the position of duke, no one can pick out any thorns. If he was not Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, but a nephew, then I am afraid it would not be a problem for the duke, but a direct king!
▲ Portrait of Li Wenzhong, King Wujing of Qiyang and Duke of Cao
In addition to these two, Chang Yuchun, Feng Sheng, and Deng Yu were all "original shareholders" who led the team to zhu yuanzhang in the early years, although they were not as close as the "twenty-four generals of Huaixi" who left Guo Zixing and set up another portal with Zhu Yuanzhang, but the good villains were the first batch of "original shareholders" to "enter the shares", and Zhu Yuanzhang must give an explanation! It's no surprise that it's treated differently.
As for Li Shanchang, he was the founding first civil servant of the Ming Dynasty. Just as the so-called "immediately win the world, but can not immediately rule the world", Zhu Yuanzhang put Li Shanchang in the position of the first duke, in fact, he is clearly telling the world: the newborn Ming Dynasty will continue the tradition of ruling the world with civility in successive dynasties. To put it bluntly, it is actually to buy the hearts of the people under the heavens. Therefore, the Duke of Li Shanchang must give, and must not be stingy.
In other words, among Zhu Yuanzhang's most concubines, the "Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi", only Xu Da was elected duke. This is actually easy to understand, among the dukes, there can't be a Zhu Yuanzhang's "own people" without it, right? At that time, among the "Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi", the highest status was Xu Da, whether this was Zhu Yuanzhang's intention or not, at that time, Xu Da's status was above Tang He, which was a fact! Therefore, if Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to choose one of the "Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi" to be placed in the position of duke, it could only be Xu Da, not Tang He, unless Zhu Yuanzhang increased the number of dukes.
▲ Portrait of King Wuning of Zhongshan and Xu Da, Duke of Wei
Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang had no intention of increasing the number of dukes. They are all the founding fathers who lick blood with knives and crawl out of the pile of dead people, and no one is inferior to anyone else! If Zhu Yuanzhang made an exception for Tang He, what about the others? In the end, it is possible to find a reason that can be made by exception, is Zhu Yuanzhang sealed or not? If this is the case, you also want to be a duke, and he also wants to be a duke, Zhu Yuanzhang will not be easy to deal with. Only by placing The Soup and the Marquis in the position of the Marquis can we block the mouths of the yo-yo crowd! Whoever argues again, Zhu Yuanzhang can shake them back with just one sentence: "If you compare tang he, are you more meritorious than him, or are you more iron than his relationship with my old Zhu?" This is the so-called "Marquis of Yihou Town"!
▲ King Xiangwu of Dong'ou, Duke Tang of Xinguo and portraits
I have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang still knows a lot about his own hair. He knew that Tang He was an indisputable person, let alone a marquis, even if he was given a count, Tang He would gladly accept it, at least in front of people. You know, Tang He was the first founding member of the Ming Dynasty to voluntarily surrender his military power! In other words, I am afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang will have to weigh it well.
In addition, there is a more important reason, that is, out of the need to suppress the "Chaohu Water Army" forces. The "Chaohu Water Army" is another faction under Zhu Yuanzhang's command, in addition to the "Twenty-four Generals of Huaixi" and the "original shareholders" such as Chang, Feng, and Deng, another faction with a sense of strength and military merit! At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Chen Youyu at Poyang Lake, relying on them. But one of the biggest differences between them and several other factions was that they initially surrendered to Guo Zixing's son Guo Tianxu, and after Zhu Yuanzhang got rid of Guo Tianxu, the gang finally defected to Zhu Yuanzhang. For them, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been both used and defensive. When Hongwu was a great meritorious hero in the third year, Zhu Yuanzhang found various reasons and picked various faults, in short, four words - not to the duke! Can pick so many faults from others, and "their own people" do not pick a little fault can not always say, right? In order to appease the "Chaohu Water Army" forces, Zhu Yuanzhang could only take Fa Xiao Tang and "open the knife" who was closest to him, counted down a large number of Tang He's not and arranged him to the position of marquis, thus blocking the mouth of the "Chao Lake Water Army" forces -- "My old Zhu Fa Xiao and 'Revolutionary Guide' Tang He is only a marquis, what are you still calling?" ”
Of course, soup and alcoholism are also facts, especially after the yellow soup is poured, there are some words. What should be said and what should not be said, just like that, all the brains have said. But the speaker has no heart, the listener has intention, where is there an impermeable wall in the world? After these words were added to the oil and vinegar of those who had a heart, they reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears. Although Zhu Yuanzhang has overall trust in Tang and this young man, Zhu Yuanzhang is also a person, and there will still be some mustard in his heart after all. This may also be one of the reasons why Zhu Yuanzhang did not give Tang He the title of Duke of Tang in the third year of Hongwu, but it was certainly not the main reason, otherwise there was no need for Zhu Yuanzhang to write a letter to Tang he and Jin later, and posthumously give it to the King of Dong'ou, right? Zhu Yuanzhang's ranking of dukes and marquises seems to be arbitrary, but in fact, they are all decisions made after careful consideration! In the final analysis, it is still those four words, which are also the usual tricks used by the emperors of successive dynasties - the balance of power.