In the Ming Dynasty, there was once such an official who was sent to death row for offending the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, but he was forgiven because of his surname, not only that, but he also got five chances to avoid death from Zhu Yuanzhang's hands, and all these honors and favors were actually because of his surname, so what was the surname of this official, and why did Zhu Yuanzhang pardon him for his capital crimes?
He was guilty of Zhu Yuanzhang and blessed his ancestors
Most of the people's evaluation of Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, showed a polarization trend, and posterity affirmed his ability and merits, but there were still some criticisms of some tyranny after he ascended to the throne. After all, from a grassy reckless to the lord of the country, in addition to his own excellence, it is inseparable from the help of many capable subjects.
However, those who are familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty will know that Zhu Yuanzhang was not an emperor who could share blessings and difficulties, and after he ascended to the throne, he eliminated the courtiers who threatened him in a short period of time, and found that there were people who were dissatisfied with him, almost killing him.
Compared with the historical Ming Emperor Tang Taizong, Zhu Yuanzhang's methods appeared rough and cruel, but no one could have imagined that such Zhu Yuanzhang had spared a superintendent Yushi who had bluntly committed crimes in the court, and also rewarded him.
The inspector's name was Fan Congwen, and because he openly confronted Zhu Yuanzhang above the court, he was ordered to be put on death row by Zhu Yuanzhang, who was furious, and Fan Congwen, who was supposed to be a death row prisoner, did not die in the end, and was even rewarded.
Originally, although Zhu Yuanzhang had a stubborn personality and did not want to listen to the opinions of his courtiers, in his heart, there had always been a person he admired, and this person was Fan Zhongyun, a famous minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, who said the shocking sentence of "the world is worried and worried before the world, and the world is happy after the world is happy".
Fan Zhongyun
Originally, Fan Congwen's death had already been nailed down, but because he had to turn over to the emperor before the execution, Zhu Yuanzhang had already forgotten about Fan Congwen, and when he saw the news about him, he suddenly wondered if he would have anything to do with Fan Zhongyun.
The ancient people's clan concept is very heavy, generally the same surname will be related to the source, so, under this suspicion, Zhu Yuanzhang flipped through Fan Congwen's biography information, but because of the change of times, there is no way to verify. Therefore, he ordered someone to bring Fan Congwen to his eyes and prepare to interrogate him personally.
Although the world knows that Fan Congwen's surname is Fan, Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to ensure that there is no mistake, still asked him, whose surname is what his name is, and after Fan Congwen answered truthfully, Zhu Yuanzhang asked him many questions one after another, including his ancestral home and ancestral people.
At that time, although Zhu Yuanzhang admired Fan Zhongyan, in order to hide the joys and sorrows of the emperor, no one in the court knew that Zhu Yuanzhang admired Fan Zhongyun, so Fan Congwen's words undoubtedly proved that he was Fan Zhongyan's 12th generation grandson, which confirmed that Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy.
After all, the descendants of his idol were serving as officials under his command, which was a very happy thing, so, with great joy, Zhu Yuanzhang not only ordered that Fan Congwen's capital crime be pardoned, but also rewarded him with many things. However, perhaps because of his family origin, Fan Congwen did not show much excitement because of such a pardon, on the contrary, he was always worried because of his ineffectual acceptance.
The rest of his colleagues advised him not to be too upright, otherwise he would not be able to save himself again if he provoked Zhu Yuanzhang again, but no one expected that Zhu Yuanzhang not only pardoned him, but also rewarded him with a gold medal for avoiding death, and promised that this gold medal could pardon him or his descendants for 5 capital crimes.
As a courtier, this is such a great honor, which means that as long as he does not commit such a major crime as rebellion, the family inheritance will never be broken within five generations, and all this is only because Zhu Yuanzhang's admiration for Fan Zhongyan has been transferred to his descendants.
The founding emperor, why did he treat Fan Zhongyun differently
Some people may wonder, although Fan Zhongyan is a famous loyal minister in history, but throughout the history before the Ming Dynasty, there are many military generals, but why is only one Fan Zhongyan able to get Zhu Yuanzhang's other eyes? How is he different from Zhu Yuanzhang?
First of all, Fan Zhongyan is a famous courtier, but also a loyal subject, when he was alive, he was always worried about the Northern Song Dynasty, his life can be said to be completely dedicated to the country, and Zhu Yuanzhang is an emperor, a generation of emperors, the most wanted courtiers are Fan Zhongyan's loyal subjects.
Even if he was irritable and even often could not listen to the advice of his courtiers, there were a few fools who could ascend to the throne of God, and he was able to distinguish between loyal ministers and courtiers, and because of this, he envied Fan Zhongyun in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Second, it is related to himself, Fan Zhongyan's father died at an early age, his mother later took him to remarry, and his stepfather's surname is Zhu, so Fan Zhongyan has always been known for Zhu Shu's name before, in this regard, Fan Zhongyan and Zhu Yuanzhang also once shared a surname.
In addition, as we all know, Zhu Yuanzhang was born poor, so he was born with a kind of closeness to the people, and Fan Zhongyun's life can be said to be running around for the poor people, based on the above reasons, we can easily understand why Fan Zhongyan can become a unique "idol" in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, and even love The house and Wu to his descendants.
The Way of the Emperor
Although the emphasis of later generations on Fan Congwen's escape from death focused on the ancestral protection, in the eyes of future generations, this is only one of the reasons.
In addition to Fan Zhongyun's protection, Zhu Yuanzhang himself should not have wanted to execute Fan Congwen, we say that Zhu Yuanzhang has a tyrannical personality, which is also aimed at some people, although there are many capable ministers, but almost all of them make him feel that he is a threat to his own country.
At that time, Fan Congwen was only an insignificant inspector of imperial history, Zhu Yuanzhang had no need to kill him at all, killing him in addition to adding to his already tyrannical reputation, the rest did not have any benefit, how could Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the country, do such a thing.
However, the emperor's dragon power could not be offended, and not every emperor could sin against the world like Emperor Wu of Han, and at this time, Fan Zhongyan seemed to be a reason for him to forgive this overseer of imperial history. However, these are all speculations made by later generations based on historical data, and no one can confirm the truth.
But for whatever reason, one thing we can be sure of is that Zhu Yuanzhang really appreciates Fan Zhongyan, because a dimwitted emperor cannot admire Fan Zhongyun, so although the evaluation of Zhu Yuanzhang in later generations can be said to be mixed, from this point, we should still believe that he really wants to become a good emperor.