Blue Jade was a famous general in the early Ming Dynasty. He led the army to the south and made many meritorious achievements. The great defeat of the Northern Yuan's immortal achievements has made him climb to the peak of his career. However, Sapphire soon fell from the peak and was finally exterminated for his sins, and the ending was very tragic. The Blue Jade case also became the end of the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty.
Why did a famous player with a promising future quickly "cool down"? Later generations have a lot of speculation about this. Today we will find out the blue jade case.
Rising stars
Lan Yu is Chang Yuchun's brother-in-law and Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown.
The history books record that Blue Jade "has a long body and a red face, is brave and strategic, and has great generals." However, in the early days of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, with such great devils as Xu Da and Chang Yuchun in front, blue jade was not very brilliant.
Fortunately, he had a good brother-in-law. Because of the conquest of Chang Yu Chun, Blue Jade quite often encountered the True Legend of Chun. After Chang Yuchun's early death, Lan Yu followed Xu Da, Feng Sheng, Fu Youde and other generals on their expeditions to the west and made many meritorious achievements.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Blue Jade really ushered in a period of career explosion. He successively went out to Sichuan, Mobei, and Yunnan, and won successive battles. In the twentieth year of Hongwu, Lan Yu, as the deputy general of the Left Guard, followed the general Feng Sheng to attack the Yuan army and returned with a great victory. Feng Sheng was convicted of negligence and was taken over from the military power of the Great General, and Blue Jade was able to turn right.
Although this position of great general came "by chance", blue jade soon completed a major breakthrough in his battlefield career and sat firmly in the position of great general. In the twenty-first year of Hongwu (1388), Emperor Yuanshun's grandson Timur was established, and the northern part of the Ming Dynasty was repeatedly harassed. Blue Jade was ordered to lead an army of 150,000 to destroy the Northern Yuan Emperor near the Yu'er Sea (present-day Bell Lake). In this battle, the Northern Yuan forces suffered a devastating blow, and it also completely eliminated Zhu Yuanzhang's heart disease.
Because of this merit, Zhu Yuanzhang compared the blue jade to Wei Qing and Li Jing. Such a fierce general was naturally valued by Zhu Yuanzhang.
As early as 1379, Lan Yu was awarded the title of Marquis of Yongchang for his military exploits; later, because of his meritorious expedition to Yunnan, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered his annual salary to be increased to 3,000 stones, and married him as a son and daughter. The most worth mentioning is that Lan Yu and Crown Prince Zhu Biao are very closely related: in terms of kinship, Lan Yu is the uncle of the Crown Princess; from the perspective of political alliances, Lan Yu is a die-hard loyalist of the Prince and vigorously maintains the status of the Prince. There is even a saying that blue jade is the main team left by Zhu Yuanzhang to Zhu Biao's rule.
Immortal deeds, royal relatives, staunch princelings... These identities seemed to be enough to make Blue Jade invincible in the imperial court. However, history proves that no status is really impregnable, and a generation of famous blue jade has reached the peak with its ability, but it is also easier to climb up and fall heavily.
Personality arrogance
As the older generation of famous generals gradually withered away, Blue Jade became the leader of the new generation of generals.
The thicker the courtesy that Zhu Yuanzhang treated him, the more unrestrained Blue Jade's temper and arrogance became, and the more he became blind.
During the Blue Jade Northern Expedition, he captured the princess of Northern Yuan. Historical records record that he took the opportunity to flirt with the Yuan Concubine, which eventually led to the suicide of the Yuan Concubine.
When the Northern Expedition returned to the south, Lan Yu led a large army to Reach Xifeng Pass. It was already night, and the city gates were closed. Lan Yu did not wait for the defending general to open the door, so he ordered his men to attack the city and destroy the pass, and break the door to enter.
Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded Sapphire with a large amount of money and land. In his own reward land, Blue Jade raised a lot of Zhuang slaves, and like Zhu Yuanzhang, he adopted many righteous sons. These slaves and righteous sons have a backstage like Blue Jade and run amok everywhere. Sapphire did not restrain himself, and even he knew the law and broke the law. Blue Jade once occupied Dongchang Mintian. This incident alarmed the imperial court, and Yushi was ordered to come to investigate, and when Lan Yu learned about it, instead of cooperating with the inspection, he also ordered Yushi to be expelled.
For The various actions of blue jade, Zhu Yuanzhang also took some punitive measures. Once, Blue Jade returned with a great victory, and Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to make him the Duke of Liang. However, because Blue Jade had violated the law and discipline, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately changed the title of "Liang" to "Liang" and asked people to carve Blue Jade's faults on the iron coupon and hand it over to him. The implications of the warning are self-evident.
Even so, Sapphire still didn't know convergence.
Political dullness
If Lan Yu only took credit for himself and occasionally violated the law and discipline, then Zhu Yuanzhang might only punish him slightly. But if you are bold and even repeatedly make offside moves, it will be a big taboo for Zhu Yuanzhang.
In the military, Lan Yu said one thing and one thing, and the school's rise and fall were all up to him. When he went out to fight, he repeatedly disobeyed Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions. Once, Lan Yu was ordered to govern the military affairs of Lanzhou and Liangzhou, and in order to hunt down the fugitives, he took his troops into the land of Handong without authorization. This violated Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of dominating the tea horse trade. The generals dissuaded them, but Sapphire didn't listen.
In life, sapphire also began to trespass: "The bed tent and knee pads are decorated with golden dragons, and the golden lord is cast as a drinking vessel." ...... The number of horse houses and corridors is nine or five. ”
Later, Lan Yu even dared to speak wildly in public when Zhu Yuanzhang invited his courtiers to a banquet.
In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392), after the Blue Jade Western Expedition to quell the rebellion, Banshi returned to the dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang made him Crown Prince Taifu. But Sapphire was not satisfied. Because Feng Sheng and Fu Youde's position at that time was prince taishi, the status was above the blue jade. For this reason, Blue Jade went so far as to complain publicly, "I can't stand Taishiye!"
All of the above can be seen that although Blue Jade is invincible on the battlefield, in the workplace, he "offended" Zhu Yuanzhang without knowing it, which is really not smart.
Misalignment of positions
It is worth playing that no matter how arrogant Blue Jade is, Zhu Yuanzhang has never severely punished him. As early as the thirteenth year of Hongwu (1380), when hu Weiyong's case occurred, although there were indications that there was an implication between Lan Yu and Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang did not pursue it at all.
The reason may still be related to Zhu Biao. As a crown prince, Zhu Biao needed the assistance of a cadre like Lan Yu. Although Blue Jade was "fooling around", she always stood firmly by Zhu Biao's side. Once, the Blue Jade Northern Expedition triumphed, passing through Beijing, Zhu Di's residence. After returning to Nanjing, Lan Yu promptly reminded Zhu Biao that Zhu Di might have a disobedient heart. This shows Sapphire's loyalty to Zhu Biao. Moreover, Zhu Biao's ability was outstanding, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not have to worry that he would not be able to hold the high-ranking blue jade.
However, an unexpected event disrupted everyone's plans. In 1392, the crown prince Zhu Biao died of illness, and Zhu Yuanzhang chose Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunjiao as his successor.
Zhu Yunjiao was the son of Zhu Biao's second crown princess Lü Shi and was not related to Lan Yu. Zhu Yunjiao was young and mild-mannered, and he did not have as much political experience as Zhu Biao, nor did he have the same prestige as Zhu Biao in the military or the DPRK. Therefore, even if Lan Yu said that he wanted to escort Zhu Yunjiao, Zhu Yuanzhang had a hundred reasons to be uneasy.
Therefore, at this time, the blue jade is likely to become the biggest threat to Zhu Yunjiao's side. For Zhu Yuanzhang, the blue jade that flew around and did not listen to the order had to be removed.
Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang found an opportunity to destroy the blue jade. Half a year after Zhu Biao's death, Jin Yiwei commanded Jiang Yong to report to Zhu Yuanzhang that Lan Yu had formed a rebellion. After Zhu Yuanzhang ordered his arrest, he was soon executed on charges of "treason." Blue Jade died a terrible death, and it is said that one of the cruelest punishments of the time was used: peeling the grass. His human skin was later sent to his daughter Princess Shu.
Even more tragic is yet to come, because of the Blue Jade case, his three clans were wiped out, and the high-ranking officials who were killed included were the first duke, the thirteenth marquis, and the second uncle, and about 15,000 people were implicated and killed.
The famous general Blue Jade died like this. For Zhu Yuanzhang, the death of Blue Jade made the imperial power less of an obstacle. But for his successor, Zhu Yunjiao, the impact of the Blue Jade case will soon make him face a new dilemma: that is, when he loses the obstacle of imperial power, he also loses the barrier of imperial power.
Merit, passing, gaining, and losing may not be unique for Blue Jade and Zhu Yuanzhang.