The founding emperor would be surrounded by a group of capable people, all of whom had more or less outstanding talents. Like the Qin Dynasty, there were Li Si, Meng Tian, Meng Wu, Wang Qi, and so on, Liu Bang had Han Xin, Zhang Liang, Xiao He and others, and in the Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang had Liu Bowen, Chang Yuchun, Xu Da, Li Shanchang, Tang He and so on. These talents were more or less rewarded after their success, but what was strange was the famous black-robed prime minister, who was a monk who helped his master become emperor in a few years, but asked for nothing, and only made a puzzling request when he died.
The man known as the Black-Robed Prime Minister was Yao Guangxiao, who was born in 1335. His family had been practicing medicine for generations. But in that era, he couldn't heal people and couldn't heal himself, so he became a monk at a young age like Zhu Yuanzhang, and his legal name was Daoyan. He was originally a monk, but later he worshiped the Taoist priest Xi Yingzhen as his master and learned the yin and yang techniques. In 1375 (the eighth year of Hongwu), Zhu Yuanzhang once sent many monks to take the exam, but Yao Guangxiao was not selected, or it was recommended by Lusi Youjue Yifu and Youshan Shizong to have a position.
His life should have been unremarkable, Zhu Yuanzhang's means are known to everyone, cleverly killed all the heroes who have the ability to rebel, but it is precisely because he killed all that he can fight Zhu Di that he has the opportunity to rebel. In 1382 (the fifteenth year of Hongwu), when Empress Ma died of illness, Zhu Yuanzhang found many high-ranking monks to accompany the various princes, and Yao Guangxiao met the talented and ambitious Yan king Zhu Di. After that, Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao had close contacts, and they became good friends.
Zhu Di was born on May 2, 1360, because he was the second son who was not much valued by Zhu Yuanzhang, but he grew up in a military camp and had a number of generals who had distinguished military talents. If his brother Zhu Biao had ascended the throne, perhaps Zhu Di would not have rebelled, but it was a small fart child who was worse than him in all aspects, Zhu Yunjiao, who had ascended the throne. In 1398 (the thirty-first year of Hongwu), Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, and his ascension to the throne was over, and the first thing he did on the throne was to order the cutting of the domain. Yao Guangxiao had always advised Zhu Di to rebel, and also recommended him a lot of Xiangshi counselors, and finally Zhu Di made up his mind and reversed.
Yao Guangxiao trained soldiers and horses for him and built military weapons. In fact, the situation at that time was not optimistic, Zhu Di's name was not correct, there were only 100,000 soldiers and horses, and the imperial court had 500,000 troops. But Yao Guangxiao is determined to help him rebel, which is his lifelong pursuit. In June 1399 (the first year of Jianwen), one of the guards of the Yan Dynasty denounced Zhu Di for rebellion, and Zhu Di took advantage of the situation to raise an army known as Fengtian Jingnan. Yao Guangxiao assisted Shizi Zhu Gaozi in defending Beiping, and Zhu Di set out with a large army. It can only be said that it is Heavenly Help Zhu Di, and almost all the heroes who can fight have been killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and a Li Jinglong who does not know who is there is sent.
But Zhu Di was still extremely difficult to fight, and every time he didn't know what to do, Yao Guangxiao would always remind him by his side. Yao Guangxiao's strategy, coupled with Zhu Di's military talents, coupled with the coincidence of heaven, in 1402 (the fourth year of Jianwen), Zhu Dijing was unsuccessfully proclaimed emperor. Daming's next Ming Jun appeared, and Yao Guangxiao was appointed as the monk Zuo Shanshi. Two years later, in the second year of Yongle, he paid homage to the prince and gave him the name Yao Guangxiao. Zhu Di trusted him very much and once asked him to be vulgar, but Yao Guangxiao refused. Even the mansion and palace maid that Zhu Di rewarded did not accept it, and every day Yao Guangxiao lived in the temple at night and changed into imperial clothes in the morning.
All he wanted was rebellion, just this one thing. Later, Zhu Di often wandered between Nanjing, Beijing, and Mongolia, and he knew that there was a man who would guard the country for him. This person was Yao Guangxiao, and indeed so, Yao Guangxiao assisted the crown prince in overseeing the country when Zhu Di was away, and later taught the emperor's grandson Zhu Zhanji. Yao Guangxiao's legend lies in the fact that he was a monk, but proficient in many things, a literati but proficient in the art of war, and even he helped compile the first encyclopedic work in China, the Yongle Canon, and he also participated in the design of the layout of Beijing City.
In 1418 (the sixteenth year of Yongle), the legendary life of Yao Guangxiao, the black-robed prime minister, was coming to an end, and Zhu Di was very reluctant to this old friend of many years, often visiting him at the temple and asking him what he wanted. In the end, Yao Guangxiao made a request and released Puqia. PuQia was a monk, and there are legends that Emperor Jianwen did not die, and he took Emperor Jianwen in when he fled. Pu Qia had been imprisoned for fifteen years at that time, and Zhu Di had also searched for Emperor Jianwen for more than ten years.
Zhu Di naturally agreed to this request made by an old friend, and Yao Guangxiao was relieved and died soon after. His request seems very strange, in fact, it is also in common sense, as an accomplice to the rebellion, he has always been unpopular with his family, and his sister and former friends are reluctant to see him when he returns to his hometown.
His hands were indirectly stained with blood, and this time saving people was a atonement for sins and also a relief for Zhu Di. Yao Guangxiao's life is legendary, he was the only one in the Ming Dynasty who deserved to enjoy the Taimiao Temple as a meritorious person. Most of the meritorious deeds in it are martial artists such as Xu Da, and you can see how high his status is. For Zhu Di, he was a good friend who helped himself, and for Zhu Gaozi and Zhu Zhanji, he was a teacher they respected.
References: "Biography of Ming Shi Yao Guangxiao", "Records of the Heroes of Jing Dynasty"