Zhu Yuanzhang, also known as Zhu Zhongba, was born in 1328, and experienced great hardship when he was a teenager, he worked as a cattle herder, a beggar and a monk, just in order to survive in the chaotic world at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang successfully established the Ming Dynasty in 1368 and became the supreme Ming Taizu.
However, because of his humble origins, when Zhu Yuanzhang was emperor, in order to show his imperial majesty, he often practiced strict official rule in many cases, and was always moody towards his courtiers. No, not long after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, an inspector Yushi made Zhu Yuanzhang angry because of Lian Jin's persuasion, and in a fit of anger, he sentenced this little Yushi to death and put him on death row.
Later, after Zhu Yuanzhang's anger subsided, he interrogated this inspector Yushi in front of him, wanting to stage a drama of slapping and slapping a candy and enwei, so that the courtiers would not only fear the majesty of their own emperor, but also not let everyone panic and let themselves lose their talents.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang used a kind tone to let this inspector Yushi report to his home first. This little Yushi said that his name was Fan Wencong, and his ancestral home was in Suzhou. Zhu Yuanzhang was suddenly stunned and asked again: "What is your last name?" So Fan Wencong had to repeat: "My name is Fan Wencong, and my ancestral home is in Suzhou." ”
Zhu Yuanzhang then asked, "Who is your ancestor?" Fan Wencong replied, "My ancestor was Fan Zhongyan, a famous minister of the Song Dynasty, and I myself was the twelfth grandson of Fan Zhongyan." After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he immediately pardoned Fan Wencong, and also personally inscribed 5 of Fan Zhongyun's famous sayings and aphorisms, and then gave them all to Fan Wencong, and promised that these 5 inscriptions would be equivalent to 5 gold medals for avoiding death.
Fan Wen received these rewards from a trembling, although he did not know why Zhu Yuanzhang changed his attitude after hearing that he was Fan Zhong's descendant, but at least his life was saved, and he even got 5 death orders, and the harvest was not small.
Later, Fan Wen learned from asking the generals who had a good relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang that Fan Zhongyan was Zhu Yuanzhang's idol!
Fan Zhongyan was born in 989, although his ancestors had many official eunuchs, but in his own generation, because his father Fan Yong died suddenly when he was 1 year old, resulting in the Fan family's decline, so Fan Zhongyan, like Zhu Yuanzhang, lived a more difficult life when he was a child.
In addition, Fan Zhongyan and Zhu Yuanzhang can still be regarded as half of the family. Because after Fan Yong's death, Fan Zhongyan entered the Zhu family with his remarried mother, and since then changed his name to Zhu Shu (pronounced "Yue"), and even when he entered the imperial examination in 1015, he still used the name Zhu Shuo.
Before that, in 1011 AD, Fan Zhongyan, who was already 22 years old, knew his true origins, and his heart was very sad, so he was determined to restore his ancestral scenery, bid farewell to his mother, and began to study hard for four years. During this time, his life was extremely poor.
Every day, he boiled two liters of millet into porridge, waited until it solidified, cut it into 4 pieces, and ate two pieces of pickles in the morning and evening, so he spent 4 years of hard reading, and finally he was able to enter the army and embark on the career path.
After entering the career path, Fan Zhongyan still did not forget his original intention, lived a life of integrity for the country and the people, and was loyal, humble, virtuous, and talented, and was the perfect courtier in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, and also the great man he revered in his heart. Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Fan Wencong was a descendant of Fan Zhongyan, he immediately exempted Fan Wencong from the death penalty and rewarded him greatly.
And Fan Wencong also relied on these 5 death-free gold "characters" to successfully save himself in the late period of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign.