Who can believe that the lowest and highest identities of a feudal society appear in the same person? Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was the most honorable emperor in the dynasty in the second half of his life, but in the first half of his life he was a peasant at the bottom of feudal society.
Moreover, they are landless peasants, tenant farmers who want to work for the landlords to cultivate the land, and who have worked hard all year round and have not been able to eat and clothe themselves.
Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestors have been sharecroppers for eight generations, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a downright low-level person. If they encounter a peaceful and prosperous life or a little more stable life, they may still be able to meet the needs of food and clothing. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a chaotic world when the people were displaced, disasters continued, and hunger was everywhere.
In such an environment, even families with land and savings cannot live in peace, not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang, whose ancestors have been poor among the poor for generations.
The children of the poor have long been in charge, the little Zhu Yuanzhang's parents have both died, and his brothers and sisters have also died of plague infection. However, he could not even get the money for the burial of his family, so he had to go to the landlord Liu De, but Liu De refused.
How could Liu De at that time associate this cowherd with the future emperor. When Zhu Yuanzhang ascended to the throne, Liu De was afraid that Zhu Yuanzhang would pursue the old things, but Zhu Yuanzhang's actions surprised everyone.
The hard days of herding cows
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a chaotic world, and the social environment at that time was chaotic. There were wars of separation everywhere, taxes and servitude were so great that there was no place for the peasants to live in peace. In order to avoid the disaster and seek a way to live, Zhu Yuanzhang's family moved several times, and the family's life was very difficult.
In addition to man-made disasters, natural disasters, droughts, locusts, and plagues alone are enough to make the peasants suffer the catastrophe of destruction in the chaotic world, and natural disasters and man-made disasters come together.
Zhu Yuanzhang's parents farmed for the landlord Liu De, but the grain they received was very small, and even food and clothing could not be satisfied, and even a grain of rice could not be found. In order to help his parents share the burden, Zhu Yuanzhang, who could not go to school, became a cattle herding baby and herded cattle for the landlord Liu De.
Drought and locusts followed by a plague that took the lives of Zhu Yuanzhang's parents and brothers. In order to be able to bury his parents, he begged Liu De to share a little field with him to bury his parents.
However, Liu De was a down-to-earth feudal exploitative landlord, and he ruthlessly rejected Zhu Yuanzhang and drove Zhu Yuanzhang away to let him fend for himself. Just when Zhu Yuanzhang was desperate, it was Liu De's brother Liu Jizu who helped him.
He gave Zhu Yuanzhang a piece of land and some grain to help Zhu Yuanzhang bury his family. Zhu Yuanzhang has always remembered this kindness of sending charcoal in the snow. After dealing with his family's affairs, he went to the temple to work as a monk to make ends meet.
The misery of a troubled world
Zhu Yuanzhang had to do any dirty work in the temple, ringing the bell and cutting wood and burning the fire, and his life in the temple was not good. And he did this without pay, but there was a place where he wouldn't sleep on the streets and eat food without starving to death.
If he doesn't do it well, the people in the temple will scold him at every turn. But this life did not last long, and soon the temple dismissed the monks in the name of insufficient food.
Zhu Yuanzhang had no place to live and no food, and could only live on the streets and beg for a living. He begged all the way to the south, and when he was lucky, he could eat rice buns, and when he was unlucky, he could only eat wild vegetables and wild fruits. He begged all the way like this for three years.
During this time, he met a lot of people on the rivers and lakes, and also made many brothers. Having seen the social environment of the motherland's rivers and mountains, he has a deeper understanding of the country.
In the chaotic world, no one can be left alone, before Zhu Yuanzhang wandered, he was just a poor cowherd, no ambition and did not dare to think that he could change the fate of life.
But in the three years of his wanderings, he saw the darkness of society and the suffering of people's livelihood, and this experience also cultivated his strong character and fighting spirit. He wanted to climb up, he didn't want to be the bottom of society anymore, he defected to the rebel army and became a soldier.
Founded the Ming Dynasty
Zhu Yuanzhang was sober-minded and was appreciated by the leader Guo Zixing, who often exchanged battle plans with him. And Zhu Yuanzhang rushed to the front every time he fought, befriended other soldiers in the army, and gained a lot of prestige in the army. Guo Zixing saw that he was a talent for marching and fighting, and also married his adopted daughter to him.
Zhu Yuanzhang went all the way up to the clouds and cultivated his own forces in the army. In the end, the victory of the rebel army that became more and more courageous in the Vietnam War was decided, and Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang became the Supreme Leader of the Ninety-Five From a cowherd, he had seen the darkness of the chaotic world and suffered from society, but he was not played by fate in the palm of his hand, but worked hard. Zhu Yuanzhang's life is a life of suffering and inspiration, but also a life of indomitable legend. The first thing Zhu Yuanzhang did after he became famous was to return to his homeland after many years of absence.
Render good for evil
At this time, the landlord Liu De was still exploiting the poor tenant farmers, and looking at the 95th Emperor who was returning to his hometown in front of him, he did not dare to associate the emperor with the poor cattle herder at that time.
When Liu De knew that the emperor was afraid to speak when he first wanted to see him, he thought that Zhu Yuanzhang had always remembered the events of that year and wanted to kill him at this time to vent his hatred. Liu De immediately knelt down for Zhu Yuanzhang, trembling and asking Zhu Yuanzhang to spare his life.
But Zhu Yuanzhang did not mean to kill him, he just stepped forward and helped Liu De up. Thank you to Liu De for renting land to his parents that year. Not only that, but liu de was also given thirty acres of land, exempted from taxes for five years.
Zhu Yuanzhang expressed understanding of what Liu De had done that year, and no longer pursued it. Liu De listened to Zhu Yuanzhang's words and bowed down to him with gratitude. Seeing Liu De's old and haggard appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang could not bear to punish him again.
Zhu Yuanzhang always remembered in his heart that the benefactor who helped him in those years was Liu Jizu, who gave him a piece of land to let him bury his parents. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu De how Liu Jizu was doing, and wanted to reward him.
However, at this time, Liu Jizu had already passed away. Zhu Yuanzhang was very sorry and posthumously named Liu Jizu the Marquis of Yihui. Remembering Liu Jizu's kindness to him, he spared Liu Jizu's younger brother Liu De.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang's wandering years in society have seen the warmth and coldness of social feelings. For what Liu De did back then, he no longer cared about it.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang is now the king of a country, and there is no point in pursuing these old things. Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer the cowherd baby he used to be, and his vision was broader. Letting go of Liu De, you can also leave yourself a good reputation of magnanimity and resentment with virtue.