When Zhu Yuanzhang was a great meritorious person, he gave iron coupons, and with iron coupons, meritorious people could avoid death several times.
However, most of these heroes who got the "death-free iron coupon" did not really "avoid death".
What's going on?
Death-free iron coupons
In the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to be a great meritorious man, and after consultation, he prepared to implement the "iron coupon".
"Iron coupons" are not Zhu Yuanzhang's "originals", but have a long history.
"The punishment cannot be a doctor, and the courtesy cannot be a common man." It is a popular idea of privilege in ancient times.
The first to create the iron coupon was the former founding prince known for his slaughter of heroes- Liu Bang.
Since then, until the Tang Dynasty, "iron coupons" were a common means of rewarding meritorious heroes in successive generations.
However, due to the excessive issuance of iron coupons by the imperial court during the five dynasties at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the authority was greatly reduced, and no one believed that this thing could really "avoid death", so at the time of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it was no longer awarded (however, the Liao and Jin who confronted the Song still had awards).
Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to make "iron coupons", the "iron coupons" had been lost for a long time, but there was no template on hand.
Finally, Zhu Yuanzhang, through the descendants of Qian Wei, the king of Wuyue, found the death-free iron coupon that Tang Zhaozong had given to Qian Biao, and used this as a model to make Daming's iron coupon.
Zhu Yuanzhang ordered people to make 97 pairs of iron coupons, each divided into about two, the left one was awarded to the meritorious man, and the right one was hidden in the inner house, and when there was something going on, they were put together to win the trust.
In the iron coupon, the resume of the meritorious person is recorded to remember his merits, and the provisions for exoneration and reduction of the crime are also written to prevent him from transgression.
To whom the iron coupon was given
In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang was awarded the title of meritorious servant, six dukes, twenty-eight Hou, and iron coupons.
Gong: Li Shanchang, Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Deng Yu, Chang Mao.
Hou: Tang He, Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, Zhou Dexing, Hua Yunlong, Gu Shi, Geng Bingwen, Chen De, Guo Zixing, Wang Zhi, Zheng Yuchun, Fei Ju, Wu Liang, Wu Zhen, Zhao Yong, Liao Yongzhong, Yu Tongyuan, Hua Gao, Yang Jing, Kang Duo, Zhu Liangzu, Fu Youde, Hu Mei, Han Zheng, Huang Bin, Cao Liangchen, Mei Sizu, Lu Ju.
In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, he reformed the iron coupons and gave the duke Fu Youde, Hou Wangbi, Geng Bingwen, Guo Ying, and the late Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, Wu Jie, and Mu Ying, a total of eight families.
In the iron coupon, a certain number of deaths are promised.
Among them, the most frequent "avoidance of death" is Xu Da. Xu Da himself can be spared death three times, and his son can be spared death twice.
And the promise that Li Shanchang got was: I will avoid death twice, and my son will avoid death once.
However, everyone knows that many of the people who get the iron coupons are not really able to "avoid death" in the end.
Could it be that Zhu Yuanzhang's promise is just a blank piece of paper?
Empty words cannot be discussed, but Zhu Yuanzhang's "avoid death" has a prerequisite.
Rebellion is not a matter of course
In the Ming Dynasty iron coupons, some iron coupons had the words "conspiracy against the law" and "except for the crime of conspiracy to rebel", and some iron coupons were not explicitly written on them.
For example, Zhu Yuanzhang's promise to Liu Ji's grandson was: If it were not for rebellion, the rest of the miscellaneous military offenses would be spared death.
However, whether it is explicitly stated or not, "conspiracy against the enemy" is the basic premise of the ancient system of avoiding death.
The purpose of the iron coupon is to motivate the heroes to continue to serve the royal family, if you violate the imperial power, then sorry, can not avoid death!
Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill the hero, as long as he was involved in the crime of rebellion, he could not be limited by the number of times he would be spared death.
In the Case of Hu Weiyong, Lu Zhongheng, Tang Shengzong, Fei Ju, Zhao Yong, Zheng Yuchun, Huang Bin, Lu Ju, etc., "all sat on the death of the Yong Party at the same time."
Later, Li Shanchang and the heroes implicated in the "Blue Jade Case" were all killed for the crime of "conspiracy to rebel."
However, the crime of conspiracy against the emperor is not the only way to cut off the "death-free" heroes.
Integral
After the "iron coupons" were awarded, Zhu Yuanzhang released the "iron list".
For example, if a meritorious servant violates the law, the meritorious servant must be punished immediately, and if you do not punish the crime even if you are not punished, "more than the same death sentence", you will be deprived of "avoiding death" once.
Another example: If the meritorious person privately makes friends with the general with property, or seizes the mountains and lakes of the officials and the people, "the first offender and the re-offender are exempted from death, and the three offenders are exempted from death once", and the number of "avoiding death" must also be consumed.
Therefore, if the hero always commits crimes, even if it is not a capital crime, he must consume the "number of times", and if there are more "details", he will also be killed.
Therefore, Feng Sheng, Fu Youde and other meritorious heroes were all given death for "detailed reasons".
Directly consume the "no death" privilege
Some heroes have not left any tricks for rebellion, and there are not too many "detailed reasons" to be arrested, is it not safe?
not necessarily.
Zhu Yuanzhang can also find an excuse to directly reduce your "death-free" privilege.
For example, Tang He, because of his repeated military achievements, by the eleventh year of Hongwu, was promoted from Hou to gong and could be replaced with iron coupons.
That would have been a good thing.
However, after Zhu Yuanzhang saw Tang He, he "counted his mistakes in Changzhou and engraved the coupons", dropped the number of mistakes when he was in Changzhou, recorded them on the coupons, and "consumed" his number of exonerations.
The sin of Changzhou was something that happened in the early days of entrepreneurship! How many years have passed since then!
Fortunately, Tang He had good luck, and later he was still cautious and was able to die well.
However, this also shows that no matter how many times you are exempted from death on your iron coupon, when Zhu Yuanzhang wants to get you, there is always a way to fill your "number of times".
There are also "iron coupons" that can save lives
Of course, there are indeed records of relying on "iron coupons" to save their lives.
Xu Da's son, Xu Huizu, resolutely resisted the King of Yan during the Battle of Jingnan.
After Zhu Di won the victory, Xu Huizu guarded his father's ancestral shrine alone and never greeted him.
Zhu Di had his guilt tried, and Xu Huizu only wrote his father's exploits and the sentence of avoiding death in the iron coupon.
Zhu Di was furious, but there was no way to directly execute him, so he had to be knighted and put under house arrest.
Since then, the iron coupons given by Zhu Yuanzhang have saved the lives of some meritorious descendants.
For example, Mu Ying's descendant Mu Chaobi (慕朝弼) was "imprisoned and sentenced to death" for his crime, but because of the protection of the iron coupon, he was saved a name.
Of course, it is worth noting that Xu Huizu's sister is Zhu Di's empress, and Mu Chaobi has been sitting in Yunnan for generations, with great influence.
The iron coupon was able to keep them, probably because Tianzi had other concerns, and the iron coupon just gave Tianzi a step.
In general, the so-called "iron coupons" are only the means by which the Son of Heaven rules the world.
The promise of "avoiding death" is to consolidate the ruling clique by granting a privileged position, enveloping the meritorious community.
The purpose of killing the "death-free" is to eliminate the threat of imperial power and to consolidate the rule.
"The king wants his subjects to die, and his subjects have to die."
When the Son of Heaven wants his subjects to die, the former Sea Oath Mountain Alliance and the Danshu Iron Coupon are meaningless.