When the Ming Dynasty was less than thirty years of stability, it ushered in another catastrophe of power, known in history as the "Battle of Jingnan". In the first year of Jianwen (1399), due to the overly radical policy of the Jianwen dynasty to cut down the domain, the contradiction between the central government and the king of the domain finally completely intensified, and in July of the same year, zhu Di, the most powerful of the kings of the clan, rebelled. After a series of battles such as Jinan, Dongchang, Jiahe, and Xuecheng, in June of the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), the Yan army invaded Jinling, and zhu Di, the king of Yan, called the emperor the end. In this four-year-long power struggle, many loyal and courageous people have emerged, but there are also greedy, fearful of death, opportunistic.
When Zhu Di, the King of Yan, attacked Ying Tianfu, Hu Guang, who was then the editor of the Hanlin Academy, and Wang Geng, a fellow hanlin yuan cultivator, and Hanlin Zhizhi, met at the home of Wu Pu, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, and the four of them discussed the issue of where to stay after the city was destroyed. The "History of Ming" says: "Jin Chen said great righteousness, Jing was also excited and generous, and Gen Du wept without saying a word." After the banquet, Wu Pu's son said to his father that after listening to Hu Guang's and Xie Jin's general remarks, he was afraid that he would be martyred. But Wu Pu said: "No, all they say is empty words, and the only one who really martyred the country is your uncle Wang Geng." Sure enough, as Wu Pu expected. The sound of Hu Guang telling the people to look after the pigs in the house came from the partition wall, and Wu Pu added: "How can people who are even reluctant to pigs give up their lives?" Soon after Wang Geng returned home, he died of drinking after saying goodbye to his mother and wife, and was loyal to him. When Zhu Di entered Beijing, Hu Guang and Xie Jin successively expressed their attachment.
So is Hu Guang's life really as long as his wish to "spare his life"?
Hu Guang, character Guangda, number Huang'an. Hongwu was born in Jishui County, Jiangxi in the third year (1370), and he was also the twelfth grandson of Hu Quan, a famous minister and writer of the Southern Song Dynasty, and it can be said that Hu Guang was also from a famous family. When he participated in the temple examination in the second year of Jianwen (1400), he wrote "Pro-Fan Lu Liang, people's hearts shake", which means that the power of the king of the clan is huge, too arrogant and rampant, which will lead to instability in people's hearts. When the Yan king Zhu Di rebelled, Hu Guang's article was naturally recognized by Emperor Jianwen, and he appointed Hu Guang to be the first rank of the first rank of Gengchen Kejinshi and given the name Jing. And Wang Geng in the previous article, who had originally been agreed to be the champion, and because of his appearance, the article did not have the psychology of Emperor Wen, so he was deposed as the second ranked eye. Now it seems to be somewhat ironic that Emperor Jianwen's own hand-picked Yuanlang immediately defected after the city was destroyed, while his own deposed "Zhuangyuanlang" drank and was loyal.
In the first year of Yongle (1403), Zhu Di ascended the throne, and his first task was to publicize the legitimacy of his ascension to the throne. Therefore, Zhu Di disposed of a large number of political opponents left over from the Jianwen Dynasty and unwilling to submit to him, such as Fang Xiaoru's Extermination of the Ten Tribes. At the same time, in order to stabilize people's hearts, a certain degree of promotion was also carried out for the courtiers who were attached to themselves, and the courtier Hu Guang was also among them. He was promoted from a Hanlin Academy to a waiter, and a month later, he changed to a waiter and advanced to Chengdelang, and at the same time changed the Jing to Guang when he was given the title of Emperor.
Hu Guang's immoral operations continue to be staged. The "History of Ming" records: "Chengzu Feast." Emperor Yue: Er Er's life is the same as the li, the eldest classmate, the same official. Jin has a son, and Guang can be a female wife. ...... He had given birth to a daughter and was married. When Zhu Di was entertaining the courtiers, he heard that Xie Jin had just had a son, and Hu Guang's wife was about to be born, and the two ministers were good friends, so Zhu Di took the initiative to act as a matchmaker if the belly was a woman and married him. However, even if there is a heavenly family as a matchmaker, it can not stop Hu Guang's spirit of "sparing his life", when Xie Jin was imprisoned for "no one to be courteous", and was buried in a snow pile in the winter, after his eldest son Xie Zhenliang was exiled to Liaodong, Hu Guang, fearing that he was implicated, had the idea of dissolving the marriage contract, and his daughter heard about it and thought that she should not rebel, immediately cut off one ear and swore never to repent, and the world was quite shaken by this matter. When Xie Zhenliang was pardoned and returned, Hu Guang's daughter married.
Although Hu Guang's approach was criticized by many people, he was indeed a talented man, and he rose all the way to wenyuange university. In the fifth year of Yongle (1407), he followed Zhu Di on his northern expedition. Because of the excellent calligraphy, whenever Le Shi carved a stele, Zhu Di ordered Hu Guang to write. He was often called to talks until late at night. In the twelfth year of Yongle (1414), he again followed Zhu Di on his northern expedition, and because of the follow-up of Zhu Zhanji, the emperor's eldest grandson, Hu Guang also became a lecturer, teaching Zhu Zhanji scriptures and history in the army. So much so that later, when Emperor Akihito took the throne, he gave Hu Guang the title of Prince Minor. In the twelfth year of Yongle (1414), Hu Guang was appointed as the editor-in-chief of the Five Classics and Four Books, which was compiled in September of the following year and became an official textbook of classics during the Ming Dynasty.
In the end, Hu Guang, who "spared his life", did not live for a long time, he died in the sixteenth year of Yongle (1418), only forty-nine years old, and was given the gift of Zishan Dafu, Rebbe Shangshu, and Yuwen Mu. When the funeral passed through Nanjing, the crown prince Zhu Gaozi personally sacrificed him, which was not a small treatment.
In the Ming Dynasty Xu Xian's notebook novel "Xu Xiangyang West Garden Miscellaneous Notes", He left a comment to Hu Guang: "Emperor Wen's soldiers entered the city, Gengyang died of medicine, Guang Nai surrendered, officials to university scholars, and there were many negative old jun. ”