At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the crowd rose up together. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty annexed the other divisional leaders one by one, which increased his strength to attack the Yuan in the north.
Zhu Yuanzhang was a generation of heroes, kings and defeats, but the leaders of other forces were not idle people.
Among the several major forces annexed by Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhang Shicheng was one of the most capable heroes and good men.
Six hundred and fifty years after Zhang Shicheng's defeat and death, a family surnamed Wu suddenly appeared in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, claiming to be his descendants.
Why did Zhang Shicheng's descendants have the surname Wu? Why did they cover up this secret for so many years? That's a long story.
Later generations changed their surnames
There are more than 600 people in the Wu family in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, saying in unison that Zhang Shicheng is their ancestor, and he has also moved out of the spiritual seat, which is very determined.
They explained that once in the midst of war, Zhang Shicheng felt that he was about to be defeated, so he said to his children, if you die, the surname does not need to be changed, if you can get lucky, you will change your surname to Wu, no matter how you want to live in anonymity, one day you can recognize your ancestors and return to the ancestors.
Legend has it that when Zhang Shicheng was defeated, his wife sent her two children out of the city in the midst of war, and has been missing ever since.
Zhu Yuanzhang was notoriously ruthless and unkind, and after defeating the enemy, he generally did not spare his subordinates.
Zhang Shicheng's relatives and family were all killed after the defeat, leaving only the legend above.
After the fall of power, Zhang Shicheng's cousin took one of his sons and Zhang Shixin and ran away overnight, escaping Zhu Yuanzhang's mathematics.
Later, Zhang Shijun also tried to make a comeback, recruit troops and horses, and embrace the dream of becoming emperor again, but the situation was already decided, and Zhu Yuanzhang's regime could not be shaken at all.
Seeing that there was no hope of revenge, these people let go of their obsession.
The anonymous Zhang family is the ancestor of these Wu people, and after they escaped, they obeyed their father's teachings, changed their surnames, covered up this secret, and lived a peaceful life.
The reason why he wanted to change his surname to Wu is likely to be because Zhang Shicheng's brother-in-law's surname is Wu.
There is much speculation that Zhang Shicheng had a concubine surnamed Wu at that time, very loyal and very favored, and his two children lived in the concubine's brother's house when he fled.
And Taizhou, where these descendants are located, is also Zhang Shicheng's hometown, if they knew their own origins hundreds of years ago, and the family moved here to return to the roots, it seems to make a little sense.
Although they speak in the right direction, they cannot prove the identity of their ancestors with only one mouth.
In the face of everyone's doubts, they came up with a revised family tree and a very old tablet.
The design of the stalls is very peculiar, but the surface of the carved shell hides a wooden board, and the wooden board is engraved with their ancestral identity and later encounters.
Originally, there were four such pieces in this ranking, but the other three pieces were burned or damaged by accident in the process of time loss.
At the beginning, when these descendants discovered the secret of the tablet, they only saw the words written on it, and mistakenly thought that the ancestors were adopted.
Only later did they see clearly and realize that their ancestors had gone through hardships and changed their names and surnames.
But at this time, some people have questioned why these tablets are so well preserved after such a long history.
With doubts in mind, experts probed and examined the age of the plaque and the time it was stored.
According to the results, this tablet was indeed revised a hundred years ago, but this hundred years ago was more than 300 years ago, that is, in the fifth year of the Kangxi Dynasty.
It should be known that the Ming Dynasty in the 5th year of the Kangxi Dynasty has disappeared, and when these descendants recognize their ancestors and return to the Sect, they have no way to verify the authenticity of Zhang Shicheng's legend.
Because of this problem, some people retorted that the ancestor at that time was the ninth generation grandson of Zhang Shicheng, and it was precisely because the ming dynasty was destroyed and could not be reversed that this secret was revealed.
Even when questioned, more than 600 people in the village insisted on correcting their surnames.
Under their arguments, some people successfully achieved their own goals and changed their surname back to Zhang.
Chinese people recognize their ancestors and return to their ancestors, have a very heavy heart, and at the same time have a very strong local feeling, knowing that their family has lasted for a hundred years, which is actually a very glorious thing.
At the same time Chinese's surname identity is also very serious, these Wu people believe that the ancestors changed their names for life, in order to avoid risks.
Now that the danger has long been eliminated, their inner strong desire to recognize their ancestors and return to their ancestors is understandable.
Ancestral stories
So what kind of person is zhang Shicheng, the ancestor of these Wu people who respect the faith so much?
Zhang Shicheng started by selling salt, which is what we often call "smuggling salt dealers", although he did things to seek profits, he did not make any major mistakes in major issues of right and wrong.
In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people were extremely oppressed, and in such a dark environment, everyone could only do their best to find a way to improve their lives.
Although it was said that selling illegal salt was a very punishable thing in the environment at that time, Zhang Shicheng's natural businessman's mind allowed him to do this business that violated the laws of the Yuan Dynasty.
So that later there was enough capital to recruit soldiers.
At that time, people often said that Chen Youyu was the strongest in military strength, and Zhang Shicheng was the richest in wealth.
After the uprising, he led his army to occupy the rich and warm places such as Xinghua on the Yangtze River in the south, and his strength began to grow.
When the Yuan army sent troops to fight the rebel army, it was he who broke the delusion of the yuan army's north-south alliance.
Although it is said that after this, he suffered a two-sided attack, and when he was precarious, he once temporarily defected to the Yuan Dynasty, but after the predicament was lifted, he immediately tore his face with the Yuan Dynasty army and re-erected the banner of the uprising.
The eldest husband can bend and stretch, and appropriate compromise in the face of the overall situation is also a characteristic of Zhang Shicheng. He was very sleek, which was a common feature of merchants.
Unlike Chen Youyu next door, his men have always been very loyal and strong, and if it were not for Zhu Yuanzhang's superior skills, there would still be many possibilities for the future development of the situation.
This history has passed, he is not as skilled as a man, and he committed suicide after being captured.
Under the background at that time, Zhang Shicheng's pursuers were not many, and it was not a small possibility to keep his children's names at critical times and allow his descendants to multiply.
Although the outside world has not yet reached an accurate conclusion, the people in the village have identified themselves as Zhang Shicheng's descendants, and if this is true, then the secret about the legend of Zhang Shicheng's children fleeing can also be regarded as uncovered.