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The founding kings of successive dynasties are always inseparable from a group of talented civilian and military generals, and some heroes from the same region often form a group of heroes linked by regions. In the early Han Dynasty, Liu Bang had the Fengpei Group, and in the early Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan was related to the Long Group. In the Ming Dynasty, as Zhu Yuanzhang's "hardcore supporter", the Huaixi Group played a key role in the process of pacifying the world at the beginning of his business.
The so-called "gentleman's Ze, the fifth generation and beheading", and the founding kings of huaixi, who fought the world, often were able to be crowned marquises, but their meritorious glory, Mo said that the shade of several generations of descendants, often cut off in the first generation, but some of them also have families that last for a hundred years.
Zhu Yuanzhang film and television image. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Zhu Yuanzhang"
So, which of the Huaixi Xungui who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight the world, which one lasted the longest and was the most resilient?
From the merits of the dragon, bai will be crowned marquis
In the third year of Hongwu (1370), the world was initially decided, and Zhu Yuanzhang began to reward meritorious generals and set the fifth class lord system. The order is divided into five grades, the highest one is the Zhengyi pin Shangzhu Guo, the lowest one is the wupin wu knight; the knighthood is divided into five grades, for the gong, hou, bo, son, male. Zheng Yipin is the Duke of Guo and the Duke of the County, from the first product is the County Marquis, the second product is the County, the third product is the County, the fourth product is the County, and the fifth product is the county man.
Of the first conferred titles, six were made dukes, twenty-eight were marquises, and two were counts. The six dukes were: Li Shanchang the Duke of Korea, Xu Da the Duke of Wei, Chang Yuchun the Duke of Eguo (Chang Yuchun was deceased at that time, and was attacked by his son), Li Wenzhong the Duke of Cao, Feng Sheng the Duke of Song, and Deng Yu the Duke of Wei; the twenty-eight marquises were: Tang He, Marquis of Zhongshan, Tang Shengzong, Marquis of Yan'an, Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Jiangxia, Zhou Dexing, Marquis Hua yunlong of Huai'an, Marquis Gu Shi of Jining, Marquis Geng Bingwen of Changxing, Chen De, Marquis of Gongchang, Wang Zhi of Liu'an, Marquis Zheng Yuchun of Xingyang, Marquis Fei ju of Pingliang, Marquis Wuliang of Jiangyin, Marquis Wu zhen of Jinghai, Marquis Zhao Yong of Nanxiong, Marquis Liao Yongzhong of Deqing, Marquis Yu Tongyuan of Nan'an, Marquis Huagao of Guangde, Marquis Yang Jing of Yingyang, Marquis Kang duo of Puchun (son of Kang Maocai, whose father was posthumously honored as duke of Puguo), Zhu Liangzu of Yongjia, Fu Youde of Yingchuan, Marquis Humei of Linchuan, Marquis Han Zheng of Dongping, Marquis Huangbin of Yichun, Marquis Cao Liangchen of Xuanning, Marquis Mei Sizu of Runan, Marquis Luju of Henan, and the second uncles were: Liu Ji of Chengyi and Wang Guangyang of Zhongqin.
After that, Zhu Yuanzhang successively promoted and sealed a number of honorable titles, such as at the end of the third year of Hongwu, Xue Xian, who had not been made a marquis for his crimes, was awarded the title of Marquis of Yongcheng; in the tenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang's righteous son and the general Mu Ying were made the Marquis of Xiping; in the eleventh year of Hongwu, Tang He, the Marquis of Zhongshan, was promoted to the title of Duke of Xinguo; in the twelfth year of Hongwu, the general Lan Yu was made the Duke of Liangguo, and Wu Fu was given the title of Marquis of Anlu; in the seventeenth year of Hongwu, Fu Youde, the Marquis of Yingchuan, was promoted to the title of Duke of Yingguo, and Guo Xing's brother Guo Ying was made the Marquis of Wuding.
Among these founding nobles, the vast majority were people from the Huaixi region who had risen from Zhu Yuanzhang.com. The Huaixi region at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty was roughly south of the Huai River, north of the Yangtze River, east of dabie Mountain, and west of Nanjing. Among the first batch of Honored Nobles to be awarded the title in Hongwu's three years, the most famous ones were Li Shanchang, Xu Da, Feng Sheng, and Chang Yuchun, all of whom were from Haozhou, and Deng Yu was from Sizhou. The ranking of the twenty-eight marquises was arranged according to the order in which they joined Zhu Yuanzhang's army. In the twelfth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1352), Zhu Yuanzhang joined the rebel army, and in the fifteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Guo Zixing died and Zhu Yuanzhang moved toward independence. The first fourteen people joined during this period, especially in the thirteenth year of Zhizheng, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his hometown to recruit troops, and Xu Da, Tang He, Wu Liang, Wu Zhen, Hua Yun, Chen De, Gu Shi, Fei Ju, Geng Zaicheng, Geng Junyong, Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng, Hua Yunlong, Zheng Yuchun, Zheng Yulin, Guo Xing, Guo Ying, Hu Hai, Zhang Long, Chen Huan, Xie Cheng, Li Xincai, Zhang He, and Zhou Dexing joined the rebel army, becoming Zhu Yuanzhang's earliest team. Therefore, in The three-year reward of Hongwu, a large number of "unknown" generals were given knighthoods, but they were above Fu Youde, Liao Yongzhong and other famous generals.
Li Shanchang is a native of Haozhou. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Zhu Yuanzhang"
However, this group of Zhu Yuanzhang's fellow villagers who worshiped the general marquis did not enjoy the glory for too long. Zhu Yuanzhang had long ago given them the title of knight and given them Danshu iron coupons, but these glories and riches soon became the catalysts for the vast majority of them.
The tail is too big to fall, and the bird is hidden with a bow
Zhu Yuanzhang killed his fellow Huaixi compatriots and almost slaughtered them all. Why? In addition to Zhu Yuanzhang's own suspicious and murderous personality, the Huaixi clique's tail is also an important reason.
In the Huaixi Group, Li Shanchang helped Zhu Yuanzhang to come up with advice and guidance to govern the country, and was truly the head of the meritorious heroes. However, most of the rest of the Huaixi Xungui were born in the military, and they often committed illegal acts after holding high positions. For example, xue xian, the marquis of Yongcheng mentioned above, was not made a marquis until the end of Hongwu's third year because of his indiscriminate killing of innocents, and was not among the first twenty-eight marquises. And because many of the Nobles of Huaixi followed Zhu Yuanzhang's side when he was founded, after Zhu Yuanzhang was proclaimed emperor, it was inevitable that there would be acts of ignoring the number of etiquette. Most importantly, these people all belonged to the Huaixi region, forming a group of people, Zhu Yuanzhang's reign was timely and controllable, and once the Imperial Dragon returned to heaven and the heir succeeded to the throne, it was difficult to guarantee whether the Gongchen Group would abolish the establishment. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang began to plan to cut off the Meritorious Group early on, and the peak of it was the famous Hu Lan Party case.
Long before the Hu Lan Party case, Zhu Yuanzhang had already begun to cut off the heroes of the Huaixi forces. Zhu Yuanzhang used the Huaixi clique as his team to unify the world, and in the process, he also absorbed various forces outside the Huaixi clique, such as Liao Yongzhong, the leader of the Chaohu Water Army, who made great contributions in the Battle of Poyang Lake, and later made outstanding contributions in the campaign to pacify Sichuan and Liangguang, and it was Also Liao Yongzhong who made his death unclear on the way to "escort" Han Lin'er, the king of Xiaoming, and cleared the way for Zhu Yuanzhang to claim the title of emperor. Although Liao Yongzhong had made great contributions, he was not a member of the Huaixi Group, so in the three-year reward of Hongwu, he ranked lower. In the eighth year of Hongwu, Liao Yongzhong became the first marquis to be killed, and Zhu Yuanzhang once asked Liao Yongzhong if he was convicted, and Liao Yongzhong replied, "The world has been determined, and the subject is not guilty." This sentence will soon be the cause of death of the Huaixi Gongchen Group.
Liao Yongzhong film and television image. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Legendary Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang"
Thirteen years after Hongwu, the Hu Weiyong case broke out. Hu Weiyong (胡惟庸), a native of Dingyuan, Haozhou, was one of the few courtiers in the Huaixi clique, and Hongwu had already become an extremely popular minister by the time of his thirteenth year, and was the last minister in ancient Chinese history to combine name and reality. Hu Weiyong was Li Shanchang's in-laws, and it was also because of Li Shanchang's recommendation that he was promoted to chancellor. During Hu Weiyong's tenure, Liu Bowen, a member of the Guangshu henchmen and one of the leaders of the Wenchen in eastern Zhejiang, died after eating the medicinal stones sent by Hu Weiyong. Zhu Yuanzhang killed Hu Weiyong on the charge of treason, implicating a wide range of people, so that the number of people killed in the case reached more than 30,000, in addition, the Hu Weiyong case lasted for ten years, and in the thirteenth year of Hongwu to the twenty-third year of Hongwu, zhu Yuanzhang was executed for "involving" the Hu Weiyong case.
Hu Weiyong film and television image. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Legendary Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang"
In the Huaixi Xungui clique, the Korean duke Li Shanchang was almost exterminated and stripped of his title. Tang Shengzong, Marquis of Yan'an, Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Ji'an, Chen De, Marquis of Linjiang, Guo Xing, Marquis of Gongchang, Zheng Yuchun, Marquis of Xingyang, and Fei Ju, Marquis of Pingliang, all died in Hu Weiyong's case, and even the dead Marquis Hua Yunlong of Huai'an, Gu Shi of Jining, and Xue Xian, Marquis of Yongcheng, were implicated, their descendants were killed, and their titles were revoked. It is interesting to note that, except for Li Shanchang, who was executed at the beginning of Hu Weiyong's case, the above-mentioned Xun Gui was all executed in the twenty-third year of Hongwu.
Why did Zhu Yuanzhang only think of dealing with these former compatriots and the current dynasty 'opposing the party' after ten years? Because in the twenty-second year of Hongwu, the crown prince Zhu Biao, who was the heir to the empire, died. As the heir, How could Zhu Yunjiao, who was young, be able to control this group of meritorious generals?
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang used the Hu Weiyong case to wantonly kill the old generals, and the Huaixi Xungui who was sealed by Hongwu in the third year was already very few. During this period, Zhu Yuanzhang promoted Lan Yu, Guo Ying and other new Huaixi Xungui, and then killed Lan Yu in hongwu twenty-six years on charges of treason, implicating more than 15,000 people, and a large number of new upstarts were also killed in this case. After the Blue Jade case, Feng Sheng, Fu Youde, and others were also killed one after another, and the only remaining Huaixi Xungui were Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, Tang He, Geng Bingwen, Wu Liang, Mu Ying, Wu Fu, Guo Ying, Zhang Long, and a few other families, and at the Battle of Jingnan, Wu Fu's son Wu Jie was stripped of his title because of his defeat in the Battle of Baigou River, and his descendants repeatedly requested that they not be reinstated, Geng Bingwen died after Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, and Wu Liang's son Wu Gao was eventually stripped of his title by Ming Chengzu Zhu Di. After Yongle, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the Huaixi Xungui was even more rarely inherited.
There is no beginning, and there is an end
So, of the remaining families, who is the longest-lasting family?
Even if they escaped the early years of the Ming Dynasty, it did not mean that these titles could continue forever. Among the remaining families, Zhang Long, who was awarded the title of Marquis of Fengxiang in the twelfth year of Hongwu, lost his title in the early years of Yongle, and Zhang Jie's son Zhang Si requested to inherit the title in the tenth year of Xuande (1435), but was rejected by the officials on the grounds of "forty years of the long marquis". Zhang Longgong was small, and it was difficult to inherit the title after forty years of loss, and the founding heroes like Deng Yu and Li Wenzhong were able to restore the title during the Jiajing period. After Deng Yu, Deng Jikun was given the title of Marquis of Dingyuan, and after Li Wenzhong, Li Sex was made the Marquis of Linhuai in the eleventh year of Jiajing. Although these two families did not restore the duke, it was not easy to obtain the title more than a hundred years after losing the title and pass it on until the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Deng Yu. Source/second to understand the encyclopedia video screenshot
Similar to Deng Yu and Li Wenzhong, there is also Tang He. Tang He was a core member of Zhu Yuanzhang's army, and it was Tang He who wrote a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was ordained at the Huangjue Temple, inviting him to join the rebel army. In the process of following Zhu Yuanzhang, although Tang He made many military achievements, his military ability was not as good as Xu Da, Feng Sheng, Deng Yu and other Huaixi compatriots, and he ranked first among Hongwu's three-year knighthood, and was promoted to the Duke of Xinguo eight years later. Tang He has always had a cautious attitude towards Zhu Yuanzhang, and thus escaped hu lan's prison, and died in Hongwu for twenty-eight years, which is extremely rare. However, Tang He's good fortune did not pass on to his son, Tang He's eldest son Tang Ding died on the way to Yunnan, Tang Ding's son Tang Sheng, Tang Sheng's son Tang Wenyu both died young and failed to attack the lord. When Tang Jie, the son of Tang Wenyu, requested to be knighted during the reign of Emperor Yingzong, the imperial court also rejected Tang Jie on the grounds that Tang He had not inherited the title for more than forty years. It was not until the time of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming that he was given the official position of commander of Tang He's descendant Nanjing Jinyi Weishi, and in the eleventh year of Jiajing, Tang and his descendants were made Marquis of Lingbi, and the title was passed on until the death of Ming. Among them, Tang Shilong official at least Bao, Yu Min. Therefore, from the Hongwu years to the Ming Dynasty, the Only Three Families of Huaixi Xungui, Xu Da, Mu Ying, and Guo Ying.
Soup and film and television imagery. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Zhu Yuanzhang"
Among the three families, if Zhu You's death is used as a sign of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the one that lasts the longest is the Xu Da family of the Duke of Wei. From Hongwu's three years of being awarded the title of Duke of Wei until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he almost "lived and died together" with the Ming Dynasty. Xu Da, who can be called the first general of the early Ming Dynasty, made great contributions to the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, destroying Chen Youyi, Ping Zhang Shicheng, the Northern Expedition Dadu, and the conquest of the Northern Yuan, each of which was a great achievement. At the beginning of Zhu Yuanzhang's army, when Haozhou was in turmoil, it was Xu Da who replaced Zhu Yuanzhang, who was arrested, with himself, to defuse the storm. Among The three-year knighthood of Hongwu, Xu Da's rank was only after Li Shanchang, the first military general, and later as the minister, deeply respected by Zhu Yuanzhang, and what is even more rare is that Xu Da is respectful and self-denying, strict military discipline, Zhu Yuanzhang once said: "Ordered to come out, successful and spin, not to be reserved, women have nothing to love, treasures to take nothing, Zhongzheng has no flaws, the sun and the moon, the great general is only one." Xu Da himself was able to die well, and his eldest daughter was married to Zhu Di, the King of Yan, and later became empress, because because of this relationship, after the Battle of Jing, the Duke of Wei's lineage was still able to continue.
Xu Da had four sons, the eldest son Xu Huizu inherited the title after Xu Da's death. When Zhu Di raised an army, his son Zhu Gaoxu stole the horse of his uncle Xu Huizu and ran back to Beiping, Xu Huizu was loyal to Emperor Jianwen, informed him of this, still deeply trusted by Emperor Jianwen, and led the army to defeat the Yan army in Shandong. Later, when the Yan army crossed the river, Xu Huizu still led troops to fight, and after Zhu Di entered the Beijing Division, Xu Huizu alone guarded Xu Da's ancestral hall and refused to greet Zhu Di. Zhu Di ordered him to confess his guilt, and Xu Huizu, in contrast to the death-free words in the Danshu iron coupon given to Xu Da by Zhu Yuanzhang, angered Zhu Di and was removed from the knighthood and imprisoned, and died in Yongle in the fifth year. After Xu Huizu's death, Zhu Di could not bear the title of his father-in-law Xu Da, but ordered Xu Huizu's eldest son Xu Qin to attack the knighthood. Later, Xu Qin, angered By Zhu Di, removed the title in the nineteenth year of Yongle (1421) and restored the title until Emperor Renzong succeeded to the throne. Xu Qin's son Xu Chengzong later inherited the title of Duke of Wei, garrisoning Nanjing in the early years of Tianshun, and then the Duke of Wei's lineage from Xu Chengzong to Xu Hongji, the sixth generation of the guarding Nanjing, Xu Hongji's son Xu Wenjue inherited the title in the first year of Hongguang (1645), and soon surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and the Dukedom of Wei no longer existed.
Xu Da film and television image. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Zhu Yuanzhang"
Although Xu Huizu sided with Emperor Jianwen, his younger brother Xu Zengshou secretly communicated with Zhu Di, not only defending Zhu Di before he plotted against him, but also reporting to Zhu Di several times the false truth of the Jingshi Ying Tianfu after Zhu Di's rebellion. Eventually discovered by Emperor Jianwen after Zhu Di crossed the river, he was given a hand blade by Emperor Jianwen. After Succeeding to the throne, Zhu Di thanked Xu Zengshou for his kindness, posthumously made him the Duke of Dingguo, and attacked him with his son Xu Jingchang. The Dingguo Gongyi line was favored by the Ming emperors under Zhu Di and lived in Beijing until the last Dingguo Duke Xu Yunzhen was killed by the Dashun army in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644). The Xu Da family not only has the longest time, but also the two dukes of one door are also unique in the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Youjian's death, the Ming Dynasty still had half of the country, and if the Southern Ming is recorded, it is the Marquis of Xiping, and the later Mu Ying family of the Duke of Qianguo has the longest inheritance. The Xu Da family still has several experiences of removing the knighthood, and the Mu Ying family has never been interrupted and continues endlessly. From the third year of Hongwu Mu Ying's award of the title of Marquis of Xiping to the death of Mu Tianbo in the fifteenth year of the Yong calendar (1661), the time was as long as 291.
Mu Ying was an orphan that Zhu Yuanzhang met when he returned to his hometown in the thirteenth year of Zhizheng, when Mu Ying was only eight years old, and was adopted as a righteous son by Zhu Yuanzhang. From the age of twelve, he followed Zhu Yuanzhang in his conquests, and in the ninth year of Hongwu, he accompanied Deng Yu on his western expedition and was awarded the title of Marquis of Xiping with military merit. In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, Mu Ying accompanied Fu Youde and Lan Yu to conquer Yunnan, and after Yunnan was pacified, Mu Ying guarded Yunnan. Mu Ying was a man of few words and smiles, his hands could not be released, and he was a good sage and a good priest, who reclaimed farmland and built water conservancy during the period of the town guarding Yunnan to benefit one party. Mu Ying, as an orphan, had extremely deep feelings for Zhu Yuanzhang's family, after empress Ma's death, Mu Ying was sad and vomited blood, after Zhu Biao's death, Mu Ying was sad and sick, and he also died two months later, and Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously named him the King of Qianning. After Mu Ying's death, his son Mu Chun inherited the title of Marquis of Xiping, and Mu Chun died seven years after succeeding to the throne, and his brother Mu Sheng attacked the title. Mu Sheng participated in the Battle of Pingding in the fourth year of Yongle (1406), and was promoted from Marquis Xiping to Duke of Qianguo for his merits. After Mu Sheng, the Mu family guarded Yunnan with the Duke of Qianguo and the general of Zhennan, and the succession of titles also went through several twists and turns, but it has been continued. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the various forces of the Southern Ming Dynasty collapsed one after another, and half of the country and mountains were occupied by the Qing army, and Mu Tianbo fled to Burma with the Yongli Emperor Zhu Youluo, and was killed in the Curse of water initiated by the Burmese nobles. In Jin Yong's novel "Deer Ding", Mu Jianping, the daughter of Mu Tianbo, is the wife of the protagonist Wei Xiaobao, and Mu Tianbo's popularity has also been greatly enhanced by the novel.
Mu Jianping. Source/Screenshot of the TV series "Deer Ding"
In addition to Xu Da and Mu Ying, there was also a person whose title was also passed down from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, and this person was Guo Ying, the Marquis of Wuding. Guo Ying was one of the first twenty-four people to follow Zhu Yuanzhang in Haozhou in the thirteenth year of Zhizheng, Guo Ying was through hundreds of battles, but his merits were inferior to others, until the seventeenth year of Hongwu was awarded the title of Marquis of Wuding for his merits in following Fu Youde to pacify Yunnan. Because Guo Xing and Guo Ying were the brothers of Concubine Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang treated the Guo family very favorably, and after Guo Xing's death, his descendants were stripped of their titles for their involvement in the Hu Weiyong case, while Guo Ying's title of Marquis of Wuding was inherited. In the Wuding Marquis lineage, the most famous is not Guo Ying, but his fifth grandson Guo Xun, unfortunately, this is not a good reputation. Guo Xun attacked the knighthood during the Zhengde period, and in the Jiajing "Great Ceremony Discussion" incident, he firmly sided with the Jiajing Emperor, and was deeply respected by the Jiajing Emperor, and his power was tilted toward the opposition, and he was promoted from Marquis Wuding to Duke of Yi. However, because of his many evil deeds, he was eventually sentenced to death in prison. The History of Ming states that "since the Ming Dynasty, the Xunchen has not been involved in political affairs. Wei Xun was defeated by enmity, arbitrary power, and wanton adultery. A few years later, his son Guo Shouqian attacked the knighthood, and Guo Peimin, the last Marquis of Wuding, died at the hands of the rebels at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Most of the Nobles of Huaixi who followed Zhu Yuanzhang's army died early. The two major families of Xu Da and Mu Ying, which lasted the longest, were preserved because of their good character and the fact that their descendants also contributed to the country, and the Xu Da Wei Guo Gong was famous for his sages, living in Nanjing, and was actually estranged from the government; Mu Ying's lineage in Yunnan, the longest-lived, more or less had the meaning of "Shen Sheng died inside, heavy ears outside and peace". The vortex away from the center of power is also the trick to the continuation of the Meritorious Family.
bibliography:
Records of Ming Taizu
[Ming] Jiao Zhu: "Records of the Tribute of the State Dynasty"
[Qing] Zhang Tingyu: History of the Ming Dynasty
Li Xinfeng, "The Xungui Faction and the Hu Lan Party Case in the Early Ming Dynasty", Chinese Historical Studies, No. 4, 2011.
Yang Wenchun, "Interpretation of "Huaixi" Geographical Names", Journal of Capital Normal University (Social Science Edition), No. 4, 2014.
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Author | Zhao Xuteng