In traditional thinking and theory, morality is always on the side that wins in the end. But sometimes success or failure is not moral, such as the "Battle of Jingjian" launched by Zhu Di the King of Yan during the founding of the Ming Dynasty in China.
Emperor Jianwen was right or wrong, Zhu Di was a big rebel or a small rebellion, in short, Zhu Di eventually won and succeeded the great ruler.
Judging from the final result, morality seems to be on Zhu Di's side. However, after the "Battle of Jingjian" occurred, not to mention that the million-strong "national army" led by Song Zhong, Geng Bingwen, Qu Neng, Sheng Yong, Xu Huizu, etc. on the side of Emperor Jianwen fought hard for three years, just by looking at a few things about a few of them, we can see that some successes and failures have nothing to do with morality:
The Emperor of the Churches died by crashing into a pillar. Wang Province, Jiangxi Jishui people. In the fifth year of Hongwu, Wang Province Zhongxiang tried to raise people. After arriving in Jingshi, the emperor dismissed him from the examination and ordered the officials to confer official positions. Wang Province said that his parents were old and asked to return home to support their parents.
Later, Ming Taizu was personally very satisfied with his examination and said that he should be specially promoted. He also said that he was only a shallow learner and asked to take up a local post. Therefore, he was appointed as the apostle of Fuliang (around Jingdezhen City), that is, a small local official in charge of education.
During the Battle of Jing, the soldiers and horses of Zhu Di the King of Yan arrived in Jiyang, and Wang Province, who served as a teacher for Jiyang, was captured. Wang Province's heroic and generous statement finally moved the Northern Army soldiers to be released and returned home.
Surprisingly, Wang Province did not return home after being released, but gathered his students back to his Minglun Academy and taught his students the last lesson of his life: "Where is the morality that a prince should have now?" I have taught you a lot of things, but you may not know the essence of it. Today I will tell you that the essence of what you have learned lies in the name of the school (understanding ethics), and I hope you will remember it. After saying that, he crashed into the pillar and died.
Tie Hyun looked at death like home. Tie Xuan, Hui, from Dengzhou, Henan. During the Hongwu period, Tie Xuan was selected by Guozisheng to be appointed to the Ministry of Ceremonies (assisting the emperor in handling government affairs, and supervising the officials of the Six Ministries, Zhengqipin), and later transferred to the capital governor's office to judge affairs, and in the early years of Jianwen, he served as a political participant in Shandong.
After the "Battle of Jingjian" occurred, Tie Xuan was responsible for supervising the transportation of grain and wages, and there was no arrears. In April of the following year, Zhu Di defeated Li Jinglong outside Jinan and besieged Jinan. Tie Xuan, who was transporting grain and grass for Li Jinglong's Northern Expedition in other places, heard that Jinan was in danger, so he "rushed to Jinan and made an alliance with Sheng Yong to defend it."
Zhu Di's soldiers shot a letter of persuasion into the city with arrows, and Tie Xuan immediately followed this method and replied after seeing the letter. Zhu Di opened it and saw that it was an article entitled "On the Completion of the King of Zhou Gongfu". Seeing that persuasion could not be achieved, Zhu Di ordered the siege of the city, but the governors of Tie Xuan were determined to hold on to it, so Zhu Di dug the Yellow River embankment to divert water to irrigate the city.
For the safety of the people of Jinan, Tie Xuan sent people to secretly place a jack gate on the city gate and lead the crowd to surrender. Zhu Di did not know whether he planned to order the sergeant to move the camp and retreat, and he rode high on his horse to enter the city and be surrendered. As soon as Zhu Di entered the city gate, the iron gate that had been placed on the arch of the gate slammed down, smashing Zhu Di's horse's head. Zhu Di, who had survived death, was furious and bombarded the city with several cannons.
At the critical moment when the city was about to be breached, Tie Xuan hurriedly hung the portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang at the head of the city, and personally wrote a large number of Zhu Yuanzhang's god lord spirit cards to be placed at the battlements, and Zhu Difang on the "side of the Qing monarch" no longer shelled. During the standoff, Tie Xuan sent surprise troops to harass and attack the Yan army, and "the king of Yan was angry and did nothing", and the city of Jinan was saved.
After Jinan was relieved of the siege, Emperor Huiwen promoted Tie Xuan to the rank of Shangshu of Shandong's political envoy and military department, and praised Li for military assistance to Sheng Yong's Northern Expedition to the Yan army. Tie Xuan and Sheng Yong combined forces to pursue the defeated Yan army with victory, except for the death of Zhang Yu, the first brave general under Zhu Di, and the loss of troops was invincible.
It was only because of Emperor Jianwen's oracle that "do not let Zhu Di kill his uncle's father's name" that Zhu Di was able to escape danger and return to Beiping, "Since he is, the Yan soldiers went south from Xu and Pei, and did not dare to return to Shandong."
After Zhu Di seized the imperial throne, he returned to the north to attack Jinan and set up an ambush to capture Tie Xuan. After Tie Xuan saw Zhu Di, he cursed endlessly and stood without kneeling, and Zhu Di made it impossible to face the north. Annoyed, Zhu Di cut off his ears and nose, cooked them and stuffed them into his mouth and asked him, "How does it taste?" ”
Tie Xuan still did not give in and said sharply: "The meat of the loyal filial son is sweet!" "He was tortured (split limb) and died. Zhu Di ordered the oil pot to be set up left and right to blow Tie Xuan up, and said angrily: "If you live to worship me, you will not be allowed to blow up to ashes, and you must also worship me!" ”
The eunuch hurriedly used the iron rod to clamp the skeleton of the iron hyun to make him turn around, but before he could think of a pop in the oil pot, hot oil splashed out of the pot, making the eunuchs scream. Until the end, Tie Hyun's skeleton did not turn around! It was only thirty-six years old.
Fang Xiaoxiao was condemned to the Ten Tribes. Fang Xiaozi, a native of Ninghai. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu (1382), Fang Xiaozi was summoned by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty. Because of his dignified manners and profound knowledge, Taizu praised him as a rare talent.
However, due to Fang Xiaozi's efforts to advocate benevolent government, Taizu advocated ruling the country with fierceness and was not reused. Despite this, Taizu intended to let Fang Xiaozi assist his descendants in the future, so he appointed Fang Xiaozi as a professor in Hanzhongfu in Shaanxi.
Later Taizu's son Shu Wang Chun heard of his sage and was hired as a Shizi master. After Emperor Hui ascended the throne, he immediately followed Emperor Taizu's posthumous instructions and summoned Fang Xiaoxiao to Beijing to serve as a Hanlin attendant and a Hanlin bachelor.
The edicts and texts of the "Battle of Jing" against King Yan were all written by Fang Xiaozi. After King Yan entered Beijing, the Hundred Palaces of Wenwu raised their hands and disarmed themselves when they saw the wind turning, and Weifang Xiaoxiao refused to change the festival and was arrested and imprisoned.
At that time, Fang Xiaoxiao was already the number one Confucian famous in the world, and his knowledge and morality were praised by the four seas. When Zhu Di raised his army, his adviser Yao Guangxiao told him that Fang Xiaoxiao would never surrender on the day the city was destroyed, but he must not be killed, otherwise the seeds of reading in the world would be extinct.
Zhu Di also intended to borrow Fang Xiaozi to win people's hearts, so he nodded and agreed. Therefore, when the Yan army attacked Nanjing, Zhu Di repeatedly sent people to prison to surrender to Fang Xiaozi, hoping that he would write the new emperor's accession edict.
Fang Xiaoxiao resolutely refused, and Zhu Di sent Xiaoxiao's student Liao Yong and others to persuade, but was reprimanded by Fang Xiaoxiao.
Finally, Zhu Di forcibly sent someone to escort Fang Xiaoxiao to the temple. Fang Xiaoxiao entered with a linen ribbon, and the cry resounded through the hall.
Zhu Di stepped forward to comfort Fang Xiaoxiao and said, "Sir, don't make yourself troubled, my plan is just to emulate the Duke of Zhou and assist Cheng Wang." ”
Fang Xiaozi asked Zhu Di sharply: "Where is King Cheng?" ”
Zhu Di replied: "He died by self-immolation. ”
Fang Xiaozi asked again, "Why didn't you become the son of a king?" ”
Zhu Di said: "The country depends on the adult king. ”
Fang Xiaozi asked again: "Why don't you become the brother of the king?" ”
Zhu Di forcefully said: "This is our Zhu family's business. And gestured left and right to grant Fang Xiaoxiao a pen and paper: "It is not you who show the world."
After Fang Xiaoxiao took the pen and wrote the words "Yan thief usurped the throne", he threw the pen on the ground. Zhu Di saw that Fang Xiaoxiao would rather die unyielding, and immediately threatened him: "Ru ignores the Nine Tribes! ”
Fang Xiaoxiao rebuked without hesitation: "The ten clans are helpless!" ”
Zhu Di was so angry that he ordered people to cut Fang Xiaoxiao from the corner of his mouth to his ear, and Xiaoxiao's face was covered in blood and he still cursed angrily. In the end, Fang Xiaoxiao was sent to death row, and people were sent to search for Fang Xiaozi's relatives.
Fang Xiaozi's wife, Zheng Shi, and two sons hanged themselves, and two daughters threw themselves into the river. Zhu Di was unable to quench his anger after the nine clans of Fang Xiaoxiao were exhausted, so he counted Fang Xiaoxiao's protégés and friends as a clan and executed them.
Each one he caught was brought to Fang Xiaoxiao, making him watch a thousand cuts. "The curse of filial piety and the ten tribes is also exciting. The more fierce the killing, the more the killing is more and more intense, as for the broken tongue and broken bones, Emperor Zhanzong burns the tomb and ignores it."
A total of 873 people were killed for seven days, and more than thousands were imprisoned or exiled. After more than 800 people were killed, it was Fang Xiaozi's turn, and he was executed by five horses and then dismantled his bones and abandoned it.
However, before the execution, Fang Xiaoxiao said: "The heavens descend chaotically, and the reason is known, and the three principles are translocated and the four dimensions are not repaired." Flesh and blood kill each other's relatives as enemies, and traitors have to plot against the country and use Jews. The loyal courtiers exchanged blood and tears in anger, so as to martyr the king, and what could they ask for." Fang Xiaoxiao was only forty-six years old when he became righteous, and he was the only person in history to be condemned by the Ten Tribes.
Three people briefly said three things, which are intended to illustrate: morality is related to success or failure, but success or failure does not necessarily come from morality!
The Battle of Yasuka was originally a war within the ruling class (or a family) for the throne. Zhu Di seized Zhu Yunjiang's imperial throne, but remained in the Ming Dynasty after the seizure. The "Battle of Jingjian" was caused by Zhu Di the King of Yan being dissatisfied with Emperor Jianwen's reduction of the domain, and Zhu Di continued to reduce the domain after he ascended the throne.
However, why did a small education official (or teacher) die by hitting a pillar, a local politician was condemned to death, and a great Confucian was condemned to the Ten Ethnic Groups for this?
They became victims of internal strife among the feudal ruling class, but Ji Xianlin, an internationally renowned master of oriental studies, once said: In the culture inherited by Chinese intellectuals, its essence has two distinctive characteristics, one is patriotism, and the other is to stress backbone and integrity.
In other words, not bowing one's head in the face of the unjust actions of the imperial general; On the other hand, do not bow your head in front of the axe of an external enemy, "mighty and unyielding."
However, since ancient times, there have been many who do not bow their heads in front of the axes of foreign enemies, and there are very few who do not bow their heads in the face of unjust acts of imperial generals or even district leaders.
The little teacher Wang Province, the local official Tie Xuan, and his great Confucian Fang Xiaoxiao are just a few of these few. They dare not bow their heads in the face of the unjust acts of the emperor, and dare to stand up in the face of non-morality, I think it all stems from the word morality!