Text/Zeng Zhaoan
At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the society was in turmoil and the people were not happy, because the imperial court stipulated that the Mongols could enjoy all the property of the Han and other ethnic groups without labor, and if they "accidentally" killed someone, or even as long as they lost a donkey, it would be over, plus heavy taxes and disasters, this life was simply impossible.
During this period, Zhu Yuanzhang was born, although his family was a peasant family, but because everyone was diligent and willing to work, life was barely passable. However, he encountered hateful corrupt officials, who often came to his house to ask for money and food, which made his family's life worse and worse every year.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was 15 years old, drought, locust plague and plague occurred in Haozhou (ancient place name, Zhu Yuanzhang's birthplace, his seat is in present-day Fengyang County, Anhui Province), and in just 14 days, Zhu Yuanzhang's father, eldest brother and mother died one after another. Zhu Yuanzhang and his second brother were in pain and wanted to bury their relatives well.
But because they were so poor, they couldn't even afford a coffin, so they could only wrap the remains of several relatives in torn clothes and hastily bury them. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was filled with grief and indignation, and he secretly decided to change all this. But how easy is change? After burying his parents and eldest brother, Zhu Yuanzhang was forced to separate from his second brother and began his own life in exile. He worked as a monk, worked as a beggar, and lived a life of eating the last meal but not the next. The most serious time was in the cold winter moon, the wind and snow, he was thinly dressed, he had not eaten for several days, he was cold and hungry, and he fainted in a broken temple.
After sleeping for a long time, an old beggar saved him with the "thousand family meal" he was asking for. Zhu Yuanzhang woke up and felt that this was the most delicious meal he had ever eaten in his life. He asked the old beggar what he had just eaten. The old beggar didn't want to say that he was asking for leftovers from multiple families, so he came up with a nice name in a hurry: "pearl jade white jade soup" one by one, because the hybrid meal included cabbage gangs, spinach leaves (jade), dried tofu (white jade) and leftover rice (pearls). Since then, in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, he remembered this meal.
Soon after, Zhu Yuanzhang defected to Guo Zixing, the leader of the Red Turban Army in the Jianghuai region of the rebel army, became a soldier under him, and began a new life of his own.
Zhu Yuanzhang fought heroically, repeatedly made battle merits, was reused, and acted alone.
In 1353, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his hometown to recruit troops, recruited his good friends from his youth, strengthened his own power, and began to raise troops in the Northern Expedition in 1367 to overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
In the following year (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang won the world, founded the Ming Dynasty, became the founding emperor (Ming Taizu), ate all the delicacies of the mountains and seas and other human delicacies, but always felt that there was no taste of the "pearl jade white jade soup", he asked the famous chef of the imperial meal in the palace, needless to say, even the name has never heard of it. So Emperor Zhu ordered people to post notices everywhere, looking for the person who could make "pearl jade white jade soup". With great difficulty, his subordinates finally found the old beggar back then, so that Zhu Yuanzhang drank the soup that he could not forget in his dreams, so Long Yan was happy and wanted to keep the old beggar in the palace to make soup for him. The old beggar smiled and politely rejected him, saying that he was still suitable for living an ordinary life for ordinary people. Zhu Yuanzhang did not embarrass him, rewarded him with many gold and silver treasures, and promised him to have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life.
It can be seen that giving alms and helping others is also very knowledgeable. What recipients want most is the best. When people are in trouble and helpless, they feel especially grateful for receiving even a small amount of funding. Therefore, we should do more good deeds and good deeds. In this way, true friendship can be obtained and long-term gratitude can be generated.