In the third year of Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (1370 AD), Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was awarded the title of Meritorious Servant, this time, he was given a total of six dukes, twenty-eight marquises, and second uncles, a total of 36 titles. Among them, the most prominent status is the "Six Dukes". Most people believe that the "Six Dukes" of the founding of the Ming Dynasty refer to 6 people, namely: Xu Da, Li Shanchang, Chang Mao, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, and Deng Yu. In fact, in a strict sense, the founding "six dukes" are not 6 people, but 7 people.
In the "Six Dukes", Li Shanchang was a courtier, Xu Da, Deng Yu, and Feng Sheng were military generals, and Chang Mao was the heir to the title of his father Chang Yuchun (deceased). The most special is Li Wenzhong, who was a fierce general in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also the nephew of Zhu Yuanzhang. When Zhu Yuanzhang was a great meritorious hero, Li Wenzhong was named the Duke of Cao Guo, but Li Wenzhong was not the only one who was named the Duke of Cao Guo. Because Li Wenzhong's father and Zhu Yuanzhang's brother-in-law Li Zhen was also given the title of Duke of Cao. In zhu Yuanzhang's words, this is called "father and son are the same lord". That is to say, in the "Six Dukes" in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the title of "Duke of Cao Guo" was actually Li Zhen and Li Wenzhong's father and son. However, Li Wenzhong's merits were far greater than those of his father, so that posterity rarely mentioned Li Zhen.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zhen, Li Wenzhong, and Li Jinglong were extremely popular for a while, and Li Wenzhong was posthumously awarded the title of Duke of Cao during his lifetime, and was posthumously awarded the title of Prince of Qiyang. In this article, the author will introduce Li Wenzhong to you, hoping to restore Zhu Yuanzhang' famous nephew through historical materials.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > first, Bao'er into Chuyang, Taizu regarded himself out</h1>
The Biography of Ming Shi Li Wenzhong records:
Li Wenzhong, Zi Siben, Xiaozi Bao'er, Xuyi Ren, Taizu Sister Ziye.
Li Wenzhong, nicknamed Bao'er, is a native of Xuyi, Jiangsu, and his mother is Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang took the word "Si Ben" for Li Wenzhong, which was even more meaningful.
As we all know, Zhu Yuanzhang was born into a poor family, and his parents were honest tenants. Zhu Yuanzhang had three brothers and two sisters, after the death of his parents, 6 of their brothers and sisters, or died, or were separated, Zhu Yuanzhang was helpless in his childhood, and had to rely on begging and entering the temple to fill his stomach.
In the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Red Turban Rebellion broke out, and Zhu Yuanzhang joined the Red Turban Army in Haozhou, and became Guo Zixing's son-in-law because he was appreciated by Guo Zixing. In the thirteenth year of the Yuan Shun Emperor (1353), Zhu Yuanzhang broke away from Guo Zixing, went south to Dingyuan, and began to establish his own portal. In the process, Zhu Yuanzhang sent people to search for his lost relatives many times, but to no avail. The following year, Zhu Yuanzhang conquered Chuzhou, and his reputation was greatly enhanced, and Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew Zhu Wenzheng and nephew Li Wenzhong came to defect one after another.
According to the Records of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's second brother-in-law, Li Zhenben, was a native of Xuyi, Sizhou. Li Zhen has a thick personality, and his family has a few acres of thin fields. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang's parents married their daughter Zhu Shi to Li Zhen, who was 14 years older than her, because of the difficulty of making a living. Therefore, Li Zhen also took great care of Zhu Yuanzhang's family. In the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, when the rebels entered Huaidong, "Zhen took refuge in Huaidong" because of his family, Li Zhen took his family to Huaidong for refuge, and since then he has lost contact with Zhu Yuanzhang's family. When Li Wenzhong was 12 years old, Zhu Shi died of illness, and 3 years later, Li Zhen heard that his brother-in-law Zhu Yuanzhang was in Chuzhou, and only then did he go to defect. The Ming Taizu Shilu Li Zhen records:
For a long time, smelling that in Chuyang, he took his young son Wen Zhong to the west, went in and out of the chaotic soldiers, grazed and slept, and could not survive, day and night, hoping to protect the father and son. More than One month, the first to Chuyang to see the upper, when the first noon winter ten february also.
At that time, during the turmoil in Huaixi, Li Zhen and his son hid in the grass, went out day and night, walked for a month, and died nine times before reaching Chuzhou, which was very difficult. After Zhu Yuanzhang saw Li Zhen's father and son, Fang knew that the second sister was dead, and Zhu Yuanzhang was sad and cherished his nephew Li Wenzhong even more. The History of the Ming Dynasty records:
Taizu saw Bao'er, was very happy, and thought that he was a son, so that he would follow his own surname.
Zhu Yuanzhang regarded his nephew as his own, not only personally raised him, but also let his nephew follow his surname, from the "Wen" character generation, named Zhu Wenzhong, the character Si ben. In order to facilitate everyone's reading, the author will still use the name "Li Wenzhong".
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had more than a dozen adopted sons around him, such as Zhu Wenying (Mu Ying), Zhu Wenhui (He Wenhui), etc., but Zhu Yuanzhang's most important children were Zhu Wenzheng and Li Wenzhong (at this time, it should be called "Zhu Wenzhong", the same below). Zhu Wenzheng was 3 years older than Li Wenzhong, and was the first to enter the battlefield, but later died of rebellion and was imprisoned by Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Wenzhong, on the other hand, followed Zhu Yuanzhang on his southern expeditions to the north and became one of the six founding dukes of the Ming Dynasty.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="117" > second, the teenager is on the battlefield, and xiao yong wins the generals</h1>
Li Wenzhong defected to Zhu Yuanzhang at the age of 15, Zhu Yuanzhang asked a famous teacher to teach Li Wenzhong to learn literature and martial arts, and 4 years later, when Li Wenzhong was 19 years old, he went to the battlefield for the first time, and in the Battle of Chizhou, Li Wenzhong was a blockbuster.
According to the "Ming Chronicle at the End of the Chronicle":
Taizu Ping Han Yuan Shun Emperor to the seventeenth year of the winter and October, Chang Yuchun, Liao Yong'an, Wu Zhen, etc., from Tongling to advance into Chizhou.
In the seventeenth year of Zhengzheng (1357), after zhu yuanzhang occupied Nanjing, he continued to expand to southern Anhui and eastern Zhejiang, and in October of that year, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Chang Yuchun, Liao Yong'an, Wu Zhen and others from Tongling to plan to capture Chizhou. Not long ago, Xu Shouhui had just sent Chen Youyu and Zhao Pusheng to take Chizhou from the Yuan Dynasty. Although Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Shouhui were both rebels, in order to seize territory, they fought hard in Chizhou. However, Chang Yuchun initially lacked troops and did not take advantage of it, so he had to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for help.
Since Xu Da was attacking Changzhou and Hu Dahai was attacking Huizhou at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had no generals to send around, so he sent his nephew Li Wenzhong to lead troops to support Chang Yuchun. Li Wenzhong was zhu Yuanzhang's housekeeper at that time, and he had no experience in leading the army independently, which could be described as a "newborn calf".
The newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, and Li Wenzhong's performance after arriving in Chizhou has impressed Chang Yuchun and other fierce people, and the Biography of Ming Shi Li Wenzhong records:
In the nineteenth year, Yi Sheren's generals pro-army, from aiding Chizhou, broke the sky to complete the army, and Xiao Yong crowned the generals.
A sentence of "Xiao Yong crowns the generals" can be seen li Wenzhong's performance at that time, especially in front of Chang Yuchun, which can show Li Wenzhong's toughness.
Zhu Yuanzhang had planned to recall Li Wenzhong to Nanjing after the Battle of Chizhou, but he did not expect Li Wenzhong to be so brave, zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed, and immediately sent Li Wenzhong to attack Qingyang, Shidai, Taiping, and Jingde, and Li Wenzhong took only one month to capture the above four cities. Subsequently, Li Wenzhong turned eastward, entered the Zhejiang territory, attacked Chun'an at night, swept the caves like a plough, directly attacked Jiande with Deng Yu's division, and then assisted Hu Dahai in taking Zhuji from Zhang Shicheng.
Li Wenzhong's expedition from Anhui to Zhejiang lasted half a year, conquering more than ten prefectures and counties, and recruiting more than 30,000 enemy generals. For a "newcomer" who has just entered the battlefield, such a record is really too impressive. Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed and promoted Li Wenzhong to the position of "Commander of the Left Deputy Capital and Consul of the Marshal's Office in front of the account".
Before Li Wenzhong defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, he was just a young man who had suffered a lot, and under Zhu Yuanzhang's personal cultivation, Li Wenzhong was not just a xiao general, because he was also a "wise general", and there were two things that could explain Li Wenzhong's cleverness:
The first thing, Zhang Shicheng sent an army of 100,000 to attack YanZhou, and as a result, Li Wenzhong thought of a strategy of combining the inside and the outside, "Ming Shi" Yun:
The East Gate of the Imperial Family, so that the other general will go out of the small north gate, and the middle road will attack it, and the big break will be struck.
Zhang Shicheng was defeated, and his heart was extremely angry, a month later, Zhang Shicheng sent troops to attack for the second time, Li Wenzhong was now "broken again" in Dalangtan, Zhang Shicheng rested and fought again, Li Wenzhong "defeated it again, and beheaded the marshal of the land", from then on, Zhang Shicheng's army finally knew that Li Wenzhong was not a stinking green teenager, but a rare general. The Biography of Ming Shi Li Wenzhong records that from then on, "Shi Cheng did not dare to spy on Yan Zhou" ( ) .
The second thing, the Ming Shi Yun:
Wu Bing attacked Zhuquan with 100,000 squares... Re-enlisting the reinforcements, Wen Zhongbing was unable to respond. Hui Taizu sent Shao Rong to deal with the state chaos, and Wen Zhongnai threatened Xu Youcheng and Shao Pingzhang to carve the army into the sun. Wu Jun heard the fear and plotted to escape at night.
This means that Zhang Shicheng sent an army of 100,000 to attack Zhuji, when the Zhuji garrison general Xie Zaixing (Xu Da's father-in-law) asked Li Wenzhong for help, and Li Wenzhong's army was widowed, so he spread false news to the outside world, saying that Xu Youcheng (Xu Da) and Shao Pingzhang (Shao Rong) would soon come, and Zhang Shicheng's army heard about it and fled overnight. Xu Da and Shao Rong were the two most courageous generals in Zhu Yuanzhang's early days, and Li Wenzhong borrowed the name of the two to win without a fight, which can be described as great wisdom.
In the early days of his military career, Li Wenzhong's greatest credit was actually to deal with the next "Mutiny in Chuzhou".
In the early days of entrepreneurship, Zhu Yuanzhang was very important to Hu Dahai. Hu Dahai was an all-rounder of literature and martial arts, and almost single-handedly extended Zhu Yuanzhang's influence to eastern Zhejiang. If Hu Dahai could live to the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he would certainly be able to rank among the dukes. Unfortunately, in the seventeenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1357), Hu Dahai was assassinated, and the person who killed him, named Jiang Ying, was a traitor.
At first, Hu Dahai surrendered to the Miao general Jiang Ying, but he did not think that Jiang Ying was plotted by Zhang Shicheng to rebel, surrendered and rebelled, killed Hu Dahai in Jinhua, and instructed his subordinates to kill Hu Dahai's deputy general Geng Zaicheng in Chuzhou, and then defected to Zhang Shicheng, which is known in history as the "Chuzhou Mutiny". The mutiny in Chuzhou caused Zhu Yuanzhang's situation in eastern Zhejiang to get out of control in an instant, and Zhu Yuanzhang's years of operation in eastern Zhejiang were about to be destroyed. At this time, Li Wenzhong appeared in time to save the situation. History:
Miao killed Jiang Ying and Liu Zhen to rebel against Jinhua. Wen Zhongzhi will shoot them away and personally soothe their people. The Miao army in Chuzhou also killed Geng and rebelled. Wen Zhong sent Tun Jinyun to figure it out. Worship Zhejiang Dongxing Province Zuo Cheng, the general system of Yan, Qu, Xin, Division, Zhu quan military.
Li Wenzhong was in Yanzhou at the time, adjacent to Chuzhou, and after he learned that Hu Dahai had been killed, he did not have time to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for advice, so he rushed out with all his subordinates, and Li Wenzhong killed the rebel general with thunder and pacified Jinhua and Chuzhou. Then, Li Wenzhong and Enwei quickly stabilized the generals who were unstable. This year, Li Wenzhong was only 23 years old.
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly heard of Hu Dahai's death, and there was chaos in eastern Zhejiang, and his heart was confused for a while. Later, when he heard that Li Wenzhong had pacified eastern Zhejiang, he was overjoyed. He immediately ordered Li Wenzhong to be appointed as "Zuo Cheng of the Eastern Province of Zhejiang" and succeeded Hu Dahai. It took Li Wenzhong only 4 years from a fledgling to help Zhu Yuanzhang dominate one side and become a feudal official with his own ability.
Many people believe that the reason why Li Wenzhong became famous at a young age and became one of the six founding dukes of the country was because he was the nephew of Zhu Yuanzhang. In my opinion, such a conclusion is not comprehensive. It is undeniable that without Zhu Yuanzhang's relationship, it would be difficult for Li Wenzhong to get ahead. But Zhu Yuanzhang only provided convenience for Li Wenzhong, and it was he himself who really made Li Wenzhong have something to do. Without his bloody struggle on the front line, he would not have been able to obtain the title of "Duke of Cao", let alone be posthumously awarded the title of King of Qiyang.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="134" > third, the young marshal is a nobleman, and the righteous son becomes a nephew</h1>
In the twenty-fifth year of Zhengzheng (1365), when Chen Youyu was dead, Zhang Shicheng knew that there would be a battle between himself and Zhu Yuanzhang, and it was better to take the initiative to attack than to be beaten passively. Therefore, Zhang Shicheng sent marshal Li Bosheng to lead a 200,000-strong army to attack Xincheng (Zhujinan, Zhejiang), and it was Li Wenzhong who was stationed here. At that time, Li Wenzhong's soldiers and horses were far inferior to Li Bosheng's, and the general Hu Deji advised Li Wenzhong: "Now that the enemy's momentum is too fierce, our army should stand firm and wait for help." After Hearing this, Li Wenzhong was displeased, and he summoned the generals and said:
"Soldiers are not in the crowd, the others are proud, I am few and sharp, with sharpness meets arrogance, I will be able to overcome!" (From the Ming Shi Vol. 126, the same below)
After the soldiers listened, their confidence was doubled, and in the early morning of the next day, Li Wenzhong took advantage of the fog to fight Li Bosheng in a decisive battle, and Li Wenzhong dispatched his troops and came out of the nest.
The fog opened slightly, and Wen Zhong led the iron to ride dozens of horses, riding a high horse, rushing into the backbone. The enemy surrounded Wen Zhong with fine horses. Wen Zhong's hands killed many people, and they rode and rushed, and they were invincible in all directions. The army took advantage of it, and the soldiers in the city also roared out, and the enemy collapsed.
This means that in the fog, everyone could not see each other's fighting situation clearly, and when the fog gradually receded, everyone saw Li Wenzhong on horseback, with dozens of relatives and enemy soldiers fighting hand-to-hand, he rushed left and right, and personally killed many enemy troops. The soldiers were deeply encouraged, and their shouts were tremendous, and they defeated Li Bosheng in one fell swoop. The end of the war was - "dozens of miles to the north, beheading tens of thousands of levels, and the stream is red."
Li Wenzhong's battle completely hit his own momentum, and Zhang Shicheng never dared to take the initiative to attack again. Zhu Yuanzhang was in Wuchang at the time, and he specially summoned Li Wenzhong to the garrison, set up a banquet to comfort Li Wenzhong, and gave him the imperial clothes and horses, which was very gratifying.
The following year, Zhu Yuanzhang made a plan to destroy Wu and ordered Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and others to attack Zhang Shicheng. Zhu Yuanzhang gave Li Wenzhong the task of containing the enemy in the Hangzhou area. Li Wenzhong did not fail in his mission, successively conquered Tonglu, Xincheng, Fuyang, and finally entered Yuhang and went straight to Hangzhou. After the capture of Hangzhou, an incident occurred, and the History of the Ming Dynasty records:
A pawn borrowed a people's cauldron, and cut it down, and the city was calm.
This means that one of Li Wenzhong's soldiers took away the iron pot of the people, and Li Wenzhong did not say a word and immediately beheaded the soldier for public display. This incident had a great impact, Li Wenzhong's generals did not commit any crimes after entering the city, and the people of Hangzhou also had a new understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang's army.
This incident is enough to show that although Li Wenzhong fought fiercely, he ruled the army very strictly.
At the end of that year, Zhang Shicheng was besieged in Suzhou by Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, and Zhu Yuanzhang, seeing that the overall situation had been decided, gave an order to Li Wenzhong:
On Jia Ronglu Dafu, Zhejiang Province Pingzhangshi, the surname of Li.
Zhu Yuanzhang's order had three meanings, the first was to give Li Wenzhong an official position (Jia Ronglu Dafu); the second was to give Li Wenzhong the power to put him in charge of the affairs of a province in Zhejiang; and the third was to let Li Wenzhong change his surname to Li (previously changed to Zhu Wenzhong by Zhu Yuanzhang).
The author believes that the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang let Li Wenzhong return to his original surname was two considerations:
First, Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister is Li Wenzhong's only seedling, and now that Li Wenzhong has become famous, let him return to his original surname, which is also an account for the second sister.
Second, Zhu Yuanzhang has planned to be called emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son Zhu Biao is already 12 years old, if Li Wenzhong is still surnamed Zhu, he will definitely occupy the name of Zhu Yuanzhang's "righteous son", which will lead to the succession of the throne and the lack of distinction between the elder and the young, causing the disaster of Xiao Wall. Therefore, it is very necessary for Li Wenzhong to remove the Zhu surname label.
In this way, Li Wenzhong became Zhu Yuanzhang's righteous son again as his nephew. The name "Li Wenzhong" began to appear in the history books.
In 1368 (the first year of Hongwu), Zhu Yuanzhang officially proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing, and Li Wenzhong personally went to Nanjing to pay tribute, and soon after, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Li Wenzhong north to assist Xu Da and Chang Yuchun in the Northern Expedition. Li Wenzhong made many contributions under Chang Yuchun, and Chang Yuchun praised him. In the second year of Hongwu, Li Wenzhong attacked the Shangdu capital of Northern Yuan with Chang Yuchun, and Emperor Yuanshun was forced to flee. Unfortunately, on the way back to the dynasty, Chang Yuchun died of spring illness in Liuhechuan. Li Wenzhong was ordered to succeed Chang Yuchun and return to Nanjing with a large army.
In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang once again sent Xu Da to the Northern Expedition, Li Wenzhong was appointed deputy marshal, and Xu Dabing marched north in two ways. At that time, Emperor Yuanshun was dead, his son Yuan Zhaozong xinli, Li Wenzhong was like a broken bamboo, all the way to Yingchang, Yuan Zhaozong canghuang fled north, Li Wenzhong surrendered nearly 40,000 Mongol soldiers in one fell swoop, and captured Yuan Zhaozong's eldest son Li Bala, which was the first time since Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition that he captured the heir to the throne of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. When the news reached Nanjing, Zhu Yuanzhang was excited, and when the army returned to the dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang personally went to the Fengtian Gate to greet him.
At that time, some people even thought that Li Wenzhong's contribution to the Northern Expedition was the greatest, far beyond marshal Xu Da. However, Zhu Yuanzhang still respected Xu Da as the first merit, but did not suppress Li Wenzhong. During the great feudal service, Li Wenzhong became one of the "Six Dukes" of the founding of the country and was named the Duke of Cao, and the Biography of Li Wenzhong of the Ming Dynasty records:
Granted the founding of the auxiliary transport of the Tui Cheng Xuanli Wuchen, special into the Ronglu Doctor, the Right Pillar State, the Left Governor of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, the Duke of Fengcao, the Tongzhi Military State Affairs, the Food Lu 3,000 Stones, and the Shi Coupon.
Zhu Yuanzhang's reward for Li Wenzhong was very special, that is, "tongzhi military and state affairs."
That is to say, in addition to giving Li Wenzhong the title of knighthood, Feng Lu, and death-free iron coupons, Zhu Yuanzhang also gave Li Wenzhong the power to continue to control the army. This treatment, except for a few people such as Xu Da, was not in the rewards of others.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="148" >4, posthumously presented to the King of Qiyang, death is strange</h1>
After Li Wenzhong was made the Duke of Cao, he was still active in the court. In the fifth year of Hongwu and xu da's third northern expedition, Li Wenzhong continued to serve as deputy commander. In the sixth year of Hongwu, Li Wenzhong defeated the Mongol army at Beiping. In the seventh year of Hongwu, Li Wenzhong went out of the blockade and captured more than 20 Northern Yuan officials at once.
In the years that followed, Li Wenzhong was always involved in major military operations of the Ming Dynasty. According to Zhu Yuanzhang's cultivation direction, Li Wenzhong is very likely to succeed Xu Da and become the pillar of the Ming Dynasty's defense against foreign enemies. However, Zhu Yuanzhang miscalculated, because a year before Xu Da's death, Li Wenzhong fell ill and died, and Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously honored him as the King of Qiyang.
Regarding Li Wenzhong's death, the history books are more vague, but after Li Wenzhong's death, Zhu Yuanzhang's performance is puzzling, and the Biography of Li Wenzhong in the Ming Shi Li Wenzhong records:
Sixteen years of winter, he fell ill. The emperor personally came to see and made Hou Huazhong of Huai'an take care of medicine. He died in March next year, at the age of forty-six. The emperor suspected poisoning, degraded the lord, and let his family belong to Jianchangwei, and all the doctors and wives were beheaded.
This means that in the winter of the sixteenth year of Hongwu (1383), Li Wenzhong fell ill, and Zhu Yuanzhang personally visited Li Wenzhong's home and asked Hou Huazhong of Huai'an (son of Marquis Hua Yunlong of Huai'an) to personally adjust Li Wenzhong's medicine. In March of the following year (1384), Li Wenzhong died at the age of 46.
After Li Wenzhong's death, Zhu Yuanzhang suspected that someone had poisoned him, and not only degraded Huazhong, but also killed all the tai doctors and their families who had treated Li Wenzhong.
Looking at the process of Li Wenzhong's illness and death, there are three doubts:
First, Li Wenzhong was only 45 years old when he fell ill, and his eldest son Li Jinglong was already an adult, and there was no shortage of sick people around him, so why did Zhu Yuanzhang let a foreign surname Hou Ye (Marquis Huazhong of Huai'an) personally adjust Li Wenzhong's medicine. After all, central China has a knighthood, and Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangement is extremely unreasonable. Could it be that central China is in the name of conditioning and surveillance?
Second, it is already mentioned in the text that Li Wenzhong fell ill in the winter of the sixteenth year of Hongwu and died of illness in March of the following year, that is, the seventeenth year of Hongwu. Since it was clearly mentioned that Li Wenzhong was ill, why did Zhu Yuanzhang still suspect that Li Wenzhong was poisoned? Didn't Li Wenzhong get sick in the first place?
Third, taking a step back, even if Zhu Yuanzhang had doubts, he should still try the Tai Doctor. Even if you kill a few Tai Doctors in a fit of anger, you shouldn't kill all of Tai Doctor's family, right? Is Zhu Yuanzhang's approach hiding something?
The author is not in a hurry to draw conclusions, and then shows you another piece of historical data. The "Deeds of the Beginning of the Nation" records:
Wen Zhong guarded Yan Prefecture and took the prostitute Han Shi to stay at home. Taizu knew it, and sent someone to rebuke Han Shi and summon Wen Zhong to question him. The empress advised and reinstated Yan Prefecture. At that point, the Confucian priests Zhao Bozong and Song Ruzhang took the opportunity to say to Wen Zhong, saying: "If you go back here, if you can't get it back again." When the early figure is. ”
This incident probably occurred around the twenty-third year of the Yuan Dynasty, that is, shortly after Li Wenzhong's "Mutiny in Chuzhou".
What is meant above is that when Li Wenzhong was guarding Yanzhou, he once had an affair with a prostitute surnamed Han. This incident seriously violated military discipline, and Zhu Yuanzhang was furious. In order to solve the matter, Zhu Yuanzhang not only killed Han Shi, but also planned to summon Li Wenzhong back to Nanjing to question him. However, Li Wenzhong had just left Yanzhou, and due to the dissuasion of Zhu Yuanzhang's wife Ma Shi, Zhu Yuanzhang finally felt sorry for his nephew, and dispelled the idea of questioning Li Wenzhong, allowing Li Wenzhong to return to Yanzhou.
When Li Wenzhong received the order, he had to return to Yan Prefecture, he did not know that Zhu Yuanzhang had lost his temper, and his heart was very afraid. At this time, his two advisers, Zhao Bozong and Song Ruzhang, said to Li Wenzhong: "This time you are fortunate to be back, if there is a next time, you will definitely not be able to come back, it is better for you to make plans earlier." ”
Zhao Bozong and Song Ruzhang meant that Li Wenzhong should not bet all the treasure on Zhu Yuanzhang, but should leave a way back for himself.
In fact, Zhao and Song were not alarmist, Zhu Yuanzhang's military discipline was strict, and although Li Wenzhong was his nephew, it did not mean that he would not kill Li Wenzhong. A year ago, before Hu Dahai died, Hu Dahai's only son, Hu Sanshe, violated military regulations and secretly drank alcohol in the army, and everyone thought that Zhu Yuanzhang would look at Hu Dahai's face and spare Hu Sanshe, after all, Hu Dahai only had this one son, and he did not think that Zhu Yuanzhang would kill Hu Sanshe without saying a word.
Therefore, when Zhao Bozong and Song Ruzhang gave Li Wenzhong an idea, Li Wenzhong, fearing Zhu Yuanzhang, felt that this idea was feasible. Next, what did Li Wenzhong do? According to the "Deeds of the Beginning of the Kingdom", Li Wenzhong immediately sent the strategist Zhao Bozong to Hangzhou secretly to find Zhang Shicheng's general Zhang Hao and discuss "getting along". In other words, Li Wenzhong intended to surrender to Zhang Shicheng.
Just when Li Wenzhong was planning to defect to Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Yuanzhang had news on his side. Zhu Yuanzhang sent someone with a handwritten letter to Li Wenzhong, appeased Li Wenzhong, and then rewarded Li Wenzhong with horses and silver. Let Li Wenzhong be at ease and guard Yanzhou. Only then did Li Wenzhong know that Zhu Yuanzhang had long since stopped being angry with him. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang was his uncle, and he definitely wanted to continue to follow Zhu Yuanzhang. But he had already sent someone to contact Zhang Shicheng, and if this matter was known to Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Wenzhong would certainly not have good fruit. Tangled, Li Wenzhong decided to kill the two strategists who gave him advice. "The Deeds of the Beginning of the Nation" Cloud:
Wen Zhongzhi paid Bozong and so on with books, and feasted on them. Make it drunk... Throw Bozong, Ruzhang, etc. into the water.
Since the two strategists were secretly killed by Li Wenzhong's men, the matter may have been temporarily covered up. But there is no impermeable wall in the world, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, will this matter reach Zhu Yuanzhang's ears?
Let's look at another historical material, according to the "Biography of Ming Shi Li Jinglong":
Jinglong, small character Jiujiang... Taizu number belongs to it, and he has been knighted for nineteen years.
Li Jinglong was the eldest son of Li Wenzhong, and after Li Wenzhong's death, he inherited the title of Duke of Cao. Because of his performance in the Battle of Jingnan, he was too "nested", so he was notorious. In fact, during the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang was still good to Li Jinglong. However, Zhu Yuanzhang's edict to Li Jinglong reads:
Non-intellectual, non-modest, several tired of the community, the body inevitably and self-destructive... And its mistakes of the predecessors, Paul rich!
The general meaning of this sentence is: let you attack the knight, not because you are "wise", nor because you are "humble", but because your family has made great contributions to Daming for generations. As long as you absorb the faults of your predecessors, I will certainly keep your family rich.
The "predecessor" here means something. Because this sentence comes from Li Jinglong's canonized edict, the so-called "predecessor" is most likely referring to Li Wenzhong, the father of Li Jinglong.
Through the above materials, the author speculates whether there is a possibility: in the last two years of Li Wenzhong's life, Zhu Yuanzhang learned that he had secretly communicated with Zhang Shicheng and was furious. However, in order to save the Li clan, Zhu Yuanzhang secretly ordered Hou Huazhong of Huai'an to keep Li Wenzhong under surveillance, claiming that Li Wenzhong was seriously ill. Later, Li Wenzhong may have really fallen ill due to fear, and the treatment was ineffective and died. In order to cover up the truth of the matter, Zhu Yuanzhang wiped out all the Taiyi and his family members. However, after killing Taiyi, it was important to explain it, so he claimed that taiyi had poisoned him.
This inference is not a fallacy, but a lesson from the past, when Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew Zhu Wenzheng also had two hearts, Zhu Yuanzhang imprisoned Zhu Wenzheng and died, but treated Zhu Wenzheng's son Zhu Shouqian kindly. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Shouqian the King of Jingjiang, and in the edict to Zhu Shouqian, there were also words such as "Er Father does not teach and forget the difficulties of the past", which is very similar to the words in Li Jinglong's knighthood edict.
Therefore, the author believes that although the above inference about Li Wenzhong's outcome does not have the most direct evidence, it is still very likely.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="159" > five, the amount of instrument is heavy and macro, and people are unpredictable</h1>
The History of Ming once commented on Li Wenzhong:
Wen Zhongqi weighs Heavy Hong, and people are unpredictable.
This means that Li Wenzhong's instrument is huge, and others do not know his margins. It can be seen that Li Wenzhong, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, was definitely a dragon and phoenix among people.
Throughout Li Wenzhong's life, he lost his mother at the age of 12, and at the age of 15, he defected with his father to his uncle Zhu Yuanzhang, and was regarded by Zhu Yuanzhang as his own. Under the cultivation of Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Wenzhong became a generation of famous generals and made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Like his uncle Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Wenzhong had an unhappy childhood, but eventually became a great instrument. Zhu Yuanzhang once described his relationship with Li Wenzhong:
"If you divide the emperors and subjects, if you are in love, your uncles and nephews are also, and if you are in favor, your father and son are also."
It is precisely because Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Wenzhong have a variety of relationships such as monarchs, uncles, fathers and sons, so Zhu Yuanzhang has always attached great importance to Li Wenzhong. So, how should we view Li Wenzhong?
The author believes that the evaluation of a historical figure cannot be separated from the cultural environment and historical background in which he is located.
Therefore, the author believes that from the perspective of human nature, feudal society pays attention to "loyalty is the supreme virtue of the world", Zhu Yuanzhang has great kindness to Li Wenzhong, if Li Wenzhong really had the intention of betraying Zhu Yuanzhang, this is not just a simple matter of "rebelling against the king with his subjects", but more of an "ungrateful", if so, Li Wenzhong will obviously be despised by history. But if Li Wenzhong had not betrayed Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang's posthumous title of Li Wenzhong and his reward for Li Jinglong would also be worthy of Li Wenzhong.
From a historical point of view, regardless of whether Li Wenzhong ever betrayed Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Wenzhong fought for Zhu Yuanzhang in the south and the north, and his outstanding military achievements should be remembered by the Ming Dynasty. In other words, even if Li Wenzhong really had two hearts, his merits should not be forgotten.
History is exploratory, but also dialectical, and Li Wenzhong, the king of Qiyang in the Ming Dynasty, was a man who could sing and cry, but also pity and pity.