In the spring of the thirteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1354), Zhu Yuanzhang bid farewell to Guo Zixing, led Xu Da, Tang He, Fei Ju and others south to Dingyuan, and decided to go it alone.
Not long after, he surrendered three thousand soldiers and civilians to Donkey Paizhai Village, and then attacked the Yuan general Zhang Zhiyuan at Hengjian Mountain at night, and obtained another 20,000 men and horses.
When he came to Dingyuan, he met Li Shanchang by chance, and Li Shanchang's words made him Mao Setun open one by one If he wanted to realize his grand ambitions, he must know people and do good deeds, and must not kill people indiscriminately.
So the two of them combined and decided to take Chuzhou, and in this way, Zhu Yuanzhang had his first territory.
Not long after, someone begged to see, Zhu Yuanzhang heard the name, immediately rushed out, only to see the three people outside the door in tattered clothes, described as withered, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at them and could not help but feel sad from the heart.
Who are these three people? One is his nephew Zhu Wenzheng, and the other two are his brother-in-law Li Zhen and nephew Bao'er.
No one would have thought that many years later, Zhu Wenzheng was imprisoned for rebellion, Li Zhen was made the Duke of Cao, and this Bao'er was the future Li Wenzhong, who was fourteen years old, like a god of war descending from the sky.
Portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang
One
In fact, Li Zhen's father and son went through countless hardships to find Zhu Yuanzhang. History of The Ming Dynasty. The Biography of Li Wenzhong contains:
In the twelfth year and the mother died, the father and the mother turned to the side of the rebellion, and the number of dying people was counted. For more than two years, he was the Ancestor of the Patriarch in Chuyang.
Meaning: Li Wenzhong lost his mother at the age of twelve, and Li Zhen and his son really had no way to live, so they had to go around in the rebel army and were on the verge of death many times, until they met Zhu Yuanzhang in Chuzhou two years later.
Here it is necessary to add a few points: Li Wenzhong's mother was Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister Zhu Fonu, zhu Fonu had died of illness before leaving, at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was left with these three relatives, in addition, before Li Zhen often received the Zhu family, let Zhu Yuanzhang remember;
Second: Zhu Yuanzhang was constantly infighting under Guo Zixing, and Guo Zixing had always been ostracized by Peng Da and Zhao Jun, which was not enough to achieve great things, so he would take the old generals of Huaixi to find another way out;
Third: the capture of Chuzhou, even if there is a place, Li Zhen's father and son came to defect at the right time, which is crucial for Li Wenzhong's future growth.
People familiar with the history of Ming probably know that Zhu Yuanzhang received more than ten adopted sons in his lifetime, but the most important thing is that Zhu Wenzheng and Li Wenzhong may have shed the same blood one by one, so after Zhu Yuanzhang met Li Wenzhong, the "History of Ming" described it very vividly:
When Taizu saw Bao'er, he was very happy, and he thought that he was a son, and ling followed his own surname.
Meaning: Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to see Li Wenzhong, not only personally raised, but also let him follow his surname Zhu, and named Wenzhong and Zi Siben.
Li Wenzhong's word "Si Ben" is particularly interesting, and the author guesses that this not only represents Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention of not forgetting, but also clearly warns Li Wenzhong to drink water and think of the source, and not to forget the fundamentals.
Portrait of Li Zhen
Two
Li Wenzhong grew up in the flames of war. In the meantime, Zhu Yuanzhang also asked Fan Zuqian and Hu Han to be his teachers. History of The Ming Dynasty. The Biography of Li Wenzhong contains:
Reading is as sensitive as a vegetarian habit. 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.
Meaning: Li Wenzhong is intelligent and highly perceptive, and the teacher teaches things as if he had learned before;
At the age of nineteen, he led a pro-army to support Chizhou as a sheren (to the effect of being a high-ranking cadre), and the first time he led the army, he broke the sky and completed the army.
Here we may wish to restore Li Wenzhong's lead this time.
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 the same year, he ordered Chang Yuchun and Liao Yong'an to attack Chizhou, which was interestingly taken from the Yuan Dynasty by Chen Youyi and Zhao Pusheng.
As everyone knows, Chen Youyu had courage and insight, and at that time, under Xu Shouhui's command, he was a general who stood tall in the sky, and the two dueled, and Chang Yuchun could not take advantage of it, so on the grounds of insufficient troops, he asked Zhu Yuanzhang for help.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was also stretched thin, xu da was attacking Changzhou, Hu Dahai was at the forefront of Huizhou, who was going to help? Forced to do so, Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to let Li Wenzhong try.
I never thought that in the Battle of Chizhou, Li Wenzhong was a blockbuster, witty, brave, and fierce, "Xiao Yong crowned the generals", as if he was a god of war who fell from the sky, and even Chang Yuchun gave a thumbs up to this fledgling young man.
Since then, Li Wenzhong has opened the God of War mode.
After the Battle of Chizhou, Li Wenzhong received new orders, and then led his army to attack Qingyang, Shidai, Taiping, and Jingde to win; soon after, he defeated the Yuan Dynasty Court at Wannian Street; and defeated the Miao army at Yuqian and Changhua, and then attacked Chun'an, and at night surprise troops, surrendering more than a thousand troops.
In a short period of time, Li Wenzhong was brave and good at war, and his achievements were gratifying, and for the first time he was named by Zhu Yuanzhang: the left deputy commander and marshal of the palace in front of the account.
This position is not low, but I personally think that the gold content is not high, because there may be an element of "nepotism", or Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately cultivated Li Wenzhong.
Portrait of Li Wenzhong
Three
What about Li Wenzhong? He didn't want to do anything at all, he just wanted to loop the God of War mode infinitely, he just wanted to prove that he was definitely not the Zhao Kuo who talked on paper.
Next, he joined forces with Deng Yu and Hu Dahai's division to take Zhuji, and then captured Jiande, which was changed to Yan Prefecture and garrisoned by the Tun army.
At this time, Zhang Shicheng coveted this piece of fat meat, because he knew that the strategic value of Yan Prefecture could reach a hundred cities, so he personally led an army of 100,000 to attack.
In the face of Zhang Shicheng's 100,000 troops, what should Li Wenzhong do? History of The Ming Dynasty. The Biography of Li Wenzhong contains:
Zhang Shicheng Kou Yan Prefecture, the East Gate of the Imperial Family, so that the other generals out of the Small North Gate, the Inter-Road attacked behind it, and the Big Break was struck.
Meaning: Zhang Shicheng invaded Yan Prefecture, Li Wenzhong led his army to meet the enemy at the east gate, sent another general out of the small north gate, cut a small road to attack the enemy's rear road, and then broke out of the city, attacked from the west, and defeated Zhang Shicheng.
A month later, Zhang Shicheng re-attacked YanZhou, and Li Wenzhong defeated him at Dalangtan and took advantage of the victory to divide the water. Subsequently, Zhang Shicheng ordered people to occupy Sanyong, and Li Wenzhong, already impatient, led a light horse to behead Marshal Lu and burn the enemy fortress, as if entering no man's land. The History of the Ming Dynasty contains:
Shi Cheng did not dare to spy on Yan Zhou.
Meaning: Li Wenzhong made Zhang Shicheng, a tyrant of a generation, feel afraid as well.
After defending Yan Prefecture and defeating Zhang Shicheng, Li Wenzhongjin went to the Privy Council.
The appointment was special: Li Wenzhong continued to lead the troops and at the same time manage the rear. Only because Li Wenzhong proved to Zhu Yuanzhang time and again that he was no longer the fierce general who only knew how to charge, and firmly believed that he would become a decisive warrior in the future.
No wonder Zhang Tingyu of the Qing Dynasty commented on him: Wen Zhong's instrument is heavy and hong, and people are unpredictable.
Let's take our sights off Yanzhou for the time being.
Zhang Shicheng film and television stills
Four
Personally, I think that what really made Li Wenzhong crown the king in the future and appear on the list of founding fathers may be due to the mutiny in Chuzhou.
In the seventeenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1357), the tiger who opened up the territory for Zhu Yuanzhang expanded Hu Dahai's power to the eastern Zhejiang region, unfortunately, Hu Dahai was assassinated overnight, and the person who assassinated him was the subjugated Miao general Jiang Ying.
In Jinhua, after Jiang Ying killed Hu Dahai, he ordered his subordinates to kill his deputy general Geng Zaicheng in Chuzhou, and then planned to go to Zhang Shicheng together, known in history as the "Chuzhou Mutiny".
At that time, I had to admire Zhang Shicheng's intelligence and counter-insurgency work, and almost effortlessly let the situation in eastern Zhejiang get out of control, and the army turned against it and reaped the benefits of the fish.
When the news reached Yan Prefecture, the situation was extremely critical, and Li Wenzhong did not have time to ask Zhu Yuanzhang, so he led the defenders to move out of the nest, just like the god of war descending from the sky, killing the rebel general with a thunderous momentum, and enwei and shi, pacifying Jinhua and Chuzhou.
In this year, Li Wenzhong turned the situation around with actions at the age of 23, and preserved the strategic significance of Eastern Zhejiang as much as any northern expedition of Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was like sitting on a roller coaster seven up and eight down, not only heartbroken and loving Hu Dahai, but also worried about the situation in eastern Zhejiang one by one, and could not let Zhang Shicheng have an opportunity.
He never expected that Li Wenzhong had completed an almost impossible task.
When the good news came, Zhu Yuanzhang was ecstatic and immediately appointed Li Wenzhong:
Worship Zhejiang Dongxing Province Zuo Cheng, the general system of Yan, Qu, Xin, Division, Zhu quan military.
This time, Li Wenzhong succeeded Hu Dahai and truly ushered in his own highlight moment. Perhaps everyone does not know that in just four years from Chizhou Chiyuan to The Eastern Zuo Cheng of Zhejiang, Li Wenzhong became a feudal governor who dominated the party by virtue of his magic.
Li Wenzhong's experience tells people: only the unthinkable, there is nothing that cannot be done!
Hu Dahai film and television stills
Five
Let's turn our attention back to Yanzhou again. Since the Pingding Prefecture Mutiny, a strange thing happened to Li Wenzhong. 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 Zhongyu: If you go back, you can't get it back. When the early figure is.
The above meaning is that Li Wenzhong was stationed in Yanzhou and had an affair with a prostitute surnamed Han. Because Zhu Yuanzhang ruled the army strictly, he was furious after hearing about this.
He immediately arranged for someone to go to Yan prefecture to kill Han and summon Li Wenzhong to question him.
Li Wenzhong had just left Yan Prefecture with the intention of going to Nanjing to bear the burden of Jingjing, but suddenly received an order to return on the spot. Why? Because this time Empress Ma came forward, she told Zhu Yuanzhang that Li Wenzhong was the last relative and must not cut off the ancestral fireworks.
Logically, this matter is settled, and it should not be a matter of side events. But his advisers Zhao Bozong and Song Ruzhang did not think so, and persuaded Li Wenzhong: This time you are lucky to be back, if there is a next time, you will definitely not be able to come back. Instead of that, it's better to think differently.
The meaning of the two is self-evident, advising Li Wenzhong not to hang himself on a tree and to leave a way back for the future.
Li Wenzhong hesitated, remembering the death of Hu Sanshe, The only son of Hu Dahai, not long ago, violating military regulations one by one, secretly drinking alcohol in the camp, and being exposed.
Everyone thought that Zhu Yuanzhang would look at Hu Dahai's thin surface and treat Hu Sanshe leniently, but zhu Yuanzhang did not say a word and directly executed Hu Sanshe.
For this incident, Li Wenzhong was greatly shocked, he knew his uncle's character, military law was like a mountain, and family affection might not be better than a blank piece of paper.
Therefore, Li Wenzhong ordered Zhao and Song to secretly communicate with Zhang Shicheng's general Zhang Hao, using what as a trumpet to raise the flag to vote.
Zhu Yuanzhang film and television stills
Six
Li Wenzhong was worried all day, but Zhu Yuanzhang was completely unaware.
Soon, Zhu Yuanzhang wrote a handwritten letter and sent someone to Yanzhou, in which he no longer reprimanded Li Wenzhong, but instead sent a lot of war horses and silver, which meant that he could be stationed in Yanzhou with peace of mind.
Li Wenzhong was ashamed and embarrassed, and he had no place to look at himself. But before, that step has been taken, what should we do now? The "Tuchu Deeds" also contains:
Wen Zhongzhi is to pay Bozong and so on with books, and to feast on them. Make it drunk... Throw Bozong, Ruzhang, etc. into the water.
In order to cover up the truth of the matter, Li Wenzhong had to cut the grass and remove the roots, so he used the convenience of the feast to get Zhao Bozong, Song Ruzhang, and other insiders drunk, and then tied them all up and drowned.
But there was no impermeable wall in the world, no matter how Li Wenzhong covered up and hidden, his idea of defecting to Zhang Shicheng finally reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears.
Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was deep, hiding rather than angry, but one day it would eventually break out.
Li Wenzhong seemed to have forgotten this stubble, still like a myth that the god of war continued to stage, perhaps in his heart his uncle was heaven, he was just the sharp arrow in the hands of the Son of Heaven, and he must move forward.
Next, Zhang Shicheng ordered Li Bosheng to lead an army of 200,000 to attack Xincheng, and in the face of the enemy's strong and weak situation, Li Wenzhong said: The country's affairs are here, I dare not greedy the army and die after the three armies.
In order to boost the morale of the generals, Li Wenzhong led the Chinese army to bear the brunt of it, and when the reinforcements from Chuzhou came, Li Wenzhong held a spear and led dozens of light horses to gallop down from the top of the mountain, rushing into the backbone of the enemy army, and once again fell from the sky like a god of war.
Li Wenzhong infected the soldiers, and all the soldiers fought bloodily to save Li Wenzhong from the encirclement, and took advantage of the victorious attack to turn defeat into victory. This battle, the History of the Ming Dynasty, contains:
Dozens of miles to the north, tens of thousands of decapitations, streams and rivers... Bo Sheng was spared only by himself.
When the good news reached Wuchang, Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed, and immediately recalled Li Wenzhong, set up a banquet to comfort him, and rewarded him with royal clothes and horses, before ordering him to return to the army.
It can be imagined that Li Wenzhong's position in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.
Li Wenzhong film and television stills
Seven
In the twenty-sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1366), the final battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng began. Li Wenzhong was ordered to attack Hangzhou to contain the enemy forces.
Everything went well, and after Li Wenzhong conquered Tonglu, Xincheng, and Fuyang, the army advanced towards Yuhang.
Li Wenzhong wrote a letter to summon the Yuhang general Xie Wu (Xie Zaixing's brother), Xie Wu and Xie Zaixing's son a total of five people out of the city to surrender, and then came to Hangzhou, the guard general Pan Yuanming also greeted him with a prostitute.
Li Wenzhong almost did not waste a single soldier, cleared the flanking obstacles for Zhu Yuanzhang, and stood on a tall building to order: Those who trespass into the houses will die.
Because he knew that this was exactly what Zhu Yuanzhang needed to do nothing to the common people one by one.
Hangzhou let Li Wenzhong receive 30,000 troops and 200,000 stones of grain, and this time Zhu Yuanzhang was even more generous. The History of the Ming Dynasty contains:
On Jia Ronglu Dafu, Zhejiang Province Pingzhangshi, the surname of Li.
In addition to giving Li Wenzhong the title, Zhu Yuanzhang also made an unusual decision to repeat the surname of Li one by one, which is very mysterious.
First: after two years, Zhu Yuanzhang will be called emperor and change the name of the country to Daming, if Li Wenzhong (Zhu Wenzhong) does not change back to his original surname, then he will become Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son, bringing some unnecessary trouble for hereditary succession;
Second: At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to destroy the last enemy, in other words, his men would gather stars and shine brightly, and although Li Wenzhong had superiority, he was no longer as important as before;
Third: Did the secret of Yan Zhou remind Zhu Yuanzhang of it again? Here I will not jump to conclusions.
However, readers who are familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty will surely find that since then, Li Wenzhong has undergone a huge change - when he was in Jianzhou, Yanzhou, and Tingzhou, he ordered soldiers to adopt abandoned children on the way, and it is rumored that countless people were fed.
Wisdom, alertness, depth, fraternity and open-mindedness pushed a generation of war god Li Wenzhong to the climax.
Eight
In 1370 (the third year of Hongwu), Li Wenzhong was appointed deputy general of the left side, and together with Xu Da led an army in the Northern Expedition, of which more than 53,000 people were captured, and a great victory was won.
The news reached Nanjing, and Zhu Yuanzhang came to Fengtian Gate to accept the pilgrimage. Li Wenzhong was awarded the title of Founding Auxiliary Transport Tuicheng Xuanli Wuchen, Special Ronglu Dafu, Right Pillar State, and Left Governor of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion, and was appointed as the Duke of Cao Guo, participated in major military affairs, and was awarded hereditary certificates.
There are a lot of auras, but we can remember two things: he was made the Duke of Cao Guo and allowed to inherit; he continued to participate in the major affairs of the military state- and this was Zhu Yuanzhang's great trust in him.
However, over time, a rift will inevitably arise between them. Or rather, Li Wenzhong was deeply disturbed by Zhu Yuanzhang's approach.
To this end, Li Wenzhong has played the chapter twice: first, to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang not to work hard and hurt his wealth and send troops to Japan; second, to persuade Zhu Yuanzhang not to rely too much on eunuchs and indirectly criticize.
Logically, none of these Zhu Yuanzhang could tolerate it, but in view of his relationship with Li Wenzhong and Li Wenzhong's prestige, Zhu Yuanzhang did not pay attention to it, but only put the song zhang on the shelf.
The stubborn Li Wenzhong did not stop there. One day, he instructed his wife and wept goodbye to the children, and presented the third recital to Zhu Yuanzhang, urging his uncle not to be punished and to expand the killing, and the words in the text were sharp:
Traitors and thieves, who are determined to be unscrupulous, but exercise and slander, kill indiscriminately without luck, people do not feel at ease, and hurt the vitality of the country...
After Zhu Yuanzhang read it, thunder and fury, and Li Wenzhong also had an interrogation-like dialogue, which was too long to repeat. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly ordered the samurai to take Li Wenzhong to prison.
And this time, it was Empress Ma who saved Li Wenzhong.
Since then, Li Wenzhong has been stripped of his official position by Zhu Yuanzhang, and he is claustrophobic at home and depressed. The History of the Ming Dynasty contains:
It is inevitable to condemn it.
Nine
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Li Wenzhong was a special person, and Zhu Yuanzhang was still making a big fuss about his death. History of The Ming Dynasty. The Biography of Li Wenzhong contains:
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.
Meaning: In the winter of the sixteenth year of Hongwu (1383), Li Wenzhong fell ill. To this end, Zhu Yuanzhang visited Li Wenzhong's home and personally arranged for Marquis Huazhong of Zhuan'an to heal Li Wenzhong. In March of the following year, Li Wenzhong died at the age of 46.
After Li Wenzhong's death, Zhu Yuanzhang suspected that someone had been poisoned, and not only degraded Huazhong, but also killed all the tai doctors and their families who had treated Li Wenzhong.
With the death of Li Wenzhong, Zhu Yuanzhang was sad and made great efforts, which made people feel more and more suspicious.
First: At the same time as the Tai Doctor's diagnosis and treatment, Li Wenzhong's eldest son Li Jinglong was an adult, so why did he have to arrange for a close attendant of Hou Ye (Central China)? What was Zhu Yuanzhang's intention?
Second: After Li Wenzhong's death, the doctors and family members who treated him were all killed, which shows that they must have a shocking secret. The author believes that it is to poison Li Wenzhong.
Third: At that time, the author believed that the cause of Li Wenzhong's death should be unknown to Huazhong, because all this was under the control of Zhu Yuanzhang, leaving Huazhong just to cover up, and Huazhong's role was nothing more than a watchdog.
So, why did Zhu Yuanzhang do this? History of The Ming Dynasty. The biography of Li Chuanlong may give the answer:
Jinglong, small character Jiujiang... The number of Taizu belongs to it, and the nineteenth year of the knighthood... Non-intellectual, non-modest, several tired of the community, the body inevitably and self-destructive... And its mistakes of the predecessors, Paul rich!
The above is Zhu Yuanzhang's edict to Li Jinglong, which is not so much an edict as a special warning.
Because the text reminds Li Jinglong that what you can do is not because you are "wise" or "humble", but because you have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty for generations. As long as you don't affect the community and learn the lessons of your predecessors, I will certainly keep your family rich.
Here we must point out two points: The so-called predecessors are nothing more than Li Zhen and Li Wenzhong's father and son, so who else is there in the tired sheji? Isn't it Li Wenzhong? Could it be that Zhu Yuanzhang has always been worried about the old affairs of Yanzhou more than twenty years ago?
postscript:
Feudal society, family world, Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Wenzhong or hold different positions, Li Wenzhong's other way means treason and disloyalty, under the monarchical society, it will be splashed around.
But personally, I think that Li Wenzhong is still the god of war who descended from the sky.
Reference: History of the Ming Dynasty. "The Deeds of the Beginning of the Nation" and so on
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