King Ming Han Lin'er: The titular leader or puppet role of the Red Turban Army? Xiaoming King Han Lin'er has always been regarded as the titular leader of the Red Turban Army, but in fact, he is more like a puppet character in the chaotic world of the late Yuan Dynasty. History tells us that his leadership is not destined to bring good results. So, if Han Lin'er is not real leadership material, should he retire from the stage early? In a competitive environment, competing with other powerful players for resources, the end is likely to be tragic. Emperor Xian of Han during the Cao Wei dynasty chose Zen because the Han Dynasty had centuries-old traditions. In contrast, Han Lin'er's "Song" has only existed for a few years, so it is not qualified for Zen Rang. What really matters is the identity of the reincarnation of King Ming, and the later national name "Daming" is derived from King Ming, which is also borrowing this historical IP. Zhu Yuanzhang was a young man with little political intelligence, and becoming a founding general was already his biggest dream.
In order to realize this dream, he did not hesitate to risk personally going to rescue Han Lin'er. Han Lin'er was then promoted several ranks to become the King of Wu of the local autonomous Wu State, which can be counted as a reward for Zhu Yuanzhang's risky rescue. However, a few years later, Zhu Yuanzhang's men killed Han Lin'er, which was not directly related to him and was purely accidental. For this kind of behavior done by his subordinates, Zhu Yuanzhang may express anger on the surface, but he may feel a little relaxed in his heart. He also had the opportunity to reward these subordinates. If it was believed from the beginning that Zhu Yuanzhang was for the purpose of framing Han Lin'er, this was purely unrealistic speculation. The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang killed Han Lin'er was related to his character. He is suspicious and tends to eliminate potential threats altogether. Zhu Yuanzhang's team was mainly led by the Huaixi military general Li Shanchang and the eastern Zhejiang minister Liu Bowen, both of whom were personally recruited by Zhu Yuanzhang. Through the lens of history, we can better understand this historical event.
Although Han Lin'er was not the orthodox successor of King Ming, the situation was somewhat similar to that of Emperor Han Xian. Emperor Han Xian, as a descendant of the orthodox emperor, considered the way of Zen Rang. And Zhu Yuanzhang does not value the so-called Zen Rang, if Han Lin'er is the orthodox successor, he may consider the way of Zen Rang. However, with the Red Turban Army already eliminated and the south unified, does Zhu Yuanzhang still need Han Lin'er? He has become the only monarch to fight from the south to the north. This is because in the north, the Red Turban Army has been wiped out, Chen Youshu has also been defeated, and Zhang Shicheng has also been almost wiped out. Zhu Yuanzhang killed King Xiaoming at this time, the situation in the north had changed, and he had unified the south. Looking back at history, we can see that Zhu Yuanzhang was not too threatened by the existence of King Xiaoming. Much of his success is due to his sailors, especially the two generals, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen, whose cooperation laid the foundation for his unification of the south.
Liao Yongzhong and his brothers and the three brothers of the Yu family defected to Zhu Yuanzhang as early as the Guo Zixing era. Their navy opened up the Chaohu Passage, giving Zhu Yuanzhang the ability to go south and capture Nanjing. Later, the navy divisions under Zhu Yuanzhang basically relied on the foundation of these two families. It was a partnership, so it was entirely reasonable to be made a duke. Zhu Yuanzhang succeeded in unifying the south not because he killed Han Lin'er, but because of his military achievements in the north. To sum up, Xiaoming King Han Lin'er played the role of a nominal leader in the Red Turban Army, but in fact was more like a puppet. Zhu Yuanzhang chose to kill him not because he was a potential threat, but because of Zhu Yuanzhang's character and political needs. Zhu Yuanzhang succeeded in unifying the south not because he killed Han Lin'er, but because of his military achievements and the support of his navy divisions. History tells us that Han Lin'er's existence did not have much impact on Zhu Yuanzhang, and his death was only a historical inevitability.
Finally, we can consider the question: Should leaders in history choose to retire early or stick to the end? Please leave your comments and opinions.