During the Spring and Autumn Period, the story of Gou Jian, the monarch of the Yue Kingdom, and the literature of the important ministers is a typical tragedy of power and loyalty. In the war with Wu State, Wen Chong and Fan Li were the commanders and advisers of Goujian, and it can be said that they made great contributions.
However, after the war, Fan Li resigned and retired to the court, and before leaving, he wrote a letter to Wen Chong, which roughly means "unloading the mill and killing the donkey", which bluntly shows that Gou Jian is not a person who can be rich and noble.
Wen Chong also felt the crisis after seeing the letter, and avoided court affairs on the grounds of physical discomfort, but unfortunately he still couldn't let go of the glory and wealth, and was suspicious of King Yue Gou Jian during the hesitation and wandering, and finally issued a holy decree to let Wen Chong commit suicide.
This kind of thing did not only happen in the Spring and Autumn Period, after Zhu Yuanzhang completed the major victory of the unification of the world during the Ming Dynasty, he used various means to weaken the generals or strategists who were highly meritorious, Hu Weiyong's case and the Lanyu case are the best proof, profoundly interpreting the phrase "accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger".
Zhu Yuanzhang's emperor's heart
The reason why Gou Jian, the king of Yue, wanted to kill the meritorious man Wen Chong, is very simple, after Gou Jian unified the state of Wu, in order to stabilize his rule, he would inevitably eliminate those important ministers who might threaten him.
There is no doubt that literature is the biggest threat, and this kind of political purge was a very common practice in ancient times, reflecting the ruthlessness and ruthlessness of the rulers to a certain extent, and why not Zhu Yuanzhang as the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in poverty, had to live and leave home, and he witnessed the incompetence and social turmoil of the Yuan Dynasty, and the suffering of the people and the corruption of officials were deeply imprinted in his heart.
These unforgettable experiences have been fed back in the later reigns, such as cracking down on corruption and severely punishing corruption, which ushered in the stability of the "rule of Hongwu" in the early Ming Dynasty. Of course, this means is more for the preservation of imperial politics.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he was no longer a hegemon, and the primary problem he faced was how to consolidate power and stabilize the country.
Hu Weiyong was in charge of six ministries during his tenure as prime minister, and the power behind it was big enough to compete with the imperial power, Zhu Yuanzhang felt deeply uneasy about this, and finally arrested him in the name of rebellion, and purged the relevant important ministers by the way, and for a time thousands of people fell to the ground and bled like a river.
Hu Weiyong privately formed a group of small gangsters to commit adultery, or bent the law to benefit the crime, or bent the government to slander the virtuous, because it was exposed, everyone was punished.
Lan Yu's death is somewhat regrettable, he was originally a general trained by Zhu Yuanzhang for his son Zhu Biao, but unfortunately Zhu Biao died early. Lan Yu's position is somewhat embarrassing, Zhu Yuanzhang can suppress him when he is alive, and once he dies, his grandson will not be his opponent at all.
In other words, if this founding hero remained in the court, he would pose a threat to the throne.
Out of far-reaching considerations to pave the way for his descendants, and to ensure that the imperial power is firmly passed on to his descendants, Zhu Yuanzhang must eliminate all potential destabilizing factors, and in the end, all the generals related to Lanyu were killed.
Looking back on the reign of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang's actions fully demonstrated the cruelty of ancient imperial politics, and any political behavior was aimed at stabilizing the throne, and all threats to Huang Quna should be eliminated regardless of the reason.
Hu Weiyong's rebellion and Lan Yu's heart are actually fake, these are all excuses for Zhu Yuanzhang to clear the founding heroes and civil ministers, so some people think that Emperor Hongwu is a wise monarch, but it is also a typical example of "the bird is hidden with the bow".
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, a large number of founding heroes were killed, and even Xu Da folk had rumors that they were killed by "a roast goose", but nothing is absolute, and the general Tang He got out of the political quagmire and was able to die a good death.
Why did Tang He die well?
Why Tang He died well, someone explained about this matter that he was Zhu Yuanzhang's brother, Fa Xiao and Bole.
Tang He and Zhu Yuanzhang grew up in the same village, and the two have established a deep friendship since childhood. Three years older than Zhu Yuanzhang, Tang He was a witty and cautious man who often played leadership roles in childhood games before later joining Guo Zixing's rebel army in the hope of changing his fate.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was very desolate, and his parents were forced to become monks because they had no money to bury, and their lives were difficult and there was no fixed place to live.
In this context, the invitation letter sent by Tang He became a turning point in Zhu Yuanzhang's life, and the latter resolutely took off his robe to join the Red Turban Army after listening to his eldest brother's words, and since then he has embarked on the road of conquest in all directions.
When he joined the Red Turban Army, Tang He was already a well-known leader, but Zhu Yuanzhang quickly rose to prominence with his extraordinary martial arts and military talents.
As the so-called "strong dragon does not suppress the head snake", the hairy boy came to the top, and there must be old people who are not convinced, and at this time it is still Tang He who stands up to support his brother.
After that, the two fought together to kill the enemy, and with the growth of Zhu Yuanzhang's power, they finally unified the world and established the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that without Tang He's help, it would be difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to get out of the Red Turban Army, and it is unknown whether he can establish the Ming Dynasty.
This kind of brotherhood is not comparable to other Huaixi nobles, so when Hu Weiyong, Li Shanchang and Lan Yu were killed, Tang He was able to get out of the crisis. But is that really the case? We can see one thing.
Tang He was stationed in Changzhou for a period of time, and once he asked Zhu Yuanzhang for some instructions, but in the end he failed to get a satisfactory answer, and he was more or less dissatisfied in his heart, and began to vent his inner complaints after drinking:
"I guard this city as if I were sitting on a roof, looking left and right and right. ”
Han Xin also had such a thing back then, when Xiang Yu and Liu Bang confronted each other in Xingyang, as long as he took refuge in whom, he would achieve the final victory, "If you throw on the right, King Han wins, and if you throw on the left, King Xiang wins."
Changzhou is located at the junction of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Shicheng, and it is obvious that his inner thoughts are the same as Han Xin, but Zhu Yuanzhang knew about this matter. Although he held a grudge, he had to endure it because of the situation, and he did not settle accounts until after the founding of the country.
In terms of qualifications and merits, Tang He did not lose to Xu Da at all, Zhu Yuanzhang awarded the latter a duke when he rewarded the meritorious heroes, but gave the former a marquis, the reason was that he should not have drunk and talked falsely and affected the morale of the army.
Even after many years, Zhu Yuanzhang still rewarded Tang He as the Duke of Xinguo, but the matter in Changzhou was still not forgotten, but was engraved on the hereditary certificate.
It can be seen from this that the so-called brotherhood is worthless in the face of political power, and Zhu Yuanzhang spared Tang He for another reason.
The wisdom of soup and harmony
The ancients said that "Xiucai rebelled for ten years", on the one hand, because Xiucai was indecisive, and on the other hand, because Xiucai had no military power in his hands. But the generals are different, they have a passion for doing things, and if they have soldiers and horses in their hands, it will inevitably cause rebellion.
The first thing Zhao Kuangyin did when he established the Northern Song Dynasty was to collect the military power in the hands of the generals through a glass of wine, and the situation in the early Ming Dynasty was very similar to that in the early Northern Song Dynasty, the military power in the hands of the generals was so large that Zhu Yuanzhang could not eat or sleep well.
Therefore, one of the biggest challenges he faced when he ascended the throne was how to deal with those highly decorated generals. When he was wandering left and right, Tang He came to him, and without any hesitation, he directly proposed to hand over the military power, and he handed it over unconditionally.
The minister's dog has long teeth, and he is unable to return to his duties, so he is willing to return to his hometown and wait for the bones to be the ruins of the coffin.
Hearing about this, Zhu Yuanzhang was "Dayue", and then asked Tang He what he wanted, but Tang He didn't hurry and said that he wanted 100 beauties.
This sentence made Zhu Yuanzhang stunned, Tang He was already 63 years old at that time, even if he gave him 100 beauties, what was the use, and then laughed and ridiculed him for being old and improper.
Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang not only approved Tang He's retirement request in the end, but also gave him a mansion and land to show his gratitude. Didn't Tang He know that asking for 100 beauties would have an impact on his reputation? Of course he knew.
The Changzhou incident and the closure of the public made Tang He know that Zhu Yuanzhang was very suspicious, and he took the initiative to hand over the military power to show that he had no intention of political power struggle, and only wanted to return to his hometown to live in peace.
Just doing this is not enough to dispel Zhu Yuanzhang's doubts, after all, his talent is there, and there is no shortage of monarchs in history who take extreme measures because they are afraid of military generals, and "self-pollution" is the best choice at this time.
The 100 beauties that Tang He asked for were dismissed by the housekeeper in batches after returning home, which shows that he is not a lustful person. However, on the bright side, he portrayed himself as a lustful person, how could such a person who does not seek progress pose a threat to the country!
Guo Ziyi during the Tang Dynasty was like this, in his later years, he continued to ask the Tang Emperor for beautiful women, although his personal reputation was gone, but he obtained a good death and preserved the wealth and glory of the family.
Tang He's imitation of Guo Ziyi's practice also achieved good results, and he was safe and sound in Zhu Yuanzhang's series of purges, and even won the emperor's trust.
Emperor Dayue, set up a banknote to govern the capital, and for the princes, Hou Zhidi.
In the later period of Hongwu, as long as he was free, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Tang He to come to Nanjing City to talk about his heart, and the relationship between the two was as close as when he was a child, and there was no estrangement between monarchs and ministers, let alone the emperor's suspicion of courtiers.
Once Tang He suddenly fell ill and couldn't speak, Zhu Yuanzhang came to visit him in person, and even brought the imperial doctor with him to treat him.
After his body recovered, Zhu Yuanzhang took him to the capital to recuperate, and he cared for him in his daily life, and from time to time he would reward some things.
In the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu, Tang He was terminally ill and couldn't stand, while Zhu Yuanzhang held his arm and talked about life......
A year later, Tang He died of illness, Zhu Yuanzhang was very sad, and also issued an edict to posthumously seal Tang He as the king of Dongou and the nickname Xiangwu. So far, Tang He not only got a good death, but also enjoyed the emperor's favor before he died, and this solution came from his political wisdom.
In ancient times, many people understood the truth of "rabbit dead dog cooking", but when it came to decision-making, many people couldn't let go of power, so that they died.
A person with great wisdom does not lie in understanding this truth, but in being able to refuse this temptation, and it is obvious that Tang He is such a person.
What do you think differently about this?