Zhu Yuanzhang criticized the fold late at night, and the palace maid brought a bowl of hot porridge, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Leave the porridge, and the person will be killed." Although this sentence is simple, it contains a thrilling story. What happened that night? Why did Zhu Yuanzhang order the killing of a palace maid who delivered porridge? Is there some kind of conspiracy hidden behind this? Let's find out.
Zhu Yuanzhang's vigilance
Zhu Yuanzhang's establishment of the Ming Dynasty can be described as difficult and tortuous, and has gone through vicissitudes. He came from a humble background, lost his father at a young age, and grew up in the countryside. When he was young, he worked as a monk in Yongle Town, and later joined the Red Turban Army, working hard step by step to make a career.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang was proclaimed as the "King of the Central Plains" in Zhongyuan Town, Yingtianfu. After that, he led a large army into Dadu, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, and after several years of fighting, he finally conquered Dadu in 1368 and established the Ming Dynasty centered on Jingshi.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not enjoy peace and tranquility. He is always on the lookout for power changes and intrigues. After all, he worked hard step by step from a grass man to the top of the ranks, and he can be said to have a deep understanding of the power struggle and intrigue between the ministers of the DPRK and China.
Especially in the early days of the establishment of the dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was even more wary of his cronies. He was deeply afraid that someone would want to seize power, and even secretly plot against him. Therefore, he strictly scrutinized the staff around him and severely punished suspicious elements.
This kind of vigilance stems from some events that Zhu Yuanzhang has personally experienced. For example, in the process of leading the army into Dadu, he encountered a conspiracy of traitors. Some people secretly colluded with the Yuan Dynasty in an attempt to reap personal gains. Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang discovered and severely punished these traitors in time, otherwise it might cause a big disaster.
For example, after conquering Dadu, Zhu Yuanzhang was also wary of some old ministers in order to consolidate the dominance of the new dynasty. He was worried that these old ministers would harbor the idea of restoring the old lord and secretly make trouble. In order to prevent trouble, Zhu Yuanzhang had to strictly interrogate these people and even punish them with capital punishment.
In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also suffered betrayal from some cronies. For example, his confidant Zhang Shicheng secretly rebelled after Zhu Yuanzhang built the capital of Nanjing. Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang found out in time and killed him, otherwise there would be endless troubles.
It is precisely because of this series of historical shadows that Zhu Yuanzhang is particularly vigilant against the staff around him. He was always on the lookout for someone who would be against him, or even plot against his imperial power. This kind of vigilance can be said to be the psychological shadow of Zhu Yuanzhang's life.
A misunderstanding of a bowl of "poisonous" porridge
One night in 1383 AD, Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting at his desk reviewing the recital. At this time, a palace maid quietly came to Zhu Yuanzhang, holding a bowl of hot porridge. Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang only ordered: "Leave the porridge." ＂
The palace maid put the porridge on the table as she said, but did not leave, but stood there motionless. Zhu Yuanzhang was suspicious when he saw this, he had never seen this palace maid, and she behaved so strangely, could it be some conspiracy?
Zhu Yuanzhang called a little eunuch and ordered him to take down the palace maid and torture her. The little eunuch was confused, but he still acted according to his orders and escorted the palace maid down.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked people to take silver needles to detect whether the porridge was poisonous. Sure enough, as soon as the silver needle touched the porridge soup, it quickly turned black. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and concluded that this palace maid wanted to poison herself, and immediately ordered her to be beheaded!
The little eunuch was so frightened that his face was pale, and he quickly knelt down and begged for mercy, saying that he knew nothing about the matter. Zhu Yuanzhang ignored it, but ordered someone to find the cook who was responsible for preparing the supper for interrogation.
When the cook saw Zhu Yuanzhang's angry face, he was so frightened that he threw himself to the ground, and repeatedly said that he was watching this bowl of porridge from beginning to end, and he would never fall for the trick. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't believe it, and ordered someone to test the porridge soup again, but the result was still that the silver needle turned black.
Seeing this, the cook cried and fell to the ground, saying that he was willing to drink this bowl of "poisonous" porridge in front of Zhu Yuanzhang to prove his innocence. Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in permission. Who knows, after this chef drank the whole bowl of porridge and soup, he was unharmed!
Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled, could it be that the cook had taken some antidote? Or was there any secret recipe to protect the body? He ordered someone to torture the cook again and thoroughly investigate the ins and outs of the matter.
The cook's self-proof innocence
Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the cook to be tortured again, and thoroughly investigated the ins and outs of the matter. Under the torture, the cook cried that he knew everything about the process of making this bowl of porridge, and there was no negligence.
In order to prove his innocence, the cook took the initiative to recreate the entire process of cooking porridge in front of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang nodded in permission, and ordered people to guard it strictly, and never let the cook have any chance to steal the beams and change the pillars.
The cook first boiled a pot of water over a fire, then added rice, white radish and other ingredients, and cooked them step by step. During the whole process, the cook stayed away until the last spoonful of porridge soup came out of the pot.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered someone to test it with a silver needle again. The result was surprising, the silver needle turned black as quickly as before! Everyone was confused, the cook had obviously never done anything from beginning to end, how could the porridge soup make the silver needle black?
Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled, so he had to order someone to invite the officials of the Tai Hospital, hoping to find the reason. Seeing this, the officials of the Tai Hospital were also confused. They checked it repeatedly and eventually discovered a startling fact.
It turns out that the reason why the silver needle turns black is not because the porridge soup contains highly poisonous, but because the cook puts a large amount of white radish in the porridge! Although the white radish itself is non-toxic, some of its chemicals will cause the silver needle to oxidize and turn black quickly.
Only then did everyone suddenly realize that it was a misunderstanding! Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ordered someone to release the palace maid who had been taken down and compensated her a large sum of money to apologize.
And the chef won Zhu Yuanzhang's appreciation because of his honesty and courage. Zhu Yuanzhang not only did not punish him, but rewarded him and promoted him to eunuch. Since then, this chef has a small status in the palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang's reflections and lessons
This time the misunderstanding of "poisonous porridge" made Zhu Yuanzhang deeply understand. He realized that his wariness of those around him had reached a point bordering on paranoia.
Zhu Yuanzhang was originally so vigilant out of the need to maintain the rule of the dynasty, but this time, he almost caused an unjust case because of his suspicion of a little palace maid.
In retrospect, there was nothing suspicious about what the palace maid did. She just followed the rules and brought the supper porridge to Zhu Yuanzhang. But Zhu Yuanzhang became suspicious of her, and even ordered torture, and was almost beheaded in the end.
If it weren't for the chef who took the initiative to drink the "poisonous porridge" to prove his innocence, I am afraid that this unjust case would have been caused in this way. Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel ashamed of his excessive suspicion.
He knew that as an emperor, he really needed to be on guard at all times to prevent intrigues. However, if even a little palace maid has to be suspicious, it will be biased.
Zhu Yuanzhang recalled that although the process of establishing his dynasty was difficult and tortuous, it was not done alone. He was surrounded by many loyal soldiers who served him from life to death. If he was wary of these people as well, it would be too much.
So, Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind to correct his excessive suspicion. He was determined that in the future, he would learn to distinguish between those who could be trusted and those who needed to be guarded against. He had no more doubts about his loyal courtiers.
At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang also realized that as an emperor, although he needed to be cautious, he could not worry about the sky. If you want to doubt even a bowl of hot porridge, it is too much.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to learn to let down his guard in the future and treat people with a broad mind. Only in this way can we truly win the support and love of our subjects.
This "poisonous porridge" incident taught Zhu Yuanzhang an important lesson. From then on, although he still maintained the necessary vigilance, he was no longer as suspicious as before. On the contrary, he treats those around him more with generosity and kindness.