Following the Zhou Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty became the fourth dynasty in history to divide the feudal kings, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang reigned for 31 years, and successively divided his 20 sons into feudal kings three times, so that the sons went to the fiefdom to guard, and Zhu Yuanzhang divided these feudal kings, most of them also had a beginning and an end with the Ming Dynasty, from the Hongwu Dynasty to the Chongzhen Dynasty, and even the Southern Ming Emperor Zhu Youlang reigned
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There are four reasons why Zhu Yuanzhang chose to divide the feudal kings:
The first is to stabilize the north, although Taizu established the Ming Dynasty in 1368 and ascended the throne as emperor, in fact, the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty are still very strong. It can be said that "the Yuan Dynasty died but did not die", and Emperor Yuan Shun fled to the depths of the desert with his courtiers and concubines. The capital is located in Nanjing, which is too far away from the desert, and can only be fed off by strong generals on the northern border. And Zhu Yuanzhang is in the north, setting up the "Nine Great Stops" king, from west to east.
Secondly, compared with his own parents, Zhu Yuanzhang does not trust the meritorious ministers under him. In Zhu Yuanzhang's consciousness, only his descendants can be loyal to the Ming Dynasty.
The third is Zhu Yuanzhang's background, he is a veritable grassroots background, lower than the background of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, so Taizu sighed: Who else is from a humble background than me. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang will follow the example of Han Gaozu in many things, Liu Bang divided his sons, and Zhu Yuanzhang divided his sons into vassal kings.
Fourth, Zhu Yuanzhang believes that only the sub-feudal system can ensure the permanence of the Zhu dynasty. For example, the Zhou Dynasty existed for a long time because of the feudal system, but after the abolition of the Qin Dynasty, the Qin "II died".
Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang is also very aware of the problems that will arise when dividing the feudal king, but Zhu Yuanzhang thinks that as long as the king of a country can handle the clan problem well, there is no need to worry. In this way, in the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang divided the vassal king for the first time, the oldest was the second son of Qin King Zhu Zhang, and the youngest was Zhu Tan, the king of Lu, who was only two months old, and a total of nine sons were vassal kings.
From the third year of Hongwu to the eleventh year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang had six sons born, so Zhu Yuanzhang divided the vassal king again in the eleventh year of Hongwu.
In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang divided the remaining 10 sons into vassal kings.
In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang named all 25 sons as vassal kings (of course, not all of them became vassals, and two of them died young).
In addition to the "Nine Great Sai Kings" in the north of the Ming Dynasty, the position of the King of Shu is the most important. The fief of the king of Shu was in Chengdu, Sichuan. Those who know history should know that Sichuan is a fortress place, and the strategic location is very important, and Zhu Yuanzhang attaches great importance to this place.
To compete for the world with Sichuan, the top is enough for the king, and the second is enough for hegemony
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang gave this place to the eleventh son Zhu Chun, and Zhu Chun's biological mother was Guo Huifei, the daughter of Guo Zixing, the "nobleman" of Zhu Yuanzhang's career. Concubine Guo Hui is still more favored, in addition to Zhu Chun, she also gave birth to two sons and two daughters.
Starting from Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, after the Shu king family sat in Sichuan for 267 years, there were 10 generations and 13 kings, and there were many virtuous kings. The last generation of Shu kings reigned in the first year of Kangxi, in this article, let's take a look: what kind of existence is the lineage of Shu kings in the Ming Dynasty?
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The maternal grandfather of Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, was Guo Zixing, the king of Chuyang, Guo Zixing started the army in 1352 and entrenched in the city of Haozhou, Zhu Yuanzhang's fellow countryman Tang He wrote a letter to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was still a monk, and asked Zhu Yuanzhang to join the Red Turban Army. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang was favored by Guo Zixing, not only let him be his own personal soldier, but also married his adopted daughter Ma to Zhu Yuanzhang.
But Guo Zixing is narrow-minded and suspicious of Zhu Yuanzhang, plus there are three marshals in Chuzhou City in addition to Guo Zixing, and they are not in harmony with each other, Zhu Yuanzhang thinks that there will be no future with Guo Zixing, so he took the "Huaixi Twenty-four Generals" to the south and started a business alone. And in 1354, he conquered Chuzhou, and welcomed Guo Zixing into the city when Guo Zixing was desperate.
But Guo Zixing died of illness the following year, and all the people under Guo Zixing's command obeyed Zhu Yuanzhang's moderation.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he posthumously named Guo Zixing as the king of Chuyang, and also included his daughter Guo into the harem and named Concubine Hui.
In March of the fourth year of Hongwu, Concubine Guo Hui gave birth to the first prince, Zhu Chun, the eleventh son of the emperor.
Seven years later, Zhu Chun was named the king of Shu, and the palace of the king of Shu was built in Chengdu.
In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, when Zhu Chun was 15 years old, he married the daughter of the general Lan Yu as the princess, and after marriage, he took the princess to live in Fengyang. Lan Yu is the brother-in-law of Kaiping King Chang Yuchun, that is, the maternal uncle of the crown prince Zhu Biao and the princess Chang, Lan Yu was already named the Marquis of Yongchang by virtue of his military exploits in the thirteenth year of Hongwu. In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, Lan Yu and Zhu Yuanzhang became sons and daughters.
Zhu Chun has been very fond of reading and learning since he was a child: even if he was sent to Fengyang by his father Zhu Yuanzhang, he did not forget to study, and chose a room in his residence for studying, and also recruited some famous Confucians in Fengyang to discuss the history together.
In the nineteenth year of Hongwu, he personally wrote the words "loyalty and filial piety for the vassal" to encourage himself;
In the 20th year of Hongwu, he specially found some famous monks to give lectures to him, and wrote four books of advice to remind himself: "Righteous Heart", "Guandao", "Chongben" and "Jingxian".
In the spring of the twenty-first year of Hongwu, Zhu Chun built the Sermon Hall, placing the "Emperor Ming Zuxun" in the center, and the classics of the emperors of the previous dynasties were placed on the left. For a person like Zhu Chun, who is so book-loving, no matter where he goes, he reads wherever he goes, in fact, Zhu Chun's love of reading not only improves his cultural literacy, but also lays the foundation for his future sit-down in Sichuan. Taizu was very pleased with this, and called his son "Shu Xiucai".
In the twenty-second year of Hongwu, Zhu Chun officially became a vassal, and when Zhu Chun became a vassal, Zhu Yuanzhang specially asked the household to transport 300,000 banknotes to the Shu Wangfu in Chengdu as a reward, and let more than 1,800 soldiers follow Zhu Chun to Chengdu.
In the first month of the twenty-third year of Hongwu, Zhu Chun officially arrived in Shu. Soon after arriving in Chengdu, Zhu Chun learned that the great Confucian Fang Xiaoru was a professor in Hanzhong at that time, teaching students to read, and Zhu Chun invited him to his house to teach his son and son Zhu Yuexiu to read and write. Zhu Chun had great respect for Fang Xiaoru, not only let the prince have to perform the teacher ceremony every time he saw his teacher Fang Xiaoru, but also named the house where Fang Xiaoru studied "Zhengxue".
Not only that, Zhu Chun also specially ran a county school, knowing that the doctors lived in poverty, so he distributed his own money to them, one stone per month, and since then it has become customized. Later, Zhu Chun heard that there was a Yiwu man named Wang Shen who was quite virtuous, so Zhu Chun hired this person to treat him with courtesy. Wang Shen's father died in Yunnan, and Wang Shen wanted to go to Yunnan to bring back his father's body, so Zhu Chun gave Wang Shen a sum of money.
It can be said that Zhu Chun is not only good at learning and studying, but also attaches great importance to the education of future generations and the fiefdom where he is located, treats the virtuous and capable very politely, and never claims to be a prince, which is indeed very respectable.
Of course, Zhu Chun, as a vassal king, and a vassal king with a fiefdom in Sichuan, naturally has his own responsibilities to bear.
In the first month of the twenty-third year of Hongwu, the Western barbarians rebelled and burned down the Black Cliff Pass, and they were still burning and looting. Zhu Chun reported the matter to the imperial court, and Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Zhu Chun's father-in-law Lan Yu to command Qu Neng to go to Sichuan to quell the rebellion.
Zhu Chun knew very well why there was a rebellion in Liangchuan, so he asked Taizu to reduce taxes in Shu and formulate the rules of the Shu market. Taizu was right, and sure enough, Shu was greatly governed. In addition, Zhu Chun is also very concerned about Buddhism in Shu, and often goes to Mount Emei to worship the Buddha, and the Qingyin Pavilion on Mount Emei is specially built to welcome Zhu Chun, the king of Shu.
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu died of illness, and Zhu Yunwen, the emperor's grandson, sat on the throne naturally. However, as soon as Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he wanted to get rid of those uncles who had heavy troops, and in less than a year, he successively cut off five vassal kings. Before it was Zhu Chun's turn, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, raised an army and led the Yan army to the city of Nanjing in four years.
Zhu Chun's half-brother, Zhu Lu, the king of the valley of the nineteenth son of the emperor, was originally ordered by Emperor Jianwen to guard Nanjing, but seeing that Emperor Jianwen was gone, he took the initiative to open the Jinchuan Gate with Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao, and let Zhu Di enter Nanjing. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he changed Zhu Di's fiefdom to Changsha, and increased his annual salary by 2,000 stone and his guards by 3,000
After Zhu Di ascended the throne, Zhu Chun was the first to enter the court to meet and recognize the fourth brother's throne. After all, if it weren't for his fourth brother Zhu Dijing, maybe Zhu Chun's position as vassal king would have been unkept. After staying in the capital for half a month, Zhu Chun was going to set off to return to his fiefdom, and before leaving, Zhu Di said in his edict: The virtuous brother is naturally benevolent and filial, intelligent and studious, and famous, and the military and the people are very respectful to you. However, the terrain of Shu is dangerous, and the virtuous brother has a great responsibility.
Zhu Chun was originally a person who kept to himself, and he only read the books of sages and sages and did his part well, so even Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor, also cut the domain, but he did not embarrass Zhu Chun. However, although Zhu Chun is peaceful, his half-brother Zhu Chu is not peaceful. Since Zhu Lu opened the Jinchuan Gate to welcome Zhu Di into Nanjing, relying on his own merits, he has become more and more arrogant, not only robbing the people's land, the wreckage is innocent, and even recruiting troops and horses, and having a heart of disobedience, wanting to replace Zhu Di and sit on the throne himself.
If Zhu Lu wants to succeed, he naturally needs allies.
And his half-brother Zhu Chun is the best choice, so Zhu Lu wants his brother to rebel with him. Zhu Chun sent someone to tell Zhu Di about the rebellion of Zhu Lu, the king of the valley, Zhu Di didn't believe it at first, after all, Zhu Di treated the king of the valley more favorably than other younger brothers, and he didn't believe that the king of the valley would do such a thing.
But after verification, it was true, and Zhu Di praised Zhu Chun:
This thought of the virtuous brother is like the heart of the Duke of Zhou to the royal family!
In the twenty-first year of Yongle, Zhu Chun died of illness at the age of 53, and Zhu Di dropped out of the dynasty for seven days after learning about it, and posthumously named him "King of Shu".
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It stands to reason that Zhu Chun died of illness, and his eldest son should inherit the title of King of Shu, but his eldest son Zhu Yuexian died of illness in the sixth year of Yongle at the age of 21. Fortunately, Zhu Yuexian left a son before he died of illness, so after Zhu Chun died of illness, his grandson Zhu Youyu inherited the prince, and Zhu Di posthumously crowned his nephew Zhu Yuexiu as the king of Shuzhuang.
In fact, when Zhu Chun was there, there was already a matter of uncle and nephew competing for the title of King of Shu:
In the sixth year of Yongle, Zhu Yuexi, the son of the king of Shu, died of illness, his son was still young, Zhu Chun's second son Zhu Yuexi (named the king of Huayang County) wanted to seek the title of the king of Shu, how could Zhu Chun not notice his son's actions, and scolded the second son with a hundred rods, and then prepared to be sent to the capital to be punished by the emperor. Fortunately, his grandson Zhu Youyu interceded for his uncle, and Zhu Chun released his second son.
However, Zhu Yueyi still did not give up, when Zhu Chun died of illness, Zhu Youyu happened to be in the capital, Zhu Yueyi stole the king's money (tang), and when his nephew returned to Shu, Zhu Yueyi did not admit it, and directly framed his nephew to frame himself. After Zhu Di learned of this, he summoned Zhu Youyu to the capital, but Zhu Di died of illness before he could ask the reason, and Mingrenzong Zhu Gaochi succeeded him. Later, Zhu Gaochi verified that Zhu Yueyi was lying, so he summoned Zhu Yueyi to the capital, but Zhu Yueyi did not realize that he was wrong and insisted on not changing, so Renzong threw the fold directly on the ground, and let Zhu Yueyi move to live in Wugang, and later moved to Li County, Hunan.
In this way, Zhu Yueyi not only did not get the position of King of Shu, but also offended Emperor Renzong and had to move to live elsewhere.
In the sixth year of Xuande, Zhu Youyu died of illness at the age of 26. Emperor Xuande posthumously called him "King of Shujing", but Zhu Youyu did not give birth to a son during his lifetime, and there was no son to inherit the title, so Emperor Xuande ordered his brother Zhu Youyu (formerly King Luojiang) to inherit the title. However, only three years later, Zhu Youyi died of illness without a child, and only lived to be 26 years old.
In this way, the king of Shu has no heirs to inherit the prince, and it stands to reason that the title of the king of Shu should be inherited by Zhu Yuexi, the second son of Zhu Chun, the king of Shu. But Zhu Yueyi had already lost the qualification to inherit the prince because of offending Renzong, and Zhu Chun's third son and fourth son died of illness in the Yongle period, Zhu Chun's fifth son Zhu Yue was still alive, and Emperor Xuande gave the title of King of Shu to Zhu Chun's fifth son Zhu Yue to inherit. Zhu Yue was born in the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu (1397) and was the forty-seventh grandson of Emperor Taizu.
In the fifth year of Tianshun (1461), Zhu Yue died of illness and was posthumously named "King of Shuhe" by Yingzong.
After Zhu Yue died of illness, his eldest son Zhu Youkai inherited the title of King of Shu two years later, but Zhu Youyuan died of illness after less than a year of reign, and was posthumously named "King of Shuding" by Yingzong. Zhu Youyuan's cursive handwriting is very good,
After the death of Zhu Youyuan, the king of Shuding, his eldest son Zhu Shenyu inherited the king, becoming the sixth king of Shu in the Ming Dynasty, Tianshun inherited the prince in eight years, and died of illness in the seventh year of Chenghua. Zhu Shenyu was only 25 years old when he died of illness, although he gave birth to a son but died early, so that the title of King of Shu could only be inherited by Zhu Shenyu's younger brother.
Xianzong ordered Zhu Shenqiu's third brother, Zhu Shenchi, the king of Tongjiang, to inherit the prince, Zhu Shenchi inherited the prince when he was 22 years old, and died of illness in the sixth year of Hongzhi (1493), at the age of 35, and was posthumously called "King Shuhui" by Xiaozong. Zhu Shenchisel is still worth mentioning, he is as studious and virtuous as Zhu Chun, the ancestor of the King of Shu, and is a virtuous corporal, with a very respectful and clever personality, perhaps because of the influence of his father, Zhu Shenchi's attainments are also very good.
After Zhu Shenchi, the king of Shuhui, died of illness, his eldest son Zhu Binhan inherited the prince in the seventh year of Hongzhi.
Zhu Shenchi is already a rare virtuous king, and his son Zhu Binhan is even better, and he is indeed "there is a father, there must be a son". During Zhu Binhan's reign, he not only governed Shu quite Moyang, but also was extremely benevolent, liked Confucianism, and Xiaozong often praised Zhu Binhan's virtue in the court. Zhu Binhan can be called a virtuous king in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and Xiaozong also made a poem for Zhu Binhan to praise how virtuous he is:
"The river is prosperous in etiquette and music, and Jiangxia is loyal and diligent in the world. How can different generations specialize in beautiful things, and our sect also has its own virtuous king. ”
The "Hejian" in the poem is not a place name, but a person's name, referring to Liu De, the half-brother of Liu Che, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the king of Hejian. Liu De is a virtuous king who will go down in history, Liu De never asked about the government during his reign, and devoted his whole life to sorting out the ancient books of the pre-Qin period, and the two major works were passed on to future generations.
The "Jiangxia" in the poem is not a place name, but refers to the Tang Dynasty clan, Jiangxia King Li Daozong, Li Daozong not only made great achievements, but also was extremely studious in his later years, treated the virtuous people very respectfully, and was famous. It is said that Princess Wencheng, who is famous in history, is the daughter of Li Daozong.
Xiaozong used Liu De, the king of Hejian, and Li Daozong, the king of Jiangxia, to compare with Zhu Binhan, which shows how high Zhu Binhan's reputation was at that time
It's a pity that in the third year of Zhengde (1508), Zhu Binhan died of illness at the age of 29, which is really a pity.
Wuzong posthumously called him the "King of Shu Zhao", and after Zhu Binhan died of illness, his eldest son Zhu Rangxu inherited the prince and became the ninth king of Shu in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Rangxu was only 11 years old when he inherited the prince, and he was on the throne for 37 years, and died of illness in the 26th year of Jiajing, and was posthumously called "King of Shu" by Emperor Jiajing.
After the death of Zhu Rangxu, the king of Shucheng, his third son, Zhu Chengyao, inherited the prince. According to the ancestral motto of "there is a grandson, there is no grandson", it can be inferred that the first two sons of Zhu Rangxu, the king of Shucheng, must have died young, and the third son will inherit the title of king of Shu. Zhu Chengjiao Jiajing inherited the prince in the 28th year, and Jiajing died of illness in the 37th year, reigning for nine years. According to some historical records, Zhu Chengjiao was quite virtuous during his reign, diligent and loved the people, and the people of Shu loved him very much.
After Zhu Chengjiao died of illness, Emperor Jiajing posthumously named him the king of Shukang.
Zhu Chengyao, the king of Shucheng, did not have a son-in-law, and he was not canonized as a prince during his lifetime; After his death, his eldest son, Zhu Xuanqi, was named the prince of Shu to manage the affairs of the palace. In the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing rewarded him with 1,000 taels of gold and 10,000 taels of silver, and asked him to rebuild the three major halls. And not long after, it was ordered that Zhu Xuanqi inherit the king.
Zhu Xuanqi was also a rare virtuous king, and during the Wanli period, he took out his money to fund the imperial court and used it to fight rebellions. Shenzong admired it very much, so he asked people to build a memorial arch for Zhu Xuanqi outside the palace of the king of Shu, and gave a plaque "loyal and virtuous".
Wanli died of illness in the 40th year and was posthumously named the king of Shuduan by Shenzong.
After Zhu Xuanqi, the king of Shuduan, died of illness, especially the eldest son Zhu Fengquan inherited the prince in the forty-third year of Wanli, but Zhu Fengquan died of illness in this year, and was posthumously named King Shu Gong by Shenzong. After Zhu Xuanqi died of illness, his son Zhu Zhishu was first named the prince, and then inherited the prince.
Because Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, won the Hongbao book, so Zhu Chun's descendants are good at alchemy, because the king of Shu is the richest among the vassals of the Ming Dynasty.
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in the coal mountain, and Beijing was also occupied by the peasant army. Everyone elected Zhu Zhishu, the king of Shu, as the supervisor of the country, and the strategic position of Shu itself is extremely high, coupled with the lineage of the king of Shu is the richest lineage of vassal kings, which is naturally the primary target of Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant army. Zhang Xianzhong led his troops into Shu, and Zhu Zhishu took out 50,000 taels of silver to reward the garrisons in Chongqing and Chengdu.
Liu Zhibo, the right-hand servant of the Imperial Palace, suggested that Zhu Zhishu recruit troops, but Zhu Zhishu refused. Even Zhu Zhishu planned to flee to Yunnan, but was opposed by Liu Zhibo, so Zhu Zhishu had no choice but to sit in Chengdu.
Soon Zhang Xianzhong's army captured Chongqing, and Zhang Zhibo suggested that Zhu Zhishu, the king of Shu, take out the money in the palace to reward the army and the people, so as to strengthen the city; However, Zhu Zhishu "asked for money and didn't want his life" directly refused, and soon Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to attack Chengdu, Zhu Zhishu knew that he was afraid, so he hurriedly paid for recruiting troops and horses, but it was too late.
Zhang Xianzhong besieged the Shu Palace, and the Shu King Zhu Zhishu, the princess and the palace maids of the entire palace all committed suicide. As for the other children of the clan, most of them were killed; Even many people with the surname Zhu who were not members of the clan were killed by mistake.
As for the property that Zhu Zhishu has been guarding, it is all in the hands of Zhang Xianzhong.
Fortunately, Zhu Zhishu's son Zhu Ping? was able to escape, and in the first year of Longwu (1645) inherited the prince, until 1662 (the first year of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty) Emperor Yongli Emperor Zhu Youlang was killed, Zhu Ping? The title of King of Shu was able to disappear, and it is unknown where he fled.
epilogue
From the beginning of Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, to Zhu Zhishu, the king of Shu, there were a total of 13 Shu kings in the Ming Dynasty (excluding posthumous seals), plus a Shu king in the Southern Ming Dynasty, a total of 14. Since Zhu Chun was named the king of Shu in the eleventh year of Hongwu, until the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the lineage of the king of Shu has been able to have a beginning and an end with the Ming Dynasty. Moreover, the lineage of the king of Shu, the overall quality is among the few in the lineage of all the vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty, among which there are four virtuous kings who are famous in history, which is indeed rare.
Of course, this is inseparable from Zhu Chun, the ancestor of the King of Shu, it is under the constraints of the norms formulated by Zhu Chun, most of the 13 vassal kings of the King of Shu are very virtuous, and there is no vassal king like Zhu Zhang, the king of Qin, so the lineage of the King of Shu has the title of "the first virtuous king of the Ming Dynasty", which is indeed worthy of admiration.
Resources:
History of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 16, Biography IV
Records of Emperor Taizu Gao, Volume 62
Emperor Taizongwen's Record Volume 256
History of the Ming Dynasty, Biography No. 5, Kings No. 2
"The Contribution of the Domain", vol. 2
LI Jiayu. Analysis of the artistic characteristics of the terracotta figurines of Zhu Yuexian's tomb in the Ming Dynasty.
"Zhu Shenchise's Epitaph"
The little-known story of the Shu kings of the Ming Dynasty (I)
There were so many vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty, why were they slaughtered at the end of the Ming Dynasty and showed no performance at all?
Starting from the "Golden Seal of the Prince of Shu", look at the relationship between Zhu Yuanzhang's feudal monarchy and the fall of the Ming Dynasty