More stable than Zhu Yuanzhang, more ruthless than Chen Youliang, richer than Zhang Shicheng, stronger than Xu Shouhui, and better than Fang Guozhenshun. This sentence came from the mouth of Zhang Juzheng, a famous minister in the Ming Dynasty, describing a heroic figure who rose in troubled times. He came from a humble background, but he had great ambitions, and with his extraordinary resourcefulness and determination, he defeated countless powerful enemies in turbulent times, and gradually reached the pinnacle of power. Under his leadership, an otherwise insignificant armed force grew from strength to strength until a new dynasty was eventually established. However, the shortness of this dynasty was unexpected, and it lasted only a few decades before it was replaced by the Ming Dynasty, and the founder of the dynasty came to an end. Who is this figure who once shocked the world? What about his legacy? Is it as Zhang Juzheng said, with extraordinary leadership and ruling ability? Let's find out.
The great ambition of the nobody
Ming Yuzhen, the founder of the Great Xia Dynasty, was originally from Pinglin Village, Suizhou, Huguang. From a humble background, his father was a farmer, and his mother was not famous. Pinglin Village is located in a remote area, most of the villagers make a living from farming, Ming Yuzhen has lived a hard life since she was a child, but she is hardworking and studious, and has high ambitions to serve the country and make contributions.
Even if her family background is modest, Ming Yuzhen's outstanding appearance has been eye-catching since she was a child. It is reported that he was born with a "double pupil" and a bright eye, which was believed by people at the time and regarded as an auspicious and important sign. In the past, there were many founding monarchs such as Later Liang Lüguang and Southern Tang Li Yu who also had this vision, so people had high hopes for Ming Yuzhen, believing that he would achieve extraordinary things.
When she was young, Ming Yuzhen was valued by the township and gradually became a leader who led the township. He was honest and kind, willing to help poor families and punish gangsters, and was deeply loved by the people. Whenever there is an internal and external dispute, Ming Yuzhen also stepped forward to guide the referee and won a high reputation.
Ming Yuzhen's ambition gradually spread among the neighbors, and her reputation increased day by day. When the Yuan Dynasty was declining and chaos was raging, he made up his mind to personally strive for the well-being of the world and did not want to spend the rest of his life in waste. So in the eleventh year of Zhizheng, Ming Yuzhen gathered thousands of brave people, stood on his own mountain, and formed an independent army. Although other peasant uprising groups were already active at that time, Ming Yuzhen did not join easily, but was ready to make her own layout.
All this is the beginning of Ming Yuzhen's great ambition, indicating that he will rise in the troubled times and write his legendary life. Although he came from a humble background and was poor, he was full of confidence and courage in his future, as people foresaw at the time, and was destined to become a proud star in the turbulent era of the late Ming Dynasty.
Stoop to the golden age of man
Ming Yuzhen was originally just a self-reliant leader of the township, and his strength was meager. In order to strengthen his armed forces, he had to join the Red Turban Army, the most influential peasant rebel army of the time. The Red Turban Army is led by Xu Shouhui, and the number has reached hundreds of thousands, which can be described as huge.
Ming Yuzhen understood the current affairs, and decided to temporarily forbear and compromise, and stoop to serve Xu Shouhui. After joining the Red Turban Army, he was incorporated into Ni Wenjun's army and belonged to the same road as Chen Youliang. Because of her bravery, Ming Yuzhen soon showed her outstanding military talent, and made outstanding achievements in many battles, which impressed Ni Wenjun and other superior generals.
However, in a battle ambushed by the Yuan army, Ming Yuzhen unfortunately lost her right eye and has since become a "bright eye". This disability forced him to withdraw from the front line and instead be sent to the rear to prepare for the salaries. Although she is only engaged in tedious and menial work such as raising money, Ming Yuzhen is still loyal and diligent.
At that time, the Red Turban Army had already occupied the Hubei area, and in order to further expand its territory, it was necessary to go south to conquer the rich land of Sichuan. Ni Wenjun felt that this was a good time for Ming Yuzhen to display his talents, so he assigned him to lead more than 10,000 soldiers down the river and be responsible for plundering grain and grass in the middle of the river.
Along the way, Ming Yuzhen sympathized with the fatigue of her subordinates, deliberately prepared enough food and grass, and personally supervised the drills to ensure strict military discipline. He led by example, endured hardships first, and won the support of many subordinates. After marching to Dazhou, Ming Yuzhen appeased the local people and made the entire Sichuan region gradually peaceful.
At this time, a fierce factional struggle suddenly broke out within the Red Turban Army. Ni Wenjun intended to privately imprison Xu Shouhui and establish himself as king, but he was killed by Chen Youliang, who then went on to kill the monarch and seize the throne and establish a new "Dayi" dynasty.
This military mutiny was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Ming Yuzhen. In Sichuan, he had no face to return to the killer, but he had nowhere to go. As a result, Ming Yuzhen resolutely decided to completely break away from the Red Turban Army system and seek development for herself.
In the following years, Ming Yuzhen gradually took root in the Sichuan region, and her forces continued to grow. With his foresight and prowess in military command, he quickly established his roots in the region, laying the groundwork for his eventual independence as king. This scene is just like what people expected from their future nobles.
A critical moment to abandon the flag and defect
After Chen Youliang killed Ni Wenjun and usurped power, he immediately sent an envoy to Sichuan and ordered Ming Yuzhen to defect to the new dynasty. However, Ming Yuzhen's knowledge is no longer what it used to be, how can she tolerate such a big rebellion. He rebuked the messenger, "Your lord has no way to kill the king, how can I be like a dog and a horse." The messenger returned speechless.
At this moment, even greater unrest broke out within the Red Turban Army. Chen Youliang's newly established regime was still shallow, and his subordinates Guozhen raised another rebel division, and the two armies faced each other for more than ten days, and the battle was fierce. During this period, Chen Youliang actually tried to win over Ming Yuzhen and keep him in Sichuan, but Ming Yuzhen refused.
"You are a puppet monarch with his own mistakes, if I revert to obedience, I will not insult the ancestors, and I will not be able to see the righteousness of the kings and ministers of heaven and earth. Ming Yuzhen directly reprimanded Chen Youliang for having no king and no father, and resolutely cut his robe and left.
Then, Ming Yuzhen personally led tens of thousands of troops to defeat the remnants of the Chen and Fang factions in Sichuan, seized the rich land of Bashu, and attacked several cities in a row. At this point, the entire Sichuan region completely surrendered to him.
After the victory, Ming Yuzhen officially assumed the post of state pastor in Chengdu in the third year of Jiading (1210), established himself as the king, set the capital of Jinjiang City, and established a new dynasty with Jinyang as the name. This marks that he finally ascended to the pinnacle of power from a cloth cloth and created his own imperial country.
As the founding monarch of the new dynasty, Ming Yuzhen's governance embodied an enlightened style. He was well aware of the difficulty of running a poor business, so he granted amnesty to the world, allowed the people to move freely, and issued a series of decrees to benefit the people and enrich the country. He also vigorously promoted culture and education, repaired schools, and summoned people from all over the world to serve in Sichuan. With his strong support, Sichuan's economy recovered rapidly and the society gradually got on the right track.
However, the unification of the Jinyang regime lasted less than a decade. Soon, the "Great Han" of the Han regime in the north captured Guanzhong when the war was rekindled, and quickly became powerful. Ming Yuzhen saw the vigorous rise of the Han Dynasty and couldn't help but be secretly worried, so she changed the name of the country to "Yongming" and moved the capital to Mianzhou.
Unfortunately, the Han regime was not willing to let go of such a formidable opponent. In the fourth year of Yongming, the Han Dynasty advocated that Shicheng led an army of more than 300,000 troops to Mianzhou. A fateful battle broke out between the two sides in the Mianzhu area...
There are two other shocking anecdotes
After Ming Yuzhen unified Sichuan and established the Yongming Dynasty, his governance benefited one party, which is really commendable. He knows that the prosperity of the country lies in educating talents; The death of a country lies in the waste of talents. Therefore, from the beginning of his ascension, he attached great importance to the selection and cultivation of talents.
The Yongming Dynasty had a system of "nine kings", which was equivalent to the highest leadership of civil and military officials. For this reason, Ming Yuzhen recruited wise men and was eclectic. Whether it is a poor Confucian from a poor family or a hermit living in seclusion in the mountains and forests, as long as there are talented people, they are all recruited and used.
Even those remnants who had fled in the war, Ming Yuzhen tried her best to comfort them and provided them with food, clothing, shelter and transportation. Those who are willing to stay in Yongming will be given permission by Ming Yuzhen and placed in a good place. As a result, Yongming not only gathered a large number of literati and scholars, but also attracted many skilled craftsmen.
Under the great attention of Ming Yuzhen, the cultural and educational undertakings of the Yongming period were unprecedentedly prosperous and magnificent. The four universities in Chengdu gathered the world's best ministers. Among them are Cheng Minzheng, a physicist who became famous in later generations, and Chen Ziyuan, a medical giant, who promoted his medical skills to the whole territory of Yongming.
Although the Yongming Dynasty only existed for a few decades, under the governance of Ming Yuzhen, Sichuan suddenly became the most developed cultural and educational region in the country. Until the Ming and Qing dynasties, Sichuan's cultural and educational status was still extremely superior, and people all traced the grand occasion of Yongming and praised Ming Yuzhen's wisdom and judgment.
Another major event related to Ming Yuzhen is that she encountered a strange disaster after the unification of Sichuan. There is a supernatural theory circulating, at that time, I don't know why, Ming Yuzhen suddenly suffered from a huge abdominal pain, terminally ill, the entire abdomen gradually distended, and the pain was unbearable.
The ministers of the court and the central government had no choice but to invite a warlock to perform exorcism. At this moment, a strange rat actually came out of Ming Yuzhen's body and fled immediately. Ming Yuzhen's illness gradually recovered. The warlocks said that this was a curse, and it was the monster's intention to take away the spirit of Ming Yuzhen.
Since then, the government and the opposition have all been more vigilant and careful with Ming Yuzhen, and built a solid inner palace deep mansion for her. However, what caused this strange disease, until the death of Yongming, no one can understand the reason.
The final destruction
In the fourth year of Yongming, Zhang Shicheng, the lord of the Han Dynasty, personally led more than 300,000 troops from Guanzhong, down the Weishui, and went straight to Mianzhou. This was undoubtedly a fatal challenge to Ming Yuzhen's rule.
In the face of a sudden strong enemy, Ming Yuzhen naturally could not be appeased. He ordered the general recruitment and allocation of the whole country, gathered 150,000 elite divisions, personally commanded them, and conducted a meeting in Mianzhu. There, a fight to the death ensued.
For three months, the war was stalemate. During this period, both sides suffered heavy casualties, corpses were strewn all over the field, and blood soaked the ground. In the end, Ming Yuzhen had to lead the remaining army to retreat to the city of Mianzhou.
Zhang Shicheng saw that the time had come, so he ordered the generals to surround Mianzhou and strictly prohibit entry and exit, in an attempt to crush Ming Yuzhen in the city with heavy troops. The war inside and outside Mianzhou continued, and at night, the artillery fire illuminated the sky, which was deafening.
At this moment, there was an unprecedented change in Mianzhou City. One afternoon, a secret report suddenly came, only to see a banner of the Han Dynasty standing on top of the Mianzhou City Tower! It turned out that Liu Wenzheng, a confidant of Ming Yuzhen, betrayed in battle, privately surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and opened the city gate, allowing the Han army to take advantage of the weakness.
In the blink of an eye, Mianzhou fell into the hands of the Han army without blood. Ming Yuzhen dodged into the inner palace, but she was powerless to return to the sky. The Han army quickly captured him alive and captured all the vast wealth of the crown prince of Yongming.
In this way, a generation of heroes was wiped out. Ming Yuzhen was imprisoned alive, and finally tortured in the city of Tongguan, the capital of the Han Dynasty, and died with hatred. At this point, his great cause of unifying Sichuan and establishing the Yongming Dynasty was completely shattered, ending his life legend.
Throughout history, Ming Yuzhen is really a generation of heroes, so that the world can see it. It's a pity that in the end, because of the betrayal of the traitors and the incompetence of the ministers, all the achievements were in vain, which makes people sigh. However, his life experience is indeed as Zhang Juzheng said, more stable than Zhu Yuanzhang, more ruthless than Chen Youliang, richer than Zhang Shicheng, and stronger than Xu Shouhui, but he didn't catch up with Fang Guozhen. With such comments, it can already be seen that Ming Yuzhen's extraordinary status and outstanding ability can be seen.