History is always magical and interesting, and there are often hidden secrets in it. Today we are going to discuss a rather tortuous history, and its protagonists are none other than the fearsome Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and the legendary Zhang Wuji in the martial arts. As you know, Zhu Yuanzhang was Zhang Wuji's subordinate, but later Zhu Yuanzhang became the emperor, so what kind of fate did Zhang Wuji, the former boss, suffer? Let's find out.
1. Zhang Wuji's relationship with Mingjiao
Zhang Wuji is the top master of martial arts, he has uncovered the mysteries of martial arts since he was a child, and with his extraordinary talent and diligence, he soon surpassed his master Zhang Sanfeng. But when Zhang Wuji was young and ignorant, he was involved in a sect by some cunning people, and his fate has been closely linked to Mingjiao since then.
At that time, Mingjiao had spread among the people, and the people believed in Maitreya Buddhism from the Western Regions, advocating that the people should help each other and love each other, and pray together for Maitreya to reappear in the world and lead the world to peace. Because Mingjiao advocates vegetarianism, many outsiders call them "vegetable eating demon sects" and scold them as a group of madmen who are stunned by demons.
In fact, Mingjiao is a light faction, they just hope to start by themselves, in order to wake up the world, so that the world can stay away from the dark side of greed, hatred, and ignorance. It's a pity that some ill-intentioned people took the opportunity to take advantage of the loophole and secretly manipulate the Ming Sect, so that the originally upright members of the sect embarked on an evil path.
Zhang Wuji's master Zhang Sanfeng saw that Mingjiao was being used, so he let Zhang Wuji, an innocent child, sneak into it to understand the truth. However, not long after Zhang Wuji joined the Ming Sect, his master Zhang Sanfeng died in distress, Zhang Wuji was isolated and helpless, and was soon overturned by the Ming Sect and pushed to the throne of the sect leader.
The young and ignorant Zhang Wuji led the Ming Sect, but he did not know the dark side of the sect. He simply wanted the congregation to help and love each other, away from killing and war. However, some people in the Ming Sect want to take advantage of the prestige of the sect to become bigger and stronger, hold the Son of Heaven hostage, and seize the world.
At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was an ordinary member of the Ming Sect, he saw that Zhang Wuji was a master and had superb martial arts, and he hated Zhang Wuji's simplicity, so he secretly laid a big net.
2. The rise of Zhu Yuanzhang
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor farming family in Henan Province and has experienced the hardships of life since he was a child. He was gifted, but he could not read and write, so he had to work as a farmer for a living. Under the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, the lives of the common people fell into dire straits. Zhu Yuanzhang saw the popular aspirations of the Ming Sect, so he joined this sect, hoping to change the status quo.
At the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang was just the most ordinary member of the Ming Sect. Although he was ambitious, he was humble and courteous, and he always put the interests of Mingjiao first. Seeing that he was diligent and studious, Zhang Wuji quickly promoted him to a cronie and often gave him some important tasks.
Zhu Yuanzhang was respectful to Zhang Wuji and cautious everywhere. He understood that although Zhang Wuji, the emerging sect leader, had a lot of power in his hands, he was a cowardly and incompetent paper tiger. So he secretly laid a big net, wanting to control Zhang Wuji step by step, and finally take the power of Mingjiao into his own hands.
Zhu Yuanzhang first recruited a group of henchmen and cronies in the Ming Sect, and then began to isolate the old ministers around Zhang Wuji. He secretly dug out his mind and gave Zhang Wuji one dangerous task after another, so that these old ministers died in the line of duty. Until the end, there were only some young and inexperienced juniors left around Zhang Wuji.
With the support of these young assistants, Zhu Yuanzhang began to instill his own ideas to Zhang Wuji, so that Zhang Wuji gradually obeyed his command. Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the great prestige of Mingjiao to recruit troops among the people, and gradually grasped real power in the army.
As the power of Mingjiao became bigger and bigger, Zhang Wuji actually obeyed Zhu Yuanzhang's words. Zhu Yuanzhang struck while the iron was hot and called on the Ming Sect to raise troops to resist the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. After years of war, the Yuan Dynasty was finally completely defeated, Zhu Yuanzhang's army occupied the entire Central Plains, and Zhang Wuji became the leader of the sect.
In order to control power, Zhu Yuanzhang specially designed a conspiracy to deceive Zhang Wuji. He asked Zhang Wuji to leave the Central Plains and go to a remote island to practice. After Zhang Wuji left, Zhu Yuanzhang rightfully sat on the throne of the emperor and established the Ming Dynasty. Since then, Zhang Wuji, the former boss, has been completely reduced to a prisoner.
3. Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty
After Zhu Yuanzhang deceived Zhang Wuji, he set out to consolidate his new dynasty rule. He knew that although Zhang Wuji had been repatriated overseas, there were still many Zhang Wuji's disciples and cronies in the Ming Sect, and if he did not take precautions, civil strife would likely break out.
In order to appease the people, Zhu Yuanzhang first ordered the name of the new dynasty to be "Ming", and won the hearts of the people with the theory that Mingjiao was founded in Mingmu. He announced that the new dynasty would inherit some traditions of Mingjiao, such as abstaining from killing and releasing life, advocating Buddhism, etc., which greatly won the support of Mingjiao.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang was wary of those high-ranking figures of the Ming Sect. He feared that these former followers of Zhang Wuji would launch a rebellion in retaliation, so he secretly ordered them to be wiped out. Many Mingjiao martial arts masters who followed Zhang Wuji on the battlefield suffered in this massacre, and soon regarded Zhu Yuanzhang as his former enemy.
As the foundation of the Ming Dynasty gradually stabilized, Zhu Yuanzhang began to strengthen the centralization of power, abolished the ancestral system, and established the absolute monarchy system. He convened hundreds of civil and military officials many times to discuss matters and listened to their suggestions, but the final decision-making power was still in his own hands.
All this disappointed the Ming followers who followed Zhang Wuji in the past, who thought that the Ming Dynasty would abide by the Ming Dynasty's purpose of mutual help and love, but who expected that it would eventually fall into feudal autocracy. So the people in the Mingjiao secretly formed an association, planning to overthrow Zhu Yuanzhang's rule and re-establish the real Mingjiao dynasty.
When Zhu Yuanzhang learned the news, he was furious and immediately ordered a severe crackdown. In the years that followed, countless Mingjiao followers were arrested, imprisoned, or exterminated. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Sect, which was once very popular, was completely swept away.
In order to further consolidate his rule, Zhu Yuanzhang also built a large number of buildings and ordered the construction of many palaces and cities throughout the country. The most famous of these is the Forbidden City, a magnificent palace that symbolizes not only the majesty of the Ming Dynasty, but also the personal power of Zhu Yuanzhang. From then on, the Ming Dynasty lasted for hundreds of years.
Fourth, Zhang Wuji's final fate
Zhang Wuji, who was deceived by Zhu Yuanzhang to go overseas, still had illusions about him at first, thinking that he would treat the people as well as he thought. However, as the foundation of the Ming Dynasty gradually stabilized, Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous nature became more and more revealed.
When Zhang Wuji learned that Zhu Yuanzhang had slaughtered the top leaders of the Ming Sect, he was immediately disappointed. He realized that Zhu Yuanzhang was using Mingjiao to seize the throne for himself, and he never intended to realize the purpose and concept of Mingjiao.
Enraged, Zhang Wuji decided to regain the power of the Ming Sect and called on the congregational members to overthrow Zhu Yuanzhang's rule. But at this time, Mingjiao had been purged by Zhu Yuanzhang, and he was powerless to resist. Zhang Wuji's behavior is tantamount to throwing himself into the net.
After Zhu Yuanzhang learned of Zhang Wuji's conspiracy, he secretly ambushed a large number of cronies to monitor Zhang Wuji. Soon, Zhang Wuji's most beloved wife Zhao Min and daughter Han Lin'er were arrested.
Zhao Min was originally the princess of the Great Liao Kingdom, but she was regarded as a political bargaining chip by Zhu Yuanzhang and imprisoned in the palace. As for Han Lin'er, Zhu Yuanzhang suspected that she was Zhang Wuji's illegitimate daughter left overseas, and in order to prevent trouble, he ordered her to be executed.
At that time, Han Lin'er was only in her early teens, but she was subjected to inhuman abuse. In order to completely cut off the troubles, Zhu Yuanzhang personally supervised the torture of his subordinates, and finally tortured him to death. When this news reached Zhang Wuji's ears, he had already fallen into a desperate situation.
lost his most beloved wife and daughter, and Zhang Wuji completely lost the courage to live. He wandered in desperation and eventually became a beggar, sipping leftovers on the roadside.
When some surviving Ming believers saw Zhang Wuji's appearance, they all sighed at the impermanence of the world. A generation of top martial arts masters has fallen to this point, which is really suffocating.
5. Reflections and interpretations of history
The conflict between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Wuji between Buddhism and imperial power witnessed the rise and fall of an era. Zhang Wuji was originally a martial arts master, but he was accidentally involved in the turmoil of the Ming Sect and was promoted to the position of the sect leader. He was bent on realizing the purpose of Mingjiao's "harmony between the people and things", but he never thought that he would be used by Zhu Yuanzhang, a cunning villain.
Zhu Yuanzhang came from a humble background, but he had great ambitions. He joined Mingjiao only to use this force to seize the world, and he never took the concept of Mingjiao to heart. With cautious means, he controlled Zhang Wuji step by step, and finally put the sect leader in the air, but he sat on the throne of the emperor.
Once Zhu Yuanzhang took power, his murderous nature was gradually revealed. He not only purged the fanatics who followed Zhang Wuji in the Ming Sect, but even Zhang Wuji's most beloved wife and daughter were ruthlessly slaughtered, which shows that he is ruthless and difficult to write.
In the face of Zhu Yuanzhang's torture and killing, Zhang Wuji completely lost his fighting spirit. This former martial arts supreme has become a street beggar, which is really suffocating. His life was like the idea of Mingjiao, at first it was innocent and beautiful, but in the end it was swallowed up by the darkness of reality.
From this period of history, we can see that power often makes people greedy and brutal. In order to seize the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang did not hesitate to use Mingjiao, an originally noble Buddhist organization. After he succeeded, he exterminated all these people who had followed the ideas of Mingjiao, which can really be described as ungrateful, and it is difficult to write about it.
However, although Zhang Wuji failed in the end, his simple kindness made future generations unforgettable. If Zhu Yuanzhang represents the dark side of an era, then Zhang Wuji is the only remaining ray of light in that era. It's a pity that the light was swallowed up by the darkness in the end, which is exactly the portrayal of that turbulent era.