The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, joined Guo Zixing's rebel army at the age of 25 and took a total of 16 years until he sat on the throne at the age of 41 in 1368 and established the Ming Dynasty. And the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to establish the Ming Dynasty is inseparable from the generals under his command who can fight well, such as Xu Da, King of Zhongshan, Tang He, King of Donou, Deng Yu, King of Ninghe, Fu Youde, Duke of Yingguo, etc., all of which lived to the third year of Hongwu after Zhu Yuanzhang was crowned a hero.
In the 16 years of Zhu Yuanzhang's southern and northern wars, there were still a large number of founding heroes who died before Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang thanked them for their merits, and after being proclaimed emperor, he posthumously awarded them knighthoods.
Among them, there are 7 posthumously named dukes, in this article, let's take a look at the seven dukes who were posthumously crowned by Zhu Yuanzhang, before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, what kind of existence was under Zhu Yuanzhang?
Zhu Yuanzhang's most trusted Confucian general
Everyone in the world knows that Zhu Yuanzhang was the emperor in Nanjing, and he has always used Nanjing as his base for success before becoming emperor. But few people know: who took the initiative to propose to Zhu Yuanzhang to occupy Jiqing (Nanjing) as a fundamental?
This person is Feng Guoyong, the founder of the country and the brother of Feng Sheng, the Duke of Song, it is worth mentioning that Feng Guoyong was the most trusted Confucian general by Zhu Yuanzhang's side when he was alive. It's a pity that Feng Guoyong died too early.
Feng Guoyong has been very fond of reading since he was a young child, and he is proficient in the art of war. In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, rebel armies from all over the country rose one after another to rebel against the Yuan court. Feng Guoyong and his younger brother Feng Sheng gathered hundreds of people on the cottage to protect the villagers, but this is not a long-term plan after all, Feng Guoyong has been looking for a person who can achieve great things, hoping to follow this person to make contributions.
Soon, Feng Guoyong waited.
When Zhu Yuanzhang led his troops to attack Dingyuan Miaoshan, Feng Guoyong took his younger brother and hundreds of people to join Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang originally thought that Feng Guoyong was just a simple military general, but he didn't expect to see Feng Guoyong dressed as a Confucian student, gentle and elegant. Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to Feng Guoyong, after all, most of Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates at this time were military generals who could fight well, and there were very few people who gave advice, and even the military advisor Liu Ji officially defected to Zhu Yuanzhang in 1360.
And Feng Guoyong is indeed a rare civil and military talent, not only can lead troops to fight, but also give advice to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang once asked Feng Guoyong: How should the world be pacified? Feng Guoyong replied like this: Jinling (Jiqing Road, now Nanjing) is the land of the tiger and the dragon, and many emperors of all dynasties have taken Jinling as the capital, and should first occupy Jinling as the foundation. However, in the midst of conquest, and to advocate benevolence and righteousness, to be widely loved by the people of the world, do not be in a hurry to seek glory and wealth for their children and grandchildren. In this way, it will not be difficult for the world to be calm.
Feng Guoyong's words made Zhu Yuanzhang very happy, so he regarded Feng Guoyong as his adviser.
After that, Feng Guoyong personally led his troops to conquer Chuzhou, Hezhou, Banmenzhai and other places, and made a lot of military achievements; When the army crossed the river to the south, Feng Guoyong captured Taiping, Zhu Yuanzhang valued Feng Guoyong very much, so he asked Feng Guoyong to command his own personal soldiers in front of the tent, and any important things would be handed over to Feng Guoyong to do. And it is worth mentioning that Feng Guoyong not only led his troops to attack the city and plunder the land, but also saved the life of the general Xu Da. If there is no Feng Guoyong, there may be no Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan.
However, in 1359, Feng Guoyong suddenly died of illness in the army when he participated in the Battle of Shaoxing, at the age of 36, which happened to be a good age to make meritorious contributions. Hearing the news of Feng Guoyong's death, Zhu Yuanzhang was very sad and personally paid tribute at Jilong Mountain. 12 years later, that is, in the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously named him the Duke of Yingguo.
Although Feng Guoyong has not followed Zhu Yuanzhang for a long time, only 6 years, he can be posthumously named a duke, so it can be seen how much credit he made during his lifetime, and how much loss Feng Guoyong's death caused Zhu Yuanzhang. For a while, Zhu Yuanzhang was missing a strategist by his side. But fortunately, the year after Feng Guoyong's death, Liu Ji came to Nanjing.
Zhu Yuanzhang also descended the descendants of Feng Guoyong, Feng Guoyong's son achieved the position of the left governor of the right army step by step with his military exploits, and Feng Guoyong's daughter was married to Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son Mu Ying as the original wife, and was posthumously named the wife of the king of Qianning, and gave birth to a son Mu Chun, who inherited the title of Marquis of Xiping after Mu Ying's death.
The founding hero who was stoned to death by a mallet - Hu Dahai
Hu Dahai is a native of Sizhou, with a slender figure and iron face, and has extraordinary resourcefulness. In the early days of Zhu Yuanzhang's army, when he had just captured Chuzhou, Hu Dahai went to visit Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang appointed him as a pioneer. When the army crossed the river, Hu Dahai was awarded the marshal of the right-wing army for his military exploits, and served as the former guard.
After that, he followed the general Deng Yu to capture Ningguo and defeated the 100,000 army of the Yuan general Yang Wanzhi; After that, he followed Deng Yu and Li Wenzhong all the way from Yuling Pass to Jiande, and defeated Yang Wanzhi for the second time. For his military exploits, he was awarded the Privy Council step by step.
After capturing Zhuji, Hu Dahai defeated Zhang Shicheng's troops in Shaoxing.
Later, on the order of Zhu Yuanzhang, he went to guard Ningyue Chongdi.
Zhang Shicheng sent his general Lu Zhen to attack Zhuji, Hu Dahai led troops to rescue Zhuji, and Lu Zhen's power was greatly reduced and he had to take the initiative to sue for peace. It can be said that Hu Dahai followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight in the south and north for several years, and made a lot of military achievements, and he is a very noteworthy general under Zhu Yuanzhang.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang insisted on killing his eldest son, why is this?
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's move was also for long-term planning, in order to reduce the burden of the people and not to collect grain from the people, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that it was not allowed to use grain to make wine, let alone drink alcohol. But Hu Dahai's eldest son knew that the marshal had this order, but he relied on his father's merits to be fearless. This move angered Zhu Yuanzhang, although some people persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang not to kill Hu Dahai's eldest son, wouldn't it be a bad thing if Hu Dahai, who had a heavy army in his hand, rebelled? But Zhu Yuanzhang still insisted on execution.
Although Hu Dahai was saddened by the death of his eldest son, he was also a reasonable person and knew that his son was at fault first.
was not dissatisfied with Zhu Yuanzhang, but was as loyal as ever.
And was awarded the governor of Jiangnan Province for his military exploits, but in 1362, Hu Dahai was stoned to death by a mallet, what is going on?
When Hu Dahai captured Yanzhou, three Miao generals came to return to Shun, and Hu Dahai saw that they fought bravely and liked the three (Jiang Ying, Liu Zhen, and Li Fu) very much, and let them stay in his army. On the seventh day of February in 1362, these three Miao generals actually conspired to make trouble and tricked Hu Dahai to the Bayong Tower, and smashed Hu Dahai directly on the head with a mallet before Hu Dahai could react. After Hu Dahai was stoned to death, his second son was also killed.
Subsequently, these three seedling generals took refuge in Zhang Shicheng.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the news, he was very angry and very sad that he had lost a general. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew Li Wenzhong captured Jiang Ying alive, and Zhu Yuanzhang directly ordered Jiang Ying to be executed to pay tribute to Hu Dahai.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he posthumously awarded Hu Dahai the title of Duke of Yueguo, deserving of the Taimiao, ranking seventh on the list of meritorious heroes.
Liao Yongan, who was imprisoned for eight years
Around 1351 (this year Zhu Yuanzhang was still a monk), because of the chaos in the Jianghuai area, Liao Yongan and his younger brother Liao Yongzhong recruited troops and horses to fight against thieves and protect the villagers in Chaohu Water Village. Later, because of Zuo Junbi's rebellion in Luzhou, the life of the two Liao Yongan brothers was not easy.
In May 1355, Zhu Yuanzhang had already captured Hezhou, but after a few months in Hezhou, there was a shortage of grain and grass. In order to be able to supply grain and grass, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to capture the Taiping land of the Xiang King across the river, but how to cross the river without a boat?
At this time, Liao Yongan took his younger brother and the Chaohu Water Army to take the initiative to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang.
The problem of Zhu Yuanzhang crossing the river was solved at once, so the return of the two Liao Yongan brothers made Zhu Yuanzhang very happy. Zhu Yuanzhang took the initiative to rush to Chaohu, on the way back to Hezhou, Zhu Yuanzhang met the Yuan Dynasty Zhongcheng in Huangdun, the Yuan Dynasty's naval army used the building boat in the river is very clumsy, on the other hand, Liao Yongan and others are very skilled in operating the boat, many times defeated the Yuan army, but also in this battle captured 19 people who are good at driving boats.
This gave Zhu Yuanzhang more confidence to cross the Yangtze River, and in June of that year, Zhu Yuanzhang and Liao Yongan were on the same boat, and planned to land at quarrying. Liao Yongan took advantage of the northwest wind to quickly cross the river, which made the Yuan army on the shore very panicked, and was defeated by Liao Yongan and others before the battle lasted long, and the quarry was soon captured. Immediately afterwards, Zhu Yuanzhang captured Taiping, Wuhu and other places.
And Liao Yongan was awarded the title of chief of the army for his military exploits.
In February 1356, Liao Yongan led the boat division to capture the water village in The Hague;
The following month, he began to attack Jiqing, and not only captured the Yuan general Chen Zhaoxian, but also obtained more than 500,000 soldiers and civilians. Zhu Yuanzhang was able to enter Jiqing (Nanjing) and establish the Generalissimo's Mansion in Jiqing.
After that, Liao Yongan successively captured Zhenjiang, Taisha, Jintan, Changzhou, Xuanzhou and other places, and defeated Zhang Shicheng.
In 1357, Liao Yongan was awarded the Privy Council of Tongtong Jiangnan for his military exploits.
In October of this year, Liao Yongan and Chang Yuchun attacked Chizhou together, and the navy and the army cooperated and soon captured Chizhou.
In 1358, Liao Yongan captured Yixing, Wuxi and other places, and captured Marshal Zhu alive, and was awarded the Privy Council of Tongzhi for his military exploits.
However, in October of that year, Liao Yongan was unfortunately captured while fighting with Lü Zhen (a general under Zhang Shicheng).
Zhang Shicheng cherished Liao Yongan's talent and bravery, so he planned to persuade Liao Yongan to surrender, but Liao Yongan refused. It happened that Xu Da captured Zhang Shicheng's younger brother Zhang Shide, and Zhang Shicheng wanted to exchange Liao Yongan for his younger brother, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not agree to kill Zhang Shide directly, and Liao Yongan did not return to Zhu Yuanzhang's side.
Although Liao Yongan has always refused to surrender to Zhang Shicheng, but Zhang Shicheng did not kill him, in 1364 because Liao Yongan did not surrender Zhang Shicheng for many years, Zhu Yuanzhang was very moved, so he was named the Duke of Chu. Liao Yongan died in Pingjiang two years later, ending eight years in captivity. For Zhu Yuanzhang, Liao Yongan's role is very big, if there is no Liao Yongan, Zhu Yuanzhang wants to cross the river to capture Taiping, Wuhu and other places, or even capture Jiqing, I don't know when.
And Liao Yongan's contribution is not limited to this, after Liao Yongan surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang, he made up for Zhu Yuanzhang's shortcomings in the navy and made his own contribution to Zhu Yuanzhang's establishment of the Ming Dynasty. It's a pity that he was captured by Zhang Shicheng and died in captivity for eight years.
Zhao Desheng, the Duke of Liang who was killed by an arrow
Zhao Desheng was burly and brave in battle, but at first he served in the Yuan army. After Zhu Yuanzhang captured Chuzhou City in 1353, Zhao Desheng abandoned his wife and took the initiative to defect to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang appointed him as the pioneer in front of the tent, and then Zhao Desheng followed the righteous army to capture Zhangjiazhai, Houhe Zhuzhai and other places.
In fact, in October 1354, Zhao Desheng almost died, but fortunately he survived.
If this were not the case, there would be one less great general in history.
In 1355, Zhao Desheng accompanied the army to attack Jilong Mountain, Hezhou, Hanshan and other places, and was awarded the pioneer of the governor's mansion for his military exploits; In June of this year, he crossed the Yangtze River with Zhu Yuanzhang, and followed the army to conquer Taiping, Wuhu, Liyang and other places, and made many military achievements.
After that, Zhao Desheng followed the general Chang Yuchun to defeat the Yuan general Barbarian The Hague, and defeated Chen Zhaoxian, and then captured Jiqing. Zhao Desheng has the greatest credit in this battle.
In 1356, Zhao Desheng followed the general Xu Da to capture Zhengzhou, Jintan, Ningguo and other places;
After that, he followed Deng Yu to capture Guangde, and followed Chang Yuchun to attack Changzhou.
Follow Zhao Jizu to capture Jiangyin, follow Xu Da to capture Changshu, and capture Zhang Shicheng's younger brother Zhang Shide alive.
It can be said that before this, Zhao Desheng almost always followed the expedition and did not have the opportunity to lead the troops to fight alone. Since 1358, Zhao Desheng began to lead his troops to fight alone, and together with Xie Zaixing and others, he captured Chen Youliang's general Meng Youde and others alive.
In 1359, Zhao Desheng was awarded the title of General Huaiyuan for his military exploits.
From 1360 to 1361, Zhao Desheng's main opponent was Chen Youliang, and in the process of fighting against Chen Youliang, he made many military exploits and conquered many cities.
In 1362, Zhao Desheng conquered Ruichang, Anqing and other seven places successively, and went with the army to recover Nanchang, in this battle Zhao Desheng injured his shoulder, and was awarded the Jiangnan Administrative Privy Council by Zhu Yuanzhang. And together with Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew Zhu Wenzheng, he guarded Nanchang.
In 1363, Chen Youliang led a large army to defend Nanchang City, and Zhao Desheng led his troops to fight against the battle, and shot Chen Youliang's generals, causing Chen Youliang's troops to lose morale. However, the next day, when Zhao Desheng was commanding the battle, he was shot in the waist by an arrow, Zhao Desheng directly pulled out the arrow, and said unwillingly: I have been in the army since I was in the prime of life, and I have been hit by stray arrows and artillery stones many times, but it is not as serious as this time, and it is not a pity that the husband died, but he did not sweep the Central Plains in person!
After speaking, Zhao Desheng passed away and closed his eyes with regret.
When Zhu Yuanzhang learned about it, he was very sad and regretful, and posthumously named him Liang Guogong.
The biggest hero in the battle of Poyang Lake - Yu Tonghai, the Duke of Yuguo
Yu Tonghai's father and son actually set up camp in Chaohu Water Village with Liao Yongan, Zhao Pusheng and others, and owned more than 1,000 boats to protect themselves. It's just because Zuo Junbi made trouble in Luzhou and embarrassed the Chaohu Water Army many times, which made the situation of Yu Tonghai and others very difficult.
In 1355, after Zhu Yuanzhang captured Hezhou, the two brothers of Liao Yongan and Yu Tonghai and his son surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang personally went to Chaohu to appease him. On the way back to Hezhou, Liao Yongan, Yu Tonghai and others fought against the Yuan Dynasty naval army, and were awarded a thousand households by Zhu Yuanzhang, and led troops to cross the river and capture quarrying, Taiping and other places.
In February 1356, Yu Tonghai, Liao Yongan and others led troops to fight against the Yuan generals The Hague and Chen Zhaoxian, won a complete victory, and took advantage of the victory to pursue and capture Jiqing. Later, Yu Tonghai followed Tang He to capture Zhenjiang and was awarded the title of Marshal of Qin Huaiyi for his military exploits. In April of this year, Yu Tonghai led his troops to capture Danyang, Jintan and other places.
In 1357, after Yu Tonghai captured Changzhou, he was awarded the Privy Council judge by Zhu Yuanzhang, and then followed Zhu Yuanzhang to attack Ningguo. When attacking Taihu Lake, Zhang Shicheng's general Lu Zhen led the army to rush over, and in the face of the pressure of the army, all the generals suggested retreating, but Yu Tonghai resolutely did not retreat, and took the lead in charging forward. So much so that he was born by the arrow and could no longer continue to fight, so he asked a soldier to put on his armor and continue to fight, which made the Yuan army mistakenly think that Yu Tonghai was still continuing to supervise the battle, so he gradually retreated.
In 1359, Yu Tonghai led his troops to attack Zongyang Water Village, seized Zhao Pusheng's boats, and recovered Chizhou, and was awarded the Privy Council for his military exploits. In the following year, Yu Tonghai assisted the generals to repel Chen Youliang's attack in Longwan and captured the seven commanders under Chen Youliang.
In 1361, Yu Tonghai followed Zhu Yuanzhang to attack Chen Youliang;
In 1362, Yu Tonghai followed Xu Da to recover Nanchang.
In 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang met at Kanglang Mountain, Zhu Yuanzhang's ship was small, and he was almost on the verge of collapse after fighting Chen Youliang. Fortunately, Yu Tonghai set fire to more than 20 of Chen Youliang's boats, and the situation was slightly stabilized. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang's boat ran aground, Chang Yuchun hurriedly sent arrows to protect Zhu Yuanzhang, and Yu Tonghai also rushed to support, so Zhu Yuanzhang was able to escape.
The next day, Yu Tonghai, Liao Yongzhong and others burned hundreds of Chen Youliang's warships, and two days later, Yu Tonghai repeated his old tricks and defeated Chen Youliang. and suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang lead the army out of the lake, Zhu Yuanzhang followed Yu Tonghai's advice, and Chen Youliang did not dare to come out, and a month later, Chen Youliang could only lead his troops to break through and die in the chaos.
In the battle of Poyang Lake, the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to win was that Yu Tonghai contributed the most.
With the merits of this battle alone, Yu Tonghai can be made a marquis.
In the subsequent battle, Yu Tonghai's performance made Zhu Yuanzhang even more satisfied:
In 1364, he pacified Wuchang with the army, and then defeated Zhang Shicheng and captured Zhang Shicheng's two generals.
In 1365, he followed the general Xu Da to attack Anfeng;
In 1366, he attacked Huzhou with the army, and two months later led his troops into Taicang, because Qiu did not commit any crimes, and won the support of the people. The puppet marshal Chen Renshou originally led more than 100 boats to escape, but after hearing Yu Tonghai's prestige, he took the initiative to surrender.
In 1367, after leading the army into Taohuawu, he was hit by an arrow and had to return to Jinling to recuperate because of his injuries.
Zhu Yuanzhang also went to the mansion to visit Yu Tonghai in person, at this time Yu Tonghai was unable to speak because of his injuries, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Yu Tonghai and cried sadly, and Yu Tonghai died of illness the next day.
Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously named him the Duke of Yuguo, and personally led hundreds of officials to pay tribute.
other
In addition to the above five heroes with outstanding achievements, there are:
Zhang Desheng, who was posthumously named Cai Guogong, Zhang Desheng was also born in the Chaohu Water Army, and surrendered to Zhu Yuanzhang with Liao Yongan and others in 1355, and then participated in the battle against Chen Youliang. In 1359, Zhang Desheng won three battles and three victories, making the greatest contribution in his life. In 1360, while chasing the defeated army to quarrying, he was unfortunately killed in battle. Three years later, Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously named him Cai Guogong.
Ding Dexing, who was posthumously named the Duke of Jiguo, Ding Dexing took refuge in Zhu Yuanzhang in 1352, and the time of refuge was still very early, and he made many military exploits. In 1355, he crossed the river with the army and conquered Yixing in 1357. Later, he participated in the battle to pacify Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, but died of illness during the siege of Pingjiang. In the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously awarded him the title of Duke of Jiguo.
Resources:
"Ming History"
Ming Tongjian