Preface
If you talk about Zhu Di's first hero, whose name will appear in everyone's mind, Yao Guangxiao is the first hero of Jingjing who was personally recognized by Zhu Di, and it can be said that Yao Guangxiao helped Zhu Di a lot along the way.
After Zhu Di ascended the throne, it was reasonable to reward meritorious deeds, but in the face of Zhu Di's reward for Yao Guangxiao, he refused. Even in order to avoid the palace maid given to him by Zhu Di, Yao Guangxiao went to the temple to sleep, and it was not until more than 20 years that he found out that Yao Guangxiao's actions were really clever.
1. Reward for meritorious deeds
It can be said that among Zhu Yuanzhang's sons, the one who is most similar to him should be Zhu Di, Zhu Yuanzhang is also a well-known ruthless monarch in history, and because of Zhu Yuanzhang's jealousy, countless heroes were killed. Even Xu Da, who made the first contribution, if it wasn't for his early death, Xu Da might not have been able to escape Zhu Yuanzhang's liquidation.
As we all know, the crown prince Zhu Biao has a gentle temperament, so he is not very ruthless to his courtiers, and he is not like Zhu Yuanzhang's character. Only Zhu Di, although Zhu Di's character was not highlighted in the early days, it can be seen from a series of measures after he took the throne that Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang are very similar.
How many of Emperor Jianwen's former ministers were killed by Zhu Di back then, and of course there were some who disobeyed Zhu Di and pointed fingers at Zhu Di's superiors. Which of these people will have a good end?
Accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger, as Yao Guangxiao, who has been following Zhu Di and watching Zhu Di sit on the throne, although he is the biggest hero, he is also the person who makes Zhu Di the most jealous. After Zhu Di sat on the throne, he began to discuss meritorious deeds, and he was not stingy with Yao Guangxiao, and directly gave the position of the crown prince and young master to Yao Guangxiao.
Although this position may not have much real power, his status in the court is extremely high, and it can be said that Yao Guangxiao has taken the position of the extremely human minister.
Take 10,000 steps back and say that Yao Guangxiao is not worthy of this position, and the answer is yes. However, Zhu Di can think that you are worthy, but you can't think so. Yao Guangxiao deserves to be one of the people who knows Zhu Di best, so he also knows that Zhu Di is not at ease with himself.
Soon Zhu Di began his temptation, first of all, to let Yao Guangxiao accumulate hair and return to the vulgar, if it is not a monk, the achievements that can be had in the future will be higher, after all, the identity of this monk is also a constraint.
Of course, Yao Guangxiao rejected Zhu Di without hesitation, and then Zhu Di began to tempt Yao Guangxiao with some things outside his body, at first rewarding him with mansions and gold, silver and jewelry, few people can refuse these possessions, after all, this person is indispensable in the world.
But Yao Guangxiao distributed all the silver rewarded by Zhu Di to his neighbors, and Zhu Di saw that this would not work, so he waved his hand and rewarded Yao Guangxiao with a lot of young palace maids. Cannibalism also, it can be said that this is something that everyone cannot escape. Yao Guangxiao was more decisive this time, he left his house directly and went to the temple to live.
Every day, he can only be seen when he is in the court, Zhu Di laughed when he learned about it, and his suspicion of Yao Guangxiao went down a lot. It can be said that anyone who wants fame and fortune has desires, but there is no desire in Yao Guangxiao.
He is like a monk who has no mortal heart, such a person uses to reassure Zhu Di. For not only will he not be blinded by these powers and fame, but he will also not be blinded by the benefits offered by others.
There are also examples in this previous dynasty, such as Lan Yu, Hu Weiyong, and Li Shanchang, who was killed in his old age, are all living examples. Isn't this Yao Guangxiao's wisdom.
No matter how much Zhu Di values it, Yao Guangxiao is always reluctant to take a step beyond Lei Chi, so he and Zhu Di also have a deep friendship between monarchs and ministers, after all, he is a hero who has helped him a lot, Zhu Di has a lot of respect for him, it can be said that for so many years, Zhu Di has always used an honorific title to call Yao Guangxiao.
It is unprecedentedly unprecedented, and the relationship between the two can be maintained in the future is also the result of the joint efforts of the two of them.
Second, the role is huge
Yao Guangxiao played a promoting role in the martyrdom of Zhu Di, after all, under the education of Confucianism at that time, loyalty to the monarch and patriotism had been deeply engraved into everyone's bones. Zhu Di is undoubtedly ambitious, but he also needs encouragement, this road is not easy to walk.
The slightest carelessness is a place of no return, and for Zhu Di, there is no turning back when he opens the bow. So at the beginning, Zhu Di was also very hesitant, and at this time, Yao Guangxiao gave Zhu Di firm support.
The sentence "Who is the lord if the king is not the king" brought a great shock to Zhu Di, and it was from this time that Zhu Di regarded Yao Guangxiao as his adviser and even confidant. As we all know, the ancients believed in fate and the heavens. But Yao Guangxiao happened to know some Taoism, and through some divination, auspiciousness, etc., Zhu Di strengthened his determination to win.
Even today, there is no way to prove whether the mysterious things that Yao Guangxiao said are real, what can be known is that Zhu Di is convinced of his words.
His status as a monk not only convinced him by Zhu Di, but also by the soldiers under Zhu Di. Zhu Di has ambitions, but he can't do this by himself, without Yao Guangxiao's morale, everyone believes that Zhu Di is orthodox and recognized by God, and their behavior is just the will of the people, not rebellion at all.
Although Yao Guangxiao is only a monk, he is not inferior to the generals on the battlefield in the arrangement of troops, and he is not a weak scholar who is powerless. When Zhu Di led the troops to fight, it was Yao Guangxiao and his son Zhu Gaochi who held Beiping together.
3. Die well
As mentioned above, like Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di is also very suspicious, but Yao Guangxiao is one of the exceptions, Zhu Di asked Yao Guangxiao to teach his prince Zhu Gaochi. Zhu Di fought many battles in his life, and when he left the capital, he asked Yao Guangxiao to assist Zhu Gaochi in supervising the country.
handed over the responsibility of supervising the country to Yao Guangxiao, which is enough to see that Zhu Di trusts him, and as Zhu Gaochi's political methods gradually mature, he can also take charge on his own. Zhu Di asked Yao Guangxiao to teach his "good saint" Zhu Zhanji.
Yao Guangxiao assisted the three emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and it is precisely because of this teaching that both Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanji have great respect for Yao Guangxiao. In the sixteenth year of Ming Chengzu, the life of the black-clothed prime minister also came to an end, and Zhu Di visited many times during the period when Yao Guangxiao was seriously ill.
Yao Guangxiao died, Zhu Di was heartbroken, dropped out of the dynasty for him for two days, and posthumously named him "Rongguo Gong", and even Yao Guangxiao's inscription was written by Zhu Di himself. Zhu Di also made an exception for his adopted son to enter the court as an official, and when Zhu Di died, that is, 22 years later, Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne and respected him even more, and the two had a sense of assistance as early as the time of Jingjing.
Zhu Gaochi has always been a benevolent and righteous emperor, let alone a teacher to himself. Zhu Gaochi ordered Yao Guangxiao to enjoy the Taimiao, and Yao Guangxiao was also the first person in the Ming Dynasty to enjoy the Taimiao as a Wenchen, alongside Xu Da and others.
epilogue
Even today's evaluation of Yao Guangxiao is mixed, praising him for putting the "rule of Renxuan" on his body, but disliking him says that he single-handedly promoted the "Battle of Jingyan" and made the people face war again. When we look at historical figures, we should use dialectical teaching, and we should look at their influence on the development of history.