Since ancient times, the relationship between the emperor and the founding heroes is very delicate, before Liu Bang killed Han Xin, and then there was Zhao Kuangyin's cup of wine to release the military power, which is the famous record of "cunning rabbit death, lackey cooking" in history, and the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, naturally did not spare the lives of his generals and ministers, and many of his old subordinates who followed him were killed miserably, and even harmed his family.
But there are always exceptions to everything, and Xu Da, who fights the world with Zhu Yuanzhang, is an exception, of course, he Xu Da can save his life not because Zhu Yuanzhang did not kill him, on the contrary, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him like a nail in the eye, a thorn in the flesh, but in the end Xu Da saved his own life and the life of the family with his own wisdom.
First, the battle achievements are outstanding
Since Xu Da was able to follow Zhu Yuanzhang to fight the world, it proved that he was not a straw bale or a reckless man, and it was difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang not to be suspicious of him after seizing the world, but Xu Da still evaded Zhu Yuanzhang's calculations again and again, and in Zhu Yuanzhang's constant suspicion, he saved himself and his family like a thin ice, which can be described as a very brave and resourceful person.
As for how Xu Da met and began to follow Zhu Yuanzhang, it goes back to the time when Zhu Yuanzhang joined the Red Turban Army, when the world was still chaotic, and Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet emerged on the stage of history. At that time, Xu Da was Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, and he defected to Zhu Yuanzhang when he was ordered to return to his hometown to recruit soldiers.
This is equivalent to saying that Xu Da followed Zhu Yuanzhang when he was still a nobody, proving that Xu Da valued Zhu Yuanzhang's personality and talent, not his power. In addition, he has also made a lot of efforts to fight the world with Zhu Yuanzhang over the years, which has laid a solid foundation for Zhu Yuanzhang to be able to ascend to the position of the Ninth Five-Year Supreme.
There are countless deeds about Xu Da, but the most famous are the three things that killed Chen Youyu in Poyang Lake, Zhang Shicheng who wiped out Zhang Shicheng in Huaidong, and Zhu Yuanzhang who was kidnapped when Guo Zixing fought at Sun Deya, or Xu Da exchanged his own life for Zhu Yuanzhang's peace.
Whether in the process of helping Zhu Yuanzhang recruit troops and overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, or in the process of helping Zhu Yuanzhang establish a new Ming Empire and stabilize the hearts of the army, Xu Da has a very important position, Zhu Yuanzhang in order to honor Xu Da, but also posthumously named a king with a different surname after his death, which is enough to prove that Xu Da's status in politics and military is extremely high.
Second, be cautious and humble
Xu Da knew very well that his outstanding deeds would inevitably bring suspicion and disaster after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, and if he did not do well, he would also involve his family. Due to Xu Da's sober cognition, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he did not take credit for himself, extravagant, and contradicted Zhu Yuanzhang every day, on the contrary, Xu Da was very low-key, and his life was also very simple.
Xu Da's cautious personality even Zhu Yuanzhang once praised him for not being arrogant and impatient, being down-to-earth and steady, not messing with the relationship between men and women, and having no special interest in treasure, the whole person is like a piece of flawless jade, upright and admirable. Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang still did not let him go, but he just did not find the opportunity.
After all, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, a person does not like anything, nor is he interested in gold and silver jewelry and beautiful women, which is very abnormal, Zhu Yuanzhang believes that Xu Da has something else to want. After all, when he first rewarded the meritorious minister, others gladly accepted the reward, and immediately arranged all kinds of big mansions and beautiful maids.
Only Xu Da did not move at all, he and his family still lived in the once dilapidated and small house, every day is also reclusive, do not go to find fun, see these Zhu Yuanzhang suspicious of the disease directly committed, Xu Da does not even want these, is he wanting his own throne? The more Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it, the more he decided to test Xu Da.
On the grounds that the small house where Xu Da now lives is too dilapidated, Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded Xu Da with the Wu King's Mansion where he had originally lived, and said that he would move in whenever he wanted, Xu Da was shocked when he heard the news, he immediately understood that zhu Yuanzhang was testing him, if he accepted it today, maybe tomorrow he would be able to search for a set of dragon robes in the palace.
Thinking of this, Xu Da repeatedly resigned, and even the things that Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded him several times later refused, saying that his life was very good now, and he did not need to add anything. Zhu Yuanzhang watched Xu Da repeatedly refuse his rewards, unhappy on the surface, but in his heart he believed Xu Da a little, after all, Xu Da still knew how to advance and retreat.
Third, ingenuity crisis
Zhu Yuanzhang, who had just been relieved for a few days, was suspicious and guilty again when Xu Da defeated the enemy army again, and he thought about it or decided not to trust Xu Da, after all, Xu Da had both military power and high prestige in the army, and in the eyes of the people he was still an invincible general, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that this was not okay, he had to find a way to kill Xu Da.
So Zhu Yuanzhang came up with a good plan at this celebration banquet of Xu Da's triumph, if Xu Da really had that kind of mind, he could take him down in one fell swoop, if he was really as obedient and courteous as he appeared, then it was not impossible for him to let him go. Zhu Yuanzhang thought like this, and kept pouring wine to Xu Da without moving.
Soon after, Xu Da, who was not easy to resign, was drunk, not even conscious, and could not return to his home. Zhu Yuanzhang saw this and left Xu Da behind, and asked the internal attendant to send Xu Da to the bed of the former Wu King's Mansion, he wanted to see if Xu Da was lying in the Wu King's Mansion, and whether he would reveal his true nature.
Xu Da woke up and found himself lying on a strange bed, the surrounding palatial environment was not his own small broken house at all, he asked the attendant next to him where it was from here, the attendant told him that this was Zhu Yuanzhang's old residence, Xu Da immediately jumped off the bed, knelt on the steps in front of the door, and prostrated his head three times in the direction of the palace.
summary
I have to say that Xu Da is indeed a person with great wisdom, and after the internal attendant reported Xu Da's reaction to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly satisfied, after all, if Xu Da had no idea about his position, he would definitely quickly think that this bed was a "dragon bed", and he would also realize that it was an act of trespassing for him to sleep on the dragon bed as a general.
Then after Xu Da realized that he was trespassing, he either gladly accepted the disaster of killing himself, or quickly expressed his gratitude and apologies to Zhu Yuanzhang, and it was obvious that Xu Da's prostrations were expressing this meaning. After this temptation, Zhu Yuanzhang finally let go of most of his doubts about Xu Da, and Xu Da was able to spend his old age peacefully.