There is a saying in the "History of the Yue King's Gou Jian Family": "The birds are exhausted; the good bow is hidden; the cunning rabbit dies; the lackey cooks." In fact, this idiom first came from the late Warring States period of Han Fei's "Han Feizi Neichu Says the Next Six Micro". The founding heroes suffered the misfortune of "rabbit dead dog cooking", which is not uncommon in history.
However, compared with other loyal dogs who were "cooked", Deng Jijun and Huang Wenjing of Houliang died very strangely.
After Emperor Zhu Wen came to power, he made a review of the army, because Deng Jijun and Huang Wenjing, the two unlucky eggs, were riding a little thin, Zhu Wen said that the two were disrespectful to themselves, and let the sword and axe hand push the two out of the way to "click".
Some scholars believe that Zhu Wen's throne came from an improper path, that he was seized by usurpation of power, and that What Zhu Wen represented was a rising force in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. Zhu Wen's origins contain the trajectory of ancient social changes. Zhu Wen carried out a bloody purge of the scholars, which showed the blow of the emerging forces against the old and decaying forces.
Many friends were influenced by this statement, believing that Zhu Wen was not a rogue emperor, and even if his actions were not heroic, he could at least be equated with other ancient tyrants. Also from the grassroots, Zhu Wen was far inferior to Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang, but he was much stronger than Liu Bei. To be sure, judging from Zhu Wen's behavior, we cannot see the slightest consciousness of political struggle.
The reason why Zhu Wen attacked the scholars, first of all, to eliminate those high-powered and high-ranking ministers was entirely because these people became stumbling blocks on his way to usurping power. As for the old subordinates who helped Zhu Wen complete the usurpation of the throne and made great achievements, Zhu Wen adopted the same attitude toward them as the other founding emperors: "Since my throne has been secured, you have lost the use value, as long as I see that you are not pleasing to the eye, it is to kill if you want." ”
The five people of Shi Shuxuan, Jiang Xuanhui, Zhu Yougong, Liu Xuan, and Zhang Tingfan were undoubtedly an excellent help for Zhu Wen on the road to usurpation. Among these five people, there are righteous sons who have been cultivated by Zhu Wen for many years, comrades-in-arms who have fought side by side with Zhu Wen, and good brothers who have gambled their lives for Zhu Wen. If Zhu Wen is regarded as an "emerging force" that breaks the norm, then these five people are undoubtedly the pillars of the emerging forces.
However, after taking the throne, Zhu Wen did not take these pillars seriously at all, and once their loyalty deviated a little, or did something that did not conform to Zhu Wen's wishes, no matter what his former status was and what merits he had made, they were all pulled out and chopped off. In addition to the above five pillars, there are also many "basic forces" in Zhu Wen's "emerging forces", which are supporters led by Wang Chongshi, Zhu Zhen, Deng Jijun, Hu Gui, Huang Wenjing, Li Chen, Li Chongyun, and Fan Jushi.
It can be said that these people also made extraordinary contributions to Zhu Wen's ascension to the throne. However, Zhu Wen showed all his attention to the "five-person group" of the top pillar, so how could he attach importance to these "basic forces"? According to the Twenty-Second Chronicle of Shiza, Zhu Wen's attitude toward these "basic forces" was: "Cutting off Ai followed, and did not try to be patient with a little." "Cut it off, don't talk about it at all, and even find a reason that lacks logic." It can be said that among those heroes who were tragically eradicated, Deng Jijun and Huang Wenjing were the most unlucky.
It is said that the hero's intention is nothing more than fame and fortune, even if the ruler bird is hidden, the hero can at least fall into the good name of the founding father in the future generations, but it can also be regarded as "dying where it belongs". These two unlucky eggs were eliminated by Zhu Wen for an inexplicable reason. Riding a thin horse during the military parade, how did it involve a great disrespect for the emperor? Obviously, this is the excuse that Zhu Wen casually found. Even if Deng Jijun and Huang Wenjing rode a fat and strong horse, they would be executed because they entered the main hall with their left feet on the next day.
Since ancient times, the emperor has asked his subjects to die, and the emperor wants to kill the ministers, so why bother?
It is estimated that the knife and axemen around Zhu Wen also knew his temperament and disposition, "Xiao Chen's will, immediately killed", and even cut off the heads of the two without asking the reason. The death of the two unfortunate eggs was not yet over, and their officials and staff were panicked, afraid that Zhu Wen would kill them all except his superiors and uproot Deng Jijun and Huang Wenjing.
Since then, Deng Jijun and Huang Wenjing's old subordinates have tearfully bid farewell to their families every day before going to work, and every day if their heads are still on their shoulders when they leave work, they will celebrate with their families.
It can be said that Zhu Wen's indiscriminate killing is rare in history. There are also records that Zhu Wen's usage was severe and cruel, and the generals died on the battlefield, and all the soldiers under his command were beheaded when they survived, called "beheading by the trekking team". He used this barbaric method to improve his combat effectiveness, so that once the main general was killed in battle, the soldiers would not dare to return, and Zhu Wen ordered the sergeant Duwen to stab him in the face to mark the military name.
In fact, from Zhu Wen's early deeds, we can see that this person was a stinky hooligan when he was a child, and comparing him with Liu Bang, Liu Bei, and Zhu Yuanzhang was simply an insult to the latter three.
Although Liu Bang did not do anything in his early years, he did not do anything, but he did not reach the point where he was bored in the eight townships. After Zhu Wen ascended the throne, he unscrupulously created an atmosphere of terror in the court and killed people like grass. In Zhu Wen's bones, there was no such word as etiquette at all, and he did not even spare his daughter-in-law, and summoned her to the palace to declare adultery in the day. If it weren't for Zhu Wen's cruelty and unprovoked, how could his son Zhu Youjue risk the world to kill his father?
However, judging from the actions of Zhu Youjue's father after he ascended the throne, this person was even worse than Zhu Wen, and Zhu Youjue really inherited Zhu Wen's "excellent bloodline".
Resources:
["History of the Old Five Dynasties, Volume 1, Taizu No. 1" to "The History of the Old Five Dynasties, Volume VII, Taizu VII", "The History of the New Five Dynasties, Vol. 1, Liang Benji No. 1", "Zizhi Tongjian, Vol. 254", "Zizhi Tongjian, Vol. 255"]