Han Lin'er was the nominal leader of the rebel army at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and for his final outcome, both historians and folk views were that he was poisoned by Zhu Yuanzhang. Although on the surface it seems that there was an accident on the lake, in essence, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately sent someone to do tricks on the boat. The killing of Han Lin'er also became one of the important evidences of later generations attacking Zhu Yuanzhang. However, a question that few people think about is: Was Han Lin'er really killed by Zhu Yuanzhang?
Zhu Yuanzhang, whose original name was Zhu Chongba, was later named Xingzong, a native of Zhongli Taiping Township, Haozhou (present-day Fengyang County, Anhui), who joined the Red Turban Army led by Guo Zixing against the tyranny of The Mongol Yuan at the age of 25, and Long Feng was named the Duke of Wu in the seventh year (1361) and proclaimed himself the King of Wu for ten years. In the 28th year of the Yuan Dynasty (1368), after basically breaking all the peasant rebels and sweeping away the remnants of the Yuan, he was proclaimed emperor in Nanjing, with the name of Daming and the era name of Hongwu, and established a unified feudal regime throughout the country.
Throughout the process of leading the rebel army against the Yuan army, Zhu Yuanzhang's decision was correct, but he did one wrong thing, causing the world to put a ruthless and unjust hat on him - inviting the nominal leader at that time, Han Lin'er, to go south. It was not a bad thing to invite Han Lin'er to go south, but it happened that Han Lin'er fell and died on the way south. This has to make people suspect that Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately sent someone to do it.
Stills of Han Lin'er
Some scholars believe that Han Lin'er was indeed killed by Zhu Yuanzhang. Scholars who hold this view have two reasons:
One is that the Biography of Liao Yongzhong in the Ming Shi has a detailed record of the whole process of Han Lin'er's death: "In the beginning, Han Lin'er was in Chuzhou, and Taizu sent Yongzhong to welcome Yingtian, until Gua bu walked his boat and died, and the emperor blamed Yongzhong. And the great meritorious servants, the generals said: "When Yongzhong fought in Poyang, he forgot his body to resist the enemy, which can be described as a strange man." However, the Confucians who are good at it are born to spy on the will, and they are knighted, so they stop being crowned marquises and are not justified. If it had not been at zhu Yuanzhang's behest, Liao Yongzhong would not have dared to take the initiative to kill Han Lin'er without authorization.
Second, judging from the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang's ascension to the throne and the empress dowager slaughtered a large number of Wen wugong courtiers, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's brutal nature, it was extremely possible to get rid of Han Lin'er. Although this view has a certain degree of rationality, but according to Zhu Yuanzhang's ascension to the throne and the slaughter of a large number of Wen and Wu courtiers after he ascended the throne and became emperor, it is concluded that Han Lin'er was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang and was too arbitrary, and it is not credible to base the view on unfounded speculation.
Recently, some scholars have put forward a new view, believing that Han Lin'er was not killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, but that Liao Yongzhong removed Han Lin'er without authorization in order to ask for merit. The main reasons are as follows:
First, judging from Han Lin'er's situation at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had no need to get rid of him at all. Because Han Lin'er's obstruction to Zhu Yuanzhang was only a name and a "dragon and phoenix" era name, this could not constitute a resistance to the ascension to the throne for the chaotic world. As long as Zhu Yuanzhang slightly coerced and seduced Han Lin'er, it would not be difficult for him to submit to himself. Even if Han Lin'er was ignored and directly ascended the throne as emperor, he would not receive much external resistance.
If Zhu Yuanzhang must put Han Lin'er to death, he does not have to go to such great lengths, he can do it without revealing traces, let alone create such a flamboyant overturning accident. Therefore, the view that Han Lin'er was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang is purely a scholar's statement, and it seems insufficient.
The second is from Zhu Yuanzhang's personal point of view. The reason why he can go from an obscure pawn to a figure chasing deer in the world, and then become the darling of the times, will not be just a historical coincidence. He was able to defeat Chen Youyu, who was more powerful than himself, in large part because he had advantages that Chen Youyu and his contemporary tyrants could not match: he rarely took personal fame and fortune as the starting point to take risky political gambles; his ability, belief, and personality could withstand the test of the chaotic world. Such a person's mind is naturally incomparable to that of ordinary people.
Zhu Yuanzhang stills
At that time, Han Lin'er's patron Liu Futong had already died, and Han Lin'er was just an ordinary person, with no political influence, let alone military appeal, and it was difficult to make a difference, let alone bring direct threats to Zhu Yuanzhang's ascension to the throne. Zhu Yuanzhang, with a broad mind, could even give him the post of Zuo Cheng of Guangxi Province after Fang Guozhen surrendered, not to mention such a Han Lin'er who only had a false name. Therefore, there can only be one explanation for Han Lin'er's death: it is purely Liao Yongzhong's personal behavior and has nothing to do with Zhu Yuanzhang.
It is difficult to say how much credibility of the second view is, but It is an indisputable fact that Han Lin'er is only a vain leader, and it is an indisputable fact that it is impossible to influence Zhu Yuanzhang's ascension to the throne as emperor. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang, with his own ability, strength and influence, did not seem to have any need to kill Han Lin'er, because doing so would be harmful to him at that time and not beneficial.