When later generations talked about the death of "Xiaoming King" Han Lin'er, almost all of them believed that it was the cruel hand of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, which may have become the exact truth, and there is no need to argue anymore.
It is said that in the twenty-sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Han Lin'er, the "King of Xiaoming", returned to Yingtian at the invitation of Zhu Yuanzhang, but died in an accident on the road, because his boat overturned, fell into the river and drowned. In the "History of Ming", the "Biography of Han Lin'er" has a relevant record: "Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liao Yongzhong to welcome Han Lin'er to respond to the heavens, and halfway through, Han Lin'er overturned the ship and sank to the bottom of the river. ”
So, why does the world think that Zhu Yuanzhang did it? Perhaps it is reminiscent of Zhu Yuanzhang's bloody suppression and killing of ministers in the later period of his reign.
Zhu Yuanzhang was from Guo Zixing's command, belonged to the Red Turban Army, and was also a subordinate of Han Lin'er. However, the social environment at that time was a period of division between the masses, and there were many people who established themselves as kings, and Zhu Yuanzhang was not willing to send people to the fence, so he did not recognize Han Lin'er as his superior. In the fifteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Han Lin'er became emperor with the support of Liu Futong and others, and openly rebelled against the imperial court.
Han Lin'er remembered his old feelings and made Guo Zixing and Zi Tianli the Grand Marshal, and Zhang Tian and Zhu Yuanzhang as the Left and Right Deputy Marshals. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not appreciate Han Lin'er, because he did not want to be a subordinate of others. However, at that time, Han Lin'er's power was strong, and Zhu Yuanzhang could not openly oppose Han Lin'er, so he could only obey the arrangement.
Later, when Guo Zixing passed away, Zhu Yuanzhang established himself and fought the world alone, but he did not leave his attachment to Han Lin'er, but shared the same national name "Dragon Phoenix". Although, on the surface, Zhu Yuanzhang was still Han Lin'er's marshal, in the twelve years of fighting the world, his army had already only obeyed Zhu Yuanzhang's command, and did not know that Han Lin'er was the emperor.
Although this is the case, we have to say that Zhu Yuanzhang's siege strategy still took advantage of Han Lin'er. Zhu Yuanzhang concentrated on attacking south and expanding his territory, and in the north, Han Lin'er's army resisted the Yuan Dynasty army, making Zhu Yuanzhang's journey extremely smooth.
There is a unique way to survive in the chaotic world, that is, to accumulate your own strength in the name of others. Zhu Yuanzhang was under the banner of Han Lin'er to expand and accumulate his own strength. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang accumulated enough strength that even the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty wanted to come and recruit him and let him contribute to the imperial court, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not express his position.
In fact, at that time, it was not only Zhu Yuanzhang who handled the world like this.
Chen Youyu under Xu Shouhui's command also expanded under the banner of Xu Shouhui, but when Xu Shouhui's army was defeated and turned to Chen Youyu, he ruthlessly killed him and annexed his troops. Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen and others sometimes surrendered and sometimes rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty government, which was completely where there were interests to lean on, even if they were awarded high positions such as Tai Wei and Zuo Cheng Xiang by the government.
At that time, the year numbers were really endless:
The era name of Han Lin'er's side is "Dragon Phoenix", the era name of Xu Shouhui's side is "Tianquan", the era name of Zhang Shicheng's side is "Tianyou", and the era name of Chen Youyi's side is "Dayi". So many era numbers, so that the people do not know that the era number should be observed. However, compared with Xu Shouhui, Zhang Shicheng, and Chen Youyu, Zhu Yuanzhang always used the era name of the old lord Han Lin'er, accumulating his own costs in a low-key manner, and quietly growing his own power.
Zhu Yuanzhang fought steadily and gradually expanded his power, but the old lord Han Lin'er was deteriorating day by day. Han Lin'er's supporter, Liu Futong, was so ambitious that he could not be down-to-earth. He wanted to have both the Yuan army in the north, the westward expansion of the territory, and even the eastward march of soldiers and horses. The consequences were obvious: the army was so scattered that it could capture the city but could not hold it, and often it would not be long before the Land of the Yuan Dynasty was captured by the Yuan Army.
So repeatedly, Liu Futong could not even defend his own land, and was defeated by the Yuan army. In the 23rd year of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Shicheng's subordinate Lü Zhen besieged Liu Futong in Anfeng, making it difficult for Liu Futong to protect himself, so he had to ask Zhu Yuanzhang for help. If Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to get rid of this boss, he could see death and not save him, but Zhu Yuanzhang still personally led a large army to support. He did not think of the old feelings, but did not want to see Zhang Shicheng's power expand.
By the time Zhu Yuanzhang's army arrived, Lü Zhen had already entered the city and killed Liu Futong. After that, Zhu Yuanzhang's army resisted Lü Zhen's attack and rescued Han Lin'er and placed him in Chuzhou.
Then, why did Zhu Yuanzhang personally go to a dangerous situation to rescue the people he originally wanted to get rid of?
The reason given by Zhu Yuanzhang was that he did not want Zhang Shicheng's influence to expand. However, this reason was untenable, because his biggest enemy should be Chen Youyu. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also regretted his trip to Anfeng afterwards, because Chen Youyu took advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's northward journey and attacked Ying Tian. If it were not for Chen You's forgiveness of his mistakes, Zhu Yuanzhang's time for unifying the world would have been extended.
However, judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's unrepentant rescue of Han Lin'er, he had not completely lost his original righteousness. Although it is not worth it, it is better than those selfish villains. As the saying goes, successful people certainly have their own merits. Zhu Yuanzhang went from being a no-name pawn to the commander of the divided side, and in the end, becoming the biggest winner, which is not just a coincidence.
Compared with other tyrants, Zhu Yuanzhang did not make risky decisions based on his own interests, so his ability and belief could withstand the test of the chaotic world. Zhu Yuanzhang conquered everyone by relying on his personality charm, making the soldiers willing to give their lives and work together. Other tyrants, such as Chen Youyu and Zhang Shicheng, were all masters of using means, and the lack of sincerity could not convince the soldiers.
In the end, Zhu Yuanzhang laughed to the end, while the others could only be rebellious and spurned.
At the beginning, Han Lin'er sat on the throne because of Liu Futong, and Liu Futong was there, and Han Lin'er's big seat was stable. Now, Liu Futong was killed, and Han Lin'er was completely unable to serve as the commander of the army, leaving the army leaderless and fragmented. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was already in the sky, and he did not look at Han Lin'er at all, but when it came to Zhu Yuanzhang's intention to get rid of Han Lin'er, in fact, there was no point.
In the 25th year of the Yuan Dynasty, Chen Youyi was defeated and Zhu Yuanzhang was awarded the title of King of Wu. After two years, Fang Guozhen, Zhang Shicheng and others perished one after another, and Zhu Yuanzhang naturally succeeded to the throne. Han Lin'er's death in the "Biography of Liao Yongzhong" is as follows: Zhu Yuanzhang sent Liao Yongzhong to welcome Han Lin'er from Chuzhou to the sky, and when crossing the river, the boat overturned, and Han Lin'er fell into the water and died. Han Lin'er's death was related to Liao Yongzhong, but was it related to Zhu Yuanzhang?
In fact, this should be Liao Yongzhong's good at making claims, not Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions. Han Lin'er did not pose any threat to Zhu Yuanzhang's ascension to the throne, because at that time, it was a chaotic world, and even if Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid of being gossiped, he could force Han Lin'er to make a Zen concession, which was not difficult. As for the disposition of Han Lin'er, it was entirely possible to send his queen to the side, and he could not do anything on his own.
In addition, in the most extreme case, Zhu Yuanzhang would do it secretly even if he wanted Han Lin'er to die, and absolutely would not leave Han Lin'er to die in such an associative thing as "the boat overturned and fell into the water".
Resources:
[Ming Shilu Taizu Scrolls" (明史記記本末), "Ming Shi · Lectionary 10