The "History of Ming" once said: "Faith can be used as a general for the sake of the marshal." "At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da made great military achievements, and for more than ten years as a subject, Xu Da was favored by Zhu Yuanzhang, never aroused the suspicion of the emperor, and finally relied on his own wisdom to achieve a good end.
Through the understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang's life experience, it can be seen that as an emperor born in The Peasant Gate, in the process of promoting the uprising war, without the help of many excellent generals, Zhu Yuanzhang's road to uprising will be full of thorns.
For this reason, after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended to the throne, he gave a large number of rewards to many founding heroes. However, in the days that followed, under the influence of his suspicious personality, Zhu Yuanzhang exterminated many founding heroes. However, among the many founding heroes, Xu Da had a very special treatment. He and Zhu Yuanzhang called him brother and brother for fifteen years, and called him a subject for eighteen years, but when Zhu Yuanzhang killed many heroes, he was able to die well. Why is Xu Da's position in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart so special? Why had he not been suspected by Zhu Yuanzhang?
In historical sources, it is recorded that like Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da was also born in the peasant gate, although Xu Da's birth was not very good, but at a very young age, he had great ambitions.
As Zhu Yuanzhang's young man, the relationship between Xu Da and Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally closer, which also made Zhu Yuanzhang determined that after the uprising, Xu Da was willing to follow Zhu Yuanzhang and help him build a meritorious career and overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty. In the process of the initial conquest, Zhu Yuanzhang followed Guo Zixing's men and made unremitting efforts for the expansion of the Red Turban Army. However, when Zhu Yuanzhang won many battles and his power continued to expand, Guo Zixing's family became jealous of Zhu Yuanzhang.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, although as the leader of the rebel army, Guo Zixing's personal ability is relatively mediocre, if he continues to follow Guo Zixing, he will certainly not be able to have a day to get ahead. In order to achieve greater achievements, Zhu Yuanzhang hoped to leave Guo Zixing, and from then on, he would stand on his own and break out of the world.
When Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind to leave Guo Zixing, Xu Da and others left with Zhu Yuanzhang and helped Zhu Yuanzhang successfully capture many cities, which also made the team led by Zhu Yuanzhang famous and made other rebel forces jealous.
In the process of conquest of various places after that, Xu Da repeatedly made military achievements, which shows that Xu Da occupied an important position in Zhu Yuanzhang's early jianye.
In 1356, Zhu Yuanzhang took Ying Tianfu as his base camp, and with Ying Tianfu as the center, led his generals out to fight and achieve the further expansion of the rebel forces. Although Ying Tianfu at this time was already owned by Zhu Yuanzhang, there were still many other forces near Ying Tianfu. In order to ensure the safety of Ying Tianfu, Xu Da also led a large army to go out on a campaign and once again made a contribution to the war horse.
It is based on the early efforts and struggles, the later Xu Da fang can have an extremely important position in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, there have been historical records, Zhu Yuanzhang called Xu Da "cloth brothers", and repeatedly lamented the deep friendship between the two for fifteen years. It can be seen that in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, Xu Da's status cannot be underestimated.
Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, many founding heroes have made great military achievements, but they have been suspicious of Zhu Yuanzhang. However, in the process of Zhu Yuanzhang's wanton killing of heroes, Xu Da was able to get along with Zhu Yuanzhang in harmony. Looking at Xu Da's eighteen years as an official, it will be found that he almost never aroused the suspicion of Zhu Yuanzhang, which also made his position in the court extremely stable.
The reason why Xu Da can have such special treatment is inseparable from his own wisdom. In the face of Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da did not speak ill of Zhu Yuanzhang because of the military power in his hands, but instead obeyed Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangements in everything and rationally corrected his own position, and did not make Zhu Yuanzhang suspicious.
Not only that, when the prime minister Hu Weiyong intended to woo Xu Da, Xu Da even more bluntly refused, and said that if he and Hu Weiyong were good friends, it would cause Zhu Yuanzhang to be suspicious of the two, which would also lead to the status of both people being threatened.
In the course of eighteen years as an official, Xu Da was always able to be cautious in his words and deeds, starting from Zhu Yuanzhang's point of view in everything, scrupulously abiding by the duties of his courtiers, and never making an act of trespassing. It was precisely because of Xu Da's caution that he could exchange Zhu Yuanzhang's trust.
In 1385, Xu Da died, and Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously crowned him as the King of Zhongshan, and had the supreme honor of enjoying the Taimiao Temple.
From Xu Da's life experience, it can be felt that in ancient society, only generals who could clearly understand their own status could stand alone in the political whirlpool and avoid being jealous of the emperor because of the power in their hands, and then lose their lives.
Although Xu Da's life was cautious and cautious, he was able to avoid the fate of being killed, and from Xu Da's wisdom in the world, people could also learn from the corresponding experience.
In the process of getting along with people, sharpness will not bring us a happy life, if we can reasonably assess our own status, avoid making inconsistencies, we can also harvest a bright future.
Reference: History of the Ming Dynasty