Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang

Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398), whose original name was Zhu Chongba (朱重八), was born in Haozhou (present-day Fengyang, Anhui), the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang

When Zhu Yuanzhang was a child, his family was poor, he used to herd cattle for the landlord's family, and in the third year of Zhengzheng, there was a drought in Haozhou, and in the fourth year of Zhengzheng (1344), there was a serious locust plague and plague, which caused his father, mother and eldest brother in the family to die one after another within half a month, in order to survive, Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk in the Huangjue Temple in a desperate situation, and soon after, also due to famine, Zhu Yuanzhang (then 17 years old) was presided over to send yunyou to huayuan, and when he traveled to the clouds, he learned about the customs and customs of various places and came into contact with many people's livelihood and sufferings. He became acquainted with some local heroes Haojie, increased many insights, and accumulated experience in social life, which had a profound impact on Zhu Yuanzhang, and returned to Huangjue Temple in the eighth year of Zhizheng. With the intensification of social contradictions and frequent natural disasters, resulting in peasant uprisings in many places, in the twelfth year, the rebel army Guo Zixing attacked Haozhou, Zhu Yuanzhang received a letter from his childhood playmate Tang He, inviting him to join the rebel army, and later because of his brother's informant, Zhu Yuanzhang went to Guo Zixing, when he was twenty-five years old.

After Zhu Yuanzhang joined the rebel army, he fought bravely, was resourceful, and proficient in literature and ink, and was appreciated by Guo Zixing, and changed his name again, and from then on, the name Zhu Yuanzhang accompanied him throughout his life. In the ensuing time, Zhu Yuanzhang found that the various factions in the rebel army were full of contradictions, so he asked Guo Zixing for twenty-four people to leave Haozhou to develop his own power. When he went south to Chuzhou, he met Li Shanchang, a celebrity from Dingyuan, and after talking with him, Li Shanchang persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang to emulate Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, to know people and be good at his duties, and soon he could calm the world.

In March of the sixteenth year of Zhengzheng, Zhu Yuanzhang personally commanded the land and water army, and after three battles, he finally captured Jiqing and changed Jiqing to Ying Tianfu. In the twentieth year of Zhizheng, Liu Ji (Zi Bowen) was invited to Yingtian by Zhu Yuanzhang and appointed him as a courtier, and Liu Bowen analyzed the situation for him and advised him to accumulate grain. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang established a base area centered on Yingtian, with Chen Youyi in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Zhang Shicheng in the lower reaches, Fang Guozhen in the southeast, and Chen Youding in the south. To July of the twenty-third year. Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youyu fought a decisive battle at Panyang Lake, and after thirty-six days, they finally won the victory, and Chen Youyi was killed by a random arrow. Subsequently, Zhu Yuanzhang began to gradually encroach on other rebel armies, starting in the 25th year of Zheng and capturing Zhang Shicheng in September of the 27th year of Zheng. The twenty-seventh year of Zhizheng was changed to the first year of Wu Yuan. In the first year of Wu Yuan (1367), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Tang He to be the general of Zhengnan and attack Fang Guozhen, who had been dividing eastern Zhejiang for many years. Later, Hu Tingrui was made the general of Zhengnan and He Wenhui was made a deputy general to attack Fujian. In the same year, Fang Guozhen surrendered. In the first year of Wu Yuan (1367), Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Xu Da as the general of Zhengyu and Chang Yuchun as the deputy general, leading an army of 250,000 to the north into the Central Plains. In the middle of the way, the "Edict of Zhongyuan Yuan" was issued, and the document put forward the program of "expelling Hu Yu, restoring China, establishing a program of Chen Ji, and relieving the Si people", so as to inspire the people to rise up against the Yuan Dynasty.

In the first month of the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang was proclaimed emperor in Nanjing, with the national name Daming and the era name Hongwu. In August of the first year of Hongwu's reign, he captured the capital of Yuan, ending Mongol rule in the Central Plains and recovering the sixteen states of Youyun that had been lost for four hundred years. From the third year of Hongwu to the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, a total of five Northern Expeditions were carried out, completely driving the Mongol rulers out of northern Sai.

Because of his poor life, Zhu Yuanzhang, during his reign, ordered peasants to return to farming, rewarded reclamation, reduced taxes, punished corrupt officials, and through the efforts of the Hongwu period, social production gradually recovered and developed, which is known as the rule of Hongwu.

Twenty-five years after Hongwu, crown prince Zhu Biao died of illness and was given the title of Prince Yiwen. This was a heavy blow to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was nearly seventy years old, and after seeing Zhu Biao's second son Zhu Yunjiao show great filial piety and liked it, he later made him the emperor's grandson. On the tenth day of the first month of the 31st leap year of Hongwu (June 24, 1398), Zhu Yuanzhang died at the Yingtian Imperial Palace (Nanjing Forbidden City) and was buried in the Purple Mountain Tomb.

Throughout Zhu Yuanzhang's life, it is a magnificent life, from a poor commoner to the last emperor, what can we learn from it? First, people, we must go out and walk, which absolutely changes our vision, pattern, and method of dealing with problems. Second, to be humble and teachable, people must be humble and teach, in order to learn things that they will not learn; third, know people and be good at their duties. It is to know the strengths of others and let him play out, which will produce great uses.