Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Zhu Yuanzhang's Reign: Kill Kill Kill

Things in the other two classes are far from simple. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, a guy who came from a powerful family and seized the throne of others once said that I became emperor purely because of destiny and people's wishes, and it's none of the world's scholar-bureaucrats' business?It shows that the aristocratic family was the decisive force on the political stage at that time.After the Sui and Tang Dynasties and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, secular landlords and scholars, as scholar-officials, gradually became the backbone of the country's life, and the white-clothed ministers came to the fore.In the Song Dynasty, there was already a saying that the scholar-officials and the emperor ruled the world together.Taking the world as one's own responsibility, being humble and not daring to forget to worry about the country has become a common ambition or rhetoric of literati.We'll never know how that narrative will evolve.The reason is that it was strongly interrupted by a force: from Genghis Khan - Kublai Khan's Mongolian cavalry.

After a brief episode in the Yuan Dynasty, in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, what he faced was such an important social force composed of secular landlords, wealthy families, scholars, and officials at all levels of the empire. This force is often collectively referred to as the bureaucratic gentry class—the scholar-officials. Zhu Yuanzhang's psychological feelings towards these people are likely to be extremely complicated.They are different from farmers.It should be said that in all Zhu Yuanzhang's deeds to the peasants, there is an element of emotion.This kind of emotion either comes from his own peasant background and experience, or as we have seen above, Zhu Yuanzhang knows that the energy that drives the huge state machinery of the empire comes from the blood and sweat of farmers and people at the bottom of society.To infringe upon them is to infringe upon the interests of the empire—the royal family.However, in the process of Zhu Yuanzhang's handling of the wealthy families and imperial officials, we can't find any emotional factors at all.Or if there is emotion, it is also a kind of deep guard, hatred and contempt.If we say that Zhu Yuanzhang crucified the peasants on the land and turned them into production and reproductive machines, after all, we can still see some elements of warmth and protection.As for the officials and gentry, you can only see the ruthless use and driving, just like treating tools and servants.As long as these tools and servants make him feel uncomfortable, unsatisfactory, or feel that they may become a potential force that can resist the court and threaten the interests of the royal family, ruthless killings must follow.

Inference, the reasons for the formation of this mentality are quite complicated, but in general it should be nothing more than the following factors: First, Zhu Yuanzhang's early experience, such as begging for the rich and wealthy to bury his parents and relatives, should be enough to plant the seeds of hatred for those who are rich and unkind in the depths of his heart. Second, the filth and corruption of the officials of the Yuan Empire, the corruption of the discipline, and the ruin of the people led to chaos in the world and the overthrow of the country, which left a deep impression on Zhu Yuanzhang, enough to arouse his deep guard against, contempt for and fierceness against the imperial officials. means to deal with it.

Thirdly, when I was a wandering monk, I had the experience of "the heart is boiling" when I was a wandering monk, the life and death, blood and blood, betrayal, killing, other people's conspiracy against him and him against others when fighting for the world , It is enough to make his heart as hard as a stone, and he no longer has any illusions about the ugliness and darkness that may be activated by the temptation of the outside world in the depths of human nature. Fourth, they are highly sensitive and vigilant to any possible rivalry, which may pose a threat or potential threat to the interests of the royal family.

Fifth, after sweeping up the heroes and conquering the country, the extremely solemn and illusory enthronement ceremony, countless literati, military, generals and scholar-bureaucrats who kowtow and praise enthusiastically, and the firm and unquestionable repeated demonstrations of traditional culture from generation to generation are enough to make him and his subjects They firmly believe that he is the true son chosen by heaven, and he is "ruling the people on behalf of the sky".Therefore, to safeguard the interests of the royal family is to safeguard the interests of heaven and the country, and to execute one's own will is to execute the will of heaven and the country.Therefore, when treating the subjects as worthless, including those who tortured the founding heroes, they will not feel the psychological burden and guilt.

Sixth, judging from the phenomenon, the emperor probably suffered from quite serious psychopathy or mental illness in the middle and late stages of his imperial career, such as persecution mania and persecution mania.One of the characteristics of this kind of pervert—just like Zhu Yuanzhang—can carry out those killing plans with a high degree of rationality. In fact, the two classes of gentry and officials were indeed different from peasants. They were not a piece of loose sand, nor were they potatoes packed into sacks.They are intertwined left and right, and the maximization of their interests often needs to be realized in this mutual relationship.Therefore, four or two strokes of a thousand catties-transforming the power of the imperial state's public instruments into their own power has become a common means of growth in the imperial officialdom, thus making them extremely powerful.The descriptions of officials and officials protecting each other, and officials and gentry protecting each other clearly indicate a basic fact, that is: they have formed a community of interests in which all are prosperous and all are harmed.

One of the most convincing examples is Xu Jie, who later had many years of ups and downs in his official career.This important imperial minister with a widely positive reputation was not born into a wealthy family.However, after more than ten years of his official position equivalent to the deputy prime minister and prime minister of the empire, his family far away from the capital of the empire has become a local owner of 60,000 mu - there is another saying that it should be 400,000 mu - land and rampant A wealthy family in the village.This led to a huge and direct conflict between him and the more famous and upright official Hai Rui.

In addition to moral education, the imperial political culture lacked a more effective genetic mechanism to prevent the emergence of this situation, preventing the gentry from becoming local tyrants and evil gentry, and officials from becoming corrupt officials.As a result, this situation naturally formed an incurable periodic disease, which became a permanent pain and lingering nightmare in the hearts of the politically well-meaning politicians in the empire.Therefore, when we look at the history of China for more than 2,000 years, we can see the same scene in general: any chaos in the world and a change of dynasty are all related to the rich and powerful families and corrupt officials who broke the bottom line of morality and law on a large scale. Good and greedy mergers are closely related.

All of this may be the fundamental reason why the founding emperor of the Ming Empire ruled the country with an iron fist, in addition to the above-mentioned psychological factors. This was a truly protracted war that ran through Zhu Yuanzhang's thirty-one years as emperor.When it is intertwined with other factors, it has profoundly affected the society at that time and future generations. In this war, Zhu Yuanzhang's decision to kill and use everything to the extreme can be called appalling.The rich and powerful households and imperial officials fully embody the spirit of succession in this ancient game of policy at the top and countermeasures at the bottom.Its tenacious vitality of "the wild fire is endless, and the spring breeze blows again" is really amazing.

Thus, various factors intertwined, amidst the turbulent and bloody storms, doomed the strange and surly fate of the Ming Empire.Where the wind blows, it makes people sigh. Zhu Yuanzhang's work of mopping up wealthy families had already begun long before the establishment of the Ming Empire. Back then, after Liu Bang established his capital in Chang'an, he once forcibly moved 100,000 of the world's largest households out of the mainland to fill Guanzhong, which is called the technique of "strengthening the base and weakening the end".Following Zhu Yuanzhang's example, in 1367 AD, after eradicating Zhang Shicheng's regime, he immediately moved a large number of wealthy people from Suzhou to his hometown of Fengyang.Eight years later, that is, the seventh year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang once again ordered the forced relocation of 140,000 wealthy households from the south of the Yangtze River to Fengyang to fill the capital of the empire.

It is said that it was these two large-scale migrations that created the army of beggars in Fengyang. The reason is that when they were forced to relocate, they could only take gold and silver with them, and they were not allowed to leave the place of relocation casually. Their original houses, land and other real estate were either taken over by the government or fell into the hands of others.From then on, in order to visit their relatives and visit their graves, they could only disguise themselves as beggars and disperse from Fengyang to various places in the south of the Yangtze River in the name of fleeing famine and begging for food.Over time, it became a custom.The Huagu opera poem singing about the good place of Fengyang, "Since Emperor Zhu came out, there have been nine years of drought in ten years", Gai originated from this.The taste is quite sad. (Volume 41 of Zhao Yi's "Kaoyu Congkao", "Fengyang Beggar") The story of Shen Wansan is widely circulated among the people in our country, and it is quite obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards these rich and wealthy households. This man's name is Shen Fu, his style name is Zhong Rong, and he is known as the richest man in the world.In various records, it is rare to see his bad deeds. He is probably a business genius in the extremely active international and domestic trade in the Yuan Dynasty.Because people couldn't figure out how this person became so rich as an enemy, it was said that he had a cornucopia in his hand, which could continuously generate and accumulate wealth.It is said that half of the city walls, government offices, streets, and bridges in Nanjing, the capital of the empire, were donated by this person.This made Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang feel very uncomfortable.At this time, Shen Wansan, in order to save money and avoid disasters and please Zhu Yuanzhang, made an application in his own words, saying that he was willing to donate a large sum of money for the emperor to reward the army.As a result, the flattery hit the horse's hoof.Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, and said: "A commoner, but wants to reward the emperor's troops, he must be a rioter who committed a crime, and his crime should be punished."Later, thanks to the empress Ma's intercession, she believed that the gift and money were originally good intentions and should not be beheaded.Moreover, it is inauspicious for a commoner to be rich enough to rival a country, and he will be punished by heaven sooner or later.Therefore, the emperor finally showed mercy, exempted him from the death penalty, and moved his family to Yunnan. Since then, Zhu Yuanzhang has taken rich families from all over the world to fill Nanjing, the capital of the empire, several times.This kind of forced migration and immigration policy of different nature continued until the Yongle period. It is said that the population involved has reached a scale of at least one million people.It has been enthusiastically praised by contemporary historians. At the same time, the empire implemented a "grain chief" system.It is stipulated that every 10,000 shi of tax grain is a tax area, and the richest household in the area shall serve as the head of grain, responsible for the collection and transportation of tax grain.This is an alternative plan to implement the policy of "allowing officials to go to the countryside" and cut off government officials using taxes and food to fish and meat the people.Zhu Yuanzhang was very proud of this invention, saying that it was a great way to "govern the good people with good people", and he gave these food chiefs a very good preferential treatment, until he directly selected imperial officials and even senior officials from them.So many years later, Gu Yanwu, a university scholar, recorded in his famous book "Tianxia Junguoli Disease Book": "At that time, fathers and brothers often taught their children that it was better to be a food chief than to take the imperial examination." Unexpectedly, some rich and powerful grain chiefs are not satisfied with this, they hope to get more wealth and power more quickly and quickly.The idea they came up with is quite full of Chinese characteristics, for example, to distribute the taxes and grains that should be paid by themselves and their relatives and friends to everyone in the tax area; There are as many as 18 types of these surcharges, which are usually several times more than the regular grain;At the same time, it was supplemented by methods such as hanging and beating at the door, demolishing houses and exposing tiles, and forcing property sellers.Displays extremely high levels of IQ and amoral courage. Zhu Yuanzhang's general measures for such people are to kill them and search their homes.In his "Dagao Sanbian", we can read the records of his beheading and ransacking of 160 grain chiefs at one time.There was a grain chief named Yang, who was known as the richest man in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and he uttered crazy words, saying that the emperor's grain collection was not as good as his income from a farm.As a result, when Xie Liang entered Beijing, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned him and asked him, "Where is the food?" He replied, "It will be there in a moment."When the news came out, his family fled in all directions, and their property was looted by the locals.It is said that once Zhu Yuanzhang dreamed of a hundred headless people kneeling under the steps.Ten days later, a hundred grain chiefs arrived in Beijing, but it happened that none of them had paid in full and on time.Zhu Yuanzhang ordered to kill.During Zhu Yuanzhang's thirty-one years in power, at least six large-scale campaigns to purge imperial officials and rich families were launched.Some scholars believe that more than 100,000 to 150,000 imperial officials and rich families were killed during these great purges.Therefore, some domestic and foreign scholars call it "planned massacre". The circumstances of these massacres are not the same, and their motives and goals can be roughly divided into two categories. One category targets corrupt officials, such as the screening of officials from all over the world in the fourth year of Hongwu, the "empty seal case" in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the "Guo Huan case" in the eighteenth year of Hongwu, and the "arrest of officials for many years" in the nineteenth year of Hongwu. victims of the people", roughly can be classified into this category.Zhu Yuanzhang used to call such criminals "unworthy and unlucky people". The other category is mainly aimed at those founding heroes who may threaten his throne or his successor's throne.This category is basically political murder.Including the "Hulan party case" that lasted from the 13th year of Hongwu to the 26th year of Hongwu and the "criminal liar" in the 23rd year of Hongwu.Zhu Yuanzhang called such people "treacherous parties". On the battlefield against the first category of targets, Zhu Yuanzhang's victory was short and ambiguous. When cracking down on these so-called "unworthy and unlucky people", Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to do whatever he wanted, but he had a quite striking feature, that is, to expand the scope of attack as much as possible, and it is best to include those wealthy and wealthy households. He did not hesitate to use the harshest means. The "Kongyin case" was almost a well-known unjust case at that time. It happened in the fifteenth year of Hongwu, that is, in 1382 AD.Its origin is quite simple to describe in today's language. It can be roughly expressed as follows: the Ministry of Households, the highest financial institution in the empire, has strict requirements when reviewing the routine financial statements of various places every year, and the number of digits after the decimal point is accurate. Immediately void the re-report.Therefore, in order to save time and money, the financial personnel from all over the country who went to Beijing to declare the report brought a blank report stamped with the local official seal when they entered Beijing, so that after checking the figures with the central authority, or when encountering difficulties, they could report to the central government on the spot. Refill.At that time, there was no e-mail and express mail, etc., and it took several months to go back and forth to the farthest provinces, not counting the time, energy, expenses, etc. The situation was quite distressing.It stands to reason that no securities can be produced with this kind of report, and it is difficult for people to rely on the figures here for favoritism and fraud.Therefore, this approach has been widely used and is tacitly accepted by all parties.Unexpectedly, after Zhu Yuanzhang learned of this situation by accident, he believed that he had discovered a heinous case of officials colluding with each other and committing fraud.Therefore, the emperor, who lacked financial knowledge, immediately became furious and ordered that all Zhengyin officials at all levels of government departments across the country, that is, the top leaders, be executed, and officials below the deputy be beaten with a hundred sticks and sent to the frontier. At that time, there were thirteen chief ministers in the country, equivalent to our provinces today; 141 prefectures, equivalent to today's prefecture-level cities; and 192 states, equivalent to today's small prefecture-level cities cities and large county-level cities; one thousand and thirteen counties.These more than 1,300 officials, good or bad, were all killed.Moreover, he was killed after someone had explained the reason clearly to Zhu Yuanzhang. As a result, some good officials who were loved by the people were also killed in a daze.For example, Fang Keqin, Fang Xiaoru's father, was the prefect of Jining, Shandong at that time.This gentleman has been wearing a cloth robe for more than ten years. He eats three meals a day, two of which are served with a plate of vegetarian dishes.The local people claimed to be rich during his tenure.Therefore, the people were unwilling to transfer the magistrate, and spontaneously composed songs to persuade him to stay.The song said: "Don't let the king go, I am the parents of the people." As a result, such a good official and man was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang involuntarily this time.Twenty years later, his son Fang Xiaoru also became a well-known figure in Chinese history.The reason is that he refused to cater to the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di who had seized the throne from his nephew, and ended up becoming the only person in Chinese history whose ten clans were exterminated.This is a later story. The "Guo Huan case" is known as the biggest corruption case in the Hongwu Dynasty. It happened in the eighteenth year of Hongwu, that is, in 1385 AD.This Guo Huan was then Minister of the Household Department, equivalent to the second in command of the highest financial and economic department in the country.It is said that in this major corruption case where officials colluded with fraud, the total amount of embezzled property can be equivalent to more than 24 million stones of polished rice.It was almost equivalent to the tax and food income of the whole country for one year at that time. Zhu Yuanzhang demanded to pursue the case to the end.That is to say, starting from the central department, all criminal terminals should be tracked down level by level. The final result was that most of the six central ministries and most officials at all levels across the country were implicated.Zhu Yuanzhang himself said that in this case, "all the officials in the world are guilty of stealing, and there are tens of thousands of people in prison, all of whom are imaginary crimes." "History of the Ming Dynasty" "Criminal Law Records" records: from the six ministers, that is, from the two deputy ministers of each of the six central departments, all officials below were executed, and officials at all levels across the country executed tens of thousands of people.Because of "sending stolen goods all over the world", "most of the middle-class homes of the common people are destroyed."That is to say, Zhu Yuanzhang made all his achievements in one battle, and wiped out all the corrupt officials and wealthy families in the world.It is basically impossible to check how many unjust and resentful ghosts there are. In the end, in order to turn hostility into peace and quell people's resentment and fear, Zhu Yuanzhang also killed the person in charge of the case, and solemnly announced to the world: "I let them eliminate rape, who knows Instead, they commit crimes and come to harm our people. How can such people be condoned? If there are such villains in the future, they will not be pardoned!" What is puzzling is that after such a large-scale attack, only one year later, that is, the nineteenth year of Hongwu, in 1386 AD, more than one hundred people committed the crime of embezzlement and harming the people, which made our Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was also at a loss.He repeatedly sighed and said: "Ah, ah! It wasn't just one or two people who were killed. We all saw it with our own eyes. Why did the descendants follow suit and start committing crimes before the corpses in front were removed? Don't people take the law seriously?" Do you take it seriously, and continue to corrupt the law like this? Wow! It can be said that it is difficult to teach, and it is difficult to restrain!" It means-it is really difficult to teach and difficult to prohibit! According to the official regulations of the imperial law, only five criminal laws can be used to punish criminals, including all corrupt officials: Cane - flogging, rod - clubbing, disciple - imprisonment, flow - exile, death - execution. Zhu Yuanzhang was angry from the heart, and the evil turned to the gall, probably because of the rise of slippery killings. He simply kicked out these regulations completely, and moved out most of the extremely creative killing methods in the history of our country.These are some truly imaginative and highly technological inventions, probably unique or unique in human history. They include but are not limited to: brushing, pouring boiling water on the human body, and then brushing it with an iron brush until a skeleton is left; weighing poles, hooking the heart's nest with an iron hook and hanging it up for public display until it is air-dried ; Intestine pumping, pulling out a person's intestines at the anus until the internal organs are emptied; tin snake swimming, pouring molten tin water into the mouth until the abdominal cavity is filled, etc. In addition, the most widely used by Zhu Yuanzhang is peeled real grass.It is to peel off the human skin, stuff it with grass, and place it next to the desk in the official yamen.It is said that at that time, in front of the government office in almost every place, there was a skinning field and a long pole for picking the heads of corrupt officials. The core idea was to deter those officials who had corrupt thoughts in their hearts.So much so that more than 150 years later, when the empire was basically rotten, Hai Rui, who was famous in the annals of Chinese history under the name of Qingtian, still clamored loudly, hoping to restore the criminal law established by his ancestors based on peeling real grass. In the end, the method of killing that Zhu Yuanzhang was still willing to use was Ling Chi's execution.The core of this skill is that after thousands of knifes are cut into human flesh, it is necessary to ensure that the victim is still alive.In the coming days, we will have the opportunity to see how Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants used this against Yuan Chonghuan, the loyal defender of the empire, shortly before the dynasty he founded collapsed. From the works written by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, such as "Dagao", "Dagao Continuation", "Dagao 3rd Edition", "Dagao Military Officials" and other works, there are listed Ling Chi and the head of the owl to show the public - that is, to chop off the head and hang it on a high place to show the public There were at least 10,000 cases of various punishments, such as extermination of the clan, abandonment of the city, and beheading, and many of them were dealt with in batches.Xu Zhenqing recorded in his famous "Jian Sheng Wild Stories": Whether Zhu Yuanzhang wants to kill people in large numbers, there is an obvious signal.If he was in the court hall, he pressed the jade belt around his waist to his belly, which indicated that a large number of officials might fall to the ground; if he tied the jade belt high on his chest, most of the days would be warm and clear.As a result, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty followed the ups and downs of the jade belt, experiencing the warmth and coldness of the world, and feeling the joy, anger, sorrow and joy of life.It is said that many of the officials at that time had to bid farewell to their wives and make arrangements for the funeral before going to court in the morning; if they came back alive, they would celebrate with their families and thank God for the grace. In the application of means, Zhu Yuanzhang has reached the extreme rare in the ages.His life-and-death struggle with the imperial bureaucrats and wealthy families has truly reached a level unprecedented in thousands of years.Zhu Yuanzhang was not satisfied with this.He was quite emotional and said: "I followed the example of the ancients in appointing officials. Unexpectedly, when I first promoted them, everyone was loyal and principled. After a long time, all of them were treacherous and greedy. I can only strictly enforce the law and discipline. Punishment. As a result, there are not many who can start well and end well, and many families are ruined." This shows that he is quite confused about the outcome of this war. No matter what, he couldn't figure out what was wrong with these guys. Why did they rush to corrupt the law without even warming up the official seal in their arms?The human skin of the former official was on the edge of the table in front of them, how did they regret it only after getting it on the execution ground? Familiar faces disappeared one by one, and batches of unfamiliar faces disappeared one after another. Someone has to do things for the emperor. So, in the officialdom of the empire, a rare and strange scene appeared, sitting on the feet of the censor who was judging the case behind the stage, wearing shackles, he himself had been sentenced to death; The majestic official, not long ago, just received the emperor's eighty sticks.Ru Taisu was a very famous minister in the early Ming Dynasty. He was respected by the people for his honesty and integrity. At the time of the highest official position, he was the second-rank household secretary. This person was hurriedly summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang to spank because the memorial was too long. the one.He once went to work in shackles after being convicted, and was finally killed by Zhu Yuanzhang.In "Dagao Sanbian", we know that this brand-new working method invented by Zhu Yuanzhang is called "doing things with guilt".Dai means that he has been sentenced.At that time, in government agencies at all levels, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's records, there were 328 people who acted on behalf of crimes.You don't have to have a rich imagination to imagine how magnificent the scene is. Since then, from the Ming Dynasty until today, we can read many praises for Zhu Yuanzhang's clarification of the administration of officials in the majestic works of many historians.In fact, these words of praise, apart from expressing people's hatred for corrupt officials, can basically be regarded as nonsense. The reason lies in the following two points: First, in any political culture, the state of government officials is one of the symbols of the degree of political civilization.Compared with the administration of officials in our country in the past, as a personified emperor, there is nothing new about what Zhu Yuanzhang did. He just pushed traditional ideas and methods to the extreme.The only thing that can be proved in this situation is that the political wisdom, political space, and political ethics and moral resources contained in this political and cultural tradition have shrunk and dried up. Second, after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, in the dynasty he founded, corrupt officials, local tyrants and evil gentry were rampant, no less than the worst situation in any era.Thus, the above conclusion is confirmed. If we must judge from the perspective of Zhu Yuanzhang's personal merits and demerits, rather, this person's deeds have effectively demonstrated that under the ancient political and cultural traditions of our country, the emperor's personal psychology, character and ability can make him do good things. what and to what extent. According to the historical records of Kui, this is probably the case. On another battlefield against another type of people, Zhu Yuanzhang achieved undoubted success. Due to the different targets and goals, when Zhu Yuanzhang attacked those who might threaten himself or his heir to the throne, he was highly rational and prudent, well-organized and methodical, which gave this endless war the characteristics of political murder. Judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's life, his suspicion of the founding heroes may need to be traced back to the series of betrayals during the war years. Among them, the rebellion of Shao Rong and Xie Zaixing and his nephew Zhu Wenzheng's conspiracy should have played an important role. Shao Rong was brave, good at fighting and resourceful, and was Zhu Yuanzhang's most important comrade-in-arms and assistant in the early days. For nearly ten years, he was the number one under Zhu Yuanzhang, and his status was even higher than that of Xu Da.There is still no accurate conclusion as to why this person rebelled.We can only see a saying that many historians often like to quote. When he failed in the rebellion and was captured, Zhu Yuanzhang once drank with him.He told Zhu Yuanzhang indignantly: "We were working hard outside, but you held our wives and children as hostages, separated us and made it impossible for us to reunite. It was all for your own self-interest. I had no choice but to do so." Finished, burst into tears.It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang bid farewell to Shao Rong with wine and tears in front of the whole army, and then executed him. There is another saying that may also be used as a reference.According to this theory, Zhu Yuanzhang once molested and raped Shao Rong's daughter who had just grown up when Shao Rong was leading the army, which prompted Shao Rong to launch a rebellion.Later, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that Shao Rong did not reveal this in public, but let his whole family go.This statement is especially easy to get echoes from people who hate Zhu Yuanzhang.Let's be suspicious. Xie Zaixing is another important general who is in charge of his own affairs. His rebellion obviously has something to do with Zhu Yuanzhang.At that time, Xie Zaixing led the army to guard outside, Zhu Yuanzhang did not pass him, so he said to himself that his daughter was the master and married to Xu Da, which was like a ration.Although the newlyweds are said to be happy with each other, this approach obviously does not make being a father happy.Soon, possibly as a result of internal political struggles, someone reported that two of Xie Zaixing's friends were smuggling and selling leather and other military supplies.Zhu Yuanzhang killed the two immediately.At that time, the south of the Yangtze River had already entered the humid and hot Huangmei weather. Zhu Yuanzhang sent people to hang the rotten heads of the two people in Xie Zaixing's office. He led his troops to defect to Zhang Shicheng. As mentioned earlier, this rebellion happened on the eve of the Poyang Lake battle between Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang. If Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng can seize the opportunity, it is hard to say how the subsequent history will develop. Zhu Wenzheng is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, who sits in Nanchang with the title of governor.Before the life-and-death battle of Poyang Lake, he fought hard to defend Nanchang, and made great achievements in dragging Chen Youliang under the city of Nanchang for more than 80 days.This person is young, holds a lot of power and has made great achievements, so he is extremely arrogant.It is said that he arbitrarily plundered the beautiful women of the people and was promiscuous, so he was sued to Zhu Yuanzhang.Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang discussed meritorious deeds and rewards, he did not reward him.Since then, he felt resentful for Zhu Yuanzhang's unfair rewards and punishments, and was once instigated by others to conspire against him.As a result, he was reported again, causing Zhu Yuanzhang to appear in Nanchang unexpectedly. Zhu Wenzheng came to meet him in a hurry, but Zhu Yuanzhang scolded, "What are you going to do, kid?" He took him back and imprisoned him to death. Regardless of the others.These three people whom he regarded as his confidants and even his relatives had such thoughts, obviously it cannot be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was completely irresponsible.Judging from the later situation, although he did not overly embarrass the survivors of these people, however, judging from the many conversations and actions since then, he basically attributed these situations to the selfish and sinister human nature, treacherous and unpredictable human nature, and simply cannot withstand the outside world. The temptation, and thus untrustworthy, went above.This is his need to maintain his own psychological balance, and it should also be the psychological motivation for him to kill those former comrades-in-arms.In fact, if a person with Zhu Yuanzhang's life experience calmly observes and analyzes it, if the above-mentioned event did not cause such a psychological reaction, it might be an unreal and strange thing. From the 13th year of Hongwu (1380 AD), the "Hu Weiyong Party Case" broke out, to the 23rd year of Hongwu (1390 AD), the implicated killing of Li Shanchang and others, and then to the "Sapphire Case" in the 26th year of Hongwu (1393 AD). "Traitor Party Case", Zhu Yuanzhang's lingering political murder lasted for more than ten years, and about 50,000 civil and military officials were involved and killed.Among them, some people have their own way of taking death, and their crimes are so heinous that they deserve to be killed, such as Zhu Liangzu.But more people were wronged and died in a vague and inexplicable way.From this, we can understand why there are so many political maxims in our country and the reasons why they are used so frequently. In the third year of Hongwu, the founding father of the country was sealed for the first time.A total of six dukes and twenty-nine marquises were conferred.Among them, Li Shanchang was named a duke as a civil servant who was the first hero in the founding of the country, and the rest of the dukes and marquises were all generals.The duke's salary is 3,000 to 5,000 Shilumi per year, which is roughly equivalent to today's annual salary of 350,000 to 600,000 yuan; the marquis' salary is 900 to 1,500 yuan per year. Shi Lumi is roughly equivalent to an annual salary of 120,000 to 200,000 yuan today.In addition, there is a one-time government grant, which is the housing allocated by the state.Due to the national dignity and outlook, the appearance and quality of these houses should be superior at that time.As for the rewards of gold, silver, silk and satin, etc., the amount may not be very large.In addition, princes and lords enjoy the hereditary death-free iron scroll, which is the so-called death-free card that the Chinese are especially fond of talking about.This kind of thing looks like a tile, made of iron, with the emperor's edict engraved on it, and the number of times the Lord and his descendants have been spared from death are engraved on the bottom. The words are carved in gold, which is quite beautiful. In terms of treatment, the income of the founding nobles and civil servants and generals in the early Ming Dynasty may be the lowest in Chinese history. In a vertical comparison, after Zhao Kuangyin, the great ancestor of the early Song Dynasty, released his military power with a cup of wine, Jiedushi became an honorary title for the placement of heroes and dignitaries. His annual income is about 2.5 million to 3 million yuan today. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was at least five or six times higher.The income of the prime minister in the early Ming Dynasty was about 1,000 shimi, and there may be other miscellaneous income from the royal family, which is generally equivalent to today's annual salary of 100,000 to 200,000 yuan.The annual salary of the prime minister in the Song Dynasty was about 1.8 million to 2 million yuan. From a horizontal comparison, the treatment of these heroes who helped Zhu Yuanzhang conquer the world and the civil and military personnel who helped him rule the world is far lower than that of the royal relatives who have a high status based on blood alone. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang's sons were named princes, and their treatment was 50,000 shilumi per year, plus 25,000 guan notes.Banknotes were banknotes issued by the central government at that time, and their value fluctuated greatly. Writing a thick doctoral thesis may not be able to tell the story of these ancient banknotes.According to the situation at the time, when the market was good, these two thousand five thousand banknotes could buy about twenty five thousand shilumi.The treatment of the princess and the son-in-law is two thousand Shilumi per year. At that time, there were 1,013 counties in the whole country, and the county magistrate of Qipin had an annual income of ninety shilumi. It can be calculated from this that among Zhu Yuanzhang's forty-two children, the treatment of each pair of children is equivalent to that of the ten most important founding fathers, equivalent to fifty or sixty prime ministers; The sum of all magistrate income. Such injustice in distribution and income may be regarded as outrageous in ancient my country where injustice was openly advocated.Later, when someone talked about the particularly prosperous growth of corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty and after that, they attributed the reason to the low salaries of officials.It should be said that this is neither the main reason nor the whole reason, but it can be regarded as an important reason.Think about it, when officials, no matter how much they abuse their subordinates and the people, can become rich and prosperous as long as they can get rid of their bosses, it is hard to imagine any more reasons not to make officials become like dogs in front of their bosses and their subordinates and people. The real vicious dog in front of the people.Under such circumstances, it is tantamount to wishful thinking that all officials in the country should live and be officials like Hai Rui.However, speaking of it, this may indeed be one of Zhu Yuanzhang's ideals, and it may also be the main reason why the society of the Ming Dynasty is particularly distorted. Zhu Liangzu was brave and good at fighting. He was the first batch of founding heroes awarded by the empire. He was the Marquis of Yongjia and enjoyed all the treatment of a Marquis.洪武十二年，即公元1379年，被朱元璋派遣去镇守广东。 此人除了能打仗之外，其他方面基本可以归于恶棍之列。他到广东之后，很快与当地的土豪恶霸们搅到一起，成了这帮家伙巧取豪夺、横行乡里的靠山。结果，与当地一位深受民众爱戴的县官道同发生冲突。 道同是蒙古族，属于真正的好官。我国历史上，经常可以看到这种好官，他们一般必须具备两个条件：其一是生性刚直宁折不弯，其二是真的从心里相信仁义道德，而不是仅仅停留在口头上。道同就是这样一个人。据说，直到六百年后的今天，广东番禺一带民间，还有供奉道同牌位的说法，这可能是重要原因。大约也是为此，朱亮祖心里很是厌烦。 一次，道同将一帮欺行霸市、敲诈勒索的流氓当场抓住，然后，拴成一串在繁华商业区示众。朱亮祖出面请道同喝酒，为这帮坏蛋讲情。不管是论爵位，还是论级别，这位侯爷都比道同高出不止十级八级，算是给足了道同面子。谁知，道同很诚恳地希望朱亮祖不要为这帮子人渣坏了自己的名声和体面，没有买账。 第二天，朱亮祖亲自出马，当场打碎枷锁，释放了那一干人犯。后来又找机会，以礼仪不周的名义，把道同当众痛打了一顿。 当地一个罗姓富豪，看出这是一个投资的好机会，便将自己美貌的妹妹送给朱亮祖做妾，外加不算菲薄的嫁妆。此后，成为侯爷小舅子的罗姓富豪便越发富豪起来。致使道同不断收到百姓求他为民作主的状子。其中大体包括诸如占人田宅、霸人妻女、强买强卖等等。道同忍无可忍，把侯爵的小舅子抓进了监狱。朱亮祖闻讯，立即派兵包围了县政府，并将该人犯——罗氏舅爷抢出。 就此，道同被挤在天职、天良与天敌之间，再无回旋余地。此后发生的一切，便是标准的中国式悲喜剧了—— 道同给皇帝写了一封信，控告朱亮祖。而朱亮祖则利用自己的资源优势，快马加鞭地将自己对道同的控告信，抢在道同之前，送到了皇帝手中。朱元璋看到朱亮祖的报告后，立即派人前去斩杀道同。几天后，道同的报告到了，朱元璋马上意识到其中有诈，命人飞骑追赶前面派出的使者并调道同入京。结果，朱亮祖早已安排专人，买通前一位使者，日夜兼程地赶到广东，在追赶的使者到来之前，杀死了道同。 随后，朱元璋下令锁拿朱亮祖父子进京。 公元1380年，即洪武十三年九月初三——之所以特别点出这个并不重要的日子，是因为此时帝国历史上著名的“胡惟庸奸党案”正在紧锣密鼓地进行之中——前一年刚刚被派往广东的朱亮祖父子被押进午门。据说，此二人跪地膝行，就是用膝盖跪在地上走路，来到朱元璋面前后，“以头撞地”，口称罪该万死。朱元璋挥起鞭子就打，武士们也看出朱元璋要的是催命棍，于是，更加不遗余力。最后，据说朱元璋是亲眼看着这一对父子气绝身亡后，方才气咻咻地悻悻而去。 不知朱元璋的性情中，是否具有某种完美主义的倾向。其人一生行事，对于违犯法纪者基本是毫不容情。譬如，还是在战争年代，他手下大将胡大海手握重兵在外，他的直系亲属犯禁酒令被朱元璋抓住。当时，有人劝朱元璋手下留情，免得激出不可测之祸。朱元璋的反应是，宁愿胡大海叛逆，也决不能放纵，下令立即处死。开国后，有一个家伙“尚”公主——就是娶了朱元璋很喜爱的一个女儿。当时，凡是娶皇家公主的，都叫“尚”公主。大约是有所倚仗的缘故，这位得意忘形的驸马爷犯了走私枉法罪，朱元璋知道后，将跪在面前苦苦哀求的女儿痛斥一顿，然后，算是给他们夫妇留了体面，勒令该驸马必须自杀，并将同案人犯全部杀死，全不管女儿守寡与否。朱亮祖的例子则是一个典型，表明在这场政治战中，有一批人，确实是撞到他枪口之下的为非作歹者。 而绝大多数牺牲者，则可以肯定并非如此。 在鞭死朱亮祖时，“胡惟庸奸党案”的序幕已经拉开将近一年，此时，正是风声鹤唳，人人自危的时刻。 应该说，胡惟庸其人不是一个特别值得同情的人，但也很难归入大奸大恶之类。他很有才气，写得一手好文章，做事情干练机敏，不论多么棘手，皇帝交办的事情，都能办得干净利索，相当到位。因此，在长达十多年时间里，颇受朱元璋信任和倚重，甚至相当长时间里一人独揽大权。即一个人当宰相，时称“独相”。 但史料中有一个情节，相当意味深长，朱元璋曾经就胡惟庸能否做宰相一事，征求过刘伯温的意见。显然，刘伯温不看好此人。他将胡惟庸形容成是一个喜欢撒欢尥蹶子的生牛犊子，认为让他驾辕，会把车弄翻。我们知道，刘伯温料事如神，是一位不亚于诸葛亮的神奇人物，朱元璋对他的意见一般都很看重。但是，这一次，刘伯温错了。 此后，朱元璋就当没有听过刘伯温劝告似的，接二连三地提拔胡惟庸，直到让他做了宰相。同时，纵容胡惟庸并自己亲自动手，三番五次地折磨刘伯温，使他完全陷入一种生不如死、如履薄冰的境地，很快便染病在身。 在非正式史料的描述中，谈到了一个故事。 在刘伯温战战兢兢地留在京师，不敢返回家乡去的日子里，朱元璋曾经赏赐给了刘伯温一个很美貌的侍姬。刘伯温知道这是来监视自己的，因此，特别小心翼翼。 当时，为了一个基本算不上过失，但皇帝认为是过失的事情，朱元璋下旨，令刘伯温将一篇无用的文书必须每天抄写一遍，以示惩罚。这实在无聊。时间一久，皇帝也不再提起此事，而且待刘伯温亲切如初了。六十五岁的老翁刘伯温也就不再抄写。而在此期间，那位美丽的女孩子，却真心爱慕上了这位老先生的人品才学，使老人凄怆苍凉的心境得到不小的慰藉。 谁知，很久以后，朱元璋突然下令，要检查太久之前给刘伯温留的家庭作业。刘伯温一下子懵了，他哪里可能拿得出来？这虽然不是一件什么大事，但安上一个抗旨的大罪名却恰好合适。刘伯温惶恐无地，由此知道，皇帝这是想要自己死。 不料，那位聪颖的女子却比刘伯温更了解皇帝。她每天都在悄悄替刘伯温抄写，遂使刘伯温得以交卷。朱元璋相当失望，却在随手一翻之际，看出后面的字迹有异，询问之下，得知实情。皇帝没有表示什么，放过了刘伯温。 据记载，刘伯温晚年丧妻，对那位女子充满爱怜与感激。他离开皇宫，急急忙忙想赶回家向她报喜，没有注意一队轻骑兵风驰电掣般驶过身边。刘伯温到家时，便看到她倒在血泊中，已经气绝。 这段故事，深入人之情感最底层，催人泪下，可能出自时人或后人的附会或想象。不过，哪怕纯粹是传说或虚构，却可以相当传神地表达出人们对朱元璋的一个认识：此人做事情时，是可以埋下很深、很持久伏笔的。 随后，正式的史料便记载说，胡惟庸在朱元璋的暗示下，带着医生去给刘伯温看病。于是，刘伯温的肚子里很快长了个痞块。最后，在一种典型的慢性中毒症状中，辗转反侧，相当痛苦地死去了。 胡惟庸案发后，刘伯温被毒死一事，成为追究胡惟庸的一个由头。朱元璋在后来的各种谈话中也一再申明，刘伯温是死在胡惟庸的毒药之下。事实上，假如没有朱元璋的一再迫害，胡惟庸即便嫉恨刘伯温的品性、才干与威信，但他是否敢于并能够毒死刘伯温，是相当值得怀疑的。 相映之下，与此异曲同工的是，徐达背部生痈疽之后，据说，朱元璋曾经询问御医，此病最忌讳什么？御医答曰：“蒸鹅等发物。”不久，病情已经好转的徐达，收到了皇帝赏赐的蒸鹅。徐达当着颁赏来使的面，流着泪吃掉蒸鹅，几天后死去。 刘伯温的第二个错误是：帝国的车没有翻在胡惟庸手里，胡惟庸的车倒是翻在了朱元璋的手中，而且是同帝国根深蒂固的宰相制度一起翻掉。 这种情形，相当耐人寻味。 细细翻检当时的各种史料，除了演义的那些，导致胡惟庸翻车的理由，无非诸如大权独揽，拆阅臣民密封奏章，扣压不利于自己的报告，收受贿赂，排斥异己，拉帮结派，等等。大体上是一些可大可小的罪名，有些还是欲加之罪。仔细推敲起来，找不到需要大动干戈，以至于必须牵连进两万多人一起杀掉的理由。 胡惟庸手下的人曾经犯走私罪，并在闯关时殴打官吏。我们知道，朱元璋曾经为同类事情，不顾跪在面前苦苦哀求的女儿，终至杀死自己的驸马女婿。此时，他只杀掉犯事者本人，接受了胡惟庸自己不知情的解释。 胡惟庸的儿子是个恶少，属于在首都大街上可以横着走路的那种人。一天喝醉酒后，宰相公子真的在大街上横着走路，结果被一辆马车撞了。胡惟庸不管三七二十一，命人将驾车者杀死。朱元璋知道后，立即下令将胡惟庸的儿子逮捕，命其偿命。胡惟庸要求赔偿金钱赎出儿子性命，朱元璋不允。按照朱元璋的性格，他是完全可能连儿子带老子一起干掉的，但他未将胡惟庸怎么样。 朱元璋对于胡惟庸和李善长之间的交往，大约是一清二楚。据说，那件被朱元璋砸掉的雕龙金床，最开始是由一位名叫李彬的人交给胡惟庸，胡惟庸搬给李善长，又由李善长献给朱元璋的。胡惟庸与李善长关系相当密切，这可能是李善长在朱元璋面前提携举荐胡惟庸的原因之一。洪武元年，朱元璋来到开封，一方面视察北伐战况，一方面考察开封山川形势。这期间发生了李彬的贪渎舞弊案。这个案件在官修正史上记载得含混简约，实际上，可能是一件极其重要而典型的官场舞弊案。 李彬是中书省都事，属于帝国中级官员。其职责勉强可以类比为总理府副秘书长的样子。他是李善长的心腹。 有一种说法认为—— 李善长搬进新宰相府以后，李彬则将老宰相府改造成了一个极其豪华的销魂销金窟，从张士诚及其文臣武将那里俘来的娇姬美眷，许多被填塞其中。张士信有一套著名的纯银雕制的床榻、桌椅、橱柜、屏风、隔扇等，也摆在此处。而且，这里的餐食酒菜，全是由帝国最好的厨师打理制作，被认为远胜皇宫御制。 如果将此只是当成声色娱乐场所，那就大错而特错了。一般的有钱人根本迈不进此处大门。只有有钱、还有帝国官位品级、还有推荐人者，方能入内。那些在此消费过的人，可以自然获得推荐人资格。原因在于此处消费的特殊性质。 开国之初的大明帝国，对于嫖娼的帝国官员惩处极严，可能丢官，甚至丢掉脑袋。但在此处，口腹色相之欲，是必须享用的开胃小吃。然后，才能进入正式消费——就来者想要得到的帝国官职，洽谈价格，预交定金。 据说，中书省都事李彬最高可以答应为消费者运作的官职是宰相助理和六部尚书这个级别，即我们今天所理解的比中央部委长官还要高级的官职。由此，可以知道为什么消费过的人可自然成为推荐人。因为，假如事情败露，李彬有宰相撑着，结果如何，不得而知。自己的脑袋先掉，则大致是可以肯定的。据说此地每晚的成交额，大约在十五万到二十五万两白银。根据肯定不精确的折算，可能不应该低于一千五百万元人民币。由此，在当时的京城，广泛流传着大宰相府和小宰相府之说。 侦破此事的，就是那位被朱元璋称之为皇家恶狗之一的杨宪。当时，朱元璋远在开封。临行前，委托李善长与刘伯温共同负责京师事宜。李善长负责日常事务，刘伯温负责监察百官。于是，杨宪将此报告给了刘伯温，刘伯温决定搜查小宰相府。 当时，被抓住的李彬坚称此事全部是自己一人所为。官修正史上记载了李善长为此人所作的斡旋，虽然相当简略，也没有谈到其他人的作为，却也足以透露出李善长与此人的亲密关系。当时，甚至在朱元璋亲自从开封发来处死李彬的命令时，李善长还试图以天象的理由挽救李彬的性命。在刘伯温的坚持下，事情以李彬被杀掉告终。后来，杨宪死在李善长手里，而刘伯温则死在胡惟庸手中。除了朱元璋的因素之外，相当多的人们认为，李彬贪渎事件是双方交恶的导火索。 有一种推测，认为根本就是宰相李善长的大儿子与李彬合谋做下的这桩大买卖，否则，李彬断然没有如此巨大的能量。而李善长也不会这样明目张胆、疏忽大意。从当时情形和李善长一生行事判断，这种推测很有可能是接近实际情况的。（上述关于李彬的故事，出自董宇峰、周实合著之《刘伯温》一书。此书可能有想象与虚构的成分。笔者没有证据，窃以为极有可能是最接近当时情形的推测。故姑引于此，并向二位先生致谢。——笔者注） 李善长、胡惟庸、刘伯温、杨宪诸人之间，关系复杂，在此没有必要展开叙述。但上述事项很有可能是一把钥匙，能够有效地帮助我们理解大明帝国开国之初那极其错综复杂的政治形势。同时，我们需要知道，当时，帝国的财政收入，每年只有几百万两白银。以朱元璋对人事关系的高度敏感，想要让他相信，只有李彬一个人就能够在帝国官场掀起涉及几百万两白银的丑闻来，恐怕是有些勉强的。不久后，他早早让李善长离开宰相之位，这件事或许是原因之一。甚至，这也可能是引发朱元璋后来一举端掉宰相制度的诱因之一。于是，就和朱元璋对胡惟庸的提拔使用密切相关了。 关于胡惟庸案发时的情形，各种说法很多。择其大者，可以注意下列两种完全不同的说辞： 按照《明史纪事本末》中的说法，说是胡惟庸老家的旧宅井里，忽然长出竹笋，高出水面数尺。拍马屁的人们又说，他家三代祖坟上，夜晚火光烛天，是为大吉大利之兆。于是，胡惟庸开始想入非非。他儿子与马车的事情发生后，胡惟庸开始谋划造反。 到1380年，洪武十三年正月，胡惟庸报告朱元璋，说自己家里的水井冒出醴泉，就是甜蜜的美酒，请皇帝临幸。朱元璋答应了。走到西华门时，一个名叫云奇的太监，冲到皇帝的车马前面，激动地拉住马缰绳，舌头像被夹住似的急得说不出话来。朱元璋怒其不敬，左右乱棍齐下，几乎把他的右臂打断，差点打死。但此人指着胡惟庸家的方向，忍痛不退。朱元璋似有所悟，立即返回去，登上宫城观察，发现胡惟庸家里的墙道间，藏着士兵，刀枪林立。于是，“即发羽林掩捕”之。 持这种说法的人很多。 考之《明太祖文集》卷七，情形却又是另外一样。 这里说胡惟庸被捕，是在公元1379年，即洪武十二年九月。 当时，占城国——地在今天越南中部的一个城市国家，使臣前来朝贡。朱元璋不知道此事，于是大怒。胡惟庸和副宰相叩头谢罪，并把责任推给了礼部。礼部坚称已经报告中书省。朱元璋更为恼怒，连下敕书，说：“你们互相推卸责任，朕不聪明，不知道究竟谁该负责，所以囚省、部，一定要追究到底。”表明当时的两位宰相和礼部尚书，已经都被抓进监狱里去了。 这样一来，前一种说法便无从谈起了。 第二年正月初二，一个被抓进监狱的胡惟庸部下与亲密战友，突然揭发说，胡惟庸想要谋反。结果，牵连缠绵，雪团越滚越大。 正月初六，胡惟庸为首的一大批人及其家族便被全部杀死。 第二天，正月初七，朱元璋宣布进行一项重大的政治制度变革。这项变革，在整个中国政治史上都堪称为一重大事件，这就是历时近一千五百多年的宰相制度被正式废除。从而，直接影响了明清两代五百多年的政治格局。 以此为由头，朱元璋对官吏队伍进行了大张旗鼓的大清洗。时间持续了十多年，死于此案的人数至少在两万人以上。 于是，以往一直有一种几乎是权威性的结论，认为“胡惟庸奸党案”是朱元璋为代表的君权与胡惟庸为代表的相权之间长期斗争，最后，君权大获全胜的结果。 从上述扑朔迷离、波诡云谲的情势看，这种说法可能是值得推敲的。 我们知道，在处理许多事情时，当朱元璋感到不快或不安，其杀伐决断常常间不容发。为什么在对胡惟庸的问题上却不是这样？ for example-- 王文禄在《龙兴慈记》里记载： 常遇春是朱元璋最喜爱的猛将，民间传奇中，有许多此人神奇的作战故事。他家里有一个妒悍成性的夫人，致使常遇春根本不敢挨其他女人的边。朱元璋知道后，挑选了两个美貌侍姬送到常遇春府上侍奉。一天早晨，一位侍姬端洗脸水侍候常遇春，常遇春在该女子的手上摸了一把，说了句“好白的手”，便出门上朝公干。晚上，大将军回家后，他的妻子送给常遇春一个包装讲究的礼品盒，大将军打开一看，里面盛着那位女孩子的双手。常遇春魂飞魄散。如此对待皇帝赏赐的人，按照当时的法律，至少属于灭族的大不敬之罪。 随后，在一次重要的会议上，常遇春心事重重的模样被朱元璋发现了，逼问缘由。常遇春不敢隐瞒，跪在地上，讲出了这件事情，请求朱元璋宽恕。朱元璋表示，这算不了什么，我再送你两个就是了。然后继续开会。其间，朱元璋在奉茶的侍卫耳边说了几句话。最后，每个与会的重要臣僚都收到了一个匣子，上面大书“悍妇之肉”四字。里面装着常遇春被肢解了的妻子。据说，常遇春的癫痫病就是此时落下的，他正值盛年便暴病而死，可能也与此颇有一些干系。 在《九朝谈纂》中还有一个记载。 徐达有两位正夫人，一位是张夫人，一位是谢夫人，就是朱元璋做主嫁给徐达的谢再兴之女。张夫人会武功，经常随丈夫出入战场，可能教养不是太好，说话不走脑子。大约属于在北京人嘴里会被称呼为“事儿妈”的那种女人。一次，做了皇后的朱元璋之妻马夫人，宴请那些文武功臣们的妻子。席间，马皇后说：“大家都是吃过苦的人，那时，哪里想到会有如今的好日子。”大家纷纷附和，说了不少逢迎拍马屁的喜庆话。谁知，首席武将功臣徐达的这位张氏夫人冷冷地接了一句：“都是穷过来的，如今我家可不如你家。”一时间，在场的人们全都傻了，谁都不知再说什么好。 这件事情不可能不传到朱元璋耳朵里。不久，有一次宫中举行宴会，招待重要臣僚。朱元璋来到徐达面前敬酒，敬酒词曰：“牝鸡司晨，家之不祥。我这杯酒是特意来祝贺你可以免去灭族之祸的。”徐达一头雾水，不知所言何谓。回家后才知道，自己的张氏夫人已经被皇帝派人来杀了。 朱元璋一生行事，为微小过失杀人，大抵如斯。为什么对胡惟庸偏不如此？须知，常遇春、徐达、刘伯温诸人的地位与威望全部远高过胡惟庸。 倒推回去九年，公元1371年，即洪武四年正月初二，春节第二天，李善长被朱元璋强迫退休。这一年，李善长五十八岁，从他一口气活到七十七岁还很硬朗的情形看，所谓“高龄”一说相当牵强。这位李善长曾经被朱元璋比喻为自己的萧何，是公认的帝国第一开国功臣，在军民中之声望不可谓不高。朱元璋偏偏在给予他崇高赞誉之后，不让他继续做宰相。同时，刘伯温的才干、品性与威信远在胡惟庸者流之上，被朱元璋比喻为自己的张良，朱元璋也同样不让他做宰相。朱元璋似乎打定主意，就是要将那个可能撒欢尥蹶子的胡惟庸扶上宰相高位。其中，或许有深意在焉。 废除宰相制度，为一千五百多年所未有。处理如此重大的事宜，假如是在胡惟庸案发时才临时起意，这未免把朱元璋