Chapter 23 4. Mixed sorrows and joys, Chuzhou personally adopted the three righteous sons

Not long after Zhu Yuanzhang captured Chuzhou, he was busy sorting out military discipline and affairs of all parties, and he was very busy.On this day, Zhu Yuanzhang had a little free time, and suddenly thought of his family, and thought of how great it would be if his parents, brothers and sisters could live to this day, he was full of thoughts and sad. Suddenly, a soldier came to report that there was a man at the gate of the city, saying that he was Zhu Yuanzhang's brother-in-law Li Zhen.Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was because he was thinking about his family just now, and he was still in a dream. When he took a closer look, there was a soldier standing at the door, and asked him to report again. It was indeed a Xuyi man named Li Zhen who wanted to see him.

Zhu Yuanzhang also didn't care whether the man was real or not, so he rode his horse and rushed to the city gate. When I arrived at the gate of the city, I saw officers and soldiers surrounded by two people, one big and one small.Zhu Yuanzhang walked in and saw that the man was indeed his brother-in-law, but he hadn't seen him for several years. He looked very tired and old, and the children beside him were ragged and thin.Zhu Yuanzhang lost his voice: "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, is it really you? How is sister?..." Li Zhen and the child's eyes were full of tears, and without waiting for the adult to respond, the child said: "My mother, she starved to death." Zhu Yuanzhang felt even more sad, and at the same time noticed the child named Bao'er beside Li Zhen.His sad eyes are not the carelessness that a teenager should have, but full of calmness and pain. Although he is only a teenager, he is a young man with a thin body, but his bones are well developed, and he looks even more bone-covered.Staring at his eyes, Zhu Yuanzhang felt more cordial, it was a fusion of family affection.He thought of his elder sister, and remembered that this child was the same age as him who lost his parents back then, and the calm eyes of that child clearly had his own shadow.

After settling down his brother-in-law and nephew Bao'er, the past flooded into Zhu Yuanzhang's mind like a flood, which could not be calmed down. A few days later, someone came to defect to him again, saying that he was Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew.The officers and soldiers guarding the city were dubious and did not dare to delay, so they reported to Zhu Yuanzhang immediately.Zhu Yuanzhang also really had some doubts, fearing that someone would hear that he had taken in his brother-in-law and nephew, and come here under a false name, but he was lucky and hoped that it was really his own nephew.When Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk, he only bid farewell to his second brother. The eldest brother was dead, and his sister-in-law left Zhu's house with her nephew to marry someone else.At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was excitedly guessing whether it was the second brother who got married and had a child, or the elder brother's child.

Zhu Yuanzhang came to the gate of the city again with a complicated and excited mood, full of expectations. He saw a woman and a child of fourteen or fifteen years old. The woman bowed her head, but the child did not panic.Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking about how to judge, when the woman spoke, and when she heard the accent, it turned out to be her sister-in-law who had been away from home for many years, and Zhu Yuanzhang felt sore again.He knew that his sister-in-law had no choice but to starve to death if she did that. The sister-in-law said, I heard that Chongba became a general in Chuzhou today, and he was very majestic, and it was said in the countryside that it was miraculous.Although she remarried, she never forgot her time in Zhu's family. This child would not have any future with her, so she asked her uncle to take him in and train him.

Zhu Yuanzhang has nothing to say, there is no reason why his own nephew should not be accepted, and besides, the elder brother died young, so it is also necessary to raise the nephew.He immediately agreed, and Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, Gou'er, stayed, but Zhu Yuanzhang's sister-in-law insisted on leaving, asking Zhu Yuanzhang to take care of the dog, and then left without leaving her address. On the second day after the dog arrived, Zhu Yuanzhang called Bao'er and Mu Ying, an orphan he had taken in in Dingyuan.That Muying was lonely and pitiful, but she was clever, so Zhu Yuanzhang took her with her.

Zhu Yuanzhang first said to Gou'er: "Accordingly, you are Bao'er's elder brother. From now on, you should be like brothers together, and Mu Ying, you two should not bully him." Zhu Yuanzhang took Gou'er and Bao'er's hands, Said in the tone of a father: "You are my close relatives, and now you are in front of me, just like my own children." Then he took the two children to Muying and said, "Muying, I am in Dingyuan. When I met you, I decided to raise you. From now on, the three of you will be my children, and you will be my foster sons, okay?"

The three teenagers have all experienced suffering and the pain of bereavement, and now they are very happy to have Zhu Yuanzhang as their adoptive father.Zhu Yuanzhang named the baby boy Li Wenzhong, and the dog named Zhu Wenzheng, and Mu Ying became Zhou She, also known as Mu She. Since then, Zhu Yuanzhang has made strict demands on these three children, and hired a teacher for them to teach them to read and write, and learn the principles of life. He also let the three children read some military books and practice martial arts at ordinary times, preparing to train them to be both civil and military. Useful talent.After Zhu Yuanzhang's careful nurturing and teaching, the three adopted sons thrived.

Seeing that Zhu Wenzheng, Li Wenzhong, and Mu Ying have grown into eighteen or nineteen-year-old youths, who have read military books and lived in the barracks, all of them have the spirit of a general. add.Zhu Yuanzhang saw it in his eyes and was happy in his heart.He knew that if he made good use of these adoptive sons, he would have three more helpers in his career, but there was also the possibility of the opposite. They were young and inexperienced, so they would inevitably let go of their power.Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang had strict requirements on the three adoptive sons in his daily life, and never indulged them, but he understood them with reason, moved them with emotion, and restrained and educated them emotionally.What Zhu Yuanzhang said most often is to bear in mind the pain of losing a loved one, cherish today's opportunity, look far ahead, and not be afraid of suffering.He often told his three adoptive sons that the reason for his small achievements today is due to the strength of everyone, so as to explain the principles of life and conduct and cultivate their sense of loyalty.

The three adoptive sons loved and feared Zhu Yuanzhang, because the adoptive father never condoned their mistakes, and punished them severely even for a small mistake, and did not praise them for their good performance.These three youths loved and feared Zhu Yuanzhang in terms of personal emotions, but from the perspective of a soldier, they absolutely respected Zhu Yuanzhang. During the years of living together day and night, they witnessed the way their foster father behaved and acted. I am sincerely convinced. When Li Wenzhong was nineteen years old, Zhu Yuanzhang entrusted him with the great task of commanding the pro-army as a sacrificial person.Although Li Wenzhong knew that his adoptive father was looking for an opportunity to train himself, he was still a little worried, worried that he was too young and most soldiers in the army were older than him.Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "Conquest is no joke. If you don't have confidence in yourself, others will not be able to believe you. War is to be determined to win the war, and the commander must lead by example and put everything first. You are me. You must show the majesty of the adopted son. You cannot and cannot live in the name of the adopted son. You have to rely on your own ability to conquer the soldiers. You can only succeed this time, and you must not fail, otherwise you will never again It's hard to be a general!" After speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and left.Hearing this, Li Wenzhong felt wronged and adjusted his mentality.Li Wenzhong aided Chizhou and successfully defeated the Yuan army. His bravery and promise were admirable in the army.Since then, Li Wenzhong led troops to fight and made many military exploits. He became a famous general who settled Zhejiang in the east, entered Fujian in the south, and conquered the desert in the north.

Compared with Li Wenzhong, Zhu Wenzheng is not a good boy. Perhaps because he is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, his daily behavior is completely like a son-in-law, spending his days and nights.The people around him, including Li Wenzhong and Mu Ying, were inconvenient to report to Zhu Yuanzhang, and besides his misbehavior and love of drinking, he did not cause any other troubles, so the people around him turned a blind eye and closed their eyes.Zhu Yuanzhang is not a fool. With his keen observation ability, he feels that Zhu Wenzheng has done some bad things behind his back, because every time he talks about not being greedy for beauty or drinking, the young and vigorous Zhu Wenzheng looks like There is always something abnormal, and Zhu Yuanzhang saw this little abnormality, but he didn't say it clearly, nor did he accuse Zhu Wenzheng.

Zhu Yuanzhang has his own plans, he knows that this nephew has his shadow in him, that is the rebellious spirit of not admitting defeat.For this kind of rebellious youth, persuasion is useless, only entrusting him with a heavy responsibility, and when the real problem arises, tell him that his behavior is wrong with facts, and let him realize that being a general should not be arrogant, and his behavior should not be indulged . Zhu Yuanzhang first sent Zhu Wenzheng to garrison Hongdu. Zhu Wenzheng who was stationed in Hongdu didn't bother to guard the city.Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know that Zhu Wenzheng was so dereliction of duty, but he felt that Zhu Wenzheng was not satisfied and was not willing to be a city manager. The time finally came. After weighing for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to send Zhu Wenzheng to lead his troops against Chen Youliang.Zhu Wenzheng suddenly woke up from his drunken days. Chen Youliang led an army of 600,000 troops and was approaching the city. His adoptive father sent him, a young general with no combat experience, to lead the army to deal with him, and he had only tens of thousands of troops in his hands. He had to calm down. Think about countermeasures.Zhu Yuanzhang has already ordered to "defend Hongdu to the death, and deal with Chen Youliang with all our strength." This battle is life and death, and it is also a fight between the few against the many, and the weak against the strong.But it is precisely in the disadvantage that Zhu Wenzheng's fighting spirit becomes more tenacious.With his tenacious will and his general's courage, he dispatched troops to resist the attack of 600,000 troops and defeated the powerful enemy Chen Youliang.This battle made Zhu Wenzheng a blockbuster, and even many experienced generals had to admire him. Compared to Li Wenzhong and Zhu Wenzheng, Mu Ying is more sensible.He and Zhu Yuanzhang were not related, but Zhu Yuanzhang took him by his side and adopted him as his adopted son. He cherished this opportunity even more.Mu Ying, who grew up in wars, barracks, and battles, respects Zhu Yuanzhang the most and is also the most obedient.When Mu Ying was eighteen years old, she was awarded the title of captain in front of the tent, participated in guarding Zhenjiang, and began to take on important military responsibilities.For such a well-behaved adoptive son, Zhu Yuanzhang also developed his potential step by step.Although Mu Ying didn't do amazing things in her early years, she made contributions to attacking, defending and developing Yunnan, and she was loyal and respectful to Zhu Yuanzhang. In the army at that time, it was a custom to adopt adopted sons.The generals want to cultivate their confidantes or loyal go-getters, and they like to adopt outstanding and brave young people, so as to bring the relationship closer through a "righteousness".Bearing the word "righteousness", the adopted sons are bound to respect each other with loyalty, sacrifice their lives in wars, and act as vanguards at critical moments.Moreover, you can observe the dynamics of soldiers and soldiers through the adopted son.In the following years, Zhu Yuanzhang adopted more than 20 adopted sons.Of the first three, two were related by blood. Zhu Yuanzhang employed and cultivated these three adoptive sons according to their aptitude. They occupied an important position in Zhu Yuanzhang's career and made immortal contributions.But Zhu Yuanzhang never sheltered his adopted son, so he got rid of Zhu Wenzheng himself.