Chapter 48 10. Severely punish the brave generals, and the family punishes Sapphire

Zhu Yuanzhang won the world on horseback, so he has always attached great importance to the control of military power.After the founding of the country, Zhu Yuanzhang successively deprived many old generals of their military power and let his sons directly control them.For those generals who led troops to fight outside, Zhu Yuanzhang took their wives, children and family members to the capital.In name, they protect the family members of these generals, but in fact they are detained in the capital as hostages. In fact, after the "cleaning up" of the founding veterans was completed, all the damned were dead, and all the living hid away wisely, posing no threat to the imperial court.But there is one person who always makes Zhu Yuanzhang uneasy, and this person is Lan Yu.He has led the army for many years, has a high prestige in the army, and now has military power.

Before the founding of the country, Sapphire had made great achievements in military affairs, and after the founding of the country, he fought in the south and the north, and experienced life and death several times.Sapphire's army is well-disciplined, brave in battle, and invincible. As long as the enemy hears that Sapphire's troops have arrived, they will not be timid before fighting, and some even flee.Sapphire has also changed from the original Marquis to the current Duke of Liang.Lan Yu has a forthright personality and likes to make friends. He has hundreds of sons alone, and he can't even remember the exact number.

A big tree is bound to attract wind. Originally, Lan Yu had led troops for many years, but Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about him.Every time Zhu Yuanzhang thought of Xu Da's performance on Lan Yu's birthday before his death, he would be furious. No one had dared to be so rude to him before. On this day, the Ministry of Punishment handed over a booklet.It was said that there was a person in Dingyuan committing a crime in the street, the government sent people to arrest him, but unexpectedly that person sent his servants to resist and killed dozens of soldiers from the government.Zhu Yuanzhang was very puzzled after reading the scriptures, so he called the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment to ask.

"Tell me, my Ming law is so strict, but why are there such unruly people so domineering?" Zhu Yuanzhang was really puzzled. "Your Majesty, the reason why I submitted this case to the Holy Tribunal is because he is too difficult." said the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. "Why is this?" Zhu Yuanzhang was even more confused. Although the nature of this case is bad, it is extremely easy to judge, and there is really no need to present it to me. "Have you noticed, Your Majesty? This case happened in Dingyuan. Dingyuan is the hometown of Lanyu, Duke of Liang. Yes, I'm afraid that if I don't handle it properly, it will cause Liang Guogong's dissatisfaction, so I hand it over to the emperor for adjudication." said the Minister of Criminal Affairs.

"Sapphire is so courageous. Even if his adopted son committed the crime, you dare not do it, so what if he commits the crime himself? I order you to arrest the adopted son of Lan Yu and bring him to justice. If Lan Yu dares to stop him, Just let him come to us." Zhu Yuanzhang said. The criminal department's efficiency in handling the case was really high, and within a few days, Lan Yu's foster son, who was the murderer, was captured.But they didn't make a decisive decision as the emperor said, but immediately sent someone to inform Lan Yu after they were captured, and told Lan Yu to go to the emperor for love.

Lan Yu is a very loyal person, and immediately went to intercede with the emperor after learning about it. "Your Majesty, I beg the Emperor to release my adopted son." Lan Yu cut to the chase. "Lan Yu, you are so courageous. Your adopted son has committed murder and wounded people, even officers and soldiers. I haven't pursued you for lax discipline, but now you dare to intercede for him!" The emperor said excitedly.This sapphire is really courageous. "Your Majesty, although my adopted son has committed murder and injured others, he is extremely brave on the battlefield. When attacking Yunnan, I was accidentally injured by enemy arrows. He saved me back to the army by killing a bloody path. He even lost an arm in the Northern Yuan Dynasty. He is a person who has made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty."

The more Zhu Yuanzhang heard it, the more angry he became. Even if you have credit, can you do anything wrong?Even if the adopted son is like this, you, Sapphire, don't know how rampant you are.He wanted to order the immediate execution of Lan Yu's adoptive son, but when he turned around, he saw Lan Yu's resolute eyes.Zhu Yuanzhang quickly realized that when dealing with a proud soldier like Lan Yu, he must not use violence to control violence, and he had to use some thought. So Zhu Yuanzhang immediately became amiable, and said to Lan Yu: "Lan Yu, we think of the fact that you have been with us for many years in the Southern and Northern Wars, and today we have agreed to your request. But you must discipline you well in the future." If these adopted sons commit crimes next time, they will definitely be executed."

Lan Yu immediately knelt down to thank her, and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, I knew that your Majesty would not kill him." "We only have a dozen adopted sons, Lan Yu, how many adopted sons have you adopted?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a smile. "Your Majesty, I don't know about the last general. There are probably several hundred of them. They are all powerful fighters with one enemy against one hundred. The last general can win so many battles without their credit." Lan Yu said happily. "It is said that you, Sapphire, lead the army to win every battle, what secret do you have?" Zhu Yuanzhang continued to ask.

Sapphire was a little carried away, so she completely relaxed her vigilance towards the emperor. "Your Majesty, the main reason why the last general's troops are invincible and invincible is because the last general's army is strictly disciplined, and the soldiers absolutely obey orders." "Hehe, you said that you are invincible. Now if you divide your army into half with me, who do you think will win?" Zhu Yuanzhang said jokingly. "Your Majesty, it's not that the last general is boasting. If it's true as you said, then the one who loses must be the Emperor." Lan Yu was extremely confident. "Really? You haven't fought yet, why are you so confident that you will win?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked puzzled.

"Your majesty doesn't know that, the army of the last general will only obey the orders of the last general. I'm afraid they may not listen to your orders, Your Majesty," Lan Yu said proudly. "Really? Then I really want to see it." Zhu Yuanzhang was skeptical, and at the same time, Lan Yu's words also aroused his competitive spirit.He decided to see for himself how powerful Sapphire's army was. Early the next morning, accompanied by Lan Yu, Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at Dianjiangtai early.A number of soldiers had already assembled in the audience, they lined up, all of them were full of energy and their guns were bright.After a burst of drumming, Sapphire Gao settled down and waved the military flag in his hand.Look at the soldiers under the stage, no matter how they move left and right, rushing forward and backward, the formation is not chaotic at all.Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help sighing secretly when he saw it, no wonder Lan Yu's army was afraid of everyone.Sapphire's leadership is really extraordinary, and training himself is nothing more than that.

After the drill, Lan Yu led more than 20 people to see Zhu Yuanzhang. "Your Majesty, these are our Lan Yu's adopted sons. Look good, don't they? On the battlefield, they are all extremely brave." Lan Yu laughed. Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly remembered that Lan Yu had said yesterday that his army only obeyed Lan Yu's orders, and today he happened to witness the truth of this statement.So he said to Lan Yu's adoptive sons: "You generals are all good. You have bled and sweated for our Daming's country, and we will not treat you badly. You step down first, and General Lan and I still have something to say." After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he looked at Lanyu's adoptive sons, but there was no movement at all.Lan Yu also sensed that something was wrong, and quickly said loudly: "Back off!" The foster sons got the order and hurriedly retreated to the side.Lan Yu hurriedly said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, don't blame them. These soldiers are used to obeying the orders of the general. If they were careless for a while, please forgive me." "Haha, it seems that if we divide half of your army and we really fight you, then we will definitely lose!" Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to laugh, but he was secretly shocked.Sure enough, Sapphire's army only obeyed his Sapphire's orders. If Sapphire turned against him one day, it would be too dangerous.So secretly made up his mind to get rid of Sapphire. In the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (1393), Jiang Xian, the commander of Jinyiwei, sued Lanyu for "rebellion", saying that he and Jingchuan Hou Cao Zhen and other princes attempted to launch a mutiny when Zhu Yuanzhang was out of the palace to hold the "Tiantian" ceremony. Therefore, under Zhu Yuanzhang's suggestion, the Ministry of Punishment began to collect Lan Yu's "criminal evidence".At the beginning, Zhang Rensun, a dyer in the village, came to confess, and they returned home from the expedition to visit Lan Yu.Lan Yu told them that they wanted to raise troops against the Ming Dynasty, and asked Zhang Rensun and others to prepare their weapons and prepare to respond, and if things came to fruition in the future, they would all be appointed high officials. Jiang Fu confessed to Lan Yu’s fisherman, saying that Lan Yu had come back from the war and invited him to drink. During this time, Lan Yu said to him: “You have followed me for so many years, I have something to say to you, but you must not Do not leak the news. Now that I want to lead the army against the Ming Dynasty, I have discussed it with all the ministers in the court. You go back and ask at home. If we succeed, you come to me and I will make you an official." For a while, the wall fell and everyone pushed back, and there was an endless stream of people who sued Lanyu for rebellion every day. In the face of the mountainous "facts" and severe punishment, Lan Yu had to admit that she planned to collude with Jingchuan Hou Cao Zhen, Heqing Hou Zhang Yi, official minister Zhan Hui, etc., to launch a mutiny and assassinate the emperor when the emperor held the "field" ceremony , took the opportunity to rebel. "I am wronged, I want to see the emperor. The emperor knows me best, and I had to recruit because of your private punishment." Lan Yu kept shouting in the prison. "Stop shouting, let's take a break. Save some energy and shout on the way to the execution ground. There are so many people there, who can hear you shouting here?" Jingchuanhou Cao Zhen said. Zhan Hui, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, muttered to himself: "Throughout the ages, there have been more people who died unjustly than alive. If you want to commit a crime, there is no reason to worry. The king wants the minister to die, and the minister dare not not die. It is a pity that we can only die when we die Really understand this truth." "Zhu Yuanzhang, you villain! We were born to fight the world for you. Now that you have secured the world, you send us to this prison. God is not fair!" Lan Yu shouted. Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid that there would be mistakes on the way of execution, so he ordered Lan Yu to be executed in prison and his nine clans were exterminated. The case of Lanyu involved a prince, thirteen princes, and two uncles, and 15,000 people were punished by his family and family. He almost killed all those who could threaten the court. Zhu Yuanzhang firmly grasped the military and political power of the court.In order to demonstrate the majesty of the emperor and frighten the world, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict and promulgated the "Record of Rebellious Officials". This year Zhu Yuanzhang was sixty-six years old. One year after the end of the Lanyu case, Ying Guogong Fu Youde was executed.Zhu Yuanzhang finally completed a series of missions such as punishing the founding heroes, honoring nobles in Huaixi in the Qing Dynasty, rectifying the administration of officials, and recovering military power, and became a king with military and political power.Zhu Yuanzhang hopes that after half his life's hard work, he can hand over to the king of future generations a Ming Dynasty that can last forever. Five years later, on June 24, the 31st year of Hongwu (1398), 71-year-old Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness in the West Palace.