Chapter 56 Chapter Six

Zhu Yuanzhang's wanton killing of heroes is second to none in Chinese history, and no emperor has surpassed him.In order to achieve the goal of strengthening the centralization of power and consolidating the rule of the regime, is it necessary to massacre heroes?People of insight in the world hope that after the Mongolian aliens are driven away, the Han people can live a happy and comfortable life with pride and prosperity, and the grandeur and prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties will appear. They never imagined that what they are looking forward to is an unprecedented autocracy, cruelty and bloody storm. , what was waiting was a pair of heavy shackles on himself.

What Zhu Yuanzhang did was largely due to serious psychopathy and split personality. From a cowherd boy who couldn't eat enough to become the "son of heaven" who dominates life and death in the world, the contrast is too great.If it is a poor nobleman, what he often reminisces and is intoxicated with is the dazzling glory and wealth of the past; but for Zhu Yuanzhang, even though he became an emperor, what he often remembers and chews is the poverty of the past and abjection.Although it is unbearable to look back on, they always break into his sleep and heart involuntarily, persistently, and unexpectedly.And as long as he thinks of the poverty, humiliation and pain in the past, anger will inexplicably surge in his heart, and of course he will feel inferior.Supreme and inferiority are a pair of twin brothers who depend on each other and are inseparable.If there is anger, he must vent and take revenge. As long as he wants, he can kill anyone who is in the way; if he has low self-esteem, he desires to be respected by others. Hope is paramount in people's eyes and hearts.

He hates all high-ranking officials and dignitaries, and even more hates their arrogance, so he first "surges" the upstarts who have gained vested interests. He hated those bureaucrats who corrupted and oppressed the people. Those who embezzled more than sixty taels of silver would be shown to the public and punished by skinning.The land temple on the left side of the yamen in various prefectures and counties is the skinning execution ground, known as the Pichang temple.And corrupt officials always cut crop after crop like leeks, so Zhu Yuanzhang stamped his feet anxiously: "I want to get rid of corrupt officials, but I can't commit crimes at night! From now on, those who commit stolen goods will be killed regardless of their seriousness."

He hates landlords and rich peasants, and he still has a fresh memory of Liu De's ruthlessness.He moved the landlords in the south of the Yangtze River to Fengyang, and moved the wealthy households all over the world to Nanjing.Once these landlords and rich households left their original territories, they would lose their past social status and economic advantages, which would undoubtedly be a heavy blow to them.Zhu Yuanzhang forced Shen Wansan, the richest man in the world, to donate one-third of his family property to build the Nanjing city wall. Later, he found another problem, saying that he paid to reward the emperor's army with bad intentions, confiscated all his property, and then exiled to Yunnan.

He hates the literati all over the world, because they are a hundred times stronger than Zhu Yuanzhang, who used to be a big boss. He is "I am the best in the world" and cannot allow anyone to surpass himself.In the past, literati were needed to conquer the world, and he respected and treated them with courtesy, and built the Lixian Pavilion as the residence of the sages.Of course, he also benefited a lot from them and was deeply influenced by Confucianism.Without the support and help of literati, not to mention conquering the world, it is difficult for him to have such an idea spontaneously; and after sitting in the world, literati are no longer cute, and they all become sour.Compared with ordinary people, they have their own ideas, and they are the most difficult to rule. Sometimes they say it orally, but they feel disgusted and cursed in their hearts.Therefore, while killing the heroes, he also sacrificed the butcher knife to the literati and Confucian scholars all over the world.He poisoned Liu Ji to death; belittled Song Lian, and finally died on the way to exile; Yang Ji, Zhang Yu, Xu Ben, Gao Qi, the poets of Wuzhong in the early Ming Dynasty who are known as the Four Masters, did not have a happy ending... He also promoted literary inquisition and created the famous "North and South List Case"...

Although Zhu Yuanzhang is tall, he is not very handsome.He is very inferior, so he wants to make up for it through portraits.He found a lot of painters, but they couldn't fathom Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions. They painted one by one according to the truth, but they couldn't pass the test. Of course, none of them could leave the palace alive.Later, a painter learned his lesson and blended the appearances of Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperors of the Han Dynasty, so that the faces were plump, dignified and majestic, and only then did he get his approval and appreciation.Unexpectedly, the artist risked his life and secretly painted a picture to take out of the palace, so that later generations will know his true face: protruding forehead, vertical eyebrows, upturned nose, protruding jaw, and numb spots on his face .

He often said that he was "I am originally from Huaiyou commoner" and "I started from the fields". On the surface, it was an admission of the facts and an expression of humility, but it was actually a perverted self-esteem.Of course, if others mentioned his background and poverty, he would absolutely refuse to follow. He used to be a monk, and he was most jealous of others talking about "light" and "brightness"; he started his career with the red scarf peasant army, and was often called a thief by the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, so he was very sensitive to "thief" and "thief".Anyone who broke the taboo was sentenced to death without mercy.In addition to personal taboos, he also stipulated many general taboos that subjects should abide by.

In terms of the brutality of punishment, Zhu Yuanzhang also surpassed any emperor in history.Punishments include Ling Chi, owl head, Zhu clan, scrubbing, pole weighing, intestines pumping, skinning, tattooing, stabbing, castration, knee picking, tin snake swimming and other non-punishments.There is also a court stick system that specifically deters public officials and punishes ministers. Bureaucratic ministers may be punished by sticks in the hall at any time.As a tradition, in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial staff was often abused. During Zhu Yuanzhang's 31 years in power, according to the statistics of his own books such as "Dagao", "Dagao Continuation", "Dagao Sanbian", "Dagao Wuchen" and other books, the listed Lingchi, Xiaoshi, There are thousands of cases of killing the clan; and more than 10,000 cases of abandoning the market (that is, beheading).

Corresponding to the "support" of harsh punishments is a huge network of secret agents-the school inspector and Jinyiwei. The school inspector is a special agent specially set up by Zhu Yuanzhang. Its duty is to investigate the illegal activities of all officials, big and small, in Beijing. The gossip in the streets and alleys is also included.In the final analysis, school inspection is a special activity of reporting other people's private affairs. Their footprints are everywhere, and they are directly responsible to the emperor, without other intermediate links.Zhu Yuanzhang decided the punishment of the officials based on their reports, which made the ministers feel insecure and worried day and night.Even Zhu Yuanzhang himself said: "With these few people (referring to the head of the school), for example, if someone raises a vicious dog, people will be afraid."

Prosecutors can only conduct investigations and investigations, and have no right to detain and punish prisoners.Zhu Yuanzhang still felt that it was not enough, so he specially set up a formal institution with courts and prisons - Jinyiwei. Jinyiwei has no affiliation with the imperial government, ministries, and courts. It surpasses all institutions and is directly under the emperor's supervision.Zhu Yuanzhang relied heavily on this, and handed over all political criminals across the country to it for trial and sentencing.Since then, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have used it as their eyes and ears, and their powers have expanded day by day.

All the subjects living in the Ming Dynasty not only have no personality and freedom to speak of, but even the slightest bit of privacy is under the supervision and control of the school inspector and Jin Yiwei. Starting from Zhu Yuanzhang's fear of political instability, suspicion of usurping heroes, bloody revenge and massacres, extreme self-esteem, psychopathy, and split personality, he must establish a spy surveillance network that is only responsible for him. The "bad news" further aroused his rage, and the punishment mechanism and punishment methods under the rage will become more severe.This vicious circle snowballed bigger and bigger, making the feudal centralized rule and brutality in ancient China reach an unprecedented peak.