Chapter 97 Section 8 Massacre Plan: Escorting the Prince

The selfishness of the autocratic system makes the monarchy strongly exclusive, which determines the fragility of the relationship between the monarch and his ministers, especially the relationship between the founding monarch and his ministers.The relationship between the emperor and the hero is often entangled and conflicted between yesterday and today, emotion and reason, power and righteousness, brewing one crisis after another. An important factor that determines the fate of the founding heroes of all dynasties is the age of the founding emperor.Scholar Zheng Hongwei said in "On the Fate of the Heroes of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" that the older the emperor was when he ascended the throne, the more worried he was about what happened after his death, and therefore the easier it was to murder the heroes.For example, Liu Bang was fifty-five years old when he ascended the throne, so he set a precedent. The seven kings with different surnames who were granted the title at the founding of the country were mostly killed or killed. Only Changsha is complete."

On the contrary, those young and middle-aged ascendants are more confident in controlling heroes.For example, Li Shimin was less than 30 years old when he became the throne, Liu Xiu was only 31 years old, and Zhao Kuangyin was only 34 years old.Therefore, Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, did not shy away from using the hero Xun Jiu.During the Zhenguan period, no matter how big or small, all the ministers had to intervene.Most of the heroes who founded the country in the early Tang Dynasty were powerful and powerful, each showed their strengths, and successfully realized their own lives.Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu abolished the real power of the heroes and preserved their generous salaries.In the age of Guangwu, only the "Gaomi, Gushi, and Jiaodong three princes" participated in state affairs, and the others were far away from power, but Emperor Guangwu was polite and considerate to them, "To pay tribute to treasures from afar, you must first give to the princes, and there are no officials left. ", and "Every time I can look back, I forgive my small mistakes."As for Song Taizu's "a cup of wine to release the power of soldiers", it is more convenient for people and me, and it is considered to be both human and situational, and it has been called a wise move in the past dynasties.

When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he was already over forty years old, but he was still considered young and vigorous, so he announced in a high-profile manner that he would protect the heroes.However, as he grew older and his health deteriorated, Zhu Yuanzhang's confidence in sharing wealth with the heroes became less and less. The long-term intense fighting life and busy and tiring state affairs have damaged Zhu Yuanzhang's health. In the early years of Hongwu, he was "suffering from restless heart", suffering from tachycardia.The worry about Prince Zhu Biao's ability made him suffer from a serious heart disease in addition to his physical illness.

Although Zhu Biao, the eldest son, had known for a long time that his personality was weak, but Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a farmer, had a strong patriarchal sentiment, and he was unwavering in his opposition to the principle of establishing the eldest son.As early as the queen of Wu, he made Zhu Biao the son of the world, and immediately after the throne, he became the prince. In order to train this eldest son with mediocre qualifications into a qualified successor, Zhu Yuanzhang worked hard. In November of the first year of Hongwu, he ordered the construction of the main hall in the palace, the collection of ancient and modern books to enrich it, and the recruitment of princes who are famous Confucian professors from all over the world.Zhu Yuanzhang often personally arranges the prince's courses and inspects them himself.In December of the fifth year of Hongwu, when the crown prince had just turned eighteen, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered "everything that will be played by the hundred divisions in the future will be known to the crown prince."Since the 10th year of Hongwu, the crown prince has to come up with opinions on how to deal with all affairs in the world, and then report to the emperor: "From now on, all political affairs, big and small, will be dealt with by the prince, and then we will hear about them."

However, Zhu Yuanzhang's hard work did not gain much.The so-called country is easy to change, but nature is hard to change. With the development of time, Zhu Biao's benevolence, softness and cowardice have not improved. , had no idea, and dealt with things upside down, which often made Zhu Yuanzhang angry.The older he got, the more Zhu Yuanzhang believed that it was impossible for this child to become a talented emperor.He began to doubt whether Zhu Biao could control these veteran ministers of tigers and wolves behind him. The friendship towards old friends is gradually fading under the cruel balance.Zhu Yuanzhang's change in the mentality of the heroes is fully revealed from a detail in the historical materials.

In the early years of Hongwu, every time a hero died, Zhu Yuanzhang was often sentimental and attached great importance to their funeral arrangements.for example: Duke E of the State of E often dies in spring, and when the hearse arrives, I will come to lay a memorial service in person... and weep bitterly. Kang Maocai, the governor of the Metropolitan Government, died in Shanzhou... the coffin was brought to Longjiang, and his relatives made a memorial ceremony for him. Deng Yu, Duke of the State of Wei, died...Bu heard that he was crying and mourned, and he was summoned to stop for three days.

Since the twelfth year of Hongwu, the cemetery built by Zhu Yuanzhang for himself was initially completed. If any hero died, Zhu Yuanzhang would usually order them to be buried next to the cemetery, and they would be with him for thousands of years after death. For example, in the twelfth year of Hongwu, "Jining Marquis Gu Shi died...and was buried in the shadow of Zhongshan".In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, "Wang Zhen, the commander of the capital of Guangxi, died and was buried in the Yin of Zhongshan".In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, "Wu Liang, Marquis of Jiangyin, died... sent an envoy to return to Beijing for the funeral, and bestowed the Yin of Zhongshan on burial".From the 12th year of Hongwu to the 21st year of Hongwu, most of the meritorious officials were buried in the shadow of Zhongshan after their death, and gradually formed the trend of the mausoleum of the successful officials guarding the Xiaoling Mausoleum.However, judging from archaeological discoveries and literature records, after the 21st year of Hongwu, no hero was buried in the Yin of Zhongshan, and even Mu Ying, the adopted son of Zhu Yuanzhang in the 25th year of Hongwu (1392 AD), died He traveled thousands of miles from Yunnan to be buried in Nanjing, but he was not buried in Zhongshan, but was buried in the area of ​​Guanyin Mountain in Jiangning.

This detail shows that in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart at this time, the old friendship and trust for old friends have disappeared.The small irreverentness and disrespect in the daily performance of the generals were magnified into signs of rebellion in Zhu Yuanzhang's special mentality.The Hu Weiyong case made him even more worried about these generals whose rough natures could not be changed no matter how much education and reminders were given.He became more and more displeased with everything about the founding fathers: "These fools, ignorant, brave and rude, or sitting idle, or between banquets, will regard me as ignorant and clever. Words are insulting, and there is no courteousness in any action." Even they are wary and disgusted with their dead souls.

A massacre plan slowly formed in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind.He decided to personally get rid of all the generals he was slightly worried about before he was alive, so as to leave Zhu Biao with a safe and secure country. However, although his murderous intentions were already on the rise, Zhu Yuanzhang still tried his best to endure.He is an extremely patient hunter, and he will not strike until the time is fully ripe.