In the entire history of Ming Dynasty , Zhu Yuanzhang son Zhu Tri was not a big figure. At least in the eyes of historians, Zhu Tri could not be compared with Yongle Emperor Zhu Di at all.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhu Tie was the first vassal king to be eliminated. He was exiled to Yunnan twice and was humiliated in the court. From a political perspective, Zhu Tie was undoubtedly a mediocre person.
Zhu Tri
But as time went by, Zhu Tri, who was ordinary in the eyes of historians, was even more famous in the world than Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. As for the other brothers, they were even left behind by Zhu Tri.
What things has Zhu Ju done that allowed him to enjoy such a reputation at home and abroad?
Taizu prefers
Zhu Yuanzhang experienced half his life in the military and proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing in 1368 AD. His country was named Daming and he started the Hongwu rule.
He was born as a farmer, and was forced to rebel by the cruel rule and corrupt system of the Yuan Dynasty . He knew very well that power and wealth corrode people's hearts.
After becoming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to his children. He did not want the country he spent half his life to build to be ruined in the hands of future generations, and hoped that his sons would all become talents.
Zhu Yuanzhang's first five sons were born to Queen Ma , and the fifth son was Zhu Ji.
In order to provide his sons with a good education, Zhu Yuanzhang hired famous teachers to teach his five children civil and martial arts before the Ming Dynasty was established.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang specially ordered the construction of the main hall, collected famous ancient and modern books from all over the world, and hired famous scholars and Confucian scholars to teach the prince and other princes to study.
In ancient times, people paid attention to both civil and military skills. In terms of "martial arts", Zhu Xi had almost no historical materials that he could use, but he was good at writing and writing. He loved collecting books and built a "Dongshu Thatched Cottage" for this purpose. One hundred chapters of the work " Yuan Gong Ci ".
Zhu Tri
Compared with other princes with both civil and military talents, Zhu Tri is not outstanding, at least in the eyes of historians, but this does not prevent Zhu Yuanzhang from preferring his younger son. This may be a common problem among all fathers!
Hongwu In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang divided the vassal kings. Except for the eldest son Zhu Biao, who had become the prince, the other sons each became vassal kings and obtained vassal lands. Zhu Yu was named King of Wu, and the vassal land given to him by Zhu Yuanzhang was Hangzhou. .
Hangzhou has been one of the fertile areas in the Ming Dynasty since ancient times. It has a long history and many places of interest. Giving Hangzhou to Zhu Yu shows Zhu Yuanzhang's partiality for his younger son.
However, later considering that the Qiantang area was an important financial and taxation area for the imperial court, he suddenly felt that it was inappropriate to use Hangzhou as the territory of the vassal king, so he changed it to Kaifeng . Zhu Tong changed from the King of Wu to the King of Zhou.
The Tomb of King Zhou Ding
Kaifeng is also a famous city, and it is the former capital of the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhu Yu has no objection to this, and Zhu Yuanzhang's love for him does not stop there.
There were six founding Dukes in the Ming Dynasty, and Feng Sheng was one of them. He was known as the founding general with the "most victories" and had two daughters.
When Zhu Zhu reached a certain age, Zhu Yuanzhang made the decision and canonized Feng Sheng's second daughter as Zhu Xi's princess. In this way, Feng Sheng, the famous founding general of the Ming Dynasty, became Zhu Xi's father-in-law, which was equivalent to finding someone for Zhu Xi. a strong advocate.
As a result, Zhu Rui became one of the top vassal kings during the Hongwu period. He took Kaifeng as his vassal territory and married the daughter of the founding general. He seemed to have reached the peak of his life. If he made achievements in politics in the future, it was not impossible for him to leave his name in history.
However, the feudal king's next performance was unexpected.
Exiled to Yunnan
Zhu Ju, the vassal king who was favored by Ming Taizu, had almost no political achievements.
On the contrary, he has many political "stains" and has been exiled to Yunnan twice.
In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yu was already Feng Sheng's son-in-law and lived in Fengyang, the territory of his father-in-law Feng Sheng. In this year, Zhu Yuanzhang thought that he was mature enough and ordered him to leave Fengyang and go to his vassal territory. Live life and officially become a feudal king.
Feng Sheng
In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, Zhu Xi stayed in the feudal territory for nine years. I don’t know if this guy had ulterior motives, or he was just tired of staying in the feudal territory and missed the life in Fengyang, so he secretly ran out of Kaifeng. , went to Fengyang to meet his father-in-law Feng Sheng.
In the Ming Dynasty, it was a taboo for a vassal king to leave his fiefdom without permission from the court.
Moreover, the place where Zhu Zhu went was still Fengyang. He was the king of Zhou, and his father-in-law Feng Sheng was the Song Guogong who held a heavy army. In the eyes of those who were interested, the meeting between the two was not just a simple chat about family matters.
Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang was startled by his son, and even doubted whether Zhu Xi and Feng Sheng were plotting to rebel.
He Longyan was furious and ordered Zhu Ji to be exiled to Yunnan. The affairs of the Zhou Palace were temporarily handed over to Zhu Ji's eldest son Zhu Youdun.
This is the first time Zhu Ru was exiled to Yunnan.
Zhu Youdun
The second time happened in Jianwen years.
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang died. As the prince Zhu Biao died of illness, Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne as the emperor's grandson and became Emperor Jianwen.
When Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he was extremely afraid of his vassal princes and uncles. If he did not undermine the vassal princes, he would not be able to sit on the throne at all, and he would have no sense of security at all. Is it easier said than done to cut down the domain of
?
The vassal kings each sit in the vassal territory and have great power. If not, they may cause turmoil and put the imperial court in danger of destruction.
After much thought, Emperor Jianwen finally chose the soft persimmon under the advice of his advisers, and planned to start with Zhu Xi, who had made "mistakes".
Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen
It was such a coincidence that Zhu Ji was having an conspiracy, and the reason was related to his brother Zhu Di.
Zhu Di is Zhu Di's fourth brother. The two have had a good relationship since childhood. Zhu Di lived with him in Fengyang before he became the vassal king.
Zhu Di was different from Zhu Ji. When he was young, he was high-spirited, ambitious and had unique insights into politics.
As soon as Emperor Jianwen came to the throne, Zhu Di realized that the emperor wanted to reduce the vassal status, and he was naturally unhappy. Therefore, Zhu Di wanted to respond to his brother's resistance because he had "conspiracy."
However, before Zhu Tie could take any action, the second son Zhu Youyi, who had objections to both Zhu Tie and his elder brother Zhu Youdou, reported to the court that his father was up to no good.
Zhu Di
How could Emperor Jianwen let go of such a good opportunity? Troops were immediately dispatched to capture him, but he was captured without any reaction. The eldest son was also implicated and was exiled to Yunnan together.
For Zhu Rui, this is called "revisiting the old place."
Judging from Zhu Ju's life experience, this person seems very strange.
As a vassal king, he had the experience of being exiled to Yunnan twice. He seemed very shameless among the vassal kings. He seemed to have no political vision at all and was completely incapable of playing the tricks in the court.
But if you say he is stupid, this guy is one of Zhu Yuanzhang's many sons who failed to ascend the throne but still lived an extremely comfortable life. His experience of being exiled to Yunnan for the second time also allowed him to escape the " Jingnan War" " , has not been affected.
Whether he really didn't understand politics or was just as wise as a fool is difficult to say to this day. The only thing that can be determined is that in the entire Ming Dynasty, Zhu Xi was not a very important figure.
Zhu Tri
When later historians evaluated Zhu Tri, they mostly looked at it from a political perspective. Because he had been exiled to Yunnan twice and his political achievements were not outstanding, historians always defined him as a political "failure" and "disgrace". "The vassal king.
But if you zoom in and cast your eyes on the entire world, you will find that Zhu Ji is actually a very remarkable person, just because he has made great achievements in medicine.
How could a dignified lord be involved in the medical field? This is closely related to Zhu Rui's experience in Yunnan.
Studying Medicine
When he was exiled to Yunnan for the first time, Zhu Ju witnessed the miserable life of the local people. Food was scarce and diseases were prevalent. The people lived a very difficult life and contracted serious diseases from time to time, which made them miserable.
Zhu Ju had been interested in medicine before and organized scholars to compile "Baosheng Yulu" two volumes.
Now he saw that the people in Yunnan were suffering from famine, disease, and lacked medical treatment. He was deeply moved and determined to study medicine to help the people cope with famine and diseases.
So he summoned the good doctor Li Bai and others to collect prescription information, personally led the research, organized the traditional prescriptions, deleted the complex and simplified them, and compiled a book "Pocket Prescriptions" that is easy to understand, convenient and practical for many common diseases.
In less than a year, Zhu Yuanzhang recalled Zhu Tong from Yunnan to Nanjing, reprimanded him, and then allowed him to return to Kaifeng.
Returning to the vassal land, Zhu Xi did not forget his original intention. He used his status as the vassal king to summon many scholars in Kaifeng and ordered them to collect various books and materials.
"Pocket Prescriptions"
Zhu Ju's purpose of collecting books is to accumulate knowledge to facilitate the writing of medical books in the future.
In addition, he also set up a botanical garden to investigate various edible wild plants among the people for experimental observations. This approach is very similar to the " observation method " often used in modern experiments. It can be seen that Zhu Ju is indeed an outstanding experimental leader and participant. Under his leadership, "Puji Fang" came out.
This medical book has a wide range of contents, covering many aspects such as luck, organs, body shape, women's organs, babies, acupuncture , materia medica, etc. It contains more than 60,000 kinds of prescriptions and is illustrated with more than 200 pictures. The pictures in the
book are all drawn by Zhu Zhu with skilled painters. The details are clear and easy to understand.
When he was exiled to Yunnan for the second time, Zhu Ju felt even more profoundly.
People in Yunnan were tortured by famine and often relied on bark and grass roots to survive. He felt deeply ashamed and became more determined to study plant medicine to save the people. During the
period, Zhu Di's brother Zhu Di launched the "Jingnan Campaign" and drove away Emperor Jianwen and ascended the throne as the Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty and Yongle the Great.
Zhu Di did not forget his younger brother who was still suffering in Yunnan, so he recalled him to Nanjing and met him in person.
Zhu Ji had lost interest in political struggle at this time and devoted himself to medical research. He begged Zhu Di to let him return to Kaifeng, but Zhu Di did not stop him and allowed him to leave.
Ming Chengzu Zhu Di
Zhu Di returned to Kaifeng, and as expected, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to research work and showed little interest in politics. Later, in order to show his loyalty, he even took the initiative to hand over his troops to the court. At this point, Zhu Di was completely relieved, and the two brothers Stay safe and sound.
had a profound influence
In the fourth year of Yongle, Zhu Ju studied various edible plants and compiled a masterpiece called "Herbal for Saving Famines " .
This book can be called the highest achievement in Zhu Rui's life.
The book is based on "medicine and food come from the same source" as its purpose. It is divided into two volumes and records in detail more than 400 plants that can be eaten by people and have medicinal and nutritional value during times of famine, and one-third of them The second is that it was not mentioned in previous herbal books, but was discovered by Zhu Ji during the research process and recorded in the book.
"Herbal for Famine Relief"
This book did not have much significance to the people of the Ming Dynasty at that time, but it was of great significance to the common people. The description of each plant in the book
is very popular, concise and comprehensive. At the same time, each plant is accompanied by illustrations and explanations, with pictures and texts, so that people can quickly know the shape, edible value and medicinal value of the plant.
The imperial court learned about the publication of this book and took the initiative to help Zhu Ji publish the book and promote it to the people, benefiting many people.
In times of famine, the role of "Materia Medica for Famine Relief" was immeasurable. When food was scarce, people relied on the edible plants recorded in "Materia Medica for Famine Relief" to satisfy their hunger and tide over the difficulties. This is equivalent to Zhu Ju indirectly saving countless people. , the merits are unimaginable.
"Compendium of Materia Medica for Relief of Famine"
Zhu Ju left behind four works after his death, namely "Baosheng Yulu", "Pocket Prescriptions", "Puji Prescriptions", and "Compendium of Materia Medica for Relief of Famine" . These books have been circulated in later generations, " "Herbal for Famine Relief" has even spread overseas, and its influence has been extremely far-reaching.
Ming Dynasty medical scientist Li Shizhen when compiling the "Compendium of Materia Medica", he quoted the materials recorded in the "Compendium of Materia Medica" and learned from the book's advanced methods of describing plants.
" Ancient and Modern Books Integrated " and "An Illustrated Research on Plant Names and Facts" published in the Qing Dynasty both quoted pictures and texts from "Herbal Medicine for Saving Famines".
At the end of the 17th century, Materia Medica for Famine Relief spread to Japan and was highly praised by Japanese scholars. Many works based on the book appeared, such as Dozens of Plants for Famine Relief, A Brief Introduction to Famine Relief, and even a book specializing in Famine Relief Materia Medica. The book "Comprehensive Explanation of Materia Medica for Famine Relief" was formed.
In the 18th century, "Materia Medica for Saving Famine" had spread to Russia, and was highly praised by contemporary international academic circles.
In the 1930s, American scholar W.T. Schwingall praised "Herbal for Famine Rescue" as the earliest known work on plants for famine relief in the world and still the most useful one today.
American scientist G. Sutton believes that many details in Zhu Ju's work follow scientific principles, and he should be a scholar with outstanding achievements.
British expert Joseph Needham called Zhu Tong "a great humanitarian" because his "Herbal for Famine Relief" is people-oriented, dedicated to helping mankind survive difficult famines, and has made huge contributions in humanitarian aspects.
Conclusion
"I hope that all the people will be fed and warm, and they will take the trouble to go out of the mountains and forests."
Since ancient times, what the people at the bottom have pursued is nothing more than "food and clothing".
Zhu Ju did not make much achievements in politics, but he did what many rulers could not do, that is, he helped the people solve the problem of food and clothing during the famine period and fight against diseases.
Zhu Ju is a "scientist of the old era" and an early "humanist" . His works have been passed down to later generations and are praised at home and abroad, indirectly bringing glory to the Chinese people.
To the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Tri was insignificant; to the world, Zhu Tri's contribution cannot be ignored.
