(All pictures in this article are from the Internet. If there is any infringement, please contact us for deletion)
(This article has a total of 4820 words, and it takes about 15 minutes to read)
After writing the series "The Provincial Fool Ming Emperor", I have been reluctant to leave the story of Ming Dynasty , always feeling that something is missing. So what's missing? Looking carefully, the name Zhu Chun has not been mentioned in the "Explanation Emperor" series.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Chun can be said to be the first wise king.
Because we hope to popularize this wise king who has been rare in hundreds of years, we specially launched the "Selected Lectures of the Ming Dynasty Domain Kings" series. It might seem abrupt if we talk about him directly, so we will first tell the story of his four elder brothers (樉, 㭎, 橚, 梓) and one younger brother (Kashiwa).
Among the twenty-six sons of Zhu Yuanzhang, if Zhu Biao can be considered the first person in governing the country, Zhu Di can be considered the first person in leading the army in battle, Zhu Bai can be considered the first person in cultural literacy; arrange for Zhu Chun It’s really hard to describe the number one person in a certain category in detail. Because Zhu Chun was too comprehensive, too understanding, and too knowledgeable about how to get along with three different emperors: his father, nephew, and brother.
is finally waiting for you. Today we tell the story of King Shu Zhu Chun.
It is a pity that no portrait of such a virtuous Zhu Chun has survived to this day.
- was awarded the title at the age of seven and was well-read.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eleventh son, Zhu Chun, was born in Nanjing on April 4, 1371. Zhu Chun’s mother is Guo Huifei . Who is Guo Huifei? This is a woman with a great background. Guo Huifei's father is the famous Guo Zixing.
In the later period of the Mongolian Yuan's rule over China, Guo Zixing was a very important one who rose up among the heroes. At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to gain momentum because he developed based on the foundation laid by Guo Zixing. In addition, Guo Zixing is both the biological father of Concubine Guo Hui and the adoptive father of Queen Ma, so Guo Zixing is also the proper father-in-law of Zhu Yuanzhang.
It is appropriate to say this. Most of Guo Zixing's sphere of influence was inherited by Zhu Yuanzhang, his son-in-law.
Concubine Guo Hui gave birth to three sons and two daughters for Zhu Yuanzhang, the eleventh son Zhu Chun, the thirteenth son Zhu Gui, the nineteenth son Zhu Su , plus 12 daughters and 15 daughters. Zhu Chun is the eldest of Concubine Guo Hui's children. Obviously, from the perspective of maternal power, Zhu Chun is quite powerful.
On the first day of the first lunar month in the eleventh year of Hongwu (1378), Zhu Chun was granted the title of King of Shu. He was less than 7 years old at the time. Among all the people who were granted the title at the same time, Zhu Chun was also the eldest.
Although he has an extremely powerful maternal family, Zhu Chun himself is not domineering because of this. On the one hand, he has a group of brothers, and on the other hand, Zhu Chun himself is filial and kind, and he loves reading very much. Therefore, when Zhu Chun was growing up, he could not only receive a good education, but also have the love and care of his mother, and he also had an excellent character. All this laid a solid foundation for Zhu Chun's later life path.
- Shiba became a vassal, Shuzhong Scholars
Historical records, in the winter of October of the 18th year of Hongwu (1385), Ming Taizu ordered Shu Wang Zhu Chun, Xiang Wang Zhu Bai, Wei Wang Zhu Gui, Han Wang Zhu Cui The kings paraded their troops in Zhongdu. Where is Zhongdu? This is Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, today's Fengyang County, Anhui Province. Yuewu means learning military skills. Zhu Chun was fourteen years old at the time. When he arrived in Zhongdu, Zhu Chun took reading as his main task in his spare time. At the same time, in his spare time, Zhu Chun also explored ancient classics and history with the Confucian scholars who accompanied him.
At that time, Zhu Chun had not yet become a vassal, but in the 19th year of Hongwu (1386), Zhu Chun set the standard of "loyalty and filial piety as a vassal" to alert himself.At the same time, Zhu Chun, who was deeply loved by his old father, was praised by Zhu Yuanzhang as "Sichuan Scholar" . Such praise is not something ordinary people can get. It can be seen that Zhu Chun's own cultural quality at that time was not considered to be the first among all the scholars. But it is definitely the best.
Map of the old site of the Prince of Shu's Palace, which no longer exists
In the 22nd year of Hongwu (1389), Zhu Yuanzhang recalled the kings of Shu and Xiang back to the capital. The construction of the Prince of Shu's Palace in Chengdu was completed, and Zhu Chun was immediately ordered to prepare for the feudal lordship. On the first day of the first lunar month in the 23rd year of Hongwu (1390), Zhu Chun officially took over Chengdu. At the age of 18, Zhu Chun took Princess Lan and his one-and-a-half-year-old eldest son Zhu Yuexiao to Chengdu to start a new life.
- Generously donated money to students and hired Fang Chen to serve as distinguished guests
After arriving in Chengdu, the first thing Zhu Chun did was to appoint the great scholar Fang Xiaoru as the prince fu of Shu mansion.
We have told the story of Fang Xiaoru in the chapter "Saving Fools and Ming Emperor-Ming Chengzu Zhu Di", but that chapter mainly focused on the historical legend of "Executing the Ten Tribes" and Fang Xiaoru's later life experiences. In fact, in his early years, Fang Xiaoru was dignified and knowledgeable. Even Zhu Yuanzhang praised him as a rare talent.
Fang Xiaoru advocated the implementation of benevolent government, first virtuous and then political punishment, which was contrary to Zhu Yuanzhang's thinking of severe punishment and law, so Fang Xiaoru was not reused in the Hongwu Dynasty. But Zhu Yuanzhang still intended to cultivate Fang Xiaoru. Fang Xiaoru's appointment as the heir apparent to the Prince of Shu was approved by Zhu Yuanzhang. Thinking about it from another perspective, Zhu Chun's own thinking in governing Shu was similar to Fang Xiaoru's philosophy of benevolent government.
In addition, the famous scholar Chen Nanbin also received Zhu Chun's courtesy, and Chen Nanbin served as a long history officer in the Shu Palace. Fang and Chen assisted Zhu Chun, which made the entire Shu region have a good academic style at that time.
Zhu Chun knew that there were a large number of students in Shu who were unable to continue studying because of poverty, so he immediately used his salary to provide one stone of rice a month to support the students in Shu.
- Fan people invaded to find the root cause, and new policies were formulated to greatly reduce taxes.
Since the area under the jurisdiction of the Shu government still belongs to the border area, it is almost inevitable for Fan people to invade. Zhu Chun also encountered this incident shortly after arriving in Shu. At that time, the Fan people attacked and burned Heiya Pass. Where was Heiya Pass? It is now Niushipo, Beijianli Township, Hanyuan County, Ya'an City, Sichuan Province.
Zhu Chun asked the imperial court for help, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately sent troops to command Qu Neng and Liang Guogong Lan Yu to send troops across the Dadu River to defeat the Fan people. Who is Qu Neng? Later, during the Northern Expedition, the warrior who beat Zhu Di to pieces was everywhere; where was Lan Yu? This is a generation of war gods. In the later battle of Jingnan, if Qu Neng had Lan Yu fighting with him, he would not be outnumbered and defeated by Zhu Di's Yan army. Of course, if there was Lan Yu, it is speculated that Zhu Di would not dare to fight Jingnan.
Two super generals came to reinforce, and soon the invasion of the enemy was no longer seen. At this time, if an ordinary vassal king would return to his own palace and live a peaceful life, his first choice would be, but Zhu Chun, the first wise king of the Ming Dynasty, would not do this.
Zhu Chun went to the Fan people's residence for on-the-spot investigation and found that the main reason why the Fan people invaded was that local taxes were severely levied and the people could no longer survive, so they took this policy. Facts have proved that the people were tortured to the point of no return, and they would not No more consideration. Immediately, Zhu Chun greatly reduced taxes in Shu and formulated market regulations in Shu. From then on, Shu was under great rule.
Through the formulation of rules, helps people live a stable and trouble-free life. Zhu Chun's approach is actually worth learning by many people over hundreds of years.
- Director of the Religious Committee
In addition to the above-mentioned measures, Zhu Chun himself has a good promotion of the development of religious affairs in Shu, especially the development of Buddhism.
Mount Emei in Sichuan is one of the four famous Buddhist mountains in my country. Here, the Samantabhadra Bodhisattva riding a white elephant is enshrined.Zhu Chun often climbed Mount Emei to pay homage. The Qingyin Pavilion Jiewang Pavilion built on Emei Mountain was built to welcome Zhu Chun.
Today's Qingyin Pavilion in Emeishan
Of course, there are other opinions as to who the King's Pavilion was built for. "Emei Jialan Ji" says: "Your Excellency used to have the King's Pavilion. Which one is called the king? He is the first-class guard in front of the emperor, Hai Qingwuge." This Hai Qingwu Ge was from the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty , and it was said that he built it for him. But if there was talk of receiving Wang Ting before the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, then it is more likely that it was the earliest reception for Zhu Chun. Unfortunately, there is no trace of it now. When you have the opportunity to visit Mount Emei in the future, you can go to Jie Wang Pavilion to visit it.
- Lan Yu’s son-in-law?
There is one thing that has always been suspected in history. Is it possible that Zhu Chun is the son-in-law of Lan Yu, the God of War?
We talked about the blue jade case in " Zhu Yunwen chapter", and also mentioned the blue jade case in " Jin Wang Zhu 㭎".
According to historical records, Lan Yu had a daughter who married Zhu Chun, the king of Shu, as a princess. However, this historical record is not an official history, but is recorded in "The Ming Emperor's Grand Events Volume 1" and "Yanshan Hall Collection Volume 1". Both books were written by Wang Shizhen . Who is Wang Shizhen? He was a writer and historian who lived in the Jiajing period of China. This matter was not mentioned in the "Ming Dynasty Lan Yu Biography". How did Wang Shizhen, who lived more than a hundred years later, know about it? So, the question is, is it possible that Lan is the daughter of Lan Yu because of artistic polish?
Let’s talk about Lan Yu. On the one hand, Lan Yu is the uncle of Prince Zhu Biao’s concubine Chang. This is certain. After Zhu Biao's death, Lan Yu, the most accomplished master, naturally did not take Zhu Yunwen seriously. On the other hand, the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen was not born to Lan Yu's niece Chang, but to the crown prince's second concubine, Lu.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang only needed to find one reason to get rid of Lan Yu. His reason was that 10,000 sabers were found in Lan Yu's house. However, if we search the whole story of the "Lanyu Case", we will find that if Zhu Chun is Lan Yu's son-in-law as Wang Shizhen said, then Zhu Chun himself can be alone and not be affected after the "Lanyu Case". This is why he How?
According to the records in the two fantasy unofficial histories mentioned above, Lan Yu is Zhu Chun’s father-in-law. After the "Lanyu case" was discovered, if Lanyu was punished according to the crime of conspiracy, Lanyu would be punished with "Lingchi execution". In this case, in the end it will be cut into pieces and cease to exist. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to leave the whole corpse for Lan Yu. The specific operation method will not be discussed in detail here. Those who are interested in knowing more can search for it by themselves. After being executed, Sapphire's skin was stuffed with vegetation and circulated throughout the provinces as a warning to others. After arriving at the last stop in Yunnan Province, it was supposed to be returned to Nanjing, but it was reported by Zhu Chun, King of Shu, that he wanted to stay. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately agreed to Zhu Chun leaving the symbolic body of his father-in-law.
Hundreds of years have passed. As ordinary people, we can imagine that if this is really the case, how would Princess Lan of Shu feel about meeting her father in this way? How did Zhu Yuexiao, the crown prince of Shu, feel when he saw his grandfather who provided him with 1/4 of his bloodline in this way? How did King Zhu Chun of Shu feel when he saw his father-in-law in this way? The same two fantasy unofficial histories record that Princess Zhu Chun’s concubine Lan passed away in 1394. Could it be that she was implicated by her father?
However, as for Lan Yu’s final fate, the official history does not record the punishment. It is only known that he was executed, and fifteen thousand people were implicated. In the 21st century, in the novel "An Alternative History of the Ming Dynasty", Sapphire was described as being stuffed in a skin bag, circulated around the country, and finally left to Princess Lan of Shu as a souvenir. Even more than two hundred years later, Zhang Xianzhong captured the Shu Palace and found that the so-called symbolic body of blue jade was still hanging on the tower as a warning. Personally, I feel that this record is too fantasy and is suspected of deliberately stigmatizing Zhu Yuanzhang. Should Lan Yu be killed? Considering that Zhu Biao had already passed away at that time, he should be killed, but such a cruel punishment method should not be used.
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the stigmatization of the Ming Dynasty, especially Zhu Yuanzhang, was extremely prosperous in the early days of the rise of the Internet. We might as well look for the reasons behind this, which may solve a large number of historical mysteries.
In summary, Sheng Yu thinks:
1. The Lan family is not the daughter of Lan Yu, and even Princess Shu may not necessarily have the surname Lan;
2. Lan Yu was not punished so cruelly;
3. There is no such thing as Zhu Chun and the princess. It is said that the blue jade skin bag was left hanging on the tower.
- 's younger brother rebelled, and Zhou Gong'an's royal family's heart also
After talking about Lan Yu, let's talk about another close relative of Zhu Chun, 's younger brother Zhu Su. Why do you say him? Because of Zhu Su, he really wanted to rebel.
Zhu Su, born on April 30, 1379, was the nineteenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, born to Concubine Guo Hui. He was the younger brother of King Zhu Chun of Shu. He was also the fourth among the three sons and two daughters born to Concubine Guo Hui, and the youngest of the three sons. Zhu Su was granted the title of King of Valley on April 13, the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu (May 17, 1391). The feudal state was located in the area of Huailai County, Huailai County, Hebei Province today. It was called Shanggu County in ancient times, so it was called Valley. king.
During the 5th year of Yongle html, around 1416, the Valley King Zhu Su conspired to rebel. As the eldest of his siblings, Zhu Chun knew about Zhu Su's plan to rebel before Zhu Di. As for how Zhu Chun knew, it was most likely Zhu Su who told him. It is even possible that Zhu Su said: "Brother, how about we come together?".
After Zhu Chun learned about Zhu Su's plan, he did not dissuade his brother. Perhaps he also knew Zhu Su's virtue and it was difficult to dissuade him. Before Zhu Su planned to rebel, he had seized people's land, embezzled taxes, and killed innocent people in the feudal country, which had already caused widespread resentment among the people.
Therefore, what Zhu Chun did was report to his fourth brother Zhu Di about the way his younger brother Zhu Su was handled. Let's think about it briefly. Compared with the strength, it is definitely difficult for Zhu Su to succeed in his rebellion. Failure will inevitably lead to a separation between yin and yang and even affect innocent people. Reporting this act may save Zhu Su's life.
The facts are as Zhu Chun thought. On the sixth day of February in the fifteenth year of Yongle (February 22, 1417), Zhu Su and his two sons Zhu Fuzhuo and Zhu F Yao were reduced to commoners by Zhu Di. Zhu Su and his family were He was imprisoned in the Xin'an Health Office in Huizhou, and Gu Guo was also removed.
Zhu Chun's behavior of reporting Zhu Su actually saved Zhu Su's life from the side, and the brothers Zhu Di and Zhu Su would not meet each other in war. Zhu Di also knew this very well. Zhu Di therefore praised Zhu Chun, "The king's move shows the royal heart of Zhou Gongan." The so-called "Zhou Gongan royal family's heart" here should refer to the historical Zhou Gongdan who was also his nephew in order to assist the then King Zhou Cheng. , the story of the confrontation between the third brother Uncle Guan and the fifth brother Uncle Cai who want to rebel.
I have to say that Zhu Di gave Zhu Chun great praise.
- He became a grandfather at the age of thirty, and was the direct grandson of the second generation King of Shu.
The genealogy established by Zhu Yuanzhang for the Prince of Shu is: " Yue friends and Shen Binyi, Cheng Xuan and Feng Zhiping. Mao Jin deeply benefited, and he lived in Mu Qing."
Zhu Chun had six sons:
The eldest son Zhu Yuefang, born in 1388, was named the Crown Prince. He died young in 1409 at the age of 21 and was given the posthumous title of Prince Miao Zhuang;
The second son Zhu Yueyao, born in 1392, was named King Huayang ( Huayang , place name, today Huayang Street, Tianfu New District, the old Huayang County included most areas such as today's Chenghua District, Jinjiang District, Wuhou District, Shuangliu District, Chengdu); the third son, Zhu Yuesui, was born on August 6, 1393 , named King Chongning ( Chongning , place name, now Tangchang Town, Pidu District, Chengdu City, old It is called Chongning County, and its jurisdiction includes most of today's Dujiangyan City and Pengzhou City); the fourth son, Zhu Yuexin, was born on June 10, 1395, and was named King Chongqing (Chongqing, place name, not Chongqing, actual Refers to today's county-level city under the jurisdiction of Chengdu Chongzhou City );
The fifth son, Zhu Yue (Huo Shao), was born at the end of 1395 and was granted the title of King Baoning (Baoning, place name, now the county-level city in charge of Nanchong City, Sichuan Province Langzhong City , the origin of Baoning vinegar
The sixth son, Zhu Yueen, was born on October 25, 1407, and was granted the title of King Yongchuan (Yongchuan, place name, today's Yongchuan District, Chongqing City).
The key point lies in the eldest son Zhu Yuexiao. He became sensible too early and became a father at the age of 13. Zhu Yuexiao The eldest son Zhu Youyu was born in 1401, Therefore, the 30-year-old Zhu Chun gained his eldest grandson. Moreover, because the eldest son Zhu Yuexiao died young, Zhu Chun finally passed the throne of Shu to his eldest grandson Zhu Youyu according to the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions".
- passed away at the age of fifty-two, and was admired by all generations
Zhu Chun passed away on February 11, the 21st year of Yongle (March 22, 1423), 13 days shy of turning 52 years old. According to ancient custom, he was considered to be fifty-two years old.
After his death, Zhu Chun was given the posthumous title "Xian" by Zhu Di, so he was called " King Xian of Shu" in history. This was a highly praised posthumous title, which set the tone for his gorgeous life.
Throughout his life, Zhu Chun had high literary accomplishments, treated people with courtesy in the religious circles, and studied the essence of everything, which also laid a solid foundation for the two hundred years of great rule in Shu.
Zhu Chun deserves the title of "The First Wise King of the Ming Dynasty" and has been admired by all generations.
However, what other stories will there be in the palace of the King of Shu in later generations? We’ll continue talking in the next episode.
