In ancient times, the titles were divided into five categories: Duke, Hou, Bo, Zi, and Ma, among which Duke was the highest-level title and was also the most difficult title to obtain.
Zhu Yuanzhang is an emperor born in the grassroots. With the help of Li Shanchang, Xu Da , Liu Bowen , Chang Yuchun and others, he defeated Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng and the Mongolian Yuan to establish the Ming Dynasty. After becoming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang would follow him to conquer most of the civil and military officials in the world and be awarded titles. During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, he was granted 10 dukes. Who are they? What's the ending? Have you avoided Zhu Yuanzhang's butcher's knife?
1. Li Shanchang
Li Shanchang is from Dingyuan, Haozhou (now Dingyuan County, Anhui Province). He has loved reading since childhood and is wise. When Zhu Yuanzhang pacified Chuzhou , Li Shanchang took the initiative to visit Zhu Yuanzhang and became a counselor under Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Shanchang gave advice to Zhu Yuanzhang, participated in decision-making on major matters, and was in charge of the supply of materials for the army, and was deeply trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang. After becoming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang designated Li Shanchang as the first hero of the founding of the Ming Dynasty and named him Duke Han, with a salary of 4,000 stones and his descendants were hereditary. He also granted an iron coupon to prevent Li Shanchang from dying twice and his son from dying one.
Zhu Yuanzhang also asked Li Shanchang to be the Guanglu Dafu, Zuozhuguo, Taishi, and Zuo Prime Minister, ranking first among all officials. Li Shanchang is generous and gentle on the outside, but he is jealous on the inside and treats others harshly. At the same time, after Li Shanchang reached his peak, he became arrogant, which made Zhu Yuanzhang disgusted with him. Li Shanchang realized that Zhu Yuanzhang did not like him, so in order to protect himself, he resigned from his post and retired.
Although Li Shanchang left the court, he was extremely powerful and his confidants were everywhere in the court, which made Zhu Yuanzhang feel uneasy to Li Shanchang. In 1380, after the Hu Weiyong case broke out, Zhu Yuanzhang implicated Li Shanchang and killed more than 70 people in his family.
2. Xu Da
Xu Da, from Zhongli, Haozhou (now northeast of Fengyang, Anhui). Xu Da participated in Zhu Yuanzhang's uprising army very early and was one of the twenty-four generals under Zhu Yuanzhang. Xu Da is also Zhu Yuanzhang's most capable general. In 1363, Xu Da defeated Chen Youliang in the Battle of Poyang Lake and was promoted to the left prime minister of by Zhu Yuanzhang for his merits. In 1365, Xu Da led his troops to capture Huaidong , and two years later conquered Pingjiang and destroyed Zhang Shicheng. Subsequently, Xu Da was appointed as the general of the conquering the enemy by Zhu Yuanzhang, and led his troops to the Northern Expedition with Chang Yuchun to overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
Xu Da was the most meritorious general under Zhu Yuanzhang. He was promoted to the Taifu, the Right Prime Minister of the Secretariat, the State Affairs Office and the Young Tutor of the Crown Prince. He was named Duke of Wei .
1385, Xu Da died of illness.
3. Chang Mao
Chang Mao is Chang Yuchun's eldest son. Chang Yuchun was the second most famous general under Zhu Yuanzhang and his contributions were second only to Xu Da. Unfortunately, in 1369, Chang Yuchun died of illness during the Northern Expedition. When Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded the meritorious officials, Chang Yuchun had already passed away. Zhu Yuanzhang asked his son Chang Mao to inherit his title Duke of Zheng . Chang Mao was not prestige enough and did not pose a threat to Zhu Yuanzhang and his descendants, so he avoided Zhu Yuanzhang's butcher's knife.
1391, Chang Mao died of illness.
4. Li Wenzhong
Li Wenzhong, from Xuyi, Jiangsu (now Anhui Mingguang ). Li Wenzhong is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew. At the age of nineteen, Li Wenzhong followed the army to support Chizhou , defeated the Tianwan Army, and was brave and good at fighting as the leader of all the generals. After the establishment of of the Ming Dynasty, Li Wenzhong led troops to attack the remnants of the Yuan army many times, and had outstanding military achievements and was granted the title of Duke of Cao. In 1383, after Li Wenzhong fell ill, Zhu Yuanzhang went to visit him in person and asked Hou Huazhong of Huai'an to be responsible for treating Li Wenzhong. Soon, Li Wenzhong passed away. Zhu Yuanzhang suspected that he had poisoned Li Wenzhong and killed him and sued him for title. The other doctors and family members who treated Li Wenzhong were all beheaded by Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Wenzhong's death has become a historical mystery.
5. Feng Sheng
Feng Sheng, from Dingyuan, Anhui. Feng Sheng likes reading and is well-versed in military tactics. After the chaos in the world at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, he built a village to protect himself, and then followed his brother, Feng Guo, to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang with . In 1359, Feng Guoyong died in battle. Feng Sheng led his troops to conquer all directions and made great military achievements for Zhu Yuanzhang.
1372, Zhu Yuanzhang sent three troops to fight against Wang Baobao, a famous general of the Yuan Dynasty. Xu Da and Li Wenzhong did not win, but only Feng Sheng won many. In 1387, Feng Sheng served as the general, leading Fu Youde, Lanyu and others to expedition to Liaodong , subdue Naha to , and was granted the title of Duke of Song.
Zhu Yuanzhang's crown prince Zhu Biao After the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang fell into panic and began to worry about his heroes. Feng Sheng was suspicious of Zhu Yuanzhang because of his many achievements and "the most successes". In 1393, after the Lan Yu case broke out, Feng Sheng was recalled to Beijing by Zhu Yuanzhang. Feng Sheng was not involved in the Lan Yu case, nor did he do anything illegal, but because Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid of Feng Sheng, he executed him for no reason two years later.
6. Deng Yu
Deng Yu, from Hong County, Sizhou (now Si County, Anhui Province). Deng Yu is born strong and extremely brave. At the age of 16, he led his troops to fight against the Yuan Dynasty. In 1355, he led more than 10,000 troops from his troops to join Zhu Yuanzhang and served as the general manager of the army. Later, he followed Zhu Yuanzhang across the Yangtze River , conquered Taiping (now Dangtu, Anhui), and Jiqing (now Nanjing, Jiangsu), and directly won Zhenjiang , and made many military achievements and was promoted to Marshal Guangxingyi. Later, he moved to , Zhejiang, and defeated the Yuan army repeatedly.
1370, Deng Yu followed Xu Da to expedition to Gansu, defeated the Northern Yuan army, and surrendered the Tubo and Uszang tribes. He was promoted to the title of Ronglu Dafu, Right Zhuguo , and Duke Wei Guo . In 1377, Deng Yu died of illness in Shouchun (now Shou County, Anhui), and was posthumously named Ninghe King , with the posthumous title of Wushun.
7. Li Zhen
Li Zhen is Zhu Yuanzhang's brother-in-law. Zhu Yuanzhang was young and poor, and he couldn't eat enough. His brother-in-law Li Zhen often helped them, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very grateful to Li Zhen and regarded him as his benefactor. After Zhu Yuanzhang rebelled, Li Zhen brought his son Li Wenzhong to join Zhu Yuanzhang. After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he appointed his second sister as the eldest princess of Cao and Li Zhen as the son-in-law of the prince. Li Zhen had no meritorious achievements, so Zhu Yuanzhang still named him and his son Li Wenzhong as Duke of Cao. In 1378, Li Zhen died of illness and was posthumously granted the title of Prince of Longxi, with the posthumous title of Gongxian, and was posthumously awarded "the title of king for all three generations."
8, soup and
soup, from Zhongli, Haozhou (now Fengyang, Anhui). Tang He was Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood friend. After he achieved the ,000 households in the Guo Zixing uprising army, he wrote to Zhu Yuanzhang, asking him to come to join Guo Zixing, and was Zhu Yuanzhang's guide. Zhu Yuanzhang and Guo Zixing had a conflict. When they left Guo Zixing, Tang He chose Zhu Yuanzhang. In 1368, Tang He captured Yanping , captured Chen Youding , and pacified Fujian. From 1370 to 1385, Tang He followed Xu Da to the west and later fought in the north to rebel against the barbarians of Boyan Timur and Sizhou. In 1371, Tang He was named Duke of Xinguo .
1393, after the Lan Yu case broke out, Zhu Yuanzhang was worried that Tang He had any unfaithful intentions and summoned him to the capital. At this time, Tang He was already seriously ill. When Zhu Yuanzhang went to visit Tang He, he was already seriously ill and could not speak, so he could only kowtow to Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang burst into tears and gave him gold, cloth, as funeral expenses. In 1395, Tang He died of illness and was posthumously awarded the title of King of Dong'ou.
9, Fu Youde
Fu Youde, from Xiangcheng, Suzhou (now Huaibei, Anhui). In the late years, Fu Youde joined Liu Futong's army and followed Li Xixi into Shu. Later, he led his troops to Zhu Yuanzhang and promoted him from a minority to a general. In 1368, Fu Youde followed Xu Da to attack Yuan, conquered Gansu and defeated the Yuan army in a row. In 1371, Fu Youde and Tang He attacked Shu, took Sichuan, and then attacked Guizhou and Yunnan. He was granted the title of Duke of Yingguo for his merits and the title of Prince Taishi.
Fu Youde's in-laws, King of Jin, Zhu Qi, son-in-law, , Zhu Ji, , is one of the nine major vassal kings who have fought against the barbarians. He holds a strong cavalry and heavy troops. Fu Youde himself often arranges defense on the front line of Shanxi. At the same time, Fu Youde and Lan Yu were very close and had great military achievements, which made Zhu Yuanzhang quite suspicious of him.
1394, when Zhu Yuanzhang was hosting a banquet for the ministers, the guard at the door (Fu Youde's son Fu Rang) did not wear a sword bag as required. He was very angry and accused Fu Rang at the banquet and asked Fu Youde to extract his son's head.Fu Youde turned around and left. After a while, he came to see Zhu Yuanzhang with his two sons' heads. Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked: "How can you bear it?" Fu Youde said: "Isn't it just for the head of our father and son!" Then he committed suicide in front of Zhu. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and sent Fu Youde's family to Liaodong and Yunnan.
10, Lan Yu
Lan Yu, from Dingyuan, Zhili, Nanzhili (now Dingyuan County, Anhui). Lan Yu is Chang Yuchun’s brother-in-law and is in the same hometown as Hu Weiyong and . In 1371, Lan Yu followed General Fu Youde of the West to conquer Sichuan and conquered Jinli (now Chengdu, Sichuan). In 1378, he joined Muying and to fight against the rebellion and chaos in Xifan. In 1381, Lan Yu followed Fu Youde and Mu Ying to lead troops to the south and eliminated the remnant Yuan forces entrenched in Yunnan. In 1388, Lan Yu led his troops north to defeat Yuan Dynasty and was named Duke of Liang for his merits. In 1389, Lan Yu led his troops to pacify southwest and made great military achievements for the Ming Dynasty.
Lan Yu was a hero of the Ming Dynasty, but he was arrogant and raised many Zhuang slaves and adopted sons, taking advantage of the situation to be domineering. This eventually angered Zhu Yuanzhang. In 1393, Lan Yu was reported to be rebelled by Jiang Yan, and was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang. A large number of heroes were implicated and killed.
