Zhu Yuanzhang came from a humble background. His family was poor in his early years and he often herded cattle in the wild when he was young. Later, he encountered natural and man-made disasters and all his family members died. In order to provide food and clothing, he could only

Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a humble family. His family was poor in his early years and he often herded cattle in the wild when he was young. Later, he encountered natural and man-made disasters and all his family members died. In order to provide food and clothing, he could only become a monk in Huangjue Temple.

Soon after, the peasant uprising broke out, and Zhu Yuanzhang joined the uprising army. From then on, he embarked on another path in life. After more than twenty years, Zhu Yuanzhang grew from a humble anti-Yuan rebel to the founding monarch of the country, and many civil servants and generals followed him along the way. For example: Li Shanchang, the founding father of the country, who fought all the way through life and death; Liu Ji, a brilliant think tank; Hu Weiyong, who was an official to the left prime minister; Fu Youde, Zhu Liangzu, the military general, Li Shilu, the civil servant, etc. It can be said that there are many talents.

However, time has changed, and as a generation of ministers, your destiny will never be in your own hands.

Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne for the first time, and the followers behind him were rewarded, promoted, and sealed. The whole court was prosperous and harmonious.

As the founding father of the country, Li Shanchang was a highly respected official. He was named Prime Minister Zuo, and later was named Duke Xuan. Zhu Yuanzhang even gave an iron coupon to avoid Li Shanchang's second death and the death of his descendants. Li Shanchang was a good hand in handling the government affairs of the court, and assisted Zhu Yuanzhang to manage the court in an orderly manner. After many years, the Ming Dynasty court has become increasingly stable, and the country that has been baptized by war has regained its vitality. As the "second in command" Li Shanchang, the "party members" behind him are also growing stronger.

However, time will not be kind to anyone. Even Li Shanchang, who is extremely intelligent, has to obey his old age. As the leader of a major force in the imperial court, he must arrange his funeral arrangements properly. Among them, the most important thing is the appointment of officials in the DPRK. Among the officials promoted by Li Shanchang, the most famous one is Hu Weiyong, who is related to him by marriage. Initially, Hu Weiyong was recommended by Li Shanchang and served as the right minister. After that, with his own talents, he was quickly reused by Zhu Yuanzhang and was promoted to left prime minister.

Since ancient times, the power of kings and prime ministers has always been dominated by the east wind over the west wind. As the power in his hands increased, Hu Weiyong changed his loyal duty in front of Zhu Yuanzhang and became arrogant and wanton.

At this time, he not only used his power to intercept memorials that were unfavorable to him, but also prevented important events from being reported. In addition, in the later period, Hu Weiyong formed a party for personal gain and intended to rebel. Of course, Hu Weiyong's plan ended in failure, but the result was not something that Hu Weiyong alone could resolve. Not only was Hu Weiyong's family sentenced to death, but the Huaixi party behind him was also purged. More than 40,000 people, large and small, were involved, including many dignitaries in the court.

Among them were Hu Weiyong's former recommender, Li Shanchang, who was now over 70 years old, and the crown prince and Taifu Song Lian, who was once called a "sage" by Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Shanchang was reported for "knowing the treason but not taking action, being suspicious and looking at both sides of the plot, and being treasonous." More than 70 people in the family were executed. Only Li Qi, who married Princess Lin'an, was spared death and was exiled to Jiangpu. Song Lian's grandson was executed, and he was demoted to Sichuan. Finally, he died in a foreign country.

Faced with the thunderous wrath of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, it is really shocking that the party members in the DPRK and China were so thoroughly eliminated. However, it is reasonable to connect these things with Zhu Yuanzhang's character and actions during his reign. In fact, in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, all of Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts were on governing the country. As the court became more stable, the character flaws of low self-esteem due to birth were gradually revealed. Among them, the most obvious manifestation is the employment of people.

At that time, in the Ming Dynasty, the person who could compare with Li Shan was Liu Ji.

Liu Ji, also known as Liu Bowen, was a high-profile figure at that time. He was as famous as Wei Zheng and Zhuge Liang. He had a rational character and upright character. He was an official of the Yuan Dynasty in his early years. It can be said that it was precisely because of Liu Bowen's character that he was marginalized in the late Yuan Dynasty, so he simply resigned and returned home. In the early days of Zhu Yuanzhang's founding, the imperial court was in dire straits and was in urgent need of officials. For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang cherished his talents and reused them.As a high-level official of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Bowen participated in the handling of national political affairs, and Zhu Yuanzhang also valued and trusted him very much.

After serving as an official in the dynasty for many years, Liu Bowen eventually became one of the core figures of the Eastern Zhejiang faction, opposing the Huaixi faction. He even had deep grudges with Hu Weiyong, who came to the throne later, because of his original appointment. In Liu Bowen's later years, the major forces that had developed competed with each other, and the relationship between monarch and ministers gradually lost its original purity. In the end, Liu Bowen resigned and returned home, but was poisoned to death by a bowl of poison, which was made by Hu Weiyong, who was in power at the time.

Initially, Liu Bowen discovered that there was a problem with the medicine and mentioned it to Zhu Yuanzhang. However, Zhu Yuanzhang told Liu Bowen that he was thinking too much and allowed him to rest in peace and take medicine. No one knows whether Zhu Yuanzhang's move was truly uninformed or whether he deliberately used Hu Weiyong's help to eradicate Liu Bowen. It was precisely because of the ambiguous attitude between the monarchs that Liu Bowen, who was unable to resist, was eventually poisoned to death at home.

In addition, Li Shilu, who was once one of the founding ministers, probably did not want to get involved in the whirlpool of the power struggle. Jinluan Palace wanted to resign and return home, but Zhu Yuanzhang sent someone to throw him to Jinluan Palace on the spot.

The group of people who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the country became a major problem for Zhu Yuanzhang after the country was stabilized in the Ming Dynasty. Fu Youde, the famous founding general of the country, went north to conquer Sichuan and pacify Yunnan several times. However, he and his son went to the execution ground together and died after being cut in half. There was also Zhu Liangzu, who was also a military general. He was named Yongjiahou for his contribution to the pacification of Guangdong and Guangxi. In the end, he and his son died tragically under a steel whip.

Those who were not charged with the crime of treason were Chang Yuchun , Xu Da , and Tang He. Chang Yuchun didn't have a chance, so he left early, but he left the cleanest way; Xu Da died of goose meat in the end. He obviously suffered from a disease that avoids goose meat, but Zhu Yuanzhang just gave him goose meat so that he had to eat it all. In the end, , died in grief; and Yukawa, who was stupid and didn't look very smart, actually died.

Faced with such a monarch, everyone in the court was in panic, fearing that their fate would be in jeopardy.

So, why is Zhu Yuanzhang so "cruel"?

First of all, this is related to Zhu Yuanzhang's inferiority character. Facing many talented ministers in the court, Zhu Yuanzhang felt inferior, jealous, and felt uneasy, fearing that these ministers would "outshine his master".

Secondly, judging from the results of the Hu Weiyong case, it directly promoted the reform of the bureaucratic system that has lasted for thousands of years since the Qin Dynasty. As an emperor, standing at the pinnacle of power, he has an increasing desire to control power. In order to better strengthen the centralization of power, Zhu Yuanzhang directly abolished the position of prime minister after executing Hu Weiyong, and instead divided the powers originally belonging to the prime minister into six ministries. At the same time, it also solved the worries caused by the increase in the power of the prime minister.

In the end, everything Zhu Yuanzhang did was to pave the way for the current prince . At that time, the crown prince Zhu Biao was cowardly and incompetent. Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid that the prince would be influenced by the ministers after he succeeded to the throne, so he eliminated those who might hinder the prince's future power. The prince, who was kind-hearted by nature, tried to dissuade his cruel father, but Zhu Yuanzhang ordered someone to bring a thorn stick with a poisonous thorn for the prince to hold. The prince was in pain and burst into tears.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang said to the prince who hated iron and said: "The people I eradicate are like poisonous thorns in your hands. If I don't remove them one by one, how can you walk so smoothly in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang's various massacres of heroes were all to maintain the rule of the Ming Dynasty. However, what he never expected was that the crown prince Zhu Biao died young, and his beloved grandson Zhu Yunwen would inherit the throne. Later, he was rebelled by his uncle King Yan Zhu Di , and began to kill each other among blood relatives.

At this time, no one in the court could resist the rebels. In the end, Zhu Di's superior Zhu Yunwen disappeared. Is this the result Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to see?

Reference materials:

["Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang", "Ming History·Li Shan Long Biography", "Ming History·Liu Ji Biography"]