Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood was miserable. Fortunately, someone helped him at a critical time, except Liu De.
Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood life can only be described as bad, because his family is poor and there are many children, so even eating at Zhu Yuanzhang's home is a big problem.
It is also because the family is poor that Zhu Yuanzhang's two sisters got married very early. Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest sister is generally married, and her in-laws have no money, so they can only take care of themselves; But Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister, Miss Zhu, married well, and her husband, Li Zhen, had a little wealth and land at home, and his life was passable, and he often helped his family.
However, the second sister's family is not that kind of big landlord, and the economic conditions are still very limited. In addition, her family has a large population, with a pair of parents and four brothers, which is beyond her power. So if Zhu Yuanzhang wants to live, he still has to rely on his own efforts.
Zhu Yuanzhang's father, Zhu, is an authentic farmer, but the land belongs to the landlord family rather than himself. Zhu is just a long-term worker. In order to reduce the burden on his family, when Zhu Yuanzhang grew up a little, he went to work in Liu Dejia, a big landlord, mainly responsible for herding cattle.
However, Liu De is a heartless person. He often punished Zhu Yuanzhang for not feeding cattle, and sometimes deducted Zhu Yuanzhang's meager salary.
Zhu Yuanzhang was still very naughty when he was a child. Once, because he was dissatisfied with the landlord Liu De, he killed Liu De's cow with his friends and was beaten by Liu De.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang was poor, he was bold and cautious, ambitious and had leadership skills since he was a child. His friends, Tang He and Xu Da, admire him very much. Sometimes they play COSPLAY games together. Zhu Yuanzhang often pretends to be an emperor, while Xu Da and Tanghe pretend to be ministers and kowtow to Zhu Yuanzhang, showing great passive Nuo Nuo.
At that time, they were all young and naive, just for fun, but none of them thought that the games they played together really became a reality.
Zhu Yuanzhang's salary is not much, and he doesn't even have enough to eat and drink, so he often goes to the second sister's house, and the second sister and the second brother-in-law Li Zhen warmly entertain him every time. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was very grateful to his second sister and brother-in-law Li Zhen and vowed to repay them in the future.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was fifteen years old, his parents and eldest brother died one after another within half a month because of the locust plague and plague in his hometown of Haozhou. Because Zhu Yuanzhang's third brother died early, only his second brother, eldest sister-in-law, her son Zhu Wenzheng and Zhu Yuanzhang himself were left at home.
Because there is no money or land at home, Zhu Yuanzhang's parents and eldest brother have not been buried for a long time. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Liu De, his rich old club, for help, hoping that Liu De would be merciful and give him a piece of land to bury his family, but Liu De refused mercilessly.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very helpless. Later, he found several landlords, but no one was willing to help him, because many people thought that Zhu Yuanzhang's family was so poor that it was hard to get anything in return for helping him and it was not worth it.
However, one person even appeared when Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely embarrassed. This man is Liu Jizu, a cousin of Liu De.
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was pitiful, Liu Jizu gave Zhu Yuanzhang a small piece of land at home and asked him to bury his family. Zhu Yuanzhang was very grateful to Liu Jizu for his kindness. He kowtowed to Liu Jizu and silently vowed to repay Liu Jizu's kindness in the future.
Zhu Yuanzhang and his second brother quickly wrapped the bodies of their parents and eldest brother with a few rags and buried them. However, they are simple and humble, but at least they buried their parents and eldest brother.
Some people say that Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister and brother-in-law have money at home, so why not help Zhu Yuanzhang's family?
In fact, long before Zhu Yuanzhang's parents and eldest brother died, the villagers died in nine cases out of ten because of the serious plague in the second sister's house. Li Zhen, the second brother-in-law, saw that the villagers' life was very difficult, so he sold his family's property and replaced it with food to help the villagers.
So, when Zhu Yuanzhang's family had an accident, the second sister's family had no money, and the second sister had been in poor health, and her son Li Wenzhong was also very young and needed her care, so the second sister's family naturally had no ability and energy to help her family.
After Zhu Yuanzhang buried his parents, he separated from his second brother, sister-in-law and nephew Zhu Wenzheng in order to survive. Zhu Yuanzhang turned and became a monk in Huang Jue Temple. Later, because the rent in the temple could not be collected, the food was tense. Zhu Yuanzhang began to travel around the world and became a monk.
Zhu Yuanzhang's second brother died shortly after he was separated from him. Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest sister-in-law and nephew Zhu Wenzheng began to live in their hometown, and later went out to beg. They didn't go to Zhu Yuanzhang until he became a general of the Red Scarf Army.
Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk, went to many places, met many people and things, learned a lot, and broadened his horizons.
Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk for about nine years until 1352. His childhood friend Tang He wrote him a letter saying that he is now a general of the Red Scarf Army and invited Zhu Yuanzhang to join the army.
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little timid and didn't dare to go, but his brother told him that the news of his association with the Red Scarf Army had been known by the Yuan Army, and he was going to be scolded. Zhu Yuanzhang was so scared that he packed his bags and went to join the Red Scarf Army.
Besides Zhu Yuanzhang, Tanghe also invited Xu Da. The three men met in the Red Scarf Army and began their legendary journey of conquering all directions.
But it is worth mentioning that Tanghe is really good. At that time, he was already a thousand households, but he had great respect for his eldest brother Zhu Yuanzhang and didn't think of himself as the boss at all. With the help of Tanghe, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually emerged in the Red Scarf Army and later became a marshal of the Red Scarf Army.
After Zhu Yuanzhang had his own stable power, he began to rely on Tanghe and Xu Da, and with the help of his nephew Zhu Wenzheng and other generals in Huaixi, he eliminated the separatist forces in Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, and finally overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he trained people who helped him to establish a dynasty, such as Tanghe and Xu Da. So how did he treat Li Zhen and Liu Jizu who helped him?
Zhu Yuanzhang is very cautious about knighthood, and generally does not reward those who have no credit. But there are two exceptions. They have no military merit, and they are not civil servants who helped Zhu Yuanzhang establish the Ming Dynasty. They are just named Marquis.
One is Li Zhen, the second brother-in-law of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although Li Zhen didn't contribute to the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was still very concerned about his help in those days, so he proclaimed himself emperor and named Li Zhen as a surname of Enqin Houhe, and also named his dead second sister Zhu Fengnv as princess royal in posthumous title.
Why is Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister "princess royal"?
Because Zhu Yuanzhang refused to recognize his sister. After Zhu Yuanzhang took refuge in the Red Scarf Army, he was once hunted by the Yuan Army and took refuge in his sister's house, but his sister refused and drove him away. Zhu Yuanzhang bears a grudge for this and always avoids talking about his elder sister, as if this elder sister doesn't exist at all.
Later, Li Zhen's son, Li Wenzhong, went to his hometown to visit the grave. When he saw that the graves of his elder sister and eldest brother were in ruins, he told Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang saw that his elder sister, Dajiefu, was so miserable after her death and had no children, so she relented and gave her elder sister, Taiyuan princess royal, and Dajiefu the surname Xu.
Zhu Yuanzhang was so kind to Li Zhen because Li Zhen had helped him and he had vowed to repay him.
Zhu Yuanzhang's kindness to Li Zhen is hard to see. Not only did she take care of him, but later she became Tsao Kung with her son Li Wenzhong. Three generations of descendants were nobles. Li Zhen was also given a house in the imperial city, and Li Zhen was allowed to wear a robe with five claws, which was unique in the Ming Dynasty.
During Li Zhen's illness, there was an endless stream of people sent by Zhu Yuanzhang to inquire about his illness. After Li Zhen's death, Zhu Yuanzhang was even more heartbroken. He not only went to Li Zhen's funeral in person, but also asked his son to give him a wake.
Another man who was named Marquis without merit was Liu Jizu.
In the eleventh year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang named Liu Jizu as a righteous Hui Hou. He also specially wrote an imperial edict to express his gratitude to Liu Jizu:
It is difficult to get rich when you are young. I am kind and generous, and I am grateful to myself. An Cuohuang's textual research, how can you forget Da Huiyun! As a gift to Hou, but also as a gift to Mrs. Hou's house, it is still a literary sacrifice. Zhai Zhao is the ancestral grave of Sizhou today. Call a spade a spade about Long Qianjue, don't forget the kindness of Ma Zhui, protect the past and repay the kindness, really only eternity! Liu Jizu, the word big show.
Liu Jizu has the heart of benevolence and righteousness, and he is very grateful. He was made a marquis by Hou Yi, and his wife was made a marquis.
In fact, Liu Jizu and his wife were dead at that time, but his descendants were still there. Liu Jizu had a son named Liu Ying, who fought with Zhu Yuanzhang in the north. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang sent him back to his hometown to look after the Ming tombs.
After Liu Jizu was named Marquis, Liu Ying inherited the title of Yi Huihou, and his family gradually developed into the largest family in Haozhou, and its descendants enjoyed it exclusively for more than 200 years until the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, many people say that the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang named Liu Jizu Hou was actually because the land that Liu Jizu gave to Zhu Yuanzhang's family was a treasure trove of geomantic omen, which indirectly assisted Zhu Yuanzhang to become emperor.
Of course, I'm just listening to this statement.
But in any case, Zhu Yuanzhang is also a grateful person. Liu Jizu's good deeds have brought wealth to future generations for more than 200 years. This kind of return is huge.
Zhu Yuanzhang's sister was jealous because she didn't help him. Liu De also failed to help Zhu Yuanzhang. What was the result?
Liu De is rich and heartless, exploiting the people, and being so mean to his employee Zhu Yuanzhang that he doesn't even want to give Zhu Yuanzhang a small cemetery. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang is a man of temperament, and grievances must be reported, so it will not be surprising that he arrested Liu De and killed him.
Unexpectedly, after Zhu Yuanzhang returned to his hometown to see Liu De, he not only didn't blame him, but also gave him many fields and exempted him from taxes and corvee for several years.
What's going on here?
Personally, I think this is actually a deliberate act of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Killing Liu De is very simple, but he will leave a reputation of vengeful, and get no practical benefits; But if you complain about Liu Deyi's kindness, then Zhu Yuanzhang can win people's hearts better. After all, the foundation of the Ming dynasty was not very solid at that time. If the country is the most important, Zhu Yuanzhang's approach is wise.
As for Delai Liu, after learning that Zhu Yuanzhang is now an emperor, he must be very scared and will probably regret it. If he had helped Zhu Yuanzhang, the title of Yi Huihou would have been his. This investment is really worthwhile.
However, history does not exist. Liu De went to see Zhu Yuanzhang with the heart of death, but in the end, instead of being punished, he got many rewards.
Liu De puzzled and asked Zhu Yuanzhang why, but Zhu Yuanzhang said:
You don't have to ask what you did. When I was poor, did you know that today is the son of heaven?
Zhu Yuanzhang's general idea is that what Liu De did at the beginning was actually human nature at that time; Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang was very poor at that time, and Liu De didn't know that he would become the son of heaven in the future, so he didn't blame Liu De.
Zhu Yuanzhang's words are obviously insincere, because his sister didn't accept him because she was worried about being implicated by Zhu Yuanzhang and her family would suffer. This is also human nature. So Zhu Yuanzhang doesn't even forgive his sister, so he wants to forgive Liu De?
Can only say that Zhu Yuanzhang's political mind is good. After Liu De was rewarded, many people were surprised by Zhu Yuanzhang's actions and praised him as a good emperor. This is what Zhu Yuanzhang wanted.
As for his elder sister and Dajiefu, Zhu Yuanzhang later realized that he had done something wrong, so Li Wenzhong told Zhu Yuanzhang about his return to his hometown. Zhu Yuanzhang went down the slope, gave titles to his elder sister and Dajiefu, and paid for their graves.
Liu De later lived a good life and died a fair death. Although his descendants are not as good as Liu Jizu, they are generally good.