Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was a legendary emperor with a strategic mind.

He eliminated war, brought order to the world, and rose to the top of the Nine Five Supremes from a commoner. But in addition, he also left many people with the impression of being violent, suspicious, and killing innocent people indiscriminately.

This is also true. On the battlefield, Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor by fighting all the way.

After ascending the throne, he relied on decisive and tough tactics to consolidate his throne.

The number of people Zhu Yuanzhang killed in his life can be said to be countless and horrifying; he set up unjust prisons and built imperial guards; he killed the founding heroes; he killed literati and military generals.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, the ministers were all trembling with fear, fearing that death would fall on them.

As an emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang was ruthless and treated other people's lives as nothing.

Would rather kill by mistake than miss any threat. Therefore, it is a strange thing that a prisoner who has been sentenced to death can be pardoned by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, and he has been spared from death five times.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang decided to be lenient was simply because he learned the surname and origin of this death row prisoner.

So, who is this death row prisoner, and why can he escape from Zhu Yuanzhang's knife?

It turned out that this death row prisoner, whose surname was Fan, was called Fan Congwen. He was the supervisory censor at the time, and he repeatedly spoke out and remonstrated. This angered the emperor, and he was convicted of "crime of deceiving the emperor" and was beheaded. disaster.

When Fan Congwen was convicted and about to be executed, Zhu Yuanzhang happened to look up Fan Congwen’s birthplace and suddenly discovered that this death row prisoner was actually from Wu County, Suzhou.

Thinking of Fan Congwen's surname and ordinary conduct, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately asked people to take Fan Congwen out of prison.

After asking and answering questions, the two finally figured out Fan Congwen's origins.

It turns out that Fan Congwen was the twelfth grandson of Fan Zhongyan in the Northern Song Dynasty.

It was precisely because of the famous Confucian Fan Zhongyan that Zhu Yuanzhang spared Fan Congwen on the spot.

Fan Wencong was not only pardoned from the death penalty, but also received five paintings of Huiwen's aphorisms and aphorisms from Zhu Yuanzhang, and a promise - "It can pay for your five punishments."

Fan Zhongyan is still protecting his descendants more than 300 years after his death. Everyone is familiar with him. The eternal saying "worry before the world is worried, and be happy after the world is happy" came from him. .

Fan Zhongyan had a rough life. He was repeatedly slandered by traitors and sycophants, and was demoted several times.

But his heart for the country and the people has never changed. He is upright, honest in government, and considerate of the people.

The idea of ??"worry first and then rejoice" and the integrity of people with lofty ideals are praised to this day.

When Fan Zhongyan served as a local official, it can be said that he worked hard and devoted himself to his work.

Although the Northern Song Dynasty court turned a blind eye to Fan Zhongyan's actions, the people felt like a mirror, and Fan Zhongyan was a good official in the hearts of the people.

In the states and counties where he was demoted, the people and local officials all admired him.

Throughout his life, Fan Zhongyan truly took the world as his responsibility, and he was worthy of his heart and the people.

Although Fan Congwen at that time was far less famous and accomplished than his ancestor Fan Zhongyan, he inherited Fan Zhongyan's spiritual integrity.

Zhu Yuanzhang may have seen the shadow of Fan Zhongyan in Fan Congwen.

So, why did Zhu Yuanzhang, who was prone to killing indiscriminately, let Fan Congwen go just because of Fan Zhongyan's origin?

We know that before Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he was born in poverty and grew up in a peasant family in Fengyang, Anhui.

In the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, corrupt officials were rampant and the court was in decline. The most miserable people were the common people.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had never read a book and was not well educated, suffered from the indifference of the world at that time and was well aware of the suffering of the people.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been a farmer for generations, had a deep understanding of the cruel oppression and dominance of officials.

In order to make a living, he went to beg for food, work as a porter, and herd cattle for others, just to make a living.

He struggled to survive at the bottom of society, suffered hardships, and experienced the darkness of the court deeply in his dire life.

It can be said that it was precisely because of these experiences that there was a natural and irreparable rift between Zhu Yuanzhang and the scholar-bureaucrats at that time even after he became emperor.

As for the suffering people, Zhu Yuanzhang would feel sympathy and compassion from the bottom of his heart.

During his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang killed hundreds of officials. In fact, the most fundamental reason was that he hated corrupt officials.

At that time, the court and the circle of scholars were in a bloody turmoil. Many people lost their lives and many corrupt officials were frightened by the news.

Zhu Yuanzhang was using his own efforts to clear up the trend. Although the method was inappropriate, it was the best method he could think of and implement based on his cultural level.

But no matter how bloody Zhu Yuanzhang caused the temple, he never affected the people at the bottom.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang’s starting point was not only to consolidate his own position, but also to use his power to benefit the poor.

We can take a look at the edict left by Zhu Yuanzhang: "I am destined to be thirty-one for one year. I will worry about dangers and work hard, and work hard every day to benefit the people." This is what he means. During his reign, all he thought about day and night was to benefit the people.

From this point, we can guess that Zhu Yuanzhang admired and respected Fan Zhongyan, who was upright and caring for the people.

What his court and his people need is officials who are upright and honest, serve for one term, and benefit the whole country.

After verifying Fan Congwen's identity, Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally delighted. The person in front of him turned out to be the descendant of the person he admired!

Therefore, Fan Congwen's previous crime of deceiving the emperor by disobeying his will became in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes "outspoken and upright, with the courage of his ancestor Fan Zhongyan!"

When he was down and out, he might have also resented why everything he saw was bent on personal gain, perverting the law, and extortionate taxes. Why were the people so miserable? Why is there no Qingtian Master like Fan Zhongyan who is dedicated to the people? Why are officials like Fan Zhongyan always suppressed and framed?

In Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, he was naturally a wise emperor. He would not be like the emperors of Fan Zhongyan's era, who misunderstood people and buried talents.

So Fan Congwen was immediately removed from his shackles and prison clothes, and Fan Congwen was pardoned.

The five aphorisms he personally inscribed are exactly what Fan Zhongyan said: "Be worried about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness."

After pardoning loyal ministers and good generals, some people said that this was a carefully calculated show and a means for Zhu Yuanzhang to win people's hearts.

But some people think that this comes from Zhu Yuanzhang's true intention. Zhu Yuanzhang spent his life killing and did not care whether there would be more souls killed by the sword.

It was purely because he admired Fan Zhongyan that he let him go.

All in all, the story of Zhu Yuanzhang and Fan Congwen, a descendant of Fan Zhongyan, finally became a good story.

At this point in the story, we all know that Zhu Yuanzhang pardoned Fan Wei not so much because of the face of his ancestor Fan Zhongyan, but rather because Zhu Yuanzhang actually longed for an honest and clear country. environment.

It was precisely because of his deep understanding and the deep understanding of the shortcomings of the late Yuan Dynasty that Zhu Yuanzhang was determined to break all the trouble and create a clear and honest court.

In the first year of Hongwu, that is, 1368 AD, at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang summoned magistrates from various prefectures and counties.

He said to his ministers: "The world has been settled for the first time, and the people are in financial difficulties. They are like a newly-flying bird. Do not pluck its feathers. Do not shake the roots of a newly-planted tree. You must enable them to live in peace and health." .

You must make promises and love others, and do not look down on others and enrich yourself. You should be careful about this." ("Ming Tongjian")

This passage warns all officials that the world has just been settled. , the people's financial and material resources are in trouble, and officials must be considerate of the people at this time, be honest in government, and not shake the foundation, so that the people can live in peace and contentment.

Zhu Yuanzhang said this, which shows that because of his own background, he was very clear and sympathetic to the actual situation of the people who suffered from war.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang also ordered people to compile "A Brief Record of Awakening Corruption" in order to alert officials to appreciate the suffering of the people and not to take bribes and bend the law.

This "A Brief Summary of Awakening Corruption" was ordered to be issued to all officials to read.

Zhu Yuanzhang personally wrote the preface to this book. The original text is as follows:

Scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, the scholar-bureaucrats are a class of noble and respected people.

But farmers are the most miserable. They get up early and work hard until late at night.

During the autumn harvest, taxes were also paid to support scholar-bureaucrats and officials.

If there is a flood, drought, or locust disaster, the whole family will lose hope.

People's lives are already difficult enough, but it is really undeserved to be exploited and tortured.

Therefore, every official should be grateful for the difficulties and hardships of the people, care about the people, and be considerate of the people.

This is Zhu Yuanzhang's request for officials, and it is also Zhu Yuanzhang's political ideology.

He felt that the root cause of people's livelihood problems was the darkness and oppression of the court, so he hoped to establish a court that was honest and caring for the people.

However, in addition to the earnest and sincere teachings listed above, Zhu Yuanzhang also implemented a series of harsh methods, acting vigorously and resolutely, controlling corruption with an iron fist, and severely curbing unhealthy tendencies.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang also killed many people by mistake because of his excessive determination, leaving the impression of indiscriminate killing on future generations.

We now have mixed opinions about Zhu Yuanzhang in history.

But in any case, Zhu Yuanzhang's counterattack from a poor commoner to the world's supreme king is legendary enough.

After he calmed down the troubled times and proclaimed himself emperor, he still did not forget his roots, paid light taxes and paid low taxes, took care of himself, and created a peaceful and prosperous age for the people. With practical actions, he achieved what he wanted and what he wanted in his heart.