PFC Chapter 240: Hou Yi is from the Xia Dynasty
Chapter 240: Hou Yi is from the Xia Dynasty
Zhu Chun also significantly reduced taxes and personally formulated local market transactions to allow people to live and work in peace. The people of Shu praised him as a wise king. In 1393, the Lan Yu case, one of the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty, broke out. Zhu Chun's father-in-law Lan Yu was convicted and executed, and tens of thousands of officials were involved.
Zhu Chun was involved. In order to warn the court officials, Zhu Yuanzhang filled Lan Yu's skin bag with plants and trees and circulated it in various provinces across the country. When the skin bag arrived in his territory, Zhu Chun took the risk of asking Zhu Yuanzhang to stop circulating it, leaving Lan Yu's body in Shu forever.
Soon after Zhu Yuanzhang passed away and Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, Prince of Yan Zhu Di launched a coup. The Prince of Shu's younger brother, Prince of Gu Zhu Tan, was in charge of guarding the Jinchuan Gate in Nanjing at the time. Zhu Tan took the initiative to open the gate and let the Prince of Yan's army enter the city, which is known in history as the "Jinchuan Gate Incident."
Zhu Tan's defection made Zhu Di very happy, so he changed Zhu Tan's fiefdom from Shanggu County to Changsha and increased his annual salary by 2000 dan.
However, Zhu Tan gradually became arrogant and domineering. He annexed the people's land, embezzled the taxes that should have been paid to the national treasury, and even plotted a rebellion. He secretly nurtured desperate criminals and quietly built bows and crossbows to train soldiers.
In order to increase the chances of victory, Zhu Tan sent someone to deliver a letter to Zhu Chun, hoping that Zhu Chun could raise troops from his subordinate territories at the same time. Zhu Chun was shocked when he received the letter and immediately reported it to Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di.
Zhu Di quickly found evidence of Zhu Tan's intention to rebel and demoted Zhu Tan and his two sons to commoners. Zhu Chun's sacrifice of his own family helped Zhu Di resolve a crisis, and Zhu Di trusted Zhu Chun even more.
Zhu Chun died in his territory in 1423. Zhu Chun's eldest son Zhu Yue died at the age of 21, but fortunately he already had three sons, 3-year-old Zhu Youdun, 2-year-old Zhu Youjue and the youngest son Zhu Youxun.
Zhu Yuehui, Zhu Chun's younger brother and the second son of Zhu Chun, Prince Huayang, Zhu Yuehui, wanted to seize the throne when his elder brother died and his nephew was young.
However, his little action aroused Zhu Chun's vigilance. Zhu Yuehui happened to make a mistake, so Zhu Chun took the opportunity to beat Zhu Yuehui 100 times and prepared to escort him to the court for punishment.
Fortunately, the kind-hearted Zhu Youdun repeatedly pleaded with his grandfather, so Zhu Yuehui was able to escape. After Zhu Chun died, Zhu Yuehui immediately falsely accused his nephew Zhu Youdun of dozens of crimes including Bailey to Zhu Di.
After receiving the false accusation, Zhu Di immediately asked Zhu Youdun to come to Beijing, but Zhu Youdun died before he arrived.
After Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne, he found out the truth and named Zhu Youdun the King of Shu. He also exiled Zhu Yuehui, who was as ferocious as a tiger, to Lizhou, Huguang, depriving him of the qualification to inherit the throne of King of Shu.
However, Zhu Youdun died after serving as King of Shu for only seven years. This meant that Zhu Youdun, King Jing of Shu, had no sons, and his second brother, Zhu Youju, King Qianjiang, had died long ago and also had no children.
So the throne of Shu was passed to his third brother Zhu Youxun, but Zhu Youxun only lived to the age of 26 and left no offspring, which meant that the main line was extinct again and Zhu Yuexuan's lineage came to an end.
Zhu Yuejun was the third son of Zhu Chun. He was named King of Chongqing when he was 11 years old. Later, because he angered his father Zhu Chun, he secretly ran to Changsha to seek refuge with his uncle Zhu Tan, and ended up becoming a pawn used by his uncle to fight against Ming Chengzu Zhu Di.
Zhu Tan claimed to the outside world that Zhu Yuejun was Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen. Zhu Yuejun was guarding the Jinchuan Gate in Nanjing at that time, but he quietly opened the door and let Emperor Jianwen escape at the critical moment. Now that Emperor Jianwen has returned to his palace, he wants to support him to ascend the throne again.
Zhu Yuejun was so frightened that he lost his soul. Fortunately, his father Zhu Chun reported Zhu Yuejun in time and he was sent back to Sichuan safely. At the age of 25, Zhu Yuejun died without any offspring, and the lineage of the Chongqing King was cut off.
Since the lineages of the eldest brother Zhu Yuexuan, the third brother Zhu Yuejun, and the fourth brother Zhu Yuehui had all been cut off, and the second brother Zhu Yuehui could not succeed to the throne because of the fight for the throne, after Zhu Youxun's death, Zhu Yuejun's younger brother Zhu Yuejun was hit by a pie in the sky and became the fourth King of Shu.
Zhu Yuejun was cautious during his reign and lasted for 26 years. After his death, his son Zhu Rangxu succeeded him. Unfortunately, Zhu Rangxu also died less than a year after taking office, and the throne was passed to his younger brother Zhu Shenxin.
Zhu Shenxin died after eight years in office. As his son died young, the Dazong line was once again declared extinct. The following year, Zhu Yuehui's 8-year-old son Zhu Yuejun became the King of Shu. Zhu Yuejun served as the King of Shu for five generations, and the Dazong line was extinct twice.
Seeing that the throne of King of Shu that should have belonged to him slipped away again and again, Zhu Yuehui had an idea. Taking advantage of the favorable opportunity that the eldest clan had died out again and the successor King of Shu was too young to win the support of the people, he questioned the transfer of the lineage of King of Shu decades ago on the grounds of demanding a redivision of his grandfather's inheritance, and attempted to take over the King of Shu's Palace himself.
Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, on the grounds that the succession path had been determined, cut off Zhu Yuehui's thoughts and clarified the legitimacy of Zhu Yuejun's succession to the King of Shu. Thus, the struggle for succession that had lasted for decades finally came to an end.
After Zhu Yuejun's death, the throne of Shu was passed to Zhu Binhan and Zhu Rangjin successively. Zhu Rangjin also inherited the good family tradition of his ancestors and was a well-known wise king.
As a family of poetry and literature, the Shu Palace had a large collection of books. In order to ensure that all the princes had access to books, Zhu Rangjin even turned the palace into a library, opened the collection to the public, and allowed people to enter the palace to read and copy books, further pushing the use of rites and music to govern Xichuan to its peak.
He was also good at writing poetry and prose. His work "Ten Scenic Spots of Chengdu" vividly outlined the 56 most famous beautiful scenery in Chengdu at that time in just 10 words. It can be regarded as a masterpiece of landscape poetry, and many of them are still popular check-in attractions for Internet celebrities.
Zhu Rangjin died at the age of 47. As his first two sons died young, his third son Zhu Chengyu became the 10th King of Shu, and later passed the throne to the 11th King of Shu Zhu Xuanqi.
Zhu Xuanqi reigned for half a century, making him the longest-reigning King of Shu in the Ming Dynasty. His reign spanned the reigns of Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli.
During the Jiajing period, the three main halls in the Forbidden City caught fire. As Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty was short of money, he not only sent imperial censors to various places to collect the overdue labor and material money, but even ordered the use of fines and confiscations stored in local areas. At the critical moment, Zhu Xuanqi came to the rescue and donated nearly 1200 taels of gold and 1 taels of silver to Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty to repair the house.
During the Wanli reign, the imperial court launched a military campaign against ethnic minorities in Sichuan and the Yang family of Bozhou, and Zhu Xuanqi donated his salary to support the imperial court. In 1596, the Forbidden City caught fire again, and the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace were burned down. Zhu Xuanqi donated another 6200 taels of silver.
Zhu Xuanqi was very generous in giving money to the court. The Emperor Shenzong was very moved and built a memorial archway for him outside the Duanli Gate of the Prince of Shu's Palace, and bestowed the four characters "Zhongxian Biaozhu" on him to commend him.
After Zhu Xuanqi's death, his eldest son Zhu Fengquan became the CEO of the palace, but his reign was not stable. One of the reasons for the turmoil was fire.
During the reign of King Shu Zhu Xuanqi, Zhu Fengquan’s bedroom caught fire once. One year after Zhu Xuanqi’s death, the King Shu’s Palace caught fire again and it was finally rebuilt.
In 1615, the Chengyun Hall of the Prince of Shu's Palace, which had just been completed, was engulfed in flames again. Before the Prince of Shu could catch his breath, the palace was burned down again in September of the following year. In less than 9 years, the Prince of Shu's Palace had four consecutive fires, making Zhu Fengquan doubt his life.
Moreover, during Zhu Fengquan's reign, the She'an Rebellion broke out across Sichuan and Guizhou, and She Chongming, the governor of Yongning, started a rebellion. There were only 2000 soldiers guarding Chengdu, and the governor was killed, causing panic among the people.
At the critical moment, Zhu Fengquan took out the money, grain and other supplies stored in the palace to meet the needs of defending the city, and at the same time sent the Chengdu Left Guard to assist Zhu Xieyuan in defending the city. With everyone working together, Chengdu successfully defended the city with its weak strength.
After Zhu Fengquan's death, Zhu Ci'an became the 13th King of Shu. In the late Ming Dynasty, peasant uprisings broke out one after another, forming a prairie fire. In 1644, Li Zicheng proclaimed himself emperor in Xi'an and immediately captured northern Beijing.
The news of the emperor's suicide had reached the capital, and the first thing that the four officials of Sichuan thought of was not revenge, but to publicly elect King Shu Zhu Ci'ao as regent. Even the management team of the ruling group was clearly arranged.
However, the Ming Dynasty implemented a dual capital system. After Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, Nanjing was regarded as a secondary capital and retained a complete leadership team. After the fall of BJ, important civil and military officials in Nanjing quickly supported Prince Fu Zhu Yousong as the new emperor, and the Southern Ming Dynasty quickly came to power.
Zhu Ci's plan failed. At this time, the peasant leader Zhang Xianzhong, who swept across the Huguang region, marched into Sichuan. The local government of Sichuan wanted to resist, but they were short of money, so they prepared to ask for help.
The four local governments in Sichuan wanted to resist, but they lacked money. They planned to seek help from Zhou Zhishu, the most powerful local tyrant in Sichuan, but they were faced with Liu Zhibo, the censor of Xu'an, who had firmly opposed them before.
Zhu Zhishu cried poor in public and refused to contribute money or manpower. Eventually, Zhang Xianzhong captured Chengdu and besieged Shu. Zhu Zhishu could only commit suicide by jumping into a well with his concubines. Almost all members of the royal family were captured and killed. The story of the Shu King ended abruptly.
[Understand the history of the Xia Dynasty in one breath Historical knowledge of the Xia Dynasty]
The Xia Dynasty was the first slave dynasty in China with a verifiable history. It was the successor of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and the beginning of the Shang and Zhou civilizations. There were big men who rose to power by controlling floods, Hou Yi, the hero who shot down the sun, and Jie, the synonym of tyrants. The title of the sons and daughters of China also had a great relationship with the Xia Dynasty.
Today we will use a timeline to understand the story of the Xia Dynasty over 470 years.
The founding of the Xia Dynasty can be traced back to a devastating flood. When Emperor Yao was in power, a sudden flood disrupted people's lives. In order to control the flood, Emperor Yao thought of the Chong clan.
The Youchong tribe was located on the south bank of the Yellow River, in the Songshan Mountains. Perhaps due to its geographical location, the tribe had great experience in flood control. The Youchong tribe selected a flood control expert, who was the leader of the Youchong tribe, Gun.
Faced with the flood, Gun used his trump card, but this method was completely ineffective at the moment. Floods occurred frequently in the four borders, and the floods seriously threatened people's lives.
Yao gave the position of tribal leader to Shun. As soon as Shun ascended to the position of the common ruler of the world, he began to care about the flood problem and held those responsible for flood control accountable. He killed Gun for his failure to control the flood and replaced him with Gun's son Yu.
Unlike Gun, Yu and the people believed that dredging was better than blocking. After inspecting the river, he decided to take advantage of the natural tendency of water to flow to lower places and adopt the method of dredging rivers.
In this way, over a period of 13 years, Yu opened up mountains and built dams in valleys, gradually dredging the Nine Rivers and directing floods into the ocean.
During the 13 years of walking across China, Yu gradually came to understand the topography, customs, and specialties of each state. He divided the country into nine states based on these and also formulated the types of tribute for each state.
People were moved by Yu's achievements and respectfully called him Dayu, which means Great Yu. Due to his outstanding achievements, Shun, the last of the Yao, Shun and Yu, gave up his position as the common ruler of the world to Yu when he retired. Since then, Yu has become the leader of the tribal alliance, that is, the common ruler of the world.
After becoming the common ruler of the world, Yu summoned the princes to hold a tribal alliance at Tushan. According to the Zuo Zhuan, Yu and the princes held jade and silk at Tushan, and some historians believe that the Tushan meeting marked the official establishment of the Xia Dynasty.
After the meeting, the princes of all parties paid tribute to the emperor with bronze, which is what we now call bronze. As the bronze tribute from the nine states increased, Yu decided to use the bronze to make nine tripods, one for each of the nine states.
Each tripod was engraved with the mountains, rivers, rare animals and products of that state. He then placed the nine tripods in Yangcheng, the capital of the Xia Dynasty, to demonstrate the unification of the nine states.
Dayu became the common ruler of the world, and from this time on, the Nine Cauldrons became the symbol of the emperor.
Yu served as the common ruler of the world for about 45 years. During this period, he educated the people and governed the country in an orderly manner, but there was still a problem that bothered him, that is, the choice of successor.
After some consideration, he chose Dongyi leader Bo Yi as his successor. However, Bo Yi did not become the leader of the tribal alliance. Compared with Bo Yi, Bo Yi's son Qi was more popular among the people. Therefore, the people subsequently jointly supported Lieutenant Qi. Therefore, around 2025 BC, Qi became the common ruler of the world and became the king of the Xia Dynasty.
However, the Warring States book "Bamboo Annals" gave another explanation for this, saying that Qi killed Bo Yi behind his back and seized the throne. That is to say, a dispute over the throne broke out between Qi and Bo Yi, and Bo Yi was defeated in the end, and Qi reaped the fruits of victory. From then on, "public world" became "family world", and the hereditary system replaced the abdication system.
Qi was a good hand at seizing the throne, but when it came to governing the country, his other abilities were inferior to his father's. He indulged in pleasure in his later years, but his sons set their sights on his throne.
One of his sons, Taikang, even launched a rebellion at this time. Although the rebellion was suppressed, the political situation of the Xia Dynasty was still turbulent. It was Qi's son Taikang who fought his way out of the siege in this battle for the throne.
But no one knew that Taikang's action would almost end the Xia Dynasty. Taikang was famous for his absurdity. After he ascended the throne, he indulged in hunting and neglected government affairs. At this time, the Youqiong tribe of the Dongyi people was developing day by day, and their leader was called Houyi.
Once, Taikang went hunting on the north bank of Luo River. He was addicted to the fun and did not go back for several months. His absurdity ignited the anger of the people of Xia Dynasty and made Houyi, the leader of Youqiong tribe, see an opportunity. Houyi took this opportunity to send troops and march straight to the capital of Xia Dynasty.
When Taikang returned from hunting, the capital had already been captured by Houyi, which is known in history as "Taikang lost the country". Therefore, some people believe that in "Houyi Shooting the Sun", Houyi shot Taikang instead of the sun.