Emperors pretend to be the true sons of dragons, so things that can only be enjoyed by themselves are given special names. The chairs they sit on are called dragon chairs, and the clothes they wear are called dragon robes.
If a courtier dares to wear a dragon robe, he is guilty of insurrection and will be beheaded. Of course, some courtiers want to wear a dragon robe when they want to be emperors, and everyone knows it without words.
Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, who was "threatened" by the courtiers and had to put on a dragon robe, is a wise example.
Therefore, the dragon robe can't be worn by ordinary people. If you wear it well, you will be famous for generations. If you don't wear it well, you will have to move your head, especially for emperors who have a strong desire for power, even if you hide it at home.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is such an emperor, and he can't tolerate heroes at all. But after Chang Yuchun's death, why did Zhu Yuanzhang put a dragon robe on his portrait?
let's watch it together.
Zhu Yuanzhang: I can only share the joys and sorrows with you, but it is not what you should think.
Zhu Yuanzhang's success in the world can be called accidental necessity. Accidental means that he joined the uprising army in Guo Zixing for food, and later became the leader of the uprising army. It must mean that after Zhu Yuanzhang got a team, he won a large number of generals who could fight, and defeated various forces step by step.
In the early Ming Dynasty, there were probably more than 3 people who were the heroes of the founding of the People's Republic of China, but few of them finally got a good end. Most people didn't get a good end, and the executioner was Zhu Yuanzhang.
after Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he spent all day thinking about how to keep Jiangshan's surname "Zhu". Finally, he came to an answer, that is, a military commander who is too beautiful can't stay, and he can't stay because of his great contribution. In a word, all things have the right, and anyone who has soldiers can't stay.
As a result, these heroes became fish on Zhu Yuanzhang's chopping block one by one.
In order to give these heroes a charge, Zhu Yuanzhang also spent a lot of time on four major cases, and many people were involved in each case. The number of people involved in the Aquamarine case alone reached 15,, which is a terrible number, even more than the number of people killed in a war.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang and his courtiers can only share joys and sorrows, but not riches and honour. Of course, this is also a common fault of emperors. If you think about it carefully, perhaps only Qin Shihuang and Emperor Taizong can share riches and honour with their courtiers.
Chang Yuchun: I died early, and I was able to give a dragon robe to wear when I was alive.
Among the founding heroes in the early Ming Dynasty, although there were not many, there were still some, such as Tang He. After all the four sides were pacified, they chose to surrender their military power, disarm and return to their fields, return to their hometown to live in peace and order, and no longer participate in political affairs.
Later, Zhu Yuanzhang still felt uneasy about Tang He and went to visit him because he was on his list. But at this time, Tang He was almost 7 years old, and with a stroke, his eyes were crooked and he was lying on the bed, and he could hardly take care of himself. Seeing this situation, Zhu Yuanzhang really couldn't bear to kill him again, so he let him go.
Chang Yuchun is another hero who got a good death, but his situation is not quite the same as that of Tang He, because Chang Yuchun died early and suddenly, as recorded in Ming History:
(Chang Yuchun) returned from his teacher, died suddenly in a river, and was only forty years old. When Mao heard of it, he was deeply mourned, lost to Longjiang, and went out for a drink.
Chang Yuchun died early, and it was a happy ending. Of course, some people say that Chang Yuchun's sudden death was also a ghost of Zhu Yuanzhang. In fact, this statement is not reasonable, because Zhu Yuanzhang admired Chang Yuchun very much and wrote a poem specially after his death:
I have a thousand lines of pig iron juice, and I have never cried for my children in my life. Suddenly, I heard that yesterday, Chang Gong was dying, and tears spilled on the grass and trees of Kun.
The fact that the portrait of Chang Yuchun after his death can wear a dragon robe also illustrates this point.
Zhu Yuanzhang: Don't think about the dragon robe when you are alive. It's a great favor to dress you after your death.
Chang Yuchun played the role of Xu Da's lieutenant for a long time. Of course, apart from his qualifications and ability, Chang Yuchun actually had some personality defects. Unlike Xu Da's sedate personality, Chang Yuchun was violent and murderous, and killed prisoners in a massacre after the victory many times.
But it is precisely because of this that in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Chang Yuchun is a very pure war general. He doesn't interfere with government affairs, and he doesn't have much desire for power. It seems that he was born to fight. Of course, his ability to lead troops is not bad. Jianghu people give him the nickname: Chang 1,, which is said to bring 1, soldiers.
Chang Yuchun died in the second year of Hongwu. At this time, although Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he was not yet firmly seated. The Yuan regime had not been completely eliminated, and he still needed generals who led troops to fight. Therefore, the sudden death of Chang Yuchun really made Zhu Yuanzhang feel sad. After all, there was one less general who fought for himself, which was a great loss.
After Chang Yuchun's death, Zhu Yuanzhang, in recognition of his contribution, ordered the court painter to "wear" a dragon robe for Chang Yuchun's portrait. Speaking of this, maybe someone said that Chang Yuchun's portrait should be a "python" instead of a "dragon"?
Actually, it is not. Chang Yuchun's portrait is indeed wearing a "golden dragon with five claws", but the background color of the clothes is not the yellow of the emperor's royal use, but the scarlet color that a military attache should have. Therefore, in a strict sense, it is not the dragon robe of the Ming emperor, but the dragon robe in the form of a military attache.
But even so, it's a compliment to the military attache. After all, Xu Da, who died later, didn't get such treatment.
But then again, Zhu Yuanzhang put on the dragon robe for the portrait of Chang Yuchun. Apart from remembering it, he did more posturing, so that all the generals who worked for him could watch. He wore the dragon robe himself, and the meritorious officials could wear it, but only if he was as short-lived as Chang Yuchun. Unfortunately, it was a luxury for the later generals to survive.