Many people in history are really talented and have made outstanding contributions and achievements in a certain field, but they have great stigma in politics.
Xu Youzhen's biggest stain is Yu Qian's murder.
In fact, if we study this matter carefully, we can see two things:
First of all, there is something wrong with Xu Youzhen's conduct. He pursues fame too much.
After the change of the civil fort, the leader of Walla also led the Mongolian army to advance on Beijing. On the pretext of astrology, he suggested moving the capital to Nanjing, but was reprimanded by Yu Qian, a minister of the Ministry of War: "Those who move south can be beheaded", so he was dissatisfied with the money. Later, Yu Qian led the Beijing army and civilians to win the battle of Beijing, which was equivalent to Xu Youzhen's face-to-face proposal of moving south. Therefore, I am often ridiculed by my colleagues that "I can't move for a long time", and my official position has always stood.
However, his pursuit of fame and fortune is very heavy. At the beginning, he proposed to move south in order to realize the pioneering work. Helpless, in order to be promoted, he asked Yu Qian for the position of offering wine to the son of the nation through his protege. Yu Qian also recommended him to Jingtai Emperor, but he proposed that moving south left a bad impression on Jingtai Emperor, saying, "Is this proposal to move south to Xu Qixie?" Being a dangerous person will ruin the minds of all students. There is no agreement. I think this is because Yu Qian deliberately made things difficult for himself, and he is even more resentful of money.
Second, Yu Qian was only slandered by Xu Youzhen, but this is not the root cause of Yu Qian's murder.
Xu Youzhen contributed to the successful restoration of Ming Yingzong. Yu Qian was accused of treason and sentenced to death. Ming Yingzong hesitated, and Xu Youzhen said, "If you don't kill Yu Qian, you will be unknown", which strengthened Ming Yingzong's determination to kill Yu Qian. Of course, there are elements of Xu Youzhen's resentment and revenge, which is more objective. If Yu Qian had not been killed, Ming Yingzong's change of seizing the door was really unreasonable.
And it has been taboo for generations. Ming Yingzong wanted to kill Yu Qian's history books, but he wouldn't say so. Xu Youzhen just took the fall for the emperor.
Besides killing Yu Qian, Xu Youzhen has also made great achievements in water conservancy, that is, harnessing the Yellow River, which is objectively a great contribution to the country.
Xu Youzhen is deeply respected by southerners for two reasons:
First, he is from Suzhou, and the official to the cabinet records can be described as a very important person, and his hometown people will naturally praise him. This is normal in the face of the interests of the literati who pay attention to regional relations and career promotion.
Second, it lies in his cultural contributions, especially poetry and calligraphy.
The Ming people commented on him like this: "He learned everything from celestial officials, geography, the art of war, canals, Yin and Yang magic. The poem is magnificent and beautiful, and its words are particularly wonderful. I like to write cursive script, and I am easy to change, which is beyond human reach. "
Xu Youzhen is an important calligrapher who plays a leading role in the rise of Wumen Calligraphy School and has made great achievements in the art of calligraphy. He is good at cursive script, and his small running script is particularly exquisite. At that time, people recognized him as "quaint in calligraphy and famous for a while". His disciple Wu Kuan and grandson Zhu Yunming received his guidance and support, and later became famous calligraphers at that time. In the early years of Ming Dynasty, Xu Li had seen Xu Youzhen's ink and thought his calligraphy and painting were "absolutely beautiful" and praised him as "the crown of Wuzhong Yilin".
Xu Youzhen is really talented, but being accused of killing Yu Qian has become an indelible stain in his life.
There are many people like him in history, such as Cai Jing, Qin Gui and Yan Song, who have been branded as traitors and even traitors, but they are really talented. They are all great calligraphers.