In ancient China, the change of dynasties occurred from time to time, and it was precisely verified that the sentence in the opening paragraph of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms said, "The general trend of the world will be divided for a long time." ”
Although the Ming Dynasty has lasted for nearly three hundred years, it is also difficult to escape the historical fate of rise and fall.
On March 19, 1777, Li Zicheng, the "King of Chuang", led a huge Army of Dashun and captured The Capital of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing. The last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian, was martyred at coal mountain north of the Forbidden City, which is now the present Jingshan Mountain, in order to announce the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
According to the "Biography of Ming Shi Li Zicheng", in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng led an army of more than 100,000 people to "attack Shanhaiguan in the east, so as not to move from a piece of stone to the outside of the pass." Sangui was afraid and begged to surrender to the Great Qing."
It took only one year for the Attacking Qing army to quickly defeat Li Zicheng's Dashun regime and the Southern Ming Hongguang regime formed by the remnants of the Ming Dynasty in the south, and thus established the Qing Dynasty. During this process, in order to deter the Southern Ming regime, the Qing army also slaughtered many remaining Zhu royal families.
However, according to historical records, from the establishment of the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor, to the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian in the coal mountains, in this whole two hundred years, the Zhu royal family grew from the initial 49 people to more than 1 million people. Although the Qing army wantonly slaughtered the people of the Zhu clan, the number of more than one million people, if they really scattered and fled, was not so easy to hunt, so Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants retained a considerable part.
Today, in a remote village in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, more than two hundred people in this village claim to be descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang. Is this true?
It is said that at that time, the Manchu Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains, and Zhu Yuanzhang had too many descendants, so it was impossible for such a huge imperial family to be killed. Today, most of Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants live in Wangjia Village, a small village in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. Seeing this, you may wonder why Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants live in Wangjia Village?
In fact, it is only quite reasonable, they have experienced many years of ups and downs, and even experienced the life and death of the changes of the times, in order not to be hunted down, they can only change their Zhu surname to the wang surname, according to the patriarch, this is mainly during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the king of the great feudal domain, so the Zhu family royal family is all the king of the clan, so the king is the surname.
Although they have now changed their surname to Wang, the generations of the villagers are still named according to the ancestral genealogy.
This is also due to the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang arranged the generations for his descendants early on, and his generations were still determined in the order of "gold, wood, water, fire and earth". In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang had already set the names of his descendants. Therefore, according to these, it can be judged that the people in the Wang family village are indeed the descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang.
There are many monarchs who can make such a detailed family tree, but among the kings of the past, Zhu Yuanzhang is the best one. It is such a family tree that Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants have been passed down from generation to generation, so until now, Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants can still be found.
In order to confirm his identity, the old man in the village also took out a painting, which made the expert's eyes light up. It turned out that it was a portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang.
According to the "Miscellaneous Records of Shuyuan , Volume 14", "Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang set painters to write the imperial appearance, and most of them were not called the purpose. Those who have realistic intentions think that they will see and appreciate, and they will see it, and the same is true. A worker probes the meaning of the above, slightly beyond the shape, and adds mu mu to the tolerance. He was very pleased, and he ordered to write several copies to give to the kings. The meaning of the cover has long been there, and it can not be known. ”
It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, once summoned painters to paint his face, but most of the paintings did not meet his wishes. Once, there was a painter who painted very similarly, and he thought that Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely be rewarded when he saw it, but when he showed it to the emperor, it was still inappropriate.
After that, a painter heard the emperor's intentions, and there was a slight similarity in the image, and then he painted it more gracefully and dignifiedly, and he dedicated it to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to see this, so he ordered the painting of several paintings to be given to the princes. It turned out that Zhu Yuanzhang's mind had long existed, but other painters could not understand it, and Zhu Yuanzhang's good portrait of people also allowed his portrait to be preserved.
Now, in order not to let these cultural relics from more than 600 years old be destroyed, or gradually lost due to the passage of time, the old people of Wangjia Village feel that they have been informed of their identity to the government, and have donated some cultural relics, including Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait, in order to get better treatment of them, and for this reason, they have also received a reward of 500 yuan and an honorary certificate from the county.
Although the 500 yuan is nothing compared to the donated cultural relics, I believe that in the hearts of the people of Wangjia Village, these cultural relics can be properly kept, and they are also happy.
References: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Ming Shi Li Zicheng, Miscellaneous Records of Shuyuan, Volume XIV