During the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, a case involving Hu Weiyong and a case involving Lan Yu caused panic among the people in the court. At that time, when the minister went to court, he would call out all his family members and say goodbye one by one, afraid that he wouldn’t be able to come back once he went. It can be said that the entire atmosphere was very oppressive, but there were also meritorious officials who had a good ending at that time, and Tang He was one of them. Tang He and Zhu Yuanzhang had been fighting together for a long time, and their relationship was very close. However, Tang He once said some bad things after drinking, which even spread to Zhu Yuanzhang. How did Tang He ultimately achieve self-protection?
1. Join the Volunteer Army
Tang He and Zhu Yuanzhang are from the same hometown, and they both grew up together. During his youth, Tang He often played games with a large group of children. However, happy days are always short-lived. Due to the poor economic conditions of the family, Tang He had to start his family early and go out to work to earn money to support the family. As a result, the urine around me is scattered all over the world.
When Tang He reunited with Zhu Yuanzhang again, he was already one of Guo Zixing’s thousand households. At that time, Tang He was handsome and elegant, looking very calm, while Zhu Yuanzhang joined the rebel army. At that time, they gathered with all the young people to eat and drink, and Zhu Yuanzhang felt a strange feeling in his heart as he watched others show great respect to Tang He.
Zhu Yuanzhang had once been a monk and a waiter. Seeing how others respected Tang He so much actually made Zhu Yuanzhang very envious. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang tried every means to gain the favor of Guo Zixing. Finally, Guo Zixing regarded Zhu Yuanzhang as his adopted son and gave him a name and changed his spelling.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who gained the favor of Guo Ziyi, thus became the person with the highest status in the junior high school. At that time, there were mostly young people in the hair salon, so basically no one took Zhu Yuanzhang seriously. But only Tang He saw the situation clearly. He knew that Zhu Yuanzhang was now highly favored by Guo Ziyi, so Tang He always showed great respect to Zhu Yuanzhang. And when other young people saw that Tang He was like this, they began to respect Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although Tang He appears gentle and refined, in reality he is still a very brave warrior. During the campaign against Chen Yexian, Tang He was shot several times, but he remained calm. Tang He immediately pulled out the thread on his leg, which was still bleeding, but he immediately rushed to the battlefield to fight with the enemy. Therefore, in the process of Zhu Yuanzhang establishing power and politics, Tang He was actually an indispensable figure.
2. Resignation and return home
Although Tang He is an excellent person, he actually has a fatal flaw. Tang He is a person who loves drinking very much, and whenever he drinks too much, he tends to overeat. Once, after consulting with Zhu Yuanzhang, he did not receive a response. So he felt unhappy and drank some wine. After finishing it, he said some absurd things.
After learning about it, Zhu Yuanzhang, although he didn’t say anything at the time, began to settle old accounts with Tang He after unification. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was about to conquer all regions, so without any worries, he began to criticize Tang He. Therefore, although Tang He’s qualifications are very old, he still cannot be conferred the title of Duke.
Afterwards, Tang He repeatedly pleaded guilty to Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang only granted him the title of Duke of Xinguo out of necessity. However, Zhu Yuanzhang often spoke of his mistakes in front of Tang He, in order to keep him vigilant. But in Tang He’s heart, he was originally a minister who had made great achievements in the war, and Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly attacked him, which also caused him to have an unbalanced mentality.
Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang completely pacified the Central Plains, Tang He directly requested to resign from his official position and return home to retire. After the incident of getting drunk, Zhu Yuanzhang did not give Tang He a good face, but at this time, he specially held a banquet for Tang He to practice. At this farewell banquet, Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy and promised to build a mansion for Tang He.
3. To have a good ending
Returning to his hometown, Tang He stopped mentioning national affairs and devoted himself wholeheartedly to his elderly leisure life. Tang He visited many scenic spots and reunited with many old friends.
In addition, Tang He also distributed Zhu Yuanzhang’s rewards to all his fellow villagers. The most crucial thing is that Tang He also dismissed all the concubines, maids, and others in his family, and he enjoyed his old age alone. Although he was a bit lonely, he was still very relaxed.
Two years later, Tang He suffered a serious illness, during which he completely lost his ability to speak. After hearing about this, Zhu Yuanzhang went to visit Tanghe. Looking at Tang River on the sickbed, Zhu Yuanzhang’s emotions were mixed in an instant. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang remembered Tang He from back then, and in an instant, decades of dissatisfaction had all dissipated.
Although Tang He said many absurd things due to drunkenness in his early years, his loyalty to the country is fully evident. Tang He remained loyal to Zhu Yuanzhang, even though Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied with him, Tang He continued to fight for him. During the establishment of the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Yuanzhang, Tang He indeed played an irreplaceable role.
