Whenever Zhu Yuanzhang is mentioned, he always thinks of the one on TV, so I have to give you a detailed explanation.
When it comes to Mingjiao, I believe the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the Mingjiao in “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber”. In the book, the Ming Sect is regarded as a demonic path by the six major sects, and even a story of the six sects gathering at the top of the Light occurred as a result. If it weren’t for Zhang Wuji’s help, Mingjiao would have been destroyed long ago. Inside, Zhu Yuanzhang was also a member of the Ming school, but due to his limited abilities, there was not much space to introduce him in the book. Only when Zhang Wuji retired in the end did he vaguely grasp the power of the Ming Dynasty and lay a solid foundation for the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.
Some of the plot points in the book, although only depicted by the artist, lack authenticity. But in history, Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed a follower of the Ming religion, and the connection between him and the Ming religion is even deeper. The predecessor of Mingjiao was Manichaeism, originating from Persia. It regards good as light and evil as darkness. As long as it follows religious truth and God’s aspirations, light will surely overcome darkness and create a world of light. Under such teachings, a large number of people joined, which led to the prosperity of Manichaeism for a while.
However, during the Tang Dynasty, Manichaeism was suppressed by Emperor Wu of Tang and subsequently became an underground religion. Manichaeans firmly believe that light will come soon, and rebellion is the only way out. Therefore, they recruited a large number of believers and actively rebelled, starting from the Song Dynasty and sparking peasant uprisings. In the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty did not miss the opportunity. Han Linger, the Little Ming King of the Ming Dynasty (based on Zhang Wuji), rebelled under the banner of opposing the Yuan Dynasty and restoring the Song Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang was originally a poor commoner, but he also joined the Ming religion at that time. From then on, he gradually strengthened his power by adhering to the Ming religion. After possessing the ability to conquer the world, he defeated the separatist forces such as Chen Youliang in one fell swoop, and the corrupt Yuan Dynasty was no match for him. Eventually, he founded the Great Ming Dynasty and became a legendary emperor.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang was successful, but almost all of the high-ranking members of the Ming Dynasty had a bad ending. Xiaoming Wang Hanlin was thrown into the river by his men and drowned. The remaining high-level officials were either purged by Zhu Yuanzhang or defeated by the Yuan army and killed. In theory, there were almost no survivors in the senior management back then, and the world was already controlled by the old Zhu family. As a great help to him from the Mingjiao, he will naturally provide strong support.
However, reality and imagination are exactly the opposite. As a former follower of Mingjiao, Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware of its terror. This is a religion born for rebellion, and it will not cease to exist just because of the support of the state. On the contrary, they will only use this force to continue rebelling. Therefore, as soon as he took office, he announced to the world that Mingjiao was an illegal religion. At the same time, he also issued orders to arrest members of the Ming sect, resulting in countless members being killed and survivors having to hide their identities.
However, it has been proven that Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed correct. They continued to oppose the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty afterwards, but never lived peacefully.
