However, although Shen Wansan had endless wealth, he was exiled by Zhu Yuanzhang, and his descendants were suppressed by Zhu Yuanzhang in every way. So, who is Shen Wansan? Why did Zhu Yuanzhang kill Shen Wansan? What was the final outcome of Shen Wansan?
To understand the reasons for all this, we must first know more about Shen Wansan.
Who's Shen Wansan?
Shen Wansan was the richest man in Jiangnan in Ming Dynasty. At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Shen Wansan was synonymous with the God of Wealth. Even among the people, there are stories about Shen Wansan and the cornucopia.
Rumor has it that Shen Wansan has a cornucopia at home. Every night, in the vast moonlight, the cornucopia can directly grow gold and silver treasures, so Shen Wansan is as rich as an enemy.
Although the story is just a legend, Shen Wansan's wealth is real. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang made Nanjing his capital, but he had no money to build the city wall. In order to be nice to him, Shen Wansan offered to help Zhu Yuanzhang build the city wall and reward the three armed forces. These rumors are enough to illustrate the wealth of Shen Wansan.
As early as the mid-Yuan Dynasty, Shen Wansan moved to Zhouzhuang with his father. After he became rich, he always regarded Suzhou as an important place for his business.
Enrich the family
Although Shen Wansan's story is legendary, at first, he actually earned his first bucket of gold by farming.
Zhouzhuang land is fertile and suitable for farming. Therefore, although Shen Wansan's home is only a low-lying land, it has quickly become a field with high local yield due to Shen Wansan's efforts.
According to ancient records, Shen Wansan "cultivated land as his occupation, and opened up farmland houses in happy ever after". One of the eight scenic spots in Zhouzhuang, "Dongzhuang Snow", is to reproduce the scene when he plowed the land in Zhouzhuang.
Although Shen Wansan was diligent and pragmatic, he worked hard, but his first bucket of gold was given by Lu, a wealthy businessman at that time. Lu is an important figure in Shen Wansan's life. He appreciates Shen Wansan's intelligence and wisdom, as well as his honesty and trustworthiness.
At that time, he was over 70 years old and had already seen through the world of mortals. He knew that "people are innocent, but they are guilty of carrying a bag", so he simply gave all his money to Shen Wansan, lived freely among mountains and rivers, and became an idle Taoist.
After Shen Wansan got this wealth, he bought more land. At the same time, he also knows that he is in Zhouzhuang, and the water transportation is convenient. If he didn't take advantage of this convenience, he would actively trade in water.
He knew how to exchange needed goods, transported inland silk and porcelain overseas by water, and bought back things lacking inland, such as jewelry and ivory, from which he profited, and his wealth exploded again, eventually becoming an extremely rich businessman.
Shen Wansan was good at outing, making friends and giving charity, but all these failed to change his tragic fate in the end. So, why did Zhu Yuanzhang kill Shen Wansan? What efforts did Shen Wansan make to avoid the fate of property exile?
Help Zhang Shicheng.
If there is any reason why Zhu Yuanzhang began to kill his heart, this reason must bear the brunt. It was extremely difficult and dangerous for Zhu Yuanzhang to carry the banner of rebellion, save the people in from the mire and finally claim the title of king. And one of the two biggest enemies is Zhang Shicheng.
When Zhang Shicheng and Zhu Yuanzhang competed for the world, he set the capital in Suzhou. At that time, the main development location of Shen Wansan was also in Suzhou.
Maybe Shen Wanshan respected the brave Zhang Shicheng, or maybe he was forced to. Anyway, when Zhang Shicheng competed in the Central Plains, Shen Wansan gave Zhang Shicheng a lot of help. Zhang Shicheng thanked Shen Wansan very much, and even set up a meritorious monument for him to commend his achievements.
These actions undoubtedly made an issue with Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang attacked Suzhou, but he could not attack it for a long time. I wonder if he hates Shen Wansan.
Secondly, Zhu Yuanzhang was born in poverty and had a grudge against the rich. After pacifying the world, I naturally turned my attention to Shen Wansan. Even if Shen Wansan took the initiative to build the Nanjing City Wall in order to calm Zhu Yuanzhang's anger in the future, it would be of no help, and he could only reward the painstaking armed forces.
Finally, Shen Wansan, the richest man in Suzhou, likes to make friends at ordinary times and has formed a force in the local area. Even if Shen Wansan really wanted to defect later, it was still a threat to Zhu Yuanzhang.
After years of war, Zhu Yuanzhang himself was very suspicious, and naturally he couldn't keep Shen Wansan.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang began to crack down on Shen Wansan, and each time he was more ruthless, he began to spare no effort to crack down on Shen Wansan.
Strike first
After Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng, Shen Wansan has become a thorn in his heart, which must be quickly removed.
Shen Wansan also anticipated Zhu Yuanzhang's dissatisfaction with him, so he took the initiative to build the city wall and helped Zhu Yuanzhang reward the army. But obviously Zhu Yuanzhang didn't appreciate him.
According to the Ming History, Shen Wansan offered to help Zhu Yuanzhang repair the city wall. Zhu Yuanzhang was not only dissatisfied, but also said; "It is right to punish a person who ruined the soldiers and civilians in the world."
It can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang thinks that Shen Wansan is a rabble and should be punished, and his attitude towards him is abhorrent.
Even Ma Huanghou, who has always been known for his kindness, wanted to remonstrate. He could only say, "Heaven punishes those who are unlucky. What is your majesty's punishment? " It's Shi Xiu, defending Yunnan. "
Ma Huanghou knew Zhu Yuanzhang's aversion to Shen Wansan, so he couldn't directly remonstrate, so he could only persuade him to exile in Yunnan. After Ma Huanghou's persuasion, Zhu Yuanzhang eased his anger a little, but he exiled Shen Wansan to Yunnan.
second strike
After Zhu Yuanzhang's exile in Shen Wansan, the surplus slaves remained, and he felt that Shen Wansan's influence had not been eliminated. So he began to persecute his grandson.
A few years later, Zhu Yuanzhang arrested Shen Wansan's son Wang Shen and his two grandsons, and put them both in prison. Direct descendants of Shen Wanshan, as a result, shenyang is really weakened.
The third blow
The third blow is the last and most violent blow. Someone reported to Zhu Yuanzhang that Shen Wansan's son-in-law, Gu, was closely related to Aquamarine and supported Aquamarine's rebellion.
Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and immediately decided to crack down on Shen Wansan's family. He immediately ordered the beheading of Shen Wansan's son-in-law and all the others in Shen Wansan, and confiscated their property and land again. After a series of blows, the power of the Shen Wansan family was finally wiped out.
Shen Wansan is rich, but it's really a shame that he ended up like this. It is enough to see the sinister nature of human nature, and people have to guard against it.