What was so special about the Yuan Dynasty? Why did Zhu Yuanzhang respect the Yuan Dynasty so much?

Zhu Yuanzhang’s recognition of the orthodox status of the Yuan Dynasty is something that people don’t quite understand. At least many people find it incredible now. Because many people now do not recognize the Yuan Dynasty at all, and believe that the existence of the Yuan Dynasty in Chinese history was a kind of colonization of China. People today don't recognize it, but Zhu Yuanzhang at that time recognized the orthodox status of the Yuan Dynasty

You know, Zhu Yuanzhang started his career by opposing the Yuan Dynasty. Moreover, he stood from the standpoint of the Han people and used anti-Mongolian methods to oppose it, which is almost the same as what some of our narrow-minded young people do now. In his "Essay on the Northern Expedition against the Yuan Dynasty", Zhu Yuanzhang specifically put forward the slogan "Expelling the barbarians, restoring China, establishing principles and discipline, and relieving the people".

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang raised this slogan was to gather people's hearts and let more people join the team to fight for Yuan. And he did have a very good effect. It was indeed because of this that Zhu Yuanzhang's entire Northern Expedition went smoothly. Zhu Yuanzhang launched eight Northern Expeditions, which turned Bei Yuan upside down and left Bei Yuan no longer able to compete with the Ming Dynasty.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang obtained such great benefits by relying on "driving out the barbarians and restoring China", he finally won the Ming Dynasty. Why didn't they continue to deny the Mongols? Instead, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, they recognized the orthodox status of the Yuan Dynasty and immediately revised the history of the Yuan Dynasty?

I think Zhu Yuanzhang had the following considerations:

First, only by recognizing the Yuan Dynasty would it not become a rootless water.

The Ming Dynasty developed on the basis of the Yuan Dynasty. As the saying goes, "turn decay into magic." For Zhu Yuanzhang, the Yuan Dynasty was "corruption" and the Ming Dynasty was "magic." Without the "corruption" of the Yuan Dynasty, there would be no "magic" of the Ming Dynasty.

To be specific, only by recognizing that the Yuan Dynasty as a dynasty has "exhausted its strength" can the Ming Dynasty "rise" as the "right emperor".

Some people may say that the Ming Dynasty does not need to recognize the Yuan Dynasty and only recognizes the Song Dynasty. It can be considered that the Ming Dynasty developed on the basis of the Song Dynasty. Wouldn't that be more convincing?

On the contrary, only recognizing the Song Dynasty but not the Yuan Dynasty would cause a lot of trouble. First, since only the Song Dynasty is recognized, then you, Zhu Yuanzhang, should not proclaim the emperor directly, but should look for a descendant of the Song Dynasty to proclaim the emperor. The second is to only recognize the Song Dynasty. The territory of the Song Dynasty was very small at that time, so the territory acquired outside the Song Dynasty was a kind of invasion. Third, if we only recognize the Song Dynasty, it would be awkward to identify the Yuan Dynasty, and Chinese history would become a chronological history.

2. Recognizing the Yuan Dynasty will help bring the people of the north back home.

The Ming Dynasty wanted to establish a unified dynasty, and it did not just want to settle in Jiangnan. Since we want to establish a unified dynasty, we must be able to get the people throughout the Yuan Dynasty to surrender. If Zhu Yuanzhang had always stood only for the Han people, or even for the Han people in the south, it would obviously not be easy for other ethnic groups in China, especially those in the north, to surrender. Because of these ethnic groups in the north, a large part of them recognized the Yuan Dynasty and submitted to the Yuan Dynasty. If Zhu Yuanzhang did not recognize the Yuan Dynasty, it would obviously be detrimental to unity.

When Zhu Yuanzhang was seeking Yuan Dynasty, his purpose was to get more southerners to join the war. The current recognition of the Yuan Dynasty is also to win more citizens to join the Ming Dynasty family.

In addition, there were many survivors of the Yuan Dynasty at that time. The so-called remnants are those who were left over from the previous dynasty and refused to serve as officials in the new dynasty.

Among these so-called survivors of the Yuan Dynasty, don’t think that they are all Mongolians or Semu people. In fact, a large number of these immigrants are Han Chinese.

The most famous among them are Yang Weizhen, Shen Menglin and Teng Kegong, who are called "the three remaining elders in the early days of the country" by the people of the Ming Dynasty. Although they participated in the compilation of "History of the Yuan Dynasty" in the Ming Dynasty, they all refused to officially serve as officials in the Ming Dynasty. However, they all lived to the age of eighty or ninety safely.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang once shouted the slogan "Expel the Tartars and restore China". But what he often said was something else. He said: Although the Yuan Dynasty was founded by the Yi and Di, they had occupied the Central Plains for nearly a hundred years, and the people depended on him for their survival. The Yuan Dynasty fell because of his strength. I, Zhu Yuanzhang, am not He overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and seized the world from the heroes.

It can be seen that in the eyes of Ming Dynasty people, everyone recognized the legitimacy of the Yuan Dynasty.