Biography

According to the History of Ming, in his early years, a Muslim general Lan Yu was a subordinate of Chang Yuchun, another general under the rebel leader Zhu Yuanzhang (later the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming). Lan Yu was also the younger brother of Chang Yuchun's wife. As Lan Yu displayed courage in battle, Chang Yuchun spoke well of him numerous times in front of Zhu Yuanzhang and Lan was later promoted from guanjun zhenfu (管軍鎮撫) to an administrative officer in the commander-in-chief's office (大都督府僉事). In 1371, Lan Yu followed Fu Youde to attack Shu (covering present-day Sichuan) and conquered Mianzhou (綿州) around present-day Mianyang. In 1372, he accompanied Xu Da on a campaign against the Northern Yuan Dynasty in Mongolia, departing from Yanmen Pass and defeating the Yuan armies at Mount Luan (亂山) and near the Tula River (土剌河). Seven years later he followed Mu Ying to attack Tibet, capturing three tribal leaders and around a thousand men. For his efforts, in 1379, Lan Yu was conferred the title of "Marquis of Yongchang" (永昌侯), in addition to receiving 2500 dan (石) of grain and a shiquan (世券), a type of plaque granted by the emperor to officials in recognition of their contributions.

In 1381, Lan Yu was appointed "Left Deputy General Who Conquers the South" (征南左副將軍) and accompanied Fu Youde to attack Yunnan and pacify the region. He was rewarded with 500 dan of grain and his daughter was granted the title of "Princess Consort of Shu" (蜀王妃). In 1387, Nahachu (納哈出) of the Northern Yuan invaded Liaodong and the Hongwu Emperor sent Feng Sheng, with Lan Yu and Fu Youde as his right and left deputies respectively, along with a 200,000-man army to attack him. Nahachu was defeated and surrendered. Lan Yu garrisoned the army at Jizhou (薊州).

In 1388, the Hongwu Emperor commissioned Lan Yu as General-in-Chief (大將軍) and sent him with 150,000 troops to attack the Northern Yuan ruler Uskhal Khan. In the fourth lunar month of that year, Lan Yu's force arrived at Buir Lake and defeated the Northern Yuan army, capturing Uskhal Khan's family members numbering more than 100, more than 77,000 civilians, more than 150,000 livestock, along with several priced items, including Uskhal Khan's imperial seals. Uskhal Khan attempted to flee to the Mongol Empire's old capital of Karakorum, but was killed shortly after the defeat. The Hongwu Emperor was pleased when he received news of Lan Yu's victory and intended to grant Lan the title of "Duke of Liang" (梁國公), but changed the Chinese character for "Liang" from "梁" to "涼" after he heard that Lan seized a Mongol noble lady for himself and violated her. This resulted in a change in the area that was to be Lan Yu's dukedom. Despite so, Hongwu still praised Lan Yu as "comparable to Wei Qing of the Han Dynasty and Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty". In 1392 a surrendered Yuan general Yuelutiemu'er (月魯帖木兒) rebelled in Jianchang (present-day Xichang, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan) and Lan Yu was sent to suppress the revolt. Lan Yu crushed the uprising and captured Yuelutiemu'er and his son, and was appointed as the Crown Prince's Tutor (太子太傅) for his achievement.

As he made more achievements, Lan Yu became more arrogant, self-indulgent and unbridled. He started abusing his power and status and behaved violently and recklessly, sometimes even showing disrespect towards the emperor. Once, after he seized land from peasants in Dongchang (東昌), an official questioned him on his actions, but Lan Yu drove the official away in anger. In another incident, after Lan Yu returned from a campaign in the north, he arrived at Xifeng Pass (喜峰關), where the guards denied him entry as it was already late at night, but Lan led his men to force his way through. When he was away at war, Lan Yu sometimes also demoted officers at his own will and defied orders, to the extent of going to battle without permission. During his appointment as the Crown Prince's Tutor, Lan Yu was unhappy that his post was lower than the dukes of Song and Ying, so he exclaimed, "Am I not fit to be the Imperial Tutor (太師)?" The Hongwu Emperor became more angry with Lan Yu after learning of these incidents.

Lan Yu had a close friendship with the crown prince Zhu Biao. Once after Lan Yu returned from a campaign against the Mongols, he warned the crown prince that Zhu Di (the Prince of Yan and future Yongle Emperor) seemed to be a likely a threat to his succession. Zhu Di heard about this, so after Zhu Biao died in 1392, he cautioned the Hongwu Emperor that Lan Yu and other founding pioneers of the dynasty were becoming a threat to the throne and should be dealt with before they get out of control. Lan Yu and others did not restrain themselves and continued behaving in the same manner as they did. Around this time, Hongwu was already making plans to eliminate them. Five months later when Hongwu appointed Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunwen (future Jianwen Emperor) as the new crown prince, he allowed Lan Yu to continue serving as the Crown Prince's Tutor.

Death

In the second lunar month of 1393, a Jinyiwei (secret police) commander Jiang Huan (蔣瓛) accused Lan Yu of plotting a rebellion and a search was conducted in Lan's residence and around 10,000 Japanese swords were found. The Hongwu Emperor immediately had Lan Yu put to death on a charge of treason. Lan Yu's clan was exterminated to the third degree and his properties confiscated. More than 15,000 people were implicated and executed in this incident, including 12 marquises and two counts. This incident is known historically as the Lan Yu Case (藍玉案). It was believed that Hongwu Emperor orchestrated his death to eliminate any threat for his successor Zhu Yunwen; ironically, Lan Yu's death contributed greatly to Zhu Yunwen's downfall as after his death, there were no capable generals that could prevent the powerful Zhu Di (future Yongle Emperor) from usurping the throne after Hongwu Emperor's death.

生平

藍玉早年隸屬於常遇春的麾下，因「臨戰勇敢，所向多捷」，所以常遇春數次在朱元璋面前稱讚藍玉，後來自「管軍鎮撫」積功升為「大都督府僉事」。

洪武四年（1371年），藍玉跟從傅友德進攻四川；洪武五年（1372年）跟從大將軍徐達征討北元，再從沐英收服吐番。由於屢立戰功，明洪武十二（1379年）年藍玉獲封永昌侯。

洪武十四年（1381年），藍玉以征南左副將軍的身分跟隨傅友德進攻雲南。洪武二十年（1387年），北元納哈出屢進遼東，朱元璋命藍玉為右副將軍，潁國公傅友德為左副將軍，跟隨征虜大將軍馮勝領軍二十萬北征。納哈出不敵，降明。藍玉等暫時移屯薊州以待其變。

洪武二十一年（1388年），朱元璋拜藍玉為大將軍，統率十五萬兵馬征伐北元脫古思帖木兒。該年四月明軍抵捕魚兒海（今內蒙古呼倫貝爾市貝爾湖），大破北元主力部隊，獲其次子地保奴、妃、公主以下百餘人，男女七萬七千餘人，並寶璽、符敕金牌、金銀印諸物，馬駝牛羊十五萬餘。脫古思帖木兒投奔蒙古舊都和林，至此，北元一蹶不振。捷報傳至京城應天府，舉國歡呼，朱元璋在大喜之下，本來打算封藍玉為梁國公，後因為聽到藍玉有逼姦元妃的劣跡，改梁為「涼」。然而朱元璋仍然在其諭中，讚譽藍玉可比漢之衛青、唐之李靖。

洪武二十四年（1392年）元降將月魯帖木兒在建昌起兵，藍玉擒月魯帖木兒父子，封太子太傅。

但是爵封國公的藍玉自恃有大功，行為開始暴戾，很多作為皆觸犯明朝的律法，此外他又在皇帝面前有損人臣之禮，令朱元璋心中對藍玉越發感到不滿。

當太子朱標還健在時，藍玉因為與朱標有戚誼，經常友好往來。有一次，藍玉自蒙古班師回朝，告知太子說：「臣觀燕王在國，舉動行止，與皇帝無異。又聞望氣者言，燕有天子氣，願殿下先事預防，審慎一二！」朱標回答藍玉：「燕王事我甚恭，決無是事。」藍玉向朱標解釋：「臣蒙殿下優待，所以密陳利害，但願臣言不驗，不願臣言幸中。」朱標沒再說甚麼。不過此事後來為燕王朱棣所知悉，到了洪武二十五年四月朱標薨逝後，燕王入朝上奏朱元璋說：「在朝公侯，縱恣不法，將來恐尾大不掉，應妥為處置」，暗批藍玉等虎將立於朝廷，要趁早抑制，否則將來難治。但是藍玉等將領依舊桀驁不馴，完全不察覺朱標的逝世已使政情丕變，因為多疑的朱元璋這時已有再大獄功臣的準備了。但是洪武二十五年九月朱元璋冊立嫡長孫朱允炆為皇太孫時，仍然命藍玉兼太孫太傅以示隆寵。

洪武二十六年（1393年）二月，錦衣衛指揮蔣瓛指控藍玉謀反，準備在明太祖躬耕籍田時發難，並在藍玉府庫內搜出近萬把倭製武士刀之說(持有刀或倭刀在明代是無罪的，萬把倭刀為旁證)，朱元璋立刻以「謀反罪」處死藍玉，抄其家產，夷三族，此案連累一萬五千人被殺，包括一公爵、十三侯爵、二伯爵，史稱「藍玉案」。

未久潁國公傅友德、定遠侯王弼、宋國公馮勝等亦在一兩年內相繼自盡或被殺。《國榷》洪武二十六年三月庚申條寫：「會寧侯張溫、都督蕭用等以黨誅。」至此，明初開國功臣幾被殺盡，僅存湯和、耿炳文等人。朱元璋最後說：「自今胡黨藍黨概赦不問。」

家庭

• 姐姐是常遇春之妻

• 外甥女常氏（常遇春之女）嫁給朱元璋長子，皇太子朱標

• 女兒嫁給朱元璋十一子朱椿

影視形象

在中國大陸製播的《朱元璋》和《傳奇皇帝朱元璋》二部歷史連續劇之中，朱元璋與張士誠激戰過後不到兩年，陳友諒發動大軍六十萬欲攻擊洪都，洪都告急，朱元璋遣藍玉率領四萬兵士和兩萬民兵前去防守，並向藍玉說｢堅守百日自有大軍援救｣，而藍玉不負所望，除原先的軍士外，和洪都的城防兵兩萬餘與陳友諒部相持百餘日，幾乎全軍覆沒，但仍殲敵數萬。在洪都城即將被陳友諒大軍攻破時，朱元璋的三十萬大軍終於趕到，徐達、傅友德等率軍衝鋒，夾擊陳友諒的漢軍。最終陳友諒軍被殲滅近十五萬慘敗而退，是役是為｢洪都之戰｣。藍玉因此獲得爵位，然而最終因｢藍玉案｣而被抄家滅族。實際上洪都之戰的守將為朱文正、鄧愈、趙德勝並非藍玉，藍玉當時隨常遇春援救安豐克呂珍，圍攻廬州，後於彭蠡的康郎山方遭遇陳友諒部。