In 1294, Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, died. In 1398, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, died. These two people are said because they both made the same decision before they died, that is, to pass the throne to their grandson. After the death of these two men, they were not succeeded to the throne by their own sons, but by their grandsons. However, it was also passed on to his grandson, but the result was completely different. Kublai Khan passed the throne to his grandson and the Yuan Dynasty transitioned peacefully. Zhu Yuanzhang passed the throne to his grandson, but the Battle of Jingnan broke out. The same founding emperors, all passed on the throne to their grandsons, why did the results differ?
Since the establishment of the imperial system, the most common inheritance system has been the succession of fathers and sons. After the emperor's death, the throne was returned to his son. No matter which son it is, it must be a son. Of course, there are also some that are passed on to others. For example, the emperor passed the throne to his brothers, and this pattern of brotherhood and brotherhood is also common, after all, there are many emperors without sons, which is normal. Others passed the throne to their nephews, which was also caused by the lack of sons. The above is still normal, and many people can understand. However, it is still relatively rare for people like Kublai Khan and Zhu Yuanzhang to pass on the throne to their grandsons.
In 1293, a year before Kublai Khan's death, he made his grandson Timur his grandson, Timur, officially established himself as his heir. Timur was made heir because his father had died. Kublai Khan originally wanted to pass it on to his father; in 1292, Zhu Yuanzhang made his grandson Zhu Yunjiao the emperor's grandson, and also established his status as the heir to the throne. Zhu Yunjiao's father, Zhu Biao, was originally the crown prince and also died early, so Zhu Yuanzhang passed the throne to Zhu Yunjiao. Both were established as heirs before the emperor's death, and they both safely inherited the throne after the emperor's death. However, it is also Ping'an who inherited the throne, why one can be peacefully inherited, but the other was overthrown in the Battle of Jingnan. Let's look at the general rationale.
First of all, the Ming Dynasty did not have a sub-feudal system of the Yuan Dynasty, which is crucial. Although the Yuan Dynasty was founded by the Mongols, Kublai Khan accepted a large amount of Han culture, and it can be said that they were founded by the Sinicized Mongols. The Yuan Dynasty fully studied the system of the previous dynasties in China and innovated the previous system. Although the Mongols had a tradition of dividing fiefs, the Rulers of the Yuan Dynasty did not divide the fiefs within the territory of the Yuan Dynasty. The members of the Yuan dynasty royal family did hold a lot of power, but they did not have their own fiefs. Without a fiefdom, there was no capital to rebel against the imperial court, so even if the members of the Yuan dynasty royal family did not want Kublai Khan to pass the throne to his grandson, it was still difficult to oppose it.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, there was a system with great drawbacks - the sub-feudal system. Zhu Yuanzhang sealed all his descendants and went to various places to take the domain. Most of the fiefdoms of these clan kings were at the border, which was used to ensure border security. It is precisely in this way that the kings of the clan have their own armies, and the combat effectiveness of the armies is relatively strong. There were fiefs and fiefs, which were the capital of the Ming Dynasty clan kings against the central government. Because of this, it was easier for them to oppose the central government than the Yuan Dynasty. If there had been no sub-feudal system, perhaps the Ming Dynasty would not have had the Battle of Jingnan, and Zhu Di would never have become emperor.
Secondly, the central system of the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty was very different. When the Ming Dynasty was first established, it basically completely inherited the system of the Yuan Dynasty. However, later the Ming Dynasty made corresponding changes to the system of the Yuan Dynasty, the biggest change of which was the abolition of the beggar system, all the power was transferred to the emperor, and the absolute monarchy was strengthened. Strengthening absolute monarchy is not necessarily a bad thing, but everything has advantages and disadvantages, and the disadvantage of this matter is that the monarch's power is too large, and the power of the ministers is relatively small.
The yuan dynasty's ministers were very powerful, especially the chancellor, and sometimes even deposed the emperor. This system was a threat to imperial power, but when someone opposed the emperor, whether central or local, as long as the ministers supported the emperor, even if the emperor fainted. Those who opposed the emperor also had a hard time succeeding. That is to say, the influence of the chancellor on the emperor in the center is still very large. In contrast, in the Ming Dynasty, if the local government opposed the central government, the monarch did not react quickly, and it was difficult for the ministers to suppress it successfully. Because the ministers have too little power in their hands, they are not powerful enough to suppress those who oppose the central government. The ministers of the Ming Dynasty had little influence on the emperor. In this case, if there are people who oppose the emperor at the same time. The decisions of the Ming emperors will have a great influence on the outcome, while the decisions of the Yuan emperors have a relatively small impact, and the decisions of the ministers are also very important.
Third, Kublai Khan's grandson, Bo'er, only Jin Timur, had the support of his mother and important ministers. Zhu Yuanzhang's grandson Zhu Yunjiao did not have so many people to support. When Timur succeeded to the throne, his mother supported him, and his mother was the empress dowager, which had a great influence on the political situation in any era. In addition to his mother, there is also Boyan's support for Timur. Boyan was an important minister of Wenneng ruling the country and Wuneng Anbang. He personally led an army of 200,000 to destroy the Song Dynasty, and his influence was great both in the army and in the DPRK. As mentioned earlier, the ministers of the Yuan Dynasty had great power. With the support of such ministers and empresses, Timur's throne would certainly be secure.
Look at Zhu Yunjiao again. When Zhu Yunjue succeeded to the throne, he was also supported by someone, his mother supported him, and many ministers such as Huang Zicheng also supported him. However, compared with the Yuan Dynasty, this support is relatively small. Because the empress dowager and courtiers of the Yuan Dynasty were far more powerful than the Ming Dynasty. The imperial power of the Ming Dynasty was the largest, and no one else could compete with the imperial power. The Yuan Dynasty, on the other hand, was different, with the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Court also wielding important power.
Fourth, Zhu Yuanzhang was not as old as Kublai Khan when he died. Many people think that the age of Kublai Khan and Zhu Yuanzhang's death should have nothing to do with future generations, in fact, there is still a certain relationship between them. Kublai Khan was 79 years old when he died, and Zhu Yuanzhang was 70 years old when he died. When Kublai Khan died, few of his sons were alive, and even if they were alive, they were very old and did not pose much of a threat to Timur. When Zhu Yuanzhang died, there were still many people alive among his sons, which was still a certain threat to Zhu Yunjiao. Of course, they all have many grandchildren alive. However, the threat to the emperor's grandson among the grandchildren is far less than that of the children.
In addition to the difference in the number of sons living, there are also differences in the age of Timur and Zhu Yunjiao when they succeeded to the throne. When Kublai Khan died, Timur was 29 years old. When Zhu Yuanzhang died, Zhu Yunjiao was 21 years old. In terms of age, Timur is older than Zhu Yunjiao. It should be known that the older you are, the political situation is relatively stable when you succeed to the throne. After all, their experiences are different.
This is why Kublai Khan and Zhu Yuanzhang passed the throne to their grandson at the same time, but the solution was different. The same founding father, making the same decision, but the solution is completely different. After Kublai Khan passed the throne to his grandson Timur, Timur peacefully inherited the throne, and then passed it on. After Zhu Yuanzhang passed the throne to his grandson Zhu Yunjiao, although Zhu Yunjiao's rule was overthrown, no matter how to inherit the throne or Zhu Yuanzhang's son Zhu Di, after all, they were all family. Moreover, after Zhu Di's death, the throne was also passed down peacefully, and the Ming Dynasty was also passed down relatively well. If you look at it this way, the result is the same.
Resources:
"History of the Yuan", "History of the Ming Dynasty"