Among the many princes of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, if you look at it according to the account of the "History of Ming", whether it is the emperor's favor or military merit, it seems that the fourth prince Zhu Di, that is, the later Ming Chengzu Yongle Emperor, is outstanding. The crown prince, Zhu Biao, is lackluster and seems to be very benevolent. If according to the principle of the initial decision of the world and the establishment of a powerful prince as the heir, it would also be wise to choose Zhu Di. However, Zhu Yuanzhang chose Zhu Biao as the crown prince, and even after Zhu Biao's death, he also appointed Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunjiao as the heir, and did not allow other princes to interfere with the right of succession. Many people regret this, but when you think about it, there is a lot of mystery here.
Advantages of Zhu Biao
First of all, it must be said that Zhu Yuanzhang's feelings for his "concubines" are not generally deep. Empress Xiaoci of the Ma clan and Zhu Yuanzhang were true friends of tribulation. Zhu Yuanzhang was once a soldier under Guo Zixing, and he was imprisoned for offending the marshal and was not allowed to eat. At this time, it was Ma Shi who carried the hot cake to bring him food, so that his chest was burned. For Zhu Yuanzhang, who is accustomed to seeing the cold and warm of the world, this deep affection is extremely rare and is also particularly worth cherishing.
Moreover, the virtuousness of Ma Shi is also emotional. Zhu Yuanzhang was born in the military, and sometimes as soon as his temper came up, he did not take killing people seriously. At this time, it was Ma Shi's advice, which made him kill a lot of people less, so he also made a lot of mistakes. Later, after Ma's death, Zhu Yuanzhang never made another empress, which shows the status of Ma's in his heart.
The first child born to Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Shi was the crown prince Zhu Biao. Therefore, in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, loving Wu and Wu, he would naturally look at Zhu Biao differently. Moreover, Zhu Biao's ability is not bad, although he studied the traditional education of Confucianism, he is not a useless student. On weekdays, he is filial to his parents and friendly to his brothers, but at key moments, he is never soft. He went to visit the state and county many times in place of his father, and each time he was able to live up to his mission. Moreover, Zhu Biao was a sociable person, and the first person in the military circle at that time, Lan Yu, was Zhu Biao's nemesis. It can be seen from this that Zhu Biao's ability to ascend to the throne is supported by four major reasons: "Li Yuan, Li Chang, Li Xian, and Li Ai".
Zhu Di's lies
After Zhu Di seized the throne, he repeatedly publicly declared that he was born to Empress Xiaoci ma. However, this does not seem to be true. There was once a Korean envoy named Kwon Jin, who wrote a book called The Book of Envoys. It is recorded that on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar of a certain year, he once paid homage to the King of Yan in Beiping, but that day was the death day of the mother of the King of Yan, and Zhu Di did not see the guest, so Quan Jin could only return. However, the "History of Ming" clearly records that Empress Ma died on the tenth day of the first month of August, so it is impossible for Zhu Di to be born to Empress Ma herself. As for who was Zhu Di's biological mother, there are two theories in history, Mongolian concubines and Korean concubines, but in the end it is impossible to determine. It can be seen that Zhu Di is undoubtedly the son of Shu Chu.
In addition, it seems that among Zhu Yuanzhang's many sons, Zhu Di is not favored. On the contrary, Zhu Yuanzhang did not seem to be very reassured about this son. Zhu Di's ability is indeed beyond doubt, he twice went deep into the desert, summoned the Mongol Nai'er Buhua, once captured the Northern Yuan general Sorin Timur, and even made Zhu Yuanzhang shout out "Purge the desert, the King of Yan also". However, judging from some details in the History of Ming, it seems that Zhu Di, the King of Yan, is not exclusive.
Zhu Yuanzhang's third son, Zhu Tang, the Prince of Jin, was also a man who had accompanied the army on expeditions to the desert, and his merits were also not small. Moreover, he alone guarded the shanxi front, not only did he have a lot of soldiers in his hands, but he was also able to restrain his brother Zhu Gui, which was equivalent to having the strength of two princes at the same time. Zhu Di did not enjoy such a special honor. And more importantly, Zhu Tang, the King of Jin, was also a concubine.
Zhu Quan, the seventeenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the King of Ning, was not inferior in strength and ability to Zhu Di, the King of Yan. There is a sentence in the "Ming Tongjian": The King of Yan is good at war, and the King of Ning is good at plotting, which shows the ability of this person. At the same time, he also had the Mongol cavalry "Duoyan Sanwei" that surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, so the strength of the cavalry even surpassed that of Zhu Di, the King of Yan.
It can be seen from this that among the kings of the northern border at that time, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, was by no means a single family, so it was impossible to talk about enjoying Zhu Yuanzhang's special care. From beginning to end, in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, he was an ordinary prince, but his strength was stronger. It can be seen that Zhu Di is not a concubine, not a long, although virtuous, but also does not enjoy special love. The gap between him and Zhu Biao is still extremely obvious.