The Ming Dynasty had 16 emperors: Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunjiao, Zhu Di, Zhu Gaozi, Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Qiyu, Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Youfan, Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houxi, Zhu Zaiyuan, Zhu Yijun, Zhu Changluo, Zhu Youxiao, and Zhu Youjian.
The Ming Tombs in Beijing, also known as the Ming Tombs, are the tombs where the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty were buried, but there were 16 emperors in the Ming Dynasty, why are there only 13 emperors' mausoleums? So why didn't the other 3 emperors enter the Ming Tombs after their deaths? Who are these 3 emperors?
The three emperors were Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunjiao, and Zhu Qiyu, and they did not enter the Ming Tombs in Beijing for different reasons.
1. Zhu Yuanzhang
Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, with its capital in Nanjing. This is an inspirational emperor who is very famous in history. Zhu Yuanzhang died in Nanjing in 1398 at the age of 71.
When Zhu Yuanzhang died, the Ming Tombs had not yet begun to be built, and at that time, Beijing was still the fiefdom of Zhu Di, the King of Yan, and Zhu Yuanzhang certainly could not choose to be buried in his son's fiefdom.
Another reason is that Zhu Yuanzhang had just established the Ming Dynasty at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and there were still some Yuan Dynasty forces at work, in order to deter them Zhu Yuanzhang chose to be buried in Nanjing.
Zhu Yuanzhang's mausoleum, near the Purple Mountain, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, is now the Ming Xiaoling Tomb, which is the joint burial mausoleum of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, and is also the head of the Ming Tombs.
The Ming Tomb is magnificent from the outside, with 100,000 pine trees planted and 1,000 deer raised inside. Representing the highest achievement of architecture and stone carving art in the early Ming Dynasty, 100,000 military industries were successively mobilized, and it took 25 years to complete in the third year of Yongle.
Liu Xujie, vice president of the Architectural Society of China and professor of architecture at Southeast University, said: "The Ming Tombs represent the artistic achievements of ming dynasty royal architecture, and are the epitome of Chinese mausoleum architecture and mausoleum culture."
The Ming Tomb embodies the talents of artists, politicians and architects in the early Ming Dynasty and is a very important cultural heritage of our country.
2. Zhu Yunjiao
This was the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Jianwen Emperor, the son of Zhu Biao, the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang, who performed very well in all aspects and was Zhu Yuanzhang's most optimistic successor to the emperor.
Zhu Biao, as the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang, died without succeeding to the throne, and at this time Zhu Yuanzhang did not consider his second son Zhu Di when choosing an heir, because Zhu Di was not born to him and Empress Wang, but chose Zhu Yunjiao, who was only 16 years old, as the emperor's grandson.
After Zhu Yunjiao succeeded to the throne, he forcibly cut the domain, which caused strong dissatisfaction among the princes headed by Zhu Di, who had made great achievements in the battlefield for many years, and originally thought that after the death of his brother Zhu Biao, he was the first candidate for the throne.
For the above two reasons, Zhu Di held a grudge against Zhu Yunjiao, so he rebelled in order to protect his own safety when Zhu Yunjiao said that he was cutting the domain, which was a great war between uncles and nephews.
Zhu Di had been fighting for many years and had a lot of combat experience, but Zhu Yunjiao could not use people and had no experience, so the situation of this war quickly moved overwhelmingly closer to Zhu Di's side.
When Zhu Di hit Nanjing, Zhu Yunjiao set fire to the imperial palace, and the palace was immediately burned into a sea of fire, Zhu Yunjiao disappeared in the fire, and even his body could not be found later, and later Zhu Di searched for many unsuccessful results.
After Zhu Di's rebellion was successful, in order to strengthen his capital and move the capital to Beijing, he began to build a mausoleum, so even if Zhu Yunjiao's body was found, he would not be buried in the Ming Tombs.
3. Zhu Qiyu
Zhu Qiyu was the younger brother of Zhu Qizhen, who was captured at the age of 23 during the imperial conquest, and the country could not be without a monarch for a day, so Zhu Qiyu inherited the throne and ascended to the emperor's throne.
But unexpectedly, it was not long before Zhu Qizhen was released, and when he returned, he found that his preparation for the throne could only be planted. However, Zhu Qiyu, in order to prevent trouble, imprisoned his brother for seven years.
However, unexpectedly, Zhu Qiyu soon fell ill, and Zhu Qizhen waited for an opportunity to seize the throne. Zhu Qizhen was seized of the throne and imprisoned for seven years, and after the successful seizure of the throne, Zhu Qiyu's imperial title was abolished.
After Zhu Qiyu's death, Zhu Qizhen hated what he had done, so he did not bury him according to the emperor's specifications, of course, he was not buried in the Thirteen Tombs, but was randomly buried by his brother in the Jingtai Mausoleum near Yuquan Mountain, and also gave him a vicious name: 戾.