After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he made his eldest son Zhu Biao crown prince, and he was very satisfied with this heir. Unfortunately, Zhu Biaoying died young, and Zhu Yuanzhang sent a white-haired person to a black-haired person. When the crown prince died, the rest of the princes thought that they had ushered in an opportunity, but who knew that Zhu Yuanzhang finally decided to make Zhu Biao's second son Zhu Yunjiao the emperor's grandson.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhu Yunjiao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Jianwen. After Emperor Jianwen ascended to the throne, he listened to the suggestions of Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and other ministers and decided to cut the domain, thus offending all the princes of the domain. Zhu Di, the King of Yan, had always been dissatisfied with his nephew's succession to the throne, and since the cutting of the domain had touched his own interests, and the next target might be himself, he launched the Battle of Jingnan.
In the fourth year of Jianwen, Zhu Di successfully seized the throne and ascended the throne as emperor. In order to gain the affirmation of future generations, he did a lot of things before and after his accession to the throne, such as stripping Emperor Jianwen of his imperial title, claiming that he was inheriting the throne of Zhu Yuanzhang, and revising the history books. Therefore, it is recorded in the history books: "Emperor Wen was secretive, and taizu's fourth son was also." Empress Xiaocigao. ”
Zhu Di's birth mother is controversial, and until now, it has not been possible to prove who his birth mother is. At present, there are three main theories about Zhu Di's birth mother.
1. Born to The Empress Ma
Empress Ma is Zhu Yuanzhang's wife, Zhu Yuanzhang loves and respects her, if there is anyone in this world who can cure Zhu Yuanzhang, then it is None other than Empress Ma. Zhu Di claimed to be born to Empress Ma, and it is recorded in the "Decree of the King of Yan" that "Gu Yu bandit cai is the parent of his father Emperor Taizu Gao, the son of Empress Xiaoci Gao, the brother of the crown prince, and the head of the kings." ”
In addition, in the Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming and the History of Ming, it is recorded that Zhu Di was born to Empress Ma, so there is a history book as the basis, and the probability of this matter being true should be very large. However, it is well known that Zhu Di once revised the history books to conceal some facts. Therefore, even if there is historical evidence, it cannot be proved that he was born to Empress Ma.
According to the research of historians throughout the ages, it is extremely unlikely that Zhu Di's birth mother was Empress Ma.
2. Born of Concubine Qi
In many documents such as the Guoyu and the National History Examination, as well as some wild histories, it is recorded that Zhu Di was born to Concubine Qi. But this point cannot be verified, because the identity of the concubine cannot be ascertained. According to the history of Ye, Concubine Qi was a concubine of Emperor Yuan shun, and was later adopted as a concubine by Zhu Yuanzhang.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Xu Da to attack Dadu in the twenty-seventh year of Zhizheng, when Zhu Di was already born. If it was only after this that Concubine Qi married Zhu Yuanzhang, then Zhu Di was not born to her. However, the history of the wild cannot be verified, so this is only a statement.
3. Born to Concubine Yuan and Concubine Goryeo
It is recorded in the "Mongolian Origins" that Zhu Yuanzhang's concubine, when the concubine married, was already pregnant in July, and later gave birth to a son, zhu Di. Some say that it is the Yuan Princess, and some say that it is a Goryeo Concubine, so this statement is inherently contradictory and therefore undesirable.
Regardless of the several theories of the outside world, Zhu Di's birth mother has never been able to verify. Who his birth mother was, Zhu Di himself should know, but why did he insist that he was born to Empress Ma?
First of all, the fact that Zhu Di was born to Empress Ma has a low credibility. But Zhu Di's claim to have been born to her was well thought out. The patriarchal law of the Ming Dynasty was "standing on the throne", only the eldest son of the concubine was eligible to inherit the throne, and the only one born to the empress was called a concubine, and the only person born of a concubine could be called a concubine.
Zhu Di's seizure of the throne from his nephew was easy to settle down, so he did not recognize Emperor Jianwen, so that others could not say that he was usurper. Then he insisted that he was born to Empress Ma, indicating that he was a concubine, and at that time, several of his brothers had died, so he was the "eldest son of the concubine".
He did not hesitate to tamper with the history books in order to increase his "legitimacy" and make everyone recognize and accept that he was the emperor of orthodoxy. Although this practice was somewhat self-deceptive, Zhu Di could not think of a better way.
In fact, after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty and founded the "Yongle Prosperous World". Leaving aside his usurpation of the throne, future generations still praise him more than they do as an emperor. Therefore, even if he did not do those unnecessary things, it would not affect the evaluation of him by future generations, he only needed to be a good emperor.
However, it was not important to future generations, but in the environment at that time, Zhu Di had to find a way to win people's hearts and minds, so he had to take such a method. In general, Zhu Di was born to Empress Ma, and he himself lied in order to sit on the throne, and there is still controversy as to who the birth mother was.
(References "History of the Ming Dynasty", "Guoyu", etc.)