Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had 26 sons in his lifetime. Although the number is large, there are not many instruments. Therefore, the more Zhu Yuanzhang reached his old age, the more worried he became: "The Ming Dynasty, after the death of the world, who will sit best?"
The eldest son, Zhu Biao, was of course the most suitable candidate, and Zhu Biao was said to be the son of Empress Ma. As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang ascended to the throne, he gave Empress Ma a "reassuring pill" and made the 13-year-old Zhu Biao the crown prince, the future leader of the Ming Dynasty. It can also be regarded as worthy of this strange woman who is in love with each other.
Zhu Yuanzhang hired The Famous Scholar Song Lian of Zhejiang and others as the prince's teachers, hoping to train Zhu Biao to become a qualified successor emperor. After 25 years of meticulous cultivation, Zhu Biao is 38 years old, and the ability to inherit his father's throne is available, but Zhu Biao's body is not good.
In January 1392, after Zhu Biao returned from an inspection in Shaanxi, he grew a large sarcoma on his body, and the whole person was tortured to sleep and eat, which was extremely painful. Zhu Biao's eldest son, Zhu Xiongying, had died ten years earlier, and his father was served by his second son, Zhu Yunjiao. Zhu Yunjiao was only 14 years old and stayed by his father's side day and night. At least in 1392 AD, this year's "touching China's great filial piety" was done.
Zhu Yunjiao was a partial head, and Zhu Yuanzhang gave him the nickname of "Half Moon". Zhu Yunjiao grew up in the deep palace and grew up among intellectuals. Not only knowledgeable, but also obedient. But he has a gentle personality, his heart is too soft, his face is not thick, and his heart is not dark. Zhu Biao fell ill for four months and eventually died prematurely. For the diligent old emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao's death was not an ordinary pain of losing his son. Because there is no successor to the Ming Dynasty, what about the fate of the entire Ming Dynasty? So many generals have heavy troops in their hands, how to restrain them specifically? This incident tormented the old emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, causing him not to ascend to the throne for nearly a month.
Zhu Yuanzhang had to re-choose an heir. The King of Zhou, the King of Jin, the King of Yan and others all had great ambitions. The King of Qin was absurd, a pool of mud that could not be supported by the wall, and almost deposed the king; the king of Jin was brutal in appearance, illegal and disciplined, but in essence he was a coward; King Lu was a big fool who ate dan medicine for a long time and ate his eyes blindly; some of the other princes were murderous, some indulged in wine, and a few instruments, but they were all artists with no political experience in martial arts.
The old emperor Zhu Yuanzhang sighed a long time, and now only the fourth son Zhu Di, the King of Yan, and Zhu Biao's second son, Zhu Yunjiao, could consider it. Zhu Yunjiao took good care of his three younger brothers very well, and Zhu Yuanzhang saw all this in his eyes. Zhu Yuanzhang has mixed feelings for Zhu Yunjiao and is mixed with his benevolent character. Can his weak shoulders bear the heavy responsibility of governing the Ming Dynasty? So kind and gentle, like a rabbit, what a big shortcoming. Because to be an emperor, you must have the fierce character of lions and tigers, otherwise, you will be eaten by lions and tigers in the political arena.
Zhu Yuanzhang had quietly consulted the chancellor on the issue of lishu. He asked Liu Sanwu, a scholar of Hanlin, "The crown prince is dead, the emperor's eldest grandson is young and ignorant, and it is necessary to choose the right person to govern the country. "Liu Sanwu is an intellectual, and when you ask him who is the crown prince, he certainly only recommends his own kind. His head shook like a rattle, "Li Yan Wang absolutely can't do it." If the King of Yan is established, then what about the King of Qin and the King of Jin? The emperor's eldest grandson, Zhu Yunjiao, returned to his heart, and everyone supported him. You can sleep in peace. ”
The civilian officials supported Zhu Yunjiao because he was a literati, a great filial piety, and a very good person. After coming to power, he can practice civilized and moral governance, rather than militarized high-pressure dictatorship. Zhu Yuanzhang's rule was too fierce, and the officials secretly cried bitterly, and no one could eat for a long time. Objectively, the state needs a gentle and benevolent emperor who will let the people rest their feet and breathe.
For the emperor's eldest grandson Zhu Yunjiao, Zhu Yuanzhang greatly admired his filial piety. Because in the fierce struggle for the throne, "filial piety" is the secret weapon to seize the right to inherit the throne. But for the fourth son Zhu Di, Zhu Yuanzhang is also very appreciative, especially admiring his "martial" skills. This is a special advantage that Zhu Yunwen does not have.
Zhu Di grew up smelling the smoke of war, and on April 17, 1360, the year that Chen Youyi attacked Nanjing, Zhu Di was born in Nanjing. He was crowned King of Yan at the age of 11, married Xu Da's eldest daughter at the age of 17, and became a vassal of Beiping at the age of 20. Zhu Di's talent was not under Zhu Yuanzhang, and the bow shooting was not a problem. In particular, he likes to fight wars, is very resourceful, and knows how to win wars. As a rare warrior and wise figure, Zhu Di can be described as a generation of "gods of war".
This year he was 33 years old, just when his energy and physical strength were the most mature and vigorous, in terms of talent and open-mindedness, Zhu Di was better than Zhu Yunjiao. Once everyone was watching horse racing in the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang came out of the upper league, "the wind blows a thousand lines of horsetails", Zhu Yunwen has no experience in fighting, and what he sees is only ordinary trivia. Holding back enough to come up with the next link, "rain hits wool a piece of felt", soft and spongy, no taste. And Zhu Di has seen the world, and cleverly paired up with the "Rizhao Dragon Scale Ten Thousand Points of Gold". The arrogance was grand, and Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy to hear it.
Zhu Di, the King of Yan, took the throne of Beiping and made him the head of the clan kings. Together with the King of Ning, the King of Jin, the King of Su, the King of Qin, etc., sealed the country along the Great Wall and guarded the border for the Son of Heaven. Resisted the invasion of the Mongols in the north and became known as the King of Sai. Zhu Yuanzhang allowed them to have 3,000 guards, up to a maximum of 19,000. The Kings of Yan, Jin, and Qin were the most powerful, and they were repeatedly ordered to attack the Mongols. Even generals like Fu Youde and Lan Yu had to obey the command of king Sai.
In particular, Zhu Di, the King of Yan, had the heavy responsibility of controlling the northern gateway and was able to directly command an army of up to 300,000 people. The military decided on its own, and only matters of great importance were reported to Zhu Yuanzhang. In 1390 AD, a battle made Zhu Diwei, who was only 30 years old, famous. Just after New Year's Day of that year, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the King of Yan and the King of Jin to divide their forces and attack together, crushing the Yuan Dynasty's chancellor "bite" and "Nai'er does not spend".
Zhu Di first sent a few sentries to scout around to find out the exact location of Nai'er's flowers. In March, it snowed heavily, and the wasteland was covered in silver. It was very difficult for the carriages and horses to march heavily, and the soldiers were frozen and shivering. The generals asked the Yan king to camp and wait for the snow and wind to find a way. Zhu Di said, "The fighter plane is right in front of your eyes, how come you can't see it?" This is a great time to win by surprise. He ordered the army to brave the wind and snow and move forward quickly. When the army appeared in front of Nell Buhua, he was still roasting fire in the tent. Zhu Di besieged but did not annihilate, and Pai Nai'er's good friend who did not spend flowers descended to persuade Guan Tong to surrender. But instead of knowing that it was an egg touching a stone, he had to ask to descend. Zhu Di set up a banquet with wine, and the wine was very painful, which made Nai'er not spend a lot of time, and took the initiative to ask for persuasion to "bite". Zhu Di's first large-scale expedition, the soldiers did not bloodshed and won a great victory, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very happy and rewarded him with 1 million ingots of treasure money. He also praised Zhu Di: "It is up to you to sweep away the Mongols in the desert."
And the other way to the king, by nature cowardly. As soon as he set foot on the land of Genghis Khan's conquest, he lost his legs and stopped walking for three days. I didn't dare to go deep into the hinterland of Mongolia, and I couldn't even hit a rabbit.
It is reasonable to say that Zhu Yuanzhang should indeed pass the throne to Zhu Di, the King of Yan. Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang were of the same kind, with great talent and great talent, and their abilities were more outstanding than Zhu Yunjiao's in all aspects, and they were more suitable for being emperors. But the issue of bloodline brought Great Trouble to Zhu Di.
The primogeniture system has continued in China for thousands of years, and even Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, could not jump out of this ancient rule. It is required to be a concubine, that is, it must be the son born to Empress Ma. Zhu Di was not only not born to Empress Ma, but his biological mother was likely to be a person of inferior status, so Zhu Yuanzhang would not choose Zhu Di to succeed him. According to the Taichang Temple, the official institution that manages the rituals and rituals of the Temple, a concubine named "Shuo Concubine" gave birth to Zhu Di.
Zhu Di claimed that the empress had tampered with the Records of Taizu, and all the information obtained had been tampered with, desperately trying to prove that he was Empress Ma's own child. He also produced a lot of legal evidence that he was emperor, that Zhu Yuanzhang intended to pass the throne to him, and that a Piece of Korean history was enough to expose Zhu Di's lies.
In 1389 AD, Joseon Shi Chenquan and others paid homage to the King of Yan in Beiping, and after returning to China, he wrote a "Record of Envoys" saying that he went to the palace of the Yan king in Beiping to meet the King of Yan, but it was very unfortunate that it was the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which was the death day of the mother of the King of Yan, and the King of Yan did not see the guests. However, Empress Ma's death date is the tenth day of the first month of August, so Zhu Di is not Empress Ma's own child.
Only the eldest son of the concubine to inherit the throne was supported by everyone, and Zhu Di was not empress Ma's own son, so after weighing it, Zhu Yuanzhang made an extremely difficult decision and made the 16-year-old Zhu Yunjiao the emperor's grandson. This made Zhu Di very angry and very unconvinced. Once, he patted the back of the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunjiao with his hand and said sarcastically, "I didn't expect my nephew to have today's glory!" ”
This scene happened to be seen by Zhu Yuanzhang, who immediately scolded Zhu Di in a loud voice: "How dare you be so rude to the Emperor's grandson?" Zhu Yunjiao hurriedly hit the round field, so as not to embarrass Zhu Di very much.
In the second year of emperor's grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang was still worried that Zhu Yunjiao was too weak to hold his ground and control the army. So began to kill the heroes, Lan Yu and Hu Weiyong group were purged successively.
Judging from the historical results, Zhu Yuanzhang's original choice was indeed wrong. If Zhu Di had been elected emperor, there would have been no civil war that lasted four years. After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhu Yunjiao began to cut the domain, causing civil unrest. Subsequently, Zhu Di attacked Nanjing and took Zhu Yunjiao's Jiangshan, and the belligerent Zhu Di did not use force against the northern peoples after seizing the throne. Instead, it seriously governed the country and created the second early Ming Dynasty "Yongle Shengshi" for the Ming Dynasty. Became the famous Yongle Emperor.