In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (1392), the crown prince Zhu Biao fell ill and died, and the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty faced a difficult choice. The early death of the crown prince disrupted Zhu Yuanzhang's deployment, and he could only re-establish the reserve. After Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yuanzhang actually had only two choices, Zhu Di the Prince of Yan and Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunjiao. Zhu Yuanzhang finally decided to pass the throne to his grandson Zhu Yunjiao, allowing him to inherit the throne.
However, after Emperor Jianwen succeeded to the throne, the Ming Dynasty broke out the "Battle of Jingnan", and Zhu Di, the King of Yan, seized the throne, and Zhu Yunjiao was still alive and dead. Judging from the results, Zhu Di was more capable than Zhu Yunjiao, so why did Zhu Yuanzhang not pass the throne to Zhu Di after Zhu Biao's death, but gave it to the young Zhu Yunjiao?
In fact, passing the throne to Zhu Yunjiao was also Zhu Yuanzhang's helpless move. Zhu Yuanzhang's most important successor was still Zhu Biao, the prince with a generous personality and a steady work, who had high hopes for Zhu Yuanzhang, but he died young, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very sad. After Zhu Biao's death, it was not that there was no voice in the court that Zhu Di, the King of Yan, was the crown prince, after all, in terms of ability alone, Zhu Di was the most outstanding among Zhu Yuanzhang's sons.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang has his bitter intentions, for him, it is easy to fight the world, it is difficult to defend the world, and what he thinks about is how to pass on the Ming of the Zhu family. Zhu Di, the King of Yan, was not false in ability, but he was the fourth son, and above him were the King of Qin and the King of Jin, who may not be as capable as Zhu Di, but they held military power, had a lot of right to speak, and were more senior than Zhu Di. Once Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Di the crown prince, the other two clan kings would definitely be dissatisfied and jealous, and it was very likely that there would be a chaotic war between the clan kings, which Zhu Yuanzhang absolutely did not allow.
Moreover, Zhu Di also has a shortcoming, that is, he is decisive in killing and has a fierce personality. For a clan king who led the war, this was of course an excellent quality, but Zhu Yuanzhang wanted not a fierce general, but a wise emperor who could govern the country. In fact, since Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, we can see that his ability to govern the country is not weak, but Zhu Yuanzhang cannot predict the prophet, in his eyes, Zhu Di is not a suitable heir.
After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he was worried that Zhu Biao could not support the once meritorious family, so he crossed the river and demolished the bridge, slaughtering the brothers who had followed him to fight the world. Zhu Yuanzhang was not afraid of the infamy, he wanted to eliminate all the existence that could threaten the Zhu family and ensure the continuation of the Zhu family's foundation. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was not a dimwitted monarch, and he understood that excessive tyranny was tyranny, and tyranny would lead to the subjugation of the country. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang will attach such importance to Zhu Biao, who has a benevolent character, and he believes that after Zhu Biao succeeds to the throne, he will practice benevolent government, alleviate social contradictions, and lead the country to prosper. After Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yuanzhang put this expectation on the body of Zhu Yunjiao, who also had a generous personality. Of course, in addition, Zhu Yuanzhang's feelings for Empress Ma also made his feelings for Zhu Yunjiao more profound.
When Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Yunjiao the crown prince, he actually thought that Zhu Di might rebel, but at that time, he was already old, and the Ming Dynasty's former fierce general died of death, Zhu Di was the "Great Wall" of the Ming Dynasty, and he was also Zhu Yuanzhang's own son, and he could not and could not bear to move Zhu Di. However, this eventually laid hidden dangers for the Battle of Jingnan, leading to the tragic end of Emperor Jianwen, whom he personally established.