"I don't send it when I have a hundred flowers, and I'm scared to death when I do." To fight with the west wind, wear golden armor all over." —Zhu Yuanzhang
Zhu Yuanzhang was the founder of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang's throne was originally to be inherited by the eldest son Zhu Biao, but unfortunately Zhu Biao died of illness at the age of 38; Zhu Yuanzhang was so sad that the prince he had worked so hard to cultivate died, so he passed the throne to Zhu Biao's second son Zhu Yunjiao, which had already caused the dissatisfaction of Zhu Yuanzhang's sons. After the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, he maintained his rule by cutting his domain.
In the Ming Dynasty, it was said that Zhu Yunjiao was "a knight but not a people, and a division of the domain without tin soil", and was eventually usurped by his uncle Zhu Di. During the reign of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, the Ming Dynasty ruled the economy of prosperity, the world was peaceful, and established the Ming Dynasty of "Yongle Shengshi", but his throne was usurped; behind every struggle for the throne, a cruel killing inevitably occurred, even his own relatives were not spared, how did Zhu Di treat Zhu Biao's wife and children after he ascended the throne?
The Battle of Jingnan won the throne
Zhu Di was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, and according to the previous system of primogeniture, it was his eldest son Zhu Biao who was initially made crown prince by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Biao has been cultivated since he was a child, and Zhu Biao has been very smart since childhood and is deeply loved by Zhu Yuanzhang. Unfortunately, in 1932, Zhu Biao fell seriously ill after returning from a tour of Shaanxi and eventually died. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not pass the throne to his other sons, but chose his grandson, that is, Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunjiao.
Zhu Biao had five sons, Zhu Yingxiong, Zhu Yunxi, Zhu Yunxi, Zhu Yunxi, and Zhu Yunxi, and Zhu Yingxiong died of illness when he was eight years old. After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunxi ascended the throne, he still paid great attention to respecting his brother, and posthumously honored his eldest brother Zhu Xiongying as The King of Yu, the second Zhu Yunxi as the King of Wu, the third brother Zhu Yunxi as the King of Heng, the fourth brother Zhu Yunxi as the King of Xu, and his mother Lü Shi as empress.
Zhu Yunzhang's ability to govern the government was much weaker than that of Zhu Yuanzhang, and he was worried that his throne was threatened by the king of the domain, so he implemented a policy of cutting down the domain and centralizing his power. The rights of the king of the clan were affected, and he must have been very dissatisfied. At this time, Zhu Di, as the King of Yan, was forced to be anxious, so he and Jianwen began to rebel in Beiping in the first year.
Zhu Di was good at strategizing and cherished the talents, which was supported by many people; Zhu Yunjiao lacked strategy, and the powerful generals sent were all killed by Zhu Di, and the war lasted for four years. In 1402, Zhu Di attacked Nanjing, at this time Zhu Yunjiao saw that his great power had gone, did not want to become Zhu Di's prisoner, so he set fire to the palace, burned the whole family, and Zhu Di, the King of Yan, seized the throne.
Respectful on the surface, hands behind
When Zhu Di attacked the outside of the imperial city, Empress Lü, the mother of Emperor Jianwen, once came to the camp where Zhu Di was stationed and asked Zhu Di, but did not succeed. When Empress Lü returned to the imperial city, she saw the fire in the palace and thought that Zhu Yunjiao's family must have been buried in the sea of fire, which was very painful, but she was helpless, after all, She had already occupied Nanjing by Zhu Di.
However, when Zhu Di saw Empress Lü, he respectfully called her imperial concubine, explaining that he was only forced by the situation, that it was not his intention to rebel, that he did not want to kill his nephew in his heart, and that he had not thought that he would actually set fire to it. It was obvious that this was Zhu Di's fake polite remarks, and he would not let Emperor Jianwen go at all. Empress Lü was also powerless and could only be heartbroken.
However, there are also rumors that Zhu Yunjiao was not buried in the sea of fire, but escaped from the trail and fled into the folk to hide. Taking advantage of the fire in the imperial city and the death of the emperor, Zhu Di revoked the title of "Emperor Xiaokang" from his eldest brother Zhu Biao and changed it to his previous title of "Crown Prince Yiwen", and Empress Lü also became "Prince Yiwen". Empress Lü would certainly not be able to return to the palace in the future, so she asked her to take Zhu Yunxi, who was only 14 years old, to shouming Dongling.
After all, Zhu Di's ascension to the throne was a rebellion, and it was somewhat unjustified to seize the throne, and he was also very concerned about his reputation. However, many people in the people were dissatisfied with his usurpation of the throne, so that rumors spread, the people were talking about it, and some people wanted to rebel. Zhu Di was very angry, and in order to quell the gossip, he ordered the suppression of the people's public opinion and killed many people.
Demote officials and exterminate them
Zhu Di had a hard time sitting on the throne, knowing that his throne was not easy to come by, and he cherished it very much. For Zhu Biao's three sons, Zhu Di first demoted the elder Wu king Zhu Yunxi and the Heng king Zhu Yunxi to the king of Guangze and the king of Huai'en, and placed them in Zhangzhou and Jianchang respectively. I thought I would be able to live my life in peace, but this was only the beginning of their nightmare.
Soon after Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunxi left, Zhu Di always felt uneasy about the two, perhaps because he was the throne he later rebelled, and he always felt uneasy in his heart, so he changed his mind and imprisoned them both in Fengyang. In the second year after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he still could not tolerate them, so he "knew how to save his mind and raise doubts on himself." The reason also reduced Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunxi to civilians, still in Fengyang custody, and said that they were protected in the face of brotherly affection.
In 1417, Zhu Yuanzhang's 19th son, Zhu Sui the Prince of Gu, wanted to rebel, and Zhu Di was so furious that he imprisoned him. This also laid the groundwork for the ending behind Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunxi. After such a thing happened, Zhu Di was even less likely to let go of Wen Zhubiao's descendants, and soon after this, there was news that Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunxi fell ill and died, which is likely to be Zhu Di secretly killing them.
At the same time, the younger Xu king Zhu Yunxi was also demoted to the title of King of Ouning, when Zhu Di sent him and his mother Lü Fei to the Ming Dongling Tomb to guard Zhu Biao's imperial tomb, during the four years of Yongle, the imperial tomb suddenly broke out in a fire, only 16-year-old Zhu Yunxi died in the fire, but his mother Lü Fei was unknown, and it is likely that he was buried in the fire with Zhu Yunxi.
Zhu Di was really cruel to Zhu Biao's descendants, and it is said that Emperor Jianwen did not die and wandered among the people, but Zhu Di also sent people to the people to search for him in order to cut the grass and remove the roots, and never have any trouble, but he was never found.
epilogue:
Most of us only remember that Zhu Di was a generation of Ming Jun, but they did not know that he was so cruel to his brother behind his back, even the orphans and widows refused to let go. Zhu Biao's sons were all forced to die by Zhu Di, and the fate was very miserable, and only a few of Zhu Biao's descendants may have survived without threatening Zhu Di's throne. Perhaps this was born in the imperial family involuntarily, but fortunately, during the 22 years of Zhu Di's reign, the Ming Dynasty was very prosperous in governance, and the people were able to live and work in peace and contentment, free from the pain of war.
The imperial family is supported by the people, but it must also fulfill the responsibilities of the people. We should not only see power, but also understand the pain behind power, people sitting on the highest position are often frightened, can not sleep at night, behind the power is bloody, born in the imperial family of the status of noble, but also inevitably intrigue, less ordinary brotherhood.
References: Wing Ju, Zhu Yuanzhang's "Records of Li Zhai", volume II