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When Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, in order to consolidate his imperial power, he implemented the Tuien Order and successfully cut down the domain. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, and in the face of the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's division of powerful feudal kings in various places, the imperial power of Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunjiao was seriously threatened.
Emperor Jianwen also hoped to consolidate imperial power by cutting down the domain. Within a few short months, Emperor Jianwen took a brutal approach to slashing the five clans, reducing them to commoners or imprisoning them permanently, forcing the King of Xiang to set himself on fire. Under the cruel exploitation of Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Di, the King of Yan, rebelled.
Emperor Jianwen's policy of cutting the domain was not successful, but made his crown a loser. Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che and Emperor Jianwen were also both slashing domains, and the successful cases of Emperor Jianwen and Emperor Wu of Han can be used as a reference, but why did he not adopt emperor Wu of Han's method of pushing and ordering to cut the domain.
First, the reason why Emperor Jianwen did not use the method of "Tui En Ling" to cut the domain
1. The situation is different
Emperor Jianwen and Emperor Wu of Han faced different situations of cutting off their domains. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the "Tui En Order", the local clan kings did not have enough strength to confront the imperial court, and the local clan kings could only be slaughtered by the imperial court.
In contrast, in the Ming Dynasty, after the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, in order to ensure the prosperity of the country and the peace of the country, he established a powerful system of feudal fences and enfeoffed 25 feudal kings. Ming Taizu's starting point is good.
However, he ignored the tragic lesson of history, and the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" in the Western Han Dynasty was caused by the king of the feudal domain. Zhu Yuanzhang not only divided up many feudal lords, but also gave them many rights. Several of Zhu Yuanzhang's sons held military power and posed a great threat to imperial power.
In such a situation, it was very difficult for Emperor Jianwen to cut the domain. Before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the cutting of the domain, the Han Dynasty experienced the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, and the strength of the kings of the clan was greatly reduced, and they were unable to go to the imperial court to resist.
On the other hand, Emperor Jianwen had just registered, the regime in the DPRK was unstable, there were no strong generals around him and they killed innocents indiscriminately, and they simply did not have the ability to suppress the king of the domain, which also doomed Emperor Jianwen to failure.
2. Prestige and qualifications
Emperor Jianwen did not personally lead his troops to the battlefield to fight bloody battles, nor did he issue policies that benefited the people and the country, which was difficult to convince the public. On the other hand, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao wanted to cut the target of the Ming Dynasty's founding heroes, princes, and so on.
These people have fought bravely on the battlefield to kill the enemy, born into death, and have made outstanding achievements in battle. It can be said that Zhu Yunjiao did not have the strength to suppress these clan kings at all, nor did he have the ability to implement the Tuien Order.
3. Lack of wise and courageous strategists
In fact, the kings, princes and officials of the imperial court were not optimistic about the newly appointed emperor. If it were not for the early death of Crown Prince Zhu Biaoying, the throne would not have been able to take Zhu Yunjiao's turn.
Therefore, when Zhu Yunzhuo ascended the throne as the crown prince, the princes and princes of various localities often spoke ill of the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, and did not respect or envy the emperor at all.
These clan kings each had heavy troops or military power, and the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao did not have strong generals to win the battle, nor did he have wise and courageous strategists. There is only a group of nerds who talk loudly, and how can a group of scholars confront the king of the clan who holds military power.
4. Time is tight
From the very beginning to the time it takes to take effect, it takes a long time, which is like a "boiled frog in warm water". However, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, who wanted to take down all the kings of the various domains in one fell swoop, was obviously unable to afford it, and the Tuien Order could not help him solve his urgent needs.
Therefore, Emperor Jianwen and Zhu Yunjiao would also consider following the example of Emperor Wu of Han in implementing the "Tui En Order" to cut the domain, and he needed to quickly consolidate imperial power and stabilize the imperial court.
Second, why the Tuien Order could not be implemented in the Ming Dynasty
Mainly because of the different concepts of sub-fiefs, Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, divided the princes, and this prince called the king like an emperor in his fiefdom, and had the right to set up official positions below the imperial master in his fiefdom. Such a system of sub-feudalism is like the establishment of a country and China.
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang learned the lesson of the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" before dividing the princes, although the princes were greatly sealed, but did not give the princes too much land and population, the central imperial court still held the local administrative power, and the central government sent officials to the princes.
The three guards of the Ming Dynasty could receive the army and hold the military power. That is to say, even if these princes did not have the administrative power of local land, they could still intervene through the army or military power.
The Ming dynasty kings did not have territorial authority, and there was no way to weaken the power of the various clan kings by implementing the Tuien Order. It is always impossible to divide the strength of the guards into the sons of the king of the clan and pass them on from generation to generation until the three guards have no troops. Such an approach is too dramatic to solve the urgent need.
Third, the reasons for the failure of the Jianwen Emperor to cut the domain
1, first easy and then difficult
Although the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao cut down 5 clan kings, these 5 clan kings were not the most powerful, they were all small minions. Moreover, the Kings of Zhou and The King of Yan among the 5 kings who were stripped of power were very close, and they were all half-brothers.
The biggest mistake made by Emperor Jianwen in cutting the domain was that he did not choose to be easy first and then easy, and he also chose the younger brother of Zhu Di, the king of Yan, to attack, which also aroused the mind of the King of Yan to rebel.
2. Poor ability
The original intention of the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang in implementing the system of sub-fiefs was that it could not only maintain the safety of the imperial court, but also not threaten the imperial court like the Western Han Dynasty. Therefore, the ming dynasty kings only had the right to lead the army, even if Zhu Di's strength was strong, but the imperial court's military strength could still crush him.
However, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao's political, military, and state-governing abilities were not outstanding, and even if he held the imperial power, he still broke a good hand. This also gave the Yan king Zhu Di an opportunity, and the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao became a loser.
The implementation of the Tuien Order consolidated the imperial power during the Han Dynasty and strengthened the feudal monarchy. However, during the Ming Dynasty, emperor Jianwen and Emperor Wudi of Han were in different backgrounds and environments, coupled with Emperor Jianwen's limited time, the need to consolidate imperial power in a short period of time, etc., also led to his inability to follow Emperor Wudi of Han's implementation of the Tuien Order to cut the domain.
The "Tui En Order" is not a good cure for all diseases, and for political problems in history, only a specific analysis of specific problems is the best solution.
Reference: Book of Han