In ancient Chinese history, the Ming Dynasty was definitely a very magical dynasty, and the emperors were more distinctive than the other. The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was illiterate, and at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when the masses rose together, he actually laughed to the end and stood firm; the Wanli Emperor did not go to the dynasty for decades, and the country still ran in an orderly manner; the most amazing thing was the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, a clan king who plotted to take the throne, who actually did not get the crusade of the world, and also sat firmly on the throne, but unfortunately, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, who was obviously actively committed to reform, but changed the throne.
The most direct cause of Emperor Jianwen's reforms led to the Battle of Jingnan was the order to cut the domain, so is it right for Emperor Jianwen to advocate the cutting of the domain?
From the overall point of view, cutting the domain is definitely right, during the Western Han Dynasty, the Han Jing Emperor had to cut the domain because the kings of the clan could not get rid of the tail, and as a result, they were beaten by the kings of the clan and had to throw the pot to Chao; during the Qing Dynasty, Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong, Shang Kexi and other clan kings were too powerful, and Kangxi Li decided to cut the clan against the public opinion, and finally almost was beaten back to Guanwai by Wu Sangui. In short, if the power of the clan king is too strong, it will eventually threaten the imperial power, and even the phenomenon of the clan king's division may occur. However, the situation of Emperor Jianwen's cutting of the domain was different from the above two, in fact, Emperor Jianwen really did not have to be too anxious to cut the domain.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang began to divide the feudal kings in order to allow more children and grandchildren to enjoy the fruits of Jiangshan. Although Zhu Yuanzhang was illiterate, he obviously knew that the power of the king of the domain was too great, so in the late Ming Dynasty, the king of the domain did not have much power in his hands, and the selection of fief taxation and fief officials was decided by the imperial court, and the king of the clan only had those military powers left in his hands. At this time, some people must have said that having military power is the most serious, but the total strength of the clan king in this period is less than ten percent of the national army, even if all the clan kings rebel together at the same time, there is not much threat.
Some people must have said at this time that whoever said that the king of the clan was not a threat, and Zhu Di, the king of Yan, had successfully rebelled. But in fact, the initial success of Zhu Di, the King of Yan, was very unlikely, and it was Emperor Jianwen and his friends who "pushed" the throne.
At the end of 1398 AD, Emperor Jianwen began to cut the domain, the most powerful of the clan kings is the Yan king Zhu Di, as long as the Yan king is dealt with first, the other clan kings are not afraid, but the Jianwen Emperor first abolished the Zhou, Qi, Xiang and other kings who did not have the intention of rebellion, those deposed clan kings ended up in a miserable situation, if you are Zhu Di, see the partners who are also the kings of the clan end up like this, or not?
Zhu Yunjiao believed in Confucianism and advocated the implementation of benevolent government, but in fact he was too benevolent and righteous, but he was not a good king of a country. In 1399, because Zhu Di was "ill", Zhu Yunjiao sent the three hostage sons of the King of Yan back to the King of Yan from Nanjing, so that the King of Yan had no worries, and in the subsequent confrontation with Zhu Di, Zhu Yunjiao repeatedly emphasized that "the soldiers of the Near Er and the King of Yan confronted each other, and did not have the name of killing their uncle", so that Zhu Di repeatedly escaped in adversity and finally won the world.
The failure of the cutting of the domain was also reflected in the improper employment of Emperor Jianwen, and this group of small partners trusted by Emperor Jianwen did not help Emperor Jianwen much in the matter of cutting the domain, and also pushed Emperor Jianwen into the abyss of failure.
Emperor Jianwen's three proud confidants, Namely Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, and Fang Xiaoru, were all well-known Confucians who were very good at reading, and if they were to be teachers, they must be very good teachers of the people, but for governing the country, they were obviously more likely to enter the idealized fantasy, and the analysis of problems was often too much on paper.
During the Battle of Jingnan, Emperor Jianwen appointed Li Jinglong, who was greedy and afraid of death, resulting in the almost total annihilation of 600,000 Daming regular troops, and this Li Jinglong was recommended by the Confucian master Huang Zicheng. Although the old generals of the Ming Dynasty who could lead troops to fight were almost handled by Zhu Yuanzhang, there were qu neng, Ping'an, and Sheng Yongdu, and in the end, Li Jinglong not only lost, but also lost strategic materials to the King of Yan. When Nanjing fell, it was also this "general" who opened the gate and welcomed the Yan King to enter.
In the middle of the Battle of Jingnan, Zhu Di and the Ming army each had victories and defeats, but with the development of time, the Yan army obviously began to lack strength, and could only go around in Hebei and Shandong, and Zhu Di wrote to ask for peace many times, Emperor Jianwen originally thought of his uncle, or it was so calculated. However, at this time, Fang Xiaoru stood up, accused Emperor Jianwen of his idea of peace, and made a whimsical strategic policy with the intention of eliminating the Yan thieves, but the feasibility of talking on paper was quickly verified on the battlefield.
In the fourth year of Jianwen, Zhu Di accepted Yao Guangxiao's proposal to cross Shandong and other provinces and advance directly towards Nanjing. The Yan army was defeated by He Fu, Ping'an and other Ming generals and Xu Huizu's reinforcements, the Yan army suffered heavy losses, even Zhu Di was ready to return to the fiefdom, at this time Qi Tai, Fang Xiaoru and other Confucian courtiers stood up again and said that Xu Huizu, the Duke of Wei, was Zhu Di's wife and brother, "extremely dangerous", and as a result, under the good situation, Xu Huizu was transferred back to defend the Beijing Division, and as a result, Zhu Di decisively seized the opportunity, turned defeat into victory, and finally attacked Nanjing.
As the saying goes, "it is easy to fight the Jiangshan, but it is difficult to defend the Jiangshan", Emperor Jianwen had a mild personality, believed in Confucianism, and advocated the implementation of benevolent government, which would have been a good thing for the people, but for Daming, who had just sat firmly in the Jiangshan, it was obviously not suitable, Zhu Yunjiao did not have the decisiveness of Li Shimin, nor the vigor of Kangxi, and in the face of Zhu Di, there was obviously more weakness in personality.