After the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, his grandson Zhu Yunjiao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Jianwen. Although Emperor Jianwen's reign was not long, historians generally had a high opinion of the young emperor. Xu Yuanwen, a historian during the Qing Dynasty, pointed out that if there had been no "usurpation rebellion", Emperor Jianwen would certainly have grown into a Ming emperor who would have protected the territory and the people, and could bring prosperity to the Ming Dynasty.
So why do historians, including Xu Yuanwen, have such a "prediction"?
It should be that they saw Zhu Yunjiao's potential to become a "promising prince" in the "Jianwen New Deal". The so-called "New Deal" is, in fact, the indispensable "civil rule" after the dynasty has gained a firm foothold. Zhu Yuanzhang implemented a series of iron-blooded policies, which made the government and the public all over the country in a frenzy, so a successor must stand up and re-emphasize Confucianism and use "benevolent rule" to eliminate the adverse effects caused by the previous emperor to consolidate his power.
The first thing Emperor Jianwen did after coming to power was to rehabilitate the various "unjust cases" of that year. We know that during the Hongwu period, there were many massacres of a great purge, and many famous courtiers who were slaughtered were implicated. Zhu Yunjiao not only cleared the grievances of those who had been wrongfully killed, but also re-dispatched those nobles who had been exiled to barren lands back to the capital and reused them.
In addition, Zhu Yunjiao also presided over the revision of the "Daming Law", revising many perverse contents and deleting many severe punishment laws. The most subtle thing is that Zhu Yunjiao does not forget to change the pattern of the official field and subtly improve the status of "his own people". For example, Zhu Yunjiao raised the rank of the Six Shangshu from Erpin to Yipin. It was Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, and Qi Tai who rose to the throne and became the "cabinet elders" at the emperor's side.
Zhu Yunjiao did not forget to let the common people remember his kindness, and during the reign of his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang, he once imposed high taxes in rich areas such as Jiangnan. After Emperor Jianwen came to power, he adjusted taxes, drastically reduced the heavy taxes in the Jiangnan region, and implemented land reforms at the suggestion of Fang Xiaoru. From here, we can see Zhu Yuanzhang's good intentions. Everything he did was paving the way for the Emperor's grandson. He deliberately left a world full of ills so that his successors could calmly implement "benevolent government" and buy people's hearts.
Because of this, after Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, from the courtiers to the people, they would clearly recite his goodness. To this day, six hundred years later, historians are still praising Zhu Yunjiao's "benevolent government." From the perspective of modern people, a series of policies implemented by Zhu Yunjiao have had a good impact on future generations, especially the concept of "ruling the country by civilian subjects" and the system of "cabinet rule". However, some people did not buy Zhu Yunjiao's various good deeds, such as his imperial uncles. Because one of Zhu Yunjiao's series of policies is called "cutting the domain".
What is the so-called cutting of the domain? The fiefdoms and troops of the king of the domain.
The kings of the clan were all members of the Zhu clan, and the strength of the army was the capital they could protect themselves in the struggle for imperial power, and weakening the army was undoubtedly worse than taking their lives. And the fiefdom is the basis for the king of the domain to be the "emperor of the land" in the local area, if there is no fiefdom, how can the tax be paid? Where is the squandering? Zhu Yunjiao, who was born in the Imperial Family, would not fail to understand this truth, but cutting the domain was a last resort.
why?
Imagine a young emperor living under the "heavy guards" of a group of imperial uncles, this feeling must not be very good. At this time, Huang Zicheng gave Zhu Yunzhao a bad idea: "When Emperor Jing of Han ascended to the throne, the kings were not willing to cut the domain, and even triggered the rebellion of the Seven Kings, as a result, was not easily pacified by Emperor Jing of Han?" ”
This sentence was like a reassuring pill for Zhu Yunjiao, and he couldn't help but think of a conversation he had with his grandfather. Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "How will you get along with your imperial uncle in the future?" Zhu Yunjiao replied: "First subdue people with virtue, and then use etiquette norms, if it is really not possible, let the emperor change the fiefdom, if it is not possible, you can only cut the domain, and it is a big deal that the soldiers are fighting each other." This answer was deeply praised by Zhu Yuanzhang, and thinking of this, Zhu Yunjiao strengthened his determination to cut the domain.
To be sure, Zhu Yunjiao's strategy of cutting the domain was initially relatively successful.
After the death of his grandfather, he postponed the issuance of the will, and then restrained the kings of the major clans, taking advantage of this "special period" to seize the military and political power of the clan kings. Subsequently, with the help of Huang Zicheng, Zhu Yunjiao moved against the King of Zhou and the DaiWang, arresting them and sending them to the frontier in turn. The King of Zhou and the King of Dai were close to the King of Yan on weekdays, and this move undoubtedly broke Zhu Di's left arm and right arm. At this point, the purpose of the new emperor was already very clear. The civil and military officials who saw the direction of the wind immediately saw the wind and made the rudder, and joined forces to support the cutting of the domain.
In order to "comply" with the wishes of the hundred officials and the people of the world, Zhu Yunjiao finally began to liquidate the emperors. As a series of conspiracies reckoned, king Xiang set himself on fire, king Qi was demoted to a commoner, and king Min was placed under house arrest in the capital. From Zhu Yunjiao's every move, we can see that this young emperor's methods are very vicious, not inferior to his grandfather. After hearing this news, Zhu Di was very flustered, and he immediately began to expand his troops and prepare for a decisive battle with his nephew. In order to avoid a fire in the backyard, Zhu Di also specially sent emissaries to Tatar to make friends with the "neighbors".
During this period, the two uncles and nephews engaged in a contest of equal strength. Zhu Yunjiao was very shrewd and knew the truth of "knowing oneself and knowing that the other will not be defeated in a hundred battles", and he spent a lot of energy to buy Ge Cheng of the Yan King's Palace and planted a chess piece in the heart of the enemy. Subsequently, under the banner of guarding against the Mongols, Zhu Yunjiao sent a general Zhang Rui to the north and forcibly took over the military power of Yandi. On the surface, at this time, Zhu Di had fallen into a situation of no return, as long as Zhu Yunjiao thought, he could be beaten into the eighteenth layer of hell with a single order.
When Zhu Di came to the capital to see the emperor in March of the first year of Jianwen,there were already ministers who persuaded Zhu Yunjiao to detain him. However, Zhu Yunjiao was too light on the enemy, and he failed to kill the killer, but only sent another 30,000 elites to Beiping. In May of the same year, Zhu Di sent his two sons Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaoxu to Nanjing, and some ministers wanted to put these two sons under house arrest as hostages.
What are the consequences of Zhu Yunjiao's two softening of hearts?
That was to miss the last opportunity to kill Zhu Di, the next day, Ge Cheng and Zhang Rui were killed in their homes, Zhu Yunjiao lost the eyeliner around Zhu Di, and no longer monitored the eyes and ears of the emperor.
However, Emperor Jianwen's failures did not stop there.
In order to make the people of the world feel that their identity is not anti-thief, Zhu Di took out the banner of "Qing Jun's Side" that all anti-kings will use. The rebellion lasted for more than three years, and eventually ended with Zhu Di's invasion of the city of Nanjing.
At the beginning of the war, Zhu Di's Yan army showed unexpected combat effectiveness, and Song Zhong, whom Zhu Yunjiao arranged in the north, was not his opponent at all, and 30,000 people were instantly repelled. A series of recitals were sent to the imperial court, with the news that Yunzhong, Kaiping, Huailai, and Yongping had been captured. Zhu Yunjiao never dreamed that these "defensive areas" that he had deployed in his early years would be attacked by the enemy army in an instant.
On this occasion, although Zhu Yunjiao was like five thunderbolts, he still made a countermeasure and took out the killing move left to him by his grandfather - Geng Bingwen. Geng Bingwen was a senior general who accompanied Zhu Yuanzhang to fight the world, and the old generals of Huaixi led by him were all the founding elites of Daming. At the time of the outbreak of the Battle of Jingnan, this veteran was already sixty-five years old, which could be described as extremely experienced.
If there was one person at that time who could compete with Zhu Di, who had been in the battlefield for a long time, it was None other than Geng Bingwen. This will most likely rewrite the fate of Daming and support Zhu Yunjiao's orthodox dynasty, because he is very good at fighting defensive battles. When Zhu Yuanzhang attacked the world, Geng Bingwen was repeatedly given the task of sitting in Jiangsu, and several times in ten years, he won more with less, defending Zhang Shicheng's attack for Zhu Yuanzhang and ensuring the safety of the rear.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang arranged this veteran is precisely because he is good at guarding the border pass. If Zhu Yunjiao is not capable of defeating the kings of the clans, then this veteran will be the last barrier of the Ming Dynasty. Looking at the entire Battle of Jingnan, it is not difficult to find that Zhu Di is good at mobile combat, and Zhu Di's cavalry is unstoppable and can win with the tactic of rapid attack every time, but once the battle situation is deadlocked, Zhu Di will fall into a passive situation.
Obviously, the possibility of Geng Bingwen winning the battle against Zhu Di is very large, as long as he firmly holds the important pass, Zhu Di will certainly be unable to move forward. Although Zhu Di had Yandi as his foundation, he did not have the capital to fight a protracted war with the Central Army, and he would be defeated after a long war. Unfortunately, Zhu Yunjiao made a bad move, he ordered Geng Bingwen to "fire up and chaos", that is, to attack strongly.
As a last resort, Geng Bingwen had to fight a hard-hitting decisive battle with Zhu Di on the battlefield of Zhending in Hebei. Zhu Di was very cunning, and quickly annihilated Pan Xiong and Yang Zhong under Geng Bingwen by meandering guerrillas, cutting off Geng Bingwen's wings. If it were not for Geng Bingwen's turn from attack to defense, I am afraid that this main force would be completely eaten away by the Yan army. Hearing about the battle situation, Zhu Yunjiao was furious, threw all the black cauldrons on the veteran's head, and angrily scolded him for "destroying the front in one battle".
Subsequently, Zhu Yunxiong ordered Li Jinglong to take over Geng Bingwen's main army, sending an additional 500,000 troops north, determined to fight to the death with the emperor's uncle Zhu Di. Zhu Yunjiao did not expect at all that Zhu Yuanzhang painstakingly arranged the purpose of Geng Bingwen's side. Therefore, this veteran who is enough to reverse the difficult ending of Jing, just quit the scene with hatred. After Zhu Di came to power, he lightly put Geng Bingwen to death for "violating the crime of unauthorized use of court goods".
From the beginning of Zhu Yunjiao's ascension to the throne to the end of the Battle of Jingnan, we can see that Emperor Jianwen had at least two opportunities to rewrite history. However, it was precisely because of Zhu Yunjiao's short-sightedness on these two things that he lost everything.
Resources:
[History of the Ming Dynasty, Battle of Jingnan]