The second generation of emperors of the past dynasties, Li Shimin of Tang Dynasty, and Zhu Di, the ancestor of Ming Dynasty, can be described as the best of them. Moreover, the two emperors have many similarities under the details, for example, the thrones of the two emperors were seized by improper means, but Tang Taizong Li Shimin's infamy was very small, and Ming Chengzu Zhu Di's infamy was very many, why is this?
The fundamental reason was that Tang Taizong treated the ministers kindly, ruled the country with leniency and benevolence, and encircled the class of scholars. And Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, the emperor who has not been fighting or fighting all his life, is not a good stubble, and he rules the country with heavy rules, of course, his reputation is not good.
Of course, there are other reasons besides this reason.
Although the thrones of Emperor Taizong of Tang and Zhu Di of Ming Chengzu were obtained through improper means, Li Shimin had more legitimacy than Zhu Di.
Because Emperor Taizong of Tang launched a coup d'état in the Battle of The Concubine, killing the crown prince Li Jiancheng and the Qi king Li Yuanji.
Zhu Di belonged to his brother Prince Yiwen who died of illness, and Zhu Biao's son, The Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, ascended to the throne and became the orthodox emperor, and the usurper who rebelled in the name of the Qing emperor became emperor.
Li Shimin belonged to the coup d'état, Zhu Di belonged to the rebellion, and the latter naturally belonged to the serious plot.
Moreover, regardless of whether the history books deliberately beautify Li Shimin, in short, through the history books, it can be seen that Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, did not have a bowl of water and flat, did not make the name between the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin set early, and even when Li Shimin repeatedly made military achievements, promised to make him the crown prince, so that Li Shimin's expectations were getting bigger and bigger. As a result, Li Yuan reneged on his word, and in the end, he only sealed Li Shimin as a top military attaché as a general of tiance for the first time in history, and had the power to set himself up as an official subordinate, but no matter how big the official position was, he was still a courtier.
It was precisely because Li Yuan's bowl of water was uneven, which led to Li Shimin's dissatisfaction, and the suspicion of the crown prince Li Jiancheng for Li Shimin finally caused the brothers to kill each other.
Zhu Di is different, Li Shimin can be called the biggest founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, but Zhu Di is not like this, Zhu Di was eight years old when the Ming Dynasty was already established, he did not have any amazing achievements.
When he became an adult, he was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor, and was also crowned as the King of Yan early, and he was in Beiping. Although he participated in the two Northern Expeditions to Mongolia in Beiping and made great contributions, he did not reach the height of Li Shimin, and Ming Taizu could not reward or promise him anything.
What is more crucial is that Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was not a hesitant person like Li Yuan, the emperor of The Tang Dynasty, and as early as the ming dynasty had not yet opened the country, Zhu Yuanzhang had already determined the name of his successor Zhu Biao. In 1364, when Zhu Yuanzhang was the King of Wu, Zhu Biao was made a son. In 1368, the Ming Dynasty was founded, and in the same year Zhu Biao was made crown prince. In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, the crown prince Zhu Biaoying died prematurely, and Zhu Yuanzhang was also the son of Zhu Biao, Zhu Yunjiao, as the emperor's grandson, in short, it was unswerving to pass on the eldest son Zhu Biao, Zhu Biaoying died young, then pass on the throne to Zhu Biao's next generation.
So is Zhu Di really helpless at all, of course. Li Shimin's helplessness lies in the uneven end of his father Li Yuan's bowl of water, which led to the killing of the eldest son Li Jiancheng and the second son Li Shimin's brothers. Zhu Di's helplessness lay in the fact that the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao almost killed the domain, and within a few short months of succeeding to the throne, the five princes of Zhou, Daiwang, Qi, Xiang, and Min were either deposed or imprisoned, of which The Xiang king was forced to self-immolate and die. Therefore, when Emperor Jianwen attacked Zhu Di, he naturally did not sit still.
Of course, compared to Li Shimin's helplessness, Zhu Di's helplessness could not hide his usurpation of the throne.
Moreover, Li Shimin is good at winning people's hearts and ruling the country with leniency and benevolence. For example, Wei Zheng, an old minister who was once the crown prince Li Jiancheng, was reused by Li Shimin, and he was also humble and consulted about Wei Zheng's fierce words. Zhu Di, the fighting emperor, did not speak well, he continued the heavy rule of his father Zhu Yuanzhang, and was very harsh on officials, like Fang Xiaoru, an old minister of the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao, who did not cooperate with the beautification of Zhu Di's legitimacy, he was killed by Zhu Di and his family was exiled. Of course, it was passed down to future generations and became the Ten Tribes that cursed Fang Xiaoru.
Therefore, the warriors cursed the body, the literati cursed the heart, and in the future generations, it is natural that the Ming Chengzu Zhu Di cursed more.
In fact, a closer look at Li Shimin and Zhu Di's treatment of the losers' families will find that Zhu Di is far less cruel than everyone thinks.
After the change of Xuanwu Gate, Li Shimin ignored the bitter demands of his father Li Yuan, and immediately killed all the descendants of the crown prince Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, the prince of Qi, and also added the concubines of these two brothers to the harem.
Emperor Jianwen zhu Yunjiao was nowhere to be found. However, Zhu Di did not kill Zhu Yunjiao's descendants. According to the records, Zhu Di imprisoned Zhu Yunjiao's descendants in the fengyang high wall until he was more than fifty years old, when he was "ignorant of cattle and sheep", but he survived. In the years of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming's reign, it is also possible to see the relevant records of Zhu Yunzhuo's descendants, who also wrote to the imperial court to ask for generous treatment, but of course the benevolent Emperor Xiaozong refused, but the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao still had descendants left.
Compared with the way the two treated their political enemies, Tang Taizong Li Shimin was undoubtedly more cruel, and Zhu Di, the ancestor of Ming Cheng, left more or less descendants for his nephew Zhu Yunjiao, the Jianwen Emperor, and as a result, Zhu Di cursed more. It can only be said that Li Shimin ruled the country with leniency and benevolence, and Zhu Di ruled the country with great respect, and the latter was naturally cursed by the literati.