When the emperor was young, the former emperor would arrange one or more highly respected ministers to assist him, and after Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Biao the crown prince, he had already installed Li Shanchang, Chang Yuchun and others to assist Zhu Biao. Unfortunately, Zhu Biao went one step ahead of him, causing Zhu Yuanzhang to fall into great grief. What was even more troublesome was that in the few time he had left, he still had to choose a suitable crown prince for Daming.
Zhu Yuanzhang's favorite object was Zhu Di, the King of Yan, who had outstanding abilities and was a suitable candidate for the crown prince. In ancient times, the system of primogeniture was adhered to. The eldest son died, and there was also the second and third elders, and if they bypassed them and made the fourth elder the prince, it would cause the dissatisfaction of the second elder Zhu Zhu and the third elder Zhu Zhuo. Zhu Zhu and Zhu Zhuo were two powerful clan kings, and they were likely to rebel and compete with Zhu Di for the throne.
In order to prevent his sons from killing each other, Zhu Yuanzhang decided not to make his son crown prince, but to make the emperor's eldest grandson Zhu Yunjiao the crown prince.
Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Yunjiao crown prince, and there was no problem in the rules, but Zhu Yunjiao had a weak personality, and he still lacked merit and prestige, and could not control the founding heroes. Zhu Yuanzhang, who "protected the calf", concocted the Hu Weiyong case and the Blue Jade case, killing Li Shanchang, Blue Jade and other heroes.
At this point, is everything going well for Zhu Yunjiao? No, Zhu Yuanzhang killed the hero, but his son with heavy soldiers was also a threat to Emperor Jianwen. Zhu Yuanzhang, who is a tiger poison and does not eat children, "protects calves", can't bear to attack his son, he can only leave this problem to his grandson.
In order to prevent his sons from rebelling and seizing the throne of their grandson a hundred years later, Zhu Yuanzhang left Zhu Yunjiao a trusted minister.
This orphan minister was Mei Yin.
Mei Yin (梅殷), courtesy name Boyin, was a native of Guidexiayi (present-day Xiayi, Shangqiu), who was the consort of Mei Sizu, the Marquis of Runan, and was courteous by nature and capable of archery on horseback. In the eleventh year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang married his second daughter, Princess Ningguo, to Mei Yin, making Mei Yin a pawn of the dynasty and the Duke of Rongguo.
Mei Yin's ability was outstanding, and he was deeply trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang, and before he died, he left a testament saying: "The old man becomes loyal, but he can trust the young lord." Those who dare to go against heaven, please them. "Arrange Mei Yin as Zhu Yunjiao's orphan minister." Whoever dares to commit a misdemeanor, Mei Yin can lead an army to fight him.
After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he always felt that the king of the clan was a giant beast lying on the side of the bed, making it difficult for him to sleep and eat. Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and other ministers he trusted also persuaded him to cut the domain. Emperor Jianwen began to cut the domain. The cutting of the domain harmed the interests of the king of the domain and triggered a rebellion by Zhu Di, the king of Yan.
After Zhu Di rebelled, Emperor Jianwen asked the veteran general Geng Bingwen to lead an army of more than 100,000 to conquer Zhu Di. After Geng Bingwen lost to Zhu Di, he asked Li Jinglong to lead an army of 500,000 to attack Zhu Di. Li Jinglong was a jealous, talentless and virtuous straw bale general, and when he fought with Zhu Di, he was defeated by Zhu Di one after another, and the 500,000 troops given to him by Emperor Jianwen were also destroyed by him. The chancellor was very angry and persuaded Emperor Jianwen to kill Li Jinglong to thank the world, and Emperor Jianwen's wife Zhiren did not listen to these suggestions and spared Li Jinglong.
When Geng Bingwen, Li Jinglong, and others were fighting Against Zhu Di, What was Zhu Yuanzhang doing to Mei Yin, the orphan minister left by Emperor Jianwen?
After Zhu Di rebelled, Emperor Jianwen also remembered the orphan minister left to him by his grandfather, who asked Mei Yin to lead the army against Yan. After Mei Yin arrived in Huai'an, he began to recruit soldiers in large numbers, and the number of soldiers under his command reached 400,000. Under Zhu Di, the King of Yan, there were only 100,000 soldiers and horses, and after he received 80,000 soldiers and horses from King Ning and the three guards of Duoyan, the soldiers and horses under him were only 200,000. Mei Yin had twice as many soldiers and horses as Zhu Di, and if he could make reasonable use of his advantages, he had the ability to help Emperor Jianwen defeat Zhu Di and quell the Battle of Jingnan.
Unfortunately, he failed Zhu Yuanzhang's trust, and he also failed Emperor Jianwen. Mei Yin held an army of 400,000 in his hands, but he kept moving in Huai'an.
After Zhu Di rebelled, he knew that his brother-in-law was not easy to deal with, so he sent envoys to Mei Yin and said, "I am going to Nanjing to give Ming Taizu incense." "Hopefully Mei Yin will let his army pass." Mei Yin scolded: "Entering the Xiang Emperor examination is forbidden, and those who do not obey it are not filial piety." "Zhu Yuanzhang made a rule before his death that the king of the clan was not allowed to enter the capital without permission, and it was not filial piety for Zhu Di to go to Nanjing to give incense to Ming Taizu without the consent of Emperor Jianwen.
Zhu Di was furious and sent envoys to tell Mei Yin that he was going to the side of the Qing Emperor in Nanjing and kill the traitor. Mei Yin was furious and had Zhu Di's envoys' noses and ears cut off, indicating that he and Zhu Di were at odds. Although Zhu Di was angry, he couldn't help his brother-in-law Mei Yin. Mei Yin became a big mountain in front of Zhu Di's eyes, but Zhu Di chose to wade into Surabaya, take Yangzhou, and directly lead his troops to attack Emperor Jianwen's Nanjing.
Zhu Di ignored Mei Yin, and Mei Yin's operation also made people wonder. Mei Yin had an army of 400,000 in his hands, but did not take the initiative to attack Zhu Di. When Zhu Di detoured to attack Nanjing, he did not pursue or attack the Yan army from behind, resulting in Nanjing being destroyed and the country changing hands. When Zhu Di asked Princess Ningguo to write a letter to persuade him to surrender, Mei Yincai woke up like a dream and asked where Emperor Jianwen had gone, and the answer he got was that he was dead.
Mei Yin wanted to follow Emperor Jianwen, but was stopped by his men. At this time, there was no point in resisting, and he could only lead his troops to surrender to Zhu Di.
In the third year of Yongle, Mei Yin was killed by Zhao Xi, the former military governor Tan Sheng, and the commander of Jin Yiwei. In order to appease Princess Ningguo, Zhu Di beheaded Tan and Zhao Manmen. However, the real murderer behind Mei Yin was Zhu Di. After Mei Yin's death, his two sons received favors from Zhu Di.