With the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the political status of the Forbidden City gradually disappeared. Coupled with the devastation of war, the Forbidden City was almost destroyed. After the founding of New China, the government carried out protection and restoration work on the Forbidden City many times.
It wasn't until 1990 that experts repaired one of the floors of the Forbidden City, which had fallen into disrepair. Unexpectedly, during the repair process, they discovered the true colors of the brutality of Zhu Di's period. The discovery shocked experts and made the world more aware of the authenticity of Chinese history.
Seize the throne and build the Forbidden City
Zhu Yuanzhang painstakingly cultivated the crown prince Zhu Biao, but unexpectedly he died young. Zhu Yuanzhang had to make the crown prince's son Zhu Yunjiang emperor.
However, after Zhu Yunjiang came to power, he was young and vigorous, trying to consolidate his dominance by weakening the domain. This action angered his own uncle Zhu Di, who thus set off an uprising to "pour the Qing and Xingming".
In the end, Zhu Di succeeded in ascending the throne as emperor and moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing. The reasons for moving the capital are complex, with a historical background and many complex political factors implicit.
The reasons for moving the capital to Beijing can be seen from three aspects: Zhu Di himself, political stability and military defense.
1. Zhu Di himself is a very important reason. He rose to power by rebellion, his name was not justified, and Nanjing was not his territory, which was not conducive to his rule. In Beijing, Zhu Di stayed for many years as King of Yan with deep roots, which greatly helped him in his future rule.
2. Political stability is also a reason. Nanjing's rule over Zhu Di was not stable because there were many opposition forces. Beijing is Zhu Di's stronghold, and he has greater influence and ruling ability, so it is conducive to political stability.
3. Military defense is also a key factor. Beijing's geographical location and convenient transportation are most suitable for garrisoning border passes and defending northern Xinjiang. This was very important for the security and stability of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, moving the capital to Beijing was a prudent and reasonable choice, which had a positive impact on the political and military aspects of the Ming Dynasty.
During his fourth year in Yongle, Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty gathered millions of workers and professional craftsmen in order to build a palace suitable for his status and image. In the next fourteen years, these workers used exquisite skills and endless sweat to finally complete the world-famous Forbidden City building.
The construction of the Forbidden City is magnificent, the materials are luxurious, the craftsmanship is exquisite, and the production and paving of the floor tiles are even more amazing. It can be said that the successful completion of this palace building highlights the 500-year history and cultural heritage of the two dynasties of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and has won the admiration and admiration of the whole world.
The craftsmanship of floor tiles
During the four years of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhu Di mobilized about millions of workers and professional craftsmen to build a palatial palace. After 14 years, these hardworking workers continued to gather exquisite skills and endless sweat to finally complete the world-famous Forbidden City building.
The Forbidden City was built with magnificent momentum, luxurious materials and skillful craftsmanship. In particular, the masonry cutting and paving of the floor is exquisite, and countless people have fallen for it.
It can be said that this palace building stands majestically, fully demonstrating the historical and cultural heritage of the Ming and Qing dynasties for 500 years, and has won the admiration and respect of people all over the world.
Although these "gold bricks" are not real gold, they are definitely no less valuable than real gold. This is because making these bricks is a very tedious process.
First of all, the soil used for the bricks must be specially selected from Lake Taihu. These soils then need to sit for a year to remove impurities from them.
Next, the soil must be soaked in water and concocted so that they become sticky. The tempered soil needs to wait at least seven months until they are completely dry before the firing process can begin.
This highly time-consuming and labor-intensive manufacturing process ensures the high quality and preciousness of these bricks.
There are many aspects to pay attention to in the process of making the floor tiles needed for the Forbidden City, including using a large number of pure natural dyes, ensuring that no bubbles appear, and so on.
After firing, the floor tiles need to be soaked in tung oil to give their surface a crystal-like luster, which is a successful production process. Each batch of floor tiles is subject to strict quality inspection to ensure that there is no deviation in the size of each brick, if there are six unqualified floor tiles in this batch, then the whole batch of bricks will be discarded.
It can be seen that making the floor tiles of the Forbidden City not only requires a lot of manpower and material resources, but also requires special skills and patience, so it is not an exaggeration to be known as "golden bricks".
Zhu Di's ruthless nature
In addition to the cumbersome firing process, the laying process of the floor tiles of the Forbidden City is also quite elaborate.
When the experts who carried out the floor tile repair disassembled the first damaged floor tile, they were surprised to find that there was another floor tile that was exactly the same as the top floor underneath.
As each floor tile was slowly uncovered, the attention of experts was gradually attracted to the bottom, because there were actually fifteen floors of foundations under the Forbidden City.
This shocking discovery forced the maintenance team to re-plan the renovation plan and restore the original glory of the Forbidden City.
The floor tiles of the Forbidden City are not only simply stacked layer by layer, each layer has unique changes. The direction of the floor tiles is staggered with each other, forming a solid and solid foundation. Zhu Di believed that the Forbidden City was the residence of the royal family, and the strongest foundation must be used to withstand external attacks. In order to prevent someone from sneaking into the palace by digging a tunnel, he deliberately used such a strong foundation.
The soil used under the floor tiles of the Forbidden City is a thick layer of soil spliced by various gravel and clay when stacked. At the same time, some special lime and glutinous rice substances are also added to reinforce to ensure the hardness of the soil layer. This soil is as thick and strong as modern concrete and is a masterpiece of ancient building techniques.
Even after the construction of the Forbidden City was completed, Zhu Di always felt that he was not safe enough. He feared that the structure of the building would leak out, and hidden dangers would invade the Forbidden City and threaten his safety.
Therefore, Zhu Di ordered to poison all the workers involved in the construction of the Forbidden City, making them mute, and closely monitored. Despite this, Zhu Di still felt uncomfortable, believing that the poisoning was only temporary and that he needed to take more thorough measures.
In the end, Zhu Di decided to put all these workers to death to ensure that the secrets of the Forbidden City would never be leaked out. This decision is extremely cruel, but in Zhu Di's view, it is necessary.
This incident once again revealed Zhu Di's ruthless nature. Historically, all kings who wielded power were mired in a spiral of killing and power.
After Zhu Di usurped the throne, due to his extreme insecurity, he became suspicious and resorted to cruel measures to protect his position of power.
Such behavior stemmed from his extreme insecurity, and as an emperor, he had to remain strong and ruthless to control the situation.