Ming Chengzu Zhu Di usurped the throne in 1402, took Zhu Yunwen's place, and ascended the throne as emperor, but until 1424 AD, Zhu Di died, during which time he had no heirs.
However, before Zhu Di ascended to the throne, he already had nine children, four of whom were sons and five daughters, and according to records, Empress Xu of Zhu Di gave birth to three sons and three daughters, and the youngest child, Zhu Gaomu, was also born when he was the King of Yan. So why did Zhu Di have no heirs after he ascended the throne?
We all know that Zhu Di was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang and the famous Yongle Emperor in history, and during his reign, he acted very similarly to Ming Taizu and killed decisively. When Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he had been thinking about which child the throne would pass on, in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, except for his eldest son, no one else was a suitable candidate, and Zhu Di was also very competitive during his brotherhood, he very much hoped that his father could see his talents, but to Zhu Yuanzhang's surprise, who could have imagined that he would later set up his grandson Zhu Yunwen as the heir?
After Zhu Yunwen ascended to the throne, he was afraid that his uncles would harm him, and he launched a policy of cutting the domain, Zhu Di was cornered, and under pressure began a plan to usurp the throne, so there was also a change of Jing Difficulty and ascended to the throne.
As for Zhu Di's childlessness after ascending to the throne, there are several reasons:
First: Zhu Di painstakingly seized the throne from his nephew, and after he ascended to the throne, he focused on the government of the dynasty, after all, from his nephew to seize the throne, many courtiers were unconvinced, and the first thing he had to do was to win the hearts of the people and gain recognition in the dynasty. He went to the West 7 times and conquered Mongolia. The Yongle Emperor, who was busy with the previous dynasty, naturally had less time in the harem. And the matter of heirs was also put aside.
Second: As mentioned above, Empress Xu gave birth to three sons and three daughters for Zhu Di, and it is said that Zhu Di and Empress Xu had a deep affection, but four years after Zhu Di ascended the throne, Empress Xu died of illness, and the departure of her wife undoubtedly caused a huge blow to Zhu Di, and he had no time to take care of the harem, and he did not have the heart to contaminate his concubines and was more devoted to the government. Other concubines could not enter Zhu Di's heart, and the harem naturally could not succeed in every way.
Third: It is said that Zhu Di was not in good health, because he had repeatedly marched in person. In the war, too much energy and mental energy have been exhausted, causing great harm to the body, so it has caused the phenomenon of infertility. This statement has yet to be examined, but this phenomenon is not ruled out. After all, during the reign of Emperor Yongle, he made many expeditions, and in order to win the hearts and minds of the ministers of the DPRK, he worked hard and consumed a huge amount of energy.
Fourth: Before Zhu Di had a very good-looking concubine, the Joseon Dynasty in order to attach to the Ming Dynasty to offer a young woman, Zhu Di was very fond of her, named her a noble concubine, but later framed and died, Zhu Di was very sad after knowing it, decided to investigate the harem, carry out strict reforms, this investigation, many dirty things in the harem were brought out, and even some harem concubines and eunuchs had an affair, Zhu Di was also cold to the harem. In order to restore their dignity, more than 2800 palace women were even executed in the harem.
But perhaps Zhu Di himself did not care about these things, he led the country to prosper, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and he also chose his successor Renzong early, his eldest son Zhu Gaozi. The exploits of Yongle the Great have been passed down through the ages.