The Ming Dynasty was a glorious and declining dynasty in Chinese history, and Zhu Di (Ming Chengzu) was one of the most prominent monarchs of this dynasty.
Under Zhu Di's rule, the Ming Dynasty ushered in a period of relative prosperity. Among them, the most important of his Northern Expedition was against the 500,000-strong army led by Li Jinglong.
As an important general of the Ming Dynasty, why did Li Jinglong lose miserably to Zhu Di? Zhu Di personally said the five major reasons that led to Li Jinglong's fiasco.
1. The life of Li Jinglong
Li Jinglong (1345–1402), courtesy name Ziguobo, was an important politician and general in the early Ming Dynasty, who played an important role in the war to seize the throne by Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty.
Li Jinglong was born into a peasant family, and his family lived in the northern Liaoyang area before the Ming Dynasty was established by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.
As a young man, he worked as an agricultural farmer in the Liaodong region of the Korean Peninsula before joining Ming Taizu's army.
In the war to capture Jiangshan, Li Jinglong showed outstanding military skills and leadership skills, and won the appreciation of Zhu Yuanzhang.
With the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he gradually rose to the rank of Zhu Yuanzhang's confidant and played an important role in politics and the military.
Li Jinglong is good at power strategizing, proficient in political strategy, and knows how to grasp and use power. During the reign of Emperor Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong, he used his ingenuity and power to gradually strengthen his power and seize de facto control of the imperial court.
He has also been criticized as a man of power and for being ruthless in his treatment of political opponents. His jealousy and ambition also led to conflict between him and Zhu Di.
Li Jinglong's period of activity was the early Ming Dynasty, a period when the successors of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty competed for the throne.
After the death of Emperor Taizu of Ming, his eldest son Zhu Biao succeeded to the throne, but was deposed soon after, and was succeeded by Zhu Di's brother Zhu Di of Yongle.
During Zhu Di's reign, the dynasty was unstable and there were many internal and external problems, which gave Li Jinglong the opportunity to develop. During this period, political struggles were fierce and power struggles were frequent, which became the trigger for the conflict between Li Jinglong and Zhu Di.
Li Jinglong used intrigue to control the imperial court, while Zhu Di seized the throne through uprisings and wars.
The war between Li Jinglong and Zhu Di, known as the Battle of Jingyan, began in 1399. Li Jinglong used his power in the imperial court to gradually weaken Zhu Di's influence and put the then emperor Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen under house arrest. However, Zhu Di did not give up his ambition to pursue the throne.
Zhu Di secretly planned an uprising, gaining the support of some loyal generals and officials. Together with his supporters, he launched an uprising in Beijing, claiming to rehabilitate Yingzong and restore normal order to the imperial court.
At first, Zhu Di's army was small, but he gained more supporters in gradual battles, including some famous Ming generals.
Over time, Zhu Di's power grew, and his army grew stronger and stronger, gradually turning the tide of the war.
As a result of this war, Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, succeeded in seizing the throne and consolidating his authority. He continued to implement a series of reform measures, strengthened the centralization of power, and achieved the stability and unity of the imperial court. He also fought a series of Northern Expeditions, expanding the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
Li Jinglong participated in several important battles. After Ming Chengzu came to the throne, he faced a rebellion led by Xu Da. Li Jinglong was appointed as a requisitioning envoy and led the army to quell the rebellion and stabilize the regime.
Han Lin'er was a minister during the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, who plotted a rebellion after Emperor Ming ascended the throne. Li Jinglong participated in the suppression of Han Lin'er and helped Ming Chengzu consolidate his rule.
During the Ming Dynasty, the phenomenon of separating domains and towns was relatively serious, which posed a threat to the unity and stability of the central government. After Ming Chengzu came to the throne, Li Jinglong actively participated in the pacification of the clan and town, and assisted Ming Chengzu in consolidating his centralized power.
Li Jinglong presided over the construction of a series of coastal defense lines, strengthening the ability to resist external maritime aggression. This move strengthened the national defense of the Ming Dynasty and maintained the country's security.
During his reign, Li Jinglong advocated agricultural production, encouraged farmers to grow grain crops, improved farmland water conservancy facilities, and adopted a series of measures to promote the development of agriculture and improve the people's living standards.
Li Jinglong showed loyalty to the imperial court and love for the country during the Ming Dynasty. He actively participated in important tasks such as quelling the rebellion and suppressing the clan town, and showed outstanding military talent and bravery, contributing to the unity and stability of the Ming Dynasty.
As a close confidant of Ming Taizu, Li Jinglong showed a certain skill and wisdom in politics. He participated in many important decisions and played an important role in consolidating centralized power and suppressing rebellion.
His political talents helped Ming Chengzu consolidate his rule and lay the foundation for the development of the Ming Dynasty.
2. Introduction to Zhu Di
Zhu Di (1360–1424), also known as Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Di was born in 1360 and was the fourth son of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty.
He was made King of Yan at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty and was in charge of the northern frontier. After his brother Yongle Emperor Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, Zhu Di was appointed ruler of the northern border and guarded the eastern Liaoning region.
In 1399, Zhu Di, facing the control and threat of his powerful minister Li Jinglong, decided to launch an uprising to seize the throne. He secretly planned and gained the support of a number of loyal generals and officials.
After the uprising, Zhu Di's power gradually grew, and his army continued to expand in size. After several years of fighting, Zhu Di finally captured Nanjing in 1402, forcing Li Jinglong to abdicate and ascend the throne as Emperor Chengzu of Ming.
After becoming the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di devoted himself to consolidating his dominance and implementing a series of reforms. He strengthened the centralization of power, promoted clean politics, and weakened the power of powerful ministers.
He undertook a series of reform measures, including military, financial and administrative reforms, to strengthen the country's strength and management capacity.
Zhu Di also carried out several Northern Expeditions, expanding the territory of the Ming Dynasty. He successfully conquered Tatar in the north, Mongolia in the north, and Jiaojiao in the southwest, which led to a significant expansion of the Ming Dynasty's territory.
Zhu Di also attached great importance to the development of cultural undertakings. He advocated the reform of the education system, encouraged the prosperity of culture and art, personally wrote literary works, and attached importance to the selection and training of bachelors of literati.
During his reign, he made more remarkable achievements, but in his later years he fell into some difficulties. Rivalry between his concubines led Zhu Di into family strife and succession to the throne.
His patience and favor for his eldest son Zhu Yunjiang (i.e. Emperor Mingrenzong) failed to resolve the inheritance issue, leading to the subsequent change of Jing after Emperor Mingrenzong's succession, referring to the power struggle between his grandson Emperor Emperor Zhu Yunjiang of Mingrenzong and Zhu Di's sixth brother Zhu Di after the death of Emperor Ming Cheng Zu Zhu Di.
After Emperor Mingrenzong ascended the throne, he took a series of actions to exclude and suppress the Zhu Hui family, which caused dissatisfaction and resistance from Zhu Hui and his supporters.
During the Jing Dynasty, Zhu's supporters united to form a force against Emperor Akihito. The two sides engaged in a series of battles and clashes, which made the political situation of the Ming Dynasty once again turbulent.
Akihito sent his own general, Xu Da, to quell the rebels and successfully suppress the Jingjian Rebellion.
Zhu and his supporters were defeated, some were executed, some were exiled, and Zhu himself was forced to commit suicide.
As a result of the Jing Dynasty, Emperor Mingrenzong consolidated his dominance and became the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
III. The Northern Expedition
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Northern Expedition between Li Jinglong and Zhu Di was an important event in a power struggle and political struggle.
The cause of the Northern Expedition can be traced back to the control and restrictions of the powerful minister Li Jinglong after Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, ascended the throne.
Li Jinglong seized actual control of the imperial court through power intrigue during the reign of Emperor Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong, and became an important figure in the political scene at that time.
Zhu Di was worried about Li Jinglong's threat to power and tried to weaken his power. Zhu Di began a series of actions to limit Li Jinglong's power and influence, causing the relationship between the two to deteriorate dramatically.
Lee realized that he was in danger and decided to take action to protect his position and power.
He began contacting other influential officials and generals for support and organization. He used his influence in the imperial court to squeeze out and eliminate Zhu Di's supporters, gradually weakening Zhu Di's power.
As Li Jinglong's power grew, he decided to launch the Northern Expedition to directly challenge Zhu Di's rule. He gathered his army and launched an attack on the area controlled by Zhu Di in an attempt to seize his power and position. The Northern Expedition involved areas such as Shandong, Henan and Jiangsu, and the fighting was once fierce.
During the Northern Expedition, Li Jinglong showed excellent military command and leadership skills. His army achieved a series of victories.
He occupied Zhu Di's stronghold and established his own power in some important cities. The scale of the Northern Expedition gradually expanded, and the situation became more and more critical for Zhu Di.
Zhu Di's army counterattacked forcefully, gradually turning the tide of the war. He sent his generals, such as Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, to quickly counterattack Li Jinglong's forces. After a series of fierce battles and conflicts, Zhu Di's army gradually defeated Li Jinglong's forces.
Fourth, the reasons for the fiasco
1. Insufficient troops:
Although Li Jinglong led an army of 500,000 in the Northern Expedition, Zhu Di knew very well that this was only the surface number of Li Jinglong's troops. Although Li Jinglong's army is huge, it lacks combat effectiveness and discipline, and is actually just a behemoth with a façade.
In contrast, although the Ming army led by Zhu Di was only hundreds of thousands, it was an elite force that had been honed for many years and had outstanding combat effectiveness. In actual battles, the gap in strength made it difficult for Li Jinglong to compete with Zhu Di's Ming army, which was the primary reason for Li Jinglong's crushing defeat.
2. Command errors:
Wars are often won or lost depending on the level of command. Li Jinglong made a series of command mistakes during the Northern Expedition, which gave Zhu Di an opportunity. Li Jinglong did not do sufficient intelligence work, did not know enough about the enemy situation and geographical environment, and could not make accurate decisions.
Li Jinglong's command ability was limited, it was difficult to deal with the complex battle situation, and he did not adjust his tactics in time, resulting in the troops falling into a passive situation. Finally, Li Jinglong lacked a unified command system, and there was a lack of effective cooperation and coordination between various units, resulting in command confusion and weakening of combat effectiveness.
3. Internal contradictions:
There are serious internal contradictions and splits in the army led by Li Jinglong. The generals in the army are jealous of each other, compete for merit, and have no unity and cooperation attitude.
This internal contradiction has seriously weakened the cohesion and combat effectiveness of the army. Zhu Di cleverly took advantage of this, adopting a strategy of division and disintegration, wooing some of Li Jinglong's generals and making them join the Ming army.
This led to instability and chaos within Li Jinglong's army, unable to form a united front, providing Zhu Di with an opportunity to attack.
4. Lack of strategic planning:
During the Northern Expedition, Li Jinglong lacked a clear strategic plan and combat strategy. The army he led lacked clear objectives for war and only blindly attacked north, without taking into account the strength of the enemy and the limitations of the geographical environment.
On the contrary, Zhu Di had a clear plan for the overall strategy of the war and flexibly adjusted it according to the specific situation, making full use of the terrain and the weaknesses of the enemy.
Zhu Di's Ming army adopted the tactics of multiple blockade and guerrilla warfare, which prevented Li Jinglong's army from advancing effectively, eventually causing them to fall into passivity and difficulties.
5. Low morale:
Morale was an important part of the army's combat effectiveness, but during the Northern Expedition, Li Jinglong's army was demoralized. The army faced difficult conditions and long hours of travel on the march, leaving the soldiers physically exhausted and exhausted.
The lack of effective material support and rest mechanisms in the army has led to the disadvantage of soldiers in terms of combat effectiveness and mental state. Coupled with successive defeats and setbacks, the confidence and fighting spirit of the soldiers were hit very hard.
On the contrary, Zhu Di's Ming army had high morale, received good military discipline and incentives, and maintained the stability and durability of combat effectiveness.
Although Li Jinglong achieved some success in the Northern Expedition, his Northern Expedition ended in failure. Zhu Di was not defeated, but showed excellent military strategy and firm will in the war.
He managed to organize resistance, hold his ground, and gain more supporters, eventually winning. Zhu Di finally said the five reasons for the victory, which also made history clear and thought-provoking!