When Zhu Yuanzhang unified the world, who was the strongest opponent he faced? Unlike the Yuan dynasty, he conquered the south, stabilized this position, and only then turned north to fight the Yuan dynasty, forming the advantage of the Ming dynasty. It all stems from a simple but crucial belief that "people think of Han", and the Yuan Dynasty was founded by the Mongols. This belief propelled him to create a historical miracle, gradually pacified from south to north, and finally achieved the great cause of unification. Among them, the crucial nature of Zhu Yuanzhang's southern campaign cannot be ignored.
In the south, there were three powerful forces at that time. The first is Zhu Yuanzhang's power, followed by Zhang Shicheng's power, and the most powerful is Chen Youcheng's power. As a result, Chen Youshu became Zhu Yuanzhang's most powerful opponent.
Chen Youcheng, a brave fisherman by training, has received a certain degree of cultural edification and has served in small official positions. When the Red Turban Army marched south, he and several like-minded brothers defected to Ni Wenjun, the general of the Red Turban Army. Ni Wenjun was also a hero at that time, and he was known as a "barbarian" in the rivers and lakes. He became Xu Shouhui's second-in-command and served as prime minister. After Xu Shouhui established the "Heavenly Completion Kingdom", Ni Wenjun became his right-hand man. The reason why this country name is awkward is actually very simple, the Red Turban Army wants to overthrow Dayuan, and now, they intend to surpass Dayuan and become "Tianwan", this name symbolizes that they want to surpass the Yuan Dynasty!
However, it is a pity that, like the fate of many rebels in history, Xu Shouhui and his second-in-command Ni Wenjun turned against him for power. Chen saw this opportunity, and although he was Ni Wenjun's confidant, he took the lead in killing Ni Wenjun and took over his subordinates. Later, at the Wutong Temple in Quarrying, he assassinated Xu Shouhui. Chen Youshu established the Kingdom of Han and became the monarch. Although his harem concubines are not as good as three thousand beautiful concubines, they still have to be placed, anyway, there are many concubines. Among them, one was honored as Concubine Yan.
After Zhu Yuanzhang defeated Chen Youshu in the Battle of Poyang Lake, he said the following: When the world was not yet peaceful, he attacked the city and drove with the heroes for fourteen years, and never took a woman in the army. Only after capturing Wuchang, because he was annoyed that Chen Youshu repeatedly attacked each other, he took his concubine and returned. In short, he described his struggle, in order to unify the world, he fought for fourteen years, never indulged in women. However, when he defeated Chen Youcheng, he became angry because of Chen Youcheng's continuous aggression, took Chen Youcheng's wife, and married him as his wife! And this concubine is one of them!
Zhu Yuanzhang's words were full of boasting. He understood that unification of the South meant strategic superiority, and Chen Youshu was his strongest opponent. Now that the opponent has disappeared, the situation has become clear, and he has also relaxed his demands on himself. Chen Youcheng bullied him, shouldn't he fight back? They are not friendly with each other, but in a life-and-death confrontation. In any case, Zhu Yuanzhang succeeded, expanding his harem. After he ascended the throne, Concubine Yan became "Concubine Dading", and soon gave birth to two sons for him, Zhu Yu and Zhu Zi. Zhu Yuanzhang had a total of 26 sons, and Zhu Zi was the eighth. Obviously, Concubine Dading was favored by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yu has the temperament of the Zhu family, loves martial arts, and has a hot-tempered and murderous personality. He has achieved many battle merits and has been loved by Zhu Yuanzhang. However, Emperor Jianwen later stripped his title after he ascended the throne, and Zhu Di restored his throne after he ascended the throne. Zhu Zi is very different from Zhu Yu, not good at martial arts, but loves to read. After his title, he often held literary gatherings to reward those who excelled in poetry. The character of his literary youth should not be surprising, but he chose to rebel. The cause was that his brother-in-law was involved in the Hu Weiyong case. Zhu Yuanzhang tried to reassure him, telling him not to worry, that the matter had nothing to do with him. correct
And after he returned to Changsha, he began his plan. Why did Zhu Zi do this? There are three theories.
The first theory comes from historical books such as "Famous Mountains and Treasures", claiming that the reason for Zhu Zi's rebellion was that he was Chen Youshu's illegitimate son. What's more, he even erected a big sign at the head of the city, declaring, "I would rather see the king of Yan than the king of thieves!" The "thief king" here refers to Zhu Yuanzhang. However, this argument is clearly untenable. After all, he also has a biological brother, and it stands to reason that if Chen Youshu is his own father, it should be his brother. So this statement is not very credible.
The second theory comes from the "Record of Sin" written by Cha Jizuo of the Qing Dynasty after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, who believed that Zhu Zi rebelled because he was handsome and talented, and made many mistakes common to literati - seducing concubines or palace maids around Zhu Yuanzhang, fearing that things would be revealed, so he rebelled.
The third theory is that Zhu Zi was frightened by Zhu Yuanzhang. It is often said that "knowing the son Mo Ruo father", but for the emperor, it may be more appropriate to "know the father Mo Ruozi". Zhu Zi was well aware of his father's temper, so he had the idea of rebelling. After the failure, Zhu Zi and Concubine Dading mother and son set themselves on fire and died.
No matter what the statement is, Zhu Yuanzhang robbed Chen Youcheng's concubine, and the Zhu Zi born became a painful mistake for Zhu Yuanzhang. He had 26 sons, but Zhu Zi rebelled. The other sons, even if they were as strong as Zhu Di, did not dare to do such a rebellious thing. This made Zhu Yuanzhang, who had a heavy face, regret it. For this point, Zhu Yuanzhang could only swallow this "tooth" that was difficult to swallow and silently accept this fact.
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The above is the historical story of Zhu Yuanzhang's unification of the south. This history is full of intrigue, ambition and family emotional strife. Zhu Yuanzhang's success came not only from his military wisdom, but also from his skillful operation in politics and family. History is often shaped by individual choices, desires, and courage. And this period of history also shows the complexity of human nature and the impermanence of history.