Minghui Emperor Zhu Yunjiao like Minghui Emperor Zhu Yunjiao (1377~?) He was the second emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and his father Zhu Biao was the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, who was made crown prince in his early years and unfortunately died early in middle age. Zhu Yuanzhang, in accordance with the feudal etiquette tradition, made Zhu Yunzhao the emperor's grandson.
Emperor Minghui zhu Yunjiao
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398), after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhu Yunjiao, who was only 21 years old, succeeded to the throne and changed his era name to Jianwen, so he was called "Jianwen Emperor". Four years later, Zhu Yunjiao's fourth uncle, Zhu Di, the King of Yan, led an army into the capital, and in a hurry, Zhu Yunjiao burned the palace, and his only four-year imperial journey ended, which can be described as "unpaid ambition", and his life and death have become a mystery for eternity. Despite this, Zhu Yunjiao, as a humane emperor who advocated "benevolent and righteous people" and "benevolent rule of the country", is still often remembered by posterity.
The Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao of the "Renming Filial Friend" was born on December 5, 1377, in the tenth year of Hongwu (1377), and was intelligent and studious from an early age. When his father, The Crown Prince Zhu Biao, assisted Zhu Yuanzhang in handling official duties, because of his benevolent nature, he "saved many lives in prisons" and saved many lives, which made Zhu Yuanzhang, who was naturally easy to kill, very unhappy. When Zhu Yunjiao was the emperor's grandson, he assisted the old emperor in handling the affairs of the dynasty, and also "restored leniency". Because the military strategists were almost killed by Zhu Yuanzhang at that time, coupled with the feelings of "intergenerational relatives", Zhu Yuanzhang did not get angry with his grandson anymore and has always been "very happy with the dragon's heart". Zhu Yunjiao also deleted and revised the seventy-three heavy laws that were particularly unreasonable in the Hongwu Decree in accordance with the "Book of Rites" and with reference to the criminal laws of previous dynasties, which won the hearts of the people.
When Zhu Yunjiao was fourteen years old, his father, Crown Prince Zhu Biao, was seriously ill and had a large sarcoma on his body, and he was miserable. Zhu Yunjiao served with all his heart, staying by his side day and night. In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu, Zhu Biao died of illness, and Zhu Yunjiao "lived in mourning and ruined barrenness", did not eat for several days, and was sad and abnormal, reflecting the pure filial piety of the Son of Man in the feudal era. The old emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, whose heart was like an iron stone, was also overwhelmed with grief, caressing his grandson's back and persuading: "You are really filial piety! Don't be so sad not to eat, it will drag down the bones of the body, I am still alive, let me do what! Zhu Yunjiao ate a little, collecting tears and enduring mourning, so as to reassure the emperor. After Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yunjiao took his three younger brothers together and took good care of their diet and living, and did not make them feel lonely. Before Zhu Yuanzhang's death, his temper was extremely grumpy, and many people were worried about being affected by this, Zhu Yunjiao personally served, often unable to sleep all night, but he did not complain.
After Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yuanzhang had to reconsider the issue of succession to the throne. According to the primogeniture system, Zhu Biao's eldest son Zhu Xiongying was the best candidate, but unfortunately he died ten years ago, so Zhu Biao's second son Zhu Yunjiao became the first choice. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was worried that Zhu Yunjiao was rude and gentle, and it would be difficult for him to shoulder the heavy responsibility of governing the country. During this period, he had thought of Zhu Di, the fourth son of the Emperor, because Zhu Di was very similar to himself in many places, but when consulting with the Qunchen, Liu Sanwu, a scholar of Hanlin, thought that it was impossible, "Where is the King of Yan, where are the Kings of Qin and Jin?" And the emperor's eldest grandson returned to his heart, and the emperor had no worries." Zhu Yuanzhang then made up his mind and made Zhu Yunjiao the emperor's grandson. In the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu (1396), Zhu Yuanzhang summoned his sons to see Zhu Yunjiao at the Eastern Palace and performed court ceremonies, that is, to let Zhu Yunjiao's uncles meet the future emperor of the empire. The generous and humble Zhu Yunjiao was very uneasy in his heart, and after being worshipped in the Eastern Palace according to the etiquette of the imperial court, he hurried into the inner temple and greeted his uncles with "family etiquette".
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398), Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness and was succeeded by the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunjiao. Zhu Yuanzhang said in his testament that Zhu Yunjiao was "a filial friend of Renming", which was recognized by historians. As a result, Zhu Yunjiao, who was born as a "filial friend of Renming", was pushed to the peak of power at the age of 21, officially taking the throne as emperor, changing the second year to the first year of Jianwen, inheriting the unification of the world created by Zhu Yuanzhang. The personalities of the two emperors were completely different, and an important reason why Zhu Yuanzhang initially did not want to make Zhu Yunjiao the emperor's grandson was that he was afraid that Zhu Yunjiao, like his father Zhu Biao, would be too weak, too benevolent, too heavily influenced by Confucianism, and would suffer great losses if he could not control the courtiers in the future. However, as soon as the outwardly benevolent Emperor Taisun ascended the throne, he began to transform the Ming Dynasty founded by his grandfather.
After zhu Yunjiao, the "Xiucai Imperial Court", took the throne, he changed the tense atmosphere of the Hongwu period, reformed the politics of the previous dynasty, and implemented a series of new policies, known in history as the "New Deal of Jianwen".
Zhu Yuanzhang seized the world by force, and naturally formed a situation of shangwu and light literature. Zhu Yunzhi intended to end the political style of his grandfather Shangwu and vigorously strengthened the role of civilian officials in state affairs. When he first ascended the great treasure, he himself determined that the new year name was "Jianwen", which was in stark contrast to his grandfather's era name "Hongwu", from which it can be seen that Zhu Yunjiao's governing strategy changed. He also promoted the six Shangshu to zhengyipin, opened the examination for the imperial examination, and issued an edict requesting that the meritorious literary scholars be recommended and given official positions.
Several of the ministers entrusted with heavy responsibilities around Zhu Yunjiao of the Nanjing Gongyuan were talented people who had read poetry and books: Qi Tai, Shangshu Qitai of the Bingbu, Huang Zicheng, secretary of the Taichang Temple and a scholar of Hanlin, and Fang Xiaoru, a hanlin attendant. Because most of the ministers Zhu Yunjiao relied on were literati, they called the new imperial court "Xiucai Imperial Court". Zhu Yunjue made the literati gain a higher political status than before, and they no longer had to worry about being convicted of a single word like the Hongwu Dynasty, so they also had greater courage, dared to express their opinions on the government of the dynasty, and were loyal to Zhu Yunjiao, which was also the reason why a large number of civil servants were willing to martyr him later.
Zhu Yunjiao adopted the suggestions of these strategists, first of all, to emphasize the punishment of virtue, to be keen on civil rule, and to advocate etiquette and religion. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang ruled the country with rigidity and fierceness, and severely punished the law. Just over a month after Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, he issued an edict to the whole country to exercise leniency and rehabilitate unjust prisons, so that some unjust, false and wrongly decided cases in the Hongwu period were corrected, a number of innocent officials were able to restore their freedom, and those who were sent to distant places were able to return to their hometowns. According to records, the number of criminals in Jianwen Dynasty prisons decreased by two-thirds compared with that of Hongwu Dynasty. The second is that all are exempted from military service, and the rent of the calendar year and the tax on the wasteland under the world are reduced. In view of the excessive enlistment in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Zhu Yunjiao issued an edict that "Jiangsu and Zhejiang are entrusted with a single weight, and it is advisable to understand and reduce it, and the mu must not be over a fight." The phenomenon of Buddhist and Taoist forces occupying a large number of fertile land is restricted.
In addition, in terms of the bureaucratic system, Zhu Yunjiao also carried out reforms, re-established the official system, vigorously streamlined the organization, and eliminated redundant personnel. During his four years in power, he abolished nine states, thirty-nine counties, and a large number of redundant officials and tax agencies, increasing the central fiscal revenue and reducing the burden on the people. In the imperial court, Zhu Yunjiao disciplined the eunuchs very strictly, and at the same time ordered the magistrates to send the eunuchs to the capital and punish them severely if they found that the eunuchs were tyrannical and abusive.
It can be said that Zhu Yunjiao's series of measures reformed many maladministrations during the Hongwu period, fully embodied his idea of governing the country with benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, and happiness, created a relaxed environment for the people and officials, eased social contradictions, and played a positive role in social stability.
When Zhu Yunjiao was made the emperor's grandson, "the kings regarded him as his uncle's honor, and many were not inferior", and regarded him as a yellow-mouthed child, and his arrogance overflowed into words. Zhu Yunjiao, who shouldered the heavy responsibility of the future of the Ming Empire, was very worried at that time. One day, he asked Huang Zicheng, the secretary of the Taichang Temple, who was reading: "My uncles each have heavy troops, so why should they be controlled?" Huang Zicheng was a Confucian scholar and was well versed in historical stories, and immediately told him in detail the historical facts of the Han Jing Emperor's policy of cutting down the domain and quelling the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms. Zhu Yunjiao was overjoyed after hearing this, and felt that things were not difficult to handle, "I have no worries! ”
After Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, an important measure of the New Deal was to cut the domain. At that time, most of the clan kings were his uncles, and they all had military power in their hands, often committing crimes in their own clans, and some even prepared to rebel. Zhu Di, the King of Yan, who was in Beiping (present-day Beijing), was one of the most representative, when Zhu Yuanzhang's first three sons had died, and Zhu Di became the longest of the princes, and in the process of fighting against the Mongols, he continued to grow and became the greatest threat to imperial power. In a sense, Zhu Yunjiao's slashing of the domain was aimed at the Yan King.
However, Zhu Yunjiao made a serious mistake in his decision-making: instead of cutting the strongest Yan king Zhu Di first, he started from other clan kings, and successively deposed the five kings of Zhou and zhu as shuren, causing the precariousness of the clan kings, and also striking grass and snakes, so that the Yan king Zhu Di stepped up preparations. When Zhu Yunjiao decided to open a knife to Zhu Di, it was too late. In July of the first year of Jianwen (1399), Zhu Di, after making full preparations, in the name of "Jie Qi Huang and Qing Junfang", marched south to compete for the throne, known in history as the "Battle of Jingnan".
Huang Zicheng deployed his troops like Zhu Yunjiao and struggled to suppress the rebellion. Despite the fierce momentum of the Yan army, it fought for three years, only according to the three counties of Beiping, Baoding, and Yongping, and the war was deadlocked. At this time, some unscrupulous eunuchs who had been punished by Zhu Yunjiao revealed to Zhu Di the information about the emptiness of the Capital Division, and expressed their willingness to act as internal responders to the Yan army. Zhu Di correctly analyzed the situation, feeling that as long as Zhu Yunjiao was in a day, the local army would resist for a day, and he himself was a traitor, but if he captured Nanjing and became the king of a country, I believe that not many people would oppose it. Therefore, Zhu Di changed his previous strategy of attacking the city and seizing land, and led his army to attack Nanjing.
In June of the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), the Yan army crossed the Yangtze River and approached the city. At this time, the Jianwen court was already in a mess, and many local generals did not move. Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng left Beijing to run to Guangde and Suzhou on the pretext of recruiting troops. Xu Zengshou, the governor of Zuo, plotted to commit adultery with Zhu Di as an internal response, but was discovered by Zhu Yunjiao and hacked him to death with his own hands. Zhu Sui, the King of Gu, who was guarding the Jinchuan Gate, and Li Jinglong, the general, opened the door privately to yan and let the Yan army enter the city. When Zhu Yunjiao heard the report, he said tearfully: "Zhu Sui, Li Jinglong, and others have not been treated lightly, and they have betrayed Yu Shuo at a critical moment. ”
Yushi Lianyao, who was loyal to Zhu Yunjiao, pretended to surrender to Zhu Di, but was unable to stab Zhu Di forward and was killed by Zhu Di. After hearing this, Zhu Yunjiao sighed: "Such a loyal subject, but he does not reuse it, this is the fault of Yuan, it is too late to regret it, and it is better to die and be martyred." After saying that he was going to commit suicide after drawing his sword, he was stopped by the left and right deaths, and in desperation, he had no choice but to order the burning of the palace.
Zhu Di entered the palace and searched for three days, but he never found Zhu Yunjiao, and asked the internal attendants, they did not know whether Zhu Yunjiao was dead or alive, only that he disappeared after he ordered the arson.
The mystery of the ending, Zhu Yunjiao never thought beforehand that he would lose the throne due to the cutting of the domain. However, when Zhu Di, the King of Yan, attacked Nanjing, what the end of Zhu Yunjiao naturally became the focus of people's attention. Because Zhu Yunjiao ended Zhu Yuanzhang's harsh rule and practiced leniency, he was highly praised, so his suffering aroused the sympathy of countless people, and his whereabouts were particularly concerned by people. But regrettably, so far, there are still many opinions about the whereabouts of Zhu Yunjiao, and there is no consensus, which has become the first mystery case in the history of the Ming Dynasty. In general, there are three ways to say this:
Self-immolation said. According to the Records of Emperor Taizong and the Ming History Manuscript during the Yongle dynasty, when the Yan king Zhu Di's troops approached the city of Nanjing, Zhu Yunjiao did not allow peace and had to hold on, but his commander Li Jinglong opened the Jinchuan Gate to welcome the Yan army into the city, and the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu surrendered. Seeing that the situation was gone, he had no choice but to order the palace to be burned, and jumped into the fire with Empress Ma and set himself on fire, and most of the concubines and attendants also died with him. After Zhu Di, the King of Yan, entered the palace, the Qing Palace searched for Zhu Yunjiao's whereabouts for three days. The palace attendants all said that Zhu Yunjiao had set himself on fire and pulled a charred corpse from the fire as proof. When Zhu Di, the king of Yan, saw the corpse, he could not distinguish between male and female, so he had to "bury Emperor Jianwen with the ritual of heavenly son". The Ming Shi Chengzu Benji and the Ming Shi Fang Xiaoru Biography both hold this view.
Cut the hair for the monk said. Qing Dynasty celebrities Such as Lü Anshi and his close associate Cai Dongfan thought that after the Yan army broke the city, Zhu Yunjiao had no choice but to die. At this time, the eunuch Wang Yu told him: When your grandfather was dying, he left you an iron box and asked me to give it to you when you were in great trouble, and I have always kept it secretly in the Fengxian Hall. The courtiers hurriedly brought the box and opened it to see that there were three dumu inside, which were the identity cards of the monks, and the names of Zhu Yunjiao and the other three people were written on them. There were also three monk's robes, a razor, ten platinum ingots, and a suicide note, which stated: "Emperor Jianwen came out of the ghost gate, and the others walked from the Shuiguan Yugou and met in the evening in the west room of the gods." According to this, the three of them shaved their heads, changed into monk's robes, and brought only nine people to the ghost gate. The ghost gate is inside the Taiping Gate, which is a small low gate in the inner city. Only one person was allowed to enter and exit, and the waterway was opened, Zhu Yunjiao bent over and went out of the ghost gate, and the others followed. After leaving the ghost gate, they saw a small boat parked on the waterway, and on the boat stood a monk, who beckoned them to board the boat and prostrated to Zhu Yunjiao to say long live. Zhu Yunjiao asked him how he knew that he was in trouble, and the monk replied, "My name is Wang Sheng, I am the abbot of God's optimism, and last night I dreamed of your grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang, who was originally a monk, and asked me to wait here and accept you into the temple as a monk." According to this, Zhu Yunjiao cut his hair and became a monk and inherited the ancestral inheritance.
Nanyang said. There are rumors that after the Yan army broke the city, Zhu Yunjiao went out to sea by boat, went to Nanyang, and lived a quiet and secluded life on a small island. Later, Zhu Di was worried that Zhu Yunjiao would gather local Chinese, or call on the Nanyang states to raise troops as a suzerain, so he was very uneasy, and specially sent Zheng He to the West several times, one to publicize the prestige of the country, and the other to explore the traces of Emperor Jianwen. According to the "History of Ming", "Chengzu suspected that Emperor Hui had died overseas, wanted to trace it, and wanted to show his army in a foreign land to show China's wealth and strength." In June of the third year of Yongle, FengHe and his nephew King Jinghong and other envoys to the West, with more than 27,800 soldiers and soldiers, and more than one gold coin. "In Zheng He's fleet, there was also a part of the Jinyi guard, who was specifically responsible for investigation, and it was unknown whether the traces of Emperor Jianwen were detected.
Regarding the mystery of Zhu Yunjiao's ending, there are still many explanations and legends in the folk, not only the ones listed above. In recent years, with the continuous deepening of the study of the issue of Zhu Yunjiao's death and the increasing grasp of historical materials, it is believed that he did not set himself on fire but cut his hair to become a monk or drifted to the sea, and some scholars in Taiwan even published the book "Examination of the Death of Emperor Minghui". Of course, in the end, what happened to Zhu Yunjiao, because there is no conclusive evidence, is still a mystery that is difficult to solve.
![The mystery of the whereabouts of Emperor Minghui Zhu Yunjiao[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)