Preface
Zhu Gaoxu is Zhu Di's favorite son, however, his fate is full of tragedy and bizarreness. He was supposed to be a prince, but he suffered an unfortunate fate and was finally roasted alive by his own nephew. This tragic ending is embarrassing, and it has also triggered endless speculation and exploration.
So, what exactly led to this tragedy? What did Zhu Gaochu do to make his relatives treat him so cruelly? What kind of conspiracy is hidden behind this story? Today, we will explore this puzzling story.
1. Grandfather's prejudice
Zhu Gaoxu was born in a royal family where power and glory coexisted, his father Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, and his mother Empress Xu was Taizu's favorite daughter-in-law. Such a family background is destined for Zhu Gaoxu to have incomparable status and resources. However, fate gave him a completely different life.
Since he was a child, Zhu Gaoxu has been neglected and disliked by his grandfather. The reason is very simple, he is cunning by nature and acts frivolously, and his brother Zhu Gaochi is like two people. Zhu Gaochi is gentle and elegant, and he is a "talent for the king" in the eyes of his grandfather. In contrast, Zhu Gaoxu is more like a lawless and arrogant teenager.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Zhu Gaoxu is simply a "disaster". This grandson not only does not know how to be humble, but also often does something out of the ordinary, which makes his grandfather very angry. Once, Zhu Gaoxu even stole Xu Huizu's horse and fled, almost causing even more trouble.
Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally angry about this. According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu's behavior has constituted a serious crime and should be executed. But Zhu Di is his favorite son after all, and in order to maintain his status, he naturally will not sit idly by. As a result, Zhu Yuanzhang could only reluctantly let go of this "scourge".
This prejudice is destined to where Zhu Gaoxu's fate will go in the future. Even if he has outstanding talents, he can't escape his grandfather's prejudices. In Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, Zhu Gaoxu will always be a restless child and will never become a qualified royal family.
Second, the father's favor
Although his grandfather is like this, Zhu Gaoxu is a different scenery in the eyes of his father Zhu Di. During the Battle of Jingyan, Zhu Gaoxu often charged forward, repeatedly made military exploits, and tried to protect his father many times.
It is these outstanding feats that make Zhu Di look at this son differently. Once, Zhu Di even said something meaningful to Zhu Gaoxu: "I am sick, you work hard, and the son is sick." "
This sentence undoubtedly gave Zhu Gaoxu great confidence and expectations. In Zhu Di's eyes, although Zhu Gaochi is the eldest son, his health has not been very good, and it is difficult for him to be able to bear the burden of the throne. In contrast, Zhu Gaoxu is not only brave and good at fighting, but also deeply loved by his father.
As a result, Zhu Gaochu began to covet the throne of the crown prince, and was even more hostile to his brother Zhu Gaochi. He often slandered his brother in front of his father, saying that he had a close relationship with Zhu Yunwen and was suspected of rebellion.
Although Zhu Di didn't believe it at first, he still became suspicious of the crown prince under Zhu Gaoxu's repeated provocations. In order to verify his son's words, Zhu Di even sent someone to send an edict to Zhu Gaochi, trying to get him to submit to the imperial court.
Fortunately, Zhu Gaochi was not fooled, but handed over the edict to his father intact. Zhu Di suddenly realized that he almost wronged his son. Since then, his attitude towards Zhu Gaoxu has also become cautious.
But even so, Zhu Di still looks at this son differently. In the Battle of Jingjing, Zhu Gaoxu's outstanding military exploits made his position in his father's heart more and more important. Zhu Di even intended to crown him as the crown prince to replace Zhu Gaochi, who was in poor health.
3. The heart of seizing the heir
However, Zhu Di finally followed the principle of "establishing a successor and establishing a long one", and named Zhu Gaochi as the crown prince, and Zhu Gaochu was named the king of Han and sent to Yunnan to take up the vassal. In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu held a grudge and repeatedly asked to stay in the capital.
Seeing this, Zhu Di couldn't help but be suspicious of his son. Sure enough, Zhu Gaoxu's behavior became more and more arrogant, not only comparing himself to Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, but also asking Zhu Di to give him Tiance Guard, intending to follow Li Shimin to seize the throne.
This kind of behavior is undoubtedly a public provocation of the crown prince Zhu Gaochi. Zhu Gaoxu obviously wanted to emulate Tang Taizong Li Shimin and replace his brother on the throne through his own merits and status.
Although Zhu Di loves this son the most, he is a wise man after all, so he will naturally not be easily confused by his son's flattery. He saw through Zhu Gaoxu's ambitions and decided to take more drastic measures.
As a result, Zhu Di changed Zhu Gaoxu's fief from the King of Han to Qingzhou, and ordered him to go to the domain. But Zhu Gaoxu still refused to leave the capital, and even privately recruited 3,000 elites to use the utensils that only the emperor could use in the palace.
This is already a big disrespect. Zhu Di was furious, took off Zhu Gaoxu's crown clothes and locked him in Xihua Gate. Although Zhu Gaochu was finally released under the persuasion of the crown prince Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Di still killed his cronies and reduced his two guards.
In this way, Zhu Gaoxu's status and power were cut step by step. Zhu Di even changed his fiefdom to Le'an Prefecture again and ordered him to go to the domain. This is undoubtedly a huge humiliation for Zhu Gaoxu.
Since then, Zhu Gaoxu has become even more resentful of his father, and even has the idea of rebellion. He sent his henchmen to the capital to find the right time to start a rebellion.
4. Forgiveness of the nephew
After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he once again rewarded his two uncles: Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han, and Zhu Gaosui, the king of Zhao. This kind of tolerant and generous approach gave Zhu Gaoxu an illusion: his nephew was weak and incompetent and could be bullied at will.
So, in the first year of Xuande, Zhu Gaoxu openly rebelled. This time, Zhu Zhanji is not as easy to talk as his father. He directly drove his own expedition and surrounded his uncle.
Just when Zhu Gaochu was about to fight to the death, the rebels in the city rebelled against him, and Zhu Gaochu was suddenly terrified. He realized that he had fallen into a desperate situation from which he could no longer escape. So, he chose to surrender.
Zhu Zhan could basically punish his uncle severely, but he still remembered family affection, and just demoted Zhu Gaoxu to a concubine and imprisoned him in Xi'anmen. This forgiveness, Zhu Gaoxu did not appreciate it.
During his captivity, Zhu Gaoxu did not repent, but when Zhu Zhanji went to Xihuamen, he stretched out his foot and tripped him to the ground. Zhu Zhanji naturally could not tolerate such unreasonableness. So, Zhu Zhanji ordered someone to press Zhu Gaoxu under a large vat, light a charcoal fire, and roast him to death. Even Zhu Gaoxu's 10 sons were not spared and were all executed.
5. Sad ending
Through the above, we can find that Zhu Gaoxu's tragedy actually stems from his own character flaws. He was naturally cunning and acted frivolously, which made his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang prejudiced against him. Even in the eyes of his father Zhu Di, he is just a brave and warlike general, not a qualified royal family.
This prejudice doomed Zhu Gaoxu's fate. Although he made great achievements in the Battle of Jingyan, his father finally made his eldest son Zhu Gaochi the crown prince in accordance with the principle of "establishing a successor and establishing a long-term successor". As a result, Zhu Gaoxu began to covet the throne and became hostile to his brother. He often slandered his brother in front of his father and tried to replace him as the crown prince. This kind of behavior is undoubtedly an open provocation to the imperial power.
Although Zhu Di loves this son the most, he is a wise man after all, so he will naturally not be easily confused by his son's flattery. He saw through Zhu Gaoxu's ambitions and decided to take more drastic measures. Since then, Zhu Gaoxu's status and power have been reduced step by step, and his resentment towards his father has become deeper and deeper.
Even after Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, Zhu Gaoxu still did not give up the idea of rebellion. He sent his henchmen to the capital to find the right time to start a rebellion. But this time, Zhu Zhanji is not as easy to talk as his father. He directly drove his own expedition and surrounded his uncle.
In the end, Zhu Gaoxu chose to surrender. But even so, Zhu Zhanji did not punish him severely, but only demoted him to a concubine and imprisoned him in Xi'anmen. During his captivity, Zhu Gaoxu did not repent, but instead acted unreasonably towards his nephew. This time, Zhu Zhanji finally lost his patience and ordered someone to roast him to death.
Such an ending is really heart-wrenching. A brave and warlike general, a son who was deeply loved by his father, finally came to such a tragic end. All this stems from Zhu Gaoxu's restlessness and greed for power.
epilogue
Zhu Gaoxu's life can be called a tragedy. He was looked down upon by his grandfather since he was a child, and when he grew up, he turned against his father and brother because of his greed for power. In the end, he not only lost the favor of his relatives, but also buried his own life.
This story warns us not to be blinded by power and lust. Keeping oneself in peace, being content and always happy, is the highest state of life. Only in this way can we avoid repeating the mistakes of Zhu Gaoxu and live a happy and healthy life.