Zhu Zhanji was deeply loved by Zhu Di since childhood, and at the age of 11, he followed the emperor's grandfather Zhu Di on a tour of the north, and he had such a special treatment among the piles of imperial grandchildren. At the age of 13, he was made the Crown Princess and crowned as the Crown Prince. Zhu Dichang and Zhu Zhanji's father, Zhu Gaozi, said: "This day he taiping tianzi also." "The grandson and grandson have a deep affection.
In the twenty-second year of Yongle, Zhu Di made his fifth expedition to Mobei, but he died during the expedition. There are not many records of Zhu Di's death in the Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming, and the official explanation given is that Zhu Di died naturally in Yumuchuan, and the chancellor Yang Rong and the eunuch Ma Yun and others deliberated on deciding not to send a funeral, and sent people to the capital to report the funeral to the crown prince, and the crown prince Zhu Gaozi sent his eldest son Zhu Zhanji to retrieve Zhu Di's body.
What are the facts? Is Zhu Di really a natural death? What was Zhu Zhanji's reaction to his grandfather's death?
01 "Records of the Li Dynasty" doubtful points
According to the North Korean "Records of the Lee Dynasty", Zhu Di's expedition left several mysteries, and it can be said that his death was very strange.
First, why did the Ming army suffer heavy losses in an ambush on the way back?
Before Zhu Di's death at Yumuchuan, the Eastern Route Army had been fatally attacked by the Tatars, and the elderly Zhu Di saw the tragic defeat and died of exhaustion, to some extent, Zhu Di was killed in battle.
After the Battle of Yushugawa, the Ming army was ambushed by Duoyan Sanwei at Wuliangha, and even the Korean generals in the Daming army were captured by thousands.
Second, in the twentieth year of Yongle, after Zhu Di severely injured Wu Haliang for the third time, there was no mention of the three words "Wu Ha Liang" for two years in the "Ming Shilu", until Zhu Gaozi ascended the throne for about half a year, and then it was recorded that Zhu Gaozi reprimanded Wu Ha Liang Sanwei, what happened in the middle?
Third, why did Jin Zhong, the instigator and vanguard officer of the Fifth Expedition, disappear when Zhu Di was ambushed?
Who is Jin Zhong?
During Zhu Di's fourth expedition to Mongolia, he drifted on the desert steppe for several months with a large army, but he did not even fish a single hair from the enemy, feeling very humiliated. Just at this time, the lords of the Tatar tribe of Eastern Mongolia also led their subordinates and wives to surrender, Zhu Dizheng suffered from no military achievements, saw him return, Long Yan was very happy, and later gave him the name "Jin Zhong".
On this expedition, Jin Zhong asked to be the forward and conquest of Arudai. As a vanguard officer and a Former Mongol general, he was supposed to follow the cavalry led by Zhu Di, but at the crucial moment he disappeared. Is it a coincidence that the Ming army was attacked by the Tatars, and Jin Zhong was a Tatar, and yongle Dynasty rumored that he was a prince of the Arutai subordinate, and when he was a pioneer officer, he encountered a surprise attack?
A closer analysis shows that it is likely that Jin Zhong colluded with the Tatar and Wuharang three guards to frame Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, but there is no direct evidence.
There were Korean generals in the Ming army who witnessed these tragic situations, and although they were not recorded in the Ming Shilu, it was said in the Korean "Li Dynasty Shilu" that "its current affairs cannot be said." Crown Prince Zhu Gaozi openly claimed that his father died of natural causes, and the North Korean ministers naturally did not want to say anything publicly.
Is there something to hide? Why not say it? Was he worried that Zhu Di's five conquests of Mobei would die in a military defeat and ruin the name of the first dynasty?
02 Speculation on the reason for Zhu Di's death, the reason for the silence of the crowd
Looking at the Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming, the record of Zhu Di's death is very brief, and the ten days after his death are all blank. It seems that Zhu Di's death was a very taboo issue at that time, and it is likely that the emperor died in battle, or was killed by defeat, which was a disgrace to the face of the Ming Empire.
If the ministers Zhang Fu, Yang Rong, and Jin Youzi reported according to the facts, they would not be able to eat and walk around when asked about the responsibility, and they would not be able to protect the emperor's duty. The person in charge of the Ming Shilu is Yang Rong, Jin Youzi and others, who are very clear about what happened, but why not record it is the reason.
Fortunately, things were not too bad, and Jin Zhong later returned to Daming Capital "safely".
The wise man Akihito, Zhu Gao, gave rewards to all the people who participated in the Northern Expedition and escorted the people, but when nothing happened. However, he was able to ascend the throne smoothly, and Yang Rong and others still had merit.
Subsequently, the ming shilu record is very intriguing, Jin Zhong was favored during the years of Hongxi and Xuande after Zhu Di, Akihito and Ming Xuanzong treated him very well, and Jin Zhong also made a military achievement during Zhu Zhanji's first northern tour in the third year of Xuande. Wasn't Jin Zhong a Mongol spy?
Jin Zhong's surrender itself is puzzling, if he is not a spy, then Zhu Di's previous expeditions to the north of the desert, even the shadow of a Mongol is difficult to meet, why did the fifth expedition make him a pioneer official, but when he was about to arrive at the door of Beijing, he was hit hard by the Mongols twice?
The "Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming" evaluates Jin Zhong as "proud of being a hero in the midst of captivity", and Yang Rong, Jin Youzi, and others who edited the Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming were witnesses of Zhu Di's fifth expedition.
The reasonable explanation for this matter is likely to be: Although Yang Rong, Jin Youzi and others knew that Jin Zhong was a traitor of the Mongols, they could not find conclusive evidence, and the defeat of the Ming army was not disgraceful, and the truthful record was afraid of being criticized by posterity. Besides, as a minister of military service, I was also responsible for all this, so everyone drowned in this matter.
Zhu Gaozi, who succeeded to the throne, must also know the inside story, he trembled and walked on thin ice as a prince for more than ten years, and was crushed to death by his father. Old Father had always disliked him, and had long wanted the second eldest Zhu Gaoxu to succeed to the throne, and during his period of supervision in Nanjing, he also sent people to closely monitor him. Now that Dad is dead, from another point of view, he can finally breathe.
Since The old father is dead, don't hurt the innocent anymore, and if you announce that the old father died in battle, it will lose Daming's face.
03 Zhu Zhanji avenges his grandfather
Emperor Akihito reigned for a short time, suddenly dying within ten months, followed by the ascension of Emperor Mingxuanzong Zhu Zhanji, who was more ambitious than Zhu Gaozong.
After he ascended the throne, he did not mention the cause of death of the emperor's grandfather Zhu Di, nor did he show any suspicion of WuHarliang and Jin Zhong. Because Zhu Gaozi had already issued an edict to the three guards of Wuharang to forgive the crime.
Wuharang Sanwei began to be active since emperor Xuande ascended the throne, constantly sending people to pay tribute. But the strange thing is that only once was the tribute of The two Wei envoys of Fuyu and Taining, and the others were all tributes of Taining and Duoyan, and Fuyu came alone to pay tribute. In addition, Zhu Zhanji gave special preferential treatment to Fuyu when he was enthroned as an official.
In dealing with Jin Zhong, Zhu Zhanji still paid special attention to him and treated him kindly. Is this to dispel the suspicion of surrendering to the Northern Prisoners?
After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he accomplished several major events. Xuande was busy quelling the rebellion of his uncle Zhu Gaoxu in the first year and dispatching troops to cross the toes (today's Vietnam) to quell the rebellion, Xuande withdrew his troops in the second year, and Xuande was busy deposing Empress Hu Shanxiang for three years and establishing Sun Guifei as empress.
At the turn of the summer and autumn of that year, Zhu Zhanji began his first northern tour. He said: Every autumn, hulu will come to the border to loot, and I will lead everyone to inspect the border pass at the end of the agricultural busyness, and prepare more people and horses!
What was the real purpose of Zhu Zhanji's visit?
In fact, at the beginning of his northern tour, he ran to the northeast, and it was Wa Lai who rose up at that time, not Tatars and Wu Ha Liang, and it is reasonable to say that Zhu Zhanji should go to the northwest even if he did not attack the increasingly powerful Wala, he should also go to the northwest to scare Yi Yu, but he went to Wu Ha Liang, and also happened to meet Wu Ha Liang Yu Kou, and later he toured the north twice, how could it not be so coincidental?
This shows that Zhu Zhanji's current northern tour was headed for Wuharliang, where he also buried his spies.
When he led a large army to Shimenyi to patrol the border, he received a report from Bianguan fei that he found that the Mongol Wuharan was harassing the border, and it was reasonable to say that he should attack immediately, but Zhu Zhanji seemed to be very determined, and it was not until the fifth day that he personally led 3,000 elite troops out of Xifengkou to attack.
This time, Zhu Zhanji's severe attack on Wu Harliang was not duoyan, Taining and Fuyu as a whole, but the first two guards. Judging from his calm and unmistakable efforts to beat them to throw away their armor, it is likely that he passed through the internal line of Fuyu, one of the three guards, and grasped the intelligence of the other two guards of Wuharang, who were suspected of killing Zhu Di, and achieved a great victory in the broad river by means of a surprise attack.
Jin Zhong's northern tour also came with the army, and the meticulous Zhu Zhanji did not let him be a vanguard officer, but personally took the lead in fighting.
Summary: Zhu Di's fifth expedition to the north of the desert, died very strangely, and all indications seem to have been killed by Mongol traitors. Akihito's peace of mind, did not publish the truth, and Zhu Zhanji, who was scheming, was very clever and did not investigate the cause of his grandfather's death, but he could not swallow this breath, and the real purpose of the first northern tour in the third year of Xuande should be to avenge his grandfather, which not only relieved the hatred of the country and the family, but also greatly boosted the morale of the border guards.
Text: Ten Mile Osmanthus (Follow me and tell you more interesting historical stories.) Originality is not easy, unauthorized please do not reprint, violators will be investigated! ）