When Zhu Biaoying, the founding prince of the Ming Dynasty, died young, and the grief-stricken Zhu Yuanzhang "sent the black-haired man" to the black-haired man, he immediately had to face the choice of the heir to the throne.
Previously, after the death of the crown prince, the emperors who had been born to him as crown princes were: Tuoba Tao, emperor taiwu of Northern Wei, and Tuoba Jun, emperor of Northern Wei. Emperor Xiao Zhao of Southern Qi deposed Emperor Xiao Zhaoye. Liao Daozong Yelü Hongji, Li Tianzuo Emperor Yelü Yanxi. Jin Shizong completed Yan Yong, and Li Jin Xuanzong completed Yan Jing. Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, liyuan chengzong Tiemu'er.
In addition, the Sui Emperor Yang Guang also always regarded several imperial grandsons of the late crown prince Yang Zhao as candidates for the crown prince, without considering other princes.
After the death of the crown prince, the other princes were made by Emperor Wu, Sun Quan, and after the death of the crown prince Sun Deng, Sun Ying, the son of Sun Deng, was not appointed, and Sun He was made crown prince. Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu, after the death of Xiao Tong, the prince of Zhaoming, changed Xiao Gang to crown prince.
Examining the history before the Ming Dynasty, there were six cases of emperors and two cases of emperors, so that the only two cases of stable succession of the imperial throne were Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei and Emperor Chengzong of Yuan.
Why are the emperors of various generations more inclined to establish the emperor's grandson? Because:
It is unshakable in favor of strengthening the primogeniture system of succession – the throne cannot be contested.
If the brother dies and the brother stands, the brothers behind may be unconvinced and dissatisfied: Originally, everyone had no share in the big position and sat on an equal footing, so why let you climb the dragon gate just because of the death of the prince?
This is the result of the historical Liangwu Emperor Xiao Gang: when the Hou Jing Rebellion broke out in Southern Liang, the kings held their armies and waited for their father and brother to be defeated and die, and the country was destroyed.
Moreover, if another prince is appointed as the new prince, how will the forces of the old prince family be dealt with? Not only the prince's foreign relatives, but also the grandsons of the emperor's own concubines, what should the ministers who had previously stood in line to support the old prince? Can't we cleanse the new prince of the throne for the sake of him?
The establishment of the emperor's grandson can make the power structure of the original court layout to the prince party remain unchanged, so that the court can be selected. It's settled.
What's more, it is easy to have contradictions between an adult and powerful crown prince and an old emperor who is old- the prince wants to take over as soon as possible, and the old emperor is afraid of the scattered power of the people.
On the contrary, the emperor's grandson was separated by two generations, too young, more patient than the adult prince, and powerless to coerce the old emperor, but also rely on the prestige that the old emperor forced on him to suppress many imperial uncles, and the contradictions between the two sides were naturally not fierce. On the contrary, they can "have deep feelings for their grandchildren" and rely on each other.
From the perspective of Zhu Yuanzhang at this time, we can see that the previous emperors changed the two cases of other princes after the death of the prince, even Sun Quan and Xiao Yan, the two founding princes who could be called masters of the country, also ended in failure, and even indirectly led to the demise of the country.
What's more, what's more, at that time, the Ming Dynasty already had a number of adult princes who were rich and powerful, and divided into one side, and even had heavy troops under their command.
What's more, at that time, the Ming Dynasty already had many years of wealth and strength, and there were even adult princes with heavy troops under their command.
Zhu Yuanzhang issued the "Ancestral Training of the Emperor Ming" in the sixth year of Hongwu (1373): "Whoever has no prince in the imperial court, must be a brother and a brother, and must be born of a concubine's mother, and those born of a concubine's mother, although they cannot be established for a long time." If a traitor abandons the concubine, the concubine shall keep the division and not move, and send a letter to repay the concubine, and ensure that the concubine is on the throne, and the court will behead the adulterer. 】
Emphasizing the distinction between concubines and concubines, the difference between the elder and the young is the ancestral precept that cannot be easier, and the law of succession is fixed, for the sake of future generations.
According to the "Ming Shilu" and the Qing Xiu "History of Ming", the crown prince Zhu Biao, the second prince Qin Wang Zhu Zhu, the third prince Jin Wang Zhu Tang, the fourth prince Yan Wang Zhu Di, the fifth prince Zhou Wang Zhu Shu, the official record is that Empress Ma was concubine. As for the Mingren's notes, whether they had another birth mother in private does not really make much sense. The prince whom the Empress had adopted and remembered in her own name was the Crown Prince.
Many other young princes, whether by concubine or by elder, were certainly excluded from the heirs.
However, if you do not establish a grandson and establish a prince, the second prince who should be established in the order of the second prince, Zhu Zhu, the king of Qin,
Because of Zhu Yuanzhang's previous suppression of him, such as letting him marry the sister of the Famous Mengyuan general Wang Baobao as a concubine, it was equivalent to declaring that he would definitely be excluded from the succession candidates in the world, (because of the expulsion of the Ming Dynasty that Mengyuan started.) The second generation could not accept a Mongol empress); he repeatedly rebelled and angered Zhu Yuanzhang, and was given death by Zhu Yuanzhang, his more favored concubine Deng Ci (Deng Yu's daughter), which made Zhu Yuanzhang more disgusted with him.
The third prince Zhu Tang the Prince of Jin, the fourth prince Zhu Di the Prince of Yan, and the fifth prince Zhu Xuan of Zhou were also young and powerful, and behind them were all married to famous heroes:
Crown Princess, daughter of Chang Yuchun; second concubine of The King of Qin, daughter of Deng Yu; Princess Yan, daughter of Xu Da; Princess Dai, daughter of Xu Da; Princess Zhou, daughter of Feng Sheng; Princess Shu, daughter of Lan Yu; Princess Shizi of Jin, daughter of Fu Youde...
If Zhu Yuanzhang did not talk about the order of the elder and the young, skipping the emperor's second son, the King of Qin, and establishing any other adult prince, it would be tantamount to intensifying the dispute. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang finally chose to establish an emperor's grandson, and at the same time, in order to avoid the great power of foreign relatives, the military merits of each family were intertwined, and zhu Yunjiao, whose mother's family was a civilian official, gave up his grandson Yunxi, who was often in the spring.
In order to allow Zhu Yunxi to sit firmly on the throne in the future, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately launched the "Blue Jade Case", which was countless and began a new round of brutal killings against many important generals in the army: Zhu Yunxi's uncle Lan Yu, his uncle Chang Sheng, the founding duke of Jin, Fu Youde, the in-law of the Jin Dynasty, and Feng Sheng, the Duke of Song, the father-in-law of the Zhou Dynasty, along with countless old troops in the army, were purged.
Liangguo Gong Blue Jade, Exterminate! Feng Sheng, Duke of Song, execute! Yingguo Duke Fu Youde, execute! The founding fathers are always ascending, and they are executed! Marquis Zhang Yi of Heqing, exterminate the clan! Marquis Cao Zhen of Jingchuan, exterminate the clan! Huining Hou Zhang Wen, exterminate the clan! Puding Hou Chen Huan, exterminate the clan! Marquis Zhu Shou, exterminate the clan! Marquis Cao Xing of Huaiyuan, exterminate the clan! Hui Xian Bo Sang Jing, execution! Xuanning Hou Cao Tai, execute! Xiliang Hou Puying, executed!
This is also the direct reason why Zhu Yuanzhang killed the founding heroes in history, that is, in order to let his sons and grandchildren, who had a shallow foundation in the Ming army, be able to sit on the throne for generations, he had to get rid of those founding fathers and generals who had many cronies in the army.
As for Emperor Wen of The Great Ming Dynasty (Chengzu) and Emperor Zhu Di of Yongle, it was obvious that he was in the Battle of Jingnan, with his soldiers and swords in his hands, he had to always be the concubine of Empress Ma, the "oldest concubine of Emperor Taizu who was still alive", and he ascended the throne.
It's just that by the time he had this identity, when his second brother King Qin and third brother King Jin had died, Zhu Yunjiao had been the emperor's grandson for many years...
If when Zhu Biao died, the King of Qin and the King of Jin were already dead, then Zhu Di was really likely to be seriously regarded as a candidate for the crown prince by Zhu Yuanzhang, and if it was determined that Zhu Di was on the throne, he would also definitely properly place Zhu Yunjiao and Zhu Yunxi's brothers, and even break the rules and seal the prince, so that they could enjoy wealth and honor, which was not necessarily a good thing for Zhu Biao.
Although the Blue Jade Party would still be destroyed, Fu Youde Feng Sheng and the other princes could survive. More importantly, without the jingnan, which was a slaughter of millions of corpses, the Mongol tribes could not have been revived after the fall of the Northern Yuan. This is good for the Ming Dynasty and for most people. It's a pity to miss it.