Zhu Yunxiong, born in Yingtianfu in the tenth year of Ming Hongwu, was the second son of the crown prince Zhu Biao. Because Zhu Biaoying died young, after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, he inherited the throne and became the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The history is called Jianwen Emperor.
(Portrait of Zhu Yunjiao)
During Zhu Yunjiao's reign, he implemented a series of reform measures to develop the economy and improve people's livelihood, which greatly alleviated the sharp social contradictions of Zhu Yuanzhang's period, known in history as the "New Deal for Jianwen".
After these new policies achieved some results, Zhu Yunjiao was able to implement another initiative in 1399, the reduction of the domain. Unexpectedly, this move provoked a strong confrontation with Zhu Di, the King of Yan. Therefore, Zhu Di launched the "Battle of Jing" in the name of "The Side of the Qing Emperor, the Difficulty of Jingguo".
The struggle lasted four years, ending in 1402 after Zhu Di successfully ascended the throne as the Yongle Emperor.
However, when Zhu Di led the Yan army to attack the city of Nanjing, Zhu Yunjiao mysteriously disappeared. There is no one to be seen in life, and no body is seen in death.
Where did Zhu Yunjiao go? Is it life or death?
The history books are still inconclusive, but there are the following legends.
One theory is that Zhu Yunjiao became a monk.
Legend has it that when Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he once left an iron box behind, and repeatedly instructed that it should not be opened until the emergency moment of nine deaths. Later, the box was kept by Zhu Yunjiao's personal eunuch.
(Statue of Zhu Di)
When Zhu Di's army invaded the city of Nanjing, Zhu Yunjiao knew that he was doomed and wanted to draw his sword and kill himself.
In a hurry, the eunuch next to him suddenly remembered the box left by Zhu Yuanzhang and hurriedly ordered someone to find it. When I opened it, in addition to a few silver ingots, there were several sets of monk's robes and shaving objects.
Therefore, Zhu Yunjiao, who was full of despair, immediately asked the eunuch to shave his hair, change into the clothes of a monk, and escape from the back door of the palace, disappearing without a trace.
Regarding this statement, there is a passage from Zhang Juzheng in the Records of the MingShen Sect: "The history of the country does not contain this matter, but it is said that yan Jianwen entered the city when the Jing dynasty master entered the city, that is, he cut his hair and walked out of the middle road, and no one knew." ”
Another theory is that Zhu Yunjiao set himself on fire and died.
When Zhu Yunjiao learned that the army of Zhu Di, the King of Yan, had invaded the Jinchuan Gate in Nanjing, he ordered the palace to be set on fire. In an instant, a fire filled the entire court.
Zhu Yunjiao said to his entourage: "The eldest husband would rather live standing than die on his knees." Immediately thrown into the raging fire, his wife Empress Ma and eldest son Zhu Wenkui also set themselves on fire.
The Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming said of this incident: "The Jianwen Sui Palace burned itself. Seeing the smoke rising in the palace, the messenger in a hurry to rescue it, until it was too late, the middle used his body in the fire, and it was white, and the upper crying, sure enough, if it was dementia! ”
There is also a record of Zhu Yunjiao's self-immolation in the History of Ming: "The King of Yan sent the emperor's body into the fire, and yue eight days to bury it." ”
(Zheng He's Voyage to the West)
There is also a saying that Zhu Yunjiao went to sea.
The basis for this claim is that the real purpose of Zhu Di's dispatch of Zheng He to the West was not for diplomatic needs, but for the purpose of finding Zhu Yunjiao.
After Zhu Di took the throne, he suspected that Zhu Yunjiao did not set himself on fire, and sent people to inquire about Zhu Yunjiao's whereabouts in many ways, but in the end there was no gain. Later, I accidentally learned that Zhu Yunjiao had gone to sea by boat and was far away from the ocean. Therefore, Zhu Di ordered Zheng He to lead a fleet of ships to go out to sea in the name of "Yang Daming Weide" to find Zhu Yunjiao.
Zheng He's first voyage was in 1405. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had just experienced the "Battle of Jing", full of devastation and waste to be rebuilt. Zhu Di's first solution was to appease the people and develop the economy, rather than spending a lot of manpower and financial resources, and the laborers and the masses went to the West several times, and the return was minimal.
Therefore, Zheng He's purpose of going to the West 7 times has been questioned.
It was recorded in the "Records of the Special Domain Week" that Zheng He's entire archive of the Western Ocean, "Zheng He's Mission to the Water", was later inexplicably lost. Therefore, some people speculated that the "Zheng He's Mission to the Water" recorded that there was news about Zhu Yunjiao, which was hidden by Zhu Di and was not lost.
Regarding the mystery of Zhu Yunjiao's life and death, I am afraid that it can only continue to rely on historians, even archaeologists.
(References: "Ming Shilu", "Special Domain Zhou Consultation", "Ming History")