Zhu Yunjue decided to cut the domain, and Zhu Di rebelled, which seemed logical, but was all this Zhu Di forced to be helpless, or did he have plans to seize the throne earlier? There are many emperors in history who have cut the domain, and naturally there will be kings who are reluctant to tie their hands and capture, but it is rare for zhu di to directly defeat the orthodoxy and ascend the throne himself. In fact, Zhu Di still had some ambitions to be emperor, and he had gone to the throne early on. Once the army failed, his fate would only be a dead end, and he knew this risk better than anyone, if it was not for the throne, why should he take such a big risk.
In 1402, Zhu Di led a large army of Jingnan to capture the imperial capital Yingtian, and Emperor Jianwen disappeared with a fire in the imperial palace, and the four-year Battle of Jingnan ended, and in the same year, Zhu Di became emperor of Daming. This imperial civil war, which began in the first year of Jianwen, completely changed the situation and direction of the Ming Dynasty. Then, as the victorious party in the war, Zhu Di rebelled shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, was he too ambitious, or was he forced by his nephew Emperor Jianwen?
Mention of the Battle of Jingnan, which had to be associated with one of Emperor Jianwen's political moves, that is, to cut the domain. During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, in order to ensure the long-term peace and stability of the Ming Dynasty and to find ways to strengthen the strength of the imperial family itself, he divided the sons into feudal kings, let them garrison the border fortresses of the Ming Dynasty, and set up officials for them to establish a government, and granted them military command and corresponding troops, which has achieved the goal of "defending the country and living in peace". During Zhu Yuanzhang's lifetime, these feudal lords did play an important role in defending the frontier in the Daming border fortresses, such as defending the Mongol nobles from invading the Jin king Zhu Tang, the Yan king Zhu Di, and the Ning king Zhu Quan in the north, who were responsible for building the city Tuntian and training troops to patrol the border, and the jin and Yan kings repeatedly went out to fight and defeated the army of the remnants of the Mongolian Yuan, and the generals in the army were all under his control. After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Emperor Jianwen took the throne, and the weak Jianwen Emperor did not have the means and courage of his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang, nor did he have the prestige and ability of his father Zhu Biao, so when Zhu Yuanzhang was alive, in order to make Emperor Jianwen sit firmly on the throne, he cleaned up the uncontrollable Wenxun martial nobles in the dynasty, but did not deal with his group of equally arrogant sons of the king of the domain.
After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he also knew that these arrogant uncles were always a hidden danger, so, at the suggestion of his ministers led by Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai, he took the most direct way to deal with this hidden danger--- cut the domain!
Turning over the history of China, every time the emperors cut the domain in history was not carried out smoothly, the Western Han Jing Emperor cut the domain and issued the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Tang Dynasty first succeeded and then failed, and finally died by the fanzhen. When Emperor Jianwen decided to cut the domain, he not only did not learn the lessons of the successive dynasties, but instead used more thunderous means to cut the crowns of his uncles.
When Zhu Yuanzhang was divided into feudal lords, in addition to hoping that the crown prince and grandson would be able to defend the country on the border, he also hoped that the glory of the imperial family could cover his descendants and let future generations enjoy eternal wealth, but after Emperor Jianwen decided to cut down the domain, he threw away all the ancestral systems set by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the uncles who were stripped of the princes by him were all deposed as shuren, and even some of the princes were humiliated and forced to commit suicide, leaving no mercy at all. Let's take a look at the specific situation of Emperor Jianwen's cutting of the domain:
In July of the thirty-first year of Hongwu (1398), taking advantage of the opportunity of Zhu Youyi, the second son of Zhu Youyi, the king of Zhou, to denounce his father for seeking the throne, he deposed Zhu Xu as a Shuren and moved to Menghua, Yunnan;
In April of the first year of Jianwen (1399), the three princes of Qi, Xiang, and Dai were deposed as Shuren. Zhu Bai, the King of Xiang, could not bear the humiliation and set himself on fire for the sake of the Festival of Fame; Zhu Yu, the King of Qi, was placed under house arrest in Nanjing; The acting king Zhu Gui was placed under house arrest in the fiefdom of Datong;
In June of the first year of Jianwen (1399), Zhu Yu (朱楩), the king of Jianwen,was deposed as a Shuren (庶人) and moved to Zhangzhou;
In July of the first year of Jianwen (1399), at the suggestion of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, in order to guard against the rebellion of the Yan King, the Jianwen Emperor sent people to prepare to arrest Zhu Di, the King of Yan.
Ming Chengzu Zhu Di
Zhu Di already knew that cutting the domain would cut to his head, but he didn't expect Emperor Jianwen to cut it so quickly and with such a cruel means. When he learned in advance that the imperial court was going to arrest him, Zhu Di, as the head of the clan and a strong man, decided not to be patient anymore, plotted with his staff Yao Guangxiao and others to raise troops, and officially raised an army after the court officials who arrested Zhu Di arrived in Beiping, and zhu Di, the king of Yan, completely broke with Emperor Jianwen.
After the early death of Zhu Biaoying, Zhu Yuanzhang's crown prince, it was reasonable to say that a new heir to the throne should emerge from other princes, but Zhu Yuanzhang unexpectedly designated Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunjiao as his successor, which caused dissatisfaction among the princes, especially Zhu Di, the most ambitious and powerful Yan king, but forced by Zhu Yuanzhang's intimidation and deep feelings for his eldest brother Zhu Biao, Zhu Di did not make any excessive moves. However, the power of the kings of the clans was too great after all, and Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that he would be difficult to control after his death, and he was worried that after his death, the kings would take advantage of the period of the funeral in Beijing to make chaos and rebellion, so he left a will and did not allow the kings to "enter and be buried". It can be said that zhu yuanzhang really broke his heart in order for Zhu Yunzhang to sit firmly on the throne, but Zhu Yunzhang did not understand Zhu Yuanzhang's good intentions, and instead of appeasing his uncles and uncles, when he first ascended the throne, the dragon chair did not cover the heat, and began to provoke them, and discussed the matter of cutting the clan with the military department Shangshu Qitai and tai changqing Huang Zicheng, and it was said that he would do it, and slashed the clan in a big way.
As the prince of the domain that Zhu Yuanzhang personally sealed, and in the fiefdom has been accustomed to the life of a prince who is glorious and rich, flaunting his martial prowess, and it is naturally difficult to accept his nephew's ruthless policy of cutting the domain, but the first few clan kings are soft princes with no strength, so when they are cut, they either accept it or do not want to be humiliated and choose to commit suicide. However, when the strength and ability of the clan were cut to the head of Zhu Di, the head of the clans, it was not so easy. From the perspective of the imperial court, Zhu Di did not make any mistakes, and he has always defended the country on the border, and he still has a great contribution to the imperial court; In terms of their royal relationship, Zhu Di was the uncle of Emperor Jianwen, and Zhu Biao cared for all their brothers when he was alive, and Zhu Yunjiao, as a nephew, could be subordinate to you and respect you enough. Now we have no way to live when you cut the clan, and if you are not kind, don't blame us for being unjust, it is you who forced me to rebel, and I had to rebel.
Zhu Di was so opposed, the key is that he was against it for a legitimate reason, why did he say so? This also begins with Zhu Yuanzhang's far-sightedness, when Zhu Yuanzhang first divided the sons into the kings of the domain, he left behind the formation of the king of the domain, one of which was about "Jing Difficulty". Specifically, he said in the "Ancestral Training of the Emperor Ming": "There is no righteous subject in the dynasty, and there is a traitor within, and it will raise troops to rebuke the side of the Qing Emperor", Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about the rebellion of the traitorous ministers in the middle of the dynasty, and stipulated that the king of the clan had the right to move the central government to demand the traitorous subjects and raise troops to the side of the Qing emperor. Now, at the instigation of Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai, Emperor Jianwen violated the will of the previous emperors and his fiery strategy of cutting the clan, forcing the kings of the clan into a corner, wasn't it the time when there were traitors in the dynasty? Therefore, Zhu Di put up the banner of "Qing Jun's Side, Jingguo Difficulty" and met with Emperor Jianwen's soldiers, and the curtain of the change of Jing'an was opened.