Chapter 9 2. Emperor Jianwen

In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, in May, Xinmao, the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunqi took the throne according to the imperial edict of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.The enthronement edict reads: The people descended from heaven to be kings.My emperor Taizu, Emperor Gao, was ordered by the heavens to rule over all nations, to make clothes and food, to help the people, and to do everything that is beneficial to the world.The politics and religion are not clear, and the scale is grand.I compiled and inherited the Datong with my humble bow, respectfully followed the will, and became the emperor on the 16th day of the fifth month in the thirty-first year of Hongwu.I am only afraid at night, thinking about it, so I restrain God, so that I can't bear the great fate of the emperor's ancestors, but it is only appropriate to be lenient and fierce, and the government of Buweixin was born.It regards next year as the first year of Jianwen, and amnesty the world.Yu play!Virtue is good government, and government is to support the people. We should follow the words of the sages and hope to bring prosperity to Yongxi.Mr. Baibiqing, I have my heart in my heart.

This is the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Jianwen Emperor. On the same day, Zhu Yuanzhang was buried in Xiaoling.He was posthumously named Emperor Yigao, and the temple was called Taizu.Conservative masters seem to be ordered to be in danger.The death of the old emperor was like a heavy cloud of sorrow, weighing on the Forbidden City.All but one of the medical officers who failed to cure Zhu Yuanzhang's disease were killed by Zhu Yunqi.Emperor Jianwen ordered a three-year funeral.The ministers asked for the day to change the moon.Emperor Jianwen said: "I am not following the example of the ancients to brighten the yin. I will wear hemp clothes in the court, and wear the sticks and silk when I retreat, and I will eat porridge. The ancestral temples in the suburbs are as usual." He asked the Ministry of Rites to formulate funeral etiquette.As a result, it was decided that on the second day after hearing the funeral, the Beijing officials would go to the inner mansion to listen to the edict in filial piety, wearing a black gauze hat and a black horn belt.All the officials in the capital are fasting and sleeping in this office, and have a few feasts and weep in the morning and afternoon.After three days, he was dressed, and cried in the morning until the burial.Take it twenty-seven days after taking it.The woman ordered to wear filial piety and take off her jewelry to enter the palace through the Xihua Gate and cry.All kings, sons, concubines, princesses, envoys, and palace officials must be cut off for three years, and they will be eliminated on the 27th.At the same time, he sent pedestrians to issue a will to the world.Outside the officials, the imperial edict arrives in daily plain clothes, black gauze hats, and black horn belts. They bow four times, listen to the announcement of the edict, and then bow four times in mourning. The clothes are completed in three days.In addition, officials were sent to Beijing to offer sacrifices, and the sacrifices were prepared by the Ministry of Rites.

At this time, Emperor Jianwen relied heavily on two people, one was Qi Tai and the other was Huang Zicheng. Qi Tai, a native of Lishui, was originally named De.In the seventeenth year of Hongwu, he took the first place in the Yingtian Township Examination, became a Jinshi in the second year, and served as the head of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War.Zhu Yuanzhang was sacrificed with a minister who had no faults in nine years, and Qi De was selected and named Tai.In the twenty-eighth year of Hongwu's reign, he was promoted from a doctor of the Ministry of War to Zuo Shilang.Zhu Yuanzhang once asked him about the names of the border generals, and Qi Tai remembered them all.He asked about various books, and Tai took out a handbook from his sleeve and asked Zhu Yuanzhang to read it. The brief and detailed information in the handbook greatly surprised Zhu Yuanzhang.When Zhu Yunwen was the grandson of the emperor, he respected Qi Tai very much.Zhu Yunwen became the emperor, so he was allowed to participate in state affairs with Huang Zicheng, and soon promoted him to be Minister of the Ministry of War.

Huang Zicheng, whose name is Shi, is very pleasant.In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, he entered Taixue as a tribute in Guihai. Next year, he was second in the Jingwei Township Examination, first in Yichou General Examination, and third in Jinshi.Later, he also served as an official of Chunfang, and accompanied him in the East Palace.Zhu Yunqi ascended the throne, promoted him to be the Minister of Taichang Temple, and let him join the military and state affairs together with Qi Tai. Another important adviser is Fang Xiaoru.Fang Xiaoru, whose courtesy name is Xizhi, and whose first character is Xigu, is a native of Ninghai.The young man learned from Song Lian, and took the Ming king's way to bring peace as his own mission.Zhu Yunqi's emphasis is on dignified behavior.King Xian of Shu hired him as his son's teacher.Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne and summoned him to serve as a lecturer in the Imperial Academy. In the second year, he was promoted to a bachelor's lecturer. He was consulted for all major national affairs.

These people assisted Zhu Yunqi, and wanted to do something, in an attempt to change the politics of the Ming Dynasty. Not long after Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, the imperial court issued successive edicts: order civil servants above five grades and prefectural and county magistrates to recommend talents; Those who are single are let go to the people; order the world to speak out, and promote talented people in the mountains and forests.At the end of this year, it was ordered to give half of Tianzu next year, and release the tattooed military and civilian prisoners to return to their hometowns.The New Deal was launched successively.

Zhu Yuanzhang called Zhu Yunwen "a benevolent and filial friend" in his posthumous edict, which is not an exaggeration.He was smart and studious since he was a child, and his nature was pure and filial, which made Zhu Yuanzhang love him very much.In the 23rd year of Hongwu, Zhu Yunwen was fourteen years old. His father, the crown prince, had a big son, and he was in great pain.He waited by his side, touching her with tears in his eyes, and never left day and night.Seeing this situation, Zhu Yuanzhang was moved and said: "If there are descendants like this, why should I worry about my return?" More than two years later, the prince fell seriously ill again, and Zhu Yunqi did his best to serve him.Soon, the prince died. Although he was very sad, he still did not exceed the rules of etiquette.During the mourning period, Yun Wen was in shambles.Zhu Yuanzhang was very distressed, and comforted him, saying: "You can't lose your character, but you are also polite. You are sincere and pure, and you don't miss me?" At this time, he hadn't eaten or drank for five days.After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, I ate a little porridge.He also proposed to mourn for the prince for three years, but Taizu did not agree.But within three years, he never smiled, didn't drink alcohol or eat meat, didn't have fun, and didn't keep his friends.Someone persuaded him, and he said: "You can get rid of the obedience, but you must be self-sufficient." At this time, his three younger brothers were still young.He raised them himself.Eat together during the day and sleep together at night.Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with this.One day when he came to Yun Wen's bedroom, all four of his brothers were there, Zhu Yuanzhang casually said that the brothers were in love with each other, and Yun Wen said to him: "Grandfathers and grandchildren should inherit the same virtue." Zhu Yuanzhang praised him greatly.

In September of the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu, after Zhu Yunwen was established as the grandson of the emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang often entrusted him with rulings on major affairs of the country. On the one hand, because Zhu Yuanzhang was old and had heavy government affairs, he also wanted him to practice political affairs.It turns out that when the prince was dealing with Zhang Zuo, he often reduced the punishment and prison out of kindness.The emperor's grandson was still like this. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang practiced harsh policies, and Zhu Yunqi was lenient.He once studied the scriptures of rites, referred to the criminal law records of previous dynasties, and revised Hongwu's famous laws and regulations to 73 articles.Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy.He said: "When the world is in trouble, the punishment has to be severe. If you want to rule the world, the punishment has to be light. The so-called world is light and the world is heavy." Not long before Zhu Yuanzhang died, he was often furious because of his illness, and many people were sent to death for this.Zhu Yunqi always waited on him with a pleasant face.You have to taste the medicine yourself, you have to lift it up when you go to the toilet, and you have to offer the saliva pot and drowning utensils yourself.Everyone fell asleep at night, but Zhu Yuanzhang called Yun Wen, but there was no answer, no answer, and he often stayed up all night.In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang's mood was slightly better; therefore, many convicted people were saved.Zhu Yunqi's character and morality are highly praised from far and near.

But kindness and weakness are often linked.Zhu Yuanzhang is not without worry about this, especially because he has so many powerful uncles.It is said that Zhu Yunwen was born with a slightly skewed bone, so Zhu Yuanzhang often called him "Half Moon".One night, when the moon was rising, it was like a silver hook passing through the clouds. Zhu Yuanzhang was reading and happened to read a poem chanting the moon by Song Taizu.The poem has a sentence like "you have not left the sea and the mountains and mountains before you reach the sky and the light of all nations", which was highly appreciated by Zhu Yuanzhang.At this time, the prince and Zhu Yunwen were both around. He wanted to see their talents and learning, so he pointed to the crescent moon in the sky and asked them to write poems on the crescent moon.

Prince Fu said: Yanling lost the hook last night, who moved to Biyun's head? Although there is no reunion, there is also a clear light on Kyushu. Zhu Yunwen's Fu said: Who will tear through the jade nails, The shadow falls in the rivers and lakes, fish and dragons dare not swallow it. Although they were quick-witted, Zhu Yuanzhang was dissatisfied with their poems. They lacked vigorous vitality and did not look like an emperor. On the contrary, King Yan's temperament also reflected his difference from them in reciting poems and composing Fu.Once, Zhu Yuanzhang made a sentence to let his descendants be right.Zhu Yuanzhang said in the first couplet that "the wind blows a thousand lines of the horse's tail", and Zhu Yunwen said to him, "the rain beats a piece of wool felt".Even though it is neat, it is still weak and weak.On the other hand, Zhu Di uttered such a majestic sentence as "Rizhao Dragon Scale Ten Thousand Points of Gold".Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help worrying secretly about Zhu Yunwen.

However, such a benevolent and gentle emperor, faced with a strong vassal, was forced by the situation and had to put the consolidation of his position on the agenda as soon as he took the throne.Ministers have also repeatedly raised this issue. First, Zhu Yunwen mentioned it to Huang Zicheng.He said: "Sir, do you recall what you said about the east corner gate in the past?" "I dare not forget." Huang Zicheng replied. So Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai began to plan to cut down the feudal clan. At this time, Zhuo Jing, the servant of the household department, also put forward a proposal to cut down the vassal.He said: "The king of Yan is extremely wise and thoughtful, he is very talented and broad-minded, and he is cool like the previous emperor. Beiping is a resort, and the soldiers and horses are strong, and the gold and yuan are flourishing. Now it is appropriate to move to Nanchang. If there is any change, it is easy to control. The husband will be cute but not yet. Those who move are few; those who can be done according to the time are also potential. The momentum is not too strong to be broken, and it is almost not to be seen.” Jianwen Lanshu was shocked, and hurriedly put it in his sleeve and returned to the harem.The next day, Emperor Jianwen summoned Zhuo Jing and asked him about it. Zhuo Jing said: "What I said is the best plan in the world, I hope your majesty will see it." It must not be understood by outsiders.Although Zhuo Jing was the servant of the household department, he did not let him participate in the matter.Furthermore, at that time, King Yan was dominant in the north and his power had already been established, so it was not an easy task to relocate to Nanchang. Moreover, the people of Qi and Huang had already made plans, so Zhuo Jing's suggestion was not adopted.

In addition, Gao Wei and others have proposed different ways to deal with the suzerain vassal. Gao Wei, a native of Liaozhou, Shanxi, was ordered to serve as Zuo Duan in the former military governor's mansion in recognition of his filial piety when he was in Hongwu.He has made some good comments on governance.Later, he was sent to the garrison because he did not comply with the order, and the special order allowed his younger brother Cheng to serve on his behalf.Emperor Jianwen came to the throne, and Gao Wei asked to return home.Soon after, the magistrate of Liaozhou recommended him to the imperial court, so he went to the Ministry of Officials to discuss matters and put forward his plan for dealing with the suzerain vassal.He said: Compared with the ancient system, Emperor Gao's distribution of feudal titles to the kings was excessive, and the kings were more arrogant and lawless, violating the court system.If it is not cut, the court will not establish discipline, and if it is cut, it will hurt the kindness of relatives.Jia Yi said: "If you want the world to be in order, there is no better way to build up the princes and lessen your power." Now, I have learned from his intentions, don't follow Chao's wrong plan to seize, but follow the master's father Yan's strategy of pushing grace.In the northern kings, the sons and daughters are assigned to the south; in the south, the children are assigned to the north.In this way, the power of the vassal king will not be cut, but will be cut by himself.The minister also wishes to benefit from the gift of kissing and kissing.At the age of Fula, people asked.The sage issued an edict to praise him.Those who are arrogant and lawless, forgive them for the first offense, teach them again for the second offense, and refuse to correct themselves for the third offense, they will be reported to the temple and punished.Who is disobedient! That's really good advice.Although Emperor Jianwen expressed his praise, he seemed to have no intention of carrying it out.Probably he believed too much in Qi Huang's words like "there are differences between big and small, strong and weak, and the difference between good and bad". Although the methods they proposed to deal with the kings were different, they had one thing in common, that is, they all saw the danger posed to the court by the powerful vassals. How to start cutting the feudal clan?Qi Tai advocated that the king of Yan should be attacked first.With King Yan removed, other vassal kings are no longer a problem.Huang Zicheng did not agree to do this, because the Yan family's backtracking is unknown.He advocated cutting off the kings of Zhou, Qi, Xiang and Dai first.These princes, when they were in Zhu Yuanzhang, had a lot of illegal and bad deeds, "they are famous for cutting them." In addition, the king of Zhou should be the one to question the crime.Because King Zhou and King Yan were born of the same mother, cutting off King Zhou was cutting off King Yan's siblings.In theory, this might not be a safe way.And so it settled down. King Zhu of Zhou also had conspiracy.Shi Wanghan, the governor of the Zhou government, advised the king of Zhou several times, but the king of Zhou refused to listen.Seeing that disaster was about to hit him, Wang Han pretended to be crazy and ran away.However, Zhu You, the second son of the King of Zhou, the King of Runan, exposed the misconduct of the King of Zhou to the court.This just provided an opportunity for the court.Zhu Yunwen sent Cao Guogong Li Jinglong to lead his troops north to Beibian, and when they passed through Kaifeng, they suddenly surrounded the Zhou Palace.King Zhou was abolished as a commoner and exiled to Menghua, Yunnan. It is said that at that time, "the wife was in a different place, and the cave wall was used for food and drink, which was extremely embarrassing."His sons were also moved to remote places.This happened in August, the third month of Zhu Yunwen's reign as emperor.Later, King Zhou was ordered to imprison him in the capital. In June, the heat in Beiping City was unbearable, but there was a cool breeze under the double eaves of Yan Mansion.Ever since Zhu Yuanzhang died and used his will to stop the kings from going south for the funeral, Zhu Di has felt bad.He longs for power and wants to occupy the throne of the emperor, but he is not sure whether he can achieve his goal.He has courage and an army, but it seems that he is not mature enough to raise an army right now.Not only was he insufficiently prepared, but he also didn't know what countermeasures the imperial court had against him.Moreover, when Zhu Yuanzhang died, Zhu Gaochi, the second son of King Yan, and Zhu Gaoxu, the third son, were all in Nanjing because of Zhu Yuanzhang's funeral. Once the division was established, these people would be taken hostage.Zhu Di was anxious and depressed.But it happened to be during the mourning period, and I was happy to say that I became sick from grief because of excessive grief.In this way, in the eyes of others, he is also a filial son.He watched closely the movement of the court, waiting for the opportunity.Zhou Wang was abolished, Zhu Di was shocked by it, and the court finally took action.The danger is at hand, but isn't the opportunity also at hand?Probably in order to frighten King Yan or convict King Yan, Zhu Yunwen ordered King Yan Zhu Di to agree on the crime of King Zhou.When he received the imperial edict, he knew that it was his turn, and he didn't know how to answer it.He understood that no matter how he answered, he would not get the court's understanding.But he answered anyway.He hoped to clear the name of King Zhou.At least it makes people feel pitiful and wins a little sympathy.He replied: "If what the king of Zhou did is ambiguous, if he thinks of a family and relatives, there is no suspicion, and he will increase the condemnation. He is afraid of harming the kindness of his flesh and blood, and hurting the sun and the moon. If it is obvious, there are traces to prove it." , then the precepts of the ancestors are all there." Looking at the first half, the wording is extremely soft, almost begging, and looking at the end, citing the "precepts from the ancestors" is soft but strong, showing dissatisfaction. In April of the first year of Jianwen, King Zhu Bo of Xiang was deposed.Someone sued Zhu Bo, king of Hunan, that he forged treasure notes and killed people without reason.Zhu Yunqi sent envoys to Jingzhou to question, and forced them with soldiers.Zhu Bo, king of Hunan, was afraid and couldn't explain himself for a while. Zhu Bo said: "I heard that the officials of the former ministers often committed suicide. They are tall and emperor's son, and they are kings in the south. How can they humiliate servants and slaves to survive?" up.It is said that Zhu Bo liked to study knowledge and read every night.He also likes to talk about military affairs, has extraordinary physical strength, is good at bows, arrows, knives and spears, gallops like flying horses, and is especially good at Taoist palaces. He calls himself Zixuzi.Then, Dai Wang Zhu Gui was deposed as a commoner and imprisoned in Datong, and Qi Wang Zhu was deposed as a commoner and imprisoned in the capital.In June, Hou Mucheng of Xiping reported that King Min had done it, so he abolished King Zhu of Min as a commoner and moved to Zhangzhou.In this way, within one year, five princes were abolished one after another, which can be described as lightning fast. Unexpectedly, after Zhu Yunwen read the letter from King Yan, he was quite sad for a while, "I am afraid of harming the kindness of the flesh and blood, and hurting the sun and the moon."He is considering whether to carry out such a reduction of the feudal clan.In addition, at this time, there were also objections to the reduction of feudal vassals in the DPRK and China.For example, Dong Lun, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of the Imperial Academy, repeatedly pleaded to "harmony with the clan".So Zhu Yunqi planned to stop cutting the vassal.Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng argued against the cessation of cutting the feudal clan.But still no results.The two left the palace in dismay, and Qi Tai said to Huang Zicheng: "The current situation is as it is, and the encore will continue." They all believed that the process of reducing the feudal clan had already begun, and if it stopped now, the result would be "continue to stop, but suffer instead." It's chaos".They even think that Emperor Jianwen is just "the benevolence of women".The next day they went to the palace again to persuade Zhu Yunqi.Huang Zicheng said: "The one who is worried today is the ear of the king of Yan, and he should attack him because of his illness." Zhu Yunwen was still hesitating. The world?" Huang Zicheng said: "The ancestors ruled the people, not for the people." Zhu Yunqi also said: "The king of Yan is wise and brave in using troops. In the name of defending the frontier, they sent troops to Kaiping, and the elite guards were dispatched out of the fortress to lose their wings. There is nothing they can do. If you don’t take advantage of this time, you may have the regret of eating your navel later.” So they took measures to gradually weaken King Yan’s power. Method.As early as November last year, they arranged for Zhang Bing, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, to be the chief envoy of Beiping. Xie Gui and Zhang Xin were in charge of the command and envoy of Peking. They accepted the secret order of the court and monitored the actions of King Yan.At this time, in the name of the instability of the northern frontier defense, Song Zhong, the governor, was sent to Kaiping to transfer 30,000 border guards to Kaiping. In this way, the elite guards of the Yan Mansion were transferred to Song Zhong's command to take them out of the Great Wall, in order to cut off the King of Yan's attack. wing.At the same time, Hu Qi, the guard of Yan Mansion, was called to command Guan Tong and others to enter Beijing to weaken the power of King Yan.In addition, the left and right guards of Beiping Yongqing were stationed in Zhangde and Shunde respectively, and the governor Xu Kai was ordered to go to Linqing to train troops, and Geng went to Shanhaiguan to train troops to contain Beiping. These military deployments were all planned by Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng.It is powerful for weakening the power of King Yan and preventing its rebellion. The army has been deployed to Zhu Di's house, and he will not be willing to be arrested without a fight. The reason why he has not responded for a long time is that he is really worried that something bad will happen to his three sons in the capital (now Nanjing). Zhu Yuanzhang went to Beijing to mourn when he was Xiaoxiang.At that time, someone advised Zhu Di not to let them go together. Zhu Di said that this would prevent the court from suspecting me.But after Zhu Gaochi and the others left, Zhu Di was very remorseful again, and his worries became even worse at this time.Claiming that he was seriously ill, he asked the court to release his son back to Peiping.These few people could have been used as a means of coercing the King of Yan, especially when they were already preparing for a military operation against the King of Yan, they should not have any scruples.Therefore, Qi Tai suggested that it is better to detain them. Zhu Gaochi and other three brothers are nephews of Wei Guogong Xu Huizu.Huizu and Princess Yan are brothers and sisters of the same mother.Hui Zu also sensed that Gao Xu had a different ambition, and said: "Among the three nephews, Gao Xu is the brave and rascal. He is not only unfaithful, but also betrayed his father. He will be a big trouble in the future." But Hui Zu's younger brother Xu Zengshou and his son-in-law Wang Ning both protected him. .However, Huang Zicheng also said: "No, I'm afraid you will be aware of it. He will be famous first, and he will be prepared. If you send him back, you will have no doubts." They want to take advantage of King Yan's unpreparedness and attack him!In fact, this is pretending to be smart.The army is already in front of people, so what can they say to make them not doubt it!King Yan's actions against the court have already been prepared for sudden events, and even if the court does not move, King Yan will still start trouble.As soon as they let him go, they immediately regretted it. They sent people to chase him but failed to catch up, so they had no choice but to do so.Releasing Zhu Gaochi is tantamount to relieving King Yan of his worries.Zhu Di was overjoyed and said: "My father and son are reunited, and God praises me." Without delay, King Yan decided to start an incident. The preparatory activities of the Yan Mansion were soon discovered. In addition to Zhang Bing and others who were constantly monitoring the Yan Mansion, Shi Gecheng, the chief of the Yan Mansion, went to Beijing to perform events. Zhu Yunwen also asked him about the Yan Mansion. Ge Cheng told him frankly Zhu Yunwen.Zhu Yunqi still sent him back to Peiping, thinking that it should be done internally.In addition, Wei Guogong Xu Huizu and Princess Yan are brothers and sisters of the same mother.He often reported the inside information of Yan Mansion to the court.In June, Yiyou, Ni Liang, a hundred households guarding Yanshan, reported that Yu Liang and Zhou Duo, the official school of the Yan Mansion, were involved in the conspiracy. The imperial court arrested Yu Liang and Zhou Duo and sentenced them to death. Xie Gui and Zhang Bing dealt with Zhu Di, and with Chief Shi Gecheng and Commander Lu Zhen as internal responses, they also sent Beiping Du to command Zhang Xin to arrest Zhu Di.Zhu Di really became a bird in a cage at this time, and it was at his fingertips.