Chapter 339 Chapter 338 Hui Emperor Zhu Yunwen

From Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang's founding of the country to Sizong Zhu Youjian Meishan's martyrdom, in the more than 200 years of Ming Dynasty history, there was a tragic figure who reigned for only 4 years. He was the grandson of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang—Zhu Yunwen. Zhu Yuanzhang had several concubines throughout his life and had 26 sons.The eldest son Zhu Biao suddenly died of illness 25 years after he was established as the prince.Zhu Biao had five sons, the eldest son Ying died early.As the second son of Zhu Biao, Zhu Yunqi became an important candidate for the second generation crown prince of the Ming Dynasty.

Among Zhu Yuanzhang's many descendants, only Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son and Zhu Yunwen's uncle Zhu Di could compete with Zhu Yunqi for the crown prince. Zhu Di is thoughtful, wise and brave, and has repeatedly made military exploits. Zhu Yuanzhang once praised him as being exactly like himself.Therefore, among the royal family, Zhu Di was especially loved by his father.But Zhu Di was not born of the queen, that is, he was not a direct descendant.According to the feudal society's rites and laws, Zhu Di was not qualified to be a prince.Zhu Yunqi, the eldest son of the imperial concubine, was elected.However, Zhu Yunwen's personality is exactly like his father Zhu Biao's, he is indecisive, so Zhu Yuanzhang is often worried, for fear that once Yunwen is established as the emperor's grandson, it will be difficult to become a heavy weapon and ruin the Ming Dynasty.

The matter dragged on until the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu (AD 1392), Zhu Yuanzhang was in his 60s, and it would be impossible not to establish a reserve.After observing and thinking about Zhu Yunqi and Zhu Di for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang finally made up his mind to make Yan Wang Zhu Di the prince.In September of this year, Zhu Yuanzhang personally convened a meeting of ministers to discuss the establishment of a reserve.Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Unfortunately for the country, the prince died. In ancient times, he was called the head of the country, and he was able to bless the people. I want to establish the king of Yan. What do you think?"

Unexpectedly, when Zhu Yuanzhang's words fell, Liu Sanwu, a Hanlin scholar, protested and said: "The emperor's grandson is rich, and he is born in the same line. The grandson inherits the lineage, which is a common ritual in ancient and modern times." Other ministers also said that the etiquette should be respected. Shu is different. After some debate, Zhu Yuanzhang could not persuade the ministers, so he had to succumb to the ancestral rituals, tearfully withdrew the proposal of his beloved son Zhu Di as the crown prince, and decided to make Zhu Yunqi the emperor's grandson.Zhu Di was naturally indignant when he was defeated.

In May of the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness. The 22-year-old emperor's grandson Zhu Yunqi ascended the throne, that is, the Ming emperor, and became the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty, named Ming Huidi.The second year was regarded as the first year of Jianwen, but with the death of Zhu Yuanzhang and the succession of Zhu Yunqi, a struggle to consolidate and seize imperial power became more and more intense. Before Zhu Yuanzhang died, he left a will, ordering the kings to guard the middle of the country without coming to Beijing.All the kings sent envoys to express their condolences according to the imperial father's edict, but Yan Wang Zhu Di ignored his father's order and went south in the starry night. , Urging him to return to Yanjing.

Zhu Di held a grudge against this.Although the other princes did not leave, they were also dissatisfied.In particular, the older Sai kings were all battle-hardened figures who had made many meritorious deeds, and they held heavy troops in their hands.Of course, the nephew, who is young and weak, and has no experience in governing the country, is not taken seriously.As a result, disrespectful words often come out of the palace, and illegal things happen from time to time.And Zhu Di, who has almost become a prince and is deeply loved by his father, resents him even more for not being able to look at his father in the end to show his filial piety.

The young Emperor Hui was also deeply disturbed by the excessive power of his uncles. After some thinking, he accepted the opinions of some trusted ministers and determined to flatten the independent kingdom of his uncles.Strengthen the central imperial power.On this day, he summoned his trusted ministers, and it turned out that his teacher Huang Zicheng had a plan.Huang Zicheng cites the example of the Han Ping Seven Kingdoms to enlighten Emperor Hui, and Emperor Hui is very pleased with this. Not long after the two whispered in secret, Emperor Hui received a secret letter from Zhuo Jing, the servant of the household department, advising Yun Wen: "The king of Yan is wise and considerate, and he is like the previous emperor. Now he is in Beiping. The terrain is favorable. Changes are not easy to control, so Nanchang should be relocated."

After reading it, Emperor Hui called Zhuo Jing into the hall for a secret discussion the next day.But who knows that the secret is not secret, soon the rumors of the new lord cutting down the vassal quickly spread inside and outside the capital.After Zhu Di heard the news, he was not willing to wait for death. He wrote a letter saying that he was sick, and at the same time, he privately made weapons in the palace, recruited soldiers, and recruited different warlocks. He accelerated the pace of coping with the incident and seizing the imperial power. Emperor Hui learned of Zhu Di's misconduct.In response to this situation, Emperor Hui immediately summoned Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and others into the hall to discuss countermeasures together again.These ministers soon unanimously advocated the reduction of the vassal as soon as possible.However, considering that King Yan had planned for a long time, he was afraid that a hasty attack would cause chaos. This plan first abolished Zhou, Qi and other weak vassals, and removed King Yan's siblings. When the time was right, King Yan would be abolished in one fell swoop.

When weakening the weak vassals, in order to prevent changes in the King of Yan, Emperor Hui took full precautions against the King of Yan in accordance with the suggestions of Qi Tai and others.First of all, Zhang Bing, the servant of the Ministry of Industry, was ordered to control the administration for the Beiping political envoy, and then Xie Gui and Zhang Xin were ordered to command the capital to take charge of the affairs of the Beiping capital and the army.In the end, Song Zhong, the governor, was ordered to go out of Kaiping, which was called defense against foreign invaders.Finally, the governor Geng Wangxian was dispatched to train troops in Shanhaiguan, and Xu Kai trained troops in Linqing to encircle Peiping.

After the internal and external deployment was completed, Emperor Hui secretly ordered Cao Guogong Li Jinglong to lead a thousand troops to surprise Kaifeng in August of the 31st year of Hongwu, and to take down Zhu Musu, the king of Zhou, and his concubines who were entrusted here, and escort them to Beijing. As a commoner, he was relegated to Yunnan.Later, Mu Su was called back to Beijing and imprisoned. Then, at the beginning of the first year of Jianwen (AD 1399), Emperor Hui ordered Zhu Geng, king of Min, to be abolished as a commoner on the grounds that someone had reported him for breaking the law.Soon, someone reported that Zhu Bo, the king of Xiang, who was entrusted in Jingzhou, had committed illegal activities. When Zhu Bo learned that he had been accused, his whole family set themselves on fire and died.Then Qi Wang Zhu Muzun was also reduced to a commoner, and soon Emperor Hui ordered Zhu Gui, the acting king, to be imprisoned on a high wall.

In just a few days, five princes were deposed one after another, and the other princes who had temporarily returned to Gouan were all shocked.Especially Zhu Di, king of Yan, looked left and right, feeling more and more that a catastrophe was imminent. Soon, Nanjing issued an imperial decree to severely reprimand Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Di's son, for killing officials without authorization.Yu Liang and Zhou Duo, the officials of King Yan's mansion, were killed in the capital.Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhu Di pretended to be a madman, disheveled his hair, and walked around the streets in order to ease Emperor Hui's vigilance and show that he was powerless to fight for the throne.Sometimes he robbed the city people of wine and food, and sometimes he lay dying in the ditch, unable to get up all day long. Zhang Bing and Xie Gui heard that King Yan was seriously ill, but they didn't believe it, so they went to the mansion to greet him.Although it was midsummer and the red sun was scorching, there was a stove in the mansion of King Yan, and the fire was raging.Although the family members were sweating profusely, Zhu Di was the only one sitting by the stove in lamb fur, whistling for the cold. Seeing this scene, Zhang Bing and Xie Gui couldn't help believing it.But who would have thought that Ge Cheng, an official of the King of Yan's mansion, said: "The King of Yan is deceitful, and the public should be careful not to deceive you." After hearing this, the two were hesitating. Knowing the conclusive evidence of King Yan's rebellion, Zhang Bing, Xie Gui and Beiping were strictly ordered to command Zhang Xin to join forces inside and outside to arrest Zhu Di.Zhang Xin had been credited by Zhu Di in the past. After receiving the order to arrest Zhu Di, Zhang Xin was at a loss for a while, so he secretly narrated his thoughts to his mother.His mother was shocked when she heard the words, and insisted on persuading her son to disobey.Zhang Xin weighed the pros and cons, and he obeyed his mother's order.He changed into casual clothes, rode in a woman's car, and secretly entered Yan Wang's mansion, and secretly reported to Yan Wang Zhu Di the news that the emperor ordered Zhu Di to be arrested. Zhu Di learned of the imperial decree, knelt down to thank Zhang Xin for his life-saving grace, and acted decisively to strike first.First of all, he designed and murdered Zhang Bing, Xie Gui, etc. who came to cover up Zhu Di, and then resolutely rebelled against orders in the autumn and July of the first year of Jianwen. In order to become famous as a teacher and win public opinion, Zhu Di cited his father Zhu Yuanzhang's "Ancestral Instructions" as an excuse to point out Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng as traitors , must be punished.Claiming to raise troops as "Jing Nan".This is the famous "Battle of Jingnan" in history. At the beginning of "Jing Nan", Emperor Hui didn't care about the frequent bad news and just took some routine precautions.First of all, he sacrificed to the Taimiao, cut off Zhu Di's affiliation, and abolished him as a commoner, and then appointed Changxing Hou Geng Bingwen as the general who conquered the captives and led his troops to crusade. Geng Bingwen led the army. The number of soldiers was claimed to be 300,000, but in fact only 130,000 were mobilized.The resourceful Yan Wang Zhu Di knew Geng Bingwen's military skills well.On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he took advantage of the unpreparedness of the Southern Army and wiped out all the vanguard troops of the Southern Army.Then on the north bank of the Hutuo River, Geng Bingwen's main force was defeated. The defeat was introduced to the capital, and Emperor Hui was very annoyed, so he summoned Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng for countermeasures.Huang Zicheng replied: "Victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs, and there is no need to think deeply about it. I think Cao Guogong Li Jinglong is talented, so it is better to appoint him to replace Geng Bingwen." Emperor Hui worshiped Li Jinglong as a general, and mobilized 500,000 soldiers from all walks of life to march into Hejian to avenge the defeat of the southern army. Zhu Di ordered Li Jinglong to put on the commander's seal when he heard that the capital had changed generals. He couldn't help but said with joy: "In the past, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty used soldiers like a god, but he could only command 100,000 soldiers. Jing Long Shuzi, who was a widow and proud, gave him 500,000 soldiers. It is self-defeating." At that time, the Ming Dynasty army in Liaodong was ordered to attack Yongping, which had been controlled by Zhu Di. Yongping was besieged, and the army reported urgently.Zhu Di discussed with the generals and said: "I am here, and Li Jinglong dare not attack. If I lead the army to rescue Yongping, he will definitely take advantage of the vacancy and attack Peiping. At that time, I will return to Peiping and attack from inside and outside. Li Jinglong There is no doubt that we will be defeated." But all the generals felt that there were too few defenders in Beiping, and they dared not take this risk for fear of losing their fundamental ground.Zhu Di said: "The people in the city are not enough to fight, but more to obey. I am here not only to save Yongping, but also to lure Li Jinglong to come and capture him. I can kill two birds with one stone." In September, Zhu Di led the Yan army to aid Yongping according to his plan.Before leaving, he repeatedly warned Zhu Gaochi, the eldest son who stayed in Beiping, saying: "Li Jinglong should stick to it and not fight." Before leaving, he deliberately withdrew the guards on the Lugou Bridge to lure Li Jinglong into it.Li Jinglong didn't know what it was. He heard that Zhu Di had led his troops to rescue Yongping, so he rushed to kill Peiping in October.When the army crossed the Lugou Bridge, they didn't see a single soldier guarding it, so they said happily, "If you don't guard this bridge, I think he can't do anything." Zhu Gaochi strictly obeyed his father's order, and the supervisor stood firm. Even the women in the city were mobilized to join the war.The Southern Army under Li Jinglong's command was lax in order and improper in command.Although there are many soldiers and horses, they are timid and afraid of death, so they dare not move forward.Only the governor, Qu Neng, was brave and good at fighting, and personally led more than a thousand fine horsemen with his two sons to attack Zhangyemen directly.Seeing that it is about to be done, board the city gate.But Li Jinglong was full of jealousy, fearing that Qu Neng and his son would win the first prize, and when reinforcements were needed, instead of sending reinforcements, he ordered the attack to be delayed.The Yan army took this opportunity to breathe and splashed water on the city wall overnight. It was freezing cold. The next day the city wall was covered with icicles and could not climb up. The southern army thus lost the opportunity to attack the city. After Zhu Di defeated the Liaodong army in Yongping, he designed to attack Daning, another important town, and after recruiting a large number of troops, he returned to Beiping and joined forces with his eldest son, Gao Chi, who was standing in the city, to launch a full-scale counterattack against the southern army. How could Li Jinglong resist? Surviving the flood-like attack of the Yan army, he fled to Dezhou alone overnight because of fear.Seeing that the commander in chief had fled, the soldiers of the Southern Army had no intention of fighting any more, leaving behind food, grass and weapons, and collapsed one after another. After the news of Li Jinglong's defeat in Peiping reached the capital, Huang Zicheng secretly hid it.He was afraid of being responsible for misrecommending him, so he lied to Emperor Hui that Jinglong won the battle in Beiping, and because it was difficult to use troops due to the cold weather, he temporarily retreated to Dezhou and fought again in the next spring. Emperor Hui believed it was true and was overjoyed, so he named Li Jinglong the prince and grand teacher.Li Jinglong got a blessing in disguise and turned the crisis into safety, so he is naturally grateful to Huang Zicheng.In April of the second year of Jianwen (AD 1400), under the urging of Emperor Hui many times, Li Jinglong had to swear to Dezhou, and led 600,000 troops to start a decisive battle with Zhu Di in Baigou River (now north of Xiongxian County, Hebei Province).In this fierce battle, the two armies only killed the mountains and the ground, and the sun was dark and the sky was dark. As a result, Li Jinglong suffered another disastrous defeat.Hundreds of thousands of Southern soldiers were killed, trampled and drowned, and their corpses lay hundreds of miles away.During the war, Li Jinglong fled to Dezhou again, and he even discarded the imperial seal and axe.The equipment and supplies abandoned by the Southern Army were like mountains. Zhu Di took advantage of the victory to pursue and surrounded Dezhou.Li Jinglong abandoned Dezhou again and fled for his life in Jinan.Zhu Di was still chasing after him.Li Jinglong had no choice but to fight hurriedly.Hundreds of thousands of southern troops were not yet determined to deploy, but they were overwhelmed by the Yan army. In May of the fourth year of Jianwen, the Yan soldiers passed through the pass and advanced to the south.After defeating Shengyong's army guarding the south bank of the Huaihe River, they crossed the Huaihe River by victory and captured Yangzhou, Gaoyou, Tongzhou (now Nantong, Jiangsu), Taizhou and other important areas in the north of the Yangtze River. Seeing that the general situation was over, Emperor Hui had to send someone to Beiying to ask for peace, but at this time Zhu Di ignored him at all and marched directly to the Jinling city.At this time, Li Jinglong and Zhu Di's younger brother Gu Wang Zhu Wei were leading troops to guard the Jinchuan Gate in the capital. Seeing that Zhu Di was approaching the city, they opened the gate to greet him, and the Yan soldiers rushed into Jinling immediately. When Yan soldiers entered the city, where did Emperor Hui go?There are two theories, each of which is justified, but it is difficult to conclude, so it has become a major mystery in Ming history. It is said that when Yan Wang Zhudi's "Jingnan Army" entered the capital, Emperor Hui ordered people to light a fire when he heard the news, and threw himself into the fire with tears in his eyes along with the queen and others. The second theory is that Emperor Hui did not "self-immolate in the palace", but escaped from the capital through the tunnel in disguise, and then went away by boat. , Guizhou, Ba and Shu.According to historical records, after Zhu Di ascended the throne, since 1405, he sent eunuch Zheng He to lead a huge fleet to the Western Seas seven times, not only to strengthen economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, but also to find the trace of Emperor Hui to prevent future troubles. According to another historical record, Emperor Hui, who escaped from the palace and became anonymous among the people, restored his original appearance in the orthodox dynasty, was approved by Ming Yingzong, entered the palace, and died in his life.After his death, he was buried in Xishan, Beijing. Zhu Yunwen had no temple name, and in the first year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, he was posthumously named "Emperor Gong Minhui".