Chapter 6 Section 6 Emperor Jianwen cut down feudal vassals and took power
Looking back at history six hundred years later, we can clearly see that Emperor Jianwen was a scholar after all, although he himself did not think so.He thought he knew the science of thick and black, mastered the way of kings and overlords, and started to cut down the feudal clan as soon as he came to power, which actually showed that he did not understand history.When he came to the throne, the political situation was stable and the world was peaceful. No prince had the ability or reason to challenge him.
Therefore, he has the time and space to resolve the tension between him and the kings in an invisible way with more concealed and more sophisticated means.For example, he can learn from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to make the power of the kings smaller and smaller.He can also quietly find excuses to gradually take back the military command of the kings, and only give them an empty hat.
Now, he can't wait to take the initiative, which not only quickly intensified the contradiction, but also obviously violated Zhu Yuanzhang's will, and he was morally passive.
And the more fatal error is not yet here.Even if it is not smart enough to take the initiative to cut down the feudal clan, if he is so dark to the end, he still has the ability to catch the kings by surprise with lightning speed, thereby eliminating potential dangers in one fell swoop.But he cherishes face, procrastinates, and behaves in disorder, thus making an irreparable big mistake.Because he wants to be a perfect monarch in line with Confucian dogma, he must pay attention to his status in every move, and he must find a high-sounding excuse if he wants to cut down the vassal.
Among the kings, the biggest threat is King Yan.However, King Yan usually acts cautiously and has nothing to blame morally. It is not justified to use him as a knife.The other kings usually do a lot of evil and have a bad reputation.Jianwen's monarch and his ministers discussed many times, and decided to take the other kings first, and named this strategy "cutting the branches and leaves first, and then cutting the root".
Therefore, from the third month to June of the second year, Emperor Jianwen took advantage of the many bad deeds of the kings in his daily life to successively cut down the five kings of Zhou, Xiang, Qi, Dai, and Min, abolished their titles, and demoted them to the rank of concubine. people.And every time a person is cut off, their crimes will be announced to make the world safe.
Within a year, even five princes were abolished, and Emperor Jianwen seemed quite courageous.In the name of border tension, the little emperor transferred the elite guards of King Yan to garrison outside the Great Wall.Two more cronies were sent to manage the administrative affairs of Beiping.It seems that the little emperor's consideration is not inconsiderate, and the arrangement is not indiscreet.However, he bared his teeth and claws, and was aggressive for a long time, but he did not touch the root of King Yan, but completely exposed his intentions in front of King Yan.
Zhu Di quietly watched the little emperor's various performances.Although the various actions are dazzling, they show more and more indecision and lack of confidence.The more petty moves the little emperor made, the more honest Zhu Di became, and the more he behaved, he braked with silence, which made the little emperor more and more embarrassing.Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng, the two advisers of Emperor Jianwen, were both Confucian scholars. Qi Tai was a Jinshi in the eighteenth year of Hongwu (AD 1385), and he ranked first in Yingtianfu Township Examination. Huang Zicheng was a Tanhua in the nineteenth year of Hongwu (AD 1386).The three monarchs and ministers are full of economics, so they think that they can understand the way of yin and yang, have the skill of managing Ge, and have the talent to stabilize the country.
However, they are a group of scholars after all.A real hero does not need a serious excuse to do great things, he has to do it if he has an excuse, and he has to do it even if he has no excuse to make an excuse.After it's done, someone will wipe the ass.The Italian political thinker and historian Machiavelli said: "A shrewd monarch has never lacked justifications to make his treachery appear grandiose." Like them, they are not thick enough and their heart is not dark enough.
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