Zhu Yuanzhang seized the world and founded the Ming Dynasty, thanks to his own wisdom and courage, as well as the support of his military generals.
However, when Zhu Yuanzhang died, those brothers who had fought the world with him either died of illness or were executed, and only two survived, they were Geng Bingwen, Marquis of Changxing, and Guo Ying, Marquis of Wuding.
In this group of people, there is also a young and capable **, although he is not a military general, he is responsible for supervising military affairs and is deeply trusted by Zhu Yuanzhang. He is Li Jinglong.
Li Jinglong was born in a prominent family of imperial relatives, his grandfather Li Zhen is Zhu Yuanzhang's second brother-in-law, Zhu Yuanzhang was the emperor, and Li Zhen was the only one of his former peers, and he was highly respected by Zhu Yuanzhang.
And Li Jinglong's father, Li Wenzhong, is one of the "Six Founding Dukes" and has outstanding military achievements. Therefore, according to the relationship between relatives, Li Jinglong is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew and grandson.
Li Jinglong was born in 1369 A.D. in the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang heard that Li Wenzhong had a child, he was very happy, and gave him a rich gift. However, in the seventeenth year of Hongwu, Li Wenzhong died of illness, and Zhu Yuanzhang was very sad, posthumously crowned him king (King of Qiyang), and inherited his eldest son Li Jinglong to the title of Duke of Cao.
At that time, Li Jinglong was only 17 years old, and he was a famous representative of the "Qingzhuang School" in the middle and late Hongwu period. According to the record of "The History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Li Jinglong", he read widely and was familiar with allusions.
He is tall and has sparse eyebrows, and every time he looks at others, he makes people feel that he is very bold. Every time he participated in the court meeting, his demeanor seemed very decent, so Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but look at him a few more times.
According to the record of "Ming History Chronicle", when Li Jinglong inherited the title, Zhu Yuanzhang also specially said to him: "You have received a good education since you were a child, and you have done better than your father in this regard, I hope you can be more successful than your father!" ”
Li Jinglong, who Zhu Yuanzhang had high hopes for, disappointed Zhu Yuanzhang and even cheated Emperor Jianwen. Li Jinglong was once Zhu Yuanzhang's confidant, and Emperor Jianwen wanted to weaken Zhu Di and planned to weaken Zhu Di.
Zhu Hu is Zhu Yuanzhang's fifth son and Zhu Di's half-brother, his strength is not strong, and weakening Zhu Hu is equivalent to cutting off Zhu Di's wings. Emperor Jianwen sent Li Jinglong to garrison the border, and when he passed through Bianzhou, he suddenly surrounded the palace and arrested Zhu Hu.
In order not to startle the snake, Emperor Jianwen sent Li Jinglong to pass through Kaifeng in the name of inspecting the frontier, and then suddenly led troops to surround the palace of the king of Zhou and capture Zhu Hu. This fully reflects Emperor Jianwen's deep trust in Li Jinglong, and also reveals the hatred between Li Jinglong and Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou.
In the Battle of Jingyan, Emperor Jianwen first sent the veteran Geng Bingwen to lead an army of 300,000 (the actual number did not reach this number) against Zhu Di, but Geng Bingwen was good at defense and not good at attacking, and finally lost.
Huang Zicheng, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, suggested that Li Jinglong replace Geng Bingwen, and Emperor Jianwen agreed. Li Jinglong has been familiar with military books since he was a child, and in order to express his trust in him, Emperor Jianwen even personally pushed his frame to see him off, hoping that he would achieve victory.
However, to Emperor Jianwen's surprise, Li Jinglong, whom he entrusted with important tasks, eventually became the second "Zhao Kuo" in history.
When Zhu Di heard that Emperor Jianwen had appointed Li Jinglong to replace Geng Bingwen, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. Because although Geng Bingwen lost the war, his defensive strategy made Zhu Di unable to break through for three days in a row.
Now, there is a "straw bag" Li Jinglong, which makes Zhu Di feel very happy. It is recorded in "Ming History Chronicle: King Yan Rises to Arms" that when Zhu Di heard about Li Jinglong's army, he smiled and said: "There are five ways to fail in the art of war, and Li Jinglong has won them all!" ”
This is indeed the case, Li Jinglong, who can only talk on paper, led an army of 500,000 to fight against Zhu Di, and was evaluated by Zhu Di as: "Li Jinglong won all of the five ways to fail in the art of war!" ”
In terms of war, Li Jinglong's ability is far from Zhu Di, and there is also a big gap between him and Geng Bingwen. Sure enough, as Zhu Di expected, Li Jinglong was defeated repeatedly, and almost all of Emperor Jianwen's army was consumed.
In the second year, in the Battle of Baigou River, Li Jinglong was beaten by Zhu Di and lost his armor, and was finally recalled by Emperor Jianwen. Although Emperor Jianwen remembered his father's exploits and did not put him to death to thank the world, his performance clearly did not meet the public's expectations.
Two years later, Zhu Di's army invaded Jinchuan Gate, and Li Jinglong surrendered on his own initiative and let Zhu Di enter the city. In this regard, Emperor Jianwen was in pain, and the entire city was engulfed in fire and disappeared without a trace.
If you want to ask who Emperor Jianwen hated the most in his life, the answer is not Zhu Di, but Li Jinglong, who betrayed him.
Li Jinglong was regarded as a great hero because he opened the door to welcome Zhu Di, however, in the process of Zhu Di killing all the way to Nanjing, many soldiers who followed him did not have a high opinion of him.
Later, Zhu Hu was reinstated and accused of many crimes against Li Jinglong, and other ministers also ** him, as a result, Li Jinglong was stripped of his title and was claustrophobic at home. In order to prove his innocence, Li Jinglong decided to go on a hunger strike.
However, he went on a hunger strike for 10 days, found that Zhu Di did not pay attention to it, and finally gave up the hunger strike, which turned out to be very embarrassing. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Li Jinglong", Li Jinglong once went on a hunger strike for 10 days, but did not die until the last years of Yongle.
Although Li Jinglong chose to go on a hunger strike, Zhu Di didn't care, because he clearly knew that a straw bag like Li Jinglong didn't want to die.
Li Jinglong, the second generation of officials, has been familiar with military books since he was a child, but at a critical moment, he failed the high expectations of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunwen, and was despised by historians of all dynasties. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", "The Chronicle of the Ming Dynasty" and "The Records of Taizu of the Ming Dynasty" and other materials, Li Jinglong's performance on the battlefield was disappointing, which was the result of his lack of ability, and can be forgiven as appropriate.
However, what is even more odious is that Li Jinglong actually took the initiative to open the city gate to welcome Zhu Di, this kind of speculative psychology is destined to end him badly.