Zhu Gaosui rebelledyears of death behind closed doors.
In May 1423, Zhu Gaosui had the idea of usurping the throne. He did not hesitate to use the guard commander Meng Xian to seek the throne by forging edicts, poisoning the emperor, and deposing the crown prince.
However, all this was revealed when Zhu Di was seriously ill, and Zhu Gaosui was also killed, and his henchmen were also killed by Zhu Di. Since then, Zhu Gaosui has not only lost the possibility of seizing power, but also become an unfilial son in Zhu Di's eyes.
In 1426, Zhu Gaosui rebelled and tried to overthrow the imperial court, and he invited Zhu Gaosui to act together. However, after Zhu Gaoxu was killed, Zhu Zhanji chose to forgive the former usurper.
So, why did Zhu Zhanji do this? Was Zhu Gaosui involved in Zhu Gaoxu's rebellion? What does his death have to do with Zhu Zhanji?
Zhu Gaosui, Zhu Di's third son, is an authentic Beiping native. Despite this, Zhu Di and his wife Xu loved him very much. At that time, Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaochu brothers went to study in Yingtian according to the ancestral system, and often separated from Zhu Di and his wife, and Zhu Gaosui was young and the third child in the family, so he was loved the most, but he also developed a gentleman's character.
In 1398, after the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen broke out a four-year battle of Jingjing, although Zhu Gaosui also followed Zhu Di to fight everywhere, but he was still young, not as brave as Zhu Gaochu on the battlefield, and could not protect Beiping like Zhu Gaochi.
Therefore, when Zhu Di chose the crown prince, he only hesitated between Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaochu, completely forgetting Zhu Gaosui, an important figure.
Although the three Zhu Gaochi brothers ostensibly respected the Empress Xu, after Xu's death, Zhu Gaochu and Zhu Gaosui began to challenge Zhu Gaochi's status. Under the joint operation of the two of them, Zhu Gaochi's cronies were repeatedly attacked, and even killed, imprisoned, and their homes were raided.
Although Zhu Gaochi was quiet on the surface, he took every step carefully. In 1409, Zhu Di was dissatisfied with the actions of Zhu Gaochu and Zhu Gaosui, and left them in Yingtian to restrain Zhu Gaochi's power.
However, in less than five years, Zhu Gaochi's power was completely suppressed, and only the king of Han and the king of Zhao were known inside and outside the government and the opposition, but the crown prince was not known. Zhu Di tried to beat Zhu Gaoxu, but he did not attack Zhu Gaoxu, but pointed the finger at Zhu Gaoxu's ** Zhu Gaosui.
Zhu Gaosui's henchman Gu Sheng was killed, his crown and costume were canceled, and even staged a drama in front of Zhu Gaochi to abolish and kill Zhu Gaosui. However, the smart and alert Zhu Gaochi immediately stopped Zhu Di's radical behavior and knelt down to intercede for Zhu Gaosui, which finally made Zhu Di's anger temporarily extinguished.
After Zhu Di's death, Zhu Gaosui began to be cautious in his words and deeds, careful in everything, and no longer hooked up with Zhu Gaoxu, and no longer tried to be the crown prince. Zhu Di was satisfied with this, and often praised Zhu Gaosui's changes when chatting with Zhu Gaochi.
However, Zhu Gaosui's behavior was just a strategy for him to confuse Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi. After Zhu Gaochu jumped up and down, flaunted his martial arts and was demoted to Le'an Prefecture, Zhu Gaosui saw Zhu Di's true face.
Therefore, he chose to lie dormant temporarily, secretly enveloping the important ministers of the court, waiting for an opportunity. In May 1423, Zhu Di suddenly fell seriously ill and was about to die.
Zhu Gaosui believed that this was the best time for him to usurp the throne and seize power. He found Meng Xian, the commander of the guards, and Yang Qing, the eunuch who had been encircled in advance, forged an edict to usurp the throne and seize power, and arranged for Yang Qing, who served Zhu Di, to poison the food, with the intention of ** Zhu Di.
Gao Yizheng suggested that Meng Xian share the wealth, but was denounced by Wang Yu. Zhu Di was furious, arrested Meng Xian and found a forged "Zhu Di's Edict" in his house. Zhu Gaosui was so frightened that he fell to his knees, but Zhu Gaochi defended him and blamed Meng Xian and Gao Yizheng for his crimes.
Zhu Gaochi knew that Zhu Di would not kill his son, so he chose to help Zhu Gaosui and convince him.
After Zhu Di's death, Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne in Beiping. Zhu Gaosui was grateful for his life-saving grace, and took the initiative to give up his military power, willing to be a happy vassal king, and completely let go of the illusion of the throne.
However, Zhu Gaochi died after only ten months of reign, which made Zhu Gaosui's heart ripple again. But he has been dormant for more than a dozen years and is no longer as impulsive as he was when he was younger.
Although he had the intention of rebellion, he did not take actual action. His younger brother Zhu Gaochu acted even more recklessly, and before Zhu Zhanji received a clear response from Zhu Gaosui, he had secretly contacted Zhu Gaosui and secretly planned a rebellion.
But before receiving an answer, Zhu Gaoxu had already openly rebelled. Zhu Gaosui did not inform Zhu Zhanji, nor did he support Zhu Gaoxu.
Zhu Gaoxu's rebellion lasted only two months before Zhu Zhanji put down. When the squad returned to the court, Chen Ping proposed to Zhu Zhanji to send troops to promote virtue and crusade against Zhu Gaosui.
Yang Rong, Xia Yuanji and other cabinet ministers also held the same idea, so Zhu Zhanji intended to kill Zhu Gaosui in order to completely solve the rebellion of the vassal king. However, at the time of Zhu Gaosui's life and death, Yang Shiqi stood up against this decision, emphasizing that Zhu Gaosui did not clearly rebel and should not be punished for this, otherwise it would cause the world to blame.
Zhu Zhanji listened to Yang Shiqi's advice, gave up the idea of killing Zhu Gaosui, and severely punished Zhu Gaochu for sowing discord.
After Zhu Gaoxu's death, Zhu Gaosui felt even more panicked and frightened. When he learned that Zhu Zhanji's envoy Yuan Rong was about to arrive in Zhangde, Zhu Gaosui was ready to die.
However, what Yuan Rong sent was only a letter of encouragement from Zhu Gaosui, the minister of the DPRK and China, and a letter of encouragement from Zhu Zhanji. After Zhu Gaosui received the letter, his mood instantly changed from sadness to joy, and he looked up to the sky and laughed: "I live." ”
He never expected that he, who had been coveting the throne for a long time, would be pardoned by Zhu Zhanji. Since then, Zhu Gaosui finally let go of his obsession with the throne, and he once again chose to return the Changshan Guards and the Honor Guard to the imperial court, and since then he has been closed and a vassal king with peace of mind.
In 1431, at the age of 50, Zhu Gaosui died of illness at home, and before he died, he called his children and grandchildren to his side, and specially told them to keep a low profile and not to covet power, otherwise they would lead to death.
After experiencing the Yongle, Hongxi, and Xuande dynasties, although Zhu Gaosui did all the wrong things, he was able to die a good death.