It is understandable to win more than few, and to defeat the weak with the strong. The list goes on and on, but they are often lost in history. What can be remembered by history is often those "counterattacks" that are unexpected and make the impossible possible.
The "Battle of Jingyan" in the early Ming Dynasty has always been talked about. The reason for this is that Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen set an embarrassing record of "an emperor can't do a vassal king", breaking the absolute authority of the "emperor" and also achieving the myth of the great reversal of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di.
Whether it is from the perspective of the number of troops, equipment, manpower, material and financial resources, Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen has an absolute advantage. However, he finally turned the Wang Fang and the four two in his hand into a mess, allowing Yan Wang Zhu Di to complete the "impossible" reversal.
Some people say that Zhu Yuanzhang has to bear a great deal of responsibility for the failure of Zhu Yunwen's "Battle of Jingjing." This is undeniable, such as his massacre of heroes, which led to Zhu Yunwen being unavailable in the "Battle of Jingjing". knew the flaws of Zhu Yunwen's character, but he still insisted on passing on him. Or, Zhu Yuanzhang only eliminated external threats for Zhu Yunwen (killing Lan Yu, etc.), but did not make arrangements for the greater internal threats (the forces of various vassal kings), which eventually led to the occurrence of the "Battle of Jingyan".
Did Zhu Yuanzhang really not consider that his sons would pose a huge threat to Zhu Yunwen's throne? If you really think so, then you would underestimate Zhu Yuanzhang too much. As the decisive founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been labeled as "iron-blooded", "ruthless", "suspicious", and even "murderous". Judging from his two large-scale killings, Zhu Yuanzhang will never be soft on the unstable factors that may threaten the imperial power.
Zhu Yuanzhang has 26 sons, but he only favors his eldest son, Zhu Biao. There are political considerations about the inheritance of the throne, and there is also Zhu Yuanzhang's personal emotional tilt towards Queen Ma. But more importantly, Prince Zhu Biao's own personal ability and prestige surpass Zhu Yuanzhang's princes. Zhu Biao is the prince, everyone obeys! It is no exaggeration to say that even if Zhu Yuanzhang is Zhu Biao, Zhu Biao has enough ability to bring the Ming Dynasty on the right track. This is Zhu Biao's absolute hard power, not something that others can compare.
However, no matter how strong Zhu Biao's ability is, he is not as strong as God's arrangement. Prince Zhu Biao, who was only 37 years old, died young and died in front of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang endured the great grief of "white-haired people sending black-haired people", but on the other hand, he resolutely decided to continue to pass the throne to Zhu Biao. As Zhu Biao's eldest son at that time, Zhu Yunwen was canonized as the eldest grandson of the emperor, and also established his identity as the heir to the throne.
Although Zhu Yunwen inherited Zhu Biao's benevolence and kindness, he only inherited so much. In terms of status and status, he is a generation shorter than those imperial uncles; In terms of qualifications, a teenage scholar with a weak scholar ** is comparable to a vassal king who leads troops to fight outside all the year round? In terms of prestige in the court, it is even worse than 108,000 miles. Zhu Yunwen's only advantage is that he has a grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang who insists on passing the throne to him.
Some of Zhu Yunwen's disadvantages are congenital, and some can be changed. In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart is like a mirror. Since it was decided to let Zhu Yunwen succeed to the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally wanted to pave the way for him. Because, Zhu Yunwen's own ability and basic forces are too weak.
In the second year after Zhu Biao's death, Lan Yu, who was originally left for Zhu Biao to be the core minister of the auxiliary government, was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, which opened the prelude to Zhu Yuanzhang's killing of heroes again. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the most fundamental reason for Lan Yu's death is that his existence poses a threat to Zhu Yunwen's throne and poses a threat to the old Zhu family's Daming country. From the beginning of Zhu Yuanzhang's action on Lan Yu, it was destined that Zhu Yunwen's road to the throne would be paved with blood.
After Zhu Yunwen was established as the heir to the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was over the age of six, personally taught him to deal with court politics, in order to be able to use the last bit of time to work hard to cultivate a "low-profile" version of Zhu Biao.
As the founding emperor of the country, how Zhu Yuanzhang chooses the heir can be said to be "Yiyantang". However, as Zhu Yuanzhang's sons, it is inevitable that they have ideas in their hearts. At that time, the most powerful of Zhu Yuanzhang's sons were King Yan, King Qin, King Jin, King Ning and others. For these vassal kings who held military power, Prince Zhu Biao did not dare to fight when he was there, and he couldn't fight. But Zhu Biao is gone, and a stinky hairy child also wants to climb on the head of their uncles, and I believe that most of them are unconvinced. It's just that because Zhu Yuanzhang is still there, they can only hide these restless thoughts in their stomachs.
Although Zhu Yunwen has little other skills, he reads a lot. Especially since he was born in an imperial family, he is all too familiar with the case of "cannibalism" in the struggle for the throne. Moreover, Zhu Yunwen is not without self-knowledge, and he still has an objective understanding of his own shortcomings and defects. Compared with those uncles of the vassal kings, Zhu Yunwen was still very worried in his heart.
Once, when Zhu Yuanzhang was telling him about the policy of dividing the feudal kings, Zhu Yunwen asked the "shocking question" that was enough to be recorded in history:"If you are not appeased, the kings will be royal; If the kings are not appeased, who will be the king? ”
Zhu Yunwen's question surprised Zhu Yuanzhang, and after pondering for a long time, he asked Zhu Yunwen: "What do you mean?" Zhu Yunwen didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to ask him rhetorically, and after weighing the pros and cons, he had to answer against his will: "With virtue and etiquette, if you can't cut down your land, you can't change your people, and you can't even raise troops to attack them."
Many people see this as evidence that Zhu Yuanzhang did not take into account the issue of vassal kings. In fact, the potential threats and hidden dangers of the vassal king had been considered as early as when Zhu Yuanzhang divided the vassal king, and corresponding prevention and restraint measures were made.
When Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the policy of feudal feuds, he also had strict and tough precautions against the vassal kings.
1. The vassal king must go to the fief to become a vassal domain.
Sealing all the princes except the crown prince and driving them out of the capital can prevent the prince from forming a party with the ministers of the court and the central government to threaten the prince's position.
2. The vassal king must be edicted and enter Beijing "at the wrong peak".
Without an edict, the vassal king could not leave the fiefdom without permission, nor could he enter the capital without permission. Even if they were allowed to enter Beijing after receiving an edict, the vassal kings had to stagger their entry and exit times to avoid encounters. The fundamental reason is to avoid collusion with each other and affect the imperial power.
3. Strictly control the number of vassal kings' armies.
For objective practical reasons, the vassal king was responsible for guarding the border, and he must have military power in his hands. However, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that the army of each vassal king could not exceed 20,000 people, thus limiting the individual strength of the vassal king.
Judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's policies, he had deep consideration for the issue of vassal kings. Under the premise that Zhu Yuanzhang was alive, the vassal kings did not dare to make the slightest move. So, what if the emperor is replaced by Zhu Yunwen? How to solve the problem of vassal kings? Zhu Yunwen's question asked Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, and also reminded Zhu Yuanzhang to take measures against the issue of the vassal king.
Some people may ask: Since Zhu Yunwen has reminded Zhu Yuanzhang of how to solve the problem of the vassal king, why is Zhu Yuanzhang "indifferent"? Is it really allowed to "kill" each other? It's not that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't make arrangements, but that his arrangements didn't succeed.
On the tenth day of the fifth month of the 31st year of Hongwu (June 24, 1398), Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, died in the Yingtian Emperor's Palace (now the Nanjing Forbidden City) at the age of 71. Before Zhu Yuanzhang died, he shouted "Zhu Di is coming" three times, exposing Zhu Yuanzhang's final arrangement.
Why did Zhu Yuanzhang shout "Zhu Di is coming" three times in a row at the last moment? There's something hidden here.
First, Zhu Yuanzhang secretly ordered Zhu Di to enter Beijing.
Zhu Yuanzhang had strict control over the vassal king, and it was obviously impossible for the vassal king to leave the fiefdom without an edict. Zhu Yuanzhang shouted three times in a row, "Zhu Di is coming", obviously he secretly issued an edict to Zhu Di and asked him to come to Nanjing.
Clause.
Second, Zhu Yuanzhang shouted "Zhu Di is coming" three times in a row, but no one answered for a reason.
It stands to reason that when Zhu Yuanzhang was dying, Zhu Yunwen and a number of ministers and eunuchs would inevitably serve him. Zhu Yuanzhang shouted "Zhu Di is coming" three times in a row, it is impossible that no one will not hear it. The only explanation is that the crowd deliberately pretended not to hear. Of course, this has something to do with the sensitive moment at that time. When Zhu Yuanzhang called Zhu Di at the last moment, it was difficult not to suspect that Zhu Yuanzhang had the possibility of replacing the heir. Seeing that the throne is about to arrive, how could Zhu Yunwen allow an accident to happen?
Zhu Yuanzhang shouted "Zhu Di is coming" three times in a row, and the fundamental purpose was to attack Zhu Di.
First of all, it is certain that Zhu Yuanzhang has no possibility of replacing Zhu Di as his heir at the last moment. Because if Zhu Yuanzhang has this idea, he has a lot of time to change, why spend so much energy to cultivate Zhu Yunwen, and even more so when he is old, he will go on a killing spree. Then Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately recalled Zhu Di to Nanjing, the only possibility is to do something to Zhu Di, it may be to abolish the ban, or it may be to directly kill and eliminate the troubles forever.
Secondly, the choice of Zhu Di was premeditated by Zhu Yuanzhang. Before Zhu Yuanzhang died, among his sons, he was the oldest and one of the most powerful vassal kings. If it is said that after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the most likely threat to Zhu Yunwen's throne is Zhu Di, the king of Yan. If Zhu Yuanzhang can abolish or directly kill Zhu Di at the last moment, then it will not only solve Zhu Yunwen's biggest opponent, but also play a role in deterring other vassal kings.
Third, Zhu Yuanzhang's character determines that he is a master who can do not hesitate to kill for the stability of the Ming Dynasty and pave the way for the succession of the emperor and grandson. The reason why he did not act on Zhu Di at the last moment was not only to care about the relationship between father and son, but also to stabilize the situation and minimize the impact of abolishing or killing Zhu Di.
So, did Zhu Di really come to Nanjing? I think he must have arrived in Nanjing. Because he didn't go to Nanjing, just one charge of disobeying the order was enough for Zhu Di to drink a pot, and Zhu Di couldn't afford it. Zhu Di not only went to Nanjing, but also had a complete insight into Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions. Zhu Di is the most like Zhu Yuanzhang among Zhu Yuanzhang's many sons, because they are the same kind of people and know each other's thoughts best. Zhu Yunwen chose to turn a deaf ear to Zhu Yuanzhang's questioning because he was afraid that the throne in his hands would be taken away. Zhu Di was reluctant to enter the palace to see Zhu Yuanzhang because he didn't want to die. The three ancestors and grandsons had their own ideas and guesses, which ultimately led to Zhu Yuanzhang's unsuccessful "knife" in the end, which also laid the groundwork for the outbreak of the "Battle of Jingjing" later.
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