Zhu Yuanzhang, the great emperor, suffered from poverty as a teenager and later led the Huaixi children to establish the Ming Dynasty. However, twenty-five years after Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang's temperament changed dramatically, and due to the death of the crown prince Zhu Biao, he began to kill heroes on a large scale, which made him controversial.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, his grandson Zhu Yunwen, known as Emperor Jianwen, succeeded him on the throne. However, Emperor Jianwen was overthrown by his uncle Zhu Di after only 4 years of reign, and his whereabouts remain a mystery to this day.
In fact, before Zhu Di's rebellion, Emperor Jianwen had many opportunities to make a move in advance, but Zhu Di was lucky to avoid it. In the first year of Jianwen, in order to dispel Emperor Jianwen's doubts about him, Zhu Di shouted "It's so cold" around the stove in the summer, and successfully deceived Emperor Jianwen.
King Yan is as heroic as me, how is it standing? This shows that he has always thought that Zhu Di, the king of Yan, is most like himself and can be made the crown prince. However, Liu Sanwu and other ministers advocated the establishment of the eldest son according to the ancient rules, so the king of Qin and the king of Jin were proposed.
Zhu Yuanzhang felt that their suggestion was reasonable, so he finally decided to leave the throne to Changfang, and appointed Zhu Yunwen, the son of Zhu Biao, as the emperor's grandson, planning to pass the throne directly to his grandson.
In 1398, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, died and was succeeded by his son Emperor Jianwen. However, Emperor Jianwen decided not to follow Zhu Yuanzhang's edict and allowed the vassal kings to come to Beijing for funeral, which caused dissatisfaction among the vassal kings.
At this critical juncture, the military department Shangshu Qitai put forward a proposal to reduce the feudal domain, believing that the power of the feudal kings was too great and would pose a threat to the imperial power. Emperor Jianwen also agreed to the idea of cutting the feudal domain, and decided to start with Zhu Yuanzhang's fifth son, Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou.
Why did you choose to cut Zhu Hu first? Huang Zicheng, the secretary of Taichang Temple, believes that among the vassal kings, Zhu Di has the greatest power, and Zhu Yuanzhang once intended to pass on the throne to him. Therefore, Zhu Di posed the greatest threat to Emperor Jianwen.
However, because Zhu Di's power is too large to deal with directly, it is necessary to weaken his wings first. Zhu Hu, as Zhu Di's younger brother, naturally became the first target to be cut.
In the end, Zhu Hu was demoted to a concubine and exiled to Yunnan. This decision also marked the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's reduction of feudal domains. Although the reduction of the feudal domain caused discontent and revolt from all sides, Emperor Jianwen insisted on his decision and tried to consolidate the imperial power by cutting the feudal domain.
Soon, the king of Qi was imprisoned, and the king of Xiang was forced to commit suicide. Zhu Di, who was far away in Beijing, felt tormented, because he knew that he would face the same fate sooner or later. At this time, the strategist Yao Guangxiao advised Zhu Di to prepare in advance, so he decided to secretly recruit troops, secretly build weapons, and prepare to rebel.
In order to deceive Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Di first sent his three sons to participate in Zhu Yuanzhang's anniversary, and then raised ducks and geese at home, pretending to be crazy and stupid. In June of the first year of Jianwen, Yanshan's guard Ni Liangmi reported to Emperor Jianwen, saying that Zhu Di was not crazy, but planned to rebel.
When Emperor Jianwen heard this, he was suspicious and hurriedly sent Zhang Yu and Xie Gui to the Yanwang Mansion to investigate the facts. After arriving at King Yan's mansion, the two saw Zhu Di on crutches, as if he was about to die.
It was the height of summer in June, but Zhu Di was around the stove and shouted: "It's so cold!" Zhang Yu and Xie Gui thought that Zhu Di was really crazy, so they reported this information to Emperor Jianwen.
According to the "Chronicle of the Ming Dynasty", when Zhang Yu and Xie Gui entered the palace to visit Zhu Di's illness, Zhu Di shivered around the stove in the hot summer and said: "It's so cold." His actions caused the people in the palace to walk with crutches, and the court began to believe that he was really crazy.
In this way, Zhu Di succeeded in confusing Emperor Jianwen and won valuable time. Half a month later, Zhu Di launched the Battle of Jingjing, and after three and a half years of bloody battles, he finally invaded Nanjing and became the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Di was the only feudal king to rebel and succeed, and his victory was the result of his bold decision-making, as well as a gift from Emperor Jianwen's indecision. Although he ascended the throne by usurping the throne, he created the Yongle era during his reign and was an outstanding emperor.