In 1392, Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son, Zhu Biao, died. Three months later, the sad Zhu Yuanzhang made Zhu Biao's second son Zhu Yunwen the emperor's grandson.
This move caused great controversy in later generations. Many people believe that Zhu Yunwen is the son of Zhu Biao's stepfamily, and he can only be regarded as a concubine. And Zhu Biao's original partner still has a son-in-law alive, and he is only 1 year younger than Zhu Yunwen.
According to the "Emperor Ming Ancestral Training" formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, shouldn't the emperor's grandson be Zhu Biao's original son-in-law Zhu Yunxi? Why did Zhu Yuanzhang choose Zhu Yunwen as his concubine?
After Zhu Di's appeasement succeeded, Zhu Yunxi disappeared, and Zhu Yunxi fell into Zhu Di's hands, what happened to him? Did Zhu Di kill him, or keep him?
In this article, let's talk about the third son of Zhu Biao, the prince of Yiwen, and the original son-in-law, Zhu Yunxi.
Zhu Yunxi's father was the first crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao. His mother is Zhu Biao's original crown princess, the eldest daughter of Chang Yuchun, the founder of the Ming Dynasty.
From Chang's epitaph, we can know that Zhu Biao and Chang were born in the same year, and they had already made a marriage contract in infancy.
In the year when Chang and Zhu Biao were born, Zhu Yuanzhang was leading an army to attack Nanjing, and Chang Yuchun was not long after Zhu Yuanzhang was attached.
When they got married, Zhu Yuanzhang was already the son of heaven of the Ming Dynasty, and Chang Yuchun died less than two years ago.
Perhaps it was to pity Chang's father's loneliness, or perhaps to appease the Chang family, Chang's filial piety period had not passed, and Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't wait to marry the two and officially named Chang the crown princess.
After 3 years of marriage, Chang gave birth to his first son for Zhu Biao. Zhu Yuanzhang, who was overjoyed, personally named his grandson "Zhu Xiongying".
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was not long established, and the crown prince was of great significance to the nascent dynasty. However, during this period, Donggong has been patiently waiting for the crown princess to give birth to a concubine, and no other woman has given birth to any child.
From here, it can be inferred that the relationship between Zhu Biao and Chang is not bad.
However, Zhu Biao is the crown prince, and it is impossible for there to be only one woman in the palace.
In the second year after Zhu Xiongying was born, the East Palace ushered in the second concubine of the crown prince, the Lu family.
If you say, Chang is the daughter of Chang Yuchun and the representative of the generals. Then the Lu family, who is the daughter of Taichangqing Lu Ben, is the representative of the civil official.
In addition, Zhu Biao also accepted the daughter of the Mongolian political participant A Thaning as a side room.
From the three marriages of the crown prince, it can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang maintained the balance between civil and military, as well as the painstaking efforts of the old Mongolian department.
Soon after the Lu family entered the East Palace, he gave birth to Zhu Biao's second son: Zhu Yunwen.
In the second year of Zhu Yunwen's birth, the crown princess Chang gave birth to her second son, that is, Zhu Biao's third son, Zhu Yunxi.
Less than half a month after giving birth to Zhu Yunxi, Chang died at the age of 24. It can be speculated that her sudden death should be related to the sequelae of childbirth.
There is no record in the history books of Zhu Biao's Mongolian concubine and whether she had children. However, the history of the Ming Dynasty records that after the death of Chang, the Lu family "began to live alone in the East Palace", which means that there are no other hostesses in the East Palace.
It can be seen from here that Zhu Biao's Mongolian concubine also died early, and Zhu Biao never had a fourth woman in his life.
Therefore, after the death of Chang, the family members of the East Palace were: the crown prince Zhu Biao, the second concubine Lu Shi, the eldest son Zhu Xiongying, the concubine Zhu Yunwen, the second son Zhu Yunxi, and the daughter is not clearly recorded.
And Lu is still very young, in his early 20s, and most of them will continue to have children.
So, Zhu Biao, who didn't plan to marry again, straightened out the Lu family.
In the case of an ordinary imperial family, when there is a concubine who is older than the concubine, the mother of the eldest concubine will basically not be straightened out, but choose to leave the main room vacant.
For example, Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, after destroying the Huo family, the first condition for establishing a successor was to have no favor and no children, so as not to threaten the status of the prince; After the death of Empress Changsun, Tang Taizong once wanted to set up Concubine Yang who had a son as his successor, but finally gave up.
Because this will change the son's concubine, which will affect the order of succession.
When Zhu Biao corrected the Lu family, his eldest son Zhu Xiongying was still alive and was the undisputed third-generation heir of the Ming Dynasty.
But it didn't take long for Zhu Xiongying to die young, and the order of succession immediately went wrong.
If Zhu Biao did not correct the Lu family, then, after Zhu Xiongying's death, Zhu Biao's first heir should be the second son born to the original match, Zhu Yunxi.
However, Zhu Biao straightened the Lu family, that is, the son of the Lu family, Zhu Yunwen, also became a son-in-law. And Zhu Yunwen is older than Zhu Xiongying.
Here, I'm going to interject a digression to correct a common misconception:
Many people think that whether it is a son-in-law or a concubine depends on whether the mother is a wife when she gives birth to this son. If his mother was a concubine when she gave birth to him, and she was corrected later, then this child can also be regarded as a concubine. If the mother gives birth to a son after the correction, then the elder brother is the concubine, and the younger brother is the son-in-law, and the inheritance comes before the elder brother.
However, if we study the history books, we will find that this statement is wrong.
Take Wu Zetian as an example. Wu Zetian's four sons, the eldest son and the second son were born when he was Zhaoyi, and the third and fourth sons were born when he was the queen.
According to this set of theories, the eldest son and the second son are concubines, and the third and fourth sons are the real sons-in-law.
But in fact, the order of these 4 sons is: Wu Zetian's eldest son born when he was Zhaoyi; Wu Zetian's second son when he was Zhaoyi; The third son born to Wu Zetian when he was the queen. And the fourth son, when Li Zhi was alive, was never considered.
In other words, whether it is a concubine or a concubine has nothing to do with the identity of the mother at the time of birth. As long as the mother is corrected, the concubine will naturally become a concubine.
Therefore, Zhu Yunwen has become Zhu Biao's son-in-law after the Lu family straightened up.
Since Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxi are both sons-in-law, but one is the original son-in-law and the other is the step-son-in-law. So, how can the son of the original spouse and stepfamily be counted as inheritance?
In the history books I have read, it is really difficult to find such cases. The royal families of all dynasties, in order to avoid such an embarrassing problem, basically did not straighten out women who had concubines who were older than their sons-in-law.
If any readers have seen similar cases, please leave a message in the comment area to discuss.
But in the process of searching for historical materials, I found the basis for Zhu Yunwen's inheritance first, that is, a sentence in "New Tang Dynasty Book, Confucianism, Wei Gongsu":
The ancient princes married nine daughters, so the temple has no two concubines, since the Qin Dynasty, there have been remarriages, the former married and the successors, all of them are also grandchildren, and the two are not suspicious.
It means that in ancient times, no matter how many wives you marryed, you could only have one as a concubine. But since Qin, it has changed, and the original partner and the stepfamily are both considered concubines, and there is no difference.
Wei Gongsu, a doctor of Taichang during the Tang Xianzong period, had a deep study of etiquette. This sentence was put forward in a discussion of etiquette and was adopted by Tang Xianzong.
Since the original partner and the stepfamily are both concubines, there is no difference, so their sons are naturally also concubines. Whoever inherits first depends on who is older.
And Zhu Yunxi's age is exactly 1 year older than Zhu Yunxi.
Looking at the historical records, we can also find that the people of the Ming Dynasty at that time basically agreed that after Zhu Xiongying's death, Zhu Yunwen was Zhu Biao's actual eldest son, the first heir, and the actual eldest grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Not long after Zhu Biao's death, when Zhu Yuanzhang was still sad and wiping away tears, Liu Sanwu, who comforted him, began to persuade him to make Zhu Yunwen the emperor's grandson, the reason is: the emperor's grandson inherits the lineage, and the etiquette is also.
Another version of the history book is written: The emperor's grandson is rich in the Spring and Autumn Period, the right position is the storage pole, and the four seas are in the heart.
The core meaning is: Zhu Yunwen, as the grandson, should be established as the emperor's grandson.
Zhu Yunwen's canonization edict is also clearly written: his grandson Yunwen will be the emperor's grandson on September 13, and his heirs will be enshrined to the gods and goddesses. Tell your subjects that you should know.
It can be seen that Zhu Yunwen, as the actual eldest grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, is the prince of the throne, which is the consensus of the Ming Dynasty people, and there is nothing to dispute.
Even Zhu Di, who was martyred, tried his best to suppress Zhu Yunwen's status and improve his legitimacy, but he only cried and chirped: The old man likes me and wants to make me the prince, but for the sake of etiquette, he reluctantly set up Zhu Yunwen as the emperor's grandson.
never questioned the identity of Zhu Yunwen's eldest grandson.
If according to the law of etiquette, it was Zhu Yunxi who should be established, not Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Di would never let go of this justifiable reason to suppress Zhu Yunwen.
However, we know that the so-called etiquette is to serve the interests.
Even if Zhu Yunwen is in etiquette, he can become the first heir in line. However, if Zhu Yuanzhang really likes Zhu Yunxi and wants to establish Zhu Yunxi, he can still use the identity of his original sister-in-law to add a halo to Zhu Yunxi.
I believe that the Confucianists invited by Zhu Yuanzhang are not dry meals, as long as Zhu Yuanzhang gives an order, he will definitely be able to find a reasonable basis for Zhu Yunxi's succession.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang is probably unwilling to work hard for Zhu Yunxi.
Because Zhu Yunxi is a maternal relative, it is a bit tricky: his grandfather is the founder of the Ming Dynasty Chang Yuchun, and his uncle and grandfather are the famous general Lan Yu.
Chang Yuchun is okay, he has been dead for many years, and even if there is still an old ministry, he can't have much influence. Lan Yu, in Zhu Yuanzhang's dynasty, was famous for his military achievements, and he was notoriously high-flying, disobedient to discipline, and sometimes he didn't even listen to Zhu Yuanzhang's orders.
If Zhu Biao is alive, it is possible to control the blue jade. As soon as Zhu Biao died, his two sons, whether they were Zhu Yunwen or Zhu Yunxi, were enough to choke.
If Zhu Yunxi takes the throne, what should Zhu Yuanzhang do if he wants to take the blue jade?
If you don't kill him, I'm afraid that he will hold the Son of Heaven hostage as an uncle and grandfather in the future; Kill, isn't this a slap in the face of Zhu Yunxi, how will Zhu Yunxi establish his prestige in the future?
And when Zhu Yunwen is on the throne, there is not so much to do. Just kill Lan Yu directly.
It just so happens that Zhu Yunwen also meets the requirements in terms of etiquette. Zhu Yunxi was directly eliminated from the game, and even Zhu Yuanzhang saved the step of finding a basis for him to comply with the etiquette law.
When Zhu Yunxi was 18 years old, Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a marriage, and his wife was the daughter of Zhao Sili, the commander of soldiers and horses.
Zhu Yunxi has descendants. However, whether it was born to this wife or not, there is no record in the history books.
After Zhu Yuanzhang died, Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, and he was very good to this only half-brother, and named him "King Wu", with a fief in Hangzhou.
King Wu, in the Ming Dynasty, was not an ordinary title. This is Zhu Yuanzhang's title before he ascended the throne.
Before Zhu Yunxi, there was also a king of Wu for a short time, that is, Zhu Yuanzhang and Queen Ma's youngest son, Zhu Hu. However, after a few years of sealing, Zhu Yuanzhang was still reluctant to Hangzhou and changed Zhu Hu to Kaifeng.
After all, Hangzhou was a major tax payer in the Ming Dynasty.
And Zhu Yuanzhang was reluctant to give his youngest son to Hangzhou, and Zhu Yunwen generously gave Zhu Yunxi, the only half-brother. Even Zhu Yunwen's two half-brothers did not have such good treatment.
After Zhu Di's appeasement was successful, the palace **, Zhu Yunxi was nowhere to be found, and Zhu Yunxi fell into Zhu Di's hands with his two half-brothers.
As soon as Zhu Di ascended the throne, he demoted Zhu Yunxi from the prince to the county king.
After all, the princes of the Ming Dynasty were either crowned as the emperor's son or brother, or inherited from their ancestors. Zhu Di has re-demoted Zhu Yunxi's father Zhu Biao from "Emperor Xiaokang" to "Prince Yiwen", and abolished Zhu Yunxi's title of emperor.
However, even the title of the king of the county, Zhu Di did not want to keep it.
Within a few months, Zhu Di deposed Zhu Yunxi as a concubine on the grounds that Zhu Yunxi could not assist his brother well, and imprisoned him in Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown Fengyang.
This is simply a sin that is desired, and there is no excuse for it.
And just like that, 15 years have passed.
In the fifteenth year of Yongle, Zhu Yuanzhang's 19th son Zhu Lu reported to Zhu Di that Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew named Zhu Yuexian was actually a fake by Zhu Yunwen.
Later, it was found out that this incident was Zhu Di's nonsense, but it inevitably aroused Zhu Di's heart again.
So, as Zhu Yunxi's only living younger brother, Zhu Yunxi, who had been imprisoned in Fengyang for 15 years, suddenly "died violently" at the age of 39.
During the period of Ming Yingzong, there was the last record of Zhu Yunxi's descendants in the official history: Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong released Zhu Yunxi's descendants who had been imprisoned, and let them settle down in Fengyang, distribute fixed living materials every month, and marry freely.
Later, after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yousong of Anzong of the Southern Ming Dynasty officially rehabilitated Zhu Yunxi and restored his title of "King of Wu", with the nickname "Mourning". Nanming Mourning Sect added another nickname of "mourning" to him.
I don't know if Zhu Yunxi still had descendants alive at that time.
If Zhu Yunxi's mother Chang did not die, or after Chang died, Zhu Biao married another crown princess, or the position of the main wife was vacant from now on, instead of supporting the Lu family, then, after the death of the eldest brother Zhu Xiongying, Zhu Yunxi would be the imperial grandson of the Ming Dynasty.
There is no record in the history books about Zhu Yunxi's ability. However, without Zhu Yunwen's divine operation, Zhu Di would not have been able to succeed. This is the only time in ancient history that a vassal king of a great unified dynasty successfully rebelled from a fiefdom.
Therefore, if Zhu Yunxi ascends the throne, he will probably be able to keep the throne.
Then, the history of the Ming Dynasty will be another direction.
Don't you think?
**10,000 Fans Incentive Plan