In November 1406 (the fourth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty), Zhu Neng, the Duke of Chengguo of the Ming Dynasty, died of illness on the way to the south, and Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was grieved when he heard the news. He decreed that Zhu Neng should be posthumously crowned as the "King of Dongping", and decided to drop out of the dynasty for five days to mourn.
The etiquette system of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that all princes are mourned and drop out of the dynasty for three daysThe princess was mourned and buried, each of which died one day. The king of the county and the minister of civil and military affairs were mourned, and the year-end class dropped out of the day. It can be seen that Zhu Neng has the supreme status in Zhu Di's heart, because he dropped out of the dynasty for five days, which is the highest courtesy for the minister's death.
Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was a brave and warlike emperor, and he launched four generals who played a vital role in the Battle of Jingnan, they were Qiu Fu, Zhu Neng, Zhang Yu, and Chen Heng, these four people were known as the "Four Dukes of Jingnan".
Although Zhu Neng is in second place, his fate is more fortunate than the other three. Although he exchanged his life for the honor of 11 generations of the family, the Zhu family of Chengguo did not coexist with the Ming Dynasty in the end.
In this article, I will introduce to you Zhu Neng, the second hero of the Ming Dynasty, hoping that through historical data and analysis, you can better understand this heroic king of Dongping on the battlefield.
There are five outstanding figures under Zhu Yuanzhang's command, they are the strategist Zhu Sheng, the Xiao general Zhu Liangzu, the famous general Zhu Shou, and the two Huaixi generals Zhu Qian and Zhu Ding who died in battle.
Among them, Zhu Sheng put forward the nine-character policy of "building a high wall, accumulating grain, and slowly becoming the king", Zhu Liangzu was named Yongjiahou for his fierce military exploits, and Zhu Shou was named the Marquis of Jiajia in the late Hongwu period.
Zhu Liangzu's hometown, like Zhu Neng's father Zhu Liang, is a native of Huaiyuan, Anhui Province, and he is also a fellow villager of Chang Yuchun.
Zhu Neng, the word Shihong, Huaiyuan, was born in Hongwu for three years. His father, Zhu Liang, was the old department of Huaixi, crossed the river with Zhu Yuanzhang, and was later awarded the deputy thousand households of Yanshan Guard. Zhu Neng grew up in Peking and followed his father since he was a child.
In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, Zhu Di led the army to recruit Nerbuhua, and Zhu Neng also made contributions to it.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Zhu Neng", Zhu Neng was the youngest among the many generals in the Yanwang Domain, but he performed well and fought bravely. Together with Zhang Yu, one is good at combat and the other is good at strategy, and they have become Zhu Di's right-hand man and are highly relied on.
It is worth mentioning that although it is recorded in "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Zhang Yu" that Zhang Yu only joined Zhu Di in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Neng accompanied Zhu Di to surrender to Nerbuhua in the twenty-third year of Hongwu, which means that at the beginning of their acquaintance, Zhu Neng had already shown loyalty and courage to Zhu Di.
Therefore, although Zhang Yu later became an important figure for Zhu Di, Zhu Neng may be more intimate with Zhu Di.
Among Zhu Di's "Four Dukes of Jingnan", Qiu Fu, Zhang Yu, and Chen Heng were all earlier than him, and the three of them joined the army earlier than Zhu Di. In essence, Zhu Neng is Zhu Di's first descendant.
However, later Zhang Yu and Qiu Fu gradually became Zhu Di's cronies, and Chen Heng greatly increased Zhu Di's strength because he helped Zhu Di capture Daning, so they were tied with Qiu, Zhang, and Zhu.
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, died, and Zhu Yunwen, the grandson of the emperor, ascended the throne and became Emperor Jianwen. After Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, he immediately began to cut the domain, and the primary target of the cutting domain was Zhu Di, who was the oldest and most capable at that time.
However, because Huang Zicheng believed that "King Yan is in great difficulty", Zhu Yunwen decided to cut the other vassal kings first.
During the period from August to the month of the 31st year of Hongwu, Zhu Yunwen successively eliminated the five kings of Zhou, Dai, Xiang, Qi, and Min in only four months, among which Zhu Bai, the king of Xiang, was forced to commit suicide, and the other four kings were demoted to concubines, which made the members of the clan panic.
Zhu Di, the king of Yan in Beiping, was also deeply frightened by this, however, Zhu Neng and Yao Guangxiao jointly advised Zhu Di to make a bold attempt, and finally Zhu Di agreed, and began to secretly prepare for a rebellion.
According to Wang Shizhen's record in the "Continuation of Yizhou", Zhu Neng is "Jingnan Yuan Gong", and this "Yuan" character not only represents Zhu Neng's rebellion with Zhu Di from beginning to end, but also symbolizes the important role he and Yao Guangxiao played in persuading Zhu Di to raise troops.
In the first month of the first year of Jianwen, Zhu Di pretended to be crazy with a deception and successfully confused Zhu Yunwen. During this period, Zhu Di secretly stockpiled weapons and hoarded grain and grass to prepare for rebellion. In June, Zhu Yunwen secretly arrested Deng Yong, a hundred households in Yanwangfu, and under severe torture, Deng Yong revealed that Zhu Di was preparing to rebel.
Zhu Yunwen was shocked, and secretly ordered Zhang Yu, the political envoy of Beiping, and Xie Gui and Zhang Xin, the commanders of Beiping, to lead troops to arrest Zhu Di. However, Zhang Xin defected halfway and leaked the contents of the secret edict to Zhu Di.
Zhu Di urgently convened Yao Guangxiao, Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and other cronies to discuss, and decided to let Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng lead 800 guards to lurk in the Yanwang Mansion, waiting for the arrival of Zhang Yu and Xie Gui.
Their ploy succeeded, and the Battle of Martyrdom broke out. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Zhu Neng", the Yan army rebelled, and Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng were the first to plan to kill Zhang Yu and Xie Gui, and successfully captured the nine city gates of Beiping.
In the early days of the war, troops led by Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, and Qiu Fu quickly attacked nine city gates in Beiping, eight of which were quickly captured by the Yan army, and only Xizhi Gate was difficult to break.
Zhu Neng learned that Xizhimen was still resisting stubbornly, so he went alone. Coincidentally, Zhu Di also sent Tang Yun to recruit the guards of Xizhimen, and after the double pressure of Tang Yun and Zhu Neng, they finally took control of this city gate.
Zhu Neng was Zhu Di's confidant general, and he played an important role in the Battle of Jingjing. He successfully defeated Zhu Yunwen's henchman Ma Xuan, captured Jizhou, and surrendered the Zunhua defenders, stabilizing the situation in Beiping.
In Zhu Di's counterattack against Zhang Yu and Xie Gui, Zhu Neng was also a key figure. Next, on the large-scale battlefield, Zhu Neng's role is more obvious. Zhu Di ordered Geng Bingwen to lead an army of 300,000 to attack him, but Zhu Neng skillfully used tactics and successfully defeated Geng Bingwen's army, capturing Pan Zhong and Yang Song, and then defeated Geng Bingwen when the southern army crossed the river.
In general, Zhu Neng's wisdom and courage made him make great achievements in the Battle of Jingyan, and he is truly "easy to obtain in a thousand armies, but difficult to find a general".
Although the Southern Army was defeated and retreated to the south bank of the Hutuo River, its strength remained. Zhang Yu, Qiu Fu and other generals advocated that they should not be pursued exhaustively, but Zhu Neng showed the demeanor of a fierce general. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Zhu Neng", he only led 30 warriors to pursue the southern army to the other side of the river, rode horses and shouted wildly, and rushed into the southern army's formation.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses under Geng Bingwen's command fell one after another under the impact of Zhu Neng, were trampled and ravaged, and the death toll was numerous, and more than 3,000 people surrendered.
Zhu Neng's merits and courage are comparable to the praise of General Lingxian in the "Answer to Su Wushu". Zhu Di was deeply pleased with his bravery, so he personally wrote a codex as a reward.
Subsequently, the imperial court sent Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao Guo, to replace Geng Bingwen, and Zhu Di led Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu and other elites to avoid Li Jinglong's army and chose to go north to Daning for a surprise attack.
In this battle, the veteran Chen Heng led nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses to surrender, and Zhu Di took this opportunity to successfully control Daning, and also hijacked King Ning, including Duoyan Sanwei into his sphere of influence.
Since then, Zhu Di has the strength to compete with the imperial court.
Zhu Di, the general of the Hundred Battles, led his army back to the capital and engaged in a fierce confrontation with Li Jinglong's army at Zhengcunba. Zhu Di skillfully divided the army into five teams, with Zhang Yu leading the central army under the command of Du, and Zhu Neng leading the left army.
The battle was about to start, and Zhu Di gave full trust to Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and other five people, and let them each lead a team to charge. Zhang Yu took the lead, unstoppable, and rushed straight to Li Jinglong's Chinese army camp, picking seven camp tents in a row.
Zhu Neng became more and more courageous and unstoppable. Although Li Jinglong's army was numerous, under the heroic charge of Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng, the officers and men of the southern army could not resist and were defeated one after another.
This battle demonstrated Zhu Di's superb command skills and the bravery and fearlessness of his soldiers, and also gave Zhu Di the upper hand in the military struggle in the first year of Jianwen.
Zhu Di and Li Jinglong launched a second duel in Baigou River. At the beginning of the campaign, Zhu Di's condition was not ideal. Zhu Di's forward battalion was severely damaged by the mines set in advance by the founding veteran Guo Ying, and the famous general of the Southern Army, Ping'an, took advantage of the emptiness in the rear of the Yan army to launch a surprise attack, causing heavy losses to Zhu Di's rear battalion.
In the face of the unfavorable situation, Zhu Di reorganized his troops and horses, and took advantage of the advantages of the four fierce generals Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, Chen Heng, and Qiu Fu under his command, and divided the troops into four routes, so that Zhang Yu was in the center, Zhu Neng and Chen Heng were separated, and Qiu Fu led the cavalry to maneuver in the rear to help, and attacked Li Jinglong respectively, and finally won the battle.
In the Battle of Baihegou, Chen Heng encountered the fierce general of the Southern Army on the right flank, and although he fought hard, due to the disparity in strength, he was finally seriously wounded and returned. At this time, Zhu Neng stepped forward and rushed to the right side to take the initiative to fight with Ping'an.
According to historical records, the battle between Ping An and Zhu Neng ended in the defeat of Ping An. With the collapse of the Ping'an army array, the Yan army pursued the victory, constantly covering and killing, and finally achieved a great victory.
In addition to Zhu Di's luck, this victory is also inseparable from the lives of the three armies of the Yan army, especially the heroic performance of Zhu Neng and others.
This battle greatly damaged the vitality of the Southern Army, and Li Jinglong fled to Texas alone. Then, Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng and others captured Dezhou, forcing Li Jinglong to flee to Jinan. However, the firm guards of Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan in the city of Jinan made the battle of Jingyan delayed.
Zhu Neng showed the highest level of his life in this battle of Dongchang, but for Zhu Di, this was his most sentimental battle. In the Battle of Dongchang, Sheng Yong, the defender of the Southern Army, led his soldiers and horses to line up on the back of the city in order to prevent Zhu Di from entering the city.
Zhu Di personally led the army to charge, Sheng Yong deliberately opened a gap to lure Zhu Di in, and then ordered the whole army to surround Zhu Di.
At the critical juncture, Ping'an's army rushed to support, causing Zhu Di to fall into a heavy siege. Seeing this, Zhu Neng and Zhang Yu immediately rushed into the battle to rescue. However, Sheng Yong had already surrounded Zhu Di, how could he let go easily?
The encirclement gradually expanded, and fierce battles were fought between the two sides until sunset. Zhu Neng fought his way out of the encirclement on the battlefield and finally found the exhausted Zhu Di. He gave up his war horse to Zhu Di, snatched another war horse, fought a bloody way for Zhu Di, and escorted him out of the battlefield.
When Zhu Di returned to his team, Zhu Neng had already suffered more than ten injuries.
As the old saying goes, the Savior's merit is greater than the sky, and the plan of starving food is the most helpless. Zhu Neng risked his life and rescued Zhu Di, making him unforgettable. However, although Zhu Di was saved, the general Zhang Yu died heroically in the battle, which is a great pity.
At that time, Zhang Yu did not know that Zhu Di had been rescued by Zhu Neng, he fought bravely in the battle, constantly looking for Zhu Di's traces, and was finally surrounded by Sheng Yong, exhausted and died heroically.
Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng are both Zhu Di's right-hand men, Zhang Yu's death made Zhu Di painful, and he paid more attention to Zhu Neng's existence from then on. Due to the death of veteran Chen Heng due to serious injuries in Beiping, the top players under Zhu Di are only Qiu Fu and Zhu Neng.
A tenacious warrior, in March of the third year of the second merit of Jingnan, Zhu Di paid tribute to the fallen soldiers in Beiping and went south again. In the Battle of Jiahe, Zhu Di and Sheng Yong fought again.
At that time, Sheng Yong prepared a large number of firearms, but because Zhu Yunwen ordered that he was not allowed to harm King Yan, Sheng Yong did not dare to shoot. Zhu Di personally led his subordinates to attack, and Sheng Yong was not to be outdone and resisted hard.
The two sides fought bloodily on the battlefield for more than three hours, and Tan Yuan, a fierce general under Zhu Di, was killed on the spot.
At the critical moment when Zhu Di was frustrated, Zhu Neng led a large army to the rescue, injecting strong morale into the Yan army and successfully defeating Sheng Yong. "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Zhu Neng" recorded: "Tan Yuan died in battle, the Yan army was frustrated, Zhu Neng led the army to attack again, and won successive battles, which boosted the morale of the army.
Sheng Yong's army was defeated, Ping An led the army to respond, Zhu Neng defeated Ping An again, took advantage of the victory to pursue Ping An to Zhending, and even broke Changde, Dingzhou, Hengshui and other cities, like a bamboo.
In the fourth year of Jianwen, Zhu Di led Zhu Neng and others to conquer Dong'e, Dongping, and Wenshang, all the way south. However, under the attack of Ping An and He Fu, Zhu Di's general Wang Zhen died in battle, and the army's heart was shaken.
Zhu Yunwen also sent Xu Da's eldest son Xu Huizu to lead troops to support, Xu Huizu inherited his father's tactics, won consecutive battles, and defeated Zhu Di in succession. This series of failures put Zhu Di in a difficult situation. “
Under the continuous setbacks, the generals had the idea of retreating, and even Zhu Di hesitated. However, Zhu Neng stepped forward and stopped everyone's vacillation. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", the Yan army was defeated again and again, and the generals proposed to withdraw the army, only Zhu Neng held the sword and said firmly: "Although Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, was defeated in nine out of ten battles, he still established his great cause in the end." We've won successive battles before, and now we've only suffered some minor setbacks, so we're going to give up and turn to others?Zhu Neng's words inspired the generals, and the impact on Zhu Di was even more far-reaching.
Zhu Di made up his mind and no longer considered retiring from the army. After Zhu Di later ascended the throne, he recalled Zhu Neng's words and was full of emotion, he said: "The person who helped me achieve great things is (Zhu) Neng!."”
This sentence exalted Zhu Neng's exploits to the peak. Without Zhu Neng's encouragement, Zhu Di may choose to withdraw again, if so, the southern army will recover its vitality, and the great cause will be difficult to continue.
Coincidentally, Zhu Yunwen in Nanjing lacked trust in Xu Huizu, and on this ground, he transferred Xu Huizu back to Nanjing to ensure the safety of the Jingshi. Zhu Di led the army to defeat the southern army and capture Ping'an.
Next, the Yan army attacked Sizhou. In the Battle of Sizhou, the Southern Army set up a formation by the river, and Zhu Di ordered Qiu Fu and Zhu Neng to lead hundreds of daredevils to go up 20 miles against the current and sneak behind enemy lines.
Although Qiu Fu and Zhu Neng's team was small, they were both battle-hardened warriors, and under their onslaught, the southern army was in chaos, and Zhu Di took the opportunity to win. After occupying Sizhou, Zhu Di crossed the Huai River, captured Yangzhou, and went straight to the capital.
After the victory in the Battle of Pukou, Zhu Di, with the help of Li Jinglong and Zhu Lu, entered the Jinchuan Gate and officially entered Nanjing. Four days later, Zhu Di ascended the throne and became the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
In September, after purging the former ministers of the Jianwen Dynasty, Zhu Di began a large-scale action to reward meritorious heroes. "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Zhu Neng" records that on the first day of September, he began to evaluate the meritorious heroes, and the second was Qiu Fu.
Zhu Di named him Fengtianjing Nan Tui Cheng Xuanli Wuchen, Special Jin Ronglu Doctor, Right Pillar State, Left Army Governor's Mansion Zuo Duke, and named him Chengguo Gong, with an annual salary of 2,200 stones, and hereditary replacement.
This time, Zhu Di sealed four dukes at one time, namely Qiu Fu, Duke of Qi, Zhu Neng, Duke of Chengguo, Zhang Yu of Rongguo (posthumously), and Chen Heng, Duke of Jingguo (posthumously). Among all the generals, Zhu Neng is only ranked after Qiu Fu and is known as the "second meritorious hero of Jingnan".
Zhu Neng, the descendant of King Yan, assisted King Yan to raise troops, killed the enemy before going into battle on the battlefield, savior in danger, inspired the generals to never give up, and finally became the second hero of Jingnan. His performance fully demonstrated the important role of the warrior in the war, comparable to Xu Da and Chang Yuchun.
"Famous Mountain Collection" also gave him high praise, thinking that he was on a par with Zhang Yu and Yao Guangxiao, and it could even be said that he was like Chang Yuchun, a fierce general who destroyed the city and uprooted the village.
Tragic Hero!Zhu Neng died of illness on the way to the south at the age of 37, and a generation of generals fell to southern Xinjiang. Zhu Neng, a fierce general of the Ming Dynasty, was known for his bravery and good fighting. However, in the Yongle Dynasty, he did not live long.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Zhu Neng consulted his lieutenant Zhang Yu on major matters in the army, he was eight feet long, resolute and open-minded, very righteous towards friends, and friendly to soldiers.
After he was made a duke, he was never proud of his nobility. When the soldiers heard the news of Zhu Neng's death, they all wept bitterly. Zhu Neng was an outstanding general of the Ming Dynasty, and his untimely death was deeply regretted by posterity.
In the author's opinion, Zhu Neng is different from those generals of the Southern Army, he has been Zhu Di's cronies since he was a child, and it should be understood that he followed Zhu Di to raise troops. His bravery, loyalty, and excellent character all determined his place in history.
After Zhu Neng's death, his son Zhu Yong inherited the title of Duke of Chengguo. In the fourteenth year of orthodoxy, when Ming Yingzong personally set out on the expedition, Zhu Yong served as the vanguard, and in the Tumubao Rebellion, he died heroically in order to protect Zhu Qizhen.
Then, Zhu Yong's son, Zhu Yi, the third generation of Chengguo Gong, participated in the defense of Beijing. He went through four dynasties and was posthumously named Taishi. ** Zhu Fu, the Duke of Chengguo, once managed the Governor's Mansion of the Chinese Army, and pacified the rebellion of Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ning, with Ming Wuzong.
Since then, the successive generations of Chengguo Gong have been reused by the imperial court. Among the nobles in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the Zhu family of Chengguo Gong was second only to the Zhang family of the British Gong and the Xu family of Wei and Dingguo Gong, and was at the top of the nobles for a long time.
During the Jiajing and Longqing periods, Zhu Xizhong, the seventh generation of Chengguo Gong, had sacrificed Yuanqiu for Jiajing many times, and his outstanding contributions made Chengguo Gong Yixing achieve new glory. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng's army approached Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen appointed Zhu Chunchen, the twelfth Duke of Chengguo, hoping that he could carry a secret edict to assist the crown prince.
This move reflected the trust of the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the Chengguo family, however, Zhu Chunchen chose to betray at a critical moment and became the first traitor in the city of Beijing.
He originally thought that he could be reused by Li Zicheng, but after Li Zicheng discovered the secret edict given to him by Chongzhen, he still ordered him to be executed. This seems to confirm the ruthlessness of heaven's will, Zhu Chunchen has failed his Chongzhen Emperor and 11 generations of ancestors, and his fate is unlikely to arouse any sympathy from future generations.
The Zhu Neng family has experienced 11 generations of loyalty, but finally came to an end with the Ming Dynasty. In the Southern Ming Dynasty, although the small imperial court posthumously awarded other noble families many times, the Zhu family, the Duke of Chengguo, was still burdened with infamy.
Perhaps, if Zhu Neng has a spirit in the sky and sees his juniors like this, I don't know how he will feel.
Everything has its dark and bright sides, and a family is no exception. The Zhu family, the Duke of Chengguo, has both loyal people like Zhu Neng and Zhu Chunchen's betrayal.
The author believes that Zhu Neng's exploits and Zhu Chunchen's betrayal are two independent things, and they should not be confused. Zhu Neng's contribution is obvious to all, and his talent and hard work are commendable.
At the same time, the loyalty and contribution of the first 11 generations of the Zhu family to the Ming Dynasty should also be remembered and respected by future generations.