Were all of Zhu Biao s descendants really killed by Zhu Di?

Mondo History Updated on 2024-02-12

Regarding Zhu Biao's descendants, some people do say that they have all been exterminated by Zhu Di. However, this is not the case, except that the tragic outcome is similar. Let's roughly calculate the number of relatives in Zhu Biao's line. Overall, he has a wealth of heirs, with a total of 5 sons and 4 daughters, including the eldest son Zhu Xiongying, the second son Zhu Yunwen, and the third son Wu Wang Zhu Yunxi, the fourth son Heng Wang Zhu Yunwen, and the fifth son Xu Wang Zhu Yunxi. Let's take this as a clue to what happened to them and their descendants. You may wonder if all of Zhu Biao's descendants were indeed killed by Zhu Di? In fact, it was not completely wiped out, but the outcome was similar. Next, we will briefly list the basic information and experiences of Zhu Biao's descendants.

First of all, Zhu Biao has 5 sons and 4 daughters. Among them, the eldest son Zhu Xiongying unfortunately died early; The second son is the famous Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen, who has two sons - the eldest son Zhu Wenkui and the second son Zhu Wengui. And Zhu Yunwen's eldest son disappeared without a trace in the later part of the Battle of Jingjing, and his whereabouts are unknown; Zhu Wengui was abused, lost his royal status, and was relegated to Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown of Fengyang, where he spent more than 50 years in captivity. In addition, Zhu Biao's other three sons, Zhu Yunxi, the king of Wu, Zhu Yunjian, the king of Heng, and Zhu Yunxi, the king of Xu, were all demoted to the rank of county king and imprisoned in the palace. Zhu Yunxi and his descendants were released when they arrived in the Ming Dynasty, but the treatment was still poor, and they were not even able to communicate with the outside world.

Zhu Yunxi died early in Yongle for four years, and his mother Lu and young child Zhu Yunxi died of fire. Based on this calculation, Zhu Biao only has two sons left. However, after Zhu Di raised his army, Zhu Biao's family once again became the focus of the struggle, so 7 more hedonists (formerly known as the prince) rebelled. After the failure of the rebellion, Zhu Yunqian and Zhu Yuncheng were both deposed as commoners and died one after another. So far, Zhu Biao's only surviving sons are Zhu Yunxi's grandson, Zhu Dingkuo, the king of Chengtong County, and Zhu Yunjian's grandson, Zhu Houhan, the king of Yongshou County. The lives of these survivors remain restricted.

Before he was released, Zhu Houhan was trapped in Fengyang until the Ming Wuzong period. Despite this, his living conditions did not improve, and by the time of Ming Xiaozong, Zhu Houhan had less than 10 relatives left. Sadly, in the process, the whole line has gradually withered, and by the time of the Koji period, they have all passed away. Incidentally, their status was once sensitive in the history of the Ming Dynasty. It was not until the support of the Hongguang court of the Southern Ming Dynasty that those Ming Dynasty clan ministers who had been wronged were able to elevate their status and restore their reputations. For example, Zhu Biao, the prince of Yiwen, was regarded as Xingzong, Zhu Yunwen, the Jianwen emperor, was known as Huizong, and Zhu Qiyu, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was called Daizong.

Regrettably, the first son, Zhu Xiongying, died young, so he could not be the subject of discussion. And Zhu Yunwen has two princes, the eldest son Zhu Wenkui and the second son Zhu Wengui. Among them, the eldest son Zhu Wenkui was uncertain after the Battle of Jingyan; The second son, Zhu Wengui, had a tragic life, Zhu Di stripped him of his royal status, changed his name to Jianshuren, and escorted him back to his ancestral hometown of Fengyang, where he spent more than 50 years of claustrophobic life, until he was released during the Yingzong period of the Ming Dynasty, but died soon after. Therefore, Zhu Biao's second bloodline was interrupted. Let's take a look at the other sons, Zhu Yunxi, Zhu Yunxi, and Zhu Yunxi were all deposed from the title of prince because of the martyrdom, demoted to the prince of the county, separated from various places, and were imprisoned.

Especially the youngest son Zhu Yunxi, the fate was even more bumpy, in February of the fourth year of Yongle, near the filial piety tomb of the Purple Mountain in Nanjing**, his mother Lu and himself were killed in the fire. In this way, Zhu Biao is the only two sons alive. Seven years after Yongle, two more vassal kings, Zhu Hui and Zhu Ovaries, tried to cover Emperor Jianwen to raise troops against Zhu Di. After the results were revealed, the two princes were killed, and the remaining two Zhu Yunheng and Zhu Yunwen were also affected, deposed as commoners, and then passed away one after another. Only Zhu Yunheng has an heir to continue, because he was canonized as King Wu. So far, Zhu Biao's only two sons and their descendants have all suffered tragic ends, and their situation has made their father Zhu Yuanzhang have to sigh the blow caused by the instability of the country.

After Zhu Di stepped into the Central Plains, the chaos of the old system of feudal kings of the ancestors alerted many people, Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Hui, Zhu Ji, and even Zhu Di himself were all victims of the contradictions between such emperors and vassal kings. Among them, the rift in the "Jinling City" originating from the majestic Yanjing is deepening, while the "clans" located in Fengyang are tormented and suffering. It was not until the Yingzong period of the Ming Dynasty that these clansmen were a little relieved, but their fate of loss has never changed.

Feeling that time flies, the days that may have been quite difficult in the long history of the Ming Dynasty are still fresh in my memory - the time when Ming Yingzong was under house arrest by his immature brother Zhu Qiyu may have penetrated into the bone marrow, allowing him to release all the heroes and prisoners, and specially sent people to improve their living conditions. Despite this, they are still on guard and strictly forbidden to contact the outside world, and their lives are not satisfactory. With the passage of time, by the reign of Ming Xiaozong, Emperor Jianwen and a group of ministers were left with few people.

The descendants of those who had served the prince of translation were inevitably in decline, until they died out during the Hongji period. At this point, Zhu Biao's bloodline quietly disappeared in the records. In the historical materials of the Ming Dynasty that followed, the descriptions of such figures were very secretive. Until the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in 1644, Emperor Hongguang of the Southern Ming Dynasty posthumously crowned the ministers of the Ming Dynasty from the Jing Dynasty to the present, including the name Xingzong in the name of Zhu Biao (meaning that the previous name is not enough to be respected by future generations), and the name of Zhu Yunwen was called Huizong (meaning virtue and dignity), and Zhu Qiyu's title of "Daizong". Even some of the meritorious ministers of the Hongwu Dynasty who were purged by Zhu Yuanzhang were rehabilitated. However, time has passed, and the records of Zhu Biao's descendants in the annals of history show that they have no queen. What do you think about this, please leave a message in the comment area.

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