Ming Chengzu

Zhu Di

Zhu Di (May 2, 1360 - August 12, 1424) was the third emperor of Ming Dynasty. The fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of Ming Dynasty, is the uncle of Zhu Yunwen. Jianwen four years (1402) ascended the throne, reigned in 22 years (1402-1424), year number "Yongle".

In 1370, Zhu Di was canonized as the king of Yan. In the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), he ruled Peking. In the 23rd year, he led the army to defeat Nair Buhua in the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and his reputation grew day by day. After Jianwen emperor ascended the throne, he carried out the policy of cutting the vassal. In the name of tianjingnan, Zhu Di launched the battle of Jingnan and attacked Jianwen emperor. In 1402, Nanjing was conquered and officially ascended the throne. During his reign, he worked hard and continued the Hongwu policy. Politically, we should continue to implement the policy of cutting the vassal states, strengthen the centralization of power, reform the official system, and set up the cabinet and the East chamber. Militarily, five personal expeditions to Mongolia and the occupation of Annan led to the establishment of nurgandu division in the northeast, Hami Wei in the northwest, dagushi, dimasa, diwuci and Chengxuan political department in Guizhou in the southwest. He also appointed Zheng He to travel to the Western Ocean to strengthen friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries and to manage the South China Sea. Culturally, Yongle Dadian was compiled. At the same time, in order to strengthen the control of the northern region, dredging the Grand Canal and moving the capital to Beijing. During the reign, the economy was prosperous and the national strength was strong, which was called "Yongle flourishing age" in history. However, the five expeditions to Mongolia, sending troops to Annan, sending Zheng He to the West and moving his capital to Beijing all cost a lot of national strength. The incompleteness of the policy of cutting the vassal also laid the foundation for the rebellion of the Han king after his death.

In 1424, he died in yumuchuan at the age of 64. Temple name Taizong, posthumous title body tianhongdao Gao Ming, Guangyun Shengwu Shengong Chunren to Emperor Xiaowen, buried in Changling. During the emperor Shizong's reign of the Ming Dynasty, he changed the temple name to become an ancestor, changed his posthumous title to Qitian, promoted Taoism, Zhaoyun Shengwu Shengong and Chunren to Emperor Xiaowen. Zhu gaochi, the heir to the throne.

The picture shows the portrait axis of Ming Chengzu in Nanxun hall, which is now hidden in the Palace Museum of Taipei

Life of the characters

Court life

On April 17, 1360, Zhu Di was born in yingtianfu (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province). At this time, the urgent document of Chen Youliang attacking Taiping (now Dangtu County, Anhui Province) came from the front line. If Chen Youliang captured Taiping, he would continue to attack Yingtian. But the military situation was urgent, and Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even have time to look at his son, so he went to the front line to command the battle.

At the end of the old calendar in 1367, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to become emperor next year. He saw that he had seven sons. At this time, the situation has been in good shape, and we are determined to officially name our sons. December 24th. After crossing the river, he gave birth to seven sons, which was attributed to the Yin virtue of his ancestors: he inherited the virtue of his ancestors and had seven sons since he raised his army. Today's eldest son is named after Yue di. At this time, Zhu Di was seven years old, and just like all the brothers, he had his own name. Zhu Yuanzhang not only named his sons, but also made rules for the naming of future generations. Each branch had 20 characters.

In the third year of Hongwu (1370), Zhu Yuanzhang set up the main court, the so-called zongrenfu, to take charge of the internal affairs of the royal family. Zhu Xian, the second son, was appointed as the leader of the clan. Zhu Li, the third son, was appointed as Zuo Zongzheng. Zhu Di, 10, was appointed as you Zongzheng. In his court life, Zhu Di often followed him to attend various court meetings and ceremonies. In addition, we should accept the orthodox Confucian classics education. In March of the sixth year of Hongwu (1373), Zhu Di received a copy of zhaojianlu from Zhu Yuanzhang. In April, I received another copy of Zuxun Lu. The book collects the merits and demerits of ancient vassal kings in order to carry out patriarchal education for princes. In addition, they should receive strict military training. Zhu Yuanzhang thought that the seven sons "should learn to work, and make the internal servants to make Ma Teng.". If you go a little farther out of the city, you will walk seventeen on horseback and thirteen on foot. " The so-called hemp shoes are hemp shoes. Xingteng refers to wrapping legs. This means that seven brothers Zhu Di, dressed in hemp shoes and wrapped around their legs, would hike outside the city like soldiers. Seven tenths of the way to ride a horse and three tenths of the way to walk. It's interesting for the princes to live in the palace for a long time. As they grow older, they have to practice their weapons on the arena from time to time.

In the ninth year of Hongwu (1376), Zhu Di was 16 years old and was ready to go to the fiefdom. Zhu Yuanzhang felt that it was necessary for princes to experience folk life. Zhu Di and his brothers came to Fengyang's hometown, known as "Zhongdu". Zhu Di lived in Fengyang for three or four years, and the folk life had a profound impact on his ideology. Zhu Di's life in Fengyang can be regarded as the internship stage of court education. After returning to Nanjing, he will be ready to go to other places to be a vassal.

On the vassal of Peiping

In the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), Zhu Di became a vassal of Peiping. Zhu Yuanzhang decided to enfeoffment the kings after careful consideration. In his opinion, one of the important reasons for the fall of the Yuan Dynasty was that the main power was weak and the officials were strong, and the emperor could not help him. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted all his descendants to contribute to the protection of the Zhu Dynasty. Each Prince has a small number of troops called "guards", 3000 less and 15000 more. Nominally, the prince should not interfere in local affairs. But in case of emergency, the prince can dispatch the garrison where the kingdom is located. Every time there is a military action, the kings will lead the guards to go out with the army. Although the generals who are powerful in the battlefield are big generals, they will also be controlled by these young princes. Among the kings, the king of Jin and the king of Yan were the most trusted.

In the first month of the 23rd year of Hongwu (1390), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Fu Youde to be a general. He led the Marquises Zhao Yong, Cao Xing, Wang Bi and Sun Ke to Peiping to train troops and horses, and listened to the restraint of the king of Yan, so as to go to fight in Mobei. The army of Shanxi was controlled by the king of Jin. King Yan led Fu Youde and others out of Gubeikou and found out that Yuan general nai'erbuhua and others were stationed in Mu Yidu, so he moved forward. At this time, it was snowy and the generals wanted to wait until the snow stopped. Zhu Di said: "it's raining and snowing, so I'm not worried about it. It's better to take the snow as soon as possible." When the army arrived at Yidu, it was only a moraine away from the yuan army, but it was not found. Despite the heavy military pressure, Zhu Di still wanted to win. So he sent the watchboy to the enemy camp to persuade him to surrender. Guan Tong and Nair Buhua are old acquaintances. When they meet, they can't help hugging and weeping. At that moment, the Ming army was close to encircling the enemy camp. The yuan army was defeated, but Nair didn't want to run away by horse. Guantong told him that this was the army of the king of Yan, so there was no need to be afraid. So Nair Buhua and Guantong went to the camp of Ming army to surrender. The king of Yan set up wine to entertain him. Nair Buhua was deeply moved, so he led all his tribes and horses, camels, cattle and sheep to surrender to the Ming army. When the news of victory reached the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang said happily, "the king of Yan is the one who cleans up the desert." Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly ordered the commander-in-chief of the king of Yan to go to war, and ordered him to control the troops and horses along the border, which greatly boosted the reputation of the king of Yan.

Zhu Yuanzhang believed in Buddhism. When the kings were first appointed, they had to choose a monk to help them. There is a monk named daoyan (his real name is Yao Guangxiao), who is quite tactful. Zhu Di asked Zhu Yuanzhang for Tao Yan. When daoyan arrived at Yandi, he recommended a warlock named Yuan Gong to Zhu Di. Both of them became Zhu Di's counselors. Zhu Di also tried to recruit local civil and military officials to cultivate his own strength.

Disputes over succession

With the development of time, Zhu Yuanzhang made his eldest son Zhu Biao the crown prince, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the kings, especially the kings of Qin, Jin and Yan. They had already begun to fight openly and secretly. King Shi Zaijin went to Zhu Yuanzhang to sue the king of Yan for "laboring and taking risks". He also searched day and night for the king of Yan's "details of the country" and "wanted to overthrow the king of Yan". Every time the king of Yan entered the court, the crown prince "invaded" and so on.

In 1392, the crown prince Zhu Biao died, and the kings of Qin, Jin and Yan all watched over the throne. However, Zhu Yuanzhang accepted the advice of Liu Sanwu, a bachelor, and established his grandson Zhu Yunwen as his grandson, so as to prevent the kings from coveting the throne. Soon, in 1395, the king of Qin died. In 1398, before the death of Zhu Yuanzhang, the king of Jin died. Zhu Di's two powerful opponents disappeared, and he became the oldest of the kings. By this time, Zhu Di's wings were already full. He not only had a garrison who had been fighting for a long time, but also exceeded the rule of "the rank of nobility does not come to the people".

More than a month after the death of the king of Jin, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial edict to Zhu Di: "my sons have only your intelligence. Qin and Jin dynasties have already been conquered. You are the leader. Who is not you? "I will take charge of all the kings, take the opportunity to measure the situation, defend the border and the people, and answer the heaven's heart and my will." No doubt, at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang had regarded Zhu Di as a pillar of the Zhu Dynasty and placed great hope on him. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was very smart after all. He also considered that the power of the king of Yan was too great, which threatened the succeeding emperor. Therefore, when he died, Zhu Yuanzhang warned that "the king of Yan must not worry about it", and issued an imperial edict: "all kings must not come to the capital when they are in the kingdom. The civil and military officials who lived in the Kingdom listened to the imperial court's restraint, which showed his worry.

Raise troops to pacify disaster

In the May of 1398, Zhu Yuanzhang died, and his great grandson ascended the throne. He ordered all the kings to be in the feudal state, but they did not get the capital to mourn. Zhu Di, the king of Yan, went to Nanjing from Peiping and stopped because of Zhu Yunwen's edict. In less than a year, the king of Zhou, the king of min, the king of Xiang, the king of Qi and the king of Dai were abolished. Zhu Di is stepping up his activities. He selected the strong men to enrich his guard army and recruited the strange warlocks in the name of the escape army. On the surface, Zhu Di hid his strength, pretended to be ill, and secretly stepped up military training. He also made use of Yan's deep worship to make weapons.

Then, Zhu Yunwen ordered Zhang Min to be the political envoy of Peiping, Xie GUI and Zhang Xinzhang

Chinese PinYin : Ming Cheng Zu