The political legacy left by Zhu Yuanzhang
In order to ensure the smooth transition of his family business, Zhu Yuanzhang killed almost all the old heroes during his reign, replaced the military power with his own son, and enfeoffed the vassal king to guard the border areas of the Ming Dynasty. His twenty-five sons and a grandson were divided into kings, and nine of them were very powerful. Each of them had a strong army, and a few had tens of thousands of troops. The King of Jin and the Prince of Yan were the strongest, with hundreds of thousands of troops in their hands. Zhu Yuanzhang thought that his country was under the care of Zhu Jiazi's grandson and that he could rest easy from now on. Unexpectedly, the situation that the captaincy became the biggest trouble for the imperial court after Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne.
Zhu Yunwen's first chance.
The first thing Zhu Yunwen did after he ascended the throne was to deal with the funeral of his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang. After receiving the notice, princes from all over the country came from the fief to attend the funeral. I think at this time, Zhu Yunwen must have the idea of cutting Francisco (as can be seen from the action behind him), which is an excellent opportunity for him. All 25 princes went to the capital. As long as they were all detained, all the problems could be solved without bloodshed, but this Zhu Yunwen did something contrary to common sense.
Zhu Yunwen began to reduce the number of vassals less than three months after he ascended the throne, which showed his political immaturity. There is no problem in reducing the number of governors, but he is too hasty. The civil servants he appointed, such as Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai, were all scholars, ignorant of military affairs, lacking political experience, and unprepared for various emergencies. He took Huang Zicheng's advice and cut down five small governors as soon as he started.
In this way, Judy had a plan, but at this time, Judy, the prince of Yan, was not fully prepared to fight against the court. In the second year of Zhu Yuanzhang's death, according to the rules of the imperial court, all prisoners should return to Nanjing to worship Zhu Yuanzhang. Judy escaped the last disaster, and he was worried. This time, he came prepared because he was ill, but the clever Judy made a very retarded mistake and even sent his three sons to Nanjing to sacrifice to Zhu Yuanzhang as the grandson of the emperor.
Zhu Yunwen's second chance.
Zhu Yunwen suffered a loss last time. This should be a godsend. After his three sons, Zhu He, arrived in Nanjing, Ji Tai immediately suggested that the three men be taken hostage. At this time, Huang Zicheng stood up and expressed strong opposition. His reason is that detaining Judy's son will inevitably arouse Judy's vigilance and fright. It would be better to let him go back.
Judy is stupid, so are Zhu Yunwen and his ministers. There is no time. The business of cutting Francisco is booming. Everyone knows that Judy will be cut sooner or later, and will soon reach the point of war. What else is there to play?
But Zhu Yunwen finally agreed to Huang Zicheng's suggestion and put Judy's third son back in Beijing. When Judy regretted her behavior, he couldn't believe himself when he saw his three sons come back intact. Is there such a stupid emperor in the world? Heaven sighs, our father and son finally meet again, and I have nothing to worry about. Let's rise up and resist.
Through these two things, Judy thoroughly saw him as the nephew of the emperor. Yes, his nephew has ideas and is very kind, but he values family ties too much and is indecisive. This feature is a good quality for ordinary people, but it is a fatal shortcoming for an emperor. Zhu Yunwen's shortcomings were reflected in the later wars.
Zhu Yunwen's third chance.
In August of A.D. 1399, Judy made all the preparations before starting her army. It took only 800 elite soldiers from Wang Fu to capture the city and launched the "Battle of Jingnan" under the slogan of "Jun Qing side". At this time, the court had no generals available, so it sent veteran Geng Bingwen to lead 300,000 troops to battle. In fact, Geng Bingwen was a veteran of Zhu Yuanzhang's period. In the face of Judy's toughness, he is characterized by being good at defending rather than attacking.
At this point, the court thought that Geng Bingwen had been defeated one after another, and the start was not conducive to the majesty of the country, so it listened to Qi Tai's suggestion and enabled Li Jinglong, who was only an armchair strategist, to lead 500,000 troops against Judy, the prince of Yan. Unexpectedly, Li Jinglong, after this famous soldier, was also vulnerable, and suffered repeated defeats, so Judy's army went all the way south and crossed the Yangtze River. At this time, the situation was very critical, and the court minister suggested that Emperor Zhu Yunwen should be transferred, although Nanjing at this time could not.
At this time, Fang Xiaoru stood up and suggested that Zhu Yunwen must stick to Nanking and wait for the arrival of reinforcements. If he can't get reinforcements, he will live and die with the country. See what this pedantic scholar Fang Xiaoru is up to.
A few days later, Judy's army had arrived in Enemy at the Gates. There is no suspense at this time. The tragedy of history happened in this way. Not so much by Judy, but by himself, by scholars who talk about national mistakes. As for Zhu Yunwen's life and death, it is a historical mystery, but Zhu Yunwen's failure is doomed. He is indecisive, improper in employing people and too kind.