1. Starting from Zhu Biao’s death

“Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight” has entered the “deep water zone”. Zhu Biao died of illness, and before he died, he drew three circles on the map, enclosing Peiping, Taiyuan and Xi'an. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have realized something, and urgently recruited Tang He, the Duke of Xinguo, to enter the court, and granted him full power to defend the capital. At the same time, all three vassal kings including Zhu Di were imprisoned and monitored in disguise.

Obviously, the Ming Dynasty will usher in another round of storms. I have to say that this is the Ming Dynasty, which is surprising and exciting at the same time. Of course, the most memorable one is the "Battle of Jingnan". So what is the historical role or contribution of Zhu Di's Jingnan campaign?

This needs to start from the historical positioning of the Ming Dynasty. In fact, the Ming Dynasty is a very topical dynasty. From a macro-historical perspective, the Ming Dynasty is another dynasty that is far ahead of (comparable to) the Han and Tang Dynasties after the Song Dynasty. It is known as the "Strong Ming Dynasty". At the same time, it was the Ming Dynasty that truly solved the problem of "antagonism between north and south" since the Jin Dynasty.

Anyone who is familiar with history probably knows that there is "Youzhou" (including Liaodong). Since the Three Kingdoms period, it has frequently appeared in the annals of history and can be said to be the source of chaos. Even if the Tang Dynasty failed to deal with it well, An Lushan raised an army from Youzhou and directly hit the Tang Dynasty and became "hemiplegic". Not to mention the two Song Dynasties, they suppressed the Central Plains dynasty and beat them wildly.

The same goes for the Ming Dynasty. Where did Zhu Di raise his army? It’s also Youzhou! It was not until Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing that the problem of "antagonism between north and south" was completely resolved. Therefore, from a macro-historical perspective, Zhu Di's greatest historical contribution was not the Five Expeditions to Mobei or Zheng He's Seven Voyages to the West, but "moving the capital to Beijing."

The source of all this is Zhu Di's "Battle of Jingnan". As the saying goes, there are winners and losers. After Zhu Di won the battle of Jingnan, how would he deal with losers like Jianwen's old ministers? I have to admit that this was another controversial event in the Ming Dynasty.

Some people angrily criticized: Zhu Di killed brutally and indiscriminately, and even Fang Xiaoru was killed among the ten tribes. Someone shouted: Zhu Di appointed people on their merits and hired a large number of capable ministers who really did the work, rather than those who were just talking. In fact, if you want to understand this problem, you only need to look at the two old ministers of Jianwen who Zhu Di hated and loved the most, and you can deduce one or two things.

It just so happens that these two people have already appeared in "Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight". Let's combine the plot and start with the one Zhu Di hates the most. Who is it? Not Fang Xiaoru, but Tie Xuan!

2. Zhu Di and Tie Xuan

In "Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight", Tie Xuan is a student of Lu Ben (Zhu Yunwen's grandfather). After Zhu Biao passed away, Princess Lu ordered Zhu Yunwen to bow to Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Tie Xuan and others. Finally, she directly broke the window paper: You are my father's most proud disciples, so please assist Zhu Yunwen well. This is also your teacher's. Last wish before death.

But the problem is that Tie Xuan is still Yao Guangxiao’s student. In order to save him, Yao Guangxiao asked him to pretend to be a novice monk and met Zhu Di, which opened up Tie Xuan's room for improvement. In other words, Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao were the first to appreciate Tie Xuan.

Obviously, the setting of Tie Xuan in "Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight" is to deliberately put him between Zhu Di and Zhu Yunwen. So why give him such an awkward position? It is because Tie Xuan in the official history is the old minister of Jianwen whom Zhu Di hated the most.

After Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Campaign, the worst and most useless defeat was Tie Xuan's masterpiece. After Zhu Di defeated Li Jinglong, he suddenly gained great prestige, and his troops seemed to be invincible. When they arrived at the gate of Jinan City, they thought that a civil servant like Tie Xuan would definitely leave the city and surrender, but Zhu Di was wrong.

Tie Xuan defended Jinan, not only staged a fake surrender and almost killed Zhu Di, but also placed a portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang on the top of the city at the most critical moment to prevent Zhu Di from firing cannons to attack the city. Zhu Di was furious (the King of Yan was very angry and had no plan to come up with anything). Yao Guangxiao was very calm and quickly persuaded Zhu Di to return to the army. Now he could no longer fight.

This is actually why the author keeps saying: The reason why Zhu Yunwen failed in the Jingnan Campaign was because he did not leave home and was in the city of Nanjing. If he were to lead the expedition in person, Zhu Di would not be able to continue playing at all.

Let’s talk about Tie Xuan. Seeing Zhu Di’s retreat, he turned from defense to attack. He regained Dezhou and other places in one fell swoop, and completely sealed Zhu Di in the Peiping and Baoding areas. As a result, Zhu Di could only move around in this palm-sized place for a long time, unable to break out at all.

In the end, it was under Yao Guangxiao's planning: with a determination to die, he attacked Nanjing City with thousands of troops, and then won the battle of Jingnan. Therefore, some people have always said that the reason why Zhu Di killed Tie Xuan was because Tie Xuan did not follow martial ethics. If you want to fight, just fight. Why did you create Zhu Yuanzhang's posthumous appearance? Second, Tie Xuan almost had his body laid to death under Jinan City. But this is not the case at all.

After Zhu Di defeated Nanjing and proclaimed himself emperor, he turned around and swept north again. Along the way, Sheng Yong and other generals all professed their loyalty - the contest for the throne came to an end, and Zhu Di won. Only Tie Hyun still fought to the death until he was captured. After being escorted back to the capital, Tie Xuan turned his back to Zhu Di and cursed endlessly. He did not recognize Zhu Di as the emperor at all, which led to his death.

Based on the analysis of the historical environment at that time, during the Battle of Jingnan, everything Tiexuan did was right - everyone was their own master. In fact, for Tiexuan, it was just and logical! Zhu Di wouldn't really blame him. But after Zhu Di ascended the throne, the fact that he was still like this was tantamount to proving that his allegiance was only to Zhu Yunzhen, and Zhu Di naturally could not keep him. In other words, Tie Xuan "just wants to die" and uses his life to prove that Zhu Di is a rebel and traitor!

It must be stated that the author does not intend to blaspheme Tie Xuan, but is only analyzing based on the historical situation at that time. After all, whenever there is a decision between life and death, there will be two kinds of people, one is called "the one who knows the current affairs is a hero", and the other is called "he would rather die than surrender". It is these two kinds of people who jointly push the wheel of history forward.

Therefore, when facing Jianwen's old minister, the person Zhu Di hated the most was Tie Xuan, and the person he feared the most was Tie Xuan - true hatred is always born out of love or fear! From this, one of Zhu Di's favorite old ministers of Jianwen was introduced...

3. Zhu Di and Xia Yuanji

For Xia Yuanji, "Mountains, Rivers and Moonlight" is also enough. The plot asked him to follow Lan Yu and Zhu Di on an expedition to Mobei, and risk his family and life to provide Zhu Di with food and grass. Zhu Di used the food and grass to subjugate the Naierbuhua tribe, which was suffering from hunger and cold, in one fell swoop, and made a miraculous feat! Xia Yuanji, on the other hand, was thrown into prison by Lan Yu. If Zhu Di hadn't made a contribution and returned, he would have died.

So what is Xia Yuanji’s real historical image? Just one sentence: Zhu Di's favorite old minister of Jianwen. When Zhu Yuanzhang was alive, he admired him very much. A colleague wanted to harm Xia Yuanji, but Zhu Yuanzhang roared angrily: "Yuan Ji can assist Shangshu and manage the ministry, you want to trap him!" He backhandedly killed the colleague.

Obviously Xia Yuanji was originally a capable minister left to Zhu Yunwen by Zhu Yuanzhang. But Zhu Yunwen admired Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and others more, and sent Xia Yuanji to Fujian. Therefore, when Zhu Di became emperor, he transferred Xia Yuanji back without saying a word and was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Many people think that Xia Yuanji is an old minister of Jianwen and must not be reused! But Zhu Di's face sank and he said: "Xia Yuanji is a capable person that my father admires. He is loyal to my father and Jianwen, and of course he will be loyal to me, old Zhu. What's wrong?" The subtext is that Xia Yuanji is the Ming Dynasty. The ministers are not the personal property of some emperor’s eldest brother!

Compare Tie Hyun? Can you taste some differences? Therefore, the author has always believed that it was not Zhu Di who really wanted to kill Tie Xuan. On the contrary, he even wanted to reuse him. Otherwise, why did he have to capture him alive? However, it was Tie Hyun who wanted to die.

In this way, Xia Yuanji became Zhu Di's right-hand man. In his later years, Zhu Di insisted on carrying out the Fifth Northern Expedition to Mobei. Xia Yuanji jumped to object. Firstly, the people's power does not allow it. Secondly, how old are you? You still want to play young people's games. This is absolutely not allowed!

However, Zhu Di was furious and ordered the officials to be stripped off, his house ransacked, and Xia Yuanji thrown into prison.

As a result, during the fifth northern expedition to Mobei, Zhu Di fell seriously ill in Yumuchuan. Before his death, he sighed: "Xia Yuanji loves me!" and then died! (From "History of the Ming Dynasty")

Before his death, Zhu Di did not mention Zhu Gaochi, and did not call him Zhu Zhanji, but called him Xia Yuanji. Obviously, he wanted his successor to immediately release Xia Yuanji, who was the pillar of our Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Zhu Di's favorite old minister of Jianwen was Xia Yuanji, and he would never forget him before his death.

At the same time, it is this Xia Yuanji who can be called Zhu Gaoxu's nemesis. After Zhu Gaoxu's rebellion, almost all the ministers opposed Zhu Zhanji's personal expedition. Only Xia Yuanji supported it, saying: "Isn't Li Jinglong the only one who has already done something? When I saw the general he sent yesterday, his expression changed immediately. You can tell what's going on."

The meaning is very clear. The reason why Zhu Di was able to succeed in the Jingnan Campaign was that Zhu Yunwen hid in Nanjing City, but asked Li Jinglong to go out. And Li Jinglong was caught in the internal fighting of the Zhu family. He didn't dare to offend anyone, so he could only pretend to be cowardly and let off steam... (from "History of the Ming Dynasty") Zhu Zhanji shouted: Don't say anything, I will fight in person. He managed Zhu Gaoxu just like playing.