Chapter 26: Yongle Emperor Zhu Di
[Speaking of Emperor Yongle Zhu Di, we have to mention his rebellion. ]

[In 1399, the helpless Prince of Yan, Zhu Di, rose up in rebellion. This was because the Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, once said: "If there are treacherous ministers in the court, the princes have the power to raise troops to remove the emperor's side."]

[Therefore, the slogan of Yan Wang Zhu Di when he started his army was "clear the imperial court and quell the national crisis."]

[At that time, Zhu Yunwen had the advantage of time, place, and people, and he had the power of the whole country and a million-strong army. However, Zhu Di, at the beginning of his uprising, had only 800 warriors around him and could not control any land except his fiefdom of Beiping. From any angle, Zhu Di had no chance of winning.]

[In fact, Zhu Di himself did not believe that he could win this battle at first.]

[But who could have thought that just three years later, Zhu Yunwen, who was in power, would be replaced by Zhu Di with only 800 soldiers.]

[And this cannot but mention Zhu Yunwen's series of stupid and mysterious operations. ]

[First, he appointed three idiots. Knowing that Zhu Di was the biggest threat, he listened to Huang Zicheng and Fang Xiaoru's advice to weaken the vassal states from weak to strong, and also took into account the face of the royal family, which alerted the enemy and gave Zhu Di a lot of time to prepare.]

[Secondly, he did not know the right people. When Zhang Bing, the governor of Beiping, and Xie Gui, the commander of Beiping, were preparing to capture Zhu Di according to the secret decree, the key figure Zhang Xin defected to Zhu Di, causing the operation to be leaked.

Zhu Di immediately summoned Yao Guangxiao, Zhu Neng and Zhang Yu to plan and raise an army, thus escaping the disaster.

Furthermore, he reused Li Jinglong.

After he caused the annihilation of the 600,000-man army, instead of punishing him by military law, he continued to be favored, and later Li Jinglong opened the gates to surrender and allowed Zhu Di to attack the capital. 】

[Of course, Zhu Yunwen’s stupidity did not end there. ]

[Before Yan Wang Zhu Di rebelled, his rebellious intentions were known to the world, but Zhu Yunwen followed Huang Zicheng's advice and released Zhu Di's three sons, under the pretext of showing that he had no doubts and relieving Zhu Di of worries.]

[He sent troops to attack Zhu Di, but before setting off, he ordered his soldiers: Do not let me be known as the one who killed my uncle, which would damage morale and make me lose the support of the people.]

【Zhu Di relied on this "protective amulet" to charge into battle and was always victorious.】

……

The sky screen briefly edited some of the process of Zhu Di's uprising.

The Han plane.

Liu Che was speechless.

"Indecisive and hypocritical."

"He controls the whole country and has the best time, but he was pulled down by a vassal king. He is such an incompetent king."

Liu Che looked down upon Zhu Yunwen.

As soon as he came to power, he started to reduce the power of the vassal states, and his methods were so tough. It would be strange if the vassal states did not rebel.

Just cut it down, why are you pretending to be kind and righteous?

Especially the sentence "Don't let me be known as the one who killed my uncle", which is the extreme interpretation of hypocrisy.

He wanted to get rid of his uncle Zhu Di, but didn't want to bear the bad reputation. This shows that he was hypocritical and indecisive.

They didn't realize at all that this was not just a game, but a life-and-death political struggle!
The most outrageous thing is that you all knew that the Prince of Yan had rebellious intentions, but instead of quickly eliminating him with thundering means, you released his three sons. Is this something a normal king would do?
The Seven Kingdoms Rebellion also broke out in the Western Han Dynasty, but Emperor Liu Che was able to successfully eliminate the hidden dangers of the vassal kings without spending a single soldier just by issuing the Enfeoffment Order.

Although it is not known whether the Enfeoffment Order would work on the Ming Dynasty in the future, in Liu Che's view, Zhu Yunwen could completely adopt an appeasement approach, and after completely controlling the government, he could reduce the power of the princes in a gentler and more appropriate way.

Instead of being rash and impulsive from the beginning, he forced all the princes to oppose him in an extreme way, which eventually led to him losing the throne and the people's support.

……

The Tang Dynasty plane.

Li Shimin did not pay too much attention to Zhu Yunwen's mysterious actions.

Compared with Zhu Yunwen, he was obviously more interested in Zhu Di.

"The first vassal king in ancient and modern China to successfully rebel."

"If I had conferred the title at the beginning, could I have replaced Zhu Di and won the title of the so-called number one?"

Li Shimin thought with interest.

After a moment, he shook his head.

"Given how vicious my eldest and third brothers are, I'm afraid I'll be killed on my way to the throne!"

This is not Li Er’s conspiracy theory, but a real thing that happened.

Once before, Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji specially prepared a fierce horse for Li Shimin to ride, hoping to throw him to death.

Another time, Li Yuanji arranged warriors behind the tent to kill him quickly.

There are too many sinister schemes like this.

"If it weren't for my eldest brother and third brother who tried to put me to death time and again, there wouldn't have been any of the things that happened later."

"My situation is very similar to that of the Yongle Emperor of later times. We were both forced to rebel in order to protect ourselves. I can understand him."

Li Shimin's thoughts drifted back to the distance, and he finally sighed.

"Such a hero, I wish I could be born in the same era, drink with him and talk to him."

……

At this moment, the young Zhu Di, who was still in Beijing, finally sorted out the causes and consequences and knew why he rebelled.

"They forced the entire family of the King of Xiang to burn themselves to death, and imprisoned the King of Qi until his death."

"This nephew of mine looks kind, but I didn't expect him to be so cold-hearted. No wonder he forced me to do this!"

"But I didn't expect him to be so stupid. He owns the whole world, but he could allow me to successfully raise an army with only 800 soldiers."

Zhu Di looked at the sky angrily, lamenting Jianwen's stupidity, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

From this, it can be seen that the reason why I rebelled was entirely for self-protection. If my father blames me in the future, I will finally have an explanation.

So as not to be skinned by the other party.

"Your Majesty, now that the plan has been revealed, I'm afraid you won't have the chance to make the king more white. Are you really not complaining?"

The leisurely voice of the black-robed monk came to my ears.

Zhu Di's face changed and he shouted, "Evil monk, what nonsense are you talking about? The world belongs to my father and elder brother. How could I have such a rebellious thought?"

"Big brother is different from my nephew. When you succeed me, I will do my best to assist you and serve you!"

Zhu Di said with a solemn vow.

Yao Guangxiao smiled and said nothing.

Maybe Zhu Di really thought so.

But as his later achievements were exposed by Tianmu, it is unknown what outsiders think.

The scene of Emperor Taizu of Song wearing the yellow robe is still vivid in our minds.

……

The scene changes.

Accompanied by a passionate background music, Emperor Yongle made a domineering appearance.

【Zhu Di.】

【A great and controversial emperor. 】

[Some people say he is a traitor and a traitor who has killed countless people.]

[Some people say that he is militaristic and has no regard for the country's strength or people's livelihood.]

[But it is undeniable that he made outstanding contributions in both civil and military affairs and was a model of a wise ruler.]

[In the minds of many people, Zhu Di is one of the top five emperors! ]

[He conquered Mongolia five times and sailed to the West six times. His great achievements in expanding the territory are recorded in history, and he can be called an emperor of all ages.]

[Secondly, he recovered Annan and established the Nurgan Regional Administration in the northeast, formally incorporating Heilongjiang and even large tracts of territory in the Far East into the Chinese territory.]

[In the northwest, Hami Guard was set up, and in the southwest, Daguci, Dimasa, Diwuci and other Xuanweisi were set up. Guizhou Chengxuanzhengshisi was also set up to consolidate the north-south border defense and maintain the integrity of China's territory. ]

[In addition, he also took over Jiaozhi and established Jiaozhi Provincial Administration. ]

[The Ming territory extends to Xinjiang and Tibet in the west, Sakhalin Island north of Hokkaido in the east, Jiaozhi Province in the south, and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk in the north. The territory of the Ming Dynasty reaches an astonishing 1006 square kilometers! ]

Compared to Zhu Yuanzhang's pragmatism, Zhu Di had a broad mind. He not only abolished Zhu Yuanzhang's maritime ban and restored the abolished Maritime Customs Office, but also took the initiative to send Zheng He to the Western Ocean many times.

[According to historical records, from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He led a fleet of more than 240 ships and more than 27000 crew members to sail to the West seven times, across East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa, and visited more than 30 countries and regions.]

[Zheng He's voyages to the West were the largest sea voyages in ancient China, involving the most ships and seamen, and lasting the longest time.]

[It was also the largest series of maritime expeditions in world history before the European voyages of discovery in the late 15th century. Its scale was unparalleled at the time, demonstrating the Ming Dynasty's powerful maritime power and navigation technology! ]

[Zheng He's unprecedented feat of sailing to the West made China famous among the nations and is still a legend among Asian and African countries.]

[Zhu Di's prestige spread far and wide overseas, and the surrounding countries surrendered. A total of thirty countries paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty under his explicit orders.]

[The geographical distribution of these thirty countries is far wider than that of the Han and Tang dynasties. They have achieved great success and are mighty and heroic, which is extremely extraordinary.]

[Foreign envoys came to China in an endless stream. During the Yongle period, kings from four countries and regions visited China seven times. Three of them died and were buried in China, which became a historical witness to the friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries. It is unique in Chinese history! ]

……

[In terms of employing people, he knew how to use them, clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments, and assigned people to positions based on their abilities, without holding grudges. In terms of government affairs, he was diligent and hardworking, working day and night. In terms of treating the people, he cared about farming, disaster relief, and flood control.]

[In addition, he also loved reading, practiced frugality, respected Confucianism, advocated Taoism and suppressed Buddhism, and created the Yongle era of prosperity. There are so many things in his books that it is difficult to list them all.]

In the sky.

An old man with a dignified look, riding a horse with a golden sword in his hand and a sharp gaze, was riding a horse and driving slowly through the Yingtian Prefecture which was in a sea of ​​fire.

It was exactly the scene in "The Glory of the Tang Dynasty" where Zhu Di conquered Yingtian Prefecture.

Then the screen changed.

Zhu Di, who returned victorious from his second expedition against Mongolia, said to his ministers: "The power of our dynasty is greater than that of the ancients."

"They controlled the northern barbarians and the western tribes without the marriage alliance of the Han, the alliance of the Tang, the annual tribute of the Song, or the etiquette of brothers and enemies."

[Under Zhu Di's rule, China's economy flourished and the country became strong, which was known as the "Yongle Era of Prosperity". This period was considered to be a prosperous era that "far surpassed the Han and Tang dynasties." ]

……

After Tianmu's introduction, successive dynasties had a deeper understanding of Zhu Di's achievements.

The jade and silk documents in front of Emperor Zulong's desk are filled with records.

It’s all Zhu Di’s achievement!
"Emperor Yongle Zhu Di is worthy of the title of a man of great talent and strategy!"

"According to Tianmu, the territory of the Ming Dynasty in the future may be three times that of the Qin Dynasty. The achievements in expanding the territory are enough to be called a wise ruler."

"I originally thought that the wild lands in the north were useless, but now it seems otherwise."

"From now on, I will train my troops and continue to expand the territory for the Qin Dynasty."

“And the Yongle Encyclopedia.”

(End of this chapter)