Those Things in the Ming Dynasty Part 1 The Great Emperor Hongwu _ Chapter 26 Prepare for Action
Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai were ready to take action, but they had a dispute over the determination of the target. Qi Tai thought it would be better to attack King Yan first, but Huang Zicheng thought that the other kings should be cut off first and King Yan's wings should be removed, and then
Attack King Yan again.
When we look back today, these two plans seem to make sense. When later generations evaluate, they often think that Qi Tai’s approach is correct, but in my opinion, such a conclusion seems to be like the winner and the loser; Huang Zicheng’s plan is
It is reasonable. After all, picking on the weak first still has a certain effect.
This is a chess game that determines the fate of the world. The two sides are Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Di. Now as the emperor, Zhu Yunwen guessed the first move and made his first move on the chessboard.
Go first
King Zhou Zhu is the half-brother of King Yan Zhu Di. In Zhu Yunwen's view, he will be Zhu Di's powerful assistant. It is for this reason that he became the first person to be eliminated. We are the ones who are ordered to perform this task
Li Jinglong, the son of Li Wenzhong, has been introduced many times before.
Facts have proved that this man may not be good at fighting, but he still has a way of arresting people. He suddenly mobilized an army and rushed to the Prince of Zhou's Mansion in Henan, and took the King of Zhou's wife and children, plus himself, to the capital. Zhu Yunwen treated his uncle
Not politely, he was directly demoted from a national first-level cadre to a commoner and moved to Yunnan. At that time, Yunnan's tourism resources had not been fully developed and it was considered a semi-primitive desolate land. King Zhou was put here to serve as his official position.
Tarzan is the ape.
At this time, Emperor Jianwen had only been on the throne for a month. But he obviously did not have the shyness and humility to go to work in a new unit, and began to take care of his uncles. King Zhou was the first, but by no means the last, and King Zhou quickly
You will find that compared with the experiences of latecomers, traveling to Yunnan is not a bad thing.
In December of the same year, someone reported that the acting king Zhu Gui was "corrupt and cruel." Emperor Jianwen showed a strong sense of justice and resolutely fulfilled the legal principle that the emperor's uncle was guilty of the same crime as the common people and moved his uncle to Shu for custody.
In May of the following year, Emperor Jianwen once again exterminated his relatives out of righteousness, arresting Min King Zhu Zhen on the charge of "illegal acts" and demoting him to a commoner. In the final analysis, it was not clear what this "illegal act" was, and it was related to the famous sentence
There is a lot of "unfounded". From this point of view, in history, you don't really need to find many reasons to punish people.
Before everyone could react, Emperor Jianwen attacked King Zhu Bai of Hunan for the crime of financial sabotage - private printing of banknotes. In fact, there was no plan for the banknotes of that era, and the person who printed the most random banknotes was Emperor Jianwen himself. Of course, this
It was just an excuse. Then the imperial court sent envoys to King Xiang's fiefdom to arrest people. They thought this time it would be as smooth as before, but something unexpected happened.
King Zhu Bai of Xiang is worthy of being a descendant of Zhu Yuanzhang, and he has a lot of backbone. After he learned that someone was coming to arrest him, he smiled and said to his men: "I have seen with my own eyes that many ministers who were convicted under Taizu did not want to
He was humiliated and committed suicide. I am the son of Emperor Gao, how could I be insulted by the jailer just to find a way to survive!"
Instead of opening the door to greet the envoy, he gathered his wife and children, closed the palace door tightly, and burned himself to death.
Such a tragedy did not stop Emperor Jianwen from taking action. With lightning speed, he successively captured Qi King Zhu Su and Dai King Zhu Gui, and both of them were deposed as common people.
It's so clean and neat, no mercy! At this point, even a fool knows what Emperor Jianwen wants to do.
You may wonder why these vassal kings did not resist at all. In fact, the reason is very simple. On the one hand, they do not have the capital to resist like King Yan, and another, more important reason is that they have no reason to resist.
In that era, the emperor was the supreme ruler, and all the vassals were his subordinates. Don't say you were the emperor's uncle, even if you were his grandfather, as long as he was the emperor, you had to listen to him. Say something.
To put it bluntly, it is still polite to cut off the vassal and ask for the crime. It is considered to have given enough face. If the vassal king is dissatisfied and comes out openly, he will naturally have a big sword and a big stick to serve him.
At this point, Emperor Jianwen had completely violated the promise he had made to Zhu Yuanzhang. All attempts to convince people with virtue were thrown out of the window. He was like a boxer who had just entered the ring, throwing out a round of king's eight punches like a storm.
It seems exciting and powerful, but the effect is limited.
This is a cruel political struggle and a boxing match.
The naive Zhu Yunwen didn't know that the boxing match he was about to participate in was not a three-round amateur match, but a twelve-round professional match. In such a match, it is simply impossible to kill the old master with random punches.
The key to success lies in patience and accurate judgment.
Zhu Yunwen got the upper hand, but failed to seize the opportunity.
Zhu Di is about to make his own response.
response
Emperor Jianwen is about to come, and now it's up to Zhu Di. He must either rebel or be killed like his brothers. At this time, Zhu Di is in a difficult situation. He is worse than Zhu Chongba back then. Even Zhu Chongba
If he didn't rebel, he could still escape from the temple and become a homeless man, but Zhu Di didn't have such good luck. The world belonged to Zhu Yunwen, so where else could he escape?
Dao Yan seized this opportunity and continued to promote his theory of rebellion to Zhu Di. Zhu Di was already used to this. It would be strange if one day this dear friend did not say these treasonous words. In the past, Zhu Di was very
These words can be laughed off, because he knows very well that rebellion is not something that can be done just by eating midnight snacks. This monk, who is afraid that the world will not be in chaos, is destitute and has nothing, so he devotes himself wholeheartedly to the cause of rebellion. But he is the vassal king.
He is so different from these paupers, how could he be dragged down by these people?
But only now did he realize that if he allowed his nephew to continue, he would not be able to become a poor monk.
So he began his preparations. He recruited a large number of strong soldiers as guards and conducted military training in his own palace. The so-called weapons of criticism cannot replace weapons of criticism. If you want to rebel, use wooden sticks.
Farm tools were not enough, which required a large number of weapons. There was a lot of movement in making weapons, and there was no sound insulation equipment at the time. Zhu Di gave full play to his imagination and creativity on this issue. He built a large basement, surrounded by
Fences were erected and multiple chicken farms were opened nearby. Just like this, there was a constant banging in the basement, and no one outside could hear it at all.
In addition, Zhu Di also learned from the advanced experience in the past peasant uprising wars, and humbly learned from the peasant brothers, that is, he should engage in some feudal superstition, ancient legends and the like before rebelling. To this end, he recruited a large number of special people. These people were
The so-called alien warlocks are actually those people who tell fortunes and divination on the street. He recruited these people just to embolden himself and do propaganda work, but he himself would not have thought that this move would actually play out later.
had an unexpected effect.
Advancing step by step
When Emperor Jianwen was dealing with other vassal kings, he always kept his eyes on Zhu Di, because he also knew that this man was his most formidable opponent. In order to reduce Zhu Di's strength, he first sent Zhang Bing, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to take over as the mayor of Beiping City.
He then appointed Xie Gui and Zhang Xin as the commanders of the capital of Peiping, and took control of the military in Peiping. Later, he also sent Song Zhong (this name is extremely unlucky) to lead 30,000 troops to guard Tunping and Shanhaiguan.
Always ready to take action.
The knife was already placed on his neck, and Zhu Di seemed to have become a piece of cake. In the eyes of many people, he could only be captured without mercy.
However, at this moment, Zhu Di did something that no one else could have imagined.
According to regulations, after Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, the vassal princes should go to court to see the emperor. Because the situation was very tense at that time, many people thought that Zhu Di did not dare to meet the new emperor as scheduled. But everyone never expected that not only did he come, but he also did something
Amazing move.
In March of the first year of Jianwen (1399), King Yan came to the court to pay homage to the new king. Normally, you should be honest when you come to someone else's territory, but this dear man actually "entered on the royal road and did not worship the emperor" in full view of the public. It can be seen that
How arrogant Zhu Di was.
Zhu Di's rude behavior aroused the anger of the ministers. Zhuo Jing, the Minister of Household Affairs, repeatedly petitioned to kill Zhu Di on the spot. Emperor Jianwen actually refused this correct proposal on the grounds that King Yan was his close relative. Zhuo Jing was so angry
He jumped to his feet and shouted: "Aren't Yang Jian and Yang Guang father and son?"
But Emperor Jianwen still rejected his proposal.
Zhu Di just walked around the capital and returned to Peiping in great glory. Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng actually became spectators for a while. This is the level of so-called strategists who usually strategize on the map and win thousands of miles.
Of course, Emperor Jianwen's subordinates were not all people like Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng. Facts have proved that he still had many capable subordinates.
successful instigation
In this struggle, Emperor Jianwen was not vulnerable. He also used many tactics, especially in underground work, which was very effective.
At the beginning of the first year of Jianwen, Zhu Di sent Commander Shi Gecheng to the capital to meet the emperor. In fact, this Ge Cheng was also a spy. His real purpose was to find out information. But what Zhu Di never expected was that this person was actually incited to rebel against Ge Cheng.
It was none other than the emperor himself.
As soon as Ge Cheng arrived, Emperor Jianwen put down his arrogance and treated Ge Cheng with great courtesy. He probably asked him kindly about his family income and encouraged him to work hard. Ge Cheng was very touched that the emperor was like this
Value yourself! In a moment of fever, he took the initiative to explain the various illegal activities of Yan King Zhu Di and his identity as a spy. Then he honorably accepted the title of Emperor Jianwen's underground worker, saying that he would work hard after returning and do a good job in time.
We will carry out intelligence information transmission work and strive to catch King Yan and others as soon as possible.
A nail just stuck.
If Ge Cheng is a little spy, then the person we will introduce below is a super spy. What is even more ironic is that this person does not know that he has become a spy.
This person is Zhu Di's wife and the daughter of General Xu Da.
Generals often have no sons, such as Chang Yuchun's son Chang Mao and Li Wenzhong's son Li Jinglong. But there are always exceptions. Xu Da's son Xu Huizu is an exception. Although he came from a famous family, he was never proud of his conduct.
He was modest and prudent, familiar with the art of war, and loyal to Emperor Jianwen.
He took advantage of nepotism and took the wife route. While chatting with his sister, he learned a lot about his brother-in-law Zhu Di's study and work, and informed it to Zhu Yunwen, who had always been caring about Zhu Di.
In this way, a lot of Zhu Di's top-secret information continuously reached Zhu Yunwen's ears.
In fact, Zhu Di's work on this front is not inferior. His intelligence sources are quite special, mainly provided by the eunuchs around Zhu Yunwen. Zhu Yuanzhang once strictly ordered that eunuchs are not allowed to interfere in politics, and Zhu Yunwen, as the orthodox heir, naturally respects this.
According to the golden rule, all the eunuchs under him were extremely overworked and had extremely low status. In fact, eunuchs were also human beings and had their own emotional tendencies. They were very dissatisfied with Zhu Yunwen but had nowhere to complain.
At this moment, the savior Zhu Di appeared. He not only actively made friends with the eunuchs in the palace, but also kept giving gifts to these people who were looked down upon by everyone. So for a while, the name of King Yan's kindness spread among the eunuchs, and everyone was willing to do it for him.
King Yan serves.
Zhu Yunwen had never looked directly at these people whom he considered to be very lowly, but what he did not expect was that it was these lowly people that to some extent determined the outcome of this struggle.
In addition to these eunuchs, Zhu Di also had a very secret relationship with two people in the court. These two people can be said to be his ace spies. Of course, Zhu Di will not use this ace until the critical moment. He will
Waiting for the final moment to arrive.
Huang Zicheng’s fatal mistake
In April, after Zhu Di returned to Peiping, he reported his illness to the court. After a while, his illness became more and more serious, and he actually became critically ill. This illness did not occur suddenly, but had been brewing for a long time. Because in the
In the coming May, Zhu Di has something he doesn't want to do but has to do.
May is the anniversary of the death of the great ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang. According to the etiquette, Zhu Di should go to the capital by himself, but Zhu Di keenly felt that if he went again this time, he might not be able to come back. But it would be impossible not to go on the anniversary of his father's death.
So he sent his eldest son, Zhu Gaochi, and his other two sons, Zhu Gaoxu, to worship on his behalf. The purpose of sending three sons at once was not only to show that he took the matter seriously, but also to tell the court that he had no different intentions.
Zhu Di made a wrong calculation this time. The situation at that time was already clear. Zhu Yunwen made it clear that he wanted to get rid of the feudal king. At this time, he sent his son to the capital, which was simply a hostage.
Sure enough, as soon as the three Zhu Gaochi brothers entered the capital, Qi Tai, Minister of War, advised Emperor Jianwen to immediately take the three men as hostages. Emperor Jianwen also agreed, but Huang Zicheng actually thought that this would alert the enemy and that these three people should be returned to King Yan.
, indicating that the imperial court had no intention of cutting down the vassal vassal in order to paralyze the King of Yan.
This is really unreasonable! Five or six vassal kings have been dealt with, and the matter has become an uproar. Even the beggars on the road know that the court is going to attack King Yan. Huang Zicheng's face has literally written the word "cutting vassal", but he still wants to do it.
Cover your ears and steal the bell! Scholars really don’t know what to do when doing things.
Emperor Jianwen could not make up his mind. At this time, Wei Guogong Xu Huizu came out to speak. Calculated by kinship, these three people were his nephews. He had watched these three people grow up and knew their character very well. He must not give any advice to Zhu Yunwen.
Let these three people go back, because these three people can not only be used as hostages, but also have great talents. If the tiger is allowed to return to the mountain, the consequences will be disastrous.
It now seems that Xu Huizu's fortune-telling level is close to the professional level. His predictions were confirmed soon after, but the more amazing things are yet to come.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Huizu talked about Zhu Gaoxu in particular. He told Zhu Yunwen that among his three nephews, Zhu Gaoxu was the most brave and the most rogue. Not only would he not be loyal to His Majesty, he would not be loyal to his father either.
I can't help but believe that Xu Huizu's prediction was actually calculated more than 20 years later, with an accuracy of 100%, far exceeding the weather forecast.
But the decision-making power rested with Emperor Jianwen, who finally made the decision to let go of the three brothers Zhu Gaochi.
If Zhu Yunwen knew how big a role Zhu Gaoxu played in the subsequent war, he would definitely find a place to kill himself for the decision he made. It was for this reason that he later lamented: regret not using Hui.
The words of the ancestors!
It's a pity that the words regret and if have never had a market in history.
Zhu Di, who was far away in Peiping, had already regretted his rash actions. Unexpectedly, his three sons came back unscathed. They were well fed and housed, and seemed to have gained a lot of weight. Zhu Di jumped up from the bed with joy and shouted:
“It’s God’s help that our father and son can be reunited!”
In fact, it was his opponent Zhu Yunwen who helped him.
Mental patient Zhu Di
Zhu Di understood that what was supposed to come would come sooner or later, and he couldn't avoid it. If you fight for the throne, you may not get it, but if you don't fight for it, you will definitely not get it. And there is no other way out now. Zhu Yunwen is destined not to let him go, he is not the emperor.
The road is a dead end!
Give it a try!
However, Zhu Di still lacked one thing, and that was time. Rebellion is not about camping. Food, clothing, and weapons for hundreds of thousands of people must be prepared, which all takes time. In order to buy time, Zhu Di was inspired by the deeds of his ancestors, and he decided
Acting crazy.
As a result, another mental patient, Zhu Di, appeared in Peiping. But the strange thing was that while others went crazy at home, Zhu Di went crazy in the busy city, looking for places with many people.
The specific clinical manifestations of the mental patient Zhu Di are as follows:
1. Shouting incoherently in a busy city (but it can be guaranteed that there will be no reactionary slogans);
2. Breaking into private houses during meal time, making people laugh, and robbing others of their food, but without violence (many beggars also behave similarly);
Third, he sleeps on the streets and sleeps all day long, making him a god of sleep.
This incident alerted Emperor Jianwen, who sent Zhang Bing and Xie Gui to see what was going on. It was June, and the weather was blazing in midsummer. When they arrived at the palace, they couldn't help but be amazed by what they saw in front of them.
The scene was shocking.
The weather was good enough to ward off maggots. Zhu Di actually put on a big quilt and stayed in front of the big stove to "warm up". When the two of them were stunned, Zhu Di even said the classic line: "I'm freezing to death!"
This must be a mental patient. Zhang Bing and Xie Gui immediately reached a consensus and reported it to Emperor Jianwen.
To avoid disaster, he took this step. How patient! How forbearing!
Asking what power is in this world will teach you how to make peace between life and death!