Zhu Gaochi, the triple identity of the Ming emperor.
Zhu Gaochi is the eldest son of Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It is also the only emperor in the 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty who has the triple identity of "Prince, Crown Prince and Emperor". His father and his brother Zhu are both brave and good at riding and shooting. Against the background of these two men, although Shi Ming touted Zhu Gaochi as "a slightly longer marksmanship, and he hit all the shots", he was actually obese, not to mention riding and archery, and even had difficulty walking.
In July of the first year of Wen Jian (A.D. 1399), under the pressure of Zhu Yunwen, the emperor of Wen Jian, Judy finally achieved great success and became emperor after three years' efforts. The credit for the Jinnan War has always been on his own head, and even Zhu's limelight is much stronger.
But in fact, Zhu Gaochi, who took on the task of sticking to Beiping City for three years, was the real winner of the Jingnan War. It would be a disaster to meet Judy if Zhu Gaochi can't take on this important task.
The key battle for Peiping
In September of the first year of Jian 'an, Cao Gong Li Jinglong led 500,000 troops to Dezhou, ready to launch an all-out attack on Peiping. Faced with the absolute military superiority of the imperial court, Judy knew that she could not be trapped in Peiping, and she had to replenish fresh blood to confront Li Jinglong. Reasoning, Judy put the idea on Guo Feng Daning's younger brother Zhu Quan.
Daning was an important town to deal with Mongols in Ming Dynasty. The city is heavily guarded, and Wang Ning's Yingzhou Sanwei also has super fighting capacity. If you can earn the escort of the Ming army of Daning and Wang Ning, Judy's side is also the capital of the court wrestling.
On September 28th, Judy finally made up her mind to attack Daning, and left the task of staying in Peiping to Zhu Gaochi, the prince. In order to ensure a foolproof trip to Daning, Judy took away almost all the elite main forces, leaving only 1 10,000 troops guarding the city in Zhu Gaochi.
Although Judy tried to hide his whereabouts, she bypassed the Liujiakou path and went to Daning instead of taking Songtingguan Road. But after all, there is no windtight wall, and the news reached Li Jinglong's army. As the second generation of Xun trained by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, Li Jinglong immediately keenly judged that Beiping was an empty city.
Although it was vilified by later history books, this Cao Guogong is true and not so unbearable. After making a judgment, Li Jinglong quickly invaded the north and surrounded Beiping City. After Li Jinglong arrived in Peiping, he did not attack the city blindly, but camped outside the nine gates of Peiping to complete the comprehensive blockade of Peiping.
At the same time, another army was sent to attack Tongzhou, which cut off the possibility of the Yan army coming to Beiping for reinforcements. In addition, Li Jinglong set up nine battalions in Zhengba Village, east of Peiping, and personally sat in the camp, preparing to deal with Judy herself who was returning to Peiping. Facing the imperial army like a dark cloud, Zhu Gaochi was calm, calmed the morale of the army and made all preparations.
Li Jinglong and others led hundreds of thousands of troops around the city of Beiping. At this time, the defenders in the city are finished. Although there are less than 10,000 old and weak people, the emperor (note: Zhu Gaochi) encouraged and persuaded all women and children to work hard. -"A Record of Emperor Renzong of Ming Dynasty, Volume I"
10 10 15, the battle officially started at Li Zhengmen (now the front door of Beijing). This is the first attack by loyalists after they recharge their batteries. The morale of the whole army is high and the fighting will is extremely strong. When the offensive and defensive war is deadlocked, the old and weak women inspired by Zhu Gaochi will climb the tower to help defend under the personal leadership of Princess Xu Yan.
Under the resistance of almost everyone in Peiping, the attack of the government troops was finally repelled. The battle of Lizhengmen is the most tragic and dangerous battle in the defence of Peiping. "Ming History" said that at that time, "Jinglong attacked Li Zhengmen and broke it." But after the success of Jingnan, Judy recalled the past and still remembered the "female soldiers" who stood up in those years.
Jia Xu (April of the first year of Yongle) remembered that Beijing and Tongzhou tried to defend themselves with women in the early days of Jingnan, and ordered the Ministry of War to remember their surnames and give them a reward. (Record of Emperor Taizong of Ming Dynasty, Volume 19)
Since then, Zhu Gaochi has made careful arrangements to prevent the imperial army from entering Peiping. It was not until165438+1October 4th that Judy returned from Daning and confronted Li Jinglong at Zhengcunba, finally defeating the main force of the imperial army, and the Peiping crisis was lifted. Without the crucial month of Zhu Gaochi, once Peiping fell, it would be fatal to the whole Judy Group.
Equivalent foil
If it is only a Jingnan war, people will not fully appreciate the importance of Zhu Gaochi. The following two rebellions against the Prince: the rebellion against Zhu Gaoxu in Hanwang during Xuande reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming Dynasty and the rebellion against Zheng De reign of Emperor Wuzong of Ming Dynasty, fully tell us that without such figures, the rebellion could not be successful.
Hanwang rebellion:
In August of the first year of Xuande (AD 1426) 1, the veteran careerist, 47-year-old Hanwang finally turned against him. To his surprise, just ten days later, Emperor Xuanzong of Zhu Zhanji led a great army to personally expedition. On August 20th, the troops of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty arrived in Lean House, Shandong Province, which was the fief of Hanwang.
During the 20 days from the start of the army to the siege of Le 'an House by Xuanzong, Zhu just imitated his father to form five armies, but he was always trapped in the small Le 'an City. Le 'an is just an ordinary city, without the high walls of Beiping. As a great soldier who personally experienced the Jingnan War, why didn't Hanwang follow his father's example, leaving his son guarding the city and leading his own army to go out? Zhu has at least three choices. One is to attack Jinan, because Shandong commander Jin Rong is an inside man. One is to attack Nanjing south. Once Nanjing is captured, Hanwang can be proclaimed emperor directly. The last time I met his younger brother, Zhao Wang, in Henan, I also contacted Jin Wang Zhu, Ru Nan Wang Zhu Yousui and Zhou government.
No matter which of these three strategies is adopted, it is enough to cause great trouble to Xuanzong. Once the war comes to a deadlock, the military commanders who made friends with Hanwang in the imperial court will inevitably be energetic. But the premise of this is that Prince Hanwang has enough ability to keep poor. Obviously, Zhu has no confidence in his son. In the end, Hanwang, who was trapped in Le 'an, only lasted for one day and then easily gave in.
Rebellion in Wang Ning:
In the 14th year of AD (15 19), in June 14, Ning Wang Zhu rebelled against Nanchang. On June 6, 2006 16, the rebels captured Nankang County, and the magistrate Tony chen abandoned the city and fled. /kloc-in June of 0/7, the rebels captured Jiujiang. /kloc-On June 65, 0/8, Wu Qibing, the military affairs officer of Nangan, the governor of Ji 'an and the magistrate of Ji 'an, crusaded against Zhu. On June 27th, the rebels surrounded Anqing Prefecture.
/kloc-in July, 2000, Zhu Gongju, the nephew of Zhu Liu, stayed in Nanchang, led the imperial clan of Prince Edward, Ruichang Gongju and hundreds of thousands of troops to take Nanjing from the east. But also like Li Jinglong in those days, he took advantage of Zhu's main force to lead an army to attack Nanchang.
At the beginning, Chen Hao chose to go strong, while the city guards were old and weak. Wang Yichun and Wan Rui, the official in charge of this matter, have no firm ambition. -A Record of Ming Wuzong (volume 176)
In other words, Nanchang, which was guarded by Zhu Gong, the king of Yichun, was very close to Peiping, which was guarded by Zhu Gaochi at that time. First of all, Nanchang, that is, Hongdu in those days, has nine gates like Beiping, and the walls are equally tall. Zhu Wen, the nephew of Zhu Yuanzhang, was able to hold on to Hongdu for nearly three months under the pressure of 600,000 troops in Chen Youliang. Secondly, because the main force went out, those who stayed in the city were old, weak and sick. Thirdly, compared with Li Jinglong's army, the loyalist led by Wu lags far behind in both quantity and fighting capacity.
On July 19, Wu took the lead in attacking the city as a striker. As a result, only a few shots were fired in the city, and the defenders headed by Yichang Wang dispersed in a hubbub. Wang Shouren and others killed Nanchang City almost without bloodshed. The record left us with the cruel persecution of the whole imperial clan in Ning and even the soldiers and civilians in Nanchang after the loyalist entered the city.
Shouren resumed his search for rebels, killing hundreds of people every day. The sergeant was killed for robbing the county king, generals, Yibin Didi and Fu Shi. Many people lost their lives. Imperial secretary heard that someone had invaded and was afraid of arson or self-immolation. If there are at least a few people in a room, it stinks outside, and dozens of people are sick. -A Record of Ming Wuzong (volume 176)
If Peiping could not be defended in those days, the Yanwangfu, including Princess Xu, would surely come to such a tragic end. Zhu, the lost king of Ning, was in a dilemma and was defeated and died.
Judging from the two failed uprisings in Hanwang and Wang Ning, Zhu Gaochi's persistence in Peiping provided the most important support for Judy's mobile operations. If Peiping can't keep it, his morale will collapse quickly, and his own fate will be exactly the same as that of Ning Wang Zhu a hundred years later. Even Fang Xiaoru realized the importance of Zhu Gaochi and did not hesitate to use a double agent to alienate Judy and his son. From this, we can boldly consolidate the viewpoint of this article. Zhu Gaochi, a big fat man who can't go to war, is the real winner of Jingnan War.