Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 86: Ming Dynasty War God Li Jinglong, Good Saint Grandson Zhu Zhanji [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Liu Kuan felt a little helpless and could only try his best to search his mind for memories of the Jingnan Campaign.

"The Jingnan Campaign lasted nearly four years, as Zhu Di initially launched his army with only 800 guards. Although he later incorporated the Beiping garrison and raised a considerable amount of troops by borrowing troops from Prince Ning and other vassal princes, his troops were still outnumbered compared to the imperial army controlled by Emperor Jianwen."

"In addition, the Yan army was located in the north and its financial and food supplies were not as good as those of Emperor Jianwen. Therefore, although the Yan army won many victories under Zhu Di's leadership in the first two years, its situation was quite difficult, and the Jingnan Campaign did not seem to have much hope of success."

"However, the Jianwen Emperor made a series of incompetent moves, and Zhu Di, with his exceptional military talent and numerous capable generals, won one important battle after another, turning the tide until he captured Nanjing and successfully pacified the rebellion."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned after hearing this and asked, "That's all?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty, this is all I remember. If Your Majesty insists on hearing more, I can only tell you about two famous figures in the Jingnan Campaign."

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang showed an interested look, "Tell me about it."

Since there was no one else in the hall, Liu Kuan just spoke freely.

He said, "The first one is Li Jinglong, who was later called the Second God of War of the Ming Dynasty."

Li Jinglong is the eldest son of Li Wenzhong, Duke of Cao. He was born in the second year of Hongwu. Now he is a teenager of twelve or thirteen years old, and he studies in the main hall with the other princes.

Zhu Yuanzhang often went to the main hall to learn about the studies of the princes. Li Jinglong was not only handsome but also smart, so he liked him very much.

After hearing Liu Kuan's opening words, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "So it's that kid Jinglong. I've long seen that he's just like Wenzhong, a skilled warrior."

"However, since he is known as the God of War, I believe he must have sided with the Fourth Brother during the Jingnan Campaign, right?"

Liu Kuan didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to suddenly interrupt and say such words.

I thought to myself: Lao Zhu, it’s not that I don’t give you face, it’s that you are asking for a slap in the face.

Then he said with a strange look, "Your Majesty, I don't know whether Li Jinglong stood on Zhu Di's side - this matter can barely be considered a historical mystery."

Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised to hear this and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Liu Kuan said: "After Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Rebellion, Emperor Jianwen appointed Li Jinglong as commander-in-chief twice."

"The first time was in the first year of the Jianwen reign, when Li Jinglong was appointed general and led an army of 500,000 to attack the Yan army's Beiping and Yongping areas. He was badly defeated, losing countless soldiers and abandoning a large amount of baggage."

"In the second year of the Jianwen reign, Emperor Jianwen believed that Li Jinglong's previous failure was due to his lack of authority, so he granted him the power of 'exclusive conquest.'"

"So Li Jinglong and several other men gathered an army of over 600,000 and fought against the Yan army again. They were defeated again, lost cities and territory, and retreated all the way to Jinan."

"In the fourth year of the Jianwen reign, the Yan army crossed the Yangtze River and marched straight towards Nanjing. Some in the court called for Li Jinglong's execution, believing that the situation had deteriorated so quickly because of his two major defeats."

"Emperor Jianwen not only refused, but instead ordered Li Jinglong and the Minister of War to go to Jiangbei to seek peace with the Yan army, expressing his willingness to divide the river and rule separately."

"At this point in the war, the Yan army had won victory after victory, and their morale was high. Seeing that they could change the world by capturing Nanjing, they naturally refused to surrender."

"Li Jinglong's pleas for peace were unsuccessful, but Emperor Jianwen still did not punish him. Instead, he entrusted him with the important task of guarding the city gates."

"As a result, when the Yan army attacked, Li Jinglong took the initiative to open the gates and surrender, allowing the Yan army to enter the city. The Jianwen lineage was completely cut off from hope, and the Jingnan Campaign ended in Zhu Di's victory."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became extremely strange. He felt embarrassed and angry, as well as incredible.

At this point, he no longer understood that what Liu Kuan had said before, "the second war god of the Ming Dynasty," was clearly a mockery, a derogatory remark, not a compliment.

Looking at his handsome and well-behaved nephew Li Jinglong, he is not as capable and good at fighting as his father Li Wenzhong, but a big fool with a beautiful appearance but rotten inside!
Liu Kuan paused, then continued, "Because Li Jinglong suffered several disastrous defeats and opened the gates to welcome Zhu Di into the city, many people in later generations speculated that Li Jinglong had a close relationship with Zhu Di in private."

"He stayed on Emperor Jianwen's side to act as an insider, helping Zhu Di achieve victory in the Jingnan Campaign in another way."

"Of course, this is just speculation by some later generations. The mainstream view is that Li Jinglong was a wimp—well, someone like Zhao Kuo and Ma Su, who could talk about military affairs with eloquence but were utterly incompetent in practice."

Behind the Imperial Throne.

Zhu Biao and Zhu Di each sat on a brocade cushion.

Zhu Di's expression was no longer dazed - his attention was basically attracted by what Liu Kuan said about Li Jinglong.

Zhu Biao showed curiosity and couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Fourth brother, are you and Jinglong particularly close in private?"

"I don't know." Zhu Di was a little confused, but he lowered his voice. "We are eight or nine years apart in age, and we don't communicate much in private. At most, I often take him and his younger brothers to play together when we were studying in the main hall."

Zhu Biao wanted to ask something else, but he heard Zhu Yuanzhang coughing in front of him, so he shut up. Liu Kuan saw Zhu Yuanzhang coughing suddenly and asked, "Is your Majesty okay?"

Zhu Yuanzhang felt relieved when he saw that Liu Kuan didn't seem to have heard anything.

He said, "I'm fine. I just didn't expect that the God of War you mentioned would only lose battles."

Liu Kuan explained, "Your Majesty, I am merely relaying what later generations have said, and I am not deliberately making fun of it."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "No need to explain. I won't care about such a small matter. Besides, that guy deserves to be ridiculed after so many defeats."

"I even think you're overestimating that guy by comparing him to Zhao Kuo and Ma Su. Zhao Kuo was able to hold out for over a month under Bai Qi's siege, and Ma Su was highly regarded by Zhuge Liang. Can that guy do the same?"

After hearing this, Liu Kuan couldn't help but laugh, and he also felt that his previous words were a bit insulting to Zhao Kuo and Ma Su.

"Go on, who is the other famous figure in the Jingnan Campaign?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang asked, Liu Kuan said, "The other one is Zhu Di's second son, Zhu Gaoxu, who was later granted the title of King of Han."

"Gao Xu?" Zhu Yuanzhang hadn't expected this grandson, who was born only last year, to exist. He asked in confusion, "He was only about twenty years old during the Jingnan Campaign, right? What could he have done?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Although Zhu Gaoxu was young at the time, he was extremely brave and skilled in battle. During the Jingnan Campaign, he rescued Zhu Di from danger several times, captured and killed enemy generals, and even turned the tide of the war."

"It can be said that Zhu Gaoxu played a great role in the success of Zhu Di's Jingnan Campaign."

"It is said that Zhu Di felt that Zhu Gaoxu was very similar to him, and once when Zhu Gaoxu rescued him from a siege, he promised to pass the throne to him in the future."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but frown and asked, "What happened next? Could it be that the Fourth Prince really deposed the eldest son, Gao Chi, and made Gao Xu the crown prince instead?"

After your majesty.

Zhu Di was originally surprised by his second son's bravery and fighting skills, but after hearing this, he couldn't help but frown and think, with a conflicted look on his face.

But I was wondering whether he would make his second son the crown prince.

Then Liu Kuan's voice came.

"Although Zhu Gaochi was the eldest son, he preferred quietness to activity, preferred literary pursuits to military affairs, and had a fondness for sweets, so he grew very fat when he reached adulthood."

"Although Zhu Gaochi showed considerable intelligence and had led troops to defend the city of Beiping when Zhu Di started his rebellion, and even managed logistics while Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu were away on campaign, demonstrating his impressive ability to govern, Zhu Di still disliked his personality and appearance."

"Zhu Di felt that Zhu Gaochi was not like him. In contrast, Zhu Gaoxu was more like him, especially in terms of military talent."

"Furthermore, a number of military heroes who had won the Jingnan Rebellion had good relations with Zhu Gaoxu, so Zhu Di formally proposed changing the crown prince in the second year of the Yongle reign."

"As a result, although a large number of military generals agreed with the Jingnan Rebellion, almost all the important civil officials in the court opposed it, telling Zhu Di that 'deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son' was a recipe for disaster."

"This made Zhu Di feel very embarrassed."

Zhu Yuanzhang was a little anxious when he heard this, and could not help but urge him, "Don't be so slow, tell me quickly, has the fourth prince changed the crown prince?"

After the emperor took the throne, Zhu Di also became anxious after hearing this.

Because he cannot judge now what choice he would make in that situation in history.

He looked at Zhu Biao, but saw that Zhu Biao was frowning slightly, wondering what he was thinking about.

He originally wanted to ask Zhu Biao who he thought should be chosen, but suddenly he realized: If he asked this, wouldn't it seem that he still had his eyes on the throne?
I had no choice but to suppress my thoughts and continue listening to Liu Kuan.

Zhu Yuanzhang's urging was very effective, and Liu Kuan said directly: "No."

Old Zhu asked, "Why?"

Liu Kuan said: "What exactly Zhu Di was thinking at the time, future generations naturally don't know, we can only speculate."

"I think Zhu Di listened to the advice of his civil officials and was worried that the Ming Dynasty would become like the Li Tang Dynasty, where internal strife would often occur."

"Secondly, although Zhu Gaochi was not favored by Zhu Di, he gave birth to a good son, Zhu Zhanji, who was called the 'Good Saint Grandson' by the civil officials and the 'Hexagonal Warrior' by some later generations."

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(End of this chapter)