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[The three most dazzling brothers in the Ming Dynasty, understand the history of Zhu Di, the son of Zhu Di, and the Ming Dynasty in one breath]

The three most brilliant brothers in the history of the Ming Dynasty are none other than Zhu Di’s three beloved sons: a good guy, an ambitious man, and a conspirator.

Three brothers, one drama. What kind of performance will they put on on the historical stage of the early Ming Dynasty? In this video, let us walk into the life of the three Yongle brothers.

In fact, Prince of Yan Zhu Di originally had four sons, among whom the youngest son died young and his mother was unknown. The other three sons were all legitimate sons born to his first wife, Xu, namely, the crown prince Zhu Gaochi, the second son Zhu Gaoxu and the third son Zhu Gaosui.

In 1378, Zhu Gaochi, the eldest son of Zhu Di, was born in Fengyang, the place where Zhu Yuanzhang prospered. Zhu Gaochi was upright and calm by nature, moderate in words and deeds, and liked reading. In his childhood, he received formal education in Confucianism.

After Zhu Di was enfeoffed in Beiping, Zhu Gaoxu was born. Zhu Gaoxu studied in Nanjing in his early years, but he was cunning by nature and frivolous in words and deeds, which made him unpopular with his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang. Three years later, the third son Zhu Gaosui was born. Zhu Di doted on this youngest son very much, so Zhu Gaosui took advantage of his doting and became arrogant. He often did some illegal things, which led to his conspiracy with his second brother to seize the throne and falsely accuse his eldest brother.

It was not until Zhu Di later found two teachers to tutor him that Zhu Gaosui's behavior improved slightly. According to the Ming Dynasty's royal family inheritance rules, Zhu Gaochi was the undisputed heir. And he had the good qualities that an heir should have, such as filial piety to parents, friendship to brothers, kindness and tolerance.

However, as a father, Zhu Di did not like this son very much. One of the reasons was that Zhu Gaochi was too fat. He did not look like a crown prince at all. How could a crown prince like himself fulfill his duties of defending the country in the future?

In sharp contrast to Zhu Gaochi is the second son Zhu Gaoxu. He is physically strong, proficient in riding and shooting, and has liked dealing with officers in the palace since he was a child. Zhu Di is very fond of Zhu Gaoxu.

The three boys from the Prince of Yan's family were not very eye-catching at the time of Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang had 26 sons and 128 grandsons. If they held a family gathering, many people might not know each other.

No one could have imagined that these three brothers would become the focus of the Ming Dynasty's political arena in the next 20 years. In 1395, the 18-year-old Zhu Gaochi was appointed as the Prince of Yan. At this time, the Crown Prince Zhu Biao and the Prince of Qin Zhu Chong had already passed away.

Three years later, on the eve of Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Prince of Jin Zhu Gang passed away, and Prince of Yan Zhu Di suddenly became the oldest and most powerful prince among all the princes at that time.

After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, he decreed that Zhu Di's half-brother, Prince Zhou, be demoted to a commoner, and then he also deposed the four kings of Qi, Dai, Xiang, and Min, which caused an uproar. In order to test whether Zhu Di had other intentions, the 21-year-old Zhu Gaochi had to take his two younger brothers and close relatives to visit the tomb of Taizu, but in fact they were taken hostage.

After the three brothers returned to Beiping safely, Zhu Di had no more worries and quickly accelerated the preparations for the rebellion. From then on, a war that lasted for four years began, known in history as the Jingnan Campaign. The three brothers Zhu Gaochi also showed their talents in this battle.

In 1399, Zhu Di launched a rebellion in the name of clearing the court of corrupt officials. The 22-year-old Zhu Gaochi stayed behind in the base camp in Beiping, while the brothers Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui followed their father into the war.

The first highlight of Zhu Gaochi's life was about to begin. Emperor Jianwen ordered Li Jinglong to lead an army of 50 to attack the Prince of Yan. When Zhu Di heard the news, he entrusted Beiping to the crown prince and led the light cavalry to borrow troops from the Prince of Ning.

The Prince of Yan was gone for two months. Facing Li Jinglong's 50-man army, Zhu Gaochi mobilized all the men in the city to defend the city. He took advantage of the cold weather to pour water on the city walls, turning Peking into an ice city overnight, making it difficult to climb. Eventually, Zhu Di led reinforcements to defeat Li Jinglong in the Battle of Zhengcunba, and then completely defeated him in the Battle of Baigou River.

Zhu Gaochi accumulated political capital for himself by successfully defending Beiping, and his younger brother Zhu Gaoxu was no less successful. Zhu Gaoxu was good at fighting and brave in battle. He made great contributions in the Jingnan Campaign and led troops to rescue Zhu Di many times.

In the crucial Battle of Lingbi, the Yan army was exhausted by Sheng Yong and other generals, and had to go back to rest. At this time Zhu Gaoxu arrived with reinforcements. Zhu Di was overjoyed and painted a pie in the sky for his second son: "Encourage him, the crown prince is often ill." Zhu Di was just saying it casually and had no real intention of passing on the throne, but Zhu Gaoxu took it seriously, which doomed him to tragedy in the future.

With the help of Zhu Gaoxu's fresh troops, Zhu Di successfully defeated the Southern Army and captured many Southern Army generals. The court was no longer able to fight. As Li Jinglong opened the Jinchuan Gate and welcomed the Prince of Yan into the city, Emperor Jianwen disappeared, and an era belonging to Zhu Di began.

The three brothers of the Gu family were no longer fighting for the position of the crown prince, but for the entire empire. As soon as Zhu Di ascended the throne, he conferred titles on the heroes who had helped to pacify the rebellion, but he did not appoint a crown prince.

In 1404, Zhu Di discussed the issue of establishing a crown prince in the court. At that time, a group of military generals who followed Zhu Di in the war had a politically opportunistic attitude. Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu had made great military achievements in the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di liked him very much. If he was established as the crown prince, the military noble group might benefit more.

Therefore, these heroes of the Jingnan Campaign wrote to the emperor and requested that the second prince Zhu Gaoxu be made the crown prince. Under the support of these generals, Zhu Di began to waver in his determination to make Zhu Gaochi the crown prince. Until one day, the words of the Grand Secretary Xie Jin broke the deadlock. Zhu Di suddenly realized and issued an order to make the 27-year-old eldest son Zhu Gaochi the crown prince. At the same time, he canonized his second son Zhu Gaoxu as the King of Han and his third son Zhu Gaosui as the King of Zhao.

Although Zhu Gaochi was made the crown prince, the second son, who was supposed to go to Yunnan to be a vassal, went to Zhu Di and had a big fight. Out of doting on his son, Zhu Di not only let him stay in Nanjing, but also raised his salary and added a guard. The name of this guard was also very interesting, called Tiance Guard.

Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, had been a general of Tiance. After Zhu Gaoxu obtained the Tiance position, he often regarded himself as Emperor Taizong of Tang. The most intense political struggle during the first and second years of Yongle was about to begin. The first to suffer were a group of civil servants in Zhu Gaochi's palace. As the saying goes, when the gods fight, the little ghosts suffer. Zhu Gaoxu often reported the bad deeds of the officials in the East Palace to Zhu Di. Zhu Di didn't care whether it was true or not, and let the Jinyiwei arrest them.

In 1408, Zhu Di set out from Nanjing to Beijing. Before leaving, he asked the crown prince to supervise the country in Nanjing. This was a good opportunity for Zhu Gaochi to show his ability. Unexpectedly, after Zhu Gaochi diligently reviewed a lot of memorials, he not only did not get Zhu Di's praise, but was instead given a blow by Zhu Di in public.

After Zhu Di came back, Zhu Gaoxu took the opportunity to complain that his elder brother had handled this matter incorrectly, and that matter incorrectly. So Zhu Di revised the memorials that had been approved by the crown prince, and also believed that the officials of the Eastern Palace were not assisting the crown prince well, so he threw them all into the Tianlao, and finally posted a notice at the Meridian Gate to announce it to the world.

Zhu Di's deliberate fault-finding behavior frightened Zhu Gaochi so much that he fell seriously ill. A few years later, Zhu Di arrested all the officials of the Eastern Palace because the prince was late in welcoming him back to Nanjing.

During the Yongle reign, many of the prominent civil servants had been imprisoned. Some were released quickly, while others were imprisoned for many years, and some even died in prison.

Although Zhu Di suppressed the crown prince, Zhu Gaochi's position was still stable, on the one hand because Zhu Di liked the crown prince Zhu Zhanji very much, and on the other hand because Zhu Gaochi had accumulated considerable experience and connections through handling government affairs for many years. In contrast, Zhu Gaoxu was too domineering, relying on Zhu Di's favor to do whatever he wanted.

Zhu Di's patience with this son had reached its limit. In the 15th year of Yongle, Zhu Di forced Zhu Gaoxu to go to Qingzhou to be a vassal. However, after the King of Han left, the King of Zhao became active again. Three years later, the Ming Dynasty moved its capital from Nanjing to Beijing. At this time, Zhu Di was over 60 years old and his health was getting worse. He handed over the daily government affairs to the prince.

However, Prince Zhao wanted to bribe the eunuch to poison Zhu Di's medicine and then make Prince Zhao the new emperor. This sensational plan was reported to Zhu Di before it could be implemented.

Zhu Di immediately arrested the participants and brought King Zhao to confront him. King Zhao was trembling with fear and dared not speak. The Crown Prince pleaded for him, so Zhu Di did not pursue King Zhao's responsibility.

In 1424, Zhu Di died of illness on his way back from Beijing at the age of 65. Zhu Gaochi, who had been the crown prince for 20 years, finally became the emperor. However, he died suddenly only 10 months later.

Some people in the capital said that he died of physical weakness due to excessive indulgence, while others said that he was poisoned. What is the truth? We do not know. Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne naturally.

Soon, the Prince of Han, Zhu Gaoxu, started a rebellion, and Zhu Zhanji led his army to fight. Facing the imperial army, the Prince of Han was timid and surrendered directly. Zhu Zhanji demoted the Prince of Han to a commoner and imprisoned him, and later burned him to death in a copper vat. The Prince of Han's 10 sons were secretly executed.

The ending of Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui was much more fortunate. At that time, some people advised Zhu Zhanji to take Zhao Wang as well, but Yang Shiqi, one of the Three Yangs, strongly opposed it.

Zhu Zhanji was confident that his uncle would behave himself, and ordered the local government to keep a close watch on the King of Zhao. In 1431, the King of Zhao, Zhu Gaosui, died of illness in his fiefdom, Zhangye, at the age of .

——"No one lives a very long life. I think there is a big problem here. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di both lived quite long lives."

——"Zhu Yuanzhang liked Zhu Gaochi very much."

——"After the Five Dragons came the era of Three Dragons and Two Pythons."

——"Everyone in leadership will make big promises, even your father is no exception."

[The Hexagonal Warrior of the Ming Dynasty, understand Zhu Zhanji's life in one breath. Zhu Zhanji in the History of the Ming Dynasty]

He is the Yongle Emperor, a classic good saint, the hexagonal warrior of the Ming Dynasty, a young talent, both civil and military, who upheld the Ming emperor's agenda of guarding the country's borders, pacified the King of Han, Annan, sailed to the West, and created the Renxuan Reign.

However, it was precisely because of his momentary lapse of judgment that the Ming Dynasty was almost doomed. In this video, let us review the life of Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji in chronological order.

In February 1399, a newborn baby cried in the Yanwang Mansion in Beiping. The Yanwang Crown Prince's Consort Zhang gave birth to a baby boy. At that time, the relationship between Yanwang Zhu Di and the court was already tense, and it happened that Zhu Di had a dream that night.

He dreamed that his father Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a large jade tablet and told him to "pass it on to your descendants, and they will prosper forever." In ancient times, the large jade tablet symbolized power, and Zhu Di immediately connected this dream with his newly born grandson Zhu Zhanji.

This incident also played a great role in promoting Zhu Di's determination to launch the Jingnan Rebellion. Zhu Di named his grandson Zhanji, but according to the generation name set by Zhu Yuanzhang for the Yan Wang branch, "Ji" means foundation.

Zhu Di gave this name to his eldest grandson, which implied his high hopes that his grandson would inherit his legacy.

When Zhu Zhanji was 4 years old, his grandfather finally captured Nanjing after 4 years of hard fighting, seized the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. The young Zhu Zhanji was also taken into the palace to be raised.

Later, Zhu Di went north to conquer Mongolia and ordered the 12-year-old Zhu Zhanji to stay in Beijing. A year later, Zhu Zhanji was canonized as the crown prince and began to be promoted. From this moment on, whether it was touring Beijing or conquering Mongolia, Zhu Di would bring his beloved grandson with him, and the status of the crown prince of the Bugao branch became more stable.

Unlike his father, Zhu Zhanji was very strong and vigorous. In addition to his close relationship with his grandfather, he also deeply admired his father and often protected him from the attacks of his two uncles.

In the political struggle between the King of Han and the Crown Prince, Zhu Di would intentionally or unintentionally favor the King of Han. All the civil officials attacked by the King of Han were thrown into the imperial prison without any investigation. The great talent Xie Jin eventually died in prison because he offended the King of Han.

At the age of 19, Zhu Zhanji was ordered to marry Hu Shanxiang, but soon after the marriage, he turned to favor his concubine Sun. In the near future, a controversy over the abolition of the empress would arise.

As the grandson of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zhanji had all the advantages of his father and grandfather. He was good at both literature and martial arts. He was not only good at calligraphy and painting, but also proficient in riding and shooting. Zhu Di also carefully trained him as the future heir to the throne.

In 1424, Zhu Di died on his way back from the Northern Expedition. The crown prince Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne and was known as Ming Renzong. Zhu Zhanji was also naturally appointed as the crown prince. A year later, news of earthquakes came from Nanjing one after another.

Zhu Gaochi sent the crown prince to guard Nanjing. Unexpectedly, after serving as the crown prince for more than 20 years, Zhu Gaochi died of illness after only 10 months of being the emperor at the age of 27. The -year-old Zhu Zhanji officially ascended the throne and changed the reign to Xuande, known in history as Ming Xuanzong. Later generations called the reign of Ming Renzong and Ming Xuanzong the Renxuan Reign, which was on par with the Reign of Yuwen Jing.

He abandoned his father's plan to move the court back to Nanjing and kept BJ as the imperial capital. At this time, the Prince of Han, Zhu Gaoxu, finally showed his claws and started a rebellion in 1427. However, Zhu Gaoxu obviously overestimated himself and underestimated Zhu Zhanji.

When he thought Zhu Zhanji would make a series of stupid moves like Emperor Jianwen, he did not expect Zhu Zhanji to lead the imperial army to the city of Qingzhou. Zhu Gaoxu was frightened and surrendered directly.

On the way back, some people encouraged the emperor to get rid of Zhu Di's youngest son, Prince Zhao, on the way. Zhu Zhanji did not agree, but just trusted his third uncle to behave himself. So far, the problem of the power of the vassal kings left by Zhu Yuanzhang was basically solved.

But the sequelae of the prince becoming a wealthy idler were also serious, which was something that Zhu Di and his three generations of grandchildren had never expected. Shortly after the Han Wang Rebellion was quelled, Zhu Zhanji's first son, Zhu Qizhen, was born.