First Prince of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 14
From spring to autumn, something that surprised Xiao Zhu happened. Li's child was born safely, and he was a healthy boy. Although he didn't have a name, it should be the king of Qin in history, Zhu Xu.

The mother, Ma Shi, has no signs of pregnancy. This is really puzzling. Is it a mistake, or is there something wrong with the history of the Ming Dynasty?

Or is history really starting to change!

Zhu Zhuo's "Nanjing Taichang Temple Chronicle" records that Qin Wang Zhu Xi and Jin Wang Zhu Ho were born to Concubine Li Shu.

But this Li family doesn't seem to be Concubine Li Shu either?
Xiao Zhu's little head is about to explode, and the historical records of the Ming Dynasty are a bit messy.

For example, Zhu Di, the later king of Yan, who became emperor, claimed that he was born of Queen Ma and was the direct son.

This is based on the "Yan Wang Lingzhi" that "Gu Yu is a bandit talent, he is the father and son of Emperor Gao, the son of Emperor Gao, the son of Queen Xiaoci Gao, the younger brother of the crown prince, and the leader of all kings."

In the late Ming Dynasty, He Qiaoyuan's "Min Shu", Tan Qian's "Guo Ju", "National History Different Examinations", and Li Qingzhi's "Sanyuan Notes" were all recorded, based on the "Nanjing Taichang Temple Chronicle" written by Wang Zongyuan of the Ming Dynasty. "Nanjing Taichang Temple Chronicles" indeed stated that Zhu Di's mother was Concubine Qi.

Xiao Zhu has given up thinking, it doesn't matter, as long as he is born of Queen Ma, it is enough.

In the next 17 years (1357), Geng Bingwen conquered Changxing, Xu Dak conquered Changzhou, and Zhu Yuanzhang personally led the army to capture Ningguo.Then Zhao Jizu conquered Jiangyin, Xu Dake conquered Changshu, Hu Dahai conquered Huizhou, Chang Yuchun conquered Chizhou, and Miao Daheng conquered Yangzhou.

In the 19th year of Zhengzheng (1359), Zhu Yuanzhang captured the remaining places in eastern Zhejiang one after another. Chang Yuchun conquered Quzhou and Hu Dahai conquered Chuzhou. So far, Zhu Yuanzhang's department controlled the left and right parts of Zhejiang, and was adjacent to Chen Youliang's department to the west.In May of that year, King Xiaoming promoted Zhu Yuanzhang to be Prime Minister Zuo of Zhongshu Province in Yitong Sansi, Jiangnan and other places. In the first month of the 21st year (1361), Zhu Yuanzhang was granted the title of Wu Guogong.

At this time, although Zhu Yuanzhang had [-] troops, he still occupied very little territory and was surrounded by enemies on all sides.

To the east and south were the Yuan army, to the southeast was Zhang Shicheng, and to the west was Xu Shouhui. Although they were both anti-Yuan armed forces, Zhang and Xu were hostile to each other with King Xiaoming.

However, the main force of the Red Turban Army led by King Xiaoming and Liu Futong in the north greatly contained the Yuan army, and Zhang Shicheng and Xu Shouhui were not strong enough to annex Zhu Yuanzhang.

In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang is temporarily faced with a good opportunity for development.

In the 20th year of Zhengzheng (1360), Liu Ji was invited by Zhu Yuanzhang to Yingtian (now Nanjing) and appointed him as a counselor.

In view of the situation at that time, Liu Ji proposed to Zhu Yuanzhang to avoid two-front operations and to defeat them individually, which was adopted.After completing the deployment of "building a high wall", Zhu Yuanzhang started to implement the "large accumulation of grain".

In order to solve the food problem, in addition to mobilizing the people for production, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to implement the method of arranging farmland, vigorously developing the army's arranging farmland, appointing Marshal Kang Maocai as the user of the Dushui Camp, in charge of building water conservancy, and assigning generals to cultivate farmland in various places.

In a few years, the villages were built everywhere, the treasury was full, and the army rations were sufficient.In the 20th year of Zhizheng (1360), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered not to collect "zhai grain" to reduce the burden on farmers. After Zhu Yuanzhang knew about the profit from wine making, he ordered Hu Sanshe to be killed.

Someone suggested that Hu Dahai was attacking Shaoxing at this time, hoping that Zhu Yuanzhang could see Hu Dahai's face and release Hu Sanshe.

While winning the hearts and minds of the people, Zhu Yuanzhang continued to recruit talents, especially intellectuals. Zhu Yuanzhang also specially built the Lixian Hall in Yingtian to receive them.

These people played an important role in Zhu Yuanzhang's unification of the country.Zhu Yuanzhang respected Confucian scholars very much. He once summoned Confucian scholar Tang Zhongshi in the 18th year of Zhizheng (1358) and asked Emperor Han Gao, Emperor Han Guangwu, Tang Taizong, Song Taizu, and Yuan Shizu how to calm the world. This also shows that Zhu Yuanzhang is determined to create a new Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang established a base centered on Yingtian, with Chen Youliang in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, Zhang Shicheng in the lower reaches, Fang Guozhen in the southeast, and Chen Youding in the south.

Fang Guozhen and Chen Youding's goal was to preserve the territory and separatist rule, while Zhang Shicheng had little ambition for the head of the Yuan Dynasty; Chen Youliang was the strongest and the most dangerous enemy Zhu Yuanzhang encountered after occupying Yingtian.

Chen Youliang was originally a subordinate of Xu Shouhui's general Ni Wenjun.Later, he killed Ni Wenjun, held Xu Shouhui hostage in the 20th year of Zhizheng (1360), and captured Taiping and Caishi.

So Chen Youliang thought that Yingtian was at his fingertips, so he killed Xu Shouhui, proclaimed himself emperor in quarrying, and changed the country's name to Han.

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(End of this chapter)