China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 53

After Zhu Yunqi came to the throne, he implemented a series of new policies and achieved great results, known as Jianwen Reform in history.Zhu Yunqi first adjusted the central power organization, appointing Qi Tai, Minister of the Ministry of War, as Minister of the Ministry of War, Huang Zicheng as Tai Changqing, and Fang Xiaoru as Minister of the Hanlin.After adjusting the central authority, he successively launched many reform measures, the main contents of which are: provincial punishment and prison reduction, equalization of Jiangsu and Zhejiang land tax, and adjustment of government bureaucracy.Especially the latter, during Zhu Yunqi's reign, there has been no interruption. The adjustment involves many aspects of the official system, of which there are two very important ones: first, provinces merged with prefectures and counties, and redundant officials were abolished; The rank of the product has been raised from the second grade to the first grade.This relatively eased the abnormal characteristics and internal imbalances of the feudal highest authority.

Although the restructuring of Jianwen has only been carried out for 4 years, it has still achieved very remarkable results.Zhu Lu, a historian of the Ming Dynasty, called it "four years of lenient government and severe frost".

●Zhu Di launches Jing difficult service
After Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, in order to strengthen the centralization of power, he began to deprive the princes and towns entrusted by his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang. After depriving five feudal princes, he pointed the finger at his fourth uncle Yan Wang Zhu Di.

Zhu Di fought with Zhu Yuanzhang when he was young, and he was a brave general who was sealed in Beijing by Zhu Yuanzhang and called the King of Yan.After Zhu Yunqi's order to cut down the vassal, he felt that he could not sit still and wait for death, so he resolutely raised troops in 1399 AD and announced to the outside world that it was "Jing Nan", that is, to quell the disaster for the emperor.He first controlled the city of Beijing, recruited the generals defending Tongzhou, captured Jizhou, and broke through Juyongguan.Song Zhong, who was stationed in Kaiping, was an important military force to guard against Zhu Di.After Zhu Di raised his troops, Song Zhong did not dare to march rashly, but moved his troops to his arms.In the end, because the general turned his back on the battle, he was defeated and fled, and was finally caught in the toilet.After stabilizing the rear, Zhu Di swung his troops south.

Zhu Yunwen is a weak emperor who has read a lot of poetry and books, and he doesn't take Zhu Di seriously.After the minister Huang Zicheng persuaded him, Zhu Yunwen sent Changxing Marquis Geng Bingwen, consort Li Jian and others to lead the Northern Expedition to resist Zhu Di's attack.Before departure, Zhu Yunqi went to see him off, and said to the generals: "Don't kill King Yan, and don't let me have a bad reputation of killing my uncle for future generations." Such words make the generals timid, how can they fight?Since then, Zhu Di's army has won a series of decisive battles, and Zhu Yunqi can no longer organize large-scale military expeditions.Zhu Di thus switched from defense to offense and gained the initiative in the war.

In 1401 AD, Zhu Di marched into Hebei, which was relatively weak in defense, and moved to various parts of Hebei.When he learned that Nanjing's defenses were empty, he decided to bypass Shandong and lead his army to take Nanjing directly. In the second year, he came to the city of Nanjing.Zhu Yunqi sent his aunt, Princess Qingcheng, as a representative to negotiate with Zhu Di, and agreed to rule the river with Zhu Di, but Zhu Di politely refused.Zhu Yunwen was very anxious and cried when he summoned the officials.

Zhu Di's sentry detected that Jinchuan Gate was guarded by Li Jinglong, so he took the lead in sending troops to attack Jinchuan Gate.As soon as the Yan army arrived, Li Jinglong and Gu Wang Zhu Sui immediately opened the city gate and surrendered.After the city was broken, Zhu Yunwen disappeared, and dozens of ministers who looked after the wind and rudder, headed by Minister of War Ru Han, also surrendered one after another, beckoning Zhu Di to become emperor.Under the "persuasion" of the ministers, Zhu Di ascended the throne in Nanjing, with the reign name Yongle, and he was Ming Chengzu.At this point, the Jingnan campaign launched by Zhu Di came to an end in victory.

●Sanbao eunuch voyages to the West
After Zhu Di conquered Nanjing, he has not been able to find the whereabouts of Zhu Yun's tomb.Later, he sent people to search all over the country, but they couldn't find it.At this time, there were more and more legends about Zhu Yunwen, and they became more and more bizarre.Some people say that Zhu Yunwen did not let the fire burn to death, he escaped from the tunnel while the palace was on fire, and now he is still a monk in a monastery.It was also said that Zhu Yunwen went overseas to other countries in a small boat.These statements made Zhu Di feel uneasy. He thought: If Zhu Yun's tomb is really not dead, it would be a troublesome thing to call up the troops again somewhere.Therefore, he summoned his confidant Yuan Zhongche to discuss this matter, and Yuan Zhongche replied: "Long live, I thought you could send a fleet to visit various countries. First, you can find out the whereabouts of Zhu Yunqi, and second, you can publicize our Ming dynasty The national prestige of the dynasty makes those small countries submit to Long Live, do you think this method is feasible?" Zhu Di agreed with his suggestion.

Zhu Di decided to send a fleet to foreign countries, but who should be sent to command the fleet?After much deliberation, he decided to send Zheng He, his confidant eunuch Sanbao eunuch, to do it.

Zheng He, whose original surname was Ma, and whose baby name was Sanbao, was born in Kunyang, Yunnan (in present-day Yunnan).Both his grandfather and father were devout Muslims and had made the pilgrimage to Mecca.In 1381 AD, when Zhu Yuanzhang's army attacked Yunnan, he took Sanbao, who was just 10 years old, into the army.Later, Zhu Yuanzhang gave the three treasures to Zhu Di on Yanshang.Since then, Sanbao has become a small eunuch in Yanwang's mansion.Sanbao was smart and smart since he was a child, and he was very fond of Zhu Di.He used to follow Zhu Di to fight everywhere, saw a lot of world and gained a lot of knowledge.Sanbao has also participated in many battles. He is familiar with the art of war and has great commanding skills.Therefore, Zhu Di decided to let him go to the "Western Ocean".At that time, "Western Ocean" refers to the countries west of Brunei and the countries along the Indian Ocean.Zheng He accepted the special task of Ming Chengzu.

On June 1405th in the third year of Emperor Yongle's reign (AD 62), Zheng He and his deputy Wang Jinghong led a huge fleet to set sail from Suzhou Liujiagang (now Jiangsu).The fleet consisted of 44 large ships, which were 18 feet long and 10 feet wide, and could accommodate more than 28800 people on board. They were called "treasure ships" and were unique in the world at that time.In addition to soldiers and sailors, there are many translators, doctors and technical personnel on board, totaling more than [-] people.The ship carried a large amount of porcelain, silk, paper and gold and silver treasures.

Zheng He's fleet first sailed to Champa (in today's Vietnam), and then to Java, Old Port (in today's Indonesia), Ceylon and other countries.When they arrived in a country, they first visited the king of that country and presented them with some jewels.Then, use the things brought on board to exchange local specialties with the local people.The silk and porcelain brought by Zheng He were very popular in various countries.When Zheng He's fleet returned, the kings of these countries sent envoys to China with the fleet to meet Zhu Di.From 1405 to 1433 A.D., Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Ocean, visiting more than 7 countries along the Indian Ocean, the farthest of which was the east coast of Africa and the coast of the Red Sea, the Islamic holy land of Mecca.The feat of Zheng He's seven voyages to the "Western Ocean" was more than half a century earlier than the Westerners' voyage to discover America and the Cape of Good Hope, and it has an important position in the history of world navigation.However, Zheng He never found Zhu Yunqi.

●Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing
After the "Battle of Jingnan", some ministers suggested that Ming Chengzu Zhu Di move his capital to Beiping.Zhu Di has operated in Peiping for more than 30 years, and his rule is relatively stable.In addition, Beiping is located at the border between the northern agricultural area and the pastoral area, with convenient transportation and a dangerous situation. It is the trade center of the Han and Mongolian ethnic groups and an important political and military location in the north. Further control of the Northeast region is conducive to maintaining national unity.Therefore, Zhu Di decided to move the capital to Beiping.

In 1406 AD, Zhu Di issued an edict to build the Beiping Palace; the following year, the construction of Beiping City officially began.The imperial court mobilized 30 craftsmen and nearly a million civilian husbands, who gathered in Beiping.This project is very large, and all construction materials come from all over the country.Among them, the wood comes from Huguang, Jiangxi, Shanxi and other provinces; the white marble comes from Fangshan in Beiping; the five-color tiger skin stone comes from Panshan in Jixian County; the granite is collected from Quyang County.The square bricks for the walls of the palace were fired in Suzhou; the bricks for the walls were fired in Linqing, Shandong.The red pigment used on the walls of the palace was produced in Lushan, Shandong, and processed in Boshan; the apricot yellow pigment on the interior walls was produced in Yantongshan, Xuanhua, Hebei.

In order to facilitate the transportation of grain from the south to the north, in 1411 AD, Zhu Di ordered officials such as the Minister of Industry and the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment to preside over the dredging meeting to connect the river and renovate the Huainan section of the canal.Since then, the transportation capacity of the canal has been greatly improved, water transportation has begun to play a leading role in the north-south transportation, and sea transportation has gradually been abandoned.

In 1420 AD, the construction of the capital was completed.In the second year, the preparations for moving the capital were ready, and Zhu Di and all the civil and military officials officially moved the capital to Beiping, and changed Beiping to Beijing.The new capital city takes the imperial palace as the center, Qianmen, Meridian Gate, Jingshan, and Bell Tower as the central axis, and government offices, residential buildings, and shops are distributed around. A masterpiece in the history of architecture.

●Five Conquests of Mongolia by Ming Chengzu
At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Beiyuan, the remnant force of Yuan Dynasty, was expelled from the Central Plains, but it was still powerful and dominant in Mobei.Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty sent troops to attack the Beiyuan many times, prompting the split of the Beiyuan. Wuliangha in the east belonged to the Ming Dynasty, while the Tatars in the center and Wacha in the west were still enemies of the Ming Dynasty.In particular, the Tatars still inherited the emperor title of the Yuan Dynasty and had the most powerful influence.In 1403 A.D., Guilichi, the leader of the other tribes of the Tatars, killed Kuntimur, the emperor of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and established himself as a khan. The leaders established tributary relations with the Ming Dynasty one after another.On the one hand, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was committed to peace; on the other hand, he strengthened the border defense and ruthlessly attacked the Mongolian invasion.

In 1409 AD, Ben Yashili and Alutai killed Guo Ji, an envoy of the Ming Dynasty.In order to contain the Tatars, Zhu Di named Mahamu, the leader of Wacha, King of Shunning, Taiping King of Xianyi, and Tu Poluo King of Anle in May.Then in July, Qiu Fu, the Duke of Qi, was appointed as the general, and he led 10 troops to crusade against Benya Shili and Arutai.Because Qiu Fu underestimated the enemy and rushed forward, he only led more than a thousand cavalry to cross the Luxiong River (now the Kherlen River in Mongolia), and fell into a heavy Tatar ambush, and Qiu Fu's entire army was wiped out.Zhu Di was furious, what do you think?If the Tatars were not removed as soon as possible, there would never be peace in the frontier, so he decided to lead the army to march north.

In 1410 AD, Zhu Di personally conquered Mongolia for the first time.Zhu Zhanji, the eldest grandson of the emperor, was ordered to stay in Beijing, and Xia Yuanji, the Minister of household affairs, was assisted.Zhu Di ordered Qingyuan Hou Wangyou to supervise the Central Army, Anyuan Bo Liu was promoted to deputy; Ningyuan Hou He Fu and Wu'an Hou Zheng Heng supervised the left and right posts; Ningyang Hou Chen Mao and Guang Enbo Liu Cai supervised the left and right posts;The army passed through Xinghe (now Zhangbei, Hebei) all the way, passed through Da Boyan Mountain and Xiao Boyan Mountain, and arrived at Qingshuiyuan (that is, Mata Bahaizi, in present-day Inner Mongolia) for a small station, and then led the army through Yanglin , Guangwu Town, Weilu Town, Changqingsai, Shun'an Town and other places, to Yuanshipo.When he went to the Luxiong River and saw that the river was drinkable, Zhu Di changed the name of the Luxiong River to the Yinma River, and named the place on the river Pingmo Town.The striker fought the Tatar Rangers and won a small victory.The Ming army learned from the captives that Benya was lost in the Ugulzha River (now Ulezha River, Mongolia).Zhu Di decided to lead the elite soldiers, carry food and grass, and make a long-distance attack on the enemy.A few days later, when the Ming army arrived at the Ugurja River, Benya fled in a panic.The next day, the Ming army pursued to the Onan River and fought fiercely with Ben Ya.Zhu Di personally directed the attack, and defeated Ben Ya in one go.Benya lost all his belongings and only led seven people across the river to escape.In June, the Ming army encountered Arutai near Kuoluanhaizi (now Hulun Lake in Inner Mongolia) on its way back to the division.Zhu Di personally led the cavalry into the enemy's line, and Arutai was defeated and fled.The Ming army pursued for more than a hundred miles, beheaded more than a hundred people, and retreated to camp due to the heat and lack of water.Although Arutai was severely injured, he still sent a small group of cavalry to follow the Ming army and harass the Ming army's rear guard.Zhu Di personally led more than a thousand elite soldiers to cut off the rear, set up an ambush, and annihilated the trailing Tatar soldiers so that they would not dare to invade again.After getting rid of the enemy's trail, the Ming army encountered a serious food shortage problem.Zhu Di took out a portion of the rations he had saved to distribute to the soldiers, and at the same time ordered those who brought more food to lend to those who were short of food, and doubled the repayment after returning to Beijing.In July, Zhu Di returned to Beijing.

In 1414 AD, because the Mongolian nobles harassed the border, Zhu Di decided to conquer Mongolia again, and Zhu Zhanji followed.In February, an imperial edict was issued to conquer Wacha personally, and more than 50 horse infantry were sent out.In April, 5 Mongolian aristocratic Tatar Li Luobuhua led their troops to surrender.In May, the Ming army arrived at Yinma River.On the third day of June, the forwards of the Ming army defeated the Wacha outpost at Kanghalihai (that is, the mouth of the Three Gorges, east of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on the west bank of the Kherlen River).The next day, learning from the prisoners that the Mahamu camp was only a hundred miles away, Zhu Di ordered the whole army to advance day and night.On the seventh day of the lunar new year, he met the 3 Wacha army led by Mahamu, Taiping, and Batu Liluo in Hulanhusuowen (now east of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on the east bank of the Tula River).The Wacha army occupied the top of the mountain and rushed to the Ming army condescendingly.Liu Sheng killed hundreds of enemy cavalry with the magic cannon, and Zhu Di took advantage of the opportunity to attack the cavalry.The two sides fought fiercely, causing mutual casualties.Mahamu finally couldn't resist the Ming army's attack and began to retreat.The Ming army took advantage of the victory and pursued them all the way to the Tuci River. Mahamu fled northward overnight.Zhu Di considered that his own losses were also relatively large, and it was not suitable to fight again, so he ordered the squadron to teach.On the way back to the teacher, he repelled the attack of Wacha and returned to Beijing in August.In the battle of Hulanhu's loss of temperature, more than ten princes and thousands of troops were beheaded.Waci's vitality was seriously injured.In the 14th year of AD, Mahamu sent envoys to apologize to the Ming Dynasty and pay tribute to the horses.Two years later, Mahamu died, and the Ming Dynasty made his son Tuo Huan inherit the title.

Arutai became increasingly powerful, and often insulted the envoys of the Ming Dynasty, and even sent troops to harass the border.At the beginning of 1422 AD, Alutai attacked Xinghe on a large scale and killed Ming general Wang Xiang.Zhu Di is determined to conquer himself for the third time.In March, Chengzu led an army to Shahuiyuan via Jiming Mountain, Yunzhou (now Chicheng, Hebei), Dushi (now Liaoning), Weiyuan.Alutai was terrified, so he abandoned all his supplies, horses and livestock in Kuoluanhaizi, and fled northward.Zhu Di ordered his belongings to be burned, his horses and livestock collected, and then he was sent to class.When returning to the teacher, Yin Wuliangha and other three guards secretly communicated with Alutai, defeated it by the way, and took more than [-] cattle and sheep back to the capital.

In 1423 A.D., Zhu Di heard that Arutai was going to invade the border again, so he decided to make a fourth expedition.In September, Zhu Di arrived in Shacheng (northwest of Zhangbei, Hebei today), and learned from the Tatar leader Ashi Timur and others who had come to surrender that Arutai had just been defeated by Wacha and would not go south.But Zhu Di still led his army to the vicinity of the Yinma River, accepted the surrender of the Tatar prince Yexian, and then returned to the court with his troops.

At the beginning of 1424 AD, Arutai led troops to attack Datong.Zhu Di led a large army to conquer Alutai personally, followed by the great scholars Yang Rong and Jin Youzi.In May, the army arrived in Kaiping, and Alutai fled far away.Zhu Di's army went to Xiangyuntun and then to Cuiyuntun. The Ming army arrived at the Dalan Namur River area (now the border area between China and Mongolia) and searched separately, but there was no trace of Arutai.Zhu Di was worried that the supply of food and grass would not be enough, so he decided to teach the class.In July, Zhu Di died of illness in the Yumuchuan (in present-day Inner Mongolia) army.

●The Civil Fort Yingzong was captured
After Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen came to the throne, he reused the eunuch Wang Zhen.In 1449 A.D., the leader of the northern Mongolian Wacha also sent 3000 envoys to Beijing. After paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty with some horses, he asked the Ming Dynasty to reward him.Wang Zhen received the Wacha envoy, and found that he also lied about the number of people first, so he reduced the bounty and lowered the horse price.He first proposed to the Ming Dynasty for his son, but Wang Zhen refused.Sending envoys to the Ming Dynasty first was a provocation.As a result, he became angry from embarrassment and personally led his troops to attack Datong in the Ming Dynasty.The general of Datong sent an emergency document to the court, requesting to send troops for support.

After receiving the side report, Yingzong hurriedly summoned ministers to discuss countermeasures.Wang Zhen, who had power over the government and the public, suggested that the emperor should personally conquest. He thought that as soon as the army arrived, they would beat the opponent to pieces.In addition, Wang Zhen's hometown is not far from Datong, and the emperor's personal conquest, he can not only follow the emperor for a tour, but also show his face in front of the people in his hometown.However, ministers including Kuang Liang, Minister of the Ministry of War, Yu Qian, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Wang Zhi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, believed that the enemy soldiers came prepared, and the imperial court hastily recruited troops. The preparations were not sufficient, and the emperor could not personally conquer, so they tried their best to dissuade them.Yingzong had no idea of ​​his own, and only listened to Wang Zhen's opinion. Besides, Yingzong also wanted to experience for himself the feeling of his ancestor's warring horses and sweeping all directions.Therefore, Yingzong handed over the government affairs to his younger brother Kuang Wang Zhu Qiyu, and asked Yu Qian to stay in Beijing. He led Wang Zhen, Kuang Liang and other officials and 50 troops, and set off from Beijing on July [-] and went straight to Datong.

Due to the hasty dispatch of troops, the discipline of the army was very lax.And Wang Zhen gave orders at will along the way, and Zhang Fu, the British official who was supposed to be the commander of this expedition, was actually emptied.The troops marched sloppily, and within a few days of walking, the food and grass supplies could not be provided, but there was a storm again, and the soldiers were hungry and cold, and they were complaining.After finally rushing to the vicinity of Datong, morale was already very low.The horse scouts reported that they did not find a single soldier from the Wacha tribe. Wang Zhen thought that the enemy had already fled due to the power of the Ming army.He was about to issue an order to continue the pursuit, when Tan Ma came to report again: the two vanguard troops he sent were defeated by the enemy at the edge of Datong City.He got another message: Yexian led a very strong force, and they were all brave and skilled cavalry.Feeling the seriousness of the situation, Wang Zhen ordered his troops to retreat and return to the court.However, due to wrong command, the time to retreat was delayed, and the troops in the rear were overtaken by the Wacha army and defeated.

When the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Ming Dynasty retreated to Tumubao (now southwest of Huailai, Hebei) during the resistance, it was still dark, but Wang Zhen ordered to camp on the spot.Some officials suggested to Yingzong: There is no danger to defend here, so it is better to rush into Huailai city quickly while the sky is still bright, and defend the city.But Yingzong did not adopt it.The civil fort is a hilly terrain. Although the name is called a fort, in fact there is no fort to defend.Moreover, there was a lack of water here. After running for many days, the soldiers were already thirsty and exhausted, and just wanted to find a place to rest.

(End of this chapter)