tieu_yeu_nu, on Oct 7 2005, 12:54 PM, said:
okay thanks, so his in viet is called Yen Vuong before he became king right? he lead an army and attack the capital and kick his nephew out right?!
Well, embarassed to say I don't know what Emperor Cheng Zu is called called in viet, but Yen Vuong sounds close enough to Yan Wang (Prince of Yan).
And it's not as simple as he woke up one day and decided to march to the capital to seize the throne.
There are several angles to the story.
First of all, he was probably the most capable surviving son of the founder of the Ming Dynasty. Among the imperial princes, his fief was the closest to the Mongols who were just driven from central China, and his posting there was to guard against their return.
He was the fourth son, and his eldest brother Zhu Biao was the Crown Prince by reason of primogeniture, but as far as historical accounts show, was not a strong character. Zhu Biao died in AD 1392. As a result, the Zhu Biao's son, Zhu YunWen, grandson of Zhu YuanZhang, became the designated heir and ascended the throne at the age of 22 in AD 1398.
As part of attempts to consolidate the new dynasty and bring about internal stability, Zhu YuanZhang (founding Emperor HongWu) appointed 24 out of his 26 sons as princes over various parts of China. Some of the princes (like Zhu Di) had become entrenched in their power bases when Zhu YunWen ascended the throne as Emperor JianWen. Some of the princes had died and passed on their positions to their respective successors. There was an awareness that these branches of the imperial family might end up rivalling for power with the main imperial line they originally meant to support.
When Zhu Di travelled with military escort from Beijing to Nanjing to pay respects after Zhu YuanZhang died, Zhu YunWen forbade Zhu Di to approach and had him turn back. The pretext was that the military escort was disrespectful to the late Emperor and to the new Emperor. Some suspected the new ruler was actually afraid of his uncle.
In order to consolidate power for the new emperor, advisors to Emperor JianWen (Huang ZiCheng and Qi Tai etc.) guided the emperor to remove a number of enfeoffed Imperial princes. Zhu Di was aware his turn would eventually come and chose to act first. He staged an uprising on the pretext of ridding the emperor of evil ministers (Huang ZiCheng etc.). In some accounts, it was said Zhu Di had been preparing for quite some time to usurp the throne and would have acted regardless of Emperor JianWen's actions.
Initially, Zhu Di was met with a several setbacks. But an advisor suggested that with most of the imperial forces deployed, the capital would be weakly defended. Zhu Di took a great risk to make for the capital, fighting several major battles along the way.
The Imperial Court in Nanjing could not coordinate the imperial forces in time and the capital was indeed poorly defended when Zhu Di's army arrived. A fire broke out in the palace and the Emperor JianWen was supposed to have perished with his wife.
Zhu Di then assumed the Dragon Throne for himself.
tieu_yeu_nu, on Oct 7 2005, 12:54 PM, said:
is he a good king? i mean was he good to the people, cos some films i watched protrayed him as a good king while others protrayed him as a power hungry person.
I guess there's no simple way to evaluate him.
After crowning himself the new ruler, he embarked on a campaign to rid himself of several potential rivals and remnants of Emperor JianWen's cliqué/supporters - mainly by killing them or reducing them to ordinary citizens. He probably considered it necessary to secure the throne for his line and for the stability of the country.
After the civil war, much of the countryside were devastated. Zhu Di implemented numerous programs to resettle the displaced refugees of the civil war and to restore/develop farmlands damaged by the war.
He also repaired and upgraded the Grand Canal to facilitate transport of grains from the south to the north.
How would one decide whether he was a good ruler?
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