How did Zhu Dijing solve his worries when he was in trouble?

When Zhu Yuanzhang was in power, he was afraid that powerful ministers would usurp power, so he stipulated that the vassal king had the right to send documents to the central government to demand treacherous ministers and to raise troops to clear the emperor's side. He said in "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions": "There are no honest ministers in the court, but there are Those who are traitorous and rebellious must be punished with troops, and the Qing Dynasty will side with them." Zhu Di used this as a reason to accuse Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng of being traitorous ministers who must be punished, and called his actions "Jingnan", which means "Jingnan". Therefore, this internal battle within the Zhu Ming royal family was called the "Battle of Jingnan" in history.

When Zhu Di first started his army, the Yan army only occupied a corner of Peiping and was small and weak. However, the imperial court had an overwhelming advantage in all aspects. Therefore, in the early stages of the war, the imperial court planned to use superior forces to attack in separate groups to encircle and annihilate the Yan army in Peiping. Zhu Di adopted internal operations and quickly captured Juyongguan, Huailai, Miyun to the north of Peiping and Jizhou, Zunhua, Yongping (today's Lulong, Hebei) and other prefectures and counties to the east, clearing the periphery of Peiping and eliminating any worries. , so as to calmly deal with the court's criminal master. After Zhu Yuanzhang massacred the heroes and generals, the court had no generals available, so Zhu Yunwen had to appoint the surviving veteran Changxing Marquis Geng Bingwen as the general, leading an army of 130,000 to attack Yan. In August of the first year of Jianwen (the Battle of Zhending), the division arrived in the Hutuohe area of ??Hebei. King Yan took advantage of the Southern Army's unpreparedness on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, broke through Xiongxian County, and defeated the vanguard of the Southern Army. Then they defeated the main force of the Southern Army on the north bank of the Hutuo River. Emperor Jianwen heard that Geng Bingwen's army was defeated, and based on Huang Zicheng's recommendation, he appointed Cao Guogong Li Jinglong as the general to fight against the Yan army in Geng Bingwen's place.

Li Jinglong was originally a son of a rich man and had no knowledge of military affairs. He was "cowardly but arrogant, fierce but timid". In September, Li Jinglong went to Dezhou, collected Geng Bingwen's defeated soldiers and generals, and mobilized troops from all walks of life, totaling 500,000 soldiers, to station in Hejian. When Zhu Di discovered the deployment of Li Jinglong's army, he said with a smile that there are five defeats in the art of war. If Li committed all of them, his army would definitely be defeated. This is because the government orders are not revised and the top and bottom are not aligned; the soldiers are not suitable for the frost and snow climate of Peiping and lack of food and grass. Insufficient; regardless of dangers, go deep for profit; eager to win, headstrong, but lacking in wisdom and trust, and lacking in benevolence and courage; the troops are all a mob and not united. In order to lure the southern army to go deep, Zhu Di decided that Yao Guangxiao would assist his son Zhu Gaochi to stay in Peiping, and he would personally lead the army to rescue Yongping, which was attacked by the Liaodong Army. He warned Zhu Gaochi: "When Li Jinglong comes, you should only hold on and not fight." Zhu Di also withdrew. The guards at Lugou Bridge.

Zhu Di's move proved to be effective. When Li Jinglong heard that Zhu Di was leading his army to aid Yongping, he led his troops to the gates of Peiping in October. When he passed Lugou Bridge and saw no guards, he couldn't help but rejoiced and said: "If we don't guard this bridge, I think Zhu Di will be powerless." At this time, Zhu Gaochi deployed tightly in Beiping City and defended it to the death. Li Jinglong's orders were lax and his command was improper. He attacked the city several times but was repulsed. Qu Neng, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army, once led more than a thousand fine cavalry to kill Zhangyemen, but no backup arrived, so he had to stop the attack. And because Li Jinglong was greedy for merit and asked Qu Neng to wait for the large army to attack together, he missed the opportunity. The Yan army got a breather and poured water on the city wall all night long. The weather was cold and freezing. By the next day, the southern army could not climb the city to attack. After Zhu Di rescued Yongping, he led his troops straight to Daning (today's west of Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia).

Daning was a vassal of Ning King Zhu Quan, and the Duoyan guards under it were mostly Mongolian cavalry, brave and good at fighting. After Zhu Di defeated Daning, he took King Ning hostage and returned to Peiping, where he merged with King Ning's subordinates and the troops of Duoyan's three guards. Zhu Di took these elite troops back to the outskirts of Peiping in November and advanced on Li Jinglong's barracks. The Yan army attacked from both inside and outside, but the southern army was defeated. Li Jinglong took the lead in escaping at night and retreated to Dezhou. The next day, when the soldiers heard that their commander had fled, they "abandoned their rations and ran southward in the morning and night."

Emperor Jianwen was deceived by his ministers, and instead rewarded Li Jinglong for losing the battle. In April of the second year of Jianwen (1400), Li Jinglong, together with Guo Ying, Wu Jie and others, gathered 600,000 soldiers, known as one million, and entered Baigou River (now north of Xiong County, Hebei Province). Zhu Di ordered Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, Chen Heng, Qiu Fu and others to lead an army of more than 100,000 to fight at Baigou River. The battle was very fierce, and the Yan army was frustrated for a time. However, the Southern Army had inconsistent political orders and could not take advantage of the opportunity to expand its results. The Yan army took advantage of the favorable opportunity to defeat the general of the southern army, and the southern army was defeated like a mountain. Li Jinglong retreated to Texas again. Yan Jun followed and pursued him to Dezhou. In May, Li Jinglong fled from Dezhou to Jinan. Zhu Di led the Yan army to pursue him, and defeated more than 100,000 people led by Li Jinglong in Jinan who had not yet established a stable foothold. Jinan was defended by the governor Sheng Yong and the governor of Shandong Tie Xuan. Zhu Di besieged Jinan for three months, fearing that the food route would be cut off, so he retreated to Peiping, and Sheng Yong regained Dezhou.

Li Jinglong was defeated again and again within a few months. Emperor Jianwen dismissed him from the post of general. Emperor Jianwen followed Huang Zicheng's plan and sent envoys to negotiate peace to slow the attack, and appointed Sheng Yong. As General Ping Yan, he led the troops on behalf of Li Jinglong and replaced him with Sheng Yong. Sheng Yong stationed troops in Dezhou to contain the Yan army from going south. In September of the second year of Jianwen, Sheng Yong led his troops to the Northern Expedition. In October, they reached Cangzhou and were defeated by the Yan army. In December, the Yan army advanced to Linqing, Guantao, Daming, Wenshang and Jining areas in Shandong. Sheng Yong led the southern army in Dongchang (today's Liaocheng, Shandong) and prepared for it.

The Yan army repeatedly defeated the enemy and was defeated by the Southern Army. Zhang Yu, a close friend of Zhu Di, died in the battle. Zhu Di himself was also surrounded and was able to break through with the support of Zhu Neng's reinforcements. The Battle of Dongchang was the first major victory achieved by the Southern Army since the two sides fought.

After the defeat, Zhu Di concluded: In the battle of Dongchang, retreat as soon as you engage in battle, and all previous efforts will be wasted. From now on, you cannot underestimate the enemy or retreat. You must work hard and defeat the enemy without fear of life or death.

In February of the third year of Jianwen (1401), Zhu Di led his army to attack and defeated the Southern Army in Hutuo River, Jiahe, Zhending and other places. Then, they captured Shunde, Guangping, Daming and other places. The war has been going on for two years, with the North and South fighting mainly in Hebei and Shandong. Although the Yan army was victorious in repeated battles, the southern army was outnumbered and powerful, unable to attack. The cities captured by the Yan army were lost and lost, and they could not be consolidated. Those who can always defend it are only the three prefectures of Beiping, Baoding and Yongping. While Zhu Di was troubled by this, eunuchs in the Nanjing court who were dissatisfied with Emperor Jianwen sent information that Nanjing City was empty and should be taken directly. Zhu Di's advisers also advised Zhu Di not to attack the city, but to cross Shandong and move directly to Jinling with quick action. Jinling was weak and unprepared, so he would succeed. So Zhu Di decided to jump across Shandong and go straight to Jinling. Based on this, Zhu Di decided to send his troops southward, aiming directly at the capital.

In the first month of the fourth year of Jianwen (1402), the Yan army entered Shandong, bypassed the heavily guarded Jinan, broke through Dong'a, Wenshang, and Zouxian, and went straight to Peixian and Xuzhou, heading south. But the Yan army had already passed Xuzhou, and the Shandong army went south to pursue it. In April, the Yan army arrived in Suzhou and fought in Qimeishan (now Lingbi County, Anhui) with the Southern army that was following the attack. The Yan army was defeated. The two sides were in a stalemate at the Fei River. At the critical moment of this decisive battle, Emperor Jianwen was influenced by the suggestions of some ministers and transferred the army led by Xu Huizu back to Nanjing, which weakened the military strength on the front line. The food transportation of the southern army was blocked by the Yan army. The Yan army seized the opportunity and They defeated the Confederate army in Lingbi and captured only a few hundred Confederate generals. Since then, the morale of the Yan army has been greatly improved, and the Southern army has become weaker. Zhu Di led his army to break through the Huaihe River defense line, cross the Huaihe River, capture Yangzhou, Gaoyou, Tongzhou (now Nantong, Jiangsu Province), Taizhou and other important places, and prepare to forcefully cross the Yangtze River. At this time, Zhu Di's son Zhu Gaoxu arrived with his cavalry, and the Yan army gained momentum.

Emperor Jianwen once wanted to negotiate peace with King Yan on the condition of dividing the land between the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but was rejected. On the third day of June, the Yan army crossed the river from Guazhou, and the Zhenjiang garrison descended on the city. Zhu Di led his army straight to Jinling. Arriving at the Jinchuan Gate of Jinling on the 13th, Li Jinglong and King Gu, who were guarding the Jinchuan Gate, opened the door for Zhu Di to welcome the surrender. When King Yan entered the capital, all the civil and military officials knelt down to greet him. With the support of the ministers, he became the emperor. He was the founder of the Ming Dynasty and his reign was Yongle. The four-year "Battle of Jingnan" ended with the victory of King Zhu Di of Yan.

The "Battle of Jingnan" lasted three years, and the Southern Army suffered consecutive defeats in the early stages of the battle. However, since the defense of Jinan, the main force of the Southern Army has been stationed in Dezhou and has been attacking in order to contain the Yan Army. Dezhou is on the canal line, with convenient transportation from north to south. The Yan army marched south from Hebei and was always under the supervision of Dezhou. When the Yan army attacked south, the southern army might cross from Dezhou to cut off its return route, or attack and disturb its supply line, or take advantage of the weakness to attack from the north. Therefore, despite Zhu Di's good use of troops, the Southern Army never suffered the major setbacks it suffered in the early stages of the war, and the Yan Army's power was basically blocked north of Shandong. Zhu Di failed to conquer Shandong, so although he won many battles and fought fiercely for two and a half years, he still failed to open up the situation. When he crossed Shandong and went straight to Jinling, he seized power in half a year.

However, Zhu Di left Shandong and went straight south, which was a desperate act. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Emperor Liu Yilong of the Liu Song Dynasty attacked the Wei State of the Northern Dynasty. The Northern Wei Dynasty, with its national strength and the talents of Tuoba Tao, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, after defeating the Liu Song Army on the Yellow River, began to divide its troops into five groups and launch a massive counterattack southward. By marching across the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, his troops approached melons and horses, and drank their horses from the Yangtze River. At that time, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty achieved his goal of frightening the Southern Dynasties, but did not dare to cross the river to fight for the south of the Yangtze River. On the other hand, Zhu Di's tactics could only be successful under the special situation at that time. Since Zhu Yuanzhang killed the heroes in the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming court has no generals who can match Zhu Di, so Zhu Di has no fear when he goes south. Secondly, in the concept of that era, the "Battle of Jingnan" was purely an internal dispute between one family and one surname. Therefore, although Emperor Jianwen repeatedly issued edicts to "be diligent to the king," there were few who were truly diligent and loyal to the Yan army. Otherwise, if Zhu Di went south alone, Emperor Jianwen would only have to hold on to Jinling and wait for the forces of King Qin from all directions to join together, while Shandong would cut off the supply line and retreat route of the Yan army. In that case, Zhu Di would be in an extremely dangerous situation. Therefore, if we replace him with another person and another background, we will never dare to take the risk of adopting this tactic and ignore Shandong.

Although the war is over, the history related to it is still developing. After King Yan came to Beijing, a fire broke out in the palace, and Emperor Jianwen's whereabouts were unknown. Some say that Emperor Jianwen burned himself to death in the palace, or that Emperor Jianwen of Yun Dynasty fled from the tunnels, became a monk, and traveled around the world. Legend has it that he lived in the palace during the Zhengtong Dynasty and died in his old age. The true whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen cannot be determined and has become a major unsolved case in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di, who became emperor, massacred the civil servants and generals who had advised Emperor Jianwen and who refused to join him. Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Jing Qing, etc. were killed by the entire clan: "The fate of his clan is red, his hometown is his hometown, and his life is changed. It is called melons and vines, and the village is a ruin." There is the so-called "reading seed" Fang Xiaoru, because he refused to write the edict for Zhu Di's accession to the throne, all nine clans were executed. This was not over yet, he also killed all his friends and disciples as one clan, and 873 people from the ten clans were executed. This purge was extremely cruel, and tens of thousands of people died tragically under Zhu Di's butcher knife.

The four-year "Battle of Jingnan" caused great damage to the social economy that had just recovered in the early Ming Dynasty, and the damage to the areas directly trampled by the war was severe. It is said in history books that "The tall trees in the north of the Huai River are lush grass", which should be regarded as the true saying.