Chapter 1: The Emperor's Worries

  Zhu Di Pian

  A new day has begun, and Zhu Di sits on the emperor's throne, overlooking everything in this empire. The life-and-death struggle that took place before seems to still be vividly remembered, but it is no longer important. For Zhu Yunwen, the loser of that struggle, the end of his political status means that his life has already ended, regardless of whether he himself is alive or dead. But for Zhu Di, today's sunshine is bright and beautiful, and he has obtained everything he wanted. In the very long time to come, he will use the power in his hands to realize his own dreams, a dream of a rich country and strong army.

  This dream was not just his, but also his father's.

  Certificate

  Of course, before this, he must first do a few things. If these things are not done, his position will be unstable.

  The most important thing is for him to prove himself as a legitimate emperor.

  Although the country was already in his hands, the power of public opinion could not be ignored. His own body had been branded with the mark of a rebel, and there was no way to change that. However, at least he wanted his descendants to become emperors with honor and integrity. To achieve this goal, he used two methods:

  He issued a decree, ordering that all rules and regulations implemented during the Jianwen Emperor's era that were different from Zhu Yuanzhang's established examples be abolished, with the old ancestral laws being followed instead. This was not because Zhu Yuanzhang's established examples were good to use, but rather because Zhu Di wanted to gain recognition from the people, so he had to borrow the prestige of his deceased father once again, making it clear that he was the one who truly understood the spirit of Taizu's governance.

  Secondly, he ordered his subordinates to revise the "Taizu Shilu" again. This book had been revised once by Emperor Jianwen, but it was clear that the first edition did not meet Zhu Di's requirements. He needed a more illustrious origin, because something like Zhu Yuanzhang's humble beginnings and conquest of the world, starting with "I was originally a beggar from Huai'an", would no longer work. In this world, nobody wanted to be called a beggar, so his biological mother was cast aside, and Empress Ma became his stepmother. We will elaborate on this issue later.

  In addition, he also instructed his subordinates to add a lot of penmanship descriptions in the real record, such as Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly scolding Zhu Biao and Zhu Youwen before his death, always with a look of hating iron for not becoming steel, while praising Zhu Di excessively, smiling all over his face whenever he saw Zhu Di, and being very happy. Even before his death, he repeatedly asked about Zhu Di's whereabouts and intentionally passed the throne to Zhu Di. However, due to the treacherous conspiracy of Zhu Youwen and others, the legitimate heir Zhu Di did not receive Zhu Yuanzhang's instructions. As a result, the throne that should have belonged to Zhu Di was shamelessly deprived. Reading these contents makes one feel extremely hateful towards Zhu Youwen and other treacherous villains, and relieved that Zhu Di finally obtained the throne that originally belonged to him, and sighs that justice ultimately triumphed, and good people are rewarded.

  When Zhu Di finally completed these two tasks, he really let out a sigh of relief, and the unfavorable remarks about himself were finally deleted. After countless years, this Jingnan War would be crowned with the name of justice and spread far and wide. But as one of the witnesses to this historical event, Zhu Di knew very well that in those altered places, the true history was originally written. He dragged his father out of the grave, re-dressed him, to prove his own innocence.

  History has proven that Zhu Di failed. He was unable to deceive himself, nor did he succeed in deceiving later generations, for the true brush of history is not the writing brush held by historians, but rather the hearts of men.

  Meritorious Minister

  Whether it's self-deception or self-consolation, the throne is the most realistic. After resolving the legitimacy of succession, the next step is to reward meritorious officials, which is an extremely important step. Although emperors have always been reluctant to see meritorious officials after their great cause has been accomplished, these people have invested a lot of capital in the emperor's great cause and held shares. When it comes time to distribute dividends, kicking them aside would be a bad ending. After all, no board of directors can be dominated by one chairman.

  Here's a brief introduction to the Ming Dynasty's reward system. We often see scenes on TV where the emperor rewards his ministers, and it's always something like "a thousand taels of silver". Then an eunuch carries a tray full of silver ingots over to the minister, who thanks him and takes the money home. The actual process was roughly the same, but many times, the director of the TV show probably hasn't considered just how heavy a thousand taels of silver really is. In their storyline, these ministers all seem like they must have trained in iron sand palm at a martial arts school or something, because no matter how you calculate it, a thousand taels of silver isn't something that can be easily lifted with two hands.

  It is also suggested here that in the future when dealing with this kind of plot, you can change the dialogue to something like "Someone, I'll give you a thousand taels of silver, use a horse-drawn carriage to pull it!"

  The reward of silver mentioned above is just a small token in the imperial rewards, our ancestors understood the principle of steady dripping wearing away the stone very early. Windfall gains come and go quickly, what can be relied on is long-term meal tickets. In the Ming Dynasty, this long-term meal ticket was the title of nobility.

  In those years, if you didn't have the surname Zhu, it was very difficult to get this long-term meal ticket. The canteen run by Old Zhu's family had a limited quota, and unless you had made great contributions, it was impossible to eat in this canteen.

  To be specific, the title of nobility has three levels: Duke (small stove), Marquis (medium stove), and Earl (large stove). In addition, there are differences between "flow" and "世". The so-called "flow" means that this meal ticket can only be used by yourself, and your son cannot use it. Wealth does not pass down to the third generation, and starving to death is his own fault. However, "世" is different, after you die, your son, your son's son can still come to the cafeteria to eat.

  Anyone who receives this meal ticket will be given an iron certificate by the emperor to commend the brave behavior of the enfeoffed. This iron certificate is not simple, and it comes in two versions: ordinary and special.

  Special versions were issued during the Zhu Yuanzhang era and the Zhu Di era, because in these two eras, getting an iron certificate was a matter of life and death.

  The iron certificate of the Zhu Yuanzhang era has the four characters "开国辅运" (Assisting in the founding of the country), representing your identity as a meritorious minister who helped found the country. The iron certificate of the Zhu Di era has the four characters "奉天靖难" (Following Heaven's will to help me, Zhu Di, usurp the throne), representing you following Heaven's will to help me, Zhu Di, usurp the throne. These two versions are extremely rare and were never reissued in the over 200 years of Ming dynasty history that followed. From then on, all iron certificates were standardized with civil officials' iron certificates having the four characters "守正文臣" (Upright and Loyal Civil Official) and military generals' iron certificates having the four characters "宣力功臣" (Meritorious Minister who Declares his Power).

  Of course, if you're lucky enough to get the first two iron certificates, it's not necessarily a good thing. Especially the first edition "Assisting the Country", because according to relevant department statistics, more than 80% of people who got this certificate will receive an additional sightseeing ticket to the underworld from Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang.

  Additionally, there is a special note: One-way ticket, applicable to the whole family, can be used multiple times, no limit on the number of people.

  Zhu Di enfeoffed the meritorious officials who followed him in pacifying the disturbance, such as Zhang Yu (whose title was inherited by his son Zhang Fu), Zhu Neng and others, all of whom were enfeoffed as hereditary dukes and marquises. At this time, all the generals were very happy, and the harvest season had arrived.

  But unexpectedly, there was one person who was completely uninterested in the reward. In his eyes, these rewards that everyone else envied seemed to be worthless.

  This person is Dao Yan.

  Although he did not take part in the battle, there is no doubt that he was the first meritorious minister of Zhu Di's successful suppression of the Jingnan rebellion, from planning the mutiny to making strategies, he was one of the main persons in charge.

  It can be said that he helped Zhu Di ascend to the throne. However, after he worked hard to accomplish this great achievement, he declined all rewards. In 1404, Zhu Di appointed Dao Yan as a high-ranking official, naming him "Capital Good Man" and "Junior Preceptor of the Crown Prince" (a second-grade position), and formally restored his original name - Yao Guangxiao.

  After that, Yao Guangxiao's behavior became increasingly strange. Zhu Di let him keep his hair and return to secular life, but he refused. He was given a house and even offered two women as wives, but he declined. The number one strategist in the land lived in a temple every day, wearing official uniform during the day to attend court, and changing into casual clothes (monk's robes) at night when he returned to the temple.

  He not only did not want official position, but also did not want money. When he returned home to visit his relatives, he gave all the gold and silver treasures bestowed upon him by Zhu Di to his own clansmen. We can't help but ask, why did he do this?

  In my opinion, there are two reasons why Yao Guangxiao did this. Firstly, he is a clever person, and for someone as intelligent as him, if he were to be too arrogant, Zhu Di would definitely not tolerate him. The phrase "功高震主" (great merit shakes the ruler) has always been firmly etched in his mind.

  Secondly, he is different from others, his purpose of rebelling is just for the sake of rebelling.

  Many people have been asked, "Why do you want to read books?" Generally speaking, the answers are usually about building the country and bringing glory to it. However, in people's hearts, the real purpose of reading is often for personal gain, such as getting promoted or becoming wealthy, to satisfy one's desires. But facts tell us that doing something for fame and fortune may bring motivation and success, yet to achieve great things, a different kind of determination and answer are needed - reading for the sake of reading itself.

  Zhu Di rebelled for the throne, his generals rebelled for the identity and honor of founding meritorious officials. Dao Yan's rebellion was just for the sake of rebelling. His vision has never been constrained by wealth and power, he had a higher goal. Dao Yan is a bullet, forty years of hardships are gunpowder, his tactics are the bullet head, and Zhu Di to him is only the fuse, this bullet shoots at who is not important, being able to be fired is all his wish.

  Yao Guangxiao, a man later known as the "Black-clad Chancellor", shrouded in controversy and mystery, had a very simple wish:

  To unfold one's ambitions and not betray what one has learned in a lifetime is enough.

  Brother

  During the Jianwen Emperor's reign, Zhu Di was a vassal king. The Jianwen Emperor wanted to reduce the power of the vassals, but Zhu Di opposed it and eventually rebelled. Now that Zhu Di is the emperor, he also wants to reduce the power of the vassals. Those surviving vassal kings will naturally oppose him, but unlike before, they are now powerless to rebel.

  After the struggle against the reduction of the nobility finally achieved victory, Zhu Di suddenly drew his sword and pointed it at those who had been his comrades-in-arms just a short time before. This was also an inevitable thing to happen, as fraternal affection is not worth mentioning, and since ancient times, fathers and sons, brothers killing each other has been a common occurrence. It seems that we cannot simply attribute the reason for their behavior to human nature's coldness; they acted in this way only because they were tempted by an irresistible temptation - the supreme power.

  Having power can eliminate all the people you don't like, get everything you want, command the world, and do whatever you want! Since ancient times, countless moral gentlemen and humble scholars have fallen at its feet, no one can resist its temptation, what's the point of brothers?

  The first to be "placed" was Ning Wang, who was forced to follow Zhu Di's "Jingnan", and in order to gain his wholehearted support, Zhu Di also gave him a blank check "after the success, the world will be divided".

  Of course, Zhu Di, the banker who never cashed checks, was no exception this time. After the success of Jingnan, he threw away these words.

  Ning King Zhu Quan was also a sensible person, he knew that the so-called promise of dividing the world was purely fictional and had never been heard of before. Dividing his head was very likely to happen, so he practically proposed to Zhu Di: I don't want to go north, nor do I want to hold military power, I hope you can seal me in Suzhou and live a comfortable life for two days.

  Zhu Di's answer is no.

  Then go to Qiantang area, it's also good there.

  Still no good, Zhu Di promised him again: apart from these two places, you can choose anywhere in the country!

  King Ning Zhu Quan bitterly smiled and said: "Do you dare to provoke again? You deal with it."

  Then, Zhu Quan was sealed in Nanchang, which was carefully selected by Zhu Di for him. The mood of Zhu Quan, who was forcibly sent away, would not be pleasant. He, who had always been competitive and eager to win, was actually brutally humiliated, and he would never surrender. This emotion is like a poisonous germ, constantly growing in his heart and passing on to his children and grandchildren.

  The opportunity for revenge will eventually come.

  In the fourth year of Yongle (1406), in May, he was stripped of his title as King of Qi and his official posts, and in August, he was demoted to a commoner.

  In 1408, the sixth year of Yongle, the officials and guards of the King of Min were abolished.

  In 1412, the tenth year of Yongle, the officials and guards of the Prince of Liaoning were abolished.

  In 1421, the guards of the Prince of Zhou were abolished.

  Thus, the problem that Jianwen Emperor failed to solve was finally solved by his uncle Zhu Di.

  The abolition of the vassal states, which was the first major event during the reign of Emperor Jianwen, was ultimately accomplished by Zhu Di, the King of Yan, which is truly a great irony.

  After completing these good deeds, Zhu Di was finally able to put his energy into handling state affairs. In fact, he proved to be an excellent emperor, and we will also apply those clichés about the restoration of production and diligence in governance that are often said after a wise king ascends to the throne to him. Once again, it's a scene of peace and prosperity.

  It seems that the following statement should be extremely dull.

  Unfortunately, Zhu Di was not an ordinary wise and brilliant emperor. His story is far more tortuous and mysterious than those peaceful emperors, because around him, there have always been two mysteries that have puzzled later generations for hundreds of years. Below, we will conduct our own investigation into these enigmas in the hope of finding the truth.

  Mother and son don't recognize each other

  The Yongle Emperor's Records state: Empress Gao (Empress Ma) gave birth to five sons, the eldest being Crown Prince Zhao.

  The next was Zhu Di (also known as the Yongle Emperor), and then came Zhou Wang Hu. This is what the official history records, from which it can be seen that Zhu Di was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma.

  But is it really so?

  In the first year of Zhongzheng (1360 AD), Zhu Di was born in the midst of war, he was the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang. This is not wrong, but the mother who gave birth to him with a painful delivery, gave him life and raised him up was not Empress Ma, the woman with a happy smile watching him being born had long been buried by history.

  In fact, after hundreds of years of investigation by historians, until now, we still do not know the real name of this mother, and even her true identity is controversial. These mysteries were man-made. Because someone did not want this mother to reveal her identity, and did not acknowledge that she had a son named Zhu Di.

  The one who concealed the truth was Zhu Di himself.

  Because Zhu Di was the emperor and also an emperor who usurped his nephew's throne, he must be the son of Empress Ma, because only in this way could he be considered legitimate and have enough capital to inherit the throne.

  He absolutely cannot be the son of a lowly concubine! Absolutely not!

  It was for these political reasons that this mother was deprived of the right to have a son, and she could never, like other mothers, watch her children grow up with joy and proudly say to those around her: "Look, that's my son!"

  In all the official histories, she was just an ordinary concubine, without a prominent family background, no children worth being proud of, living an ordinary life and then dying an ordinary death.

  Although Zhu Di repeatedly revised the history books and destroyed many pieces of evidence, history cannot conceal that this sentence is very reasonable, and the flaws do exist, and what's even more unbelievable is that they exist in the official historical records.

  The first flaw is in the Ming History "Huang Zicheng Biography", which records: "Zicheng said: King Zhou, King Yan's mother's younger brother." From this sentence, we can clearly understand a fact, that is, King Yan Zhu Di and King Zhou are brothers of the same parents. Some people may think this is a redundant sentence, because the "Yongle Shilu" also records that they two are maternal brothers, but the problem is, who is their mother?

  Then comes the second flaw. In "The Biography of Empress Ma, the Consort of Emperor Taizu", it is recorded: "She died in the ninth month of the seventh year of Hongwu (1378), at the age of 32. The emperor, because she had no son, ordered Crown Prince Zhu Biao to wear mourning clothes for three years." This means that after the death of the empress, since there was no son, Crown Prince Zhu Biao was appointed to wear mourning clothes for three years, but a crucial sentence follows: "A son mourns his birth mother for three years, and many sons mourn their stepmother for one year. It started with the empress."

  "The son of a concubine mourns for three years for his birth mother!" Look closely at this sentence, the key is right here. It was precisely because King Zhou was a son of a concubine that he could acknowledge his concubine mother as his stepmother and mourn for her for three years. Introducing our previous condition that Prince Yan and King Zhou were brothers, everyone should have a clear understanding of Zhu Di's identity now.

  If someone does not understand, I can describe this reasoning process in a simpler and clearer way.

  Condition a: Zhou Wang and Yan Wang are maternal half-brothers;

  Condition b: Zhou Wang was a concubine's son;

  It can be concluded that c, King Yan was a bastard son.

  This is a record in the official historical books, and as for unofficial histories, there are countless ones. Since this is an extremely important issue, we do not quote unofficial histories, but another book that should belong to official historical records, "Nanjing Taichang Temple Records", once recorded the true identity of Zhu Biao's mother - Consort Boluo.

  Here, let's first talk about what kind of institution the Taichang Temple is. The Taichang Temple belongs to a ritual agency and is mainly responsible for sacrificial rites, music, and other ceremonial matters. All events such as enthronement, wind measurement, weddings, and military expeditions must be organized and implemented by this agency in advance, so its records are the most accurate. It can be said that with the records of the Taichang Temple, there is nothing to dispute about this matter, but good things often encounter obstacles, and a new problem has arisen.

  The book has been lost.

  Some people may scold me when they see this, saying that after talking so much, the result is just empty words, isn't it just teasing people?

  I apologize sincerely, because this book is not lost by me either. Even if you search through all the libraries, you won't be able to find this book. However, don't worry, although I haven't read this book myself, ancient people have read it and left records in their own books. As recorded in "Guo Shi Yi Kao" and "San Yuan Bi Ji", it is indeed written in "Nanjing Tai Chang Temple Records" that Zhu Biao's mother was Consort Shu, while the arrangement of the divine seats at the Mausoleum of Filial Piety has on the left: one seat for Li Shu Fei, who gave birth to Crown Prince Zhu Biao, Qin Wang and Jin Wang; and on the right: one seat for Consort Shu, who gave birth to Zhu Di.

  In ancient times, the arrangement of gods' seats was not arranged according to surname strokes, but strictly according to identity.

  The "San Yuan Notes" also pointed out that Qian Qianyi (a scholar of the late Ming Dynasty, later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty)

  In 1645, on New Year's Day, he paid homage to the Mausoleum of Filial Piety and found that the arrangement of the spirit tablets was exactly as recorded in the "Nanjing Taichang Temple Gazetteer". The spirit tablet of Consort Yuan was placed in the first position on the right, which showed her high status.

  Although the evidence mentioned above cannot be compared with Ming Shi, from a legal perspective, it can also be considered as witness testimony and indirect evidence. When we connect all the evidence together, we will find that Zhu Di's mother's identity should already be quite clear.

  Here is also a special note, the issue of Cheng Zu's mother's identity has been argued by two famous historians in our country, Mr. Wu Han and Mr. Fu Sinian, I would like to pay tribute to these two great predecessors, they have unveiled the mystery of history for us and restored the truth of history.

  Unfortunately, the life of the mother who gave birth to Zhu Di is no longer known to us. We only know that her son erased almost all traces she left in the world and refused to acknowledge himself as her son.

  For Power

  Zhu Di once again paid homage to the spirit tablet of Empress Ma, although Empress Ma was indeed a kind and benevolent elder, and although she had also taken great care of him, but after all, she was not his own mother.

  I also had no choice but to do this in order to ascend the throne, and it was already a narrow escape from death. If I were to take on the name of a concubine's son again, how could I convince others? How could I be at peace?

  So I altered the records, so I destroyed the evidence. I absolutely cannot acknowledge you as my mother! The only thing I can do is to remove your divine throne and elevate your status. This is all I can do. I know this is not enough, nor is it sufficient to repay the love of nurturing me, but I have no other choice.

  You are my mother, only in my heart, forever.

  Brothers cannot coexist

  Is Emperor Jianwen really dead? This was a question that Zhu Di had thought about for a long time, twenty-two years to be exact. He started thinking about it from the fourth year of Jianwen (1402 AD) when he successfully suppressed the rebellion, until the 21st year of Yongle (1423 AD). Not disappointing those who were determined, he finally found the answer to this question just one year before his death.

  Let's go back to the summer of Jianwen 4th year (AD 1402) and look at the beginning of the mystery.

  On June 13, Li Jinglong opened the Golden River Gate and became a shameless traitor, allowing the Northern Army to enter the city. However, Zhu Di did not immediately attack the inner city. His goal was to wait for Emperor Jianwen to either take his own life or surrender, as if he thought that Emperor Jianwen had no other choice but these two options. But Emperor Jianwen was destined to oppose him all his life. He chose a third option.

  When Zhu Di, who was camping at Longjiang Inn, found out that the palace city was on fire, he was in a great panic. He immediately ordered his soldiers to enter the city. Putting out the fire was secondary; what was most important was finding something - Jianwen Emperor, dead or alive, as long as they could see him!

  Zhu Di was well aware of the pros and cons of this matter. Even if Jianwen Emperor died, at most he would be accused of forcing his monarch to death, and his infamy would be enough, not lacking in this one. If he lived, he would be locked up, and he wasn't afraid that he would fly into the sky.

  But the most frightening thing is disappearance, if the emperor disappears, it will be troublesome.

  Zhu Yunwen was after all the legitimate emperor, while he himself had only occupied the capital and most of the country still owed allegiance to him. If Zhu Yunwen were to escape and find a place to rally ministers to restore the emperor and lead an army to attack him, the outcome would be far from certain.

  But, as feared, after a thorough search, Zhu Yunwen's body was nowhere to be found! Zhu Di was frantic like an ant on a hot pot and ordered the soldiers to intensify their search, but still nothing was gained. Some people might wonder, since Zhu Di had already seized power, shouldn't it be easy to find someone?

  To be honest with you, it's really not easy, because this person can't be openly looked for.

  Firstly, it is impossible to post a wanted notice with words like "return immediately after seeing the notice", as this would be ineffective. Secondly, it is also impossible to put up a warrant for arrest with promises of heavy rewards, because according to Zhu Di's own account, his actions were aimed at eliminating evil ministers and the Emperor had done nothing wrong, so how could he be wanted? Therefore, this approach won't work either. Finally, he cannot openly send people to search on a large scale, as this would be equivalent to telling everyone that Jianwen Emperor is still alive, and those with ulterior motives in their hearts will inevitably become restless, and the throne will be unstable.

  But again, it can't be ignored. What if one day a Jianwen Emperor appears? Regardless of whether he's real or fake, his rallying power is definitely there. Even if the situation is brought under control, tomorrow or the next day, two or three more may appear, making it impossible for people to live in peace. Haven't you seen how the so-called "Zhu San Taizi" caused the Qing dynasty to be restless for over a hundred years? This is really a matter of life and death!

  To solve this problem, Zhu Di came up with a perfect plan, which was divided into two parts:

  Firstly, it was announced to the outside world that Jianwen Emperor had been found dead in the palace. This meant that all loyal ministers of Jianwen Emperor should give up their hopes.

  Secondly, send people to secretly investigate the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen. The specific investigation work was done by two people, and their routes were also different, one in the mainland and the other overseas. The names of these two people are Hu Muo and Zheng He.

  Everyone is familiar with the story of Zheng He, and we will introduce in detail the great feats triggered by this accidental event in the following chapters. Here, let's talk about Hu Mo's problem on this road.

  Hu Mian, a native of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, was neither a direct descendant of the imperial family nor a descendant of a high-ranking official. He had a straightforward personality, and his emotions were easily discernible from his facial expressions. At that time, he only held the position of Give Secretary, without any powerful backing, and could be said to be a minor figure with little influence.

  He was an inconspicuous figure in the imperial court of China and Korea.

  But Zhu Di chose him precisely because he was the kind of person who could carry out such a secret mission.

  No one asks, no one cares, even if something happens, it can be declared that this person has nothing to do with me. Who else will go if you don't?

  In the fifth year of Yongle (1407 AD), Hu Bin set out with an extremely secret mission, and Zhu Di gave him a public reason - to find the immortal. This reason was really appropriate, because the immortal was originally a dragon that appeared in the head but not in the tail, but it was indeed worth searching for, and even if he couldn't find one in a hundred years, no one would suspect anything. Hu Bin thus began the most important work of his life - to search for people.

  Of course, Zhu Di and he himself knew that what he was looking for was not an immortal, but a dead man, at least someone who had been issued a death certificate.

  Zhu Dian looked at Hu Miao's distant figure, hoping that the news of that person would reach his ears as soon as possible. Dead or alive, as long as he knew, it was fine. As always, he believed that his choice was correct, and this person would definitely tell him the answer to the question.

  His judgment was correct, and Hu Miao would indeed give him an answer. He had also made preparations for a long wait, but he hadn't expected the waiting time to be really that long.

  Hu Bin began to faithfully fulfill his duties, he "traveled all over the country, secretly investigating where Emperor Jianwen was", during which even his own mother passed away, but he did not return home to mourn, instead continuing his work, searching for this secret had become an important part of his life. His efforts were not in vain, and finally, he found the answer, sixteen years later.

  Since the answer will be revealed sixteen years later, let's take a look at why there is such a big controversy over whether Jianwen Emperor died or not. In fact, most of the historical materials in the Ming Dynasty believed that Jianwen Emperor did not die, and some unofficial histories also recorded various situations when Jianwen Emperor escaped, although they are unreliable, but can be seen as a reference.

  According to the book "Zhi Shen Lu" published during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, on the day when the city was broken, Jianwen Emperor was desperate and wanted to kill himself. At this time, a eunuch suddenly stood up and said: "When the Taizu emperor passed away, he left behind a box and said that it could only be opened in times of great difficulty. Now is the time, please Your Majesty open the box."

  Then, they took out the box and opened it, and found that everything was intact, including the monk's degree, kasaya, monk's hat, razor, and even ten taels of white gold. What's more surprising is that there was also a handwritten instruction from Zhu Yuanzhang, indicating the escape route. Thus, Jianwen Emperor and others escaped from here to ascend to heaven.

  After reading the above records, I believe everyone may have a sense of familiarity. Indeed, these records seem to have the style and plot of martial arts novels. Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed clever and calculating, but not to this extent. Even if he predicted that his grandson would run away in the future, it's unlikely that he could prepare clothes, props, and travel expenses in advance, let alone specify a clear escape route. This is just like in martial arts novels where a hero falls off a cliff and encounters an old master who has been hiding in the mountains for decades or discovers a treasure left behind by a deceased master. Such legendary plots are rare in history.

  Although there are such absurd records, most of the Ming Dynasty's historical materials believe that Jianwen Emperor did not die. So why can this issue still cause so much controversy? This is because later on, an event made Jianwen Emperor's life and death no longer a simple historical issue, but a very complicated political issue.

  This matter is the "Zhu San Taizi" incident, also known as the Ming Dynasty's downfall. Zhu San Taizi did not die but survived to continue organizing anti-Qing activities. This Zhu San Taizi can be considered a god, from Shunzhi to Kangxi and Yongzheng, spanning three dynasties, haunting the Qing rulers like a ghost, fighting on the front lines of the anti-Qing movement until all three emperors died. The Qing government was extremely frustrated with this ghost. Obviously, the story of Jianwen Emperor has many similarities with Zhu San Taizi, so when compiling the Ming history, the Qing government instructed historians to alter this historical record, insisting that Jianwen Emperor had taken his own life.

  It is commendable that many historians adhered to their principles, withstood the pressure, and insisted on the theory that Emperor Jianwen was not dead. However, there are always shameless people in any dynasty, and Wang Hongxu, a renowned scholar, was one of them. His personal character was far inferior to his scholarship. To curry favor with the Qing government, he privately revised the draft of the Ming History (Ming Shi), affirming that Emperor Jianwen had indeed died. As the Ming History is an official historical book, it influenced many people's views on Emperor Jianwen's death until modern times, when historians finally formed a more definite opinion on this issue.

  The truth of history is always shrouded in mist, countless people have embellished and distorted it for various purposes to suit their own needs.

  But I always believe that there is only one truth and it will be revealed someday.