Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

Let me briefly introduce Zhu Quan.

At first, I wanted to write about Zhu Quan, so I collected a lot of information about Prince Ning and finally condensed it into 2,000 words. It's worth my love for it.

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Hongwu ten years.

The fourth prince Zhu Di was only 18 years old. Together with other princes, he went to Fengyang, Anhui to "go to the countryside", experiencing the final training before being crowned king.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao officially began to participate in state affairs, and all government affairs, big or small, were reported to the Crown Prince;

In the same year, Zhu Yuanzhang's concubine gave birth to a prince——

The Seventeenth Prince Zhu Quan (May 1378, 5 - 27)

There is not much historical data about Zhu Quan (for historical reasons), but research on Zhu Quan is very complicated.

Because Zhu Quan's contributions to culture are so many and so great, he is the most outstanding all-rounder in the Ming Dynasty.

For example, his Guqin music score "Shen Qi Mi Pu" is the first collection of pure music scores in Chinese history and has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO.

For example, his "Taiqing Yuce" almost reconstructed the Taoist program and had a huge impact on the subsequent development of Taoism.

This versatile person wrote and compiled more than 70 books in his lifetime, of which about 30 are still in existence.

The fields involved are wide-ranging, such as literature, Taoism, folk art, medicine, drama, and miscellaneous studies.

In addition to being knowledgeable, he was also a great craftsman. The "Zhonghe" zither he made, also known as "Flying Waterfalls and Linked Pearls", is a rare and precious zither in history and is known as the best zither in the Ming Dynasty.

Such overflowing talent has its reasons, if you study it carefully.

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It is generally recognized that Zhu Yuanzhang's most beloved son was the young Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

With Zhu Biao, the most perfect prince, as a benchmark, Zhu Yuanzhang had very high expectations for his subsequent sons.

The princes basically had to be proficient in both civil and military skills, and they could not fall behind in either of them, and they had to perform outstandingly, so that they could have some sense of presence in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, the two aspects of civil and military affairs have different emphases in different periods.

The early princes who lived during Zhu Yuanzhang's entrepreneurial period were all inclined towards military affairs.

Later, when the Ming Dynasty was initially established and was in the period of maintaining the status quo, it naturally began to focus on literature.

Zhu Quan's ranking is in the middle and back.

Even in ordinary families, the middle child is likely to be ignored. Being in the royal family is not just a matter of being ignored by parents. In the harem, concubines, female officials, eunuchs, palace maids, and servants, if the mother and child are both invisible, it is likely that their life will not be very good.

As a child who was neither the best nor the worst, Zhu Quan could only stand out by being outstanding.

Therefore, as a gifted child, Zhu Quan was not only good at studying, but also good at fighting.

Soon, he broke out.

The twenty-fourth year of Hongwu.

Zhu Quan was only fourteen years old when he was named Prince of Ning, the first Prince of Ning in the Ming Dynasty.

The twenty-sixth year of Hongwu.

The sixteen-year-old Zhu Quan was enfeoffed in Daning and became a prince of a border town with great military and political power. Together with other brothers, he built a heavy military defense line in the north of the Ming Empire to defend against Mongolia.

How high Zhu Quan's military power is can be seen from the few sentences left in the Ming History:

Daning is located outside Xifengkou, in the ancient Huizhou area, connected to Liaozuo in the east and Xuanfu in the west, and is a huge town. It has 80,000 soldiers and 6,000 leather chariots. The cavalry of the three Duoyan guards are all brave and good at fighting. Quan often led the kings to go out of the border and was known for his good strategies. ——"Ming History·Biography of Zhu Quan"

It was mentioned earlier that Daning was a huge town and Prince Ning had a large army under his command. Prince Ning also went out to fight with other princes on several occasions.

The last sentence, however, changes the subject and says that Prince Ning’s greatest strength is his strategy.

Some people in later generations said based on the history of Ming Dynasty that Prince Yan was good at fighting and Prince Ning was good at planning.

But Gua thinks that it is very likely that most of Ning Wang’s battle records have been deleted.

It was impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to station a prince who was unable to fight in an important town, give him a large number of troops, and give him the three guards of Doyan.

What's more, Zhu Quan was only sixteen years old.

Some people say that among the princes stationed in the nine passes at that time, most of the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and nineteenth sons also became princes at the age of sixteen.

But the problem is that Jiusai’s situation is not the same.

Compared with the above-mentioned princes, only Prince Ning’s fiefdom was surrounded by Northern Yuan tribes.

The military force under the command of Prince Ning is the second largest among the Nine Passes.

If the combat effectiveness of the three guards of Doyan is taken into account, Prince Ning can actually control more troops than Zhu Di, who ranks first.

Therefore, Prince Ning's martial arts skills are definitely excellent among all the princes.

"Xianzhenglu·Ningxian Wangquan Biography" says:

Born with a bright and handsome appearance, fair skin and a beautiful face. ... He was born with a wise mind. He loved to learn and read ancient books. He was well versed in Buddhism and Taoism, and was particularly knowledgeable in history.

The simple explanation is that Zhu Quan not only had good academic performance and a keen interest in many other fields, but he was also handsome and fair-skinned, with a good beard, which was a standard feature of handsome men in the Ming Dynasty.

He is both talented in literature and martial arts, has a wide range of interests and is good-looking.

If Zhu Quan had been a little bolder, Zhu Di might not have necessarily succeeded to the throne.

It can only be said that the education Zhu Quan received since childhood restricted him.

Zhu Di watched his father Zhu Yuanzhang conquer the world inch by inch, and was influenced by Zhu Yuanzhang. He worshipped the strong as the king and had the mentality of an entrepreneur.

What Zhu Quan received since childhood was how to become a wise king and a wise minister, and how to assist the emperor in governing the country.

So when Zhu Yunwen began to reduce the power of the princes, his first choice was to stand by and watch.

Zhu Quan had no brothers from the same mother, and he was not close to the few who were stripped of their fiefdoms. When the knife was about to fall on his head, he just watched.

Zhu Yunwen, who had just ascended the throne, was unstable and started fighting as soon as he came to power. Not only did he incur public anger, but he also directed his attacks at Zhu Di. However, he had an army of one million.

Zhu Di was first of all the oldest among the remaining princes, secondly he was good at military affairs, and thirdly he had a strong army in Beiping and a deep connection with the court. However, he fought against the whole country with the military force of a small corner of Yan.

No matter how you look at it, this is a civil war that cannot be bet on in advance.

As everyone has selfish desires, he should have thought about the supreme position.

However, the education he received to cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world did not allow him to seize the world by rebelling and overthrowing the current monarch.

So, in general, Zhu Quan wanted to wait for an opportunity.

Waiting to be on the winning side.

Or he could wait until both sides were defeated so that he could have the opportunity to clean up the mess and take over the world legitimately.

But this wait led to him being taken in.

He was kidnapped by Zhu Di, who launched the "Jingnan" campaign, and his most elite troops were taken away. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he was exiled to a remote place.

After that, Zhu Quan could only devote himself to religion, music, medicine, drama, literature, history, tea ceremony, painting, agronomy, etc., and left many excellent classics for later generations.

Appendix - A poem written by Zhu Quan in his later years:

The light bathing in the Xianchi is bright, and suddenly it seems as if it is cast into the Yuyuan at dusk.

Suddenly, there are thousands of stars in the blue sky, and people compete to see the crescent moon in broad daylight.

The birds of Shu are crying in a disorderly manner as if it is night; the priests are running madly, blaming the heavens.

I can't see the sun in Chang'an when I look up, but the world is clearly before my eyes.