In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang and his army overthrew the rule of the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang was 40 years old when the Ming Dynasty was founded. This age is precisely the energy of human beings in the prime of life.
However, as a founder of a nation, Zhu Yuanzhang was far-sighted who had been clearly aware of the heartless time. After he became an emperor, he was thinking about how to strengthen his authority and cultivate his successors.
Zhu Yuanzhang had many concubines, which made his family very large. Surprisingly, he had 26 sons. Of all the sons, only the eldest son could be the successor of Zhu Yuanzhang according to the rule of the ancient Chinese emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang also knew the rules for choosing a successor. Soon after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed his eldest son, named Zhubiao, as the legitimate heir to the throne.
Sadly, Zhu Yuanzhang’s legal successor died before he could die. Zhubiao died in 1392. It hit Zhu Yuanzhang hard because he had lost his son, who was his first chosen heir to the throne.
After it, the death of Zhubiao made Zhu Yuanzhang very sad, and he needed to rethink his throne should be handed over to which son. When depressed, he thought of the fourth capable son, named Zhudi.
Unfortunately, it was a pity that Zhudi was the fourth of all Zhu Yuanzhang’s sons, which meant that the emperor’s successor could never be Zhudi. Because if given to Zhudi, his three elder brothers would not be happy, even causing a rebellion. Meanwhile, the character of Zhubiao’s son was similar to his father, which made Zhu Yuanzhang like his grandson particularly.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Zhu Yuanzhang finally decided to designate Zhubiao’s son as the heir to the throne. At this point, Jianwen Emperor became the only legal successor to Zhu Yuanzhang after his death.
In 1398, Jianwen Emperor became the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty when his grandfather died. Then the unexpected was that Jianwen’s uncle, Yongle, was about to bring a storm to the Ming Dynasty.
