Where did Emperor Jianwen go in history?

In the first year of Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1399), King Zhu Di of Yan raised an army in the name of "Qing Jun Side". Four years later, the Yan army invaded Nanjing, and Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen disappeared.

As for the whereabouts of Zhu Yunwen, the "History of the Ming Dynasty" records: "A fire broke out in the palace, and the emperor did not know where he ended up." King Yan sent his envoys to kill the emperor and his queen's corpse in the fire? Zhu Yunwen's fate was explained in just a few strokes. There was a fire in the palace, and Zhu Yunwen's whereabouts were unknown. Later, Zhu Di found several unrecognizable remains, claimed them to be the remains of the emperor and empress, and then buried them.

Of course, this statement is not convinced at all. Everyone knows that Zhu Yunwen is very likely not dead, and "being killed" is just Zhu Di's trick. Zhu Yunwen is not dead, and Zhu Di cannot be justified. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, he also secretly searched for the whereabouts of Zhu Yunwen.

So if Zhu Yunwen was not dead, where would he be? There are two versions currently circulating, "becoming a monk" and "fleeing overseas". Which statement is true, or whether none of them are true, the historians have not yet reached a conclusion, and I dare not make a conclusion. But I personally think it is a fact that Zhu Yunwen is not dead. Let me talk about my opinion below.

When it comes to Zhu Di sending people to look for Zhu Yunwen, we have to mention one person. Who is it? It was Hu Hui who was an important minister in the early Ming Dynasty and served in six dynasties.

Hu Hui was a Jinshi in the second year of Jianwen Dynasty. During the Jianwen Dynasty, he served as a military officer. You don’t need to deliberately understand what position this is. All you need to know is that this is a valet position to assist the emperor in handling government affairs. Although the rank is not high, he has the opportunity to have close contact with the emperor, so Hu Di must know Zhu Yunwen. This is also a major reason why Zhu Di asked him to look for Zhu Yunwen in the future.

As for Hu Hui's search for Zhu Yunwen, the history books record it this way:

In the first year of Yongle's reign, he moved to Kedu. Emperor Hui died in the fire, or fled away. Many of his old ministers followed him, and the emperor was suspicious of him. In the past five years, I have been sent to all the prefectures, counties, villages and towns all over the world to observe Emperor Jianwen's presence. In the 21st year of his reign, he returned to the court and paid a visit to the emperor in Xuan Mansion. The emperor had gone to bed. Hearing the arrival of the emperor, he got up in a hurry and summoned him in. I learned that what I heard was correct, and after missing the four drums, I came out. Before Xian Ming arrived, it was rumored that Emperor Jianwen was sailing across the sea. The emperor sent his minister Zheng He to sail to the Western Ocean for several generations, and the doubts began to be clarified.

This record is relatively long, so we will analyze it in sections:

First of all, after Zhu Di ascended the throne, he promoted Hu Hui. The main purpose of Zhu Di's promotion to Jianwen's old minister was to win people's hearts and win over the people. It is not difficult to understand that he does things. And this record also said that Zhu Yunwen was very likely to escape, and Zhu Di was also suspicious.

So in the fifth year of Yongle, he officially sent Hu Hui to look for Zhu Yunwen among the people. So how long did Hu Hui look for? The answer is 16 years. He left in the fifth year of Yongle. In the twenty-first year of Yongle, he returned to the court and visited the emperor in Xuan Mansion. So Hu Xi never came back during this period? The answer is yes. During the past sixteen years, Hu Hui's mother passed away. He applied to return to his hometown to observe filial piety, but Zhu Di refused. For this reason, Zhu Di promoted him to the left minister of the Ministry of Rites to appease him. In ancient times, the world was governed by filial piety. When the minister's mother died, he was not allowed to return home to observe filial piety. This was not in line with etiquette at all. It was somewhat ironic that he was promoted to Minister of Rites despite being in line with etiquette.

But Zhu Di would rather have people scold him for being ruthless and unjust, and resolutely not let Hu Hui come back. This shows his determination to find Emperor Jianwen. Doesn't this also tell us that Zhu Di is convinced that Zhu Yunwen Not dead yet? Why else would he be in such a hurry?

In any case, after sixteen years, Hu Hui finally got news. He paid a visit to the emperor in Xuanfu. At that time, Zhu Di was still in Xuanfu to conquer Mongolia. Hu Hui rushed there quickly. Zhu Di was already asleep, but when he learned that Hu Hui was coming, he immediately called him over. Hu Hui told Zhu Di everything he knew. The two talked for a long time. How long? After missing four drums, he came out? , roughly around 2:30 in the morning.

Just imagine, if there was no emergency, why would the two of them talk at half past two? So Hu Di must have known the whereabouts of Zhu Yunwen. Only this matter would arouse Zhu Di's great interest. , so is Zhu Yunwen dead? He should not be dead. Why? If Zhu Yunwen died, the two would still not talk about it at 2:30. Zhu Di cares about the living Zhu Yunwen rather than the dead Zhu Yunwen.

Therefore, we can imagine that Hu Xi found Zhu Yunqi and even met Zhu Yunqi. The throne was lost and the situation was over. Zhu Yunqi expressed to Hu Xi that he had no intention of resetting. He asked Hu Xi to general He conveyed his thoughts to Zhu Di, and Zhu Di also asked carefully about Zhu Yunwen's current situation and was filled with emotion. As for whether he will send people to eradicate the roots in the future, it is unknown.

But there is no doubt that after Hu Hui finished speaking, Zhu Di's doubts began to be resolved, and he no longer had any doubts in his heart. This also shows that what Hu Hui and Zhu Di talked about that night must be The whereabouts of Zhu Yunwen.