My father, Zhu Di, was granted a second life by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Chapter 132 Why did Emperor Jianwen lose to Zhu Di?

When the old emperor shed tears of sorrow, Zhu Gaoxi had no choice but to offer words of comfort and attend to him, undertaking some secretarial work.

"Although your father has the protection of the Three Guards Prince's Mansion, it is only enough to protect himself. The imperial army is deployed in a complex and interconnected manner. Once the princes raise an army, the imperial court will mobilize troops from all over the country to suppress them. How can your father possibly resist?" The old emperor suddenly put down his pen and asked with great doubt.

Unexpectedly, the old emperor suddenly brought up this matter, and Zhu Gaoxi was completely unprepared. He could only answer based on his memory, "Perhaps Emperor Jianwen thought that the court would surely win by using its strength to subdue the weak and its power to suppress the small, and therefore he was somewhat careless."

"Your father has already raised an army. No matter how confident he is, he still has to send troops to fight, right?" The old emperor was clearly dissatisfied with such a vague answer.

"When the news of my father’s rapid control of Beiping and the surrounding areas reached the capital, it caused panic in the court and among the people. However, at that time, Emperor Jianwen was busy discussing the restoration of the old system with Fang Xiaoru and entrusted the matter of reducing the power of the princes to Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai."

"The fire's already raging, and he's still clinging to the past?!" The old emperor's anxiety revealed his linguistic habits.

"Emperor Jianwen, following the example of the Rites of Zhou, made several changes to the names of officials, palaces, and halls, and even restored the well-field system," Zhu Gaoxi said, carefully considering his words as he observed the situation. "My father raised an army on the fifth day of the seventh month, captured Huailai on the sixteenth day of the seventh month, and it wasn't until the twenty-ninth day of the seventh month, when my uncle fled back to the capital, that Emperor Jianwen summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures."

By this time, the king's memorial had also been sent to the capital. For nearly twenty days, it was impossible for the king to be completely unaware of the uprising, yet he still did not take any countermeasures.

Perhaps Emperor Jianwen was too busy exploring the official system and laws of the Zhou Dynasty to pay attention to this matter.

Perhaps Emperor Jianwen believed that Beiping was just a small place, and the court had the army of the whole country, so he was sure to win. Therefore, he did not take it seriously and entrusted Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai with important military matters such as sending troops and appointing generals.

Emperor Jianwen's fondness for poetry and literature, his immersion in the beautiful fantasies described in those words, and his unwillingness to face reality may have been one of the reasons for his ultimate downfall.

Having said so much in one breath, Zhu Gaoxi felt a bit thirsty, so he picked up his cup and drank several mouthfuls of milk to moisten his throat.

"We think he's overconfident and foolish!" The old emperor slammed his fist on the table, his anger blazing. "If the fourth prince is a pushover, how can he defend against foreign enemies? He doesn't even know how capable his own uncle is, yet he's still indulging in wishful thinking about weakening the power of the princes!"

The old emperor's temper was already boiling over, so Zhu Gaoxi didn't need to add fuel to the fire and simply leaned against the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) to rest.

"Sit down if you're tired, we're not punishing you," the old emperor said with a pained reproach.

Zhu Gaoxi smiled gratefully and ingratiatingly, sat down opposite the old emperor, picked up the teapot, filled the teacup with water, and pushed it over, "Grandpa, have some hot tea."

The old emperor took a small sip of the steaming hot broth, then asked, "Besides underestimating the enemy, what other fatal mistakes did Emperor Jianwen make?"

"The first general sent by Emperor Jianwen to lead the northern expedition was Geng Bingwen, the Marquis of Changxing," Zhu Gaoxi replied briefly.

Geng Bingwen was six years younger than Zhu Yuanzhang. He was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Changxing because he had long been stationed in Changxing, which was located at the mouth of Taihu Lake.

Changxing, the gateway to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, was a strategically vital location that Zhang Shicheng coveted.

Over the course of ten years, Zhang Shicheng repeatedly sent troops to seize the territory, but Geng Bingwen remained calm and composed, winning against overwhelming odds each time and successfully repelling the invading forces. He was invincible and made outstanding contributions.

Later, Geng Bingwen led his troops to fight against Zhang Shicheng, captured Huzhou, and conquered Pingjiang Road. He accumulated merits and was promoted to the position of Commander of the Grand General's Office. He then made many military achievements in the Ming army's northern expedition and western expedition.

Based on the above resume, it can be seen that Geng Bingwen was quite skilled in defending cities and could stand alone, but offensive operations were not his forte, and he mostly followed the orders of General Xu Da.

Upon hearing that Geng Bingwen was leading troops on a northern expedition, Zhu Di led his army to launch a preemptive strike. He first captured Xiongxian County on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, then ambushed and defeated the reinforcements at Yueyang Bridge, and subsequently forced the surrender of Mozhou. In one day, he annihilated nearly 30,000 of Geng Bingwen's vanguard troops.

Geng Bingwen was known for his cautious approach to military affairs. Zhu Di then used surrendered soldiers to make a show of force before actually deploying them, which prompted Geng Bingwen, who was encamped on both sides of the Hutuo River, to combine his forces for defense.

Zhu Di led the elite Yan troops day and night, galloping swiftly to Zhengding. Taking advantage of the fact that the Yan troops on the south bank had crossed north and that the defenses had become weak, he led his troops in a surprise attack, charging and fighting fiercely like a tiger.

Geng Bingwen hastily engaged in battle, and his formation was thrown into disarray. Taking advantage of this, the Yan soldiers charged like a whirlwind, breaking through the enemy lines.

The Yan army launched a fierce attack, and Geng Bingwen commanded his troops to fight and retreat into the city. He closed the city gates, ordered his troops not to fight, and planned to defend the city and make the most of their strengths.

Zhu Di besieged the city for three days without success and was at his wits' end.

After a protracted siege with no progress, continuing the siege would only deplete morale and was not the best course of action. Zhu Di had no choice but to lead his troops back to Beiping to rest and regroup.

The fact that the Yan army voluntarily withdrew from the siege indicates that Geng Bingwen's defensive strategy was basically successful and feasible. If Geng Bingwen had been firmly stationed in Zhengding like a fixed point, blocking Zhu Di's southward advance, and defending as an offensive tactic, the Prince of Yan would have been defeated by the protracted war of attrition alone. This would have been a good strategy for the court to win.

However, Emperor Jianwen and his team did not think so. Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai believed that the northern expedition should be swift and decisive, and that Geng Bingwen should bear the main responsibility for the initial defeat. Therefore, they decided to replace the general on the eve of the battle.

With the outcome of the Battle of Zhengding still uncertain, Emperor Jianwen, eager for victory, replaced the battle-hardened Geng Bingwen with Cao Guogong Li Jinglong, following the advice of Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai.

It is true that Li Jinglong was Li Wenzhong's son, but he did not inherit his father's fighting skills.

However, Emperor Jianwen failed to see that Li Jinglong was merely a theorist and could not be relied upon. He held a grand departure ceremony for Li Jinglong and granted him full authority, allowing him to "act as he sees fit."

Emperor Jianwen's grand and high-profile dispatch of Li Jinglong to the expedition had extremely limited practical effect. The Prince of Yan was not easily intimidated; no matter how grand the preparations in the capital were, the outcome would ultimately be decided on the battlefield. The only use of the campaign was perhaps to bolster his own courage.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Di bluntly called Li Jinglong a "spoiled brat" and calmly analyzed for his generals the five major signs of his defeat: "lack of strategy, arrogance, and ignorance of military tactics."

"How could Li Jinglong be a match for the fourth prince?" the old emperor said with mixed feelings upon hearing this.

His son is capable, and as a father, he should be proud.

However, upon hearing of the fratricide among his descendants, the old emperor felt extremely heavy-hearted and couldn't help but sigh, thinking that it would have been better to let the fourth son inherit the throne from the beginning to avoid any unnecessary war.

"Xi'er, if you were to succeed to the throne, do you have a way to appease your father and prevent him from raising an army?" The old emperor looked at his eldest grandson and asked earnestly.

"Father's Jingnan campaign was out of sheer desperation, not for the sake of seizing the throne. If it weren't for Emperor Jianwen's relentless pressure, and Father's repeated forbearance until there was no way out, why would he risk his reputation to start a rebellion? I love Father dearly and will certainly not push you into a corner. Grandfather, you can rest assured," Zhu Gaoxi said from the perspective of father-son affection.

"What if your father remains obstinate and insists on vying for the throne?" the old emperor pressed, his face serious.