Jingnan campaign

Civil war

1399

At the onset of the war, Zhu Di commanded a force of 100,000 soldiers and held authority only within his fief in Beijing. In contrast, the Nanjing government had three times the number of troops and significantly more resources, but its superiority was not as clear-cut as it seemed. Zhu Di was a decisive and exceptionally capable commander, leading an elite group of Ming soldiers, including a large contingent of Mongolian cavalry. On the other hand, the imperial party was weakened by the indecisiveness and poor coordination of its commanders, and by the court's focus on administrative reorganization rather than the urgent demands of the war.

The war officially began in August 1399 when the Emperor appointed Marquis Geng Bingwen (c. 1339–1404), a retired and experienced general, as the commander of the troops tasked with suppressing the rebellion. In an attempt to defeat the rebels near Beijing, Geng marched on 11 September 1399 with 130,000 soldiers to Zhending, a city southwest of Beijing. Two weeks later, he suffered a defeat north of the city with heavy losses. Zhu Di then besieged him in Zhending for three days, but was unable to conquer the well-fortified city and eventually retreated. The court replaced Geng with Li Jinglong, but the new commander did not improve the management of the troops. Instead of launching offensive actions, he waited and gathered troops in an attempt to later crush the enemy with numerical superiority.

In mid-October, Zhu Di left Beijing to recruit new soldiers, leaving the city under the control of his eldest son Zhu Gaochi. Li saw this as an opportunity and marched against Beijing with a new army, besieging the city on 12 November. Meanwhile, Zhu Di had secured his power in the northeast by subjugating Zhu Quan, Prince of Ning, who was based at Daning north of the Great Wall. He also recruited three guard units of Mongol cavalry, giving him a total of 80,000 troops. He quickly returned to Beijing and on 2 December, he surprised the besiegers by attacking their camp. At the same time, Zhu Gaochi set out to attack from within the city. The government's army, taken aback by the sudden attack and suffering from the cold, retreated first to Zhending and then to Dezhou in Shandong. In December 1399, Zhu Di issued another proclamation accusing the Emperor's associates, Qi and Huang, of crimes. The Emperor then removed them from office, but continued to consult with them.

1400

In January 1400, Zhu Di launched an offensive in Shanxi, advancing towards Datong at its northern tip. Li, however, did not react until March, when Zhu Di had already left Datong and returned to Dezhou. This delay resulted in many soldiers from the south perishing due to exhaustion from the long march and harsh weather conditions.

In May, the two armies, consisting of a total of 600,000 soldiers, engaged in the battle of Baoding in central Beiping. Li attempted to outflank the enemy, but the maneuver was hindered by heavy rains and floods. The government army suffered significant casualties and was forced to retreat in disarray to Dezhou on 30 May, and then continued south to Jinan. Zhu Di then faced a threat from a government cavalry raid led by Ping An (平安), but were ultimately saved by the arrival of reinforcements led by Zhu Gaoxu, his son.

In early June, Zhu Di launched an offensive by marching on Dezhou and was successful in crushing Li's exhausted troops in front of the city and occupying it. He then advanced to Jinan and began besieging it on 8 June. The city was defended by Ping and Sheng Yong (盛庸), two capable generals serving the government, with the support of Shandong governor Tie Xuan. Under their leadership, several successful sorties were organized against the enemy's advance. When news arrived of a relief army being sent from Nanjing, Zhu Di broke the siege and retreated to Beijing on 4 September. Government troops were able to reclaim Dezhou and other territories lost in 1400.

The Emperor then dismissed Li and appointed Sheng, who had been promoted to marquis, as the new "commander-in-chief for the pacification of the rebel forces". Tie was also appointed as the Minister of War. From the autumn of 1400, Zhu Di, influenced by information from eunuchs and other supporters remaining at the Nanjing court, focused on a war of attrition. He sent his troops on raids to disrupt communications and destroy enemy supplies in southern Beiping and western Shandong.

1401

On 9 and 10 January, the government army successfully defeated the rebels who were attacking Dongchang, a city located on the Grand Canal in Liaocheng prefecture. Sheng's army used firearms and rocket weapons to kill tens of thousands of Zhu Di's soldiers. As they retreated to Beijing, Zhu Di narrowly avoided being captured by Ping's cavalry. The Emperor, encouraged by this triumph, once again appointed Qi and Huang to their previous positions on 31 January.

In an attempt to gain control over the southern region of Beiping province, Zhu Di launched a new offensive in late February. On 5 and 6 April, Sheng was defeated at Jiahe (located north of the Hutuo River near Dezhou). The rebels were aided by a storm from the northeast, which hindered the government troops. According to folk legend, the storm was summoned by Taoist monks advising Zhu Di. However, Zhu Di was unable to capture Dezhou, where the government army had retreated to. On 27 April, he defeated Ping's cavalry at Gaocheng and forced them to withdraw to Zhending. Once again, the city resisted the attempt to capture it. On 17 April, the Emperor dismissed Qi and Huang and replaced the latter with Ru Chang (茹瑺), who became the leader of the peace party at court along with Li. Ru and Li proposed peace talks to Zhu Di, but were rejected. Despite their dismissal, Qi and Huang still held the Emperor's trust and continued to oversee military operations in the Yangtze basin.

In the summer, the rebels continued to raid the government's supply lines in southern Beiping and Shandong. In July 1401, Sheng attempted to cut the rebel supply lines along the Grand Canal, but was unsuccessful, leaving government troops in northern Shandong in a dire situation. In August, Ping launched an offensive from Zhending toward Beijing, initially forcing Zhu Di's rebel forces to retreat northward. By October, the rebels had regrouped and counterattacked, driving the imperial troops back south.

The Ming court's leadership changes during the war revealed a cyclical pattern tied to military fortunes. Qi and Huang regained influence during periods of battlefield success, only to be removed when setbacks occurred. These shifts exposed significant political divisions at the highest levels of government, extending beyond mere symbolic concessions to Zhu Di. While the Jianwen Emperor periodically explored diplomatic solutions, he continued to rely on his core advisors, tasking them with organizing regional militia forces in the Yangtze valley to bolster imperial defenses.

1402

On 15 January 1402, Zhu Di launched a new offensive. Based on the counsel of sympathetic Nanjing eunuchs, he chose not to advance through the fortified cities along the Grand Canal, as he had done in previous years. Instead, he headed west where the government forces were weaker. He passed through Baoding and Zhending, bypassing Dezhou, and crossed the Yellow River. Within a month, he had captured several crucial strongholds in northwestern Shandong, effectively disrupting the government troops' lines.

The government sent Xu Huizu (徐輝祖), the eldest son of Xu Da, to strengthen the defense with new forces, but even he was unable to halt the rebel advance. The rebels continued to push southward, and on 3 March, they captured Xuzhou in the northern part of Zhili. The government was forced to withdraw its troops from Beiping province and the city of Dezhou in order to defend Zhili.

In April 1402, the rebel army moved to Suzhou, located in northern Anhui (at that time part of Zhili). They defeated Ping's cavalry, who attempted to stop them, but on 23 May, they suffered a defeat at the hands of Xu on Mount Qimei. The Emperor's sudden dismissal of Xu unsettled the army and ruined their chance for a turnaround in the battle. Just five days later, Zhu Di took advantage of Xu's recall and surprised and captured Ping and other generals at Lingbi. On 7 June, the rebels overcame Sheng's defenses on the Huai River and bypassed the heavily fortified cities of Fengyang (on the Huai River) and Huai'an (on the Grand Canal). They then captured Yangzhou on 17 June, but their advance was halted on 1 July by Sheng's fleet at Pukou on the Yangtze River. Two days later, the fleet commander Chen Xuan (陳瑄; 1365–1433) defected to the rebels. This allowed them to cross the river and have an open road to Nanjing.

The Jianwen Emperor had previously called upon armies from the north and was currently recruiting new soldiers to protect the capital. With 200,000 troops stationed in Nanjing and its surrounding areas, Zhu Di cautiously approached the heavily fortified city, carefully weighing his options. However, the Emperor's entourage was divided. Qi and Huang, who were once again called upon, advocated for the defense of the capital at all costs. On the other hand, Li and Ru Chang wanted to negotiate. On 9 July, the Emperor sent Li and Zhu Hui (朱橞), Prince of Gu, the 17th son of the Hongwu Emperor, to the enemy's camp with a peace offer, but the negotiators returned with the news that Zhu Di had refused negotiations. It was later discovered that they had secretly negotiated an end to the war without the Emperor's knowledge.

Five days later, on 13 July, Li Jinglong and Zhu Hui, who was in charge of defending Nanjing's Jinchuan Gate, opened the gates of Nanjing to the rebels. This allowed them to enter the city without any resistance. During the resulting conflicts, the imperial palace was set on fire. After the flames were extinguished, three charred bodies were discovered and identified as those of the Emperor, the Empress, and their eldest son.

Aftermath

On 17 July, Zhu Di ascended the imperial throne as the successor of the Hongwu Emperor and adopted the era name Yongle, which means "perpetual happiness". He denied the legitimacy of his overthrown nephew, abolished his reforms, and attempted to erase them from history entirely. In addition, he retroactively abolished the Jianwen era and extended the Hongwu era until the end of 1402. The government archives, with the exception of financial and military documents, were burned.

After the Yongle Emperor ascended to the throne, a large-scale purge of the state administration took place. This purge was, to some extent, inevitable due to Confucian morality, which did not allow the Jianwen Emperor's staunchest followers to recognize the usurper. They were ordered to follow their master, including their clients and household members. The case of Fang serves as an illustration. Initially, Zhu Di had no intention of killing him and even made a promise to his mentor Dao Yan that he would not harm him, but after the capture of Nanjing, Fang was paraded and offered a position in the civil service. Fang, however, accused Zhu Di of rebellion and demanded the installation of the Jianwen Emperor's son as the new emperor. Zhu Di allegedly ordered Fang to write a proclamation announcing the accession of the new emperor, but Fang refused, stating that he would rather die than serve a usurper. Fang was later seen as an example of a loyal servant who remained faithful to his master under all circumstances. Another example is Liu Jing (1340–1402), son of Liu Ji, a brilliant scholar and official who also refused to serve the new regime. He even pointed out to the Emperor that even after a hundred generations, he would still be known as a "usurper". Liu died in prison. Even Huang, in an audience before the Emperor, condemned the rebellion. When asked if he could be charged with a crime, he replied:

Why don't you charge me as a close advisor to the deceased emperor who failed to advise him to deprive you of your princely powers early enough, consequently allowing you to become so fierce and cruel.

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Qi and other followers of the Jianwen Emperor were executed, along with a large number of their family members, teachers, students, and supporters. Many others were imprisoned or deported to the border. This widespread purge impacted tens of thousands of individuals.

The Yongle Emperor justified his rebellion by claiming to defend the rights of the princes. After taking the throne, he restored the titles of the princes of Zhou, Qi, and Min, but without granting them the same power as before. However, in the latter half of his reign, the Yongle Emperor began to treat the princes in the same manner as the Jianwen Emperor, whom he had condemned. He removed bodyguards from almost all of them and accused several of his own brothers of criminal acts, punishing them accordingly. By the end of the Yongle Emperor's reign, the princes had lost their political significance.