Reign
See also: Jingnan CampaignThe Jianwen era (1398 – 1402) was short.
Upon the advice of his Confucian scholars, he continued his grandfather's policy of restraining the court eunuchs and began clawing back territory and forces from his uncles. Over the course of 1399, he demoted or arrested several and prompted the suicide of one.
Reacting to this, the Prince of Yan Zhu Di captured and coöpted the Prince of Ning Zhu Quan – between the two of them, he now possessed the bulk of the empire's large northern army. He also won the support of several Mongolian tribes by torching his brother's capital at Daning and evacuating the province. Feigning sickness and madness, Zhu Di succeeded in convincing the Jianwen Emperor to release the three sons of his held hostage in Nanjing: almost immediately upon their arrival, the emperor attempted to arrest Zhu Di himself and the prince launched the Jingnan Campaign against the court.
Read more about this topic: Jianwen Emperor
Famous quotes containing the word reign:
“Fatalism, whose solving word in all crises of behavior is “All striving is vain,” will never reign supreme, for the impulse to take life strivingly is indestructible in the race. Moral creeds which speak to that impulse will be widely successful in spite of inconsistency, vagueness, and shadowy determination of expectancy. Man needs a rule for his will, and will invent one if one be not given him.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“Their Cause was gen’ral, their Supports were strong,
Their Slaves were willing, and their Reign was long;”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Nature seemed to have adorned herself for our departure with a profusion of fringes and curls, mingled with the bright tints of flowers, reflected in the water. But we missed the white water-lily, which is the queen of river flowers, its reign being over for this season.... Many of this species inhabit our Concord water.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)