Ming Princely Enfeoffment and Prelude to the Pruning of Princes

Timeline

1. 1391Nanjing · Eastern ChinaOn the thirteenth day of the fourth month of Hongwu 24, Zhu Yuanzhang enfeoffed his sons for the third time: his twenty-second son Zhu Ying as Prince of An (later stationed at Pingliang), his twenty-fourth son Zhu Dong as Prince of Ying (later stationed at Anlu), and also enfeoffed Prince Han Zhu Song and others. By then all twenty-three sons had been made princes, stationed at frontier passes and key interior points, each maintaining a guard force.
2. 1393Qingyang, Ningxia · Northwestern ChinaIn Hongwu 24, the sixteenth son Zhu Zhan was enfeoffed as Prince of Qing, initially stationed at the old Weizhou city in Qingyang. In Hongwu 26 the principality was moved to Ningxia, reflecting Zhu Yuanzhang's strategy of using his sons to garrison the northwest and control key points, with frontier and interior princes forming a mutual defensive pattern.
3. 1392Nanjing · Eastern ChinaIn Hongwu 25 Crown Prince Zhu Biao died of illness, and Zhu Yuanzhang made his imperial grandson Zhu Yunwen heir, breaking the practice of succession by sons. The Prince of Qin and the Prince of Jin had already died, leaving Prince Yan Zhu Di as the foremost among the princes; tensions between the princes and the imperial grandson intensified, and the danger of 'a tail too large to wag' warned of by Ye Boju in earlier years became increasingly apparent.