The lineage of Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, was passed down until the demise of the Ming Dynasty, led by the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian.
The only person in China who climbed from extreme poverty to the throne of emperor was Zhu Yuanzhang. From a cowherd boy, a beggar, and a monk, he conquered the world through hard work, established a dynasty and became emperor. After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he had a very strong sense of small peasant clan in his bones, even more clannish than all the emperors in Chinese history. Zhu Yuanzhang compiled a book called "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" for his descendants to regulate the behavior of the Zhu family's descendants, and formulated many rules for the Zhu family's royal family, including the seniority arrangement of each son's descendants. For example, the descendants of his direct lineage, Prince Zhu Biao, are: Yun Wen obeys the instructions of his ancestors, the Qinwu King wins, the road is good, the teacher is good and he makes good use of it.
Zhu Yuanzhang's ranking of each son's generation has its own profound meaning, especially the prince line, which expresses Zhu Yuanzhang's ardent hope for the inheritance of the throne. I just didn't expect that Zhu Biao died before Zhu Yuanzhang. In order to effectively implement his clan idea of ??inheriting the direct descendant line, Zhu Yuanzhang did not pass the throne to his other sons, but was inherited by Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunwen.
After Zhu Yuanzhang died, King Yan Zhu Di launched the Jingnan Campaign, overthrew Zhu Yunwen, inherited the throne and became emperor. So what is the generation of King Zhu Di of Yan? Zhu Yuanzhang had already made the rules: Gao Zhan Qi Jianyou, Hou Zaiyi Changyou, Ciheyi Bozhong, Jian Jingdi Xianyou.
After Zhu Di ascended the throne, his eldest son Zhu Gaochi was established as the prince. After Zhu Di's death, he inherited the throne as Ming Renzong. The Ming Dynasty has been inherited in Zhu Di's line. So it is not necessarily true that every emperor is passed down through his legitimate sons. Although there were 14 emperors from the Ming Dynasty to Zhu Di, there were only ten generations of emperors, and the "Yu" generation was discontinued.
During the period of Zhu Qizhen, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, the young emperor went on a personal expedition under the coercion of the eunuch Wang Zhen. He was captured by the Ola army in Tumubao. The emperor was captured. The Ming court immediately established a new emperor, but did not support him. Zhu Qizhen's son Zhu Jianshen became emperor. He was too young, only 2 years old, and could not take on the important task of turning the tide. With the approval of the Queen Mother Sun, Yu Qian and other ministers established Zhu Qizhen's half-brother Zhu Qiyu as emperor. This was the first time in the Ming Dynasty that equals succeeded to the throne.
Zhu Qiyu served as emperor for seven years. When Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Qizhen returned, he launched a coup to seize the throne and regained the throne. After the death of Ming Yingzong, his legitimate son Zhu Jianshen succeeded to the throne and became the emperor. His crown prince Zhu Youtang was also his legitimate son, but Zhu Youtang's son was not the legitimate son born to his wife, the empress. When the Ming Dynasty reached Zhu Houzhao's lineage, the first collateral succession occurred.
After Zhu Houzhao's death, he did not have any heirs in his life. Under the selection of Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet, he made Zhu Houcong, the son of King Xingxian, the emperor. He became the famous Jiajing Emperor in history and later became the Ming Dynasty emperor. It was inherited in Zhu Houcong's branch. Until the death of Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao, he had no children to succeed him. The throne was once again passed on to his equal Zhu Youjian, who was Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty.