Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youzhu is a relatively normal one among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Youzhang's reign of 18 years has eased the increasingly fierce social contradictions in the Ming Dynasty, and there have been no major disputes within the ruling class, which is relatively stable politically, the economy has also developed to a certain extent, and the people can generally live and work in peace and contentment.
But Zhu Youzhang, who has such merits, grew up eating hundreds of meals when he was a child, and in the years when Zhu Youzhu was in power, the things he did were evaluated by people that his pattern was bigger than Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di.
So, why did Zhu Youjiao, who was born in the emperor's family, eat a hundred family meals?What did he do during his reign?
Zhu Youzhu is the third son of Zhu Jianshen of Ming Xianzong. Zhu Jianshen is the eldest son of Zhu Qizhen of Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, and according to the principle of primogeniture, he will also be the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, but when he was two years old, his father Zhu Qizhen personally attacked Wara, and was defeated and became a prisoner of Wara. After Zhu Qizhen was captured, Zhu Jianshen lost his backer.
In order to alleviate the disaster brought by Zhu Qizhen's capture to the Ming Dynasty, the ministers of the Ming Dynasty supported Zhu Qizhen's younger brother Zhu Qiyu to become the emperor. After Zhu Qiyu became emperor, in order to gain the support of the queen mother, he also told the ministers and the people that he was only ruling for his brother and made his nephew Zhu Jianshen the crown prince.
After Zhu Qiyu became the emperor, he wanted to be the emperor all the time, so even if Zhu Qizhen was released back to Daming a year later, he was unwilling to return the throne to Zhu Qizhen. Zhu Qiyu wanted his son to inherit the throne, and then abolished the position of Prince Zhu Jianshen and made his son Zhu Jianji the crown prince. He died soon after.
As soon as Zhu Jianji died, the position of the crown prince was undecided. During this time, Zhu Jianshen has been living in fear, he has no parents and relatives by his side, only a palace maid named Wan Zhen'er to take care of him.
When he was 5 years old, he was deposed as the crown prince by his uncle, and in the face of his uncle's surveillance and seclusion, the palace maids and eunuchs around him left him one after another, and only Wan Zhen'er, a palace maid who was 17 years older than him, stayed by his side with all her heart.
In the dim growth environment, Wan Zhen'er is Zhu Jianshen's most trusted person, and in the dead of night, Zhu Jianshen often talks with Wan Zhen'er and shares his worries and dreams. This made Zhu Jianshen have a strong attachment to Wan Zhen'er.
For Zhu Jianshen, Wan Zhen'er's existence is not only a spiritual pillar, but also a companion in life. Her kindness and loyalty warmed him and gave him hope. Despite the difficult situation, Wan Zhen'er's company rekindled his love for life and his expectations for the future.
Ming Dynasty Zong had no children, his health was ill, and Zhu Jianshen was supposed to be restored to the crown prince the next day, but the change of seizing the door happened, Ming Yingzong was restored, and he was re-passed to his son Zhu Jianshen 8 years later.
It took place during the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty"A change in the door", also called"Nangong restoration"。But power is a fascinating thing, once it is contaminated, it will be difficult to give up again, Zhu Qiyu is also a normal person, when he heard that Zhu Qizhen was coming back, Zhu Qiyu was very reluctant to say, since I have become the emperor and it is legal, and then welcome back Zhu Qizhen, what should I do?
So Yu Qian and others said"Now that the throne has been determined, it will not be changed", got such a promise, he agreed to welcome Zhu Qizhen back.
However, Zhu Qiyu was still relatively benevolent and did not kill this brother. But this does not mean that he is willing to return the throne again, Zhu Qizhen was placed under house arrest by him in the South Palace.
So Zhu Qiyu made his own son the crown prince, but he died soon after. Later, when he was seriously ill, the position of the crown prince must be determined, Zhu Qiyu listened to Yu Qian's suggestion, agreed to re-establish Zhu Jianshen as the prince, and prepared to determine this matter when he went to court the next day, but on this night, a coup d'état occurred.
At that time, Zhu Qiyu was already seriously ill, so for the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, the change of seizing the door was actually unnecessary.
However, in the hearts of Shi Heng, Xu Youzhen, and Cao Jixiang, these conspirators don't think so, if it is really logical for Zhu Jianshen to become the prince, then Yu Qian and these people can be said to have meritorious support, and they have no chance to turn over and be masters and eradicate dissidents, so they came up with the idea of restoring Zhu Qizhen.
After the incident, Ming Yingzong successfully ascended the throne again, abolished Zhu Qiyu as the king of servants, and soon Zhu Qiyu died of illness, and was executed for the crime of treason.
In the eighth year of Tianshun, Zhu Qizhen was seriously ill and lay in bed, still thinking about abolishing the prince. Call the cabinet chief assistant Li Xian to discuss this matter. After Li Xian's repeated requests and as soon as Zhu Jianshen came, Li Xian helped him and asked him to meet the emperor. Zhu Jianshen hugged Zhu Qizhen's leg and cried bitterly.
In this way, Zhu Jianshen retained the position of the crown prince under the maintenance of Li Xian. On the sixteenth day of the first month of the eighth year of Tianshun, Zhu Qizhen died. 18-year-old Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, that is, Ming Xianzong.
Because of Wan Zhen'er's long-term companionship and care for him, after Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, he accepted the 34-year-old Wan Zhen'er as a concubine. After all, she was just an ordinary palace maid before, but she suddenly became a concubine and was deeply favored by the emperor, which also laid the groundwork for Wan Zhen'er's flying and domineering.
Although Wan Zhen'er is old, but because of the emperor's favor, he favored the six palaces, once, Queen Wu was jealous, embarrassed for Wan Zhen'er, Zhu Jianshen was angry, regardless of the dissuasion of the Queen Mother, abolished Queen Wu.
Zhu Jianshen's love for Wan Zhen'er fueled Wan Zhen'er's dominance. Later, Wan Zhen'er gave birth to the emperor's eldest son for Zhu Jianshen, Zhu Jianshen was overjoyed and planned to make him the prince, but unfortunately the child died before he was a year old, and Wan Zhen'er never got pregnant again.
In order to maintain her position, Wan Zhen'er had ordered to prevent other concubines from giving birth, which made the atmosphere in the harem extremely oppressive and tense.
And Zhu Youji's mother, Ji Shi, was originally a Yao woman captured by the Ming army when they conquered ethnic minorities, and she was sent to the Ming Palace with other captives and became a palace maid. Ji has a peugeot appearance, and after reading books for a few years, he soon stood out in the palace and was named a female history.
One day, Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen met Ji when he was inspecting the inner library, Zhu Jianshen was overwhelmed by Ji's talent and appearance, and summoned her to the palace that night.
As everyone knows, this time the Lin luck actually made the Ji family pregnant with the emperor's heir. When Concubine Wan learned the news, she was furious. Wan Guifei was afraid that the other concubines giving birth to the prince would make her position difficult to secure, so she immediately sent someone to force Ji's abortion.
Ji lied to Wan Guifei that Ji was only infected with the wind cold and was not pregnant. Ji was then sentenced to hard labor, and finally gave birth to a baby boy in the following year. This is Zhu Youji.
Concubine Wan Guifei was furious and immediately sent the eunuch Zhang Min to drown the newborn child. Although Zhang Min was extremely reluctant, he could only pretend to obey his fate, Zhang Min couldn't bear it, and quietly discussed with Ji and other palace maids, and secretly hid the child, and when Zhang Min went back to restore his life, he said that the child had drowned.
In this way, different eunuchs and palace maids came to feed Zhu Youzhi every day, and in the past six years, Zhu Youzhu grew up by eating hundreds of family meals.
The child grew up slowly. At that time, Zhu Jianshen's Empress Wu (the queen who was deposed because of the difficulty of Concubine Wan) lived in the cold palace, and because it was very close, she also raised the child for a while. Because Empress Wu had no threat to Wan Guifei for a long time, Wan Guifei did not pay attention to this child.
Therefore, Zhu Youzhu grew up smoothly to the age of six, so by chance, he was finally sent to Emperor Zhu Jianshen.
According to records, before Zhu Youjiao, Xianzong had two sons, one was born to Wan Guifei, who died shortly after birth. The other was born to Bai Guifei, and was later poisoned by Wan Guifei.
In the eleventh year of Chenghua, Zhu Jianshen of Ming Xianzong was 29 years old, his knees were still empty, and when he got up, the eunuch Zhang Min was combing Zhu Jianshen's hair. Looking at the hair that fell all over the ground, Zhu Jianshen sighed: "I'm old, but it's a pity that there is no successor to the dynasty!."After hearing this, Zhang Min quickly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, you actually have a son, who is already six years old. ”
Zhu Jianshen looked at Zhang Min with an incredulous gaze, and Zhang Min told the truth of the matter. After hearing this, Zhu Jianshen was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered Zhang Min to pick up the child to meet him.
When Ming Xianzong saw Zhu Youji, who was thin but had bright eyes, he was immediately excited and guilty, and immediately took Zhu Youzhu to the palace.
When Zhu Jianshen saw his 6-year-old son, the 6-year-old prince didn't even dare to cut his fetal hair, and he didn't enjoy the treatment of a prince for a day, Zhu Jianshen looked at his son blankly, thinking of his son's suffering over the years, and thinking of his childhood when he was imprisoned by his uncle, he couldn't help but feel sad, he hugged his thin son and cried like a child.
After that, Zhu Jianshen announced to the world that Zhu Youzhang was the crown prince, and Zhu Youzhang's biological mother Ji was named the concubine. The strange thing is that not long after Zhu Youzhu sat on the throne of the crown prince, his mother Ji died violently in the palace, and the eunuch Zhang Min actually committed suicide by swallowing gold.
Out of guilt for Zhu Youzhang, Ming Xianzong decided to train this prince well, when Zhu Youzhu was 9 years old, his father officially arranged a systematic education for him, and Zhu Jianshen arranged teachers for his son, all of whom were masters at that time, because of good education, but also played a key role in the implementation of benevolent government and other measures after Zhu Youzhu ascended the throne.
When Zhu Youzhu was nine years old, Ming Xianzong arranged for him to supervise his studies, such as Peng Hua, Liu Jian, Cheng Minzheng and Li Dongyang, who were all Confucians during the Chenghua period.
The masters of Confucianism not only carefully taught Zhu Youzhu the classic literature of the Four Books and the Five Classics, but also implanted in his heart the Confucian idea of benevolence, love for the people, and recuperation with the people.
Zhu Youzhu concentrated on comprehending the Four Books and Five Classics, and was also extremely respectful to his teacher. After his homework, he always tidied up the books by himself and placed the pen, ink, paper and inkstone neatly. Even when he was sick, Zhu Youzhu never slackened, and many teachers praised him. In this way, Zhu Youzhu also grew up slowly.
In the twenty-third year of Chenghua, Ming Xianzong was grief-stricken, lost his appetite, and was in a trance because of the death of Wan Guifei, and a few days later, Ming Xianzong died. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty": In the twenty-third year of Chenghua, Wan Guifei, who dominated the harem, fell ill and died, and Ming Xianzong also followed Wan Guifei a month later.
After suffering for so long, Zhu Youzhu finally achieved positive results, and the crown prince Zhu Youzhu succeeded to the throne and ascended the throne as emperor, when he had just turned 18 years old. It is for Ming Xiaozong. With Zhu Youzhang's accession to the throne, next, the historical 'Hongzhi Zhongxing' is officially begun.
Zhu Youzhu is a very easy-going and generous emperor, who treats people very kindly, and it should be said that he is the monarch with the best temper in the Ming Dynasty, and there is no one.
At the beginning of Xiaozong's accession to the throne, some ministers jointly called for the punishment of Wan Guifei's clansmen. But Ming Xiaozong has a generous and benevolent temperament. Although some ministers suggested that Wan Jiamanmen be beheaded, he did not take revenge on his family because Wan Guifei had killed his mother Ji.
He has a reason to kill the enemy, but he doesn't kill him, this is Mingjun's mind and bearing. It can be seen that compared with Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's cold-blooded methods, Zhu Youzhang's mind and bearing are not ordinarily good.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty had been declining day by day, and since the change of Yingzong's civil fort, the national strength was not as good as before, and the people were not able to make a living. In his later years, Ming Xianzong was greedy for pleasure and political corruption, and the country was about to collapse.
In the face of this tragic situation, Ming Xiaozong did not flinch in the slightest, and vowed to turn the tide and make the Ming Dynasty flourish again. He first got rid of the ills of the Ming Xianzong period, when the first assistant of the cabinet was Wan Guifei's younger brother Wan An, who was not only incapable, but also slacked off the government, and was soon deposed by Ming Xiaozong. Re-standardize the rule of officials.
When Zhu Youzhu ascended the throne, he repelled the eunuchs who were favored by his clever words, eliminated the heralds, etc., and the atmosphere of the court gradually improved. Zhu Youzhu was diligent in political affairs, reopened the Wu Dynasty, and ordered Confucian ministers to speak at the feast every day. He advocated outspoken advice and often ordered his ministers to self-cultivation and self-examination, state the advantages and disadvantages of the military and the people, seek to speak out, and ordered the lecturers to speak bluntly.
In addition, Ming Xiaozong learned lessons and strictly prohibited incumbent officials from superstitious Buddhism, and some officials who believed in Buddhism were questioned and imprisoned, which greatly strengthened the centralization of power, and the view of the divine right of the monarch once again became the mainstream of society.
Zhu Youzhi was strict with himself, paid attention to frugality, reduced or exempted the supply of materials, saved various expenses, and reduced or exempted the grain allowance in the disaster area many times. His style of rule is unlike any other. He was not only diligent in government affairs, but also paid special attention to education and the well-being of the people. His philosophy of governance was deeply admired by the courtiers, and the atmosphere in the court became more harmonious.
In the face of border defense, Zhu Youzhu heeded Ma Wensheng's suggestion, added city walls, passes, and piers in some important border areas, repaired the Great Wall, and equipped the border army with various firearms, thus establishing an effective defense system on the nine borders. During the Hongzhi period, Hami was also recovered for a time, temporarily stabilizing the situation in the northwest. In addition to this, the rebellion in the Mongol region was also effectively dealt with by the Ming army, after which the Mongolian border was stable for decades.
Moreover, Ming Xiaozong is relatively simple in life, and he never indulges in the sound of dogs and horses. He can be called an emperor who is extremely rare in Chinese history who is not obsessed with women. Ming Xiaozong only married the only wife was Empress Zhang, and there was no concubine in the harem. When it comes to monogamy, Ming Xiaozong is the only one among the hundreds of emperors in the past dynasties.
According to historical records, before Zhu Youzhang ascended the throne, the total population of the Ming Dynasty was about 50.2 million. By the time Zhu Youzhu died, the total population of the Ming Dynasty had exceeded the 60 million mark!In just eighteen years, the Ming Dynasty added 10 million people, and it was still in the middle of the dynasty, which is very telling.
Due to the perennial hard work, it also directly led to the death of Zhu Youzhu due to illness.
In the Hongzhi Dynasty, Zhu Youzhu never physically punished ministers. Even considering that many ** worked overtime until late at night to get on duty, he also specially sent sergeants to escort these ** home with lanterns.
Every day, I talk with the courtiers about the past and the present, about governing the country, about literature, about history, and about the future. There are also reviews and folds, and Zhu Youzhang's diligence in the early years of Hongzhi should be no worse than that of kings like Zhu Yuanzhang and Yongzheng.
Due to the lack of nutrition in the early years of Ming Xiaozong, coupled with a long period of fatigue in the administration, his body weakened very fast, Hongzhi eighteen, the weak Ming Xiaozong summoned Li Dongyang, Liu Jian and other loyal and capable ministers into the palace, and asked them to carefully assist the young lord Zhu Houzhao.
Ming Xiaozong called the prince Zhu Houzhao out again, and pointed out to him these loyal ministers kneeling in front of him, and told Zhu Houzhao to "be close to the virtuous ministers, far from the villain", the prince cried bitterly and resolutely accepted the entrustment.
In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, Ming Xiaozong died of illness in the Qianqing Palace. He was Chinese New Year's Eve at the age of thirty and six. The name is "Jiantianming, Daocheng, Chunzhong, Zhengshengwen, Shenwu, Zhiren, Dadejing, Emperor", the temple is called Xiaozong, and he is buried in Tailing.
From Zhu Youzhang's birth to his eventual death and other events, it can be seen that it is not unreasonable for Zhu Youzhang to become a Ming Jun, everything he does is from the perspective of benevolence, such a person will definitely be respected by the common people and those ministers.
Later generations evaluated him as the most outstanding monarch in the three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, comparable to Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty.
Reference: History of the Ming Dynasty
Ming Tongjian" Ming Xiaozong Record".
Ming History Chronicle