Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was born in a poor family at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the society was in turmoil, the court was corrupt, and the people were oppressed. Under **, Zhu Yuanzhang used to be a monk and a beggar.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang hated **, and as long as he found ** behavior, he would severely punish him, and even behead the whole family. He also hung an iron plaque in front of the palace gate that "ministers are not allowed to interfere in political affairs, and those who violate the order will be beheaded" to warn future generations.
However, there is an old Chinese saying that people cannot be resurrected after death, even emperors. His descendants simply don't take his words seriously.
Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen was too fond of Wang Zhen, the eunuch who had taken care of him since childhood, and was indifferent to political affairs. Although Zhu Qizhen did not pay much attention to government affairs, when his mother Zhang was alive, she and the "three Yangs" of the cabinet handled political affairs in an orderly manner, and the court was calm and uneventful.
However, after Zhang's death, Wang Zhen's power gradually grew, and "Sanyang" was old and weak, unable to stop Wang Zhen's expansion.
Wang Zhen relied on the emperor's favor and brazenly removed the iron plaque hanging by the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang at the palace gate, and he was arrogant and domineering in the court, as long as anyone did not salute him, he would be expelled from his official position, or even arrested and imprisoned.
He also installed his own henchmen in the imperial court, took all the secret services such as Jinyiwei in his hands, and used the secret services to monitor the ministers, and as long as anyone dared to speak ill of him, he would be arrested and imprisoned.
As a result, Zhu Qizhen listened to Wang Zhen's slander and drove his own expedition, which eventually led to the "Civil Engineering Change" and was captured by the Mongols.
Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty was addicted to pleasure and favored the eunuch Liu Jin, which led to corruption in the imperial court and social unrest. He set up a "leopard room", indiscriminately applied **, and disregarded political affairs. Liu Jin took this opportunity to monopolize power, so that the old and new had to bribe him to be promoted.
Those who dare not obey will be punished with a cane at least and lose their official positions at worst. The woman suffers greatly and lives in dire straits.
Liu Jin's faction controlled the West Factory, the East Factory, Jinyiwei and the cabinet, and when the emperor went out on patrol, they used their power for personal gain, expropriated and extorted violently, forcibly occupied the people's daughters, and were corrupt. They curryed favor with the emperor by squeezing the people, and Liu Jin was even called "Emperor Liu" and held real power in the government and the opposition.
However, Liu Jin's behavior caused Zhang Yong's dissatisfaction, and he exposed Liu Jin's crimes, which led to Liu Jin** being imprisoned. During the search of Liu Jin's property, they unexpectedly found some royal supplies, such as dragon robes and jade belts, which shocked Ming Wuzong very much.
After Liu Jin's death, uprisings broke out in various places, but they were all suppressed in the end. Ming Wuzong only lived to be thirty-one years old due to his indulgence in desires.
During Zhu Youxiao's reign, he was obsessed with watching puppet shows, carving wooden tools, and leading palace maids and eunuchs to fight and have fun, and ignored the government and politics. He especially favored the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian and the wet nurse Keshi, and handed over political affairs to them, which led to the corruption of the imperial court.
Wei Zhongxian took this opportunity to single-handedly manipulate the famous "Donglin Party" unjust case in the Ming Dynasty. After receiving Zhu Youxiao's favor, the Wei clan rose rapidly and mastered the power of various ministries in the imperial court.
Many traitors regarded Wei Zhongxian as their godfather, and even directly called him 9,900 years old. In the imperial court, anyone who opposed Wei Zhongxian could not escape death. This situation lasted for a long time, causing all the civil and military officials in the court to obey Wei Zhongxian's orders and not dare to have any objections.
During Zhu Youxiao's lifetime, the cruel actions of Wei Zhongxian and the Hakka clan resulted in him having no heirs. But fortunately, thanks to the help of Empress Zhang, the Ming Dynasty did not fall into the hands of Wei Zhongxian.
Later, Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne and successfully eliminated the Hakka family and Wei Zhongxian.