The mystery of the succession to the throne reveals the inheritance of the throne after Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty
Ming Xianzong Zhu Jianshen is one of the most favored emperors in history, during his reign, although he was infected by Wan Guifei, but the emperor's son is not serious, so that Zhu Shisan saw Shen before and after the birth of his son, as for the emperor's grandson, this is not to mention. So after the death of Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, why did his cousin Zhu Houzhao ascend to the throne?
In September of the fifteenth year of Zhengde (1520), Zhu Houzhao of Ming Wuzong led King Ning to revolt in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, all the way back to the north to play, but fell ill due to an accidental fall into the water, and his health has deteriorated since then. In the first month of the sixteenth year of Zhengde (1521), Ming Wuzong returned to the capital, and when worshipping heaven and earth, he suddenly fell to the ground, and finally died on March 14 of the same year, at the age of 31.
When Zhu Houzhao was dying, he also thought about having no children, and his close attendant eunuch said:"I can't because of my illness. My original intention was to reach the Queen Mother, issue world affairs, and discuss politics. The past is my fault, not you and me"。That is to say, for the sake of his own posthumous affairs, the future new emperor should go to meet the Empress Dowager Zhang and the minister of the council, then the minister of the councillor is Yang Tinghe.
So what is Yang Tinghe's attitude? When Zhu Houzhao was still ill, Wei Bin, the eunuch of the Ministry of Rites, and others hurriedly found Yang Tinghe and asked Yang Tinghe for the new emperor's opinion, but saw that Wei Bin and others had a grudge against Yang Tinghe, and did not propose a specific candidate, but"Listening to the wind is rain", Wei Bin and the others had no choice but to leave angrily.
So-called"Family order", refers to the determination of candidates for the emperor according to the proximity of blood relations, simply put"The eldest son is respected by the younger son"。
Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao had no children after his death, and he could only trace back to the previous generation, that is, the son of Ming Xiaozong Zhu Yousong, that is, the younger brother of Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao. Although Zhu Houzhao had a younger brother named Zhu Houwei, he died in February of the ninth year of Hongzhi (1496), which meant that Zhu Yougong's lineage was interrupted after Zhu Houzhao's death.
After Zhu Houzhao's death, Zhu Youzhang had no heirs, and according to the blood relationship, he could only be passed on from generation to generation, that is, starting from Zhu Jinxuan, the younger brother of Zhu Youzhang and the son of Ming Xianzong, according to the descendants, the eldest and youngest, they can continue to choose the second line.
Ming Xianzong had two empresses, but Empress Wu and Empress Xiaozhen had no children, which means that he had no eldest son, and the eldest son (with his wife Wanshi) and the second son Zhu Youzhen died young, so Ming Xianzong established the third son Zhu Youzhen as the crown prince.
Since Zhu Youzong's mother, Ji, had no other sons, the heirs could only be chosen in order. Thus, Zhu Xianzong's fourth son, King Xing (the olive seller), ascended the throne.
Zhu Houxi had two sons, both born to his wife Jiang: Zhu Houxi and Zhu Houzhong's eldest son, Zhu Houzhong, who died five days after his birth, leaving only Zhu Houxuan, an olive seller, and his son Zhu Houzhong. Due to the death of Zhu Houxuan, who sold olives, in June 1519, Zhu Houxuan was effectively the first heir to the throne.
Therefore, on the ninth day of the third month of the sixteenth year of Zhengde (1521), when Zhu Houzhao of the Ming Dynasty Wuzong was dying, Yang Tinghe, the first assistant of the cabinet, issued a pardon in the name of the emperor to shorten the mourning period of Zhu Houzhao's father and inherit the title of King Xing as soon as possible, which was actually to prepare for Zhu Houzhao's accession to the throne.
On March 14, the sixteenth year of Zhengde (1521), Zhu Houzhao of Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty died, and the eunuchs Gu Daiyun and Zhang Yong informed Yang Ting and the cabinet that the Empress Dowager ordered him to move the emperor's body from the leopard room to the Dan room, and according to the emperor's will after his death, Yang Tinghe was ordered to enter the palace to meet the new emperor candidate nominated by the empress dowager.
Hearing this, Yang Tinghe raised the ancestral precept of the Ming Dynasty and said:"Brother to brother, who can be cursed! King Heungxian is the eldest son of Xianzong, the grandson of Xianzong, the son of Xiaozong, and the younger brother of the emperor, and order must be restored. "The ministers present Liang Duan, Jiang Guan, Mao Ji and others all agreed. So, Yang Tinghe sent Gu Dayong and Zhang Yong back to the palace to report to the Queen Mother, and he waited for the results on the left side of the Shunmen with the generals.
The Ming Dynasty strictly forbade interfering in the harem. Now that the cabinet ministers had agreed on a new emperor and Zhu Houjian's throne was considered legitimate, Yang Tinghe and others officially declared Zhu Houjian the heir to the throne in accordance with the meaning of the holy decree.
On 16 March, the palace sent Gu Dayong, Wei Bin, Zhang Jin, Liang Dang, Xu Guangzuogong, Cui Yuan, and Mao Cheng, the attendant of the Ministry of Rites, to Anlu to meet with Zhu Houjian, the heir to the throne and Ming Wuzong, who was convened at the imperial meeting. On April 21 of the same year, Zhu Houjian officially ascended the throne as Ming Shizong.