Heaven made Zhu Yijun emperor for forty-eight years, longer than any other emperor of the Ming Dynasty. However, although Zhu Yijun had been in his position for a long time, he did not do anything, hiding in the harem for thirty consecutive years and refusing to show people, creating a record for the longest time in history. Since the ancient feudal dynasty turned from prosperity to decline, there are reasons, and although Zhu Yijun is not the culprit of the decline of the Ming Dynasty, he cannot escape the blame.
It is hard to believe that this famous "lazy ruler" in history was also a good emperor who was diligent in his youth. Zhu Yijun was intelligent and resourceful from an early age, and was deeply favored by Emperor Mingmuzong, so at the age of six, he naturally became the prince of the Eastern Palace.
One day, Muzong got a horse and immediately got on it and galloped freely in the palace. Six-year-old Zhu Yijun was worried about the safety of his father and emperor, and learned the appearance of an adult and said with a straight face: "Your Majesty is the body of a thousand multiplications, and you must cherish the body of the dragon." Hearing that little Zhu Yijun was so filial, and that his words were clearly organized, Mu Zong felt more and more that this son was a treasure given by heaven to Daming Jiangshan, and immediately gave Zhu Yijun many rewards.
Although Zhu Yijun was not the biological son of Mu Zongyuan and Empress Chen, Zhu Yijun treated Empress Chen with the same respect and filial piety as a mother. According to the custom, every day Zhu Yijun had to follow Concubine Li (Zhu Yijun's biological mother) to Empress Chen's palace to ask for peace, so why didn't Empress Chen like the clever and clever prince? She often took out the collection of books to ask Zhu Yijun questions, even if it was some obscure knowledge, Zhu Yijun could explain the source in a number of treasures.
After Zhu Yijun ascended the throne, he treated the two empresses as usual, treated the two mothers with great respect and filial piety, and everyone said that Zhu Yijun's filial piety was rare among ancient and modern emperors. Because Zhu Yijun's child was different from an early age, Mu Zong pinned all his hopes on Zhu Yijun and placed high hopes on him. In Muzong's eyes, the Prince of Donggong naturally received a better education than other princes, so Muzong entrusted the responsibility of educating the prince to Zhang Juzheng and let him cultivate the heir of the empire.
Zhu Yijun has great respect for the teacher, never calls him by his first name, and honors Zhang Juzheng as "Sir". Even after ascending the throne, Zhu Yijungui was the king of a country, and when Zhang Juzheng was mentioned in the edict, he would avoid his name and change his name to "Shoufu". It is worth mentioning that Zhu Yijun's mother, Concubine Li, played a positive role in the growth of her son. Concubine Li never spoiled her son excessively, but restrained Zhu Yijun's words and deeds with strict requirements, and paid no attention to her son's growth all the time.
Historical records record: Whenever Zhu Yijun studied, Concubine Li would always accompany her and supervise her son's studies. Whenever Zhu Yijun snoozed, Concubine Li would immediately make him kneel down and reflect on his mistakes. After Zhu Yijun ascended the throne, Empress Li got up on time every five days and personally went to the palace to wake up her son.
One day, Zhu Yijun drank high during the banquet, and after returning to the palace, he ordered the little eunuch next to him to sing and cheer. The little eunuch could not sing, and Zhu Yijun was so angry that he wanted to hack the eunuch to death to vent his anger. In the end, under the persuasion of the palace people, Zhu Yijun, who was naturally good, did not kill the poor eunuch, but only cut off his hair as punishment.
When Empress Li heard about this, she immediately went to the door to punish Zhu Yijun and ordered him to kneel in front of the ancestor's rank and think about it until he was willing to admit his mistake.
Once, Zhu Yijun was instigated by the eunuchs around him to seriously injure the two adopted sons of the eunuch Feng Bao. The next day, the eunuch Feng Bao found Empress Li and asked the empress dowager to be the master with a handful of snot and tears. After Empress Li listened to the ins and outs, she trembled with anger and changed into a green cloth robe to summon hundreds of officials to the court, and publicly abolished the Daoless Emperor.
After Zhu Yijun beat the eunuch, he was already remorseful, and when he heard that his mother was going to depose himself, he rushed to Empress Li to apologize, knelt on the ground and wept, and swore to change, which won his mother's forgiveness. It is precisely because Zhu Yijun has such a good mother that he can grow up healthily and not do anything naughty.
In the sixth year of Longqing, Mu Zongyi fell ill, and before he died, he called his ten-year-old son Zhu Yijun to the sickbed, entrusted him to the eunuch Zhang Juzheng, the university scholar Gao Gong, and the eunuch Feng Bao, and left a testament: Order Zhu Yijun to work hard to govern after succeeding to the throne, and to raise the merits to enable him, and the major affairs of the state must be discussed with the three auxiliary ministers. Muzong's deathbed entrustment had a profound impact on the development of the Wanli Dynasty.
Therefore, Zhu Yijun ascended the throne for the MingShen Sect.
Before Zhu Yijun ascended the throne, he had close contacts with the three ministers, and now that the three auxiliary ministers were entrusted by the former emperor, they would naturally do their best to help Zhu Yijun, who had just ascended the throne. However, the relationship between these three ministers was not harmonious, and now the three entrusted ministers were very important in the imperial court, Zhu Yijun would ask them for advice on everything, and the power struggle between these three people also began around Zhu Yijun.
Gao Gong was the most senior and prestigious among the hundred officials of the civil and military forces; although Feng Bao was only a eunuch, Zhu Yijun liked to call Feng Bao "Big Companion", which showed that the relationship between the two was very close. However, Gao Gong and Feng Bao were incompatible, and they had a long-standing vendetta between them, and each wanted to eliminate the other's power in the dprk.
Gao Gong was highly respected in the imperial court, and his protégés were all over the court. Gao Gong relied on his influence in the court to instruct his henchmen to collectively impeach the eunuch Feng Bao. Although Feng Bao had no influence in the imperial court, he had a lot of say in the harem. Gao Gong once said in his early years, "How can a ten-year-old prince rule the world", and Feng Bao made a big fuss about this sentence, constantly wandering between Empress Li and Zhu Yijun to frame Gao Gong.
In this struggle for power and vassals, Gao Gong's influence in the imperial court was ultimately inferior to Feng Bao's right to speak in the harem, and in the end, he was expelled from the capital by Feng Bao. So, when the two ministers were fighting, what was Zhang Juzheng doing? He chose to take sides in a high arch, but secretly contacted Feng Bao and made a wall head grass. After the high arch was squeezed out, only Feng Bao and Zhang Juzheng were left in charge of the inside and outside, and jointly assisted Zhu Yijun, which was also complementary.
Thanks to these two hard-working ministers, this enabled the Ming Dynasty not to collapse without the emperor's presence for thirty years. After Zhu Yijun ascended the throne, he greatly relied on these two orphaned old ministers and gave them absolute trust. With the support of Emperor Shenzong, Zhang Juzheng was able to carry out political and economic reforms, bringing the Ming Dynasty to life.
In the tenth year of the Wanli Calendar, Zhu Yijun grew up and began to take over government affairs. It is said that the Divine Sect will not come to the dynasty for thirty years, but we cannot characterize it as a emperor. Zhu Yijun received a good education from an early age, his own talent is very high, and after he ascended the throne, he was heard by Zhang Juzheng, although he did not go to the political front, but his ability to govern was subtly exercised.
After Zhang Juzheng's death, Zhu Yijun was pro-government, however, the first thing he did after taking power was to liquidate Zhang Juzheng. From this incident, we can see Zhu Yijun's desire for political power. He had long been unwilling to hide behind Zhang Juzheng, everything was at the mercy of Zhang Juzheng, Zhu Yijun was eager to make some achievements, and the "Three Great Marches of Wanli" was the ironclad proof that he wanted to make meritorious achievements.
What are the "Three Signs"?
It was the three military operations that Shenzong carried out against the northeast, northwest, and southwest regions after his pro-government: resisting the Wu Dynasty and aiding the DPRK, suppressing the Ningxia rebellion, and attacking Yang Yinglong. During these three wars, Zhu Yijun was in a hurry to make quick gains. Therefore, in his early years, Emperor Myōjinzong was not a lazy and confused emperor, on the contrary, he was still a good emperor who was diligent and good.
Although Zhu Yijun did not come to the court, it did not mean that he did not pay attention to the affairs of the imperial court. It was only in the later stage that Zhu Yijun gradually damaged his body because of his immersion in wine, and he did not have the energy to be diligent, which allowed the villains in the DPRK to exploit the loopholes and corrupt the Chaogang.
Thirty years without coming to the dynasty- the beginning of the Ming Dynasty and the judgment of the Ming Dynasty in the later years of the Ming Dynasty make it difficult to believe that the good emperor with ideals and ambitions will become a desolate prince who does not come to the dynasty. Scholars have different opinions on the reasons for Zhu Yijun's transformation, and there are many opinions. The literati of the late Ming Dynasty, Xia Yun, once expressed this view:
The reason why Zhu Yijun changed from a diligent and bright ruler to an abolitionist monarch was first because he favored Zheng Guifei and caused foreign relatives to interfere in power, and then because he hated the party struggle that broke out in the civilian-official clique. More importantly, people should not be used for two purposes, and since Zhu Yijun intends to be diligent in government affairs, he should not covet alcohol. Zhu Yijun spent all his energy in the wine, and naturally did not have the spirit to continue to manage the government. ”
The author consulted the historical materials and found such a record: When Zhu Yijun was twenty-four years old, he asked for leave from the group of ministers, saying that he was "dizzy and dark for a while, and his strength was not happy", which shows that at this time, Zhu Yijun's energy was deteriorating, and he could not lift his spirit at all. Of course, this may also be an excuse for Zhu Yijun to continue drinking and having fun in the harem.
There was another reason for Zhu Yijun's abandonment of government affairs: after Zhang Juzheng's death, two university scholars were appointed as the new first assistants, namely Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing. The two men had been in the imperial court for decades and knew the way of being officials. Zhang Juzheng's glory before his death and his humiliation after his death were in stark contrast, and the two did not want to become the masters of the rear car, so they were always very careful when speaking in front of Zhu Yijun, for fear of offending Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun was influenced by two mediocre people and set two very bad precedents, that is, the introduction of zhang song liuzhong and sutra lecture notes. What is "Chapter Staying in the Middle"? It is to ignore the recitals presented by the civil and military officials, and to pile the recitals into the study without looking at them. The "submission of the feast lecture notes" means that the emperor no longer participates in the feast, and the lecturers only send books related to the feast to the palace. Zhu Yijun developed such a bad habit and finally stopped going to the court.
Therefore, the historians believed that the culprits who caused the Shenzong to abandon government affairs were Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing.
Just when Zhu Yijun was in the deep palace and "ignored everything", resulting in an indissoluble quarrel from the inner court to the outer court, the Liaodong Houjin rose rapidly, constantly sent troops to the south, launched an attack on the Ming army, and the Liaodong War broke out. On the first day of the first month of the 44th year of the Wanli Calendar, the Later Jin regime was officially established and finally became the main threat to the Ming Dynasty, and since then, the situation in Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty has also deteriorated. In particular, after the War of The Eastern Expedition to Aid Korea and the mineral tax, gaohuai was chaotic, and the air defense in the eastern liaoning was weak, the military and the people were in great difficulty, and the supply was difficult.
All in all, if the emperor did not go to work, it was bound to have an extremely bad impact on the country, and the efforts made at the beginning of Zhu Yijun's ascension to the throne were in vain, and the Daming Jiangshan did not regain its glory in his hands, but embarked on the road of decline.
In March of the 48th year of the Wanli Calendar, Zhu Yijun finally fell seriously ill due to the long-term drunkenness, coupled with the fiasco of Liaodong and the troubles of state affairs. On July 21, Shinjong died at the Hongdeok-den Temple at the age of fifty-eight. On the twenty-second day, the funeral was issued, and on the twenty-third day, a will was issued, and the crown prince Zhu Changluo was appointed to the throne. On the tenth day of the first month of September, the honorific title Shenzong Fan Tianhe Dao Zhe Su Dun Jian Guang article Wu An Ren Zhi Xiao Xian Emperor, temple number Shen Zong.
Resources:
[Ming Shi Vol. 20 Honki, Ming Shilu Divine Scroll]