Since China's more than 2,000 years of feudal imperialism, there have also been more than 400 emperors, large and small, who are either capable, mediocre, or faint, but in the impression of everyone, it is more their sentimentality, such as the Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, and the emperor Of the Han Wudi of the Qing Dynasty, but today's one is an exception, he is very dedicated, that is, Zhu Youfan of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Youfan has two things in his life that have been praised by posterity, and one of his inventions is more famous in the world, and it has also been listed as one of the 300 inventions of mankind.
Stills of Zhu Youfan
Zhu Youfan, the third son of Zhu Mishen, was born with a humble status of the Ji clan, so even his early childhood was very bumpy. Ji was originally the daughter of Guangxi Yiji surname Tusi, and after the Ji surname was quelled due to rebellion, Ji was put into the harem, and she was mainly responsible for managing the emperor's private money on a daily basis. Once, Emperor Zhu Jianshen was idle to count his own private money, but he did not expect to see the Ji clan who was looking at money, so he was interested in it and spoiled it. Probably even they themselves did not expect that Ji Shi would become pregnant like this.
At that time, Zhu Jianshen favored Wan Zhen'er, a palace maid who was 17 years older than him, that is, the famous Wan Guifei in history. Wan Guifei was very jealous, since giving birth to a prince but unfortunately died, she hated the pregnant women and princes in the harem, so the harem was more likely to be a woman's small birth and the prince's premature death. When the news of Ji's pregnancy leaked, Wan immediately sent a palace maid to deliver medicine, and the palace maid who delivered the medicine saw that Ji's pity, she went back and lied that Ji was not pregnant, but had a tumor in her belly. Wan Shi believed it, so he beat Ji Shi into the Cold Palace.
Stills of Zhu Mishen and Wan's
They crossed the sea in secret until the child was born, which was Zhu Youfan. When she learned that the crown prince was born, Wan Guifei was greatly angered, and when she sent the eunuch Zhang Min to drown the child, Zhang Min looked at the poor mother and son in the cold palace, and for a moment moved her heart of compassion, so she took the prince away and hid him in the cold palace. In order to avoid being discovered, they only dared to feed him rice paste, and empress Wu Shi, who was squeezed out of the throne by Wan Guifei, also helped to raise him, and Zhu Youfan grew up under the cover of a number of palace women and eunuchs in the Cold Palace.
6 years later, Zhang Min was combing Zhu Mishen's hair, and the emperor saw that he had white hair in the mirror, and he lamented: He will be old, but he is still childless. When Zhang Min heard this, he quickly knelt down and confessed his mistake, and said: Emperor, you have a son, in the Cold Palace, you are already 6 years old. When the emperor heard the great joy, he immediately asked to see his son, and when he saw his son, who had not even cut his fetal hair because of his long-term confinement, he felt a lot of emotions for a while, and excitedly shouted "like himself". On the second day after Zhu Youfan and his father recognized him, he was made crown prince, but unfortunately, Ji Shi and Zhang Min died successively, of course, the reason is needless to say, Wan Guifei "is indispensable".
In 1487, Zhu Jianshen died, and Zhu Youfan took the throne. During his reign, he punished traitors and courtiers, cured chaos and corruption, and prompted the Ming Dynasty to appear in a situation of "hongzhi Zhongxing". Although he did not reign for a long time, only 18 years, he did have 2 things that were praised by posterity.
First: Diligent administration and love of the post, benevolent political state. During the Zhu Yuanzhang period, there were also large-scale bloody cases such as the "Hu Weiyong Case" and the "Blue Jade Case", and although Zhu Yunjiao, who was on the throne, although he had a benevolent personality, he was stripped of the throne by Zhu Di within a few years, and Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang were in the same line and ruled the country strictly. In this regard, the strict political tone of the Ming Dynasty was basically formed, but Zhu Youfan was obviously an exception, he not only attached great importance to the people, but also paid great attention to the hundred officials and the palace people, and a large part of the reason for his such a situation was his early childhood experience.
Images of Yusuke Zhu
His kindness is not only for those who are kind to him, even if it is the mother of Wan Guifei, he can repay his grievances with virtue. After the deaths of Wan Guifei and Emperor Xian, their families also lost their protection, and the people of the imperial court were accustomed to observing the color, so someone immediately proposed to severely punish the Wan family, but Zhu Youfan refused, saying: My father definitely did not want me to do this, and the Wan family escaped the disaster. In addition to treating the people with kindness, he also did not lack the strategies and means that a king should have, so there were many incorruptible and good workers in the dynasty, and they died to serve the country.
Two: The husband of a monogamous man. Zhu Youfan only married one wife in his life, that is, Empress Zhang, and their husband and wife had a particularly good relationship, and they lived together every day, just like ordinary couples. Just imagine, as an emperor, he can do the imaginary six palaces, which is really precious. Not only that, he also encouraged hundreds of officials to marry less, and also explicitly stipulated that hundred officials of all levels could marry up to a few wives and concubines. Finally, after his death, it also became a precedent for only the burial of husband and wife in the imperial tombs of previous dynasties.
In addition, he also had a great invention, which is our daily necessities today - toothbrushes. In fact, during the Southern Song Dynasty in China, toothbrushes appeared, but in various data in the United States, the manufacturer of the world's first toothbrush was Zhu Youfan. In 1498, he made a toothbrush with a short, stiff bristle inserted into a bone handle, and his last move was listed as one of the 300 greatest inventions of mankind.
References: History of Ming, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming – Empress Zhang