In December of the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566), Zhu Houxi, who had been practicing Dan medicine for a long time, was unwell and soon became critically ill. Under the persuasion of everyone, Zhu Houxi left the Xiyuan Garden, where he had lived for 20 years, and returned to the Qianqing Palace.
However, Zhu Houxi died in the palace on the same day, at the age of 60, finally ending the decades-long situation of "Jiajing's sole rule" and giving the world a chance to breathe. Zhu Houxi died, and Zhu Zaituo, the prince of Yu, as the heir to the throne, took the throne and changed his name to Yuan Longqing.
Speaking of Ming Muzong Zhu Zaiyuan, posterity remembers mostly for his addiction to drugs and his physical weakness, at the age of 36, it seems that there are no other political achievements that can be put on the table, doing nothing, and living a mediocre life.
However, such a mediocre emperor reigned for less than six years, and posterity praised him a lot. The History of Ming commented on him this way, "Muzong reigned for six years, arched and widowed, practiced frugality, and still ate for many years. Xu Li replied to the tribute and reduced the endowment of the people. The border is quiet. Following the body to keep the text, it can be called the Lord of Orders".
"Records of Emperor Mingmuzong": "Ascending to the throne, inheriting it with generosity, practicing xuanmo, not descending the order and transporting the world, serving as a minister, leading the general body, not being annoying, doing nothing to be self-righteous, and being quiet and self-righteous, so in six years, the sea was quiet and silent, called taiping tianzi yun." ”
He has not reigned for a long time, why is the evaluation so high, and is mostly praised by posterity? The reason for this is that Zhu Zaiyuan's personality and ability have been recognized by hundreds of officials, and the policy is more in line with the will of the people and wins the hearts of the people, so that the national strength of the Ming Dynasty can be restored.
Decades of stoic life, mediocre but gentle emperor
In the sixteenth year of Zhengde (1521), Emperor Mingwuzong Zhu Houzhao died, but he had no heirs, and no one succeeded to the throne. In the imperial era, the imperial court could not be left without a monarch for a day.
Therefore, Yang Tinghe and others discussed and decided on a plan, and sent relevant officials to welcome Zhu Houxi, the king of Xingxian, into the succession of the great unification, which was the second time in the Ming Dynasty that "the king of the domain became the emperor" and Xiaozong entered the emperor.
Speaking of the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, throughout his entire career as emperor, I don't like such an emperor very much. But I have to admit that Zhu Houxi was a clever emperor, who lived in the Western Garden for 20 years and did not go to the court, but he played with hundreds of officials between the shares, which can be described as extremely powerful.
Therefore, although it is deeply silent, and Zhang Chi manipulates, the authority does not move.
At the same time, Zhu Houxi was also an unpredictable and suspicious emperor, in order to ensure that his power was not stolen by others, he did not trust anyone, whether it was a foreign minister, an internal minister, or his own concubine, so Zhu Zaiyuan's life as a prince was not good.
This situation became more and more intense after the "change of the Palace of Nongyin" and the death of the crown prince, and Zhu Houxi was even more suspicious and arbitrary, which shrouded the entire palace with a terrible and eerie atmosphere, and Zhu Zaiyuan's life was even more depressed.
Living in the house for decades, Tu Ti tianxia is in the palm of his hand, and It is like a presence at home and abroad. For this reason, the great exaggeration, the great worship, the great reward, are all arbitrary.
Zhu Houxi's
Enwei is unpredictable and suspicious
It is also reflected in the establishment of the crown prince, in the eighteenth year of Jiajing (1537), Zhu Houxi established the second son Zhu Zaiyuan as the crown prince, the third son Zhu Zaiyuan as the Yu King, and the fourth son Zhu Zaizhen as the king of Jingjing, which can be regarded as the confirmation of the position of prince and avoid disputes.
However, in the twentieth year of Jiajing (1539), the position of Prince Zhu Zaiyuan was not yet hot, and he died. According to the system of succession of the eldest son, Zhu Zaiyuan, the prince of Yu, was the second son and was the appropriate heir to the throne, and Zhu Houxi should also establish the foundation of the country as soon as possible.
On the second day of the yue, in the morning, the sick work, the dispatch of the doctor and the gizzard are not cured, and suddenly, the north side worships: The child is gone, and he is sitting and sitting, and he is ten and four years old.
However, Zhu Houxi was slow to make a record. Moreover, the sudden death of the prince was not a small blow to Zhu Houxi, and he began to be superstitious
"The two dragons don't see each other"
He regarded his own son as an enemy and gradually alienated the crown prince.
In the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing (1560), the chancellor Guo Xiyan wrote a letter requesting Jianchu, which angered Zhu Houzhao and was brutally beheaded. Since then, there have been many times when hundreds of officials have been killed for saying that Jianchu was said, and the discussion in the imperial court could be slightly calmed.
However, the discussion at the bottom still did not stop, and the dispute between the Pro-Jing faction and the Pro-Yu faction was endless, and Zhu Houxi had no choice but to send Zhu Zaijie, the King of Jing, out of the palace to calm down the discussion.
In this way, the position of prince was vacant for decades. In the midst of the situation, the private debate over who was the crown prince never stopped, and almost every time it ended in Zhu Zaiyuan's defeat, because the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi loved Zhu Zaijie more.
For the two sons, Zhu Houxi is eccentric and obviously loves the younger son more. Although the two are the same king of the clan and both are three thousand stones, Zhu Zaiyao can obtain more income through multiple channels, while Zhu Zaiyuan cannot.
For example, Zhu Zaijue became the king of the domain, had a fiefdom, and Wasere Lu, but he was not satisfied, and often occupied good land and robbed others of their property, Zhu Houxi acquiesced to this, and always loved Zhu Zaijie.
Moreover, Zhu Zaijie's mother was favored, and she also sent gold and silver treasures to King Jing many times, coupled with the rudder of the Jing faction, "political investment", Zhu Zaijie's other incomes were not low, and his life was extremely luxurious.
One son was extremely extravagant, but the other son was cautious and only promised, surrounded by the supervision of jinyi guards and factory guards, afraid that if he accidentally offended the emperor, he would lose his life, similar to a life under house arrest.
In this way, in this nearly morbid atmosphere, Zhu Zaiyuan lived for nearly several decades, forming his gentle character. At the same time, Zhu Zaiyuan understood the sufferings of the people, and in his heart he also hoped to improve the lives of the people, so he was like-minded with the courtiers below, and Zhu Zaiyuan had a good relationship with Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others, and these people were the top ministers in the future.
Secondly, Zhu Houxi's paranoia and self-pity, ruling alone, made many ministers feel that "accompanying the king is like accompanying the tiger", and if they are not careful, they will be imprisoned or even killed, and many decisions will not be adopted.
In this way, the contradiction between the officials in the imperial court and Zhu Houxi gradually deepened, and the heart longed for a benevolent monarch, and Zhu Zaiyuan was a good choice.
Therefore, at that time, even if Zhu Houxi didn't like Zhu Zaiyuan any more, there were still many ministers at the bottom who helped Zhu Zaiyuan. When Zhu Zaiyuan faced some dangers and suspicions, there were always people who stood up to help, although they could not completely repair the gap between father and son, but at least it would not let Zhu Zaiyuan die because of this.
It can be seen from here that Zhu Zaiyuan is an emperor who is liked by civil and military officials, a literati emperor, and his power may not be enough, but he is good at using people and is willing to delegate power, which is conducive to the development of officials and the display of their own ambitions, and they do not have to worry about it all day long and will be killed.
Paper, ink and pencil were in the hands of officials, and the pleasing emperor was generally not lowly evaluated. However, Zhu Zaiyuan's evaluation is high, just because of the official's like and recognition? This is one of the reasons, but there are other reasons, that is, Zhu Zaiyuan eliminated the shortcomings of the Jiajing period, rested with the people, and under his rule, the world was peaceful.
Recuperate with the people
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, through the efforts of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youxing implemented the Hongzhi Zhongxing, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty was restored, and the world was rarely a sign of peace.
However, after the tossing and turning of Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Houxi, the people were poor in financial difficulties, which led to a deficit in the national treasury, financial tension, and extreme social instability, which was also the difficulty that Zhu Zaiyuan would face after he took the throne.
Although Zhu Zaiyuan's political achievements were mediocre, he lived outside the palace walls since he was a child, understood the sufferings of the people, understood what the people needed, what they wanted, and how the imperial court should do it.
Perhaps, he alone did not have the ability to do this well, but he had such a heart, and he was even more willing to give up his power to let the group of ministers do it. Therefore, after Zhu Zaiyuan took the throne, the imperial court repeatedly carried out reforms, implemented a policy of benefiting the people and benefiting the country, allowing the people to "rest and recuperate" and restore the national strength of the Ming Dynasty.
Stop all fasting work and additional purchases and trades, and love the people like children
Jiajing died, Zhu Zaiyuan became emperor, and as soon as he ascended the throne, he began to adjust the policy, one of which was to "stop all fasting work and additional procurement and trading."
Speaking of Zhu Houxi, many people first think not of his political achievements, but of his obsession with cultivating immortal cultivation. If you are an ordinary person, so addicted, it will have a big impact on yourself, but the surrounding influence is not big.
However, Zhu Houxi is an emperor, the ending is different, it is completely harmful and no benefit, and it is a heavy burden for the people.
For example, Zhu Houxi's habit of "fasting", and large-scale procurement before the event, the purchase of some rare treasures, the arrangement of the activity... Where do these supplies come from? Part of it is purchased in the private sector, and part of it is through "looting". Moreover, Zhu Houxi also built a large number of palaces and "strange objects", which completely satisfies the heart of one person and does not care about the hearts of all the people in the world.
In this regard, the hundred officials of the world only flattered the emperor, did not dare to refute, did not dare to advise, but only turned back to the people and satisfied the emperor's selfish intentions.
In this way, these activities undoubtedly increase the burden of the people, but also hit the people's enthusiasm for production. For a long time, the Ming Dynasty will die, so it must be banned. To this end, Zhu Zaiyuan ordered,
"All the alchemists were handed over to the judges for punishment, and all fasting work and additional purchases and transactions were stopped"
。
At the same time, Zhu Zaiyuan also ordered,
"Those who are inconvenient to the government decrees of the first dynasty shall be changed by the will"
, suppressing land annexation, limiting land, formulating the relevant System of Decreasing The Clan Of Xun Qi Clan According to the Successive Orders, Clearing the Fields, Checking The Secret Mail, Dividing the Money and Grain, and the Imperial Family's Xun Qi Farms.
And also
"Exempt from half of the world's land endowment next year, and Jiajing forty-three years ago", to exempt relief and reduce the suffering of the people after the disaster
These are all people's livelihood policies, the so-called people's hearts and minds to win the world, how can the evaluation not be high?
3. Longqing switch to promote social and economic development
In the later period of Jiajing, after the extravagant waste of the previous two emperors, the national treasury had long been empty, and the eastern wall was completely demolished to supplement the western wall, and the normal operation of the imperial court was difficult, and the hundred officials' salaries could not be issued on time. Moreover, the military expenditure of the imperial court was also very large, and the Ming Dynasty faced an unprecedented financial crisis.
How can this fiscal crisis be resolved? There is nothing more that can be done.
In the first year of Longqing (1567), Tu Zemin, the governor of Fujian, wrote a letter, "Please open foreign trade and change from private to open trafficking", and it was this letter that broke the deadlock. However, the "forbidden sea" is an ancestral system, how can future generations break the ancestral system?
During the Hongwu years, after decades of war, the world was full of devastation and ruin, and the original agricultural economy was seriously damaged. To this end, Zhu Yuanzhang was committed to restoring agricultural production and preventing harassment by the Wokou, announcing the "no sea" policy, and repeatedly declaring that "tablets cannot go to the sea." Therefore, Zhu Zaiyuan's attempt to lift the sea ban will certainly be hindered, but if the sea ban is not lifted, how can the domestic economy be restored?
Fortunately, Zhu Zaiyuan was still an enlightened emperor, not rigid, or lifted the sea ban.
Zhu Zaiyuan ordered the opening of Yuegang (月港, in present-day Haicheng, Fujian), the capital of Zhangzhou, Fujian, and the establishment of Haicheng County with Yuegang as the seat of government, with the establishment of a governor's office to manage private overseas trade and collect taxes.
The main contents of the Governor's Administration's management of private overseas trade are: ships that go out to sea are not allowed to carry prohibited items; the main ship owner collects the ship's lead from the Governor's Office and pays the tax.
However, although the port was opened, there were still many restrictions, such as trade with Japan is still prohibited, and all ships are not allowed to go to Japan. If you go without permission, you will be punished with the crime of "passing through the house".
In this year, the Longqing Emperor announced the lifting of the sea ban, adjusted the overseas trade policy, allowed private traders to sell east and west, civil trade has been officially recognized, the Ming Dynasty's overseas trade has entered a new period, the policy of opening up has greatly increased the economic resources of the Ming Dynasty, and promoted cultural and economic exchanges with overseas, which is a policy with positive effects, known in history as the "Longqing Switch".
According to the Analysis of Chinese scholar Wang Yuxun, from 1567 to 1644, the total amount of silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from overseas was about 330 million taels, equivalent to one-third of the total amount of silver produced in the world at that time.
3. Reached peace talks with Mongolia and longqing peace talks
When I said "Longqing Switch", I mentioned the term "Southern Wubei Kou", which was a war situation faced by the Ming Dynasty at that time, there were Wukou burning and looting in the south, and There were Mongol cavalry in the north who sometimes invaded the territory, and if you want to defeat them and maintain the stability of the border, you must increase military investment.
However, at this time, the Ming Dynasty was poor in wealth and people, where did so much economy come from to support military activities?
We know that the north is a nomadic people, living with water and grass, animal husbandry is relatively developed, a single mode of production can not meet people's needs, such as food, minerals and other substances are extremely scarce.
Moreover, northern nomads often invaded the ming border and killed soldiers and civilians, so the Ming dynasty was not very friendly to the northern nomads, often sneaking into their territories and attacking their forces. Therefore, there is no legal way of trading between the two parties.
For the sake of personal interests and development, the northern nomads often invade the border and want to plunder resources through war, but strategic plunder is far from enough, and finally they have to open a window of trade.
Therefore, knowing the needs of the nomads, this problem was solved, but the final decision was still in the hands of the emperor. In the past, the emperor was prejudiced against the nomads in the north, so there was always a constant war between the two sides.
However, Zhu Zaiyuan was more enlightened and was able to realize ideologically that "Huayi is one family" and "Huyue is one", so he also made the correct decision.
Ming Muzong's edict when he made Li Da Khan the King of Shunyi: "Heaven and earth are virtuous in good life, and since the ancient Saint Emperor Ming Dynasty Heavenly Things, there is no upper body of Heavenly Heart, the lower desire of the people, including the repetition, the view of Huayi as a family, and the constant desire to coexist in Uchiya... Yu Zi Five Years, Qin Tianxian Ancestor, Ai Yang Ling, Hu Yue As one, and bao and breeding... The heavens of the Fallen Dynasty have overwhelmed all the nations, and there is no division between them, and they can see what they are, and they know that I am Li Yuan, and that there is no grace or legacy. ”
In March of the fifth year of Longqing (1571), Zhu Zaiyuan came to the Wenhua Hall to attend the Japanese lecture, and after the end, the university scholar Li Chunfang and others played in person the specific matters of tribute and peace talks to Ming Muzong, which basically showed the meaning of restraint and strengthening internal vigilance.
After this incident, the imperial court already knew the true intentions of Emperor Mingmuzong, the emperor's idea, and the dispute between the dprk and China began to settle down, and the matter of paying tribute was realized.
In the end, under the planning of the cabinet ministers Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others, the Ming Dynasty and the Mongols reached an agreement on the kingship, tribute, and mutual market of Uttar Khan.
The Ming Dynasty made him the King of Shunyi and opened eleven border trade ports so that the Mongols could obtain resources from the Central Plains through trade. The Longqing Peace Conference ended the nearly two-hundred-year hostility between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia, and the Ming Dynasty used this to eliminate Zhao Quan and other Traitors, weakening the internal organization of the Tatars.
Since then, until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, there have been few large-scale wars between the Ming Dynasty and Mongolia, which has greatly reduced military expenditures and reduced the burden on the people.
3. Strengthen the crackdown on corruption and inspect hundreds of officials
In addition to the above three points, Zhu Zaiyuan also carried out the reform of hundreds of officials, increased the inspection system, and at the same time intensified the crackdown on corruption.
During the Jiajing period, the hundred officials could be said to be completely a pawn, at the mercy of the emperor. Moreover, the repeated discussion of great gifts and the boiling of public opinion also allowed the traitors to take advantage of the situation, and soon they were even more punished, so the atmosphere of the officialdom in this period could be described as chaotic.
Qingliu was ostracized and suppressed, and the direct ministers were instead killed for their advice, and the traitors were in charge, hugging each other, and the flames were burning in the sky, which can be described as "the position of the subject is unknown, and the way of the king is not right."
To this end, after Zhu Zaiyuan took the throne, he intensified the crackdown on corruption, and even released Hai Rui, the head of the household department who directly advised Zhu Houxi, and ordered that "the ministers should be offended with advice, and the deceased should be recorded", in order to show his attitude and zero tolerance for corruption.
Most importantly, Zhu Zaiyuan intensified his investigation of officials. In the past, officials of the royal palace were not within the scope of inspection, but Zhu Zaiyuan ordered that all inspections be carried out; therefore, honest officials were rewarded and promoted, and corrupt officials were dismissed from official positions. With the efforts of Zhu Zaiyuan and the ministers, the official atmosphere during the Longqing period was improved to a certain extent.
The ministry of the author of the many traces of the stolen goods listed his guilt and heard about them and punished them.
Conclusion
Although Zhu Zaiyuan was only an emperor for less than six years, during his reign he implemented a series of policies that benefited the country and the people, from reducing taxes for the people to stopping all fasting work and additional procurement and trading, to "Longqing Switch", "Longqing Peace Talks", and inspecting hundreds of officials.
Each policy is deeply popular with the people, supported by the people and officials, so that the long-suppressed people have a chance to breathe, recuperate, and restore social production.
Secondly, the relationship between the monarch and the subject was harmonious, and Zhu Zaiyuan handed over a part of the decision-making power to the minister, which not only improved administrative efficiency, but also effectively prevented himself from making mistakes due to his government experience. Zhu Zaiyuan's decentralization undoubtedly improved the operational efficiency of the country and enabled the policy to be better and accurately implemented.
Zhu Zaiyuan's series of policies of "winning the hearts and minds of the people" benefited both the state and the people, restored social production, and promoted the development of commerce. Although it did not have an immediate effect at that time, the effect was not obvious, but this move laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of the Wanli Dynasty for decades, which can be described as the symbol of the Ming Dynasty.
【Small leather】
Resources:
History of the Ming Dynasty
The End of the Ming Chronicle
Records of Emperor Mingmuzong
《The Kingdom of The Republic》