Text/Mu Bingsen
Speaking of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, there is a person who has to say that he is Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor. Although Zhu Di launched the "Battle of Jingnan" and seized the throne of his nephew Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunjiao by force, which was said by posterity, the "Yongle Prosperous World" he single-handedly created laid an immortal meritorious service for the prosperity and strength of the Ming Dynasty, laying a solid foundation for the country to complete three hundred years. In view of Comrade Zhu Di's extraordinary ability and immortal merits, after his death, in accordance with the principle of "ancestral merit, sect has virtue", he was given the title of "Ming Taizong" by later generations, and was enshrined as the god lord who entered the Taimiao Temple and was sacrificed by all generations.
Zhu Di, such a great emperor, was revered by his descendants for generations, but when he reached the seventh grandson Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, he was almost moved out of the Taimiao Temple. If you answer this question, you have to start from how Zhu Houxi became emperor.
Zhu Houxi's ascension to the throne as emperor was very accidental. Why? Here's what happened: Zhu Houxi's biological father, Zhu Youxi, was brothers to Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, and after Zhu Became Emperor, Zhu Youxi was crowned King of Xingxian, in Lu'an Prefecture, Hubei (present-day Zhongxiang, Hubei). After Emperor Xiaozong's death, his son Zhu Houzhao took the throne (temple number Wuzong), the Zhengde Emperor who played with leopard rooms. Sixteen years later, Zhu Houzhao died, but unfortunately there was no heir to succeed him, and after consultation among the ministers, in accordance with the practice of "brother to brother and brother", Zhu Houxi, who was close to Emperor Wuzong, was selected to inherit the throne in the form of "Xiaozong succeeding Emperor Dazong". In this way, Zhu Houxi, who was only fifteen years old, became the Jiajing Emperor.
Don't look at Zhu Houxi's young age, but there are many eyes in his heart, the city government is extremely deep, and he just became the emperor and played a big-handed temper. When the imperial court welcomed him back from Lu'an Prefecture and could not ascend the throne until he could ascend the throne after the "Crown Prince" ceremony was held, he resolutely refused and wanted to directly enter the Taihe Hall to claim the throne. The ministers led by Yang Tinghe could not compromise on such a violation of the ancestral system, so Zhu Houxi threatened not to enter the city of Beijing. The ministers could not resist him and had to obey.
And that's not all, the good drama is behind us. After Zhu Houxi sat firmly on the throne, he began to ponder things again: I became the emperor, what should my father do? Zhu Houxi ordered his subjects to agree on Emperor Wuzong's title and his biological father's title. The ministers believed that Zhu Houxi was "Emperor Xiaozong succeeding Emperor Dazong", and that his uncle Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youfan should be the emperor (recognizing Emperor Xiaozong as his father), and that his biological father Zhu Youxi could only be "Emperor Kaoxing's Great King", and he was called "Emperor Nephew" when sacrificing his parents. This practice zhu Houxi could not accept, and he resolutely refused to follow it. As a result, more than two hundred ministers protested en masse, and even forced him to obey. Zhu Houxi did not budge, and ordered the court staff to protest against the officials, beating sixteen people alive, and the rest were detained.
The ministers died and closed, but the problem was not solved. At a time when Zhu Houxi was at odds with the ministers, a courtier named Zhang Xuan proposed a method of "succession without succession" to solve this problem. That is to say, Zhu Houxi still took his biological father as the test, and established the "Xingxian Wang Temple" in Beijing to sacrifice according to the emperor's specifications. Although this method did not achieve Zhu Houxi's goal, things always took a big step forward, which made him very satisfied and readily agreed.
Then, with the majesty of the emperor and ignoring the objections of his courtiers, Zhu Houxi gave his father Zhu Youyi the title of "Emperor Xian", the temple name of "Ming Ruizong", and the birth mother of "Empress Xingguo", and began to build a mausoleum for them, named "Xianling". The famous "Great Ceremonial Controversy" that lasted for five years in the Ming Dynasty ended with Zhu Houxi's victory.
Although Zhu Houxi won the title and temple number for his father, he could not go to the temple (enter the Temple of Taimiao and receive the Spring and Autumn Festival), why is this? Because the Ming Dynasty ritual law had stipulations, only nine emperors could enjoy the sacrifices of the Ten Thousand Dynasties, and at that time, the Taimiao Temple had already provided eight emperors and exactly nine emperors and empresses of Taizu, Taizong, Renzong, Xuanzong, Yingzong, Xianzong, Xiaozong, and Wuzong. I have to ask, how could the empress enter the temple and become a god lord? It is like this, and the ming system stipulates that if the empress dies in front of the emperor, she should temporarily go elsewhere and enter the Temple of Taimiao after the emperor's death. At that time, Empress Xiaolie of Zhu Houxi died, and he violated the regulations to let the empress move into the Taimiao Temple, the purpose of which was to give himself a place in the Taimiao Temple.
So the problem arises. If Zhu Houxi moved his father to the Taimiao Temple to become the god lord, then he had to move out of the nine ancestors in the temple to make a place, which is the so-called "Temple of Qi". The reigning emperors of the Taimiao Temple were all zhu Houxi's predecessors, and only one wuzong Zhu Houzhao was his contemporary, which one was better to move out? For this matter, the Ming Dynasty had the provisions of "ancestors have merit, and all generations are not righteous" and "relatives move away". According to this regulation, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang could never be removed from the Taimiao Temple, so he had to move out of the emperor whose temple name was "Zong". Then, following the principle of "moving from the end of the family", Emperor Taizong Zhu Di and Zhu Houxi have been separated by seven generations, and the blood source is the farthest, and they should move out. As soon as this news came out, it was immediately opposed by the ministers, who protested one after another.
You must know that although Zhu Di was not the founding prince of the country, if he did not use the coup to seize the throne, how could his descendants become emperors? In addition, during his twenty-two years in power, Zhu Di exerted great efforts to consolidate border defense, open up territory, strengthen Sino-foreign friendship, inherit history and culture, and enable the Ming Dynasty to develop by leaps and bounds, and create a prosperous generation. These feats of Zhu Di can be compared with that of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and other emperors cannot be compared.
For this issue, Zhu Houxi could not but consider, if Emperor Taizong Zhu Di was removed from the Taimiao Temple, not only would the ministers of the dynasty not agree, but they would also be scolded by posterity, and even his father's divine position might be moved out of the Taimiao Temple by later generations. If Zhu Di did not "worship the temple", and the other emperors who were "zong" were all descendants of Emperor Taizong, if they wanted to move out of the temple, it was even more inconsistent with the etiquette, what should they do?
If Zhu Houxi was not clever, he thought of a way to have the best of both worlds: don't you say that "the ancestors have merit, and the worlds are not righteous", then change the temple name of Zhu Di from Taizong to "Ming Chengzu", so that his status is equal to Zhu Yuanzhang. In this way, he not only affirmed Zhu Di's merits and became the prince of immortality, but also moved his father into the Taimiao Temple to become a god lord and receive the sacrifice of all generations, which was really a double victory, and everyone was very happy.
At this time, the gods of the Ming Dynasty Taimiao Temple were: Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was in the center, and on both sides were Chengzu Zhu Di, Renzong Zhu Gaozi, Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, Xiaozong Zhu Youfan, Ruizong Zhu Youzhao, Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, and the "Seven Sects of the Second Ancestor" were exactly nine.
Zhu Houxi was the long-reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty, second only to his grandson Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun (Wanli Emperor). In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing, Zhu Houxi died, and the temple was called "Ming Shizong". According to the ancestral system, after the "Ancestral Temple" of Emperor Renzong Zhu Gaozi was moved to Zhu Houxi to become the God Lord, the "Nine Temples and Seven Dynasties" system stipulated by him was realized.