It is not easy to stand out among the many emperors, either because they are famous in history or because they have been left behind for thousands of years. There are very few emperors like Emperor Wu of han who are known as the first emperor of the ages, but the Ming Dynasty has a short-lived emperor who can be compared with him.
This emperor was Emperor Akihito Zhu Gaozi, and although he reigned for only ten months, he was highly evaluated by later generations. He ascended to the throne through all kinds of hardships and finally created the ming dynasty.
1. Akihito ascended the throne
Zhu Gaozi's father Zhu Di 's ascension to the throne was not orthodox, and through history, it can be known that Zhu Yuanzhang's designated heir was not him but Zhu Yunjiao. Zhu Di staged a coup d'état to take the throne, and during his reign he imposed harsh punishments.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, Zhu Yunjiao ascended the throne, and the imperial power was constrained by the various sub-titles. In order to ensure the supremacy of the imperial power and reduce the threat, he consulted with the minister on countermeasures. This move of his touched the interests of the various clan kings and caused their dissatisfaction.
In 1398, Zhu Yunjiao found an excuse to weaken Zhu Di's military strength, regained his military power, and was ready to dispose of Zhu Di at any time. The following year, Zhu Di united with the disaffected forces of all sides to launch a coup d'état at the Battle of Jingnan, in which Zhu Yunjiao was defeated.
After Zhu Di became emperor, according to the rules, Zhu Gaozi, as a concubine, should naturally be made crown prince. But Zhu Gaozi has a gentle personality unlike Zhu Di, and he is obese and cannot walk independently without support. Zhu Di did not like Zhu Gaozi very much and did not want to make him crown prince.
Zhu Di preferred his second son, Zhu Gaoxu, and thought that he was more like himself and had his own shadow. In particular, he had the style of Zhu Di in leading the army to fight, and wanted to make him the crown prince.
However, Zhu Gaozi was a concubine, and he was very popular with the ministers, and with the help of the ministers, Zhu Di could only choose to make him crown prince. Zhu Gaozi's appointment as crown prince was still not taken seriously by Zhu Di, and he was more cautious in his handling of things, for fear of angering Zhu Di.
Zhu Gaoxu had a frenzied personality and had received verbal promises from Zhu Di that once Zhu Gaoxu died, he would inherit the position of crown prince, so Zhu Gaoxu often targeted Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Di died in 1424 and Zhu Gaozi succeeded to the throne.
Second, create a prosperous world
The policy implemented by Zhu Gaozi after he ascended the throne was the opposite of Zhu Di, who advocated the implementation of benevolent government. After ascending to the throne, he rehabilitated all the ministers who had been executed or exiled for opposing Zhu Di during the Battle of Jingnan, stabilizing Chaoxin.
He reformed the cabinet system, made the cabinet more perfect without changing the ancestral system, and created a part-time system that was used. At the same time, Zhu Gaozi abolished many harsh tortures, opened up the way of speech, severely punished corruption, and rectified the chaofeng.
In addition, he was very concerned about the lives of the people. He reduced his servitude, reduced his expenses from himself, and made the people's lives happier and richer. These moves of Zhu Gaozi won the hearts of the people and laid the foundation for Zhu Zhanji's prosperity, called Renxuan prosperous.
Third, the history of fame.
Unfortunately, Zhu Gaozi reigned for only 10 months and died of illness in May 1425. However, the measures made by Zhu Gaozi during his reign were very conducive to the development of the Ming Dynasty, and even if his reign was short, he left an indelible memory.
During Zhu Gaozi's reign, he rehabilitated many officials politically, won the hearts of many officials, and made them contribute to the imperial court wholeheartedly; economically, he vigorously rectified corrupt officials, reduced expenditures, and alleviated financial difficulties. He also eased the contradictions between the government and the people, and these measures made him famous in history.
4. Summary
Zhu Gaozi promoted benevolent government and pursued peace as precious. Historically, historians have evaluated him positively. Although Zhu Gaozi reigned for a short time, he was famous in history.