China is the country with the deepest cultural heritage in the world, and it is also the only country in the world without cultural faults. Chinese history has experienced many dynastic changes and hundreds of emperors, each emperor has his own different historical deeds, these deeds are long or short, to say that the short deeds must have Zhu Renzong Zhu Gaozi.
Zhu Gaozi was the eldest son of Zhu Di, the ming dynasty's Ming Dynasty, and the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Unlike his father, Zhu Di, he was not good at martial arts and did not like war, but helped with state affairs while Zhu Di was leading his troops out. Although he was not happy with Zhu Di, he also served as the crown prince for ten years, and later successfully became emperor, although it was only ten months, but he received countless praises from later generations.
First, the growth experience
The Ming Dynasty is the favorite dynasty of many Chinese, and even later generations used "the son of heaven guards the gate of the country, and the king dies in the community" to describe it. Zhu Gaozi was born in such a tough Ming Dynasty royal family.
Zhu Gaozi was not good at martial arts since he was a child, nor did he like martial arts, he only liked to read on his own, so he was obese, and he was not favored by his father Zhu Di and his grandfather Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang from an early age, and even some officials of slightly higher rank looked down on him. But later, his literary style and words and deeds were favored by Zhu Yuanzhang, and he was crowned as the Son of the King of Yan.
After the death of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, his father Zhu Di was dissatisfied with the ascension of his nephew, Emperor Jianwen, to launch the Battle of Jingnan. In this battle, he nearly died twice. The first time was when the jianwen emperor Zhu Yunzhuo's subordinates wanted to provoke his relationship with Zhu Di, so they recruited people to send a secret report to Zhu Gaozi in a vain attempt to plot against Zhu Gaozi.
After the rebellion failed, he sent spies to deliver false news to Zhu Di, saying that Zhu Gaozi had cooperated with the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao and wanted to deal with Zhu Di together. This plan almost made Zhu Di hand blade his parents, but in the end, fortunately, some strategists recognized this news, which made Zhu Gaozi's life safe. It is no wonder that later Zhu Di was proclaimed empress dowager, and all the advisers of the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao were killed and the clan was killed.
The second time he almost died, Zhu Di led his troops out of the city to fight, leaving only Zhu Gaozi to lead a small number of soldiers to guard a city of old, weak, sick and disabled. However, he had no choice but to encounter an attack led by Li Jinglong, but fortunately Zhu Gaozi used a ruse to delay until Zhu Di returned with his troops, and successfully defeated Li Jinglong's army with Zhu Di's army.
This time the war was a key battle in jingkang's difficulties, which laid the foundation for the victory or defeat of the battle, and also helped Zhu Gaozi to clear the suspicion of collaborating with the enemy, and also made Zhu Di appreciate and recognize Zhu Gaozi even more. Therefore, even if he did not like Zhu Gaozi later, due to his performance and the inheritance system of the eldest son, he could only crown Zhu Gaozi as the crown prince.
2. Benevolent political state
Zhu Di claimed to be empress, and did not change his preference for personally leading troops to conquest, often going out to fight and entrusting all state affairs to Zhu Gaozi. Therefore, although Zhu Gaozi was the crown prince, he had been approving major state affairs on behalf of his father, and this batch was more than ten years.
Although Zhu Gaozi could handle state affairs, in fact, his position as crown prince had always been coveted. This man was his brother Zhu Gaoxu, who, like Zhu Di, was tall and tall, powerful, fond of conquest, and had a good record in the Jing Kang Rebellion, and was deeply loved by Zhu Di, and was one of the candidates for crown prince recognized by Zhu Di.
The younger brother's tiger gaze, the father's disapproval from the bottom of his heart made Zhu Gaozi's path tremble and tremble. Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang's cultivation of Zhu Gaozi during his lifetime allowed him to know how to manage better, coupled with his kind nature, he has always practiced benevolent government to the outside world, and has the support of the ministers. Later, Zhu Di died of illness on the way back to Beijing on the Northern Expedition, and Zhu Gaozi successfully ascended the throne.
After Zhu Gaozi came to power, he implemented all the policies that he did not dare to implement because of his father's pressure. He pardoned and released Zhu Yunjiao's old ministry in large numbers, advocated the redress of unjust cases, abolished the overly harsh policy, reduced the scale of military use, returned the labor force to the people for cultivation and livelihood, improved the treatment of scholars, and indirectly promoted cultural recovery.
He also took the lead in saving the expenses of the court, was good at receiving advice, was diligent in government affairs, and developed the economy. Taking Tang Taizong Li Shimin as an example, he wanted to be a Ming Jun who sympathized with the people. Although he reigned for only ten months, he also made many policies that benefited the country and the people, and his contribution to the rule of his son Xuanzong was called "the rule of Ren Xuan".
Third, the cause of death is a mystery
Zhu Gaozi's sudden death has also caused great controversy in the field of historiography. It was rumored that Zhu Gaozi felt uncomfortable in the palace and urgently recalled his son who was outside, but within a few hours, Zhu Gaozi died violently. There are three widely publicized accounts of Zhu Gaozi's violent death.
The first theory is the brotherhood murder theory. Zhu Gaoxu always had ideas about the throne, and even when Zhu Di was still on the throne, he began to cultivate his own forces, cultivating dark guards, privately associating with imperial court ministers, refusing to take the domain, etc., plus Zhu Di also wanted to cultivate Zhu Gaoxu's ideas, so this rumor made many people believe.
But this claim is unlikely. First, because Zhu Gaoxu had already been restricted by Empress Zhang and others before Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne, his real power was reduced and he did not have the strength to seize the throne. Second, Zhu Gaoxu was not in the capital at that time. If Zhu Gaoxu deliberately plotted to kill, how could he choose to murder when he was not there, which would not be conducive to his own seizure of the throne, so this statement is not accurate.
The second theory is the murder of the son. Generally speaking, the perpetrator is often the one who benefits the most, Zhu Gaozi died, his son Zhu Zhanji could inherit the throne, and was the first beneficiary, so Zhu Zhanji murdered his father for the throne. After all, in order to compete for the throne, the killing of the father has occurred many times in history.
But this statement is equally inaccurate. First, soon after Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne, Zhu Gaoxu was looking at the tiger, and the court was not yet completely stable, and it was not a good choice to kill his father and seize the throne at this time. Second, Zhu Zhanji was in Nanjing at that time, not in Beijing. At this time, not to mention whether it can be successfully put in place, the way back to the capital is full of dangers.
The third is overindulgence. Zhu Gaoxu had been the crown prince for more than ten years, and he had to look at the face of his father Zhu Di, to be supervised by his courtiers at all times, and to guard against his younger brother Zhu Gaoxu at all times, so it was inevitable that the pressure would be too great and needed to be vented. This is therefore the most reliable statement.
Noshi also says that Zhu Gaozi died of overindulgence. It is said that Zhu Gaozi had been addicted to women for many years and often took various elixirs, and the chancellor Li Shimian repeatedly advised Zhu Gaozhi to use more time in court affairs, and the two had a dispute, and Li Shimian was almost given death.
4. Summary
Each of the above three statements has its own reasons and shortcomings. However, the history books record that Zhu Gaozi's body type is not ordinary fat, but the kind that reaches a sick obesity and needs to be supported by others to walk. Therefore, from a modern perspective, Zhu Gaozi may have died due to excessive obesity leading to excessive burden on the body and failure of organs.
Although Zhu Gaozi implemented benevolent government during his lifetime, the imperial etiquette law could not be abolished. Therefore, after Zhu Gaozi's death, seven concubines without children were martyred for him. It was cruel, but that was the custom of the time.
Zhu Gaocheng was the crown prince for more than ten years, and when he finally survived the throne, he died suddenly after only ten months as emperor, and when he died, he also took seven concubines with him for burial. However, although his reign was short, he also made many contributions and deserves the praise of future generations.