There have been nearly 500 emperors in Chinese history, some of whom loved the people like sons, and some of whom were cruel and ruthless. But there has never been an emperor like the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi who has not been in the dynasty for more than twenty years, and the most incredible thing is that even if he does not go to the dynasty for more than twenty years, he knows the big and small things of the entire dynasty very well. Before the Han Wudi Emperor Liu Che, China's feudal society promoted the "rule of inaction". The most representative emperors of the "rule by doing nothing" are Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Jiajing. Emperor Wen of Han's "rule by doing nothing" and Emperor Jiajing's "rule by doing nothing" are not the same. Although Emperor Wen of Han promoted the "rule of inaction", he was still a rare Ming Emperor in Chinese history, which was recognized by history and future generations. The Jiajing Emperor's "rule by inaction" was considered to have reached its peak, and he "did nothing" for more than twenty years, and all decisions were made in the inner chamber. During his forty-five years at the helm of the country, it was difficult for ordinary officials to see him except for cabinet ministers.
First, although the life of emperor Jiajing in the early days was full of mystery, his early days were still like many people, not only brilliant, but also concerned about the world. Zhu Houxi was really very intelligent when he was a child, he was proficient in the way of governing the country and self-cultivation, and he also kept in mind the various rules and etiquette of the royal family. It can be said that the young Zhu Houxi has all the characteristics of becoming a Ming Jun. It was also easy for Zhu Houxi to come outside the emperor, who inherited the throne of his uncle. When he first ascended the throne, Zhu Houxi had already shown his dictatorial nature, which can be seen from the era name. Zhu Houxi initially used his talents and ways of governing the country to try to build the Ming Dynasty into an unprecedented prosperity and prosperity. He vigorously reformed the shortcomings of the times, reused the sages, and the Ming Dynasty appeared a rare Qing government. If this continues, the Jiajing Emperor will really be like Emperor Wen of Han, and he will get the title of a sage. Unfortunately, when the Ming Dynasty first appeared a hint of clarity, this monarch full of dictatorship in his bones chose to hide behind the scenes and truly be an emperor who "ruled without doing anything".
Second, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty who advocated the way of Huang Lao all liked to ask questions and seek immortality, and pursue immortality. The Jiajing Emperor was also like this, and he not only pursued the path of immortality, but even reached the state of obsession, he could not go to the court for more than twenty years, but he could not but ask questions and cultivate his self-cultivation. The transformation of the Jiajing Emperor began in the middle of Jiajing, and when the country was in trouble, he began to build a large number of civil engineering, palaces and Taoist temples, and put Xiu Xian qing dao first in everything. At first, the imperial court still had loyal subjects who advised them, but after the Jiajing Emperor tortured these people, many people did not dare to enter the loyal words anymore, and instead, Jiajing began to reuse some people who obeyed his own words, including some eunuchs. After advocating the way of Huang Lao, the "immortal warlocks" of all sides showed great magic, and in order to gain the favor of the emperor, they refined the so-called "Dan Medicine" for the Emperor, and this "Dan Medicine" now seems to have not only failed to make Jiajing immortal and prolong his life, but hastened his death. Due to taking too much "Dan Medicine", the Jiajing Emperor was still very painful in the later period, including physical pain and mental doubt.
In the middle and late period of the Northern Tatars and the Southern Wokou Jiajing, the Ming Dynasty was in a very difficult period, not only the treasury was empty, but also faced external troubles, and the constant harassment of two fierce enemies made the Ming Dynasty overwhelmed, one was the invasion of the Tatars in the north, and the other was the invasion of the coastal cities by the Wokou. The invasion of the ethnic minorities in the north made Daming overwhelmed, although each time it was a small-scale invasion, but it also made the Jiajing Emperor very angry, he wanted to purify and cultivate, but the power of the world made him unable to calm down at all. Although the Jiajing Emperor did not ask about the government, the officials of the Ming Dynasty should be the most responsible officials, and even Yan Song, who was in a position of great power, was also considered to be dedicated to the government. There are also loyal ministers like Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng, and Hai Rui, and perhaps it is precisely because of such loyalists that this huge machine of the Ming Dynasty can continue to operate normally! The invasion of the coastal city of Wukou, fortunately, the Ming Dynasty and such military generals as Hu Zongxian, Qi Jiguang, and Yu Dayu desperately resisted, and at the insistence of Qi Jiguang, in the late Jiajing period, the Wukou who had suffered for many years were calmed and alleviated to a certain extent. Of all the unreliable decisions made by the Jiajing Emperor, it was the most correct to support the fight against the Wokou.
Fourth, the plague of eunuchs and loyal eunuchs was at the peak of the Ming Dynasty, and many important departments of the state were eunuchs in power. Secret service agencies such as the East Factory and the West Factory made every official in the DPRK tremble and tremble like walking on thin ice. Although Jiajing had not been in the court for more than twenty years, he knew everything about the major and minor affairs of the imperial court, which was why he reused eunuchs, everyone was watched, and nothing could escape his control. There were still many loyal ministers in the Ming Dynasty, but the fate of the loyal ministers was not good, and in the government controlled by Yan Song, it was difficult to tolerate the existence of other political enemies. The reason why Jiajing was regarded as a emperor by later generations was mostly related to the favor of Yan Song's father and son. Yan Song's father and son controlled the government for more than twenty years, reused many of their own people, and the foundation of the Ming Dynasty was shaken by them, so by the time Zhang Juzheng wanted to make them stronger through reform, it was already a little too late.
The Jiajing Emperor can be said to be a master of mastery, he not only uses powerful ministers like Yan Song, but also uses loyal subjects like Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng, and the two forces are balanced, Jia Jingming knows that they are secretly fighting to the death, but he is not biased towards either side. Together with himself, the Ming Dynasty formed a three-legged stand, and the method of survival in such a competition actually allowed the Ming Dynasty to survive in internal and external troubles. Later generations also had different evaluations of the Jiajing Emperor, after all, he was a very mysterious king, and no one could evaluate him well. He reigned for forty-five years, for more than twenty years, more than half of the time was not in the court, but in the refinement of the immortals to ask questions, but such an emperor who did not hear anything out of the window and only asked for immortals, no one dared to covet his imperial power, nor did he let foreign enemies invade. His mastery was definitely the most powerful of all the emperors in history, and he understood the importance of balancing the forces of all sides, so even if Yan Song's father and son controlled the government for more than twenty years, he could bring down the Yan family at a single order. What kind of an emperor the Jiajing Emperor really was, and the merits and demerits were left to posterity to comment.