He was the crown prince for more than twenty years, and he died after only ten months on the throne, but his deeds can be passed on for hundreds of years. He was the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaozi, the only emperor of the Ming Dynasty to enjoy the title of "Ren" temple. How powerful is Zhu Gaozi? Why do you get such a high rating?
First, young people are favored
Zhu Gaozi was the eldest son of Emperor Mingcheng's ancestor Zhu Di and Empress Dowager Renxiaowen of the Xu clan. Due to his father's outstanding military achievements and his mother's chastity and virtuousness, Zhu Gaozi was deeply loved by his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang since childhood, and was personally cared for by Empress Ma at birth, and even the name was given by Zhu Yuanzhang.
The young Zhu Gaozi has a calm personality, likes to read, has been involved in hundreds of families, and has his own unique insights. The "benevolence" in Confucianism had a profound influence on him. This is also one of the important reasons why he can finally become a generation of benevolent kings.
Zhu Yuanzhang often took Zhu Gaozi to read books with him. Sometimes late at night, the two grandchildren will fall asleep together. It can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang really pampered this grandson. Zhu Yuanzhang also often let him read the recital chapters to exercise his ability to handle things.
Once, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Zhu Gaozi and the sons of Qin, Jin, and The King of Wednesday to review the army at dawn, but the other three shizi returned early to resume their lives, but Zhu Gaozi did not return. Taizu asked him why, he said that it was too cold in the morning, the soldiers were still eating in the tent, and he wanted to wait until the soldiers were warmer after eating.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that the young Zhu Gaozi was so benevolent and kind, and he loved this grandson even more. However, Zhu Gaozi was not proud of Taizu's love, but studied harder. His knowledge and benevolence laid the foundation for his achievements.
Second, the heart of the house is kind
Zhu Yuanzhang once asked Zhu Gaozi, Tang Yao, and Shang Tang, there were flood and drought disasters, and in the future, Daming would not avoid such natural disasters. By the blessing of Heaven, it is still one's own efforts.
Zhu Gaozi did not think about it, and immediately replied: "The people can survive the difficulties of natural disasters, not by the heavens, let alone by themselves, but by the monarch's famous domain name policy." Zhu Yuanzhang felt that what he said was very correct, so he established him as the son of Yan Shizi.
After Emperor Jianwen ascended the throne, Zhu Di launched the Battle of Jingnan and took Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui to the front line of battle, leaving Zhu Gaoxu in Beijing as a backup. It is said that the front line is the best choice for meritorious service, but Zhu Gaozi does not think so.
Zhu Gaozi believes that support is as important as the front line, or even more important. Beijing was the base of Zhu Di, the King of Yan, and Zhu Di took most of Beijing's troops with him, leaving only 10,000 soldiers and horses, and if Emperor Jianwen sent someone to attack Beijing at this time, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Zhu Gaozi and his generals carefully planned the battle plan, and personally went to the city to appease the people, so that they could be fully prepared, and at the same time told them not to be too afraid. The people all believed that Zhu Gao was a benevolent man who loved others, that he was a virtuous corporal, and that he was close to the people, and that all the people admired him from top to bottom.
Zhu Gaoxu's benevolence was also reflected in his tolerance for his brother Zhu Gaoxu. After he became crown prince, he was falsely accused by Zhu Gaoxu many times, and After Zhu Di found out the truth, he wanted to degrade Zhu Gaoxu as a commoner, but Zhu Gaoxu did not care about his previous suspicions and interceded for him.
Third, resourceful
Not long after Zhu Di left the city, Emperor Jianwen sent Li Jinglong to lead an army of 500,000 to attack Beijing. How can a mere 10,000 troops resist 500,000 troops? However, Zhu Gaozi created a situation in which less won more.
Zhu Gaoqiang dragged his incapacitated body and personally led his soldiers to defend Beijing to the death. What Li Jinglong did not expect was that Beijing's resistance was very tenacious, and it was difficult to break through for a while, so it could only continue to besiege.
In the evening, Zhu Gaozi sent people to sneak up on the enemy camp. Li Jinglong's troops were unable to attack the ground for a long time, and the soldiers were often harassed at night, and their rest was not good, so Li Jinglong had to retreat for tens of miles.
One night, the north wind suddenly rose and the cold wind whistled, and Zhu Gaoxin kept pouring water on the city wall all night, and the next morning, the city wall was thick with ice. Li Jinglong's soldiers could not climb the city wall with a ladder to attack, and could only wait for the ice to melt.
Soon, Zhu Di led the army back, and Zhu Gaozi took advantage of the situation to go out of the city and attack Li Jinglong's army on both sides with Zhu Di, and finally won the war. This defensive war was of great significance to the entire Battle of Jingnan.
Fourth, become a prince
After jing's success, Zhu Di successfully ascended to the throne and made Xu shi empress. But the matter of opposing the prince was postponed again and again. At first, Zhu Di did not want to make Zhu Gaozi the crown prince, because Zhu Gaozi liked to be quiet and unmoving, and his body was fat, and he even needed two people to walk with support.
Compared with the prince who needed to be supported to walk, Zhu Di preferred zhu Gaoxu, the second son with a similar personality to himself. However, Zhu Gaozi had meritorious service in defending the city, and Zhu Di decided to make Zhu Gaozi crown prince after much consideration.
This made Zhu Gaoxu, who had failed to compete for the position of prince, very unhappy in his heart, and he repeatedly falsely accused the prince of being immoral. Zhu Di, who had not waited to see Zhu Gaozi, was even more suspicious of him, so Zhu Di sent Hu Ying, a servant of the Ceremonial Department, to monitor Zhu Gaozi. Fortunately, Hu Ying was a good person, and he did not deliberately cater to the emperor, but lived in Nanjing for a while.
Through overt inspection and covert visits, he found that Zhu Gaozi was conscientious and conscientious and deeply loved by the people. So Hu Ying wrote a letter to Zhu Di, in which he introduced seven things about Zhu Gaozi's supervision of the country, as an example, to illustrate that the prince was reasonable and disciplined, and scrupulously abided by his duties, and from then on Zhu Di no longer suspected the prince.
Zhu Di reigned for twenty-two years, fought five battles in mobei, and was absent from the imperial palace for nearly twenty years. During these twenty years, the affairs of state governance were managed by the prince, which is the prince supervising the country. However, although this errand is superficial, it is a real hardship.
The supervision of the country is very hard, and everything big and small needs to be worried about. Every time Zhu Di went out to fight, the soldiers and horses did not move, and the grain and grass went first, and these things were all handled by Zhu Gaozi. Zhu Di galloped on the battlefield, but Zhu Gaozi was troubled by money in the palace.
Fifth, govern the country
After Zhu Di's death, Zhu Gaozi took over the Daming Jiangshan and began his ten-month career as a benevolent ruler. It is these things he did during his tenure that fully reflected his benevolence and love for the people and made him live forever.
First, he ordered pardons for ministers and their families who had been punished for the hardships. Redeem those who have been relegated to religious and military brothels, and give them land to return to their original places and live and work in peace.
Second, during Zhu Gaozi's reign, he selected xianchen, dismissed redundant officials, and encouraged hundreds of officials to speak and advise. Officials dared to make suggestions, and Zhu Gaozi also actively listened to the advice of the people. It has achieved the effect of inspiring clarity and improving the efficiency of the country's work.
Third, Zhu Gaozi ordered tax reductions and exemptions. For the affected areas, free relief, open mountains for farmers to fish and hunt, and the use of criminal punishment for displaced persons is no longer used, but the practice of proper resettlement is adopted. In this way, the burden on the people is greatly reduced.
Reform the examination system. It is stipulated that the imperial examination shall adopt the admission method of the south six and the north and four, so that talents from the north and south can serve the imperial court. Recruit magi for the imperial court, so that talented people can show their skills. In addition, Zhu Gaozi also actively managed relations with Mongolia, replacing the strategy of northern conquest of Mongolia during the Zhu Di period. But he never gave up on strict supervision of the Mongolian mission and nurses.
This series of measures adopted by Zhu Gaozi enabled the Ming Dynasty to achieve an unprecedented increase in productive forces, the country was peaceful, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. The Ming Dynasty entered a period of stability and strength, which was also the beginning of the rule of ren xuan in history.
In May of the first year of Hong Xi's reign, Zhu Gaozi, who had only been in ten months, died at the age of 48 and was known as Akihito. He was the only emperor of the Ming Dynasty to enjoy the title of Renzi Temple, and one of only four emperors in Chinese history to be known as Renzong. This is the measure taken by Zhu Gaozi during his reign, which was only ten months, but it left a strong mark in history.