As mentioned above, Akihito was the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and during his reign he made great efforts to govern and reform the maladministration, creating a prosperous situation of "the rule of Renxuan". However, Akihito's reign was short, he succeeded to the throne in August of the 22nd year of Yongle, and died in May of the following year, only for a short period of nine months. Akihito was in his prime, so why did he suddenly die? What is the little-known history behind this?
According to historical records, on May 27, 1425, in the first year of Hong Xi 's reign (1425), Emperor Akihito Zhu Gaozi handled two administrative affairs, "the Yunnan Golden Tooth Military and Civilian Command Division and the Heqing Military and Civilian Government and other local officials Gongma, there was a discrepancy in the banknote table", and "Li Shimian and Luo Rujingju were served in the Hanlin Yuan to change the capital to supervise the imperial history". The next day he fell ill, summoned the cabinet scholars, sent eunuchs to Nanjing, and summoned the crown prince back.
On the evening of May 29, Akihito died in the Chin-an Palace. In other words, Akihito only had two days from illness to death, which was obviously a violent death. At that time, Akihito was only 47 years old, in his prime, so why did he die violently? There are many theories about the death of Akihito, which can be roughly summarized into two types, one is that he was overinverted and died by taking dan medicine, and the other was killed by his own son, Ming Xuanzong.
Judging from the various historical materials, the first statement is more reasonable, because Ming Xuanzong was already the crown prince, and he had no rights to conflict with his father, and there was no need for him to harm his father. So what is the evidence that Renzong was overinverted and died by taking Dan Medicine?
Shortly after Emperor Akihito ascended the throne, Hanlin read Li Shimian's letter and gave the emperor four suggestions, one of which was called "Caution and Lust". Li Shimian wrote, "The internal officials who are far away from Jianning and choose maids make the people suspicious and the hearts of the people confused. If you know: The palace of the Son of Heaven has a permanent system in ancient times, then the great filial piety has not yet ended, the left and right servants, and no one, then the main palace has not yet been sealed. Fear of the original weathering, there is a hope of obstruction of restoration."
To put it simply, Li Shimian attacked Akihito, saying that before his filial piety was over, he sent eunuchs to various places to "page for beauty," causing public opinion to boil over. Akihito was very angry when he saw Li Shimian, probably poking at his sore spot, when he ordered the guards to hit Li Shimian with a golden melon, "Three of the coercive folders, dragging out a few deaths." Before his death, Akihito had not forgotten Lee Shimian and said to the chancellor, "Shi Mian Ting insulted me. ”
After Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne, after learning of this incident, he ordered Li Shimian to be executed. While escorted from the palace to the execution ground, Li Shimian happened to meet the emperor. Ming Xuanzong scolded, "Er Xiaochen dares to touch the First Emperor!" What's the language? Fun to say. Li Shimian knelt on the ground and replied, "It is not appropriate for the courtier to be close to the concubine in secret, and the crown prince should not be far away." After hearing this, Ming Xuanzong did not kill Li Shimian, but used it heavily.
During the reign of Emperor Ming Yingzong, the chancellor Lu Yu asked an old eunuch in the palace, "If you taste the eunuch Lei, you will not be able to confront the eunuch, and the cloud will not be the same, and the yin disease will also be covered." In other words, Akihito died of "yin disease." During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Luo Rujing, who was demoted along with Li Shimian, believed that "the former emperor's heirs were not in time for the month, and they abandoned their subjects." The reason for the rebellion is that all the servants are small, and the formula of the golden stone is the cause of the disease."
In other words, the cause of Akihito's death was roughly the same as that of the later Akimitsu, and both of them were overindulged, causing "yin disease" and then taking dan medicine, resulting in sudden death.
References: 1. Records of Akihito, 2. History of Ming, 3. Records of Illness and Escape