Preface
Do you know? The most embarrassing emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty was Zhu Zhanji, who was known as the "rule of Renxuan."
This grandfather, Zhu Di, regarded as the future Ming monarch of the Ming Dynasty, lived a life full of dramatic turns. During his reign, he created the economic and cultural peak of the Ming Dynasty, but also buried the hidden danger of the decline of the dynasty. How did he grow from a young genius with high hopes to a generation of bright monarchs, and why did he finally end in tragedy?
The rise of teenage genius
In the thirty-first year of Hongwu, a destined child was born. He is the grandson of Zhu Di, the fifth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the son of Zhu Gaochi - Zhu Zhanji.
It is said that on the night Zhu Zhanji was born, Zhu Di had a dream in which Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, gave him Dagui, who represented the imperial power. The next day, Zhu Zhanji was born, Zhu Di was overjoyed, and named him "Zhanji", which means that the foundation is evergreen. Zhu Di saw that Zhu Zhanji was born smart and handsome, and had the bearing of an emperor, so he had high hopes for him, thinking that this was the fulfillment of the dream scene, and he was even more convinced that this child would definitely make great achievements in the future.
Since he was a child, Zhu Zhanji has been specially favored by his grandfather. Zhu Di took him on expeditions many times to exercise his talents, and at the age of thirteen, he made an exception and named him the emperor's grandson, establishing him as the heir of the Ming Dynasty.
This move not only broke the convention in history, but also made it clear that Zhu Zhanji was Zhu Di's designated heir. Since then, Zhu Zhanji has been deeply loved by his grandfather, and he is diligent and studious, both civil and military, and is considered the rising star of the Ming Empire.
After the deaths of Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Di one after another, the 25-year-old Zhu Zhanji inherited the unification and became a new generation of emperors. He inherited his father's benevolence and grandfather's military talents, and showed extraordinary wisdom and courage in governing the country, creating the "rule of Renxuan" period in the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he was humble and cautious, and did not use the imperial title of "Xuanzong" for the time being, reflecting his humble attitude. He listened to a wide range of advice and looked for the best way to govern the country, thus laying the foundation for the country's stability and development.
The glorious era of the "Almighty Emperor".
In order to put the country on the right track, Zhu Zhanji reused a group of virtuous ministers, among which Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu were particularly prominent. These three virtuous ministers are known as "Three Yangs" because of their outstanding talents and loyalty to the country. With their assistance, the government was able to run in an orderly manner, and the country gradually became prosperous.
But Zhu Zhanji's path to rule was not all smooth sailing. His uncle Zhu Gaoxu has always been eyeing the throne. After Zhu Zhanji learned of his uncle's rebellion plan, he responded calmly, strengthened the defense of the capital, and sent capable generals to quell the rebellion.
Eventually, Zhu's army was defeated and besieged in his fiefdom of Le'an. Zhu Zhanji personally went to Le'an to accept Zhu Gaoxu's surrender and pardon him for capital crimes, reflecting his tolerance as a monarch and his cherishing of family affection.
In terms of internal affairs, Zhu Zhanji realized that the system in the early years of the Ming Dynasty could no longer meet the needs of increasingly complex state governance, so he began a series of reforms. He expanded the power of the Cabinet Scholars, making them his most relied upon advisors.
At the same time, Zhu Zhanji also strengthened the powers of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and established a complete supervision system, so that governments at all levels, from the central to the localities, could be effectively supervised. These reforms have succeeded in creating a more efficient and robust government institution.
In terms of foreign relations, Zhu Zhanji personally led his army to conquer the Mongols in the north on many occasions and won brilliant military victories. In 1431, he sent Zheng He to the West to ask those countries to come to pay tribute, which strengthened the national strength and international prestige of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Zhanji was also very concerned about the livelihood and well-being of the people, and whenever a local disaster or war struck, he would respond quickly by reducing taxes in the affected areas and setting up a standing liquidation system to ensure that the people could tide over the difficulties. He also personally practiced his care for the people, made many private visits to the people, went deep into the people, and personally understood the people's feelings, which made him gain a high reputation among the people.
In the field of culture and art, Zhu Zhanji also has extraordinary achievements. He has a deep interest in the art of calligraphy and painting, and his paintings have a unique style and far-reaching artistic conception, which are highly praised by later generations. He was also keen on collecting ancient paintings, and under his promotion, the cultural and artistic undertakings of the Ming Dynasty achieved unprecedented prosperity.
During the reign of Zhu Zhanji, a monarch with both ability and political integrity, the Ming Dynasty was politically clear, economically prosperous, and culturally prosperous, and was known as the "rule of Renxuan". His political achievements are comparable to those of the virtuous monarchs in history, and he has become a rare Ming monarch in the Ming Dynasty and even in Chinese history.
The "wrong" choice
However, some of the decisions made during Zhu Zhanji's reign buried the hidden danger of the decline of the Ming Dynasty. First of all, he put forward the main and proposition of "Zirenzong is not diligent and far-sighted", and greatly reduced the northern border defense. Although this temporarily stabilized the border passes, it also gave the Mongol tribes a chance to rise, which eventually led to the crushing defeat of Tumubao.
At that time, although the Mongol tribes had been greatly weakened under the continuous blows of the Ming Dynasty, they still maintained a certain combat effectiveness. Zhu Zhanji's decision undoubtedly gave the Mongols a chance to breathe. Over time, the Mongol tribes gradually regained their strength, and in 1449 they launched the Battle of Tumubao, which completely smashed the Ming army's northern defenses, inflicting heavy losses. The war not only dealt a blow to the military strength of the Ming Dynasty, but also seriously damaged its deterrent power in the north.
Second, Zhu Zhanji carried out military reform, with the original intention of curbing corruption and improving quality, but he was often too lenient in dealing with problematic officers, and the military cantonment system was not implemented, resulting in low morale and low combat effectiveness of the army. All these became important reasons for the defeat of the war in the future.
Although Zhu Zhanji's reform measures have achieved certain results in a short period of time, they have buried hidden dangers. His lax control of the military has failed to address corruption and has made it much less effective. This laid the groundwork for the later defeat of the war and also laid the foundation for the decline of the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, Zhu Zhanji also ordered the cessation of going to the West and adopted a policy of closing the country to the outside world. Although this decision helped to solve domestic problems in the short term, in the long run, it deprived the Ming Dynasty of the opportunity to further expand overseas markets and strengthen exchanges with the world, and at the same time failed to effectively contain the threat of the Japanese invaders, which ultimately led to the weakening of national defense and the decline of international status.
At that time, the maritime strength of the Ming Dynasty had reached an unprecedented height, and Zheng He's seven voyages to the West demonstrated the maritime strength of the Ming Empire. However, in order to stabilize domestic affairs, Zhu Zhanji chose the strategy of shrinking coastal defense and cutting expenditures, and suspended Zheng He's activities in the West. This not only weakened the country's maritime power, but also provided an opportunity for the rise of piracy such as the Japanese pirates.
The most important thing is that Zhu Zhanji opened the door for eunuchs to interfere in politics in the Ming Dynasty, which consolidated the imperial power, but laid hidden dangers for the eunuch dictatorship in the future. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the eunuchs made it difficult for them to be loyal, the government was corrupt, and the dynasty was declining day by day.
Although Zhu Zhanji's decisions have a certain degree of rationality in the short term, in the long run, they have buried the hidden danger of the decline of the Ming Dynasty. Some of his "wrong" choices eventually became important reasons for the decline of the Ming Dynasty.
epilogue
Although Zhu Zhanji's decision-making may have been problematic in some aspects, he made great contributions to the development of the Ming Dynasty, especially his "rule of Renxuan". He was a monarch with both ability and integrity, and was undoubtedly a good king among many historical emperors.
Zhu Zhanji's life was a life full of wisdom and courage. He grew from a young genius with high hopes to a generation of Ming monarchs, creating the economic and cultural peak of the Ming Dynasty. However, some of his decisions also buried hidden dangers in the decline of the Ming Dynasty, reflecting the complexity of history. Even if he made a wrong decision, Zhu Zhanji was still a good monarch worthy of respect, and his political achievements and artistic achievements will forever be remembered on the monument of Chinese history.