On March 14, the sixteenth year of Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty (1521), Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty Swallowed the Last Breath of His Life and died in the Leopard Room, Chinese New Year's Eve one year old.
As the tenth emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty, the evaluation of Ming Wuzong by later generations was polarized, with some accusing him of being ridiculous and others praising him for his maverick behavior. Regarding the death of Ming Wuzong, some people even believe that it is a conspiracy of the civilian bureaucracy, so why did Ming Wuzong, who was in his prime, suddenly die?
First, the dispute over the Southern Tour
In March of the fourteenth year of Zhengde, Emperor Mingwuzong, instigated by Jiang Bin and others, issued an edict intending to tour the south, but was opposed by hundreds of officials. 107 officials wrote to the emperor and vigorously opposed the southern tour. Emperor Mingwu was furious and ordered the Jinyi guards to arrest these officials and then punish them for kneeling in front of the noon gate for five days.
After the punishment was over, Emperor Mingwuzong issued another edict to these officials to scepter thirty, and then made punishment measures such as punishment, external transfer, removal, and execution. Eleven officials were killed on the spot and three were seriously wounded and killed. Faced with the pressure of public opinion, Emperor Mingwuzong had to temporarily stop the plan of the southern tour.
2. The Rebellion of king Ning
Shortly after Emperor Wuzong shelved his plans for a southern tour, a rebellion broke out in the south. In June of the fourteenth year of Zhengde, Zhu Chenhao, the King of Ning, killed the imperial court officials and rebelled in Nanchang. After Emperor Mingwuzong received the report, he did not panic in the slightest, but was very happy, because in his opinion, the Imperial Conquest was the best excuse for the Southern Tour.
In order to silence the mouths of the hundred officials, Emperor Mingwuzong issued an edict to "say it again, capital punishment", and at the same time he called himself "Fengtian Conquest of the Mighty General Zhen Guogong", and on August 22, he led an army to march in person. However, as soon as he reached Liangxiang, Emperor Mingwuzong received a triumphant report from Wang Shouren, and the rebellion had been put down and King Ning had been captured.
3. The Absurd Emperor
However, Emperor Mingwuzong ignored it and continued south, arriving in Nanjing in December, playing along the way. At this time, Wang Shouren also set out from Nanchang and was ordered to take Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ning, to Nanjing. Zhu Chenhao was escorted to Nanjing, and in order to show his merits, Emperor Mingwuzong "served with the nearest men, reorganized the army, went out of the city for dozens of miles, and was captured in front of him, in a triumphant state."
The rebellion had been quelled, but Emperor Mingwuzong never wanted to return to Beijing and play near Nanjing. Once, When Emperor Mingwuzong lived on Niushou Mountain, "the armies were terrified at night, and they did not know where the upper part was, and the great disturbance was fixed for a long time." It was not until August of the fifteenth year of Zhengde that Emperor Mingwuzong embarked on the road back to Beijing, but he could not have dreamed that an encounter on the way back to Beijing would kill him.
4. Drowning in Huai'an
Because Emperor Mingwuzong played all the way, the road back to Beijing was very slow, and he did not reach Huai'an until the seventh day of September. Emperor Mingwuzong stayed in Huai'an for several days, and on the day of the Chongyang Festival, there was a riot, "left and right competed for the chrysanthemum flag, and the officials took the blame for this, and there was a big disturbance in the city." On the twelfth day, Emperor Wuzong came to Qingjiangpu and stayed at the residence of the eunuch Zhang Yang.
Three days later, Ming Wuzong began to play again, his interest was very high, and he drove a small boat alone to the pond of Qingjiangpu to fish. As a result, there was an accident, "the boat overturned and drowned". After all, Wuzong was a northerner and did not understand the nature of water, although the people on the shore rushed into the water to rescue him, but Wuzong still drowned, and since then he has not been ill.
Fifth, the death of the leopard room
In November of the same year, Emperor Mingwuzong arrived in Tongzhou, but he never returned to the capital and refused to accept the court of the Hundred Officials. It was not until a month later that Emperor Mingwuzong returned to the capital. However, it was only a few days later that people realized the seriousness of the problem. When Emperor Mingwuzong sacrificed heaven and earth in the southern suburbs, he "vomited blood on the ground and could not perform the final ceremony." Since then, Emperor Wuzong of Ming no longer summoned hundreds of officials and no longer went to the court.
It dragged on until March of the following year, when Emperor Mingwuzong died and Chinese New Year's Eve one year old. As for what disease Ming Wuzong died of, later generations made a more scientific argument, mainly Wuzong drowned, resulting in blood choking in the lungs, the climate at that time was already a little cold, coupled with panic, which led to lung infection, it is likely to be infected with pneumonia, so it will vomit blood. At the time, pneumonia was an incurable disease.
References: 1. Records of Emperor Wuzong of Ming, 2. Chronicle of the Ming Dynasty, 3. History of Ming