In 1620, the Ming Dynasty was another eventful autumn, which was equivalent to the repetition of that scene two hundred years ago...
On August 12, 1424, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di died, followed by the crown prince Zhu Gaozi took the throne, but Zhu Gaozi reigned for less than 10 months, suddenly died violently, hastily ending the era of Emperor Renzong; on May 29 of the following year, the eldest son Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, and Shi Ming Xuanzong. That is to say, within 10 months, three emperors were replaced.
History cannot be replicated, and sometimes strikingly similar, two hundred years later...
On August 18, 1620, Emperor Mingshenzong Wanli died, and then the crown prince Zhu Changluo took the throne, Zhu Changluo reigned for a shorter time, because after taking the "red pill" for 29 days, his soul returned to the Western Heavens; at the same time, the eldest son, Emperor Mingxizong Zhu Youxiao took over the plate on the 5th (leap month) of the first month of September, this time the three emperors replaced, which took less than two months.
However, the results of the two changes were very different: the first time Zhu Zhanji took over and worked hard to govern, the father and son also joined forces to create the prosperity of Renxuan; and what about Zhu Youxiao? After the bumpy ascension to the throne, the empire has gone down and become a wreck.
So, how did the 16-year-old Zhu Youxiao lead this great empire?
Portrait of Zhu Yu
Unfold the story of Zhu Youxiao, let's start with a historical record. The History of the Ming Dynasty contains:
In the forty-eighth year, Emperor Shenzong's will and testament to the emperor's eldest grandson were established in time, but they did not do it in time. In September, Emperor Guangzong collapsed, and he was the eldest son of the emperor, the emperor.
What does that mean? In the forty-eighth year of the Wanli Calendar (1620), Emperor Myōjinzong instructed in his testament to appoint the emperor's eldest grandson in time, but it was not carried out in time. On the first day of September, Emperor Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo died, and he said in his will that he wanted the emperor's eldest son to inherit the emperor's throne.
Obviously, whether it is the emperor's eldest grandson or the emperor's eldest son, it refers to Zhu Youxiao. However, there is an interesting phenomenon here, why did Zhu Youxue appear twice in the will? In fact, it all has to do with his father.
One day in 1581, the Wanli Emperor went to the Cining Palace to ask his birth mother Empress Li for peace, because his mother was not in the garden, while waiting, he squinted at the empress dowager's clan, only to see that this maid was very moving and shy, so he spoiled her, and the next year, the Wang clan gave birth to a son, that is, Zhu Changluo.
After that, the Wanli Emperor almost forgot about this stubble and no longer cared about the Wang clan. Because he found a beloved one by one among all the concubines, zheng occasionally told him some folk anecdotes, or came to quips, which made him confused.
In the next four years, the Zheng clan soared all the way, and was crowned as an imperial concubine, becoming the second person in the harem. Not only that, but also gave birth to three sons, of which the second son Zhu Changxun was deeply loved by Wanli, and as soon as the incense breeze of Concubine Zheng Guifei blew, a "dispute over the foundation of the country" began.
Portrait of Zhu Changluo
The Wanli Emperor praised Concubine Zheng Guifei: Rou Jia Jade, Wan Yan Lan Yi.
The History of Ming commented:
Nor is it a conspiracy to do politics and take a wife, but to spoil and spoil in vain, and to slander and slander.
In a word, Zheng Guifei was pampered and proud, and became the best heroine of the "Battle of the Kingdom". The Wanli Emperor was obsessed with this woman all his life, pushing left and right to the performance of the chancellor Li Chu (Li Chang), delaying it again and again, and finally simply not going to the dynasty and hiding in the deep palace to play a rogue.
Because the "dispute over the foundation of the country" is not the focus of this article, the process will not be discussed more. It was only in 1601, when Wanli was forced to be helpless, that he made Zhu Changluo the crown prince.
Zhu Changluo spent a full twenty years of empty space, because his father had not cultivated him as a national foundation before, so his cultural attainment was not high, and he was not at the same level as Wanli at all.
Next, Zhu Changluo almost copied the scene of his father, making the tragedy of Zhu You's childhood better than him.
Zheng Guifei film and television stills
After Zhu Changluo was made crown prince, he married the queen of The New Town of Suncheon Province, and in 1604, the Wang clan was promoted from "elected servant" to "talented person", second only to the crown princess Guo, and the following year gave birth to Zhu Changluo's eldest son, Zhu Youxiao.
According to the theory, the Wang clan's "mother and son are precious" should have a place in the womb, but Zhu Changluo did not eat this set, and especially spoiled Li Xuanshi (that is, Xi Li, who will be specifically mentioned later).
Since then, a strange circle has been formed, causing this simple "selection attendant" to ride on the head of the Wang clan and not pay attention to her at all, according to the TongGuan Collection:
The Emperor chose to serve the Li clan, and he repeatedly acted in favor, and beat the Virgin, so that he collapsed and died, so that he would hold the hatred of the whole day. Although he is young, he has not forgotten it.
This means that "Xi Li" relied on Zhu Changluo, often quarreled with the Wang clan, and finally was insulted, humiliated, and beaten to death by Xi Li.
After escaping from a human tragedy, the Prince's Palace made a Zheng Guifei, and Zhu Youxiao became a copy of Zhu Changluo, who was also not welcomed by his father in his early years.
Curiously, Wang Cairen was beaten to death, and Zhu Changluo not only did not thoroughly investigate the cause of Wang Cairen's death, but instead handed Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian (Emperor Chongzhen) to Xi Li to raise, and promised to make her an empress or an imperial concubine after he took the throne. He didn't care about Zhu You's feelings at all.
West Lee selects film and television stills
Let's go back to the previous article. On the first day of September, Emperor Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo died, and according to the will, Zhu Youxiao should take the throne in a short time.
However, a comedic scene occurred next, in which "Xi Li" bred two princes and actually relied on the Qianqing Palace not to leave, thus creating the "palace transfer case" in the three major cases of Ming Shi.
On September 2, the imperial court issued a testament, and the Donglin Party led by Zhou Jiamu and Zuo Guangdou went to the Qianqing Palace to welcome Zhu Youxiao to the throne, but "Xi Li" refused to let her go, and at the instigation of the eunuch Li Jinzhong (Wei Zhongxian), demanded that the cabinet must agree to her conditions.
What conditions?
Due to the accidental death of Zhu Changluo, the empress's dream was in vain, and "Xi Li" asked the imperial court to make her empress dowager, not only that, but also the various chapters of the cabinet also needed her approval, in other words, Empress Zhang, who visited the Yingzong Dynasty, assisted the young king and listened to the government.
Empress Zhang's film and television stills
The Donglin Party members were bitter and kind in persuasion, but "Xi Li" did not follow and did not spare, and did not give up until he reached his goal.
To tell the truth, "Xi Li" is too self-sufficient, how can a simple selection servant block the general trend of the world? How could the circle that Zhu Changluo had drawn for her become a tool to do whatever he wanted? Plus, she had no idea how strong her opponent was.
The two sides continued to glue, and "West Lee" stubbornly resisted.
When the time came to September 5, the courtiers suddenly ordered Wang An, the companion of the Eastern Palace, to "snatch" Zhu Youxiao from the Qianqing Palace; on September 6, the Imperial Fengtian Hall, that is, the emperor's throne. Zhu Youxiao went through ups and downs and finally ascended to the throne.
Looking at the "palace transfer case," three phenomena surfaced: "Xi Li" did not measure up to his strength, completely declared defeat, and soon moved out of the Qianqing Palace; Wei Zhongxian, the largest eunuch in Ming history, was about to appear; and the Donglin Party won a complete victory by supporting the merits of the emperor.
Photo of Fengtian Temple
Zhu Youxiao suddenly changed his identity and stood trembling on the Fengtian Hall, which ushered in a situation of "just and prosperous dynasty". But the "just Ying Dynasty" here must be put in quotation marks, because at this time Zhu Youxiao seems to be a shadow around the Donglin Party.
Objectively speaking, the Ming Emperor did not have a single egg and held on to power at any time and place. Just 7 days after ascending the throne, Zhu Yu tried to open up the situation. The History of the Ming Dynasty contains:
Arrested Li Bairu, the commander-in-chief of liaodong. At noon, the eunuch Wei Jinzhong's brother Jinyi Wei guarded Qianhu. Feng Milk Baoke was made Lady Fengsheng and the son of the official. Peng Shen, Liaodong Governor Yushi Yuan Yingtai as a military attendant, through Liaodong, dai Xiong Tingbi.
That is, he arrested the chief military officer Li Bairu and appointed Yuan Yingtai as a military attendant, elevating the stability of Liaodong to a top priority. On the nineteenth day, Feng Wei Zhongxian's brother was the Jinyi Wei Qianhu. The Lady of the Sealed Milk is the Lady of Fengsheng.
There is a question here, a few days ago, Wei Zhongxian was on the side of Xi Li, or a villain, why did he take charge of the Si Li Supervisor overnight? Some people say that he used Zhu You's trust in Keshi to curry favor with Keshi and successfully "eat against" Him, so he skyrocketed.
Whether this is the case or not, looking at this personnel appointment, it seems to be an understatement, but in fact, it is extraordinary, in just a few days, Zhu Yu school is going to rush.
Wei Zhongxian film and television stills
As mentioned earlier, Zhu Youxiao had just ascended the throne, and the Ming Dynasty had gone down in the face of the sun.
Because since the three major conquests of the Wanli Calendar, the national treasury has suffered a huge deficit, the border customs cannot issue salaries and silver, and the people in various places have rioted one after another, and even the local inspectors and the imperial court have not been appointed, in a word, it is a mess.
How to make up for the deficit, how to stabilize border defense, how to straighten out the rule of officials, and how to reverse the situation in which rivers are declining? Under such a dilemma, the largest castration party group in the history of the Ming Dynasty came into being. Since the third year of the Apocalypse, after Wei Zhongxian governored Dongchang, the showdown between the castration party and the Donglin party has set off a climax.
This article will not dwell too much on the bad deeds of Wei Zhongxian and KeYinyue, but with the rise of the castration party, the empire did undergo some gratifying changes:
There were attacks and defenses against Houjin, and a stage victory was achieved; the national treasury increased its income, basically getting rid of the dilemma of not being able to pay silver; the emperor's will was reflected, and objectively speaking, the situation was being reversed.
However, due to the great power of the castration party, it suddenly turned to power, and the Donglin party members were not very accustomed to such a change, so they launched a tidal attack on the castration party.
Donglin Dang Academy
In June of the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1642), Yang Lian, the left deputy capital, played a role in impeaching Wei Zhongxian for twenty major crimes: framing Zhongliang, plotting against him, writing blood and tears, and impeaching people's lives.
However, Zhu You not only ignored Yang Lian's performance, but instead cut off the officials of the official shilang Chen Yuting, Yu du Yushi Zuo Guangdou, and Yang Lian, and soon put the "Six Gentlemen of Donglin" in prison and persecuted them to death, and at the same time ordered the destruction of Donglin Party lecture academies in various places, destroying the Donglin Party by means of thunder.
Here, we pay special tribute to Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and other Donglin heroes. But I have to say that what did the other Donglin Party members of the Apocalypse Dynasty do other than vainly discuss the government and suppress the Qi Party, the Zhejiang Party, and the Castration Party? It is nothing more than to preserve their dignity in the name of orthodoxy and the self-reserved land in the rich areas.
There is reason to believe that Zhu Youxiao is not a fool, he dared to move the cheese of the Donglin Party and use the castration party to completely attack the civilian official clique, so before he died, he said to Zhu Youjian: "Loyalty can calculate great things." This fully shows that Wei Zhongxian is nothing more than a useful marble in his hand.
A few years later, Zhu Youjian pulled out Wei Zhongxian's nail with lightning speed and reactivated the Donglin Party, but before the fall of the country, he issued a lament: Wen Chen had mistaken the country, and everyone could be killed. Why?
Facts have proved that Zhu Youxiao was in a puzzle, judging the hour and sizing up the situation, being proficient in strategy, breaking through the cocoon and being reborn, and his understanding of people far exceeded that of Zhu Youjian.
Zhu Youjian film and television stills
In August of the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), Zhu You, accompanied by Ke and Wei, drank alcohol on a boat in the shallow water north of the bridge. On a whim, the eunuch pan boated in the lake, suddenly the wind was blowing, accidentally fell into the water, and since then he has been taking the "spirit dew drink" offered by Huo Weihua, resulting in swollen body and bedridden.
On August 21, after he and Empress Zhang Yan gave Zhu You's explanations, he died at the Qianqing Palace at the age of twenty-three.
Strangely, like Emperor Mingwu Zhu Houzhao, he was in his prime, and he died of drowning and left no heirs.
Ming Shi Yue:
After Emperor Sejong of the Ming Dynasty, the GangJi Day was based on Lingyi, the last year of the Divine Sect, and the destruction of Jiye. Although there is a strong and heroic warrior, it is difficult to revive...
Zhu You's school film and television stills
Personally, I think that the situation is difficult for this teenager, what if I give him more time?
Reference: History of the Ming Dynasty. "Guan Tong Picks Up" and so on
Image: From the Headline Gallery