Many people think that the emperor is the lord of the world, and they can do whatever they want, but history is not so simple! Emperor Mingshenzong was also the Wanli Emperor, and his greatest wish during his reign was to bypass his eldest son Zhu Changluo and establish his favorite third son, Zhu Changxun, as the successor of the Ming Dynasty. To this end, the Ming Dynasty broke out a struggle to "fight for the foundation of the country". However, the Myōshin Sect did not realize his ideals until his death, so why was this?
Because of his birth mother, Zhu Changxun was deeply loved by his father, and Zhu Changluo was coldly received by the Ming Shen Sect for a long time. According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Mingshen should make his eldest son Zhu Changluo the crown prince, but he used various excuses to prevaricate. It was not until the twenty-ninth year of the Wanli calendar that the position of prince was determined, but the struggle was not quelled, and it was not until the forty-first year of the Wanli calendar that it was declared over! Then, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, why could emperor Ming Shenzong not make Zhu Changxun the crown prince?
1. Ancestral family law
After the establishment of the prince system from the Western Han Dynasty, the succession to the throne in ancient China basically followed the principle of "having a concubine and not having a concubine". That is to say, the first choice of the prince is the concubine born to the empress, and if the empress does not have a child, then the eldest son is established. Although there were some special circumstances in the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty, in the Ming Dynasty, this principle was well observed and became the ancestral family law of the Ming Dynasty.
Ancient China was an agrarian society, and people were accustomed to following precedents and were reluctant to make changes, so it was very difficult to change the ancestral family law. The Northern Song Dynasty, Fan Zhongyan, and Wang Anshi's changes, although with the support of the emperor, achieved certain results, but they were all short-lived, and finally ended in failure. At that time, the general public had such a concept in their hearts, that is, "the law of the ancestors is immutable."
2. Hundred officials oppose it
Although the Wanli Emperor did not directly state that Zhu Changxun was made crown prince, the hundred officials already had a different feeling. In the fourteenth year of the Wanli Calendar, after Zhu Changxun was born, the Wanli Emperor crowned his birth mother Zheng Shi as an imperial concubine, second only to the empress. HuKe gave Jiang Yinglin the title of Wanli Emperor at once, requesting that the canonization of Zheng Guifei be stopped, and at the same time, "please make the Yuan Heir to the Eastern Palace, so as to determine the foundation of the world". This letter opened the prelude to the "dispute over the foundation of the country".
In this struggle for more than a decade, four cabinet chiefs were forced to leave their posts, and more than 300 officials were involved, of which more than 100 were punished by dismissal, dismissal, scepter, and reinforcement. At this time, the officials of the Ming Dynasty were still dignified, and they did not greet the emperor, but continued to propose to the Wanli Emperor that Zhu Changluo be made crown prince. The Wanli Emperor lacked the fierce courage of his grandfather, the Jiajing Emperor, and could only deal with it in a negative way.
Third, maternal intervention
After the Wanli Emperor took over the government, his birth mother, Empress Li, did not pay much attention to the government, but she intervened in the matter. As early as when Zhu Changluo's birth mother was pregnant, the MingShen Sect did not want to recognize the child. However, Empress Li liked this eldest grandson very much, and she showed it to the Ming Shen Sect with the inner living note, and at the same time said, "My old man, I still don't have a grandson." Fruit man, Munesha Fukuya. Mother is precious to son, rather than difference, etc. The Myōshin Sect had no choice but to admit this eldest son.
Later, Empress Li asked Ming Shenzong more directly, and when Ming Shenzong said that Zhu Changluo was born to a palace maid, she completely angered Empress Li, and she said: "You are also the son of a palace girl!" With empress dowager Li's intervention, Zhu Changluo was made crown prince in the twenty-ninth year of the Wanli calendar, but Zhu Changxun, the Prince of Fu, did not take up his position in his domain. Concubine Zheng Guifei made an excuse, "Please stay with the king until the forty-third year of Empress He's rare birthday feast, and then the country." Empress Li said coldly, "King Wulu (Empress Li's son) can also come to Shouhu!" Again, with the intervention of Empress Li, King Fu finally left the capital, and "China diplomacy was fortunate for the Eastern Palace, and it was a relief of worries."
References: 1. "History of Ming"; 2. "The End of the Chronicle of Ming History"