Zhu Gaochi in history

Zhu Gaochi (1378 ~ 1425), the fourth emperor in the history of Ming dynasty, was the eldest son of Judy, the founding emperor of Ming dynasty. In the second year of Yongle (1404), he was crowned Crown Prince, and in the twenty-second year of Yongle (1424), he ascended the throne. The year after next, it was renamed Hongxi. He has been in power for less than a year, but he has been a prince for 20 years. Many of his deeds have been forgotten by history, so that few people associate him with Judy, the father of his iron hero. In fact, it is because of his benevolent governance that he prepared the conditions for the future generations of the Ming Dynasty to maintain fruitful career, so it can be said that he is an emperor connecting the preceding with the following.

Zhu Gaochi, a prince for twenty years, was born in the eleventh year of Hongwu (1378). He has been familiar with Confucian classics since childhood, and is kind-hearted, quiet and knowledgeable. He has long known the Confucian way of governing the country and is famous for his wisdom and benevolence. He is deeply loved by his grandfather Zhu Yuanzhang.

It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang once let the sons of Qin, Jin and Yan visit Beijing at the same time. Zhu Yuanzhang asked them to review the army, but only Zhu Gaochi came back late. When Zhu Yuanzhang asked him why, Zhu Gaochi said that it was very cold, and I wanted to wait until the soldiers had finished eating, so I came back very late. Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy and praised: "Kid knows, don't worry!" On another occasion, Zhu Gaochi was ordered to reply, and the letter was approved and reported to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang found some typos and small mistakes in the letter, so he asked Zhu Gaochi if he didn't see them. Zhu Gaochi replied that Sun Chen thought it was too small to listen to the sky, and Zhu Yuanzhang was overjoyed. Then ask him, what should people do when they encounter floods and droughts? Zhu Gaochi said that it is necessary to "rely on saints to have a policy of caring for the people". Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy and said, "Boy, you can't measure it in the future." .

The only fly in the ointment is that Zhu Gaochi is too fat to move. He always needs two attendants to help him move, and he always stumbles. Therefore, for Cheng Zu who has been addicted to martial arts all his life, this son is not pleasing to him. It can even be said that Zhu Gaochi didn't please him all his life. When Judy started to fight, he ordered Zhu Gaochi to stay in Beijing because he was too fat to fight the army. Although Zhu Gaochi was born kind, he was not weak. During his stay in Peiping, Zhu Gaochi United his men and successfully blocked 500,000 troops of Li Jinglong with ten thousand soldiers, thus keeping the city of Peiping. This battle is of great significance to the whole south of Beijing, and it is also the most dazzling stroke of Zhu Gaochi in the south of Beijing. Although his mother Xu, Yao, Gu Cheng and others helped him at that time, it was really not easy to hold on to this lonely city with only 10,000 people, which shows that he is by no means a coward.

During this period, Emperor Wen Jian wrote a letter to Zhu Gaochi, promising to make him king and strive for Zhu Gaochi's submission to the court. However, Zhu Gaochi people are as filial as ever. He didn't read the letter after receiving it. He sent his letters and envoys to Judy intact, thus avoiding the tragedy of father and son killing each other, and also making his counter-plan fail, which made Judy have to say that "the work of staying behind is not as good as the work of conquest."

Although Zhu Gaochi won a good reputation for his kindness and elegance, his life was not easy, especially on the way to the throne. After Jingnan succeeded to the throne, Judy acceded to the throne, but she was hesitant about opposing the Crown Prince: Zhu Gaochi was kind and elegant, won the support of civil servants, and was also the Yan's son personally selected by Zhu Yuanzhang, the legal heir to the throne, which played an important role; Zhu is the second son, looks very similar, handsome and brave, and has made great contributions under difficult circumstances. After Judy ascended the throne, he made a personal wish to pass it on to him. As far as he is concerned, he hopes to make Zhu a prince, because he thinks he is too soft-hearted and will be intimidated in the future.

After Judy ascended the throne, he did not immediately confer the title of prince. Many courtiers knew this, so they spoke in succession and asked to set up a shop. Many distinguished ministers and nobles supported the establishment of Zhu as a prince on the grounds that it was "difficult to succeed", while most civil servants supported it, and their representatives were Jin Zhong, Minister of War, and Bachelor of Cabinet. Jinzhong listed the stories of official positions in past dynasties in front of Judy, and advised him to establish his eldest son, Zhu Gaochi. Judy went to ask Jie Jin again, and Jie Jin said, "The eldest son, Ren, is at home." Judy bowed her head and said nothing. Jie Jin knew that Judy had always liked his eldest grandson Zhu Zhanji best, so he nodded. "Good grandson." Judy finally nodded. In fact, these civil servants not only insisted on establishing the old system of long-term posts, but also insisted on their choice of emperors. Civil servants are eager to have a benevolent gentleman who is "good at learning and chattering from Confucianism to ministers" like Zhu Gaochi.

Perhaps the civil servants lost no time in supporting Zhu Gaochi, or they were forced by the cabinet system of Ming Dynasty and the traditional pressure of feudal society. More importantly, when Zhu Gaochi was the son of Yan Shizi, there was really no big mistake, while Zhu Gaochi's eldest son, Zhu Zhanji Minhui, was abnormal and won Judy's love. In the second year of Yongle (1404), on April 4th, Judy finally officially established Zhu Gaochi as the Prince.

After the seventh year of Yongle (1409), due to the Northern Expedition and the plan to move the capital, Judy often stayed in Beijing and ordered Prince Zhu Gaochi to supervise the country and handle its daily affairs. It was not until the 19th year of Yongle (142 1) that Cheng Zu entered Beijing. Under the delusion of his father, framed by Hanwang Zhu and Zhao, he spent his days in prison. Thanks to the great assistance of Yang Shiqi and other ministers, he handled daily government affairs and the relationship between ministers and subordinates, as well as the relationship between royal father and son and brothers. In addition, the ambitions of the two kings, Han and Zhao, were exposed and denounced, and the crown princess Zhang and her eldest grandson were favored, which enabled them to survive the crisis during the national administration.

After more than ten years of experience in governing the country, Zhu Gaochi realized the problems existing in society, improved his ability to govern the country, and laid a good foundation for stabilizing the ruling order after he ascended the throne. In July of the 22nd year of Yongle (1424), Judy died on her way home from the Northern Expedition. Zhu Gaochi was the Crown Prince for 20 years, when he was 47 years old. With the support of university students Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Shangshu Zhouyi and others, he became a servant. The year before last, Guangdong campaigned for Hong Kong.

After Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne, he followed the trend of the times, took a series of measures to ease the people's difficulties, adjusted the internal relations of the ruling class, and began a series of benevolent government reforms.

"Benevolent politics" is really strange to the literati in the early Ming Dynasty. Since Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, he has practiced "strong and fierce rule". People still remember the big cases of unjust imprisonment that destroyed heroes and veterans. After Ming Taizu's death, Zhu Yun's grave reached its peak. The cowardly young emperor also tried to practice "benevolent government", but instead, Judy, the prince of Yan, launched a war of usurpation. When Judy won the throne from Zhu Yun's grave, there was no one who pursued "benevolent government".

In the face of cruel persecution, the politics of terror replaced the ideal "benevolent government", and Zhu Gaochi, who was born in the 11th year of Hongwu (1378), almost witnessed it with his own eyes. Rough experience made him feel the value of "benevolent government" even more, so he reformed in many aspects after taking office:

First of all, politically pardoned the old minister of Jianwen Emperor and the family members of officials who were exiled to the border when they were ancestors, allowing them to return to their original places; Rehabilitation of unjust imprisonment has rehabilitated many unjust cases, such as the unjust case of Wen Jian loyal minister Fang Xiaoru and the unjust case of Jie Jin in Yongle period, all of which were rehabilitated during this period, and the official titles of some ministers have also been restored; Select virtuous ministers, eliminate redundant officials, and appoint Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi and Yang Pu as "Three Yang" helpers; Revise the Ming Dynasty, abolish ancient castration, change the usual punishment for refugees, and adopt proper resettlement.

Secondly, economically, following the example of Emperor Taizong, he loved the people as a son, and ordered to stop the treasure ship from going to the West, stop the purchase of royal jewels, and reduce the burden on the people. Tax relief, free relief to the affected areas, and opening up some mountains and rivers for farmers to fish and hunt.

In addition, ideologically, he advocates Confucianism, loyalty and filial piety, and is good at coachable. He once gave Yang Shiqi and others a small seal to encourage them to remonstrate, so Hongxi's politics was very clear, courtiers could express their opinions and emperors could do good deeds. In the imperial examination system, in order to ensure that northerners can enter the imperial examination, the proportion of participating in the joint examination is "six in the south and four in the north", which has been used until the Qing Dynasty.

The benevolent policy pursued by Zhu Gaochi after he ascended the throne was essentially a kind of loose politics, which also represented the interests and pursuits of the literati at that time. Therefore, in a short period of eight months, Zhu Gaochi's bringing order out of chaos was very popular among the ruling and opposition parties. Even Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty said that if Zhu Gaochi had lived a few more years, the Ming Dynasty would not have declined so fast! Zhu Gaochi was in office for a short time, but later generations spoke highly of him, saying, "One year in office is good at employing people and administration". In the year when I have a day off, I will rest and recuperate. The prosperity of Dehua will not be better than the cultural scene. "