Chapter 330 Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-nine

Yuan Renzong, named Aiyu Libali Bada, was the great-grandson of Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty. His grandfather was Zhenjin, and his father was Dala Mabala.He was born in March of the 22nd year of Zhiyuan (AD 1285).When Aiyu Liba Libada was 7 years old, his father died suddenly.Two years later, Uncle Tie Mu'er became emperor.When he was 9 years old, his grandmother, Kuo Kuo Zhen Guang, looked for talented people, and finally chose Li Meng, a famous Han Confucian scholar, as his teacher.Under Li Meng's patient guidance, Aiyu Liba Libada immersed himself in his studies and was deeply influenced by Confucianism. Ten years later, Tie Mu'er was seriously ill and ignored the government. Empress Buluhan took over the power alone. In October of the ninth year (AD 1305), Aiyu Liba Libada was ordered to leave the court with his biological mother Daji and move to Huaizhou (now Qinyang, Henan), where he lived for more than three years.

In the first month of the eleventh year of Dade, Chengzong Tiemu'er died of illness.In May of the eleventh year of Dade, Haishan came to the throne as Emperor Wuzong of the Yuan Dynasty.In order to reward his younger brother who had made great contributions to winning the throne for him, Haishan ordered Li Aiyu Liba Libada to be the "Crown Prince" and also received the Zhongshu Order, thus confirming his qualifications as the heir to the throne.After Aiyu Libali Bada was awarded the title, he made efforts in promoting Confucianism and recruiting talents.He sent people to search for Confucian classics everywhere, and asked people to translate the book "Da Xue Yan Yi" and gave it to the left and right Mongolian ministers.Afterwards, with the consent of his elder brother, he built the Guozijian School, which had been built since Chengzong but had not been completed, to train and select talents.

In the first month of the fourth year of Zhida (AD 1311), Yuan Wuzong Haishan died of illness. According to the usual practice, Aiyu Libali Bada should immediately succeed to the throne.However, Aiyu Liba Libada decided to suspend his ascension to the throne, and first rule as the crown prince, rectify the administration of officials, and revitalize the old career of his ancestors.He had long been dissatisfied with his brother Wu Zong's actions during his lifetime. The day after Wu Zong's death, he announced the abolition of the Shangshu Province established by Wu Zong and the restoration of the original Zhongshu Province.He also executed Prime Minister Tuohutuo, Sanbaonu, Pingzhang Leshi, Youcheng Baoba and others on charges of harming the country and the people. Tiemu Dier, the former Prime Minister of the left of Yunnan Province, was the prime minister of Zhongshu You, the prince Zhan Shiwanze, and Li Meng, a scholar of Jixian University, were the political affairs of Pingzhang, and the veterans who were familiar with government affairs during the reign of Yuan Shizu Kublai Khan were called to serve in the capital. Zhongshu Provincial Team.At the same time, he ordered the restoration of the Ministry of Public Affairs in various places, punished local corrupt officials, and strictly prohibited the behavior of kings and relatives who disturbed the people.After taking these measures, he ascended the throne on March 18, the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Zhida (AD 1311).It is for Renzong.

After Renzong came to the throne, with the assistance of Li Meng and other Han Confucian officials, he established a political policy of respecting Confucianism and promoting "Han Law". In July of the fourth year of Zhida (1311 A.D.), Renzong asked Liu Geng, the son of the state, to sacrifice wine to Qufu to sacrifice Confucius with Tailao (cattle animals).In the first year of Yanyou (1314 A.D.), he issued an edict to confer the title of Duke Yan Sheng on the 54th generation grandson of Confucius. Two years later, he added Mencius's father as the Duke of Zhu and his mother as Mrs. Zhu.Renzong told his officials many times that respecting Confucianism and Confucianism, and using Confucian ethics as the ruling ideology, is a major plan for governing the country. He repeatedly encouraged Mongolian ministers to understand and master the essence of Confucianism and Han politics.In the fourth year of Yanyou, Renzong ordered that all "Daxue Yanyi" be translated into Mongolian, published by Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and then give part of it to courtiers.He also likes reading and writing in his spare time.

Renzong knew that the selection and training of talents is an important guarantee for the prosperity of the country. For this reason, he specially entrusted his teacher Li Meng to take charge of the Guozijian School, and personally stipulated that the number of Guozi students should be 300, and an additional 20 accompanying students should be added.Renzong strongly advocated that ministers recommend talents and recruit talents widely. Even if they were born in the common people, as long as they have both ability and political integrity, they can be appointed to official positions at all levels.

The three dynasties of Shizu, Chengzong, and Wuzong all had plans to implement the imperial examination system, but they were never implemented.In November of the second year of Huangqing (1313 A.D.), Emperor Renzong issued an edict to officially implement the imperial examination, stipulating that "virtuous behavior should be the first to recruit people, and scriptures should be the first to test skills, followed by poetry and chapters."The imperial examination is held every three years, and it is divided into three parts: the provincial examination, the monk examination, and the palace examination.In terms of examination subjects, there are two examinations for Mongolian and Semu people, and three examinations for Han people and Nanren. The propositions are mainly "Four Books and Five Classics".During Renzong's reign, two imperial examinations were held. The first time was in the second year of Yanyou, and 56 Jinshi were awarded, and the second time, in the fifth year of Yanyou, 50 people were awarded Jinshi, thus satisfying the requirements of the Han landlords politically. The desire to open up official careers also enabled the further spread of Han culture among Mongolians and Semu people. Moreover, because the examination was stipulated to adopt the annotations of chapters and sentences in the Four Books of Zhu Xi, and Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism was used as the standard for the examination and selection of scholars, the ideological rule of Neo Confucianism was established. The imperial examination employment system of later generations had a certain influence.

While respecting Confucianism and promoting "Han Law" politics, Renzong embarked on economic reforms.Shizu and Chengzong dynasties used Zhongtong banknotes and Zhiyuan banknotes, and the prices were relatively stable.However, after Wu Zong came to power, he spent money like water and repeatedly used banknotes, which caused the value of banknotes to fall and prices to rise.After Renzong ascended the throne, he ordered the abolition of "Zhida Silver Banknotes" and "Zhida Tongbao", and resumed printing and use of Zhongtong Banknotes and Zhiyuan Banknotes in an attempt to ease the government's financial crisis.His reforms are like a drop in the bucket and cannot solve the problem.Under such circumstances, he had to order a large number of banknotes to be printed, exceeding 2 million ingots for four consecutive years. By the seventh year of Yanyou, the value of banknotes and silver had depreciated by more than 20 times compared with the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty.Thus, currency reform failed.

In terms of economy, Renzong decided to adopt the traditional Han people's financial management method to manage Tian Fu.At that time, rich people in the south of the Yangtze River, kings, temples, etc. occupied a large number of government and private lands, resulting in more land for the strong and less tax, and tax savings for the weak, and uneven taxation and labor, which seriously affected the government's fiscal revenue.In the first year of Yanyou, Zhanglu, Youzan Martin, and Chen Shiying were sent to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Henan provinces to check the number of acres of land and adjust the rent, tax, money and grain to increase government financial resources. This is the so-called "Yanyou Manager".But the policy was resisted by nobles and officials. The government was corrupt and exploited indiscriminately, and colluded with local rich people, forcing the common people to ruin their families.Economic reforms also failed.

Renzong's political reforms had little effect, and his economic reforms failed repeatedly, which made him difficult.What makes him most uncomfortable is that his actions are restrained by his mother Daji and powerful minister Tiemu Dier. Answering herself as the empress dowager, she asked her son to obey her advice.She exercised power arbitrarily, abused courtiers who disobeyed her in every possible way, and repeatedly protected the treacherous courtier Tiemu Dier.Tiemu Dier was originally Prime Minister Zuo of Yunnan Province. During the reign of Wu Zong, he was punished for neglecting his duty, taking bribes and breaking the law.Renzong dared not go against his mother's will.As a result, the top position of the Zhongshu Province he had just reorganized was stolen by Tiemu Dier, which became an obstacle to reforming the administration of officials.After Tiemu Dier ascended the throne of Prime Minister You of Zhongshu, with the support of the Empress Dowager, he became more indulgent, causing dissatisfaction among courtiers.Renzong felt that it was not good for him, so he had to dismiss him two years later and appointed Tu Hulu, the former Taifu Prime Minister, as the Prime Minister of Zhongshu You.However, Tu Hulu was ineffective in handling affairs and could not control the Ministry of Education.While Tiemu Dier was stepping up his activities again, Tu Hulu knew that he was not his opponent, so he played the emperor many times and asked to resign.Soon after, Renzong withdrew him and appointed Hesan as Prime Minister of Zhongshu You. Hesan was as weak and incompetent as his predecessor.A few months later, Tiemu Dier once again ascended the throne of Prime Minister Zhongshuyou.It took just over a year from Renzong's dismissal of Tiemu Dier to the announcement of his reinstatement.

After Timudier was reinstated, he became more valuable and his scope of authority gradually expanded.Renzong asked him to supervise the history of the country, to be in charge of the affairs of the Xuanzhengyuan, and to let him decide all major criminal cases.However, Tiemu Dier paid less and less attention to the court ministers and even the emperor.For this reason, Renzong appointed Xiao Baizhu, Tiemu Dier's opponent, as Zhongshu Pingzhang's political affairs, and together with Yushi Zhongcheng Yang Duo'er, he hoped to slightly restrain the expansion of Tiemu Dier's power.Tiemu Dier did not restrain himself because of this: he installed buddies in various government offices; he annexed kings, monastery properties and guards' pastures;Relying on his father's power, his sons violated the government, abused the people, and did all kinds of bad things. The ruling and opposition parties hated their father and son deeply.In June of the fourth year of Yanyou (AD 1317), Xiao Baizhu, Yang Duoerzhi and Shangdu (now Zhenglan Banner, Inner Mongolia) stayed at He Sheng and more than 40 internal and external supervisory censors impeached him. There are more than a dozen crimes.Renzong was furious and decided to execute him.Seeing that the situation is not good, Tiemu Dier hastily hid in the Empress Dowager's palace, chasing the officers and soldiers and dared not trespass the gate of the Empress Dowager's palace.When Renzong saw his mother intervening in this matter, he was unhappy, and he didn't dare to fall out with his mother, which earned him a reputation for being unfilial. In the end, he only ordered Tiemu Dier to be dismissed from the post of prime minister, and Yang Duo'er, who exposed the treacherous officials, was also transferred to his post. .

Two years later, Daji used both soft and hard methods to his son, forcing Renzong to order Tiemu Dier to be the grand teacher of the crown prince, which shocked the government and the public.Zhongshu Pingzhang Zhengshi Zhang Gui and others, together with more than 40 domestic and foreign censors, jointly wrote a letter again, urging Tiemu Dier to be treacherous and lawless. However, Renzong succumbed to his mother's pressure and did not listen to the minister's advice.From then on, the powerful ministers who supported Renzong gradually lost their trust in him, and the treacherous ministers gained power again. At the beginning, Yuan Wuzong Haishan agreed when he established Aiyu Libali Bada as the crown prince, and after Aiyu Libada, the throne would be passed on to Haishan's son.After Renzong ascended the throne, he repented and decided to pass on the throne to his son Shuodebala.The queen mother felt that Shuode Baji was cowardly and easy to control, so she also strongly supported the establishment of him as the crown prince.In December of the third year of Yanyou, Renzong established Shuode Bala, who was only 13 years old, as the crown prince and also received the order of Zhongshu.As for his elder brother's eldest son and Shi Wangshu, he was first made king of Zhou, and in March of the third year of Yanyou, he was ordered to leave the court to guard Yunnan. In the first month of the seventh year of Yanyou, Yuan Renzong Aiyu Libali Bada, who had been emperor for 10 years, died at the age of 36.Posthumously titled "Emperor Shengwenqin and Filial Piety", he was buried in the Chariot Valley.The temple name is "Renzong".