Chapter 341 Chapter 340 Renzong Zhu Gaochi

Reading the history of the Ming Dynasty, there is often a saying of "the rule of benevolence and propaganda". "Ren" refers to Renzong Zhu Gaochi.This emperor, who was compared to Chengkang of Zhou and Wenjing of Han Dynasty by later generations, won his place in history because of his benevolence, love for his subjects, compassion for the people, and good at governing the country, although he had only been in power for 10 months. Zhu Gaochi is the eldest son of Chengzu Zhu Di.In the 28th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang made him the crown prince, in the 2nd year of Yongle (1404 A.D.), he was made the crown prince by Zhu Di, and in the 22nd year of Yongle's reign.In the 20 years from being a prince to being an emperor, Zhu Gaochi was on the brink of danger many times, and his status as a prince was deposed several times.

At the beginning of "Jing Nan", Zhu Di led his troops to march north.Zhu Gaochi, the eldest son, was ordered to stay in Beiping.He brilliantly commanded the soldiers to fight bravely and withstood the siege of Li Jinglong's 500,000 troops, which not only preserved the base for King Yan, but also created conditions to lure the enemy into deep and recruit Yongning's elite soldiers. Although Zhu Gaochi made great contributions in the battle of defending Beiping, he has a big weakness, that is, he is fat, unable to ride and shoot, and has foot problems. He needs the support of eunuchs when he moves. Even so, he often stumbles.Therefore, Zhu Gaochi's younger brothers, Gao Xu and Gao Sui, followed Zhu Di to fight in the north and south, and made great achievements in battle.Especially Gao Xu's bravery and toughness, capable of conquering battles, won Zhu Di's favor.

With the development of the war situation, Zhu Di gradually approached the throne of the emperor.Relying on his great achievements, Zhu Gaoxu began to covet the position of the eldest son.Gao Xu's wish reached Emperor Hui's counselor Fang Xiaoru, who immediately offered advice to Emperor Hui and asked Emperor Hui to write a letter to Zhu Gaochi himself, asking him to return to the court and make him King of Yan, which caused internal strife in the Yan army.Emperor Hui followed his plan and sent Zhang An, a thousand households of Jinyiwei, to Beiping to deliver the letter.Zhu Gaochi was shocked when he received the letter. He didn't open it immediately. He knew his situation well and guessed the purpose of Emperor Hui's letter.He made a decisive decision and immediately sent someone to send the unopened letter together with Zhang An and a starry night to Zhu Di who was fighting on the front line.

However, Zhu Gaochi did not expect that the eunuch Huang Yan moved faster.Huang Yan is Gao Xu's confidant, and always flatters Gao Xu.After he learned about Emperor Hui's delivery of the letter, he sent someone to report to Zhu Di before Gao Chi, claiming that his son had an affair with the imperial court to rebel.Zhu Di was skeptical after hearing the report, so he asked Gao Xu.Gao Xu took the opportunity to slander, saying that Gao Chi had long wanted to usurp the throne and become the King of Yan.Zhu Di was furious and decided to order Gao Chi to be arrested.At this moment, the people sent by Zhu Gaochi arrived in a hurry.Zhu Di felt relieved after reading the book, and was glad that the order just now had not been issued, otherwise he would have killed his son by mistake.

A fatal disaster was finally avoided, but the turmoil did not stop.In the fourth year of Jianwen (1402 A.D.), Zhu Di finally ousted Emperor Hui and ascended the throne by himself.Conventionally, after the political power has been stabilized, the prince should be established as soon as possible.But Zhu Di hesitated again and again, procrastinating again and again, unable to make a decision for a long time.According to the feudal etiquette, there is a heir to establish a heir, and all the heirs to establish an elder. Gao Chi is both a heir and an elder, and he is a prince. However, Gao Xu charged forward in the "Jing Nan" and fought bravely. He rescued Zhu Di from the troubled army many times. , and his appearance is very similar to Zhu Di, which makes Zhu Di have a preference for him.And when the war was in trouble, Zhu Di once hinted to Gao Xu, "Your son is sick, you work harder".If he wants to give up Gao Chi, he can't bear it, and if he wants to stand Gao Xu, he is afraid of violating the ancestral system, and the subjects are hard to accept.Zhu Di fell into a dilemma. The ministers proposed to establish a reserve several times, but he didn't say yes or no.

Among the ministers, there were also two completely opposite opinions. Qi State Duke Qiu Fu, Prince Consort Wang Ning and other military generals all advocated that Gao Xu's meritorious service should be established as the crown prince.Only Jin Zhong, Minister of the Ministry of War, thought it was inappropriate to do so.He tried to persuade Zhu Di by enumerating to Zhu Di the disasters caused by the separation of the ancient emperor Yi Chang.Seeing that the effect was not great, he secretly told his opinions to Xie Jin, Huang Huai, Yin Changlong, etc., who supported Li Gaochi. One day, Zhu Di asked Xie Jin for his opinion on the establishment of a prince. Xie Jin said, "The son of the world is benevolent and filial, and the world will return to his heart", but Zhu Di did not respond.Seeing this, Xie Jin praised Gao Chi's son aside from Gao Chi.It turned out that Gao Chi's eldest son, Zhu Zhanji, was very handsome and smart, and was deeply loved by Zhu Di. He let him follow him since he was a child, and often praised him for being a prosperous emperor in the future.Sure enough, when Xie Jin mentioned his "good grandson", he was moved, and he nodded silently.Then, he asked Huang Huai, Yin Changlong, etc. separately, and their opinions were completely consistent with Xie Jin.His heart gradually leaned towards Shi Zi Gao Chi.

A few days later, Zhu Di ordered all his ministers to write "The Picture of Tiger Biao".In the painting, there is a tiger leading all the Biao in the appearance of a father and son on a blind date.Xie Jin borrowed the title to write a four-character quatrain: "The tiger is the king of beasts, who dares to offend it? Only the love between father and son, review step by step." After reading the poem, Zhu Di was deeply moved, and finally made a decision and immediately announced Zhu Gaochi was made the prince.At the same time, Gao Xu was granted the title of King of Han and the country of Yunnan.Feng Gaosui was the king of Zhao and the country Zhangde.

Zhu Gaochi was established as the prince. On the surface, it seemed that his status had been established, but even greater disturbances followed. Gao Xu's dream of being a prince was broken, and he was very angry. He was sealed to Yunnan again, and he was even more dissatisfied. After detailed understanding, Zhu Di found that the prince did not have any major faults.On the contrary, it was Gao Xu's domineering behavior that gradually aroused his dissatisfaction.When Gao Xufeng arrived in Yunnan, he refused to go because the place was too far away. Later, he was granted to Qingzhou, but he still stayed in Beijing.Zhu Di scolded him and said: "Since you are enfeoffed by the feudal clan, you can't live in the capital permanently. In the past, you were afraid of traveling in Yunnan because it was far away, but now you have excuses to stay here. This is not an excuse, nor is it your real idea. This time you have to go to the feudal land. Go." Gao Xu pretended to agree but did not leave the capital, and took advantage of Zhu Di's northern expedition, privately selected guards, recruited 3,000 soldiers, and allowed his minions to plunder everywhere, dismembering innocent people and throwing them into the river.The soldiers and horses commanded Xu Yelu to capture his minions, but Gao Xu beat him to death with an iron melon.He also privately usurped Chengyu utensils that only the emperor could use.

Zhu Di finally recognized Gao Xu, and after reprimanding Gao Xu, he imprisoned him in the Xihua Gate, intending to abolish him as a commoner.After the incident, none of the ministers interceded for Gao Xu.Faced with this situation, Gao Chi, who had been framed by Gao Xu, did not add insult to injury, but went to his father to remonstrate and persuade him, weeping and trying to save him, and finally persuaded Zhu Di to keep the throne for his younger brother.In March of the 15th year of Yongle (AD 1417), Zhu Di moved to Gaoxu in Le'an Prefecture (now Guangrao County, Shandong Province), and ordered that the trip be made immediately.

Gao Xu no longer has the energy to compete with Gao Chi, but Gao Chi's other younger brother, Gao Sui, is still threatening him.In the sixteenth year of Yongle, Zhu Di was sick and lived in Beijing for a long time.The eunuchs and ministers who followed Zhao Wang Gaosui spread rumors to slander the prince, and rumors abounded for a while.Having learned from the previous two lessons, the ministers who followed the prince to oversee the country were anxious, fearing that Zhu Di would be ruined by blaming him without asking questions.It just so happened that there was a Chen Qianhu who took people's wealth. Gao Chi first ordered him to serve in a remote garrison at Jiaozhi, and then forgave him considering that he had made military contributions.After this incident was known to Huang Yan, the eunuch attached to the party Gao Sui, he secretly reported to Zhu Di, saying that the prince had privately forgiven the sinner who was relegated by the emperor.Zhu Di ordered Chen Qianhu to be sentenced to death when he heard the report, and sent Liang Qian and Sijian Zhou Mian, who were closely related to the prince to supervise the country, to be imprisoned and executed .

In order to thoroughly investigate the situation, Zhu Di ordered Hu Yuying, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, to go to Nanjing to investigate in the name of going on a tour of the counties of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He also specifically told me that the characters in the memorial book should be large, and that if I received the memorial book at night, I would read it at night.After Hu Yuying arrived in Nanjing, she paid careful attention to the investigation, and soon she was impressed by the Prince Renming who was in charge of the administrative affairs. Empress Dayue no longer doubted the prince Zhu Gaochi. Although Gao Chi's position was consolidated in Zhu Di's heart, Gao Sui and his followers were still unwilling.In May of the 21st year of Yongle (AD 1423), Zhu Di was unable to attend the court due to frequent illness, and all internal and external affairs were handed over to the prince.The prince suppressed the eunuchs several times, which made Huang Yan dissatisfied, and spread rumors everywhere that the emperor's current favorite is Gao Sui.At the same time, he secretly colluded with a group of officials and military officers to forge the edict, intending to poison Zhu Di with poison, and to use the forged edict to declare to the world and make Gao Sui the emperor.After everything was arranged, Huang Yan told the secret to his nephew Wang Yu, the General Guard Banner in Changshan. Wang Yu was shocked and urged his uncle not to participate in the extermination of the nine clans. Huang Yan refused to listen, and Wang Yu hurriedly reported Knowing Zhu Di, Zhu Di ordered the arrest of these people and found the forged imperial edict.Zhu Di took the false edict and asked Gao Sui angrily, "Did you do this?" Gao Sui was so frightened that he couldn't say a word.It was Gao Chi who freed Gao Sui again, saying that it was all done by the servants, and Gao Sui would not participate in this conspiracy.Thus keeping Gao Sui. In July of the 22nd year of Yongle, Zhu Di died of illness in Yumuchuan on his way back to Beijing from the Northern Expedition.After 20 years of ups and downs, Gao Chi finally ascended to the throne as Ming Renzong. Renzong was able to win the support of many ministers and remain invincible under the aggressive attacks of the two brothers, not only by political skills, but more importantly by caring for his ministers, caring for the people's health, being kind, and establishing a Their good image has consolidated their status. In the last years of Hongwu, Emperor Renzong Zhu Gaochi was still the son of King Yan.Once Zhu Yuanzhang asked the princes and sons to inspect the guards of the imperial city separately.Because the weather was too cold in the morning, Zhu Gaochi deliberately waited for the guards to finish their meal before reviewing, so when he finished reviewing, the other princes had already finished reviewing for a long time.Some thought he was sure to be reprimanded.However, instead of blaming him, Zhu Yuanzhang happily praised him for being sympathetic to his subordinates. Understand the sufferings of the people and practice the government of the people with compassion. This is what Zhu Gaochi has always insisted on from being a prince to supervise the country to becoming the emperor.When he was a prince, he exempted tax and food in disaster-stricken areas more than once.In February of the seventh year of Yongle (1409 A.D.), Yuqian, the capital censor, and Du Qin, the chief minister, were ordered to inspect the Huaihe River and the Huaihe River. They found that the army and people in Yingchuan were short of food, so they asked for food relief as usual. Gao Chi received the report. , while complaining that they were "sufficient for the military and civilians, waiting to be fed", but they slowly moved forward, step by step and calmly asked to report, and at the same time sent someone to quickly order "to send relief immediately without delay." In the eighteenth year of Yongle, Beijing's palace construction was very fast. It is about to be completed, and the capital will be moved to Beijing in the second year.Gao Chi went to Beijing at the call of Zhu Di.Over the years, he rarely had the opportunity to leave Nanjing.This time, he took the opportunity to interview the soldiers and civilians along the way, check the lives of the people, and find out the gains and losses of political affairs. One day, when he came to Zou County in Shandong Province, he saw many men, women and children digging wild vegetables and weeds by the roadside with baskets in their hands. Gao Chi stopped his horse and asked the people what they were digging for.The people told him that he had to eat it because of the famine, and Zhu Gaochi felt very uncomfortable.He got off his horse and came to the farmer's house. He saw that the people were all in ragged clothes, their faces were yellow and hungry, and their families were full of pots and pans.Immediately ordered the eunuch to distribute the treasure notes, and personally summoned the old people in the village to ask about their suffering.At this time, the chief envoy of Shandong came to greet him.As soon as they met, Gao Chi blamed him as a herdsman, and the people were so poor that he was indifferent.The chief envoy argued that all the places affected by the disaster have already asked for a reduction or exemption of this autumn's tax.Gao Chi said angrily: "The people are starving to death, what tax is there! Distribute official millet relief as soon as possible without delay." Each person is given 6 buckets.And said: "Don't be afraid of committing the crime of distributing warehouses without authorization. When I see the emperor, I will report it myself." Natural disasters occur frequently, and every time a natural disaster occurs, the lives of the people are even more difficult.During Renzong's reign, he ordered the relief of land taxes and the distribution of official grain for disaster relief wherever disasters occurred.In April of the first year of Hongxi (AD 1425), Shandong, Huai'an, Xuzhou and other places were hit by disasters, and the people were famined.But the local officials not only did not try to relieve the people, but stepped up the pressure to pay taxes.After Renzong knew about this, he immediately ordered Yang Shiqi to draft an imperial edict to reduce and exempt half of the summer tax in the above-mentioned places, and dismiss all officials to buy materials.Yang Shiqi believed that this matter should be handled through the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry of the competent departments according to the usual procedures.Renzong believed that saving the people is like saving a person who fell into the water, and there should be no delay. If the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry know that they want to reduce taxes and grains, they will definitely hesitate because they are afraid of affecting the country's income.Therefore, if you do it as usual, you will miss things.He immediately ordered the eunuch to fetch a pen and paper, Yang Shiqi immediately drafted the edict, and Renzong immediately ordered someone to send it out after reading it.At this time, he said to Yang Shiqi, you can tell the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry. Someone once suggested to Renzong that he should not be too kind to the common people.Renzong said: "Be considerate of the people, I would rather be too kind. As the lord of the world, how can I compare with the people?" At that time, Guo Zi, Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, was resolute and very honest, and he never showed any personal favors to anyone.Renzong appreciated this very much.However, Guo Zi was paranoid by nature and could not fully implement Renzong's order to reduce or exempt taxation for famines. Sometimes he even did the opposite and asked Yousi to collect according to the usual amount.Therefore, Renzong had to reluctantly part with him and dismissed him from his post.In the short 10 months of Renzong's reign, he successively reduced or exempted taxes or opened warehouses for 22 counties affected by the disaster, including Damingfu and Changyi. Since he was a prince, Renzong hated corrupt officials.He often said to officials of the judiciary that if the state really wants to show compassion to the common people and make the people live and work in peace and contentment, they must eliminate corrupt officials.Therefore, once officials are found to be corrupt and harm the people, he will punish them severely.There was a eunuch who harassed the people when he was buying wood in Sichuan. Renzong asked Yi Qian, the deputy governor of the capital, to investigate and deal with it.And specifically told Yi Qian not to have any doubts or fears, just deal with it strictly.In the end, Renzong not only punished the eunuch severely, but also stopped the battle of picking wood.In view of some local officials' inability to understand and implement his sympathy for the people, Renzong sent 14 censors to inspect various places in the fourth month of his ascension to inspect officials.Before leaving, he asked those who went on tour not to be confused by villains, not to succumb to power, and not to show favoritism to relatives and friends, but to find out the facts and deal with them impartially.At the same time, he also said, as censors, you are people I trust, and you must understand that you can be righteous only if you are upright. If you disregard shame and violate etiquette, I will also severely punish you.All of these made the government of Renzong more solemn. Renzong believed that to be a king is to accept bluntness as clearness, and for a minister to be able to speak bluntly is loyalty.When he was the prince, he wrote a letter to thank Xu Shanshu for his good work in changing his poems. He also said that there are many people who flatter their faces nowadays, but there are no ones like Qing who are simple and bitter. , I hope that the good words about medicine and stone will become more and more day by day, so don't worry about offending your face.At the beginning of his accession to the throne, he encouraged his officials to speak out.He once said to Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Jin Youzi: "Many rulers in history are unwilling to listen to the truth. Even those who have always been trusted are often silent because they are afraid of the emperor's power. Lian and Qing must deeply As a warning."I also said similar things to Shangshu Jianyi and Xia Yuanji, asking them to speak out in everything, "to correct my failure to catch".He also bestowed a silver medal on each of the above-mentioned 5 people, engraved with the words "Sheng Gui Jian Miao", and asked them to work together as counselors for government affairs, and to tell him immediately with a seal if he found that his words and deeds were inappropriate.However, Renzong was still worried. In order to open up his voice, he issued a special edict again in the third month after he ascended the throne, calling for blunt speech.The imperial edict said: "I inherit the great unification, and the king will come to billions of trillions, and only rely on civil and military virtuous ministers to jointly plan a great cause. At the beginning of the successor, the first imperial edict was blunt, but after a long period of time, there were not many words. If you don’t hear about it, the disadvantages are stuck in practice and you don’t know how to change it. Qing and others should talk about the gains and losses of current affairs, supplemented by sincerity, and don’t worry about sending them later.” But it is not so easy to really follow advice.In the first year of Hongxi, Yiqian, the Minister of Dali Temple, once spoke out about current affairs, and his words were too fierce, which aroused Renzong's displeasure.Some sycophants took the opportunity to impeach Yiqian.Some people said that he made a false accusation, which was out of character, while others said that he was showing off his integrity and trying to gain fame.These people added fuel to the flames, and increased his dislike for Yi Qian.Yang Shiqi said to Renzong: "Although Yiqian doesn't know the general principles, he is very grateful to the emperor for his kindness and always wants to repay it with his best. Besides, it is because of the sage of the Lord that he dares to speak so bluntly. Please forgive him." Renzong After hearing his words, although Yi Qian was not blamed, but every time he saw him, he always gave him a bad face and spoke very harshly.Seeing this, Shiqi once again appealed to Renzong, saying that Yi Qian responded to the call to speak out, and if he was punished, the pilgrims from all over the world would think that the emperor could not tolerate people who spoke out.Going on like this is tantamount to making the officials dumbfounded.Renzong admitted that he was not magnanimous and tolerant enough, and also realized that the catering of flatterers had increased his faults, and said that he should deal with it properly. Finally, he decided to let Yiqian take charge of Dali affairs and no longer participate in the court. Unexpectedly, this treatment still had a great negative impact, because the ministers talked less and less in the future.Renzong gradually realized that this was caused by Yi Qian's affairs. After making up his mind, he called Yang Shiqi and told him, "What I'm dissatisfied with is Yi Qian's exaggerated behavior, not to block words." Road. Now the courtiers are speechless month by month. You tell all the ministers my attitude towards this matter." Yang Shiqi hurriedly said: "I can't just talk about such a big event. Please send your majesty the seal." So, Renzong He ordered Yang Shiqi to lead him in front of the couch.The imperial edict said: "Since I ascended the throne, my subjects have submitted hundreds of chapters, and they are not unwilling to accept them. Many of the former Yiqian's performances violated the facts, so the ministers then handed in the chapters to recite their pedantry. Please rule him according to law." Sin. I didn’t do that, but exempted him from going to court. But since then, the number of people talking about things has been decreasing. As a minister, he has a plan for self-preservation, and retreats silently. How can he be loyal? For Yi Qian, I can’t for a while Hanrong, I feel guilty. The ministers should not accept the lessons of this incident passively. Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the country, improper government orders, etc., you don’t have to have any scruples. From now on, Yiqian will participate in the court as usual." From then on, Renzong After waiting for Yiqian as before, he was soon promoted to Vice Capital Censor. Not long after this incident, Renzong fell ill.In May of the first year of Hongxi, Emperor Renzong ordered Yang Shiqi to draft an imperial edict, and sent eunuchs to Nanjing to summon Prince Zhu Zhanji to Beijing.Before the crown prince arrived in Beijing, Renzong felt that he could not support him, so he left a will to pass on to the crown prince, and died in Qin'an Hall at the age of 48.Renzong's reign was only 10 months, and Hongxi's reign was only one year.He once told people that he only knew to do his duty and thought of nothing else.Determined to work hard and create a career with all one's heart.However, it failed.This cannot but be said to be the misfortune of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Gaochi was buried in Xianling after his death, and was posthumously named "Emperor Xiaozhao" and the temple name "Renzong".