Zhu Houcong's intelligence was first-class in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty at that time and later generations.
In particular, his control of human nature and his grasp of power and tactics are both superb.
Some people even think that Zhu Houcong was the most powerful emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Since he can check and balance so many extremely shrewd officials in the court in terms of power, then his evidence-based measures will not be too bad.
Zhu Houcong did indeed achieve some political achievements when he first came to the throne.
Because Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao was dissolute and extravagant during his reign, there were certain problems in the Ming Dynasty.
Whether it was the bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty, the people of the Ming Dynasty, or the aristocratic families in the Jiangnan area, there were all conflicts, large and small.
After Zhu Houcong succeeded to the throne, he knew that these problems must be dealt with immediately.
Otherwise, when these problems continue to be magnified, they will cause irreparable damage to Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Houcong succeeded to the throne, the first thing he did was to clarify all the bad policies during Wu Zong's reign.
Re-appoint courtiers who were not reused because of their outspoken opinions during Emperor Wu Zong's reign.
It made the Ming Dynasty become clear and clear, and swept away the smoky atmosphere before the Ming Dynasty.
He also killed Qian Ning and Jiang Bin, the treacherous ministers favored by Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao.
All the rare and exotic beasts in Zhu Houzhao's leopard room were released, and no one was allowed to contribute any more rare and exotic beasts or any other items of obscene and skillful skills.
Zhu Houcong's actions illustrated his own attitude and had a good deterrent effect on the sycophants in the court.
There was also a short period of political clarity in the court of the Ming Dynasty, and the courtiers were looking forward to Zhu Houcong even more.
For the common people, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong will halve the land rent next year.
And all taxes that Emperor Wuzong had not paid before were exempted.
It gave the people of Ming Dynasty a good chance to breathe, and also calmed the resentment of many people towards the imperial court.
Zhu Houcong also withdrew the guarding eunuchs from all places and abandoned the system of guarding eunuchs for a time.
In addition, the power of the ceremonial supervisor was suppressed to prevent eunuchs from taking power and causing chaos in the court.
The strict supervision system has strict requirements for Dongchang and Jinyiwei, and they must not abuse private power or use power for personal gain.
Under Zhu Houcong's governance, the Ming Dynasty's court once had a new look.
Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong was very diligent when he came to the throne, working hard to govern and be diligent in government affairs.
And began to vigorously rectify the political agenda and implement the New Deal.
Pay attention to the appointment of virtuous ministers such as Zhang Cong and Xia Yan.
Zhu Houcong learned the lessons of the previous eunuchs who were in power and disrupted the government. He strictly controlled the eunuchs and eunuchs, revived and strengthened the centralization of power, and transformed the government.
Moreover, Zhu Houcong also paid more attention to selecting officials based on their character and talents.
He has issued decrees many times, asking officials at all levels in the Ming Dynasty to pay attention to virtuous talents and recommend them to the court.
And the court ministers were assessed from time to time to monitor the abilities of the court officials in real time.
The Ming Dynasty has been plagued by corruption since the beginning of its establishment by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Therefore, Zhu Houcong was particularly concerned about the corruption and perversion of the law by court officials.
He severely punished corruption and violations of the law.
He surveyed the royal estates and nobles' fiefdoms, and strictly ordered everyone not to encroach on civilian lands in the slightest.
Once caught by him, he will be severely punished.
Moreover, all the fertile land that had been occupied by the royal descendants or nobles was returned to the common people for them to cultivate.
Zhu Houcong's move also won him a lot of reputation among the people.
Regarding taxes and corvee, Zhu Houcong also listened humbly to the suggestions of his courtiers and began to vigorously reform.
Promoted the implementation of the 'one whip method'.
Culturally, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong immediately purged the imperial examination system after he came to the throne.
Ensure the healthy development of the imperial examination to the greatest extent; advocate the use of three approaches to boost morale; rectify academic affairs to strengthen the educational function of the school.
In the early years of the Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong's reign, "capitalism" began to sprout, culture and science and technology prospered unprecedentedly, and excellent literary works and outstanding figures emerged in large numbers, which was known in history as "the world is governed by a sudden revolution".
But all this is short-lived, like a flash in the pan.
By the time Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong was middle-aged, the food and garrison expenses of border officers and soldiers were increasing day by day.
In addition, Zhu Houcong himself was engaged in large-scale construction projects and was obsessed with cultivating immortals.
He kept building palaces and Taoist temples for his own cultivation.
As a result, the Ming Dynasty's treasury became increasingly empty and various industries declined.
It has even come to the point where the royal property has to be sold off, and the yamen can even use money to pay off the crime.
In the middle and later period of Zhu Houcong's reign as emperor, the Ming court even lost face in order to make money.
But even so, it still could not meet the financial needs of the Ming Dynasty.
It can be seen that the Ming Dynasty's financial economy was on the verge of collapse.
When Zhu Houcong was obsessed with cultivating immortals, Ming Dynasty was not only on the verge of financial collapse.
Even within Ming Dynasty, there are constant problems and contradictions.
Mongolian Anda Khan harassed the border all year round, which annoyed the Ming Dynasty court.
However, they were unable to completely expel these alien races, so they could only swallow their anger and continue to be consumed.
Even in the 29th year of Jiajing, Mongolian Ada Khan led his troops directly to the gates of Beijing, and the situation was very urgent for a time.
There are foreign intrusions in the north, and the southeast is also restless.
Along the coast of the southeastern region, Japanese pirates are constantly intruding on the local people.
There are foreigners in the north and Japanese pirates in the south.
"Southern Japanese and northern captives" have always troubled Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong, which not only brought a serious burden to the Ming Dynasty court, but also brought great harm to the people of Ming Dynasty.
It even had a great negative impact on the late Ming Empire.
The life of Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houcong was actually similar to that of Zhu Yijun.
They all worked hard in the early stage of their reign and played a great role.
For a time, he led the Ming Dynasty to get on the right track and began to prosper.
But they failed to seize the good opportunity and failed to persevere.
This short-lived prosperity was ultimately nothing more than a flash in the pan, and it only gave people at the time a glimmer of hope.
In the later stages of the administration, all previous efforts were always in vain due to one reason or another.
It could have changed the historical direction of the Ming Empire, and it could also leave a mark in history and leave a heavy mark in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
However, due to later problems, they were eventually rejected by the world.
He was even labeled as the king of subjugation.
Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong and Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun simply had the same problem.
However, compared to Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houcong had much more personality.
He is different from Zhu Yijun, he is the prince.
Zhu Yijun succeeded to the throne as the prince.
One was destined to be Prince Xiaoyao, while the other was trained as an emperor since childhood.
Originally, Zhu Houcong could have devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivating immortality, and no one would have said anything against him.
But in the end he took the position of emperor.
Moreover, on the first day he took the position of emperor, a violent conflict broke out between him and the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Houcong was the cousin of Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, not his biological brother.
So their father is not alone either.
Zhu Houcong was just the nephew of Zhu Youtang, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty, and the grandson of Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of Ming Dynasty.
His father was King Xingxian Zhu Youtang, not Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang.
Therefore, after he succeeded the throne of Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, the court officials of the Ming Dynasty asked Zhu Houcong to call Emperor Xiaozong Zhu Youtang his father, and instead call his biological father, King Xingxian Zhu Youzhu, his uncle.
In this way, the legitimacy of Zhu Houcong's succession was proved.
But Zhu Houcong disagreed, even to his death.
He forced the court officials to bow their heads and still called his biological father, King Xingxian Zhu Youqi, his father.
He even honored his biological father as 'Emperor Xingxian', with the temple name Ruizong.
In this way, under Zhu Houcong's promotion, another emperor appeared in the history of Ming Dynasty.
That's all, Zhu Houcong also raised the tablet given by his biological father Mingruizong to the Ancestral Temple.
During the Ming Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Jiajing, there were nine temples for the emperor.
That is to say, only nine tablets of gods can be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. Once the nine tablets of gods are full and you want to add tablets inside, the nine tablets of gods must be moved.
Move it to the temple.
The Ancestral Temple is the main one and the most noble one, while the Ancestral Temple is less interesting.
When Zhu Houcong planned to put the memorial tablet of his biological father in the Ancestral Temple, he moved the tablet of Zhu Gaochi, the emperor of Ming Dynasty.
And in order to leave a place for himself, he promoted Zhu Di from Zong to Zu, and his temple title became Zu.
This is already on the same level as Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Taizu.
Zhu Houcong's operation can only be said to be six, which is simply a super addition.
Zhu Di was promoted directly to a higher level in this way.
From here we can also see Zhu Houcong’s personality.
He always acted on his own initiative, and his status as emperor did not put him under too much restraint.
It was precisely because of Zhu Houcong's insistence that no one dared to dissuade him when he was obsessed with cultivating immortality in his later period.
There was only one Hai Rui who was not afraid of death. If Xu Jie and the courtiers had not protected him, he would have been killed by Zhu Houcong.
Hearing Zhu Yijun's words, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned: "Who is Jiajing?"
Hearing this, Zhu Yijun hurriedly replied: "Grandfather Taizu, it would be a long story to talk about my grandfather Jiajing."
"But I can tell you responsibly that he is the first emperor in the history of our Ming Dynasty."
Hearing Zhu Yijun's words, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little confused, but even more curious.
He was curious about what this first one in history was.
Immediately, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Yijun indifferently.
Seeing this, Zhu Yijun did not hesitate and replied directly: "Taizu, all other emperors in the history of our Ming Dynasty are mortals."
"At most it's just eating, drinking and having fun."
"And my grandfather, Emperor Jiajing, was a cultivator."
"What I eat is elixir, and what I practice is immortal magic."
"That was the first emperor to cultivate immortality in the history of our Ming Dynasty."
After listening to Zhu Yijun's words, Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless.
He thought that the first job in Emperor Jiajing's history was, but it turned out to be cultivating immortals.
Upon hearing these two words, Zhu Yuanzhang knew that this Emperor Jiajing was definitely not a good person.
He knew very well that there was no such thing as cultivating immortals in this world.
There were many emperors in history who were obsessed with cultivating immortals, and Qin Shihuang was the last one.
Although he is not obsessed with cultivating immortals, he has always believed that there is an elixir of life in the world.
Hoping to get the elixir of life, what is the difference between this and cultivating immortality.
Even a man as cool as Qin Shihuang stumbled on his way to immortality. Why don't his descendants in the Ming Dynasty have a long memory?
If the emperor cultivates immortality, he will definitely abandon the government.
It's simply unbelievable.
"Your grandpa is such a bastard."
"Ignore the good emperor and the good subjects, and go to cultivate immortality?"
"Is the emperor worse than the gods?" Zhu Yuanzhang shouted.
Zhu Yijun responded in a low voice: "Taizu, my grandfather cultivated immortality in order to live forever."
"Haha, he's still immortal."
"It would have been nice not to have been poisoned by those alchemists." Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.
Obviously, he still has an objective understanding of the reality of cultivating immortality and immortality.
"Grandpa Taizu, that's why I said that the reason why our Ming Dynasty collapsed was because of problems in my grandfather's hands." Zhu Yijun said: "He was obsessed with cultivating immortals all day long and didn't care about government affairs at all."
"The most important thing is that he sat in the position of emperor for forty-five years."
"During this period, he has been cultivating immortality for at least thirty years."
"Think about it, you spend thirty years just cultivating immortality and not caring about government affairs."
"How much trouble our Ming Dynasty will cause, how many roots of trouble our Ming Dynasty will have to bury."
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.
In thirty years, let alone the death of the Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that a new Ming Dynasty can be rebuilt.
In thirty years, there are too many things that can be accomplished.
It is extremely terrible for an emperor not to go to court for thirty years.
"So, your grandfather will really be blamed for the fall of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yuanzhang said lightly.
After hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian's eyes changed when they looked at Zhu Yijun.
Unexpectedly, they had just put the responsibility for the fall of the Ming Dynasty on their grandfather Zhu Yijun, and Zhu Yijun turned around and kicked the ball to the head of his own grandfather, Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houcong.
It seems that blaming his grandfather has a family heritage.
"Grandpa, that's a must."
"My grandfather Jiajing must have something to do with the fall of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun quickly echoed.
But Zhu Yuanzhang did not respond, but turned to look at Li Xiao.
He once again wanted to hear Li Xiao's opinion.
"Li Xiao, what do you think of Zhu Yijun's words?"
Li Xiao was also speechless at this moment.
I didn't expect that starting from Zhu Youjian, so many Ming emperors would be brought out.
The immortal emperor of the Ming Dynasty was certainly no stranger to Li Xiao.
Even without Jiajing, the emperor who cultivated immortality, Hai Rui and Yan Song during the Jiajing dynasty were still impressive.
Just when Li Xiao was about to speak, a voice came from afar.
"Treason!"
"Unworthy!"
"What are you talking nonsense about?"
(End of chapter)
