Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Houcong who was hiding aside and secretly stroking his wounds, and said with a cold snort: "He is really good to his father. He still feels dissatisfied after so many years of trouble."
"Yes, Zhu Houcong felt that his father did not enjoy an independent single room, and he has always been resentful about it. In June of the 24th year of Jiajing, the new Ancestral Temple was finally built. Zhu Houcong personally formulated the temple meeting this time: No Zhao Zhao Mu also has no descendants, only ethics. The Taizu is in the middle, the four on the left are Cheng, Xuan, Xian, and Rui, and the four on the right are Ren, Ying, Xiao, and Wu. After twenty-four years, Zhu Houcong finally came to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. He won a place for his father."
"Huh, I have so much energy, why should I use it for the benefit of the people, but I have to use it in such a useless place. Although the method is good, it also suppresses the courtiers, but the most important thing as an emperor is to make the world peaceful. To make the people healthy, we should focus on how to strengthen the country and enrich the people." Zhu Yuanzhang recognized Zhu Houcong's ability, but felt that this guy did not use his ability where it should be used.
Zhao Changge glanced at the pitiful Zhu Houcong, and then said: "Actually, Zhu Houcong did a lot of political achievements during the period when he first came to the throne. When he first came to the throne, he re-appointed Zhu Houcong, who had won the honor for his outspokenness during the Zhengde period. The guilty ministers also halved the land rent and exempted all taxes not paid before the fifteenth year of Zhengde. Moreover, all localities were ordered not to make donations."
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and glanced at Zhu Houcong: "That's pretty much it. He finally looks like an emperor."
"Zhu Houcong, who had just succeeded to the throne, was diligent in government affairs, rectified the political agenda, and implemented the New Deal. He strengthened the control of eunuchs, which revived and strengthened the centralization of power. He also issued many orders to ministers, ministers, and inspection officials in various places. Pay attention to local talents. Zhu Houcong believes that if a person is really knowledgeable and capable, he should be recommended by the public regardless of qualifications. If the official department encounters a vacancy, it should be used as appropriate and simple, and should not avoid suspicion and blame."
"Furthermore, Zhu Houcong made changes to the system of hereditary titles for foreign relatives. In the eighth year of Jiajing, Fang Xianfu reported that since Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Gaochi, he had begun to confer titles to foreign relatives. Then many dignitaries appeared in the family of foreign relatives, and their titles Most of them are hereditary. Under the advice of ministers, Zhu Houcong changed this phenomenon. He announced that only one of the noble relatives who had been ennobled could be given a title for life, and his descendants could no longer inherit the title. In the future, neither the royal relatives nor the consort were allowed to request Conferring titles. This system was made permanent after Zhu Houcong ruled that even the natal family of Zhu Houcong’s mother, the Empress Dowager Chiang, and the natal family of his empress were not allowed to inherit the title.”
At this time, everyone's eyes were turned to Zhu Gaochi. After all, Zhu Gaochi had become a negative example in Jiajing.
"Ahem, everyone is watching what I do. Imperial Master, please continue speaking. I am listening carefully." Zhu Gaochi said in a pretentious manner.
Zhao Changge couldn't bear to expose Zhu Gaochi's poor acting skills, and smiled and continued: "When Zhu Houcong was in power, he severely punished corruption and bent the law, inspected Huangzhuang and Xungui Manor, and returned the land to the people. From Hongzhi to Zhengde, people constantly raised the issue of land quota. The seriousness of the problem has never attracted widespread attention and discussion between the government and the public. By the eighth year of Jiajing, Huo Tao pointed out that from Hongwu to Hongzhi, the number of acres in the world had been reduced by more than half. During the Jiajing period, some areas implemented taxes and levies to varying degrees. Institutional reform.”
"In the ninth year of Jiajing, when Gui E was working in the military, Shangshu proposed to inventory the newly added fields and compile and review the corvee. After Zhu Houcong approved it, he was unable to proceed further because Gui E returned home begging for leave due to illness. And The "one whip method" reform pioneered by Gui E, which determined the amount of money to be paid for taxes, grains and corvees, and levied them uniformly to achieve equalization, had a remarkable effect. Unfortunately, his reform was not really promoted. It was not until later that it was popularized by a man named Zhang Juzheng and implemented nationwide."
Although Zhu Di hated Zhu Houcong for changing his temple name, he now recognized that Zhu Houcong did a pretty good job. At least the emperor was qualified in the early stage.
"It can be said that Zhu Houcong's performance in the early period of his reign is worthy of recognition. Unfortunately, in the middle of his reign, Zhu Houcong himself lost his enterprising spirit, and the government began to become increasingly corrupt. Because the country had been peaceful for too long, Zhu Houcong began to carry out large-scale construction projects, and began to be superstitious about alchemists and respect Taoism. , began to fantasize about the art of immortality, and as Zhu Houcong gradually became obsessed with it, alchemists and Taoist priests from all over the world took advantage of Zhu Houcong's superstitious dream of immortality and spiritual phenomena, and repeatedly deceived and fooled Zhu Houcong, causing huge waste."
"Zhu Houcong specialized in Taoism, suppressed Buddhism, and mythologized himself. He gave himself and his parents Taoist titles. Even whether it was a flood or a drought, even curing diseases, seeking heirs and prolonging life, and fighting against Japanese invaders almost all required Taoist participation. , and he also gave the ministers Taoist robes and sent censors to keep an eye on the ministers to see who was not pious to Taoism."
"Is this a court or a Taoist temple? If you like to be a Taoist priest, why don't you pass the throne to the prince as soon as possible and then become your Taoist priest? Just forget about your own nonsense, and all the courtiers in the court will accompany you to do your nonsense, you... ....You are simply..." Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he could not speak, why his descendants were not as good as the previous generation.
"In the 19th year of Jiajing, Yang Zui used to admonish and supervise the state affairs and bluntly said that seeking immortality was ridiculous. However, he was directly ordered to die in battle by Zhu Houcong. The ministers were frightened. The ministers rushed to flatter and cater to him, and the style of direct remonstrance was Gradually. Even Zhu Houcong was so ridiculous that his promotion to officials depended on his sincerity for Taoism, and he used thunderous tactics against those who opposed him."
"In the 21st year of Jiajing, Jiajing was assassinated in the palace by more than a dozen maids led by Yang Jinying, which was known as the Renyin Palace Incident in history. That was the time when I just went to Jiajing Dynasty. After this incident, Zhu Houcong moved directly to the palace. After arriving at the Wanshou Palace in Xiyuan, he no longer dared to live in the palace of the Forbidden City. This time he was lucky enough to survive. Zhu Houcong believed that he was blessed because of his sincerity to the Tao, so he respected the fasting and praying even more. He did not wear a dragon every day. He likes to wear Taoist robes, and he also requires the concubines in the palace to wear feathered robes and yellow crowns and recite magic spells."
"What a sin, you are treating national affairs as a child's play. Official promotion depends on whether you are pious to Taoism. Haha, it's possible that people who believe in Taoism are more capable. We can't imagine the day after doing this. How much misfortune the people below will suffer." After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he was so angry that he snatched the jade belt directly from Zhu Di's hand, and then whipped it off Zhu Houcong's body without saying a word.
This time, Zhu Houcong squatted on the ground obediently. He didn't say a word when he was beaten, and just bit his lip.
