In the early morning of November 23, the 17th year of Hongzhi's reign in the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty passed away. The world was shaken and all the people mourned.
The common people and officials were in mourning, and the people of the world fell into a kind of panic. The soldiers and horses of the Royal Guards in various places in the capital began to alert the whole city, for fear that someone would take the opportunity to cause chaos, and to maintain security in extraordinary times.
On the morning of the 23rd, the news of Emperor Daxing's funeral was officially announced. The cabinet also announced the posthumous edict, sent people to various royal families to announce the obituary, and the Ministry of Rites prepared for the funeral ceremony.
At 4 o'clock in the morning, the Ministry of Rites announced the funeral details: Starting from the day of the funeral, no bells or drums will be sounded. The civil and military officials in Beijing will wear plain clothes, wearing black gauze hats and black horn belts. Starting tomorrow, everyone will go to Sishan in the morning to cry outside the door, and then retire.
Staying in this yamen, not drinking alcohol and eating meat.
On the fourth day, all the ministers were beheaded and went to the gate of Yisi Shan. Weeping day and night for three days, and on the seventh day they raised their voices and stopped on the fifteenth day. When entering the court or attending the Yamen, they were wrapped in cloth, gauze hats and belts, and wore plain clothes around their waists.
If the hemp shoes fade away, they will fade away and the disease will disappear in 27 days.
All these, the etiquette is complicated but solemn and solemn, and the whole people mourn, showing their grief and sorrow.
On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, three bachelors from the cabinet led the civil and military officials to the Wenhua Palace to welcome the crown prince Zhu Houzhao to the throne, and gave him the new title Zhengde. Prince Zhu Houzhao officially became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, he was only fourteen years old.
The construction of Emperor Hongzhi's mausoleum has not yet been completed. Zhengde issued an order and ordered Zeng Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, to organize manpower to build a mausoleum at the foot of Bijia Mountain in the southwest of the capital to prepare for the burial of Hongzhi's coffin. Before that, the coffin was temporarily placed in the ancestral temple.
After a few days of mourning, the dust settled. The era of Emperor Zhu Youtang of Hongzhi was also sealed in the coffin together with Hongzhi's dragon body.
While people all over the world are grieving, they can't help but have various evaluations of Zhu Youtang. For the vast majority of people, Zhu Youtang is indeed a good emperor, and can even be called the Emperor of ZTE.
After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, except for Emperor Hongwu, who was relatively stable for the first time, everything was in chaos afterwards. King Yan was unable to seize the throne, and the civil war was brutal. The Yingzong Tumubao was defeated, and the country's power and prestige were greatly damaged. Afterwards, the coup,
The same roommate was at war with each other. Although the government during Xianzong's reign was slightly more stable, the country's power and the people's
His life was somewhat restored. However, Emperor Xianzong neglected his political life and indulged his relatives in the harem to usurp power in the inner court. He appointed some treacherous ministers in the outer court, which made the country a mess and no peace at all. Even his only son was almost killed.
His beloved Concubine Wan Gui was killed, which shows his confusion and stupidity.
It was not until the Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youtang came to the throne, purged the treacherous ministers in the inner and outer courts, dealt with the arrogant relatives decisively, and appointed a group of capable and virtuous ministers that the situation was truly stabilized.
During the Hongzhi period, national strength was restored and people's livelihood also improved.
Population is the most intuitive number. When Zhu Youtang came to the throne in the first year of Hongzhi, the population of the Ming Dynasty was more than 50 million. By the time he died in the 17th year of Hongzhi, the population of the Ming Dynasty already reached 65 million.
Hongzhi had a unique eye for people. He appointed a large number of wise ministers and was quite clear in politics. He respected ministers, was kind and forgiving, had an open mind, and had a harmonious relationship with his ministers. Even his enemies,
He can also forgive.
Hongzhi was diligent and conscientious in his work. In addition to listening to the lectures of ministers and bachelors at large and small banquets to improve his own abilities, he also established a morning and afternoon court system, with two court meetings a day, which was unprecedented. He could also follow the good deeds, listen to the opinions of ministers, and provide them in a timely manner.
Adopt it, Corporal Lixian. You can also make up your mind to eliminate some of the abuses in government affairs, and you can be considered decisive in your actions.
In terms of governance, he paid attention to people's livelihood, lightened corvee taxes, built water conservancy projects, and organized the defense forces of border towns. He made many effective decisions and adopted many effective measures.
In terms of life, Zhu Youtang can be called a model. He is not a womanizer and has only one wife, Queen Zhang. As an emperor, this is simply unimaginable. But he did this. Moreover, he was extremely frugal and ate well.
They were all extremely frugal in their clothing. One of the few in the entire palace
Changed the extravagant style of the previous dynasty. The queen and emperor wore commoners and ate simple meals. When the weather was cold, they did not use charcoal fires and even used lights and candles very sparingly. It made the palace dark every day. No matter whether it was necessary or not. But at least he
He is indeed harsh on his own life.
In short, for many people, Zhu Youtang was indeed a good emperor, a good emperor who was diligent and frugal, kind and forgiving, broad-minded, and courteous to the virtuous. He echoed all the elements of a good emperor in their minds.
However, some people don't entirely think so. For example, Zhang Yanling.
Zhang Yanling does not deny Zhu Youtang's many good qualities and efforts, nor does he deny the fact that the people's livelihood was restored during the Hongzhi period. Zhang Yanling also admitted that Zhu Youtang was a good emperor.
However, as a time traveler, Zhang Yanling had to look at Zhu Youtang's actions from a historical perspective. From a historical perspective, Zhu Youtang actually did many things that were ridiculous and even a bit excessive.
There were at least two things that he did outrageously. One was that he indulged in fasting, spent a lot of money, and led an extremely unhealthy style of work. The whole Ming Dynasty was filled with this unhealthy trend. Daxing Taoism
, he spent huge amounts of money and taxes on the fasting and feasting. Although he was frugal in life, he wasted more than millions of taels of silver on this matter.
Another thing was his most wrong approach. During the Hongzhi period, Zhu Youtang awarded an astonishing amount of land to nobles, nobles, princes, and ministers. The land rewarded often amounted to tens of thousands of acres or hundreds of thousands of acres. Moreover, he rewarded princes and princes.
The aristocrats and wealthy families turned a blind eye to the land occupation, which was extremely protective.
Land annexation reached a crazy peak during the Hongzhi period. The number of refugees increased, the number of farmers decreased sharply, and the number of bankrupt people increased. Not to mention the impact on fiscal and tax revenue, it also led to a sharp increase in social instability. The reduction in fiscal and taxation also led to an increase in insufficient defense of border troops.
, Tatar attacks intensified.
From a certain perspective, Zhu Youtang planted the seeds of disaster for his son, Emperor Zhengde, and what was left behind was actually a mess under the surface of ZTE.
These criticisms may be too harsh, but when making a final conclusion, it naturally needs to be objective and cannot be completely flattered and ignore the facts.
Therefore, Zhang Yanling made a conclusion in her heart about Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youtang. That is: an emperor who cannot be called a saint, a good man with a good temper and a good character.
…
The emperor's death came too quickly and suddenly. Not only the people of the world were shocked, but also the princes, ministers and the court felt it was too sudden. Who would have thought that a small cold syndrome would eventually lead to the emperor's death. He was only three years old.
At the age of fifteen, the emperor, who was in the prime of his life, actually died of this little cold syndrome.
Except for a few insiders, the vast majority of people did not know the cause of the emperor's death. However, the news inevitably spread, and there were a lot of private discussions, conspiracy theories, and the secret story that Emperor Hongzhi died of poisoning.
Of course, after the death of Emperor Hongzhi, the investigation into this matter began immediately. A team of people from the imperial hospital, the imperial chef in the imperial dining room, and the palace maids and eunuchs who had come into contact with the food that night were all controlled and interrogated. This matter began at the Cabinet University
Scholar Li Dongyang personally led the investigation, which shows that he attached great importance to it.
The suspicions of the imperial kitchen and related persons were quickly eliminated, because Empress Zhang accompanied Hongzhi at the meal that night, but Empress Zhang did not have any symptoms of poisoning. There was still some food left that night, and it was all sealed for inspection at that time.
, but the final inspection results showed no problems.
Therefore, the biggest suspicion comes from the medicine delivered by Tai Hospital that day, and the biggest suspect is also the imperial doctor of Tai Hospital.
The scope was further narrowed. Most of the imperial doctors took half a day off and went home that day. The only people who came into contact with the medicine were Xu Hao and Gao Tinghe. After the medicine was delivered to the palace, it was Empress Zhang who prepared the medicine.
, no one else had done anything. It was naturally impossible for Queen Zhang to do anything, so the focus was on Xu Hao, Gao Tinghe, and the court judge Liu Wentai who opened the medicine shop.