Among the middle and late emperors of the Ming Dynasty , there were a few emperors who made us deeply impressed by . For example, the Jiajing emperor who was diligent in political affairs in the early stage but was addicted to practicing Taoism and alchemy in the later stages; the Wanli emperor who had not attended court for more than 20 consecutive years; the celestial emperor who favored the eunuch Wei Zhongxian who was addicted to carpenter work. After Jiajing and before Wanli, there was such an emperor who was inconspicuous among the emperors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. He was as short and rapid as his life, and as a meteor came, it quickly dissipated extremely quickly. He is the son of Emperor Jiajing and the father of Emperor Wanli - Emperor Longqing.
longqingdi
"longqing switch " and "Altan Fenggong "
During this period of Emperor Longqing's reign, Emperor Longqing's greatest achievements were undoubtedly "Longqing switch" and "Altan Fenggong ". The former allowed private capital to go overseas for trade, which improved the social economy at that time. At the same time, the relaxation of private overseas trade restrictions also caused the Japanese pirates to gradually disappear in the southeast coastal period. The latter effectively alleviated the ethnic conflicts between the Ming Dynasty and the Mongolian tribes, which allowed the northern border of the Ming Dynasty to have a peaceful situation for more than 30 years, and the people of the Ming and Mongolian tribes could rest and recuperate.
Ming Dynasty territory
Objectively speaking, although Emperor Longqing's reign did not last long, during his reign, the decayed government affairs in the middle and late Jiajing Dynasty were stabilized, the social economy improved, and the political and clear society gradually stabilized. It can be said that Emperor Longqing played a good role in connecting the past and the future between Emperor Jiajing and Emperor Wanli, eliminating the bad policies left over from the Jiajing dynasty, and laying a certain foundation for the later revival of Wanli.
Wanli Emperor
But even so, Emperor Longqing was still the least famous among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, not as good as his father, Emperor Jiajing, his son Wanli. After his death, Emperor Longqing was even more infatuated with the infatuation of debauchery and lust, but his civil and military achievements during Emperor Longqing's rule were consciously ignored. It has to be said that the cowardice and humility of Emperor Longqing's character was the reason why he became the emperor with the lowest presence in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Tragedy of lack of fatherly love in the emperor
As early as the Jiajing Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing's eldest and second sons died after being made the crown prince. At that time, Emperor Jiajing, who was addicted to Taoist , believed in the saying "two dragons do not meet each other" proposed by Taoist priest , and began to alienate his son. In comparison, even though he began to alienate his son, Jiajing still preferred Emperor Longqing's half-brother King Jing. Long-term alienation and living under the pressure of his father for a long time made Emperor Longqing's character become timid and cowardly.
King Jing is bound to win the throne, and his personality is even more high-profile and ostentatious. This also led to King Jing being suspicious of Emperor Jiajing and being ordered to leave the capital and become a vassal. Finally, after the death of Jiajing, the cowardly king of Yu finally inherited the throne. For Emperor Longqing, his ascension to the throne was more like a product of political balance and the throne that had no other choice after Jiajing's death. Emperor Longqing was not the eldest son, and his cowardly personality was too generous to civil servants, which made the civil servant group lacked the minimum respect for Emperor Longqing.
Jiajing Emperor
When Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he pardoned all the court officials who were convicted of the Jiajing Dynasty for his words, and had no bottom line in the cabinet court officials such as Xu Jie , Gao Gong , and entrusted the power of the court to Xu Jie, Gao Gong and others without restraint. Emperor Longqing's personality also made him unable to stop the struggle for power and profit among the cabinet ministers.
Under the brilliance of famous ministers such as Gao Gong and Xu Jie, Emperor Longqing became the least existing emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty. When people talk about the achievements of the Longqing Dynasty, they will think it was the contribution of Xu Jie, Gao Gong and others, but the host of all this Emperor Longqing became a mediocre emperor who was indulged in love with the erotic and debauchery of people.
Xu Jie
starts party struggles? In fact, civil servants have internal conflicts
Looking at the history of the Ming Dynasty, the opposition between the emperor and the literati group has always been the norm in Ming Dynasty politics.The tougher emperors, such as the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and the Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, both of them butchers' knives, were silent. The more sleek ones are to support eunuchs to attack the literati groups such as Jiajing and Wanli emperors.
Hongwu Emperor
And Emperor Longqing is an exception. No matter what the literati say and do, Emperor Longqing does not express any opinions. You guys do whatever you want, I'll just watch. Xu Jie drove Gao Gong off the stage, Longqing looked at it; Gao Gong formed an alliance Chen Hong returned to the court, Longqing watched; Zhang Juzheng formed an alliance East Factory Admiral Feng Bao employed Gao Gong, but Longqing still watched. This also made Emperor Longqing famous for starting the Ming party. But if you think about it carefully, the party struggles in the Jiajing Dynasty had already taken shape, but the banner of "a certain party and a certain faction" was not put forward at that time.
The party struggles in the Ming Dynasty were mostly done by the emperor in order to balance and restrain civil officials in order to balance politically, but the party struggles in the Longqing period were caused by the cabinet ministers such as Xu Jie and others fighting for power and profit. Simply put, the party struggles in the Longqing Dynasty were entirely caused by internal strife of literati groups, and they were bitten by each other, but they imposed the bad reputation of starting the party struggles on Emperor Longqing, which was not done by a gentleman.
Add to wine and color just to comfort the heart
As early as when Emperor Longqing was still King Yu, his father's long-term alienation, brothers' strength, and the high pressure of imperial power not only made Emperor Longqing become cowardly, but also made him cautious and live in simplicity. Long-Qing Emperor began to be addicted to wine and sex. When Emperor Long-Qing ascended the throne and faced extremely powerful cabinet ministers such as Xu Jie, he was even more helpless.
Longqing delegated power in order to please the civil servant group, and the cabinet ministers were responsible for controlling the government. Without Longqing, the emperor, he could operate smoothly. The literati group lacked respect for Longqing, and no matter what he did, he would be criticized by the censors. Emperor Longqing simply ignored the government affairs and became more addicted to alcohol and sex. He was eventually hollowed out by alcohol and sex. He was only thirty-six years old when he died of illness.
Zhang Juzheng
Emperor Longqing was not a foolish emperor. He knew very well that the sufferings of the people were even more serious and thrifty after he ascended the throne. At the beginning of his ascension, many capable ministers emerged in the court. Emperor Longqing should have worked hard to revive the Ming Dynasty, but he was addicted to wine and sex in his best years. It has to be said that this is not only the personal sorrow of Emperor Longqing, but also the tragedy of the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Longqing Zhu Zaiyu was the most tragic emperor of the Ming Dynasty. When he was young, he lacked fatherly love and was unable to control the court after ascending the throne. Emperor Longqing, who had a cowardly and generous personality, gave his ministers enough power and trust. Although Emperor Longqing was addicted to wine and sex, only fine wine and beauty can comfort Emperor Longqing's heart. It is probably what Emperor Longqing expected to die in the gentle place.
