Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji was a rare all-round emperor in history. He was good at literature and martial arts, and was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. He was the "good saintly grandson" in the eyes of Chengzu , the "true British lord" in the mouths of courtiers, the "Emperor Taiping" in historians' writings, and the "little Taizong" in the hearts of later generations.
Nowadays, driven by related works, the evaluation of Xuanzong has been further pushed up. Not only is he a good emperor, he is not a small good, but a great one. His "The Farmer's Diary" and "The Weaver's Ci" have also led many people to evaluate him as a good emperor who truly cared about the people at the bottom for more than two thousand years.
As an emperor, is Zhu Zhanji really so perfect?
Friends who are familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty probably know that Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty was also nicknamed "the emperor who promotes weaving". The first sentence in the opening chapter of "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" is "In the Xuande period, the drama of promoting weaving ( crickets ) was promoted in the palace, and the folk were conquered every year."
makes sense, this is not a problem. Ordinary people can relax and entertain themselves through their favorite games on a daily basis. The emperor is also a human being, so naturally he can do the same. But emperors, like ordinary people, should not indulge in it.
Wang Shizhen included in his "Historical Materials of Yanzhou" an imperial edict issued by Xuanzong to the prefect of Suzhou. This time alone, Xuanzong conquered as many as a thousand crickets. Under his promotion, the price of a good-quality cricket at that time reached more than forty taels of silver. There is even a record of someone committing suicide due to crickets in "The Chronicles of the Ming Dynasty".
In 1982, a large number of fragments of official kilns from the Xuande Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty were unearthed in Jingdezhen. A large number of insect jars, cages and other utensils also proved Xuanzong's obsession and love for the "drama of promoting weaving".
If "fighting crickets" can still be understood and accepted, Xuanzong's other hobby makes him indistinguishable from the "good emperor" - his love of female sex. According to the Koreans, Xuanzong sent envoys to North Korea many times to ask for " tribute girls", and she was still a young girl.
Ruohai also said: "Family rites suggest that women between the ages of fourteen and twenty can be married. Nowadays, ten-year-old virgins are also recommended. Although the emperor asks for ten-year-old virgins, in my dynasty, I choose those who are over fourteen years old to offer them, so what? A young girl who is ignorant will definitely cause resentment and harm to her parents and brothers who are far away." It said: "As for the marriage between the two countries, it is just as the family etiquette said. This emperor asked for it in front of his eyes, and asked for it. In this way, if you don't follow his orders, it's nothing wrong.
"Records of the Li Dynasty"
This is not just a family story in North Korea. The Ming Dynasty The "Miscellaneous History of the Ming Dynasty" here also has records that Xuanzong likes "young girls":
The emperor was lucky enough to have a banquet with his ministers, and his family served. There was a very beautiful woman, and he drank wine around, and he was very pleased with her. However, the young teeth cannot enter the ring. The superior said: "If you want something, tell me." He also said: "Let me talk to you first." The nostalgia went away for a long time.
In addition, in " Sin Wei Lu ", there is even a story about Xuanzong dismissing a prostitute because she was jealous of a minister. Many people believe that it was precisely because the body was unable to satisfy this desire that Xuanzong sought help from elixirs, which ultimately led to his death in the prime of life.
And these are not the most corrupt records of Xuanzong's personal ethics.
When Zhu Zhanji was the emperor's grandson, Ming Chengzu ordered him to practice martial arts and keep fit. Xuanzong not only learned well and was proficient in riding and shooting, but he also developed a hobby and was keen on hunting. Xuanzong's teachers Dai Lun and Lin Changmao felt that they could not abandon their studies because of this, so they often tried to persuade him, but Zhu Zhanji ignored him.
Seeing that the emperor's grandson could not be persuaded, Dai Lun and Lin Changmao turned to Chengzu for advice. He pointed out that , the emperor's grandson, , was too addicted to hunting, and hoped that Chengzu could supervise the emperor's grandson to focus more on his studies, but Chengzu turned around and "sold" them both. During a chat, Chengzu showed Dai Lun's admonishment to the emperor's grandson. Instead of being grateful for his teacher's good intentions, Zhu Zhanji hated them.
After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he was still diligent in hunting. The upright Dai Lun and Lin Changmao repeatedly advised the emperor not to indulge in this so as not to damage the country and the country. The angered Xuanzong finally threw them into prison. Lin Changmao was imprisoned for more than ten years, and Dai Lun was even worse. Not only did he lose his family property, he himself was "whipped to death" during Xuanzong's personal trial.
After a while, (Dai Lun) remonstrated and disobeyed the order, and ordered the counselor to take charge of military affairs. Changmao came from Nanjing and came later, and also became the governor of Yulin. No matter what, he sat in resentment and was arrested and taken to Beijing and sent to Jinyi Guard Prison. When the emperor came to attack him, Lun defended him, which offended the emperor's anger, so he set up a bamboo basket and died, and settled in his family. All the fathers, Xian, the magistrate of Henan, and Xiwen, the minister of Taipusi , were all imprisoned. Chang Mao was in prison for ten years, and he was released after the Yingzong was established.
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Dai Lun Biography"
Some people defended Xuanzong, saying that this was because Xuanzong hated the behavior of "villains" who snitched behind their backs. Even if you can't stand their "villain" behavior, is it necessary to punish them in such a cruel way? And why implicate their relatives?
Dai Lun's uncle Dai Xiwen was not only implicated and imprisoned, but his underage son was also castrated and sent to the palace to become a eunuch. Fortunately, the child managed to survive on his own in the palace. Later, he was given the name Huai'en. He was not only a famous eunuch in the Chenghua and Hongzhi dynasties, but also a rare eunuch in the Ming Dynasty who had good reviews.
Moreover, Jiangxi Inspector Chen Zuo never made a report. He also advised Xuanzong not to hunt too much and his whole family was imprisoned, and his father died in prison.
In ancient times, the importance of the teacher-student relationship was no less important than that of "monarch and minister, father and son." At that time, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty slaughtered his meritorious courtiers. No one dared to stop him, and no one could persuade him. But Empress Ma saved the prince's master Song Lian by saying " A private family is a teacher for their children, and they should pay attention to etiquette from beginning to end, how can this be the case with the emperor?".
It is impossible for Xuanzong not to know this allusion, and Dai Lun and Lin Changmao were also his teachers. Even if his teacher is really guilty, he should try his best to preserve his feelings and reasons, not to mention that the two of them are not guilty at all.
This is not only Xuanzong's ruthlessness and cruelty, but also his "tyranny". As an emperor, he could not accept anyone's doubts or objections, and anyone who questioned or opposed him would suffer his most violent revenge. Nothing best reflects Xuanzong's character than his handling of the "Han King's Rebellion" case.
Regarding this period of history, many friends have the impression that a funny prince staged a funny rebellion, but was easily wiped out by Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty. The actual historical facts are much crueler than this.
There is a view that the " Tumu Fort Incident" led to the death of a large number of noble generals of the Ming army, which weakened the influence of the emperor who controlled the Ming army through his nobles on the army, and the civilian power expanded and strengthened. Afterwards, the emperor and civil servants of the Ming Dynasty began to compete for dynasty power, and the Ming Dynasty declined rapidly amidst this continuous internal strife.
I won’t discuss whether this view is correct here. I just feel that people who hold this view cannot just blame Ming Yingzong and Wang Zhen, because Xuanzong destroyed the meritorious generals even more than " civil fortress ". After Xuanzong defeated Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han Dynasty, he launched a large-scale prison. He killed more than 600 civil servants and generals and exiled more than 2,000 people.
Gao Xu and his son were deposed as common people, and they built a house in Xi'an Gate to imprison them. Wang Bin and others were all executed, but Li Mo, the chief minister, tried to remonstrate and avoided death, and was relegated to Koubei to serve the people. The governors of Tianjin, Qingzhou , Cangzhou , and Shanxi commanded all the cities to respond, and they were executed one after another. More than 640 people were killed, and more than 1,500 people were hidden and killed on the border, and 720 people were recruited as border gangsters...
"History of the Ming Dynasty·The Biography of Zhu Gaoxu"
Not to mention the subsequent death of all Zhu Gaoxu's family. To a certain extent, when it comes to the cruelty of his methods, Xuanzong is not weaker than Taizu and Chengzu. The shame of Yongzheng , who was notorious for "killing his brothers and butchering his brothers", is comparable to that of the famous "Taizong".
Note: Zhu Gaoxu had eleven sons in total. The eldest son and the third son died before Zhu Gaoxu. The second son was punished in Fengyang during the reign of Renzong (also executed by Xuanzong). The remaining eight sons died on the same day as him.Princess Wei Shi was killed when Zhu Gaoxu was executed, and the remaining concubines were ordered to be buried.
Finally, in terms of governing the country, Xuanzong's achievements or contributions are not as great as legendary.
First of all, we should pay attention to a question. Why is the rule of Xuanzong called the "Reign of Renxuan"? In these eleven years, his father Ming Renzong was in power for only ten months (only five months if calculated according to Yuan Dynasty). The reason why
is defined in this way is that the national policies for these eleven years were basically set by Ming Renzong, and Xuanzong was implementing and continuing these strategies. This is why some people call Xuanzong the "King of Shoucheng". While pursuing Xuanzong, we should not add Renzong's achievements to him.
Moreover, Xuanzong himself also made obvious mistakes in governing the country. Here are two examples.
The foundation of the Ming Dynasty and the dynasty's security guard system were already corrupt and tending to collapse by the Xuande Dynasty. The most prominent problems were the occupation of noble officials and the desertion of troops due to the hardship of life. Although the blame for the problem is not on Xuanzong (military guards from various places began to desert the army since Hongwu ), the problem with Xuanzong is that he did not pay attention to it and did not solve it.
Note: The Ming army had the obligation to perform corvee service in the court when there was no war. Many nobles and officials used this as an excuse to force soldiers to become free labor force for a long time.
In the sixth year of Xuande's reign, the number of registered sergeants in the fifth military camp of Kanhe Capital was 57,000, only a little more than half of the full complement. There were not enough people to gather, so training could only consist of three days of fishing and two days of drying nets. I am afraid that no one would care about the preparation of military supplies...
This was not only inconsistent with Xuanzong's image of "paying attention to people's livelihood", but also caused the Ming Dynasty to miss a golden opportunity to solve the problem of " health institute ". The health system continued to collapse during the Xuande Dynasty and eventually reached an irreversible point. Where did the Ming Dynasty's rabble who went out to build Tumubao come from? Didn't they just come from these rotten and abandoned military guards?
Note: The disastrous defeat of the Ming Army Tumu Fort was not just a problem under the command of Yingzong and Wang Zhen. For example, when the army camped on the first night after leaving the capital, strong winds blew the flags, causing the camp to roar. Hundreds of thousands of Ming troops were shouting and screaming, thinking that the Wala army was attacking the camp, and they were in chaos. First of all, if it really attacked, Yingzong would have been a prisoner long ago. Before the collapse of Tumubao, the Ming army organized tens of thousands of elites to fight against Wala several times, but the entire army was destroyed...
Secondly, Xuanzong sat back and watched the growth of the Mongolian Wala tribe.
During the Yongle Dynasty, Mongolia had been divided into three parts: Oara, Tatar, and Uliangha. Because the Tatar Arutai had a relatively hard neck and never bowed his head, Yongle beat him five times during the six campaigns against Mongolia. This objectively helped the growth of the Oara tribe.
Starting from the late Yongle period, the increasingly powerful Oara tribe began to attack Arutai and eat away at and the Tatar tribe . By the Xuande Dynasty, the Oara tribe had clearly begun to unify Mongolia. It was a problem that Xuanzong was still indifferent. If divided Mongolia is good for the Ming Dynasty, then unified Mongolia will become a nightmare for the Ming Dynasty. The Oara tribe completed the integration of Mongolia under the watchful eyes of the Ming Dynasty, and then sent "civilian forts" to the Ming Dynasty in return.
is like what many people say, "the truth is the end of Wanli ." The blame cannot be entirely placed on Chongzhen . In the same way, Xuanzong could not absolve himself of the responsibility for the Tumu Fortress, and to take a step back, wasn't Yingzong the emperor who he had single-handedly supported and educated?
Some people may say that Xuanzong died early and Yingzong was deceived and led astray by Wang Zhen. Not to mention a lowly eunuch, how could he destroy a "powerful" empire in less than ten years. Wasn't this eunuch himself promoted, trained and placed next to his son by Xuanzong?
So while Xuanzong is a "good emperor", he still has many attributes of a "bad emperor". Under his governance, the Ming Dynasty not only reached its peak, but also began to decline rapidly. The reason why these are not well known by people is because under the influence of "taboo" and their own needs, many people unconsciously like to create "perfect heroes".
uses grand narratives and praise to obtain an immersive and intoxicating pleasure of sharing glory and worshiping success. Then he took the initiative to cover up the mistakes of these characters through Chunqiu brushwork and even tampering with their original deeds. In the end, they became disbelieving and rejected the fact that they had such shortcomings and problems...
This is how the controversy surrounding many historical figures arises.
