Do you know Zhu You School? Today, the history encyclopedia editor will bring you a detailed introduction.
Since the early establishment of the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty has experienced a total of sixteen emperors, and Zhu Youxiao was the fifteenth emperor, with the temple name Xizong. He ascended to the throne at the age of 16 and reigned for only seven years. He passed away due to illness at the age of 23, which can be described as a short and unsuccessful life.
What is the ineffectiveness of Zhu Youxiao? He ignores politics and only studies his own interests, which is carpentry skills. Although he excelled in the study of carpenters himself, ‘there is a specialization in every profession’. As an emperor, if he does not handle political affairs or care about the country, it is not fulfilling his duties.
Moreover, he allowed eunuchs like Wei Zhongxian to monopolize power and harmed many Donglin Party members who advocated reforming the political system, leading to the gradual decline of the Ming Dynasty’s political system. So more than ten years after the death of Zhu Youxiao, the descendants of the Ming Dynasty were unable to repair the already flawed government and could only watch it collapse, silently ending the glorious period known as the “governance of the Tang and Song dynasties”.
So why is Zhu Youxiao so extreme? This has to be said about the environment he grew up in. We are aware that the heirs to the throne are all trained as heirs from a young age, learning everything about politics, and thus training them into qualified emperors. And Zhu Youxiao’s behavior and personality formation are also due to this, his actions are related to early environmental influences.
We often say ‘win at the starting line’ now, but Zhu Youxiao is the one who lost at the starting line. Due to the negligence of his father Mingguangzong, he did not learn any knowledge until the age of nine, and still remained at a simple level of thinking and cognition without basic organization. So after he ascended the throne, imperial edicts became a prominent issue. He could only listen to others’ reports and then make decisions and corrections. Moreover, he did not like to be completely manipulated by others, often groping and pretending to understand, issuing edicts without authorization, and creating illogical jokes.
Obviously, when we are not interested in one path, we tend to lean towards another path that interests us as much as possible. And Zhu Youxiao’s interest is precisely in carpentry skills, which is inseparable from his youth experience. When Zhu Youxiao was young, he wandered around every day due to idleness. After he could see carpenters repairing fires from time to time, he gradually became interested and learned some skills on his own. Without anyone to guide him, he even learned a good craft. Therefore, carpentry became his main job, and dealing with government affairs became his side job.
The consequences of Zhu Youxiao’s focus on carpentry work are obvious. He ignores the world and only immerses himself in carpentry work, trusting his wet nurse Ke Shi and eunuch Wei Zhongxian around him with peace of mind. This gives Ke Shi and Wei Zhongxian great power, with one holding exclusive power in the imperial harem and the other in the court and court.
On the one hand, this is due to the treachery and greed of Wei Zhongxian and others. He caused Zhu Youxiao’s annoyance by always reporting to him when he was doing carpentry work at Zhu Youxiao, thereby making Zhu Youxiao completely addicted to carpentry work, taking full control of the power and acting as the sole agent of the court, thus forming an unprecedented situation of eunuch dictatorship.
On the other hand, Zhu Youxiao’s own evasion is due to his desire to use an excuse to escape his unsuccessful regime. At the same time, he does not like the feeling of being manipulated by others. Therefore, he let himself go and immerse himself in carpentry work, floating and sinking in the small world he had sealed off, forgetting the social responsibility he carried on himself. In this sense, he is irresponsible.
Once an emperor and a courtier, in order to govern the world, one must have one heart from top to bottom. Zhu Youxiao’s early promotion of Donglin Party members was commendable, but he did not continue to trust them, and thus missed the key to turning the tide of the court. Unfortunately, it is also despicable.
A generation of emperors spent their entire lives working as carpenters, but passed away due to illness, leaving behind the crumbling Ming Dynasty.
