Have you heard of the story of Zhu Youxiao, a famous figure in ancient history? Today, the History Encyclopedia editor will provide a detailed interpretation for everyone~
The early period of the Ming Dynasty was indeed glorious, but after a period of manipulation by Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, the country’s power quickly took a sharp turn for the worse; Although there were also Ming emperors such as Emperor Jingtai, Emperor Chenghua, Emperor Hongzhi, and Emperor Longqing who patched things up afterwards, they could not withstand the abuse of those incompetent monarchs. Therefore, overall, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty continued to weaken. Until the mid to late Ming Dynasty, the national strength was so weak that it could not even defeat the Liaodong regime with a population of less than one million.
Was the Ming Dynasty really poor? Actually, it’s not the case. Overall, the Ming Dynasty royal family may have been the poorest in history, but the people of the Ming Dynasty, or those high-ranking officials and nobles, were all so wealthy that even clean officials like Hai Rui were regarded as role models. But shouldn’t being a non greedy official be the most basic requirement? But the emperor dared not speak out in anger, because although the officials of the Ming Dynasty appeared to have intense partisan struggles on the surface, they were extremely united when it came to key points (such as money), leaving the emperor helpless.
Why did Emperor Chongzhen perish? It’s not because of a lack of money. It is said that Emperor Chongzhen once begged those ministers to donate some money to defend Beijing, but those ministers dismissed Emperor Chongzhen as a beggar; As a result, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing and specifically robbed those ministers, but managed to seize billions of gold, silver, and jewelry; This is the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, who saw too clearly and saw too clearly. They were a flowing dynasty, an iron clad family, and continued to enjoy glory and wealth under a new master; But they didn’t expect that Li Zicheng didn’t play according to the rules
In fact, regarding the faces of these ministers, Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao could see them clearly. He knew that relying on these people who appeared to be “benevolent and righteous” on the surface and were more ruthless in making money behind the scenes than anyone else, the country would eventually perish. Therefore, he decided to become a “foolish ruler”. What kind of foolish ruler would he be? He pretended to be an emperor who ignored politics and only loved carpentry, and then brought in a puppet named Wei Zhongxian to use him to suppress the literati and bureaucratic class.
Of course, Zhu Youxiao could not have completely delegated power. In fact, Wei Zhongxian was just a pawn. If Wei Zhongxian’s power was really so great, he would not have been easily eliminated by Zhu Youjian in the later period. You should know that eunuchs in the late Tang Dynasty truly held real power and could even depose the emperor; Compared to it, Wei Zhongxian is far behind. In fact, Wei Zhongxian’s true status is similar to Liu Jin’s. As long as the emperor feels out of control, he can be killed at any time.
The two most important tasks of Wei Zhongxian were to “make money” for the emperor and to suppress the Donglin Party. The Donglin Party originated from Gu Xiancheng giving lectures at Donglin Academy, and many scholars and officials in Hainan followed him. The name ‘Donglin’ began from then on. Later on, the three cases of “Ting Ju”, “Hong Wan”, and “Gong Yi” occurred, and the entire court seemed to be in a lawsuit. Those who opposed the Donglin Party were regarded as evil parties by the people. At the peak of the Donglin Party’s power, almost all the members of the Donglin Party were in the court. Such a strong position made it easy to say that abolishing the emperor was just a matter of the party leader’s words.
Does the Donglin Party really care about the country? Perhaps some of them are true patriots, but the vast majority are people who can give up national interests for their own interests or party interests; With such great momentum, how could the emperor not be afraid? So Wei Zhongxian’s “eunuch party” came to power, which means that the struggle between the “eunuch party” and the “Donglin party” can be understood as a struggle for imperial power and prime minister power. Overall, Wei Zhongxian’s “eunuch party” had a slight advantage, but Wei Zhongxian’s name was completely tarnished. Scholars and writers spared no effort to smear Wei Zhongxian.
But the real mastermind behind the scenes, Zhu Youxiao, is secretly enjoying himself. He has money in his hands to do things well, not to mention that the “eunuch party” is not only a group of criminals, but also a group of very capable people. Zhu Youxiao uses the money plundered by Wei Zhongxian to supplement the country; So, even though there was a crisis during the school days, Zhu managed to survive without any major mistakes. But those aristocrats were not fools either. In a few years, they guessed that Zhu Youxiao was the mastermind behind the scenes. Although Zhu Youxiao was the emperor, they still decided to seek revenge.
In 1627 AD, Zhu Youxiao suddenly had a whim and went boating on a lake with eunuchs Wang Tiqian and Wei Zhongxian. However, a gust of wind blew in and Zhu Youxiao was blown into the lake. Although he was rescued, he never recovered from his illness; Later, the Shangshu Huo Weihua presented a “elixir” called “Linglu Drink”. Due to its sweet and delicious taste, Zhu Youxiao drank it every day, which caused him to suffer from swelling disease, gradually swelling all over his body, and ultimately dying.
Firstly, Zhu Youxiao was also cautious and careful. Wang Tiqian and Wei Zhongxian were both absolute confidants, but they were blown into the water by a gust of wind and almost drowned; Originally, he was only frightened and fell ill, but there was no threat to his life. However, Huo Weihua came to offer the “elixir”. At first, Huo Weihua was also a follower of Wei Zhongxian, and even a confidant of Zhu Youxiao. But strangely, when Wei Zhongxian and his followers were investigated, Huo Weihua had no problem but was promoted to an official position. There was a problem here, because logically speaking, Huo Weihua was one of the culprits who killed Zhu Youxiao.
Looking at the ‘Red Pill Case’, after the death of Emperor Taichang Zhu Changluo, a great tragedy shook the country. However, after Zhu Youxiao’s death, it was a calm incident. His younger brother Zhu Youjian not only did not punish the murderers who killed Zhu Youxiao, but also swept away Wei Zhongxian and others whom his brother relied on the most; The result was that the Donglin Party was dominant, and Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, was financially strapped for food. Not to mention giving rewards to border soldiers, many capable officials during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen were actually promoted by Zhu Youxiao. Unfortunately, Zhu Youxiao himself had no fortune to bear.
At the end of the day, can Zhu Youxiao of Ming Xizong be considered a foolish ruler? Many people may consider him a incompetent ruler, but they overlook Zhu Youxiao’s true abilities. He ascended to the throne at the age of 16 and reigned for seven years, carefully balancing the Donglin Party and the eunuch Party, using the Donglin Party to govern the country, and using the eunuch Party to balance the Donglin Party. It was under the guidance of Zhu Youxiao’s governance policy that although many major events occurred during the Ming Dynasty, they were still relatively safe and sound; So before Zhu Youxiao passed away, Zhu Youjian was advised to highly value Wei Zhongxian. However, Zhu Youjian may have been unable to do so or may not have understood. After removing Wei Zhongxian, national affairs quickly deteriorated, which was a pity.
