The fame of the Ming Dynasty was contributed by the unique emperors of the Old Zhu family.
These emperors were either so fat that they needed two people to walk, or had exceptional carpentry skills, or avoided the imperial court… In short, they were very individualistic and had some remarkable political achievements during their reigns.
In comparison, Ming Huizong Zhu Yunwen, who was removed from power after only five years as emperor, seems somewhat inferior to other emperors of the Old Zhu family.
Excluding Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor, the Ming Dynasty experienced a total of 22 emperors until the downfall of the Southern Ming regime. So Zhu Yunwen can be compared to a total of 20 people from Ming Chengzu to Ming Zhaozong. Except for Zhu Di, who was the father of Zhu Yunwen, and Zhu Gaochi, who was of the same generation, these 20 people are actually younger generations.
Compared to the elder Zhu Di, Zhu Yunwen did indeed lose. In the 25th year of the Hongwu reign (1392), with the support of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yunwen became the Crown Prince.
In the 31st year of the Hongwu reign (1398), Zhu Yuanzhang passed away and Zhu Yunwen was elevated to the throne.
However, Zhu Yunwen was able to have this day not because he was the most outstanding among the descendants of the Zhu family, but because Zhu Yuanzhang ultimately decided to leave the throne to his eldest son Zhu Biao and his lineage. So on the day when Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Zhu Yunwen as the Crown Prince, Zhu Yunwen’s “destined” archenemy Zhu Di was also confirmed.
Unfortunately, the Battle of Jingnan proved that Zhu Yunwen could not defeat Zhu Di. After Zhu Di led his army into Nanjing city, Zhu Yunwen only encountered an unknown fate and was never able to stir up any storms again. So compared to Zhu Di, Zhu Yunwen is indeed inferior in terms of ‘successful kings defeat invaders’.
Compared to his peers like Zhu Gaochi, their ‘achievements’ in this unfortunate matter can truly be considered equal. Zhu Yunwen served as emperor for five years before being pulled down by Zhu Di, and his life and death are uncertain. Despite being sent to the throne by Zhu Di, Gao Chi, who was weak, sickly, and had a bloated figure, passed away due to a serious illness within a year of his accession.
Although Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Gaochi did not reign for long, their desire to pursue a peaceful and prosperous era was strong. For this reason, their governance can also be considered as down-to-earth and enterprising, and they have achieved practical results. However, due to their short tenure and unstable foundation, their directives had limited effectiveness, and their influence on the Ming society was even more limited. Therefore, compared to others, these two are truly “the same” peers.
Compared to his younger generation, Zhu Yunwen actually has both “losses” and “wins”. The peak of the Ming Dynasty was achieved in the hands of three generations: Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Zhanji. Compared to the younger generation of Zhu Zhanji, Zhu Yunwen does have shortcomings.
In politics, Zhu Zhanji had more means than Zhu Yunwen, and implemented the rectification of officials more thoroughly. And because he had followed Zhu Di on expeditions in his early years, Zhu Zhanji was more aware of the influence of military power on a country than Zhu Yunwen. He successfully quelled Zhu Gaoxu’s rebellion and stopped sending troops to Jiaozhi. Zhu Zhanji did better than Zhu Yunwen in both external and internal affairs. Therefore, it was Zhu Zhanji who witnessed a prosperous era in the end, not Zhu Yunwen.
And the more accomplished emperors after Zhu Zhanji, such as Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youzhu, Ming Muzong Zhu Zaigui, and Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun, all had more impressive achievements than Zhu Yunwen. The typical political systems or events of the Ming Dynasty, such as the cabinet system, the “One Whip Law,” and the “Great Ming Code,” have nothing to do with Zhu Yunwen. Therefore, compared to these younger generations, Zhu Yunwen can also be said to have been oppressed.
However, compared to the emperors of Ming Sizong Zhu Youjian, Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, and even the Southern Ming regime, Zhu Yunwen is undoubtedly outstanding. Although Zhu Yunwen was unable to maintain his throne under Zhu Di’s constant pressure, at least he did not change the world’s surname. Although Zhu Youjian had no choice but to lose the land left by his ancestors, this was indeed worse than Zhu Yunwen’s.
Zhu Qizhen is much more absurd than Zhu Yunwen. The biggest problem in Zhu Yunwen’s life was not holding onto his throne, while Zhu Qizhen was just too confident in himself. Zhu Qizhen favored evil and favored eunuchs, personally leading the imperial expedition and sending himself to the enemy’s prison. Finally, he was safely brought back by the Ming Emperor, but he launched a rebellion to seize the door and brought down the Ming ruler Zhu Qiyu, who was eating and sleeping.
We can say that Zhu Yunwen is much better than Zhu Qizhen, who treats the throne as a child’s play and puts personal interests above national interests.
As for the three to five sons of the Zhu family in the Southern Ming regime, not to mention making Zhu Yunwen compete with them, Zhu Yunwen probably wanted to scold them until he saw them. The old troops of the imperial court added up to a million soldiers and horses as a rebel army. As a result, these millions of people went their separate ways, pursuing fame and fortune, without even stopping the Qing army of over 200000.
If Zhu Yunwen did not defend the dragon throne left by Zhu Yuanzhang to future generations, and Zhu Youjian did not defend the “Ming” left by Zhu Yuanzhang to future generations, then Zhu Yujian, Zhu Youlang, and other descendants of the Zhu family who declared themselves emperor, even lost Zhu Yuanzhang’s tablet.
By comparison, Zhu Yunwen was considered good back then.
Therefore, if we rank the emperors of the Ming Dynasty based on their achievements, Zhu Yunwen should be in the middle range and “not successful”. He lost the throne in the confrontation with Zhu Di, which was certainly disappointing. But he did do a lot of good things for the court and the public in just five years.
The saying ‘compared to the superior, compared to the inferior’ is much more suitable for Zhu Yunwen than for Zhu Youlang and others.
