From A.D. 1488 to A.D. 1505, the title was Hongzhi. Emperor Xiaozong's name is Zhu Min, and he is the third son of Xianzong. /kloc-ascended the throne at the age of 0/8 and died at the age of 36. He ruled 18 years. During Hongzhi's reign, there were no officials, eunuchs or eunuchs' autocratic powers, and there were no drawbacks. Therefore, Hongzhi Dynasty is known as the most wise political period in the history of Ming Dynasty, and Xiaozong is also described as a saint in history books. Zhu Guozhen, a scholar in the late Ming Dynasty, said: "Under the three generations, they are called sages, Ming Di, Song Renzong and Xiaozong." It is considered that Xiaozong is a great master after Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and he is on an equal footing with Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, and has a high evaluation.
He also spoke highly of filial piety, which mainly has eight words, namely, "respect, diligence and love for the people." His diligence, tolerance, respect for Confucian officials and sympathy for people's livelihood won the unanimous praise of Confucian scholars and was regarded as the best monarch model in the history of the Ming Dynasty. He accepted the advice of Confucian scholars and acted according to their requirements as much as possible. Therefore, he is also compared to Zhou Chengwang, which means that he can follow the guidance of the Duke of Zhou. From the perspective of personal cultivation, Xiaozong is not as obsessed with indoor art as his father, but he has deep attainments in poetry, piano and painting. In governing the country, filial piety appointed ministers, revised the Ming system, and sympathized with the people's feelings, which actually created a prosperous time in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and the humanities of the prosperous time were also impressive.
Filial piety's personal achievements first benefited from his legal acquisition of the position of Crown Prince in his early years. At the age of six, he was made a prince by his father Xian Zong. When I was nine years old, I got married and made a speech. For the crown prince, speech is the beginning of formal education. Officials in charge of education are generally well-educated people. For example, Liu Jian, Cheng and others are all lecturers. He is from Anfu, Jiangxi, and Wan 'an, Peng Hua. His character is not very good, but after all, he is the first scholar in Jingtai for five years. Liu Jian is from Luoyang, Henan. Yan Yuxi and Bai, disciples of Neo-Confucianism Xue in the early Ming Dynasty. It is said that he is a Ming history; South of Xiuning County, Zhili County. /kloc-was called a child prodigy at the age of 0/0 and was recommended to study in Hanlin College.
It is said that at that time, among the coaches of Prince Dong Gong, Cheng was the most knowledgeable. From these three people alone, we can know that we attach great importance to the education of the Crown Prince. Once the Crown Prince makes a speech, he will make it every day except for the wind, rain and snow, the heat and the cold. Reading content is four books, as well as classics and history. The general form is to read a book in the morning and talk in the afternoon. The lecture was held in Wenhua Houtang. In addition to reading, the emperor must also practice calligraphy, assisted by a special assistant minister. He writes 100 every day in spring, summer and autumn, and 50 words every day in winter. So in a sense, it is a gathering of talents from all over the world to educate the Crown Prince. Therefore, Xiaozong received a very formal nine-year education. He started teaching at the age of 9.
Besides the education of ministers, it is said that Ji Qin, the eunuch in the palace, had a great influence on him. When Xiaozong was nine years old, the old man dictated Zhu's biography of Hedong Xue to the prince every day. It was under the dual education of the imperial court and the imperial court that the young Zhu Min was not as dissolute and indulgent as the later Ming emperors. Of course, according to the apotheosis propaganda of ancient emperors, Zhu Min was born a wise monarch. It is said that although Zhu Min lost her mother at the age of 6, she would "mourn" the loss of her childhood like an adult, which had a profound impact on filial piety. Perhaps the kindness, gentleness and tolerance of filial piety, in addition to Confucian education, also stems from the weak mentality of childhood. Filial piety can best show his tolerance when dealing with Wan Guifei. Although it is said that his mother Ji was killed, after Xiaozong ascended the throne, some officials demanded that the dead and their people be punished. He thought this was against the wishes of the former emperor and refused to accept it.
Interestingly, however, according to Confucian education, especially the emphasis on Neo-Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty, the knowledge possessed by the emperor should focus on mastering ethics and understanding history, rather than small skills such as poetry, calligraphy and painting, piano and harp. However, among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, filial piety was the most rigorous Confucian ethics, but he was unwilling to give up his artistic hobby. If you turn to the four books and chapters, you can see that Xiaozong has five volumes of poetry, but unfortunately it can't be seen today. Qian was a famous scholar in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. He has been writing the poem Ming Shi all his life. Among them, the Ming dynasty filial piety "Lie Chao" includes:
Adjust jing yuan to raise this body, but this body is innocent.
The Zhou family lived for 800 years, and the national security depended on the people.
Frankly speaking, this poem is not well written. The first two sentences still have a certain charm of bodybuilding skills, but the last two sentences are most in line with the taste of Confucian scholars, that is, "taking Tao as the text." Qian believes that this poem was extracted from Li Dongyang, the courtier of Hongzhi, and copied the praise of the great poet Li Dongyang. One of them said, "Wang is right, but virtue is the three immortals."
There is a saying in ancient China called "Three Immortals", which means virtue, merit and speech. There is a truly immortal collection of poems. Because the poem also mentioned that "the light of Zhou extended for 800 years", referring to the rule of Zhou Dynasty for 800 years, B also thought of another metaphor. In his view, filial piety can be compared not only with Song Renzong in China, but also with Zhou Chengwang's "filial piety, Zhou Chengwang in this dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen in Han Dynasty"!
In addition to his interest in poetry, Xiaozong also likes painting and playing the piano. Jiang Shaoshu in Qing Dynasty mentioned Xiaozong's love for painting and piano teaching. In the eyes of literati, the emperor likes music, and I am worried that he will slide into the abyss of coveting enjoyment in the future. Therefore, some officials in charge of supervising state affairs came up to advise Xiaozong not to indulge in vocal music and to pay more attention to self-cultivation. Manager Xiao accepted it on the surface, but privately said to the eunuch around him, "What's wrong with playing the piano?" This generation said it. "I mean, what is the conflict between playing the piano and politics? I hope you talk too much. Although he didn't agree with Yan Guan's warning, he didn't mind, which showed his tolerance.
He also tried to avoid criticism from literati. For example, he is good at painting, and there are many painters in the palace. Once, he gave the painter Wei Wu some colored satin. He was worried that ministers would chatter when they found out. He said to him, "Hurry up before Sue knows!" It means, come on, don't let those mean scholars know. Filial piety is praised by Confucian scholars because he always leaves enough sympathy for Confucian scholars on the surface.
The emperor practiced monogamy.
Huang Zongxi, a thinker in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, once wrote an article "Lu Tangji", which specifically criticized the autocratic monarch. One of the words goes like this: "separating the children in the world only gives me happiness." In ancient China, there were probably few adult emperors who were lewd. Most of them have three palaces and six hospitals, and there are groups of concubines. Especially the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. However, there is an exception in Ming Dynasty, and that is General Zhu's Shitang. Some people say that he may be the only monogamous emperor in China. He has only one queen in his life and no other concubines. Queen Zhang, ancestral home. According to the electoral system after the mid-Ming Dynasty, the empress was generally born in a civilian family. Zhang's father Zhang Luan is just a scholar. He entered imperial academy in the name of "xianggong". In other words, he was sent from a local school to the highest institution in China and became a student in imperial academy. Zhang was born in such a literati family, so it is natural to be a tutor. On February 6th, the 23rd year of Chenghua, Zhang married Prince Xiaozong at that time.
In September of the same year, Zhang was officially named queen. On September 24th, the fourth year of Hongzhi, Queen Zhang married her eldest son, the later Wu Zong. Zhu Houzhao was born with a very handsome face, "better temperament than Kethleen, radiant", and his behavior is very decent. Therefore, Xiao Zong loves this son very much and naturally loves Queen Zhang. Johnny, a scholar in the late Ming Dynasty, said, "After my favorite person, Zhang, I lived like a folk couple." Like folk couples, the emperor and the queen live together every day. This is rare in the private lives of feudal emperors.
As a heavily made-up harem, filial piety is really puzzling. There may be the following reasons:
First of all, Xiaozong himself is gentle and deeply influenced by Confucianism, and has no special interest in men and women.
Second, Xiaozong was secretly kept in a palace to avoid persecution when he was young until he was 6 years old. He is deeply aware of the competition and jealousy between concubines, and the subsequent struggle between concubines. Therefore, this may be one of the reasons why he doesn't want to have too many concubines.
Third, Zhang Hou's personality may be lively, attractive and binding on filial piety. History calls Zhang Hou "arrogance and jealousy". Judging from her role in the later political struggle, Zhang Hou is by no means an ordinary person.
Fourth, Minister Xie Qian's warning. At first, it was normal for the emperor to accept concubines. Under normal circumstances, the minister will not object. For example, during the Chenghua period, the minister wrote to the emperor to accept concubines because Xianzong had no son at the age of 289. So, why should Xie Qian bother? Here's the thing. In February of the first year of Hongzhi, Guo Yong, the supervisor of Ma Yu and Zuoshao, asked for a preliminary selection of the maids. After filial piety was abolished, he chose two women as his wives. At that time, Zuo Chunfang and Zuo Hippo, waiters of the Hanlin Academy, said, "Prepare the Sixth Palace. Three years of trouble should be forgotten. Now that the mountains are not over, I believe the shade is still fresh. Why is this happening? " It means that it is natural for the emperor to choose wives and concubines. However, Zhong Xian's mausoleum has not yet been built, and the thatched cottage was still new when the emperor died. Why talk about choosing a concubine? Filial piety claimed to rule the world by filial piety, and once formulated a three-year filial piety system of loyalty to the monarch. "In the past three years, it is easy to see the palace without ringing the bell or beating the drum, and without the congratulations from North Korea." Therefore, as Xie Qian said, the issue of choosing a woman as a concubine was shelved.
Later, the editor-in-chief of Xiao Jing criticized that the move was to please the then Queen Zhang of Zhonggong. However, some people defended Xie Qian, saying that Xie Qian's exhortation to choose a wife was not to prohibit filial piety, but to ask the emperor to wait for a period of time before choosing a wife. This is actually reasonable. However, due to the situation in Xie Qian, although the issue of choosing concubines was mentioned many times, it was not approved by Xiaozong. As a result, Zhang, who became a crown princess in the twenty-third year of Chenghua, not only officially became a queen after Xiaozong ascended the throne, but also became a special pet until Xiaozong died.
Xiaozong and his wife love each other deeply. Although enviable, it has a certain impact on us.
First of all, Hongzhi and his wife were single-minded, which led to the emperor having relatively few children. Queen Zhang gave birth to two sons and three daughters for Xiaozong. However, the second son of the emperor, Zhu Houhui, and the eldest daughter, Princess Taikang, passed away one after another. Therefore, Zhu Houzhao is the only descendant of Xiaozong. Later, when Zhu Houzhao had no son, the blood of filial piety was cut off. In the view of some ministers at the beginning of16th century, it is really frustrating that such a wise emperor has no future. Later, a group of ministers insisted that Zhu Houzhao Sejong called filial piety "imperial examination", which was formed after the establishment of filial piety. Filial piety has only been handed down, since Wuzong had no children, and Sejong succeeded to the throne as King C. This situation triggered a major political event in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, which had a far-reaching impact on the history of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
Secondly, the single-minded feelings of filial piety caused the domineering of Hongzhi's consorts Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling. As the saying goes, one person gets the word, and chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Being the queen of Zhang, favored by Xiaozong, brought great prosperity to the Zhang family. His father Zhang Luan, Hongzhi moved to Ningbo in four years, and later changed his name to Hou. After his death, he was granted a long-term post posthumously. Queen Zhang's two younger brothers were also blocked.
Zhang Heling's stepfather, Zhang Luan, was named Hou Shouning. At the beginning of Zhang Yanling's feudal rule, Hongzhi was sixteen years old, also known as Jianchanghou. In the Queen's hometown of Zhang Jiali, filial piety also promoted the development of family temples. It is said that Zhang Luan was not overbearing because of her daughter's wealth, and she was still far away from the literati. However, Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling's brothers and their spouses suddenly became rich, and they inevitably became arrogant. They indulge their families to plunder other people's fields and fishing villages and do some illegal things. Ministers suggested that Xiaozong pursue Zhang's illegal behavior. Therefore, Xiaozong sent assistant minister Du Xun and eunuch Xiao Jing to verify. But it was confirmed, but there was no way to deal with it because the queen refused to deal with her brother.
Besides, when the queen is angry, Xiaozong also pretends to be angry. Later, Xiao Zong called Xiao Jing and said to him, "I believe everything you say." Then, I gave Xiaojing some money, and it was over. At that time, almost all ministers, like Wu Shizhong, were sentenced to impeach the Zhang brothers.
Ministers suggested that Xiaozong pursue Zhang's illegal behavior. Therefore, Xiaozong sent assistant minister Du Xun and eunuch Xiao Jing to verify. But it was confirmed, but there was no way to deal with it because the queen refused to deal with her brother.
Perhaps, in Xiaozong's view, although Brother Zhang has shortcomings, he is the younger brother of the Queen after all, and ordinary minor shortcomings can be forgiven. Of course, he also knows the consequences of letting the Zhang brothers go, so he hopes to let them meet through his own teaching. On one occasion, the emperor visited the Nangong accompanied by the empress, the prince, the empress dowager, Mrs. Jin and brother Zhang. At dinner, the queen, the prince and Ms. King left. Filial piety called Zhang Heling alone. From a distance, you can see Zhang Heling taking off his job and kowtowing to the emperor. Since then, Zhang Ge's behavior has been more restrained. Later, during the transition from the dynasty to Jiajing, Zhang Xiong was favored by Sejong for supporting him to ascend to the throne. However, their ultimate fate is tragic: they died in prison and in history. This is of course due to the ingratitude of Sejong, but their arrogance can't, which undoubtedly gives people an opportunity.
Zhang's evening scene is bleak and unspeakable. First he lost his husband Xiao Zong, then his son Wu Zong, and then he was forced by his nephew Sejong, who had to beg Sejong to spare his two younger brothers. However, before she died, Zhang Heling died in prison. Five years after her death, she was killed. The nobility and impermanence of imperial power, she has a keen sense of skin!
A moral person.
Filial piety created the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many commendable places in governing the country. It is not easy to describe these political events in detail. In a word, the core of filial piety strategy is to appoint ministers.
In the Hongzhi era, famous ministers came forth in large numbers. College students and six ministers in the cabinet are smart and capable moral gentlemen. Liu Jian, Xie Qian and Qiu Zhuo, as well as the sixth generation official Wang Shu, are all famous scholars and ministers. Chenghua has a saying: "paper is old, clay sculpture is six ministers." The meaning is clear. College students Wan 'an, Liu Ji, Wang Yi and Liu are incompetent if they are not ministers. On the other hand, Hongzhi Dynasty had many talented cabinet ministers.
We can see that in October of the 23rd year of Chenghua, Wan 'an, who had a bad character, was dismissed, and Xu Pu was elected to the cabinet only one month after he took office. 1 1 In June, Liu Jian was appointed as a member of the cabinet; In the fourth year of Hongzhi, Qiu Zhuo entered the cabinet; In the eighth year of Hongzhi, after the death of Qiu Meng, Xie Qian and Li Dongyang were appointed as cabinet ministers; In September of the fourteenth year of Hongzhi, Qin Zhuo entered the cabinet. Xu Pu was a native of Yixing in the south of Zhili at that time. He was a college student in the first year of Hongzhi. Xu Pu's auxiliary political style is "quiet and law-abiding", which is consistent with Xiaozong's character. Besides, there is no power struggle between Xu Pu and his colleagues Xie Qian and Li Dongyang, and they cooperate closely.
Harmonious coexistence among ministers will naturally form a kind of "civilian power" to check and balance the imperial power. This model effectively corrected hongzhi emperor's derailment of 1497. In February of the tenth year of Hongzhi, Xu Pu and others visited the emperor, asking him to stay away from Li Guang, the eunuch who lured him to dinner, spend more energy in dealing with government affairs and get in touch with Confucian officials. It turns out that Hongzhi has been filial to the emperor for eight years since he was eight years old. It is said that he "followed the DPRK and gradually took the road", that is, he later went to the court. In the eyes of Confucian scholars, this is the beginning of the decline of the emperor. However, unlike most emperors in the Ming Dynasty, Xiaozong accepted the opinions of ministers with an open mind. In March of the tenth year of Hongzhi, he called the cabinet university students Xu Pu, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian to discuss government affairs. After deliberation, the emperor served tea to the ministers and then dispersed. Convening ministers to discuss state affairs was called "great event" at that time. According to the records of the original king, there are probably four other times. It is conceivable to personally convene cabinet ministers to discuss state affairs like this. So on the one hand, we can see the harmony between monarch and minister during Hongzhi period; On the other hand, it can also be regarded as filial piety's trust in Confucianism and its officials.
The six ministers of Hongzhi are all decent people except the cabinet university students. For example, Prime Minister Wang Shu played a very important role in Hongzhi politics. Wang Shu, a native of Sanyuan, Shaanxi Province, was born in Zongguan. As an adult, he was famous for the uprising of the Yao people in Fujishita and Pingda and the appeasement of Jingxiang refugees. But because he dared to speak out and offended Wang Zhi, he had to be an official in Nanking. Although Nanjing was also one of the two major capitals of the Ming Dynasty, the Sixth Nanjing Department was actually just idle officials. During the Jin Jia period, Wu Tingju resigned from the office of Nanjing Industrial and Commercial Office, which made Bai Juyi's and Zhang Yong's poems become the leisure of Nanjing officialdom. "My monthly salary is100000, and the court hired me as an idle person." "Fortunately, there is nothing wrong. Jiangnan has an old history of idle people. "
However, uncle Wang still dared to say it in Nanjing. There is a saying in the officialdom at the end of the 20th century: "There is only one uncle Wang in twelve departments in two cities." Therefore, after Xiaozong acceded to the throne, he listened to the suggestions of ministers and appointed Wang Shu as prime minister. When there was no prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, officials were the leaders of Zhu Qing. They are responsible for investigating and appointing officials and have more power than other ministries. Official department, Wang Shu recommended you. It is said that Uncle Wang took his seventh son Wang Chengyu to Beijing. Every day, Wang Chengyu receives visiting courtiers and celebrities for his father, talks with them, and then tells his father his observations truthfully. So Chenghua went from November 23rd to Hongzhi on November 6th.
In addition to trusting the minister, Xiaozong also asked for strengthening the inspection of the minister and workers, which involved the improvement of the inspection system. Meng Sen once said: "The power to create legislation in the Ming Dynasty is in the hands of the Crown Prince. To the Xiaozong Dynasty, there was a move to cultivate the Ming Dynasty. " This means that the system of the Ming Dynasty was basically established when Zhu Yuanzhang ruled Ming Taizu, and later emperors were able to put forward a wise political system, that is, filial piety. Therefore, filial piety has always been regarded as the master of ZTE. The system construction in the early years of Hongzhi was mainly embodied in the compilation of Dian Lun and the establishment of a six-year supervision system for Beijing officials.
When Zhu Yuanzhang ruled Ming Taizu, the system of Ming Dynasty was basically established. Later, the emperor was able to propose a wise political system, that is, filial piety.
Assembly code is the assembly of laws and regulations. In the tenth year of Hongzhi, he ordered the compilation of Xiao Jing. At that time, the editor-in-chief was college student Xu Pu. Five years later, in the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, the Book of Filial Piety in Ming Dynasty was completed. It should be said that the compilation of Daming Shu provided a foundation for the system construction of Hongzhi Dynasty. Filial piety created many systems on this basis. For example, the ancestral temple system stipulates that the ancestral temple system is "one room and one emperor".
In June of the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, officials under five categories were ordered to check once every six months. This system was used until the Ming Dynasty. Six-year inspection often became the focus of party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty. Because once an official leaves after being investigated, it is difficult to have another chance to be an official, so there is no chance to turn over. Therefore, various political forces always use the opportunity of holding inspections to attack the opposite side. Of course, this is the first unexpected consequence of filial piety in establishing this system. However, the six-year supervision system implemented by Beijing officials at that time played a great role in rectifying official corruption.
Among the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, filial piety was the most merciful. He attached great importance to famine relief and asked governments at all levels to set up Changping Post Station to cope with famine. In terms of punishment, he demanded severe punishment. At his request, some secret institutions known for their cruelty, such as the Royal Guard, became merciful. Therefore, during Hongzhi period, politics was clear and economy was developed. Culturally, Chaling Poetry School in Li Dongyang and Neo-Confucianism in Qiu Meng emerged, which is called the new millennium.
On May 7th, the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, Xiaozong died. It is said that Xiaozong occasionally catches a cold. Eunuch, ambassador of Imperial Hospital, provincial judge Liu, doctor Gao Tinghe and others prescribed prescriptions privately, which caused Xiaozong to take medicine by mistake and die of nosebleeds. Before he died, he said to the minister, "The East Palace is young and happy, and the gentleman is very good." At that time, his cn Zhu Houzhao 15 years old. Later, Zhu Hou _, the nephew of Datong, inherited Zhu Houzhao, but he was not born. At that time, "without water, people were very sad" and "crying loudly". In October of the same year, Xiaozong was buried in Tailing.