Politics in the reign of Xizong in Ming Dynasty
After Emperor Xizong of Ming Dynasty ascended the throne, Lindong Party took charge of the Cabinet, Douchayuan and Sixth Department. Lindong Party was powerful and all the people prospered. Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Zhao Nanxing, Gao Panlong and a large number of upright people held important positions in the DPRK, while treacherous court officials such as Fang Congzhe were gradually pushed out, and the official system was slightly clear. Because Yang Lian and others tried their best to help the Apocalypse Emperor ascend to the throne, the Apocalypse Emperor also trusted these Lindong party member and obeyed their orders.
With the help of party member, Zhu Youxiao quickly promoted Yuan Chonghuan at the beginning of his reign, and in the second year of the Apocalypse (1622), he wrote a letter to rehabilitate Zhang, recording Fang Xiaoru's successor, the founding father, and paying homage to posthumous title. He took a tough stance on Macao, and twice fought against Dutch colonists in Penghu and won. And there is a move to stop the mine supervisor from appeasing Liaodong. But who knows that something will happen soon.
At this time, in the harem, two malignant tumors are quietly growing. The two cancers are Wei Zhongxian and Hakka. Wei Zhongxian was originally a street rascal, illiterate, but good at gaining. He quickly climbed up the relationship with the great eunuch Wang An and got to know the Emperor Apocalypse, who was the great-grandson of the emperor at that time. After the Apocalypse Emperor succeeded to the throne, his status naturally rose sharply, and he was promoted to be the eunuch of Li Si. Hakka is the wet nurse of the apocalypse emperor, who is treacherous and greedy for power. Hakka and Wei quickly formed an alliance and became the most powerful force in the harem. Wang An and other eunuchs were gradually pushed out of the harem, and the right to visit Wei covered the whole harem. But Wei Zhongxian was not satisfied and determined to become a powerful eunuch.
On the one hand, Wei Zhongxian lured the Apocalypse Emperor to have fun and let the Apocalypse Emperor immerse himself in carpentry all day. On the other hand, Wei Zhongxian colluded with some civil servants in the imperial court, such as Cui Chengxiu, to crowd out Lin Dong and party member, and gradually mastered the Cabinet and the Six Departments. Wei Zhongxian often played when Emperor Apocalypse concentrated on carpentry. At this time, the apocalypse emperor always said wearily, "I see, just follow the rules." On this basis, Wei Zhongxian indulged in rewards and punishments, resulting in an unprecedented eunuch dictatorship. During the five or six years of the Apocalypse, he set up prisons for many times, falsely killing Lindong, party member, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and Wei Dazhong, and destroying Donglin Academy internationally. Honest officials were accused of Lindong Party, and Lindong party member was demoted and killed countless times, the most famous of which was the six gentlemen of Lindong headed by Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou. In the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Emperor Apocalypse ordered Gu Bingqian and others to compile Three Dynasties Classics to praise Wei Zhongxian and others.
Society in the reign of Emperor Xizong in Ming Dynasty
The eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian not only brutally rejected dissidents, but also deepened the exploitation of the people, making them miserable and extremely dark in politics. At that time, domestic land annexation was fierce, taxes and fees were heavy, and various social contradictions intensified, which inevitably led to people's resistance. In the first year of the Apocalypse, Bailian religion rose in Shandong, and extravagant Chongming and Anbang Yan rose in the southwest. In the seventh year of the apocalypse, Xu Hongru Uprising in Shandong and Wang Erzhi Uprising in Shaanxi also broke out in China.
During the Apocalypse, Ming Xizong faced not only internal worries, but also foreign invasion. Outside Shanhaiguan, the Nuzhen rebel regime advanced step by step. But Ming Xizong listened to slanderers and did not distinguish right from wrong. After he ascended the throne, Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong, was deposed, which led to the gradual growth of the forces of the late Jin Dynasty, the fall of Shenyang and Liaoyang, and the promotion of Ningyuan (now Xingcheng, Liaoning). The situation in Liaodong has become increasingly severe. In March of the first year of the Apocalypse (162 1), in order to stabilize Liaodong, Ming Xizong had to once again take Xiong Tingbi as the general plan for running the army in Liaodong. According to the actual situation in Liaodong, Xiong Tingbi made a three-way layout plan. Wang Huazhen, the governor who mastered the actual military power in Liaodong, ignored the danger that the enemy was strong and we were weak and easily split in two, and advocated all-out attack. Ming Xizong was indecisive, indecisive, and did not make a reasonable decision on the dispute between Jing Fu, so that the armies of the latter Jin Dynasty were defeated one by one and captured Guangning and its surrounding forty cities. Under the planning of Yan Party, Ming Xizong killed Xiong Tingbi who insisted on the correct strategy, and Sun Chengzong, a loyal minister and good soldier, was also dismissed by suspicion, and the Liaodong war situation was in crisis. At the same time, the Dutch landed on Taiwan Province Island in 1624, and Taiwan Province Province was quickly lost in the Ming Dynasty.
A skilled "carpenter emperor"
During the Xi period of the Ming Dynasty, there were nomads from outside, and there was an uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty, which was a period of national disaster, internal troubles and foreign invasion. Ming Xizong, however, did not do business seriously and did not listen to the sage's teaching of "respecting law and martial arts". Instead, he took a keen interest in carpentry, dealing with axes, saws and planers all day, only knowing how to do carpentry and build small palaces, leaving state affairs behind and becoming a veritable "carpenter emperor".
Ming Xizong is not only fun-loving, but also good at playing. Zhu Youxiao has a gift as a carpenter since he was a child. He is not only addicted to woodworking with knives, saws and axes, but also has superb skills, which are beyond the reach of ordinary craftsmen. It is said that all the wooden utensils, pavilions and pavilions he has seen can be made. Every carpenter's work, such as sawing with a knife and chiseling with an axe, and painting with a painter, must be completed by his own department, and he enjoys it and even forgets to eat and sleep. His hand-made lacquerware, bed, comb box, etc. , all decorated in colorful, exquisite and unexpected. According to "Dial First", "All axes belong to yourself. Although it is a skillful craftsman, it cannot be too much. " The literature contains its "building in the morning and evening", "every time you build pride, you can forget to eat and drink, and you can't sleep in cold and summer."
Historical records; During the apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty, the beds made by craftsmen were so heavy that only a dozen people could move them. They use a lot of materials and their style is very common. Ming Xizong designed his own patterns and sawed his own boards. After more than a year's work, he made a bed. The bed board can be folded, and it is very convenient to carry and move. The bedstead was also carved with various patterns, which were beautiful and generous, which amazed the craftsmen at that time.
Ming Xizong is also good at making small toys out of wood. His wooden figures, men, women and children, all have manners, five senses and limbs, and their movements are very vivid. Xizong also sent a supervisor to the market for sale, and the city people paid a high price to buy it. Emperor Apocalypse was happier. He often stayed up until midnight and often asked eunuchs around him to be his assistants.
Ming Xizong is also good at painting. From ingredients to painting, he does it himself. He likes to create new tricks for eunuchs around him to appreciate comments. Ming Xizong also likes to play his own carving skills on wood. On the small screen of ten lanterns he made, the picture of cold birds fighting for plum blossoms is carved, which is lifelike. There is a poem in "Miscellaneous Fu of Ming Palace" that says: "If you control ten screens, farmers will not be poor. Shen Xiang carved a cold sparrow at a price of 100 thousand. " Emperor Apocalypse carved jade, which was also quite exquisite. He often carved various seals with jade and gave them to ministers and palace wardens around him.
Ming Xizong likes to watch puppet shows. At that time, the disciples of Liyuan used light wood carvings to create images of overseas four foreigners, immortal saints all over the mountain, and soldiers of generals. When Ming Xizong was in high spirits, he also showed his craft. The wooden figures he made are male and female, about two feet high, with arms but no legs and feet. They are painted with five-color paint, and the flat bottom below each Xiao Mu statue is supported by bamboo boards more than three feet long. In addition, there is a square wooden pool carved from big wood with a width of 10 feet, which can be filled with water for seven minutes. There are live fish, crabs, shrimps, algae and other seafood in the water to make it float on the water. Then set up a small wooden pool with a stool, and the surrounding gauze piled up into a screen. Under the screen, the bamboo board moves and drags, forming the stage of the water couple. Behind the screen, an artist floats Woodenhead on the water with bamboo pieces according to the plot, and Yuto is beating drums loudly. At that time, there were many plays in the palace, such as stealing peaches, eunuchs going to the western seas, crossing the sea by the Eight Immortals, and Monkey disturbing the Dragon Palace. They are all novel in clothes and clever in acting. Emperor Apocalypse was ecstatic when he did it and ecstatic when he saw it.
Every winter, the Xiyuan Ice Pool freezes, and the ice is very firm and slippery. Mingxizong ordered a group of eunuchs to play ice games with him. He designed a small cot for himself. The bed is small and exquisite, only enough for one person to sleep. It is painted with red paint, with a canopy, red satin as pillars around it, and small hooks for hanging ropes on the front and back. Ming Xizong sat on the drag bed and let the eunuch pull the rope. Some people pull on the bed, some people guide in front of the bed, and some people push behind the bed. Push hard on both sides, and the speed of dragging the bed is extremely fast, and you can count back and forth in an instant. Ming Xizong visited the site in the whole project.
Ming Xizong's own entertainment tools are also quite exquisite. He filled a large tank with water, covered it with watercolors, drilled holes under the tank, and formed a water jet at the bottom of the tank. Then, he put many small wooden balls in the water spout, opened and closed them and instilled them. After a long time, the apocalypse emperor and his concubines watched and cheered together. Once he makes a garden, birds can walk in it, birds can sing and water can flow.
Besides carpentry, Emperor Apocalypse was also fascinated by architecture. Wu Baoya wrote in Kuangyuan magazine that the Emperor of the Apocalypse personally built a small palace in the yard, like a shriveled Qing palace, but three or four feet high, but it was exquisite, exquisite and wonderful. He also made an agarwood rockery, the Chitai Pavilion, which was exquisitely carved and was a must at that time. Emperor Apocalypse likes to play ball games and often plays ball games with eunuchs in Changle Palace. The apocalypse emperor felt that it was not enough to play, so he personally designed and built five kick gardens. Emperor Apocalypse loves architecture, which is also reflected in his concern for royal architectural projects. From the fifth year of the Apocalypse (1625) to the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), the Ming Dynasty carried out large-scale reconstruction projects for the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Zhonghe and the Hall of Baohe. During the whole project, Emperor Apocalypse visited the site personally. After the house was built, Emperor Apocalypse often danced with joy and repeatedly praised it. When he was happy, he immediately destroyed it and made a new product. He will never get tired of it. When he is in high spirits, he often takes off his coat and does things, leaving the matter of governing the country and leveling the world behind for a long time.
In the face of such a master, Wei Zhongxian certainly won't miss this treacherous court official's chance. He often used the apocalypse emperor to cut ink. When he was most interested, he took the official document and asked the apocalypse emperor for instructions. The apocalypse emperor felt that his interests were affected, so he casually said, "I already know, just do things according to the rules." As described in Lun Heng Zhi: "When I am proud of it, I may be anxious to make a decision. When the literate female official recited the title of the book, Yu told Wang Somatosensory:' I have heard it! Your generation is good at this. "So the traitors gave full play to their love and hate and approved the implementation of red."
In the old Ming dynasty, every courtier played this kind of book with the approval of the emperor's imperial relatives; If it is a regular document, it must be approved by the ceremony supervisor, and the words "Zun Ge Ticket" must be written, or the words "Zun Ge Ticket" must be changed and numbered in red. The Apocalypse Emperor devoted himself to building wooden houses, so he handed over the above-mentioned official positions to Wei Zhongxian, and Wei Zhongxian took the opportunity to crowd out dissidents, expand his power and monopolize the country. However, the apocalypse emperor turned a deaf ear and turned a blind eye. Alas, he was an excellent craftsman, but he let the Ming Dynasty fall apart in his hands.
Throughout the turmoil of the Ming Dynasty, the Emperor Apocalypse, who created the dictatorship of the Hakka and Wei Dynasties, was still playing in the harem. In midsummer, he likes to put on his winter clothes, imitate Ming Taizu's parade in military uniform on snowy nights, and sometimes dress up as Song Taizu to perform and travel on stage. Because of playing too much, it has caused systemic diseases, with no color in the face and weakness.
An illiterate "illiterate emperor"
Tomorrow, Zhu Youxiao is the son of Zhu Changluo of Ming Guangzong and the grandson of Zhu Yijun of Ming Shenzong. When Zongshen came to power, he only cared about his own enjoyment and had no time to take care of his grandson's study. Guangzong is also a short-lived emperor. Therefore, when Emperor Apocalypse 16 years old succeeded to the throne, his cultural level was very low and he was called "the illiterate emperor".
Because there was no culture, Emperor Apocalypse issued orders and instructions, and he had to listen to other people's drafts to make decisions. Emperor Apocalypse didn't want to be pushed around, and he often didn't know how to pretend to understand. After repeated alterations, a piece of paper and an imperial edict are often difficult to understand. One shot, the people in the ruling and opposition parties looked ridiculous.
Once, after Jiangxi Fujun put down the rebellion, it was reported in the last chapter that there was a sentence in the paper, which meant that they had worked very hard to put down the rebellion. There was a eunuch named He Fei around the emperor, and there was not much ink in his chest. When he read the paper, he read "running after" from north to north as "running after". In the explanation, "chasing the murderer" is described as "chasing after him" and "chasing after him" is described as "chasing after him". The apocalypse emperor flew into a rage. Jiangxi Fujun was not rewarded, but was punished by "demotion and salary reduction".
One year, Fuyu, Ryukyu and Siam all sent envoys to pay tribute. Fuyu presented a purple and gold hibiscus crown and a jade brocade skirt, Ryukyu presented a wenyu chair, a seahorse, and a doromu, and Siam presented a five-color crystal screen and a three-eye gold-plated black gun. National tributes and expensive gifts should be received by the apocalypse emperor. On the Golden Temple, although the envoys handed me the paper written in Chinese, the eunuch Wei Zhongxian took it and gave it to the Apocalypse Emperor because he couldn't read. Emperor Apocalypse pretended to watch it for a long time, and regarded the tribute memorial as a way to negotiate something. He couldn't help being angry, threw it underground and said, "A small foreign country doesn't make sense!" " Say goodbye to North Korea.
The death of Ming xizong
1627 In August, Emperor Apocalypse, accompanied by Hakkas and Wei Zhongxian, took a boat to the Palace West Palace and drank on the ship in the shallow water area north of Qiaobei. Then, with Wang Tigan, Wei Zhongxian and two trusted eunuchs, we went swimming in deep water by boat, only to be overturned by the strong wind, accidentally falling into the water and almost drowning. Although he was rescued, after this shock, he fell behind the root of the disease, and his health went from bad to worse after repeated treatments.
Later, Huo Huawei, a senior minister, put forward a kind of "fairy medicine" called Lu Ling drink, which was immediately persuaded and made people exercise and live longer. The apocalypse emperor drank it according to his words, and it was really sweet and delicious, so he took it every day. After drinking for a few months, I felt bloating, edema and bedridden.
In the summer of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Emperor Apocalypse's illness became more serious. On August 1 1, he had a premonition that his coming days were numbered, so he called his brother Zhu Youjian to his bedroom and said, "Come on, my brother should be Yao Shun." He was ordered to take his place. The next day, he summoned cabinet minister Huang and said, "I was very happy when I summoned him yesterday, but I felt a little better." On the first day of August, Emperor Apocalypse spent the rest of his life in Gan Qing Palace. "Ming volume 22? The Book of the Apocalypse commented: Xizong "was in power for seven years, and the female temple stole power, abused prostitution, was loyal, good and tragic, and lost one trillion yuan. Although he wants to live, how can he live? "
Zhu Youxiao was buried in Deling, Changping, Beijing after his death. The temple is called Xizong, also known as the Apocalypse Emperor. After his death, posthumous title became "Emperor Zhang Wenxiang, Buddhist friend of Tatian, and diligent king of Muzhuang, Jason Wu". The Apocalypse Emperor devoted himself to building his "palace", but the adulterer was quietly digging his foundation. Only ten years after Xizong's death, the Ming Dynasty perished.
Historical evaluation:
During the reign of Emperor Apocalypse, he indulged wet nurses and Hakkas, and reused Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch who was the lover of Hakkas, and let him run amok. The DPRK framed Zhongliang, the harem poisoned the concubines, and Xizong was not standardized. Wei Zhongxian has many henchmen, including five tigers, five tigers, ten dogs, ten sons and forty grandsons. They collude with each other and repel dissidents, especially the Lindong Party. They are regarded as eyesores and will be eliminated. Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou all died in his hands, but Zong didn't feel anything. Even Yang Lian, a senior official, was killed for many days without knowing that he was dead. Xizong loved carpentry and enjoyed it in the palace. Wei Zhongxian often handed down the throne when the emperor was absorbed in his work, so the imperial edict was mostly "I know, you can do it with your heart", and Wei Zhongxian began to run amok. The imperial court is exhausted, the politics is extremely dark, and Daming Mountain is in danger. Xizong left such a mess to his younger brother Chongzhen, who succeeded to the throne. On his deathbed, he did not forget to tell Emperor Chongzhen to reuse Wei Zhongxian. However, Chongzhen, determined to revitalize, eradicated this great harm three months later.
Throughout the life of Emperor Apocalypse, it is absurd to be in a daze, but it is the behavior of an uneducated urchin, not a villain (although his stupidity has caused endless harm to the Ming Dynasty). In the final analysis, it should be blamed on Emperor Wanli, the grandfather of Emperor Apocalypse. Wanli doesn't like his eldest son and doesn't care about his education, which naturally leads to the education of his eldest grandson being neglected. Even when Xi Zong succeeded to the throne, he was described as illiterate, let alone dealing with state affairs. After all, Xizong is "always concerned about everything" (eunuch Wang Tigan) and treats the brothers and sisters of the couple with great friendship. When he was seriously ill, Wang Xin came to see him. Xizong patted the couch and said, "Come on! My brother should be Yao Shun. " Xi zong also cherished queen Zhang, so that the guest Wei could not shake the queen. On his deathbed, Xi Zong expressed his regret for Queen Zhang and told him to do good deeds in the palace to show his affection.