Is Zhu Gaochi in Ming Renzong really as farsighted and resourceful as in Ming Fenghua?

With the popularity of Daming Fenghua, the reputation of Zhu Gaochi, an emperor with weak sense of existence in the Ming Dynasty, began to grow rapidly. Zhu Gaochi in Ming Fenghua is portrayed as a wise man with foresight and strategic vision. So, is Zhu Gaochi in history really as wise as SHEN WOO in TV series?

The Ming Dynasty produced 16 emperors. As the fourth feudal emperor in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaochi, who reigned for only nine months, died in Qin 'an Hall at the age of 48. Because of Zhu Gaochi's short reign, the research and evaluation of the emperor by contemporary scholars are not high. People's understanding of the history of the Ming Dynasty is basically around Zhu Yuanzhang, Judy and others. However, this does not mean that Zhu Gaochi has not contributed. On the contrary, his contribution to the Ming Dynasty was no less than that of other emperors. The interpretation of Zhu Gaochi in Ming Fenghua is not exaggerated.

Portrait of Zhu Gaochi

Zhu Gaochi is the eldest son of Judy, the prince of Yan. As the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, his life was basically spent in Yongle period, which was an important period for the Ming Dynasty empire to enter its heyday. After Judy died on the way to the Northern Expedition in the 22nd year of Yongle, Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne in August of the same year. The first thing he did after he ascended the throne was to quickly change and adjust the national policy of Yongle period.

During Judy's reign, in order to move the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, it caused a serious financial burden to the whole court and people. The reason is also very simple: since the Tang and Song Dynasties, China's economic center of gravity has moved southward, and the material production of the imperial court, the expenditure of the bureaucracy and the expenditure of the imperial court still depend on the southern production base, and the capital has moved northward, which naturally brings a huge burden to the country. Therefore, on the first day of his succession, Zhu Gaochi made a decision to return to Nanking.

Zhu Gaochi Steels

Moreover, Zhu Gaochi was deeply dissatisfied with the brutal acts of the first two emperors of the Ming Dynasty to suppress and persecute ministers. Shortly after he ascended the throne, he issued imperial edicts to restore the reputation of the founding loyal minister, and the families of those ministers were also liberated from the status of slaves and prisoners guarding the border and restored the status of free men. Zhu Gaochi even denied his father Judy's previous practice of abolishing the Wen Jian Guo, so that the history of the Ming Dynasty was not greatly tampered with. His valuable attitude of daring to face up to history and restore its true colors has been recognized by civil and military officials and millions of people.

Zhu Gaochi Steels

During the Yongle period, due to the promulgation of Daming Law, false crimes were rampant, and unjust, false and wrong cases were common among the people. In order to rectify the judiciary and reduce the harsh criminal law in this period, Zhu Gaochi ordered that officials should never be allowed to use extrajudicial punishment because of their personal likes and dislikes when dealing with cases of extrajudicial punishment, and at the same time, people from several departments should be allowed to examine prisoners together to reduce guilt and mistakes. This drastic reform reversed the painful lesson that many people suffered arbitrary political injustice cases in Yongle period, which led to the subjugation of the nine nationalities and the loss of their wealth. Because of this, the relationship between the monarch and the people in this period was more harmonious and close, and politics and criminal law were more enlightened.

Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne.

At the same time, in order to alleviate the poverty and hardship caused by the large-scale expedition in Yongle period, Zhu Gaochi formulated many political measures to restore agricultural development, stabilize social economy and improve people's lives. For example, land tax in disaster areas will be exempted, food relief will be distributed to people in famine-stricken areas free of charge, and the slow relief in disaster areas caused by administrative procedures will be reduced. In less than a year, Zhu Gaochi quickly stabilized the political situation in the Ming Dynasty, improved the imperfection of the national political and legal policies since the early Ming Dynasty, restored the social economy to a certain extent, and lightened the burden of the people in the Ming Dynasty to a certain extent. It opened the curtain for Ren Xuan's next rule in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Gaochi's insight into strategy made great contributions to the future stability and development of the Ming Dynasty.