Biography of the character

Young Yuwang

In February of the eighteenth year of Jiajing (1539), Emperor Jiajing appointed his second son Zhu Zaili as the crown prince, the third son Zhu Zaiyuan as the king of Yu, and the fourth son Zhu Zaizhen as the king of Jing. In March of the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing (1549), the crown prince Zhu Zaili and the king of Yu, Zhu Zaiyuan, were appointed as the crown princes in order. Because Zhu Zaili, the second son of Emperor Jiajing, died of immortality after being established as the crown prince, he was not canonized for a long time. [3] At that time, King Zhu Zaizhen was young, and his clothes were no different from those of King Yu Zhu Zaizhen, which caused discussion among the government and the opposition. In February of the 40th year of Jiajing (1561), Emperor Jiajing ordered Zhu Zaizhen, the king of Jing, to live in the feudal country to put an end to his covetousness and the discussion of the government and the opposition. Zhu Zaiyuan, who had just turned 16 years old, became the king of Yu and lived in the palace of Yu for 13 years, which made Zhu Zaiyuan have more contact with all aspects of social life and understand the various contradictions and crises of the Ming Dynasty, especially the dictatorship of Yan Song, the decadence of the dynasty, the corruption of officials, the trouble of "the south and the north", and the suffering of the people's poor livelihood.

Become a prince

Originally, he could be a prince with peace of mind, but fate was always unpredictable, and his two eldest brothers died early, making him a prince and eventually becoming emperor. As a prince, he was able to understand more about the people's sufferings than ordinary people and people in the palace, and had a clearer understanding of Yan Song's chaotic government and external and internal problems, which had a great impact on his actions after he ascended the throne.

Implement the New Deal

In December of the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566), Emperor Jiajing died, and Zhu Zaiyuan, the king of Yu, ascended the throne and changed his name to Longqing. After Longqing ascended the throne, he immediately corrected his father's maladministration, and all the ministers who had been convicted for their words were all recalled, and the deceased ministers were compensated and hired, and all the priests were punished, and all the previous Taoist ceremonies were stopped, and half of the Tianfu in the following year and all the arrears before the forty-third year of Jiajing were exempted; [4] It also stopped Jiajing's forcible Ming Ruizong (i.e., Ming Shizong's biological father Xingxian Wang) Mingtang (i.e., the autumn sacrifice to the heavens, with the father of the reigning emperor, which led to the Ming Taizong temple name being changed to Ming Chengzu). [3]

Negotiate and switch

Emperor Longqing reused Xu Jie, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong and other cabinet ministers, committed to solving the problem of "southern and northern captives" that had plagued the court for many years, and adopted the suggestions of cabinet scholars Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, and negotiated peace with Mongolia. In the first year of Longqing (1567), Emperor Longqing announced the abolition of the sea ban and allowed private people to sell the east and west oceans, which was known as the Longqing switch in history. The Longqing New Deal was the Chengping period that emerged during the reign of Emperor Longqing. Emperor Longqing practiced frugality and trusted the cabinet ministers, and did not restrain them, but he could not stop the tilting between the cabinet ministers, which was also related to his benevolent and mediocre character. [5]

Died of female sex

Emperor Longqing, like many emperors of the Ming Dynasty, was equally indulgent. [6] Due to his excessive indulgence and long-term consumption*, his body deteriorated day by day and could not support himself. In the leap month of the sixth year of Longqing (1572), the news of Emperor Longqing's critical illness came out of the palace. After recuperating for two months, he went to the court again to inspect things, but suddenly became dizzy and couldn't support it and returned to the palace. He knew that his illness was not light, so he urgently summoned Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi to accept Gu Zhi's order, and ordered the crown prince to succeed him, and later died of illness in the Qianqing Palace. At the age of Chinese New Year's Eve, he was later called Emperor Zhuang, the temple name Muzong, and was buried in Zhaoling in Changping, Beijing.