In ancient China, whether it was the royal family, officials, or even ordinary people, they all attached great importance to "filial piety". Everyone has a consensus that a person who is not filial to even his parents and elders will never be a good person, let alone a responsible person. As an emperor, he pays more attention to this, and often uses "filial piety" to measure the character and ability of an emperor or prince. Therefore, any emperor is quite careful about his words and deeds, especially not allowing himself to do unfilial things. The emperors are like this, and their courtiers have to abide by "filial piety". Especially after the Tang and Song dynasties, scholars gradually controlled the situation, and after the status of civil officials was higher than that of military generals, no minister dared to lose anything in private morality. Once an official is exposed, if he does not honor his parents or conceals the death of his parents, it will not only be as simple as losing his official position and resigning, but will also end him in ruin for the rest of his life. In ancient times, if the parents died, the children had to marry and keep filial piety and keep the grave for their parents for three years. Those who have official positions should also report to the "Ding Worry", that is, stop working. During the "Ding Wei" period, officials were not only forbidden to drink alcohol and eat meat, but were also required to eat and dress poorly all day long, and all entertainment was strictly prohibited. Officials know very well that once they are "worried", the power in their hands will be forced to be handed over, and it is even more unpredictable after three years, so they are not very willing to "worry about it". But if he doesn't "worry about it", or if he conceals the news of his death, this will become the best weapon for his political opponents to attack him, and it is the only crime that can directly make his opponent never turn over, except for bullying the king and treason.

In ancient China, there were many wise emperors. But as long as you look closely, you will find a common phenomenon, that is, they are all very filial people in their lifetimes. Under the social habits of the time, filial piety was equated with ability and justice. As long as you are filial, you can forgive even if you do something wrong, on the contrary, if you are not filial, even if you have the ability and strength, you are also a "hero" and "traitor". The most famous is the story of Emperor Yao and Emperor Shun. Emperor Yao was an enlightened and capable monarch, and he obviously had many capable ministers and sons by his side, but he was still not satisfied. Don't they have the ability or the bad intentions? Emperor Yao used the excuse of inspecting the place to find a successor to his satisfaction in his own territory. The reason why Emperor Shun was chosen was because of the word "filial piety". Emperor Shun lost his mother when he was a child, and his father was a blind man who was more biased and biased. When Emperor Shun was five years old, the blind father married another wife, and this Emperor Shun's stepmother gave birth to a half-brother "Xiang" for Emperor Shun. Since having a stepmother and younger brother, Emperor Shun's life has not only not improved, but has become more and more difficult. For the sake of her son, the stepmother almost targeted Emperor Shun, and regarded Emperor Shun as a thorn in the flesh. The six-year-old Emperor Shun was forced to work in the fields, worse than their slaves. But Emperor Shun was still very filial to his parents and never said anything complaining to his father. Over time, everyone said that Emperor Shun was not only a capable child, but also a filial child. The stepmother was very angry when she heard this, thinking that Emperor Shun did it on purpose, in order to establish a good image. She spoke ill of Emperor Shun to the blind father all day long, and the blind father listened to and believed it, and gradually felt that Emperor Shun was not a good son. Since then, Emperor Shun's situation has become even more difficult, his parents have nothing to do to find trouble with him, even if Emperor Shun is filial, they are regarded as "tricks". Everyone persuaded Emperor Shun to leave his hometown, and at this time, Emperor Shun was able to rely on himself and build a homeland of his own. But Emperor Shun did not leave, his reason was that his father was incapacitated, he was old, his mother did not know how to give birth, and his younger brother was young and could not leave at this time. In this way, Emperor Shun's filial piety and kindness spread.

Emperor Yao disguised himself as an ordinary person and went to test Emperor Shun in person. The first time Emperor Yao saw Emperor Shun working, Emperor Yao felt that Emperor Shun was a good producer. The second time, Emperor Yao saw Emperor Shun take off his clothes to protect the freshly harvested grain under the heavy rain. Emperor Yao felt that this young man was responsible and knew which was more important. For the third time, Emperor Yao saw Emperor Shun distributing food. Emperor Shun's family had a lot of fertile land, and it was not enough for the slaves and subordinates in the family to come to work, so he had to ask nearby neighbors to help. In advance, Emperor Shun's stepmother had already negotiated the salary with everyone and promised to take care of the meal. But when it was time for lunch, the food delivered was even less than when no helper was usually hired. Emperor Shun returned the food to the oven on the spot, boiled the rice into rice porridge, and stir-fried vegetables into vegetable soup. Emperor Shun distributed the thick porridge and good vegetables to the helpers, and after they finished eating, he and his own people ate the rest together. Emperor Yao was greatly moved, Emperor Shun did two things right. Not only did he take care of the neighbors and helpers on behalf of his own family, but he also shared weal and woe with his subordinates, calmed down internal and external contradictions, and established a good image. Emperor Yao felt that this Emperor Shun was the successor he was looking for. He took Emperor Shun back to his home and introduced him to his family and courtiers.

When everyone heard that Emperor Yao wanted to train Emperor Shun as his successor, almost all the courtiers and family members were against it. Emperor Shun is not only not Emperor Yao's family, but also a rude man who doesn't understand anything. Yao Dili disagreed, and his reason was simple. If you don't know how to learn, you can't teach if you don't have culture, you can't train if you don't have the ability, you can't train if you don't have the qualifications. In order to solve the identity problem of Emperor Shun, Emperor Yao married his daughter to Emperor Shun as a father, and married Emperor Shun's two daughters at one time. In this way, everyone has nothing to say, Emperor Shun became Emperor Yao's son-in-law, even if it is Emperor Yao's family. After Emperor Shun became the successor of Emperor Yao, he not only studied modestly but also respected his teachers, and also cared for his wife. Of course, he did not embarrass and retaliate against his stepmother and younger brother, and he did not hold a grudge against his biological father who treated him badly. When Emperor Yao was located in the time of Emperor Shun, the issue of "filial piety" was mentioned for the first time in Tongkai, and "filial piety" was officially classified as an important basis for considering officials and future monarchs.

Among the ancient Chinese monarchs, there were a few people who caused public outrage because of the issue of filial piety, and several emperors even stepped down because of this. So when the Ming Dynasty was established in the early days, the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly asked his family and descendants to pay attention to this. He also personally placed the spiritual tablets of his parents and grandparents in the main hall not far from the palace where he lived, and went to worship his ancestors from time to time. Emperor Jianwen even stipulated that every important festival, the life sacrifice and death sacrifice of the ancestors, and the fifteenth day of the first month of each month, the emperor should personally lead his family to the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors and ancestors. After Ming Chengzu Zhu Di ascended the throne, not only did he not abolish this decision, but strictly abided by it. After the palace was moved north to the Forbidden City, the ancestral hall was only a few hundred meters away from the Qianqing Palace where Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, lived. Any prince or princess who grew up in the Forbidden City knows the layout of the ancestral hall well, and can walk in it with his eyes closed. Of course, it is even more backwards for the ancestors of the past generations, and there will be absolutely no problem. If you are disrespectful to your ancestors, or if you neglect to worship your ancestors, even if you are a prince and princess, you will be punished and kneeling in the ancestral hall, and you will be beaten in the worst case. During the Jingtai years, an ancestor was worshipped, and a sister of Emperor Jingtai just glanced at the tablet with complaining eyes. As a result, he was ordered by the Empress Dowager and the Emperor to be killed on the spot outside the gate of the ancestral hall. An adult princess, a princess who will soon be out of the cabinet, was beaten to death. It can be seen how respectful and serious the royal family is for ancestor worship and ancestors.

However, he is also a descendant of the Zhu Ming royal family, and the current emperor Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi does not seem to attach importance to ancestor worship. When I lived in the Forbidden City, the worship on the fifteenth day of the first month of each month had long since stopped. There are also important ancestral festivals during the New Year's holidays, and Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi is also exempt from it, and if he can't, he will be replaced by his son. Even after moving to Xiyuan, under the pressure of the ministers and the royal family, a small ancestral hall was established to enshrine the ancestral tablets, but it was just a look. For more than ten or twenty years, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi has only been to this ancestral hall a handful of times. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi himself didn't pay attention to it, and his minions didn't pay attention to it. Therefore, the layout of the ancestral hall in Xiyuan is the simplest in the entire Ming Dynasty, and there are almost no people in sight except for general cleaning. Moreover, this ancestral hall is also far away from the Yuxi Palace where Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi lived. Everyone knows this, and this is a decision made by Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi, intentionally or unintentionally. Everyone is speculating whether it was because of inheritance that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's dissatisfaction with his ancestors.

Also a descendant of Emperor Xianzong, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi is the grandson of Emperor Xianzong, but he cannot enshrine his parents' tablets in the ancestral hall. At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, he inherited the throne as a son of the late Emperor Xiaozong. That is to say, his eldest uncle, Emperor Xiaozong, had only one son, Emperor Wuzong, and after the death of Emperor Xiaozong, Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao succeeded to the throne. Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao died without a son to inherit him, and this is why Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi succeeded to the throne. According to the holy decree, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi succeeded to Emperor Xiaozong as his son, and he was the younger brother of Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao. Emperor Wuzong Zhu Houzhao died without a son, so he was able to die as a brother and become emperor. That is to say, if you worship your ancestors, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi wants to kneel down to worship Emperor Xiaozong and Emperor Wuzong, and the real father can't even enter the ancestral hall with a tablet. For this reason, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's biological mother can only enter Beijing as the queen mother, and cannot live in the Forbidden City as the queen mother. For this reason, the first battle between Emperor Jiajing, Zhu Houxi, and the ministers occurred, and the "Great Ceremony" incident occurred. As a result, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi lost, his biological mother could not enjoy the glory of the empress dowager, and his biological father could not enter the ancestral hall after his death. For this reason, Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi silently resisted every ancestor worship in a "negative treatment" way. Over time, it became Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi's indifference and neglect of his ancestors. But this does not mean that Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi dared to openly disregard his ancestors, and dared to really say and do things that were disrespectful to his ancestors. This is the main reason why Qin Tai dared to do this. If Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi really ordered them to be killed, he would mean that he didn't want his ancestors. If they do this, Qin Tai and they will definitely die, but the price of Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi is to lose the throne. A person who doesn't even want his own ancestors has no qualifications and no reason to be an emperor. Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi seems to be an indifferent emperor of fame and fortune, but in fact he is an emperor who attaches great importance to power and status. Qin Tai is going to gamble with the lives of his own people and this Jiajing Emperor Zhu Houxi. And it's a sizable bet with a lot of winnings, and the odds of losing are almost invisible. As long as you grasp it well, not only will you have a great chance of winning, but also the results will be considerable.