The Emperor Who Died Too Soon - Hongxi's Good Reign

August 1424, China. After the reign of two of China's greatest emperors, Hongwu, the dynasty's founder, and Yongle, the patron of the Forbidden City, the nation is at its zenith. With Yongle's secret death during his return from a campaign in Mongolia, the dynasty's elites are in great agitation. The empire cannot be emperorless. Yongle's succession must be immediately organized. As crown prince Zhu Gaozhi is informed of his father's death and prepares for his imminent enthronement, he ponders on what is to come. The soon-to-be Hongxi emperor aims to rule benevolently, as his reign will not last a single year. As he is about to ascend the throne, he reminisces about his childhood. At the time of Zhu Gaozhi's birth in August 1378, the Ming dynasty was only a decade old, yet firmly established as the absolute authority over China. His father, Zhu Di, the 18-year-old prince of Yan, fourth son of the Hongwu emperor, dynastic founder. Obeying the latter's command, the young Zhu Di was undergoing advanced military training alongside his brothers, the other princes of the Zhu imperial clan. Gaozhi's mother, the educated lady Xu, was the daughter of general Xu Da, the Hongwu emperor's brother-in-arms and a war hero. Gaozhi had no memory of his infancy in Nanjing, the Ming dynasty's capital, as before he reached the age of two, his household was relocated to Zhu Di's fief in the north, the city of Beiping, capital of the toppled Yuan dynasty. It would see Gaozhi's first steps as his father took up his princely duties there. In line with the founding emperor's philosophy, the boy, like all imperial princes, was soon himself instructed in both the military and civilian arts. Although he developed a talent for archery, the young Zhu Gaozhi grew greatly disinterested in military affairs. On one occasion, the young teenager, tasked with reviewing the troops in early morning, returned just a few minutes later saying the weather was too cold and that he would conduct the review after breakfast. Shunning physical activity, Gaozhi's health soon displayed fragility. He would frequently catch illness and grow overweight, in contrast to his younger brothers. Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui were indeed athletic and eager for military duties, which delighted their father Zhu Di, who by the 1390s assumed military control in the north of the empire. But what Gaozhi lacked in military interest, he more than made up for in scholarly talent, in which he proved very enthusiastic. The adolescent enjoyed studying with eminent scholars selected by his father. These tutors included Huang Huai, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong and Yang Pu, collectively known as the Three Yangs. Gaozhi notably earned praise when, assigned with arranging official documents, he had diligently organized them, separating military from official memorials. Around November 1395, as the Ming dynasty had expanded even further and consolidated a stable state organization, the 17-year-old Zhu Gaozhi was invested as heir to his father, the Prince of Yan. As such, he could not remain celibate and was married to one lady Zhang, from relatively low extract and whose background is obscure. The couple welcomed their first son, Zhu Zhanji, the future Xuande emperor, in March 1399. Yet at the time, Zhu Gaozhi could never imagine the imperial succession would pass through his own lineage. Although the Hongwu emperor had died the previous year, it was Gaozhi's cousin, Zhu Yunwen, who had ascended the throne as the Jianwen emperor. The shift would come at the cost of a bloody civil war, the Jinan Campaign. As I've already detailed the events of Jianwen's reign including this conflict in my Jianwen and Yongle emperor videos, I will here briefly summarize how the Ming dynasty experienced its first coup. The newly enthroned Jianwen emperor, advised by staunch Confucian scholars, began to purge his military-threatening uncles, the princes of the dynasty, sons of the late Hongwu emperor. Within a single year of reign, five of them had fallen. But Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan, next target of the imperial court, seized the initiative. He openly rebelled against Nanjing in August, launching the Jinan Campaign. Whenever Zhu Di left Beiping during military operations, Gaozhi, now aged 21, was entrusted with the city. The tense situation would turn to disaster in November, when imperial general Li Jinglong besieged the likely garrisoned city. Yet, Gaozhi swallowed his distaste for military affairs and diligently assumed command of the defence. He held firm until his father returned, and they together routed the assailants. Gaozhi's performance in Beiping would not be forgotten. The Prince of Yan ultimately emerged victorious from the three-year civil war he had launched, overthrowing the Jianwen emperor in July 1402 and becoming the Yongle emperor. With his ascension, the Princedom of Yan was dissolved. Zhu Gaozhi, stripped of his hereditary title, was once more on equal footing with his brothers Gaoxu and Gaosui. They had performed with distinction on the battlefield alongside their father. As time came to select his crown prince, Yongle hesitated. The eager Gaoxu, athletic and brave in battle, was everything his elder brother was not. But scholars Xie Jin and Huang Huai, who had tutored Gaozhi, counseled the emperor to appoint him nonetheless. His poor health and distaste for the military were counterbalanced by his excellent administrative skills, virtuous conduct and calm behaviour. The additional factor that his five-year-old Zhan Ji was the emperor's favourite grandson also played in Gaozhi's favour. In May 1404, he was officially invested as the Ming Dynasty's crown prince. Yongle dispatched his eldest son back to the city which had seen him grow, Beiping, renamed Beijing as he aimed to transfer the dynasty's seat of power to his former fief. For the next few years, Gaozhi would efficiently administer the north, aided by his entourage of scholars, the three Yangs, Xie Jin and Huang Huai, all grand secretaries in Yongle's government. But their prestigious position in the crown prince's inner circle would expose them to great threat, Gaoxu's ire. Having never digested being passed over as crown prince, Gaozhi's younger brother would do his best to slander the advisors before the throne, leading to imperial reprimand, imprisonment or even execution, such as in the case of Xie Jin. But the crown prince himself was safe from defamation, as Yongle evidently valued his eldest son's talent. To further prepare him for his future role as emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor entrusted him to act as regent over the empire upon departing for his first campaigns against the Mongols in 1409. Father and son switched cities for their respective endeavours. Zhuoguozhi's regency would confirm a Confucian philosophy as he enacted policies of benevolence. The crown prince ordered land tax remissions and took great care to relieve disaster-stricken areas, gaining the respect of the Confucian bureaucracy. But this short period of autonomy would end sourly when the emperor returned from his second Mongolian campaign in 1414. Once more, the jealous Gaoxu denounced his brother and accused him of mismanaging the affairs of the state, which proved enough for Yongle to reprimand his heir before sending him back to Beijing. When the crown prince was defended by his advisors, Gaoxu jumped on the occasion to slander them. Huanghuai, Niangpu and Niangshiji were thrown in jail. While the latter was able to clear his name, the former two would languish there for a decade. But Zhuoguozhi would soon cease to be a nuisance for his elder brother. Infamously unruly, the prince tried the emperor's patience one too many times and was demoted and banished in 1417, thereafter keeping a low profile. 1420, a pivotal date for the history of China. In a greatly controversial act, Yongle officially moved the imperial court from Nanjing to Beijing, declared the empire's new capital. As he settled in the newly built Forbidden City, he sent his eldest son to administer the south from Nanjing, now the auxiliary capital. But the energetic emperor, prompted by Mongol raids on the frontier, soon readied for new great campaigns in the north. As previously, he entrusted the empire to Gaochi, recalled to Beijing. Despite their great financial burden on the state, Yongle's ultimate campaigns proved largely unfruitful and would culminate with the emperor's own death from illness. This is what had led to this pivotal day of the 25th of August 1424, when an exhausted Yang Rong, the senior grand secretary, presented himself at the gates of to urgently break the fateful news to the crown prince. The emperor's carriage, leading the Ming expeditionary army back to Beijing, contained only his body. Seized from his cousin two decades ago, the throne of the Ming dynasty, now empty, was about to pass on to the 46-year-old Zhu Gaochi. As Yongle's death remained concealed until the forces returned, the crown prince prepared for his imminent enthronement. On the 7th of September 1424, the Ming dynasty transitioned into a new era, as Zhu Gaochi formally ascended the throne, becoming the Hongxi Emperor. This name, translated as vastly glorious, echoed that of his grandfather, the Hongwu, vastly martial emperor. Hongxi, determined to rule benevolently, aimed to lessen the financial and tax burden of the dynasty. The former minister of revenue, jailed for having objected to Yongle's costly maritime and military campaigns, was released immediately. Advisors Huang Huai and Yang Pu followed suit, freed after a decade of prison, alongside other ministers who had angered Yongle. The new emperor would keep most of his father's government, notably appointing Huang Huai and the three youngs as grand secretaries, in addition to positions of ministers and Hanlin academicians. But, officials labelled as dispensable, immoral or inept, were sacked. Those who proved hesitant or slow in delivering relief to disaster-stricken areas would be severely reprimanded. Tax burden in various provinces would be investigated by a special commission, while costly state-financed endeavours, such as Zheng He's treasure voyages, were terminated. But harsh taxation and corvée labour had already led thousands of households to flee from their assigned regions. With the promise of erasing their tax debts and two years of exemption, they would later be ordered to return to their land. Open to criticism, Hongxi often invited officials to speak up and criticise his rule. But, like his father, nerves sometimes got the better of him, such as when he was criticised for indulging in his numerous harem during the mourning periods of the late Yongle. The official was severely beaten and imprisoned, but this was an exception. Hongxi never mirrored his father's habit of jailing disapproving ministers, and could even apologise to officials he had ill-treated in anger. Given the unforgiving nature of the Chinese imperial court, misdeeds by powerful figures were often kept silent. To report corruption and ill-doing, including within the imperial family itself, Hongxi granted silver seals to submit secret and anonymous memorials to the throne, without fear of reprisal. Just handling of the law was indeed considered pivotal to the emperor, who ordered a scrutinous review of all judicial cases, allowing the overruling of sentences judged ill-founded. Arbitrary corporal punishment and incrimination of relatives of convicts was forbidden. Yongle's efforts to solidify his illegitimate throne had led him to persecute the families of loyalists to the Jianwen emperor. Hongxi rehabilitated them, returning confiscated property. The throne was now indeed stable in this branch of the Zhu clan. On the 29th of October, Hongxi's wife was crowned as empress. Their 25-year-old son Zhu Jianji, favourite grandson of the late Yongle, was notably made crown prince in November 1424. While Zhang He's voyages had been discontinued, the explorer remained at the service of the emperor. In February 1425, he was appointed as Grand Defender of Nanjing to oversee, embellish and guard the city with his massive treasure fleet. However, his career as Grand Admiral was not at an end yet, as the following reign would reveal. The richer and denser south of the empire, in addition to providing more tax revenue, also historically made up for a disproportionate part of the bureaucracy. Addressing this long-standing imbalance, Hongxi enacted a quota granting northerners 4 in 10 metropolitan degrees in the civil service imperial examination. But the emperor's largest change would come in April. While he showed a great reverence for his late father, he aligned with the officials which had denounced transferring the capital to Beijing. Hongxi officially announced Nanjing would be restored as the Ming Dynasty's only capital. Crown Prince Zhu Jianji was dispatched to the city two weeks later to oversee the upcoming transition. In only 8 months, the Hongxi emperor was enacting great reforms to the empire he had inherited. But these would be cut short. Hongxi's health had always been poor as he had suffered from obesity and regular illness since childhood. On the 29th of May, the emperor died in Beijing at 46 years old, likely from heart problems. Not even a year after Yongle's death, the Ming Dynasty was once again in mourning. The monarch was buried in the Xian Mausoleum, second of the Ming tombs. He would receive the posthumous name of Emperor Zhao and be enshrined as Emperor Zhenzong, Benevolent Ancestor, a testimony to his policies. Indeed, his legacy would be generally admired by all successors for being highly moral, frugal and just. His passing would see his wife, Empress Zhang, his advisors, the Three Yangs and of course his son Zhu Jianji come to light. The latter would ascend the throne as the Xuanda Emperor and prove to have more in common with his grandfather than his father. Xuanda's reign would be the last golden age of the early Ming Dynasty. Thank you for watching my video, I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a like and subscribe to the channel. If you have any questions or requests, feel free to leave them in the comment section below.