Live History Broadcast: Opening Ceremony Spoilers - Our Ancestor Was Enraged

Chapter 33 Zhu Jianru

Chenghua 2nd year

Zhu Jianshen was very happy today. Not only did he have a child with Zhen'er, but he also passed away and was given a lot of baby items by Lin Ke.

The civil officials of the previous dynasty could no longer argue endlessly about Zhen'er.

……

"We all know Zhu Qizhen, the God of War of the Ming Dynasty. In the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, he went to study on the grasslands. With no leader, the ministers requested that Zhu Qiyu be made emperor, but Empress Dowager Sun added a condition: that the three-year-old Zhu Jianshen be made crown prince."

"When Zhu Qizhen returned from his studies abroad, he found that the world had changed and he couldn't take care of the child. In addition, Zhu Qiyu wanted to make his own son the crown prince, so Zhu Jianshen's position became very awkward."

"In the third year of the Jingtai reign, Zhu Qiyu finally took action and deposed Zhu Jianshen from his position as crown prince by bribing court officials."

"Although this child is only a few years old, the children in the palace mature early. Perhaps he does not know what it means to be the crown prince, but the fact that there are people around him who fawn over the powerful and bully the weak makes it clear that something important has been taken from him."

"However, not long after, the new crown prince died young, and people appeared around him who were extremely enthusiastic about him. But if they were powerless, everyone wanted their own child to be their heir, especially his uncle, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

"When we talk about how the personality and habits formed in adolescence are almost a reflection of the next few decades, there is some truth to that."

"During Zhu Jianshen's adolescence, from the age of six to eleven, the power struggle between Zhu Qiyu and Zhu Qizhen, the court officials, permeated his youth. While he was trembling with fear and being extremely cautious, there was a woman who almost became his support. She was the later Consort Wan, Wan Zhen'er."

On the other hand, Zhu Di's anger finally subsided a bit. In the end, it was all Zhu Zhanji's fault. Why did he have to choose that brat Zhu Qizhen as the crown prince? It made our Ming Dynasty a laughing stock!

When I get back, I'll give him a good beating!

"As everyone knows, after Zhu Qizhen came to power, he adopted the new reign title Tianshun. Perhaps he wanted to leave the Tumu Fortress incident behind. He changed the name of his eldest son, Zhu Jianshen, to Zhu Jianru."

"In the eighth year of the Tianshun reign, Zhu Qizhen died of illness, and Zhu Jianru ascended the throne, adopting the reign title Chenghua. He was the eighth emperor of the Ming Dynasty."

'So how well did Zhu Jianru perform as emperor?'

"First of all, we must understand that the economic center of the Ming Dynasty was in the south, so the education received by students in the north and south was different, and most of the important officials in the court came from the south."

"However, the change occurred after Zhu Qizhen seized the throne. Deep down, he loathed those ministers who had gained power during the Jingtai era and those who had become arrogant and helped him seize the throne."

"Thus, during the eight years of the Tianshun reign, not only were the people of the coup d'état faction purged, but the important officials of the Jingtai reign were also constantly suppressed. He preferred to use northerners, while southerners were not used unless necessary. However, the important southern officials in the court still had considerable influence."

"Zhu Jianru keenly perceived this, and he also knew how much trouble his father had caused."

"Therefore, Zhu Jianru gave Yu Qian and others a certain degree of exoneration, and restored his uncle's posthumous title to Emperor Gongren Kangdingjing. But that was all he did. After all, his difficult childhood was also partly due to Zhu Qiyu. It was not until the Southern Ming period that Zhu Qiyu was completely exonerated."

"After resolving the issues in the court, Zhu Jianru's first challenge was the Yao rebellion in the south."

Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty

Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu truly hadn't expected Lin Ke to bring him up again. He was quite calm about the fact that he wouldn't be fully exonerated until he arrived in the Southern Ming.

After all, who would remember an emperor who has been given a bad posthumous title, and who would clear his name?

But now I am in power in the Ming Dynasty, and everything has changed!

……

"Before the Yao rebellion in the south during the Chenghua period, a peasant uprising had already occurred in the southeast during the Zhengtong period. The main groups involved in the southeast peasant uprising included people who relied on silver mines for income, miners, and farmers."

"This goes back to the time of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang, who started out with just a bowl, came from a poor background and knew how hard it was for ordinary people. Especially in the early years of Hongwu, he was considerate of the people's hardship and did not collect precious metals. The average amount of silver or gold and silver tax per year was also very low."

"By the Yongle reign, the country had gradually gotten back on track and there were many things to do, which required a lot of silver. So Zhu Di increased the demand for silver, and eventually the average amount per year reached a certain level."

"The reign of Emperor Xuanzong (Zhu Zhanji) is described by scholars as the 'Rule of Renxuan,' which contrasts with the reign of Emperor Di. Zhu Gaochi, who was born ten months later, was a large and obese crown prince. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (Zhu Zhanji), the average number of children born each year reached 100."

"It's hard to imagine just how much the miners in those silver mines were exploited."

"In fact, the Ming Dynasty initially allowed a small number of private banks to operate, as long as they paid a certain amount of tax each year."

"However, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, the court directly prohibited this practice after establishing an official bureau and established the crime of privately mining silver. In severe cases, the perpetrators could be sentenced to death or exile of their entire family. The silver mine workers were also changed from a recruitment system to a conscription system, and the task was forced to be completed regardless of the actual mining situation. This is truly the evil of capitalism."

Soon after Zhu Qizhen came to power, he began to recuperate and closed the silver mines. They were reopened in the ninth year of the Zhengtong reign, and then the Southeast Rebellion occurred.

"After ten years of exploitation during the Xuande reign, the workers in the silver mines were naturally happy to see Zhu Qizhen's policy of allowing the people to recuperate and rebuild, and private silver mines were also able to make a profit."

"But when he turned it on, the first thought that probably came to those unfortunate workers was whether this new emperor would be like his father?"