Under the management of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, the Ming Dynasty completed the unification of China, achieved great social and economic development, defeated the Mongolian invasion forces in the north, consolidated the border areas, and created a moderately prosperous situation in the Ming Dynasty . But behind the prosperity also lurks social crises. Zhu Yuanzhang's harsh punishments sharpened the internal contradictions of the ruling class. The late feudal society in which the Ming Dynasty lived also deepened the inherent contradictions in feudal society and made class contradictions increasingly tense. In order to solve the bad governance left over from the Hongyong period, Emperor Renxuan adopted a series of political measures such as adjusting the internal relations of the ruling class, eliminating civil strife, calming down the army to support the people, and rectifying the administration of officials. Ming Renzong began his work of organizing a new government by reorganizing the cabinet, granting noble status to some of his close advisers, and filling the administrative office with famous Hanlin scholars and capable officials. Among his newly appointed officials, many had already served him when he was regent in Nanjing or Beijing, and some had supported him when he had disagreements with Ming Chengzu and were punished for this. Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty paid special attention to Confucian ethics and personal morality. Quan Jin is an example. He was a low-level official who entered the cabinet in the first year of Hongxi (1425) solely because of his extreme filial piety. Likewise, Ming Renzong appointed talented and disciplined people to local administrative and judicial positions. In order to make the bureaucratic machine more efficient, Ming Renzong made some changes to the civil service examination system. He believed that this system favored southerners, so he set a quota to ensure that northerners accounted for 40% of all Jinshi; this policy was implemented with slight modifications in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The later Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty retained the original government structure and allowed many outstanding officials to continue to serve. But he did make some changes in political systems and administrative practices. This is evident in the changing role of the cabinet and the involvement of eunuchs in the exercise of administrative power.
Due to the reorganization of Ming Renzong, the cabinet served by Hanlin bachelors enjoyed high prestige at this time. Since the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, what people call the cabinet was originally a consultative body, and it began to exercise greater administrative and deliberative power. San Yang, Jin Youzi, and Huang Huai were re-elected in the cabinet. Not only do they have first-class official positions and special palace titles, they also serve as ministers in the outer court.
The cabinet's prominence was also reinforced by new administrative procedures: regular visits to the emperor to discuss more pressing government matters. Following Ming Renzong's precedent, the emperor asked them to submit sealed memorials directly to him to determine appropriate action. In addition, the emperor adopted a formal procedure called edicts or drafts, which required academicians to review memorials submitted by officials and provide appropriate responses to each draft edict for imperial approval. . The emperor generally adopted their suggestions and sent the edict to the competent ministries for implementation; he did not call his advisers for review unless the main content was controversial. In this way, the cabinet became a bridge between the emperor and the six ministries, and became more of a decision-making force than before. Its leaders could then make recommendations without consulting the competent ministry, and whenever the emperor felt he should acquiesce in their decisions, these decisions automatically became effective.
For social stability and economic development, Ming Renzong and Ming Xuanzong took many effective measures. Anti-corruption is an extremely important aspect. In this series of measures , which is one of the most distinctive measures for the rectification of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Light punishment measures were also a feature of governance during the reign of Ren Xuan. Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty said to the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate: "In regard to the criminal law, I never dare to use joy or anger to increase harm. When you are waiting for imprisonment, you should also listen with an open mind and weigh the facts. The guilty will not be spared, and the innocent will not be punished indiscriminately. " He also said: "If the couplet is too evil for a while, and the external use of the law is not as good as Lingchi's punishment test, the judicial officer will play it again and again, but the third play will not be allowed. As for the fifth play and the fifth play, it will be allowed. It is already custom-made." During the short period of his rule, he also abolished some harsh laws, such as "extra-legal whipping and other punishments to hurt people's lives, especially the addition of castration to destroy people's heirs." It also stipulates that "from now on, only those who commit treason and treason will be punished by sitting together in accordance with the law. The rest will not be punished by sitting together."
Not long before his death, Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty issued an edict. , further warned judicial authorities to make judgments in accordance with the law and to review the charges against prisoners before pronouncing sentences, especially before pronouncing death sentences. In addition, he prohibited the abuse of corporal punishment against prisoners and the implication of prisoners' relatives in punishment (except for serious treason). He asserted that these practices seriously violated the Confucian principles of benevolence and filial piety ethics.
After Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty came to the throne, he not only continued to use light punishments, but also paid attention to education. He said: "People commit minor crimes because they have not been educated." Therefore, he ordered officials at all levels to promote education and popularize legal knowledge to reduce criminal behavior.
Ming Xuanzong had certain judicial talents. During his reign, he used the judicial power of the feudal emperor to make fair rulings on many complex cases and improved the judicial system, which not only reflected some of the Ming Dynasty's The legal tradition also reflects the characteristics of the combination of morality and law in the feudal era. Out of some necessity, Zhu Zhanji was relatively lenient towards military attaches who committed crimes, but his judicial activities played a positive role in the social stability of the Ming Dynasty. During the Renxuan period, the imperial examination system was reformed, the system of appointing and inspecting officials was strictly enforced, eunuchs were strictly controlled, corrupt officials were cracked down, and official administration was made clean and honest.
In terms of the employment system, it has also changed the phenomenon that the previous dynasty focused on Jinshi and excluded officials, and insisted on appointing people on their merits. At the same time, starting from Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty, a governor system was established to strengthen the supervision of local officials. Through a series of crackdowns, corruption and bribery have gradually decreased. Zhao Yi's "Notes on the Twenty-Two Histories" states: "Those who keep orders must love the people and listen to the public's opinions." . A certain governor requested the addition of an official from the Chief Envoy Department who would specialize in managing food administration in the Hangzhou-Jiahu-Hu area. Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty believed that the country's taxes were fixed and could not support redundant officials, so he rejected his request. Another saying is "An peace of mind brings happiness to the people". A minister of the Ministry of Industry suggested building a pagoda at Yuanguo Temple in Shanxi to bring blessings to the country. However, Zhu Zhanji believed that the stability of the people was the blessing of the country, and there was no need to "seek blessings" by building a pagoda, so he reprimanded him.
It is precisely because of the more enlightened styles of Ming Renzong and Ming Xuanzong that there was the "Renxuan Rule" praised by historians. The second emperor Ren and Xuan not only made great achievements in politics, but also cared for the people. Emperor Renzong of the Ming Dynasty pardoned the old ministers of Emperor Jianwen and the families of officials who had been exiled to the border during the Yongle period, and allowed them to return to their original places. He also redressed their unjust imprisonments, which enabled many unjust cases to be vindicated, and restored the titles of some ministers, thus easing the conflicts within the ruling group. . In addition, during his reign, he twice pardoned the families of officials such as Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng who were executed for their loyalty to Emperor Jianwen. The pardon order exempted his family from slavery and restored the confiscated property.
During his short reign, Ming Renzong issued several edicts to cancel the emperor's practice of requisitioning commodities such as timber, gold and silver, and replaced them with a fair purchase system. He also exempted those affected by natural disasters from land taxes and provided them with free food and other relief items. What particularly troubled him was the frequent flight of the people, which caused the country to lose a lot of income in the late Yongle period. Ming Renzong issued a special edict asking the fugitives to return to their hometowns, promising to exempt them from the taxes they owed, and to exempt them from the same taxes and labor for two years after registering at their location.
Ming Renzong also sent a special team headed by Zhou Qian, the governor of Guangxi, to investigate the tax burden of certain governments. They include Yingtian, Suzhou, Songjiang, Jiaxing and four other prefectures in South Zhili and Zhejiang. Ming Renzong did not see the investigation report during his lifetime, but it became the basis for the tax reduction plan implemented by Ming Xuanzong. Ming Renzong was also very concerned about providing direct relief; he was furious on several occasions over the slow response of his ministers to this. During a local famine, he rejected the proposal of officials from the Ministry of Revenue to only lend grain to the people instead of distributing it for free. On another occasion, he angrily rejected the request of some academicians to consult with the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry first, and ordered the immediate distribution of relief grains and tax exemptions to some disaster-stricken areas.
Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty implemented a benevolent government that reassured and loved the people. He was well aware of the principle that "the people can carry the boat but also capsize it." Therefore, during his rule, he was considerate of the people's sentiments and implemented the policy of resting with the people. "Sitting on the ninth level of the palace, thinking about agriculture, rural areas and farmers in the fields." This is indeed the true mentality of Zhu Zhanji, who cares about agricultural production and farmers' lives. He continued to implement the policy of recruiting people to reclaim wasteland and develop agricultural production since the Hongwu Dynasty. In March of the fifth year of Xuande (1430), when Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty was passing through farmland, he saw farmers working on the roadside, so he dismounted and asked about the growth of the crops. He was so interested that he took the farm tools used by farmers to plow the fields and plowed the land himself. After a few pushes, he stopped, turned around and said to the minister beside him, I felt exhausted after just three pushes, not to mention farmers working all year round. After saying this, he ordered people to reward the farmers with money. He understood the lives and situations of farmers and was therefore able to take their interests into consideration when formulating policies. In June of the same year, a locust plague occurred in the Gyeonggi region. Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty sent officials to direct the eradication of the locusts. He was still worried, and specially issued an order to the Ministry of Household Affairs, warning them that the officials responsible for catching locusts in previous years had done no less harm to the people than the locust plague, so it was strictly forbidden to prevent such a thing from happening again. He also wrote a "Locust Catching Poem" and awarded it to the people. Minister.
In the seventh year of Xuande (1432), Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty also exempted Jiaxing, Huzhou and other places that suffered from floods. In the eighth year of Xuande (1433), taxes were also reduced or reduced in many disaster-stricken areas.
Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty knew that foolish kings abused the power of the people and even destroyed the country. Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty took this as a lesson and paid great attention to cherishing the power of the people. During his 10 years of rule, he issued many decrees to relieve the people's difficulties. In July of the first year of Xuande (1426), they stopped collecting wood in Huguang. In February of the fifth year of Xuande's reign (1430), the strike department was gathering wood. In November of the third year of Xuande's reign (1428), Jinyi commander Zhong Fabao invited him to go pearl fishing in Dongguan. Not only did Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty not agree, he also thought that he wanted to use such disturbing things to seek his own interests, so he was arrested and imprisoned. He also repeatedly paid tax exemptions, accumulated firewood and grass arrears, and exempted the old, disabled and incompetent craftsmen in Beijing from the craftsmanship certificate. Ming Renzong took one of the most drastic measures to reverse his father's policy, which was to move the capital back to Nanjing. The move was said to have been strongly requested by Xia Yuanji and other senior court officials as part of a strategy to divert resources away from the northern border. Ming Renzong had obviously had this intention since he ascended the throne; at this time, he had set up a garrison in Nanjing and sent his trusted generals and eunuchs to take command. Ming Renzong was not interested in Ming Chengzu's Northern Expedition, nor did he like Beijing; in addition, he had served as a prisoner in Nanjing and was familiar with the situation in Nanjing, and felt that it was more comfortable there. In addition, he was also concerned about the cost of maintaining the northern capital. This cost not only greatly increased the burden on southeastern China, but also made it difficult for various government departments to cope.
On April 16, the first year of Hongxi's reign (1425), he designated all government departments in Beijing as "Xing Zai". Half a month later, he sent Crown Prince Zhu Zhanji to Nanjing to visit Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial mausoleum and stayed there to take charge. Despite reports of earthquakes in the Nanjing area, the emperor's return and the move of his court southward were inevitable. However, Zhu Gaochi died before carrying out this action. In addition, his successor Ming Xuanzong, who was closer to Ming Chengzu and less disgusted with the policy of favoring the north, did not participate in this plan. Beijing is still the capital, and Nanjing has become a auxiliary capital. After Ming Xuanzong ascended the throne, the biggest problem facing Ming Xuanzong was the problem of the foreign vassals left by Zhu Yuanzhang. This problem was not fundamentally resolved in the Jianwen, Yongle, and Hongxi dynasties. After Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty came to the throne, he immediately began to rectify military affairs and prepare to meet the challenges from powerful vassals. His uncle Zhu Gaoxu had made great achievements in the Jingnan Campaign and was very good at leading troops. After the Yongle Dynasty was granted the title of Le'an, he never gave up his ambition to seize power by force. Finally, the opportunity came. Zhu Gaochi died of illness and Ming Xuanzong ascended the throne. The country was in turmoil and the emperor was young, so it was a good time to rebel. So after careful preparation, he raised the banner of "Qing Jun Side" like his father Zhu Di. However, the rebels did not last long before they were defeated by Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty. They won. After his army returned to Beijing, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty immediately summoned another emperor's uncle Zhu Gaosui, suggesting that he hand over his military power. Zhu Gaosui did not resist and obediently handed over the three guards and horses. In this way, the vassal king for nearly half a century in the early Ming Dynasty The problem was finally solved in the Xuande Dynasty.
After that, the Han King Zhu Gaoxu and the Zhao King Zhu Gaosui never gave up the idea of ????fighting for the throne, always threatening the stability of society. Faced with how to put down Zhu Gaoxu's rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty decided to conquer it himself. The news of the emperor's personal expedition greatly encouraged the soldiers of the Sixth Army, quickly calmed down the people's hearts, and eased the turbulent situation. Afterwards, the threats from the kings of Han and Zhao were lifted, ensuring political stability and social stability, and providing necessary opportunities for the stable and smooth development of the Ming Dynasty. Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty was worried that the Hu people would invade the frontier when the autumn was high and the horses were fertile, so he organized his troops and horses and stationed them at Xifengkou to wait for the enemy. The guard general reported that Wu Liangha was leading thousands of cavalry to harass the border area. Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty selected 3,000 cavalry and galloped there. When the enemy saw an incoming army in the distance, they thought it was an army guarding the frontier, so they responded with their entire army. Zhu Zhanji ordered the cavalry to be divided into two groups to attack the enemy, and he personally shot the enemy vanguard, killing three people. The two wings were missing like clouds, and the enemy did not dare to advance. Then, Zhu Zhanji ordered to fire the magic gun continuously, killing most of the enemy's troops and horsemen, and all the rest fled. Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty drove forward with hundreds of cavalry. When the enemy saw the Yellow Dragon Flag, they realized that the emperor was personally marching. So they all dismounted and bowed to the ground and asked to surrender. Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty tied up and captured these people and returned with a great victory.
Li Li, a native of Annam, rebelled and defeated the official army many times. Le Li asked the court for instructions and requested to re-establish the Chen clan as King Annam. Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty thought that the country was exhausted and the expedition was useless, so he agreed to him, canonized Chen Hao as the King of Annan, and stopped the expedition to the south. Later Li Li usurped Chen Hao's position and established himself as king. Send people to the court to pay tribute and apologize, and ask the emperor to ennoble the ministers. Someone asked the emperor to attack Le Li, but Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty refused and canonized Le Li as King of Annam. Annan Kingdom is also the Jiaozhi Kingdom, and tribute has been paid continuously since then.