Which of the sixteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty had the best life for the common people during their reign?

Since the founding of the country by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty has always maintained a people-oriented political strategy. However, it is a feudal dynasty after all. The Ming Empire under the autocratic monarchy also has wise and foolish kings. We won’t talk about the foolish kings. Ming Wuzong and Ming Shizong are examples. Let’s talk about the good emperors during the Ming Dynasty. Who are they? And when they were in power, the people’s lives were the best.

Ming Dynasty Renzong Zhu Gaochi

Emperor Renzong’s father is Zhu Di. Speaking of Zhu Di, he can be regarded as a wise king. Although he took the throne from his nephew Zhu Yunwen, he created the "Yongle prosperous age" with his own civil and martial arts. During the previous struggle for imperial power, the Ming Dynasty had been in a state of civil war. However, after the civil war subsided, Zhu Di continued to implement the policy of recuperation, immigration and land reclamation, and rewards for reclamation. At the same time, he also severely punished corrupt officials and provided relief to disaster victims. With the implementation of these measures, social production gradually recovered, and agriculture and handicrafts flourished again. During the Yongle period, the national treasury had sufficient food and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. It is worth mentioning that the iron smelting and shipbuilding industries became very developed, which led to the later "Zheng He's voyages to the West".

In fact, overall, Zhu Di was also a good emperor in the Ming Dynasty, but the various violent oppression and brutal massacres he carried out before also hurt many people. Although the country has gained some buffering and progress since then, the people's lives are not that good.

But it was very different during the Renzong period.

Renzong was the eldest son of Zhu Di and the fourth emperor of the Ming Empire. He was also a benevolent Confucian who loved his ministers, was considerate of the people, and was good at governing the country. It's a pity that he passed away after only 10 months in office. Mr. Bai Shouyi, a famous Chinese historian, once commented on him: Although Renzhong reigned for a short time, the policies he implemented were inherited by the Xuanzong Dynasty, so that later historians called this period "Ren" and "Ren". Xuan Zhizhi?

Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji of the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Zhanji was the eldest son of Renzong. The policies implemented by Renzong during his lifetime were well inherited after he came to power. Xuanzong succeeded to the throne and continued the foundation established by the Ming Empire sixty years ago. He advocated governing the country with virtue and ushered in the golden age in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

When Xuanzong was in power, he not only continued to reuse important ministers from his father's time, but also was very considerate of the people like his father. For this reason, he also summed up an experience: if the people rest and recuperate, the country will prosper; if there is a large-scale construction and war, the country will weaken. What is particularly interesting is that in the fifth year of Xuande's reign, Xuanzong went to visit the imperial mausoleum. On the way back, he saw a farmer plowing the land, so he ordered to stop and personally took over the plow from the farmer's hands to experience the hard work of the farmer. . After returning to Beijing, he personally wrote an article called "The Farmer's Notes" to encourage himself and his courtiers.

But corruption in the Ming Dynasty under his rule in his later years also became particularly serious. So much so that it started to go downhill by the time of Wuzong Zhu Houzhao.