Background
He succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, in 1424. Zhu Gaochi was born on 16 August 1378 and was educated by prominent Confucian tutors. He often acted as regent in Nanjing or Beijing during his father"s northern military campaigns.
洪熙, 朱高熾
He succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, in 1424. Zhu Gaochi was born on 16 August 1378 and was educated by prominent Confucian tutors. He often acted as regent in Nanjing or Beijing during his father"s northern military campaigns.
His era name "Hongxi" means "vastly bright". Already in May 1421, during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, an order was issued for the suspension of Zheng He"s maritime expeditions, apparently on account of their cost (although the order apparently did not affect the 6th voyage of Zheng He, staged around that time). Zhu Gaochi, as soon as he was enthroned as the Hongxi Emperor in September 1424, cancelled Zheng He"s maritime expeditions permanently, burned down the fleet, and abolished frontier trade of tea for horses as well as missions for gold and pearls to Yunnan and Vietnam.
He restored disgraced Confucian officials, such as the Yongle Emperor"s minister of revenue Xia Yanji (imprisoned since 1421), and reorganized the administration to give high ranks to his close advisors.
Hanlin academicians became grand secretaries, and they dismantled his father"s unpopular militaristic policies to restore civil government. The Hongxi Emperor improved finances by canceling requisitions for lumber, gold, and silver.
Taxes were remitted so that vagrant farmers could return home, especially in the overburdened Yangtze River Delta. The Hongxi Emperor appointed a commission to investigate taxes.
He overruled his secretaries by ordering that grain should be sent immediately to relieve disaster areas.
The Hongxi Emperor ordered that the capital be moved back to Nanjing from Beijing (which had been made the capital by the Yongle Emperor in 1421). However he died, probably of a heart attack, a month later in May 1425. Father Yongle Emperor Mother Empress Renxiaowen (birth name: Xu Yihua) Consorts Daughters.