Zhu Zaihou was a Ming emperor. His temple name was Muzong and his era name was Longqing. This entry records his birth in 1537 and his death in 1572.[1] Juan 19 of the Ming History gives his personal name as Zaihou, and the cited Wikidata aliases give the full name Zhu Zaihou, surname Zhu, with the English form Zhu Zaihou.[3][1]
Prince of Yu
The Ming History says he was the third son of the Jiajing Emperor, and his mother was Consort Du, titled Kang. In the second month of the eighteenth year of Jiajing he was made Prince of Yu, invested on the same day as the heir apparent Zhuangjing and the Prince of Jing. After Zhuangjing died, the emperor regarded him as the eldest and capable son and the succession as settled, but suspicion remained at court, so the Prince of Jing was sent to his own domain.[3]
Accession
In the twelfth month of the forty-fifth year of Jiajing, the Jiajing Emperor died and Zhu Zaihou took the throne. The next year was the first of Longqing, and a general amnesty was declared. Inconvenient policies of the previous reign were corrected under the testament. Officials punished for remonstrance were recalled, and those who had died were honored. Adepts were handed to the courts, and the alchemy workshops and extraordinary purchases were stopped. Half of the next year's land tax was remitted, together with arrears from before the forty-third year of Jiajing. Hai Rui of the Ministry of Revenue was released from prison.[3]
The early Longqing years
In the first year of Longqing he ended the rite that associated Ruizong with the emperor in the Bright Hall, restored the title of Prince Zhu Houwan of Zheng, honored his mother as Empress Xiaoke, and installed Consort Chen as empress. Chen Yiqin and Zhang Juzheng entered the grand secretariat. In the third month the Jiajing Emperor was buried at the Yongling. That year Altan raided Datong and Shizhou, killed Prefect Wang Liangcai, looted Jiaocheng and Wenshui, and reached the Fen River, so the capital was placed on alert. The raiders withdrew in the winter. In the third month of the second year, his son Yijun was named heir apparent. The same juan goes on to the third year, when general Zhao Ke defeated Altan at Hongcizi. The extract read here does not reach a death scene, so the death year is left as the 1572 already stored on this entry.[3][1]