16. Zhengde became emperor at age 14, and went nuts with the power
In 1505, a 14-year-old ascended China’s throne as the Zhengde Emperor. Unsurprisingly, the teenager had no interest in governing his realm. He entrusted running China to his palace eunuchs, then abandoned himself to living it up, diving headfirst into an orgy of lavish spending and bizarre behavior that set the stage for his Ming Dynasty’s downfall. The weirdness included plenty of perversions, that marked Zhengde as a monster.
Zhengde was into make believe, big time. He created an alter ego for himself, a general Zhu Zhu, upon whom he lavished praise and rewards. He also built a city block within the imperial palace so he could pretend to be a shopkeeper. Less innocent was his habit of taking his companions on thrill raids, bursting into the homes of wealthy citizens, violently seizing and kidnapping their daughters, and holding them for ransom while the girls were ravished. Officials who criticized the emperor’s conduct were arrested, tortured, and executed by the hundreds. Luckily for his subjects, Zhengde’s reign was cut short in 1521, when his pleasure barge capsized, and he drowned.
