El Emperador Hongxi — Ming Renzong

He had governed as regent for years while his father campaigned, and when his turn came he pardoned the Jianwen loyalists' families, stopped the treasure voyages, cut taxes in the flooded provinces and recalled the eunuch missions. He died within a year.

He and his son are remembered together as the Renxuan era, the Ming's brief good years.

Empress Zhang, his wife, was the most respected woman of the dynasty's first century and effectively governed through her son's illness and her grandson's minority.