Early Years
As the nephew of the Hongzhi Emperor, Zhu Houcong was not brought up to succeed to the throne. However, the throne became vacant in 1521 with the sudden death of the Hongzhi Emperor's son, Emperor Zhengde, who did not leave an heir. The 14 year old Zhu Houcong was chosen to become emperor, and so relocated from his father's fief (near today's Zhongxiang, in Hubei Province) to Beijing.
As the Jiajing Emperor, Zhu Houcong had his parents posthumously elevated to an "honorary" imperial rank, and had an imperial-style Xianling Mausoleum built for them near Zhongxiang.
Read more about this topic: Jiajing Emperor
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