How humiliating was the change of tumu fort, and the emperor was captured as a result of the conquest. More than 60 ministers were all killed, and the elite of the army were almost completely wiped out, leaving only tens of thousands of old and weak soldiers. How much impact did such achievements have on the Ming Dynasty?
In July 1449, he also led the Wallachian army to invade the Daming border. After receiving the news, Emperor Mingying's Zhu Qizhen decided to defy the opposition of the ministers and personally march on the Northern Expedition. As for the capital, he left his 2-year-old son as crown prince, and then let Zhu Qiyu, the king of Hao, oversee the country.
On July 16, 200,000 troops set out from Beijing. Although it was said that the emperor was personally marching, it was the eunuch Wang Zhen who was in charge of all military and political affairs, and the accompanying generals Cheng Guogong and Shangshu Wang Zuo could not fight him. In this way, the Minister of Culture and Military Affairs could not interfere in the military and politics, but this eunuch acted as a blessing, and the morale of the army was lowered from the beginning.
Arriving in Datong, the Wallachian army took the initiative to retreat in order to lure the enemy deeper. When Wang Zhen saw this, he was completely rational and directly ordered to move north, and as a result, the former army was defeated, and Wang Zhen could only retreat in a hurry. In the face of the enemy's pursuit, Wang Zhen led the army to change the route of the march many times, and the soldiers were exhausted.
On 13 August, the army fled to Tumu Fort, and the Wallachian army on the rear was getting closer and closer. Bingbu Shangshu Kuang asked to continue walking into Juyongguan to ensure safety, but Wang Zhen refused and insisted on staying at Tumu Fort. The fort was high in terrain and short of water, and although there was a river near the fort, it was occupied by the Wala army. Surrounded almost by the Wallachian army, the Ming army was suddenly in a situation of no retreat and lack of supplies.
At this time, the Wala army sent emissaries to pretend to ask for peace, and also took the initiative to withdraw to paralyze the Ming army. Ming Yingzong also believed it without thinking too much, and ordered the drafting of an edict, and Wang Zhen led his army to move the camp to the river to drink water. Hungry and thirsty soldiers rushed to the river, and the scene was very chaotic. At this time, the ambushed Wallachian army took the opportunity to launch an attack, and the Ming army was not an opponent at all in a hurry, and even most of the ministers accompanying it were killed. And Zhu Qizhen also realized that there was no way to break through, and he could only sit helplessly on the ground.
As a result, zhu qizhen was captured. In the face of such a situation, many people said that it was caused by the eunuch Wang Zhen, who monopolized military power and insisted on going his own way. But this statement is actually biased, and the reason for the change of the civil fort is not so simple.
Wang Zhen really has an unshirkable responsibility for the change of Tumu Fort. Wang Zhen was different from others since he was a child, and many eunuchs entered the palace because they were poor and wanted to eat enough. But Wang Zhen is more strange, he entered the palace voluntarily, and when he walked the process, he did it himself, which was said to be for the "ambition in his heart".
After entering the palace, he was clever and first gained zhu di's appreciation and became Zhu Qizhen's attendant. After Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne, he took charge of the Si Li Supervisor, the highest authority of eunuchs. Since then, Wang Zhen's power has been monstrous and powerful, until he instigated Zhu Qizhen's northern expedition, which finally caused a catastrophe.
At the same time, Zhu Qizhen should also be responsible for this fiasco, when the Ming Dynasty deposed the prime minister and the power was returned to the six ministries, which was a period of unprecedented imperial power. However, Zhu Qizhen was not good at government and politics, and was easily instigated when foreign enemies came to attack, completely rejected the suggestions of many ministers, and blindly connived at Wang Zhen, even thinking that he could easily win. And when they were finally surrounded, they actually believed each other's peace, which was really incomprehensible.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty also had a wrong estimate of the strength of the Wallachians, which were the strongest forces in Mongolia. Later, with the powerful troops, under the leadership of Ye Xian, the Mongolian steppe once again completed the unification, which was also unprecedentedly powerful. In the face of the attack of the Wallachians, the Ming army's front line was stretched too long, and military supplies became a big problem. Wang Zhen did not understand military affairs, so although the Ming army sent 200,000 troops, as well as a number of ministers of culture and military affairs, they seemed weak.
Until they were chased to Tumu Fort, Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen did not think that handing over the command to a general who really understood military affairs would ultimately harm others and harm themselves. The impact of the emperor's capture on the Ming Dynasty was far-reaching, and perhaps Zhu Qizhen did not think of any consequences at the moment of his capture.
During the Northern Expedition, Zhu Qizhen took almost all the elite troops, including the firearms battalion, the Divine Machine Battalion, and so on. After the change of the civil fort, these elites were almost completely wiped out and suffered heavy losses. Although there were reconstructions in the back, it was far less than before, the military strength plummeted, and the national defense of the Ming Dynasty was also seriously affected, and it could only turn from attack to defense. Later, the Wokou in the south also took the opportunity to attack and harass, and at the same time, many ministers died tragically at Tumu Fort. A number of noble and noble generals, including the British Gong, the Duke of Chengguo, the Duke of Ningguo, and so on, were all killed, and the political structure of the Ming Dynasty also changed.
Originally, the Ming Dynasty was in a state of mutual checks and balances between imperial power, civil officials, and military attaches. However, after this battle, the emperor became a hostage, and the imperial power was greatly weakened. The military attaché clique, which could have competed with civilian officials, also collapsed.
Since then, the power of civilian officials has expanded vigorously, and by the middle and late period, civilian officials have reached the point of emptying the imperial power, and the government and government are almost monopolized by them. Everything that has to do with power, they have something to do with it. Later, after the restoration of Emperor Yingzong, in order to limit the development of civilian officials, he even vigorously supported the power of eunuchs, and the eunuch dictatorship of the Ming Dynasty also began to rise partisan disputes.
In this way, from generation to generation, the politics of the Ming Dynasty became darker and darker, so the people who suffered became more and more difficult, and the basis of rule was seriously affected. So that in the end, there were uprisings everywhere, and a generation of dynasties also fell to the end.