The "more storage storm" of the Ming Yingzong period runs through the entire Yingzong period in the vertical dimension, that is, the three time periods of the end of the orthodox period, the Jingtai dynasty, and the early Tianshun period. In the horizontal dimension, various political forces of the Yingjong period are involved.
The reason why the "more reserve turmoil" happened has a profound political background. This article mainly starts with Empress Dowager Sun's policy of establishing a crown prince before establishing an emperor, and specifically analyzes Empress Dowager Sun's intention to establish Zhu Jianshen as crown prince and the necessity of Zhu Qiyu the Prince of Zhu Qishen ascending the throne. At the same time, the order of Lichu in front and Emperor in the back directly induced the occurrence of the Jingtai Dynasty on the storage space replacement incident.
First, Ming Yingzong Zhu Qi Town was covered with dust
Emperor Xuanzong of Ming died in the tenth year of Xuande, and Zhu Qizhen, who was only nine years old, succeeded him as emperor, becoming the first young emperor since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. On 16 July of the 14th year of the Orthodox Dynasty, Emperor Yingzong of Ming arrived at Tumu Fort on 13 August, and on 15 August, Yingzong was captured at Tumu Fort. Yingzong's capture brought serious crisis to the Ming Dynasty.
Yingzong was dusted in the civil engineering, causing a great crisis to the Ming Dynasty. First of all, the capture of Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong left the Ming Dynasty leaderless, and the ministers of the dynasty were panicked, and even more people who moved south, which can be described as distracted.
Secondly, Vara lived with Yingzong's odd goods, and held Yingzong hostage to carry out various blackmail against the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty was completely in a passive state. It can be seen that the ambition of unifying the Great Yuan first, the Ming Dynasty is in jeopardy. The civil engineering change caused heavy losses to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty fell into an unprecedented crisis, and the vacancy of the imperial throne also caused panic throughout the Ming Dynasty.
Second, Empress Dowager Sun established Yingzong's eldest son: Zhu Jianshen became the crown prince
In June of the first year of Hongxi (1425), Zhu Zhanji became emperor, and made Hu empress and Sun as imperial concubine. Sun was not satisfied with her position as a noble concubine, and planned to obtain the position of empress, and Empress Hu's virtuous Shude had no fault that could be deposed, but at one point, Empress Hu was weak and sick, and never had an heir. And the Sun family has beauty, Emperor Xuanzong liked it very much, so he favored her, and the Sun family had the intention of sitting on the position of empress.
Although the Sun family was favored by Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, they had never conceived an heir, and the Sun family knew very well that if they could have an heir, it would be an overwhelming victory for Empress Hu, and they would be one step closer to the position of empress. So the Sun family conspired with the palace maids and eunuchs to take the heir born to a palace girl as their own, so that the Sun family had a prince, and Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji liked him even more, so he made up his mind to establish the Sun family as the queen, and took the suggestion of the university scholar Yang Shiqi to let Empress Hu voluntarily abdicate the throne.
As a result, Hu was deposed, and Sun was made empress. It can be seen that Empress Dowager Sun not only had a strong desire for power, but also had a very political skill, single-handedly plotting to depose Empress Hu, who had no bad behavior, but showed a humble and respectful attitude when Emperor Xuanzong made her queen. In the tenth year of Xuande, Emperor Xuanzong of Ming died, and Zhu Qizhen, the nine-year-old "son of the palace people", ascended the throne for Emperor Yingzong of Ming and honored the Sun clan as the empress dowager. At this point, Empress Dowager Sun reached the peak of harem power.
The reason why the Sun family was able to sit on the position of empress was entirely because of the existence of Zhu Qizhen, the "son of the palace people", Yingzong, and the mother was noble, and the Sun family understood the significance of Zhu Qizhen to themselves. And the world is unpredictable, on July 16, the fourteenth year of the orthodoxy, Yingzong Zhu Qizhen drove the royal conquest of Wala, and on August 15, the fourteenth year of the orthodoxy, the earth was dusted, and on the 16th, the news of Yingzong's dust was reported to Jingshi, and Empress Dowager Sun immediately searched for rare treasures in the palace and sent them to Yexian, but to no avail.
At this time, Empress Dowager Sun realized that there was no hope of Jean Yexian sending back to Yingzong, so on August 18, Empress Dowager Sun sent a group of ministers and immediately decided to let Zhu Qiyu, the king of Zhu, temporarily manage state affairs. On August 22, Empress Dowager Sun thought twice and decided to make Yingzong's eldest son Zhu Jianshen crown prince, so the three-year-old eldest son of Yingzong, Zhu Jianshen, was made crown prince.
Zhu Jianshen, the eldest son of Zhu Qizhen of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, was born in November of the 12th year of orthodoxy, and his biological mother was the Zhou clan. Faced with the crisis situation of the stateless monarch, Empress Dowager Sun tried to establish Yingzong's eldest son, her own imperial grandson, to once again keep her position as empress dowager. And Empress Dowager Sun's appointment of Zhu Jianshen as crown prince had a very profound impact on the political situation in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and the establishment of a crown prince was a major political act of the country, which not only related to the safety of the world, but also affected the rise and fall of various political forces.
Empress Dowager Sun actively participated in this incident and played a key role. Empress Dowager Sun established Yingzong's eldest son Zhu Jianshen as crown prince, but the accession of Yingzong's half-brother Zhu Qiyu to the throne caused a series of political problems.
Initially, Empress Dowager Sun tried her best to loot the gold and silver jewelry in the palace and send them to Yu Yexian, hoping that she would also be able to send it back to Yingzong, but she did not want to have an appetite first, and constantly extorted money from the Ming Dynasty. In order to reverse this situation, Empress Dowager Sun first issued an edict on August 18 to temporarily manage state affairs by Zhu Qiyu the Prince of Huang, and on August 22 issued a decree to establish Emperor Yingzong's eldest son Zhu Jianshen as crown prince.
In the edict establishing the crown prince, Empress Dowager Sun emphasized that Zhu Jianshen was the crown prince, and that Zhu Qiyu the Prince of Zhu was still only "as an assistant and acting as the general of the country". Five days later, Empress Dowager Sun made Wang Zhi crown prince and Hu Ying crown prince, in an attempt to use these courtiers to increase the prestige of the crown prince and ensure Zhu Jianshen's position as crown prince.
The intention of first establishing a crown prince and limiting Yingzong's half-brother King Zhu to acting as the imperial government was very obvious, trying to limit the rights of Emperor Zhu Qiyu with the reasonable legitimacy of the code of ethics, and trying to set the role of Emperor Zhu Qiyu as a temporary administrator of state affairs, vacating the throne in anticipation of Emperor Yingzong's return.
However, as the situation developed, the Ming dynasty was beyond the control of Empress Dowager Sun. On August 29, when the country was in trouble and the country had no long king, the civil and military officials jointly resigned to the Empress Dowager. From the actual records, we can see that first, the reason why King Xi was able to ascend the imperial throne was because the group of ministers jointly asked the empress dowager and obtained the approval of the empress dowager.
Second, there are two reasons for the monarch to request that the king ascend the throne: first, the crown prince is Youchong, and the other is that the country is in danger and the country has no long king, and the establishment of the king is a great plan to save the country from perishing, and the empress dowager has no reason not to approve it; Third, when the courtiers asked King Xi to take the throne, the most fundamental reason why King Xi gave in again and again was because of the existence of the crown prince.
It shows that King Xi had an idea about Empress Dowager Sun to establish the crown prince first, and as soon as this remark came out, the ministers did not dare to speak; Fourth, the earnest words of Shangshu Yu Qian of the military department made King Xi agree to take the throne, which should also be one of the cornerstones of the relationship between Yu Qian and King Xi.
In the second half of August of the fourteenth year of the Orthodox Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was facing a serious national crisis, and in this context, the court also underwent drastic changes, and under the operation of Empress Dowager Sun, the crown prince Zhu Jianshen was first appointed. At the request of Qunchen, at the end of the month, it was confirmed that Zhu Qiyu the Prince of Zhu Qiyu would ascend the throne as emperor, thus laying the groundwork for the Jingtai Dynasty.
3. Zhu Qiyu, the king of Zhu, succeeded the ruler
Zhu Qiyu, born in the third year of Xuande, the second son of Zhu Zhanji of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, the half-brother of Zhu Qizhen of Emperor Yingzong of Ming, born to the noble concubine Wu, was first crowned King of Xuande. The reason why Zhu Qiyu the King of Zhu Qi Yu was able to ascend the throne was because Zhu Qiyu was the most suitable for succession at the time of national crisis.
It is mainly manifested in the following three aspects: First, Vara also took "Yingzong" as a strange commodity and constantly carried out extortion and blackmail against the Ming Dynasty, so that the Ming Dynasty was in a very passive situation, in order to avoid Vara using the name of Emperor Yingzong to deceive the defense, it has become a top priority.
Second, the country was in trouble, and the crown prince Zhu Jianshen was only three years old and could not be qualified for the important affairs of the military state. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was facing a serious political crisis, and the weak Zhu Jianshen became emperor not only easy to cause suspicion of the Ming Dynasty, but also made the situation of the Ming Dynasty worse, and at the same time was not conducive to the timely handling and ruling of the imperial government.
Third, the state has a long king, and the society is blessed. Zhu Qiyu is the best candidate to succeed him. Zhu Qiyu is the middle son of Emperor Xuanzong of Mingxuanzong, Zhu Zhanji of Emperor Xuanzong has two sons, the eldest son is Zhu Qizhen of Yingzong, and the second son is Zhu Qizhen the Prince of Yingzong, the only half-mother emperor of Yingzong, who meets the requirements of succession in terms of blood relations, and Zhu Qiyu is twenty-two years old, which is at the peak of spring and autumn, and has become the best candidate for the throne in the hearts of courtiers.
Zhu Qiyu was the best candidate to succeed the emperor, but when the courtiers asked Zhu Qiyu the Prince to succeed him, Empress Dowager Sun once showed an attitude of shelving and reconsidering, and tried her best to protect and consider the interests of Emperor Yingzong, in an attempt to vacate the throne in anticipation of Yingzong's return. However, in the end, taking into account the dangerous situation at that time, weighing the pros and cons, making a compromise, and promulgating a decree agreeing to Zhu Qiyu's succession.
Under the special political background of the stateless ruler, the accession of Zhu Qiyu the Prince of the Emperor to the throne was also inevitable, and the minister of Chinese and Wu was very supportive of the succession of the throne by the Prince of Zhu, and Empress Dowager Sun also realized the necessity of letting Zhu Qiyu succeed to the throne, so she agreed to the request of the ministers.
On the sixth day of September in the 14th year of the Orthodox era, Zhu Qiyu the Prince of Zheng officially assumed the throne, and in his accession edict he issued said that Emperor Jing's accession edict basically explained the ins and outs of his accession to the throne, but it is worth noting that he also received an edict from Zhu Qizhen, who was in the camp of Yexian, which further increased the legitimacy of his accession to the throne.
After Zhu Qiyu succeeded to the throne, he promulgated the edict of honoring the empress concubine on the 10th day of the 14th year of the orthodox era, and several information points can be seen in the edict of the concubine, one is to make his biological mother Wu Empress Dowager Wu, and ascend to the same position as Emperor Yingzong's mother Empress Dowager Sun.
It not only shows that the mother should be promoted to the Empress Dowager because of her son, but also a beginning to push the Empress Dowager Sun away from the center of power. The second is to canonize Wang as empress, from the promotion of Wang's status to achieve the legitimacy and authority of his throne. Zhu Qiyu's accession to the throne made the state have a long ruler, stabilized the people's hearts, and stabilized the Jiangshan community of the Ming Dynasty.
For Zhu Qiyu's accession to the throne, Gu Yingtai gave full affirmation, and Zhu Qiyu's accession to the throne first made the plan to blackmail the Son of Heaven frustrated; Secondly, Yingzong Zhu Qizhen became an ordinary person, and because of this, he was willing to send back Yingzong first, and the Ming Dynasty avoided the end of Song Hui and Qinzong never returning in the Song Dynasty.
On the other hand, Yingzong's return to Beijing created a special situation in the Ming Dynasty in which the previous emperor and the current emperor coexisted. Emperor Zhu Qiyu became a veritable emperor upon his accession to the throne, and his desire for power increased over time, and the return of Yingzong made Emperor Jing very uneasy, and after Jingtai welcomed back to Yingzong on August 15 of the first year, Emperor Jing immediately put him under house arrest in Nangong. At the same time, Zhu Qiyu's accession to the throne had inevitably led to changes in the imperial lineage, and the hereditary imperial line was transferred to the small branch of Emperor Jing.
IV. Summary
Under the crisis situation of the fourteen years of orthodoxy, Empress Dowager Sun, as a political force in the harem, had a profound impact on the imperial politics of this period. In the face of Yingzong's capture, he immediately adopted the method of establishing Zhu Jianshen, the eldest son of Yingzong, who was only three years old, as the crown prince to alleviate the emergency situation of the masterless monarch at that time. However, when the minister asked Zhu Qiyu to succeed him, he had to compromise.
And Zhu Qiyu's succession was actually an urgent need of the situation at that time, which caused the special situation that the imperial throne and the reserve position were not on the same branch, which was a special background for "more storage turmoil". As Zhu Qiyu sat on the throne, he could no longer tolerate the fact that the crown prince was not his son, so this political pattern laid the groundwork for future Chu incidents.