In 1368, the grassroots emperor Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing, marking the official beginning of a great era that lasted for a hundred years. Under the leadership of several generations of emperors, the Ming Dynasty experienced three prosperous eras of Hongwu, Yongle, and Renxuan.
However, in 1435, the young emperor Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne, but he killed Yu Qian by mistake because he listened to the traitorous ministers' sowing discord. Luckily, he eventually followed the advice of a loyal servant and realized that he had been deceived.
Zhu Qizhen was a young emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty, ascended the throne at the age of nine, and he was the eldest son of Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty.
At the beginning of Zhu Qizhen's accession to the throne, although he was the main ruler, he did not actually hold real power, because the person in charge of state affairs was the Empress Dowager Zhang. Zhang is a thoughtful woman who knows that not letting her mother's family alone will risk her relatives interfering in politics, so she chooses to trust her loyal ministers.
Yang Pu, Yang Rong, and Yang Shiqi became the most valued people in the Zhang family, and these three loyal courtiers were called "Three Yangs". During the reign of "Sanyang", the social and economic prosperity of the Ming Dynasty was stable, the people lived happily and peacefully, and everything seemed vibrant.
However, the successive deaths of "Sanyang" and the death of the Zhang family caused Zhu Qizhen to begin to rely on his favorite retainer Wang Zhen. Wang Zhen's intervention led to the political decline of the Ming Dynasty, which was an inevitable historical process.
Zhu Qizhen obeyed the eunuch Wang Zhenyan, and Wang Zhen wantonly interfered in the government affairs, causing the court to be in a miasma, almost covering the sky with one hand, and had a significant influence on Zhu Qizhen's decision-making.
At the same time, the Mobei region is also quietly cultivating its own forces. Among them, the Warat tribe gradually rose to prominence and began to frequently harass the Ming border. Although the Ming Dynasty was troubled by the harassment of Wara, Warat still paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty every year, not out of respect for the Ming Dynasty, but because the Ming Dynasty would give rich rewards to the envoys of the countries who paid tribute, which often made people blush.
The Warat tribe gradually increased the number of envoys sent, even reaching more than 3,000 at one time, which made the corrupt official Wang Zhen very dissatisfied. He couldn't tolerate someone taking money out of his pocket, so he incited the young and frivolous Zhu Qizhen to personally attack Warat.
Although many ministers opposed the emperor's personal expedition, believing that the garrison in the capital was insufficient and that the emperor's personal expedition would be risky. But Zhu Qizhen rejected all suggestions and formed an army of 500,000 in a short time, but most of this army was irregular, and its combat effectiveness was worrying.
Zhu Qizhen's Northern Expedition lasted four times, of which the orthodox 14-year Northern Expedition allowed him to personally lead 500,000 troops to Datong. However, the rainy season made their march extremely difficult, and they were poorly prepared to send out, and many soldiers starved to death on the way.
Before the army was dispatched, many people persuaded him to turn back, but Wang Zhen punished these people on his behalf. Finally arrived in Datong, Zhu Qizhen's army was exhausted, but Wang Zhen wanted to show off and suggested that Zhu Qizhen go to his hometown to live for a few days.
Zhu Qizhen trusted Wang Zhen too much and nodded in agreement. However, before the army left, Wang Zhen remembered the crops in his hometown and was worried that the trampling of the soldiers and horses would hurt them.
So he hurriedly turned the army around. Core idea: Zhu Qizhen's Northern Expedition was full of difficulties, and Wang Zhen's excessive interference and selfishness exhausted the army, and finally even changed the direction of the army.
Due to Zhu Qizhen's and Wang Zhen's decision-making mistakes and delays, the Ming army was surrounded and suppressed by Wara's troops at Tumubao, causing heavy casualties. Fan Zhong killed Wang Zhen at a critical moment, but Zhu Qizhen was still captured by Wara, and dozens of his ministers and 500,000 Ming troops became Warat's spoils.
This failure reminds us that decisiveness in decision-making and action is crucial, otherwise the consequences will be dire.
The Tumubao Incident dealt a great blow to the Ming Dynasty, but the captured Zhu Qizhen was not killed by Wara, which allowed Ming Yingzong to begin his life in exile.
When the news of Zhu Qizhen's arrest was transmitted back to the Ming Dynasty, officials in the DPRK and China were very worried, after all, the country could not be without a king for a day, otherwise it would cause greater variables. In this emergency, the then Empress Dowager ordered Zhu Qizhen's eldest son, Zhu Jianshen, to ascend the throne as emperor, a move that once again caused controversy among the hundred officials, because Zhu Jianshen was only two years old.
Zhu Jianshen couldn't manage the government himself, so he urgently needed an assistant minister, and after careful consideration, Zhu Qizhen's younger brother Zhu Qiyu was selected to become this role. Although the nominal emperor is Zhu Jianshen, the actual ruler is Zhu Qiyu.
After Zhu Qiyu took office, the first thing he did was to severely punish Wang Zhen's henchmen who had changed the Tumubao Incident, and the second thing was to reuse Yu Qian, the secretary of the military department.
When Wang Zhen was in power, Yu Qian was often suppressed and troubled by him. In the eleventh year of orthodoxy, Yu Qian recommended Wang Lai and others, but was impeached by Wang Zhen on the grounds of "arbitrarily recommending private people to represent themselves, which is unseemly".
Wang Zhen's false accusations led to Yu Qian's death sentence, but after he was imprisoned for three months, he was finally rescued from prison thanks to the appeal of many ministers on his behalf.
After Zhu Qiyu took over the throne, some people suggested moving the capital to the south, but Yu Qian resolutely opposed: "Beijing is the cornerstone of the country, if you give it up, the people's hearts will be in turmoil!"
Although some people still insisted on moving south, Yu Qian angrily warned: "Anyone who proposes to move the capital will be severely punished and directly beheaded for public display!" After the Tumubao Incident, the number of guards in the capital was insufficient, and the combat effectiveness was low, and it was difficult to resist if the enemy attacked.
After careful consideration, Yu Qian suggested that troops should be sent to the north and south of Beijing and Henan and Shandong to support the capital in order to stabilize the people's hearts. After Zhu Qiyu assumed the imperial power, Wang Zhen's henchmen were unwilling to create an incident in the court, which made Zhu Qiyu panic.
At this time, Yu Qian pushed everyone away, supported Zhu Qiyu, and asked him to order to stabilize the people's hearts, and finally quelled a farce.
"The safety of the country depends on you alone, even if there are a hundred kings, they are not as good as you Yu Qian. His single-minded behavior for the country won Zhu Qiyu's deep trust.
Although Zhu Qiyu was ordered to supervise state affairs, the state of Beijing was still bad, and Zhu Qizhen, who was revered as the Emperor Taishang, was still under the control of the Warats, and the worst thing was that the Warats' ambitions were not just to capture the Ming Emperor, their real goal was to capture the city of Beijing.
In order to protect the city of Beijing, Zhu Qiyu was re-appointed as the commander of the defense of Beijing. After Yu Qian received the order, he immediately took action to recruit soldiers, and the reserve troops prepared in advance from all over the country also rushed to Beijing.
Soon after, under the leadership of Yu Qian, the city of Beijing quickly assembled 200,000 elite soldiers. It was not enough to have enough soldiers and horses, Yu Qian also mobilized the people of the capital to repair and protect the city walls together, and ordered the prefectures and counties to transport a large amount of grain in case of emergency.
At the same time, he urged craftsmen to work day and night to make armor and weapons. A month later, the leader of Warat also led a large army to attack the city of Beijing. Yu Qian ordered the generals to lead 200,000 troops and personally supervise the battle.
When he came first, he also brought the captured Zhu Qizhen in an attempt to threaten the Ming Dynasty.
Yu Qian's tenacious perseverance and excellent resourcefulness frustrated Yexian's offensive plan. He also attacked Beijing City many times, but failed to succeed, but was ambushed at Deshengmen and Xizhimen, and returned defeated.
In the end, he had no choice but to hold Zhu Qizhen hostage and return to his territory. Yu Qian's wisdom and courage successfully defended the city of Beijing and won an important battle for the Ming Dynasty.
Yu Qian successfully defended the city of Beijing, which made Zhu Qiyu very happy. As a result, he was given the title of Shaobao and was given the right to manage the military affairs of the whole country. Under her leadership, the Ming Dynasty, which had been in decline, began to show signs of recovery.
Yu Qian also strengthened the border defense of the city of Beijing, making it impossible for the invasion of the Warat army to succeed. However, Warat still tried to use Zhu Qizhen to negotiate peace with Yu Qian. Some ministers in the imperial court also put forward suggestions to take Zhu Qizhen back, but this caused Zhu Qiyu's dissatisfaction.
Although Zhu Qiyu became the emperor under the pressure of the situation, he had already enjoyed the power of the emperor and was unwilling to give up easily. So, Yu Qian found Zhu Qiyu and said: "Your Majesty, now that the country is peaceful and the overall situation has been decided, it's time to bring Ming Yingzong back." ”
"Do you want me to return the throne to Zhu Qizhen?" Yu Qian shook his head, "You have misunderstood, now the people only agree that you are the only emperor, even if the Emperor Taishang returns, it will not have any impact." ”
Zhu Qiyu listened to Yu Qian's explanation and thought that it was not wise to leave Zhu Qizhen in Warat, so as not to make the world laugh, so he agreed to Yu Qian's request to take Zhu Qizhen back.
However, the two of them did not expect that this seemingly wise decision would lay the groundwork for their death.
Zhu Qizhen once thought that he was just going out to fight a small battle, but when he finally returned to Beijing, he found that the world had undergone earth-shaking changes. He lamented the impermanence of fate and Zhu Qiyu's hospitality.
It is said that Zhu Qiyu personally waited for his return in Dong'anmen, and the two brothers held hands and looked at each other, with tears in their eyes, and exchanged pleasantries.
Although it may seem like a cordial greeting on the surface, only the person concerned can understand the true feelings involved. After the apparent brotherly harmony, Zhu Qiyu ordered Zhu Qizhen to be sent to Nangong, a remote and grassy place.
However, for Zhu Qizhen, who had spent a hard time in Warat, as long as there was a place where he could shelter from the wind and rain, it was already good, not to mention, he had his queen by his side.
Zhu Qiyu claimed that he was letting Zhu Qizhen recuperate in Nangong, but in fact it was to imprison him. He arranged for many skilled brocade guards to guard around Nangong, and usually the food could only be delivered through a small hole, and Zhu Qizhen could not communicate with the outside world at all.
In order to prevent anyone from trying to rescue Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Qiyu decided to cut down the trees near Nangong so that anyone who tried to rescue had nowhere to hide. In the second year after Zhu Qizhen's return, the courtiers proposed to worship Zhu Qizhen on New Year's Day, but Zhu Qiyu was resolutely opposed and always wary of Zhu Qizhen, because Zhu Qizhen was the rightful heir to the throne, and he was forced to ascend the throne to "catch ducks on the shelves".
After spending seven full years in Nangong, Zhu Qizhen tried to escape several times, but all failed. However, on the seventeenth day of the first month of the eighth year of Jingtai, things changed dramatically.
Before the change of seizing the door, Zhu Qiyu's physical condition deteriorated. When he was seriously ill, Wu Qing waited for Shi Heng to find Xu Youzhen, the imperial historian of the Zuodu who was good friends with him, and Cao Jixiang, the great eunuch, and the three of them conspired together to conspire a shocking conspiracy.
Shi Heng told them about Zhu Qiyu's illness and put forward his own ideas: "Let the emperor make the crown prince again, it is better for us to support the emperor to restore the throne, so that the three of us can become supportive and will enjoy endless glory and wealth!"
Xu Youzhen and Cao Jixiang are both ambitious people, and they think that Shi Heng's suggestion is feasible, so the three join forces and start the operation to block and seize the door. They came to the Nangong where Zhu Qizhen was imprisoned, but the Nangong was extremely strong and difficult to break.
Shi Heng asked people to bring a huge log and use it to vigorously slam the gate of Nangong. Zhu Qizhen, who was inside, mistakenly thought that Zhu Qiyu had sent someone to kill him, and panicked for a while. When Shi Heng and the others saw Zhu Qizhen, he knelt on the ground and shouted: "Welcome to the Emperor Taishang's reinstatement!"
Zhu Qizhen understood what had happened, and he asked the names of Shi, Xu, Cao, and others to show his gratitude for their support. Then they walked to Fengtianmen together and invited Zhu Qizhen to the throne of the emperor.
At that time, all the ministers were waiting outside the noon gate, but when they entered the Fengtian gate, they found that the emperor had changed people. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
Xu Youzhen saw that everyone was stunned, so he shouted: "The emperor has been reinstated!" Zhu Qizhen then told everyone that Zhu Qiyu could not continue to be the emperor because he was seriously ill.
Hearing Zhu Qizhen say this, the ministers all understood, and they knelt down to salute Zhu Qizhen.
When Zhu Qiyu was seriously ill, a door-grabbing change was successfully carried out, but at this time, Zhu Qiyu may still be lying on the sickbed and not waking up. After Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne for the second time, the first thing he did was to add officials to the coup plotters, and at the same time liquidate Zhu Qiyu's confidants, including Yu Qian.
Yu Qian was not treated well by his colleagues in the court with his upright character, and he was too much used by Zhu Qiyu, which made many people resentful of him. Therefore, those who have a grudge against Yu Qian, as well as those who have nothing to do with him, have fallen into the ground, and even framed him for having the intention of rebellion.
Zhu Qizhen was imprisoned in Nangong for many years, and when he heard others say that Yu Qian was guilty, he also thought that Yu Qian was guilty, so he desperately sent him to prison and sentenced him to death. However, this was not enough to satisfy Zhu Qizhen, and he ordered his son to be sent to the frontier and not to return to Beijing for life.
After Yu Qian was executed by Zhu Qizhen, someone searched his house and found only some daily necessities and a sword weapon given by the emperor, and nothing else. Legend has it that on the day Yu Qian generously died, there was a haze and fog, and the wind gusted, and it seemed that even the heavens could not bear to see a good person suffer injustice.
Yu Qian was deeply loved by the people, and when he died unjustly, the people of the whole capital spontaneously mourned and cried endlessly. Although there were many people in the court who hated Yu Qian, there were also many who admired him.
After Yu Qian was beheaded, a minister took the risk of collecting his bones, sending them back to Hangzhou, where they were buried near the grave of Yue Fei, the famous anti-Jin hero.
After Zhu Qizhen's anger passed, he began to regret his actions. Shi Heng's henchmen succeeded Yu Qian as the secretary of the military department, and in just one year, he went crazy to accumulate money. Soon after, news came that there was a sudden turmoil in northern Xinjiang.
At this moment of internal and external difficulties, some people sighed: "If Yu Qian was still here, the enemy would not be so rampant!" After Zhu Qizhen heard these words, he was silent for a long time, and his heart was full of remorse.
He knew that the "change of seizing the door" was a serious violation of etiquette and religion, and that he was being taken advantage of by some people. There was a minister named Li Xian by his side, and one day he summoned Li Xian and asked, "Shi Heng has made a big mistake, and I plan to be lenient, what do you think?"
Li Xian shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, Shi Heng and the others' minds are not above board, you have been deceived. Emperor Jing was seriously ill that year, and the ministers jointly asked you to reset the throne, which was a justifiable practice.
What's more, the crown prince of Emperor Jing has passed away, and the future prince must be your eldest son, why do you need to launch a 'change to seize the door'?" Since then, Zhu Qizhen has ordered that all history books no longer use 'seize the door' to describe the coup, but to 'restoration'.
Shi Heng, who masterminded the coup, died in prison, Xu Youzhen was stripped of all official positions and exiled, and Cao Jixiang was executed soon after for treason. In the first year of Chenghua, Yu Qian's son was pardoned and returned to Beijing, and the first thing he did after returning to Beijing was to write a letter to avenge his father.
Zhu Jianshen of the Ming Xianzong restored Yu Qian's former official position and sent envoys to worship him. In the second year of Hongzhi, Zhu Youjiao, the filial piety of the Ming Dynasty, gave Yu Qian a very high honor, named him the Guanglu doctor, and gave him the construction of the ancestral hall.
Later, in the Wanli year, Yu Qian was changed to 'Zhongsu'. ”
There is a famous saying in Yu Qian's "Poems on Entering Beijing": "The breeze goes to the sky with both sleeves, so as not to speak short and long." He never bowed to the powerful, was not afraid of being framed by traitors, and insisted on his innocence.
His spirit is like a fresh breeze, which can bring a fresh feeling to people at all times. His poem "I am not afraid of broken bones, I want to leave my innocence in the world!" shows his firm belief and noble character.
"Qiongzhou Leaves a Style, Benefiting the People and Promoting Fame" is a book about Xue Yuan, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty in Hainan, co-authored by Xing Man and Liu Yunxia, and published in 2019. In addition, "Five Thousand Years of China" is a history book written by Yang Yanli, which was released in 2018.
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