Text: Fisherman on the River (WeChat public account reading history columnist)
As we all know, there were sixteen emperors in the Ming Dynasty, in addition to zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor who was buried in the Xiaoling Tombs in Nanjing, and the Jianwen Emperor who was unknown in the Battle of Jingnan, there was also one emperor who was not buried in the Ming Tombs, he was Zhu Qiyu, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Qiyu was the second son of Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji of Ming Dynasty and the half-brother of Emperor Mingying of Zhu Qizhen, and was made the Prince of Qi by his elder brother at the age of seven. If there were no accidents, he should have been a king of the clan in such a quiet way for the rest of his life, but the "change of the earth fort" changed his fate.
The matter should start from Zhu Qiyu's brother Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, the emperor who ascended the throne at the age of nine and pro-government at the age of sixteen. He has no ability to handle political affairs, but he has a set of disasters to the country.
In the fourteenth year of orthodoxy, the Wallachian Division also led troops to invade the Ming Territory first, and Emperor Yingzong, despite the obstruction of his courtiers, insisted on the imperial conquest at the instigation of his trusted eunuch Wang Zhen. Therefore, he hurriedly set up his 2-year-old son Zhu Jianshen as crown prince, ordered his younger brother Zhu Qiyu (朱祁钰) the Prince of Qi to stay in Beijing, and then set out with Wang Zhen with an army of 500,000.
However, halfway through the army, it heard the news of the defeat at the front. Wang Zhen immediately panicked, hurriedly ordered the army to retreat, and when he withdrew to Tumu Fort, he was finally caught up by the Wala army, and with the lack of grain and grass, the Ming army was surrounded by the Wala army and beaten.
In this battle, Ming Yingzong was captured by Wa Lai, and 500,000 Ming troops were completely destroyed.
When the news reached Beijing, there was a cry of mourning and panic among the people. And the Wallachian master also kidnapped Ming Yingzong and killed him in Beijing.
At this critical moment, the ministers headed by Shangshu Yuqian of the Bingbu Department considered that the crown prince Zhu Jianshen was only 2 years old and could not handle state affairs, so he asked the empress dowager Zhang Shi to issue an edict that Zhu Qiyu would take the throne and change the name to Yuan Jingtai, known as Emperor Ming of Ming. He also honored Emperor Yingzong as Emperor Taishang. Since then, Zhu Qiyu began his eight-year imperial career.
The first thing Emperor Daizong did when he ascended the throne was to veto some of the ministers' proposal to move the capital, and entrusted Yu Qian with the heavy responsibility of organizing the defense of Beijing.
After yingzong was captured first, it was called a proud one, your emperors have all been captured by me, what else are you resisting? They should all cry and shout and beg me to release your emperor!
Haha, as soon as I thought that I could immediately step on the whole Daming under my feet, I smiled and closed my mouth.
However, when the Wallachian army first reached the city of Beijing, it was also dumbfounded. What did the Ming Army want to do? Saying that you are good to kneel and beg to return your emperor, why don't you play your cards according to the routine? Don't you want an emperor?
Seeing that the entire city of Beijing had no intention of surrendering, and still defended to death, the vanguard troops sent before were also defeated by the Ming army, and they also felt that they could not fight hard, and felt that they had to be wise.
Therefore, he also sent someone to the Ming army first and said, "We don't have to fight a war, and if we are angry and rich, do you want to consider redeeming your emperor?"
I also thought that the Ming Army would send Yu Qian's senior generals out to negotiate, and then take the opportunity to capture them, then attacking Beijing would not be effortless! However, Yu Qian saw through Ye Xian's conspiracy and did not agree to the negotiations, and while strengthening his defenses, he sent emissaries to see Yingzong, saying such righteous and awe-inspiring things as "the society is important, and the king is light", brainwashing Yingzong in various ways and appeasing Yingzong.
Seeing that this plan could not be achieved, he finally decided to launch a large-scale attack, but he was always suppressed by the Ming army and could not move forward.
In short, the Ming army seemed to have opened the hanging and abused the Wallachian army in various ways. Seeing that the city of Beijing could not be attacked for a long time, the Qin Wang army from all over the Ming Dynasty was rushing to Beijing again, and they were afraid of being attacked by the enemy, and finally decided to retreat, along with Ming Yingzong, who had returned to the doorstep.
The battle to defend Beijing has finally come to an end. Later, Emperor Ming dynasty reused Qian and others, and rectified and reformed the political, economic, and military aspects of the Ming Dynasty, and the society gradually stabilized.
At this time, the Wala people are not happy in their hearts, but they cannot let you live so peacefully. So Vala let out a message, saying that he wanted to let Yingzong go back.
Hearing this news, Daizong's heart actually refused, although it was my brother, if he came back to compete with me for the throne, I still wished him a lonely old age in Vala.
In the face of the various upper performances of the group of courtiers, Daizong was very uncomfortable in his heart, it was I who defended Beijing and saved the society, and now you are shouting one by one to take my brother back. Do I have to give him back the throne with both hands?
However, due to the high call for yingzong to be returned, Daizong finally compromised and sent someone to pick up Yingzong. Then, Emperor Yingzong and Emperor Daizong cried at Dong'an Gate in Beijing, and staged a touching drama of brothers reuniting after a long absence. Then, Emperor Yingzong was sent to the Nangong under house arrest by Emperor Daizong, and no one was allowed to visit. Because he was afraid that Emperor Yingzong would contact his old subjects, he tried to restore him.
There is brotherhood, but people's hearts are unpredictable.
After settling his brother and consolidating his throne, Emperor Daizong began to worry about his son's future again. People always have selfish intentions, and Emperor Daizong saw that he had sat on the throne firmly, and in the future he would have to return the throne to his nephew, the current crown prince Zhu Jianshen, and his heart was very unhappy. He thought: If I depose Zhu Jianshen and make my son Ji Ji the crown prince, then the throne will be passed on in my vein from now on.
However, considering that the hasty change of prince would arouse the dissatisfaction of the courtiers, Emperor Daizong decided to first test the senior eunuch Jin Ying in the palace. One day, Emperor Daizong pretended to inadvertently ask Jin Ying: "The second day of the first month of July is the birthday of the crown prince, right?" "In fact, this is the birthday of Emperor Daizong's son, Ji Ji.
Jin Ying sensed Emperor Daizong's intentions and immediately said, "Emperor, you remember correctly, the crown prince's birthday is the second day of the first month of November." This is the birthday of Yingzong's son.
Daizong wanted to test Jin Ying's reaction with this, but he touched a nose of ash.
Despite this, Daizong did not want to give up easily. There have always been all kinds of hints to the courtiers, and it is bribery and threats. In the end, the courtiers acquiesced to Emperor Daizong's claims under duress and inducements. Therefore, after three years of Jingtai, Emperor Daizong finally announced the abolition of Zhu Mishen as the King of Yi and the establishment of Zhu Miji as crown prince. Since then, Daizong has finally breathed a sigh of relief, and no one can take my throne again!
However, the good times did not last long, and Zhu Jianji died in the second year of his appointment as crown prince, which dealt a very heavy blow to Emperor Daizong. In order to make Ji Ji crown prince, he did not hesitate to depose Empress Wang, who was strongly opposed to this matter, but he did not expect that this child was so blessed.
The position of prince was suspended, and the voices of hundreds of officials were endless. Guizhou Dao Inspector Yushi Zhongtong once said: "When the crown prince dies, he knows where the destiny of heaven lies." The implication is that Zhu Qiyu, you should not change the crown prince, look, your son did not have the life of a prince. Emperor Daizong was furious when he heard the news and sent Zhong Tong to prison.
Although Emperor Daizong's only son died, he still did not want to restore Zhu Mishen as crown prince, because he was still unwilling, thinking that he was young and would definitely have a prince in the future. However, God has given him little time.
At the beginning of the eighth year of Jingtai, Emperor Daizong suddenly fell ill, and for a time the whole court began to be turbulent, and the issue of the crown prince began to be discussed.
When Daizong saw that it was not up to you, he announced with illness: I am in good health and can go to the court tomorrow.
However, Shi Heng and Xu Youzhen, who learned of Emperor Daizong's true condition, and others, for the sake of the future road and also for meritorious service, led people to break into the Nangong Palace at night, snatched Yingzong out, and at five o'clock in the morning, they supported Emperor Yingzong and announced that "The Emperor Taishang was reinstated".
The melon-eating ministers who did not know the truth entered the palace one after another to worship Yingzong.
When Emperor Daizong heard the news of Emperor Yingzong's restoration, he acted very calmly. I guess I know that I can't get it back.
On the day of Emperor Yingzong's restoration, he imprisoned Emperor Daizong's important vassal Yu Qian and others, and at the same time abolished Emperor Daizong's imperial title, demoted him to the position of King of Qi, and put him under house arrest at the Yong'an Palace in Sinechi. Emperor Yingzong also instigated Shi Heng and others to execute Yu Qian and others who supported Emperor Daizong for treason.
A month after Yingzong's restoration, Emperor Daizong died, the cause of death is unknown. At this time, it was not surprising that the Ying Sect sent people to poison him, after all, his throne was leaked from his brother, and later he put his brother under house arrest and bullied his nephew. Emperor Yingzong eventually buried him as a prince in Xishan, Beijing. As a result, Emperor Daizong became the only emperor who was not buried in the Ming Tombs after the Ming Dynasty moved its capital to Beijing.
How sad, a good emperor who had made great contributions to the society, but because of selfishness, he ended up like this. His imperial title was still that of his nephew who had deposed him as crown prince, and was later restored by Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu Mishen. The temple name of Daizong was not added until the Southern Ming Hongguang period. At this point, he was equal to other emperors of the Ming Dynasty in terms of etiquette, and his historical merits were more known.
Why bother, if he had honestly let his brother's son become the prince, even if there was a restoration of Emperor Yingzong, he would not have ended up with such a rebellion!