Many people think that the Ming Dynasty had far more foolish kings than the Qing Dynasty . This is not entirely true, but it also makes sense. Emperors like Jiajing Zhu Houcong , Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun , Emperor Carpenter Zhu Youxiao and Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian are actually considered mediocre kings, but the biggest fatuous emperor in the Ming Dynasty is Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen.
was ridiculed by netizens as "Zhu Qizhen, the God of War of the Ming Dynasty" because of his various misdeeds. So, did Zhu Qizhen, the Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, commit a grave crime and become the eternal sinner of the Ming Dynasty? We can look at his life.
01 Zhu Qizhen was born in the most powerful era of the Ming Dynasty
Zhu Qizhen was born in 1427 and was the sixth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. His father was Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, his great-grandfather was Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, and his great-grandfather was Zhu Yuanzhang . Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne in 1435. At that time, it had been 67 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Thanks to the efforts of four generations of kings, the Ming Dynasty's national power reached its peak.
When he became emperor, the configuration of civil servants and generals left by his grandfather and father were actually top-notch.
In the early days of his succession, there were three Yang ministers assisting the government. Sanyang is the "Three Yang Cabinet" composed of Yang Rong, Yang Pu, Yang Shiqi. During their tenure as assistant ministers, they stabilized border defenses, rectified official administration, and developed the economy, so that the national power of the Ming Dynasty continued to develop along the track of its peak. After San Yang's death, he was assisted by Yu Qian and other famous ministers. It's just that San Yang was proficient in internal affairs but not military. The three of them made the Ming Dynasty's border defense increasingly relaxed.
As for generals, there are also talents. Grand Master Ying Gong Zhang Fu, Taining Marquis Chen Ying, Prince Consort Jingyuan, Pingxiang Bo Chen Huai, Xiangcheng Bo Li Zhen, Sui'an Bo Chen Xun, Xiuwu Bo Shen Rong, and Governor Liang Cheng, Wang Gui, Wang Zuo, Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, Kuang Ye, Minister of the Ministry of War, etc.
So, when Zhu Qizhen was in power, the Ming Dynasty was the most powerful empire in the world, with hundreds of thousands of militiamen, and was one of the most powerful countries in the world at that time. However, he is a prodigal son.
02 How prodigal is Zhu Qizhen? Civil Fort Change Loss of 52 national pillars
During the reign of Ming Yingzong, there were four Northern Expeditions. The first three Northern Expeditions were all great victories for the Ming army. At this time, San Yang passed away and the Empress Dowager Zhang passed away. No one could suppress Ming Yingzong.
When Mayor Zhu Qi was 22 years old, Wala invaded the border area. It was the 14th year of orthodoxy. Under the instigation of and Wang Zhen, Zhu Qizhen insisted on conquering the army himself. The emperor improvised a 200,000-strong army from near the capital, claiming to be an army of 500,000, and marched in person.
1449 The army did not arrive in Datong until early August. Wang Zhende reported that all front lines were defeated, and he was afraid to fight, so he ordered him to return. Returning to the Tumu Fort , Wang Zhen made random changes to the marching route and was overtaken by the Oala army. More than half of the soldiers were killed or injured, and more than 50 of his ministers were killed. Ming Yingzong was unfortunately captured after failing to break through, and Wang Zhen was furiously killed by General Fan Zhong. This is known in history as the "Tumu Fort Incident", which was a turning point in the Ming Dynasty's transition from prosperity to decline.
This battle can be said to be the most useless battle in the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Among the civil servants and generals who accompanied the expedition, fifty-two people died in the Tumu Fort incident alone. The British Duke Zhang Fu conquered Jiaozhi four times, and history said that he "captured the puppet king three times and conquered the southwest with great power". Such an outstanding general had no decision-making power when he went on an expedition with the army, leading to his tragic death at the age of 75. But Wang Zhen, who knew nothing about military affairs, was the deputy commander-in-chief of the operation.
What's even worse is that the Ming Dynasty's 200,000 soldiers suffered a tragic disaster, which caused the Ming Dynasty's northern defense line to completely collapse, which in turn triggered the Beijing Defense War. What's even more bizarre is that Zhu Qizhen set a new record for the emperor's capture, which almost led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty 200 years early.
03 The wrong things Zhu Qizhen did were all harmful to the country and the people.
And after Zhu Qizhen was captured, what he did was also very shameless.
After Ming Yingzong was captured, Wala also took him hostage and went to Xuanfu and Datong City to call his door. But Zhu Qizhen actually agreed to all of them for the sake of his own life. Datong guard Guo Deng refused to open the door, and Zhu Qizhen almost killed him after his restoration. Even in order to win Yexian's favor, Zhu Qizhen played and sang many times at the Wala people's banquet, which was very shameless.
And after took over and became , he also did many things that harmed the country and the people.
He did not seize the throne of Zhu Qiyu, but snatched the throne of his own son.
After the restoration of Zhu Qizhen, he killed the military heroes headed by Yu Qian, Fan Guang, Shi Heng, Shi Biao, which caused the Ming army to never recover its combat effectiveness. If it weren't for Yu Qian, the Ming Dynasty would have perished directly, but Zhu Qizhen ignored it and killed Yu Qian.
Wang Zhen caused the Tumubao Incident and was a sinner of the Ming Dynasty. However, after the restoration of Zhu Qizhen, he actually ordered the establishment of Jingzhong Temple for Wang Zhen to worship the souls of the dead. Isn’t this the same as not being able to tell the difference between a traitor and an adulterer?
And he was even more cruel to his own younger brother, Ming Dynasty Zong Zhu Qiyu. After the incident of seizing the door, Zhu Qiyu was placed under house arrest and soon died mysteriously. Yingzong gave him the posthumous title of "Rule", which was obviously an evil posthumous title. He hated his younger brother and wanted his concubine Tang Fei and others to be buried. Even Empress Wang of Daizong was ordered to die. It was the minister's plea that saved Queen Wang from death. But Zhu Qizhen raided Queen Wang's home.
In addition, he also handed over the Hetao Plain to the grassland tribes, which caused trouble many times. And he allowed the Jurchens in Jianzhou to grow stronger and raised tigers, causing harm to future generations.
In the books "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty" and "The Biography of the Female Doctor Ming Fei", Ming Yingzong was whitewashed and dressed up as a so-called good person. In fact, Zhu Qizhen was an incompetent and shameless emperor. Many of his behaviors are not much better than Zhao Gou . His whole life was one of disgrace.
