In July of the 14th year of the orthodoxy, the Wara people also invaded in large numbers. The eunuch Wang Zhen wanted to "make great achievements", so he encouraged Yingzong Zhu Qizhen's Yujia to conquer in person; Although Yu Qian tried his best to dissuade Yingzong, he did not listen. He made hasty preparations for three days before setting off. As a result, Yingzong was captured by the Oara people in Tumubao. For a while, the queen mother, queen and courtiers were all confused.
King Tan Zhu Qiyu, as the only younger brother of Yingzong, temporarily supervised the country, so he asked the ministers to discuss how to deal with it?
The minister said Xu Youzhen suggested moving to the south, citing changes in the astrology;
Yu Qian said sternly: " Anyone who suggested moving to the south should be killed! The capital is the foundation, and as long as it moves, big things will happen; have you all forgotten about the southern migration of in the Song Dynasty?"
"Those who suggest migrating south should be killed! The capital is the foundation of the world, and as long as it moves, great things will happen. Don't you see the story of the Song Dynasty's southward migration?"
Yu Qian is the main fighting faction, so he won With the support of his colleagues such as Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel Wang Zhi and Cabinet Bachelor Chen Xun King Zhu Qiyu also affirmed Yu Qian's statement and gave Yu Qian full responsibility for holding the capital.
It was precisely because Yu Qian fought the main battle instead of running away that the Ming Dynasty continued to live for 200 years, and was favored by Emperor Jing of the Ming Dynasty Zhu Qiyu (who ascended the throne because his brother Zhu Qizhen was captured). He cared about the country and the people, was an honest official, and never took credit for his pride, but he ended up being beheaded.
Yu Qian’s death can be said to be one of the biggest injustices in the 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty; but why did such a good official end up like this?
01 King of Han Zhu Gaoxu scolded him and trembled on the ground
Hongwu In the thirty-first year of the Ming Dynasty, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, died of illness, Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne; it was also in this year that Yu Qian was born in the Qiantang area of Hangzhou.
Although Yu Qian was not born into a wealthy family, he could still be regarded as a scholarly family. His great-grandfather Yu Jiusi was once the general manager of Hangzhou Road, so he moved from Kaoxian County, Henan Province to Qiantang County, Hangzhou; his grandfather Yu Wenming was the director of the Ministry of Industry during the Hongwu period, and his father never entered an official career.
Because of the influence of his family, Yu Qian has studied hard since he was young and has great ambitions.
Yu Qian has always had a role model to learn from, that is, Wen Tianxiang, who "has never died in life since ancient times, and his loyal heart will be remembered by history." In particular, Yu Qian admires Wen Tianxiang's integrity, and hangs Wen Tianxiang's portrait next to his seat to remind himself at all times to become a person with such integrity as Wen Tianxiang.
When Yu Qian was seven years old, a monk saw Yu Qian's appearance and was very surprised. He said, "This child will become the prime minister who will save the government!"
"This child will save the prime minister of the time."
Yu Qian's father did not want his son to enter the official career, but Yu Qian did not agree with his father's approach. He believed that becoming an official was the first step to realize his ideals and ambitions; Yongle In the 19th year of Yongle, Yu Qian passed the Jinshi examination and officially entered the official career.
It is worth mentioning that Yu Qian has a very strong ability in dealing with things, and his character is even more excellent. If he were to score, 99 points would not be too high. One more point is because he is afraid that Yu Qian will be proud.
In the first year of Xuande , as soon as Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji succeeded to the throne, Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han in Lezhou, Shandong, couldn't help himself and wanted to imitate his father Zhu Di and seize the throne of his nephew. Xuanzong decided to conquer Yuezhou in person. At this time, Yu Qian had been promoted to censor several times and had a foothold in the court. He followed Xuanzong to conquer Lezhou in person, and Xuanzong won without a fight.
King Zhu Gaoxu of Han is the second son of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, and is also one of Zhu Di's favorite sons. He followed Zhu Di early in the wars in the north and south, especially in the Battle of Jingnan and became famous. Because of his outstanding military exploits, he became the candidate for the crown prince supported by the generals. Unfortunately, he was not the eldest son. Zhu Di thought over and over again and did not make him the crown prince. Instead, he made his eldest son Zhu Gaochi (who was fat and very kind) the crown prince.
Xuanzong was still very kind. He did not execute the King of Han, but just imprisoned him. However, before imprisoning him, he found a censor to scold the King of Han. This censor was Yu Qian.
You must know that Zhu Gaoxu is a burly military general who has made great military exploits. He is capable of killing his own brother and is cruel. Yu Qian is just a scholar, and he does seem a bit weak.
However, Yu Qianyi righteously enumerated all the crimes of Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han, and Yu Qian's sharp and affirmative scolding made the king of Han unable to lift his head from being scolded. He lay on the ground and trembled, muttering "He deserves death."
Xuanzong was very satisfied with Qian's performance and directly ordered Yu Qian to patrol Jiangxi and redress hundreds of unjust cases.
It was precisely because of Yu Qian's excellent conduct and ability that Xuanzong valued him and believed that Yu Qian could be entrusted with important tasks, so he wrote down Yu Qian's name and handed it to the officials. Yu Qian was quickly promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of War, and patrolled Henan and Shanxi.
Yu Qian was only thirty-two years old this year. The reason why Yu Qian was promoted so quickly was not only the appreciation of Xuanzong, but also inseparable from the "Three Yangs". After all, veterans of the court like Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong were very knowledgeable, as Yang Shiqi said: "Yu Qian is a rare genius. He will definitely become a pillar of the imperial court in the future; I am just promoting him for the imperial court!"
There is one thing worth mentioning: after Xuanzong died of illness, Xuanzong's son Yingzong succeeded to the throne. Wang Zhen didn't bring any gifts to Wang Zhen every time he went to Beijing for business, so someone persuaded Yu Qian to bring some local specialties. Yu Qian shook his sleeves and said, "Only the breeze."
Silk handkerchief mushrooms and incense sticks are harmful to civilian use.
The breeze blows with both sleeves toward the sky,
so that Lu Yan won't have to talk too much.
02 Defending the Capital
Yu Qian despised Wang Zhen so much that Wang Zhen would not let him go. He tried his best to imprison Yu Qian and planned to execute him. When the people learned that Yu Qian was going to be executed, they all begged for Yu Qian. Even kings of Jin and kings of Zhou came to plead for mercy. Wang Zhen found an excuse to release Yu Qian, and Yu Qian was reinstated.
In the thirteenth year of Zhengtong, Yu Qian was transferred back to the capital to serve as the left minister of the Ministry of War.
A year later, the Walas invaded the Ming Dynasty in a large scale. Unexpectedly, for his own selfish reasons (Wang Zhen's idol was Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, and he hoped to be as successful as Zhu Di on the battlefield), he actually encouraged Yingzong to go to the battlefield himself. Yu Qian Although Yu Qian tried his best to dissuade him, Yingzong still went there resolutely.
Unexpectedly, Yingzong went with an army of 500,000 and was completely wiped out, and he himself became a prisoner in the hands of the Wala people. When the news came back to the capital, the courtiers were at a loss. For the time being, Yingzong's only younger brother King Zhu Qiyu acted as the deputy of the government. King Zhu Qiyu asked the ministers to discuss how to deal with it.
Some ministers suggested moving south, but Yu Qian firmly opposed it and roared: "Anyone who suggested moving south should be killed! " Yu Qian's roar directly woke up many people who were hesitant. , especially Wang Zhi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was the first to stand up to support Yu Qian, and slowly more ministers stood up to support Yu Qian. It was precisely because of the support of these people that King Zhu Qiyu made up his mind to "fight", and Yu Qian officially began to defend the capital.
Yu Qian was appointed as acting Minister of War before Yingzong's personal expedition. However, although Yu Qian was Minister of War, he had never led troops to fight. It is considered that was just a scholar going into battle. On August 17, 1449, Yu Qian held his first meeting to deploy the work of defending the capital.
Although most scholars who lead troops are "talking on paper", Yu Qian is indeed an extraordinary scholar. He has a thorough study of military art and is very good at arranging troops and formations.But the situation Yu Qian faced was indeed very bad:
The hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses that Yingzong Yujia took away during his personal expedition were the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty. Unexpectedly, the entire army was annihilated in Tumubao;
Those soldiers who were lucky enough to escape from the Tumu Fort described the Oara people as very powerful. Those soldiers who had never seen the Oara people were naturally more frightened when they heard their descriptions. What's even more troublesome is that although 郕王 Zhu Qiyu supports "war", he actually has no confidence in Qian. If he loses another battle, it is estimated that 郕王 Zhu Qiyu will change his mind and support moving south.
Therefore, the most important task for Qian is to stabilize the morale of the army. Yu Qian asked Zhu Qiyu to order that:
The Bei Cao Army in Nanjing and Beijing, Henan,
The Bei Japanese Army along the coast of Nanjing in Shandong,
The grain transport army in the prefectures in Jiangbei and Beijing,
were all immediately assigned to Shuntian Prefecture , and Yu Qian came to unified deployment. After some clearance arrangements, people's hearts began to slowly stabilize.
As the saying goes, "Before the soldiers and horses move, food and grass go first." Yu Qian naturally needs food and grass to defend the capital. In addition, if the capital is besieged for a long time, it will be even more necessary to store food and grass. In fact, there is enough food in Tongzhou, not far from the capital, to feed everyone in the capital for a year, but transportation of food is a problem.
Yu Qian ordered, "All troops must pass through Tongzhou before entering Beijing. The soldiers can pick up their own food and transport it directly to the capital." In this way, the problem of transporting food was easily solved.
As a result, the originally unstable capital became a fortress, and the Wala people's plan failed.
03 Eradicate the traitors
Although the eunuch Wang Zhen died in the Tumubao Incident, his followers are still there. Only by killing all his followers can the court be cleared and the ministers vent their anger.
On the 23rd of that month, the acting emperor Zhu Qiyu went to court as usual and said loudly: "If you have a memorial, you will retreat without one!"
Before Zhu Qiyu could finish his words, The Imperial Procuratorate The Imperial Envoy to the Right Capital Chen Yi reported to Zhu Qiyu: "Wang Zhen has caused harm to the country and the people, and has done many evil things, causing our emperor to be captured. Not exterminating the clan is not enough to appease the people, and the people are angry!"
The ministers agreed one after another. Zhu Qiyu didn't know how to deal with it for a while, so he decided to discuss it again, but the ministers resolutely refused.
When the stalemate reached a stalemate, Wang Zhen's party members and Jin Yiwei all commanded Ma Shun (who had done a lot of bad things and everyone knew it) to stand up and command the officials, while Zhu Qiyu remained silent, which directly angered the courtiers.
The Ministry of Household Affairs Wang Hong was the first to step forward, grab Ma Shun's hair and hit him hard. The ministers all agreed, and Ma Shun was scolded to death. Later, the two eunuchs Mao Gui and Wang Changsui were beaten to death directly.
As a courtier, it would not be a big deal if he was killed by the eunuch, but Ma Shun was the commander of the Jinyi Guards and was also responsible for protecting the emperor. Even the disposal had to be issued by the emperor.
Zhu Qiyu was so frightened when he saw the ministers looking like this that he wanted to run away, but Yu Qian was quick-sighted and rushed directly to stop Zhu Qiyu and said in a loud voice: "Your Highness (not yet the emperor at this time), Ma Shun and others are Wang Zhen's best friends, and they deserve to die." Death, His Highness the Qing Dynasty ordered all officials to be innocent!"
After Yu Qian's request, the ministers realized that if Zhu Qiyu did not give the order, the ministers who had beaten people would probably be arrested and questioned.
Wang Zhi, the Minister of Rites, was so moved that he grabbed Yu Qian's hand excitedly and said: " From now on, the Ming Dynasty will all depend on you. Even a hundred Wang Zhi can't handle today's situation!"
"The country depends on the public, what can a hundred kings do today!"
Because of this, Yu Qian's prestige in the court has become higher.
04 He had outstanding achievements but was killed by a traitor.
Although the capital was defended, the emperor was still in the hands of the Oara people. In order to make the Oara people's plan fail, with the support of Yu Qian, Yingzong's only younger brother King Zhu Qiyu was made the new emperor. Zhu Qiyu refused, but Yu Qian said: "We are completely considering the Ming Dynasty, not for personal plans!"
"I sincerely care about the country, not for personal gain!"
In this way, Zhu Qiyu reluctantly agreed, and Yingzong's status as emperor became invalid.
Later, he also saw that nothing could be pulled out of Yingzong, so he decided to negotiate peace with Ming Dynasty . Wang Zhen, the Minister of Rites, and others discussed bringing Yingzong Zhu Qizhen back, and he was already firmly seated as emperor. Emperor Mingjing Zhu Qiyu was unhappy and said: "I didn't want to be the emperor, but you pushed me to it."
Zhu Qiyu clearly meant that he was worried that his brother would take the throne back when he came back, but Yu Qian Said:
"The throne has been decided and cannot be changed. We just brought him back as soon as possible; if he really has any conspiracy, I have something to say."
Zhu Qiyu then agreed and asked Li Shi, Yang Shan and others to go and bring his brother Zhu Qizhen back. Of course, this can be regarded as Yu Qian's contribution.
Anyone who knows Ming history knows that after Zhu Qizhen returned, he was imprisoned in Nangong by Zhu Qiyu for seven years.
In the first month of the eighth year of Jingtai, it stands to reason that Zhu Qiyu should go to to worship , but he was already too ill to go. What made Zhu Qiyu even more chilled was that the ministers not only did not care about his own health, but instead wrote to him to choose the best candidate for the crown prince. After all, Zhu Qiyu did not have a son to inherit the throne.
Zhu Jianshen (Zhu Qizhen's son) was originally the prince, but Zhu Qiyu deposed the prince's position and made his son the prince. Unfortunately, he did not sit on the prince's position for long and died young. This was Zhu Qiyu's only son.
Zhu Qiyu was unable to go to worship, so he ordered General Shi Heng to go. However, Shi Heng had become the enemy of Yu Qian and Zhu Qiyu; Shi Heng, Xu Youzhen (who supported the southward movement and was on the opposite side of Yu Qian), Cao Youji and others launched the Nangong Incident and freed Zhu Qizhen who had been imprisoned in Nangong for seven years.
The process of Zhu Qizhen's return to the throne was very smooth. After all, Zhu Qiyu was seriously ill and had no son to inherit the throne. The courtiers naturally "welcomed" Zhu Qizhen's return to the throne.
After Zhu Qizhen returned to the throne, he was given the title of "hero":
Xu Youzhen was directly admitted to the cabinet and promoted to Minister of the Ministry of War
Shi Heng was named Zhongguo Gong
Cao Jixiang was named the eunuch of the ceremony and the governor of the three camps.
This was the day when Xu Youzhen locked up his enemies Yu Qian and Wang Wen. Xu Youzhen wanted to seize the opportunity to retaliate against Yu Qian and others; not only that, Xu Youzhen also arranged for his cronies Xu Bin and others to join the cabinet, completely controlling the cabinet and government power.
Xu Youzhen initially thought that as long as he had the power, he could easily kill Yu Qian, but later he realized that it was not an easy task , because he had no reason to kill Yu Qian.
Yu Qian was a cool man with a high prestige. It was really difficult to find fault with Yu Qian. There was really no excuse; but Xu Youzhen soon thought of a way:
Yu Qian was one of the main ministers who recommended Zhu Qiyu, and he was also Zhu Qiyu's confidant. The one Zhu Qizhen hated the most was his younger brother. Xu Youzhen took advantage of this and fabricated a lie, saying that Yu Qian intended to invite an out-of-town vassal king to come to Beijing to take over the throne , and firmly opposed Zhu Jianshen (Zhu Qizhen's son) to succeed to the throne.
Soon after, Yu Qian and Wang Wen, who were in prison, learned of their charges - to establish a foreign vassal. Wang Wen was very angry when they learned that they wanted to defend themselves; Yu Qian remained motionless and smiled and said to Wang Wen: "This was Shi Heng's instigation. What's the use of defending?"
It was indeed as Yu Qian said. Although there was no evidence, Yu Qian and Wang Wen were convicted and executed.
05 Nothing was found after the house was ransacked, and the Queen Mother cried for several days when she learned that Yu Qian was killed. The next step was to ransack the house; this made it difficult for the Jinyiwei who ransacked the house, because there was nothing in Yu Qian's house, except daily necessities, and no extra money, let alone gold and silver.
They probably didn't expect that the family of a first-class official in the dynasty would be so poor.
But Jinyiwei found a locked room in Yu Qian's house. They thought it was a place where gold and silver treasures were stored. When they opened the door, they saw two things displayed in the room: python robe and a sword . This was given by Zhu Qiyu in appreciation of Yu Qian's merits. Unexpectedly, Yu Qian locked them up directly and never showed off.
Jin Yiwei, who ransacked his home, restrained his arrogant attitude and left Yu Qian's home quietly.
Zhu Qizhen killed Yu Qian unjustly, but Empress Dowager Sun did not know about it at first. Empress Dowager Sun was able to withstand this mess in the capital because of Yu Qian's credit. When she learned that Yu Qian had been killed, Empress Dowager Sun cried for many days.
Only then did Zhu Qizhen know that Yu Qian had been unjustly killed, and he regretted it very much. Especially after learning about Xu Youzhen's conspiracy, he repeatedly asked Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang: Why did they fabricate lies to frame Yu Qian?
Shi Heng was really forced to have no choice but to shift the responsibility to Xu Youzhen: "I don't know, Xu Youzhen asked me to say that."
Zhu Qizhen kept shaking his head and sighing when he heard Shi Heng's words, but Zhu Qizhen still did not clear up Yu Qian's grievances, but handed the task to his son Zhu Jianshen.
Eight years later, as soon as Zhu Jianshen succeeded to the throne, he issued an edict to clear Yu Qian's grievances, and recalled Yu Qian's son Yu Mian to the capital.
Conclusion
Thousands of times tempered the deep mountains
The fire burns as if it were easy
Shattered into pieces and the bones are not afraid
You must remain innocent in the world
This song " Lime Song" was written by Yu Qian, and it is exactly a portrayal of his life.
It is a pity that the loyal minister did not meet the Ming army, so he was executed on an unfounded charge. It was not worth it.
Without Yu Qian, the history of the Ming Dynasty might have been shortened by nearly 200 years. It was precisely because of Yu Qian that he stood up and defended the capital when the Ming Dynasty was in crisis, so that the Ming Dynasty could survive the disaster and save the lives of countless people.
What I admire even more is:
Although he is a high-ranking official, he has been honest throughout his life, and it is really admirable that he can survive the mire without getting stained!
It’s a pity that it’s so painful to die!
