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Shortly after the Han Wang Rebellion, Zhu Zhanji's first son, Zhu Qizhen, was born. At this time, Zhu Zhanji was nearly 30 years old when he had his first son. In addition, the son was born to his favorite concubine, Concubine Sun Guifei, so Zhu Zhanji wanted to make his son the eldest son.

He forced Queen Hu Shanxiang to resign the throne on the grounds of poor health, and instead made Concubine Sun the Queen and Zhu Qizhen the Crown Prince. If Zhu Zhanji knew what his son would do when he grew up, he would probably regret his impulsiveness.

After the expansion of territory during the Hongwu and Yongle reigns, the surrounding situation had stabilized during the Renzong and Xuanzong reigns, and Annan, which had been in constant rebellion, was abandoned by the Ming Dynasty. In terms of domestic affairs, the cabinet system was gradually improved, the eunuchs became more involved in politics, and the political system of the Ming Dynasty began to take shape.

When he was 33 years old, Zhu Zhanji ordered Zheng He to sail again on the grounds that many foreign tribes did not come to pay tribute. During the return voyage, Zheng He died of overwork in Calicut on the west coast of India. The number of people recorded on the seventh voyage to the West was as many as 7.

This was the last voyage to the West during the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, in order to reduce unnecessary expenditures, Zhu Zhanji ordered the cessation of timber harvesting, issued a lenient relief order, reduced disaster relief for merchants, relaxed horse policies, and exempted all kinds of corvée and recruitment.

Farmers were exempted from taxes and labor service for a year, the court stopped purchasing, and the prison law department was used to reduce prison sentences. The people were able to rest and recuperate, live and work in peace, and Zhu Zhanji was happy to have some free time, so he started raising crickets in the palace. Later generations called him the Cricket Emperor.

On the 1435th day of the first lunar month in 37, the -year-old Zhu Zhanji was too ill to attend court, so he ordered his officials to pay homage to the Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen in the Wenhua Hall. After Zhu Zhanji's death, his will left all state affairs to the Empress Dowager Zhang.

At that time, there were rumors in the outer court that Empress Dowager Zhang wanted to make Prince Xiang the new emperor. Grand Secretaries Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong led hundreds of officials into the palace to ask for an audience with Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen. Empress Dowager Zhang immediately announced in the Qianqing Palace that Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen would be the new emperor.

The eunuch Wang Zhen who taught the prince to read stepped onto the political stage, which also laid the groundwork for the Ming Dynasty's decline in the future.

[The merits and demerits of the famous war god Zhu Qizhen, understand the life of Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Qiuyu in one breath. Zhu Qizhen in the history of the Ming Dynasty]

Why did the saintly grandson Zhu Zhanji give birth to a great war god Zhu Qizhen in the Yongle era? After the reign of Renxuan, the Ming Dynasty encountered an unprecedented crisis. Zhu Qiyu, a son of a commoner who had always been ignored, reused Yu Qian to save the situation. However, the grievances between the two brothers were far more than that. The common dramas in the feudal dynasty were staged again in the Ming Palace.

In this video, let us take a look at the life story of the brothers Zhou Qizhen and Zhu Qiyu.

When the first son of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Zhu Zhanji, was born, Zhu Zhanji was very happy and named him Zhu Qizhen and made him the crown prince. In order to make Zhu Qizhen the legitimate eldest son, Zhu Zhanji forced his wife Hu Shanxiang to resign as queen and give the throne to the crown prince's biological mother, Concubine Sun.

Soon after, a palace maid named Wu gave birth to Zhu Zhanji's second son, Zhu Qiyu. Compared with Zhu Qizhen, who was trained as an heir since childhood, Zhu Qiyu's childhood seemed obscure. After all, one was a prince destined to inherit the throne, and the other was just an ordinary prince.

However, no one could have imagined that the two brothers would eventually become emperors, which triggered a series of fierce political struggles. The root of all this can be traced back to Zhu Zhanji's untimely death.

In the first month of 1435, Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji passed away, and the Ming Dynasty hurriedly began a national mourning. The 8-year-old crown prince Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne and changed the reign to Zhengtong. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty before Zhu Qizhen, except for the missing Emperor Jianwen, all ascended the throne after a lot of hard work.

Zhu Yuanzhang started his business from scratch, Zhu Di competed for the position, Zhu Gaochi experienced the Jingnan Campaign and fierce competition for the throne before he became emperor. Zhu Zhanji also followed Zhu Di to the northern desert.

As the saying goes, "When God wants to confer a great responsibility on a man, he must first make his heart and mind suffer, and his muscles and bones work hard." Zhu Qizhen neither suffered any hardship nor worked hard, and yet he became emperor at the age of 8. Was this a good thing or a bad thing for the Ming Dynasty?

In the early days of Zhu Qizhen's accession to the throne, due to his young age, daily government affairs were handled by the cabinet. Zhu Qizhen spent all day reading and playing in the palace, and was very fond of the eunuch Wang Zhen.

This aroused the vigilance of the Empress Dowager, who repeatedly reminded her grandson not to trust this eunuch. However, as the Empress Dowager and the cabinet elders passed away one after another, Wang Zhen's power grew. No matter whether it was noble relatives or civil and military officials, they had to flatter Wang Zhen in order to keep their official careers. When Zhu Qizhen grew up, he believed in Wang Zhen even more.

When he was 23 years old, the Oirat Grand Master Yesen went south to attack the Ming Dynasty. Under the instigation of Wang Zhen, Zhu Qizhen wanted to learn from his great grandfather Zhu Di's military expedition to the north of the desert, so he ordered 50 troops to be dispatched and led the expedition in person. No one expected that this expedition would be the biggest disaster since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. When the Ming army reached Datong, Wang Zhen heard that the front line had been defeated and wanted to turn back.

Due to the long journey and insufficient logistical supplies, the soldiers were exhausted. If someone attacked at this time, the Ming army would probably collapse. Unfortunately, the Oirat army had been following the Ming army, and Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen were still unaware of it. When they arrived in Xuanfu, Yesen launched an attack. Zhu Qizhen sent Chengguogong Zhu Yong to lead the army to stop them, but the whole army was annihilated.

Soon after, the Ming army was completely defeated by the Oirat at Tumubao, and all the accompanying civil and military officers died in battle. One general tried hard to kill the culprit Wang Zhen before he died in battle, but it was too late. Emperor Zhu Qizhen was captured, and the three most elite camps were also annihilated.

The news was passed back to BJ, and the court was shocked. At such a critical moment, Empress Dowager Sun still wanted to keep her son's throne, and issued an order to make Zhu Qizhen's 3-year-old son Zhu Jianshen the crown prince. Yu Qian and other ministers strongly demanded that Zhu Qizhen's younger brother Zhu Qiyu should be enthroned to deal with the national crisis. Empress Dowager Sun finally agreed to let Zhu Qiyu ascend the throne, and respected Zhu Qizhen as the emperor, while Zhu Jianshen remained the crown prince.

At this time, the leader of the Oirat tribe, Yesen, took Zhu Qizhen hostage and headed for Beijing. Along the way, he tried to use Zhu Qizhen to call for the city gates to be opened by the Ming army. Unexpectedly, Zhu Qiyu was well prepared and ordered the garrisons in various places not to open the gates for the emperor. Zhu Qiyu appointed Yu Qian to reorganize the military, strengthen the city, and mobilize the soldiers and civilians in the city to prepare for war, so as to make sufficient preparations before Yesen arrived.

Yesen was originally complacent and thought that the Ming army was already vulnerable. He did not expect that after he arrived at the gates of Beijing, he could not break through any gate of Beijing with only 3 people, and fled in panic within less than a month. The victory of the Beijing defense war made Yu Qian famous in history and also made Zhu Qiyu's reputation reach its peak.

However, before Zhu Qiyu could be happy for long, some people in the court began to suggest that the emperor be brought back as soon as possible. Zhu Qiyu did not say it on the surface, but in his heart he did not want Zhu Qizhen to come back.

After Yu Qian's persuasion, Zhu Qiyu reluctantly sent envoys to negotiate with Wala. In 1450, the retired emperor Zhu Qizhen returned from Wala. A year had passed since the Battle of Tumu, and the Forbidden City in Beijing had changed its owner.

As soon as Zhu Qizhen came back, he was placed under house arrest in the Nangong Palace, and no one was allowed to visit him. Although the history books say that Zhu Qiyu was very unkind to his elder brother and made things difficult for him, Zhu Qizhen's life in the Nangong Palace was far from as difficult as the history books described. According to historical records, Zhu Qizhen had three sons and three daughters in his youth in the Nangong Palace, and they were all well taken care of.

In ancient times when infant mortality was extremely high, all six children grew up. From this perspective, Zhu Qiyu did not treat the emperor harshly in terms of material treatment. However, it was still a big blow for Zhu Qizhen to go from being an emperor in high esteem to being a nominal emperor, which also laid the groundwork for Zhu Qizhen's revenge on Zhu Qiyu's family in the future.

In 1452, Zhu Qiyu, despite opposition from his ministers, forcibly deposed Zhu Qizhen's eldest son Zhu Jianshen from crown prince to king, and made his only son Zhu Jianji the crown prince. He also deposed his original wife, Queen Wang, and made the crown prince's biological mother, Concubine Tang, the queen.

Not long after, Zhu Jianji died, and Empress Tang died of grief. Zhu Qiyu buried him in Tianshou Mountain with the ceremony of an empress. After that, the voices in the court calling for Zhu Jianshen to be reinstated as the crown prince became stronger and stronger, but Zhu Qiyu turned a deaf ear to them and placed his hope on having another son.

Five years later, Zhu Qiyu was seriously ill. Shi Heng, Xu Youzhen and others rushed into the Nangong Palace to welcome the restoration of the retired emperor Zhu Qizhen after receiving the handwritten edict of Empress Dowager Sun. More than 5 days later, Zhu Qiyu died at the age of 20. Zhu Qizhen executed Yu Qian and Wang Wen, who were favored by Zhu Qiyu, abolished Zhu Qiyu's imperial title, and buried him in Jinshan, BJ with the ceremony of a prince. At the same time, he ordered all of Zhu Qiyu's wives and concubines to be buried alive with him.

The deposed Queen Wang escaped the disaster because she interceded for the crown prince Zhu Jianshen, and was driven back to live in Zhu Qiyu's palace. The early deceased Queen Tang was not so lucky, and her tomb was destroyed by Zhu Qizhen's men.

In 1464, Zhu Qizhen died at the age of 38. Before his death, Yingzong abolished the cruel system of burying people alive with the dead, which became one of the few good policies in Zhu Qizhen's life.

After ascending the throne, Ming Xianzong, who had changed his name to Zhu Jianshen, treated his stepmother Wang well and restored Zhu Qiyu's imperial title. Wang eventually died during the Zhengde reign at the age of 80 and was buried with Zhu Qizhen.

——"If Zhu Qiyu had a son, Zhu Qizhen would never have been able to become emperor, and Zhu Qizhen rebelled against his own son."

——"It's not like he doesn't have a son. The second son must have been murdered. At that time, Queen Mother Sun was very powerful."

——"Let alone the crime of killing Yu Qian, he deserves to be cursed by future generations for the rest of his life."

——"If it were Zhu Qiyu, the Ming Dynasty would have fallen into the hands of Zhu Qizhen."

[Understand the savior of the Ming Dynasty in one breath - Yu Qian History Ming Dynasty Yu Qian]

He was not afraid of being torn to pieces, but wanted to keep his innocence in the world. He was a national hero who could be compared with Yue Fei. He stepped forward to save the country and the people in times of crisis, but he could not save himself.

He was upright and honest throughout his life, loved the people like his own children, and left behind the allusion of "two sleeves clean", but was hated by villains and died unjustly. Why did the Ming Dynasty go from prosperity to decline? Why couldn't the former prime minister Yu Qian save himself? In this video, let us walk into Yu Qian's life in chronological order.

Yu Qian was born in Enduo Ancestral Hall Lane, Shangcheng District, HZ City, ZJ Province. His grandfather was the director of the Ministry of Works in the early Ming Dynasty. Yu Qian studied hard since he was young and admired Wen Tianxiang very much.

When he was 7 years old, an old monk once told him that the prime minister in the past was also in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty. The monk industry is a profession that produces many talents. Not to mention that Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was a monk, there was a famous black-robed prime minister Yao Guangxiao in Yu Qian's era. Although the old monk's name was not recorded in history books, his words planted the ambition to save the country and the people in the heart of young Yu Qian.

At the age of 24, Yu Qian passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. Five years later, Han Wang Zhu Gaoxu rebelled. Yu Qian, as an imperial censor, followed Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji to suppress the rebellion, ushering in the first highlight of his life. Although Han Wang had the ambition of his father Zhu Di, he was far less powerful than Zhu Di. When the emperor led his army to the city, he was immediately frightened and took the initiative to open the city and surrender. Ming Xuanzong sent Yu Qian to count the crimes of Han Wang.

Yu Qian sternly rebuked the King of Han for his rebellion, and scolded him so much that he could not raise his head. Emperor Xuanzong was very satisfied, and after returning to the army, he rewarded Yu Qian and sent him to Xuzhou to redress hundreds of unjust cases. Yu Qian was upright by nature and was an honest official. He solved the problems of the people wherever he went, and was deeply loved by the people.

In 1435, after Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty passed away, Crown Prince Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne. As Zhu Qizhen was too young to govern the country, all important court affairs were handled by the cabinet elders "Three Yangs".

The so-called "Three Yangs" refer to the three senior ministers Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Yang Pu, who were highly respected and valued Yu Qian. However, as the three Yangs died one after another, the eunuch Wang Zhen gained power in the government. Zhu Qizhen trusted Wang Zhen very much, and no matter whether it was nobles or relatives or civil and military officials, they had to flatter Wang Zhen in order to keep their official careers.

Yu Qian, who was upright by nature, did not want to curry favor with Wang Zhen, and never brought any gifts when he returned to Beijing to report on affairs. Tong Liao advised him not to offend Wang Zhen, but Yu Qian said, "I will go to heaven with clean hands to avoid gossip from the people."

Wang Zhen was filled with resentment when he heard about this. It happened that there was an imperial censor with a similar name to Yu Qian who offended Wang Zhen. Wang Zhen mistook him for Yu Qian and sentenced him to death. Three months later, he realized that he had arrested the wrong person and released Yu Qian. After this disaster, Yu Qian did not change his upright nature. He comforted the refugees and provided relief to the people in the local area.

In 1448, the 51-year-old Yu Qian was recalled to Beijing to serve as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. The following year, the Oirat Grand Master Yesen invaded the south, and Wang Zhen encouraged Zhu Qizhen to lead an army of 50 to personally lead the expedition, but Yu Qian tried his best to dissuade him.

But the emperor was determined to attack the Oirat. In desperation, Yu Qian had to stay in Beijing to preside over the work of the Ministry of War. Facts proved that Yu Qian's opposition was very prescient. Due to Wang Zhen's blind command, the Ming army suffered an unprecedented defeat in Tumubao. The 50-man army was annihilated, Emperor Zhu Qizhen was captured, and the Oirat army took advantage of the victory to march towards the capital.

The news reached Beijing, and the court was shocked. Zhu Qiyu, the brother of Emperor Tianshun, Zhu Qizhen, immediately convened a court meeting and asked the ministers to discuss what to do next. Xu Youzhen advocated that the court should return to Nanjing first, and Yu Qian stepped forward and refuted loudly: "Anyone who talks about defending should be executed. The capital is the foundation of the world. If it moves, everything will be lost."

Zhu Qiyu suddenly realized and immediately agreed to hold on to Beijing, and let Yu Qian be responsible for the defense of Beijing to deal with the invasion of Wala. At this time, the people in Beijing were in panic, whether they were civil and military officials or residents, they all remembered the Jingkang Disaster three hundred years ago.