Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 229 The Truth of the Tumubao Incident (Part )

Zhu Youtang's words stunned Zhou, and then she laughed so hard that tears came out.

"Haha, the Gate-Snatching Incident, what a fresh term."

"It was decided that Emperor Yingzong would be restored to the throne first, and then Zhu Qiyu suddenly fell seriously ill."

"The so-called coup d'état was nothing more than a farce hastily staged by a few anxious officials who wanted to gain the credit of following the emperor."

"Whether Emperor Yingzong seizes the throne or not, his restoration is a foregone conclusion."

"Zhu Qiyu didn't have many days left to live, and no one could take away the throne from His Majesty Yingzong."

"what?"

Zhu Youtang frowned, full of confusion.

And this thing?

This was the first time he heard this statement.

"Where did this come from?"

Zhou thought for a moment and said, "It should start from the third year of Jingtai, when Zhu Qiyu abolished my Shen'er's position as crown prince and made Zhu Jianji, the son of Prince of Qin, the crown prince."

"In April of the third year of Jingtai, Huang Xuan, the commander of Guizhou, who had committed a crime and was imprisoned, tried to please Zhu Qiyu."

"He just submitted a petition in prison, requesting a change of crown prince."

"In order to smoothly change the crown prince, Zhu Qiyu bribed a group of ministers in the court and conferred the title of four crown princes' Grand Tutors, four crown princes' Grand Preceptors, seven crown princes' Grand Protectors, and three crown princes' Junior Tutors on the crown princes."

"It was only by giving him money and promotion that he finally made his son Zhu Jianji the crown prince."

"But Zhu Qiyu forgot that there is another Empress Dowager Sun in the harem."

"Empress Dowager Sun has been in charge of the harem for decades. How could Zhu Qiyu possibly defeat her?"

Speaking of Empress Dowager Sun, although she had passed away many years ago, Zhou's face was still filled with respect and awe.

"Although Shen'er was my son at that time, I lived in Nangong with Emperor Yingzong and had no power at all."

"And Shen'er is not only my son, but also the grandson of Queen Mother Sun. Changing the crown prince would be the greatest loss to Queen Mother Sun."

"If Shen'er inherits the throne, then Empress Dowager Sun will be the Grand Empress Dowager. There is no need to explain her status."

"But if Zhu Jianji succeeds to the throne, she will be nothing."

"So in the second year after Zhu Jianji became the crown prince, he died suddenly without any warning."

"From then on, Zhu Qiyu never gave birth to another offspring."

"In the seventh year of Jingtai, the queen died suddenly."

"In the eighth year of Jingtai, Zhu Qiyu also suddenly became seriously ill and was dying."

When Zhu Youtang heard this, he felt a chill in his heart and sneered, "So you learned all this from Sun."

Zhou's face darkened and she remained silent.

Zhu Youtang was still puzzled: "But even with Sun's support, she can only be in charge of the harem."

"Even this is not enough to support the restoration of Emperor Yingzong, right?"

Zhou nodded: "You are right, Queen Mother Sun alone is indeed not enough."

"But what if we add another person, Wuqing Marquis Shi Heng, who holds military power, to support us?"

"Shiheng?"

Zhu Youtang frowned. He had no impression of this person.

"Shi Heng was originally a deputy governor of Datong Prefecture. After the Battle of Tumu, Shi Heng was transferred from Datong to the capital by Yu Qian."

"Shi Heng took over the defense of the capital with the troops from Datong."

"After the defense of the capital, Yu Qian and Shi Heng began to integrate the troops in the capital."

"They changed the three major camps in the capital, which were originally controlled by the Five Military Commandery, into ten camps, and appointed Shi Heng as the admiral and general to control the troops of the ten camps."

"Yu Qian served as the Minister of War and assisted in military affairs."

"In this way, the nobles in the Five Military Commandery have become just a decoration, just like the cabinet."

"The political and military power is entirely in Yu Qian's hands."

"In the eighth year of the Jingtai reign, when Zhu Qiyu was seriously ill, all the civil and military officials in the court began to prepare for Zhu Qiyu's funeral."

"At the same time, they have also begun to plan their own escape route."

"The most important point is that Zhu Qiyu has no descendants. So who should inherit the throne after his death?"

"Yu Qian, Wang Wen, and the eunuchs around Zhu Qiyu want to make Zhu Qiyong, the son of Prince Xiang Zhu Zhanji, the emperor."

When Zhu Youtang heard this, he couldn't help but sneer.

"The Emperor Emeritus and the former Crown Prince are both in the capital. Yu Qian wants to welcome another Emperor from outside?"

"There is no such rule in any dynasty."

Zhou nodded: "Yes, Yu Qian and others did everything they could to prevent the throne from returning to Emperor Yingzong's hands."

"Because they knew in their hearts that once Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, they would be liquidated."

"But even though Shi Heng was a military commander, he knew that supporting Zhu Qiyong to become emperor would face too much resistance and be too unrealistic."

"So Shi Heng decisively betrayed Yu Qian and returned to Emperor Yingzong."

"Shi Heng was in control of the defense of the capital at the time. The nine most important gates of the capital were all under his control." "In the palace, Empress Dowager Sun had the final say. With their cooperation, there was no risk of Emperor Yingzong's restoration."

Zhu Youtang suddenly realized: "So when Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, Yu Qian did not resist, but because he could not resist?"

"That's right." Zhou nodded. "Almost all the civil and military officials who stood on Yu Qian's side at that time turned to Yingzong."

"Especially because of Shi Heng's betrayal, he was unable to mobilize the troops of the Tenth Battalion in a short period of time."

"After Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, Yu Qian, Wang Wen and Yang Jun, who participated in the Battle of Tumu, organized the defense of the capital and prevented Emperor Yingzong from returning to the capital, were all purged by Emperor Yingzong."

"Yu Qian's entire clan was exterminated, Yang Jun was stripped of his title and imprisoned, and Wang Wen's entire family was executed."

"At the same time, Emperor Yingzong built temples for Wang Zhen and Yesen and sent people to offer sacrifices every year."

"The reason why Shi Heng was not killed was not because he had helped Emperor Yingzong to restore the throne, but because he held military power."

"In the fourth year of Tianshun, Emperor Yingzong used a series of political means to gather military power and re-centralize power in the hands of the emperor."

"Shi Heng and his clan were still executed by Emperor Yingzong, leaving no one alive."

After hearing this, Zhu Youtang had a full understanding of the ins and outs, causes and consequences of the Tumu Incident.

Before this, TV dramas and marketing accounts always only described the Battle of Tumu in detail, but were vague about the causes and results.

After listening to the entire account of the Battle of Tumu, Zhu Youtang suddenly became clear-headed and felt refreshed.

Finally, Zhu Youtang asked the last question.

"Since Yang Hong was the mastermind behind the Tumu Fortress Incident, why didn't Emperor Yingzong liquidate Yang Hong's clan after he was restored to the throne?"

"It was liquidated, but... there was no time to clean it up."

Zhou patiently answered Zhu Youtang's doubts: "After the defense of the capital, Yang Hong came to the capital with 50,000 cavalrymen."

"He was conferred the title of Marquis of Changping by Zhu Qiyu and stayed in the capital as the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu."

"In the second year of Jingtai, Yang Hong died of illness. Zhu Qiyu, as a duke, buried Yang Hong in the West Mountain outside Beijing and erected two steles."

"But in the seventh year of Jingtai, when Zhu Qiyu had just fallen ill, Yang Hong's son Yang Jun secretly moved Yang Hong's coffin out and reburied it elsewhere."

"After Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, he ordered people to dig up Yang Hong's tomb. When they opened the coffin and mutilated the body, they found that there was no coffin of Yang Hong in the tomb."

Zhu Youtang immediately clenched his fists and asked, "Where was Yang Hong's body moved to?"

Zhou shook her head: "I don't know."

"Later, when Emperor Yingzong was preparing for a purge, Empress Dowager Sun launched the Caoshi Rebellion and regained military power."

"The cleansing matter has come to nothing."

Zhu Youtang fell silent and did not speak for a long time.

Now, everything is clear.

It is time to settle accounts with those officials who played various roles in the Battle of Tumu.

Not only do we need to purge the officials this time, but we also need to purge those people that Emperor Yingzong did not purge back then!

Zhu Youtang wanted to investigate the incident going back forty years, including all the officials involved and their descendants.

Let’s settle new and old grudges together!
Zhu Youtang recalled the entire Tumu Incident and felt deeply moved.

"I never thought that the Tumu Incident was caused by Emperor Yingzong building a ship to sail to the West."

"It seems that at that time, everyone in the court, from the civil and military officials in the capital to the local gentry and nobles, did not want Yingzong to return safely."

"I want to see what kind of magic there is in sailing to the West that can make these southern nobles so crazy!"

"I have decided to open the sea immediately and sail to the Western Ocean again!"

"I will complete what Emperor Yingzong failed to accomplish!"

When Zhou heard Zhu Youtang's words, she showed a look of horror.

"No!"

"In fact, everything can still be discussed, but going to the Western Ocean is a taboo for the southern nobles, and it must not be touched!"

"Two emperors have already died while sailing to the West. I will give you one last piece of advice!"

"If you still want to rule peacefully, don't ever mention sailing to the West again!"

Zhu Youtang was not frightened by Zhou's words. Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly and looked into Zhou's eyes with a serious face.

"What do you mean by that? What do you mean by two emperors died because of the voyage to the West?"

"Which two emperors died? How did they die?!"

Zhou shook her head, as if unwilling to say more on this issue: "Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xuanzong, as for how they died, I... I don't know either."

Emperor Taizong, Emperor Xuanzong...Zhu Di and Zhu Zhanji!
Zhu Youtang was not at all surprised that Zhu Zhanji was murdered.

Zhu Zhanji was only 36 years old when he died. In October of the ninth year of Xuande, he was still patrolling the northern border and came back in good health.

Two months later, in the first month of the tenth year of Xuande, he became seriously ill and passed away.

The cause of death was not recorded in the Veritable Records of Emperor Xuanzong.

Because it only took two months for the emperor to die from his vigorous life, even if you asked Yang Shiqi to make up a story, he couldn't come up with a reasonable one, so he simply left it blank.

But Emperor Taizong Zhu Di led troops in battle for decades and fought the Jingnan Campaign which was unprecedented and will never be repeated.

He had a firm grip on military power and remained in the army until his death.

Could it be that this emperor on horseback was also killed by someone?
Isn't this too sensational?!
(End of this chapter)