Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 248 This is the God of War of the Ming Dynasty!
"Bake...baked?"

Empress Ma was stunned when she heard what Zhu Yuanzhang said.

She originally thought that the matter would have reached its final conclusion when Zhu Gaoxu surrendered.

There will be no more surprises.

This less-than-honorable dispute has finally come to an end.

Who would have thought that the final result would be like this?
They actually roasted his own uncle!
"Zhu Zhanji went too far!"

Empress Ma couldn't help but speak up.

His uncle was no peaceful man either. After ascending the throne, he rebelled and was captured, but he still didn't behave. Zhu Zhanji wanted to kill him, which was understandable and foreseeable.

But this is, after all, his own uncle. Even if he is angry, he should still be given some dignity.

How could it be baked like this?
Doing this is far too callous!

In this matter, it seems that everyone is at fault, yet everyone also seems to have a reason to do so.

However, the final outcome was somewhat difficult for Empress Ma to accept.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, indicating that the girl was right.

He didn't comment much on this matter.

It can only be said that there have been far too many disputes surrounding the throne throughout history.

Before the throne, all notions of paternal love and filial piety, or brotherly affection and respect, have been distorted.

Fortunately, things weren't like that between me and Biao'er.

Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang... so many famous emperors, when it comes to their relationship with their crown princes, none of them are as good as me!
"After Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he was too young to rule in his own right."

With the help of Empress Dowager Zhang and the presence of many veteran officials left over from the Yongle era, such as the famous Three Yangs assisting in government, no major troubles have occurred in recent years.

Overall, the situation is trending towards stability.

Although in this situation, it is inevitable that the power of civil officials will increase and the power of military generals will decrease.

But this process is slow; it's not something that happens suddenly or overnight.

The situation suddenly accelerated in the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, when Zhu Qizhen personally led an expedition.

By this time, Empress Dowager Zhang, our granddaughter-in-law, and the three Yangs who assisted in governing during the Yongle reign passed away one after another.

As Zhu Qizhen grew older, he began to cause trouble.

For example, he favored the eunuch Wang Zhen.

He had a very good relationship with Wang Zhen, who was an extremely arrogant and domineering scoundrel.

To what extent? We erected a special iron stele inscribed with the rule that the harem must not interfere in politics, as a clear ancestral instruction.

When the fourth prince moved the capital, he brought this item to Beiping and placed it in a prominent position in the palace.

But in the end, it was ruined by the eunuch Wang Zhen.

When Zhu Yuanzhang spoke of this, a murderous aura emanated from him.
It's only because they're far apart that he would deal with this eunuch so thoroughly now!
Empress Ma was taken aback upon hearing this.

Wait... there are eunuchs this arrogant?
This was written by the founding emperor, Chongba, himself, declaring that the empress dowager was forbidden from interfering in politics.

But it was smashed by a eunuch!

It's truly ironic.

"What about Wang Zhen? Was he punished?"

Empress Ma asked, in her opinion, that such an important thing had been smashed by a eunuch.

No matter how powerful the eunuch was, the emperor should still punish him.

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head: "Life is good! They are still the same as always, favored by the emperor."

Our ancestor, damn it, is no match for a eunuch!
Pooh!
To treat him as our ancestor is the greatest disgrace and the greatest misfortune.

We don't have such unfilial descendants!

Zhu Yuanzhang said with obvious disdain.

"In the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign, Esen of the Oirat Mongols became increasingly restless and invaded the border."

The Northern Yuan royal court was destroyed by us. When the fourth prince was in power, he also defeated the tribes on the grasslands, causing them to fall apart and dare not provoke the Ming Dynasty.

However, more than 20 years had passed from the death of the fourth prince to the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong era.

Over the past twenty years, the Ming Dynasty has not been without warfare, but it has not engaged in any large-scale military campaigns or achieved any major victories on the grasslands.

Therefore, the landscape of the grasslands has changed again.

Those grassland tribes have become arrogant once again.

Under these circumstances, Zhu Qizhen decided to personally witness the event.

Furthermore, they chose Wang Zhen as their strategist.

They trusted Wang Zhen's words implicitly.

When Empress Ma heard that Zhu Qizhen was preparing to personally lead the expedition, she didn't have much of an opinion about it.

After all, whether it was Chongba or the fourth prince, they were both emperors on horseback.

It's a good thing that the emperor dares to fight.

But then, upon hearing that so many things were being discussed by Wang Zhen, a mere eunuch, his eyelids twitched.

I increasingly felt that something was not quite right.

She supported the emperor personally leading the expedition, but this is not how an imperial expedition should be conducted.

"Young people are full of passion. Who doesn't yearn to make achievements, drive out the barbarians, and show their power beyond the borders?"
We understand, and we support it.

However, the series of terrible things he did were truly not something a human being would do.

For example, the decision to personally lead the expedition was made in an exceptionally hasty manner.

Despite all opposition, he decided to personally lead the army, giving himself only three days to prepare before setting out with an army of over 100,000.

Empress Ma's expression changed drastically. Wasn't this utter nonsense?!

Although she was a woman and had never commanded troops, she had lived through the years of war and witnessed too many battles.

I have witnessed how Chongzhen used his troops.

Troops are not something you can summon at will, nor can you simply set out on a campaign.

"An army marches on its stomach"—this is no joke.

Small units aside, how can three days of preparation time be enough to gather so many troops?
From issuing the order to mobilizing troops and preparing weapons and provisions, it will take at least a month.

As a result, he only took three days?
Isn't this a joke?
Now, she suddenly understood why the military achievements of the Ming Dynasty had suffered such a great decline at this time...

"The army had just left the capital and had been traveling for a few days when it encountered continuous autumn rains."

In the north, autumn rains at that time of year bring a chill with each downpour.

The army left in a hurry; where would they have taken enough warm clothing and tents?

Wang Zhen and his men did not allow them to rest and marched in the rain.

This autumn rain alone caused chaos and suffering to the army, with countless soldiers dying and others falling ill.

With morale low, many people began to urge Zhu Qizhen to withdraw his troops.

Wang Zhen was furious and ordered these men to patrol the camp. He even made the Minister and others kneel in the rain for several hours.

Wang Zhen was truly incredibly powerful at that time.

This person began to distinguish himself in the fourth year of the Zhengtong reign, and was able to win the favor of the Empress Dowager and the regents, the Three Yangs.

At the same time, he gained Zhu Qizhen's trust and became increasingly lawless.

After the death of the Empress Dowager and other such people, the country was completely in a state of being unruly... Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to so arrogantly smash the iron stele we erected, and isolate the emperor and his court officials during the imperial expedition.

Even Zhu Qizhen's personal expedition was largely at Zhu Qizhen's instigation.

They traveled all the way to Datong, only to find that Datong had already been defeated.

After being informed of the danger by the eunuch in charge of the garrison, Wang Zhen finally realized the danger and ultimately made the decision to retreat to the capital.

Guo Deng, the military commander of Datong, suggested, through scholars such as Cao Nai, that they take a detour through Zijing Pass in the south to enter the capital in order to ensure the safety of Zhu Qizhen, but Wang Zhen did not listen.

He originally intended to take Zhu Qizhen to his hometown of Weizhou to bring glory to his family, but then regretted that the trip would trample on the crops in his hometown and changed his route to Xuanfu.

On the seventh day of the eighth month, Zhu Qizhen arrived in Xuanfu. Hearing that Esen had sent troops to pursue him, Kuang Ye twice wrote to him, requesting that he be driven into the pass quickly and that troops be prepared to defend the city.

Zhu Qizhen ignored him.

Kuang Ye personally went to the temporary palace to plead, but Wang Zhen angrily rebuked him: "You pedantic scholar, how do you know anything about military affairs? Speak again and you will die!"

On August 13th, just as Zhu Qizhen was about to leave Xuanfu, a scout reported that the Oirat cavalry were in hot pursuit. Zhu Qizhen ordered his troops to set up camp on the spot and sent Marquis Gongshun, Wu Kezhong, to cover the rear and repel the enemy.

However, he was killed by the Oirat people.

At dusk, upon hearing the news of the defeat, Zhu Qizhen dispatched Duke Cheng, Zhu Yong, and Earl Yongshun, Xue Shou, with 40,000 troops to meet the enemy. The entire army was annihilated at Yaoling…

Empress Ma jumped up from Zhu Yuanzhang's arms, completely flustered.

A mere eunuch has brought such calamity to the Ming Dynasty!

No wonder Emperor Chongzhen forbade the empress dowager from interfering in politics!
However, this was a problem not only for the eunuchs, but also for Zhu Qizhen!

On August 14, Zhu Qizhen arrived at Tumu Fort. It was not yet dusk. The ministers accompanying him suggested that they hold their ground in Huailai City, which was twenty miles to the south. However, Wang Zhen decided to station his troops there and wait for them, citing the more than a thousand carts of supplies behind them.

The camp was high up with no springs, and even after digging a well two zhang deep, no water was found. The soldiers, in a state of hunger and thirst, had lost all their fighting ability.

There are also records saying that this was not actually grain or supplies, but treasures looted by Wang Zhen.

Regardless of whether this is true or false, their subsequent response was utterly foolish!

On that day, the Oirat cavalry attacked from Mayukou, near Tumu Fortress. Although the defending general Guo Mao resisted for a whole night, it was to no avail.

On August 15th, Zhu Qizhen prepared to set off, only to find himself surrounded by 20,000 Oirat cavalry. The Ming army was unable to break through and could only wait for reinforcements.

At this time, the Ming army was exhausted and in a bad situation.

Along the Tumu Fort area, relying on grain carts, they set up their battle formation and were on high alert.

Even with such a formidable enemy at hand, they still have the strength to fight.

If the Oirats launch a strong attack, in this life-or-death situation, even if they manage to break through the Ming Dynasty's formation, they will still suffer heavy losses!
Faced with this situation, the Oirat Mongols devised a plan and sent envoys to feign peace negotiations.

Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen's side had already been thrown into disarray, and upon seeing this good news, they were overjoyed.

I agree immediately.

Therefore, the Wala army retreated.

Wang Zhen immediately ordered his troops to set off to find a water source and leave Tumu Fort.

It was at this moment that the Oirat army suddenly attacked. The Ming army, which was in disarray and out of formation, suffered heavy losses and was routed. They had no strength to resist.
According to records, the Ming army suffered more than half its casualties. Zhu Qizhen, who had been emperor since childhood and had always been fawned over, finally realized the reality after being severely slapped in the face.

He realized that it wasn't because of his own great ability, but because not everyone in the world would go along with him or cater to him.

Just because he is the emperor doesn't mean he can accomplish everything.

After his personal guards suffered heavy casualties, he didn't even bother to flee. Instead, he sat there and declared to the Oirat people that he was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and asked to see Esen.

The Ming Dynasty suffered heavy casualties in this battle, with more than fifty people dying, including Zhang Fu, the Duke of Ying.

His military achievements never recovered.

Empress Ma took a deep breath. Her fists clenched tightly together.

This battle was a truly unjust and frustrating defeat!
So many ministers and so many soldiers died so innocently and tragically.

Even the emperor was captured, what a disgrace!
If the Ming Dynasty is not strong enough, then defeat is defeat.

The key issue wasn't the incompetence of the soldiers, but the emperor and eunuchs' reckless actions, which led to the deaths of thousands of soldiers and resulted in this outcome!
This is truly unacceptable.

"That is the general situation regarding the Tumu Crisis."

There wasn't much controversy about it originally.

However, in later generations, there were many different opinions, especially on marketing accounts, which said even more outrageous things.

To frame this as a conspiracy.

The Tumu Crisis was said to be a massive conspiracy orchestrated by the civil service.

The aim was to seize imperial power and corresponding military power, so that the civil officials would have absolute authority.

Some even claim that Zhu Qizhen was framed by a group of civil officials and border generals, and then rescued by Esen of the Oirat Mongols who demanded tribute from him in the capital.

That's even more absurd.

During the reign of the fourth prince, despite the Ming Dynasty's illustrious military achievements, he still couldn't become an important figure from a large tribe on the grasslands, who would personally come to the capital to offer tribute.

Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, which decades later never used a large army against the grasslands and was instead harassed and plundered by them year after year.

What virtue or ability did they possess to warrant Esen personally coming to the capital to offer tribute?
As for being tricked and forced to seize power by the civil service group, that's also a case of shooting the arrow first and then drawing the target.

It's true that civil officials gradually gained power at that time, but their power wasn't that outrageous.

It's simply impossible to get so many civil officials to unite and do this kind of thing.

Not to mention, there were quite a few high-ranking civil officials who accompanied Zhu Qizhen on this expedition.

Except for a few who escaped back, most of them died at Tumu Fort.

How much dedication must these people have had to get involved, using so many of their lives to kill military officers and secure benefits for the rest of the civil officials?

They were so selfless.

If there were one or two people, they might actually do something like that.

If so many people can do that, then it's pure nonsense.

Even if we assume that all of this is true, who was the person who made the decision to personally lead the expedition and set out with such a large army in just a few days?

You can't exactly call him a civil official, can you?

Thinking about all this, Zhu Yuanzhang was both angry and amused.

shook his head.

With the development of the internet in later generations, various self-media marketing accounts have resorted to sensationalism.

They seized upon emperors like Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, and Emperor Taizu of Song, who were generally considered capable, and used a magnifying glass to find their flaws, as if they wanted to criticize and discredit them.

Instead, they kept praising Yang Guang and others.

The emperor who was recognized as capable only talked about his mistakes and not his achievements, using a few examples to undermine the whole picture.

People like Yang Guang only praised his merits and ignored his faults.

They seize on the smallest thing and exaggerate it to the extreme.

Otherwise, why would there be such a saying as the Ten Sages of the Net Temple?

The key point is that many people actually believe it.

And then there's myself, who's been targeted even more severely.

"Girl, do you know what Zhu Qizhen did later?"

……

In the darkness of night, someone knocked on Hu Weiyong's door...

(End of this chapter)