Chapter 343 Chapter 342 Yingzong Zhu Qizhen

In the first month of the tenth year of Xuande (1435 A.D.), Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji passed away. While taking care of his funeral, the ministers looked forward to the new king's arrival.A few days later, the 9-year-old prince ascended the throne. He was another new emperor of the Ming Dynasty—Zhu Qizhen, Emperor Yingzong. Although Zhu Qizhen became the emperor, he was still a naughty boy.Xuanzong also knew that even if his 9-year-old son ascended the throne, he would not be able to exercise imperial power and manage the country, so he left a will before his death, ordering the ministers to consult his mother, Queen Mother Zhang, for all major affairs of the country. Shi.According to the will, someone asked the Empress Dowager to listen to the government behind the curtain, but she refused.But in fact, all major court affairs must be informed to Mr. Zhang first, and then sent to the cabinet for decision and implementation.Due to Zhang's control, coupled with the senior scholars Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yang Pu and other experienced veterans in the Renxuan period presided over the government affairs, in the early days of orthodoxy, basically inherited the various policies of the Renxuan period, maintaining the The society is stable, and the government is running normally on the previous track.

However, under this calm surface, the eunuch Wang Zhen was quietly stealing power, interfering in the government affairs, and finally caused a catastrophe, causing Yingzong to be captured by Oala in the north. Wang Zhen was born in Yuzhou, Shanxi (now Yuxian, Shanxi).He is very good at flattering, so he won the favor of Zhu Qizhen, and the two are almost inseparable.When Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne, he promoted Wang Zhen to be an eunuch.The Supervisor of Rites was the most important of the 24 eunuchs' yamen in the court of the Ming Dynasty.It is in charge of all etiquette, criminal and various miscellaneous services in the imperial city, and more importantly, it manages memorials for the emperor, and approves and answers all official documents submitted by ministers and ministers on behalf of the emperor.The emperor's dictated orders were also recorded by the eunuch Bingbi, who was in charge of ceremonies, and then handed over to the cabinet to write an edict and issue it.The ambitious Wang Zhen has mastered such an important department, so he uses it deliberately to achieve his own goals.

From the founding of the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Yuanzhang to Xuanzong, the control of eunuchs was very strict. Wang Zhen knew this very well.Therefore, in order to consolidate his position, he flattered Yingzong while pretending to deceive his cabinet ministers.Every time Wang Zhen went to the cabinet to deliver an order, he pretended to be respectful.But secretly, they desperately formed cliques.Not long after Zhu Qizhen became emperor, the Empress Dowager ordered Wang Zhen and his civil and military ministers to parade outside Chaoyang Gate.The commander of the right guard of Longqing, Ji Guang, had a close relationship with Wang Zhen. Wang Zhen actually deceived all the ministers, falsely reported that Ji Guang was the number one in riding and shooting, and promoted him to be the governor.

With the increase of power, Wang Zhen gradually became a little presumptuous.The Empress Dowager often sent him to the cabinet to ask questions.Several times before Yang Shiqi made a decision, Wang Zhen made his own decision. Yang Shiqi was so annoyed that he did not go to court for 3 days in a row.When the Empress Dowager Zhang knew about it, she immediately summoned people to the side hall, pointed to five ministers and said to Yingzong: "They are all important and loyal ministers who have gone through several dynasties. All policies and decrees must be discussed with them. Unless the five people agree , it cannot be carried out.” She ordered Wang Zhen to be heard, counted his various irregularities, and ordered him to die.Before the words were finished, the knives of several female officers had already rested on Wang Zhen's neck.Wang Zhen's face turned ashen immediately, and his whole body trembled.Yingzong had never seen such a situation before, he was shocked, afraid and pitiful, and hurriedly knelt down to intercede for Wang Zhen. Although the five ministers were dissatisfied with Wang Zhen's actions, they knew that Wang Zhen was favored by the young emperor. In order to please the emperor and for their own future, they all knelt down.The empress dowager calmed down after pleading with everyone, and said sadly, the emperor is young, and he must not use such a man to harm the country, and let him be spared today for your sake.From then on, every few days, Empress Dowager Zhang sent people to the cabinet to inquire whether Wang Zhen had acted on his own without going through the cabinet. Once found, he would be punished.

Yingzong didn't take Empress Dowager Zhang's words to heart, and favored Wang Zhen even more.Seeing this scene, some people inside and outside the court either feared and succumbed to Wang Zhen, or followed his power, and took refuge in his sect, which made Wang Zhen more and more powerful. In the seventh year of Zhengtong (AD 1442), the Empress Dowager Zhang died of illness.Empress Xuanzong and Yingzong's mother, Sun, had no way to discipline her. Before that, Yang Rong had also passed away, and Yang Shiqi had already ignored court affairs because he was implicated by his son's murder. Among the "Three Yangs", there is only one Yang Pu left, but he is old and lonely.Wang Zhen has nothing to worry about anymore.

At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang saw that there were eunuchs in all dynasties who took advantage of their favorable position close to the emperor to interfere in the government and caused disasters, so he set many rules for eunuchs, such as not being allowed to read and write, not to be foreign ministers, not to exceed the fourth rank, etc. , and hung an iron plaque on the gate of the palace, on which it was written that "internal ministers (that is, eunuchs) are not allowed to interfere in political affairs, and those who foretell will be executed."Every time Wang Zhen saw this iron plate, he always felt cold on his back.As soon as Queen Mother Zhang died, Wang Zhen immediately took off the plaque under the banner of Emperor Yingzong, breaking the precepts of the Ming Dynasty and getting rid of his heart disease.

After the death of Queen Mother Zhang, Yingzong became more unrestrained.Under Wang Zhen's instigation, he only cared about playing and having fun, and he didn't care about the iron plate or the ancestral precepts, and all the court affairs were handed over to Wang Zhen.Once he monopolized power, Wang Zhen blatantly planted private parties and attacked dissidents.Of his two nephews, one was promoted to be the commander of Jinyiwei, and the other was promoted to be the commander of Jinyiwei.Anyone who offends him and does not respect him will be persecuted indiscriminately.Yushi Li Duo didn't kneel when he met Wang Zhen and was relegated to Tieling.Prince Consort Shi Jing just because he scolded his eunuch, Wang Zhen hated him for hurting his own kind, so he was arrested and imprisoned.Under Wang Zhen's despotic prestige, dukes and nobles often called Wang Zhen his father-in-law, and those who were afraid of disaster also scrambled to cling to him.Some even shaved off their beards, worshiped Wang Zhen as their father, and vowed to learn from Wang Zhen and never grow beards for life.Wang Zhen was only in his 30s at the time.

Not only did Yingzong turn a blind eye to Wang Zhen's domineering and domineering power, but he believed that Wang Zhen was loyal and a rare talent, so he favored him more and more.In the 11th year of orthodoxy, Yingzong rewarded Wang Zhen with platinum, treasures and other items as a reward. Praise and help, do your best, give advice, and benefit from reality." He sang a hymn for Wang Zhen. Yingzong's stupidity finally led to a catastrophe. At the same time that Wang Zhen was taking power, the Oala tribe in northern Mongolia gradually became stronger. The orthodox four-year leader Tuo Huan died, and his son also succeeded to the throne first. He took over the real power of Oara and began to expand its power.He first developed to the northwest, and set up Gansu province in the ninth year of Zhengtong.In the second year, he led his troops to attack Daowata, the king of Zhongshun, who was proclaimed by the Ming Dynasty, and gradually controlled Hami, an important road in the Western Regions.At the same time, he developed to the east and attacked the Sanwei of Wuliangha.Faced with this series of expansion and intrusion, Yingzong and Wang Zhen not only did not condemn or fight back, they never sent troops even when they were called for help.Gradually, Yexian's power expanded eastward to the Liaodong region, and westward to today's Xinjiang, Qinghai and other places, thus posing a threat to the Ming Dynasty.In this regard, people of insight in the Ming Dynasty sent advice to Yingzong one after another, reminding him to be vigilant against the rise of Wala.In the eighth year of orthodoxy, Liu Qiu, a bachelor of attendant lecturer, put forward 10 things that should be reformed in response to the bad governance at that time, the first of which was to prevent Wacha.However, after Wang Zhen saw it, he thought it was a condemnation of him, so he arrested Liu Qiu, and privately sent Jin Yiwei to command Ma Shun to kill him in prison.After four years of orthodoxy, Wala paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty every year.Perhaps this is also one of the reasons why Yingzong relaxed his vigilance.There are generally about 2,000 tribute envoys who come to pay tribute every year, but they often falsely report the number of people and falsely claim rewards.Wang Zhen always turns a blind eye and closes one eye to protect him.

In the 14th year of Zhengtong (AD 1449), he first paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty again. As usual, he actually sent 2,000 tribute envoys but lied about 3,000.I don't know why, Wang Zhen had a sudden whim, and asked the Ministry of Rites to give rewards according to the actual number of tribute envoys, and at the same time reduced the price of the horse by four-fifths on his own initiative.When the tribute envoy returned to Oala, he was also furious. He used the excuse that the Ming Dynasty had promised to marry the princess to his son and broke his promise. In July of this year, he raised troops and attacked the inland in four directions.

Due to the neglect of war preparations for many years, the Ming army outside the Great Wall was vulnerable, and the castles fell one by one quickly, leaving only one Datong city, which was completely surrounded and impenetrable.Reports of frontline defeats and emergencies reached Beijing frequently, sometimes as many as dozens of times a day.Yingzong panicked immediately. He first hurriedly dispatched 4 generals, including his son-in-law Captain Jing Yuan, to meet the enemy with 10,000 troops.But soon the whole army was destroyed.Yingzong had to find Wang Zhen and his officials to discuss countermeasures.

In order to seek credit and favor, the greedy Wang Zhen tried his best to persuade Yingzong to lead troops to fight Yexian.Yingzong was still the same as in the past, as long as Wang Zhen said something, he would no longer listen to anyone's words.He immediately issued an order to ask the eunuch Jin Ying to assist Cheng Wang Zhu Qiyu to stay in the capital, and Yu Qian, the Minister of the Ministry of War, to stay in Beijing to act as the minister.Civil and military officials such as Zhang Fu, Minister of the Ministry of War, Kuang Ye, Minister of the Ministry of War, Wang Zuo, Minister of the Ministry of Households, and Cao Nai, Zhang Yi, the cabinet bachelors, accompanied the conscripts. Yingzong and Wang Zhen regarded such a large-scale military operation as child's play. After only two or three days of preparation, they hurriedly led an army of 500,000 on July 16 and embarked on a difficult journey.The civil and military ministers who accompanied him were just decorations for Yingzong's majesty, and all military and political affairs were arbitrarily decided by Wang Zhen alone. He also pretended to be defeated when he learned of the Yingzong's personal conquest, and lured the Ming army to go deep. Yingzong led the army without any resistance.From Juyongguan, Guohuailai, to Xuanfu.On the first day of August, Yingzong led his troops into Datong.He still wants to continue to advance northward, and pursue it first.At this time, Wang Zhen's accomplice, Guo Jing, the eunuch guarding Datong who took his life by hiding in the grass, told Wang Zhen the truth about the fiasco at the front.Yingzong and Wang Zhen were terrified and at a loss, so they hurriedly decided to return to Beijing.At first, they planned to retreat from Zijingguan (northwest of Yixian County, Hebei today), so that they could pass through Wang Zhen's hometown, Weizhou. The hometown is proud of the ancestors.However, as he walked, it suddenly occurred to him that so many soldiers and horses passing through Weizhou would surely trample the crops in his hometown, so he was scolded by the villagers.At this time, the army had traveled more than 40 miles, but Wang Zhen ordered Yingzong to change the marching route, turned around and ran eastward to Xuanfu.Datong general Guo Deng learned of this situation and suggested that Yingzong still follow the original route, which would ensure a safe withdrawal, but Yingzong did not adopt it. He also first heard that Yingzong had retreated, and immediately sent a large cavalry team to pursue him day and night.The Ming army originally had more time to retreat calmly, but was delayed by changing the marching route, and was quickly overtaken by the Oirat cavalry.Although the troops in the rear of the Ming army fought hard again and again, it was difficult to resist the enemy and soon collapsed. On the thirteenth, Yingzong came to Tumubao under the escort of the Ming army who fought and retreated.Here is only 20 miles away from Huailai City, the correct command should quickly enter the city to garrison.However, Wang Zhen asked Yingzong to camp and wait in Tumubao because his more than a thousand transport vehicles had not arrived.Kuang Ye, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, repeatedly urged Yingzong to gallop into Juyongguan immediately and organize elite troops to cut off the rear.However, Wang Zhen withheld the memorial and did not report it.Seeing that the situation was very critical, Kuang Ye went straight to the palace and tried his best to ask Yingzong to enter the customs quickly.Wang Zhen scolded loudly: "Where do you know military affairs? If you dare to talk nonsense, your head will be cut off!" He ordered the soldiers to take Kuang Ye out.Yingzong was indifferent and let Wang Zhenshiwei.In this way, Yingzong missed his last chance.The next day, Tumubao was heavily surrounded by the catching up Wala army. The civil fortress is located on a high terrain and there is no water source. The soldiers dug down more than two feet and still could not find any water.The men and horses did not drink water for two days in a row, and the soldiers were hungry and thirsty.On the 15th, he also planned first, first pretending to send people to make peace, and commanding the army to retreat.Under such circumstances, peace was what Yingzong could not have wished for, and he immediately sent two Tongshi to follow the Oala envoys to negotiate a peace in the camp first.Seeing that Wala's retreat was true, Wang Zhen immediately ordered the camp to be moved to fetch water.As soon as the extremely thirsty Ming army heard the order to move the camp, they swarmed and immediately lost their formation. At this time, the Oirat cavalry who had been prepared seemed to descend from the sky, rushing towards the Ming army from all directions.The Ming army, which had been exhausted for a long time and had completely let go of its vigilance, was routed and rushed to flee. Yingzong's relatives led their soldiers to charge several times without success.Seeing that there was no hope of breaking through, he simply got off his horse and sat cross-legged facing south.An Oirat soldier caught him and wanted to strip him of his armor, but seeing his unusual clothes, he pushed him to meet Yexian's younger brother, King Saili.The majestic emperor of the Ming Dynasty became a prisoner in such a wimpy manner. After Yingzong was captured, the guard general Fan Zhong focused his anger on Wang Zhen. He shouted: "I will punish this thief for the sake of the world", and hit Wang Zhen with a hammer. Wang Zhen screamed and fell to death under the horse. In this battle, more than 50 senior officials, including Minister Yinggong Zhang Fu, Minister of War Kuang Ye, Minister of Household Wang Zuo, cabinet scholars Cao Nai and Zhang Yi, ministers Ding Ming and Wang Yonghe, who accompanied Yingzong to the war, all died in battle.The 500,000 troops led by Yingzong were almost all the elites of the Ming Dynasty, and they were almost completely buried. This incident is the famous "Civil Change" in Ming history.It became the turning point of the Ming Dynasty. After Yingzong was captured, the Oirat soldiers only saw his unusual attire at first, and did not expect to capture the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.Yingzong was first sent to King Saili's camp.King Saili asked him who he was, but he asked whether the other party was Yexian or King Boyan Timur Saili.King Saili was very surprised when he heard his words, and immediately told Yexian: "It is very strange that my subordinates have captured a person. Could it be the emperor of Ming Dynasty?" The Yihe envoy of the Ming Dynasty went to identify it, and it turned out to be Yingzong himself.Yexian was ecstatic, he never dreamed that he could capture the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, so he thought that the time had come to seek the reunification of the Yuan Dynasty.He imprisoned Yingzong and planned to use him to blackmail the Ming government. Yingzong's capture caused chaos in the Ming Dynasty, but the Empress Dowager Sun and minister Yu Qian resisted the idea of ​​fleeing from some people in the court, and established a new operating mechanism nervously and orderly.They first appointed Yingzong's eldest son, Zhu Jianshen, who was only two years old, as the prince, and let Yingzong's younger brother, King Zhu Qiyu, supervise the country and be the prime minister of state affairs.Soon Wang Zhen's buddies were eliminated, Beijing's defense was strengthened, and preparations were quickly made to meet Oirat.Then, in order to weaken Yingzong's role in the hands of Wala, civil and military officials jointly wrote to the Empress Dowager, asking to make King Yi the emperor.On September 6, Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne and became emperor, and changed his reign name to Jingtai.In order to take care of Yingzong's face, Yao respected him as the Supreme Emperor. This move really disappointed Ye Xian, but he still didn't give up.One month later, that is, three months after the civil engineering change, Oala made full preparations and hijacked Yingzong. In the name of sending Yingzong back to Beijing, the army went straight to Beijing.On October 11th, the Oirat army lined up outside Xizhimen, and Yingzong was placed in an empty room outside Deshengmen. At the same time, under the leadership of Yu Qian, the Ming army attacked bravely. After 7 days of fierce fighting, they were forced to leave camp and flee north on the 15th.Yingzong was also coerced away and had to stay in Wala, living a life of captive. He first wanted to capture Yingzong and then he could coerce the emperor to command the princes and achieve the goal of seizing the Central Plains.But now that the Ming Dynasty has established a new monarch, the trump card in his hand has lost its value.At this time, conflicts also arose within Oala, and Khan Tuotuobuhua privately sent envoys to present horses to the Ming Dynasty to discuss peace.At the same time, successive years of wars have also caused heavy casualties to the people of Wala, so they first proposed to make peace with the Ming Dynasty under such circumstances. Yingzong's younger brother, Zhu Qiyu, who had already become Emperor Jing, was unwilling to give up the throne, so he was very reluctant for his brother to come back.During the court meeting, Yu Qian persuaded Emperor Jing that the position of heaven had been determined, and sending envoys to Oala to welcome the emperor back would help eliminate border troubles.Emperor Jing was relieved when he heard that the throne would not be changed again, and immediately decided to promote Li Shi to be the right servant of the Ministry of Rites as the envoy, and Luo Qi, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple, to be the deputy envoy of Shaoqing. On the first day of the month, he set off for Wala to discuss peace. When Yingzong saw the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't wait to say, "You go back and report to the current emperor and ministers at home and abroad, and send people to welcome you as soon as possible."He also expressed his willingness to guard the ancestral mausoleum after returning, or to be an ordinary citizen. After Li Shi returned to Beijing, he also sent envoys to Beijing twice. After repeated negotiations between the two sides, the Ming Dynasty made many economic concessions, and Yexian finally decided to release Yingzong. On the 15th, Yingzong arrived in Beijing. Gathered with all the officials at Dong'anmen to welcome them, the two brothers met, held hands and wept, and after some pleasantries, Yingzong was sent to Nangong (now Nanchizi, Beijing), where he was imprisoned by his younger brother instead of being a prisoner "Prisoner". Yingzong, who was under house arrest, lived in Nangong for nearly 8 years. During this period, seeing his son Zhu Jianshen being replaced by Emperor Jing's son, and seeing his younger brother's throne being strengthened day by day, he could only lament.He thought to himself that this was the only way to live his life.But who would have thought that the world is impermanent, and overnight, he suddenly ascended to the throne of the emperor. It turned out that Emperor Jing abolished the original prince Zhu Jianshen in the third year of Jingtai, and made his son Zhu Jianji the prince.However, after just over a year, Zhu Jianji died young.Emperor Jing had only one son, and he was unwilling to pass the throne to Yingzong's son.Therefore, the opposition to the prince has been kept quiet.At this time, he was only in his 20s, and perhaps he thought that he would have a son in the future.Unexpectedly, in the first month of the eighth year of Emperor Jing (1457 AD), he fell ill.At that time, the date of the extremely grand annual ceremony of the suburban sacrifice was approaching. He supported his sick body and came to the Southern Suburb Zhai Palace. He summoned Wuqing Marquis Shi Heng to his bed and asked him to perform the suburban sacrifice on his behalf. Shi Heng, who has a double heart, sees that Emperor Jing is terminally ill and has no hope of recovery.As soon as he came out of the fasting palace, he found his fellow party governor Zhang Chewu, Zuodu censor Yang Shan, and eunuch Cao Jixiang to conspire to ask the Supreme Emperor Zhu Qi to restore the town so that he could be rewarded.Having made up their minds, they went to Taichangqing Xu Bin to discuss it again. Xu Bin believed that the completion of this matter would be of great merit, but he said that he was too old and powerless, so he asked them to discuss it with Xu Youzhen, who often had wonderful strategies.On the evening of the 14th, Shi Heng and others gathered at Xu Youzhen's home to discuss what to do.It was agreed that the incident would be carried out on the 16th day and night. Shi Heng and others secretly reported the plan to Yingzong the day before, and got Yingzong's acquiescence, so they split up the preparations. At this time, it happened that the frontier officials called the police, so Xu Youzhen decided to transfer some troops into the palace in the name of strengthening security to prevent accidents, and then went straight to Nangong, where Yingzong was imprisoned.After the army rushed to Nangong, they found that the door was tightly locked. Xu Youzhen ordered the sergeant to carry a giant log. Dozens of people lifted the log and smashed it against the door, but it still didn't work. Was able to rush into Nangong. Since Yingzong got the secret report, he didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse. He was looking forward to the arrival of the god of luck, and waited anxiously in anxiety.Hearing the knock on the door, he immediately appeared alone under the candle.After Xu Youzhen and others rushed in, seeing Yingzong immediately knelt down on the ground and asked him to come back to the throne in unison.Yingzong suppressed the surprise and panic in his heart and agreed to them. The sergeant embraced Yingzong to the Donghua Gate, and the guards guarding the gate ordered them to stop. Yingzong shouted loudly: "I am the Supreme Emperor." Seeing this, the guards did not dare to stop them.The crowd went all the way to Fengtian Hall, where the emperor listened to the court.Yingzong sat back in the seat where he had bid farewell for eight or nine years, and he was almost numb with excitement.Seeing that the great event had been accomplished, Xu Youzhen led all the soldiers to shout long live. On the 16th, Emperor Jing had informed the ministers to go to the early morning of the next day, and in the early morning of the 17th, the ministers waited in the court room early in the morning to prepare for Emperor Jing to come to court.Suddenly I heard the sound of shouting long live from the palace, and when I was in doubt, I heard the sound of bells and drums, and then the doors opened, Xu Youzhen came out and announced loudly that the emperor had been restored, and urged everyone to go to congratulate.It happened so suddenly that the officials couldn't react in time, and they were very panicked. Seeing that the emperor was really sitting in the hall, they had to stand in line to congratulate him.Yingzong put on the majesty of the emperor again, announced the restoration, and slandered that Emperor Jing was ill, and the ministers welcomed him to the restoration, ordering everyone to perform their duties.A palace coup has succeeded unexpectedly and quietly.This incident is called "the change of seizing the door" in history, also known as "the restoration of Nangong". After the restoration of Yingzong, Emperor Fei Jing was still the king of Yi, and changed this year to the first year of Tianshun.Emperor Jing, who was ill, was moved to the West Palace, and died of illness (some say he was murdered) within a few days at the age of 30.He was buried in Xishan with the etiquette of a prince, and his concubines were also given death and burial.At the same time, Yingzong arrested and imprisoned a large number of officials, including Shaobao Yuqian and University scholar Wang Wen, who had made great contributions in defending Beijing and governing the country against Oiratia. Because Yu Qian refuted the idea of ​​avoiding the enemy and fleeing south, Xu Youzhen and Yu Qian had a bad relationship.In order to take revenge, Xu Youzhen colluded with Shi Heng and others to instigate the same party to impeach Yu Qian and Wang Wen to conspire to welcome Yingzong's nephew as emperor.During the court trial, Wang Wen argued that a gold medal letter must be used to summon the prince to Beijing, and a horse card must be used to send someone. Just check the inner government and the Ministry of War to find out the truth.Yu Qian sneered and said, this is the idea of ​​Shi Heng and others, what's the use of arguing?Sure enough, after checking, all the gold medals and letters were found in the inner government.Xu Youzhen said to the hesitant Yingzong: "If you don't kill Yu Qian, there will be no name for the restoration."In the end, Yu Qian and others were sentenced to death for treason. At first, Yingzong favored Xu Youzhen very much, thinking that he was very talented.Xu Youzhen took the opportunity to crowd out dissidents, intending to monopolize power.He saw that Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng's misdeeds of recruiting power and accepting bribes were too blatant, and Yingzong also showed disgust for this, so he deliberately distanced himself from Cao and Shi.Because of this, Yingzong trusted him even more, and often retreated to the left and right, and discussed matters secretly with Xu Youzhen. Before that, Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng also had conflicts and struggles in the struggle for power, but when they felt threatened, the two joined forces again and secretly plotted against Xu Youzhen.Once, Yingzong discussed with Xu Youzhen again, and Cao Jixiang asked a young eunuch to eavesdrop quietly outside.Not long after, when Cao Jixiang was talking with Yingzong, he deliberately leaked what he overheard.Yingzong was taken aback, and asked him where he heard about it. Cao Jixiang lied that Xu Youzhen told him.This made Yingzong suspicious of Xu Youzhen.In this way, under Cao Jixiang's constant alienation, Yingzong gradually alienated Xu Youzhen.Soon, Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng instigated the officials to impeach Xu Youzhen for "attempting to be good at authority and reject Xunjiu".As a result, Xu Youzhen was imprisoned in imperial prison and banished to the frontier. It was not until the fourth year of Tianshun (1460 A.D.) that she was released back to her hometown of Suzhou. In December of the first year of Tianshun, Emperor Yingzong reconsidered and rewarded those who made contributions in the "Change of Seizing the Gate".Since the political situation at this time was basically controlled by Cao Jixiang and Shi Heng, Cao Jixiang's adopted son was named Uncle Zhaowu, and his three nephews were appointed as governors. Up to a thousand people.Shi Heng was not to be outdone, he regarded himself as the most honorable person for his meritorious service, not only he himself was enshrined, but his nephew Shi Biao was also named Marquis of Dingyuan. There are more than 50 of his subordinates, relatives and friends, and more than 4,000 of his subordinates, relatives and friends have taken over their names and obtained officials. Under Yingzong's favor and indulgence, Shi Heng took the opportunity to cultivate party members and expand his strength.He understood Yingzong's psychology, and often brought several minions to Yingzong and told him, these people are my confidantes, and they have done a lot to meet His Majesty.As soon as the fatuous Yingzong heard that he had done his best to restore him, he immediately conferred an official position according to Shi Heng's request.Later, Shi Heng, Shi Biao's uncle and nephew had tens of thousands of officials and warriors, and half of the generals came from their sects. With the expansion of his power, Shi Heng became more reckless and rampant in the court. He ostracized dissidents and expelled all the ministers in the two capitals.He also set up big prisons repeatedly to frame officials who impeached him for his wrongdoing, which made most officials in the court and China fear his power very much. Until then, Yingzong didn't know Shi Heng.The reason is that Shi Heng built more than 300 luxury mansions in the imperial city.Once, Yingzong, accompanied by officials, went up to the Xiangfeng Tower. He pointed to Shi Heng's mansion and asked the officials around him knowingly: "Whose house is this magnificent?" None of the officials dared to tell the truth, and most of them refused They said they didn't know, and others were ambiguous, saying that it must be a palace.Yingzong smiled and said: "That's not the case." The officials pretended to be surprised and asked: "It's not the palace, who would dare to build such a magnificent house." Yingzong sighed and said to himself: "It's all because of fear Shi Heng, dare not speak of him." From then on, Yingzong became more and more suspicious of Shi Heng's uncle and nephew having a large number of troops inside and outside.In order to weaken their military power, in July of the third year of Tianshun (AD 1459), Yingzong summoned Shi Biao to Beijing.Shi Biao refused to obey his order, and secretly ordered more than 50 people from thousands of households, including Yang Bin, to go to the capital to play a guarantor, begging Shi Biao to stay in Datong to guard.This even aroused Yingzong's suspicion. He ordered Yang Bin and others to be tortured in prison. Yang Bin confessed that he was instructed by Shi Biao.Yingzong strictly ordered Shi Biao to gallop into Beijing, and Shi Biao was immediately imprisoned in Jinyi Guard Prison as soon as he arrived in Beijing. Shi Heng was caught off guard, so he had to write a chapter to deal with the crime, requesting that his younger brothers and nephews be cut off and released to the field.Yingzong did not agree.Soon Shi Biao made a confession, involving Shi Heng, and some ministers in the court also impeached Shi Heng for crimes such as recruiting power and accepting bribes, acting recklessly, and plotting wrongdoing, saying that Shi Heng should not be lightly forgiven.As a result, Shi Heng was also imprisoned.In February of the following year, Shi Heng died in prison, followed by Shi Biao and others. What happened to Shi Heng's uncle and nephew made Cao Jixiang and others terrified.They clearly know that their fate is closely connected with Shi Heng and others, Shi Heng's ending today may be their fate tomorrow.They believe that it is better to put all their eggs in one basket and launch a military coup than to sit and wait for death. After Yingzong learned of Cao Jixiang and others' illegal behavior, he strengthened his control over them and sent Jin Yiwei to monitor them secretly.Cao panicked.In July of the fifth year of Tianshun, it happened that Ganzhou (now Zhangye, Gansu) and Liangzhou (now Wuwei, Gansu) were alerted, and Emperor Yingzong ordered Sun Ting, Marquis of Huaining, to lead the Beijing army to march westward.The troops were ready to go, and Cao Jixiang and others secretly agreed that his nephew Cao Qin would lead his men to attack Sun Tong and seize military power on the second day of July.The plan has been decided, Cao Qin hosted a banquet to entertain his party members and waited for the uprising.After two drums at night, half of the wine was eaten, one of the rebel officers ordered Ma Liang to sneak out quietly, and went to the palace to report to the imperial court. It happened that Sun Tong and the other two officers lived Inside, they hastily drafted a memorial and threw it in through the gap in Chang'an Gate.After Yingzong received this report, he ordered Cao Jixiang to be arrested quickly, and strictly ordered to close all the gates of the imperial city and the nine gates of the capital. Cao Qin found out that Ma Liang had gone and did not return, and realized that the news had been leaked, he hurriedly led several of his buddies and hundreds of soldiers to the Chang'an Gate, but as soon as he saw that the palace gate was closed, he rushed to the court room and killed him. Several officials set fire to the East and West Chang'an Gates.At this time, Sun Tong had assembled troops to conquer the west to attack Cao Qin. Cao Qin did not dare to fight, and wanted to escape from the city, but the gates of the cities had been closed according to Yingzong's order, so he had no choice but to run back home. Rushing in quickly, Cao Qin was desperate and committed suicide by throwing himself into a well. Three days later, Cao Jixiang was executed by Ling Chi. Yingzong favored Cao and Shi, which led to the Cao Shi Rebellion.After that, although he also wanted to appoint virtuous ministers to rule the country again, however, the national power had been greatly weakened at this time, and Yingzong's body was becoming weaker and sicker day by day.In the first month of the eighth year of Tianshun, Yingzong died at the age of 38.Before he died, he ordered the eunuch to write a cursive edict, abolishing the system of burial of concubines since Chengzu, Renzong, and Xuanzong, and finally did something clear.After his death, he was buried in Yuling, and the temple name was "Yingzong".