They were all captured by the enemy, why were their fates so different? After Zhao Ji of Song Huizong and Zhao Huan of Song Qinzong were taken away by the Jin State, they suffered endless humiliation and torture, and finally died miserably. However, when Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen was captured by the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, he was treated extremely favorably, and was even escorted back to China. Why is that? Is it due to Zhu Qizhen's personal outstanding character and wisdom? Or is it the great power of the Ming Dynasty that makes the enemy fearful?
Zhu Yuanzhang's founding wisdom: the pattern is lofty, and the world is in mind
Although Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was from a humble background, he had the world in mind, lofty ideals and lofty aspirations and wise political wisdom. It is in stark contrast to Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi in the Song Dynasty who were lustful and indulgent and debauched.
After Zhao Kuangyin entered the Central Plains, he was tempted by the beauty of the beautiful lady Hua Rui of Hou Shu who was captured at that time, and he was about to kill Meng Chang, the lord of Hou Shu, within seven days, and couldn't wait to accept Hua Rui into the harem to serve. Zhao Guangyi was even more unscrupulous, and blatantly put Xiao Zhouhou, the beautiful concubine who captured the Southern Tang Dynasty monarch Li Yu, under house arrest, and prostituted himself during the day, forcing Li Yu to watch with tears. Both of them are mediocre people who are accustomed to arrogance and indulgence in selfish desires.
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in an ordinary peasant family and suffered from poverty since he was a child. After being forced to become a monk, he was inspired by Buddhism and understood the valuable qualities of selfless dedication. When he became the founding emperor, he was determined to "serve the country with loyalty", and always remembered the important task of Kuang Fu Sheji and Anyu Li Min.
He not only sympathized with the suffering of the people, but also treated the defeated Yuan Dynasty royal family with great kindness and tolerance. At that time, when the general Xu Da captured the capital of Yuan, Zhu Yuanzhang strictly ordered his subordinates to properly protect the palace and never harass him. What is even more admirable is that he not only personally prevented the decision to let the captives perform the captive salute, but also generously allowed them to wear their national costumes to the Ming court.
Zhu Yuanzhang's most ambitious and wise move was that he later personally adopted a captive Yuan prince, and then sent someone to escort him back to his hometown on the grassland when he grew older. Such reasonable and wise deeds were destined to enable the Ming Dynasty to establish a noble national image of justice and benevolence at the beginning of its foundation, which was greatly conducive to maintaining the peace and prosperity of the Central Plains, and finally resolved the estrangement and contradictions accumulated between the Han and the nomadic people for generations.
Decisive and decisive response: take the initiative and apply pressure
In 1449 AD, Zhu Qizhen led his army to fight against the remnants of Warat at Tumubao in Zhangjiakou, and was finally captured by Wara. At this time, the situation is critical and extremely serious. However, the Ming court did not collapse due to the capture of Zhu Qizhen.
Immediately, Yu Qian, a courtier of the Ming Dynasty, and others asked Empress Dowager Sun to immediately support Zhu Qiyu, the king of Yu, as the new monarch. As soon as Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, he quickly adopted a series of decisive and effective countermeasures. First of all, a large number of people were dispatched to the periphery of Beiping, and all the grain, grass and people were moved into the city, and at the same time the defense of the city was strengthened, and two lines of soldiers and horses were divided as preparations for the response.
At the same time, Zhu Qiyu ordered the mobilization of troops from all walks of life to rush to Beiping for reinforcements as soon as possible, and was truly ready to respond to the battle at any time. Sure enough, as soon as the remnants of the Warat army arrived in Beiping, they encountered stubborn resistance and suffered defeats. There are even spies who report that the Ming army is massively increasing its troops, and if Warat does not retreat, it may be completely annihilated.
Seeing that the situation was becoming more and more unfavorable for him, the Warat warlords also knew that it was hopeless to knock on the gate and sue for peace. In order to preserve their strength, they finally made the painful decision to retreat and quickly retreated to the hinterland of the steppe. At this time, the capture of Zhu Qizhen also gave the Warlord a great temptation, trying to use it as an excellent weight to blackmail the Ming Dynasty.
However, even though the Warlord Warlord Warat made many unreasonable demands to release Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Qiyu also turned a deaf ear and ignored them at all. At the same time, he ordered the border guards to immediately suspend any trade with Warat, completely cutting off the latter's access to daily necessities and daily necessities.
In this way, Zhu Qiyu responded calmly at the moment of crisis, firmly grasped the balance of strength between the two armies in his own hands, and forced Warat to gradually fall into a passive dilemma. In the end, after cutting off the supply line of resources, the Warat warlord could only voluntarily give in and sue for peace with the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Qizhen's personal noble character: firm in ethics and unmoved
During his captivity by Warat, Zhu Qizhen has always shown extremely noble moral integrity and unwavering stance, winning the respect of the enemy.
In contrast, Zhao Ji of Song Huizong accepted a captive woman as a concubine after being captured by the Jin State, and he has always been nostalgic for the harem of the Jin State and is unwilling to leave. Zhao Ji's indulgence of selfish desires is undoubtedly suffocating, not only insulting the dignity of the royal family, but also willingly degrading and tarnishing the royal ethics inherited by his ancestors.
Zhu Qizhen is completely different, even if he was arranged by the Warlord Warlord to "serve" the woman who lives and lives in his daily life, he politely declined, and only wanted to be released as soon as possible and return to the Ming Dynasty. This move implements the noble style of the Zhu Xiang Dynasty and demonstrates the steadfastness of the Ming Dynasty as a generation.
What's even more commendable is that on the difficult and dangerous escape road, Zhu Qizhen was accompanied by a loyal guard along the way - Yuan Bin. Yuan Bin not only regarded death as home, abandoned his family and business to follow Zhu Qizhen to hide in Tibet, but also schemed at the last moment to finally rescue Zhu Qizhen. It can be said that it is precisely because of Yuan Bin's protection that Zhu Qizhen was able to return to China safely in such a difficult environment.
After being rescued, Zhu Qizhen was loyal to Yuan Bin, and in addition to rewarding him heavily, he was promoted to a general and a very popular minister. It can be seen that Zhu Qizhen has supreme admiration for his loyal ministers, and knows how to reward and punish in order to motivate the people of the DPRK and China. This kind of wise action is actually a traditional virtue that has been inherited since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.
It was with his noble personal character and wise and decisive skills that Zhu Qizhen endured hardships without losing his true qualities as a king, and finally won the respect of his enemies, and successfully retreated and returned to Gyeonggi. This experience will undoubtedly forever be engraved on the monument of the history of the Ming Dynasty.
Diplomacy is a smart dealer: a stern attitude and a tactful response
In the more than a year that Zhu Qizhen was captured by Wara, the Ming side has always maintained an extremely witty and prudent attitude in diplomatic negotiations, outwitting them.
The matter also began shortly after Warat captured Zhu Qizhen. At that time, the Warlord Warat sent an envoy to Jingshi and put forward a series of unreasonable demands as a condition for the release of Zhu Qizhen. These include huge ransom payments, land cession and tribute, and so on.
In the face of such an impertinent request, Yang Shan, the negotiation envoy sent by the Ming court, did not show weakness at all, but politely and firmly refuted the other party. He first cited history and pointed out that the reason why Warat was able to win the battle of Zhangjiakou was entirely due to luck, and its army quality and talent reserve were far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty.
Then, Yang Shan pointed out the rampant corruption within Wara, such as warlord scuffle, improper rewards and punishments, lax military discipline, etc., and questioned them that they were not qualified to put forward any conditions to the Ming Dynasty. Yang Shan's steady and witty response made the Warat envoy speechless, and he could only fight his horse and return.
In contrast, when the Northern Song Dynasty was captured that year, the Song envoy Li Di was quite cowardly in the face of the Jin army's intimidation, "kneeling on the ground and begging, and holding power and responsibility". These words and deeds immediately aroused suspicion in the Jin State and increased the level of mistreatment of the Song captives.
However, it was precisely because of the Ming Dynasty negotiators' well-managed, respectful and steady response that finally made Wara give up his unreasonable demands and took the initiative to start the procedure for the release of Zhu Qizhen. This process is the best portrayal of the diplomatic wisdom of the Ming Dynasty in times of crisis.
Of course, Zhu Qizhen's performance during his captivity is also indispensable. According to historical records, he not only adhered to his ethics and did not give in, but also eloquently explained to the Warat warlords the current situation of the Ming Dynasty's strong national strength and strong combat power, which made the other party feel awe. This is in stark contrast to the fact that Song Huizong was forced to accuse the Song court of arrogance and lasciviousness and lack of national strength when he was in the Jin Kingdom.
It was with the wise response of both internal and external attention that the Ming Dynasty finally won the initiative in the capture of Zhu Qizhen, and finally prompted Warat to bow down and successfully rescue Zhu Qizhen. This experience has undoubtedly set an excellent example for future generations to negotiate diplomacy.
The Ming Dynasty had strong national strength and inviolable dignity
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it has been pursuing the policy of "ancestral family law" and "recruiting virtuous and virtuous", constantly absorbing talents, coupled with a vast territory, a large population, and a strong national strength, so the dignity is inviolable in the world pattern at that time.
First of all, the central power of the Ming Dynasty was highly centralized, and the imperial court strictly controlled the military and political power of the whole country. During the war years, the Ming Dynasty was able to quickly dispatch hundreds of thousands of troops to deal with sudden wars. At that time, according to historical records, the Jin State could not effectively command and dispatch even a small army of 60,000 or 70,000 people.
Secondly, the Ming Dynasty army was extremely combat-ready and possessed advanced gunpowder weapons. The Ming Dynasty not only produced firearms in China, but also obtained a large number of high-quality arms supplies from the Nanyang trade. On the other hand, although the Jin State was known as "good at war" in those years, it relied entirely on the tactics of crowds and had no time to take into account the modernization of military equipment.
In addition, the Ming Dynasty actively promoted the reclamation of the eternal domain, which made agricultural production unprecedentedly prosperous and had sufficient grain reserves. The Jin country has a perennial "seven-year famine", and the grain and grass reserves have repeatedly exceeded their means. Lacking logistical supplies, it is naturally difficult to support long-term campaigns.
Finally, even during his captivity, Zhu Qizhen explained the strength of the Ming Dynasty to the Warat warlords. It can be seen that the national strength of the Ming Dynasty should not be underestimated, and even in the most difficult moments, Zhu Qizhen was confident and full of confidence in the future development of the Ming Dynasty.
After a long period of war, the Northern Song Dynasty withered its national strength due to financial depletion, internal and external troubles. During the capture of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, he was even more powerless to defend himself, and could only passively succumb to the humiliation and abuse of the Jin people.
In contrast, the Ming Dynasty's response to the capture of Zhu Qizhen undoubtedly demonstrated the dynasty's own strong national strength and dignity that could not be violated by outsiders. It was precisely by virtue of the favorable conditions of national strength that the Ming Dynasty was able to calmly deal with the crisis, and finally enabled Zhu Qizhen to return safely and maintain the dignity and honor of the country.