In the 14th year of Ming Dynasty (1449), great changes took place. Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen was defeated when he personally marched into Walla, and Zhu Qizhen himself became a prisoner of Walla people. This is the famous "change of civil fort" in history.
When the news of the emperor's capture reached the capital, both the ruling and the opposition were shocked, and everyone feared for himself. In times of crisis, Yu Qian, Wang Wen and other ministers decided to make Zhu Qizhen's half-brother Xi Wang Zhu Qiyu emperor and Zhu Qizhen emperor's father. Under the circumstances, it was the best choice. Because after the Ming dynasty had a new emperor, the soldiers of the Ming army at the front line could let go of their hands and feet to fight against the Walla people without worrying that the emperor was still in each other's hands.
Zhu Qiyu's coming to power has greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers and civilians in Beijing. In the subsequent "Beijing Defence War", the soldiers of the Ming army bravely killed the enemy, gradually reversed the situation under extremely unfavorable conditions, and finally defeated the invading Walla army.
A year later, the Walla people felt that Zhu Qizhen was now the father of a worthless emperor, but it was a hot potato to stay in his hands, so they put him back. This is obviously not good news for Zhu Qiyu.
In order to prevent Zhu Qizhen's return from threatening the throne, Zhu Qiyu ordered the emperor's father to be assigned to the Nangong, and ordered the Royal Guards to guard it. For the next seven years, Zhu Qizhen was trapped in the Nangong like a prisoner without chains.
Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Qiyu used to be brothers, but the battle for the throne made them strangers and even hated each other. At the beginning of his reign, Zhu Qiyu conferred the crown prince on Zhu Jianshen, the eldest son of Zhu Qizhen, and agreed to preach in Zhu Jianshen a hundred years later. However, it was not long before he demoted Zhu Jianshen to the king of Iraq and made his only son Zhu Jianji the crown prince. This seriously damaged Zhu Qiyu's prestige, and caused factional divisions within the imperial court. What is even more depressing is that Zhu Jianji died in Jingtai for four years (1453), and Zhu Qiyu tried his best to keep the throne, only to draw water with a sieve.
In the first month of the eighth year of Jingtai (1457), Zhu Qiyu suddenly became seriously ill and could not go to court to handle government affairs. As a result, several ministers who were dissatisfied with Zhu Qiyu joined forces to launch a coup. They went to the Nangong to meet Zhu Qizhen who had been under house arrest for seven years, and brought Zhu Qizhen back to the throne of the emperor. Zhu Qiyu, who was recuperating in her bedroom, heard the bells and drums outside and asked the people around her what had happened. People around her replied, "it's the emperor." Zhu Qiyu understood what was going on as soon as he heard it, so he had to say helplessly, "Brother, do it!"
After the recovery of Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Qiyu was arranged to live in Xiyuan (now Zhongnanhai). But just one month later, Zhu Qiyu died inexplicably at the age of 29. According to the official cause of death in Ming Dynasty, Zhu Qiyu died of illness. However, judging from historical documents and the cause and effect of many things at that time, things were not that simple.
First of all, there is no doubt that Zhu Qizhen hates Zhu Qiyu. The first thing he did after the restoration was to write a letter condemning Zhu Qiyu for being "unfilial, unkind, unkind, unjust, immoral and angry with God and mankind". Later, when Zhu Qiyu died, Zhu Qizhen ordered him to be buried in the western hills of Beijing as a gift from the prince, and gave him a vicious "sin", which he called "the king of sin".
Secondly, Zhu Qizhen has reason to hurt Zhu Qiyu. Zhu Qiyu reigned for eight years. During this period, he made great efforts and made great achievements in military defense and flood control. Therefore, Zhu Qiyu also has many followers in the court. After the restoration of Zhu Qizhen, a group of trusted ministers in Zhu Qiyu were "purged", but this kind of thing must have slipped through the net. Zhu Qizhen himself recovered through a coup, and he must understand that ashes can be resurrected. Therefore, the best way to prevent threats is to make them completely non-existent.
Thirdly, according to Yang Xuan, an official of the Ming Dynasty, in the Records of Restoration, "On the second or third day after going to Zhu Qizhen to restore the treasure, there were people who made meritorious deeds for the first time in the Wenhua Hall. I looked at my forehead happily and called on the ministers to say, "My brother is fine and I want to eat porridge." From this, we can see that after the recovery of Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Qiyu's condition did not deteriorate, but gradually improved. Considering that Zhu Qiyu was only 29 years old at that time, this was the most energetic age. If there were no special changes, he wouldn't suddenly die of illness.
Another Ming Dynasty official named Lu Nian directly pointed out in "Escape": "Jingtai Emperor collapsed and was strangled by an official, Jiang An." Lu Nian was from Amin dynasty. Without conclusive evidence, how many heads dare he slander the emperor? So his record should be very credible.
To sum up, Zhu Qiyu's death is a mystery, but the answer is obvious.