Falling into the water and getting sick, or being killed by someone, the mystery of the death of Emp

Behind the supreme power, there are often the deepest misfortunes.

For a long time, Emperor Zhengde has been a very controversial figure in the historiography, some people think that he was absurd and violent, favored eunuchs, lazy and lazy, and acted absurdly, which led to the Ming Dynasty's national power even more deterioration, and some people think that he was talented, heroic and good at war, and was the first person to liberate the personality of the Chinese emperor.

However, in addition to his own evaluation, his death has also been a long-standing topic of controversy in the field of historiography. Regarding the cause of Emperor Zhengde's death, there are mainly the following theories in the historical circles:

According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty" and other official historical records, in September of the fifteenth year of Zhengde, Emperor Zhengde on the way to the south of the Yangtze River for the last time, passed through Qingjiangpu, saw the beautiful scenery here, suddenly started the fisherman's interest, drove a boat to fish and play, but accidentally fell into the water when lifting the net, and was rescued by the entourage because of too much choking, and then frightened, so the body deteriorated, and finally died in the leopard room in March of the sixteenth year of Zhengde, enjoying the age of Chinese New Year's Eve one year.

There are also many people who question the view contained in the official history that Emperor Zhengde frolicked excessively and died of illness due to falling into the water: Emperor Zhengde has practiced martial arts since he was a child, and his physical quality is much higher than that of other princes who were born in the deep palace and grew up in the hands of women.

According to the "Ming Shilu", when Emperor Zhengde inspected the northwest and marched along the way: "From Xuanfu to the west, he traveled thousands of miles, rode horses, bowed arrows at the waist, rushed into the wind and snow, prepared for adventures, and had a priest to follow, and he did not resist." The eunuchs are sick and tired, and they don't think they are tired." How could such an Emperor Zhengde become seriously ill because of a single fall into the water, resulting in a sudden death just after his first year?

Jiang Bin was originally a border general of the Ming Dynasty, and was later summoned by Emperor Zhengde through Qian Ning, and was appreciated by Emperor Zhengde as a military enthusiast because of his bravery and strength, and was adopted as an adopted son by Emperor Zhengde, so he was favored. Some people believe that Emperor Zhengde was killed by Jiang Bin for the following reasons:

1, Jiang Bin, as a favorite minister of Emperor Zhengde, got up and slept with the emperor, and served the emperor around. If someone wanted to murder Emperor Zhengde, Jiang Bin was the easiest person to get close to the emperor, so it was also the easiest to do.

2. After Jiang Bin was favored, his personal ambitions swelled, hoping to control the court by murdering Emperor Zhengde and supporting other vassal kings.

However, in the eyes of many, while the first point does make sense, the second point is untenable. First of all, Jiang Bin's power comes completely from the favor of Emperor Zhengde, it is with the support of imperial power, Jiang Bin can be in power in the court for a while, prestige and blessing, once he falls out of favor or Emperor Zhengde dies, Jiang Bin, who has lost the support of the emperor, will inevitably be counterattacked by political enemies, and thus ruined.

Not to mention supporting the vassal king as the emperor to continue to control the situation, just like Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch who was in power for a time at the end of the Ming Dynasty, lost the support of the imperial power after the death of the Emperor of the Apocalypse, and thus quickly collapsed.

Later historical facts also proved this: after the death of Emperor Zhengde, Jiang Bin was quickly arrested by the order of the Empress Dowager, and was immediately executed by raiding his home. From this point of view, Jiang Bin is the easiest person to murder Emperor Zhengde, but he is also the person who has the least motive to murder Emperor Zhengde. This kind of thing is tantamount to digging one's own grave, and no normal person would do it.

A large number of Ming Dynasty generals died on the battlefield during the Tumubao Incident, which led to the loss of power of the military generals group in the court, and the civilian official group thus grasped the military power of the Ming Dynasty and became more powerful. Therefore, many people believe that the reason why Emperor Zhengde favored the "Eight Tigers" and Jiang Bin led by Liu Jin was that he hoped to support the eunuchs and military generals to balance each other with the growing civilian power, so as to maintain the imperial power.

Emperor Zhengde's actions against the little prince of Tatar and the rebellious Ning king Zhu Chenhao seem absurd, but in fact it is also for the purpose of recovering military power from the civilian clique. Throughout the Zhengde Dynasty, the contradictions between the emperor and the civil official clique became increasingly intensified, and the power struggle became more and more intense. Therefore, some people speculate based on this: Emperor Zhengde fell into the water and died of illness, which is very likely to be a conspiracy to kill the monarch by the civil official group headed by Yang Tinghe.

During Emperor Zhengde's last southern tour, he accidentally fell into the water once while fishing in Kuaiyuan before Qingjiangpu fell into the water, and it can be said that it was an accident when he fell into the water, and it stands to reason that the guards around the emperor should also strengthen protection to prevent the emperor from falling into the water again, but Emperor Zhengde finally fell into the water in Qingjiangpu.

After Emperor Zhengde fell into the water, it stands to reason that the emperor should be allowed to stay in Jiangnan to rest, and the Jiangnan area is also a gathering of famous doctors, if you rest on the spot and then hire a famous doctor for treatment, Emperor Zhengde will never die young, why should he hurry back to Beijing after falling into the water, regardless of the impact of the fatigue on the emperor's condition?

Moreover, after Emperor Zhengde fell into the water, it took three months to start**. If falling into the water was the main cause of Emperor Zhengde's illness and death, then why did Emperor Zhengde begin to show symptoms of rapid deterioration of his condition after three months?

In addition, the civil official clique had sufficient motives to kill the emperor, and the imperial physician who diagnosed and treated the emperor was himself a part of the bureaucracy, and had the opportunity to approach the murder of the emperor. Therefore, some people have come to the conclusion that Emperor Zhengde's fall into the water was completely a conspiracy carefully designed by the civil official group, and the cause of Emperor Zhengde's death was not that he fell into the water and contracted the disease, but that he was indiscriminately prescribed by the imperial doctor instructed by the civil official group to cause chronic poisoning and death.

However, in any case, the above views are only speculation of posterity. As the wheel of history rolls forward, the real cause of Emperor Zhengde's death has long been covered by the smoke clouds of history. Perhaps in the near future, with the development of science and technology, we will one day be able to truly unravel the mystery of Emperor Zhengde's death just as we uncover the cause of Emperor Guangxu's death.

Whether it is Zhengde or Guangxu, the mysterious deaths of the two emperors illustrate an eternal historical truth: behind the supreme power, the deepest misfortune often lurks.

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