Hello, and welcome to the history of China.

Episode 226, Forcing the Palace Gate

When last we spoke, we left our good friend Emperor Yingzong in one heck of a pickle.

Yes, that's right.

He'd been taken captive in the year 1449, with his army utterly annihilated at the two

move forts by the Oirat Mongol leader, Essin.

This also meant, naturally, that the crown jewel of the Ming Empire, Beijing itself, along

with its primary defensive garrisons at Xuanfu and Datong, suddenly found themselves standing

naked and all but defenseless against this seemingly out of nowhere Mongol explosion.

If Essin pressed the attack, and if Beijing were to fall, it could well be a repeat of the

whole Liao dynasty, falling to Jingu's Khan two centuries prior, precipitating the collapse

of the entire north.

However, fortunately for the Ming regime, Essin's vision wasn't nearly so wildly vast

as his ancient forebearer.

This situation was, after all, as much as shocked to him as it was to the Chinese.

He hadn't been anticipating any grand conquest, things that all just kind of played out rather

chaoticly, hadn't they?

For that matter, he wasn't even quite sure what to do, what he even could do, with his

newly acquired Kingpiece, Yingzong.

It was all rather sudden and unexpected for everyone involved.

For his own part, it appears that Yingzong was quite willing to entertain the proposal

of an interdenastic marriage between Essin and a member of his own house, thereby cementing

...