Defense of Beijing

The Defense of Jingshi (Chinese: 京師保衛戰), also known as the Defense of Beijing (Chinese: 北京保衛戰), was a battle that took place between the Oirat Mongols and the Ming dynasty in 1449.

As a result of trade sanctions issued by the Ming dynasty, Esen Taishi, leader of the Oirat Mongols, led an invasion against the Ming dynasty in the year 1449. In September, Esen was victorious in the Tumu Crisis, resulting in the Zhengtong Emperor being captured.

Esen attempted to use the captured Zhengtong Emperor to raise a ransom and negotiate a favorable treaty including trade benefits. The emperor's family planned to raise funds to secure the emperor's release. The Ming court at first was inclined to follow the counsel of Xu Youzhen, an official who suggested that since the garrison forces around Beijing were less than 100,000, the court should retreat to Nanjing while things were still in balance. This was following the example of when the Song dynasty moved to Hangzhou after the Jurchen Jin dynasty captured its capital of Kaifeng. However the Minister of War, Yu Qian rejected this proposal and said those who advocated retreat should be executed.

On 22 September, Zhu Qiyu, the younger brother of the Zhengtong Emperor became the new emperor of the Ming dynasty. Orders claiming to be issued by the previous emperor were to be ignored and no negotiations regarding the hostage situation would be entertained. The rationale was that the emperor's life is not as important as the fate of the country.

Yu Qian was promoted to minister of war although he had been already planning and arranging measures for the defense of Beijing beforehand. Yu Qian believed that a major reason for the defeat in the Tumu Crisis was poor logistics and lack of supplies. Large granaries were set up and the logistic network was reworked. Reserve forces from neighboring provinces such as Shanxi, Shandong and Henan were mobilized to defend the capital and weapon manufacturing was significantly increased. By the time of the battle, Beijing had a force of around 220,000 soldiers ready.

As a result of the Ming dynasty installing a new emperor, Esen was unable to leverage the Zhengtong Emperor to obtain a deal. Therefore, his chieftains agreed to move forward to invading Beijing with the claim of wanting to restore the Zhengtong Emperor to power.

On 1 October, Esen and his forces moved to capture Beijing. Their first assault was on Datong where once again, they brought the Zhengtong Emperor to the gates and explained their aim to restore him back to the throne. However the defenders ignored their request.

Esen eventually changed plans from attacking Beijing through the Juyong Pass and instead went through the Zijing Pass. The defenders were able to delay Esen for several days but eventually they managed to breakthrough. By 11 October, they had reached Beijing where they were facing the Deshengmen and Xizhimen gates from its corner in the north west.