The events in question took place at a time when almost all of Mongolia was under the control of the Oirats, the Mongolian - speaking inhabitants of its western borders. The progressive weakening of the Khan's power after the defeat suffered by the Mongols from the Chinese at Lake Baikal. Buir-nor near the city of Inchan in 1388, contributed to the strengthening of the Oirats and eventually led to the loss of power by the Mongol Khans. The Oirat Esen of the Choros family, who held the post of taishi 1 at the court of Daisun Khan (1439-1452), actually ruled the country from 1440 to 1455. In the late summer of 1449, as a result of a successful military operation, he not only defeated a huge Chinese army at the Tumu post station southwest of Huailai in Hebei, after which this collision became known as the "Tumu incident", but also captured the Emperor Zhu Qizhen (Yingzong, 1435-1449). Key words: Tumu incident, oirats, Esen-taishi, Zhu Qizhen, legitimacy of the supreme power, omens. Overwhelmed by his unexpected good fortune, Esen made a fatal mistake - instead of immediately marching on Beijing, which had almost no one to defend, he withdrew his troops to the north, where he was waiting for an embassy from China, but it never came. Meanwhile, the Minsk capital was hurriedly deciding whether to rescue Zhu Qizhen from captivity or find a replacement. As a result, one of the Chinese appanage rulers, Zhu Qizhen's half-brother Zhu Qiyu (Jing-zong), on the advice of the talented commander Lu Qian, took the reins of power and removed the direct heir of the captive emperor from power, which was a gross violation of the Chinese rules of succession legalized by the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang (1368-1398).2. According to the unanimous opinion of historians, only emergency, although not entirely consistent with the law, actions of Lu Qian saved the situation. Realizing his mistake, Esen moved to Beijing in October, but it was too late: the Chinese managed to organiz ... Read more