According to the records of the Ming Dynasty Veritable Records dated the 22nd day of the eighth lunar month in the sixth year of the Jingtai reign (1455), an edict issued by Emperor Jingtai (Zhu Qiyu) to King Danjong of Joseon is documented. The edict was delivered to Kim Ha, an envoy dispatched to Beijing to seek imperial approval for the deposed Danjong's abdication and the succession of his uncle, Grand Prince Suyang. The edict noted, "I have learned that you have ceded the throne to your uncle, allowing him to 'temporarily administer state affairs.'" While granting approval, the emperor added a deeply suggestive remark: "I believe that governance depends on the person. Only after obtaining the right person can a nation achieve stability." At first glance, this sounds like a general statement that a country's fate depends on how the successor governs.
However, the meaning takes on a very different dimension once one learns about Emperor Jingtai's own path to the throne. Six years earlier, in 1449, despite being only a half-brother of the preceding emperor, Jingtai was thrust onto the imperial throne amid a crisis that threatened the principle of legitimate eldest-son succession. At the time, Emperor Zhengtong (Zhu Qizhen) had rashly launched an attack when the Mongol Oirat tribe raided the Great Wall, only to be captured — an incident known as the "Tumu Crisis." The Beijing government swiftly enthroned Zhu Qiyu, the half-brother, instead of Zhengtong's two-year-old son, in order to restore order. This was the result of the decisive influence of Beijing-faction officials such as Yu Qian, who demonstrated immediate governing capability during the military and political crisis to stabilize the imperial court. With Jingtai's enthronement, the Beijing court regained stability. When the formerly captive Zhengtong was later released and returned, he was placed under house arrest. The transfer of the imperial throne from Zhengtong to Jingtai came to be regarded as a form of coup.
Coincidentally, the Gyeyu Rebellion in Joseon and the transfer of power from Danjong to King Sejo occurred precisely during the period of Jingtai's rule over Ming China. It may well have been a natural response born of coincidental simultaneity that Emperor Jingtai — who himself had ascended the throne amid the collapse of the legitimate eldest-son succession principle — dealt flexibly with the Gyeyu Rebellion.