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When the emperor made preparations for another military tour in 1519, this time to the south, the vast majority of the officialdom submitted two joint petitions, and a group of nearly 150 officials amassed in front of the Meridian Gate, kneeling and demanding a response from the throne to their petitions. Zhengde had the protesters whipped and beaten, but refused to accept the resignations of his grand-secretaries, fearing no one would be willing to replace them. He left for the south later that year, and returned late in the year in [[1520]]; however, after falling into the water when his boat capsized during this tour, the emperor is said to have developed some health problems from which he never recovered.<ref name=huang97/>

When the emperor made preparations for another military tour in 1519, this time to the south, the vast majority of the officialdom submitted two joint petitions, and a group of nearly 150 officials amassed in front of the Meridian Gate, kneeling and demanding a response from the throne to their petitions. Zhengde had the protesters whipped and beaten, but refused to accept the resignations of his grand-secretaries, fearing no one would be willing to replace them. He left for the south later that year, and returned late in the year in [[1520]]; however, after falling into the water when his boat capsized during this tour, the emperor is said to have developed some health problems from which he never recovered.<ref name=huang97/>

Zhengde died some months after returning from the south, early in [[1521]], without a direct heir; he was succeeded by a nephew, who took the throne as the [[Jiajing Emperor]]. This marked the first time in the Ming Dynasty that an emperor was not directly succeeded by his son.

Zhengde died some months after returning from the south, early in [[1521]], without a direct heir; he was succeeded by a nephew, who took the throne as the [[Jiajing Emperor]]. This marked the first time in the Ming Dynasty that an emperor was not directly succeeded by his son. Zhengde's chief advisor and close confidant, Chiang Pin, a leading army officer, was arrested on a myriad of charges, including accusations of having amassed a personal fortune of nearly impossible proportions, and was later tortured to death. By the time of the reign of the [[Wanli Emperor]], some sixty years later, the bureaucracy made concerted efforts to ensure that no emperor could again depart so completely (or, much at all) from his ritual obligations and expected role, or to make such a mockery of the Confucian court bureaucracy system.<ref>Huang, 102.</ref>

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