Zhu Di, a war-loving Ming Chengzu, conquered Mongolia five times in his life, as far as the Russian border, defeating the Tatars and the Warats. But in his foreign expeditions, there was one war that little is known, and that was the Battle of Annam.
In order to conquer the whole territory of Annam, he led hundreds of thousands of troops on an expedition, and finally decided to make it a province of the Ming Dynasty. However, by the time of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty recognized the independence of Annam.
Annam was once included in the Ming Dynasty, but why did it eventually become independent? To sort out the ins and outs, we must start from Annan's history in China.
01.In 218 BC, Qin Shi Huang launched an attack on the Baiyue region in the southern part of the Chu state, setting up the three counties of Guilin, Nanhai and Xiangjun, and from then on Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam became part of China.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty launched a war against Nanyue in the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty (112 BC), once again included this area in the territory of the Han Dynasty, and established the three counties of Jiaozhi, Jiuzhi and Rinan.
From Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the end of the Tang Dynasty, central and northern Vietnam was under the rule of the Han dynasty. In the first year of Tang Gaozong's dew (679), the Tang Dynasty changed the Jiaozhou Governor's Mansion to the Annan Metropolitan Protectorate, from which the name of Annan came.
Li Gongyun unified the north-central part of present-day Vietnam in 1010 A.D., established the Li Dynasty, set the capital of Hanoi, and named the country as Da Yue, and during the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty officially recognized the status of the Great Yue State as a vassal state, and named its lord as the king of Annam.
From the Yuan Dynasty onwards, Annam had a neither humble nor arrogant attitude towards the dynasty established by this minority, neither so respectful, but also maintained a tributary relationship, and there were conflicts from time to time, and the Mongols used troops against Annam three times, but they were never able to completely conquer Annam, and this problem also happened to the Ming Dynasty later.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Annan began to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and received preferential treatment from Zhu Yuanzhang, who included him in the list of never conquests, but this was a dead letter, and later the Ming Dynasty and Annam continued to fight.
02 Before and after Zhu Di raised his army and was martyred, the political situation in Annan was turbulent. The king of the Chen dynasty, Chen Rikun, was killed by the powerful minister Li Jiyan, who changed his name to Hu Yiyuan, claiming to be a descendant of Hu Gong, a descendant of Emperor Shun, and changed the name of the country to Dayu.
Soon after, Li Jiyan passed the throne to her son Hu Hancang. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, Hu Hancang sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty to request canonization, claiming to be Chen's nephew, and was elected by everyone to temporarily manage state affairs.
Zhu Di was located in a remote area and did not know much about the inside story, so he canonized Hu Hancang as the king of Annam. Later, however, the former ministers of the Chen Dynasty of Annam and King Chen traveled thousands of miles to the Ming Dynasty to reveal to Zhu Di that the Hu regime was usurped and asked the Ming Dynasty to help restore the country.
After learning of this situation, Hu Hancang hurriedly wrote a letter to apologize to Zhu Di and asked the Ming Dynasty to escort King Chen back to China to preside over the government. Zhu Di was satisfied with this and decided to send 5,000 men to escort King Chen.
However, the escort was ambushed on the way, King Chen was killed, more than 1,000 Ming soldiers were also killed, and in the end, only two main and deputy generals fled back to Nanjing in embarrassment. Zhu Di was furious about this and decided to send troops to recruit Annan.
In July of the fourth year of Yongle, Zhu Di issued a document on the crusade against Annan, and ordered Mu Sheng, the Marquis of Xiping, who was guarding Yunnan, to be the deputy general of the left of the expedition and march from Yunnan; Chengguo Gong Zhu Neng was appointed as the general of Zhengyi, and Zhang Fu, Marquis of Xincheng, was the right general of Zhengyi, commanding the 18th Route Army, marching from Guangxi, and striving to sweep away the south of Ping'an in one fell swoop.
The actual strength of the 800,000 troops used this time is between 200,000 and 300,000, including the elite soldiers of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guangxi, who are good at fighting in hot and humid climates, and even the naval divisions of Guangdong and Fujian have been mobilized to reinforce them.
In order to avoid discord between Zhu Neng and Mu Sheng, he repeatedly emphasized the relationship between them, and also reminded them to pay attention to the climatic conditions and the pacification of the local people.
All this shows that he attaches great importance to the battle of Annam and is determined to win. Although the general Zhu Neng died of illness and the right general Zhang Fu was ordered to be in danger, he lived up to expectations and successfully conquered the entire territory of Annam in only one year, making immortal feats.
However, the capture of Annan was not an easy task. At that time, Annam had become so powerful that it had fought in various places, including crusades against Laos, Siam, and Champang, and harassed the Ming Dynasty's Guangxi and Yunnan borders every year.
What is even more surprising is that some of Annam's firearms are even more advanced than those of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Zhu Di's choice to attack Annan seemed very necessary at that time. In June of the fifth year of Yongle (1407 AD), Zhu Di issued the "Ping'an Southern Edict", renamed Annan Jiaozhi, and set up Jiaozhi County, officially included it in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
However, this decision came two hundred years after the Central Plains Dynasty lost Annam. This means that everything has changed, and the people of Annam have psychologically accepted their independence and recognized their dynasty.
The sudden change of master is difficult for not only the ruling aristocracy to accept, but also for the ordinary people to adapt to this fact. As Yang Shiqi said: "Although the Chen family is incompetent, it is quite popular among the people, and its people cherish it, and they are suddenly abolished, I am afraid that the soldiers of Annam are resentful, and the gangsters who drill the camp will rise, and the future will be endless." ”
Therefore, Zhu Di's decision plunged the Ming Dynasty into the quagmire of the "Vietnam War" in the following decades.
The Battle of Annam was a military conflict between the Ming Dynasty and Annam, and under the banner of helping the Chen family restore the country, the Ming army was supported by the former ministers of the Chen Dynasty, but after the establishment of a province in Annam, the situation began to deteriorate, and Zhu Di had to send troops to quell the rebellion again.
Zhu Di mobilized 40,000 elite soldiers from Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces, led by Mu Sheng, and sent Liu Jun to appease him, but in the end the whole army was annihilated. In this case, Zhu Di used Zhang Fu again, and Zhang Fu led an army of 200,000 to the south, first taking a psychological attack, then launching a large-scale attack war, and finally smashing the rebels' lair.
Zhang Fu achieved a series of victories, burning the rebel ships, beheading the rebels, capturing the rebel leaders, and finally leveling the rebels. But unfortunately, Zhang Fu did not catch his nephew Emperor Chen Jikuo.
Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng relayed to quell the rebellion in Annam, but they fell into a circular mode. In the process, the Ming Dynasty tried the strategy of canonizing Chen Jikuo as the political envoy of Jiaozhi, but he was dissatisfied and continued to incite rebellion.
Zhang Fu stepped out again and finally put down the rebellion. However, after Zhang Fu put down the rebellion, the eunuch Ma Qi took over Annan and tyrannized and harmed the people, causing the people of Annan to revolt. In this case, how did the Ming Dynasty respond to the rise of Le Li?
Although Ming history regarded him as a traitor, Vietnamese historical sources believe that he was a national hero, deeply popular with the people, and outstanding talents.
Zhu Di did not take action against the Li Li rebellion for a long time because the domestic war was tense at that time, Tang Sai'er rebelled in Qingzhou, Shandong, and the Mongolian situation was unstable.
It was not until Li Bin, the governor of Annan, died of fear that Zhu Di sent elite soldiers to quell the rebellion, led by Chen Zhi, the governor of Rongchangbo. However, after two years of encirclement and suppression, the two sides fell into a stalemate, and after Zhu Di died of illness, Ming Renzong advocated a peaceful settlement and canonized Li Li as the prefect of Thanh Hoa, but Li Li did not approve of it.
Soon, after Ming Xuanzong succeeded to the throne, he sent elite soldiers to quell the rebellion and enabled Chengshan Marquis Wang Tong, but he was ambushed by Li Li in the first battle and lost 5,000 men. In the case of successive setbacks, Xuanzong resent Anyuan Marquis Liu Sheng to fight, and together with Mu Sheng, a veteran general stationed in Yunnan, divided his troops into two ways to attack, but Liu Sheng was surrounded in the Battle of Baomapo, lost 10,000 people, and himself was killed.
Governor Cui Ju and Shangshu Huang Fu of the Ministry of Industry continued to march after rectifying the remnants of the army, but they were once again wiped out, and the two were captured. And Mu Sheng, who marched from Yunnan, fled without a fight after hearing that Liu Sheng had died in battle.
The Ming army suffered successive defeats in successive wars, and tens of thousands of Ming army families and civilians were besieged by Lê Le in the eastern capital (now Hanoi, Vietnam). This situation was out of control, and Ming Xuanzong had to make a decision.
For twenty years, the situation in Annam has been capricious, and the Ming Dynasty and Annam have been in a tug-of-war. Yang Shiqi, a scholar of the university, has always advocated the canonization of Annam and the restoration of its status as a vassal state, emphasizing that "the security of the country lies in the north, not in the south."
More importantly, the years of war have consumed a lot of military spending, and the people have also suffered greatly from the war. Therefore, abandoning Annam would not only save the Ming Dynasty a lot of expenses, but also reduce this heavy burden.
Ming Xuanzong first sent an envoy to Annam, restored the Chen regime, and announced the withdrawal of troops. At the same time, he was also actively looking for descendants of the Chan family. However, Li Li said that there was no successor to the Chen family, and he asked Ming Xuanzong to canonize him as the king of Annam.
Ming Xuanzong did not respond to his request. Then, in the third year of Xuande (1428), Li Li again asked for canonization, but Ming Xuanzong still ignored it. It was not until the sixth year of Xuande (1431) that Li Li made another request.
Considering that the descendants of the Chen clan could not be found, and that Lê Li's administration in Annam had been recognized, Ming Xuanzong finally agreed to Lê Lê's request and canonized him as king. In this way, Annan finally became independent again.
From the process of getting along with the Ming Dynasty and Annam, we can summarize two reasons for the failure of the Ming Dynasty: first, the rule of the Ming Dynasty in the local area was not recognized by the people, especially the eunuch Ma Qi during the Zhu Di period, who caused a negative image of the Ming Dynasty in the local area, thus losing the hearts of the people.
Secondly, by the time of Xuanzong, the Ming Dynasty no longer had a powerful general who could stand alone, and the generals sent could not solve the problem of war, causing the Ming Dynasty to lose its strategic initiative.