In the third year of Xuande of the Ming Dynasty (1428), Zhu Zhanji of Mingrenzong made an important decision - to abolish the political envoy of Jiaozhi, ending the Ming Dynasty's rule in Annam for more than 20 years.
Some people may regret that the Ming Dynasty did not continue to use troops against Annam, but chose to withdraw its troops, believing that this historical Chinese homeland should be recovered. But in fact, for the Ming Dynasty at that time, maintaining the rule of Annam was already more than enough to maintain its rule.
Even when the Yongle Dynasty was strong, it was unable to completely annex the whole of Annam, which was not only greedy and not enough to swallow the elephant, but also did not understand the staggering price behind it.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty could no longer bear such a burden, and the withdrawal of troops became a wise choice.
During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, civil strife broke out in the Kingdom of Annam, and the Ming Dynasty quelled the rebellion at the invitation of the Annam court and included Annam in the territory, but because it did not send a virtuous ** governance, it led to the mistake of the ruling policy, the ** quality was not high, and the exile became a trouble, and there was a serious confrontation between the people of Annam and the rulers of the Ming Dynasty, which eventually led to the rebellion of the military and people of Annam.
The Ming Dynasty's use of troops in the north and south not only consumed a lot of military resources and food, but also made the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty more and more difficult, unable to carry out effective control, and the time to maintain relative stability after each military conquest was very short, but it consumed a lot of manpower and material resources.
After the death of Emperor Si Yongle, the Ming Dynasty's Jiaozhi political envoy, Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi advocated the withdrawal of troops from Annam as soon as possible in order to reduce the burden on the Ming Dynasty, but his short reign failed to realize this policy.
After Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, he hesitated on the question of whether to continue fighting or seek to withdraw his troops. Although it is possible to win the battle if we continue to fight, the attrition will be very large, and the withdrawal of troops and peace talks will disgrace the Ming and attract criticism.
After weighing the pros and cons, Ming Xuanzong decided to adopt a pragmatic attitude, put the military first and then politics, continue to send troops south, quickly achieve victory, let the other side sue for peace, and then withdraw the army.
This strategy was the best option for the Ming Dynasty, both to avoid greater attrition and to save face. This strategy is similar to the policy of Nixon in Vietnam, he wants to withdraw troops, but he needs to increase troops to hurt the other side first, so that they can take the initiative to sue for peace.
Although the emperor has an idea, he still needs the support of the ministers, because the peace is not something that the emperor can say if he wants to. Looking at the ministers of the DPRK and China, Zhang Fu was the commander who went to Annam that year, and it was impossible to agree to withdraw the troops; Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji and others were also stubborn, so they could only discuss with Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong, and put forward the idea that "the annexation of Annan is only temporary, and Annan should be restored according to Taizu's wishes in the future".
The two ministers, Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong, immediately expressed their support and praised Emperor Xuanzong for having the virtues of the ancient Spring and Autumn Period, that is, "rising and destroying and following extinction". With the support of two important ministers, Ming Xuanzong decided to abandon Annam within two or three years, but first needed to achieve a military victory in order to restore the reputation of the Ming Dynasty, and then withdraw his troops with dignity.
In April of the first year of Xuande (1426), Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty sent Wang Tong, Marquis of Chengshan, as the chief military officer, to lead an army to Annam. However, in November, the Ming army under Wang Tong's command suffered a defeat at Annam, losing 20,000 to 30,000 men, and the remaining soldiers were surrounded by Annam's army.
After Xuanzong heard the news, he once again selected Liu Sheng, Marquis of Anyuan, and others to help, and at the same time ordered Mu Sheng, the Duke of Qianguo, to lead another Ming army in Yunnan to set off urgently to support the battlefield of Annan.
However, before reinforcements arrived, Annam's army had already conquered some of the towns occupied by the Ming army. When the reinforcements led by Liu Sheng arrived in Annam, they suffered a crushing defeat in the first battle, and Liu Sheng was also killed by the random arrows of the Annamite people.
Under the attack of the Annam army from all sides, the Ming army had fallen into a state of overall rout. Ming Xuanzong's original idea was to withdraw his troops with dignity through a military victory, but this is no longer possible.
He did not have enough resources or the ability to continue to devote more troops and funds to the battlefield in Annam. Fortunately, at this time, Annam's military commander, Le Li, also began to feel tired and wanted to negotiate peace and seek the restoration of the country.
Ming Xuanzong also hoped to take this opportunity to end the war, and the two sides hit it off.
Zhang Fu, Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji resolutely opposed the peace talks, believing that Annan's letter of restoration should not be accepted, because the land that the soldiers had earned after years of hard work could not be easily abandoned.
Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong suggested taking this opportunity to agree to Annan's request for the restoration of the country, and it would be beneficial to the country to stop the army and support the people. Ming Xuanzong finally agreed to their suggestion, sent an envoy, and reluctantly agreed to Annan's request for restoration, ending the costly war.
In 1431, Li Li accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty and established the Later Li Dynasty in the history of Annam, and continued to serve the Ming Dynasty as the suzerain, paying tribute. Xuanzong gave up the annexation of Annam to the Ming Dynasty, on the one hand, in order to rest the army and support the people, and on the other hand, to restore Annam's status as a former vassal state, rather than to elevate Annam to a position of equal importance with the Ming Dynasty.
Ming Xuanzong could have negotiated peace with Annam as soon as possible to withdraw his troops, but in order to save face and block the opposition, he sent three large armies to expedition to Annam, but suffered a greater defeat and a consumption of manpower and financial resources, and was forced to abandon Annam.
Wang Tong, Liu Sheng and other generals did not have the ability to take charge of themselves, and the lack of coordination and cooperation of the various armies made the Ming army have no commander to command the overall situation, and Ming Xuanzong also lacked strategic guidance.
This enabled the Annan army to concentrate superior forces and break through the scattered Ming troops, so that the Ming army lost the advantage of winning the peace talks. At the same time, the losses of the Ming Dynasty in Annam were huge, and the materials taken from there every year were not essential, and the gains from annexing Annam outweighed the losses and were difficult to effectively control.
Therefore, Ming Xuanzong finally decided to give up Annan, which can be regarded as getting rid of a heavy burden.