However, during the Wanli period, that is, during the reign of Ming Shenzong, faced with the pressing of Myanmar, the powerful Ming Dynasty chose to sit idly by, giving up millions of territories and handing them over to the actual ruler of Myanmar at that time, the Xu Dong Dynasty.
These territories have now become a part of northern Myanmar (i.e. Ba Maw, Myanmar, north of Kaitai, etc.). ).
Seeing that the Ming Dynasty was taken advantage of by Myanmar, many people thought it was because of the poor strength of the Ming Dynasty. And the reason for saying this is not unreasonable.
1. For example, the Dongwu Dynasty was the strongest and largest feudal dynasty in the history of Myanmar, and there was no one. The Ming Dynasty was afraid that it was normal.
2, there is a more convincing, that is, the economic situation in the Ming Dynasty is not good, and the state treasury can't afford it? According to historical records, Wanli has one? What are the three characteristics of Wanli? That is, pacify the pilgrimage, aid Korea to resist Japan, and delimit the broadcast state. The outbreak of this series of wars, the consumption of military expenditure is huge, so the burden on the treasury of the Ming Dynasty is not heavy.
Ming History has a name:? The battle of Ningxia cost more than two million yuan, the battle of Korea cost more than seven million yuan before and after eight years, and the battle of Bozhou cost two or three million yuan. .
These two reasons seem reasonable, but they are actually the conclusions drawn from one-sided understanding of the Ming Dynasty.
First of all, was the Ming Dynasty really afraid of the Xu Dong Dynasty? We can't deny that this dynasty was really powerful, but it was still a tiny place in the Ming Dynasty. How can the Ming Dynasty be afraid? It shows that in the Burmese war, the Ming army has always won many battles. As long as the Burmese army invades the southwest border, it can always be repelled smoothly. For example, in the 12th year of Wanli, that is, A.D. 1584, the Ming army was in full swing, forcing Myanmar Prime Minister Yue Feng, who was entrenched in Longchuan, to surrender.
Besides, can the Ming Dynasty really afford war? This is also unrealistic. Although the Ming-Myanmar war lasted for a long time and cost a lot, it was by no means unbearable for the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the Ming dynasty was in the stage of Wanli revival, and Zhang implemented whipping drastically. In the fifteenth year of Wanli, the national economy was unprecedentedly prosperous and the tax revenue increased greatly, which was rare in the whole history of Ming Dynasty. With such strong financial resources as support, the Ming Dynasty can survive the next few decades. How can it not?
Therefore, the Ming dynasty gave up a large area of land to Myanmar, not because of lack of strength, but because there was something else. So what's the secret? Actually, on the whole, right? Not paying enough attention to these sites on the southwest border? .
First, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it was natural to inherit the territory ruled by the Yuan Dynasty to the greatest extent, so Zhu Yuanzhang began to send generals to attack Yunnan to expel the remnants of Mongolia, and later let Mu Ying guard Yunnan from generation to generation. From then on, Yunnan was completely in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
Later, after Daming gained a firm foothold in Yunnan, he began to disperse peripheral forces in Yunnan. In short, the Ming Dynasty gained control of many local sites through force and its powerful influence, and successively conferred chieftain institutions and established Xuanwei Department in these sites.
"History of Ming Dynasty" records that when Yunnan was founded in the early Ming Dynasty, the propaganda departments of Zhicheli and Luchuan successively established Myanmar, Laos, Badadian, Mubang and Mengyang as propaganda departments, all of which were ethnic groups. ?
It can be seen from this practice in the early Ming Dynasty that the Ming Dynasty completely regarded it as its own territory.
However, expansion is generally something that a new dynasty likes to do. After a period of accumulation, when it completely calms down, it will choose strategic contraction to consolidate internal economic development as its main goal.
Was it the same in the Ming Dynasty? Since the death of Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Renzong ascended the throne, and the expansion policy of the Ming Dynasty began to change to convergence. For example, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, the northern Kaiping frontier was abandoned first, and then Annan (now Vietnam) was abandoned. In fact, it seems to us now that the land abandoned in northern Myanmar during the Wanli period is just a continuation of this convergence policy of Emperor Wanli. Of course, this is another story.
Get to the point, the policy is conservative, and the control of the Ming Dynasty over these chieftain institutions is naturally getting smaller and smaller. Therefore, although these chieftains were nominally under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, they had full autonomy in their own territory.
And these autonomy rights were even fully recognized by the Ming dynasty? For example, the Ming Dynasty did not send officials to these chieftains, and these chieftains did not have to pay taxes to the Ming Dynasty. Their rule is only nominal.
So in the later days, these places actually seemed to be the peripheral forces of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming dynasty did not consider it as its own territory, but regarded it as its own vassal, and was full of contempt for such a barbarian chieftain vassal.
Generally speaking, it is dispensable for the Ming Dynasty. That was true at the time. After all, it was more like a burden to the Ming Dynasty, and they were given subsidies without getting a penny of tax.
Secondly, these websites are not only a burden, but also too small.
Because the Ming Dynasty gave the Tusi regime full autonomy, and the terrain was complex and diverse, which was difficult to control, there was no affection between them and the Ming Dynasty, only interests, which created these Tusi forces? Wall grass? Character.
As mentioned earlier, Myanmar prospered during the Xu Dong Dynasty, but it was not satisfied with its tiny space, so it began to provoke the Ming Dynasty and launched an attack on its southwest border. In the war against Myanmar, the nearest chieftain forces were the first to bear the brunt, but because they had no nostalgia for the Ming Dynasty, in order to reduce their losses, they directly betrayed the Ming Dynasty and took refuge in Myanmar.
Although the Ming Dynasty didn't think these sites were so indispensable, in order to show its position and maintain its majesty as a great power in the Central Plains, it sent troops to fight with Myanmar. In this process, the Ming army almost never lost, not only recovered lost ground, but also once hit the capital of Xu Dong dynasty.
However, although the Ming army continued to win against Myanmar, Myanmar was more and more defeated, completely unyielding, and repeatedly defeated and harassed the southwest border of the Ming Dynasty, which made the Ming Dynasty extremely angry. However, due to the independence of Tusi's power, it has been a chronic disease for many years and it is impossible to get rid of it immediately. Beating Myanmar all the time is a temporary solution, not a permanent cure. It is better to abandon it.
Besides, these sites were useless to the Ming Dynasty at that time, but in order to preserve them, they had to waste money. Shen Defu, a man of Amin dynasty, once said: Yunnan has been abandoned since then! ?
In fact, the Ming dynasty was not afraid of consumption, but was afraid of playing useless and doing useless work. It is better to forget it than to waste it like this. After all, we have won many battles and successfully maintained our reputation.
Moreover, this time the land was handed over, and the Ming Dynasty actually lost nothing. You know, in fact, the Ming dynasty's rule here has long since ceased to exist, and the Ming dynasty's rule over these chieftain forces is only nominal.
Not only did it not lose, but it also brought peace to the southwest border, promoted the sinicization of Yunnan and other places, and even made the Ming Dynasty pay more attention to grasslands.
For the Ming Dynasty, the threat from Myanmar was far less than that from the grassland. Grassland forces are a threat, and Myanmar is just a minor illness. Of the two evils, the Ming Dynasty preferred to focus on grassland, which was completely despised by the Ming Dynasty in Myanmar. If it can be solved simply, then solve it in the simplest way.
In fact, from the point of view of our present god, it is undoubtedly wrong and a little timid for the Ming Dynasty to give up so many territories. After all, it was a big country that actually gave land to a small country, even after numerous victories. But at that time, this policy of the Ming Dynasty was completely correct, and it was a perfect decision made by the imperial court after careful consideration, because under the current situation, the continued occupation of these sites by the Ming Dynasty did more harm than good.