Chapter 4 Chapter Four: The First General of the Western Regions in the Ming Dynasty——Song Sheng

On February 22, 2002, Nanjing "Jiangnan Times" published a report titled "Jinling Historic Sites Have Been Worried about Repeated Destruction", which claimed: "The tomb of Song Sheng, located next to No. 114 Yuhua West Road in Nanjing, was damaged by surrounding The building’s occupation has seriously violated the country’s relevant cultural relics protection policies, and the tombstone itself has been smeared and the inscriptions are no longer legible.” After the report came out, it once aroused the attention of cultural relics lovers all over the Internet, but even experienced cultural relics Fans, at this time someone also raised a question: Who is Song Sheng?

The reporter who reported the news also put on a "big oolong" when reporting, calling Song Sheng "a famous calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty" in the news... In fact, this founding father of the Ming Dynasty, who is no longer well-known today and whose tombs have been invaded, has been smeared, distorted, ups and downs, and criticized and attacked before and after his lifetime, but he cannot be obliterated. Great achievements on the battlefield.Although compared with Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Deng Yu, Tang He and other "heroes of the Ming Dynasty", he is not well-known. In the great cause of the Ming Dynasty's pursuit of the Yuan court and the unification of the world, he was just a role in the game at first. It was only in the Northwest battlefield that he found his stage.The Ming Dynasty's sovereignty over the northwest land was established by his military exploits.Emperor Timur, who swept across Central Asia and shocked the world, had a chance to duel with him at the last moment of his life.The two generations of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, father and son who were suspicious by nature, had a lot of trust in him, and ordered him to "arbitrarily decide on side affairs and not report on everything" in the northwest.In the "History of the Ming Dynasty" "Sin Wei Lu", which caused the "literary inquisition" in the early Qing Dynasty, he was given a supreme evaluation: "The meritorious deeds of Jianwei Huo." He was compared to the two famous generals who swept the Xiongnu in the Western Han Dynasty-Wei Qing and Huo Qubing .

Song Sheng, courtesy name Jingyang, was born in Dingyuan, Anhui.According to historical records, he "has been in four towns in Liangzhou for more than 20 years, with prestige in the absolute domain".In the great cause of Hongwu Dynasty's hard work, and in the prosperity of Yongle and the prosperity of all nations, he is the silent guardian of the gate of Northwest China. Like many famous founding generals of the Ming Dynasty, Song Sheng, a native of Dingyuan, Anhui, was also the first "hometownr" to follow Zhu Yuanzhang in his army.That was in 1353 AD. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was still under Guo Zixing's command, returned to his hometown to recruit soldiers. Hu Dahai, Deng Yu, Chang Yuchun, Lan Yu and other "famous founding generals" all joined the army in this recruitment.Song Sheng's family was more active. Song Sheng's father, Song Chaoyong, and Song Sheng's brother, Song Guoxing, both joined the army.Compared with his father and brother, who were in their prime, Song Sheng was only 11 years old at that time, and he was a full-fledged "child soldier".

The 11-year-old "little devil" naturally couldn't go to the battlefield.It was Song Sheng's father and brother who made repeated military exploits at the beginning of Zhu Yuanzhang's army.Different from the "poor background" of Chang Yuchun and others, Song's family was originally a wealthy local family.Song Sheng's brother, Song Guoxing, was a "strong man" in Dingyuan when he was young, and he was the best at using weapons and sticks.After defecting to Zhu Yuanzhang, the "Song Family Army", with the Song family's early "civilian regiment" as the team, began to emerge.In the battle of Zhu Yuanzhang's conquest of Chuzhou, it was Song Sheng's brother Song Guoxing who led the army to attack at night. After a bloody battle, he opened the gate of Chuzhou, and Zhu Yuanzhang also had his first city in the world.Zhu Yuanzhang once praised him as "Yong Guoxing".Song Chaoyong, Song Sheng's father, was an important general in Zhu Yuanzhang's early days. Ming history said that he was "marshal because of his accumulated meritorious service", and he was once ranked alongside Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and others.After Zhu Yuanzhang decided to recruit troops from afar, it was he who commanded the battle of Hezhou that opened up the road to the east.Liu Ji praised him as "both wise and courageous" in "Collected Works of Sincerity Bo", and he was also a famous general for a while.

Xiao Song Sheng joined the army at the age of 11, and was assigned under the command of another general at the time, Deng Yu.The origin of the family is coupled with the influence of the Southern Expedition and the Northern War. Song Sheng thought it would be difficult for him not to fight, but after all, he is young and it is not realistic to charge forward.Deng Yu attached great importance to the son of this "old comrade-in-arms", and stayed with him as an "orderly soldier". In addition to doing some chores of serving tea and pouring water every day, Deng Yu often "taught him diligently with military tactics".A full stomach of strategy, from now on to take root.

If this continues, Xiao Song Sheng will probably become an outstanding military strategist under the guidance of Deng Yu. After the world is peaceful, he will be rewarded for his meritorious service. If he is lucky, he will be able to inherit the title as the "son of a hero" , Since then, the scenery has been beautiful. Song Sheng did it, not only did it, but also surpassed many "children of heroes" and became the leader among them.Jiangong, feudal marquis, conferring a title, step by step, but these started with a sadness when he was 13 years old. From the Yuan Dynasty to the 14th year (AD 1355), Zhu Yuanzhang, who was expanding his territory, set his sights on a new goal - Jiqing (Nanjing, Jiangsu).This is the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties and an important town in the south of the Yangtze River in the Yuan Dynasty. If you win it, you will win the key point of unifying the world. This is Zhu Yuanzhang's battle of Tianwangshan.

It was Tianwang Mountain that was about to be gnawed down. From July, September, and March of the following year, Zhu Yuanzhang concentrated his troops and launched three consecutive violent attacks on Jiqing.Zhu Yuanzhang attacked fiercely, and the Yuan Dynasty defended fiercely, clenching their teeth and fighting to the death without retreating.After several attacks, Zhu Yuanzhang suffered heavy casualties.In the second attack on Jiqing in September of that year, in order to break through the defense line of the Yuan army, Zhu Yuanzhang selected the strongest soldiers in the army as death squads in an attempt to forcefully cross the river.The leader of the Death Squad is precisely Song Sheng's elder brother - "Yong Guoxing". "Yong Guoxing" was still as brave as ever, taking the lead and rushing across the river, but lost the good luck he had before. An arrow hit Song Guoxing's forehead impartially, and Song Guoxing died heroically.

When the bad news came, Zhu Yuanzhang regretted it unceasingly, and immediately ordered the entire army to retreat, and the second attack on Jiqing ended.Later, Zhu Yuanzhang held a grand funeral in the army, and the Song family was deeply saddened. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang found a strange child-the whole family was crying, but he was the only exception. Although his face was full of grief and anger, there was just a drop of tear They didn't drop it, but solemnly kowtowed a few times in front of the deceased's spirit, and uttered a solemn oath word by word: "I would like to kill all the Hulu, the shame of Brother Xuewu."

This child is 13-year-old Song Sheng. This situation, the Song family, and even Zhu Yuanzhang's generals are all "big differences".Zhu Yuanzhang was also very moved, and said to his father Song Chao: "Your son has great ambitions, and his achievements in the future will be higher than you." Not only did he praise, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ordered that Song Sheng inherit his brother's position as "General Vanguard" , All the troops were incorporated into Deng Yu's command.In this way, the 13-year-old Song Sheng went from being the youngest son in Jiangmen's family to a "child soldier" in the army, and then to the general at this time, in just two years.It is no exaggeration to say that he is a young general.But in the eyes of many people at the time, it was absurd for a 13-year-old child to lead the army to fight a war!

Song Sheng's subsequent performance proved that this is not absurd at all. Two months after Song Guoxing was killed in battle, the young Song Sheng shocked the battlefield.In November of that year, Deng Yu led his troops to attack Huizhou, an important town in the Yuan court.Connecting the north and south of the Yangtze River, Huizhou has a prosperous economy and an extremely important strategic location.It was an important town that was about to be taken. Deng Yu was surrounded on all sides, and all the artillery, bows and crossbows were used, but he couldn't get it down.At the critical moment, Xiao Song Sheng, who is the "vanguard general", put forward a strange suggestion: Shall we withdraw first?

Deng Yu was dizzy, and Zhu Yuanzhang's urging orders followed one after another. If Huizhou cannot be defeated, the entire army will be punished. If you say withdraw, you will withdraw? What Song Sheng said next made Deng Yu not dizzy. "The reason why the enemy is fighting to the death today is that we are tightly besieging the city, so we are fighting to the death. You might as well wait for a while and wait for the enemy to relax and make a surprise attack. If you only surround three sides, the enemy will be defeated." A few words, but it is an important principle in the art of war: encircle three and lack one. Deng Yu suddenly realized: Listen to you. What happened next went exactly as Song Sheng expected: the Yuan army was indeed slacking off, Deng Yu took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack, but the North Gate side alone did not attack, and the Yuan army that was originally fighting to the death would collapse at the first touch.The strong city of Huizhou, which had been unable to advance a step in the bloody battle for a month before, was taken without bloodshed.It was also this battle that allowed many people under Zhu Yuanzhang's command to see Song Sheng's strength, just as Deng Yu praised in his report to Zhu Yuanzhang, Song Sheng "has a lot of ingenuity, and the talent of a general." From then on, Song Sheng began to make "many tricks". First, he fought a lot of victories with Deng Yu. Later, Song Sheng's father, Song Chaoyong, retired due to illness. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Song Sheng to take over his father's position as "Governor and Tongzhi". He was in his early 20s. At the age of 19, he became a "military-level" cadre and began to take charge of himself.This was a critical period for Zhu Yuanzhang to unify the world, and the battles became more and more serious. Song Sheng first participated in the battle to pacify Zhang Shicheng and seize the south of the Yangtze River, and then after Zhu Yuanzhang established his capital in Nanjing and officially established the country, he participated in Xu Da's Northern Expedition to the Yuan Dynasty to unify the north.Compared with the generals who broke through the formation and killed the enemy, and made repeated military exploits, Song Sheng at this time was doing more "aftermath" work.The Ming army conquered Shandong, and he was ordered to stay in Shandong. The Ming army conquered Henan, and he was ordered to stay in Henan. Then the Ming army conquered Shaanxi, and he was ordered to stay in Shaanxi.On the way to unify the world, it is not up to him to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds. The "dirty work" of governing the local area and cleaning up the remnants mostly falls on him.After the Ming Dynasty conquered the Yuan court in the north and unified the world, Song Sheng was ordered to guard Datong and Shaanxi one after another, serving as the local "commander of the capital" and supervising the construction of the Great Wall in Shanxi and Shaanxi.Compared with the glory of many heroes after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, although Song Sheng was also a founding hero at that time, he did not receive many awards due to his age and qualifications. In the Ming Dynasty army, he was just a " middle-level cadres". The second turning point in Song Sheng's life happened in the twelfth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1379). Like the last time, the beginning of this turning point was still a sad one. This incident is the "Nanjing Flower Boat Case" of this year.The thing is very simple, that is, during the Lantern Festival, a group of meritorious officials pooled their money to build a big boat, spent extravagantly on the boat, and played along the Qinhuai River to enjoy the scenery.After Zhu Yuanzhang found out about the incident, Longyan was furious, and immediately ordered a strict investigation, and all officials who boarded the ship would be severely punished.At this time, Song Sheng, who was transferred to Nanjing, happened to be on this boat, and without exception, he was pushed to the end and demoted to Liangzhou, Gansu to serve as the commander of the guard. Perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang himself did not expect that this harsh punishment not only failed to defeat Song Sheng, but on the contrary opened up a new world for his life.Song Sheng later made great achievements in the battlefield, he was granted the title of marquis and title, and his fame spread all over the world, and it was from then on. The harsh punishment for Song Sheng was not only because of his demotion, but also because Liangzhou was really not a good place at that time.Not to mention the economic backwardness, the local Han nationality and ethnic minorities live together, and there are constant conflicts with each other.Moreover, Liangzhou is located at the border crossing point. At this time, the remnant forces of the Yuan Dynasty in the northwest are still invading and harassing from time to time, and the wars continue all the year round.Poverty, far distance, and many wars, such a place is said to be demoted, but in fact it is sent to exile.So when the punishment order came down, most of the people around Song Sheng made a judgment: this child's life is over. Song Sheng didn't think so. Instead, he said goodbye to his family happily, and when he said goodbye to his friends, he even said boldly: "If you go to the Northwest, you will surely make a great achievement." After arriving in Liangzhou, Song Sheng realized that big words are easy to say, but things are really hard to do. The situation in Liangzhou at that time couldn't have been worse.The northwest and north of Liangzhou are the territory of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and they come to beat you from time to time.The southern part of Liangzhou is the Tubo tribe in the Qinghai-Tibet area. Although they belonged to the Ming Dynasty, they rebelled and surrendered from time to time. If there was a disaster, they would come in groups.For example, in the ninth year of Hongwu (1376 A.D.), enemies invaded Liangzhou in the southeast, north, and west. The invasion of foreign enemies is enough to make people scratch their heads, and the internal affairs also make people scratch their heads.When Xu Da recovered Gansu from the Yuan Dynasty, he recruited a large number of Mongolian tribes.Later, in the third year of Hongwu (AD 1370), Fu Youde went west and brought back a large number of captives, many of whom were placed in Liangzhou.These tribes still maintain their nomadic customs and have constant conflicts with the local Han people.Some of these tribes also colluded with the Northern Yuan Dynasty, acting as the forerunner every time the enemy invaded.Internal and external troubles pressed down the gourd and lifted it up, which made the previous local officials have a big head. So from the second year of Hongwu (AD 1369) when the Liangzhou Guard was set up by the Ming Dynasty, until Song Sheng took office, the position of Commander of the Liangzhou Guard has changed 9 people, of which 4 died in battle, 3 One was dismissed and investigated, and two died of mutiny by local soldiers, neither of which ended well. Song Sheng, who has a heavy responsibility, found the key point to solve Liangzhou's problem at once from the internal and external troubles of Liangzhou Wei: food. The chaos in Liangzhou is actually caused by "eating".The place is bitterly cold, and the life of the nomads is difficult, and the lack of food causes riots.Also because of the lack of food, many soldiers sent by the imperial court to reclamation fled.The common people riot without food, and the army cannot fight without food.Problems are easy to find, but difficult to solve.The local climate in Liangzhou is harsh, with constant drought and snowstorms. The troops were sent to cultivate and guard the border. The seeds sown with hard work will be lost in a catastrophe, and they are counting on the imperial court to send relief food.Not to mention Lu Yuan, eating relief every year is like a bottomless pit, which cannot be filled no matter what. Song Sheng started to act. He first took the initiative to contact the surrounding ethnic minority tribes, summoned the chiefs of the various tribes to have a talk, and at the same time dealt with various cases accumulated over the years fairly, and resolved the conflicts among the border residents of various ethnic groups. In just a few months, the local Cases accumulated for several years have been settled.He also allocated a large amount of grain from the grain bank to help the tribes survive the famine.After some hustle and bustle, the local situation finally calmed down. But this calm is temporary, if the problem of eating is not solved, there will be more troubles.At this time, Song Sheng already had a solution. Liangzhou was full of disasters, and there were two main disasters: drought and sandstorm.Zhangye in the Liangzhou area has been known as "the top of the south of the Yangtze River" since ancient times. The local water source is abundant. Song Sheng used the army to introduce water source into the arid area to resolve the drought.Liangzhou is adjacent to the desert in the north, and Song Sheng ordered the soldiers to plant sand-resistant trees such as sand jujube to resist sandstorms.He "personally planned" all the above-mentioned matters, and did everything by himself. At the same time, he also formulated strict military laws, strictly governed the army, and severely punished those who oppressed the people among the soldiers.After painstaking efforts, Liangzhou gradually became more and more stable.From the winter of the thirteenth year of Hongwu (1380 A.D.), Liangzhou Wei repelled the invasion of surrounding enemies many times in a row. In the 16th year of Hongwu (1383 A.D.), when Jiang Xing, the censor of the Ming Dynasty, inspected Liangzhou, What he saw was fertile fields criss-crossing the fields, people of all ethnic groups living in harmony, and elite border soldiers. Song Sheng's war test after guarding the northwest began in May of the second year. At this time, after more than ten years of recuperation, the increasingly prosperous Ming Dynasty finally made up its mind to solve the problem of border troubles in the north, and the first battle was Yiji Nai Road in the north of Liangzhou. The name Yiji Nailu is already unfamiliar to modern people, but in the early Ming Dynasty, it was a serious problem that made Zhu Yuanzhang restless.Yiji Nai Road is located in today's Dalaihubu Town, Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia. Since the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, it has been an important town in the northwest of the Yuan Dynasty.When Genghis Khan destroyed gold in the early years, it was a material transfer station for the Mongolian army. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, it was an important place for the Yuan Dynasty to station troops outside the Great Wall.After the Yuan Dynasty withdrew from the Central Plains, it became the bridgehead for the Mongolian army to harass the south.The guardian of this place is "Wu Guogong" of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. He is the son and daughter of the Yuan Dynasty, and he is a fierce general who can fight well in the Northern Yuan Dynasty.For many years, when the name of this "Black General" was mentioned, many frontier generals of the Ming Dynasty all got angry. In May of that year, before the Ming army could make a move, Dou Chichi came to the door by himself. The Mongolian army entered the bandits in large numbers, and adopted the tactics of "run with one mouthful". When the army attacked, he withdrew from outside the Great Wall, and when the Ming army returned to the division, he came back to harass, all relying on his own cavalry to come and go like flying, several times of harassment made the Ming army panting. Song Sheng, who was out of breath, did not panic. Facing the continuous invasion of the Mongolian army, Song Sheng only said one sentence: "Now the enemy is out, and his nest must be empty." Achilles heel. Song Sheng sent a small number of troops to restrain the Mongolian army, and then selected 30,000 elite riders, set out from Liangzhou and marched northward, ignoring the invasion of the Mongolian army along the way. After several days of rapid march, they finally arrived at Yiji Nailu City , as Song Sheng expected, Yiji Nailu City really "its nest must be empty". To stab red, Qianhu also first Timur, and more than 18,000 Mongolian troops.This catastrophe that ravaged the northern border of the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years was resolved in one battle. The seizure of Yiji Nai Road was of great significance to the Ming Dynasty's northwest frontier defense, and even the northern frontier defense.In the third year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1371 A.D.) during Xu Da’s Northern Expedition, the Northern Yuan Dynasty dispatched soldiers and horses from Yiji Nai Road to attack the Ming army from the side, causing the Ming army to fail and was forced to withdraw. In the following ten years Yiji Nai Road has always been the base for the Northern Yuan army to invade the border areas of the Ming Dynasty.So when the good news came, Guo Ying, the founding hero of the Ming Dynasty, heard the news and praised: "This is the achievement of breaking the arms of the Hu captives." Song Sheng's military exploits also aroused strong repercussions in the Ming Dynasty.The overjoyed Zhu Yuanzhang immediately issued an order to summon Song Sheng to Beijing, resumed his position as "Commander of the Capital", and then was promoted to "Commander of the Right Army", and re-guarded Liangzhou as a "Grand Official of the Frontier", and guarded the Ming Dynasty ever since. The responsibility for the northwest gate officially fell on Song Sheng's shoulders. It is worth mentioning that after the victory at Yiji Nailu, Song Sheng adopted a policy of "preferential treatment of prisoners" for more than 18,000 captured Mongolian soldiers. Only a thousand of them were sent to Nanjing for punishment, and the rest were placed in Liangshan. In the prefecture area, they live together with the Han people, and the able-bodied ones are selected by Song Sheng to be incorporated into the army.This army he carefully built has a name in later generations-Ganliang Jingqi.Later, the Ming Dynasty pacified Annan, Luchuan, and even the defense of Beijing after the change of Tumubao, all of which had this army. Song Sheng, who shouldered the responsibility of Northwest frontier defense, did not disappoint Zhu Yuanzhang.In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu (AD 1391), Song Sheng made another move. This time, the goal was Hameri, the throat of the Silk Road in the Western Regions opened by the Ming Dynasty.Hameri, which is Hami in Xinjiang today, was the fiefdom of Wu Nashili, the prince of the Yuan Dynasty.Compared with the "Wu Guogong" on Yiji Nai Road, the prince of Unashili was very honest at first. In the thirteenth year of Hongwu (AD 1380), the Ming Dynasty planned to attack Hameri. After hearing the news, Hameri asked to surrender. The dynasty then sent a mission to the Western Regions to appease the ministries via Hameri. This was also the first time the Ming Dynasty entered the Western Regions after the founding of the People's Republic of China.From then on, the Ming Dynasty continued to communicate with various ministries in the Western Regions, and the Silk Road was reopened.But Wu Nashili was not greedy enough, so he even robbed the caravans several times. In the 23rd year of Hongwu, he went even further, detaining the missions of the tribes of the Western Regions who paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty.Zhu Yuanzhang was furious when he heard the news, and immediately ordered Song Sheng to join forces with Liu Zhen, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and attacked Hameri in April of that year. There is also a reason why Wunashili is confident.The terrain in the Hameri area is difficult, and the Ming army is mostly infantry, and it is difficult to provide food, grass, and supplies.By the time Hameri arrived, I was afraid it would be the end of the battle. As long as the territory was well guarded and dragged on for three to five months, the Ming army would surely retreat without a fight. Things were indeed as Wu Nashili expected, the army of the Ming Dynasty governor Liu Zhen marched very slowly.But he missed one person - Song Sheng. Ever since Wunashili was strictly guarded against death, Song Sheng knew what he was planning, and Song Sheng's countermeasure was still the same - go straight to Huanglong.When the Mongolian army attacked wildly back then, they dared to go straight to Yiji Nailu. This time the opponent shrank their defense, and they still wanted to go straight to Hameri. This time the difficulty was much greater than last time, the road was far away, the supply of food and grass was a problem, the terrain was dangerous, and it was not easy to deploy troops.Song Sheng arranged carefully. First, he inspected the terrain in detail, found a small road to march, and then issued a military order that each soldier should bring 5 more days of dry food and march in a hurry.This surprise attack force set off from Liangzhou to Hameri, marched thousands of miles in a hurry, passed through the defense area of ​​the Mongolian army by a small path, and arrived at the city of Hameri in just two days.At dawn, when the soldiers at the top of the city of Hameri looked out, they were surprised to see tens of thousands of Ming troops in the dark outside the city, who were gearing up. At this time, Song Sheng also knew that the lone army was deep and the backup was not enough. If the fortified city could not be conquered as soon as possible, what awaited this surprise attack force might be the disaster of annihilation of the entire army, so it may be best to seize the time to take down the enemy. s Choice. However, Song Sheng's choice was: don't fight! Even if you don't fight, you still have to pretend.The Ming army lined up under the city, and the whole army's drums and shouts were loud, but they did not attack.After shouting for about half a day, a miracle happened suddenly. There was a mutiny in the city of Hameri. The previously bullish Unashili fled in a hurry. In front of the Ming army.Hameri, the fortified city, will be destroyed without a fight. It turned out that Song Sheng had obtained an important piece of information long before the march: Wunashili was not united internally, and many local people and military officers were loyal to the Ming Dynasty. It is difficult to fight, so it is the best choice to surrender without fighting, and he did it. After conquering Hameri, Song Sheng adopted an enlightened ethnic policy. After the army entered the city, Qiu did not commit any crimes, and the enemies who participated in the rebellion were only arrested.The local situation quickly stabilized, and the governor Liu Zhen who came later continued to lead his army in pursuit. The subordinates of Wunashili surrendered one after another, and more than 2,000 officials at all levels were captured successively.Hameri, who had blocked the Ming Dynasty's westward route for more than ten years, was put down without bloodshed. If the previous battle of Yiji Nailu broke the arm of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, then this bloodless battle of Hameri not only relieved the threat to the northwest of Gansu, but also opened up the Silk Road connecting Europe and Asia. road.After the Battle of Hameli, all the tribes in the Western Regions truly saw the military power of the Ming Dynasty. The tribes that had colluded with the Northern Yuan Dynasty had since then devoted themselves to the Ming Dynasty.It is recorded in history that the Ming Dynasty "walked prestige in the Western Regions" since then, which is the truth. The Battle of Yiji Nailu and the Battle of Hameri were the two most important battles Song Sheng participated in while guarding the northwest during the Hongwu period.After the two major wars, the Gansu region suffered from severe military disasters, and there has been no large-scale war for decades.Song Sheng, who has made great contributions to guarding the northwest, not only gained his reputation in the northwest, but also received important tasks. Five years later, he was appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang as "Deputy General for Conquering the South" and sent to Guangxi to quell the local rebellion.After the victory, he was transferred to Kaiping (formerly Shangdu of the Northern Yuan Dynasty) as the governor of Kaiping Wei. This transfer order changed his fate again, allowing him to be appreciated by another person—Zhu Yuanzhang's fourth son, Yan Wang Zhu Di. Kaipingwei was very important in the early years of the Ming Dynasty. Xu Da, the first military general in the Ming Dynasty, once called Kaipingwei "the head of the guards outside the Great Wall".This is not only because it was the capital of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, but also because of its important strategic location. Occupying Kaiping, you can overlook the entire Mongolian grassland and curb the Northern Yuan Dynasty's southward invasion.Choosing Song Sheng to guard Kaiping proved his status in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart at this time. For Song Sheng, the most important significance of guarding Kaiping is the opportunity to work with another person: Yan Wang Zhu Di. At this time, Zhu Di's fiefdom was in Beiping, and Kaiping to the north of Beiping was Zhu Di's territory.At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was in his later years, and the "battle for succession" among the princes had reached a fever pitch. The princes guarding the north were all vying to cultivate cronies and expand their strength.Song Sheng, who has made outstanding military exploits, naturally became Zhu Di's wooing target.While working with Zhu Di, the two developed a close relationship.In the 31st year of Hongwu (1398 A.D.), Song Sheng followed Zhu Di to attack Mongolia, marched into Ningcheng area of ​​Inner Mongolia, and defeated the local Mongolian army. Zhu Di wanted to attack immediately, but Song Sheng judged that there was still the main force of the Mongolian army north of Ningcheng. .Under Song Sheng's urging, the Ming army marched northward again, and indeed captured the main force of the Mongolian army and defeated it again.After the war, Song Sheng suggested that guards should be set up in Youyu City as a barrier.Zhu Di adopted his suggestion and set up a full-back in the local area, which was later renamed Youyucheng.From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Ming Dynasty, this guardhouse was always the barrier of the Ming Dynasty against the invasion of northern nomads. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xueyan, Minister of the Ministry of War, gave the city the nickname "Iron Wall Guard". Afterwards, Zhu Di appreciated Song Sheng more and more, and soon after, he and Song Sheng formed a family relationship—Song Hu, Song Sheng's son, married Zhu Di's daughter, Princess Ancheng.This marriage also predestined Song Sheng's role in the following "Battle of Jingnan" - Zhu Di's confidant. Not long after Song Sheng and Zhu Di got married, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang died of illness, and the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen came to the throne, and the next year changed his reign name to Jianwen.This young emperor, who had been worried about the tyranny of the princes in the north since he was the "grandson", took the throne and cut down the vassals. The main target of the vassal cuts was Zhu Di, who was coveting the throne in the north.Song Sheng, who was already Zhu Di's confidant, became a person whom Emperor Jianwen was extremely afraid of.Huang Zicheng, a close minister of Emperor Jianwen, suggested that "it can be transferred far away to cut off the wings of King Yan, and then Xu Tuzhi".So in July of that year, Song Sheng, who was fighting in the South and North, received another order to serve as the governor of Gansu.In August of the following year, in order to fight for the throne, Zhu Di, who dominated the north, launched the "Battle of Jingnan" under the name of "the side of the Qing emperor". The Ming Dynasty began a three-year civil war. Returning to Gansu, Song Sheng, who holds a heavy army in his hand, can stand by and watch from the sidelines in this battle.However, the bad news came again. It was Song Sheng's eldest son Song Xuan who served as Zhu Di's "commander of the right guard of the government army".However, Song Sheng didn't have time to be sad, because the news from the west of Gansu showed that when the Central Plains was in full swing, an even bigger cloud of war was coming towards the Ming Dynasty. The name of this dark cloud is Timur. The name Timur may be very unfamiliar to Chinese people, but it is well-known abroad. Western historians say that he is "the greatest conqueror after Genghis Khan".This person was originally the son-in-law of the Xichagatai Khanate in Central Asia. In the second year after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, he killed the king of the Xichagatai Khanate, proclaimed himself emperor, and established the Timurid Empire.After proclaiming himself emperor, Timur adopted a submissive attitude towards the Ming Dynasty and sent envoys to make good friends. On the other hand, he expanded in Central Asia, successively annexed Persia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, defeated the Ottoman Empire in Turkey, and established a horizontal Great Empire across Eurasia.Even the king of Spain, who was far away in Europe, respected him as his "foster father". Timur, who was inflated with self-confidence, set the next target of attack as the Ming Dynasty. After Song Sheng returned to Gansu, news of the Timur Empire continued to come from the Western Regions. Song Sheng attached great importance to this. While collecting information extensively, he strengthened his defenses and set up guards in the Hami area as a defense against Timur. Buffer zone for imperial invasion.In July of the third year of Jianwen (AD 1401), Zhu Di invaded Nanjing, overthrew the reigning Emperor Jianwen, and changed Yuan to Yongle the following year.Song Sheng immediately reported the movements of the Timur Empire to Zhu Di, and assured Zhu Di that "I know the truth of the enemy, and if he dares to attack, he will strike hard."Zhu Di immediately sent more troops to the Gansu area, and ordered Song Sheng to restrain the troops from all walks of life. So far, the Ming army has made careful preparations in the northwest area.In April of the second year of Yongle (AD 1404), Timur, who had ended his campaign against Turkey, held a "Mongol Congress" and announced that he would "anti-Ming and restore the Yuan Dynasty". Kazakhstan died of an accidental illness in the Ale River Basin, and a great war ended.Sixteen years after Timur's death, the famous general Gaye Suding, who followed Timur in the South and North Wars, was sent as an envoy to the Ming Dynasty. After visiting the Ming army's city defenses in Gansu along the way, he said with emotion in his memoirs: "I I have to admit that it was such a lucky thing that the emperor (Timur) died of illness during the journey, which allowed him to preserve his reputation of being invincible all his life." Zhu Di, who came to the throne after the "Battle of Jingnan", although he was no less suspicious of his courtiers than Zhu Yuanzhang, he always had unreserved trust in Song Sheng, who was guarding the northwest.After Zhu Di came to the throne, Song Sheng held a heavy army in the northwest and had power over the world. There was also a censor who impeached Song Sheng for "self-control". In the second year after ascending the throne, Song Sheng was granted the title of "Marquis of Xining".Song Sheng is also very good at being a man. Since then, he has been guarding the northwest, reporting on all matters big and small, and asked to enter the court many times to "report on work", truly achieving "early request for instructions and late report".Zhu Di's counselor, Yao Guangxiao, who is known as "the number one counselor in Jingnan", also praised Song Sheng full of praise. In July of the fifth year of Yongle (1407 A.D.), Song Sheng, who had fought all his life, finally closed his tired eyes and passed away in Liangzhou.When the bad news came, Zhu Di was deeply saddened, and he named Song Sheng "Duke of the State of Yun".In the northwest, tribes in Gansu, Hami, and the Western Regions all spontaneously mourned for Song Sheng, and even the scholars from Gansu Province of the Guozijian also spontaneously mourned for him.Behind his departure, the Silk Road, which was once interrupted after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, is now thriving again. The originally desolate land of Shaanxi and Gansu has become an "international city" where Hu merchants gather and trade flourishes.The "Ganliang Jingqi" he personally built is an immortal arm that will last forever and protect the provinces in Northwest China.