Chapter 28 Section 2 Relocation of Guards in the North and Northwest

In the north, in order to attack and eliminate the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming army launched attacks more than once. For example, in the twelfth year of Yongle (AD 1414), Ming Chengzu Zhu Di personally led 500,000 horsemen to attack Oara Mahamu and chased him to the Tula River ( In the 22nd year of Yongle, Chengzu personally conquered it again, and returned to the Dalan Namur River in the northeast of Helin (now Khalhelin, Mongolia).However, due to the long-distance march of the Ming army, which was far away from the rear, and the opponents were nomads, they were very mobile, so it was difficult to stay for a long time, and it was impossible to complete their achievements in one battle.Although the Ming Dynasty was unable to occupy the places reached by every military operation, due to its strength, the northern border of Hongwu was still advanced a lot, and successively set up Daningwei (located in the west of Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia today), Kaipingwei (located in present-day Inner Mongolia). Zhenglan Banner on the North Bank of the East Lightning River), Dongshengwei (located in present-day Tuoketuo County, Inner Mongolia), and Xinghe Institute (located in present-day Zhangbei County, Hebei) and other military garrison institutions.In the 20th year of Hongwu (AD 1387), the Daning Capital Division was established, and in the following year it was renamed the Northern Parallel Capital Division. line.The northern boundary of the Ming Dynasty in the west is on the line of Yinshan Mountains and Helan Mountains.

To the north of the Xilamulun River is the Wuliangha tribe. The Ming Dynasty set up three guards there, called the Wuliangha Sanwei.In the first year of Jianwen (AD 1399), when Zhu Di, king of Yan, overthrew Emperor Jianwen and seized the throne, he contacted Wuliangha Sanwei for support. After Zhu Di took the throne, he changed the capital of Beiping to Daning and moved it to Baoding. (now Baoding City, Hebei Province), the original jurisdiction was given to Wuliangha as a reward.The left and right guards of Dongsheng also moved to Lulong and Zunhua in present-day Hebei respectively.In this way, Kaipingwei and Xinghesuo became isolated strongholds. In the 20th year of Yongle (AD 1422), Xinghesuo was captured by Mongolian Alutai and moved to Xuanfu (now Xuanhua County, Hebei).In the fifth year of Xuande (1430 A.D.), Kaiping Wei also moved to Dushibao (now Beidushikou, Chicheng County, Hebei).So far, the northern boundaries of the Ming Dynasty in today's Beijing, Hebei, and Shanxi have retreated to the future line of the Great Wall.The Hetao area was originally under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, but it lost its support after Dongshengwei retreated, but the Mongols continued to invade, and after Tianshun (1457-1464 A.D.), it completely became the sphere of influence of the Mongols.Jiajing once planned to regain Hetao, but failed.Therefore, the borders of the Ming Dynasty in today's Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu are also bounded by the Great Wall in the north.Of course, taking the Great Wall as the boundary is not absolute. Like the Liaodong side wall, the Great Wall west of Shanhaiguan (also called the side wall in the Ming Dynasty) was not necessarily built according to the territory at that time.Moreover, because the Tatars and Oirats are mainly nomadic, their strength also fluctuates. Sometimes they approach the Great Wall, and sometimes they retreat far away. The actual control area of ​​​​the Ming Dynasty often goes beyond the Great Wall. uncontrolled areas.

In the early years of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty acquired all the territory of the Yuan Dynasty in the northwest, namely, Yiji Nai Road (where the government is located in the southeast of Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia today), Shazhou Road (where the government is located in today’s Dunhuang City, Gansu), and Suzhou Road (where the government is located in the present-day southeast of Ejina Banner, Inner Mongolia). Jiuquan City, Gansu Province) and Ganzhou Road (where the government is located in Zhangye City, Gansu Province), occupy the western part of Gansu and Inner Mongolia.But soon abandoned the west and withdrew to Jiayuguan.At that time, there were seven Jumi guards outside the pass. Since Chenghua (1465-1487 A.D.), Turufan in the west became increasingly powerful and annexed these Jumi guards. The territory of the Ming Dynasty was limited to the east of Jiayuguan. , Within the Great Wall.