Chapter 29 Section 3 The Retreat of the South and Southwest

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, civil strife broke out in Annan (now Vietnam), and Li Cang usurped the throne of the Chen family, and then deceived the Ming Dynasty into making the Chen family extinct, and obtained the canonization of the Ming Dynasty.Soon, Laos sent Chen Tianping, the younger brother of the late King Annan, to escort Chen Tianping back home in the fourth year of Yongle (AD 1406) of the Ming Dynasty, but was killed by the Li family.So the Ming Dynasty sent troops to attack Annan and captured Li Cang.In the absence of Chen's descendants, Yu Yongle set up the Jiaozhi chief envoy in Annan in the fifth year, under the jurisdiction of 17 prefectures, 47 states, and 157 counties;However, the Ming Dynasty's rule was resisted by the local people, and some officials mishandled it, which intensified the conflict.Although the Ming Dynasty continued to use military suppression, it was still unable to support it. Finally, in the second year of Xuande (AD 1427), the Jiaozhi Chief Commissioner and the Commanding Commissioner were revoked, all personnel were withdrawn, and Annan's vassal status was re-recognized.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the official prefectures under the Chief Envoy of Yunnan, there were also two Xuanfu Divisions, Nandian and Ganya, and Luchuan Pingmian, Mubang, Mengyang, Myanmar, Babai, Cheli, and Laos. , Dagula, Demasa and Diwula are ten Xuanweisi.But later, the three Xuanweisi, Dagula, Demasa and Diwula, were separated from the relationship with the Ming Dynasty because of the long distance and the Ming Dynasty could not control it.The hometown of Luchuan Pingmian Xuanwei Division was changed to Longchuan Xuanfu Division in the 11th year of Zhengtong (1446 A.D.), thus forming "San Xuan (Xuan Fu Division) Liu Wei (Xuan Wei Division)" and its following Jurisdiction of the division (chief lawsuit, etc.). The "three declarations and six comforts" are all chieftains, that is, their chiefs are hereditary by the leaders of the local tribes or regimes, and they are self-governed internally, but economically they have to bear the imperial court's "requisition dispatch" and "tribute". ) to accept the dispatch of the court or superiors.Due to the difference in geographical location, these chieftains were divided into two types: border and outland. Although the Ming Dynasty ruled and controlled them in different ways, they were all part of the Ming Dynasty's territory. The scope of "Three Announcements and Six Reliefs" includes not only the current domestic part, but also the Naga Mountains in Myanmar, the east of the Qindun River and the Irrawaddy River, and the northern part of Thailand and Laos.

In 1531 (the tenth year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty), the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar was established, gradually unified Myanmar, and continued to attack the chieftains belonging to the Ming Dynasty.At the end of Jiajing (1566 AD), Burma annexed the three Xuanwei Divisions of Babai, Laos and Cheli.At the beginning of Wanli (1573-1620 A.D.), Mubang, Manmo, Longchuan, Mengyang and other divisions were captured, and all the "three declarations and six comforts" fell into the hands of Myanmar.The Ming Dynasty sent troops to counterattack, regained some lost ground, and strengthened the defense of the border area.However, all the "six comforts" were owned by Myanmar except the inside of the car, and the Ming Dynasty only kept the "three declarations".So far, the Ming Dynasty’s territory outside the current border mainly includes: the east of the Mailikai River in the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy River, the north of Yingjiang County in present-day Yunnan, the east of the Salween River, the north of the Myanmar-Thailand border, and the northern part of Laos and Vietnam. Some places, including Jiangxinpo where the Lima Division was located at that time (between the Mailikai River and the Enmeikai River, another tributary of the Irrawaddy River) and Pianma where the Chashan Division was located (the area between the Enmeikai River and the Gaoligong Mountains).