Page 28 - Ming_China_Courts_and_Contacts_1400_1450 Craig lunas

Plate 2.2a–b Treatise on Military
Preparedness (Wubei zhi 武備
志); a) page from Wubei zhi
showing firearms; b) page from
Wubei zhi showing siege
machine. Tianqi period edition,
1621–7. Woodblock printed, ink
on paper. National Library of
China

attack commanders and cavalry commanders. On 30 July the conscription of the local arm of the colonial army
1406, the boat-borne forces set sail from Nanjing. They commenced. New administrative boundaries were drawn,
landed in southern China and joined with other forces in the new tax offices, salt offices, Confucian schools, Buddhist
border province of Guangxi, comprising 95,000 troops from registries and other offices were established, while 7,600
the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi tradesmen and artisans (including gun founders) captured in
and Huguang, a further 10,000 cavalry and infantry troops Đại Việt were sent to the Ming capital at modern-day
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from various other guards, and 30,000 ‘native troops’ from Nanjing. By 1408, the Chinese had established 472 military
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Guangxi. An additional 75,000 cavalry and troops were and civilian offices in Jiaozhi, all being administered in a
deployed from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. Sun Laichen Chinese mode but many staffed by Vietnamese. Within two
has examined the use of firearms by the Ming armies in years, three Maritime Trade Supervisorates (Shi bo ti ju si
their invasion of Vietnam. The Ming forces also built boats 市舶提擧司) had been created in this new province, the
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in Vietnam to continue their assault, and in January 1407 same number as existed in the rest of China. This was a clear
achieved one of the most significant victories of the indication of the desire of the Ming to control maritime
campaign when they took Đa-bang City. Evocative trade to the south and exploit the economic advantage of
descriptions of the Chinese forces disguising their horses such control. Other economic exploitation involved grain
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with images of lions in order to frighten the elephants which taxes, annual levies of lacquer, sapan wood, kingfisher
led the Vietnamese forces, and advancing with firearms feathers, fans and aromatics and the imposition of
which shot fire-arrows, have been left to us (Pl. 2.2a–b). In monopolies on gold, silver, salt, iron and fish. In addition,
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subsequent weeks, the Vietnamese Eastern Capital collapsed eunuchs were sent to Jiaozhi with the task of collecting
and the Western Capital was abandoned to the Chinese. treasure for the emperor, but an equal amount of treasure
Then, in the middle of 1407, the Vietnamese ruler Hồ Quý collection appears to have been done for themselves.
Ly and his son were captured, and the short-lived Hồ New military guards were established in Jiaozhi: the
dynasty of Đại Ngu came to an end. The Chinese forces Jiaozhou 交州 Left, Right and Central Guards within the
declared victory amid claims of seven million Vietnamese capital, and the Jiaozhou Forward Guard to the north of the
killed in this initial campaign. In late 1407, Jiaozhi 交趾 Fuliang 富良 River, and appointments of Vietnamese
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(the occupied Đại Việt) became Ming China’s 14th province persons who had allied themselves to the Chinese were
and remained so until 1428, when the Ming formally made. These were especially valuable in places where the
withdrew provincial status. Chinese troops could not be employed. For example, in a
The colonisation of the country began in earnest memorial to the court in 1408, we read:
immediately, with the invading forces beginning to employ The Jiaozhi Provincial Administration Commission has
local forces to assist them. The Ming regional commander memorialised that the three areas of Polei 坡壘, Qiuwen 丘溫
Zhang Fu 張輔 (1375–1449) memorialised to the court, ‘Due and Ailiu 隘留 are narrow passes into Jiaozhi and are affected
to the circumstances, the expeditionary forces from Yunnan, by miasmic vapours. The official troops find it difficult to dwell
Guangdong and Guangxi now have depleted ranks. They in these places. It is proposed raising native forces and
wish to select men from the Annan [Viet] native forces to establishing guards in nearby Si Subprefecture 思州, Taiping
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make up their deficiencies.’ The request was approved and 太平 Prefecture and Tian Subprefecture 田州.

18 | Ming China: Courts and Contacts 1400–1450