Nowadays, many netizens who pay attention to history are curious about a question: that is, what is the state of the Ming Dynasty's rule over northeast China? In general, there are three views on this issue:
First, it is believed that the Ming Dynasty has always been in control of the northeast region (including the outer northeast and even the Kamchatka Peninsula, and extreme netizens even believe that the Alaskan region has also paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty).
Second, it is believed that the Ming Dynasty did not have actual rule over the northeast at all. Otherwise, how can we explain nurhaci's rise in liaodong?
The third is that the Ming Dynasty had actual rule over the northeast region, but after ruling for a while, it began to give up its actual rule over the northeast. So, what does the real situation look like?
All this has to start from the geographical situation in the northeast.
1. The misunderstood northeast
When modern people mention the northeast, they will definitely think of the three provinces of Liaoji and Heihe and the northeastern part of Inner Mongolia. However, in ancient times, the northeast was not a whole.
First of all, the Liaoning region, that is, the Liao River Valley, was included in the territory of the Yan State as early as the pre-Qin era. Even when the Qin Wangzheng army attacked the capital of the Yan state, The Yan king Xi fled to the Liaoyang area to avoid being pursued and killed by the Qin people. It can be said that from the Warring States period, most of the times after that, the Liaoning region was under the administration of the Central Plains Dynasty. Of course, during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Liaodong Peninsula was occupied by Goguryeo, and it was not until the Tang Dynasty that the Tang Dynasty recaptured the Liaodong Peninsula from Goguryeo.
The Jilin and Heilongjiang regions outside Liaoning rarely aroused the interest of the Central Plains Dynasty in ancient times. In fact, until the Qing Dynasty allowed ordinary people to go to Jilin and Heilongjiang to earn a living, this area was a place where fishing and hunting people lived. Of course, with the national strength of the strong Han dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, it was not difficult for the Han and Tang court to occupy this area by force. However, the Central Plains Dynasty was based on the agrarian economy. In ancient times, before the emergence of hardy crops, the Jilin and Heilongjiang regions could not be agriculturally produced. The local indigenous people also rely on fishing and hunting as the basis for making a living. For this area, the Central Plains Dynasty could not garrison troops and set up administrative institutions here: after all, the local economic level could not afford to support garrisons and administrative institutions. Therefore, the attitude adopted by the Central Plains Dynasty to the chiefs of this region was: You come to pay tribute to a few animal skins, and the imperial court canonizes you with a position.
As for the eastern part of Inner Mongolia, since ancient times, the tribes north of the Great Wall have been a whole.
Nowadays, many netizens have debated whether the Ming Dynasty ruled the northeast, and many of them are based on the fact that they have not figured out the scope of the northeast: those who believe that the Ming Dynasty actually ruled the northeast, think that Liaoning represents the entire northeast. Those who believe that the Ming Dynasty did not actually rule the northeast believe that heilongjiang represents the entire northeast. In fact, these views are very narrow.
2. The origin of the Ming Dynasty and the Northeast
The origin of the Ming Dynasty and the northeast has to start from the founding of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, and when he ascended the throne in Nanjing, the Yuan Dynasty did not perish. Even when Emperor Yuan Shun fled to mobei and opened the Northern Yuan Era, the Northern Yuan still ruled the northeast, northwest, and Yunnan. Emperor YuanShun even hoped to rely on these basic disks to retake the Central Plains. Therefore, for Zhu Yuanzhang: the founding of the Ming Dynasty does not mean that the Zhu family is sitting firmly in the world. Only by eradicating the Northern Yuan can the Zhu family's foundation be considered stable. Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he was repeatedly launched by the Northern Yuan.
Under the strong crusade of the Ming Dynasty, the main body of the Northern Yuan was in a passive state, and the Liaoning region was soon retaken by the Ming Dynasty. During Zhu Di's reign, the Ming Dynasty also sent envoys to the jurchen homeland in the northeast, that is, Jilin, Heilongjiang and even the outer northeast region, to recruit local chiefs, assign official positions to local chiefs, and set up health centers and management agencies. However, considering the economic level of Jilin and Heilongjiang at that time, this expenditure needed supply from Guannei. Therefore, during the reign of Ming Xuanzong, Ming Xuanzong was unwilling to do money-losing business, so the Ming dynasty forces withdrew from the Jilin and Heilongjiang regions. However, until the late Ming Dynasty, the indigenous tribes of Jilin, Heilongjiang and the Outer Northeast paid tribute to Daming all year round. And Daming will also crown the local chieftain. In fact, objectively speaking, combined with the economic and technical conditions at that time, this model is the most appropriate.
However, the Liaoning region was directly under the jurisdiction of the Ming court for a long time. It was not until the end of Wanli's reign that Nurhaci declared an anti-Ming rebellion and established the Later Jin Khanate. However, during Nurhaci's lifetime, Jinzhou in western Liaoning was still controlled by the Ming Dynasty for a long time. Even Nurhaci was seriously injured for attacking Jinzhou.
Therefore, in general: in the northeast during the Ming Dynasty, Liaoning was directly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, while Jilin and Heilongjiang and the outer northeast region were in a state of indirect rule for a long time.