In the Tang Dynasty, one of the most important systems was the feudal town system. Later generations have mixed praise for this system, and some people believe that this system can resist the invasion of border ethnic minorities, maintain peace on the border, and consolidate the rule of the Tang Dynasty. Some people also believe that the starting point of this system is good, but in the later period, a situation of division of the feudal towns was formed, and many of the rulers of the feudal towns had higher power and held heavy troops in their hands, including An Lushan. A system cannot be perfect, and the same is true of the fanzhen system, and it has to be admitted that the fanzhen system played a lot of role in maintaining the rule of the Tang Dynasty, but later because it was not constrained, the power of the fanzhen was too great, threatening the power of the imperial court.
Later, the Song Dynasty learned the lessons of the Tang Dynasty and took the military power to the central government, but the border was very chaotic and eventually perished. During the Ming Dynasty, there was a king of Yunnan, who led his troops to garrison Yunnan and had been coexisting and dying with the Ming Dynasty, so why was the Mu family able to be reused by Zhu Yuanzhang to manage the frontiers of Daming? Since ancient times, the tranquility of the frontier areas has played an important role in the stability of the dynasty, and most of the people who guard the frontier have won the trust of the emperor. Emperors of all dynasties would never have left the frontier to be administered by a man of distrust. The Mu family had supreme power in Yunnan, equivalent to the Tang Dynasty's feudal towns. And there is a reason why the Mu family has been able to control Yunnan for more than two hundred years.
First of all, the relationship between Mu Ying, the ancestor of the Mu family, and Zhu Yuanzhang was not ordinary. When Zhu Yuanzhang fought the world, Mu Ying had been following him, and the relationship between the two had gone beyond the relationship between the monarch and the subject. According to historical records, Mu Ying was an orphan before, and later followed Zhu Yuanzhang, who treated Mu Ying as a child and even let Mu Ying be his righteous son. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, and at this time the frontier needed someone to guard. In Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Mu Ying is the most suitable candidate, Zhu Yuanzhang is very good at employing people, he knows that Mu Ying is very loyal to himself, so he gave him this task. Mu Ying would definitely not have the heart to rebel, even more loyal than Zhu Yuanzhang's sons.
In Mu Ying's eyes, if Zhu Yuanzhang had not taken him in and recognized him as a righteous son, he might have died in the war. Mu Ying treated Zhu Yuanzhang like a father, so he was absolutely loyal to the Ming Dynasty. Mu Ying was a year older than the crown prince Zhu Biao, and usually called Zhu Biao a younger brother, but later learned that Zhu Biao had died, and Mu Ying was very sad. This year Mu Ying was forty-eight years old, died young, his death is related to excessive grief, it can be seen that Mu Ying attaches great importance to Zhu Biao, Empress Ma and Zhu Yuanzhang, in his eyes they are relatives. Therefore, for such a loyal righteous son, Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally assured to entrust the frontier to him to manage.
Secondly, the Mu family did not regard the land in Yunnan as their own territory. Before the Mu family took charge of Yunnan, Yunnan was very poor, and later under the management of the Mu family, water conservancy was built, agriculture was developed, and the local people benefited. Later, agriculture in Yunnan developed, and people's living standards improved compared with before, so the Mu family began to run schools in Yunnan to popularize education. The people of Yunnan love the Mu family very much, and in Yunnan, the Mu family has even become the leader in the hearts of the people. The Ming Dynasty, border wars are continuous, such as attacking Burma, Jiaotong and even Annam, as long as the imperial court orders, the Mu family will send troops to attack, the command is completely in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, so the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have been at ease to let the Mu family town guard Yunnan. In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, the Mu family was just a manager, and the Mu family's family style has always promoted the concept of coexistence and death with Daming, so the Mu family has never thought of rebelling.
The last point is that the Ming Dynasty has a high degree of trust in the Mu family. If Zhu Yuanzhang's trust in Mu Ying stemmed from the relationship between the two, then the trust of the emperor who later ascended the throne in the Mu family was the trust between the monarchs and subjects. At that time, Mu Ying's eldest son Mu Ying was very brave and made many military achievements, and later was summoned by Zhu Yuanzhang, who admired Mu Chun very much, so he sealed his official position of Zheng Erpin, and Mu Chun was grateful to Shu Zero. However, later, a minister felt that whether Mu Chun was competent or not remained to be examined, so he suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang first let him be another official to investigate first. However, Zhu Yuanzhang blocked the minister's proposal in a categorical manner. Zhu Yuanzhang said that Mu Chun's own family did not need to be examined at all, and he was capable of such an official position. The minister was not in a position to say anything more.
Later, Zhu Yu was sent to Yunnan by the imperial court, but this person was a blessing in disguise, so he was told by the Mu family to go to the emperor, at this time Zhu Yunjiao was on the throne, Zhu Yunjiao trusted the Mu family very much, so he demoted Zhu Yan to a Shuren. After Zhu Di ascended the throne, Zhu Di found Zhu Di, hoping to restore his identity, Zhu Di remembered his old feelings, so he let him return to Yunnan, this time the Attitude of the Mu family was very resolute, and complained to Zhu Di, Zhu Di had to let Zhu Di come back, and then let him go to Hubei, Yunnan is still under the management of the Mu family. Later, when the Ming Dynasty fell, Mu Tianbo desperately resisted in order to save the Ming Dynasty, and finally returned to Heaven without skill.