Today's Southeast Asia is rich in grain and is a famous "granary" in Asia and even the world.
However, during the Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang listed 15 countries, including Southeast Asian countries, as "countries without conquest" and required future generations to abide by this rule. Ming Chengzu Zhu Di also felt that it was not worth it after attacking Annam.
Today, if the Ming Dynasty had decided to conquer the Southeast Asian countries, or even turned them into a county of the Ming Dynasty, it would have been absolutely beneficial to the Ming Dynasty than harmful. So what caused the two generations of emperors of the Ming Dynasty to have little interest in conquest of Southeast Asia?
1. The meaning of "the country that does not conquer"
In the 28th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang listed fifteen countries, including Korea, Japan, Daliuqiu, Xiaoliuqiu, Annam, Chenla, Siam, Champa City, Sumatra, Xiyang, Java, Pahang, Baihua, Srivijaya, and Huanni, and wrote them into the "Ancestral Precepts of the Emperor Ming".
Future generations are also required to strictly abide by this provision and not to conquer these 15 countries. This provision can basically be regarded as the general policy of foreign relations of the Ming Dynasty, so what does this "country without conquest" really mean? Why did Zhu Yuanzhang include the Southeast Asian countries in it?
Combined with historical records, we find the historical background of this "ancestral precept". After the collapse of the Mongol Yuan Empire, there was a huge vacuum of power in Asia, major changes in the international landscape, and an urgent need to rebuild the international order. The newly established Ming Dynasty was faced with the activities of the Northern Yuan forces and the intrusion of the Wokou on the sea, and one of the most important things for the Ming Dynasty to do at this time was to formulate a reasonable foreign policy to straighten out foreign relations.
In the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang gathered his ministers and expounded his concept of diplomacy and international order to Daming's courtiers.
First of all, he proposed overseas countries: "Those who are worried about China must not fail to please", which means that as long as other countries dare to take the initiative to invade China, then the Ming government must send troops to fight, which sets the tone for the Ming Dynasty to carry out actions to safeguard national sovereignty.
But then he said: "The vast land is not a measure for long-term peace, and the people's labor is the source of chaos." According to Zhu Yuanzhang, opening up the territory and expanding the territory is not a good strategy for long-term peace and stability, and frequent wars are also easy to become the source of turmoil. This statement is not Zhu Yuanzhang's nonsense, but drawn from the lessons of the failure of the Sui Dynasty Emperor and the Mongolian Yuan Empire.
Moreover, while putting forward this view, Zhu Yuanzhang also pointed out that he would not get any benefits from requisitioning other countries for no reason, just as the so-called "obtaining land is not enough to supply, and obtaining its people is not enough for mission."
Zhu Yuanzhang also warned future generations that "vainly seeking a false name" can only "harm Themselves in Middle-earth." In order to prevent future generations from listening to advice, he listed these 15 countries that could not be "conquered" according to the past performance of neighboring countries, which is the origin of the "country without conquest".
At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang also thought of this concept into the "ancestral precepts", warning future generations not to violate them, although this "ancestral precepts" were never made public, but they have always been observed by the emperors of the Ming Dynasty.
According to the current perspective, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's move allowed the Ming Dynasty to recuperate and recuperate, and not to embark on the road of exhaustive military force. However, Southeast Asia is not a place that Zhu Yuanzhang said is "not enough to supply", so why should it be included in the "country without conquest"?
II. Why Southeast Asian Countries Are "Listed"
As mentioned above, Zhu Yuanzhang believes that the external crusade will not be worth the loss. But according to today, Southeast Asia is a place with excellent climatic conditions and abundant products. If the Ming Dynasty brought it into its rule, it would not only be able to feed the people of that land, but even feed back the Ming Dynasty.
Thinking about it more deeply, perhaps the Ming Dynasty could safely survive the Xiaoice river period without falling into the situation of extinction. However, history did not have ifs, and at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally had his consideration in including the Southeast Asian countries in the "country of non-conquest".
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the four kingdoms of Annam, Chenla, Siam, and Champa as land neighbors of the Ming Dynasty were of some help to the stability of the Ming Dynasty's borders. During the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, he repeatedly borrowed troops from Annam.
The "History of Ming" once recorded that in the seventeenth year of Hongwu, "sent Guozi to help Yang Pan and others to make Annan collect grain and food to help the Soldiers of Yunnan."
And when Hongwu rebelled in the 28th year, he also asked Annam to send 80,000 stones of grain to Longzhou for military food.
Not only Annam, but also several other countries in Southeast Asia also listened to the Ming Dynasty and took the initiative to incorporate it into the tributary system of the Ming Dynasty, which to a certain extent became the "fence" of the southwest border of the Ming Dynasty. These countries were willing to be the "little brothers" of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally unwilling to use force against them easily.
Coupled with the fact that the remnants of the Mongolian Yuan were looking at the northern part of the Ming Dynasty, they always wanted to go south again, which was the first threat to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, at this time, the focus of the Ming Dynasty's defense was on the north, and there was no extra energy to start the war again in the southwest region.
Therefore, in order to maintain the stability of the southwest border, coupled with the fact that the Southeast Asian countries are very "obedient", Zhu Yuanzhang is not willing to make a big move, which brings the Southeast Asian countries into the "country without conquest".
However, during the Ming Dynasty, Annam rebelled, and the Ming Dynasty sent troops to quell the rebellion, and also planned to set up counties in the Annam region and formally bring them under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. However, this matter was not resolved in the end, and Zhu Di still felt that it was not cost-effective to enlist Annan, why was this?
Third, the conquest of Annam "not cost-effective"?
After Zhu Di ascended the throne, the Li regime in Annam wanted to be officially recognized by the Ming Dynasty, so it sent people to the Capital Division to pay tribute and asked Zhu Di to officially make him king. In order to expand his political influence, Zhu Di recognized the legitimacy of the Lê regime.
However, soon after, Zhu Di discovered that the original Li regime was a usurper of the throne, so he made the original Chen the King of Annam and sent troops to escort him back to Annam to take the throne. However, the Ming army was ambushed by the Lê regime after entering Annam. At this moment, Zhu Di completely fled, organized a huge army to conquer the south, and directly destroyed the Li regime.
However, after the destruction of the Li clan, Zhu Di did not re-crown the King of Annam, but established three divisions and administrative agencies such as prefectures, prefectures, and counties in Annam, and annan became a provincial-level administrative district of the Ming Dynasty.
But this move has brought endless disasters. From this time on, there were constant rebellions in Annam, the Ming army was exhausted, and the Ming Dynasty had to station a large number of troops in Annam, investing countless energy and material resources.
This is because the national sentiment of the people of the original Annam state was high, and they were not willing to "destroy the country" at all, and the reason why the Ming army was able to successfully destroy the Li regime was not that the annan people wanted to be included in the rule of the Ming Dynasty, but that the Ming Dynasty could support a new regime. Such an operation of the Ming Dynasty directly angered the people of Annam, resulting in a great increase in the cost of Ming rule.
Therefore, in this situation, Zhu Di will feel that it is very uneconomical to enlist Annan. Because since the conquest of Annam, the originally very stable southwest border has become a problem for the Ming Dynasty, and from time to time riots have occurred, and a large number of Ming troops have died in other places. From Zhu Di's lesson, we can also see why Zhu Yuanzhang would include these countries in the "country of non-conquest", and with Zhu Di's lesson, future emperors were no longer willing to easily send troops to these countries.
Text/Leyu
Resources:
1. "The Country Of No Conquest" and the Construction of the International Order in the Early Ming Dynasty, Zheng Ning
2. "The Policy of Annan in the Early Ming Dynasty", Yang Hangjun