Zhu Yuanzhang achieved the only time in history to reverse the north from the south, although it is indeed a rare isolated case, but the gold content is not very high, because before Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition, the Yuan Dynasty had basically committed suicide, the Ming army Northern Expedition until the capture of Dadu, Emperor Yuan Shun fled, the legal system of the Central Plains collapsed, and there was no decent battle.
Regarding the Civil War in ancient Chinese history, there are many examples of the northern regime swallowing the south, and the examples of the south swallowing the north are pitiful, and it seems that there is only one victory, that is, the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty and the destruction of the Yuan Dynasty.
People are always willing to analyze this issue from a military point of view. For example, the terrain and topography are condescending in the north, while the south is attacking on the back, so it is easy for the north to use troops and difficult for the south. For example, in ancient times, the north occupied the land of raising horses and had a cavalry advantage, and the southern army brigade entered the northern plains, which was infantry against cavalry, and it was difficult to win.
Therefore, based on this, the Ming Dynasty was able to complete seemingly "impossible tasks", and Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was praised as "the one who has not been on the right side of Li Shimin since ancient times, followed by Zhu Yuanzhang's ear", and is a rare military wizard in a thousand years.
Zhu Yuanzhang and his military generals were indeed masterpieces of the moment at that time, but they were able to reverse the south to the north, not by relying on military affairs, but on politics.
The winner of the Civil War
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There is a famous saying in Clausewitz's famous work "On War": "War is nothing more than the continuation of politics through another means." As long as it is not an excessive generational gap, at the same level of science and technology, the victory or defeat of a war is not a military factor but often a political factor.
Mr. Mao Haijian's "The Collapse of the Celestial Empire" explains that there is a generation gap in the level of science and technology, and no matter how loyal and fearless, war cannot be won. In the First Opium War, the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty were not greedy for life and afraid of death, from the governor and the governor to the chief soldier and Zhixian, there were many heroic deaths, and there were even stories of officers and soldiers in Zhenjiang and Zhapu Mancheng who died and martyred the country, but the weapons in their hands in their hands were only slaughtered in the face of British ships and cannons. In the Sino-Japanese War, the weapons of the Qing army were not different from those of the Japanese army, and they still suffered a crushing defeat, which was a political problem.
Similarly, the victory or defeat of the ancient Civil War often depended on the degree of political stability and the efficiency of internal management on both sides, not only on the military. Although the cavalry had a certain advantage over the infantry, it was not absolutely invincible. As Yue Fei said: "Battle after battle, the art of war is constant; The wisdom and will of the generals, the quality and combat strength of the army, are the key to victory or defeat in the war, and they cannot be eaten by cavalry.
Throughout history, although there have been many examples of the North annexing the South, there have been many examples of the South countering the North. For example, the first famous north-south decisive battle in history was the Battle of Chibi in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Cao Cao marched south with a four-to-one advantage, but suffered a crushing defeat. Former Qin Tianwang Fu Jian and Jin Emperor Wanyan Liang also suffered a crushing defeat in the southern expedition with an absolute majority of troops. Liu Yu, the Song Wu Emperor during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, led the southern army to capture the banner all the way, repeatedly defeated the northern cavalry on the plain, and even fell to Luoyang and Chang'an. As for the legend of the famous white-robed general Chen Qingzhi, it can be proved that the conclusion that the so-called cavalry will win over the infantry cannot stand. The north can defeat the south, not because the cavalry is invincible, look at the famous Eastern Wu general Zhou Yu's sentence "Give up the pommel horse, fight the boat, and compete with Wu Yue, which is not China's strength." And the south countered the north, it is not that the northern army will be helpless when it encounters the southern army familiar with water warfare, otherwise how can there be "Wang Ruilou's ship down to Yizhou, and the king of Jinling will be gloomy"? The key is also politics.
Cao Cao's southern expedition failed because "the northern soil was not safe" and was not enough to fight a bang, while Sun Liu in the south fought a battle against the enemy. Fu Jian's southern expedition failed because the unification of the north by recruiting rebels was far from being completely digested, and the result was like an inflated balloon bursting at a time, while the Eastern Jin Dynasty was in the most stable period of gate politics and the peak of talent. After Yan Liang's southern expedition failed, it was because the capital had just been moved, and the internal purge made people resentful, and a slight setback would cause Xiao Wall. The reason why Liu Yu and Chen Qingzhi's Northern Expedition was destroyed in the early stage, and the instability of the Later Qin and Northern Wei regimes was a big reason.
Politics was the main reason for the success or failure of the Civil War
The Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, the Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen, the Song Dynasty destroyed the Southern Tang, and the Yuan destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, all because the southern imperial court had been separated up and down, unable to organize effective resistance. Xie Daoqing, the last empress dowager of the Southern Song Dynasty, rebuked her subordinates when the Yuan army came to the city, which can be regarded as the common reason of the defeated side in the past: "I and the heir have suffered so much hardship at home, and the junior minister cannot come up with a strategy to save the difficulties, and the internal provokes the official to leave the second, and the outside is entrusted to abandon the city, take refuge and steal life, who else?" ”
Taking history as a guide, on the other hand, the victory of the Northern Expedition of the Ming Dynasty over the Yuan Dynasty is not a remarkable military achievement, but the reason for the serious internal attrition and loss of resistance within the Yuan Dynasty.
Yuan Jun's suicidal behavior for more than ten years
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The Yuan Dynasty was born out of the Mongol Empire, so it retained the "old system of Mobei" that was difficult to shake. The core of the old system in Mobei is the aristocratic feudal system. The monarch did not enjoy full centralized power, but shared imperial power with the clan lords.
And the Yuan Dynasty, starting with Kublai Khan, has been trying to reverse this pattern and establish complete centralized imperial power. One of the most important measures was to imitate the Han system, establish a prince, and deprive the noble council "Kuriletai" of the right to elect emperors.
However, the paradox of history also began to appear, starting with Kublai Khan's crown prince Jinjin, almost no prince survived to the throne, and the emperor still needed the support of the clan clan to gain legitimacy, which made the centralized imperial power slow to stabilize.
By the time of the fifth emperor Yingzong, he finally succeeded his father and son and succeeded him smoothly, but Yingzong became the crown prince, but his father Renzong violated his oath with his brother Wuzong to "brother to brother, uncle and nephew" and deposed Wuzong's son inheritance, so he did not get the support of Zongwang Xunqi. In addition, Yingzong was young and vigorous, and the stormy reform of centralization was strongly rebounded, resulting in the tragedy of the "change of the southern slope". After that, "Emperor Yingzong rebelled and Taiding took advantage of the void, Taiding collapsed and became clear, Wen disputed, Wenzong collapsed and Emperor Shun took revenge", and there was frequent internal strife within the ruling group.
By the time of the last emperor Yuan Huizong (Emperor Shun), there were two major ministers, Yan Timur and Boyan, and Huizong regained real power through virtuous detachment, and also began to increase the construction of centralized imperial power, not hesitating to depose and get rid of it when the reform of "changing the old government" failed to bear fruit. Later, although he reactivated the remission due to natural disasters, he did not trust this "authoritarian and shaking the sea" prime minister, and the seeds of suspicion were planted among the monarchs. In addition, in his later years, Emperor Huizong was desolate in political affairs and entrusted to the crown prince, and the crown prince wanted to take the opportunity to force him to abdicate, and political disputes broke out between father and son.
Emperor Huizong of Yuan, Emperor Shun of Yuanshun
Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition was successful under such circumstances.
The great chaos at the end of the Yuan, although it seems that the rebel army is powerful, but the Yuan army has always been able to control the overall situation. In the eleventh year of the Zheng Dynasty (1351), the White Lotus Sect launched an uprising in Yingshang (present-day Anhui), with a population of more than 100,000. Later, Peng Yingyu raised troops in Huaixi, Sesame Li occupied Xuzhou, and Zou Pusheng and Xu Shouhui raised troops in Qizhou (present-day Qichunnan, Hubei), taking the meaning of "overwhelming Dayuan" and establishing the Tianwan regime. Wang Quan, Zhang Chun and others captured Dengzhou and Nanyang, called the "Northern Zuo Red Army", Meng Haima and others captured Xiangyang (Linghubei Xiangfan), called the "Southern Zuo Red Army", and Guo Zixing and others from Dingyuan captured Haozhou (northeast of present-day Fengyang, Anhui).
However, with the advance of the Yuan army, but in two or three years, the situation has greatly improved. In May of the twelfth year of the Zheng Dynasty (1352), the Yuan army captured Xiangyang, and the Northern Zhuang Red Army was suppressed; In September of the twelfth year, Tu Tuo personally led an army to capture Xuzhou and kill Sesame Li; In November of the thirteenth year of the Zheng Dynasty (1353), Youcheng Huoyou Chi of Jiangxi Province captured Ruizhou and killed Peng Yingyu and others; In December of the thirteenth year, the Yuan army jointly attacked the Tianwan regime, captured Qizhou, captured more than 400 Tianwan officials, and then captured Wuchang and Hanyang, and Xu Shouhui "fled"; In the first month of the fourteenth year (1354), the Yuan army captured Xiazhou, and the Southern Zuo Red Army was suppressed, while at the same time, Guo Zixing of Haozhou was at odds with his generals, and his power was greatly reduced.
However, in the fourteenth year of the Zhizheng (1354), just when the Red Turban Army in various places was temporarily defeated, Zhang Shicheng, a salt merchant in Baijuchang (now part of Dongtai, Jiangsu), occupied Gaoyou, proclaimed himself King Cheng, and changed the state name to Dazhou, changing to Yuan Tianyou.
The previous rebel armies in various places, except for the Tianwan regime, no one claimed the title of king and emperor. Now Zhang Shicheng called Wang Gaiyuan, so he became the main target of the Yuan court. In September of that year, the detachment almost exhausted the available troops of the Yuan Dynasty, and not only the kings and provinces were equipped with all the wings and horses, but also the troops of the Western Regions and the Western Domain, ready to annihilate Zhang Shicheng in one fell swoop.
Zhang Shicheng was repeatedly defeated and could only be trapped in Gaoyou. And just when the siege of Gaoyou was about to be broken, the internal party struggle in the Yuan Dynasty resumed, and the crown prince instructed the courtiers to falsely accuse him of exile because he refused to help him force his father to abdicate, saying that he "poured the wealth of the state for his own use, and the officials of the semi-imperial court thought that he was at his own disposal", and he was exiled from the deposed official. And the Yuan army lost its commander-in-chief, morale greatly declined, Zhang Shicheng took advantage of the situation to counterattack, and the Yuan army "a million troops, scattered for a while."
Zhang Shicheng's record against Yuan completely exploded Zhu Yuanzhang
After the defeat of Gaoyou, there were few troops directly under the Yuan Dynasty, but two armies supported the Yuan Dynasty. The first was the army led by Tsakhan Timur and his righteous son Kuanko Timur, which was mainly developed by the local people's army in Shenqiu, Luoshan and other places. The second was an army led by Badulu and his son Polo Timur, consisting of government troops from Sichuan and Hao armed forces in Xiangyang and other places.
These two legions became an insurmountable gap for the rebel army. In particular, Tsakhan Timur completely crushed the Northern Red Turban Army, recovered Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong, and almost stabilized the north of the Yangtze River. Although he was later assassinated, his righteous son Kuan Kuo Timur commanded his army, and was also a famous general in the world, and was praised by Zhu Yuanzhang as a "strange man".
However, the lessons of Gaoyou's fiasco did not bring an end to the internal friction within the Yuan Dynasty. The political dispute between the imperial party and the princelings continued to become increasingly fierce, and each used foreign troops. In order to contain the crown prince, Emperor Yuan Huizong recruited the Timurid legion of Polo as foreign aid, and the prince forced his father to abdicate, and introduced the Tamerlane army as foreign aid, which caused fierce internal fighting between the two major legions, which were already conflicted due to the dispute over territory. In the end, the Timurid legions of Polo were destroyed in internal fighting.
After the fall of Polo Timur, Emperor Huizong of Yuan made Polo Timur the king of Henan, and on behalf of the crown prince, he sent out a general to attack Jianghuai.
The strange man expands Timur
Although Guangkuo Timur was known as the "chief army", there were four warlords in Guanzhong, Li Siqi, Treber, Kong Xing, and Zhang Sidao, and if Timur wanted to attack Jianghuai, he must ensure that all armies in Guanzhong joined forces with him, but Li Siqi was an old man who raised troops with Tsakhan Timur, believing that Guangkuo Timur was a yellow-mouthed son who did not listen to the dispatch at all, and other armies followed suit. Timur had to attack Guanzhong first. The four generals of Guanzhong jointly pushed Li Siqi as the leader of the alliance to resist his army, and the two sides repeatedly sawed each other, and it was difficult to tell the winner or loser.
By the twenty-seventh year of the Zheng Dynasty (1367), the generals in Guanzhong gradually could not resist the offensive of Guangkuo Timur and asked the imperial court for help, and Emperor Huizong ordered the two families to strike. But instead of complying, Timur intensified his offensive. This made the Yuan court suspicious of expanding Timur's ambitions, and deprived Timur of the power to expand Timur's army and personally conquer on behalf of the crown prince. As soon as the edict was issued, a mutiny immediately occurred in the Timurid army, and his generals Guan Bao and Qiao defected one after another. Although Timur killed Guan Bao and Qiao after a fierce battle, and severely injured Li Siqi and other troops, he himself was also seriously injured.
Zhu Yuanzhang accumulated strength by recruiting An
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While the northern Yuan army was fiercely consumed internally, in the south, various forces were gradually consolidating. The garrison in the south of the Yuan Dynasty had long been rotten because of the long period of peace, and "hereditary officers and troops, few good fighters," and even to the point that "the number of soldiers was too few to transfer, and the money and grain were scarce and there was nothing to collect." The Yuan court could only issue an edict to "make the counties unite the righteous people to defend themselves."
The Yuan Dynasty respected Zhu Cheng's theory, the idea of Huayi's debate had been loosened, and the readers paid attention to the "righteousness of the king", and soldiers from all over the country organized "volunteer soldiers" and "volunteer brigades" to confront the two armies of the rebel army. These "volunteers," numbering in the few and tens of thousands in the many, were once quite vocal.
However, the Yuan court did not attach much importance to these volunteers, and except for a small number of official positions, most of them adopted a resigned attitude. After the defeat of Gaoyou, the Yuan court gradually adopted a strategy of appeasement against the rebel troops in various parts of Jiangnan, granting high-ranking officials positions and allowing them to cut off their territory. For the "volunteers" in various places, there is no actual support, let alone the ability to give favors, and the volunteers in various places are either eliminated by the rebel army, or attached to the rebel army, or dispersed on their own.
Ye Ziqi, the author of "Grass and Muzi", once commented that local soldiers "poured their families to recruit soldiers and arrest them for officials." Even brothers and nephews were annihilated by thieves, and they did not lose their lives. Tun's anointing is stingy here. Its big thieves have been tricked again and again, and the officials have reached the extreme. So the upper and lower disintegrated, and people did not give merit, and were willing to steal. ”
Volunteers in various places "either went to steal or the matter did not end" and joined the military forces in various parts of Jiangnan.
The people had fame and strategy, which caused the strength of some people who were "interested in the world" to skyrocket, and gradually formed several major forces such as Chen Youcheng, Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Fang Guozhen. And the one who absorbs the most people and has the highest quality is Zhu Yuanzhang.
For example, Liu Ji Liu Bowen, who was called "my son's room" by Zhu Yuanzhang, was recruited by Zhu Yuanzhang after the defeat of his own volunteers. After the defeat of the volunteers, his disciples Zhang Yi and Hu Shen also joined Zhu Yuanzhang, who was recognized at that time as a "talent for the world", and Hu Shen was a generation of Confucian generals, relying on Zhu Yuanzhang as "a barrier in eastern Zhejiang".
Liu Bowen first raised volunteers for the Yuan Dynasty
With the help of many talents, Zhu Yuanzhang's power grew day by day, and he finally rose to prominence. In the twenty-third year of Zhizheng (1363), the Han regime of Chen Youcheng was destroyed; In September of the twenty-seventh year of the Zheng Dynasty (1367), Zhang Shicheng's Zhou regime was destroyed; Recruited Fang Guozhen in December.
In the twenty-seventh year of the Zheng Dynasty (1367), Zhu Yuanzhang swore to the Northern Expedition. During the Northern Expedition, the Ming army encountered almost no resistance, such as entering no man's land, pacifying the entire territory of Shandong in three months, and pacifying Henan in only three months. After that, the Ming general Xu Da mobilized various armies to cross the river from Bianliang and occupy Weihui, Zhangde, Cizhou, and Handan. In Linqing, Shandong, he joined the Shandong armies, and from Linqing to advance along the North Canal by land and water, occupied Dezhou, conquered Zhilu (Cangzhou), and controlled Zhigu (Tianjin). In late July, Ketong Prefecture advanced to the capital.
1368 AD, the twenty-eighth year of the Yuan Dynasty, was also the first year of Hongwu when Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor. On July 28 of this year, Yuan Huizong led the prince and concubine and more than 100 courtiers to leave the capital. Five days later, the Ming army captured Dadu, and only Huizong's uncle, the eighty-three-year-old King of Huai, led by Timur Buhua, "hundreds of pawns" were resisted.
If the Yuan army had not lost its vitality due to internal attrition, would Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition have won? At least Zhu Yuanzhang himself is not too sure.
When Tsakhan Timur was alive, because of his military prestige, Zhu Yuanzhang took the initiative to send envoys to repair it -- "send envoys to Bianliang and communicate well with Tsakhan Timur." Although the content of the communication is not clearly recorded in history, the reply to Han Timur's letter to him was "already played by the imperial court and given the province Pingzhang", which shows that Zhu Yuanzhang asked for Zhao'an. And after the accidental assassination of Tsakhan Timur, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh: "There is no one in the world!" "Never think about Zhao'an again.
Zhu Yuanzhang's development of bone strength by deceiving An to develop his backbone was not as good as Chen Youguan, so Zhu Yuanzhang's victory in the Northern Expedition was due to the political defeat of the Yuan Dynasty, not a military miracle.