Yongle Emperor: Encyclopedia II - Yongle Emperor - Military accomplishments

Yongle Emperor - Military accomplishments

Mongol invaders were still causing many problems for the Ming Dynasty. Traditionally, Han Chinese dynasties rarely went on the offensive against the Mongols. But Yongle prepared to change this less-than-proud tradition. He mounted five military expeditions into Mongolia and crushed the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty that had fled north after being defeated by Emperor Hongwu. He repaired the northern defenses and forged buffer alliances to keep the Mongols at bay in order to build an army. His strategy was to force the Mongols into economic dependence on the Chinese, gather national support against them, and to launch periodic initiatives into Mongolia to cripple their offensive power. He attempted to compel Mongolia to become a Chinese tributary, with all the tribes submitting and proclaiming themselves vassals of the Ming, and wanted to contain and isolate the Mongols. Through fighting, Yongle learned to appreciate the importance of cavalry in battle and eventually began spending much of his resources to keep horses in good supply. Yongle spent his entire life fighting the Mongols. Failures and successes came and went, but it should be noted that after Yongle's second personal campaign against the Mongols, the Northern Ming Dynasty was at peace for over seven years.

Annam (modern day Vietnam) was also a point of interest during Yongle's reign. A minor border dispute quickly escalated into a full scale war perhaps provoked by Yongle's desire for expansion. It took much diplomatic and military struggle before Yongle was able to Sinicize the resistant Annamese. After capturing the region, Yongle began massive reforms on the Annamese way of life. He built schools, medical clinics, and registrars and hired Annamese scholars to attend universities or work for his administration. His reforms did not come without a price, though, as he spent much of his time undermining and attempting to abolish Annamese culture. In 1428, the Annamese under the leadership of Le Loi again threw off Chinese rule.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Military accomplishments", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki