One of the most notable Ming figures in Chinese
military history is that of the general Tseng-hsien
who came to prominence by putting down a mutiny led
by a Liao-tung .As a reward he was transferred to
Shansi province and promoted to the rank of grand co
coordinator .An official organ of the Ming ,The Shih,
in one of its entries states : ″The emperor observed
that over the last year the nomads had not attacked
Hsuan-fu,T'a-t'ung, or Shansi ,its censor in chief
Tseng -Hsien had long several borders and his
meritorious achievements were out standing .He was
elevated to the rank of minister of war.″
Three months latter appointed to border defences of Yu-lin ,Ning -Hsia, and Ku Yuan he got rid of subordinates who in his view were incompetent. In June of 1546 agents of Chin-i-wei (Embroidered Uniform Guard),the eunuch secret police, arrested four high ranking officials in Tseng's area while other were demoted .Tseng now gained command of more troops and mounted attacks upon Mongol settlements ,killing mostly women and children at the battle of Ma-liong -shen .At the time the killing of women at children was considered to be sound military strategy as the Mongols had no secure bases which could be attacked, their roving encampments the only targets available .It was not considered an act of cowardice or barbarianism to attack women and children but sound military policy ,after all the Mongols had no qualms regarding the killing of civilians .
Tseng-hsien re- introduced the practice of building forts neglected in the pre Yuan days of the T'ang and the Song. The Ordos question was reopened .For centuries it had been fought over as it was the gateway to the eastern southern plains. Command of this area would allow the nomad�s access to Beijing after a short march across the mountains to T'a-t'ung, situated at the base of the pass leading along the Kan-san River to the River Yu and eventually on to the great southern plain of China.
Tseng now worked to re establish the northern border .He was allied to he war minister Hsia -yen who was pleased with Tseng .Hsia -yen and had previously pointed out that the country was being terrorized by a force no bigger than a Ming prefecture .He urged a land and sea action to take back the Ordos consisting of 300,000 men who would have the advantage of superior Chinese weaponry (they had muskets) .Meticulous planning was involved as the optimum time for attack was in the spring ,the barbarian mounts at their lowest ebb as these hardy Prezlovalski horses ,more resembling a pony than a horse, required a constant ingestion of fodder ,their optimum strength in the fall .
The calculated cost of the Ming�s Ordos recovery programme in liang(one liang=1.3 ounces of silver)
- Grain ration for 60,000 men over a 50 day campaign period=54,000 liang
- Prickled vegetable for 60,000 men over a 50 day campaign period=30,000 liang
- Grain for 60,000 horses over 50 days campaign period=63,000liang
- Hay for 60,000 horses over 50 days campaign period=600 liang
- Extra salary and expenses for 2000 Shantung Pike men=13,000 liang
- Grain and fodder for 25,000extra horses ,oxen and camels=51,250 li
- Salaries for additional officers as required =5,000 liang
- Money for rewards=100,000 liang
Political in fighting between Hsia -yen and the minister Yen-sung occurred involving those who agreed to the plan and those opposed to it .Tseng's proposals were backed up by he minister of war Cheng-ching ,who none the less was cautious noting that due to financial considerations, he opted for the building of fortified mountain passes. The emperor favoured an aggressive Ordos policy and asked the treasurer for another 200,000 liang (760,000 ounces of silver). Palace intrigue led to the war minister Hsia -yen's execution. On hearing the news Tseng fainted as he knew he would be next.
By the year of 1449 the barbarians had consolidated under the chieftain Essen Tayisi of the Oirat Mongols demanding an ever-greater tribute from the Chinese. The court Eunuch Wang -cheng had reduced the amount causing Essen overriding the Khans order to plan no attack .The Zhen tong Emperor ordered a march on Essen�s positions close to the Na -yang river and the San -kan river. Essen had launched a large-scale three-pronged invasion of China advancing on Datong in northern Shansi province .The twenty-two year old Emperor lead his 50,000 hastily assembled troops into battle against 20,000 derbet cavalry, the Zhen tong Emperor's command made up of twenty experienced generals and a large entourage of high-ranking civil officials, Wang -cheng acting as field marshal.
On the 3rd August , Essen's army had previously crushed a badly supplied Chinese army at Yangste, just inside the Great Wall. The same day the Emperor appointed his half-brother Zhu Qiyu as regent and marched on the following day towards the Juyong Pass. The objective was to march west to Datong via the Xuanfu garrison and then into the steppe returning to Beijing by a southerly route through Yuzhou. The march was mired by heavy rain and upon arrival at the Juyong Pass the civil officials and generals urged the emperor back to Beijing .However Wang -cheng overruled them ordering the mission to continue. Some of the courtiers discussed assassinating Wang.
On 16th August the army came upon the corpse-strewn battlefield of Yangste. Reports of garrison commanders at Da-tong persuaded Wang -zhen that a campaign into the Steppe would be too dangerous and the expedition was called off on 20th August ,the army setting out toward Beijing, Wang -cheng deciding to strike north east fearing that the restless soldiers would cause damages to his estates in Yuzhou . The army reached Xianfu on 27th A few days latter the Mongols attacked the rearguard east of Xianfu wiping it out going on to annihilate a powerful new rearguard of cavalry led by the elderly general Zhu Yong at Yaoer-ling. The imperial army was camped at the post station of T'u- m'u. Wang Zhen refused his ministers' suggestion the emperor take refuge in the walled city of H'uai-l'ai just 45 kilometres away.
Essen sent an advance force to cut off access to water from a river south of the army�s camp while at the same time surrounding them . After fifteen days it was decided to call off the expedition, to late however as the army was ambushed on its way home during the time of the Autumn festival, the army having been without water for two days. The emperor called for the drafting of a peace treaty. Wang-chen called for the moving of the army one mile ahead. Essen attacked in full force on both sides laying it waste and capturing the emperor. All the high-ranking Chinese generals and court officials were killed. According to some accounts, his own officers killed Wang Zhen. The emperor was sent to Essen�s main camp near Xianfu to be used as a bargaining chip.
The Mongol victory was won by an advance guard of only 20,000 cavalry. Essen attempted to use the captured emperor to raise a ransom planning to conquer undefended Beijing. However the brilliant Ming commander, Yu- qian who rejected his offer stating that the country was more important than an emperor's life. A battle was fought near Beijing, Yue successfully defeating the Mongol Army, Essen eventually assassinated.
There is some confusion regarding the great wall of China ,a great deal of it caused by historians them selves. Arnold Toynbee in his world history depicts the wall as a continuous wall of intricate block on block construction, several metres high ,and at least a metre thick, complete with forts and signal towers stretching from the western Gobi desert to the South China Sea. Voltaire doesn�t help matters when he discuss the flourishing of Chinese civilization secure behind a great wall ,immune from the petty quarrels of those outside the wall. In fact there was no one continuous wall ,but several individual walls ,all constructed over the course of a thousand years. It is true that the Ming�s were the supreme wall builders, but even then it must be admitted that they to built several walls, one to the north of Beijing ,one facing Manchuria ,some connected to the old walls of the previous dynasties in the west. It can be surmised that walls have always been part of the defences of China combined with a mobile field force. When one looks at ancient maps it is apparent that the Mongols ,Manchu�s and the barbarians could, if they wanted to,merely go around the walls.
These walls were allied with garrisons and signal towers. Upon the spotting of a barbarian force it would seem that the Chinese would deploy to the spot they thought they would emerge after going around the walls, in much the same way as would those fighting a flood pile sandbags in the undefended areas. In early times the walls were built using locally available materials ,and in some cases the soldiers used as labour so it would be a matter of building walls as the situation developed. With the emergence of the Ming as the supreme power wall building became more of an art form than a science,great blocks put in place requiring hundreds of men having skill in masonry plus the trained architects,the penalty for leaving a crack between blocks drastic.The mer building of the walls must have placed a severe strain upon the econamy
The lack of will to project power in to the steppe had allowed the Mongols to organize. Where the threat had been from the west it now moved to the east:Manchuria. As the Ming withdrew in to a fool�s paradise of wall and fort building they suffered the fate of the Han who were invaded while engaged in civil war. That these wars weakened China can be gathered by looking at accounts of traders on the silk road, China's thoroughfare to the west. There is an entry in ′Hakuyluts Voyage's′ where in 1559 a Master Jenkins had reached the city of Bokhara (now a part the Central Asian Republics) who reports to his masters in England that ′there has been no trade coming from Cathay for three years prior to his arrival where previously there were musk, silk, damask, and rhubarbs available for trade as there is a great war between two great cities and countries of Tatars.′
The fall of the Ming was similar to the fall of the Han and the Qin, the Ming emperor committed suicide as insurgents were seizing his capital. Ming Generals and court officials allowed the Manchu to enter Beijing preferring their rule to that of the insurgents. Internal dissent had again allowed the barbarians entry.
In order to get an insight into Modern China follow this link.
