The management mode and related policies of the western regions' capital protection government have effectively guaranteed the benign development of the relationship between the people of all ethnic groups in the border areas and the Central Plains dynasty, and have become an example for the rulers of the Central Plains dynasty to follow. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, the government of protecting the capital of Anxi and Beiting was established to govern the vast areas in the north and south of Tianshan Mountain. However, since the Anshi Rebellion broke out, Li was ordered to lead the commander-in-chief of Anxi to suppress the rebellion. Until the Qing Dynasty completely surrendered to the Junggar khanate, the Central Plains dynasty did not set foot in the western regions for more than 900 years. During this period, the Ming Dynasty in Yuan Shundi was the most likely to re-enter the Western Regions. Although there were great feats in the Ming Dynasty, such as Emperor Taizu's eight expeditions to the desert and Emperor Chengzu's five expeditions to the desert, there was never any idea or action to include the western regions in the bag. Why?
1. The military center of gravity of the Ming Dynasty was in the north.
During the Ming Dynasty, the regime that controlled the western regions was mainly the East Chagatai Khanate. The Chagatai khanate was originally the fief of Genghis Khan's second son, and originally owned the land between the north and south of Tianshan Mountain and the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. /kloc-At the beginning of the 4th century, the Khanate of Chagatai was divided into two parts, and the Khanate of East Chagatai was named after the capital in the historical records of China, and was successively called Bie-Lost Bali (1389 as the capital), Yili Bali (1418 moved its capital, now Yining City, Xinjiang, China) and Turpan. The connection between Ming Dynasty and East Chagatai Khanate can be traced back to Hongwu period. According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, Sapphire made an expedition to the desert, rescued hundreds of Samarkand businessmen in the fishing sea, and was sent back to China by Taizu. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the East Chahetai khanate paid tribute endlessly, and the two hair always maintained a superficial intimacy. Therefore, at the moment when the northern frontier is always hanging high, it is not necessary and there is no absolute strength for the Ming Dynasty to govern the western regions.
2. Convergence of marginal management ideas
The thought of border management in Ming Dynasty was similar. The Ming Dynasty initiated by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, was a highly centralized dynasty. Therefore, in order to maintain a complex bureaucratic group, it often adopts an inward tightening policy to cope with the internal problems that follow.
Zhu Yuanzhang clearly warned future generations in the "Training of the Emperor and the Ancestors of the Ming Dynasty" issued in September of the 28th year of Hongwu (1395): countries and tribes in all directions live in a corner, separated from China by mountains and the sea of Wang Yang. Get their land and can't provide themselves with useful resources; And the people and tribes who get them have no way to implement effective control and management. Therefore, my descendants must not rely on the strength of national strength, covet temporary military exploits, and crusade against foreign countries for no reason. As can be seen from the instructions of the emperor's father, Ming Taizu's foreign policy towards the Ming Dynasty was "if people don't attack me, I won't attack", and only asked to be wary of Hu Rong forces in the northwest.
Influenced by the idea of convergence in border management, only two provinces of Beijing and thirteen northern provinces were established as official administrative divisions in Ming Dynasty. In addition, the health centers established in the northeast and northwest in the Ming Dynasty, such as Duoyan Wei, Jianzhou Wei and Kansai Qiwei, are all detention centers.
The Seven Guards in Kansai refer to the seven guards set in the west of Jiayuguan in the Ming Dynasty, namely Hami, Jinchi Mongolia (now Yumen), Shazhou (now Dunhuang), Han Dong (now the junction of Aksai County in Gansu Province and Qinghai Province) and Anding, Quxian County and Antonie in the northwest of Qaidam Basin. The seven guards in Kansai belong to a captive organization. The Ming Dynasty only appeased by appointing tribal leaders and establishing a tribute system, but did not effectively manage it by stationing troops and setting up officials in the local area.
3. Lack of correct understanding of the western region
The great economic and cultural differences between the Central Plains and the Western Regions also deeply influenced the views of officials and people in the Ming Dynasty on the Western Regions. Generally speaking, the economic culture of the Central Plains is a farming culture headed by Confucianism and centered by Buddhism and Taoism, while the western regions are dominated by nomadic culture. The western region is located at the crossroads of East-West communication. It is the meeting place and communication medium of civilizations such as the two river basins, the Indian subcontinent and the Yellow River basin. Therefore, the western region culture is a multi-ethnic composite culture with the characteristics of multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-integration. Due to the huge cultural differences between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, the resistance of Ming officials and people who believe in Confucianism to the Western Regions is one of the important reasons why they don't want to get their hands on the Western Regions.
To sum up, the Ming dynasty never had the idea of getting their hands on the western regions. Most of the rulers of the Ming Dynasty practiced the ancestral motto of "treat each other with morality and treat each other with courtesy". Influenced by traditional geographical ideas, they generally believe that the northwest border of the Central Plains Dynasty ends at Yumenguan and Jiayuguan, and other places are foreign princes. At best, the management of the western regions is only to ensure the safety of Shaanxi and Gansu. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty always maintained a close subordinate relationship with the western countries, but it was not included in the territory.