Entry

Yong-le: Year 5, Month 3, Day 27

4 May 1407

Next Entry >>
<< Previous Entry

On this day, the Xin-cheng Marquis Zhang Fu, "General for Subduing the Yi" and regional commander of the force sent on expedition to punish Annam, and the Xi-ping Marquis Mu Sheng, deputy general of the left, defeated the Li bandits at the Fu-liang River. Previously, Fu and the others had pursued the bandits to Men Sea-Port In Jiao-shui County, where the bandits had been defeated and from where they fled. The land was boggy and it was not possible to set up camp there. Thus, it was decided to withdraw the troops to deceive the bandits. A fort was then established at Xian-zi Pass (Alt. Xian-shui Pass) and the commissioner-in-chief Liu Sheng was ordered to guard the pass. At this time, Sheng had reported that the bandits had entered the Fu-liang River and thereupon Fu and the others proceeded to attack them. The bandit's boats stretched connected for over 10 li, while their land forces numbered over 10,000 crack troops prepared for battle. The government troops attacked them from both banks. The bandits had sea-going vessels across the river, while oar-powered boats carried the wooden palisades which were being erected to keep the Imperial army out. Fu took advantage of the palisades not being prepared and personally led the generals and soldiers in waging a powerful attack. The bandits were unable to withstand this force. Sheng and the others continued to attack them from the side with ship-borne troops. The bandits were thereby greatly defeated. The false Minister of Works Ruan Xi-zhou was captured while the false Yi Guard general Hu She, along with tens of thousands of officers and troops were beheaded. The water in the river ran red. Advantage was taken of the victory to pursue the enemy to the Huang River and then to Men Sea Port, where innumerable of the bandits boats were captured. The Li bandits, both father and son, were only just able to slip away with a few small boats. The false Minister of Personnel Fan Yuan-lan, the chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review Ruan Fei-qing, the Qian-niu Guard Commander Chen Ri-zhao and the Hua-e General Li Wei all went to Fu and surrendered.

Tai-zong: juan 65.5a-b

Zhong-yang Yan-jiu yuan Ming Shi-lu, volume 11, page 0923/24

Next Entry >>
<< Previous Entry

Preferred form of citation for this entry:

Geoff Wade, translator, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/reign/yong-le/year-5-month-3-day-27, accessed January 22, 2019