Luchuan–Pingmian campaigns
The Luchuan–Pingmian campaigns () (1436–49) were punitive expeditions carried out by the Ming dynasty under the rule of the Emperor Yingzong against the Shan-led State of Möng Mao near the frontier with Burma. Möng Mao, called Luchuan–Pingmian by the Ming, was a Chinese military and civilian pacification commission on the Sino–Burmese border, corresponding roughly to the modern districts of Longchuan and Ruili, including part of the Gaoligong Mountains, along the upper reaches of the Shweli River. Background A year after the Dao Ganmeng rebellion of 1398, the tusi Si Lunfa died and a new generation of elites rose to power in Möng Mao. His son Si Xingfa, together with Dao Hun and Dao Cuan, conducted short lived raids on Ming territory before military retaliation by the Yunnan guard put a stop to that. The territory of Möng Mao was partitioned into five new administrative divisions each with their own tusi. Thereafter Si Xingfa paid regular annual tribute to the Ming until he was removed from office in 1413 for failing to observe proper tribute ceremonies, and offended an imperial envoy. His brother Si Renfa succeeded him. In the following 20 years from 1413 to 1433 Möng Mao, Hsenwi, and the Kingdom of Ava regularly lodged complaints of incursions by neighboring states to the Ming dynasty. However no action was taken except to send imperial envoys to persuade them to cease encroachment on foreign territories. In March 1436, Si Renfa petitioned for an exemption of 2,500 taels in taxes, which was the amount Möng Mao was in arrears. The Emperor Yingzong of Ming granted the petition approval despite objections from his officials. In November 1437, Si Renfa attacked the tusi of Nandian and annexed his land. A petition was sent to the Ming court requesting assistance in returning land that had been taken from it by Möng Mao. The regional commander of Yunnan, Mu Sheng, was requested to make an investigation into the matter. His report arrived on 28 June 1438, stating that Möng Mao had "repeatedly invaded Nandian, Ganyai, Tengchong,...Lujiang, and Jinchi". Another report arrived on 14 July, 1438, stating that the Mong Mao ruler had "appointed local chieftains of the neighboring regions subordinate to him without asking for the approval of the Ming court and that some of these men joined forces with him to invade Jinchi." In preparation for a punitive expedition, the Ming court issued an imperial edict to Hsenwi asking for their assistance in surrounding Möng Mao. The strategy of divide and conquer had failed on the Ming–Burma frontier. Rather than making the Tai and Shan peoples easier to manage, it had balkanized the region and contributed to the endemic chaos and warfare that plagued the various tusis the Ming had created. In 1438 a total of 199 tusi offices were abolished and the regional commander of Yunnan, Mu Sheng, received orders to carry out a punitive campaign on 8 December, 1438. First campaign (1438–1439) The first punitive expedition was led by Fang Zheng, Zhang Rong,