Wubei Zhi (Vol. 86)

These garrisons provide mutual assistance. The three passes—Yanmen, Piantou, and Ningwu all three passes are located in the northern territory of Taiyuan—are all fortified. Although the alert signals of smoke and fire are uniform, the invaders from the Ordos Loop the Yellow River bend pose the most urgent threat. Furthermore, between Baode and Hequ both are counties under the jurisdiction of Taiyuan Prefecture, there is only a single river—the Yellow River—separating the region from the invaders. If defenses are even slightly relaxed, the gates of the homeland are exposed to formidable enemies.

As for the miners of Weizhou under the jurisdiction of Datong Prefecture, the garrison soldiers of Linjin a county under the jurisdiction of Pingyang Prefecture refers to the soldiers of the princely estates, and the vagrant population of Lucheng a county under the jurisdiction of Luzhou, they hide in the deep valleys and strike when opportunities arise; they are not worth the effort of military containment. However, because border provisions are vast and the imperial clan the Ming royal family descendants has multiplied, all supplies beyond the annual tax depend on the salt tax of Hedong. The people of the three Jin an ancient name for the Shanxi region territories are exhausted and suffering. Meanwhile, the border soldiers are clamoring for food and the commanders' orders go unheeded. This is a long-standing systemic failure that must be addressed through gradual reform.