Early Ming Army. The first Ming emperor, Hongwu, maintained much of the Mongol military structure, under which the Ming army was commanded by a hereditary officer class. The early Ming armed forces mainly derived from Hongwu's followers and the bands who surrendered to him during the military campaigns when Hongwu promised that their units would be kept unbroken and their leaders' commands would be made hereditary. At that time, Hongwu's army officials were also rewarded with noble titles and ranked higher than other military and civil officials.

Military Colony System. The founding father of the Ming tried to transform the Ming army into a kind of autonomous organization, whose members and income were to be provided by their families with a special statute —the armed families, who settled on the lands of military colonies. For each...