[2][3] The Uyghurs were led by Gen. Hala Bashi, who was awarded titles by the Hongwu Emperor and the surname Jian (Chinese: 翦; pinyin: Jiǎn).

[4] Chinese Muslim troops were also used by the Ming dynasty to defeat the Miao and other indigenous rebels in the area, and were also settled in Changde, Hunan, where their descendants still live.

[9] Ming commander Gen. Li Chen, who was an hereditary general, fought against the indigenous tribes for decades in the 15th century and used brutal tactics against them.

In the 16th century, the Ming dynasty sent ethnic Chinese to settle in the tribal areas of the Hmong and other indigenous tribes in the southwest.

Yet by 1500 the Hmong were revolting in areas around Hunan province and had fought almost every year in an effort to gain their independence from imperial rule.

The Ming dynasty constructed the Hmong wall, which was 10 feet high and 100 miles long with military posts.

Two Chinese generals who defected and joined the Hmong gave them gunpowder weapons, such as flintlock rifles, cannons and blunderbusses, and showed the rebels how to make them.