Passage: Since 1444 Si Jifa had repeatedly sent tribute to Ming asking for pardon to no avail. In March 1449, a combined army of 150,000 soldiers was amassed, and the fourth and final campaign to extirpate the Mong Mao threat was launched under the supervision of Wang Ji. The army quickly marched on Mong Yang, which harbored Si Jifa, and captured their strongholds. However Si Jifa managed to escape yet again, and the campaign ended inconclusively with the ruling Shan elite allowed to remain in Mong Yang so long as they never returned to Mong Mao. Sources disagree as to how Si Jifa met his end. One source claims he died in combat in 1449, another says he was captured by the king of Ava and held captive in exchange for Ming territory, and one Shan chronicle claims he reigned for another fifty years. While Mong Mao had been defeated and pacified, Si Jifa's son Si Hongfa continued to rule in Mong Yang and his successors would eventually go on to invade Ava in 1527. So in practice Si Lunfa's family survived as rulers in the neighboring state of Mong Yang under the close observation of Ming. The fourth campaign was also marred by lack of discipline, inefficient administration, and mismanagement of resources. On the first day of mobilization, the entire 150,000 strong army started marching all at once, and many were trampled to death. Food supplies were mismanaged and assigned to individual carriers disproportionate to their weight, and no proper plan for their distribution existed. Some soldiers committed suicide due to the conditions prevalent in the army.
Did Si Jifa want to fight? How did many people die? How do sources feel about how Si Jifa died? How many campaigns were undertaken to root out and destroy the Mong Mao? How many different ways were the soldiers killed while not in war? How many theories are there for how Si Jifa met his end? How many years after Si Jifa asked for pardon did Wang Ji attack? How many years after Si Jifa's "death" they invade Ava? How many years after Si Jifa's final defeat did his successors invade Ava? How many years do some believe he survived? How many years elapsed between the campaign to attack Si Jifa, and Si Jifa's son's invasion of Ada? How many years passed between Jifi sending tribute to Ming and 150,000 soldiers was amassed? How many years passed from when he was sending Ming tribute to when 150,000 soldiers were amassed? How many years span these events? What city were the Shan elite forbidden from? What did the soldiers capture? What event happened first, Si Jafa repeatedly sending tribute to Ming, or him possibly dying in combat? What event happened first, a combined army of 150,000 being amassed, or Si Jifa repeatedly sending tribute to Ming asking for pardon? What happened first: sent tribute to Ming or 150,000 soldiers was amassed? What happened second: sent tribute to Ming or 150,000 soldiers was amassed? What was the morale of the fourth campaign soldiery? What ways were the soldiers killed while not in war? Who was a relative of Si Jifa? Why did he sent tribute? how many years elapsed between Si Jifa asking for pardon, and the military campaign launched against him?