Lan Yu (general)

Lan Yu (?-1393) was a general of the Ming Dynasty.

The founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, employed Muslim commanders in his army: Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, Mu Ying and more. [ Jonathan Lipman, Familiar Strangers, a history of Muslims in Northwest China, 39]

In 1368, the Mongol emperor fled to Mongolia, effectively giving up China. In Mongolia, he and his descendants tried to re-conquer China. In 1388, Lan Yu led a strong imperial Ming army out of the Great Wall and won a decisive victory over the Mongols in Mongolia, effectively ending the Mongol dream to re-conquer China.

Lan Yu was later killed by the Emperor, along with several others, in a purge of those deemed to be a potential threat to his heir apparent. [ Dun J. Li "The Ageless Chinese" (Charles Scribner's Sons: 1971), p. 276 ]

Note: Lan Yu's case was a big case resulting in the death of thousands of people. In the old days, the whole family could die because of this sort of political murder. In fact, many families perished in Lan Yu's case.

References

*http://www.colorq.org/MeltingPot/Asia/ChineseWestAsians.htm