Xu Da
In August 1368 General Xu Da of the Ming dynasty captured the city. The last Yuan emperor, Emperor Shun, escaped from the city without defending it, and thus the city sustained no damage. Xu Da decided that Dadu's fortification system was too large to defend during a siege, so he ordered the city's northern walls rebuilt to the south of the original location. This construction pre-empted the planned northern expansion of the city. The new wall was constructed with an extra layer of bricks, further strengthening the city's defenses.