Dynasties of ChinaMing dynastyMing dynasty lineage
Hongwu · Reign 1368—1398
From the cowherd boy and the wandering monk to the founding emperor, he reestablished order with an iron fist and laid the foundation of Ming Dynasty for nearly three hundred years.
Zhu Yuanzhang's original name was Chongba, a native of Zhongli, Haozhou (now Fengyang, Anhui), and a tenant farmer. In 1344, drought and plague occurred in Huaibei, and his parents and brothers died one after another. He became a monk in Huangjue Temple and traveled around begging for several years, so he was well aware of the suffering of the people. In 1352, he defected to the Red Scarf Army of Guo Zixing in Haozhou, fought bravely, married Guo Zixing's adopted daughter Ma, and gradually led his own army.
In 1356, he crossed the river to capture Jiqing and renamed it Yingtianfu. He adopted Zhu Sheng's strategy of "building high walls, accumulating grain, and slowly becoming king". He defeated Chen Youliang at Poyang Lake and Zhang Shicheng at Pingjiang. In 1368, he proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtian and named his country Daming. In the same year, he sent Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to conquer Dadu in the northern expedition, and then pacified Sichuan, Yunnan and Liaodong.
During his thirty-one years in office, he immigrated to farm fields, built water conservancy projects, compiled yellow records and fish scale atlases, and quickly restored the economy after the war. At the same time, he abolished the prime minister, established royal guards, governed officials with heavy codes, and used the Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu cases to kill tens of thousands of meritorious officials. After Crown Prince Zhu Biao died young, he made his grandson Zhu Yunwen his heir. He died of illness in 1398 and was buried in Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing.
Zhu Yuanzhang came from a humble background, and among the founding monarchs of the past dynasties, only Liu Bang could compare with him. He quickly restored the social economy after the war by recuperating and rectifying household registration and land taxes, and his laws and systems were used by the Ming and Qing generations. However, he abolished the prime minister, implemented heavy codes, and massacred meritorious officials, which brought the monarchy to a new height and left the hidden danger of the lack of checks and balances on imperial power to future generations.
SocietyFamily breaks down and enters temple
Drought, locusts, and epidemics occurred one after another in Huaibei. Seventeen-year-old Zhu Chongba's parents and brothers died one after another, and he was unable to bury him. He entered Huangjue Temple as a traveling boy. Soon the temple ran out of food, so he had to go out to beg for food.
MilitaryDefeat to the Red Turban Army
He defected to Guo Zixing's tribe in Haozhou and was highly regarded for his bravery and agility. He married Guo Zixing's adopted daughter Ma, who would later become Mahuanghou. After that, he returned to his hometown to recruit troops, and Xu Da, Tang He and other fellow villagers followed him one after another.
MilitaryCapture Jiqing
He led his army across the river to conquer Jiqing Road, renamed it Yingtianfu, and used it as a base to operate Jiangnan. The wealth and population of Jiangnan became the basis for his unification of the country.
MilitaryBattle of Poyang Lake
He fought with Chen Youliang in a decisive battle at Poyang Lake for more than 30 days, using fire to destroy Chen's giant ship. Chen Youliang was killed by an arrow. This battle eliminated the strongest opponent and laid the foundation for the unification of the South.
SocietyBuilding the Nanjing City Wall
With Yingtian as the capital, it took nearly thirty years to build four layers of walls: the palace city, the imperial city, the capital city and the outer city. The circumference of the capital city wall is more than 30 kilometers, and the names of the firing prefecture and craftsmen are often printed on the city bricks to facilitate accountability.
Lasting legacyNanjing's Ming City Wall has preserved more than 20 kilometers and is one of the largest existing ancient city walls in the world. The Chinese Gate Urn City and other ancient city walls are still Nanjing's urban landmarks.
PoliticsProclaimed Emperor Jianming
In the first month of the first month, he became the emperor in Yingtian Mansion. The country was named Daming and the reign was named Hongwu. Ma was made the queen and Zhu Biao was the Crown Prince. In August, Xu Da conquered Dadu, Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty went north, and Yuan Dynasty's rule in the Central Plains ended.
PoliticsenfeoffmentAll princes are kings
The princes were made kings and stationed at key points in various places. The kings in the north commanded heavy troops to defend Mongolia. The power of the vassal king will grow in the future, which becomes the foreshadowing of the Jingnan Campaign.
EconomyPromulgate a maritime ban
In order to prevent anti-Ming forces and Japanese pirates at sea, coastal residents were prohibited from going out to sea privately. Since then, it has been repeatedly reiterated that "no one is allowed to enter the sea", and only official tribute is reserved for foreign trade.
SocietyHongwu Great Immigration
After the war in the late Yuan Dynasty, the population of the Central Plains dropped sharply, and the imperial court organized people from Shanxi and other places to move to Henan, Hebei, Shandong and other places to reclaim wasteland. This immigration lasted until the Yongle period, and the scale was in the millions.
Lasting legacyThe folk song "Ask me where my ancestors came from, the big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi" spreads throughout North China. The site of the big locust tree in Hongdong is still a place to find roots and worship ancestors.
Politicsabolish prime minister
Prime Minister Hu Weiyong was executed for treason, and then he abolished Zhongshu Sheng and dismissed the prime minister. The six ministries were directly responsible to the emperor and warned his descendants never to have a prime minister. This ended the chief minister system that had lasted for more than a thousand years.
EconomyMake up a yellow book of taxes and levies
The Lijia system was implemented across the country, and the land and property were registered on a household basis. The book was reprinted every ten years. It was called the Yellow Book because the cover was made of yellow paper. In 1387, a fish scale atlas for measuring land was completed, providing a reliable basis for taxation.
Militarypacify Yunnan
Fu Youde, Lan Yu, and Mu Ying led their troops to attack and destroy the Yuanliang King's forces entrenched in Yunnan. Mu Ying stayed in Yunnan since then, and the Mu family guarded it for generations until the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Lasting legacyA large number of sergeants and their families accompanied the army and stationed in Yunnan, which profoundly affected the distribution, dialect and local culture of the Han people in Yunnan today.
PoliticsEstablishment of Jinyiwei
The Yiluan Division was changed to Jinyiwei, in charge of bodyguards, arrests and prisons, and directly obeyed the emperor's orders. The imperial edict of Jinyiwei was greatly implicated in the cases of Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu.
PoliticsGuo Huan case
It happened that Guo Huan, the Minister of Household Affairs, and others embezzled official grain, and officials and wealthy households from all over the country were implicated in the pursuit of stolen goods. Tens of thousands of people died. Zhu Yuanzhang imposed capital punishment on corrupt officials. According to legend, he also punished corrupt officials by peeling off their skin and eating straw.
MilitaryThe Battle of Fishing Sea
General Lan Yu led his troops deep into Mobei, defeated the main force of the Bei Yuan in the fishing sea, and captured more than 70,000 members of the Bei Yuan royal family, officials and tribesmen. The Bei Yuan was in ruins ever since.
PeopleCrown Prince Zhu Biao dies of illness
Crown Prince Zhu Biao died of illness after returning from an inspection tour of Shaanxi. He was only thirty-eight years old. Zhu Yuanzhang ignored the elders of his sons and made Zhu Yunwen, the son of Zhu Biao, the emperor's grandson.
PoliticsLan Yu case
He executed Lan Yu, Duke of Liang State, for treason, implicating more than 15,000 people. Coupled with the previous Hu Weiyong case, almost all the founding heroes were executed, clearing the way for the emperor's grandson to succeed to the throne.
PoliticsPromulgation of the "Law of the Ming Dynasty"
After thirty years of repeated revisions, the final version of the "Da Ming Code" was officially promulgated and implemented in conjunction with the "Da Gao", requiring future generations to abide by it and not change it.
Lasting legacyQing Dynasty's "Da Qing Code" is based on the "Da Ming Code"; the codes of Korea, Vietnam and other countries are also deeply influenced by it.
PoliticsDied of illness in Xiaoling
He died of illness in Yingtian in the fifth month of the leap month and was buried in Xiaoling in Zhongshan Zhiyang. He ordered the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunwen to ascend the throne and ordered the kings not to go to Beijing for funerals.
Lasting legacyMing Xiaoling Mausoleum was listed as a World Cultural Heritage in 2003 as an extension of the "Ming & Qing Royal Tombs".
Guo Zixing adopted his daughter and shared weal and woe with Zhu Yuanzhang. He was kind and frugal, and repeatedly advised Zhu Yuanzhang to kill. He once rescued Song Lian and others, and was deeply respected by the government and the public.
Following Zhu Yuanzhang's rise in the army, he was in charge of rear government affairs and food and salary for a long time. He was compared to Xiao He and ranked first among the founding heroes. In his later years, he was implicated in the Hu Weiyong case, and more than 70 members of his family were killed.
Named Bowen, he planned for Zhu Yuanzhang the strategy of first destroying Chen Youliang and then taking over Zhang Shicheng. He participated in the formulation of calendars and regulations, and was granted the title of Uncle Chengyi.
Zhu Yuanzhang, a fellow countryman, led the troops to destroy Zhang Shicheng and Dadu in the Northern Expedition, and thereafter guarded the north for a long time. He is known as the "Great Wall" for his strict military management.
He is brave and good at fighting. He claims to be able to march hundreds of thousands of people across the world. He is known in the army as "Constantly One Hundred Thousand". Following Xu Da's Northern Expedition, he conquered most of the capital. He died of a sudden illness on the way back to the army, and he pursued the Kaiking Ping.
A leader in the literary world in the early Ming Dynasty, he presided over the compilation of "History of the Yuan Dynasty" and was the teacher of Crown Prince Zhu Biao. Because his grandson was involved in the Hu Weiyong case, he was exiled and died on the way.
Chang Yuchun's brother-in-law, Yu'erhai defeated the Northern Yuan Dynasty in the first battle. He had outstanding achievements, but was arrogant and lawless. In 1393, he was killed for treason, leading to a major case involving more than 10,000 people.
The adopted son of Zhu Yuanzhang, he participated in the pacification of Yunnan and the local area of Liu Town, built water conservancy, farmed and opened up wasteland, and was granted the title of Marquis of Xiping. The descendants of the Mu family have hereditarily guarded Yunnan for nearly three hundred years.