Those things in the morning
Zhu Yuanzhang killed Hu Weiyong, abolished the system of Grand Chancellor, but he did not stop there. His eyes turned to the Grand Commandery which controlled the military power. At that time, the person in charge of the Grand Commandery was his nephew Li Wenzhong. In fact, it proved that when it came to distrust of ministers, he treated his relatives equally. He reorganized the Grand Commandery, dividing this military institution into five parts: left, center, right, front and back. As for the original commander-in-chief Li Wenzhong, he did not let him off either.
Because Li WenZhong had previously accused him of indiscriminate killing, and had also offended Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to get rid of both Li WenZhong and the Buddha. Just as he was about to take action, Empress Ma stepped forward and stopped him, begging him to spare Li WenZhong's life in consideration of his great contributions. Although Zhu Yuanzhang never spared anyone else's face, Empress Ma had shared hardships with him and their relationship was deep and sincere, so he listened to her advice and let Li WenZhong off, but still severely punished him and stripped him of his position.
Punishing Li WenZhong is not an isolated incident, it has a deeper meaning. This matter tells all the ministers that Zhu Yuanzhang has the spirit of "great righteousness and family extermination" in eliminating dissidents, no one can be exempted.
The Hu Weiyong case has implicated more and more people, to the point where it has evolved into a massacre. The officials handling the case hold lists of names, going from one government office to another to find people, arresting them as soon as they are found, beating them after arrest, forcing confessions, and then using those forced confessions to obtain more names to arrest. These men have enormous power, and even if a government office is in session, they can still brazenly burst in, taking away the so-called criminals. This has led to some very comical phenomena: often just as an official was proudly pronouncing judgment on the bench, these men would enter, pull that gentleman down from the bench, put him in stocks and take him away. The other prisoners below watch with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
The clues for handling this case mainly came from two departments, one of which was called the Qīn Jūn Dū Wèi Fǔ. You may not be familiar with this name, but if you mention its later name, it's a household name - the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Another group that cannot be called a department, but only a group, is called the Inspection Department. They do not have a fixed establishment and report directly to Zhu Yuanzhang on various situations they have investigated. They are Zhu Yuanzhang's main eyes and ears. These people do not sleep at night and wander around everywhere. From historical records, their eavesdropping and tracking skills are very skilled. For example, one day when the National Academy's sacrificial wine Song Nong went to court, Zhu Yuanzhang asked him why he was unhappy the night before, Song Nong was shocked. Zhu Yuanzhang took out a painting, which was exactly the portrait of Song Nong's angry expression last night.
This is really creepy, to know that Song Nun wasn't sleeping on the street, he was angry in his own home, and these inspectors not only kept monitoring him but also drew a picture of his angry face with great interest. Everyone can imagine, in the years without cameras, in the middle of the night, you are sitting in your own room, and someone is watching you from a distance (very likely in your own home), drawing a portrait of you while looking at you. This scenario often appears in modern horror movies.
The origins of these inspectors were also complex, mainly consisting of idle social personnel, as well as civil and military officials, and even old acquaintances of Zhu Yuanzhang - monks. These people did not know each other and only accepted the dispatch of Zhu Yuanzhang.
These people were all-pervasive, catching wind and shadow, creating many wrongful cases. It was with the help of these people that Zhu Yuanzhang handled the Hu Weiyong case more and more smoothly, killing more and more people.
The officials were in a state of panic and the number of people involved was increasing, even retired personnel were being brought back, with Song Lian being the most notable.
Song Huan was a famous civil minister under Zhu Yuanzhang and also an excellent scholar. He was a fellow townsman of Liu Ji and was entrusted by Zhu Yuanzhang with the important task of being the teacher of Crown Prince Zhu Biao. He perfectly completed this task, and under his guidance, Zhu Biao was completely different from his father Zhu Yuanzhang, being kind, benevolent and having the appearance of a wise ruler. Later, he was also entrusted with the task of revising the history of the Yuan dynasty, serving as the chief editor.
But Zhu Yuanzhang did not value him, in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, Song Lian was just a scholar, writing some articles was okay, but he couldn't make strategic plans, so the highest official position he granted to Song Lian was only a small Hanlin Academy Scholar (5th rank). Until Hongwu 10th year (1377) when Song Lian retired, his official position was still just an Academician.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not reuse Song Lian, he trusted him very much, which was largely due to Song Lian's personality. Song Lian was a well-known honest man who always told the truth in everything. Zhu Yuanzhang once sighed: "Song Lian has served me for 20 years and has never spoken a false word or said anything bad about others. He is indeed a virtuous person."
When Song Hui retired at the age of 68, Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a piece of cloth and asked him to make a "century-old clothes" with it after 32 years. Song Hui was so moved that he burst into tears.
However, in less than three years, Zhu Yuanzhang had a new set of clothes prepared for Song Lian - prison garb.
Because of Song Lian's grandson's involvement in Hu Weiyong's rebellion, Zhu Yuanzhang had him brought back from afar to be killed. This also reflects another characteristic of Zhu Yuanzhang - selective amnesia.
At a critical moment, Empress Ma stepped forward and successfully persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang to spare Song Lian's life.
Zhu Yuanzhang's behavior became increasingly extreme and his methods more ruthless; apart from Empress Ma, few people could change his decisions.
The Things of Ming Dynasty Zhu Yuanzhang Edition Chapter 29
Chapter word count: 4195 Updated time: July 2nd, 2022 15:52
In August of the 15th year of Hongwu (1382), a man died. This man's death seemed to be no big deal in history, but for Zhu Yuanzhang, it was a real tragedy.
This person is Queen Ma.
She risked her life to deliver food to Zhu Yuanzhang when he was in a desperate situation and on the verge of starving to death. Although she was a woman, she had great courage and wisdom. When Chen Youliang attacked Longwan, she donated all her jewelry and wealth to support the army and organized women to sew clothes for the soldiers.
Even after becoming rich and noble, she maintained a simple style, not arrogant or extravagant, and advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to forget the hardships of the people, and even in personnel matters, she also put forward her own views: "Willing to get wise men to govern the world together", was quoted by Zhu Yuanzhang as a famous saying.
What is even more valuable is that he stopped many of Zhu Yuanzhang's evil deeds.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Zhu Wen Zheng, she advised Zhu Yuanzhang, "Zhu Wen Zheng is your nephew and has made great contributions, please don't kill him."
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Li Wenzhong, she advised Zhu Yuanzhang, Li Wenzhong is your nephew and also your adopted son, spare his life.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Song Lian, he knelt down and begged Zhu Yuanzhang, saying: "Song Lian is the prince's teacher. The common people still respect their teachers, let alone the imperial family."
She used her kindness to care for every person she knew or didn't know, rescuing them from Zhu Yuanzhang's slaughter.
She knows more than Zhu Yuanzhang about the preciousness of human life.
After she fell seriously ill and knew it was hard to cure, she surprisingly refused the doctor's treatment. Zhu Yuanzhang asked her for the reason, and her reply really touched his heart.
She said: A person's life and death are determined by fate, praying to gods and Buddhas is useless, doctors can only cure illnesses, not fate. If I let the doctor treat me and the medicine has no effect, Your Majesty will certainly punish the doctor, this is what I don't want to see.
She was a person who always cared for others with her own love, and she did so even when her life was about to end.
She left a will for Zhu Yuanzhang on her deathbed:
"May Your Majesty seek the virtuous and accept remonstrance, from beginning to end. May your descendants be wise and capable one by one, may the people live in peace and prosperity, and may the mountains and rivers last forever."
She smiled and left after finishing speaking.
Zhu Yuanzhang leaned on her side, she was the most beloved woman in his life. This woman gave him countless help, but never asked for anything from him. Her whole life was spent like this.
After going through so many hardships, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart had long been harder than iron and stone. Since his parents died, no matter how desperate or painful he was, he rarely shed tears. Because he knew that crying couldn't solve any problems.
But at this time, he finally couldn't control his emotions, he burst into loud sobs, only wailing could mourn the person in front of him, only wailing could vent the extreme pain in his heart!
Because he finally realized that the person in front of him was his everything, his only one.
Ma Yuzhen, this ordinary woman, in the difficult years, she did not despise Zhu Yuanzhang's humble origin, but followed him and dedicated everything to him. No matter how dangerous the environment was or how complicated the situation was, she always kept her promise from those years ago.
Through thick and thin, in life and death, never abandon each other.
After her husband became emperor, she still treated people with kindness and compassion. Every time Zhu Yuanzhang raised his butcher's knife, she would step forward to stop him. With the maternal love and care unique to women, she saved many people. Although she ultimately failed to bring Zhu Yuanzhang's runaway chariot back on track, she had done everything in her power.
Today, we can say that she is a great woman.
Born like summer flowers, died like winter snow.
Life is like this, what regret and resentment.
The death of Empress Ma dealt a huge blow to Zhu Yuanzhang, after which he went further and further down the wrong and biased path until the end of his life.
The case of Hu Weiyong is still ongoing, with people being arrested and killed one after another. Li Shanchang confessed his mistakes to Zhu Yuanzhang and accepted punishment, managing to escape with his life, but Zhu's character dictated that Li would not have a good end.
Before we talk about these things, it is necessary to introduce the living conditions of a special group during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, that is, officials.
Being an official is a golden rice bowl in any era, but during the Hongwu years, the fate of officials can only be described with one word - miserable.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's era, officials lived as if in hell, and this description is not exaggerated.
Here is the translation:
Let's first introduce the ranking of officials in the Ming dynasty. Everyone knows that the first rank is the highest official position, and throughout history, there have been many high-ranking officials who were revered and respected, even by emperors. However, in the Ming dynasty, a first-rank civil official was almost like a mythical figure, extremely rare. After the abolition of the Grand Chancellor system, the highest rank among civil officials under Zhu Yuanzhang was the Minister (a second-rank position), while the first-rank positions were merely honorary titles: Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao (all first-rank), as well as Shaoshi, Shaofu, Shaobao, Crown Prince's Taishi, Crown Prince's Taifu, and Crown Prince's Taibao (all second-rank). In addition, there were also positions such as the Director of the Imperial Clan, the Minister of Rites, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies that held first-rank status, but these were not positions that ordinary civil officials could attain.
These positions look very attractive, but are difficult to obtain. If not for some special merit, such as conquering the world (few opportunities, extremely dangerous), saving the emperor (high difficulty, few chances), putting the emperor aside and manipulating state affairs (only a handful of people), otherwise, being able to retire at the second rank is already a blessing from one's ancestors.
Two ranks are just two ranks, the officials don't care too much about it. Anyway, no matter how many ranks they have, they still need to work hard. But what makes them feel extremely unfair is that there is a group of people who have made no contributions at all, yet almost every one of them is a first-rank official.
These people were relatives of Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang was poor since childhood, his parents died early, and he had a deep affection for his relatives. Many of his sons and daughters were enfeoffed as princes and princesses, all with the first rank. The eldest son of a prince was still a prince, while other sons were enfeoffed as dukes, also with the first rank. What's more, even the husbands of his daughters who married into the imperial family were also of the first rank!
This is really frustrating for officials, ten years of hard work in a cold window may only end up as a small official of the third or fourth rank, while these people are born as high-ranking officials. It's really "reading well is not as good as looking good (imperial son-in-law), and looking good is not as good as being born well."
But what made officials even more uncomfortable was yet to come. They soon discovered that Zhu Yuanzhang, this boss, was very stingy.
Zhu Yuanzhang gave officials a salary of 1,044 shi of millet per year for first-grade senior officials, decreasing step by step to only 90 shi of millet per year for seventh-grade county magistrates.
Let's take a county magistrate as an example. The monthly salary of a county official who manages a county is only 7.5 dan, note that with this income he has to support his wife and children, as well as a large number of people.
In the Ming dynasty, the county magistrate was different from today's county head. At that time, the county magistrate also held many positions, he was not only the county head but also the president of the county court, the procurator-general of the procuratorate, the director of the finance bureau, the director of the tax bureau, the director of the industry and commerce bureau, and the captain of the county construction team. A county magistrate managed so many things, it was inevitable to reward the small officials under him, otherwise who would be willing to work for you.
He also had a large group of attendants, divided into levels as "dà yé" (big master) and "èr yé" (second master). The "dà yé" included the "mén zhèng dà yé" (gatekeeper), the "gǎo qiān dà yé" (seal affixer), while below them were a group of "èr yé", including the "fā shěn" (document examiner), the "zhí táng" (duty officer), and the "yòng yìn" (seal user). These people were office personnel in the county magistrate's seal affixing room. In addition, the county magistrate would send someone to oversee each important department, and he would also bring his own chef and tutor.
This large group of people are all under the county official, and they all have to be supported by him. With only 7.5 shi of salary per month, everyone can only go and drink the northwest wind.
When in office, they still have to entertain guests and attend social events during festivals and holidays, their salary is far from enough.
But even this meager salary was discounted.
During the Hongwu era, when it was time to receive salaries, county officials would find someone to carry a bag of rice to collect their own salary, 7.5 dan of rice (just like begging for food), and this was still considered timely payment. By the time of Chengzu, they could only receive six-tenths of their salary, so how were the remaining parts distributed?
Counterfeit banknotes
This is no joke, not silver, but paper money. In the early Ming Dynasty, paper money was circulating all over the country. It seems that there's nothing wrong with giving paper money, but as we continue to look down, we'll find the problem. During the Chengzu period, 10 guan of paper money could be exchanged for one stone of rice, but by the time of Renzong, 25 guan of paper money was needed to exchange for one stone of rice.
Everyone understands now, the problem is inflation.
To talk about the issuance of paper currency, we have to start from the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty did many things very badly, but this paper currency policy was quite good. The person who formulated this policy should be very capable, and his paper money policy deeply reflects the universal applicability of economic laws. The Yuan Dynasty issued paper currency with gold and silver as reserve funds. If there were no gold and silver, they would not issue paper currency, and the issuance had a fixed quota. Holders of paper currency could exchange it for gold and silver from the court at any time.
This is the typical gold and silver standard paper money issuance system, which was used for thousands of years (until it ended with the collapse of the Bretton Woods system after World War II). However, when Zhu Yuanzhang took over, this brother was not familiar with economics, saw that the yuan dynasty's printed notes could circulate, and he also printed. The problem is that he started printing non-stop, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the annual income was only a few tens of thousands of silver taels, but the issued paper money was several hundred million, holding a piece of paper with 5,000 taels printed on it, thinking it could be used as 5,000 taels? The common people are not stupid.
To be honest, officials are really pitiful. Their salaries are already very low, and they still receive a bunch of useless papers that are too rough to use as toilet paper.
One cannot die from holding in urine, so all sorts of new ways to make money have emerged.
The officials mainly use two moves, let's introduce them, these two moves have a long history and are very famous.
Melting tax, everyone may have heard of the term "fire consumption". At that time, the payment of taxes was often in kind, such as grains, silk fabrics, etc., but sometimes it would also be changed to silver and copper coins. When melting and refining silver, there might be losses, and the government would use this excuse to collect extra silver, which is called "fire consumption".
In fact, whether there is any loss or not, only the government knows. This is just an excuse for overcharging. This trick has been passed down for hundreds of years and has been thriving ever since. It was even longer than the history of the Ming Dynasty. It wasn't until the Yongzheng period that the measure of fire expense being returned to the public was adopted, and this trick finally disappeared from history.
But this move is what the government says goes, how much to collect is up to them, and the actual operational skills in execution are not too high. The next move is different.
This move is called Lin Jian Ti Hu, it's worth mentioning that when the common people pay their taxes in grain, the government uses a hu to measure it. The common people put the grain into the hu and then weigh it to calculate how much they have completed. The grain pile must be piled up in a pointed shape, and some of it will exceed the wall of the hu. Just when the common people are relieved that they've finished paying their taxes, something unexpected happens.
The official uses the momentum of a swift thunderclap to kick the measuring container with one foot! At this time, the grains that exceed the container's wall will fall to the ground, and the common people will rush to pick them up. Then, the official will shout loudly: "Don't pick those up, they're losses!" Hey, I'm talking to you, stop picking!
This is the "kick with the foot", the part that is kicked out is what is called the loss in grain transportation, this part becomes the official's legitimate income. As for the common people, they can only go home and send more grain again. The most crucial move here is the action of kicking the bushel.
That kick's style
To master this kick, officials had to practice for a long time. The specific method is to find a tree near their home and start with the tree trunk not moving, and the leaves falling as the highest state. Of course, some people choose to practice kicking doors, and they must do it in one kick, exceeding two kicks is unqualified, and continue to cultivate. This cultivation also has benefits for them, if one day they don't work anymore, they can change careers and go into burglary.
On the day of grain delivery, officials prepared themselves. Once the bushel was full, they concentrated their minds, closed their eyes and thought deeply. Then, with a loud shout, some people took off ten meters to sprint, rushed to the front of the bushel, and kicked it desperately (it's not possible if you don't kick desperately, after all, it's your own). If many grains fell out, they would burst into laughter.
So ordinary people can only watch as their food is taken away by these people.
Please note that these two moves were just the most common in feudal society, and many famous ministers of the Ming Dynasty, such as San Yang, Li Xian, Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng, etc., all relied on these two moves to make a living. Later emperors also recognized these as legitimate income.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang's wage policy is to some extent responsible for the prevalence of these behaviors, it cannot be used as an excuse for corrupt behavior. The internal cause is the decisive factor, and officials should still look for reasons from themselves.
You may wonder if there were people who didn't take advantage of these bargains at that time. I'd say to you, yes, there were indeed such people, but they paid a heavy price for it.
The Legend of Miyue: Zhu Yuanzhang Chapter 30
Chapter word count: 4272 Updated time: July 2nd, 2022 15:52
Those who live on their salary alone are most famous for Hai Rui.
This gentleman is indeed a first-class honest man, he has been working hard for decades without any luxurious enjoyment (and no money), he doesn't take a single penny that he shouldn't take, and he never took advantage of the benefits of fire consumption and kickbacks. He relies on his meager salary to make ends meet every month, and his family is so poor that they are almost destitute.
His last official position was Nanjing Youdu Yushi, a second-grade official equivalent to the Minister of Supervision, and can be said to be one of the highest-paid officials in the civil service. However, his family could not afford to hire several servants, and he had to do everything himself, eating poorly and suffering from long-term malnutrition. After his death, the Yushi Wang Yongkui came to handle the aftermath, and as soon as he entered the door, he was shocked by the miserable state of Hai Rui's home. He could not have imagined that Hai Rui would end up in such a pitiful state, with old fabric hanging everywhere (they couldn't afford new fabric), the trunks were tattered, and everyone in the family wore patched clothes. Describing his home as "bare walls" was no exaggeration.
What's even more unbelievable is that Hai Rui's family couldn't even afford the money for the funeral, and they couldn't buy a coffin either. The cost of the funeral procession was also covered by everyone chipping in together.
There were such people in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, for example, Luo Furen, a scholar of the Hongwen Academy at that time. He was very honest and his family was very poor. However, Zhu Yuanzhang still didn't trust him, so one day he went to his home to take a look. Luo Furen couldn't afford a good house, so he could only buy a broken house in the suburbs to get by. Zhu Yuanzhang searched high and low, finally finding the place, where he saw two dilapidated houses with someone carrying a bucket and brushing the wall. Zhu Yuanzhang thought this person was a laborer working for Luo Furen because of his dusty face and powdered appearance, so he asked him: "Does Luo Furen live here?"
Unexpectedly, the wall washer heard someone ask him, turned his head to take a look, was shocked and pale, hastily ran over to kneel down and said: "I am Luo Furen!"
Zhu Yuanzhang finally got a clear look at his face and realized that this person was indeed Luo Furen. Looking again at his attire, one hand holding a brush and the other carrying a bucket, his clothes were tattered and he looked no different from a beggar. He couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "How can you live in such a house?"
Luo Furen smiled and said: "My family is poor, so I can only make do."
Zhu Yuanzhang said with a hint of dissatisfaction: "A learned man like you, how can you live in such a house?" He then bestowed upon him a large mansion.
Luo Furen was considered poor, but after all, his official position was not high, and there were more powerful people than him.
In the six ministries, the Ministry of Personnel (Ministry of Civil Affairs) was the most important. Wu Lin, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was an honest and clean official. After retiring, he returned home. Zhu Yuanzhang sent a messenger to inquire about his recent situation. The messenger arrived at Wu Lin's hometown and thought that as a former high-ranking official, he should have a large house, so he went to look for it. However, after circling around, he didn't see any large houses, so he found an old farmer who was transplanting rice seedlings by the roadside and asked: "Excuse me, where does Minister Wu live?"
Who would have thought that the old farmer looked up at him and said: "I am Wu Lin, what's the matter?"
The envoy was deeply moved and reported this matter back to Zhu Yuanzhang. After hearing it, Zhu Yuanzhang also felt a deep sense of emotion.
These people are undoubtedly excellent examples, but there are really not many people with such high moral cultivation.
Apart from the salary system, it is also necessary to introduce the holiday system of the Ming Dynasty. Let's take a look at how ancient people spent their holidays.
Let's talk about the Han Dynasty first. They implemented a five-day workweek, which means they worked for five days and rested for one day. However, this rest day was not necessarily on Saturday or Sunday, but rather rotated to whichever day it fell on. This day even had a special name called "Xiūmù". On this day, officials could return home, so it seems that the Han Dynasty's treatment was quite good.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, it was changed to a 10-day break, known as "Xunxiu". It seems that the treatment was not as good as that of the Han dynasty. In fact, it's not like that. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was already the concept of Golden Week today. They would take a 7-day break during the New Year and Winter Solstice. These seven days were paid holidays. Apart from this, any reason that could be thought of could also be taken as a holiday, including our usual Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Double Ninth Festival, as well as the emperor's birthday (which changed frequently), surprisingly, even the birthdays of Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius were holidays. I reckon if Christianity had spread widely back then, God's birthday would also be included.
The Song Dynasty was slightly worse off, but there were still several dozen days of annual leave.
By the Yuan Dynasty, things had changed. In the eyes of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, life was about movement and work was rest. There were no more week-long holidays or grand holidays; everyone took work seriously, with only a dozen or so days off per year.
Finally, the position was passed into Zhu Yuanzhang's hands. This brother's work spirit has been introduced before. He thought that giving you a salary and letting you manage things is already very generous. In those days, Laozi couldn't even eat enough rice, let alone rest?
Some officials suggested restoring the holiday system of the previous dynasty, but Zhu Yuanzhang rejected it. Then Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated a holiday system, which was simple and easy to implement, with only three days off per year: New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, and his own birthday.
Want to take another few dozen days off, the kids haven't woken up yet!
However, many problems arose after actual implementation, such as the problem of being separated from family and children's education (which are objectively existing), which could not be solved. Later, it was stipulated that winter vacation would start in December and last for a month, which partially solved some of the problems.
As mentioned earlier, due to the provisions of these institutions, the contradictions between Zhu Yuanzhang and officials became more and more profound. In order to protect their own interests, officials would inevitably violate Zhu Yuanzhang's codes, and Zhu Yuanzhang would not allow such things to happen. When these contradictions accumulated to a certain extent, they would erupt.
A historical drama unfolds
Zhu Yuanzhang was frugal and hated corruption.
Among all the evil deeds, Zhu Yuanzhang hated corruption the most, which is also understandable. Every time he thought of the relief food that should have been given to his parents being embezzled by officials, leading to their starvation and death, he couldn't help but grit his teeth and think: these people deserve to be killed!
He wanted to create a truly pure dynasty, a dynasty where officials were all clean and the people lived in peace and happiness. So he did his best to make this dream come true.
But dreams don't necessarily come true
In the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang once said to his ministers with deep feeling: "In the past when I was a common people, seeing corrupt officials ignoring the suffering of the people, I hated them deeply. From now on, we will establish laws to strictly prohibit such behavior, and if there are officials who dare to harm the people, they will be punished without mercy!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was a man of his word, and he issued the most severe anti-corruption decree in history: those who embezzled more than 60 taels of silver would be executed on the spot!
Even at the beginning of the country, 60 taels of silver was not a large sum, this order showed Zhu Yuanzhang's determination to be severe with corruption.
In order to increase the deterrent effect, Zhu Yuanzhang also set up a shocking policy.
Since the Tang and Song dynasties, the political system and institutional settings have been different, but the layout of the county government office is roughly the same, all with a main gate, a warning stone, a drum tower, and a second gate. However, during the Ming dynasty, a land temple was often added between the main gate and the second gate. This land temple should not be visited at night, it's really scary.
This land temple is used for what? Don't be surprised, this place is for peeling skin, and the skin that's peeled is human skin.
Originally, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that after corrupt officials were put to death for corruption, their skin would be flayed off and stuffed with straw to make a straw man, which was then hung beside the public seat for all to see. This straw man was not used to scare away birds, but rather to intimidate corrupt officials.
Earlier to enjoy this high treatment was Zhu Yuanzhang's old subordinate Zhu Liangzu, who was a famous founding general with great merits and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yongjia, garrisoning Guangzhou, which can be said to be powerful. However, this person had a fatal flaw, arrogance.
At that time, the county magistrate of Panyu County (now Panyu District, Guangzhou) was called Dao Tong, a very clean official. Due to his strict law enforcement, he had conflicts with local tyrants and villains. These tyrants suffered losses and couldn't do anything to Dao Tong, so they pulled in Zhu Liangzu, hoping he would take the lead for them. The simple-minded Zhu Liangzu accepted bribes and actually agreed.
After that, Zhu Liangzu had many conflicts with Dao Tong, interfering with his normal law enforcement and even sending underworld figures to ambush him. However, Dao Tong did not yield and continued to fight against Zhu Liangzu relentlessly.
The contradictions between the two sides escalated step by step, finally reaching a climax. Dao Tong seized the evil tyrant Luo brothers, and Zhu Liangzu even dared to use troops to surround the county government office, forcibly snatching the prisoners away. Moreover, he also submitted a memorial to the emperor, impeaching Dao Tong with a multitude of crimes.
Dao Tong finally could no longer bear it and also submitted a memorial to the emperor explaining the situation, but he forgot that Zhu Liangzu had an advantage he did not possess - fast horses.
The horse that Da Tong sent to present the memorial was a relay station horse, while Zhu Liangzu used a military horse. Zhu Liangzu also expected that Da Tong would accuse him, so he sent someone to select the best horses and rushed to the capital as quickly as possible to severely accuse Da Tong. Zhu Yuanzhang was a person who easily got hot-headed, and after reading Zhu Liangzu's accusation letter, he immediately dispatched someone to behead Da Tong.
Soon after Zhu Yuanzhang issued the order, Dao Tong's memorial arrived. Upon comparing them, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately discovered the problem and hastily sent someone to chase after him, but it was too late. Thus, Zhu Liangzu killed Dao Tong.
Tao and his colleagues were both officials known for their integrity, but Tao's family was very poor. Before he died, what worried him most was that there would be no one to support his mother, so he entrusted a good friend with the task of supporting her, and then passed away peacefully.
When he was killed, countless people came to see him off
Justice is in people's hearts
Zhu Liangzu was overjoyed and felt triumphant that he had finally defeated Dao Tong, and now he and those local tyrants could rest easy.
Although so, Zhu Liangzu still felt somewhat uneasy. He had followed Zhu Yuanzhang to fight battles and deeply knew that this person was either not doing anything or doing it absolutely. However, Dao Tong was just a small county magistrate, whereas he himself was a founding general, enfeoffed as a marquis. It seemed unlikely that Zhu Yuanzhang would take action against him for the sake of an insignificant official like Dao Tong.
Zhu Liangzu's guess seemed to be correct. After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang still had no reaction, and he finally felt at ease.
It was for this reason that when the officials from the Imperial Court arrived with Zhu Yuanzhang's edict to arrest him, Zhu Liangzu was so shocked. Although he had troops under his command, he had not yet become deranged enough to dare resist Zhu Yuanzhang. He very obediently handed over his military authority and went together with the officials from the Imperial Court to the capital to plead guilty.
However, the officials of Dali Temple were in no hurry to set off and instead asked him: "Where is your son Zhu Zhan?"
Zhu Liangzu was stunned, and he understood the meaning of this sentence.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang's philosophy of life is: either don't do it, or do it thoroughly.
All the way, Zhu Liangzu still had illusions. He thought that he had worked hard and achieved great things, and that killing a county magistrate was just a minor offense. At most, Zhu Yuanzhang would scold him, but wouldn't kill him.
But reality and imagination always have a gap.
In the thirteenth year of Hongwu (1380), on September 3, Zhu Liangzu and his eldest son Zhu Zhen were brought before Zhu Yuanzhang. Without saying a word, Zhu Yuanzhang fully demonstrated his spirit of taking action himself, and immediately whipped Zhu Liangzu with a whip. The guards saw the emperor take the lead, morale greatly boosted, after getting Zhu Yuanzhang's tacit consent, they began to take action one after another. Zhu Liangzu and his son Zhu Zhen were thus beaten to death.
"Flogged to death" - two words that send chills down one's spine when savored carefully.
After killing Zhu Liangzu and Zhu Zhan, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the execution of all the evil tyrants involved in the matter. He remembered that Zhu Liangzu had made contributions, so he left his body intact, but others were not so lucky. The skins of Zhu Zhan and others were peeled off and hung in the market for people to see, as a warning to future generations.
Zhu Yuanzhang's handling of the matter left many officials trembling with fear. Zhu Liangzu also inadvertently created a record: he was the first minister to be beaten to death in court.
However, he was not the last one. After that, the phenomenon of the emperor beating his ministers to death, unique to the Ming dynasty, continued. In the late Ming dynasty, many outspoken ministers were killed by this extreme punishment.
After that, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards corrupt officials became increasingly severe. He created a policy that previous feudal rulers dared not think of, which stipulated that ordinary people could bind up corrupt officials and send them to the capital for punishment. Moreover, all checkpoints along the way had to let them pass, and if anyone dared to block them, they would be put to death and their entire clan would be implicated! This is unprecedented in Chinese legal history.
However, this policy was not strongly operational and there were not many implementers in the Ming Dynasty.
Compared with the mass reporting and exposure, Zhu Yuanzhang's main clue to suppressing corruption came from his informants, or the inspectors we mentioned above. These people were scattered all over the country, and once they found that an official had problems such as corruption and lawlessness, they would report it to the emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang also showed a spirit of desperation, even if the intelligence was sent to the capital at midnight, he would get up immediately to receive it.
Some corrupt officials received red envelopes today and were caught by disciplinary inspectors tomorrow, and they will be brought to justice. The efficiency is not bad at all.
Zhu Yuanzhang used so many means and fully cooperated himself, it should be said that corrupt behavior should disappear, but the situation was far from being as simple as he imagined.
