The Great Difference Between the Officials and the People The Ice and Fire of the Founding Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang

Among the founding emperors, Zhu Yuanzhang, Ming Taizu, is the most controversial one. Some people say he is a tyrant, while others praise him highly! Which statement is more correct?

Zhu Yuanzhang was originally the son of a tenant farmer. He wanted money but there was no money. He wanted knowledge, but had no knowledge. He was even so poor that he begged. However, it was such a person who actually completed the most difficult identity transformation in history, from beggar to founding emperor! Not magical at all.

First, hegemony must start from the foundation.

It is said that there were many heroes in the late Yuan Dynasty, but there were really few who could make a difference. This is just as a Confucian scholar said at the time: "In the vicissitudes of life, heroes are vying for the throne. However, the original intention is to marry their children without disturbing the people." However, Zhu Yuanzhang was unconventional in it. His army was highly disciplined and capable of conquering and fighting. Every time he occupied a place, he tried every means to restore the local people's livelihood and specially sent generals to build water conservancy projects.

So Zhu Yuanzhang is getting stronger and stronger. The most important thing is that his army did not commit crimes against the people. And this is also because of Zhu Yuanzhang's royal control and strict military discipline. Zhu Yuanzhang took great pains to do this. Even as early as Guo Zixing's hands, Zhu Yuanzhang had already rectified military discipline. It was precisely because of his good military discipline that he recruited a great talent for himself, namely Li Shanchang, the later prime minister of the Ming Dynasty.

So how did Zhu Yuanzhang rectify military discipline? It is said that one day, Zhu Yuanzhang was walking outside the camp gate and saw a child crying outside the gate, so he approached him and asked why. The child cried and said, "My parents are in the army. My father feeds the horses. My mother is a prisoner. I dare not admit it." When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he became furious. Doesn't this ruin the reputation of your own army? So the next morning, the women in the army were directly ordered to be released and meet their husbands. Suddenly, their families recognized each other. The scene was lively and many people cried with joy. This incident caused a great stir. Many people know that this army is different and does not bully others.

In June of the same year, Zhu Yuanzhang captured Taiping. After entering the city, people posted notices everywhere prohibiting looting and killing. But there was a soldier who committed the crime against the wind. What should we do? Behead! So in front of the public, his head fell to the ground with a "click". After that, the whole army stood in awe, no one dared to offend the people, and the people were united.

In March of the following year, Zhu Yuanzhang captured Qingji and began to send troops to Zhenjiang, not far from Qingji. Worried about Zhu Yuanzhang's military discipline, he repeatedly warned before leaving: "I started the army myself and have never killed anyone. Today we must take care of ourselves and be on guard against soldiers. On the day we leave the city, we should not burn, kill, loot or loot." . Those who violate orders will be punished by military law, and those who violate orders will not be forgiven." So what is the effect? Records: "Ran Yan was in the city, but the people didn't know there were soldiers."

It was precisely because Zhu Yuanzhang was able to restrain his soldiers, strictly observe military discipline, and not kill indiscriminately in troubled times that he finally conquered the world and established the Ming Dynasty. And how will this mud-legged emperor study his own country? How can you manage your country?

Two: Governing the country with heavy fists

As the saying goes, "It is easy to conquer a country, but difficult to sit on it." To govern the world, you cannot rely on horseback riding from the beginning. In order to govern the country, Zhu Yuanzhang also began to use his own big moves.

In order to govern the country and fight corruption, we must mention Zhu Yuanzhang’s method of governing the country. Lao Zhu was originally a farmer, so he hated corrupt officials very much. In his opinion, these corrupt officials should be killed, so in Zhu Yuanzhang's era, anti-corruption efforts were unprecedented and extremely severe.

In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, someone reported that Liu Rulin colluded with Guo Huan, the Minister of Household Affairs, to embezzle tax bills. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and ordered an investigation. This investigation did uncover a big problem. These guys not only embezzled 1.9 trillion yuan of autumn grain in the west

Zhu Yuanzhang will not tolerate this. Six departments were investigated for embezzlement, including the Chief Secretary, the government, the state, and the county. In the end, tens of thousands of officials and their family members were involved. This incident caused a huge sensation at the time. Some said privately that the number of people attacking the courthouse was too many. Zhu Yuanzhang wrote a rebuttal directly after learning about it. The general meaning is that when I killed those corrupt officials, you had sympathy, but when those corrupt officials embezzled people's wealth, they didn't see any sympathy for the people! You intercede for corrupt officials, but you are indifferent to the people. What's the difference between you and those corrupt officials?

Ordinarily, corrupt officials should be afraid after handling this major case, but not long after, another major case occurred. The case involves the Ministry of Industry. Some people bribed craftsmen and took bribes. Eventually it was traced and countless officials were involved. Even Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but lamented that "the corpse of the abandoned city has not been moved, and a new attack has come again." In order to put an end to this major corruption case, Zhu Yuanzhang also made great efforts, not only encouraging ordinary people to report corrupt officials, but also encouraging ordinary people to go to Beijing to report to the court. Those corrupt officials who were found out were skinned, stuffed with straw, and whipped to death. And these are far from enough. For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang compiled a law, "Records of Emperor Taizu Gao of the Ming Dynasty", which is different from the "Law of the Ming Dynasty". There are one to three books, of which more than 70% are related to the fight against corrupt officials. Put a curse on all officials who want to be corrupt.

Governing the country and farming. Speaking of Hongwu immigrants, many people may not know it, but many people must have heard the saying "Where did our ancestors come from? The phoenix trees in Shanxi are the big locust trees." At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were conflicts in the world and several decisive battles involving millions of people occurred. As a result, a large number of people poured into Shanxi, which was relatively stable.

When Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty saw this, he couldn't do it! In some places, there are so few people that there are almost no mountains and rivers, and there are so many people. what do I do? migrant! Move people from crowded places to less crowded places.

However, Chinese people have a strong sense of homesickness. As the saying goes, no one wants to be buried somewhere else after death. In order to solve this problem and stimulate the people's enthusiasm for production, Zhu Yuanzhang gave many benefits. Not only does he stipulate that the wasteland you open up by yourself belongs to you, but he also provides you with tax exemption for three years and no corvee. When people see it, they immediately get excited. Instead of living a poor life in their hometown, they might as well travel outside. At this time, the government would organize again, so it followed suit.

To solve the problem of vast land and sparsely populated areas, the next step is to wait for the effects to slowly appear. However, the country still has an army, which is a big expense. It was too expensive to raise an army, so Zhu Yuanzhang vigorously developed military camps and let the army support itself. However, a military camp alone was not enough, so the "Kefa Law" came into being. Said: "Asking merchants to transport grain and offer salt is called Kaizhong." Simply put, it means that merchants send grain to the border guards in exchange for salt. In ancient times, salt and iron were owned by the government and were highly profitable. Now that there is a way to change salt, countless businessmen are immediately flocking to it.

In this way, Zhu Yuanzhang successfully solved the farming problem and made the army, a gold-swallowing behemoth, no longer seem to consume the country's money and food, killing two birds with one stone. In addition to anti-corruption and farming, a country also has a big problem, which is the household registration issue. Zhu Yuanzhang spent a lot of energy to solve this problem, so how did he deal with it?

Check the household registration. During the Warring States Period, the biggest reason why the Qin State was able to sweep the six countries with one country was that it tried every means to supplement the population, allowing the country to control a large number of hidden populations and increase its national strength. Zhu Yuanzhang did the same. He ordered the officials to write down all the people in his charge, as well as the population of each family, and give them a poster

Since ancient times, people have been powerless, but when they met the poor emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, Everything seemed a little different. Officials take bribes and violate the law. People could tie up officials and send them to Nanjing, with a copy of the "Great Imperial Order" on their heads, to accept punishment. Neither local officials nor passes along the way could stop them. This is no joke, someone did it. After Zhu Yuanzhang found out, he not only received this person, but also gave him a gift of two silver coins and exempted him from taxes, which set a positive example for the people across the country.

Perhaps Zhu Yuanzhang was fed up with the hardships of officials going to the mountains and countryside when he was a common man. "History of the Ming Dynasty. Food and Huo Zhi" stipulates: "Officials and soap collectors are not allowed to go to the countryside to disturb the people. Greedy people and those who are virtuous in the third year of high school are encouraged to be taken to Beijing." After these vicious actions, the common people are afraid of those officials who have done many evil things. will be blamed. In order to improve the rights of the people, Zhu Yuanzhang also asked the villagers to elect Mr. Muduo themselves, who was similar to the current village chief, but his political status was not as good as the current village chief. Because he "has the power to establish a county order", if the county order violates the law, the old man can punish the county order.

After this series of combined punches, the people of the Ming Dynasty did benefit from this new dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang also created the prosperous age of Hongwu because of his people's wishes.