Ming Taizu's measures to consolidate its rule
In the early Ming Dynasty, the bureaucracy basically followed the Yuan Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang gradually realized its disadvantages, so he carried out reforms.
The first is to abolish the provincial system. 1376, Zhu Yuanzhang announced the cancellation of the bank's book-saving province, and set up a department to undertake propaganda, command, and sentencing, which were respectively responsible for the bank's book-saving province. The three departments are separated and restrained to prevent local power from being too heavy.
Militarily, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the military governor's mansion, which was in charge of the whole country's military affairs, and divided it into the governor's mansion of the central, left, front, rear and right armies, and contained it with the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War has the right to issue orders, but it does not directly command the army. The governor is responsible for the management and training of the army, but he has no right to dispatch the army. In this way, military power was concentrated in the hands of the emperor.
The key to the reform of central institutions is to abolish the prime minister system. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhongshu Province was responsible for handling world affairs and had the highest status. Its chief executive is a high-ranking prime minister. The prime minister is prone to conflict with the emperor, and Hu is the most important in the Ming Dynasty.
People's livelihood:
In the early Ming Dynasty, China was devastated by nearly twenty years of war. In this case, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the policy of developing production and sharing interest with the people. 1368, shortly after Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor, officials from other counties and counties came to appear before the court. Zhu Yuanzhang said to them: "At the beginning of the world, the people were miserable, just like a bird that just flew, don't pluck its hair;" Like a newly planted tree, its roots cannot be shaken. What is important now is to recuperate. "
1370, Zhu Yuanzhang accepted the minister's suggestion, encouraged the reclamation of wasteland, and ordered all wasteland in northern counties and counties to be exempted from three-year tax. He also took compulsory measures to transfer farmers from densely populated areas to sparsely populated areas; For those who reclaim wasteland, the government provides cattle, farm tools and seeds; It also stipulates that tax exemption will be granted for three years, and cultivated land will be owned by the land reclamation workers; It also stipulates that farmers with five to ten acres of land must plant mulberry, cotton and hemp, and those with more than ten acres must double their planting. These measures have greatly stimulated farmers' enthusiasm for reclamation.
In addition to civilian villages, there were military villages and commercial villages in the early Ming Dynasty. The military camp is managed by the guard, and the government provides cattle and farm tools. The garrison ratio of Ming sergeant is as follows: border troops defend the city for three points, and wasteland for seven points; The mainland army is divided into two parts to defend the city and eight parts to open fields. Military food is basically self-sufficient. Shangtun means that merchants hire people to cultivate land at the border and pay food on the spot, which saves the cost of trafficking and makes greater profits. The implementation of Shangtun not only solved the problem of rations, but also developed the frontier.
In order to restore and develop production, Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to building water conservancy and relieving famine. At the beginning of his accession to the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that any suggestions made by local officials on water conservancy should be reported in time, or they would be punished. By 1395, about 40987 ponds were opened and about 4 162 rivers were dredged, with outstanding achievements. Zhu Yuanzhang, a farmer, knows the pain caused by famine. After he ascended the throne, he often reduced or exempted farmers in disaster-stricken and war-torn areas. Zhu Yuanzhang also cherished the people's strength and advocated frugality.
Dealing with corrupt officials:
Zhu Yuanzhang was born in poverty and was blackmailed by corrupt officials in the Yuan Dynasty since he was a child. His parents and eldest brother died of cruel exploitation and plague, and he was forced to become a monk from an early age. So after he joined the uprising, he vowed that once he became emperor, he would kill all the corrupt officials in the world first.
Later, when he became king, he did not break his word. Sure enough, he launched a vigorous "anti-corrupt official" campaign throughout the country, targeting corrupt officials at all levels from the central government to the local government. His method is very special:
First of all, Zhu Yuanzhang killed officials who embezzled more than 62 taels of silver. When he found that Yu Wengui had hidden more than ten letters to curry favor with others and ask for help, he immediately sent people to investigate the central ministries and local governments. The results show that corruption is extremely serious from top to bottom. He was furious and immediately ordered the world: "Fengtian cherishes the lives of the people, and all officials who take bribes of more than 62% will be executed and will never lend." He also said: as long as it is corruption, no matter who is involved, it will never be soft, and it will be investigated to the end.
Secondly, Zhu Yuanzhang dared to "Gao Qian" from his side. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhongshu Province was subordinate to six departments: officials, households, ceremonies, soldiers, punishments and workers. Due to the retention of a large number of old ministers of the Yuan Dynasty and some heroes of the rebel army. They have nothing to hide, taking bribes and bending the law. Zhu Yuanzhang boldly punished these officials.
In the fifteenth year of Prime Minister Hu Hongwu's reign, officials of the Ministry of Housing colluded with local governments, sealed blank statements in advance and filled in false expenditures, pocketing their own money and embezzling property. After Zhu Yuanzhang discovered it, he immediately executed all the officials in charge of the local government; The deputy director drove the troops out of the border with a stick of 100. Three years later, it was found that Guo Huan, Assistant Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (equivalent to today's vice minister), doctors (directors) and Yuan Wailang (deputy directors) from various ministries formed a corruption gang with local officials who paid taxes to the central government, and adopted the means of overcharge and underpayment, embezzling treasury materials and equivalent grain up to 24 million stone. He put all these corrupt officials to death, and all the people involved in the case at the provincial, state and county levels were spared. For a time, tens of thousands of corrupt officials were dismissed, and more people were treated differently. In the twenty-five years of Hongwu, Zhao Mian, a senior minister of the household department, and his wife took bribes of hundreds of thousands of silver inside and outside. As a result, both husband and wife became ghosts under the knife.
In the sixteenth year of Hongwu, the minister of punishments accepted a bribe of twenty-two thousand pieces of silver from a death row family and used another death row as a scapegoat. He also extorted money from other prisoners' families, which led to the tragedy that all 20 people in a family committed suicide. In the 19th year of Hongwu, Langzhong and Yuanwailang of the Ministry of Punishment took bribes and lied about their deaths, and released two death row prisoners privately. All these corrupt officials were beheaded by Zhu Yuanzhang.
In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, many officials of the Ministry of Industry falsely reported the days of craftsmen's labor, overpaid ICBC, and deducted craftsmen's money for private use when distributing it. During a surprise inspection, Zhu Yuanzhang investigated and dealt with the cases of corruption and bribery of assistant ministers Han Duo and Li Zhen, and pulled out the engineering department specially sent by the central government to supervise the Ministry of Industry.
In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, Wang Zhi, assistant minister of the Ministry of War, took conscription as a way to make money and accepted a bribe of 232,000 yuan from hereditary military households who evaded military service. Zhu Yuanzhang also sent him to the guillotine.
In the 19th year of Hongwu, Zhang Xiang, assistant minister of rites, and Qin Xin, foreign minister, embezzled the silver coins that the emperor gave to the princess for her wedding, and Zhu Yuanzhang caught them red-handed.
In order to supervise the behavior of officials at all levels, Zhu Yuanzhang set up a post of suggestion and six subjects in Duchayuan. However, these regulatory authorities are also corrupt. In the 19th year of Hongwu, Liu Zhiren, the censor of Douchayuan, was ordered to go to Huai 'an to handle a case. After he arrived, he deliberately dragged the case without trial, ate the plaintiff and the defendant, extorted a lot of money from two families and seduced a good family. He was executed by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang also found out 6 1 cases of corruption and bribery in six departments and dealt with them one by one.
Third, Zhu Yuanzhang invented the cruel criminal law of "peeling grass" to deal with corrupt officials. One day, when Zhu Yuanzhang was looking through a batch of files on the execution of corrupt officials, it suddenly occurred to him that the beheading of corrupt officials hated by the people was too cheap for them. Why not use torture such as picking tendons, breaking fingers, breaking hands and cutting knees? He also created the criminal law of "stripping the real grass", dragging those corrupt officials to the "skin temple" set up in each prefecture and county, then filling the skin with straw and lime and putting it next to the court table where corrupt officials were executed, so as to warn subsequent officials not to repeat the same mistakes, otherwise, this "smelly skin system" would be his end. This shocking move shocked a group of officials and greatly restrained their behavior.
Fourth, Zhu Yuanzhang will never tolerate the cadres he trained. In order to cultivate and promote the new forces, Zhu Yuanzhang specially set up a talent-training imperial academy to provide promotion opportunities for young scholars who have not entered the official position. He has great affection for these new Jinshi and Guo Jian students, and often teaches them to be loyal to the public and not to move for selfish interests. However, in the nineteenth year of Hongwu, he sent a large number of scholars and supervisors to the grassroots to investigate floods. As a result, 1, 4 1 people accepted banquets, paper money and local products. Zhu Yuanzhang sighed sadly when he killed them.
Fifth, Zhu Yuanzhang formulated the anti-corruption program-Da Gao. Da Gao, a book compiled in recent two years, records some corruption cases that he personally tried and judged. The book also expounds his attitude, handling methods and disposal methods towards corrupt officials. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the book to be widely publicized throughout the country; He also asked people to copy excerpts and stick them in conspicuous places on the roadside and in pavilions, so that officials could be self-disciplined and the people could deal with corrupt officials after learning.
As the founding king, Zhu Yuanzhang, with his high prestige, severely punished corrupt officials with extremely cruel laws. Its great determination, strong strength and precise measures have received a powerful deterrent effect. From his accession to the throne to his death, Zhu Yuanzhang's campaign of "killing corrupt officials" has never weakened, but the phenomenon of corrupt officials has never been eradicated. In his later years, he could only lament, "Why are so many corrupt officials killed in the morning and reborn at night?"
Centralization:
Because Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor, the emperor had greater power in the early Ming Dynasty, and the civil servants had greater power in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang used the secret service to send a large number of secret agents named "checking schools" to all parts of the ruling and opposition parties to spy on them. On one occasion, Song Lian, a bachelor, went to court. Zhu Yuanzhang asked Song Lian if he was drinking at home yesterday and which guests he invited. Song Lian answered them truthfully. Zhu Yuanzhang said with satisfaction, "You really didn't lie to me." Qian Zai, a famous Confucian scholar, was recruited to participate in the compilation of Mencius Festival. One day, he left for home and casually recited a poem: "Four drums of winter clothes, too late to appear before the noon gate. Whenever I have pastoral music, I sleep until people are cooked. " As a result, when he went to court the next day, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Qian Zai: "Yesterday's poem was well written, but I didn't expect it to be too late. How about changing it to' worry'? " Hearing this, Qian Zai kowtowed in horror and confessed.
1382, due to the needs of monitoring officials, Zhu Yuanzhang changed the pro-military Duwei mansion in charge of the imperial army into a Royal Guards, and granted powers such as reconnaissance, arrest, trial and punishment of criminals. This is a formal military secret service directly controlled by the emperor. It has its own courts and prisons, commonly known as "imperial prisons", in which all kinds of torture such as peeling, pulling out the intestines and stabbing the heart are used. Zhu Yuanzhang also asked the Royal Guards to execute the scepter in the imperial court. Many ministers died under the scepter, and Lv Xue, Minister of Industry, was killed alive in this way.
At the local level, in important places in various counties, Zhu Yuanzhang also set up a patrol inspection department, which is responsible for interrogating, catching thieves and questioning traitors.
1370, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the establishment of a department for selecting scholars, stipulating that the eight-part essay was the standard for selecting scholars, and the topics of "Four Books" and "Five Classics" were not allowed to have their own opinions, and they must follow the thoughts of the ancients. The content of this kind of examination is rigid, which limits people's thinking.
At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang tried his best to suppress the landlord intellectuals who refused to cooperate. He was born in poverty and worked as a monk in his early years, so he was very taboo about the words "light" and "baldness". I don't even like "monk", and even the sound similar to "monk" is equally disgusted. He once joined the Red Scarf Army, so he didn't like being called "thief" or "coach", and even hated "Ze" which sounded like a thief. Many people died as a result. For example, in the Xie Zengfeng Table written by scholar Lin of Zhejiang Province for Haimen Weiguan, there is a sentence "He who does something is the constitution of the emperor", while Xu Yikui, a scholar of Hangzhou Province, wrote "Under the skylight" and "A natural saint does something for the world", so Zhu Yuanzhang insisted that the word "Ze" in the article was to scold him for being a thief. It is said that one year on New Year's Eve, Zhu Yuanzhang went out and found a lantern riddle: a woman was painted on the table, with a watermelon in her hand, sitting on a horse's back, with a particularly large horseshoe. In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, thinking that this was an insinuation that Ma Huanghou was a Bigfoot savage, so he ordered to investigate and deal with it, and put the guessing person to death.
The literary inquisition lasted for thirteen years from 1384 to 1396, which made everyone afraid to write, so that civil servants had to ask for a standardized official document wording to avoid taboo.
Royalist system:
Zhu Yuanzhang learned the lessons of many court coups caused by the failure to establish a prince in the early Yuan Dynasty. When he was called the King of Wu, he made his eldest son, Zhu Biao, a prince. Later, he became a prince and hired famous literati and court officials to teach him. When the prince comes of age, let him handle political affairs, learn to govern the country, and often teach him kindness, wisdom, diligence and decisiveness to save the world. However, Zhu Biao is gentle, just like a Confucian scholar. He is honest by nature and disapproves of his father's killing heroes. Whenever Zhu Yuanzhang tried to kill a hero, he always dissuaded him and asked his father to give priority to kindness and give consideration to family and brotherhood. To this end, the father and son often have disputes. It is said that once Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to punish Song Lian, the teacher of the Prince, and Zhu Biao cried and pleaded. Zhu Yuanzhang was angry and said that when you became emperor, the prince jumped into the water and was rescued by the left and right. On another occasion, Zhu Biao admonished his father. Zhu Yuanzhang said nothing. The next day, he deliberately threw a thorn on the ground and told Zhu Biao to pick it up. Zhu Biao dare not take it because there is a thorn on his staff. Zhu Yuanzhang said, "You are afraid of a thorn. Wouldn't it be nice if I pulled out the thorn for you? " Zhu Biao said: "There is a king of Yao and Shun in the world, and there are people of Yao and Shun in the world." It means that there are benevolent gentlemen in the world and good people in the world. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious after hearing this. He grabbed a chair and threw it at him, scaring Zhu Biao into the back room. After that, he fell ill and died.
Being busy with state affairs all day, Zhu Yuanzhang felt exhausted, tachycardia, high fever, fantasy, funny and sometimes moody after he was 50 years old. When the prince died. His heart is broken again, his body is getting weaker and weaker, and his hair and beard are turning white. He gave birth to Zhu Biao's second son (Zhu Biao's eldest son died young), and 16-year-old Zhu Yunwen was the great-grandson of the emperor. Afraid that the great-grandson could not control the etiquette, he killed the hero again, and used this as an excuse to kill several founding fathers such as Fu Youde and Sheng Feng. He was afraid that his sons and grandchildren would compete for the throne, so he specially compiled "Ming Taizu Instructions", which required future generations to abide by the patriarchal clan system, and stipulated that anyone who changed the patriarchal clan system would be punished as a traitor and summarily executed, hoping to make everyone obey the little emperor and make Zhu Jiachao have long-term stability.