Text/Comrade Guevara
The last chancellor in Chinese history, Hu Weiyong, was a native of Dingyuan prefecture at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, who was a fellow countryman with Li Shanchang, the founding father of the Ming Dynasty, and was able to enter Zhu Yuanzhang's shogunate at his recommendation. In the fifteenth year of the Reign of Emperor Yuan Shun (1355), Hu Weiyong formally joined Zhu Yuanzhang's camp, starting from such petty officials as marshals and ningguo masters, and because of their shrewdness and ability and good at welcoming ideas, it took only 12 years to be promoted to Taichangqing of Western Wu (before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang called himself King of Wu, known in history as Western Wu).
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Hu Weiyong's position of power was further promoted, and it took only 6 years to replace Xu Da as the Right Minister, and 4 years later he was promoted to Left Minister, ranking first among the hundred officials. Hu Weiyong joined Zhu Yuanzhang's camp very late, and it seems that he did not make dazzling achievements in the process of creating the Ming Dynasty, and the reason why he was repeatedly overtaken and eventually became a chancellor was because Zhu Yuanzhang thought that he was shallow in seniority and easy to control, far more than those heroes who would reassure him.
At the beginning of Hu Weiyong's visit to the chancellor, Zhu Yuanzhang was very fond of him, and except for the important affairs of the military and the state, all other administrative affairs were entrusted to him with full authority. Hu Weiyong was grateful for Zhu Yuanzhang's weight, and also consciously worked hard and enterprising, which won the latter's favor. However, with the rise of power and status, Hu Weiyong began to swell, not only usurping the power of the right minister Wang Guangyang, but also arbitrarily handling the major matters of life and death, rewards and punishments, and no longer refusing to report to the emperor and ask for advice.
Not only that, Hu Weiyong also took advantage of his position to detain all the chapters of impeachment himself to prevent Zhu Yuanzhang from seeing unfavorable remarks against him. Because Hu Weiyong was an extremely popular subject, a person who covered the sky with one hand, was keen on meritorious names, and a meritorious warrior who had lost his position, he competed to curry favor with him in order to obtain the high-ranking official Houlu. Because of this, Hu Weiyong got a large amount of gold, famous horses, good play, etc., the value of which is incalculable, and for a time he was rich as a prince.
As for Hu Weiyong's behavior of monopolizing power and cultivating party henchmen, the loyal ministers saw it in their eyes and were worried, so Xu Da, the Duke of Wei, Chengyi Bo Liu Ji, and others exposed Hu Weiyong to Zhu Yuanzhang, hoping that the emperor would restrain him so as not to cause an unmanageable situation. However, zhu Yuanzhang was silent about Xu Da and Liu Ji's advice and did not take any measures. Encouraged by this, Hu Weiyong wantonly framed and exposed his ministers, and even ordered people to secretly poison Liu Ji.
However, Hu Weiyong had been with Zhu Yuanzhang for many years, and he knew that this Jun was a master of the Xiongchao Yin Carving, and the reason why he was hesitant to clean himself up must be that he was laying a "big net" to prepare to sweep him and his henchmen away. Considering this, Hu Weiyong colluded with Lu Zhongheng and Marquis Feiju of Pingliang, who had been repeatedly reprimanded by Zhu Yuanzhang, and ordered them to gather soldiers and horses outside and prepare to jointly plan for major events. At the same time, Hu Weiyong ordered people to go to sea to attract Wu Kou, and sent secret envoys to contact Northern Yuan, asking the two sides to send troops to respond externally.
Just as Hu Weiyong and his henchmen were secretly planning these things, a sudden incident disrupted the rhythm of his rebellion. It turned out that at this moment, when Hu Weiyong's son was driving through the downtown area, he fell to his death under the car because his horse was frightened, and Hu Weiyong, in his grief and anger, actually killed the driver. After Zhu Yuanzhang heard the news, he changed his conniving attitude towards Hu Weiyong in the past and insisted that he take his life. Looking at Zhu Yuanzhang, who had a resolute attitude, Hu Weiyong knew that the time for the "showdown" had arrived.
In order to save his life, Hu Weiyong plotted with Chen Ning, Zhongcheng Tujie, and others to start a rebellion, and secretly informed the military generals and local governors who were attached to him, asking them to respond in time. However, Hu Weiyong's plot had not yet been carried out, and because he was afraid of Tu Jie, who would be exterminated after the defeat, he wrote a petition to complain, which led to the bankruptcy of the coup plan. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious when he heard the news, and ordered the capture and killing of Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning, Tu Jie, and others in the first month of the thirteenth year of Hongwu (1380).
However, yong was afraid, but he conspired with the imperial master Chen Ning, Zhongcheng Tujie, etc., and conspired against the four parties and the martial ministers who obeyed him... In the first month of next year, Tu Jie will change and sue Wei Yong... The emperor was furious, the lower court ministers were more informed, the words Lian Ning, Jie... It is the mediocrity, the peace and the festival. See Ming Shi Vol. 318.
After Hu Weiyong was killed, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict abolishing Zhongshu Province, and stipulated that thereafter no more chancellor posts should be established, and those who dared to ask for the reinstatement of this post should be punished with a heavy punishment of extermination. As a result, the beggar system, which lasted for more than a thousand years since the Qin Dynasty, was completely abolished, and the emperor served as the head of state and the head of government, and his power was unprecedentedly enhanced.
When Hu Weiyong was killed, not many henchmen were implicated, and it was not until ten years later that Zhu Yuanzhang took advantage of the problem to execute and exterminate the heroic generals, including Li Shanchang, Fei Ju, Lu Zhongheng, and others, in the name of "opposing the party", with more than 30,000 people. In the following years, the "Hu Weiyong case" was introduced, resulting in the killing of a large number of civil and military officials ("The emperor was angry, purged the rebellious party, and more than 30,000 people were imprisoned... The strains have been introduced for several years. Ibid.).
Looking at the causes and consequences of the "Hu Weiyong case", there are so many doubts and irrationalities that many historians in later generations believe that Hu Weiyong actually did not have the heart and action to rebel (Wu Han, an expert in Ming history, insisted that the "Hu Weiyong case" was a completely unjust case in "Hu Weiyong's Party Case Examination"). The reason why he was killed was that the struggle between the monarch and the power of the emperor was that Zhu Yuanzhang ended the system of ministers that lasted for more than two thousand years by fabricating a conspiracy to kill Hu Weiyong. Judging from the political situation after Hu Weiyong was killed, this statement is not unreasonable.
Historical sources: "History of Ming", "Records of Ming Taizu", "Examination of the Hu Weiyong Party Case"