Zhu Yuanzhang has descendants. The basis for this answer is that there are a large number of his descendants, and some of these people must have escaped the turmoil of the late Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.
I think that when Zhu Yuanzhang established Daming, because he built a new regime, he had to be different from the previous dynasty and other regimes in many aspects. So he made innovations in all aspects.
Treat the people, no longer collect so many taxes, reduce their pressure, and restore social productivity.
Treat your own officials in accordance with the law. Inaction and bribery shall be punishable by capital punishment.
Treat the enemies around you, personally bring your soldiers and horses to conquest, and be sure to subdue them until they are subdued.
External aspects have been arranged in place, and naturally he will not relax internally. Where this son is divided, and what kind of king that son is, is very clear.
Moreover, for the purity of the old Zhu family's bloodline, he also stipulated a set of naming methods for future generations. It is this method that allows us to know who are his descendants.
However, this method will be said later, let's first look at the survival of the Descendants of the Zhu Clan in different periods, and then prove that the descendants of the Zhu Clan still exist.
The first period, the Ming Dynasty
This period is definitely the most nourishing period of the life of these Zhu family. At this time, jiangshan were all from their families, and the people with the surname Zhu were either royal or aristocratic, and ordinary people were not qualified to use this surname.
Back in the period of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had already beaten down the Jiangshan, but he was still afraid of not being able to sit in this position. Because the old Zhu family is small, the foundation of the regime is still unstable. Only when the royal family's vein flourishes, can the national fortune flourish for a long time.
So he encouraged childbearing and thought of a way to name future generations in advance. Regardless of the surname has a generation, generally the second word is generation. This does not change.
But the third word is exquisite. He stipulated that the third word in the name of the royal descendants must be one of the five lines next to it. This exquisite look has a lot of connotation, and when the time comes to look at the names of the people in the family tree row by row, I will definitely feel that this name is really neat.
Under the influence of the encouragement policy, by the Wanli period, the number of descendants of the Zhu clan in a census in 1604 was nearly 160,000. Although it is still a minority compared with the country's population of more than 50 million, it is already a fairly large number.
The second period, the Qing Dynasty-Republic of China period
Since the outbreak of various uprisings at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the royal days of these surnames Zhu have not been so moist.
Because these people in the uprising were all people who were forced to live by the imperial court, the most hated nature was those of them who usually stood high above and did not ask the lower classes whether they were alive or dead.
In addition to the rebel army, the threat outside the Guanwai is not small, and their target is also the royal family, these powerful people. Therefore, under the siege of these two forces, especially the slaughter of the imperial family after the Qing army entered the customs, the number of descendants of the Zhu clan was greatly reduced.
Relevant sources record that in the five years after entering the customs, the number of Manchus slaughtering the Ming royal family reached 10,000. The rest scattered and fled, and some fled to Taiwan to escape the disaster.
Later, after the Taiwan region was defeated by the Qing Dynasty, the emperor at that time did not pursue them, but only scattered them in the interior. After that, these people became civilians, and the turmoil that followed did not affect them anymore.
The third period, the Republic of China period - now
Because they were far away from the center of power, these descendants of the Zhu clan became ordinary people, and the population naturally continued.
However, because of this, it is difficult to find out which of the people with the current surname Zhu are descendants of Ming Chengzu. But there are some things that no one can really say for sure.
Even now, in a small village in Henan, there is a group of descendants of Ming Chengzu. However, they are now not surnamed Zhu, but changed their surname to Wang. An old man in the village said that his ancestors changed it during the Qing Dynasty in order to avoid being hunted and killed.
After their descendants of the Zhu clan were exposed, many people were not convinced. But they have evidence. The first piece of evidence is the genealogy, in which the names of the people are the same as zhu Yuanzhang's regulations in those years, and the last word is used to side with five lines.
The second piece of evidence is even more powerful, a self-portrait of Zhu Yuanzhang, which has been identified as authentic. It has now been received in the National Museum. With these two things, this group of residents can be sure that they are descendants of the Chu clan.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang has descendants. Also, hopefully, this identity won't bother their lives anyway.