As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang did not leave a heroic name, but was infamous and was scolded by posterity. As the founding emperor of the people's republic, in order to consolidate his political power, he fought hard against the meritorious ministers, resulting in the death of Liu Bowen and other loyal subjects, which is a great pity. However, in the eyes of the people of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was a good emperor. The hero he gave his dead hand, the corrupt official is even more ruthless to kill, Zhu Yuanzhang, can be called the most severe anti-corruption emperor in history.
Zhu Yuanzhang had a miserable life, he himself was from a poor people's background, and when he was young, he was exploited by many corrupt officials and corrupt officials, and he knew the suffering of the people at the bottom, so he deeply hated corrupt officials. The Yuan Dynasty before the Ming Dynasty was overthrown because its rule was too dark and the officials were too corrupt. For Zhu Yuanzhang, whether it is personal feelings or governing the country, he must draw a strong stroke on the page of anti-corruption. After ascending the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang positioned anti-corruption as one of the top priorities for governing the country.
Because of Zhu Yuanzhang's "painful and fierce hand", many corrupt officials and corrupt officials at that time lost their lives. Corrupt officials were purged, chickens and monkeys were killed, and other officials did not dare to accept bribes because of the killing of the former, and politics was much clearer. Among the means of controlling corrupt officials, Zhu Yuanzhang issued a total of four guidelines. The first is to cut the bottom line low, followed by the fierce hand, the three are not tolerated, and finally to create a precedent for eternity.
The so-called low bottom line of punishment is actually very easy to understand, and Zhu Yuanzhang set the rules that as long as the amount of silver of corrupt officials and corrupt officials reaches more than sixty taels, they must lose their heads. As for the brutality, that is, when executions are carried out, all kinds of torture are staged. Skinning, picking tendons, breaking fingers, and so on, these corrupt officials cannot be punished to death. In all prefectures and counties, the imperial court would set up a special leather farm temple, that is, a place dedicated to peeling. If the corrupt official reaches more than sixty-two, he will be dragged to the temple of the leather factory to be skinned, of course, this is not only the end, if you are the successor to the position of the corrupt official, then you also need to stuff the skin with lime and put it on the court as a warning. If in this case, there are still people who are greedy, then it is really psychologically strong.
As for never appeasement, no matter what level of official, even if you are a minister, you can't do it, as long as you embezzle more than sixty taels, you must be tortured. As for the last precedent, Zhu Yuanzhang gave ordinary people the power to directly check officials, which was simply impossible in feudal society. It is said that a peasant named Chen Shouliu was treated unyieldingly by local officials, and as a result, he tied up the officials and took them to the capital. Officials along the way cannot be stopped, and those who violate the order will also be beheaded.
In the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang set up a "drum of grievances", as long as ordinary people with grievances can come here to beat the drums and complain about grievances, and directly tell the emperor himself. If the petitioning of the people touches the interests of the officials, the officials cannot stop it, and if someone organizes it, they will also be severely punished. During his 31-year reign, Zhu Yuanzhang killed a total of 150,000 corrupt officials, greatly deterring officials with unhealthy minds. In terms of anti-corruption, Zhu Yuanzhang is indeed commendable. But in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, corrupt officials went down and eunuchs came up again, so the rulers must always maintain clarity in order to put an end to corrupt officials.