Hongwu Emperor
Biography
Zhu Yuanzhang, orphan beggar monk, rose through rebel armies to expel the Mongols 1368, the only peasant founder of a major Chinese dynasty. He built the Ming constitution, village self policing, hereditary occupations, distrust of merchants and eunuchs ironically. Nanjing capital, Ming tombs. His purges killed tens of thousands of officials, the bitter old age. His son Yongle usurped and moved power to Beijing.
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