Founder of the Ming Dynasty

The founder of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanszhang, began life at the bottom of society. His home region in Anhui province (Southeast China) was hit with drought and plague around 1340. Zhu Yuanzhang also lost his family at the age of sixteen. He went on to be a leader in one of the peasant uprisings that overthrew the Yuan Dynasty. When Zhu was twenty five he joined the Red Turban rebels and rose quickly among them. He even married a commanders daughter and within a couple years Zhu had between twenty thousand and thirty thousand troops fighting under him. Zhu began training his soldiers at Nanjing base and as a result, many developed into brilliant generals. Gradually Zhu Yuanzhang defeated one rival after another until they finally came to the Yuan capital. The forty year old Zhu then declared himself emperor of the Ming Dynasty (ming meaning bright). Zhu wanted world in which people obey their superiors and that those who commit evil acts should be punished. In order to ease the strain on the poor Zhu ordered a full scale registration of cultivated land and population so that labor service and tax could be assessed more fairly. Zhu also welcomed Mongols in his Dynasty. One of Zhu Yuanzhang's main concerns was to restore agricultural production, which had been interrupted during the war. He encouraged farmers that had fled during the fighting to come back and open up new land. Zhu also advocated cash crops such as cotton, mulberries and hemp, offering tax exceptions as an incentive. During his reign agriculture flourished and expanded along with irrigation. Zhu also held craftsman in high esteem. All these measures provided good conditions for the further development of society, economy and culture nationwide. Zhu abolished the position of prime minister, and set up six offices known as "boards" in the central government, which were directly responsible to the emperor. This method strengthened the centralization of authority. At the same time, the