Editing Hongwu Emperor (section)

===Trade===
The emperor's distrust of the bureaucratic elite was accompanied by a disdainful attitude towards merchants. He viewed weakening the influence of the merchant class and large landowners as a top priority for his government. As part of this effort, he implemented high taxes in and around [[Suzhou]], which was then the commercial and economic hub of China.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=192}} Additionally, thousands of wealthy families were forcibly relocated to Nanjing and the southern bank of the Yangtze River.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=192}}{{sfnp|Brook|1998|p=29}} To prevent unauthorized business, traveling merchants were required to report their names and cargo to local agents and undergo monthly inspections by the authorities.{{sfnp|Brook|1998|p=67}} They were also obligated to store their goods in government warehouses.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=37}}

[[File:Ming Dynasty porcelain dish, Hongwu Reign Period.JPG|thumb|A porcelain dish from the Hongwu era. [[Nanjing Museum]]]]
Merchants were greatly affected by restrictions on population mobility. Any journeys longer than 100 ''li'' (58 km) were strictly prohibited without official permission.{{sfnp|Brook|1998|p=19}} In order to obtain this permission, merchants were required to carry a travel document that contained their personal information such as name, place of residence, name of  village head (''lizhang''; {{zhi|t=里長}}), age, height, occupation, and names of family members. Any discrepancies or irregularities in this document could result in the merchant being sent back home and facing punishment.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=37}}{{efn|A century later, the prominent scholar [[Zhu Yunming]] (1461–1527) recalled how his grandfather was sentenced to death after losing his travel documents, but was granted amnesty by the emperor just minutes before his execution.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=37}}}}

Merchants were subjected to inspections by soldiers along the route, at a ferry terminal, in the steet and in their shops. Inns were required to report their guests to the authorities, providing details such as travel destinations and transported goods. Merchants were also required to store their goods in state warehouses and were not allowed to engage in trading without a license. Even when a license was obtained, authorities would inspect the goods, destination, and price. Intermediaries, or brokers, were strictly prohibited. The government also set fixed prices for most goods, and failure to comply with these prices resulted in punishment.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=37}} In addition, merchants risked having their goods confiscated and being subjected to flogging for selling poor quality goods.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=38}}

The Ming dynasty was one of the few dynasties that took the concept of [[four occupations]] (in descending order: officials, peasants, artisans, merchants) seriously and consistently. Unlike peasants, merchants were excluded from civil service examinations.{{efn|For example, among the 110 ''jinshi'' in 1400, 83 were from peasant families, 16 were from military families, and only 6 were from scholarly families, with no one from merchant families. Discrimination against merchants persisted for centuries. In 1544, out of 312 new ''jinshi'', none came from a merchant family.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=35}}}}{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=35}} This exclusion also extended to rank-and-file employees of the authorities who dealt with financial matters, as they were seen as potential sources of corruption. As a result, they were not allowed to take examinations that could elevate them to the official class.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=37l6}} Despite the government's efforts, the population's interest in trade remained strong. Contemporary authors believed that this was due to the fact that a successful trade trip could yield more profit than a year's worth of work in the fields.{{sfnp|Li|2010|p=35}}