Editing Ming dynasty (section)

==== Reign of the Hongwu Emperor ====
[[File:A Seated Portrait of Ming Emperor Taizu.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Portrait of the [[Hongwu Emperor]] ({{reign|1368|1398}})]]
Hongwu made an immediate effort to rebuild state infrastructure. He built a {{convert|48|km|mi|adj=mid|-long}} [[City Wall of Nanjing|wall around Nanjing]], as well as new palaces and government halls.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|p=191}} The ''[[History of Ming]]'' states that as early as 1364 Zhu Yuanzhang had begun drafting a new [[Confucian]] law code, the ''[[Great Ming Code]]'', which was completed by 1397 and repeated certain clauses found in the old [[Tang Code]] of 653.{{sfnp|Andrew|Rapp|2000|p=25}} Hongwu organized a military system known as the ''weisuo'', which was similar to the [[Fubing system|''fubing'' system]] of the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907).

In 1380 Hongwu had the Chancellor [[Hu Weiyong]] executed upon suspicion of a conspiracy plot to overthrow him; after that Hongwu abolished the [[Chancellor (China)|Chancellery]] and assumed this role as chief executive and emperor, a precedent mostly followed throughout the Ming period.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|pp=192–193}}{{sfnp|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|p=130}} With a growing suspicion of his ministers and subjects, Hongwu established the [[Embroidered Uniform Guard]], a network of [[secret police]] drawn from his own palace guard. Some 100,000 people were executed in a series of purges during his rule.{{sfnp|Ebrey|1999|pp=192–193}}{{sfnp|Fairbank|Goldman|2006|pp=129–130}}

The Hongwu Emperor issued many edicts forbidding Mongol practices and proclaiming his intention to purify China of barbarian influence. However, he also sought to use the Yuan legacy to legitimize his authority in China and other areas ruled by the Yuan. He continued policies of the Yuan dynasty such as continued request for Korean concubines and eunuchs, Mongol-style hereditary military institutions, Mongol-style clothing and hats, promoting archery and horseback riding, and having large numbers of Mongols serve in the Ming military. Until the late 16th century, Mongols still constituted one-third of officers serving in capital forces like the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and other peoples such as [[Jurchens]] were also prominent.{{sfnp|Robinson|2008|pp=365–399}} He frequently wrote to Mongol, Japanese, Korean, Jurchen, Tibetan, and Southwest frontier rulers offering advice on their governmental and dynastic policy, and insisted on leaders from these regions visiting the Ming capital for audiences. He resettled 100,000 Mongols into his territory, with many serving as guards in the capital. The emperor also strongly advertised the hospitality and role granted to Chinggisid nobles in his court.{{sfnp|Robinson|2020|pp=8–9}}

Hongwu insisted that he was not a rebel, and he attempted to justify his conquest of the other rebel warlords by claiming that he was a Yuan subject and had been divinely-appointed to restore order by crushing rebels. Most Chinese elites did not view the Yuan's Mongol ethnicity as grounds to resist or reject it. Hongwu emphasised that he was not conquering territory from the Yuan dynasty but rather from the rebel warlords. He used this line of argument to attempt to persuade Yuan loyalists to join his cause.{{sfnp|Robinson|2019|pp=144–146}} The Ming used the tribute they received from former Yuan vassals as proof that the Ming had taken over the Yuan's legitimacy. Tribute missions were regularly celebrated with music and dance in the Ming court.{{sfnp|Robinson|2019|p=248}}