A peasant orphan who became a monk and a rebel leader, drove out the Mongol Yuan rulers and founded the 明朝 (Ming dynasty). As emperor he abolished the post of chancellor and had tens of thousands of officials killed in purges.
Zhu Yuanzhang came from a poor family and had been a Buddhist monk.
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history
He was born 朱重八, 'Double Eight'. The rebel leader 郭子兴 renamed him 元璋 in 1352 and gave him the courtesy name 国瑞 'token of the state', since a 璋 is a ceremonial jade tablet.
history
He set up the 锦衣卫, the 'Embroidered Uniform Guard': a secret police answering only to the emperor, which spied on officials and could arrest, try and punish them.
