Conquests and Purges - Emperor Hongwu's Brutal Reign

How does a seemingly benevolant ruler turn to a harsh autocrat? Discover the story of emperor Hongwu's reign, marked by the reunification of China under his Ming dynasty, establishment of its principles, and excution of its highest ranking generals and ministers in a series of bloody purges. ➤ Follow me on Twitter/X! https://x.com/History_ofChina ➤ If you would like to make a donation, you can do so with Super Thanks or via my paypal: https://paypal.me/historyofchina Many thanks! ♫ MUSIC ♫ Total War Three Kingdoms - Shadows of War Total War Three Kingdoms - Stratagem Total War Three Kingdoms - For the Ancestors Civilization VI - China Ambient: Rain Total War Three Kingdoms - The Yellow River Total War Attila - Settlers of the Apocalypse Han Palace under Autumn Moon Total War Attila - Day of Reckoning Total War Attila - Main Theme Civilization VI - Winter Flower Total War Shogun 2 - Heavy Bune Total War Shogun 2 - Stalemate Europa Universalis IV - Forest Shade Total War Three Kingdoms - Art of War Total War Three Kingdoms - Era of Prosperity Kevin McLeod - Asian Drums Vadodara Total War Attila - Will of Tengri Total War Three Kingdoms - Vanguard Total War Three Kingdoms - Oath of the Peach Garden Chinese Traditional Buddhist Music A Travel To The Ancient Land of Yan State - Zhang Zisheng Uyghur music - Tashvay Ancient Chinese Christian Lithurgy Total War Attila - Scourge of God Total War Three Kingdoms - The Southlands Total War Three Kingdoms - Wu Xing Total War Three Kingdoms - Besieged Total War Attila - On the Steppes Total War Three Kingdoms - The Furious Wild Total War Three Kingdoms - Tyrant Total War Three Kingdoms - The Imperial Palace Total War Three Kingdoms - Eternal Peace Total War Three Kingdoms - Calm before the Storm Total War Three Kingdoms - The Southern Tribes Total War Three Kingdoms - Eyes in the Darkness Total War Attila - Fiddler of the Plains Total War Three Kingdoms - Duel of Fates Total War Three Kingdoms - Followers of the Flame Lost in the Forest Restless Natives The Anunnaki return Total War Three Kingdoms - The Warrior's Path Total War Three Kingdoms - Lotus Blossoms 🎬 VIDEO CREDITS 🎬 少年朱元璋 Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood (2017) Founding Emperor of Ming Dynasty (2006) Eternal Happiness (2002) 📜 MAIN SOURCES 📜 The Cambridge History of China - Volume 7 (1988), Frederick W. Mote & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge World History - Religious change in East Asia (2015), Bentley, Jerry H.; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay; Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. The mission of Matteo Ricci, S. J.: A Case Study of an Effort at Guided Culture Change in China in The Sixteenth Century (1966) Harris, George L Cathay and the way thither: being a collection of medieval notices of China (1866) Henry Yule 🏷️ TAGS 🏷️ zhu yuanzhang documentary red turban rebellion ming dynasty history of china xu da chang yuchun yuan dynasty hongwu emperor hongwu emperor hongwu poyang chen youliang zhang shicheng guo zixing zhu biao basalawarmi conquest of yunnan hu weiyong lan yu Introduction: (0:00) Context: (00:41) The conquest of the South: (02:21) Overthrowing the Yuan: (04:05) Sweeping West: (06:39) Chasing the Mongols out: (10:01) Hongwu's sons: (12:57) Civil affairs: (14:45) Contact with Japan: (17:05) The conquest of Sichuan: (19:21) The disaster of 1372: (23:13) Religious policies: (27:21) Raids and reforms: (31:10) A dark foreshadowing: (33:15) Trouble in the South: (34:57) The Hu Weiyong case: (37:03) Crusing Mongolia, taking Yunnan: (38:33) The 1380s reforms: (42:04) Defending the Northeast and Southwest: (47:17) The last purges: (55:28) The last campaign: (01:00:11) Hongwu's end: (01:01:52)