Zhu Yuangzhang was a great leader who came from nothing to become a powerful man who would begin a great dynasty within ancient chinese history. He was not a patient man, and often reacted to events by both changing his policies, and strengthening his autocratic power via massive purges. These purges included tens of thousands of people, spanning from the rich to the poor. These people would be denounced, tortured in the cruelest ways imaginable, and finally executed. These not only demonstrated how the Hongwu Emperor would be merciless to his enemies, but how he will use the full extent of his power in order to make sure that the powers of emperor remained his.
