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.

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♫ 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)