A Monarch’s Mysterious Sneezes and an Empire’s Corruption

In January 1385, the founding emperor of China’s Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, suffered from a persistent cold that left him sneezing uncontrollably. While his condition improved, the sneezing continued—an occurrence that folk superstition attributed to someone “talking about him” in his absence. Initially dismissive (given that countless people—both admirers and enemies—likely spoke of him daily), Zhu grew increasingly unsettled as the sneezing intensified. Convinced it signaled unresolved injustice in his realm, he ordered an investigation.

His suspicions were soon confirmed: a palace eunuch revealed a sprawling corruption network involving Zhao Quande (a judicial official), Li Yu (an economic administrator), and Guo Huan (Vice Minister of Revenue). The scandal exposed systemic embezzlement of state grain reserves—a revelation that would trigger one of history’s most brutal anti-graft campaigns.

The Web of Deceit: How Corruption Thrived Under the Emperor’s Nose

The Ming Dynasty’s bureaucratic structure, reformed after Chancellor Hu Weiyong’s execution in 1380, had centralized tax collection under the Ministry of Revenue. Guo Huan, as its vice minister, exploited this power vacuum. Key abuses included:
– Tax Theft: Diverting revenues from Jiangsu’s Taiping and Zhenjiang prefectures.
– Grain Fraud: Reporting only 2 million shi (out of 4.5 million) of Zhexi’s autumn grain harvest.
– Illegal Levies: Inventing taxes for transport, storage, and even “Buddha worship.”

Most brazen was the adulteration of grain with water to inflate quantities—a scheme that spoiled entire warehouses. When censor Yu Min filed a detailed memorial exposing these crimes, Zhu’s fury knew no bounds: “If only such ingenuity served the people!”

The Emperor’s Ruthless Calculus: Power and Paranoia

Zhu Yuanzhang, a former peasant haunted by hunger, viewed corruption as existential treason. His solution? A purge with mathematical precision:
1. Bypassing Normal Channels: Suspicious of collusion within the judiciary, Zhu assigned the case to the Shensi—a special tribunal created to oversee judicial integrity.
2. The “Plague” Interrogation Model: Headed by the ambitious Wu Yong, investigations employed torture to extract ever-widening circles of confessions. Each arrest spawned new accusations, ensuring the case grew exponentially.
3. The Emperor’s Escalating Logic: Guo’s 2.4 million shi theft (≈7 billion modern RMB) implied potential nationwide losses exceeding annual revenue. Zhu demanded maximalist justice: “Kill the guilty—and those merely connected.”

Blood in the Streets: The Purge’s Staggering Toll

By mid-1385, the capital’s bureaucracy lay decimated:
– Executions: Guo Huan, along with six ministers and hundreds of officials, were publicly dismembered (“abandonment in the marketplace”).
– Institutional Collapse: Only one minister and two vice ministers remained across all six ministries.
– Provincial Fallout: Investigations spread to 12 provincial administrations, annihilating local elites.

Ironically, Zhu’s crackdown on eunuchs (“No inner-court interference in governance!”) failed spectacularly. His son Yongle’s usurpation (1402) relied on eunuch spies—ushering in the very “curse of the宦官” Zhu had sought to prevent.

Legacy: The Paradox of Anti-Corruption Terror

The Guo Huan case exemplifies Ming governance’s fatal contradictions:
– Short-Term Shock, Long-Term Rot: While the purge temporarily cleansed the system, it incentivized more covert corruption. Officials adapted—hiding wealth rather than renouncing graft.
– The Eunuch Time Bomb: Zhu’s distrust of civil bureaucrats inadvertently elevated eunuchs as power brokers, culminating in later crises like Wang Zhen’s disastrous military advice (1449 Tumu Crisis).
– Modern Parallels: Contemporary anti-corruption campaigns echo Zhu’s tactics—high-profile executions, broad culpability networks—yet face similar critiques about sustainable reform.

Conclusion: When a Sneeze Toppled an Empire’s Faith

Zhu Yuanzhang’s 1385 sneezes unleashed a hurricane. His lethal crusade against corruption, born of trauma and distrust, reshaped Ming politics but sowed seeds of its decline. The case remains a cautionary tale: unchecked power, even wielded against vice, can become its own tyranny. As the emperor learned too late, purges purify nothing—they merely redistribute darkness.