Emperor Hongwu’s proclamations seem to have a root in the idea of a Confucian meritocracy, as he focuses most of the document criticizing the actions of government officials. It should be noted that he did not mention Confucius or any historic texts as a source of his views. The ideals that Hongwu advocates in the text are very similar to what Confucianism encouraged within the populace. Those values being: honesty, a respect for hierarchy, and rejection of vices (women, music, and valuable items). The issues that he is addressing in the edict are focused on members of the government bureaucracy, particularly those who embezzle taxes, those who accept bribes, and those who bother peasants while they are working. In the case of the embezzlers, …show more content…
Whether they would fix the issue of embezzling is another issue, but I think the threat of death is generally a grievous enough deterrent to stop most people from committing similar crimes. The manner in which Hongwu’s judgement of officials and police who accepted bribes is similar to that of those who embezzled. He mentioned two cases, a high ranking minister and a low ranking police officer. The fate of the minister is not discussed, but the policeman faced death. Once again, Hongwu is trying to fight the corruption and greed within his bureaucracy, presumably handing out death sentences liberally to those found guilty. I would say that in this case, the threat of punishment would seem much harder to ignore than in the case of the embezzler who deals in money and taxes daily, thus being an effective way to prevent bribery. His dealing with the local staff of rural bureaucracies is intriguing as it reveals some of the problems that existed within the system. By imprisoning the officials who broke the existing rules, and making sure to enforce those rules he seems to have an effective way to combat some of the issues created in these