The Ming also repeatedly tried to introduce paper money as an alternative to copper coins and silver ingots, which increasingly dominated the monetary market. The most important of these was the single-whip method of taxation ( yitiaobian fa дёЂжўќйћжі•), which unified the poll tax with the field tax ( tianfu з”°иі¦). 1464-1487) had a long defense line built, known today as the Great Wall.Д«ound by the instruction of the dynastic founder, never to alter his laws, the Ming emperors were only hesitatingly attempting reforms in the administrative and the financial sector. In order to ward off Mongol intrusions, Emperor Xianzong жЋж†Іе®— (r. 64) was captured by the Mongols, in their last attempt to regain control over north China. On the steppe frontier, Emperor Yingzong жЋи‹±е®— (r. This decision ended the long period of openness and more or less locked China's door to the outside world, at least to the maritime world.

The Ming court tried to prevent the pirates' raids by sealing off the whole coastline. The initial thrust of the Ming empire lost its impetus in the mid-fifteenth century, when the Mongols regained their strength, and pirates (called Wokou еЂеЇ‡) endangered the coastal cities of southeast China. Chengzu also sponsored the large expeditionary voyages led by Admiral Zheng He й„е’Њ that served to demonstrate the political and military power of the Ming empire to the states of Southeast Asia and even at the coast of East Africa. He carried out several successful campaigns against the Mongols, but was not able to wipe of the Mongolian threat forever. 1402-1424, reign motto Yongle ж°ёжЁ‚), shifted the capital to the north, and established a system of two capitals, the northern one in Beijing еЊ—дє¬, and the southern one in Nanjing. Eunuch factions (most famous was the eunuch 'tyrant' Wei Zhongxian йЏеї иіў) and factions of officials (like the Donglin Faction жќ±жћ—й»Ё) regularly fought out internecine struggles at the court.Д®mperor Chengzu жЋж€ђзҐ– (r. The latter, organised in the ' brocade guards' ( jinyiwei йЊ¦иЎЈиЎ›), notoriously spied out civilian state officials. Zhu Yuanzhang is known as a mistrustful and brutal ruler (the 'tyrant of Nanking') who abolished the Palace Secretariat ( zhongshusheng дёж›ёзњЃ) and, as a thoroughly autocratic emperor, laid all administrative tasks into the hands of eunuchs, the only group of persons he really trusted. 1368-1398, reign motto Hongwu жґЄж¦), a person of humble origin who took his capital seat in Jiangning ж±џеЇ§ (later called Nanjing еЌ—дє¬, today in the province of Jiangsu), expelled the last Mongol troops of the Yuan dynasty е…ѓ (1279-1368) from Chinese soil and eliminated his competitors for power. The dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang жњ±е…ѓз’‹ ( Emperor Taizu of the Ming жЋе¤ЄзҐ–, r. The Ming dynasty жЋ (1368-1644) was the first native dynasty that ruled over the whole of China after three hundred years of at least partial alien rule.

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