The Black Death and the subsequent collapse of the Yuan Dynasty left China a leaderless country marred by factional strife. One group, led by Zhu Yuanzhang who would became the first Ming ruler, saw it as its mission to restore order and stability and rebuild Chinese society. Zhu Yuanzhang realized that only a powerful, centralized authority could overcome the regional and factional struggles of the Middle Kingdom. After seizing control of the Chinese government, Zhu Yuanzhang greatly solidified his control by centralizing power in China and leading in ways unprecedented in Chinese history to that point.
One way that Zhu centralized his authority was by reinstating the old bureaucracy and expanding it to make each village a self sufficient community answerable to the emperor. All officials from across the empire now came to the capital to receive their appointments directly from the emperor. Obviously, this generated a great deal of personal loyalty for Zhu and his descendants. When public officials are dependent on one person for their position, they are more likely to remain loyal.
Zhu also realized that religion was an important tool for consolidating power, so he took the initiative and made himself a religious, as well as political leader. He personally took part in religious rituals which helped solidify his position as a mediator between the earth and the heavens. This is common way for rulers to gain power and has been used by Egyptian pharaohs, English kings, and Roman emperors.
The final way that Zhu solidified his own power was by terrorizing political rivals. Anyone who criticized the government was subject to arrest and execution and as many as 100,000 people fell victim to these purges. Obviously, the more people who were killed for voicing unpopular opinions, the less others were willing to risk the same fate. This is an old tactic, but was used as recently as the 20th century by Hitler, Stalin, and others.
Zhu Yanzchang did not do anything that powerful leaders have not been doing for most of recorded history, but he was one of the first to do it in China. His efforts helped perpetuate the already old Chinese civilization, so that it continued without major changes until the Europeans started showing up. The emperors that followed him continued governing China largely as he had, though without as much violence. Since he came to power in a critical time for China, his efforts, violent though they were, were important in keeping China's cultural heritage intact.
