Hu Weiyong (? - 1380) was the last Chancellor of China

Chancellor of China

The Chancellor , variously translated as Prime Minister, Chancellor of State, Premier or Chief Councillor, was a generic name given to the highest-ranking official in the imperial government in ancient China...

 Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

 from 1373 to 1380.

Biography

Hu Weiyong was born in HaoZhou, Anhui

Anhui

Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...

 Province (now part of Chuzhou

Chuzhou

Chuzhou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, Chaohu to the south, and the province of Jiangsu to the east...

). In 1363 Hu contributed a large number of warship to Zhu Yuanzhang

Hongwu Emperor

The Hongwu Emperor , known variably by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang and by his temple name Taizu of Ming , was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China...

 to use for battle with Chen Youliang

Chen Youliang

Chen Youliang was the founder of the insurgent state of Dahan in the late Yuan Dynasty period of Chinese history.-Biography:...

. Li Shanchang, chief of warship production was pleased with Hu and then recommend Hu to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Death

Chancellor Hu Weiyong arrogated all authority to himself and accepted bribes, which stirred the wrath of other officers and the people. In 1380, a subordinate of Hu Weiyong reported to Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang) that Hu Weiyong met with the envoy of another country secretly, attempting to rebel. Four days later Zhu executed Hu Weiyong. The emperor soon abolished the Chancellery of China, taking over direct responsibility of the Three Departments and Six Ministries. The Grand Secretariat later assumed responsibility for aiding the emperor in managing the state.

Reference

• Mu: "China's ancient political gains"
• History Cultural China : "Abolishing the Chancellery of China - A Reform of Administrative System by Zhu Yuanzhang".

See also

• Li Shanchang
• Liu Ji
  Liu Ji
  Liu Ji , style name Bo​wen and posthumous name Wen​cheng , was a military strategist, officer, statesman and poet of the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty period of Chinese history. He was born in Qingtian County...
  
  
• Wang Guang Yang
• Yang Xian
  Yang Xian (杨宪)
  Yang Xian was Governor of Yangzhou City and later become Chief of Central Secretariat of Ming Dynasty during the reign of Hongwu Emperor.-Biography:...