Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Chapter 168 Zhang Juzheng and Little Wanli

Yang Jisheng was dissatisfied with Yan Song and his son Yan Shifan for disrupting the government, and angrily wrote a letter to impeach Yan Song for ten major crimes. As a result, he was cruelly persecuted by Yan Song and his son, and was tortured in prison without yielding, and was finally beheaded in public.

Since then, Yan Song and his son became more arrogant, but as the Japanese pirates were beaten by Qi Jiguang and fled in fear, Zhu Houcong became tired of Yan Song and his son. In addition, Yan Shifan had to mourn for his mother and temporarily leave the officialdom, and Yan Song, who was already over 80 years old, was a little overwhelmed. At this time, Xu Jie, the chief eunuch, also grasped the emperor's psychology and asked the Taoist Lan Daoxing to divine for Zhu Houcong, saying that it was God's will that only by getting rid of treacherous officials and appointing virtuous officials can the world be governed. The treacherous officials naturally refer to Yan Song and his son, and Zhu Houcong deeply agrees with them. Yan Song and his son were smart for a lifetime, but they eventually came to an end because of metaphysics. In 1562, Yan Song was ordered to retire. Three years later, Yan Shifan was beheaded. Yan Song was deprived of all his property and spent the rest of his life picking up tributes in the cemetery.

However, the fall of Yan Song and his son did not ease the social contradictions of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor still practiced alchemy and Taoism, land annexation was still serious, and people's lives were becoming increasingly difficult. At this time, Hai Rui's memorial punctured Zhu Houcong's dream. In his memorial on public security, he listed how Zhu Houcong neglected government affairs, leading to a variety of bad policies, and then wrote a sentence that seemed extremely treasonous at the time: "Jiajing means that every family is clean and has no extra money." Zhu Houcong was furious and ordered Hai Rui to be thrown into the Tianlao. But before the verdict could be made, Zhu Houcong died at the age of 60, and his temple name was Shizong. The famous Zhang Juzheng was about to make a brilliant appearance.

[Understand the life of Zhang Juzheng, the first installment of the Ming Dynasty, in one breath. Ming Dynasty history Zhang Juzheng]

I am not a prime minister, but a sheriff. He is a thorn in Chinese history textbooks and the last leg of the Ming Dynasty. He implemented reforms and forced the Ming Dynasty to survive for 70 years. However, after his death, his family was confiscated and persecuted, and even starved to death.

In this video, let us walk into the life of Zhang Juzheng, the first capital of the Ming Dynasty, in chronological order.

Zhang Juzheng was born in the family of a scholar in JZ City, Huguang (now Beihu Province). Because he was born in Jiangling County, he was also called Zhang Jiangling. Zhang Juzheng was very smart since he was young and was a well-known child prodigy in the local area.

At the age of 23, he passed the imperial examination with the second-class score, and was later selected as a scholar-official. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, almost all the cabinet ministers were from the scholar-official family. But Zhang Juzheng's ambitions did not stop there. It was during the reign of Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty. The emperor hid in the Western Garden to practice alchemy and Taoism. Yan Song and his son formed a clique for personal gain, making the court a mess. Zhang Juzheng was deeply dissatisfied.

However, he was too young to fight against the shrewd Yan Song. At this time, another important cabinet official, Xu Jie, offered him an olive branch. Under Xu Jie's guidance, Zhang Juzheng devoted himself to studying in the Hanlin Academy.

Seeing the government corrupt and the border defense lax, he could not help but speak out. However, after submitting the memorial, it was like a drop in the ocean, and there was no response.

In 1562, Yan Song, who had been in power for 20 years, was finally overthrown by Xu Jie. Three years later, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty ordered the execution of Yan Song's son Yan Shifan and confiscated Yan Song's property. Zhang Juzheng, who was 40 years old at the time, was also recommended by Xu Jie to give lectures to Prince Yu Zhu Zaihou, the oldest son of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty and the future successor to the throne.

He and his concubine Li had a son, Zhu Yijun, who later became the Wanli Emperor. Zhang Juzheng met this quirky little grandson of the emperor after he entered Prince Yu's mansion to give lectures. In 1566, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty passed away, Prince Yu ascended the throne, and Zhang Juzheng, as a loyal minister, successfully entered the cabinet to assist in government. However, the contradiction between the chief minister Xu Jie and Gao Gong became increasingly acute.

When the news of Zhu Houcong's death came, Gao Gong, as the prime minister, got the news first, so he left his cabinet colleagues including Xu Jie and asked Zhang Juzheng to help write the will. Gao Gong was very angry when he found out, and from then on he regarded Zhang Juzheng and Xu Jie as political enemies. Xu Jie was not to be outdone, and found an opportunity to exclude Gao Gong and forced him to resign and go home.

A few years later, Gao Gong entered the cabinet again, took revenge on Xu Jie, who was living in his hometown, and became the prime minister. Zhang Juzheng watched the political struggle in the cabinet with cold eyes. He knew that Gao Gong had long been hated by him. If he did not fight back, he would be the next unlucky one.

At this time, the appearance of eunuch Feng Bao gave Zhang Juzheng a breakthrough. Feng Bao was in charge of the East Factory and was at odds with Gao Gong. Zhang Juzheng took the initiative to make friends with Feng Bao. Together, they planned to expel Gao Gong. In 1572, Emperor Muzong Zhu Zaihou of the Ming Dynasty died, and the 10-year-old crown prince Zhu Yijun ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Wanli.

As he was too young, daily government affairs had to be handled by the cabinet. The political struggle between Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong also entered a white-hot stage. Feng Bao advised Empress Dowager Li that Gao Gong was disrespectful to the young emperor and how a 10-year-old child could rule the country. Empress Dowager Li was angry when she heard this and ordered Gao Gong to be expelled from Beijing.

Zhang Juzheng won, but it was far from enough. In the following year's case of Minister Wang, Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao framed Gao Gong and his family to prevent them from turning over a new leaf. But in the end, Minister Wang changed his confession and the case was hastily closed. From then on, no one could threaten Zhang Juzheng's position.

Since Emperor Shizong Zhu Houcong won the Great Rites Contest, the Ming Dynasty began to implement reforms, eliminating the Qin Dynasty's bad policies and bringing new vitality to the Ming Dynasty. However, as Zhu Houcong became obsessed with Taoism and condoned the misrule of Yan Song and his son, the political atmosphere gradually deteriorated, border defense was neglected, and social contradictions became increasingly serious.

After Zhang Juzheng came to power, he continued to implement reforms. In order to rectify the administration of officials and clean up corrupt officials, he introduced the performance evaluation system, strictly examined whether officials from all over the country abided by laws and regulations, effectively implemented the court's orders, and laid off a large number of redundant officials.

While rectifying the ranks of officials, Zhang Juzheng did not forget the national defense. He used famous generals such as Qi Jiguang, Wang Chonggu, and Li Chengliang to rectify the border defense, negotiated peace with Altan Khan, and resolved the border crisis of the Ming Dynasty.

In 1577, Zhang Juzheng required all localities to re-measure the land in preparation for the reform of the tax system. Four years later, Zhang Juzheng began to implement the Single Whip Law. The so-called Single Whip Law was to convert all the corvée and grain taxes that the people had to bear into silver. This not only made it easier for the court to collect taxes, reduced the burden on the people, but also greatly increased the treasury's revenue.

The Single Whip Law was implemented in some places during the Jiajing period, but it was not until Zhang Juzheng's reign that it was promoted nationwide. Zhang Juzheng's reforms effectively eased social contradictions in the Ming Dynasty, forcing the Ming Dynasty to survive for a few more decades.

However, as he gained power, Zhang Juzheng became increasingly tyrannical and attacked his political opponents wantonly. He even said, "I am not a prime minister, but a regent." If this statement reached the ears of the young Emperor Wanli, I wonder what he would think.

However, no matter how powerful Zhang Juzheng was, there was one thing he could not shake: etiquette. In the year when Zhang Juzheng asked for the land survey, his father died. According to etiquette, Zhang Juzheng had to return to his hometown to observe mourning for 27 months.

Zhang Juzheng was naturally unwilling to leave the officialdom, so he thought of depriving his official position of his power, which meant that the emperor ordered Zhang Juzheng to continue working. This was not difficult at all, as Wanli was only 15 years old and could not cope with the overwhelming memorials, so he ordered Zhang Juzheng to continue to stay at his post. However, no one expected that this decree would become a fuse, igniting the anger of the civil service group.

They had long been dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng's tyranny, and when they saw that Zhang Juzheng was unwilling to return to his hometown to observe mourning, they were very angry, so they quoted various sage books and great principles to describe Zhang Juzheng as an unforgivable heinous criminal. Where had Wanli seen such a scene before?

Zhang Juzheng, on the other hand, had gone through a lot of verbal battles and beat all the above mentioned people with a stick. However, it was not justifiable for a son not to return home to mourn his father's death, so Zhang Juzheng made concessions and returned home to mourn for 49 days to end the matter. However, the sequelae of this matter were very serious, which would appear after Zhang Juzheng's death.

In 1582, Zhang Juzheng was seriously ill, and Emperor Wanli issued a special decree to promote him to the rank of first-rank imperial tutor, making him a rare civil servant in the Ming Dynasty. Zhang Juzheng died nine days later at the age of 9.

He was called Wen Zhong in history. Half a year later, the civil service group wrote to impeach Zhang Juzheng, and Emperor Wanli ordered to confiscate his property. The Jinyiwei who went to confiscate his property not only looted all of Zhang Juzheng's property, but also forced Zhang Juzheng's family to hand over another 200 million taels of silver that they had hidden. Zhang Juzheng's eldest son could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide.

After the incident became a big deal, Wanli immediately called a halt. What would happen in the Ming Dynasty after Zhang Juzheng was liquidated? Why did Wanli, who had just taken power, not want to attend court? We will see in the next issue.

——"It is said that he has a sedan chair that is more than 50 square meters. Is it true?"

——"It's hard to say. Although it's a wild history record, it's possible that he didn't do it given his personality."

[Another emperor of the Ming Dynasty who did not attend court. Ming Dynasty historical knowledge]

Why did the Ming Dynasty, which refused to marry and pay tribute, fall into ruin? How much responsibility did Emperor Wanli bear for the fall of the Ming Dynasty? He was the longest-reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He created the brilliant achievements of the three major expeditions of the Wanli period and repelled the ambition of the present day to dominate Asia.

However, it is considered by many historians to be the beginning of the demise of the Ming Dynasty. In this video, let us walk into the life of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun in chronological order.

Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun was the third son of Prince Yu Zhu Zaihou. Since Emperor Shizong Zhu Houcong of the Ming Dynasty was superstitious about the saying "two dragons cannot meet each other", Zhu Yijun had no impression of his royal grandfather since he was born.

But even so, when he grew up, Zhu Yijun inherited many of his grandfather's traits, such as being in office for a long time and not attending court for many years. When Zhu Yijun was 4 years old, Emperor Shizong Zhu Houcong of the Ming Dynasty passed away, and Prince Yu Zhu Zaihou ascended the throne, known in history as Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty. Since Zhu Yijun's elder brother died young, Zhu Yijun was naturally made the crown prince.

Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty died after reigning for six years. The 6-year-old Crown Prince Zhu Yijun ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Wanli, thus beginning his rule.

Since the emperor was too young to handle state affairs independently, the powers of the cabinet ministers and the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department became particularly important. The minister Zhang Juzheng joined forces with the eunuch Feng Bao to fight against the then Prime Minister Gao Gong.

Relying on the fact that he was deeply favored by Empress Dowager Li and the young emperor, Feng Bao slandered Gao Gong behind Empress Dowager Li, saying that Gao Gong was disrespectful to the emperor and was plotting to support a vassal king. He also complained in the cabinet.

Empress Dowager Li and the young emperor immediately ordered Gao Gong to be driven out of the capital. After Zhang Juzheng was promoted to the position of Prime Minister, relying on the trust of Empress Dowager Li and the support of Feng Bao, he implemented a series of reform measures, re-employed famous generals such as Qi Jiguang to rectify the border defense, quell the rebellion, survey the land, and promote the Single Whip Law, which made the young Emperor Wanli respect Mr. Zhang very much.

However, as he grew older, Wanli began to feel dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng's authority. In 1582, Zhang Juzheng was seriously ill, so Wanli issued a special decree to confer the title of Grand Tutor on Zhang Juzheng. Nine days later, Zhang Juzheng died at the age of 9.

The imperial censors had long been dissatisfied with Zhang Juzheng's dominance and tyranny. Now that Zhang Juzheng had passed away, these people wrote letters to impeach Zhang Juzheng, describing him as a traitor who brought chaos to the government and committed treason.

Wanli accepted everything and ordered Zhang Juzheng's property to be confiscated. The Jinyiwei who came to confiscate the property not only confiscated all of Zhang's property, but also forced Zhang Juzheng's eldest son to death. After the incident became a big deal, Wanli hurriedly called a halt.

Without Zhang Juzheng's constraints, Wanli felt that he could exercise power without scruples. However, what he never expected was that the censors not only dared to curse the deceased Zhang Juzheng, but also dared to directly fire at the emperor.

Soon after Zhang Juzheng's death, Wanli had his own eldest son. Wanli sent Li Rusong to lead 4 troops to fight in Korea. He won a great victory in the Battle of Pyongyang, defeating tens of thousands of Japanese troops at the cost of less than a thousand casualties. Konishi Yukinaga fled in panic, and the Ming army successfully recovered several cities in Korea.

After that, they continued to pursue the victory and encountered the Japanese army at Pyeongyang, north of Seoul. The two sides fought for a day, resulting in heavy casualties. Due to insufficient food and grass supply, the war in Korea fell into a stalemate, and China and Japan began peace talks.

While the two sides were negotiating peace, the Ming Dynasty's Bozhou rebelled again. Yang Yinglong led his army in rebellion. Due to the Ming army's lack of preparation, they were defeated by the rebels. Zhu Changluo was born to Concubine Gong Wang. According to the Ming Dynasty's rule of establishing the eldest son as the heir, if Wanli did not have a son, then Zhu Changluo would be the next prince.

However, it was precisely because of this status of the eldest prince that Zhu Yijun, Zhu Changluo and Wang Gongfei were extremely distressed. It turned out that Concubine Wang Gongfei was originally a maidservant of Empress Dowager Li. Once, when Wanli was paying respects to his mother, he visited Wang Gongfei. Soon after, she found out that she was pregnant. At the request of his mother, Wanli reluctantly canonized Wang Gongfei as a concubine.

In 1586, Concubine Zheng gave birth to the third son, Zhu Changxun. Empress Dowager Li was overjoyed and completely forgot about Concubine Wang Gong and her son. She was very disgusted by the censors' insistence on her appointing a crown prince early, and Wanli simply stopped attending court. In fact, this was not a new thing in the Ming Dynasty. Wanli's grandfather, Zhu Houcong, had not attended court for more than 20 years, but all the memorials submitted by officials were promptly approved and processed.

Wanli did not attend the court, and did not even approve the memorials. The memorials submitted by the capital were like a drop in the ocean without any response. Although there were many long speeches urging the establishment of a crown prince, there were also important opinions concerning the national economy and people's livelihood.

In the Ming Dynasty, where imperial power was extremely autocratic, if the emperor did not care, the consequences would be disastrous. Therefore, later generations commented that the Ming Dynasty actually perished during the Wanli period.