"In terms of the achievements of governance, he is not only the only major politician of the Ming Dynasty, but also a rare one since the Han Dynasty," is the evaluation of Mr. Li Dongfang, the first person to tell history in modern times, to Zhang Juzheng. As a great reformer in the background of feudal society, Zhang Juzheng has his own unique style of handling things, for the way of official behavior, he adheres to the principle of "preferring to follow the officials, not to do clean streams", with full of enthusiasm and ambition to govern the country, it can be said that Zhang Ju is a successful politician, but his education for students is a failure, and then he will walk into Zhang Juzheng's life, lift the mystery, explore the historical truth, restore a flesh-and-blood historical scene, and unveil the little-known stories about Zhang Juzheng. And the historical mysteries hidden in him.
1. Young and intelligent, straight up to the end of the pole
In the fourth year of Jiajing, Zhang Juzheng was born in the family of a Xiucai, and his great-grandfather had a white turtle dream at that time, and believed that the white turtle in the dream was his little great-grandson, so he simply named the child Zhang Baigui directly, hoping that he would one day be able to honor his ancestors and make a difference. Bai Gui was indeed brilliant at an early age, he could read at the age of two, he could recite poetry at the age of five, and became a well-known prodigy in the local area, and at the age of twelve, he was deeply loved by the governor of Jingzhou because of his agility and wisdom, and changed his name to Zhang Juzheng. The Records of the MingShen Sect records that "Ju Zheng is deeply alert, intelligent, and resolutely has the ambition to take on a unique role." Zhang Juzheng's talent was so high that the entire Ming Dynasty was amazed, and in the sixteen years of Jiajing's township examination, he unfortunately fell off the list because of Gu Xuan's obstruction, but the reason was to sharpen Zhang Juzheng's sharpness so that he could become a great instrument in the future, he praised Zhang Juzheng and said, "This son will be xiangcai", and untied the rhinoceros belt to give him, and Zhang Juzheng also gladly accepted it after knowing the reason, and regarded Gu Juzheng as his lifelong confidant.
Xu Jie, a cabinet minister, was Zhang Juzheng's second nobleman, who attached great importance to studying the study of the rule of the world through the state, and Ju Zheng also began to develop in the direction of politics under his influence, laying a good foundation for him to walk out of a bright road in the official field in the future. Zhang Juzheng saw the cruelty of the cabinet struggle in his eyes, and he had a more intuitive understanding of the decay and unbearable system in the imperial court, and the struggle between these prime ministers made this young man who had just entered the political arena quickly become psychologically calm and his mind gradually became more and more meticulous. In the subsequent three years of vacation, Zhang Juzheng saw the hardships of the people at the bottom in the common people, and wrote in the "Inscription of Jingzhou Prefecture": "The land endowment is uneven, the poor are unemployed, and the people are suffering from annexation. All this strengthened his determination to rise in politics in the future.
Thirty-six years after Jiajing, Zhang Juzheng returned to the political arena, and at this time he already had a mature enough will as a support to help him walk through the rough and terrible waves of his later career in the imperial court, and during the Yu Mansion, "Wang Shizhi, the palace in the mansion is also good at living in the right people" (——Quoted from the "History of Ming. Zhang Juzheng Biography).) During this period, Zhang Juzheng accumulated a lot of contacts, the history books record that he "has a general understanding of the times, the courage to do things", the harshness of the official field subtly changed his mentality, and in an invisible way to show people, to the year of Yu Wang's ascension to the throne, Zhang Juzheng finally participated in the government, and held important positions such as the official Shangshu, since then there has been an additional "savior prime minister" in history, and at this time he is already forty-three years old, and he can finally be regarded as "straight to the end".
2. Rectify the administration of officials and measure the mountains and paddy fields
Worthy of the title of great statesman, Zhang Juzheng was well aware of the problems existing in the Ming Dynasty system at that time, and he objectively analyzed the reasons for the existence of social contradictions, and found that it was the result of the corruption of officials and the merger of landlords, and at the same time caused the phenomenon of "private families getting richer and public offices getting poorer" (quoted from "The Complete Works of Zhang Wenzhong"), making the people's lives poor and difficult, the people's livelihood not being happy, and the reform that began with the rectification of the government of the officials was naturally urgent. His reform centered on "financial management" and implemented the examination method, and in addition to increasing income, he also saved all aspects of the government's expenditure by strengthening the assessment of officials and reducing officials, and strived to achieve the purpose of savings.
In terms of increasing income, Zhang Juzheng is well aware of the principle of "first pacifying the people and then enriching the country." Starting from the people's land, he strictly cleared up the arrears of endowments and checked the fields and acres; although this practice could not fundamentally solve the problem of the people's uneven taxation, it played a considerablely positive role in increasing the financial aspects of the government and government, and planted a powerful seed for the next "one whip law" reform measures, and the implementation of this law also greatly reduced the burden on the peasants and played a role in promoting the development of history. For the entire Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng was definitely an indispensable presence, and he once wrote in times of political crisis: "Willing to serve the dust with a deep heart, and not to seek benefits from themselves", and in fact, he did so.
3. Face the exhaustion of state affairs, people die and the government rests
In addition to Zhang Juzheng's unparalleled historical achievements, there is also a lamentable posthumous ending, which seems to be irreconcilable, but it appears in Zhang Juzheng's body alone, which is "attributed" to his students- the wanton and absurd Wanli Emperor in history. As an imperial master, Zhang Juzheng can be said to be a teacher who is strict with himself and strict with others, and when Wanli first ascended the emperor's throne, he was only ten years old, and under the recommendation of the eunuch Feng Bao, the world-renowned master Zhang Juzheng became the emperor's guidance teacher.
In the eighth year of the Wanli Calendar, the Eighteen-Year-Old Wanli Emperor's desire for power and freedom increased day by day, and the young emperor gradually realized the pressure from Zhang Juzheng, who had served the country for ten years, and the rights he possessed were the great power of the Divine Sect, which was his choice to be loyal to the country as a generation of courtiers, and for the emperor, the monopoly of power by others was undoubtedly a transgression of his own ranks, and how could he not hate it? "At that time, the Lord was suspicious of the country, so that the king did not hold the only one in the direction, then he built a room next to the road, and who would succeed in doing so? Nor can it be used to take over power. (——Quoted from the evaluation of Aisin Kyora Fu Lin)
Wan Li finally collapsed, in his heart, the initial admiration for Zhang Juzheng turned from disgust, until not killing was not enough to vent his anger, accompanied by jun like a companion tiger, and finally Zhang Juzheng, who was talented in heaven, carefully cultivated a student who sent himself to a desperate road, which has become the biggest irony of his life. When people died, the officials selected and appointed by Zhang Ju when he was alive begged for leave and cut their posts, and most of the politics of the imperial court also reverted to their original shortcomings, and the Ming Dynasty no longer had Zhang Juzheng, nor did he have a day to emerge.
Throughout Zhang Juzheng's life, his own achievements are undoubtedly successful, but for the rebellion of the students, it is sad, it is such a great politician and reformer who is admired by thousands of people and whose merits can be recorded in the annals of history, but after experiencing such a tortuous journey, he finally ended his life in such a dramatic way.
Reference: Records of the Myōshin Sect