Shen has always been the first assistant of the Wanli Dynasty, and is highly valued by the Wanli Emperor, and he also has another identity, that is, he is the leader of the Zhejiang Party.
A very significant feature of the politics of the middle and late Ming Dynasty was that of serious party strife.
When many people think of the Ming Dynasty party struggle, the first reaction is the castration party and the Donglin party, but few people know about the Zhejiang party that Shen has always led. But in fact, the Zhejiang Party was actually a big party that could stand side by side with the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party during the Wanli Period. Moreover, at the time of the Wanli Dynasty's party struggle, it was still the Zhejiang Party led by Shen that won the victory.
First, let's talk about the formation of the three parties, and the components. The famous Donglin Party was returned to his hometown donglin academy to give a lecture after Gu Xiancheng, an official of the Wanli Dynasty, was dismissed by the Wanli Emperor in the thirty-second year of the Wanli Dynasty. In the process of teaching students, he often talks about the current political praise and demeaning figures. And these scholars later entered the official arena and slowly formed a powerful political force, known as the "Donglin Party". As for the castration party, I don't need to say much about it.
The Zhejiang Party, after Shen consistently entered the cabinet, had great power in his hands, entangled with the Zhejiang officials on duty in Beijing, and gradually formed a party, called the "Zhejiang Party". In fact, in addition to these three major parties, there were many small parties involved in the party struggle of the Ming Dynasty. For example, the "Chu Party" with Guan Yingzhen and Wu Liangsi as leading figures, the "Qi Party" with Shandong officials as the main figures, and so on, of course, also assembled by geographical relations are the "Xuan Party" and the "Kun Party." Among them, the two parties of Qichu and Chu often attached themselves to the Zhejiang Party, so they became the "Qichu and Zhejiang Party".
In the thirty-third year of the Wanli Calendar, yang Shiqiao, an official attendant, presided over the Jingcha. Yang Shiqiao was a member of the Donglin Party, so he took this opportunity to vigorously attack the Zhejiang Party. The first person to be affected was Qian Menggao. Yang Shiqiao and Zuo Du Yushi Wenchun and others jointly impeached, causing Qian Menggao to be demoted and causing the Zhejiang Party to hate.
Shen, who was the leader of the Zhejiang Party at the time and also the first assistant to the cabinet, naturally did not sit idly by, and immediately wrote a letter to explain the unfairness of this inspection. The Myōshin Sect then ordered his courtiers to consult and get a result.
At this time, Liu Yuanzhen wrote a letter to continue to impeach Qian Menggao, but in the end he got a disparaging result. Shen always pretended to say good things, but forced Liu Yuanzhen to a dead end. Because when Liu Yuanzhen impeached Qian Menggao, he also involved Shen Cong. Although the emperor did not believe it, he was still hated by Shen.
Later, Shi Zhong, Yushi Hou Qingyuan, Ye Yongsheng, the official Wailang He Canran, the Nanjing Yushi Zhu Wubi, and the chief of the military department Pang Shiyong all wrote to impeach Shen Zheng, but The Ming Shen Sect did not believe it, and instead degraded these people. Yushi Hou Qingyuan waited for the letter to defend them, but instead angered the Ming Shen Sect.
Although Qian Menggao was eventually dismissed from his post, Shen was still in the position of first assistant in the cabinet. Moreover, the Zhejiang Party members were very little implicated, but the Donglin Party members were seriously damaged. This party struggle ended temporarily with the Zhejiang Party's great victory.
The "History of Ming" commented: "Branches and branches are clear, good and evil, and the same as the former and the courtiers." As for the three matters of Chuzong, Youshu, and Jingcha, the sole offender is not ugly, and the commentators are ugly, although their party cannot be relieved. Consistently returned, the speakers were impeached endlessly, and their townspeople were also vilified by the world. ”
In terms of government, Shen has always had no aspect worth criticizing. Even in many cases, very good decisions were made and many innocent ministers were rescued. Combined with these, Shen should always get a relatively good evaluation. But the point is that he fell into a party struggle, triggering a continuous party struggle, which brought great harm to the politics of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
Let's not talk about whether he put forward policies that are beneficial to the country after he won, but only that he entangled Zhejiang officials in Beijing and formed the "Zhejiang Party" was not a good measure. Moreover, in the course of the party struggle, joining forces with the castration party and persecuting Donglin party officials has become harmful to the country. Therefore, to a certain extent, it is not a good official.