Zhang Ju was a Ming Dynasty politician, reformer, and first assistant to the cabinet, assisting the Ming Wanli Emperor Zhu Yi (yì) Jun (jūn) in carrying out the "Wanli New Deal", known in history as the "Zhang Juzheng Reform".
The Fragments of Power Plots is a work of power plots written by Zhang Juzheng, which is divided into 13 volumes.
Let's take a look at the politician:
1. The father has passed away and has not fulfilled filial piety
In 1577, the old father Wenming, who had not been seen for many years, died, and according to the ancestral system, the parents of the imperial court officials died, and they had to return to their ancestral home for twenty-seven months, and at the end of the period, they were reinstated as officials.
Zhang Juzheng's reform has only just begun, and leaving at this time will inevitably lead to reform and fall short.
The Ming Dynasty scholars, loyal to the concept of filial piety is deeply rooted, failed to fulfill filial piety, how to be loyal to the king?
Yang Tinghe, a university scholar of the Wuzong Dynasty, was also a famous assistant of the generation, and when he received his father's obituary (fù), he returned home to keep the system.
In ancient times, filial piety was very important, and it would also affect your work, 27 months would be more than 2 years, unlike now, there are only 3 days of bereavement leave. You can't fulfill filial piety, how can you be loyal? His parents didn't care, how could he serve the emperor wholeheartedly.
Zhang Juzheng did not have time to fulfill his filial piety, so that people's feelings were fierce, whether it was the imperial history or the officials of the six ministries, they all neglected to keep Juzheng's system, which brought a lot of trouble to Juzheng.
At this time, Emperor Shenzong was not yet able to personally govern, and the major government of the country needed juzheng to rule, and did not want Juzheng to go home to keep filial piety; in the end, emperor Shenzong issued an edict to the courtiers, and then mentioned zhang Juzheng's return to the people who went home to guard filial piety.
2. Sweep away organized crime and eliminate evil
At that time, the world had been unstable for a long time, thieves had risen up, and even robbed the official treasury, and the local government often concealed such things and did not report them; Zhang Juzheng ordered that if there were those who concealed and did not report, even the officials who followed the good would be removed; the local officials no longer dared to hide the truth, caught the robbers, beheaded and executed immediately, and hunted down their families, and the thieves thus declined.
Just like the current anti-gang crime eradication, if we condone it and turn a blind eye, it is bound to be unpeaceful to the people; only when the central authorities attach importance to it and the state begins to implement it in the localities, will these thieves dare not do evil deeds.
3. Died of overwork, and was robbed of his home for only four days
In 1582, Zhang Juzheng died of illness at the age of 57, and Emperor Shenzong quit the chuò dynasty and gave him the title of "Wen Zhong".
On the fourth day after Zhang Juzheng's death, Seven officials, including Yu Shileishi frame, impeached Pan Sheng.
Pan Sheng (shèng) was recommended by Zhang Juzheng during his lifetime, and his downfall marked Zhang Juzheng's fall from favor; the Yan officials also pointed the finger at Zhang Juzheng.
Emperor Shenzong then ordered the raid of his home and the stripping of his palace rank (zhì), forcing the seal book given before his death, the four generations of gào (gào) orders, to show the world as a crime; moreover, Zhang Juzheng was also in danger of being opened and flogged, and his family members either starved to death or exiled, and later Wanli, under the pressure of public opinion, suspended further persecution; some of the officials used when Zhang Ju was alive were either cut from their posts or abandoned the city.
Zhang Ju has been in power for ten years, and the power he has seized is the great power of the Divine Sect, which is the need of Zhang Juzheng to serve the country, but his power is the loss of the position of the Divine Sect; in terms of power, Juzheng and the Divine Sect have become opposites, and Zhang Juzheng's allegiance to state affairs and monopoly of great power is a manifestation of contempt for the Lord in the heart of the Divine Sect.
In 1562, after the fall of Yan Song, Xu Jie succeeded him as the first assistant; he and Zhang Juzheng jointly drafted Sejong's testament, correcting the shortcomings of the Sejong period of Xiuzhai Jianjian (jiào) and building a large number of civil engineering; and restoring the palace to diligent courtiers who had been convicted of unjust cases, which was widely recognized by the government and the public.
In 1572, Zhang Juzheng replaced Gao Gong (gǒng) as the first assistant of the cabinet and a member of the Jinzhong Jidian University, and all military and political matters were presided over by him, and he served as the first assistant of the cabinet for ten years, implementing a series of reform measures.
In 1579, Zhang Juzheng asked Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun to save "all useless fees"; as a result, not only was the expenditure of 100,000 taels of silver exempted, but even the lanterns in the palace were also exempted; under Zhang Juzheng's efforts, he also stopped rebuilding the Ciqing, Cining Second Palace, and Wuying Hall to save the cost of serving the emperor, so that the feudal ruler's extravagant consumption phenomenon was somewhat reduced.
In 1582, he died of illness at the age of fifty-seven, and was given to the Pillar Kingdom, Yuwen Zhong, and after his death, he was raided by the Mingshen Sect.
Zhang Juzheng is also a reformer, and all reforms are bound to be laborious and inevitable to offend the interests of a small number of high-ranking officials, so he has made a major contribution to the country.