In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, there were many cabinet chief assistants who were in power and opposition, and zhang Juzheng, who was familiar to everyone, was unfortunately liquidated by the emperor immediately after his death, and he almost opened the coffin and whipped the corpse, which could not help but make people sigh. But who is this other cabinet chief assistant who is also in power and opposition, but he can return to his hometown to spend his old age? He is Xu Jie.
In the sixteenth year of Ming Hongzhi (1503), the wife of Xuanping County's Cheng Xu Yi gave birth to a son, named Xu Jie. It is said that when he was just one year old, he accidentally fell into a dry well, and the children of ordinary families may be gone, but after three days of coma, Xu Jie woke up again. At the age of five, he followed his father Xu Yi up the mountain, but he fell from the mountain, and this fall was probably the end of the shattered bones, but he survived because of the hook of the branches.
Due to the influence of his father Xu Yi, Xu Jie was enlightened very early, and when he was six years old, the family also hired Zheng Xiucai of Caomenfang in the city as a school teacher. There is also a legend about Xu Jie's study, Xiao Xu Jie to go to school, must pass through the door of the local city god temple, cold and summer, Xu Jie every day. One day, when his father Xu Yi was resting, he dreamed of the City God Temple, and the City God Master told Xu Yi that his son Xu Jie was a Wenqu Xingjun Xiafan, and that he would definitely meet the Yuanyuan and the First Radiant Lintel in the coming day. But Xu Jie had to go through his own temple gate to go to school, and he had to get up to show respect, every day, it was too tiring, and he hoped that Xu Jie could find another way.
When Xu Yi woke up, he ordered people to open a trail at the foot of the city wall behind the City God Temple, and Xu Jie went to school and changed the path from then on. Although it is a legend, but it has a bit of a taste of prophecy, in the second year of Jiajing (1523), the twenty-year-old Xu Jie passed the Tanhua examination.
In the early years of Jiajing, Xu Jie was demoted from Beijing for opposing the proposal of the cabinet scholar Zhang Fujing to lower the standard of confucius's sacrifice, but Xu Jie did not sink because of this, and he was a parent official of the people in the local area. When he was a governor in Yanping Province, Xu Jie worked diligently, personally tried unjust imprisonment, spared three hundred innocent victims, and set up schools to improve the village style, catch thieves, and eliminate harm for the people. Xu Jie was promoted many times, and served as tongzhi in Huangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang according to the cha si shi, Jiangxi according to the deputy envoy, and finally returned to the central government again.
Xu Jie, who returned to the central government, worked as a waiter in the bureaucracy, and in his handling of affairs, he was always willing to personally experience and do things personally, do things to the point, and treat subordinates with generosity and courtesy. During this period, the officials Shangshu Xiong huan, Tang Long, Zhou Yong and other high-ranking officials all trusted him very much and entrusted him with heavy responsibilities. Unfortunately, after Zhou Yong's death, Wen Yuan, who succeeded him, began to act arbitrarily. Xu Jie, who had learned to avoid the sharp edge of people in high positions, saw that he was at odds with Wen Yuan, and took the initiative to request a transfer, and soon after Xu Jie was transferred to the Rebbe Shangshu.
After the middle of jiajing, Emperor Mingshizong Zhu Houxi became more and more religious, and the traitor Yan Song flattered Ming Shizong for power and wealth. By the thirty-first year of Jiajing (1552), Yan Song had successively eliminated his political enemies Xia Yan and Qiu Luan, and no one in the dprk could stop him. At first, Xu Jie refused to associate with Yan Song with the wind and bone, and where Yan Song was willing to accept this kind of qi, he counted xu jie's various non-beings in front of Ming Shizong. Xu Jie also realized that if he continued like this, he would be the next person to be beheaded and exiled, so he had to change his strategy. He did not argue with Yan Song, and even if Yan Song's son Yan Shifan was not polite to him, he did not say a word. However, Xu Jie also understood that yan Song's traitorous minister would be overthrown sooner or later, and it was not a good idea to curry favor and compromise after all. Therefore, Xu Jie flattered Emperor Mingshizong on the one hand, and on the other hand, he secretly united with the ministers of the DPRK to form an alliance to prepare for the overthrow of Yan Song.
In the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), the famous Taoist priest Lan Daoxing, when he was in Fuqi, told Ming Shizong that "there are traitors playing today", just as Yan Song passed by. At the same time, a group of ministers wrote a letter to report Yan Song's father and son, and Ming Shizong was furious and ordered the arrest of Yan Shifan's father and son. Because Xu Jie was favored by the emperor and elected by the ministers of the dprk, it was logical to replace Yan Song as the first assistant.
After Xu Jie became the first assistant to the cabinet, he began to reorganize the atmosphere of the imperial court, he abolished the bad government left by Yan Song, recommended a series of pillars such as Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng to Emperor Mingshizong, and vigorously rescued Hai Rui, the head of the household department, who was imprisoned for scolding the emperor in the "Public Security Neglect".
In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566), Emperor Ming died, and Xu Jie asked Zhang Juzheng to enter the cabinet overnight to draft a testament, which was the first long testament in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and Xu Jie issued it with the phrase "The testament issued by the former emperor, although the grass is in the hands of his subjects, is also the words of the former emperor", the text of which is probably Ming Shizong's reflection on his own behavior and mistakes, especially the matter of reverence. However, this edict was forged by Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng, and was not filed by Emperor Ming when he was alive. However, because the article was whipped into the article and the matter it complained about was deeply popular, no one at the government or the public objected.
In December of the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566), Emperor Mingmuzong Zhu Zaiquan took the throne and changed his name to Yuan Longqing. In the early years of Emperor Mingmuzong's reign, Xu Jie rehabilitated many of the ministers who opposed Emperor Ming during the Jiajing period, and the survivors were recruited, and the deceased was favored. And all the previous Taoist rituals were stopped, and the following year's land endowment was exempted, and the people of the world were able to live and work in peace and contentment.
Although Ming Muzong's reign was slightly politically clear, he personally liked women the most and was overly addicted. So much so that the indulgence is excessive, and the body deteriorates. Xu Jie, as the first assistant of the cabinet, often went to the court or consulted in person, and Emperor Mingmuzong was very tired of this. Xu Jie also gradually became aware of this, so he retreated bravely and asked for retirement. Soon Ming Muzong found an opportunity and let Xu Jie return to his hometown to retire. In the eleventh year of the Wanli Calendar (1584), Xu Jie died of illness at the age of 81. The imperial court gave the taishi, Yu Wenzhen.
In the History of Ming written by Zhang Tingyu: "Xu Jie is known to the Lord with gongqin, and the instrument is deep. Although the wisdom of the number, to not lose its correctness. ”