Zhang Juzheng was a famous statesman of the Ming Dynasty. He was also the last person to promote social reform as a civilian courtier in the long history of China's feudal history of more than two thousand years, following Shang Yang and Wu Qi of the Warring States Period, Fang X

Preface

Zhang Juzheng was a famous politician in the Ming Dynasty . He was also the Shang Yang, Wu Qi, Fang Xuanling , Yao Chong of the feudal history of China for more than two thousand years. , Wang Anshi of Song Dynasty was the last reformer to promote social reform as a civilian courtier.

Zhang Juzheng served as the chief auxiliary minister of the cabinet from 1572 to 1582. During these ten years, he vigorously promoted political and economic reforms and reversed the social decline of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty spent its last golden decade.

At the same time, the power of the cabinet reached its peak, and Zhang Juzheng acted as the chief minister. However, the expansion of power also caused him to be eventually backlashed. After his death, the conservative forces launched a crazy counterattack. Not only were all reforms abolished, but he himself was reduced. All honors and titles were taken away from him, and his home was confiscated.

With the fall of Zhang Juzheng, there was no more strong ministerial politics in the history of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the era of scholar-bureaucrat politics was completely over.

The rise of Zhang Juzheng - from a genius boy to the chief minister of the cabinet

In 1525 AD, Zheng Juzheng was born in a scholar's family in Jingzhou, Hubei Province. It is said that Zhang Juzheng was extremely smart from an early age and became a well-known Jingzhou Prefecture at a very young age. child prodigy.

In 1536, 11-year-old Zhang Juzheng took the children's examination. His agility and agility won the affection of Li Shi'ao, the prefect of Jingzhou. Unable to withstand the storm, he deliberately obstructed him so that he could fail, so that he could hone himself more and achieve great things.

In 1540, Zhang Juzheng successfully passed the provincial examination and became a young scholar. Gu Lin appreciated him very much, took off his rhinoceros belt and gave it to him and said:

"I hope you will set up lofty ambitions and become Yi Yin and Yan Yuan, and don't just be a young man who became famous."

In 1547, the twenty-three-year-old Zhang Juzheng became a Jinshi and officially entered the court as an official. Gu Lin did not misjudge the person. Zhang Juzheng's success was closely related to the setback education he received.

After Zhang Juzheng entered the court, he became a student of the cabinet minister Xu Jie. Under Xu Jie's guidance, Zhang Juzheng worked hard to study classic state affairs, which laid a solid foundation for him to enter the political stage in the future.

In the cabinet at that time, Xia Yan and Yan Song were engaged in a fierce political struggle to compete for the position of chief assistant. Under Yan Song's slander attack, Xia Yan was beheaded by Jiajing, and Yan Song became the chief assistant of the cabinet.

After Yan Song came to power, he engaged in massive corruption and bribery, and sold his officials to win titles. The government was increasingly corrupted in his hands. After the bloody and upright Zhang Juzheng tried to persuade Jiajing to no avail, Zhang Juzheng took sick leave in 1554 and left Beijing for his hometown Jiangling.

During his three-year vacation, he not only visited many scenic spots and historic sites and famous mountains and rivers, but also discovered a series of social contradictions and the gap between the rich and the poor, such as refugees everywhere and thieves. He said in "Inscriptions of Jingzhou Prefecture":

" Land taxes were uneven, the poor were unemployed, and the people were suffering from annexation. "

After his travels, he had a new understanding of the Ming Dynasty society at that time, and developed a sense of responsibility to help the country.

Faced with Jiajing who only cared about cultivating immortality, Yan Song who was good at power and corruption, and those mediocre bureaucrats, Zhang Juzheng was determined to change the decline of Ming Dynasty through his own efforts.

In 1557, Zhang Juzheng returned to the Hanlin Academy to serve. In order to survive in the complex political struggle, he began to imitate his teacher Xu Jie's method of being unfaithful internally and keeping his external desires in check, using his camera.

Later Zhang Juzheng served as the secretary of the Imperial College, and was recommended by Xu Jie to serve as the lecturer of Prince Yu Zhu Zaihe. During his stay in Yudi, Zhang Juzheng accumulated good political resources, opened up contacts, and paved the way for his future development.

After the death of Jiajing in 1566, Zhu Zaihe succeeded to the throne. Zhang Juzheng relied on his relationship with the old ministers of the East Palace and was promoted to the left minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the bachelor of the East Pavilion in the following year. He officially entered the cabinet and participated in the government.

In April of the same year, he was appointed as the Minister of Rites and the Grand Bachelor of Wuyingdian. After ten years of competition, he finally "reached the top" and became a core member of the Ming government.

However, the good times did not last long, and his political career ushered in the first test. In 1568, his teacher Xu Jie and fellow princeling Gao Gong had a conflict and criticized each other.

Zhu Zaiye favored Gao Gong, which forced the old Xu Jie to retire. Gao Gong became the chief minister of the cabinet and in charge of the ministry, controlling the power of the cabinet, while Zhang Juzheng was the second minister of the cabinet.

In his opinion, Gao Gong was not only the enemy of his teacher Xu Jie, but also a stumbling block for him to move forward. However, at this time, Zhang Juzheng had been ups and downs in the economy for more than ten years and had already become an old bureaucrat with deep roots in the city. He had to wait opportunity.

In 1572, Zhu Zaihe died, and Zhu Yijun, who was only ten years old, succeeded to the throne, namely Wanli . As Zhu Yijun's teacher, Zhang Juzheng won the trust of his mother, Empress Dowager Li.

Moreover, Zhang Juzheng was a humble man and established a good relationship with Secretary of Ceremony Bingbi eunuch Feng Bao.

Correspondingly, Gao Gong was arrogant and domineering. He often spoke unabashedly and despised Wanli, which touched the sensitive nerves of Empress Dowager Li and did not show much respect for Feng Bao.

Zhang Juzheng took this opportunity to establish a political alliance with Feng Bao, and instructed Feng Bao to slander Empress Dowager Li, falsely accusing Gao Gong of being disloyal. Empress Dowager Li immediately ordered Gao Gong to be dismissed for the crime of "dictatorship and abuse of power" and sent back to his hometown. .

Zhang Juzheng replaced him as the first assistant in this year and entered the Zhongji Palace as a bachelor. At this point, Zhang Juzheng achieved the political status of an extremely popular minister, one person below ten thousand people, and officially promoted reforms to realize his own political power. ambition.

Zhang Juzheng's reforms - the "boost" for the decline of the empire. In the last golden decade of the Ming Dynasty

Zhang Juzheng's reforms mainly focused on politics, economy and military aspects. Politically, Zhang Juzheng's reform target was the long-standing phenomenon of overstaffing, laziness and inaction in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

Since the Jiajing period, officials at all levels from the central to the local governments have been mediocre and inactive. The government has almost been at a standstill. The people have been in dire straits, but the officials only care about pleasure.

Zhang Juzheng believed that the main reason was "the unclear administration of officials", so he rectified the administration of officials by strengthening the assessment of officials. After taking charge of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng implemented the " test into law " in 1573, which was to "respect sovereignty, teach officials about their duties, believe in rewards and punishments, and give priority to the first order."

He controlled the six ministries with six subjects , and then controlled the six ministries with the cabinet. From the cabinet to the six subjects, and from the six subjects to the yamen, he took examinations at all levels and stipulated the fiscal and taxation tasks that local officials need to complete every year. Those who failed to achieve the goals were demoted or dismissed, and a large number of inactive officials were eliminated and punished.

At the same time, he believed in rewards and punishments, strictly upheld the law, and would never tolerate those who broke the law. At that time, the Duke of Guizhou Mu Chaobi repeatedly broke the law and should be arrested, but the court did not dare to hold him accountable because of his background. Zhang Juzheng decided to attack the mountain to shock the tiger.

First, Mu Chaobi's son was appointed Xijue, and then Pegasus went to tie up Mu Chaobi and escort him to the capital. Zhang Juzheng imprisoned him in Nanjing.

Zhang Juzheng's iron-fisted law enforcement gave the imperial court a new look. Historical records record:

"All officials are on alert and dare not pretend to be wrong. The imperial orders, even though they are thousands of miles away, are followed day and night."

The efficiency of departments at all levels has been greatly improved. , which has changed the procrastination phenomenon in the past that "those who are supervising those above are earnest, but those who are listening below are always disdainful".

Economically, Zhang Juzheng implemented the one-whip method , which was also the focus of his reforms. Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the phenomenon of land annexation has become increasingly serious. The royal family, princes, relatives, and eunuchs took advantage of political privileges to seize large amounts of land from farmers.

The peasants were reduced to refugees or tenant farmers. Under the cruel exploitation of these vested interest groups , the farmers who rented their land lived extremely miserable lives. There was a song at that time:

"One acre of official land will be harvested seven dou, and six dou will be sent to Huangzhou first." "It's not strange to keep only one bushel after marriage, and worry about people coming to live old" and "It's not strange to chase rent for the fields. All official fields are sold to the people, and the rich family gets the fields and the people pay the rent, and every year the old rents settle new debts.""

The huge gap between rich and poor has made social class contradictions increasingly prominent. At the same time, land annexation has intensified, and half of the country's taxable land has been occupied by large landowners who refuse to pay taxes, seriously affecting national income.

In addition, acres of land controlled by the imperial court, The population was shrinking and financial resources were exhausted, resulting in a serious financial crisis.

In 1578, Zhang Juzheng conducted a land survey across the country, checked the land hidden by landlords, and increased the land by 280 million acres.

In 1581, Zhang Juzheng implemented a plan across the country. The whip method levied land taxes, corvee labor and other miscellaneous duties from various places into one line, combined the collection of silver tael, and paid it on a per-acre basis. At the same time, part of the burden of the labor service was spread into the land acres. This was also the method of Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period sharing ding into acres Source.

The one-whip method solved the problem of excessive burdens between large landowners and farmers, attacked the monopoly power of large landowners and nobles, and increased the tax revenue of the court. In 1577, the national money and grain income reached more than 4.35 million taels, which was more than . During the Longqing period, it increased by 74%. By the end of Zhang Juzheng's reign, the national treasury had accumulated as much as six to seven million taels of silver, and its grain reserves amounted to more than 13 million shi, which was enough for ten years. This was in contrast to the situation when the national grain inventory was less than that of the Jiajing period. , great progress has been made.

The one-whip method is an epoch-making event in the history of China’s tax system and an important social change event. It not only increases the government’s fiscal revenue, alleviates the economic crisis , and reduces the people’s burden, It also gave a glimmer of hope to the declining Ming Dynasty. At the same time, Zhang Juzheng activated Pan Jixun to manage the Yellow River and build water conservancy. It took a year and a half to build a dam from the Yellow River to the Huaihe River, which effectively suppressed the flooding of the Yellow River and made water transportation smooth. , and at the same time, the land that had been abandoned for many years was restored into fertile land.

Militaryly, the Mongols and Jurchens often invaded the border fortresses. The Ming Dynasty faced great military pressure in the northern region, and Zhang Juzheng implemented the new border defense policy of "exhibiting restraint on the outside and building defense on the inside."

"Internal defense" refers to strengthening the defense in the north, improving the military's ability to compete, appointing the famous anti-Japanese general Qi Jiguang to guard Jimen to defend against the Mongols, Li Chengliang to guard Liaodong against the Jurchens, training soldiers and horses, and improving the army's combat effectiveness.

At the same time, the Great Wall defense system was built, and more than 3,000 "enemy towers" were built on the Great Wall to strengthen the defense of the north.

"External display of restraint" was based on the premise of "internal defense defense" and strived to improve Han-Mongolia. relations and actively strengthened friendly exchanges. During this period, the two sides agreed to open many mutual markets and form a tea and horse trading market along the northwest coast.

After a long period of hard work, Zhang Juzheng's new border defense policy achieved great success. From then on, "the troops had no warning from the southern herders, and the border mobs had no killings." A prosperous scene that is different from the Central Plains.

In short, Zhang Juzheng's reforms reversed the situation of political corruption, lax border defense, and people's financial exhaustion since Jiajing and Longqing. It strengthened centralization to a certain extent, enriched government finances, improved national defense capabilities, and promoted the development of the commodity economy.

However, the reform touched the fundamental interests of the big landowners and nobles, which paved the way for Zhang Juzheng's later tragedy.

People died and the government ceased, and there is no Zhang Juzheng in the world.

Zhang Juzheng has been in power for ten years, and the power he has taken is exactly the power of Wanli. It can be said that Zhang Juzheng's rise to power is Wanli's loss of power.

In terms of power, Zhang Juzheng and Wanli became opposites. Zhang Juzheng's loyalty to state affairs and sole control of power was a manifestation of contempt for the Lord in Wanli's heart.

In 1579, Wanli asked the Ministry of Household Affairs for 100,000 gold to prepare for the royal meal of Guanglu Temple. However, Zhang Juzheng argued hard and asked Wanli to save "all useless expenses."

As a result, not only the expenditure of the one hundred thousand taels of silver was waived, but also the fees for the Lantern Festival lights and lanterns in the palace were waived. In addition, Zhang Juzheng, as the emperor's teacher, changed Wanli's evening classes to daytime, so that Save money on lights.

Once he discovered that Wanli showed signs of laziness and playfulness, he not only severely reprimanded him, but also reported to Empress Dowager Li that in the past ten years, Wanli had no dignity as an emperor in front of Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the cabinet.

Wanli was fine when he was young, but when he grew up, he developed a serious rebellious mentality against his master and believed that his imperial power was offended.

In addition, Zhang Juzheng himself is not honest at all. During his ten years in power, in order to maintain his authority and maintain official relations with the civil service group, it was common to accept bribes and money from his subordinates. Even famous generals like Qi Jiguang would do this every New Year. Zhang Juzheng must be punished.

Zhang Juzheng's house was confiscated after his death. "Records of Ming Shenzong" records:

"In the original residence in Jiangling, there were more than 2,400 taels of gold, more than 17,700 taels of silver, and more than 3,710 taels of gold. There are more than 900 taels of gold jewelry, more than 5,200 taels of silverware, more than 10,000 taels of silver jewelry, 16 jade belts, python clothes, silk satins, gauze , pearls, agates, gems, and tortoise shells that have not yet been counted. "

According to the conversion of gold and silver, Zhang Juzheng’s family had a total of 270,000 taels of silver, not including pearls and gems. Zhang Juzheng advised and reprimanded the emperor to be frugal, while he himself lived a life of luxury and enjoyment. Of course, Zhang Juzheng and other corrupt officials such as Yan Song In front of me, a small witch still sees a big witch.

Another stain on Zhang Juzheng is his luxurious life. Zhang Juzheng used the words and deeds of a saint to ask for Wanli, but he had a group of wives and concubines and lived a luxurious life. What is even more exaggerated is that Zhang Juzheng's personal sedan chair had to be carried by 32 people.

The carpet area inside the sedan exceeds 50 square meters. Not only can you rest inside, but there is also office and toilet space, plus two servants.

After the death of his father, Zhang Juzheng returned to his hometown from the capital for funeral. Not only was he escorted by a huge guard, but not only did the governors of various places kneel down to greet him, but even the resident princes went to greet him. Zhang Juzheng himself also controlled the capital, so that Zhang Juzheng Being too authoritarian may threaten the master.

Zhang Juzheng's autocratic power also brought great political risks to himself and his family. When he was alive, no one dared to oppose him. However, when Zhang Juzheng died, the situation reversed instantly.

In 1582, Zhang Juzheng, the Grand Master and Prince's Grand Master, Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Grand Scholar of Zhongji Palace, became ill due to overwork and died of illness. Wanli resigned from the court for him.

Only on the fourth day after his death, seven famous officials including Yu Shi Lei Shi frame impeached Pan Sheng, and Wanli ordered him to become an official. Pan Sheng was recommended by Zhang Juzheng during his lifetime. His resignation showed that Zhang Juzheng fell out of favor.

After smelling the emperor's political trend, the Yanguan pointed the finger at Zhang Juzheng and listed his crimes. Wanli ordered his house to be ransacked and all titles and titles were stripped away. Zhang Juzheng himself was also narrowly escaped having his coffin opened and his body whipped.

More than 70 members of the Zhang family were surrounded by officers and soldiers and starved to death at home. Some of the officials employed by Zhang Juzheng had their posts reduced, some abandoned the market, and Qi Jiguang was also dismissed.

Although Wanli later suspended further persecution under the pressure of public opinion, due to the counterattack of conservative forces, almost all of its reform measures were abolished, and the reform ultimately failed.

In the more than sixty years after his death to the end of the Ming Dynasty, various social conflicts developed rapidly and became out of control. No one was able to turn the tide. The ancient empire building was finally shattered by the huge waves of history.

Summary

Zhang Juzheng has been in power for ten years. Although he has many stains, he is still the most far-reaching and successful reformer after Shang Yang, Qin Shihuang and the reforms of the Sui and Tang Dynasties until the eve of modern times. In particular, he reversed the long-standing financial crisis in one fell swoop. , Taken together, Zhang Juzheng deserves his reputation as a great politician and reformer.