In July 1582, 58 year old Zhang Juzheng became ill from overwork and died.
On his deathbed, Emperor Wanli came to visit him in person. He held Zhang Juzheng's hand tightly and said with great reluctance, "I can't repay you for your great achievements, but I can only see Mr. Gu Hao's descendants."
Two years later, Wanli ordered to copy Zhang Juzheng's home. However, before the arrival of the officials of the Ministry of Punishment, local officials surrounded Zhang Juzheng's residence.
As a result, 17 members of the Zhang family were starved to death before they copied their homes.
Zhang Juzheng's two sons committed suicide in anger because they could not bear being humiliated. His wife, Wang Shi, could not live or die. When she was desperate, she had to poke her eyes blind.
In order to prevent the Zhang family from hiding their property, Qiu Gui, the right handyman of the Ministry of Criminal Justice who presided over the house copying, and Zhang Cheng, the eunuch of the chief eunuch of rites, unexpectedly ordered the female family members to be searched. The officers and soldiers took the opportunity to act indecently. Even Zhang Juzheng's 80 year old mother was not spared.
Four months later, Wanli committed seven major crimes to Zhang Juzheng, including "slander the pro vassal, restrain the speech officials, block my intelligence, monopolize the government, disregard the grace, and seek the country for disloyalty". One of them will be enough to make Zhang Juzheng die again.
By this time, Zhang Juzheng had died for two years, but Emperor Wanli never forgot him. Zhang Juzheng was not only removed from all his official positions and honors before and after his death, but also nearly exhumed.
If he had known, he would not know how desolate his heart would be.
It has been said that in 30 years Hedong and 30 years Hexi, why did Wanli deny all the contributions of his mentor Zhang Juzheng and lay such a heavy hand on his family soon after his death?
Zhang Juzheng's reform
Zhang Juzheng is not so good, but not as bad as Wanli said.
When Zhang Juzheng entered the cabinet, it was the time when the civil servants in the Ming Dynasty fought the most fiercely, especially the position of the head assistant of the cabinet, which was a hot topic. Every few years, he had to change people.
Yan Song overthrew Xia Yan and Xu Jie overthrew Yan Song. Within a few years, Gao Gong overthrew Xu Jie again.
It can really be said that "the first and second officials take turns to work, and this year they will come to my home". In 1572, Zhang Juzheng joined forces with the chief eunuch Feng Bao, the chief of ceremonies, to arch Gao Gong again.
What is the best thing about this cabinet leader? Zhang Juzheng once proudly said, "I am not a physiognomy, but a photographer".
In the first half of the sentence, Zhang Juzheng said that he was not the prime minister, which was true.
Although the head assistant of the cabinet has the power of a prime minister, he has no name of a prime minister. His official name is "Chief Cabinet Master", which mainly provides the emperor with drafting, reading and consulting services.
In the second half of the sentence, Zhang Juzheng said that he was a regent. Although there was some bragging, it was also true.
When Zhang Juzheng was the first assistant, Emperor Wanli was only 10 years old. He was still a child who could not read memorials easily, so he naturally obeyed Zhang Juzheng.
The Empress Dowager Li, the Emperor's biological mother, also appreciated Zhang Juzheng very much. She had to consult "Mr. Zhang" about both the imperial court and the Emperor's affairs, so she was confident.
In addition, Zhang Juzheng was only 47 years old at this time. He was strong, and it was a good time to do business.
After carefully studying the problems faced by the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng made a bold decision - reform.
In terms of internal affairs, he carried out the test of law, vigorously rectified the administration of officials, and clarified the responsibilities of the six ministries and various units. Since then, corrupt officials have been forced to converge, redundant officials have been automatically dismissed, lazy officials dare not slack off, and office efficiency has been greatly improved.
Economically, he ordered the measurement of land across the country, which increased the tax paid land by 3 million hectares, and the national treasury quickly filled up.
He also vigorously implemented the "one whip method", which converted land taxes, corvee and other miscellaneous taxes into silver and apportioned them to the farmland. The more the land, the less the land, and greatly reduced the burden of farmers.
