Volume 225 Biographies 113: Zhang Han, Wang Guoguang, Liang Menglong, Yang Wei, Li Dai, Zhao Huan, Zheng Jizhi

張瀚王國光梁夢龍楊巍李戴趙煥鄭繼之

Zhang Han, Wang Guoguang, Liang Menglong, Yang Wei, Li Dai, Zhao Huan, and Zheng Jizhi

張瀚，字子文，仁和人。嘉靖十四年進士。授南京工部主事。歷廬州知府，改大名。俺答圍京師，詔遣兵部郎中征畿輔民兵入衛。瀚立閱戶籍，三十丁簡一人，而以二十九人供其餉，得八百人。馳至真定，請使者閱兵，使者稱其才。累遷陜西左布政使，擢右副都御史，巡撫其地。甫半歲，入為大理卿。進刑部右侍郎，俄改兵部，總督漕運。

Zhang Han, courtesy name Ziwen, came from Renhe. He passed the metropolitan examination in the fourteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1535). He was appointed principal clerk in the Nanjing Ministry of Works. After serving as prefect of Luzhou, he was transferred to Daming. When Altan Khan besieged the capital, an imperial edict dispatched a bureau director from the Ministry of War to raise militia from the capital region for its defense. Han at once examined household registers, drafting one man from every thirty households while having the remaining twenty-nine households supply his rations, and in this way raised eight hundred troops. He hurried to Zhending and invited the envoy to inspect the troops, and the envoy commended his capability. He rose through successive posts to become left provincial administration commissioner of Shaanxi, then was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief with authority to administer the province. Barely half a year later he was summoned to the capital as president of the Court of Judicial Review. He was promoted to right vice minister of the Ministry of Punishments, then shortly afterward transferred to the Ministry of War and placed in charge of grain transport.

萬歷元年，吏部尚書楊博罷，召瀚代之。秩滿，加太子少保。時廷推吏部尚書，首左都御史葛守禮，次工部尚書朱衡，次瀚。居正惡守禮戇，厭衡驕，故特拔瀚。瀚資望淺，忽見擢，舉朝益趨事居正，而瀚進退大臣率奉居正指。即出己意，輿論多不協。以是為御史鄭準、王希元所劾。居正顧之厚，不納也。御史劉臺劾居正，因論瀚撫陜狼籍，又唯諾居正狀。

In the first year of the Wanli reign (1573), Minister of Personnel Yang Bo was removed, and Han was called to succeed him. When his term expired, he was granted the additional title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. When the court recommended candidates for Minister of Personnel, Ge Shouli, the Left Censor-in-Chief, ranked first, Zhu Heng, Minister of Works, second, and Han third. Zhang Juzheng disliked Ge Shouli's obstinacy and was tired of Zhu Heng's arrogance, and therefore singled out Han for promotion. Han's seniority and reputation were slight, and after this abrupt elevation the entire court leaned ever more toward Zhang Juzheng; in advancing and retiring high ministers, Han generally followed Juzheng's wishes. Even when he ventured his own opinion, public sentiment usually did not align with it. On this account he was impeached by the investigating censors Zheng Zhun and Wang Xiyuan. Zhang Juzheng regarded him favorably and would not allow the impeachments to stand. When Censor Liu Tai impeached Zhang Juzheng, he also criticized Han's disorderly rule in Shaanxi and his habit of assenting to whatever Juzheng wanted.

比居正遭喪，謀奪情，瀚心非之。中旨令瀚諭留居正，居正又自為牘，風瀚屬吏，以覆旨請。瀚佯不喻，謂「政府奔喪，宜予殊典，禮部事也，何關吏部。」居正復令客說之，不為動，乃傳旨責瀚久不奉詔，無人臣禮。廷臣惴恐，交章留居正，瀚獨不與，撫膺太息曰：「三綱淪矣！」居正怒，嗾給事中王道成、御史謝思啟摭他事劾之，勒致仕歸。居正歿，帝頗念瀚。詔有司給月廩，年及八十，特賜存問。卒，贈太子少保，謚恭懿。

When Zhang Juzheng's father died and a plan was made for him to remain in office instead of observing mourning, Han opposed it in his heart. A rescript from the throne directed Han to urge that Juzheng be kept in post; Juzheng also drafted his own memorial and signaled to Han's staff that they should seek an imperial response. Han feigned incomprehension, saying, "When the chief minister rushes home for a parent's funeral, an exceptional dispensation should be granted—that concerns the Ministry of Rites. What business is it of the Ministry of Personnel? Zhang Juzheng sent another intermediary to persuade him, but Han would not budge; finally a rescript censured him for having long defied the imperial order and lacking the deportment owed a minister. The officials at court were terrified and memorialized one after another to keep Zhang Juzheng in office; Han alone would not add his name. Clasping his chest, he sighed: "The three bonds of society are undone! Enraged, Zhang Juzheng prompted the supervising secretaries Wang Daocheng and the censor Xie Siqi to dredge up other charges against him and compelled him to resign and retire. After Zhang Juzheng died, the emperor came to miss Han. An edict instructed the appropriate agencies to supply him a monthly allowance, and when he turned eighty the throne sent a special message asking after his welfare. When he died he was posthumously honored as Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous name Gongyi ("Respectful and Benevolent").

王國光，字汝觀，陽城人。嘉靖二十三年進士。授吳江知縣。鄰邑有疑獄來質，訊輒得情。調儀封，擢兵部主事。改吏部，歷文選郎中。屢遷戶部右侍郎，總督倉場。謝病去。隆慶四年，起刑部左侍郎，拜南京刑部尚書。未上，改戶部，再督倉場。神宗即位，還理部事。時簿牒繁冗，自州縣達部，有繕書、輸解、交納諸費，公私苦之。國光疏請裁並，去繁文十三四，時稱簡便。戶部十三司，自弘治來，以公署隘，惟郎中一人治事，員外郎、主事止除官日一赴而已。郎中力不給，則委之吏胥，弊益滋。國光盡令入署，職務得修舉。邊餉告匱，而諸邊歲出及屯田、鹽課無可稽。國光請敕邊臣核實，且畫經久策以聞。甘肅巡撫廖逢節等各條上其數，耗蠹為損。

Wang Guoguang, courtesy name Ruguan, came from Yangcheng. He passed the metropolitan examination in the twenty-third year of the Jiajing reign (1544). He was appointed magistrate of Wujiang. Neighboring counties brought doubtful cases to him for judgment, and his interrogations invariably uncovered the facts. After transfer to Yifeng he was promoted to principal clerk in the Ministry of War. He moved to the Ministry of Personnel and rose to bureau director of civil appointments. Through successive promotions he became right vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue and was placed in charge of the granary depots. He resigned citing illness. In the fourth year of the Longqing reign (1570) he was recalled as left vice minister of the Ministry of Punishments and appointed Minister of Punishments at Nanjing. Before he assumed that office he was shifted to the Ministry of Revenue and again placed over the granary depots. When the Shenzong Emperor came to the throne, he resumed direct management of the ministry. Records had become voluminous and burdensome: from the counties and prefectures up to the ministry, charges for copying, transport, delivery, and payment afflicted both government and populace. Guoguang submitted a memorial asking that procedures be consolidated, cutting redundant paperwork by roughly a third to a half, and contemporaries hailed the reform as a welcome simplification. Since the Hongzhi reign the thirteen bureaus of the Ministry of Revenue, cramped for space, had been run by the bureau director alone; vice directors and principal clerks appeared only once, on the day they received appointment. When the director could not cope, work was handed to clerks and runners, and malfeasance only grew worse. Guoguang required them all to work in the offices, and official business was once again properly conducted. Frontier supplies were said to be exhausted, yet there was no reliable accounting of yearly outlays on the borders, garrison farming, or salt revenues. Guoguang asked that frontier officials be ordered to verify the figures and submit a durable long-term plan. The grand coordinator of Gansu, Liao Fengjie, and others each submitted detailed accounts, and waste and corruption were curbed as a result.

萬歷元年，奏言：「國初，天下州縣存留夏稅秋糧可一千二百萬石。其時議主寬大，歲用外，計贏銀百萬有余。使有司歲征無缺，則州縣積貯自豐，水旱盜賊不能為災患。今一遘兵荒，輒留京儲，發內帑。由有司視存留甚緩，茍事催科，則謂擾民，弊遂至此。請行天下撫按官，督所司具報出入、存留、逋負之數，臣部得通融會計，以其余濟邊。有司催征不力者，悉以新令從事。」制可。京軍支糧通州者，候伺甚艱。國光請遣部郎一人司之，名坐糧廳，投牒驗發，無過三日，諸軍便之。天下錢谷散隸諸司，國光請歸並責成：畿輔府州縣歸福建司，南畿歸四川司，鹽課歸山東司，關稅歸貴州司，淮、徐、臨、德諸倉歸雲南司，禦馬、象房及二十四馬房芻料歸廣西司。遂為定制。

In the first year of Wanli he memorialized: "At the founding of the dynasty, the grain retained locally by prefectures and counties from summer tax and autumn grain payments came to roughly twelve million piculs. Policy then favored leniency; beyond yearly expenditures, the surplus in silver was reckoned at more than a million taels. Had local officials collected the full levy every year, county and prefectural granaries would have stayed full, and flood, drought, or banditry could not have brought disaster. Today, at the first sign of war or famine, capital reserves are seized and the imperial privy purse is tapped. Because local officials treated retained grain as a low priority and called vigorous collection harassment of the people, the system has decayed to its present state. He asked that grand coordinators and surveillance commissioners nationwide require full reports of receipts, disbursements, retained grain, and arrears, so his ministry could balance accounts flexibly and apply the surplus to frontier needs. Officials who failed to press collection vigorously should all be held to the new rules." The throne approved the proposal. Capital garrison troops who drew rations at Tongzhou endured long, painful waits. Guoguang proposed dispatching a bureau director to oversee the office, named the Ration Desk; troops presented their vouchers, received verification, and were issued grain within three days—a great relief to the garrison. Revenue and grain accounts were scattered across many bureaus; Guoguang asked that they be consolidated with clear lines of responsibility: the capital region under the Fujian Bureau, the southern metropolitan area under Sichuan, salt under Shandong, customs under Guizhou, the Huai, Xu, Lin, and De granaries under Yunnan, and fodder for the imperial horse stables, elephant quarters, and twenty-four remount depots under Guangxi. These arrangements became permanent regulations.

三年，京察拾遺。國光為南京給事、御史所劾。再疏乞罷，帝特留之。明年復固以請，乃詔乘傳歸。瀕行，以所輯條例名《萬歷會計錄》上之。帝嘉其留心國計，令戶部訂正。及書成，詔褒諭焉。五年冬，吏部尚書張瀚罷，起國光代。陳采實政、別繁簡、責守令、恤卑官、罷加納數事，皆允行。尋以考績，加太子太保。八年，當考察外吏，請毋限日期。詔許之，且命詿誤者聽從公辯雪。明年大計京朝官，徇張居正意，置吳中行等五人於察籍。

In the third year he was singled out for censure in the capital officials' evaluation. Guoguang was impeached by supervising secretaries and censors at Nanjing. He memorialized again asking to be dismissed, but the emperor expressly kept him in office. The following year he pressed the request again, and an edict allowed him to return home with post-horses provided. Before leaving office he submitted the regulations he had compiled under the title Records of Wanli Accounts. The emperor commended his care for state finances and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to revise the work. When the book was finished, an edict commended him with imperial praise. That winter in the fifth year, Minister of Personnel Zhang Han was removed and Guoguang was recalled to succeed him. He proposed reforms on evaluating substantive governance, separating essential from redundant procedures, holding prefects and magistrates accountable, easing burdens on junior officials, and ending supplemental surcharges—all of which were approved. Shortly afterward, on the strength of his performance review, he was granted the additional title of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In the eighth year, when outer officials were due for evaluation, he asked that no fixed deadline be imposed. The throne agreed and also allowed officials who had erred through misunderstanding to defend themselves openly and clear their names. The following year, in the major evaluation of capital officials, he followed Zhang Juzheng's wishes and placed Wu Zhonghang and four others on the censure list.

國光有才智。初掌邦計，多所建白。及是受制執政，聲名損於初。給事中商尚忠論國光銓選私所親，而給事中張世則出為河南僉事，憾國光，劾其鬻官黷貨。國光再奏辯，帝再慰留，責世則挾私，貶儀真丞。及居正卒，御史楊寅秋劾國光六罪。帝遂怒，落職閑住。已，念其勞，命復官致仕。

Guoguang was talented and capable. When he first took charge of national finances he offered many constructive proposals. By then, hemmed in by the chief minister, his reputation fell short of what it had been at first. The supervising secretary Shang Shangzhong accused Guoguang of staffing appointments with his own favorites; Zhang Shize, a supervising secretary who had been sent out as vice commissioner of Henan and resented Guoguang, impeached him for selling offices and taking bribes. Guoguang memorialized again in his own defense; the emperor again urged him to stay, blamed Shize for acting from private spite, and demoted him to assistant magistrate of Yizhen. After Zhang Juzheng died, Censor Yang Yinqiu impeached Guoguang on six counts. The emperor was angered and removed him from office to live in idleness. Later, mindful of his service, the emperor restored his rank and allowed him to retire with honors.

梁夢龍，字乾吉，真定人。嘉靖三十二年進士，改庶吉士。授兵科給事中，首劾吏部尚書李默。帝方顧默厚，不問。出核陜西軍儲。劾故延綏巡撫王輪、督糧郎中陳燦等，廢斥有差。歷吏科都給事中。帝怒禮部尚書吳山，夢龍惡獨劾山得罪清議，乃並吏部尚書吳鵬劾罷之。嘗上疏，言：「相臣賢否，關治道汙隆。請毋拘資格，敕在廷公舉名德宿望之臣，以光聖治。」帝疑諸臣私有所推引，責令陳狀。夢龍惶恐謝罪，乃奪俸。擢順天府丞。坐京察拾遺，出為河南副使。河決沛縣，尚書朱衡議開徐、邳新河，夢龍董其役。三遷河南右布政使。

Liang Menglong, courtesy name Qianji, came from Zhending. He passed the metropolitan examination in the thirty-second year of the Jiajing reign (1553) and was appointed a Hanlin bachelor. He was appointed supervising secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs and was the first to impeach Minister of Personnel Li Mo. The emperor was then showing Li Mo great favor and took no action. He was sent out to audit military grain stores in Shaanxi. He impeached the former grand coordinator of Yan-sui, Wang Lun, the bureau director in charge of grain Chen Can, and others; they were dismissed or demoted to varying degrees. He rose to chief supervising secretary of the Bureau of Personnel. The emperor was angry with Minister of Rites Wu Shan; Menglong, unwilling to impeach Shan alone and offend orthodox opinion, also impeached Minister of Personnel Wu Peng and secured both men's dismissal. He once memorialized: "Whether the chief minister is worthy bears directly on whether governance flourishes or declines. He asked that seniority rules be set aside and that officials at court be instructed to recommend publicly men of proven virtue and long-standing reputation, to brighten sagely rule." The emperor suspected the officials of secretly backing particular candidates and ordered them to explain themselves. Menglong apologized in alarm, and his salary was suspended. He was promoted to vice prefect of Shuntian Prefecture. Singled out for censure in the capital evaluation, he was sent out as vice commissioner of Henan. When the Yellow River broke through at Pei County, Minister Zhu Heng proposed cutting a new channel at Xu and Pi, and Menglong directed the work. After three promotions he became right provincial administration commissioner of Henan.

隆慶四年，擢右僉都御史，巡撫山東。是秋，河決宿遷，覆漕糧八百艘。朝議通海運，以屬夢龍。夢龍言：「海道南自淮安至膠州，北自天津至海倉，各有商艇往來其間。自膠州至海倉，島人及商賈亦時出入。臣等因遣人自淮安轉粟二千石，自膠州轉麥千五百石，入海達天津，以試海道，無不利者。由淮安至天津，大要兩旬可達。歲五月以前，風勢柔順，揚帆尤便。況舟由近洋，洋中島嶼聯絡，遇風可依。茍船非朽敝，按占候以行，自可無虞。較元人殷明略故道，安便尤甚。丘浚所稱『傍海通運』，即此是也。請以河為正運，海為備運。萬一河未易通，則海運可濟，而河亦得悉心疏浚，以圖經久。又海防綦重，沿海衛所玩愒歲久，不加繕飭，識者有未然之憂。今行海運兼治河防，非徒足裨國計，兼於軍事有補。」章下戶部，部議海運久廢，猝難盡復，請令漕司量撥糧十二萬石，自淮入海以達天津。工部給銀，為海艘經費。報可。已而海運卒不行，事具《王宗沐傳》。明年冬，遷右副都御史，移撫河南。

In the fourth year of the Longqing reign (1570) he was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief with authority as grand coordinator of Shandong. That autumn the river broke through at Suqian and sank eight hundred grain-transport vessels. The court debated reviving sea transport and put Menglong in charge. Menglong said: "The southern sea route runs from Huai'an to Jiaozhou, and the northern one from Tianjin to Haicang, with merchant vessels passing regularly between the two. People from the coastal islands and merchants also travel that stretch between Jiaozhou and Haicang. We therefore dispatched men to haul two thousand shi of grain from Huai'an and fifteen hundred shi of wheat from Jiaozhou by sea to Tianjin as a trial of the route, and everything went smoothly. The run from Huai'an to Tianjin takes about twenty days. Before the fifth month the winds are mild and fair, making sailing especially easy. Moreover, the ships keep to coastal waters, where a chain of islands offers shelter when winds turn bad. So long as the vessels are seaworthy and sailing follows the proper seasonal signs, there is little cause for concern. Compared with the old Yuan dynasty route of Yin Minglue, this route is safer and more convenient still. This is precisely what Qiu Jun meant by 'transport by sea along the coast.' We ask that the canal route serve as the primary channel of transport and the sea route as a backup. If the canal cannot be opened promptly, sea transport could fill the gap while the river channel receives the concentrated dredging needed for a lasting solution. Coastal defense is also vitally important: the guard posts along the coast have been slack for years without remedial action, and thoughtful observers see trouble ahead. Implementing sea transport while also tightening coastal defense would aid the state's finances and strengthen military readiness alike. The memorial was referred to the Ministry of Revenue, which noted that sea transport had long been discontinued and could not be fully restored at once; it proposed that the grain transport office allocate 120,000 shi to be shipped from the Huai region by sea to Tianjin. The Ministry of Works provided funds for the sea convoy. Imperial approval was granted. In the end sea transport was never implemented; the full account appears in the biography of Wang Zongmu. The following winter he was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and transferred to serve as grand coordinator of Henan.

神宗初，張居正當國。夢龍其門下士，特愛之，召為戶部右侍郎。尋改兵部，出賚遼東有功將士。五年，以兵部左侍郎進右都御史，總督薊、遼、保定軍務。李成梁大破土蠻於長定堡，帝為告廟宣捷，大行賞賚，官夢龍一子。已，給事中光懋言：「此乃保塞內屬之部，遊擊陶承嚳假犒賚掩襲之，請坐以殺降罪。」兵部尚書方逢時曲為解，夢龍等亦辭免恩蔭。及土蠻三萬騎入東昌堡，成梁擊敗之。寧前復警，夢能親率勁卒三千出山海關為成梁聲援，分遣兩參將遮擊，復移繼光駐一片石邀之，敵引去。前後奏永奠堡、丁字泊、馬蘭峪、養善木、紅土城、寬奠、廣寧右屯、錦、義、大寧堡諸捷，累賜敕獎勵，就加兵部尚書。以修築黃花鎮、古北口邊墻，加太子少保，再蔭子至錦衣世千戶。召入掌部務，疏陳軍政四事。尋錄防邊功，加太子太保。

Early in the Shenzong reign, Zhang Juzheng was chief minister. Menglong was one of his protégés and a particular favorite; Zhang summoned him to the post of right vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Soon afterward he was moved to the Ministry of War and dispatched to reward meritorious officers and soldiers in Liaodong. In the fifth year (1577) he was promoted from left vice minister of the Ministry of War to right censor-in-chief with overall command of military affairs in Ji, Liaodong, and Baoding. Li Chengliang routed the Tumen tribes in a major victory at Changding Fort; the emperor announced the triumph at the ancestral temple, distributed lavish rewards, and granted an official appointment to one of Menglong's sons. Before long, supervising secretary Guang Mao argued: "These were tribes that had submitted and been settled within the defenses; Vice Commander Tao Chengyong had feigned a reward distribution to launch a surprise attack. He should be punished for slaughtering those who had surrendered. Minister of War Fang Fengshi strained to defend the action, and Menglong and the others declined the honors extended to their sons. When thirty thousand Tumen horsemen raided Dongchang Fort, Chengliang drove them off. When Ningqian was again threatened, Menglong personally led three thousand elite troops through Shanhaiguan to support Chengliang, dispatched two vice generals to intercept the invaders, and shifted Qi Jiguang to Yipianshi to block their retreat; the enemy then withdrew. He reported victories in succession at Yong'an Fort, Dingzipo, Malanyu, Yangshanmu, Hongtucheng, Kuandian, Guangning You Tun, Jin, Yi, Daning Fort, and other places; after repeated imperial commendations he was promoted on the spot to minister of war. For building the border walls at Huanghuazhen and Gubeikou he was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and again had a son ennobled as hereditary thousand-household commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Summoned to the capital to head the ministry, he memorialized on four points of military administration. Shortly afterward, for his frontier service, he was made Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

十年六月，居正歿，吏部尚書王國光劾罷，夢龍代其位。逾月，御史江東之劾夢龍浼徐爵賄保得吏部，以孫女聘保弟為子婦，御史鄧練、趙楷復劾之，遂令致仕。家居十九年卒。天啟中，趙南星訟其邊功，贈少保。崇禎末，追謚貞敏。

In the sixth month of the tenth year (1582), when Juzheng died, Minister of Personnel Wang Guoguang was impeached and removed, and Menglong took his place. A month later, censor Jiang Dongzhi charged that Menglong had secured the Ministry of Personnel through bribery arranged by Xu Jue and had betrothed his granddaughter to Xu Jue's younger brother as a wife for his son; censors Deng Lian and Zhao Kai joined the attack, and Menglong was ordered to retire. He lived in retirement for nineteen years before his death. During the Tianqi reign, Zhao Nanxing appealed on behalf of his frontier record, and he was posthumously made Junior Grand Guardian. Near the end of the Chongzhen reign he was posthumously given the epithet Zhenmin, "Upright and Perceptive."

楊巍，字伯謙，海豐人。嘉靖二十六年進士。除武進知縣。擢兵科給事中。操江僉都御史史褒善已遷大理卿，巍言：「東南倭患方劇，參贊、巡撫俱論罪，褒善獨幸免，又夤緣美遷，請並吏部罰治。」帝怒，停選司俸，還褒善故官。巍既忤吏部，遂出為山西僉事。已，遷參議，分守宣府。寇入犯，偕副將馬芳擊斬其部長，賚銀幣。尋為陽和兵備副使。擢右僉都御史，巡撫宣府。錄搗巢功，進秩二級。逾年，以養母歸。歸二年，召起巡撫陜西。增補屯戍軍伍，清還屯地之奪於藩府者。隆慶初，進右副都御史，移撫山西。所部驛遞銀歲征五十四萬，巍請減四之一。修築沿邊城堡，檄散大盜李九經黨。復乞養母去。

Yang Wei, courtesy name Boqian, came from Haifeng. He passed the metropolitan examination in the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign (1547). He was appointed magistrate of Wujin. He was promoted to supervising secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs. Chief inspector of the Yangtze defenses Shi Baoshan had already been transferred to president of the Court of Judicial Review. Wei argued: "The pirate threat in the southeast is severe; the coordinating officers and grand coordinators have all been condemned, yet Baoshan alone escaped censure and even secured a favorable promotion through connections. I ask that the Ministry of Personnel be penalized as well. The emperor was incensed, suspended the appointment bureau's salaries, and restored Baoshan to his former post. Having crossed the Ministry of Personnel, he was sent out as surveillance commissioner of Shanxi. Soon he was made administration commissioner with responsibility for defending Xuanfu. When raiders crossed the border, he joined vice general Ma Fang in defeating them and killing their chieftain, and received rewards of silver and silk. He was soon appointed Yanghe vice commissioner for military defense. He was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief with authority as grand coordinator of Xuanfu. For the victory in storming the enemy stronghold, he was promoted two ranks. A year later he retired to care for his mother. Two years later he was recalled to serve as grand coordinator of Shaanxi. He rebuilt garrison forces and recovered farmland that princely estates had seized. Early in the Longqing reign he was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and transferred to grand coordinator of Shanxi. Annual courier and post-station levies in his jurisdiction amounted to 540,000 taels; Wei asked that they be cut by one quarter. He built and repaired border forts and issued orders to disperse the band of the outlaw Li Jiujing. He again asked to retire and care for his mother.

神宗立，起兵部右侍郎。萬歷二年，改吏部，進左，又以終養歸。母年逾百歲卒。十年，起南京戶部尚書，旋召為工部尚書。有詔營建行宮，近功德寺。巍爭之，乃止。明年，改戶部，遷吏部尚書。明制，六部分蒞天下事，內閣不得侵。至嚴嵩，始陰撓部權。迨張居正時，部權盡歸內閣，逡巡請事如屬吏，祖制由此變。至是，申時行當國。巍素厲清操，有時望，然年耄骫骳，多聽其指揮。御史丁此呂論科場事，時行及余有丁、許國輩皆惡之。巍論謫此呂，為御史江東之、李植等所攻，與時行俱乞罷。帝從諸大臣請，慰留巍等而戒諭言者，巍乃起復視事。

When Shenzong took the throne, he was appointed right vice minister of the Ministry of War. In the second year of the Wanli reign (1574) he moved to the Ministry of Personnel, rose to left vice minister, and then retired again to observe mourning for his mother. His mother died at over one hundred years of age. In the tenth year (1582) he was recalled as minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue and soon summoned to head the Ministry of Works in the capital. An edict ordered a temporary palace built near Gongde Temple. Wei objected, and the project was abandoned. The following year he was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue and then appointed minister of personnel. Under Ming practice the Six Ministries each handled affairs across the empire, and the Grand Secretariat was not to intrude. Not until Yan Song's time did the secretariat begin quietly undermining ministerial authority. By Zhang Juzheng's time ministerial authority had passed entirely to the Grand Secretariat; ministers approached the secretariat deferentially, like subordinates, and the ancestral system was transformed. By then Shen Shixing was chief minister. Wei had long been known for integrity and enjoyed public esteem, but in old age he grew pliant and largely deferred to Shen Shixing. When censor Ding Cilü spoke out on examination-field abuses, Shixing, Yu Youding, Xu Guo, and their allies all turned against him. Wei arranged Ding Cilü's demotion; censors Jiang Dongzhi, Li Zhi, and others attacked him for it, and both he and Shixing asked to be dismissed. The emperor accepted the senior ministers' plea, kept Wei and his colleagues in office while admonishing their critics, and Wei returned to duty.

當居正初敗，言路張甚，帝亦心疑諸大臣朋比，欲言官摘發之以杜壅蔽。諸大臣懼見攻，政府與銓部陰相倚以制言路。先是，九年京察，張居正令吏部盡除異己者。十五年，復當大計，都御史辛自修欲大有所澄汰，巍徇政府指持之。出身進士者，貶黜僅三十三人，而翰林、吏部、給事、御史無一焉。賢否混淆，群情失望。十七年夏，帝久不視朝，中外疑帝以張鯨不用故托疾。巍率同列請以秋日禦殿。至十月，巍等復請。帝不悅，責以沽名。

When Juzheng had just fallen, censorial voices were loud at court; the emperor also suspected the senior ministers of collusion and wanted remonstrance officials to expose it and break the wall of obstruction. Fearful of attack, the chief minister's office and the Ministry of Personnel secretly relied on each other to curb the censorial faction. In the ninth-year capital evaluation, Zhang Juzheng had ordered the Ministry of Personnel to purge all opponents. In the fifteenth year, at the next grand evaluation, Censor-in-chief Xin Zixiu wanted a thorough purge; Wei held the process back at the chief minister's direction. Only thirty-three jinshi-degree holders were demoted or dismissed, and not a single one among Hanlin academicians, ministry appointees, supervising secretaries, or censors. Worthy and unworthy were indistinguishable, and public opinion turned bitter. In the summer of the seventeenth year the emperor had long absent himself from court; court and country alike suspected he was feigning illness because Zhang Jin had not been appointed. Wei led his colleagues in asking that the emperor resume court in the autumn. By the tenth month Wei and his colleagues petitioned again. The emperor was displeased and accused them of grandstanding.

巍初敭歷中外，甚有聲。及秉銓，素望大損。然有清操，性長厚，不為刻核行。明年，以年幾八十，屢疏乞歸。詔乘傳、給廩隸如故事。歸十五年，年九十二而卒。贈少保。

In his early career Wei served widely at court and in the provinces and enjoyed a strong reputation. Once he held the power of appointment, his standing fell sharply. Yet he remained personally upright, and by nature he was generous and forbearing rather than harsh. The following year, nearing eighty, he repeatedly memorialized asking to retire. An edict granted him imperial post-horses and stipend servants according to precedent. Fifteen years after retiring, he died at ninety-two. He was posthumously made Junior Grand Guardian.

李戴，字仁夫，延津人。隆慶二年進士。除興化知縣，有惠政。擢戶科給事中。廣東以軍興故，增民間稅。至萬歷初亂定，戴奏正之。累遷禮科都給事中。出為陜西右參政，進按察使。張居正尚名法，四方大吏承風刻核，戴獨行之以寬。由山西左布政使擢右副都御史，巡撫山東。歲兇，累請蠲振。入為刑部侍郎。累進南京戶部尚書，召拜工部尚書，以繼母憂去。

Li Dai, courtesy name Renfu, came from Yanjin. He passed the metropolitan examination in the second year of the Longqing reign (1568). Appointed magistrate of Xinghua, he governed with evident benefit to the people. He was promoted to supervising secretary in the Bureau of Revenue. Guangdong had raised taxes on the populace to fund military campaigns. When order was restored early in the Wanli reign, Dai memorialized to have the taxes corrected. He rose in successive steps to chief supervising secretary in the Bureau of Rites. He was sent out as right administration commissioner of Shaanxi and was promoted to provincial surveillance commissioner. Zhang Juzheng prized strict reputation and law; regional governors everywhere followed suit with harsh governance, but Dai alone held to a lenient course. From left provincial administration commissioner of Shanxi he was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief with authority as grand coordinator of Shandong. In years of famine he repeatedly petitioned for tax remissions and relief grain. He was summoned to the capital as vice minister of the Ministry of Punishments. He rose in succession to minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, was summoned to head the Ministry of Works, and then left office to mourn his stepmother.

二十六年，吏部尚書蔡國珍罷。廷推代者七人，戴居末，帝特擢用之。當是時，趙誌臯、沈一貫輔政，雖不敢撓部權，然大僚缺人，九卿及科道掌印者鹹得自舉聽上裁，而吏部諸曹郎亦由九卿推舉，尚書不得自擇其屬，在外府佐及州縣正、佐官則盡用掣簽法，部權日輕。戴視事，謹守新令，幸無罪而已。明年，京察。編修劉綱、中書舍人丁元薦、南京評事龍起雷嘗以言事忤當路，鹹置察中，時議頗不直戴。而是時國本未定，皇長子冠婚久稽，戴每倡廷臣直諫。及礦稅害劇，戴率九卿言：「陳增開礦山東，知縣吳宗堯逮。李道抽分湖口，知府吳寶秀等又逮。天下為增、道者何限，有司安所措手足？且今水旱頻仍，田裏蕭耗，重以東征增兵益餉，而西事又見告矣。民不聊生，奸宄方竊發，奈何反為發其機，速其變哉！」不報。

In the twenty-sixth year of the Wanli reign, Minister of Personnel Cai Guozhen was removed from office. The court nominated seven candidates to succeed him; Dai was listed last, yet the emperor personally elevated and appointed him. At that time Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiguan dominated the government. Though they did not dare openly curtail the ministry's prerogatives, senior offices were understaffed, and the nine ministers plus the censorate supervising secretaries holding sealed authority were all permitted to nominate their own candidates for the throne to decide. Even the section chiefs of the Ministry of Personnel were put forward by the nine ministers, so the minister could no longer choose his own staff. Prefectural and county officials throughout the realm were appointed entirely by lottery, and the ministry's power dwindled by the day. When Dai assumed his duties, he scrupulously followed the new rules and counted himself lucky merely to escape censure. The following year the capital personnel evaluation was held. The compiler Liu Gang, the Middle Secretariat drafter Ding Yuanjian, and the Nanjing review official Long Qilei had all once offended those in power through their memorials; all were marked for the evaluation, and public opinion was largely unsympathetic to Dai. Yet the succession remained unsettled, and the crown prince's capping and marriage had long been deferred; Dai repeatedly urged his colleagues in court to remonstrate forthrightly. When the damage wrought by mining levies grew acute, Dai led the nine ministers in memorializing: "Chen Zeng opened mines in Shandong, and Magistrate Wu Zongyao was arrested. Li Dao collected levies at Hukou, and Prefect Wu Baoxiu and others were arrested in turn. How many men like Zeng and Dao are there across the empire? How can local officials possibly cope? Moreover, flood and drought strike in succession, fields lie desolate and depleted, troops and supplies for the eastern campaign keep mounting—and now word comes of trouble on the western frontier as well. The people can barely survive, and evildoers are already stirring in secret—why, then, deliberately trip the trigger and hasten revolt!" No answer came.

山西稅使張忠奏調夏縣知縣韓薰簡僻。戴以內官不當擅舉刺，疏爭之。湖廣陳奉屢奏逮有司，戴等又極論，且言：「奉及遼東高淮擅募勁卒橫民間，尤不可不問。」帝亦弗聽。已，復偕同列言：「自去夏六月不雨至今，路堇相望，巡撫汪應蛟所奏饑民十八萬人。加以頻值寇警，屢興征討之師，按丁增調，履畝加租，賦額視二十年前不啻倍之矣。瘡痍未起，而采榷之害又生。不論礦稅有無，概勒取之民間，此何理也。天下富室無幾，奸人肆虐何極。指其屋而恐之曰『彼有礦』，則家立破矣；『彼漏稅』，則橐立罄矣。持無可究詰之說，用無所顧畏之人，蚩蚩小民，安得不窮且亂也。湖廣激變已數告，而近日武昌尤甚。此輩寧不愛性命哉？變亦死，不變亦死，與其吞聲獨死，毋寧與仇家俱糜。故一發不可遏耳。陛下可視為細故耶？」亦不報。

Zhang Zhong, the Shanxi tax commissioner, memorialized to have Xia County Magistrate Han Xun transferred on the grounds that his post was remote and insignificant. Dai memorialized that palace eunuchs had no right to usurp the power of denunciation and investigation, and contested the move. Chen Feng of Huguang repeatedly memorialized to have local officials arrested; Dai and his colleagues argued forcefully once more, adding: "Feng, and Gao Huai of Liaodong, who illegally recruit crack troops and terrorize the populace, above all must be called to account." The emperor again paid no heed. Soon afterward he joined his colleagues again in stating: "From the sixth month of last summer until now there has been no rain; the roads are lined with the starving. Grand Coordinator Wang Yingjiao reported 180,000 famine victims. On top of this come repeated bandit alarms and one campaign after another; levies rise with every household quota, rents increase acre by measured acre—the tax burden is now more than twice what it was twenty years ago. The land had scarcely begun to recover when the damage of mining and commercial levies struck again. Whether or not any mine tax is owed, they forcibly squeeze the people regardless—by what principle? Wealthy households are few across the empire—how far can the villains' depredations go? Point at a man's house and threaten him with 'There is ore beneath it,' and his family is ruined on the spot; cry 'He evaded taxes,' and his coffers are drained at once. Armed with accusations that cannot be disproved and backed by men who fear nothing, how can ordinary people fail to be driven to ruin and revolt? Uprisings in Huguang have been reported again and again, and recently Wuchang has seen the worst of it. Do these people not cherish their own lives? Revolt means death, and so does submission—rather than die in silence alone, they would rather perish together with their tormentors. Once ignited, the blaze cannot be checked. Can Your Majesty treat this as a trifling matter?" Again there was no answer.

三十年二月，帝有疾，詔罷礦稅、釋系囚、錄建言譴謫諸臣。越日，帝稍愈，命礦稅采榷如故。戴率同官力諫。時釋罪、起廢二事，猶令閣臣議行，戴即欲疏名上請，而刑部尚書蕭大亨謂釋罪必當奏聞。方具疏上，太仆卿南企仲以二事久稽，劾戴等不能將順。帝怒，並停前詔。戴引罪求罷，帝不許。自是請起廢者再，率九卿乞停礦稅者四，皆不省。稽勛郎中趙邦清素剛介，為給事中張鳳翔所劾，疑出文選郎中鄧光祚、驗封郎中侯執躬意，辨疏侵之。御史沈正隆、給事中田大益交章劾邦清。邦清憤，盡發光祚、執躬私事。光祚亦騰疏力攻，部中大哄，戴無所裁抑。御史左宗郢、李培遂劾戴表率無狀，戴引疾乞去。帝諭留，為貶邦清三秩，允光祚執躬歸，群囂乃息。

In the second month of the thirtieth year, the emperor fell ill and issued an edict abolishing mining levies, releasing prisoners, and recalling officials who had been punished for remonstrance. The next day, as the emperor recovered somewhat, he ordered mining levies and commercial taxes resumed as before. Dai led his colleagues in strenuous remonstrance. As for releasing the guilty and recalling the dismissed, the emperor still left implementation to the grand secretaries; Dai at once wanted to submit a memorial listing names, but Minister of Punishments Xiao Daheng held that any release of the guilty must first be reported to the throne. Just as the memorial was being prepared, Court of the Imperial Stud president Nan Qizhong impeached Dai and his colleagues for failing to comply, citing the long delay on both matters. The emperor grew angry and suspended the earlier edicts altogether. Dai accepted blame and asked to be dismissed; the emperor refused. Thereafter he twice petitioned for the recall of dismissed officials and four times led the nine ministers in begging that mining levies be halted—all to no avail. Merit-review section chief Zhao Bangqing was by nature stern and uncompromising. When supervising secretary Zhang Fengxiang impeached him, he suspected the move originated with Selection section chief Deng Guangzuo and Verification section chief Hou Zhigong, and in his defense memorial he attacked them. Censor Shen Zhenglong and supervising secretary Tian Dayi submitted memorial after memorial impeaching Bangqing. Furious, Bangqing laid bare all the private misconduct of Guangzuo and Zhigong. Guangzuo also sent up a memorial counterattacking with force; the ministry erupted in uproar, and Dai could restrain no one. Censors Zuo Zongyi and Li Pei then impeached Dai for setting a disgraceful example; Dai pleaded illness and asked to resign. The emperor ordered him to stay, demoted Bangqing three ranks, allowed Guangzuo and Zhigong to return home, and the uproar finally subsided.

明年冬，妖書事起。錦衣官王之楨等與同官周嘉慶有隙，言妖書嘉慶所為，下詔獄窮治。嘉慶，戴甥也，比會鞫，戴引避。帝聞而惡之。會王士騏通書事發，下部議。士騏奏辨。帝謂士騏不宜辨，責戴不能鉗屬官。戴引罪，而疏紙誤用印，復被譙讓，罪其司屬。戴疏謝，用印如故。帝怒，令致仕，奪郎中以下俸。

The following winter the demonic placard affair broke out. Embroidered Uniform Guard officer Wang Zhizhen and others bore a grudge against their colleague Zhou Jiaqing and claimed the demonic placard was Jiaqing's doing; Jiaqing was sent to the imperial prison for exhaustive investigation. Jiaqing was Dai's nephew; when the joint interrogation was held, Dai withdrew to avoid the appearance of partiality. When the emperor heard of this, he took offense. At the same time Wang Shiqi's correspondence affair came to light, and the matter was referred to the ministry for deliberation. Shiqi submitted a memorial defending himself. The emperor said Shiqi ought not defend himself and rebuked Dai for failing to restrain his subordinate. Dai accepted blame, but his memorial bore the wrong seal and he was rebuked again; punishment fell on his staff. Dai submitted a memorial of apology, again using the same seal. The emperor grew angry, ordered him to retire, and stripped the salaries of all officials in the ministry below the rank of section chief.

戴秉銓六年，溫然長者，然聲望出陸光祖諸人下。趙誌臯、沈一貫柄政，戴不敢為異，以是久於其位，而銓政益頹廢矣。卒贈少保。

Dai headed the Ministry of Personnel for six years. A gentle, elder statesman he was, yet his standing fell short of men such as Lu Guangzu. With Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiguan wielding power, Dai did not dare dissent; he therefore remained long in office while personnel administration fell ever further into decay. Upon his death he was posthumously granted the title of Junior Guardian.

趙煥，字文光，掖縣人。嘉靖四十四年進士。授烏程知縣。入為工部主事，改御史。萬歷三年，中官張宏請遣其黨榷真定材木，煥及給事中侯於趙執奏，不從。張居正遭父喪，言官交章請留，煥獨不署名。擢順天府丞，累遷左僉都御史。

Zhao Huan, courtesy name Wenguang, came from Ye County. He passed the metropolitan examination in the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign (1565). He was appointed magistrate of Wucheng. He entered the capital as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Works and was transferred to serve as a censor. In the third year of the Wanli reign, the eunuch Zhang Hong requested that his faction be sent to monopolize timber at Zhending; Huan and supervising secretary Hou Yuzhao submitted a joint memorial in protest, but it was not accepted. When Zhang Juzheng was bereaved of his father, censorial officials submitted memorial after memorial asking that he be retained in office; Huan alone refused to sign. He was promoted to vice prefect of Shuntian Prefecture and rose in succession to left vice censor-in-chief.

十四年三月，風霾求言。煥請恢聖度，納忠言，謹嚬笑，信政令，時召大臣商榷治理，次第舉行實政，弊在內府者一切報罷，而飭戒督撫有司務求民瘼。帝嘉納焉。尋遷工部右侍郎。改吏部，進左。乞假去。起南京右都御史，以親老辭。時煥兄遼東巡撫僉都御史燿亦乞歸養。吏部言二人情同，燿為長子，且任封疆久，可聽其歸。乃趣煥就職。尋召為刑部尚書。議日本貢事，力言非策。男子諸龍光訐奏李如松通倭下吏，並及其黨陳仲登枷赤日中，期滿戍瘴鄉。煥以盛暑必斃，而二人罪不當死，兩疏力爭。忤旨，詰責。復以議浙江巡按彭應參獄失帝意，遂引疾歸。再起南京右都御史，就改吏部尚書，皆不赴。家居十六年。召拜刑部尚書，尋兼署兵部。

In the third month of the fourteenth year, amid dust storms the emperor solicited candid opinion from the court. Huan asked that imperial magnanimity be restored, loyal remonstrance welcomed, levity in court curbed, and policy decrees trusted; that ministers be summoned regularly to discuss governance, practical reforms implemented step by step, and every abuse within the inner palace abolished; and that grand coordinators and local officials be charged to seek out the people's hardships. The emperor praised and accepted his advice. He was soon transferred to right vice minister of the Ministry of Works. He was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel and promoted to left vice minister. He requested leave and went home. He was recalled as right censor-in-chief in Nanjing but declined on the grounds that his parents were elderly. At that time Huan's elder brother Yao, vice censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Liaodong, also asked to return home to care for their parents. The Ministry of Personnel reported that the two men's circumstances were alike, that Yao was the eldest son and had long served on the frontier, and that he might be permitted to return. Huan alone was pressed to take up his post. He was soon summoned to serve as Minister of Punishments. When the court debated Japan's tribute mission, he forcefully argued that the policy was unsound. A man named Zhu Longguang denounced Li Rusong for colluding with Japanese pirates and had him imprisoned; he also had Rusong's associate Chen Zhongdeng shackled in the noonday sun, to be banished to a malarial region when the sentence expired. Huan argued that in the midsummer heat they would surely die, and that neither man's crime warranted death; in two memorials he contested the matter forcefully. He defied the imperial will and was rebuked. He again lost the emperor's favor over his handling of the case of Zhejiang touring censor Peng Yingcan and retired citing illness. He was again recalled as right censor-in-chief in Nanjing and at once offered appointment as Minister of Personnel; he accepted neither post. He lived in retirement at home for sixteen years. He was summoned to serve as Minister of Punishments and soon also held concurrent charge of the Ministry of War.

四十年二月，孫丕揚去，改署吏部。時神宗怠於於事，曹署多空。內閣惟葉向高，杜門者已三月。六卿止一煥在，又兼署吏部，吏部無復堂上官。兵部尚書李化龍卒，召王象乾未至，亦不除侍郎。戶、禮、工三部各止一侍郎而已。都察院自溫純罷去，八年無正官。故事，給事中五十人，御史一百十人，至是皆不過十人。煥累疏乞除補。帝皆不報。其年八月，遂用煥為吏部尚書，諸部亦除侍郎四人。既而考選命下，補給事中十七人，御史五十人，言路稱盛。

In the second month of the fortieth year Sun Buyang left office, and Huan was shifted to acting minister of the Ministry of Personnel. At that time the Shenzong Emperor had grown slack in governance, and many offices stood vacant. Ye Xianggao alone remained in the inner cabinet; he had already kept his doors shut for three months. Of the six ministers only Huan remained, and since he also held concurrent charge of the Ministry of Personnel, that ministry had no regular chief in office at all. Minister of War Li Hualong died; Wang Xiangqian was summoned but had not yet arrived, and no vice minister was appointed either. The Ministries of Revenue, Rites, and Works each had only a single vice minister left. Since Wen Chun's dismissal from the Censorate, the post of chief censor had stood vacant for eight years. By precedent there were fifty supervising secretaries and one hundred ten censors; by then there were no more than ten of each. Huan repeatedly memorialized begging that the vacancies be filled. The emperor answered none of them. That August Huan was finally appointed Minister of Personnel, and four vice ministers were also appointed across the ministries. Soon afterward the examination-and-selection orders were issued, filling seventeen supervising secretaries and fifty censorial posts, and the remonstrating voice of the court was said to flourish once more.

然是時朋黨已成，中朝議論角立。煥素有清望，驟起田間，於朝臣本無所左右，顧雅不善東林。諸攻東林者乘間入之。所舉措往往不協清議，先後為御史李若星、給事中孫振基所劾。帝皆優詔慰留之。已，兵部主事卜履吉為署部事都御史孫瑋所論。煥以履吉罪輕，擬奪俸三月。給事中趙興邦劾煥徇私。煥疏辨，再乞罷。向高言：「今國事艱難，人才日寡。在野者既賜環無期，在朝者復晨星無幾，乃大小臣工，日尋水火，甚非國家福也。臣願自今已後共捐成心，憂國事，議論聽之言官，主張聽之當事。使大臣得展布而毋苦言官之掣肘，言官得發舒而毋患當事之摧殘，天下事尚可為也。」因請諭煥起視事，煥乃出。

Yet by then factional cliques had already formed, and debate at court stood sharply divided. Huan had long enjoyed a reputation for integrity; suddenly raised from retirement, he had no prior ties among court officials, yet he had never been on good terms with the Donglin faction. Those who attacked the Donglin faction seized the opportunity to gain influence over him. His actions and appointments often failed to accord with prevailing opinion, and he was successively impeached by Censor Li Ruoxing and Supervising Secretary Sun Zhenji. Each time, the emperor issued gracious edicts urging him to remain in office. Soon afterward, Bu Lüji, a section chief in the Ministry of War, was impeached by Sun Wei, the Censor-in-Chief then acting as minister of war. Huan held that Lüji's offense was minor and proposed a three-month salary deduction. Supervising Secretary Zhao Xingbang impeached Huan for favoritism. Huan memorialized in his own defense and again asked to resign. Xianggao said: "State affairs are now grave, and capable men grow fewer by the day. Men out of office wait indefinitely for recall, while those still at court are as few as stars at dawn; yet officials high and low pursue one another with daily strife—hardly a blessing to the state. I hope that hereafter we may all lay aside settled prejudices and devote ourselves to the state's troubles—letting censorial officers speak freely in debate and letting those in charge decide in policy. Then grand ministers may act without chafing at censorial checks, and censorial officers may speak without fear of reprisal from those in power—and affairs under Heaven may yet be managed." He thereupon asked that Huan be instructed to resume his duties, and Huan finally returned to office.

明年春，以年例出振基及御史王時熙、魏雲中於外。三人嘗力攻湯賓尹、熊廷弼者，又不移咨都察院，於是御史湯兆京守故事爭，且詆煥。煥屢疏訐辯，杜門不出，詔慰起之。兆京以爭不得，投劾徑歸。其同官李邦華、周起元、孫居相，及戶部郎中賀烺交章劾煥擅權，請還振基等於言路。帝為奪諸臣俸，貶烺官以慰煥。煥請去益力。九月，遂叩首闕前，出城待命。帝猶遣諭留。給事中李成名復劾煥伐異黨同，煥遂稱疾篤，堅不起。逾月，乃許乘傳歸。

The following spring, under the annual rotation custom, Sun Zhenji and Censors Wang Shixi and Wei Yunzhong were transferred to posts outside the capital. All three had been vigorous attackers of Tang Binyin and Xiong Tingbi; moreover Huan had not referred the transfers to the Censorate for consultation, whereupon Censor Tang Zhaojing protested on grounds of precedent and denounced Huan as well. Huan repeatedly memorialized in angry rebuttal, shut himself indoors, and refused to appear; the emperor issued an edict urging him to return to duty. Tang Zhaojing, having failed to prevail, submitted his resignation and returned home directly. His colleagues Li Banghua, Zhou Qiyuan, and Sun Juxiang, together with Bureau Director He Lang of the Ministry of Revenue, jointly impeached Huan for abuse of power and petitioned that Sun Zhenji and the others be restored to their censorial posts. The emperor penalized the protesting officials with salary deductions and demoted He Lang's rank to placate Huan. Huan pressed all the harder for dismissal. In the ninth month he kowtowed before the palace gates, left the capital, and awaited the emperor's decision. The emperor still sent word urging him to remain in office. Supervising Secretary Li Chengming again impeached Huan for ostracizing opponents and favoring allies; Huan declared himself gravely ill and steadfastly refused to return. More than a month later, he was at last permitted to return home by official relay.

四十六年，吏部尚書鄭繼之去國。時黨人勢成，清流斥逐已盡。齊黨亓詩教摯尤張。以煥為鄉人老而易制，力引煥代繼之，年七十有七矣。比至，一聽詩教指揮，不敢異同，由是素望益損。帝終以煥清操，委信之。及明年七月，遼東告警，煥率廷臣詣文華門固請帝臨朝議政。抵暮，始遣中官諭之退，而諸軍機要務廢閣如故。煥等復具疏趣之，且作危語曰：「他日薊門蹂躪，敵人叩閽，陛下能高枕深宮，稱疾謝卻之乎？」帝由是嗛焉。考滿當增秩，寢不報。煥尋卒，恤典不及。光宗立，始賜如制。熹宗初，贈太子太保。

In the forty-sixth year of Wanli (1618), Minister of Personnel Zheng Jizhi left office. By then the factions held firm sway, and the morally upright had been driven from court entirely. Of the Qi faction, Qi Shijiao was especially overbearing in his influence. Judging Huan, as a fellow townsman, to be elderly and pliable, he worked hard to install Huan as Jizhi's successor; Huan was seventy-seven. Once in office, he followed Qi Shijiao's lead in everything and dared voice no dissent, and his long-standing reputation suffered all the more. The emperor still trusted Huan, valuing his integrity. The following July, when alarms came from Liaodong, Huan led the court officials to the Wenhua Gate and firmly petitioned the emperor to hold audience and discuss state affairs. Not until evening did a palace eunuch instruct them to withdraw, while vital military and state business remained shelved as before. Huan and the others submitted another memorial pressing the point, warning: "If one day the enemy tramples through Ji Gate and knocks at the palace gates, will Your Majesty still lie at ease in the inner palace and plead illness to refuse audience?" The emperor was shamed by this. When his performance review came due he should have received a promotion in rank, but the memorial was left unanswered. Huan soon died, and the customary posthumous honors were denied. Only when Emperor Guangzong ascended the throne were the honors granted according to custom. Early in the reign of Emperor Xizong (Tianqi), he was posthumously named Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

鄭繼之，字伯孝，襄陽人。嘉靖四十四年進士。除余幹知縣。遷戶部主事，歷郎中。遷寧國知府，進四川副使，以養親歸。服除，久之不出。萬歷十九年，用給事中陳尚象薦，起官江西，進右參政。召為太仆少卿，累遷大理卿。東征師罷，吏部尚書李戴議留戍兵萬五千，令朝鮮供億。繼之曰：「既留兵，自當轉餉，柰何疲敝屬國。」議者韙之。為大理九年，擢南京戶部尚書，就改吏部。

Zheng Jizhi, courtesy name Boxiao, was a native of Xiangyang. He passed the metropolitan examination in the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign (1565). He was appointed magistrate of Yugan. He was promoted to section chief in the Ministry of Revenue and rose through the ranks to bureau director. He was appointed prefect of Ningguo, then promoted to vice commissioner of Sichuan, but returned home to care for his aging parents. After his mourning period ended, he remained out of office for many years. In the nineteenth year of Wanli (1591), on the recommendation of Supervising Secretary Chen Shangxiang, he was recalled to serve in Jiangxi and promoted to Right Assistant Commissioner. He was summoned to the capital as Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and eventually rose to Chief of the Court of Judicial Review. When the eastern expedition army was withdrawn, Minister of Personnel Li Dai proposed keeping fifteen thousand troops in garrison and having Korea supply their provisions. Jizhi said: "If we keep troops there, we ought to supply them ourselves—why drain our tributary ally?" Those who debated the matter applauded it. After nine years at the Court of Judicial Review, he was promoted to Minister of Revenue at Nanjing and then immediately transferred to Minister of Personnel.

四十一年，吏部尚書趙煥罷。時帝雖倦勤，特謹銓部選，久不除代。以繼之有清望，明年二月，乃召之代煥。繼之久處散地，無黨援。然是時言路持權，齊、楚、浙三黨尤橫，大僚進退，惟其喜怒。繼之故楚產，習楚人議論，且年八十余，耄而憒，遂一聽黨人意指。文選郎中王大智者，繼之所倚信。其秋以年例出御史宋、潘之祥，給事中張鍵，南京給事中張篤敬於外，皆嘗攻湯賓尹、熊廷弼者也。時定制，科道外遷必會都察院吏科，繼之不令與聞。比考選科道，中書舍人張光房，知縣趙運昌、張廷拱、曠鳴鸞、濮中玉當預，而持議頗右於玉立、李三才，遂見抑，改授部曹。大智同官趙國琦以為言。大智怒，構於繼之逐之去。由是御史孫居相、張五典、周起元等援年例故事以爭，且為光房等五人稱枉，吏科都給事中李瑾亦以失職抗疏劾大智。御史唐世濟則右吏部，詆居相等。居相、瑾怒，交章劾世濟。給事中、御史復助世濟排擊居相。居相再疏力攻大智，大智乃引疾去。繼之亦覺其非，不為辯。

In the forty-first year of Wanli (1613), Minister of Personnel Zhao Huan was dismissed. Though the emperor had grown negligent of routine business, he remained careful about appointments through the Ministry of Personnel and for a long time filled Huan's post with no successor. Because Zheng Jizhi enjoyed a reputation for integrity, he was summoned the following February to replace Huan. Zheng Jizhi had long languished in undemanding posts and had no factional backing. Yet by then the censorial officers held real power; the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions were especially overbearing, and the rise and fall of senior officials depended entirely on their whim. Zheng Jizhi was a native of Chu, steeped in its factional rhetoric; he was also over eighty, senile and confused, and so deferred entirely to the factions' will. Wang Dazhi, director of the Appointment Bureau, was the man Zheng Jizhi relied on most. That autumn, under the annual rotation custom, Censors Song and Pan Zhixiang, Supervising Secretary Zhang Jian, and Nanjing Supervising Secretary Zhang Dujing were transferred to outside posts—all men who had once vigorously attacked Tang Binyin and Xiong Tingbi. By established custom, transfers of censorial officials required consultation with the Censorate and the Ministry of Personnel's personnel section; Zheng Jizhi did not permit them to be informed. When censorial posts came up for selection, Secretariat drafter Zhang Guangfang and magistrates Zhao Yunchang, Zhang Tinggong, Kuang Mingluan, and Pu Zhongyu should have been among the candidates; but because they were perceived as leaning toward Yu Li and Li Sancai, they were passed over and reassigned to ministry clerkships. Zhao Guoqi, a colleague of Wang Dazhi, raised an objection. Wang Dazhi flew into a rage and maneuvered through Zheng Jizhi to have him dismissed. Censors Sun Juxiang, Zhang Wudian, and Zhou Qiyuan thereupon protested on grounds of the annual rotation precedent and argued that Zhang Guangfang and the other four had been wronged; Li Jin, chief supervising secretary of the personnel section, also submitted a forceful memorial impeaching Wang Dazhi for abuse of office. Censor Tang Shiji, by contrast, sided with the Ministry of Personnel and denounced Sun Juxiang and his allies. Sun Juxiang and Li Jin angrily submitted joint memorials impeaching Tang Shiji. Other supervising secretaries and censors again rallied to Tang Shiji and pressed their attack on Sun Juxiang. Sun Juxiang submitted another forceful memorial attacking Wang Dazhi, who then pleaded illness and resigned. Zheng Jizhi recognized the injustice but offered no defense.

至明年二月，胡來朝為文選，出兵科都給事中張國儒、御史馬孟禎、徐良彥於外，復不咨都察院、吏科。國儒已陪推京卿，法不當出外；孟禎、良彥則素忤黨人，故來朝抑之。繼之不能禁。時居相等已去國，獨瑾再爭，詆繼之、來朝甚力。來朝等不能難，其黨思以眾力勝之，於是諸御史群起攻瑾。瑾爭之強，疏三上。來朝等亦三疏詆訐，詞頗窮。來朝乃言：「年例協贊之旨，實秉國者調停兩袒，非可為制，乞改前令從事。」帝一無所處分。瑾方奉使，自引去。其秋，給事中梅之煥、御史李若星、張五典年例外轉，所司復不預聞。吏科韓光裕、御史徐養量稍言之，然勢孤，竟不能爭也。時縉雲李鋕以刑部尚書兼署都察院，亦浙黨所推轂。四十五年，大計京官，繼之與鋕司其事，考功郎中趙士諤、給事中徐紹吉、御史韓浚佐之。所去留悉出紹吉等意，繼之受成而已。一時與黨人異趣者，貶黜殆盡，大僚則中以拾遺，善類為空。

The following February, with Hu Laichao as director of the Appointment Bureau, Chief Supervising Secretary Zhang Guoru and Censors Ma Mengzhen and Xu Liangyan were transferred to outside posts—again without consulting the Censorate or the personnel section. Zhang Guoru had already been nominated for a capital chief ministership and by regulation should not have been sent outside; Ma Mengzhen and Xu Liangyan, meanwhile, had long antagonized the factions—hence Hu Laichao's move to suppress them. Zheng Jizhi was powerless to stop it. Sun Juxiang and his allies had already left the capital; Li Jin alone continued to protest, denouncing Zheng Jizhi and Hu Laichao in the strongest terms. Hu Laichao and his allies could not refute him; their faction resolved to overwhelm him by numbers, and the allied censors launched a collective attack on Li Jin. Li Jin fought back fiercely, submitting three memorials in succession. Hu Laichao and his allies replied with three denunciatory memorials of their own, their arguments growing increasingly thin. Hu Laichao then argued: "The annual rotation's requirement of joint consultation was meant only as a compromise by those in power—it was never meant as a binding rule. I petition that the earlier order be revised." The emperor took no action whatsoever. Li Jin, who was then away on an official mission, resigned on his own initiative. That autumn, Supervising Secretary Mei Zhihuan and Censors Li Ruoxing and Zhang Wudian were transferred outside the usual rotation—and again the responsible offices were not consulted in advance. Han Guangyu of the personnel section and Censor Xu Yangliang raised mild objections, but they stood alone and ultimately could not prevail. At the time Li Zhi of Jinyun served as Minister of Justice while also acting head of the Censorate—another figure the Zhe faction had installed. In the forty-fifth year of Wanli (1617), at the grand evaluation of capital officials, Zheng Jizhi and Li Zhi oversaw the proceedings, assisted by Bureau Director Zhao Shie, Supervising Secretary Xu Shaoji, and Censor Han Jun. Decisions on who would stay and who would go rested entirely with Xu Shaoji and his allies; Zheng Jizhi simply ratified their choices. Within a short time, virtually everyone at odds with the factions was demoted or dismissed; senior officials were brought down on petty charges, and the ranks of the worthy were emptied out.

繼之以篤老累疏乞休，帝輒慰留不允。明年春，稽首闕下，出郊待命。帝聞，命乘傳歸。又數年卒，年九十二。贈少保。

Citing age and infirmity, Zheng Jizhi repeatedly petitioned to retire; each time the emperor urged him to stay and refused his request. The following spring he kowtowed before the palace gates, withdrew to await orders outside the city. On hearing of this, the emperor permitted him to return home by official relay. He died several years later, at the age of ninety-two. He was posthumously named Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

贊曰：張瀚、王國光、梁夢龍皆以才辦稱，楊巍、趙煥、鄭繼之亦負清望，及秉銓政，蒙詬議焉。於時政府參懷，言路脅制，固積重難返，然以公滅私之節，諸人蓋不能無愧雲。

The commentator writes: Zhang Han, Wang Guoguang, and Liang Menglong were all praised for their administrative ability; Yang Wei, Zhao Huan, and Zheng Jizhi likewise enjoyed reputations for integrity—yet once they wielded control over appointments, they fell under bitter censure. At the time the chief ministers were at odds and the censorial officers wielded coercive power—a long-festering ill, difficult to reverse. Yet measured against the standard of putting public duty above private interest, these men can hardly have been without a sense of shame.

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