Ming · Ruler

Emperor Shenzong 神宗

Attested AD 1572 - AD 1608

Passages
27
Chapters
1
Histories
1

Overview

Emperor Shenzong was a ruler.

PeriodMing
IdentityHistorical
RolesRuler

Life and dates

Attested activity

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Events and relationships

  • Appears first as crown prince and then as the reigning Ming emperor throughout the chapter.
    Biographical event · Participant
    Directly stated · History of Ming 219, passage 5

References in the histories

27 passages

History of Ming, Chapter 219Volume 219 Biographies 107: Zhang Siwei, Ma Ziqiang, Xu Guo, Zhao Zhigao, Zhang Wei, Zhu Geng · 27 passages
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初，趙貞吉去位，拱欲援四維入閣，而殷士儋夤緣得之，諸人遂相搆．及御史趙應龍劾士儋，士儋未去，言路復有劾四維者．四維已進左侍郎，不得已引去，無何士儋亦去．東宮出閤，召四維充侍班官．給事中曹大埜言四維賄拱得召，四維馳疏辨，求罷．帝不許，趣入朝．未至而穆宗崩，拱罷政，張居正當國，復移疾歸． When Zhao Zhenji left office, Gao Gong wanted to bring Siwei into the Grand Secretariat, but Yin Shidan won the post through patronage, and the two factions turned on each other. After Censor Zhao Yinglong impeached Shidan—who had not yet left office—the censorate also moved against Siwei. Siwei, already promoted to Left Vice Minister, had no choice but to withdraw; Shidan soon followed. When the crown prince left seclusion, Siwei was summoned as a court attendant. Supervising Secretary Cao Dayan charged that Siwei had bribed Gao for the appointment; Siwei sent an urgent memorial in reply and asked to be dismissed. The emperor refused and ordered him to come to court. Before he arrived, Emperor Muzong died, Gao Gong fell from power, Zhang Juzheng took over the government, and Siwei again pleaded illness and went home.
初，四維曲事居正，積不能堪，擬旨不盡如居正意，居正亦漸惡之．既得政，知中外積苦居正，欲大收人心．會皇子生，頒詔天下，疏言：「今法紀修明，海宇寧謐，足稱治平．而文武諸臣，不達朝廷勵精本意，務為促急煩碎，致徵斂無藝，政令乖舛，中外囂然，喪其樂生之心．誠宜及此大慶，蕩滌煩苛，弘敷惠澤，俾四海烝黎，咸戴帝德，此固人心培國脈之要術也．」帝嘉納之．自是，朝政稍變，言路亦發舒，詆居正時事． Siwei had long endured humbling himself before Juzheng; the drafts he prepared did not always suit Juzheng's mind, and Juzheng in turn grew to dislike him. Once in power, knowing how deeply the court and country had resented Juzheng, he sought to win people back on a broad scale. When a prince was born and an edict went out to the empire, he submitted a memorial: 'Law and discipline are now clear, the realm is at peace, and the age may be called well governed. Yet civil and military officials, missing the court's intent to govern with vigor, have turned urgent, harsh, and petty; levies know no bounds, orders go awry, and uproar inside and outside the court has killed the people's will to live in peace. On this great occasion we should sweep away vexing severity, spread broad grace, and let all under heaven cherish the emperor's virtue—this is how to nourish popular sentiment and strengthen the state's lifeline.' The emperor praised and accepted it. From then on court policy shifted somewhat, the censorate grew bolder, and denunciations of Juzheng's era multiplied.
而使所善御史曹一夔劾吏部尚書王國光媚四維，拔其中表弟王謙為吏部主事．時行遂擬旨罷國光，並謫謙．四維以帝慰留，復起視事．命甫下，御史張問達復劾四維．四維窘，求保心腹徐爵、張大受賄保，保意稍解．時行乃謫問達於外，以安四維．四維以時行與謀也，卒銜之．已而中官張誠譖保，保眷大衰，四維乃授意門生李植輩發保奸狀．保及篆、省吾皆逐，朝事一大變． They set up Censor Cao Yikui to impeach Minister of Personnel Wang Guoguang for fawning on Siwei and promoting Wang Qian, Guoguang's cousin by marriage, to a principal clerk in the Ministry. Shixing drafted an edict removing Guoguang and demoting Qian. The emperor had reassured Siwei and kept him in office, so he resumed his duties; but the order had barely gone out when Censor Zhang Wenda attacked Siwei again. Cornered, Siwei turned to Bao's confidants Xu Jue and Zhang Dashou and bribed Bao, who softened somewhat. Shixing then sent Wenda away to an outside post to calm Siwei. Siwei believed Shixing had been in on the scheme and never forgave him. Before long the eunuch Zhang Cheng slandered Bao; Bao's influence collapsed, and Siwei prompted his disciples Li Zhi and others to expose Bao's crimes. Bao, Zhuan, and Shengwu were all driven out, and court affairs shifted dramatically.
於是四維稍汲引海內正人為居正所沉抑者．雖未即盡登用，然力反前事，時望頗屬焉．雲南貢金後期，帝欲罪守土官，又詔取雲南舊貯礦銀二十萬，皆以四維言而止．尋以父喪歸．服將闋，卒．贈太師，諡文毅． Siwei then began to bring forward upright men throughout the realm whom Juzheng had suppressed. Not all were appointed at once, but he vigorously reversed earlier policies, and public hopes settled on him. When Yunnan's tribute gold arrived late, the emperor wanted to punish the local officials; when he also ordered two hundred thousand taels of stored mining silver taken from Yunnan, Siwei's remonstrance stopped both measures. He soon went home for his father's mourning. Before mourning ended, he died. He was posthumously made Grand Preceptor with the posthumous name Wenyi.
六年三月，居正將歸葬父．念閣臣在鄉里者，高拱與己有深隙，殷士儋多奧援，或乘間以出，惟徐階老易與，擬薦之自代．已遣使報階，既念階前輩，己還，當位其下，乃請增置閣臣．帝即令居正推擇，遂以人望薦自強及所厚申時行．詔加自強太子太保兼文淵閣大學士，與時行並參機務．自強初以救吳中行、趙用賢忤居正，自分不敢望，及制下，人更以是多居正．時呂調陽、張四維先在閣．調陽衰，數寢疾不出，小事四維代擬旨，大事則馳報居正於江陵，聽其裁決．自強雖持正，亦不能有為，守位而已． In the third month of the sixth year Zhang Juzheng was about to go home to bury his father. He thought of Grand Secretaries still in their home districts: Gao Gong bore him a deep grudge, Yin Shidan had many powerful backers and might seize an opening, and only the aged Xu Jie seemed manageable—he planned to recommend Jie as his stand-in. He had already sent a messenger to Jie, but then reflected that Jie was his senior and that on returning he would have to serve beneath him, so he asked instead to add Grand Secretaries. The emperor ordered Juzheng to choose men; he recommended Ziqiang and his own protégé Shen Shixing on grounds of public esteem. An edict made Ziqiang Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince and Grand Secretary of the Wenyuange, to join Shixing in state deliberations. Ziqiang had offended Juzheng by pleading for Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian and had not dared hope for appointment; when the order came, people praised Juzheng all the more for magnanimity. Lü Diaoyang and Zhang Siwei were already in the secretariat. Diaoyang was failing, often ill and absent; Siwei drafted minor edicts in his place, while major matters were rushed to Juzheng at Jiangling for decision. Though upright, Ziqiang could accomplish nothing and merely held his seat.
許國，字維楨，歙縣人．舉鄉試第一，登嘉靖四十四年進士．改庶吉士，授檢討．神宗為太子出閤，兼校書．及即位，進右贊善，充日講官．歷禮部左、右侍郎，改吏部，掌詹事府． Xu Guo, styled Weizhen, came from She County. He ranked first in the provincial examination and passed the jinshi in the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, entered the Hanlin Academy, and was appointed reviser. When the future Shenzong emperor left seclusion as crown prince, Guo served as collator. After the emperor's accession he became Right Subsidy to the Heir Apparent and Daily Lecturer. He served as Left and Right Vice Minister of Rites, transferred to the Ministry of Personnel, and headed the Household of the Heir Apparent.
十一年四月以禮部尚書兼東閣大學士入參機務．國與首輔申時行善．以丁此呂事與言者相攻，語侵吳中行、趙用賢，由是物議沸然．已而御史陳性學復摭前事劾國，時行右國，請薄罰性學．國再疏求去，力攻言者．帝命鴻臚宣諭，始起視事．南京給事中伍可受復劾國，帝為謫可受官．國復三疏乞休，語憤激，帝不允．性學旋出為廣東僉事．先是，帝考卜壽宮，加國太子太保，改文淵閣，以雲南功進太子太傅．國以父母未葬，乞歸襄事．帝不允，命其子代．御史馬象乾以劾中官張鯨獲罪，國懇救．帝為霽威受之． In the fourth month of the eleventh year he entered the secretariat as Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. Guo was on good terms with Chief Grand Secretary Shen Shixing. In the Ding Cilü affair he clashed with the censorate, and his language touched Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian; public opinion boiled over. Censor Chen Xingxue then dredged up old charges against Guo; Shixing sided with Guo and asked that Xingxue be lightly punished. Guo again asked to leave and fiercely attacked the censorate. The emperor sent the Director of Ceremonies to reassure him, and only then did Guo resume office. Nanjing Supervising Secretary Wu Keshou attacked Guo again; the emperor demoted Keshou. Guo submitted three more memorials asking to retire in agitated language; the emperor refused. Xingxue was soon sent to Guangdong as Assistant Surveillance Commissioner. Earlier, when the emperor divined his tomb site, Guo was made Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince and moved to the Wenyuange; for Yunnan service he rose to Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. Guo asked to go home to bury his parents; the emperor refused and sent his son in his place. Censor Ma Xiangqian was punished for impeaching the eunuch Zhang Jing; Guo pleaded earnestly for him, and the emperor relented.
明年秋，火落赤犯臨洮、鞏昌，西陲震動，帝召對輔臣暖閣．時行言款貢足恃，國謂渝盟犯順，桀驁已極，宜一大創之，不可復羈縻．帝心然國言，而時行為政不能奪．無何，給事中任讓論國庸鄙．國疏辨，帝奪讓俸．國、時行初無嫌．而時行適為國門生萬國欽所論，讓則時行門生也，故為其師報復云．福建守臣報日本結琉球入寇，國因言：「今四裔交犯，而中外小臣爭務攻擊，致大臣紛紛求去，誰復為國家任事者？ The next autumn Huoluochi invaded Lintao and Gongchang; the western frontier shook, and the emperor summoned the assisting ministers to the warm pavilion. Shixing said tribute and peace could be relied on; Guo argued they had broken the alliance and rebelled, were utterly arrogant, and ought to be struck hard—not indulged again. The emperor inwardly agreed with Guo, but Shixing held power and could not be overborne. Before long Supervising Secretary Ren Rang called Guo shallow and base; Guo defended himself, and the emperor stripped Rang of salary. At first Guo and Shixing had no quarrel, but Shixing had just been attacked by Guo's disciple Wan Guoqin, and Rang was Shixing's disciple—so it was said he avenged his teacher. A Fujian official reported that Japan had joined Ryukyu in raiding; Guo said: 'Now the four quarters are all in violation, yet petty officials inside and outside the court compete in attack and denunciation, driving grand ministers to resign one after another—who will still serve the state?
廷臣爭請冊立，得旨二十年春舉行．十九年秋，工部郎張有德以儀注請，帝怒奪俸．時行適在告，國與王家屏慮事中變，欲因而就之，引前旨力請．帝果不悅，責大臣不當與小臣比．國不自安，遂求去．疏五上，乃賜敕馳傳歸．踰一日，時行亦罷，[一]而冊立竟停．人謂時行以論劾去，國以爭執去，為二相優劣焉． Court officials repeatedly pleaded for investiture of the heir and received an edict fixing it for the spring of the twentieth year. In the autumn of the nineteenth year Bureau Director Zhang Youde of the Ministry of Works requested the ritual protocol; the emperor, enraged, stripped him of salary. Shixing happened to be on leave; Guo and Wang Jiaping feared a change of course and tried to seize the moment, citing the earlier edict to press hard. The emperor was displeased and rebuked the grand ministers for acting like petty officials. Guo felt uneasy and asked to leave; after five memorials he was sent home by fast courier with an edict. One day later Shixing was also dismissed, [1] and investiture was halted after all. People said Shixing left under impeachment while Guo left over dispute—a judgment on which of the two chancellors was the better man.
十九年秋，申時行謝政，薦志臯及張位自代．遂進禮部尚書兼東閣大學士，入參機務．明年春，王家屏罷，王錫爵召未至，志臯暫居首輔．會寧夏變起，兵事多所咨決．主事岳元聲疏論錫爵，中言當事者變亂傾危，為主事諸壽賢、給事中許弘綱所駁．志臯再辨，帝皆不問． In the autumn of the nineteenth year Shen Shixing resigned and recommended Zhigao and Zhang Wei as successors. Zhigao was promoted to Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. The next spring Wang Jiaping was dismissed; Wang Xijue had been summoned but had not arrived, and Zhigao temporarily served as chief grand secretary. When the Ningxia revolt broke out, many military matters were referred to him. Director Yue Yuansheng memorialized against Xijue, saying those in charge were stirring turmoil and endangering the state; Director Zhu Shouxian and Supervising Secretary Xu Honggang rebutted him. Zhigao defended himself again; the emperor made no inquiry in either case.
二十一年，錫爵還朝，明年五月遂歸，志臯始當國．遼東失事，詔褫巡撫韓取善職，逮副使馮時泰詔獄，而總兵官楊紹勳止下御史問．給事中吳文梓等論其失平，志臯亦言：「封疆被寇，武臣罪也．今寬紹勳而深罪文吏，武臣益恣，文吏益喪氣．」帝不從，時泰竟謫戍．皇太后誕辰，帝受賀畢，召見輔臣暖閣，志臯論宥御史彭應參．言官乞減織造，志臯等因合詞請．尋極論章奏留中之弊，請盡付諸曹議行．帝惡中官張誠黨霍文炳，以言官不舉發，貶黜者三十餘人．志臯等連疏諫，皆不納．累坐少傅，加太子太傅，改建極殿． In the twenty-first year Xijue returned to court; the next May he went home, and Zhigao at last took charge of the government. After the Liaodong disaster an edict stripped Grand Coordinator Han Qushan and sent Vice Commissioner Feng Shitai to prison, while supreme commander Yang Shaoxun was only referred to the censorate. Supervising Secretaries Wu Wenzi and others called this unfair; Zhigao said: 'When the frontier is invaded, military officers bear the guilt. Lenience toward Shaoxun and harsh punishment of civil officials will embolden the military and dishearten the civil service.' The emperor did not agree; Shitai was banished to border garrison duty. On the empress dowager's birthday the emperor summoned the assisting ministers to the warm pavilion; Zhigao spoke of pardoning Censor Peng Yingcan. Censorate officials asked to reduce imperial weaving, and Zhigao jointly petitioned. He then strongly criticized memorials held in the inner court and asked that all be sent to the ministries for action. The emperor hated the eunuch Zhang Cheng and his partisan Huo Wenbing; because censorate officials did not expose them, more than thirty were demoted. Zhigao remonstrated repeatedly, but none was accepted. He rose to Junior Tutor, then Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and moved to the Jijidian.
時兩宮災，彗星見，日食九分有奇，三殿又災，連歲間變異迭出．志臯請下罪己詔，因累疏陳時政缺失．而其大者定國本、罷礦稅諸事，凡十一條．優詔報聞而已．皇長子年十六時，志臯嘗請舉冠婚禮．帝命禮官具儀．及儀上，不果行．二十六年三月，志臯等復以為言，終不允． Both palaces burned, a comet appeared, a solar eclipse covered more than nine-tenths of the sun, and the three main halls burned—calamities piled up year after year. Zhigao asked for a self-reproach edict and submitted successive memorials on policy failures, chief among them fixing the succession and abolishing mining taxes, eleven items in all. He received only favorable acknowledgments. When the eldest imperial son was sixteen Zhigao asked that his coming-of-age and wedding rites be held; the emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare the ritual, but when it was submitted it was not carried out. In the third month of the twenty-sixth year Zhigao raised it again; in the end the emperor refused.
張居正柄國，權震主．申時行繼之，勢猶盛．王錫爵性剛負氣，人亦畏之．志臯為首輔，年七十餘，耄矣，柔而懦，為朝士所輕，詬誶四起．其始為首輔也，值西華門災，御史趙文炳論之．無何，南京御史柳佐、給事中章守誠言，吏部郎顧憲成等空司而逐志臯，實激帝怒．已而給事中張濤、楊洵，御史冀體、況上進，南京評事龍起雷相繼披詆．而巡按御史吳崇禮劾其子兩淮運副鳳威，鳳威坐停俸．未幾，工部郎中岳元聲極言志臯宜放，給事中劉道亨詆尤力．志臯憤，言：「同一閣臣也，往日勢重而權有所歸，則相率附之以媒進．今日勢輕而權有所分，則相率擊之以博名．」因求退益切．帝慰諭之． When Zhang Juzheng held power his authority overshadowed the throne; Shen Shixing succeeded him with influence still strong; Wang Xijue was proud and formidable. Zhigao as chief grand secretary was over seventy, aged, gentle and timid, looked down on by court officials, and abuse erupted on every side. When he first became chief secretary, fire struck the Gate of Western Splendor and Censor Zhao Wenbing criticized him. Nanjing Censor Liu Zuo and Supervising Secretary Zhang Shoucheng said Personnel Director Gu Xiancheng and others had emptied the bureau and, in driving out Zhigao, had truly stirred the emperor's anger. Supervising Secretaries Zhang Tao and Yang Xun, Censors Ji Ti and Kuang Shangjin, and Nanjing Reviewer Long Qilei then launched fierce attacks in succession. Touring censor Wu Chongli impeached his son Fengwei, salt transport vice commissioner of the Two Huai, who was suspended from salary. Bureau Director Yue Yuansheng said Zhigao should be dismissed; Supervising Secretary Liu Daohang denounced him with especial force. Zhigao, angered, said: 'They are all Grand Secretaries alike. When power was heavy and authority had a center, they flocked to attach themselves for advancement. Now power is light and authority divided, and they flock to attack for renown.' He asked to withdraw all the more urgently; the emperor comforted him.
初，日本封貢議起，石星力主之．志臯亦冀無事，相與應和．及封事敗，議者蜂起，凡劾星者必及志臯．志臯每被言，輒疏辨求退，帝悉勉留．先嘗譴言者以謝之，後言者益切，則多寢不下，而留志臯益堅．迨封事大壞，星坐欺罔下獄論死，位亦以楊鎬故褫官，而志臯終不問．然志臯已病不能視事，乞休疏累上，御史于永清、給事中桂有根復疏論之．志臯身在牀褥，於罷礦、建儲諸大政，數力疾草疏爭，帝歲時恩賜亦如故． When debate over Japan's enfeoffment and tribute arose, Shi Xing strongly advocated it; Zhigao too hoped for peace and joined in assent. When enfeoffment failed, critics swarmed; whoever attacked Xing also implicated Zhigao. Whenever Zhigao was attacked he defended himself and asked to retire; the emperor always urged him to stay. At first he sometimes rebuked censorate officials to mollify Zhigao; later, as attacks grew fiercer, many memorials were shelved while Zhigao was retained all the more firmly. When the enfeoffment collapsed entirely, Xing was imprisoned for deception and sentenced to death; Wei was stripped of office over Yang Hao, while Zhigao was never questioned. Yet Zhigao was already ill and unable to conduct affairs; retirement memorials piled up, and Censor Yu Yongqing and Supervising Secretary Gui Yougen attacked him again. Confined to his sickbed, he repeatedly forced himself to draft memorials on great policies such as abolishing mining and establishing the heir; the emperor's seasonal gifts continued as before.
王錫爵還朝，帝適降諭三王並封，以待嫡為辭．而志臯、位遽請帝篤修交泰，早兆高禖，議者竊哂之．趙南星以考察事褫官，朝士詆錫爵者多及位．錫爵去，志臯為首輔．位與志臯相厚善．志臯衰，位精悍敢任，政事多所裁決．時黜陟權盡還吏部，政府不得侵撓．位深憾之，事多掣其肘．以故孫鑨、陳有年、孫丕揚、蔡國珍皆不安其位而去． When Wang Xijue returned to court the emperor had just issued an edict enfeoffing all three princes, using the wait for a legitimate heir as pretext. Zhigao and Wei hastily asked the emperor to cultivate harmony between heaven and earth and pray early at the Gao Mei altar; critics privately laughed. Zhao Nanxing was stripped of office in the review affair; many who denounced Xijue also implicated Wei. When Xijue left, Zhigao became chief secretary. Wei was close to Zhigao; as Zhigao declined, Wei was sharp and bold and decided much of the business of government. Appointment and dismissal had returned entirely to the Ministry of Personnel, and the secretariat could not interfere. Wei deeply resented this and often checked its hand, so Sun Long, Chen Younian, Sun Piyang, and Cai Guozhen all left their posts in discomfort.
二十四年，兩宮災，礦稅議起，位等不能沮．及奸人請稅煤炭，開臨清皇店，位與沈一貫乃執奏不可，不報．明年春，偕一貫陳經理朝鮮事宜．請於開城、平壤建置重鎮，練兵屯田，通商惠工，省中國輸輓．且擇人為長帥，分署朝鮮八道，為持久計．事下朝鮮議．其國君臣慮中國遂幷其土，疏陳非便，乃寢．頃之，日本封事壞，位力薦參政楊鎬才，請付以朝鮮軍務．鎬遭父喪，又請奪情視事，且薦邢玠為總督．帝皆從之．位已進禮部尚書，改文淵閣，以甘肅破賊叙功，加太子太保，復以延鎮功，進少保、吏部尚書，改武英殿． In the twenty-fourth year both palaces burned and debate over mining taxes arose; Wei and the others could not stop it. When schemers asked to tax coal and open an imperial shop at Linqing, Wei and Shen Yiguan firmly memorialized that this could not be allowed; no reply came. The next spring, together with Yiguan, he set forth plans for administering Korean affairs: strong garrisons at Kaesong and Pyongyang, trained troops and garrison fields, open commerce and favored crafts, and reduced transport from China; men should be chosen as chief commanders over Korea's eight circuits as a long-term plan. The matter was sent to Korea for deliberation; its ruler and ministers feared annexation, stated the disadvantage, and the plan was shelved. When the Japanese enfeoffment failed, Wei strongly recommended Vice Commissioner Yang Hao and asked that Korean military affairs be entrusted to him. Hao met his father's death; Wei asked that mourning be set aside so he could serve, and recommended Xing Jie as supreme commander. The emperor agreed to all. Wei had risen to Minister of Rites and the Wenyuange; for crushing bandits in Gansu he was made Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince; for merit on the Yan frontier he became Junior Guardian and Minister of Personnel and moved to the Wuying Hall.
三殿災，志臯適在告，位偕同列請面慰，不許．乃請帝引咎頒赦，勤朝講，發章奏，躬郊廟，建皇儲，錄廢棄，容狂直，宥細過，補缺官，減織造，停礦使，徹稅監，釋繫囚．帝優詔報之，不能盡行．位又言：「臣等請停礦稅，非遽停之也，蓋欲責成撫按，使上不虧國，下不累民耳．」於是給事中張正學劾位逢迎遷就，宜斥．帝亦不省． When the three halls burned, Zhigao happened to be on leave; Wei and his colleagues asked for an audience of consolation and were refused. He then asked the emperor to acknowledge guilt and issue a general amnesty, attend court diligently, hold lectures, release memorials, visit suburban altars in person, establish the imperial heir, recall the discarded, tolerate blunt speech, pardon minor faults, fill vacant posts, reduce weaving, halt mining envoys, withdraw tax supervisors, and release prisoners. The emperor replied favorably but could not carry out everything. Wei added: 'When we asked to halt mining taxes, we did not mean to halt them at once; we wished to hold governors and grand coordinators responsible so the state would not lose revenue and the people would not be burdened.' Supervising Secretary Zhang Zhengxue then impeached Wei for fawning and trimming his sails and said he should be dismissed; the emperor took no notice.
位初官翰林，聲望甚重，朝士冀其大用．及入政府，招權示威，素望漸衰．給事中劉道亨劾位奸貪數十事．位憤，力辨，遂落道亨三官．呂坤、張養蒙與孫丕揚交好，而沈思孝、徐作、劉應秋、劉楚先、戴士衡、楊廷蘭則與位善，各有所左右．丕揚嘗劾位，指道亨為其黨．道亨恥之，劾位以自解．已而贊畫主事丁應泰劾楊鎬喪師，言位與鎬密書往來，朋黨欺罔，鎬拔擢由賄位得之．帝怒下廷議．位惶恐奏辨，帝猶慰留．給事中趙完璧、徐觀瀾復交章論．位窘，亟奏：「羣言交攻，孤忠可憫．臣心無纖毫愧，惟上矜察．」帝怒曰：「鎬由卿密揭屢薦，故奪哀授任．今乃朋欺隱慝，辱國損威，猶云無愧．」遂奪職閒住． When Wei first served in the Hanlin Academy his reputation was very high and court officials hoped for great things from him. Once in government he wielded power to awe others and his standing gradually waned. Supervising Secretary Liu Daohang impeached him on dozens of counts of wickedness and greed; Wei, enraged, defended himself and had Daohang stripped of three ranks. Lü Kun and Zhang Yangmeng were friendly with Sun Piyang, while Shen Sixiao, Xu Zuo, Liu Yingqiu, Liu Chuxian, Dai Shiheng, and Yang Tinglan were friendly with Wei; each side had its partisans. Piyang once impeached Wei and identified Daohang as his partisan; shamed, Daohang impeached Wei to clear himself. Planning Secretary Ding Yingtai then impeached Yang Hao for losing the army, saying Wei exchanged secret letters with Hao, that their faction deceived and concealed wrongdoing, and that Hao's promotion came through bribing Wei. The emperor angrily sent the matter to court deliberation. Wei fearfully defended himself; the emperor still kept him in office. Supervising Secretaries Zhao Wanbi and Xu Guanlan attacked him again. Cornered, Wei submitted: 'Denunciations attack from every side; lone loyalty deserves pity. Your servant's heart has not the slightest shame—may Your Majesty examine and show mercy.' The emperor angrily said: 'Hao was repeatedly recommended through your secret memorials, therefore mourning was set aside and he was appointed. Now you conspire in deceit and conceal wickedness, disgracing the state and diminishing authority, yet still say you have no shame.' He was stripped of office and sent into retirement.
無何，有獲妖書名憂危竑議者，御史趙之翰言位實主謀．帝亦疑位怨望有他志，詔除名為民，遇赦不宥．其親故右都御史徐作、侍郎劉楚先、祭酒劉應秋、給事中楊廷蘭、主事萬建崑皆貶黜有差． Before long a sorcerous book called the Proposal of Worry for the Heir was seized; Censor Zhao Zhihan said Wei was the real ringleader. The emperor also suspected Wei of resentment and other designs; an edict removed his name and made him a commoner, not to be pardoned even in amnesty. His friends and associates—Right Censor-in-Chief Xu Zuo, Vice Minister Liu Chuxian, Chancellor Liu Yingqiu, Supervising Secretary Yang Tinglan, and Director Wan Jiankun—were all demoted to various degrees.
朱賡，字少欽，浙江山陰人．父公節，泰州知州．兄應，刑部主事．賡登隆慶二年進士，改庶吉士，授編修．萬曆六年以侍讀為日講官．宮中方興土木，治苑囿．賡因講宋史，極言「花石綱」之害，帝為悚然．歷禮部左、右侍郎．帝營壽宮於大峪山，命賡往視．中官示帝意欲倣永陵制，賡言：「昭陵在望，制過之，非所安．」疏入，久不下．已，竟如其言．累官禮部尚書，遭繼母喪去． Zhu Geng, styled Shaoqin, came from Shanyin in Zhejiang. His father Gongjie was prefect of Taizhou; his elder brother Ying was a director in the Ministry of Justice. Geng passed the jinshi in the second year of Longqing, entered the Hanlin Academy, and was appointed compiler. In the sixth year of Wanli he served as Daily Lecturer. The palace was then undertaking construction and tending gardens; lecturing on Song history, Geng spoke at length of the harm of the Flower and Stone Convoys, and the emperor was startled. He served as Left and Right Vice Minister of Rites. When the emperor was building his tomb at Dayu Mountain, he ordered Geng to inspect the site. A eunuch conveyed the emperor's wish to follow the scale of the Yongling tomb; Geng said: 'The Zhaoling tomb is in view; to exceed it in scale would be unsettling.' The memorial was submitted but long went unanswered; in the end it was done as he said. He rose to Minister of Rites and left on account of his stepmother's death.
二十九年秋，趙志臯卒，沈一貫獨當國，請增置閣臣．帝素慮大臣植黨，欲用林居及久廢者．詔賡以故官兼東閣大學士參預機務，遣行人召之．再辭，不允．明年四月詣闕，即捐一歲俸助殿工．其秋極陳礦稅之害，帝不能用．既而與一貫及沈鯉共獻守成、遣使、權宜三論，大指為礦稅發，賡手筆也．賡於己邸門獲妖書，而書辭誣賡動搖國本，大懼．立以疏聞，乞避位．帝慰諭有加．一貫倡羣小窮治不已．賡在告，再貽書一貫，請速具獄無株連，事乃得解． In the autumn of the twenty-ninth year Zhao Zhigao died; Shen Yiguan alone held the government and asked to add Grand Secretaries. The emperor had long feared faction among grand ministers and wished to use men in retirement and those long out of office. An edict appointed Geng to his former post as Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion; a courier was sent to summon him. He declined twice and was refused. The next April he came to court and immediately donated one year's salary to aid hall construction. That autumn he strongly set forth the harm of mining taxes; the emperor could not adopt it. Then together with Yiguan and Shen Li he submitted the three treatises On Maintaining the Achievement, On Dispatching Envoys, and On Expedient Measures—prompted chiefly by mining taxes and written in Geng's own hand. Geng found a sorcerous book at his own gate slandering him as shaking the foundation of the state and was greatly afraid; he immediately reported it and asked to step aside. The emperor comforted him warmly. Yiguan led his petty partisans in pressing the investigation without end. Geng, on leave, wrote Yiguan again asking that the case be quickly concluded without implicating others, and the affair was resolved.
三十三年大計京官．帝留被察者錢夢臯輩，及南京察疏上，亦欲有所留．賡力陳不可，曰：「北察之留，旨從中出，人猶咎臣等．今若出自票擬，則二百餘年大典，自臣壞之，死不敢奉詔．」言官劾溫純及鯉，中使傳帝意欲去純．賡言大臣去國必採公論，豈可於劾疏報允．帝下南察疏，而純竟去．其冬，工部請營三殿．時方濬河、繕城，賡力請俟之異日．帝皆納之，不果行． In the thirty-third year came the great review of capital officials. The emperor retained those reviewed, including Qian Menggao; when the Nanjing review memorial came up he also wished to retain some. Geng strongly objected: 'When the northern review retentions came by edict from the inner court, people still blamed us. If retention now comes from our draft edicts, a great institution of more than two hundred years will be broken by me—I dare not obey even on pain of death.' Censorate officials impeached Wen Chun and Shen Li; a eunuch conveyed the emperor's wish to remove Chun. Geng said grand ministers leaving office must follow public opinion; how could dismissal be granted on an impeachment memorial? The emperor issued the Nanjing review memorial, and Chun left in the end. That winter the Ministry of Works asked to rebuild the three halls; with river dredging and wall repair underway, Geng strongly asked that this wait. The emperor accepted and did not carry it out.
三十四年，一貫、鯉去位，賡獨當國，年七十有二矣．朝政日弛，中外解體．賡疏揭月數上，十不能一下．御史宋燾首諷切賡，給事中汪若霖繼之．賡緣二人言，力請帝更新庶政，於增閣臣、補大僚、充言路三事語尤切．帝優詔答之而不行．賡乃素服詣文華門懇請，終不得命．賡以老，屢引疾，閣中空無人．帝諭簡閣臣，而廷臣慮帝出中旨如往年趙志臯、張位故事．賡力疾請付廷推，乃用于慎行、李廷機、葉向高，而召王錫爵於家，以為首輔．給事中王元翰、胡忻以廷機之用，賡實主之，疏詆廷機並侵賡．賡疏辭，帝為切責言者．既而姜士昌及燾被謫，言路謂出賡意，益不平．禮部主事鄭振先遂劾賡十二大罪，且言賡與一貫、錫爵為過去、見在、未來三身．帝怒，貶振先三秩．俄以言官論救，再貶二秩． In the thirty-fourth year Yiguan and Shen Li left office; Geng alone held the government at seventy-two. Court governance slackened daily and the state fell apart inside and out. Geng submitted memorials month after month; nine out of ten received no response. Censor Song Tao was first to criticize him sharply; Supervising Secretary Wang Ruolin followed. On their words Geng strongly asked the emperor to renew governance, speaking with especial force on adding Grand Secretaries, filling high posts, and staffing the censorate. The emperor replied favorably but did not act. Geng then went in plain dress to the Gate of Literary Glory to plead and received no order. Old and repeatedly pleading illness, he left the Grand Secretariat empty. The emperor ordered selection of Grand Secretaries, but court officials feared edicts from the inner court as in the days of Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei. Geng, forcing himself despite illness, asked that selection be entrusted to court recommendation; Yu Shenxing, Li Tingji, and Ye Xianggao were appointed, and Wang Xijue was recalled from home as chief secretary. Supervising Secretaries Wang Yuanhan and Hu Xin, saying Tingji's appointment was Geng's doing, denounced Tingji and attacked Geng. Geng declined; the emperor sharply rebuked the censorate. Jiang Shichang and Song Tao were then demoted; the censorate believed this came from Geng and grew more resentful. Rites Director Zheng Zhenxian impeached Geng on twelve major counts and said Geng with Yiguan and Xijue formed the three bodies of past, present, and future. The emperor demoted Zhenxian three ranks; when censorate officials pleaded for him he was demoted two ranks more.
先，考選科道，吏部擬上七十八人．候命踰年，不下，賡連疏趣之．三十六年秋，命始下．諸人列言路，方欲見風采，而給事中若霖先嘗忤賡，及是見黜，適當賡病起入直時．切謂賡修郤，攻訐四起，先後疏論至五十餘人．給事中喻安性者，賡里人，為賡上疏言：「今日政權不由內閣，盡移於司禮．」言者遂交章劾安性，復侵賡．是時賡已寢疾，乞休疏二十餘上．言者慮其復起，攻不已，而賡以十一月卒於官．遺疏陳時政，語極悲切．賡先加少保兼太子太保，進吏部尚書、文華殿大學士．及卒，贈太保，諡文懿．御史彭端吾復疏詆賡，給事中胡忻請停其贈諡，帝不聽． Earlier, in the censorate selection examination the Ministry of Personnel proposed seventy-eight men. They waited more than a year for orders; Geng submitted successive memorials urging action. In the autumn of the thirty-sixth year the orders came down. The men took their places in the censorate and were just about to show their mettle when Supervising Secretary Ruolin, who had earlier offended Geng, was dismissed just as Geng was rising from illness to attend duty. They sharply accused Geng of settling old scores; attacks erupted on every side, and more than fifty memorials criticized him in succession. Supervising Secretary Yu Anxing, Geng's townsman, submitted a memorial for him saying: 'Today governmental power does not lie with the Grand Secretariat but has entirely shifted to the Directorate of Ceremonial.' Censorate officials then impeached Anxing in succession and again attacked Geng. By then Geng was bedridden; he had submitted more than twenty retirement memorials. Censorate officials feared he would rise again and attacked without cease, while Geng died in office in the eleventh month. His final memorial on current policy was utterly grief-stricken. He had earlier been made Junior Guardian and Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince and promoted to Minister of Personnel and Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall. When he died he was posthumously made Grand Guardian with the posthumous name Wenyi. Censor Peng Duanwu again denounced him; Supervising Secretary Hu Xin asked that his posthumous honors be halted; the emperor refused.