Ming · Official

Xu Jie 徐階

Attested AD 1578

Passages
1
Chapters
1
Histories
1

Overview

Xu Jie was an official.

PeriodMing
IdentityHistorical

Life and dates

Attested activity

Events and relationships

  • A retired senior grand secretary considered by Zhang Juzheng as a temporary replacement.
    Biographical event · Participant
    Directly stated · History of Ming 219, passage 16

References in the histories

History of Ming, Chapter 219Volume 219 Biographies 107: Zhang Siwei, Ma Ziqiang, Xu Guo, Zhao Zhigao, Zhang Wei, Zhu Geng · 1 passage
Open chapter
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.