Zhang (1525- 1582) is a native of Taiyue (formerly Nanjun, now Hubei) in Jiangling, Huguang. When he was a child, his family was well-off, so he said, "It started with a poor scholar, not a family that studied and dressed." However, he was "brilliant" and ambitious since he was a child. Coupled with his unremitting efforts, his study has made rapid progress. At the age of twelve, he was a student of Jingzhou Prefecture. In the second year, he went to Wuchang, the capital of Huguang, to attend the township test. Gu Lin, the governor of Huguang, met with Ju Zheng. "Xu is a national scholar and called him a little friend." However, in order to make Zhang a great player, he was not admitted, although his article was excellent.
In the 19th year of Jiajing (1540), Zhang was sixteen years old. He passed the rural examination and won a prize. Juzheng went to Beijing at the age of 20 and failed in the exam. At the age of 23, he tried again. He became a scholar in China and then went to Jishi Shu. Since then, his political career has begun.
Jishi Shu is a reserve official studying in imperial academy. People regard him as a "reserve prime minister". Jishi Shu studied in the Hanlin Academy, and was able to read rare literature and classics outside. Generally speaking, in literary works, Zhang takes Heaven as his own responsibility, carefully studies the laws and regulations of the country every day, summarizes the experiences and lessons of the ups and downs of past dynasties, and discusses the grand plan of governing the country. Later, he wrote in the article "Studying in the Hanlin Academy": "Tao is not for the benefit of the country (benefiting the people), so it cannot be used. For learning, be pragmatic. " Three years later, he was awarded editor by the Hanlin Academy. In the forty-second year of Jiajing (1563), Zhang was appointed as the Japanese lecturer of Zhu Zhuozhong (Gu Houzi), that is, his teacher, and later he was promoted to a bachelor's degree and lecturer in charge of imperial academy.
In the 45th year of Jiajing (1567 65438+ 10), in December, Emperor Jiajing died, and Yu Wang ascended the throne for Mu Zong. In the first month of the first year (1567), Zhang, an old minister, was promoted to right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites and bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. In February, he was promoted to left assistant minister of the official department and university student of Dongge, and joined the cabinet to participate in major policies. The first important thing he did after he entered the cabinet was to draft Sejong's testamentary edict together with Xu Jie, a memoir at that time. In his testamentary edict, he "acted against the inconvenience of current politics", which corrected many disadvantages during Jiajing period and was welcomed by the ruling and opposition parties.
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it had passed its "golden age" and showed a scene of decline. The contradictions within the ruling group are sharp and politics is increasingly corrupt; Official corruption is prevalent and there are many drawbacks; Money is tight and stretched; The peasant's resistance has come and gone; There are many dangers on the border, with enemies in the south and Tatars in the north. In order to ease class contradictions and save the crisis of Ming Dynasty, Zhang entered the cabinet in the second year, presenting thousands of words of Liu Chen's Book, and put forward six political propositions, such as provincial discussion, strengthening discipline, re-imperial edict, rectifying the name, consolidating the country and arming the army. These claims hit the nail on the head. But after all, Mu Zong is not a wise master, and Li Chunfang's record is generous and self-mature. He does not seek to promote revolution, but seeks peace in court. Zhang's political ideas have not been put into practice.
In August of the 29th year of Jiajing (1550), due to the lack of military equipment in the Ming Dynasty, Tatar Khan led his troops across the Great Wall and reached the gates of Beijing. Emperor Jiajing, Yan Song, Huiji and Qiu Luan all had no choice but to let Anda return to the Great Wall three days later. This year is Geng Xunian, known as "the change of Geng Xuzhi". Since then, Anda has offered several times to exchange tribute for trade, but it was rejected by Jiajing Emperor, but it was unable to stop Anda from going south, causing people along the Great Wall to suffer greatly. In the face of the harassment of the Tatar nobles, Zhang argued for it. Now, at Zhang's suggestion, the Ming government transferred Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang, the famous anti-Japanese soldiers, to take charge of the defense of Hebei and Liaoning, and ordered Li, the company commander, to guard Liaodong. Qi Jiguang created the tactics of combining horse, foot and vehicle, and changed passive defense into active defense. More than 3,000 "enemy platforms" were built on the Great Wall defense line from Shanhaiguan in the east to Juyongguan in the west as reconnaissance and defense places. Zhang gave great support to the activities of Qi Jiguang and others, saying, "If you want to continue to have difficulties, you must migrate first." . With the support of the people of all ethnic groups, the Ming government repeatedly repelled the attacks of the Tatar nobles. In the fifth year of Qin Long (157 1), the Ming government, at the suggestion of Wang Chonggu, the minister of the Ministry of War, accepted the submission of the Tatars and pursued the policy of tea-horse exchange with Andahan in Mongolia, which was strongly supported by Zhang. Zhang believes that after the tribute, the court rewarded the Anda army with more than 10,000 taels of silver, but saved more than one million yuan in military expenses. This can not only make the people's life in the Great Wall area "fully alive" and avoid the destruction of agricultural production in the north, but also be used to open up fields and strengthen border defense readiness. From then on, there was no war in the north for about twenty or thirty years.
Zhang's political thoughts mainly focus on "emphasizing fame and making real profits", that is, "being pragmatic in everything and not making empty promises". He believes that "the extreme things in the world will change, and the change will reverse the beginning, which is also a natural principle", and denounces those who stick to the rules as "rotten scholars are not up to date." He advocated "respecting sovereignty, being an instructor, believing in rewards and punishments, and following orders" to strengthen centralization. Therefore, the main contents of his reform are:
First, rectify bureaucracy and stress practical results. Zhang believes that the quality of bureaucracy directly affects the normal operation of the state machine. During the reign of Jiajing and Qin Long, the political situation was chaotic, and the crux of the problem was the corruption of official administration, which was not worthy of the name. Bureaucrats or "those who talk big, steal reputation with false voices;" It is difficult to get along when you are arrogant and straightforward; And that fat Wei (flattery) is pleasing to the eye, and he is skilled (good at gaining and flattering). He also thinks that the reason of peasant uprising after the middle of Ming Dynasty is political corruption and corrupt officials. The so-called "officials don't show sympathy for the people and drive them into thieves, which is the root of the disaster." To this end, Zhang advocated rectifying the bureaucracy, eliminating a group of bureaucratic conformists, and rewarding some officials who are "eager to make progress." At the beginning of his reign, he called on Zongshen to implement the examination law. In his speech to religious sects, he said: "It is not difficult to legislate and enforce the law; It is not difficult to listen to what is said, but it is difficult to say what is effective. Ask questions without taking the final exam, and get things done without repeating them. Without a comprehensive understanding in the world, people will be reluctant to think about it. Yao and Shun are the kings, Gao Yu is the assistant, but it is difficult to succeed. "According to the examination law, the six departments of officials, households, ceremonies, soldiers, punishments and workers and Douchayuan should immediately transfer the chapters to the relevant government for execution. Before forwarding, "everyone should consider the distance of the road and the urgency of the matter, set a timetable, set up a record book and cancel it every month." "In addition, there are two other books, one for six departments for the record, and each department checks the implementation. If the task has been executed, it will be corrected. Will send a copy to the cabinet for reference, and if it is found that six subjects have concealed and cheated, it will be broadcast. In this way, we should know what should be done, from the cabinet to the six ministries and from the six ministries to the yamen, and assess at all levels, so that "every month, every year, every year, every year, we must not only tell the truth, but also give instructions, and the comprehensive method is strict. Even legislators who make suggestions will be afraid of the final ineffectiveness and dare not start work casually. "
According to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, all administrative affairs were divided into six departments: officials, households, ceremonies, soldiers, criminals and workers. Ministers are ministers and assistant ministers. At the same time, there are six departments: official, household, ritual, soldier, criminal and industrial, and each department gives things, left and right, and gives things. Shangshu is a second-class product, and there are only seven products in it, but six departments have the right to refute and correct the disintegration. Six departments are actually six supervisory organs. The cabinet was originally the emperor's secretariat, but it was not actually responsible for administration, let alone supervision. After the implementation of the examination law, Juzheng controlled six subjects with the cabinet, which expanded the legislative authority of the cabinet as a central institution, which was a pioneering work. After the implementation of the examination law, it has the greatest impact on the implementation of government decrees, especially in sorting out taxes. At the same time, Zhang put forward some reform opinions on personnel management, which were also aimed at the shortcomings at that time. He proposed that in the future, we should "don't ask about functions, don't ask about qualifications" and "be greedy to the point where no one does whatever you want". In the second year of Wanli (1574), in order to correct the negative influence that existed at that time, Zhang also implemented the law of long-term appointment of internal and external officials. Regulation: county orders and governors move every six years. During this period, if it is found that someone is unfit to be an official and an official is unfit to be in a certain place, it can be replaced according to the official. Provincial envoys and provincial judges move once every three years; The central branch, the road, the Ministry and Cao moved in six years. In this way, "Francisco (political envoy), Yi (provincial judge), Shou and Ling have their own exhibitions" and strive to be single-minded. He also advocated careful selection of local officials. He said; "Those who keep orders are also close to the people." "Under the official department, request the emperor carefully choose good collectors, grazing king, its keep virtuous temple. However, leading an honest and clean life and loving the people in a down-to-earth manner is not the same as passing the exam. If you do good deeds and do good books, you have no real politics for the people. Although you are talented and capable, you still stop at the senior high school entrance examination. For those who are obviously corrupt, they will be strictly limited to chasing them, sending them to the quartet, losing themselves and sending them to the sky. " After some rectification, the official management situation in the early years of Wanli was greatly improved. Once the central government decree is issued, "although it is thousands of miles away, it must be chased down, and in the evening."
As for the on-the-job officials, after they moved to Beijing in the 19th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty (142 1), Nanjing still retained six temples, but most of them existed in name only. During the reign of Jiajing and Qin Long, leather cutting began. In the third year of Wanli (1575), under the auspices of Zhang, the court ordered: after that, Nanjing officials became vacant, and those who were insignificant did not need to be filled. After nine years of austerity, all redundant people were fired except prestigious officials and necessary subordinates. These are the results of the office.
Second, serious law and discipline, credit will be punished. In his recitation, Zhang repeatedly emphasized that "the punishment is rewarded and taken, and it is fair." "The law should be added, although expensive, and it will be wasted. Although it is generous, it will be given, "he said." Although it is a reward of 1,000 yuan, it is not appropriate to be stingy in contributing to the country. A country that fails in its work, even if it smiles a little, should not easily give us the meanness of prayer. " Zhang keeps his word. Mu Chaobi, the hereditary general of Yunnan and the duke of Guizhou, committed many evils and killed innocent people at will. The meeting of the Third Division of the Ministry of War held that the law should be executed. However, its ancestor III made great contributions to the country. The court once gave him iron coupons, and his descendants were allowed to die. Unless there are signs of rebellion, they should be a little more lenient and stay alive. According to the above situation, Zhang intends to "Mu Chaobi repeatedly resist, do evil for many years, kill innocent people at will, and feel guilty. According to the law, I should have been put to death, but I remembered the origin of the founding fathers, and my aunt was lenient. I took the skin for the people and sent it to Nanjing to live with me. " In the seventh year of Wanli (1579), Zong Shenju took the example of Wu Zong and Sejong Chao, ordered Qiu Deyong, a clerical officer, to pass on the imperial edict, made Wang Weian, his father-in-law, an earl, and ordered the cabinet to draw up the imperial edict. Juzheng can't refuse. He said: "Since Zheng De came into being, Wang Wei's closest ministers have not dared to resist." But he pointed out: "I am respected and customized by the Holy Father. I am a duke and an earl. I must not abuse my seal unless I have military merit. " He also mentioned that in the eighth year of Jiajing, Sejong had asked the courtiers to receive the knighthood of the consorts, and the ministers argued: "The ancestral system is not sealed unless it is military. The husband rewards the best in the world, and the Lord inspires the world by this. Today, making friends with Jiao Fang's family (referring to consorts) and sharing with people who have made great contributions (referring to titles) is not only a performance of meritorious service, but also a good advice. Today, except those appointed, they are allowed to live for life. From now on, all emperors and Xu horses must check the old system of their ancestors and are not allowed to ask for seals. " It is stated that the title of Wang Wei can only die, and descendants cannot inherit it. This restriction was not lifted until he was right behind him.
Rectifying postal delivery is another content of a serious law and discipline. The Ming government set up post stations on the main roads from the capital to the provinces, which provided accommodation and convenience for businessmen. The transportation and civilian workers of the post station are borne by the people along the way. The civilian worker was lucky for three years, one after another. This is a rule for people near the main traffic lines. Only when there is a military incident can they use the post station with their passports. But in the end, this regulation gradually became a document, and some officials even made things difficult and forced in the post office, making postal delivery "extremely difficult" and unbearable for the people. In the third year of Wanli (1575), Zhang put forward a plan to rectify postal delivery: "All officials and others are not allowed to borrow banks to investigate cases unless they are on business; Do not use the golden drum flag unless it is military affairs. Although he is a business person, if the sedan chair carries more than a few people, no matter what the yamen is, it is not allowed to handle it. Government, according to the violation of Ming purport, not inventory, Ministry of War with reference to the actual treatment. If a department or department deceives or conceals, it will be punished as a whole ... All officials at home and abroad will not be allowed to take up their posts if they have concerns, recovery, reasons, transfer or appointment. "
Zhang strictly enforces the law and starts from himself. The son returned to Jiangling from Beijing to catch the exam and ordered his son to rent a car himself; On his birthday, his father told his servant to take a birthday present and ride a donkey back to the village to celebrate his birthday. In the eighth year of Wanli (1580), Ju Jing, the second brother of Juzheng, came back seriously ill, and Baoding satrap took care of him and sent someone to investigate. Ju Zheng immediately returned with a letter saying, "Servants are in power, and if they want to work for the imperial court, they dare not stand out." The most difficult thing is the prison and the feast duke. Prison is the heart of the palace, so you can't interfere easily. Juzheng had to tell their superiors to try. The Duke of Feast is the 64th generation Sun Shangxian of Confucius. He goes to Beijing from Qufu to pay tribute every year, harassing him along the way. "People are like thieves." Shandong's political envoy told the truth. Ju Zheng replied: "Husband, sage, insist on propriety as teaching, and aim at following the Zhou Dynasty. He was born today and will abide by the laws of the imperial court, which is insurmountable. What about his descendants? It is also public law to harass again in the future and to participate in the investigation as a whole. " After Juzheng renegotiated with the Shandong Governor, the Duke of Feast entered the DPRK every year and changed it to "As in the case of Wang Fu, only people are sent to pay tribute to Ma every year, and there is no need to go in person; Or in the year of pilgrimage, it is expected that you will be invited to play, which is also very simple. " Thereby reducing the panic of residents near the traffic trunk line. After Zhang's rectification, the postal situation was greatly improved, so that in the eighth year of Wanli (1580), the imperial clan went to Wudang Mountain to beg for a son, and even dared not use the post office to deliver messages.
Third, control river disasters and solve water transportation. In the Ming Dynasty, the Yellow River entered the sea in Binhai County, Jiangsu Province, and the section from Xuzhou to Qinghe (now Huaiyin West) of the Yellow River was also a canal channel, which was called "borrowing from the Yellow River". From the east of Qinghe River to the estuary, the Yellow River and Huaihe River share a river. When the Yellow River rises, the Huaihe River is forced to pour into the canal. At that time, the Yellow River flooded year after year, often blocking canals, hindering water transport and flooding farmland in large quantities, which became a major issue related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Zhang is extremely worried about this. In order to solve the flood in Huanghuai, he thought it necessary to unify the power of affairs, and one person was concurrently the governor of river course and the governor of water transport. According to his suggestion, in the first month of the sixth year of Wanli (1578), the court ordered Wu Guifang to also manage the river basin. Shortly after Wu's death, Pan Jixun, a water conservancy expert with experience in river management, was recommended as the left assistant minister and right counselor, and he became the prime minister of river operation to seek cheap money. Based on the "convenient transportation for people's livelihood", Ji Xun adopted the water control scheme of "damming the river, binding water to the water tank, damming the Huaihe River, forcing the Huaihe River to inject yellow water" to control Huanghuai. With Zhang's strong support, the court approved his plan and gave him enough funds. Pan Jixun was able to eliminate interference and boldly implement his own plan, which changed the situation that Huanghuai often broke its mouth and water transportation was blocked. "Over the past few years, residents have been given drinking water, and the river flows safely", while "fields and land have all been left out in the cold, and abandoned land has been turned into ploughing mulberry for decades", and water boats can also reach Beijing directly, which has played a certain role in agricultural production and economic exchanges between the North and the South.
Fourth, implement the whip method. The main content of Zhang's reform is to reform the tax system and implement the whip method. He hit the nail on the head when he came to power: "Since Jiajing, the state (referring to Yan Song) has become a political bribe, officials (juān, donation and exploitation) have served as the people's paste to flatter the power gate, while the successor (referring to Xu Jie) has taken all the palliative policies, assumed the responsibility (tax arrears) and made the merger private. The private day is rich, the public office is poor, and the country is poor and the people are poor. " In order to enrich the country and strengthen the people, he thinks it is necessary to fundamentally rectify the country's tax service; In order to balance taxes, we must clean up the land first. In the sixth year of Wanli (1578), Zhang ordered that all kinds of land in the country be cleared within three years, and stipulated that those who destroyed the clearing should be "ordered to cut off the responsibility". This time, as he said, "it is really good for Wang, but it is very inconvenient for the official." After three years' efforts, we have gained 700 million mu of cultivated land in the world, exceeding 280 million mu in the 15th year of Hongzhi (1502). Although the amount in this field is inevitably exaggerated, it has restrained some powerful landlords. In the ninth year of Wanli (158 1), on the basis of land survey, Zhang ordered the nationwide implementation of the whipping criminal law, which had been implemented in Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces in the early years of Jiajing. The content of a whipping method is complicated and inconsistent in different places. According to historical records such as Records of Food in the Ming Dynasty, its main contents are: unifying the service law, combining the original Li Jia, Junyi and miscellaneous dishes into one, and no longer distinguishing between silver difference and strong difference, all cashier, and the strong difference is hired by the government. The original method of dispatching workers by households and grain has been changed to dispatching workers by grain and grain. There is no uniform regulation on the proportion of whole grains, which varies from place to place, or six grains and four grains, or six grains and four grains, or half grains and four grains. The number of taxes shall be calculated on the basis of the original tax amount and shall not be reduced. This method of combining land tax with all kinds of forced labor is called "one whip method" (also called "one compilation") To sum up, it is the combination of tax and service, and the tax is levied by mu, and the procedure is simple. The practice of "one whip" has, to a certain extent, played a role in restraining mergers and sharing taxes, and reduced the burden on farmers in some areas. "Ming Shi Shi huo Lu" said: "If you stick to the whip method, there will be no interference from other departments, and the people's power will not be tight." This tax system inherited the two tax laws of the Tang Dynasty and the "land-water integration" system of the Qing Dynasty, reflecting the historical process of the gradual unification of the tax system. It stipulates that levying taxes is not only the inevitable product of the development of commodity economy, but also the reaction to promote the further development of commodity economy, which is conducive to the growth of capitalism. OEM with silver has relatively relaxed the personal control of farmers, which is objectively beneficial to the development of production. In a short period of five years (1582- 1587), Taicang has accumulated more than 13 million mangokus, which can support the country for five or six years. The national treasury accumulated as much as 67 million yuan, which improved the fiscal deficit of the Ming government. As Tan Qian said, Zhang is "only economically talented".
In June of the tenth year of Wanli (1582), Zhang died of illness and began to handle government affairs alone. The contradiction between Juzheng Reform and the supreme imperial power in some aspects led to unexpected disasters behind him. In the 11th year of Wanli (1583), in March, Zhang was severely punished for political infidelity, deprived of his official title before his death, and ordered to raid Zhang's hometown of Jiangling. Therefore, Zhang's reform was also abandoned halfway. However, history is not determined by Wanli. As an outstanding political reformer in feudal society, Zhang's achievements are just as Li, the official minister of Chongzhen Dynasty, said: "With his help, he got his place ... shouldering heavy burdens and complaining about others, he abandoned it, making him the ruler in the early years of Wanli. At that time, peace at home and abroad, wealth at home, and discipline and discipline all needed to be cultivated. The merits are in the country, and the people will benefit from it for a long time. " This comment is fair.