(1503-1583), Han nationality. His courtesy name was Zisheng, his nickname was Shaohu, and he was also called Cunzhai. He was a native of Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture in the Ming Dynasty (today's Songjiang District, Shanghai). In his early years, he was good at poetry and calligraphy. In the second year of Jiajing (1523), he passed the rank of Tanhua and was awarded the title of editor of the Hanlin Academy. Later, because of his disobedience to Zhang Fijing, he was accused of being promoted to an official position in Yanping Prefecture. Suffering from this setback, he became an official from then on. There were many thieves in Yanping, and more than 100 thieves were arrested after he took office. He cleared up the backlog of cases, released prisoners, won a reputation, and was promoted to Huangzhou Tongzhi. Later, he was promoted to Zhejiang Inspector, deputy envoy to Jiangxi, and in charge of Zhejiang and Zhejiang Provinces. Academic Affairs of Fujian Province. The crown prince came out of the cabinet (to study) and was promoted to the Imperial Academy to offer wine. Later, he became a minister of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and participated in important confidential affairs of the court. Zeng Mishu exposed the crimes of Qiu Luan, the Marquis of Xianning, and was good at writing Qingci (a style of writing used to communicate with gods. Emperor Jiajing believed in gods) and was trusted by Emperor Jiajing. At this time, Yan Song was in power as the first assistant, and he and Yan Song served in the court for more than ten years. They were cautious and good at catering to the emperor's wishes, so they were able to stay in power for a long time.
Japanese pirates ravaged the southeast and invaded Songjiang, urging them to send troops to quell the chaos.
In the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), he learned that the emperor had heard about the illegal behavior of Yan Song and his son, so he ordered the imperial censor Zou Yinglong to participate in the impeachment, and finally Yan Song was dismissed from office and his son Yan Shifan was banished to garrison. Xu Jie replaced Yan Song as the chief assistant. During his tenure, Xu Jie took a liking to Zhang Juzheng at a glance and promoted him. It was precisely because of this promotion that Zhang Juzheng was able to fulfill his ambitions, become a famous minister, and turn the tide.
Emperor Jiajing believed in alchemists and took "golden elixir" to cause illness. Hai Ruili, the head of the Household Department, reported his loss. The emperor was angry and wanted to kill Hai Rui immediately. Xu Jie rescued him, but Hai Rui had to delay his death and was imprisoned in prison. In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing (1566), when the emperor died, Xu Jiecao issued an edict, proclaiming Mu Zong and Zhu Zaihe as emperor. All fasting, civil works, jewelry, and weaving were stopped. All officials who had offended by their words or deeds would be pardoned and cleaned up. People's hearts. There are different opinions on the truth about Xu Jie's official appointment. One theory is that because he did not discuss it with his fellow cabinet ministers Gao Gong and Guo Pu in advance, they held a grudge and instigated the imperial censor to intervene in the impeachment, forcing Xu Jie to become an official official in the second year of Longqing (1568) and go home. "Xu Jie often discouraged Mu Zong when he said his behavior was absurd, so Mu Zong hated him very much. Xu Jie was also disappointed, so Shangshu asked to retire. It happened that Zhang Qi impeached him because of personal grudges (note: personal grudges). So Mu Zong took the opportunity to allow him to retire and go home. In Mingyue's writing, Xu Jie worked hard all his life, sometimes in poverty, sometimes in glory, and defeated Yan Song. There was also a student named Zhang Juzheng who had a bright future and had fulfilled his wish for the country and himself, so he took the initiative to resign.
Because he served as prime minister for many years and was a veteran of two dynasties, he was known as "Xuge Lao". In the name of "commitment", a large amount of land was annexed. In the third year of Longqing's reign (1569), Hai Rui was appointed governor of Yingtian, but was exploited by Xu Jie's political enemy Gao Gong, who ordered local powerful tycoons to withdraw from the land they occupied. After nearly being killed, he fled to another country. Edit this paragraph | Back to the top Xu Jie entered the cabinet in the thirty-first year of Jiajing's reign. Xu Jie entered the cabinet and began his seventeen-year term as cabinet bachelor. It can be said that the biggest highlight in Xu Jie's entire political career was him. He defeated the powerful Yan Song. Xu Jie's ability to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens was his trump card in the struggle for political power, and "Xu Jie's serious intentions" has also become a classic case in power politics.
Yan Song and Xu Jie served as cabinet bachelors for nearly ten years. However, Xu Jie had a close relationship with Yan Song's political enemy Xia Yan, and Xia Yan had recommended Xu Jie. Therefore, Yan Song had no interest in Xu Jie. Jie couldn't help but be a little wary. Yan Song framed Xu Jie many times. Xu Jie pretended to be deaf and mute, never argued with Yan Song, and even married his granddaughter to Yan Song's grandson. On the surface, he was very respectful. Yan Shifan was rude to him, but he tolerated it. After several small trials, Xu Jie finally did not dare to openly antagonize Yan Song, but acted cautiously, and Yan Song gradually relaxed his offensive against Xu Jie. Yan Song's father and son committed evil deeds, formed cliques for personal gains, and were corrupt and perverted the law. Xu Jie also wanted to eliminate traitors for the country, but he also witnessed the tragedy of Yan Song defeating Xia Yan, Yang Jisheng, and Shen Lian's outspoken remonstrance. A profound and experienced person like Xu Jie would not For those who easily release their killing moves, the only option is to be patient and wait for the opportunity. A man with profound changes, such as Zhang Juzheng, could not control himself when he was young and went to the public to give advice. The result was that he took sick leave and returned to his hometown. After three years of silence, he re-entered the competition for the political center. It was because Zhang Ju benefited a lot from his political mentor Xu Jie in terms of political maneuvering that he was finally able to squeeze out his political opponents and display his political ambitions.
In the 41st year of Jiajing, after the fire in Wanshou Palace, Yan Song gradually lost the affection of Emperor Shizong, and Xu Jie gradually gained the trust of Emperor Shizong. At this time, the censors Lin Run and Zou Yinglong, with the support of Xu Jie After informing Yan Song and his son, the emperor arrested Yan Shifan and ordered Yan Song to retire. There are also some anecdotes about the details that have been handed down to the world, so I will write them down for everyone.
Censor Lin Run and Justice Huang Guangsheng believed that to bring down Yan Shifan, the most lethal crimes were the crime of unknown sources of his huge wealth, and the crime of setting up unjust prisons and murdering Yang Jisheng and Shen Lian. These two items made the public extremely angry. Big enough to kill. Xu Jie disagreed. Public anger was nothing to the emperor. He took their admonishment, which was a letter to Emperor Jiajing, and asked: "Do you want to live?" The answer was: "You must want to die." "Xu Jie smiled coldly: "If that's the case, it's because Yang and Shen Zhiyuan both took advantage of the emperor's orders. Mr. Yan was riding out of the capital. "
While they were stunned, Xu Jie took out a memorial. When they opened it, they saw that the words were sharp and to the point, and they felt murderous. Come.
Although the Shen and Yang cases were Yan Shifan’s idea, they were all the crimes of Shizong himself. Shizong is such a face-saving person...
If the Shen and Yang cases are used as a reason to punish Yan Shifan, Shizong will definitely be strongly protected by Shizong, and Yan Shifan will definitely be able to get away with it!
p>Therefore, in the memorial, Xu Jie did not mention the Shen and Yang cases, but there were two charges that Emperor Jiajing hated most: committing rebellion and collaborating with Japanese invaders.
Once this happens, Yan Shifan will definitely die!
Every time I read history to this point, I am amazed that Xu Jie is really a very powerful politician.
The imperial emissary Zou Yinglong hated Yan Song and his son for their misdeeds and corruption, but in view of the fact that the censor or the imperial eunuch impeached Yan Song and his son, it must have been his own unlucky situation and the censor Yang Jisheng publicly impeached Yan Song. Twenty-four capital crimes, but the tragedy that ended in his tragic death was his own and his wife's, so he didn't dare to act rashly. One night, he suddenly had a strange dream. In the dream, he was riding a horse in the countryside. He saw a high mountain in the distance. There was a thatched building on the east side of the mountain. There was a pile of rice in the paddy field next to the building. He shot an arrow at the rice pile. The piles fell, the thatched buildings fell, and then the mountains fell. He woke up from his dream and found that his whole body was soaked with cold sweat. He carefully recalled the situation in his dream and realized that it was God who was instructing him to eliminate harm for the people and eliminate evil for the country. The pile of rice in the paddy field refers to the word "fan", Yan Shifan's nickname is "Donglou", and the high mountain refers to the word "song". At that time, he wrote an excerpt overnight to prepare for the impeachment of Yan Song and his son on several serious crimes. Because the matter was of great importance, he handed the zhezi to Xu Jie for consideration the next day. Zou Yinglong's excerpt was taught by Xu Jie, so there is neither an outline nor any famous sayings that have been passed down through the ages. It is mainly about some trivial things about Yan Shifan. It is said that Yan Song was shocked when he saw this secret and tried every means to suppress it. However, Xu Jie had already sent this document to Emperor Jiajing's desk. So, with one blow, Yan Song and his son finally fell. Yan Shifan was arrested and imprisoned, and Yan Song was ordered to retire. Edit this paragraph | Return to top Works: "Jingshi Tangji" 26 volumes, "Shaohu Collected Works" 10 volumes. Another compilation is "Yue Miao Collection", which is widely circulated in the world. Edit this paragraph | Back to top