Legends of the Ming Dynasty

After more than two hundred years of turmoil, the Ming dynasty was plagued by countless ills and beset by crises by the Jiajing era. Day after day, Taoist rites were performed in the Forbidden City, smoke curling through the air. Emperor Jiajing, dreaming of eternal life and intoxicated by the ornate poetry of Ode to Auspicious Clouds, shut his eyes and entrusted state affairs to the treacherous Yan Song. Yan Song and his son seized the opportunity to abuse their power and embezzle public funds. Against this backdrop, Zhang Juzheng, born to a common family, was thrust onto the historical stage as Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. With extraordinary resolve and wisdom, he set the government in order, strengthened national defense, and implemented the Single Whip Law, restoring a measure of vitality to the dying Ming dynasty.