In the last years of Longqing, the Ming Dynasty suffered from internal and external troubles: the treasury was empty, land annexation caused disasters, and border troubles were frequent. The 10-year-old Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun succeeded to the throne. There was a power vacuum in the court, and Gao Gong, the chief minister of the cabinet, acted arbitrarily. Zhang Juzheng, the second assistant to the cabinet, used foresight to unite with Empress Dowager Li and Feng Bao, overthrow Gao Gong and ascend to the position of first assistant, and shoulder the banner of reform to "save the Ming Dynasty from decline."
After taking power, Zhang Juzheng implemented the New Deal with an iron-blooded approach: "testing the law" to rectify the administration of officials and deposing officials; "clearing the land and acres" directly faced the interests of the gentry and personally went south to burn the account books to establish his authority; During this period, while resisting the intercession of Xu Jie and other old mentors, he relied heavily on Hai Rui to implement the local New Deal. He also reached a tacit agreement with Qi Jiguang that "civilian rule governs the government and force rules the army." He used the new deal to increase revenue to support Jizhou's border defense, and used the stability of the Qi family's army to escort the reform. In just a few years, the Ming Dynasty's treasury was full and the border defense was unguarded.
However, the reform touched tens of millions of vested interests, and conservatives continued to be impeached. As Emperor Wanli grew older, he became increasingly suspicious of Zhang Juzheng's "strict discipline" and "power over the government", and Feng Bao's corruption exposure even laid the groundwork for liquidation. In the tenth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng became ill due to overwork. He was still correcting the New Deal regulations on his sickbed. Before his death, he held Wanli's hand and entrusted state affairs, but he failed to say the last word of advice.
After Zhang Juzheng's death, Wanli vented his anger and went into liquidation, ransacked his house and exiled his family. The conservatives took the opportunity to abolish the "Examination Law" and put aside the clearing of land and land. The "One Whip Law" existed in name only. Qi Jiguang was deprived of power and dismissed, the Qi family army was disbanded, and Jizhou's border defense collapsed. The achievements of previous reforms have vanished into thin air.
