Jiajing First Minister

Jiajing first minister The tide rises from the Hanjiang River and ends at the palace. This is not only a huge gamble with imperial power as the edge, but also a tragic showdown between an idealist and the scourge of the times. In the late Ming Dynasty, the 47-year-old old Juren Zhang Cong (Zhang Fujing) lived in seclusion in Yongjia. The embarrassment of failing seven tests sharpened his sharp thoughts of "courtesy and kindness". When the young Emperor Jiajing was in a stalemate with the Manchu civil servants over the "big gift", his groundbreaking "Original Ceremony" was like a key, opening the door to victory for the emperor and opening a dangerous path to the pinnacle of power for himself. From being a lowly official in Nanjing to being the chief minister in charge of the world, Zhang Cong took advantage of the remaining power of the "Great Ceremony" to launch the "Jiajing New Deal": clearing the land, reforming the imperial examinations, rectifying academic affairs, and getting rid of the eunuchs... Every move was directed at the most corrupt interest groups in the empire, and every step was a step into the unfathomable political quagmire. His relationship with the emperor went from the honeymoon of "the emperor and his minister enjoy each other" to the cold calculation of "the tool and the sword holder". When he changed from a handy "sharp blade" to a troublesome "weapon", the emperor's favor faded away like the tide. When the emperor turned to Taoism for immortality and pursued "quietness" in the court, Zhang Cong and the New Deal he pushed for were abandoned on the beach of history. This book goes deep into the political heart of the early Jiajing years. It not only tells the ups and downs of Zhang Cong's personal career, but also analyzes how a reformer who relied on imperial power tried to shake the old order, and how his success and failure profoundly foreshadowed the fate of the late Ming Empire.