Zhang Juzheng

Senior Grand Secretary for ten years in the early Wanli era, he implemented the Kaocheng system and the Single Whip Law, known to history as the "Wanli reforms."

Life

Prodigy of Jiangling

Zhang Juzheng was a native of Jiangling, known as a child prodigy in his youth, and passed the jinshi exam at twenty-three. He entered the Grand Secretariat in 1567. When the ten-year-old Wanli Emperor took the throne in 1572, he became Senior Grand Secretary and, in alliance with the empress dowager and the eunuch Feng Bao of the Directorate of Ceremonial, ran the government.

Senior Grand Secretary of the Wanli era

He implemented the Kaocheng system, under which the Grand Secretariat evaluated the Six Ministries and the Six Ministries evaluated local officials, greatly improving administrative efficiency. He also carried out a nationwide land survey, and in 1581 introduced the "Single Whip Law," which merged taxes and labor services into a single levy paid in silver, filling the state treasury. He appointed Qi Jiguang and Li Chengliang to guard the northern frontier and backed Pan Jixun in taming the Yellow River.

Posthumous purge

He died of illness in 1582 and was soon purged by his opponents: his property was confiscated, his titles stripped, and several family members starved to death. His reputation was not restored until the Tianqi era.

Legacy

Zhang Juzheng is hailed as the most outstanding statesman of the Ming era, and his reforms slowed the Ming dynasty's decline; his posthumous purge also shows how hard the reformer's position was.

Major works & achievements

• Implemented the Kaocheng system
• Implemented the Single Whip reform

Did you know? The History of Ming says his government "centered on upholding the sovereign's authority, holding officials to their duties, keeping rewards and punishments reliable, and unifying commands. Even ten thousand li away, an order issued in the morning was carried out by evening."

Key dates

• 1547Passed the jinshi exam
• 1567Entered the Grand Secretariat
• 1573Implemented the Kaocheng system
• 1578Nationwide land survey
• 1581Implemented the Single Whip reform
• 1582Died; his property was soon confiscated