Zhu Yijun

Also known as Ming Shenzong · Wanli Di

Zhu Yijun, third son of Emperor Muzong, came to the throne in 1572, aged ten by Chinese reckoning, and adopted the reign title Wanli the next year. At first the senior grand secretary Zhang Juzheng ran the government, holding officials to deadlines, resurveying farmland across the empire and extending the single-whip tax reform. After Zhang died in 1582 the emperor took power himself and stripped Zhang's family of honours and property; he then fought his ministers for over a decade about the heir, stopped holding court audiences for years at a time, and sent eunuchs into the provinces to collect mining taxes. His reign saw three major campaigns, in Ningxia, in Korea against the Japanese invasion and in Bozhou, and in 1619 Ming armies were routed by the Later Jin at Sarhu. He died in 1620 with the temple name Shenzong and the posthumous title Emperor Xian, and was buried at Dingling. The History of Ming closes his annals with the judgment that the Ming truly fell under him.