With the support of the emperor's mother, Lady Li, and the imperial eunuchs led by Feng Bao, the country experienced economic and military prosperity, reaching a level of power not seen since the early 15th century.

In 1597, a second Japanese invasion was thwarted, and the suppression of the Yang Yinglong rebellion in southwest China concluded in a few months from 1599 due to Ming forces concentrating there amidst the ongoing war with Japan.

The history lessons focused on teaching him about good and bad examples of governance, and Zhang Juzheng personally compiled a collection of historical stories for the emperor to learn from.

[7] However, his mother, Zhang Juzheng,[3] and high-ranking officials in Beijing were worried that he would become a ruler similar to the Zhengde Emperor (reigned 1505–1521),[7] and discouraged him from traveling outside the Forbidden City and pursuing his interests in the military, horse riding, and archery.

[16] As part of the administrative reforms, unnecessary activities were abolished or limited, the number of Confucian students receiving state support was reduced, and provincial authorities were urged to only require one-third of the previous amount of corvée labor.

He appointed capable military leaders such as Qi Jiguang, Wang Chonggu (王崇古), Tan Lun, Liang Menglong (梁夢龍), and Li Chengliang to positions of responsibility.

After his death, he was accused of the typical offenses of high officials, including bribery, living in luxury, promoting unqualified supporters, abusing power, and silencing critics.

Except for the short-lived Wang Jiaping, all of Zhang's successors—including Shen Yiguan (沈一貫), Zhu Geng (朱賡), Li Tingji (李廷機), Ye Xianggao, and Fang Congzhe (方從哲)—fell out of favor and were either accused by censors during their lifetime or posthumously.

However, this decision was opposed by Lady Zheng, causing a wave of controversy and, two years later, even arrests when a pamphlet accusing her of conspiring with high officials against the emperor's eldest son spread in Beijing.

In response, the Wanli Emperor took the unprecedented step of summoning all civilian and military officials employed in Beijing and appearing before them[xii] with his family–the crown prince, his sons and daughter.

[56] Confucian officials, who were concerned about the erosion of their authority,[57] opposed the emperor's initiative on ideological grounds, as they believed that the state should not engage in business and compete with the people for profit.

[61] This expansion of eunuch powers and their operations earned the emperor a reputation among Confucian-oriented intellectuals as one of the most avaricious rulers in Chinese history, constantly seeking ways to fill his personal coffers at the expense of government revenue.

[62] According to estimates by modern Chinese historians Wang Chunyu and Du Wanyan, the mining tax earned the state an additional 3 million liang (110 tons) of silver, with the eunuch commissioners retaining eight or nine times more.

In 1595, Minister of Personnel Sun Piyang conducted a questionnaire survey on the conditions of several offices and used the results to persuade the Wanli Emperor to dismiss a certain official from Zhejiang.

In this context, the technical aspects of governance were considered unimportant[78] and any issues with the organization of administration were addressed by promoting Confucian virtues, preaching morality, and emphasizing self-sacrifice for higher goals.

However, censors also demanded the dismissal of the Minister of Works He Qiming (何起鳴), apparently for political reasons (as a supporter of Zhang Juzheng), just a month after his appointment, which angered the emperor.

[87] However, in the 1605 evaluation, the Donglin movement once again attacked their opponents, and through Wen Chun (溫純), the head of the Censorate, and Yang Shiqiao (楊時喬), Vice Minister of Personnel, demanded the dismissal of 207 officials from the capital and 73 from Nanjing.

[89] In the 1611 evaluation, two anti-Donglin factions clashed, resulting in the downfall of their leaders (Tang Binyin (湯賓尹), Chancellor of Nanking University, and Gu Tianjun (顧天俊), teacher of the heir apparent).

On the other hand, some argued that while silver served as a capital and store of value, coins were essential as a medium of exchange and their production, even if unprofitable, would lead to economic recovery in the long run.

[167] Li Zhi had a direct influence on the Yuan brothers and their Gong'an school, shaping their rejection of traditional authorities, avoidance of imitation (which they believed stifled creativity), pursuit of natural expression, and advocacy for drama and fiction as legitimate literary forms.

[194] As early as the 1590s, former minister Yu Shenxing (于慎行) expressed concern that newspaper publishers were exaggerating the failures of the fighting on the northern border, causing unnecessary panic among the population.

[206] Fashion was also intertwined with sexual relations, as educated and cultured courtesans like Xue Susu and Ma Shouzhen emerged, breaking free from the traditional role of women being limited to the household.

The rebels gained the alliance of Mongol chief Bushugtu, but Li Rusong sent Ma Gui and General Dong Yiyuan with part of the army to attack them and occupy the passes east of the city.

Due to the Korean army's lack of preparation, they were unable to put up much resistance and the Japanese quickly advanced, taking control of Seoul in just twenty days and continuing further north.

Initially, the government in Beijing rejected the local authorities' requests for intervention, stating that there were more pressing matters to attend to and that Yang Yinglong was simply seeking an opportunity to distinguish himself.

[255][257] Focused on the war in Korea, the Wanli Emperor postponed solving the problems in the relatively peripheral southwest of the empire until early 1599, when he appointed the distinguished official Guo Zichang (1543–1618) as pacification commissioner of Sichuan.

[268] Phùng Khắc Khoan made a good impression in Beijing with his classical education,[269] but he was unable to gain recognition for Lê Thế Tông as the King of Đại Việt.

General Wu Sangui, who commanded the Ming border army north of Beijing, saw no other option but to submit to the Qing dynasty (which was renamed in the mid-1630s from the Jurchen state founded by Nurhaci).

Classical Chinese historians focused on his greed, misuse of eunuch power, factionalism within the government, seclusion in the Forbidden City, indulgence in alcohol and sex, extravagant tomb construction, and political blunders.

It was not until 1606, after the birth of Zhu Changluo's first son (the later Tianqi Emperor), that Lady Wang was granted the title of "Imperial Noble Consort" (Huang Guifei),[304][305] which was appropriate for the mother of an heir.