I am Recording the Daily Chronicles of the Wanli Emperor

The third year of Wanli’s reign, in spring.

The Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng reinstated the practice of keeping the Veritable Records (Qiju Zhu), assigning the duty to the Hanlin historians on a rotating basis.

From that moment on—

Shen Nian, third-ranked Jinshi from the year Xinwei of the fifth Longqing reign, Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, Compiler at the Hanlin Court, Zhang Juzheng’s most outstanding disciple, and lifelong nemesis of the Wanli Emperor,

—thus began his career as court chronicler.

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That day, the young Wanli Emperor got drunk and missed an imperial lecture.

Shen Nian straightened his back and wrote:

“His Majesty, drunk, missed the imperial lecture. The Empress Dowager and the Grand Secretary rebuked him sternly, even speaking of dethronement.”

That month, a large number of eunuchs were appointed as mining and tax commissioners, extorting wealth from the people.

Shen Nian raised his chin and wrote:

“Before the throne, I declared: ‘The disasters of monopolies and mining taxes are entirely the Emperor’s fault.’”

That year, the Wanli Emperor neither performed the suburban sacrifices, nor paid respects at ancestral temples. He refused audiences, ignored memorials, and ceased court lectures.

Shen Nian and his fellow historians cried aloud:

“Better to die speaking than live in silence. The greatest honor of a court historian is to be killed by the Emperor.”

⸻

Shen Nian said:

“I must be ill. I can’t sleep at all.

I have contracted Zhang Juzheng’s illness—the burden of holding up a collapsing sky—

but I was not destined for Zhang Juzheng’s fate.

In a daze, I saw the Grand Secretariat reduced to two people:

one drafting memorials—that was me;

one issuing imperial replies—that was also me.”