Ye Xianggao

Timeline

1. 1601–1606Nanjing · NanjingDuring this period Ye Xianggao served as Vice Minister of Personnel in Nanjing, repeatedly memorializing on the harms of mining taxes and requesting the dismissal of the Liaodong tax eunuch Gao Huai. When the mysterious books case arose he wrote to chief grand secretary Shen Yiguan in vigorous remonstrance; Shen was displeased, so Ye remained in Nanjing for years. After Shen Yiguan and Shen Li successively left office, only Zhu Geng remained in the Grand Secretariat, and court officials hoped Ye would come to the capital.
2. 1607Beijing · BeijingIn the fifth month of the thirty-fifth Wanli year, Ye Xianggao was promoted along with Yu Shenxing, Li Tingji, and others to grand secretary, appointed Minister of Personnel and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. When he arrived at court in the eleventh month, Yu Shenxing had died, Wang Xijue firmly declined to serve, and Li Tingji also kept to his gates; with the Grand Secretariat short-handed, Ye Xianggao became the core grand secretary actually directing government affairs.
3. 1608–1610Beijing Grand Secretariat · BeijingAfter Zhu Geng's death, Li Tingji kept to his gates under attack, and Ye Xianggao effectively served alone for several years. In the thirty-sixth Wanli year he submitted the Essay on Current Governance, describing floods in north and south and the suffering of a million displaced people, requesting that non-urgent matters be halted to steady the people's hearts. The Shenzong emperor's rescript expressed sympathy for the disaster, yet abuses like mining taxes remained hard to eradicate, and the court situation was temporarily maintained under sole leadership.