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By 1587, Shen was considered an elder statesman, despite being younger than both the Second Grand Secretary Xu Guo and Third Grand Secretary Wang Xijue. His extensive experience sifting through documents, lecturing on matters of policy, and so forth, made him well-equipped to know the proper procedures and precedents for a myriad of matters and situations. While Zhang Siwei had worked to expose Zhang Juzheng's gross mistakes in governance, Shen Shixing was a loyal devotee of Zhang Juzheng; he recognized and acknowledged that mistakes were made, but upheld that these were not intentional abuses of power. Described in documents from the time as a "mellow" and "stable" man,<ref>Huang, 52.</ref> Shen seems to have believed chiefly in the maintenance of authority and harmony through political rituals and shows of sincerity. The emperor had to be shown to be actively engaged in caring about the bureaucrats and about the matters of the realm, and the hierarchy had to be enacted through regular rituals, performing and thus reaffirming, reconstituting, the officials' position beneath the emperor, and the emperor's in service to the cosmic order and moral law.

By 1587, Shen was considered an elder statesman, despite being younger than both the Second Grand Secretary Xu Guo and Third Grand Secretary Wang Xijue. His extensive experience sifting through documents, lecturing on matters of policy, and so forth, made him well-equipped to know the proper procedures and precedents for a myriad of matters and situations. While Zhang Siwei had worked to expose Zhang Juzheng's gross mistakes in governance, Shen Shixing was a loyal devotee of Zhang Juzheng; he recognized and acknowledged that mistakes were made, but upheld that these were not intentional abuses of power. Described in documents from the time as a "mellow" and "stable" man,<ref>Huang, 52.</ref> Shen seems to have believed chiefly in the maintenance of authority and harmony through political rituals and shows of sincerity. The emperor had to be shown to be actively engaged in caring about the bureaucrats and about the matters of the realm, and the hierarchy had to be enacted through regular rituals, performing and thus reaffirming, reconstituting, the officials' position beneath the emperor, and the emperor's in service to the cosmic order and moral law.

Though Shen was far less radical than his teacher (Zhang), and did much to attempt to keep the peace between the various factions at court, and to keep administration flowing, by [[1591]] the disputes over the imperial succession led to his downfall. The emperor had conceded in [[1590]] to demands that he name his son [[Taichang Emperor|Changluo]] the heir, saying he would do so in [[1592]] provided no one mention the matter again in the interval. Late in 1591, however, a middle-ranking official submitted a budgetary request connected to the expenses involved in the heir's investiture ceremony. Though this was not a request or pressure regarding the choice of heir, and was merely a logistical matter submitted on the assumption of the decisions already promised, Wanli took this as a violation of his request that the matter not be mentioned again; when Shen memorialized the throne to attempt to convince Wanli not to delay the heir's investiture, this memorial was entered into the official record. Though this was against standard procedure (private memorials from the Grand Secretary were meant to remain private), Shen's subsequent efforts to have it removed from the record were also a violation of procedure, as no official was meant to ever be able to remove ''anything'' from the record - such is the purpose, after all, of such a record. In short, this scandal led to Shen attracting considerable suspicion - his reputation among the officialdom was ruined, and he was left with no choice but to submit his resignation to the emperor, repeatedly, until it was accepted. The middle-ranking official whose budgetary request had initiated this mess was stripped of his degree-holder status entirely and made a commoner, after he attracted too much popular support from the officials who had pressured and frustrated Wanli throughout this and other matters. Xu Guo, the Second Grand Secretary who let Shen's private memorial slip into the official record was also forced to resign his post.<ref>Huang, 81-82.</ref>

Though Shen was far less radical than his teacher (Zhang), and did much to attempt to keep the peace between the various factions at court, and to keep administration flowing, by [[1591]] the disputes over the imperial succession led to his downfall. The emperor had conceded in [[1590]] to demands that he name his son [[Taichang Emperor|Changluo]] the heir, saying he would do so in [[1592]] provided no one mention the matter again in the interval. Late in 1591, however, a middle-ranking official submitted a budgetary request connected to the expenses involved in the heir's [[investiture]] ceremony. Though this was not a request or pressure regarding the choice of heir, and was merely a logistical matter submitted on the assumption of the decisions already promised, Wanli took this as a violation of his request that the matter not be mentioned again; when Shen memorialized the throne to attempt to convince Wanli not to delay the heir's investiture, this memorial was entered into the official record. Though this was against standard procedure (private memorials from the Grand Secretary were meant to remain private), Shen's subsequent efforts to have it removed from the record were also a violation of procedure, as no official was meant to ever be able to remove ''anything'' from the record - such is the purpose, after all, of such a record. In short, this scandal led to Shen attracting considerable suspicion - his reputation among the officialdom was ruined, and he was left with no choice but to submit his resignation to the emperor, repeatedly, until it was accepted. The middle-ranking official whose budgetary request had initiated this mess was stripped of his degree-holder status entirely and made a commoner, after he attracted too much popular support from the officials who had pressured and frustrated Wanli throughout this and other matters. Xu Guo, the Second Grand Secretary who let Shen's private memorial slip into the official record was also forced to resign his post.<ref>Huang, 81-82.</ref>

 

On the occasion of his entering his 80th year of life (by [[Age Calculation|traditional age reckoning]]), Shen was sent numerous gifts by the Wanli Emperor; while he expressed his deep gratefulness for the gesture, and said he would pass down the Emperor's birthday wishes as a family treasure down through the generations, Shen returned the gifts themselves unopened, feeling he had failed in his duty to his emperor, by failing to prevent Changluo from becoming the designated heir. Shen died shortly afterwards.<ref>Huang, 104.</ref>

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