Changes

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>

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