27 Facts About Zhao Wenhua

Zhao Wenhua was a Chinese public official during the reign of the Ming dynasty's Jiajing Emperor.

Zhao Wenhua disagreed with how the military was handling the situation and made his own recommendations, which the military ignored.

Zhao Wenhua quickly came into conflict with other officials that were already at the coast, and went on to orchestrate the removal of several of them, as well as a prominent court official.

Zhao Wenhua rose to the rank of Minister of Works and positioned his protege Hu Zongxian as supreme commander, a role that Hu excelled in.

Zhao Wenhua had earned the disdain of other figures in the court, and his disregard for etiquette alienated even Yan Song.

Zhao Wenhua cooperated so well in this manner that they became close, and Yan Song considered him as an adopted son.

Zhao Wenhua later became a vice minister of works for his proposal to build the southern city wall of Beijing.

Zhao Wenhua presented a number of memoranda suggesting solutions to the problem of the Jiajing wokou raids, in which he showed a deep understanding of the root causes of the crisis.

Zhao Wenhua did not agree with the sort of heavy-handed suppression in the name of the maritime prohibition laws that was carried out by the Zhejiang grand coordinator Zhu Wan, and instead vouched for an eventual opening of trade as the means to solve the wokou problem.

Zhao Wenhua was authorized to lead the military forces there.

Zhao Wenhua plotted against grand coordinator Cao Bangfu, whose rapid action against bandit forces at Lake Tai prevented Zhao from claiming credit for the success there.

When his own forces were forced to retreat at Taozhai, Zhao Wenhua placed the blame for his own failure on Cao, and was able to have him arrested and exiled.

Zhao Wenhua had urged Zhang Jing, who had been gathering his strength, to attack the pirates, but Zhang resisted and would not even discuss his strategy with him.

Zhao Wenhua retaliated by writing a memorial to the throne accusing Zhang Jing of deliberately delaying the operation for his own profit.

Too late to recant his earlier statement, Zhao Wenhua was quick to claim the credit for himself and his protege Hu Zongxian; as a result he was able to successfully petition the Court for the execution of Zhang Jing.

Zhang Jing was eventually replaced by Yang Yi, who tried to curry favour with Zhao Wenhua to prevent suffering a similar fate as Zhang Jing.

However, Yang was ineffective in his role, and Zhao Wenhua recommended Yang's removal when he returned to Beijing to report to the emperor.

Zhao Wenhua tried to set up Hu Zongxian in Yang's place, but the Minister of Personnel Li Mo, who detested Yan Song's clique, picked Wang Gao instead.

Zhao Wenhua responded by impeaching Li Mo, suggesting that Li had slighted the emperor.

Zhao Wenhua had now reached the apex of his career.

Zhao Wenhua once tried to bypass Yan Song in pleasing the emperor, presenting a medicinal wine to the emperor claiming that it was the secret of Yan's longevity.

Zhao Wenhua failed to finish a new storied building in the palace's western garden in time, yet the Jiajing Emperor saw Zhao Wenhua's new mansion being finished on the Chang'an Avenue across from the palace.

The emperor ordered Zhao Wenhua to rebuild the tower on Zhengyangmen as soon as possible, but Zhao demurred.

Around this time the emperor heard rumours that Zhao Wenhua had taken bribes and exaggerated his victories in the south, and lost faith in the man entirely.

Yan Song attempted to cover for Zhao Wenhua, saying that he had taken ill from his tour to the south.

Zhao Wenhua died on his way home, with the History of Ming recording that he died due to a hernia while another source said he took poison.

Zhao Wenhua's family was ordered to repay the government funds that Zhao had misappropriated in his lifetime, to the tune of over one hundred thousand taels.