told Donglin partisan Wei Dazhong, whom Fu Kui had also impeached, that Donglin principles left them blind to the bigger picture and did not stop them from being self-serving. Ye pleaded with the Palace to not seek retribution against Yang Lian and his allies after Yang's inflammatory mid-July memorial in 1624, but Ye was only able to delay Yang's arrest until after Ye resigned as Grand Secretary. Ye also asked the Palace to temper its punishment of Wan Jing, who accused Wei Zhongxian of embezzlement on July 28, and of Censor Lin Ruzhu after a hostile confrontation with Palace eunuchs in the first days of August, to no avail. Ye again asked to resign on July 31. After Palace eunuchs, in an unprecedented move, surrounded his house on August 4 believing he was harboring Lin Ruzhu, Ye lost all face. The Palace initially denied his request to resign on August 5 but, after Ye moved out of Beijing and told the Palace that he could not continue to serve, finally accepted his resignation on August 20, 1624. Ye's resignation cleared the way for full-scale persecution of the Donglin by the Palace. After returning to Fujian, Ye hosted the Jesuit Giulio Aleni until Ye's death in the autumn of 1627. Ye was canonized as Wenzhong () (cultured and loyal), and the Chongzhen Emperor posthumously gave him the title of Grand Preceptor of the Emperor in 1929. References 1559 births 1627 deaths Senior Grand Secretaries of the Ming dynasty Politicians from Fuzhou People from Fuqing Donglin partisans