Jinshi in the thirty-fifth year of Jiajing (1556). The following year, he was first appointed as the chief of the Chaijiajiajiuqingli Department of the Nanjing Ministry of War. Soon after, he was promoted to a doctor in the arsenal of the Ministry of War. He does not shirk his duties and dares to take risks. At that time, the vassal kings from various places went to Beijing and passed by Nanjing. Their followers took the opportunity to riot among the people. After Wenhua investigated and verified, he ordered the followers to be wanted, so that the followers did not dare to act rashly. Wenhua enforces the law impartially and does not avoid the powerful, winning praise from both the government and the public. In the forty-second year of Jiajing's reign (1563), he was promoted to the post of Huguang's prefect, responsible for the study and teaching of Taoism. In the next 10 years, he successively served as the Right Councilor of Sichuan, Supervisor of Guixue, participated in the politics of Lu, promoted the Gan vassal, and was transferred to the left Chief Secretary of Henan. During his tenure, he was diligent in royal affairs, loyal to his duties, strictly prohibited corruption, recommended talents, encouraged farmers to plant mulberry trees, and repaired water conservancy.
When Wenhua served as the Chief Secretary of Jiangxi Province, he cleared land in the province, measured acres, stopped annexations, and evened out taxes and servitude. Get rid of the long-standing disadvantages of powerful people passing on land taxes to the people. When he was the Chief Secretary of Zuo County in Henan Province, he was facing successive years of drought and serious famine, and the victims were fleeing the famine. He tried every means to raise funds, recruit migrant workers, build weirs and canals, and cultivate wasteland, so that the displaced people could gradually move back to their hometowns to live and work in peace and contentment.
In the first year of Wanli (1573), Shenzong ascended the throne and issued an edict to commend 25 people with outstanding political achievements in the world. Wenhua ranked first. In the third year of Wanli (1575), he was promoted to the right deputy censor of the capital and patrolled Guangxi. At that time, there was a serious drought in Guangxi, and local officials continued to impose excessive taxes, causing public resentment and riots among the Yao people. As soon as Wenhua got off the bus, he asked for relief, raised money for land reclamation, collected land tax, and distributed it by post. Then he started to reorganize the army and strengthen the training of soldiers. In less than a year, he successively pacified the Nanxiang, Luping, Zhoutang, and Banzhai Zhuyaos. . Wuzhi, Bai Mao and Dong, recruited more than 20,000 people, built 21 forts, and reclaimed more than 26,000 acres of wasteland. The chaotic situation in Guangxi was initially brought under control.
In the fourth year of Wanli (1576), there was a rebellion in Beishan, Liuzhou. Wenhua sent his generals to put down the rebellion. They adopted the tactics of attacking in the east and in the west, and playing hard to get. Taking advantage of the slack of the rebels, they broke through more than 70 villages and beheaded 4,800 people. In this battle, Wenhua led less than 10,000 troops and spent no more than 1,000 troops. He was able to defeat many with a small number and made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, he only received a small reward because of his disobedience.
In the spring of the thirteenth year of Wanli (1585). When the floods in Guangdong destroyed all the houses, Wenhua personally led a small boat to help the people who fell into the water, and ordered the warehouses to be opened to provide millet to help the victims. He also went to the imperial court and asked for more than 70,000 taels of gold to be left in preparation for relief at any time. As a result, the society in Guangdong and Guangxi became increasingly stable, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. At the beginning of the fifteenth year of Wanli (1587), Wenhua was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing. On the day he left office, the Cantonese people built a shrine to worship him and engraved his achievements on a high rock. Academician Ye Xianggao praised him for his "contribution to the country and the benefit of all frontiers." A few months later, he was appointed as Minister of War in Nanjing and Counselor of Machinery Affairs. He wrote to the court and set out six matters: training troops, repairing weapons, selecting frontmen, repairing cities, re-emphasis on power, and strict management. The military atmosphere has been greatly improved.
In the eighteenth year of Wanli (1590), Wenhua led the ministers to impeach the eunuch Zhang Jing for his misdeeds, but the emperor refused to accept it, so he "caused illness and begged for mercy." During his 10 years of residence in Lianjiang, he did several practical things for the people of the county: mediating small schools, settling disputes, donating school fields, and building a school palace. "Yi Tian" was set up to support the poor in the clan, funds were raised to build the Hanguang Pagoda, and funds were donated to build bridges and dredge rivers, etc.
In his official career of more than thirty years, Wu Wenhua was an honest official with outstanding political achievements. People at the time praised: "The brilliance of a generation is as bright as a generation, and the breeze is crowning Fujian." In the 16th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1598), two years before his retirement, he built a seven-level pagoda on Doumen Mountain in Lianjiang, his hometown. The light tower is tall and majestic. Today, Hanguang Pagoda has become a symbol and tourist attraction in Lianjiang County, attracting an endless stream of tourists all year round.
During ten years of living in his hometown, he traveled all over Lianyi. He wrote a poem on the cliff stone carvings of Yuquan Mountain: "We follow each other in scarves and crotches, watching the purple smoke, leisurely following the bird tracks to visit golden immortals. The official love is far away from the floating clouds, and the shadow of Sanskrit faintly falls in front of us. The ancient cave has green scales containing the precious moon, and the fragrant kitchen has clear jade. Controlling the Spiritual Spring. Sitting in the lantern, one can realize the poem "Like a Lotus", and nothing is left hanging in the sky. "The calligraphy is powerful and majestic, and visitors often stop to admire it." His residence is on Yijing Street, Xueqianpu. There were originally Luyuan and Chilou, and there were Kuangru Pavilion, Wanlewo and other places in the east garden. Unfortunately, they have all been destroyed now.
In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, he also wrote the "Inscription of the Seven Wells in Dinghai" for the military town of Dinghai. In the autumn of this year, he died in Lidi at the age of seventy-eight. He was given to Prince Shaobao and given the posthumous title of Xianghui. The locals called him "Wu Shangshu". His tomb is located in Guanglinli Baoxi Mountain (the foothills of Xishan Mountain in Baoxi Village, Pandu Township, Lianjiang County today). The tomb faces the southwest and northeast, facing the Ao River. The river is like a jade belt that goes around from west to east, surrounded by lush trees and beautiful mountains and rivers. , beautiful scenery. The tomb is in the shape of a phoenix, built of granite, and has a stone cover on the top of the tomb. There is a three-story tomb in front of the tomb, which is 15.7 meters deep and 15 meters wide. In the middle of the tomb table, there is a polished bluestone tombstone with the inscription "The tomb of Prince Shaobao and Xiang Huigong Wenhua". The tomb is 28.5 meters deep and 5.45 meters wide. The tombs are arranged in five rows and built with three-piece earth. Zhu Kuei is the owner of the tomb, and Bian Kuei is the wife and concubine. There are shrines on both sides in front of the tomb, each 4 meters wide, with stone carvings such as Shiyang, Shima, Wengzhong and Shizhu. A large fish pond was dug in front of the Shinto, with a bridge embankment in the middle. There were two small wells dug under the pond on the west side, with a small pond pavilion on top, like two bright lamps, illuminating the Shinto. A tombstone was erected in front of the fish pond (now destroyed). During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, he was granted sacrifices and burials. In the first year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1723), the tomb was ordered to be repaired, and local officials were still ordered to protect it. So far, it is the most complete ancient tomb of the Ming Dynasty in the county and has been listed as a county-level cultural relic protection unit.
Wen Hua was knowledgeable, good at both civil and military arts, and was fond of calligraphy. He left behind calligraphy in cursive script called "Qian Zi Wen" and his writing was as fast as a dragon or a snake. There is a legacy of Huai Su. The works handed down from generation to generation include 10 volumes of "Essays on Reading History", 6 volumes of "Reports of the Governor", 2 volumes of "Sparse Manuscripts of Staying in the Capital", 4 volumes of "Collected Works of Jimei Hall", "Collection of the Posts of Jimei Hall", etc. He passed away in the twenty-sixth year of Wanli (1598) at the age of 77. As a gift to Prince Shaobao, he was given the posthumous title of Xianghui. The tomb is in Baoxi Mountain in Guanglin. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, he was granted a burial ceremony.
Wu Wenhua is very fond of Shoushan stones. He has hundreds of stones and is the first person to collect Shoushan stones.