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卷四十三酈陸硃劉叔孫傳第十三
Scroll 43: Biographies of Li Shiqi, Lu Jia, Zhu Jian, Liu Jing, and Shusun Tong, Part 13
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酈食其
Li Shiqi
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酈食其，陳留高陽人也。 好讀書，家貧落魄，無衣食業。 為里監門，然吏縣中賢豪不敢役，皆謂之狂生。
Li Shiqi came from Gaoyang in Chenliu. He loved books, but his household was poor and he drifted without prospects, with no trade to keep him fed or clothed. He kept watch at the village gate, yet clerks and local notables in the county never dared press him into corvée duty; they all called him a madcap scholar.
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及陳胜、項梁等起，諸將徇地過高陽者數十人，食其聞其將皆握齪好荷禮自用，不能听大度之言，食其乃自匿。 后聞沛公略地陳留郊，沛公麾下騎士适食其里中子，沛公時時問邑中賢豪。 騎士歸，食其見，謂曰：「吾聞沛公嫚易人，有大略，此真吾所愿從游，莫為我先。 若見沛公，謂曰『臣里中有酈生，年六十餘，長八尺，人皆謂之狂生，自謂我非狂。』」 騎士曰：「沛公不喜儒，諸客冠儒冠來者，沛公輒解其冠，溺其中。 与人言，常大罵。 未可以儒生說也。」 食其曰：「第言之。」 騎士從容言食其所戒者。
When Chen Sheng and Xiang Liang rose in revolt, dozens of generals on campaign passed through Gaoyang. Li Shiqi found their leaders narrow-minded, sticklers for empty ritual, and deaf to large-minded counsel, so he kept out of sight. Later he learned that the Lord of Pei was advancing through the Chenliu suburbs, and that one of the Lord of Pei's horsemen was a neighbor from his hamlet—the Lord of Pei was forever asking who the local worthies were. When the rider came home, Li Shiqi waylaid him and said, "They say the Lord of Pei is rough with people but thinks in broad strokes; he is exactly the patron I want to attach myself to—please put in a word for me before anyone else. If you see him, say, 'There is a Li Sheng in our hamlet—past sixty, eight feet tall; men call him a madcap, though he insists he is not.'" The rider warned him: "The Lord of Pei despises scholars. When visitors arrive in Confucian caps, he snatches the cap off and relieves himself in it. In conversation he often bellows abuse. A scholar's pitch will not work on him yet." Li Shiqi said, "Say it anyway, exactly as I said." At his leisure the rider passed on to the Lord of Pei what Li Shiqi had asked him to say.
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沛公至高陽傳舍，使人召食其。 食其至，入謁，沛公方踞床令兩女子洗，而見食其。 食其入，即長揖不拜，曰：「足下欲助秦攻諸侯乎？ 欲率諸侯破秦乎？」 沛公罵曰：「豎儒！ 夫天下同苦秦久矣，故諸侯相率攻秦，何謂助秦？」 食其曰：「必欲聚徒合義兵誅無道秦，不宜踞見長者。」 于是沛公輟洗，起衣，延食其上坐，謝之。 食其因言六國從衡時，沛公喜，賜食其食，問曰：「計安出？」 食其曰：「足下起瓦合之卒，收散亂之兵，不滿万人，欲以徑人強秦，此所謂探虎口者也。 夫陳留，天下之沖，四通五達之郊也，今其城中又多積粟，臣知其令，今請使，令下足下。 即不听，足下舉兵攻之，臣為內應。」 于是遣食其往，沛公引兵隨之，遂下陳留。 號食其為廣野君。
When the Lord of Pei reached the post station at Gaoyang, he sent for Li Shiqi. Li Shiqi came in to pay his respects. The Lord of Pei was sprawling on a couch while two women washed his feet, and he received Li Shiqi like that. Li Shiqi stepped in, offered a deep bow without full kneeling, and said, "Sir, do you mean to aid Qin against the feudal lords? Or do you mean to lead the lords in smashing Qin?" The Lord of Pei snarled, "You pedantic fool! The empire has groaned under Qin long enough; that is why the lords are banding together to strike Qin—how is that 'helping Qin'?" Li Shiqi replied, "If you truly mean to rally men and righteous arms to bring down lawless Qin, you should not meet an older man sprawled on a couch." The Lord of Pei broke off the washing, stood, adjusted his robe, seated Li Shiqi in the place of honor, and apologized. Li Shiqi then discoursed on the Warring States leagues of north–south and east–west. The Lord of Pei was delighted, fed him, and asked, "What is your counsel?" Li Shiqi said, "You have patched together green troops and scraped up stragglers—fewer than ten thousand—and you propose to plunge straight at powerful Qin. That is what they call thrusting your fist into a tiger's jaws. Chenliu sits at the heart of the realm, where every road runs; the city is full of grain. I know the magistrate—send me, and I will bring him over to your side. If he refuses, you strike the walls, and I will open the gates from within." He dispatched Li Shiqi, followed with the army, and Chenliu fell. He ennobled Li Shiqi as Lord of the Vast Wilds.
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食其言弟商，使將數千人從沛公西南略地。 食其常為說客，馳使諸侯。
Li Shiqi recommended his brother Shang, who led several thousand men to campaign southwest for the Lord of Pei. Li Shiqi served habitually as envoy, riding at speed to the feudal courts.
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漢三年秋，項羽擊漢，拔滎陽，漢兵遁保鞏。 楚人聞韓信破趙，彭越數反梁地，則分兵救之。 韓信方東擊齊，漢王數困滎陽、成皋，計欲捐成皋以東，屯鞏、雒以距楚。 食其因曰：「臣聞之，知天之天者，王事可成； 不知天之天者，王事不可成。 王者以民為天，而民以食為天。 夫敖倉，天下轉輸久矣，臣聞其下乃有臧粟甚多。 楚人拔滎陽，不堅守敖倉，乃引而東，令適卒分守成皋，此乃天所以資漢。 方今楚易取而漢后卻，自奪便，臣竊以為過矣。 且兩雄不俱立，楚、漢久相持不決，百姓騷動，海內搖蕩，農夫釋耒，紅女下机，天下之心未有所定也。 愿足下急复進兵，收取滎陽，据敖庚之粟，塞成皋之險，杜太行之道，距飛狐之口，守白馬之津，以示諸侯形制之勢，則天下知所歸矣。 方今燕、趙已定，唯齊未下。 今田廣据千里之齊，田間將二十万之眾軍于歷城，諸田宗強，負海岱，阻河濟，南近楚，齊人多變詐，足下雖遣數十万師，未可以歲月破也。 臣請得奉明詔說齊王使為漢而稱東籓。」 上曰：「善。」
In the autumn of Han year 3, Xiang Yu attacked Han, captured Yingyang, and Han forces fell back to defend Gong. When Chu learned that Han Xin had crushed Zhao and that Peng Yue kept rising in Liang, they peeled off forces to deal with each threat. Han Xin was turning east against Qi. The King of Han had been pinned again and again at Yingyang and Chenggao and thought of yielding everything east of Chenggao and holding the line at Gong and Luoyang against Chu. Li Shiqi said, "I have heard: only he who grasps what Heaven means by 'Heaven' can finish the work of kingship; he who misses that meaning will never bring it off. For a true king, the people are Heaven; for the people, grain is Heaven. The Ao Granary has fed the realm for ages; I am told vast reserves lie beneath it. Chu seized Yingyang yet failed to lock down the Ao Granary; they pulled east and left penal troops to garrison Chenggao in pieces—Heaven is handing Han an opening. Now Chu is there for the taking while Han shrinks back; to surrender the initiative yourself—I call that a blunder. Two titans cannot share one throne. Chu and Han have stalemated so long that the common people reel, the realm quakes, plows rust in the fields and shuttles lie idle—nowhere has the world fixed its loyalty. I urge you: advance now, retake Yingyang, command the grain at Ao, seal the Chenggao defiles, plug the Taihang passes, bar Feihu, secure the Baima crossing—show the lords the map of power, and the empire will know its master. Yan and Zhao are pacified; only Qi still holds out. Tian Guang rules a thousand li of Qi; Tian Jian camps two hundred thousand at Licheng; the Tian lineage is entrenched between sea and Tai, river and Ji, with Chu at their flank; Qi men are wily. Hundreds of thousands would not crack them in a season. Give me your mandate: I will talk the King of Qi into declaring himself Han's eastern bulwark." The sovereign said, "Well said."
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乃從其畫，复守敖倉，而使食其說齊王，曰：「王知天下之所歸乎？」 曰：「不知也。」 曰：「知天下之所歸，則齊國可得而有也； 若不知天下之所歸，即齊國未可保也。」 齊王曰：「天下何歸？」 食其曰：「天下歸漢。」 齊王曰：「先生何以言之？」 曰：「漢王与項王戮力西面擊秦，約先入咸陽者王之，項王背約不与，而王之漢中。 項王遷殺義帝，漢王起蜀漢之兵擊三秦，出關而責義帝之負處，收天下之兵，立諸侯之后。 降城即以侯其將，得賂則以分其士，与天下同其利，豪英賢材皆樂為之用。 諸侯之兵四面而至，蜀漢之粟方船而下。 項王有背約之名，殺義帝之負； 于人之功無所記，于人之罪無所忘； 戰胜而不得其賞，拔城而不得其封； 非項氏莫得用事； 為人刻印，玩而不能授； 攻城得賂，積財而不能賞。 天下畔之，賢材怨之，而莫為之用。 故天下之士歸于漢王，可坐而策也。 夫漢王發蜀漢，定三秦； 涉西河之外，授上党之兵； 下井陘，誅成安君； 破北魏，舉三十二城：此黃帝之兵，非人之力，天之福今。 今已据敖倉之粟，塞成皋之險，守白馬之津，杜太行之厄，距飛狐之口，天下后服者先亡矣。 王疾下漢王，齊國社稷可得而保也； 不下漢王，危亡可立而待也。」 田廣以為然，乃听食其，罷歷下兵守戰備，与食其日縱酒。
He adopted the plan, secured the Ao Granary again, and sent Li Shiqi to the King of Qi. "Do you know," he asked, "where the world's allegiance is going?" The king said, "I do not." Li Shiqi said, "Know that, and you may keep Qi; miss it, and not even Qi will be safe." The King of Qi asked, "Where does the realm lean?" Li Shiqi answered, "Toward Han." The king said, "What makes you say that?" Li Shiqi said, "The King of Han and Xiang Yu struck Qin together from the west and swore that whoever reached Xianyang first would rule there. Xiang Yu broke the pact and gave Hanzhong instead. Xiang Yu banished and murdered the Righteous Emperor. The King of Han marched from Ba and Shu, overran the Three Qin, emerged from the passes denouncing that crime, rallied the hosts of the realm, and restored the bloodlines of the old ruling houses. Cities that yielded won their generals marquisates; booty went to the ranks. He shares gain with the world, so every able man rallies to him. Allied armies converge from every side; grain barges from Ba and Shu stream down the rivers. Xiang Yu wears the name of oath-breaker and the blood of the Righteous Emperor; he remembers no one's deeds and forgets no one's faults; victors go unrewarded, conquerors unenfeoffed; only Xiang clansmen hold command; he grinds out seals yet cannot bring himself to hand them over; siege loot piles in his treasury while his captains go empty. The world has turned; able men loathe him and will not fight for him. That is why every strategist is drifting to the King of Han—you can tally the rest from your chair. The King of Han left Ba–Shu and locked down the Three Qin; he crossed the west river, fed Shangdang's armies into his host; he came down Jingxing and executed Lord Cheng'an; he shattered Northern Wei and took thirty-two cities—this is an army Heaven sends, not human effort alone; the mandate is manifest now. He already holds Ao's granaries, seals Chenggao, guards Baima, chokes Taihang, and bars Feihu—whoever comes last to kneel will be first to fall. Submit promptly to the King of Han, and you may save Qi's altars; delay, and ruin will be on you before you turn around." Tian Guang agreed, took Li Shiqi's advice, stood down the Licheng garrison, and feasted with him day after day.
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韓信聞食其馮軾下齊七十餘城，乃夜度兵平原襲齊。 齊王田廣聞漢兵至，以為食其賣己，乃亨食其，引兵走。
Han Xin learned that Li Shiqi had taken seventy-odd Qi cities from his chariot seat and slipped an army across Pingyuan by night to hit Qi. When Han troops appeared, King Tian Guang decided Li Shiqi had sold him out—he had Li Shiqi boiled alive and fled with his army.
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漢十二年，曲周侯酈商以丞相將兵擊黥布，有功。 高祖舉功臣，思食其。 食其子疥數將兵，上以其父故，封疥為高梁侯。 后更食武陽，卒，子遂嗣。 三世，侯平有罪，國除。
In Han year 12, Quzhou marquis Li Shang commanded an army as chancellor against Ying Bu and distinguished himself. When the High Ancestor ranked his meritorious officials, his thoughts returned to Li Shiqi. His son Jie had often held command; out of regard for the father, the emperor enfeoffed Jie as marquis of Gaoliang. The fief was later moved to Wuyang; on his death his son Sui succeeded. Three generations on, Marquis Ping was convicted and the marquisate was struck off.
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陸賈，楚人也。 以客從高祖定天下，名有口辯，居左右，常使諸侯。
Lu Jia was a native of Chu. He entered the High Ancestor's service as a client adviser, helped pacify the realm, and was celebrated for his tongue—always at court, constantly dispatched to the feudal courts.
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時中國初定，尉佗平南越，因王之。 高祖使賈賜佗印為南越王。 賈至，尉佗魋結箕踞見賈。 賈因說佗曰：「足下中國人，親戚昆弟墳墓在真定。 今足下反天性，棄冠帶，欲以區區之越与天子抗衡為敵國，禍且及身矣。 夫秦失其正，諸侯豪桀并起，唯漢王先入關，据咸陽。 項籍背約，自立為西楚霸王，諸侯皆屬，可謂至強矣。 然漢王起巴、蜀，鞭笞天下，劫諸侯，遂誅項羽。 五年之間，海內平定，此非人力，天之所建也。 天也聞君王王南越，而不助天下誅暴逆，將相欲移兵而誅王，天子怜百姓新勞苦，且休之，遣臣授君王印，剖符通使。 君王宜郊迎，北面稱臣，乃欲以新造未集之越屈強于此。 漢誠聞之，掘燒君王先人冢墓，夷种宗族，使一偏將將十万眾臨越，即越殺王降漢，如反覆手耳。」
China had barely been pacified when Wei Tuo conquered the Southern Yue and crowned himself its king. The High Ancestor sent Lu Jia to invest him with the seal of King of Southern Yue. Lu Jia found Wei Tuo in a Chu-style chignon, legs folded arrogantly in the Yue manner. Lu Jia said, "You are a man of the heartland; kin and ancestors lie at Zhending. Yet you repudiate your breeding, throw off Chinese dress, and think this pocket kingdom can defy the Son of Heaven—ruin will find you soon. Qin lost the Mandate and heroes rose everywhere; only the King of Han entered the passes first and took Xianyang. Xiang Yu tore up the agreement, styled himself Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and brought the lords to heel—none seemed mightier. Still the King of Han rose from Ba and Shu, drove the realm before him, bent the lords to his will, and cut down Xiang Yu. Inside five years the realm was still—no mere human deed, but Heaven's founding work. Heaven sees you ruling Yue yet doing nothing to help crush the rebels; Han's generals and ministers would march against you, but the Son of Heaven pities a weary people and stays their hand—he sends me only to hand you the seal and open tally traffic. You should meet me beyond the walls, turn north, and own yourself vassal—instead you flex a half-built Yue as if it were a power. If Han truly hears of this, they will raze your ancestors' graves and extirpate your lineage, then send one general and a hundred thousand men to the frontier—Yue could kill you tomorrow and switch sides as easily as flipping a palm."
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于是佗乃蹶然起坐，謝賈曰：「居蠻夷中久，殊失禮義。」 因問賈曰：「我孰与蕭何、曹參、韓信賢？」 賈曰：「王似賢也。」 复問曰：「我孰与皇帝賢？」 賈曰「皇帝起丰沛，討暴秦，誅強楚，為天下興利除害，繼五帝三王之業，統天下，理中國。 中國之人以億計，地方万里，居天下之膏腴，人眾車輿，万物殷富，政由一家，自天地剖判未始有也。 今王眾不過數万，皆蠻夷，崎嶇山海間，譬如漢一郡，王何乃比于漢！」 佗大笑曰：「吾不起中國，故王此。 使我居中國，何遽不若漢？」 乃大說賈，留与飲數月。 曰：「越中無足与語，至生來，令我日聞所不聞。」 賜賈橐中裝直千金，它送亦千金。 賈卒拜佗為南越王，令稱臣奉漢約。 歸報，高帝大說，拜賈為太中大夫。
Wei Tuo jolted upright, apologized, and said, "Too long among barbarians—I have forgotten courtesy." He asked, "Am I the better man, or Xiao He, Cao Shen, and Han Xin?" Lu Jia said, "You seem their superior." He pressed, "And compared to the Emperor?" Lu Jia answered, "The Emperor rose from Feng and Pei, crushed Qin, broke Chu, worked good and removed evil for the world, carried on the legacy of the Five Emperors and Three Kings, united the realm, and governed China. China counts its people in the hundreds of millions; its soil runs ten thousand li of the empire's richest ground—crowds, carts, overflowing wealth, rule from a single throne—nothing like it has existed since creation. Your Majesty commands a few tens of thousands of frontier tribesmen in rough hills by the sea—one Han commandery, at best. How can you measure yourself against the Han empire!" Wei Tuo laughed and said, "I never built a career in China—that is why I rule in this corner of the world. If you had placed me in the heartland, I would hardly have yielded to Han." He warmed to Lu Jia at once and kept him for months of feasting. Wei Tuo said, "Yue offered no one I could talk to; since you came I learn something new every day." He gave Lu Jia a thousand in gold of traveling finery and another thousand in farewell gifts. Lu Jia completed the investiture, bound him to acknowledge Han as suzerain, and secured his adherence to the treaty. Gaozu was delighted with the report and named him Grandee of the Palace.
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賈時時前說稱《詩》、《書》。 高帝罵之曰：「乃公居馬上得之，安事《詩》、《書》！」 賈曰：「馬上得之，宁可以馬上治乎？ 且湯、武逆取而以順守之，文帝并用，長久之術也。 昔者吳王夫差、智伯极武而亡； 秦任刑法不變，卒滅趙氏。 鄉使秦以并天下，行仁義，法先圣，陛下安得而有之？」 高帝不懌，有慚色，謂賈曰：「試為我著秦所以失天下，吾所以得之者，及古成敗之國。」 賈凡著十二篇。 每奏一篇，高帝未嘗不稱善，左右呼万歲，稱其書曰《新語》。
Lu Jia kept pressing the classics—the *Book of Odes* and the *Book of Documents*—upon the throne. Gaozu snapped, "Your old man seized the realm from the saddle—what use has he for poetry and history?" Lu Jia answered, "You may conquer from horseback, but you cannot administer from the saddle. Tang and Wu wrested the mandate by force yet kept it with righteous rule; the lasting throne pairs civil arts with military awe. King Fuchai of Wu and the Earl of Zhi rode military force to the limit—and were destroyed. Qin trusted harsh statutes and never reformed, until its own dynasty burned out. Had Qin, once it united the realm, turned to benevolence and taken the ancient sages as its mirror, how could you, sire, ever have worn the crown?" The emperor looked sour, then sheepish, and told Lu Jia, "Draft for me why Qin lost the empire, why I won it, and how kingdoms of old rose or fell." Lu Jia produced twelve essays. Every chapter he read aloud drew Gaozu's praise; courtiers cheered "Wan sui!" and the collection was titled *New Discourses*.
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孝惠時，呂太后用事，欲王諸呂，畏大臣及有口者。 賈自度不能爭之，乃病免。 以好疇田地善，往家焉。 有五男，乃出所使越橐中裝，賣千金，分其子，子二百金，令為生產。 賈常乘安車駟馬，從歌鼓瑟侍者十人，寶劍直百金，謂其子曰：「与女約：過女，女給人馬酒食极欲，十日而更。 所死家，得寶劍車騎侍從者。 一歲中以往來過它客，率不過再過，數擊鮮，毋久溷女為也。」
Under Emperor Hui, Empress Dowager Lü held the government, planned to ennoble her clan as kings, and dreaded senior ministers and sharp debaters. Lu Jia knew he could not outmaneuver her, pleaded illness, and left office. He retired to Haozhi for its rich soil and settled his household. He had five sons. He cashed out the treasure he had carried back from Yue—worth a thousand in gold—and gave each son two hundred, telling them to invest it in their futures. He traveled in a four-horse covered carriage with ten musicians in train and a sword worth a hundred in gold. "Here is our bargain," he told his sons: "Whenever I visit, you will mount me, pour the wine, and lay the table to my heart's content for ten days—then I go on. Whichever roof shelters my death keeps the sword, the carriage, the horses, and the retinue. In any given year I will rarely call on any of you more than twice, and I will bring fresh game often—so I will not wear out my welcome."
16
呂太后時，王諸呂，諸呂擅權，欲劫少主，危劉氏。 右丞相陳平患之，力不能爭，恐禍及己。 平常燕居深念。 賈往，不請，直入坐，陳平方念，不見賈。 賈曰：「何念深也？」 平曰：「生揣我何念？」 賈曰：「足下位為上相，食三萬戶侯，可謂極富貴無欲矣。 然有憂念，不過患諸呂、少主耳。」 陳平曰：「然。 為之奈何？」 賈曰：「天下安，注意相； 天下危，注意將。 將相和，則士豫附； 士豫附，天下雖有變，則權不分。 權不分，為社稷計，在兩君掌握耳。 臣常欲謂太尉絳侯，絳侯與我戲，易吾言。 君何不交驩太尉，深相結？」 為陳平畫呂氏數事。 平用其計，乃以五百金為絳侯壽，厚縣樂飲太尉，太尉亦報如之。 兩人深相結，呂氏謀益壞。 陳平乃以奴婢百人，車馬五十乘，錢五百萬，遺賈為食飲費。 賈以此遊漢廷公卿間，名聲籍甚。 及誅呂氏，立孝文，賈頗有力。
When the dowager ennobled the Lüs they seized the levers of power, plotted to hold the boy emperor hostage, and menaced the Liu lineage. Right Chancellor Chen Ping was sick with worry—too weak to resist, yet afraid the blow would fall on him. Chen Ping often sat alone at home, brooding. Lu Jia walked in unbidden, took a seat, while Chen Ping remained lost in thought and never saw him enter. Lu Jia said, "What has you sunk so deep in thought?" "Can you guess what troubles me?" "You are chief minister and enjoy a thirty-thousand-household stipend—you have climbed to wealth and rank and should want for nothing. Yet you are anxious—and it can only be the Lü cabal and the child emperor." "True. What can be done?" "When the realm is calm, eyes turn to the chancellor; when it totters, eyes turn to the general. If those two stand together, bold men will flock to you; with talent at your back, even upheaval will not split your authority. So long as you keep command undivided, the fate of the altars rests in the hands of you two alone. I have long wanted to counsel Grand Commandant Zhou Bo, but he jokes with me and brushes off what I say. Win his trust openly and bind him to you—that is the path." He sketched a series of moves against the Lüs for Chen Ping. Chen Ping followed the advice, sent five hundred in gold for Zhou Bo's birthday, and feasted him royally; the grand commandant returned the courtesy in kind. The two became confidants, and the Lü conspiracy began to fray. Chen Ping gave him a hundred maids, fifty carriages, and five million cash to bankroll his entertaining. With that stake Lu Jia circulated among Han's grandees and grew famous overnight. When the Lüs fell and Emperor Wen ascended, Lu Jia had done heavy lifting behind the scenes.
17
孝文即位，欲使人之南越，丞相平乃言賈為太中大夫，往使尉佗，去黃屋稱制，令比諸侯，皆如意指。 語在《南越傳》。 陸生竟以壽終。
Emperor Wen meant to reopen ties with Yue; Chancellor Chen Ping again named Lu Jia Grand Palace Grandee. Lu Jia persuaded Wei Tuo to shed the yellow canopy and imperial rhetoric and accept parity with other feudal lords—exactly as the throne wished. The particulars are recorded in the "Account of Southern Yue." Lu Jia lived out his years in peace.
18
硃建，楚人也。 故嘗為淮南王黥布相，有罪去，後復事布。 布欲反時，問建，建諫止之。 布不聽，聽梁父侯，遂反。 漢既誅布，聞建諫之，高祖賜建號平原君，家徙長安。
Zhu Jian was a native of Chu. He had once been chancellor to Huainan king Ying Bu, left under a cloud, and later returned to Bu's service. When Bu plotted revolt he asked Zhu Jian, who urged him to abandon the scheme. Bu ignored him, followed the Marquis of Liangfu's counsel, and rose anyway. After Han executed Bu, Gaozu learned Zhu Jian had tried to dissuade him; he ennobled Zhu Jian as Lord of Pingyuan and transferred his family to Chang'an.
19
為人辯有口，刻廉剛直，行不苟合，義不取容。 辟陽侯行不正，得幸呂太后，欲知建，建不肯見。 及建母死，貧未有以發喪，方假貣服具。 陸賈素與建善，乃見辟陽侯，賀曰：「平原君母死。」 辟陽侯曰：「平原君母死，何乃賀我？」 陸生曰：「前日君侯欲知平原君，平原君義不知君，以其母故。 今其母死，君誠厚送喪，則彼為君死矣。」 辟陽侯乃奉百金稅，列侯貴人以辟陽侯故，往賻凡五百金。
He was quick-tongued, rigidly honest, unbending in action, and unwilling to trim principle for favor. Marquis Shen of Piyang, whose conduct was scandalous, enjoyed the dowager's favor; he sought an introduction to Zhu Jian, who would not receive him. When Zhu Jian's mother died he was too poor to bury her and was still borrowing mortuary goods. Lu Jia, who was Zhu Jian's friend, called on the marquis of Piyang to offer congratulations: "The Lord of Pingyuan's mother is dead." "His mother is dead—why congratulate me?" "You wanted his friendship; out of duty to his mother he refused. Now she is gone—if you bury her handsomely, he will lay down his life for you in return." The marquis sent a hundred in gold as a mortuary gift; other peers, taking their cue from him, added condolences until the sum reached five hundred.
20
久之，人或毀辟陽侯，惠帝大怒，下吏，欲誅之。 太后慚，不可言。 大臣多害辟陽侯行，欲遂誅之。 辟陽侯困急，使人欲見建。 建辭曰：「獄急，不敢見君。」 建乃求見孝惠幸臣閎籍孺，說曰：「君所以得幸帝，天下莫不聞。 今辟陽侯幸太后而下吏，道路皆言君讒，欲殺之。 今日辟陽侯誅，且日太后含怒，亦誅君。 君何不肉袒為辟陽侯言帝？ 帝聽君出辟陽侯，太后大驩。 兩主俱幸君，君富貴益倍矣。」 於是閎籍孺大恐，從其計，言帝，帝果出辟陽侯。 辟陽侯之囚，欲見建，建不見，辟陽侯以為背之，大怒。 乃其成功出之，大驚。
In time someone denounced Shen to Emperor Hui, who flew into a rage, clapped him in chains, and prepared his execution. The dowager burned with shame and dared not speak for him. Most ministers detested his conduct and pressed for immediate death. Cornered, Shen sent for Zhu Jian. Zhu Jian refused: "The scandal is too hot—I cannot be seen with you." Zhu Jian went to Hong Jiru, the emperor's favorite, and said, "Everyone at court knows the sovereign dotes on you. Now Shen is the dowager's lover yet sits in jail, and every rumor says you whispered poison into the emperor's ear so he would kill Shen. If Shen dies today, the dowager's stored fury will take your head tomorrow. Strip to the waist and beg the emperor for his life. If the emperor yields, the dowager will rejoice. You will stand high with both rulers—and your fortune doubles." Terror-stricken, Hong Jiru did as he was told, and the emperor spared the marquis. While Shen still languished in prison he begged to see Zhu Jian; Zhu Jian stayed away, and Shen thought himself betrayed—he was furious. When he walked free and learned how he had been saved, he was stunned.
21
呂太后崩，大臣誅諸呂，辟陽侯與諸呂至深，卒不誅。 計畫所以全者，皆陸生、平原君之力也。
After the dowager died the ministers purged the Lüs; Shen's bonds to them ran deep as blood, yet he alone survived. Lu Jia and the Lord of Pingyuan had engineered his deliverance.
22
孝文時，淮南厲王殺辟陽侯，以党諸呂故。 孝文聞其客硃建為其策，使吏捕欲治。 聞吏至門，建欲自殺。 諸子及吏皆曰：「事未可知，何自殺為？」 建曰：「我死禍絕，不及乃身矣。」 遂自剄。 文帝聞而惜之，曰：「吾無殺建意也。」 乃召其子，拜為中大夫。 使匈奴，單于無禮，罵單于，遂死匈奴中。
Under Emperor Wen, King Li of Huainan slew Shen for abetting the Lü faction. Wen learned Zhu Jian had plotted the murder and sent officers to seize him. When the bailiffs reached his door Zhu Jian reached for the blade. His sons and the guards said, "The verdict is still unknown—why die now?" Zhu Jian said, "If I die the matter ends with me; your skins stay whole." He drew the knife across his own throat. Wen lamented: "I never meant to execute him." He summoned Zhu Jian's son and named him Grandee of the Palace. That son was posted to the Xiongnu; when the chanyu insulted him he hurled abuse back and died in the steppe.
23
婁敬，齊人也。 漢五年，戍隴西，過雒陽，高帝在焉。 敬脫挽輅，見齊人虞將軍曰：「臣願見上言便宜。」 虞將軍欲與鮮衣，敬曰：「臣衣帛，衣帛見，衣褐，衣褐見，不敢易衣。」 虞將軍入言上，上召見，賜食。
Lou Jing came from Qi. In Han year 5 he was bound for garrison in Longxi and passed through Luoyang, where Gaozu was camped. He dropped the traces of his baggage cart, found General Yu of Qi, and said, "I must see the emperor on a matter of policy." Yu offered court silks; Lou Jing refused: "If I wear silk I present myself in silk; if I wear homespun I come as I am—I will not change robes to curry favor." Yu relayed the request; Gaozu received him and had food brought.
24
漢七年，韓王信反，高帝自往擊。 至晉陽，聞信與匈奴欲擊漢，上大怒，使人使匈奴。 匈奴匿其壯士肥牛馬，徒見其老弱及羸畜。 使者十蜚來，皆言匈奴易擊。 上使劉敬復往使匈奴，還報曰：「兩國相擊，此宜誇矜見所長。 今臣往，徒見羸胔老弱，此必欲見短，伏奇兵以爭利。 愚以為匈奴不可擊也。」 是時漢兵以逾句注，三十餘萬眾，兵已業行。 上怒，罵敬曰：「齊虜！ 以舌得官，乃今妄言沮吾軍！」 械系敬廣武。 遂往，至平城，匈奴果出奇兵圍高帝白登，七日然後得解。 高帝至廣武，赦敬，曰：「吾不用公言，以困平城。 吾已斬先使十輩言可擊者矣。」 乃封敬二千戶，為關內侯，號建信侯。
In Han year 7 Han Xin of Han rebelled, and Gaozu marched in person against him. At Jinyang he learned Xin was colluding with the Xiongnu; he flew into a rage and dispatched spies to the steppe. The nomads hid their warriors and prime herds, parading only the aged, the feeble, and starved beasts. Embassy after embassy reported the Xiongnu were easy prey. Gaozu sent Lou Jing on another reconnaissance; he returned saying, "When two powers brace for war, each parades its strength. I saw only gaunt men and broken-down herds—they mean to look feeble while masking strike forces for an ambush. In my humble view the Xiongnu must not be attacked." By then over three hundred thousand Han soldiers had crossed the Gouzhu pass; the host was already committed to the campaign. The emperor exploded and cursed Lou Jing: "You Qi captive! You talked your way into rank, and now you spread lies to stop my army cold!" They clapped him in irons and held him under guard at Guangwu. Gaozu pressed on anyway. At Pingcheng the Xiongnu sprang their trap and ringed him on Baideng; seven days passed before he broke out. Back at Guangwu Gaozu freed Lou Jing and said, "I ignored your warning and walked into the Pingcheng disaster. I have already executed every earlier messenger who swore the nomads were easy prey." He then enfeoffed Lou Jing at two thousand households as a marquis-within-the-passes under the style Marquis Who Builds Trust.
25
高帝罷平城歸，韓王信亡人胡。 當是時，冒頓單于兵強，控弦四十萬騎，數若北邊。 上患之，問敬。 敬曰：「天下初定，士卒罷於兵革，未可以武服也。 冒頓殺人父代立，妻群母，以力為威，未可以仁義說也。 獨可以計久遠子孫為臣耳，然陛下恐不能為。」 上曰：「誠可，何為不能！ 顧為奈何？」 敬曰：「陛下誠能以適長公主妻單于，厚奉遺之，彼知漢女送厚，蠻夷必慕，以為閼氏，生子必為太子，代單于。 何者？ 貪漢重幣。 陛下以歲時漢所餘彼所鮮數問遺，使辯士風喻以禮節。 冒頓在，固為子婿； 死，外孫為單于。 豈曾聞孫敢與大父亢禮哉？ 可毋戰以漸臣也。 若陛下不能遣長公主，而令宗室及後宮詐稱公主，彼亦知不肯貴近，無益也。」 高帝曰：「善。」 欲遣長公主。 呂後泣曰：「妾唯以一太子、一女，奈何棄之匈奴！」 上竟不能遣長公主，而取家人子為公主，妻單于。 使敬往結和親約。
Gaozu retreated from Pingcheng; Han Xin of Han defected into the steppe. Modu Chanyu then fielded four hundred thousand mounted archers and raided the north without pause. The emperor brooded over the threat and asked Lou Jing for a policy. Lou Jing said, "The realm is barely pacified and the troops are spent—you cannot cow them with steel alone. Modu killed his father for the throne, married his father's widows, and rules by terror—virtuous words will not move him. You can only bind him with a design that turns his heirs into vassals—and even that asks something hard of you." Gaozu said, "If the thing is sound, why should I shrink from it! What exactly do you propose?" Lou Jing answered, "Send your eldest princess by the empress to the chanyu with a lavish bride-price. He will prize a Han princess and make her chief wife; her son will be heir apparent and someday chanyu himself. Why would that work? Because they hunger for Han gold and silks. Each year shower them with what we have in plenty and they lack, and let eloquent envoys tutor them in courtesy. Modu alive is your son-in-law; when he dies your grandson sits on the throne. What grandson would face his grandfather as an equal? You can turn them into vassals without drawing a bow. If you palm off a lesser daughter of the house or a palace maid as the princess, they will sniff out the fraud, scorn the match, and the whole scheme fails." Gaozu said, "Agreed." He prepared to send the true eldest princess. Empress Lü wept: "I have but one crown prince and one daughter—do not cast her to the nomads!" Gaozu yielded to her tears, picked a foster daughter from the inner court, and sent her north as the princess. He dispatched Lou Jing to seal the heqin pact.
26
敬從匈奴來，因言「匈奴河南白羊、樓煩王，去長安近者七百里，輕騎一日一夕可以至。 秦中新破，少民，地肥饒，可益實。 夫諸侯初起時，非齊諸田，楚昭、屈、景莫與。 今陛下雖都關中，實少人。 北近胡冠，東有六國強族，一日有變，陛下亦未得安枕而臥也。 臣願陛下徙齊諸田，楚昭、屈、景、燕、趙、韓、魏後，及豪傑名家，且實關中。 無事，可以備胡； 諸侯有變，亦足率以東伐。 此強本弱末之術也。」 上曰：「善。」 乃使劉敬徙所言關中十餘萬口。
On his return from the steppe Lou Jing warned: "The Báiyáng and Loufan kings south of the Yellow River lie within seven hundred li of Chang'an—mounted raiders could strike in a day and a night. Guanzhong is still depopulated from the wars, yet the soil is rich—fill it with people. When the rebellion began, no line rivaled the Tian of Qi or the Zhao, Qu, and Jing houses of Chu. You rule from Guanzhong, but the basin is thinly peopled. Hu horsemen loom to the north; the old great-clan networks of the Six States lie to the east—one spark and you will not sleep soundly. I urge you to transplant the Tian of Qi, the Zhao, Qu, and Jing of Chu, the surviving houses of Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei, and every notable clan into Guanzhong. In quiet years they stiffen the frontier against the Hu; if the lords rebel, they give you a ready host to march east. That is how you thicken the trunk and prune the branches." The emperor said, "Well said." He ordered Lou Jing to resettle the hundred thousand-plus households he had named into the capital region.
27
叔孫通
Shusun Tong
28
叔孫通，薛人也。 秦時以文學征，待詔博士。 數歲，陳勝起，二世召博士諸儒生問曰：「楚戍卒攻蘄入陳，於公何如？」 博士諸生三十餘人前曰：「人臣無將，將則反，罪死無赦。 願陛下急發兵擊之。」 二世怒，作色。 通前曰：「諸生言皆非。 夫天下為一家，毀郡縣城，鑠其兵，視天下弗復用。 且明主在上，法令具於下，吏人人奉職，四方輻輳，安有反者！ 此特群盜鼠竊狗盜，何足置齒牙間哉？ 郡守尉今捕誅，何足憂？」 二世喜，盡問諸生，諸生或言反，或言盜。 於是二世令御史按諸生言反者下吏，非所宜言。 諸生言盜者皆罷之。 乃賜通帛二十匹，衣一襲，拜為博士，通已出，反舍，諸生曰：「生何言之諛也？」 通曰：「公不知，我幾不免虎口！」 乃亡去之薛，薛已降楚矣。
Shusun Tong came from Xue. Under Qin he earned a summons on literary merit and held a reserve appointment among the court erudites. Years later Chen Sheng revolted. Ershi summoned the erudites and asked what it meant that Chu conscripts had stormed Qi and seized Chen. Thirty-odd scholars stepped up: "No subject may take command; to take arms is treason deserving death without pardon. Send an army at once to crush them." Ershi flushed with rage. Shusun Tong advanced: "Every word they spoke is wrong. The realm is one house now: the Qin have razed local fortifications and smelted the weapons—there is no more use for arms. A clear-sighted sovereign sits on high, statutes run to every yamen, officials do their rounds, and the corners of the empire pay court—where would rebels come from? These are mice and cur-thieves beneath notice. County commandants will hunt them down—why lose sleep?" Ershi brightened, polled the hall: some called it revolt, some brigandage. He told the censors to jail everyone who had said "rebellion"—disloyal speech. Anyone who had said "bandits" was sent home. Shusun Tong won twenty bolts of silk, a new robe, and a renewed erudite title. Back at his quarters his fellows hissed, "How could you crawl like that?" He shot back, "You nearly watched me fed to a tiger—you have no idea." He bolted for Xue, only to find Xue already under Chu's flag.
29
及項梁之薛，通從之。 敗定陶，從懷王。 懷王為義帝，徙長沙，通留事項王，漢二年，漢王從五諸侯入彭城，通降漢王。
When Xiang Liang marched on Xue, Shusun Tong joined him. After the disaster at Dingtao he attached himself to King Huai. Huai became the Righteous Emperor and was banished to Changsha; Shusun Tong stayed with Xiang Yu. In Han year 2 the King of Han swept into Pengcheng with five allied kings, and Shusun Tong crossed to Han.
30
通儒服，漢王憎之，乃變其服，服短衣，楚制。 漢王喜。
He arrived in scholar's robes; Liu Bang hated the look, so he switched to short Chu jackets. The King of Han liked that better.
31
通之降漢，從弟子百餘人，然無所進，剸言諸故群盜壯士進之。 弟子皆曰：「事先生數年，幸得從降漢，今不進臣等，剸言大猾，何也？」 通乃謂曰：「漢王方蒙矢石爭天下，諸生寧能鬥乎？ 故先言斬將搴旗之士。 諸生且待我，我不忘矣。」 漢王拜通為博士，號稷嗣君。
He brought a hundred disciples yet recommended none of them—only old bandit chiefs won promotion. His students protested: "We studied under you for years and followed you to Han—why push cutthroats ahead of us?" Shusun Tong answered, "Your patron is dodging arrows to win an empire—can any of you hold a spear? So I start with men who can take heads and haul standards. Wait your turn—I have not forgotten you." The King of Han named him erudite with the style Lord Who Inherits the Altar of Ji.
32
漢王已並天下，諸侯共尊為皇帝于定陶，通就其儀號。 高帝悉去秦儀法，為簡易。 群臣飲爭功，醉或妄呼，拔劍擊柱，上患之。 通知上亦厭之，說上曰：「夫儒者難與進取，可與守成。 臣願征魯諸生，與臣弟子共起朝儀。」 高帝曰：「得無難乎？」 通曰：「五帝異樂，三王不同禮。 禮者，因時世人情為之節文者也。 故夏、殷、周禮所因損益可知者，謂不相復也。 臣願頗采古禮與秦儀雜就之。」 上曰：「可試為之，令易知，度吾所能行為之。」
When the lords acclaimed Liu Bang emperor at Dingtao, Shusun Tong drafted titles and protocol. Gaozu junked Qin court etiquette and kept things rough-and-ready. Ministers brawled drunk over who deserved what, drew steel on the palace columns—the throne was alarmed. Shusun Tong saw the danger and said, "Scholars are poor shock troops but excellent stewards of a settled throne. Let me summon the Ru of Lu and train your court in proper ceremony." Gaozu asked, "Isn't that impossibly heavy?" Shusun Tong replied, "The Five Emperors sang different tunes; the Three Kings wore different rites. Ceremony is the garment cut to fit the age and the temper of the people. That is why Xia, Shang, and Zhou each revised ritual in turn rather than simply copying their predecessors. I propose to blend classical forms with what survives of Qin court drill." Gaozu said, "Try—but keep it plain enough that I can actually do it."
33
於是通使征魯諸生三十餘人。 魯有兩生不肯行，曰：「公所事者且十主，皆面腴親貴。 今天下初定，死者未葬，傷者未起，又欲起禮樂。 禮樂所由起，百年積德而後可興也。 吾不忍為公所為。 公所為不合古，吾不行。 公往矣，毋汙我！」 通笑曰：「若真鄙儒，不知時變。」 遂與所征三十人西，及上左右為學者與其弟子百餘人為綿蕞野外。 習之月餘，通曰：「上可試觀。」 上使行禮，曰：「吾能為此。」 乃令群臣習肄，會十月。
He sent to Lu for thirty-odd classicists. Two old men refused: "You have curried nearly ten masters, every one a well-fed favorite of the mighty. The realm is still a battlefield of unburied dead and crippled veterans—and you want to stage music and dance? Rites and music need a century of virtue before they belong in public life. We will not soil ourselves with your errand. Your scheme is not the way of the sages. Go—and leave us out of it!" Shusun Tong laughed and said, "You are truly vulgar pedants—you do not know how to change with the times." He marched west with his thirty recruits, the capital scholars who joined him, and his disciples—over a hundred men—and laid out straw markers in the fields to rehearse. After a month he told Gaozu, "You can inspect a dress rehearsal." Gaozu watched a run-through and said, "I can manage that." He told the ministers to drill until the tenth-month audience.
34
漢七年，長樂宮成，諸侯群臣朝十月。 儀：先平明，謁者治禮，引以次入殿門。 廷中陳車騎戍卒衛官，設兵，張旗志。 傳曰「趨」。 殿下郎中俠陛，陛數百人。 功臣、列侯、諸將軍、軍吏以次陳西方，東鄉； 文官丞相以下陳東方，西鄉。 大行設九賓，臚句傳。 於是皇帝輦出房，百官執戟傳警，引諸侯王以下至吏六百石以次奉賀。 自諸侯王以下莫不震恐肅敬。 至禮畢，盡伏，置法酒。 諸侍坐殿下皆伏抑首，以尊卑次起上壽。 觴九行，謁者言「罷酒」。 御史執法舉不如儀者輒引去。 竟朝置酒，無敢讙嘩失禮者。 於是高帝曰：「吾乃今日知為皇帝之貴也！」 拜通為奉常，賜金五百斤。 通因進曰：「諸弟子儒生隨臣久矣，與共為儀，願陛下官之。」 高帝悉以為郎。 通出，皆以五百金賜諸生。 諸生乃喜曰：「叔孫生聖人，知當世務。」
In Han year 7 Changle Palace was finished; lords and ministers gathered for the winter court. The order of the day: before dawn broke, chamberlains set the ritual in motion and led each rank through the palace gates in turn. The courtyard filled with chariots, pickets, arms, and streaming banners. Callers barked, "Quick step!" Gentlemen of the palace flanked the stairs—hundreds on the terraces. Merit marquises and generals formed up on the west, facing east; civil officers from the chancellor down lined the east, facing west. The grand usher staged the nine-tier guest array and passed the litany of titles from herald to herald. Then Gaozu's litter rolled from the private apartments; guards with halberds called the watches and shepherded every rank from the kings to the six-hundred-bushel officials forward to pay court in sequence. From the royal enfeoffees downward every man stood rigid with awe. When the rite closed the hall dropped to its knees; stewards poured the measured toast. Courtiers along the floorboards kept their brows to the mats, then rose by seniority to drink the emperor's health. Nine passes of the cup ended before the usher intoned, "The banquet is closed." Censors marked any slip in deportment and had the offender marched out immediately. Not a single drunk squabble marred the whole audience. Gaozu burst out, "Not until this hour did I understand what the throne is worth!" He promoted Shusun Tong to Director of Imperial Sacrifices and poured five hundred jin of gold into his lap. Shusun Tong added, "These students rehearsed the ceremony with me—grant them posts." Gaozu named every one of them court gentlemen. Shusun Tong walked out and shared the imperial gold with his entire school. They cheered, "Master Shusun reads the times like a sage."
35
九年，高帝徙通為太子太傅。 十二年，高帝欲以趙王如意易太子，通諫曰：「昔者晉獻公以驪姬故，廢太子，立奚齊，晉國亂者數十年，為天下笑。 秦以不早定扶蘇，故亥詐立，自使滅祀，此陛下所親見。 今太子仁孝，天下皆聞之； 呂後與陛下攻苦食啖，其可背哉！ 陛下必欲廢適而立少，臣願先伏誅，以頸血污地。」 高帝曰：「公罷矣，吾特戲耳。」 通曰：「太子天下本，本壹搖天下震動，奈何以天下戲！」 高帝曰：「吾聽公。」 及上置酒，見留侯所招客從太子入見，上遂無易太子志矣。
In the ninth year Gaozu moved him to grand tutor of the crown prince. In year twelve Gaozu meant to swap the lawful heir for Prince Ruyi of Zhao. Shusun Tong objected: "Duke Xian of Jin listened to Lady Li Ji, cashiered the crown prince, and raised Xi Qi—decades of civil war and a joke to the world. Qin never fixed the succession on Fusu, so Huhai forged an edict and cut his own ancestral line short—you watched that lesson yourself. The heir you have is humane and filial; the whole realm knows it; Empress Lü shared your bitter campaigns—would you cast her aside! If you insist on displacing the rightful heir for the younger boy, strike off my head first and let my blood pool on these stones. Gaozu waved him down: "Enough talk—it was only a jest." Shusun Tong shot back, "The heir is the taproot of the state—jar it once and the realm quakes; the empire is no subject for jokes!" The High Ancestor said, "I accept your counsel." Later, at a palace feast, Gaozu watched Lord Zhang's handpicked retainers file in behind the heir—and the whim to replace him died on the spot.
36
高帝崩，孝惠即位，乃謂通曰：「先帝園陵寢廟，群臣莫習。」 徙通為奉常，定宗廟儀法。 乃稍定漢諸儀法，皆通所論著也。 惠帝為東朝長樂宮，及間往，數蹕煩民，作復道，方築武庫南，通奏事，因請間，曰：「陛下何自築復道高帝寢，衣冠月出遊高廟？ 子孫奈何乘宗廟道上行哉！」 惠帝懼，曰：「急壞之。」 通曰：「人主無過舉。 今已作，百姓皆知之矣。 願陛下為原廟渭北，衣冠月出遊之，益廣宗廟，大孝之本。」 上乃詔有司立原廟。
When Gaozu died and Emperor Hui ascended, he told Shusun Tong, "No one in court knows how to serve Father's mausoleum shrines." He restored Shusun Tong to Director of Sacrifices to codify the ancestral cult. Piece by piece the Han court ritual took shape, and every clause bore Shusun Tong's hand. Emperor Hui heard cases from Changle in the east; the constant cordons for his visits vexed the capital, so he threw an elevated walk across the route—right over the spirit road south of the arsenal. Shusun Tong filed a routine report, then asked for a private word: "Why pave a skyway across the path Gaozu's robes and crown travel each month to the high shrine? Would you have a son stride the sacred lane reserved for the shrines!" Hui blanched: "Rip it out tonight." Shusun Tong said, "A Son of Heaven never errs in public. The gallery already stands; every ward in the capital knows you raised it. Build auxiliary shrines north of the Wei for the monthly procession instead—broaden the ancestral cult; that is the marrow of true filial piety." The emperor commanded the proper bureaus to raise the satellite temples.
37
惠帝常出游離宮，通曰：「古者有春嘗果，方今櫻桃熟，可獻，願陛下出，因取櫻桃獻宗廟。」 上許之。 諸果獻由此興。
When Hui kept holidaying at outlying palaces, Shusun Tong said, "The rites call for spring fruit—cherries are ripe; let this outing furnish the first offering for the altars." The emperor agreed. Seasonal fruit offerings to the shrines began with that counsel.
38
贊曰：高祖以征伐定天下，而縉紳之徒聘其知辯，並成大業。 語曰：「廊廟之枝材一木之材，帝王之功非一士之略」，信哉！ 劉敬脫挽輅而建金城之安，叔孫通舍枹鼓而立一王之儀，遇其時也。 酈生自匿監門，待主然後出，猶不免鼎鑊。 硃建始名廉直，既距辟陽，不終其節，亦以喪身。 陸賈位止大夫，致仕諸呂，不受憂責，從容平、勃之間，附會將相以強社稷，身名俱榮，其最優乎！
The historian remarks: Gaozu hammered out the realm on campaign, but silk-girded scholars lent wit and rhetoric to seal the founding. As the proverb has it, "No single log roofs the state hall; no lone strategist builds an imperial age"—and how true that is! Liu Jing dropped his wagon traces and forged the armored peace of the northern line; Shusun Tong traded the war drum for the choreography of one Son of Heaven—they seized the hour fate offered. Li Shiqi lurked at the hamlet gate until the right patron appeared—yet the cauldron still claimed him. Zhu Jian began as a byword for icy honor; entanglement with Marquis Shen broke the arc of his principles and cost him his life. Lu Jia never rose past grandee, yet he withdrew when the Lüs ruled, dodged ruin, glided between Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, yoked commandant to chancellor to brace the state, and walked off with life and renown intact—surely the soundest judgment of them all!