1
卷五十張馮汲鄭傳第二十
Volume 50: The Biographies of Zhang, Feng, Ji, and Zheng (No. 20).
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張釋之
Zhang Shizhi
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張釋之字季，南陽堵陽人也。 與兄仲同居，以貲為騎郎，事文帝，十年不得調，亡所知名。 釋之曰：「久宦減仲之產，不遂。」 欲免歸。 中郎將爰盎知其賢，惜其去，乃請徙釋之補謁者。 釋之既朝畢，因前言便宜事。 文帝曰：「卑之，毋甚高論，令今可行也。」 於是釋之言秦、漢之間事，秦所以失，漢所以興者。 文帝稱善，拜釋之為謁者僕射。
Zhang Shizhi, whose courtesy name was Ji, came from Duyang in Nanyang. He lived with his older brother Zhong, bought his way into the post of mounted attendant, and attended Emperor Wen; for ten years he was never moved to a new post and remained entirely unknown. Shizhi said, "My long service as an official has eaten away at Zhong's estate; nothing has come of it." He wanted to resign and go home. Yuan Ang, general of the gentlemen-at-arms, knew Shizhi was capable and hated to lose him, so he asked that Shizhi be reassigned to serve as an usher. After court was dismissed, Shizhi stepped forward and spoke of policies that would benefit the state. Emperor Wen said, "Keep it practical; spare me lofty theory—tell me what can actually be done today." Shizhi then traced events from Qin through to Han, explaining how Qin had lost the empire and how Han had gained it. The emperor approved, and Shizhi was appointed chief usher (pushe).
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從行，上登虎圈，問上林尉禽獸簿，十餘問，尉左右視，盡不能對。 虎圈嗇夫從旁代尉對上所問禽獸簿甚悉，欲以觀其能口對向應亡窮者。 文帝曰：「吏不當如此邪？ 尉亡賴！」 詔釋之拜嗇夫為上林令。 釋之前曰：「陛下以絳侯周勃何如人也？」 上曰：「上者。」 又復問：「東陽侯張相如何如人也？」 上復曰：「長者。」 釋之曰：「夫絳侯、東陽侯稱為長者，此兩人言事曾不能出口，豈效此嗇夫喋喋利口捷給哉！ 且秦以任刀筆之吏，爭以亟疾苛察相高，其敝徒文具，亡惻隱之實。 以故不聞其過，陵夷至於二世，天下土崩。 今陛下以嗇夫口辯而超遷之，臣恐天下隨風靡，爭口辯，亡其實。 且下之化上，疾於景□，舉錯不可不察也。」 文帝曰：「善。」 乃止不拜嗇夫。
During a progress the emperor climbed to the tiger park and put more than ten questions to the Shanglin commandant about the game register; the man looked from side to side and could answer none of them. The park overseer at the tiger pen, standing nearby, answered every question about the register in exhaustive detail, hoping to show off a man who could talk his way through anything. The emperor said, "Is this not how an official ought to behave?" "The commandant is useless!" He told Shizhi to promote that overseer to superintendent of Shanglin. Shizhi stepped forward: "Your Majesty, what manner of man do you take Marquis of Jiang Zhou Bo to be?" The emperor said, "He is a man of substance—a steady elder in conduct." He asked again: "And what of Marquis of Dongyang Zhang Xiangru?" Again the emperor said, "The same—a steady, venerable sort of man." Shizhi replied, "Those two are honored as elder statesmen, yet neither could get a sentence out when state business was discussed. Is Your Majesty to take this overseer, with his endless patter and glib tongue, as the model?" Besides, the Qin put petty clerks in charge; they vied to be harsher and quicker to find fault, until government was nothing but paper and the human touch vanished. The ruler therefore never heard his own faults; decline ran on to the Second Emperor, and the realm fell apart. If you now leap this man ahead because he talks well, I fear the whole country will take its cue, chase clever words, and forget what is real. What those below learn from those above spreads faster than shadow or echo; every move you make in appointments must be weighed with care." The emperor said, "Well said." He dropped the idea and never gave the overseer the post.
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就車，召釋之驂乘，徐行，行問釋之秦之敝。 具以質言。 至宮，上拜釋之為公車令。
He got into his carriage, had Shizhi take the place beside the driver, and drove slowly, asking as they went what had gone wrong under the Qin. Shizhi answered plainly and to the point. Back at the palace the emperor appointed him marshal of the imperial carriage.
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頃之，太子與梁王共車入朝，不下司馬門，於是釋之追止太子、梁王毋入殿門。 遂劾不下公門不敬，奏之。 薄太后聞之，文帝免冠謝曰：「教兒子不謹。」 薄太后使使承詔赦太子、梁王，然後得入。 文帝繇是奇釋之，拜為中大夫。
Soon after, the crown prince and the king of Liang rode together into the palace precincts without alighting at the Sima Gate; Shizhi overtook them and barred them from the inner hall until they complied. He then filed a charge of disrespect for not dismounting at the outer gate and submitted it to the throne. When Empress Dowager Bo learned of it, Emperor Wen doffed his cap and apologized: "I was remiss in teaching my sons." The empress dowager sent messengers with an edict pardoning the crown prince and the king of Liang, after which they were allowed in. Emperor Wen was struck by Shizhi from that day on and promoted him to grand counsellor of the palace.
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頃之，至中郎將。 從行至霸陵，上居外臨廁。 時慎夫人從，上指視慎夫人新豐道，曰：「此走邯鄲道也。」 使慎夫人鼓瑟，上自倚瑟而歌，意淒愴悲懷，顧謂群臣曰：「嗟乎！ 以北山石為槨，用□絮斫陳漆其間，豈可動哉！」 左右皆曰：「善。」 釋之前曰：「使其中有可欲，雖錮南山猶有隙； 使其中亡可欲，雖亡石槨，又何戚焉？」 文帝稱善。 其後，拜釋之為廷尉。
In due course he rose to general of the gentlemen-at-arms. On a progress to Baling the emperor halted outside and stepped to the privy. Lady Shen was with him; he pointed toward the Xinfeng road for her and said, "That is the road to Handan." He had Lady Shen play the se and himself sang along, leaning on the instrument, his heart full of grief; turning to the ministers he said, "Ah, if we used the northern mountain for an outer shell and filled the joints with packed floss and lacquer, who could ever breach it!" Those at his side said, "Indeed." Shizhi stepped forward: "If there is anything inside worth stealing, sealing it with the whole Southern Range would still leave a crack; if there is nothing worth taking, then even without a stone sarcophagus, what is there to fear?" The emperor praised his answer. He later appointed Shizhi commandant of justice (tingwei).
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頃之，上行出中渭橋，有一人從橋下走，乘輿馬驚。 於是使騎捕之，屬廷尉。 釋之治問。 曰：「縣人來，聞蹕，匿橋下。 久，以為行過，既出，見車騎，即走耳。」 釋之奏當：「此人犯蹕，當罰金。」 上怒曰：「此人親驚吾馬，馬賴和柔，令它馬，固不敗傷我乎？ 而廷尉乃當之罰金！」 釋之曰：「法者，天子所與天下公共也。 今法如是，更重之，是法不信於民也。 且方其時，上使使誅之則已。 今已下廷尉，廷尉，天下之平也，壹傾，天下用法皆為之輕重，民安所錯其手足？ 唯陛下察之。」 上良久曰：「廷尉當是也。」
Not long after, the emperor was crossing the middle Wei Bridge when someone darted from beneath it and spooked the imperial horses. Horsemen were sent to seize the man and hand him to the commandant of justice. Shizhi examined him under the law. The man said, "I am a commoner from the countryside. I heard the procession clearing the road and hid under the bridge." I waited so long I thought the train had gone; when I stepped out and saw the escort I ran—that is all there is to it." Shizhi reported the statutory sentence: "This man broke the law on clearing the way; the fine is in gold." The emperor flared: "He nearly threw my horses; they were gentle—another team might have killed me." And you answer with a mere fine!" Shizhi said, "The law is something Your Majesty holds in common with every subject." The statute says what it says; to stretch it heavier would teach the people not to trust the law. Besides, at the moment it happened you could have sent a man to behead him and been done. Now it has reached the commandant of justice—and he is the level for the whole realm. Tip that balance once, and every magistrate will bend sentences up or down; where are ordinary folk to put their hands and feet? I beg you to think this through." After a long silence the emperor said, "The commandant is right."
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其後人有盜高廟座前玉環，得，文帝怒，下廷尉治。 案盜宗廟服御物者為奏，當棄市。 上大怒曰：「人亡道，乃盜先帝器！ 吾屬廷尉者，欲致之族，而君以法奏之，非吾所以共承宗廟意也。」 釋之免冠頓首謝曰：「法如是足也。 且罪等，然以逆順為基。 今盜宗廟器而族之，有如萬分一，假令愚民取長陵一□土，陛下且何以加其法乎？」 文帝與太后言之，乃許廷尉當。 是時，中尉條侯周亞夫與梁相山都侯王恬啟見釋之持議平，乃結為親友。 張廷尉繇此天下稱之。
Later someone stole a jade ring from the dais in Gaozu's temple; when he was caught Emperor Wen, in a rage, sent him to the commandant of justice. Shizhi judged theft of imperial ritual gear from the ancestral shrines and recommended execution in the marketplace. The emperor thundered, "The man is utterly depraved—he stole an object of the late emperor! I sent him to you expecting the extermination of his clan; instead you cite the statutes. That is not how I meant to uphold the shrines of our house." Shizhi doffed his cap and kowtowed: "The law already prescribes the utmost for this offense. When crimes are of the same grade, one still weighs whether the act was calculated rebellion or mere disorder. To wipe out a clan for stealing from the temple—if there were the slightest chance some fool took a handful of soil from your own Changling mound, what heavier penalty could you add? The emperor took the matter to the empress dowager and then accepted the commandant's sentence. At the time Commandant Zhou Yafu of the Tiao marquisate and Wang Tianqi, marquis of Shandu and minister of Liang, saw how fairly Shizhi decided cases and became his close friends. From then on Commandant Zhang was honored across the empire.
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文帝崩，景帝立，釋之恐，稱疾。 欲免去，懼大誅至； 欲見，則未知何如。 用王生計，卒見謝，景帝不過也。
When Wen died and Jing succeeded, Shizhi grew fearful and pleaded illness. He wanted to resign yet dreaded a sweeping punishment; he thought of facing the new emperor but could not tell how he would be received. Wang Sheng's advice won out: he went in to apologize, and Emperor Jing did not press the old grudge too far.
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王生者，善為黃、老言，處士。 嘗召居廷中，公卿盡會立。 王生老人，曰「吾襪解」，顧謂釋之：「為我結襪！」 釋之跪而結之，既已，人或讓王生：「獨奈何廷辱張廷尉如此？」 王生曰：「吾老且賤，自度終亡益於張廷尉。 廷尉方天下名臣，吾故聊使結襪，欲以重之。」 諸公聞之，賢王生而重釋之。
Wang Sheng was a recluse who excelled at Huang-Lao teaching. Once he was called to wait inside the palace while the high ministers stood assembled. This old man suddenly said, "My leggings have slipped," and told Shizhi, "Tie them for me!" Shizhi knelt and fastened them. Afterwards someone scolded Wang Sheng: "Why humiliate Commandant Zhang like that in open court?" Wang Sheng said, "I am old and obscure; I will never advance Zhang's career by my own weight. He is already the realm's most celebrated judge; I meant only to lend him a little extra dignity by having him do this." The nobles heard the story, admired Wang Sheng's tact, and respected Shizhi all the more.
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釋之事景帝歲餘，為淮南相，猶尚以前過也。 年老病卒。 其子摯，字長公，官至大夫，免。 以不能取容當世，故終身不仕。
After a little more than a year serving Jing, Shizhi was made chancellor of Huainan—still a demotion tied to the earlier incident at the gate. He died in old age of natural causes. His son Zhi, courtesy name Zhangong, reached the rank of grandee before being dismissed. Unable to trim his sails to the times, he never held office again.
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馮唐，祖父趙人也。 父徙代。 漢興徙安陵。 唐以孝著，為郎中署長，事文帝。 帝輦過，問唐曰：「父老何自為郎？ 家安在？」 具以實言。 文帝曰：「吾居代時，吾尚食監高祛數為我言趙將李齊之賢，戰於鉅鹿下。 吾每飲食，意未嘗不在鉅鹿也。 父老知之乎？」 唐對曰：「齊尚不如廉頗、李牧之為將也。」 上曰：「何已？」 唐曰：「臣大父在趙時，為官帥將，善李牧。 臣父故為代相，善李齊，知其為人也。」 上既聞廉頗、李牧為人，良說，乃拊髀曰：「嗟乎！ 吾獨不得廉頗、李牧為將，豈憂匈奴哉！」 唐曰：「主臣！ 陛下雖有廉頗、李牧，不能用也。」 上怒，起入禁中。 良久，召唐讓曰：「公眾辱我，獨亡間處乎？」 唐謝曰：「鄙人不知忌諱。」
Feng Tang's grandfather was a native of Zhao. His father later resettled in Dai. After the Han founding the family moved to Anling. Feng Tang was known for filial devotion; he headed a desk in the gentlemen's office and served under Emperor Wen. As the imperial litter passed, the emperor called out, "Old sir, how is it that you yourself hold the post of gentleman-at-court?" "Where is your household?" Feng Tang told him the whole story plainly. Emperor Wen said, "In my days in Dai my palace provender Gao Qu used to praise Zhao's general Li Qi and his fighting below Julu." Whenever I dine, my mind is still there at Julu. Do you know that story, old sir?" Feng Tang answered, "Li Qi was no match, as a commander, for Lian Po or Li Mu." The emperor said, "How so?" Feng Tang said, "My grandfather served in Zhao as a commandery officer commanding troops and was on close terms with Li Mu. My late father was chancellor of Dai and knew Li Qi well; I understand what sort of general he was." Learning what manner of men Lian Po and Li Mu had been, the emperor was delighted; he slapped his thigh and cried, "Ah, if only I had Lian Po and Li Mu to lead my armies—would I still lose sleep over the Xiongnu!" Tang said, "Your Majesty, your servant spoke out of turn—I am awestruck at my own presumption!" "Even with men like Lian Po and Li Mu in the realm, Your Majesty could not actually use them." The emperor flared up, stood, and withdrew to the private quarters. When he finally called Feng Tang back, he scolded him: "Why shame me in front of everyone? Could we not have had this conversation in private?" Feng Tang bowed: "I am a blunt countryman; I did not know the taboos."
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當是時，匈奴新大入朝那，殺北地都尉卬。 上以胡寇為意，乃卒復問唐曰：「公何以言吾不能用頗、牧也？」 唐對曰，「臣聞上古王者遣將也，跪而推轂，曰：『□以內寡人制之，□以外將軍制之； 軍功爵賞，皆決於外，歸而奏之。』 此非空言也。 臣大父言李牧之為趙將居邊，軍市之租皆自用饗士，賞賜決於外，不從中復也。 委任而責成功，故李牧乃得盡其知能，選車千三百乘，彀騎萬三千匹，百金之士十萬，是以北逐單于，破東胡，滅澹林，西抑強秦，南支韓、魏。 當是時，趙幾伯。 後會趙王遷立，其母倡也，用郭開讒，而誅李牧，令顏聚代之。 是以為秦所滅。 今臣竊聞魏尚為雲中守，軍市租盡以給士卒，出私養錢，五日壹殺牛，以饗賓客軍吏舍人，是以匈奴遠避，不近雲中之塞。 虜嘗一入，尚帥車騎擊之，所殺甚眾。 夫士卒盡家人子，起田中從軍，安知尺籍伍符？ 終日力戰，斬首捕虜，上功莫府，一言不相應，文吏以法繩之。 其賞不行，吏奉法必用。 愚以為陛下法太明，賞太輕，罰太重。 且雲中守尚坐上功首虜差六級，陛下下之吏，削其爵，罰作之。 繇此言之，陛下雖得李牧，不能用也。 臣誠愚，觸忌諱，死罪！」 文帝說。 是日，令唐持節赦魏尚，復以為雲中守，而拜唐為車騎都尉，主中尉及郡國車士。
Just then the Xiongnu had struck deep into Chaona and slain Sun Ang, the commandant of Beidi. With the barbarian threat weighing on him, the emperor circled back: "What did you mean when you said I could not use Lian Po and Li Mu even if I had them?" Feng Tang answered, "The old stories say that when a true king sent out an army he knelt to push the wheels and told the commander, 'What lies inside the capital is mine; what lies beyond the passes is yours; promotions, titles, and bonuses were decided in the field and reported afterward.' That was not hollow rhetoric. My grandfather told me how Li Mu, as Zhao's frontier commander, spent every coin of the army-market tax to feed his men and handed out rewards on his own authority, without waiting for approval from Xianyang. Given full trust and answerable only for results, Li Mu could deploy his genius: thirteen hundred chariots, thirteen thousand horse archers, and a hundred thousand picked warriors—enough to chase the Chanyu, crush the Eastern Hu, wipe out the Danlin, hold Qin at bay, and shield Han and Wei on the south. For a time Zhao nearly ranked as first among the powers. Then King Qian of Zhao ascended; his mother was a former singing girl who listened to Guo Kai, had Li Mu put to death, and put Yan Ju in his place. Zhao fell to Qin because of it. I hear that Wei Shang, as governor of Yunzhong, poured every penny of the army-market revenue into his troops, dug into his own purse, and butchered a steer every five days for his staff—so the Xiongnu gave the Yunzhong walls a wide berth. On the one raid they tried, Shang led horse and chariot against them and piled up a heavy butcher's bill. These soldiers are farm boys called up from the plough; how are they to master every line of the regulations and squad tallies? They spend the day in desperate combat, then send head-counts to headquarters; one slip in the paperwork and some desk-bound judge nails them to the letter of the law. Their battle pay never arrives, while the law officers enforce every comma. Forgive my bluntness, but I believe your code is too rigid, your rewards too stingy, and your penalties too harsh. Take Wei Shang: he overstated six heads in his battle report; you sent him to the judges, stripped his nobility, and set him to hard labor. Put that together and even Li Mu could not have served you under such rules. I have been a fool and broached what I should not—worthy of death!" Emperor Wen's anger melted into approval. That very day he sent Feng Tang with the imperial baton to free Wei Shang and reinstate him at Yunzhong, while Feng Tang himself was made chief commandant of chariots and cavalry, overseeing the metropolitan commandant and mounted forces from the provinces and principalities.
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汲黯字長孺，濮陽人也。 其行有寵於古之衛君也。 至黯十世，世為卿大夫。 以父任，孝景時為太子洗馬，以嚴見憚。
Ji An, whose courtesy name was Zhangru, came from Puyang. In his bearing he resembled the old lords of Wei who won the people's love. For ten generations before him the family had filled ministerial posts. Recommended on his father's record, he served Emperor Jing as groom to the crown prince and was dreaded for his uncompromising sternness.
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武帝即位，黯為謁者。 東粵相攻，上使黯往視之。 至吳而還，報曰：「粵人相攻，固其俗，不足以辱天子使者。」 河內失火，燒千餘家，上使黯往視之。 還報曰：「家人失火，屋比延燒，不足憂。 臣過河內，河內貧人傷水旱萬餘家，或父子相食，臣謹以便宜，持節發河內倉粟以振貧民。 請歸節，伏矯制罰。」 上賢而釋之，遷為滎陽令。 黯恥為令，稱疾歸田裡。 上聞，乃召為中大夫。 以數切諫，不得久留內，遷為東海太守。
When Wu succeeded, Ji An was appointed an usher. When the Eastern Yue principalities turned on each other, the emperor dispatched Ji An to look into it. He got only as far as Wu and sent word back: "Let the Yue fight among themselves—it is their habit and hardly merits an imperial envoy." When fire ravaged a thousand homes in Henei, the emperor sent him again. His report read: "It was an ordinary house fire that jumped roof to roof—nothing for the court to fret over." But on my way through Henei I found tens of thousands starving from flood and drought, some families reduced to cannibalism; I used my commission to open the government granaries and feed them. I now return the baton and ask to be punished for forging an imperial order. The emperor judged him loyal, forgave the offense, and named him magistrate of Xingyang. Ji An found a county post beneath him, feigned illness, and went home to his fields. When word reached the throne, Wu recalled him as grand counsellor of the palace. His blunt memorials made him unwelcome at court, so he was shifted to governor of Donghai.
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黯學黃、老言，治官民，好清靜，擇丞史任之，責大指而已，不細苛。 黯多病，臥閣內不出。 歲餘，東海大治，稱之。 上聞，召為主爵都尉，列於九卿。 治務在無為而已，引大體，不拘文法。
Ji An followed Huang-Lao principles: he ran his command with a light hand, delegated to capable deputies, and cared about broad outcomes rather than petty rules. Plagued by illness, he rarely left his inner office. Within a year Donghai was models of order and the people sang his praise. The emperor then brought him back as chief commandant for noble ranks—one of the nine high ministers. His style was wuwei in the best sense: he set the tone and let the law follow common sense.
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為人性倨，少禮，面折，不能容人之過。 合己者善待之，不合者弗能忍見，士亦以此不附焉。 然好遊俠，任氣節，行修潔。 其諫，犯主之顏色。 常慕傅伯、爰盎之為人。 善灌夫、鄭當時及宗正劉棄疾。 亦以數直諫，不得久居位。
He was haughty, scanted ritual, spoke his mind to men's faces, and brooked no foolishness. He warmed to allies and could hardly stand anyone else, so men of talent kept their distance. Yet he admired knights-errant, honored personal honor, and kept his own hands clean. When he remonstrated he looked the emperor in the eye and contradicted him. He modeled himself on Fu Bo and Yuan Ang. He counted Guan Fu, Zheng Dangshi, and the director of the imperial clan Liu Qiji among his friends. His habit of blunt truth-telling kept him from staying long in any post.
19
是時，太后弟武安侯田□分為丞相，中二千石拜謁，□分弗為禮。 黯見□分，未嘗拜，揖之。 上方招文學儒者，上曰吾欲云云，默對曰：「陛下內多欲而外施仁義，奈何欲效唐、虞之治乎！」 上怒，變色而罷朝。 公卿皆為黯懼。 上退，謂人曰：「甚矣，汲黯之戇心！」 群臣或數黯，黯曰：「天子置公卿輔弼之臣，寧令從諛承意，陷主於不誼乎？ 且已在其位，縱愛身，奈辱朝廷何！」
Meanwhile Tian Fen, the empress dowager's brother and Marquis of Wu'an, sat as chancellor; ministers at the two-thousand-picul rank bowed to him, and he did not bother to bow back. Ji An met him with a shallow bow, never a full prostration. While the court was packing itself with literati and the emperor aired his lofty plans, Ji An answered flatly: "You are a cauldron of appetites inside while preaching benevolence and righteousness to the world—how do you expect to match the age of Yao and Shun?" The emperor's face darkened; he cut court short and stalked off. The high ministers trembled for Ji An's safety. Later Wu muttered to an attendant, "Ji An's obstinacy is becoming intolerable!" When colleagues scolded him, Ji An shot back: "The throne appoints us as his brace and bracket—are we here to flatter him into moral disaster? And once you accept the seal, clinging to your skin while the dynasty is shamed is the greater cowardice!
20
黯多病，病且滿三月，上常賜告者數，終不愈。 最後，嚴助為請告。 上曰：「汲黯何如人也？」 曰：「使黯任職居官，亡以愈人，然至其輔少主守成，雖自謂賁、育弗能奪也。」 上曰：「然。 古有社稷之臣，至如汲黯，近之矣！」
Ji An was chronically sick; as three months neared, the emperor kept extending his sick leave, but he did not mend. At last Yan Zhu begged the throne on his behalf. Wu asked, "What kind of man is Ji An really?" Yan Zhu replied: "Set him to routine administration and he seems ordinary; but charge him with guarding a young heir and the legacy of the house—even Ben and Yu could not shake his resolve." The emperor said, "True enough." The old histories speak of ministers who were the state itself—Ji An comes close to that ideal!
21
大將軍青侍中，上踞廁視之。 丞相弘宴見，上或時不冠。 至如見黯，不冠不見也。 上嘗坐武帳，黯前奏事，上不冠，望見黯，避帷中，使人可其奏。 其見敬禮如此。
When General Wei Qing waited on him in private, the emperor would receive him from the privy seat, legs sprawled. With Chancellor Gongsun Hong at a casual audience he sometimes went bareheaded. For Ji An he always donned full court dress. Once, seated in the war tent without his crown, he spotted Ji An approaching and slipped behind the screen, letting an attendant approve the memorial for him. Such was the deference the emperor showed him.
22
張湯以更定律令為廷尉，黯質責湯於上前，曰：「公為正卿，上不能褒先帝之功業，下不能化天下之邪心，安國富民，使囹圄空虛，何空取高皇帝約束紛更之為？ 而公以此無種矣！」 黯時與湯論議，湯辯常在文深小苛，黯憤發，罵曰：「天下謂刀筆吏不可為公卿，果然。 必湯也，令天下重足而立，仄目而視矣！」
When Zhang Tang rewrote the code and became commandant of justice, Ji An cornered him in open court: "As chief minister you neither celebrate the founder's legacy nor reform public morals, bring peace to the realm, fill the granaries, nor clear the jails—why do you busy yourself tearing apart the statutes Gaozu left behind? For that you will die without descendants! In policy debates Zhang Tang always hid behind legal hair-splitting; Ji An lost his temper and swore, "They say a clerk should never rise to high office—how true. Let men like Zhang Tang win, and the whole empire will walk on tiptoe and glance sideways in fear!
23
是時，漢方征匈奴，招懷四夷。 黯務少事，間常言與胡和親，毋起兵。 上方鄉儒術，尊公孫弘，及事益多，吏民巧。 上分別文法，湯等數奏決讞以幸。 而黯常毀儒，面觸弘等徒懷詐飾智以阿人主取容，而刀筆之吏專深文巧詆，陷人於罔，以自為功。 上愈益貴弘、湯，弘、湯心疾黯，雖上亦不說也，欲誅之以事。 弘為丞相，乃言上曰：「右內史界部中多貴人宗室，難治，非素重臣弗能任，請徙黯。」 為右內史數歲，官事不廢。
The Han was then deep in the Xiongnu wars and courting the border tribes. Ji An pushed for less government and urged marriage alliances with the steppe instead of new campaigns. The emperor meanwhile embraced Confucianism, elevated Gongsun Hong, and as business multiplied, officials and people grew expert at evasion. Wu delighted in legal exegesis; Zhang Tang and his circle fed him case after case to curry favor. Ji An, meanwhile, trashed the Ru scholars and accused Hong to his face of faking wisdom to please the throne, while clerks twisted the code to frame the innocent and pad their résumés. Wu prized Hong and Tang all the more; they loathed Ji An, and the emperor himself cooled—yet all three looked for a charge that would let them kill him. As chancellor, Gongsun Hong told the emperor that the right capital district swarmed with nobles and imperial kin, needed an iron hand, and ought to be given to Ji An. Ji An held the post for years without letting administration slide.
24
大將軍青既益尊，姊為皇后，然黯與亢禮。 或說黯曰：「自天子欲令群臣下大將軍，大將軍尊貴，誠重，君不可以不拜。」 黯曰：「夫以大將軍有揖客，反不重耶？」 大將軍聞，愈賢黯，數請問以朝廷所疑，遇黯加於平日。
Even after Wei Qing's star rose and his sister became empress, Ji An refused to grovel. Friends warned him: "The court wants everyone below the general-in-chief; his rank is real—you really should prostrate yourself." Ji An retorted: "If the general-in-chief accepts a bow from a man who only inclines, does that not prove his stature?" Wei Qing heard this, respected him the more, and sought his counsel on state questions, honoring him above his usual circle.
25
淮南王謀反，憚黯，曰：「黯好直諫，守節死義； 至說公孫弘等，如發蒙耳。」
The king of Huainan, plotting revolt, named Ji An as a danger: "He lives for blunt remonstrance and would die before betraying principle; winning over men like Gongsun Hong would be child's play by comparison.
26
上既數征匈奴有功，黯言益不用。
After the northern campaigns began to succeed, nobody listened to Ji An's protests.
27
始黯列九卿矣，而公孫弘、張湯為小吏。 及弘、湯稍貴，與黯同位，黯又非毀弘、湯。 已而弘至丞相，封侯，湯御史大夫，黯時丞史皆與同列，或尊用過之。 黯褊心，不能無少望，見上，言曰：「陛下用群臣如積薪耳，後來者居上。」 黯罷，上曰：「人果不可以無學，觀汲黯之言，日益甚矣。」
Ji An had been a nine-minister man when Hong and Tang were still clerks. When they rose to his level, he still spoke of them with contempt. Soon Hong was chancellor and a marquis, Tang imperial counsellor, while Ji An's old subordinates passed him in rank. Bitterness ate at him; he told the emperor, "You stack your ministers like firewood—the last logs tossed on end up on top." After Ji An left, Wu remarked, "A man really must read his books—listen to Ji An now; he grows cruder by the day."
28
居無何，匈奴渾邪王帥眾來降，漢發車二萬乘。 縣官亡錢，從民貰馬。 民或匿馬，馬不具。 上怒，欲斬長安令。 黯曰：「長安令亡罪，獨斬臣黯，民乃肯出馬。 且匈奴畔其主而降漢，徐以縣次傳之，何至令天下騷動，罷中國，甘心夷狄之人乎！」 上默然。 後渾邪王至，賈人與市者，坐當死五百餘人。 黯入，請間，見高門，曰：「夫匈奴攻當路塞，絕和親，中國舉兵誅之，死傷不可勝計，而費以巨萬百數。 臣愚以為陛下得胡人，皆以為奴婢，賜從軍死者家； 鹵獲，因與之，以謝天下，塞百姓之心。 今縱不能，渾邪帥數萬之眾來，虛府庫賞賜，發良民侍養，若奉驕子。 愚民安知市買長安中而文吏繩以為闌出財物如邊關乎？ 陛下縱不能得匈奴之贏以謝天下，又以微文殺無知者五百餘人，臣竊為陛下弗取也。」 上弗許，曰：「吾久不聞汲黯之言，今又復妄發矣。」 後數月，黯坐小法，會赦，免官。 於是黯隱於田園者數年。
Not long after, the Hunye king came in with his tribes and the court ordered twenty thousand wagons to meet him. The exchequer was empty, so the government borrowed horses from households. Citizens hid their animals and the convoy could not be filled. In a fury the emperor threatened to behead the magistrate of Chang'an. Ji An said, "The magistrate of Chang'an is innocent; behead me instead, and the citizens will surrender their horses." The tribes broke with their chieftain to join us—they could have been moved post by post, county by county. Why convulse the realm, drain the heartland, and treat them like pampered guests of honor? The emperor said nothing. When Hunye arrived, over five hundred traders who had dealt with him were condemned to die. Ji An forced a private audience at Gaomen and said, "When the nomads seized the frontier passes and broke the marriage treaties, Han raised armies until the butcher's bill and the treasury toll ran beyond reckoning." I assumed you would enslave the captives and hand them to the kin of the fallen, or distribute the spoils to the same end—to balance the scales for the empire and quiet public resentment. Instead you drain the vaults to reward them, press good farmers into service as their valets, and coddle them like spoiled heirs. How was a shopkeeper in Chang'an to guess that a street purchase would be twisted into 'smuggling goods past the border,' the way clerks treat frontier trade? You gain no Xiongnu plunder to appease the people, yet you kill five hundred innocents on legal technicalities—I cannot call that worthy of you. The emperor waved it off: "I have missed Ji An's voice—but there he goes again, sounding off without restraint." Months later Ji An caught a petty legal charge; a general amnesty spared him, but he lost his post. He withdrew to his estate for several years.
29
會更立五銖錢，民多盜鑄錢者，楚地尤甚。 上以為淮陽，楚地之郊也，召黯拜為淮陽太守。 黯伏謝不受印綬，詔數強予，然後奉詔。 召上殿，黯泣曰：「臣自以為填溝壑，不復見陛下，不意陛下復收之。 臣常有狗馬之心，今病，力不能任郡事。 臣願為中郎，出入禁闥，補過拾遺，臣之願也。」 上曰：「君薄淮陽邪？ 吾今召君矣。 顧淮陽吏民不相得，吾徒得君重，臥而治之。」 黯既辭，過大行李息，曰：「黯棄逐居郡，不得與朝廷議矣。 然御史大夫湯智足以距諫，詐足以飾非，非肯正為天下言，專阿主意。 主意所不欲，因而毀之； 主意所欲，因而譽之。 好興事，舞文法，內懷詐以御主心，外挾賊吏以為重。 公列九卿不早言之何？ 公與之俱受其戮矣！」 息畏湯，終不敢言。 黯居郡如其故治，淮陽政清。
When the new five-zhu coin was issued, illicit minting spread, worst of all through Chu. The emperor judged Huaiyang the gateway into Chu and summoned Ji An to serve as its governor. Ji An kowtowed and tried to refuse the seal until repeated edicts left him no choice but to accept. Called before the throne in tears, he said, "I was sure I would die in obscurity and never look on your face again—I never dreamed you would call me back." My loyalty is still that of your old hound, but I am sick and no longer fit to run a commandery. Let me serve as a palace gentleman instead—passing through the inner gates, catching small slips before they grow—that is all I dare ask. "Do you think Huaiyang beneath you?" I have brought you here for a reason. The place is torn between its magistrates and the people; I need nothing but the weight of your name—govern it even from your couch if you must. On his way out Ji An stopped Grand Herald Li Xi: "Banished to the provinces, I shall no longer speak in council." But Zhang Tang is clever enough to block every remonstrance and slick enough to varnish every fault; he will not speak for the realm, only stroke the emperor's mood. What the throne dislikes, he trashes; what it favors, he praises. He stirs up business, twists statutes, plays on your mind from within, and leans on cruel underlings from without. You sit among the nine ministers—why have you never called him out? You will share his scaffold if you stay silent! Li Xi feared Zhang Tang too much ever to repeat the warning. Ji An governed Huaiyang in his old style, and the region became a model of honest rule.
30
後張湯敗，上聞黯與息言，抵息罪。 令黯以諸侯相秩居淮陽。 居淮陽十歲而卒。 卒後，上以黯故，官其弟仁至九卿，子偃至諸侯相。 黯姊子司馬安亦少與黯為太子洗馬。 安文深巧善宦，四至九卿，以河南太守卒。 昆弟以安故，同時至二千石十人。 濮陽段宏始事蓋侯信，信任宏，官亦再至九卿。 然衛人仕者皆嚴憚汲黯，出其下。
When Zhang Tang fell, the emperor remembered Ji An's words to Li Xi and punished Li Xi for his silence. He let Ji An remain at Huaiyang on the salary scale of a feudal chancellor. He died there after ten years. After his death the emperor honored his memory by promoting his brother Ren among the nine ministers and his son Yan to a princely chancellorship. His sister's son Sima An had once served with him as groom to the crown prince. Sima An was a subtle stylist and a born bureaucrat; he rose four times to the nine ministers and died as governor of Henan. On his account as many as ten kinsmen held posts at the two-thousand-picul level at once. Duan Hong of Puyang began as a follower of Marquis of Gai Xin, won his trust, and himself twice reached the nine ministers. Yet every official from Wei still stood in awe of Ji An and conceded him the first place.
31
鄭當時
Zheng Dangshi
32
鄭當時字莊，陳人也。 其先鄭君嘗事項籍，籍死而屬漢。 高祖令諸故項籍臣名籍，鄭君獨不奉詔。 詔盡拜名籍者為大夫，而逐鄭君。 鄭君死孝文時。
Zheng Dangshi, courtesy name Zhuang, came from Chen commandery. His forebear Lord Zheng had served Xiang Ji; when Ji fell he transferred his allegiance to Han. Gaozu ordered Xiang Yu's old retainers to refer to him by his personal name as a sign of submission; Lord Zheng alone refused the edict. Those who obeyed were made grandees; Lord Zheng was banished. Lord Zheng died during the reign of Emperor Wen.
33
當時以任俠自喜，脫張羽於厄，聲聞梁、楚間。 孝景時，為太子舍人。 每五日洗沐，常置驛馬長安諸郊，請謝賓客，夜以繼日，至明旦，常恐不遍。 當時好黃、老言，其慕長者，如恐不稱。 自見年少官薄，然其知友皆大父行，天下有名之士也。
Zheng Zhuang made a name as a knight-errant, once snatching Zhang Yu from mortal danger; his fame ran through Liang and Chu. Under Emperor Jing he served as a gentleman-attendant to the crown prince. On each five-day leave he posted relay horses around Chang'an and spent nights and dawns hosting every guest he could, terrified of missing anyone. He studied Huang-Lao texts and courted venerable men as though he could never honor them enough. Though young and low in rank, he befriended men a generation older—the most celebrated names of the day.
34
當時為大吏，戒門下：「客至，亡貴賤亡留門者。」 執賓主之禮，以其貴下人。 性廉，又不治產，卬奉賜給諸公。 然其饋遺人，不過具器食。 每朝，候上間說，未嘗不言天下長者。 其推轂士及官屬丞史，誠有味其言也。 常引以為賢於己。 未嘗名吏，與官屬言，若恐傷之。 聞人之善言，進之上，唯恐後。 山東諸公為此翕然稱鄭莊。
As a high official he ordered his porters: "Admit every caller, high or low, without keeping them waiting at the door." He received them with full courtesy and let his own rank bow to theirs. He was honest, kept no landed fortune, and poured every stipend and gift into helping friends. His own presents to others never rose above a simple meal in plain ware. Whenever he caught the emperor's ear he spoke of worthy men across the realm. The way he pushed chariots for scholars and for his own deputies had real conviction. He always praised them as better men than he was. He never barked a clerk's name; with subordinates he spoke as though afraid to bruise them. Good words about others he relayed to the throne the same day, anxious not to lag. For this the great families east of the mountains honored him as Zheng Zhuang.
35
使視決河，自請治行五日。 上曰：「吾聞鄭莊行，千里不繼糧，治行者何也？」 然當時以朝，常趨和承意，不敢甚斥臧否。 漢征匈奴，招四夷，天下費多，財用益屈。 當時為大司農，任人賓客僦，入多逋負。 司馬安為淮陽太守，發其事，當時在此陷罪，贖為庶人。 頃之，守長史。 遷汝南太守，數歲，以官卒。 昆弟以當時故，至二千石者六七人。
Dispatched to inspect a Yellow River break, he asked five days to pack. "They say Zheng Zhuang can cross a thousand li without fresh provisions—why five days to get ready?" In open court, though, he hurried to agree with the emperor and never risked a hard verdict on right and wrong. Han's wars against the Xiongnu and its courtship of the border peoples bled the treasury dry. As grand minister of finance he let contractors use his clients as labor; the accounts fell deep into arrears. Sima An, then governor of Huaiyang, exposed the scheme; Zheng Dangshi paid a ransom and was reduced to commoner. Soon he was serving as chief clerk. He rose to governor of Runan and died in that post a few years later. Six or seven of his kinsmen reached the two-thousand-picul rank on his coattails.
36
當時始與汲黯列為九卿，內行修。 兩人中廢，賓客益落。 當時死，家亡余財。
He and Ji An had once stood together among the nine ministers, both men of scrupulous private conduct. When both fell from power, their salons emptied. Zheng Dangshi died leaving no savings.
37
先是，下刲翟公為廷尉，賓客亦填門，及廢，門外可設爵羅。 後復為廷尉，客欲往，翟公大署其門，曰：「一死一生，乃知交情； 一貧一富，乃知交態； 一貴一賤，交情乃見。」
Long before, Lord Zhai of Xiagui served as commandant of justice with a crowded gate; once dismissed, sparrows could nest outside his door—so empty was it. When he was reappointed, old friends crept back; Lord Zhai chalked a couplet on his gate: "Friendship shows its depth only between death and life; Only between wealth and poverty do you see how friends really carry themselves; only between honor and disgrace does friendship show its true face."
38
贊曰：張釋之之守法，馮唐之論將，汲黯之正直，鄭當時之推士，不如是，亦何以成名哉！ 揚子以為孝文帝詘帝尊以信亞夫之軍，曷為不能用頗、牧？ 彼將有激云爾。
The historian's verdict: without Zhang Shizhi's fidelity to statute, Feng Tang's counsel on commanders, Ji An's blunt spine, and Zheng Zhuang's zeal for talent, none of them would be remembered. Yang Xiong objected: Emperor Wen once bowed his imperial pride to trust Zhou Yafu's camp—how could the same man fail to use Lian Po and Li Mu? Feng Tang spoke in the heat of argument—that is all there is to it.