1
卷五十二竇田灌韓傳第二十二
Volume 52: Biographies of Dou, Tian, Guan, and Han (Part 22).
2
竇嬰字王孫，孝文皇后從兄子也。 父世觀津人也。 喜賓客。 孝文時為吳相，病免。 孝景即位，為詹事。
Dou Ying, whose courtesy name was Wangsun, was a nephew of Empress Xiaowen. For generations his father's people had hailed from Guanjin. He loved entertaining guests. During Emperor Wen's reign he served as chancellor of Wu, then stepped down citing illness. When Emperor Jing took the throne, Dou Ying was appointed chamberlain for the heir apparent.
3
帝弟梁孝王，母竇太后愛之。 孝王朝，因燕昆弟飲。 是時，上未立太子，酒酣，上從容曰：「千秋萬歲後傳王。」 太后歡。 嬰引卮酒進上曰：「天下者，高祖天下，父子相傳，漢之約也，上何以得傳梁王！」 太后由此憎嬰。 嬰亦薄其官，因病免。 太后除嬰門籍，不得朝請。
The emperor's younger brother, King Xiao of Liang, was the favorite of his mother, Empress Dowager Dou. When the king of Liang came to court, he drank with the emperor and their cousins as family. The emperor had not yet named an heir; when the wine had gone round, he said lightly, "When I am gone, I mean to leave the realm to you." The empress dowager was delighted. Dou Ying lifted his cup, offered it to the emperor, and said, "The realm belongs to Gaozu's line; fathers pass it to sons—that is Han's compact. How could you hand it to the king of Liang?" From that day the empress dowager bore him a grudge. Dou Ying came to despise his post as well and resigned, pleading illness. She struck his name from the palace gate list, barring him from the morning and evening audiences.
4
孝景三年，吳、楚反、上察宗室諸竇無如嬰賢，召入見，固讓謝，稱病不足任。 太后亦慚。 於是上曰：「天下方有急，王孫寧可以讓邪？」 乃拜嬰為大將軍，賜金千斤。 嬰言爰盎、欒布諸名將賢士在家者進之。 所賜金，陳廊廡下，軍吏過，輒令財取為用，金無入家者。 嬰守滎陽，監齊、趙兵。 七國破，封為魏其侯。 游士賓客爭歸之。 每朝議大事，條侯、魏其，列侯莫敢與亢禮。
In Emperor Jing's third year, Wu and Chu rose in revolt. The emperor looked over the Dou kinsmen and found no one worthier than Dou Ying, so he summoned him. Dou Ying refused again and again, apologizing and insisting he was too ill to serve. The empress dowager was abashed. The emperor said, "The empire is in peril—can Wangsun still refuse?" He appointed Dou Ying grand marshal and gave him a thousand catties of gold. Dou Ying recommended Yuan Ang, Luan Bu, and other noted generals and scholars then living in retirement. He piled the gifted gold in his corridors and told any passing clerk to help himself; none of it went into his private coffers. He held Yingyang and oversaw the Qi and Zhao forces. After the seven kingdoms were crushed, he was enfeoffed as marquis of Weiqi. Roving scholars and clients flocked to his door. In every weighty council at court, neither Marquis Zhou Yafu nor Marquis Dou Ying would let another noble presume to their equal in rank.
5
四年，立栗太子，以嬰為傅。 七年，栗太子廢，嬰爭弗能得，謝病，屏居藍田南山下數月，諸竇賓客辯士說，莫能來。 梁人高遂乃說嬰曰：「能富貴將軍者，上也； 能親將軍者，太后也。 今將軍傅太子，太子廢，爭不能拔，又不能死，自引謝病，擁趙女屏閒處而不朝，只加懟自明，揚主之過。 有如兩宮奭將軍，則妻子無類矣。」 嬰然之，乃起，朝請如故。
In the fourth year the heir from the Li family was installed, with Dou Ying as his tutor. In the seventh year that heir was cast aside. Dou Ying argued in vain, then pleaded illness and shut himself away for months below Blue Field Mountain. Kinsmen, clients, and rhetoricians tried to coax him out; none succeeded. Gao Sui of Liang told him, "Only the emperor can make you rich and exalted;" "only the empress dowager can keep you in favor." "You tutored the crown prince; when he fell, you could neither reverse it nor die with honor. You hide behind illness, fill your inner rooms with Zhao women, and shun court—only inviting blame and parading the sovereign's errors before the world." "If emperor and dowager both turn on you, your family will not survive." Dou Ying saw the force of it, rose, and resumed his court duties.
6
桃侯免相，竇太后數言魏其。 景帝曰：「太后豈以臣有愛相魏其者？ 魏其沾沾自喜耳，多易，難以為相持重。」 遂不用，用建陵侯衛綰為丞相。
After Marquis of Tao left the chancellorship, Empress Dowager Dou kept pressing Dou Ying's name. Emperor Jing replied, "Does my mother imagine I favor Dou Ying so much that I would make him chancellor?" "He is pleased with himself, flighty, and unfit to bear the weight of the chancellorship." So Dou Ying was passed over, and Jianling Marquis Wei Wan became chancellor.
7
田蚡，孝景王皇后同母弟也，生長陵。 竇嬰已為大將軍，方盛，蚡為諸曹郎，未貴，往來侍酒嬰所，跪起如子姓。 及孝景晚節，蚡益貴幸，為中大夫。 辯有口，學《盤盂》諸書，王皇后賢之。
Tian Fen was Empress Wang's full brother—Emperor Jing's empress—and had grown up in Changling. While Dou Ying stood at the head of the armies, Tian Fen was still a petty bureau clerk; he waited on Dou Ying at his feasts, kneeling and rising like a junior kinsman. Late in Emperor Jing's reign Tian Fen rose in favor until he held the post of palace counselor. He was a sharp debater, had read the ritual compendiums such as the Pan Yu texts, and Empress Wang judged him capable.
8
孝景崩，武帝初即位，蚡以舅封為武安侯，弟勝為周陽侯。 蚡新用事，卑下賓客，進名士家居者貴之，欲以傾諸將相。 上所填撫，多蚡賓客計策。 會丞相綰病免，上議置丞相、太尉。 藉福說蚡曰：「魏其侯貴久矣，素天下士歸之。 今將軍初興，未如，即上以將軍為相，必讓魏其。 魏其為相，將軍必為太尉。 太尉、相尊等耳，有讓賢名。」 蚡乃微言太后風上，於是乃以嬰為丞相，蚡為太尉。 藉福賀嬰，因吊曰：「君侯資性喜善疾惡，方今善人譽君侯，故至丞相； 然惡人眾，亦且毀君侯。 君侯能兼容，則幸久； 不能，今以毀去矣。」 嬰不聽。
When Emperor Jing died and Emperor Wu took the throne, Tian Fen was made marquis of Wu'an as the emperor's uncle; his brother Tian Sheng became marquis of Zhouyang. Newly in power, he played humble host and elevated famous scholars in retirement, aiming to eclipse the established generals and ministers. Much of what the emperor decided followed advice from Tian Fen's clients. When Chancellor Wei Wan fell ill and stepped down, the court debated who should fill the chancellorship and grand commandancy. Jifu warned Tian Fen, "Marquis Dou has been exalted for years; the empire's best men already follow him." "You are only just rising; you cannot match him. If the throne names you chancellor now, you will have to defer to Dou Ying." "Let Dou Ying take the chancellorship, and you may still win the grand commandancy." "Those two posts are peers in rank—and you gain a reputation for yielding to the worthier man." Tian Fen whispered as much to his sister the empress dowager, who swayed the emperor; Dou Ying became chancellor and Tian Fen grand commandant. Jifu congratulated Dou Ying, then mourned his fate: "You love the good and hate the wicked; the good have lifted you to the chancellorship;" "but the wicked are legion, and they will tear you down." "If you can stomach both camps, you may endure;" "if not, slander will drive you out at once." Dou Ying paid no heed.
9
嬰、蚡俱好儒術，推轂趙綰為御史大夫，王臧為郎中令。 迎魯申公，欲設明堂，令列侯就國，除關，以禮為服制，以興太平。 舉謫諸竇宗室無行者，除其屬籍。 諸外家為列侯，列侯多尚公主，皆不欲就國，以故毀日至竇太后。 太后好黃、老言，而嬰、蚡、趙綰等務隆推儒術，貶道家言，是以竇太后滋不說。
Both men favored Confucian policy; they secured Zhao Wan as censor-in-chief and Wang Zang as supervisor of the imperial household. They brought in the Duke of Shen from Lu, planned a Bright Hall, ordered nobles back to their fiefs, lifted internal customs barriers, and meant to reform dress and ritual for an age of peace. They impeached dissolute Dou relatives of the throne and struck them from the imperial genealogy. The consort families who held marquisates—most of those lords had married princesses—refused to leave the capital; daily slander reached Empress Dowager Dou. She was devoted to Huang-Lao quietism, while Dou Ying, Tian Fen, and Zhao Wan pushed Confucian orthodoxy and slighted Daoist lore—so her dislike deepened.
10
二年，御史大夫趙綰請毋奏事東宮。 竇太后大怒，曰：「此欲復為新垣平邪！」 乃罷逐趙綰、王臧，而免丞相嬰、太尉蚡，以柏至侯許昌為丞相，武強侯莊青翟為御史大夫。 嬰、蚡以侯家居。 蚡雖不任職，以王太后故親幸，數言事，多效，士吏趨勢利者皆去嬰而歸蚡。 蚡日益橫。
In the second year Zhao Wan asked that state papers no longer be routed through the eastern palace—the empress dowager's residence. Empress Dowager Dou exploded: "So you mean to play Xin Yuanping again!" She drove out Zhao Wan and Wang Zang, stripped Dou Ying and Tian Fen of their posts, named Marquis of Bozhi Xu Chang chancellor, and Marquis of Wuqiang Zhuang Qingdi censor-in-chief. Dou Ying and Tian Fen retired to private life, marquises in name only. Though Tian Fen had no title, Empress Dowager Wang kept him at the emperor's ear; his counsel usually prevailed, and every careerist deserted Dou Ying for him. Day by day Tian Fen grew more arrogant.
11
六年，竇太后崩，丞相昌、御史大夫青翟坐喪事不辦，免。 上以蚡為丞相，大司農韓安國為御史大夫。 天下士郡諸侯愈益附蚡。
In the sixth year Empress Dowager Dou died; Chancellor Xu Chang and Censor-in-chief Zhuang Qingdi lost their posts over mishandled funeral duties. The emperor made Tian Fen chancellor and Minister of Finance Han Anguo censor-in-chief. Scholars and nobles across the commanderies flocked to him in greater numbers.
12
蚡為人貌侵，生貴甚。 又以為諸侯王多長，上初即位，富於春秋，蚡以肺附為相，非痛折節以禮屈之，天下不肅。 當是時，丞相入奏事，語移日，所言皆聽。 薦人或起家至二千石，權移主上。 上乃曰：「君除吏盡未？ 吾亦欲除吏。」 嘗請考工地益宅，上怒曰：「遂取武庫！」 是後乃退。 召客飲，坐其兄蓋侯北鄉，自坐東鄉，以為漢相尊，不可以兄故私橈。 由此滋驕，治宅甲諸第，田園極膏腴，市買郡縣器物相屬於道。 前堂羅鐘鼓，立曲旃； 後房婦女以百數。 諸奏珍物狗馬玩好，不可勝數。
Tian Fen was homely in face but born to privilege. He judged the feudal kings grown old and proud while the young emperor still lacked years on the throne; as a kinsman-chancellor, he thought, he must break their pride with ritual or the realm would not fear him. When he went in to report, he could talk the whole day through—and the throne accepted nearly every word. A man he sponsored might leap from commoner to two-thousand-picul rank in one step; power drained from the emperor into his hands. The emperor finally asked, "Are you done handing out offices?" "I still have a few appointments of my own to make." He once asked the Directorate of Works for more ground for his mansion; the emperor snapped, "Why not annex the imperial armory while you are at it?" After that he pulled in his horns. At feasts he gave his elder brother, Marquis of Gai, the inferior north-facing seat while he took the host's east, insisting that the chancellor of Han could not bend rank for kinship. His arrogance only swelled: his house outshone every peer's, his farms were the richest in the land, and wagons from distant counties lined the roads with gifts. His front hall rang with bells and drums and flew curved banners; his inner quarters housed hundreds of women. Rare curios, hounds, and horses arrived in numbers beyond counting.
13
而嬰失竇太后，益疏不用，無勢，諸公稍自引而怠驁，唯灌夫獨否。 故嬰墨墨不得意，而厚遇夫也。
Dou Ying, cut off after Empress Dowager Dou's death, was left idle and powerless; grandees drifted away and snubbed him—only Guan Fu stood by him. Brooding and embittered, Dou Ying lavished kindness on Guan Fu nonetheless.
14
灌夫字仲孺，穎陰人也。 父張孟，嘗為穎陰侯灌嬰舍人，得幸，因進之，至二千石，故蒙灌氏姓為灌孟。 吳、楚反時，穎陰侯灌嬰為將軍，屬太尉，請孟為校尉。 夫以千人與父俱。 孟年老，穎陰侯強請之，鬱鬱不得意，故戰常陷堅，遂死吳軍中。 漢法，父子俱，有死事，得與喪歸，夫不肯隨喪歸。 奮曰：「願取吳王若將軍頭以報父仇！」 於是夫被甲持戟，募軍中壯士所善願從數十人。 及出壁門，莫敢前。 獨兩人及從奴十餘騎馳入吳軍，至戲下，所殺傷數十人。 不得前，復還走漢壁，亡其奴，獨與一騎歸。 夫身中大創十餘，適有萬金良藥，故得無死。 創少瘳，又復請將軍曰：「吾益知吳壁曲折，請復往。」 將軍壯而義之，恐亡夫，乃言太尉，太尉召固止之。 吳軍破，夫以此名聞天下。
Guan Fu, courtesy name Zhongru, came from Yingyin. His father Zhang Meng had been a client of Marquis Guan Ying of Yingyin, won promotion through him to two-thousand-picul rank, and adopted the Guan clan name as Guan Meng. When Wu and Chu rebelled, Marquis Guan Ying served under the grand commandant and asked to have Guan Meng as a colonel. Guan Fu followed his father with a thousand troops. Guan Meng was old; Marquis Guan Ying pressed him into the field despite his gloom, and he threw himself again and again at the enemy's hardest positions until he fell in the Wu lines. Han statute allowed a son who served with his father to convoy the body home if the father died in battle; Guan Fu refused to leave with the funeral escort. He swore, "I will bring back the Prince of Wu's head—or the commander's—to avenge my father!" He armored up, took a halberd, and rounded up several dozen volunteers from among his comrades in camp. At the palisade gate no one else dared go forward. He and two companions, with a dozen mounted house slaves, charged deep into the Wu host as far as the command banner, cutting down dozens. Blocked from pushing farther, they wheeled back toward the Han lines; Guan Fu lost every follower but one horseman. He took more than ten grave wounds but survived thanks to a ten-thousand-cash wound salve. When his cuts had closed a little, he told the general, "I know the Wu trenches even better now—let me go again." The general honored his courage but dared not lose him; he appealed to the grand commandant, who summoned Guan Fu and forbade another raid. After Wu was crushed, Guan Fu's name was known across the empire.
15
穎陰侯言夫，夫為郎中將。 數歲，坐法去，家居長安中，諸公莫不稱，由是復為代相。
Marquis Guan Ying spoke for him, and he was named chief of the household to the heir apparent. A few years later he lost his post for a legal offense and lived in Chang'an, where every notable sang his praises; he was therefore made chancellor of Dai once more.
16
夫為人剛直，使酒，不好面諛。 貴戚諸勢在己之右，欲必陵之； 士在己左，愈貧賤，尤益禮敬，與鈞。 稠人廣眾，薦寵下輩。 士亦以此多之。
Guan Fu was blunt to a fault, a drunkard, and could not abide flatterers. When some grandee or power broker outranked him, he made a point of humbling him; for humbler men on the social left, the poorer they were, the more courteously he treated them—as peers. In public he would praise and promote juniors. Men of letters admired him for it.
17
夫不好文學，喜任俠，已然諾。 諸所與交通，無非豪桀大猾。 家累數千萬，食客日數十百人。 波池田園，宗族賓客為權利，橫穎川。 穎川兒歌之曰：「穎水清，灌氏寧； 穎水濁，灌氏族。」
Guan Fu had no taste for belles-lettres; he lived by the code of the bravo and kept every pledge. Everyone he ran with was either a swaggering tough or a hardened rogue. His fortune ran into the tens of millions, and he fed dozens or hundreds of hangers-on every day. His ponds and estates sprawled wide; clan and clients muscled the magistrates and ran Yingchuan like a fief. Folk in Yingchuan sang, "Clear Ying water, the Guans may thrive;" "muddy Ying water, wipe out the Guans."
18
夫家居，卿相侍中賓客益衰。 及竇嬰失勢，亦欲倚夫引繩排根生平慕之後棄者。 夫亦得嬰通列侯宗室為名高。 兩人相為引重，其游如父子然，相得歡甚，無厭，恨相知之晚。
At home his drawing room thinned out: fewer ministers and palace insiders called. When Dou Ying fell, he meant to use Guan Fu to settle old scores with fair-weather friends. Guan Fu, through Dou Ying, reached the marquises and the Liu clan—and borrowed their luster. They propped each other up like father and son, never tired of each other's company, and rued the day they had met so late.
19
夫嘗有服，過丞相蚡。 蚡從容曰：「吾欲與仲孺過魏其侯，會仲孺有服。」 夫曰：「將軍乃肯幸臨況魏其侯，夫安敢以服為解！ 請語魏其具，將軍旦日蚤臨。」 蚡許諾。 夫以語嬰。 嬰與夫人益市牛酒，夜灑掃張具至旦。 平明，令門下侯司。 至日中，蚡不來。 嬰謂夫曰：「丞相豈忘之哉？」 夫不懌，曰：「夫以服請，不宜。」 乃駕，自往迎蚡。 蚡特前戲許夫，殊無意往。 夫至門，蚡尚臥也。 於是夫見，曰：「將軍昨日幸許過魏其，魏其夫妻治縣，至今未敢嘗食。」 蚡悟，謝曰：「吾醉，忘與仲孺言。」 乃駕往。 往又徐行，夫愈益怒。 及飲酒酣，夫起舞屬蚡，蚡不起。 夫徙坐，語侵之。 嬰乃扶夫去，謝蚡。 蚡卒飲至夜，極歡而去。
Once, still in mourning dress, Guan Fu called on Chancellor Tian Fen. Tian Fen said lightly, "I had thought to visit Marquis Dou with you, Zhongru—but you are in mourning." Guan Fu replied, "If a general of your rank will grace Dou Ying's door, how dare I hide behind mourning?" "Tell him to lay in everything; you will call early tomorrow." Tian Fen agreed. Guan Fu carried the word to Dou Ying. Dou Ying and his wife bought cattle and wine in quantity, cleaned the house, and set the hall from dusk till dawn. At daybreak he posted servants to watch the road. Noon passed; Tian Fen never appeared. Dou Ying asked Guan Fu, "Has the chancellor forgotten us?" Guan Fu glowered. "I came to him in mourning; he had no business accepting if he never meant to come." He hitched his own chariot and drove to fetch Tian Fen. Tian Fen had only been teasing when he said yes; he never meant to go. When Guan Fu reached his gate, Tian Fen was still in bed. Guan Fu said to his face, "Yesterday you promised to visit Marquis Dou; he and his wife have worked since dawn and have not touched food." Tian Fen roused himself and apologized: "I was drunk and forgot my word to you." He ordered his carriage and set out. He crawled along the road; Guan Fu's rage mounted. When the wine had gone round, Guan Fu rose to offer a dance and invited Tian Fen to follow; Tian Fen stayed seated. Guan Fu shifted his cushion and let fly a string of insults. Dou Ying helped Guan Fu out and apologized to Tian Fen. Tian Fen drank till nightfall and left in high good humor.
20
後蚡使藉福請嬰城南田，嬰大望曰：「老僕雖棄，將軍雖貴，寧可以勢相奪乎！」 不許。 夫聞，怒罵福。 福惡兩人有隙，乃謾好謝蚡曰：「魏其老且死，易忍，且待之。」 已而蚡聞嬰、夫實怒不予，亦怒曰：「魏其子嘗殺人，蚡活之。 蚡事魏其無所不可，愛數頃田？ 且灌夫何與也？ 吾不敢復求田！」 由此大怒。
Later Tian Fen sent Jifu to ask for Dou Ying's fields south of the wall. Dou Ying flared: "I may be a discarded old fool and you a great minister, but you cannot bully me out of my land!" He refused. Guan Fu heard and cursed Jifu roundly. Jifu feared a breach between them, so he lied smoothly to Tian Fen: "Dou Ying is old and dying; you can afford to wait him out." When Tian Fen learned they truly refused, he snarled, "Dou Ying's son once committed murder; I spared him." "I have refused Dou Ying nothing—does he grudge me a few hectares?" "And what business is it of Guan Fu's?" "I will never ask for that land again!" From that day his hatred ran deep.
21
元光四年春，蚡言灌夫家在穎川，橫甚，民苦之。 請案之。 上曰：「此丞相事，何請？」 夫亦持蚡陰事，為奸利，受淮南王金與語言。 賓客居間，遂已，俱解。
In the spring of Yuanguang 4, Tian Fen reported that the Guan clan tyrannized Yingchuan and the commoners groaned under them. He asked leave to open an inquiry. The emperor said, "That is the chancellor's business—why petition me?" Guan Fu held Tian Fen's secrets—bribes, gold from the king of Huainan, and treasonous talk. Friends brokered a truce, and both sides let the matter drop—for the moment.
22
夏，蚡取燕王女為夫人，太后詔召列侯宗室皆往賀。 嬰過夫，欲與俱。 夫謝曰：「夫數以酒失過丞相，丞相今者又與夫有隙。」 嬰曰：「事已解。」 強與俱。 酒酣，蚡起為壽，坐皆避席伏。 已嬰為壽，獨故人避席，余半膝席。 夫行酒，至蚡，蚡膝席曰：「不能滿觴。」 夫怒，因嘻笑曰：「將軍貴人也，畢之！」 時蚡不肯。 行酒次至臨汝侯灌賢，賢方與程不識耳語，又不避席。 夫無所發怒，乃罵賢曰：「平生毀程不識不直一錢，今日長者為壽，乃效女曹兒呫囁耳語！」 蚡謂夫曰：「程、李俱東西宮衛尉，今眾辱程將軍，仲孺獨不為李將軍地乎？」 夫曰：「今曰斬頭穴匈，何知程、李！」 坐乃起更衣，稍稍去。 嬰去，戲夫。 夫出，蚡遂怒曰：「此吾驕灌夫罪也。」 乃令騎留夫，夫不得出。 藉福起為謝，案夫項令謝。 夫愈怒，不肯順。 蚡乃戲騎縛夫置傳捨，召長史曰：「今日召宗室，有詔。」 劾灌夫罵坐不敬，系居室。 遂其前事，遣吏分曹逐捕諸灌氏支屬，皆得棄市罪。 嬰愧，為資使賓客請，莫能解。 蚡吏皆為耳目，諸灌氏皆仁匿，夫系，遂不得告言蚡陰事。
That summer Tian Fen married a daughter of the Prince of Yan; the empress dowager ordered every noble and Liu kinsman to the wedding feast. Dou Ying stopped at Guan Fu's and asked him along. Guan Fu begged off: "I have insulted the chancellor too often when drunk, and we are already at odds." Dou Ying said, "That is all patched up." He dragged him along anyway. When the wine had gone round, Tian Fen rose to propose a toast; every guest left his cushion and knelt in respect. When Dou Ying did the same, only old friends rose fully; the others merely hitched forward on one knee. Guan Fu poured for Tian Fen, who stayed on his cushion and said, "I cannot drain the cup." Guan Fu sneered, "You are a great man, General—drink it down!" Tian Fen still refused. Next he reached Marquis Guan Xian of Linying, who was whispering to Cheng Bushi and never rose from his mat. With nowhere else to vent, Guan Fu turned on Guan Xian: "You have always called Cheng Bushi worthless—now an elder proposes a toast and you sit there simpering like women in a corner!" Tian Fen said, "Cheng Bushi and Li Guang are commandants of the eastern and western palaces; you have shamed Cheng in public—do you spare no face for Li Guang?" Guan Fu roared, "I would cut my throat this minute—what are Cheng and Li to me?" The guests rose to "change clothes" and slipped away one by one. Dou Ying left with a joking word to Guan Fu. As Guan Fu left, Tian Fen snarled, "I have only myself to blame for spoiling him." He ordered horsemen to bar the door; Guan Fu could not get out. Jifu stood to mediate, seized Guan Fu by the neck, and tried to force a bow of apology. Guan Fu only grew more furious and would not yield. Tian Fen had his riders tie Guan Fu and dump him in the post station, then called his chief clerk: "Today's gathering was by imperial summons." He charged Guan Fu with insulting the guests and lack of respect, and threw him in the palace jail. He revived old charges, sent officers to round up every Guan kinsman, and fixed them all with the death penalty. Dou Ying was mortified; he spent his fortune on intermediaries, but no one could free him. Tian Fen's men watched every move; the Guans went to ground; with Guan Fu in chains, no one could denounce Tian Fen's secrets.
23
嬰銳為救夫，嬰夫人諫曰：「灌將軍得罪丞相，與太后家迕，寧可救邪？」 嬰曰：「侯自我得之，自我捐之，無所恨。 且終不令灌仲孺獨死，嬰獨生。」 乃匿其家，竊出上書。 立召人，具告言灌夫醉飽事，不足誅。 上然之，賜嬰食，曰：「東朝廷辯之。」
Dou Ying was bent on saving Guan Fu. His wife warned him, "Guan Fu has insulted the chancellor and defied the Tian family—can you save him?" Dou Ying said, "I won my title with my own merit; I may lose it the same way—I have no regrets." "Nor will I let Guan Zhongru die while I alone survive." He slipped past his household, stole out, and filed a memorial with the throne. He had Guan Fu brought in at once and laid out the whole drunken-scene story, arguing it did not merit death. The emperor assented, fed Dou Ying, and said, "Argue it out in the eastern court."
24
嬰東朝，盛推夫善，言其醉飽得過，乃丞相以它事誣罪之。 蚡盛毀夫所為橫恣，罪逆不道。 嬰度無可奈何，因言蚡短。 蚡曰：「天下幸而安樂無事，蚡得為肺附，所好音樂、狗馬、田宅，所愛倡優、巧匠之屬，不如魏其、灌夫日夜招聚天下豪傑壯士與論議，腹誹而心謗，卬視天，俯畫地，辟睨兩官間，幸天下有變，而欲有大功。 臣乃不如魏其等所為。」 上問朝臣：「兩人孰是？」 御史大夫韓安國曰：「魏其言灌夫父死事，身荷戟馳不測之吳軍，身被數十創，名冠三軍，此天下壯士，非有大惡，爭杯酒，不足引它過以誅也。 魏其言是。 丞相亦言灌夫通姦猾，侵細民，家累巨萬，橫恣穎川，□轢宗室，侵犯骨肉，此所謂『支大於干，脛大於股，不折必披』。 丞相信亦是。 唯明主裁之。」 主爵都尉汲黯是魏其。 內史鄭當時是魏其，後不堅。 餘皆莫敢對。 上怒內史曰：「公平生數言魏其、武安長短，今日廷論，局趣效轅下駒，吾並斬若屬矣！」 即罷起入，上食太后。 太后亦已使人候司，具以語太后。 太后怒，不食，曰：「我在也，而人皆藉吾弟，令我百歲後，皆魚肉之乎！ 且帝寧能為石人邪！ 此特帝在，即錄錄，設百歲後，是屬寧有可信者乎？」 上謝曰：「俱外家，故廷辨之。 不然，此一獄吏所決耳。」 是時，郎中令石建為上分別言兩人。
At the eastern court Dou Ying praised Guan Fu to the skies, blamed the brawl on drink, and called Tian Fen's charges a frame-up. Tian Fen blackened Guan Fu as a bully whose crimes knew no law. Seeing he was losing, Dou Ying turned to Tian Fen's own faults. Tian Fen said, "While the empire enjoys peace, I, as the emperor's uncle, care for music, hounds, horses, and mansions—singers, actors, and craftsmen. I am nothing like Dou Ying and Guan Fu, who recruit ruffians day and night, nurse private grudges, scan heaven and earth, and leer toward both palaces, praying for turmoil so they can seize glory." "I am not in their league." The emperor asked his ministers, "Who speaks truth?" Han Anguo said, "Dou Ying is right that Guan Fu's father died in battle while the son, halberd in hand, charged the Wu lines and took dozens of wounds—a hero of the empire. Without a graver crime than a wine quarrel, he should not die for it." Marquis Dou speaks the truth. The chancellor is also right: Guan Fu consorts with villains, preys on the weak, has piled up a fortune, tyrannizes Yingchuan, rides roughshod over the imperial clan, and wrongs his own blood—what the proverb calls a limb thicker than the trunk, a calf thicker than the thigh: something must snap. The chancellor speaks truth as well. "Only Your Majesty can judge." Ji An, chief commandant of the nobility, backed Dou Ying. Palace secretary Zheng Dangshi began on Dou Ying's side, then wavered. The others held their tongues. The emperor turned on Zheng Dangshi: "You have spent years weighing Dou Ying against Tian Fen; today at court you freeze like a colt between the traces—I could behead you all!" He cut the session short, rose, and withdrew to dine with his mother. She had already posted spies; they told her everything. She refused her meal in fury: "I am still alive, yet they walk on my brother; when I am gone, will they cut him to pieces?" "And is the emperor a block of stone, deaf to his own mother?" Only while you sit on the throne do they cringe; once you are gone, would you trust a single one of them?" The emperor apologized: "Both sides are my in-laws—that is why I aired the dispute in open court." "Otherwise a county jailer could have settled it." Supervisor of the household Shi Jian then gave the emperor a private briefing on each man.
25
蚡已罷朝，出止車門，召御史大夫安國載，怒曰：「與長孺共一禿翁，何為首鼠兩端？」 安國良久謂蚡曰：「君何不自喜！ 夫魏其毀君，君當免冠解印綬歸，曰『臣以肺附幸得待罪，固非其任，魏其言皆是。』 如此，上必多君有讓，不廢君。 魏其必愧，杜門齒齰舌自殺。 今人毀君，君亦毀之，譬如要豎女子爭言，何其無大體也！」 蚡謝曰：「爭時爭，不知出此。」
Tian Fen left court, halted at the gate, pulled Han Anguo into his chariot, and fumed, "You and I were advising the same graybeard—why sit on the fence?" After a long silence Han Anguo said, "You might show a little self-satisfaction." "When Dou Ying attacks you, take off your cap, hand back your seal, and say: I am only the emperor's uncle-by-marriage; the post is beyond me; Dou Ying speaks the truth." "The throne will honor you for stepping aside and will not cast you off." Dou Ying would die of shame behind bolted doors—perhaps even by his own hand. "Instead you trade insults like market women—where is the dignity of a minister?" Tian Fen apologized: "I was carried away in the fight; I never thought of your stratagem."
26
於是上使御史簿責嬰所言灌夫頗不讎，劾繫都司空。 孝景時，嬰嘗受遺詔，曰「事有不便，以便宜論上」。 及系，灌夫罪至族，事日急，諸公莫敢復明言於上。 嬰乃使昆弟子上書言之，幸得召見。 書奏，案尚書，大行無遺詔。 詔書獨臧嬰家，嬰家丞封。 乃劾嬰矯先帝詔害，罪當棄市。 五年十月，悉論灌夫支屬。 嬰良久乃聞有劾，即陽病痱，不食慾死。 或聞上無意殺嬰，復食，治病，議定不死矣。 乃有飛語為惡言聞上，故以十二月晦論棄市渭城。
The emperor had the censor cross-examine Dou Ying: his claims about Guan Fu did not check out; he was impeached and jailed under the metropolitan superintendent. Emperor Jing had once given Dou Ying a sealed rescript: "If state business goes awry, memorialize as you see fit." By then Guan Fu faced extermination of his clan; the case raced toward verdict, and no minister dared speak for Dou Ying at court. Dou Ying smuggled a memorial out through a nephew, hoping for a summons. When the document arrived, the archives of the Minister of Documents were searched; the office of the grand coach reported no such testament on file. The only copy of the alleged edict had lain in Dou Ying's house under his steward's seal. He was charged with forging a dead emperor's edict—a capital offense. In the tenth month of the fifth year the entire Guan clan was condemned. Dou Ying learned of the impeachment late; he feigned a stroke, refused food, and prepared to die. Word spread that the emperor would spare him; he took food again, nursed his health, and his friends thought he was safe. Then anonymous slander reached the throne; on the last day of the twelfth month he was ordered executed at Weicheng market.
27
春，蚡疾，一身盡痛，若有擊者，呼服謝罪。 上使視鬼者瞻之，曰：「魏其侯與灌夫共守，笞欲殺之。」 竟死。 子恬嗣，元朔中有罪免。
That spring Tian Fen fell ill, racked with pains as from blows, screaming confessions and pleas for mercy. The emperor sent a spirit-medium, who reported, "Marquis Dou and Guan Fu stand over him, flogging him to death." He died. His son Tian inherited the title but lost it to a crime in Yuanshuo.
28
後淮南王安謀反，覺。 始安入朝時，蚡為太尉，迎安霸上，謂安曰：「上未有太子，大王最賢，高祖孫，即宮車晏駕，非大王立，尚誰立哉？」 淮南王大喜，厚遺金錢財物。 上自嬰、夫事時不直蚡，特為太后故。 及聞淮南事，上曰：「使武安侯在者，族矣。」
Later Liu An, king of Huainan, rebelled; the plot was exposed. On Liu An's first visit to court, Tian Fen—then grand commandant—met him at Bashang and said, "The throne has no heir; you are Gaozu's ablest grandson; when the emperor dies, if anyone mounts the throne but you, who should it be?" The king of Huainan was delighted and showered him with gold and treasure. Throughout the Dou–Guan affair the emperor had judged Tian Fen in the wrong but indulged him for his mother's sake. When the Huainan case broke, the emperor said, "If Tian Fen still lived, I would exterminate his whole line."
29
韓安國
Han Anguo (the following is his biography).
30
韓安國字長孺，梁成安人也，後徒睢陽。 嘗受《韓子》、雜說鄒田生所。 事梁孝王，為中大夫。 吳、楚反時，孝王使安國及張羽為將，扞吳兵於東界。 張羽力戰，安國持重，以故吳不能過梁。 吳、楚破、安國、張羽名由此顯梁。
Han Anguo, courtesy name Changru, was a native of Cheng'an in Liang; his family later moved to Suiyang. He had studied the Han Feizi and eclectic texts under Zou Tiansheng. He served King Xiao of Liang as a palace counselor. During the revolt of Wu and Chu the king sent Han Anguo and Zhang Yu east to hold the Wu forces at the border. Zhang Yu attacked fiercely; Han Anguo held the line; Wu never broke through into Liang. After Wu and Chu fell, both men's fame shone in Liang.
31
梁王以至親故，得自置相、二千石，出入遊戲，僭於天子。 天子聞之，心不善。 太后知帝弗善，乃怒梁使者，弗見，案責王所為。 安國為梁使，見大長公主而泣曰：「何梁王為人子之孝，為人臣之忠，而太后曾不省也？ 夫前日吳、楚、齊、趙七國反，自關以東皆合從而西向，唯梁最親，為限難。 梁王念太后、帝在中，而諸侯擾亂，壹言泣數行而下，跪送臣等六人將兵擊卻吳、楚、吳、楚以故兵不敢西，而卒破亡，梁之力也。 今太后以小苛禮責望梁王。 梁王父兄皆帝王，而所見者大，故出稱蹕，入言警，車旗皆帝所賜，即以□鄙小縣，驅馳國中，欲誇諸侯，令天下知太后、帝愛之也。 今梁使來，輒案責之，梁王恐，日夜滋泣思慕，不知所為。 何梁王之忠孝而太后不恤也？」 長公主具以告太后，太后喜曰：「為帝言之。」 言之，帝心乃解，而免冠謝太后曰：「兄弟不能相教，乃為太后遺憂。」 悉見梁使，厚賜之。 其後，梁王益親歡。 太后、長公主更賜安國直千餘金。 由此顯，結於漢。
As the emperor's brother, the king of Liang could name his own chancellor and two-thousand-picul officials; his comings and goings aped the imperial style. The emperor heard of it and took offense. The empress dowager knew her son disapproved; she snubbed Liang's messengers and demanded an accounting of the king's behavior. Han Anguo, speaking for Liang, wept before the grand princess: "The king is a dutiful son and a loyal vassal—why will the empress dowager not see it?" "When the seven kingdoms rose east of the passes and turned their spears westward, only Liang—closest of kin—bore the brunt." "With the realm in chaos he thought only of you and the emperor; tears streamed at a single word; he knelt and sent six of us with an army that pinned Wu and Chu so they never marched west—that broke the rebellion." "Now you fault him for petty breaches of etiquette." "Raised among emperors, he thinks in large scale: he speaks of imperial escort and cordons because his equipage was all your gift; even on a tour of a minor county he parades the kingdom so all may see how you and the emperor cherish him." "Yet every Liang messenger is hauled in for interrogation; the king lives in terror, weeping day and night, unsure what to do." "How can he be so loyal and filial while you withhold your mercy?" The grand princess repeated every word; the empress dowager beamed and said, "Tell the emperor." She did; the emperor's anger melted. He doffed his cap and apologized to his mother: "We brothers failed each other and caused you grief." He received every Liang envoy and rewarded them generously. Afterward the bond between throne and king of Liang grew warm again. The empress dowager and the grand princess together gave Han Anguo over a thousand cash-weight in gold. He rose in fame and was tied to the court at Chang'an.
32
其後，安國坐法抵罪，蒙獄吏田申辱安國。 安國曰：「死灰獨不復然乎？」 甲曰：「然即溺之。」 居無幾，梁內史缺，漢使使者拜安國為梁內史，起徒中為二千石。 田甲亡。 安國曰：「甲不就官，我滅而宗。」 甲肉袒謝，安國笑曰：「公等足與治乎？」 卒善遇之。
Later Han Anguo broke the law and went to prison, where the warder Tian Jia abused him. Han Anguo said, "Dead embers cannot reignite—or can they?" Tian Jia sneered, "If they do, I will piss them out." Soon the post of Liang's inner secretary fell vacant; the court appointed Han Anguo from his cell straight to two-thousand-picul rank. Tian Jia ran. Han Anguo sent word: "If Tian Jia does not show up for duty, I will wipe out his family." Tian Jia stripped to the waist and crawled to apologize. Han Anguo laughed: "Were you worth the trouble?" In the end he treated him kindly.
33
內史之缺也，王新得齊人公孫詭，說之，欲請為內史。 竇太后聞，乃詔王以安國為內史。
When the post opened, the king favored a newcomer from Qi, Gongsun Gui, and meant to name him inner secretary. Empress Dowager Dou heard and ordered the king to appoint Han Anguo instead.
34
公孫詭、羊勝說王求為帝太子及益地事，恐漢大臣不聽，乃陰使人刺漢用事謀臣。 及殺故吳相爰盎，景帝遂聞詭、勝等計劃，乃遣使捕詭、勝，必得。 漢使十輩至梁，相以下舉國大索，月餘弗得。 安國聞詭、勝匿王所，乃入見王而泣曰：「主辱者臣死。 大王無良臣，故紛紛至此。 今勝、詭不得，請辭賜死。」 王曰：「何至此？」 安國泣數行下，曰：「大王自度於皇帝，孰與太上皇之與高帝及皇帝與臨江王親？」 王曰：「弗如也。」 安國曰：「夫太上皇、臨江親父子間，然高帝曰『提三尺取天下者朕也』，故太上終不得制事，居於櫟陽。 臨江，適長太子，以一言過，廢王臨江； 用宮垣事，卒自殺中尉府。 何者？ 治天下終不用私亂公。 語曰：『雖有親父，安知不為虎？ 雖有親兄，安知不為狼？』 今大王列在諸侯，訹邪臣浮說，犯上禁，橈明法。 天子以太后故，不忍致法於大王。 太后日夜涕泣，幸大王自改，大王終不覺寤。 有如太后宮車即晏駕，大王尚誰攀乎？」 語未卒，王泣數行而下，謝安國曰：「吾今出之。」 即日詭、勝自殺。 漢使還報，梁事皆得釋，安國力也。 景帝、太后益重安國。
Gongsun Gui and Yang Sheng urged the king to seek the crown princeship and more land; fearing refusal from Chang'an, they hired killers for Han's leading advisers. After they murdered Yuan Ang, the former chancellor of Wu, Emperor Jing learned of the plot and sent men to seize Gongsun Gui and Yang Sheng alive. Ten separate Han delegations searched Liang from chancellor to constable for over a month without success. Han Anguo learned the two men were hidden in the palace. He entered in tears: "When the lord is dishonored, his servant should die." "You have no loyal ministers—that is why matters have come to this pass." "If those two are not produced, grant me death." The king said, "How can it be so grave?" Han Anguo wept freely: "Tell me—which bond is tighter: the Grand Supreme Emperor and Gaozu, or the emperor and the prince of Linjiang?" The king said, "I am not as close to the emperor as those pairs were." Han Anguo said: "Gaozu and his father, the emperor and the prince of Linjiang—each was a tight father-son pair—yet Gaozu declared, The sword that won the realm is mine, and the old emperor finished his life powerless at Liyang." The prince of Linjiang was the legitimate eldest son; one slip of the tongue cost him his kingdom; on a charge about palace walls he ended his life in the metropolitan commandant's yamen. Why? Because the empire is never ruled by private affection over public law. The proverb runs: Even a loving father may prove a tiger; even a loving brother may prove a wolf." "You are only a feudal king; venal advisers have led you to break the throne's edicts and warp the code." "The emperor stays his hand only for his mother's sake." "She weeps day and night for you to mend your ways; you refuse to wake." "When her carriage at last climbs the western slope, whom will you cling to?" Before he finished, the king was sobbing; he thanked Han Anguo and said, "I will hand them over." That day Gongsun Gui and Yang Sheng committed suicide. The Han envoy reported back; the Liang crisis dissolved—through Han Anguo's doing. Emperor Jing and the empress dowager prized him the more.
35
孝王薨，共王即位，安國坐法失官，家居。 武帝即位，武安侯田蚡為太尉，親貴用事。 安國以五百金遺蚡，蚡言安國太后，上素聞安國賢，即召以為北地都尉，遷為大司農。 閩、東越相攻，遣安國、大行王恢將兵。 未至越，越殺其王降，漢兵亦罷。 其年，田蚡為丞相，安國為御史大夫。
When King Xiao died and King Gong succeeded, Han Anguo lost his post to a legal offense and lived in retirement. When Emperor Wu took the throne, Marquis of Wu'an Tian Fen was grand commandant, powerful and the emperor's favorite. Han Anguo gave Tian Fen five hundred catties of gold; Tian Fen praised him to the empress dowager; the emperor, who had long heard of his talent, named him commandant of Beidi, then minister of finance. When Min and Eastern Yue went to war, the court sent Han Anguo and Grand Coach Wang Hui with an army. Before they arrived the Yue people killed their king and submitted; the Han force was dismissed. That year Tian Fen became chancellor and Han Anguo censor-in-chief.
36
匈奴來請和親，上下其議。 大行王恢，燕人，數為邊吏，習故事，議曰：「漢與匈奴和親，率不過數歲即背約。 不如勿許，舉兵擊之。」 安國曰：「千里而戰，即兵不獲利。 今匈奴負戎馬足，懷鳥獸心，遷徙鳥集，難得而制。 得其地不足為廣，有其眾不足為強，自上古弗屬。 漢數千里爭利，則人馬罷，虜以全制其敝，勢必危殆。 臣故以為不如和親。」 群臣議多附安國，於是上許和親。
The Xiongnu asked for a heqin marriage pact; the court debated the proposal. Grand Coach Wang Hui of Yan, a veteran frontier officer, argued: "Every heqin with the Xiongnu lasts only a few years before they break it." "Better refuse and strike them while we can." Han Anguo said, "A campaign a thousand li from home rarely ends in clear victory." "The nomads ride as long as their horses hold out, think like beasts, scatter and regather like birds—nearly impossible to pin down." "Their land would not widen the empire; their herds would not strengthen it; they have never been true subjects since high antiquity." Drive thousands of li for plunder and you exhaust men and horses; the nomads wait at full strength to strike your weakness—a recipe for disaster. So I say: heqin is the wiser course." The court debated; most backed Han Anguo; the emperor approved the marriage pact.
37
明年，雁門馬邑豪聶壹因大行王恢言：「匈奴初和親，親信邊，可誘以利致之，伏兵襲擊，必破之道也。」 上乃召問公卿曰：「朕飾子女以配單于，幣帛文錦，賂之甚厚。 單于待命加嫚，侵盜無已，邊竟數驚，朕甚閔之。 今欲舉兵攻之，何如？」
The next year Nie Yi of Mayi in Yanmen, speaking through Grand Coach Wang Hui, said: "The Xiongnu have just sealed a heqin and trust the frontier; bait them with loot, then spring an ambush—that will break them." The emperor asked his ministers: "I have married imperial daughters to the shanyu and sent treasure in silks and brocades beyond measure." Yet he answers every favor with contempt, raids without end, and keeps the frontier in panic—I cannot bear it." "Shall we strike him with an army?"
38
大行恢對曰：「陛下雖未言，臣固願效之。 臣聞全代之時，北有強胡之敵，內連中國之兵，然尚得養老長幼，種樹以時，倉廩常實，匈奴不輕侵也。 今以陛下之威，海內為一，天下同任，又遣子弟乘邊守塞，轉粟挽輸，以為之備，然匈奴侵盜不已者，無它，以不恐之故耳。 臣竊以為擊之便。」
Wang Hui said, "Even if you had not asked, I would have urged the same." "In the old state of Dai, hemmed by the nomads within and imperial armies without, the people still raised children, sowed on time, and filled their granaries—because the Xiongnu did not dare raid lightly." "Today, under your majesty, the empire is one, the people shoulder the cost, your kin ride the walls, grain trains feed the garrisons—and still the Xiongnu raid. There is only one reason: they no longer fear us." "Strike them—that is my counsel."
39
御史大夫安國曰：「不然。 臣聞高皇帝嘗圍於平城，匈奴至者投鞍高如城者數所。 平城之饑，七日不食，天下歌之，及解圍反位，而無忿怒之心。 夫聖人以天下為度者也，不以己私怒傷天下之功，故乃遣劉敬奉金千斤，以結和親，至今為五世利。 孝文皇帝又嘗壹擁天下之精兵聚之廣武常溪，然終無尺寸之功，而天下黔首無不憂者。 孝文寤於兵之不可宿，故復合和親之約。 此二聖之跡，足以為效矣。 臣竊以為勿擊便。」
Han Anguo said, "No." "Gaozu was trapped at Pingcheng; the nomads piled captured saddles like ramparts around him." "Seven days without food—the whole empire remembers—yet when the ring broke and he resumed the throne, he nursed no private vengeance." "A sage weighs the world, not his temper; he sent Liu Jing with a thousand catties of gold to seal a heqin—and five reigns have profited from it." "Emperor Wen once massed the empire's best troops at Guangwu and Changxi and won not a foot of ground, while every commoner lived in dread." "Emperor Wen saw that armies cannot camp forever; he renewed the heqin compact." "Those two sage emperors left us the model." "Do not strike—that is my counsel."
40
恢曰：「不然。 臣聞五帝不相襲禮，三王不相復樂，非故相反也，各因世宜也。 且高帝身被堅執銳，蒙霧露，沐霜雪，行幾十年，所以不報平城之怨者，非力不能，所以休天下之心也。 今邊竟數驚，士卒傷死，中國槥車相望，此仁人之所隱也。 臣故曰『擊之便』。」
Wang Hui said, "Wrong." "The Five Emperors did not copy one another's rites, the Three Kings did not recycle one another's music—not from perversity, but because each age needs its own policy." "Gaozu marched ten years in mail and frost; he did not avenge Pingcheng because he could not, but because the realm needed peace." "Today the frontier alarms never stop, soldiers fall, and funeral carts choke the roads of China—any humane ruler would pity that." "So I say: strike."
41
安國曰：「不然。 臣聞利不十者不易業，功不百者不變常，是以古之人君謀事必就祖，發政占古語，重作事也。 且自三代之盛，夷狄不與正朔服色，非威不能制，強弗能服也，以為遠方絕地不牧之民，不足煩中國也。 且匈奴，輕疾悍亟之兵也，至如□風，去如收電，畜牧為業，弧弓射獵，逐獸隨草，居處無常，難得而制。 今使邊郡久廢耕織，以支胡之常事，其勢不相權也。 臣故曰『勿擊便』。」
Han Anguo said again, "No." "Without tenfold gain men do not change trade; without hundredfold merit sages do not break precedent—ancient kings consulted shrines and oracles before they shifted policy." "Even at the height of the Three Dynasties the barbarians kept their own calendar and dress—not because China could not force them, but because they were deemed beyond the pale, unworthy of the empire's exertion." "The Xiongnu strike like a squall and vanish like lightning; they live by the herd and the bow, follow grass and game, and never camp twice in the same place—nearly impossible to hold." "To idle the border farms and looms forever answering nomad raids is a fight we cannot sustain." "So I say: do not strike."
42
恢曰：「不然。 臣聞鳳鳥乘於風，聖人因於時。 昔秦繆公都雍，地方三百里，知時宜之變，攻取西戎，辟地千里，並國十四，隴西、北地是也。 及後蒙恬為秦侵胡，辟數千里，以河為竟，累石為城，樹榆為塞，匈奴不敢飲馬於河，置烽燧然後敢牧馬。 夫匈奴獨可以威服，不可以仁畜也。 今以中國之盛，萬倍之資，遣百分之一以攻匈奴，譬猶以強弩射且潰之癰也，必不留行矣。 若是，則北發月氏可得而臣也。 臣故曰『擊之便』。」
Wang Hui said again, "Wrong." "The phoenix rides the wind; the sage rides the moment." "Duke Mu of Qin ruled from Yong in a square three hundred li to a side; reading the times, he conquered the western Rong, opened a thousand li, swallowed fourteen states—Longxi and Beidi among them." "Meng Tian later drove the Hu for Qin, pushed the line to the Yellow River, raised stone walls and elm palisades; the Xiongnu would not water horses in the river until their watchfires lined the steppe." "Fear alone governs the Xiongnu; kindness does not tame them." "China today is rich beyond measure; spend one percent of that on a campaign and it is like a heavy crossbow bolt through a ripe boil—it will not stall halfway." "Success would let us bring even the Yuezhi to heel in the north." "So I say: strike."
43
安國曰：「不然。 臣聞用兵者以飽待饑，正治以待其亂，定捨以待其勞。 故接兵覆眾，伐國墮城，常坐而役敵國，此聖人之兵也。 且臣聞之，沖風之衰，不能起毛羽； 強弩之末，力不能入魯縞。 夫盛之有衰，猶朝之必莫也。 今將卷甲輕舉，深入長驅，難以為功； 從行則迫脅，衡行則中絕，疾則糧乏，徐則後利，不至千里，人馬乏食。 兵法曰：『遺人獲也。』 意者有它繆巧可以禽之，則臣不知也； 不然，則未見深入之利也。 臣故曰『勿擊便』。」
Han Anguo said again, "No." "The art of war is to meet hunger with full stores, chaos with order, exhaustion with rested troops." "To shatter armies and take cities while the enemy exhausts itself—that is the sage general's way." "A dying gust cannot lift a feather;" "a spent crossbow cannot pierce thin Lu gauze." "Strength always wanes, as morning turns to evening." "To strip for a long raid deep into the steppe is hard to turn into victory;" "march in file and they flank you; march abreast and they sever you; hurry and you outrun your grain; dawdle and they choose the ground; before you cross a thousand li, men and horses starve." "Sunzi warns: you only hand the enemy a gift." "If you have some secret stratagem I have not heard, say it;" "otherwise I see no gain in a deep thrust." "So I say: do not strike."
44
恢曰：「不然。 夫草木遭霜者，不可以風過； 清水明鏡，不可以形逃； 通方之士，不可以文亂。 今臣言擊之者，固非發而深入也，將順因單于之欲，誘而致之邊，吾選梟騎壯士陰伏而處以為之備，審遮險阻以為其戒。 吾勢已定，或營其左，或營其右，或當其前，或絕其後，單于可禽，百全必取。」
Wang Hui said again, "Wrong." "Frost-bitten grass cannot stand a wind;" "clear water and a bright mirror hide nothing;" "a clear mind is not fooled by words." "When I urge a strike, I do not mean a blind march inland: follow the shanyu's greed, bait him to the wall, hide picked cavalry in the defiles, and seal every pass behind him." "Once the net is set—left, right, front, rear—the shanyu can be taken; it is a sure thing."
45
上曰：「善。」 乃從恢議，陰使聶壹為間，亡入匈奴，謂單于曰：「吾能斬馬邑令丞，以城降，財物可盡得。」 單于愛信，以為然而許之。 聶壹乃詐斬死罪囚，縣其頭馬邑城下，視單于使者為信，曰：「馬邑長吏已死，可急來。」 於是單于穿塞，將十萬騎入武州塞。
The emperor said, "Agreed." He adopted Wang Hui's plan, sent Nie Yi as a double agent into the Xiongnu, and had him tell the shanyu, "Kill Mayi's magistrate and yield the city—the treasury is yours." The shanyu believed him and agreed. Nie Yi executed a criminal, hung the head at Mayi as proof to the shanyu's envoy, and said, "The officials are dead—come at once." The shanyu breached the wall and rode a hundred thousand horsemen through Wuzhou pass.
46
當是時，漢伏兵車騎材官三十餘萬，匿馬邑旁谷中。 衛尉李廣為驍騎將軍，太僕公孫賀為輕車將軍，大行王恢為將屯將軍，太中大夫李息為材官將軍。 御史大夫安國為護軍將軍，諸將皆屬。 約單于入馬邑縱兵。 王恢、李息別從代主擊輜重。 於是單于入塞，未至馬邑百餘里，覺之，還去。 語在《匈奴傳》。 塞下傳言單于已去，漢兵追至塞，度弗及，王恢等皆罷兵。
More than three hundred thousand Han chariots, horse, and specialist troops lay hidden in the ravines near Mayi. Commandant of the guards Li Guang led the swift cavalry; grand coachman Gongsun He the light chariots; grand coach Wang Hui the camp army; grand counselor Li Xi the specialist corps. Censor-in-chief Han Anguo was protector-general; every commander answered to him. The plan was to spring the trap once the shanyu entered Mayi. Wang Hui and Li Xi were to swing from Dai against the wagon train. The shanyu crossed the wall but smelled a trap a hundred li short of Mayi and wheeled away. The full account is in the Treatise on the Xiongnu. Word came that the shanyu had gone; Han pursuers halted at the wall, saw they could not catch him, and Wang Hui stood his men down.
47
上怒恢不出擊單于輜重也，恢曰：「始約為入馬邑城，兵與單于接，而臣擊其輜重，可得利。 今單于不至而還，臣以三萬人眾不敵，祗取辱。 固知還而斬，然完陛下士三萬人。」 於是下恢廷尉，廷尉當恢逗橈，當斬。 恢行千金丞相蚡，蚡不敢言上，而言於太后曰：「王恢首為馬邑事，今不成而硃恢，是為匈奴報仇也。」 上朝太后，太后以蚡言告上。 上曰：「首為馬邑事者恢，故發天下兵數十萬，從其言，為此。 且縱單于不可得，恢所部擊，猶頗可得，以尉士大夫心。 今不誅恢，無以謝天下。」 於是恢聞，乃自殺。
The emperor raged that Wang Hui had not attacked the baggage train. Wang Hui said, "The plan was for the shanyu to enter Mayi while the main army pinned him; I was to fall on his wagons." "He never came; my thirty thousand could not have beaten his host—I would only have shamed the throne." "I knew retreat meant death, but I saved your thirty thousand men." He sent Wang Hui to the commandant of justice, who convicted him of cowardice in the face of the enemy—a capital crime. Wang Hui bribed Chancellor Tian Fen with a thousand catties of gold; Tian Fen dared not plead to the emperor but told the empress dowager, "Wang Hui began the Mayi plot; to execute him now is to do the Xiongnu a favor." At court with his mother, the emperor heard her repeat Tian Fen's plea. The emperor said, "Wang Hui started Mayi; I mobilized hundreds of thousands on his word." "Even if we missed the shanyu, Wang Hui could still have bloodied the baggage train and heartened the army." "If I spare him, I owe the empire an apology." Wang Hui killed himself when he heard.
48
安國為材官將軍，屯漁陽，捕生口虜，言匈奴遠去。 即上言方佃作時，請且罷屯。 罷屯月餘，匈奴大入上谷、漁陽。 安國壁乃有七百餘人，出與戰，安國傷，入壁。 匈奴虜略千餘人及畜產去。 上怒，使使責讓安國。 徙益東，屯右北平。 是時，虜言當入東方。
Han Anguo, as specialist general at Yuyang, took prisoners who swore the Xiongnu had withdrawn deep into the steppe. He memorialized that spring planting needed labor and asked to stand the garrison down. A month after he sent the troops home, the Xiongnu smashed into Shanggu and Yuyang. Han Anguo had only seven hundred men in his fort; he sortied, was wounded, and crawled back inside. The raiders took over a thousand captives and beasts and rode away. The emperor sent messengers to blister Han Anguo. He was shifted east to garrison Youbeiping. Intelligence said the next strike would fall on the eastern sector.
49
安國始為御史大夫及護軍，後稍下遷。 新壯將軍衛青等有功，益貴。 安國既斥疏，將屯又失亡多，甚自愧，幸得罷歸，乃益東徙，意忽忽不樂，數月，病嘔血死。
From censor-in-chief and protector-general he had slid down the ranks. Young favorites such as General Wei Qing won glory on the frontier and eclipsed him. Shunned and stripped of real command, he lost heavily when he tried again to hold a camp; mortified, he begged off, was shunted farther east, sank into gloom, and within months died vomiting blood.
50
壺遂與太史遷等定漢律歷，官至詹事，其人深中篤行君子。 上方倚欲以為相，會其病卒。
Hu Sui worked with Sima Qian and others on the Han calendar and code, rose to chamberlain for the heir apparent, and was remembered as a grave, steady gentleman. The emperor meant to make him chancellor; he died of illness first.
51
贊曰：「竇嬰、田蚡皆以外戚重，灌夫用一時決策，而各名顯，並位卿相，大業定矣。 然嬰不知時變，夫亡術而不遜，蚡負貴而驕溢。 凶德參會，待時而發，藉福區區其間，惡能救斯敗哉！ 以韓安國之見器，臨其摯而顛墜，陵夷以憂死，遇合有命，悲夫！ 若王恢為兵首而受其咎，豈命也乎？
The historian's judgment: Dou Ying and Tian Fen rose through the empresses' clans; Guan Fu by one rash gesture of courage—all three won fame as ministers, yet the realm had already found its footing. Dou Ying misread the age; Guan Fu had no tact; Tian Fen rode his rank into arrogance. When such vices collided, even Jifu—small man caught between—could not avert the crash." "Han Anguo was reckoned a statesman of capacity, yet at the pinch he stumbled from favor to exile and died brokenhearted—fortune is fate; how bitter." "And Wang Hui, who first waved the army forward yet paid the price—is that fate, or justice?"