1
張湯，杜陵人也。 父為長安丞，出，湯為兒守舍。 還，鼠盜肉，父怨，笞湯。 湯掘熏得鼠及余肉，劾鼠掠治，傳爰書，訊鞫論報，並取鼠與肉，具獄磔堂下。 父見之，視文辭如老獄吏，大驚，遂使書獄。
Zhang Tang came from Duling. His father served as assistant magistrate of Chang'an. Whenever the father left on business, the boy Tang stayed behind to watch the house. When he came home, he found a rat had stolen the meat. Angry, he beat Tang with a stick. Tang excavated the burrow, smoked the rat out, recovered the leftover meat, then drew up a formal accusation against the creature. He subjected it to interrogation under torture, filed the written record of the inquest, examined it, passed sentence, and reported the outcome. He produced the rat and the meat as evidence, closed the entire case, and had the convict torn apart alive in the courtyard. When his father read the document, the wording read like that of a veteran prison clerk. He was astonished and thereafter set the boy to drafting legal briefs.
2
父死後，湯為長安吏。 周陽侯為諸卿時，嘗系長安，湯傾身事之。 及出為侯，大與湯交，遍見貴人。 湯給事內史，為甯成掾，以湯為無害，言大府，調茂陵尉，治方中。
After his father died, Tang took a minor post as a clerk in Chang'an. The Marquis of Zhouyang had once been held in custody in Chang'an while he was still one of the nine ministers; Tang threw himself into helping him in every way he could. Once the marquis was free and ennobled, he became Tang's steadfast patron and presented him to everyone who mattered at court. Tang was assigned to the metropolitan governor's staff as an aide to Ning Cheng. Deemed reliable, he was recommended to the capital authorities, transferred to the post of captain of Maoling, and put in charge of work within the tomb park.
3
武安侯為丞相，徵湯為史，薦補侍御史。 治陳皇后巫蠱獄，深竟黨與，上以為能，遷太史大夫。 與趙禹共定諸律令，務在深文，拘守職之吏。 已而禹至少府，湯為廷尉，兩人交歡，兄事禹。 禹志在奉公孤立，而湯舞知以御人。 始為小吏，干沒，與長安富賈田甲、魚翁叔之屬交私。 及列九卿，收接天下名士大夫，己內心雖不合，然陽浮道與之。
When the Marquis of Wu'an became chancellor, he called Tang up as a clerk on his staff and had him promoted to attendant censor. He prosecuted the witchcraft case involving Empress Chen, tracking every accomplice to the end. The emperor judged him competent and raised him to grand clerk of records. He and Zhao Yu rewrote the statutes and regulations, aiming for severe, tight legal language that would keep petty officials from shirking their responsibilities. Zhao Yu later rose to chamberlain for the palace revenues while Tang became commandant of justice. The two remained on excellent terms, and Tang deferred to Yu as he would to an older brother. Zhao Yu set his heart on impartial public service and stood aloof from intrigue; Tang, by contrast, traded on his wits to manipulate those around him. In his early days as a low clerk he skimmed funds and kept company with wealthy Chang'an traders like Tian Jia and Yu Wengshu. Once he sat among the nine ministers, he cultivated ties with eminent scholars from every quarter. Inwardly he often disagreed with them, yet he publicly affected the rhetoric of classical learning.
4
是時，上方鄉文學，湯決大獄，欲傅古義，乃請博士弟子治《尚書》、《春秋》，補廷尉史，平亭疑法。 奏讞疑，必奏先為上分別其原，上所是，受而著讞法廷尉挈令，揚主之明。 奏事即譴，湯摧謝，鄉上意所便，必引正監掾史賢者，曰：「固為臣議，如上責臣，臣弗用，愚抵此。」 罪常釋。 間即奏事，上善之，曰：「臣非知為此奏，乃監、掾、史某所為。」 其欲薦吏，揚人之善、解人之過如此。 所治即上意所欲罪，予監吏深刻者； 即上意所欲釋，予監吏輕平者。 所治即豪，必舞文巧詆； 即下戶羸弱，時口言「雖文致法，上裁察。」 於是往往釋湯所言。 湯至於大吏，內行修，交通賓客飲食，於故人子弟為吏及貧昆弟，調護之尤厚，其造請諸公，不避寒暑。 是以湯雖文深意忌不專平，然得此聲譽。 而深刻吏多為爪牙用者，依於文學之士。 丞相弘數稱其美。
The emperor was then turning toward Confucian scholarship. When Tang tried major cases he liked to cloak his rulings in classical precedent, so he asked the court academicians to assign disciples trained in the Documents and the Spring and Autumn to serve as clerks in his office and help iron out disputed interpretations of the law. Whenever he submitted a doubtful case for decision, he first laid out the legal reasoning on both sides for the throne. Whatever the emperor endorsed, he incorporated into the commandant's codified precedents, giving full credit to the sovereign's discernment. If the emperor faulted a memorial as soon as it was presented, Tang at once withdrew it with an apology and bent to the sovereign's wishes. He would then name some worthy among his supervisors or clerks and say, "These men urged that course on me; when Your Majesty censures me, it is because I was too dull to follow their advice." The blame thus rarely stuck to him. When a proposal won praise, he would say, "I cannot claim credit for that memorial—it was drafted by such-and-such a supervisor or clerk." That was how he promoted subordinates: he broadcast their merits and glossed over their lapses. If the emperor wanted a man ruined, Tang handed the file to a clerk known for pitiless severity. If the emperor wished someone spared, he assigned the case to a clerk with a reputation for leniency and even-handedness. Against powerful families he would twist the statute book and frame charges with malicious ingenuity. Against humble, defenseless commoners he would sometimes remark aloud, "The letter of the law may condemn him, but let His Majesty weigh the matter." Time and again the court accepted Tang's wording and let the accused go. Though he had risen to high office, he kept up scrupulous private conduct, entertained a wide circle, and looked after the sons of old friends who held petty posts and his own indigent kinsmen with exceptional generosity. He called on the great ministers in person, whatever the season. So despite legal harshness and a jealous temperament—far from even-handed—he enjoyed a reputation for benevolence. The ruthless clerks who served as his enforcers likewise wrapped themselves in the language of the classics. Chancellor Gongsun Hong often spoke of him in glowing terms.
5
及治淮南、衡山、江都反獄，皆窮根本。 嚴助、伍被，上欲釋之，湯爭曰：「伍被本造反謀，而助親幸出入禁闥，腹心之臣，乃交私諸侯如此，弗誅，後不可治。」 上可論之。 其治獄所巧排大臣自以為功，多此類。 繇是益尊任，遷御史大夫。
In the treason trials of Huainan, Hengshan, and Jiangdu he pursued every lead to the bottom. The emperor wanted to pardon Yan Zhu and Wu Bei. Tang objected: "Wu Bei helped lay the plot from the beginning, and Yan Zhu enjoyed intimate access to the inner apartments—he was a minister of the ruler's inmost counsels—yet he secretly conspired with the kings. If they are not put to death, the law will never again command respect." The emperor accepted his argument and condemned them. His habit of outmaneuvering senior ministers and claiming the credit in such trials was typical of his style. He was therefore trusted more heavily and promoted to imperial counselor.
6
會渾邪等降，漢大興兵伐匈奴，山東水旱，貧民流徙，皆卬給縣官，縣官空虛。 湯承上指，請造白金及五銖錢，籠天下鹽鐵，排富商大賈，出告緡令，鋤豪強並兼之家，舞文巧詆以輔法。 湯每朝奏事，語國家用，日旰，天子忘食。 丞相取充位，天子事皆決湯。 百姓不安其生，騷動，縣官所興未獲其利，奸吏並侵漁，於是痛繩以罪。 自公卿以下至於庶人咸指湯。 湯嘗病，上自至捨視，其隆貴如此。
When Hunye and his followers submitted, the Han mobilized on a vast scale against the Xiongnu; floods and drought struck the eastern heartland; refugees streamed from their homes and looked to the state for relief until the public granaries stood bare. Reading the emperor's wishes, Tang proposed minting the white-metal currency and the five-zhu coin, bringing the empire's salt and iron under state monopoly, squeezing the great merchant houses, promulgating the "report-your-neighbor's-wealth" statute, and breaking up powerful clans that engrossed land and labor—all the while bending the statutes to give the policy a legal veneer. Whenever Tang spoke at audience on fiscal policy, he went on until the sun stood low in the west, and the Son of Heaven forgot his meal. The chancellor was a figurehead; every important decision passed through Tang. Common folk could not live in peace; unrest spread. State ventures brought little gain while corrupt clerks fed on the people, so Tang cracked down with harsh punishments. From the highest ministers to the meanest commoner, everyone blamed Tang. When Tang fell ill, the emperor visited his house in person—such was the height of his favor.
7
匈奴求和親，群臣議前，博士狄山曰：「和親便。」 上問其便，山曰：「兵，凶器，未易數動。 高帝欲伐匈奴，大困平城，乃遂結和親。 孝惠、高后時，天下安樂，及文帝欲事匈奴，北邊蕭然苦兵。 孝景時，吳、楚七國反，景帝往來東宮間，天下寒心數月。 吳、楚已破，竟景帝不言兵，天下富實。 今自陛下興兵擊匈奴，中國以空虛，邊大困貧。 由是觀之，不如和親。」 上問湯，湯曰：「此愚儒無知。」 狄山曰：「臣固愚忠，若御史大夫湯，乃詐忠。 湯之治淮南、江都，以深文痛詆諸侯，別疏骨肉，使籓臣不自安，臣固知湯之詐忠。」 於是上作色曰：「吾使生居一郡，能無使虜入盜乎？」 山曰：「不能。」 曰：「居一縣？」 曰：「不能。」 復曰：「居一鄣間？」 山自度辯窮且下吏，曰：「能。」 乃譴山乘鄣。 至月餘，匈奴斬山頭而去。 是後群臣震讋。
The Xiongnu sued for a marriage alliance. At the council before the throne, Academician Di Shan said, "An alliance by marriage is the prudent course." The emperor asked why. Shan replied, "Arms are unlucky instruments; they should not be lightly wielded again and again. Gaozu tried to strike the Xiongnu and was trapped in desperate straits at Pingcheng; after that he settled for peace through intermarriage. Under Emperor Hui and Empress Lü the realm knew quiet prosperity. When Emperor Wen turned against the Xiongnu, the northern frontier knew nothing but the miseries of war. Under Emperor Jing the seven kingdoms of Wu and Chu rose in revolt; the emperor shuttled between the two palace complexes while the whole country held its breath for months on end. After Wu and Chu were crushed, Jing never again spoke of major campaigns, and the realm grew wealthy and secure. Since Your Majesty took the field against the Xiongnu, the interior has been drained and the frontier left exhausted and destitute. Judged by that record, an alliance is still the better policy." The emperor turned to Tang, who said, "That is the talk of a pedantic scholar who understands nothing." Di Shan retorted, "I may be a simple loyalist, but Imperial Counselor Zhang Tang is loyal only in pretense. In the Huainan and Jiangdu trials he stretched the law to vilify the kings, pitting kin against kin until no prince felt safe at his post. That is the loyalty I call false." The emperor's face darkened. "I give you one commandery," he said. "Could you keep the raiders out?" "No," said Shan. The emperor said, "What about one county?" Shan said, "I could not." Again the emperor said, "Very well—one fortified barrier sector along the wall?" Shan saw he had argued himself into a corner and would soon be handed over to the law; he answered, "I could." The emperor promptly sent him to hold a signal tower on the frontier. A little over a month later the Xiongnu rode up and took his head. After that the ministers were all shaken with fear.
8
湯客田甲雖賈人，有賢操，始湯為小吏，與錢通，及為大吏，而甲所以責湯行義，有烈士之風。
Tang's client Tian Jia was a tradesman, yet he lived by a stern code of honor. Tang had borrowed money from him in his clerk days; after Tang rose high, Jia still rebuked his conduct like a man ready to die for principle.
9
湯為御史大夫七歲，敗。
Seven years as imperial counselor ended in his downfall.
10
河東人李文，故嘗與湯有隙，已而為御史中丞，薦數從中文事有可以傷湯者，不能為地。 湯有所愛史魯謁居，知湯弗平，使人上飛變告文奸事，事下湯，湯治論殺文，而湯心知謁居為之。 上問：「變事從跡安起？」 湯陽驚曰：「此殆文故人怨之。」 謁居病臥閭里主人，湯自往視病，為謁居摩足，趙國以冶鑄為業，王數訟鐵官事，湯常排趙王。 趙王求湯陰事。 謁居嘗案趙王，趙王怨之，並上書告：「湯大臣也，史謁居有病，湯至為摩足，疑與為大奸。」 事下廷尉。 謁居病死，事連其弟，弟繫導官。 湯亦治它囚導官，見謁居弟，欲陰為之，而陽不省。 謁居弟不知而怨湯，使人上書，告湯與謁居謀，共變李文。 事下減宣。 宣嘗與湯有隙，及得此事，窮竟其事，未奏也。 會人有盜發孝文園瘞錢，丞相青翟朝，與湯約俱謝，至前，湯念獨丞相以四時行園，當謝，湯無與也，不謝。 丞相謝，上使御史案其事。 湯欲致其文丞相見知，丞相患之。 三長史皆害湯，欲陷之。
Li Wen of Hedong had long been Tang's enemy. When Wen became vice director of the imperial secretariat, he combed the palace files for anything that might incriminate Tang and showed him no quarter. Tang kept a favorite clerk, Lu Yéju, who saw how Tang brooded on the grudge. Yéju arranged for a sealed denunciation accusing Wen of misconduct; when the case landed in Tang's hands, he tried Wen and had him executed, all the while knowing Yéju was the author of the charge. The emperor asked, "Who is behind this anonymous accusation?" Tang put on a show of surprise. "Almost certainly some old enemy of Li Wen," he said. When Yéju fell ill and lodged with a neighbor, Tang visited him in person and massaged his feet. The kingdom of Zhao lived by its foundries; its king repeatedly sued the monopoly officials, and Tang as a rule ruled against the king. The King of Zhao set out to dig up dirt on Tang. Yéju had once prosecuted the king, who nursed a grudge. The king now sent up a joint memorial: "Zhang Tang is a chief minister; when his clerk Yéju fell ill, Tang actually massaged the man's feet—clear evidence of some monstrous conspiracy between them." The case was referred to the commandant of justice. Yéju died before trial, but the investigation ensnared his younger brother, who was locked up in the guide office prison. Tang happened to be interrogating other inmates there. When he saw Yéju's brother, he meant to help him quietly while pretending not to notice him. The brother did not understand and blamed Tang; he had someone memorialize that Tang and Yéju had conspired to frame Li Wen. The case was assigned to Jian Xuan. Xuan had old scores with Tang; he seized the chance to investigate to the limit, though he had not yet reported his findings. Then robbers broke into the burial mound in Emperor Wen's mausoleum park and stole the consecrated coins. At court Chancellor Zhuang Qingzhai agreed with Tang that they would both apologize. When they came before the throne, Tang reflected that only the chancellor made the seasonal rounds of the shrines and therefore bore responsibility; he himself had nothing to do with it, so he offered no apology. The chancellor apologized alone, and the emperor ordered the censorate to look into the matter. Tang meant to shape the documentary evidence so as to implicate the chancellor in prior knowledge; the chancellor grew alarmed. The three chief clerks of the chancellor's office hated Tang and conspired to destroy him.
11
始，長史硃買臣素怨湯，語在其傳。 王朝，齊人，以術至右內史。 邊通學短長，剛暴人也。 官至濟南相。 故皆居湯右，已而失官，守長史，詘體於湯。 湯數行丞相事，知此三長史素貴，常陵折之。 故三長史合謀曰：「始湯約與君謝，已而賣君； 今欲劾君以宗廟事，此欲代君耳。 吾知湯陰事。」 使吏捕案湯左田信等，曰湯且欲為請奏，信輒先知之，居物致富，與湯分之。 及它奸事。 事辭頗聞。 上問湯曰：「吾所為，賈人輒知，益居其物，是類有以吾謀告之者。」 湯不謝，又陽驚曰：「固宜有。」 減宜亦奏謁居事。 上以湯懷詐面欺，使使八輩簿責湯。 湯具自道無此，不服。 於是上使趙禹責湯。 禹至，讓湯曰：「君何不知分也！ 君所治，夷滅者幾何人矣！ 今人言君皆有狀，天子重致君獄，欲令君自為計，何多以對為？」 湯乃為書謝曰：「湯無尺寸之功，起刀筆吏，陛下幸致位三公，無以塞責。 然謀陷湯者，三長史也。」 遂自殺。
Chief Clerk Zhu Maichen had nursed a grudge against Tang for years—the story is told in his own chapter. Wang Chao of Qi had risen to right metropolitan superintendent through his technical expertise. Bian Tong was a specialist in the "short and long" school of persuasion—abrasive, violent-tempered. He had served as chancellor of the kingdom of Jinan. All three had once outranked Tang; later they were stripped of their posts and ended up as chief clerks under him, forced to humble themselves. Whenever Tang acted for the chancellor, he knew how exalted these three had been and took every chance to humiliate them. The three chief clerks put their heads together. "At first Zhang Tang pledged to apologize with you," they said, "then he betrayed you; now he means to impeach you over the desecration of the imperial tombs because he wants your seat; and we know the dirty secrets he is hiding." They had agents seize Tang's confederate Tian Xin, charging that whenever Tang was about to memorialize a ruling, Xin learned of it in advance, cornered goods, grew rich, and split the profits with Tang. They added further counts of misconduct. Word of the accusations began to reach the throne. The emperor asked Tang, "Whatever policy I mean to adopt, the merchants seem to know it in advance and stockpile accordingly. Someone must be leaking my deliberations." Tang offered no denial and again feigned surprise: "No doubt there is." Jian Xuan weighed in with his own memorial on the Yéju business. Convinced that Tang had lied to his face, the emperor dispatched eight successive envoys to cross-examine him from the written record. Tang insisted he was innocent and refused to confess. The emperor then sent Zhao Yu to confront him. When Zhao Yu arrived, he rebuked Tang. "Have you no sense of proportion? Think how many families you have destroyed in the cases you have tried! Every charge against you now carries weight. His Majesty is moving to commit you to prison so you may settle your own affairs—why prolong the interrogation with endless denials?" Tang then drafted a memorial of apology: "I began as a mere scribal clerk and owe my rise to the three highest offices entirely to Your Majesty's favor—yet I have failed in my responsibility. Those who schemed to bring me down are the three chief clerks of the chancellor's office." He then took his own life.
12
湯死，家產直不過五百金，皆所得奉賜，無它贏。 昆弟諸子欲厚葬湯，湯母曰：「湯為天子大臣，被惡言而死，何厚葬為！」 載以牛車，有棺而無槨。 上聞之，曰：「非此母不生此子。」 乃盡按誅三長史。 丞相青翟自殺。 出田信。 上惜湯，復稍進其子安世。
At his death his estate amounted to no more than five hundred catties of gold, every ounce of it from official salary and imperial gifts—nothing ill-gotten. His brothers and sons wanted an elaborate funeral. His mother said, "He was a chief minister of the throne and died under a cloud of slander—what good would pomp do?" He was taken to the grave on an ox cart, in a plain inner coffin with no outer shell. When the emperor heard, he remarked, "Only such a mother could have raised such a son." He then had all three chief clerks arrested, tried, and executed. Chancellor Zhuang Qingzhai committed suicide. Tian Xin was cleared and released. The emperor still regretted Tang's fate and began again to advance his son Zhang Anshi.
13
子安世
His son: Zhang Anshi.
14
安世字子孺，少以父任為郎。 用善書給事尚書，精力於職，休沐未嘗出。 上行幸河東，嘗亡書三篋，詔問莫能知，唯安世識之，具作其事。 後購求得書，以相校無所遺失。 上奇其材，擢為尚書令，遷光祿大夫。
Zhang Anshi, courtesy name Ziru, entered the court in his youth as a gentleman-attendant by virtue of his father's rank. His neat calligraphy won him a post with the Masters of Writing. He threw himself into the work and never left the capital even on his statutory days off. On an imperial progress to Hedong three document cases went missing. An edict summoned anyone who could identify them; only Anshi recognized the files from memory and wrote out their contents in full. When the originals were later recovered and checked, nothing was missing. The emperor was so impressed that he promoted him to director of the Masters of Writing, then to grand coachman of the household.
15
昭帝即位，大將軍霍光秉政，以安世篤行，光親重之。 會左將軍上官桀父子及御史大夫桑弘羊皆與燕王、蓋主謀反誅，光以朝無舊臣，白用安世為右將軍光祿勳，以自副焉。 久之，天子下詔曰：「右將軍光祿勳安世輔政宿衛，肅敬不怠，十有三年，咸以康寧。 夫親親任賢，唐、虞之道也，其封安世為富平侯。」 明年，昭帝崩，未葬，大將軍光白太后，徙安世為車騎將軍，與共徵立昌邑王。 王行淫亂，光復與安世謀，廢王、尊立宣帝。 帝初即位，褒賞大臣，下詔曰：「夫褒有德，賞有功，古今之通義也。 車騎將軍光祿勳富平侯安世，宿衛忠正，宣德明恩，勤勞國家，守職秉義，以安宗廟，其益封萬六百戶，功次大將軍光。」 安世子千秋、延壽、彭祖，皆中郎將侍中。 大將軍光薨後數月，御史大夫魏相上封事曰：「聖王褒有德以懷萬方，顯有功以勸百寮，是以朝廷尊榮，天下鄉風。 國家承祖宗之業，制諸侯之重，新失大將軍，宜宣章盛德以示天下，顯明功臣以填籓國。 毋空大位，以塞爭權，所以安社稷絕未萌也。 車騎將軍安世事孝武皇帝三十餘年，忠信謹厚，勤勞政事，夙夜不怠，與大將軍定策，天下受其福，國家重臣也，宜尊其位，以為大將軍，毋令領光祿勳事，使專精神，憂念天下，思惟得失。 安世子延壽重厚，可以為光祿勳，領宿衛臣。」 上亦欲用之。 安世聞指，懼不敢當。 請聞求見，免冠頓首曰：「老臣耳妄聞，言之為先事，不言情不達，誠自量不足以居大位，繼大將軍後，唯天子財哀，以全老臣之命。」 上笑曰：「君言泰謙。 君而不可，尚誰可者！」 安世深辭弗能得。 後數日，竟拜為大司馬車騎將軍，領尚書事。 數月，罷車騎將軍屯兵，更為衛將軍，兩宮衛尉，城門、北軍兵屬焉。
When Emperor Zhao came to the throne, Grand General Huo Guang held power. Because Zhang Anshi was known for upright conduct, Huo Guang personally valued him. When Left General Shangguan Jie and his son, together with Grand Minister of Finance Sang Hongyang, were executed for plotting with the King of Yan and the Princess of Gai, Huo Guang—finding the court bereft of senior ministers—recommended Anshi as general of the right and superintendent of the masters of writing to serve as his deputy. After some time the emperor issued an edict: "General of the Right and superintendent of the masters of writing Anshi has assisted in government and guarded the palace with reverent diligence for thirteen years, and the realm has remained at peace. To cherish kin and employ the worthy is the Way of Tang and Yu. Let Anshi be enfeoffed as Marquis of Fuping." The next year Emperor Zhao died. Before the funeral, Huo Guang reported to the empress dowager, transferred Anshi to general of chariots and cavalry, and together they summoned and enthroned the King of Changyi. When the new king proved dissolute, Huo Guang again plotted with Anshi, deposed him, and enthroned Emperor Xuan in his place. Soon after his accession the emperor rewarded his leading ministers with an edict: "To praise the virtuous and reward the meritorious is the universal principle of ancient and modern times. General of chariots and cavalry, superintendent of the masters of writing, and Marquis of Fuping Anshi has guarded the palace with loyal rectitude, spread virtue abroad, toiled for the state, and upheld righteousness to secure the ancestral temple. Increase his fief by ten thousand six hundred households; his merit ranks next to Grand General Huo Guang." Anshi's sons Zhang Qianqiu, Zhang Yanshou, and Pengzu were all made generals of the household gentlemen and attendants of the interior. Several months after Huo Guang died, Grand Minister of Works Wei Xiang submitted a sealed memorial: "The sage king praises the virtuous to win over the myriad regions and displays the meritorious to encourage the hundred officials, so that the court is honored and the realm takes its lead. The state inherits the ancestral enterprise and holds the feudal lords in check. Having just lost the grand general, it is fitting to proclaim great virtue to the realm and elevate meritorious ministers to fill the frontier marches. Great offices must not be left vacant, lest rivalries for power arise; that is how the altars of state are secured and trouble nipped in the bud. General of chariots and cavalry Anshi served Emperor Wu for more than thirty years with loyal, careful service, toiling day and night in government. With the grand general he settled the succession, and the realm benefited. He is a pillar of the state and should be raised to grand general, relieved of the superintendent of the masters of writing, so that he may devote himself wholly to the realm and weigh its gains and losses. Anshi's son Zhang Yanshou is grave and sincere and may serve as superintendent of the masters of writing, leading the palace guard ministers." The emperor was inclined to follow this plan. When Anshi heard what was intended, he was afraid and did not dare accept. He asked leave to see the emperor, removed his cap, and kowtowed, saying, "This old minister has only overheard rumors. I must speak before events overtake us; if I stay silent my meaning will not be understood. I truly know myself unfit for so great a post after the grand general. May Your Majesty alone show mercy and spare this old minister's life." The emperor laughed and said, "You are far too modest. If you are not fit, then who could be!" Anshi declined with all his strength but could not prevail. A few days later he was appointed grand marshal and general of chariots and cavalry with charge over the Masters of Writing. A few months later his field command was abolished and he was made general of the guard, with the two palace guard commandants, the gate guards, and the northern army all placed under him.
16
時，霍光子禹為右將軍，上亦以禹為大司馬，罷其右將軍屯兵，以虛尊加之，而實奪其眾。 後歲餘，禹謀反，夷宗族，安世素小心畏忌，已內憂矣。 其女孫敬為霍氏外屬婦，當相坐，安世瘦懼，形於顏色，上怪而憐之，以問左右，乃赦敬，以尉其意。 安世浸恐。 職典樞機，以謹慎周密自著，外內無間。 每定大政，已決，輒移病出； 聞有詔令，乃驚，使吏之丞相府問焉。 自朝廷大臣莫知其與議也。
At that time Huo Guang's son Huo Yu held the post of general of the right while also bearing the title of grand marshal. The emperor stripped him of his field command, leaving the grand marshal's title a hollow honor while removing his real military following. A little over a year later Huo Yu rose in rebellion and his entire clan was wiped out. Anshi, who had always been cautious and easily alarmed, was already anxious at heart. His granddaughter Zhang Jing had married into a Huo-affiliated family and stood liable to collective punishment. Anshi grew haggard with dread, and it showed on his face. The emperor noticed, took pity, asked his attendants for the story, and pardoned Jing to set his mind at ease. His fear only deepened. He held the levers of confidential policy, winning a reputation for meticulous care. Not a whisper of what passed in the inner palace reached the outer court through him, nor vice versa. Whenever a major decision had been taken, he would plead illness and withdraw; and if he then heard that an edict had been issued, he would start in alarm and dispatch a clerk to the chancellor's office to learn what it said. Even senior ministers at court had no idea that he had been in on the discussion.
17
嘗有所薦，其人來謝，安世大恨，以為舉賢達能，豈有私謝邪？ 絕井復為通。 有郎功高不調，自言，安世應曰：「君之功高，明主所知。 人臣執事，何長短而自言乎！」 絕不許。 已而郎果遷。 莫府長史遷，辭去之官，安世問以過失。 長史曰：「將軍為明主股肱，而士無所進，論者以為譏。」 安世曰「明主在上，賢不肖較然，臣下自修而已，何知士而薦之？」 其欲匿名跡遠權勢如此。
Once he recommended a man for office. When the appointee came to thank him in person, Anshi was furious: recommending talent for the public good was not an occasion for private gratitude. He broke with the man entirely, then after a cooling interval allowed the relationship to resume—on his own terms. A gentleman-attendant of long and distinguished service had not been promoted and spoke up for himself. Anshi replied, "Your record is known to the enlightened ruler. A subject does his duty—why should he bargain over seniority in his own voice?" He refused outright. The man was promoted soon afterward in any case. When his headquarters chief clerk was promoted and came to say farewell before leaving for his new command, Anshi asked whether he had ever found fault with his administration. The chief clerk said, "You are the sovereign's right arm, yet you never push candidates forward. Critics call that a fault." Anshi answered, "When a clear-sighted ruler sits on the throne, the worthy and the unworthy sort themselves out. Subjects have only to mind their own conduct—why should I play patron to office-seekers?" That was how far he went to efface his own footprint and keep clear of factional power.
18
為光祿勳，郎有醉小便殿上，主事白行法，安世曰：「何以知其不反水漿邪？ 如何以小過成罪！」 郎淫官婢，婢兄自言，安世曰：「奴以恚怒，誣污衣冠。」 告署適奴。 其隱人過失，皆此類也。
While he was superintendent of the household, a gentleman-attendant relieved himself on the palace floor while drunk. The duty officer asked leave to prosecute. Anshi said, "How can we be sure it was not wine he spilled? Why turn a minor slip into a criminal offense?" Another attendant forced himself on a palace maidservant; her brother laid a complaint. Anshi said, "The girl is a bondservant venting spite—she slanders a man who wears official cap and gown." He had the girl reassigned as a punishment slave. His habit of covering others' missteps ran in this vein throughout his career.
19
安世自見父子尊顯，懷不自安，為子延壽求出補吏，上以為北地太守。 歲餘，上閔安世年老，復徵延壽為左曹、太僕。
Seeing how exalted he and his father had become, Anshi grew uneasy. He asked that his son Yanshou be given a provincial post, and the emperor appointed Yanshou governor of Beidi. A year later, pitying Anshi's age, the emperor recalled Yanshou to court as left aide in the secretariat and chamberlain for the imperial stud.
20
初，安世兄賀幸於衛太子，太子敗，賓客皆誅，安世為賀上書，得下蠶室。 後為掖庭令，而宣帝以皇曾孫收養掖庭。 賀內傷太子無辜，而曾孫孤幼，所以視養拊循，恩甚密焉。 及曾孫壯大，賀教書，令受《詩》，為取許妃，以家財聘之。 曾孫數有徵怪，語在《宣紀》。 賀聞知，為安世道之，稱其材美。 安世輒絕止，以為少主在上，不宜稱述曾孫。 及宣帝即位，而賀已死。 上謂安世曰：「掖廷令平生稱我，將軍止之，是也。」 上追思賀恩，欲封其塚為恩德侯，置家塚二百家。 賀有一子蚤死，無子，子安世小男彭祖。 彭祖又小與上同席研書，指欲封之，先賜爵關內侯。 故安世深辭賀封，又求損守塚戶數，稍減至三十戶。 上曰：「吾自為掖廷令，非為將軍也。」 安世乃止，不敢復言。 遂下詔曰：「其為故掖廷令張賀置守塚三十家。」 上自處置其裡，居塚西鬥雞翁捨南，上少時所嘗游處也。 明年，復下詔曰：「朕微眇時，故掖廷令張賀輔道朕躬，修文學經術，恩惠卓異，厥功茂焉。 《詩》云：『無言不仇，無德不報。』 其封賀弟子侍中關內侯彭祖為陽都侯，賜賀謚曰陽都哀侯。」 時，賀有孤孫霸，年七歲，拜為散騎、中郎將，賜爵關內侯，食邑三百戶。 安世以父子封侯，在位大盛，乃辭祿。 詔都內別臧張氏無名錢以百萬數。
At first Anshi's elder brother Zhang He had been favored by Crown Prince Liu Ju of Wei. When the prince fell, all his clients were executed; Anshi memorialized on He's behalf and won reduction of the sentence to the silkworm chambers. He later became director of the palace consorts quarters, where the future Emperor Xuan was reared as imperial great-grandson. He grieved that the crown prince had been innocent while the great-grandson was orphaned and young, and so he watched over, reared, and comforted the boy with the closest affection. When the boy grew up, He taught him letters, had him study the Odes, secured Lady Xu as his bride, and betrothed her with his own family wealth. The great-grandson several times experienced strange omens; the account is in the Annals of Emperor Xuan. When He heard of these omens, he told Anshi and praised the boy's talents. Anshi always cut him short, holding that with the reigning young emperor above, it was improper to speak openly of the great-grandson. By the time Emperor Xuan came to the throne, He had already died. The emperor said to Anshi, "The director of the palace consorts quarters praised me all his life, and you stopped him—that was right." The emperor recalled He's kindness and wished to enfeoff his tomb as Marquis of Endeavor and Virtue with two hundred households to guard the family grave. He had one son who died young without issue, so he adopted Anshi's youngest son Pengzu. Pengzu had also studied at the same mat with the emperor in youth; the emperor meant to enfeoff him and first granted him the rank of marquis within the passes. Anshi therefore declined the enfeoffment for He and asked to reduce the tomb-guard households, eventually cutting them to thirty. The emperor said, "I do this for the director of the palace consorts quarters himself, not for you, General." Anshi then desisted and did not dare speak again. An edict followed: "Let thirty households be established to guard the tomb of the former director of the palace consorts quarters, Zhang He." The emperor himself arranged the ward south of the cockfighting elder's lodge west of the tomb—the place where he had wandered in youth. The next year another edict declared: "When I was still insignificant, the former director of the palace consorts quarters Zhang He guided me, cultivated my literary and classical learning, and showed outstanding grace; his merit was abundant. The Odes says, 'No words go without response; no virtue goes unrequited.' Let Pengzu, He's adopted son, who is a palace attendant and marquis within the passes, be enfeoffed as Marquis of Yangdu, and let He receive the posthumous title Marquis Ai of Yangdu." At that time He had an orphaned grandson, Ba, only seven years old, who was appointed attendant cavalier and general of the household gentlemen, granted the rank of marquis within the passes, and given a fief of three hundred households. With father and son both enfeoffed and his power at its height, Anshi declined further salary. An edict ordered the imperial treasury to set aside millions in unmarked cash for the Zhang family.
21
安世尊為公侯，食邑萬戶，然身衣弋綈，夫人自紡績，家童七百人，皆有手技作事，內治產業，累織纖微，是以能殖其貨，富於大將軍光。 天子甚尊憚大將軍，然內親安世，心密於光焉。
Though ennobled at the highest rank with a fief of ten thousand households, he dressed in plain black silk and his wife spun the household's cloth herself. Seven hundred retainers were each put to skilled manual labor. He micromanaged the family estates, pinching every cash, until his private wealth outstripped even Grand General Huo Guang's. The emperor treated Huo Guang with awe and kept him at a distance, but he was genuinely intimate with Anshi in a way he never was with Guang.
22
元康四年春，安世病，上疏歸侯，乞骸骨。 天子報曰：「將軍年老被病，朕甚閔之。 雖不能視事，折衝萬里，君先帝大臣，明於治亂，朕所不及，得數問焉，何感而上書歸衛將軍富平侯印？ 薄朕忘故，非所望也！ 願將軍強餐食，近醫藥，專精神，以輔天年。」 安世復強起視事，至秋薨。 天子贈印綬，送以輕車介士，謚曰敬侯。 賜塋杜東，將作穿復土，起塚祠堂。 子延壽嗣。 延壽已歷位九卿，既嗣侯，國在陳留，別邑在魏郡，租入歲千餘萬。 延壽自以身無功德，何以能久堪先人大國，數上書讓減戶邑，又因弟陽都侯彭祖口陳至誠，天子以為有讓，乃徙封平原，並一國，戶口如故，而租稅減半。 薨，謚曰愛侯。 子勃嗣。 為散騎、諫大夫。 元帝初即位，詔列侯舉茂材，勃舉太官獻丞陳湯。 湯有罪，勃坐削戶二百，會薨，故賜謚曰繆侯。 後湯立功西域，世以勃為知人。 子臨嗣。
In spring of the fourth year of Yuankang, Anshi fell ill, submitted a memorial returning his marquisate, and begged to retire. The emperor replied, "General, you are old and ill; I am deeply concerned. Though you cannot attend to affairs, you still repel enemies a myriad li away. You are a minister of the former emperor, clear-sighted in order and chaos beyond my reach; I may still consult you—why feel moved to return the seal of general of the guard and Marquis of Fuping? You slight me as forgetting old ties—that is not what I wish! Eat well, keep to your medicines, devote your spirit, and thereby prolong your allotted years." Anshi forced himself to resume office, but by autumn he died. The emperor presented seals and ribbons, sent light carriages and armored soldiers as escort, and granted the posthumous title Marquis Jing. He was granted a grave mound east of Du; the director of palace construction raised the tomb and ancestral shrine. His son Zhang Yanshou succeeded. Yanshou had already served among the nine chief ministers. Once he succeeded as marquis, his state lay in Chenliu with a separate estate in Wei commandery yielding more than ten million in annual rent. Yanshou felt himself without merit and wondered how he could long hold his forebear's great fief. He repeatedly memorialized to yield and reduce his households, and through his younger brother Marquis of Yangdu Pengzu spoke his utmost sincerity. The emperor took this as genuine yielding and transferred the enfeoffment to Pingyuan, merging the two states into one with the same households but half the rent and tax. He died and was granted the posthumous title Marquis Ai. His son Zhang Bo succeeded. He served as attendant cavalier and grand adviser. Soon after Emperor Yuan came to the throne, an edict ordered the ranked marquises to recommend men of outstanding talent. Xiao Bo recommended Chen Tang, assistant director of the imperial kitchen. When Tang was found guilty, Bo was implicated and lost two hundred households from his fief. He happened to die at the time and was therefore granted the posthumous title Marquis Miu. Later Chen Tang won merit in the Western Regions, and the age judged that Bo had known how to recognize talent. His son Zhang Lin succeeded.
23
臨亦謙儉，每登閣殿，常歎曰：「桑、霍為我戒，豈不厚哉！」 且死，分施宗族故舊，薄葬不起墳。 臨尚敬武公主。 薨，子放嗣。
Zhang Lin was as modest and frugal as his forebears. Whenever he climbed the towered halls of the palace, he would sigh, "The houses of Sang and Huo are my warning—how stern a lesson that is!" As death approached, he distributed his goods among kinsmen and old friends and ordered a simple burial with no tumulus. Zhang Lin married Princess Jingwu. When he died, his son Zhang Fang succeeded him.
24
臨子放
Lin's son: Zhang Fang.
25
鴻嘉中，上欲遵武帝故事，與近臣游宴，放以公主子開敏得幸。 放取皇后弟平恩侯許嘉女，上為放供張，賜甲第，充以乘輿服飾，號為天子取婦，皇后嫁女。 大官私官並供其第，兩宮使者冠蓋不絕，賞賜以千萬數。 放為侍中、中郎將，監平樂屯兵，置莫府，儀比將軍。 與上臥起，寵愛殊絕，常從為微行出遊，北至甘泉，南至長楊、五莋，鬥雞走馬長安中，積數年。
During the Hongjia era Emperor Cheng wished to revive Emperor Wu's habit of informal outings and banquets with his inner circle. Zhang Fang, as the princess's son—quick-witted and polished—won exceptional favor. Zhang Fang married the daughter of Xu Jia, the Marquis of Ping'en and younger brother of the empress. The emperor staged the wedding himself, granted a mansion of the first rank, and filled it with wardrobe and ornaments from the imperial workshops, so that courtiers quipped it was as if the Son of Heaven had taken a bride and the empress had given her daughter away. The palace stewards of both households provisioned the estate without stint; couriers from the two palaces arrived in an unbroken stream of carriages; gifts ran into the tens of millions of cash. Zhang Fang held concurrent rank as palace attendant and general of the household gentlemen, commanded the encamped troops at Pingyue, maintained a full staff, and enjoyed ceremonial honors equal to a field general. He attended the emperor waking and sleeping and stood alone in favor. He was the constant companion on disguised excursions—north to Ganquan, south to the hunting parks of Changyang and Wuzuo, cockfighting and racing horses through the streets of Chang'an—for years on end.
26
是時，上諸舅皆害其寵，白太后。 太后以上春秋富，動作不節，甚以過放。 時數有災異，議者歸咎放等。 於是丞相宣、御史大夫方進奏：「放驕蹇縱恣，奢淫不制。 前侍御史修等四人奉使至放家逐名捕賊，時放見在，奴從者閉門設兵弩射吏，距使者不肯內。 知男子李游君欲獻女，使樂府音監景武強求不得，使如康等之其家，賊傷三人。 又以縣官事怨樂府游徼莽，而使大奴駿等四十餘人群黨盛兵弩，白晝入樂府攻射官寺，縛束長吏子弟，斫破器物，宮中皆奔走伏匿。 奔自髡鉗，衣赭衣，及守令史調等皆徒跣叩頭謝放，放乃止。 奴從者支屬並乘權勢為暴虐，至求吏妻不得，殺其夫，或恚一人，妄殺其親屬，輒亡人放弟，不得，幸得勿治。 放行輕薄，連犯大惡，有感動陰陽之咎，為臣不忠首，罪名雖顯，前蒙恩。 驕逸悖理，與背畔無異，臣子之惡，莫大於是，不宜宿衛在位。 臣請免放歸國，以銷眾邪之萌，厭海內之心。」
The emperor's uncles on his mother's side grew jealous of his influence and complained to the empress dowager. She rebuked Zhang Fang harshly, saying the emperor was still young and his conduct at court and abroad lacked restraint. Omens and disasters multiplied at the time, and memorialists laid the blame at the door of Zhang Fang and his like. Chancellor Xuan and Imperial Counselor Zhu Fangjin therefore submitted a joint memorial: "Zhang Fang is insolent, overbearing, and utterly without self-control—profligate and debauched beyond measure. When four attendant censors led by Xiu were sent to his house to arrest wanted men by name, Zhang Fang was at home. His slaves barred the gates, strung crossbows, and fired on the officers, defying the imperial messengers and refusing them entry. Learning that a commoner named Li Youjun meant to offer a daughter in marriage to the throne, he had Jing Wu, the music bureau's intendant for pitch pipes, try to seize the girl for himself and fail, then sent ruffians such as Ru Kang to Li's house; they left three people wounded. On another occasion, nursing a grudge against the music-house patrol officer Mang over a county matter, he dispatched more than forty chief slaves led by Jun, armed to the teeth. In full daylight they stormed the music bureau, shot up the yamen, seized the chief clerk's sons and nephews, smashed furniture and equipment, and threw the inner palace into panic. The chief clerk's son Ben shaved his head and donned the convict's iron collar and red robe in token of submission, while the yeoman Diao and the other clerks went barefoot to Zhang Fang's gate to kowtow in apology—only then did he call off his men. His slaves and their hangers-on traded on his power: they murdered a magistrate whose wife they could not take, slaughtered the kin of anyone who offended them, then took refuge inside Zhang Fang's compound. When the authorities could not lay hands on them, they often walked away unpunished. Zhang Fang's conduct was reckless and he piled up grave crimes, enough to disturb the balance of nature. He stood first among disloyal ministers. His guilt was obvious, yet he had long enjoyed imperial indulgence. Such wanton disregard of duty is little short of treason. No subject's wickedness could exceed this. He must not remain in the palace guard. We beg that Zhang Fang be stripped of office and sent to his fief, to nip this evil in the bud and give the empire what it wants to hear."
27
上不得已，左遷放為北地都尉。 數月，復徵入侍中。 太后以放為言，出放為天水屬國都尉。 永始、元延間，比年日蝕，故久不還放，璽書勞問不絕。 居歲餘，徵放歸第視母公主疾。 數月，主有瘳，出放為何東都尉。 上雖愛放，然上迫太后，下用大臣，故常涕泣而遣之。 後復徵放為侍中光祿大夫，秩中二千石。 歲餘，丞相方進復奏放，上不得已，免放，賜錢五百萬，遣就國。 數月，成帝崩，放思慕哭泣而死。
The emperor, unable to refuse outright, relegated Zhang Fang to commandant of Beidi. Within a few months he was recalled to serve again as palace attendant. At the empress dowager's insistence he was transferred out again, this time as commandant of the Tianshui dependent state. During the Yongshi and Yuanyan reign periods eclipses came year after year, so the emperor kept Zhang Fang away from the capital for a long stretch, though edicts of inquiry and reassurance followed him without cease. After more than a year abroad he was allowed home to his mansion to nurse his mother, the princess, in her illness. When she had recovered several months later, he posted Zhang Fang as commandant of Hedong. The emperor still loved Zhang Fang, but he could not withstand pressure from the empress dowager above and his ministers below, and more than once he dismissed him with tears in his eyes. Later he recalled Zhang Fang to serve as palace attendant and grand coachman at the middle rank of two thousand piculs. A year later Chancellor Zhu Fangjin renewed the attack. The emperor had no choice but to dismiss Zhang Fang, grant him five million cash, and order him to his fief. A few months later Emperor Cheng died. Zhang Fang grieved so deeply that he wept himself to death.
28
初，安世長子千秋與霍光子禹俱為中郎將，將兵隨度遼將軍范明友擊烏桓。 還，謁大將軍光，問千秋戰鬥方略，山川形勢，千秋口對兵事，畫地成圖，無所忘失。 光復問禹，禹不能記，曰：「皆有文書。」 光由是賢千秋，以禹為不材，歎曰：「霍氏世衰，張氏興矣！」 及禹誅滅，而安世子孫相繼，自宣、元以來為侍中、中常侍、諸曹散騎、列校尉者凡十餘人。 功臣之世，唯有金氏、張氏，親近寵貴，比於外戚。
Long before, Anshi's eldest son Zhang Qianqiu and Huo Guang's son Huo Yu had both been generals of the household gentlemen when they campaigned under the Trans-Liao general Fan Mingyou against the Wuhuan. On their return they called on Huo Guang, who questioned Qianqiu about tactics and terrain. Qianqiu answered from memory, sketching the campaign map in the dust without a single error. When he put the same questions to Huo Yu, Yu could not recall a thing and said, "It is all on file somewhere." From that day Huo Guang respected Qianqiu and wrote Yu off as worthless, sighing, "The house of Huo is fading; the house of Zhang is on the rise!" After the Huo clan was extirpated, Zhang Anshi's descendants held one high post after another. From the reigns of Xuandi and Yuandi onward, more than ten of them served as palace attendants, regular attendants, mounted escorts in the various bureaus, or colonels of the guard. Of all the families ennobled for merit, only the Jins and the Zhangs remained so close to the throne—almost like imperial in-laws.
29
放子純
Zhang Fang's son: Zhang Chun.
30
放子純嗣侯，恭儉自修，明習漢家制度故事，有敬侯遺風。 王莽時不失爵，建武中歷位至大司空，更封富平之別鄉為武始侯。
Zhang Chun, Zhang Fang's son, succeeded to the marquisate. He was modest, frugal, and self-disciplined, thoroughly versed in Han institutions and precedent, and carried something of the old Marquis Jing's manner. He kept his title even under Wang Mang, and in the Jianwu era rose step by step to grand minister of works; Guangwudi carved a detached village out of the old Fuping fief and re-enfeoffed him as marquis of Wushi.
31
張湯本居杜陵，安世武、昭、宣世輒隨陵，凡三徙，復還杜陵。
The Zhangs had begun at Duling. Zhang Anshi's household moved with each imperial tomb town under Wudi, Zhaodi, and Xuandi—three relocations in all—before returning to Duling.
32
贊曰：馮商稱張湯之先與留侯同祖，而司馬遷不言，故闕焉。 漢興以來，侯者百數，保國持寵，未有若富平者也。 湯雖酷烈，及身蒙咎，其推賢揚善，固宜有後。 安世履道，滿而不溢。 賀之陰德，亦有助云。
The historian's comment: Feng Shang claimed that Zhang Tang's line shared an ancestor with the Marquis of Liu, but Sima Qian does not say so, and we leave the point aside. Since the founding of Han, hundreds of families have received marquisates, yet none has held its fortune and imperial favor as steadily as Fuping. Zhang Tang was a cruel judge and came to a bad end himself, yet in promoting able men and speaking well of others he earned the posterity he deserved. Zhang Anshi walked the middle path—his cup was full, yet he never let it spill. The quiet kindness Zhang He once showed the future Emperor Xuan also played its part in the family's lasting good fortune.