Volume 69: Zhao Chongguo and Xin Qingji

趙充國字翁孫，隴西上邽人也，後徙金城鄰居。始為騎士，以六郡良家子善騎射補羽林。為人沉勇有大略，少好將帥之節，而學兵法，通知四夷事。

Zhao Chongguo, whose courtesy name was Wengsun, came from Shanggui in Longxi; he later moved his household to Lingju in Jincheng commandery. He began his career as a mounted trooper, and as a respectable youth from one of the six border commanderies who excelled at horsemanship and archery he was selected for the Feathered Forest corps. He was composed and courageous, with a strategist’s breadth of mind; even as a young man he admired the bearing of field commanders, mastered military doctrine, and gained a thorough grasp of frontier peoples and their affairs.

武帝時，以假司馬從貳師將軍擊匈奴，大為虜所圍。漢軍乏食數日，死傷者多，充國乃與壯士百餘人潰圍陷陳，貳師引兵隨之，遂得解。身被二十餘創，貳師奏狀，詔征充國詣行在所。武帝親見視其創，嗟歎之，拜為中郎，遷連騎將軍長史。

Under Emperor Wu he served as acting major under General Li Guangli’s campaign against the Xiongnu and found his force tightly encircled by the nomads. For days the Han troops had gone short of provisions and casualties mounted; Zhao Chongguo then led more than a hundred picked men in a breakthrough charge, and when Li Guangli brought the main body up behind them the ring finally broke. He took more than twenty wounds; Li Guangli filed a report on the action, and the court ordered Zhao Chongguo brought before the emperor’s traveling headquarters. Emperor Wu examined the wounds himself, praised him warmly, appointed him a gentleman of the palace, and soon advanced him to chief clerk on the staff of the general of connected cavalry.

昭帝時，武都氐人反，充國以大將軍、護軍都尉將兵擊定之，遷中郎將，將屯上谷，還為水衡都尉。擊匈奴，獲西祁王，擢為後將軍，兼水衡如故。

When Emperor Zhao was on the throne the Di of Wudu rose in revolt; Zhao Chongguo, serving under the major general as colonel-protector of the army, crushed the uprising, was promoted to general of the gentlemen of the palace, commanded the garrison at Shanggu, and afterward returned to the capital as superintendent of the imperial household waters and parks. In a strike against the Xiongnu he took the Western Qi king prisoner; the court then named him rear general while he continued to hold his waters-and-parks appointment.

與大將軍霍光定冊尊立宣帝，封營平侯。本始中，為蒲類將軍征匈奴，斬虜數百級，還為後將軍、少府。匈奴大發十餘萬騎，南旁塞，至符奚廬山，欲入為寇。亡者題除渠堂降漢言之，遣充國將四萬騎屯緣邊九郡。單于聞之，引去。

He joined Huo Guang in settling the succession and raising Emperor Xuan to the throne, for which he received the marquisate of Yingping. During the Benshi years he led the Pulei column against the Xiongnu, claimed several hundred enemy heads, and on his return was confirmed as rear general and minister of the lesser treasury. The Xiongnu massed more than a hundred thousand horsemen, swept south along the frontier as far as Mount Fuxilu, and prepared to pour through the passes in a major raid. A deserter named Tichu Qutang, who had come over to the Han, brought word of the plan; the court sent Zhao Chongguo with forty thousand cavalry to reinforce the nine frontier commanderies. When the chanyu learned of the deployment he broke off and withdrew.

是時，光祿大夫義渠安國使行諸羌，先零豪言願時渡湟水北，逐民所不田處畜牧。安國以聞。充國劾安國奉使不敬。是後，羌人旁緣前言，抵冒渡湟水，郡縣不能禁。元康三年，先零遂與諸羌種豪二百餘人解仇交質盟詛。上聞之，以問充國，對曰：「羌人所以易制者，以其種自有豪，數相攻擊，勢不一也。往三十餘歲，西羌反時，亦先解仇合約攻令居，與漢相距，五六年乃定。至征和五年，先零豪封煎等通使匈奴，匈奴使人至小月氏，傳告諸羌曰：『漢貳師將軍眾十餘萬人降匈奴。羌人為漢事苦。張掖、酒泉本我地，地肥美，可共擊居之。』以此觀匈奴欲與羌合，非一世也。間者匈奴困於西方，聞烏桓來保塞，恐兵復從東方起，數使使尉黎、危須諸國，設以子女貂裘，欲沮解之。其計不合。疑匈奴更遣使至羌中，道從沙陰地，出鹽澤，過長坑，入窮水塞，南抵屬國，與先零相直。臣恐羌變未止此，且復結聯他種，宜及未然為之備。」後月餘，羌侯狼何果遣使至匈奴借兵，欲擊善阜善、敦煌以絕漢道。充國以為：「狼何，小月氏種，在陽光西南，勢不能獨造此計，疑匈奴使已至羌中，先零、□、開乃解仇作約。到秋馬肥，變必起矣。宜遣使者行邊兵豫為備，敕視諸羌，毋令解仇，以發覺其謀。」於是兩府復白遣義渠安國行視諸羌，分別善惡。安國至，召先零諸豪三十餘人，以尤桀黠，皆斬之。縱兵擊其種人，斬首千餘級。於是諸降羌及歸義羌侯楊玉等恐怒，亡所信鄉，遂劫略小種，背畔犯塞，攻城邑，殺長吏。安國以騎都尉將騎三千屯備羌，至浩亹，為虜所擊，失亡車重兵器甚眾。安國引還，至令居，以聞。是歲，神爵元年春也。

At that time Yiqu Anguo, a grand counselor of the palace, was dispatched on an inspection of the Qiang tribes; the Xianling headmen asked permission to cross the Huang River from time to time and pasture their herds on land the Han peasants did not cultivate. Anguo forwarded their request to the throne. Zhao Chongguo memorialized against him, charging that he had handled the embassy with culpable negligence. Thereafter the Qiang took that earlier concession as a pretext and began crossing the Huang in force; local officials were powerless to stop them. In 63 BCE the Xianling and more than two hundred chieftains from other Qiang groups set aside blood feuds, exchanged hostages, and bound themselves by a solemn alliance. When the emperor asked Zhao Chongguo about it, he answered: "The Qiang have always been manageable because every band has its own headmen, they feud among themselves, and their strength never gathers in one hand." More than thirty years ago, when the western Qiang rose, they too had first buried old quarrels and made a common pact before they struck at Lingju and held the Han at bay for five or six years before the trouble could be stamped out. By the fifth year of Zhenghe the Xianling leader Feng Jian and his fellows were already in touch with the Xiongnu court; the nomads sent an agent into Lesser Yuezhi country to circulate word among the Qiang that more than a hundred thousand of Li Guangli's men had surrendered to them. They added that the Qiang had borne the brunt of the Han wars and been worn down by them. Zhangye and Jiuquan had once been theirs, the envoys said; the ground was fertile, and the tribes should join in driving the Han away and reclaiming the soil. From this it is plain the Xiongnu have meant to ally with the Qiang for more than a single reign. Lately the Xiongnu had been hard pressed in the west; when they heard the Wuhuan were rallying to the Han passes they worried about a second front in the east, so they kept dispatching envoys to kingdoms such as Weili and Weixu, offering hostages, women, and sable gifts in an effort to break that alignment. The scheme misfired. I suspect fresh Xiongnu envoys have reached the Qiang by a desert track through Shayin, out onto the salt flats, past the Longkeng defile, through the Qiongshui line, and south to the dependent state, where they can link up directly with the Xianling. Your servant fears the Qiang revolt will not end here and that they will rope in other tribes; we should prepare now, before the storm breaks. A little over a month later the Qiang chieftain Lang He did send envoys to the Xiongnu to borrow troops, aiming to strike Shanshan and Dunhuang and sever the Han corridor to the west. Zhao Chongguo reasoned that Lang He, a chieftain of the Lesser Yuezhi southwest of Yangguan, lacked the standing to hatch such a scheme by himself; a Xiongnu envoy must already be among the Qiang, which would explain why the Xianling, the Han band, and the Kai had suddenly made peace and joined in covenant. Once autumn fattens the ponies, trouble will flare for certain. Send inspectors along the frontier, put the garrisons on alert, and watch every Qiang faction closely so they cannot renew their alliances—that way we may smoke out the conspiracy before it matures. The two chief ministries therefore recommended another mission for Yiqu Anguo to tour the Qiang country and sort loyal groups from rebellious ones. When Anguo arrived he called in more than thirty Xianling headmen, branded them the worst malcontents, and had every one executed. He then turned his soldiers loose on the general population and claimed more than a thousand heads. The Qiang who had already surrendered, including the Han-appointed chieftain Yang Yu, were terrified and enraged at having nowhere to place their trust; they raided weaker bands, rose in revolt, stormed the frontier, seized towns, and murdered Han magistrates. Anguo, as cavalry colonel, took three thousand horsemen to hold the line against the Qiang, but near Gaohan the tribesmen hit his column hard and he lost wagons, supplies, and arms on a large scale. He fell back to Lingju and sent a full report to the capital. All of this unfolded in the spring of the first Shenjue year (61 BCE).

時，充國年七十餘，上老之，使御史大夫丙吉問誰可將者，充國對曰：「亡逾於老臣者矣。」上遣問焉，曰：「將軍度羌虜何如，當用幾人？」充國曰：「百聞不如一見。兵難逾度，臣願馳至金城，圖上方略。然羌戎小夷，逆天背畔，滅亡不久，願陛下以屬老臣，勿以為憂。」上笑曰：「諾。」

Zhao Chongguo was already past seventy, and the emperor worried about his age, so he had Imperial Counselor Bing Ji ask who might take the field; Chongguo answered that no candidate surpassed himself. The emperor sent another inquiry: General, how do you read the Qiang threat, and how large a force will be required? Chongguo replied, A hundred reports are worth less than one look with my own eyes. Armies cannot be sized up from the capital; your servant asks permission to ride straight to Jincheng and submit a plan drawn from the frontier itself. These Qiang are a minor border people who have turned against Heaven; they will not long survive. Leave the campaign in the hands of this old minister and do not lose sleep over it. The emperor smiled and said, Very well.

充國至金城，須兵滿萬騎，欲渡河，恐為虜所遮，即夜遣三校銜枚先渡，渡輒營陳，會明，畢，遂以次盡渡。虜數十百騎來，出入軍傍。充國曰：「吾士馬新倦，不可馳逐。此皆驍騎難制，又恐其為誘兵也。擊虜以殄滅為期，小利不足貪。」令軍勿擊。遣騎候四望狹中，亡虜。夜引兵上至落都，召諸校司馬，謂曰：「吾知羌虜不能為兵矣。使虜發數千人守杜四望狹中，兵豈得入哉！」充國常以遠斥候為務，行必為戰務，止必堅營壁，尤能持重，愛士卒，先計而後戰。遂西至西部都尉府，日饗軍士，士皆欲為用。虜數挑戰，充國堅守。捕得生口，言羌豪相數責曰：「語汝亡反，今天子遣趙將軍來，年八九十矣，善為兵。今請欲一斗而死，可得邪！」

At Jincheng he waited until he had ten thousand horsemen assembled, then prepared to ford the river; fearing an ambush, he sent three colonels across at night with their men biting the wooden gag, each detachment throwing up a bridgehead as soon as it reached the far bank, and by daybreak the whole army had crossed in good order. Bands of fifty or a hundred enemy horsemen began to circle the Han camp, darting in and out along the flanks. Chongguo said, Our men and mounts are still tired from the crossing; we must not chase at a gallop. Those are elite riders and hard to pin down; they may well be bait for an ambush. Our aim is to destroy the enemy host, not to snap at petty skirmishes. He ordered his men to hold their fire. He sent scouts into the Siwang defile and found no tribesmen waiting there. That night he marched upstream to Luodu and called in his colonels and majors. These Qiang, he told them, have no idea how to fight a real army. Had they posted even a few thousand men to hold the Siwang gorge, we could never have got this army across. Zhao Chongguo kept scouts far forward, treated every march as though battle were imminent, and every halt as a chance to dig in; he was famously cautious, looked after his men, and always planned before he struck. He pushed west to the western commandant's compound, fed his troops well every day, and won their wholehearted loyalty. The tribesmen baited him again and again, but Chongguo refused to leave his defenses. Prisoners reported that Qiang headmen were berating one another: We warned you not to revolt. The Son of Heaven has sent General Zhao—he must be eighty or ninety—and he is a master of war. Now you want to rush out and die in a single clash—do you think that is still possible?

充國子右曹中郎將卬，將期門佽飛、羽林孤兒、胡越騎為支兵，至令居，虜並出絕轉道，卬以聞。有詔將八校尉與驍騎都尉、金城太守合疏捕山間虜，通轉道津渡。

His son Yin, a major of the gentlemen of the palace on the right staff, led the palace guard flying spears, Feathered Forest cadets, and Hu and Yue horse as a flank column to Lingju, where the tribesmen swarmed out and severed the supply line; Yin sent word to his father. An edict ordered the eight colonels, the fierce-cavalry colonel, and the grand administrator of Jincheng to sweep the hills for raiders and reopen the supply routes and river crossings.

初，□、開豪靡當兒使弟雕庫來告都尉曰先零欲反，後數日果反。雕庫種人頗在先零中，都尉即留雕庫為質。充國以為亡罪，乃遣歸告種豪：「大兵誅有罪者，明白自別，毋取並滅。天子告諸羌人，犯法者能相捕斬，除罪。斬大豪有罪者一人，賜錢四十萬，中豪十五萬，下豪二萬，大男三千，女子及老小千錢，又以其所捕妻子財物盡與之。」充國計欲以威信招降□、開及劫略者，解散虜謀，徼極乃擊之。

Earlier the Han (Qiang) and Kai leader Midang'er had sent his brother Diaoku to warn the commandant that the Xianling were about to rise; within days the warning came true. Many of Diaoku's clansmen were already with the Xianling column, so the commandant held Diaoku as a hostage. Chongguo judged him innocent, sent him home, and had him tell his headmen: The imperial host punishes only the guilty; make your loyalty plain and you will not be wiped out with the rebels. The emperor has announced to every Qiang band that anyone who seizes and executes a lawbreaker will himself be cleared of guilt. Kill a major guilty chieftain and you receive four hundred thousand cash; a middling headman, one hundred fifty thousand; a minor headman, twenty thousand; an able-bodied man, three thousand; women, children, and elders, one thousand each—and you keep the captives' families and property besides. Chongguo's design was to overawe the Han and Kai bands and the marauders into submission, break up the tribal alliance, and strike only when their strength was spent.

時，上已發三輔、太常徒弛刑，三河、穎川、沛郡、淮陽、汝南材官，金城、隴西、天水、安定、北地、上郡騎士、羌騎，與武威、張掖、酒泉太守各屯其郡者，合六萬人矣。酒泉太守辛武賢奏言：「郡兵皆屯備南出，北邊空虛，勢不可久。或日至秋冬乃進兵，此虜在竟外之冊。今虜朝夕為寇，土地寒苦，漢馬不能冬，屯兵在武威、張掖、酒泉萬騎以上，皆多羸瘦。可益馬食，以七月上旬繼三十日糧，分兵並出張掖、酒泉合擊□、開在鮮水上者。虜以畜產為命，今皆離散，兵即分出，雖不能盡誅，但奪其畜產，虜其妻子，復引兵還，冬復擊之，大兵仍出，虜必震壞。」

By then the throne had called up militia from the capital region, commuted convicts from the court of sacrifices, crossbowmen from the central plain commanderies, mounted troops from Longxi and the northern frontier, Qiang auxiliaries, and the standing garrisons under the grand administrators of Wuwei, Zhangye, and Jiuquan—sixty thousand soldiers in all. Xin Wuxian, grand administrator of Jiuquan, wrote: Our local forces are all facing south; the northern sector is wide open, and we cannot hold that posture indefinitely. Some counsel waiting until autumn or winter before attacking—that is precisely the nomads' design: keep the Han host stranded outside the passes until cold and supply failures do their work. The enemy raid daily while the ground is still hard; our horses cannot endure another winter on the steppe, and the ten-thousand-odd cavalry now in Wuwei, Zhangye, and Jiuquan are already run down and thin. Increase the grain ration for the mounts, load thirty days' provisions in early seventh month, and send converging columns from Zhangye and Jiuquan to hit the Han and Kai camps along the Xian River. The nomads live by their herds, and those herds are already scattered. Even if we cannot kill every warrior, we can seize the animals, round up the families, pull back, and hit them again in winter when fresh columns arrive; repeated blows will shatter their morale.

天子下其書充國，令與校尉以下吏士知羌事者博議。充國及長史董通年以為：「武賢欲輕引萬騎，分為兩道出張掖，回遠千里。以一馬自佗負三十日食，為米二斛四斗，麥八斛，又有衣裝兵器，難以追逐。勤勞而至，虜必商軍進退，稍引去，逐水草，入山林。隨而深入，虜即據前險，守後厄，以絕糧道，必有傷危之憂，為夷狄笑，千載不可復。而武賢以為可奪其畜產，虜其妻子，此殆空言，非至計也。又武威縣、張掖日勒皆當北塞，有通谷水草。臣恐匈奴與羌有謀，且欲大入，幸能要杜張掖、酒泉以絕西域，其郡兵尤不可發。先零首為畔逆，它種劫略。故臣愚冊，欲捐□、開暗昧之過，隱而勿章，先行先零之誅以震動之，宜悔過反善，因赦其罪，選擇良吏知其俗者拊循和輯，此全師保勝安邊之冊。」天子下其書。公卿議者咸以為先零兵盛，而負□、開之助，不先破□、開，則先零未可圖也。

The emperor forwarded Xin Wuxian's paper to Zhao Chongguo and told him to canvass every colonel and frontier officer who knew the Qiang. Chongguo and his chief clerk Dong Tongnian replied that Wuxian proposed to throw ten thousand cavalry out of Zhangye on two roads that would wander a thousand li through empty country. Each horse must hump thirty days' rations—two hu four dou of millet, eight hu of wheat—plus kit and weapons, which makes pursuit almost impossible. By the time our exhausted columns arrive, the enemy will have weighed our movements, slipped away by stages, followed the grazing, and melted into the hills. If we push on into the interior they will seize the heights ahead, plug the defiles behind us, and sever the supply line; we court disaster and ridicule from which the empire might not recover for generations. Yet Wuxian imagines we can simply strip their herds and families—that is brave talk, not a sound plan. Wuwei county and Zhangye's Rile district likewise guard the northern line, with valleys that carry water and forage straight toward the steppe. Your servant fears a joint Xiongnu-Qiang design for a major thrust; if they could cork Zhangye and Jiuquan they would sever the road to the Western Regions—those local garrisons must not be stripped away. The Xianling alone began the revolt; the other bands simply rode along and looted. Your servant's humble plan is to overlook the murky offenses of the Han and Kai bands, keep their lapses unpublicized, and strike the Xianling first to sober the rest; those who repent should be pardoned and placed under capable local officers who understand their ways. That is how we save the army, win the peace, and secure the frontier. The emperor circulated their reply. The high ministers insisted that the Xianling were too strong while the Han and Kai backed them; unless those auxiliaries were crushed first, the Xianling could not be touched.

上乃拜侍中樂成侯許延壽為強弩將軍，即拜酒泉太守武賢為破羌將軍，賜璽書嘉納其冊。以書敕讓充國曰：

The emperor therefore named Xu Yanshou, Marquis of Lecheng, as strong crossbow general, confirmed Xin Wuxian of Jiuquan as Qiang-breaking general, and sent a sealed rescript praising his strategy. He also sent Zhao Chongguo a written rebuke that read:

皇帝問後將軍，甚苦暴露。將軍計欲至正月乃擊□羌，羌人當獲麥，已遠其妻子，精兵萬人欲為酒泉、敦煌寇。邊兵少，民守保不得田作。今張掖以東粟石百餘，芻槁束數十。轉輸並起，百姓煩擾。將軍將萬餘之眾，不早及秋共水草之利爭其畜食，欲至冬，虜皆當畜食，多藏匿山中依險阻，將軍士寒，手足皸瘃，寧有利哉？將軍不念中國之費，欲以歲數而勝微，將軍誰不樂此者！

The emperor inquires after the rear general and regrets the hardship of camp life in the open. You plan to wait until the first month before hitting the Han Qiang; by then they will have brought in the wheat, sent their families away, and ten thousand picked warriors will be free to raid Jiuquan and Dunhuang. The frontier garrisons are thin, the peasants huddle in the forts, and the fields lie idle. East of Zhangye grain already sells at more than a hundred cash a shi and fodder bundles run to dozens of cash each. Convoys are piling onto the roads and the common people groan under the levy. You command more than ten thousand men yet refuse to use autumn, when grass and water still favor us, to fight them for their herds; if you wait for winter they will have fattened their animals and slipped into the defiles, while your troops freeze and their hands split with cold—where is the gain in that? You spare no thought for what this costs the heartland, yet you would stretch the campaign over years for a threadbare victory—no conscientious commander would boast of such a plan.

今詔破羌將軍武賢將兵六千一百人，敦煌太守快將二千人，長水校尉富昌、酒泉候奉世將婼、月氏兵四千人，亡慮萬二千人。繼三十日食，以七月二十二日擊□羌，入鮮水北句廉上，去酒泉八百里，去將軍可千二百里。將軍其引兵便道西並進，雖不相及，使虜聞東方北方兵並來，分散其心意，離其黨與，雖不能殄滅，當有瓦解者。已詔中郎將卬將胡越佽飛射士步兵二校尉，益將軍兵。

We now order General Qiang-breaker Xin Wuxian forward with six thousand one hundred men, Grand Administrator Kuai of Dunhuan with two thousand, Colonel Fuchang of the Changshui corps and Marquis Fengshi of Jiuquan with four thousand Chuo and Yuezhi auxiliaries—roughly twelve thousand in all. They carry thirty days' rations and on the twenty-second of the seventh month will strike the Han Qiang, pushing to the Goujian upland north of the Xian River—eight hundred li from Jiuquan and perhaps twelve hundred from your own position. You are to march by the best route westward in concert with them; even if the columns never link up, the tribes must learn that hosts are closing from both east and north—that will divide their counsels and loosen their alliances. We may not annihilate them in one blow, but factions will crack. Gentleman of the palace Yin has further been directed to bring two colonels of Hu and Yue flying-archer foot to reinforce your command.

今五星出東方，中國大利，蠻夷大敗。太白出高，用兵深入敢戰者吉，弗敢戰者凶。將軍急裝，因天時，誅不義，萬下必全，勿復有疑。

The five planets have now risen in the east—a sign of supreme fortune for the Han and utter ruin for the barbarians. Venus rides high in the sky: a host that pushes deep and fights boldly is blessed; one that hangs back courts disaster. Arm at once, ride the moment Heaven affords, strike down the rebels, and your every move will meet with complete success—do not hesitate further.

充國既得讓，以為將任兵在外，便宜有守，以安國家。乃上書謝罪，因陳兵利害，曰：

Though the emperor had rebuked him, Zhao Chongguo held that a general in the field bears discretionary authority to act for the safety of the realm. He therefore memorialized an acknowledgment of fault and went on to set out the military advantages and risks in these terms:

臣竊見騎都尉安國前幸賜書，擇羌人可使使□、諭告以大軍當至，漢不誅□，以解其謀。恩澤甚厚，非臣下所能及。臣獨私美陛下盛德至計亡已，故遣開豪雕庫宣天子至德，□、開之屬皆聞知明詔。今先零羌楊玉將騎四千及煎鞏騎五千，阻石山木，候便為寇，□羌未有所犯。今置先零，先擊□，釋有罪，誅亡辜，起一難，就兩害，誠非陛下本計也。

Your servant recalls that when Cavalry Colonel Anguo was favored with an edict, he picked Qiang envoys who could visit the Han and Kai bands, warned them that the imperial host was coming, and promised that the Han would not punish the Han Qiang—meant to break up their conspiracy. The grace shown them was beyond anything a mere minister could have contrived. Your servant has long admired Your Majesty's supreme benevolence and inexhaustible policy; that is why he sent the Kai headman Diaoku to broadcast the emperor's goodness so that every Han and Kai clansman heard the explicit decree. The Xianling chief Yang Yu now fields four thousand horsemen and the Jianjiong five thousand, holding the wooded heights and watching for a chance to strike, whereas the Han Qiang have not yet broken the law. To ignore the Xianling and hit the Han first would spare the guilty and punish the innocent, create one crisis and compound it with another—nothing could be farther from Your Majesty's true intent.

臣聞兵法「攻不足者守有餘」，又曰「善戰者致人，不致於人」。今□羌欲為敦煌、酒泉寇，宜飭兵馬，練戰士，以須其至，坐得致敵之術，以逸擊勞，取勝之道也。今恐二郡兵少不足以守，而發之行攻，釋致虜之術而從為虜所致之道，臣愚以為不便。先零羌虜欲為背畔，故與□、開解仇結約，然其私心不能亡恐漢兵至而□、開背之也。臣愚以為其計常欲先赴□、開之急，以堅其約，先擊□羌、先零必助之。今虜馬肥，糧食方饒，擊之恐不能傷害，適使先零得施德於□羌，堅其約，合其黨。虜交堅黨合，精兵二萬餘人，迫脅諸小種，附著者稍眾，莫須之屬不輕得離也。如是，虜兵寢多，誅之用力數倍，臣恐國家憂累繇十年數，不二三歲而已。

The canon says that when offense is weak, defense is strong, and that the master of war lures the enemy forward rather than being lured himself. If the Han Qiang mean to raid Dunhuang and Jiuquan, we should sharpen our arms, train the men, and wait for them to come to us—that is how to make the enemy serve our plan, strike fresh troops against weary ones, and win. To strip those two commanderies of their already meager garrisons and fling them onto the offensive is to abandon the method of controlling the enemy and adopt the one that lets the enemy control us—your servant cannot approve. The Xianling mean to revolt, which is why they patched up old quarrels with the Han and Kai bands; yet privately they still dread that when the Han host appears those allies may turn on them. Their strategy will be to race to the relief of the Han and Kai first, cementing the alliance; if we strike the Han Qiang, the Xianling will certainly throw in their strength. The nomads' ponies are fat and their granaries full; an attack now may do little damage while letting the Xianling pose as benefactors to the Han Qiang, tighten the pact, and weld the coalition. Once their league hardens they will field more than twenty thousand picked warriors, dragoon the smaller bands, draw ever more adherents, and clans like the Moju will not easily be peeled away. If things go that way their numbers will swell and destroying them will cost several times the effort; your servant fears the empire could labor under the burden for a decade, not merely two or three years.

臣得蒙天子厚恩，父子俱為顯列。臣位至上卿，爵為列侯，犬馬之齒七十六，為明詔填溝壑，死骨不朽，亡所顧念。獨思惟兵利害至熟悉也，於臣之計，先誅先零已，則□、開之屬不煩兵而服矣。先零已誅而□、開不服，涉正月擊之，得計之理，又其時也。以今進兵，誠不見其利，唯陛下裁察。

Your servant has enjoyed the emperor's deep favor; he and his son both hold eminent posts. He has risen to senior minister, holds a full marquisate, and at seventy-six years of age would gladly die carrying out an imperial command; his bones may molder, yet he has no private regrets. He has weighed every cost and benefit of war with care; on his plan, once the Xianling are cut down the Han and Kai bands will submit without a further campaign. If the Xianling are destroyed and the Han and Kai still refuse allegiance, we can deal with them after the new year—that would be sound strategy and proper timing. An advance at this moment offers no clear gain; may Your Majesty judge for yourself.

六月戊申奏，七月甲寅璽書報從充國計焉。

He submitted the memorial on the wushen day of the sixth month; on the jiayin day of the seventh month a sealed rescript approved Zhao Chongguo's strategy.

充國引兵至先零在所。虜久屯聚，解弛，望見大軍，棄車重，欲渡湟水，道厄狹，充國徐行驅之。或曰逐利行遲，充國曰：「此窮寇不可迫也。緩之則走不顧，急之則還致死。」諸校皆曰：「善。」虜赴水溺死者數百，降及斬首五百餘人，鹵馬、牛羊十萬餘頭，車四千餘兩。兵至□地，令軍毋燔聚落芻牧田中。 □羌聞之，喜曰：「漢果不擊我矣！」豪靡忘使人來言：「願得還復故地。」充國以聞，未報。靡忘來自歸，充國賜飲食，遣還諭種人。護軍以下皆爭之，曰：「此反虜，不可擅遣。」充國曰：「諸君但欲便文自營，非為公家忠計也。」語未卒，璽書報，令靡忘以贖論。後□竟不煩兵而下。

Zhao Chongguo advanced his host to the Xianling encampment. The tribesmen had camped so long that discipline had slackened; when they saw the Han host they threw down wagons and supplies and bolted for the Huang River, but the ford was a tight defile, and Chongguo pressed after them at a deliberate pace. Some officers grumbled that he was throwing away a chance by moving so slowly; Chongguo replied, These are desperate fugitives and must not be cornered. Ease the pressure and they will scatter without looking back; harry them and they will turn and fight to the death. The colonels agreed that he was right. Several hundred drowned in the river; another five hundred were killed or captured; the Han took more than a hundred thousand head of livestock and over four thousand wagons. When the army entered Han Qiang country he forbade the burning of villages or the trampling of hayfields and pastures. The Han Qiang heard the news and exclaimed with relief, The Han truly mean to spare us! The headman Miwang sent envoys to say that his people wished to return to their old grazing grounds. Chongguo forwarded the request; the court had not yet answered. When Miwang came in person to surrender, Chongguo feasted him and sent him back to explain the Han terms to his kinsmen. The protector of the army and the officers under him protested: He is a rebel chief and must not be sent home on your own authority. Chongguo retorted, You care only for tidy paperwork that covers your own backs, not for what serves the state. Before the argument ended a sealed edict arrived directing that Miwang be dealt with by ransom rather than execution. In the end the Han Qiang submitted without another blow being struck.

其秋，充國病，上賜書曰；「制詔後將軍：聞苦腳脛、寒洩，將軍年老加疾，一朝之變不可諱，朕甚憂之。今詔破羌將軍詣屯所，為將軍副，急因天時大利，吏士銳氣，以十二月擊先零羌。即疾劇，留屯毋行，獨遣破羌、強弩將軍。」時，羌降者萬餘人矣。充國度其必壞，欲罷騎兵屯田，以待其敝。作奏未上，會得進兵璽書，中郎將卬懼，使客諫充國曰：「誠令兵出，破軍殺將以傾國家，將軍守之可也。即利與病，又何足爭？一旦不合上意，遣繡衣來責將軍，將軍之身不能自保，何國家之安？」充國歎曰：「是何言之不忠也！本用吾言，羌虜得至是邪？往者舉可先行羌者，吾舉辛武賢，丞相御史復白遣義渠安國，竟沮敗羌。金城、湟中谷斛八錢，吾謂耿中丞，糴二百萬斛谷，羌人不敢動矣。耿中丞請糴百萬斛，乃得四十萬斛耳。義渠再使，且費其半。失此二冊，羌人故敢為逆。失之毫釐，差以千里，是既然矣。今兵久不決，四夷卒有動搖，相因而起，雖有知者不能善其後，羌獨足憂邪！吾固以死守之，明主可為忠言。」遂上屯田奏曰：

That autumn Zhao Chongguo fell ill, and the emperor sent him a letter that read: By imperial command to the rear general: We hear you suffer from swollen shins and dysentery from the cold; age and sickness together admit no disguise of strength, and We are deeply concerned. We now order the Qiang-breaking general to join your camp as second-in-command and, while Heaven favors us and the troops' morale is keen, strike the Xianling in the twelfth month. If your condition worsens, stay with the garrison and do not take the field yourself; send only the Qiang-breaking and strong crossbow generals forward. By then more than ten thousand Qiang had already come over to the Han. Chongguo judged that the enemy coalition would crumble; he wished to disband much of the cavalry in favor of frontier garrison farming and let exhaustion do the rest. Before he could submit his memorial the advance order arrived. Yin the gentleman of the palace, frightened, sent a client to argue with Chongguo: If the emperor's offensive should smash our army, cost us our generals, and shake the realm, your stubborn refusal might at least be excused. But when the odds of gain and ruin are evenly balanced, what point is there in defying the court? Offend the throne once and an inspector in embroidered silk will come to call you to account; you will not preserve your own person, still less the peace of the realm. Chongguo sighed, What disloyal counsel is this! Had the court followed my advice from the first, would the Qiang ever have reached this pass? When the court asked who should take the field first, I named Xin Wuxian; the chancellor and imperial counselor overruled me and sent Yiqu Anguo, and the frontier policy collapsed. Grain in Jincheng and the Huangzhong basin was selling at eight cash a hu; I urged Vice Censor Geng to buy two million hu into frontier granaries, which would have frozen the Qiang in place. Geng asked permission to buy a million hu but was allowed only four hundred thousand. Yiqu Anguo was sent twice and squandered half of even that stock. Those two blunders are why the Qiang dared to rebel. A hair's breadth of error becomes a thousand li of disaster—that is how it has turned out. If this war drags on unresolved, the other frontier peoples may stir in sympathy; no strategist alive could tidy up the mess—and the Qiang would be the least of our worries! I will defend my course to the death, for a discerning sovereign may still be told the truth. He therefore memorialized on military agriculture in these words:

臣聞兵者，所以明德除害也，故舉得於外，則福生於內，不可不慎。臣所將吏士馬牛食，月用糧谷十九萬九千六百三十斛，鹽千六百九十三斛，茭蒿二十五萬二百八十六石。難久不解，繇役不息。又恐它夷卒有不虞之變，相因並起，為明主憂，誠非素定廟勝之冊。且羌虜易以計破，難用兵碎也，故臣愚以為擊之不便。

Your servant has read that armies exist to display the sovereign's virtue and remove harm; success abroad brings blessing at home, so their use admits no carelessness. The officers, men, horses, and oxen under your servant's command consume each month 199,630 hu of grain, 1,693 hu of salt, and 250,286 shi of fodder. A long stalemate means corvée and transport levies without end. Your servant also fears that other border peoples may seize the moment and rise in concert—hardly the kind of risk a wise ruler should court, and far from the counsel of victory decided in the ancestral temple. The Qiang are easier to break by policy than to grind down by battle; your servant therefore believes a major offensive is inadvisable.

計度臨羌東至浩亹，羌虜故田及公田，民所未墾，可二千頃以上，其間郵亭多壞敗者。臣前部士入山，伐材木大小六萬餘枚，皆在水次。願罷騎兵，留馳刑應募，及淮陽、汝南步兵與史士私從者，合凡萬二百八十一人，用谷月二萬七千三百六十三斛，鹽三百八斛，分屯要害處。冰解漕下，繕鄉亭，浚溝渠，治湟狹以西道橋七十所，令可至鮮水左右。田事出，賦人二十畝。至四月草生，發郡騎及屬國胡騎伉健各千，倅馬什二，就草，為田者遊兵。以充入金城郡，益積畜，省大費。今大司農所轉谷至者，足支萬人一歲食。謹上田處及器用簿，唯陛下裁許。

From Lintao east to Gaohan lie more than two thousand qing of old Qiang cropland, government fields, and land the peasants never broke; many relay stations along that strip are in ruins. Your servant has already sent men into the hills to fell more than sixty thousand logs of every size, stacked ready on the riverbank. He asks to release the cavalry but keep commuted convicts who have enlisted, Huaiyang and Runan foot soldiers, and clerks and volunteers—10,281 men in all—at a monthly cost of 27,363 hu of grain and 308 hu of salt, posted along the critical sectors. When the ice breaks, float supplies downstream, repair the rural post houses, clear the irrigation channels, and rebuild the seventy bridges on the road west of the Huang gorge so that traffic can reach the banks of the Xian River. Each farmer is to receive twenty mu when the ploughing season opens. In the fourth month, when pasture returns, detail a thousand picked horsemen from each commandery and dependent-state Hu unit, with two spare mounts in every ten, to screen the farmers as mobile guards. The harvest would replenish Jincheng's granaries, swell our reserves, and spare the treasury enormous outlay. The grain the minister of agriculture has already forwarded is enough to feed ten thousand men for a full year. Your servant encloses schedules of land and equipment and awaits the emperor's decision.

上報曰：「皇帝問後將軍，言欲罷騎兵萬人留田，即如將軍之計，虜當何時伏誅，兵當何時得決？孰計其便，復奏。」充國上狀曰：

The emperor answered: The Son of Heaven asks the rear general: you propose to stand down ten thousand horsemen and put them to the plough. If your plan is followed, when will the enemy be brought to book and the campaign closed? Weigh the advantages carefully and memorialize again. Chongguo replied in a memorial:

臣聞帝王之兵，以全取勝，是以貴謀而賤戰。戰而百勝，非善之善者也，故先為不可勝以待敵之可勝。蠻夷習俗雖殊於禮義之國，然其欲避害就利，愛親戚，畏死亡，一也。今虜亡其美地薦草，愁子寄托遠遁，骨肉心離，人有畔志，而明主般師罷兵，萬人留田，順天時，因地利，以待可勝之虜，雖未即伏辜，兵決可期月而望。羌虜瓦解，前後降者萬七百餘人，及受言去者凡七十輩，此坐支解羌虜之具也。

Your servant has learned that the armies of true kings aim at total victory and therefore honor strategy above battle. Even a hundred bloodless victories rank second to the highest skill; the sage commander first secures himself against defeat, then waits for the moment when the enemy can be defeated. Frontier peoples follow customs unlike those of the central states, yet in wishing to escape harm, seek advantage, cherish kinsmen, and dread death they are no different from us. The nomads have lost their rich pastures; wives and children fret in distant refuges; families are divided and many hearts turn toward revolt. Meanwhile a wise sovereign recalls surplus troops, leaves ten thousand men to farm in harmony with the seasons and the terrain, and waits until the enemy can be overthrown. They may not yield at once, yet the issue of arms can be settled within a matter of months. The Qiang coalition is already cracking: more than ten thousand seven hundred have surrendered in recent weeks, and seventy parties have carried our terms back to their camps—this is how we dismantle the rebellion without further pitched battles.

臣謹條不出兵留田便宜十二事。步兵九校，更士萬人，留頓以為武備，因田致谷，威德並行，一也。又因排折羌虜，令不得歸肥饒之地，貧破其眾，以成羌虜相畔之漸，二也。居民得並田作，不失農業，三也。軍馬一月之食，度支田士一歲，罷騎兵以省大費，四也。至春省甲士卒，循河湟漕谷至臨羌，以示羌虜，揚威武，傳世折衝之具，五也，以閒暇時下所伐材，繕治郵亭，充入金城，六也。兵出，乘危徼幸，不出，令反畔之虜竄於風寒之地，離霜露疾疫瘃墮之患，坐得必勝之道，七也。亡經阻遠追死傷之害，八也。內不損威武之重，外不令虜得乘間之勢，九也。又亡驚動河南大開、小開使生它變之憂，十也。治湟狹中道橋，令可至鮮水，以制西域，信威千里，從枕席上過師，十一也。大費既省，繇役豫息，以戒不虞，十二也。留屯田得十二便，出兵失十二利。臣充國材下，犬馬齒衰，不識長冊，唯明詔博詳公卿議臣采擇。

Your servant respectfully lists twelve advantages of keeping the army in place to farm rather than marching it out. First, nine infantry regiments with ten thousand rotating troops can stay encamped as a ready striking force while their fields yield grain, so force and benevolence advance together. Second, we keep pressing the Qiang so they cannot regain their fertile valleys, bleed their manpower, and hasten the moment when they begin to betray one another. Third, local householders can resume farming alongside the troops and miss no agricultural season. Fourth, a month's fodder for warhorses covers a year's rations for farmer-soldiers; standing down the cavalry saves enormous expense. Fifth, come spring we can lighten the men's kit, run barges of grain up the Huang to Lintao, and parade our might before the Qiang in a display that will serve generations as a deterrent. Sixth, whenever the camp is quiet we can raft down the felled timber, mend the post stations, and stockpile supplies inside Jincheng. Seventh, a rash offensive gambles on luck; by staying put we leave the rebels shivering in the cold, prey to frost, disease, and frostbite, while we secure victory without stirring. Eighth, we avoid the casualties of forcing defiles and long pursuits. Ninth, we keep the capital's dignity intact at home and deny the enemy an opening abroad. Tenth, we need not alarm the Greater and Lesser Kai south of the river and risk fresh uprisings. Eleventh, rebuilding the bridges through the Huang gorge down to the Xian gives us leverage on the Western Regions and projects authority a thousand li—future armies may cross as if from their own beds. Twelfth, great outlays are spared, corvée is calmed in advance, and we guard against surprises. Garrison farming yields these twelve gains; a major offensive forfeits the same twelve advantages. Your servant Chongguo is a mediocre man, grown old and short of long views; may Your Majesty set this proposal beside the counsel of the ministers and decide which course to favor.

上復賜報曰：「皇帝問後將軍，言十二便，聞之。虜雖未伏誅，兵決可期月而望，期月而望者，謂今冬邪？謂何時也？將軍獨不計虜聞兵頗罷，且丁壯相聚，攻擾田者及道上屯兵，復殺略人民，將何以止之？又大開、小開前言曰：『我告漢軍先零所在，兵不往擊，久留，得亡效五年時不分別人而並擊我？』其意常恐。今兵不出，得亡變生，與先零為一？將軍孰計復奏。」充國奏曰：

The emperor answered again: The Son of Heaven has heard the rear general's twelve points in favor of garrison farming. You say the enemy need not yet be executed but that the campaign can be settled within a few months—do you mean this coming winter? Or what date do you have in mind? Have you considered that once the tribes hear we are thinning our ranks their warriors may mass again, raid the farmers and the detachments on the supply roads, and butcher the populace—how would you stop them? The Greater and Lesser Kai chiefs have already protested: We showed the Han where the Xianling were, yet no attack came while your army lingered—will you repeat the fifth-year blunder and strike us together with the guilty? They live in constant fear of that outcome. If we hold the army back now, might they not turn on us and unite with the Xianling? General, weigh these points carefully and memorialize again. Chongguo replied:

臣聞兵以計為本，故多算勝少算。先零羌精兵今餘下過七八千人，失地遠客，分散饑凍。 □、開、莫須又頗暴略其贏弱畜產，畔還者不絕，皆聞天子明令相捕斬之賞。臣愚以為虜破壞可日月冀，遠在來春，故曰兵決可期月而望。竊見北邊自敦煌至遼東萬一千五百餘里，乘塞列隧有吏卒數千人，虜數大眾攻之而不能害。今留步士萬人屯田，地勢平易，多高山遠望之便，部曲相保，為塹壘木樵，校聯不絕，便兵弩，飭斗具。烽火幸通，勢及並力，以逸待勞，兵之利者也。臣愚以為屯田內有亡費之利，外有守禦之備。騎兵雖罷，虜見萬人留田為必禽之具，其土崩歸德，宜不久矣。從今盡三月，虜馬贏瘦，必不敢捐其妻子於他種中，遠涉河山而來為寇。又見屯田之士精兵萬人，終不敢復將其累重還歸故地。是臣之愚計，所以度虜且必瓦解其處，不戰而自破之冊也。至於虜小寇盜，時殺人民，其原未可卒禁。臣聞戰不必勝，不苟接刃；攻不必取，不苟勞眾。誠令兵出，雖不能滅先零，但能令虜絕不為小寇，則出兵可也。即今同是而釋坐勝之道，從乘危之勢，往終不見利，空內自罷敝，貶重而自損，非所以視蠻夷也。又大兵一出，還不可復留，湟中亦未可空，如是，徭役復發也。且匈奴不可不備，烏桓不可不憂。今久轉運煩費，傾我不虞之用以澹一隅，臣愚以為不便。校尉臨眾幸得承威德，奉厚幣，拊循眾羌，諭以明詔，宜皆鄉風。雖其前辭嘗曰「得亡效五年」，宜亡它心，不足以故出兵。臣竊自惟念。奉詔出塞，引軍遠擊，窮天子之精兵，散車甲於山野，雖亡尺寸之功，媮得避慊之便，而亡後咎余責，此人臣不忠之利，非明主社稷之福也。臣幸得奮精兵，討不義，久留天誅，罪當萬死。陛下寬仁，未忍加誅，令臣數得熟計。愚臣伏計孰甚，不敢避斧鉞之誅，昧死陳愚，唯陛下省察。

Your servant has read that war rests on calculation, and that thorough planning defeats hasty planning. The Xianling can field at most seven or eight thousand picked warriors now; they are landless exiles, scattered, starving, and cold. The Han, Kai, and Moju bands meanwhile prey on their weaker neighbors' herds, and deserters keep slipping away to us because everyone has heard the emperor's bounty for bringing in rebel heads. Your servant believes their collapse may come within a few months, certainly by next spring at the latest—hence his earlier remark that the campaign could be settled in short order. Along the northern line from Dunhuang to Liaodong—more than eleven thousand five hundred li—only a few thousand clerks and soldiers man the wall and beacon chain, yet the nomads have stormed it in force again and again without breaking through. Ten thousand foot soldiers on the farms hold level ground with commanding heights for observation; companies shield one another behind ditches, palisades, and log barriers in an unbroken chain, with crossbows ready and shields and spears in order. The beacon line stays open, the detachments can combine at need, and fresh troops await weary raiders—the classic advantage in war. Garrison farming saves the treasury at home and forms a shield abroad. Even with the cavalry sent home, the sight of ten thousand farmers in arms tells the tribes they are trapped; their morale will crumble and they will sue for peace before long. Within three months their ponies will be gaunt; they will not dare leave wives and children with alien bands while they march hundreds of li to raid. Facing ten thousand veteran farmer-soldiers, they will never drag their families and herds back to the old pastures. That is the point of your servant's plan: to let the enemy rot in place and collapse without a general engagement. Petty murders and theft by scattered bands cannot be stopped overnight. Your servant has learned never to cross blades when victory is uncertain. Never waste the army on an assault that may not succeed. If a major offensive could not crush the Xianling but would at least end small-scale raiding, your servant would favor it. To abandon a strategy that wins from a seat of strength, court needless risk, gain nothing in the end, exhaust the interior, and lower the dynasty's prestige is no way to overawe the frontier peoples. Once the main host marches out it cannot simply return to the farms, nor can Huangzhong be left bare—another round of levies would follow. The Xiongnu must still be guarded and the Wuhuan watched. Prolonged convoys drain the treasury and pour our reserve funds into a single corner—your servant cannot approve. Colonel Linzhong may rely on Your Majesty's prestige, rich gifts, and clear edicts to win the Qiang bands—they should all incline to Han. Even if they once asked whether the fifth-year mistake would be repeated, they have no deeper disloyalty, and that alone is no reason to take the field. Your servant has turned these matters over in his mind. To obey an order, march deep into the steppe, waste the empire's best troops and scatter its wagons and mail for no measurable gain, yet escape censure—that is the selfish profit of an unfaithful minister, not the blessing of the altars of state. Your servant was honored with crack troops to chastise rebels yet has long delayed Heaven's judgment—he deserves death ten thousand times over. Your Majesty's kindness has spared him execution and allowed him time and again to think the matter through. Your foolish servant has weighed every alternative; he does not shrink from the executioner's axe but risks his life to speak plainly, and begs Your Majesty to judge.

充國奏每上，輒下公卿議臣。初是充國計者什三，中什五，最後什八。有詔詰前言不便者，皆頓首服。丞相魏相曰：「臣愚不習兵事利害，後將軍數畫軍冊，其言常是，臣任其計可必用也。」上於是報充國曰：「皇帝問後將軍，上書言羌虜可勝之道，今聽將軍，將軍計善。其上留屯田及當罷者人馬數。將軍強食，慎兵事，自愛！」上以破羌、強弩將軍數言當擊，又用充國屯田處離散，恐虜犯之，於是兩從其計，詔兩將軍與中郎將□出擊。強弩出，降四千餘人，破羌斬首二千級，中郎將卬斬首降者亦二千餘級，而充國所降復得五千餘人。詔罷兵，獨充國留屯田。

Each time Chongguo submitted a memorial the emperor referred it to the high ministers for debate. At first only three men in ten sided with him, then half, and finally eight in ten. An edict called in those who had called his plan unworkable; they kowtowed and conceded. Chancellor Wei Xiang said, Your servant is no soldier, yet whenever the rear general has laid out a campaign his counsel has proved sound; your servant vouches that his strategy should be followed. The emperor answered: The Son of Heaven accepts the rear general's account of how the Qiang may be defeated and approves your plan. Memorialize the numbers of men and horses to stay on the farms and those to be stood down. Eat well, take care in camp, and look after your health. Because the Qiang-breaking and strong crossbow generals still pressed for battle while Chongguo's farm garrisons lay exposed to raid, the emperor split the difference: he ordered both generals and Gentleman of the Palace Yin to launch a sortie. The strong crossbow column brought in more than four thousand captives, the Qiang-breaking general claimed two thousand heads, Yin the gentleman of the palace another two thousand killed or surrendered, and Chongguo's own negotiations won over five thousand more. An edict then stood down the host, leaving only Chongguo's men on the farms.

明年五月，充國奏言：「羌本可五萬人軍，凡斬首七千六百級，降者三萬一千二百人，溺河湟飢餓死者五六千人，定計遺脫與煎鞏、黃羝俱亡者不過四千人。羌靡忘等自詭必得，請罷屯兵。」奏可。充國振旅而還。

In the fifth month of the following year Chongguo reported: The Qiang could originally muster fifty thousand men; we have taken 7,600 heads, accepted 31,200 surrenders, and five or six thousand more have drowned in the Huang or died of hunger; fugitives who have joined the Jianjiong and Huangdi bands cannot number more than four thousand. Miwang and other chiefs have pledged to run the rest to earth; your servant asks that the garrison be disbanded. The throne approved the memorial. Chongguo marched his troops home in good order.

所善浩星賜迎說充國，曰：「眾人皆以破羌、強弩出擊，多斬首獲降，虜以破壞。然有識者以為虜勢窮困，兵雖不出，必自服矣。將軍即見，宜歸功於二將軍出擊，非愚臣所及。如此，將軍計未失也。」充國曰：「吾年老矣，爵位已極，豈嫌伐一時事以欺明主哉！兵勢，國之大事，當為後法。老臣不以余命一為陛下明言兵之利害，卒死，誰當復言之者？」卒以其意對。上然其計，罷遣辛武賢歸酒泉太守官，充國復為後將軍衛尉。

His friend Haoxing Ci met him on the road and urged him: The court believes the Qiang-breaking and strong crossbow columns won the war with their heads taken and captives gathered. Men of judgment know the tribes were already broken and would have yielded even without that sortie. When you are called to audience you should credit the two generals' attack—something no petty official could have matched. That way your own strategy still looks sound. Chongguo answered, I am old and my honors are complete; would I trim one episode of the truth to deceive an enlightened sovereign? Military affairs are the great business of the state and must be recorded faithfully for posterity. If this old minister does not speak plainly to Your Majesty of what war gains and costs while he still draws breath, who will tell you after he is gone? When he faced the throne he answered along those lines. The emperor accepted his account, sent Xin Wuxian back to his post as grand administrator of Jiuquan, and restored Chongguo as rear general and commandant of the guards.

其秋，羌若零、離留、且種、□庫共斬先零大豪猶非、楊玉首，及諸豪弟澤、陽雕、良□、靡忘皆帥煎鞏、黃羝之屬四千餘人降漢。封若零、弟澤二人為帥眾王，離留、且種二人為侯，□庫為君，陽雕為言兵侯，良□為君，靡忘為獻牛君。初置金城屬國以處降羌。

That autumn the Qiang leaders Ruoling, Liliu, Qiezhong, and Hanku jointly slew the Xianling headmen Youfei and Yang Yu, while Ze, Yangdiao, Lianghan, Miwang, and others led more than four thousand men of the Jianjiong and Huangdi bands to surrender to the Han. Ruoling and Ze were enfeoffed as kings commanding the masses, Liliu and Qiezhong as marquises, Hanku and Lianghan as lords, Yangdiao as marquis of the muster of arms, and Miwang as lord of the tribute ox. The court first established the Jincheng dependent state to house the surrendered Qiang.

詔舉可護羌校尉者，時充國病，四府舉辛武賢小弟湯。充國遽起奏：「湯使酒，不可典蠻夷。不如湯兄臨眾。」時，湯已拜受節，有詔更用臨眾。後臨眾病免，五府復舉湯，湯數醉□句羌人，羌人反畔，卒如充國之言。

When an edict called for nominees for colonel protecting the Qiang, Zhao Chongguo was ill and the four chief ministries put forward Xin Tang, younger brother of Xin Wuxian. Chongguo rose from his sickbed to memorialize: Tang is a drunkard and unfit to govern barbarians. His elder brother Linzhong would be the better choice. Tang had already received his commission, but an edict superseded it and named Linzhong instead. When Linzhong later resigned on grounds of illness the five ministries nominated Tang again; Tang repeatedly abused the Qiang while drunk, the tribes rose in revolt, and events unfolded exactly as Chongguo had warned.

初，破羌將軍武賢在軍中時與中郎將卬宴語，卬道：「車騎將軍張安世始嘗不快上，上欲誅之，卬家將軍以為安世本持橐簪筆事孝武帝數十年，見謂忠謹，宜全度之。安世用是得免。」及充國還言兵事，武賢罷歸故官，深恨，上書告卬洩省中語。卬坐禁止而入至充國莫府司馬中亂屯兵，下吏，自殺。

Earlier, while Qiang-breaker Xin Wuxian was in camp, he drank with Gentleman of the Palace Yin, who told him how General of Chariots and Cavalry Zhang Anshi had once angered the emperor, who meant to put him to death; Yin's father the general had argued that Anshi had borne satchel and brush in Emperor Wu's service for decades and was known for loyalty and care, and deserved to be spared. Anshi was spared on that account. After Chongguo returned to discuss the campaign, Wuxian was sent back to his old post nursing a bitter grudge; he memorialized that Yin had leaked confidential palace conversation. Though Yin was confined pending trial, he forced his way into his father's headquarters among the staff officers and threw the camp into disorder; once the magistrates took charge he committed suicide.

充國乞骸骨，賜安車駟馬、黃金六十斤，罷就第。朝庭每有四夷大議，常與參兵謀，問籌策焉。年八十六，甘露二年薨，謚曰壯侯。傳子至孫欽，欽尚敬武公主。主亡子，主教欽良人習詐有身，名它人子。欽薨，子岑嗣侯，習為太夫人。岑父母求錢財亡已，忿恨相告。岑坐非子免，國除。元始中，修功臣後，復封充國曾孫人及為營平侯。

When Chongguo asked leave to retire, the court gave him a comfortable carriage, a team of four horses, sixty jin of gold, and permission to withdraw to his estate. Whenever the court debated major frontier questions he was still summoned to advise on arms and strategy. He died at eighty-six in the second year of the Ganlu era (52 BCE) and received the posthumous title Stalwart Marquis. The marquisate passed to his son and then to his grandson Qin, who married Princess Jingwu. The princess bore no heir, so she coached Qin's concubine Xi to fake a pregnancy and pass off another woman's child as her own. When Qin died his son Cen succeeded to the title and Xi was honored as dowager. Cen's natural parents, bled dry by demands for money, turned on one another in anger and denounced the fraud. Cen was stripped of his rank as a false heir and the marquisate was abolished. During the Yuanshi era, when the court renewed the lines of meritorious houses, Chongguo's great-grandson Renji was again enfeoffed as Marquis of Yingping.

初，充國以功德與霍光等列，畫未央宮。成帝時，西羌嘗有警，上思將帥之臣，追美充國，乃召黃門郎楊雄即充國圖畫而頌之，曰：

Zhao Chongguo was first ranked with Huo Guang among the meritorious ministers whose portraits were painted in Weiyang Palace. Under Emperor Cheng, when trouble stirred again on the western Qiang frontier, the emperor thought of past commanders, recalled Zhao Chongguo's fame, and ordered the Yellow Gate gentleman Yang Xiong to compose a eulogy before his portrait. It reads:

明靈惟宣，戎有先零。先零昌狂，侵漢西疆。漢命虎臣，惟後將軍，整我六師，是討是震。既臨其域，諭以威德，有守矜功，謂之弗克。請奮其旅，於□之羌，天子命我，從之鮮陽。營平守節，屢奏封章，料敵制勝，威謀靡亢。遂克西戎，還師於京，鬼方賓服，罔有不庭。昔周之宣，有方有虎，詩人歌功，乃列於《雅》。在漢中興，充國作武，赳赳桓桓，亦紹厥後。

Under the sage Emperor Xuan the Rong bred the Xianling tribe. The Xianling grew arrogant and swept against the Han's western marches. The Han called forth a tiger among ministers—the rear general—to marshal the hosts of the six armies for chastisement and terror. On their soil he blended awe with mercy, while armchair critics boasted of small gains and called him too timid to win. They clamored to march on the Han Qiang; the Son of Heaven bade him follow the host to the Xian River front. The Marquis of Yingping held firm in honor, memorial after sealed memorial sized up the foe and seized victory; his stern designs knew no rash pride. So the western Rong were broken, the army came home to the capital, the ghost lands bowed as guests, and none failed to attend the Han court. In olden days King Xuan of Zhou had Fang Shu and Shi Hu; the poets hymned their deeds and set them among the Hymns. In the Han restoration Zhao Chongguo stood as their warrior, bold and towering, heir to that same line of glory.

充國為後將軍，徙杜陵。辛觀自羌軍還後七年，復為破羌將軍，征烏孫至敦煌，後不出，征未到，病卒。子慶忌至大官。

Zhao Chongguo served as rear general and moved his household to Duling. Seven years after returning from the Qiang campaign Xin Wuxian was again named Qiang-breaking general for an expedition against the Wusun as far as Dunhuang; he never took the field, and the army had not yet marched when he died of illness. His son Xin Qingji rose to high rank at court.

辛慶忌字子真，少以父任為右校丞，隨長羅侯常惠屯田烏孫赤谷城，與歙侯戰，陷陳卻敵。惠奏其功，拜為侍郎，遷校尉，將吏士屯焉耆國。還為謁者，尚未知名。遠帝初，補金域長史，舉茂材，遷郎中、車騎將，朝廷多重之者，轉為校尉，遷張掖太守，徙酒泉，所在著名。

Xin Qingji, whose courtesy name was Zizhen, entered office young through his father's rank as assistant colonel of the right; he followed Marquis Chang Hui to the garrison farms at the Wusun capital of Chigu, fought the Shehou chieftain, broke the enemy line, and drove him back. Chang Hui reported his deeds and he was made a gentleman consultant, then colonel, commanding a garrison in the kingdom of Yanqi. Back in the capital he served as an usher and was still little known. Early in Emperor Yuan's reign he was named chief clerk of Jincheng, recommended as outstanding talent, promoted through gentleman of the palace to general of chariots and cavalry, and so highly regarded at court that he was shifted to colonel, then grand administrator of Zhangye and of Jiuquan, winning fame in every post.

成帝初，徵為光祿大夫，遷左曹中郎將，至執金吾。始武賢與趙充國有隙，後充國家殺辛氏，至慶忌為執金吾，坐子殺趙氏，左遷酒泉太守。歲餘，大將軍王鳳薦慶忌：「前在兩郡著功跡，征入，歷位朝廷，莫不信鄉。質行正直，仁勇得眾心，通於兵事，明略威重行國柱石。父破羌將軍武賢顯名前世，有威西夷。臣鳳不宜久處慶忌之右。」乃復徵為光祿大夫、執金吾。數年，坐小法左遷雲中太守，復徵為光祿勳。

At the start of Emperor Cheng's reign he was recalled as grand counselor of the palace, rose to general of the gentlemen of the palace for the left staff, and advanced to bearer of the golden mace. Xin Wuxian and Zhao Chongguo had long been at odds, and later the Zhao household killed a member of the Xin clan; when Qingji held the mace his own son murdered a Zhao, and he was demoted to grand administrator of Jiuquan. A little over a year later Grand General Wang Feng recommended him: He left a strong record in two border commanderies, answered every summons to the capital, and won the trust of everyone at court. He is upright by nature, wins men by humanity and courage, knows war inside out, and combines clear judgment with the bearing of a pillar of state. His father, Qiang-breaking general Xin Wuxian, was famous in the last reign and overawed the western tribes. Your servant Wang Feng ought not long to rank above Qingji. He was therefore recalled as grand counselor of the palace and bearer of the golden mace. Some years later a minor infraction cost him the grand administratorate of Yunzhong, but he was soon summoned back as superintendent of the imperial household.

時，數有災異，丞相司直何武上封事曰：「虞有宮之奇，晉獻不寐；衛青在位，淮南寢謀。故賢人立朝，折衝厭難，勝於亡形。《司馬法》曰：『天下雖安，忘戰必危。』夫將不豫設，則亡以應卒；士不素厲，則難使死使。是以先帝建列將之官，近戚主內，異姓距外，故奸軌不得萌動而破滅，誠萬世之長冊也。光祿勳慶忌行義修正，柔毅敦厚，謀慮深遠。前在邊郡，數破敵獲虜，外夷莫不聞。乃者大異並見，未有其應。加以兵革久寢。《春秋》大災未至而豫御之，慶忌家在爪牙官以備不虞。」其後拜為右將軍、諸吏、散騎、給事中，歲余徙為左將軍。

As portents multiplied, He's Wu, the chancellor's investigator, submitted a sealed memorial: When Yu had Gong Zhiqi at court, Duke Xian of Jin could not close his eyes in peace; while Wei Qing held high office, the king of Huainan shelved his plot. A worthy at court who turns back the enemy in counsel does more than an army that never takes the field. The Sima Methods warns: In an age of peace, forgetfulness of war invites ruin. If generals are not chosen in advance, there is no one to meet a sudden emergency; if troops are not kept in constant readiness, they cannot be ordered to their deaths in battle. Hence the late emperor set up graded commands for generals, with imperial clansmen watching the interior and outsiders holding the frontier, so treason never took root—a policy fit to endure forever. Superintendent Xin Qingji is upright in conduct, firm yet flexible, steadfast of character, and far-sighted in counsel. On the frontier he repeatedly smashed the enemy and took captives, and his name is known to every outer tribe. Lately heaven has sent a cluster of great portents, yet no moral response has followed. Moreover the army has lain idle for years. The Spring and Autumn praises guarding against disaster before it strikes; Xin Qingji belongs to the corps of fang-and-claw officers who stand ready for the unexpected. He was then named right general with concurrent appointments as palace attendant and attendant cavalry, and a little over a year later was shifted to left general.

慶忌居處恭儉，食飲被服尤節約，然性好輿馬，號為鮮明，唯是為奢。為國虎臣，遭世承平，匈奴、西域親附，敬其威信。年老卒官。長子通為護羌校尉，中子遵函谷關都尉，少子茂水衡都尉出為郡守，皆有將帥之風。宗族支屬至二千石者十餘人。

Qingji lived modestly and dressed plainly, but he loved fine horses and carriages, kept them gleaming, and indulged himself in nothing else. A tiger minister of the empire in an age of peace, he won the submission of the Xiongnu and the Western Regions, who respected his authority. He died in office at an advanced age. His eldest son Tong became colonel protecting the Qiang, his second Zun commandant of Hangu Pass, his youngest Mao superintendent of the imperial household waters and parks and then grand administrator of a commandery; each had the bearing of a field commander. More than ten of his kinsmen by blood or marriage rose to the rank of two thousand piculs.

元始中，安漢公王莽秉政，見慶忌本大將軍鳳所成，三子皆能，欲親厚之。是時，莽方立威柄，用甄豐、甄邯以自助，豐、邯新貴，威震朝廷。水衡都尉茂自見名臣子孫，兄弟並列，不甚詘事兩甄。時，平帝幼，外家衛氏不得在京師，而護羌校尉通長子次兄素與帝從舅衛子伯相善，兩人俱遊俠，賓客甚盛。及呂寬事起，莽誅衛氏。兩甄構言諸辛陰與衛子伯為心腹，有背恩不說安漢公之謀。於是司直陳崇舉奏其宗親隴西辛興等侵陵百姓，威行州郡。莽遂按通父子、遵、茂兄弟及南郡太守辛伯等，皆誅殺之。辛氏繇是廢。慶忌本狄道人，為將軍，徙昌陵。昌陵罷，留長安。

During the Yuanshi era Wang Mang, as lord who pacifies the Han, held power; knowing that Qingji had been promoted by Grand General Wang Feng and that all three sons were able men, he sought to win the family over. Mang was then consolidating his grip and relied on Zhen Feng and Zhen Han; the pair had just risen to power and overawed the whole court. Xin Mao, superintendent of the waters and parks, considered himself the scion of a great house with brothers all in high place, and bowed little to the two Zhens. Emperor Ping was still a child and the Wei in-laws were barred from the capital, but Colonel Xin Tong's eldest son, Cixiong, was intimate with the emperor's cousin Wei Zibo; both were famous swordsmen with large clienteles. When the Lü Kuan case broke, Wang Mang wiped out the Wei family. The two Zhens spread word that the Xins were secretly in league with Wei Zibo and plotted ingratitude against the lord who pacifies the Han. Investigator Chen Chong then impeached his kinsmen, such as Xin Xing of Longxi, for bullying the common people and throwing their weight across several provinces. Wang Mang seized Xin Tong and his sons, Xin Zun, Xin Mao, their brothers, Nan commandery grand administrator Xin Bo, and others, and put them all to death. The house of Xin was destroyed from that moment. Qingji was a native of Didao; when he became a general he moved his household to Changling. When the Changling project was abandoned he stayed on in Chang'an.

贊曰：秦、漢已來，山東出相，山西出將。秦時將軍白起，郿人；王翦，頻陽人。漢興，郁郅王圍、甘延壽，義渠公孫賀、傅介子，成紀李廣、李蔡，杜陵蘇建、蘇武，上邽上宮桀、趙充國，襄武廉褒，狄道辛武賢、慶忌，皆以勇武顯聞。蘇、辛父子著節，此其可稱列者也，其餘不可勝數。何則？山西天水、隴西、安定、北地處勢迫近羌胡，民俗修習戰備，高上勇力鞍馬騎射。故《秦詩》曰：「王於興師，修我甲兵，與子皆行。」其風聲氣俗自古而然，今之歌謠慷慨，風流猶存耳。

The historian's verdict runs: Since Qin and Han times the lands east of the mountains have yielded chief ministers, and the lands west of the mountains have yielded generals. Under Qin, General Bai Qi came from Mei; Wang Jian came from Pinyang. Since the rise of Han, Wang Wei of Yuzhi and Gan Yanshou, Gongsun He and Fu Jiezi of Yiqu, Li Guang and Li Cai of Chengji, Su Jian and Su Wu of Duling, Shanggu Jie and Zhao Chongguo of Shanggui, Lian Bao of Xiangwu, and Xin Wuxian with Xin Qingji of Didao have all won fame by courage and arms. The Su and Xin families in two generations showed conspicuous loyalty; they are the ones worth naming here, while the rest are beyond counting. Why is this so? West of the mountains, in Tianshui, Longxi, Anding, and Beidi, the ground presses close on the Qiang and the Hu, so the people train for war from childhood and honor horsemanship, courage, and the bow. Hence the old Qin song: The king calls out the host; we mend our mail and blades; with you I march together. That temper is ancient; even today their ballads ring with martial fire, and the old spirit lingers on.

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