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卷七十七蓋諸葛劉鄭孫毋將何傳第四十七
Volume 77: Biographies of Gai, Zhuge, Liu, Zheng, Sun, Wujiang, and He—the forty-seventh series.
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蓋寬饒
Gai Kuangrao.
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蓋寬饒字次公，魏郡人也。 明經為郡文學，以孝廉為郎。 舉方正，對策高第，遷諫大夫，行郎中戶將事。 劾奏衛將軍張安世子侍中陽都侯彭祖不下殿門，並連及安世居位無補。 彭祖時實下門，寬饒坐舉奏大臣非是，左遷為衛司馬。
Gai Kuangrao, styled Cigong, came from Wei Commandery. He earned his classics degree as the commandery literary officer, then entered the court as a gentleman on the filial-incorrupt roster. An "upright conduct" nomination and a top policy paper won him the remonstrant's post and acting charge of the household colonelcy at the inner gate. He denounced Zhang Pengzu, the marquis of Yangdu and son of Zhang Anshi, for riding through the hall gate, and argued that Zhang Anshi himself had grown useless in high place. Pengzu had actually obeyed the rule; the memorial backfired and Kuangrao was busted down to colonel of the palace guards.
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先是時，衛司馬在部，見衛尉拜謁，常為衛官繇使市買。 寬饒視事，案舊令，遂揖官屬以下行衛者。 衛尉私使寬饒出，寬饒以令詣官府門上謁辭。 尚書責問衛尉，由是衛官不復私使候、司馬。 候、司馬不拜，出先置衛，輒上奏辭，自此正焉。
Before Kuangrao, the guard colonel had to kowtow to the commandant of guards and was treated like a messenger boy for shopping runs. On day one he reopened the statute book and replaced the kowtow with a ranked salute for men under him on escort duty. When the commandant tried to send him on a private chore, he walked to the yamen gate and entered a written refusal on the books. The imperial secretariat called the commandant on the carpet, and the habit of drafting the colonel for private errands stopped cold. Colonels and marshals stopped the deep bow, filed written leave before each shift, and the ritual line was drawn for good.
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寬饒初拜為司馬，未出殿門，斷其禪衣，令短離地，冠大冠，帶長劍，躬案行士卒廬室，視其飲食居處，有疾病者身自撫循臨問，加致醫藥，遇之甚有恩。 及歲盡交代，上臨饗罷衛卒，衛卒數千人皆叩頭自請，願復留共更一年，以報寬饒厚德。 宣帝嘉之，以寬饒為太中大夫，使行風俗，多所稱舉貶黜，奉使稱意。 擢為司隸校尉，刺舉無所迴避，小大輒舉，所劾奏眾多，廷尉處其法，半用半不用，公卿貴戚及郡國吏繇使至長安，皆恐懼莫敢犯禁，京師為清。
Fresh to the colonelcy he shortened his robe, belted on a long sword, toured every barrack, tasted the gruel, nursed the sick himself, and paid doctors out of his own pocket. When the year-end muster came and the emperor feasted the retiring guards, thousands begged on their knees to serve another tour under Kuangrao. Xuan made him a palace grandee and sent him circuit-riding as moral inspector; his promotions and sackings matched what the court wanted to hear. As metropolitan governor he subpoenaed everyone who mattered; the commandant of justice could only process half his docket, yet the capital went quiet because magnates stopped testing him.
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平恩侯許伯入第，丞相、御史、將軍、中二千石皆賀，寬饒不行。 許伯請之，乃往，從西階上，東鄉特坐。 許伯自酌曰：「蓋君後至。」 寬饒曰：「無多酌我，我乃酒狂。」 丞相魏侯笑曰：「次公醒而狂，何必酒也？」 坐者畢屬目卑下之。 酒酣樂作，長信少府檀長卿起舞，為沐猴與狗鬥，坐皆大笑。 寬饒不說，卬視屋而歎曰：「美哉！ 然富貴無常，忽則易人，此如傳捨，所閱多矣。 唯謹慎為得久，君侯可不戒哉！」 因起趨出，劾奏長信少府以列卿而沐猴舞，失禮不敬。 上欲罪少府，許伯為謝，良久，上乃解。
The whole peerage turned out for Xu Bo's housewarming; Kuangrao stayed home. Xu had to coax him in; he climbed the west steps and sat alone on the host's east—the seat reserved for a peer. Xu poured the wine himself and said, "Our late guest is Lord Gai." Kuangrao said, "Pour sparingly—I turn wild after a few cups." The Wei marquis laughed and said, "Cigong is born tipsy—wine only advertises it." The room stared and marked him as rude. Tan Changqing of the empress's palace danced a monkey-and-dog farce; the hall howled with laughter. Kuangrao did not smile; he looked at the beams and said, "Fine sight!" Yet rank and riches change hands like relay stations; he had watched the turnover too often to be charmed. Only caution keeps a man long in his seat—my lords, will you never learn?" He walked out and filed charges against Tan for doing a monkey act while holding ministerial rank—a breach of ritual. The emperor meant to punish Tan until Xu Bo smoothed it over.
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寬饒為人剛直高節，志在奉公。 家貧。 奉錢月數千，半以給吏民為耳目言事者。 身為司隸，子常步行自戍北邊，公廉如此。 然深刻喜陷害人，在位及貴戚人與為怨，又好言事刺譏，奸犯上意。 上以其儒者，優容之，然亦不得遷。 同列後進或至九卿，寬饒自以行清能高，有益於國，而為凡庸所越，愈失意不快，數上疏諫爭。 太子庶子王生高寬饒節，而非其如此，予書曰：「明主知君潔白公正，不畏強禦，故命君以司察之位，擅君以奉使之權，尊官厚祿已施於君矣。 君宜夙夜惟思當世之務，奉法宣化，憂勞天下，雖日有益，月有功，猶未足以稱職而報恩也。 自古之治，三王之術各有制度。 今君不務循職而已，乃欲以太古久遠之事匡拂天子，數進不用難聽之語以摩切左右，非所以揚令名全壽命者也。 方今用事之人皆明習法令，言足以飾君之辭，文足以成君之過，君不惟蘧氏之高蹤，而慕子胥之末行，用不訾之軀，臨不測之險，竊為君痛之。 夫君子直而不挺，曲而不詘。 《大雅》云：『既明且哲，以保其身。』 狂夫之言，聖人擇焉。 唯裁省覽。」 寬饒不納其言。
He was stiff-necked, high-principled, and lived for the job. His household was chronically broke. He drew a clerk's pay and spent half of it buying informers in the streets. His son marched to the northern line on foot while he held the capital's highest police post—that was the man's standard. Yet he savored prosecutions, made enemies of every magnate, and lectured the throne until it smarted. The emperor wrote him off as a harmless pedant and never moved him up. Juniors leapt past him to the Nine Ministers while he stewed, convinced his integrity should have won him more. Wang Sheng, a tutor to the crown prince, wrote: the emperor knows you are clean and fearless, which is why he gave you the censor's rod and envoy powers—and already pays you like a chief minister. He begged Kuangrao to mind the work of the age, enforce the code, and wear himself out for the realm—daily good would still barely repay the trust. Since high antiquity each sage king had his own institutions. Instead of doing the job, you lecture the throne with archaic precedents and barbed memorials—neither a way to fame nor to a long life. Today's ministers know every loophole in the code; they can polish the emperor's prose and pin any fault on you—imitate the safe Qu, not the dead Wu Zixu, or you will gamble a life you cannot replace. The noble man stands straight without snapping, bends without crawling. The Greater Odes says: "Be bright and wise, and you will keep your skin." Even a madman's rant may hold a line the sage keeps. Please read this with care." Kuangrao ignored the letter.
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是時，上方用刑法，信任中尚書宦官，寬饒奏封事曰：「方今聖道浸廢，儒術不行，以刑余為周、召，以法律為《詩》、《書》。」 又引《韓氏易傳》言：「五帝官天下，三王家天下，家以傳子，官以傳賢，若四時之運，功成者去，不得其人則不居其位。」 書奏，上以寬饒怨謗終不改，下其書中二千石。 時，執金吾議，以為寬饒指意欲求禪，大逆不道。 諫大夫鄭昌愍傷寬饒忠直憂國，以言事不當意而為文吏所詆挫，上書頌寬饒曰：「臣聞山有猛獸，藜藿為之不採； 國有忠臣，奸邪為之不起。 司隸校尉寬饒居不求安，食不球飽，進有憂國之心，退有死節之義，上無許、史之屬，下無金、張之托，職在司察，直道而行，多仇少與，上書陳國事，有司劾以大辟，臣幸得從大夫之後，官以諫為名，不敢不言。」 上不聽，遂下寬饒吏。 寬饒引佩刀自剄北闕下，眾莫不憐之。
He filed a sealed note: the court treated eunuchs like the Duke of Zhou and the code like the Confucian canon. He cited the Changes tradition that thearchs abdicated to the worthy while kings handed the throne to sons—like the seasons, merit ends and the seat moves on. The emperor read it as slander and bounced the paper to the high ministers. The Bearer of the Mace read the passage as a call for the emperor to yield the throne—capital treason. Zheng Chang wrote: where tigers stalk the hills, no one picks the thorns— where the court keeps honest men, treason finds no foothold. He praised Kuangrao's poverty, courage, and lack of great-clan patrons, then said his own remonstrant's title forced him to speak before the court killed a good officer. The emperor refused and handed Kuangrao to the jailers. He opened his own throat below the northern watchtower; the capital wept.
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諸葛豐
Zhuge Feng.
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諸葛豐字少季，琅邪人也。 以明經為郡文學，名特立剛直。 貢禹為御史大夫，除豐為屬，舉侍御史。 元帝擢為司隸校尉，刺舉無所避，京師為之語曰：「間何闊，逢諸葛。」 上嘉其節，加豐秩光祿大夫。
Zhuge Feng, styled Shaoji, came from Langye. He passed the classics track as literary officer and was known as a lone straight arrow. Gong Yu took him on staff and nominated him as palace clerk. Yuan made him metropolitan governor; the capital joked, "What blocked the road? Zhuge Feng!" The court raised his salary to grand coachman for his spine.
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時，侍中許章以外屬貴幸，奢淫不奉法度，賓客犯事，與章相連。 豐案劾章，欲奉其事，適逢許侍中私出，豐駐車舉節詔章曰：「下！」 欲收之。 章迫窘，馳車去，豐追之。 許侍中因得入宮門，自歸上。 豐亦上奏，於是收豐節。 司隸去節自豐始。
Xu Zhang the favorite in-law ran wild; his clients broke laws in his name. Feng tried to arrest Xu Zhang in the street, blocked the carriage, raised his baton, and shouted, "Down from the cart!" He meant to clap him in irons. Xu Zhang lashed his horses; Feng gave chase. Xu slipped inside the palace gate and threw himself on the emperor's mercy. Feng filed his own report; the emperor stripped his baton. From Feng onward the capital censor carried no imperial staff.
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豐上書謝曰：「臣豐駑怯，文不足以勸善，武不足以執邪。 陛下不量臣能否，拜為司隸校尉，未有以自效，復秩臣為光祿大夫，官尊責重，非臣所當處也。 又迫年歲衰暮，常恐卒填溝渠，無以報厚德，使論議士譏臣無補，長獲素餐之名。 故常願捐一旦之命，不待時而斷奸臣之首，懸於都市，編書其罪，使四方明知為惡之罰，然後卻就斧鉞之誅，誠臣所甘心也。 夫以布衣之士，尚猶有刎頸之交，今以四海之大，曾無伏節死誼之臣，率盡苟合取容，阿黨相為，念私門之利，忘國家之政。 邪穢濁混之氣上感於天，是以災變數見，百姓困乏。 此臣下不忠之效也，臣誠恥之亡已。 凡人情莫不欲安存而惡危亡，然忠臣直士不避患害者，誠為君也。 今陛下天覆地載，物無不容，使尚書令堯賜臣豐書曰：『夫司隸者刺舉不法，善善惡惡，非得顓之也。 勉處中和，順經術意。』 恩深德厚，臣豐頓首幸甚。 臣竊不勝憤懣，願賜清宴，唯陛下裁幸。」 上不許。
He wrote a groveling apology: he was too dull for civil or military work. He said the emperor had overpromoted him to metropolitan governor and then to grand coachman without testing his mettle. He feared dying before he had earned his keep and being mocked as a salary thief. He swore he would gladly die if he could first spike a traitor's head on the market wall. Commoners keep faith unto death while great officers fawn and factionalize, he said—private profit had swallowed public duty. That filth had risen to heaven, he argued, which was why omens multiplied and the people starved. He called it proof of ministerial treason and said he was ashamed without end. Honest men risk death because they serve the throne, not themselves. He thanked the emperor for a letter from Master of Reading Yao: the censor must praise good and punish evil, not seize every case. Stay in the middle way and heed the classics. He said the grace overwhelmed him. He begged for a private audience to unburden his grievance." The emperor refused.
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是後，所言益不用，豐復上書言：「臣聞伯奇孝而棄於親，子胥忠而誅於君，隱公慈而殺於弟，叔武弟而殺于兄。 夫以四子之行，屈平之材，然猶不能自顯而被刑戮，豈不足以觀哉！ 使臣殺身以安國，蒙誅以顯君，臣誠願之。 獨恐未有雲補，而為眾邪所排，令讒夫得遂，正直之路雍塞，忠臣沮心，智士杜口，此愚臣之所懼也。」
He wrote again listing paragons destroyed by kin or lord—Boqi, Wu Zixu, Duke Yin, Shuwu— —and asked whether their fate was not warning enough. He said he would gladly die to save the dynasty. He feared only that slander would win and honest voices fall silent."
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豐以春夏系治人，在位多言其短。 上徙豐為城門校尉，豐上書告光祿勳周堪、光祿大夫張猛。 上不直豐，乃制詔御史：「城門校尉豐，前與光祿勳堪、光祿大夫猛在朝之時，數稱言堪、猛之美。 豐前為司隸校尉，不順四時，修法度，專作苛暴，以獲虛威，朕不忍下吏，以為城門校尉。 不內省諸己。 而反怨堪、猛，以求報舉，告案無證之辭，暴揚難驗之罪，毀譽恣意，不顧前言，不信之大者也。 朕憐豐之耆老，不忍加刑，其免為庶人。」 終於家。
He jailed people out of season; the capital gossiped. Demoted to gate colonel, he struck back with charges against Zhou Kan and Zhang Meng. The emperor's edict said Feng had once praised Zhou Kan and Zhang Meng. It recalled his harsh tenure as censor and said the throne had spared him a jail term by demoting him to the gates. He had never searched his own conscience. Now he smeared the same men he had praised—evidence of bad faith. The edict spared the cane and stripped him to commoner status." He died at home.
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劉輔，河間宗室人也。 舉孝廉，為襄賁令。 上書言得失，召見，上美其材，擢為諫大夫。 會成帝欲立趙婕妤為皇后，先下詔封婕妤父臨為列侯。 輔上書言：「臣聞天之所與，必先賜以符瑞； 天之所違，必先降以災變：此神明之徵應，自然之占驗也。 昔武王、周公承順天地，以饗魚烏之瑞，然猶君臣祗懼，動色相戒，況於季世，不蒙繼嗣之福，屢受威怒之異者虖！ 雖夙夜自責，改過易行，畏天命，念祖業，妙選有德之世，考卜窈窕之女，以承宗廟，順神祗心，塞天下望，子孫之詳猶恐晚暮，今乃觸情縱欲，傾於卑賤之女，欲以母天下，不畏於天，不愧於人，惑莫大焉。 里語曰：『腐木不可以為柱，卑人不可以為主。』 天人之所不予，必有禍而無福，市道皆共知之，朝廷莫肯一言，臣竊傷心。 自念得以同姓拔擢，尸祿不忠，污辱諫爭之官，不敢不盡死，唯陛下深察。」 書奏，上使侍御史收縛輔，系掖庭秘獄，群臣莫知其故。
Liu Fu belonged to the Hejian royal lineage. A filial-incorrupt nomination made him magistrate of Xiangben. A policy memorial won him an audience and a jump to grandee remonstrant. Chengdi meant to raise Zhao Feiyan to empress and first titled her father a marquis. Liu Fu wrote: Heaven's favor shows first in omens— —Heaven's anger shows first in disasters; that is how the spirits speak. Even Wu and Zhou trembled at small omens, he argued—how much more should a childless age fear heaven's warnings. He begged the emperor not to make a dancing-girl empress when the altars still lacked an heir. Village wisdom says rotten timber cannot be a ridgepole and a lowborn woman cannot mother the realm. He said every market knew the match was ill-omened while the court stayed silent. He said his clan tie obliged him to speak even at the cost of his life." Chengdi jailed him in the harem's secret jail without telling the ministers why.
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於是中朝左將軍辛慶忌、右將軍廉褒、光祿勳師丹、太中大夫谷永俱上書曰：「臣聞明王垂寬容之聽，崇諫爭之官，廣開忠直之路，不罪狂狷之言，然後百僚在位，竭忠盡謀，不懼後患，朝廷無諂諛之士，元首無失道之愆。 竊見諫大夫劉輔，前以縣令求見，擢為諫大夫，此其言必有卓詭切至，當聖心者，故得拔至於此。 旬日之間，收下秘獄，臣等愚，以為輔幸得托公族之親，在諫臣之列，新從下土來，未知朝廷體，獨觸忌諱，不足深過。 小罪宜隱忍而已，如有大惡，宜暴治理官，與眾共之。 昔趙簡子殺其大夫鳴犢，孔子臨河而還。 今天心未豫，災異屢降，水旱迭臻，方當隆寬廣問，褒直盡下之時也。 而行慘急之誅於諫爭之臣，震驚群下，失忠直心。 假令輔不坐直言，所坐不著，天下不可戶曉。 同姓近臣本以言顯，其於治親養忠之義誠不宜幽囚於掖庭獄。 公卿以下見陛下進用輔亟，而折傷之暴，人有懼心，精銳銷耎，莫敢盡節正言，非所以昭有虞之聽，廣德美之風也。 臣等竊深傷之，唯陛下留神省察。」
Four senior ministers wrote that wise rulers welcome blunt counsel and never jail remonstrants. They said Liu Fu must have touched a nerve to rise so fast from county magistrate. They pleaded ignorance of court taboo for a newcomer from the provinces. Small slips deserved patience; capital crimes deserved a public trial. They cited Confucius turning back from the Yellow River when Zhao Jianzi killed his worthy. With omens piling up, they said, the throne should widen its ear, not narrow it. Jailing a remonstrant would terrify every honest voice in the empire. If the charge were murky, rumor would poison trust from gate to gate. A royal remonstrant should not rot in a harem lockup. They warned that silencing Liu Fu would teach every official to hold his tongue. They begged the emperor to reconsider."
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上乃徙系輔共工獄，減死罪一等，論為鬼薪。 終於家。
Chengdi shifted him to a lesser jail and commuted the sentence to convict logging. He finished his life in private.
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鄭崇字子游，本高密大族，世與王家相嫁娶。 祖父以訾徙平陵。 父賓明法令，為御史，事貢公，名公直。 崇少為郡文學史，至丞相大車屬。 弟立與高武侯傅喜同門學，相友善。 喜為大司馬，薦崇，哀帝擢為尚書僕射。 數求見諫爭，上初納用之。 每見曳革履，上笑曰：「我識鄭尚書履聲。」
Zheng Chong of Gaomi was tied by marriage to the Wang clan for generations. His grandfather bought resettlement at Pingling. His father served Gong Yu as a clerk famed for straight dealing. He rose from literary clerk to the chancellor's carriage office. His brother Zheng Li was schoolmates with Fu Xi. Fu Xi's grand marshalship lifted Zheng Chong to vice president of the secretariat under Ai. At first Ai listened to his blunt visits. The emperor joked that he could pick Zheng's tread out of any corridor.
19
久之，上欲封祖母傅太后從弟商，崇諫曰：「孝成皇帝封親舅五侯，天為赤黃晝昏，日中有黑氣。 今祖母從昆弟二人已侯。 孔鄉侯，皇后父； 高武侯以三公封，尚有因緣。 今無故欲復封商，壞亂制度，逆天人之心，非傅氏之福也。 臣聞師曰：『逆陽者厥極弱，逆陰者厥極凶短折，犯人者有亂亡之患，犯神者有疾夭之禍。』 故周公著戒曰：『惟王不知艱難，唯耽樂是從，時亦罔有克壽。』 故衰世之君夭折蚤沒，此皆犯陰之害也。 臣願以身命當國咎。」 崇因持詔書案起。 傅太后大怒曰：「何有為天子乃反為一臣所顓制邪！」 上遂下詔曰：「朕幼而孤，皇太太后躬自養育，免於襁褓，教道以禮，至於成人，惠澤茂焉。 『欲報之德，昊天罔極。』 前追號皇太太后父為崇祖侯，惟念德報未殊，朕甚恧焉。 侍中光祿大夫商，皇太太后父同產子，小自保大，恩義最親。 其封商為汝昌侯，為崇祖侯後，更號崇祖侯為汝昌哀侯。」
He cited Chengdi's five uncle marquis enfeoffments and the sun turning black. Two Fu cousins already held marquisates. One was the Zhao empress's father— —the other had risen through the three dukes and still looked defensible. A third Fu marquis with no excuse would break precedent and anger heaven, he said. He quoted masters on the price of reversing yin and yang. He quoted Zhou's warning against pleasure-drunk kings. He said short-lived emperors paid for yin excess. He offered his own life to cancel the omen." He snatched the edict scroll and stood up in open defiance. Grand Dowager Fu screamed that a minister must not own the emperor. Ai's edict rehearsed how the Fu grand empress had raised him from infancy. He quoted the Odes on boundless debt to a parent. He said earlier honors to the Fu line still felt inadequate. Fu Shang was the grand empress's half-brother and the nearest kin left. The edict enfeoffed Fu Shang at Ruchang and rewrote the older shrine title."
20
崇又以董賢貴寵過度諫，由是重得罪。 數以職事見責，發疾頸癰，欲乞骸骨，不敢。 尚書令趙昌佞諂，素害崇，知其見疏，因奏崇與宗族通，疑有奸，請治。 上責崇曰：「君門如市人，何以欲禁切主上？」 崇對曰：「臣門如市，臣心如水，願得考覆。」 上怒，下崇獄，窮治，死獄中。
He crossed the emperor again over Dong Xian's favor and paid for it. Office politics gave him a neck ulcer; he dared not ask to retire. Zhao Chang struck when Zheng was out of favor, alleging clan conspiracy. The emperor sneered that his doorway looked like a bazaar. Zheng answered, "The gate is busy; the heart is still as water—investigate me." Ai jailed him until he died under interrogation.
21
孫寶字子嚴，穎川鄢陵人也，以明經為郡吏。 御史大夫張忠辟寶為屬，欲令授子經，更為除捨，設儲偫。 寶自劾去，忠固還之，心內不平。 後署寶主簿，寶徙入捨，祭灶請比鄰。 忠陰察，怪之，使所親問寶：「前大夫為君設除大捨，子自劾去者，欲為高節也。 今兩府高士俗不為主簿，子既為之，徙捨甚說，何前後不相副也？」 寶曰：「高士不為主簿，而大夫君以寶為可，一府莫言非，士安得獨自高？ 前日君男欲學文，而移寶自近。 禮有來學，義無往教； 道不可詘，身詘何傷？ 且不遭者可無不為，況主簿乎！」 忠聞之，甚慚，上書薦寶經明質直，宜備近臣。 為議郎，遷諫大夫。
Sun Bao of Yingchuan entered service through the classics. Zhang Zhong wanted him to tutor his son and built him a private lodging. Sun Bao resigned on principle; Zhang Zhong recalled him but nursed a grudge. Sun Bao took the chief-clerk post, sacrificed to the kitchen god, and invited the neighbors in. Zhang Zhong sent a spy to ask why he first refused the grand lodging. The question noted that highborn men usually scorn chief clerk—yet Sun Bao now seemed happy in the job. Sun Bao replied that if the chancellor trusted him, pride was vanity. The son had wanted tutoring, so the move served the boy. Ritual says pupils come to the teacher, not the reverse— —and the Way does not bend for convenience. Besides, he said, a chief clerk was hardly beneath him." Zhang Zhong apologized with a recommendation to the court. He rose to deliberation gentleman, then remonstrant.
22
鴻嘉中，廣漢群盜起，選為益州刺史。 廣漢太守扈商者，大司馬車騎將軍王音姊子，軟弱不任職。 寶到部，親入山谷，諭告群盜，非本造意。 渠率皆得悔過自出，遣歸田裡。 自劾矯制，奏商為亂首，《春秋》之義，誅首惡而已。 商亦奏寶所縱或有渠率當坐者。 商徵下獄，寶坐失死罪免。 益州吏民多陳寶功效，言為車騎將軍所排。 上復拜寶為冀州刺史，遷丞相司直。
Hongjia banditry won him the Yi Province governorship. The Guanghan governor was Wang Yin's weak nephew Hu Shang. Sun Bao hiked into the hills and told bands they had been misled. Chieftains surrendered and he sent them back to their farms. He confessed to bending an edict while asking that Hu Shang bear the blame as ringleader. Hu Shang struck back, claiming some freed men deserved death. Hu Shang went to jail; Sun Bao fell for sparing capital offenders. Yi locals petitioned that Wang Yin had railroaded him. The court recalled him to Ji Province, then to the chancellor's inspectorate.
23
徵為京兆尹。 故吏侯文以剛直不苟合，常稱疾不肯仕，寶以恩禮請文，欲為布衣友，日設酒食，妻子相對。 文求受署為掾，進見如賓禮。 數月，以立秋日署文東部督郵。 入見，敕曰：「今日鷹隼始擊，當順天氣取奸惡，以成嚴霜之誅，掾部渠有其人乎？」 文卬曰：「無其人不敢空受職。」 寶曰：「誰也？」 文曰：「霸陵杜稚季。」 寶曰：「其次？」 文曰：「豺狼橫道，不宜復問狐狸。」 寶默然。 稚季者大俠，與衛尉淳于長、大鴻臚蕭育等皆厚善。 寶前失車騎將軍，與紅陽侯有隙，自恐見危，時淳于長方貴幸，友寶，寶亦欲附之，始視事而長以稚季托寶，故寶窮，無以復應文。 文怪寶氣索，知其有故，因曰：「明府素著威名，今下敢取稚季，當且闔閣，勿有所問。 如此竟歲，吏民未敢誣明府也。 即度稚季而譴它事，眾口言雚嘩，終身自墮。」 寶曰：「受教。」 稚季耳目長，聞知之，杜門不通水火，穿捨後牆為小戶，但持鋤自治園，因文所厚自陳如此。 文曰：「我與稚季幸同土壤，素無睚眥，顧受將命，分當相直。 誠能自改，嚴將不治前事，即不更心，但更門戶，適趣禍耳。」 稚季遂不敢犯法，寶亦竟歲無所譴。 明年，稚季病死。 寶為京兆尹三歲，京師稱之。 會淳于長敗，寶與蕭育等皆坐免官。 文復去吏，死於家。 稚季子杜蒼，字君敖，名出稚季右，在遊俠中。
Next he took the capital governorship. He courted his old clerk Hou Wen with feasts and treated him as an equal. Hou Wen accepted a clerkship and got guest-of-honor treatment. On Beginning of Autumn he named Hou Wen eastern circuit inspector. Sun Bao asked whether his district held a villain fit for autumn justice. Hou Wen said he would not take an empty commission. "Whom do you mean?" asked Sun Bao. "Du Zhiji of Baling," said Hou Wen. "Who else?" asked Sun Bao. "When wolves sit the road," Hou Wen said, "you do not hunt foxes." Sun Bao said nothing. Du Zhiji was tied to Chunyu Zhang and Xiao Yu. Sun Bao feared Hongyang and needed Chunyu Zhang—who had just asked him to spare Du Zhiji—so he could not touch Hou Wen's target. Hou Wen offered a face-saving out: ignore Du for a year and no one would call the governor a coward. A quiet year would restore the governor's name. Move on other cases only after Du fell, he warned, or the city would howl Sun Bao down." Sun Bao said, "Understood." Du Zhiji walled himself in, bored a postern, and hoed his garden until Hou Wen vouched for him. Hou Wen said he bore Du no malice but had orders. Reform would win mercy; hiding would bring worse trouble." Du kept clean; Sun Bao brought no case that year. Du Zhiji died the next winter. Three years in the capital won praise. Chunyu Zhang's fall swept Sun Bao and Xiao Yu out with him. Hou Wen went home and died. Du Cang eclipsed his father's fame in the bravo lists.
24
哀帝即位，徵寶為諫大夫，遷司隸。 初，傅太后與中山孝王母馮太后俱事元帝，有隙，傅太后使有司考馮太后，令自殺，眾庶冤之。 寶奏請覆治，傅太后大怒，曰：「帝置司隸，主使察我。 馮氏反事明白，故欲□觖以揚我惡。 我當坐之。」 上乃順指下寶獄。 尚書僕射唐林爭之，上以林朋黨比周，左遷敦煌魚澤障候。 大司馬傅喜、光祿大夫龔勝固爭，上為言太后，出寶復官。
Ai recalled him to censor, then metropolitan governor. Fu's faction had forced Lady Feng of Zhongshan to suicide; opinion called it a frame. Sun Bao asked to reopen the case; Grand Dowager Fu said the censor was spying on her. She said the Feng case was closed and Sun Bao only meant to smear her. "I will try him myself," she said. Ai folded and jailed Sun Bao. Tang Lin defended Sun Bao and was demoted to a desert outpost. Fu Xi and Gong Sheng forced a compromise through the empress dowager.
25
頃之，鄭崇下獄，寶上書曰：「臣聞疏不圖親，外不慮內。 臣幸得銜命奉使，職在刺舉，不敢避貴幸之勢，以塞視聽之明。 按尚書令昌奏僕射崇，下獄復治，榜掠將死，卒無一辭，道路稱冤。 疑昌與崇內有纖介，浸潤相陷，自禁門內樞機近臣，蒙受冤譖，虧損國家，為謗不小。 臣請治昌，以解眾心。」 書奏，天子不說，以寶名臣不忍誅，乃制詔丞相、大司空：「司隸寶奏故尚書僕射崇冤，請獄治尚書令昌。 案崇近臣，罪惡暴著，而寶懷邪，附下罔上，以春月作詆欺，遂其奸心，蓋國之賊也。 傳不雲乎？ 『惡利口之覆國家。』 其免寶為庶人。」
When Zheng Chong fell, Sun Bao wrote that outsiders should not judge inner-palace kin. He said a censor must not flinch from favorites. He described Zheng Chong's silent endurance under the rod. He accused Zhao Chang of dripping malice against a palace officer. He asked to put Zhao Chang on trial." The emperor told the chancellor that Sun Bao had demanded Zhao Chang's arrest for framing Zheng Chong. The rescript called Sun Bao a state-thief for springtime slander. The tradition asks whether glib speakers do not ruin states. The line condemns the clever mouth that pulls a dynasty down. Strip Sun Bao to commoner rank."
26
哀帝崩，王莽白王太后徵寶以為光祿大夫，與王舜等俱迎中山王。 平帝立，寶為大司農。 會越巂郡上黃龍游江中，太師孔光、大司徒馬宮等咸稱莽功德比周公，宜告祠宗廟。 寶曰：「周公上聖，召公大賢，尚猶有不相說，著於經典，兩不相損。 今風雨未時，百姓不足，每有一事，群臣同聲，得無非其美者。」 時，大臣皆失色，侍中奉車都尉甄邯即時承製罷議者。 會寶遣吏迎母，母道病，留弟家，獨遣妻子。 司直陳崇以奏寶，事下三公即訊。 寶對曰：「年七十悖眊，恩衰共養，營妻子，如章。」 寶坐免，終於家。 建武中，錄舊德臣，以寶孫伉為諸長。
Wang Mang recalled him to greet the boy emperor. Under Pingdi he ran the granaries as grand minister of agriculture. A yellow-dragon omen set ministers praising Wang Mang as another Duke of Zhou. Sun Bao said Zhou and Shao had quarreled without ruining the state. He asked whether unanimous praise while the people starved was truly a good sign." The court froze; Zhen Han cut off debate under edict. He sent men for his mother but she stayed ill at his brother's while only his wife and children traveled. Chen Chong impeached the arrangement; the three dukes held a hearing. Sun Bao pleaded age and family duty as his excuse. He took dismissal and died at home. Later Guangwudi honored the family with a post for his grandson Kang.
27
毌將隆
Wujiang Long.
28
毌將隆字君房，東海蘭陵人也。 大司馬車騎將軍王音內領尚書，外典兵馬，踵故選置從事中郎與參謀議，奏請隆為從事中郎，遷諫大夫。 成帝末，隆奏封事言：「古老選諸侯入為公卿，以褒功德，宜徵定陶王使在國邸，以填萬方。」 其後上竟立定陶王為太子，隆遷翼州牧、穎川太守。 哀帝即位，以高第入為京兆尹，遷執金吾。
Wujiang Long, styled Junfang, came from Lanling in the Eastern Sea. Wang Yin staffed his headquarters and pulled Long up to remonstrant. He urged Chengdi to bring the King of Dingtao to the capital as heir apparent material. Chengdi did adopt the Dingtao prince; Long won Ji Province and Yingchuan. Ai made him metropolitan governor, then Bearer of the Mace.
29
時，侍中董賢方貴，上使中黃門發武庫兵，前後十輩，送董賢及上乳母王阿捨。 隆奏曰：「武庫兵器，天下公用，國家武備，繕治造作，皆度大司農錢。 大司農錢自乘輿不以給共養，共養勞賜，一出少府。 蓋不以本臧給末用，不以民力共浮費，別公私，示正路也。 古者諸侯方伯得顓征伐，乃賜斧鉞，漢家邊吏，職在距寇，亦賜武庫兵，皆任其事然後蒙之。 《春秋》之誼，家不臧甲，所以抑臣威，損私力也。 今賢等便僻弄臣，私恩微妾，而以天下公用給其私門，契國威器共其家備。 民力分於弄臣，武兵設於微妾，建立非宜，以廣驕僭，非所以示四方也。 孔子曰：『奚取於三家之堂！』 臣請收還武庫。」 上不說。
Eunuchs hauled ten wagonloads of arsenal weapons to Dong Xian and the nurse Wang. Wujiang Long protested that ordnance belongs to the state treasury. The privy purse feeds the harem, not the granary budget. Keeping granary coin off petty spending was how Han drew the line between palace and state. He traced how axes and arsenal issues were tied to real military duty. The Spring and Autumn canon forbade private armor to clip ministerial muscle. He said giving state arms to Dong Xian and a nurse turned public gear into private toys. He warned that arming playthings would teach the realm contempt. He quoted Confucius on the three Huan arsenals. He asked the throne to recall every blade." The emperor sulked.
30
頃之，傅太后使謁者買諸官婢，賤取之，復取執金吾官婢八人。 隆奏言賈賤，請更平直。 上於是制詔丞相、御史大夫：「交讓之禮興，則虞、芮之訟息。 隆位九卿，既無以匡朝廷之不逮，而反奏請與永信宮爭貴賤之賈，程奏顯言，眾莫不聞。 舉錯不由誼理，爭求之名自此始，無以示百僚，傷化失俗。」 以隆前有安國之言，左遷為沛郡都尉，遷南郡太守。
Grand Dowager Fu's buyers underpaid palace women and skimmed Bearer of the Mace maids. Wujiang Long demanded fair prices for the sales. The rescript opened with a lecture on yielding like Yu and Rui. It scolded him for haggling with the Fu palace over slave prices. The edict called the quarrel vulgar and demoralizing." He was busted to Pei, then sent south, for having once spoken well of the state.
31
王莽少時，慕與隆交，隆不甚附。 哀帝崩，莽秉政，使大司徒孔光奏隆前為冀州牧治中山馮太后獄冤陷無辜，不宜處位在中土。 本中謁者令史立、侍御史丁玄自典考之，但與隆連名奏事。 史立時為中太僕，丁玄奏山太守，及尚書令趙昌譖鄭崇者為河內太守，皆免官，徙合浦。
Young Wang Mang courted him; Long kept his distance. Mang used the old Lady Feng inquest to exile Long from the heartland. Shi Li and Ding Xuan had run the trial; Long had only cosigned. Mang cashiered Shi Li, Ding Xuan, and Zhao Chang to Hepu.
32
何併字子廉，祖父以吏二千石自平輿徙平陵。 併為郡吏，至大司空掾，事何武。 武高其志節，舉能治劇，為長陵令，道不拾遺。
He Bing's grandfather relocated to Pingling on a clerk's salary. He rose to staff under Grand Minister of Works He Wu. He Wu sent him to tough Changling, where honesty ran so high that lost goods stayed put.
33
初，邛成太后外家王氏貴，而侍中王林卿通輕俠，傾京師。 後坐法免，賓客愈盛，歸長陵上塚，因留飲連日。 並恐其犯法，自造門上謁，謂林卿曰：「塚間單外，君宜以時歸。」 林卿曰：「諾。」 先是，林卿殺婢婿埋塚捨，併具知之，以非己時，又見其新免。 故不發舉，欲無令留界中而已，即且遣吏奉謁傳送。 林卿素驕，慚於賓客，並度其為變，儲兵馬以待之。 林卿既去，北度涇橋，令騎奴還至寺門，拔刀剝其建鼓。 併自從吏兵追林卿。 行數十里，林卿迫窘，及令奴冠其冠被其襜褕自代，乘車從童騎，身變服從間徑馳去。 會日暮追及，收縛冠奴，奴曰：「我非侍中，奴耳。」 併自知已失林卿，乃曰：「王君困，自稱奴，得脫死邪？」 叱吏斷頭持還，縣所剝鼓置都亭下，署曰； 「故侍中王林卿坐殺人埋塚捨，使奴剝寺門鼓。」 吏民驚駭。 林卿因亡命，眾庶言雚嘩，以為實死。 成帝太后以邛成太后愛林卿故，聞之涕泣，為言哀帝。 哀帝問狀而善之，遷併攏西太守。
Wang Linqing of the empress's clan ran with swordsmen and owned the city. Stripped of office, he threw bigger parties at the family tombs. He Bing warned Wang to leave the lonely graveyard before trouble came. "Very well," said Wang Linqing. He knew Wang had buried a body at the tomb but held his peace while Wang was newly disgraced. He nudged Wang out of the county with polite escorts instead of an arrest. He guessed Wang's pride would spark violence and readied troops. Wang's slave peeled the county drum at the gate as a taunt. He Bing led the chase himself. Wang dressed a slave as himself and slipped away in disguise. At dusk they caught the decoy, who shouted that he was only a slave. He Bing sneered that a gentleman calling himself a slave still owed the law a head. He took the slave's head and nailed a notice beside the ruined drum— —accusing Wang Linqing of murder and drum-stripping. The county gaped at the spectacle. Wang fled; rumor mistook the slave's head for his own. Chengdi's mother wept to Ai for Wang Linqing. Ai approved the sting and moved He Bing to Longxi.
34
徙穎川太守，代陵陽嚴詡。 詡本以孝行為官，謂掾史為師友，有過輒閉閣自責，終不大言。 郡中亂，王莽遣使徵詡，官屬數百人為設祖道，詡據地哭。 掾史曰：「明府吉徵，不宜若此。」 詡曰：「吾哀穎川士，身豈有憂哉！ 我以柔弱徵，必選剛猛代。 代到，將有僵仆者，故相吊耳。」 詡至，拜為美俗使者。 是時，穎川鐘元為尚書令，領廷尉，用事有權。 弟威為郡掾，臧千金。 併為太守，過辭鐘廷尉，廷尉免冠為弟請一等之罪，願蚤就髡鉗。 併曰：「罪在弟身與君律，不在於太守。」 元懼，馳遣人呼弟。 陽翟輕俠趙季、李款多畜賓客，以氣力漁食閭里，至奸人婦女，持吏長短，從橫郡中，聞並且至，皆亡去。 併下車求勇猛曉文法吏且十人，使文吏治三人獄，武吏往捕之，各有所部。 敕曰：「三人非負太守，乃負王法，不得不治。 鐘威所犯多在赦前，驅使入函谷關，勿令污民間； 不入關，乃收之。 趙、李桀惡，雖遠去，當得其頭，以謝百姓。」 鐘威負其兄，止雒陽，吏格殺之。 亦得趙、李它郡，持頭還，併皆懸頭及其具獄於市。 郡中清靜，表善好士，見紀穎川，名次黃霸。 性清廉，妻子不至官舍。 數年，卒。 疾病，召丞掾作先令書，曰：「告子恢，吾生素餐日久，死雖當得法賻，勿受。 葬為小槨，但容下棺。」 恢如父言。 王莽擢恢為關都尉。 建武中以併孫為郎。
He took Yingchuan from the mild magistrate Yan Xu. Yan Xu ruled by shame and silence. When Mang recalled Yan Xu, hundreds of clerks wept at his leaving. They said a promotion merited joy, not tears. Yan Xu said he wept for the people, not himself— —because a soft governor meant a hard replacement. Men would die when the new man arrived, he said." Yan Xu was made a roving "fine customs" commissioner. Zhong Yuan ran the secretariat and the courts together. Brother Zhong Wei had skimmed a thousand gold as a clerk. Zhong Yuan begged bareheaded for his brother. He Bing said the law bound the brother, not the governor's mercy. Zhong Yuan panicked and sent for Wei. Zhao Ji and Li Kuan fled when they heard He Bing was coming. He drafted three dockets and sent civil and military clerks after each target. His order said the law, not the governor, demanded blood. Zhong Wei should be pushed through Hangu Pass if most counts predated the amnesty— —otherwise arrest him locally. Bring back Zhao and Li's heads for the market, he said." Zhong Wei stalled at Luoyang and died under the clerk's blade. Zhao and Li died abroad; He Bing spiked their heads with the indictments. Yingchuan ranked him beside Huang Ba. His family never moved into the yamen. He died in office a few years later. He told his son to refuse the state burial grant. He ordered a plain box just wide enough for the inner shell." His son obeyed. Mang made the son a frontier colonel. Later Guangwudi honored a grandson with a gentleman appointment.