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卷八十二王商史丹傅喜傳第五十二
Volume 82: Biographies of Wang Shang, Shi Dan, and Fu Xi (the fifty-second chapter).
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王商字子威，涿郡蠡吾人也，徙杜陵。 商公武、武兄無故，皆以宣帝舅封。 無故為平昌侯，武為樂昌侯。 語在《外戚傳》。
Wang Shang, whose courtesy name was Ziwei, came from Liwu in Zhuo Commandery; the household later relocated to Duling. Wang Shang's father was Wang Wu, and Wu's elder brother Wang Wugu; both received marquisates as maternal uncles of Emperor Xuan. Wugu was made Marquis of Pingchang, while Wu became Marquis of Lechang. The fuller story appears in the chapter on the imperial in-laws.
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元帝崩，成帝即位，甚敬重商，徙為左將軍。 而帝元舅大司馬大將軍王鳳顓權，行多驕僭。 商論議不能平鳳，鳳知之，亦疏商。 建始三年秋，京師民無故相驚，言大水至，百姓奔走相蹂躪、老弱號呼，長安中大亂。 天子親御前殿，召公卿議。 大將軍鳳以為太后與上及後宮可御船，令吏民上長安城以避水。 群臣皆從鳳議。 左將軍商獨曰：「自古無道之國，水猶不冒城郭。 今政治和平，世無兵革，上下相安，何因當有大水一日暴至？ 此必訛言也，不宜令上城，重驚百姓。」 上乃止。 有頃，長安中稍定，問之，果訛言。 上於是美壯商之固守，數稱其議。 而鳳大慚，自恨失言。
After Emperor Yuan died and Emperor Cheng took the throne, the new sovereign held Wang Shang in high regard and appointed him General of the Left. Meanwhile Wang Feng, the emperor's senior maternal uncle, served as grand marshal and grand general and dominated the government, and his behavior was frequently overbearing and out of line. Wang Shang could never win a policy argument against Wang Feng; Feng noticed the tension and grew cold toward him. In the autumn of Jianshi 3, rumor swept the capital that a catastrophic flood was imminent; people panicked, stampeded, and trampled one another while the elderly and children wailed, and Chang'an descended into chaos. The emperor went in person to the front hall and called the high ministers into council. Wang Feng proposed putting the empress dowager, the emperor, and the harem aboard boats and ordering officials and townsfolk onto the ramparts of Chang'an to ride out the supposed flood. The entire court fell in behind Wang Feng's plan. Only General of the Left Wang Shang objected: 'Even under the worst rulers in history, rivers have not simply swallowed whole capitals overnight.' We live in a time of peace, without war, and ruler and ruled are secure together; what could cause a deluge to strike the capital in an instant? This is surely a groundless scare. Ordering everyone onto the walls would only panic the populace again.' The emperor dropped the idea. Before long calm returned to Chang'an, and inquiries confirmed that the alarm had been nothing but rumor. The emperor then admired Wang Shang's steadiness under pressure and repeatedly commended his counsel. Wang Feng was deeply embarrassed and bitterly regretted his rash words.
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明年，商代匡衡為丞相，益封千戶，天子甚尊任之。 為人多質有威重，長八尺餘，身體鴻大，容貌甚過絕人。 河平四年，單于來朝，引見白虎殿。 丞相商坐未央廷中，單于前，拜謁商。 商起，離席與言，單于仰視商貌，大畏之，遷延卻退。 天子聞而歎曰：「此真漢相矣！」
The following year Wang Shang succeeded Kuang Heng as chancellor, received an additional thousand-household grant to his estate, and enjoyed the emperor's full confidence. He was plainspoken yet imposing—well over eight feet tall, with a massive frame and a face that towered above ordinary men. In Heping 4 the Xiongnu chanyu paid a formal visit, and the court received him in the White Tiger Hall. Chancellor Wang Shang took his seat in the Weiyang Palace court; the chanyu stepped forward and performed obeisance to him. Wang Shang stood, stepped from his place, and addressed him; when the chanyu lifted his eyes to Wang Shang's towering figure, he shrank back in awe and edged away. When the emperor heard of it, he exclaimed, 'There speaks a true chancellor of Han!'
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初，大將軍鳳連昏楊肜為琅邪太守，其郡有災害十四，已上。 商部屬按問，鳳以曉商曰：「災異天事，非人力所為。 肜素善吏，宜以為後。」 商不聽，竟奏免肜，奏果寢不下，鳳重以是怨商，陰求其短，使人上書言商閨門內事。 天子以為暗昧之過，不足以傷大臣，鳳固爭，下其事司隸。
Wang Feng had earlier married into the family of Yang Rong and installed him as governor of Langye, where more than a dozen calamities went unaddressed. Wang Shang ordered his staff to look into the matter. Wang Feng sent word: 'Portents come from Heaven; no mortal official controls them.' Yang Rong has always been capable in office; you ought to go easy on him.' Wang Shang ignored the hint, memorialized for Yang Rong's removal, and saw the document shelved. Wang Feng's resentment deepened; he began hunting for dirt and had someone memorialize about scandal inside Wang Shang's household. The emperor treated the charges as private indiscretions unworthy of ruining a senior minister, but Wang Feng pressed the case until the matter was referred to the metropolitan superintendent.
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先是，皇太后嘗詔問商女，欲以備後宮。 時女病，商意亦難之，以病對，不入。 及商以閨門事見考，自知為鳳所中，惶怖，更欲內女為援，乃因新幸李婕妤家白見其女。
Earlier the empress dowager had formally inquired after Wang Shang's daughter with an eye to admitting her to the harem. The girl happened to be ill, and Wang Shang himself was reluctant; he pleaded sickness, and she never entered the palace. Once Wang Shang faced investigation over domestic scandal, he realized Wang Feng had set him up. In panic he tried to push his daughter into the palace as a counterweight and used the household of the newly favored Lady Li to present her.
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於是左將軍丹等奏：「商位三公，爵列侯，親受詔策為天下師，不遵法度以翼國家，而回辟下媚以進其私，執左道以亂政，為臣不忠，罔上不道，《甫刑》之辟，皆為上戮，罪名明白。 臣請詔謁者召商詣若盧詔獄。」 上素重商，知匡言多險，制曰「勿治」。 鳳固爭之，於是制詔御史：「蓋丞相以德輔翼國家，典領百寮，協和萬國，為職任莫重焉。 今樂昌侯商為丞相，出入五年，未聞忠言嘉謀，而有不忠執左道之辜，陷於大辟。 前商女弟內行不修，奴賊殺人，疑商教使，為商重臣，故抑而不窮。 今或言商不以自悔而反怨懟，朕甚傷之。 惟商與先帝有外親，未忍致於理。 其赦商罪。 使者收丞相印綬。」
General of the Left Shi Dan and his colleagues then memorialized: 'Wang Shang ranks among the Three Excellencies and holds a marquisate; he was personally commissioned to guide the realm. Instead of upholding the law to support the state, he courts favor below and pursues private ends, peddling heterodox practices that corrupt government. Such disloyalty and deceit of the throne violate the standards of the Fu Xing and merit execution; his offenses are plain.' We ask that Your Majesty order the court usher to take Wang Shang into custody at the Rolu imperial prison.' The emperor had long respected Wang Shang and recognized Zhang Kuang's memorial for the vicious attack it was, so he ruled, 'Take no further action.' Wang Feng would not let the matter drop, and the emperor had to issue an edict to the censor-in-chief: 'The chancellor exists to support the dynasty with moral authority, to head the bureaucracy, and to keep the realm in harmony—no burden is weightier.' Yet in five years as chancellor, Lechang Marquis Wang Shang has offered no loyal counsel worthy of the name, while the charge of disloyalty and heterodox conduct would carry the death penalty.' Earlier his younger sister's private conduct was scandalous: a household slave committed murder, and some suspected Wang Shang ordered it. Because he was a pillar of the court, I suppressed the case and did not press to the bottom.' Now I am told he shows no remorse but nurses grievance instead. That wounds me deeply.' Yet Wang Shang is tied to the late emperor by marriage, and I cannot bring myself to subject him to full criminal process.' I therefore pardon his offenses.' Envoys shall relieve him of the chancellor's seal and sash.'
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商死後，連年日蝕、地震，直臣京兆尹王章上封事召開，訟商忠直無罪，言鳳顓權蔽主。 鳳竟以法誅章，語在《元後傳》。 至元始中，王莽為安漢公，誅不附己者，樂昌侯安見被以罪，自殺，國除。
After Wang Shang's death, solar eclipses and earthquakes followed year on year. Wang Zhang, the principled governor of the capital, filed a sealed memorial; when the emperor opened the matter, Zhang argued that Wang Shang had been loyal and blameless and that Wang Feng had monopolized power and blinded the throne. Wang Feng eventually had Wang Zhang executed on a legal pretext; the story is told in the biography of Empress Dowager Yuan. In the Yuanshi years Wang Mang, as Duke of Anhan, purged everyone who would not bend to him. Lechang Marquis Wang An was framed, took his own life, and his marquisate was extinguished.
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自元帝為太子時，丹以父高任為中庶子，侍從十餘年。 元帝即位，為駙馬都尉侍中，出常驂乘，甚有寵。 上以丹舊臣，皇考外屬，親信之，詔丹護太子家。 是時，傅昭儀子定陶共王有材藝，子母俱愛幸，而太子頗有酒色之失，母王皇后無寵。
While Yuan was still crown prince, Shi Dan secured a junior tutor's post through his father's rank and attended the heir for more than a decade. When Yuan took the throne, Shi Dan became chief commandant of the consort cavalry and palace attendant, routinely rode beside the emperor in the side car, and basked in imperial favor. The emperor treated Shi Dan as a veteran of his father's household and a maternal relative, kept him close, and ordered him to oversee the crown prince's establishment. At that time Consort Fu's son, Prince Kang of Dingtao, was gifted and accomplished, and mother and son both enjoyed the emperor's affection, whereas the crown prince showed a weakness for wine and women and his mother, Empress Wang, had fallen out of favor.
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丹為人足知，愷弟愛人，貌若儻蕩不備，然心甚謹密，故尤得信於上。 丹兄嗣父爵為侯，讓不受分。 丹盡得父財，身又食大國邑，重以舊恩，數見褒賞，賞賜累千金，僮奴以百數，後房妻妾數十人，內奢淫，好飲酒，極滋味聲色之樂。 為將軍前後十六年，永始中病乞骸骨，上賜策曰：「左將軍寢病不衰，願歸治疾，朕愍以官職之事久留將軍，使躬不瘳。 使光祿勳賜將軍黃金五十斤，安車駟馬，其上將軍印綬。 宜專精神，務近醫藥，以輔不衰。」
Shi Dan was shrewd, warm, and considerate; he looked relaxed and even careless, but he was meticulous by nature, which is why the emperor trusted him above others. His elder brother inherited their father's marquisate; Shi Dan declined any split of the estate. He kept the whole of his father's fortune, drew income from a large fief, and, thanks to long-standing favor, was heaped with honors and gifts worth thousands in gold. He kept hundreds of slaves, dozens of concubines, and lived in private luxury—drinking heavily and indulging every appetite for food, music, and women. He served sixteen years as a general. In the Yongshi period he fell ill and asked to retire. The emperor replied: 'Your illness as General of the Left does not improve, and you wish to go home to heal. I regret that state business has kept you at your post so long that your health has not mended.' Send the superintendent of the imperial household with fifty catties of gold, a comfortable carriage and team of four, and receive your seal and sash as general.' Devote yourself to rest and medical care so that your strength may return.'
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大司空何武、尚書令唐林皆上書言：「喜行義修潔，忠誠憂國，內輔之臣也，今以寢病，一旦遣歸，眾庶失望，皆曰傅氏賢子，以論議不合於定陶太后故退，百寮莫不為國恨之。 忠臣，社稷之衛，魯以季友治亂，楚以子玉輕重，魏以無忌折衝，項以范增存亡。 故楚跨有南土，帶甲百萬，鄰國不以為難，子玉為將，則文公側席而坐，及其死也，君臣相慶。 百萬之眾，不如一賢，故秦行千金以間廉頗，漢散萬金以疏亞父。 喜立於朝，陛下之光輝，傅氏之廢興也。」 上亦自重之。 明年正月，乃徙師丹為大司空，而拜喜為大司馬，封高武侯。
Grand Minister of Works He Wu and Secretary Director Tang Lin jointly wrote: 'Fu Xi is upright, scrupulous, and devoted to the state—exactly the kind of man who should stand at the emperor's side. To dismiss him overnight on grounds of illness will disappoint the empire. People will say the worthy son of the Fu clan was cashiered because he would not trim his opinions to suit the Dowager of Dingtao, and every official will feel the dynasty has wronged itself.' Loyal ministers are what defend the altars of state: Lu rose or fell with Jiyou, Chu with Ziyu, Wei with Lord Xinling, and Xiang Yu with Fan Zeng.' Chu commanded the south with a million armored men, yet its neighbors did not fear it—until Ziyu took command, when Duke Wen of Jin could not sit at ease. The moment Ziyu died, ruler and ministers across the river celebrated.' A million soldiers count for less than one wise counselor—hence Qin spent a thousand in gold to drive a wedge beside Lian Po, and Han poured out ten thousand to estrange Fan Zeng from his lord.' Fu Xi's presence at court is both your majesty's good fortune and the making or breaking of the Fu clan.' The emperor himself still set great store by him. The following first month the emperor moved Shi Dan into the grand minister of works post, appointed Fu Xi grand marshal, and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Gaowu.
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丁、傅驕奢，皆嫉喜之恭儉。 又傅太后欲求稱尊號，與成帝母齊尊，喜與丞相孔光、大司空師丹共執正議。 傅太后大怒，上不得已，先免師丹以感動喜，喜終不順。 後數月，遂策免喜曰：「君輔政出入三年，未有昭然匡朕不逮，而本朝大臣遂其奸心，咎由君焉。 其上大司馬印綬，就第。」 傅太后又自詔丞相、御史曰：「高武侯喜無功而封，內懷不忠，附下罔上，與故大司空丹同心背畔，放命圮族，虧損德化，罪惡雖在赦前，不宜奉朝請，其遣就國。」 後又欲奪喜侯，上亦不聽。
The Ding and Fu factions lived in swaggering luxury and resented Fu Xi's modest restraint. When Grand Empress Dowager Fu demanded a title equal to Emperor Cheng's mother, Fu Xi stood with Chancellor Kong Guang and Grand Minister of Works Shi Dan on the side of precedent. The grand empress dowager raged. Cornered, the emperor first dismissed Shi Dan, hoping to intimidate Fu Xi into yielding; Fu Xi still refused to bend. Months later an edict stripped him of office: 'You have held power for three years without once plainly correcting my shortcomings, while intriguers in this court have had their way. The blame rests with you.' Surrender the grand marshal's seal and sash and retire to your estate.' Grand Empress Dowager Fu then issued her own order to the chancellor and censor: 'Marquis of Gaowu Fu Xi received a fief without merit. In his heart he is disloyal: he panders to factions below while misleading the throne, and he conspired with the former grand minister of works Shi Dan in mutinous defiance. Such conduct tears down the moral order. Even though his offenses predate the last amnesty, he must not continue at court; send him back to his fief.' She later tried to strip him of his title as well, but the emperor would not allow it.
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喜在國三歲余，哀帝崩，平帝即位，王莽用事，免傅氏宮爵歸故郡，晏將妻子徙合浦。 莽白太后下詔曰：「高武侯喜姿性端愨，論議忠直。 雖與故定陶太后有屬，終不順指從邪，介然守節，以故斥逐就國。 傳不雲乎？ 『歲寒然後知松伯之後凋也』。 其還喜長安，以故高安侯莫府賜喜，位特進，奉朝請。」 喜雖外見褒賞，孤立憂懼，後復遣就國，以壽終。 莽賜謚曰貞侯。 子嗣，莽敗乃絕。
Fu Xi spent three years in his fief. After Emperor Ai died and the child Emperor Ping ascended, Wang Mang took charge, stripped the Fu clan of their titles, and sent them home; Ding Yan removed his family to Hepu on the southern coast. Wang Mang persuaded the empress dowager to issue an edict: 'Marquis of Gaowu Fu Xi is sober, steady, and outspoken in loyalty.' Though related to the late Dowager of Dingtao, he never truckled to her whims; he held his integrity and was banished to his fief for it.' Has not the classic said,' Only when the year turns bitter do we see which pines and cypresses keep their green last'?" Recall Fu Xi to Chang'an, grant him the former Gao'an Marquis's headquarters as a residence, advance him to specially advanced rank, and permit him to attend scheduled audiences.' Outwardly honored, Fu Xi lived in isolation and dread, was sent back to his fief a second time, and died there in old age. Wang Mang gave him the posthumous title Marquis of Integrity. His son inherited the line, which ended when Wang Mang fell.
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贊曰：自宜、元、成、哀外戚興者，許、史、三王、丁、傅之家，皆重侯累將，窮貴極富，見其位矣，未見其人也。 陽平之王多有材能，好事慕名，其勢尤盛，曠貴最久。 然至於莽，亦以覆國。 王商有剛毅節，廢黜以憂死，非其罪也。 史丹父子相繼，高以重厚，位至三公。 丹之輔道副主，掩惡揚美，傅會善意，雖宿儒達士無以加焉。 及其歷房闥，入臥內，推至誠，犯顏色，動寤萬乘，轉移大謀，卒成太子，安母后之位。 「無言不讎」，終獲忠貞之報。 傅喜守節不傾，亦蒙後凋之賞。 哀、平際會，禍福速哉！
The historian's judgment: From the reigns of Yi through Ai, the consort clans—the Xu, the Shi, the three Wang lines, the Ding, and the Fu—stacked marquisates and generalships until they towered in wealth and rank; you could see their offices, rarely the men who deserved them. The Yangping Wangs were unusually able, ambitious, and conspicuous; no other kin clan held such power for so long. Yet it was that same house that produced Wang Mang and overturned the dynasty. Wang Shang was a man of iron principle; driven from office, he died of grief for a fault that was not his own. Shi Gao and his son Shi Dan followed each other into high office; the father was famed for his sober reliability, and both rose to the Three Excellencies. In guiding the heir he glossed over faults, magnified virtues, and put the best face on the prince's intentions—skills no veteran scholar could have surpassed. When he crossed into the inner apartments, spoke with blunt sincerity, and risked the emperor's anger, he swayed a decision that touched the throne itself, secured the succession for the crown prince, and preserved the empress's station. The ode says, 'No loyal word goes unanswered'—and he lived to see the reward of his constancy. Fu Xi held his integrity without wavering and likewise earned the praise reserved for the last evergreen. How swiftly fortune turned between the reigns of Ai and Ping!