1
桓譚字君山，沛國相人也。 父成帝時為太樂令。 譚以父任為郎，因好音律，善鼓琴。 博學多通，遍習《五經》，皆詁訓大義，不為章句。 能文章，尤好古學，數從劉歆、楊雄辯析疑異。 性嗜倡樂，簡易不修威儀，而憙非毀俗儒，由是多見排抵。
Huan Tan, styled Junshan, came from Xiang in the princedom of Pei. His father had been director of grand music under Emperor Cheng. Through his father's rank he entered court as a gentleman cadet; he loved music theory and played the zither well. He read widely and mastered the Five Classics for their great themes, not for pedantic glosses on single lines. He wrote well and doted on antiquarian scholarship, often debating knotty questions with Liu Xin and Yang Xiong. He loved popular entertainments, dressed down without official gravitas, and delighted in mocking pedantic scholars—so he made many enemies.
2
哀、平間，位不過郎。 傅皇后父孔鄉侯晏深善於譚。 是時，高安侯董賢寵倖，女弟為昭儀，皇后日已疏，晏嘿嘿不得意。 譚進說曰：“昔武帝欲立衛子夫，陰求陳皇后之過，而陳後終廢，子夫竟立。 今董賢至愛而女弟尤幸，殆將有子夫之變，可不憂哉！ ”晏驚動，曰：“然，為之奈何？ ”譚曰：“刑罰不能加無罪，邪枉不能勝正人。 夫士以才智要君，女以媚道求主。 皇后年少，希更艱難，或驅使醫巫，外求方技，此不可不番。 又君侯以後父尊重而多通賓客，必藉以重勢，貽致譏議。 不如謝遣門徒，務執廉愨，此修己正家避禍之道也。 ”晏曰：“善”。 遂罷遣常客，入白皇后，如譚所戒。 後賢果風太醫令真欽，使求傅氏罪過，遂逮後弟侍中喜，詔獄無所得，乃解，故傅氏終全於哀帝之時。 及董賢為大司馬，聞譚名，欲與之交。 譚先奏書於賢，說以輔國保身之術，賢不能用，遂不與通。 當王莽居攝篡弑之際，天下之士，莫不竟褒稱德美，作符命以求容媚，譚獨自守，默然無言。 莽時為掌樂大夫，更始立，召拜太中大夫。
Under Emperors Ai and Ping he never rose above gentleman cadet. Fu Yan, father of Empress Fu and marquis of Kongxiang, was Huan Tan's close friend. Dong Xian of Gao'an was the emperor's favorite; his sister was a brilliant companion, while Empress Fu drifted daily into neglect—Fu Yan brooded in silence. Huan Tan urged him: "When Emperor Wu wanted Lady Wei as empress, he secretly hunted faults in Empress Chen until she fell and Wei Zifu took her place." Today Dong Xian and his sister hold the inner palace—you may face the same coup in reverse; can you afford not to worry!" Fu Yan started and said, "True enough—what should we do?" Huan Tan answered, "The law cannot strike the innocent, and intrigue cannot defeat an upright heart." Men win rulers by talent; women win them by charm. The empress is young and little tested; under strain she may turn to healers, shamans, and occult arts—watch that closely. You stand high as the empress's father yet traffic with a wide circle of clients—that borrowed weight will draw slander. Better send your hangers-on away and live modestly—that is how to mend your own house and dodge disaster. Fu Yan said, "Well spoken." He dismissed his regular clients, entered the palace, and warned the empress as Huan Tan had advised. Dong Xian later prompted the court physician Zhen Qin to dig up dirt on the Fu family and had the empress's brother Fu Xi, a palace attendant, thrown into the imperial jail—but nothing was proved, so the case collapsed and the Fu clan survived Emperor Ai's reign. When Dong Xian rose to grand marshal he sought Huan Tan's friendship by reputation. Huan Tan wrote first, offering Dong Xian ways to serve the state and save himself; Dong Xian ignored the counsel, so Huan Tan refused all further contact. While Wang Mang acted as regent and seized the throne, every scholar vied to flatter him with forged prophecies; Huan Tan alone stayed silent and kept his integrity. Under Wang Mang he served as grandee for music; the Gengshi Emperor named him grandee of the palace.
3
臣聞國之廢興，在於政事； 政事得失，由乎輔佐。 輔佐賢明，則俊士充朝，而理合世務； 輔佐不明，則論失時宜，而舉多過事。 夫有國之君，俱欲興化建善，然而政道未理者，其所謂賢者異也。 昔楚莊王問孫叔敖曰：“寡人未得所以為國是也。 ”叔敖曰：“國之有是，眾所惡也，恐王不能定也。 ”王曰：“不定獨在君，亦在臣乎？ ”對曰：“居驕士，曰士非我無從富貴； 士驕君，曰君非士無從安存。 人君或至失國而不悟，士或至饑寒而不進。 君臣不合，則國是無從定矣。 ”莊王曰：“善。 願相國與諸大夫共定國是也。 ”蓋善政者，視俗而施教，察失而立防，威德更興，文武迭用，然後政調于時，而躁人可定。 昔董仲舒言“理國譬若琴瑟，其不調者則解而更張”。 夫更張難行，而拂眾者亡，是故賈誼以才逐，而朝錯以智死。 世雖有殊能而終莫敢談者，懼於前事也。
Your servant has heard that a realm's rise or fall turns on how it is governed; and whether policy succeeds or fails depends on those who counsel the throne. When ministers are wise, talent crowds the hall and policy fits the times; when they are not, debate misses the moment and every recommendation goes awry. Every sovereign wants good order, yet government stays tangled when his idea of "worthy" men is wrong. King Zhuang of Chu once asked Sunshu Ao, "I cannot see what truly serves the state." Sunshu Ao replied, "The 'national consensus' everyone talks about is what the crowd hates—I fear Your Majesty cannot fix it alone." The king said, "If it stays unsettled, is the fault only mine, or also my ministers'?" He answered, "When a lord sneers at his officers, they say, 'Without us you would never be rich or honored; when officers sneer at the throne, they say, 'Without us you could not keep your seat.'" Rulers may lose their realms and still not wake; ministers may starve in the cold and still not step forward. Until ruler and minister trust each other, no "national consensus" can be settled. King Zhuang said, "Well said." I ask the chancellor and the high ministers to settle the matter together." Good government reads the temper of the people before teaching them, spots weakness before building dikes, and alternates kindness with firmness, culture with force—then the age is tuned and the restless are quieted. Dong Zhongshu said, "Governing is like tuning zither and se: when the notes clash, you loosen the strings and reset them." But retuning is dangerous work: cross the crowd and you perish—Jia Yi was banished for his gifts, Chao Cuo died for his cleverness. So men of unusual gifts hold their tongues, terrified by those precedents.
4
且設法禁者，非能盡塞天下之奸，皆合眾人之所欲也，大抵取便國利事多者，則可矣。 夫張官置吏，以理萬人，縣賞設罰，以別善惡，惡人誅傷，則善人蒙福矣。 今人相殺傷，雖已伏法，而私結怨仇，子孫相報，後忿深前，至於滅戶殄業，而俗稱豪健，故雖有怯弱，猶勉而行之，此為聽人自理而無複法禁者也。 今宜申明舊令，若已伏官誅而私相傷殺者，雖一身逃亡，皆徙家屬于邊，其相傷者，加常二等，不得雇山贖罪。 如此，則仇怨自解，盜賊息矣。
Laws cannot plug every crime or please every wish; if they usually help the state, that is enough. Offices exist to govern the people; rewards and punishments mark right from wrong; strike down the wicked and the good prosper. Men kill each other, pay the legal price, yet private feuds pass down the generations until whole clans are wiped out—while local opinion hails the avengers as heroes, so even cowards feel shamed into bloodshed. That means letting private vengeance replace the law. Reissue the old statute: anyone who murders for private revenge after the state has already punished the original killer, even a lone fugitive, shall see his whole family banished to the frontier; private assailants get two extra degrees of sentence, with no commutation by convict labor in the hill works. Do that, and feuds will cool and brigandage die down.
5
夫理國之道，舉本業而抑末利，是以先帝禁人二業，錮商賈不得宦為吏，此所以抑並兼長廉恥也。 今富商大賈，多放錢貨，中家子弟，為之保役，趨走與臣僕等勤，收稅與封君比入，是以眾人慕效，不耕而食，至乃多通侈靡，以淫耳目。 今可令諸商賈自相糾告，若非身力所得，皆以臧界告者。 如此，則專役一已，不敢以貨與人，事寡力弱，必歸功田畝。 田畝修，則穀入多而地力盡矣。 又見法令決事，輕重不齊，或一事殊法，同罪異論，奸吏得因緣為市，所欲活則出生議，所欲陷則與死比，是為刑開二門也。 今可令通義理明習法律者，校定科比，一其法度，班下郡國，蠲除故條。 如此，天下知方，而獄無怨濫矣。 書奏，不省。
Good government promotes farming and checks secondary trades: past emperors barred dual occupations and kept merchants from office to stop land-grabbing and teach shame. Great merchants lend at interest; sons of modest families become their bondsmen and runners, earning sums that rival titled lords—so the crowd apes them, eats without plowing, and sinks into vulgar display. Order merchants to inform on one another: any unearned gain is forfeit to the informer. Then each will sweat for himself alone and lend nothing abroad; weak in other trades, they will drift back to the plow. Tend the fields well and the granaries fill while the soil gives its utmost. Your servant also sees judgments skewed—one crime, many verdicts—so corrupt clerks sell justice: spare a friend, hang a foe. That opens two doors to the penal code. Commission learned jurists to collate statutes, unify the code, publish it to every commandery, and repeal obsolete clauses. Then the empire will know the rules, and jails will not brim with wrongful sentences. He submitted the memorial; the emperor never read it.
6
是時，帝方信讖，多以決定嫌疑。 又酬賞少薄，天下不時安定。 譚複上疏曰：臣前獻瞽言，未蒙詔報，不勝憤懣，冒死得陳。 愚夫策謀，有益於政道者，以合人心而得事理也。 凡人情忽於見事而貴于異聞，觀先王之所記述，咸以仁義正道為本，非有奇怪虛誕之事。 蓋天道性命，聖人所難言也。 自子貢以下，不得而聞，況後世淺儒，能通之乎！ 今諸巧慧小才伎數之人，增益圖書，矯稱讖記，以欺惑貪邪，詿誤人主，焉可不抑遠之哉！ 臣譚伏聞陛下窮折方士黃白之術，甚為明矣； 而乃欲聽納讖記，又何誤也！ 其事雖有時合，譬猶卜數隻偶之類。 陛下宜垂明聽，發聖意，屏群小之曲說，述《五經》之正義，略雷同之俗語，詳通人之雅謀。
The emperor was trusting apocryphal prophecies to settle every doubt. Rewards for merit were meager, and the land knew no lasting peace. Huan Tan wrote again: "I spoke once without answer; unable to contain my grief, I risk death to repeat it." Even a commoner's plan helps government when it fits human nature and the facts. Men dismiss what they see daily and chase marvels; yet the sages wrote only of humanity, duty, and the straight path—never of empty wonders. Heaven's way, fate, and human nature are what even sages discuss rarely. Below Zigong's generation disciples could not grasp them—how shall shallow scholars of our day! Today clever charlatans pad apocryphal books, call them prophecy, and beguile greedy minds and mislead the throne—they must be checked and banished! Your servant hears that Your Majesty has exposed the alchemists' gold-and-silver fraud—most enlightened; yet you would heed forged prophecies—how is that less a mistake! When they occasionally prove true, it is mere chance, like a lucky cast of the milfoil. Open your ears, issue clear intent, cast off petty occultism, return to the plain sense of the Five Classics, drop parroted slogans, and weigh the counsel of true scholars.
7
又臣聞安平則尊道術之士，有難則貴介胄之臣。 今聖朝興複祖統，為人臣主，而四方盜賊未盡歸伏者，此權謀未得也。 臣譚伏觀陛下用兵，諸所降下，既無重賞以相恩誘，或至虜掠奪其財物，是以兵長渠率，各生孤疑，黨輩連結，歲月不解。 古人有言曰：“天下皆知取之為取，而莫知與之為取。 ”陛下誠能輕爵重賞，與士共之，則何招而不至，何說而不釋，何向而不開，何征而不克！ 如此，則能以狹為廣，以遲為速，亡者複存，失者複得矣。
In peace a state honors scholars; in peril it prizes generals in mail. Your restored Han rules the ministers of the realm, yet rebels still hold out—because strategy has failed. Your servant sees how you treat capitulation: no rich reward wins them over, while soldiers often loot them bare—so chieftains hesitate, bands league together, and the war drags year on year. The ancients said, "The world calls seizing 'gain,' but forgets that giving is also gain." Lighten titles, heap up rewards, and share spoils with your men—then whom could you not summon, what knot not untie, what door not open, what foe not break! Then you turn scant means into plenty, delay into speed, restore what seemed lost, recover what seemed gone.
8
帝省奏，愈不悅。
The emperor read it and liked him even less.
9
其後，有詔會議靈台所處，帝謂譚曰：“吾欲以讖決之，何如？ ”譚默然良久，曰：“臣不讀讖。 ”帝問其故，譚複極言讖之非經。 帝大怒曰：“桓譚非聖無法，將下斬之！ ”譚叩頭流血，良久乃得解。 出為六安郡丞，意忽忽不樂，道病卒，時年七十餘。
Later, debating where to build the Ling Terrace, the emperor asked Huan Tan, "Shall I let the prophecies decide?" Huan Tan was silent, then said, "I do not study apocrypha." Asked why, he said flatly that such books are not classical. The emperor roared, "Huan Tan rejects the sages and spurns the law—off with his head!" Huan Tan knocked his brow bloody on the stones until the rage cooled. They sent him out as assistant governor of Lu'an; he went in a daze of grief and died on the road, past seventy.
10
初，譚著書言當世行事二十九篇，號曰《新論》，上書獻之，世祖善焉。
He had written twenty-nine essays on his own times, the New Discussions, which Emperor Guangwu praised.
11
《琴道》一篇未成，肅宗使班固續成之。 所著賦、誄、書、奏，凡二十六篇。
The essay The Way of the Zither was unfinished; Emperor Zhang told Ban Gu to complete it. His rhapsodies, dirges, letters, and memorials number twenty-six pieces in all.
12
元和中，肅宗行東巡狩，至沛，使使者祠譚塚，鄉里以為榮。
During Yuanhe, Emperor Zhang toured east to Pei and sent envoys to sacrifice at Huan Tan's tomb—a glory for his hometown.
13
馮衍字敬通，京兆杜陵人也。 祖野王，元帝時為大鴻臚。 衍幼有奇才，年九歲，能誦《詩》，至二十而博通群書。 王莽時，諸公多薦舉之者，衍辭不肯仕。 時，天下兵起，莽遣更始將軍廉丹討伐山東。 丹辟衍為掾，與俱至定陶。 莽追詔丹曰：“倉廩盡矣，府庫空矣，可以怒矣，可以戰矣。 將軍受國重任，不捐身於中野，無以報恩塞責。 ”丹惶恐，夜召衍，以書示之。 衍因說丹曰：“衍聞順而成者，道之所大也； 逆而功者，權之所貴也。 是故期於有成，不問所由； 論於大體，不守小節。 昔逢醜父伏軾而使其君取飲，稱于諸侯； 鄭祭仲立突而出忽，終得復位，美於《春秋》。 蓋以死易生，以存易亡，君子之道也。 詭于眾意，甯國存身，賢智之慮也。 故《易》曰‘窮則變，變則通，通則久，是以自天祐之，吉，無不利’。 若夫知其不可而必行之，破軍殘眾，無補於主，身死之日，負義于時，智者不為，勇者不行。 且衍聞之，得時無怠。 張良以五世相韓，椎秦始皇博浪之中，勇冠乎賁、育，名高乎太山。 將軍之先，為漢信臣。 新室之興，英俊不附。 今海內潰亂，人懷漢德，甚于詩人思召公也，愛其甘棠，而況子孫乎？ 人所歌舞，天必從之。 方今為將軍計，莫若屯據大郡，鎮撫吏士，砥厲其節，百里之內，牛酒日賜，納雄桀之士，詢忠智之謀，要將來之心，待從橫之變，興社稷之利，除萬人之害，則福祿流於無窮，功烈著於不滅。 何與軍覆于中原，身膏於草野，功敗名喪，恥及先祖哉？ 聖人轉禍而為福，智士因敗而為功，願明公深計而無與俗同。 ”丹不能從。
Feng Yan, styled Jingtong, came from Duling in the Jingzhao capital district. His grandfather Feng Yewang had been grand herald under Emperor Yuan. A prodigy, he knew the Odes by heart at nine and had read everything worth reading by twenty. Wang Mang's high ministers recommended him repeatedly; he refused office. When rebellion flared, Wang Mang sent General Gengshi Lian Dan east of the Taihang range. Lian Dan made Feng Yan his clerk and took him to Dingtao. Wang Mang's follow-up edict read, "Granaries are bare and treasuries empty—anger is due, battle is due. You bear the state's heavy charge: unless you die in the field you cannot repay it or answer for it." Lian Dan was terrified; that night he called Feng Yan and showed him the letter. Feng Yan answered, "I have heard that success won with the tide is what the Way most honors; success won against the tide is what circumstance most prizes. So aim at the outcome, not the path; weigh the great pattern, not petty scruples. Feng Choufu once hid his lord under the chariot rail and was praised in the odes; Zhai Zhong of Zheng set Prince Tu on the throne and drove Prince Hu into exile, then restored right order—Spring and Autumn judges him kindly." To trade certain death for a chance at life is the gentleman's path. Bend to popular opinion yet save the realm and your skin—that is what a wise man weighs. The Classic of Changes says: 'Blockage forces change, change opens the way, an open way endures'—Heaven itself blesses that course. To charge into a hopeless fight, waste your army, die disgraced, and help your lord not at all—no wise or brave man chooses that. And I say: when Heaven offers an opening, seize it without delay. Zhang Liang, whose forebears had served the state of Han for five generations as ministers, struck at the First Emperor in the surf at Bolang—courage beyond warriors Ben and Yu, fame higher than Taishan. Your own ancestors were loyal servants of the Han house. When Wang Mang founded Xin, no true talent rallied to him. The realm is in ruins, yet the people cling to Han as the poets clung to the memory of the Duke of Shao under the sweet pear—how much more his heirs? What the people celebrate, Heaven seconds. My counsel: occupy a rich commandery, hearten your troops, feast the brave within a hundred li, gather wise counsel, win wavering lords, watch how the chessboard shifts, then strike for the altars' good and the people's relief—your name will shine forever. Why choose instead total defeat on the plain, your corpse crow-bait, honor lost and ancestors shamed? Sages turn disaster to gain; wise men ride defeat to victory—think hard, general, and do not drift with the crowd. Lian Dan would not listen.
14
進及睢陽，複說丹曰：“蓋聞明者見於無形，智者慮于未萌，況其昭{折曰}者乎？ 凡患生於所忽，禍發於細微，敗不可悔，時不可失。 公孫鞅曰：‘有高人之行，負非於世； 有獨見之慮，見贅於人。 ’故信庸庸之論，破金石之策，襲當世之操，失高明之德。 夫決者智之君也。 疑者事之役也。 時不重至，公勿再計。 ”丹不聽，遂進及無鹽，與赤眉戰死。 衍乃亡命河東。
Near Suiyang he urged again: "The far-sighted read signs before they form; the wise act before crisis buds—how much more when the danger is plain?" Misfortune grows from small neglect; disaster sparks from a spark; defeat allows no second chance, and the hour waits for no man. Shang Yang said, 'Rise above the herd and the world calls you proud; think for yourself and men call you odd.'" Trust the mob and you shatter a policy sound as bronze; ape fashion and you forfeit a noble name. Resolution commands wisdom. Hesitation enslaves every enterprise. Fortune's tide will not return—do not debate twice. Lian Dan marched on, met the Red Eyebrows at Wuyan, and died on the field. Feng Yan fled to Hedong as a fugitive.
15
更始二年，遣尚書僕射鮑永行大將軍事，安集北方。 衍因以計說永曰：
In Gengshi 2 the court sent Bao Yong, vice director of the secretariat, north as acting grand marshal to settle the region. Feng Yan laid a strategy before Bao Yong:
16
衍聞明君不惡切愨之言，以測幽冥之論； 忠臣不顧爭引之患，以達萬機之變。 是故君臣兩興，功名兼立，銘勒金石，令問不忘。 今衍幸逢寬明之日，將值危言之時，豈敢拱默避罪，而不竭其誠哉！
An enlightened prince welcomes blunt speech to sound deep truth; a loyal minister risks offense to catch every shift in the machinery of state. Then ruler and minister rise together, win lasting fame, and merit is graven in bronze, not forgotten. I meet a tolerant court and a time that calls for dangerous truths—shall I hold my tongue to save my skin?
17
伏念天上離王莽之害久矣。 始自東郡之師，繼以西海之役，巴、蜀沒于南夷，緣邊破于北狄，遠征萬里，暴兵累年，禍拏未解，兵連不息，刑法彌深，賦斂愈重。 眾強之黨，橫擊於外，百僚之臣，貪殘於內，元元無聊，饑寒並臻，父子流亡，夫婦離散，廬落丘墟，田疇蕪穢，疾疫大興，災異蜂起。 於是江湖之上，海岱之濱，風騰波湧，更相駘藉，四垂之人，肝腦塗地，死亡之數，不啻太半，殃咎之毒，痛入骨髓，匹夫僮婦，鹹懷怨怒。 皇帝以聖德靈威，龍興鳳舉，率宛、葉之眾，將散亂之兵，喢血昆陽，長驅武關，破百萬之陳，摧九虎之軍，雷震四海，席捲天下，攘除禍亂，誅滅無道，一期之間，海內大定。 繼高祖之休烈，修文武之絕業，社稷複存，炎精更輝，德冠往初，功無與二。 天下自以去亡新，就聖漢，當蒙其福而賴其願。 樹恩布德，易以周洽，其猶順驚風而飛鴻毛也。 然而諸將虜掠，逆倫絕理，殺人父子，妻人婦女，燔其室屋，略其財產，饑者毛食，寒者裸跣，冤結失望，無所歸命。 今大將軍以明淑之德，秉大使之權，統三軍之政，存撫并州之人，惠愛之誠，加乎百姓，高世之聲，聞乎群士，故其延頸企踵而望者，非特一人也。 且大將軍之事，豈得珪璧其行，束修其心而已哉？ 將定國家之大業，成天地之元功也。 昔周宣中興之主，齊桓霸強之君耳，猶有申伯、召虎、夷吾、吉甫攘其蝥賊，安其疆宇。 況乎萬里之漢，明帝復興，而大將軍為之梁棟，此誠不可以忽也。
All under heaven has suffered Wang Mang's scourge long enough. From the eastern campaigns to the western wars, Shu swallowed by southern tribes, the frontier broken by the Xiongnu, armies abroad for years, taxes crushing, the law a tightening noose— —strongmen rampaged abroad, officials devoured within, the people starved and froze, families broke, villages turned to ash, plague and omen followed one another. Along the great rivers and eastern coast mobs surged and trampled one another; beyond the heartland half the people were dead, hatred gnawed to the bone, every peasant and bondmaid nursed rage. Then our emperor rose like dragon and phoenix, led the men of Wan and Ye, shattered a million foemen at Kunyang, stormed Wuguan, broke the Nine Tigers—thunder across the empire, the realm rolled up in one sweep, the wicked cut down, and in a single turning the land knew peace. He took up Gaozu's torch, restored the broken work of Wen and Wu, relit Han's red mandate, outshone every predecessor, matched by no successor. The people thought they had shed Xin and come home to Han, ready for mercy and reward. Kindness shown now would spread as fast as downwind feathers. Yet your generals looted, murdered fathers and sons, seized wives, torched homes, stripped the starving and shamed the cold until the people had nowhere to appeal. You, great marshal, are clear in virtue, hold imperial mandate, command three armies, cherish Bingzhou—the people strain to hear one kind word from you; you are not speaking to a single listener. A grand marshal's charge is not merely to polish his manners like a ritual jade. He must settle the realm and finish the work Heaven and earth began. King Xuan and Duke Huan were only restorer and hegemon, yet they needed Shen Bo, Zhao Hu, Guan Zhong, and Yin Jifu to scourge pests and secure the frontier. How much more this renewed Han of boundless extent, with you as its roof beam—this brooks no neglect.
18
且衍聞之，兵久則力屈，人悉則變生。 今邯鄲之賊未滅，真定之際複擾，而大將軍所部不過百里，守城不休，戰軍不息，兵革雲翔，百姓震駭，奈何自怠，不為深憂？ 夫并州之地，東帶名關，北逼強胡，年穀獨孰，人庶多資，斯四戰之地，攻守之場也。 如其不虞，何以待之？ 故曰“德不素積，人不為用。 備不豫具，難以應卒”。 今生人之命，縣于將軍，將軍所杖，必須良才，宜改易非任，更選賢能。 夫十室之邑，必有忠信。 審得其人，以承大將軍之明，雖則山澤之人，無不感德，思樂為用矣。 然後簡精銳之卒，發屯守之士，三軍既整，甲兵已具，相其土地之饒，觀其水泉之利，制屯田之術，習戰射之教，則威風遠暢，人安其業矣。 若鎮太原，撫上党，收百姓之歡心，樹名賢之良佐，天下無變，則足以顯聲譽，一朝有事，則可以建大功。 惟大將軍開日月之明，發深淵之慮，監《六經》之論，觀孫、吳之策，省群議之是非，詳眾士之白黑，以超《周南》之跡，垂《甘棠》之風，令夫功烈施於千載，富貴傳於無窮。 伊、望之策，何以加茲！ 永既素重衍，為且受使得自置偏裨，乃以衍為立漢將軍，領狼孟長，屯太原，與上党太守田邑等繕甲養士，扞衛並土。
Prolonged war exhausts an army; a spent people breeds revolt. Handan still burns, Zhending stirs again, yet your district is barely a hundred li across, garrisons endless, battles unceasing, arms piled sky-high, the people terrified—how can you rest easy? Bingzhou is belted by great passes in the east, pressed by the Hu in the north, its harvests richest, its people resilient—a crossroads every army covets. If surprise strikes, what will you meet it with? The proverb says: without stored virtue, men will not serve you. Without stockpiled readiness you cannot meet a sudden storm.'" The people's lives hang on you; your staff must be worthy—replace the unfit and name better men. Even a hamlet of ten holds loyal hearts. Win the right men under your banner and even hill folk will die for your kindness. Then drill picked troops, open military farms on rich soil and good water, teach archery and shield—your awe will carry far and the people will farm in peace. Hold Taiyuan, win Shangdang, bind the people with good rule and wise aides—peace will burnish your name, crisis will let you win undying merit. Only open your mind like sun and moon, sound the Six Classics and Sun Wu's art, sift counsel true from false, men loyal from hollow, outshine the southern Zhou, leave a Duke of Shao's sweet-pear fame, and your glory will span the ages. What could Yi Yin or Lü Wang add beyond that? Bao Yong, who already respected Feng Yan, let him name subordinates and made him General Who Establishes Han and magistrate of Langmeng, camped at Taiyuan with Tian Yi of Shangdang to arm the border.
19
衍聞之，委質為臣，無有二心； 挈瓶之智，守不假器。 是以晏嬰臨盟，擬以曲戟，不易其辭； 謝息守郕，脅以晉、魯，不喪其邑。 由是言之，內無鉤頸之禍，外無桃萊之利，而被畔人之聲，蒙降城之恥，竊為左右羞之。 且邾庶其竊邑畔君，以要大利，曰賤而必書； 莒牟夷以土地求食，而名不滅。 是以大丈夫動則思禮，行則思義，未有背此而身名能全者也。 為伯玉深計，莫若與鮑尚書同情戮力，顯忠貞之節，立超世之功。 如以尊親系累之故，能捐位投命，歸之尚書，大義既全，敵人紓怨，上不損剖符之責，下足救老幼之命，申眉高談，無愧天下。 若乃貪上党之權，惜全邦之實，衍恐伯玉必懷周趙之憂，上黨複有前年之禍。 昔晏平仲納延陵之誨，終免欒高之難； 孫林父違穆子之戒，故陷終身之惡。 以為伯玉聞此至言，必若刺心，自非嬰城而堅守，則策馬而不顧也。 聖人轉禍而為福，智士因敗以成勝，願自強于時，無與俗同。
I have heard that a subject who pledges loyalty has but one heart; the wit that fills a small jar does not pawn another's trust. Yan Ying at a league faced a halberd at his throat yet never bent his word; Xie Xi held Cheng against Jin and Lu and never lost his city. Thus one may die without the halberd at one's neck yet gain no bribe of orchards—only the name of traitor and the shame of yielding a wall; I blush for your counselors. Zhu Shuqi seized a town to extort his prince—the Annals still records such baseness; Mou Yi of Ju traded land for safety yet kept his name. A gentleman weighs every step by rite and right; abandon those and neither life nor fame survives. For Tian Yi's good, join Bao Yong in one loyal effort and win a fame beyond your time. If kinship moves you to lay down command and return to Bao Yong, you keep the great right, slacken your foe's hate, honor your commission above, save your family below, and hold your head high before the world. Cling to Shangdang's power and the whole commandery's wealth, and I fear you court the fate of Zhou and Zhao and repeat last year's calamity. Yan Ying heeded Yanling's warning and escaped the Luan-Gao purge; Sun Linfu spurned Muzi's counsel and earned lifelong infamy. When Tian Yi hears this straight talk it should pierce his heart—either bolt the gates or gallop away without a backward glance. Sages turn ruin to gain; wise men ride defeat to victory—brace to the hour, sir, and do not drift with the mob.
20
邑報書曰：
Tian Yi answered in writing:
21
僕雖駑怯，亦欲為人者也，豈苟貪生而畏死哉！ 曲戟在頸，不易其心，誠僕志也。
I am slow and timid, yet I too am a man—do you think I cling to life from cowardice alone? A halberd at my throat would not turn my heart—that is my vow.
22
間者，老母諸弟見執于軍，而邑安然不顧者，豈非重其節乎？ 若使人居天地，壽如金石，要長生而避死地可也。 今百齡之期，未有能至，老壯之間，相去幾何。 誠使故朝尚在，忠義可立，雖老親受戮，妻兒橫分，邑之願也。
When my mother and brothers were taken I held still—was that not because I weighed honor heavier? Were our lives long as bronze, one might dodge death forever. But none of us reaches a hundred; what span divides youth from age? If the old Han still lived and loyalty meant something, I would accept my kin's death and my family's ruin as my own choice.
23
間者，上黨黠賊，大眾圍城，義兵兩輩，入據井陘。 邑親潰敵圍，拒擊宗正，自試智勇，非不能當。 誠知故朝為兵所害，新帝司徒已定三輔，隴西、北地從風回應。 其事昭昭，日月經天，河海帶地，不足以比。 死生有命，富貴在天。 天下存亡，誠雲命也。 邑雖沒身，能如命何？
Lately Shangdang's rebels ringed the city while loyal columns seized Jingxing. I myself broke their lines and drove back the imperial clansman—rest assured I could fight. But I saw the old regime crushed, the new emperor's minister secure the capital region, Longxi and Beidi rallying to him. That fact shines like sun and moon; no river or sea is clearer. Life and death are fated; wealth rests with Heaven. The empire's rise or fall is Heaven's sentence. Though I die for it, what quarrel have I with fate?
24
夫人道之本，有恩有義，義有所宜，恩有所施。 君臣大義，母子至恩。 今故主已亡，義其誰為； 老母拘執，恩所當留。 而厲以貪權，誘以策馬，抑其利心，必其不顧，何其愚乎！
Human relations rest on kindness and right; each has its proper measure. Between lord and subject stands great duty; between mother and child stands deepest love. My old master is dead—who is left to serve in his name? My mother is hostage—duty binds me to stay. Yet you bait me with rank and spur me with flight, as if I were blind to shame—how foolish you must think me!
25
邑年三十，曆位卿士，性少嗜欲，情厭事為。 況今位尊身危，財多命殆，鄙人知之，何疑君子？
I am thirty, risen to high office, sick of intrigue, scant of appetite for power. High rank now means peril, great wealth means a short rope—even fools see it; do you doubt a gentleman does?
26
君長、敬通揭節垂組，自相署立。 蓋仲由使門人為臣，孔子譏其欺天。 君長據位兩州，加以一郡，而河東畔國，兵不入彘，上黨見圍，不窺大谷，宗正臨境，莫之能援。 兵威屈辱，國權日損，三王背畔，赤眉害主，未見兼行倍道之赴，若墨翟累繭救宋，申包胥重胝存楚，衛女馳歸唁兄之志。 主亡一歲，莫知定所，虛冀妄言，苟肆鄙塞。 未能事生，安能事死？ 未知為臣，焉知為主？ 豈厭為臣子，思為君父乎！ 欲搖太山而蕩北海，事敗身危，要思邑言。
You, Bao Yong, and Feng Yan hung up seals and named yourselves generals. That is Zhong You styling his pupils as ministers—Confucius called it cheating Heaven. Bao Yong, you held two provinces and a commandery, yet when Hedong rebelled your men never reached Zhi, when Shangdang was ringed you never looked to Dagu Pass, and when the clansman's army came you sent no aid. Arms were shamed, the throne's power ebbed, princes turned traitor, the sovereign fell to the Red Eyebrows—yet I saw no Mo Di racing to save Song, no Shen Baoxu weeping Chu home, no sister of Wei galloping to her brother's grave. Our master is a year dead with no tomb we know; empty boasts only clog honest ears. If we could not save him alive, how dare we posture for him dead? If you never learned to serve, how can you claim to rule? Surely you do not weary of being a subject and crave the father's throne! You would move Taishan and stir the northern sea—when the plot breaks and your life hangs by a thread, remember what Tian Yi told you.
27
衍不從。 或訛言更始隨赤眉在北，永、衍信之，故屯兵界休，方移書上党，雲皇帝在雍，以惑百姓。 永遣弟升及子媚張舒誘降涅城，舒家在上黨，邑悉系之。 又書勸永降，永不答，自是與邑有隙。 邑字伯玉，馮翊人也，後為漁陽太守。 永、衍審知更始已歿，乃共罷兵，幅巾降於河內。
Feng Yan would not heed him. Rumors placed the Gengshi Emperor with the Red Eyebrows in the north; Bao Yong and Feng Yan believed them, camped at Jiexiu, and drafted letters to Shangdang claiming the court was at Yong to confuse the people. Bao Yong sent his brother Sheng and son Bao Mei with Zhang Shu to win Nie by defection; Zhang Shu's kin lived in Shangdang, and Tian Yi arrested every one of them. He wrote again urging Bao Yong to yield; Yong did not answer—so the two were enemies thereafter. Tian Yi, styled Boyu, was from Fengyi and later served as grand administrator of Yuyang. When Bao Yong and Feng Yan learned Gengshi was dead, they disbanded their host and surrendered to Han at Henei in plain cloth.
28
帝怨衍等不時至，永以立功得贖罪，遂任用之，而衍獨見黜。 永謂衍曰：“昔高祖賞季布之罪，誅丁固之功。 今遭明主，亦何憂哉！ ”衍曰：“記有之，人有挑其鄰人之妻者，挑其長者，長者詈之，挑其少者，少者報之，後其夫死而取其長者。 或謂之曰：‘夫非罵爾者邪？ ’曰：‘在人欲其報我，在我欲其罵人也。 ’夫天命難知，人道易守，守道之臣，何患死亡？ ”頃之，帝以衍為曲陽令，誅斬劇賊郭勝等，降五千餘人，論功當封，以讒毀，故賞不行。
Emperor Guangwu resented their late arrival; Bao Yong bought pardon with merit and kept office, but Feng Yan alone was cast aside. Bao Yong said, "Gaozu pardoned Ji Bu and executed Ding Gu for ingratitude. You now serve an enlightened sovereign—what have you to fear!" Feng Yan answered, "The books tell of a man who flirted with a neighbor's two wives: the elder scolded him, the younger welcomed him, and when their husband died he married the one who had cursed him. People asked, 'Was that not the woman who reviled you?' She said, 'When others court me I want devotion; when I court others I want honesty—even if it stings.' Heaven's will is dark, but a man's course is clear—why should a minister who keeps the Way fear death?" Soon the emperor named him magistrate of Quyang; he executed bandits like Guo Sheng and took five thousand surrenders—merit enough for a fief, but slander blocked any reward.
29
建武六年日食，衍上書陳八事：其一曰顯文德，二曰褒武烈，三曰修舊功，四曰招俊傑，五曰明好惡，六曰簡法令，七曰差秩祿，八曰撫邊境。 書奏，帝將召見。 初，衍為狼孟長，以罪摧陷大姓令狐略。 是時，略為司空長史，讒之于尚書令王護、尚書周生豐曰：“衍所以求見者，欲毀君也。 ”護等懼之，即共排間，衍遂不得入。
After a solar eclipse in Jianwu 6 he memorialized eight points: promote culture, honor arms, restore old services, recruit talent, clarify rewards and punishments, streamline law, grade salaries, and pacify the frontier. The emperor read it and meant to receive him at court. Years before, as magistrate of Langmeng, he had framed the magnate Linghu Lue. Linghu Lue was now clerk to the minister of works; he told Wang Hu and Zhou Sheng Feng that Feng Yan meant to ruin them at audience. They blocked his path to the throne out of fear.
30
後衛尉陰興、新陽侯陰就以外戚貴顯，深敬重衍，衍遂與之交結，是由為諸王所聘請，尋為司隸從事。 帝懲西京外戚賓客，故皆以法繩之，大者抵死徙，其餘至貶黜。 衍由此得罪，嘗自詣獄，有詔赦不問。 西歸故郡，閉門自保，不也複與親故通。
Later Yin Xing and Yin Jiu, powerful in-laws, befriended him; he entered the princes' service and became a clerk under the metropolitan commandant. Guangwu tightened the law on in-laws and their clients as Western Han had not: the worst died or were exiled, the rest stripped of rank. Feng Yan fell under the edict; he turned himself in to jail but received a general pardon. He went home to his native commandery, shut his gate, and broke with kin and old companions.