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卷六十六 列傳第十六: 房玄齡 杜如晦

Volume 66 Biographies 16: Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui

Chapter 70 of 舊唐書 · Old Book of Tang
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1
Fang Xuanling; his sons Yizhi and Yiai; Du Ruhui, with Ruhui's younger brother Chuke and uncle Yan.
2
簿
Fang Qiao, styled Xuanling, came from Linzi in Qizhou. His great-grandfather Yi, a Later Wei General Who Pacifies Distant Lands and governor of Song'an, inherited the title Baron of Zhuangwu. His grandfather Xiong, styled Ziyi, served as a prefectural registrar. His father Yanqian loved learning and knew the Five Classics thoroughly. He was magistrate of Jingyang in Sui times and has a biography in the Book of Sui.
3
使
As a boy Xuanling was quick and bright. He read widely in the classics and histories, wrote a fine cursive and clerical hand, and had a gift for prose. He once went with his father to the capital. The empire was then at peace, and everyone said the dynasty would last for ages. Xuanling sent the attendants away and told his father: "The Sui emperor has no true merit. He has only deceived the people, made no lasting provision for his heirs, and set the sons of the empress and of concubines against one another. The later princely houses compete in luxury; they will end by destroying one another and will not keep the family or the state. Though things are calm now, its fall can be waited for on tiptoe." Yanqian was startled and thought him extraordinary. At eighteen his prefecture recommended him as a presented scholar, and he was made Commandant of Feathered Cavalry. Gao Xiaoji, Vice Minister of Personnel and a man long praised for knowing talent, saw him and sighed in admiration. He said to Pei Ju: "I have reviewed many men, and I have never seen a youth like this one. He is sure to become a man of great capacity. I only regret I will not live to see him rise from the valley and climb the sky."
4
綿 便
Through the hundred days of his father's illness Xuanling tended the medicines and meals himself and never loosened his clothes or slept. When his father died he took no drink for five days. He was later appointed sheriff of Xicheng. When the uprising entered the passes and Taizong was securing the country north of the Wei, Xuanling rode to the army gate to offer his service, and Wen Yanbo recommended him as well. Taizong knew him at a glance as if they were old friends, and made him military secretary of the Weibei Circuit. Having found a patron who knew him, Xuanling spent himself without reserve and did whatever he saw needed doing. After each rebel city fell, the others scrambled for rare treasures; Xuanling first gathered able men and brought them into the staff. Whenever he found a shrewd counselor or a fierce general, he bound them to the cause in private, and each of them gave his life in earnest.
5
宿 稿
Then the Hidden Crown Prince, seeing Taizong's merit and virtue grow still greater, turned to suspicion and estrangement. Taizong once dined at the Hidden Crown Prince's residence, was poisoned, and came home; the household was terrified and could think of nothing. So Xuanling said to Zhangsun Wuji: "The breach is already made, and disaster is about to break. The realm is uneasy, and men are looking to other lords. Once the first move is made, great disorder will follow. It will not stop at ruin for this household; I fear it will topple the state itself. At a moment like this, how can we fail to think it through! I have a humble plan: we should follow the Duke of Zhou—secure the realm abroad, settle the ancestral temples at home, and still observe the rites of a son's duty. The ancients said, 'He who acts for the state does not stop at small scruples'—this is that case! Would that not be better than watching house and state perish together, and name and person both vanish?" Wuji said: "I have long thought the same and dared not speak. What you say now matches the purpose I have kept." Wuji then went in and told Taizong. Taizong summoned Xuanling and asked: "The marks of danger are already plain. What are we to do?" He answered: "What difference is there between the state's troubles now and in ancient times? Without a sage of clear and reverent insight, they cannot be settled. Your Highness's merit covers Heaven and Earth. The affair is that of one marked to take the seal. Where the spirits give their aid, it does not depend on human plotting." He and the staff officer Du Ruhui then worked with one mind and combined their strength. When the household was transferred he was made secretary of the Prince of Qin's establishment and enfeoffed Marquis of Linzi; he also kept that post while serving as Director of Merit Evaluations in the Grand Branch Secretariat of the Shaan-East Circuit, and was named an academician of the College of Literature. For more than ten years in the Prince of Qin's household Xuanling kept the records. Every military letter and memorial he finished standing by his horse: the prose was spare, the reasoning full, and he never needed a draft. Gaozu once said to the ministers in attendance: "This man sees clearly what the moment requires and can be trusted with responsibility. Whenever he lays a matter before my son, he always hits the heart of it. A thousand li away, it is still as if they were speaking face to face."
6
The Hidden Crown Prince hated Xuanling and Ruhui for the closeness Taizong showed them, and he slandered them to Gaozu, so both were driven from the household. When the Hidden Crown Prince was about to strike, Taizong had Zhangsun Wuji call Xuanling and Ruhui, dress them as Daoist priests, and bring them in secretly to plan. When Taizong entered the Eastern Palace he was made Right Mentor of the Crown Prince and granted five thousand bolts of silk.
7
In the first year of Zhenguan he succeeded Xiao Yu as Director of the Secretariat. When merit was ranked and rewards given, Xuanling, Zhangsun Wuji, Du Ruhui, Yuchi Jingde, and Hou Junji stood first of all. He was advanced to Duke of Xing, with a substantial fief of one thousand three hundred households. Taizong then said to the meritorious ministers: "I have ranked your services and measured your fiefs. I fear I may not have been wholly just, and I allow each of you to speak." The emperor's uncle, Li Shentong, Prince of Huai'an, stepped forward and said: "When the righteous banners first rose, I led troops and arrived first. Now knife-and-brush clerks like Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui stand first in merit. I cannot in my heart accept it." The emperor said: "When the uprising began, everyone had a mind to join it. Uncle, though he brought troops, never himself walked the battle line. When Shandong was still unconquered he was given an independent command; when Dou Jiande came south the whole army was lost. When Liu Heita rebelled, uncle broke at the first rumor of his coming. In ranking merit now, Xuanling and his fellows planned within the tent and settled the state—as Xiao He of Han, though he never sweated on a horse, pointed the way and pushed the wheels, and so stood first in merit. Uncle is the closest of the imperial house, and I would grudge you nothing. But I must not, from private fondness, give you the same reward as the men who earned it." At first generals such as Qiu Shili had all boasted of their own merit, some rolling up their sleeves, pointing at Heaven and drawing on the ground. When they saw Shentong lose the argument they said to one another: "His Majesty rewards by public justice and does not favor his own kin. How can we complain?"
8
In the third year he was named Junior Preceptor of the Crown Prince. He firmly declined, and instead served as acting Director of the Crown Prince's Household and concurrent Minister of Rites. The next year he succeeded Zhangsun Wuji as Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, was re-enfeoffed Duke of Wei, and was made supervisor of the national history. Once he directed the hundred offices he was reverent night and day, spent himself without reserve, and would not let a single matter fall out of place. When he heard of another's virtue, he felt it as his own. He understood administration clearly, dressed it in letters, and in settling the statutes he aimed at leniency and evenness. He did not demand completeness in the men he chose, nor measure others by his own strengths. He took them according to their gifts and did not shut out the lowly. Men of the time called him a worthy chancellor. When he was sometimes reprimanded, he would remain in the court hall for days, knocking his forehead on the ground to confess fault, so frightened and uneasy he seemed to have no place to stand.
9
In the ninth year he oversaw the plan of Gaozu's mausoleum, and for that service was granted the prestige of Equal in Ceremony to the Three Dukes. In the eleventh year he and Minister of Works Zhangsun Wuji, fourteen men in all, were to receive hereditary prefectships. He was to remain in his court office as Prefect of Songzhou and was re-enfeoffed Duke of Liang, but the plan was never put into effect. In the thirteenth year he was added Junior Preceptor of the Crown Prince. Xuanling sent memorial after memorial asking to lay down the vice directorship. The edict answered: "The choosing of the worthy has impartiality for its root; the way of serving a sovereign holds as precious the duty that is one's own. This is how successive ages have enlarged their manners, and how accomplished men have joined their virtue. You are loyal, grave, respectful, and fine; clear, just, earnest, and true. In the dark beginnings you wove the design of power, and you stitched close the emperor's way. You have been the model of the chancellery, and the many affairs have been in harmony; in supporting the Eastern Palace, your name and your work have both been plain. Yet you forget the greater frame and cling to this small scruple. You accept the tutor's charge and decline the pivot of government—is that what is meant by standing by Me, the One Man, and giving peace to the four seas together?" Xuanling therefore remained in office at his original rank. When the Heir Apparent was about to perform the rite of homage and had the ceremonies ready, Xuanling humbled himself, dared not present himself, and went home. Men of judgment all honored him for that yielding.
10
使滿退 使
Xuanling, after fifteen years at the head of government, with a daughter married to the Prince of Han and his son Yiai married to Princess Gaoyang—honor at its height—sent memorial after memorial asking to resign. Gracious edicts refused him. In the sixteenth year he and Gao Shilian and the others finished the Broad Essentials of Literary Thought, and the gifts were very generous. He was advanced to Minister of Works, still directed court government, and continued to supervise the national history. Xuanling sent up a memorial of firm refusal. Taizong sent an envoy to say: "In former times Zhang Liang yielded his place and Dou Rong declined glory. They feared fullness, knew when to advance and when to withdraw, and saw when to stop; former ages praised them. You too wish to walk in the track of those past sages, and that is worthy of praise. But the state has long employed you as chancellor. If one morning it had no worthy minister, it would be as if it had lost both hands. If your strength has not failed, there is no need to press this refusal." Xuanling then desisted.
11
西
In the eighteenth year his portrait was painted on Lingyan Pavilion with Minister of Education Zhangsun Wuji and the others. The eulogy read: "Talent that joins a flourishing brush; thought that enters the springs of action. In office he held to integrity; in serving his sovereign he forgot himself." When Gaozong occupied the Eastern Palace, Xuanling was added Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, still directed the Chancellery, and supervised the national history as before. Soon after, when the Veritable Records of Gaozu and Taizong were finished, a sealed letter of praise was issued and he was granted one thousand five hundred lengths of silk and goods. That year he left office to mourn his stepmother. A special edict granted him burial ground at Zhaoling. Before long he was recalled from mourning to his original office. When Taizong campaigned in person in Liaodong, he left Xuanling to guard the capital and wrote in his own hand: "You shall bear Xiao He's charge. I shall have no worry looking west." Arms, equipment, and the soldiers' grain were all left to him to assign and dispatch. Xuanling sent up word again and again that the enemy must not be taken lightly and that especial caution was needed.
12
Soon afterward he and Vice Director of the Secretariat Chu Suiliang were ordered to rewrite the Book of Jin. He asked that eight men share the work: Xu Jingzong, Left Mentor of the Crown Prince; Lai Ji, Drafter of the Secretariat; the editorial directors Lu Yuanshi and Liu Ziyi; Linghu Defen, former Prefect of Yongzhou; the crown prince's secretaries Li Yifu and Xue Yuanchao; and the court diarist Shangguan Yi. They took Zang Rongxu's Book of Jin as the base, compared the other traditions, and made a full and careful text. But most of the historians were men of verse, fond of gathering strange, dubious scraps to swell the store of oddities; and their judgments vied in ornate color rather than solid truth, so scholars rather mocked the work. Only Li Chunfeng knew the stars and the calendar thoroughly and wrote well. His three treatises—Heavenly Patterns, Pitch-pipes and the Calendar, and the Five Phases—are the parts most worth reading. Taizong himself wrote the four discourses on Emperors Xuan and Wu and on Lu Ji and Wang Xizhi, and the whole work was then titled 'Imperially Compiled.' In the twentieth year the book was finished, one hundred thirty juan in all. An edict stored it in the imperial library, and gifts and promotions were given in differing degrees.
13
退
Xuanling once went home after a slight reprimand. Huangmen Vice Director Chu Suiliang submitted a memorial: "The ruler is the head; the ministers are called the limbs. When the dragon leaps, clouds rise and gather unsought. If only the time comes, a thousand years are as morning and evening. In former days, when Your Majesty was still in common dress, your heart held the wish to save the drowning; you took up a light sword and rose in the cause of righteousness. The pacification of all bandits and disorders came from Your Majesty's own divine achievement; the assistance in civil ordering owed much to supporting wings. Among ministers in diligence, Xuanling stands foremost. In former times Lü Wang supported King Wu of Zhou, Yi Yin assisted King Tang of Cheng, Xiao He held the Guanzhong region, and Wang Dao the lands beyond the Yangzi; compared with this case, he may be matched. Moreover, from the first registration of his name in service at the beginning of the Wude reign, in loyalty, diligence, respect, and filial piety, all turned to him alike. Yet the Former Palace and Prince of Hailing relied on violence and leaned on disorder, interfering with the times and serving their lord; men could not feel secure. He stood in danger piled like eggs, in urgency as of a man hung upside down; life hung on a single moment, the body was bound to every inch of daylight—and Xuanling's heart from first to last did not change. When the ninth year arrived and the crisis pressed close upon events, he was himself driven away and expelled, absent from counsel and planning; yet he still wore the robes of a Daoist priest and, with Empress Wende, aided in heart and shadow alike. In the matter of a minister's duty, he owed nothing on his own account. When the Zhenguan reign began and the ten thousand things were all new, in selecting officials and serving the ruler, public opinion pushed him forward; his merit and service had no parallel, and his pledge of loyalty was of long standing. Unless the offense admits no pardon and the gentry share the blame alike, one cannot, for a single fault or a single slip, lightly show him cast away to a distance. If Your Majesty indeed pities Xuanling for his age and teeth and thinks lightly of what he has done, in antiquity there were cases in which great ministers were admonished and sent to retire; that may come afterward, following the precedent of former times—dismiss him with ceremony and do not lose a good name. Now a meritorious veteran of several decades is expelled for a single matter; outside, there is talk everywhere, and men think it wrong. When the Son of Heaven values a great minister, then men exhaust their strength; when going and staying are treated lightly, then things do not secure themselves. Your servant, mean and thin, presumes on his place at Your Majesty's side and dares to risk the heavenly majesty to set forth this narrow view." In the twenty-first year Taizong visited Cuwei Palace and appointed Minister of Agriculture Li Wei Minister of Revenue. Xuanling was then left to guard the capital. When someone came from the capital, Taizong asked: "How did Xuanling react when he heard Li Wei was appointed Minister?" The reply was: "Xuanling only said Li Wei has fine whiskers and beard, and nothing else." Taizong at once changed Li Wei's appointment to Prefect of Luozhou. He was the standard of the age to this degree.
14
輿殿 便
In the twenty-third year, when the imperial carriage visited Yuhua Palace, Xuanling's old illness flared; an edict ordered him to lie abed and hold overall charge at the capital. When his illness grew severe, he was summoned to the palace; he entered the hall in a litter and did not step down until he reached the imperial seat. Taizong wept facing him, and Xuanling also choked with grief and could not master himself. An edict sent famous physicians to treat him, and the Imperial Kitchen daily supplied imperial fare. If he improved even slightly, Taizong at once showed joy in his countenance; if word came that he had worsened, Taizong's face changed to sorrow. Xuanling therefore said to his sons: "I judge myself critically ill, yet favor grows ever deeper. If I fail the sage ruler, death will still leave guilt upon me. Now the realm under Heaven is clear and quiet, and all is in its proper place—only the eastern campaign against Goguryeo does not cease, and this is becoming a calamity for the state. The ruler harbors anger and his mind is set; the ministers below dare not offend his countenance; I know this yet do not speak, and I shall carry resentment into the ground."" He then submitted a memorial of remonstrance:
15
殿 滿 宿 使 穿 退 退 退 使 使
I have heard that troops hate unchecked use, and that in martial affairs stopping the spear is prized. Now the sage transformation extends everywhere, and nothing remote is left out; even those whom high antiquity did not make subject, Your Majesty has been able to make subject, and those whom he did not control, he has been able to control. Looking closely at past and present, there has been no harm to China like the Turks. Your Majesty was able to deploy divine strategy seated, without leaving the hall; great and small khans in succession bound their hands; he divided them to hold the forbidden guard and stand with halberds in the ranks. Afterward the Tiele stretched like owls; soon they were destroyed and extinguished; the Tiele admired righteousness and asked to have prefectures and counties set up; north of the desert, for ten thousand li there was no dust. As for Gaochang, it rebelled and scattered in the drifting sands; Tuyuhun wavered like a rat at Jishi; with detached columns and light strikes, all were leveled together. Goguryeo through successive dynasties escaped punishment, and none could strike it down. Your Majesty blamed its rebellion and disorder, regicide and cruelty; he personally led the Six Armies and called Goguryeo to account at Liao and Jie. Within less than ten months he took Liaodong; captives taken before and after numbered in the hundreds of thousands, distributed among the prefectures until none lacked its fill. He wiped away the old shame of former generations and covered the dry bones at Mount Yao; comparing merit and virtue, he is ten thousand times the kings before. This the sage heart knows for itself; your lowly servant dares not set it forth in full. Moreover, Your Majesty's humane wind covers all within the four seas, and filial virtue shines beside Heaven. When he saw the barbarians about to perish, he fixed the term at several years; when he gave generals their commands, he decided affairs ten thousand li away. He counted on his fingers awaiting the post, watched the sun awaiting dispatches; responses matched like the divine, and plans left nothing out. He raised generals from the ranks and chose scholars from the ends of the common. A distant barbarian envoy, seen once, was not forgotten; a petty official's name was never asked twice. An arrow pierced seven layers; a bow drew six jun. Added to this, he keeps his heart on the classics in tombs and sets his mind on essays; his brush surpasses Zhong and Zhang, his phrasing exhausts Ban and Ma. When the literary edge is stirred, then pipes and chimes harmonize of themselves; when the light brush flies for a moment, then flowers bloom in rivalry. He treats the myriad people with kindness and meets ministers with ceremony. He praises goodness as fine as an autumn hair and loosens the net that would swallow a boat. Remonstrance that grates on the ear he must hear; pleas that touch the skin he cuts off. The virtue of cherishing life burns barrier dams on rivers and lakes; the humanity that hates killing stills the cleaver at the butcher's stall. Ducks and cranes receive the bounty of grain and millet; dogs and horses are covered by the grace of carriage curtains. He descended from his carriage to suck the wound of Simo and went up the hall to stand before Wei Zheng's bier. When he wept for soldiers dead in battle, sorrow moved the Six Armies; when he carried firewood to fill the road, his spirit moved Heaven and Earth. He weighs the great mandate of the black-headed people and especially exhausts his heart in ordinary lawsuits. Your servant's mind is dim and confused—how could it suffice to discuss the depth and distance of the sage achievement or speak of the height and greatness of Heaven's virtue! Your Majesty combines every excellence and possesses them; nothing is lacking. Your lowly servant deeply regrets this for Your Majesty, values it, loves it, and treasures it. The Book of Changes says: "To know advance and not know retreat, to know preservation and not know extinction, to know gain and not know loss." It also says: "To know advance, retreat, preservation, and extinction without losing the correct mean—only a sage!" From this it follows that advance has the meaning of retreat, preservation has the occasion of extinction, and gain has the principle of loss. The reason this old minister regrets for Your Majesty is precisely this. Laozi says: "To know sufficiency is not to be disgraced; to know when to stop is not to be endangered." Your Majesty's martial name and meritorious virtue may already be sufficient; extending territory and opening borders may also be stopped. That Goguryeo is a base barbarian of the borderlands, unworthy of being treated with benevolence and righteousness, and not to be charged with ordinary ritual. From antiquity it has been kept like fish and turtles; one should follow a broad indulgence. If one must utterly cut off its kind, I fear that when beasts are cornered they will fight. Moreover, whenever Your Majesty decides a death sentence, he always orders three reviews and five submissions, vegetarian food, and the stopping of music—because human life is weighty and moves the sage compassion. How much more now are the soldiers, not one of whom has guilt, driven without cause into the ranks of battle and cast under the edge of blades, so that livers and brains smear the ground and souls have nowhere to return—making old fathers, orphaned sons, widowed wives, and loving mothers gaze at the supply carts and cover their faces weeping, embrace dry bones and break their hearts—enough to shift yin and yang and wound harmonious qi; this is truly the wrong and pain of the realm under Heaven. Moreover, troops are an inauspicious instrument and battle a perilous affair; they are used only when there is no choice. If Goguryeo had failed in the duty of a subject, Your Majesty might punish it; if it had harassed the people, Your Majesty might destroy it; if for long it could become a calamity to China, Your Majesty might remove it. If any one of these three were present, though ten thousand men were killed in a day, it would not be shame. Now none of these three is present, yet China is troubled for nothing—within, to wipe away the old king's shame; without, to avenge Silla. Is not what is kept small and what is lost great? I wish Your Majesty would follow the imperial ancestor Laozi's admonition of stopping when sufficient, to preserve the lofty name for ten thousand generations. Send forth overflowing favor, issue a broad and lenient edict, follow the spring sun in spreading bounty, and allow Goguryeo to renew itself. Burn the wave-crossing ships, dismiss the recruited masses—then naturally Chinese and barbarians will rejoice in dependence, the distant will be reverent and the near secure. Your servant, old and ill among the Three Dukes, will enter the ground morning and evening; what he regrets is that he can add not even dust or dew to sea and mountain. I respectfully exhaust the remnant soul and lingering breath to offer beforehand the sincerity of tying grass. If Your Majesty records this mournful cry, then your servant, though dead, will not decay.
16
使 使
When Taizong saw the memorial, he said to Xuanling's daughter-in-law, Princess Gaoyang: "This man is so critically ill, yet he can still worry for our state." Afterward his illness grew worse; they broke through the garden wall and opened a gate, and repeatedly sent palace envoys to inquire. The emperor also came in person, clasped his hand in farewell, and could not master his grief. The Crown Prince also went to him and took leave. That same day he appointed his son Yiai Right Captain of the Palace Guard and Yize Palace Attendant, so that before his eyes they saw their advancement. Soon after he died, aged seventy. Court mourning was suspended for three days. He was enfeoffed posthumously as Grand Commandant and Area Commander of Bingzhou, with the posthumous title Wenzhao; the Eastern Garden secret vessels were granted, and he was buried with honor at Zhaoling. Xuanling once admonished his sons against pride, luxury, and dissipation, saying they must never rely on family standing to look down on others; he therefore gathered admonitions of sage and worthy families from past and present, wrote them on screen panels, had each take one, and said: "If you can heed this, it will suffice to preserve yourself and make a name." He also said: "The Yuan family through successive generations has shown loyal integrity; this is what I esteem—you should take them as teachers." When Gaozong succeeded the throne, an edict ordered Xuanling to share sacrifice in Taizong's temple court.
17
婿
His son Yizhi inherited the title; at the beginning of Yonghui he was Minister of Rites and Prefect of Bianzhou. The second son Yiai married Taizong's daughter Princess Gaoyang, was appointed Commandant Escort of the Emperor's Son-in-law, and reached Grand Minister of the Court of the Imperial Granary and Palace Attendant. At first the princess had Taizong's favor, and so Yiai especially received gracious treatment; his ritual rank and salary differed utterly from the other imperial sons-in-law. The princess, being proud and willful, plotted to remove Yizhi and seize his enfeoffment; in the Yonghui era she falsely accused Yizhi of treating her without ceremony. Gaozong ordered Zhangsun Wuji to examine the matter and thereby obtained evidence that the princess and Yiai had plotted rebellion. Yiai was executed; the princess was ordered to take her own life; the sons were sent into exile beyond the Lingnan range. Yizhi was specially pardoned because of his father's merit, stripped of his name, and made a commoner. Xuanling's shared sacrifice was stopped.
18
Du Ruhui, styled Keming, was a man of Duling in Jingzhao. His great-grandfather Jiao was posthumously enfeoffed in Zhou as General of the Gate with the same precedence as the Three Excellencies, Grand General, and Prefect of Suizhou. His grandfather Hui was Prefect of Henei in Zhou. His grandfather Guo was Prefect of Wen in Zhou; entering Sui, he was Minister of Works and Duke of Yixing; he has a biography in the Book of Zhou. His father Tuo was Chief Administrator of Changzhou in Sui.
19
調 祿
Ruhui was clever and perceptive from youth and loved to discuss literature and history. In the Daye era of Sui he entered selection by regular quota; Vice Minister of Personnel Gao Xiaoji deeply valued him, turned to him and said: "You have talent for meeting change and should serve as timber for the ridgepole; I wish you would preserve and exalt your fine virtue. Now I wish to descend to a humble post, only for a little salary."" He was then appointed sheriff of Fuyang; soon he abandoned the office and returned home.
20
When Taizong pacified the capital, he was summoned as Military Administrative Aide of the Prince of Qin's household and soon promoted to Chief Administrator of the Shaanzhou Area Command. At that time the household had many outstanding men, and many were transferred outward; Taizong was troubled by this. Recorder Fang Xuanling said: "Though many staff members have left, that is scarcely to be regretted. Du Ruhui is intelligent, knowing, and penetrating—talent to assist a king. If the great king keeps the fief with folded hands and does nothing, he has no use for him; if you must manage the four quarters, none but this man will do." Taizong was greatly startled and said: "Had you not spoken, I would almost have lost this man!" He then memorialized to make him a household staff member. Afterward he followed the campaigns against Xue Rengao, Liu Wuzhou, Wang Shichong, and Dou Jiande, and often took part in planning within the tent. At that time military and state affairs were many; his decisions flowed like water, and the men of the age deeply submitted to him. He was repeatedly promoted to Director of Meritorious Service in the Shaanxi Eastern Circuit Grand Secretariat, enfeoffed as Baron of Pingping with a fief of three hundred households. Soon he held that office concurrently as a scholar of the Literary Hall. When the Heavenly Stratagem Office was established, he was made Attendant Gentleman; of the eighteen men painted in colors, Ruhui stood first. Literary Scholar Chu Liang was ordered to compose a eulogy for him, saying: "Establishing peace with literary elegance, he has a blazing glory. Cherishing loyalty and treading righteousness, he stands and makes his name resound." He was valued to this degree.
21
The Hidden Crown Prince deeply feared him and said to Prince of Qi Yuanji: "Among those to be feared in the Prince of Qin's household, only Du Ruhui and Fang Xuanling." He therefore slandered them to Gaozu, and Ruhui was expelled together with Xuanling. Afterward he secretly entered to draw up plans; when the affair succeeded, his merit equaled Fang Xuanling's. He was promoted Left Assistant of the Crown Prince, soon moved to Minister of War, advanced to Duke of Cai, and granted a substantial fief of one thousand three hundred households. In the second year of Zhenguan, holding his original office as acting Palace Attendant and provisional Minister of Personnel, he still oversaw the Eastern Palace's military and horse affairs and was called competent.
22
祿 使
In the third year he replaced Zhangsun Wuji as Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, still managing selection affairs, and with Fang Xuanling jointly held court governance. As for the platform and pavilion structure and the statutes and personnel, both men fixed them; they greatly won the praise of the age, and those who speak of good chancellors to this day still name Fang and Du. Ruhui, because Gao Xiaoji had the mirror of knowing men, erected a spirit-way stele for him to record his virtue. That winter he fell ill, submitted a memorial asking to resign his office, was permitted, and salary and gifts followed the old standard. Taizong deeply worried over his illness, repeatedly sent envoys to inquire after him, and famous physicians and superior medicines followed one another on the road.
23
使
In the fourth year, when his illness was grave, the Crown Prince was ordered to visit his house and inquire; the emperor personally visited his residence, stroked him and wept, and granted a thousand bolts of goods; before he had finished, he saw his son receive appointment, and at once promoted his son Gou, Left Thousand-Bolt Guard, to Director of the Palace Commissary. Soon he died, aged forty-six. Taizong wept for him with great grief, suspended court for three days, posthumously enfeoffed him as Minister of Works, transferred his enfeoffment to Duke of Lai, with the posthumous title Cheng. Taizong wrote in his own hand to Compiler Yu Shinan: "I and Ruhui had a weighty bond of ruler and minister. Unhappily he suddenly followed transformation; recalling his meritorious service of old, grief and mourning fill the breast. Take my meaning and compose the stele inscription."" Later, when Taizong ate melon and found it fine, he mournfully grieved for Ruhui, stopped eating half of it, and sent an envoy to offer sacrifice at the spirit seat. He also once granted Fang Xuanling a yellow-silver belt, turned to Xuanling and said: "In former days Ruhui and you together assisted me with one heart; of what is granted today, you alone are seen."" He thereupon wept with streaming tears. He also said: "I have heard that yellow silver is much feared by ghosts and spirits."" He ordered a gold belt taken and sent Xuanling in person to deliver it to the spirit place. Afterward Taizong suddenly dreamed of Ruhui as in life; at dawn he told Xuanling, spoke with sighs and sobs, and ordered imperial fare sent as sacrifice. The next year on the anniversary of Ruhui's death, Taizong again sent a palace official to his house to console his wife and children; the officials of his state household were not dismissed. Favor from first to last—there has never been the like.
24
His son Gou inherited the title, reached Prefect of Ci, and because his younger brother He plotted rebellion was sent into exile beyond the Lingnan range, where he died. At first He, as the son of a meritorious minister, married Princess Chengyang, was enfeoffed Duke of Xiangyang, and appointed Director of the Imperial Stud. In the Zhenguan era he plotted rebellion with Crown Prince Chengqian and was executed.
25
滿
Ruhui's younger brother Chuke in youth followed his uncle Yan and was submerged in Wang Shichong's domain. Yan had long been at odds with Ruhui and his brothers; he slandered Ruhui's elder brother to Wang Xingman, and Wang Shichong killed him and also imprisoned Chuke, who nearly starved to death—yet Chuke showed no resentment. When Luoyang was pacified, Yan was due for death; Chuke wept and begged Ruhui to save him. At first Ruhui would not agree; Chuke said: "The uncle already killed the elder brother; now the elder brother again bears hatred and abandons the uncle—within one gate, killing one another to the end—is that not pain!"" He thereupon wished to cut his own throat. Ruhui was moved by his words and asked Taizong; Yan then received gracious pardon. Chuke therefore hid on Mount Song.
26
In the fourth year of Zhenguan he was summoned and appointed Supervising Secretary; the emperor said to him: "I hear you have dwelt long in the mountains, and your will is very high; unless the post is chancellor, you cannot come out—is there such a principle? To travel far one must begin from what is near; to climb high one must begin from what is low—but if in office one is approved by the masses, one need not worry that the office will not be great. Though your elder brother differs from me in body, his heart is still one; for our state he has no small great merit. Recalling your elder brother, I wish to see you. You should know my intent and continue your elder brother's loyal righteousness." Chuke was appointed Prefect of Pu and had a great name for ability. Later he served as Chief Administrator of Prince of Wei's household, was appointed Minister of Works, and held affairs of Prince of Wei Tai's household in commission.
27
Chuke knew Taizong was displeased with Chengqian and that Prince of Wei Tai also secretly had Chuke befriend court officials in power; some even brought gold to bribe them, and he urged that Tai was intelligent and could be made heir. Some reported this; Taizong concealed it and did not speak. When the breach broke open, Taizong at last publicized the matter; because his elder brother had merit in founding the mandate, he was spared death and degraded at home. Soon he was appointed magistrate of Chuhua and died.
28
Ruhui's uncle Yan. Yan, styled Zhili. His grandfather Ye was Prefect of Yu in Zhou. His father Zheng was Prefect of Henei. Yan was clever in debate and had many arts and skills; in his weak-capped years he had a fine name. With Wei Fuqi of the same commandery he was friends beyond measure; together they plotted and said: "The ruler above loves worthy recluses; Su Wei, as a man in seclusion, was summoned and promoted to a fine post."" They then together entered Mount Taibai, publicly declaring reclusion while in fact seeking reputation of the age. Emperor Wen of Sui heard of it and hated them; they were banished to garrison on the Jiang south and later returned to their native place.
29
調
Chief Administrator of Yongzhou Gao Xiaoji submitted a memorial recommending them; they were appointed Gentlemen for Attending Service. At the end of the Daye era he reached Vice Censor-in-Chief. When Wang Shichong usurped the title, he was appointed to the Ministry of Personnel and was greatly trusted and used. When Luoyang was pacified, at first he received no appointment; Yan was about to pledge allegiance to the Hidden Crown Prince. At that time Feng Deyi managed selection; he told Fang Xuanling, fearing the Hidden Crown Prince would obtain him and lengthen his wicked plans; he therefore hastily reported to Taizong, who summoned Yan as Military Administrative Aide of the Heavenly Stratagem Office and Literary Hall scholar.
30
簿
In the eighth year of Wude, Area Commander Yang Wengan of Qingzhou rebelled; his words implicated the Eastern Palace, and blame was laid on Yan together with Wang Gui, Wei Ting, and others; all were sent into exile in Yuexi. Taizong knew Yan was not guilty and sent him three hundred bolts of yellow gold. When Taizong took the throne, Yan was summoned as Censor-in-Chief, enfeoffed Duke of Anji, and granted a substantial fief of four hundred households. Because Yan knew many precedents and statutes, a special edict took the Eastern Palace's ritual forms and ledgers and had Yan direct them all. Soon he was assigned Minister of Personnel and took part in deliberating court governance. Before and after he submitted memorials recommending more than forty men; many later became well known.
31
祿 祿
Yan once recommended Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice Chi Huaidao; Taizong therefore asked Yan: "How are Huaidao's conduct and talent?"" Yan replied: "In Sui days Huaidao served as chief clerk in the Ministry of Personnel and had a great name for purity and caution. Also, on the day Emperor Yang went toward Jiangdu, he summoned the hundred officials to ask their plans for going or staying. At that time the plan to go was already decided; the high ministers all flattered the intent and asked to go; Huaidao's rank was extremely low, yet he alone said it could not be done. Your servant saw this matter with his own eyes."" Taizong said: "You then—what plan did you follow?"" He replied: "Your servant followed the plan to go."" Taizong said: "In serving a ruler, the principle is to remonstrate though it offend and hide nothing. You call Huaidao right—why did you yourself not remonstrate directly?" He replied: "Your servant then did not hold a weighty post, and also knew that remonstrance would certainly not be followed—dying in vain would have no benefit."" Taizong said: "Confucius said, 'Obeying a father's command is not yet being a filial son. Therefore a father has a son who contends, and a state has a minister who contends. If the ruler above is without the Way, why still serve his age? Since one eats his salary, how can one not set right his wrongs?" He therefore said to the assembled ministers: "Each of you—speak of remonstrance, how is it?" Wang Gui said: "In former days Bi Gan remonstrated with Zhou and died; Confucius called him humane; Xie Ye remonstrated and was slaughtered; Confucius said: 'When the people have many evils, do not establish evils of your own. Thus when salary is heavy and responsibility deep, reason requires utmost remonstrance; when office is low and expectation small, one may be allowed leeway."" Taizong again summoned Yan, smiled and said to him: "You in Sui days, with rank low, might not speak; recently serving Shichong, why not remonstrate to the utmost?"" He replied: "There was also remonstrance, but it was not followed."" Taizong said: "If Shichong had cultivated virtue and followed goodness, he ought not to have perished; since he was without the Way and rejected remonstrance, how did you escape calamity?"" Yan had nothing to reply. Taizong also said: "You in the present day can fill a full post—do you again wish to remonstrate to the utmost?"" He replied: "Your servant in the present day will certainly exhaust death and hide nothing. Moreover, Baili Xi in Yu—Yu perished; in Qin—Qin became hegemon; your servant privately compares myself to him."" Taizong laughed.
32
At that time Yan held two posts concurrently yet had no reputation for purity; he also had long been at odds with Wuji, and the talk of the age mocked him. When he fell ill, Taizong personally visited and inquired, granting three hundred bolts of silk. In the second year of Zhenguan he died, posthumously enfeoffed Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, with the posthumous title Xiang. His son Jingtong inherited the title and reached Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Jingtong's son Congze, in the Zhongzong era, was Prefect of Pu.
33
The historiographer says: Fang and Du, the two lords, both possessed talent of an age, met enlightened rulers, and with plans and counsel in accord brought about ascending peace. Those who discuss the matter compare them to Xiao and Cao of Han—truly so! Yet when Lai Cheng was employed, it was Wenzhao who recommended him. The age transmits that Taizong once planned affairs with Wenzhao, who then said, "No one but Ruhui can plan this." When Ruhui arrived, in the end they followed Xuanling's plan. Fang knew Du's ability to decide great affairs; Du knew Fang's skill in building fine plans—one assisted in the first drafting, the other polished in the eastern quarter; they needed one another to succeed, so that there were no regrettable affairs. That worthy men applied their hearts thus indeed has its reason. If compared with sages of old, Fang is Guan Zhong and Zichan; Du is Bao Shuya and Han Hu.
34
The eulogy says: When a sage ruler first opens the way, worthy assistants must be born. How splendid, the two lords—they truly opened the fortune of the throne. In writing they held warp and woof; in counsel they aided deeply at the side. Pipes and chimes in one tone—only Fang and Du.
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