Volume 118 Biographies 6: Princes 3

太祖諸子三

The Sons of the Taizu Emperor, Part Three

岷王梗谷王橞韓王松瀋王模〈（沁水王呈階清源王幼㘧）〉安王楹唐王桱〈（三城王芝垝文城王彌鉗彌鋠輔國將軍宇浹）〉郢王棟伊王㰘皇子楠靖江王守謙

Prince of Min Geng, Prince of Gu Yi, Prince of Han Song, and Prince of Shen Mo (Prince of Qinshui Chengjie; Prince of Qingyuan Youzhu)〉 Prince of An Ying and Prince of Tang Jing (Prince of Sancheng Zhigang; Prince of Wencheng Miqian and Mijin; Defender-general of the State Yu Jia)〉 Prince of Ying Dong, Prince of Yi, the imperial son Nan, and Prince of Jingjiang Shouqian

○興宗諸子

The Sons of the Heir Apparent

虞王雄英吳王允熥衡王允熞徐王允𤐤

Prince of Yu Xiongying, Prince of Wu Yunbiao, Prince of Heng Yunjiao, and Prince of Xu

○惠帝諸子

The Sons of Emperor Hui

太子文奎少子文圭

Crown Prince Wenkui and the younger son Wengui

○成祖諸子

The Sons of Emperor Chengzu

高煦趙王高燧高爔

Gaoxu, Prince of Zhao Gaosui, and Gaoxi

初，世子徽焲，宣德初，訐其弟鎮南王徽煣誹謗仁廟。宣宗疑其詐，並召至京，及所連閹豎面質，事果誣，斬閹豎而遣徽煣等歸。徽煣嗣位。弟廣通王徽煠有勇力，家人段友洪以技術得寵。致仕後軍都事於利賓言徽煠有異相，當主天下，遂謀亂。作偽敕，分遣友洪及蒙能、陳添行入苗中，誘諸苗以銀印金幣，使發兵攻武岡。苗首楊文伯等不敢受。事覺，友洪為徽煣所執。都御史李實以聞，遣駙馬都尉焦敬、中官李琮徵徽煠入京師。湖廣總管王來、總兵官梁缶復發陽宗王徽焟通謀狀，亦徵入。皆除爵，幽高墻。時景泰二年十月也。

At first the heir apparent Huiji, early in the Xuande reign, denounced his younger brother the Prince of Zhennan, Huiyu, for slandering the late Ren Emperor. The Xuande Emperor suspected a frame-up, summoned both brothers to the capital, and confronted the eunuchs implicated in the case face to face. The charge proved false; the eunuchs were executed and Huiyu and the others were sent home. Huiyu then succeeded to the princedom. His younger brother the Prince of Guangtong, Huiye, was strong and martial; a household retainer named Duan Youhong won favor through occult arts. Yu Libin, a retired commandant of the Rear Army, declared that Huiye bore an extraordinary countenance and was destined to rule the realm, and they thereupon plotted rebellion. They forged an imperial edict and dispatched Youhong, Meng Neng, and Chen Tianxing into Miao territory, tempting the chiefs with silver seals and gold coins to raise troops and attack Wugang. The Miao chiefs Yang Wenbo and others dared not accept. When the plot came to light, Youhong was seized by Huiyu. Censor-in-chief Li Shi reported the matter, and the court sent Commandant-escort Jiao Jing and the eunuch Li Cong to summon Huiye to the capital. Grand coordinator Wang Lai of Huguang and regional commander Liang Fou also exposed the Prince of Yangzong, Huiyun, as a co-conspirator, and he too was summoned to the capital. All were stripped of their titles and immured in the inner palace compound. This was in the tenth month of the second year of the Jingtai reign.

天順七年，徽煣薨。子順王音嗣，病瘋痹，屢年不起。次子安昌王膺鋪侍醫藥，晨夕不去左右。憲宗聞之，賜敕嘉獎。成化十六年，音薨。世子膺鉟居喪，飲博無度，承奉劉忠禁制之，遂殺忠。事聞，驗實，革冠帶停封。居四年，乃嗣。弘治十三年薨，謚曰簡。子靖王彥汰嗣。嘉靖四年，與弟南安王彥泥訐陰事，彥泥廢為庶人，彥汰亦坐抗制擅權革爵。八年令世子譽榮攝府事。譽榮上疏懇辭，謂：「臣坐享尊榮，而父困苦寂寞，臣心何安！且前曾舉臣弟善化王譽桔，廷議以子無制父理，奏寢不行。臣亦人子也，獨不愧臣弟乎！」帝覽疏憐之，下部議。十二年賜彥汰冠帶，理府事。十五年，以兩宮徽號恩復王。又八年始薨。子康王譽榮嗣，三十一年薨。子憲王定耀嗣，三十四年薨。曾孫禋洪，天啟二年嗣，崇禎元年薨。無子，從父企嗣。十六年，流賊陷武岡遇害。谷王橞，太祖第十九子。洪武二十四年封。二十八年三月就藩宣府。宣府，上谷地，故曰谷王。燕兵起，橞走還京師。及燕師渡江，橞奉命守金川門，登城望見成祖麾蓋，開門迎降。成祖德之，即位，賜橞樂七奏，衛士三百，賚予甚厚。改封長沙，增歲祿二千石。

In the seventh year of the Tianshun reign, Huiyu died. His son the Prince of Shun, Yin, succeeded him but was stricken with paralysis and for years could not leave his bed. His second son the Prince of Anchang, Yingpu, tended him with medicines and never left his side from morning till night. When the Xianzong Emperor heard of this, he issued an edict commending him. In the sixteenth year of the Chenghua reign, Yin died. During the mourning period the heir apparent Yingbo drank and gambled without restraint. His attendant Liu Zhong tried to restrain him, and Yingbo killed him. When the matter was reported and verified, he was stripped of his cap and belt and his succession was suspended. After four years he was permitted to succeed. He died in the thirteenth year of the Hongzhi reign and was given the posthumous title Jian (Plain). His son the Prince of Jing, Yantai, succeeded him. In the fourth year of the Jiajing reign he and his younger brother the Prince of Nan'an, Yan'ni, denounced each other's secret wrongdoing. Yan'ni was reduced to commoner status, and Yantai also lost his title for defying the court and arrogating power. In the eighth year the heir apparent Yurong was ordered to administer the princedom. Yurong submitted a memorial earnestly declining, saying, "Your subject enjoys rank and honor while his father lives in hardship and loneliness—how can my heart be at ease! Moreover, I once recommended my younger brother the Prince of Shanhua, Yujie, but the court held that a son must not govern his father, and the proposal was set aside. I too am a son—should I not feel ashamed before my younger brother!" The emperor read the memorial with compassion and referred the matter to the ministries for deliberation. In the twelfth year Yantai was restored to cap and belt and permitted to administer the princedom. In the fifteenth year, by grace of the honorific titles granted to the two palaces, his princely title was restored. Eight years later he died. His son the Prince of Kang, Yurong, succeeded him and died in the thirty-first year of his reign. His son the Prince of Xian, Dingyao, succeeded and died in the thirty-fourth year. The great-grandson Yin Hong succeeded in the second year of the Tianqi reign and died in the first year of the Chongzhen reign. He had no son, and a collateral relative named Qi succeeded. In the sixteenth year, when roving rebels seized Wugang, he was killed. The Prince of Gu, Yi, was the nineteenth son of the Taizu Emperor. He received his enfeoffment in the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign. In the third month of the twenty-eighth year he went to take up his fief at Xuanfu. Xuanfu lay in the Shanggu region, hence the title Prince of Gu (Valley). When the Yan armies rose, Yi fled back to the capital. When the Yan forces crossed the Yangzi, Yi was ordered to hold the Jinchuan Gate. He mounted the wall, saw Chengzu's banner and canopy, and opened the gate to welcome them in. Chengzu was deeply grateful. Upon his accession he granted Yi a seven-piece musical establishment, three hundred guards, and exceedingly generous rewards. He was reassigned to Changsha and his annual stipend was increased by two thousand piculs.

橞居國橫甚，忠誠伯茹常過長沙不謁橞，橞白之帝，常得罪死。遂益驕肆，奪民田，侵公稅，殺無罪人。長史虞廷綱數諫，誣廷綱誹謗，磔殺之。招匿亡命，習兵法戰陣，造戰艦弓弩器械。大創佛寺，度僧千人，為咒詛。日與都指揮張成，宦者吳智、劉信謀，呼成「師尚父」，智、信「國老令公」。偽引讖書，云：「我高皇帝十八子，與讖合。」橞行次十九，以趙王杞早卒，故云。謀於元夕獻燈，選壯士教之音樂，同入禁中，伺隙為變。又致書蜀王為隱語，欲結蜀為援。蜀王貽書切責。不聽。己而蜀王子崇寧王悅燇得罪，逃橞所。橞因詭眾：「往年我開金川門出建文君，今在邸中。我將為申大義，事發有日矣。」蜀王聞之，上變告。

Yi ruled his domain with extreme arrogance. When the Marquis of Zhongcheng, Ru Chang, passed through Changsha without paying a courtesy call, Yi reported him to the emperor, and Chang was condemned to death. He grew still more arrogant, seized commoners' land, diverted public revenues, and killed the innocent. Chief administrator Yu Tinggang remonstrated with him repeatedly. Yi falsely accused Tinggang of slander and had him executed by dismemberment. He harbored fugitives, drilled his men in tactics and battle formations, and built warships, crossbows, and other weapons. He greatly expanded Buddhist temples, ordained a thousand monks, and employed them in curses and imprecations. Day after day he plotted with regional commander Zhang Cheng and the eunuchs Wu Zhi and Liu Xin, addressing Cheng as "Grand Tutor" and Zhi and Xin as "Elder Statesmen of the Realm." He falsely cited a prophecy, saying, "Our August Emperor had eighteen sons—this accords with the prophecy." Yi ranked nineteenth; because the Prince of Zhao, Qi, had died young, he made this claim. He planned to present lanterns on the Lantern Festival, select strong men trained in music, enter the inner palace with them, and seize an opportunity to stage a coup. He also wrote to the Prince of Shu in cryptic language, hoping to win Shu as an ally. The Prince of Shu sent back a letter sharply rebuking him. Yi would not listen. Before long the Prince of Shu's son the Prince of Chongning, Yueyan, fell afoul of the law and fled to Yi's residence. Yi thereupon deceived his followers, saying, "Years ago I opened the Jinchuan Gate and let the Jianwen Emperor escape; he is now in my residence. I shall soon uphold the righteous cause; the day of action draws near." When the Prince of Shu heard of this, he reported the plot to the throne.

初，護衛都督僉事張興見橞為不法，懼禍及，因奏事北京，白其狀。帝不信。興過南京，復啟於太子，且曰：「乞他日無連坐。」至是，帝嘆曰：「朕待橞厚，張興常為朕言，不忍信，今果然。」立命中官持敕諭橞歸悅燇於蜀，且召橞入朝。橞至，帝示以蜀王章，伏地請死。諸大臣廷劾橞曰：「周戮管、蔡，漢辟濞、長，皆大義滅親，陛下縱念橞，奈天下何？」帝曰：「橞，朕弟，朕且令諸兄弟議。」永樂十五年正月，周王橚、楚王楨、蜀王椿等各上議：「橞違祖訓，謀不軌，蹤跡甚著，大逆不道，誅無赦。」帝曰：「諸王群臣奉大義，國法固爾，吾寧生橞？」於是及二子皆廢為庶人，官屬多誅死，興以先發不坐。韓憲王松，太祖第二十子。洪武二十四年封國開原。性英敏，通古今，恭謹無過。永樂五年薨。以未之國，命葬安德門外。十年，子恭王沖或嗣。時棄大寧三衛地，開原逼塞不可居。二十二年改封平涼。仁宗即位，召沖或與弟襄陵王沖秌、樂平王沖烌入朝，各獻詩頌。帝嘉悅，賜金幣有差。宣宗初，請徙江南。不許。請蠲護衛屯租，建邸第。許之。遣主事毛俊經度，並建襄陵、樂平二邸及岷州廣福寺。陜西守臣言歲歉，請輟工。帝令繕王宮，罷建寺役。平涼接邊僥，間諜充斥，沖或習邊鄙利弊，正統元年上書極言邊事。賜書褒答。五年薨。子懷王範圯嗣，九年薨。弟靖王範仰嗣，景泰元年薨。子惠王征釙嗣。初，土木之變，沖秌赴京師勤王，會解嚴。下書慰勞。及成化六年，寇入河套，沖秌復請率子婿擊賊。憲宗止之。沖或兄弟並急王事，以藩禁嚴不用。自是宗臣無預兵事者。

Earlier, guard commandant Zhang Xing, seeing Yi's lawlessness, feared being implicated and, while on business in Beijing, disclosed his conduct to the throne. The emperor did not believe him. Passing through Nanjing, Xing informed the crown prince as well, saying, "I beg that when the day comes I not be punished by association." Now the emperor sighed and said, "I treated Yi generously. Zhang Xing often warned me, yet I could not bear to believe him—and now it has indeed come to pass." He immediately ordered a eunuch to carry an edict instructing Yi to return Yueyan to Shu and summoning Yi to court. When Yi arrived, the emperor showed him the Prince of Shu's memorial. Yi prostrated himself and begged for death. The ministers impeached Yi at court, saying, "Zhou executed Guan and Cai; Han punished Liu Pi and Liu Chang—all placed righteousness above kinship. Even if Your Majesty pities Yi, what of the realm?" The emperor said, "Yi is my younger brother. I shall have my brothers deliberate." In the first month of the fifteenth year of Yongle, the Princes of Zhou, Chu, and Shu each submitted opinions: "Yi has violated ancestral teachings and plotted rebellion; the evidence is clear. This is great treason and he should be executed without pardon." The emperor said, "The princes and ministers uphold righteousness, and the law of the state demands it—how could I let Yi live?" Thereupon he and his two sons were all reduced to commoner status; many of his officials were executed; Xing was not punished because he had reported first. The Prince of Han, posthumously titled Xian, Song, was the twentieth son of the Taizu Emperor. In the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign he was enfeoffed at Kaiyuan. He was intelligent and keen by nature, versed in past and present learning, and respectful and cautious without fault. He died in the fifth year of the Yongle reign. Because he had never gone to his fief, he was ordered buried outside Ande Gate. In the tenth year his son the Prince of Gong, Chongran, succeeded. By then the three guards of Daning had been abandoned; Kaiyuan lay hard against the frontier and could not be inhabited. In the twenty-second year the fief was moved to Pingliang. When the Renzong Emperor acceded, he summoned Chongran and his younger brothers the Princes of Xiangling, Chongqiu, and Leping, Chongxiu, to court, and each presented poems of praise. The emperor was pleased and granted gold and coins in varying amounts. Early in the Xuande reign he requested relocation to the south. The request was denied. He requested exemption of guard colony rents and the construction of a princely residence. Both requests were granted. Principal clerk Mao Jun was sent to survey the sites, and residences for the Xiangling and Leping lines were built, along with the Guangfu Temple at Minzhou. Shaanxi frontier officials reported a poor harvest and asked that construction work be halted. The emperor ordered repairs to the princely palace and suspended work on the temple. Pingliang lay on the frontier, where spies were everywhere. Chongran knew the border country well, and in the first year of the Zhengtong reign he submitted a memorial detailing frontier affairs at length. The emperor sent him a letter of commendation in reply. He died in the fifth year of the Zhengtong reign. His son the Prince of Huai, Fan Yi, succeeded him and died in the ninth year. His younger brother the Prince of Jing, Fan Yang, succeeded and died in the first year of the Jingtai reign. His son the Prince of Hui, Zheng Bo, succeeded. Earlier, during the Tumu Crisis, Chongqiu had set out for the capital to rescue the throne, but the crisis was resolved before he arrived. The emperor sent him a letter of consolation and commendation. In the sixth year of the Chenghua reign, when raiders entered the Ordos loop, Chongqiu again asked to lead his sons and sons-in-law against them. The Chenghua Emperor refused the request. Chongran and his brothers were all eager to serve the throne in military matters, but strict princely restrictions kept them from being used. After that, no member of the imperial clan was allowed to take part in military affairs.

成化五年，徵釙薨，子悼王偕氵充嗣，十年薨。弟康王偕灊嗣，弘治十四年薨。子昭王旭櫏嗣。性忠孝，工詩，居藩有惠政。韓土瘠祿薄，弟建寧王旭肴至，以所受金冊質於宗室偕泆，事聞，廢為庶人。諸貧宗往往淩劫有司，平涼知府吳世良、鄺衍、任守德、王松先後被窘辱。嘉靖十三年，旭櫏薨。子定王融燧嗣，懲宗室之橫，頗繩以法。不逞者怨之。三十二年，襄陵王融焚及諸宗二百余人訐奏王奸利事。勘無實，革融焚等祿。四十四年，融燧薨。子謨典先卒。世宗末年，以宗祿不足，詔身不及王者，許其嫡長子繼王，余子如故秩。謨典以世子不及王，王其長子朗锜，余子止鎮國將軍。萬歷三十四年，朗锜薨，謚曰端。子孫皆早卒，曾孫亶塉嗣。崇禎十六年，賊陷平涼，被執。

In the fifth year of the Chenghua reign Zheng Bo died. His son the Prince of Dao, Xie Chong, succeeded him and died in the tenth year. His younger brother the Prince of Kang, Xie Qian, succeeded and died in the fourteenth year of the Hongzhi reign. His son the Prince of Zhao, Xu Gui, succeeded. He was loyal and filial by nature, skilled at poetry, and governed his fief with benevolent policies. The Han fief was poor and its stipends meager. His younger brother the Prince of Jianning, Xu Yao, pawned his golden patent of nobility to the clansman Xie Yi; when the matter came to light, he was stripped of rank and reduced to commoner status. Impoverished clansmen often bullied and robbed local officials, and the prefects of Pingliang—Wu Shiliang, Kuang Yan, Ren Shoude, and Wang Song—were successively harassed and humiliated. Xu Gui died in the thirteenth year of the Jiajing reign. His son the Prince of Ding, Rong Sui, succeeded and, to curb the arrogance of the clansmen, enforced the law on them with some rigor. Those who would not submit resented him. In the thirty-second year the Prince of Xiangling, Rong Fen, and more than two hundred other clansmen submitted accusations of corruption against the prince. Investigation found no substance to the charges, and the stipends of Rong Fen and the others were revoked. Rong Sui died in the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign. His son Mo Dian predeceased him. Near the end of the Jiajing reign, because imperial clan stipends were insufficient, an edict allowed those who did not meet the height requirement for princes to have their eldest legitimate sons inherit the princely title, while other sons kept their former ranks. Because Mo Dian's heir did not meet the height requirement, his eldest son Lang Qi inherited the princely title, while the other sons remained Defender-Generals of the State. Lang Qi died in the thirty-fourth year of the Wanli reign and was posthumously titled Duan. His sons and grandsons all died young, and succession passed to his great-grandson Dan Ji. In the sixteenth year of the Chongzhen reign rebels captured Pingliang and took him prisoner.

襄陵王沖秌，憲王第二子，有至性。母病，刲股和藥，病良已。及卒，終喪毀瘠。每展墓，必率子孫躬畚鍤培冢。先後璽書褒美者六。子範址服其教，母荊罹危疾，亦刲股進之，愈。其後五世同居，門內雍肅。嘉靖十一年賚以羊酒文幣。韓諸王以襄陵家法為第一。王孫征鑖病卒，聘杜氏女，未婚，歸王家，誌操甚歷，詔賜旌表。瀋簡王模，太祖第二十一子。洪武二十四年封。永樂六年就藩潞州。宣德六年薨。子康王佶焞嗣。景泰中，數與州官置酒大會，巡撫朱鑒以聞。帝令諸王，非時令壽節，不得輒與有司宴飲，著為令。天順元年薨。子莊王幼學嗣，正德十一年薨。子恭王詮鉦嗣，嘉靖六年薨。孫允榿攝府事，九年卒。無子，再從弟憲王允栘攝府事，凡十年乃嗣封。當是時，瀋府諸郡王勛淯、詮並爭襲，帝皆切責之，而令允栘嗣。二十八年薨。子宣王恬烄嗣，好學，工古文詞，審聲律。弟安慶王恬爖、鎮康王恬焯，穆宗時皆以孝義旌。萬歷十年，恬烄薨。子定王呈堯嗣，仁孝恭慎。弟六人，封郡王者二。余例不得封，朝廷獎王恭，皆封郡王而不與祿。薨，子效鏞嗣，明亡，國除。

The Prince of Xiangling, Chongqiu, second son of the Prince of Xian, was a man of exceptional character. When his mother fell ill, he cut flesh from his thigh to mix into her medicine, and she recovered completely. When she died, he observed the full mourning period and was wasted away with grief. Whenever he tended the graves, he always led his descendants to personally shovel earth and repair the tombs. Six imperial edicts of commendation were sent to him over the years. His son Fan Zhi followed his example; when his mother Jing fell gravely ill, he too cut flesh from his thigh for her, and she recovered. Afterward five generations lived together under one roof, and the household was harmonious and dignified. In the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign he was rewarded with sheep, wine, and ceremonial gifts. Among the Han princes, the Xiangling household's family discipline was considered the finest. The prince's grandson Zheng Shan died young. The Du family's daughter, though betrothed to him but not yet married, returned to the Wang household and showed exceptional virtue; the court granted her a commemorative plaque. Prince Jian of Shen, Mo, was the twenty-first son of the Taizu Emperor. He was enfeoffed in the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign. In the sixth year of the Yongle reign he went to his fief at Luzhou. He died in the sixth year of the Xuande reign. His son the Prince of Kang, Ji Chun, succeeded. During the Jingtai reign he repeatedly held lavish banquets with prefectural officials, and Grand Coordinator Zhu Jian reported the matter. The emperor ordered that princes must not casually banquet with officials except on seasonal festivals and birthdays, and this was established as a permanent rule. He died in the first year of the Tianshun reign. His son the Prince of Zhuang, You Xue, succeeded and died in the eleventh year of the Zhengde reign. His son the Prince of Gong, Quan Zheng, succeeded and died in the sixth year of the Jiajing reign. His grandson Yun Qi administered the princely estate and died in the ninth year. He had no son, so his second cousin once removed, the Prince of Xian, Yun Yi, administered the estate for ten years before succeeding to the title. At that time the Shen commandery princes Xun Yu and Quan both contested the succession; the emperor sternly rebuked them and ordered Yun Yi to succeed. He died in the twenty-eighth year of the Jiajing reign. His son the Prince of Xuan, Tian Xu, succeeded. He loved learning, was skilled in classical prose and poetry, and had a fine ear for tonal rules. His younger brothers the Princes of Anqing, Tian Lian, and Zhenkang, Tian Chao, were both honored for filial piety during the Muzong reign. Tian Xu died in the tenth year of the Wanli reign. His son the Prince of Ding, Cheng Yao, succeeded. He was benevolent, filial, respectful, and cautious. He had six younger brothers, of whom two were enfeoffed as commandery princes. The rest could not be enfeoffed by precedent, but the court rewarded the prince's humility by granting them all commandery prince titles without stipends. He died and was succeeded by his son Xiao Yong; when the Ming dynasty fell, the princely state was abolished.

沁水王呈堦、簡王七世孫也，工詩喜士，名譽藉甚。前此，有德平王允梃負俊才，與衡府新樂王載璽，周宗人睦挈、俊噤等齊名。

The Prince of Qinshui, Cheng Jie, was a seventh-generation descendant of Prince Jian. Skilled at poetry and fond of scholars, he enjoyed great renown. Earlier, the Prince of Deping, Yun Ting, possessed outstanding talent and was ranked alongside the Prince of Xinle, Zai Xi, of the Heng princely line and the Zhou clansmen Mu Qie and Jun Jin.

又清源王幼㘧，康王第三子，博學能文詞。其後，輔國將軍勛漣，從子允杉、允檸、允析，及鎮國將軍恬烷與諸子呈圻等，並以能詩名，時稱瀋藩多才焉。

There was also the Prince of Qingyuan, You Chu, third son of the Prince of Kang, who was broadly learned and skilled in literary composition. Later, Supporter-General of the State Xun Lian, his grandnephews Yun Shan, Yun Ning, and Yun Xi, and Defender-General of the State Tian Wan and his sons Cheng Qi and others were all famed for poetry; people of the time said the Shen princely line abounded in talent.

安惠王楹，太祖第二十二子。洪武二十四年封。永樂六年就藩平涼。十五年薨。無子，封除。府僚及樂戶悉罷，留典仗校尉百人守園。洪熙初，韓恭王改封平涼，就安王邸。英宗令官校隸韓，長史供安王祀，暇日給韓王子襄陵王沖秌使令。景泰五年，沖秌遂乞承安王祀。正德十二年嗣襄陵王征鈐，請樂戶祀安王。明年，樂平王征錏援征鈐例以請。禮部言：「親王有樂戶。郡王別城居者，有事假鼓吹於有司。其附親王國者，假樂戶於長史司。」因並革安王供祀樂戶。嘉靖二年，韓王旭櫏復為代請。帝以安王故，報可之。征鈐卒，韓王融燧令長史革之。征鈐長孫旭橦上言：「禮樂自天子出，韓王不宜擅予奪。」融燧亦言：「親王、郡王禮樂宜有降殺。」帝曰：「樂戶為安王祀也。」給如故。

Prince Hui of An, Ying, was the twenty-second son of the Taizu Emperor. He was enfeoffed in the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign. In the sixth year of the Yongle reign he went to his fief at Pingliang. He died in the fifteenth year of the Yongle reign. He had no son, and the enfeoffment was abolished. The princely staff and musician households were all dismissed, and a hundred ceremonial guard officers were retained to guard the estate. Early in the Hongxi reign the Prince of Gong of Han was reassigned to Pingliang and took up residence at the An princely mansion. The Yingzong Emperor ordered the guard officers placed under Han's authority; the chief steward maintained sacrifices to the An prince, and on free days supplied them to Chongqiu, the Prince of Xiangling and son of the Han prince, for his use. In the fifth year of the Jingtai reign Chongqiu requested permission to undertake sacrifices to the An prince. In the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign the succeeding Prince of Xiangling, Zheng Qian, requested musician households to perform sacrifices to the An prince. The following year the Prince of Leping, Zheng Yin, cited Zheng Qian's precedent in making the same request. The Ministry of Rites stated: "Princes of the first rank have musician households. Commandery princes who live in separate cities may borrow ceremonial musicians from local officials when needed. Those attached to a princely state must borrow musician households from the chief steward's office." On that basis they also abolished the musician households maintained for sacrifices to the An prince. In the second year of the Jiajing reign the Han prince Xu Gui again petitioned on his behalf. For the An prince's sake, the emperor approved the request. When Zheng Qian died, the Han prince Rong Sui ordered the chief steward to abolish the musician households. Zheng Qian's eldest grandson Xu Tang memorialized: "Rites and music issue from the Son of Heaven; the Han prince should not grant or revoke them on his own authority." Rong Sui also stated: "Princes of the first and second rank should receive rites and music in graduated form." The emperor said: "The musician households are for sacrifices to the An prince." They were provisioned as before.

唐定王桱，太祖第二十三子。洪武二十四年封。永樂六年就藩南陽。十三年薨。子靖王瓊烴嗣。綜核有矩矱，為成祖所喜。入朝，五日三召見。宣德元年薨。妃高氏未冊，自經以殉，詔封靖王妃。無子，弟憲王瓊炟嗣，成化十一年薨。子莊王芝址嗣，諸弟三城王芝垝、蕩陰王芝瓦並好學，有令譽。而承休王芝垠，憲王繼妃焦氏子也，妃愛之。遇節旦，召樂婦入宮。芝址詰之，語不遜。焦妃怒，持鐵錘擊宮門，芝址閉不敢出。芝垠與妃弟璟誣王詈繼母。按驗不實，得芝垠慢母詈兄狀，革爵。久之始復。

Prince Ding of Tang, Jing, was the twenty-third son of the Taizu Emperor. He was enfeoffed in the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign. In the sixth year of the Yongle reign he went to his fief at Nanyang. He died in the thirteenth year of the Yongle reign. His son the Prince of Jing, Qiong Huan, succeeded. He managed affairs with proper restraint and was favored by the Chengzu Emperor. When he came to court, he was summoned to audience three times in five days. He died in the first year of the Xuande reign. Consort Gao, not yet formally invested as princess consort, hanged herself to follow him in death, and an edict enfeoffed her as consort of the Prince of Jing. He had no son, so his younger brother the Prince of Xian, Qiong Ta, succeeded and died in the eleventh year of the Chenghua reign. His son the Prince of Zhuang, Zhi Zhi, succeeded. His younger brothers the Princes of Sancheng, Zhi Gui, and Tangyin, Zhi Wa, were all devoted scholars with excellent reputations. The Prince of Chengxia, Zhi Yin, was the son of the Prince of Xian's secondary consort, Lady Jiao, whom the consort favored above all. On festival days he would summon female musicians into the palace. Zhi Zhi questioned him, but his replies were insolent. Consort Jiao flew into a rage, took an iron hammer, and struck the palace gate; Zhi Zhi shut himself in and dared not emerge. Zhi Yin and the consort's younger brother Jing falsely accused the prince of reviling his stepmother. Investigation proved the charge false, but established that Zhi Yin had been disrespectful to his mother and abusive toward his elder brother, and his title was revoked. Only after a long interval was it restored.

二十一年，芝址薨。子成王彌鍗嗣。弘治中，疏言：「朝廷待親藩，生爵歿謚，親親至矣。間有惡未敗聞，歿獲美謚，是使善者怠，惡者肆也。自今宜勘實，用寓彰癉。」禮臣請降敕獎諭，勉勵諸王。詔可。武宗喜遊幸，彌鍗作《憂國詩》，且上疏以用賢圖治為言。弟文城王彌鉗有學行，孝友篤至。嘉靖二年，彌鍗薨。無子，彌鉗子敬王宇溫嗣。二十一年，獻金助太廟工，賜玉帶，益祿二百石。時承休王芝垠子彌鋠以父與莊王交訐，失令名，折節蓋前愆。宇溫上其事。璽書褒獎。三十九年，宇溫薨。子順王宙栐嗣，四十三年薨。子端王碩熿嗣。惑於嬖人，囚世子器墭及其子聿鍵於承奉司，器墭中毒死。

In the twenty-first year, Zhi Zhi died. His son the Prince of Cheng, Mi Jin, succeeded. During the Hongzhi reign he submitted a memorial saying: "In its treatment of princely kin, the court grants titles in life and posthumous names in death— kinship devotion could go no further. Yet sometimes men whose wickedness has not yet come to light receive fine posthumous names after death, which makes the good grow lax and the wicked reckless. From now on the facts should be verified, thereby manifesting reward and reproof. The minister of rites requested that an edict of commendation be issued to encourage and exhort all the princes. The edict was approved. The Wuzong Emperor loved touring and hunting; Mi Jin composed Poems of Concern for the State and submitted a memorial urging the employment of worthies and the pursuit of good governance. His younger brother the Prince of Wencheng, Mi Qian, was a man of learning and upright conduct, filial and brotherly to the utmost. In the second year of the Jiajing reign, Mi Jin died. He had no son, so Mi Qian's son the Prince of Jing, Yu Wen, succeeded. In the twenty-first year he contributed gold toward work on the ancestral temple, was granted a jade belt, and received an increase of two hundred shi to his stipend. At the time the Prince of Chengxia Zhi Yin's son Mi Chen, whose father had quarreled with the Prince of Zhuang and lost a fine reputation, had reformed his conduct to atone for past faults. Yu Wen reported this to the throne. An imperial letter of commendation was sent. In the thirty-ninth year, Yu Wen died. His son the Prince of Shun, Zhou Bing, succeeded and died in the forty-third year. His son the Prince of Duan, Shuo Huang, succeeded. Beguiled by a favorite, he imprisoned the heir Qi Bao and his son Yu Jian in the Office of Attendance; Qi Bao died of poison.

崇禎五年，碩熿薨，聿鍵嗣。七年，流賊大熾，蠲金築南陽城，又援潞藩例，乞增兵三千人。不許。九年秋八月，京師戒嚴，倡義勤王。詔切責，勒還國。事定，下部議，廢為庶人，幽之鳳陽。弟聿鏌嗣。十四年，李自成陷南陽，聿鏌遇害。十七年，京師陷，福王由崧立於南京，乃赦聿鍵出。大清順治二年五月，南都降。聿鍵行至杭，遇鎮江總兵官鄭鴻逵、戶部郎中蘇觀生，遂奉入閩。南安伯鄭芝龍、巡撫都御史張肯堂與禮部尚書黃道周等定議，奉王稱監國。閏六月丁未，遂立於福州，號隆武，改福州為天興府。進芝龍、鴻逵為侯，封鄭芝豹、鄭彩為伯，觀生、道周俱大學士，肯堂為兵部尚書，余拜官有差。

In the fifth year of the Chongzhen reign, Shuo Huang died and Yu Jian succeeded. In the seventh year, as bandit armies swelled, he remitted funds to build the walls of Nanyang and, citing the precedent of the Prince of Lu, requested three thousand additional troops. The request was denied. In the eighth month of autumn in the ninth year, when the capital was placed under martial law, he raised troops in a righteous march to aid the throne. An edict sharply rebuked him and ordered him back to his fief. When the crisis passed, the case was referred to the ministries for deliberation; he was degraded to commoner status and confined at Fengyang. His younger brother Yu Mo succeeded. In the fourteenth year, when Li Zicheng took Nanyang, Yu Mo was killed. In the seventeenth year, after the capital fell, the Prince of Fu, You Song, was enthroned at Nanjing, and Yu Jian was pardoned and released. In the fifth month of the second year of Shunzhi under the Great Qing, the Southern Capital surrendered. Yu Jian traveled as far as Hangzhou, where he met the regional commander of Zhenjiang, Zheng Hongkui, and the Court of Revenue bureau director Su Guansheng, and was escorted into Fujian. The Marquis of Nan'an, Zheng Zhilong, the grand coordinator and censor-in-chief Zhang Kentang, and the minister of rites Huang Daozhou and others decided to install the prince as regent. On dingwei day in the intercalary sixth month he was enthroned at Fuzhou under the era name Longwu, and Fuzhou was renamed Tianxing Prefecture. Zhilong and Hongkui were advanced to marquis; Zheng Zhibao and Zheng Cai were enfeoffed as earls; Guansheng and Daozhou were both made grand secretaries; Kentang was made minister of war; and the others received appointments according to rank.

聿鍵好學，通典故，然權在鄭氏，不能有所為。是年八月，芝龍議簡戰守兵二十余萬，計餉不支其半。請預借兩稅一年，令群下捐俸，勸紳士輸助，征府縣銀谷未解者。官吏督迫，閭裏騷然。又廣開事例，猶苦不足。仙霞嶺守關兵僅數百人，皆不堪用。聿鍵屢促芝龍出兵，輒以餉詘辭。久之，芝龍知眾論不平，乃請以鴻逵出浙東，彩出江西，各擁兵數千，號數萬。既行，托候餉，皆行百里而還。先是，黃道周知芝龍無意出師，自請行，從廣信趨婺源，兵潰死，事詳《道周傳》。

Yu Jian loved learning and was versed in precedent, yet power lay with the Zheng clan and he could accomplish nothing. That August, Zhilong proposed to muster more than two hundred thousand combat and garrison troops, but estimated that supplies would cover less than half their needs. He requested advance collection of both tax levies for one year, ordered officials to donate their salaries, urged gentry to contribute, and collected silver and grain from prefectures and counties that had not yet remitted payment. Officials pressed collection relentlessly, and the neighborhoods were in uproar. Sale of offices by special precedent was opened widely, yet funds still fell short. The border garrison at Xianxia Pass numbered only a few hundred men, all unfit for service. Yu Jian repeatedly urged Zhilong to take the field, but Zhilong always pleaded shortage of supplies. After some time, knowing public opinion was hostile, Zhilong proposed that Hongkui advance into eastern Zhejiang and Cai into Jiangxi, each leading several thousand troops while claiming tens of thousands. Once they had set out, they pleaded that they were awaiting supplies and each marched a hundred li before turning back. Earlier, Huang Daozhou, knowing Zhilong had no intention of taking the field, had volunteered to go himself; marching from Guangxin toward Wuyuan, his army was routed and he was killed—the affair is detailed in the Biography of Daozhou.

是時，李自成兵敗，走死通山。其兄子李錦帥眾降於湖廣總督何騰蛟，一時增兵十余萬。侍郎楊廷麟、祭酒劉同升起兵復吉安、臨江。於是廷麟等請聿鍵出江右，騰蛟請出湖南。原任知州金堡言騰蛟可恃，芝龍不可恃，宜棄閩就楚。聿鍵大喜，授堡給事中，遣觀生先行募兵。

At this time Li Zicheng's forces were defeated; he fled and died at Tongshan. His nephew Li Jin led the remnant host in surrender to the Huguang governor-general He Tengjiao, suddenly adding more than a hundred thousand troops to the cause. Vice-minister Yang Tinglin and libationer Liu Tongqi raised troops and recovered Ji'an and Linjiang. Thereupon Tinglin and others urged Yu Jian to advance into Jiangxi, and Tengjiao urged him to advance into Hunan. Former prefect Jin Bao said Tengjiao could be relied upon but Zhilong could not, and that they should abandon Fujian for the Chu region. Yu Jian was greatly pleased; he made Bao a supervising secretary and sent Guansheng ahead to raise troops.

先是，靖江王亨嘉僭稱監國，不奉聿鍵命，為巡撫瞿式耜等所擒，以捷聞。而魯王以海又稱監國於紹興，拒聿鍵使者，故聿鍵決意出江西、湖廣。十二月發福州，駐建寧。廣東布政湯來賀運餉十萬，由海道至。明年二月駐延平。三月，大清兵取吉安、撫州，圍楊廷麟於贛州。尚書郭維經出閩，募兵援贛。六月，大兵克紹興，魯王以海遁入海，閩中大震。芝龍假言海寇至，徹兵回安平鎮，航海去。守關將士皆隨之，仙霞嶺空無一人。七月，何騰蛟遣使迎聿鍵，將至韶州。唯時我兵已抵閩關，守浦城御史鄭為虹、給事中黃大鵬、延平知府王士和死焉。八月，聿鍵出走，數日方至汀州。大兵奄至，從官奔散，與妃曾氏俱被執。妃至九瀧投於水，聿鍵死於福州。給事中熊緯、尚書曹學佺、通政使馬思禮等自縊死。郢靖王棟，太祖第二十四子。洪武二十四年封。永樂六年之藩安陸。十二年薨。無子封除。留內外官校守園。王妃郭氏，武定侯英女。王薨逾月，妃慟哭曰：「未亡人無子，尚誰恃？」引鏡寫容付宮人，曰：「俟諸女長，令識母。」遂自經。妃四女，一夭，其三女封光化、穀城、南漳郡主，歲祿各八百石。宣德四年，以郢故邸封梁王瞻垍，移郢宮人居南京。伊歷王，太祖第二十五子。洪武二十一年生，生四年封。永樂六年之藩洛陽，歲祿僅二千石。王好武，不樂居宮中，時時挾彈露劍，馳逐郊外。奔避不及者，手擊之。髡裸男女以為笑樂。十二年薨。禮臣請追削封爵，不許。

Earlier, the Prince of Jingjiang, Heng Jia, had usurped the title of regent and refused to obey Yu Jian; he was captured by the grand coordinator Qu Shisi and others, and victory was reported. Meanwhile the Prince of Lu, Yihai, also styled himself regent at Shaoxing and rejected Yu Jian's envoys; hence Yu Jian resolved to advance into Jiangxi and Huguang. In the twelfth month he departed Fuzhou and encamped at Jianning. Guangdong administration commissioner Tang Laihe transported one hundred thousand in supplies by sea. In the second month of the following year he encamped at Yanping. In the third month Qing forces took Ji'an and Fuzhou and besieged Yang Tinglin at Ganzhou. Minister Guo Weijing left Fujian to raise troops and relieve Ganzhou. In the sixth month the great army took Shaoxing; the Prince of Lu, Yihai, fled by sea, and all Fujian was shaken. Zhilong falsely claimed sea pirates had arrived, withdrew his troops to Anping Town, and sailed away. The border garrison followed him entirely, and Xianxia Pass was left utterly empty. In the seventh month He Tengjiao sent envoys to welcome Yu Jian, who was approaching Shaozhou. But by then Qing forces had already reached the Fujian border; the censor of Pucheng, Zheng Weihong, the supervising secretary Huang Dapeng, and the prefect of Yanping, Wang Shihe, all died defending the pass. In the eighth month Yu Jian fled; only after several days did he reach Tingzhou. The great army suddenly arrived; his attendants scattered, and he and Consort Zeng were both captured. The consort, reaching Jiulong Rapids, threw herself into the water; Yu Jian died at Fuzhou. Supervising secretary Xiong Wei, minister Cao Xuequan, transmission commissioner Ma Sili, and others hanged themselves. Prince Jing of Ying, Dong, was the twenty-fourth son of the Taizu Emperor. He was enfeoffed in the twenty-fourth year of the Hongwu reign. In the sixth year of the Yongle reign he went to his fief at Anlu. He died in the twelfth year of the Yongle reign. Having no son, the enfeoffment was abolished. Inner and outer officials and guards were left to maintain the estate. The princess consort was Lady Guo, daughter of the Marquis of Wuding, Ying. More than a month after the prince's death, the consort wailed and said: "This widow has no son— upon whom can I still rely? She had her likeness painted from a mirror and entrusted it to a palace woman, saying: "When my daughters are grown, let them know their mother." Then she hanged herself. The consort had four daughters; one died young; the other three were enfeoffed as commandery princesses of Guanghua, Gucheng, and Nanzhang, each with an annual stipend of eight hundred shi. In the fourth year of the Xuande reign, the former residence of Ying was used to enfeoff the Prince of Liang, Zhan Ji, and the Ying palace household was moved to Nanjing. Prince Li of Yi was the twenty-fifth son of the Taizu Emperor. Born in the twenty-first year of the Hongwu reign, he was enfeoffed in the fourth year of his life. In the sixth year of the Yongle reign he went to his fief at Luoyang, with an annual stipend of only two thousand shi. The prince loved martial arts and disliked living within the palace; he would often carry a crossbow, bare his sword, and gallop in pursuit outside the city. Those who could not flee in time he would strike with his own hand. He shaved men and women naked for his amusement. He died in the twelfth year of the Yongle reign. The minister of rites requested that his title be posthumously stripped; the request was denied.

二十二年，子簡王颙炴始得嗣。縱中官擾民，洛陽人苦之。河南知府李驥稍持以法。誣奏，驥被逮治。己而得白，罪王左右。英宗時上表，文不恭，屢被譙讓。天順六年薨。世孫悼王諟釩嗣，成化十一年薨。弟定王諟鋝嗣，好學崇禮，居喪哀毀，歲時祀先，致齋於外。郡王、諸將軍、中尉非慶賀不褻見。民間高年者，禮下之。正德三年薨。子莊王訏淵嗣，嘉靖五年薨。弟敬王訏淳嗣，居母喪，以孝聞。以祿薄上言：「先朝以河南課鈔萬七千七百貫，準祿米八千石。八年革諸王請乞租稅，伊府課鈔亦在革中，乞補祿。」戶部言：「課鈔本成、弘間請乞，非永樂時欽賜比。河南一省缺祿者八十余萬，宜不許。」帝從部議。二十一年薨。

In the twenty-second year his son the Prince of Jian, Yong Huang, was at last allowed to succeed. He indulged eunuchs in harassing the people, and the people of Luoyang suffered greatly. The prefect of Henan, Li Ji, restrained them somewhat by law. On a false accusation, Ji was arrested and tried. Later the truth came out and the prince's attendants were punished. During the Yingzong reign he submitted memorials whose wording was disrespectful and was repeatedly rebuked. He died in the sixth year of the Tianshun reign. His great-grandson the Prince of Dao, Shi Fan, succeeded and died in the eleventh year of the Chenghua reign. His younger brother the Prince of Ding, Shi Luo, succeeded him. A devoted student of the classics who honored ritual propriety, he was grief-stricken while in mourning, and at each seasonal sacrifice to his ancestors he kept vigil and fasted outside the hall. He would grant no informal audience to county princes, various generals, or middle commandants save on occasions of celebration. To venerable elders among the common people he showed courteous deference. He died in the third year of the Zhengde reign. His son the Prince of Zhuang, Xu Yuan, succeeded and died in the fifth year of the Jiajing reign. His younger brother the Prince of Jing, Xu Chun, succeeded. While mourning his mother he won renown for filial devotion. Finding his stipend inadequate, he submitted a memorial: "In earlier reigns Henan tax notes totaling seventeen thousand seven hundred guan were reckoned equivalent to eight thousand shi of stipend grain. In the eighth year petitions by princes for rent and tax concessions were abolished, and the Yi principality's tax notes were abolished with them. I beg that my stipend be restored. The Ministry of Revenue replied: "Those tax notes were originally granted upon petition during the Chenghua and Hongzhi reigns—not comparable to the imperial bestowals of the Yongle era. Henan province alone faces a stipend shortfall of more than eight hundred thousand; the request ought not be granted. The emperor accepted the ministry's recommendation. He died in the twenty-first year of the Jiajing reign.

世子典楧嗣，貪而愎，多持官吏短長。不如指，必構之去，既去復折辱之。御史行部過北邙山外，典楧要笞之。縉紳往來，率紆途取他境。經郭外者，府中人輒追挽其車，詈其不朝，入朝者復辱以非禮。府墻壞，請更築，乃奪取民舍以廣其宮。郎中陳大壯與邸鄰，索其居不與，使數十人從大壯臥起，奪其飲食，竟至餒死。所為宮，崇臺連城，擬帝闕。有錦衣官校之陜者，經洛陽，典楧忽召官屬迎詔，鼓吹擁錦衣入，捧一黃卷入宮。眾請開讀，曰：「密詔也。」遂趣錦衣去。錦衣謂王厚待之，不知所以。其夜大張樂，至曙，府中皆呼千歲，詐謂「天子特親我也」。閉河南府城，大選民間子女七百余，留其姝麗者九十人。不中選者，令以金贖。都御史張永明、御史林潤、給事中丘嶽相繼言其罪狀。再遣使往勘，革祿三之二，令壞所僭造宮城，歸民間女，執群小付有司。典楧不奉詔。部牒促之，布政使持牒入見。典楧曰：「牒何為者，可用障欞耳！」四十三年二月，撫按官以聞。詔禮部會三法司議。僉謂：「典楧淫暴，無藩臣禮，陛下曲赦再四，終不湔改，奸回日甚。宜如徽王載龠故事，禁錮高墻，削除世封。」詔從其議，與子褒節俱安置開封。皇子楠，太祖第二十六子。洪武二十六年生，逾月殤。

The heir apparent Dian Ji succeeded. Greedy and stubborn, he constantly seized on officials' faults and merits to bend them to his will. If they failed to do as he wished, he inevitably framed them until they were driven out; and once they were gone he humiliated them afresh. When a touring censor passed outside Beimang Mountain, Dian Ji waylaid him and ordered him flogged. Officials and gentry traveling through the region generally made long detours into neighboring jurisdictions. Those who passed outside the city walls would be pursued by household staff who seized their carriages and reviled them for failing to pay court; those who did enter were insulted again with deliberate impropriety. When the principality walls collapsed he petitioned to rebuild them, but instead seized commoners' houses to enlarge his palace. Director Chen Dazhuang lived beside the princely residence. Dian Ji demanded his house; when Chen refused, he set dozens of men to attend Chen from waking to sleeping, seizing his food and drink until Chen starved to death. The palace he built rose in lofty terraces joined to the city walls, rivaling the imperial capital itself. A brocade-clad guard officer bound for Shaanxi passed through Luoyang. Dian Ji suddenly summoned his staff to receive an edict; with drums and pipes escorting him, the guard was ushered in bearing a yellow scroll into the palace. The assembly asked that it be opened and read aloud. He said, "It is a secret edict. Then he hurried the guard away." The guard took this as extraordinary favor from the prince and could not fathom its meaning. That night he staged grand music until dawn, and throughout the principality voices cried "Long live ten thousand years!" He falsely declared, "The Son of Heaven has singled me out for special favor." He shut the Henan prefectural city and conducted a great levy of more than seven hundred youths from among the people, keeping ninety of the fairest. Those not chosen were ordered to buy their release with gold. Censor-in-chief Zhang Yongming, censor Lin Run, and supervising secretary Qiu Yue successively memorialized detailing his crimes. Investigators were dispatched again. Two-thirds of his stipend was cut; he was ordered to demolish the unlawfully built palace and walls, return the commoners' daughters, and deliver his low companions to the proper authorities. Dian Ji refused to obey the edict. A ministry dispatch pressed him to comply; the provincial commissioner entered bearing the dispatch to see him. Dian Ji said, "What is a dispatch good for? It can block a window lattice! In the second month of the forty-third year of the Jiajing reign, the provincial governor and censor reported this to the throne. An edict ordered the Ministry of Rites to convene the three judicial offices for joint deliberation. All agreed: "Dian Ji is lewd and violent, devoid of a feudatory prince's propriety. Your Majesty has repeatedly shown him mercy, yet he has never reformed; his treachery grows worse by the day. He should be dealt with as Prince of Hui Zai Yue was—confined within high walls and stripped of hereditary enfeoffment. An edict accepted their recommendation. He and his son Bao Jie were both resettled at Kaifeng. Prince Nan was the twenty-sixth son of the Taizu Emperor. Born in the twenty-sixth year of the Hongwu reign, he died before he was a month old.

靖江王守謙，太祖從孫。父文正，南昌王子也。當太祖起兵時，南昌王前死，妻王氏攜文正依太祖。太祖、高後撫如己子。比長，涉獵傳記，饒勇略，隨渡江取集慶路。已，有功，授樞密院同僉。太祖從容問：「若欲何官？」文正對曰：「叔父成大業，何患不富貴。爵賞先私親，何以服眾！」太祖喜其言，益愛之。

Prince Jingjiang Shouqian was a grand-nephew of the Taizu Emperor. His father Wenzheng was a son of the Prince of Nanchang. When the Taizu Emperor first raised his army, the Prince of Nanchang was already dead; his widow Lady Wang brought Wenzheng to live under the Taizu Emperor's protection. The Taizu Emperor and Empress Gao reared them as though they were their own children. When he came of age he read widely in histories and chronicles, showed abundant courage and strategic talent, and crossed the Yangzi with the army to take Jiqing Circuit. Before long, for his achievements, he was appointed vice commissioner of the Privy Council. The Taizu Emperor asked him casually, "What office would you like? Wenzheng answered, "Once my uncle completes the great enterprise, why should I worry over wealth and rank? If titles and rewards go first to one's own kin, how will the multitude be won over! The Taizu Emperor was pleased with this answer and cherished him all the more.

太祖為吳王，命為大都督，節制中外諸軍事。及再定江西，以洪都重鎮，屏翰西南，非骨肉重臣莫能守。乃命文正統元帥趙得勝等鎮其地，儒士郭之章、劉仲服為參謀。文正增城浚池，招集山寨未附者，號令明肅，遠近震懾。居無何，友諒帥舟師六十萬圍洪都。文正數摧其鋒，堅守八十有五日，城壞復完者數十丈。友諒旁掠吉安、臨江，俘其守將徇城下，不為動。太祖親帥兵來援，友諒乃解去，與太祖相拒於彭蠡。友諒掠糧都昌，文正遣方亮焚其舟。糧道絕，友諒遂敗。復遣何文輝等討平未附州縣。江西之平，文正功居多。

When the Taizu Emperor became King of Wu, he appointed Wenzheng grand councillor of war with authority over all military affairs at home and abroad. When Jiangxi was pacified anew, Hongdu stood as a vital stronghold—the shield of the southwest—and none but a close kinsman and trusted minister could hold it. He therefore put Wenzheng in command of the region with marshals such as Zhao Desheng, and appointed the scholars Guo Zhizhang and Liu Zhong as his strategists. Wenzheng raised the walls and dredged the moat, drew in those in mountain strongholds who had not yet submitted, and issued orders so clear and stern that the region near and far trembled before him. Before long Chen Youliang led six hundred thousand men in ships to besiege Hongdu. Wenzheng repeatedly shattered their assault and held firm for eighty-five days; wherever the walls were breached, tens of zhang were rebuilt overnight. Youliang raided Ji'an and Linjiang on the flank and paraded captured garrison commanders beneath the walls, yet Wenzheng did not waver. The Taizu Emperor personally led an army to relieve the city; Youliang then withdrew and confronted him at Lake Poyang. Youliang foraged for grain at Duchang; Wenzheng sent Fang Liang to burn his fleet. With his supply line severed, Youliang was defeated. Wenzheng again dispatched He Wenhui and others to subdue prefectures and counties that had not yet submitted. In the pacification of Jiangxi, Wenzheng's merit stood foremost.

太祖還京，告廟飲至，賜常遇春、廖永忠及諸將士金帛甚厚。念文正前言知大體，錫功尚有待也，而文正不能無少望。性素卡急，至是暴怒，遂失常度，任掾吏衛可達奪部中子女。按察使李飲冰奏其驕侈觖望，太祖遣使詰責。文正懼，飲冰益言其有異志。太祖即日登舟至城下，遣人召之。文天上倉卒出迎，太祖數曰：「汝何為者？」遂載與俱歸，欲竟其事。高後力解之曰：「兒特性剛耳，無他也。」免官安置桐城，未幾卒。飲冰亦以他事伏誅。

The Taizu Emperor returned to the capital, reported victory at the ancestral temple, and held a feast of triumph, lavishing gold and silk on Chang Yuchun, Liao Yongzhong, and the other commanders and soldiers. Mindful of Wenzheng's earlier words, which showed he understood the larger principle, the Taizu Emperor still held his reward in abeyance; yet Wenzheng could not altogether suppress his disappointment. By nature he had always been impatient and severe; now, in a fit of rage, he lost all restraint and let his clerk Wei Keda seize men and women from among his subordinates. Surveillance commissioner Li Yinbing memorialized accusing him of arrogance, extravagance, and disaffection; the Taizu Emperor sent envoys to rebuke him. Wenzheng was frightened, and Yinbing further reported that he harbored rebellious intent. That very day the Taizu Emperor boarded a boat and came beneath the city walls, sending men to summon him. Wenzheng rushed out to meet him. The Taizu Emperor upbraided him: "What do you think you are doing? He then took Wenzheng aboard and returned with him, intending to see the matter through to the end. Empress Gao interceded forcefully, saying, "The boy is simply stubborn by nature—there is nothing more to it. Wenzheng was stripped of office and resettled at Tongcheng; before long he died. Yinbing was also executed on other charges.

文正之被謫也，守謙甫四歲，太祖撫其頂曰：「兒無恐，爾父倍訓教，貽我憂，我終不以爾父故廢爾。」育之宮中。守謙幼名鐵柱，吳元年以諸子命名告廟，更名煒。洪武三年更名守謙，封靖江王。祿視郡王，官屬親王之半，命耆儒趙壎為長史傅之。既長，之藩桂林。桂林有元順帝潛邸，改為王宮，上表謝。太祖敕其從臣曰：「從孫幼而遠鎮西南，其善導之。」守謙知書，而好比群小，粵人怨咨。召還，戒諭之。守謙作詩怨望。帝怒，廢為庶人。居鳳陽七年，復其爵。徙鎮雲南，使其妃弟徐溥同往，賜書戒飭，語極摯切。守謙暴橫如故。召還，使再居鳳陽。復以強取牧馬，錮之京師。二十五年卒。子贊儀幼，命為世子。

When Wenzheng was banished, Shouqian was only four. The Taizu Emperor stroked his head and said, "Child, do not be afraid. Your father has turned against all instruction and brought me grief, yet I will never cast you aside because of your father. He reared him in the palace. Shouqian's childhood name was Tiezhu. In the first year of Wu, when the sons were given formal names and the rite was reported at the ancestral temple, he was renamed Wei. In the third year of the Hongwu reign he was renamed Shouqian and enfeoffed as Prince of Jingjiang. His stipend matched that of a commandery prince, his staff half that of a full prince; the venerable scholar Zhao Xun was appointed chief administrator to instruct him. When he came of age he went to take up his fief at Guilin. Guilin held the Yuan Emperor Shundi's former hidden residence, which was converted into his princely palace; he submitted a memorial of thanks. The Taizu Emperor instructed his attendants: "My grand-nephew is young and holds a distant post in the southwest; guide him well. Shouqian was learned, yet he delighted in low companions; the people of Yue groaned under his rule. He was recalled to court and admonished. Shouqian wrote poems full of resentment. The emperor was enraged and reduced him to commoner status. After seven years at Fengyang his title was restored. He was transferred to hold Yunnan; his consort's younger brother Xu Pu was sent with him, and an imperial letter of stern admonition was bestowed, its words deeply earnest. Shouqian was violent and overbearing as before. He was recalled and sent to live at Fengyang again. Again, for forcibly seizing pasturing horses, he was confined in the capital. He died in the twenty-fifth year of the Hongwu reign. His son Zanyi was still young and was appointed heir apparent.

子莊簡王佐敬嗣。初給銀印，宣德中，改用金塗。正統初，與其弟奉國將軍佐敏相訐奏，語連大學士楊榮。帝怒，戍其使人。成化五年薨。子相承先卒，孫昭和王規裕嗣，弘治二年薨。子端懿王約麒嗣，以孝謹聞。正德十一年薨。子安肅王經扶嗣，好學有儉德，嘗為《敬義箴》。嘉靖四年薨。子恭惠王邦苧嗣，與巡按御史徐南金相訐奏。奪祿米，罪其官校。隆慶六年薨。子康僖王任昌嗣，萬歷十年薨。子溫裕王履燾嗣，二十年薨。無子，從父憲定王任晟嗣，三十八年薨。子榮穆王履祜嗣，薨。子亨嘉嗣。李自成陷京師後，自稱監國於廣西，為巡撫瞿式耜所誅。時唐王聿鍵在福建，奏捷焉。

His son the Prince of Zhuangjian, Zuo Jing, succeeded. At first he was granted a silver seal; during the Xuande reign it was changed to gold-plated. At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign he and his younger brother, the State-Supporting General Zuo Min, exchanged accusatory memorials that implicated Grand Secretary Yang Rong. The emperor was angered and banished their messengers to frontier service. He died in the fifth year of the Chenghua reign. His son Chengxian had died earlier; his grandson the Prince of Zhaohe, Gui Yu, succeeded and died in the second year of the Hongzhi reign. His son the Prince of Duanyi, Yue Qi, succeeded and was known for filial piety and sober conduct. He died in the eleventh year of the Zhengde reign. His son the Prince of Ansu, Jing Fu, succeeded. He loved learning and practiced thrift; he once composed the "Admonition on Reverence and Righteousness." He died in the fourth year of the Jiajing reign. His son the Prince of Gonghui, Bang Ning, succeeded. He and the touring censor Xu Nanjin exchanged accusatory memorials against each other. The court stripped his stipend grain and punished his staff officers. He died in the sixth year of the Longqing reign. His son the Prince of Kangxi, Ren Chang, succeeded and died in the tenth year of the Wanli reign. His son the Prince of Wenyu, Lü Zhan, succeeded and died in the twentieth year of the Wanli reign. Having no son, he was succeeded by his cousin the Prince of Xianding, Ren Sheng; he died in the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli reign. His son the Prince of Rongmu, Lü Hu, succeeded and died. His son Heng Jia succeeded him. After Li Zicheng captured the capital, he proclaimed himself regent in Guangxi and was put to death by the governor-general Qu Shisi. At the time the Prince of Tang, Yujian, was in Fujian and reported the victory there.

興宗五子。後常氏生虞懷王雄英、吳王允熥。呂後生惠帝、衡王允熞、徐王允𤐤。

Prince Xingzong had five sons. Later Lady Chang bore the Prince of Yuhuai, Xiong Ying, and the Prince of Wu, Yun Bing. Empress Lü bore the Emperor of Hui, the Prince of Heng, Yun Yan, and the Prince of Xu, Yun Xian.

虞懷王雄英，興宗長子，太祖嫡長孫也。洪武十五年五月薨。年八歲。追加封謚。

The Prince of Yuhuai, Xiong Ying, was Prince Xingzong's eldest son and the Taizu Emperor's eldest grandson by the principal consort. He died in the fifth month of the fifteenth year of the Hongwu reign. He was eight years old. A posthumous title and enfeoffment were conferred upon him.

吳王允熥，興宗第三子。建文元年封國杭州，未之藩。成祖即位，降為廣澤王，居漳州。未幾，召還京，廢為庶人，錮鳳陽。永樂十五年卒。

The Prince of Wu, Yun Bing, was Prince Xingzong's third son. In the first year of the Jianwen reign he was enfeoffed at Hangzhou but never proceeded to his fief. When the Yongle Emperor took the throne, he was demoted to Prince of Guangze and sent to live at Zhangzhou. Before long he was summoned back to the capital, reduced to commoner status, and confined at Fengyang. He died in the fifteenth year of the Yongle reign.

衡王允熞，興宗第四子，建文元年封。成祖降為懷恩王，居建昌。與允熥俱召還，錮鳳陽，先後卒。

The Prince of Heng, Yun Yan, was Prince Xingzong's fourth son and was enfeoffed in the first year of the Jianwen reign. The Yongle Emperor demoted him to Prince of Huai'en and sent him to live at Jianchang. He and Yun Bing were both summoned back and confined at Fengyang, where they died in succession.

徐王允𤐤，興宗第五子，建文元年封。成祖降為敷惠王，隨母呂太后居懿文陵。永樂二年下詔改甌寧王，奉太子祀。四年十二月，邸中火，暴薨。謚曰哀簡。

The Prince of Xu, Yun Xian, was Prince Xingzong's fifth son and was enfeoffed in the first year of the Jianwen reign. The Yongle Emperor demoted him to Prince of Fuhui, and he lived with his mother, Empress Dowager Lü, at the Yiwen Mausoleum. In the second year of the Yongle reign an edict renamed him Prince of Ouning and charged him with maintaining rites for the crown prince. In the twelfth month of the fourth year a fire broke out in his residence and he died suddenly. He was posthumously titled Ai Jian.

少子文圭。年二歲，成祖入，幽之中都廣安宮，號為建庶人。英宗復辟，憐庶人無罪久系，欲釋之，左右或以為不可。帝曰：「有天命者，任自為之。」大學士李賢贊曰：「此堯、舜之心也。」遂請於太后，命內臣牛玉往出之。聽居鳳陽，婚娶出入使自便。與閽者二十人，婢妾十余人，給使令。文圭孩提被幽，至是年五十七矣。未幾卒。

He left a youngest son, Wen Gui. At the age of two, when the Yongle Emperor entered the capital, he was confined in the Guang'an Palace at the secondary capital and styled the Jian Commoner. When the Yingzong Emperor restored the throne, he pitied the commoner's long imprisonment without crime and wished to release him, but his advisors thought it inadvisable. The emperor said, "He whom Heaven favors may do as he will. Grand Secretary Li Xian applauded, "This is the heart of Yao and Shun. He then petitioned the empress dowager and ordered the eunuch Niu Yu to go and release him. He was permitted to live at Fengyang, with freedom to marry and come and go as he pleased. He was given twenty gatekeepers and more than ten maids and concubines to attend him. Wen Gui had been confined since infancy; by now he was fifty-seven years old. Before long he died.

成祖四子。仁宗、漢王高煦、趙王高燧俱文皇后生。高爔未詳所生母。

The Yongle Emperor had four sons. The Renzong Emperor, the Prince of Han, Gao Xu, and the Prince of Zhao, Gao Sui, were all born to Empress Wen. Gao Xi's birth mother is not recorded.

漢王高煦，成祖第二子。性兇悍。洪武時，召諸王子學於京師。高煦不肯學，言動輕佻，為太祖所惡。及太祖崩，成祖遣仁宗及高煦入臨京師。舅徐輝祖以其無賴，密戒之。不聽，盜輝祖善馬，徑渡江馳歸。途中輒殺民吏，至涿州，又擊殺驛丞，於是朝臣舉以責燕。成祖起兵，仁宗居守，高煦從，嘗為軍鋒。白溝河之戰，成祖幾為瞿能所及，高煦帥精騎數千，直前決戰，斬能父子於陣。及成祖東昌之敗，張玉戰死，成祖只身走，適高煦引師至，擊退南軍。徐輝祖敗燕兵於浦子口，高煦引蕃騎來。成祖大喜，曰：「吾力疲矣，兒當鼓勇再戰。」高煦麾蕃騎力戰，南軍遂卻。成祖屢瀕於危而轉敗為功者，高煦力為多。成祖以為類己，高煦亦以此自負，恃功驕恣，多不法。

The Prince of Han, Gao Xu, was the Yongle Emperor's second son. By nature he was fierce and overbearing. During the Hongwu reign, the sons of the princes were summoned to study in the capital. Gao Xu refused to study. His words and conduct were frivolous, and the Taizu Emperor detested him. When the Taizu Emperor died, the Yongle Emperor sent the Renzong and Gao Xu to attend the capital. His uncle Xu Huizu, finding him unruly, secretly admonished him. He would not listen. He stole Xu Huizu's finest horse, crossed the river, and galloped straight home. Along the way he killed commoners and officials. At Zhuozhou he also struck dead the post-station director, whereupon court officials cited these crimes to rebuke the Prince of Yan. When the Yongle Emperor raised troops, the Renzong remained behind to hold the base while Gao Xu followed him and sometimes served as the army's vanguard. At the Battle of Baigou River the Yongle Emperor was nearly caught by Qu Neng. Gao Xu led several thousand elite cavalry straight into the deciding fight and killed Qu Neng and his son on the field. When the Yongle Emperor was defeated at Dongchang and Zhang Yu died in battle, the emperor fled alone. Just then Gao Xu arrived with his forces and drove back the southern army. Xu Huizu defeated the Yan forces at Puzikou, and Gao Xu brought barbarian cavalry to the rescue. The Yongle Emperor was greatly pleased and said, "I am exhausted. My son must rouse his courage and fight again. Gao Xu commanded the barbarian cavalry to fight with all their strength, and the southern army withdrew. In the many moments when the Yongle Emperor barely escaped danger and turned defeat into victory, Gao Xu's exertions counted for much. The Yongle Emperor thought him like himself, and Gao Xu took pride in it. Relying on his merits, he grew arrogant and wilful and committed many unlawful acts.

成祖即位，命將兵往開平備邊。時議建儲，淇國公丘福、駙馬王寧善高煦，時時稱高煦功高，幾奪嫡。成祖卒以元子仁賢，且太祖所立，而高煦又多過失，不果。永樂二年，仁宗立為太子，封高煦漢王，國雲南。高煦曰：「我何罪！斥萬里。」不肯行。從成祖巡北京，力請並其子歸南京。成祖不得已，聽之。請得天策衛為護衛，輒以唐太宗自比。己，復乘間請益兩護衛，所為益恣。成祖嘗命同仁宗謁孝陵。仁宗體肥重，且足疾，兩中使掖之行，恒失足。高煦從後言曰：「前人蹉跌，後人知警。」時宣宗為皇太孫，在後應聲曰：「更有後人知警也。」高煦回顧失色。高煦長七尺余，輕趫善騎射，兩腋若龍鱗者數片。既負其雄武，又每從北征，在成祖左右，時媒孽東宮事，譖解縉至死，黃淮等皆系獄。

When the Yongle Emperor took the throne, he ordered Gao Xu to command troops at Kaiping to guard the frontier. At the time the heir was being chosen, the Duke of Qi, Qiu Fu, and the imperial son-in-law Wang Ning favored Gao Xu and constantly praised his high merits, nearly displacing the eldest son from succession. The Yongle Emperor finally chose the eldest son for his benevolence and worth—the Taizu had established him—and because Gao Xu had many faults, the plan did not succeed. In the second year of the Yongle reign the Renzong was established as crown prince, and Gao Xu was enfeoffed as Prince of Han with his fief in Yunnan. Gao Xu said, "What is my crime! To be banished ten thousand li away! He refused to go. Accompanying the Yongle Emperor on his tour of Beijing, he urgently petitioned to be allowed to return to Nanjing with his sons. The Yongle Emperor had no choice and granted his request. He requested the Tiance Guard as his bodyguard and constantly compared himself to Emperor Taizong of Tang. Then, seizing an opportunity, he again requested two more bodyguards, and his conduct grew ever more unrestrained. The Yongle Emperor once ordered him to go with the Renzong to pay respects at the Xiaoling Mausoleum. The Renzong was stout and heavy and suffered from a foot ailment. Two eunuchs supported him as he walked, and he constantly stumbled. Gao Xu spoke from behind and said, "When those ahead stumble, those behind take warning. At the time the future Xuande Emperor, as heir presumptive, answered from behind, "There are those behind who will take warning too. Gao Xu looked back and blanched. Gao Xu stood more than seven chi tall, light and nimble, skilled at horsemanship and archery, with several scales like dragon scales under both armpits. Trusting in his martial prowess, he accompanied every northern campaign at the Yongle Emperor's side and constantly slandered the crown prince. He falsely accused Xie Jin to death, and Huang Huai and others were all imprisoned.

十三年五月改封青州，又不欲行。成祖始疑之，賜敕曰：「既受藩封，豈可常居京邸！前以雲南遠憚行，今封青州，又托故欲留侍，前後殆非實意，茲命更不可辭。」然高煦遷延自如。私選各衛健士，又募兵三千人，不隸籍兵部，縱使劫掠。兵馬指揮徐野驢擒治之。高煦怒，手鐵瓜撾殺野驢，眾莫敢言。遂僭用乘輿器物。成祖聞之怒。十四年十月還南京，盡得其不法數十事，切責之，褫冠服，囚系西華門內，將廢為庶人。仁宗涕泣力救，乃削兩護衛，誅其左右狎匿諸人。明年三月徙封樂安州，趣即日行。高煦至樂安，怨望，異謀益急。仁宗數以書戒，不悛。

In the fifth month of the thirteenth year he was transferred to Qingzhou, and again he did not wish to go. The Yongle Emperor began to suspect him and sent an edict: "Having received a princely fief, how can you always dwell in the capital residence! Before you feared the distance to Yunnan and would not go. Now, enfeoffed at Qingzhou, you again invent pretexts to remain in attendance—your intent from first to last is hardly sincere. This order you must not refuse. Yet Gao Xu delayed as before. He privately selected stalwart soldiers from the various guards, recruited three thousand troops not registered with the Ministry of War, and let them plunder at will. The cavalry commander Xu Yelü captured and punished them. Gao Xu was enraged. With his iron mace in hand he beat Xu Yelü to death, and none dared speak out. He then usurped the regalia of the imperial carriage. When the Yongle Emperor heard of it he was enraged. In the tenth month of the fourteenth year he returned to Nanjing, ascertained dozens of Gao Xu's unlawful acts, sternly rebuked him, stripped his cap and robes, imprisoned him inside the Xihua Gate, and was about to reduce him to commoner status. The Renzong wept and pleaded hard to save him. Thereupon two bodyguards were stripped away and his intimate attendants were executed. In the third month of the following year he was transferred to Le'an Prefecture and ordered to depart that very day. When Gao Xu reached Le'an he was filled with resentment and discontent, and his treasonous plotting grew ever more urgent. The Renzong repeatedly sent letters of warning, but he did not reform.

成祖北征晏駕。高煦子瞻圻在北京，覘朝廷事馳報，一晝夜六七行。高煦亦日遣人潛伺京師，幸有變。仁宗知之，顧益厚遇。遺書召至，增歲祿，賜賚萬計，仍命歸藩。封其長子為世子，余皆郡王。先是，瞻圻怨父殺其母，屢發父過惡。成祖曰：「爾父子何忍也！」至是高煦入朝，悉上瞻圻前後覘報中朝事。仁宗召示瞻圻曰：「汝處父子兄弟間，讒構至此，稚子不足誅。」遣守鳳陽皇陵。

The Yongle Emperor died while on a northern campaign. Gao Xu's son Zhan Qi was in Beijing, spying on court affairs and galloping back with reports six or seven times in a day and night. Gao Xu also sent men daily to secretly watch the capital, hoping for upheaval. The Renzong knew of it but treated him all the more generously. By testamentary letter he summoned Gao Xu, increased his annual stipend, bestowed gifts numbering in the tens of thousands, and still ordered him to return to his fief. His eldest son was enfeoffed as heir apparent; the rest were all made commandery princes. Earlier, Zhan Qi resented his father for killing his mother and repeatedly exposed his father's faults and crimes. The Yongle Emperor said, "How can you father and son be so cruel to each other! Thereupon Gao Xu came to court and fully submitted Zhan Qi's earlier and later intelligence reports on the central court. The Renzong summoned Zhan Qi and said to him, "Caught between father and brothers, you have slandered to this extent. A young child is not worth executing. He was sent to guard the imperial mausoleum at Fengyang.

宣德元年八月，遂反。遣其親信枚青等潛至京師，約舊功臣為內應。英國公張輔執之以聞。時高煦已約山東都指揮靳榮等，又散弓刀旂幟於衛所，盡奪傍郡縣畜馬。立五軍：指揮王斌領前軍，韋達左軍，千戶盛堅右軍，知州朱恒後軍，諸子各監一軍，高煦自將中軍。世子瞻坦居守，指揮韋弘、韋興，千戶王玉、李智領四哨。部署已定，偽授王斌、朱恒等太師、都督、尚書等官。御史李濬以父喪家居，高煦招之，不從，變姓名，間道詣京師上變。帝猶不忍加兵，遣中官侯泰賜高煦書。泰至，高煦盛兵見泰，南面坐，大言曰：「永樂中信讒，削我護衛，徙我樂安。仁宗徒以金帛餌我，我豈能郁郁居此！汝歸報，急縛奸臣夏原吉等來，徐議我所欲。」泰懼，唯唯而已。比還，帝問漢王何言，治兵何如，泰皆不敢以實對。

In the eighth month of the first year of the Xuande reign he rebelled. He sent his trusted followers Mei Qing and others secretly to the capital to arrange with former meritorious officials for internal support. The Duke of Ying, Zhang Fu, arrested them and reported it to the throne. By then Gao Xu had already arranged with the Shandong regional commander Jin Rong and others, distributed bows, blades, banners, and flags to the guard posts, and seized all horses held by neighboring prefectures and counties. He established five armies: the commander Wang Bin led the vanguard, Wei Da the left army, the chiliarch Sheng Jian the right army, the prefect Zhu Heng the rear army; each of his sons supervised one army, and Gao Xu personally commanded the center army. The heir apparent Zhan Tan remained to hold the city; the commanders Wei Hong and Wei Xing and the chiliarchs Wang Yu and Li Zhi led four outposts. Once the deployment was set, he falsely appointed Wang Bin, Zhu Heng, and others as grand preceptor, regional commander, minister, and other offices. The censor Li Jun was at home in mourning for his father. Gao Xu recruited him but he refused, changed his name, took a byway to the capital, and reported the rebellion. The emperor still could not bear to send troops and dispatched the eunuch Hou Tai to deliver a letter to Gao Xu. When Tai arrived, Gao Xu displayed his troops to receive him, sat facing south, and spoke loudly, "In the Yongle reign slanderous reports stripped my bodyguards and moved me to Le'an. The Renzong merely baited me with gold and silk—how could I dwell here in gloom! Go back and report: bind the traitorous ministers Xia Yuanji and the rest at once and bring them here, then we may slowly discuss what I want. Tai was afraid and could only murmur assent. When he returned the emperor asked what the Prince of Han had said and how his troops were arrayed; Tai dared not answer truthfully on any point.

是月，高煦遣百戶陳剛進疏，更為書與公侯大臣，多所指斥。帝嘆曰：「漢王果反。」乃議遣陽武侯薛祿將兵往討。大學士楊榮等勸帝親征。帝是之。張輔奏曰：「高煦素懦，願假臣兵二萬，擒獻闕下。」帝曰：「卿誠足擒賊，顧朕初即位，小人或懷二心，不親行，不足安反側。」於是車駕發京師，過楊村，馬上顧從臣曰：「度高煦計安出？」或對曰：「必先取濟南為巢窟。」或對曰：「彼曩不肯離南京，今必引兵南下。」帝曰：「不然。濟南雖近，未易攻，聞大軍至，亦不暇攻。護衛軍家樂安，必內顧，不肯徑趨南京。高煦外誇詐，內實怯，臨事狐疑不能斷。今敢反者，輕朕年少新立，眾心未附，不能親征耳。今聞朕行，已膽落，敢出戰乎？至即擒矣。」高煦初聞祿等將兵，攘臂大喜，以為易與。及聞親征，始懼。時有從樂安來歸者，帝厚賞之，令還諭其眾。仍遺書高煦曰：「張敖失國，始於貫高；淮南被誅，成於伍被。今六師壓境，王即出倡謀者，朕與王除過，恩禮如初。不然，一戰成擒，或以王為奇貨，縛以來獻，悔無及矣。」前鋒至樂安，高煦約詰旦出戰。帝令大軍蓐食兼行，駐蹕樂安城北，壁其四門。賊乘城守，王師發神機銃箭，聲震如雷。諸將請即攻城。帝不許。再敕諭高煦，皆不答。城中人多欲執獻高煦者，高煦大懼。乃密遣人詣行幄，願假今夕訣妻子，即出歸罪。帝許之。是夜，高煦盡焚兵器及通逆謀書。明日，帝移蹕樂安城南。高煦將出城，王斌等力止曰：「寧一戰死，無為人擒。」高煦紿斌等復入宮，遂潛從間道出見帝。群臣請正典刑。不允。以劾章示之，高煦頓首言：「臣罪萬萬死，惟陛下命。」帝令高煦為書召諸子，余黨悉就擒。赦城中罪，脅從者不問。命薛祿及尚書張本鎮撫樂安，改曰武定州，遂班師。廢高煦父子為庶人，築室西安門內錮之。王斌等皆伏誅，惟長史李默以嘗諫免死，謫口北為民。天津、青州、滄州、山西諸都督指揮約舉城應者，事覺相繼誅，凡六百四十余人，其故縱與藏匿坐死戍邊者一千五百余人，編邊氓者七百二十人。帝制《東征記》以示群臣。高煦及諸子相繼皆死。

That month Gao Xu sent the centurion Chen Gang to submit a memorial and also wrote letters to the dukes and grand ministers, full of accusations. The emperor sighed and said, "The Prince of Han has indeed rebelled. Thereupon it was proposed to send the Marquis of Yangwu, Xue Lu, to lead troops to suppress him. Grand Secretary Yang Rong and others urged the emperor to campaign in person. The emperor agreed. Zhang Fu memorialized, "Gao Xu has always been timid; grant me twenty thousand troops and I will capture him and present him at court. The emperor said, "You could indeed capture the rebel, but I have just taken the throne and petty men may harbor divided loyalties; unless I go in person I cannot reassure the wavering. Thereupon the imperial carriage set out from the capital. Passing Yangcun, the emperor turned on his horse to his followers and said, "What plan do you think Gao Xu will adopt? Someone answered, "He will surely seize Jinan first as his lair. Someone answered, "He would not leave Nanjing before; now he will surely lead his army south. The emperor said, "Not so. Jinan is close but not easy to attack; hearing the great army has arrived, he will not have leisure to attack it. The bodyguard soldiers' families are at Le'an; they will surely look homeward and will not rush straight for Nanjing. Gao Xu outwardly boasts and deceives but inwardly is truly timid; facing events he is hesitant and cannot decide. He dares rebel now because he thinks me young and newly enthroned, with hearts not yet attached, and unable to campaign in person. Now that he hears I am coming, his courage has already failed—will he dare give battle? When we arrive he will be captured at once. When Gao Xu first heard that Xue Lu and others were leading troops he rubbed his arms in delight, thinking them easy opponents. When he heard of the personal campaign he began to fear. At the time some who had come over from Le'an were richly rewarded; the emperor ordered them to return and instruct the rest. He still sent a letter to Gao Xu saying, "Zhang Ao lost his state, beginning with Guan Gao; The Prince of Huainan was executed, accomplished by Wu Bei. Now the six armies press the border; if the prince at once hands over the chief plotters, I will wipe the slate clean with the prince and treat him with grace as before. Otherwise, one battle and you are captured—or someone may treat the prince as a rare prize, bind you and present you as tribute, and then regret will be too late. The vanguard reached Le'an; Gao Xu arranged to give battle at dawn. The emperor ordered the great army to eat at dawn and march together, halting north of Le'an city and walling its four gates. The rebels manned the walls in defense; the imperial army fired divine engine bolts and arrows, the sound thundering like rolling thunder. The generals asked to assault the city at once. The emperor would not permit it. Again he sent edicts instructing Gao Xu; there was no answer. Many in the city wished to seize and present Gao Xu; Gao Xu was greatly afraid. He secretly sent a man to the imperial camp, asking leave to bid farewell to wife and children this night and then come out to submit. The emperor granted it. That night Gao Xu burned all weapons and treasonous correspondence. The next day the emperor moved his camp to the south of Le'an. When Gao Xu was about to leave the city, Wang Bin and others forcefully stopped him, saying, "Better die in one battle than be captured by others. Gao Xu deceived Bin and the others into re-entering the palace, then secretly slipped out by a hidden path to appear before the emperor. The ministers asked that proper punishment be applied. It was not granted. The impeachment memorial was shown to him; Gao Xu kowtowed and said, "Your subject's crime deserves ten thousand deaths; I await Your Majesty's command. The emperor ordered Gao Xu to write letters summoning his sons; the remaining conspirators were all captured. Crimes in the city were pardoned; those coerced to follow were not questioned. Xue Lu and Minister Zhang Ben were ordered to pacify Le'an; it was renamed Wuding Prefecture, and the army withdrew. Gao Xu and his sons were reduced to commoner status and walled up in dwellings inside the Xi'an Gate. Wang Bin and the rest were all executed; only the chief administrator Li Mo was spared death for having once remonstrated and was banished to the northern frontier as a commoner. Regional commanders and commanders at Tianjin, Qingzhou, Cangzhou, and Shanxi who had agreed to rise when the cities were taken were exposed and executed in succession, six hundred forty-odd in all; those who had knowingly abetted or concealed them and were sentenced to death or frontier service numbered more than fifteen hundred, and seven hundred twenty border commoners were enrolled for service. The emperor composed the Record of the Eastern Campaign and showed it to the ministers. Gao Xu and his sons died one after another.

趙簡王高燧，成祖第三子。永樂二年封。尋命居北京，詔有司，政務皆啟王後行。歲時朝京師，辭歸，太子輒送之江東驛。高燧恃寵，多行不法，又與漢王高煦謀奪嫡，時時譖太子。於是太子宮寮多得罪。七年，帝聞其不法事，大怒，誅其長史顧晟，褫高燧冠服，以太子力解，得免。擇國子司業趙亨道、董子莊為長史輔導之，高燧稍改行。

Prince Jian of Zhao, Gao Sui, was the Yongle Emperor's third son. He was enfeoffed in the second year of the Yongle reign. Soon he was ordered to reside in Beijing; an edict to the officials declared that all government affairs were to be reported to the prince before action. At the seasonal visits to the capital, when he took leave to return the crown prince always saw him off at the Jiangdong post station. Gao Sui relied on favor, committed many unlawful acts, and also plotted with the Prince of Han, Gao Xu, to seize the succession, constantly slandering the crown prince. Thereupon many in the crown prince's household staff fell into disgrace. In the seventh year the emperor heard of his unlawful acts, was greatly angered, executed his chief administrator Gu Sheng, stripped Gao Sui of cap and robes, and through the crown prince's strenuous intercession he was spared. The National University vice chancellors Zhao Hengdao and Dong Zizhuang were chosen as chief administrators to guide him, and Gao Sui gradually reformed his conduct.

二十一年五月，帝不豫。護衛指揮孟賢等結欽天監官王射成及內侍楊慶養子造偽詔，謀進毒於帝，俟晏駕，詔從中下，廢太子，立趙王。總旗王瑜姻家高以正者，為賢等畫謀，謀定告瑜。瑜上變。帝曰：「豈應有此！」立捕賢，得為偽詔。賢等皆伏誅，陛瑜遼海衛千戶。帝顧高燧曰：「爾為之耶？」高燧大懼，不能言。太子力為之解曰：「此下人所為，高燧必不與知。」自是益斂戢。

In the fifth month of the twenty-first year the emperor fell ill. The bodyguard commander Meng Xian and others joined with the Directorate of Astronomy official Wang Shecheng and the eunuch Yang Qing's adopted son to forge an edict, plotting to administer poison to the emperor; when he died they would issue the edict from within, depose the crown prince, and establish the Prince of Zhao. Gao Yizheng, a relative by marriage of the company commander Wang Yu, drew up the plot for Xian and the others; once the plot was set he informed Yu. Yu reported the treason. The emperor said, "How could such a thing be! He immediately arrested Xian and obtained the forged edict. Xian and the rest were all executed; Yu was promoted to chiliarch of the Liaohai Guard. The emperor turned to Gao Sui and said, "Did you do this? Gao Sui was greatly afraid and could not speak. The crown prince strenuously interceded for him, saying, "This was the work of petty men; Gao Sui surely knew nothing of it. From then on he restrained himself all the more.

子惠王蟾塙嗣，景泰五年薨。子悼王祈钅茲嗣，天順四年薨。子靖王見灂嗣。惠王、悼王皆頗有過失，至見灂惡尤甚，屢賊殺人，又嘗乘醉欲殺其叔父。成化十二年，事聞，詔奪祿米三之二，去冠服，戴民巾，讀書習禮。其後二年，見灂母妃李氏為之請，得冠服如故。見灂卒不能改。愛幼子祐枳，遂誣長子祐棌以大逆，復被詔誚讓。弘治十五年薨。子莊王祐棌嗣，正德十三年薨。

His son the Prince of Hui, Chan Huang, succeeded and died in the fifth year of the Jingtai reign. His son the Prince of Dao, Qi Ci, succeeded and died in the fourth year of the Tianshun reign. His son the Prince of Jing, Jian Zhuo, succeeded. The Princes of Hui and Dao both had considerable faults; as for Jian Zhuo his wickedness was especially severe—he repeatedly murdered as a bandit and once, drunk, tried to kill his uncle. In the twelfth year of the Chenghua reign the matter was reported; an edict stripped two-thirds of his stipend grain, removed his princely cap and robes, made him wear a commoner's headcloth, and ordered him to study the classics and ritual. Two years later Jian Zhuo's mother, Consort Li, petitioned on his behalf and he was restored to his princely cap and robes. Jian Zhuo ultimately could not reform. Favoring his younger son You Zhi, he falsely accused his eldest son You Lin of great treason and was again rebuked by imperial edict. He died in the fifteenth year of the Hongzhi reign. His son the Prince of Zhuang, You Lin, succeeded and died in the thirteenth year of the Zhengde reign.

子康王厚煜嗣，事祖母楊妃以孝聞。嘉靖七年六月，璽書褒予。明年冬，境內大饑。厚煜上疏，請辭祿一千石以佐振。帝嘉王憂國，詔有司發粟，不允所辭。及帝南巡，厚煜遠出迎，命益祿三百石。厚煜性和厚，構一樓名「思訓」，嘗獨居讀書，文藻贍麗。宗人輔國將軍祐椋等數犯法，與有司為難。厚煜庇祐椋。祐椋卒得罪，並見責讓。其後有司益務以事裁抑諸宗。洛川王翊鏴奴與通判田時雨之隸爭瓜而毆，時雨捕王奴。厚煜請解不得，竟論奴充軍。未幾，宗室數十人索祿，時雨以宗室毆府官，白於上官。知府傅汝礪盡捕各府人。厚煜由是忿恚，竟自縊死。三十九年十月也。厚煜子成臯王載垸疏聞於朝，下法司按問。時雨斬河南市，汝礪戍極邊。厚煜子載培及載培子翊錙皆前卒。翊錙子穆王常清嗣，以善行見旌。萬歷四十二年薨。世子由松前卒，弟壽光王由桂子慈嗣，薨。無子，穆王弟常氵臾嗣。崇禎十七年，彰德陷，被執。

His son the Prince of Kang, Hou Yu, succeeded and was known for filial service to his grandmother, Consort Yang. In the sixth month of the seventh year of the Jiajing reign an imperial letter praised and rewarded him. The next winter a great famine struck within his domain. Hou Yu submitted a memorial asking to renounce one thousand shi of stipend to aid relief. The emperor praised the prince's concern for the state, ordered the officials to distribute grain, and did not accept his renunciation. When the emperor toured the south, Hou Yu went far out to welcome him and was ordered to increase his stipend by three hundred shi. Hou Yu was mild and generous by nature. He built a tower called "Reflection on Instruction," where he often read alone, and his literary compositions were rich and beautiful. His clansmen the Supporter-Generals of the State, You Liang and others, repeatedly broke the law and clashed with local officials. Hou Yu sheltered You Liang. You Liang finally offended the law, and both men were rebuked. Afterward officials increasingly seized on pretexts to restrain the various clansmen. A slave of the Prince of Luochuan, Yi Lin, quarreled over melons with an attendant of Vice-prefect Tian Shiyu and beat him; Shiyu arrested the prince's slave. Hou Yu pleaded for the slave's release in vain; the man was finally sentenced to military exile. Before long dozens of clansmen demanded their stipends. Shiyu reported that clansmen had beaten prefectural officials to his superiors. Prefect Fu Rujie arrested all the men from the various princely residences. Hou Yu grew resentful and enraged over this and finally hanged himself. This was in the tenth month of the thirty-ninth year of the Wanli reign. Hou Yu's son the Prince of Chenggao, Zai Yuan, memorialized the court, and the case was referred to the judicial offices for investigation. Shiyu was executed in the market at Henan; Rujie was banished to the farthest frontier. Hou Yu's son Zai Pei and Zai Pei's son Yi Qian had both died earlier. Yi Qian's son the Prince of Mu, Chang Qing, succeeded and was honored for good conduct. He died in the forty-second year of the Wanli reign. The heir apparent You Song predeceased him; succession passed to the son of his younger brother the Prince of Shouguang, You Ci, who later died. He had no son, and the Prince of Mu's younger brother Chang Yu succeeded. In the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign Zhangde fell and he was taken prisoner.

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