1
諸王五○世宗諸子
Princes 5: Sons of the Jiajing Emperor.
2
哀沖太子載基莊敬太子載景王載圳潁王載戚王載沴薊王載匱均王載夙○穆宗諸子
Crown Prince Ai Chong (Zai Ji); Crown Prince Zhuang Jing (Zai He); Prince Jing (Zai Zhen); Prince Ying (Zai Yan); Prince Qi (Zai Lin); Prince Ji (Zai Zhu); Prince Jun (Zai Su) — sons of the Longqing Emperor.
3
憲懷太子翊釴靖王翊鈴潞王翊镠○神宗諸子
Crown Prince Xian Huai (Yi Xi); Prince Jing (Yi Ling); Prince Lu (Yi Liu) — sons of the Wanli Emperor.
4
邠王常漵福王常洵沅王常治瑞王常浩惠王常潤桂王常瀛○光宗諸子
Prince Bin (Chang Xu); Prince Fu (Chang Xun); Prince Yuan (Chang Zhi); Prince Rui (Chang Hao); Prince Hui (Chang Run); Prince Gui (Chang Ying) — sons of the Taichang Emperor.
5
簡王由學齊王由楫懷王田模湘王由栩惠王由橏○熹宗諸子
Prince Jian (You Xue); Prince Qi (You Ji); Prince Huai (You Mo); Prince Xiang (You Xu); Prince Hui (You Rong) — sons of the Tianqi Emperor.
6
懷沖太子慈然悼懷太子慈焴獻懷太子慈炅○莊烈帝諸子
Crown Prince Huai Chong (Ci Ran); Crown Prince Dao Huai (Ci Yu); Crown Prince Xian Huai (Ci Jiong) — sons of the Chongzhen Emperor.
7
太子慈烺懷王慈烜定王慈炯永王慈照悼靈王慈煥悼懷王
Crown Prince Ci Lang; Prince Huai (Ci Xuan); Prince Ding (Ci Jiong); Prince Yong (Ci Zhao); Prince Dao Ling (Ci Huan); Prince Dao Huai.
8
世宗八子。 閻貴妃生哀沖太子載基。 王貴妃生莊敬太子載。 杜太后生穆宗。 盧靖妃生景王載圳。 江肅妃生潁王載。 趙懿妃生戚王載沴。 陳雍妃生薊王載匱。 趙榮妃生均王載夙。
The Jiajing Emperor had eight sons. Consort Yan bore Crown Prince Ai Chong (Zai Ji). Consort Wang bore Crown Prince Zhuang Jing (Zai He). Empress Dowager Du bore the Longqing Emperor. Consort Lu Jing bore Prince Jing (Zai Zhen). Consort Jiang Su bore Prince Ying (Zai Yan). Consort Zhao Yi bore Prince Qi (Zai Lin). Consort Chen Yong bore Prince Ji (Zai Zhu). Consort Zhao Rong bore Prince Jun (Zai Su).
9
哀沖太子載基，世宗第一子。 生二月而殤。
Crown Prince Ai Chong (Zai Ji) was the Jiajing Emperor's eldest son. He lived only two months before dying in infancy.
10
莊敬太子載，世宗第二子。 嘉靖十八年，世宗將南巡，立為皇太子，甫四歲，命監國，以大學士夏言為傅。 尚書霍韜、郎中鄒守益獻《東宮聖學圖冊》，疑為謗訕，幾獲罪。 帝既得方士段朝用，思習修攝術，諭禮部，具皇太子監國儀。 太仆卿楊最諫，杖死，監國之議亦罷。 贊善羅洪先、趙時春、唐順之請太子出閤，講學文華殿，皆削籍。 太廟成，命太子攝祀。 二十八年三月行寇禮，越二日薨。 帝命與哀沖太子並建寢園，歲時祭祀，從諸陵後。
Crown Prince Zhuang Jing (Zai He) was the Jiajing Emperor's second son. In the eighteenth year of the Jiajing reign, as the emperor prepared a southern tour, the four-year-old prince was invested as crown prince and charged with overseeing the realm; Grand Secretary Xia Yan was appointed his tutor. Minister Huo Tao and section director Zou Shouyi presented the Illustrated Manual of Sacred Learning for the Eastern Palace; the work was suspected of slander, and they nearly faced punishment. After the emperor acquired the Daoist adept Duan Chaoyong and set his mind on learning cultivation and longevity techniques, he instructed the Ministry of Rites to prepare the protocol for a crown-prince regency. Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud Yang Zui remonstrated and was beaten to death, and the regency proposal was dropped. Palace lecturers Luo Hongxian, Zhao Shichun, and Tang Shunzhi asked that the crown prince leave his quarters to study in Wenhua Hall; all were struck from the official registers. When the Imperial Ancestral Temple was completed, the crown prince was ordered to preside at the sacrifices on the emperor's behalf. In the third month of the twenty-eighth year he underwent the capping ceremony, and two days later he died. The emperor ordered a burial park built for him alongside Crown Prince Ai Chong, with seasonal sacrifices performed after those at the imperial tombs.
11
景恭王載圳，世宗第四子。 嘉靖十八年冊立太子，同日封穆宗裕王、載圳景王。 其後太子薨，廷臣言裕王次當立。 帝以前太子不永，遲之。 晚信方士語，二王皆不得見。 載圳既與裕王並出邸，居處衣服無別。 載圳年少，左右懷窺覬，語漸聞，中外頗有異論。 四十年之國德安。 居四年薨。 帝謂大學士徐階曰：「此子素謀奪嫡，今死矣。」 初，載圳之藩，多請莊田。 部議給之。 荊州沙市不在請中。 中使責市租，知府徐學謨執不與，又取薪稅於漢陽之劉家塥，推官吳宗周持之，皆獲譴。 其他土田湖陂侵入者數萬頃。 王無子，歸葬西山，妃妾皆還居京邸，封除。
Prince Jing Gong (Zai Zhen) was the Jiajing Emperor's fourth son. In the eighteenth year of Jiajing the crown prince was formally invested, and on the same day the future Longqing Emperor was enfeoffed as Prince of Yu while Zai Zhen was enfeoffed as Prince of Jing. After the crown prince died, court officials argued that the Prince of Yu, as next in line, ought to be invested as heir. Because the previous crown prince had died young, the emperor delayed the decision. In his later years, swayed by Daoist adepts, he refused audiences to both princes. Once Zai Zhen left the palace together with the Prince of Yu, their residences and attire were made indistinguishable. Zai Zhen was still young, and those around him nursed ambitions for the succession; rumors spread, and dissent arose both inside and outside the court. In the fortieth year he went to take up his fief at De'an. Four years later he died. The emperor told Grand Secretary Xu Jie, "This son has long plotted to seize the succession. Now he is dead." When Zai Zhen first went to his fief, he repeatedly requested estate lands. The ministry approved the grants. Shashi in Jingzhou was not among the lands he had requested. A palace envoy demanded market rents, but Prefect Xu Xuemo refused to comply; when the prince's agents also levied firewood taxes at Liujiahe in Hanyang and Assistant Magistrate Wu Zongzhou resisted, all were punished. Other seized fields, ponds, and embankments amounted to tens of thousands of qing. The prince left no sons; he was buried at Xishan, his consorts and concubines returned to the capital residence, and the princely line was abolished.
12
潁殤王載，世宗第五子。 生未逾月殤。 戚懷王載沴，世宗第六子。 薊哀王載匱，世宗第七子。 均思王載夙，世宗第八子。 三王俱未逾歲殤，追加封謚。
Prince Ying Shang (Zai Yan) was the Jiajing Emperor's fifth son. He lived less than a month before dying in infancy. Prince Qi Huai (Zai Lin) was the Jiajing Emperor's sixth son. Prince Ji Ai (Zai Zhu) was the Jiajing Emperor's seventh son. Prince Jun Si (Zai Su) was the Jiajing Emperor's eighth son. All three died in infancy before their first year, and posthumous titles and enfeoffments were conferred.
13
穆宗四子。 李皇后生憲懷太子翊釴，孝定太后生神宗、潞王翊镠，其靖王翊鈴，母氏無考。
The Longqing Emperor had four sons. Empress Li bore Crown Prince Xian Huai (Yi Xi); Empress Dowager Xiaoding bore the Wanli Emperor and Prince Lu (Yi Liu); Prince Jing (Yi Ling)'s mother is unrecorded.
14
憲懷太子翊釴，穆宗長子。 生五歲殤，贈裕世子。 隆慶元年追謚。
Crown Prince Xian Huai (Yi Xi) was the Longqing Emperor's eldest son. He died in infancy at the age of five and was posthumously granted the title Heir of Yu. A posthumous title was conferred in the first year of Longqing.
15
靖悼王翊鈴，穆宗第二子。 生未逾年殤，贈藍田王。 隆慶元年追加封謚。
Prince Jing Dao (Yi Ling) was the Longqing Emperor's second son. He died in infancy before completing his first year and was posthumously enfeoffed as Prince of Lantian. Posthumous enfeoffment and title were added in the first year of Longqing.
16
潞簡王翊镠，穆宗第四子。 隆慶二年生，生四歲而封。 萬歷十七年之藩衛輝。 初，翊镠以帝母弟居京邸，王店、王莊遍畿內。 比之藩，悉以還官，遂以內臣司之。 皇店、皇莊自此益侈。 翊镠居藩，多請贍田、食鹽，無不應者。 其後福藩遂緣為故事。 明初，親王歲祿外，量給草場牧地，間有以廢壤河灘請者，多不及千頃。 部臣得執奏，不盡從也。 景王就藩時，賜予概裁省。 楚地曠，多閑田，詔悉予之。 景藩除，潞得景故籍田，多至四萬頃，部臣無以難。 至福王常洵之國，版籍更定，民力益絀，尺寸皆奪之民間，海內騷然。 論者推原事始，頗以翊镠為口實雲。 翊镠好文，性勤飭，恒以歲入輸之朝，助工助邊無所惜，帝益善之。 四十二年，皇太后哀問至，翊镠悲慟廢寢食，未幾薨。
Prince Lu Jian (Yi Liu) was the Longqing Emperor's fourth son. Born in the second year of Longqing, he was enfeoffed at the age of four. In the seventeenth year of Wanli he went to take up his fief at Weihui. At first, as the emperor's younger maternal brother living at the capital residence, Yi Liu held princely shops and estates throughout the capital region. When he went to his fief, all were returned to the government and placed under palace eunuchs. From then on imperial shops and estates grew ever more extravagant. While residing in his fief, Yi Liu frequently requested maintenance lands and salt rations, and every request was granted. Later the Prince of Fu took this as precedent. In the early Ming, apart from princely annual stipends, pasturelands were allotted in measured amounts; occasional requests for waste land or river flats rarely exceeded a thousand qing. Ministry officials could remonstrate in memorials, and the throne did not always comply. When Prince Jing went to his fief, grants were generally reduced. Chu had vast tracts of idle farmland, and an edict granted all of it to him. When the Jing princely line was abolished, Lu received the former Jing prince's registered lands — as many as forty thousand qing — and ministry officials had no grounds to object. By the time Prince Fu (Chang Xun) went to his fief, land registers were redrawn, the people's resources were further drained, every scrap of land was seized from commoners, and the realm was in uproar. Commentators tracing the matter to its origins often pointed to Yi Liu as the precedent. Yi Liu loved literature and was diligent by nature; he regularly sent his annual income to court and spared nothing for public works and frontier defense, and the emperor thought all the more highly of him. In the forty-second year, when news of the empress dowager's death arrived, Yi Liu grieved so deeply that he stopped eating and sleeping, and soon died.
17
世子常淓幼，母妃李氐理藩事。 時福王奏請，輒取中旨，帝於王妃奏，亦從中下，示無異同。 部臣言：「王妃奏陳四事，如軍校月糧之當給發，義和店之預防侵奪，義所當許； 至歲祿之欲先給，王莊之欲更設，則不當許。 且於王無絲豪益，徒令邸中人日魚肉小民，飽私囊。 將來本支千億，請索日頻，盡天府之版章，給王邸而不足也。」 不報。 四十六年，常淓嗣。 崇禎中，流賊擾秦、晉、河北。 常淓疏告急，言：「衛輝城卑土惡，請選護衛三千人助守，捐歲入萬金資餉，不煩司農。」 朝廷嘉之。 盜發王妃冢，常淓上言：「賊延蔓漸及江北，鳳、泗陵寢可虞，宜早行剿滅。」 時諸藩中能急國難者，惟周、潞二王雲。 後賊躪中州，常淓流寓於杭。 順治二年六月降於我大清。 神宗八子。 王太后生光宗。 鄭貴妃生福王常洵、沅王常治。 周端妃生瑞王常浩。 李貴妃生惠王常潤、桂王常瀛。 其邠王常漵、永思王常溥，母氏無考。
The heir Chang Fen was still young, and his mother Consort Li administered princely affairs. At the time the Prince of Fu's petitions always received direct edicts from the inner court; the princess consort's memorials likewise received orders from within, showing no difference in treatment. Ministry officials said, "Of the four matters the princess consort raised — such as properly disbursing monthly rations for military officers and soldiers and preventing encroachment on Yihe Shop — some ought rightly to be granted; but advance payment of the annual stipend and establishing additional princely estates ought not to be granted. They would bring the prince no benefit at all, but would only let those in the residence prey on common people day after day and fill their private purses. As the princely line branches into countless households, requests will grow ever more frequent; even exhausting the realm's land registers would not suffice to supply the princely residence." No reply was given. In the forty-sixth year Chang Fen succeeded to the princely title. During the Chongzhen reign, roving bandits ravaged Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Hebei. Chang Fen memorialized in alarm, saying, "Weihui's walls are low and its soil poor; I request three thousand guards to help defend it and will donate ten thousand taels of my annual income for rations, without troubling the Ministry of Revenue." The court commended him. When bandits opened the princess consort's tomb, Chang Fen memorialized, "The bandits are spreading toward the north of the Yangzi; the tombs at Feng and Si are at risk — they should be suppressed at once." At the time, among all the princes who urgently responded to the national crisis, only the princes of Zhou and Lu did so. Later, when bandits overran the central provinces, Chang Fen took refuge in Hangzhou. In the sixth month of the second year of Shunzhi he surrendered to the Great Qing. The Wanli Emperor had eight sons. Empress Dowager Wang bore the Taichang Emperor. Consort Zheng bore Prince Fu (Chang Xun) and Prince Yuan (Chang Zhi). Consort Zhou Duan bore Prince Rui (Chang Hao). Consort Li bore Prince Hui (Chang Run) and Prince Gui (Chang Ying). Prince Bin (Chang Xu) and Prince Yong Si (Chang Pu)'s mothers are unrecorded.
18
邠哀王常漵，神宗第二子。 生一歲殤。
Prince Bin Ai (Chang Xu) was the Wanli Emperor's second son. He lived one year before dying in infancy.
19
福恭王常洵，神宗第三子。 初，王皇后無子，王妃生長子，是為光宗。 常洵次之，母鄭貴妃最幸。 帝久不立太子，中外疑貴妃謀立己子，交章言其事，竄謫相踵，而言者不止。 帝深厭苦之。 二十九年始立光宗為太子，而封常洵福王，婚費至三十萬，營洛陽邸第至二十八萬，十倍常制。 廷臣請王之藩者數十百奏。 不報。 至四十二年，始令就藩。
Prince Fu Gong (Chang Xun) was the Wanli Emperor's third son. At first Empress Wang had no sons; the imperial consort bore the eldest son, who became the Taichang Emperor. Chang Xun was next in line; his mother Consort Zheng was the emperor's favorite. For a long time the Wanli Emperor did not name a crown prince. Court and country alike suspected that the favorite consort meant to put her own son on the throne. Memorial after memorial pressed the issue; officials who spoke up were banished in droves, yet the protests never stopped. The emperor came to loathe the controversy. Not until the twenty-ninth year of his reign did he finally make the Taichang Emperor heir apparent and enfeoff Chang Xun as Prince of Fu. The wedding cost three hundred thousand taels, and the Luoyang mansion cost two hundred eighty thousand—ten times the normal allotment. Dozens upon dozens of memorials from court officials urged the prince to go to his fief. The emperor gave no answer. Only in the forty-second year was he at last ordered to go to his fief.
20
先是，海內全盛，帝所遣稅使、礦使遍天下，月有進奉，明珠異寶文毳錦綺山積，他搜括贏羨億萬計。 至是多以資常洵。 臨行出宮門，召還數四，期以三歲一入朝。 下詔賜莊田四萬頃。 所司力爭，常洵亦奏辭，得減半。 中州腴土不足，取山東、湖廣田益之。 又奏乞故大學士張居正所沒產，及江都至太平沿江荻洲雜稅，並四川鹽井榷茶銀以自益。 伴讀、承奉諸官，假履畝為名，乘傳出入河南北、齊、楚間，所至騷動。 又請淮鹽千三百引，設店洛陽與民市。 中使至淮、揚支鹽，乾沒要求輒數倍。 而中州舊食河東鹽，以改食淮鹽故，禁非王肆所出不得鬻，河東引遏不行，邊餉由此絀。 廷臣請改給王鹽於河東，且無與民市。 弗聽。 帝深居久，群臣章奏率不省。 獨福藩使通籍中左門，一日數請，朝上夕報可。 四方奸人亡命，探風旨，走利如鶩。 如是者終萬歷之世。
Earlier the empire had been at its height. Tax and mining commissioners sent by the emperor ranged across the land, and every month fresh tribute arrived. Pearls, curios, fine furs, and brocades stacked up like hills; other levies and surpluses ran into the tens of millions. By this time most of those riches were being channeled to Chang Xun. On the eve of departure he passed the palace gate, was called back repeatedly, and was granted an audience at court once every three years. An edict granted him forty thousand qing of estate land. The responsible agencies protested vigorously; Chang Xun too memorialized to decline, and the grant was cut in half. Because fertile land in the Central Plains was not enough, fields from Shandong and Huguang were added to make up the total. He also asked for the confiscated estates of the late Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng, miscellaneous taxes on riverside reed lands from Jiangdu to Taiping, and the silver from Sichuan salt wells and tea monopolies—all to pad his own income. Tutors, palace attendants, and other staff, under the pretext of measuring fields, rode the relay posts through Henan, the north, Qi, and Chu, stirring up trouble wherever they appeared. He further requested thirteen hundred Huai salt certificates and opened shops in Luoyang to sell salt to the public. When eunuch envoys went to Huai and Yang to collect salt, their embezzlement and demands routinely ran to several times the proper amount. The Central Plains had long used Hedong salt, but after the switch to Huai salt only salt from the prince's shops could be sold. Hedong certificates were blocked from circulation, and frontier supplies suffered as a result. Court officials asked that the prince's salt be supplied from Hedong instead and that he not sell to the public. The emperor refused. The emperor had long withdrawn from court, and officials' memorials usually went unread. Only the Prince of Fu's messengers held registered access at the Central Left Gate; they petitioned several times a day and received approval by evening. Scoundrels and fugitives from every quarter, reading the court's mood, rushed to turn a profit like ducks to a pond. This went on for the rest of the Wanli reign.
21
及崇禎時，常洵地近屬尊，朝廷尊禮之。 常洵日閉閣飲醇酒，所好惟婦女倡樂。 秦中流賊起，河南大旱蝗，人相食，民間藉藉，謂先帝耗天下以肥王，洛陽富於大內。 援兵過洛者，喧言：「王府金錢百萬，而令吾輩枵腹死賊手。」 南京兵部尚書呂維祺方家居，聞之懼，以利害告常洵，不為意。 十三年冬，李自成連舀永寧、宜陽。 明年正月，參政王胤昌帥眾警備，總兵官王紹禹，副將劉見義、羅泰各引兵至。 常洵召三將入，賜宴加禮。 越數日，賊大至，攻城。 常洵出千金募勇士，縋而出，用矛入賊營，賊稍卻。 夜半，紹禹親軍從城上呼賊相笑語，揮刀殺守堞者，燒城樓，開北門納賊。 常洵縋城出，匿迎恩寺。 翌日，賊跡而執之，遂遇害。 兩承奉伏屍哭，賊捽之去。 承奉呼曰：「王死某不願生，乞一棺收王骨，棆粉無所恨。」 賊義而許之。 桐棺一寸，載以斷車，兩人即其旁自縊死。 王妃鄒氏及世子由崧走懷慶。 賊火王宮，三日不絕。 事聞，帝震悼，輟朝三日，令河南有司改殯。
In the Chongzhen era Chang Xun, as a close imperial kinsman of high standing, was treated with special honor by the court. Chang Xun spent his days behind closed doors drinking fine wine; his only interests were women and song. Bandits broke out in the Qin region; Henan was stricken by drought and locusts, and people resorted to cannibalism. Rumors ran wild that the late Wanli Emperor had drained the empire to fatten the prince, and that Luoyang was richer than the imperial palace. Relief troops passing through Luoyang cried out: "The princely mansion holds millions in gold and silver, yet we are left to starve and die at the bandits' hands! Lü Weiji, the former Nanjing Minister of War, was living at home when he heard this and was alarmed. He explained the danger to Chang Xun, who took no notice. In the winter of the thirteenth year, Li Zicheng successively captured Yongning and Yiyang. In the first month of the following year, Vice Commissioner Wang Yinchang mustered troops on alert, while Commander Wang Shaoyu and Vice Generals Liu Jianyi and Luo Tai each marched in with their forces. Chang Xun summoned the three generals, feasted them, and showed them special courtesy. Within days the rebels arrived in strength and laid siege to the city. Chang Xun offered a thousand taels of gold to recruit brave fighters. They were lowered by rope over the wall, spear in hand, raided the rebel camp, and drove the enemy back somewhat. At midnight Wang Shaoyu's personal troops called down to the rebels from the wall and joked with them, then slashed the defenders on the parapet, burned the gate tower, opened the north gate, and let the rebels in. Chang Xun was lowered by rope over the wall and took refuge at Ying'en Monastery. The next day the rebels tracked him down, seized him, and killed him. Two palace attendants threw themselves on the body and wept; the rebels dragged them away. One attendant cried out: "The prince is dead—I do not wish to live. Grant me a coffin to gather his bones, and I would be ground to dust without regret. Moved, the rebels agreed. A thin paulownia coffin was placed on a broken cart, and the two men hanged themselves beside it. Consort Zou and the heir Zhu Yousong fled to Huaiqing. The rebels torched the princely palace, and the fire burned for three days without stopping. When news reached the Chongzhen Emperor, he was stricken with grief, suspended court for three days, and ordered the Henan authorities to give the prince a proper reburial.
22
十六年秋七月，由崧襲封，帝親擇宮中寶玉帶賜之。 明年三月，京師失守，由崧與潞王常淓俱避賊至淮安。 四月，鳳陽總督馬士英等迎由崧入南京。 五月庚寅，稱監國。 以兵部尚書史可法、戶部尚書高弘圖及士英俱為大學士，士英仍督鳳陽軍務。 壬寅自立於南京，偽號弘光。 史可法督師江北。 召士英入，分淮、揚、鳳、廬為四鎮，以總兵官黃得功、劉良佐、劉澤清、高傑領之。
In the seventh month of autumn in the sixteenth year Zhu Yousong succeeded to the title, and the emperor personally selected a jade belt from the palace stores and bestowed it on him. In the third month of the following year the capital fell. Zhu Yousong and Prince of Lu Chang Fang both fled the rebels to Huai'an. In the fourth month Fengyang Grand Coordinator Ma Shiying and others welcomed Zhu Yousong into Nanjing. On the gengyin day of the fifth month he assumed the regency. Shi Kefa, Minister of War, Gao Hongtu, Minister of Revenue, and Ma Shiying were all made Grand Secretaries; Ma Shiying continued to direct military affairs at Fengyang. On the renyin day he declared himself emperor at Nanjing and proclaimed the era name Hongguang. Shi Kefa took command of the armies north of the Yangtze. Ma Shiying was summoned to court. Huai, Yang, Feng, and Lu were divided into four military zones under the commanders Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, and Gao Jie.
23
由崧性闇弱，湛於酒色聲伎，委任士英及士英黨阮大鋮，擢至兵部尚書，巡閱江防。 二人日以鬻官爵、報私憾為事。 事詳諸臣傳中。 未幾，有王之明者，詐稱莊烈帝太子，下之獄。 又有婦童氏，自稱由崧妃，亦下獄。 於是中外嘩然。 明年三月，寧南侯左良玉舉兵武昌，以救太子誅士英為名，順流東下。 阮大鋮、黃得功等帥師禦之。 而我大清兵以是年五月己丑渡江。 辛卯夜，由崧走太平，蓋趨得功軍也。 壬辰，士英挾由崧母妃奔杭州。 癸巳，由崧至蕪湖。 丙申，大兵至南京城北，文武官出降。 丙午，執由崧至南京。 九月甲寅，以歸京師。
Zhu Yousong was dull and weak, lost in wine, women, and entertainers. He put his trust in Ma Shiying and Ma's ally Ruan Dacheng, whom he promoted to Minister of War to oversee river defenses. The two spent their days selling offices and settling private grudges. The full account is given in the biographies of the various officials. Before long a man named Wang Zhiming falsely claimed to be the crown prince of the Chongzhen Emperor and was thrown into prison. A woman surnamed Tong also claimed to be Zhu Yousong's consort and was imprisoned as well. At this court and country alike erupted in uproar. In the third month of the following year Marquis of Ningnan Zuo Liangyu raised troops at Wuchang, claiming he would rescue the crown prince and execute Ma Shiying, and marched downstream. Ruan Dacheng, Huang Degong, and others led troops to oppose him. That same year, on the jichou day of the fifth month, the Great Qing army crossed the Yangtze. On the night of the xinmao day Zhu Yousong fled to Taiping, apparently aiming to join Huang Degong's army. On the renchen day Ma Shiying fled to Hangzhou with Zhu Yousong's mother and consort. On the guisi day Zhu Yousong reached Wuhu. On the bingshen day the Qing army reached the north of Nanjing, and civil and military officials came out to surrender. On the bingwu day Zhu Yousong was captured and brought to Nanjing. On the jiayin day of the ninth month he was sent back to the capital.
24
沅懷王常治，神宗第四子。 生一歲殤。
Prince Yuan Huai (Chang Zhi) was the Wanli Emperor's fourth son. He lived one year before dying in infancy.
25
瑞王常浩，神宗第五子。 初，太子未立，有三王並封之旨，蓋謂光宗、福王及常浩也。 尋以群臣爭，遂寢。 二十九年，東宮立，與福、惠、桂三王同日封。 常洵以長，先之藩。 常浩年已二十有五，尚末選婚。 群臣交章言，率不報，而日索部帑為婚費，贏十八萬，藏宮中，且言冠服不能備。 天啟七年之藩漢中。 崇禎時，流寇劇，封地當賊沖。 七年上書言：「臣托先帝骨肉，獲奉西藩，未期年而寇至。 比西賊再渡河，闌入漢興，破洵陽，逼興安，紫陽、平利、白河相繼陷沒。 督臣洪承疇單騎裹甲出入萬山，賊始敗遁。 臣捐犒軍振饑銀七千余兩。 此時撫臣練國事移兵商、洛，按臣範復粹馳赴漢中，近境稍寧。 既而鳳縣再陷，蜀賊入秦州，楚賊上興安。 六月遂犯郡界，幸諸將憑江力拒，賊方稍退。 臣在萬山絕谷中，賊四面至，覆亡無日。 臣肺腑至親，藩封最僻，而於寇盜至迫，惟陛下哀憐。」 常浩在宮中，衣服禮秩降等，好佛不近女色。 及寇逼秦中，將吏不能救，乞師於蜀。 總兵官侯良柱援之，遂奔重慶。 隴西士大夫多挈家以從。 十七年，張獻忠陷重慶，被執，遇害。 時天無雲而雷者三，從死者甚眾。
Prince Rui (Chang Hao) was the Wanli Emperor's fifth son. At first, before a crown prince had been named, there was an edict to enfeoff three princes at once—the Taichang Emperor, the Prince of Fu, and Chang Hao. Soon, after officials protested, the plan was dropped. In the twenty-ninth year the heir apparent was installed, and on the same day the Princes of Fu, Hui, and Gui were enfeoffed along with him. Chang Xun, as the eldest, went to his fief first. Chang Hao was already twenty-five and still had no consort chosen for him. Officials submitted memorial after memorial, but generally received no answer, while the palace daily demanded ministry funds for wedding expenses, amassed one hundred eighty thousand taels, hoarded them inside the palace, and claimed even ceremonial robes could not be readied. In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign he went to his fief at Hanzhong. In the Chongzhen era banditry was severe, and his fief lay directly in the rebels' path. In the seventh year he memorialized: "Your subject, trusting in the late emperor's kinship, was granted a fief in the west; before a full year had passed bandits arrived. Recently western rebels crossed the river again, broke into Hanxing, took Xunyang, and pressed on Xing'an; Ziyang, Pingli, and Baihe fell one after another. Governor Hong Chengchou rode alone in armor through the Wan Mountains before the rebels were finally beaten and driven off. I contributed more than seven thousand taels of silver to reward the troops and relieve famine. At that time Governor Lian Guoshi shifted troops to Shang and Luo, and Regional Inspector Fan Fuchun hurried to Hanzhong; the nearby region grew somewhat calm. Then Feng County fell again, Shu rebels entered Qinzhou, and Chu rebels advanced on Xing'an. In the sixth month they invaded the prefectural border; fortunately the generals held the river line with all their strength and the rebels withdrew somewhat. I was trapped in deep mountain valleys with rebels closing in from every side; ruin seemed only days away. I am Your Majesty's closest kin, yet my fief is the most remote, and bandits press hard upon me—I beg Your Majesty's compassion. Chang Hao, while at court, wore reduced dress and accepted lowered ceremonial rank. He devoted himself to Buddhism and shunned women. When bandits closed in on Qinzhong and local officers could not save him, he begged Shu for troops. Regional Commander Hou Liangzhu came to his aid, and he fled to Chongqing. Many gentry families from Longxi took their households and followed him. In the seventeenth year Zhang Xianzhong captured Chongqing; Chang Hao was seized and killed. Thunder rolled three times though the sky was clear, and many died with him.
26
惠王常潤，神宗第六子。 福王之藩，內廷蓄積為空。 中官藉諸王冠婚，索部帑以實宮中，所需輒數十萬，珠寶稱是。 戶部不能給。 常潤與弟常瀛年二十，皆未選婚。 其後兵事亟，始滅殺成禮。 天啟七年之藩荊州。 崇禎十五年十二月，李自成再破夷陵、荊門，常潤走湘潭，自成入荊州據之。 常潤之渡湘也，遇風於陵陽磯，宮人多漂沒，身僅以免，就吉王於長沙。 十六年八月，張獻忠陷長沙，常潤走衡州，就桂王。 衡州繼陷，與吉王、桂王走永州。 巡按御史劉熙祚遣人護三王入廣西，以身當賊。 永州陷，熙祚死之。
Prince Hui (Chang Run) was the Wanli Emperor's sixth son. When the Prince of Fu went to his fief, the inner palace's accumulated stores were emptied. Eunuchs, citing princes' investitures and weddings, demanded ministry funds to replenish the palace; each request ran to hundreds of thousands of taels, with jewels to match. The Ministry of Revenue could not meet the demand. Chang Run and his younger brother Chang Ying were both twenty and still had no consorts chosen. Only when military affairs grew urgent were the ceremonies finally stripped to the bare minimum. In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign he went to his fief at Jingzhou. In the twelfth month of the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, Li Zicheng again captured Yiling and Jingmen. Chang Run fled to Xiangtan while Zicheng entered Jingzhou and took possession of it. When Chang Run was crossing the Xiang River, his party was struck by a storm at Lingyang Ji. Many palace women were swept away and drowned; he himself barely escaped with his life and went to join the Prince of Ji at Changsha. In the eighth month of the sixteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, Zhang Xianzhong captured Changsha. Chang Run fled to Hengzhou and joined the Prince of Gui. Hengzhou soon fell as well, and together with the Princes of Ji and Gui he fled to Yongzhou. Investigating censor Liu Xizuo sent men to escort the three princes into Guangxi while he himself stood in the enemy's path. When Yongzhou fell, Xizuo died in the fighting.
27
桂端王常瀛，神宗第七子。 天啟七年之藩衡州。 崇禎十六年，衡州陷，與吉、惠二王同走廣西，居梧州。
Prince Duan of Gui (Chang Ying) was the Wanli Emperor's seventh son. In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign he went to his fief at Hengzhou. In the sixteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, Hengzhou fell. Together with the Princes of Ji and Hui he fled to Guangxi and took up residence at Wuzhou.
28
世子已先卒，次子安仁王由愛亦未幾卒。 次由榔，崇禎時，封永明王。
The heir apparent had already died beforehand, and the second son, Prince Anren (You Ai), also died before long. Next came Zhu Youlang, who during the Chongzhen reign was enfeoffed as Prince of Yongming.
29
明年二月，由平樂、潯州走桂林。 魁楚棄由榔，走岑溪，降於大軍。 既而平樂不守，由榔大恐。 會武岡總兵官劉承胤以兵至全州，王坤請赴之。 式耜力諫。 不聽。 乃以式耜及總兵官焦璉留守桂林，封陳邦傳為思恩侯，守昭平，遂趨承胤軍中。 三月封承胤安國公，錦衣指揮馬吉翔等為伯。 承胤挾由榔歸武岡，改曰奉天府，政事皆決焉。
In the second month of the following year, Zhu Youlang fled from Pinglo and Xunzhou to Guilin. Ding Kuitu abandoned Zhu Youlang, fled to Cenxi, and surrendered to the Great Qing army. Before long Pinglo could no longer be held, and Zhu Youlang was stricken with fear. Just then Liu Chengyin, regional commander at Wugang, arrived at Quanzhou with troops, and Wang Kun urged going to join him. Qu Shi Mi remonstrated vehemently. Zhu Youlang would not listen. He then left Qu Shi Mi and regional commander Jiao Lin to hold Guilin, enfeoffed Chen Bangchuan as Marquis of Si'en to guard Zhaoping, and hastened to Liu Chengyin's camp. In the third month he enfeoffed Liu Chengyin as Duke of Anguo and made Brocade Guard commander Ma Jixiang and others counts. Liu Chengyin took Zhu Youlang back to Wugang, renamed it Fengtian Prefecture, and all affairs of government were decided there.
30
是時，長沙、衡、永皆不守，湖廣總督何騰蛟與侍郎嚴起恒走白牙市。 六月，由榔遣官召騰蛟至，密使除承胤，顧承胤勢盛，騰蛟復還白牙。 大兵由寶慶趨武岡，馬吉翔等挾由榔走靖州，承胤舉城降。 由榔又奔柳州。 道出古泥。 總兵官侯性、太監龐天壽帥舟師來迎。 會天雨饑餓，性供帳甚備。 九月，土舍覃鳴珂作亂，大掠城中，矢及由榔舟。 先是，大兵趨桂林，焦璉拒守甚力，又廣州有警，大兵東向，桂林稍安。 既而湖南十三鎮將郝永忠、盧鼎等俱奔赴桂林，騰蛟亦至，與式耜議分地給諸將，使各自為守。 璉已先復陽朔、平樂，陳邦傳復潯州，合兵復梧州，廣西全省略定。 十二月，由榔返桂林。
At this time Changsha, Hengzhou, and Yongzhou could all no longer be held. Huguang governor-general He Tengjiao and vice minister Yan Qiheng fled to Baiya Market. In the sixth month Zhu Youlang sent an official to summon He Tengjiao, secretly intending to remove Liu Chengyin; but seeing Chengyin's power, Tengjiao returned to Baiya. The Great Qing army advanced from Baqing toward Wugang. Ma Jixiang and others took Zhu Youlang and fled to Jingzhou, while Liu Chengyin surrendered the entire city. Zhu Youlang fled again to Liuzhou. On the road they passed through Guni. Regional commander Hou Xing and eunuch Pang Tianshou led a fleet to welcome them. Rain had fallen and there was hunger along the way, but Hou Xing's provisions and camp fittings were abundantly supplied. In the ninth month native officer Qin Mingke rose in revolt and looted the city on a great scale; arrows even reached Zhu Youlang's boat. Earlier the Great Qing army had advanced on Guilin, and Jiao Lin had resisted with great tenacity. Moreover, when an alarm arose at Guangzhou, the Great Qing army turned eastward and Guilin grew somewhat secure. Before long the thirteen garrison generals of Hunan — Hao Yongzhong, Lu Ding, and others — all rushed to Guilin. He Tengjiao also arrived, and together with Qu Shi Mi they discussed allotting territories to the various generals so that each could hold his own ground. Jiao Lin had already recovered Yangshuo and Pinglo; Chen Bangchuan recovered Xunzhou; their combined forces retook Wuzhou, and all of Guangxi was roughly pacified. In the twelfth month Zhu Youlang returned to Guilin.
31
五年二月，大兵至靈川，郝永忠潰於興安，奔還，挾由榔走柳州。 大兵攻桂林，式耜、騰蛟拒戰。 時南昌金聲桓等叛，降於由榔。 八月，由榔至肇慶。 六年春，大兵下湘潭，何騰蛟死。 明年，由榔走梧州。 是年十二月，大兵入桂林，瞿式耜及總督張同敞死焉。 由榔聞報大懼，自梧州奔南寧。 時孫可望已據滇、黔，受封為秦王。 八年三月，遣兵來衛，殺嚴起恒等。
In the second month of the fifth year of the Yongli reign, the Great Qing army reached Lingchuan. Hao Yongzhong was routed at Xing'an, fled back, and took Zhu Youlang with him to Liuzhou. The Great Qing army attacked Guilin, and Qu Shi Mi and He Tengjiao resisted in battle. At the time Jin Shenghuan and others at Nanchang rebelled and surrendered to Zhu Youlang. In the eighth month Zhu Youlang reached Zhaoqing. In the spring of the sixth year of the Yongli reign, the Great Qing army took Xiangtan and He Tengjiao was killed. The following year Zhu Youlang fled to Wuzhou. In the twelfth month of that year the Great Qing army entered Guilin, and Qu Shi Mi and governor Zhang Tongchang died there. When Zhu Youlang heard the report he was stricken with fear and fled from Wuzhou to Nanning. At the time Sun Kewang already held Yunnan and Guizhou and had received investiture as King of Qin. In the third month of the eighth year of the Yongli reign he sent troops to guard the court and killed Yan Qiheng and others.
32
九年二月，可望迎由榔入安隆所，改曰安龍府。 久之，日益窮促，聞李定國與可望有隙，遣使密召定國，以兵來迎。 馬吉翔黨於可望，偵知之，大學士吳貞毓以下十余人皆被殺。 事詳《貞毓傳》。 後二年，李定國敗於新會，將由安隆入滇。 可望患之，促由榔移貴陽就己。 由榔故遲行。 定國至，遂奉由榔由安南衛走雲南，居可望署中，封定國晉王。 可望以妻子在滇，未敢動。 明年，由榔送其妻子還黔，遂舉兵與定國戰於三岔。 可望將白文選單騎奔定國軍。 可望敗，挈妻子赴長沙大軍前降。
In the second month of the ninth year of the Yongli reign, Sun Kewang welcomed Zhu Youlang into Anlong subprefecture and renamed it Anlong Prefecture. As time passed his situation grew daily more desperate. Hearing that Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang were at odds, he secretly sent envoys to summon Dingguo to come with troops and escort him away. Ma Jixiang was allied with Sun Kewang; he discovered the plot, and Grand Secretary Wu Zhenyu and more than ten others were all put to death. The affair is recounted at length in the "Biography of Zhen Yu." Two years later Li Dingguo was defeated at Xinhui and intended to enter Yunnan from Anlong. Sun Kewang was troubled by this and urged Zhu Youlang to move to Guiyang and join him. Zhu Youlang deliberately delayed his departure. When Li Dingguo arrived, he escorted Zhu Youlang from Annan Guard through Yunnan, lodged him in Sun Kewang's headquarters, and enfeoffed Dingguo as King of Jin. Sun Kewang, because his wife and children were in Yunnan, did not dare act. The following year Zhu Youlang sent Sun Kewang's wife and children back to Guizhou. Kewang then raised troops and fought Li Dingguo at Sancha. Sun Kewang's general Bai Wenxuan rode alone into Li Dingguo's camp and defected. Sun Kewang was defeated, took his wife and children, and surrendered before the Great Qing army at Changsha.
33
十五年三月，大兵三路入雲南。 定國厄雞公背，斷貴州道，別將守七星關，抵生界立營，以牽蜀師。 大兵出遵義，由水西取烏撒，守將棄關走，李定國連敗於安隆，由榔走永昌。 明年正月三日，大兵入雲南，由榔走騰越。 定國敗於潞江，又走南甸。 二十六日，抵囊木河，是為緬境。 緬勒從官盡棄兵仗，始啟關，至蠻莫。 二月，緬以四舟來迎，從官自覓舟，隨行者六百四十余人，陸行者自故岷王子而下九百余人，期會於緬甸。 十八日至井亙。 黔國公沐天波等謀奉由榔走戶、獵二河，不果。 五月四日，緬復以舟來迎。 明日，發井亙，行三日，至阿瓦。 阿瓦者，緬酋所居城也。 又五日至赭硁。 陸行者緬人悉掠為奴，多自殺。 惟岷王子八十餘人流入暹羅。 緬人於赭硁置草屋居由榔，遣兵防之。
In the third month of the fifteenth year of the Yongli reign, the Great Qing army entered Yunnan by three routes. Li Dingguo was blocked at Jigongbei, cut the Guizhou road, posted another commander to hold Qixing Pass, and established a camp at Shengjie to tie down the Sichuan column. The Great Qing army came out of Zunyi and took Wusa by way of Shuixi. The defending commander abandoned the pass and fled; Li Dingguo suffered successive defeats at Anlong, and Zhu Youlang fled to Yongchang. On the third day of the first month of the following year the Great Qing army entered Yunnan, and Zhu Youlang fled to Tengyue. Li Dingguo was defeated on the Lu River and fled again to Nandian. On the twenty-sixth day they reached the Nangmu River — this was Burmese territory. The Burmese compelled the followers to discard all their weapons before opening the pass, and they then reached Manmo. In the second month the Burmese sent four boats to welcome them, while the followers found their own boats. More than 640 went by water; those traveling overland, from the former Prince of Min downward, numbered more than 900. All were to meet in Burma. On the eighteenth day they reached Jinggen. Prince of Qian Mu Tianbo and others plotted to escort Zhu Youlang through the Hu and Lie rivers, but the plan came to nothing. On the fourth day of the fifth month the Burmese again sent boats to welcome them. The next day they set out from Jinggen; after three days' travel they reached Ava. Ava was the city where the Burmese chieftain resided. After five more days they reached Zhequan. Those who had traveled overland were seized by the Burmese and taken as slaves; many killed themselves. Only more than eighty followers of the former Prince of Min escaped into Siam. The Burmese set up a thatched hut at Zhequan for Zhu Youlang to live in and dispatched troops to guard him.
34
十七年，定國、文選與緬戰，索其主，連敗緬兵，緬終不肯出由榔。 十八年五月，緬酋弟莽猛白代立，紿從官渡河盟。 既至，以兵圍之，殺沐天波、馬吉翔、王維恭、魏豹等四十有二人，詳《任國璽傳》。 存者由榔與其屬二十五人。 十二月，大兵臨緬，白文選自木邦降，定國走景線，緬人以由榔父子送軍前。 明年四月，死於雲南。 六月，李定國卒，其子嗣興等降。
In the seventeenth year of the Yongli reign, Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan fought the Burmese, demanding that their ruler be turned over. They repeatedly defeated Burmese troops, but Burma still would not release Zhu Youlang. In the fifth month of the eighteenth year of the Yongli reign, the Burmese chieftain's younger brother Mang Mengbai seized the throne and deceived the followers into crossing the river to swear alliance. Once they arrived, his troops surrounded them and killed Mu Tianbo, Ma Jixiang, Wang Weigong, Wei Bao, and forty-two others in all; for details see the "Biography of Ren Guoxi." Those who survived were Zhu Youlang and twenty-five of his followers. In the twelfth month the Great Qing army approached Burma. Bai Wenxuan surrendered from Mubang; Li Dingguo fled to Jingxian; and the Burmese delivered Zhu Youlang and his son to the army. The following April Zhu Youlang died in Yunnan. In the sixth month Li Dingguo died, and his son Suxing and others surrendered.
35
永思王常溥，神宗第八子。 生二歲殤。 光宗七子。 王太后生熹宗、簡王由學。 王選侍生齊王由楫。 李選侍生懷王由模。 劉太后生莊烈皇帝。 定懿妃生湘王由栩。 敬妃生惠王由橏。
Prince Yongsi (Chang Pu) was the Wanli Emperor's eighth son. He died in infancy at age two. The Taichang Emperor had seven sons. Empress Dowager Wang bore the Tianqi Emperor and Prince Jian (You Xue). Lady Wang, selected attendant, bore Prince Qi (Zhu Youji). Lady Li, selected attendant, bore Prince Huai (Zhu Youmo). Empress Dowager Liu bore the Chongzhen Emperor. Consort Dingyi bore Prince Xiang (Zhu Youxu). Consort Jing bore Prince Hui (Zhu Yourong).
36
簡懷王由學，光宗第二子。 生四歲殤。 齊思王由楫，光宗第三子。 生八歲殤。 懷惠王由模，光宗第四子。 生五歲殤。 湘懷王由栩，光宗第六子。 惠昭王由橏，光宗第七子。 俱早殤。 五王皆追加封謚。 熹宗三子。 懷沖太子慈然，不詳其所生母。 皇貴妃範氏生悼懷太子慈焴。 容妃任氏生獻懷太子慈炅。
Prince Jian Huai (You Xue) was the Taichang Emperor's second son. He died in infancy at age four. Prince Qi Si (Zhu Youji) was the Taichang Emperor's third son. He died at age eight. Prince Huai Hui (Zhu Youmo) was the Taichang Emperor's fourth son. He died at age five. Prince Xiang Huai (Zhu Youxu) was the Taichang Emperor's sixth son. Prince Hui Zhao (Zhu Yourong) was the Taichang Emperor's seventh son. All died young. All five princes were posthumously granted titles and posthumous names. The Tianqi Emperor had three sons. Crown Prince Huai Chong (Ci Ran) — the identity of his birth mother is unknown. Imperial Noble Consort Fan bore Crown Prince Dao Huai (Ci Yu). Consort Rong, née Ren, bore Crown Prince Xian Huai (Ci Jiong).
37
懷沖太子慈然，熹宗第一子。 悼懷太子慈焴，熹宗第二子。 獻懷太子慈炅，熹宗第三子。 與懷沖、悼懷皆殤。 莊烈帝七子。 周皇后生太子慈烺、懷隱王慈烜、定王慈炯。 田貴妃生永王慈炤、悼靈王慈煥、悼懷王及皇七子。
Crown Prince Huai Chong (Ci Ran) was the Tianqi Emperor's first son. Crown Prince Dao Huai (Ci Yu) was the Tianqi Emperor's second son. Crown Prince Xian Huai (Ci Jiong) was the Tianqi Emperor's third son. Together with Huai Chong and Dao Huai, all died young. The Chongzhen Emperor had seven sons. Empress Zhou bore Crown Prince Ci Lang, Prince Huai Yin (Ci Xuan), and Prince Ding (Ci Jiong). Noble Consort Tian bore Prince Yong (Ci Zhao), Prince Dao Ling (Ci Huan), Prince Dao Huai, and the seventh imperial son.
38
太子慈烺，莊烈帝第一子。 崇禎二年二月生，三年二月立為皇太子。 十年預擇東宮侍班講讀官，命禮部尚書姜逢元，詹事姚明恭，少詹王鐸、屈可伸侍班； 禮部侍郎方逢年，諭德項煜，修撰劉理順，編修吳偉業、楊廷麟、林曾誌講讀； 編修胡守恒、楊士聰校書。 十一年二月，太子出閤。 十五年正月開講，閣臣條上講儀。 七月改慈慶宮為端本宮。 慈慶，懿安皇后所居也。 時太子年十四，議明歲選婚，故先為置宮，而移懿安後於仁壽殿。 既而以寇警暫停。 京師陷，賊獲太子，偽封宋王。 及賊敗西走，太子不知所終。 由崧時，有自北來稱太子者，驗之，以為駙馬都尉王昺孫王之明者偽為之，系獄中，南京士民嘩然不平。 袁繼鹹及劉良佐、黃得功輩皆上疏爭。 左良玉起兵亦以救太子為名。 一時真偽莫能知也。 由崧既奔太平，南京亂兵擁王之明立之。 越五日，降於我大清。
Crown Prince Ci Lang was the Chongzhen Emperor's first son. He was born in the second month of the second year of Chongzhen; in the second month of the third year he was installed as crown prince. In the tenth year attendants and lecturers on duty for the Eastern Palace were chosen in advance; Minister of Rites Jiang Fengyuan, Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent Yao Minggong, and Junior Grand Preceptors Wang Duo and Qu Keshen were ordered to attend on duty; Vice Minister of Rites Fang Fengnian, Preceptor Xiang Yu, Compiler Liu Lifu, and Reviser-Editors Wu Weiye, Yang Tinglin, and Lin Zengzhi were appointed to lecture and read; Reviser-Editors Hu Shouheng and Yang Shicong were to collate texts. In the second month of the eleventh year the crown prince left his quarters. In the first month of the fifteenth year lectures began, and grand secretaries submitted rules for lectures item by item. In the seventh month Ciqing Palace was renamed Duanben Palace. Ciqing was where Empress Yi'an resided. At the time the crown prince was fourteen; marriage selection was planned for the following year, so a palace was first prepared for him and Empress Yi'an was moved to Renshou Hall. Later it was temporarily suspended because of bandit alarms. When the capital fell, the rebels seized the crown prince and falsely enfeoffed him as Prince of Song. When the rebels were defeated and fled west, the crown prince's final fate was unknown. During Zhu Yousong's reign, someone came from the north claiming to be the crown prince; upon investigation, it was determined to be Wang Zhiming, grandson of Imperial Son-in-Law Commandant Wang Bing, impersonating him. He was imprisoned, and the gentry and common people of Nanjing erupted in uproar and indignation. Yuan Jixian, Liu Liangzuo, Huang Degong, and others all submitted memorials in protest. Zuo Liangyu raised troops also under the pretext of rescuing the crown prince. For a time none could tell truth from falsehood. After Zhu Yousong fled to Taiping, disorderly troops in Nanjing supported Wang Zhiming and installed him. Five days later, he surrendered to the Great Qing.
39
懷隱王慈烜，莊烈帝第二子。 殤。
Prince Huai Yin (Ci Xuan) was the Chongzhen Emperor's second son. Died young.
40
定王慈炯，莊烈帝第三子。 崇禎十四年六月諭禮臣：「朕第三子，年已十齡，敬遵祖制，宜加王號。 但既受冊封，必具冕服，而《會典》開載，年十二或十五始行冠禮。 十齡受封加冠，二禮可並行乎？」 於是禮臣歷考經傳及本朝典故以奏。 定於是歲冊封，越二年行冠禮。 九月封為定王。 十一月選新進士為檢討，國子助教等官為待詔，充王講讀官，以兩殿中書充侍書。 十七年，京師陷，不知所終。
Prince Ding (Ci Jiong) was the Chongzhen Emperor's third son. In the sixth month of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen the emperor instructed the rites officials: "My third son is already ten years of age; reverently following ancestral institutions, a princely title ought to be granted. But once he receives investiture, he must have full ceremonial robes, and the 《Institutional Compendium》 records that the capping ceremony is performed only at twelve or fifteen. Can enfeoffment and capping at ten be performed together? Thereupon the rites officials exhaustively examined the classics, commentaries, and precedents of the dynasty and memorialized accordingly. It was decided to invest him that year and hold the capping ceremony two years later. In the ninth month he was enfeoffed as Prince of Ding. In the eleventh month newly minted jinshi were chosen as revising editors, Guozijian assistant instructors and such officials as draft authors to serve as the prince's lecturers, and secretaries of the Two Halls served as writing attendants. In the seventeenth year the capital fell; his final fate is unknown.
41
永王慈炤，莊烈帝第四子。 崇禎十五年三月封永王。 賊陷京師，不知所終。 悼靈王慈煥，莊烈帝第五子。 生五歲而病，帝視之，忽云：「九蓮菩薩言，帝待外戚薄，將盡殤諸子。」 遂薨。 九蓮菩薩者，神宗母，孝定李太后也。 太后好佛，宮中像作九蓮座，故云。 帝念王靈異，封為孺孝悼靈王玄機慈應真君，命禮臣議孝和皇太后、莊妃、懿妃道號。 禮科給事中李焻言：「諸後妃，祀奉先殿，不可崇邪教以亂徽稱。」 不聽。 十六年十二月，改封宣顯慈應悼靈王，去「真君」號。
Prince Yong (Ci Zhao) was the Chongzhen Emperor's fourth son. In the third month of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen he was enfeoffed as Prince of Yong. When bandits took the capital, his final fate was unknown. Prince Dao Ling (Ci Huan) was the Chongzhen Emperor's fifth son. At age five he fell ill; when the emperor visited him, he suddenly said: "The Nine-Lotus Bodhisattva says the emperor treats his maternal kin too meagerly and will cause all his sons to die young." Thereupon he died. The Nine-Lotus Bodhisattva was Empress Dowager Xiaoding (née Li), mother of the Wanli Emperor. The empress dowager was devoted to Buddhism; images in the palace were set on nine-lotus seats, hence the name. The emperor, mindful of the prince's supernatural sign, enfeoffed him as Ruxiao Dao Ling Wang Xuanji Ciying True Lord, and ordered the rites officials to deliberate on posthumous titles for Empress Dowager Xiaohe, Consort Zhuang, and Consort Yi. Supervising Secretary of the Rites Bureau Li Huang memorialized: "The various empresses and consorts are sacrificed to in Fengxian Hall; heterodox cults must not be exalted to disturb honorable titles." The emperor did not listen. In the twelfth month of the sixteenth year he was re-enfeoffed as Prince Xuanxian Ciying Dao Ling, dropping the title "True Lord."
42
悼懷王，莊烈帝第六子，生二歲殤。 第七子，生三歲殤。 名俱無考。 贊曰：有明諸藩，分封而不錫土，列爵而不臨民，食祿而不治事。 蓋矯枉鑒覆，所以杜漢、晉末大之禍，意固善矣。 然徒擁虛名，坐縻厚祿，賢才不克自見，知勇無所設施。 防閑過峻，法制日增。 出城省墓，請而後許，二王不得相見。 藩禁嚴密，一至於此。 當太祖時，宗藩備邊，軍戎受制，贊儀疏屬，且令遍歷各國，使通親親。 然則法網之繁，起自中葉，豈太祖眾建屏藩初計哉！
Prince Dao Huai was the Chongzhen Emperor's sixth son; he died at age two. The seventh son died at age three. Their personal names are unrecorded. Commentary: Under the Ming, the princely houses were enfeoffed but granted no land, given titles but no authority over the people, and fed from stipends but charged with no governance. This was essentially a deliberate overcorrection, taking past disasters as a warning to forestall the calamities that befell the Han and Jin in their final days; the intention was sound. Yet holding empty titles while consuming lavish stipends, men of talent could not make themselves known, and wit and courage found nowhere to be applied. Restraints were excessively strict, and regulations multiplied daily. To leave the city to visit ancestral graves required permission; two princes could not meet one another. Princely restrictions had grown so severe as to reach this point. In the time of the Founding Emperor, imperial clansmen garrisoned the frontier and held military command; ceremonial aides and distant kinsmen were sent out, and they were moreover ordered to travel through the various states to maintain bonds of kinship. Thus the dense legal net arose from the dynasty's middle period—hardly what the Founding Emperor intended when he broadly planted princely screens around the realm!