1
李善長
Li Shanzhang
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李善長，字百室，定遠人。 少讀書有智計，習法家言，策事多中。 太祖略地滁陽，善長迎謁。 知其為里中長者，禮之，留掌書記。 嘗從容問曰：「四方戰鬥，何時定乎？」 對曰：「秦亂，漢高起布衣，豁達大度，知人善任，不嗜殺人，五載成帝業。 今元綱既紊，天下土崩瓦解。 公濠產，距沛不遠。 山川王氣，公當受之。 法其所為，天下不足定也。」 太祖稱善。 從下滁州，為參謀，預機畫，主饋餉，甚見親信。 太祖威名日盛，諸將來歸者，善長察其材，言之太祖。 復為太祖布款誠，使皆得自安。 有以事力相齟齬者，委曲為調護。 郭子興中流言，疑太祖，稍奪其兵柄。 又欲奪善長自輔，善長固謝弗往。 太祖深倚之。 太祖軍和陽，自將擊雞籠山寨，少留兵佐善長居守。 元將諜知來襲，設伏敗之，太祖以為能。
Li Shanzhang, whose style was Baishi, came from Dingyuan. As a young man he read widely and showed shrewd judgment; versed in Legalist doctrine, his counsel on affairs proved sound again and again. When the Founding Emperor was expanding his hold around Chuyang on the Chu frontier, Shanzhang came forward to greet him. Recognizing him as a leading man of the locality, the Emperor honored him, retained him, and appointed him to manage written records. On one occasion the Emperor asked him casually, "Fighting rages in every quarter—when will the realm be settled? Shanzhang answered, "When the Qin order collapsed, Liu Bang rose from the ranks of commoners—open-handed, magnanimous, skilled at knowing men and putting them to use, sparing of bloodshed—and within five years he had won the empire. Today the Yuan statutes are in disarray and the empire is breaking apart. Your Lordship is a son of the Huai country, and Pei lies not far away. The mountains and rivers here breathe the air of kingship; you are the one destined to receive it. Follow his example, and bringing the realm under your rule will not be difficult." The Founding Emperor approved his words. When Chuzhou was taken he served as adviser on the staff, shared in planning operations, and directed supply lines, winning deep trust. As the Founding Emperor's fame spread, every commander who came to join him was assessed by Shanzhang for ability and recommended to the throne. He also spoke reassuringly on the Emperor's behalf so that each man might feel himself secure. When rivals quarreled over precedence or power, he smoothed matters with tact and shielded them from harm. Guo Zixing, hearing malicious talk, came to doubt the Founding Emperor and little by little withdrew his command. Guo also tried to draw Shanzhang away to serve at his side, but Shanzhang steadfastly refused. The Founding Emperor leaned on him all the more. While the army was encamped at Heyang, the Founding Emperor led the assault on Jilong Mountain himself, leaving Shanzhang behind with a modest garrison. Yuan scouts discovered the weakness and struck; Shanzhang laid an ambush and routed them, and the Founding Emperor judged him capable.
3
太祖得巢湖水師，善長力贊渡江。 既拔採石，趨太平，善長預書榜禁戢士卒。 城下，即揭之通衢，肅然無敢犯者。 太祖為太平興國翼大元帥，以為帥府都事。 從克集慶。 將取鎮江，太祖慮諸將不戢下，乃佯怒欲置諸法，善長力救得解。 鎮江下，民不知有兵。 太祖為江南行中書省平章，以為參議。 時宋思顏、李夢庚、郭景祥等俱為省僚，而軍機進退，賞罰章程，多決於善長。 改樞密院為大都督府，命兼領府司馬，進行省參知政事。
After the Chaohu flotilla came over, Shanzhang pressed hard for a crossing of the Yangzi. Once Caishi fell they hurried toward Taiping; Shanzhang had already drafted a proclamation restraining the soldiers. As soon as the city surrendered the notice went up in the public ways, and discipline held so firmly that no one dared transgress. Made Grand Marshal of the Pacifying State and Flourishing Wings, the Founding Emperor named Shanzhang director of the marshal's headquarters. He took part in the reduction of Jiqing. Before the assault on Zhenjiang the Founding Emperor worried that his commanders would not keep their men in hand; he pretended to rage and threatened legal punishment, until Shanzhang's earnest intercession won them pardon. Zhenjiang submitted so quietly that the populace hardly knew troops had been there. When the Founding Emperor became Pacification Commissioner of the Jiangnan Branch Secretariat, Shanzhang was appointed deliberator. Song Siyan, Li Menggeng, Guo Jingxiang, and others served beside him in the province, but questions of campaign, promotion, reward, and punishment fell largely to Shanzhang. The Bureau of Military Affairs became the Office of the Grand Marshal; Shanzhang was ordered to serve concurrently as its secretary and was advanced to Vice Commissioner of the Branch Secretariat.
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太祖為吳王，拜右相國。 善長明習故事，裁決如流，又嫻於辭命。 太祖有所招納，輒令為書。 前後自將征討，皆命居守，將吏帖服，居民安堵，轉調兵餉無乏。 嘗請榷兩淮鹽，立茶法，皆斟酌元制，去其弊政。 既復製錢法，開鐵冶，定魚稅，國用益饒，而民不困。 吳元年九月論平吳功，封善長宣國公。 改官制，尚左，以為左相國。 太祖初渡江，頗用重典，一日，謂善長：「法有連坐三條，不已甚乎？」 善長因請自大逆而外皆除之，遂命與中丞劉基等裁定律令，頒示中外。
When the Founding Emperor took the title Prince of Wu, Shanzhang was named Right Chancellor of State. Well versed in precedent, he decided cases with fluent ease and was equally adept at drafting imperial communications. Whenever the Founding Emperor sought to win someone over, he had Shanzhang write the message. On every campaign the Emperor left him to hold the rear: subordinates obeyed, townsfolk lived undisturbed, and troops and grain moved without fail. He proposed monopolizing salt in the two Huai circuits and instituting tea laws, each measure adapting Yuan practice while stripping away its abuses. Once coinage, ironworks, and the fish levy were reordered, the treasury grew ample yet the common people did not suffer. In the ninth month of Wu year one, when rewards for pacifying Wu were apportioned, Shanzhang was enfeoffed Duke of Xuan. When offices were reorganized to honor the left, he became Left Chancellor of State. In his early days south of the river the Founding Emperor relied on harsh law; one day he told Shanzhang, "The code provides three kinds of kin punishment for a single crime—is that not too severe? Shanzhang asked that every offense save grand treason be struck from collective punishment; the Emperor then ordered him, Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Ji, and others to revise the code and publish it throughout the realm.
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太祖即帝位，追帝祖考及冊立後妃太子諸王，皆以善長充大禮使。 置東宮官屬，以善長兼太子少師，授銀青榮祿大夫、上柱國，錄軍國重事，餘如故。 已，帥禮官定郊社宗廟禮。 帝幸汴梁，善長留守，一切聽便宜行事。 尋奏定六部官制，議官民喪服及朝賀東宮儀。 奉命監修《元史》，編《祖訓錄》、《大明集禮》諸書。 定天下岳瀆神祗封號，封建諸王，爵賞功臣，事無巨細，悉委善長與諸儒臣謀議行之。
At his accession, whenever the throne honored imperial ancestors or invested empress, heir, and princes, Shanzhang served as chief ritual commissioner. When the heir's household was staffed, Shanzhang became Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent, received Silver-Green Glory Grandee and Upper Pillar of State, was charged to record weighty civil and military affairs, and otherwise kept his posts. He then directed the ritual officers in setting the ceremonies for suburban sacrifice, altars of soil and grain, and the ancestral temples. While the Emperor was at Bianliang, Shanzhang stayed behind with full authority to act as he saw fit. He soon submitted plans for the Six Ministries, rules for mourning dress among officials and commoners, and ceremonies for court audience and homage to the heir. Commissioned to oversee the 《History of the Yuan》, he also helped compile the 《Records of Ancestral Instruction》 and the 《Collected Rites of the Great Ming》. Titles for the empire's sacred mountains and rivers, investiture of princes, ennoblement of meritorious servants—matters great and small were referred to Shanzhang and the scholar-officials for deliberation and execution.
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洪武三年大封功臣。 帝謂：「善長雖無汗馬勞，然事朕久，給軍食，功甚大，宜進封大國。」 乃授開國輔運推誠守正文臣、特進光祿大夫、左柱國、太師、中書左丞相，封韓國公，歲祿四千石，子孫世襲。 予鐵券，免二死，子免一死。 時封公者，徐達、常遇春子茂、李文忠、馮勝、鄧愈及善長六人。 而善長位第一，制詞比之蕭何，褒稱甚至。
In Hongwu year three came the great enfeoffment of founding ministers. The Emperor said, "Shanzhang never rode in the van, yet he has served Us long, fed the armies, and his service is surpassing; he deserves enfeoffment as duke of a great state. He received the titles Founding Assistant Minister Upholding Culture, specially advanced Glory Grandee of the First Rank, Left Pillar of State, Grand Preceptor, and Left Chancellor of the Secretariat, was enfeoffed Duke of Han with four thousand piculs a year and hereditary succession. An iron certificate granted him two reprieves from capital punishment and his son one. Six men received ducal rank: Xu Da, Mao son of Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Deng Yu, and Shanzhang. Shanzhang nevertheless ranked first; the enfeoffment text likened him to Xiao He, and the praise was lavish.
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善長外寬和，內多忮刻。 參議李飲冰、楊希聖，稍侵善長權，即按其罪奏黜之。 與中丞劉基爭法而訽。 基不自安，請告歸。 太祖所任張昶、楊憲、汪廣洋、胡惟庸皆獲罪，善長事寄如故。 貴富極，意稍驕，帝始微厭之。 四年以疾致仕，賜臨濠地若干頃，置守塚戶百五十，給佃戶千五百家，儀仗士二十家。 逾年，病癒，命董建臨濠宮殿。 徙江南富民十四萬田濠州，以善長經理之，留濠者數年。 七年擢善長弟存義為太僕丞，存義子伸、佑皆為群牧所官。 九年以臨安公主歸其子祺，拜駙馬都尉。 初定婚禮，公主修婦道甚肅。 光寵赫奕，時人豔之。 祺尚主後一月，御史大夫汪廣洋、陳寧疏言：「善長狎寵自恣，陛下病不視朝幾及旬，不問候。 駙馬都尉祺六日不朝，宣至殿前，又不引罪，大不敬。」 坐削歲祿千八百石。 尋命與曹國公李文忠總中書省大都督府御史台，同議軍國大事，督圜丘工。
Outwardly he was gentle and accommodating; inwardly he was quick to resent. When deliberators Li Yinbing and Yang Xisheng encroached on his authority, he found cause against them and had them cashiered. He clashed with Vice Censor-in-Chief Liu Ji over legal policy and abused him. Liu Ji, ill at ease, asked permission to withdraw. Zhang Chang, Yang Xian, Wang Guangyang, and Hu Weiyong, whom the throne had raised, all fell for crime, yet Shanzhang's trust held. Flush with wealth and rank, he grew somewhat arrogant, and the Emperor's favor cooled. In year four he retired ill; the throne granted him land near Linhao, one hundred fifty grave-keeper households, fifteen hundred tenant families, and twenty ceremonial guards. A year later, recovered, he was ordered to oversee the palace works at Linhao. One hundred forty thousand prosperous Jiangnan households were relocated to Hao with their lands for Shanzhang to manage, and he stayed there several years. In year seven his brother Cunyi became Vice Director of the Imperial Stud, and Cunyi's sons Shen and You received posts in the Pasturage Office. In year nine the Princess of Lin'an married his son Qi, who was named Commandant of the Imperial Son-in-Law. As wedding protocol was first established, the princess conducted herself as a daughter-in-law with strict propriety. Honor and splendor shone on the house, and contemporaries looked on with envy. A month after Qi's marriage, Censor-in-Chief Wang Guangyang and Chen Ning reported that Shanzhang, emboldened by favor, had failed to attend the Emperor during a ten-day illness. Qi himself absented court for six days and, when summoned, refused to confess fault—an act of grave disrespect. For this his annual stipend was cut by eighteen hundred piculs. He was soon ordered with Duke of Cao Li Wenzhong to direct the Secretariat, Grand Marshal's Office, and Censorate, deliberate state affairs, and supervise the Round Mound altar.
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丞相胡惟庸初為甯國知縣，以善長薦，擢太常少卿，後為丞相，因相往來。 而善長弟存義子佑，惟庸從女婿也。 十三年，惟庸謀反伏誅，坐党死者甚眾，善長如故。 御史台缺中丞，以善長理台事，數有所建白。 十八年，有人告存義父子實惟庸黨者，詔免死，安置崇明。 善長不謝，帝銜之。 又五年，善長年已七十有七，耄不檢下。 嘗欲營第，從信國公湯和假衛卒三百人，和密以聞。 四月，京民坐罪應徙邊者，善長數請免其私親丁斌等。 帝怒按斌，斌故給事惟庸家，因言存義等往時交通惟庸狀。 命逮存義父子鞫之，詞連善長，云：「惟庸有反謀，使存義陰說善長。 善長驚叱曰：『爾言何為者！ 審爾，九族皆滅！』 已，又使善長故人楊文裕說之云：『事成當以淮西地封為王。』 善長驚不許，然頗心動。 惟庸乃自往說善長，猶不許。 居久之，惟庸復遣存義進說，善長歎曰：『吾老矣。 吾死，汝等自為之！』」 或又告善長云：「將軍藍玉出塞，至捕魚兒海，獲惟庸通沙漠使者封績，善長匿不以聞。」 於是御史交章劾善長。 而善長奴盧仲謙等，亦告善長與惟庸通賂遺，交私語。 獄具，謂善長元勳國戚，知逆謀不發舉，狐疑觀望懷兩端，大逆不道。 會有言星變，其占當移大臣。 遂並其妻女弟侄家口七十余人誅之。 而吉安侯陸仲亨、延安侯唐勝宗、平涼侯費聚、南雄侯趙庸、滎陽侯鄭遇春、宜春侯黃彬、河南侯陸聚等，皆同時坐惟庸黨死，而已故營陽侯楊璟、濟甯侯顧時等追坐者又若干人。 帝手詔條列其罪，傅著獄辭，為《昭示奸黨三錄》，佈告天下。 善長子祺與主徙江浦，久之卒。 祺子芳、茂，以公主恩得不坐。 芳為留守中衛指揮，茂為旗手衛鎮撫，罷世襲。
Hu Weiyong had been magistrate of Ningguo; Shanzhang recommended him, he rose to Vice Director of Imperial Sacrifices and then chancellor, and the two kept up ties. Shanzhang's nephew You, son of his brother Cunyi, was married to Hu Weiyong's daughter. In year thirteen Hu Weiyong's treason was uncovered and he was executed; many partisans perished, but Shanzhang was untouched. With no vice censor-in-chief in the Censorate, Shanzhang directed its business and several times submitted recommendations. In year eighteen informers named Cunyi and his son as Hu's partisans; an edict spared their lives and exiled them to Chongming. Shanzhang offered no thanks, and the Emperor took offense. Five years later, aged seventy-seven, he no longer kept his household in check. When he sought to build a residence he borrowed three hundred guards from Duke of Trust Tang He, who quietly informed the throne. In the fourth month, as condemned capital residents were sent to the border, Shanzhang repeatedly pleaded for his clients Ding Bin and others. The Emperor had Bin interrogated; Bin, once a servant in Hu's house, described Cunyi's earlier contacts with Hu. Cunyi and his son were arrested; their testimony touched Shanzhang: Hu had plotted rebellion and sent Cunyi to win him over. Shanzhang cried out in alarm, "What nonsense is this!" If that were true, nine degrees of kin would perish! Later Hu sent Shanzhang's old friend Yang Wenyu, promising that if the plot succeeded he would be made king of the Huai-west lands. Shanzhang refused in alarm, yet his heart wavered. Hu Weiyong came in person to persuade him, and still he would not agree. Long afterward Hu sent Cunyi again; Shanzhang sighed, "I am old." When I am gone, do as you please among yourselves! Another informer said Lan Yu, campaigning beyond the frontier, had seized Hu's messenger Feng Ji at Buyur Lake and that Shanzhang had hidden the fact. Censors then impeached him in a flood of memorials. Slaves such as Lu Zhongqian also testified to bribes and secret talk between Shanzhang and Hu. The verdict held that Shanzhang, founding minister and imperial kin, knowing of treason yet failing to expose it and hedging between sides, had committed grand treason. A celestial anomaly was reported; its omen required the removal of a great minister. His wife, children, brothers, nephews, and more than seventy dependents were executed together. Marquis Lu Zhongheng of Ji'an, Tang Shengzong of Yan'an, Fei Ju of Pingliang, Zhao Yong of Nanxiong, Zheng Yuchun of Xingyang, Huang Bin of Yichun, Lu Ju of Henan, and others died as Hu's partisans; deceased Marquis Yang Jing of Yingyang, Gu Shi of Jining, and more were condemned posthumously. The Emperor penned an edict itemizing their crimes, attached it to the trial record, and published the 《Three Records Exposing the Traitorous Party》 throughout the empire. Shanzhang's son Qi and the princess were exiled to Jiangpu; years later he died. Qi's sons Fang and Mao, by the princess's favor, escaped punishment. Fang became commander of the Rear Guard, Mao registrar of the Banner Handlers; hereditary privilege was withdrawn.
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善長死之明年，虞部郎中王國用上言：「善長與陛下同心，出萬死以取天下，勳臣第一，生封公，死封王，男尚公主，親戚拜官，人臣之分極矣。 藉令欲自圖不軌，尚未可知，而今謂其欲佐胡惟庸者，則大謬不然。 人情愛其子，必甚于兄弟之子，安享萬全之富貴者，必不僥倖萬一之富貴。 善長與惟庸，猶子之親耳，于陛下則親子女也。 使善長佐惟庸成，不過勳臣第一而已矣，太師國公封王而已矣，尚主納妃而已矣，寧復有加於今日？ 且善長豈不知天下之不可幸取。 當元之季，欲為此者何限，莫不身為齏粉，覆宗絕祀，能保首領者幾何人哉？ 善長胡乃身見之，而以衰倦之年身蹈之也。 凡為此者，必有深仇激變，大不得已，父子之間或至相挾以求脫禍。 今善長之子祺備陛下骨肉親，無纖芥嫌，何苦而忽為此。 若謂天象告變，大臣當災，殺之以應天象，則尤不可。 臣恐天下聞之，謂功如善長且如此，四方因之解體也。 今善長已死，言之無益，所願陛下作戒將來耳。」 太祖得書，竟亦不罪也。
In the year after Shanzhang died, Wang Guoyong, director in the Yu Bureau, submitted a memorial: "Shanzhang stood with Your Majesty in one purpose, risked death again and again to win the empire, and stood first among the founding ministers—duke in life, king in death, a son married to a princess, kinsmen raised to office. No subject could ask for more. Even if one imagined he might plot on his own account, that would still be doubtful; to claim he meant to aid Hu Weiyong is simply wrong. Men love their own sons more than their brothers' sons; those who already enjoy secure and complete prosperity do not stake everything on a one-in-ten-thousand chance at more. Shanzhang's tie to Hu Weiyong was no closer than that of sons-in-law; toward Your Majesty he was bound by a daughter of the imperial house. Had Shanzhang helped Hu Weiyong succeed, he would still be only first among ministers, Grand Preceptor, duke, king, imperial marriage—nothing beyond what he already possessed? Surely Shanzhang knew the realm could not be seized by chance. In the Yuan's last days countless men tried such schemes; nearly all were ground to dust, their lines extinguished—how many kept their heads? Why would Shanzhang, who had seen this with his own eyes, in his weary old age walk into it himself. Men who do such things act under deadly grievance or dire compulsion; sometimes father and son even hold each other hostage to escape ruin. Shanzhang's son Qi is Your Majesty's own kin by marriage, without the smallest quarrel—what reason would drive him to such a deed. If the argument is that a celestial omen demands a minister's death and he was killed to satisfy heaven, that is worse still. I fear the empire will hear that even a servant like Shanzhang came to this end, and the regions will lose heart. Shanzhang is dead and words cannot help him; I ask only that Your Majesty guard against such acts hereafter. The Founding Emperor received the memorial and in the end did not punish him.
10
汪廣洋
Wang Guangyang
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汪廣洋，字朝宗，高郵人，流寓太平。 太祖渡江，召為元帥府令史，江南行省提控。 置正軍都諫司，擢諫官，遷行省都事，累進中書右司郎中。 尋知驍騎衛事，參常遇春軍務。 下贛州，遂居守，拜江西參政。
Wang Guangyang, whose style was Chaozong, came from Gaoyou and had settled in Taiping. After the Founding Emperor crossed the Yangzi he was called to serve as clerk of the marshal's headquarters and controller of the Jiangnan Branch Secretariat. When the Direct Army Remonstrance Office was set up he became a remonstrance officer, then director of the branch secretariat, rising eventually to director of the Secretariat's right department. He soon oversaw the Valiant Cavalry Guard and shared in Chang Yuchun's campaigns. After Ganzhou was taken he stayed as garrison commander and was named Jiangxi Pacification Commissioner.
12
洪武元年，山東平，以廣洋廉明持重，命理行省，撫納新附，民甚安之。 是年召入為中書省參政。 明年出參政陝西。 三年，李善長病，中書無官，召廣洋為左丞。 時右丞楊憲專決事。 廣洋依違之，猶為所忌，嗾御史劾廣洋奉母無狀。 帝切責，放還鄉。 憲再奏，徙海南。 憲誅，召還。 其冬，封忠勤伯，食祿三百六十石。 誥詞稱其專刂繁治劇，屢獻忠謀，比之子房、孔明。 及善長以病去位，遂以廣洋為右丞相，參政胡惟庸為左丞。 廣洋無所建白，久之，左遷廣東行省參政，而帝心終善廣洋，復召為左御史大夫。 十年復拜右丞相。 廣洋頗耽酒，與惟庸同相，浮沉守位而已。 帝數誡諭之。
In Hongwu year one, with Shandong pacified, his integrity and steadiness won him charge of the branch secretariat to settle new subjects; the people lived at ease. That same year he was recalled to serve as Vice Commissioner of the Secretariat. The following year he was sent as Vice Commissioner in Shaanxi. In year three, when Li Shanzhang fell ill and the Secretariat stood vacant, Guangyang was summoned as Left Vice Director. Right Vice Director Yang Xian then monopolized affairs. Guangyang temporized and was still resented; Yang Xian set censors to accuse him of failing in filial duty toward his mother. The Emperor rebuked him sharply and sent him home. Yang Xian memorialized again and he was exiled to Hainan. After Yang Xian was executed, Guangyang was recalled. That winter he was made Baron of Loyal Diligence with three hundred sixty piculs. His patent praised him for mastering tangled affairs and urgent business, for loyal counsel offered again and again, and likened him to Zifang and Zhuge Liang. When Shanzhang retired ill, Guangyang became Right Chancellor and Hu Weiyong Left Vice Director. He put forward little policy; eventually he was demoted to Guangdong, yet the Emperor still thought well of him and recalled him as Left Censor-in-Chief. In year ten he was again named Right Chancellor. He drank heavily; sharing power with Hu Weiyong, he merely floated along in office. The Emperor admonished him repeatedly.
13
十二年十二月，中丞塗節言劉基為惟庸毒死，廣洋宜知狀。 帝問之，對曰：「無有。」 帝怒，責廣洋朋欺，貶廣南。 舟次太平，帝追怒其在江西曲庇文正，在中書不發楊憲奸，賜敕誅之。
In the twelfth month of year twelve, Vice Censor-in-Chief Tu Jie reported that Liu Ji had been poisoned by Hu Weiyong and that Guangyang should have known. Questioned by the Emperor, he answered, "There was none. The Emperor raged, charged him with collusive deceit, and banished him to Guangnan. At Taiping the Emperor's anger flared anew over his shielding of Wen Zheng in Jiangxi and his failure to expose Yang Xian at the Secretariat, and an edict ordered his death.
14
廣洋少師余闕，淹通經史，善篆隸，工為歌詩。 為人寬和自守，與奸人同位而不能去，故及於禍。
As a youth he studied under Yu Que, mastered the classics and histories, excelled in seal and clerical script, and wrote verse with skill. Mild and self-restrained by nature, he sat beside wicked colleagues yet could not break away, and so came to ruin.
15
贊曰：明初設中書省，置左右丞相，管領樞要，率以勳臣領其事。 然徐達、李文忠等數受命征討，未嘗專理省事。 其從容丞弼之任者，李善長、汪廣洋、胡惟庸三人而已。 惟庸敗後，丞相之官遂廢不設。 故終明之世，惟善長、廣洋得稱丞相。 獨惜善長以布衣徒步，能擇主於草昧之初，委身戮力，贊成鴻業，遂得剖符開國，列爵上公，乃至富極貴溢，於衰暮之年自取覆滅。 廣洋謹厚自守，亦不能發奸遠禍。 俱致重譴，不亦大負爰立之初心，而有愧置諸左右之職業也夫？
The appraisal runs: Early Ming established the Secretariat with left and right chancellors to govern the state's core, usually men of founding merit. Yet Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, and others were repeatedly sent on campaign and never devoted themselves solely to the Secretariat. Only Li Shanzhang, Wang Guangyang, and Hu Weiyong truly bore the steady work of assisting rule. After Hu Weiyong's fall the chancellorship was abolished for good. Thus through the entire Ming only Shanzhang and Guangyang ever bore the title chancellor. It is a pity that Shanzhang, a man in plain sandals who chose his lord in the chaos of founding, gave his life to the cause, helped build the dynasty, won investiture and the highest rank, and stood at the summit of wealth—yet in old age destroyed himself. Guangyang was cautious and upright, yet he could neither unmask traitors nor keep calamity at bay. Both suffered severe punishment—did they not grossly betray the trust placed in them at the throne's right hand?