1
列傳第二十六陳修 〈（滕毅·趙好德·翟善·李仁·吳琳）〉 ·楊思義 〈（滕德懋·范敏·費震張琬）〉 ·周禎 〈（劉惟謙·周湞·端復初·李質·黎光·劉敏）〉 ·楊靖 〈（淩漢·嚴德瑉·單安仁·硃守仁·薛祥·秦逵·趙翥·趙俊·唐鐸·沈溍·開濟）〉】
Biographies, Number Twenty-Six — Chen Xiu (Teng Yi, Zhao Haode, Zhai Shan, Li Ren, and Wu Lin)〉 · Yang Siyi (Teng Demao, Fan Min, Fei Zhen, and Zhang Wan)〉 · Zhou Zhen (Liu Weiqian, Zhou Zhen, Duan Fuchu, Li Zhi, Li Guang, and Liu Min)〉 · Yang Jing (Ling Han, Yan Demin, Dan Anren, Zhu Shouren, Xue Xiang, Qin Kui, Zhao Zhu, Zhao Jun, Tang Duo, Shen Yin, and Kai Ji)〉】〉
2
陳修，字伯昂，上饒人。 從太祖平浙東，授理官。 援引律令，悉本寬厚，盡改元季弊政。 擢兵部郎中，遷濟南知府。 時亂後，比戶彫殘，且多衛將練兵屯田其間。 修撫治有方，兵民相安，流亡復業。 帝嘉之。
Chen Xiu, courtesy name Bo'ang, was from Shangrao. He followed the founding emperor in pacifying eastern Zhejiang and was appointed a judicial officer. In applying the law he consistently favored leniency and swept away the corrupt practices of the Yuan. He was promoted to director in the Ministry of War, then transferred to serve as prefect of Jinan. In the aftermath of war the populace lay in ruins, and many guard officers drilled troops and opened military colonies in the prefecture. Chen governed with skill; soldiers and civilians lived at peace, and refugees returned to their fields. The emperor praised his work.
3
六部初屬中書省，權輕，多仰承丞相意指。 毅、修及詹同、吳琳、趙好德輩，居吏部稱賢，然亦無大建豎。 至十三年，中書省革，部權乃專，而銓衡為尤要。 顧帝用法嚴，熂以排宋訥誅，善貶，澤拜尚書。 未數月罷。 惟信曆侍郎，拜尚書，幾二載，卒於官雲。
Initially the Six Ministries answered to the Central Secretariat, held little power, and largely followed the chief councillor's wishes. Teng Yi, Chen Xiu, Zhan Tong, Wu Lin, Zhao Haode, and others were regarded as capable ministers of personnel, yet none left a major mark. In the thirteenth year the Central Secretariat was abolished, the ministries gained full authority, and control over appointments became paramount. But the emperor enforced the law harshly: Xi Yu was executed for opposing Song Ne, Zhai Shan was demoted, and Li Ze was appointed minister. Within months he was removed from office. Wei Xin had risen through the vice-ministership to the ministry itself, held the post for nearly two years, and died in office.
4
趙好德，字秉彝，汝陽人。 由安慶知府入為戶部侍郎。 進尚書，改吏部。 帝嘉其典銓平，嘗召與四輔官入內殿。 坐論治道，命畫史圖像禁中。 終陝西參政。 子毅，永樂中，官至工部侍郎。
Zhao Haode, courtesy name Bingyi, was from Ruyang. He entered court from the prefecture of Anqing as vice minister of revenue. He was promoted to minister and transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. The emperor commended his impartial management of appointments and once summoned him with the four chief counselors to the inner hall. They sat discussing statecraft, and the emperor had court painters record their likenesses in the palace. He ended his career as administrative commissioner of Shaanxi. His son Yi rose under the Yongle emperor to vice minister of works.
5
翟善，字敬夫，以貢舉曆官吏部文選司主事。 二十六年，尚書詹徽、侍郎傅友文誅，命善署部事，再遷至尚書。 明於經術，奏對合帝意。 帝曰：「善雖年少，氣宇恢廓，他人莫及也。」 欲為營第於鄉，善辭。 又欲除其家戍籍，善曰：「戍卒宜增，豈可以臣破例。」 帝益以為賢。 二十八年坐事，降宣化知縣以終。
Zhai Shan, courtesy name Jingfu, entered service through the tribute-student route and rose to chief clerk in the Ministry of Personnel's appointments bureau. In the twenty-sixth year, after Ministers Zhan Hui and Fu Youwen were executed, Shan was placed in charge of the ministry and soon promoted to minister. Well versed in the classics, he pleased the emperor in memorials and audience. The emperor said, "Shan is young, yet his spirit is expansive; none can equal him. When the emperor offered to build him a mansion in his home district, Shan declined. The emperor also wished to exempt his family from corvée garrison duty. Shan replied, "We need more garrison soldiers, not fewer; a minister must not bend the rule for himself. The emperor admired him all the more. In the twenty-eighth year he was punished for an offense, demoted to magistrate of Xuanhua, and ended his career there.
6
李仁，唐縣人。 初仕陳友諒。 王師克武昌，來歸。 以常遇春薦，代陶安知黃州府。 曆官侍郎，進尚書。 坐事謫青州，政最。 擢戶部侍郎，致仕。
Li Ren was from Tang County. He first served Chen Youliang. When the imperial army captured Wuchang, he submitted. Recommended by Chang Yuchun, he replaced Tao An as prefect of Huangzhou. He rose through the vice-ministership to minister. Punished for an offense, he was sent to Qingzhou, where his governance ranked first. He was promoted to vice minister of revenue and then retired.
7
吳琳，黃崗人。 太祖下武昌，以詹同薦，召為國子助教。 經術逾於同。 吳元年除浙江按察司僉事，復入為起居注。 命齎幣帛求書于四方。 洪武六年，自兵部尚書改吏部，嘗與同迭主部事。 逾年，乞歸。 帝嘗遣使察之。 使者潛至旁舍，一農人坐小杌，起拔稻苗布田，貌甚端謹。 使者前曰：「此有吳尚書者，在否？」 農人斂手，對曰：「琳是也。」 使者以狀聞。 帝為嘉歎。
Wu Lin was from Huanggang. After the founding emperor took Wuchang, Zhan Tong recommended him, and he was summoned as an assistant instructor at the National University. His command of the classics surpassed Zhan Tong's. In the first year of Wu he was made investigating censor of Zhejiang, then returned to court as recorder of the ruler's movements. He was sent with gifts to seek books throughout the realm. In Hongwu year six he moved from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Personnel and at times shared its leadership with Zhan Tong in rotation. After a year he asked to retire home. The emperor once sent an envoy to look in on him. The envoy slipped to a neighboring cottage and saw a farmer on a low stool rise to transplant rice; his manner was grave and careful. The envoy stepped forward and asked, "Is former Minister Wu here? The farmer bowed and answered, "I am Lin." The envoy reported what he had seen. The emperor praised him with admiration.
8
楊思義，不詳其籍裏。 太祖稱吳王，授起居注。 初，錢谷隸中書省。 吳元年始設司農卿，以思義為之。 明年設六部，改為戶部尚書。 大亂之後，人多廢業。 思義請令民間皆植桑麻，四年始征其稅。 不種桑者輸絹，不種麻者輸布，如《周官》裏布法。 詔可。 帝念水旱不時，緩急無所恃，命思義令天下立預備倉，以防水旱。 思義首邦計，以農桑積貯為急。 凡所興設，雖本帝意，而經畫詳密，時稱其能。 調陝西行省參政，卒於官。
Yang Siyi — his place of origin is not recorded. When the founding emperor took the title Prince of Wu, he was made recorder of the ruler's movements. At first fiscal affairs belonged to the Central Secretariat. In the first year of Wu the Directorate of Agriculture was created, with Siyi at its head. The next year the Six Ministries were formed, and he became minister of revenue. After the wars many people had abandoned their livelihoods. Siyi proposed that every household plant mulberry and hemp, with taxes levied only after four years. Households without mulberry paid silk instead; those without hemp paid cloth — following the district-cloth levy of the "Rites of Zhou." The emperor approved the proposal. Mindful that floods and droughts came without warning and left no reserve in times of need, the emperor ordered Siyi to establish granaries throughout the realm against famine. Siyi put state finance first and made farming, sericulture, and grain reserves his chief concerns. Though each measure followed the emperor's intent, Siyi planned them in meticulous detail, and contemporaries praised his ability. He was transferred to administrative commissioner of Shaanxi and died in office.
9
終洪武朝，為戶部尚書者四十余人，皆不久於職，績用罕著。 惟茹太素、楊靖、滕德懋、范敏、費震之屬，差有聲。 太素、靖自有傳。
Throughout the Hongwu reign more than forty men held the ministry of revenue, yet few lasted long or left a notable record. Only Ru Taisu, Yang Jing, Teng Demao, Fan Min, Fei Zhen, and a few others enjoyed any real renown. Taisu and Jing have biographies of their own.
10
德懋，字思勉，吳人。 由中書省掾曆外任。 洪武三年，召拜兵部尚書，尋改戶部。 為人有才辨，器量弘偉。 長於奏疏，一時招徠詔諭之文，多出其手。 以事免官，卒。
Teng Demao, courtesy name Simian, was from Wu. He rose from a clerkship in the Central Secretariat through provincial posts. In Hongwu year three he was summoned as minister of war, then moved to revenue. He was quick-witted and eloquent, with a broad and generous spirit. He excelled at memorials, and for a time most edicts of recruitment and reassurance bore his pen. Punished for an offense, he was dismissed and later died.
11
範敏，閿鄉人。 洪武八年舉秀才，擢戶部郎中。 十三年授試尚書。 薦耆儒王本等，皆拜四輔官。 帝以徭役不均，命編造黃冊。 敏議：百一十戶為裏，丁多者十人為裏長，鳩一里之事以供歲役。 十年一周。 餘百戶為十甲。 後遂仍其制不廢。 明年以不職罷。
Fan Min was from Lüxiang. In Hongwu year eight he passed the xiucai examination and was made director in the Ministry of Revenue. In the thirteenth year he was appointed acting minister. He recommended senior scholars such as Wang Ben, all of whom became the four chief counselors. Finding corvée duties unevenly assigned, the emperor ordered the compilation of the yellow registers. Min proposed grouping 110 households into a li, with ten adult males as li head to organize the community's annual corvée. The rotation completed a ten-year cycle. The remaining hundred households were divided into ten jia units. The system was later retained and never abolished. The following year he was dismissed for incompetence.
12
費震，鄱陽人。 洪武初，以賢良征，為吉水知州，寬惠得民，擢知漢中。 歲凶盜起，發倉粟十余萬斛貸民，俾秋成還倉。 盜聞，皆來歸。 令占宅自為保伍，得數千家。 帝聞而嘉之。 後坐事被逮，以有善政，特釋為寶鈔提舉。 十一年，帝謂吏部曰：「資格為常流設耳，有才能者當不次用之。」 超擢者九十五人。 而拜震戶部侍郎，尋進尚書。 奉命定丞相、御史大夫以下負祿之制。 出為湖廣布政使，以老致仕。
Fei Zhen was from Poyang. In early Hongwu he was summoned as a worthy man, governed Jishui with leniency that won the people, and was promoted to prefect of Hanzhong. When famine brought banditry, he lent the people more than a hundred thousand piculs from the granary to be repaid after harvest. Hearing of this, the bandits submitted. He had them settle in homes and organize themselves into mutual-security groups, numbering several thousand households. The emperor heard and praised his work. Later he was arrested for an offense, but because of his good record he was released and made superintendent of paper currency. In the eleventh year the emperor told the Ministry of Personnel, "Seniority is for ordinary men; the capable should be promoted without waiting their turn. Ninety-five were promoted out of turn." Among them Fei Zhen was made vice minister of revenue and soon promoted to minister. On imperial orders he set salary scales for the chancellor, the censor-in-chief, and officials beneath them. He served as Huguang administrative commissioner and retired when old.
13
洪武初，有張琬者，鄱陽人。 以貢士試高等，授給事中，改戶部主事。 一日，帝問天下財賦、戶口之數。 口對無遺。 帝悅，立擢左侍郎。 謹身殿災，上言時政。 歲饑，請蠲民租百萬余石。 俱見嘉納。 琬才敏，有心計，年二十七，卒於官。 時人惜之。
Early in Hongwu there was Zhang Wan of Poyang. He placed high in the tribute-scholar examination, became a supervising secretary, and was then transferred to a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. One day the emperor asked him for the empire's revenue and population totals. He recited them flawlessly from memory. Delighted, the emperor promptly promoted him to left vice minister. After fire struck the Hall of Cultivating the Body, he memorialized on affairs of state. During a famine he urged remitting over a million piculs of land tax. The emperor approved every proposal. Zhang Wan was clever and resourceful; he died in office at twenty-seven. Contemporaries mourned his early death.
14
周禎，字文典，江寧人。 元末流寓湖南。 太祖平武昌，用為江西行省僉事，曆大理卿。 太祖以唐、宋皆有成律斷獄，惟元以一時行事為條格，胥吏易為奸，詔禎與李善長、劉基、陶安、滕毅等定律令。 少卿劉惟謙、丞周湞與焉。 書成，太祖稱善。
Zhou Zhen (Wendian) was from Jiangning. In the late Yuan he lived in Hunan as a refugee. After Taizu took Wuchang he made him Jiangxi assistant commissioner and later minister of justice. Taizu noted that Tang and Song had fixed penal codes whereas the Yuan ruled by ad hoc regulations that clerks easily abused, and ordered Zhou Zhen, Li Shanchang, Liu Ji, Tao An, Teng Yi, and others to draft a code. Vice minister Liu Weiqian and assistant minister Zhou Zhen (Boning) joined them. When the code was complete Taizu praised it.
15
洪武元年設刑部，以禎為尚書。 尋改治書侍御史。 明年出為廣東行省參政。 時省治初開，正官多缺，吏治鮮勸懲。 香山丞沖敬有治行，以勞卒官。 禎為文祭之，聞者感動。 一時郡邑良吏雷州同知余騏孫、惠州知府萬迪、乳源知縣張安仁、清流知縣李鐸、揭陽縣丞許德、廉州知府脫因、歸善知縣木寅，禎皆列其政績以聞。 寅，土司。 脫因，蒙古人也。 於是屬吏益勸。 三年九月召為御史中丞。 尋引疾致仕。 帝初即位，懲元寬縱，用法太嚴，奉行者重足立。 律令既具，吏士始知循守。 其後數有厘正，皆以禎書為權輿雲。
In Hongwu year one the Ministry of Punishments was set up and Zhou Zhen was made its minister. He was soon transferred to investigating censor. The following year he became Guangdong administrative commissioner. The province was newly established, key posts were empty, and official discipline was weak. Chong Jing, assistant magistrate of Xiangshan, governed well and died in office from exhaustion. Zhou Zhen wrote a funeral elegy for him that moved all who heard it. He reported to the throne the achievements of worthy local officials of the day, including Yu Qisun of Leizhou, Wan Di of Huizhou, Zhang Anren of Ruyuan, Li Duo of Qingliu, Xu De of Jieyang, Tuoyin of Lianzhou, and Mu Yin of Guishan. Mu Yin was a tribal official. Tuoyin was Mongolian. Subordinate officials were thereby encouraged to do better. In the ninth month of year three he was recalled as censor-in-chief. He soon retired citing illness. Early in his reign the emperor reacted to Yuan laxity with harsh law enforcement that left officials terrified. Once the code was in place officials finally knew the rules they had to follow. Later revisions all traced back to his compilation, it is said.
16
劉惟謙，不詳何許人。 吳元年以才學舉。 洪武初，曆官刑部尚書。 六年命詳定新律，刪繁損舊，輕重得宜。 帝親加裁定頒行焉。 後坐事免。
Liu Weiqian's place of origin is unknown. In Wu year one he was recommended for scholarship. In early Hongwu he rose to minister of punishments. In year six he was ordered to refine the new code, trimming excess and old provisions until penalties fit the crimes. The emperor personally revised it and promulgated the result. He was later dismissed after being implicated in a case.
17
周湞，字伯甯，鄱陽人。 江西十才子之一也，官亦至刑部尚書。
Zhou Zhen (Boning) was from Poyang. One of Jiangxi's Ten Talents, he too rose to minister of punishments.
18
終洪武世，為刑部者亦幾四十人，楊靖最著，而端復初、李質、黎光、劉敏亦有名。
Nearly forty men held the ministry of punishments during Hongwu; Yang Jing was the most famous, but Duan Fuchu, Li Zhi, Li Guang, and Liu Min were also well known.
19
復初，字以善，溧水人。 子貢裔也，從省文，稱端氏。 元末為小吏。 常遇春鎮金華，召致幕下。 未幾，辭去。 太祖知其名，召為徽州府經歷。 令民自實田，ＢＺ為圖籍，積弊盡刷。 稍遷至磨勘司令。 時官署新立，案牘填委，復初鉤稽無遺。 帝嘗廷譽之。 性嚴峭，人不敢幹以私。 僚屬多貪敗，復初獨以清白免。 洪武四年，超拜刑部尚書，用法平。 杭州飛糧事覺，逮系百餘人。 詔復初往治，誠偽立辨，知府以下皆服罪。 明年出為湖廣參政。 令民來歸者，復其賦一年。 流亡畢集。 以治辦聞。 坐事召還，卒。 子孝文，翰林待詔； 孝思，翰林侍書。 先後使朝鮮，並著清節，朝鮮人為立「雙清館」雲。
Duan Fuchu (Yishan) was from Lishui. A descendant of Confucius' disciple Zigong, he used the abbreviated clan name Duan in documents. At the end of the Yuan he served as a petty clerk. Chang Yuchun summoned him to his staff when garrisoning Jinhua. He soon left the post. Taizu knew his reputation and made him registrar of Huizhou. He had households declare their own land, compiled the data into registers and cadasters, and cleared away entrenched abuses. He was gradually promoted to head the verification-and-audit office. With new agencies drowning in paperwork, Fuchu audited accounts with nothing overlooked. The emperor once praised him at court. Stern and unyielding, he would brook no private favor. Many colleagues fell to corruption while he alone kept his integrity. In Hongwu year four he was promoted out of turn to minister of punishments and applied the law fairly. A grain-surplus fraud case in Hangzhou came to light and over a hundred people were arrested. The emperor sent Fuchu to investigate; he quickly distinguished truth from fraud, and the prefect and his subordinates all confessed. The following year he became Huguang administrative commissioner. He exempted returning refugees from taxes for one year. Exiles and refugees all returned. He became known for effective governance. Recalled after being implicated in a case, he died on the way. His son Xiaowen became a Hanlin attendant; Xiaosi served as a Hanlin attendant-calligrapher. Both served as envoys to Korea and won renown for integrity; Koreans built the "Twin Clarity Hall" in their honor, it is said.
20
李質，字文彬，德慶人。 有材略。 元末居何真麾下，嘗募兵平德慶亂民，旁郡多賴其保障。 名士客嶺南者，茶陵劉三吾、江右伯顏子中、羊城孫蕡、建安張智等，皆禮之。 洪武元年，從真降，授中書斷事。 明年改都督府斷事，強力執法。 五年擢刑部侍郎，進尚書，治獄平恕。 遣振饑山東，禦制詩餞之。 尋出為浙江行省參政。 居三年，惠績著聞。 帝念質老，召還。 嘗入見便殿，訪時政。 質直言無隱。 拜靖江王右相。 王罪廢，質竟坐死。
Li Zhi (Wenbin) was from Deqing. He was talented and resourceful. Late in the Yuan he served under He Zhen, raised troops to quell unrest in Deqing, and neighboring districts relied on his protection. He honored famous scholars who came to the south, including Liu Sanwu of Chaling, Bayan Zizhong from Jiangxi, Sun Zan of Guangzhou, and Zhang Zhi of Jian'an. In Hongwu year one he submitted with He Zhen and was made a Secretariat adjudicator. The next year he became a military commission adjudicator and enforced the law firmly. In year five he rose to vice then minister of punishments and judged cases with measured leniency. Sent to relieve famine in Shandong, he was farewelled with an imperial poem. He was soon posted as Zhejiang administrative commissioner. After three years his benevolent rule was widely praised. Mindful of his age, the emperor recalled him. He was once received in the informal hall and questioned on current affairs. Li Zhi spoke frankly and held nothing back. He was made right chancellor to the Prince of Jingjiang. When the prince was disgraced and stripped of his title, Li Zhi was executed as an accomplice.
21
黎光，東莞人。 以鄉薦拜御史，巡蘇州，請振水災，全活甚眾。 巡鳳陽，上封事悉切時弊，帝嘉之。 洪武九年，擢刑部侍郎，執法不阿，為御史大夫陳甯所忌，坐事死貶所。
Li Guang was from Dongguan. Recommended locally, he became a censor, toured Suzhou, secured flood relief, and saved many lives. Inspecting Fengyang, he sent a sealed memorial on timely abuses that the emperor praised. In Hongwu year nine he became vice minister of punishments; his impartial enforcement earned the hatred of Censor-in-Chief Chen Ning, and after being implicated in a case he died in exile.
22
劉敏，肅寧人。 舉孝廉，為中書省吏。 嘗暮市蘆龍江，旦載於家，俾妻織蓆，鬻以奉母。 而後，入治事。 性廉介，或遺之瓷瓦器，亦不受。 為楚相府錄事，中書以沒官女婦給文臣家，眾勸其請給以事母。 敏固辭曰：「事母，子婦事，何預他人。」 及省臣敗，吏多坐誅，敏獨無所預。 帝賢之，擢工部侍郎，改刑部。 出為徽州府同知，有惠政，卒於官。
Liu Min was from Suining. Recommended for filial piety and integrity, he became a Secretariat clerk. Each evening he bought reeds on the Lulong River, brought them home at dawn for his wife to weave into mats he sold to support his mother. Only then would he go to the office. Incorruptible and reserved, he would not accept even a gift of porcelain or tiles. As recorder for the Chu princely establishment, when the Secretariat distributed confiscated palace women to officials' households, colleagues urged him to request one to help care for his mother. Min firmly refused, saying, "Caring for one's mother is a daughter-in-law's duty—what business is that of anyone else?" When the provincial ministers were purged, many clerks were executed for complicity, but Min alone was untouched. The emperor admired him, made him vice minister of works, then transferred him to punishments. Posted as Huizhou associate prefect, he governed benevolently and died in office.
23
楊靖，字仲甯，山陽人。 洪武十八年進士，選吏科庶起士。 明年擢戶部侍郎。 時任諸司者，率進士及太學生，然時有不法者。 帝制《大誥》，舉通政使蔡瑄、左通政茹瑺、工部侍郎秦逵及靖以諷厲之曰：「此亦進士太學生也，能率職以稱朕心。」 其見稱如此。
Yang Jing (Zhongning) was from Shanyang. A Hongwu year-eighteen jinshi, he was chosen as a Hanlin probationer in the Ministry of Personnel track. The following year he was promoted to vice minister of revenue. Officials in the ministries were then mostly jinshi and imperial university graduates, yet some still broke the law. The emperor wrote the Great Admonitions and held up Cai Xuan, commissioner of transmission, Ru Chao, left commissioner, Qin Kui, vice minister of works, and Jing as examples, exhorting others: "These men too were jinshi and imperial university graduates, yet they perform their duties in a way that satisfies me. That was how highly he was regarded.
24
二十二年進尚書。 明年五月詔在京官三年皆遷調，著為令。 乃以刑部尚書趙勉與靖換官。 諭曰：「愚民犯法，如啖飲食。 設法防之，犯者益眾。 推恕行仁，或能感化。 自今惟犯十惡並殺人者死，餘罪皆令輸粟北邊。」 又曰：「在京獄囚，卿等覆奏，朕親審決，猶恐有失。 在外各官所擬，豈能盡當？ 卿等當詳讞，然後遣官審決。」 靖承旨研辨，多所平反。 帝嘉納之。 嘗鞫一武弁，門卒撿其身，得大珠，屬僚驚異。 靖徐曰：「偽也，安有珠大如此者乎。」 碎之。 帝聞，歎曰：「靖此舉，有四善焉。 不獻朕求悅，一善也； 不窮追投獻，二善也； 不獎門卒，杜小人僥倖，三善也； 千金之珠卒然而至，略不動心，有過人之智，應變之才，四善也。」
In year 22 he was promoted to minister. The following May the court ordered that every capital official be rotated after three years, and made it permanent regulation. Zhao Min, minister of punishments, and Jing then swapped posts. He told them: "Ignorant people break the law as readily as they eat and drink. The more laws you devise to stop them, the more offenders you get. Forbearance and humane governance may actually reform them. Henceforth only the ten abominations and murder carry the death penalty; all other crimes will be commuted to delivering grain to the northern border." He added: "Capital prisoners come before you for review and then to me for final judgment, and I still worry about error. How can provincial officials' recommendations always be right? You must examine each case thoroughly before sending officers to confirm the verdict. Jing followed the edict, scrutinized cases, and overturned many verdicts. The emperor approved his work. Once, while questioning a military officer, a gate guard frisked him and found a huge pearl, to the amazement of Jing's staff. Jing said calmly, "It is counterfeit. How could a pearl be this big? He smashed it. On hearing this, the emperor sighed and said, "Jing's conduct shows four kinds of excellence. He did not bring it to me to curry favor — first. He did not launch a hunt for whoever had tried to bribe him — second. He did not reward the guard, thereby shutting off opportunism among small men — third. A pearl worth a fortune turned up in an instant, yet he was barely stirred — showing exceptional judgment and presence of mind. That is the fourth excellence."
25
二十六年，兼太子賓客，並給二祿。 已，坐事免。 會征龍州趙宗壽，詔靖諭安南輸粟餉師。 以白衣往。 安南相黎一元以陸運險艱，欲不奉詔。 靖宣示反覆開諭，且許以水運。 一元乃輸粟二萬，至沲海江別造浮橋以達龍州。 帝大悅，拜靖左都御史。 靖公忠有智略，善理繁劇，治獄明察而不事深文。 寵遇最厚，同列無與比。 三十年七月，坐為鄉人代改訴冤狀草，為御史所劾。 帝怒，遂賜死。 時年三十八。
In year 26 he also became guest of the heir apparent and drew two stipends. Soon afterward he was removed from office for an offense. When the army marched against Zhao Zongshou of Longzhou, Jing was sent to demand grain tribute from Annan. He traveled as a commoner, without office. The Annan chancellor Li Yiyuan, citing the hazards of overland transport, tried to refuse. Jing read the decree again and again, argued patiently, and offered shipment by water. Li Yiyuan finally sent twenty thousand piculs, and at the Tuohai River built a pontoon bridge to reach Longzhou. The emperor was delighted and made Jing left censor-in-chief. Upright, loyal, and resourceful, he handled heavy workloads well and tried cases shrewdly without pedantic legalism. No colleague enjoyed greater favor. In the seventh month of year 30 he was impeached for editing a neighbor's complaint of injustice. The emperor flew into a rage and ordered him to take his own life. He was thirty-eight.
26
時有淩漢，字鬥南，原武人。 以秀才舉，獻《烏鵲論》。 授官，歷任御史。 巡按陝西，疏所部疾困數事。 帝善之，召其子賜衣鈔。 漢鞫獄平允。 及還京，有德漢者，邀置酒，欲厚贈以金。 漢曰：「酒可飲，金不可受也。」 帝聞之嘉歎，擢右都御史。 時詹徽為左，論議不合，每面折徽，徽銜之。 左遷刑部侍郎，改禮部。 後為徽所劾，降左僉都御史。 帝憫其衰，令歸田裏。 漢以徽在，有後憂，不敢去。 歲餘徽誅，復擢右僉都御史。 尋致仕歸。 漢出言不檢，居官屢躓。 然以廉直見知於帝，故終得保全。
Around the same time there was Ling Han (Dounan), from Yuanwu. He entered service as a xiucai by submitting his "Discourse on Crows and Magpies." He received an appointment and rose through censorial posts. On circuit in Shaanxi he reported several hardships afflicting the province. The emperor was pleased and rewarded his son with robes and cash. Han heard cases with evenhanded justice. Back in the capital, an admirer treated him to wine and tried to press a hefty gift of gold on him. Han replied, "I will drink your wine, but I cannot take your gold." The emperor heard and commended him, then promoted him to right censor-in-chief. Zhan Hui held the left post; the two clashed in council, Han regularly humiliating him in debate, and Hui nursed a grudge. Han was demoted to vice minister of punishments, then shifted to rites. Hui later had him impeached and reduced him to left vice censor-in-chief. The emperor, pitying his years, let him retire to his hometown. With Hui still in power, Han feared later reprisals and stayed on. A year later Hui was executed, and Han was restored as right vice censor-in-chief. He soon retired for good. His tongue got him into trouble again and again. The emperor valued his probity, however, and he survived with his life intact.
27
又吳人嚴德瑉，由御史擢左僉都御史，以疾求歸。 帝怒，黥其面，謫戍南丹。 遇赦放還。 布衣徒步，自齒齊民。 宣德中猶存。 嘗以事為御史所逮，德瑉跪堂下，自言曾在台勾當公事，曉三尺法。 御史問何官。 答言：「洪武中台長，所謂嚴德瑉是也。」 御史大驚，揖起之。 次日往謁，則擔囊徙矣。 有教授與飲，見其面黥，戴敝冠，問：「老人犯何法？」 瑉述前事，因言「先時國法甚嚴，仕者不保首領，此敝冠不易戴也。」 乃北面拱手，稱「聖恩，聖恩」雲。
Another case was Yan Demin of Wu, promoted from censor to left vice censor-in-chief, who asked to go home on account of illness. The emperor was furious, branded his face, and exiled him to Nan Dan. An amnesty eventually brought him home. He dressed as a commoner and walked everywhere like any other townsman. He was still living in the Xuande era. Once when a censor detained him over some matter, Demin knelt in the hall and said he had once served in the censorate and knew the code. The censor asked what rank he had held. He answered, "Under Hongwu I was head of the censorate — Yan Demin, that is me." The censor was shocked and helped him up with a bow. Next day the censor called, only to find Demin had packed up and left. A local instructor shared wine with him, noticed the facial brand and shabby hat, and asked, "Elder, what crime did you commit?" Demin told the story and added, "In those days the law was merciless — officials could not expect to keep their heads. This shabby cap is not lightly worn." Then he turned north, bowed with clasped hands, and murmured, "The sage's mercy, the sage's mercy."
28
單安仁，字德夫，濠人。 少為府吏。 元末江淮兵亂，安仁集義兵保鄉里，授樞密判官。 從鎮南王孛羅普化守揚州。 時群雄四起，安仁歎曰：「此輩皆為人驅除耳。 王者之興，當自有別。」 鎮南王為長槍軍所逐，安仁無所屬，聞太祖定集慶，乃曰：「此誠是已。」 率眾歸附。 太祖悅，即命將其軍守鎮江。 嚴飭軍伍，敵不敢犯。 移守常州。 其子叛，降張士誠，太祖知安仁忠謹，弗疑也。 久之，遷浙江副使。 悍帥橫斂民，名曰「寨糧」，安仁置於法。 進按察使，征為中書左司郎中，佐李善長裁斷。 調瑞州守禦千戶，入為將作卿。
Dan Anren (Defu) was from Hao prefecture. He began as a clerk in the prefectural office. When war convulsed the Jianghuai region late in Yuan, he raised a militia to defend his home and was made vice commissioner of military affairs. He served under Prince Zhennan Boluohuata defending Yangzhou. As warlords sprang up on every side, Anren sighed and said, "These fellows are only clearing the way for someone else. The man destined to rule will come from elsewhere." When Long Spear troops expelled Prince Zhennan, Anren was left masterless; hearing that the Taizu had secured Jiqing (Nanjing), he said, "This is the one." He led his followers to surrender. The Taizu welcomed him and immediately put his troops under him to defend Zhenjiang. He disciplined his troops so tightly that no enemy dared approach. He was then posted to Changzhou. His son defected to Zhang Shicheng, but the Taizu, trusting Anren's loyalty, did not suspect him. Eventually he became Zhejiang vice surveillance commissioner. Bullying generals extorted "stockade grain" from peasants; Anren prosecuted them. Promoted to surveillance commissioner, he was called to the Secretariat as a director and helped Li Shanchang pass judgment. He served as Ruizhou defensive commandant, then became director of the Directorate of Works.
29
洪武元年擢工部尚書，仍領將作事。 安仁精敏多智計，諸所營造，大小中程，甚稱帝意。 逾年改兵部尚書。 請老歸，賜田三千畝，牛七十角，歲給尚書半俸。 六年起山東參政。 懇辭，許之。 家居，嘗奏請浚儀真南壩至樸樹灣，以便官民輸挽； 疏轉運河江都深港以防淤淺； 移瓜州倉ＣＣ置揚子橋西，免大江風潮之患。 帝善其言，再授兵部尚書，致仕。 初，尚書階正三品。 十三年，中書省罷，始進為正二。 而安仁致仕在前。 帝念安仁勳舊，二十年特授資善大夫。 其年十二月卒，年八十五。
In Hongwu 1 he was made minister of works while continuing to run the directorate. Quick-witted and full of expedients, he brought every project in on schedule and won the emperor's praise. A year later he moved to the war ministry. He asked to retire and received three thousand mu of land, seventy cattle, and half pay for life. In year 6 he was recalled to serve as Shandong vice administrator. He pleaded age and was excused. At home he proposed dredging from Yizhen's southern levee to Pushu Bay to ease hauling for officials and commoners; clearing Jiangdu's deep harbor on the Grand Canal to stop silting; and relocating the Guazhou granary west of Yangzi Bridge to spare grain from the Yangtze's storms. The emperor accepted the advice, reappointed him minister of war, and let him retire again. Ministers had initially been third rank. When the Secretariat was abolished in year 13 the rank rose to second. Anren had already retired by then. Mindful of his founding service, the emperor in year 20 granted him the honorary title Grand Master of the Heir Apparent. He died that December at eighty-five.
30
徐州硃守仁者，字元夫。 元末亦以保障功官樞密同知，守舒城。 明兵下廬州，以城來歸。 曆官工部侍郎。 洪武四年進尚書，奉命察山東官吏，稱旨。 尋改北平行省參政，以饋餉不繼，謫蒼梧知縣。 初，守仁知袁州，撫安創殘，民甚德之。 至是連知容州、高唐州，皆有善政。 十年進四川布政使，治尚簡嚴。 以年老致仕。 坐事罰輸作，特宥之。 十五年，雲南平，改威楚、開南等路宣撫司為楚雄府，遂命守仁知府事。 招集流移，均徭役，建學校，境內大治。 二十八年上計入朝，郡人垂涕送之。 拜太僕卿。 首請立牧馬草場于江北滁州諸處。 所轄十四監九十八群。 馬大蕃息。 馬政之修，自守仁始。 久之，致仕。 永樂初，入朝，遇疾卒。
Zhu Shouren of Xuzhou (Yuanfu). Like Anren, he won a pacification post late in Yuan as tongzhi in the military secretariat and held Shucheng. When Ming forces took Luzhou he surrendered the city. He rose to vice minister of works. In Hongwu year 4 he was made minister and sent to inspect Shandong officials; his report pleased the emperor. He was soon posted as Beiping vice administrator, but when supply lines failed he was demoted to magistrate of Cangwu. Earlier, as prefect of Yuanzhou, he had nursed a war-torn region back to order, and the people loved him for it. Now, serving in turn at Rongzhou and Gaotang, he governed well in both posts. In year 10 he became Sichuan pacification commissioner, ruling with spare severity. He retired on grounds of age. Convicted in a case, he was sentenced to corvée labor but received a special pardon. In year 15, after Yunnan was pacified, the Weichu and Kainan pacification offices became Chuxiong Prefecture, and Shouren was named prefect. He resettled refugees, balanced labor levies, founded schools, and brought the prefecture to good order. When he went to court in year 28 for the annual review, the people of his commandery saw him off in tears. He was appointed grand master of studs. He was first to propose horse pastures north of the Yangtze around Chuzhou. His office oversaw fourteen studs and ninety-eight herds. The herds multiplied greatly. The revival of Ming horse policy began with Shouren. In time he retired again. Early in the Yongle reign he came to court, fell ill on the journey, and died.
31
八年授工部尚書。 時造鳳陽宮殿。 帝坐殿中，若有人持兵鬥殿脊者。 太師李善長奏諸工匠用厭鎮法，帝將盡殺之。 祥為分別交替不在工者，並鐵石匠皆不預，活者千數。 營謹身殿，有司列中匠為上匠，帝怒其罔，命棄市。 祥在側，爭曰：「奏對不實，竟殺人，恐非法。」 得旨用腐刑。 祥復徐奏曰：「腐，廢人矣，莫若杖而使工。」 帝可之。 明年改天下行省為承宣佈政司。 以北平重地，特授祥，三年治行稱第一。 為胡惟庸所惡，坐營建擾民，謫知嘉興府。 惟庸誅，復召為工部尚書。 帝曰：「讒臣害汝，何不言？」 對曰：「臣不知也。」 明年，坐累杖死，天下哀之。 子四人，謫瓊州，遂為瓊山人。
In year 8 he was made minister of works. The court was then building the palaces at Fengyang. The emperor, seated in the hall, seemed to see armed figures fighting on the roof ridge. Grand Preceptor Li Shanchang reported that the craftsmen had used malign sorcery, and the emperor prepared to execute them all. Xiang sorted out artisans on rotation who were not on site, and excluded iron- and stoneworkers as well, saving thousands of lives. While the Hall of Self-Discipline was under construction, officials mislabeled journeymen as master craftsmen; the emperor, furious at the fraud, ordered them executed. Xiang stood beside him and protested, "The report was false — to execute them anyway would be unlawful." The emperor ordered castration instead. Xiang pressed on gently: "Castration ruins a man for life — better to beat him and keep him on the job." The emperor agreed. The next year the empire's branch secretariats were reorganized as pacification commissions. Beiping being strategically vital, Xiang was specially posted there, and within three years his record ranked first. Hu Weiyong turned against him; charged with harassing the people through building projects, he was demoted to prefect of Jiaxing. After Hu Weiyong's execution he was recalled as minister of works. The emperor said, "Scheming ministers brought you down — why did you never tell me?" He answered, "Your servant knew nothing of it." The next year he died under the rod in a collateral punishment, and the realm mourned him. His four sons were exiled to Qiongzhou and became natives of Qiongshan.
32
孫遠，正統七年進士。 景泰時，官戶部郎中。 天順元年，擢本部右侍郎，改工部。 奉詔塞開封決河。 還，仍改戶部。 成化初，督兩廣軍餉，位至南京兵部尚書，以忤汪直免官。
Sun Yuan, a jinshi of Zhengtong year 7. Under Jingtai he served as a director in the revenue ministry. In Tianshun 1 he was promoted to right vice minister of revenue, then transferred to works. He was ordered to dam the breached Yellow River channel at Kaifeng. On his return he moved back to revenue. Early in Chenghua he oversaw army supplies in Guangdong and Guangxi, rose to Nanjing minister of war, and lost his post for crossing Wang Zhi.
33
其繼祥為工部尚書有名者，有秦逵等。
Notable successors to Xiang as minister of works included Qin Kui and others.
34
逵，字文用，宣城人。 洪武十八年進士。 曆事都察院。 奉檄清理囚徒，寬嚴得宜。 帝嘉其能，擢工部侍郎。 時營繕事繁，部中缺尚書，凡興作事皆逵領之。 初，議籍四方工匠，驗其丁力，定三年為班，更番赴京，三月交代，名曰「輸班匠」。 未及行，至是逵議量地遠近為班次，置籍，為勘合付之，至期齎至部，免其家徭役，著為令。 帝念逵勤勩，詔有司復其家。 二十二年進尚書。 明年改兵部。 未幾，復改工部。 帝以學校為國儲材，而士子巾服無異胥吏，宜更易之。 命逵制式以進。 凡三易，其制始定。 賜監生藍衫、絛各一，以為天下先。 明代士子衣冠，蓋創自逵雲。
Kui (Wenyong) was from Xuancheng. He took the jinshi in Hongwu year 18. He served in the Censorate. Commissioned to review prisoners, he balanced mercy and severity aptly. The emperor commended his competence and made him vice minister of works. Construction was heavy and the ministry had no minister, so Kui headed every project. Earlier planners had proposed registering artisans empire-wide, gauging their strength, and sending them to the capital in three-year rotations with quarterly handovers — the "rotating shift artisans." The plan had not yet taken effect when Kui devised shifts by distance, issued registers and travel tallies, required artisans to report on schedule, exempted their households from corvée, and had the rule codified. Mindful of Kui's tireless service, the emperor ordered officials to restore his family's standing. In year 22 he was promoted to minister. The next year he moved to the war ministry. Soon he returned to works. The emperor held that schools stocked the state with talent, yet students dressed like clerks and ought to have distinct robes. He ordered Kui to design a pattern and submit it. After three revisions the design was settled. Each student of the Directorate received a blue gown and sash as the empire's model. Ming scholarly dress, it is said, began with Kui.
35
有趙翥者，永寧人。 有志節，以學行聞。 由訓導舉賢良，擢贊善大夫，拜工部尚書。 奏定天下歲造軍器之數，及議定籓王宮城制度。
There was also Zhao Zhu of Yongning. A man of principle, he was known for scholarship and integrity. Promoted from instructor through the Worthy and Good selection, he became honorary grand master of the heir apparent and then minister of works. He fixed annual quotas for weapons empire-wide and helped set regulations for princely palaces.
36
趙俊者，不知何許人。 自工部侍郎進尚書。 帝以國子監所藏書板，歲久殘剝，命諸儒考補，工部督匠修治。 俊奉詔監理，古籍始備。 洪武十二年，翥改署刑部。 尋致仕去。 俊，十七年免。 而逵於二十五年九月坐事自殺。
Zhao Jun was a man of unknown origin. He rose from vice minister of works to minister. Finding the Directorate of Education's printing blocks worn with age, the emperor had scholars collate the texts while the works ministry supervised craftsmen in repair. Jun directed the project by imperial order, and the classical canon was restored. In Hongwu year 12 Zhu was transferred to act as minister of punishments. He soon retired. Jun was dismissed in year 17. Kui, implicated in a case, took his own life in the ninth month of year 25.
37
唐鐸，字振之，虹人。 太祖初起兵，即侍左右。 守濠州，從定江州，授西安縣丞。 召為中書省管勾。 洪武元年，湯和克延平，以鐸知府事，拊輯新附，士民安之。 居三年，入為殿中侍御史，復出知紹興府。 六年十二月，召拜刑部尚書。 明年改太常卿。 丁母憂，特給半俸。 十四年，服闋，起兵部尚書。
Tang Duo (Zhenzhi) was a native of Hong county. When the Taizu first raised his army, Duo attended him closely. He helped hold Hao Prefecture, followed the conquest of Jiangzhou, and was made assistant magistrate of Xi'an county. He was called up as a controller in the Central Secretariat. In Hongwu 1, after Tang He took Yanping, Duo was named prefect and won over the newly submitted population until gentry and commoners alike were at ease. After three years he entered court as an attending censor, then went out again as prefect of Shaoxing. In the twelfth month of year 6 he was summoned and made minister of punishments. The next year he became director of imperial sacrifices. During mourning for his mother he was granted half pay by special favor. When mourning ended in year 14 he was appointed minister of war.
38
明年，初置諫院，以為諫議大夫。 帝嘗與侍臣論歷代興廢，曰：「使朕子孫如成、康，輔弼如周、召，則可祈天永命。」 鐸因進曰：「豫教元良，選左右為輔導，宗社萬年福也。」 帝又謂鐸曰：「人有公私，故言有邪正。 正言務規諫，邪言務謗諛。」 鐸曰：「謗近忠，諛近愛。 不為所眩，則讒佞自遠。」 未幾，左遷監察御史。 請選賢能京官遍曆郡縣，訪求賢才，體察官吏。 選歷練老成、望隆名重者，居布政、按察之職。 帝從之。 既復擢為右副都御史，曆刑、兵二部尚書。 二十二年，置詹事院，命吏部曰：「輔導太子，必擇端重之士。 三代保傅，禮甚尊嚴。 兵部尚書鐸，謹厚有德量，以為詹事。 食尚書俸如故。」 以鐸嘗請豫教故也。 其年，致仕。
The next year, when the remonstrance bureau was first established, he was made remonstrance grand master. The emperor once discussed with his close advisers how dynasties rose and fell, saying, "If my heirs were like Kings Cheng and Kang, with helpers like the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao, we could pray Heaven for a lasting mandate." Duo stepped forward and said, "To educate the heir early and choose upright tutors at his side is the surest blessing for the dynasty." The emperor then told Duo, "Men act from public or private motives, and speech follows — straight counsel or crooked. Honest words aim to admonish; crooked words aim to slander or flatter." Duo replied, "Slander wears the mask of loyalty; flattery wears the mask of affection. If Your Majesty is not taken in, slanderers and flatterers will keep their distance." Soon afterward he was demoted to investigating censor. He proposed sending able capital officials through every prefecture and county to seek talent and assess local officers. Veterans of proven judgment and high standing, he urged, should fill the provincial administration and surveillance posts. The emperor accepted the proposal. He was soon promoted again to right vice censor-in-chief and served in turn as minister of punishments and of war. In year 22 the heir apparent's household was established, and he told the Ministry of Personnel, "Tutors for the crown prince must be men of sober character. In the three ancient dynasties the guardian and tutor were honored with the highest ritual. Minister of War Tang Duo is prudent, steadfast, and morally weighty — appoint him household head. He shall keep his minister's salary unchanged." This was because Duo had urged early education for the heir. That same year he retired.
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二十六年，起太子賓客，進太子少保。 二十八年，龍州土官趙宗壽以奏鄭國公常茂死事不實，被召，又不至。 帝怒，命楊文統大軍往討。 而命鐸招諭。 鐸至，廉得茂實病死，宗壽亦伏罪來朝。 乃詔文移兵征奉議諸州叛蠻，即以鐸參議軍事。 逾月，諸蠻平。 鐸相度形勢，請設奉議衛及向武、河池、懷集、武仙、賀縣諸處守禦千戶所，鎮以官軍。 皆報可。
In year 26 he was recalled as guest of the crown prince and promoted to junior guardian of the heir. In year 28 the Longzhou native official Zhao Zongshou reported that Duke of Zheng Guo Chang Mao's account of dying in service was false; summoned to court, he did not appear. The emperor was furious and ordered Yang Wen to lead a large force against him. He also ordered Duo to go and win them over by persuasion. When Duo arrived, his investigation showed Mao had indeed died of illness, and Zongshou confessed and came to court. The court then ordered Wen to turn his army against the rebel tribes in Fengyi and neighboring prefectures and made Duo a military adviser. Within a month the tribes were pacified. Duo surveyed the terrain and proposed Fengyi Guard plus garrison battalions at Xiangwu, Hechi, Huaiji, Wuxian, Hexian, and other points, each held by regular troops. All were approved.
40
鐸為人長者，性慎密，不妄取予。 帝以故舊遇之，嘗曰：「鐸自友及臣至今三十餘年，其與人交不至變色，絕亦不出惡聲。」 又曰：「都御史詹徽剛斷嫉惡，胥吏不得肆其貪，謗訕滿朝。 唐鐸重厚，又謂懦而無為。 人心不古，有若是耶！」 後徽卒坐罪誅死，而鐸恩遇不替。 三十年七月，卒于京師，年六十九。 賻贈甚厚，命有司護其喪歸葬。
Duo was a man of steady character, cautious and discreet, never grasping or giving lightly. The emperor treated him as an old friend and once said, "From companion to subject, Duo has been with me more than thirty years. In all his dealings he never changes expression, and even when he breaks with someone he speaks no ill word." He also said, "Censor-in-chief Zhan Hui is stern and hates evil, so clerks cannot indulge their greed — yet slander fills the court. Tang Duo is steadfast and generous, yet they call him timid and useless. Hearts are not what they were in antiquity — can it really be so!" Later Hui was executed for a crime, yet Duo's favor at court never waned. He died in the capital in the seventh month of year 30, aged sixty-nine. Funeral gifts and posthumous honors were lavish, and he ordered the authorities to escort the coffin home for burial.
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沈溍，字尚賢，錢塘人。 與鐸同官兵部，以明敏稱。 帝嘗以勳臣子弟多骫法，撰《大誥》二十二篇，諭天下武臣，皆令誦習，使知儆惕。 已，又以諭戒八條，頒示將士。 時溍以試兵部侍郎掌部事，一切訓飭事宜，皆承旨行之。 尋進尚書。 廣西都司建譙樓、青州衛造軍器，皆擅科民財。 溍請凡都司衛所營作，必都督府奏准。 官給物料，毋擅役民。 違者治罪。 仍禁武臣預民事。 時干戈甫息，武臣暴橫，數扞文法，至是始戢，溍力也。 帝嘗諭致治之要在進賢、退不肖。 溍因言：「君子常少，小人常多，在上風厲之耳，賢者舉而不仁者遠矣。」 帝善其言。 二十三年，以溍與工部尚書秦逵換官，賜誥獎諭。 尋復舊任，後以事免。
Shen Yin (Shangxian) was a native of Qiantang. He served with Duo in the Ministry of War and was famed for clarity and quick judgment. Because sons of meritorious ministers so often bent the law, the emperor composed twenty-two chapters of the Great Admonitions to instruct military officers empire-wide, ordering them all to recite and study until they knew fear and restraint. He then issued eight further admonitions and promulgated them to officers and troops. Yin was then acting vice-minister of war in charge of the ministry, and every measure of discipline and instruction was carried out at the emperor's direction. He was soon promoted to minister. The Guangxi regional command built a watch-tower and Qingzhou guard forged arms, each levying civilian funds on its own authority. Yin proposed that any project by a guard or battalion must be approved by memorial through the regional command. Materials were to come from the state, and they must not press civilians into service without authority. Violators were to be punished. He also barred military officers from meddling in civil administration. The wars had only just ended; martial officers were brutal and often defied civil law. From this time they began to restrain themselves — largely through Yin's effort. The emperor once taught that good government depends on promoting the worthy and removing the unworthy. Yin replied, "Gentlemen are always few and petty men always many; what matters is the wind set at the top — raise the worthy and the unkind will keep their distance." The emperor approved his words. In year 23 he and Minister of Works Qin Kui exchanged posts, and both received edicts of commendation. He soon returned to his former post, but was later dismissed over an affair.
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明初，衛所世籍及軍卒勾補之法，皆溍所定。 然名目瑣細，簿籍煩多，吏易為奸。 終明之世頗為民患，而軍衛亦日益耗減。 語詳《兵志》。 潮州生陳質，父在戍籍。 父沒，質被勾補，請歸卒業。 帝命除其籍。 溍以缺軍伍，持不可。 帝曰：「國家得一卒易，得一士難。」 遂除之。 然此皆特恩雲。
Early in the dynasty, the hereditary registers of guards and battalions and the rules for replacing soldiers were all Yin's work. Yet the categories were minute and the ledgers endless, so clerks found it easy to cheat. Through the whole Ming period it plagued the people, while the guards and battalions themselves steadily dwindled. The subject is treated fully in the Military Treatise. Chen Zhi, a student from Chaozhou, had a father on the garrison rolls. When his father died, Zhi was called up to fill the slot and asked to go home and finish his degree. The emperor ordered his name struck from the rolls. Yin objected that the unit would be short a man and would not agree. The emperor said, "For the state to gain one soldier is easy; to gain one scholar is hard." The exemption was granted. But these were all special favors.
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開濟，字來學，洛陽人。 元末為察罕帖木兒掌書記。 洪武初，以明經舉。 授河南府訓導，入為國子助教。 以疾罷歸。 十五年七月，御史大夫安然薦濟有吏治才，召試刑部尚書，逾年實授。
Kai Ji (Laixue) was a native of Luoyang. At the end of the Yuan he served as secretary to Chaghan Temür. Early in Hongwu he was recommended for mastery of the classics. He was made instructor of Henan prefecture, then entered court as an assistant instructor at the Directorate of Education. Illness forced him to resign and return home. In the seventh month of year 15 Chief Censor An Ran recommended Ji for administrative talent; summoned to trial appointment as minister of punishments, he received the full post a year later.
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濟以綜核為己任，請天下諸司設文簿，日書所行事，課得失。 又各部勘合文移，立程限，定功罪。 又言，軍民以細故犯罪者，宜即決遣。 數月間，滯牘一清。 帝大以為能。 會都御史趙仁言，曩者以「賢良方正」、「孝弟力田」諸科所取士列置郡縣，多不舉職。 宜核其去留。 濟條議，以「經明行修」為一科、「工習文詞」為一科、「通曉書義」為一科、「人品俊秀」為一科、「練達治理」為一科、「言有條理」為一科。 六科備者為「上」； 三科以上為「中」； 不及三科者為「下」。 從之。
Ji made thorough audit his mission and required every office to keep a daily ledger of its actions, graded for success or failure. He set deadlines and rewards and penalties for inter-ministry correspondence bearing joint seals. He also urged that soldiers and civilians guilty of petty offenses be judged and disposed of on the spot. Within months the backlog was cleared. The emperor thought him highly capable. When censor-in-chief Zhao Ren reported that men chosen through the Worthy and Upright, Filial and Frugal, Diligent in Farming, and similar examinations and posted to prefectures and counties often failed in office. Their retention or dismissal should be reviewed. Ji drafted categories: Classics Clear and Conduct Cultivated; Skilled in Literary Composition; Thorough in Written Meaning; Character Outstanding; Seasoned in Governance; and Speech Orderly. Those who met all six were rated upper; three or more, middle; fewer than three, lower. The emperor approved.
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濟敏慧有才辯。 凡國家經制、田賦、獄訟、工役、河渠事，眾莫能裁定，濟一算畫，即有條理品式，可為世守。 以故帝甚信任，數備顧問，兼預他部事。 人以是忌之，謗議滋起。 然濟亦深刻，好以法中傷人。 嘗奉命定詐偽律。 濟議法巧密。 帝曰：：「張密網以羅民，可乎？」 又設籍曰「寅戌之書」，以程僚屬出入。 帝切責曰：「古人以卯酉為常。 今使趨事者朝寅暮戌。 奉父母，會妻子，幾何時耶！」 又為榜戒其僚屬，請揭文華殿。 帝曰：「告誡僚屬之言，欲張殿廷，豈人臣禮？」 濟慚謝。
Ji was quick-witted, clever, and sharp in debate. On institutions, land tax, lawsuits, labor service, and waterways — matters no one else could settle — a single calculation from Ji would yield clear rules and forms fit to last for generations. The emperor trusted him deeply, often kept him close for counsel, and had him weigh in on other ministries as well. Others resented him for it, and slander spread. Yet Ji was also harsh and loved to use the law to wound others. He was once ordered to draft the statutes on fraud. Ji's draft was artful and tight-meshed. The emperor said, "To stretch a tight net to catch the people — is that acceptable?" He also set up a register called the Book of Yin and Xu to time his subordinates' comings and goings. The emperor rebuked him sharply: "The ancients took mao and you as the norm. Now you make men who hurry affairs leave at yin in the morning and return at xu at night. When can they serve their parents or see their wives and children!" He also drafted a warning placard for his staff and asked to post it in the Wenhua Hall. The emperor said, "A minister's words of warning to his staff — and you want them hung in the palace hall? Is that proper for a subject?" Ji withdrew in shame.
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尋令郎中仇衍脫囚死，為獄官所發。 濟與侍郎王希哲、主事王叔徵執獄官，斃之。 其年十二月，御史陶垕仲等發其事，且言：「濟奏事時，置奏答刂懷中，或隱而不言，覘伺上意，務為兩端，奸狡莫測。 役甥女為婢。 妹早寡，逐其姑而略其家財。」 帝怒，下濟獄，並希哲、衍等皆棄市。
Soon he ordered Bureau Director Qiu Yan to let a prisoner escape to his death; a prison officer exposed it. Ji, Vice Minister Wang Xizhe, and Section Director Wang Shuzheng seized the officer and beat him to death. That twelfth month Censor Tao Houzhong and others exposed the affair and added, "When Ji reported to the throne he kept memorial slips in his bosom, or held back what he knew, watching the emperor's mood and playing both sides — crafty beyond reckoning. He forced his niece to serve as a maid. His sister was widowed young; he drove out her mother-in-law and seized the family property." The emperor was furious, threw Ji into prison, and Xizhe, Yan, and the rest were executed in the market.
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贊曰：六部之制仿于《周官》，所以佐王理邦國，熙庶績，任至重也。 明興，建官分職，立法秩然。 又三途用人，求賢彌廣。 若陳修、滕毅之典銓法，楊思義、範敏之治賦役，周禎之定律令，單安仁之領將作，以至沈溍、開濟輩之所經畫，皆委曲詳備，細大不遺。 考其規模，固一代政治之權輿者歟。
The appraisal says: The Six Ministries were modeled on the Offices of Zhou to help the ruler govern the realm and brighten the people's achievements — a charge of the utmost weight. When Ming rose, offices were founded, duties divided, and laws set in clear order. Three paths of recruitment widened the search for talent still further. From Chen Xiu and Teng Yi directing selection, Yang Siyi and Fan Min administering tax and corvée, Zhou Zhen fixing statutes, and Dan Anren heading the Directorate of Works, down to the schemes of Shen Yin, Kai Ji, and their peers — all were thorough in every twist, omitting nothing great or small. Measured by their scope, they were indeed the foundation of that generation's government.