Volume 139 Biographies 27: Qian Tang, Han Yike, Xiao Qi, Feng Jian, Ru Taisu, Li Shilu, Ye Boju, Zheng Shili, Zhou Jingxin, Wang Pu, Zhang Heng

錢唐〈（程徐）〉韓宜可〈（周觀政歐陽韶）〉蕭岐〈（門克新）〉馮堅茹太素〈（曾秉正）〉李仕魯〈（陳汶輝）〉葉伯巨鄭士利〈（方徵）〉周敬心王樸

Qian Tang (Cheng Xu)〉 Han Yike (Zhou Guanzheng and Ouyang Shao)〉 Xiao Qi (Men Kexin)〉 Feng Jian; Ru Taisu (Zeng Bingzheng)〉 Li Shilu (Chen Wenhui)〉 Ye Boju; Zheng Shili (Fang Zheng)〉 Zhou Jingxin; Wang Pu

錢唐，字惟明，象山人。博學敦行。洪武元年，舉明經。對策稱旨，特授刑部尚書。二年詔孔廟春秋釋奠，止行於曲阜，天下不必通祀。唐伏闕上疏言：「孔子垂教萬世，天下共尊其教，故天下得通祀孔子，報本之禮不可廢。」侍郎程徐亦疏言：「古今祀典，獨社稷、三皇與孔子通祀。天下民非社稷、三皇則無以生，非孔子之道則無以立。堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武、周公，皆聖人也。然發揮三綱五常之道，載之於經，儀範百王，師表萬世，使世愈降而人極不墜者，孔子力也。孔子以道設教，天下祀之，非祀其人，祀其教也，祀其道也。今使天下之人，讀其書，由其教，行其道，而不得舉其祀，非所以維人心、扶世教也。」皆不聽。久之，乃用其言。帝嘗覽《孟子》，至「草芥」「寇仇」語，謂：「非臣子所宜言」，議罷其配享。詔：「有諫者以大不敬論。」唐抗疏入諫曰：「臣為孟軻死，死有余榮。」時廷臣無不為唐危。帝鑒其誠懇，不之罪。孟子配享亦旋復。然卒命儒臣修《孟子節文》雲。

Qian Tang, courtesy name Weiming, was a native of Xiangshan. He was broadly learned and earnest in conduct. In Hongwu 1 (1368), he was recommended on the classics examination. His policy responses pleased the emperor, and he was specially appointed Minister of Justice. In the second year an edict on the spring and autumn sacrifices at Confucian temples ruled that they were to be held only at Qufu and need not be observed empire-wide. Tang prostrated himself at the palace gate and submitted a memorial saying, "Confucius handed down teaching for ten thousand generations, and the empire jointly honors his teaching; therefore the empire may jointly sacrifice to Confucius, and the ritual of repaying the root must not be abolished." Vice Minister Cheng Xu also submitted a memorial saying, "In sacrificial canons ancient and modern, only the altars of soil and grain, the Three Sovereigns, and Confucius receive sacrifices throughout the realm. The people of the empire, without the altars of soil and grain and the Three Sovereigns, have no means to live; without the Way of Confucius, have no means to stand upright. Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, King Wen, King Wu, and the Duke of Zhou were all sages. Yet it was through Confucius's power that the Way of the Three Bonds and Five Constants was brought forth, recorded in the classics, made the model for a hundred kings and the teacher for ten thousand generations, and the human pole kept from falling though the age grew ever lower. Confucius established teaching through the Way; the empire sacrifices to him—not to the man, but to his teaching, to his Way. Now to make the people of the empire read his books, follow his teaching, and practice his Way, yet not allow them to perform his sacrifice—this is not how to sustain people's hearts and uphold the teaching of the age." Both memorials went unheeded. After a long time, the court adopted their advice. The emperor once read the Mencius and, coming to the passages on treating tyrants like "grass and stubble" or "foe and enemy," said, "These are not words a subject should speak," and deliberated removing Mencius from shared sacrifice. An edict stated, "Whoever remonstrates shall be judged for great irreverence." Tang submitted a defiant memorial remonstrating, "Your servant would die for Mencius and still have glory to spare." At the time every court official feared for Tang's life. The emperor perceived his sincerity and did not punish him. Mencius's place in shared sacrifice was also soon restored. Yet in the end he ordered Confucian officials to compile the Excerpts from the Mencius.

唐為人強直。嘗詔講《虞書》，唐陛立而講。或糾唐草野不知君臣禮，唐正色曰：「以古聖帝之道陳於陛下，不跪不為倨。」又嘗諫宮中不宜揭武後圖。忤旨，待罪午門外竟日。帝意解，賜之食，即命撤圖。未幾，謫壽州，卒。

Tang was forceful and upright by nature. Once the emperor ordered lectures on the Documents of Yu; Tang lectured while standing on the palace steps. Some impeached Tang as a rustic ignorant of the rites between ruler and subject; Tang said sternly, "To set forth before Your Majesty the Way of the ancient sage emperors—not to kneel is not arrogance." He also once remonstrated that it was improper to display in the palace a portrait of Empress Wu. Having offended the emperor, he awaited punishment outside the Meridian Gate for a whole day. The emperor relented, gave him food, and at once ordered the portrait removed. Before long he was demoted to Shouzhou, where he died.

程徐，字仲能，鄞人。元名儒端學子也。至正中，以明《春秋》知名。歷官兵部尚書，致仕。明兵入元都，妻金抱二歲兒與女瓊赴井死。洪武二年，偕危素等自北平至京。授刑部侍郎，進尚書，卒。徐精勤通敏，工詩文，有集傳於世。

Cheng Xu, courtesy name Zhongneng, was a native of Yin. He was the son of the Yuan-dynasty Confucian master Duan Xue. During the Zhizheng era he became renowned for his mastery of the Spring and Autumn Annals. He served as Minister of War and then retired from office. When Ming troops entered the Yuan capital, his wife Jin, holding their two-year-old son and daughter Qiong, threw themselves into a well and died. In Hongwu 2 (1369), together with Wei Su and others, he came from Beiping to the capital. He was appointed Vice Minister of Justice, promoted to Minister, and died in office. Xu was diligent, penetrating, and quick-witted; skilled in poetry and prose, he left a collected works that circulated after his death.

韓宜可，字伯時，浙江山陰人。元至正中，行御史臺辟為掾，不就。洪武初，薦授山陰教諭，轉楚府錄事。尋擢監察御史，彈劾不避權貴。時丞相胡惟庸、御史大夫陳寧、中丞塗節方有寵於帝，嘗侍坐，從容燕語。宜可直前，出懷中彈文，劾三人險惡似忠，奸佞似直，恃功怙寵，內懷反側，擢置臺端，擅作威福，乞斬其首以謝天下。帝怒曰：「快口御史，敢排陷大臣耶！」命下錦衣衛獄，尋釋之。

Han Yike, courtesy name Boshi, was a native of Shanyin in Zhejiang. During the Yuan Zhizheng era the Branch Censorate recruited him as a clerk; he declined. Early in Hongwu, on recommendation he was appointed instructor at Shanyin and then transferred to recorder of the Chu princedom. Soon he was promoted to investigating censor and impeached without shunning the powerful. At the time Chancellor Hu Weiyong, Censor-in-Chief Chen Ning, and Vice Censor-in-Chief Tu Jie enjoyed the emperor's favor; once, as they attended seated, they conversed at ease. Yike stepped forward, drew an impeachment memorial from his robe, and charged the three with being treacherous yet seeming loyal, wicked yet seeming upright, relying on merit and clinging to favor, harboring rebellion within, raised to the censorate and arrogating authority, begging that their heads be cut off to answer the empire. The emperor said angrily, "Sharp-tongued censor—dare you slander and entrap great ministers!" He ordered him cast into the Brocade-Clad Guard prison, but soon released him.

九年出為陜西按察司僉事。時官吏有罪者，笞以上悉謫屯鳳陽，至萬數。宜可疏，爭之曰：「刑以禁淫慝，一民軌，宜論其情之輕重，事之公私，罪之大小。今悉令謫屯，此小人之幸，君子殆矣。乞分別，以協眾心。」帝可之。已，入朝京師。會賜諸司沒官男女，宜可獨不受。且極論：「罪人不孥，古之制也。有事隨坐，法之濫也。況男女，人之大倫，婚姻逾時，尚傷和氣。合門連坐，豈聖朝所宜！」帝是其言。後坐事將刑，禦謹身殿親鞫之，獲免。復疏，陳二十余事，皆報可。未幾，罷歸。已，復征至。命撰祀鐘山、大江文；諭日本、征烏蠻詔，皆稱旨，特授山西右布政使。尋以事安置雲南。惠帝即位，用檢討陳性善薦，起雲南參政，入拜左副都御史，卒於官。是夜大星隕，櫪馬皆驚嘶，人謂：「宜可當之」雲。

In the ninth year he was posted as Assistant Administration Commissioner of the Shaanxi Surveillance Commission. At the time officials and clerks guilty of offenses punishable by beating or more were all banished to labor at Fengyang, reaching tens of thousands. Yike submitted a memorial contending, "Punishment is to restrain excess and wickedness and unify the people's standards; one should weigh the lightness or heaviness of the circumstances, the public or private nature of the matter, and the greatness or smallness of the crime. Now to order all banished to labor—this is the petty man's good fortune and the gentleman's peril. I beg that distinctions be made to harmonize popular sentiment." The emperor approved it. Later he entered the capital for audience. It happened that male and female persons from confiscated official households were bestowed on the various offices; Yike alone refused to accept any. Moreover he argued at length, "Not extending punishment to the criminal's family was the ancient regulation. To punish associates because of involvement in a case is an abuse of law. Moreover, male and female relations are the great bond of humanity; when marriage passes its season, even that harms social harmony. Punishing whole households by association—how can this befit a sage dynasty!" The emperor approved his words. Later, when he was implicated in a matter and faced punishment, the emperor personally tried him in the Hall of Cultivating the Person and he was spared. He again submitted a memorial setting forth more than twenty matters; all received approval. Before long he was dismissed and returned home. Later he was summoned again. He was ordered to compose texts for sacrifices at Zhongshan and the Great River; edicts instructing Japan and campaigning against Wuman—all pleased the emperor, and he was specially appointed Right Administration Commissioner of Shanxi. Soon, because of a matter, he was placed in Yunnan. When Emperor Hui acceded, on Compiler Chen Xingshan's recommendation he was raised as Administration Commissioner of Yunnan, entered the capital to receive appointment as Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, and died in office. That night a great star fell, and stable horses all startled and neighed; people said it portended Yike.

帝之建御史臺也，諸御史以敢言著者，自宜可外，則稱周觀政。

When the emperor established the Censorate, among the censors renowned for daring speech, apart from Yike, Zhou Guanzheng was named.

觀政亦山陰人。以薦授九江教授，擢監察御史。嘗監奉天門。有中使將女樂入，觀政止之。中使曰：「有命」，觀政執不聽。中使慍而入，頃之出報曰：「御史且休，女樂已罷不用。」觀政又拒曰：「必面奉詔。」已而帝親出宮，謂之曰：「宮中音樂廢缺，欲使內家肄習耳。朕已悔之，御史言是也。」左右無不驚異者。觀政累官江西按察使。

Guanzheng was also from Shanyin. On recommendation he was appointed instructor at Jiujiang and then promoted to investigating censor. Once he supervised at the Gate of Revering Heaven. A eunuch was about to bring female musicians inside; Guanzheng stopped him. The eunuch said, "There is an order"; Guanzheng held firm and would not yield. The eunuch entered angrily; shortly he came out and reported, "Censor, rest yourself—the female musicians have already been dismissed and will not be used." Guanzheng again refused, saying, "I must receive the edict face to face." Before long the emperor came out of the palace in person and said to him, "Palace music had fallen into disuse; I merely wished the inner household to practice it. I have already repented; the censor's words are right." Those present were all startled and amazed. Guanzheng rose through offices to Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi.

前觀政者，有歐陽韶，字子韶，永新人。薦授監察御史。有詔：日命兩御史侍班。韶嘗侍直，帝乘怒將戮人。他御史不敢言，韶趨跪殿廷下，倉卒不能措詞，急捧手加額，呼曰：「陛下不可！」帝察韶樸誠，從之。未幾，致仕，卒於家。

Before Guanzheng there was Ouyang Shao, courtesy name Zishao, a native of Yongxin. On recommendation he was appointed investigating censor. There was an edict that each day two censors were to attend in attendance. Shao once attended on duty when the emperor, in anger, was about to execute someone. The other censors dared not speak; Shao hurried forward and knelt below the palace hall. Unable to find words in his haste, he clasped his hands to his forehead and cried, "Your Majesty, you must not!" The emperor perceived Shao's plain sincerity and yielded. Before long he retired and died at home.

蕭岐，字尚仁，泰和人。五歲而孤，事祖父母以孝聞。有司屢舉不赴。洪武十七年，詔征賢良，強起之。上十便書，大意謂：帝刑罰過中，訐告風熾。請禁止實封以杜誣罔；依律科獄以信詔令。凡萬余言。召見，授潭王府長史。力辭，忤旨，謫雲南楚雄訓導。岐即日行，遣騎追還。歲餘，改授陜西平涼。再歲致仕。復召與錢宰等考定《書》傳。賜幣鈔，給驛歸。嘗輯《五經要義》；又取《刑統八韻賦》，引律令為之解，合為一集。嘗曰：「天下之理本一，出乎道必入乎刑。吾合二書，使觀者有所省也。」學者稱「正固先生」。

Xiao Qi, courtesy name Shangren, was a native of Taihe. Orphaned at five, he served his grandparents and became known for filial devotion. The authorities repeatedly recommended him, but he declined to serve. In Hongwu 17 (1384) an edict summoned the worthy; he was forcibly raised to office. He submitted a memorial on ten reforms; its gist was that the emperor's punishments were excessive and the culture of accusation ran rampant. He asked that sealed denunciations be forbidden to stop false charges; and that cases be judged according to law to give credence to edicts. In all it ran to more than ten thousand words. Summoned for audience, he was appointed Chief Administrator of the Tan princedom. He strenuously declined, offended the emperor, and was demoted to Instructor at Chuxiong in Yunnan. Qi set out that very day; mounted messengers were sent to bring him back. After more than a year he was reassigned to Pingliang in Shaanxi. Two years later he retired. He was again summoned, and with Qian Zai and others examined and fixed the transmitted text of the 《Documents》. He was granted silk and paper money and given post-horses for his return. He once compiled the Essentials of the Five Classics; and also took the Eight-Rhyme Rhapsody on the Penal Code, citing statutes and ordinances to explain it, and combined them into one collection. He once said, "The principle of the empire is fundamentally one: what issues from the Way must enter into punishment. I join the two books so that readers may gain insight." Scholars called him Master Zhenggu.

當是時，太祖治尚剛嚴，中外凜凜，奉法救過不給。而岐所上書過切直，帝不為忤。厥後以言被超擢者，有門克新。

At that time Taizu governed with stern severity; within and without the court all stood in awe, and keeping the law and remedying faults left no surplus of effort. Yet Qi's memorial was excessively blunt and direct, and the emperor was not offended. Afterward, among those raised and promoted for their words was Men Kexin.

克新，鞏昌人。泰州教諭也。二十六年，秩滿來朝。召問經史及政治得失。克新直言無隱。授贊善。時紹興王俊華以善文辭，亦授是職。上諭吏部曰：「左克新，右俊華，重直言也。」初，教官給由至京，帝詢民疾苦。岢嵐吳從權、山陰張桓皆言：「臣職在訓士，民事無所與。」帝怒曰：「宋胡瑗為蘇、湖教授，其教兼經義治事；漢賈誼、董仲舒皆起田裏，敷陳時務；唐馬周不得親見太宗，且教武臣言事。今既集朝堂，朕親詢問，俱無以對，誌聖賢之道者固如是乎！」命竄之邊方。且榜諭天下學校，使為鑒戒。至是克新以亮直見重。不數年，擢禮部尚書。尋引疾，命太醫給藥物，不輟其奉。及卒，命有司護喪歸葬。

Kexin was a native of Gongchang. He was an instructor at Taizhou. In the twenty-sixth year, when his term was complete, he came to court. He was summoned and questioned on the classics, histories, and the gains and losses of government. Kexin spoke frankly without concealment. He was appointed Instructor to the Heir Apparent. At the time Wang Junhua of Shaoxing, skilled in literary composition, was also given this post. The emperor instructed the Ministry of Personnel, "Kexin on the left, Junhua on the right—I value straight speech." Earlier, when instructors brought their credentials to the capital, the emperor inquired into the people's hardships. Wu Congquan of Kelan and Zhang Huan of Shanyin both said, "Your servant's duty is to instruct scholars; civil affairs are not our concern." The emperor said angrily, "In Song, Hu Yuan as professor at Suzhou and Huzhou taught both classical meaning and practical administration; in Han, Jia Yi and Dong Zhongshu both rose from the fields and set forth the affairs of the age; in Tang, Ma Zhou, though he could not see Taizong in person, still taught military officials to speak on affairs of state. Now that you are gathered in court and I personally inquire, you all have nothing to answer—is this how those who record the Way of sages and worthies behave!" He ordered them banished to the frontier. Moreover he posted notices to schools throughout the realm to take this as a warning. By this time Kexin was esteemed for his bright integrity. Within a few years he was promoted to Minister of Rites. Soon he pleaded illness; the emperor ordered the imperial physicians to supply medicine and did not cut off his salary. When he died, he ordered the relevant offices to escort the coffin home for burial.

馮堅，不知何許人，為南豐典史。洪武二十四年上書言九事：「一曰養聖躬。請清心省事，不與細務，以為民社之福。二曰擇老成。諸王年方壯盛，左右輔導。願擇取老成之臣出為王官，使得直言正色，以圖匡救。三曰攘要荒。請務農講武，屯戍邊圉，以備不虞。四曰勵有司。請得廉正有守之士，任以方面。旌別屬吏，具實以聞而黜陟之。使人勇於自治。五曰褒祀典。請敕有司采歷代忠烈諸臣，追加封謚，俾末俗有所興勸。六曰省宦寺。晨夕密邇，其言易入，養成禍患而不自知。請裁去冗員，可杜異日陵替之弊。七曰易邊將。假以兵柄，久在邊圉，多致縱佚。請時遷歲調，不使久居其任。不惟保全勛臣，實可防將驕卒惰、內輕外重之漸。八曰訪吏治。廉幹之才，或為上官所忌，僚吏所嫉。上不加察，非激勸之道。請廣布耳目，訪察廉貪，以明黜陟。九曰增關防。諸司以帖委胥吏，俾督所部，輒加箠楚，害及於民。請增置勘合以付諸司，聽其填寫差遣，事訖繳報，庶所司不輕發以病民，而庶務亦不致曠廢。」書奏，帝嘉之，稱其知時務，達事變。又謂侍臣曰：「堅言惟調易邊將則未然。邊將數易，則兵力勇怯。敵情出沒，出川形勝，無以備知。倘得趙充國、班超者，又何取數易為哉！」乃命吏部擢堅左僉都御史，在院頗持大體。其明年，卒於任。

Feng Jian—of unknown origin—served as clerk of Nanfeng. In Hongwu 24 (1391) he submitted a memorial on nine matters: "First, nurturing the sage person. I ask that Your Majesty clear the mind and reduce affairs, not engaging in petty matters, for the blessing of the people's altars. Second, selecting the mature and steady. The princes are in their vigorous prime and need guidance at their sides. I wish that mature and steady ministers be chosen and sent out as princely officials, enabling them to speak straight and show a stern countenance, so as to seek correction and rescue. Third, securing the vital frontier regions. I ask that agriculture be stressed and arms practiced, with garrison farming on the border marches to guard against the unforeseen. Fourth, encouraging the responsible officials. I ask that upright and principled men be obtained and entrusted with regional command. Commend and distinguish subordinate clerks, report the facts, and promote or demote accordingly. This will make men bold in governing themselves. Fifth, honoring the sacrificial canon. I ask that the relevant offices be ordered to gather loyal and heroic ministers of successive ages, add posthumous titles and enfeoffments, so that the degenerate age may have something to stir and encourage it. Sixth, reducing palace eunuchs. Morning and evening they are close at hand; their words easily enter, and calamity is nurtured without one's knowing it. I ask that redundant posts be cut away, which can stop the abuse of usurpation in days to come. Seventh, rotating border generals. Entrusted with military authority and long on the border marches, they often grow indulgent and lax. I ask that they be transferred at intervals and rotated yearly, not allowed to remain long in one post. This would not only preserve meritorious ministers but truly guard against arrogant generals and lazy soldiers, and against the inner court growing weak while the frontier grows strong. Eighth, inquiring into officials' governance. Men of integrity and capacity may be envied by superiors and resented by colleagues. If the throne does not investigate, this is not the way to stir and encourage merit. I ask that ears and eyes be broadly deployed, integrity and greed investigated, and promotion and demotion made clear. Ninth, increasing checkpoints and controls. The various offices entrust notes to clerks, who supervise their jurisdictions and at once add beating with the cudgel, harm reaching the people. I ask that verification tallies be added and given to the offices, allowing them to fill in assignments; when matters end they are returned and reported—then the offices will not lightly issue orders to harm the people, yet routine affairs will not fall into neglect." When the memorial was submitted, the emperor praised it, saying he understood the affairs of the age and grasped changes in circumstances. He also said to attending ministers, "Of Jian's words, only the proposal to rotate border generals is not yet so. If border generals are frequently changed, military strength grows uneven. Enemy movements, mountain passes and strategic terrain—none can be fully known. If one could obtain men like Zhao Chongguo or Ban Chao, why take frequent rotation!" He then ordered the Ministry of Personnel to promote Jian to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief; in the Censorate he largely upheld broad principle. The next year he died in office.

茹太素，澤州人。洪武三年，鄉舉，上書稱旨，授監察御史。六年擢四川按察使，以平允稱。七年五月召為刑部侍郎，上言：「自中書省內外百司，聽御史、按察使檢舉。而御史臺未有定考，宜令守院御史一體察核。磨勘司官吏數少，難以檢核天下錢糧，請增置若干員，各分為科。在外省衛，凡會議軍民事，各不相合，致稽延。請用按察司一員糾正。」帝皆從之。明年，坐累降刑部主事。陳時務累萬言，太祖令中書郎王敏誦而聽之。中言：「才能之士，數年來幸存者百無一二，今所任率迂儒俗吏。」言多忤觸。帝怒，召太素面詰，杖於朝。次夕，復於宮中令人誦之，得其可行者四事。慨然曰：「為君難，為臣不易。朕所以求直言，欲其切於情事。文詞太多，便至熒聽。太素所陳，五百余言可盡耳。」因令中書定奏對式，俾陳得失者無繁文。摘太素疏中可行者下所司，帝自序其首，頒示中外。

Ru Taisu was a native of Zezhou. In Hongwu 3 (1370) he passed the provincial examination; his submitted memorial pleased the emperor, and he was appointed investigating censor. In the sixth year he was promoted to Surveillance Commissioner of Sichuan and was known for fairness. In the fifth month of the seventh year he was summoned as Vice Minister of Justice and submitted a memorial: "From the Secretariat of State down through all inner and outer offices, let censors and surveillance commissioners investigate and report. Yet the Censorate has no fixed evaluation; the resident censors should be ordered to inspect and verify as one body. The clerks of the Scrutiny Office are few in number and can hardly audit the realm's money and grain; I ask that several posts be added, each divided into sections. In outer provinces and guards, whenever military and civil affairs are jointly discussed, the parties do not agree, causing delay. I ask that one member of the Surveillance Commission be used to correct this." The emperor approved all of it. The next year, implicated in a case, he was demoted to Registrar of the Ministry of Justice. He set forth affairs of the age in tens of thousands of words; Taizu ordered Secretariat Attendant Wang Min to read it aloud while he listened. In the middle he said, "Men of talent—in recent years scarcely one or two in a hundred have survived; those now appointed are mostly pedantic Confucians and vulgar clerks." His words mostly gave offense. The emperor was angry, summoned Taisu to face questioning, and had him beaten at court. The next evening, again in the palace he had someone read it and found four matters that could be carried out. He said with emotion, "To be ruler is hard; to be minister is not easy. That is why I seek straight speech—I want it to cut close to real circumstances. Too many literary words, and it reaches the point of confusing the listener. What Taisu had to say could be said completely in five hundred-odd words." He then ordered the Secretariat to establish a format for memorial responses, so that those reporting what worked and what failed would not pad their submissions with ornate language. He picked out the feasible proposals from Taisu's memorial and sent them to the relevant offices; the emperor wrote a preface himself and issued the document throughout the court and the realm.

十年，與同官曾秉正先後同出為參政，而太素往浙江。尋以侍親賜還裏。十六年召為刑部試郎中。居一月，遷都察院僉都御史。復降翰林院檢討。十八年九月擢戶部尚書。

In the tenth year, he and his colleague Zeng Bingzheng were both sent out as provincial administrators in turn, while Taisu was posted to Zhejiang. Before long he was granted leave to go home and care for his parents. In the sixteenth year he was recalled to serve as a probationary bureau director in the Ministry of Justice. After a month he was transferred to vice censor-in-chief of the Censorate. He was demoted again, this time to compiler in the Hanlin Academy. In the ninth month of the eighteenth year he was promoted to minister of revenue.

太素抗直不屈，屢瀕於罪，帝時宥之。一日，宴便殿，賜之酒曰：「金杯同汝飲，白刃不相饒。」太素叩首，即續韻對曰：「丹誠圖報國，不避聖心焦。」帝為惻然。未幾，謫御史，復坐排陷詹徽，與同官十二人俱鐐足治事。後竟坐法死。

Taisu was upright and unyielding, repeatedly on the verge of punishment, yet the emperor often spared him. One day, at a banquet in the informal hall, the emperor gave him wine and said, "We may share the golden cup, but the naked blade shows no mercy." Taisu kowtowed and immediately answered in matching verse: "With loyal devotion I seek to serve the state, not shrinking from Your Majesty's troubled heart." The emperor was deeply moved. Before long he was demoted to censor. He was convicted again of framing Zhan Hui, and he and twelve colleagues all had to conduct their duties in leg irons. In the end he was put to death under the law.

曾秉正，南昌人。洪武初，薦授海州學正。九年，以天變詔群臣言事。秉正上疏數千言，大略曰：「古之聖君不以天無災異為喜，惟以祗懼天譴為心。陛下聖文神武，統一天下，天之付與，可謂盛矣。兵動二十余年，始得休息。天之有心於太平亦已久矣；民之思治亦切矣。創業與守成之政，大抵不同。開創之初，則行富國強兵之術，用趨事赴功之人。大統既立，邦勢已固。則普天之下，水土所生，人力所成，皆邦家倉庫之積；乳哺之童，垂白之叟，皆邦家休養之人。不患不富庶，惟保成業於永久為難耳。於此之時，當盡革向之所為，何者足應天心，何者足慰民望，感應之理，其效甚速。」又言天既有警，則變不虛生。極論《大易》、《春秋》之旨。帝嘉之，召為思文監丞。未幾，改刑部主事。十年擢陜西參政。會初置通政司，即以秉正為使。在位數言事，帝頗優容之。尋竟以忤旨罷。貧不能歸，鬻其四歲女。帝聞大怒，置腐刑，不知所終。

Zeng Bingzheng was from Nanchang. At the start of the Hongwu reign he was recommended and appointed instructor at Haizhou. In the ninth year, after a celestial anomaly, an edict called on the ministers to speak their minds. Bingzheng submitted a memorial several thousand words long, which in essence said, "The sage rulers of old did not rejoice when Heaven sent no omens of disaster; they lived in reverent fear of Heaven's rebuke. Your Majesty is sage in learning and mighty in arms, and you have unified the realm; Heaven's gift to you could hardly be greater. For more than twenty years war raged; only now has the realm found rest. Heaven has long desired peace for the realm; and the people long for good government with equal urgency. The policies needed to build a dynasty and those needed to preserve one are, in general, not the same. At the founding stage, one pursues policies to enrich the state and strengthen the army and appoints men who drive hard at tasks and deliver results. Once the dynasty is firmly established, the state's position is secure. Then everything under Heaven, whether produced by land and water or completed by human labor, belongs to the state's stores; from nursing infants to white-haired elders—all are people the state is bound to nurture and protect. There is no need to fear poverty or depopulation; the hard part is preserving what has been achieved for the long term. At such a moment the court should thoroughly revise past practices, asking what will answer Heaven's intent and satisfy the people's hopes; the principle of moral resonance works quickly." He also argued that since Heaven had already sent a warning, the omen was not meaningless. He expounded at length on the meaning of the 《Great Changes》 and the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》. The emperor commended him and summoned him to serve as supervisor of the Siwen Directorate. Before long he was transferred to registrar in the Ministry of Justice. In the tenth year he was promoted to administrative commissioner of Shaanxi. When the Office of Transmission was first created, Bingzheng was immediately appointed its commissioner. While in office he repeatedly remonstrated, and the emperor was fairly indulgent toward him. Before long he was dismissed for going against the emperor's wishes. Too poor to make the journey home, he sold his four-year-old daughter. When the emperor heard of this he was furious and had him castrated; what became of him afterward is unknown.

李仕魯，字宗孔，濮人。少穎敏篤學，足不窺戶外者三年。聞鄱陽朱公遷得宋朱熹之傳，往從之遊，盡受其學。太祖故知仕魯名，洪武中，詔求能為朱氏學者，有司舉仕魯。入見，太祖喜曰：「吾求子久，何相見晚也！」除黃州同知。曰：「朕姑以民事試子，行召子矣。」期年，治行聞。十四年，命為大理寺卿。

Li Shilu, styled Zongkong, was a native of Pu. As a youth he was bright and diligent in study; for three years he never once stepped outside his door. Learning that Zhu Gongqian of Poyang had inherited the teaching of the Song master Zhu Xi, he went to study with him and mastered his doctrine in full. Taizu had long known Shilu by reputation. During Hongwu an edict called for scholars versed in the Zhu school, and the local authorities recommended Shilu. When he was received in audience, Taizu said with delight, "I have been looking for you for a long time—why have we met so late!" He was appointed vice prefect of Huangzhou. He said, "For now I shall test you in civil administration; I shall summon you before long." After a year his record of governance became widely known. In the fourteenth year he was appointed chief judge of the Court of Judicial Review.

帝自踐阼後，頗好釋氏教。詔征東南戒德僧，數建法會於蔣山。應對稱旨者輒賜金礻闌袈裟衣，召入禁中，賜坐與講論。吳印、華克勤之屬，皆拔擢至大官，時時寄以耳目。由是其徒橫甚，讒毀大臣。舉朝莫敢言，惟仕魯與給事中陳汶輝相繼爭之。汶輝疏言：「古帝王以來，未聞縉紳緇流，雜居同事，可以相濟者也。今勛舊耆德鹹思辭祿去位，而緇流憸夫乃益以讒間。如劉基、徐達之見猜，李善長、周德興之被謗，視蕭何、韓信，其危疑相去幾何哉？伏望陛下於股肱心膂，悉取德行文章之彥，則太平可立致矣。」帝不聽。諸僧怙寵者，遂請為釋氏創立職官。於是以先所置善世院為僧錄司。設左、右善世、左、右闡教、左、右講經覺義等官，皆高其品秩。道教亦然。度僧尼道士至逾數萬。仕魯疏言：「陛下方創業，凡意指所向，即示子孫萬世法程，奈何舍聖學而崇異端乎！」章數十上，亦不聽。

After taking the throne, the emperor became quite devoted to Buddhism. Edicts summoned eminent monks from the southeast, and Buddhist assemblies were repeatedly held on Mount Zhong. Those whose answers pleased him were immediately given golden brocade kasaya robes, summoned into the inner palace, seated beside him, and invited to discourse with him. Men such as Wu Yin and Hua Keqin were all promoted to high office and from time to time used as the emperor's eyes and ears. As a result their followers grew brazen, slandering senior ministers. No one in court dared speak out; only Shilu and supervising secretary Chen Wenhui protested in succession. Wenhui memorialized, saying, "Since antiquity there has never been a case in which court officials and Buddhist clergy mixed together in the same offices and managed to assist one another. Today meritorious elders and venerable statesmen all wish to resign their stipends and leave office, while scheming monks only spread slander more freely. Consider how Liu Ji came under suspicion, Xu Da was distrusted, and Li Shanchang and Zhou Dexing were slandered—compared with Xiao He and Han Xin, how much difference is there in the danger and distrust they faced? I humbly beg Your Majesty, in choosing the men closest to you, to appoint only those outstanding in virtue, conduct, and learning—then peace can be achieved at once." The emperor refused to listen. The monks who enjoyed imperial favor then asked that official posts be created for the Buddhist clergy. Accordingly the previously established Shishi Bureau was converted into the Monastic Registry. Posts such as left and right shishi, left and right expositors of doctrine, and left and right lecturers on scripture and awakeners to meaning were created, all with elevated rank. The same was done for Daoism. The number of ordained Buddhist monks and nuns and Daoist priests rose to more than tens of thousands. Shilu memorialized, saying, "Your Majesty is still in the founding stage of the dynasty; every intention you set becomes a model for countless generations—how can you abandon sage learning and elevate heterodox teachings!" He submitted memorial after memorial, but the emperor still would not listen.

仕魯性剛介，由儒術起，方欲推明朱氏學，以辟佛自任。及言不見用，遽請於帝前，曰：「陛下深溺其教，無惑乎臣言之不入也！還陛下笏，乞賜骸骨歸田裏。」遂置笏於地。帝大怒，命武士捽搏之，立死階下。

Shilu was by nature stern and uncompromising. Having risen through Confucian learning, he was then seeking to promote the Zhu school and took it upon himself to oppose Buddhism. When his advice went unheeded, he suddenly addressed the emperor directly, saying, "Your Majesty is deeply immersed in that faith—no wonder my words fail to reach you! I return Your Majesty's tablet and beg permission to retire to my home." With that he set his court tablet on the ground. The emperor was furious and ordered guards to seize and beat him; he died instantly at the foot of the steps.

陳汶輝，字耿光，詔安人。以薦授禮科給事中，累官至大理寺少卿。數言得失，皆切直。最後忤旨，懼罪，投金水橋下死。

Chen Wenhui, styled Gengguang, was a native of Zhao'an. Recommended for office, he was appointed supervising secretary in the Office of Rites and eventually rose to vice chief judge of the Court of Judicial Review. He repeatedly spoke on policy, always with blunt candor. In the end he offended the emperor; fearing punishment, he drowned himself beneath the Jinshui Bridge.

仕魯與汶輝死數歲，帝漸知諸僧所為多不法，有詔清理釋道二教雲。

Several years after Shilu and Wenhui died, the emperor gradually realized that the monks' conduct was largely unlawful, and an edict was issued to purge Buddhism and Daoism—or so it is said.

葉伯巨，字居升，寧海人。通經術。以國子生授平遙訓導。洪武九年星變，詔求直言。伯巨上書，略曰：

Ye Boju, styled Jusheng, was a native of Ninghai. He was well versed in the classics. As a student of the National University he was appointed instructor at Pingyao. In the ninth year of Hongwu a stellar anomaly occurred, and an edict called for blunt counsel. Boju submitted a memorial, which in summary said:

臣觀當今之事，太過者三：分封太侈也，用刑太繁也，求治太速也。

I observe three excesses in present policy: enfeoffment is too lavish, punishments are too frequent, and the pursuit of order is too hurried.

先王之制，大都不過三國之一，上下等差，各有定分，所以強幹弱枝，遏亂源而崇治本耳。今裂土分封，使諸王各有分地，蓋懲宋、元孤立，宗室不競之弊。而秦、晉、燕、齊、梁、楚、吳、蜀諸國，無不連邑數十。城郭宮室亞於天子之都，優之以甲兵衛士之盛。臣恐數世之後，尾大不掉，然後削其地而奪之權，則必生觖望。甚者緣間而起，防之無及矣。議者曰：『諸王皆天子骨肉，分地雖廣，立法雖侈，豈有抗衡之理？』臣竊以為不然。何不觀於漢、晉之事乎？孝景，高帝之孫也；七國諸王，皆景帝之同祖父兄弟子孫也。一削其地，則遽構兵西向。晉之諸王，皆武帝親子孫也，易世之後，叠相攻伐，遂成劉、石之患。由此言之，分封逾制，禍患立生。援古證今，昭昭然矣。此臣所以為太過者也。

Under the ancient system, even a great fief did not exceed one-third of the realm; each rank had its fixed allotment. That was how the center was strengthened and the periphery weakened, disorder was checked at its source, and governance was rooted in fundamentals. Today lands are divided and enfeoffed so that each prince holds his own territory—presumably to avoid the Song and Yuan mistake, when the imperial clan stood isolated and powerless. Yet the princedoms of Qin, Jin, Yan, Qi, Liang, Chu, Wu, and Shu each controlled dozens of linked districts. Their walled cities and palaces were second only to the imperial capital, and they were granted large forces of armored troops and guards. I fear that after several generations, when the branches have grown too heavy to control and the court tries to cut back their lands and strip their power, resentment will inevitably follow. At worst they will seize their chance to rebel, and it will be too late to prevent disaster. Some argue: 'The princes are all the emperor's own kin; though their domains are broad and their privileges lavish, how could they ever challenge the throne?' I respectfully disagree. Why not look at what happened under the Han and Jin dynasties? Emperor Xiaojing was the grandson of Emperor Gaozu; yet the kings of the Seven States were all Emperor Jing's paternal cousins, brothers, and their descendants. As soon as their lands were reduced, they immediately raised armies and marched west. The Jin princes were all Emperor Wu's own sons and descendants; after the dynasty changed hands they fought one another in succession, bringing on the disaster of the Liu and Shi. From this it follows that when enfeoffment exceeds proper bounds, disaster follows at once. The lesson of history applied to the present could hardly be clearer. This is why I consider enfeoffment one of the present excesses.

昔賈誼勸漢文帝，盡分諸國之地，空置之以待諸王子孫。向使文帝早從誼言，則必無七國之禍。願及諸王未之國之先，節其都邑之制，減其衛兵，限其疆理，亦以待封諸王之子孫。此制一定，然後諸王有賢且才者入為輔相，其余世為藩屏，與國同休。割一時之恩，制萬世之利，消天變而安社稷，莫先於此。

Long ago Jia Yi urged Emperor Wen of Han to divide the princely domains completely, leaving vacant lands to be granted later to the princes' sons and descendants. Had Emperor Wen followed Jia Yi's counsel in time, the calamity of the Seven States would never have occurred. I urge that before the princes depart for their domains, the scale of their capitals be restrained, their guards reduced, and their territories bounded—and that lands likewise be kept in reserve for the future enfeoffment of the princes' sons and descendants. Once this system is established, talented and worthy princes may enter court as chief ministers, while the rest serve generation after generation as bulwarks of the realm, sharing the state's fortune and fate. To forgo momentary indulgence and secure lasting benefit, to dispel heavenly portents and stabilize the altars of state—nothing should take precedence over this.

臣又觀歷代開國之君，未有不以任德結民心，以任刑失民心者。國祚長短，悉由於此。古者之斷死刑也，天子撤樂減膳，誠以天生斯民，立之司牲，固欲其並生，非欲其即死。不幸有不率教者入於其中，則不得已而授之以刑耳。議者曰：宋、元中葉，專事姑息，賞罰無章，以致亡滅。主上痛懲其弊，故制不宥之刑，權神變之法，使人知懼而莫測其端也。臣又以為不然。開基之主垂範百世，一動一靜，必使子孫有所持守。況刑者，民之司命，可不慎歟！夫笞、杖、徒、流、死，今之五刑也。用此五刑，既無假貸，一出乎大公至正可也。而用刑之際，多裁自聖衷，遂使治獄之吏務趨求意旨。深刻者多功，平反者得罪。欲求治獄之平，豈易得哉！近者特旨，雜犯死罪，免死充軍。又刪定舊律諸則，減宥有差矣。然未聞有戒敕治獄者務從平恕之條。是以法司猶循故例。雖聞寬宥之名，未見寬宥之實。所謂實者，誠在主上，不在臣下也。故必有罪疑惟輕之意，而後好生之德洽於民心，此非可以淺淺期也。

I further observe that among the founding sovereigns of successive dynasties, none who relied on virtue failed to win the people's hearts, and none who relied on punishments failed to lose them. Whether a dynasty endures long or perishes soon depends entirely on this. In antiquity, when the death penalty was carried out, the Son of Heaven withdrew music and reduced his meals—for Heaven gave birth to the people and appointed rulers to shepherd them, truly intending that all should live, not that they should die. Only when, unhappily, someone failed to heed instruction and fell into wrongdoing was punishment imposed—there was no other choice. Some argue: In the middle period of the Song and Yuan dynasties, rulers indulged wrongdoing without restraint, rewards and punishments were arbitrary, and the dynasties perished. Your Majesty, pained by these abuses, has therefore instituted punishments without pardon and wielded laws with discretionary severity, so that people live in fear yet cannot discern where punishment will strike. I respectfully disagree. A founding sovereign sets a precedent for a hundred generations; in every act and every restraint, he must give his descendants a standard to uphold. Punishment holds the people's lives in its hands—how can one not be cautious! Blows with the light stick, blows with the heavy rod, penal servitude, exile, and death—these are the five punishments of today. If these five punishments are applied without leniency, they need only proceed from utmost fairness and rectitude. Yet in practice many punishments are decided by Your Majesty's personal judgment, so that judicial officials strive above all to discern the imperial intent. Officials who impose harsh sentences win credit; those who overturn wrongful verdicts invite punishment. Under such conditions, how can fair adjudication ever be achieved! Recently, by special edict, those guilty of miscellaneous capital offenses have had death commuted to military exile. The old statutes have also been revised, with varying degrees of clemency introduced. Yet I have heard no admonition instructing judicial officials to adhere to fairness and clemency. As a result, the judicial offices still follow the old precedents. Though the name of clemency is heard, the reality of clemency is not seen. The reality of clemency, I submit, depends on Your Majesty, not on your ministers. Only when Your Majesty holds firmly to the principle that doubtful cases should be judged leniently will the virtue of cherishing life truly reach the people's hearts—and this cannot be achieved by superficial measures.

何以明其然也？古之為士者，以登仕為榮，以罷職為辱。今之為士者，以混跡無聞為福，以受玷不錄為幸，以屯田工役為必獲之罪，以鞭笞捶楚為尋常之辱。其始也，朝廷取天下之士，網羅捃摭，務無余逸。有司敦迫上道，如捕重囚。比到京師，而除官多以貌選。所學或非其所用，所用或非其所學。洎乎居官，一有差跌，茍免誅戮，則必在屯田工役之科。率是為常，不少顧惜，此豈陛下所樂為哉？誠欲人之懼而不敢犯也。竊見數年以來，誅殺亦可謂不少矣，而犯者相踵。良由激勸不明，善惡無別。議賢議能之法既廢，人不自勵，而為善者怠也。有人於此，廉如夷、齊，智如良、平，少戾於法。上將錄長棄短而用之乎？將舍其所長、苛其所短而置之法乎？茍取其長而舍其短，則中庸之材爭自奮於廉智。倘苛其短而棄其長，則為善之人皆曰：某廉若是，某智若是，朝廷不少貸之，吾屬何所容其身乎！致使朝不謀夕，棄其廉恥，或事掊克，以備屯田工役之資者，率皆是也。若是非用刑之煩者乎？

How may this be demonstrated? Scholars of old took entering office as an honor and dismissal from office as a disgrace. Scholars of today count it a blessing to pass unnoticed, consider it fortunate to escape office with a blemished record, regard agricultural colonization and corvée labor as punishments sure to befall them, and treat flogging as an ordinary humiliation. At the outset, the court gathered scholars from across the realm, casting its net wide and leaving none behind. Local officials pressed them onto the road as urgently as if pursuing felons. By the time they reached the capital, appointments were largely made on the basis of appearance. What they had studied was often not what they were assigned to do, and what they were assigned to do was often not what they had studied. Once in office, a single misstep—even if one escaped execution—would invariably mean assignment to agricultural colonization or corvée labor. This has become the norm, with little regard for mercy—is this truly what Your Majesty intends? The intent, to be sure, is that people should live in fear and not dare to offend. I observe that in recent years executions have been numerous, yet offenders continue in unbroken succession. This is because incentives are unclear and good and evil are not distinguished. Since the practice of recommending the worthy and capable has been abandoned, people no longer strive to improve themselves, and those who would do good grow slack. Suppose there were someone as incorruptible as Boyi and Shuqi, as wise as Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, who committed a minor breach of the law. Would Your Majesty record his strengths, overlook his weaknesses, and employ him? Or would Your Majesty discard his strengths, fix upon his shortcomings, and punish him according to the law? If strengths are valued and weaknesses overlooked, men of ordinary talent will strive of their own accord toward integrity and wisdom. But if shortcomings are seized upon and strengths discarded, those who would do good will say: 'So-and-so was this incorruptible, so-and-so was this wise—yet the court showed no leniency. Where can people like us find a place to stand!' The result is that men live from day to day without plan, abandon their sense of honor, and resort to extortion to prepare against the threat of colonization and corvée labor—such cases are the rule. Is this not the very trouble caused by excessive punishments?

漢嘗徙大族於山陵矣，未聞實之以罪人也。今鳳陽皇陵所在，龍興之地，而率以罪人居之，怨嗟愁苦之聲充斥園邑，殆非所以恭承宗廟意也。且夫強敵在前，則揚精鼓銳，攻之必克，擒之必獲，可也。今賊突竄山谷，以計求之，庶或可得。顧勞重兵，彼方驚散，入不可蹤跡之地。捕之數年，既無其方，而乃歸咎於新附戶籍之細民，而遷徙之。騷動數千里之地，室家不得休居，雞犬不得寧息。況新附之眾，向者流移他所，朝廷許其復業。今附籍矣，而又復遷徙，是法不信於民也。夫戶口盛而後田野辟，賦稅增。今責守令年增戶口，正為是也。近者已納稅糧之家，雖承旨分釋還家，而其心猶不自安。已起戶口，雖蒙憐恤，而猶見留開封祗候。訛言驚動，不知所出。況太原諸郡，外界邊境，民心如此，甚非安邊之計也。臣願自今朝廷宜存大體，赦小過。明詔天下，修舉「八議」之法，嚴禁深刻之吏。斷獄平允者超遷之，殘酷裒斂者罷黜之。鳳陽屯田之制，見在居屯者，聽其耕種起科。已起戶口、見留開封者，悉放復業。如此則足以隆好生之德，樹國祚長久之福。而兆民自安，天變自消矣。

The Han once relocated great clans to serve imperial tombs, but I have never heard of populating such places with criminals. Today at Fengyang, where the imperial tombs stand—the very birthplace of the dynasty—criminals are sent to dwell in great numbers, and sounds of lamentation fill the region. This can scarcely accord with reverence for the imperial ancestors. When a powerful enemy stands before one, it is fitting to rouse the troops, attack with full force, and capture the foe. Today the bandits have fled into the mountains; by careful strategy they may yet be taken. Yet if heavy forces are deployed, the bandits will only scatter in alarm into terrain where no trail can be followed. After years of pursuit without success, blame is shifted to ordinary people of newly registered households, who are then forcibly relocated. Disturbance spreads across thousands of li; families cannot live in peace, and even fowl and dogs know no rest. Moreover, among the newly registered populace, those who had previously been displaced were permitted by the court to resume their livelihoods. Now that they have been registered, they are relocated again—thus the law loses the people's trust. Only when the population grows are fields opened and tax revenues increased. Today prefects and magistrates are charged with increasing the population each year—for precisely this reason. Recently, households that had already paid their grain taxes, though released by imperial order to return home, still live in fear. Those whose names have been entered on the registers, though shown mercy, are still detained at Kaifeng awaiting further orders. False rumors spread alarm, and no one knows their source. Moreover, the prefectures around Taiyuan lie on the frontier; with popular sentiment in such a state, this is scarcely a policy for securing the border. I pray that henceforth the court will uphold the larger principles of governance and pardon minor faults. Issue a clear edict throughout the realm, restore the practice of the Eight Deliberations, and strictly forbid officials who impose harsh punishments. Officials who adjudicate fairly should be promoted; those who are cruel or extortionate should be dismissed. As for the Fengyang colonization system, those presently settled in the colonies should be permitted to farm and begin paying taxes. Those whose names have been entered on the registers and who are detained at Kaifeng should all be released to resume their livelihoods. In this way Your Majesty would elevate the virtue of cherishing life and secure the blessing of a long-lasting dynasty. Then the myriad people would find peace of their own accord, and heavenly portents would subside.

昔者周自文、武至於成、康，而教化大行；漢自高帝至於文、景，而始稱富庶。蓋天下之治亂，氣化之轉移，人心之趨向，非一朝一夕故也。今國家紀元，九年於茲，偃兵息民，天下大定。紀綱大正，法令修明，可謂治矣。而陛下切切以民俗澆漓，人不知懼，法出而奸生，令下而詐起。故或朝信而幕猜者有之；昨日所進，今日被戮者有之。乃至令下而尋改，已赦而復收。天下臣民莫之適從。臣愚謂天下之趨於治，猶堅冰之泮也。冰之泮，非太陽所能驟致。陽氣發生，土脈微動，然後得以融釋。聖人之治天下，亦猶是也。刑以威之，禮以導之，漸民以仁，摩民以義，而後其化熙熙。孔子曰：「如有王者，必世而後仁。」此非空言也。

In antiquity, from King Wen and King Wu of Zhou down to Kings Cheng and Kang, instruction and transformation flourished; and from Emperor Gaozu of Han down to Emperors Wen and Jing, only then did the realm become truly prosperous. For the order and disorder of the realm, the shifting of cosmic influence, and the direction of popular sentiment are not achieved in a day. Nine years have now passed since the founding of the dynasty; arms have been stilled, the people have rested, and the realm is largely at peace. Fundamental institutions have been rectified and laws made clear—the realm may already be called well governed. Yet Your Majesty urgently concerns himself that popular custom has grown dissolute, that people no longer know fear, that laws breed wickedness as soon as they are issued, and that deceit springs up as soon as orders are given. Thus some are trusted in the morning yet suspected by evening; some promoted yesterday are executed today. Orders are issued and soon reversed; pardons are granted and then withdrawn. Throughout the realm, officials and common people alike no longer know how to conduct themselves. I humbly submit that the realm's movement toward order is like the melting of hard ice. Ice does not melt all at once, even under the full force of the sun. Yang energy must arise, the earth's veins must stir slightly—only then does melting begin. The governance of a sage over the realm is the same. Punishment to inspire awe, rites to guide conduct, gradually imbuing the people with benevolence and refining them with righteousness—only then does transformation flourish. Confucius said: "If there were one who would become king, it would take a generation before benevolence prevailed." This is no empty saying.

求治之道，莫先於正風俗；正風俗之道，莫先於守令知所務；使守令知所務，莫先於風憲知所重；使風憲知所重，莫先於朝廷知所尚。古郡守、縣令，以正率下，以善導民，使化成俗美。征賦、期會、獄訟、簿書，固其末也。今之守令以戶口、錢糧、獄論為急務；至於農桑、學校，王政之本，乃視為虛文而置之，將何。以教養斯民哉？以農桑言之：方春州縣下一白帖，裏甲回申文狀而已，守令未嘗親視種藝次第、旱澇戒備之道也。以學校言之：廩膳諸生，國家資之以取人才之地也。今四方師生，缺員甚多。縱使具員，守令亦鮮有以禮讓之實作其成器者。朝廷切切於社學，屢行取勘師生姓名、所習課業。乃今社鎮城郭，或但置立門牌，遠村僻處則又徒存其名，守令不過具文案、備照刷而已。上官分部按臨，亦但循習故常，依紙上照刷，未嘗巡行點視也。興廢之實，上下視為虛文。小民不知孝弟忠信為何物，而禮義廉恥掃地矣。風紀之司，所以代朝廷宣導德化，訪察善惡。聽訟讞獄，其一事耳。今專以獄訟為要。忠臣、孝子、義夫、節婦，視為末節而不暇舉，所謂宣導風化者安在哉？其始但知以去一贓吏、決一獄訟為治，而不知勸民成俗，使民遷善遠罪，乃治之大者。此守令風憲未審輕重之失也。

In the pursuit of good governance, nothing comes before rectifying popular custom; and in rectifying popular custom, nothing comes before prefects and magistrates knowing their proper duties; to ensure that prefects and magistrates know their duties, nothing comes before censorial officials knowing what to emphasize; and to ensure that censorial officials know what to emphasize, nothing comes before the court knowing what to esteem. Prefects and magistrates of old led by example and guided the people toward goodness, so that instruction transformed society and custom became refined. Tax collection, scheduled reports, lawsuits, and ledger keeping were truly secondary matters. Today's prefects and magistrates treat household registers, grain taxes, and criminal cases as their urgent priorities; yet agriculture, sericulture, and schools—the foundations of royal governance—are treated as empty formalities and set aside. How then are the people to be educated and nurtured? Take agriculture and sericulture: at the start of spring the prefecture and district issue a white notice, the li-jia head submits a written report—and that is all. Prefects and magistrates never personally inspect planting schedules or preparations against drought and flood. Take schools: the stipended students are the state's means of cultivating talent. Today schools throughout the realm have many vacant places. Even when fully staffed, prefects and magistrates rarely cultivate students through genuine instruction in courtesy and deference. The court urgently concerns itself with community schools, repeatedly ordering inspections of teachers' and students' names and their course of study. Yet today in market towns and cities, some schools exist only as name plaques on doorways; in remote villages the name alone survives. Prefects and magistrates do no more than prepare documents and checklists for inspection. Superior officials on circuit inspection likewise follow old custom, relying on paper checklists, and never tour the schools to inspect them in person. The substance of what was established or allowed to lapse is treated throughout the bureaucracy as mere empty form. The common people no longer know what filial piety, brotherly duty, loyalty, and good faith mean—and propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame have been utterly cast aside. The censorial apparatus exists to represent the court in spreading moral instruction and investigating right and wrong. Adjudicating lawsuits and passing judgment on cases is only one of its duties. Today they treat criminal cases as the only priority. Loyal ministers, filial sons, righteous husbands, and chaste wives are dismissed as minor matters, with no time to commend them—where, then, is this "moral instruction" they speak of? Officials begin by thinking that removing a corrupt magistrate or clearing a court case counts as governing well, never grasping that the greater task is to guide the people toward custom, turning them toward virtue and away from crime. This is the error of prefects, magistrates, and censorial officials who fail to distinguish the weighty from the trivial.

《王制》論鄉秀士升於司徒曰「選士」，司徒論其秀士而升於太學曰「俊士」，大樂正又論造士之秀升之司馬曰「進士」，司馬辨論官材，論定，然後官之；任官，然後爵之。其考之之詳若此，故成周得人為盛。今使天下諸生考於禮部，升於太學，歷練眾職，任之以事，可以洗歷代舉選之陋，上法成周。然而升於太學者，或未數月，遽選入官，間或委以民社。臣恐其人未諳時務，未熟朝廷禮法，不能宣導德化，上乖國政，而下困黎民也。開國以來，選舉秀才不為不多，所任名位不為不重，自今數之，在者有幾？臣恐後之視今，亦猶今之視昔。昔年所舉之人，豈不深可痛惜乎！凡此皆臣所為求治太速之過也。

In the 《Royal Regulations》, village scholars of distinction promoted to the Minister of Education were called "selected scholars." Those the Minister judged outstanding and sent upward to the Imperial Academy were called "eminent scholars." The Grand Music Master, evaluating the finest cultivated scholars, advanced them to the Minister of War as "presented scholars." The Minister of War weighed each man's fitness for office, and only after judgment was complete were men appointed. Only after they had served in office were they ennobled. The scrutiny was this thorough—which is why the Zhou at its height drew so many able men. The present system—students examined by the Ministry of Rites, promoted to the Imperial Academy, rotated through various posts, and entrusted with responsibility—could cleanse the abuses of centuries of recruitment and restore the Zhou model. Yet those admitted to the Imperial Academy are sometimes selected for office within a few months—and sometimes entrusted straightaway with a magistracy. I fear these men do not yet understand affairs of the day, are unfamiliar with court ritual and law, and cannot spread moral instruction—serving the state's policies ill above while burdening the people below. Since the founding, no small number of xiucai have been selected and given weighty posts—yet counting those who remain today, how many are there? I fear posterity will look upon our day as we now look upon earlier times. Those men elevated in years past—is their loss not cause for deep sorrow? All of this, I submit, stems from the error of pursuing order too hastily.

昔者宋有天下蓋三百余年。其始，以禮義教其民，當其盛時，閭閻裏巷皆有忠厚之風，至於恥言人之過失。洎乎末年，忠臣義士視死如歸，婦人女子羞被汙辱，此皆教化之效也。元之有國，其本不立，犯禮義之分，壞廉恥之防。不數十年，棄城降敵者不可勝數，雖老儒碩臣甘心屈辱。此禮義廉恥不振之弊。遺風流俗至今未革，深可怪也。臣謂：莫若敦仁義，尚廉恥。守令則責其以農桑、學校為急，風憲則責其先教化、審法律，以平獄緩刑為急。如此，則德澤下流，求治之道庶幾得矣。郡邑諸生升於太學者，須令在學肄業，或三年，或五年，精通一經，兼習一藝，然後入選。或宿衛，或辦事，以觀公卿大夫之能，而後任之以政，則其學識兼懋，庶無敗事。且使知祿位皆天之祿位，而可以塞凱覦之心也。治道既得，陛下端拱穆清，待以歲月，則陰陽調而風雨時，諸福吉祥莫不畢至。尚何天變之不消哉？

The Song once held the realm for some three hundred years. At its beginning the dynasty taught its people ritual and righteousness. At its height, lanes and alleys everywhere breathed sincerity and good faith, and men were ashamed to speak of another's failings. By its end loyal ministers and righteous men went to their deaths as though returning home, and women and girls chose death before dishonor. All this was the fruit of moral instruction. The Yuan's foundation was never secure: it transgressed the bounds of ritual and righteousness and tore down the bulwarks of integrity and shame. Within a few decades, countless men surrendered their cities and submitted to the enemy—even venerable Confucian scholars and senior ministers accepted humiliation without protest. Such are the consequences when ritual, righteousness, integrity, and shame no longer stir the heart. Those surviving customs endure to this day unchanged—a thing deeply troubling. I submit that nothing would serve better than to champion benevolence and righteousness and hold integrity and shame in high regard. Prefects and magistrates should be held responsible for giving agriculture, sericulture, and schools first priority; censorial officials should be charged to put moral instruction first, review the laws carefully, and treat equitable judgment and lenient punishments as urgent. Thus would benevolent influence flow downward, and the path toward order might nearly be found. Students from the provinces promoted to the Imperial Academy should be required to remain and study for three or five years, mastering one classic and one practical skill before they become eligible for selection. They should serve as guards or handle administrative duties so that the abilities of senior officials can be observed—and only thereafter be entrusted with governance. Then learning and competence would flourish together, and misrule might be avoided. It would also teach them that rank and emolument are gifts of Heaven, and so check the covetous heart. Once governance is rightly established, Your Majesty may sit in dignified ease and wait through the years—then yin and yang will balance, winds and rains arrive in season, and every blessing and omen will follow in turn. What celestial portent would then fail to pass away?

書上，帝大怒曰：「小子間吾骨肉，速逮來，吾手射之！」既至，丞相乘帝喜以奏，下刑部獄。死獄中。

When the memorial was submitted, the Emperor flew into a rage: "This stripling is sowing discord among my flesh and blood—seize him at once! I will shoot him with my own hand!" When he arrived, the chief councillor waited until the Emperor was in good humor and then reported the case; Boju was sent to the Ministry of Justice prison. He died in prison.

先是，伯巨將上書，語其友曰：「今天下惟三事可患耳，其二事易見而患遲，其一事難見而患速。縱無明詔，吾猶將言之，況求言乎。」其意蓋謂分封也。然是時諸王止建藩號，未曾裂土，不盡如伯巨所言。迨洪武末年，燕王屢奉命出塞，勢始強。後因削奪稱兵，遂有天下，人乃以伯巨為先見雲。

Earlier, before submitting his memorial, Boju told a friend: "Today only three things in the realm are to be feared. Two are easy to see, though the harm they bring is slow; one is hard to see, though the harm it brings is swift. Even without a clear edict I would still speak—how much more when counsel is sought?" His meaning was presumably enfeoffment. Yet at that time the princes had only received their fief titles and had not yet been granted separate territories—not entirely as Boju had described. By the late Hongwu reign the Prince of Yan repeatedly received orders to campaign beyond the frontier, and his power began to grow. Later, after his fiefs were stripped away, he took up arms and seized the realm—and people then regarded Boju as having foreseen it.

鄭士利，字好義，寧海人。兄士元，剛直有才學，由進士歷官湖廣按察使僉事。荊、襄卒乘亂掠婦女，吏不敢問，士元立言於將領，還所掠。安陸有冤獄，御史臺已讞上，士元奏其冤，得白。會考校錢谷冊書，空印事覺。凡主印者論死，佐貳以下榜一百，戍遠方。士元亦坐是系獄。時帝方盛怒，以為欺罔，丞相御史莫敢諫。士利嘆曰：「上不知，以空印為大罪。誠得人言之，上聖明，寧有不悟？」會星變求言。士利曰：「可矣。」既而讀詔：「有假公言私者，罪。」士利曰：「吾所欲言，為天子殺無罪者耳。吾兄非主印者，固當出。需吾兄杖出乃言，即死不恨。」

Zheng Shili, styled Haoyi, was a native of Ninghai. His elder brother Shiyuan was upright and talented; as a jinshi he rose to serve as Assistant Surveillance Commissioner of Huguang. Soldiers in Jing and Xiang took advantage of the disorder to seize women; officials dared not intervene. Shiyuan spoke directly to the commanders, and the seized women were returned. In Anlu there was a wrongful conviction; the Censorate had already submitted its verdict. Shiyuan memorialized the injustice, and the accused was cleared. During an audit of grain-and-revenue account books, the blank-seal affair came to light. All seal-holders were sentenced to death; assistants and deputies were flogged one hundred strokes and exiled to distant garrisons. Shiyuan was also implicated and imprisoned. The Emperor was then in a towering rage, believing he had been deceived; the chief councillor and censors dared not remonstrate. Shili sighed: "The Emperor does not understand—he treats blank seals as a grave crime. If only someone would speak to him—His Majesty is wise; how could he fail to understand?" Just then a stellar anomaly prompted a call for counsel. Shili said: "The time has come." But then he read the edict: "Whoever uses public speech for private ends will be punished." Shili said: "What I wish to say is that the Son of Heaven is killing the innocent. My brother was not the seal-holder; he should have been released in any case. I will wait until my brother has been flogged and released, and then I will speak—even if I die, I will not regret it."

士元出，士利乃為書數千言，言數事，而於空印事尤詳。曰：「陛下欲深罪空印者，恐奸吏得挾空印紙，為文移以虐民耳。夫文移必完印乃可。今考較書策，乃合兩縫印，非一印一紙比。縱得之，亦不能行，況不可得乎？錢谷之數，府必合省，省必合部，數難懸決，至部乃定。省府去部遠者六七千里，近亦三四千里，冊成而後用印，往返非期年不可。以故先印而後書。此權宜之務，所從來久，何足深罪？且國家立法，必先明示天下而後罪犯法者，以其故犯也。自立國至今，未嘗有空印之律。有司相承，不知其罪。今一旦誅之，何以使受誅者無詞？朝廷求賢士，置庶位，得之甚難。位至郡守，皆數十年所成就。通達廉明之士，非如草菅然，可刈而復生也。陛下奈何以不足罪之罪，而壞足用之材乎？臣竊為陛下惜之。」書成，閉門逆旅泣數日。兄子問曰：「叔何所苦？」士利曰：「吾有書欲上，觸天子怒，必受禍。然殺我，生數百人，我何所恨！」遂入奏。帝覽書，大怒，下丞相御史雜問，究使者。士利笑曰：「顧吾書足用否耳。吾業為國家言事，自分必死，誰為我謀？」獄具，與士元皆輸作江浦，而空印者竟多不免。

After Shiyuan was released, Shili composed a memorial of several thousand characters on several matters, treating the blank-seal affair with especial detail. He wrote: "Your Majesty wishes to punish blank-seal offenders severely, fearing that corrupt officials might seize blank sealed paper to draft documents and oppress the people. Official documents require a complete seal before they can be used. The account books used in audits bear seals across both margins of the binding—they are not one seal to one sheet. Even if one obtained them, they could not be used—how much less could they be obtained at all? Revenue and grain figures must be consolidated by the prefecture with the province and by the province with the ministry; the totals can hardly be decided in advance—they are fixed only when they reach the ministry. From province and prefecture to the ministry is six or seven thousand li at farthest and three or four thousand at nearest; the register must be completed before seals are applied, and a round trip cannot be completed in less than a full year. For this reason seals were applied first and the text written afterward. This expedient has been in use for a long time—why should it be treated as a grave crime? Moreover, when the state establishes law, it must first make it clear to the realm before punishing violators—for only then is the violation knowing. From the founding of the state until now there has never been a law against blank seals. Officials passed the practice down through generations without knowing it was a crime. Now to execute them all at once—how can those put to death be left without a word in their own defense? The court seeks worthy men and fills numerous offices—finding them is very difficult. Reaching the rank of prefect takes decades of achievement. Clear-sighted, incorrupt officials are not like grass that can be cut down and grow again. How can Your Majesty, for a crime insufficient to warrant death, destroy men fully fit to serve? I grieve this for Your Majesty." When the memorial was finished, he shut himself in at his inn and wept for several days. His nephew asked: "Uncle, what troubles you?" Shili said: "I have a memorial I wish to submit; it will provoke the Son of Heaven's anger—I am sure to suffer for it. Yet if killing me saves several hundred lives, what have I to regret!" He then entered court and submitted the memorial. The Emperor read the memorial and flew into a rage; he handed the case to the chief councillor and censors for joint interrogation, demanding to find who had sent it. Shili laughed: "I care only whether my memorial served its purpose. I spoke for the state, knowing I must die—who would scheme on my behalf?" When the case was closed, both he and Shiyuan were sent to labor at Jiangpu, yet most of the blank-seal offenders ultimately could not escape punishment.

方徵，字可久，莆田人。以鄉舉授給事中。嘗侍遊後苑，與聯詩句。太祖知其有母在，賜白金，馳驛歸省。還改監察御史，出為懷慶知府。徵誌節甚偉，遇事敢直言。居郡時，因星變求言，疏言：「風憲官以激濁揚清為職。今不聞旌廉拔能，專務羅織人罪，多征贓罰，此大患也。朝廷賞罰明信，乃能勸懲。去年各行省官吏以用空印罹重罪，而河南參政安然、山東參政朱芾俱有空印，反遷布政使，何以示勸懲？」帝問羅織及多征贓罰者為誰，徵指河南僉事彭京以對。貶沁陽驛丞。十三年，以事逮至京，卒。

Fang Zheng, styled Kejiu, was a native of Putian. Recommended through the provincial examination, he was appointed Supervising Secretary. Once while attending the Emperor on an outing to the rear garden, they composed linked verses together. Taizu learned that his mother was still living, granted him silver, and sent him by post-horses to visit her. On his return he was transferred to investigating censor and sent out as prefect of Huaiqing. Zheng's resolve and integrity were formidable; when confronted with affairs he dared speak bluntly. While governing the prefecture, during a stellar anomaly that prompted calls for counsel, he submitted a memorial saying: "Censorial officials have as their duty to stir the turbid and elevate the clear. Now one hears nothing of honoring integrity and elevating talent; they devote themselves solely to fabricating charges and exacting heavy confiscation fines—this is a grave evil. When court rewards and punishments are clear and trusted, only then can encouragement and warning take effect. Last year officials of the various provinces suffered heavy punishment for using blank seals, yet Assistant Administers An Ran of Henan and Zhu Fei of Shandong both had blank seals and were instead promoted to provincial administrators—how does this display encouragement and warning?" The Emperor asked who fabricated charges and exacted excessive confiscation fines; Zheng pointed to Surveillance Vice Commissioner Peng Jing of Henan in reply. He was demoted to post station chief of Qinyang. In the thirteenth year he was seized over some matter and brought to the capital, where he died.

周敬心，山東人，太學生也。洪武二十五年，詔求曉歷數者，敬心上疏極諫，且及時政數事。略曰：

Zhou Jingxin, a native of Shandong, was a student of the Imperial Academy. In the twenty-fifth year of Hongwu an edict sought those versed in calendrical astronomy; Jingxin submitted a forthright memorial of extreme remonstrance, touching also on several matters of current policy. In summary, it read:

臣聞國祚長短，在德厚薄，不在歷數。三代尚矣，三代而下，最久莫如漢、唐、宋，最短莫如秦、隋、五代。其久也以有道，其短也以無道。陛下膺天眷命，救亂誅暴。然神武威斷則有余，寬大忠厚則不足。陛下若效兩漢之寬大，唐、宋之忠厚，講三代所以有道之長，則帝王之祚可傳萬世，何必問諸小道之人耶？

I have heard that the length of a dynasty's reign depends on the quality of its virtue, not on what the calendars foretell. The Three Dynasties stand at the summit of antiquity. Of all reigns since then, none endured so long as Han, Tang, and Song; none collapsed so quickly as Qin, Sui, and the Five Dynasties. They endured because they upheld the Way; they perished because they abandoned it. Your Majesty has received Heaven's mandate, quelled chaos, and punished the cruel. Yet you are more than sufficient in majesty and martial decisiveness, and not yet sufficient in magnanimity and loyal forbearance. If Your Majesty would emulate the generosity of the Han dynasties and the steadfast loyalty of Tang and Song, and study what made the Three Dynasties endure, then the imperial throne could pass down through ten thousand generations. Why consult petty fortune-tellers?

臣又聞陛下連年遠征，北出沙漠，為恥不得傳國璽耳。昔楚平王時，琢卞和之玉，至秦始名為「璽」，歷代遞嬗，以訖後唐。治亂興廢，皆不在此。石敬瑭亂，潞王攜以自焚，則秦璽固已毀矣。敬瑭入洛，更以玉制。晉亡入遼，遼亡遺於桑乾河。元世祖時，劄剌爾者漁而得之。今元人所挾，石氏璽耳。昔者三代不知有璽，仁為之璽，故曰「聖人大寶曰位，何以守位曰仁。」陛下奈何忽天下之大璽，而求漢、唐、宋之小璽也？

I have also heard that Your Majesty campaigns far afield year after year, marching north into the deserts—all for shame at not yet possessing the Imperial Seal. In the time of King Ping of Chu, Bian He's jade was first carved into a seal; only under Qin did it receive the name 'Seal.' It passed from dynasty to dynasty down to Later Tang. Whether a state prospered or fell had nothing to do with it. When Shi Jingtang threw the realm into chaos, the Prince of Lu carried the seal with him into the fire and perished—and with him the Qin seal was destroyed. When Jingtang entered Luoyang, a new seal was fashioned from jade. When Jin fell, the seal passed to Liao; when Liao fell, it was lost in the Sanggan River. Under Emperor Shizu of Yuan, a man named Zhalaer pulled it from the river while fishing. The seal the Yuan now possess is nothing but the Shi family's replacement. In antiquity the Three Dynasties knew no seal; benevolence was their seal. Hence the maxim: 'The sage's greatest treasure is the throne; by what does one keep the throne? By benevolence.' Why, then, does Your Majesty overlook the great seal of all under Heaven and chase after the petty jade seals of Han, Tang, and Song?

方今力役過煩，賦斂過厚。教化溥而民不悅；法度嚴而民不從。昔汲黯言於武帝曰：「陛下內多欲而外施仁義，奈何欲效唐、虞之治乎？」方今國則願富，兵則願強，城池則願高深，宮室則願壯麗，土地則願廣，人民則願眾。於是多取軍卒，廣籍資財，征伐不休，營造無極，如之何其可治也？臣又見洪武四年錄天下官吏，十三年連坐胡黨，十九年逮官吏積年為民害者，二十三年罪妄言者。大戮官民，不分臧否。其中豈無忠臣、烈士、善人、君子？於茲見陛下之薄德而任刑矣。水旱連年，夫豈無故哉！

Today corvée labor is crushing, and taxes are oppressively heavy. Though instruction reaches everywhere, the people are not content; though the laws are stern, the people will not obey. Ji An once said to Emperor Wu, 'Your Majesty is full of desire within, yet displays benevolence and righteousness without—how can you hope to match the rule of Yao and Shun?' Today you wish the treasury full and the army strong, the walls high and deep, the palaces grand, the territory vast, and the population numerous. So you conscript ever more men, seize ever more wealth, campaign without rest, and build without end. How can such a state be governed? I also see that in the fourth year of Hongwu all officials in the realm were registered; in the thirteenth year mass punishment fell on Hu Weiyong's faction; in the nineteenth year officials who had long preyed on the people were seized; in the twenty-third year those who spoke unwisely were condemned. Officials and commoners alike were slaughtered without distinction between the guilty and the innocent. Surely among them were loyal ministers, martyrs, good men, and upright gentlemen? In this one sees Your Majesty's meager virtue and your reliance on harsh punishment. Floods and droughts strike year after year—is there no reason for this?

言皆激切。報聞。

Every line was sharp and impassioned. The memorial was received.

王樸，同州人。洪武十八年進士。本名權，帝為改焉。除吏科給事中，以直諫忤旨罷。旋起御史。陳時事千余言。性鯁直，數與帝辨是非，不肯屈。一日，遇事爭之強。帝怒，命戮之。及市，召還，諭之曰：「汝其改乎？」樸對曰：「陛下不以臣為不肖，擢官御史，奈何摧辱至此！使臣無罪，安得戮之？有罪，又安用生之？臣今日願速死耳。」帝大怒，趣命行刑。過史館，大呼曰：「學士劉三吾誌之：某年月日，皇帝殺無罪御史樸也！」竟戮死。帝撰《大誥》，謂樸誹謗，猶列其名。

Wang Pu was a native of Tongzhou. He passed the metropolitan examination in the eighteenth year of Hongwu. His original name was Quan; the Emperor gave him a new name. He was appointed Supervising Secretary in the Personnel Section, but was dismissed after forthright remonstrance offended the throne. He was soon reappointed investigating censor. He submitted a memorial of more than a thousand words on affairs of the day. Blunt and unyielding by nature, he often argued with the Emperor over right and wrong and refused to back down. One day he argued his point with unusual force on some matter. The Emperor flew into a rage and ordered him executed. At the execution ground he was called back and asked, 'Will you change your ways?' Pu answered, 'Your Majesty did not deem me unworthy when you made me investigating censor—why degrade me like this! If I am guiltless, how can Your Majesty put me to death? If I am guilty, why recall me only to let me live? Today I ask only to die quickly.' The Emperor's fury boiled over, and he commanded that the sentence be carried out at once. Passing the Historiography Institute, he cried out, 'Academician Liu Sanwu, take this down: on such-and-such day the Emperor executed the guiltless censor Pu!' And so he was put to death. When the Emperor compiled the Grand Pronouncements, charging Pu with slander, he still listed his name.

有張衡者，萬安人，樸同年進士。授禮科給事中。奏疏剴切。擢禮部侍郎。以清慎見褒，載於《大誥》。後亦以言事坐死。

There was a Zhang Heng, a native of Wan'an and a fellow metropolitan graduate of Pu's year. He was appointed Supervising Secretary in the Rites Section. His memorials were earnest and uncompromising. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites. He was commended for integrity and prudence, and his example was recorded in the Grand Pronouncements. He too was later executed for speaking out on affairs of state.

贊曰：太祖英武威斷，廷臣奏對，往往失辭。而錢唐、韓宜可、李仕魯輩，抱其樸誠，力諍於堂陛間，可謂古之遺直矣。伯巨、敬心以縫掖諸生，言天下至計，雖違於信而後諫之義，然原厥本心，由於忠愛。以視末季沽名賣直之流，有不可同日而語者也。

The historians comment: Taizu was formidable and decisive; court ministers often lost their footing when answering his questions. Yet Qian Tang, Han Yike, Li Shilu, and men like them held fast to plain sincerity and remonstrated boldly before the throne—they may be called the last heirs of the upright ministers of old. Boju and Jingxin were mere academy students in scholar's robes who spoke on the weightiest matters of state. Though this violated the principle of remonstrating only once trust is established, their motives sprang from loyal devotion. Compared with the late-dynasty type who grandstand for reputation and perform integrity for profit, they belong to a different order altogether.

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