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姚廣孝張玉子:輗軏從子:信朱能邱福附:李遠王忠王聰火真譚淵王真陳亨子:懋附:徐理房寬劉才
Biographies of Yao Guangxiao and Zhang Yu (sons Yi and Yue; nephew Xin); Zhu Neng and Qiu Fu; with appended biographies of Li Yuan, Wang Zhong, Wang Cong, and Huo Zhen; Tan Yuan, Wang Zhen, and Chen Heng (son Mao); with appended biographies of Xu Li, Fang Kuan, and Liu Cai.
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姚廣孝
Yao Guangxiao
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姚廣孝，長洲人，本醫家子。 年十四，度為僧，名道衍，字斯道。 事道士席應真，得其陰陽術數之學。 嘗遊嵩山寺，相者袁珙見之曰：「是何異僧！ 目三角，形如病虎，性必嗜殺，劉秉忠流也。」 道衍大喜。
Yao Guangxiao, a native of Changzhou, came from a family of physicians. At fourteen he took monastic vows under the name Daoyan, with the style Sidao. He studied under the Daoist Xi Yingzhen and mastered the arts of yin-yang cosmology and divination. Once, while visiting Songshan Temple, the physiognomist Yuan Gong saw him and exclaimed, "What an extraordinary monk! Triangular eyes, the bearing of a sick tiger—he is bound to be bloodthirsty by nature, a man in the line of Liu Bingzhong. Daoyan was delighted.
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洪武中，詔通儒書僧試禮部。 不受官，賜僧服還。 經北固山，賦詩懷古。 其儕宗泐曰：「此豈釋子語耶？」 道衍笑不答。 高皇后崩，太祖選高僧侍諸王，為誦經薦福。 宗泐時為左善世，舉道衍。 燕王與語甚合，請以從。 至北平，住持慶壽寺。 出入府中，跡甚密，時時屏人語。 及太祖崩，惠帝立，以次削奪諸王。 周、湘、代、齊、岷相繼得罪。 道衍遂密勸成祖舉兵。 成祖曰：「民心向彼，奈何？」 道衍曰：「臣知天道，何論民心。」 乃進袁珙及卜者金忠。 於是成祖意益決。 陰選將校，勾軍卒，收材勇異能之士。 燕邸，故元宮也，深邃。 道衍練兵後苑中。 穴地作重屋，繚以厚垣，密甃翎甋瓶缶，日夜鑄軍器，畜鵝鴨亂其聲。 建文元年六月，燕府護衛百戶倪諒上變。 詔逮府中官屬。 都指揮張信輸誠於成祖，成祖遂決策起兵。 適大風雨至，檐瓦墮地，成祖色變。 道衍曰：「祥也。 飛龍在天，從以風雨。 瓦墮，將易黃也。」 兵起，以誅齊泰、黃子澄為名，號其眾曰「靖難之師。」 道衍輔世子居守。 其年十月，成祖襲大寧，李景隆乘間圍北平。 道衍守禦甚固，擊卻攻者。 夜縋壯士擊傷南兵。 援師至，內外合擊，斬首無算。 景隆、平安等先後敗遁。 成祖圍濟南三月，不克。 道衍馳書曰：「師老矣，請班師。」 乃還。 復攻東昌，戰敗，亡大將張玉，復還。 成祖意欲稍休，道衍力趣之。 益募勇士，敗盛庸，破房昭西水寨。 道衍語成祖：「毋下城邑，疾趨京師。 京師單弱，勢必舉。」 從之。 遂連敗諸將於淝河、靈璧，渡江入京師。
During the Hongwu reign, an edict called for monks trained in the Confucian classics to sit for examinations at the Ministry of Rites. He declined official appointment and was given monastic robes and sent home. Passing Beigu Mountain, he composed a poem meditating on the past. His fellow monk Zong Le said, "Is this really the language of a Buddhist monk? Daoyan only smiled and said nothing. After the death of Empress Gao, the Hongwu Emperor chose eminent monks to attend the princes and recite sutras for the dead. Zong Le, who was then Director of the Left Buddhist Registry, recommended Daoyan. The Prince of Yan found him congenial in conversation and asked that he accompany him. Upon reaching Beiping, he became abbot of Qingshou Temple. He came and went within the princely mansion with great frequency, often dismissing others so they could speak in private. After the Hongwu Emperor's death, when Emperor Hui came to the throne, the court began systematically weakening the princes. The princes of Zhou, Xiang, Dai, Qi, and Min were ruined one after another. Daoyan then secretly urged the Prince of Yan to take up arms. The prince said, "The people favor him—what can we do? Daoyan replied, "I know Heaven's mandate—why speak of popular sentiment? He then introduced Yuan Gong and the diviner Jin Zhong. The prince's resolve hardened still further. In secret he chose officers, recruited soldiers, and gathered men of talent, courage, and exceptional skill. The Yan princely residence was a former Yuan palace, vast and secluded. Daoyan trained troops in the rear garden. They excavated underground chambers walled with thick ramparts, lined them with tiles and jars, cast weapons day and night, and kept geese and ducks to mask the noise. In the sixth month of the first year of the Jianwen reign, Ni Liang, a hundred-household officer of the Yan princely guard, denounced the prince for treason. An edict ordered the arrest of the prince's household officials. The regional commander Zhang Xin declared his loyalty to the prince, who then resolved to rise in arms. Just then a violent storm struck; roof tiles crashed to the ground, and the prince's face fell. Daoyan said, "This is a good omen. When the flying dragon is in heaven, wind and rain follow. Tiles fall because they will soon be replaced by yellow ones. When the army marched, it took as its cause the punishment of Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng and called its forces the Army to Pacify Difficulties. Daoyan remained to assist the heir apparent in defending Beiping. That October the prince struck at Daning, and Li Jinglong took the opportunity to besiege Beiping. Daoyan mounted a stout defense and drove back the assailants. At night he lowered brave men by rope to raid and wound the southern army. When relief arrived, the defenders sallied forth in concert and slew the enemy beyond count. Li Jinglong, Ping'an, and others were defeated in turn and fled. The prince besieged Jinan for three months without success. Daoyan sent an urgent message: "The army is exhausted—withdraw it. The prince then withdrew. He attacked Dongchang again, was defeated, lost the great general Zhang Yu, and withdrew once more. The prince wished to pause, but Daoyan pressed him relentlessly to continue. He recruited more brave men, defeated Sheng Yong, and destroyed Fang Zhao's western river encampment. Daoyan told the prince, "Do not waste time on walled towns—march swiftly on the capital. The capital is weakly defended and is sure to fall. The prince followed his counsel. He then routed the enemy generals at the Fei River and Lingbi, crossed the Yangzi, and entered the capital.
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成祖即帝位，授道衍僧錄司左善世。 帝在藩邸，所接皆武人，獨道衍定策起兵。 及帝轉戰山東、河北，在軍三年，或旋或否，戰守機事皆決於道衍。 道衍未嘗臨戰陣，然帝用兵有天下，道衍力為多，論功以為第一。 永樂二年四月，拜資善大夫、太子少師。 復其姓，賜名廣孝，贈祖父如其官。 帝與語，呼少師而不名。 命蓄髮，不肯。 賜第及兩宮人，皆不受。 常居僧寺，冠帶而朝，退仍緇衣。 出振蘇、湖，至長洲，以所賜金帛散宗族鄉人。 重修《太祖實錄》，廣孝為監修。 又與解縉等纂修《永樂大典》。 書成，帝褒美之。 帝往來兩都、出塞北征，廣孝皆留輔太子於南京。 五年四月，皇長孫出閣就學，廣孝侍說書。
When the prince became emperor, he appointed Daoyan Director of the Left Buddhist Registry. While still a prince, the emperor's companions had been soldiers; only Daoyan had shaped the plan to rebel. During three years of campaigning through Shandong and Hebei, whether the emperor advanced or held back, every strategic decision rested with Daoyan. Daoyan never took the field himself, yet in winning the empire the emperor owed him more than to any other; in the reckoning of merit he ranked first. In the fourth month of the second year of Yongle, he was made Grand Master of the Palace Library and Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince. His family name was restored, he was granted the name Guangxiao, and his grandfather received posthumous honors matching his rank. In conversation the emperor addressed him as Junior Tutor rather than by name. He was ordered to let his hair grow, but he refused. He declined the mansion and the two palace women the emperor offered him. He lived in a monastery, wore official dress at court, and returned to his monastic robes afterward. On a relief mission to Suzhou and Huzhou he reached Changzhou and distributed his gifts of gold and silk among his clansmen and neighbors. He supervised the revision of the Veritable Records of the Hongwu Emperor. He also joined Xie Jin and others in compiling the Yongle Encyclopedia. When the work was finished, the emperor praised it warmly. Whenever the emperor traveled between capitals or campaigned beyond the frontier, Guangxiao stayed in Nanjing to assist the crown prince. In the fourth month of the fifth year, when the emperor's eldest grandson began formal schooling, Guangxiao served as his tutor.
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十六年三月，入覲，年八十有四矣，病甚，不能朝，仍居慶壽寺。 車駕臨視者再，語甚歡，賜以金唾壺。 問所欲言，廣孝曰：「僧溥洽繫久，願赦之。」 溥洽者，建文帝主錄僧也。 初，帝入南京，有言建文帝為僧遁去，溥洽知狀，或言匿溥洽所。 帝乃以他事禁溥洽。 而命給事中胡濙等遍物色建文帝，久之不可得。 溥洽坐繫十餘年。 至是，帝以廣孝言，即命出之。 廣孝頓首謝。 尋卒。 帝震悼，輟視朝二日，命有司治喪，以僧禮葬。 追贈推誠輔國協謀宣力文臣、特進榮祿大夫、上柱國、榮國公，謚恭靖。 賜葬房山縣東北。 帝親製神道碑誌其功。 官其養子繼尚寶少卿。
In the third month of the sixteenth year he came to court; he was eighty-four, gravely ill, unable to attend audience, and still lived at Qingshou Temple. The emperor visited him twice; their conversation was warm, and he was given a golden spittoon. Asked if he had any request, Guangxiao said, "The monk Pu Qia has been imprisoned for many years—I beg that he be pardoned. Pu Qia had been the chief recording monk under Emperor Jianwen. When the emperor first entered Nanjing, rumor held that Emperor Jianwen had escaped disguised as a monk and that Pu Qia knew his whereabouts; some said the former emperor was hidden with Pu Qia. The emperor therefore imprisoned Pu Qia on another pretext. He also ordered the supervising secretary Hu Ying and others to search the realm for Emperor Jianwen, but after a long search they found nothing. Pu Qia remained in prison for more than ten years. Now, at Guangxiao's request, the emperor ordered him released at once. Guangxiao kowtowed in gratitude. He died soon afterward. The emperor was deeply grieved, suspended court for two days, ordered officials to arrange the funeral, and buried him with Buddhist rites. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Rong with the titles of specially advanced Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Upper Pillar of the State, and given the posthumous name Gongjing. He was buried in the northeast of Fangshan County by imperial grant. The emperor personally composed a spirit-way stele commemorating his achievements. His adopted son Ji was appointed Vice Director of the Imperial Seals.
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廣孝少好學，工詩。 與王賓、高啟、楊孟載友善。 宋濂、蘇伯衡亦推獎之。 晚著《道餘錄》，頗毀先儒，識者鄙焉。 其至長洲，候同產姊，姊不納。 訪其友王賓，賓亦不見，但遙語曰：「和尚誤矣，和尚誤矣。」 復往見姊，姊詈之。 廣孝惘然。
From youth Guangxiao loved learning and was accomplished in poetry. He was on friendly terms with Wang Bin, Gao Qi, and Yang Mengzai. Song Lian and Su Boheng also praised him highly. In his later years he wrote the Record of the Remainder of the Way, which disparaged the early Confucians; thoughtful readers held it in contempt. When he returned to Changzhou, he called on his elder sister, but she refused to see him. He visited his friend Wang Bin, who likewise refused to receive him and only called out from a distance, "You were wrong, monk—you were wrong. He went to his sister again, and she cursed him. Guangxiao was left desolate.
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洪熙元年，加贈少師，配享成祖廟庭。 嘉靖九年，世宗諭閣臣曰：「姚廣孝佐命嗣興，勞烈俱有。 顧係釋氏之徒，班諸功臣，侑食太廟，恐不足尊敬祖宗。」 於是尚書李時偕大學士張璁、桂萼等議請移祀大興隆寺，太常春秋致祭。 詔曰：「可」。
In the first year of Hongxi he was further honored as Junior Tutor and granted a place in the sacrifices at the Yongle Emperor's temple. In the ninth year of Jiajing, the Jiajing Emperor told the Grand Secretaries, "Yao Guangxiao aided the founding of the dynasty and shared in its labors and glory. Yet he was a Buddhist monk; to rank him among the meritorious ministers and grant him a place at the Grand Ancestral Temple may not sufficiently honor our forebears. The Minister of Rites Li Shi and Grand Secretaries Zhang Cong, Gui E, and others then recommended moving his cult to Daxinglong Temple, with seasonal sacrifices in spring and autumn. The emperor assented.
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張玉，字世美，祥符人。 仕元為樞密知院。 元亡，從走漠北。 洪武十八年來歸。 從大軍出塞，至捕魚兒海，以功授濟南衛副千戶，遷安慶衛指揮僉事。 又從征遠順、散毛諸洞。 北逐元人之擾邊者，至鴉寒山還，調燕山左護衛。 從燕王出塞，至黑松林。 又從征野人諸部。 以驍果善謀畫為王所親任。
Zhang Yu, styled Shimei, was a native of Xiangfu. Under the Yuan he served as Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs. When the Yuan fell, he fled with them into the northern steppe. In the eighteenth year of Hongwu he defected to the Ming. He campaigned beyond the frontier to Buyur Lake and, for his service, was made vice thousand-household of Jinan Guard, then assistant commander of Anqing Guard. He also campaigned against the Yuanshun and Sanmao cave peoples and other tribes. Pursuing Yuan border raiders north to Yahan Mountain, he returned and was assigned to the Yan Mountain Left Guard. He accompanied the Prince of Yan beyond the frontier as far as Black Pine Forest. He also campaigned against the forest tribes. His courage and strategic talent won the prince's personal trust.
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建文元年，成祖起兵。 玉帥眾奪北平九門，撫諭城內外，三日而定。 師將南，玉獻計，遣朱能東攻薊州，殺馬宣，降遵化。 分兵下永平、密雲，皆致其精甲以益師。 擢都指揮僉事。 是時朝廷遣大兵討燕：都督徐凱軍河間； 潘忠、楊松軍鄚州； 長興侯耿炳文以三十萬眾軍真定。 玉進說曰：「潘、楊勇而無謀，可襲而俘也。」 成祖命玉將親兵為前鋒，抵樓桑。 值中秋，南軍方宴會。 夜半，疾馳破雄縣。 忠、松來援，邀擊於月漾橋，生擒之。 遂克鄚州。 自以輕騎覘炳文軍。 還言：「軍無紀律，其上有敗氣，宜急擊。」 成祖遂引兵西，至無極，顧諸將謀所向。 諸將以南軍盛，請屯新樂。 玉曰：「彼雖眾，皆新集。 我軍乘勝徑趨真定，破之必矣。」 成祖喜曰：「吾倚玉足濟大事！」 明日抵真定，大破炳文軍，獲副將李堅、寧忠，都督顧成等，斬首三萬。 復敗安陸侯吳傑軍。 燕兵由是大振。
In the first year of Jianwen the prince rose in arms. Yu led the troops in seizing Beiping's nine gates, pacified the city inside and out, and secured it within three days. As the army prepared to march south, Yu proposed sending Zhu Neng east to take Jizhou, kill Ma Xuan, and secure Zunhua. Detaching troops to take Yongping and Miyun, he sent their best armor to reinforce the main force. He was promoted to assistant regional commander. The court now sent large armies against the prince: Regional Commander Xu Kai at Hejian; Pan Zhong and Yang Song encamped at Mozhou; and the Marquis of Changxing, Geng Bingwen, with three hundred thousand men at Zhending. Yu urged, "Pan and Yang are bold but lack strategy—we can surprise them and take them alive. The prince ordered Yu to lead the personal guard as vanguard to Lousang. It was Mid-Autumn Festival, and the southern army was holding a feast. At midnight he charged and stormed Xiong County. When Zhong and Song came to relieve the city, he ambushed them at Yueyang Bridge and captured them alive. He then captured Mozhou. He personally rode out with light cavalry to scout Geng Bingwen's army. On his return he reported, "Their ranks are undisciplined and defeat hangs over them—we should attack at once. The prince then marched west to Wuji and asked his generals which way to turn. The generals, seeing the southern army's strength, urged encamping at Xinle. Yu said, "They are many, but they are newly assembled. If we press our advantage straight to Zhending, we are sure to crush them. The prince exclaimed, "With Yu at my side I can achieve the great enterprise! The next day they reached Zhending, routed Geng Bingwen's army, captured the deputy generals Li Jian and Ning Zhong and Regional Commander Gu Cheng among others, and slew thirty thousand men. He also defeated the army of the Marquis of Anlu, Wu Jie. The Yan army's fortunes rose sharply.
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江陰侯吳高以遼東兵圍永平。 曹國公李景隆引數十萬眾將攻北平。 成祖與玉謀，先援永平。 至則高遁走，玉追斬甚眾。 遂從間道襲大寧，拔其眾而還，次會州。 初立五軍，以玉將中軍。 時李景隆已圍北平，成祖旋師，大戰於鄭村壩，景隆敗。 成祖乘勝抵城下。 城中兵鼓噪出，內外夾攻，南軍大潰。
The Marquis of Jiangyin, Wu Gao, besieged Yongping with Liaodong troops. The Duke of Cao, Li Jinglong, marched on Beiping with several hundred thousand men. The prince and Yu agreed to relieve Yongping first. When they arrived, Wu Gao fled; Yu pursued and killed many. He then struck Daning by a hidden route, brought its troops over, and encamped at Huizhou on the return march. When the Five Armies were first organized, Yu was placed in command of the central army. Li Jinglong had already besieged Beiping; the prince turned back, fought a great battle at Zhengcun Dam, and routed him. Pressing the victory, the prince reached the city walls. The garrison sallied forth with a great clamor; attacked from within and without, the southern army broke and fled.
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明年從攻廣昌、蔚州、大同。 諜報景隆收潰卒，號百萬，且復至。 玉曰：「兵貴神速，請先據白溝河，以逸待勞。」 駐河上三日，景隆至。 以精騎馳擊，復大敗之。 進拔德州，追奔至濟南，圍其城三月，解圍還。 尋再出，破滄州，擒徐凱。 進攻東昌，與盛庸軍遇。 成祖以數十騎繞出其後。 庸圍之數重，成祖奮擊得出。 玉不知成祖所在，突入陣中力戰，格殺數十人，被創死。 年五十八。
The following year he campaigned at Guangchang, Yuzhou, and Datong. Intelligence reported that Li Jinglong had rallied his broken troops, claimed a million men, and was marching again. Yu said, "Speed is everything in war—seize the White Ditch River first and meet their fatigue with fresh troops. They held the river for three days until Li Jinglong arrived. He charged with elite cavalry and routed them again. He advanced to take Dezhou, pursued the enemy to Jinan, besieged the city for three months, then withdrew. He marched out again soon after, took Cangzhou, and captured Xu Kai. Advancing on Dongchang, he encountered Sheng Yong's army. The prince circled behind them with a few dozen horsemen. Sheng Yong surrounded him in layer after layer, but the prince fought his way out. Not knowing where the prince was, Yu charged into the enemy ranks, killed dozens in hand-to-hand fighting, was wounded, and died. He was fifty-eight years old.
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子三人，長輔，次輗。 次軏，從子信。 輔自有傳。
He had three sons: the eldest, Fu; the second, Yi. The third, Yue; and a nephew, Xin. Fu has his own biography.
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子輗等
The Sons: Yi and Others
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輗，以功臣子為神策衛指揮使。 正統五年，英國公輔訴輗毆守墳者，斥及先臣，詞多悖慢。 帝命錦衣衛鞫實，錮之，尋釋。 三遷至中府右都督，領宿衛。 景泰三年加太子太保。 英宗復位，以軏迎立功，並封輗文安伯，食祿千二百石。 天順六年卒。 贈侯，謚忠僖。 子斌嗣，坐詛咒，奪爵。
Yi, as the son of a meritorious minister, was appointed commander of the Divine Strategy Guard. In the fifth year of Zhengtong the Duke of Ying, Fu, accused Yi of assaulting tomb guardians and speaking insolently of their late father. The emperor ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate, imprisoned him, and soon released him. After three promotions he became Right Regional Commander of the Central Military Commission and commanded the palace guard. In the third year of Jingtai he was made Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince. When Emperor Ying was restored, Yi was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wen'an with an income of twelve hundred piculs, sharing in the credit for Yue's role in the restoration. He died in the sixth year of Tianshun. He was posthumously made a marquis with the posthumous name Zhongxi. His son Bin succeeded him but was stripped of the title for sorcery.
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信，舉建文二年鄉試第一。 永樂中，歷刑科都給事中，數言事。 擢工部右侍郎。 奉命視開封決河，請疏魚王口至中灤故道二十餘里。 詔如其議，詳《宋禮傳》。 出治浙江海塘，坐事謫交阯。 洪熙初，召為兵部左侍郎。 帝嘗謂英國公輔：「有兄弟可加恩者乎？」 輔頓首言：「輗、軏蒙上恩，備近侍，然皆奢侈。 獨從兄侍郎信賢，可使也。」 帝召見信曰：「是英國公兄耶？」 趣武冠冠之，改錦衣衛指揮同知，世襲。 時去開國未遠，武階重故也。 居職以平恕稱。 宣德六年遷四川都指揮僉事。 在蜀十五年致仕。
Xin placed first in the provincial examinations of the second year of Jianwen. Under Yongle he rose to supervising secretary of the Penal Branch and frequently memorialized the throne. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Works. Commissioned to inspect the Yellow River breach at Kaifeng, he proposed reopening the old channel from Yuwang Mouth to Zhongluan, more than twenty li in length. The emperor approved his plan; see the biography of Song Li for details. Sent to repair Zhejiang's sea dikes, he was banished to Jiaozhi for an offense. At the start of the Hongxi reign he was recalled as Left Vice Minister of War. The emperor once asked the Duke of Ying, Fu, "Are there brothers of yours who deserve favor? Fu kowtowed and replied, "Yi and Yue have enjoyed Your Majesty's grace as palace attendants, but both are extravagant. Only my cousin, Vice Minister Xin, is worthy of trust. The emperor summoned Xin and asked, "Are you the Duke of Ying's elder cousin? He had a military cap placed on his head at once, appointed him Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and made the post hereditary. The founding was still recent, and military rank still carried great weight. In office he was known for fairness and leniency. In the sixth year of Xuande he was transferred to assistant regional commander of Sichuan. After fifteen years in Sichuan he retired.
17
朱能，字士弘，懷遠人。 父亮，從太祖渡江，積功至燕山護衛副千戶。 能嗣職，事成祖藩邸。 嘗從北征，降元太尉乃兒不花。
Zhu Neng, styled Shihong, was a native of Huaiyuan. His father Liang had followed the Hongwu Emperor across the Yangzi and risen to vice thousand-household of the Yan Mountain Guard. Neng inherited the post and served in the prince's household. On a northern campaign he accepted the surrender of the Yuan Grand Preceptor Nayir Buqa.
18
燕兵起，與張玉首謀殺張昺、謝貴，奪九門。 授指揮同知。 帥眾拔薊州，殺馬宣，下遵化。 從破雄縣，戰月漾橋，執楊松、潘忠，降其眾於鄚州。 長驅至真定，大敗耿炳文軍。 獨與敢死士三十騎追奔至滹沱河，躍馬大呼突南軍，軍數萬人皆披靡，蹂藉死者甚眾，降三千余人。 成祖以手劄勞之，進都指揮僉事。 從援永平，走吳高，襲克大寧。 還，將左軍，破李景隆於鄭村壩。 從攻廣昌、蔚州、大同，戰白溝河，為前鋒，再敗平安軍。 進攻濟南，次鏵山。 南軍乘高而陣，能以奇兵繞其後，襲破之，降萬余人。 從攻滄州，破東門入，斬首萬余級。 東昌之戰，盛庸、鐵鉉圍成祖數重。 張玉戰死。 事急，能帥周長等殊死鬥，翼成祖潰圍出。 復從戰夾河，譚淵死，燕師挫。 能至，再戰再捷，軍復振。 與平安戰槁城，敗之。 追奔至真定，略地彰德、定州，破西水寨。 將輕騎千人掠衡水，獲指揮賈榮。 克東阿、東平，盡破汶上諸寨。 既而王真戰死淝河，燕軍屢敗。 諸將議旋師，能獨按劍曰：「漢高十戰九敗，終有天下。 今舉事連得勝。 小挫輒歸，更能北面事人耶！」 成祖亦叱諸將曰：「任公等所之！」 諸將乃不敢言。 遂引兵南，敗平安銀牌軍。 都督陳暉來援，又敗之。 遂拔靈璧軍，擒平安等，降十萬眾。 累遷右軍都督僉事。 進克泗州，渡淮，敗盛庸兵。 拔盱眙，下揚州，渡江，入金川門。
When the rebellion began, he and Zhang Yu first plotted to kill Zhang Bing and Xie Gui and seize the nine gates. He was appointed vice commander. He led the troops to take Jizhou, kill Ma Xuan, and secure Zunhua. He helped storm Xiong County, fought at Yueyang Bridge, captured Yang Song and Pan Zhong, and accepted the surrender of their troops at Mozhou. He marched straight to Zhending and routed Geng Bingwen's army. With only thirty daredevil horsemen he pursued the fugitives to the Hutuo River, spurred his horse forward with a great shout, and charged the southern army of tens of thousands, which broke and fled; countless were trampled to death, and more than three thousand surrendered. The prince commended him in a personal letter and promoted him to assistant regional commander. He helped relieve Yongping, drove off Wu Gao, and took Daning by surprise. On the return march he commanded the left army and defeated Li Jinglong at Zhengcun Dam. He campaigned at Guangchang, Yuzhou, and Datong, fought at the White Ditch River as vanguard, and twice defeated Ping'an's army. Advancing on Jinan, he encamped at Huashan. When the southern army drew up on the heights, he sent a flanking force around their rear, routed them, and accepted the surrender of more than ten thousand men. At Cangzhou he broke through the east gate and slew more than ten thousand men. At the battle of Dongchang, Sheng Yong and Tie Xuan surrounded the prince in layer after layer. Zhang Yu was killed in battle. When the situation grew desperate, Neng led Zhou Chang and others in a desperate fight and helped the prince break out of the encirclement. He fought again at Jiahe, where Tan Yuan was killed and the Yan army suffered a setback. When Neng arrived, he won battle after battle and the army's spirits revived. He fought Ping'an at Gaocheng and defeated him. He pursued the fleeing enemy to Zhending, seized territory in Zhangde and Dingzhou, and stormed the West Water stockade. At the head of a thousand light cavalry he raided Hengshui and captured Commander Jia Rong. He captured Dong'e and Dongping and swept away all the stockades around Wenshang. Soon afterward Wang Zhen was killed in battle at the Fei River, and the Yan army suffered defeat after defeat. When the generals talked of withdrawing, Neng alone gripped his sword and said, "Emperor Gaozu of Han lost nine battles out of ten, yet in the end he won the empire. Our cause has won victory after victory. Are we to turn back at the first setback and then go north again to serve another master?" The prince also shouted at his generals, "Go wherever you like, gentlemen!" The generals then fell silent. He then marched south and defeated Ping'an's Silver Plaque army. Regional Commander Chen Hui came to the rescue, and Neng defeated him as well. He then captured the army at Lingbi, seized Ping'an and others, and accepted the surrender of one hundred thousand troops. He was promoted to assistant regional commander in the Right Army. He advanced to take Sizhou, crossed the Huai River, and defeated Sheng Yong's army. He captured Xuyi, took Yangzhou, crossed the Yangtze, and entered the capital through Jinchuan Gate.
19
九月甲申論功，次邱福。 授奉天靖難推誠宣力武臣、特進榮祿大夫、右柱國、左軍都督府左都督，封成國公，祿二千二百石，與世券。 永樂二年兼太子太傅，加祿千石。 四年七月詔能佩征夷將軍印，西平侯沐晟為左副將軍，由廣西、雲南分道討安南，帝親送之龍江。 十月行次龍州，卒於軍。 年三十七。
On the jiashen day of the ninth month the prince rewarded his generals; Neng ranked second only to Qiu Fu. He was made a fengtian jingnan merit lord, specially promoted to Grand Master of Glorious Emolument, given the second-rank title Pillar of the State, appointed left regional commander of the Left Army Directorate, enfeoffed as Duke of Cheng, granted an annual stipend of 2,200 shi, and awarded a hereditary warrant of protection. In 1404 he was made Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent and granted an additional 1,000 shi per year. In July 1406 the emperor ordered Neng to take the seal of General Who Pacifies the Barbarians, with the Marquis of Xiping, Mu Sheng, as his deputy; they were to invade Annam by separate routes through Guangxi and Yunnan, and the emperor personally saw them off at Longjiang. In October, while the army was encamped at Longzhou, he died on campaign. He was thirty-seven years old.
20
能於諸將中年最少，善戰，張玉善謀，帝倚為左右手。 玉歿後，軍中進止悉諮能。 能身長八尺。 雄毅開豁，居家孝友。 位列上公，未嘗以富貴驕人。 善撫士卒。 卒之日，將校皆為流涕。 敕葬昌平，追封東平王，謚武烈。 洪熙時，配享成祖廟廷。
Neng was the youngest of the leading generals and excelled in battle, while Zhang Yu excelled in strategy; the emperor relied on both as his right and left hands. After Zhang Yu's death, every movement of the army was decided on Neng's advice. Neng stood eight chi tall. Heroic and open-hearted by nature, he was filial and devoted to his family at home. Though he stood among the highest nobility, he never let rank and wealth make him arrogant toward others. He treated his soldiers with great kindness. When he died, officers and commanders throughout the ranks wept. The emperor ordered him buried at Changping, posthumously enfeoffed him as Prince of Dongping, and granted him the posthumous title Wulie, "Fierce in War." In the Hongxi reign he was granted a place in the sacrifices at the temple of the Chengzu emperor.
21
勇赪面虬須，狀貌甚偉，勇略不足，而敬禮士大夫。 十四年從駕至土木，迎戰鷂兒嶺，中伏死，所帥五萬騎皆沒。 于謙等追論勇罪，奪封。 景泰元年，勇子儀乞葬祭。 帝以勇大將，喪師辱國，致陷乘輿，不許。 已，請襲。 禮部尚書胡濙主之，又以立東宮恩得嗣，減歲祿至千石。 天順初，追封勇平陰王，謚武湣。 儀及子輔皆守備南京。
Yong had a ruddy face and curling whiskers and cut a towering figure, but he lacked courage and strategic skill—though he was always respectful toward the scholar-official class. In 1449 he accompanied the emperor to Tumu, met the Mongols in battle at Yao'er Ridge, and was killed in an ambush along with all fifty thousand cavalry under his command. Yu Qian and others reviewed Yong's crimes and stripped him of his title. In 1450 Yong's son Yi petitioned for permission to bury his father and perform sacrificial rites. The emperor refused, on the grounds that Yong, as a senior commander, had lost his army, shamed the empire, and brought about the emperor's capture. Later Yi petitioned to inherit his father's title. Minister of Rites Hu Ying supported the petition, and Yi was permitted to inherit the title owing to the grace shown when the Eastern Palace was established, though his annual stipend was reduced to 1,000 shi. At the start of the Tianshun reign Yong was posthumously enfeoffed as Prince of Pingyin with the posthumous title Wumin, "Warlike and Lamentable." Yi and his son Fu both served as commanders of the Nanjing garrison.
22
又三傳至希忠，從世宗幸承天，掌行在左府事。 至衛輝，行宮夜火，希忠與都督陸炳翼帝出，由是被恩遇，入直西苑。 歷掌後、右兩府，總神機營，提督十二團營及五軍營，累加太師，益歲祿七百石。 代郊天者三十九，賞賚不可勝紀。 卒，追封定襄王，謚恭靖。 萬歷十一年，以給事中余懋學言，追奪王爵。 弟希孝亦至都督，加太保。 卒，贈太傅，謚忠僖。
Three generations later the line reached Xizhong, who accompanied the Jiajing emperor on a visit to Chengtian and administered affairs of the Left Military Directorate at the traveling court. At Weihui a fire broke out in the traveling palace at night; Xizhong and Regional Commander Lu Bing helped the emperor to safety, and from then on he enjoyed the emperor's special favor and entered service in the Western Park. He successively commanded the Rear and Right Military Directorates, oversaw the Divine Engine Corps and the twelve regiment camps and Five Armies camps, was repeatedly promoted to Grand Preceptor, and received an additional stipend of 700 shi per year. He stood in for the emperor at thirty-nine suburban sacrifices to Heaven, and the rewards he received were beyond counting. When he died he was posthumously enfeoffed as Prince of Dingxiang with the posthumous title Gongjing, "Respectful and Tranquil." In 1583, on the memorial of supervising secretary Yu Maoxue, his princely title was posthumously revoked. His younger brother Xixiao also rose to regional commander and was made Grand Guardian. After his death he was posthumously made Grand Mentor with the posthumous title Zhongxi, "Loyal and Gentle."
23
希忠五傳至曾孫純臣，崇禎時見倚任。 李自成薄京師，帝手刺純臣總督中外諸軍，輔太子。 敕未下，城已陷，為賊所殺。
Five generations after Xizhong the line reached his great-great-grandson Chunchen, who in the Chongzhen reign was highly trusted by the throne. When Li Zicheng closed in on Beijing, the emperor personally wrote orders naming Chunchen supreme commander of all armies within and beyond the capital and assistant to the crown prince. Before the order could be issued the city had already fallen, and he was killed by the rebels.
24
邱福，鳳陽人。 起卒伍，事成祖藩邸。 積年勞，授燕山中護衛千戶。 燕師起，與朱能、張玉首奪九門。 大戰真定，突入子城。 戰白溝河，以勁卒搗中堅。 夾河、滄州、靈璧諸大戰，皆為軍鋒。 盛庸兵扼淮，戰艦數千艘蔽淮岸。 福與朱能將數百人，西行二十里，自上流潛濟，猝薄南軍。 庸驚走，盡奪其戰艦，軍乃得渡。 累遷至中軍都督同知。
Qiu Fu was a native of Fengyang. He rose from the ranks and served in the prince of Yan's household. After years of service he was made a chiliarch in the prince's bodyguard. When the Yan army rose in rebellion, he was among the first, with Zhu Neng and Zhang Yu, to seize the nine gates of Beijing. At the great battle of Zhending he broke into the inner city. At the White Ditch River he led crack troops in a thrust against the enemy center. At Jiahe, Cangzhou, Lingbi, and other major engagements he always served at the head of the army. Sheng Yong's army held the Huai River line, with thousands of warships crowding the riverbank. Fu and Zhu Neng took several hundred men twenty li upstream, crossed the river in secret, and suddenly fell upon the southern army. Sheng Yong fled in panic; they captured his entire fleet, and the Yan army was able to cross the river. He rose through repeated promotions to vice regional commander of the Central Army.
25
福為人樸戇鷙勇，謀畫智計不如玉，敢戰深入與能埒。 每戰勝，諸將爭前效虜獲，福獨後。 成祖每嘆曰：「丘將軍功，我自知之。」 即位，大封功臣，第福為首。 授奉天靖難推誠宣力武臣、特進榮祿大夫、右柱國、中軍都督府左都督，封淇國公，祿二千五百石，與世券。 命議諸功臣封賞，每奉命議政，皆首福。
Fu was plainspoken, blunt, and ferocious in battle; he could not match Zhang Yu in strategy, but in bold charges and deep pursuit he was the equal of Zhu Neng. After every victory the other generals raced forward to present captives and booty, but Fu always held back. The prince often sighed and said, "General Qiu's achievements—I know them well myself." After ascending the throne he enfeoffed his merit lords, ranking Fu first among them all. He was made a fengtian jingnan merit lord, specially promoted to Grand Master of Glorious Emolument, given the second-rank title Pillar of the State, appointed left regional commander of the Central Army Directorate, enfeoffed as Duke of Qi, granted an annual stipend of 2,500 shi, and awarded a hereditary warrant of protection. Whenever the court deliberated on rewards for the merit lords or on matters of state, Fu was always listed first.
26
漢王高煦數將兵有功，成祖愛之。 福武人，與之善，數勸立為太子。 帝猶豫久之，竟立仁宗。 以福為太子太師。 六年加歲祿千石。 尋命與蹇義、金忠等輔導皇長孫。 明年七月將大軍出塞，至臚朐河，敗沒。
The prince of Han, Zhu Gaoxu, had repeatedly led troops to victory, and Chengzu favored him. Fu, a military man, was on close terms with Gaoxu and repeatedly urged the emperor to make him crown prince. The emperor wavered for a long time but ultimately established the heir who would become the Renzong emperor. Fu was appointed Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. In 1408 his annual stipend was increased by 1,000 shi. Soon afterward he was ordered, together with Jian Yi, Jin Zhong, and others, to tutor the emperor's eldest grandson. The following July he led a major army beyond the frontier; at the Lulut River his force was annihilated.
27
先是，本雅失裏殺使臣郭驥，帝大怒，發兵討之。 命福佩征虜大將軍印，充總兵官。 武城侯王聰、同安侯火真為左、右副將，靖安侯王忠、安平侯李遠為左、右參將，以十萬騎行。 帝慮福輕敵，諭以：「兵事須慎重。 自開平以北，即不見寇。 宜時時如對敵，相機進止，不可執一。 一舉未捷，俟再舉。」 已行，又連賜敕，謂軍中有言敵易取者，慎勿信之。 福出塞，帥千余人先至臚朐河南。 遇遊騎，擊敗之，遂渡河。 獲其尚書一人，飲之酒，問本雅失裏所在。 尚書言：「聞大兵來，惶恐北走，去此可三十里。」 福大喜曰：「當疾馳擒之。」 諸將請俟諸軍集，偵虛實而後進。 福不從。 以尚書為鄉導，直薄敵營。 戰二日，每戰，敵輒佯敗引去，福銳意乘之。 李遠諫曰：「將軍輕信敵閑，懸軍轉鬥。 敵示弱誘我深入，進必不利，退則懼為所乘，獨可結營自固。 晝揚旗伐鼓，出奇兵與挑戰； 夜多燃炬鳴炮，張軍勢，使彼莫測。 俟我軍畢至，併力攻之，必捷。 否，亦可全師而還。 始上與將軍言何如，而遂忘之乎？」 王聰亦力言不可。 福皆不聽，厲聲曰：「違命者斬！」 即先馳，麾士卒隨行。 控馬者皆泣下。 諸將不得已與俱。 俄而敵大至，圍之數重。 聰戰死，福及諸將皆被執遇害，年六十七，一軍皆沒。 敗聞，帝震怒。 以諸將無足任者，決計親征。 奪福世爵，徙其家海南。
Earlier, the Mongol leader Benyashiri had killed the envoy Guo Ji, and the emperor, furious, launched a punitive campaign. Fu was ordered to take the seal of Great General Who Conquers the Barbarians and serve as supreme commander. The Marquis of Wucheng Wang Cong and the Marquis of Tong'an Huo Zhen served as his deputies, the Marquis of Jing'an Wang Zhong and the Marquis of Anping Li Yuan as staff generals, and the army marched with one hundred thousand cavalry. Fearing that Fu would underestimate the enemy, the emperor instructed him: "Military affairs demand the utmost caution. From Kaiping northward, if you do not see the enemy, you must always act as if the enemy were before you, advancing or holding back as circumstances require, and never cling stubbornly to one approach. If the first strike fails, wait and strike again." After the army had marched, the emperor sent a series of edicts warning that if anyone in the ranks said the enemy would be easy to defeat, Fu must on no account believe it. Fu crossed the frontier and, leading more than a thousand men, reached the south bank of the Lulut River ahead of the main force. He encountered enemy scouts, routed them, and crossed the river. He captured a Mongol minister, gave him wine, and asked where Benyashiri was. The minister said, "When he heard the great army was coming he fled north in terror; he is about thirty li from here." Fu was overjoyed and said, "We must ride hard and capture him at once." The other generals urged him to wait for the main army to assemble, scout the enemy's strength, and then advance. Fu refused. Using the minister as his guide, he pressed straight into the enemy camp. For two days they fought; each time the enemy feigned retreat, and Fu eagerly pressed the pursuit. Li Yuan remonstrated: "General, you have too readily believed the enemy's disinformation and are fighting on and on with an isolated force. They are feigning weakness to lure us deeper; to advance will bring disaster, and to retreat risks being overrun. We should encamp and hold our ground. By day we should fly banners and beat drums, send out flanking detachments to skirmish and provoke them; by night burn torches and fire cannon to display our strength and keep the enemy guessing. Wait until our full force arrives, then strike with combined strength — we are sure to prevail. If not, we can still withdraw with the army intact. What did His Majesty tell you at the outset, General — and have you forgotten it already?" Wang Cong also argued strenuously against it. Fu refused to heed any of them and shouted, "Whoever disobeys orders will be executed!" Then he spurred ahead and ordered the troops to follow. The men holding the horses wept as they watched. The other generals had no choice but to go with him. Before long the enemy came in overwhelming numbers and surrounded them layer upon layer. Cong was killed in battle; Fu and the other generals were captured and put to death. Fu was sixty-seven. The entire army was annihilated. When word of the disaster reached the court, the emperor was furious. Concluding that no general was equal to the task, he decided to lead the campaign himself. Fu's hereditary title was revoked and his family was exiled to Hainan.
28
李遠王忠王聰火真
Li Yuan, Wang Zhong, Wang Cong, and Huo Zhen
29
李遠，懷遠人。 襲父職為蔚州衛指揮僉事。 燕兵攻蔚州，舉城降。 南軍駐德州，運道出徐、沛間。 遠以輕兵六千，詐為南軍袍鎧，人插柳一枝於背，徑濟寧、沙河至沛，無覺者。 焚糧舟數萬，河水盡熱，魚鱉皆浮死。 南將袁宇三萬騎來追，伏兵擊敗之。 建文四年正月，燕軍駐蠡縣。 遠分哨至槁城，遇德州將葛進步騎萬余，乘冰渡滹沱河。 遠迎擊之。 進系馬林間，以步兵接戰。 遠佯卻，潛分兵出其後，解所系馬，再戰。 進引退失馬，遂大敗。 斬首四千，獲馬千匹。 成祖以歲首大捷，賜書嘉勞曰：「將軍以輕騎八百，破敵數萬，出奇應變，雖古名將不過也。」 復遣哨淮上，敗守淮將士，斬千余級。 累功為都督僉事，封安平侯，祿千石，予世伯券。 永樂元年，偕武安侯鄭亨備宣府。
Li Yuan was a native of Huaiyuan. He inherited his father's post as assistant commander of the Weizhou Guard. When the Prince of Yan's army attacked Weizhou, the city surrendered en masse. The southern army was encamped at Dezhou, and its supply line ran through the Xu and Pei region. Yuan led six thousand light troops disguised in southern army armor, each man with a willow sprig thrust through the back of his collar, and marched straight through Jining and Shahe to Pei without being detected. They burned tens of thousands of grain barges; the river grew scalding hot, and fish and turtles floated up dead. The southern general Yuan Yu pursued with thirty thousand cavalry, but Yuan's ambush routed him. In the first month of the fourth year of the Jianwen reign, the Yan army was encamped at Li County. Yuan sent out scouts toward Gaocheng and encountered the Dezhou general Ge Jin with more than ten thousand foot and horse soldiers crossing the frozen Hutuo River. Yuan rode out to meet and attack him. Jin tethered his horses in the woods and fought with infantry. Yuan feigned retreat, then secretly sent men around behind the enemy, cut loose their tethered horses, and attacked again. Jin fell back without his horses and was routed. Four thousand heads were taken and a thousand horses captured. The Prince of Yan, delighted by this opening victory of the year, sent a letter of commendation: "With eight hundred light cavalry you routed an enemy tens of thousands strong — striking by surprise and adapting to circumstance. Even the greatest generals of antiquity could have done no better." He then sent scouts along the Huai, defeated the garrison there, and took more than a thousand heads. For accumulated merit he was made assistant regional commander, enfeoffed as Marquis of Anping with an income of one thousand shi, and granted a hereditary patent of nobility. In the first year of the Yongle reign, he joined the Marquis of Wu'an, Zheng Heng, in garrisoning Xuanfu.
30
遠沈毅有膽略，言論慷慨。 既從邱福出塞，至臚朐河。 諫福，不聽，師敗。 遠帥五百騎突陣，殺數百人，馬蹶被執，罵不絕口死。 年四十六。 追封莒國公，謚忠壯。
Yuan was resolute and bold, a man of daring and strategy who spoke with passionate conviction. He followed Qiu Fu beyond the frontier to the Lulut River. He remonstrated with Fu, but Fu would not listen, and the army was destroyed. Yuan led five hundred cavalry in a charge through the enemy ranks and killed several hundred men before his horse stumbled and he was captured; he died cursing without pause. He was forty-six. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Ju, with the posthumous name Loyal and Valiant.
31
子安，嗣伯爵。 洪熙元年為交阯參將，失律，謫為事官。 已，從王通棄交阯還，下獄奪券，謫赤城，立功。 英宗即位，起都督僉事。 征阿臺朵兒只伯。 遷都督同知，充總兵官，鎮松潘。 正統六年，副定西伯蔣貴征麓川。 貴令安駐軍潞江護餉，而自帥大軍進。 賊破。 安恥無功，聞有餘賊屯高黎貢山，徑往擊之。 為所敗，失士卒千餘人，都指揮趙斌等皆死。 逮下獄，謫戍獨石。 卒。 詔授子清都指揮同知。
His son An inherited the earldom. In the first year of the Hongxi reign he served as deputy commander in Jiaozhi; after a breach of discipline he was demoted to penal service. Later, when he withdrew from Jiaozhi with Wang Tong, he was imprisoned, stripped of his patent, and exiled to Chicheng, where he earned merit in service. When Emperor Yingzong came to the throne, he was restored to the rank of assistant regional commander. He took part in the campaign against Atai Duo'erzhibo. He was promoted to vice regional commander, appointed supreme commander, and stationed at Songpan. In the sixth year of the Zhengtong reign he served under the Earl of Dingxi, Jiang Gui, in the Luchuan campaign. Gui ordered An to hold Lujiang and guard the supply line while he led the main army forward. The rebels were defeated. Ashamed of having won no glory, An heard that remnant rebels were encamped on Gaoligong Mountain and marched straight against them. He was defeated, losing more than a thousand men; the regional commander Zhao Bin and others were killed. He was arrested, imprisoned, and exiled to garrison duty at Dushi. He died there. By imperial edict his son Qing was appointed vice regional commander.
32
王忠，孝感人。 與李遠同降於蔚州。 每戰，帥精騎為奇兵，多斬獲。 累遷都督僉事，封靖安侯，祿千石。 出塞戰歿，年五十一，爵除。
Wang Zhong was a native of Xiaogan. He surrendered at Weizhou together with Li Yuan. In every battle he led elite cavalry as a flanking force and won many kills and captures. For accumulated merit he rose to assistant regional commander and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Jing'an with an income of one thousand shi. He died in battle beyond the frontier at the age of fifty-one, and his title was revoked.
33
王聰，蘄水人。 以燕山中護衛百戶從起兵。 取薊州，攻遵化，徇涿州。 轉戰茌平、滑口，破南軍，獲馬千五百。 還守保定。 從次江上，略南軍舟濟師。 累遷都指揮使。 封武城侯，祿千五百石。 偕同安侯火真備禦宣府。 屢奉詔巡邊。 從邱福出塞，戰死，年五十三。 追封漳國公，謚武毅。 子琰嗣。 聰及遠嘗諫福，故得褒恤。
Wang Cong was a native of Qishui. As a centurion of the Yan Mountain Central Guard he joined the prince's uprising. He captured Jizhou, assaulted Zunhua, and swept through Zhuozhou. He fought at Chiping and Huakou, routed the southern army, and captured fifteen hundred horses. He then returned to hold Baoding. He followed the prince down to the Yangtze, seized southern boats, and ferried the army across. For accumulated merit he rose to regional commander. He was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wucheng with an income of fifteen hundred shi. Together with the Marquis of Tong'an, Huo Zhen, he garrisoned Xuanfu. He was repeatedly ordered to patrol the frontier. He followed Qiu Fu beyond the frontier and was killed in battle at the age of fifty-three. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Zhang, with the posthumous name Martial and Resolute. His son Yan succeeded to the title. Because Cong and Yuan had remonstrated with Fu, they received posthumous honors.
34
火真，蒙古人，初名火裏火真。 洪武時歸附，為燕山中護衛千戶。 從攻真定，先馳突耿炳文陣，大軍乘之，遂捷。 從襲大寧，戰鄭村壩。 日暝，天甚寒，真斂敝鞍爇火成祖前。 甲士數人趨附火，衛士止之。 成祖曰：「吾衣重裘猶寒。 此皆壯士，勿止也。」 聞者感泣。 真嘗將騎兵，每戰輒有斬獲，呼噪歸營，眾服其勇。 累遷都督僉事，封同安侯，祿千五石。 出塞戰歿，年六十一。 爵除。 子孫世襲觀海衛千戶。
Huo Zhen was a Mongol whose original name was Huolihuo Zhen. He submitted to the Ming during the Hongwu reign and became a chiliarch of the Yan Mountain Central Guard. At the attack on Zhending he galloped ahead and broke into Geng Bingwen's lines; the main army pressed the advantage and won. He took part in the surprise attack on Da Ning and fought at Zheng Village Dam. At dusk, in bitter cold, Zhen gathered worn saddles and built a fire before the prince. Several armored soldiers pressed toward the fire, but the guards held them back. The prince said, "Even wrapped in heavy furs I am cold. These are brave men — let them come." Those who heard wept with gratitude. Zhen often led cavalry; in every battle he won kills and captures, returning to camp with shouts of triumph, and all admired his courage. For accumulated merit he rose to assistant regional commander and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Tong'an with an income of fifteen hundred shi. He died in battle beyond the frontier at the age of sixty-one. His title was revoked. His descendants inherited in perpetuity the post of chiliarch of the Guanhai Guard.
35
裔孫斌，嘉靖中武舉。 倭寇浙東，帥海舟與賊戰。 賊然火球擲斌舟，斌輒手接之，還燒賊舟。 賊屯補陀山，斌直搗其營，多殺傷。 後軍不繼，被擒。 不屈，賊支解之。 官為建祠曰「忠勇」。
A distant descendant, Bin, passed the military examination during the Jiajing reign. When Japanese pirates raided eastern Zhejiang, he led a fleet against them. The pirates threw burning fireballs at Bin's vessel; he caught them bare-handed and hurled them back to set their ships ablaze. When the pirates encamped on Putuo Mountain, Bin attacked their camp directly and killed or wounded many. When the rear guard failed to come up, he was captured. He refused to submit, and the pirates dismembered him. The government built a shrine in his honor named Loyal and Brave.
36
譚淵，清流人。 嗣父職為燕山右護衛副千戶。 燕兵起，從奪九門。 破雄縣。 潘忠、楊松自鄚州來援，淵帥壯士千餘人，伏月漾橋水中，人持茭草一束，蒙頭通鼻息。 南軍已過，即出據橋。 忠等戰敗，趨橋不得渡，遂被擒。 累進都指揮同知。
Tan Yuan was a native of Qingliu. He inherited his father's post as deputy chiliarch of the Yan Mountain Right Guard. When the prince's army rose, he took part in seizing the Nine Gates of Beijing. He captured Xiong County. When Pan Zhong and Yang Song marched from Mozhou to relieve the city, Yuan led more than a thousand picked men in ambush beneath the waters of Yueyang Bridge, each holding a bundle of rushes over his head to breathe through. Once the southern army had passed, they rose from the water and seized the bridge. Zhong and his men were defeated; racing for the bridge they found it held and were captured. For accumulated merit he rose to vice regional commander.
37
淵驍勇善戰，引兩石弓，射無不中。 然性嗜殺。 滄州破，成祖命給牒散降卒。 未遣者三千餘人，待明給牒。 淵一夜盡殺之。 王怒。 淵曰：「此曹皆壯士，釋之為後患。」 王曰：「如爾言，當盡殺敵。 敵可盡乎？」 淵慚而退。
Yuan was a fierce and capable fighter who could draw a two-stone bow and never missed his mark. Yet he had a bloodthirsty nature. After Cangzhou fell, Chen Zu ordered certificates issued and the surrendered troops sent home. More than three thousand who had not yet been released were waiting until morning for their papers. In a single night Yuan slaughtered them all. The prince was furious. Yuan said, "These are all fighting men; if we let them go they will be trouble later." The prince replied, "By that logic you ought to kill every enemy. Can you ever kill them all?" Yuan withdrew in shame.
38
夾河之戰，南軍陣動塵起。 淵遽前搏戰，馬蹶被殺。 成祖悼惜之。 即位，贈都指揮使，追封崇安侯，謚壯節，立祠祀之。
At the Battle of Jiahe, the southern army's lines shifted and dust billowed up. Yuan charged forward to fight hand to hand; his horse stumbled and he was killed. Chen Zu mourned his loss deeply. When Chen Zu took the throne, he posthumously made Yuan regional commander, enfeoffed him as Marquis of Chong'an with the posthumous name Zhuangjie, and had a shrine built in his honor.
39
子忠，從入京師有功。 又以淵故封新寧伯，祿千石。 永樂二十一年，將右哨從征沙漠。 宣德元年從征樂安。 三年坐征交阯失律，下獄論死，已得釋，卒。 子璟乞嗣。 吏部言忠罪死，不當襲。 帝曰：「券有免死文，其予嗣。」 再傳至孫祐。 成化中，協守南京。 還，掌前府提督團營，累加太傅，嗣伯，六十九年始卒。 謚莊僖。 子綸嗣。 嘉靖十四年鎮湖廣，剿九溪蠻有功，益祿。 坐占役軍士奪爵。 數傳至弘業，國亡，死於賊。
His son Zhong distinguished himself in the march on the capital. In recognition of Yuan's service he was enfeoffed as Earl of Xinning with an income of one thousand shi. In the twenty-first year of Yongle he led the right vanguard on the desert campaign. In the first year of Xuande he took part in the campaign against Le'an. In the third year he was imprisoned and sentenced to death for misconduct during the Jiaozhi campaign; he was released before he died. His son Jing petitioned to inherit the title. The Ministry of Personnel argued that because Zhong had been sentenced to death, the title should not pass down. The emperor said, "The warrant of mercy contains a clause sparing his life; let the succession go to his heir." The title passed through two more generations to his grandson You. During the Chenghua reign he served as co-garrison commander of Nanjing. On his return he took command of the Front Guard and supervised the regiment camps, rose to Grand Tutor, inherited the earldom, and lived to sixty-nine before he died. He was posthumously named Zhuangxi. His son Lun succeeded him. In the fourteenth year of Jiajing he was posted to Huguang, where he distinguished himself suppressing the Jiuxi tribes and received an increase in stipend. He was stripped of his title for illegally impressing soldiers for private use. The line passed through several generations to Hongye, who was killed by rebels when the dynasty fell.
40
真勇健有智略。 成祖每追悼之曰：「奮武如王真，何功不成！ 不死，功當冠諸將。」 仁宗時，追封寧國公，加號效忠。 子通自有傳。
Zhen was brave, hardy, and resourceful. Chen Zu often mourned him, saying, "A man who fights like Wang Zhen—what could he not accomplish! Had he lived, his achievements would have surpassed every other general." Under Emperor Renzong he was posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Ningguo with the honorific title Xiaozhong. His son Tong has a separate biography.
41
燕師起，亨與劉真、卜萬守大寧。 移兵出松亭關，駐沙河，謀攻遵化。 燕兵至，退保關。 當是時，李景隆帥五十萬眾將攻北平。 北平勢弱，而大寧行都司所領興州、營州二十余衛，皆西北精銳； 朵顏、泰寧、福余三衛，元降將所統番騎廣卒，尤驍勇。 卜萬將與景隆軍合。 成祖懼，以計紿亨囚萬，遂從劉家口間道疾攻大寧。 亨及劉真自松亭回救，中道聞大寧破，乃與指揮徐理、陳文等謀降燕。 夜二鼓，襲劉真營。 真單騎走廣寧，亨等帥眾降。 成祖盡拔諸軍及三衛騎卒，挾寧王以歸。 自是沖鋒陷陣多三衛兵。 成祖取天下，自克大寧始。
When the prince's army rose, Heng, Liu Zhen, and Bu Wan held Daning. They marched out through Songting Pass, encamped at Shahe, and planned an attack on Zunhua. When the prince's army arrived, they fell back to defend the pass. At that time Li Jinglong was leading five hundred thousand men in an advance on Beiping. Beiping was dangerously weak, yet the more than twenty guards of Xingzhou and Yingzhou under the Daning Regional Military Commission were the finest troops of the northwest; and the three guards of Doyin, Taining, and Fuyu—barbarian cavalry under Yuan surrender generals—were especially fierce. Bu Wan was on the verge of linking up with Jinglong's army. Chen Zu, alarmed, tricked Heng into helping him imprison Wan, then struck Daning by a secret route through Liujiakou. Heng and Liu Zhen marched back from Songting to relieve the city, but halfway there learned that Daning had fallen; they then conspired with the commanders Xu Li, Chen Wen, and others to defect to the prince. At the second watch of the night they raided Liu Zhen's camp. Zhen fled alone on horseback to Guangning while Heng and the others brought their men over in surrender. Chen Zu marched off with every unit and the cavalry of the three guards, bringing the Prince of Ning with him. From then on his shock troops in the van were largely drawn from the three guards. Chen Zu's path to the throne began with the capture of Daning.
42
亨、理既降，累從破南軍。 白溝河之戰，亨中創幾死。 已，攻濟南，與平安戰鏵山，大敗。 創甚，輿還北平。 進都督同知。 成祖還軍，親詣亨第勞問。 其年十月卒。 成祖自為文以祭。 比即位，追封涇國公，謚襄敏。 長子恭，嗣都督同知。
Once Heng and Xu Li had defected, they fought repeatedly and helped break the southern armies. At the Battle of Baigou River Heng was badly wounded and nearly killed. Later, during the assault on Jinan, he fought Ping An at Huashan and suffered a crushing defeat. Badly wounded, he was carried back to Beiping in a litter. He was promoted to vice regional commander. When Chen Zu returned with the army, he went in person to Heng's home to comfort him. He died that October. Chen Zu wrote the funeral elegy and offered sacrifice himself. When Chen Zu took the throne, he posthumously enfeoffed Heng as Duke of Jing with the posthumous name Xiangmin. His eldest son Gong inherited the post of vice regional commander.
43
子懋
Son: Mao
44
少子懋，初以舍人從軍，立功為指揮僉事。 已而將亨兵，功多，累進右都督。 永樂元年，封寧陽伯，祿千石。 六年三月佩征西將軍印，鎮寧夏，善撫降卒。 明年秋，故元丞相昝卜及平章、司徒、國公、知院十余人，皆帥眾相繼來降。 已而平章都連等叛去，懋追擒之黑山，盡收所部人口畜牧。 進侯，益祿二百石。 八年從北征，督左掖。 十一年巡寧夏邊。 尋命將山西、陜西二都司及鞏昌、平涼諸衛兵，駐宣府。 明年從北征，領左哨。 戰忽失溫，與成山侯王通先登，都督朱崇等乘之，遂大捷。 明年復鎮寧夏。 二十年從北征。 領御前精騎破敵於屈裂河。 別將五千騎循河東北，捕余寇，殲之山澤中。 師還，武安侯鄭亨將輜重先行，懋伏隘以待。 敵來躡，伏起縱擊，敵死過半。 還京，賜龍衣玉帶，冊其女為麗妃。 明年將陜西、寧夏、甘肅三鎮兵，從征阿魯臺，為前鋒。 又明年復領前鋒，從北征。
The younger son Mao first entered service as a household attendant with the army; for his achievements he was made assistant commander. He later took command of Heng's troops, won many victories, and rose to right regional commander. In the first year of Yongle he was enfeoffed as Earl of Ningyang with an income of one thousand shi. In the third month of the sixth year he was invested with the seal of General Who Pacifies the West and posted to Ningxia, where he treated surrendered troops with great care. The following autumn more than ten former Yuan officials—including the chancellor Zan Bu, vice chancellors, ministers of education, dukes, and court directors—surrendered one after another with their followers. When the vice chancellor Du Lian and others later rebelled and fled, Mao pursued them to Heishan, captured them, and recovered all the people and livestock they had taken. He was promoted to marquis and his stipend increased by two hundred shi. In the eighth year he joined the northern campaign as commander of the left flank. In the eleventh year he inspected the Ningxia border. He was soon ordered to take command of the Shanxi and Shaanxi regional armies and the guards of Gongchang, Pingliang, and elsewhere, and to garrison Xuanfu. The following year he joined the northern campaign in command of the left vanguard. At the battle of Onon he and Wang Tong, Marquis of Chengshan, were first over the enemy lines; Zhu Chong and the other commanders pressed the attack, and the victory was complete. The following year he returned to garrison Ningxia. In the twentieth year he took part in the northern campaign. At the head of the emperor's picked cavalry he routed the enemy at the Qulie River. He then led five thousand horsemen northeast along the river, ran down the remaining raiders, and wiped them out in the hills and marshes. On the return march Zheng Heng, Marquis of Wu'an, moved ahead with the baggage train while Mao lay in ambush at a pass. When the enemy came in pursuit, his men sprang the ambush and cut them down; more than half were killed. Back in the capital he was rewarded with dragon robes and a jade belt, and his daughter was made Consort Li. The following year he led the armies of the Shaanxi, Ningxia, and Gansu garrisons against Aruqtai as vanguard. The year after that he again led the vanguard on the northern campaign.
45
英宗即位，命偕張輔參議朝政，出為平羌將軍，鎮甘肅。 其冬，寇掠鎮番，懋遣兵援之，解去，以斬獲聞。 參贊侍郎柴車劾懋失律致寇，又取所遺老弱，冒為都指揮馬亮等功受升賞，論斬。 詔免死，奪祿。 久之還祿，奉朝請。 十三年，福建賊鄧茂七反。 都御史張楷討之無功，乃詔懋佩征南將軍印，充總兵官，帥京營、江浙兵往討。 至浙江，有欲分兵扼海口者，懋曰：「是使賊致死於我也。」 明年抵建寧，茂七已死，余賊聚尤溪、沙縣。 諸將欲屠之，懋曰：「是堅賊心也。」 乃下令招撫，賊黨多降。 分道逐捕，悉平之。 已而沙縣賊復熾，久不定。 會英宗北狩，景帝立，遂詔班師。 言官劾之，以賊平不問。 仍加太保，掌中府，兼領宗人府事。 英宗復位，益祿二百石。 天順七年卒，年八十四。 贈浚國公，謚武靖。
When Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne, Mao was appointed to deliberate on state affairs with Zhang Fu, then sent out as General Who Pacifies the Qiang to garrison Gansu. That winter, when raiders struck Zhenfan, Mao sent reinforcements, drove them off, and reported kills and captures. The participating secretary Chai Che impeached Mao for lax command that had invited the raid, and for seizing the old and weak the enemy had abandoned and passing them off as the kills of regional commander Ma Liang and others to win promotion and reward; he was sentenced to death. An edict spared his life but stripped his stipend. After a time his stipend was restored and he resumed attendance at court. In the thirteenth year the Fujian rebel Deng Maoqi rose in revolt. When the censor-in-chief Zhang Kai failed to suppress him, Mao was invested with the seal of General Who Pacifies the South, made overall commander, and sent with the capital garrison and Jiangsu-Zhejiang troops to crush the rebellion. On reaching Zhejiang, some officers proposed dividing the force to block the river mouth; Mao said, "That would only drive the rebels to fight us to the death." The following year he reached Jianning; Maoqi was already dead, and the remaining rebels had gathered at Youxi and Shaxian. When the generals proposed massacring them, Mao said, "That would only steel their resolve." He ordered an offer of amnesty instead, and many rebels surrendered. He then sent columns in pursuit and brought the entire region under control. Soon the rebels in Shaxian flared up again and remained unsettled for a long time. Just then Emperor Yingzong was captured on the northern frontier and Emperor Jingdi took the throne; an edict recalled the army. Censorial officials impeached him, but because the rebels had been suppressed he was not punished. He was nonetheless promoted to Grand Guardian, placed in command of the Central Guard, and given concurrent charge of the Imperial Clan Court. When Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, his stipend was increased by two hundred shi. He died in the seventh year of Tianshun at the age of eighty-four. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Jun with the posthumous name Wujing.
46
懋修髯偉貌，聲如洪鐘。 胸次磊落，敬禮士大夫。 「靖難」功臣至天順時無在者，惟懋久享祿位，數廢數起，卒以功名終。
Mao wore a long beard and had a commanding presence; his voice rang like a great bell. He was open-hearted and magnanimous and treated scholar-officials with respect. Of the Jingnan merit lords, none survived to the Tianshun reign; only Mao long enjoyed rank and stipend, was dismissed and restored several times, and ended his career with honor intact.
47
長子晟有罪，弟潤嗣。 潤卒，弟瑛嗣，減祿之半，嗣侯。 十六年而晟子輔已長，乃令輔嗣，瑛免為勛衛。 輔後坐事失侯。 卒，無子。 復封瑛孫繼祖為侯，傳爵至明亡。
The eldest son Sheng was convicted of a crime, and the younger brother Run succeeded to the title. When Run died, his younger brother Ying succeeded with half the stipend and inherited the marquisate. Sixteen years later, when Sheng's son Fu had come of age, Fu was restored to the succession and Ying was made an imperial guard instead. Fu later lost the title for an offense. He died without an heir. Ying's grandson Jizu was enfeoffed as marquis again, and the line continued until the fall of the Ming.
48
徐理陳文房寬劉才
Xu Li, Chen Wen, Fang Kuan, and Liu Cai
49
徐理，西平人。 洪武時，為永清中護衛指揮僉事，改營州衛。 既降，為右軍副將。 每戰先登，有功。 成祖將襲滄州，命理及陳旭潛於直沽造浮橋，以濟師。 累進都指揮僉事，封武康伯。 還守北平。 理馭下寬，得士卒心。 永樂六年卒。 再傳至孫勇，無子絕封。
Xu Li was a native of Xiping. Under Hongwu he served as assistant commander of the Yongqing Central Guard and was later transferred to Yingzhou Guard. After he defected, he became deputy general of the Right Army. In every battle he was first over the wall and won distinction. When the prince planned to strike Cangzhou, he ordered Li and Chen Xu to build a pontoon bridge in secret at Zhigu to ferry the army across. He rose to assistant regional commander and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Wukang. He returned to garrison Beiping. Li ruled his men with leniency and won their loyalty. He died in the sixth year of Yongle. The title passed to his grandson Yong, who died without heirs and the line ended.
50
陳文，降後為前軍左副將。 戰小河，死於陣。
Chen Wen, after defecting, became left deputy general of the Forward Army. He was killed in battle at Xiaohe.
51
房寬，陳州人。 洪武中，以濟寧左衛指揮從徐達練兵北平，遂為北平都指揮同知，移守大寧。 寬在邊久，凡山川塞，殊域情偽，莫不畢知，然不能撫士卒。 燕兵奄至，城中縛寬以降。 成祖釋之，俾領其眾。 戰白溝河，將右軍，失利。 從克廣昌、彰德，進都督僉事。 以舊臣，略其過。 封思恩侯，祿八百石，世指揮使。 永樂七年卒。
Fang Kuan was a native of Chenzhou. Under Hongwu, as commander of Jining Left Guard he followed Xu Da to train troops at Beiping, became vice regional commander of Beiping, and was posted to guard Daning. Kuan spent many years on the frontier and knew every pass and foreign land intimately, yet he could not win his soldiers' affection. When the Yan army appeared suddenly, the garrison bound Kuan and surrendered. The prince released him and put him in command of his former troops. At the White Ditch River he commanded the Right Army and suffered a defeat. He helped take Guangchang and Zhangde and was promoted to assistant regional commander. As a veteran of long service, his faults were overlooked. He was enfeoffed as Marquis of Si'en with a stipend of eight hundred shi and a hereditary commander's rank. He died in the seventh year of Yongle.
52
劉才，字子才，霍丘人。 元末為元帥，明興歸附，歷營州中護衛指揮僉事。 燕師襲大寧，才降。 從戰有功，封廣恩伯，祿九百石，世指揮同知。 永樂八年，從北征，督右掖。 失律議罪，既而宥之。 二十一年偕隆平侯張信理永平、山海邊務。 明年復從北征，至懷來，以疾還。 才悃愊無華，不為茍合，亦不輕訾毀人，甚為仁宗所重。 宣德五年卒。
Liu Cai, styled Zicai, was a native of Huoqiu. At the end of the Yuan he was a marshal; when the Ming rose he submitted and served as assistant commander of Yingzhou Central Guard. When the Yan army struck Daning, Cai surrendered. He fought with distinction and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Guang'en with a stipend of nine hundred shi and a hereditary vice commander's rank. In the eighth year of Yongle he joined the northern campaign as supervisor of the right wing. He was found guilty of a disciplinary offense but was soon pardoned. In the twenty-first year he and the Marquis of Longping, Zhang Xin, were put in charge of border affairs at Yongping and Shanhaiguan. The following year he joined another northern campaign but turned back at Huailai because of illness. Cai was plain and sincere, would not curry favor, and did not lightly speak ill of others; the Hongxi Emperor held him in high regard. He died in the fifth year of Xuande.
53
贊曰：惠帝承太祖遺威余烈，國勢初張，仁聞昭宣，眾心悅附。 成祖奮起方隅，冒不韙以爭天下，未嘗有萬全之計也。 乃道衍首贊密謀，發機決策。 張玉、朱能之輩戮力行間，轉戰無前，隕身不顧。 於是收勁旅，摧雄師，四年而成帝業。 意者天之所興，群策群力，應時並濟。 諸人之得為功臣首也，可不謂厚幸哉！
The historian comments: Emperor Hui inherited the Hongwu Emperor's prestige when the dynasty was still rising in strength; his benevolence was proclaimed abroad, and the people were glad to follow him. The Yongle Emperor rose from a remote principality, defied convention to contest the throne, and never had a sure plan for victory. It was Daoyan who first urged the secret plot and shaped the decisive strategy. Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, and their comrades fought with desperate courage at the front, swept from battle to battle, and gave their lives without hesitation. Thus he gathered elite troops, shattered powerful armies, and won the empire in four years. Perhaps Heaven willed it; many minds and many hands answered the moment together. That these men came to rank among the foremost of the dynasty's merit lords—was this not extraordinary good fortune!