1
黃宗載顧佐 〈（邵玘陳勉賈諒嚴升）〉 段民 〈（吾紳）〉 章敞 〈（徐琦劉戩）〉 吳訥 〈（朱與言）〉 魏驥魯穆耿九疇軒輗 〈（陳復）〉 黃孔昭
Huang Zongzai and Gu Zuo (Shao Qi, Chen Mian, Jia Liang, and Yan Sheng)〉 Duan Min (Wu Shen)〉 Zhang Chang (Xu Qi and Liu Jian)〉 Wu Ne (Zhu Yuyan)〉 Wei Ji, Lu Mu, Geng Jiuchou, and Xuan Ni (Chen Fu)〉 Huang Kongzhao
2
黃宗載，一名垕，字厚夫，豐城人。 洪武三十年進士。 授行人。 奉使四方，未嘗受饋遺，累遷司正。
Huang Zongzai, also known as Hou, courtesy name Houfu, was a native of Fengcheng. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirtieth year of the Hongwu reign. He was appointed Supernumerary Clerk. On missions throughout the realm he never accepted gifts, and he rose repeatedly until he became Director of Ceremonies.
3
永樂初，以薦為湖廣按察司僉事。 巨奸宿猾多謫戍銅鼓、五開間，陰持官吏短長。 宗載榜數其罪，曰：「不改，必置之法。」 眾莫敢犯。 武陵多戎籍，民家慮與為婚姻徭賦將累己。 男女至年四十尚不婚。 宗載以理諭之，皆解悟，一時婚者三百余家。 鄰邑效之，其俗遂變。 征詣文淵閣修《永樂大典》。 書成，受賜還任。 董造海運巨艦數十艘，事辦而民不擾。 車駕北征，征兵湖廣，使者貪暴失期。 宗載坐不舉劾，謫楊青驛驛夫。
At the beginning of the Yongle reign, on recommendation he became Assistant Surveillance Commissioner of the Huguang Surveillance Commission. Many great villains and hardened old offenders had been banished to garrison duty between Tonggu and Wukai, where in secret they kept leverage over local officials. Zongzai posted a list of their crimes and declared, "If you do not mend your ways, you will surely be punished under the law." None dared defy him. Wuling had many households on the military register, and ordinary families feared that marriage ties would saddle them with corvée labor and tax burdens. Men and women would reach forty and still remain unmarried. Zongzai explained the matter to them by reason, and all came to their senses; in one season more than three hundred families took spouses. Neighboring districts followed suit, and the custom was transformed. He was summoned to the Wenyuan Pavilion to help compile the Yongle Dadian. When the work was finished he received rewards and returned to his post. He oversaw the building of several dozen great ships for the maritime transport service; the work was completed without troubling the people. When the imperial carriage marched north, troops were levied from Huguang; the envoys were greedy and brutal and failed to meet their deadline. Zongzai was punished for failing to impeach them and was demoted to station attendant at Yangqing Post.
4
尋起御史，出按交阯。 時交阯新定，州縣官多用兩廣、雲南舉人及歲貢生員之願仕遠方者，皆不善撫字。 宗載因言：「有司率不稱職。 若俟九年黜陟，恐益廢弛。 請任二年以上者，巡按御史及兩司核實舉按以聞。」 帝是之。 及歸，行李蕭然，不攜交阯一物。 尚書黃福語人曰：「吾居此久，所接御史多矣，惟宗載知大體。」 丁祖母憂，起復，改詹事府丞。
Before long he was reappointed censor and sent to inspect Jiaozhi. Jiaozhi had only recently been pacified; prefectural and county posts were largely filled by licentiates from the two Guang provinces and Yunnan and by tribute students who wished to serve in distant places—none of them were skilled at governing and caring for the people. Zongzai therefore reported, "The local officials are for the most part unfit for their duties. If we wait for the nine-year evaluation cycle before promoting or demoting them, I fear governance will grow even more lax. I ask that for those who have served two years or more, the touring censors and the two provincial commissions verify the facts and submit recommendations or impeachments for the throne's decision." The Emperor approved. On his return his baggage was utterly bare; he brought back not a single object from Jiaozhi. Minister Huang Fu said to others, "I have lived here a long time and have met many censors, but only Zongzai understood the larger principles of office." After mourning his grandmother he was recalled from mourning and reassigned as Vice Director of the Household of the Heir Apparent.
5
洪熙元年擢行在吏部侍郎。 少師蹇義領部事，宗載一輔以正。 宣德元年奉命清軍浙江。 三年督采木湖湘。 英宗初，以侍郎羅汝敬巡撫陜西，坐事戴罪辦事。 汝敬妄引詔書復職，而吏部不言，為御史所劾，宗載及尚書郭琎俱下獄。 未幾，得釋，遷南京吏部尚書。 居九年，乞休，章四上，乃許。 九年七月卒於家，年七十九。
In the first year of Hongxi he was promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel at the traveling capital. Junior Tutor Jian Yi headed the ministry, and Zongzai assisted him throughout with upright conduct. In the first year of Xuande he was ordered to conduct military household review in Zhejiang. In the third year he supervised timber procurement in Hunan and Hubei. At the beginning of the Yingzong reign, Vice Minister Luo Rujing was sent as grand coordinator of Shaanxi; for an offense he continued in office while bearing guilt. Rujing falsely cited an edict to resume his post, yet the Ministry of Personnel said nothing; censors impeached him, and both Zongzai and Minister Guo Jin were thrown into prison. Before long they were released, and Zongzai was transferred to Minister of Personnel at Nanjing. After nine years in office he sought retirement; only after four memorials was permission granted. In the seventh month of the ninth year he died at home, aged seventy-nine.
6
宗載持廉守正，不矯不隨，學問文章俱負時望。 公卿大夫齒德之盛，推宗載雲。
Zongzai held to integrity and uprightness, neither ostentatious nor pliant, and in scholarship and literary composition alike he enjoyed the esteem of his age. Among high officials eminent in years and virtue, it was Zongzai whom they singled out above all.
7
顧佐，字禮卿，太康人。 建文二年進士。 除莊浪知縣。 端陽日，守將集官僚校射。 以佐文士，難之。 持弓矢一發而中，守將大服。
Gu Zuo, courtesy name Liqing, was a native of Taikang. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Jianwen reign. He was appointed magistrate of Zhuanglang. On the Dragon Boat Festival the garrison commander assembled the bureaucracy for archery practice. Seeing that Zuo was a man of letters, he made things difficult for him. Zuo took up bow and arrow, loosed one shot, and hit the mark; the commander was deeply impressed.
8
永樂初，入為御史。 七年，成祖在北京，命吏部選御史之才者赴行在，佐預焉。 奉命招慶遠蠻。 督采木四川。 從北征，巡視關隘。 遷江西按察副使，召為應天尹。 剛直不撓，吏民畏服，人比之包孝肅。 北京建，改尹順天。 權貴人多不便之，出為貴州按察使。 洪熙元年召為通政使。
At the beginning of the Yongle reign he entered service as a censor. In the seventh year, with the Chengzu Emperor in Beijing, the Ministry of Personnel was ordered to select the most capable censors for the traveling capital; Zuo was among those chosen. He was ordered to win over the Qingyuan tribes. He supervised timber procurement in Sichuan. He followed the northern campaign and inspected the frontier passes. He was promoted to Vice Surveillance Commissioner of Jiangxi and then summoned to serve as Governor of Yingtian. Upright and unyielding, he won the fear and respect of officials and commoners alike; people compared him to Lord Bao the Filial and Incorrupt. When Beijing was established he was reassigned as Governor of Shuntian. Powerful families found him inconvenient, and he was transferred out to serve as Surveillance Commissioner of Guizhou. In the first year of Hongxi he was summoned to serve as Commissioner of the Office of Transmission.
9
宣德三年，都御史劉觀以貪被黜，大學士楊士奇、楊榮薦佐公廉有威，歷官並著風采，為京尹，政清弊革。 帝喜，立擢右都御史，賜敕獎勉。 命察諸御史不稱者黜之，御史有缺，舉送吏部補選。 佐視事，即奏黜嚴豈、楊居正等二十人，謫遼東各衛為吏，降八人，罷三人； 而舉進士鄧棨、國子生程富、謁選知縣孔文英、教官方瑞等四十余人堪任御史。 帝使歷政三月而後任之。 居正等六人辨訴。 帝怒，並諸為吏者悉戍之。 既而豈自戍所潛還京，脅他賄，為佐所奏，且言豈謀害己。 詔戮豈於市。 帝北巡，命偕尚書張本等居守。 還復賜敕。 令約束諸御史。 於是糾黜貪縱，朝綱肅然。
In the third year of Xuande, Censor-in-Chief Liu Guan was dismissed for corruption; Grand Secretaries Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong recommended Zuo as publicly incorrupt and commanding in authority, noting that in every post he had shown distinction and that as capital governor his rule was clean and abuses were reformed. The Emperor was pleased and at once promoted him to Right Censor-in-Chief, granting an edict of commendation and encouragement. He was ordered to investigate censors who were unfit and dismiss them, and whenever a censor's post fell vacant to recommend candidates to the Ministry of Personnel for appointment. As soon as Zuo took office he memorialized to dismiss Yan Qi, Yang Juzheng, and twenty others, sending them to various Liaodong guards as clerks; eight were demoted and three were removed from office; He also recommended more than forty men fit to serve as censors, among them the jinshi Deng Qi, National University student Cheng Fu, petitioning candidate for magistrate Kong Wenying, and instructor Fang Rui. The Emperor required them to serve three months in administrative training before taking up their posts. Juzheng and six others lodged appeals in their defense. The Emperor grew angry and had all those reduced to clerks likewise sent to frontier garrison duty. Before long Qi secretly returned to the capital from his place of banishment, extorted bribes from others, and was reported by Zuo, who also stated that Qi had plotted to kill him. An edict ordered Qi executed in the marketplace. When the Emperor toured the north he ordered Zuo, together with Minister Zhang Ben and others, to remain and guard the capital. On his return the Emperor again granted him an edict of commendation. He was charged to keep the censors in discipline. Thereupon he impeached the greedy and unrestrained, and court discipline was restored.
10
居歲餘，奸吏奏佐受隸金，私遣歸。 帝密示士奇曰：「爾不嘗舉佐廉乎？」 對曰：「中朝官俸薄，仆馬薪芻資之隸，遣隸半使出資免役。 隸得歸耕，官得資費，中朝官皆然，臣亦然。 先帝知之，故增中朝官俸。」 帝嘆曰：「朝臣貧如此。」 因怒訴者曰：「朕方用佐，小人敢誣之，必下法司治！」 士奇對曰：「細事不足幹上怒。」 帝乃以吏狀付佐曰：「汝自治之。」 佐頓首謝，召吏言：「上命我治汝，汝改行，吾當貸汝。」 帝聞之益喜，謂佐得大體。 或告佐不理冤訴。 帝曰：「此必重囚教之。」 命法司會鞫，果千戶臧清殺無罪三人當死，使人誣佐。 帝曰：「不誅清，則佐法不行。」 磔清於市。
After more than a year a corrupt clerk memorialized that Zuo had accepted money from his attendants and sent them home privately. The Emperor privately showed the memorial to Shiqi and said, "Did you not once recommend Zuo as incorrupt?" Shiqi replied, "Salaries for capital officials are meager; attendants supply the funds for servants, horses, fuel, and fodder. When attendants are sent home, half go out at their own expense to purchase exemption from corvée service. The attendants could return to farming, and the officials obtained funds—every capital official does the same, and so do I. The former emperor knew this, and therefore increased the salaries of capital officials." The Emperor sighed and said, "Our court ministers are this poor." Then, angry at the accuser, he said, "I am just now employing Zuo; how dare a petty man slander him—I shall certainly hand this over to the judicial offices for punishment!" Shiqi replied, "A trifling matter is not worth troubling Your Majesty's anger." The Emperor then handed the clerk's memorial to Zuo and said, "You deal with this yourself." Zuo bowed his head in thanks, summoned the clerk, and said, "The Emperor ordered me to punish you; if you mend your ways, I shall spare you." When the Emperor heard of this he was all the more pleased and said that Zuo understood the larger principles of governance. Someone reported that Zuo refused to hear appeals of injustice. The Emperor said, "This must have been put up to it by a serious criminal." He ordered the judicial offices to investigate jointly, and it turned out that Battalion Commander Zang Qing had killed three innocent men, deserved death, and had someone lodge a false charge against Zuo. The Emperor said, "If Qing is not executed, Zuo's authority cannot be enforced." Qing was dismembered in the marketplace.
11
八年秋，佐有疾，乞歸。 不許。 以南京右都御史熊概代理其事。 逾年而概卒。 佐疾良已，入見。 帝慰勞之，令免朝賀，視事如故。
In the autumn of the eighth year Zuo fell ill and asked to return home. Permission was denied. Right Censor-in-Chief of Nanjing Xiong Gai was appointed to handle the duties in his place. After more than a year Gai died. Zuo had fully recovered from his illness and came to audience. The Emperor comforted him and ordered him exempt from court congratulations while continuing in office as before.
12
正統初考察御史不稱者十五人，降黜之。 邵宗九載滿，吏部已考稱，亦與焉。 宗奏辨，尚書郭琎亦言宗不應與在任者同考。 帝遂責佐。 而御史張鵬等復劾宗微過。 帝以鵬朋欺，並切責佐。 佐上章致仕去。 賜敕獎慰，賚鈔五十貫，命戶部復其家。 十一年九月卒。
At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign he reviewed fifteen unfit censors and demoted or dismissed them. Shao Zong had completed nine years in office and had already received a favorable evaluation from the Ministry of Personnel, yet he was included among them. Zong memorialized in his defense, and Minister Guo Jin also argued that Zong should not be evaluated together with those still serving in office. The Emperor thereupon rebuked Zuo. Then Censors Zhang Peng and others again impeached Zong for minor faults. The Emperor regarded Peng as forming a faction to deceive him and sharply rebuked Zuo as well. Zuo submitted a memorial requesting retirement and left office. He was granted an edict of commendation and consolation, given fifty strings of paper money, and the Ministry of Revenue was ordered to restore his household. He died in the ninth month of the eleventh year.
13
佐孝友，操履清白，性嚴毅。 每旦趨朝，小外廬，立雙藤戶外。 百僚過者，皆折旋避之。 入內直廬，獨處小夾室，非議政不與諸司群坐。 人稱為「顧獨坐」雲。 然持法深，論者以為病。
Zuo was filial and devoted to friends, his conduct spotless, and his nature stern and resolute. Each dawn on his way to court he would stop at the small outer lodge and stand outside with a pair of rattan canes. Officials of every rank who passed by all turned aside to give him way. Inside the inner duty lodge he kept to a small side room alone and would not sit with the various offices in a group unless state business was under discussion. People called him "Gu Who Sits Alone." Yet he enforced the law with severity, which commentators regarded as a fault.
14
時雩都陳勉、嶧縣賈諒先後為副都御史，與佐同舉臺職，而蘭溪邵玘官南京，與佐齊名，繁昌嚴升名亦亞於玘。
At that time Chen Mian of Yudu and Jia Liang of Yixian had successively served as Vice Censor-in-Chief and were promoted to the censorate together with Zuo; Shao Qi of Lanxi served at Nanjing and was equally renowned with Zuo; Yan Sheng of Fanchang was ranked just below Qi.
15
玘，字以先，永樂中進士。 授御史。 仁宗監國，知其廉直。 每法司缺官，即命玘署，有重獄輒付之。 歷仕中外，所過人不敢犯。 宣德三年由福建按察使入為南京左副都御史。 奏黜御史不職者十三人，簡黜諸司庸懦不肖者八十余人，風紀大振。 居二年，以疾卒官。 玘負氣，好侮同列，治獄頗刻深。 然持身廉潔，內行修，事母以孝聞。
Qi, courtesy name Yixian, passed the jinshi examination during the Yongle reign. He was appointed censor. When the Renzong Emperor supervised the state as heir he recognized Qi's integrity and uprightness. Whenever the judicial offices lacked an official he would at once assign Qi to fill the post, and serious cases were invariably entrusted to him. In successive posts inside and outside the capital, wherever he served no one dared cross him. In the third year of Xuande he moved from Surveillance Commissioner of Fujian to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing. He memorialized to dismiss thirteen incompetent censors and screened out more than eighty mediocre, cowardly, or unworthy men in the various offices; official discipline was greatly restored. After two years in office he died of illness while still in post. Qi was proud in spirit, fond of belittling his colleagues, and rather harsh in handling cases. Yet he kept himself incorrupt, his private conduct was cultivated, and he was renowned for filial devotion to his mother.
16
陳勉，與玘同年進士。 仁宗初，以楊士奇薦，由廣東副使擢左副都御史。 信、豐諸縣盜起，命勉撫之。 招徠三千六百余人，亂遂定。 景泰初，仕至南京右都御史，掌院事。 致仕，卒。 勉外和內剛，精通法律，吏不敢欺。
Chen Mian passed the jinshi examination in the same year as Qi. At the beginning of the Renzong reign, on Yang Shiqi's recommendation, he rose from Vice Commissioner of Guangdong to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. Bandits rose in the counties of Xin and Feng, and he was ordered to pacify them. He won over more than thirty-six hundred men, and the disorder was settled. At the beginning of the Jingtai reign he rose to Right Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing and headed the Censorate. He retired from office and died. Mian was outwardly mild and inwardly firm, thoroughly versed in law, and clerks did not dare deceive him.
17
賈諒，字子信。 永樂中由鄉舉入太學，選侍皇太孫說書，擢刑科給事中。 宣德四年劾清軍侍郎金庠受賄，罷之。 郎中胡玨、蕭翔等十一人，御史方鼎三人，以不職被劾。 帝未信，命諒及張居傑密察之。 得實，悉貶官。 明年又劾陽武侯薛祿朋比不敬。 廷中肅然。 尋拜右副都御史。 偕錦衣指揮王裕、參議黃翰、中官張義等巡視四川、江西、湖廣，按治豪強不少假。 正統二年，江北、河南大水，命諒及工部侍郎鄭辰往振。 芒、碭山盜為患，諒捕獲甚眾。 四年還至德州，卒。 諒內行修，當官有風采。
Jia Liang, courtesy name Zixin. During the Yongle reign he entered the National University through provincial recommendation, was selected to lecture the imperial grandson, and was promoted to Supervising Secretary in the Penal Section. In the fourth year of Xuande he impeached Vice Minister Jin Xiang of the Military Household Review Office for accepting bribes and had him dismissed. Eleven directors including Hu Jue and Xiao Xiang, and three censors including Fang Ding, were impeached for incompetence. The Emperor was not yet convinced and ordered Liang and Zhang Jujie to investigate in secret. The facts were established and all were demoted. The following year he again impeached Marquis Xue Lu of Yangwu for factional collusion and disrespect. The court was awed into order. Before long he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. Together with Brocade Guard Commander Wang Yu, Assistant Administrator Huang Han, the eunuch Zhang Yi, and others he inspected Sichuan, Jiangxi, and Huguang, prosecuting powerful families with little leniency. In the second year of Zhengtong great floods struck the region north of the Yangzi and Henan; Liang and Vice Minister Zheng Chen of the Ministry of Works were ordered to provide relief. Bandits on Mang and Dang Mountains were a scourge, and Liang captured a great many of them. In the fourth year, on his return journey at Dezhou, he died. Liang's private conduct was cultivated, and in office he showed distinction.
18
嚴升，建文時進士。 歷官大理寺右少卿。 清軍蘇、松，執法不撓。 調南京僉都御史，與玘同心治事。 剛果自信，嘗著《神羊賦》以見誌焉。
Yan Sheng passed the jinshi examination in the Jianwen reign. He rose through successive posts to Right Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Conducting military household review in Suzhou and Songjiang, he enforced the law without yielding. Transferred to Assistant Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing, he worked in concert with Qi. Firm and resolute and confident in himself, he once composed the "Rhapsody of the Divine Goat" to express his resolve.
19
段民，字時舉，武進人。 永樂二年進士。 選庶吉士。 與章敞、吾紳輩俱讀書文淵閣，又俱授刑部主事。 民旋進郎中。
Duan Min, courtesy name Shiju, was a native of Wujin. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Yongle reign. He was selected as a Hanlin Bachelor. Together with Zhang Chang, Wu Shen, and others he studied in the Wenyuan Pavilion and was likewise appointed Section Chief in the Ministry of Punishments. Min was soon promoted to Director.
20
山東妖婦唐賽兒作亂，三司官坐縱寇誅，擢民左參政。 當是時索賽兒急，盡逮山東、北京尼及天下出家婦女，先後幾萬人。 民力為矜宥，人情始安。
The sorceress Tang Sai'er of Shandong rose in rebellion; officials of the three commissions were executed for allowing the bandits to escape, and Min was promoted to Left Assistant Administrator. At that time the search for Sai'er was urgent; nuns in Shandong and Beijing and ordained women throughout the realm were arrested in succession, numbering nearly ten thousand in all. Min strove to show mercy and forbearance, and popular sentiment was calmed.
21
車駕北征，餉舟由濟寧達潞河，陸挽出居庸至塞外。 民深計曲算，下不擾而事集。 既還，敕與巡按御史考所過府縣吏廉墨以聞。
When the imperial carriage campaigned north, supply boats went from Jining to the Lu River, and overland transport passed out through Juyong to beyond the frontier. Min planned with meticulous care; the common people were not disturbed yet the task was accomplished. On his return an edict ordered him, together with the touring censor, to examine the integrity and corruption of officials in the prefectures and counties he had passed through and report to the throne.
22
宣德三年召入京，命署南京戶部右侍郎，逾年實授。 又明年改刑部。 初，二部皆以不治聞。 民至，紀綱修舉，宿弊以革。 上元人有為侄毆者，憤甚，詣通政司告。 時方令納米贖罪，而越訴禁甚嚴，犯者戍遼東。 民上言：「依定例，卑幼之罪得贖，而尊長反遠竄，揆於理有未安，請更擬。」 帝是之。 帝以民廉介端謹，特賜敕，令考察南京百官。 八年，詔書罪囚自十惡外並減一等。 有重囚三十余人，例不得赦，民亦減其罪。 後有旨報決，乃復追還，而逃已數人。 民自陳狀，給事中年富等劾民。 帝知民賢，不問。
In the third year of Xuande he was summoned to the capital and ordered to serve as acting Right Vice Minister of Revenue at Nanjing; after more than a year he received substantive appointment. The following year he was transferred to the Ministry of Punishments. At first both ministries were known for poor administration. When Min arrived, regulations were restored and long-standing abuses were reformed. A man of Shangyuan had been beaten by his nephew; greatly angered, he went to the Office of Transmission to lodge a complaint. At that time redemption of crimes by payment of grain was in force, yet the ban on bypassing proper channels was very strict; violators were banished to Liaodong. Min memorialized, "According to established precedent, a junior's crime may be redeemed, yet the senior is instead sent far into exile; measured against reason this is not sound—I ask that the case be reconsidered." The Emperor approved. Because Min was incorrupt, upright, and careful, the Emperor specially granted him an edict ordering him to examine all officials at Nanjing. In the eighth year an edict reduced by one grade all convicted prisoners except those guilty of the ten abominations. There were more than thirty serious prisoners who by precedent could not be pardoned; Min also reduced their sentences. Later an edict arrived ordering execution; he then tried to recall them, but several had already escaped. Min stated the facts himself; Supervising Secretaries Nian Fu and others impeached Min. The Emperor knew Min was worthy and did not pursue the matter.
23
九年二月卒於官，年五十九。 貧不能殮，都御史吳訥裞以衣衾。 帝聞，命有司營葬。 成化間，葉盛請褒恤不果。 其後百有余年，始追謚襄介。
In the second month of the ninth year he died in office, aged fifty-nine. Too poor to provide burial, Censor-in-Chief Wu Ne donated clothing and bedding. When the Emperor heard of it he ordered the relevant offices to arrange the burial. During the Chenghua reign Ye Sheng requested posthumous honors and relief, but it did not come to pass. More than a hundred years later he was at last posthumously given the temple name Xiangjie.
24
吾紳，字叔縉，衢州人。 官刑部主事，治獄有聲。 歷郎中，拜禮部侍郎。 成祖謂呂震曰：「紳出自翰林，可佐卿典禮矣。」 既而為震所擠，出為廣東參政。 尋召為南京刑部侍郎，奉敕考察兩廣、福建方面官。 有故人官參政，素貪黷，權要多為之地。 紳至，竟黜之，時稱其公。 復改禮部。 正統六年卒於官。
Wu Shen, courtesy name Shujin, was a native of Quzhou. He served as Section Chief in the Ministry of Punishments and was famed for handling cases. He rose through Director and was appointed Vice Minister of Rites. The Chengzu Emperor said to Lü Zhen, "Shen came from the Hanlin Academy and can assist you in ceremonial matters." Before long he was forced out by Zhen and sent out as Administrator of Guangdong. Soon he was summoned as Vice Minister of Punishments at Nanjing and, by imperial order, examined frontier officials of the two Guang provinces and Fujian. An old acquaintance served as Administrator and had long been corrupt; powerful families had long shielded him. When Shen arrived he dismissed him nonetheless, and the age praised his fairness. He was again transferred to the Ministry of Rites. In the sixth year of Zhengtong he died in office.
25
紳清強有執，淡於榮利。 初拜侍郎，賀者畢集。 而一室蕭然，了無供具，眾笑而起。
Shen was pure, strong, and principled, indifferent to glory and profit. When he was first appointed Vice Minister, congratulators all gathered. Yet one room was utterly bare, with nothing at all for entertaining guests; the crowd laughed and rose to leave.
26
章敞，字尚文，會稽人。 由庶吉士授刑部主事。 山西盜發，捕逮數百人。 敞察其冤，留詞色異者一人，余悉遣出。 明日訊之，留者盜，余非也。 遷郎中，改吏部。
Zhang Chang, courtesy name Shangwen, was a native of Kuaiji. Having served as a Hanlin Bachelor, he was appointed Section Chief in the Ministry of Punishments. When bandits rose in Shanxi, several hundred people were arrested. Chang saw that they had been wrongfully imprisoned; he kept one man whose testimony and demeanor differed from the rest and released all the others. The next day he interrogated them: the man he had kept was the thief; the rest were innocent. He was promoted to Director and transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.
27
宣德六年擢禮部侍郎。 偕徐琦使安南，命黎利權國事。 利遣人白相見禮，敞曰：「汝敬使者，所以尊朝廷，奚白為？」 利聽命，趨拜下坐。 啖以聲色，不為動。 還致厚贐，不受，利以付貢使。 及關，悉閱貢物，封其贐，付關吏。 利死，子麟嗣，敞復奉詔往，卻贐如初。
In the sixth year of the Xuande reign he was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites. Together with Xu Qi he went as envoy to Annam, charged with entrusting Li Le with provisional authority over state affairs. Li sent someone to inform him beforehand of the ceremony for their meeting. Chang said, "You show respect to the envoy in order to honor the court—what need is there to report this to me beforehand?" Li obeyed, hurried forward, bowed, and took a seat below him. They tried to entice him with music and women, but he was unmoved. On his return Li sent lavish parting gifts; Chang refused them, and Li handed them to the tribute envoy. When they reached the frontier pass, he inspected all tribute goods, sealed the parting gifts, and handed them over to the pass officials. When Li died and his son Lin succeeded him, Chang again received an imperial order to go, and refused the parting gifts as before.
28
正統初，纂洪武以來條格，使諸司參酌，吏無能為奸。 尚書胡濙寬大，敞佐以嚴肅。 二年十二月卒。 子瑾亦累官至禮部侍郎。
At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign, he compiled statutes and regulations from the Hongwu era onward, had each office consult and revise them, and clerks could no longer commit fraud. Minister Hu Ying was lenient and broad-minded; Chang assisted him with severity and rigor. He died in the twelfth month of the second year. His son Jin also rose through successive posts to Vice Minister of Rites.
29
徐琦，字良玉。 先世錢塘人，其祖謫戍寧夏，遂家焉。 幼力學，通經史。 永樂十三年舉進士，授行人。 歷兵部員外郎。 明敏有斷，居官務持大體。 宣德六年擢右通政。 副敞使安南，亦不受饋。 還拜南京兵部右侍郎。 八年，帝以安南貢賦不如額，南征士卒未盡返，命琦復往。 時黎利已死，其子麟疑未決。 琦曉以禍福，麟懼，鑄代身金人，貢方物以謝。 帝悅，命落琦戍籍，宴賚甚厚。
Xu Qi, courtesy name Liangyu. His ancestors were from Qiantang; his grandfather was banished to frontier garrison duty in Ningxia, and the family settled there. From youth he studied diligently and mastered the classics and histories. In the thirteenth year of the Yongle reign he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed Bearer of Dispatches. He served successively as Vice Director in the Ministry of War. Bright and perceptive with firm judgment, in office he always upheld the larger principles. In the sixth year of the Xuande reign he was promoted to Right Vice Commissioner of Transmission. Serving as deputy to Chang on the mission to Annam, he likewise accepted no gifts. On his return he was appointed Right Vice Minister of War at Nanjing. In the eighth year, because Annam's tribute and taxes fell short of the quota and troops from the southern campaign had not all returned, the Emperor ordered Qi to go again. By then Li Le had already died, and his son Lin remained hesitant and undecided. Qi reasoned with him about fortune and disaster; Lin was afraid, cast a golden effigy in his own likeness as a substitute, and presented local products in apology. The Emperor was pleased and ordered Qi's name removed from the exile register; he was feasted and rewarded most generously.
30
正統初，與工部侍郎鄭辰考察南畿有司，黜不法者三十人。 時災異屢見，琦陳弭災十事。 悉嘉納。 五年命參贊南京機務。 十四年進尚書，參贊如故。 有言往年分調南京軍，家屬悉宜北徙，朝議欲行之。 琦奏：「安土重遷，人之情也。 今驟徙數萬眾，人心一搖，事或叵測。」 事得寢。 軍衛無學校，琦請天下衛所視府州縣例皆立學。 從之。
At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign, together with Vice Minister of Works Zheng Chen he inspected local officials in the Southern Capital circuit and dismissed thirty men who violated the law. When calamities and portents appeared repeatedly, Qi submitted ten measures to avert disaster. All were approved and adopted. In the fifth year he was ordered to assist in managing Nanjing affairs. In the fourteenth year he was promoted to Minister, while continuing to assist in management as before. Some proposed that when Nanjing troops had been transferred elsewhere in rotation in years past, all their families ought to move north; the court deliberated and intended to carry this out. Qi memorialized: "People cherish their native soil and loathe to move—it is human nature. To uproot tens of thousands of people all at once would unsettle hearts, and the consequences may be unforeseeable." The matter was shelved. Military garrisons had no schools; Qi requested that guard posts throughout the realm establish schools on the model of prefectures, subprefectures, and counties. The request was granted.
31
景泰元年，靖遠伯王驥贊機務，琦專理部事。 驥解任，琦仍參贊。 四年三月卒，年六十八。 謚貞襄。
In the first year of Jingtai, Earl Jingyuan Wang Ji assisted in managing affairs; Qi devoted himself to ministry business. When Ji was relieved of his post, Qi again assisted in management. He died in the third month of the fourth year, aged sixty-eight. He was posthumously enfeoffed with the title Zhenxiang.
32
敞、琦皆以使安南不辱命著稱。 安南多寶貨，後使者率從水道挾估客往以為利，交人頗輕之。
Both Chang and Qi won renown for carrying out their missions to Annam without disgracing their commission. Annam abounded in precious goods; later envoys usually took the water route and brought merchant-traders along for profit, and the Annamese came to hold them in low esteem.
33
弘治時，侍講劉戩往頒詔，由南寧乘傳抵其國，交人大驚。 戩依舊制，受陪臣拜謁，不交一語，越宿即行，饋遺一無所受。 使人要於途，固致之，卒麾去，與敞、琦皆為交人所重。 戩，字景元，安福人。
During the Hongzhi reign, Lecturer Liu Jian went to promulgate an edict; traveling by post from Nanning he reached their country, and the Annamese were greatly astonished. Jian followed the old regulations, received bows from accompanying ministers, exchanged not a single word, departed the very next day, and accepted no gifts whatsoever. Envoys waylaid him on the road and pressed gifts upon him with insistence; he finally waved them away. Like Chang and Qi, he was held in esteem by the Annamese. Jian, courtesy name Jingyuan, was a native of Anfu.
34
吳訥，字敏德，常熟人。 父遵，任沅陵簿，坐事系京師。 訥上書乞身代。 事未白而父歿，訥感奮力學。
Wu Ne, courtesy name Minde, was a native of Changshu. His father Zun served as registrar of Yuanling and was imprisoned in the capital on a charge. Ne submitted a memorial begging to take his father's place in custody. Before the matter was resolved his father died; stirred by grief, Ne applied himself diligently to study.
35
永樂中，以醫薦至京。 仁宗監國，聞其名，命教功臣子弟。 成祖召對稱旨，俾日侍禁廷，備顧問。
During the Yongle reign he was recommended for his medical skill and reached the capital. When the Heir Apparent supervised the state, having heard his name he ordered him to instruct the sons of meritorious officials. The Yongle Emperor summoned him for an audience; his answers pleased the Emperor, and he was made to attend the forbidden precinct daily as a consultant on call.
36
洪熙元年，侍講學士沈度薦訥經明行修，授監察御史。 敬慎廉直，不務矯飾。 宣德初，出按浙江，以振風紀植綱常為務。 時軍犯逃者，往往令家人妄訴，逮系至千人。 訥請嚴禁，即冤不得越告。 從之。 繼按貴州，恩威並行，蠻人畏服。 將代還，部民詣闕乞留。 不許。 五年七月，進南京右僉都御史，尋進左副都御史。
In the first year of the Hongxi reign, Reader Shen Du recommended Ne as thoroughly versed in the classics and upright in conduct, and he was appointed Investigating Censor. Respectful, cautious, incorrupt, and upright, he did not affect exaggerated display. At the beginning of the Xuande reign he went out to inspect Zhejiang, making it his task to restore discipline and uphold fundamental norms. At that time when military offenders fled, their families often filed false suits on their behalf, and as many as a thousand people were arrested and detained. Ne requested a strict ban: even when wrongfully imprisoned, they must not petition across jurisdictions. The request was granted. He next inspected Guizhou; favor and severity were exercised together, and the tribal peoples submitted in awe. When he was about to be replaced and return, the people of the province went to the palace gate to beg that he be kept on. They were not permitted. In the seventh month of the fifth year he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing, and soon after to Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief.
37
正統初，光祿丞董正等盜官物，訥發之，謫戍四十四人。 右通政李畛者，奉使蘇、松，行事多不謹。 訥微誡之，畛不悅，誣訥稽延詔書等事。 訥疏辯。 互為臺省所劾，俱逮下獄，既而釋之。 英宗初禦經筵，錄所輯《小學集解》上之。 四年三月，以老致仕，以朱與言代。
At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign, Assistant Director of Imperial Revenues Dong Zheng and others stole government property; Ne exposed them, and forty-four men were banished to frontier garrison duty. Right Vice Commissioner of Transmission Li Zhen had been sent on mission to Suzhou and Songjiang, and in carrying out his duties was frequently unscrupulous. Ne subtly admonished him; Zhen was displeased and falsely accused Ne of delaying the delivery of imperial edicts and the like. Ne memorialized in rebuttal. Each was impeached by the censorate and the ministry; both were arrested and imprisoned, and afterward both were released. When Yingzong first presided over the Classics Lectern, he presented his compiled Collected Exegesis of the Elementary Learning. In the third month of the fourth year he retired on account of age; Zhu Yuyan replaced him.
38
訥博覽，議論有根柢。 於性理之奧，多有發明，所著書皆可垂於後。 歸家，布衣蔬食，環堵蕭然。 周忱撫江南，欲新其居，不可。 家居十六年而卒，年八十六。 謚文恪，鄉人祀之言偃祠。
Ne was widely read; in debate he had solid grounding. On the profound principles of human nature and moral principle he had many original insights; the books he wrote can all be handed down to posterity. After returning home he wore plain cloth and ate simple fare; bare walls all around—everything was spare. When Zhou Chen governed the Jiangnan region, he wished to rebuild Ne's residence; Ne would not allow it. He lived at home for sixteen years and then died, aged eighty-six. He was posthumously enfeoffed with the title Wenke, and the people of his district sacrificed to him in the shrine of Yan Yan.
39
朱與言，字一鶚，萬安人。 永樂九年進士，授湖廣按察僉事。 宣德中遷四川副使。 合州盜起，督吏目熊鼎斬六十余人，賊勢遂衰。 事聞，擢鼎合州同知。 雅州妖人為亂，與言執送京師，境內以寧。 正統元年召為南京右副都御史，入代訥領院事。 年老致仕，卒。 與言剛方廉慎，為政務大體。 數建白，多切時弊。 家居門庭清肅，鄉人有不善，惟恐與言知之。
Zhu Yuyan, courtesy name Yie, was a native of Wan'an. He passed the jinshi examination in the ninth year of the Yongle reign and was appointed Assistant Surveillance Commissioner of Huguang. During the Xuande reign he was transferred to Vice Commissioner of Sichuan. When bandits rose in Hezhou, he ordered Clerk Xiong Ding to behead more than sixty men, and the bandit power soon waned. When word reached the court, Ding was promoted to subprefectural magistrate of Hezhou. Sorcerers in Yazhou raised rebellion; Yuyan arrested them and sent them to the capital, and within his jurisdiction peace was restored. In the first year of the Zhengtong reign he was summoned as Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing and entered to replace Ne in directing the censorate. He retired on account of old age and died. Yuyan was stern, upright, incorrupt, and cautious; in governing he attended to the larger principles. He repeatedly submitted proposals, most of them hitting the abuses of the day. At home his gate and courtyard were austere and orderly; neighbors who behaved badly feared only that Yuyan might learn of it.
40
魏驥，字仲房，蕭山人。 永樂中，以進士副榜授松江訓導。 常夜分攜茗粥勞諸生。 諸生感奮，多成就者。 召修《永樂大典》。 書成，還任。 用師逵薦，還太常博士。 帝謂曰：「劉履節為御史九年，高皇帝方授是官，不輕予人也。」
Wei Ji, courtesy name Zhongfang, was a native of Xiaoshan. During the Yongle reign, as a jinshi on the supplementary list he was appointed Instructor at Songjiang. He often carried tea and porridge late at night to serve the students. The students were stirred to diligence; many achieved success. He was summoned to compile the Yongle Dadian. When the compilation was finished, he returned to his former post. Through Shi Kui's recommendation, he was again appointed Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The Emperor said to him, "Liu Luqie served as censor for nine years before the founding emperor granted him that office — he did not lightly bestow it on anyone."
41
宣德初，遷吏部考功員外郎，歷南京太常寺少卿。 正統三年，召試行在吏部左侍郎，逾年實授。 屢命巡視畿甸遺蝗，問民疾苦。 八年改禮部，尋以老請致仕。 吏部尚書王直言驥未衰，如念其老，宜令去繁就簡。 乃改南京吏部。 復以老辭，不允。 十四年進尚書。 英宗北狩，驥率諸司條上時務，多施行。 景泰元年，年七十七，致仕。
At the beginning of the Xuande reign, he was transferred to Vice Director in the Ministry of Personnel's Bureau of Merit Review and served successively as Vice Minister of the Nanjing Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In the third year of the Zhengtong reign, he was summoned to serve as acting Left Vice Minister of Personnel at the mobile secretariat; after more than a year he received substantive appointment. He was repeatedly ordered to tour the capital region in search of lingering locusts and to inquire into the people's hardships. In the eighth year he was transferred to the Ministry of Rites; soon afterward he requested retirement on account of old age. Minister of Personnel Wang Zhi said, "Ji has not declined in vigor; if Your Majesty is concerned about his age, he should be moved from heavy duties to lighter ones." He was then transferred to the Ministry of Personnel at Nanjing. He again pleaded old age and declined; the request was not granted. In the fourteenth year he was promoted to Minister. When Emperor Yingzong was taken captive in the north, Ji led the various offices in submitting detailed memorials on urgent affairs of state, many of which were implemented. In the first year of the Jingtai reign, aged seventy-seven, he retired.
42
驥居官務大體。 在太常，山川壇獲雙白兔，圻內生瑞麥，皆卻不進。 在吏部，有進士未終制，求考功。 同官將許之，驥持不可。 法司因旱恤刑，有王綱者，惡逆當辟，或憫其少，欲緩之。 驥曰：「此婦人之仁，天道不時，正此故也。」 獄決而雨。
In office Ji attended to the larger principles. While at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, a pair of white rabbits was found at the mountain-and-river altars and auspicious wheat appeared within the capital precincts; he declined to submit them as tribute. While at the Ministry of Personnel, a jinshi who had not completed the mourning period sought appointment in the Bureau of Merit Review. His colleagues were about to approve it, but Ji insisted it could not be allowed. Because of drought the judiciary was showing lenience in punishment; a man named Wang Gang was guilty of heinous rebellion and ought to be executed, but some, pitying his youth, wished to lighten his sentence. Ji said, "This is a woman's kindness; Heaven's ways are untimely — and this is precisely why." After the sentence was carried out, rain fell.
43
正統中，王振怙寵，淩公卿，獨嚴重驥，呼「先生」。 景泰初，以請老至京師。 大學士陳循，驥門生也，請間曰：「公雖位冢宰，然未嘗立朝。 願少待，事在循輩。」 驥正色曰：「君為輔臣，當為天下進賢才，不得私一座主。」 退語人曰：「渠以朝廷事為一己事，安得善終。」 竟致仕去。
During the Zhengtong reign, Wang Zhen relied on imperial favor and browbeat the chief ministers; he alone treated Ji with respect and addressed him as "Master." At the beginning of the Jingtai reign, having requested retirement on account of age, he came to the capital. Grand Secretary Chen Xun, Ji's former student, asked him in private, "Though you hold the post of chief minister, you have never personally stood at court. Please wait a little; the affairs of state rest with us of my generation." Ji said sternly, "You are a chief minister; you should advance talented men for the realm — you must not show private favor to your patron." After withdrawing he told others, "He treats the affairs of court as his own private business — how can he come to a good end?" In the end he retired and left.
44
驥端厚祗慎。 顧勁直，好別白君子、小人。 恒曰：「無是非之心，非人也。」 家居，憂國憂民，老而彌篤。 蕭山故多水患，有宋時縣令楊時湖堤遺跡。 驥倡修螺山、石巖、畢公諸塘堰，捍江潮，興湖利。 鄉人賴之。 居恒布衣糲食，不殖生產。 事兄教諭騏，雖耄益恭。 時戴笠行田間。 嘗遇錢塘主簿，隸訶之。 答曰「蕭山魏驥也」。 主簿倉皇謝慰而去。
Ji was dignified, honest, and reverently cautious. Yet he was forceful and upright, fond of distinguishing between gentlemen and petty men. He constantly said, "One who lacks the sense of right and wrong is not human." At home he grieved for the state and the people, growing only more earnest in old age. Xiaoshan had long suffered from floods; traces still remained of the lake dikes built by Yang Shi when he was county magistrate in the Song. Ji led the repair of the Luoshan, Shiyan, Bigong, and other embankments and weirs to hold back the tidal bore and restore the benefits of the lakes. The people of his district relied on them. In daily life he wore coarse cloth and ate plain food, and did not accumulate property. In serving his elder brother Qi, a school instructor, he became only more deferential even in extreme old age. He often wore a bamboo hat and walked among the fields. Once he encountered a registrar of Qiantang; a runner berated him. He replied, "I am Wei Ji of Xiaoshan." The registrar hurriedly apologized and comforted him before leaving.
45
成化七年，御史梁昉言：「臣先任蕭山，見致仕尚書臣魏驥裏居，與裏人稠處，教子孫孝弟力田，增堤浚湖，捍禦災患。 所行動應禮法，倡理學，勖後進。 雖在林野，有補治化。 驥生平學行醇篤，心術正大。 諳世事，瞭國體。 致仕二十余年，年九十八歲，四方仰德，有如卿雲。 百年化育，滋此人瑞。 臣讀前史，有以歸老賜祿畢其身者，有尊養三老五更者，有安車蒲輪召者，有賜幾仗者，上齒德也。 驥齒德有余，爵在上卿，可稱達尊。 乞下所司，酌前代故事施行。」 帝覽奏嘉嘆。 遣行人存問，賜羊酒，命有司月給米三石。 使命未至而驥卒。 賜祭葬如禮，謚文靖。 其子完以驥遺言詣闕辭葬，乞以其金振饑民。 帝憮然曰：「驥臨終遺命，猶恐勞民，可謂純臣矣。」 許之。 蕭山民德驥不已，詣闕請祀於德惠祠，以配楊時。 制曰「可」。
In the seventh year of the Chenghua reign, Censor Liang Fang said, "I formerly served in Xiaoshan and saw the retired Minister Wei Ji living in his home district among neighbors, teaching his descendants filial piety, brotherly duty, and diligent farming, raising dikes and dredging lakes to ward off calamity. His conduct accorded with ritual and law; he championed Neo-Confucian learning and encouraged the young. Though he lived in seclusion, he contributed to governance and moral transformation. Throughout his life Ji was pure and sincere in learning and conduct, upright in mind and purpose. He understood worldly affairs and grasped the fundamentals of statecraft. Having retired for more than twenty years, aged ninety-eight, men everywhere looked up to his virtue as to auspicious clouds. A century's nurture of civilization has produced this human treasure. Reading earlier histories, I find those granted salary for life upon retirement, those honored with provision for the Three Elders and Five Senior Instructors, those summoned with cushioned carriages and wheel-wrapped axles, and those granted staffs and court seats — all mark the ruler's reverence for age and virtue. Ji's years and virtue exceed ordinary measure; his rank is that of a chief minister — he may be called a venerable elder. I beg that the relevant offices be ordered to consider precedents from earlier dynasties and carry them out." The Emperor read the memorial and praised it with admiration. He dispatched an envoy to inquire after Ji's welfare, bestowed sheep and wine, and ordered the relevant offices to supply three shi of grain monthly. Before the envoy arrived, Ji died. He was granted sacrificial rites and burial according to propriety, with the posthumous name Wenjing. His son Wan, following Ji's dying words, came to court to decline the burial grant and asked that the gold be used to relieve the hungry. The Emperor said with emotion, "Even in his final testament Ji feared troubling the people — he may truly be called a pure minister." His request was granted. The people of Xiaoshan, ever grateful to Ji, came to court and asked that he be enshrined in the Temple of Virtue and Grace alongside Yang Shi. An edict said, "It is approved."
46
魯穆，字希文，天臺人。 永樂四年進士。 家居，褐衣蔬食，足跡不入州府。 比謁選，有司饋之贐，穆曰：「吾方從仕，未能利物，乃先厲州裏乎？」 弗受。 除御史。 仁宗監國，屢上封事。 漢王官校多不法，人莫敢言。 穆上章劾之，不報，然直聲振朝廷。
Lu Mu, courtesy name Xiwen, was a native of Tiantai. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of the Yongle reign. Living at home, he wore brown cloth and ate vegetables; his footsteps never entered the prefectural or district yamens. When he went to await appointment, the local officials offered him parting gifts. Mu said, "I am just beginning official service and have not yet been able to benefit others — and already I would burden the prefecture and district?" He did not accept them. He was appointed censor. While the Renzong supervised the realm as heir apparent, he repeatedly submitted sealed memorials. Many officers and clerks of the Prince of Han behaved unlawfully, and no one dared speak out. Mu memorialized impeaching them; there was no response, yet his reputation for integrity resounded at court.
47
遷福建僉事。 理冤濫，摧豪強。 泉州人李某調官廣西，其姻富民林某遣仆冘李於道，而室其妻。 李之宗人訴於官，所司納林賂，坐訴者，系獄久。 穆廉得其實，立正林罪。 漳民周允文無子，以侄為後，晚而妾生子，因析產與侄，屬以妾子。 允文死，侄言兒非叔子，逐去，盡奪其資，妾訴之。 穆召縣父老及周宗族，密置妾子群兒中。 鹹指兒類允文，遂歸其產。 民呼「魯鐵面」。 時楊榮當國，家人犯法，穆治之不少貸。 榮顧謂穆賢，薦之朝。
He was transferred to Surveillance Vice Commissioner of Fujian. He redressed wrongful convictions and crushed powerful bullies. A man of Quanzhou surnamed Li was transferring to an appointment in Guangxi; Lin, a wealthy man related by marriage, sent a servant to kill Li on the road and took his wife as his own. Li's clansmen appealed to the authorities; the office accepted Lin's bribes, convicted the accusers, and imprisoned them for a long time. Mu upon investigation learned the truth and immediately punished Lin according to law. A man of Zhangzhou named Zhou Yunwen had no son; he adopted his nephew as heir, and in old age a concubine bore a son. He therefore divided his property and gave a share to the nephew, entrusting the concubine's son to his care. When Yunwen died, the nephew claimed the child was not his uncle's son, drove him away, and seized all the property; the concubine appealed. Mu summoned the county elders and Zhou clansmen, and secretly placed the concubine's son among a group of boys. All pointed to the boy who resembled Yunwen, and the property was restored to him. The people called him "Ironface Lu." At that time Yang Rong held sway over the government; when his household broke the law, Mu prosecuted them without leniency. Rong nevertheless considered Mu worthy and recommended him to the court.
48
英宗即位，擢右僉都御史。 明年奉命捕蝗大名。 還，以疾卒。 命給舟歸其喪。
When Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne, he was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief. The following year he was ordered to exterminate locusts in Daming. On his return he died of illness. An order was issued to provide a boat to return his coffin.
49
始穆入為僉都御史，所載不過囊衣，尚書吳中贈以器用，不受。 至是中為治棺衾，乃克殯。 子崇誌，歷官應天尹，廉直有父風。
When Mu first entered office as Assistant Censor-in-Chief, what he carried amounted to no more than a bag of clothes; Minister Wu Zhong offered him utensils but he would not accept. Now Zhong prepared the coffin and shroud for him, and only then could he be buried. His son Chongzhi served as Prefect of Yingtian; incorrupt and upright, he had his father's character.
50
耿九疇，字禹範，盧氏人。 永樂末進士。 宣德六年授禮科給事中。 議論持大體，有清望。
Geng Jiuchou, courtesy name Yufan, was a native of Lushi. He passed the jinshi examination at the end of the Yongle reign. In the sixth year of the Xuande reign he was appointed Supervising Secretary in the Bureau of Rites. In debate he held to the larger principles and enjoyed a reputation for integrity.
51
正統初，大臣言兩淮鹽政久壞，宜得重名檢者治之，於是推擇為鹽運司同知。 痛革宿弊，條奏便宜五事，著為令。 母喪去官，場民數千人詣闕乞留。 十年正月起為都轉運使。 節儉無他好，公退焚香讀書，廉名益振，婦孺皆知其名。
At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign, chief ministers said the salt administration of the Two Huai had long been ruined and needed a man of stern repute to repair it; Jiuchou was selected and appointed Associate Commissioner of the Salt Transport Commission. He ruthlessly reformed longstanding abuses, submitted five practical measures in detail, and had them established as regulations. Upon his mother's death he left office; several thousand salt workers came to the capital begging that he be kept on. In the first month of the tenth year he was recalled as Director of Salt Transport. Frugal, with no other amusements, after finishing official business he burned incense and read books; his reputation for integrity grew ever stronger until even women and children knew his name.
52
以事見誣，逮下吏，已，得白，即留為刑部右侍郎。 屢辨疑獄，無所撓屈。 禮部侍郎章瑾下獄，九疇及江淵等議貶其官。 瑾婿給事中王汝霖銜之，與同官葉盛、張固、林聰等論刑部不公。 九疇、淵遂劾盛等，且言汝霖父永和死土木，嬉笑自如，不宜居職。 時景帝新立，急於用人，置汝霖等不問，瑾如奏。 鳳陽歲兇，盜且起，敕往巡視招撫。 奏留英武、飛熊諸衛軍耕守，招來流民七萬戶，境內以安。
He was slandered over a matter and arrested and handed to the judicial officers; later he was cleared, and was immediately retained as Right Vice Minister of Punishments. He repeatedly adjudicated doubtful cases without yielding or wavering. When Vice Minister of Rites Zhang Jin was imprisoned, Jiuchou and Jiang Yuan and others deliberated demoting his rank. Jin's son-in-law, Supervising Secretary Wang Rulin, bore a grudge and together with colleagues Ye Sheng, Zhang Gu, Lin Cong, and others argued that the Ministry of Punishments was unjust. Jiuchou and Yuan then impeached Sheng and the others, adding that Rulin's father Yonghe had died at Tumu yet Rulin carried on laughing and talking as usual — unfit to hold office. At that time Emperor Jing had newly ascended the throne and was eager to employ men; he set Rulin and the others aside without inquiry, and Jin was treated as the memorial had proposed. Fengyang suffered famine that year, and bandits were on the verge of rising; he was ordered to go inspect the region and pacify the people. He memorialized to keep the garrison troops of the Yingwu, Feixiong, and other guards to farm and hold the frontier, drew in seventy thousand refugee households, and the region was settled.
53
兩淮自九疇去，鹽政復弛。 景泰元年仍命兼理。 尋敕錄諸府重囚，多所平反。 十月命兼撫江北諸府。
After Jiuchou left the Two Huai, salt administration again fell into neglect. In the first year of the Jingtai reign he was again ordered to oversee it concurrently. Soon he was ordered to review serious criminals in the prefectures, and many wrongful convictions were overturned. In the tenth month he was ordered to serve concurrently as grand coordinator of the prefectures north of the Yangzi.
54
三年三月代陳鎰鎮陜西。 都指揮楊得青等私役操卒，九疇劾之。 詔按治，且命諸邊如得青者，具劾以聞。 邊將請增臨洮諸衛戍，九疇言：「邊城士卒非乏。 將帥能嚴紀律，賞罰明信，則人人自奮。 不然，徒冗食耳。」 乃不增戍。 邊民春夏出作田，秋冬輒徙入塞。 九疇言：「邊將所以禦寇，衛民也。 今使民避寇失業，安用將帥？」 因禁民入徙。 有被寇者，治守帥罪。
In the third month of the third year he replaced Chen Yi as frontier commander of Shaanxi. Regional Commander Yang Deqing and others privately impressed garrison soldiers for labor; Jiuchou impeached them. An edict ordered an investigation, and further commanded that on every frontier men like Deqing were to be fully impeached and reported to the throne. Frontier generals requested additional garrisons at Lintao and other guards. Jiuchou said, "The frontier garrisons are not short of soldiers. If commanders enforce discipline strictly and rewards and punishments are clear and trusted, every man will rouse himself on his own. Otherwise they only add idle mouths eating rations for nothing." Therefore no additional garrisons were added. Frontier people worked the fields in spring and summer, then every autumn and winter moved inside the passes. Jiuchou said, "Frontier generals exist to repel raiders and protect the people. If the people must flee raids and lose their livelihood, what use are generals?" Thereupon he forbade the people from moving inside the passes. Where people suffered raids, the defending commanders were punished.
55
四年，布政使許資言：「侍郎出鎮，與巡按御史不相統，事多拘滯，請改授憲職便。」 乃轉右副都御史。 大臣鎮守、巡撫皆授都御史，自九疇始。 有旨市羊角為燈，九疇引宋蘇軾諫神宗買浙燈事，事乃寢。 災異求言，請帝延儒碩，公賞罰，擇守令，簡將帥。 優詔報焉。
In the fourth year, Administration Commissioner Xu Zi said, "When a vice minister goes out to command a region but does not direct the touring censor, affairs are often held up and delayed; please reassign him to a censorial post, which would be more suitable." He was then transferred to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. Grand ministers appointed as frontier commanders and grand coordinators all received the title of censor-in-chief—beginning with Jiuchou. An imperial directive ordered rams' horns purchased for lamps; Jiuchou cited the Song poet Su Shi's remonstrance against Emperor Shenzong's purchase of Zhejiang lamps, and the matter was dropped. When calamities and anomalies prompted a call for memorials, he asked the Emperor to summon eminent Confucian scholars, make rewards and punishments public, select prefects and magistrates, and choose generals. A favorable edict was issued in reply.
56
天順初，議事京師。 帝顧侍臣曰：「九疇，廉正人也。」 留為右都御史。 罪人系都察院獄者不給米。 九疇為言，乃日給一升，遂為令。 已，上疏陳崇廉恥、清刑獄、勸農桑、節軍賞、重臺憲五事。 帝皆嘉納。 是年六月，御史張鵬等劾石亨、曹吉祥。 亨等謂九疇實使之，遂並下獄。 謫江西布政使，尋調四川。
At the beginning of the Tianshun reign he went to the capital to discuss affairs of state. The Emperor turned to his attendants and said, "Jiuchou is an upright and incorrupt man." He was retained as Right Censor-in-Chief. Criminals held in the Censorate prison were not given grain rations. Jiuchou spoke on their behalf, and they were then given one sheng of grain per day; this became a standing regulation. Later he submitted a memorial setting forth five matters: promoting a sense of honor and shame, clearing the prisons, encouraging farming and sericulture, economizing on military rewards, and strengthening the censorate. The Emperor approved them all. In the sixth month of that year, Censor Zhang Peng and others impeached Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang. Heng and the others claimed Jiuchou had instigated it, and all were imprisoned together. He was demoted to Administration Commissioner of Jiangxi, then soon transferred to Sichuan.
57
明年，禮部缺尚書。 帝問李賢。 賢曰：「老成清介，無如九疇。」 乃召還。 既至，憐其老，改南京刑部尚書。 四年卒。 謚清惠。 子裕，自有傳。
The next year the Ministry of Rites had no minister. The Emperor asked Li Xian. Xian said, "For seasoned integrity and purity, none equals Jiuchou." He was then recalled. After he arrived, the Emperor took pity on his age and reassigned him as Minister of Punishments at Nanjing. In the fourth year he died. He was given the posthumous title Qinghui. His son Yu has his own biography.
58
軒輗，字惟行，鹿邑人。 永樂末年進士。 授行人司副。 宣德六年用薦改御史。 按福建，剔蠹鋤奸，風采甚峻。
Xuan Ni, courtesy name Weixing, was a native of Luyi. He passed the jinshi examination at the end of the Yongle reign. He was appointed Deputy Director of the Bureau of Envoys. In the sixth year of the Xuande reign, on recommendation he was transferred to censor. While touring Fujian he rooted out parasites and cut down villains; his bearing was very stern.
59
會稽趙伯泰，宋苗裔也。 奏孝宗、理宗及福王陵墓，俱為豪民侵奪。 御史王琳謂福王降於元，北去，山陰安得墓？ 伯泰不平，復訴。 帝命輗及巡按御史歐陽澄覆按。 輗言福王蓋衣冠之藏，伯泰言非誣。 詔戍豪民於邊，停琳等俸。 遭親喪，起復。 十三年奏陳四事，俱切時弊，帝悉從之。
Zhao Botai of Kuaiji was a descendant of the Song. He memorialized that the tombs of Emperor Xiaozong, Emperor Lizong, and the Prince of Fu had all been seized and encroached upon by powerful locals. Censor Wang Lin said the Prince of Fu had surrendered to the Yuan and gone north—how could there be a tomb in Shanyin? Botai was indignant and appealed again. The Emperor ordered Ni and touring censor Ouyang Cheng to reinvestigate. Ni reported that the Prince of Fu's tomb was a clothing-and-cap burial, and that Botai's claim was no fabrication. An edict exiled the powerful locals to the frontier and suspended the salaries of Lin and the others. When he suffered a parent's death, he was recalled from mourning. In the thirteenth year he memorialized four matters, all cutting to the abuses of the day; the Emperor adopted them all.
60
景帝立，以右副都御史鎮守浙江。 景泰元年命兼理兩浙鹽課。 閩賊吳金八等流劫青田諸縣，輗與原貞討平之。 賊首羅丕、廖寧八復自閩抵浙。 輗等防遏有功，進秩一等。 明年改督南京糧儲。 五年復改左副都御史，掌南院事。 考黜御史不職者數人。
When Emperor Jing ascended the throne, Ni was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief to command Zhejiang. In the first year of the Jingtai reign he was ordered to oversee concurrently the salt tax of the Two Zhe. Min bandits Wu Jinba and others raided through Qingtian and other counties; Ni together with Yuan Zhen suppressed them. Bandit chiefs Luo Pi and Liao Ningba again came from Min into Zhe. Ni and the others were effective in defense and containment and received a one-rank promotion. The next year he was reassigned to oversee Nanjing grain reserves. In the fifth year he was again made Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, presiding over the southern censorate. He reviewed and dismissed several censors who were derelict in duty.
61
天順元年二月召拜刑部尚書。 數月，引疾乞歸。 帝召見，問曰：「昔浙江廉使考滿歸，行李僅一簏，乃卿耶？」 輗頓首謝。 賜白金慰遣之。 明年，南京督理糧儲缺官，帝問李賢，大臣中誰曾居此職者。 賢以輗對，且稱其廉。 乃命以左都御史往。 八年夏以老乞骸骨，不待報徑歸。 抵家趣具浴，欠伸而卒。
In the second month of the first year of the Tianshun reign he was summoned and appointed Minister of Punishments. After several months he cited illness and begged to retire. The Emperor summoned him for an audience and asked, "When the incorrupt intendant of Zhejiang completed his term and returned home, his baggage was only one basket—was that you?" Ni bowed his head in thanks. The Emperor granted him silver to comfort him and send him on his way. The next year the post overseeing Nanjing grain reserves was vacant; the Emperor asked Li Xian which grand ministers had formerly held that office. Xian named Ni and also praised his integrity. He was then ordered to go as Left Censor-in-Chief. In the summer of the eighth year he pleaded old age and requested retirement; without awaiting a reply he went straight home. Upon reaching home he hurried to prepare a bath, stretched, and died.
62
輗孤峭，遇人無賢否，拒不與接。 為按察使，嘗飲同僚家，歸撫其腹曰：「此中有贓物也。」 在南都，都御史張純置酒延客。 輗惡其汰，不往。 徹饌遺之，亦不納。 歲時詣禮部拜表慶賀，屏居一室，撤燭端坐，事竣竟歸，未嘗與僚友一語。 僚友聞其來，亦輒避去，不樂與之處。 量頗遍隘。 御史有訐人陰私者，輒獎其能。 嘗令御史劾南京祭酒吳節，節亦發輗私事，眾頗不直輗。 然清操聞天下，與耿九疇齊名，語廉吏必曰軒、耿。
Ni was solitary and stern; meeting people whether worthy or not, he refused all contact. As surveillance commissioner, he once drank at a colleague's home; on returning he patted his belly and said, "There are ill-gotten goods in here." In the southern capital, Censor-in-Chief Zhang Chun set out wine to entertain guests. Ni detested his extravagance and did not go. When the feast ended they sent food to him, but he would not accept it either. At the new year he would go to the Ministry of Rites to present the memorial of congratulation; he would withdraw to a single room, extinguish the candles, and sit upright; when the business was done he went straight home, never exchanging a word with colleagues. When colleagues heard he was coming, they too would avoid him, unwilling to keep his company. His tolerance was rather narrow. When a censor denounced someone's private failings, he would commend the man's ability. He once had a censor impeach Nanjing Libationer Wu Jie; Jie in turn exposed Ni's private affairs, and many felt Ni was in the wrong. Yet his integrity was known throughout the realm; he was famed alongside Geng Jiuchou, and when people spoke of incorrupt officials they would say Xuan and Geng.
63
陳復，福建懷安人。 輗同年進士，由戶部主事知杭州。 廉靜無私，獄訟大省。 日端坐堂皇，與曹掾講讀律令而已。 遭喪，部民乞留，詔起復，未幾卒。 輗倡僚屬助之，乃克斂。 吏民相率致賻，其子盡卻之，稱貸歸。
Chen Fu was a native of Huai'an in Fujian. A jinshi of the same year as Ni, he rose from Principal Clerk in the Ministry of Revenue to magistrate of Hangzhou. Incorrupt, quiet, and without partiality, he greatly reduced legal cases. Each day he sat upright in the main hall, doing nothing but reading statutes with his clerks. When he suffered a parent's death, the people of the prefecture begged that he remain; an edict recalled him from mourning, but before long he died. Ni initiated contributions from colleagues to assist, and only then could he be buried. Officials and commoners came in succession with funeral gifts; his son refused them all and returned home on borrowed money.
64
黃孔昭，黃巖人。 初名曜，後以字行，改字世顯。 年十四，遭父母喪，哀毀骨立。 舉天順四年進士，授屯田主事。 奉使江南，卻饋弗受，進都水員外郎。
Huang Kongzhao was a native of Huangyan. Originally named Yao, he later went by his courtesy name, which he changed to Shixian. At fourteen he suffered his parents' death; grief wasted him to skin and bone. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of the Tianshun reign and was appointed Principal Clerk of Garrisons and Fields. On a mission to Jiangnan he declined gifts and would not accept them; he was promoted to Vice Director of the Waterways Bureau.
65
成化五年，文選郎中陳雲等為吏所訐，盡下獄貶官，尚書姚夔知孔昭廉，調之文選。 九年進郎中。 故事，選郎率閉門謝客。 孔昭曰：「國家用才，猶富家積粟。 粟不素積，豈足贍饑； 才不預儲，安能濟用？ 茍以深居絕客為高，何由知天下才俊。」 公退，遇客至，輒延見，訪以人才，書之於冊。 除官，以其才高下配地繁簡。 由是銓敘平允。 其以私幹者，悉拒之。 嘗與尚書尹旻爭，至推案盛怒。 孔昭拱立，俟其怒止，復言之。 旻亦信其諒直。 旻昵通政談倫，欲用為侍郎，孔昭執不可。 旻卒用之，倫果敗。 旻欲推故人為巡撫，孔昭不應。 其人入都謁孔昭，至屈膝，孔昭益鄙之。 旻令推舉，孔昭曰：「彼所少者，大臣體耳。」 旻謂其人曰：「黃君不離銓曹，汝不能遷也。」
In the fifth year of the Chenghua reign, Selection Section Director Chen Yun and others were denounced by clerks; all were imprisoned and demoted. Minister Yao Kui, knowing Kongzhao's integrity, transferred him to the Selection Section. In the ninth year he was promoted to section director. By precedent, selection directors generally shut their doors and refused visitors. Kongzhao said, "The state employs talent as a wealthy household stores grain. If grain is not stored in ordinary times, how can it suffice to relieve famine; if talent is not laid up in advance, how can it meet urgent need? If one takes seclusion and refusal of guests as loftiness, how can one know the talented men of the realm?" After leaving office, whenever a guest arrived he would receive him, inquire about talented men, and record them in a register. When appointing officials he matched their ability, high or low, to districts busy or simple. Thereby appointments and promotions were fair and even. Those who approached him with private requests were all turned away. He once argued with Minister Yin Min until Min pushed back his desk in a rage. Kongzhao stood with hands folded, waited until the anger subsided, and spoke again. Min also trusted his honesty and uprightness. Min was intimate with Commissioner of Transmission Tan Lun and wished to appoint him Vice Minister; Kongzhao insisted it could not be done. Min appointed him in the end, and Lun indeed came to ruin. Min wished to push an old acquaintance as grand coordinator; Kongzhao would not agree. That man came to the capital to call on Kongzhao and went so far as to kneel; Kongzhao despised him all the more. Min ordered a recommendation; Kongzhao said, "What he lacks is the bearing of a great minister." Min said to that man, "As long as Lord Huang does not leave the Board of Appointments, you cannot be transferred."
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為郎中滿九載，始擢右通政。 久之，遷南京工部右侍郎。 有官地十余區為勢家所侵，奏復之。 奉詔薦舉方面，以知府樊瑩、僉事章懋應。 後皆為名臣。 郎官主藏者以羨銀數千進，斥退之。 掘地得古鼎，急命工鐫文廟二字，送之廟中。 俄中貴欲獻諸朝，見鐫字而止。
After nine full years as Director he was at last promoted to Right Vice Commissioner of Transmission. After a long while he was transferred to Right Vice Minister of Works at Nanjing. More than ten plots of official land had been encroached upon by powerful families; he memorialized to recover them. By imperial order he recommended frontier officials, naming Prefect Fan Ying and Assistant Administrator Zhang Mao. Both later became renowned ministers. A director in charge of the treasury presented several thousand taels of surplus silver; he rebuked and dismissed him. While digging the ground he unearthed an ancient tripod; he urgently ordered craftsmen to engrave the two characters for "literary temple" and sent it to the temple. Before long a palace eunuch wished to present it to the court; seeing the engraved characters he stopped.
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孔昭嗜學敦行，與陳選、林鶚、謝鐸友善，並為士類所宗。 弘治四年卒。 嘉靖中，贈禮部尚書，謚文毅。 子俌，亦舉進士，為文選郎中。 俌子綰，以議大禮至禮部尚書，自有傳。
Kongzhao loved learning and cultivated conduct; he was friendly with Chen Xuan, Lin E, and Xie Duo, and all were honored by the scholar class. He died in the fourth year of the Hongzhi reign. During the Jiajing reign he was posthumously made Minister of Rites and given the temple name Wenyi. His son Fu also passed the jinshi examination and served as Director of Literary Selection. Fu's son Wan, who rose through the Grand Rites controversy to Minister of Rites, has his own biography.
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贊曰：國家盛時，士大夫多以廉節自重，豈刻意勵行，好為矯飾名譽哉。 亦其淡嗜欲，恥營競，介特之性然也。 仁、宣之際，懲吏道貪墨，登進公廉剛正之士。 宗載佐銓衡，顧佐掌邦憲，風紀為之一清。 段民、吳訥、魏驥、魯穆爵然秉羔羊素絲之節。 軒、耿、孔昭矯厲絕俗，物不能幹。 章敞、徐琦、劉戩律己嚴正，異域傾心。 廉之足尚也卓矣。
The commentator says: In the state's flourishing age, scholar-officials for the most part took integrity and restraint as their own standard—was this deliberately striving in conduct and fondness for ostentatious reputation? Rather it was because they were indifferent to desires, ashamed of scrambling for gain, and their natures were upright and singular. Between the Renzong and Xuande reigns, the way of officials was corrected for corruption, and publicly incorrupt, firm, and upright men were advanced. Zongzai assisted in appointments and Gu Zuo held the laws of the realm; official discipline was thereby restored. Duan Min, Wu Ne, Wei Ji, and Lu Mu each upheld the integrity symbolized by the lamb's coat and white silk. Xuan, Geng, and Kongzhao were stern and transcendent beyond the common world; nothing could sway them. Zhang Chang, Xu Qi, and Liu Jian disciplined themselves with severity and rectitude; foreign lands gave them their hearts. How eminently integrity is to be honored!