1
金純張本郭敦郭璡鄭辰柴車劉中敷孫機張鳳周瑄子紘楊鼎翁世資黃鎬胡拱辰陳俊林鶚潘榮夏時正
Jin Chun, Zhang Ben, Guo Dun, Guo Jin, Zheng Chen, Chai Che, Liu Zhongfu, Sun Ji, Zhang Feng, Zhou Xuan, his son Hong, Yang Ding, Weng Shizi, Huang Gao, Hu Gongchen, Chen Jun, Lin E, Pan Rong, and Xia Shizheng
2
金純，字德修，泗州人。 洪武中國子監生。 以吏部尚書杜澤薦，授吏部文選司郎中。 三十一年出為江西布政司右參政。 成祖即位，以蹇義薦，召為刑部右侍郎。 時將營北京，命采木湖廣。 永樂七年從巡北京。 八年從北征，遷左侍郎。
Jin Chun, whose courtesy name was Dexiu, came from Sizhou. Under the Hongwu emperor he studied at the Imperial Academy. Recommended by Du Ze, the Minister of Personnel, he was made director of the Ministry's Selection Bureau. In year thirty-one of the reign he was posted as right vice administrator of the Jiangxi provincial government. After the Yongle emperor's accession, Jian Yi recommended him, and he was recalled to serve as right vice minister of Justice. As the court was preparing to build Beijing, he was sent to gather timber in Huguang. In Yongle year seven he accompanied the imperial inspection tour of Beijing. The next year he took part in the northern expedition and was promoted to left vice minister.
3
宣德三年，純有疾，帝命醫視療。 稍間，免其朝參，俾護疾視事。 會暑，敕法司理滯囚。 純數從朝貴飲，為言官所劾。 帝怒曰：「純以疾不朝而燕於私，可乎？」 命系錦衣獄。 既念純老臣，釋之，落太子賓客。 八月予致仕去。
In the third year of Xuande, Jin Chun fell ill, and the emperor sent physicians to attend him. When he improved a little, he was excused from court attendance and permitted to tend his illness while continuing to manage his duties. That summer the emperor ordered the judicial offices to review long-detained prisoners. Jin Chun repeatedly joined senior officials for drinking parties and was impeached by the censors. The emperor said in anger, "Chun pleads illness to avoid court yet feasts privately—is that permissible?" He ordered Jin Chun imprisoned in the Brocade Guard jail. Remembering that Jin Chun was a veteran minister, the emperor released him and stripped him of his post as tutor to the crown prince. In the eighth month he was granted retirement and left the capital.
4
純在刑部，仁宗嘗諭純：「法司近尚羅織，言者輒以誹謗得罪，甚無謂。 自今告誹謗者勿論。」 純亦務寬大，每誡屬吏不得妄椎擊人。 故當純時，獄無瘐死者。 正統五年卒。 贈山陽伯。
While Jin Chun served at the Ministry of Justice, Emperor Renzong once told him, "The courts lately love to weave charges together; anyone who speaks up is punished for slander, which is absurd. From now on, do not prosecute accusations of slander." Jin Chun likewise favored leniency and repeatedly warned his subordinates not to beat prisoners without cause. During his tenure, no prisoner died of neglect or mistreatment in the jails. He died in the fifth year of the Zhengtong reign. He was posthumously ennobled as Marquis of Shanyang.
5
張本，字致中，東阿人。 洪武中，自國子生授江都知縣。 燕兵至揚州，御史王彬據城抗，為守將所縛。 本率父老迎降。 成祖以滁、泰二知州房吉、田慶成率先歸附，命與本並為揚州知府，偕見任知府譚友德同涖府事。 尋擢本江西布政司右參政。
Zhang Ben, whose courtesy name was Zhizhong, came from Dong'e. Under Hongwu he left the Imperial Academy to become magistrate of Jiangdu county. When the Prince of Yan's army reached Yangzhou, Censor Wang Bin held the city in defiance but was seized by the garrison commander. Zhang Ben led the local elders out to welcome the army and surrender the city. Because the prefects of Chuzhou and Taizhou, Fang Ji and Tian Qingcheng, had been the first to submit, the Yongle emperor appointed them together with Zhang Ben as co-prefects of Yangzhou, sharing administration with the incumbent Tan Youde. Soon afterward Zhang Ben was promoted to right vice administrator of the Jiangxi provincial government.
6
永樂四年召為工部左侍郎。 坐事免官，冠帶辦事。 明年五月復官。 尋以奏牘書銜誤左為右，為給事中所劾。 帝命改授本部右侍郎而宥其罪。
In Yongle year four he was recalled to serve as left vice minister of Works. He was dismissed for an offense but allowed to keep his rank insignia and continue handling business. The following May his post was restored. Soon afterward a memorial listed his title incorrectly as right instead of left, and a supervising secretary impeached him. The emperor reassigned him as right vice minister of the same ministry and pardoned the error.
7
七年，皇太子監國，奏為刑部右侍郎。 善摘奸。 命督北河運。 躬自相視，立程度，舟行得無滯。 會疾作，太子賜之狐裘冠鈔，遣醫馳視。 十九年將北征，命本及王彰分往兩直隸、山東、山西、河南，督有司造車挽運。 明年即命本督北征餉。
In year seven, while the crown prince governed as regent, he was appointed right vice minister of Justice. He had a gift for uncovering fraud and malfeasance. He was put in charge of grain transport on the northern canal. He inspected the route himself, set clear standards, and kept the fleet moving without backlog. When he fell ill, the crown prince sent him a fox-fur robe, cap, and cash stipend and dispatched physicians at once. In year nineteen, with a northern campaign in prospect, Zhang Ben and Wang Zhang were sent to the two metropolitan regions and to Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan to oversee local officials in building supply carts. The following year he was put in charge of supplies for the northern expedition.
8
仁宗即位，拜南京兵部尚書兼掌都察院事。 召見，言時政得失，且請嚴飭武備。 帝嘉納之，遂留行在兵部。
When Emperor Renzong succeeded, Zhang Ben was made Minister of War at Nanjing and given charge of the Censorate as well. Called to audience, he discussed what was right and wrong in current policy and urged the emperor to tighten military preparedness. The emperor approved his counsel and retained him at the traveling Ministry of War at the capital.
9
宣德初，工部侍郎蔡信乞征軍匠家口隸錦衣衛。 本言：「軍匠二萬六千人，屬二百四十五衛所，為匠者暫役其一丁。 若盡取以來，家以三四丁計之，數近十萬。 軍伍既缺，人情驚駭，不可。」 帝善本言。
Early in the Xuande reign, Vice Minister of Works Cai Xin asked that the families of military artisans be drafted into the Brocade Guard. Zhang Ben replied, "There are twenty-six thousand military artisans spread across two hundred forty-five guards and battalions; only one able-bodied man per household is temporarily drafted for artisan service. If every household member were taken, counting three or four men per family, the total would approach one hundred thousand. Military households would be gutted and the populace thrown into panic; this cannot be allowed." The emperor accepted Zhang Ben's argument.
10
征漢庶人，從調兵食。 庶人就擒，命撫輯其眾，而錄其餘黨。 還以軍政久敝，奸人用貸脫籍，而援平民實伍，言於帝。 擇廷臣四出厘正之。 時馬大孳息，畿內軍民為畜牧所困。 本請分牧于山東、河南及大名諸府。 山東、河南養馬自此始。 晉王濟熿坐不軌奪爵，本奉命散其護衛軍于邊鎮。
During the campaign against the deposed Prince of Han, he went along to organize troops and supplies. After the prince was taken, he was ordered to pacify the rebel following and register any remaining partisans. On his return he told the emperor that military administration had decayed for years—corrupt men bought their way off the rolls while civilians were dragooned to fill the quotas. The emperor chose senior officials and sent them out in four directions to set the rolls right. Horses had multiplied so greatly that soldiers and civilians around the capital were overwhelmed by pasturage obligations. Zhang Ben asked that herds be distributed for grazing in Shandong, Henan, and the Daming region. State horse breeding in Shandong and Henan began with this measure. When Prince of Jin Ji Huang was stripped of his title for treason, Zhang Ben was ordered to disperse his guard troops among the frontier garrisons.
11
四年命兼太子賓客。 戶部以官田租減，度支不給，請減外官俸及生員軍士月給。 帝以軍士艱，不聽減。 餘下廷議，本等持不可，乃止。 陽武侯薛祿城獨石諸戍成，本往計守禦之宜。 還奏稱旨，命兼掌戶部。 本慮邊食不足，而諸邊比歲稔，請出絲麻布帛輸邊易穀，多者三四十萬石，少者亦十萬石，儲偫頓充。 六年病卒，賜賻三萬緡，葬祭甚厚。
In year four he was also appointed tutor to the crown prince. Because rents from official fields had fallen short and the treasury could not cover expenses, the Ministry of Revenue asked to cut local officials' salaries and the monthly pay of students and soldiers. The emperor, mindful of the soldiers' hardship, refused to cut their pay. The rest was debated at court; Zhang Ben and others opposed it, and the plan was abandoned. After Marquis of Yangwu Xue Lu finished fortifying Dushi and the other border posts, Zhang Ben went to plan their garrison and defense. His report on returning pleased the emperor, who also put him in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. Worried that frontier granaries were low while the border regions had enjoyed good harvests, he proposed sending silk, hemp, and cloth to exchange for grain—up to three or four hundred thousand piculs in some areas and at least one hundred thousand in others—swiftly filling the reserves. In year six he died of illness; the court granted thirty thousand strings of cash for his funeral and gave him an exceptionally lavish burial.
12
本廉介有執持，尚刻少恕。 錄高煦黨，脅從者多不免。 成祖宴近臣，銀器各一案，因以賜之。 獨本案設陶器，諭曰：「卿號『窮張』，銀器無所用。」 本頓首謝，其為上知如此。
Zhang Ben was incorruptible and firm in principle, inclined toward severity and slow to forgive. When Zhu Gaoxu's followers were prosecuted, many who had been coerced were punished nonetheless. The Yongle emperor entertained his close ministers, setting a tray of silver vessels before each and then giving them away as gifts. Only Zhang Ben's place held pottery; the emperor said, "You are called 'Poor Zhang'—silver would be wasted on you." Zhang Ben kowtowed in thanks—such was the emperor's intimate knowledge of him.
13
郭敦，字仲厚，堂邑人。 洪武中，以鄉舉入太學，授戶部主事。 遷衢州知府，多惠政。 衢俗，貧者死不葬，輒焚其屍。 敦為厲禁，且立義阡，俗遂革。 禁民聚淫祠。 敦疾，民勸弛其禁，弗聽，疾亦瘳。 在衢七年。 永樂初，坐累征，耆老數百人伏闕乞留，不得。 後廷臣言敦廉正，召補監察御史。 遷河南左參政，調陝西。 十六年春，胡濙言敦有大臣體，擢禮部右侍郎兼太僕寺卿，偕給事中陶衎巡撫順天。 二十年督北征餉。
Guo Dun, whose courtesy name was Zhonghou, came from Tangyi. Under Hongwu he entered the Imperial University on a provincial recommendation and was made a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. He was transferred to serve as prefect of Quzhou, where he carried out many policies that benefited the people. Local custom in Quzhou was that when the poor died without means for burial, their bodies were cremated instead. Guo Dun strictly forbade the practice and established a public burial ground, and the custom was changed. He also banned gatherings at unauthorized shrines. When he fell ill, the people urged him to lift the ban; he refused, and he recovered. He served seven years in Quzhou. Early in Yongle he was recalled to the capital on a related charge; several hundred elders knelt at the palace gate begging that he stay, but their plea was denied. Later, when court officials praised his integrity, he was recalled and appointed investigating censor. He was promoted to left vice administrator of Henan and then transferred to Shaanxi. In the spring of year sixteen, Hu Ying said Guo Dun had the stature of a great minister; he was made right vice minister of Rites and concurrent director of the Imperial Stud, and with Supervising Secretary Tao Kan was sent to oversee Shuntian prefecture. In year twenty he supervised supplies for the northern expedition.
14
敦事親孝，持身廉。 同官有為不義者，輒厲色待之，其人悔謝乃已。 性好學，公退，手不釋卷。 六年，卒官，年六十二。
Guo Dun was devoted to his parents and scrupulously honest in his conduct. When colleagues behaved unjustly, he confronted them sternly until they repented and apologized, and only then would he relent. He loved learning by nature and, after office hours, never set his books aside. In year six he died in office at sixty-two.
15
郭璡，字時用，初名進，新安人。 永樂初，乙太學生擢戶部主事。 曆官吏部左、右侍郎。 仁宗即位，命兼詹事府少詹事，更名璡。
Guo Jin, whose courtesy name was Shiyong and whose original name was Jin, came from Xin'an. Early in Yongle, as a second-class graduate of the Imperial University he was made a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. He served in turn as left and right vice minister of Personnel. When Emperor Renzong succeeded, he was made concurrent vice director of the Heir Apparent's household and changed his name to Jin.
16
宣宗初，掌行在詹事府。 吏部尚書蹇義老，輟部務，帝欲以璡代。 璡厚重勤敏，然寡學術。 楊士奇言恐璡不足當之，宜妙擇大臣通經術知今古者，帝乃止。 逾年，卒為尚書。 諭以呂蒙正夾袋，虞允文材館錄故事。 璡由是留意人才。 識進士李賢輔相器，授吏部主事，後果為名相。 時外官九年考滿，部民走闕下乞留，輒增秩復任。 璡慮有妄者，請覆實。 從之。
Early in the Xuande reign he headed the traveling household of the heir apparent. Minister of Personnel Jian Yi was elderly and had stepped back from daily duties; the emperor intended to replace him with Guo Jin. Guo Jin was steady, diligent, and capable, but lacked scholarly depth. Yang Shiqi warned that Guo Jin might not be equal to the post and urged the emperor to choose a minister steeped in the classics and versed in past and present affairs; the emperor dropped the plan. A year later he was made minister after all. The emperor told him the stories of Lü Mengzheng's talent pouch and Yu Yunwen's roster of capable men. From then on Guo Jin paid close attention to identifying talent. He recognized in the jinshi Li Xian the makings of a chief minister, appointed him a principal clerk in Personnel, and Li later became one of the great ministers of the age. At that time, when local officials finished their nine-year review, the people of their jurisdiction would rush to the capital to beg that they stay, and the court routinely promoted them and reappointed them. Guo Jin worried that some petitions might be fraudulent and asked that they be investigated. The emperor agreed.
17
璡雖長六卿，然望輕。 又政歸內閣，自布政使至知府闕，聽京官三品以上薦舉； 既又命御史、知縣，皆聽京官五品以上薦舉。 要職選擢，皆不關吏部。 正統初，左通政陳恭言：「古者擇任庶官，悉由選部，職任專而事體一。 今令朝臣各舉所知，恐開私謁之門，長奔競之風，乞杜絕，令歸一。」 下吏部議。 璡遜謝不敢當，事遂寢。
Although Guo Jin headed one of the six ministries, he carried little weight at court. Moreover, with power concentrated in the Grand Secretariat, vacancies from provincial administrators down to prefects were filled on recommendations from capital officials of the third rank and above; later investigating censors and county magistrates were also appointed on recommendations from capital officials of the fifth rank and above. Important appointments no longer passed through the Ministry of Personnel at all. Early in the Zhengtong reign, Left Assistant Minister Chen Gong said, "In antiquity every ordinary official was chosen through the Selection Bureau alone, with clear responsibility and a single standard. If every minister is allowed to recommend his own acquaintances, private lobbying and frantic competition will follow; I beg that this be ended and authority returned to a single channel." The proposal was sent to the Ministry of Personnel for deliberation. Guo Jin humbly declined, saying he was unfit for the post, and the matter was dropped.
18
正統六年，御史曹恭以災異請罷大臣不職者。 帝命科道官參議。 璡及尚書吳中、侍郎李庸等被劾者二十人。 璡等自陳，帝切責而宥之。 璡子亮受賂為人求官。 事覺，御史孫毓等劾璡。 乃令璡致仕，而以王直代。
In the sixth year of Zhengtong, Censor Cao Gong cited omens and disasters to ask that incompetent senior ministers be removed. The emperor ordered censors and remonstrance officials to deliberate. Guo Jin, Minister Wu Zhong, Vice Minister Li Yong, and others—twenty officials in all—were impeached. Guo Jin and the others submitted their own accounts; the emperor rebuked them sharply but pardoned them. Guo Jin's son Liang took bribes to obtain offices for others. When the affair came to light, Censor Sun Yu and others impeached Guo Jin. Guo Jin was ordered to retire, and Wang Zhi was appointed in his stead.
19
鄭辰，字文樞，浙江西安人。 永樂四年進士，授監察御史。 江西安福民告謀逆事，命辰往廉之，具得誣狀。 福建番客殺人，復命辰往。 止坐首惡，釋其餘。 南京敕建報恩寺，役囚萬人。 蜚語言役夫謗訕，恐有變，命辰往驗。 無實，無一得罪者。 谷庶人謀不軌，復命辰察之，盡得其蹤跡。 帝語方賓曰：「是真國家耳目臣矣。」 十六年超遷山西按察使，糾治貪濁不少貸。 潞州盜起，有司以叛聞，詔發兵討捕。 辰方以事朝京師，奏曰：「民苦徭役而已，請無發兵。」 帝然之。 還則屏騶從，親入山谷撫諭。 盜皆感泣，復為良民。 禮部侍郎蔚綬轉粟給山海軍，辰統山西民輦任。 民勞，多逋耗，綬令即山海貸償之。 辰曰：「山西民貧而悍，急之恐生變。 不如緩之，使自通有無。」 用其言，卒無逋者。 丁內艱歸，軍民詣御史乞留。 御史以聞，服闋還舊任。
Zheng Chen, whose courtesy name was Wenshu, came from Xi'an in Zhejiang. Having passed the jinshi examination in Yongle year four, he was made an investigating censor. When the people of Anfu in Jiangxi reported a treason plot, Zheng Chen was sent to investigate and proved the accusation entirely false. When foreign merchants in Fujian committed murder, he was again sent to handle the case. He punished only the ringleader and released the others. At Nanjing the emperor ordered construction of the Bao'en Temple, using ten thousand convict laborers. Rumors spread that the laborers were slandering the work and might revolt; Zheng Chen was sent to investigate. The rumors proved groundless, and not a single laborer was punished. When the deposed Prince Gu plotted rebellion, Zheng Chen was again sent to investigate and uncovered the entire conspiracy. The emperor told Fang Bin, "Here is a true eyes-and-ears minister of the realm." In year sixteen he was promoted ahead of schedule to surveillance commissioner of Shanxi and prosecuted corruption without mercy. Bandits rose in Luzhou; local officials reported a rebellion, and the court ordered troops to suppress them. Zheng Chen happened to be at court on business and memorialized, "The people suffer only from corvée burdens; I beg that no troops be sent." The emperor agreed. On returning he dismissed his escort and went personally into the hills to reassure the people. The bandits wept in gratitude and returned to peaceful lives. When Vice Minister of Rites Wei Shou arranged grain shipments for the Shanhai garrison, Zheng Chen organized the people of Shanxi to transport them. The people were exhausted and many shipments fell short; Wei ordered immediate loans from Shanhai to make up the deficit. Zheng Chen said, "The people of Shanxi are poor and fierce; pressing them too hard may provoke unrest. It would be better to proceed gently and let them make up shortages among themselves." His advice was followed, and in the end no one defaulted. When he returned home to mourn his mother, soldiers and civilians petitioned the censor to keep him in office. The censor reported their plea, and when mourning ended Zheng Chen resumed his former post.
20
宣德三年召為南京工部右侍郎。 初，兩京六部堂官缺，帝命廷臣推方面官堪內任者。 蹇義等薦九人。 獨辰及邵、傅啟讓，帝素知其名，即真授，餘試職而已。
In the third year of Xuande he was recalled to serve as right vice minister of Works at Nanjing. Earlier, when senior posts in the six ministries at both capitals fell vacant, the emperor ordered ministers to recommend provincial officials suited for capital appointment. Jian Yi and others recommended nine candidates. Only Zheng Chen, Shao Yong, and Fu Qirang were men the emperor already knew by reputation; they received full appointments at once, while the others were given trial posts only.
21
辰為人重義輕財。 初登進士，產悉讓兄弟。 在山西與同僚杜僉事有違言。 杜卒，為治喪，資遣其妻子。
Zheng Chen valued honor above wealth. When he first passed the jinshi examination, he gave all his property to his brothers. While serving in Shanxi he quarreled with his colleague Vice Commissioner Du. When Du died, Zheng Chen arranged his funeral and provided funds to send his wife and children home.
22
柴車，字叔輿，錢塘人。 永樂二年，以舉人授兵部武選司主事，曆員外郎。 八年，帝北征，從尚書方賓扈行。 還遷江西右參議。 坐事，左遷兵部郎中，出知岳州府，復入為郎中。
Chai Che, whose courtesy name was Shuyu, came from Qiantang. In Yongle year two, on a provincial recommendation he became principal clerk in the Ministry of War's Military Selection Bureau and rose to vice director. In year eight, when the emperor marched north, he accompanied Minister Fang Bin on the campaign. On returning he was made right vice administrator of Jiangxi. After an offense he was demoted to director in the Ministry of War, then sent out as prefect of Yuezhou, and later returned to the ministry as director.
23
宣德五年擢兵部侍郎。 明年，山西巡按御史張勖言，大同屯田多為豪右佔據，命車往按。 得田幾二千頃，還之軍。
In the fifth year of Xuande he was promoted to vice minister of War. The following year, Shanxi touring censor Zhang Xu reported that much garrison farmland at Datong had been seized by powerful families; Chai Che was sent to investigate. He recovered nearly two thousand qing of land and returned it to the garrison.
24
英宗初，西鄙不靖。 以車廉幹，命協贊甘肅軍務。 調軍給餉，悉得事宜。 初，朵兒只伯寇涼州，副總兵劉廣喪師。 不以實聞，顧飾功要賞。 車劾其罪，械廣至京。 賜車金幣，旌其直。 岷州土官後能冒功得升賞，車奏請加罪。 能復請，命宥之。 車反覆論其不可，曰：「詐冒如能者，實繁有徒，臣方次第按核。 今宥能，何以戢眾？ 若無功得官，則捐軀死敵者，何以待之？」 朝廷雖從能請，然嘉車賢，遣使勞賜之。
Early in Emperor Yingzong's reign the western frontier was unsettled. Because Chai Che was honest and capable, he was ordered to assist in Gansu military affairs. In deploying troops and supplying provisions, he handled every matter appropriately. Earlier, when Duerzhibo raided Liangzhou, deputy commander Liu Guang lost his army. He failed to report the truth and instead embellished his record to claim rewards. Chai Che impeached him and had Liu Guang sent to the capital in chains. The court rewarded Chai Che with gold and coins in recognition of his integrity. The native official Houneng of Minzhou had falsely claimed merit and been promoted and rewarded; Chai Che memorialized asking that he be punished. Houneng petitioned again, and the emperor ordered him pardoned. Chai Che argued repeatedly that this could not stand, saying, "False claimants like Houneng are legion; I have only begun to investigate them systematically. If Houneng is pardoned now, how can others be restrained? If the undeserving gain office, what reward is left for those who died fighting the enemy?" Although the court granted Houneng's petition, it praised Chai Che's integrity and sent an envoy to console and reward him.
25
正統三年，以破朵兒只伯功，增俸一級。 在邊，章數十上，悉中時病。 同事多不悅，車持益堅。 嘗建言：「漠北降人，朝廷留之京師，雖厚爵賞，其心終異。 如長脫脫木兒者，昔隨其長來歸，未幾叛去。 今乃復來，安知他日不再叛，宜徙江南，離其黨類。」 事下兵部，請處之河間、德州。 帝報可。 後降者悉以此令從事。 稽核屯田豪占者，悉清出之，得六百餘頃。 四年進兵部尚書，參贊如故。 尋命兼理陝西屯田。 明年召還，命與僉都御史曹翼歲更代出鎮。 及期病甚。 詔遣大理寺少卿程富代翼，而命車歸治疾。 未及行，六年六月卒。
In the third year of Zhengtong, for defeating Duerzhibo, his salary was raised one grade. On the frontier he submitted dozens of memorials, each striking at the problems of the day. Many colleagues were displeased, but Chai Che held his ground all the more firmly. He once proposed, "The northern tribesmen who surrendered and whom the court keeps in the capital, though richly ennobled and rewarded, remain alien at heart. Men such as Changtuotuomu'er once came in with their chiefs, but soon rebelled and fled. Now he has returned—who can be sure he will not rebel again? They should be resettled south of the Yangtze, far from their fellows." The matter was referred to the Ministry of War, which proposed resettling them at Hejian and Dezhou. The emperor approved. Later surrenderers were all handled according to this policy. In auditing garrison farmland seized by powerful families, he recovered more than six hundred qing. In year four he was promoted to Minister of War while continuing his assisting duties on the frontier. Soon he was also put in charge of garrison farmland in Shaanxi. The following year he was recalled and ordered to alternate yearly with Vice Censor-in-Chief Cao Yi in commanding the frontier garrisons. When his term came due he was gravely ill. The emperor sent Vice Director Cheng Fu of the Court of Judicial Review to replace Cao Yi and ordered Chai Che home to recover. Before he could leave, he died in the sixth month of year six.
26
車在江西時，以采木入閩，經廣信。 廣信守，故人也，饋蜜一罌。 發視之，乃白金。 笑曰：「公不知故人矣」，卻不受。 同事邊塞者多以宴樂為豪舉。 車惡之，遂斷酒肉。 其介特多此類。
While serving in Jiangxi, on a timber-gathering mission he entered Fujian and passed through Guangxin. The prefect of Guangxin, an old friend, sent him a jar of honey as a gift. When he opened it, he found silver inside. He laughed and said, "You do not know your old friend at all," and refused the gift. Many colleagues on the frontier treated feasting and revelry as marks of status. Chai Che detested this and gave up wine and meat entirely. His uncompromising integrity took many such forms.
27
劉中敷，大興人，初名中孚。 燕王舉兵，以諸生守城功，授陳留丞。 擢工部員外郎。 仁宗監國，命署部事，賜今名。 遷江西右參議。 宣德三年遷山東右參政，進左布政使。 質直廉靜，吏民畏懷。 歲大侵，言于巡撫，減賦三之二。
Liu Zhongfu, from Daxing, was originally named Zhongfu. When the Prince of Yan raised troops, for his merit as a student defender of the city he was made assistant magistrate of Chenliu. He was promoted to vice director in the Ministry of Works. When the crown prince governed as regent, he was put in charge of ministry affairs and granted his present name. He was transferred to right vice administrator of Jiangxi. In the third year of Xuande he was made right vice administrator of Shandong and then promoted to left provincial administrator. Upright, honest, and reserved, he was feared and respected by officials and commoners alike. In a year of severe famine he persuaded the touring pacification commissioner to cut taxes by two-thirds.
28
正統改元，父憂奪情，俄召拜戶部尚書。 帝沖年踐阼，慮群下欺己，治尚嚴。 而中官王振假以立威，屢摭大臣小過，導帝用重典，大臣下吏無虛歲。 三年諷給事御史劾中敷與左侍郎吳璽等，下獄，釋還職。
At the start of the Zhengtong reign, when his father died he was allowed to remain in office rather than withdraw for mourning; soon afterward he was summoned and appointed Minister of Revenue. The emperor took the throne while still very young and feared being misled by his officials, so his rule tended toward severity. The eunuch Wang Zhen exploited this climate to build his power, repeatedly dredging up minor offenses by senior ministers and steering the emperor toward harsh punishments; hardly a year passed without some minister being turned over to the courts. In the third year, supervising secretaries and censors were maneuvered into impeaching Zhongfu along with Left Vice Minister Wu Xi and others; they were jailed, then released and restored to office.
29
六年，言官劾中敷專擅。 詔法司於內廷雜治。 當流，許輸贖。 帝特宥之。 其冬，中敷、璽及右侍郎陳瑺請以供禦牛馬分牧民間。 言官劾其變亂成法，並下獄論斬。 詔荷校長安門外，凡十六日而釋。 瓦剌入貢，詔問馬駝芻菽數，不能對，復與璽、瑺論斬系獄。 中敷以母病，特許歸省。 明年冬，當決囚，法司以請。 命璽、瑺戍邊，中敷俟母終其奏。 已，釋為民。
In the sixth year, remonstrating officials impeached Zhongfu for arrogating power to himself. The emperor ordered the judicial offices to hear the case jointly within the inner court. He was sentenced to banishment, with the option of paying a fine in lieu of exile. The emperor specially granted him a pardon. That winter, Zhongfu, Xi, and Right Vice Minister Chen Kao proposed distributing the oxen and horses reserved for the imperial household among local households for pasturing. Remonstrating officials accused them of overturning established law; all three were imprisoned and sentenced to execution. They were ordered to wear the cangue outside Chang'an Gate and were released after sixteen days. When the Oirats came bearing tribute, the emperor asked how many horses, camels, fodder, and grain were on hand; Zhongfu could not answer. He was again condemned to death along with Xi and Kao and held in prison. Because his mother was ill, Zhongfu was granted special leave to return home. The following winter, when executions were due, the judicial offices submitted their recommendation. Xi and Kao were ordered to the frontier as garrison troops; Zhongfu's sentence was deferred until after his mother's death. Eventually he was released and reduced to commoner status.
30
景帝立，起戶部左侍郎兼太子賓客。 時方用兵，論功行賞無虛日。 中敷言府庫財有限，宜撙節以備緩急。 帝嘉納。 景泰四年卒。 贈尚書。
When the Jing Emperor took the throne, Zhongfu was recalled as Left Vice Minister of Revenue and concurrently Tutor to the Crown Prince. The empire was at war, and rewards for merit were dispensed nearly every day. Zhongfu argued that treasury resources were limited and that spending should be tightened to meet emergencies. The emperor praised and accepted the advice. He died in the fourth year of the Jingtai reign. He was posthumously granted the rank of minister.
31
中敷性淡泊，食不重味，仕宦五十年，家無餘資。
Zhongfu was by nature abstemious and never ate richly flavored food. After fifty years in office, his family had no surplus wealth.
32
子璉，正統十年進士。 授刑科給事中，累官太僕寺卿。 恥華靡，居官剛果。 左遷遼東苑馬寺卿，卒。
His son Lian passed the metropolitan examination in the tenth year of the Zhengtong reign. He was appointed reviewing secretary in the Bureau of Punishments and eventually rose to Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. He despised luxury and was firm and resolute in office. He was demoted to Director of the Liaodong Pasturage Office, where he died.
33
子機，幼有孝行。 成化十四年進士。 改庶起士。 正德中，代張彩為吏部尚書，以人言乞歸。 起南京兵部尚書，參贊機務。 流賊犯江上，眾議擇將。 適都督李昴自貴州罷官至，機即召任之。 昂以無朝命辭。 機曰：「機奉敕有雲，『敕所不載，聽便宜』。 此即朝命也。」 眾服其膽識。 致仕歸，卒。
His son Ji was filial from childhood. He passed the metropolitan examination in the fourteenth year of the Chenghua reign. He was appointed a Hanlin bachelor. During the Zhengde reign he replaced Zhang Cai as Minister of Personnel, but after criticism from others he asked to retire. He was recalled as Minister of War at Nanjing to assist in military affairs. When roving bandits raided along the Yangtze, officials debated whom to appoint as commander. Just then Regional Commander Li Ang, who had been dismissed from Guizhou and had arrived, was immediately summoned and appointed by Ji. Ang declined on the grounds that he had received no imperial order. Ji said: "My commission states, 'What the commission does not specify may be handled as circumstances require. That is the imperial order.' All admired his courage and judgment. He retired and returned home, where he died.
34
張鳳，字子儀，安平人。 父益，官給事中。 永樂八年從征漠北，歿於陣。 鳳登宣德二年進士。 授刑部主事。 讞江西叛獄，平反數百人。
Zhang Feng, styled Ziyi, was from Anping. His father Yi served as a supervising secretary. In the eighth year of the Yongle reign he joined the northern campaign into the desert and died in battle. Feng passed the metropolitan examination in the second year of the Xuande reign. He was appointed a clerk in the Ministry of Justice. While adjudicating a rebellion case in Jiangxi, he exonerated several hundred people.
35
正統三年十二月，法司坐事盡系獄，遂擢鳳本部右侍郎。 以主事擢侍郎，前時未有也。 明年命提督京倉。 六年改戶部，尋調南京。 適尚書久闕，鳳遂掌部事。 貴州奏軍衛乏糧，乞運龍江倉及兩淮鹽於鎮遠府易米。 鳳以龍江鹽雜泥沙，不堪易米給軍，盡以淮鹽予之，然後以聞。 帝嘉賞。 又言留都重地，宜歲儲二百萬石，為根本計。 從之，遂為令。 南京糧儲，舊督以都御史，十二年冬命鳳兼理。 廉謹善執法，號「板張」。
In the twelfth month of the third year of Zhengtong, when judicial officials were all imprisoned for misconduct, Feng was promoted to Right Vice Minister in the Ministry of Justice. Promotion from clerk directly to vice minister had never occurred before. The following year he was ordered to supervise the capital granaries. In the sixth year he was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue and soon afterward to Nanjing. As the minister's post had long been vacant, Feng took charge of the ministry. Guizhou reported that military garrisons lacked grain and requested that salt from Longjiang Granary and the two Huai salterns be shipped to Zhenyuan Prefecture to exchange for rice. Feng judged Longjiang salt, adulterated with sand and mud, unsuitable for exchange to supply the troops; he gave them Huai salt entirely and reported afterward. The emperor praised and rewarded him. He also argued that the secondary capital was a vital place and should maintain an annual reserve of two million shi as a foundational safeguard. The emperor agreed, and this became standing policy. Nanjing grain reserves had formerly been overseen by a censor-in-chief; in the winter of the twelfth year Feng was ordered to take charge of them concurrently. Incorruptible, conscientious, and skilled in enforcing the law, he was known as "Inflexible Zhang."
36
景泰二年進尚書。 四年改兵部，參贊軍務。 戶部尚書金濂卒，召鳳代之。 時四方兵息，而災傷特甚。 帝屢詔寬恤。 鳳偕廷臣議上十事，明年復先後議上八事，鹹報可。 鳳以災傷蠲賦多，國用益詘，乃奏言：「國初天下田八百四十九萬餘頃，今數既減半，加以水旱停征，國用何以取給。 京畿及河南、山東無額田，甲方墾辟，乙即訐其漏賦。 請准輕則征租，不惟永絕爭端，亦且少助軍國。」 報可。 給事中成章等劾鳳擅更祖制，楊穟等復爭之。 帝曰：「國初都江南，轉輸易。 今居極北，可守常制耶？」 四方報凶荒者，鳳請令御史勘實。 議者非之。
In the second year of the Jingtai reign he was promoted to minister. In the fourth year he was transferred to the Ministry of War to assist in military affairs. When Minister of Revenue Jin Lian died, Feng was summoned to replace him. At the time warfare had subsided throughout the realm, but disasters and crop failures were especially severe. The emperor repeatedly issued edicts granting relief and leniency. Feng together with court officials submitted ten proposals; the next year eight more were submitted in succession, and all were approved. Feng, seeing that tax remissions due to disaster were numerous and state revenues increasingly strained, memorialized: "At the founding of the dynasty registered fields nationwide totaled more than 8.49 million qing; the figure has now been cut in half, and with drought and flood suspending collection, how is state revenue to be supplied? In the capital region and in Henan and Shandong there are unregistered fields: when one party clears and cultivates them, another immediately denounces them for evading tax. I ask permission to collect rent under a lighter standard—not only to end disputes permanently but also to provide some aid to army and state. The proposal was approved. Supervising secretaries Cheng Zhang and others impeached Feng for altering ancestral institutions on his own authority; Yang Sui and others again disputed the policy. The emperor said: "At the founding the capital was in the south and transport was easy. Now we sit at the far north—can we cling to the old standard? When reports of famine arrived from all quarters, Feng asked that censors be sent to verify them on the spot. Critics objected to this.
37
英宗復辟，調南京戶部，仍兼督糧儲。 五年二月卒。
When Emperor Yingzong restored his rule, Feng was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue at Nanjing and continued to supervise grain reserves concurrently. He died in the second month of the fifth year of the reign.
38
鳳有孝行。 性淳樸。 故人死，聘其女為子婦，教其子而養其母終身。 同學友蘇洪好面斥鳳過，及為鳳屬官猶然。 鳳待之如初，聞其貧，即賙給之。
Feng was filial in conduct. His character was simple and honest. When an old friend died, he betrothed the friend's daughter to his son, educated his son, and supported the friend's mother for the rest of her life. His schoolmate Su Hong liked to rebuke Feng's faults to his face; even after becoming one of Feng's subordinates he still did so. Feng treated him as before; hearing that he was poor, he immediately gave him relief.
39
周瑄，字廷玉，陽曲人。 由鄉舉入國學。 正統中，除刑部主事，善治獄。 十三年遷員外郎。 明年，帝北征。 郎中當扈從者多托疾，瑄請行。 六師覆沒，瑄被創歸，擢署郎中。 校尉受賕縱盜，以仇人代。 瑄辨雪之，抵校尉罪。 外郡送囚，一日至八百人。 瑄慮其觸熱，三日決遣之殆盡。
Zhou Xuan, styled Tingyu, was from Yangqu. Through the provincial examination he entered the imperial academy. During the Zhengtong reign he was appointed a clerk in the Ministry of Justice and was skilled at handling cases. In the thirteenth year he was promoted to vice director. The following year the emperor marched north on campaign. Many directors who were to accompany the expedition feigned illness; Xuan volunteered to go. When the army was destroyed at Tumu, Xuan was wounded and returned; he was promoted to acting director. A prison guard took a bribe and released a thief, substituting an enemy in his place. Xuan cleared the innocent man and punished the guard. Prisoners sent in from outlying prefectures reached eight hundred in a single day. Xuan, fearing they would suffer in the heat, disposed of nearly all the cases within three days.
40
景泰元年，以尚書王直薦，超拜刑部右侍郎。 久之，出振順天、河間饑。 未竣，而英宗復位。 有司請召還。 不聽。 復賜敕，令便宜處置。 瑄遍曆所部，大舉荒政，先後振饑民二十六萬五千，給牛種各萬餘，奏行利民八事。 事竣還，明年轉左。 帝方任門達、逯杲，數興大獄。 瑄委曲開諭，多所救正，復飭諸郎毋避禍。 以故移部定罪者，不至冤濫。 官刑部久，屬吏不敢欺。 意主寬恕，不為深文。 同佐部者安化孔文英，為御史時按黃岩妖言獄，當坐者三千人，皆白其誣，獨械首從一人論罪。 及是居部，與瑄並稱長者。 七年命瑄署掌工部事。
In the first year of the Jingtai reign, on the recommendation of Minister Wang Zhi, he was promoted directly to Right Vice Minister of Justice. After some time he was sent out to relieve famine in Shuntian and Hejian. Before he had finished, Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne. The local offices requested that he be recalled. The emperor did not consent. He was again granted an edict empowering him to act as circumstances required. Xuan toured his jurisdiction thoroughly and launched major famine relief, succoring 265,000 starving people in all, distributing more than ten thousand head of cattle and seed grain each, and memorializing eight measures to benefit the people. When the work was finished he returned; the next year he was transferred to Left Vice Minister. The emperor was then relying on Men Da and Lu Gao, and major prosecutions were repeatedly launched. Xuan tactfully advised and persuaded, saving and correcting many cases, and also admonished the various directors not to shun danger. Because of this, cases referred to the ministry for adjudication rarely resulted in unjust or excessive penalties. After long service in the Ministry of Justice, his subordinates did not dare deceive him. He inclined toward clemency and refused to stretch the law for harsh convictions. His colleague at the ministry, Kong Wenying of Anhua, had previously investigated the Huangyan sedition case as a censor. Three thousand people faced conviction, but he exposed the charges as false and had only the ringleader and one accomplice shackled and sentenced. Now serving together in the ministry, he and Xuan were alike hailed as men of stature and integrity. In the seventh year Xuan was appointed to handle the affairs of the Ministry of Works on an acting basis.
41
瑄恬靜淡榮利。 成化改元，為侍郎十六年矣，始遷右都御史。 督理南京糧儲，捕懲作奸者數輩，宿弊為清。 鳳陽、淮、徐饑，以瑄言發廩四十萬以振。 久之，遷南京刑部尚書。 令諸司事不須勘者，毋出五日。 獄無滯囚。 暑疫，悉遣輕系者，曰：「召汝則至。」 囚歡呼去，無失期者。
Xuan was serene by nature and cared little for rank or gain. At the proclamation of the Chenghua era he had already served sixteen years as a vice minister before he was finally promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief. While overseeing Nanjing's grain reserves, he arrested and punished several ringleaders of corruption, clearing away entrenched abuses. When famine struck Fengyang, the Huai region, and Xu, the court followed Xuan's advice and opened the granaries to distribute four hundred thousand units of grain for relief. After a time he was appointed Minister of Justice in Nanjing. He required that any office matter not needing further review be settled within five days. No prisoners languished in his jails awaiting judgment. During a summer epidemic, he released all lightly detained prisoners, saying, "When I summon you, come at once." The prisoners left cheering, and not one missed the appointed day of return.
42
為尚書九載，屢疏乞休。 久之乃得請。 家無田園，卜居南京。 卒，贈太子少保，諡莊懿。
After nine years as minister, he repeatedly petitioned for retirement. Only after considerable time was his request granted. With no fields or estate of his own, he settled in Nanjing. When he died, he was posthumously made Junior Mentor to the Crown Prince and honored with the posthumous title Zhuangyi.
43
長子經，尚書，自有傳。 次子紘，進士，為南京吏科給事中。 兩以災異言事。 帝並嘉納。 未幾，與御史張昺閱軍，為中官蔣琮誣奏，貶南京光祿署丞。 仕終山東參議。
His eldest son Jing rose to become a minister and has a biography of his own. His second son Hong, a jinshi, served as a supervising secretary in the Nanjing directorate of the Ministry of Personnel. Twice he memorialized the throne, invoking omens and catastrophes as his occasion to speak. The emperor praised and accepted both memorials. Soon afterward, while inspecting troops with Censor Zhang Bing, he was falsely accused by the eunuch Jiang Cong and demoted to assistant director at the Nanjing Court of Imperial Entertainments. He ended his career as assistant provincial commissioner of Shandong.
44
楊鼎，字宗器，陝西咸寧人。 家貧力學，舉鄉會試第一。 正統四年，殿試第二。 授編修。 久之，與侍講杜寧等十人，簡入東閣肄業。 鼎居侍從，雅欲以功名見。 嘗建言修飭戎備、通漕三邊二事。 同輩誚其迂，鼎益自信。 也先將寇京師，詔行監察御史事，募兵兗州。
Yang Ding, styled Zongqi, was from Xianning in Shaanxi. Poor but diligent in his studies, he placed first in both the provincial and metropolitan examinations. In the fourth year of Zhengtong he ranked second in the palace examination. He was appointed a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. After a time he was chosen, together with Expositor Du Ning and nine others, to pursue advanced study in the Eastern Pavilion. As a member of the imperial entourage, Ding aspired to distinguish himself in service and reputation. He once urged two reforms—strengthening border defenses and establishing grain transport to the three frontier regions. His colleagues ridiculed him as pedantic, yet Ding only grew more convinced of his course. As Esen prepared to strike toward the capital, Ding was ordered to serve as an investigating censor and raise troops at Yanzhou.
45
景泰三年進侍講兼中允。 五年超擢戶部右侍郎。 天順初轉左。 陳汝言譖之。 帝不聽。 三年冬以陪祀陵寢不謹下獄，贖杖還職。 帝嘗命中官牛玉諭旨，欲取江南折糧銀實內帑，而以他稅物充武臣俸。 鼎不可。 馬牛芻乏，議征什二，又以民艱力沮。 皆報罷。 七年，尚書年富有疾，詔鼎掌部事。
In the third year of Jingtai he was promoted to expositor and assistant tutor. In the fifth year he received an exceptional promotion to Right Vice Minister of Revenue. At the opening of the Tianshun reign he moved to the left vice ministership. Chen Ruyan slandered him to the throne. The emperor refused to heed the accusation. In the winter of the third year he was jailed for a lapse in decorum during tomb rites; after paying a fine in lieu of corporal punishment he resumed his post. The emperor once had the eunuch Niu Yu deliver an instruction to transfer Jiangnan's grain-conversion silver into the imperial privy purse and substitute other tax goods for stipends owed to military officers. Ding refused to comply. When fodder for horses and cattle ran short, officials proposed a twenty-percent levy, but Ding again blocked it out of concern for the people's burdens. In every case the proposals were shelved at his instance. In the seventh year, with Minister Nian Fu aged and infirm, the court ordered Ding to direct ministry affairs.
46
成化四年，代馬昂為戶部尚書，而以翁世資為侍郎。 六年，鼎疏言：「陝西外患四寇，內患流民。 然寇害止邊塞，流民則疾在腹心。 漢中僻居萬山，襟喉川蜀，四方流民數萬，急之生變，置之有後憂。 請暫設監司一人，專領其事。 其願附籍者聽之，不願者資遣。 兼與守臣練士馬，修城池，庶可弭他日患。」 詔從之。 湖廣頻歲饑，發廩已盡。 及是有秋，用鼎言，發庫貯銀布，易米備災。 淮、徐、臨、德四倉，舊積糧百余萬石，後餉乏民饑，輒請移用，粟且匱。 鼎議上贖罪、中鹽、折鈔、征逋六事行之。 由是諸倉有儲蓄。 尋加太子少保。
In the fourth year of Chenghua he succeeded Ma Ang as Minister of Revenue, with Weng Shizi appointed vice minister. In the sixth year Ding memorialized: "Shaanxi faces fourfold external threat from raiders and internal threat from displaced people. Raiders harm only the frontier, but displaced people afflict the province at its core. Hanzhong lies remote among countless mountains, guarding the approach to Sichuan; tens of thousands of migrants from every quarter have gathered there—drive them too hard and revolt may follow, leave them unchecked and trouble will come later. I ask that a regional commissioner be temporarily appointed to take exclusive charge of the matter. Let those who wish to register locally do so; those who do not, supply them with travel funds and send them home. Together with local defenders, drill troops and horses and repair walls and moats, so that future trouble may be averted." The court approved his proposal. Year after year Huguang had gone hungry until its relief granaries were empty. When a harvest finally came, the court followed Ding's advice and released stored silver and cloth from the treasury, exchanging them for grain to hold against future famine. The four granaries at Huai, Xu, Linqing, and Dezhou once held more than a million shi in reserve, but as supplies tightened and famine spread, officials kept requisitioning the stores until little grain remained. Ding put forward six revenue measures—including fines in lieu of punishment, salt vouchers, conversion of obligations into paper notes, and collection of tax arrears—and had them implemented. As a result the granaries once again held reserves. He was soon made Junior Mentor to the Crown Prince.
47
鼎居戶部，持廉，然性頗拘滯。 十五年秋，給事御史劾鼎非經國才。 鼎再疏求去。 賜敕馳驛歸，命有司月給米二石，歲給役四人，終其身。 大臣致仕有給賜，自鼎始也。 卒，贈太子太保，諡莊敏。
As minister of revenue Ding remained incorruptible, yet his temperament was stiff and unyielding. In the autumn of the fifteenth year supervising secretaries and censors impeached him as unfit for statecraft. Ding again asked to be released from office. The throne granted him an edict to ride the post roads home and ordered local officials to supply two shi of grain monthly and four servants annually for life. The practice of granting retired great ministers stipends and attendants began with Ding. When he died he was posthumously made Senior Mentor to the Crown Prince and given the posthumous title Zhuangmin.
48
子時畼，進士，累官侍講學士。 多識典故，有用世才。 時敷，舉人，廬墓被旌，官兵部司務。
His son Shi Chang, a jinshi, rose to become an expositor and academician of the Hanlin Academy. Widely versed in precedent, he had genuine talent for public service. Shi Fu, a provincial graduate, won imperial commendation for mourning at his parents' graveside and served as a clerk in the Ministry of War.
49
翁世資者，莆田人。 正統七年進士。 除戶部主事，曆郎中。 天順元年拜工部右侍郎。 四年命中官往蘇、松、杭、嘉、湖增織彩幣七千匹。 世資以東南水潦，民艱食，議減其半。 尚書趙榮、左侍郎霍瑄難之，世資請身任其咎，乃連署以諫。 帝果怒，詰主議者。 榮等委之世資，遂下詔獄，謫衡州知府。 成化初，擢江西左布政使。 坐事下吏，尋得白。 大軍征兩廣，轉江西餉，需十萬人。 世資議齎直就易嶺南米。 民得不擾。 以右副都御史巡撫山東。 歲饑，發倉儲五十余萬石以振，撫流亡百六十二萬人。 召為戶部右侍郎，佐鼎。 久之，代薛遠總督倉場，進尚書。 十七年還理部事。 閱二年，致仕。
Weng Shizi was from Putian. He took his jinshi degree in the seventh year of Zhengtong. He entered the Ministry of Revenue as a secretary and rose through the ranks to director. In the first year of Tianshun he was made Right Vice Minister of Works. In the fourth year the court sent eunuchs to Suzhou, Songjiang, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou to add seven thousand bolts to brocade production. With the southeast flooded and food scarce, Shizi proposed cutting the increase in half. Minister Zhao Rong and Left Vice Minister Huo Xuan balked at the idea, but Shizi offered to accept personal responsibility and eventually joined them in a collective memorial of remonstrance. The emperor was indeed furious and demanded to know who had led the opposition. Rong and the others pinned the blame on Shizi, who was thrown into the imperial prison and demoted to prefect of Hengzhou. Early in Chenghua he was promoted to left provincial administration commissioner of Jiangxi. He was briefly imprisoned on a charge but was soon cleared. When a major army marched against the Two Guangs, supplying its Jiangxi grain levy demanded one hundred thousand laborers. Shizi proposed sending cash south to buy grain locally in Lingnan instead. The people were spared the burden. As Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief he served as grand coordinator of Shandong. During famine he released more than five hundred thousand shi from storehouses for relief and succored 1.62 million refugees. He was recalled as Right Vice Minister of Revenue to assist Ding. In time he replaced Xue Yuan as granary commissioner-general and was promoted to minister. In the seventeenth year he returned to direct ministry affairs. Two years later he retired.
50
黃鎬，字叔高，侯官人。 正統十二年以進士試事都察院。 未半歲，以明習法律授御史。
Huang Gao, styled Shugao, was from Houguan. In the twelfth year of Zhengtong the new jinshi undertook probationary service at the Censorate. Within half a year he was appointed censor for his evident mastery of the law.
51
十四年按貴州。 群苗盡叛，道梗塞。 靖遠伯王驥等自麓川還，軍無紀律，苗襲其後，官軍大敗。 鎬赴平越，遇賊幾死。 夜跳入城，賊圍之。 議者欲棄城走，鎬曰：「平越，貴州咽喉，無平越是無貴州也。」 乃偕諸將固守。 置密疏竹筒中，募土人間行乞援於朝，且劾驥等覆師狀。 景帝命保定伯梁珤等合川、湖軍救之，圍始解。 城被困已九月，掘草根煮弩鎧而食之，死者相枕籍。 城卒全，鎬功為多。 復留按一年。 久之，遷廣東僉事，改浙江。
In the fourteenth year he conducted an inspection tour of Guizhou. The Miao had risen everywhere, and the roads were cut off. Marquis Jingyuan Wang Ji and others, returning from Lucchuan with an undisciplined army, were struck from behind by the Miao and routed. Gao was making for Pingyue when he ran into rebels and nearly lost his life. He stole into the city by night, and the rebels laid siege. Some urged abandoning the city and fleeing. Gao said: "Pingyue is the throat of Guizhou; without Pingyue there is no Guizhou." He and the generals then resolved to hold the city. He hid a secret memorial in a bamboo tube, hired local men to slip through the lines and plead for relief at court, and also impeached Ji and others for the army's destruction. Emperor Jing ordered Marquis Baoding Liang Yu to lead combined Sichuan and Huguang forces to their relief, and the siege was finally broken. The siege had lasted nine months. Defenders dug up grass roots and boiled crossbow quivers for food; the dead lay stacked in heaps. The city was saved in the end, and Gao's contribution was the greatest. He stayed on for another year of inspection duty. After a time he was appointed assistant commissioner in Guangdong, then transferred to Zhejiang.
52
成化初，以大臣會薦，擢廣東左參政。 高、雷、廉負海多盜，鎬討平之。 再遷廣西左布政使。 以右副都御史總督南京糧儲，曆吏部左、右侍郎。 十六年拜南京戶部尚書。
Early in Chenghua, recommended by senior ministers, he was promoted to left assistant administration commissioner of Guangdong. Gaozhou, Leizhou, and Lianzhou lay on the coast and swarmed with pirates; Gao suppressed them. He was transferred again, becoming left provincial administration commissioner of Guangxi. As Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief he superintended Nanjing's grain reserves, then served as left and right vice minister of personnel. In the sixteenth year he was appointed Minister of Revenue in Nanjing.
53
鎬有才識，敏吏事，理鹽政，多所厘剔，時論稱之。 十九年致仕，道卒。 贈太子少保，諡襄敏。
Gao was capable and astute, quick with administrative affairs; in reforming the salt administration he cleared away many abuses, and contemporaries spoke well of him. In the nineteenth year he retired and died on the journey home. He was posthumously made Junior Mentor to the Crown Prince and given the posthumous title Xiangmin.
54
胡拱辰，字共之，淳安人。 正統四年進士。 為黟縣知縣，有惠政，擢御史。 疏陳時弊八事。 父艱歸。
Hu Gongchen, styled Gongzhi, was from Chun'an. He took his jinshi degree in the fourth year of Zhengtong. As magistrate of Yi County he won the people's goodwill and was promoted to censor. He memorialized the throne with eight pressing abuses of the age. When his father died he returned home to mourn.
55
景帝即位，詔科道官憂居者悉起復。 拱辰至，屢疏以選將、保邦、修德、弭災為言，出為貴州左參政。 白水堡仡佬頭目沈時保素梗化，拱辰言于總兵官方瑛遣將擒之。 一方遂寧。 至畢節，平宣慰使隴富亂，威行邊徼。 母憂去，御史追劾其受賕事，下浙江按臣執訊。 事白，調廣東。 曆廣西、四川左、右布政使，皆有平寇功。
When Emperor Jing ascended the throne, he ordered every censor and supervising secretary in mourning to return to office. Once back at court, Gongchen repeatedly memorialized on choosing generals, securing the realm, cultivating virtue, and averting disaster—then was posted out as left assistant commissioner of Guizhou. Shen Shibao, a Gelao chieftain at Baishuibao, had long resisted assimilation; Gongchen urged Regional Commander Fang Ying to send troops to capture him. That region was pacified. At Bijie he put down the rebellion of pacification commissioner Long Fu, and his authority reached every corner of the frontier. When he left to mourn his mother, a censor pursued bribery charges against him and had him interrogated by the touring inspector of Zhejiang. Cleared of wrongdoing, he was transferred to Guangdong. He served as left and right provincial administration commissioner in Guangxi and Sichuan, earning merit for pacifying bandits in each post.
56
成化八年拜南京右副都御史，提督操江。 十一年就遷兵部右侍郎。 儲位虛久，與尚書崔恭等請冊立，言甚切。 其年復就改左副都御史總理糧儲，就進工部尚書。 節財省事，人皆便之。 以年至乞歸。
In the eighth year of Chenghua he became Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing with charge of riverine training and defense. In the eleventh year he was immediately promoted to Right Vice Minister of War. The heir apparent's place had long been vacant; he joined Minister Cui Gong and others in urgently petitioning to install a crown prince. That same year he moved at once to Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief overseeing grain reserves, then was immediately promoted to Minister of Works. He cut costs and streamlined procedures, to everyone's relief. Citing his age, he asked to retire.
57
陳俊，字時英，莆田人。 舉鄉試第一。 正統十三年進士。 除戶部主事。 督天津諸衛軍采草，奏減新增額三十五萬束。 豪猾侵蘇、松改折銀七十余萬兩，俊往督，不數月畢輸。 尚書金濂以為能，俾典諸曹章奏。 曆郎中。
Chen Jun, styled Shiying, was from Putian. He came first in the provincial examination. He took his jinshi degree in the thirteenth year of Zhengtong. He entered the Ministry of Revenue as a secretary. While overseeing fodder collection by the Tianjin garrisons, he memorialized to cut the newly imposed quota by three hundred fifty thousand bundles. Powerful schemers had embezzled more than seven hundred thousand taels of Suzhou and Songjiang grain-conversion silver; Jun went to collect it, and within months the full sum was recovered. Minister Jin Lian, impressed by his ability, put him in charge of memorials for the ministry's bureaus. He rose through the ranks to director.
58
天順五年，兩廣用兵，俊督餉。 時州縣殘破，帑藏殫虛，弛鹽商越境令，引加米二斗，軍興賴以無乏。 母喪，不聽歸，蠻平始還。 初，俊為主事，奔父喪，賻者皆卻之。 至是文武將吏醵金賻，亦不納。
In the fifth year of Tianshun, with the Two Guangs at war, Jun directed supply lines. With prefectures in ruins and treasuries empty, he relaxed the ban on salt merchants crossing borders and added two dou of grain per shipment—enough to keep the armies supplied. His mother's death went unheeded—the court refused his leave until the rebellion was crushed. Earlier, as a secretary rushing home for his father's funeral, he refused every condolence gift. Now civil and military officers pooled cash as a condolence gift, and he refused that too.
59
成化初，擢南京太常少卿。 四年召拜戶部右侍郎。 俊練習錢谷。 四方災傷，邊鎮急芻餉。 奏請遝至，裁決咸當，尚書楊鼎深倚之。 京師大饑，先後發太倉粟八十萬石平糴。 石值六錢，豪猾乘時射利。 俊請糴以升鬥為率，過一石勿與。 饑民獲濟。 尋議用兵河套，敕俊赴河南、山、陝，會巡撫諸臣畫芻餉，發帑金二十萬助之。 俊以邊庾空竭，歲又不登，而榆林道險遠，轉輸難，乃發金于內地市易。 修西安、韓城、同官徑道，以利飛輓。 還朝，進俸一級，曆吏部左、右侍郎。
Early in Chenghua he was promoted to Vice Director of Ceremonies at Nanjing. In the fourth year he was recalled to court as Right Vice Minister of Revenue. Jun was thoroughly versed in fiscal administration. Disaster struck every quarter, and frontier garrisons urgently needed fodder and supplies. Memorials poured in for his decision; his rulings were unfailingly sound, and Minister Yang Ding relied on him heavily. When famine struck the capital, the court twice released eight hundred thousand shi from the Great Granary for sale at controlled prices. At six qian per shi, the powerful seized the moment to profiteer. Jun proposed selling grain by the cup and peck, with no buyer allowed more than one shi. The hungry were fed. When the court debated an Ordos campaign, Jun was dispatched to Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi to confer with grand coordinators on supply plans, with two hundred thousand taels from the treasury to assist. With frontier granaries empty, the harvest poor, and the road to Yulin long and perilous, Jun released funds to buy grain in interior markets instead. He repaired direct routes through Xi'an, Hancheng, and Tongguan to speed transport. Back at court he received a salary increase and served as left and right vice minister of personnel.
60
九載滿，拜南京戶部尚書。 尋改兵部，參贊機務。 先是，參贊之任，不專屬兵部，自薛遠後，繼以俊，遂為定制。 久之，就改吏部。 二十一年，星變，率九卿陳時弊二十事，皆極痛切。 帝多採納。 而權幸所不便者，終格不行。 明年乞致仕。 詔加太子少保，賜敕馳傳還。 卒，諡康懿。
After nine years' service he was appointed Minister of Revenue in Nanjing. He was soon moved to the Ministry of War to assist in matters of state. Until then the post of assisting in state affairs had not belonged exclusively to the Ministry of War; after Xue Yuan came Jun, and the arrangement became permanent custom. In time he was moved to the Ministry of Personnel. In the twenty-first year, when the heavens shifted, he led the Nine Ministers in memorializing twenty abuses of the age—each framed with brutal candor. The emperor adopted many of their recommendations. But measures that discomfited powerful favorites were ultimately blocked. The following year he asked to retire. The throne granted him the title Junior Mentor to the Crown Prince and an edict to ride the post roads home. When he died he was given the posthumous title Kangyi.
61
林鶚，字一鶚，浙江太平人。 景泰二年進士。 授御史，監京畿鄉試。 陳循等訐考官，鶚邑子林挺預薦，疑鶚有私，逮挺考訊。 挺實無他，得白。
Lin E, styled Yie, was from Taiping in Zhejiang. He took his jinshi degree in the second year of Jingtai. He was appointed censor and supervised the provincial examination for the capital region. Chen Xun and others challenged the examiners. Lin E's townsman Lin Ting had been recommended, and suspecting favoritism they arrested Ting for questioning. Ting was found blameless and cleared.
62
英宗復辟，仿先朝故事，出廷臣為知府。 鶚得鎮江。 召見，賜膳及道里費，諭所以擢用意。 鶚感激，革弊舉廢，治甚有聲。 漕故經孟瀆，險甚。 巡撫崔恭議鑿河，自七里港引金山上流通丹陽避之。 鶚言：「道里遠，多石，且壞民廬墓。 請按京口閘、甘露壩故跡，浚之令通舟。 春夏啟閘，秋冬度壩，功力省便。」 恭從其議，遂為永利。 居五年，以才任治劇，調蘇州。
When Emperor Yingzong was restored, the court revived the old practice of sending senior officials out as prefects. Lin E was assigned to Zhenjiang. He was summoned to audience, given a feast and travel funds, and told why the emperor had elevated him. Moved by the trust placed in him, Lin E rooted out abuses and revived neglected works; his governance won wide praise. The grain transport route had run through Mengdu—a passage notoriously treacherous. Grand Coordinator Cui Gong proposed digging a canal from Qili Harbor, channeling water from Jinshan up through Danyang to bypass the danger. Lin E objected: "The route is too long and stony, and it would destroy homes and graves. Restore the old Jingkou sluice and Ganlu dam sites instead—dredge them so boats can pass. Open the sluice in spring and summer, cross the dam in autumn and winter—far less labor, far more practical." Cui Gong adopted his plan, and the improvement endured. After five years, recognized for his talent in governing difficult posts, he was transferred to Suzhou.
63
成化初，超遷江西按察使。 有犯大辟賄達官求生者，鶚執愈堅。 廣東寇剽贛州急。 調兵禦之，遁去。 廣信妖賊妄稱天神惑眾，捕戮其魁，立解散。 曆左、右布政使。 歲饑，奏減民租十五萬石。
Early in Chenghua he was promoted ahead of schedule to provincial surveillance commissioner of Jiangxi. When a man facing execution bribed officials for clemency, Lin E held all the more firmly to the law. Guangdong bandits were raiding Ganzhou with fierce urgency. He dispatched troops to repel them, and they fled. Sorcerer-rebels at Guangxin were claiming divine status to mislead the people; he captured and executed their leader, and the mob scattered at once. He served as left and right provincial administration commissioner. During famine he memorialized to cut land tax by one hundred fifty thousand shi.
64
成化六年，擢南京刑部右侍郎。 母憂服除，召為刑部右侍郎。 執法不撓。 十二年得疾卒。
In the sixth year of Chenghua he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Justice in Nanjing. After completing mourning for his mother, he was recalled as Right Vice Minister of Justice. In enforcing the law he never bent. In the twelfth year he fell ill and died.
65
鶚事母孝謹，對妻子無惰容。 不妄交與，公餘輒危坐讀書。 歿不能具棺斂，友人為經紀其喪。 鶚在蘇州，先聖像剝落。 鶚曰：「塑像，非古也，昔太祖于國學用木主。」 命改從之。 嘉靖中，御史趙大佑上其節行，贈刑部尚書，諡恭肅。
Lin E was filial and devoted to his mother, and never relaxed his decorum before wife or children. He kept his company carefully chosen, and in every spare hour sat upright with a book. At his death he could not afford a coffin; friends saw to his funeral. During Lin E's time in Suzhou, the sage's image had grown worn and flaking. Lin E said: "Statues are not ancient practice. Taizu himself used wooden spirit tablets at the State Academy." He ordered the change carried out. During the Jiajing reign, Censor Zhao Dayou submitted a memorial praising Lin E's integrity and conduct; the court posthumously granted him the title of Minister of Justice and the posthumous epithet Gongsu.
66
潘榮，字尊用，龍溪人。 正統十三年進士。 犒師廣東，還，除吏科給事中。
Pan Rong, styled Zunyong, was from Longxi. He took his jinshi degree in the thirteenth year of Zhengtong. After distributing rewards to the troops in Guangdong, he returned and was appointed supervising secretary of the Personnel Branch.
67
景泰初，疏論停起復、抑奔競數事。 帝納之。 尋進右給事中。 四年九月上言：「致治之要，莫切於納諫。 比以言者忤聖意，諭禮部，凡遇建言，務加審察。 或假以報復，具奏罪之。 此令一下，廷臣喪氣，以言為諱。 國家有利害，生民有得失，大臣有奸慝，何由而知？ 況今巨寇陸梁，塞上多事，奈何反塞言者路。 望明詔台諫，知無不言，緘默者罪。 並敕閣部大臣，勿搜求參駁，虧傷治體。」 疏入，報聞。
Early in the Jingtai reign, he submitted a memorial on several reforms, including ending premature recall from mourning leave and restraining the scramble for advancement. The emperor accepted his recommendations. He was soon promoted to Right Supervising Secretary. In the ninth month of the fourth year he memorialized: "The key to good governance is nothing more urgent than heeding remonstrance. Lately, because those who speak out have offended the throne, the Ministry of Rites has been instructed to scrutinize every memorial offering advice. Sometimes officials use the pretext of personal vendetta to submit full memorials calling for their punishment. Once that order went out, court officials lost heart and fell silent, treating speech as something to be avoided. How is the throne to learn when the state faces benefit or harm, when the people suffer gain or loss, or when high ministers conceal wicked designs? Great rebels now run rampant, and the frontier is in turmoil — why, then, cut off the path of those who would speak out? I beg Your Majesty to issue a clear decree to the censorate and remonstrance officials: speak of whatever you know, and let silence be punished. Also command the grand secretaries and ministry chiefs to stop hunting for grounds to impeach and refute remonstrance, which undermines the foundations of good government." When the memorial arrived at court, the emperor merely acknowledged receipt.
68
天順六年使琉球，還，遷都給事中。 成化六年三月偕同官上言：「近雨雪愆期，災異迭見。 陛下降詔自責，躬行祈禱，詔大臣盡言，宜上天感格。 而今乃風霾晝晦，沴氣赤而復黑，豈非應天之道有未盡歟？ 夫人君敬天，不在齋戒祈禱而已。 政令乖宜，下民失所； 崇尚珍玩，費用不經； 後宮無序，恩澤不均； 爵濫施於賤工，賞妄及於非分，皆非敬天之道。 願陛下日禦便殿，召大臣極陳缺失而厘革之，庶災變可弭。」 時萬妃專寵，群小夤緣進寶玩，官賞冗濫，故榮等懇言之。 帝不能用。 是年遷南京太常少卿。
In the sixth year of Tianshun he went as envoy to Ryukyu, and on his return was promoted to Chief Supervising Secretary. In the third month of the sixth year of Chenghua, he joined his colleagues in memorializing: "Snow and rain have lately fallen out of season, and ominous signs have appeared one after another. Your Majesty issued an edict of self-reproach, prayed in person, and commanded your ministers to speak freely — Heaven ought surely to have been moved. Yet now wind-borne haze darkens the sky at midday, and baleful vapors shift from red to black — is this not a sign that the way of responding to Heaven has not yet been fully honored? A ruler's reverence for Heaven is not fulfilled by fasting and prayer alone. When government orders are ill-conceived, the common people lose their footing; when rare treasures are prized and spending runs without restraint; when the inner palace falls into disorder and imperial favor is unevenly bestowed; when titles are lavished on lowly artisans and rewards recklessly granted beyond what is due — none of this is the way to revere Heaven. I beg Your Majesty to hold daily audience in the side hall, summon the great ministers to lay bare every failing and reform it — then perhaps these calamities may be stilled." At the time Lady Wan held exclusive favor; sycophants climbed up through her patronage to present treasures and curios, and official rewards flowed with wasteful abundance — hence Rong and his colleagues spoke so earnestly. The emperor did not act on their advice. That year he was transferred to Vice Minister of Ceremonies at Nanjing.
69
又七年，就擢戶部右侍郎。 尋改右副都御史、總督南京糧儲。 積奇羨數萬石以備荒。 十七年召為戶部左侍郎，尋署部事。 英國公張懋等四十三人自陳先世以大功錫爵，子孫承繼，所司輒減歲祿，非祖宗報功意。 榮等言：「懋等於無事時妄請增祿，若有功何以勸賞？ 況頻年水旱，國用未充，所請不可許。」 事乃寢。 中官趙陽等乞兩淮鹽十萬引，帝已許之。 榮等言：「近禁勢家中鹽，詔旨甫頒，而陽等輒違犯，宜正其罪。」 帝為切責陽等。
Seven years later he was promoted directly to Vice Minister of the Right in the Ministry of Revenue. He was soon reassigned as Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Right and Grand Coordinator of Nanjing grain reserves. He built up a surplus of tens of thousands of shi of grain as a reserve against famine. In the seventeenth year of Chenghua he was recalled as Vice Minister of the Left in the Ministry of Revenue and soon took charge of the ministry's affairs. The Earl of Yingguo, Zhang Mao, and forty-three others petitioned that their forebears had been ennobled for great merit and that their descendants had inherited those titles, yet the responsible offices kept reducing their annual stipends — contrary to the ancestral intent to reward service. Rong and his colleagues objected: "Mao and the others are recklessly seeking increased stipends in a time of peace — if rewards are granted without merit, how can merit ever be encouraged? Moreover, with floods and droughts in successive years and the treasury still strained, their request cannot be granted." The petition was dropped. The eunuch Zhao Yang and others requested one hundred thousand salt certificates from the two Huai salt districts, and the emperor had already approved the grant. Rong and his colleagues protested: "Powerful families were just forbidden to hoard salt — the edict has barely been issued, yet Yang and the others have already violated it. Their offense should be punished." On their account the emperor sharply rebuked Yang and his associates.
70
南京戶部尚書黃鎬罷，以榮代之。 孝宗嗣位，謝政歸。 賜月廩、歲夫如制。 九年卒，年七十有八。 贈太子太保。
When Huang Gao was dismissed as Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, Rong was appointed in his place. When Emperor Xiaozong succeeded to the throne, Rong resigned and returned home. He was granted monthly stipends and annual corvée servants according to regulation. He died in the ninth year of Hongzhi, at the age of seventy-eight. He was posthumously granted the title Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
71
夏時正，字季爵，仁和人。 正統十年進士。 除刑部主事。 景泰六年以郎中錄囚福建，出死罪六十餘人。 中有減死、詔充所在濱海衛軍者，時正慮其入海島為變，轉發之山東，然後以聞。 因言：「凡福建減死囚，俱宜戍之北方。」 法司是其言，而請治違詔罪。 帝特宥之。 時正又言：「通番及劫盜諸獄，以待會讞。 淹引時月，囚多瘐死。 請令所司斷決。」 詔從之，且推行之天下。
Xia Shizheng, styled Jijue, was from Renhe. He took his jinshi degree in the tenth year of Zhengtong. He was appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Justice. In the sixth year of Jingtai, serving as a bureau director on a prisoner-review tour in Fujian, he released more than sixty men under sentence of death. Among them were men whose death sentences had been commuted and who by edict were to serve in coastal guard units near their homes. Shizheng feared they might flee to offshore islands and stir up trouble, so he transferred them to Shandong before reporting what he had done. He therefore argued: "All prisoners in Fujian whose death sentences have been commuted should be sent to garrison duty in the north." The judicial offices agreed with his reasoning but asked that he be punished for disobeying the edict. The emperor specially pardoned him. Shizheng also argued: "Cases of illegal foreign trade and robbery are left pending joint review. They drag on for months, and many prisoners die of illness while waiting. I ask that the responsible offices be ordered to decide these cases promptly." An edict approved the proposal and extended the practice throughout the empire.
72
天順初，擢大理寺丞。 久之，以便養，遷南京大理少卿。 成化五年遷本寺卿。 明年春命巡視江西災傷。 除無名稅十余萬石，汰諸司冗役數萬，奏罷不職吏二百餘人，增築南昌濱江堤及豐城諸縣陂岸，民賴其利。 嘗上奏，不具齎奏人姓名，吏科論其簡恣。 帝宥其罪，錄彈章示之。 遂乞休歸。 僦居民舍，布政使張瓚為築西湖書院居之。 家食三十年，年近九十而卒。
At the beginning of the Tianshun reign he was promoted to vice director of the Court of Judicial Review. After some years, citing the need to care for his parents, he was transferred to Vice Director of the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. In the fifth year of Chenghua he was transferred to director of the Court of Judicial Review in the capital. The following spring he was ordered to inspect disaster damage in Jiangxi. He abolished unauthorized levies totaling more than one hundred thousand shi of grain, cut redundant corvée labor numbering in the tens of thousands across various offices, memorialized for the dismissal of more than two hundred incompetent officials, and reinforced the river embankment at Nanchang and the dykes and shoreworks of Fengcheng and neighboring counties. The people reaped the benefit. On one occasion he submitted a memorial without naming the bearer; the Personnel Branch supervising secretaries impeached him for perfunctory and disrespectful conduct. The emperor pardoned the offense and had the impeachment memorial copied and shown to him. He then requested retirement and went home. He rented a house from a local resident, and the provincial administration commissioner Zhang Zan built West Lake Academy for him to live in. He lived in retirement for thirty years and died near the age of ninety.
73
時正雅好學。 閒居久，多所著述，于稽古禮文事尤詳。
Shizheng was by nature devoted to learning. During his long retirement he wrote extensively, and was especially learned in classical research and matters of ritual.
74
贊曰：金純等黽勉奉公，當官稱職。 加之禔躬清白，操行無虧，固列卿之良也。 鄭辰之廉事，周瑄之治獄，皆有仁人之用心，君子哉。
The historian comments: Jin Chun and the others strove diligently in public service and proved equal to their offices. Add to this personal purity and unblemished conduct, and they were truly fine exemplars among the ranks of ministers. Zheng Chen's integrity in office and Zhou Xuan's handling of legal cases both reveal the heart of humane men. True gentlemen, every one.