1
鄒緝 〈（鄭維桓柯暹）〉 弋謙 〈（黃驥）〉 黃澤 〈（孔友諒）〉 範濟聊讓 〈（郭佑胡仲倫華敏賈斌）〉 左鼎 〈（練綱）〉 曹凱 〈（許仕達）〉 劉煒 〈（尚褫）〉 單宇 〈（姚顯楊浩）〉 張昭 〈（賀煬）〉 高瑤 〈（虎臣）〉
Zou Ji (Zheng Weiheng, Ke Xian)〉 Yi Qian (Huang Ji)〉 Huang Ze (Kong Youliang)〉 Fan Ji; Liao Rang (Guo You, Hu Zhonglun, Hua Min, Jia Bin)〉 Zuo Ding (Lian Gang)〉 Cao Kai (Xu Shida)〉 Liu Wei (Shang Chi)〉 Dan Yu (Yao Xian, Yang Hao)〉 Zhang Zhao (He Yang)〉 Gao Yao (Hu Chen)〉
2
鄒緝，字仲熙，吉水人。 洪武中舉明經，授星子教諭。 建文時入為國子助教。 成祖即位，擢翰林侍講。 立東宮，兼左中允，屢署國子監事。 永樂十九年，三殿災，詔求直言，緝上疏曰：
Zou Ji, whose style was Zhongxi, came from Jishui. In the Hongwu era he passed the Mingjing examination and was made instructor at Xingzi. Under Emperor Jianwen he entered the capital as an assistant instructor at the Directorate of Education. When the Yongle Emperor came to the throne, he was promoted to Hanlin Reader-in-Waiting. After the crown prince was installed, he also served as Left Household Administer and was repeatedly put in charge of Directorate of Education affairs. In the nineteenth year of Yongle, fire destroyed the three main palace halls; the emperor issued an edict calling for frank counsel, and Zou Ji submitted a memorial that read:
3
陛下肇建北京，焦勞聖慮，幾二十年。 工大費繁，調度甚廣，冗官蠶食，耗費國儲。 工作之夫，動以百萬，終歲供役，不得躬親田畝以事力作。 猶且征求無藝，至伐桑棗以供薪，剝桑皮以為楮。 加之官吏橫征，日甚一日。 如前歲買辦顏料，本非土產，動科千百。 民相率斂鈔，購之他所。 大青一斤，價至萬六千貫。 及進納，又多留難，往復展轉，當須二萬貫鈔，而不足供一柱之用。 其後既遣官采之產所，而買辦猶未止。 蓋緣工匠多派牟利，而不顧民艱至此。
Your Majesty has labored to build Beijing, bearing the cares of state for nearly twenty years. The projects are enormous and costly, requisitions stretch far and wide, redundant officials nibble away at resources, and the state granaries are being drained. Workers on these projects routinely number in the millions; conscripted for service year-round, they cannot tend their own fields or earn their living by honest labor. On top of this, exactions know no limit—mulberry and jujube trees are cut for fuel, and mulberry bark is stripped to make paper. Officials add arbitrary levies that grow worse by the day. Take the purchase of pigments two years ago: they were not local products, yet households were assessed by the thousands. People pooled their paper money to buy them from other regions. A single jin of azurite cost as much as sixteen thousand strings of cash. When it came time to deliver the goods, officials obstructed and delayed again and again; after all the back-and-forth, twenty thousand strings of cash might still not suffice to supply a single pillar. Even after officials were sent to collect pigments at their source, purchase requisitions still did not stop. The reason is that craftsmen assigned to the work profited from the trade and paid no heed to the people's hardship until matters reached this pass.
4
夫京師天下根本。 人民安則京師安，京師安則國本固而天下安。 自營建以來，工匠小人假托威勢，驅迫移徙，號令方施，廬舍已壞。 孤兒寡婦哭泣叫號，倉皇暴露，莫知所適。 遷移甫定，又復驅令他徒，至有三四徙不得息者。 及其既去，而所空之地，經月逾時，工猶未及。 此陛下所不知，而人民疾怨者也。
The capital is the foundation of the realm. When the people are at peace, the capital is at peace; when the capital is at peace, the foundation of the state is secure and the realm is at peace. Since construction began, petty craftsmen have abused their power, forcing people to relocate—the order has scarcely been issued before their homes are torn down. Orphans and widows wept and wailed, cast out in panic with nowhere to turn. Hardly had one move been settled when they were driven to move again; some were uprooted three or four times without respite. After they had been driven away, the land they vacated stood empty for months before work even began. This is what Your Majesty does not know, yet what fills the people with bitter resentment.
5
貪官汙吏，遍布內外，剝削及於骨髓。 朝廷每遣一人，即是其人養活之計。 虐取苛求，初無限量。 有司承奉，惟恐不及。 間有廉強自守、不事幹媚者，輒肆讒毀，動得罪譴，無以自明。 是以使者所至，有司公行貨賂，剝下媚上，有同交易。 夫小民所積幾何，而內外上下誅求如此。
Greedy, corrupt officials are everywhere, inside and out, squeezing the people to the bone. Every envoy the court sends out treats the mission as his personal livelihood. Their extortion and harsh demands know no bounds. Local officials vie to please them, fearful only of falling short. Occasionally an official who is upright and refuses to flatter is slandered at will, punished and censured with no way to clear his name. Thus wherever envoys go, officials openly take bribes, squeezing those below to please those above, as if conducting a business deal. How much can ordinary people possibly save, when demands from every level of government are so relentless?
6
今山東、河南、山西、陜西水旱相仍，民至剝樹皮掘草根以食。 老幼流移，顛踣道路，賣妻鬻子以求茍活。 而京師聚集僧道萬餘人，日耗廩米百餘石，此奪民食以養無用也。
In Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi, flood and drought follow one after another; people have been reduced to stripping tree bark and digging up grass roots for food. Old and young wander the roads, collapsing along the way; families sell wives and children just to stay alive. Yet in the capital more than ten thousand monks and Daoist priests are gathered, consuming over a hundred piculs of granary rice each day—this is taking food from the people to sustain the useless.
7
至報效軍士，朝廷厚與糧賜。 及使就役，乃驕傲橫恣，閑遊往來。 此皆奸詭之人，懼還原伍，假此規避，非真有報效之心也。
As for soldiers who have rendered meritorious service, the court grants them generous rations and rewards. Yet when they are put to work, they grow arrogant and overbearing, idling and roaming about. These are all cunning men who fear returning to their original units and use this status to evade duty; they have no real wish to serve.
8
朝廷歲令天下織錦、鑄錢，遣內官買馬外蕃，所出常數千萬，而所取曾不能一二。 馬至雖多，類皆駑下。 責民牧養，騷擾殊甚。 及至死傷，輒令賠補。 馬戶貧困，更鬻妻子。 此尤害之大者。
Each year the court orders brocade woven and coin cast throughout the realm, and sends palace eunuchs abroad to buy horses; expenditures routinely run to tens of millions, yet what is obtained scarcely amounts to a tenth. Though many horses arrive, most are poor stock. The people are made to pasture them, and the harassment is severe. When horses die or are injured, the people are ordered to make good the loss. Horse-keeping households are driven to poverty and must sell their wives and children. This is among the gravest abuses.
9
漠北降人，賜居室，盛供帳，意欲招其同類也。 不知來者皆懷窺覘，非真遠慕王化，甘去鄉士。 宜求來朝之後，遣歸本國，不必留為後日子孫患。
For those who surrendered from beyond the northern deserts, dwellings were granted and lavish provisions supplied, in hopes of attracting others of their kind. They do not realize that those who come are scouting our weaknesses, not truly drawn by civilization or willing to leave their homelands. After they have paid court, they should be sent back to their own countries rather than kept on to become a trouble for future generations.
10
至宮觀禱祠之事，有國者所當深戒。 古人有言，淫祀無福。 況事無益以害有益，蠹財妄費者乎！ 凡此數事，皆下失民心，上違天意。 怨讟之興，實由於此。
As for palace shrines and prayer sacrifices, a ruler should take the deepest warning. The ancients said that improper sacrifices bring no blessing. How much more when the practice does no good yet harms what is good, squandering wealth in vain! All these matters alike have lost the people's hearts below and violated Heaven's intent above. The rise of resentment and complaint truly stems from this.
11
夫奉天殿者，所以朝群臣，發號令，古所謂明堂也。 而災首及焉，非常之變也。 非省躬責己，大布恩澤，改革政化，疏滌天下窮困之人，不能回上天譴怒。 前有監生生員，以單丁告乞侍親，因而獲罪遣戍者，此實有虧治體。 近者大赦，法司執滯常條，當赦者尚復拘系。 並乞重加湔洗，蠲除租賦，一切勿征。 有司百官全其廩祿，拔簡賢才，申行薦舉，官吏貪贓蠹政者，核其罪而罷黜之。 則人心歡悅，和氣可臻，所以保安宗社，為國家千萬年無窮之基，莫有大於此者矣。
The Hall of Imperial Heaven is where ministers are received and edicts issued—the ancient Bright Hall. Yet disaster struck it first—an extraordinary omen. Unless Your Majesty examines yourself, extends great mercy, reforms policy, and relieves the destitute throughout the realm, you cannot turn aside Heaven's wrath. Earlier, supervising students who, as sole sons, petitioned to care for their parents were punished and sent to frontier garrison—this truly mars good governance. At the recent great amnesty, the judicial offices clung to routine statutes, and those who should have been pardoned remained in custody. I beg that all these wrongs be thoroughly redressed, rents and levies remitted, and all exactions halted. Let officials keep their full salaries, select the worthy, carry out recommendations, and for officials guilty of corruption, verify their crimes and dismiss them. Then hearts will rejoice, harmony will prevail, and the ancestral altars will be secured—there is no greater foundation for the state's endurance through ten thousand years.
12
且國家所恃以久長者，惟天命人心，而天命常視人心為去留。 今天意如此，不宜勞民。 當還都南京，奉謁陵廟，告以災變之故。 保養聖躬休息於無為。 毋聽小人之言，復有所興作，以誤陛下於後也。
What the state relies on for long endurance is the Mandate of Heaven and the people's hearts, and Heaven's Mandate follows where the people's hearts lead. Heaven's intent is clear; the people should not be burdened further. Your Majesty should return the capital to Nanjing, pay reverence at the imperial tombs, and report the cause of this disaster. Nurture your sacred person and rest in quiet governance. Do not heed petty men's counsel and launch new projects, lest Your Majesty be led astray hereafter.
13
書奏，不省。
The memorial was submitted, but the emperor paid it no heed.
14
時三殿初成，帝方以定都詔天下，忽罹火災，頗懼，下詔求直言。 及言者多斥時政，帝不懌，而大臣復希旨詆言者。 帝於是發怒，謂言事者謗訕，下詔嚴禁之，犯者不赦。 侍讀李時勉、侍講羅汝敬俱下獄； 御史鄭維桓、何忠、羅通、徐容，給事中柯暹俱左官交阯。 惟緝與主事高公望、庶吉士楊復得無罪。 是年冬，緝進右庶子兼侍講。 明年九月卒於官。
The three main halls had just been completed; the emperor had just proclaimed the fixing of the capital to the realm when fire suddenly broke out. Deeply alarmed, he issued an edict calling for frank counsel. When many memorials criticized current policy, the emperor was displeased, and senior ministers again followed his mood to denounce the critics. The emperor then flew into a rage, declaring that critics were slandering the throne, and issued an edict strictly forbidding such speech; offenders would not be pardoned. Reader-in-Waiting Li Shimian and Reader-in-Waiting Luo Rujing were both thrown into prison; Censors Zheng Weiheng, He Zhong, Luo Tong, and Xu Rong, and Supervising Secretary Ke Xian were all demoted and sent to Jiaozhi. Only Zou Ji, together with Section Chief Gao Gongwang and Hanlin Bachelor Yang Fu, escaped punishment. That winter Zou Ji was promoted to Right Sub-Reader with concurrent appointment as Reader-in-Waiting. The following year, in the ninth month, he died in office.
15
緝博極群書，居官勤慎，清操如寒士。 子循，宣德中為翰林待詔，請贈父母。 帝諭吏部曰：「曩皇祖征沙漠，朕守北京，緝在左右，陳說皆正道，良臣也，其予之。」
Zou Ji was deeply learned, diligent and careful in office, and lived with the integrity of a poor scholar. His son Xun, during the Xuande reign, served as Hanlin Attendant Draftsman and petitioned for posthumous honors for his parents. The emperor told the Ministry of Personnel: "When my grandfather campaigned in the desert and I guarded Beijing, Zou Ji was at my side; everything he advised was sound—a true minister. Grant his request."
16
鄭維桓，慈溪人。 永樂十三年進士。 出知交阯南清州，卒。 柯暹，池州建德人。 由鄉舉出知交阯州。 累官浙江、雲南按察使。
Zheng Weiheng came from Cixi. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirteenth year of Yongle. He was appointed magistrate of Nanqing Prefecture in Jiaozhi, where he died in office. Ke Xian came from Jiande in Chizhou. Through provincial recommendation he was appointed magistrate of a prefecture in Jiaozhi. He rose to serve as Surveillance Commissioner of Zhejiang and Yunnan.
17
弋謙，代州人。 永樂九年進士。 除監察御史。 出按江西，言事忤旨，貶峽山知縣。 復坐事免歸。
Yi Qian came from Daizhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the ninth year of Yongle. He was appointed Investigating Censor. While inspecting Jiangxi, he spoke against imperial policy and was demoted to magistrate of Xiashan. He was later dismissed for another offense and returned home.
18
仁宗在東宮，素知謙骨鯁。 及嗣位，召為大理少卿。 直陳時政，言官吏貪殘，政事多非洪武之舊，及有司誅求無藝。 帝多采納。 既復言五事，詞太激，帝乃不懌。 尚書呂震、吳中，侍郎吳廷用，大理卿虞謙等因劾謙誣罔，都御史劉觀令眾御史合糾謙。 帝召楊士奇等言之，士奇對曰：「謙不諳大體，然心感超擢恩，欲圖報耳。 主聖則臣直，惟陛下優容之。」 帝乃不罪謙。 然每見謙，詞色甚厲。 士奇從容言：「陛下詔求直言，謙言不當，觸怒。 外廷悚惕，以言為戒。 今四方朝覲之臣皆集闕下，見謙如此，將謂陛下不能容直言。」 帝惕然曰：「此固朕不能容，亦呂震輩迎合以益朕過，自今當置之。」 遂免謙朝參，令專視司事。
When the future Renzong Emperor was crown prince, he had long known of Yi Qian's uncompromising integrity. When he succeeded to the throne, Yi Qian was summoned to serve as Vice Minister of Justice. He spoke frankly on current affairs, denouncing official greed and cruelty, policies that diverged from Hongwu precedents, and limitless exactions by local offices. The emperor adopted much of his advice. When he spoke again on five matters in language too sharp, the emperor was displeased. Ministers Lü Zhen and Wu Zhong, Vice Minister Wu Tingyong, Minister of Justice Yu Qian, and others impeached Yi Qian for falsehood; Censor-in-Chief Liu Guan ordered the censors to join in impeaching him. The emperor summoned Yang Shiqi and others to discuss the matter; Shiqi replied: "Yi Qian does not grasp the larger picture, yet he is moved by the grace of his sudden promotion and wishes to repay it. When the ruler is wise, ministers speak plainly—may Your Majesty treat him with forbearance." The emperor then did not punish Yi Qian. Yet whenever he saw Yi Qian, his manner was very harsh. Shiqi said gently: "Your Majesty issued an edict calling for frank counsel; Yi Qian spoke improperly and provoked your anger. Officials outside the court are fearful and now treat speech as dangerous. Envoys from all quarters are now gathered at court; seeing Yi Qian treated thus, they will conclude that Your Majesty cannot tolerate frank counsel." The emperor, startled, said: "This is indeed my fault in not tolerating counsel—but Lü Zhen and his ilk also flattered me and made my error worse; from now on I shall set this aside." He then excused Yi Qian from court attendance and ordered him to attend solely to his official duties.
19
未幾，帝以言事者益少，復召士奇曰：「朕怒謙矯激過實耳，朝臣遂月餘無言。 爾語諸臣，白朕心。」 士奇曰：「臣空言不足信，乞親降璽書。」 遂令就榻前書敕引過曰：「朕自即位以來，臣民上章以數百計，未嘗不欣然聽納。 茍有不當，不加譴訶，群臣所共知也。 間者，大理少卿弋謙所言，多非實事，群臣迎合朕意，交章奏其賣直，請置諸法。 朕皆拒而不聽，但免謙朝參。 而自是以來，言者益少。 今自去冬無雪，春亦少雨，陰陽愆和，必有其咎，豈無可言？ 而為臣者，懷自全之計，退而默默，何以為忠？ 朕于謙一時不能含容，未嘗不自愧咎。 爾群臣勿以前事為戒，於國家利弊、政令未當者，直言勿諱。 謙朝參如故。」 時中官采木四川，貪橫。 帝以謙清直，命往治之。 擢謙副都御史，賜鈔以行，遂罷采木之役。
Before long, because memorials grew fewer, the emperor again summoned Shiqi and said: "I was angry that Yi Qian exaggerated and went beyond the facts; court officials then went more than a month without speaking. Tell the officials and make my true intentions clear." Shiqi said: "My words alone will not be believed; I beg that Your Majesty personally issue an imperial letter." He then ordered an edict written at his bedside acknowledging fault: "Since I took the throne, subjects have submitted hundreds of memorials, and I have always received them gladly. When counsel was improper, I did not add reproof—all my ministers know this. Recently, Vice Minister of Justice Yi Qian spoke largely beyond the facts; ministers, flattering my mood, jointly memorialized that he was posturing for reputation and asked that he be punished. I refused them all and only excused Yi Qian from court attendance. Since then, memorials have grown even fewer. From last winter there has been no snow, and spring has brought little rain; yin and yang are out of harmony—there must be a fault. Surely there is something to be said? Yet as ministers, cherishing plans for self-preservation, you withdraw in silence—how is this loyalty? Toward Yi Qian I could not for a time contain myself, yet I have never ceased to feel ashamed. You ministers must not take the former affair as a warning; on what benefits or harms the state, or where policy is wrong, speak frankly without reserve. Yi Qian's court attendance is restored as before." At the time palace eunuchs were procuring timber in Sichuan, acting with greed and violence. Because Yi Qian was upright, the emperor ordered him to go and rectify the abuses. Yi Qian was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief, given paper money for the journey, and the timber-procurement project was halted.
20
宣德初，交阯右布政戚遜以貪淫黜，命謙往代。 王通棄交阯，謙亦論死。 正統初，釋為民。 土木之變，謙布衣走闕下，薦通及寧懋、阮遷等十三人，皆奇才可用。 眾議以通副石亨，謙請專任通，事遂寢。 廷臣以謙負重名，奏留之，亦不報。 景泰二年復至京，疏薦通等，不納。 罷歸，未幾卒。 仁宗性寬大，容直言，謙以故得無罪，反責呂震等。 而黃驥言西域事，帝亦誚震而行其言。
At the beginning of Xuande, Right Administration Commissioner of Jiaozhi Qi Xun was dismissed for greed and debauchery, and Yi Qian was ordered to replace him. When Wang Tong abandoned Jiaozhi, Yi Qian was also sentenced to death. At the beginning of Zhengtong he was released to commoner status. At the Tumu crisis, Yi Qian, in plain clothes, hurried to the palace and recommended Wang Tong, Ning Mao, Ruan Qian, and thirteen others—all men of exceptional talent. The court discussed making Wang Tong deputy to Shi Heng; Yi Qian asked that Wang Tong alone be entrusted with command, and the matter lapsed. Court officials, valuing Yi Qian's reputation, memorialized to retain him, but received no response. In the second year of Jingtai he again came to the capital and submitted a memorial recommending Wang Tong and the others; it was not accepted. He was dismissed and returned home, and died before long. The Renzong Emperor was magnanimous and tolerated frank speech; Yi Qian for this reason escaped punishment, while Lü Zhen and others were blamed instead. When Huang Ji spoke on Western Regions affairs, the emperor also reproved Lü Zhen and carried out Huang Ji's advice.
21
驥，全州人。 洪武中，中鄉舉。 為沙縣教諭。 永樂時擢禮科給事中，常三使西域。 仁宗初，上疏言：「西域貢使多商人假托，無賴小人投為從者，乘傳役人，運貢物至京師，賞賚優厚。 番人慕利，貢無虛月，致民失業妨農。 比其使還，多賫貨物，車運至百餘輛。 丁男不足，役及婦女。 所至辱驛官，鞭夫隸，無敢與較者。 乞敕陜西行都司，惟哈密諸國王遣使入貢者，許令來京，止正副使得乘驛馬，陜人庶少蘇。 至西域所產，惟馬切邊需，應就給甘肅軍士。 其碙砂、梧桐、鹼之類，皆無益國用，請一切勿受，則來者自稀，浮費益省。」 帝以示尚書呂震，且讓之曰：「驥嘗奉使，悉西事。 卿西人，顧不悉邪？ 驥言是，其即議行。」 後遷右通政，與李琦、羅汝敬撫諭交阯，不辱命。 使還，尋卒。
Huang Ji came from Quanzhou. During the Hongwu era he passed the provincial examination. He served as instructor of Shaxian. During Yongle he was promoted to Supervising Secretary in the Ministry of Rites and often served as envoy to the Western Regions. At the beginning of Renzong's reign he submitted a memorial saying: "Western Regions tribute envoys are mostly merchants in disguise; worthless men attach themselves as followers, abuse the relay system, transport goods to the capital, and receive lavish rewards. Foreigners covet profit; tribute missions come almost every month, driving people from their occupations and harming agriculture. When their envoys return, they carry vast quantities of goods, transported in more than a hundred cartloads. When adult males are insufficient, women are pressed into service. Wherever they go they insult post officials and whip laborers, and none dare resist. I beg that the Shaanxi Regional Military Commission be ordered to admit to the capital only envoys sent by kings such as Hami, and to allow only the chief and deputy envoys relay horses, so that the people of Shaanxi may have some relief. Of Western Regions products, only horses are urgently needed on the frontier and should be supplied directly to Gansu troops. Products such as sal ammoniac, parasol wood, and alkali are of no use to the state; I ask that all be refused, so that missions will naturally grow fewer and wasteful expense be reduced." The emperor showed it to Minister Lü Zhen and reproved him: "Huang Ji has served as envoy and knows Western affairs thoroughly. You are from the west yourself—do you not know them thoroughly? Huang Ji is right; deliberate and carry out his proposals at once." Later he was transferred to Right Commissioner of the Transmission Office; with Li Qi and Luo Rujing he pacified Jiaozhi and acquitted himself honorably. After the mission returned, he soon died.
22
黃澤，閩縣人。 永樂十年進士。 擢河南左參政。 南陽多流民，拊循使復業。 嘗率丁役至北京，周恤備至。 久之，調湖廣。 仁宗即位，入覲，言時政，多見采。
Huang Ze came from Min County. He passed the jinshi examination in the tenth year of Yongle. He was promoted to Left Administration Vice Commissioner of Henan. In Nanyang there were many displaced people; he comforted and guided them back to their occupations. Once, leading corvée laborers to Beijing, he showed them every consideration. After some time he was transferred to Huguang. When the Renzong Emperor took the throne, he came to court, spoke on current affairs, and much of his advice was adopted.
23
宣宗立，下詔求言。 澤上疏言正心、恤民、敬天、納諫、練兵、重農、止貢獻、明賞罰、遠嬖幸、汰冗官十事。 其言遠嬖幸曰：「刑余之人，其情幽陰，其慮險譎。 大奸似忠，大詐似信，大巧似愚。 一與之親，如飲醇酒，不知其醉； 如噬甘臘，不知其毒。 寵之甚易，遠之甚難。 是以古者宦寺不使典兵幹政，所以防患於未萌也。 涓涓弗塞，將為江河。 此輩宜一切疏遠，勿使用事。 漢、唐已事，彰彰可監。」 當成祖時，宦官稍稍用事，宣宗浸以親幸。 澤於十事中此為尤切。 帝雖嘉嘆，不能用也。 其後設內書堂，而中人多通書曉文義。 宦寺之盛，自宣宗始。
When the Xuanzong Emperor came to the throne, he issued an edict calling for counsel. Huang Ze submitted a memorial on ten matters: rectifying the heart, cherishing the people, revering Heaven, accepting remonstrance, drilling troops, valuing agriculture, halting tribute missions, clarifying rewards and punishments, keeping favored intimates at a distance, and eliminating redundant officials. On keeping favored intimates at a distance he said: "Those mutilated by punishment have hidden, dark natures and treacherous, devious minds. Great villainy resembles loyalty, great deceit resembles trustworthiness, great craft resembles stupidity. Once intimate with them, it is like drinking strong wine without knowing one is drunk; like eating sweet cured meat without knowing its poison. Favoring them is easy; keeping them at a distance is hard. Therefore in antiquity eunuchs were not allowed to command troops or meddle in government—to guard against trouble before it sprouted. A trickle unstopped will become a river. Such people should all be kept at a distance and not employed in affairs. The histories of Han and Tang offer clear warnings." Under the Yongle Emperor, eunuchs gradually gained influence; the Xuanzong Emperor increasingly favored them. Among Huang Ze's ten proposals, this was especially pointed. Though the emperor praised it, he could not put it into practice. Afterward the Inner Calligraphy Hall was established, and many eunuchs became literate and versed in state affairs. The rise of eunuch power began with the Xuanzong Emperor.
24
宣德三年擢浙江布政使。 復上言平陽、麗水等七縣銀冶宜罷，並請盡罷諸坑冶，語甚切。 帝嘆息曰：「民困若此，朕何由知？ 遣官驗視，酌議以聞。」 澤在官有政績，然多暴怒，鹽運使丁鎡不避道，撻之，為所奏。 巡按御史馬謹亦劾澤九載秩滿，自出行縣，斂白金三千兩償官物，且越境過家。 遂逮下獄。 正統六年黜為民。 初，澤奏金華、臺州戶口較洪武時耗減，而歲造弓箭如舊，乞減免。 下部議得允，而澤已罷官逾月矣。
In the third year of Xuande he was promoted to Administration Commissioner of Zhejiang. He again memorialized that silver smelteries in seven counties including Pingyang and Lishui should be shut down, and asked that all mining operations be abolished; his language was very pointed. The emperor sighed and said: "The people are suffering like this—how was I to know? Send officials to inspect the situation, work out appropriate measures, and report back to me." While in office Huang Ze had real achievements, yet he was prone to violent rage; when the salt-transport commissioner Ding Zeng failed to yield the road, Ze beat him, and Ding memorialized against him. The regional inspecting censor Ma Jin also impeached Huang Ze, charging that when his nine-year term expired he toured the counties on his own authority, collected three thousand taels of silver to cover official expenses, and crossed his jurisdiction to visit home. He was then arrested and thrown into prison. In the sixth year of Zhengtong he was dismissed and reduced to commoner status. Earlier, Huang Ze had memorialized that household registers in Jinhua and Taizhou had fallen since the Hongwu era, while the annual quota for bows and arrows remained unchanged, and he asked that the levy be reduced. The ministry deliberated and approved the request, but Huang Ze had already been out of office for more than a month.
25
孔友諒，長洲人。 永樂十六年進士。 改庶吉士，出知雙流縣。 宣宗初，上言六事：
Kong Youliang came from Changzhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the sixteenth year of Yongle. He was appointed a Hanlin Bachelor, then sent out to serve as magistrate of Shuangliu County. Early in the Xuanzong reign he submitted a memorial on six matters:
26
一曰，守令親民之官，古者不拘資格，必得其人； 不限歲月，使盡其力。 今居職者多不知撫字之方，而廉幹得民心者，又遷調不常，差遣不一。 或因小事連累，朝夕營治，往來道路，日不暇給。 乞敕吏部，擇才望素優及久歷京官者任之。 諭戒上司，毋擅差遣，假以歲月，責成治效。 至遠缺佐貳，多經裁減，獨員居職。 或遇事赴京，多委雜職署事，因循茍且，政令無常，民不知畏。 今後路遠之缺，常留一正員任事，不得擅離，庶法有常守。
First: prefects and magistrates are the officials closest to the people; in antiquity appointments were not bound by seniority—the right person had to be found; and terms of office were not fixed, so that they could give their full effort. Today most local officials do not know how to govern and care for the people, while those who are honest, capable, and win popular trust are transferred constantly and sent on one assignment after another. Some are dragged into trouble over minor matters, scrambling day and night, constantly on the road, with never a moment to spare. I ask that the Ministry of Personnel be ordered to appoint men of proven talent and reputation, and those with long experience in capital office. Their superiors should be instructed not to reassign them at will, given adequate time in post, and held accountable for results. As for distant posts and their deputies, many positions have been cut, leaving a single official in charge. When business arises some officials go to the capital, leaving affairs to minor substitutes who muddle through; policies shift constantly and the people no longer know what to respect. Henceforth at distant posts one regular official should always remain on duty and not leave without authorization, so that governance may be steady and predictable.
27
二曰，科舉所以求賢，必名實相副，非徒誇多而已。 今秋闈取士動一二百人。 弊既多端，僥幸過半。 會試下第，十常八九，其登第者，實行或乖。 請於開科之歲，詳核諸生行履。 孝弟忠信、學業優贍者，乃許入試。 庶浮薄不致濫收，而國家得真才之用。
Second: the civil examinations exist to find worthy men; credentials and ability must match—it is not merely a matter of filling quotas. Today the provincial examinations routinely pass one or two hundred candidates at a time. Abuses are already manifold, and more than half succeed by luck alone. At the metropolitan examination eight or nine out of ten fail, and even among those who pass, conduct often falls short. I ask that in years when examinations are held, the conduct and records of candidates be thoroughly verified. Only those who are filial, loyal, trustworthy, and solidly educated should be allowed to sit for the exams. Then the frivolous will not slip through, and the state will gain men of real ability.
28
三曰，祿以養廉，祿入過薄，則生事不給。 國朝制祿之典，視前代為薄。 今京官及方面官稍增俸祿，其餘大小官自折鈔外，月不過米二石，不足食數人。 仰事俯育，與道路往來，費安所取資？ 貪者放利行私，廉者終窶莫訴。 請敕戶部勘實天下糧儲，以歲支之余，量增官俸。 仍令內外風憲官，采訪廉潔之吏，重加旌賞。 則廉者知勸，貪者知戒。
Third: salaries exist to sustain integrity; when pay is too meager, officials cannot meet the demands of daily life. Our dynasty's salary scale is thinner than that of previous dynasties. Capital officials and regional commissioners have received modest raises, but for most other officials, apart from paper-money conversion, monthly pay is no more than two shi of grain—not enough to feed a household. Supporting parents, raising children, and traveling on official business—where is the money to come from? The greedy turn to profit and private gain; the honest end in poverty with no recourse. I ask that the Ministry of Revenue verify the empire's grain reserves and use the annual surplus to increase official salaries proportionally. Censorial officials at court and in the provinces should also be ordered to seek out honest officials and reward them generously. Then the honest will be encouraged, and the corrupt will take warning.
29
四曰，古者賦役量土宜，驗丁口，不責所無，不盡所有。 今自常賦外，復有和買、采辦諸事。 自朝廷視之，不過令有司支官錢平買。 而無賴之輩，關通吏胥，壟斷貨物，巧立辨驗、折耗之名，科取數倍，奸弊百端。 乞盡停采買，減諸不急務，則國賦有常，民無科擾。
Fourth: in antiquity taxes and corvée were set according to local conditions and household registers, demanding neither what people lacked nor everything they had. Today, beyond regular taxes, there are government procurement, court requisitions, and other such exactions. From the court's perspective, these are merely orders for local officials to pay official funds and buy goods at fair prices. Yet ruffians collude with clerks, monopolize goods, and invent fees for inspection and wastage, extracting several times the proper amount—corruption in every form. I ask that court requisitions be halted entirely and nonessential demands reduced, so that state levies remain stable and the people are spared harassment.
30
其二事言汰冗員，任風憲，言者多及之，不具載。
The other two proposals concerned eliminating redundant posts and strengthening censorial authority; many memorials touched on these topics and they are not recorded in full here.
31
宣德八年，命吏部擇外官有文學者六十八人試之，得友諒及進士胡端禎等七人，悉令辦事六科。 居二年，皆授給事中，惟友諒未授官而卒。
In the eighth year of Xuande the Ministry of Personnel was ordered to test sixty-eight local officials of literary attainment; seven passed, including Kong Youliang and the jinshi Hu Duanzhen, and all were assigned to the Six Offices. After two years all were appointed supervising secretaries; only Kong Youliang died before he could take up his post.
32
範濟，元進士。 洪武中，以文學舉為廣信知府，坐累謫戍興州。 宣宗即位，濟年八十餘矣，詣闕言八事：
Fan Ji had passed the jinshi examination under the Yuan. In the Hongwu era he was recommended for his learning and appointed prefect of Guangxin; implicated in a case, he was demoted and sent to garrison duty at Xingzhou. When the Xuanzong Emperor took the throne, Fan Ji was already over eighty; he came to court and submitted a memorial on eight matters:
33
其一曰楮幣之法，昉於漢、唐。 元造元統交鈔，後又造中統鈔。 久而物重鈔輕，公私俱敝，乃造至元鈔與中統鈔兼行。 子母相權，新陳通用。 又令民間以昏鈔赴平準庫，中統鈔五貫得換至元鈔一貫。 又其法日造萬錠，共計官吏俸稍、內府供用若干，天下正稅雜課若干，斂發有方，周流不滯，以故久而通行。 太祖皇帝造大明寶鈔。 以鈔一貫當白金一兩，民歡趨之。 迄今五十餘年，其法稍弊，亦由物重鈔輕所致。 願陛下因時變通，重造寶鈔，一準洪武初制，使新舊兼行。 取元時所造之數而增損之，審國家度支之數而權衡之。 俾鈔少而物多，鈔重而物輕。 嚴偽造之條，開倒換之法，推陳出新，無耗無阻，則鈔法流通，永永無弊。
The first concerned paper currency, a practice that began in the Han and Tang dynasties. The Yuan issued Yuantong exchange notes, and later Zhongtong notes as well. Over time goods appreciated and notes depreciated, exhausting both public and private resources, so Zhiyuan notes were issued to circulate alongside Zhongtong notes. Old and new notes were weighted against each other, and both circulated freely. The people were also allowed to bring worn notes to the stabilization treasury and exchange five strings of Zhongtong notes for one string of Zhiyuan notes. The system also called for ten thousand ingots to be minted daily, with fixed amounts set aside for official salaries, palace supplies, regular taxes, and miscellaneous levies; collection and disbursement were regulated, circulation was smooth, and for this reason the currency remained viable for a long time. The Hongwu Emperor created the Great Ming treasure notes. One string of notes was set equal to one tael of silver, and the people readily accepted them. More than fifty years later the system has begun to fail, again because goods have appreciated while notes have depreciated. I ask that Your Majesty adapt to the times, remint treasure notes according to the early Hongwu standard, and let new and old notes circulate together. Adjust the quantities minted under the Yuan, and calibrate them against the state's actual expenditure. So that notes are scarce and goods plentiful, notes strong and goods cheap. Strictly punish counterfeiting, establish exchange procedures, retire old notes and issue new ones without loss or obstruction—and the currency will circulate soundly for the long term.
34
其二曰備邊之道，守險為要。 若朔州、大同、開平、宣府、大寧，乃京師之藩垣，邊僥之門戶。 士可耕，城可守。 宜盛兵防禦，廣開屯田，修治城堡，謹烽火，明斥堠。 毋貪小利，毋輕遠求，堅壁清野，使無所得。 俟其憊而擊之，得利則止，毋窮追深入。 此守邊大要也。
The second concerned border defense: holding strategic terrain is the key. Places such as Shuozhou, Datong, Kaiping, Xuanfu, and Daining are the protective walls of the capital and the gateways to the frontier. The land can be farmed and the fortresses held. Troops should be concentrated for defense, garrison farming expanded, fortresses repaired, beacon fires maintained vigilantly, and sentry posts clearly manned. Do not chase small gains or rash distant campaigns; strengthen the walls, clear the countryside, and leave the enemy with nothing to seize. Wait until they are exhausted, then strike; when you have gained an advantage, stop—do not pursue them deep into their territory. These are the essential principles of frontier defense.
35
其三曰兵不在多，在於堪戰。 比者多發為事官吏人民充軍塞上，非白面書生，則老弱病廢。 遇有征行，有力者得免，貧弱者備數。 器械不完，糗糧不具。 望風股栗，安能效死？ 今宜選其壯勇，勤加訓練，余但令乘城擊柝，趨走牙門，庶幾各得其用。
The third: armies are measured not by numbers but by fighting ability. Recently many officials and commoners implicated in legal cases have been sent to fill garrison ranks on the frontier—if not bookish scholars, then the old, weak, sick, and disabled. When campaigns arise, the strong and well-connected buy their way out, while the poor and weak merely fill the rolls. Weapons are incomplete and rations not provided. They tremble at the sight of the enemy—how can they be expected to fight to the death? The strong and brave should be selected and rigorously trained; the rest should be assigned to wall duty, night watches, and camp errands, so that each man serves where he is fit.
36
其四曰民病莫甚於勾軍。 衛所差官至六七員，百戶差軍旗亦二三人，皆有力交結及畏避征調之徒，重賄得遣。 既至州縣，擅作威福，迫脅裏甲，恣為奸私。 無丁之家，誅求不已； 有丁之戶，詐稱死亡。 托故留滯，久而不還。 及還，則以所得財物，遍賄官吏，朦朧具覆。 究其所取之丁，十不得一，欲軍無缺伍難矣。 自今軍士有故，令各衛報都督府及兵部，府、部諜布政、按察司。 令府州縣準籍貫姓名，勾取送衛，則差人騷擾之弊自絕。
The fourth: among the people's afflictions none is worse than the conscription rolls. Guard units dispatch as many as six or seven officials, and company commanders send two or three military runners as well—all men with powerful connections or those seeking to evade mobilization, who secure the assignment through heavy bribes. Once they reach the counties they abuse their authority, coerce community heads, and indulge in private corruption. From households with no eligible men, extortion never ceases; households with eligible men falsely report deaths. They invent excuses to linger and do not return for a long time. When they return, they use their gains to bribe officials up and down the line and submit vague, misleading reports. In the end not one man in ten is actually obtained—keeping the army at full strength is impossible. Henceforth when soldiers fall vacant, each guard should report to the regional military commission and the Ministry of War, which should notify the provincial administration commission and regional inspection commission. Prefectures and counties should summon men by registered name and native place and deliver them directly to the guard—then the abuse of dispatching agents and harassing the people will end.
37
其五曰洪武中令軍士七分屯田，三分守城，最為善策。 比者調度日繁，興造日廣，虛有屯種之名，田多荒蕪。 兼養馬、采草、伐薪、燒炭，雜役旁午，兵力焉得不疲、農業焉得不廢？ 願敕邊將課卒墾荒，限以頃畝，官給牛種，稽其勤惰，明賞罰以示勸懲。 則塞下田可盡墾，轉餉益紓，諸邊富實，計無便於此者。
The fifth: in the Hongwu era soldiers were ordered to spend seven-tenths of their time on garrison farming and three-tenths on defense—the finest policy of all. Recently requisitions have grown ever more frequent and construction ever more extensive; garrison farming exists in name only, and fields lie largely abandoned. Added to this are horse-rearing, foraging, firewood-cutting, charcoal-burning, and miscellaneous corvée from every direction—how can the troops not be exhausted and farming not collapse? I ask that frontier commanders be ordered to set soldiers to reclaim wasteland within fixed acreage limits, supply oxen and seed, monitor diligence and sloth, and apply clear rewards and punishments. Then frontier land can be fully reclaimed, transport costs eased, and the border regions made prosperous—no policy would be more effective.
38
其六曰，學校者，風化之源，人材所自出，貴明體適用，非徒較文藝而已也。 洪武中妙選師儒，教養甚備，人材彬彬可觀。 邇來士習委靡，立志不弘，執節不固。 平居無剛方正大之氣，安望其立朝為名公卿哉！ 宜選良士為郡縣學官，擇民間子弟性行端謹者為生徒，訓以經史，勉以節行。 俟其有成，貢於國學。 磨礱砥礪，使其氣充誌定，卓然成材，然後舉而用之，以任天下國家事無難矣。
The sixth: schools are the source of moral cultivation and the wellspring of talent; what matters is grasp of principle and practical ability—not literary display alone. In the Hongwu era teachers were carefully chosen, education was thorough, and talent flourished impressively. Recently scholarly habits have grown slack; students lack broad ambition and firm adherence to principle. In daily life they show no spirit of firmness and integrity—how can we expect them to serve at court as great ministers! Worthy men should be chosen as county and prefectural school instructors; upright and careful youths should be selected as students, trained in the classics and histories, and encouraged in moral conduct. When they have matured, send them to the National Academy. Hone them until their spirit is strong and their purpose fixed; once they have truly matured, appoint them to office, and the affairs of the empire will present no difficulty.
39
其七曰兵者凶器，聖人不得已而用之。 漢高祖解平城之圍，未聞蕭、曹勸以復仇； 唐太宗禦突厥於便橋，未聞房、杜勸以報怨。 古英君良相不欲疲民力以誇武功，計慮遠矣。 洪武初年嘗赫然命將，欲清沙漠。 既以饋運不繼，旋即頒師。 遂撤東勝衛於大同，塞山西陽武谷口，選將練兵，扼險以待。 內修政教，外嚴邊備，廣屯田，興學校，罪貪吏，徙頑民。 不數年間，朵兒只巴獻女，伯顏帖木兒、乃兒不花等相繼擒獲，納哈出亦降。 此專務內治，不勤遠略之明效也。 伏望遠鑒漢、唐，近法太祖，毋以窮兵黷武為快，毋以犁庭掃穴為功。 棄捐不毛之地，休養冠帶之民，俾竭力於田桑，盡心於庠序。 邊塞絕傷痍之苦，閭里絕呻吟之聲。 將無幸功，士無夭閼，遠人自服，荒外自歸。 國祚靈長於萬年矣。
The seventh: arms are instruments of violence; the sage uses them only when he has no choice. When Emperor Gaozu of Han broke the siege at Pingcheng, Xiao He and Cao Shen did not urge revenge; when Emperor Taizong of Tang faced the Turks at Bian Bridge, Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui did not urge retaliation. Wise rulers and good ministers of old did not exhaust the people's strength to boast of military glory—their vision was long. In the early Hongwu era the court once boldly dispatched generals, intending to pacify the desert. When supply lines failed, the army was promptly withdrawn. They relocated the Dongsheng Guard to Datong, sealed Yangwu Pass in Shanxi, selected generals, trained troops, and held the strategic passes in readiness. At home they strengthened governance and education; on the frontier they tightened defenses, expanded military colonies, established schools, punished corrupt officials, and relocated unruly commoners. Within a few years Duojizhiba sent a daughter as tribute; Boyan Temur, Nir Buqa, and others were captured one after another, and Nahachu surrendered as well. This was the clear proof that focusing on internal governance rather than distant campaigns works. I humbly ask Your Majesty to look to Han and Tang in the distant past and follow the Taizu Emperor's example in our own dynasty—do not relish exhausting the realm through ceaseless war, and do not treat the total destruction of distant enemies as the measure of achievement. Abandon worthless frontier wasteland, give the people time to recover, and let them devote themselves to farming and to education. The frontier would know no war-wounded suffering, and villages would hear no cries of distress. Generals would not chase undeserved glory, scholars would not die young in vain, distant peoples would submit willingly, and the farthest wilds would come back into the fold. The dynasty's blessing would endure for ages.
40
其八曰官不在眾，在乎得人。 國家承大亂後，因時損益，以府為州，以州為縣。 繼又裁並小縣之糧不及俸者，量民數以設官。 民多者縣設丞薄，少者知縣、典史而已。 其時官無廢事，民不愁勞。 今藩、臬二司及府、州、縣官，視洪武中再倍，政愈不理，民愈不寧，奸弊叢生，詐偽滋起。 甚有官不能聽斷，吏不諳文移，乃容留書寫之人，在官影射，賄賂公行，獄訟淹滯，皆官冗吏濫所致也。 望斷自宸衷，凡內外官吏，並依洪武中員額，冗濫者悉汰，則天工無曠，庶績咸熙，而天下大治矣。
The eighth: offices succeed not through their number, but through having the right people. After the great upheaval the state adjusted its administration to the times, demoting prefectures to sub-prefectures and sub-prefectures to counties. Small counties whose tax revenue could not cover officials' salaries were merged, and posts were set according to population. Populous counties had an assistant magistrate and registrar; smaller ones had only a magistrate and clerk. Then officials were not overburdened with idle posts, and the people were not overtaxed with labor. Today provincial and surveillance commissions and local officials number twice what they did under Hongwu; government grows less effective, the people less secure, abuses multiply, and fraud spreads. Some magistrates cannot even adjudicate cases, clerks do not understand official correspondence, yet they keep scribes on staff who act as hidden proxies; bribery runs rampant and lawsuits stall—all the result of too many officials and too many clerks. I ask that Your Majesty decide in his own heart to restore all inner and outer offices to their Hongwu quotas and dismiss every redundant post; then every office will be filled by the worthy, every task well performed, and the empire truly well governed.
41
奏上，命廷臣議之。 尚書呂震以為文辭冗長，且事多已行，不足采。 帝曰：「所言甚有學識，多契朕心，當察其素履以聞。」 震乃言：「濟故元進士，曾守郡，坐事戍邊。」 帝曰：「惜哉斯人！ 令久淹行伍，今猶足用。」 震曰：「年老矣。」 帝曰：「國家用人，正須老成，但不宜任以繁劇。」 乃以濟為儒學訓導。
When the memorial was submitted, the emperor ordered the court ministers to discuss it. Minister Lü Zhen argued that the prose was too long and that many of its proposals had already been implemented, so it was not worth adopting. The emperor said: "These words show real learning, and much of it accords with my own thinking. Investigate his past conduct and report back. Zhen then said: "Fan Ji was a jinshi under the Yuan; he once served as prefect and was exiled to the frontier for an offense." The emperor said: "What a pity—such a man! He has languished in the ranks for years, yet he is still fit for service." Zhen said: "He is too old." The emperor said: "The state needs seasoned men precisely because of their experience, but he should not be given heavy duties." Fan Ji was then appointed Confucian instructor.
42
邇歲土木繁興，異端盛起，番僧絡驛，汙吏縱橫，相臣不正其非，御史不劾其罪，上下蒙蔽，民生雕瘵。 狡寇犯邊，上皇播越。 陛下枕戈嘗膽之秋，可不拔賢舉能，一新政治乎？ 昔宗、嶽為將，敵國不敢呼名； 韓、範鎮邊，西賊聞之破膽。 司馬光居相位，強鄰戒勿犯邊。 今文武大臣之有威名德望者，宜使典樞要，且延訪智術才能之士，布滿朝廷，則也先必畏服，而上皇可指日還矣。
In recent years construction has flourished, heterodox teachings spread, Tibetan monks crowd the relay stations, corrupt officials run unchecked, chief ministers fail to correct abuses, censors fail to impeach wrongdoers, the court and the provinces conceal one another, and the people's livelihood is ruined. Crafty enemies invaded the frontier, and the former emperor was driven into exile. At this moment when Your Majesty sleeps on spears and tastes gall in resolve, should you not raise the worthy, promote the capable, and renew the whole conduct of government? When Zong Ze and Yue Fei commanded armies, enemy states did not dare speak their names aloud; when Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan guarded the frontier, western raiders lost heart at the mere mention of them. When Sima Guang served as chief minister, powerful neighbors were warned not to violate the border. Today civil and military ministers of proven reputation and standing should hold the key posts, and men of wisdom and talent should be sought out and placed throughout the court; then Esen would surely be overawed, and the former emperor could return within days.
43
大臣，陽也； 宦寺，陰也。 君子，陽也； 小人，陰也。 近日食地震，陰盛陽微，謫見天地。 望陛下總攬乾綱，抑宦寺使不得預政，遏小人俾不得居位，則陰陽順而天變弭矣。 天下治亂，在君心邪正。 田獵是娛，宮室是侈，宦寺是狎，三者有一，足蠱君心。 願陛下涵養克治，多接賢士大夫，少親宦官宮妾，自能革奢靡，戒遊佚，而心無不正矣。
Ministers are yang; eunuchs are yin. Noble men are yang; petty men are yin. Recently there have been eclipses and earthquakes—yin has grown strong and yang has weakened, a reproach sent from Heaven and Earth. I ask Your Majesty to hold the reins of power firmly, keep eunuchs from meddling in government, and block petty men from office; then yin and yang will be balanced and Heaven's warnings will cease. Whether the empire is well governed or in chaos depends on whether the ruler's heart is upright. Field hunting for pleasure, palace building for display, and intimacy with eunuchs—any one of these three is enough to corrupt the ruler's heart. I ask Your Majesty to cultivate self-restraint, spend more time with worthy scholar-officials, and keep less company with eunuchs and palace women; then extravagance will be curbed, idleness checked, and the heart kept upright.
44
堯立謗木，恐人不言，所以聖； 秦除謚法，恐人議己，所以亡。 陛下廣從諫之量，旌直言之臣，則國家利弊，閭閻休戚，臣下無所顧忌，而言無不盡矣。 蘇子曰：「平居無犯顏敢諫之臣，則臨難必無仗節死義之士。」 願陛下恒念是言而審察之。
Yao erected a criticism board because he feared people would not speak out—that is why he was sage; Qin abolished the law of posthumous titles because he feared people would criticize him—that is why it fell. If Your Majesty broadens his capacity to accept remonstrance and honors those who speak plainly, then on matters of national benefit and harm and the welfare of the people, officials will speak without fear and nothing will be left unsaid. Su Shi said: "If in ordinary times there are no ministers who risk offense to speak plainly, then in crisis there will surely be no men who uphold their integrity and die for principle. I ask Your Majesty to keep these words always in mind and weigh them carefully.
45
書奏，帝頗嘉納之。 後四年，讓登進士。 官知縣卒。 景泰二年，監生郭佑亦上書言兵事，略曰：
When the memorial was submitted, the emperor largely approved it. Four years later Liao Rang passed the jinshi examination. He served as magistrate and died in office. In the second year of the Jingtai reign, the Imperial Academy student Guo You also submitted a memorial on military affairs, saying in summary:
46
逆寇犯順，上皇蒙塵，此千古非常之變，百世必報之仇也。 今使臣之來，動以數千，務驕蹇責望於我，而我乃隱忍姑息，致賊勢日張，我氣日索，求和與和，求戰與戰，是和戰之權，不在我而在賊也。 願陛下結人心，親賢良，以固國本，廣儲蓄，練將士，以壯國氣。 正分定名，裁之以義。 如桀驁侵軼，則提兵問罪。 使大漠之南，不敢有匹馬闌入，乃可保百年無虞。 不然西北力罷，東南財竭，不能一日安枕矣。 昨以國用耗乏，謀國大臣欲紓一時之急，令民納粟者賜冠帶。 今軍旅稍寧，行之如故。 農工商販之徒，不較賢愚，惟財是授。 驕親戚，誇鄉里，長非分之邪心。 贓汙吏罷退為民，欲掩閭黨之恥，納粟納草，冠帶而歸。 前以冒貨去職，今以輸貨得官，何以禁貪殘、重名爵？ 況天下統一，藏富在民，未至大不得已，而舉措如此，是以空乏啟寇心也。 章下廷議，格不行。
Rebellious enemies violated the realm, and the former emperor suffered disgrace—this is an upheaval without parallel in a thousand years and a wrong that must be avenged for generations. Now their envoys arrive by the thousands, arrogant and demanding, while we forbear and indulge them; the enemy grows stronger by the day and our resolve weaker. We ask for peace and they decide whether to grant it; we ask for war and they decide whether to fight—the choice between peace and war is no longer ours but theirs. I ask Your Majesty to win the people's hearts, draw close to the worthy and good to strengthen the foundations of the state, build up reserves, and train generals and soldiers to restore national confidence. Restore proper distinctions and fixed names, and restrain the enemy with righteousness. If they grow arrogant and encroach, then march against them and demand justice. Ensure that south of the desert not a single horse dare cross the border—only then can peace be kept for a hundred years. Otherwise the northwest will be exhausted and the southeast drained of wealth, and not even one night's sleep will be secure. Recently, because state revenue was depleted, ministers seeking to relieve the immediate crisis ordered that those who contributed grain be granted cap-and-belt honors. Now that the army is somewhat settled, the practice continues unchanged. Farmers, craftsmen, merchants, and peddlers receive honors without regard to merit—wealth alone decides. They flaunt their standing before kin and neighbors and nurture improper ambition. Corrupt officials dismissed from office, seeking to hide their shame before neighbors and clans, buy their way back with grain and fodder and return wearing cap and belt. Once they lost office for taking bribes; now they regain rank by paying for it—how can greed be checked or noble titles be held in esteem? Moreover the empire is unified and wealth lies with the people; we have not yet reached true necessity, yet we take measures like these—showing weakness and inviting enemy ambition. The memorial was referred to the court for deliberation and was rejected.
47
又有胡仲倫者，雲南鹽課提舉司吏目也。 緣事入都，會上皇北狩，也先欲妻以妹，上皇因遣廣寧伯劉安入言於帝。 仲倫上疏爭之，言：「今日事不可屈者有七。 降萬乘之尊，與諧婚媾，一也。 敵假和議，使我無備，二也。 必欲為姻，驕尊自大，三也。 索金帛，使我坐困，四也。 以送駕為名，乘機入犯，五也。 逼上皇手詔，誘取邊城，六也。 欲求山後之地，七也。 稍從其一，大事去矣。 曩上皇在位，王振專權。 忠諫者死，鯁直者戍； 君子見斥，小人驟遷。 章奏多決中旨，黑白混淆，邪正倒置。 閩、浙之寇方殷，瓦剌之釁大作。 陛下宜親賢遠奸，信賞必罰，通上情，達下誌。 賣國之奸無所投隙，倉卒之變末由發機，朝廷自此尊，天下自此安矣。」 帝嘉納焉。
There was also Hu Zhonglun, a petty clerk in the Yunnan Salt Tax Intendant Office. He came to the capital on business just as the former emperor was taken north; Esen wished to marry him to his sister, and the former emperor sent the Marquis Liu An of Guangning to relay the proposal to the emperor. Zhonglun submitted a memorial objecting, saying: "In the present crisis there are seven points on which we must not yield. To lower the dignity of the sovereign and enter into marriage alliance—this is the first. The enemy feigns peace talks to catch us unprepared—this is the second. If they insist on marriage, they will grow arrogant and overbearing—this is the third. Demanding gold and silk will leave us financially exhausted—this is the fourth. Under the pretext of escorting the emperor home, they will seize the chance to invade—this is the fifth. Coercing an edict in the former emperor's own hand to extract frontier cities—this is the sixth. Seeking the lands behind the mountains—this is the seventh. Yield on even one of these, and the great cause is lost. When the former emperor was on the throne, Wang Zhen monopolized power. Those who loyally remonstrated were put to death; those who spoke bluntly were exiled; noble men were driven out and petty men promoted overnight. Memorials were mostly decided by secret imperial edict; right and wrong were confused and the wicked and the upright reversed. Banditry in Fujian and Zhejiang was raging, and the Oirat launched a major attack. Your Majesty should draw close to the worthy and keep the wicked at a distance, reward faithfully and punish surely, understand conditions at court, and heed the will of the people. Traitors who would sell out the state would find no opening, sudden crises would have no chance to erupt, the court would regain its dignity, and the empire would be secure. The emperor approved and accepted it.
48
又有華敏者，南京錦衣軍余也。 意氣慷慨，讀書通大義，憤王振亂國，與儕輩言輒裂眥怒詈。 景泰三年九月上書曰：
There was also Hua Min, a surplus soldier of the Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard. Bold and high-spirited, he read widely and grasped great principle; furious that Wang Zhen had thrown the state into chaos, he would speak with blazing eyes and bitter curses among his comrades. In the ninth month of the third year of the Jingtai reign he submitted a memorial, saying:
49
近年以來，內官袁琦、唐受、喜寧、王振專權害政，致國事傾危。 望陛下防微杜漸，總攬權綱，為子孫萬世法。 不然恐禍稔蕭墻，曹節、侯覽之害，復見於今日。 臣雖賤陋，不勝痛哭流涕。 謹以虐軍害民十事，為陛下痛切言之。 內官家積金銀珠玉，累室兼籯，從何而至？ 非內盜府藏，則外朘民膏。 害一也。 怙勢矜寵，占公侯邸舍，興作工役，勞擾軍民。 害二也。 家人外親，皆市井無籍之子，縱橫豪悍，任意作奸，納粟補官，貴賤淆雜。 害三也。 建造佛寺，耗費不貲，營一己之私，破萬家之產。 害四也。 廣置田莊，不入賦稅，寄戶郡縣，不受征徭，阡陌連亙，而民無立錐。 害五也。 家人中鹽，虛占引數，轉而售人，倍支鉅萬，壞國家法，豪奪商利。 害六也。 奏求塌房，邀接商旅，倚勢賒買，恃強不償，行賈坐敝，莫敢誰何。 害七也。 賣放軍匠，名為伴當，俾辦月錢，致內府監局營作乏人，工役煩重，並力不足。 害八也。 家人貿置物料，所司畏懼，以一科十，虧官損民。 害九也。 監作所至，非法酷刑，軍匠塗炭，不勝怨酷。 害十也。 章下禮部，寢不行。
In recent years the eunuchs Yuan Qi, Tang Shou, Xi Ning, and Wang Zhen monopolized power and harmed government, bringing the state to the brink of collapse. I ask Your Majesty to check abuses at the first sign, hold the reins of power firmly, and set an example for generations to come. Otherwise disaster will ripen within the palace walls, and the evils of Cao Jie and Hou Lan will appear again in our own day. Your servant, though lowly and obscure, cannot contain his grief and weeps bitterly. I respectfully set forth ten ways in which the army is abused and the people harmed, and speak to Your Majesty with urgent grief. In eunuchs' households gold, silver, pearls, and jade fill room after room—where does it all come from? Either they steal from the imperial treasury, or they bleed the people dry. This is the first harm. Relying on power and imperial favor, they seize the mansions of dukes and marquises, launch construction projects, and burden soldiers and civilians with forced labor. This is the second harm. Their household members and outside kin are all unregistered riffraff from the marketplace; they roam freely, violent and overbearing, commit crimes at will, buy office by contributing grain, and blur the line between noble and base. This is the third harm. They build Buddhist temples at incalculable cost, pursuing private gain while ruining the livelihood of countless families. This is the fourth harm. They amass vast estates, evade tax registers, lodge their households in counties to escape levies and corvée, and stretch their fields from horizon to horizon until the people have not a pin's point of land to call their own. This is the fifth harm. Their household members obtain salt licenses, hoard quota certificates, resell them at a markup for tens of thousands in profit, violate the salt laws, and seize merchants' profits by force. This is the sixth harm. They petition for warehouse sheds, lure traveling merchants, buy on credit by force of position, refuse to pay what they owe, and ruin itinerant traders until none dare protest. This is the seventh harm. They sell off military artisans as "substitute attendants" who must pay monthly fees, leaving the palace workshops short-handed so that burdensome projects exceed available labor. This is the eighth harm. When their household members trade in supplies, the responsible offices tremble before them, charging tenfold for what should cost one—shortchanging the state and harming the people. This is the ninth harm. Wherever they supervise construction, they inflict illegal tortures; military artisans suffer agony beyond what bitter hatred can express. This is the tenth harm. The memorial was referred to the Ministry of Rites, but nothing was done.
50
又有賈斌者，商河人，山西都司令史也。 亦疏言宦官之害，引漢桓帝、唐文宗、宋徽欽為戒。 且獻所輯《忠義集》四卷，采史傳所記直諫盡忠守節之士，而宦官恃寵蠹政，可為鑒戒者附焉，乞命工刊布。 禮部以其言當，乞垂鑒納，不必刊行。 帝報聞。
There was also Jia Bin, a native of Shanghe and a clerk of the Shanxi Regional Military Commission. He too submitted a memorial on the harm of eunuchs, citing Emperor Huan of Han, Emperor Wenzong of Tang, and the emperors Hui and Qin of Song as warnings. He also presented four scrolls of his compiled Collection of Loyal Righteousness, drawing from historical records examples of men who spoke bluntly, gave their all in loyalty, and held to their integrity, with appended cases of eunuchs who abused imperial favor to ruin government as warnings, and asked that it be printed and circulated. The Ministry of Rites judged his words sound and asked the emperor to reflect on and accept them, without need to print and circulate the book. The emperor acknowledged receipt.
51
左鼎，字周器，永新人。 正統七年進士。 明年，都御史王文以御史多闕，請會吏部於進士選補。 帝從之。 尚書王直考鼎及白圭等十餘人，曉諳刑名，皆授御史。 而鼎得南京。 尋改北，巡按山西。
Zuo Ding, courtesy name Zhouqi, was a native of Yongxin. He passed the jinshi examination in the seventh year of the Zhengtong reign. The next year, because many censor posts stood vacant, Censor-in-Chief Wang Wen asked to meet with the Ministry of Personnel and fill them from among the jinshi. The emperor approved. Minister Wang Zhi examined Ding, Bai Gui, and more than ten others who were versed in penal law, and all were appointed censors. Ding was assigned to Nanjing. He was soon transferred north and sent to inspect Shanxi.
52
時英宗北狩，兵荒洊臻。 請蠲太原諸府稅糧，停大同轉餉夫，以蘇其困。 也先請和，抗言不可。 尋以山東、河南饑，遣鼎巡視，民賴以安。 律，官吏故勘平人致死者抵罪，時以給事中於泰言，悉得寬貰。 鼎言：「小民無知，情貸可也。 官吏深文巧詆，與故殺何異？ 法者，天下之公，不可意為輕重。」 自是論如律。
At the time Emperor Yingzong was held captive in the north, and warfare and famine struck in succession. He requested remission of tax grain in Taiyuan and other prefectures and a halt to Datong transport corvée to relieve their distress. When Esen requested peace, he spoke out against it, declaring it must not be accepted. Soon, because Shandong and Henan were stricken with famine, Ding was sent to inspect the region, and the people were thereby relieved. The law held that officials who through deliberate investigation caused the death of commoners should pay with their lives; but at the time, on Supervising Secretary Yu Tai's recommendation, all such cases received leniency. Ding said: "Commoners are ignorant; leniency is acceptable. But officials who twist the law with crafty accusations—how is that different from deliberate killing? The law is the public standard of the realm; its severity cannot be decided at whim." From then on, judgments followed the law.
53
景泰四年疏言：
In the fourth year of the Jingtai reign he submitted a memorial, saying:
54
瓦剌變作，將士無用，由軍政不立。 謂必痛懲前弊，乃今又五年矣。 貂蟬盈座，悉屬公侯； 鞍馬塞途，莫非將帥。 民財歲耗，國帑日虛。 以天下之大，土地兵甲之眾，曾不能振揚威武，則軍政仍未立也。 昔太祖定律令，至太宗，暫許有罪者贖，蓋權宜也。 乃法吏拘牽，沿為成例，官吏受枉法財，悉得減贖。 骫骳如此，復何顧憚哉。 國初建官有常，近始因事增設。 主事每司二人，今有增至十人者矣。 御史六十人，今則百餘人矣。 甚至一部有兩尚書，侍郎亦倍常額，都御史以數十計，此京官之冗也。 外則增設撫民、管屯官。 如河南參議，益二而為四，僉事益三而為七，此外官之冗也。 天下布、按二司各十餘人，乃歲遣御史巡視，復遣大臣巡撫鎮守。 夫今之巡撫鎮守，即曩之方面御史也。 為方面御史，則合眾人之長而不足； 為巡撫鎮守，則任一人之智而有餘。 有是理邪？ 至御史遷轉太驟，當以六年為率。 令其通達政事，然後可以治人。 巡按所系尤重，毋使初任之員，漫然嘗試。 其餘百執事，皆當慎擇而久任之。 帝頗嘉納。
When the Oirat crisis erupted, officers and soldiers proved useless because military administration had not been established. It was said the previous abuses must be sternly punished, yet five more years have passed. Ranked caps fill the seats, all belonging to dukes and marquises; Saddles and horses choke the roads, and every rider is a general or commander. The people's wealth is drained year by year, and the state treasury grows emptier by the day. With so vast an empire and so many lands, troops, and arms, the state still cannot display martial prestige—military administration remains unestablished. Formerly the Founding Emperor fixed laws and ordinances; under the Taizong Emperor, temporary permission was granted for the guilty to redeem punishment—an expedient measure. Yet legal clerks clung rigidly to this and made it a standing precedent, so officials who took bribes under perverted law could all have their punishments reduced by redemption. With corruption so deep, what further fear or restraint can there be? At the founding of the state, offices were established in fixed numbers; only recently have posts been added as events arose. Section chiefs were two per department; now some departments have as many as ten. Censors numbered sixty; now there are more than a hundred. Some ministries even have two ministers; vice ministers also exceed the usual quota; censor-in-chiefs number in the dozens—this is the redundancy of capital officials. In the provinces, pacification and garrison-farming officials were added. In Henan, for example, administrative commissioners increased from two to four, and assistant commissioners from three to seven—this is the redundancy of provincial officials. Throughout the empire, each provincial administration and surveillance commission already has more than ten officials, yet each year censors are dispatched to inspect, and grand ministers are again sent as grand coordinators and military pacifiers. Today's grand coordinators and military pacifiers are exactly the former regional censors. As regional censors, combining the strengths of many was not enough; As grand coordinators and military pacifiers, relying on one man's wisdom is more than enough. Is there such a principle? As for censors, transfers come too quickly; six years should be the standard. They should thoroughly understand government affairs before they are fit to govern others. Touring inspection bears especially heavy responsibility; newly appointed men must not be allowed to experiment casually. All other functionaries should likewise be carefully chosen and retained for longer terms. The emperor largely approved and accepted it.
55
未幾，復言：國家承平數十年，公私之積未充。 一遇軍興，抑配橫征，鬻官市爵，率行衰世茍且之政，此司邦計者過也。 臣請痛抑末技，嚴禁遊惰，斥異端使歸南畝，裁冗員以省虛糜。 開屯田而實邊，料士伍而紓餉。 寺觀營造，供佛飯僧，以及不急之工，無益之費，悉行停罷。 專以務農重粟為本，而躬行節儉以先之，然後可阜民而裕國也。 倘忍不加務，任掊克聚斂之臣行朝三暮四之術，民力已盡而征發無已，民財已竭而賦斂日增。 茍紓目前之急，不恤意外之虞，臣竊懼焉。 章下戶部。 尚書金濂請解職，帝不許。 鼎言亦不盡行。
Before long he spoke again: the state had enjoyed peace for decades, yet public and private stores were still not full. Once war breaks out, forced apportionment and arbitrary levies, selling office and trading titles—these makeshift policies of a declining age are the fault of those who manage state finance. Your servant asks that secondary crafts be sternly suppressed, idleness strictly forbidden, heterodox pursuits driven back to the fields, and redundant posts cut to end wasteful spending. Open garrison farms to strengthen the frontier and assess military households to ease the burden of transport. Temple and monastery construction, supplying Buddha and feeding monks, and all non-urgent works and useless expenses should be halted. Make agriculture and grain the foundation, and personally practice frugality to lead the way; only then may the people be enriched and the state made prosperous. If nothing is done, and extortionate tax-gathering ministers are allowed to practice bait-and-switch policies, the people's strength will be exhausted while levies and conscription never cease, and the people's wealth drained while taxes rise daily. If the present emergency alone is relieved while unforeseen dangers are ignored, your servant privately fears the consequences. The memorial was referred to the Ministry of Revenue. Minister Jin Lian requested to resign; the emperor refused. Ding's proposals were also not fully implemented.
56
逾月，以災異，偕同官陳救弊恤民七事。 末言：「大臣不乏奸回，宜黜罷其尤，用清政本。」 帝善其言，下詔甄別，而大臣辭職並慰留。 給事中林聰請明諭鼎等指實劾奏，鼎、聰等乃共論吏部尚書何文淵、刑部尚書俞士悅、工部侍郎張敏、通政使李錫不職狀。 錫罷，文淵致仕。
A month later, citing calamities and portents, he joined his colleagues in setting forth seven measures to remedy abuses and relieve the people. At the end he said: "Among high ministers there are no lack of treacherous villains; the worst should be dismissed and removed to clarify the foundation of government." The emperor approved his words and issued an edict to sort them out, but the ministers all submitted resignations and were comforted and retained. Supervising Secretary Lin Cong asked that Ding and the others be clearly instructed to impeach by naming specifics; Ding, Cong, and the others then jointly charged Minister of Personnel He Wenyuan, Minister of Justice Yu Shiyue, Vice Minister of Works Zhang Min, and Transmission Commissioner Li Xi with dereliction of duty. Li was dismissed and He retired from office.
57
鼎居官清勤，卓有聲譽。 御史練綱以敢言名，而鼎尤善為章奏。 京師語曰：「左鼎手，練綱口。」 自公卿以下咸憚之。
Ding served with integrity and diligence and enjoyed an outstanding reputation. Censor Lian Gang was famed for bold speech, while Ding was especially skilled at composing memorials. A saying in the capital ran: "Zuo Ding's hand, Lian Gang's mouth." From dukes and ministers downward, all feared them.
58
鼎出為廣東右參政。 會英宗復位，以郭登言，召為左僉都御史。 逾年卒。
Ding was appointed Right Administrative Commissioner of Guangdong. When Emperor Yingzong regained the throne, on Guo Deng's recommendation he was summoned back as Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief. He died the following year.
59
練綱，字從道，長洲人。 祖則成，洪武時御史。 綱舉鄉試，入國子監。 歷事都察院。 郕王監國，上中興八策。 也先將入犯，復言：「和議不可就，南遷不可從，有持此議者，宜立誅。 安危所倚，惟于謙、石亨當主中軍，而分遣大臣守九門，擇親王忠孝著聞者，令同守臣勤王。 檄陜西守將調番兵入衛。」 帝悉從之。
Lian Gang, courtesy name Congdao, was a native of Changzhou. His grandfather Ze Cheng had been a censor in the Hongwu reign. Gang passed the provincial examination and entered the Imperial Academy. He served in the Censorate. When the Prince of Cheng acted as regent, he submitted the Eight Policies for Restoration. When Esen was about to invade, he spoke again: "Peace talks must not be concluded, southern relocation must not be followed; whoever holds such views should be immediately executed. The fate of the realm depends on Yu Qian and Shi Heng commanding the central army; grand ministers should be dispatched to hold the Nine Gates, and princes renowned for loyalty and filial piety should be chosen to join the defenders in calling for relief troops. Order the Shaanxi frontier commanders to mobilize frontier troops to enter and defend the capital." The emperor accepted all of it.
60
綱有才辨，急功名。 都御史陳鎰、尚書俞士悅皆綱同里，念綱數陳是政有聲，且畏其口，遂薦之，授御史。
Gang was talented and eloquent, and eager for fame and achievement. Censor-in-Chief Chen Yi and Minister Yu Shiyue were fellow townsmen of Gang's; mindful that Gang had repeatedly set forth sound policies with growing reputation, and also fearing his sharp tongue, they recommended him and he was appointed censor.
61
景泰改元，上時政五事。 巡視兩淮鹽政。 駙馬都尉趙輝侵利，劾奏之。 三年冬，偕同官應詔陳八事，並允行。 亡何，復偕同官上言：「吏部推選不公，任情高下，請置尚書何文淵、右侍郎項文曜於理。 尚書王直、左侍郎俞山素行本端，為文曜等所罔，均宜按問。」 帝雖不罪，終以綱等為直。 明年命出贊延綏軍務，自陳名輕責重，乞授僉都御史。 帝曰：「遷官可自求耶？」 遂寢其命。
When the Jingtai reign title was adopted, he submitted five matters on current policy. He inspected the salt administration of the Two Huai. He impeached Chief Commandant of Escorts Zhao Hui for encroaching on profits. In the winter of the third year, he and his fellow officials responded to an imperial edict with eight proposals, all of which were approved and carried out. Before long, he again joined his fellow officials in a memorial: "The Ministry of Personnel's recommendations are unjust, with ranks raised or lowered at whim. We ask that Minister He Wenyuan and Right Vice Minister Xiang Wenyao be held accountable. Minister Wang Zhi and Left Vice Minister Yu Shan have always been upright in conduct, yet were misled by Xiang Wenyao and others; all of them should be investigated." Although the emperor did not punish anyone, he ultimately regarded Gang and his colleagues as in the right. The following year he was ordered to assist in military affairs on the Yan-Sui frontier. He argued that his reputation was slight for so heavy a responsibility and asked to be granted the rank of Vice Censor-in-Chief. The emperor said, "Can one seek one's own promotion?" Thereupon the appointment was shelved.
62
初，京師戒嚴，募四方民壯分營訓練，歲久多逃，或赴操不如期，廷議編之尺籍。 綱等言：「召募之初，激以忠義，許事定罷遣。 今展轉輪操，已孤所望，況其逃亡，實迫寒餒，豈可遽著軍籍。 邊方多故，倘更召募，誰復應之？」 詔即除前令。
Earlier, when the capital was under martial law, able-bodied men from across the realm had been recruited, divided into camps, and trained. After many years many had fled or failed to report for drill on time, and the court debated enrolling them in the military registers. Gang and his colleagues argued: "At the outset of recruitment they were stirred by appeals to loyalty and righteousness, with a promise that once affairs were settled they would be dismissed and sent home. Now they are rotated through drill again and again, already a betrayal of what was promised; moreover their flight is truly driven by cold and hunger. How can they suddenly be entered in the military rolls? The frontier has many troubles; if recruitment is attempted again, who will answer the call?" An edict immediately revoked the earlier order.
63
五年巡按福建，與按察使楊玨互訐，俱下吏。 謫玨黃州知府，綱邠州判官。 久之卒。
In the fifth year, while serving as touring inspector of Fujian, he and Surveillance Commissioner Yang Jue mutually impeached each other, and both were handed over to the authorities for trial. Jue was demoted to prefect of Huangzhou, and Gang to magistrate of Bin Prefecture. After some time he died.
64
曹凱，字宗元，益都人。 正統十年進士。 授刑科給事中。 磊落多壯節。
Cao Kai, courtesy name Zongyuan, was a native of Yidu. He passed the jinshi examination in the tenth year of the Zhengtong reign. He was appointed supervising secretary in the Bureau of Punishments. He was open and forthright, with many bold acts to his name.
65
英宗北征，諫甚力，且曰：「今日之勢，大異澶淵。 彼文武忠勇，士馬勁悍。 今中貴竊權，人心玩愒。 此輩不惟以陛下為孤註，即懷、湣、徽、欽亦何暇恤？」 帝不從，乘輿果陷。 凱痛哭竟日，聲徹禁庭，與王竑共擊馬順至死。
When Emperor Yingzong marched north, he remonstrated forcefully and said, "Today's situation differs greatly from Chanyuan. There the civil and military officials were loyal and brave, and the troops and horses strong and fierce. Now eunuchs usurp power, and men's hearts are lax and indifferent. These men not only treat Your Majesty as a lone wager, but even the spirits of Huai, Min, Hui, and Qin—what leisure have they to care for them?" The emperor did not heed him, and the imperial carriage indeed fell into disaster. Kai wept bitterly all day, his voice reaching through the forbidden court, and together with Wang Hong he beat Ma Shun to death.
66
景泰中，遷左。 給事中林聰劾何文淵、周旋，詔宥之。 凱上殿力諍，二人遂下吏。 時令輸豆得補官，凱爭曰：「近例，輸豆四千石以上，授指揮。 彼受祿十餘年，費已償矣，乃令之世襲，是以生民膏血養無功子孫，而彼取息長無窮也。 有功者必相謂曰：吾以捐軀獲此，彼以輸豆亦獲此，是朝廷以我軀命等於荏菽，其誰不解體！ 乞自今惟令帶俸，不得任事傳襲，文職則止原籍帶俸。」 帝以為然，命已授者如故，未授者悉如凱議。
During the Jingtai reign he was transferred to the left post. Supervising Secretary Lin Cong impeached He Wenyuan and Zhou Xuan, but an edict pardoned them. Kai entered the hall and remonstrated forcefully, and the two men were then handed over to the authorities. At the time it was ordered that submitting beans could qualify one for an official post. Kai objected: "By recent precedent, submitting four thousand piculs of beans or more grants the rank of commander. They have drawn salaries for more than ten years—the cost is already repaid—yet they are allowed to pass the post down in hereditary succession. Thus the sweat and blood of the people nourish undeserving descendants, while they draw profit without end. Those who have earned merit will surely say to one another: I won this by risking my life, yet he won the same by submitting beans—the court treats my body and life as no more than beans and grain. Who will not lose heart! We beg that from now on they be allowed only to draw salary, without holding office or passing it down in succession; for civil posts, let them draw salary only in their native place." The emperor agreed. Those already granted posts were left as before, but for those not yet granted, all followed Kai's proposal.
67
福建巡按許仕達與侍郎薛希璉相訐，命凱往勘。 用薦，擢浙江右參政。 時諸衛武職役軍辦納月錢，至四千五百餘人，以凱言禁止。 鎮守都督李信擅募民為軍，糜餉萬餘石，凱劾奏之。 信雖獲宥，諸助信募軍者咸獲罪，在浙數年，聲甚著。
When Fujian touring censor Xu Shida and Vice Minister Xue Xilian mutually impeached each other, Kai was ordered to go investigate. On recommendation he was promoted to Right Assistant Administrator of Zhejiang. At the time military officers of the various guards had soldiers perform tasks and pay monthly fees, involving more than four thousand five hundred men; on Kai's recommendation this was forbidden. Garrison Commander-in-Chief Li Xin on his own authority recruited civilians as soldiers, wasting more than ten thousand piculs of provisions, and Kai impeached him. Although Xin was pardoned, all who had helped him recruit soldiers were punished. During several years in Zhejiang, Kai's reputation was very great.
68
初，凱為給事，常劾武清侯石亨。 亨得志，修前憾，謫凱衛經歷，卒。
Earlier, when Kai was a supervising secretary, he often impeached the Marquis of Wuqing, Shi Heng. When Heng got his way, he settled old grievances and demoted Kai to garrison intendant, where he died.
69
許仕達，歙人。 正統十年進士。 擢御史。 景泰元年四月上疏言災沴數見，請帝痛自修省。 帝深納之。 未幾，復請於經筵之余，日延儒臣講論經史。 帝亦優詔褒答。 巡按福建，劾鎮守中官廖秀，下之獄。 秀訐仕達，下鎮守侍郎薛希璉等廉問。 會仕達亦劾希璉貪縱，乃命凱及御史王豪往勘。 還奏，兩人互有虛實。 而耆老數千人乞留仕達，給事中林聰，閩人也，亦為仕達言。 乃命留任，且敕希璉勿構郤。 仕達厲風紀，執漳州知府馬嗣宗送京師。 大理寺劾其擅執，帝以執贓吏不問。 期滿當代，耆老詣闕請留，不許。 未幾，即以為福建左參政。 天順中，歷山東、貴州左、右布政使。
Xu Shida was a native of She. He passed the jinshi examination in the tenth year of the Zhengtong reign. He was promoted to censor. In the fourth month of the first year of Jingtai he submitted a memorial noting that calamities and portents had repeatedly appeared, and asked the emperor to earnestly examine and reform himself. The emperor deeply accepted it. Before long he again asked that, apart from the regular classics lectures, Confucian officials be invited daily to discuss the classics and histories. The emperor also replied with a gracious edict of praise. While serving as touring inspector of Fujian, he impeached the garrison eunuch Liao Xiu and had him imprisoned. Xiu impeached Shida in turn, and Vice Minister Xue Xilian and others were ordered to investigate Shida's conduct. As it happened Shida also impeached Xilian for greed and indulgence, and Kai and Censor Wang Hao were ordered to go investigate. On their return they reported that both men had truth and falsehood in their mutual accusations. Meanwhile several thousand elders begged that Shida be retained, and Supervising Secretary Lin Cong, a native of Fujian, also spoke on Shida's behalf. Shida was then ordered to remain in his post, and Xilian was instructed not to create enmity. Shida enforced discipline sternly, seized Zhangzhou Prefect Ma Sizong, and sent him to the capital. The Court of Judicial Review impeached him for seizing someone on his own authority, but the emperor, on the grounds that he had seized a corrupt official, did not pursue the matter. When his term expired and he was due to be replaced, elders went to the capital to beg that he be retained, but permission was not granted. Before long he was appointed Left Assistant Administrator of Fujian. During the Tianshun reign he served successively as Left and Right Administrative Commissioner of Shandong and Guizhou.
70
劉煒，字有融，慈溪人。 正統四年進士。 授南京刑科給事中。 副都御史周銓以私憾撻御史。 諸御史範霖、楊永與尚褫等十人共劾銓，煒與同官盧祥等復劾之。 銓下詔獄，亦訐霖、永及煒、祥等。 王振素惡言官，盡逮下詔獄。 霖、永坐絞，後減死。 他御史或戍或謫。 煒、祥事白留任，而銓已先瘐死。 煒累進都給事中。
Liu Wei, courtesy name Yourong, was a native of Cixi. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of the Zhengtong reign. He was appointed supervising secretary in the Bureau of Punishments at Nanjing. Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhou Quan, out of private resentment, flogged a censor. Censors Fan Lin, Yang Yong, and Shang Chi together with nine others jointly impeached Quan, and Wei and fellow officials Lu Xiang and others impeached him again. Quan was sent to the imperial prison and also impeached Lin, Yong, Wei, Xiang, and the others. Wang Zhen had always hated remonstrating officials and had them all arrested and sent to the imperial prison. Lin and Yong were sentenced to strangulation, though the sentence was later commuted. The other censors were either banished to frontier service or demoted. Wei's and Xiang's cases were cleared and they remained in office, but Quan had already died of illness. Wei was promoted step by step to Chief Supervising Secretary.
71
景泰四年，戶部以邊儲不足，奏令罷退官非贓罪者，輸米二十石，給之誥敕。 煒等言：「考退之官，多有罷軟酷虐、荒溺酒色、廉恥不立者，非止贓罪已也。 賜之誥敕，以何為辭？ 若但褒其納米，則是朝廷誥敕止直米二十石，何以示天下後世？ 此由尚書金濂不識大體，有此謬舉。」 帝立為已之。 山東歲歉，戶部以尚書沈翼習其地民瘼，請令往振。 及往，初無方略。 煒因劾翼，且言：「其地已有尚書薛希璉、少卿張固鎮撫，又有侍郎鄒幹、都御史王竑振濟，而復益之以冀，所謂『十羊九牧』。 乞還冀南京戶部，而專以命希璉等。」 從之。 平江侯陳豫鎮臨清，事多違制。 煒劾之，豫被責讓。
In the fourth year of Jingtai, because frontier stores were insufficient, the Ministry of Revenue memorialized that dismissed officials not guilty of corruption should submit twenty piculs of grain and receive patent letters of appointment. Wei and his colleagues argued: "Among officials dismissed after evaluation, many are weak and incompetent, cruel and tyrannical, dissolute in wine and women, with no sense of shame—not only those guilty of corruption. To grant them patent letters of appointment—what words could be used? If we praise only their grain submission, then the court's patent letters are worth no more than twenty piculs of grain. How can this be shown to the realm and to posterity? This arose because Minister Jin Lian did not understand the larger principles and made this absurd proposal." The emperor immediately revoked it. Shandong had a bad harvest, and the Ministry of Revenue, noting that Minister Shen Yi was familiar with the people's hardships there, asked that he be sent to provide relief. When he went, at first he had no plan or method. Wei therefore impeached Yi and argued: "That region already has Minister Xue Xilian and Vice Minister Zhang Gu pacifying it, and also Vice Minister Zou Gan and Censor-in-Chief Wang Hong providing relief—yet Yi is added besides. This is what is called 'ten sheep, nine shepherds. We beg that Yi be returned to the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, and that Xilian and the others alone be charged with the task." The request was granted. The Marquis of Pingjiang, Chen Yu, garrisoned Linqing, and many of his actions violated regulations. Wei impeached him, and Yu was rebuked.
72
明年，都督黃竑以易儲議得帝眷，奏求霸州、武清縣地。 煒等抗章言：「竑本蠻僚，遽蒙重任。 怙寵妄幹，乞地六七十里，豈盡無主者？ 請正其罪。」 帝宥竑，遣戶部主事黃岡、謝昶往勘。 還奏，果民產。 戶部再請罪竑，帝卒宥焉。 昶官至貴州巡撫，以清慎稱。
The following year Regional Commander Huang Geng, having won the emperor's favor through the debate over changing the heir, memorialized requesting land in Bazhou and Wuqing County. Wei and his colleagues submitted a forceful memorial saying, "Geng was originally a frontier officer from the south; suddenly he received heavy responsibility. Relying on imperial favor he presumptuously meddles, begging for sixty or seventy li of land—is it all without owners? We ask that he be punished for his offense." The emperor pardoned Geng and dispatched Ministry of Revenue Section Chiefs Huang Gang and Xie Chang to investigate. On their return they reported that it was indeed people's property. The Ministry of Revenue again asked that Geng be punished, but the emperor ultimately pardoned him. Xie Chang rose to Grand Coordinator of Guizhou and was known for integrity and caution.
73
煒天順初出為雲南參政，改廣東，分守惠、潮二府。 潮有巨寇，招之不服，會兵進剿，誅其魁。 改蒞南韶。 會大軍征兩廣，以勞瘁卒官。
At the beginning of the Tianshun reign Wei went out as Assistant Administrator of Yunnan, was transferred to Guangdong, and separately guarded Huizhou and Chaozhou prefectures. Chaozhou had a great bandit leader who would not submit when summoned; Wei gathered troops to advance and suppress him, and the ringleader was executed. He was transferred to take charge of Nan-Shao. When a great army campaigned in the Two Guangs, he died in office from exhaustion.
74
尚褫，字景福，羅山人。 正統四年進士。 除行人。 上書請毋囚系大臣。 擢南御史。 以劾周銓下獄，與他御史皆謫驛丞，得雲南虛仁驛。 景泰五年冬因災異上書陳數事，中言：「忠直之士，冒死陳言。 執政者格以條例，輕則報罷，重則中傷，是言路雖開猶未開也。 釋教盛行，誘煽聾俗，由掌邦禮者畏王振勢，度僧多至此，宜盡勒歸農。」 章下禮部，尚書胡濙惡其刺己，悉格不行。 量移豐城知縣，為邑豪誣構系獄，尋得釋。
Shang Chi, courtesy name Jingfu, was a native of Luoshan. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of the Zhengtong reign. He was appointed courier. He submitted a memorial asking that grand ministers not be imprisoned. He was promoted to censor at Nanjing. For impeaching Zhou Quan he was imprisoned, and together with the other censors he was demoted to post-station assistant and assigned to Xuren Post in Yunnan. In the winter of the fifth year of the Jingtai reign, citing calamities and portents, he submitted a memorial on several matters; among them he wrote: "Loyal and upright men risk death to speak their minds. Those in power block them with regulations: in mild cases they reject the memorial and dismiss the official; in serious cases they slander and ruin him—so though the avenue of remonstrance is open, it is still not open. Buddhism flourishes and misleads the common people; because those who oversee state rites fear Wang Zhen's power, ordained monks have multiplied to this point—all should be compelled to return to farming." The memorial was sent down to the Ministry of Rites; Minister Hu Ying, resenting its criticism of him, blocked every proposal and would not act on any of it. He was transferred to serve as magistrate of Fengcheng; a local bully falsely framed him and he was imprisoned, but was soon released.
75
成化初，大臣會薦，擢湖廣僉事。 初有詔，荊、襄流民，許所在附籍。 都御史項忠復遣還鄉，督其急，多道死。 褫憫之，陳牒巡撫吳琛請進止。 琛以報忠，忠怒劾褫。 中朝知其意在恤民，卒申令流民聽附籍，不願，乃遣還鄉。 褫為僉事十年，所司上其治行，賜誥旌異。 致仕卒。
At the beginning of the Chenghua reign, grand ministers jointly recommended him and he was promoted to Vice Commissioner in Huguang. An earlier edict had permitted displaced persons from Jing and Xiang to register household affiliation wherever they settled. Censor-in-Chief Xiang Zhong again sent them back to their home districts, pressing them hard, and many died on the road. Chi took pity on them and submitted a report to Grand Coordinator Wu Chen asking for instructions. Chen reported this to Zhong, and Zhong in anger impeached Chi. The court knew his intent was to relieve the people and in the end reissued orders that displaced persons might register where they were; only those who did not wish to do so were sent back home. Chi served as Vice Commissioner for ten years; his department reported his administrative record, and he was granted an edict of commendation for outstanding service. He retired and died.
76
單宇。 字時泰，臨川人。 正統四年進士。 除嵊縣知縣。 馭吏嚴。 吏欲誣奏宇，宇以聞。 坐不並上吏奏，逮下獄。 事白，調諸暨。
Shan Yu. His courtesy name was Shitai, and he came from Linchuan. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of the Zhengtong reign. He was appointed magistrate of Sheng County. He was strict in governing his clerks. A clerk tried to frame Yu with a false accusation, and Yu reported it. He was convicted for not submitting the clerk's accusation together with his own report and was arrested and thrown into prison. When the matter was cleared, he was transferred to Zhuji.
77
遭喪服除，待銓京師。 適英宗北狩，宇憤中官監軍，諸將不得專進止，致喪師。 疏請盡罷之，以重將權。 景帝不納。
After bereavement and the completion of mourning, he waited in the capital for reassignment. Just then the Yingzong Emperor was taken captive in the north; Yu was angry that eunuchs supervised the army so that generals could not command on their own, leading to the army's destruction. He submitted a memorial asking that they all be abolished, so as to strengthen the generals' authority. The Jingdi Emperor did not accept it.
78
初，王振佞佛，請帝歲一度僧。 其所修大興隆寺，日役萬人，糜帑數十萬，閎麗冠京都。 英宗為賜號「第一叢林」，命僧大作佛事，躬自臨幸，以故釋教益熾。 至是宇上書言：「前代人君尊奉佛氏，卒致禍亂。 近男女出家累百千萬，不耕不織，蠶食民間。 營構寺宇，遍滿京邑，所費不可勝紀。 請撤木石以建軍營，銷銅鐵以鑄兵仗，罷遣僧尼，歸之民俗，庶皇風清穆，異教不行。」 疏入，為廷議所格。 復知侯官。
Earlier, Wang Zhen fawned on Buddhism and asked the emperor to ordain monks once every year. The Great Xinglong Monastery he built employed ten thousand men each day, consumed hundreds of thousands from the treasury, and was grand and splendid beyond anything else in the capital. The Yingzong Emperor granted it the title "First Monastery Grove," ordered monks to perform grand Buddhist rites, and visited in person—so Buddhism grew ever more fervent. At this point Yu submitted a memorial saying: "Past sovereigns honored and followed Buddhism, and in the end brought ruin and disorder. Recently men and women who have left home for ordination number in the millions; they neither plow nor weave but gnaw away at the people's livelihood. Temples are built everywhere throughout the capital, and the expense cannot be fully reckoned. I ask that timber and stone be dismantled to build military camps, copper and iron melted to cast weapons, monks and nuns dismissed and returned to ordinary life—then perhaps the imperial air will be clear and solemn, and foreign teachings will cease." The memorial was submitted, but court deliberation blocked it. He again served as magistrate of Houguan.
79
而咸陽姚顯以鄉舉入國學，亦上言：「曩者修治大興隆寺，窮極壯麗，又奉僧楊某為上師，儀從侔王者。 食膏粱，被組繡，藐萬乘若弟子。 今上皇被留賊庭，乞令前赴瓦剌，化諭也先。 誠能奉駕南還，庶見護國之力。 不然，佛不足信彰彰矣。」 當景泰時，廷臣諫事佛者甚眾，帝卒不能從。 而中官興安最用事，佞佛甚於振。 請帝建大隆福寺，嚴壯與興隆並。 四年三月，寺成，帝克期臨幸。 河東鹽運判官濟寧楊浩切諫，乃止。
Meanwhile Yao Xian of Xianyang entered the National University through village recommendation and also submitted a statement: "Formerly, in repairing the Great Xinglong Monastery, extravagance was pushed to the limit; moreover a monk surnamed Yang was honored as supreme teacher, with attendants and regalia matching those of a king. He ate fine grain and wore brocade, treating the Son of Heaven as though he were a disciple. Now the emperor emeritus is detained in the enemy camp; I beg that he be sent ahead to the Oirats to convert and persuade Esen. If he can truly escort the imperial carriage back south, then perhaps the power of protecting the state will be seen. Otherwise, that Buddhism is not worthy of faith will be manifest indeed." During the Jingtai reign, many court officials remonstrated about Buddhist affairs, but the emperor could never be persuaded. Among the eunuchs, Xing An was most influential and fawned on Buddhism even more than Wang Zhen. He asked the emperor to build the Great Longfu Monastery, grand and imposing like Xinglong. In the third month of the fourth year, the temple was completed, and the emperor set a date to visit in person. Yang Hao of Jining, salt transport judge of Hedong, remonstrated urgently, and the visit was stopped.
80
宇好學有文名，三為縣，咸以慈惠聞。 居侯官，久之卒。
Yu loved learning and had a literary reputation; three times he served as magistrate, and in each case he was known for kindness and grace. While serving at Houguan, he died after a long time.
81
顯後為齊東知縣，移武城，公廉剛正。 用巡撫翁世資薦，擢太僕丞。 浩初以鄉舉入國學，除官未行，遂抗疏，聲譽籍甚。 累官右副都御史，巡撫延綏。
Later Xian became magistrate of Qidong, was transferred to Wucheng, and was fair, incorruptible, firm, and upright. On Grand Coordinator Weng Shizi's recommendation, he was promoted to Vice Director of the Imperial Stud. Hao had first entered the National University through village recommendation; before taking up his appointment he submitted a bold memorial, and his reputation spread widely. He rose through the ranks to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Yansui.
82
張昭，不知何許人。 天順初，為忠義前衛吏。 英宗復辟甫數月，欲遣都指揮馬雲等使西洋，廷臣莫敢諫。 昭聞之，上疏曰：「安內救民，國家之急務，慕外勤遠，朝廷之末策。 漢光武閉關謝西域，唐太宗不受康國內附，皆深知本計者也。 今畿輔、山東仍歲災歉，小民絕食逃竄，妻子衣不蔽體，被薦裹席，鬻子女無售者。 家室不相完，轉死溝壑，未及埋瘞，已成市臠，此可為痛哭者也。 望陛下用和番之費，益以府庫之財，急遣使振恤，庶饑民可救。」 奏下公卿博議，言雲等已罷遣。 宜籍記所市物俟命。 帝命姑已之。
Zhang Zhao—of unknown origin. At the beginning of the Tianshun reign, he was a clerk in the Qianyi Forward Guard. Only a few months after the Yingzong Emperor restored his rule, he wished to dispatch Commander-in-Chief Ma Yun and others as envoys to the Western Ocean, and court officials dared not remonstrate. Zhao heard of it and submitted a memorial saying: "Pacifying within and saving the people are the state's urgent tasks; courting distant lands abroad is the court's least strategy. Emperor Guangwu of Han closed the passes and declined the Western Regions; Emperor Taizong of Tang would not accept Kang's submission—all deeply understood the fundamental plan. Now the capital region and Shandong suffer famine year after year; common people run out of food and flee; wives and children lack clothes to cover their bodies, use straw for bedding, and sell sons and daughters with no buyers. Households cannot remain whole; people die in ditches and gullies before they can be buried and already become meat sold in the market—this is cause for bitter weeping. I hope Your Majesty will use the funds for appeasing foreign tribes, add to them from the treasury, and urgently dispatch envoys to relieve and comfort—then perhaps the starving can be saved." The memorial was sent down for broad deliberation among the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers; they reported that Yun and others had already been dismissed and sent away. The purchased goods should be recorded and held awaiting orders. The emperor ordered that for now it be stopped.
83
天順三年秋，建安老人賀煬亦上書論時事，言：「今銓授縣令，多年老監生。 逮滿九載，年幾七十，茍且貪汙。 宜擇年富有才能者，其下僚及山林抱德士，亦當推舉。 景泰朝，錄先賢顏、孟、程、朱子孫，授以翰林博士，俾之奉祀。 然有官無祿，宜班給以昭崇儒之意。 黃幹、劉爚、蔡沈、真德秀配祠朱子，亦景泰間從僉事呂昌之請，然未入祝辭，宜增補。 預備義倉，本以振貧民，乃豪猾多冒支不償，致廩庾空虛。 乞令出粟義民，各疏裏內饑民，同有司散放。」 未幾，又言：「朝廷建學立師，將以陶熔士類。 而師儒鮮積學，草野小夫夤緣津要，初解免園之冊，已廁鶚薦之群。 及受職泮林，猥瑣貪饕，要求百故； 而授業解惑，莫措一詞。 生徒亦往往玩愒歲月，佻達城闕，待次循資，濫升太學，侵尋老耋，幸博一官。 但廑身家之謀，無復功名之念。 及今不嚴甄選，人材日陋。 士習日非矣。」 帝善其言，下所司行之。
In the autumn of the third year of Tianshun, He Yan, an elderly man of Jian'an, also submitted a memorial on current affairs, saying: "Today in appointing county magistrates, many are elderly supervised students. When they complete nine years of service, they are nearly seventy—careless and corrupt. Young men of talent should be chosen; junior officials and virtuous scholars dwelling in mountain forests should also be recommended. In the Jingtai reign, descendants of the ancient worthies Yan, Meng, Cheng, and Zhu were enrolled and given Hanlin Reader doctorates to oversee sacrifices. Yet they have office but no salary; stipends should be distributed to manifest the reverence for Confucian learning. Huang Gan, Liu Yan, Cai Shen, and Zhen Dexiu were enshrined alongside Zhu Xi—also during Jingtai on the request of Vice Commissioner Lü Chang—yet they were not included in the sacrificial invocation; this should be supplemented. Granaries of public charity were originally to relieve the poor, but powerful rascals often fraudulently drew grain without repayment, leaving the storehouses empty. I beg that charitable donors of grain be ordered each to list hungry people within their district, and together with officials distribute it." Before long he also said: "The court establishes schools and appoints teachers to mold the scholar class. Yet teacher-scholars rarely accumulate learning; petty men from the wilds scramble through key posts—having just deciphered the basic primers, they already sit among those recommended for the examination. When they take office in the Forest of Pencils, they are base and greedy, making countless demands; yet in teaching and resolving doubts they cannot manage a single word. Students too often idle away the months and years, roam frivolously around the capital, wait their turn by seniority, rise indiscriminately to the Imperial Academy, gradually grow old, and hope to win any office at all. They care only for schemes to enrich themselves and no longer cherish ambition for achievement and fame. If selection is not strict now, human talent daily grows coarse. Scholarly customs daily decline." The emperor approved his words and sent them down to the responsible offices for implementation.
84
高瑤，字庭堅，閩縣人。 由鄉舉為荊門州學訓導。 成化三年五月抗疏陳十事。 其一言：「正統己巳之變，先帝北狩，陛下方在東宮，宗社危如一發。 使非郕王繼統，國有長君，則禍亂何由平、鑒輿何由返？ 六七年間，海宇寧謐，元元樂業，厥功不細。 迨先帝復辟，貪天功者遂加厚誣，使不得正其終，節惠隮祀，未稱典禮。 望特敕禮官集議，追加廟號，盡親親之恩。」 章下，廷議久不決。 至十二月始奏：「追崇廟號，非臣下敢擅議，惟陛下裁決。」 而左庶子黎淳力爭，謂不當復，且言：「瑤此言有死罪二：一誣先帝為不明，一陷陛下於不孝。 臣以謂瑤此舉，非欲尊郕王，特為群邪進用階，必有小人主之者。」 帝曰：「景泰往過，朕未嘗介意，豈臣子所當言？ 淳為此奏，欲獻諂希恩耶？」 議遂寢。 然帝終感瑤言。 久之，竟復郕王帝號。
Gao Yao, courtesy name Tingjian, was a native of Min County. Through village recommendation he became Instructor at Jingmen Prefecture School. In the fifth month of the third year of the Chenghua reign he submitted a bold memorial setting forth ten matters. The first said: "In the crisis of the jisi year of Zhengtong, the former emperor went north as a captive; Your Majesty was then in the Eastern Palace, and the altars of state hung by a single thread. If the Prince of Cheng had not succeeded to the throne, if the state had had no steady sovereign—how would disorder have been settled, how would the imperial carriage have returned? For six or seven years all under Heaven was tranquil, the myriad people at peace in their work—his merit was no small thing. When the former emperor restored his rule, those who coveted Heaven's credit heaped on further slander, so that he could not meet a proper end; his posthumous honors and sacrificial rites fell short of what ritual requires. I hope Your Majesty will specially command ritual officials to gather and deliberate, add a temple name posthumously, and fulfill the affection owed among kin." The memorial was sent down, and court deliberation long found no resolution. Only in the twelfth month did they report: "Posthumously honoring with a temple name is not something subjects dare discuss on their own—only Your Majesty may decide." Left Household Tutor Li Chun argued fiercely that it should not be restored, and also said: "Yao's words entail two capital offenses: first, slandering the former emperor as unenlightened; second, entangling Your Majesty in unfilial conduct. I consider that Yao's act is not meant to honor the Prince of Cheng but simply to provide a ladder for a clique of evil men to advance—there must be petty men behind it." The emperor said: "Jingtai's past faults—I have never borne them in mind; are these things subjects should speak of? Did Chun write this memorial hoping to offer flattery and seek favor?" The deliberation was then dropped. Yet the emperor was moved by Yao's words in the end. After a long time, he finally restored the Prince of Cheng's imperial title.
85
瑤後知番禺縣，多異政。 發中官韋眷通番事，沒其貲鉅萬於官。 眷憾甚，誣奏於朝。 瑤及布政使陳選俱被逮，士民泣送者塞道。 瑤竟謫戍永州。 釋還，卒。
Later Yao became magistrate of Panyu and performed many unusual acts of good governance. He exposed the eunuch Wei Juan's illegal foreign trade and confiscated his property, amounting to tens of thousands, for the state. Juan was deeply resentful and submitted a false accusation to the court. Yao and Provincial Administration Commissioner Chen Xuan were both arrested; scholars and common people who wept to see them off filled the roads. Yao was ultimately banished to garrison duty at Yongzhou. He was released and returned home, then died.
86
黎淳，華容人。 天順元年進士第一。 官至南京禮部尚書，頗有名譽。 其與瑤爭郕王廟號也，專欲阿憲宗意，至以昌邑、更始比景帝，為士論所薄。 當成化時，言路大阻，給事、御史多獲譴。 惟瑤以卑官建危議，卒無罪。 時皆稱帝盛德雲。
Li Chun came from Huarong. He placed first in the jinshi examination in the first year of Tianshun. He rose to Minister of Rites at Nanjing and enjoyed a considerable reputation. In his dispute with Gao Yao over the temple title of the Prince of Cheng, he sought solely to flatter the Xianzong Emperor, even comparing the Jing Emperor to the kings of Changyi and Gengshi, and was scorned by scholarly opinion. During the Chenghua reign the path of remonstrance was greatly obstructed, and many supervising secretaries and censors were punished. Only Gao Yao, as a low-ranking official, advanced dangerous counsel yet in the end went unpunished. At the time all praised the emperor's magnanimity.
87
又有虎臣者，麟遊人。 成化中貢入太學。 上言天下士大夫過先聖廟，宜下輿馬。 從之。 省親歸，會陜西大饑，巡撫鄭時將請振，臣賫奏行，陳饑歉狀，詞激切，大獲振貸。 已，上言：「臣鄉比歲災傷，人相食，由長吏貪殘，賦役失均。 請敕有司審民戶，編三等以定科徭。」 從之。 孝宗踐阼，將建棕棚萬歲山，備登眺。 臣抗疏切諫。 祭酒費訚懼禍及，鋃鐺縶臣堂樹下。 俄官校宣臣至左順門，傳旨慰諭曰：「若言是，棕棚已毀矣。」 訚大慚，臣名遂聞都下。 頃之，命授七品官，乃以為雲南嘉知縣，卒官。
There was also Hu Chen, who came from Linyou. During the Chenghua reign he entered the Imperial Academy as a tribute student. He memorialized that when officials throughout the realm pass the temple of Confucius, they should dismount from carriage and horse. The emperor approved his proposal. Returning home to visit his parents, he encountered severe famine in Shaanxi; Grand Coordinator Zheng Shi was about to request relief, and Chen carried a memorial on his journey, describing the famine in urgent language, and secured substantial relief grain. Later he memorialized: "In my native district disasters have struck in recent years; people have resorted to cannibalism because local magistrates are greedy and cruel and taxes and corvée are unequally assessed. I ask that responsible offices be ordered to examine household registers, classify them into three grades, and thereby fix taxes and corvée." The emperor approved his proposal. When the Xiaozong Emperor took the throne, he planned to build a palm-frond pavilion on Longevity Hill for scenic viewing. Chen submitted a forceful memorial in sharp remonstrance. Rector Fei Yan, fearing he would be implicated, had Chen shackled and tied beneath a tree in the academy courtyard. Soon palace guards summoned Chen to the Left Straight Gate and conveyed an edict of reassurance: "If your words are right, the palm-frond pavilion has already been torn down." Yan was deeply ashamed, and Chen's name became known throughout the capital. Before long he was granted a seventh-rank office and appointed magistrate of Jia in Yunnan, where he died in office.
88
贊曰：明自太祖開基，廣辟言路。 中外臣寮，建言不拘所職。 草野微賤，奏章咸得上聞。 沿及宣、英，流風未替。 雖升平日久，堂陛深嚴，而逢掖布衣。 刀筆掾史，抱關之冗吏，荷戈之戍卒，朝陳封事，夕達帝閽。 采納者榮顯其身，報罷者亦不之罪。 若仁宗之復弋謙朝參，引咎自責，即懸鞀設鐸，復何以加。 以此為招，宜乎慷慨發憤之徒扼腕而談世務也。 英、景之際，《實錄》所載，不可勝書。 今掇其著者列於篇。 迨憲宗季年，閹尹擅朝，事勢屢變，別自為卷，得有考焉。
The commentator says: From the time the Ming founder established the dynasty, the path of counsel was broadly opened. Officials inside and outside the court offered counsel without being bound by their offices. Even humble commoners could have their memorials reach the emperor's ears. Through the Xuande and Yingzong reigns, this tradition endured unbroken. Although peace lasted long and court protocol grew strict, scholars in narrow sleeves and commoners in plain cloth— clerks, gatekeepers, and garrison soldiers bearing spears—could present sealed memorials in the morning and reach the emperor's gate by evening. Those whose counsel was adopted were honored; those whose counsel was rejected were not punished. As when the Renzong Emperor restored Yi Qian to court attendance and blamed himself—even the ancient practice of hanging drums for open remonstrance could add nothing more. With this as encouragement, it was fitting that passionate men who burned with indignation should speak freely on the affairs of the age. In the Yingzong and Jingtai period, what the Veritable Records record cannot all be written down. Here the notable cases are gathered and arranged in this chapter. By the late years of the Xianzong Emperor, eunuch chiefs monopolized the court and affairs shifted repeatedly; they are treated in a separate chapter where they may be examined.