Volume 177 Biographies 65: Wang Ao, Nian Fu, Wang Hong, Li Bing, Yao Kui, Wang Fu, Lin Cong, Ye Cheng

王翺年富王竑李秉姚夔王復林聰葉盛

Wang Ao, Nian Fu, Wang Hong, Li Bing, Yao Kui, Wang Fu, Lin Cong, and Ye Sheng.

王翺，字九臯，鹽山人。永樂十三年，初會試貢士於行在。帝時欲定都北京，思得北士用之。翺兩試皆上第，大喜，特召賜食。改庶吉士，授大理寺左寺正，左遷行人。

Wang Ao, whose courtesy name was Jiugao, came from Yanshan. In Yongle 13, the court held its first metropolitan examination at the traveling capital to select presented scholars. The emperor was then intent on making Beijing the capital and hoped to recruit graduates from the north for office. Ao topped both rounds of the examination. Delighted, the emperor summoned him for a special audience and a banquet. He was made a Hanlin Bachelor, appointed Left Assistant Prefect of the Court of Judicial Review, and later demoted to Traveling Clerk.

七年冬，提督遼東軍務。翺以軍令久馳，寇至，將士不力戰，因諸將庭謁，責以失律罪，命左右曳出斬之。皆惶恐叩頭，願效死贖。翺乃躬行邊，起山海關抵開原，繕城垣，浚溝塹。五里為堡，十里為屯，使烽燧相接。練將士，室鰥寡。軍民大悅。又以邊塞孤遠，軍餉匱，緣俗立法，令有罪得收贖。十余年間，得谷及牛羊數十萬，邊用以饒。

In the winter of the seventh year, he was appointed to supervise military affairs in Liaodong. Discipline in the army had long grown slack. When raiders struck, officers and men would not fight. Ao summoned the generals to an audience in the hall, accused them of violating military law, and ordered his attendants to drag them out for execution. They all kowtowed in terror and begged to redeem themselves by dying in battle. Ao then toured the frontier in person, from Shanhai Pass to Kaiyuan, repairing city walls and clearing ditches and ramparts. He placed a fort every five li and a garrison every ten, linking beacon towers along the line. He trained the troops and provided housing for widows and orphans. Soldiers and civilians alike were greatly pleased. The frontier was remote and supplies were short, so he drew on local custom to allow offenders to pay fines in lieu of punishment. Over more than ten years he collected hundreds of thousands of measures of grain and head of livestock, and the frontier grew well supplied.

八年以九載滿，進右副都御史。指揮孫璟鞭殺戍卒，其妻女哭之亦死。他卒訴璟殺一家三人。翺曰：「卒死法，妻死夫，女死父，非殺也。」命璟償其家葬{艹}費，璟感激。後參將遼東，追敵三百里，事李秉為名將。

In the eighth year, after nine years in post, he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. Commander Sun Jing beat a garrison soldier to death with a whip; the man's wife and daughter wept over him until they too died. Another soldier lodged a complaint that Jing had killed three members of one family. Ao said, "The soldier died under lawful punishment; the wife died for her husband and the daughter for her father. That is not murder." He ordered Jing to pay the family burial expenses, and Jing was deeply moved. He later served as deputy general in Liaodong, pursued the enemy three hundred li, and under Li Bing became one of the renowned commanders.

十二年與總兵曹義等出塞，擊兀良哈，擒斬百余人，獲畜產四千六百，進右都御史。十四年，諸將破敵廣平山，進左。脫脫不花大舉犯廣寧，翺方閱兵，寇猝至，眾潰。翺入城自保。或謂城不可守，翺手劍曰：「敢言棄城者斬。」寇退，坐停俸半載。

In the twelfth year he joined Commander-in-Chief Cao Yi in a campaign beyond the passes against the Uriankhai, capturing and killing more than a hundred men and seizing 4,600 head of livestock; he was then promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief. In the fourteenth year the generals routed the enemy at Guangping Mountain, and he was promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief. Togtoh Buqa led a major invasion of Guangning. Ao was inspecting the troops when the enemy struck without warning and the army broke. Ao withdrew into the city to hold it. When some said the city could not be held, Ao drew his sword and declared, "Anyone who speaks of abandoning this city will be executed." After the raiders withdrew, he was penalized with half a year's salary withheld.

景泰三年，召還掌院事。易儲，加太子太保。潯、梧瑤亂，總兵董興、武毅推委不任事，于謙請以翁信、陳旺易之，而特遣一大臣督軍務，乃以命翺。兩廣有總督自翺始。翺至鎮，將吏詟服，推誠撫諭，瑤人向化，部內無事。明年召入為吏部尚書。初，何文淵協王直掌銓，多私，為言官攻去。翺代，一循成憲。

In Jingtai 3 he was recalled to head the Hanlin Academy. When the heir apparent was replaced, he was appointed Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. During the Yao rebellion in Xun and Wu, the commanders Dong Xing and Wu Yi evaded their duties. Yu Qian asked that Weng Xin and Chen Wang replace them and that a senior minister be sent to oversee operations; the appointment fell to Ao. The office of governor-general for the Two Guangs began with Ao. When Ao reached his post, officers and officials submitted to his authority. He won people over with sincerity, the Yao accepted imperial rule, and his region remained at peace. The following year he was recalled to serve as Minister of Personnel. Earlier, He Wenyuan had assisted Wang Zhi in managing appointments and showed much favoritism; remonstrating officials forced him out. Ao took his place and adhered strictly to established regulations.

天順改元，直致仕，翺始專部事。石亨欲去翺，翺乞休。已得請，李賢力爭乃留。及賢為亨所逐，亦以翺言留，兩人相得歡甚。帝每用人必咨賢，賢以推翺，以是翺得行其誌。

When the Tianshun era began, Wang Zhi retired, and Ao at last ran the ministry on his own. Shi Heng sought to remove Ao, and Ao asked to retire. His resignation had already been approved, but Li Xian argued strenuously and he was kept in office. When Xian was driven out by Heng, Ao likewise spoke up to keep him, and the two men became close friends. Whenever the emperor wished to appoint someone he consulted Xian, who in turn deferred to Ao; in this way Ao was able to carry out his intentions.

帝眷翺厚，時召對便殿，稱「先生」不名。而翺年幾八十，多忘，嘗令郎談倫隨入。帝問故，翺頓首曰：「臣老矣，所聆聖諭，恐遺誤，令此郎代識之，其人誠謹可信也。」帝喜，吏部主事曹恂已遷江西參議，遇疾還。翺以聞，命以主事回籍。恂怒，伺翺入朝，捽翺胸，摑其面，大聲詬詈。事聞，下詔獄。翺具言恂實病，得斥歸，時服其量。

The emperor held Ao in high regard, often summoning him to the side hall and addressing him as "Sir" without using his personal name. Ao was nearly eighty and often forgetful; he once had his son Tan Lun accompany him to court. When the emperor asked why, Ao kowtowed and said, "I am old, Your Majesty, and fear I may forget your instructions. I have asked this son to remember them for me. He is conscientious and trustworthy." The emperor was pleased. Cao Xun, a principal clerk in the Ministry of Personnel, had been promoted to Administration Commissioner in Jiangxi but returned home when he fell ill. Ao reported the matter and ordered that he return home at the rank of principal clerk. Enraged, Xun waited until Ao came to court, seized him by the chest, struck his face, and shouted abuse at him. When the matter was reported, Xun was imprisoned by imperial order. Ao explained fully that Xun was genuinely ill; Xun was dismissed and sent home, and contemporaries admired Ao's forbearance.

五年加太子少保。成化元年進太子太保，雨雪免朝參。屢疏乞歸，輒慰留，數遣醫視疾。三年，疾甚，乃許致仕。未出都卒，年八十有四。贈太保，謚忠肅。

In the fifth year he was appointed Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In Chenghua 1 he was promoted to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and excused from attending court in rain or snow. He repeatedly asked to retire, but each time the emperor urged him to stay and sent physicians to treat him. In the third year, when his illness grew grave, he was at last allowed to retire. He died before leaving the capital, at the age of eighty-four. He was posthumously honored as Grand Guardian and given the posthumous name Zhongsu, "Loyal and Solemn."

翺在銓部，謝絕請謁，公余恒宿直廬，非歲時朔望謁先祠，未嘗歸私第。每引選，或值召對，侍郎代選。歸雖暮，必至署閱所選，惟恐有不當也。論薦不使人知，曰：「吏部豈快恩怨地耶。」自奉儉素。景帝知其貧，為治第鹽山。孫以蔭入太學，不使應舉，曰：「勿妨寒士路。」婿賈傑官近畿，翺夫人數迎女，傑恚曰：「若翁典銓，移我官京師，反手爾。何往來不憚煩也！」夫人聞之，乘間請翺。翺怒，推案，擊夫人傷面。傑卒不得調。其自遼東還朝也，中官同事者重翺，贐明珠數顆，翺固辭。其人曰：「此先朝賜也，公得毋以贓卻我乎。」不得已，納而藏焉。中官死，召其從子還之。為都御史時，夫人為娶一妾，逾半歲語翺。翺怒曰：「汝何破我家法！」即日具金幣返之。妾終不嫁，曰：「豈有大臣妾嫁他人者？」翺卒，妾往奔喪，其子養之終身。李賢嘗語人曰：「臯陶言九德，王公有其五：亂而敬，擾而毅，簡而廉，剛而塞，強而義也。」然性頗執。嘗有詔舉賢良方正、經明行修及山林隱逸士。至者率下部試，翺黜落，百不取一二。性不喜南士。英宗嘗言：「北人文雅不及南人，顧質直雄偉，緩急當得力。」翺由是益多引北人。晚年徇中官郭聰囑，為都御史李秉所劾，翺自引伏，蓋不無小損雲。子孫世官錦衣千戶。

While serving in the Ministry of Personnel, Ao refused all private solicitations and routinely slept in the ministry's duty quarters. Except on new and full moons and festival days when he visited the ancestral shrine, he never went home. Whenever appointments were being made, if he was summoned to audience the vice minister would conduct the selection in his stead. Even when he returned late at night, he always went to the office to review the day's selections, lest anything be amiss. When he recommended someone he kept it secret, saying, "Is the Ministry of Personnel a place for settling personal scores?" He lived frugally and simply himself. The Jingtai emperor knew he was poor and had a house built for him in Yanshan. His grandson entered the Imperial Academy by hereditary privilege, but Ao would not let him sit for the examinations, saying, "Do not block the way for poor scholars." His son-in-law Jia Jie held a post near the capital. Ao's wife often invited their daughter home. Jie complained, "Your father-in-law runs the Ministry of Personnel. Moving my post to the capital would take him no effort at all. Why must you keep traveling back and forth like this?" When his wife heard this, she took a moment to ask Ao about it. Ao flew into a rage, overturned his desk, and struck his wife, injuring her face. Jie was never transferred in the end. When he returned from Liaodong, a eunuch who had served with him offered several pearls as a farewell gift out of respect for Ao, but Ao firmly refused. The man said, "These were gifts from the previous reign. You would not treat me as a briber and refuse them, would you?" Unable to refuse further, he accepted them and put them away. When the eunuch died, he summoned the man's nephew and returned the pearls. While he served as Censor-in-Chief, his wife took a concubine for him but did not tell him until more than half a year had passed. Ao said angrily, "Why have you broken our household rules!" That same day he prepared gold and silks and sent her away. The concubine never married, saying, "How could a great minister's concubine marry anyone else?" When Ao died, the concubine came to mourn him, and his son supported her for the rest of her life. Li Xian once remarked, "Gaoyao spoke of nine virtues; Lord Wang possesses five: respectful amid disorder, resolute amid turmoil, simple yet incorruptible, firm yet restrained, and strong yet righteous." Yet his nature was rather stubborn. An edict once called for recommendations of worthy and upright men, scholars distinguished in the classics and conduct, and recluses living in seclusion. Those who came were all put through examinations; Ao failed nearly all of them, passing scarcely one or two in a hundred. By nature he disfavored southern scholars. Emperor Yingzong once said, "Northerners are less polished in letters than southerners, but they are straightforward and bold and will prove useful in a crisis." From this Ao increasingly favored northerners in his appointments. In his later years he yielded to requests from the eunuch Guo Cong and was impeached by Censor-in-Chief Li Bing. Ao admitted his fault himself, and his reputation suffered a small stain. His descendants held hereditary posts as commanders of a thousand in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

年富，字大有，懷遠人。本姓嚴，訛為年。以會試副榜授德平訓導。年甫逾冠，嚴重如老儒。宣德三年課最，擢吏科給事中。糾正違失，務存大體。帝以六科任重，命科擇二人掌其事，乃以富與賈銓並掌刑科。都御史顧佐等失入死罪十七人，富劾之。帝詰責佐等。

Nian Fu, whose courtesy name was Dayou, came from Huaiyuan. His family name was originally Yan, which was corrupted to Nian. Having placed on the supplementary list in the metropolitan examination, he was appointed Instructor in Deping. Though barely past twenty, he carried himself with the gravity of a seasoned scholar. In Xuande 3, rated top in his performance review, he was promoted to Supervising Secretary in the Bureau of Personnel. In correcting abuses he always kept the larger principles in view. Because the Six Bureaus carried heavy responsibilities, the emperor ordered each to select two men to manage its affairs; Fu and Jia Quan were appointed jointly to oversee the Bureau of Justice. Censor-in-Chief Gu Zuo and others had wrongly sentenced seventeen men to death; Fu impeached them. The emperor rebuked Zuo and the others.

英宗嗣位，上言：「永樂中，招納降人，縻以官爵，坐耗國帑，養亂招危，宜遣還故土。府軍前衛幼軍，本選民間子弟，隨侍青宮。今死亡殘疾，僉補為擾。請於二十五所內，以一所補調，勿更累民。軍民之家，規免稅徭，冒僧道者累萬，宜悉遣未度者復業。」議多施行。

When Emperor Yingzong succeeded to the throne, he memorialized, "In the Yongle reign surrendered peoples were received and given offices and titles, draining the treasury, fostering disorder, and inviting danger. They should be sent back to their homelands. The young soldiers of the Forward Guard of the Military Households were originally chosen from common families to attend the heir apparent. Now that they die or are disabled, the practice of drafting replacements has become a burden on the people. I ask that replacements be drawn by rotation from among the twenty-five guards, so that the people are not further burdened. Tens of thousands of military and civilian households had falsely taken ordination as monks or Daoists to evade taxes and labor service; all who had not yet been formally ordained should be sent back to their original occupations." Many of his proposals were adopted.

遷陜西左參政，尋命總理糧儲。陜西歲織綾絹<莫毛>毼九百余匹。永樂中，加織駝毼五十匹，富請罷之。官吏諸生衛卒祿廩，率以邊餉減削，富請復其舊。諸邊將校占墾腴田有至三四十頃者，富奏每頃輸賦十二石。都督王禎以為過重，疏爭之。廷議減三之二，遂為定額。又會計歲用，以籌軍餉，言：「臣所部歲收二稅百八十九萬石，屯糧七十余萬石。其間水旱流移，蠲逋負，大率三分減一，而歲用乃至百八十余萬，入少出多。今鎮守諸臣不量國計，競請益兵，餉何由給？請減冗卒，汰駑馬，杜侵耗之弊。」帝可其奏。三邊士馬，供億浩繁，軍民疲遠輸，豪猾因緣為奸利。富量遠近，定征科，出入慎鉤考，宿弊以革，民困大蘇。富遇事，果敢有為，權勢莫能撓，聲震關中。然執法過嚴，僥幸者多不悅，以是屢遭誣謗。陜西文武將吏恐失富，鹹上章陳其勞，乃得停俸留任。

He was transferred to Left Administration Commissioner in Shaanxi and soon placed in charge of grain supplies. Shaanxi was required to weave more than nine hundred bolts of silk damask and felt textiles each year. During the Yongle reign the quota was increased by fifty bolts of camel-hair felt; Fu petitioned to have the increase cancelled. Officials, students, garrison troops, and guardsmen had their rations cut through reductions in frontier supplies; Fu petitioned to restore them to their former levels. Border officers who seized fertile land for cultivation held estates of as much as thirty or forty qing; Fu memorialized that each qing should pay a grain tax of twelve shi. Area Commander Wang Zhen argued the levy was excessive and submitted a memorial opposing it. After deliberation the court cut the tax by two-thirds, and that figure became the permanent quota. He also reviewed annual expenditures to plan military rations, saying, "My jurisdiction collects 1.89 million shi from the two taxes each year, plus more than 700,000 shi from garrison farms. After deducting for drought, flood, displaced populations, remissions, and forgiven arrears — roughly a third in all — annual expenditures still exceed 1.8 million shi; intake falls short of outgo. Frontier officials now ignore the national budget and vie to demand more troops — where is the pay to come from? I ask that superfluous soldiers be cut, inferior horses culled, and the abuses of waste and pilferage stopped." The emperor approved his memorial. Supplying the Three Frontiers' soldiers and horses was enormously costly; military and civilian carriers were exhausted by long-distance transport, and the powerful and unscrupulous profited from the system. Fu measured distances, set collection quotas, and closely audited receipts and disbursements; longstanding abuses were eliminated and the people's distress greatly relieved. In every matter Fu acted with bold resolve; neither power nor influence could sway him, and his reputation resounded throughout Guanzhong. But his enforcement was extremely strict; many who had counted on leniency resented him, and he was repeatedly slandered for it. Shaanxi's civil and military officers, fearing his removal, all submitted memorials praising his service, and he was allowed to remain in office with his salary suspended.

九載滿，遷河南右布政使。復有言富苛虐者，帝命核舉主，將坐之。既知舉富者，少師楊溥也，意乃解。富至河南，歲饑，流民二十余萬，公剽掠。巡撫于謙委富輯之，皆定。土木敗後，邊境道阻，部檄富轉饟，無後期者，進左。

After nine years in post he was promoted to Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Henan. When more complaints arose that Fu was harsh and cruel, the emperor ordered an inquiry into who had recommended him, intending to punish the recommender. Learning that Fu's recommender was Junior Mentor Yang Pu, the emperor's anger subsided. When Fu arrived in Henan, famine struck that year. More than 200,000 refugees wandered the province, looting openly. Grand Coordinator Yu Qian put Fu in charge of resettling them, and order was restored. After the Tumu debacle blocked frontier supply routes, the ministry ordered Fu to transport rations, and none arrived late; he was promoted to Left Administration Commissioner.

景泰二年春，以右副都御史巡撫大同，提督軍務。時經喪敗，法弛，弊尤甚。富一意拊循，奏免秋賦，罷諸州縣稅課局，停太原民轉餉大同。武清侯石亨、武安侯鄭宏、武進伯朱瑛，令家人領官庫銀帛，糴米實邊，多所乾沒。富首請按治。詔宥亨等，抵家人罪。亨所遣卒越關抵大同，富復劾亨專擅。亨輸罪。已，削襄垣王府菜戶，又杖其廚役之署教授事者。又劾分守中官韋力轉、參將石彪及山西參政林厚罪。是時，富威名重天下，而諸豪家愈側目，相與摭富罪。于謙方當事，力保持之。帝亦知富深，故得行其誌。林厚力詆富，帝曰：「厚怨富、誣富耳。朕方付富邊事。豈輕聽人言加辱耶。」削厚官。

In the spring of Jingtai 2 he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief to serve as Grand Coordinator of Datong and supervise military affairs. The region had just suffered devastating defeat; discipline was slack and abuses rampant. Fu devoted himself to rebuilding morale and order; he secured exemption from autumn taxes, abolished tax-collection offices in prefectures and counties, and halted the practice of transporting rations from Taiyuan civilians to Datong. Marquis of Wuqing Shi Heng, Marquis of Wu'an Zheng Hong, and Earl of Wujin Zhu Ying sent their household retainers to draw silver and silk from government stores to buy grain for the frontier, embezzling much of the proceeds. Fu was the first to call for an investigation. An edict pardoned Heng and the others while holding only their retainers accountable. Soldiers dispatched by Heng crossed the pass into Datong; Fu again impeached him for exceeding his authority. Heng admitted his guilt. He then stripped the Xiangyuan princely establishment of its vegetable-supply tenants and had flogged a kitchen servant who had been acting in a professor's post. He also impeached the border-supervising eunuch Wei Lizhuan, Deputy Commander Shi Biao, and Shanxi Administration Commissioner Lin Hou. By then Fu's reputation towered nationwide, and powerful families watched him with growing hostility, colluding to dredge up charges against him. Yu Qian held power at the time and worked hard to shield him. The emperor also knew Fu well, so Fu was able to act on his convictions. Lin Hou vigorously denounced Fu. The emperor said, "Hou bears a grudge against Fu; this is nothing but slander. I am just now entrusting Fu with frontier affairs. How could I heed idle talk and humiliate him?" Hou was dismissed from office.

六年，母憂，起復。七年，富上言：「諸邊鎮守監槍內官增於前，如陽和、天城，一城二人，擾民殊甚，請減汰。」事格不行。又言：「高皇帝定制，軍官私罪收贖，惟笞則然。杖即降授，徒流俱充軍，律明甚。近犯贓者，輕皆復職，重惟立功。刑不足懲，更無顧憚。此皆法官過也。」下廷議，流徒輸贖如故，惟於本衛差操，不得領軍。英國公張懋及鄭宏各置田莊於邊境，歲役軍耕種，富劾之，還軍於伍。

In the sixth year his mother died, but he was recalled from mourning to resume office. In the seventh year Fu memorialized, "Supervising eunuchs posted to frontier garrisons have increased. At Yanghe and Tiancheng, for example, each city now has two of them, greatly harassing the people. I ask that their numbers be cut." The proposal was blocked and never carried out. He also said, "The founding emperor established that military officers guilty of private offenses could redeem punishment — but only in cases of bamboo strokes. Beating with the stick meant demotion; penal servitude and exile all meant conscription as soldiers — the law could not be clearer. Recently embezzlers have been lightly punished and restored to office, or, when punished more severely, allowed to redeem themselves through meritorious service alone. Punishment no longer deters them; they no longer fear the law at all. This is entirely the fault of the judges." The court deliberated; redemption for exile and penal servitude remained unchanged, but offenders could serve only in routine duties within their original guard and could not command troops. Duke of Ying Zhang Mao and Zheng Hong each maintained estate farms on the frontier and annually conscripted soldiers to work them; Fu impeached them and returned the soldiers to their ranks.

天順元年革巡撫官，富亦罷歸。頃之，石彪以前憾劾富，逮下詔獄。帝問李賢，賢稱富能祛弊。帝曰：「此必彪為富抑，不得逞其私耳。」賢曰：「誠如聖諭，宜早雪之。」諭門達從公問事。果無驗，乃令致仕。

In Tianshun 1 the grand coordinator post was abolished, and Fu was dismissed and sent home. Soon afterward Shi Biao, nursing an old grievance, impeached Fu and had him arrested and thrown into the imperial prison. The emperor asked Li Xian; Xian praised Fu as a man who could root out abuses. The emperor said, "This must be Biao — blocked by Fu's strictness and unable to indulge his private schemes." Xian said, "Your Majesty is right; Fu should be cleared without delay." The emperor ordered Men Da to investigate the case impartially. Nothing was substantiated, and Fu was permitted to retire.

明年，以廷臣薦，起南京兵部右侍郎，未上，改戶部，巡撫山東。道聞屬邑蝗，馳疏以聞。改左副都御史，巡撫如故。官吏習富威名，望之詟服，豪猾屏跡。

The next year, on recommendation from court officials, he was recalled as Right Vice Minister of War in Nanjing; before taking up the post he was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue and appointed Grand Coordinator of Shandong. En route he learned that counties under his jurisdiction were stricken with locusts and dispatched an urgent memorial to report it. He was promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief while retaining his grand coordinator duties. Officials, knowing Fu's formidable reputation, were awed into obedience, and the powerful and unscrupulous disappeared from sight.

四年春，戶部缺尚書，李賢舉富。左右巧阻之。帝語賢曰：「戶部非富不可，人多不喜富，此富所以為賢也。」特召任之。富酌贏縮，謹出納，躬親會計，吏不能欺。事關利害者，僚屬或不敢任，富曰：「第行之，吾當其責，諸君毋署名可也。」由是部事大理。丁父憂，奪哀如初。

In the spring of the fourth year, with the Ministry of Revenue minister vacant, Li Xian recommended Fu. Court insiders craftily blocked the appointment. The emperor told Xian, "The Ministry of Revenue cannot do without Fu. Many dislike him — and that is precisely why he is the right man." The emperor specially summoned Fu and appointed him. Fu balanced surpluses and deficits, managed receipts and disbursements with care, and personally audited the accounts so that clerks could not deceive him. When matters were politically sensitive, subordinates sometimes hesitated to act; Fu said, "Just carry it through — I will bear the responsibility. You need not sign your names." As a result, ministry affairs were greatly streamlined. When his father died, he was again called back from mourning to resume office.

憲宗立，富以陜西頻用兵，而治餉者非人，請黜左布政孫毓，用右布政楊璿、參政婁良、西安知府余子俊。吏部尚書王翺論富侵官，請下於理。富力辯曰：「薦賢為國，非有所私也。」因乞骸骨。帝慰留之，為黜毓。頃之，病疽卒。賜謚恭定。

When Emperor Xianzong took the throne, Fu argued that Shaanxi faced frequent military campaigns but lacked competent supply administrators; he asked that Left Administration Commissioner Sun Yu be dismissed and Right Administration Commissioner Yang Xuan, Administration Commissioner Lou Liang, and Xi'an Prefect Yu Zijun be appointed instead. Minister of Personnel Wang Ao charged Fu with overstepping his authority and asked that he be handed over to the judicial authorities. Fu forcefully replied, "I recommended able men for the nation's service — I had no private motive." He then asked to retire. The emperor comforted him and kept him at his post, but dismissed Sun Yu as Fu had requested. Before long he died of a carbuncle. He was posthumously granted the posthumous name Gongding.

富廉正強直，始終不渝，與王翺同稱名臣。初，英宗嘗諭李賢曰：「戶部如年富不易得。」賢對曰：「若他日繼翺為吏部，非富不可。」然性好疑，尤惡幹請。屬吏黠者，故反其意嘗之。欲事行，故言不可，即不行，故言可。富輒為所賣。

Fu remained honest, upright, and uncompromising to the end, and together with Wang Ao was acclaimed as a celebrated minister. Earlier, Emperor Yingzong once told Li Xian, "A man like Nian Fu for the Ministry of Revenue is hard to find." Xian replied, "When the day comes for someone to succeed Ao as Minister of Personnel, no one but Fu will do." Yet he was by nature suspicious and especially loathed personal solicitations. Clever subordinates would deliberately test him by saying the opposite of what they meant. If they wanted a matter approved they would say it should not be done; if they wanted it blocked they would say it should proceed. Fu invariably fell for it.

王竑，字公度，其先江夏人。祖俊卿，坐事戍河州，遂著籍。竑登正統四年進士。十一年授戶科給事中，豪邁負氣節，正色敢言。

Wang Hong, whose courtesy name was Gongdu, traced his ancestry to Jiangxia. His grandfather Junqing, punished for an offense, was sent to serve as a garrison soldier at Hezhou, and the family was registered there. Hong passed the jinshi examinations in Zhengtong 4. In the eleventh year he was appointed Supervising Secretary in the Bureau of Revenue — bold, principled, and unafraid to speak plainly.

英宗北狩，郕王攝朝午門，群臣劾王振誤國罪。讀彈文未起，王使出待命。眾皆伏地哭，請族振。錦衣指揮馬順者，振黨也，厲聲叱言者去。竑憤怒，奮臂起，捽順發呼曰：「若曹奸黨，罪當誅，今尚敢爾！」且罵且嚙其面，眾共擊之，立斃。朝班大亂。王恐，遽起入，竑率群臣隨王後。王使中官金英問所欲言，曰：「內官毛貴、王長隨亦振黨，請置諸法。」王命出二人。眾又捶殺之，血漬廷陛。當是時，竑名震天下，王亦以是深重竑。且召諸言官，慰諭甚至。

When Emperor Yingzong was taken captive in the north, the Prince of Cheng presided over court at the Meridian Gate, and the assembled officials impeached Wang Zhen for having brought disaster upon the state. Before the impeachment memorial had even been read out, the Prince sent attendants to order them to stand by. All prostrated themselves weeping and demanded the extermination of Zhen's entire clan. Ma Shun, a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and a member of Zhen's faction, loudly ordered the protesters to leave. Hong flew into a rage, sprang up, grabbed Shun by the hair, and shouted, "You treacherous lot deserve death — and you still dare behave like this!" Cursing, he bit Shun's face; the crowd joined in beating him, and Shun was killed on the spot. The court assembly descended into chaos. The Prince, alarmed, rose hastily and went inside; Hong led the officials in following after him. The Prince sent the eunuch Jin Ying to ask what they wanted; Hong replied, "The inner attendants Mao Gui and Wang Chang are also members of Zhen's faction. I ask that they be punished by law." The Prince ordered the two men brought out. The crowd beat them to death as well, and blood stained the steps of the hall. At that moment Hong's fame resounded throughout the realm, and the Prince came to hold him in high regard. He also summoned the remonstrating officials and comforted them at length.

王即帝位，也先犯京師，命竑與王通、楊善守禦京城，擢右僉都御史，督毛福壽、高禮軍。寇退，詔偕都指揮夏忠等鎮守居庸。竑至，簡士馬，繕厄塞，劾將帥不職者，壁壘一新。

When the Prince ascended the throne and Esen threatened the capital, Hong was ordered with Wang Tong and Yang Shan to defend the city. He was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and placed in command of the forces of Mao Fushou and Gao Li. After the raiders withdrew, an edict ordered Hong, together with Regional Commander Xia Zhong and others, to garrison Juyong Pass. When Hong arrived, he selected troops and horses, repaired the strategic passes, impeached negligent commanders, and made the defenses wholly new.

景泰元年四月，浙江鎮守中官李德上言：「馬順等有罪，當請命行誅。諸臣乃敢擅殺。非有內官擁護，危矣。是皆犯闕賊臣。不宜用。」章下廷議。于謙等奏曰：「上皇蒙塵，禍由賊振。順等實振腹心。陛下監國，群臣共請行戮，而順猶敢呵叱。是以在廷文武及宿衛軍士忠憤激發，不暇顧忌，捶死三人。此正《春秋》誅亂賊之大義也。向使乘輿播遷，奸黨猶在，國之安危殆未可知。臣等以為不足問。」帝曰：「誅亂臣，所以安眾誌。廷臣忠義，朕已知之，卿等勿以德言介意。」八月，竑以疾還朝。尋命同都督僉事徐恭督漕運，治通州至徐州運河。明年，尚寶司檢順牙牌不得，順子請責之竑，帝許焉。諸諫官言：「順黨奸罪重，廷臣共除之，遑問牙牌。且非竑一人事，若責之竑，忠臣懼矣。」乃寢前旨。是年冬，耿九疇召還，敕竑兼巡撫淮、揚、廬三府，徐、和二州，又命兼理兩淮鹽課。

In the fourth month of Jingtai 1, Li De, the eunuch superintendent of Zhejiang, submitted a memorial: "Ma Shun and the others are guilty and should be put to death only by imperial order. Yet the officials dared to kill them on their own authority. Without eunuchs to shield them, they would have been in grave danger. All of them are traitors who stormed the palace. They should not be employed." The memorial was sent down for court deliberation. Yu Qian and others memorialized: "When the Retired Emperor was cast into exile, the disaster came from the traitor Zhen. Shun and the others were truly Zhen's closest confederates. When Your Majesty governed as regent, the assembled officials jointly demanded execution, yet Shun still dared to shout them down. Therefore the civil and military officials in court and the palace guards, stirred by loyal outrage, without a moment's hesitation, beat three men to death. This is precisely the great principle of the Spring and Autumn Annals for punishing rebel traitors. Had the imperial carriage been driven into flight and the treacherous faction remained, the fate of the state would have been impossible to foresee. We consider the matter not worth further inquiry." The emperor said, "Punishing rebel ministers is how one settles the people's hearts. The loyalty and righteousness of the court officials I already know; do not take Li De's words to heart." In the eighth month, Hong returned to court owing to illness. Soon after he was ordered, together with Assistant Regional Commander Xu Gong, to supervise grain transport and repair the canal from Tongzhou to Xuzhou. The following year, the Directorate of Ceremonial Insignia could not locate Shun's tally plaque; Shun's son asked that Hong be held responsible, and the emperor agreed. The remonstrating officials said, "Shun's faction committed grave treachery; the court officials jointly removed them — why should tally plaques even be at issue? Moreover, this was not Hong's affair alone; if Hong alone is blamed, loyal officials will be afraid." The earlier order was then set aside. That winter, Geng Jiuchou was recalled, and Hong was ordered concurrently to serve as grand coordinator of the three prefectures of Huai, Yang, and Lu and the two subprefectures of Xu and He, and also to oversee the salt tax of the Two Huai regions.

四年正月，以災傷疊見，方春盛寒，上言：「請敕責諸臣痛自修省，省刑薄斂，罷無益之工，嚴無功之賞，散財以收民心，愛民以植邦本。陛下益近親儒臣，講道論德，進君子，退小人，以回天意。」且引罪乞罷。帝納其言，遂下詔修省，求直言。

In the first month of the fourth year, because disasters and crop failures came one after another amid an unseasonably bitter spring cold, he submitted a memorial: "I request an edict charging the officials to examine themselves deeply in repentance — reduce punishments, lighten levies, halt useless public works, tighten rewards where there is no merit, disperse wealth to win the people's hearts, and love the people to establish the foundation of the state. May Your Majesty draw still closer to Confucian officials, discourse upon the Way and cultivate virtue, advance the worthy and remove petty men, so as to turn back Heaven's will." He also took blame upon himself and requested dismissal. The emperor accepted his words and issued an edict calling for self-examination and seeking candid criticism.

先是，鳳陽、淮安、徐州大水，道堇相望。竑上疏奏，不待報，開倉振之。至是山東、河南饑民就食者坌至，廩不能給。惟徐州廣運倉有余積，竑欲盡發之，典守中官不可。竑往告曰：「民旦夕且為盜。若不吾從，脫有變，當先斬若，然後自請死耳。」中官憚竑威名，不得已從之。竑乃自劾專擅罪，因言「廣運所儲僅支三月，請令死罪以下，得於被災所入粟自贖。」帝復命侍郎鄒幹賫帑金馳赴，聽便宜。竑乃躬自巡行散振，不足，則令沿淮上下商舟，量大小出米。全活百八十五萬余人。勸富民出米二十五萬余石，給饑民五十五萬七千家。賦牛種七萬四千余，復業者五千五百家，他境流移安輯者萬六百余家。病者給藥，死者具槥，所鬻子女贖還之，歸者予道里費。人忘其饑，頌聲大作。初，帝聞淮、鳳饑，憂甚。及得竑發廣運倉自劾疏，喜曰：「賢哉都御史！活我民矣。」尚書金濂、大學士陳循等皆稱竑功。是年十月，就進左副都御史。時濟寧亦饑，帝遣尚書沈翼賫帑金三萬兩往振。翼散給僅五千兩，余以歸京庫。竑劾翼奉使無狀，請仍易米備振，從之。

Earlier, Fengyang, Huai'an, and Xuzhou had suffered great floods, and corpses lined the roads as far as the eye could see. Hong submitted a memorial but did not wait for a reply; he opened the granaries and gave relief. By this time starving people from Shandong and Henan arrived seeking food in crowds, and the granaries could not supply them. Only the Guangyun Granary at Xuzhou had surplus stores; Hong wished to distribute all of it, but the eunuch in charge refused. Hong went and told him, "The people will soon turn to banditry. If you do not follow me, should trouble arise I shall first behead you, then submit myself to death." The eunuch feared Hong's reputation and had no choice but to comply. Hong then impeached himself for acting on his own authority, and added, "What Guangyun holds will barely sustain three months. I request that offenders below the death penalty be allowed to redeem themselves by delivering grain to the disaster area." The emperor again ordered Vice Minister Zou Gan to hurry there with treasury funds and act as circumstances required. Hong then personally toured the region distributing relief; where supplies fell short, he ordered merchant boats up and down the Huai to contribute rice according to their size. He preserved the lives of more than 1.85 million people. He persuaded wealthy households to contribute more than 250,000 shi of rice, supplying 557,000 starving families. He distributed more than 74,000 oxen and seed grain; 5,500 families returned to their occupations, and more than 10,600 displaced families from other regions were settled. The sick were given medicine, the dead were provided coffins, sold children were redeemed and returned, and those sent home were given travel expenses. People forgot their hunger, and praise resounded everywhere. At first, when the emperor heard of famine in the Huai and Feng regions, he was deeply worried. When he received Hong's memorial impeaching himself for opening the Guangyun Granary, he said with joy, "What a worthy Censor-in-Chief! He has saved my people." Ministers Jin Lian and Grand Secretary Chen Xun and others all praised Hong's achievement. That tenth month he was promoted on the spot to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. At that time Jining also suffered famine; the emperor sent Minister Shen Yi with 30,000 taels of treasury silver for relief. Yi distributed only 5,000 taels; the remainder he returned to the capital treasury. Hong impeached Yi for disgraceful conduct on his mission and requested that the remainder be converted to grain for relief; the request was granted.

明年二月上言：「比年饑饉薦臻，人民重困。頃冬春之交，雪深數尺，淮河抵海冰凍四十餘里，人畜僵死萬余，弱者鬻妻子，強者肆劫奪，衣食路絕，流離載途。陛下端居九重，大臣安處廊廟，無由得見。使目擊其狀，未有不為之流涕者也。陛下嗣位以來，非不敬天愛民，而天變民窮特甚者，臣竊恐聖德雖修而未至，大倫雖正而未篤，賢才雖用而未收其效，邪佞雖屏而未盡其類，仁愛施而實惠未溥，財用省而上供未節，刑罰寬而冤獄未伸，工役停而匠力未息，法制頒而奉行或有更張，賦稅免而有司或仍牽制。有一於此，皆足以幹和召變。伏望陛下修厥德以新厥治。欽天命，法祖宗，正倫理，篤恩義，戒逸樂，絕異端，斯修德有其誠矣。進忠良，遠邪佞，公賞罰，寬賦役，節財用，戒聚斂，卻貢獻，罷工役，斯圖治有其實矣。如是而災變不息，未之有也。」帝褒納之，敕內外臣工同加修省。

In the second month of the following year he submitted a memorial: "In recent years famine has come one after another, and the people are heavily afflicted. Just now, at the turn of winter and spring, snow lay several feet deep; the Huai River to the sea was frozen for more than forty li; over ten thousand people and livestock froze to death; the weak sold wives and children, the strong plundered at will; food and clothing were cut off, and refugees filled the roads. Your Majesty sits secluded within the Ninefold Enclosure, and great ministers dwell at ease in the halls of state — they have no way to see this. Had they seen it with their own eyes, none would have failed to weep. Since Your Majesty succeeded to the throne, you have not failed to revere Heaven and love the people, yet calamities and popular destitution have been especially severe. I secretly fear that though sagely virtue has been cultivated, it has not yet fully reached its mark; though the great human bonds have been set aright, they have not yet been firmly secured; though worthy talent has been employed, its effects have not yet been gathered; though wicked flatterers have been removed, their kind has not yet been entirely cleared away; though benevolence has been extended, its real benefit has not yet spread widely; though expenditures have been cut, tribute to the throne has not yet been fully reduced; though punishments have been lenient, wrongful cases have not yet been redressed; though labor corvée has been halted, artisan burdens have not yet ceased; though laws have been promulgated, their enforcement may still be altered here and there; though tax remissions have been granted, local officials may still impose obstructive levies. Any one of these is enough to disrupt harmony and summon calamity. I humbly hope Your Majesty will cultivate your virtue to renew your governance. Revere Heaven's mandate, follow the ancestral model, set human bonds aright, deepen kindness and duty, guard against excess and pleasure, and cut off heterodox teachings — then the cultivation of virtue will have its sincerity. Advance the loyal and good, keep wicked flatterers at a distance, make rewards and punishments impartial, lighten levies and corvée, economize finances, guard against exaction, reject tribute offerings, and halt labor projects — then the pursuit of good order will have its substance. If this is done and calamities still do not cease, there has never been such a thing." The emperor praised and accepted it, and ordered officials inside and outside the court alike to engage in further self-examination.

六年，霍山民趙玉山自稱宋裔，以妖術惑眾為亂，竑捕獲之。先後劾治貪濁吏，革糧長之蠹民者，民大稱便。

In the sixth year, Zhao Yushan of Huoshan proclaimed himself a descendant of the Song and, using sorcery to delude the multitude, raised rebellion; Hong captured him. Before and after, he impeached and punished corrupt officials and eliminated grain chiefs who preyed on the people; the populace greatly praised the convenience.

英宗復辟，革巡撫官，改竑浙江參政。數日，石亨、張軏追論竑擊馬順事，除名，編管江夏。居半歲，帝於宮中得竑疏，見「正倫理，篤恩義」語，感悟。命遣官送歸田裏，敕有司善視之。

When Emperor Yingzong restored his rule, the grand coordinator post was abolished and Hong was transferred to Administrative Commissioner of Zhejiang. Within days, Shi Heng and Zhang Yue reopened the matter of Hong's assault on Ma Shun; he was struck from the rolls and placed under guard at Jiangxia. After half a year, the emperor found Hong's memorial in the palace and, reading the phrase "set human bonds aright, deepen kindness and duty," was moved to reflection. He ordered an official to escort him home to his fields and commanded local authorities to treat him well.

天順五年，孛來寇莊浪，都督馮宗等出討。用李賢薦，起竑故官，與兵部侍郎白圭參贊軍務。明年正月，竑與宗擊退孛來於紅崖子川。圭等還，竑仍留鎮。至冬，乃召還。明年春，復令督漕撫淮、揚。淮人聞竑再至，歡呼迎拜，數百里不絕。

In Tianshun 5, Bolai raided Zhuanglang; Regional Commander Feng Zong and others went out to attack. On Li Xian's recommendation, Hong was restored to his former rank and, together with Vice Minister of War Bai Gui, assisted in military affairs. In the first month of the following year, Hong and Zong drove Bolai back at Hongyazi River. Gui and the others returned, while Hong remained to garrison the area. In winter he was finally recalled. The next spring he was again ordered to supervise grain transport and serve as coordinator of Huai and Yang. When the people of the Huai region heard Hong was coming again, they shouted in welcome and bowed in greeting for several hundred li without cease.

憲宗即位，給事中蕭斌、御史呂洪等，共薦竑及宣府巡撫李秉堪大用。下廷議，尚書王翺、大學士李賢請從其言。帝曰：「古人君夢卜求賢，今獨不能從輿論所與乎？」即召竑為兵部尚書，秉為左都御史。命下，朝野相慶。

When Emperor Xianzong took the throne, Supervising Secretary Xiao Bin, Censor Lu Hong, and others jointly recommended Hong and Li Bing, grand coordinator of Xuanfu, as fit for heavy responsibility. The memorial was sent down for court deliberation; Ministers Wang Ao and Grand Secretary Li Xian requested that the recommendation be followed. The emperor said, "Ancient rulers sought the worthy through dreams and divination — can we alone not follow what public opinion favors?" He immediately summoned Hong as Minister of War and Bing as Left Censor-in-Chief. When the order was issued, court and countryside rejoiced together.

時將用兵兩廣，竑舉韓雍為總督。雍新得罪，眾難之。竑曰：「天子方棄瑕錄用，雍有罪不當用，竑非罪廢者耶？」卒用雍。竑條上進剿事宜，且言將帥征討，毋得奏攜私人，妄冒首功。又請復京營舊額，禁勢家豪帥擅役禁軍。於是命竑同給事中、御史六人簡閱十二營軍士。竑以擇兵不若擇將，共奏罷營職八十余人，而慎簡材武補之。

As troops were about to be deployed in the Two Guangs, Hong recommended Han Yong as supreme commander. Yong had recently been condemned, and many objected. Hong said, "The Son of Heaven is just now overlooking flaws to employ men — if Yong's guilt disqualifies him, am I not one dismissed for guilt?" Yong was used in the end. Hong submitted in detail the plan for the suppression campaign, and also said that commanders on campaign must not memorialize bringing private followers or falsely claiming first merit. He also requested restoration of the old establishment for the capital garrisons and prohibition against powerful families and military grandees impressing forbidden troops for private service. Accordingly Hong was ordered, together with six supervising secretaries and censors, to review the troops of the Twelve Camps. Hong held that choosing soldiers was inferior to choosing commanders; they jointly memorialized to dismiss more than eighty camp officers and carefully selected men of talent and martial skill to fill the posts.

兵部清理貼黃缺官，竑偕諸大臣舉修撰嶽正、都給事中張寧，為李賢所沮，竟出二人於外，並罷會舉例。竑憤然曰：「吾尚可居此耶？」即引疾求退。帝方向用竑，優詔慰留，日遣醫視疾。竑請益切。九月命致仕去。竑為尚書一年，謝病者四月，人以未竟其用為惜。既去，中外薦章百十上，並報寢。

When the Ministry of War cleared vacant posts recorded on yellow slips, Hong together with other grand ministers recommended Compiler Yue Zheng and Chief Supervising Secretary Zhang Ning; blocked by Li Xian, both men were eventually sent out and the practice of joint recommendation was abolished. Hong said angrily, "How can I still remain here?" He immediately pleaded illness and requested retirement. The emperor was just then intent on employing Hong; he issued a gracious edict to comfort and retain him and sent physicians daily to attend his illness. Hong's requests grew still more urgent. In the ninth month he was ordered to retire. Hong served as minister for one year and spent four months pleading illness; people regretted that his talent had not been fully used. After he left, more than a hundred recommendations arrived from inside and outside the court, and all were passed over without action.

景帝立，進郎中。景泰二年命佐侍郎劉璉督餉宣府，發璉侵牟狀。即擢右僉都御史代璉，兼參贊軍務。宣府軍民數遭寇，牛具悉被掠。朝廷遣官市牛萬五千給屯卒。人予直，市谷種。璉盡以畀京軍之出守者，一不及屯卒，更停其月餉，而徵屯糧甚急。秉盡反璉政，厚恤之。軍卒自城守外，悉得屯作。凡使者往來及宦官鎮守供億科斂者，皆奏罷，以官錢給費。尋上邊備六事，言：「軍以有妻者為有家，月餉一石，無者減其四。即有父母兄弟而無妻，概以無家論，非義。當一體增給。」從之。時宣府億萬庫頗充裕，秉益召商中鹽納糧，料飭戎裝，市耕牛給軍，軍愈感悅。

When Emperor Jingdi took the throne, he was promoted to Director. In Jingtai 2 he was ordered to assist Vice Minister Liu Lian in supervising provisions at Xuanfu and exposed Liu Lian's extortion. He was immediately promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief to replace Liu Lian, concurrently assisting in military affairs. The military and civilians of Xuanfu had repeatedly suffered raids, and all their oxen and farm implements had been plundered. The court dispatched officials to purchase fifteen thousand oxen and distribute them to the military colonists. Each person was paid in cash, and grain seed was purchased for planting. Liu Lian gave everything to the capital troops sent out to garrison the frontier, leaving the colonists with nothing, then suspended their monthly rations while pressing them urgently for colonization grain. Li Bing completely reversed Liu Lian's policies and treated the colonists with generous relief. Apart from city defense, all soldiers were permitted to work the colony fields. He memorialized to abolish all supply levies imposed by traveling envoys and eunuch garrison officials, covering their expenses instead from official funds. Soon he submitted six proposals on border defense, saying, "Soldiers with wives are counted as having households and receive one dan of monthly rations; those without are reduced by four-tenths. Yet those who have parents and brothers but no wife are all treated as without households — this is unjust. They should all receive the same increased allowance." The emperor approved. At that time Xuanfu's treasury was quite flush; Li Bing further invited merchants to tender salt contracts in exchange for grain, assessed and outfitted military equipment, purchased draft oxen for the troops, and the army grew ever more grateful.

三年冬命兼理巡撫事。頃之，又命提督軍務。秉盡心邊計，不恤嫌怨。劾都指揮楊文、楊鑒，都督江福貪縱，罪之。論守獨石內官弓勝田獵擾民，請徵還。又劾總兵官紀廣等罪，廣訐秉自解。帝召秉還，以言官交請，乃命御史練綱、給事中嚴誠往勘，卒留秉。時邊民多流移，秉廣行招徠，復業者奏給月廩。瘞土木、鷂兒嶺暴骸，乞推行諸塞。軍家為寇所殺掠無依者，官為養贍，或資遣還鄉。厘諸弊政，所條奏百十章，多允行。諜報寇牧近邊，廷議遣楊俊會宣府兵出剿。秉曰：「塞外原諸部牧地，非犯邊也。掩殺幸功，非臣所敢聞。」乃止。諸部質所掠男婦求易米，朝議成丁者予一石，幼者半之。諸部概乞一石，鎮將不可。秉曰：「是輕人重粟也。」如其言予之。自請專擅罪，帝以為識體。

In the winter of the third year he was ordered to take charge of grand coordinator duties as well. Before long, he was further ordered to direct military affairs. Li Bing devoted himself wholeheartedly to border strategy, heedless of resentment. He impeached Regional Commanders Yang Wen and Yang Jian and Regional Commander Jiang Fu for greed and indulgence, and had them punished. He reported that the inner official Gong Sheng, garrisoning Dushi, hunted in the fields and harassed the people, and requested his recall. He also impeached Commander-in-Chief Ji Guang and others; Guang denounced Li Bing in turn and resigned of his own accord. The emperor summoned Li Bing back; because censors repeatedly petitioned, he sent Censor Lian Gang and Supervising Secretary Yan Cheng to investigate, and in the end kept Li Bing in post. At the time many border civilians had fled; Li Bing widely carried out recruitment, and those who returned to their occupations were memorialized for monthly grain allowances. He buried the exposed corpses at Tumu and Yaoziling and requested that this practice be extended to all frontier passes. For soldiers' families killed and plundered by raiders with no one to depend on, the government provided support or funds to send them home. He reformed various corrupt policies; of more than a hundred memorials he submitted, most were approved and implemented. Spies reported raiders herding near the border; the court deliberated sending Yang Jun to unite Xuanfu troops for a punitive expedition. Li Bing said, "Beyond the passes are originally the grazing grounds of the various tribes; they are not violating the border. A sneak attack hoping for merit — such a thing I dare not hear of." And so it was stopped. Various tribes offered captives of men and women they had seized in exchange for rice; the court deliberated giving one dan for adults and half for children. All the tribes asked for one dan each; the frontier commanders refused. Li Bing said, "This values grain over human lives." He gave as they requested. He voluntarily requested punishment for acting on his own authority; the emperor considered him understanding of propriety.

天順初，罷巡撫官，改督江南糧儲。初，江南蘇、松賦額不均。陳泰為巡撫，令民田五升者倍征，官田重者無增耗，賦均而額不虧。秉至，一守其法。尋坐舉知府違例被逮，帝以秉過微，宥之。復任，請滸墅關稅悉征米備荒。又發內官金保監淮安倉科索罪。

At the beginning of Tianshun, the grand coordinator post was abolished, and he was reassigned to supervise grain storage in Jiangnan. Previously, tax quotas in Suzhou and Songjiang in Jiangnan had been uneven. Chen Tai as grand coordinator ordered that private fields paying five sheng be doubly assessed, while heavily taxed official fields received no surcharge for wastage; taxes were equalized without reducing the total quota. When Li Bing arrived, he kept this policy entirely intact. Soon he was implicated for recommending a prefect in violation of regulations and arrested; the emperor considered Li Bing's offense minor and pardoned him. Restored to office, he requested that all taxes at Xushu Pass be collected in grain to guard against famine. He also exposed the inner official Jin Bao, overseer of the Huai'an granary, for extortion and had him punished.

御史李周等左遷，秉疏救。帝怒，將罪之。會廷議復設巡撫，大臣薦秉才，遂命巡撫大同。都指揮孫英先以罪貶職還衛，總兵李文妄引詔書，令復職。秉至，即斥之。裨將徐旺領騎卒操練，秉以旺不勝任，解其官。未幾，天城守備中官陳例久病，秉請易以羅付。帝責秉專擅，徵下詔獄。指揮門達並以前舉知府、救御史及斥孫英等為秉罪。法司希旨，斥為民。居三年，用閣臣薦，起故官，蒞南京都察院。憲宗立，進右副都御史，復撫宣府。數月，召拜左都御史。

Censors Li Zhou and others were demoted; Li Bing memorialized to save them. The emperor was angry and was about to punish him. Just then the court deliberated reestablishing the grand coordinator post; senior ministers recommended Li Bing's talent, and he was ordered to serve as grand coordinator of Datong. Regional Commander Sun Ying had earlier been demoted for a crime and returned to his garrison; Commander-in-Chief Li Wen falsely cited an edict restoring him to office. When Li Bing arrived, he immediately dismissed him. Deputy General Xu Wang led cavalry in drill; Li Bing found Wang incompetent and removed him from office. Before long, the Tiancheng garrison inner official Chen Li had long been ill; Li Bing requested replacing him with Luo Fu. The emperor rebuked Li Bing for acting on his own authority and summoned him to the imperial prison. Commandant Men Da combined the earlier matter of recommending the prefect, saving the censors, and dismissing Sun Ying as Li Bing's crimes. The judicial officials toed the line and dismissed him to commoner status. After three years, on cabinet ministers' recommendation, he was restored to his former rank and took up post at the Nanjing Censorate. When Emperor Xianzong ascended, he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and again served as coordinator of Xuanfu. Several months later, he was summoned and appointed Left Censor-in-Chief.

成化改元，掌大計，黜罷貪殘，倍於其舊。明年秋，命整飭遼東抵大同邊備。至即劾鎮守中官李良、總兵武安侯鄭宏失律罪，出都指揮裴顯於獄，舉指揮崔勝、傅海等，擊敵鳳皇山。捷聞，璽書嘉勞。秉乃往巡視宣府、大同，更將帥，申軍令而還。未幾，命為總督，與武清伯趙輔分五道出塞，大捷。帝勞以羊酒，賜麒麟服，加太子少保。

In the first year of Chenghua, he presided over the grand evaluation and dismissed the corrupt and cruel at twice the usual rate. The next autumn he was ordered to reorganize border defenses from Liaodong to Datong. Upon arrival he immediately impeached garrison eunuch Li Liang and Commander Marquis of Wu'an Zheng Hong for breach of discipline, released Regional Commander Pei Xian from prison, and promoted Commanders Cui Sheng, Fu Hai, and others to strike the enemy at Fenghuang Mountain. When victory was reported, an imperial sealed letter praised and rewarded him. Li Bing then went to inspect Xuanfu and Datong, replaced commanders, enforced military discipline, and returned. Before long he was appointed supreme commander; with Marquis of Wuqing Zhao Fu he divided five columns beyond the passes and won a great victory. The emperor rewarded him with mutton and wine, bestowed the qilin robe, and added the rank of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

三年冬，吏部尚書王翺致仕，廷推代者，帝特擢秉任之。秉銳意澄仕路。監生需次八千余人，請分別考核。黜庸劣者數百人，於是怨謗紛起。左侍郎崔恭以久次當得尚書，而秉得之，頗不平。右侍郎尹旻嘗學於秉，秉初用其言，既而疏之。侍讀彭華附中貴，數以私幹秉，秉不聽。胥怨秉。御史戴用請兩京堂上官及方面正佐，如正統間例，會廷臣保舉；又吏部司屬與各部均升調，不得久擅要地，且驟遷。語侵吏部，吏部持之。帝令兩京官四品以上，吏部具缺，取上裁。而御史劉璧、吳遠、馮徽爭請仍歸吏部。帝怒，詰責言者。會朝覲考察，秉斥退者眾，又多大臣鄉故，眾怨交集。而大理卿王概亦欲去秉代其位，乃與華謀，嗾同鄉給事中蕭彥莊劾秉十二罪，且言其陰結年深御史附己以攬權。帝怒，下廷議。恭、旻輒言「吾兩人諫之不聽」，刑部尚書陸瑜等附會二人意為奏。帝以秉徇私變法，負任使，落秉太子少保致仕。所連鮑克寬、李沖調外任；丘陵、張穆、陳民弼、孫遇、李齡、柳春皆罷。命彥莊指秉所結御史，不能對。久之，以璧等三人名上，遂俱下詔獄，出之外。陵等實良吏，有名，以讒黜，眾議不平。陵尤不服，連章訐彥莊。廷訊，陵詞直。帝惡彥莊誣罔。謫大寧驛丞。

In the winter of the third year, Minister of Personnel Wang Ao retired; the court nominated his successor, but the emperor specially promoted Li Bing to the post. Li Bing was determined to cleanse the official career path. More than eight thousand supervising students awaiting appointment — he requested separate evaluation. Several hundred mediocre and inferior ones were dismissed, and slander and complaint arose in all directions. Left Vice Minister Cui Gong, by long seniority due to receive the ministership, found Li Bing had obtained it and was quite displeased. Right Vice Minister Yin Min had once been Li Bing's student; Li Bing initially heeded his advice, then grew distant. Hanlin Reader Peng Hua attached himself to powerful eunuchs and repeatedly made private requests of Li Bing; Li Bing refused to listen. All bore grudges against Li Bing. Censor Dai Yong requested that capital officials of both Nanjing and Beijing and provincial chief and assistant officials, following the Zhengtong precedent, be jointly recommended by court ministers; and further that Ministry of Personnel clerks and staff be promoted and transferred equally with other departments, not long monopolizing key posts with sudden advancement. The language implicated the Ministry of Personnel, which resisted it. The emperor ordered that for officials of fourth rank and above in both capitals, the Ministry of Personnel should list vacancies for imperial decision. But Censors Liu Bi, Wu Yuan, and Feng Hui repeatedly petitioned that authority remain with the Ministry of Personnel. The emperor was angry and rebuked those who spoke. At the same time, during the triennial audience evaluation, Li Bing dismissed many — and many were hometown associates of senior ministers — so resentment converged from all sides. Meanwhile Grand Court Judge Wang Gai also wished to remove Li Bing and take his place; he plotted with Peng Hua and incited his fellow townsman Supervising Secretary Xiao Yanzhuang to impeach Li Bing on twelve counts, further alleging that he had secretly cultivated long-serving censors to attach to himself and grasp power. The emperor was angered and referred the matter to court deliberation. Gong and Yin repeatedly said, "We two admonished him but he would not listen"; Minister of Punishments Lu Yu and others echoed the two men's views in their memorial. The emperor found Li Bing guilty of favoritism and altering regulations, failing in the charge entrusted to him; he stripped Li Bing of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and ordered retirement. Those implicated — Bao Kuan and Li Chong — were transferred to outside posts; Qiu Ling, Zhang Mu, Chen Minbi, Sun Yu, Li Ling, and Liu Chun were all dismissed. Ordered to name the censors Li Bing had cultivated, Yanzhuang could not answer. After some time he submitted the names of Liu Bi and the other three; they were all sent to the imperial prison and then expelled from office. Qiu Ling and the others were in truth good officials of reputation; dismissed through slander, public opinion was indignant. Qiu Ling especially would not accept it and repeatedly memorialized denouncing Yanzhuang. At court interrogation, Qiu Ling's words were forthright. The emperor detested Yanzhuang's false accusations. He was demoted to post station assistant at Daning.

方秉之被劾也，勢洶洶，且逮秉。秉謂人曰：「為我謝彭先生，秉罪惟上所命。第毋令入獄，入則秉必不出，恐傷國體。」因具疏引咎，略不自辨。時天下舉子方會試集都下，奮罵曰：「李公天下正人，為奸邪所誣。若罪李公，願罷我輩試以贖。」及帝薄責秉，乃已。秉行，官屬餞送，皆欷歔，有泣下者。秉慷慨揖諸人，登車而去。秉去，恭遂為尚書。

Just as Li Bing was being impeached, the momentum was fierce and Li Bing was about to be arrested. Li Bing said to someone, "Give my thanks to Master Peng — my guilt is solely as the emperor commands. Only do not let me enter prison; if I enter, Li Bing will surely not come out, and I fear it would damage the dignity of the state." He then submitted a full memorial accepting blame, scarcely defending himself at all. At the time scholars from across the realm were gathered in the capital for the metropolitan examination; they cried out in fury, "Master Li is an upright man under heaven, slandered by wicked men. If Master Li is punished, we wish to abandon our examination to redeem him." When the emperor moderated his censure of Li Bing, they stopped. As Li Bing departed, his subordinates came to send him off; all sighed with emotion, and some wept. Li Bing bowed generously to everyone and mounted his carriage to leave. After Li Bing left, Gong then became minister.

秉誠心直道。夷險一節，與王竑並負重望。家居二十年，中外薦疏十余上，竟不起。弘治二年卒。贈太子太保。後謚襄敏。

Li Bing was sincere of heart and upright in conduct. Steadfast through ease and peril alike, he shared with Wang Hong a weighty public reputation. At home for twenty years, more than ten recommendations arrived from inside and outside the court, yet he was never recalled. He died in the second year of Hongzhi. He was posthumously granted the title of Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent. He was later given the posthumous name Xiangmin.

子聰、明、智，孫邦直，皆舉鄉試。聰，南宮知縣，以彥莊劾罷歸。明，建寧府同知。智，南陽府知府。邦直，寧波府同知，彥莊謫後，署大寧縣，以科斂為盜所殺。

His sons Cong, Ming, and Zhi, and his grandson Bangzhi, all passed the provincial examination. Cong served as magistrate of Nangong until Yanzhuang impeached him and he was dismissed to return home. Ming served as administration vice commissioner of Jianning Prefecture. Zhi served as prefect of Nanyang Prefecture. Bangzhi served as administration vice commissioner of Ningbo Prefecture. After Yanzhuang's demotion he was assigned to act as magistrate of Daining County, where bandits killed him over his levies.

姚夔，字大章，桐廬人。孝子伯華孫也。正統七年進士，鄉、會試皆第一。明年授吏科給事中，陳時政八事。又言：「預備倉本振貧民。而裏甲慮貧者不能償，輒隱不報。致稱貸富室，倍稱還之。收獲甫畢，遽至乏絕。是貧民遇兇年饑，豐年亦饑也。乞敕天下有司。歲再發廩，必躬勘察，先給其最貧者。」帝立命行之。

Yao Kui, whose courtesy name was Dazhang, came from Tonglu. He was the grandson of Bohua, celebrated for his filial devotion. He received his jinshi degree in Zhengtong 7 and ranked first in both the provincial and metropolitan examinations. The following year he was appointed supervising secretary in the Office of Personnel and set forth eight matters of current policy. He also said, "Reserve granaries were originally meant to succor the poor. But lijia agents, fearing the poor could not repay what they borrowed, would conceal their cases and never report them. The poor were thus driven to borrow from wealthy households at usurious rates and repay at double the interest. Hardly had the harvest been gathered before they were destitute again. Thus the poor faced hunger in lean years and hunger in prosperous years alike. I beg that officials throughout the realm be commanded. When grain is issued from the granaries twice a year, they must personally investigate on the ground and give first to the poorest." The emperor immediately ordered it carried out.

景帝不豫，尚書胡濙在告，夔強起之，偕群臣疏請復太子。不允。明日，夔欲率百官伏闕請，而石亨輩已奉上皇復位，出夔南京禮部。英宗雅知夔，及聞復儲議，驛召還，進左侍郎。天順二年改吏部。知府某以貪敗，賄石亨求復，夔執不可，遂止。七年代石瑁為禮部尚書。

When the Jingtai Emperor fell ill, Minister Hu Yong was on leave; Kui insisted on rousing him, and together with the other officials submitted a memorial requesting restoration of the crown prince. The request was denied. The next day Kui intended to lead all the officials in kneeling before the palace gate to petition, but Shi Heng and his faction had already restored the retired emperor to the throne, and Kui was posted to the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. The Yingzong Emperor had long held Kui in esteem; when he learned of the effort to restore the heir, he summoned Kui back by express relay and promoted him to left vice minister. In Tianshun 2 he was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. A certain prefect, dismissed for corruption, bribed Shi Heng to seek reinstatement; Kui stood firm against it, and the matter was dropped. In the seventh year he succeeded Shi Mao as Minister of Rites.

成化二年，帝從尚書李賓言，令南畿及浙江、江西、福建諸生，納米濟荒得入監。夔奏罷之。四年以災異屢見，疏請「均愛六宮，以廣繼嗣。乞罷西山新建塔院，斥遠阿叱哩之徒。勸視經筵，裁決庶政。親君子，遠小人，節用度，愛名器。服食言動，悉遵祖宗成憲，以回天意。」且言「今日能守成化初政足矣。」帝優旨答之。他所請十事，皆立報可。

In Chenghua 2, at Minister Li Bin's suggestion, the emperor ordered that students from South Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Fujian might enter the Imperial Academy by contributing grain for famine relief. Kui memorialized to abolish the practice. In the fourth year, as calamities and portents appeared repeatedly, he submitted a memorial requesting " equal affection for all consorts of the inner palaces, so as to broaden the succession. I beg that the newly built pagoda compound on Western Mountain be abolished and that Acili and his kind be driven far away. Attend the Classics Lectern and decide the business of government. Draw close to gentlemen and keep petty men at a distance; restrain expenditure and cherish offices and honors. In food, dress, speech, and conduct, follow entirely the established ordinances of the forefathers, so as to turn Heaven's mind." He added, "For today it is enough to uphold the policies of early Chenghua." The emperor replied with gracious words. The ten other matters he requested were all promptly approved.

慈懿太后崩，中旨議別葬，閣臣持不可，下廷議。夔言：「太后配先帝二十余年，合葬升祔，典禮具在。一有不慎，違先帝心，損母後之德。他日有據禮議改者，如陛下孝德何？」疏三上，又率群臣伏文華門哭諫。帝為固請周太后，竟得如禮。後孝宗見夔及彭時疏，謂劉健曰：「先朝大臣忠厚為國乃如此！」彗星見，言官連劾夔，夔求去，不允。帝信番僧，有封法王、佛子者，服用僭擬無度。奸人慕之，競為其徒。夔力諫，勢稍減。

When Empress Dowager Ciyi died, an inner-court edict proposed separate burial; the grand secretaries objected, and the matter was referred for court deliberation. Kui said, "The Empress Dowager was consort to the late emperor for more than twenty years; joint burial and enshrinement in the ancestral temple are fully prescribed in the rites. The slightest misstep would violate the late emperor's intent and tarnish the empress dowager's virtue. If someday someone invokes the rites to press for a change, what will become of Your Majesty's reputation for filial virtue?" He submitted the memorial three times, then led the officials in kneeling before the Wenhua Gate to weep and remonstrate. The emperor earnestly petitioned Empress Dowager Zhou, and in the end the proper rites were observed. Later, when the Xiaozong Emperor read the memorials of Kui and Peng Shi, he said to Liu Jian, "See how loyal and steadfast the ministers of the previous court were in serving the state!" When a comet appeared, censorial officials repeatedly impeached Kui; Kui asked to resign, but the emperor would not allow it. The emperor trusted Tibetan monks; some were enfeoffed as Dharma Kings or Buddha's Sons, and their dress and equipage mimicked imperial privilege without restraint. Schemers admired this and vied to become their disciples. Kui remonstrated vigorously, and the trend eased somewhat.

五年代崔恭為吏部尚書。雨雪失時，陳時弊二十事。七年加太子少保。彗星見，復偕群臣陳二十八事，大要以絕求請，禁采辦，恤軍匠，減力役，撫流民，節冗費為急。帝多采納。明年九月，南畿、浙江大水。夔請命廷臣共求安民弭患之術。每遇災異，輒請帝振恤，憂形於色。明年卒，贈少保，謚文敏。

In the fifth year he succeeded Cui Gong as Minister of Personnel. When snow and rain fell out of season, he set forth twenty present abuses. In the seventh year he was given the additional title of Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent. When a comet appeared, he again joined the other officials in setting forth twenty-eight matters, stressing above all an end to favor-seeking, a ban on procurement missions, relief for soldiers and artisans, reduction of corvée labor, succor for displaced people, and cutting wasteful spending. The emperor adopted many of his recommendations. In the ninth month of the following year, South Zhili and Zhejiang were struck by great floods. Kui asked that the court officials jointly seek ways to settle the people and quell the disaster. Whenever calamity or portent struck, he would ask the emperor for relief; his face showed his worry. He died the following year and was posthumously granted the title of Junior Guardian, with the posthumous name Wenmin.

夔才器宏遠，表裏洞達。朝議未定者，夔一言立決。其在吏部，留意人才，不避親故。初，王翺為吏部，專抑南人，北人喜之。至夔，頗右南人，論薦率能稱職。

Kui's talents were far-reaching and his mind lucid through and through. Where court debate hung unresolved, a single word from Kui would settle the matter at once. As minister of personnel, he paid close heed to talent and did not shrink from recommending relatives and friends. When Wang Ao first headed the Ministry of Personnel, he deliberately held back southerners, and northerners welcomed the policy. Under Kui the balance shifted toward southerners, yet those he recommended generally proved equal to their duties.

子璧，由進士歷官兵部郎中。項忠劾汪直，璧預其謀。直構忠，連璧下獄，謫廣西思明同知，謝病歸。

His son Bi entered service as a jinshi and rose to bureau director in the Ministry of War. When Xiang Zhong impeached Wang Zhi, Bi took part in the conspiracy. Zhi framed Zhong and implicated Bi as well; Bi was thrown into prison, demoted to administration vice commissioner of Siming in Guangxi, and retired on grounds of illness.

夔從弟龍，與夔同舉進士，除刑部主事，累官福建左布政使。右布政使劉讓同年不相能。讓粗暴，龍亦乏清操。成化初入覲，王翺兩罷之。

Kui's younger cousin Long took the jinshi in the same year as Kui, entered the Ministry of Justice as a bureau director, and rose to left administration commissioner of Fujian. Right Administration Commissioner Liu Rang, a fellow metropolitan graduate of the same year, could not abide him. Rang was coarse and violent, and Long too fell short in integrity. When they came to court to pay homage at the start of Chenghua, Wang Ao had both of them removed from office.

王復，字初陽，固安人。正統七年進士。授刑科給事中。聲容宏偉，善敷奏。擢通政參議。

Wang Fu, whose courtesy name was Chuyang, came from Gu'an. He received his jinshi degree in Zhengtong 7. He was appointed supervising secretary in the Office of Punishments. His voice and bearing were imposing, and he was skilled at addressing the throne. He was promoted to vice commissioner of the Transmission Office.

也先犯京師，邀大臣出迎上皇。眾憚行，復請往。乃遷右通政，假禮部侍郎，與中書舍人趙榮偕。敵露刃夾之，復等不為懾。還仍蒞通政事，再遷通政使。天順中，歷兵部左右侍郎。

When Esen struck at the capital, he demanded that the grand ministers come out to welcome the retired emperor. All shrank from going; Fu volunteered. He was then promoted to right vice commissioner of transmission, granted acting rank as vice minister of rites, and went together with Secretariat draftsman Zhao Rong. The enemy bared their blades and hemmed them in, but Fu and the others did not flinch. After returning he continued to manage the Transmission Office and was promoted again to commissioner of transmission. During the Tianshun reign he served successively as left and right vice minister of war.

毛裏孩擾邊，命復出視陜西邊備。自延綏抵甘肅，相度形勢，上言：「延綏東起黃河岸，西至定邊營，接寧夏花馬池，索紆二千餘里。險隘俱在內地，而境外乃無屏障，止憑墩堡以守。軍反居內，民顧居外。敵一入境，官軍未行，民遭掠已盡矣。又西南抵慶陽，相去五百餘里，烽火不接。寇至，民猶不知。其迤北墩堠，率皆曠遠，非禦邊長策。請移府谷、響水等十九堡，置近邊要地。而自安邊營接慶陽，自定邊營接環州，每二十里築墩臺一，計凡三十有四。隨形勢為溝墻，庶息響相聞，易於守禦。」其經略寧夏，則言：「中路靈州以南，本無亭燧。東西二路，營堡遼絕，聲聞不屬，致敵每深入。亦請建置墩臺如延綏，計為臺五十有八。」

When Molihai harried the frontier, Fu was sent out to inspect the defenses on the Shaanxi border. From Yan-sui to Gansu he surveyed the terrain and submitted a memorial: "Yan-sui runs from the Yellow River bank in the east to Dingbian Camp in the west, bordering Ningxia's Huamachi—a winding stretch of more than two thousand li. All the strategic passes lie inside our territory, yet beyond the border there is no screen; we rely only on beacon towers and forts. Troops are posted within while civilians live outside. Once the enemy crosses the border, the people have already been stripped clean before our troops even march out. Southwest to Qingyang is more than five hundred li, with no chain of beacon signals between them. When raiders arrive, the people still have no warning. The beacon towers along the northern stretch are mostly remote and desolate—not a sound long-term strategy for defending the frontier. I request that nineteen forts, including Fugu and Xiangshui, be relocated to key positions near the border. From Anbian Camp to Qingyang and from Dingbian Camp to Huanzhou, build a beacon tower every twenty li—for a total of thirty-four. Following the terrain, build trenches and walls so that signals can carry from post to post and the line will be easier to hold." On his plans for Ningxia, he said, "South of Lingzhou along the central route there were originally no relay stations or beacons. On the eastern and western routes the camps and forts lie far apart; signals and reports cannot link up, and the enemy penetrates deeply each time. I likewise request beacon towers on the Yan-sui model, totaling fifty-eight."

其經略甘肅，則言：「永昌、西寧、鎮番、莊浪俱有險可守。惟涼州四際平曠，敵最易入。又水草便利，輒經年宿留。遠調援軍，兵疲銳挫，急何能濟。請於甘州五衛內，各分一千戶所，置涼州中衛，給之印信。其五所軍伍，則於五衛內余丁選補。且耕且練，斯戰守有資，兵威自振。」又言：「洪武間建東勝衛，其西路直達寧夏，皆列烽堠。自永樂初，北寇遠遁，因移軍延綏，棄河不守。誠使兵強糧足，仍準祖制，據守黃河，萬全計也。今河套未靖，豈能遽復？然亦宜因時損益。延綏將校視他鎮為少，調遣不足，請增置參將二人，統軍九千，使駐要地，互相援接，實今日急務。」奏上，皆從之。

On his plans for Gansu, he said, "Yongchang, Xining, Zhenfan, and Zhuanglang all have defensible terrain. Only Liangzhou is flat and open on every side, and the enemy enters most easily there. Grass and water are plentiful there as well, and raiders often linger for a full year. Relief troops summoned from afar arrive exhausted and blunt; in an emergency what good can they do? I request that one thousand-household unit be drawn from each of the five guards of Ganzhou to establish the Liangzhou Central Guard and grant it official seals. The troops for those five offices should be drawn from surplus registered males within the five guards. With farming and drilling together, we will have the means to fight and hold the line, and our military prestige will revive of itself. He also said, "In the Hongwu era the Dongsheng Guard was established; its western route ran straight to Ningxia, with beacon towers posted all along the line. From the beginning of the Yongle reign, when northern raiders withdrew far to the north, troops were shifted to Yan-sui and the river line was given up. Were the troops strong and grain abundant, holding the Yellow River according to the ancestral system would be the safest course of all. With the Ordos not yet pacified, how could we restore it overnight? Yet adjustments according to the times would still be fitting. Yan-sui has fewer officers than the other commands and cannot meet deployment needs; I request two additional vice generals commanding nine thousand troops, posted at key positions to support each other—an urgent need of the day." When the memorial was submitted, the emperor approved every recommendation.

復在邊建置，多合機宜。及還朝，言者謂治兵非復所長。特命白圭代之，改復工部。謹守法度，聲名逾兵部。時中官請修皇城西北回廊，復議緩其役。給事中高斐亦言災沴頻仍，不宜役萬人作無益。帝皆不許。中官領騰驤四衛軍者，請給胖襖鞋褲。復執不可，曰：「朝廷制此，本給征行之士，使得刻日戒途，無勞縫紉。京軍則歲給冬衣布棉，此成憲也，奈何渝之？」大應法王劄實巴死，中官請造寺建塔。復言：「大慈法王但建塔，未嘗造寺。今不宜創此制。」乃止命建塔，猶發軍四千人供役雲，十四年加太子少保。

Fu's frontier arrangements mostly fit the strategic needs. After he returned to court, critics said military administration was not Fu's forte. The emperor specially ordered Bai Gui to replace him and transferred Fu to the Ministry of Works. He strictly observed law and regulation, and his reputation exceeded even that from his days at the Ministry of War. When eunuchs requested repairs to the northwest cloister walk of the imperial city, Fu argued for deferring the work. Supervising secretary Gao Fei also argued that calamities were appearing one after another and it was wrong to conscript ten thousand men for pointless labor. The emperor rejected them both. The eunuch commanding the four Tengxiang Guards requested padded jackets, shoes, and trousers. Fu stood firm against it, saying, "The court established this provision for troops on campaign so they could take to the road at once without sewing. Capital garrison troops receive winter cloth and cotton each year—that is established law. How can we violate it?" When the Great Responding Dharma King Zhagaba died, eunuchs asked to build a temple and pagoda. Fu said, "The Great Compassion Dharma King had only a pagoda built; no temple was ever constructed. We should not create this new precedent now." They stopped at ordering only the pagoda, but still dispatched four thousand troops for corvée; in the fourteenth year he was given the additional title of Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent.

復好古嗜學，守廉約，與人無城府，當官識大體。居工部十二年，會災異，言官言其衰老，乞休。不許。居二月，汪直諷言官更劾復及鄒幹、薛遠。乃傳旨，並令致仕歸。久之，卒。贈太子太保，謚莊簡。

Fu loved antiquity and was devoted to learning; he lived frugally and honestly, wore no hidden designs toward others, and in office grasped the larger pattern. After twelve years at the Ministry of Works, when calamities and portents appeared, censorial officials cited his age and urged retirement. The request was denied. Two months later Wang Zhi prompted censorial officials to impeach Fu again, along with Zou Gan and Xue Yuan. An edict then ordered all of them to retire and return home. Some time later he died. He was posthumously granted the title of Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent, with the posthumous name Zhuangjian.

三年春，疏言：「臣職在糾察刑獄。妖僧趙才興之疏族百口，律不當坐，而抄提至京。叛人王英，兄不知情，家口律不當逮，而俱配流所。雖終見原，然其始受害已不堪矣。湖廣巡撫蔡錫以劾副使邢端，為所訐，系獄經年，而端居職如故。侍郎劉璉督餉侵隱，不為無罪。較沈固、周忱乾沒萬計，孰為輕重？璉下獄追征，而固、忱不問。犯人徐南與子中書舍人頤，俱坐王振黨當斬，乃論南大辟，頤止除名。皆刑罰之失平者。」帝是之。端下獄，璉得釋，南亦減死，除名。

In the spring of the third year he submitted a memorial: "My duty is to inspect penal cases. The distant clan of the sorcerer-monk Zhao Caixing—a hundred people in all—should not have been punished under the law, yet they were seized and brought to the capital. The rebel Wang Ying's elder brother knew nothing of the affair; his household should not have been seized under the law, yet all were sent into exile. Though they were ultimately pardoned, the harm done at the outset was already beyond bearing. Huguang Grand Coordinator Cai Xi, for impeaching Vice Commissioner Xing Duan, was counter-accused and imprisoned for a year while Duan kept his post. Vice Minister Liu Lian embezzled and concealed funds while supervising provisions—not without guilt. Compared with Shen Gu and Zhou Chen, who misappropriated sums in the tens of thousands, which offense is the more serious? Lian was thrown into prison and made to repay what he had taken, while Gu and Chen went unquestioned. The convict Xu Nan and his son Yi, a Secretariat draftsman, were both deemed Wang Zhen's faction and merited execution; yet Nan was sentenced to death while Yi was only stripped of office. All are cases in which penalties were unevenly applied." The emperor agreed. Duan was imprisoned, Lian was released, and Nan's sentence was reduced from death while Yi was stripped of office.

東宮改建，聰有異論，遷春坊司直郎。四年春，學士商輅言聰敢言，不宜置之散地，乃復為吏科都給事中。上言奪情非令典，請永除其令。帝納之。初，正統中，福建銀場額重，民不堪。聰恐生變，請輕之。時弗能用，已果大亂。及是復極言其害，竟得減免。

When the Eastern Palace was rebuilt, Cong voiced dissent and was transferred to Directing Clerk in the Eastern Palace. In the spring of the fourth year Academician Shang Lu argued that Cong spoke boldly and should not be left idle; he was restored as chief supervising secretary in the Office of Personnel. He submitted that dispensation from mourning was no proper precedent and asked that the regulation be abolished permanently. The emperor accepted it. Earlier, during the Zhengtong reign, Fujian's silver-mining quota was crushing and the people could not bear it. Cong feared unrest and asked that the quota be reduced. His advice went unheeded, and a great rebellion followed. Now he again spoke out forcefully against the harm, and in the end secured reduction and exemption.

五年三月，以災異偕同官條上八事，雜引五行諸書，累數千言。大略以絕玩好，謹嗜欲，為崇德之本。而修人事，在進賢退奸。武清侯石亨、指揮鄭倫身享厚祿，而多奏求田地；百戶唐興多至一千二百余頃，宜為限制。余如罷齋醮、汰僧道，慎刑獄，禁私役軍士，省輪班工匠，皆深中時弊。帝多采納。

In the third month of the fifth year, responding to calamities and portents he joined his colleagues in submitting eight items, citing books on the Five Phases at length for several thousand words. In general he held that abandoning frivolities and restraining desires were the foundation of cultivating virtue. As for setting human affairs right, it lies in advancing the worthy and removing the corrupt. Marquis Shi Heng of Wuqing and Commander Zheng Lun enjoyed rich salaries yet repeatedly petitioned for farmland; Hundred-Household Officer Tang Xing had acquired more than twelve hundred qing; limits ought to be set. The rest—abolishing fasting rites and purging monks and Daoists, careful handling of penal cases, banning private impressment of soldiers, economizing on rotating artisan corvée—all struck deeply at the abuses of the day. The emperor adopted many of his recommendations.

先是，吏部尚書何文淵以聰言下獄，致仕去。及是，吏部除副使羅篪為按察使，參政李輅、僉事陳永為布政使。聰疏爭之，並言山西布政使王瑛老，宜罷。篪等遂還故官，瑛致仕。御史白仲賢以久次，擢廣東按察使。聰言仲賢奔競，不當超擢，乃遷鎮江知府。兵部主事吳誠夤緣得吏部，聰劾之，遂改工部。諸司憚聰風裁，聰所言，無敢不奉行者，吏部尤甚。內閣及諸御史亦並以聰好論建，弗善也。

Earlier Minister of Personnel He Wenyuan had been imprisoned at Cong's word and had retired. On this occasion the Ministry of Personnel appointed Vice Commissioner Luo Chi as surveillance commissioner and Administration Vice Commissioners Li Lu and Chen Yong as administration commissioners. Cong memorialized against the appointments and also argued that Shanxi Administration Commissioner Wang Ying was too old and should be dismissed. Chi and the others returned to their former posts; Ying retired. Censor Bai Zhongxian, after long seniority, was promoted to Guangdong Surveillance Commissioner. Cong said Zhongxian was scheming for advancement and should not leapfrog promotion; he was transferred to prefect of Zhenjiang instead. Wu Cheng, a bureau director in the Ministry of War, had gained a Ministry of Personnel post through connections; Cong impeached him and he was transferred to the Ministry of Works. Every office feared Cong's severity; none dared fail to carry out what he said, the Ministry of Personnel least of all. The inner cabinet and the other censors likewise disliked Cong for his love of debate and proposals.

其年冬，聰甥陳和為教官，欲得近地便養。聰為言於吏部。御史黃溥等遂劾聰挾制吏部；並前劾仲賢為私其鄉人參政方員，欲奪仲賢官予之；與吳誠有怨，輒劾誠；福建參政許仕達囑聰求進，聰舉仕達堪巡撫。並劾尚書王直阿聰。章下廷訊，坐專擅選法，論斬。高谷、胡濙力救。帝亦自知聰，止貶國子學正。

That winter Cong's nephew Chen He, an instructor, wished for a nearby posting to care for his parents. Cong spoke on his behalf to the Ministry of Personnel. Censors Huang Pu and others then impeached Cong for coercing the Ministry of Personnel; they also cited his earlier impeachment of Zhongxian as favoritism toward his fellow townsman Administration Vice Commissioner Fang Yuan, seeking to seize Zhongxian's post for him; bearing a grudge against Wu Cheng, he had promptly impeached him; Fujian Administration Vice Commissioner Xu Shida had asked Cong to seek advancement for him, and Cong recommended Shida as fit for grand coordinator. They also impeached Minister Wang Zhi for indulging Cong. The memorial was sent down for court interrogation; he was found guilty of usurping appointment authority and sentenced to death. Gao Gu and Hu Yong fought hard to save him. The emperor knew Cong well and stopped at demoting him to Director of Study in the Imperial Academy.

英宗復辟，超拜左僉都御史，出振山東饑，活饑民百四十五萬。還進右副都御史，捕江、淮鹽盜。以便宜，擒戮渠魁數人，余悉解散，而奏籍指揮之受盜賂者。母憂起復，再辭。不許。

When the Yingzong Emperor regained the throne, Cong was promoted by special order to left assistant censor-in-chief, sent to relieve famine in Shandong, and saved one million four hundred fifty thousand starving people. On returning he was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and captured salt smugglers on the Yangzi and Huai. Acting at discretion, he seized and executed several ringleaders, dispersed the rest, and memorialized a roster of commanders who had taken bribes from the smugglers. When recalled from mourning for his mother, he declined twice. The request was denied.

天順四年，曹欽反。將士妄殺，至割乞兒首報功，市人不敢出戶。聰署院事，急令獲賊者必生致，濫殺為止。錦衣官校惡欽殺指揮逯杲，悉捕欽姻識。千戶龔遂榮及外舅賀三亦在系中。人知其冤，莫敢直，聰辨出之。其他湔雪者甚眾。七年冬，以刑部囚自縊，諸給事中劾紀綱廢弛，與都御史李賓俱下獄。尋釋。

In Tianshun 4, Cao Qin rebelled. Soldiers killed indiscriminately, even cutting off beggars' heads to claim merit; townspeople dared not leave their homes. Cong was acting head of the Censorate and urgently ordered that captors must deliver rebels alive; the indiscriminate killing stopped. The brocade-cloaked guards resented Qin for killing Commander Lu Gao and arrested all of Qin's kin and associates. Thousand-Household Officer Gong Suirong and his father-in-law He San were also among the detainees. People knew they were innocent but none dared speak up; Cong argued their case and secured their release. Many others were likewise cleared of blame. In the winter of the seventh year, after a Ministry of Justice prisoner hanged himself, supervising secretaries impeached Cong for lax discipline, and both he and Censor-in-Chief Li Bin were imprisoned. They were soon released.

成化二年，淮南、北饑，聰出巡視。奏貸漕糧及江南余糧以振，民德之如山東。明年偕戶部尚書馬昂清理京軍，進右都御史。七年代王越巡撫大同。歲餘，遇疾致仕。再歲，以故官起掌南院。前掌院多不樂御史言事，聰獨獎勵之。或咎聰，聰曰：「己既不言，又禁他人言，可乎？」

In Chenghua 2, when the region south of the Huai and the north suffered famine, Cong went out to inspect relief. He memorialized to loan transport grain and surplus grain from Jiangnan for relief, and the people honored him as they had in Shandong. The next year, together with Minister of Revenue Ma Ang, he audited the capital garrison and was promoted to right censor-in-chief. In the seventh year he succeeded Wang Yue as grand coordinator of Datong. After a little more than a year he fell ill and retired. Two years later he was recalled to his former rank to head the southern Censorate office. Previous Censorate heads had mostly disliked censors speaking up; Cong alone encouraged them. Some blamed Cong; he said, "If I will not speak myself and also forbid others to speak, how is that acceptable?

十三年秋，召拜刑部尚書，尋加太子少保。聰以舊德召用，持大體，秉公論，不嚴而肅，時望益峻。十五年，偕中官汪直、定西侯蔣琬按遼東失事狀。直庇巡撫陳鉞，聰不能爭，論者惜焉。十八年乞歸不得，卒於位，年六十八。贈少保，謚莊敏。

In the autumn of the thirteenth year he was summoned and appointed Minister of Justice, and soon given the additional title of Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent. Cong was recalled for his longstanding service; he upheld the larger pattern, stood by public principle, and though not harsh commanded respect—his standing in the age grew ever higher. In the fifteenth year, together with the eunuch Wang Zhi and Marquis Jiang Wan of Dingxi, he investigated the military failures in Liaodong. Zhi shielded Grand Coordinator Chen Yue; Cong could not prevail, and commentators deplored it. In the eighteenth year he asked to retire but was refused; he died in office at the age of sixty-eight. He was posthumously made Junior Mentor and given the posthumous title Zhuangmin.

聰為諫官，嚴重不可犯。實恂恂和易，不為嶄絕之行。以故不肖者畏之，而賢者多樂就焉。景泰時，士大夫激昂論事，朝多直臣，率聰與葉盛為之倡。

As a remonstrating official, Cong was stern and formidable—no one dared cross him. In truth he was modest and affable and did not indulge in extravagant extremes. For this reason the unworthy feared him, while men of talent gladly sought his company. During the Jingtai reign, scholar-officials spoke boldly on public affairs, and the court had many upright ministers—chief among the leaders were Cong and Ye Sheng.

葉盛，字與中，昆山人。正統十年進士，授兵科給事中。師覆土木，諸將多遁還，盛率同列請先正扈從失律者罪，且選將練兵，為復仇計。郕王即位，例有賞賚，盛以君父蒙塵辭。不許。

Ye Sheng, whose courtesy name was Yuzhong, came from Kunshan. Having passed the jinshi examination in Zhengtong 10, he was appointed Supervising Secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs. When the army was annihilated at Tumu, many generals fled homeward. Sheng led his colleagues in urging that those who had broken discipline while escorting the emperor be punished first, and that generals be selected and troops drilled to plan vengeance. When the Prince of Cheng ascended the throne, customary rewards were distributed; Sheng declined them, citing the emperor's captivity and the realm's disgrace. His request was denied.

也先迫都城，請罷內府軍匠備征操。又請令有司儲糧科給戰士，遣散卒取軍器於天津，以張外援。三日間，章七八上，多中機宜。寇退，進都給事中。言：「勸懲之道，在明賞罰。敢戰如孫鏜，死事如謝澤、韓青，當賞。其他守禦不嚴，赴難不力者，皆當罰。」大臣陳循等議召還鎮守居庸都御史羅通，並留宣府都督楊洪掌京營。盛言：「今日之事，邊關為急。往者獨石、馬營不棄，駕何以陷土木？紫荊、白羊不破，寇何以薄都城？今紫荊、倒馬諸關，寇退幾及一月，尚未設守禦。宣府為大同應援，居庸切近京師，守之尤不可非人。洪等既留，必求如洪者代之，然後可以副重寄而集大功。」帝是之。尋命出安集陳州流民。

When Esen pressed upon the capital, he petitioned to disband the palace military craftsmen and ready the army for field operations. He also urged officials to stock grain and levy supplies for the troops, and to send scattered soldiers to fetch weapons at Tianjin so that outside support would appear at full strength. Within three days he submitted seven or eight memorials, most of them striking the right strategic note. After the invaders withdrew, he was promoted to Chief Supervising Secretary. He said, "The way to encourage the good and restrain the bad is to make rewards and punishments unmistakable. Men who fought boldly, like Sun Tang, and men who died in service, like Xie Ze and Han Qing, should be rewarded. All others who failed to defend their posts or rose sluggishly to the crisis should be punished." The senior ministers Chen Xun and others proposed recalling Luo Tong, the Censor-in-Chief garrisoning Juyong Pass, and retaining Yang Hong, Regional Commander of Xuanfu, to command the capital garrison. Sheng said, "In the crisis of the moment, the frontier passes come first. Had Dushi and Maying not been abandoned earlier, how would the emperor have met disaster at Tumu? Had Zijing and Baiyang not been breached, how would the enemy have reached the capital's very gates? At Zijing, Daoma, and other passes the enemy withdrew nearly a month ago, yet defenses have still not been established. Xuanfu backs Datong's defense, and Juyong lies right at the capital's doorstep—neither post can be left to unworthy men. If Hong and the others are retained here, men of Hong's caliber must be found to replace them on the frontier—only then can the heavy responsibility be shouldered and a great success won." The emperor agreed. He was soon ordered to go forth and resettle displaced persons in Chen Prefecture.

擢右參政，督餉宣府。尋以李秉薦，協贊都督僉事孫安軍務。初，安嘗領獨石、馬營、龍門衛、所四城備禦，英宗即北狩，安以四城遠在塞外，勢孤，奏棄之內徙。至是廷議命安修復。盛與辟草萊，葺廬舍，庀戰具，招流移，為行旅置煖鋪，請帑金買牛千頭以賦屯卒，立社學，置義冢，療疾扶傷。兩歲間，四城及赤城、雕鶚諸堡次第皆完，安由是進副總兵。而守備中官弓勝害安，奏安疾宜代。帝以問盛，言：「安為勝所持，故病。今諸將無逾安者。」乃留安，且遣醫視疾。已又劾勝，卒調之他鎮。

He was promoted to Right Vice Commissioner and put in charge of provisioning Xuanfu. Soon, on Li Bing's recommendation, he served as assistant to Regional Commander Sun An in military affairs. At first Sun An had held the defenses of the four frontier posts—Dushi, Maying, Longmen Guard, and Longmen Battalion. When Emperor Yingzong marched north and was captured, An judged the four posts too far beyond the frontier and too isolated, and petitioned to abandon them and withdraw inward. The court now ordered An to rebuild them. Sheng worked with him to clear the land, rebuild dwellings, stock military supplies, and resettle refugees; he set up wayfarers' inns, obtained treasury funds to buy a thousand oxen for garrison colonists, founded village schools, established paupers' graveyards, and provided medical care for the sick and wounded. Within two years the four posts and the forts at Chicheng, Diao'e, and elsewhere were restored in turn; An was thereupon promoted to Vice Commander-in-Chief. But the garrison eunuch Gong Sheng persecuted An and memorialized that An's illness called for his replacement. The emperor asked Sheng's view; he said, "An's illness comes from Sheng's persecution. Among the generals now serving, none surpasses An." An was retained, and a physician was dispatched to attend him. Sheng was later impeached again and was finally transferred to another post.

英宗復位，盛遭父憂，奔喪。天順二年召為右僉都御史，巡撫兩廣。乞終制，不許。瀧水瑤鳳弟吉肆掠，督諸將生擒之。時兩廣盜蜂起，所至破城殺將。諸將怯不敢戰，殺平民冒功，民相率從賊。盛以蠻出沒不常，請自今攻劫城池者始以聞，余止類奏。疏至兵部，駁不行。盛與總兵官顏彪破賊寨七百余所。彪頗濫殺，謗者遂以咎盛。六年命吳禎撫廣西，而盛專撫廣東。

When Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, Sheng's father died and he hurried home to mourn. In Tianshun 2 he was summoned and appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, Grand Coordinator of Guangdong and Guangxi. He asked to complete the mourning period but was refused. Ji, younger brother of the Yao chieftain Feng of Longshui, was plundering at will; Sheng ordered the generals to take him alive. Bandits were rising across the Two Guangs, storming cities and killing generals wherever they went. The generals were too cowardly to fight; they killed civilians to claim credit, and the people turned to the bandits in droves. Because tribal raiders struck unpredictably, Sheng asked that only attacks on cities and forts be reported at once hereafter; lesser incidents could be summarized in routine memorials. The Ministry of War rejected the proposal and would not act on it. Sheng and the Commander-in-Chief Yan Biao destroyed more than seven hundred bandit strongholds. Biao was notoriously indiscriminate in killing, and critics blamed Sheng for it. In the sixth year Wu Zhen was assigned to Guangxi, while Sheng was left in charge of Guangdong alone.

憲宗立，議事入都，給事中張寧等欲薦之入閣。以御史呂洪言遂止，而以韓雍代撫廣東。初，編修邱濬與盛不相能。大學士李賢入濬言，及是草雍敕曰：「無若葉盛之殺降也。」盛不置辨。稍遷左僉都御史，代李秉巡撫宣府。請量減中鹽米價，以勸商裕邊。復舉官牛官田之法，墾田四千余頃。以其余積市戰馬千八百匹，修堡七百余所，邊塞益寧。

When the Xianzong Emperor took the throne, Sheng came to the capital on official business; Supervising Secretary Zhang Ning and others hoped to recommend him for the Grand Secretariat. Censor Lü Hong's objection stopped the move, and Han Yong was appointed to replace him in Guangdong. From the first, Compiler Qiu Jun and Sheng had been at odds. Grand Secretary Li Xian took up Jun's complaint; when drafting Han Yong's commission he wrote, "Do not imitate Ye Sheng in slaughtering those who had surrendered." Sheng made no reply. He was soon promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief and replaced Li Bing as Grand Coordinator of Xuanfu. He asked that the grain price under the government-salt trade be reduced somewhat to encourage merchants and ease frontier supply. He revived the system of official oxen and official fields and reclaimed more than four thousand qing of land. With the surplus he bought eighteen hundred war horses, rebuilt more than seven hundred forts, and the frontier grew steadily more secure.

成化三年秋，入為禮部右侍郎，偕給事毛弘按事南京。還改吏部。出振真定、保定饑，議清莊田，分養民間種馬，置倉涿州、天津，積粟備荒，皆切時計。

In the autumn of Chenghua 3 he was recalled as Right Vice Minister of Rites and, together with Supervising Secretary Mao Hong, conducted an inquiry at Nanjing. On his return he was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. Sent to relieve famine in Zhending and Baoding, he proposed clearing monastic estates, distributing the burden of raising breeding horses among the people, and establishing granaries at Zhuozhou and Tianjin to store grain against famine—all measures well suited to the moment.

滿都魯諸部久駐河套，兵部尚書白圭議以十萬眾大舉逐之，沿河築城抵東勝，徙民耕守。帝壯其議。八年春，敕盛往會總督王越，巡撫馬文升、余子俊、徐廷璋詳議。初，盛為諫官，喜言兵，多所論建。既往來三邊，知時無良將，邊備久虛，轉運勞費，搜河套復東勝未可輕議。乃會諸臣上疏，言「守為長策。如必決戰，亦宜堅壁清野，伺其惰歸擊之，令一大創，庶可遏再來。又或乘彼入掠，遣精卒進搗其巢，令彼反顧，內外夾擊，足以有功。然必守固，而後戰可議也。」帝善其言，而圭主復套。師出，竟無功。人以是服盛之先見。

Mandulu and the other tribes had long encamped in the Ordos Loop. Minister of War Bai Gui proposed a major expedition of a hundred thousand men to drive them out, building walls along the Yellow River as far as Dongsheng and resettling civilians to farm and hold the land. The emperor approved the plan enthusiastically. In the spring of the eighth year the emperor ordered Sheng to confer with Supreme Commander Wang Yue and Grand Coordinators Ma Wensheng, Yu Zijun, and Xu Tingzhang. As a remonstrating official Sheng had often spoken on military affairs and made many proposals. Having traveled the three frontiers, he knew there were no capable generals at hand, that defenses had long been neglected, and that supply lines were ruinously costly—retaking the Ordos Loop and restoring Dongsheng was not a proposal to treat lightly. He joined the other officials in a memorial stating, "Defense is the wisest long-term policy. If battle is unavoidable, we should fortify our positions and strip the countryside bare, wait until the enemy grows weary on the homeward march, and strike—one heavy blow might deter them from coming again. Alternatively, when they raid our territory, we could send crack troops to strike their camps in the rear, forcing them to turn back—a combined attack from within and without could win real success. But our defenses must be solid first; only then can offensive action be entertained." The emperor approved the argument, but Bai Gui still pushed to recover the Ordos. The expedition was launched and achieved nothing in the end. People therefore admired Sheng's foresight.

八年轉左侍郎。十年卒，年五十五。謚文莊。

In the eighth year he was made Left Vice Minister. He died in the tenth year at the age of fifty-five. He was posthumously titled Wenzhuang.

盛清修積學，尚名檢，薄嗜好，家居出入常徒步。生平慕範仲淹，堂寢皆設其像。誌在君民，不為身計，有古大臣風。

Sheng was a man of learning and moral discipline who cherished his reputation, lived sparely, and even at home usually went about on foot. He admired Fan Zhongyan all his life and kept Fan's portrait in his hall and private quarters. His heart was set on ruler and people rather than private gain; he had the bearing of the great ministers of antiquity.

贊曰：天順、成化間，六部最稱得人。王翺等正直剛方，皆所謂名德老成人也。觀翺與李秉、年富之任封疆，王竑之擊奸黨、活饑民，王復之籌邊備，姚夔之典秩宗，林聰、葉盛之居言路，所表見，皆自卓卓。其聲實茂著，系朝野重望，有以哉。

The historian comments: During the Tianshun and Chenghua reigns, the Six Ministries were at their strongest in talent. Wang Ao and his peers were upright and uncompromising—men of celebrated virtue and seasoned judgment. Consider Wang Ao's service on the frontiers with Li Bing and Nian Fu; Wang Hong's assault on corrupt factions and relief of famine victims; Wang Fu's planning of frontier defenses; Yao Kui's stewardship of ritual and rank; Lin Cong and Ye Sheng at their posts on the remonstrating circuits—their accomplishments in each case stood out on their own. Their reputations were richly deserved; they commanded the esteem of court and country alike—and with good reason.

Cite this Chapter