Volume 183 Biographies 71: He Qiaoxin, Peng Shao, Zhou Jing, Geng Yu, Ni Yue, Min Gui, Dai Shan

何喬新彭韶周經耿裕倪嶽閔珪戴珊

He Qiaoxin, Peng Shao, Zhou Jing, Geng Yu, Ni Yue, Min Gui, and Dai Shan

何喬新，字廷秀，江西廣昌人。

He Qiaoxin, whose style name was Tingxiu, came from Guangchang in Jiangxi.

父文淵，永樂十六年進士。授御史，歷按山東、四川。烏蒙奸民什伽私其知府祿昭妻，懼誅，誣昭反。詔發軍討。文淵檄止所調軍，而白其誣。宣德五年用顧佐薦，賜敕知溫州府。居六年，治最，增俸賜璽書。以胡瀅薦，擢刑部右侍郎，督兩淮鹽課。正統三年，兩議獄不當，與尚書魏源下獄，皆得釋。朝議征麓川，文淵疏諫曰：「麓川僥外彈丸地，不足煩大兵。若遣雲南守將屯金齒，令三司官撫諭之，遠人獲更生，而朝廷免調兵轉餉，策之善者也。」帝下其議，廷臣多主用兵。於是西南騷動，僅乃克之，而失亡多。其冬，以疾乞歸。景帝即位，起吏部左侍郎，尋進尚書，佐王直理部事。東宮建，加太子太保。災異見，給事中林聰等劾文淵憸邪。左庶子周旋疏言其枉，聰並劾旋。御史曹凱復廷爭之，遂與旋俱下獄。聰疏有「囑內臣」語，太監興安請詰主名。聰不敢堅對，乃釋文淵命致仕。英宗復位，削其加官。而景泰中易儲詔書「父有天下傳之子」，語出文淵，或傳朝命逮捕，懼而自縊。

His father, He Wenyuan, earned his jinshi degree in the sixteenth year of the Yongle reign. He was appointed investigating censor and in turn served as touring inspector in Shandong and Sichuan. At Wumeng a local villain named Shijia secretly took the wife of Prefect Lu Zhao; fearing execution, he falsely accused Zhao of rebellion. An edict was issued to dispatch an army against him. Wenyuan ordered the mobilized troops halted and reported that the accusation was a fabrication. In the fifth year of Xuande, on Gu Zuo's recommendation, he received an imperial commission as prefect of Wenzhou. After six years in office his administration ranked first; his salary was raised and he was granted a sealed imperial commendation. On Hu Ying's recommendation he was promoted to Vice Minister of Punishments and put in charge of the salt levy in the two Huai circuits. In the third year of Zhengtong he twice mishandled capital cases; he and Minister Wei Yuan were imprisoned but both were released. When the court debated a campaign against Luchuan, Wenyuan remonstrated in a memorial: "Luchuan is a speck of territory beyond the frontier and not worth mobilizing a great army. If the Yunnan frontier commander is sent to encamp at Jinzhi and the three provincial commissioners are charged to reassure them, the distant peoples will be given new life while the court is spared mobilizing troops and shipping provisions—this is the soundest policy. The Emperor circulated his proposal for discussion, but most ministers at court favored military action. The southwest was thrown into turmoil; the region was barely subdued, and casualties were heavy. That winter he pleaded illness and asked to retire to his home. When Emperor Jingtai ascended the throne, Wenyuan was recalled as Left Vice Minister of Personnel and soon promoted to Minister, assisting Wang Zhi in running the ministry. When the Eastern Palace was established, he was given the additional title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. When omens and portents appeared, supervising secretaries Lin Cong and others impeached Wenyuan as crafty and malicious. Left Associate Reader Zhou Xuan submitted a memorial declaring him innocent; Cong impeached Xuan as well. Censor Cao Kai again contested the matter at court, and both Xuan and Wenyuan were sent to prison. Cong's memorial contained the phrase "entrusted to inner eunuchs"; the eunuch Xing An demanded that the person named be identified. Cong did not dare hold to his charge; Wenyuan was released and ordered to retire. When Emperor Yingzong was restored to the throne, Wenyuan's supplementary titles were stripped away. Yet the Jingtai-era edict on changing the heir—"the father who holds All-under-Heaven transmits it to his son"—had been drafted by Wenyuan; when word spread that the court meant to arrest him, he hanged himself in fear.

時喬新已登景泰五年進士，官南京禮部主事，奔喪歸裏。裏人故侍郎揭稽嘗受業文淵，而與喬新兄弟不協，奏文淵死實諸子迫之自經，又逼嫁父所愛妾。喬新亦訐稽為巡撫時，嘗薦黃厷，且代草易儲疏。皆被征比對簿。父妾斷指，為諸郎訟冤，獄得少解。帝亦以事經赦，釋不問。已，復丁母憂。服除，改刑部主事，歷廣東司郎中。錦衣衛卒犯法，捕治不少貸。都指揮袁彬有所囑，執不從。彬怒，使人捃摭無所得。由是名大起。

By then Qiaoxin had already passed the jinshi in the fifth year of Jingtai and was serving as a clerk in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites; he hurried home to observe mourning. A fellow townsman, the former Vice Minister Jie Ji, had once been Wenyuan's student but was at odds with Qiaoxin and his brothers; Ji memorialized that Wenyuan had in truth been driven to hang himself by his sons and that they had forced his favourite concubine to remarry. Qiaoxin in turn accused Ji of having recommended Huang Gong while serving as grand coordinator and of having ghostwritten the memorial on changing the heir. Both men were summoned to the capital for confrontation before the magistrates. The father's concubine cut off a finger to plead her stepsons' innocence, and the case was somewhat eased. The Emperor also held that the matter had been covered by an amnesty and released them from further inquiry. Later he again entered mourning for his mother. When his mourning ended he was transferred to a clerk in the Ministry of Punishments and eventually rose to Director of the Guangdong Bureau. When Brocade Guard soldiers broke the law, he arrested and punished them without leniency. Commander Yuan Bin made requests on someone's behalf, but Qiaoxin would not comply. Bin was enraged and had people hunt for grounds against him but found none. From this his reputation rose sharply.

成化四年遷福建副使。所屬壽寧銀礦，盜采者聚眾千余人，所過剽掠，募兵擊擒其魁。福寧豪尤氏殺人，出入隨兵甲，拒捕者二十年。福清薛氏時出諸番互市，事覺，謀作亂。皆捕殺之。福安、寧德銀礦久絕，有司責課，民多破產。喬新以為言，減三之二。興化民自洪武初受牛於官，至是猶歲課其租，奏免之。清流歸化裏介沙縣、將樂間，恃險不供賦，白都御史置歸化縣，其民始奉要束。遷河南按察使。歲大饑，故事，振貸迄秋止，喬新曰：「止於秋，謂秋成可仰也，今秋可但已乎？」振至明年麥熟乃止。都御史原傑以招撫流民至南陽，引喬新自助。初，項忠驅流民過當，民聞傑至，益竄山谷。喬新躬往招之，附籍者六萬余戶。遷湖廣右布政使。荊州民苦徭役，驗丁口貧富，列為九等，民便之。

In the fourth year of Chenghua he was transferred to Vice Commissioner in Fujian. At Shouning in his jurisdiction illicit miners at the silver pits gathered more than a thousand strong and plundered wherever they passed; he raised troops, attacked them, and captured their ringleaders. In Funing the powerful You clan had committed murder and went about escorted by armed men; they had defied arrest for twenty years. In Fuqing the Xue clan at times sailed abroad to trade with foreign ports; when their activities were uncovered they plotted rebellion. All were captured and put to death. The silver mines in Fu'an and Ningde had long been worked out, yet the local authorities still exacted quotas and many families were ruined. Qiaoxin spoke on their behalf and the levy was cut by two thirds. Since the Hongwu reign the people of Xinghua had received oxen from the government and were still paying annual rent on them; he memorialized and the rent was abolished. Guaihua district in Qingliu lay between Shaxian and Jiangle and, trusting the difficult terrain, withheld taxes; he reported to the Censor-in-Chief, Guaihua County was established, and the people at last submitted to the law. He was transferred to Surveillance Commissioner of Henan. In a year of great famine, by precedent relief grain was lent only until autumn; Qiaoxin said, "To stop at autumn assumes the harvest can be counted on—can we really stop at autumn this year? Relief continued until the wheat ripened the following year before it ceased. Censor-in-Chief Yuan Jie came to Nanyang to settle displaced people and enlisted Qiaoxin's help. Earlier Xiang Zhong had driven the displaced people away too harshly; when they heard Jie was coming they fled deeper into the mountains. Qiaoxin went in person to summon them back; more than sixty thousand households were registered. He was transferred to Right Administration Commissioner of Huguang. The people of Jingzhou were crushed by corvée labour; he assessed households by wealth and poverty and ranked them in nine grades, to the people's relief.

十六年擢右副都御史，巡撫山西。邊地軍民每出塞伐木捕獸，喬新言：「此輩茍遇敵，必輸情求生，皆賊導也。宜毋聽闌出，犯者罪守將。」詔可。敵犯塞，偕參將支玉伏兵灰溝營，擊斬甚眾，進左副都御史。歲饑，奏免雜辦及戶口鹽鈔十之四。劾僉事尚敬、劉源稽獄，請敕天下斷獄官，淹半載以上者悉議罪。帝稱善，亟從之。召拜刑部右侍郎。山西大饑，人相食。命往振，活三十余萬人，還流冗十四萬戶。還朝，會安寧宣撫使楊友欲奪嫡弟播州宣慰使愛爵，誣愛有異謀。喬新往勘，與巡撫劉璋共白愛誣。友奪官安置他府，播人遂安。

In the sixteenth year he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed grand coordinator of Shanxi. Border troops and civilians often crossed the passes to fell timber and hunt game; Qiaoxin said, "If these people meet the enemy they will surely betray what they know to save themselves—they are all guides for the raiders. They should not be allowed to slip out of the passes; offenders and the defending generals alike should be punished. An edict approved his proposal. When the enemy raided the frontier he joined Vice Commander Zhi Yu in an ambush at Huigou Camp and killed many of them; he was promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. In a year of famine he memorialized exemption from miscellaneous levies and four tenths of the household salt certificates. He impeached Assistant Commissioners Shang Jing and Liu Yuan for dragging out trials and asked that an imperial order be issued requiring judicial officers throughout the empire who held cases for more than half a year to be punished. The Emperor praised the proposal and promptly approved it. He was summoned to the capital and appointed Vice Minister of Punishments. Shanxi suffered a great famine, and people resorted to cannibalism. He was ordered to go and provide relief, saving more than three hundred thousand lives and restoring one hundred forty thousand displaced households to their registers. On returning to court it happened that Yang You, Pacification Commissioner of Anning, wished to seize the title of Pacification Commissioner of Bozhou from his younger legitimate brother Ai and falsely accused Ai of treasonous designs. Qiaoxin went to investigate and, together with Grand Coordinator Liu Zhang, reported that Ai had been slandered. You was stripped of office and resettled in another prefecture, and the people of Bozhou were at last at peace.

孝宗嗣位，萬安、劉吉等忌喬新剛正，出為南京刑部尚書。沿江蘆洲率為中官占奪，托言備進奉費，喬新奏還之民。初，喬新之出，中官懷恩不平。一日以事詣閣言：「新君踐阼，常用正人，胡為出何公？」安等默然。既而刑部尚書杜銘罷，群望屬喬新，而吉代安為首輔，終忌之，久不補。弘治改元，用王恕薦，始召喬新代銘。奏言：「舊制遣官勘事及逮捕，必賫精微批文，赴所在官司驗視乃行。近止用駕帖不合符，宜復舊制，以防矯詐。」帝立報許。時吉仇正人，頻興大獄，喬新率據法直之。吉愈銜恨，數摭他事奪俸。二年夏，京城大水，喬新請恤被災者家，又慮刑獄失平，條上律文當更議者數事，吉悉格不行。大理丞闕，御史鄒魯覬遷，而喬新薦郎中魏紳。會喬新外家與鄉人訟，魯即誣喬新受賕曲庇。吉取中旨下其外家詔獄，喬新乃拜疏乞歸。頃之，窮治無驗，魯坐停俸，喬新亦許致仕。

When Emperor Xiaozong succeeded to the throne, Wan An, Liu Ji, and others, resenting Qiaoxin's stern integrity, had him posted out as Minister of Punishments at Nanjing. Reed shoals along the river were mostly seized by eunuchs on the pretext of setting aside tribute funds; Qiaoxin memorialized and had them returned to the people. When Qiaoxin was first sent away, the eunuch Huai En took the move ill on his behalf. One day he came to the Grand Secretariat on business and said, "The new ruler has just taken the throne and should employ upright men—why was Minister He sent away? Wan An and the others were silent. Soon Minister Du Ming was dismissed and everyone expected Qiaoxin to succeed him, but Ji replaced An as chief grand secretary and still envied him; the post long went unfilled. When the Hongzhi reign began, on Wang Shu's recommendation Qiaoxin was at last summoned to replace Ming. He memorialized: "Under the old system, when officials were dispatched to investigate or to arrest, they had to carry imperial credentials, and only after the local yamen had inspected them on arrival could they act. Recently only the imperial warrant has been used without the matching tally; the former system should be restored to guard against forgery. The Emperor immediately assented. Ji at this time hated upright men and repeatedly launched major prosecutions; Qiaoxin consistently upheld the law and defended them. Ji resented him all the more and several times seized on other matters to dock his salary. In the second year, summer, great floods struck the capital; Qiaoxin asked that disaster-stricken households be relieved and, fearing injustice in the prisons, listed several points in the statutes that should be reconsidered; Ji blocked them all. The post of Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review was vacant; Censor Zou Lu coveted the promotion, but Qiaoxin recommended Director Wei Shen. When Qiaoxin's wife's family became embroiled in a lawsuit with a fellow townsman, Lu at once falsely charged that Qiaoxin had taken bribes and shown favouritism. Ji obtained a rescript from the palace and sent his wife's kin to the imperial prison; Qiaoxin thereupon submitted a memorial begging to retire. Before long exhaustive investigation found no evidence; Lu was punished with suspended salary, and Qiaoxin was also permitted to retire.

喬新性廉介，觀政工部時，嘗使淮西。巢令閻徽少學於文淵，以金幣饋。喬新卻之，閻曰：「以壽吾師耳。」喬新曰：「子欲壽吾親，因他人致之則可，因吾致之則不可。」卒不受。福建市舶中官死，鎮守者分其貲遺三司，喬新獨固辭。不得，輸之於庫。既家居，楊愛遣使厚致贈，且獻良材可為櫬者，喬新堅卻之。

By nature Qiaoxin was honest and unyielding; while serving a probationary post at the Ministry of Works he was once sent to the Huai west. Yan Hui, magistrate of Chao, had studied under Wenyuan in his youth and presented gold and silks as a gift. Qiaoxin refused them; Yan said, "It is only to wish your father long life. Qiaoxin said, "If you wish my parents long life, sending gifts through another is permissible; sending them through me is not." In the end he did not accept. When a eunuch of the Fujian Maritime Trade Supervisorate died, the garrison commander divided his property among the three provincial commissions; Qiaoxin alone firmly declined. Unable to keep it, he paid the sum into the treasury. After he had retired home, Yang Ai sent envoys with lavish gifts and also presented fine timber fit for a coffin; Qiaoxin firmly refused.

喬新年十一時，侍父京邸。修撰周旋過之，喬新方讀《通鑒續編》。旋問曰：「書法何如《綱目》？」對曰：「呂文煥降元不書叛，張世傑溺海不書死節，曹彬、包拯之卒不書其官，而紀羲、軒多采怪妄，似未有當也。」旋大驚異。比長，博綜群籍，聞異書輒借鈔，積三萬余帙，皆手較讎，著述甚富。與人寡合，氣節友彭韶，學問友邱濬而已。

When Qiaoxin was eleven he attended his father at the capital residence. Compiler Zhou Xuan came to visit; Qiaoxin was reading the Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror. Xuan asked, "How does this book's manner of writing compare with the Outline and Details? He answered, "It does not record Lü Wenhuai's surrender to the Yuan as rebellion, does not record Zhang Shijie's drowning as a loyal death, does not record the offices held by Cao Bin and Bao Zheng at their deaths, yet the annals and tables draw heavily on strange and absurd matter—this seems hardly right." Xuan was greatly astonished. When he grew up he mastered a vast range of books; whenever he heard of a rare work he borrowed and copied it, amassing more than thirty thousand fascicles, all collated by his own hand; his writings were very extensive. He seldom found kindred spirits among others; in moral integrity his friend was Peng Shao, and in scholarship his friend was Qiu Jun alone.

罷歸後，巡按江西御史陳詮奏：「喬新始終全節，中間只以受親故饋遺之嫌，勒令致仕，進退黯昧，誠為可惜。乞行勘，本官如無疾則行取任用，有疾則加慰勞，以存故舊之恩，全進退之節。」不許。後中外多論薦，竟不復起。十五年卒，年七十六。

After he was dismissed and returned home, the Jiangxi touring censor Chen Quan memorialized: "Qiaoxin preserved his integrity from first to last; he was forced to retire only on suspicion of accepting gifts from relatives and friends—the circumstances of his rise and withdrawal were obscure, and it is truly a pity. I beg that an investigation be carried out; if the official is not ill, he should be summoned and reappointed, and if he is ill, he should receive added consolation, so as to preserve the grace owed an old associate and uphold the integrity of his rise and withdrawal. The request was denied. Later many within and outside the court recommended him, but in the end he was never recalled to office. In the fifteenth year he died, at the age of seventy-six.

江西巡撫林俊為彭韶及喬新請謚，吏部覆從之。有旨令上喬新致仕之由，給事中吳世忠言：「喬新學行、政事莫不優，忠勤剛介，老而彌篤。御史鄒魯挾私誣劾，一辭不辨，恬然退歸。杜門著書，人事寡接，士大夫莫不高其行。若必考退身之由，疑旌賢之典，則如宋蔣之奇嘗誣奏歐陽修矣，胡纮輩嘗誣奏朱熹矣，未聞以一人私情廢萬世公論也。」事竟寢。正德十一年，廣昌知縣張傑復以為言，乃贈太子太保，予蔭。明年賜謚文肅。

Jiangxi Grand Coordinator Lin Jun requested posthumous titles for Peng Shao and He Qiaoxin, and the Ministry of Personnel reported its assent. An imperial order instructed that the reasons for Qiaoxin's retirement be submitted; Supervising Secretary Wu Shizhong said: "In learning and conduct, and in administration, Qiaoxin was in every respect outstanding—loyal, diligent, upright, and unyielding, and more steadfast in old age. Censor Zou Lu impeached him out of private animus; Qiaoxin offered not a word in his own defense and retired in tranquil acceptance. He shut his door and wrote books, receiving few visitors, and the gentry all held his conduct in high esteem. If one must investigate the reasons for his withdrawal and cast doubt on the standard for honoring the worthy, then in the Song Jiang Zhiqi once falsely memorialized against Ouyang Xiu, and Hu Hong and his ilk once falsely memorialized against Zhu Xi—never was a single man's private feelings allowed to overturn the public judgment of ten thousand generations. The matter was ultimately shelved. In the eleventh year of Zhengde, Guangchang Magistrate Zhang Jie raised the matter again, and Qiaoxin was thereupon posthumously made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and his heirs granted hereditary privilege. The following year he was granted the posthumous title Wensu.

喬新五世孫源，萬歷初，為刑部右侍郎，亦有清節。

Qiaoxin's fifth-generation descendant Yuan, at the beginning of the Wanli reign, served as Vice Minister of Punishments and likewise enjoyed a reputation for clean integrity.

彭韶，字鳳儀，莆田人。天順元年進士。授刑部主事，進員外郎。成化二年疏論僉都御史張岐憸邪，宜召王竑、李秉、葉盛，忤旨，下詔獄。給事中毛弘等救之，不聽，卒輸贖。尋遷郎中。

Peng Shao, whose style name was Fengyi, came from Putian. He passed the jinshi examination in the first year of Tianshun. He was appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Punishments and was promoted to Vice Director. In the second year of Chenghua he memorialized that Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhang Qi was fawning and depraved and that Wang Hong, Li Bing, and Ye Sheng ought to be recalled; he defied the imperial will and was sent to the imperial prison. Supervising Secretaries Mao Hong and others interceded for him, but the court would not listen, and in the end he paid a fine for redemption. Soon afterward he was transferred to the post of Director.

錦衣指揮周彧，太后弟也，奏乞武強、武邑民田不及賦額者，籍為閑田。命韶偕御史季琮覆勘。韶等周視徑歸，上疏自劾曰：「真定田，自祖宗時許民墾種，即為恒產，除租賦以勸力農。功臣、戚裏家與國鹹休，豈當與民爭尺寸地。臣誠不忍奪小民衣食，附益貴戚，請伏奉使無狀罪。」疏入，詔以田歸民，而責韶等邀名方命，復下詔獄。言官爭論救，得釋。當是時，韶與何喬新同官，並有重名，一時稱「何彭」。

Zhou Yu, Commander of the Embroidered-Uniform Guard and younger brother of the Empress Dowager, memorialized asking that civilian land in Wuqiang and Wuyi whose tax quota had not been met be registered as vacant land. Shao was ordered to join Censor Ji Cong in conducting a reinvestigation. Shao and the others toured the area and returned directly; he memorialized impeaching himself: "The land of Zhending has been permitted to the people for reclamation and planting since the time of the founding ancestors, and thereby becomes permanent property, with rents and taxes remitted to encourage farming. Meritorious ministers and imperial kin share weal and woe with the state—how should they compete with the people over even an inch of land? Your servant truly cannot bear to strip the common people's food and clothing to enrich noble kin; I beg to submit to the crime of misconduct on this mission. When the memorial was submitted, an edict returned the land to the people but reproached Shao and the others for seeking reputation and defying orders, and they were again sent to the imperial prison. Censorial officials disputed the matter and pleaded for them, and they were released. At that time Shao and He Qiaoxin served in the same ministry and both enjoyed great renown; together they were known as "He-Peng."

遷四川副使。安嶽扈氏焚滅劉某家二十一人，定遠曹氏殺其兄一家十二人，所司以為疑獄，久不決。韶一訊得實，鹹伏辜。進按察使，盡撤境內淫祠。王府祭葬舊遣內官，公私煩費，奏罷之。雲南鎮守太監錢能進金燈，擾道路，韶劾之，不報。

He was transferred to the post of Vice Commissioner of Sichuan. In Anyue the Hu clan burned the Liu family to death, twenty-one persons in all; in Dingyuan the Cao clan killed his elder brother's entire household, twelve persons; the authorities treated these as doubtful cases and long failed to reach a decision. Shao questioned the cases once and obtained the truth; all were convicted. Promoted to Surveillance Commissioner, he dismantled all illicit shrines within his jurisdiction. Princely estates had formerly sent eunuchs to conduct sacrificial and funeral rites, burdening both public and private resources with expense; he memorialized and had the practice abolished. Qian Neng, the supervisory eunuch of Yunnan, presented golden lamps as tribute and harassed the roads; Shao impeached him, but no response was made.

十四年春，遷廣東左布政使。中官奉使紛遝，鎮守顧恒、市舶韋眷、珠池黃福，皆以進奉為名，所至需求，民不勝擾。韶先後論奏。最後，梁芳弟錦衣鎮撫德以廣東其故鄉，歸采禽鳥花木，害尤酷。韶抗疏極論，語侵芳。芳怒，構於帝，調之貴州。

In the spring of the fourteenth year he was transferred to Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Guangdong. Eunuch envoys came in throngs on missions; Garrison Commander Gu Heng, Maritime Trade Supervisor Wei Juan, and Pearl Pond overseer Huang Fu all made exactions wherever they went under the name of tribute, and the people could not bear the harassment. Shao memorialized on these matters one after another. Finally, De, Liang Fang's younger brother and an Embroidered-Uniform Guard Commandant, because Guangdong was his native place, returned there to collect birds, flowers, and trees, and the harm was especially severe. Shao submitted a defiant memorial arguing forcefully, and his language implicated Fang. Fang was enraged, framed the matter before the Emperor, and had Shao transferred to Guizhou.

二十年擢右副都御史，巡撫應天。明年正月，星變，上言：「彗星示災，見於歲暮，遂及正旦。歲墓者，天道之終。正旦者，歲事之始。此天心仁愛，欲陛下善始善終也。陛下嗣位之初，家禮正，防微周，儉德昭，用人慎。乃邇年以來，進奉貴妃，加於嫡後，褒寵其家，幾與先帝後家埒，此正家之道未終也。監局內臣數以萬計，利源兵柄盡以付之，犯法縱奸，一切容貸，此防微之道未終也。四方鎮守中官，爭獻珍異，動稱敕旨，科擾小民，此持儉之道未終也。六卿並加師保，監寺兼領崇階，及予告而歸，廩食輿夫濫加庸鄙。爵賞一輕，人誰知勸，此用人之道未終也。惟陛下慎終如始，天下幸甚。」時方召為大理卿，帝得疏不悅，命仍故官巡撫順天、永平二府。均大興、宛平、昌平諸縣徭役，劾奏鎮守中官陶弘罪。

In the twentieth year he was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Yingtian. The next year, in the first month, there was a celestial anomaly; he memorialized: "The comet portends disaster, appearing at year's end and continuing through New Year's Day. The year's end is the completion of Heaven's cycle. New Year's Day is the beginning of the year's affairs. This is Heaven's benevolent intent, desiring that Your Majesty begin well and end well. When Your Majesty first succeeded to the throne, domestic rites were set right, minute precautions were thorough, frugal virtue was manifest, and the employment of men was careful. Yet in recent years the honored consort was advanced above the legitimate empress, her family praised and favored nearly on a par with the former emperor's empress's family—this is the way of setting the household right not yet brought to completion. Eunuchs of the supervisory bureaus number in the tens of thousands; sources of profit and military authority are all entrusted to them; lawbreaking and indulgence of wrongdoing are everywhere forgiven—this is the way of minute precaution not yet brought to completion. Eunuch garrison commanders throughout the realm vie to present rare treasures, constantly invoking imperial edicts, levying exactions and harassing the common people—this is the way of maintaining frugality not yet brought to completion. The six ministers were all given the ranks of tutor and guardian; directors of bureaus concurrently held lofty ranks; and when they requested leave and returned home, grain stipends and sedan-chair bearers were lavishly granted to vulgar and base men. Once ranks and rewards are lightly bestowed, who will know what to strive for?—this is the way of employing men not yet brought to completion. May Your Majesty be as careful at the end as at the beginning—the realm would be greatly blessed. At the time he had just been summoned to serve as Director of the Court of Judicial Review; the Emperor, displeased upon receiving the memorial, ordered him to retain his former office and continue as grand coordinator of Shuntian and Yongping prefectures. He equalized corvée labor in Daxing, Wanping, Changping, and other counties and impeached Garrison Eunuch Tao Hong for his crimes.

四年秋，代何喬新為刑部尚書。故安遠侯柳景贓敗至數千兩，征僅十一。以其母訴免。韶執奏曰：「昔唐宣宗元舅鄭光官租不入，京兆尹韋澳械其莊吏。宣宗欲寬之，澳不奉詔。景無元舅之親，贓非負租之比，獨蒙宥除，是臣等守法愧於澳也。」不從。御史彭程以論皇壇器下獄，韶疏救，因極陳光祿冗食濫費狀，乃命具歲辦數以聞。荊王見潚有罪，奏上，淹旬不下。內官王明、苗通、高永殺人，減死遣戍。昌國公張巒建墳逾制，役軍至數萬。畿內民冒充陵廟戶及勇士旗校，輒免徭役，致見戶不支，流亡日眾。韶皆抗疏極論，但下所司而已。

In the autumn of the fourth year he replaced He Qiaoxin as Minister of Punishments. The former Marquis of Anyuan Liu Jing's corruption amounted to several thousand taels, yet only one part in ten was collected. He was exempted because his mother petitioned on his behalf. Shao firmly memorialized: "Formerly in Tang, Emperor Xuanzong's maternal uncle Zheng Guang failed to pay official rent, and Metropolitan Prefect Wei Ao fettered his estate steward. Xuanzong wished to pardon him, but Ao did not obey the edict. Jing is no maternal uncle of the emperor; bribery is not comparable to unpaid rent—yet he alone received pardon and exemption; your servants in upholding the law are shamed before Ao. The memorial was not accepted. Censor Peng Cheng was imprisoned for discussing the imperial altar vessels; Shao memorialized in his defense and meanwhile argued forcefully about the redundant eating and wasteful expenditure at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the Emperor then ordered yearly provisioning figures to be submitted. Prince Jing's son Jian Su was guilty; when the memorial was submitted it lingered more than ten days without response. The eunuchs Wang Ming, Miao Tong, and Gao Yong had murdered men but received reduced sentences of death and were sent to frontier service. Zhang Luan, Duke of Changguo, built a tomb exceeding regulations, employing soldiers numbering in the tens of thousands. Within the capital region commoners falsely claimed status as tomb-shrine households or brave militia bannermen and were forthwith exempted from corvée, causing registered households to be unable to sustain their burdens and the number of exiles to grow daily. Shao submitted defiant memorials arguing forcefully on all these matters, but they were merely referred to the responsible offices.

韶蒞部三年，昌言正色，秉節無私，與王恕及喬新稱三大老，而為貴戚、近習所疾，大學士劉吉亦不之善。韶誌不能盡行，連章乞休，乃命乘傳歸。月廩、歲隸如制。明年，南京地震，御史宗彜等言韶、喬新、強珍、謝鐸、陳獻章、章懋、彭程俱宜召用，不報。又明年，卒，年六十六。謚惠安，贈太子少保。

Shao presided over the ministry for three years, speaking forthrightly with stern countenance and holding to integrity without partiality; with Wang Shu and He Qiaoxin he was called one of the Three Elders, yet he was hated by noble kin and palace intimates, and Grand Secretary Liu Ji likewise did not view him favorably. Shao's will could not be fully carried out; he submitted successive memorials begging to retire and was ordered to return home by post horse. Monthly stipends and yearly attendants were granted according to regulation. The next year Nanjing suffered an earthquake; Censor Zong Yi and others said Shao, He Qiaoxin, Qiang Zhen, Xie Duo, Chen Xianzhang, Zhang Mao, and Peng Cheng all ought to be summoned and employed, but no response was made. The year after that he died, at the age of sixty-six. He was posthumously titled Huian and made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

韶嗜學，公暇手不釋書。正德初，林俊言韶謚不副行，乞如魏驥、吳訥、葉盛，改謚文。竟不行。

Shao loved learning; in his leisure from public duties his hand never left a book. At the beginning of Zhengde, Lin Jun said Shao's posthumous title did not match his conduct and asked that, as with Wei Ji, Wu Ne, and Ye Sheng, it be changed to Wen. In the end it was not done.

周經，字伯常，刑部尚書瑄子也。天順四年進士。改庶吉士，授檢討。成化中，歷侍讀、中允，侍孝宗於東宮。講《文華大訓》，太子起立，閣臣以為勞，議請坐聽。經與諸講官皆不可，乃已。

Zhou Jing, whose style name was Bochang, was the son of Minister of Punishments Xuan. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of Tianshun. He was made a Hanlin Bachelor and appointed Reviser. During the Chenghua reign he served successively as Reader and Sub-Reader, attending Xiaozong in the Eastern Palace. When lecturing on the Great Instructions of the Literary Glory, the Crown Prince rose to his feet; the grand secretaries thought it wearisome and proposed that he be allowed to sit and listen. Jing and the other lecturers all refused, and the proposal was dropped.

孝宗立，進太常少卿兼侍讀。弘治二年擢禮部右侍郎。中官請修黃村尼寺，奉祀孝穆太后。土魯番貢獅子不由甘肅，假道滿剌加，浮海至廣東。經倡議毀其寺，卻貢不與通。改吏部，進左侍郎。通政經歷沈祿者，皇后姑婿也。尚書王恕在告，中官傳旨擢祿本司參議。經言非面承旨，又無禦劄，不敢奉詔，復與恕疏爭之。事雖不能止，朝論韙焉。靈壽奸民獻地於中官李廣，戶部持不得。經倡九卿疏爭，卒罪獻地者。嘗上言：「外戚家無功求遷，無勞乞賞，兼齋醮遊宴，濫費無紀，致帑藏殫虛，宜大為撙節。近例，預備倉積粟多者，守令賜誥敕，不次遷官，遂致剝下幹進。請如洪武間例，悉出官帑平糴，毋奪民財，考績毋專以積粟為能。至清軍之弊，洪熙以前在旗校，宣德以後在裏胥。弊在旗校者，版籍猶存，若裏胥則並版籍而淆亂之，宜考故冊洗奸弊。災傷民，乞省恤。惜薪司薪炭約支數年，災荒郡縣，宜盡與停免。四方顏料雜辦亦然。此救民急務也。」帝多采納之。

When Xiaozong ascended the throne, Jing was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices while retaining his post as Reader. In the second year of Hongzhi he was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites. Eunuchs requested to rebuild the Huangcun Buddhist nunnery to enshrine Empress Dowager Xiaomu. Turpan's tribute of a lion did not come through Gansu but took the route via Malacca, crossing the sea to Guangdong. Jing initiated a proposal to destroy the nunnery, reject the tribute, and cease communication. He was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel and promoted to Vice Minister. Shen Lu, a secretary in the Office of Transmission, was the Empress's aunt's son-in-law. Minister Wang Shu was on leave; a eunuch transmitted an edict promoting Lu to Vice Director of the Office. Jing said he had not received the order in audience and there was no imperial document; he dared not obey the edict, and again joined Shu in memorializing to dispute it. Though the matter could not be stopped, court opinion approved. A rascal of Lingshou offered land to the eunuch Li Guang; the Ministry of Revenue held that it could not be accepted. Jing initiated a memorial dispute among the nine ministers, and in the end the man who offered the land was punished. He once memorialized: "Imperial affinal families seek promotion without merit and beg rewards without service; together with Daoist rites and banquets, their wasteful expenditure knows no bounds, draining the treasury to emptiness—great economy should be exercised. Under recent precedent, magistrates whose reserve granaries held much grain were granted edicts of commendation and irregular promotion, thereby causing the exploitation of inferiors for advancement-seeking. I ask that, following the Hongwu precedent, grain be sold at fair price entirely from official funds, without seizing the people's wealth, and that merit evaluation not focus solely on accumulated grain. As for the abuses of military household registration review, before Hongxi the fault lay with banner officers; after Xuande it lay with village clerks. When the fault lay with banner officers, the registers still survived; when it lies with village clerks they muddle the registers together—old books should be consulted to purge corruption. When disaster harms the people, I beg that expenditures be reduced and the people relieved. The Firewood Bureau's fuel and charcoal are estimated to last several years; in disaster-stricken counties and prefectures, collection of these levies should be halted and remitted entirely. The same should apply to pigments and miscellaneous supplies collected from the four directions. This is an urgent matter for relieving the people. The Emperor largely adopted his recommendations.

八年，文武大臣以災異陳時政，經為具奏草，而斥戲樂一事，語尤切直。帝密令中官廉草奏者，尚書耿裕曰：「疏首吏部，裕實具草。」經曰：「疏草出經手，即有罪，罪經。」世兩賢之。

In the eighth year, civil and military grandees addressed current affairs in light of portents; Zhou Jing drafted the memorial, and his words on rejecting theatrical entertainment were especially cutting and direct. The Emperor secretly ordered a eunuch to investigate who had drafted the memorial; Minister Geng Yu said, "The memorial was headed by the Ministry of Personnel, but I actually drafted it. Zhou Jing said, "The draft passed through my hand; if there is guilt, let me bear it." Later ages praised both men.

明年，代葉淇為戶部尚書。時孝宗寬仁，而戶部尤奸蠹所萃，挾勢行私者不可勝紀。少不如意，讒毀隨之。經悉按祖宗成憲，無所顧。寬逋緩征，裁節冗濫。四方告災，必覆奏蠲除。每委官監稅課，入多者與下考，苛切之風為之少衰。

The next year he replaced Ye Qi as Minister of Revenue. At the time the Hongzhi Emperor was lenient and benevolent, but the Ministry of Revenue especially gathered cheats and parasites, and those who wielded power for private ends were beyond counting. At the slightest dissatisfaction, slander and vilification followed. Zhou Jing adhered entirely to the established statutes of the founding emperors, without regard for consequences. He eased arrears and slowed collections, and trimmed redundant and wasteful spending. When the four directions reported disasters, he always memorialized again requesting remission. Whenever officials were dispatched to supervise tax collection, those who brought in large revenues received poor evaluations, and the harsh and exacting mood thereby abated somewhat.

奉禦趙瑄獻雄縣地為東宮莊。經等劾瑄違制，下詔獄。而帝復從鎮撫司言遣官勘實。經等復爭之曰：「太祖、太宗定制，閑田任民開墾。若因奸人言而籍之官，是土田予奪，盡出奸人口，小民無以為生矣。」既而勘者及巡撫高銓言閑田止七十頃，悉與民田錯。於是從經言仍賦之民，治瑄罪。中官何鼎劾外戚張鶴齡下獄，經疏救之，忤旨切責。雍王祐枟乞衡州稅課司及衡陽縣河泊所，經言不可許。帝納之，命自今四方稅課，王府不得請。中官織造者，請增給兩浙鹽課二萬引，經等言：「鹽筴佐邊，不宜濫給。且祖宗朝織染諸局供禦有常數，若曰取用有加，則江南、兩浙已例外增造，若曰工匠不足，則仰食公家不下千余人，所為何事。是知供用未必缺，而徒導陛下以勞民傷財之事也。」帝不從。經恐歲以為常，再疏請斷其後，乃命歲予五千引。

Attendant Zhao Xuan presented land in Xiong County as an Eastern Palace estate. Zhou Jing and others impeached Xuan for violating regulations and had him sent to the edict prison. But the Emperor again followed the Brocade Guard's advice and dispatched officials to investigate on the ground. Zhou Jing and others remonstrated again: "The Taizu and Taizong established the rule that idle land should be left to the people to open and cultivate. If land is registered to the state because scoundrels speak, then the granting and taking of fields would all come from scoundrels' mouths, and common folk would have no means to live. Thereupon the investigators and Grand Coordinator Gao Quan reported that idle land amounted to only seventy qing, all intermingled with commoners' fields. Thereupon, following Zhou Jing's argument, the land was still taxed to the people, and Xuan was punished. Eunuch He Ding impeached maternal kinsman Zhang Heling and had him imprisoned; Zhou Jing memorialized in his defense and was sharply rebuked for defying the imperial will. Prince Yong You Bin requested the Hengzhou Tax Office and the Hengyang County River Port Office; Zhou Jing said this could not be granted. The Emperor accepted this and ordered that from then on revenue from the four directions could not be requested by princely establishments. The palace weaving eunuchs requested an additional twenty thousand salt certificates from the Two Zhes; Zhou Jing and others said, "Salt revenue assists the frontier; it should not be lavishly granted. Moreover, in the ancestral reigns the weaving and dyeing bureaus had fixed quotas for imperial supply; if one says usage has increased, Jiangnan and the Two Zhes have already been producing beyond quota; if one says craftsmen are insufficient, those living off the public purse number no fewer than a thousand—what are they doing? This shows supplies are not necessarily lacking, and they are merely leading Your Majesty toward affairs that tire the people and waste the treasury. The Emperor did not agree. Zhou Jing feared this would become an annual custom and memorialized again asking to cut it off thereafter; the Emperor then ordered five thousand certificates granted yearly.

先是，倉場監督內官依成化末年例裁減。十一年秋，帝復增用少監莫英等三人。經上疏力爭，帝以已遣不聽。內靈臺請錦衣余丁百人供灑掃，經等諫，不納。經曰：「祖宗設內臺，其地至密。今一旦增百人，將必有漏泄妄言者。」帝悟，立已之。

Earlier, the supervising eunuchs at the granaries had been reduced according to the precedent of the late Chenghua reign. In the autumn of the eleventh year the Emperor again added three Vice Directors including Mo Ying. Zhou Jing submitted a memorial arguing forcefully, but the Emperor, having already dispatched them, would not listen. The Inner Observatory requested a hundred surplus men from the Embroidered Guard for sweeping and cleaning; Zhou Jing and others remonstrated, but the request was not accepted. Zhou Jing said, "The founding emperors established the inner observatory in a place of utmost secrecy. Now to add a hundred men at once will surely mean leaks and reckless talk. The Emperor understood and immediately stopped it.

崇王見澤乞河南退灘地二十餘里，經言不宜予。興王祐杬前後乞赤馬諸河泊所及近湖地千三百余頃，經三疏爭之，竟不許。帝以肅寧諸縣地四百余頃賜壽寧侯張鶴齡，其家人因侵民地三倍，且毆民至死，下巡撫高銓勘報。銓言可耕者無幾，請仍賦民，不許。時王府、勛戚莊田例畝征銀三分，獨鶴齡奏加征二分，且概加之沙堿地。經抗章執奏，命侍郎許進偕太監朱秀覆核。經言：「地已再勘，今復遣使，徒滋煩擾。昔太祖以劉基故減青田賦，征米五合，欲使基鄉里子孫世世頌基。今興濟篤生皇后，正宜恤民減賦，俾世世戴德，何乃使小民銜怨無已也。」頃之，進等還言此地乃憲廟皇親柏權及民恒產，不可奪。帝竟予鶴齡，如其請加稅，而命償權直，除民租額。經等復諫曰：「東宮、親王莊田征稅自有例，鶴齡不宜獨優。權先帝妃家，亦戚畹也，名雖償直，實乃奪之。天下將謂陛下惟厚椒房親，不念先朝外戚。」帝終不納。

Prince Chong Jian Ze requested more than twenty li of retreating shoal land in Henan; Zhou Jing said it should not be granted. Prince Xing You Yuan repeatedly requested the Chi Ma and other river port offices and nearby lake land totaling more than thirteen hundred qing; Zhou Jing argued in three memorials, and in the end it was not granted. The Emperor granted more than four hundred qing of land in Suining and other counties to Zhang Heling, Marquis of Shouning; his household thereafter encroached on commoners' land to three times the amount and even beat a man to death, and the matter was referred to Grand Coordinator Gao Quan for investigation and report. Gao Quan said arable land was negligible and requested that taxation still be assigned to the people, but this was not granted. At the time princely establishments and meritorious kin estates were taxed at three fen of silver per mu by precedent; Heling alone memorialized for an additional two fen, and even applied it wholesale to sandy and saline land. Zhou Jing submitted a defiant memorial and held fast; Vice Minister Xu Jin was ordered together with Eunuch Zhu Xiu to re-examine the matter. Zhou Jing said, "The land has already been surveyed twice; to dispatch envoys again would only multiply vexation and disturbance. Formerly the Taizu, because of Liu Ji, reduced Qingtian's tax levy to five he of grain, wishing Liu Ji's home village and descendants to praise Ji generation after generation. Now Xingji gave birth to the empress; this is precisely the time to show compassion to the people and reduce taxes, so that generation after generation they might bear gratitude—why instead make common folk bear endless resentment? Shortly thereafter Xu Jin and the others returned saying this land was the regular property of the maternal kinsman Bai Quan under the Xian Emperor and of the people, and could not be seized. The Emperor in the end granted it to Heling, added tax as he requested, and ordered compensation paid to Quan while excusing the people's rent quota. Zhou Jing and others remonstrated again: "Eastern Palace and princely estate taxation has its own precedents; Heling should not alone receive preferential treatment. Quan is of the former emperor's consort's family—also imperial kin; though nominally compensated, this is in fact seizure. The realm will say Your Majesty favors only the empress's kin and does not remember the maternal kin of the previous reign. The Emperor ultimately did not accept this.

大同缺戰馬，馬文升請太倉銀以市。經言：「糧馬各有司存。祖訓六部毋相壓，兵部侵戶部權，非祖訓。」帝為改撥太仆銀給之。給事中魯昂請盡括稅役金錢輸太倉，經曰：「不節織造、賞賚、齋醮、土木之費，而欲括天下財，是舛也。」內官傳旨索太倉銀三萬兩為燈費，持不與。

Datong lacked war horses; Ma Wensheng requested Grand Granary silver to purchase them. Zhou Jing said, "Grain and horses each have their responsible offices. The ancestral instructions forbid the six ministries from overriding one another; for the Ministry of War to encroach on the Ministry of Revenue's authority is contrary to the ancestral instructions. The Emperor therefore redirected funds from the Court of the Imperial Stud to supply them. Supervising Secretary Lu Ang requested that all tax and corvée money be swept into the Grand Granary; Zhou Jing said, "Without curbing expenditure on weaving, rewards, fasting rituals, and construction, yet wishing to sweep up the realm's wealth—this is wrong. Eunuchs transmitted an edict demanding thirty thousand taels of Grand Granary silver for lantern expenses; he steadfastly refused to give them.

經剛介方正，好強諫，雖重忤旨不恤。宦官、貴戚皆憚而疾之。太監李廣死，帝得朝臣與饋遺簿籍，大怒。科道因劾諸臣交通狀，有及經者。經上疏曰：「昨科道劾廷臣奔競李廣，闌入臣名。雖蒙恩不問，實含傷忍痛，無以自明。夫人奔競李廣，冀其進言左右，圖寵眷耳。陛下試思廣在時，曾言及臣否。且交結饋遺簿籍具在，乞檢曾否有臣姓名。更嚴鞫廣家人，臣但有寸金、尺帛，即治臣交結之罪，斬首市曹，以為奔競無恥之戒。若無幹涉，亦乞為臣洗雪，庶得展布四體，終事聖明。若令含汙忍垢，即死填溝壑，目且不瞑。」帝慰答之。十三年，星變，自陳乞休。報許，賜敕馳驛，加太子太保，以侶鐘代。廷臣爭上章留之，中外論薦者至八十余疏，鹹報寢。

Zhou Jing was stern, upright, and square; he loved forceful remonstrance and even when he seriously defied the imperial will did not care. Eunuchs and noble kin all feared and hated him. When Eunuch Director Li Guang died, the Emperor obtained the ledgers of court ministers' gifts and presents and was greatly angered. The censorate and remonstrance officials therefore impeached ministers for collusion, and Zhou Jing was among those named. Zhou Jing submitted a memorial saying, "Yesterday the censorate impeached court ministers for scrambling after Li Guang, and my name was inserted among them. Though favored with the grace of no inquiry, in truth I have swallowed injury and borne pain, with no way to clear myself. Men scrambled after Li Guang hoping he would speak for them at the emperor's side and seek favor and regard. Your Majesty should consider: when Guang was alive, did he ever speak of me? Moreover, the ledgers of collusion and gifts still exist; I beg that they be checked for whether my name ever appears. Further, interrogate Guang's household strictly—if I possessed so much as an inch of gold or a foot of silk, then punish me for collusion and behead me in the marketplace as a warning against shameless scrambling. If there is no involvement, I also beg that I be cleared, so that I may freely use my limbs and serve Your Majesty to the end. If I am made to swallow filth and endure stain, even in death filling a ditch and gully my eyes would not close. The Emperor comforted him with a reply. In the thirteenth year, with an alteration in the stars, he memorialized on his own behalf begging to retire. The reply granted his request; he was given an edict and post horses, promoted to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and Lü Zhong replaced him. Court ministers vied to submit memorials asking him to stay; inside and outside the court more than eighty memorials recommending him arrived—all were left without response.

子曾，進士。浙江右參政。

His son Zeng was a jinshi. He served as Right Assistant Commissioner of Zhejiang.

耿裕，字好問，刑部尚書九疇子也。景泰五年進士。改庶吉士，授戶科給事中，改工科。天順初，以九疇為右都御史，改裕檢討。九疇坐劾石亨貶，裕亦謫泗州判官。終父喪，補定州。

Geng Yu, whose style name was Haowen, was the son of Minister of Punishments Jiuzhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Jingtai. He was changed to a Hanlin bachelor, appointed Supervising Secretary in the Revenue Section, then transferred to the Works Section. At the beginning of Tianshun, because Jiuzhou became Censor-in-Chief of the Right, Yu was transferred to Compiler. Jiuzhou was demoted for impeaching Shi Heng; Yu was also banished as assistant magistrate of Sizhou. After completing mourning for his father, he was reassigned to Dingzhou.

成化初，召復檢討，歷國子司業、祭酒。侯伯年幼者皆肄業監中，裕采古諸侯、貴戚言行可法者為書授之，帝聞而稱善。歷吏部左右侍郎。坐尚書尹旻累，停俸者再。已，代旻為尚書。大學士萬安與裕不協，而李孜省私其同鄉李裕，欲使代裕，相與謀中之。坐以事，調侍郎黎淳南京，而奪裕俸。言官復交劾，宥之。裕入謝，既出，帝怒曰：「吾再寬裕罪，當再謝。今一謝，以奪俸故，意鞅鞅耶？」孜省等因而傾之，遂調南京禮部，而以李裕代。逾年，孝宗嗣位，轉南京兵部參贊機務。

At the beginning of Chenghua he was recalled as Compiler and served successively as Vice Director and Chancellor of the Directorate of Education. Young marquises and earls all studied at the directorate; Yu compiled a book of the conduct and words of ancient feudal lords and noble kin worthy of emulation and taught from it, and the Emperor heard of this and praised it. He served successively as Left and Right Vice Minister of Personnel. Because of Minister Yin Min's setbacks he was punished twice with suspension of salary. Thereafter he replaced Yin Min as Minister. Grand Secretary Wan An was at odds with Yu, and Li Zisheng favored his fellow townsman Li Yu and wished to have him replace Yu; together they plotted to bring Yu down. On a charge of misconduct, Vice Minister Li Chun was transferred to Nanjing and Yu's salary was stripped. Remonstrance officials again impeached him in succession, but he was pardoned. Yu entered to give thanks; after he left, the Emperor angrily said, "I have twice pardoned Yu's offenses; he ought to thank me twice. Now he thanks once—is he discontented because his salary was taken? Zisheng and the others therefore toppled him; he was transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and Li Yu replaced him. A year later, when the Hongzhi Emperor succeeded, he was transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of War to assist in state affairs.

弘治改元，召拜禮部尚書。時公私侈靡，耗費日廣。裕隨事救正，因災異條上時事及申理言官，先後陳言甚眾，大要歸於節儉。給事中鄭宗仁疏節光祿供應，裕等請納其奏。巡視光祿御史田{大淵}以供費不足累行戶，請借太倉銀償之。裕等言，疑有侵盜弊，請敕所司禁防，帝皆從之。南京守備中官請增奉先殿日供品物，裕等不可。帝方踐阼，斥番僧還本土，止留乳奴班丹等十五人。其後多潛匿京師，轉相招引，齋醮復興。言官以為言，裕等因力請驅斥。帝乃留百八十二人，余悉逐之。禮部公廨火，裕及侍郎倪嶽、周經等請罪，被劾下獄。已，釋之，停其俸。

When Hongzhi's reign began, he was summoned and appointed Minister of Rites. At the time public and private life were extravagant and wasteful, and expenditure grew daily. Yu corrected matters as they arose; in response to portents he itemized current affairs and vindicated remonstrance officials; he spoke out on many matters in succession, all in essence returning to thrift. Supervising Secretary Zheng Zongren memorialized to trim the Court of Imperial Sacrifices' provisions; Yu and others asked that his memorial be accepted. Censor Tian Dayuan, inspecting the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, said provisioning costs were insufficient and burdened traveling households; he requested borrowing Grand Granary silver to compensate them. Yu and others said they suspected embezzlement and asked that the responsible offices be ordered to forbid and guard against it; the Emperor accepted all of this. The Nanjing defender eunuch requested an increase in the daily offerings at the Hall of Imperial Ancestors, but Yu and the others refused. The Emperor had just taken the throne. He expelled the Tibetan monks to their homelands, keeping only fifteen, including Runu Bandan. Afterward many secretly remained in the capital, inviting one another, and Buddhist rites flourished again. Censorial officials raised the matter, and Yu and the others therefore strongly petitioned for their expulsion. The Emperor then kept one hundred eighty-two and expelled all the rest. When the Ministry of Rites office caught fire, Yu and Vice Ministers Ni Yue, Zhou Jing, and others submitted guilty pleas and were impeached and imprisoned. Soon afterward they were released, but their salaries were suspended.

初，撒馬兒罕及土魯番皆貢獅子，甘肅鎮守太監傅德先圖形以進，巡按御史陳瑤請卻之。裕等乞從瑤請，而治德違詔罪，帝不從。後番使再至，留京師，頻有宣召。裕等言：「番人不道，因朝貢許其自新。彼復潛稱可汗，興兵犯順。陛下優假其使，適遇倔強之時，彼將謂天朝畏之，益長桀驁。且獅子野獸，無足珍異。」帝即遣其使還。

At first Samarkand and Turfan both sent lions as tribute. Fu De, the eunuch defending Gansu, had illustrations made and presented them, but Regional Inspector Chen Yao asked that they be refused. Yu and the others asked to follow Chen Yao's request and punish De for violating the edict, but the Emperor refused. Later the foreign envoys came again, remained in the capital, and were frequently summoned to court. Yu and the others said, "The foreigners are unprincipled. Because they sent tribute, we allowed them to reform. They again secretly styled themselves khans and raised troops in rebellion. Your Majesty favors and indulges their envoys at just the moment they are defiant. They will think the Celestial Court fears them and grow ever more rebellious and arrogant. Moreover, lions are wild beasts, scarcely worthy of wonder." The Emperor immediately sent their envoys back.

尋代王恕為吏部尚書，加太子太保。禦用監匠人李綸等以內降得官，裕言：「先有詔，文官不由臣部推舉傳乞除授者，參送法司按治。今除用綸等，不信前詔，不可。」給事中呂獻等皆論奏，裕亦再疏爭，終不聽。

Soon he replaced Wang Shu as Minister of Personnel and was appointed Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent. Artisans of the Directorate of Imperial Manufactures such as Li Lun received appointments by inner decree. Yu said, "There was already an edict that civil officials not recommended by our ministry but appointed through solicitation should be referred to the judicial authorities for investigation. Now appointing Lun and the others disregards the earlier edict and is impermissible." Supervising Secretaries such as Lü Xian all submitted memorials, and Yu also memorialized twice in protest, but in the end the Emperor would not listen.

裕為人坦夷諒直，諳習朝章。秉銓數年，無愛憎，亦不徇毀譽，銓政稱平。自奉淡泊。兩世貴盛，而家業蕭然，父子並以名德稱。九年正月卒，年六十七。贈太保，謚文恪。

Yu was open, upright, and sincere by nature, and well versed in court regulations. He held the selection office for several years without favor or hatred, and did not yield to praise or blame. Personnel administration was called fair. He lived plainly himself. Though noble and prosperous for two generations, the family's holdings were sparse, and father and son were both renowned for integrity and virtue. In the first month of the ninth year he died, aged sixty-seven. He was posthumously made Grand Mentor and given the posthumous title Wenge.

倪嶽，字舜咨，上元人。父謙，奉命祀北嶽，母夢緋衣神入室，生嶽，遂以為名。謙終南京禮部尚書，謚文僖。

Ni Yue, styled Shunzi, was a native of Shangyuan. His father Qian, while ordered to perform sacrifices at the Northern Peak, dreamed that a deity in crimson robes entered the chamber. When Yue was born, he was so named. Qian ended his career as Minister of Rites at Nanjing and was given the posthumous title Wenxi.

嶽，天順八年進士。改庶吉士，授編修。成化中，歷侍讀學士，直講東宮。二十二年擢禮部右侍郎，仍直經筵。弘治初，改左侍郎。嶽好學，文章敏捷，博綜經世之務。尚書耿裕方正持大體，至禮文制度率待嶽而決。六年，裕改吏部，嶽遂代為尚書。詔召國師領占竹於四川，嶽力諫，帝不從。給事中夏昂、御史張禎等相繼爭之，事竟寢。時營造諸王府，規制宏麗，逾永樂、宣德之舊。嶽請頒成式。又以四方所報災異，禮部於歲終類奏，率為具文，乃詳次其月日，博引經史征應。勸帝勤講學，開言路，寬賦役，慎刑罰，黜奸貪，進忠直，汰冗員，停齋醮，省營造，止濫賞。帝頗采納焉。

Yue passed the jinshi examination in the eighth year of Tianshun. He was transferred to Hanlin Bachelor and appointed Compiler. During the Chenghua reign he served as Reader-in-waiting and lectured in the Eastern Palace. In the twenty-second year he was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites of the right and continued at the Classics Lectern. At the beginning of Hongzhi he was transferred to Vice Minister of the left. Yue loved learning. His writing was quick, and he broadly mastered affairs of statecraft. Minister Geng Yu was upright and held to broad principles. In rites, documents, and regulations he generally waited for Yue to decide. In the sixth year Yu transferred to Personnel, and Yue then replaced him as Minister. An edict summoned the State Preceptor Lingzhanzhu to Sichuan. Yue strongly remonstrated, but the Emperor would not listen. Supervising Secretaries Xia Ang, Censor Zhang Zhen, and others protested in succession, and the matter was finally dropped. At the time construction of princely residences was on a grand and sumptuous scale, exceeding the standards of the Yongle and Xuande reigns. Yue asked that fixed standards be promulgated. He also noted that when calamities and portents were reported from all quarters, the Ministry of Rites at year's end submitted classified summaries that were usually empty forms. He therefore arranged them in detail by month and day and broadly cited classics and histories for corroborating signs. He urged the Emperor to study diligently, open channels of remonstrance, lighten taxes and corvée, be cautious in punishments, dismiss the wicked and greedy, advance the loyal and upright, eliminate redundant officials, halt Buddhist rites, reduce construction, and stop indiscriminate rewards. The Emperor adopted much of this.

左侍郎徐瓊與後家有連，謀代嶽。九年，南京吏部缺尚書，廷推瓊。詔加嶽太子太保，往任之，而瓊果代嶽。尋改嶽南京兵部參贊機務。還，代屠滽為吏部尚書，嚴絕請托，不徇名譽，銓政稱平。

Left Vice Minister Xu Qiong was connected to the empress's family and plotted to replace Yue. In the ninth year the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel lacked a minister, and the court recommended Qiong. An edict added Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent to Yue and sent him to take the post, while Qiong did indeed replace Yue. Soon Yue was transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of War as Coordinator of Military Affairs. On his return he replaced Tu Shu as Minister of Personnel, strictly refusing solicitations and not yielding to reputation. Personnel administration was called fair.

嶽狀貌魁岸，風采嚴峻，善斷大事。每盈廷聚議，決以片言，聞者悅服。同列中，最推遜馬文升，然論事未嘗茍同。前後陳請百余事，軍國弊政剔抉無遺。疏出，人多傳錄之。論西北用兵害尤切，其略云：

Yue was imposing in stature and stern in bearing, and skilled at deciding great affairs. Whenever the full court gathered in deliberation, he decided matters in a few words, and those who heard were pleased and convinced. Among his colleagues he most deferred to Ma Wensheng, yet in discussing affairs he never agreed rashly. Before and after he presented more than a hundred petitions, exposing every abuse in military and state affairs without omission. When his memorials appeared, many copied and circulated them. His discussion of the harm of employing troops in the northwest was especially urgent. The gist ran:

近歲毛裏孩、阿羅忽、孛羅出、乚加思蘭大為邊患。蓋緣河套之中，水草甘肥，易於屯牧，故賊頻據彼地，擁眾入掠。諸將怯懦，率嬰城自守。茍或遇敵，輒至挫衄。既莫敢折其前鋒，又不能邀其歸路。敵進獲重利，退無後憂，致兵鋒不靖，邊患靡寧。命將徂征，四年三舉，絕無寸功。或高臥而歸，或安行以返。析圭擔爵，優遊朝行，輦帛輿金，充刃私室。且軍旅一動，輒報捷音，賜予濫施，官秩輕授。甚至妄殺平民，謬稱首級。敵未敗北，輒以奔遁為辭。功賞所加，非私家子弟，即權門廝養。而什伍之卒，轉餉之民，則委骨荒城，膏血野草。天怒人怨，禍幾日深，非細故也。

In recent years Molihai, Aluohu, Boluochu, and Bekzadaslan have greatly troubled the borders. This is because within the Ordos Loop the grass and water are sweet and rich, easy for encampment and pasture. The bandits therefore frequently occupy that region and lead crowds in raids. The generals are timid and cowardly, mostly locking themselves inside walled cities. If they happen to meet the enemy, they immediately suffer defeat. They neither dare check the enemy vanguard nor intercept their route of retreat. The enemy advances and gains great profit, retreats without concern for pursuit, and so military unrest persists and border troubles never cease. Generals were ordered to campaign. In four years three expeditions were launched, with not a whit of merit. Some returned after lying abed; others came back after an easy march. They received jade scepters and carried noble titles, strolling at leisure in the court procession, with silk, coins, and gold filling their private chambers. Moreover, as soon as troops move, victory is immediately reported, rewards are lavishly bestowed, and official ranks are lightly granted. Some even kill civilians without cause and falsely claim them as heads taken. When the enemy has not been routed, they cite the enemy's flight as excuse. Those receiving merit rewards are either one's own sons and nephews or the menials of powerful families. Yet common soldiers and transport corvée laborers leave their bones in desolate fortresses and shed their blood on wild grass. Heaven's anger and men's resentment—disaster grows daily. This is no small matter.

京營素號冗怯。留鎮京師，猶恐未壯根本，顧乃輕於出禦，用褻天威。臨陣輒奔，反墮邊軍之功，為敵人所侮。且延綏邊也，去京師遠；宣府、大同亦邊也，去京師近。彼有門庭之喻，此無陛楯之嚴，可乎？頃兵部建議：令宣府出兵五千，大同出兵一萬，並力以援延綏，而不慮其相去既遠，往返不逮，人心苦於轉移，馬力疲於奔軼。夫聲東擊西者，賊寇之奸態也。搗虛批亢者，兵家之長策也。精銳既盡乎西，老弱乃留於北。萬一北或有警，而西未可離，首尾衡決，遠近坐困，其可為得計哉？至於延綏士馬屯集，糧糗不貲，乃以山西、河南之民任飛芻轉粟之役。徒步千里，夫運而妻供，父挽而子荷，道路愁怨，井落空虛。幸而得至，束芻百錢，鬥粟倍直；不幸遇賊，身且斃矣，他尚何雲。輸將不足則有輕賫，輕賫不足又有預征。水旱不可先知，豐歉未能逆卜，征如何其可預也。又令民輸芻粟補官，而媚權貴私親故者，或出空牒以授，倉庾無升合之入。至若輸粟給鹽，則豪右請托，率占虛名鬻之，而商賈費且倍蓰。官爵日輕，鹽法日沮，而邊儲之不充如故也。

The Capital Garrison has long been known as bloated and cowardly. Keeping them to guard the capital, one still fears the foundation is not strong enough. Yet they are lightly sent out on campaign, debasing imperial majesty. In battle they flee at once, undermining the border troops' achievements and inviting the enemy's contempt. Moreover Yan-sui is a border region, far from the capital; Xuanfu and Datong are also border regions, close to the capital. The former has the analogy of gate and courtyard; the latter lacks the strictness of the throne's screen—is this acceptable? Recently the Ministry of War proposed ordering Xuanfu to send five thousand troops and Datong ten thousand, combining strength to relieve Yan-sui, without considering that the distances are already great, that round trips cannot keep pace, that men's hearts suffer from constant transfers, and that horses' strength is exhausted by rapid marches. Feigning east and striking west is the cunning tactic of bandits. Striking where the enemy is empty and attacking his vital point is the supreme strategy of warfare. The elite troops are all exhausted in the west while the old and weak remain in the north. If perchance there is an alarm in the north while the west cannot be abandoned, the head and tail will be broken apart and near and far will sit trapped—is this a sound plan? As for Yan-sui, where troops and horses are massed and grain stores are insufficient, the people of Shanxi and Henan are made to bear the duties of rapid fodder and grain transport. On foot for a thousand li, husbands transport while wives supply, fathers pull while sons carry. The roads are full of grievance and villages lie empty. If they luckily arrive, a bundle of fodder costs a hundred cash and a bushel of grain double the normal price; if unluckily they meet bandits, their bodies perish—what else can be said? When transport is insufficient there is cash commutation; when cash commutation is insufficient there is advance collection. Flood and drought cannot be foreknown, and plenty and shortage cannot be divined in advance—how can collection be made beforehand? Officials were also allowed to substitute for office by submitting fodder and grain. Those currying favor with the powerful and favoring private friends sometimes issued empty warrants, and granaries received not a measure of grain. As for submitting grain to receive salt certificates, powerful families through patronage mostly monopolized nominal quotas to sell, while merchants paid costs many times over. Official ranks grew daily cheaper, the salt system daily more obstructed, yet border stores remained as empty as before.

又朝廷出帑藏給邊，歲為銀數十萬。山西、河南輸輕賫於邊者，歲不下數十萬。銀日積而多則銀益賤，粟日散而少則粟益貴。而不知者，遂於養兵之中，寓養狙之術。或以茶鹽，或以銀布，名為準折糧價，實則侵克軍需。故朝廷有糜廩之虞，軍士無果腹之樂。至兵馬所經，例須應付。居平，人日米一斗，馬日芻一束。追逐，一日之間或一二堡，或三四城，豈能俱給哉？而典守者巧為竊攘之謀，凡所經歷悉有開支，罔上行私，莫此為甚。

Moreover the court disbursed from the treasury to supply the borders, tens of thousands of taels of silver each year. Shanxi and Henan sent cash commutation to the borders each year, no less than several hundred thousand. As silver accumulated daily and grew abundant, silver grew cheaper; as grain was dispersed daily and grew scarce, grain grew dearer. Yet those who did not understand embedded the art of feeding monkeys within the scheme of maintaining troops. Sometimes using tea and salt, sometimes silver and cloth, nominally to convert grain prices, but in fact embezzling military supplies. Therefore the court feared depletion of granaries while soldiers had no joy of filling their bellies. When troops and horses pass through, localities must by regulation supply them. In normal times, one person receives one dou of rice per day, and one horse one bundle of fodder per day. In pursuit, in a single day one may pass one or two forts or three or four walled cities—how can all be supplied? Yet those in charge craftily scheme for private plunder. Wherever they pass there are disbursements recorded—deceiving superiors for private gain, nothing exceeds this.

及訪禦敵之策，則又論議紛紜。有謂復受降之故險，守東勝之舊城，使聲援交接，犄角易制。夫欲復城河北，即須塞外屯兵。出孤遠之軍，涉荒漠之地，輜重為累，饋餉惟艱。彼或抄掠於前，躡襲於後。曠日持久，軍食乏絕。進不得城，退不得歸，一敗而聲威大損矣。又有謂統十萬之眾，裹半月之糧，奮揚武威，掃蕩窟穴，使河套一空。事非不善也。然帝王之兵，以全取勝；孫、吳之法，以逸待勞。今欲鼓勇前行，窮搜遠擊，乘危履險，覬萬一之幸。贏糧遠隨則重不及事，提兵深入則孤不可援。且其間地方千里，無城郭之居，委積之守。彼或往來遷徙，罷我馳驅。我則情見勢屈，為敵所困。既失坐勝之機，必蹈覆沒之轍。其最無策者，又欲棄延綏勿守，使兵民息肩，不知一民尺土皆受之祖宗，不可忽也。向失東勝，故今日之害萃於延綏，而關陜震動。今棄延綏，則他日之害鐘於關陜，而京師震動。賊愈近而禍愈大矣。

When seeking strategies for repelling the enemy, discussion was again tangled and confused. Some argued for recovering the old Shoujiang pass, garrisoning the former city of Dongsheng, linking supporting forces, and coordinating from mutually supporting positions for easier control. To restore cities north of the Yellow River, troops would have to be garrisoned beyond the frontier. Sending armies into remote isolation across desert wastes makes baggage a burden and resupply extraordinarily difficult. The enemy might raid ahead and harry from the rear. As days drag on, army provisions are exhausted. Unable to advance and take cities or retreat in safety, a single defeat would greatly damage the dynasty's prestige. Others proposed commanding a hundred thousand men with half a month's rations, displaying martial might to sweep the enemy lairs and clear the Ordos entirely. This was not a bad plan in itself. Yet an imperial army wins through completeness and restraint; The methods of Sun and Wu counsel waiting at ease for the enemy to tire. To drum up courage, advance deep, strike far, and court danger in hope of a lucky break— carrying grain on one's back would burden troops without serving the purpose, while pushing deep would leave the army isolated and beyond rescue. Moreover, the region stretches a thousand li without walled settlements or stored supplies to fall back on. The enemy could simply move about, wearing down our forced marches. Our hand would be shown and our strength spent, leaving us trapped by the enemy. Having lost the chance to win from a position of strength, we would follow the path to total destruction. The worst proposal of all was to abandon Yansui altogether and let soldiers and civilians rest easy—not realizing that every subject and every inch of soil was entrusted by the ancestors and must not be cast aside. Because Dongsheng was lost, the harm today converges on Yansui and Shaanxi is shaken. If Yansui were abandoned now, the harm would eventually fall on Shaanxi and the capital itself would be shaken. The nearer the enemy drew, the greater the disaster would become.

因陳重將權、增城堡、廣斥堠、募民壯、去客兵、明賞罰、嚴間諜、實屯田、復邊漕數事。時兵部方主用兵，不能盡用也。

He therefore proposed several measures: empowering senior generals, expanding fortifications, extending warning beacons, recruiting local militia, removing outside troops, clarifying rewards and punishments, tightening intelligence work, revitalizing military colonies, and restoring frontier grain transport. At the time the Ministry of War was pushing for military action and could not fully adopt his proposals.

十四年十月卒，年五十八。贈少保，謚文毅。明世父子官翰林，俱謚文，自嶽始。

He died in the tenth month of the fourteenth year, at the age of fifty-eight. He was posthumously made Junior Guardian and given the posthumous title Wanyi ("cultured and resolute"). In the Ming, when father and son both served in the Hanlin Academy and both received posthumous titles containing "Wen," Yue was the first such case.

閔珪，字朝瑛，烏程人。天順八年進士。授御史。出按河南，以風力聞。成化六年擢江西副使，進廣東按察使。久之，以右僉都御史巡撫江西。南、贛諸府多盜，率強宗家仆。珪請獲盜連坐其主，法司議從之。尹直輩謀之李孜省，取中旨責珪不能弭盜，左遷廣西按察使。

Min Gui, styled Zhaoying, came from Wucheng. He passed the jinshi examination in the eighth year of Tianshun. He was made an investigating censor. Sent to inspect Henan, he became known for his forceful integrity. In the sixth year of Chenghua he was promoted to Vice Commissioner of Jiangxi and then to Surveillance Commissioner of Guangdong. After some time he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Jiangxi. The prefectures of Nan and Gan had many bandits, mostly drawn from the retainers of powerful clans. Gui proposed that captured bandits bring their masters to account through collective punishment; the judicial offices agreed. Yin Zhi and his associates plotted with Li Zisheng, secured a secret edict rebuking Gui for failing to suppress banditry, and had him demoted to Surveillance Commissioner of Guangxi.

孝宗嗣位，擢右副都御史，巡撫順天。入為刑部右侍郎，進右都御史，總督兩廣軍務，與總兵官毛銳討古田僮。副總兵馬俊、參議馬鉉自臨桂深入，敗死，軍遂退。詔停俸討賊。珪復進兵，連破七寨，他賊悉就撫。

When the Xiaozong Emperor succeeded to the throne, Gui was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed grand coordinator of Shuntian. He entered the capital as Right Vice Minister of Punishments, rose to Right Censor-in-Chief, and as supreme commander of Guangdong and Guangxi joined Commander-in-Chief Mao Rui in campaigning against the Yao of Gutian. Vice Commander Ma Jun and Assistant Commissioner Ma Xuan pressed deep from Lingui, were defeated and killed, and the army withdrew. An edict ordered that their salaries be suspended until the bandits were suppressed. Gui resumed the offensive, captured seven stockades in succession, and the remaining bandits all submitted.

弘治七年遷南京刑部尚書，尋召為左都御史。十一年，東宮出閣，加太子少保。十三年代白昂為刑部尚書，再加太子太保。以災異與都御史戴珊共陳時政八事，又陳刑獄四事，多報可。

In the seventh year of Hongzhi he was transferred to Minister of Punishments at Nanjing and soon summoned back as Left Censor-in-Chief. In the eleventh year, when the crown prince left the inner quarters, Gui was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In the thirteenth year he replaced Bai Ang as Minister of Punishments and was further made Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Following calamities and portents, he and Censor-in-Chief Dai Shan jointly submitted eight proposals on current policy and four on the administration of justice; most were approved.

珪久為法官，議獄皆會情比律，歸於仁恕。宣府妖人李道明聚眾燒香，巡撫劉聰信千戶黃珍言，株連數十家，謂道明將引北寇攻宣府。及逮訊無驗，珪乃止坐道明一人，余悉得釋，而抵珍罪，聰亦下獄貶官。帝之親鞫吳一貫也，將置大辟，珪進曰：「一貫推案不實，罪當徒。」帝不允，珪執如初。帝怒，戴珊從旁解之。帝乃霽威，令更擬。珪終以原擬上，帝不悅，召語劉大夏。對曰：「刑官執法乃其職，未可深罪。」帝默然久之，曰：「朕亦知珪老成不易得，但此事太執耳。」卒如珪議。

Gui had long served as a judicial official. In deliberating cases he matched circumstances to the law and leaned toward clemency. At Xuanfu the sorcerer Li Daoming gathered followers to burn incense. Grand Coordinator Liu Cong believed Battalion Commander Huang Zhen and implicated dozens of households, claiming Daoming would lead northern raiders against Xuanfu. When arrest and interrogation found no proof, Gui punished only Daoming; the rest were released, Zhen was held accountable, and Cong was imprisoned and demoted. When the Emperor personally tried Wu Yiguan and was about to impose the death penalty, Gui stepped forward: "Yiguan's forced confession on an unsound case warrants banishment, not death. The Emperor refused; Gui held firm to his original view. The Emperor grew angry, and Dai Shan interceded from the side. The Emperor's anger abated, and he ordered a new proposal. Gui ultimately submitted his original proposal. The Emperor was displeased and summoned Liu Daxia for counsel. Liu replied: "For a judicial official to uphold the law is his duty; he ought not be heavily punished. The Emperor was silent a long while, then said: "I know Gui is experienced and not easily replaced, but on this matter he is too stubborn." In the end the sentence followed Gui's recommendation.

正德元年六月，以年逾七十再疏求退，不允。及劉瑾用事，九卿伏闕固諫，韓文被斥，珪復連章乞休。明年二月詔加少保，賜敕馳傳歸。六年十月卒，年八十二。贈太保，謚莊懿。

In the sixth month of the first year of Zhengde, having passed seventy he again requested retirement, but the request was denied. When Liu Jin came to power, the Nine Ministers knelt at the palace gate in firm remonstrance. Han Wen was dismissed, and Gui again submitted successive memorials requesting retirement. In the second month of the following year an edict made him Junior Guardian and granted an imperial commission for his return home by relay horse. He died in the tenth month of the sixth year, at the age of eighty-two. He was posthumously made Senior Guardian and given the posthumous title Zhuangyi ("dignified and virtuous").

從孫如霖，南京禮部尚書。如霖曾孫洪學，吏部尚書。洪學從弟夢得，兵部戎政尚書。他為庶僚者復數人。

His grand-nephew Rulin served as Minister of Rites at Nanjing. Rulin's great-grandson Hongxue served as Minister of Personnel. Hongxue's cousin Mengde served as Minister of War for Frontier Affairs. Several others of the family also served as ordinary officials.

戴珊，字廷珍，浮梁人。父哻，由鄉舉官嘉興教授，有學行。富人數輩遣其奴子入學，哻不可。賄上官強之，執愈堅，見忤，坐他事去。

Dai Shan, styled Tingzhen, came from Fuliang. His father Bei passed the provincial examination and served as Director of Studies at Jiaxing; he was a man of learning and integrity. Several wealthy men tried to enroll their slave sons; Bei refused. They bribed his superiors to force the issue, but Bei held firm, gave offense, and was removed on another charge.

珊幼嗜學，天順末，與劉大夏同舉進士。久之，擢御史，督南畿學政。成化十四年遷陜西副使，仍督學政。正身率教，士皆愛慕之。歷浙江按察使，福建左、右布政使，終任不攜一土物。

Shan loved learning from youth. At the end of the Tianshun reign he passed the jinshi together with Liu Daxia. After some time he was promoted to investigating censor and placed in charge of educational policy in the Southern Metropolitan Region. In the fourteenth year of Chenghua he was transferred to Vice Commissioner of Shaanxi while continuing to supervise educational policy. He led by personal example in teaching, and scholars admired him. He served as Surveillance Commissioner of Zhejiang and Left and Right Provincial Commissioner of Fujian; at the end of each posting he took away not a single local product.

弘治二年，以王恕薦擢右副都御史，撫治鄖陽。蜀盜野王剛流劫竹山、平利。珊合川、陜兵，檄副使朱漢等討擒其魁，余皆以脅從論，全活甚眾。入歷刑部左、右侍郎，與尚書何喬新、彭韶共事。晉府寧化王鐘鈵淫虐不孝，勘不得實，再遣珊等勘之，遂奪爵禁錮。進南京刑部尚書。久之，召為左都御史。十七年，考察京官，珊廉介不茍合。給事中吳、王蓋自疑見黜，連疏詆吏部尚書馬文升，並言珊縱妻子納賄。珊等乞罷，帝慰留之。御史馮允中等言：「文升、珊歷事累朝，清德素著，不可因浮詞廢計典。」乃下、蓋詔獄，命文升、珊即舉察事。珊等言：「兩人逆計當黜，故先劾臣等。今黜之，彼必曰是挾私也。茍避不黜，則負委任，而使詐諼者得誌。」帝命上兩人事跡，皆黜之。已，劉健等因召對，力言蓋罪輕，宜調用。帝方向用文升、珊，卒不納。

In the second year of Hongzhi, on Wang Shu's recommendation he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed pacification commissioner of Yunyang. The Shu bandit Ye Wanggang roved through Zhushan and Pingli, plundering as he went. Shan combined troops from Sichuan and Shaanxi and dispatched Vice Commissioner Zhu Han and others to capture the ringleader; the rest were treated as coerced followers, sparing many lives. He entered the capital and served as Left and Right Vice Minister of Punishments, working with Ministers He Qiaoxin and Peng Shao. Zhong Min, a prince of the Jin line in Ninghua, was licentious, cruel, and unfilial. An initial investigation failed to establish the facts, so Shan and others were sent again; the title was stripped and he was confined. He was promoted to Minister of Punishments at Nanjing. After some time he was summoned back as Left Censor-in-Chief. In the seventeenth year, during the inspection of capital officials, Shan was incorruptible and would not compromise. Supervising Secretaries Wu and Wang Gai, fearing dismissal, submitted successive memorials attacking Minister of Personnel Ma Wensheng and accusing Shan of letting his wife and children accept bribes. Shan and the others asked to resign; the Emperor comforted them and kept them in post. Censor Feng Yunzhong and others said: "Wensheng and Shan have served through many reigns with established reputations for integrity; they cannot be removed from the inspection roster on loose talk alone. Wu and Gai were imprisoned by imperial edict, and Wensheng and Shan were ordered to proceed with the inspection. Shan and the others said: "The two men anticipated dismissal and so impeached us first. If we dismiss them now, they will surely claim it is personal retaliation. If we spare them to avoid that appearance, we fail our charge and let deceivers triumph. The Emperor ordered their records submitted; both were dismissed. Later Liu Jian and others, at an imperial audience, argued strongly that Gai's offense was minor and he should be transferred rather than dismissed. The Emperor was then set on keeping Wensheng and Shan and did not accept the suggestion.

帝晚年召對大臣，珊與大夏造膝宴見尤數。一日，與大夏侍坐。帝曰：「時當述職，諸大臣皆杜門。如二卿者，雖日見客何害。」袖出白金賚之，曰：「少佐而廉。」且屬勿廷謝，曰：「恐為他人忌也。」珊以老疾數求退，輒優詔勉留，遣醫賜食，慰諭有加。珊感激泣下，私語大夏曰：「珊老病子幼，恐一旦先朝露，公同年好友，何惜一言乎？」大夏曰：「唯唯。」後大夏燕對畢，帝問珊病狀，言珊實病，乞憫憐聽其歸。帝曰：「彼屬卿言耶？主人留客堅，客則強留。珊獨不能為朕留耶？且朕以天下事付卿輩，猶家人父子。今太平未兆，何忍言歸！」大夏出以告珊，珊泣曰：「臣死是官矣。」帝既崩，珊以新君嗣位不忍言去，力疾視事。疾作，遂卒。贈太子太保，謚恭簡。

In the Emperor's later years he summoned senior ministers for audience; Shan and Daxia were especially often received at intimate audiences. One day Shan and Daxia were in attendance. The Emperor said: "It is time for the annual reporting of duties, yet most ministers keep their doors shut. Ministers such as you two—what harm if you receive guests every day? He drew silver from his sleeve and bestowed it, saying: "A little something to supplement your modest means." He added that they should not thank him at court: "I fear others would grow jealous." Shan repeatedly sought retirement on grounds of age and illness; each time the Emperor sent a gracious edict urging him to stay, dispatched physicians, bestowed food, and heaped encouragement upon him. Moved to tears, Shan spoke privately to Daxia: "I am old and ill with young sons; I fear I may die at any moment—you are my friend from the same graduating year; would you not speak a word on my behalf? Daxia said: "Yes, yes." Later, after an informal audience, the Emperor asked after Shan's health; Daxia said Shan was truly ill and begged the Emperor to show compassion and allow him to retire. The Emperor said, "Was that your counsel? When a host presses a guest to stay, the guest in turn should press to remain. Can Shan alone not stay on for me? Moreover I entrust the affairs of the realm to you ministers as one entrusts them to one's own family, father and son together. Great peace has not yet dawned—how can you bear to speak of going home! Daxia went out and told Shan; Shan wept and said, "I shall die in this office." After the Emperor died, Shan, with the new ruler just ascended, could not bear to speak of leaving and forced himself to carry on despite illness. His illness took hold and he died. He was posthumously granted Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous title Gongjian.

贊曰：孝宗之為明賢君，有以哉。恭儉自飭，而明於任人。劉、謝諸賢居政府，而王恕、何喬新、彭韶等為七卿長，相與維持而匡弼之。朝多君子，殆比隆開元、慶歷盛時矣。喬新、韶雖未究其用，而望著朝野。史稱宋仁宗時，國未嘗無嬖幸，而不足以累治世之體；朝未嘗無小人，而不足以勝善類之氣。孝宗初政，亦略似之。不然，承憲宗之季，而欲使政不旁撓，財無濫費，滋培元氣，中外乂安，豈易言哉。

The appraiser says: That Xiaozong was a worthy ruler of the Ming had good reason. He was respectful and frugal in his own conduct and clear-sighted in appointing men. Liu, Xie, and other worthies held the government, while Wang Shu, He Qiaoxin, Peng Shao, and others headed the six ministries, together sustaining and correcting him. The court abounded in gentlemen; it nearly matched the flourishing age of Kaiyuan and the prosperity of Qingli. Qiaoxin and Shao, though their talents were not fully used to the end, enjoyed reputations renowned throughout court and country. Histories say that under Song Renzong the state was not without favourites, yet they were not enough to burden the substance of a well-governed age; the court was not without petty men, yet they could not overcome the spirit of the good. Xiaozong's early government resembled this in outline as well. Otherwise, inheriting the late years of Xianzong, to expect government undiverted, expenditure unreckless, vital energy nourished, and peace within and without—how easily could that be said?

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