Volume 186 Biographies 74: Han Wen, Zhang Fuhua, Yang Shousui, Xu Jin, Yong Tai, Chen Shou, Fan Ying, Xiong Xiu, Pan Fan, Hu Fu, Zhang Tai, Zhang Nai, Wang Jing, Zhu Qin

韓文〈（顧佐陳仁）〉張敷華楊守隨〈（弟守隅）〉許進〈（子誥贊論）〉雍泰〈（張津）〉陳壽樊瑩熊繡潘蕃胡富張泰〈（吳文度）〉張鼐〈（冒政）〉王璟朱欽

Han Wen 〈Gu Zuo; Chen Ren〉 Zhang Fuhua and Yang Shousui 〈his younger brother Shouyu〉 Xu Jin 〈his sons Gao and Zan; commentary〉 Yong Tai 〈Zhang Jin〉 Chen Shou, Fan Ying, Xiong Xiu, Pan Fan, Hu Fu, and Zhang Tai 〈Wu Wendu〉 Zhang Nai 〈Mao Zheng〉 Wang Jing and Zhu Qin

韓文，字貫道，洪洞人，宋宰相琦後也。生時，父夢紫衣人抱送文彥博至其家，故名之曰文。成化二年舉進士，除工科給事中。核韋州軍功，劾寧晉伯劉聚，都御史王越、馬文升等濫殺妄報。尋劾越薦李秉、王竑。語頗涉兩宮，帝怒，撻之文華殿庭。已，進右給事中，出為湖廣右參議。中貴督太和山，乾沒公費。文力遏之，以其羨易粟萬石，備振貸。九溪土酋與鄰境爭地相攻，文往諭，皆服。閱七年，轉左。

Han Wen, whose style was Guandao, came from Hongdong and was descended from the Song chief minister Han Qi. When he was born, his father dreamed that a man in purple robes brought Wen Yanbo to the house, and for that reason named him Wen. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Chenghua and was appointed a supervising secretary in the Ministry of Works. While auditing military merit at Weizhou, he impeached the Marquis of Ningjin Liu Ju and the censors-in-chief Wang Yue and Ma Wensheng, among others, for indiscriminate killing and false reporting of victories. He soon impeached Wang Yue as well for recommending Li Bing and Wang Hong. His language touched on matters involving both palaces; the emperor was furious and had him flogged in the courtyard of the Hall of Literary Glory. Afterward he was promoted to right supervising secretary and appointed right assistant administration commissioner of Huguang. A favored eunuch was supervising Mount Taihe and embezzling public funds. Wen firmly restrained him, converted the surplus funds into ten thousand piculs of grain, and stored it for famine relief and lending. Native chieftains of Jiuxi were fighting neighboring districts over land; Wen went to admonish them, and all submitted. Seven years later he was transferred to the left post.

弘治改元，王恕以文久淹，用為山東左參政。居二年，用倪嶽薦，擢雲南左布政使。以右副都御史巡撫湖廣，移撫河南，召為戶部右侍郎。母喪除，起改吏部，進左。十六年拜南京兵部尚書。歲侵，米價翔踴。文請預發軍餉三月，戶部難之。文曰：「救荒如救焚，有罪，吾自當之。」乃發廩十六萬石，米價為平。明年召拜戶部尚書。

At the beginning of the Hongzhi reign, Wang Shu, seeing that Wen had long been kept in subordinate posts, appointed him left administration commissioner of Shandong. Two years later, on Ni Yue's recommendation, he was promoted to left provincial administration commissioner of Yunnan. As right vice censor-in-chief he served as grand coordinator of Huguang, then was transferred to Henan and summoned to be right vice minister of Revenue. After the mourning period for his mother, he was recalled, transferred to the Ministry of Personnel, and promoted to the left post. In the sixteenth year he was appointed minister of War at Nanjing. That year crops failed and rice prices soared. Wen asked to issue three months of military pay in advance, but the Ministry of Revenue resisted. Wen said, "Famine relief is like fighting a fire—if anyone is to be blamed, let it be me." He then released one hundred sixty thousand piculs from the granaries, and rice prices stabilized. The following year he was summoned and appointed minister of Revenue.

文凝厚雍粹，居常抑抑。至臨大事，剛斷無所撓。武宗即位，賞賚及山陵、大婚諸費，需銀百八十萬兩有奇，部帑不給。文請先發承運庫，詔不許。文言：「帑藏虛，賞賚自京邊軍士外，請分別給銀鈔，稍益以內庫及內府錢，並暫借勛戚賜莊田稅，而敕承運庫內官核所積金銀，著之籍。且盡罷諸不急費。」帝不欲發內帑，命文以漸經畫。文持大體，務為國惜財。真人陳應衤盾、大國師那卜堅參等落職，文請沒其資實國帑。舊制，監局、倉庫內官不過二三人，後漸添註，或一倉十余人，上林苑、林衡署至三十二人，文力請裁汰。淳安公主賜田三百頃，復欲奪任丘民業，文力爭乃止。

Wen was grave, generous, and upright; in ordinary life he was modest and unassuming. But when great affairs were at stake, he was resolute and unyielding. When Wuzong came to the throne, rewards and the costs of the imperial tomb and grand wedding required more than 1.8 million taels of silver, and the ministry treasury could not cover it. Wen asked to draw first on the transport treasury, but the emperor refused. Wen said, "The treasury is empty. Apart from soldiers in the capital and on the frontiers, let rewards be paid partly in paper money, supplemented somewhat from the inner treasury and inner palace funds, with a temporary loan from taxes on estates granted to meritorious kin; and order the eunuchs of the transport treasury to audit the gold and silver on hand and enter it in the registers. At the same time, abolish all nonessential expenditures. The emperor did not wish to open the inner treasury and told Wen to work out the finances step by step. Wen held to the larger interest and strove to conserve the state's wealth. When the Daoist adept Chen Yingxiang, the Great State Preceptor Napo Jianzan, and others were dismissed, Wen asked that their property be seized for the state treasury. Under the old rules, inner eunuchs at supervisory bureaus and storehouses numbered no more than two or three; later appointments multiplied until a single storehouse might have more than ten and the Imperial Park and Forestry Office as many as thirty-two. Wen pressed hard for cutbacks. Princess Chun'an had been granted three hundred qing of land and then sought to seize the holdings of commoners in Renqiu; Wen fought the proposal fiercely until it was abandoned.

孝宗時，外戚慶雲、壽寧侯家人及商人譚景清等奏請買補殘鹽至百八十萬引。文條鹽政夙弊七事，論殘鹽尤切。孝宗嘉納，未及行而崩，即入武宗登極詔中，罷之。侯家復奏乞，下部更議，文等再三執奏，弗從，竟如侯請。正德元年，內閣及言官復論之，詔下廷議。文言：「鹽法之設，專以備邊。今山、陜饑，寇方大入，度支匱絀，飛挽甚難。奈何壞祖宗法，忽邊防之重。」景清復陳乞如故。文等劾其桀悍，請執付法官。帝不得已，始寢前令。

Under Xiaozong, the households of the maternal relatives—the Marquises of Qingyun and Shouning—and the merchant Tan Jingqing and others petitioned to buy supplemental remnant salt licenses totaling 1.8 million yin. Wen listed seven longstanding abuses in the salt administration, arguing most forcefully against remnant salt. Xiaozong approved the proposal, but before it could be implemented he died; the measure was then included in Wuzong's accession edict and abolished. The marquis's family petitioned again; the ministry was ordered to reconsider; Wen and others submitted repeated firm memorials in vain, and in the end the court granted the marquis's request. In the first year of Zhengde the Grand Secretariat and censorial officials debated the matter again, and the emperor ordered a court deliberation. Wen said, "The salt monopoly was established solely to fund the frontier. Shanxi and Shaanxi are in famine, raiders are pouring in, revenue is exhausted, and rapid transport of supplies is extremely difficult. How can we overturn the laws of our ancestors and neglect frontier defense? Jingqing submitted the same petition again. Wen and others impeached him for defiance and asked that he be arrested and handed over to the judiciary. The emperor, having no alternative, finally set aside the earlier order.

榮王乞霸州莊田，崇王請自征莊田租，勿令有司與，文皆持卻之。保定巡撫王璟請革皇莊，廷議從之，帝命再議。文請命巡撫官召民佃，畝征銀三分輸內庫，而盡撤中官管莊者，大學士劉健等亦力言內臣管莊擾民。乃命留中官各一人、校尉十人，余如文議。中旨索寶石、西珠，文請屏絕珍奇，以養儉德。報可。帝將大婚，取戶部銀四十萬兩，文連疏請，得免四之一。

Prince Rong petitioned for estate land in Bazhou; Prince Chong asked to collect estate rents himself without local officials taking part—Wen blocked each request. Wang Jing, grand coordinator of Baoding, asked to abolish imperial estates; the court agreed, but the emperor ordered the matter reconsidered. Wen proposed that grand coordinators lease the land to commoners, collect three fen of silver per mu for the inner treasury, and remove all inner eunuchs who managed the estates; Grand Secretaries Liu Jian and others also argued forcefully that eunuch estate managers harassed the people. The court then ordered that one inner eunuch and ten guardsmen remain at each estate, with the rest of Wen's plan adopted. By secret edict the court demanded gems and Western pearls; Wen asked that such luxuries be refused so as to cultivate frugality. The emperor approved. When the emperor was about to marry, four hundred thousand taels were taken from the Ministry of Revenue; Wen submitted repeated memorials and secured a reduction of one quarter.

文司國計二年，力遏權幸，權幸深疾之。而是時青宮舊奄劉瑾等八人號「八虎」，日導帝狗馬、鷹兔、歌舞、角，不親萬幾。文每退朝，對僚屬語及，輒泣下。郎中李夢陽進曰：「公大臣，義共國休戚，徒泣何為。諫官疏劾諸奄，執政持甚力。公誠及此時率大臣固爭，去『八虎』易易耳。」文捋須昂肩，毅然改容曰：「善。縱事勿濟，吾年足死矣，不死不足報國。」即偕諸大臣伏闕上疏，略曰：「人主辨奸為明，人臣犯顏為忠。況群小作朋，逼近君側，安危治亂胥此焉關。臣等伏睹近歲朝政日非，號令失當。自入秋來，視朝漸晚。仰窺聖容，日漸清削。皆言太監馬永成、谷大用、張永、羅祥、魏彬、丘聚、劉瑾、高鳳等造作巧偽，淫蕩上心。擊球走馬，放鷹逐犬，俳優雜劇，錯陳於前。至導萬乘與外人交易，狎昵媟褻，無復禮體。日遊不足，夜以繼之，勞耗精神，虧損誌德。遂使天道失序，地氣靡寧。雷異星變，桃李秋華。考厥占候，鹹非吉征。此輩細人，惟知蠱惑君上以便己私，而不思赫赫天命。皇皇帝業，在陛下一身。今大婚雖畢，儲嗣未建。萬一遊宴損神，起居失節，雖齏粉若輩，何補於事。高皇帝艱難百戰，取有四海。列聖繼承，以至陛下。先帝臨崩顧命之語，陛下所聞也。奈何姑息群小，置之左右，以累聖德？竊觀前古奄宦誤國，為禍尤烈，漢十常侍、唐甘露之變，其明驗也。今永成等罪惡既著，若縱不治，將來益無忌憚，必患在社稷。伏望陛下奮乾剛，割私愛，上告兩宮，下諭百僚，明正典刑，以回天地之變，泄神人之憤，潛削禍亂之階，永保靈長之業。」疏入，帝驚泣不食。瑾等大懼。

For two years Wen directed state finances, firmly checking the powerful and favored, who came to hate him deeply. Meanwhile the eight former Eastern Palace eunuchs led by Liu Jin were known as the Eight Tigers; day after day they led the emperor to hunting, hawking, music, dance, and wrestling matches, and he neglected the affairs of state. Whenever Wen left court and spoke of this with his colleagues, he wept. Bureau director Li Mengyang stepped forward and said, "You are a chief minister and share the state's fortune—what good is weeping alone? Censorial officials have already memorialized against the eunuchs, and the chief ministers are standing firm. If you would now lead the chief ministers in a united stand, removing the Eight Tigers would be easy. Wen stroked his beard, straightened his shoulders, and said resolutely, "Well said. Even if we fail, I am old enough to die; if I do not die, I cannot repay the state. He then joined the chief ministers in kneeling before the palace gate to submit a memorial that began, "For a ruler to discern treachery is wisdom; for a minister to speak against the throne is loyalty. When petty men form factions at the ruler's side, the security of the realm and the fate of good government all hang on this. We have observed that in recent years governance has grown daily worse and imperial orders have gone awry. Since autumn, the emperor has been holding court later and later. When we glimpse your countenance, we see that you grow thinner day by day. All agree that the eunuchs Ma Yongcheng, Gu Dayong, Zhang Yong, Luo Xiang, Wei Bin, Qiu Ju, Liu Jin, Gao Feng, and others contrive deceptions and corrupt your mind with dissipation. They set before you ball games and horse racing, hawking and hound coursing, actors and variety plays in endless profusion. They even lead you to trade with outsiders in familiar and indecent ways, with no regard for ritual propriety. Daytime diversions are not enough—they continue into the night, wearing down your spirit and harming your virtue. Heaven's order has been disturbed and the earth is unsettled. Thunder has been abnormal, stars have shifted, and peach and plum trees have blossomed in autumn. By every omen, none of these are auspicious signs. These petty men know only how to beguile you for their private gain and give no thought to Heaven's august mandate. The august imperial enterprise rests on Your Majesty alone. Though the grand wedding is over, no heir has yet been appointed. If dissipation should harm your health or irregular habits should take hold, grinding these men to dust would avail nothing. The August Emperor fought through countless hardships and won the realm. The sage emperors succeeded one another down to Your Majesty. Your Majesty heard the former emperor's deathbed charge. How can you indulge petty men and keep them at your side, thereby tarnishing your sacred virtue? History shows that eunuchs have misled states to especially terrible ends—the Ten Regular Attendants of Han and the Sweet Dew incident of Tang are clear proof. Yongcheng and the others have already shown their crimes; if they are indulged, they will grow ever bolder and the altars of state will be in peril. We beg Your Majesty to rouse your firm resolve, set aside private affection, inform both palaces, instruct all officials, and apply the proper punishments—thereby turning back Heaven's warnings, appeasing the anger of gods and men, removing the seeds of rebellion, and securing the dynasty for ages to come. When the memorial was received, the emperor was shaken, wept, and refused to eat. Jin and the others were terrified.

時內閣劉健、謝遷等方持言官章不肯下，文疏復入。帝遣司禮太監李榮、王嶽等詣閣議。一日三至，健等持益堅。嶽素剛直，獨曰：「閣議是。」是夜，八人者環泣帝前。帝怒，立收嶽下詔獄，而外廷固未之知也。明日，文倡九卿科道再詣闕固爭。俄有旨，宥八人不問。健、遷倉皇致仕去。八人各分據要地，瑾掌司禮，時事遂大變。

At that time Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and others in the Grand Secretariat were holding the censors' memorials and refusing to transmit them; Wen's memorial arrived as well. The emperor sent the eunuchs Li Rong and Wang Yue of the Directorate of Ceremonial to the Grand Secretariat for deliberation. They came three times in a single day, but Jian and the others held firmer than ever. Wang Yue, who was upright by nature, alone said, "The Grand Secretariat is right. That night, the eight eunuchs gathered around the emperor and wept before him. The emperor flew into a rage and had Wang Yue seized and thrown into the imperial prison at once, though the outer court knew nothing of it. The next day Han Wen rallied the Nine Ministers and the censorate officials to march on the palace once more and press their demands. An edict soon came, pardoning the eight eunuchs and taking no further action. Liu Jian and Xie Qian hurriedly retired from office and withdrew. The eight eunuchs each took control of key posts; Liu Jin held the Directorate of Ceremonial, and state affairs were transformed overnight.

瑾恨文甚，日令人伺文過。逾月，有以偽銀輸內庫者，遂以為文罪。詔降一級致仕，郎中陳仁謫鈞州同知。給事中徐昂乞留文原官。中旨謂顯有囑托，落文職，以顧佐代，並除昂名。二年三月榜奸黨姓名，自劉健、謝遷外，尚書則文為首，余若張敷華、楊守隨、林瀚等凡五十三人，列於朝堂。文子高唐知州士聰，刑部主事士奇，皆削籍。文出都門，乘一藍輿，行李一車而已。瑾恨未已，坐以遺失部籍，逮文及侍郎張縉下詔獄。數月始釋，罰米千石輸大同。尋復罰米者再，家業蕩然。

Liu Jin hated Han Wen bitterly and daily sent men to watch for his missteps. More than a month later, when someone delivered counterfeit silver to the inner treasury, it was made Han Wen's crime. An edict demoted Han Wen one rank and forced his retirement; Bureau Director Chen Ren was relegated to Assistant Prefect of Junzhou. Supervising Secretary Xu Ang petitioned that Han Wen be kept in his original post. A secret edict declared that favoritism was plainly involved, stripped Han Wen of office and replaced him with Gu Zuo, and also struck Xu Ang from the rolls. In the third month of the second year, the names of the 'Wicked Faction' were posted: apart from Liu Jian and Xie Qian, Han Wen headed the list of ministers, and fifty-three men in all—including Zhang Fuhua, Yang Shousui, and Lin Han—were displayed in the court hall. Han Wen's sons—the Gaotang prefect Han Shicong and Ministry of Justice Director Han Shiji—were both struck from the rolls. When Han Wen left the capital, he rode in a single blue sedan chair and took only one cart of belongings. Liu Jin's grudge was still not satisfied; on a charge of losing ministry registers, he had Han Wen and Vice Minister Zhang Jin thrown into the imperial prison. They were held for several months before release; Han Wen was fined a thousand piculs of grain, payable to Datong. Soon he was fined grain twice more, and the family's fortune was wiped out.

瑾誅，復官，致仕。世宗即位，遣行人賫璽書存問，賚羊酒。令有司月給廩四石，歲給役夫六人終其身。復加太子太保，蔭一孫光祿寺署丞。嘉靖五年卒，年八十有六。贈太傅，謚忠定。

After Liu Jin was executed, Han Wen was restored to rank and retired. When the Jiajing Emperor came to the throne, he sent a courier with an imperial letter of inquiry and rewarded him with mutton and wine. He ordered the local authorities to grant him four piculs of grain each month and six corvée laborers each year for the rest of his life. He was again made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and one grandson received the post of Acting Director at the Court of Imperial Entertainments by hereditary privilege. He died in the fifth year of Jiajing, at the age of eighty-six. He was posthumously ennobled as Grand Tutor with the posthumous name Zhongding, 'Loyal and Steadfast.'

士聰，舉人。罷官後，不復仕。士奇進士，終湖廣參政。少子士賢，亦由舉人為開封同知。孫廷瑋，進士，行太仆卿。

Shicong was a provincial graduate. After his dismissal he never held office again. Shiji was a metropolitan graduate and ended his career as Administrative Commissioner of Huguang. The youngest son Shixian likewise rose from provincial graduate to Assistant Prefect of Kaifeng. His grandson Tingwei was a metropolitan graduate and served as Acting Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud.

顧佐，字良弼，臨淮人。成化五年進士。授刑部主事，歷郎中。按錦衣指揮牛循，中官顧雄、鐘欽罪，無所撓。出為河間知府。弘治中，再遷大理少卿，擢右僉都御史巡撫山西。宗室第宅，官為繕，費不貲，佐請悉令自營治。正統末，權發太原、平陽民戍邊，後久不代，佐奏令更代。入為左副都御史，勘罷遼東總兵官李杲、太監任良、巡撫張玉，歷戶部左、右侍郎，出理陜西軍食。善區畫，儲蓄余三年。正德改元。代韓文為尚書。劉瑾憾文，捃摭萬端。部有故冊逸，欲以為文罪，逼佐上其事。佐不可，坐事奪俸三月。佐乃再疏乞歸，從之。瑾憾不置，三罰米輸塞上，至千余石。家貧，稱貸以償。卒，贈太子太保。

Gu Zuo, styled Liangbi, was from Linhuai. He passed the metropolitan examination in the fifth year of Chenghua. He was appointed a Ministry of Justice director and rose to bureau director. When investigating Brocade Guard Commander Niu Xun and the eunuchs Gu Xiong and Zhong Qin, he yielded to no pressure. He was posted out as Prefect of Hejian. During Hongzhi he was twice promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, then elevated to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Shanxi. Imperial clansmen's estates were repaired at government expense at staggering cost; Gu Zuo petitioned that the clansmen be required to build and maintain them themselves. At the end of Zhengtong, civilians from Taiyuan and Pingyang had been conscripted for emergency frontier service and were long overdue for relief; Gu Zuo memorialized that rotations be enforced. Recalled as Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, he investigated and dismissed Liaodong Regional Commander Li Gao, the eunuch Ren Liang, and Grand Coordinator Zhang Yu; he served as Left and Right Vice Minister of Revenue and was then sent to manage military provisions in Shaanxi. Skilled at logistics, he built up stores sufficient for three years. The Zhengde reign began. He replaced Han Wen as Minister of Revenue. Liu Jin nursed a grudge against Han Wen and scraped together charges on every possible pretext. When an old ministry register went missing, they tried to pin the loss on Han Wen and pressured Gu Zuo to memorialize it. Gu Zuo refused, and for this he was penalized with three months' salary withheld. Gu Zuo memorialized again asking to retire, and his request was granted. Liu Jin's grudge did not end; he three times imposed fines of grain payable to the frontier, totaling more than a thousand piculs. The family was poor and had to borrow money to pay. At his death he was posthumously ennobled as Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

陳仁，字子居，莆田人。成化末進士。弘治中，官戶部郎中。闕里先聖廟災，疏請修省。陜西進古璽，仁抗疏斥其偽。詔召番僧領占竹於四川，仁疏諫。又請復建文忠臣方孝孺等官。多格不行。正德初，瑾以贗銀事坐尚書文罪，仁並謫。後瑾誅，累擢至浙江右布政使。

Chen Ren, styled Ziju, was from Putian. He passed the metropolitan examination near the end of the Chenghua reign. During Hongzhi he served as Bureau Director in the Ministry of Revenue. When fire destroyed the Temple of the Sage at Qufu, he memorialized calling on the court to examine itself and reform. When Shaanxi presented an ancient imperial seal, Chen Ren submitted a forceful memorial denouncing it as a forgery. When an edict summoned the Tibetan monk Ling Zhanzhu to Sichuan, Chen Ren memorialized in protest. He also petitioned to restore the official titles of Jianwen loyalists such as Fang Xiaoru. Most of his proposals were rejected and went unimplemented. Early in Zhengde, Liu Jin used the counterfeit silver affair to convict Minister Han Wen, and Chen Ren was demoted along with him. After Liu Jin was executed, he was promoted step by step to Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Zhejiang.

張敷華，字公實，安福人。父洪，御史，死土木難。敷華少負氣節。年七歲，裏社樹為祟，麾群兒盡伐之。景泰初，錄死事後，入國學。舉天順八年進士，選庶吉士。成化元年，與劉大夏願就部曹。除兵部主事，歷郎中。廉重不撓，名等於大夏。

Zhang Fuhua, styled Gongshi, was from Anfu. His father Zhang Hong was a censor who died in the Tumu Crisis. Even as a youth Zhang Fuhua showed moral backbone. At seven, when the village shrine tree was said to be haunted, he roused the other children and had them chop it down. Early in Jingtai, as the son of a martyr, he entered the Imperial Academy. He passed the jinshi examination in the eighth year of Tianshun and was chosen as a Hanlin bachelor. In the first year of Chenghua he and Liu Daxia both asked to leave the Hanlin Academy for substantive posts in the ministries. He was appointed a Ministry of War director and rose to bureau director. Steadfast in integrity and yielding to no pressure, his reputation matched that of Liu Daxia.

十一年，出為浙江參議。景寧礦盜起，至數千人。敷華諭散之，執其魁十二人。居浙十餘年，歷布政使。弘治初，遷湖廣。歲饑，令府縣大修學宮，以傭直資餓者。擢右副都御史，巡撫山西。中道奔喪，服闋還故官。部內賦輸大同，困於折價。敷華請太原以北可通車者仍輸米，民便之。改撫陜西，制婚娶、喪葬之式，納民於禮。妖僧據終南山為逆，廷議用兵，尚書馬文升曰：「張都御史能辦此。」敷華果以計縛僧歸。遷南京兵部右侍郎。

In the eleventh year he was posted as Administration Vice Commissioner of Zhejiang. Mining bandits rose up in Jingning, numbering several thousand. Zhang Fuhua talked them into dispersing and arrested twelve ringleaders. He spent more than a decade in Zhejiang, eventually rising to provincial administration commissioner. Early in Hongzhi he was transferred to Huguang. During a famine year he ordered prefectures and counties to undertake major repairs of school halls, using the labor wages to feed the hungry. He was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Shanxi. He left mid-term to mourn a parent and returned to his former post when the mourning period ended. Tax deliveries from his jurisdiction to Datong were crippled by the policy of commutation to silver. Zhang Fuhua petitioned that for routes north of Taiyuan where carts could travel, grain deliveries should continue in kind—a relief to the people. Reassigned to Shaanxi, he regulated the forms of marriage and funeral rites, bringing popular customs back into the bounds of ritual. When a rebel sorcerer-monk seized Mount Zhongnan, the court debated sending troops; Minister Ma Wensheng said, "Censor-in-Chief Zhang can handle this. Zhang Fuhua did in fact capture the monk by stratagem and brought him back. He was transferred to Right Vice Minister of War at Nanjing.

十二年改右都御史，總督漕運兼巡撫淮、揚諸府。高郵湖堤圮，浚深溝以殺水勢。又築寶應堤。民利賴焉。改掌南京都察院。與吏部尚書林瀚、僉都御史林俊、祭酒章懋，稱「南都四君子」，就遷刑部尚書。

In the twelfth year he became Right Censor-in-Chief, directing grain transport and concurrently serving as Grand Coordinator of the Huai and Yang prefectures. When the Gaoyou Lake dyke collapsed, he dug deep channels to dissipate the floodwaters. He also built the Baoying dyke. The people benefited greatly from his work. He was transferred to head the Nanjing Censorate. Together with Minister of Personnel Lin Han, Assistant Censor-in-Chief Lin Jun, and Confucian Director Zhang Mao, he was known as the 'Four Worthies of the Southern Capital'; he was soon promoted to Minister of Justice.

正德元年召為左都御史。其冬，大臣與言官請去劉瑾等，內閣力主之。帝猶豫，敷華乃上言：「陛下宴樂逸遊，日狎憸壬，政令與詔旨相背，行事與成憲交乖，致天變上幹，人心下拂。今給事中劉蒨，御史朱廷聲、徐鈺等連章論列，但付所司。英國公懋與臣等列名上請，但雲『朕自處置」。臣竊嘆惑，請略言時政之弊。如四十萬庫藏已竭，而取用不已。六七歲童子何知，而招為勇士。織造已停，傳奉已革，尋復如故。鹽法、莊田方遣官清核，而奏乞之疏隨聞。中官監督京營、鎮守四方者，一時屢有更易。政令紛，弊端滋蔓。夫國家大事，百人爭之不足，數人壞之有余。願陛下審察。」疏入，不報。

In the first year of Zhengde he was recalled as Left Censor-in-Chief. That winter ministers and censorial officials petitioned for the removal of Liu Jin and his allies, and the Grand Secretariat strongly backed them. The emperor hesitated, and Zhang Fuhua submitted a memorial: "Your Majesty indulges in feasting and idle roaming, keeping daily company with crafty sycophants; government orders contradict your edicts, and your conduct violates established law—drawing celestial warnings from above and alienating the hearts of the people below. Supervising Secretary Liu Qian and Censors Zhu Tingsheng and Xu Yu have submitted memorial after memorial laying out the abuses, yet Your Majesty merely refers them to the usual offices. The Duke of Ying Zhang Mao and we your ministers submitted a joint petition, yet Your Majesty replied only, 'I shall handle it myself.' I must sigh in perplexity and beg leave to speak briefly of the ills of current governance. The four hundred thousand taels in the treasury are already spent, yet spending continues unabated. What do six- or seven-year-old boys know of war, yet they are recruited as 'bold warriors'? Weaving commissions had been halted and palace appointments abolished—only to be restored as before within days. Officials had only just been dispatched to audit the salt monopoly and imperial estates, yet petitions begging for exemptions arrive one after another. Eunuchs supervising the capital garrisons and holding regional commands were replaced again and again in rapid succession. Edicts contradict one another, and abuses spread unchecked. In great affairs of state, a hundred men working together may not suffice—but a handful can ruin everything. I ask Your Majesty to weigh these matters carefully. The memorial was received at court, but no answer was issued.

既而朝事大變，宦官勢益張。至除夕朝罷，忽傳旨與楊守隨俱致仕。敷華即日就道。至徐州洪，坐小艇，觸石幾溺死。瑾恨未已，欲借湖廣倉儲浥爛，坐以贓罪。修撰康海過瑾曰：「吾秦人愛張公如父母，公忍相薄耶？」瑾意稍解，猶坐敷華奸黨，與守隨等榜名朝堂。明年六月病且革，衣冠揖家廟，就榻而卒。瑾誅後二年，贈太子少保，謚簡肅。

Soon afterward court politics turned sharply, and the eunuchs' influence grew ever stronger. On New Year's Eve, after the last court session, an edict suddenly came down ordering him and Yang Shousui to retire together. Fuhua left the capital that very day. At the Hong lock near Xuzhou, his small boat hit a rock and he nearly drowned. Jin's spite was still not satisfied. He planned to exploit spoiled grain in the Huguang storehouses and use it to charge Fuhua with embezzlement. The compiler Kang Hai called on Jin and said, 'We men of Qin love Master Zhang as we love our own parents. How can you bear to treat him so cruelly? Jin relented somewhat, but Fuhua was still condemned as a factional criminal, and their names—his, Shousui's, and others'—were posted before the court. In the sixth month of the following year, as his illness turned critical, he dressed in formal cap and robes, bowed before the family shrine, returned to his bed, and died. Two years after Jin's fall and execution, the court posthumously made him Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent and gave him the posthumous name Jiansu, 'Simple and Reverent.'

敷華性剛介。弘治時，劉大夏常薦之，帝曰：「敷華誠佳，但為人太峻耳。」為部郎奉使，盜探其囊，得七金而已。孫鰲山，官御史。

Fuhua was by nature rigid and upright, unwilling to bend. Under Hongzhi, Liu Daxia frequently recommended him. The emperor replied, 'Fuhua is certainly a fine man—but he is too unyielding in character. While serving as a department secretary on an assignment abroad, a thief rifled his purse and found only seven taels of silver—nothing more. His son Aoshan became a censor.

楊守隨，字維貞，鄞人，侍郎守陳從弟也。舉成化二年進士，授御史。巡視漕運，核大同軍餉，巡按江西，所至以風采見憚。

Yang Shousui, styled Weizhen, was a native of Yin and a younger cousin of the vice minister Yang Shouchen. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Chenghua and was appointed a censor. He inspected the grain-transport system, audited military pay at Datong, and served as touring censor in Jiangxi—wherever he went, men trembled at his stern authority.

六年，疏陳六事，言：「郕王受命艱危時，削平禍亂，功甚大。歿乃謚以『戾』，公論不平。此非先帝意，權奸逞私憾者為之也。亟宜改易，彰陛下親親之仁。尚書李秉效忠守法，一時良臣，為蕭彥莊誣劾致仕，乞即召還。律令犯公罪者不罷，近御史朱賢、婁芳等並除名，乞復其官，且戒所司毋法外加罪，一以律令從事。西征之役，以數萬甲兵討出沒不常之寇，千里轉輸，曠日持久。恐外患未平，內地先敝。乞速班師，戒邊臣慎封守。近例，軍官犯罪未結正者，遇赦即原，致此曹遷延，以希幸免。自今眾證明白者，即據律定案，毋使逃罪。雖遇赦免，亦不得管軍。在外官俸、兵餉，有逾年不給者，由郡縣蓄積少也。請於起運外，量加存留，以濟乏匱。」疏奏，時不能從。太常少卿孫廣安母喪起復，守隨與給事中李和等連章論之，乃令守制。

In his sixth year in office he submitted a memorial on six matters, arguing: 'The Prince of Cheng took up the throne in a time of crisis, put down rebellion, and rendered great service to the realm. Yet after his death he was given the posthumous name Li—'Unfilial'—and public opinion has never accepted it as just. That was not the late emperor's wish—it was done by a powerful minister venting a private grudge. It should be corrected at once, so that Your Majesty may show the world your devotion to your own flesh and blood. Minister Li Bing served with loyalty and upheld the law; he was one of the finest officials of his day. Xiao Yanzhuang falsely impeached him and drove him from office. I ask that he be recalled at once. The law does not require dismissal for public offenses, yet Censors Zhu Xian, Lou Fang, and others were recently expelled from office. I ask that they be reinstated, and that all departments be warned against inventing charges beyond what the law provides. The western campaign sends tens of thousands of soldiers after raiders who strike and vanish at will. Supply lines stretch a thousand li, and the war drags on without resolution. I fear the frontier may never be pacified while the heartland is worn down first. I ask that the troops be recalled promptly and that frontier commanders be charged to hold the borders with care. Under recent practice, military officers whose cases remain open are pardoned whenever an amnesty is declared, so offenders stall proceedings hoping to slip free. Henceforth, when the evidence is conclusive, cases should be decided at once under the law, with no opportunity to evade punishment. Even when pardoned, they should never again be allowed to command troops. Salaries and military pay in the provinces sometimes go unpaid for more than a year because local governments hold too little in reserve. I ask that a portion of grain be retained locally, beyond what is shipped out, to meet urgent shortfalls. The memorial was submitted, but the court would not act on it. When Vice Director Sun Guo'an was recalled to office while still in mourning for his mother, Shousui joined Supervising Secretary Li He and others in a series of memorials protesting the appointment, and Sun was finally ordered to resume mourning.

八年冬以災異陳時政九事。廷議四方災傷，停遣刷卷御史。會昌侯孫繼宗請並停在京者，守隨言：「繼宗等任情作奸，恐罪及，假此祈免。」帝置繼宗不問，而刷卷如故。山東饑，廷議吏納銀免考，授冠帶。守隨極言不可，帝即罷之。擢應天府丞，未上，母憂歸。服除無缺，添註視事。初，李孜省授太常寺丞，因守隨言改上林監副，憾之。至是譖於帝，中旨責守隨不當添註，調南寧知府。

In the winter of his eighth year he submitted nine policy recommendations in response to natural disasters and ominous signs. When the court debated famine and disaster across the realm, it agreed to suspend sending out censors to review local records. Marquis Sun Jizong asked that the censors stationed in the capital be suspended as well. Shousui objected: 'Men like Jizong have long abused their power. Fearing prosecution, they are using this proposal to escape scrutiny. The emperor ignored Jizong's request, and the document reviews continued unchanged. During famine in Shandong, the court debated letting officials buy their way out of performance review with silver in exchange for honorary rank. Shousui argued vehemently against the plan, and the emperor dropped it at once. He was promoted to assistant prefect of Yingtian, but before he could take up the post his mother died and he went home to mourn. When his mourning period ended no regular post was open, so he was assigned supernumerary duties. Earlier, Li Zisheng had been appointed vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, but after Shousui objected the appointment was changed to assistant supervisor of the imperial park—a demotion Li never forgave. Now Li denounced him to the emperor. By secret edict Shousui was rebuked for accepting a supernumerary post and transferred to prefect of Nanning.

弘治初，召為應天府尹，勘南京守備中官蔣琮罪。琮嗾其黨郭鏞劾守隨按給事方向獄不公，謫廣西右參政。久之，進按察使。八年召為南京右僉都御史，提督操江。歷兩京大理卿。九載滿，進工部尚書，仍掌大理寺。刑部獄送寺覆讞者多加刑，主事朱瑽論其非。守隨言：「自永樂間，寺已設刑具。部囚多未得實，安得不更訊。」帝乃瑽寢奏。孝宗崩，中官張瑜等以誤用禦藥下獄，守隨會訊杖之。

Early in the Hongzhi reign he was recalled to serve as prefect of Yingtian and was charged with investigating the eunuch Jiang Cong, military superintendent at Nanjing. Jiang Cong then had his ally Guo Yong impeach Shousui for mishandling the case of Supervising Secretary Xiang Fang, and Shousui was demoted to vice commissioner in Guangxi. Years later he was promoted to provincial surveillance commissioner. In the eighth year he was recalled to Nanjing as right vice censor-in-chief with command over Yangtze River defenses. He served in turn as chief judge of the Great Court of Appeals in both capitals. After nine years in office he was promoted to minister of works while continuing to head the Great Court of Appeals. Prisoners sent from the Ministry of Punishments for sentence review at the Court often received harsher penalties; Chief Clerk Zhu Zheng protested that this was improper. Shousui replied, 'The Court has maintained instruments of punishment since the Yongle reign. Most cases arriving from the Ministry are still unproved—how can we fail to examine them again? The emperor then set Zhu's memorial aside. After Xiaozong's death, the eunuchs Zhang Yu and others were imprisoned for administering the wrong medicine to the emperor. Shousui took part in their interrogation and ordered them flogged.

正德元年四月，守隨奏：「每歲熱審，行於京師而不行於南京，五歲一審錄，詳於在京而略於在外，皆非是。請更定其制。」報可。中官李興擅伐陵木論死，令家人以銀四十萬兩求變其獄。守隨持之堅，獄不得解。廷臣之爭余鹽也，中旨詰「是何大事？」守隨語韓文曰：「事誠有大於是者。」文遂偕九卿伏闕論「八黨」。文等既逐，守隨憤，獨上章極論之曰：

In the fourth month of the first year of Zhengde, Shousui memorialized: 'The annual summer review of prisoners is held in Beijing but not in Nanjing, and the quinquennial review is thorough for the capital but perfunctory for the provinces—both practices are wrong. I ask that these procedures be reformed. The request was approved. The eunuch Li Xing was sentenced to death for illegally cutting timber from the imperial tombs. His family offered four hundred thousand taels of silver to have the verdict overturned. Shousui stood firm, and the case could not be overturned. When court officials protested the surplus-salt monopoly, a secret edict demanded: 'What is so important about this? Shousui told Han Wen, 'There are matters far graver than this.' Han Wen then joined the Nine Ministers in kneeling before the palace gate to denounce the 'Eight Tigers.' After Han Wen and the others were driven from office, Shousui, furious, submitted a lone memorial of his own, arguing with full force:

陛下嗣位以來，左右迫臣，不能只承德意，盡取先朝良法而更張之，盡誣先朝碩輔而刬汰之。天下嗷嗷，莫措手足，致古今罕見之災，交集數月以內。陛下獨不思其故乎？內臣劉瑾等八人，奸險佞巧，誣罔恣肆，人目為「八虎」，而瑾尤甚，日以荒縱導陛下。或在西海擎鷹搏兔，或於南城躡峻登高，禁內鼓鉦震於遠邇，宮中火炮聲徹晝夜。淆雜尊卑，陵夷貴賤。引車騎而供執鞭之役，列市肆而親商賈之為。致陛下日高未朝，漏盡不寢。此數人者，方且竊攬威權，詐傳詔旨。放逐大臣，刑誅臺諫。邀阻封章，廣納貨賂。傳奉冗員，多至千百。招募武勇，收及孩童。紫綬金貂盡予爪牙之士，蟒衣玉帶濫授心腹之人。附己者進官，忤意者褫職。內外臣僚。但知畏瑾，不知畏陛下。向也二三大臣受遺夾輔，今則有潛交默附、漏泄事機者矣。向也南北群僚，矢心痛疾，今則有畫策主文，依附時勢者矣。而且數易邊境將帥之臣，大更四方鎮守之職，誌欲何為？夫太阿之柄不可授人。今陛下於兵刑財賦之區，機務根本之地，悉以委之。或掌團營，或主兩廠，或典司禮，或督倉場，大權在手，彼復何憚？於是大行殺戮，廣肆誅求。府藏竭於上，財力匱於下，武勇疲於邊。上下胥讒，神人共憤。陛下猶不覺悟，方且謂委任得人，何其舛也！伏望大奮乾綱，立置此曹重典，遠鑒延熹之失，毋使臣蹈蕃、武已覆之轍。

Since Your Majesty took the throne, those around you have pressed your ministers so hard that you can no longer carry forward the late emperor's wise policies. Good institutions of the previous reign have been overturned wholesale, and eminent ministers of that era have been slandered and driven out. The realm groans in distress and men scarcely know what to do. Disasters seldom seen in any age have struck one after another within the space of a few months. Does Your Majesty never ask why this is so? The eight inner ministers led by Liu Jin are treacherous, deceitful, and utterly unrestrained. Men call them the 'Eight Tigers,' and Jin is the worst of them—day after day he leads Your Majesty deeper into dissipation. One day they hawk and hunt rabbits in the Western Sea; the next they climb steep heights in the southern quarter of the city. Drums and gongs thunder through the palace precincts, and cannon fire echoes day and night. They blur the line between high and low and trample the order of rank. They command carriages and cavalry yet take the whip in hand themselves; they set up market stalls and haggle like common traders. They have brought Your Majesty to the point where the sun stands high before you hold court, and the night is far spent before you retire. These men have already seized power for themselves and circulate forged edicts in Your Majesty's name. They banish senior ministers and punish or execute the censors who speak out. They intercept memorials bound for the throne and take bribes on a vast scale. They have created hundreds and even thousands of superfluous appointments by personal edict. They recruit fighting men—and even enlist boys. They bestow purple sashes and golden badges on their henchmen, and hand out python robes and jade belts to their inner circle without restraint. Those who align with them are promoted; those who cross them are dismissed. Officials throughout the government— —now fear Jin alone and no longer fear Your Majesty. Once, two or three senior ministers stood by the late emperor's deathbed to guide the new reign. Now there are men who secretly court the eunuchs and leak state secrets. Once, officials north and south grieved for the realm as if pierced to the heart. Now there are men who draft policy and write memorials to curry favor with the prevailing power. They constantly replace frontier commanders and shuffle regional garrison appointments—what do they intend? The sword of supreme power must never be placed in another's hands. Yet Your Majesty has entrusted them with every domain that matters—war, justice, revenue, and the machinery of government itself. Some command the training camps, some head the secret police bureaus, some oversee court ritual, some control the granaries—with such power in their grasp, what would they not dare? They have unleashed a reign of bloodshed and extortion across the land. The imperial treasury is empty, the provinces are drained, and the frontier armies are exhausted. Recrimination fills every level of government, and both heaven and earth cry out in anger. Your Majesty remains unaware of all this and even declares that you have chosen the right men—how grievously mistaken! I beg Your Majesty to seize hold of imperial authority, punish these men without delay, heed the lesson of the Yanshi reign, and do not let your servant follow in the doomed footsteps of the eunuchs Fan and Wu.

疏入，帝不省。瑾輩深銜之，傳旨致仕。守隨去，李興遂以中旨免死矣。

The memorial was submitted, but the emperor paid it no heed. Jin and his followers deeply resented him and issued an edict forcing him to retire. Once Shousui was gone, Li Xing was spared execution by secret edict.

瑾憾未釋。三年四月坐覆讞失出，逮赴京系獄，罰米千石輸塞上。逾年，復坐庇鄉人重獄，除名，追毀誥命，再罰米二百石。守隨家立破。瑾誅，復官。又十年卒，年八十五。贈太子少保，謚康簡。

Jin's grudge was still not satisfied. In the fourth month of the third year he was convicted of releasing a prisoner improperly during sentence review, arrested and sent to the capital, imprisoned, and fined one thousand shi of grain for the frontier garrisons. More than a year later he was convicted again for shielding a townsman in a capital case. He was expelled from office, his patents of honor were revoked, and he was fined another two hundred shi of grain. Shousui's family was ruined overnight. After Jin's execution he was restored to office. Ten years later he died, at the age of eighty-five. He was posthumously made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous name Kangjian (Simple and Upright).

從弟守隅，由進士歷官江西參政，有政績。寧府祿米，石征銀一兩，後漸增十之五。守隅入請於王，裁減如舊。瑾惡守隨，並罷守隅官。瑾死後，起官四川，終廣西布政使。

His younger cousin Shouyu, a jinshi graduate, rose through the ranks to serve as Jiangxi Provincial Administrator and won a record of solid governance. The Prince of Ning's stipend grain had been assessed at one tael of silver per shi, but the levy was later raised by half. Shouyu went in person to petition the prince, who reduced the levy to its former rate. Because Jin hated Shousui, he also stripped Shouyu of his post. After Jin's death he was recalled to serve in Sichuan and eventually ended his career as Guangxi Provincial Administration Commissioner.

許進，字季升，靈寶人。成化二年進士。除御史。歷按甘肅、山東，皆有聲。陳鉞激變遼東，為御史強珍所劾，進亦率同官論之。汪直怒，構珍下獄，摘進他疏偽字，廷杖之幾殆。滿三考，遷山東副使。辨疑獄，人稱神明。分巡遼東，坐累，征下詔獄。孝宗嗣位，釋還。

Xu Jin, styled Jisheng, was a native of Lingbao. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Chenghua reign. He was appointed a censor. He successively conducted inspections in Gansu and Shandong, earning a strong reputation in both provinces. When Chen Yue stirred up unrest in Liaodong, Censor Qiang Zhen impeached him, and Jin led his fellow censors in joining the denunciation. Wang Zhi was furious. He framed Zhen and had him thrown into prison, then seized on spurious characters in Jin's other memorials and had Jin beaten in the outer court, nearly killing him. After three rounds of performance review he was promoted to Vice Commissioner of Shandong. He resolved baffling criminal cases, and people hailed him as uncannily perceptive. While serving as divisional intendant of Liaodong he was caught up in a case, summoned to the capital, and imprisoned in the imperial jail. When Emperor Xiaozong came to the throne, he was released and allowed to return home.

弘治元年擢右僉都御史，巡撫大同。小王子久不通貢，遣使千五百余人款關，進以便宜納之。請於朝，詔許五百人至京師。已而屢盜邊，進被劾，不問。三年復窺邊，進等整軍待之。新寧伯譚祐以京軍援，乃遁去。又乞通貢，進再為請，帝許之。當是時，大同士馬盛強，邊防修整。貢使每至關，率下馬脫弓矢入館，俯首聽命，無敢嘩者。會進與分守中官石巖相訐，巖征還，進亦謫兗州知府。

In the first year of Hongzhi he was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and made Grand Coordinator of Datong. The Little Prince had long stopped sending tribute. He dispatched more than fifteen hundred emissaries to present themselves at the border pass, and Jin, exercising his discretionary authority, admitted them. He reported the matter to court, and an edict allowed five hundred of them to proceed to the capital. Before long they raided the frontier again and again. Jin was impeached, but no action was taken against him. In the third year they again probed the frontier. Jin and his officers mustered their forces and stood ready. When the Earl of Xining, Tan You, arrived with capital reinforcements, the raiders fled. They again petitioned to reopen tribute relations. Jin interceded for them a second time, and the emperor consented. At that time Datong's forces were at full strength and the frontier defenses were in excellent order. Whenever tribute envoys reached the pass, they invariably dismounted, laid down their bows and arrows, entered the guesthouse, bowed their heads, and obeyed orders without a murmur of defiance. Jin then clashed with the eunuch defender Shi Yan. Yan was recalled to the capital, and Jin was demoted to prefect of Yanzhou.

七年遷陜西按察使。土魯番阿黑麻攻陷哈密，執忠順王陜巴去，使其將牙蘭守之。尚書馬文升謂復哈密非進不可，乃薦為右僉都御史，巡撫甘肅。明年蒞鎮，告諸將曰：「小醜陸梁，謂我不敢深入耳。堂堂天朝不能發一鏃塞外，何以慰遠人。」諸將難之。乃獨與總兵官劉寧謀，厚結小列禿，使以四千騎往，殺數百人，小列禿中流矢卒。小列禿故與土魯番世相仇，及死，其子卜六阿歹益憤。進復厚結之，使斷賊道，無令東援牙蘭，而重犒赤斤、罕東及哈密遺種之居苦峪者，令出兵助討。十一月，副將彭清以精騎千五百出嘉峪關前行，寧與中官陸訚統二千五百騎繼之。越八日，諸軍俱會，羽集乜川。薄暮大風揚沙，軍士寒栗僵臥。進出帳外勞軍，有異烏悲鳴，將士多雨泣。進慷慨曰：「男兒報國，死沙場幸耳，何泣為！」將士皆感奮。夜半風止，大雨雪。時番兵俱集，惟罕東兵未至，眾欲待之。進曰：「潛師遠襲，利在捷速，兵已足用，不須待也。」及明，冒雪倍道進。又六日奄至哈密城下。牙蘭已先遁去，余賊拒守。官軍四面並進，拔其城，獲陜巴妻女。賊退保土剌。土剌，華言大臺也。守者八百人，諸軍再戰不下。問其俘，則皆哈密人為牙蘭所劫者，進乃令勿攻。或欲盡殲之，進不可，遣使撫諭即下。於是探牙蘭所向，分守要害。而疏請懷輯罕東諸衛為援，散土魯番黨與孤其勢，遂班師。錄功，加右副都御史。明年移撫陜西，歷戶部右侍郎，進左。十三年，火篩大舉犯大同，邊將屢敗。敕進與太監金輔、平江伯陳銳率京軍禦之，無功。言官劾輔等玩寇，並論進，致仕去。

In the seventh year he was transferred to the post of Shaanxi Surveillance Commissioner. Aq Aqma of Turpan stormed and seized Hami, took the loyal and submissive king Shaban captive, and left his general Yalian to hold the city. Minister Ma Wensheng declared that Hami could not be recovered without Xu Jin and recommended him for appointment as Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Gansu. The following year he took up his command and told his generals, "These petty raiders strut about because they think we dare not strike deep into their territory. Can the great Celestial dynasty not send a single arrow beyond the frontier? How else are we to reassure the peoples on our borders? The generals balked at the plan. Jin then conferred privately with Commander-in-chief Liu Ning, lavishly secured the alliance of Xiaolietu, and sent him forward with four thousand horsemen. Several hundred enemies were killed, but Xiaolietu was hit by a stray arrow and died. Xiaolietu had been hereditary enemies of Turpan for generations. After his death his son Buluo'adai was all the more inflamed with hatred. Jin again won Buluo'adai over with rich gifts and had him block the enemy's supply lines so that no reinforcements could reach Yalian from the east. He also handsomely rewarded the Chijin and Handong tribes and the Hami remnant peoples living at Kuyu, ordering them to join the expedition. In the eleventh month Vice Commander Peng Qing led fifteen hundred elite cavalry out through Jiayu Pass as the vanguard, while Ning and the eunuch Lu Yan followed with twenty-five hundred horsemen. Eight days later the armies converged, gathering in force at Michuan. At dusk a fierce wind whipped up the sand. The soldiers shivered with cold and lay stiff on the ground. Jin came out of his tent to rally the men. A strange bird cried mournfully overhead, and many officers and soldiers wept in the driving rain. Jin spoke with fierce conviction: "A man serves his country — to die on the battlefield is good fortune. Why weep? Officers and men alike were moved and rallied to the cause. At midnight the wind died away and a heavy snowstorm set in. By then the frontier allies had all assembled, but the Handong contingent had not yet arrived, and many wanted to wait for them. Jin said, "A secret force striking from afar depends on speed. We already have enough men — there is no need to wait. At daybreak they pressed forward through the snow at double speed. Six days later they suddenly appeared beneath the walls of Hami. Yalian had already fled, and the remaining defenders held the city. Government forces attacked from all four sides, took the city, and captured Shaban's wife and daughter. The enemy withdrew to make a stand at Tula. Tula — in Chinese, the "Great Terrace." Eight hundred men held the position, and even after renewed fighting the armies could not break through. Interrogating prisoners, they learned that the defenders were all Hami people whom Yalian had forced into service. Jin then ordered the attack halted. Some urged that they be wiped out entirely, but Jin refused. He sent envoys to reassure them, and they surrendered at once. They then tracked Yalian's movements and posted troops at the strategic passes. He also memorialized asking that the Handong garrisons be rallied as allies, that Turpan's confederates be dispersed to isolate their power, and then withdrew the army. When merits were recorded he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. The following year he was transferred to Grand Coordinator of Shaanxi, then served as Right Vice Minister of Revenue before being promoted to Left Vice Minister. In the thirteenth year Huoshai launched a major invasion of Datong, and the frontier generals suffered defeat after defeat. An edict ordered Jin, together with the eunuch Jin Fu and the Earl of Pingjiang Chen Rui, to lead capital troops against the invaders, but they achieved nothing. Censorial officials impeached Fu and his colleagues for negligence toward the enemy and also held Jin accountable. He resigned and left office.

武宗即位，乃起為兵部左侍郎，提督團營。正德元年代劉大夏為尚書。七月應詔陳時政八事，極言內監役京軍，守皇城內侍橫索月錢諸弊，多格不行。又以帝狎比群小，請崇聖學，以古荒淫主為戒，不納。中官王嶽奏官校王縉等緝事捕盜功，各進一秩。進言：「邊將出萬死馘一賊，始獲晉級。此輩乃冒濫得之，孰不解體？」又言：「團營軍非為營造設，宜悉令歸伍。」居兵部半歲，改吏部，明年加太子少保。

When Emperor Wuzong came to the throne, Jin was recalled as Left Vice Minister of War and put in charge of the Tuan camp. In the first year of Zhengde he succeeded Liu Daxia as Minister of War. In the seventh month, in response to an imperial edict, he submitted eight proposals on current affairs. He spoke at length against abuses such as eunuchs conscripting capital troops and inner-palace attendants extorting monthly pay while guarding the Forbidden City. Most of his recommendations were blocked and never carried out. He also urged that because the emperor kept company with low companions, the court should exalt the sage's learning and take ancient dissolute rulers as a warning. The advice was rejected. The eunuch Wang Yue memorialized that the official runners Wang Jin and others deserved credit for investigating cases and catching bandits, and requested that each be promoted one rank. Jin objected: "A border general must risk death again and again to cut down a single bandit before he earns promotion. Yet these men receive it through shameless favoritism. Who would not be utterly disheartened? He also said, "The Tuan camp was not created for construction work. Its soldiers should all be sent back to their regular units." After half a year in the Ministry of War he was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel, and the following year was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

進以才見用，能任人，性通敏。劉瑾弄權，亦多委蛇徇其意，而瑾終不悅。方進督團營時，與瑾同事。每閱操，談笑指揮，意度閑雅，瑾及諸將鹹服。一日操畢，忽呼三校前，各杖數十。瑾請其故，進出權貴請托書示之。瑾陽稱善，心不喜。至是，欲去進用劉宇代。焦芳以幹請不得，亦因擠進。三年八月，南京刑部郎中闕，適無實授員外郎，進循故事以署事主事二人上。瑾以為非制，令對狀。進不引咎，三降嚴旨譙責。不得已請罪，乃令致仕。未幾，坐用雍泰削其籍。二子誥、贊在翰林，俱輸贖調外任。尋與劉健等六百七十五人，並追奪誥命。瑾又摘進在大同時籍軍出雇役錢，失勾校，欲籍其家。會瑾誅得解，復官致仕。未聞命卒，年七十四。嘉靖五年謚襄毅。

Jin was valued for his ability, knew how to use men well, and was by nature quick and perceptive. When Liu Jin seized power, Xu Jin often went along and indulged his wishes, yet Liu Jin was never satisfied with him. While Jin was supervising the Tuan camp, he worked alongside Liu Jin. Whenever he inspected drills he commanded with easy talk and laughter, his manner calm and polished. Liu Jin and all the generals were deeply impressed. One day after drill ended he suddenly summoned three sergeants forward and had each of them beaten several dozen strokes. Liu Jin asked why. Jin produced letters from powerful nobles soliciting favors and showed them to him. Liu Jin praised the action to his face but inwardly resented it. By then he wanted to remove Xu Jin and replace him with Liu Yu. Jiao Fang, whose own solicitations had gone unheeded, also joined in driving Jin out. In the eighth month of the third year a vacancy opened in the Nanjing Ministry of Punishments for a department director. As there happened to be no secretary with a regular appointment available, Jin followed precedent and submitted two acting chief clerks for the post. Liu Jin declared the appointment irregular and ordered the men brought before the throne for examination. Jin refused to accept blame, and three stern edicts descended rebuking him. Left with no alternative, he pleaded guilty and was ordered to retire. Before long he was struck from the rolls for having employed Yong Tai. His two sons Gao and Zan, both in the Hanlin Academy, paid fines and were transferred to posts outside the capital. Soon he was grouped with Liu Jian and six hundred seventy-five others, and all their patents of honor were revoked. Liu Jin also seized on the fact that while Jin was at Datong he had requisitioned soldiers' hired-labor funds and failed to reconcile the accounts, and sought to confiscate his property. When Liu Jin was executed he was cleared, restored to office, and allowed to retire. Before word of his restoration reached him he died, at the age of seventy-four. In the fifth year of Jiajing he was given the posthumous name Xiangyi (Assisting and Resolute).

子誥、贊、詩、詞、論。詩，工部郎中。詞，知府。

His sons were Gao, Zan, Shi, Ci, and Lun. Shi served as a department director in the Ministry of Works. Ci served as a prefect.

誥，字廷綸，進次子也。弘治十二年進士。授戶科給事中。出視延綏軍儲，論丁糧、丁草之害，帝褒納之。尋劾監督中官苗逵貪肆罪，進刑科右給事中。正德元年，父進為兵部尚書。故事，大臣子不得居言職，遂改翰林檢討。及進忤劉瑾削籍，並謫誥全州判官。父喪歸。久之，薦起尚寶丞。復引疾歸，家居授徒講學。嘉靖初，起南京通政參議，改侍講學士，直經筵，遷太常卿掌國子監。請於太學中建敬一亭，勒禦制《敬一箴註》、程子《四箴》、範浚《心箴》於石。帝悅從之。帝將正文廟祀典，誥請用木主。文華殿東室舊有釋像，帝命撤去。誥所撰《道統書》言宜崇祀五帝、三王，以周公、孔子配。帝即采用其言。十一年擢吏部右侍郎。其冬，拜南京戶部尚書，弟贊亦長戶部。兄弟並司兩京邦計，縉紳以為榮。卒官，贈太子太保，謚莊敏。

Gao, styled Tinglun, was Xu Jin's second son. He passed the jinshi examination in the twelfth year of Hongzhi. He was appointed a supervising secretary in the Revenue Section. Sent to inspect military stores in Yan-sui, he submitted a memorial on the abuses of the ding-grain and ding-forage levies. The emperor praised his report and accepted it. Soon afterward he impeached the supervising eunuch Miao Kui for greed and misconduct and was promoted to Right Supervising Secretary in the Punishments Section. In the first year of Zhengde his father Xu Jin became Minister of War. By established rule, the sons of senior ministers could not hold remonstrance posts, so he was transferred to the post of Hanlin Compiler. When Xu Jin ran afoul of Liu Jin and was struck from the rolls, Gao was also demoted to magistrate of Quanzhou. He returned home to observe mourning for his father. After some time he was recommended and recalled to serve as Director of Ceremonials in the Directorate of Imperial Regalia. He again pleaded illness and retired, remaining at home to teach students and lecture on the classics. At the beginning of the Jiajing reign he was recalled as Assistant Director of the Office of Transmission at Nanjing, then made Reader-in-Waiting and assigned to the Lectures on the Classics. He was later promoted to Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and appointed to direct the Imperial Academy. He petitioned to build a Jingyi Pavilion in the Imperial Academy and to have carved in stone the imperial Annotated Jingyi Admonition, Cheng Zi's Four Admonitions, and Fan Jun's Heart Admonition. The emperor was pleased and approved the request. When the emperor planned to revise the Confucian temple sacrificial rites, Gao petitioned that wooden spirit tablets be used. A Buddhist image had long stood in the east chamber of Wenhua Hall, and the emperor ordered it removed. In his Treatise on the Transmission of the Way, Gao argued that the Five Emperors and Three Sage Kings should be honored in sacrifice, with the Duke of Zhou and Confucius as their associates. The emperor immediately adopted his proposal. In the eleventh year he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Personnel. That winter he was appointed Minister of Revenue at Nanjing, while his younger brother Zan headed the Ministry of Revenue in the capital. With the brothers together overseeing the finances of the two capitals, officials regarded it as a signal honor. He died in office and was posthumously granted the title Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, with the posthumous name Zhuangmin.

誥官祭酒時，諸生旅櫬不能歸者三十余，皆為葬之，衣食不繼者並周恤。然頗善傅會。時有白鵲之瑞，誥獻論，司業陳寰獻頌，並宣付史館。給事中張裕、謝存儒，御史馮恩皆劾誥，裕至比之祝欽明。帝怒，下裕獄，謫福建布政司照磨，存儒亦調邊方。恩詆誥學術迂邪，誥求罷。帝曰：「恩所詆乃指前日去土偶用木主事也。爾以是介意邪？」其為帝眷寵如此。

While serving as Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, Gao buried more than thirty students whose families could not afford to transport their coffins home, and he also provided for those who lacked food and clothing. Yet he was rather given to forced interpretations that flattered the throne. When an auspicious white magpie appeared, Gao submitted a discourse and Vice-Chancellor Chen Huan submitted a eulogy; both were ordered transmitted to the Historiography Office. Supervising Secretaries Zhang Yu and Xie Cunru and Censor Feng En all impeached Gao, and Zhang Yu even compared him to the notorious flatterer Zhu Qinming. The emperor was enraged, had Zhang Yu imprisoned, and demoted him to proofreader in the Fujian Provincial Administration Commission; Cunru was also transferred to a frontier post. Feng En denounced Gao's scholarship as pedantic and perverse, and Gao asked to be dismissed from office. The emperor said, "What Feng denounces refers to the earlier matter of replacing clay figures with wooden spirit tablets. Are you taking offense at that? Such was the favor he enjoyed at court.

讃，字廷美，進第三子也。弘治九年進士。授大名推官。亦以辨疑獄知名，召拜御史。正德元年改編修。劉瑾逐進，讃亦出為臨淄知縣。累遷浙江左布政使。

Zan, styled Tingmei, was Xu Jin's third son. He passed the jinshi examination in the ninth year of Hongzhi. He was appointed investigating censor of Daming. He also became known for resolving doubtful legal cases and was summoned to serve as a censor. In the first year of Zhengde he was transferred to the post of Hanlin Compiler. When Liu Jin drove Xu Jin from office, Zan was also sent out to serve as magistrate of Linzi. He rose in succession to Left Administration Commissioner of Zhejiang.

嘉靖六年入為光祿卿，歷刑部左、右侍郎。知州金輅謫戍，賂武定侯郭勛。勛遣人篡取之，指揮王臣不與。縛臣以歸，掠取其賄。事覺，讃等請論如律。帝憐勛，諭法司毋刑輅等，輅等遂不承。尚書高友璣在告，坐畏縮，被劾去。讃請如常訊，具得勛納賄狀，乃再奪其祿。

In the sixth year of Jiajing he entered the capital as Minister of Imperial Entertainments and later served as Left and Right Vice Minister of Justice. Prefect Jin Luo, banished to frontier military service, bribed the Marquis of Wuding, Guo Xun. Guo Xun sent men to seize the bribe by force, but Commander Wang Chen refused to hand it over. They bound Wang Chen and took him away, seizing the bribe in the process. When the affair came to light, Zan and the others requested that the case be judged according to law. The emperor took pity on Guo Xun and instructed the judicial offices not to apply torture to Jin Luo and the others, whereupon they refused to confess. Minister Gao Youji was on leave at the time and, charged with timidity in the case, was impeached and removed from office. Zan requested routine interrogation, fully established Guo Xun's acceptance of the bribe, and only then was his stipend confiscated again.

八年，進尚書。詔許六部歷事監生發廷臣奸弊。有詹摐者，訐吏部侍郎徐縉，下都御史汪鋐訊。摐語塞，已論罪，摐復訐縉及通政陳經等。再下鋐訊，鋐力斥其妄。會太常卿彭澤欲傾縉代之，偽為縉書抵張孚敬求解，復惎孚敬劾縉賄己。縉疏辨，詔法司會錦衣衛訊。讃等卒論摐誣罔，而縉行賄事莫能白，坐除名。帝方嘉摐能奉詔言事，竟宥摐罪。於是無賴子率持朝士陰事，索資財，妄構事端入奏，諸司為惕息。軍人童源訐中官張永造塋，犯天壽山龍脈，復嗾永弟容仆王謙等發容違法事。奸人張雄又為謙草奏，詆讃與兄誥及汪鋐、廖道南、史道，內臣黃錦輩數十人受容重賂，源亦上疏助之。鞫得實，源等並戍極邊，告訐始少衰。

In the eighth year he was promoted to minister. An edict permitted students serving rotations in the Six Ministries to expose the misconduct of court officials. One Zhan Cong denounced Vice Minister of Personnel Xu Jin, and the case was referred to Censor-in-Chief Wang Yao for investigation. Zhan Cong was left speechless under questioning and had already been found guilty, yet he again denounced Xu Jin, Assistant Director of Transmission Chen Jing, and others. The case was again referred to Wang Yao for investigation, and Wang forcefully rejected the charges as false. Meanwhile Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Peng Ze wished to bring down Xu Jin and take his place. He forged a letter in Xu's name to Zhang Fuxing seeking exoneration, then incited Fuxing to impeach Xu for having bribed him. Xu Jin submitted a memorial in his own defense, and an edict ordered the judicial offices to investigate jointly with the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Zan and the others finally found Zhan Cong guilty of false accusation, but Xu Jin's alleged bribery could not be cleared, and he was dismissed from office. The emperor was then praising Zhan Cong for obeying the edict and speaking out, and in the end pardoned his offense. Thereupon riffraff of every sort seized on officials' private affairs, demanded money, and recklessly fabricated charges for memorials to the throne, and the various offices trembled in fear. The soldier Tong Yuan denounced the eunuch Zhang Yong for building a tomb that violated the geomantic line of Tianshou Mountain, and further incited Yong's younger brother Rong's servant Wang Qian and others to expose Rong's illegal conduct. The scoundrel Zhang Xiong also drafted a memorial for Wang Qian, denouncing Zan, his elder brother Gao, Wang Yao, Liao Daonan, Shi Dao, and dozens of inner-court officials including Huang Jin for receiving heavy bribes from Rong; Tong Yuan also submitted a supporting memorial. On investigation the false charges were exposed; Tong Yuan and the others were all banished to the farthest frontier, and malicious denunciations only then began to subside.

十年，改讃戶部尚書。馳驛歸省母。母先卒。服未闋，詔以為吏部尚書，服除始入朝。帝以讃醇謹，虛位待。及至，論列不當意。詔選宮僚，閣臣多引私黨，言官劾罷十余人，帝以屬吏部。讃乃舉霍韜、毛伯溫、顧璘、呂柟、鄒守益、徐階、任瀚、薛蕙、周鈇、趙時春等，詔璘、柟、蕙仍故官，余俱用之。屢加少保兼太子太保。九廟災，自陳免。居半歲，帝難其代，復起讃任之。請發內帑，借百官俸，括富民財，開鬻爵之令，以濟邊需。時議內地築墩堡，讃謂非計。帝以借俸、括財非盛世事，已之。墩堡議亦寢。翟鑾、嚴嵩柄政，多所請托。郎中王與齡勸讃發之。嵩辨之強，帝眷嵩，反切責讃，除與齡籍。讃自是懾嵩不敢抗，亦頗以賄聞矣。鑾罷，帝謀代者。嵩以讃柔和易制，引之。詔以本官兼文淵閣大學士參預機務。政事一決於嵩，讃無所可否。久之加少傅。以年逾七十，數乞休。帝責其忘君愛身，落職閑住。歸三年卒。後復官，贈少師，謚文簡。

In the tenth year Zan was appointed Minister of Revenue. He traveled by courier relay to return home and visit his mother. His mother had already died. Before his mourning period was complete, an edict appointed him Minister of Personnel; he entered court only after mourning ended. The emperor, considering Zan upright and careful, kept the post vacant awaiting his arrival. When he finally arrived, his recommendations did not please the emperor. An edict called for the selection of palace staff. The grand secretaries mostly recommended their private factions, and remonstrance officials impeached and removed more than ten of them; the emperor entrusted the matter to the Ministry of Personnel. Zan then recommended Huo Tao, Mao Bowen, Gu Lin, Lü Shan, Zou Shouyi, Xu Jie, Ren Han, Xue Hui, Zhou Fu, Zhao Shichun, and others. An edict ordered Gu Lin, Lü Shan, and Xue Hui to remain in their former posts, and the rest were all appointed. He was repeatedly given the additional titles of Junior Guardian and Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. When fire destroyed the Nine Temples, he submitted a memorial requesting dismissal from office. After half a year the emperor found no suitable replacement and recalled Zan to the post. He requested disbursement from the inner treasury, borrowing officials' salaries, seizing the wealth of rich households, and opening an order for the sale of ranks to meet frontier needs. At the time there was discussion of building blockhouses in the interior, and Zan argued that it was not a sound plan. The emperor held that borrowing salaries and seizing private wealth were not measures fit for an age of prosperity, and dropped them. The blockhouse proposal also lapsed. Zhai Luan and Yan Song held power and made many requests and recommendations on others' behalf. Director Wang Yuling urged Zan to expose them. Yan Song defended himself forcefully. The emperor favored Song and instead sharply rebuked Zan, striking Wang Yuling from the rolls. From then on Zan feared Yan Song and did not dare resist him, and he also became rather known for accepting bribes. When Zhai Luan was dismissed, the emperor planned for a replacement. Yan Song, considering Zan mild and easy to control, recommended him. An edict appointed him in his existing post concurrently as Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion to participate in state affairs. All government affairs were decided by Yan Song alone; Zan neither approved nor disapproved. After some time he was given the additional title of Junior Mentor. As he passed seventy, he repeatedly requested retirement. The emperor rebuked him for forgetting his sovereign and cherishing his own safety, stripped him of office, and allowed him to live in retirement. Three years after returning home he died. Later his office was restored posthumously; he was granted the title Junior Preceptor, with the posthumous name Wenjian.

論，字廷議，進少子也。嘉靖五年進士。授順德推官，入為兵部主事，改禮部。好談兵，幼從父歷邊境，盡知厄塞險易，因著《九邊圖論》上之。帝喜，頒邊臣議行，自是以知兵聞。累遷南京大理寺丞。會廷推順天巡撫，論名列第二。帝曰：「是上《九邊圖論》者」，即拜右僉都御史，任之。白通事以千余騎犯黃崖口，論督將士敗之。再犯大木谷，復為官軍所卻。錄功，進右副都御史。歲餘，以病免。俺答薄都城，起故官撫山西。錄防秋功，進兵部右侍郎，召理京營戎政。以築京師外城轉左。

Lun, styled Tingyi, was Xu Jin's youngest son. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Jiajing. He was appointed investigating censor of Shunde, then entered the capital as a secretary in the Ministry of War before being transferred to the Ministry of Rites. He loved to discuss military affairs. From youth he had followed his father along the borders and knew thoroughly the strategic passes and their difficulties and advantages, and therefore composed and submitted his Treatise on the Nine Border Regions Illustrated. The emperor was pleased, ordered it distributed to frontier officials for discussion and implementation, and from then on Lun became known for his military expertise. He rose in succession to Vice Director of the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. When the court recommended candidates for Censor-in-Chief of Shuntian, Lun's name ranked second. The emperor said, "That is the one who submitted the Treatise on the Nine Border Regions Illustrated," and immediately appointed him Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and assigned him the post. Bai Tongshi invaded Huangyakou Pass with more than a thousand horsemen; Lun directed the officers and soldiers and defeated him. He invaded again at Damugu Valley and was again repulsed by government troops. His merit was recorded and he was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief. After more than a year he resigned on grounds of illness. When Altan Khan pressed close to the capital, Lun was recalled to his former post to serve as governor of Shanxi. His merit in the autumn defense was recorded; he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War and summoned to administer the military affairs of the capital garrisons. For supervising construction of the outer wall of the capital he was transferred to Left Vice Minister of War.

三十三年出督宣、大、山西軍務。奸人呂鶴初與邱富以左道惑眾。富叛降俺答，為之謀主。鶴遣其黨闌出塞外，引寇入犯，為偵卒所獲。論遣兵捕鶴，並誅其黨。以功進右都御史，再以功進兵部尚書，蔭子錦衣世千戶。翁萬達為總督，築大同邊墻六百里，裏建一墩臺於墻內。後以兵少墻不能守，盡撤而守臺。論言：「兵既守臺，則寇攻墻不得用其力。及寇入墻，率震駭逃散。請改築於墻外，每三百步建一臺，俾矢石相及。去墻不得越三十步，高廣方四丈五尺，其顛損三之一，上置女墻、營舍，守以壯士十人。下築月城，穴門通出入。度工費不過九萬金，數月而足。」詔立從之。寇萬騎犯山西，論督軍遮破之朔州川。其犯宣府、龍門者，亦為將士所敗，先後俘斬五百三十有奇。加太子太保，蔭子如初。

In the thirty-third year he went out to supervise military affairs in Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi. The scoundrels Lu He and Qiu Fu at first deluded the people with heterodox doctrines. Qiu Fu defected and surrendered to Altan Khan, becoming his chief strategist. Lu He sent his followers to slip out beyond the frontier and lead raiders in an invasion, but they were captured by scouts. Lun sent troops to capture Lu He and executed his followers as well. For his merit he was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief, and again for merit to Minister of War; his son was granted hereditary battalion commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When Weng Wanda was governor-general, he built six hundred li of border wall at Datong, placing a beacon tower every li on the inside of the wall. Later, with too few troops to hold the wall, they abandoned it entirely and manned only the towers. Lun argued: "With the troops holding the towers, raiders assaulting the wall cannot bring their full strength to bear. Yet when raiders breach the wall, the garrison panics and scatters. He asked that towers be built outside the wall, one every three hundred paces, so their arrow and stone shot could cover one another. They were to stand no more than thirty paces from the wall, measure four zhang five chi square in height and breadth, with the top third cut down; battlements and barracks were to be set on top, each defended by ten picked soldiers. Below each was to be a semicircular outwork with a tunnel gate for access. The project was estimated at no more than ninety thousand taels and could be finished in a few months." The emperor approved the proposal at once. Raiders ten thousand strong invaded Shanxi; Lun commanded the army and routed them at the Shuozhou River. Those who raided Xuanfu and Longmen were likewise beaten by his troops; in all, more than five hundred thirty were captured or slain. He was given the title Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and his son received the same hereditary privilege as before.

三十五年，兵部尚書楊博以父喪去，召論代之。當是時，嚴嵩父子用事，將帥率以賄進。南北用兵，帝責中樞甚急。丁汝夔、王邦瑞、趙錦、聶豹，鹹不得善去。論時已老，重自顧念。一切將帥黜陟，兵機進止，悉聽世蕃指揮，望由此損。俺答子辛愛憤總督楊順納其逃妾，擁眾圍大同右衛城數重，城中析屋而爨。帝聞，深以為憂，密問嵩。嵩意欲棄之而難於發言，則請降諭問本兵。論請復右衛軍馬，歲辦五十萬金，故為難詞，冀以動帝。帝顧亟措餉發兵，易置文武將吏，右衛圍亦尋解。給事中吳時來劾楊順，因言論雷同附和，日昏酣，置邊警度外。帝遂削論籍。嵩微為之解，亦不能救也。

In the thirty-fifth year Yang Bo, Minister of War, left office to observe mourning for his father, and Lun was summoned to replace him. At that time Yan Song and his son were in power, and frontier generals generally bought their promotions with bribes. With war on both northern and southern fronts, the emperor pressed the central military command relentlessly. Ding Ruai, Wang Bangrui, Zhao Jin, and Nie Bao all left their posts in disgrace. Lun was by then old and deeply uneasy in the post. Every promotion or dismissal of generals and every military move had to follow Shifan's orders, and Lun's standing suffered accordingly. Altan's son Xin'ai, furious that Governor Yang Shun had accepted his runaway concubine, led a large force to besiege Datong Right Guard in successive rings; inside the city people tore down houses for fuel. When the emperor heard, he was deeply alarmed and secretly consulted Yan Song. Song wanted to abandon the city but could not bring himself to say so; instead he asked that an edict be issued directing the question to the Minister of War. Lun asked that the Right Guard's war-horses be restored and that five hundred thousand taels be allocated annually—deliberately making the demand sound harsh in hopes of stirring the emperor. The emperor instead rushed to raise supplies and dispatch troops, replaced the civil and military commanders, and the siege of the Right Guard was soon lifted. Supervising Secretary Wu Shilai impeached Yang Shun and charged that Lun echoed him in slavish agreement, spent his days in drunken stupor, and treated frontier alerts as beneath notice. The emperor thereupon struck Lun from the roster of officials. Song offered a mild plea on his behalf but could not save him.

三十八年復起故官，督薊、遼、保定軍務。把都兒犯薊西，論厚集精銳以待。至則為遊擊胡鎮所破。分掠沙兒嶺、燕子窩，又卻，乃遁去。事聞，厚賫銀幣。尋又奏密雲、昌平二鎮防秋，須餉銀三十余萬。給事中鄭茂言論奏請過多，請察其侵冒弊，詔論回籍聽勘。給事中鄧棟往核，具得虛冒狀，奪官閑住。未幾卒，年七十二。隆慶初，復官，謚恭襄。

In the thirty-eighth year he was restored to his former office and put in charge of military affairs in Ji, Liaodong, and Baoding. Badu'er raided western Ji; Lun massed picked troops to meet him. When the raiders came they were defeated by guerrilla commander Hu Zhen. They split off to plunder Sha'er Ridge and Swallow Nest but were driven back again and then fled. When the victory was reported, he was generously rewarded with silver and silks. He soon memorialized that the Miyun and Changping garrisons needed more than three hundred thousand taels for autumn defense. Supervising Secretary Zheng Mao charged that Lun's requests were excessive and asked that his corrupt practices be examined; Lun was ordered home pending investigation. Supervising Secretary Deng Dong went to audit the accounts, found clear evidence of fraud, and Lun was dismissed and relegated to private life. Not long after he died, at seventy-two. At the beginning of the Longqing reign his offices were restored and he was given the posthumous title Gongxiang (Respectful Assistant).

曾孫浩然，由世蔭歷官太子太保，左都督。浩然子達胤，錦衣指揮。李自成陷京師，不屈死。其從兄佳胤，弘農衛指揮。崇禎十四年賊破靈寶，持刀赴鬥，死焉。

His great-grandson Haoran rose through hereditary privilege to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Left Commander-in-Chief. Haoran's son Dayin was a commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When Li Zicheng took Beijing, Dayin refused to submit and died. His cousin Jiaoyin served as commander of Hongnong Guard. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, when rebels took Lingbao, he seized a blade and rushed into battle and died there.

雍泰，字世隆，鹹寧人。成化五年進士。除吳縣知縣。太湖漲，沒田千頃，泰作堤為民利，稱「雍公堤」。民妾亡去，妾父訟其夫密殺女匿屍湖石下。泰詰曰：「彼密殺汝女，汝何以知匿所。且此非兩月屍，必汝殺他人女，冀得賂耳。」一考而服。

Yong Tai, courtesy name Shilong, was a native of Xianning. He passed the imperial examinations in the fifth year of Chenghua. He was appointed magistrate of Wu County. When Tai Lake flooded and drowned a thousand qing of fields, Tai built a dike for the people's benefit, known as "Duke Yong's Dike." When a man's concubine absconded, her father sued the husband, claiming he had murdered her in secret and hidden the body beneath rocks by the lake. Tai interrogated him: "If he secretly killed your daughter, how would you know where the body was hidden? And this corpse is not two months old—you must have killed someone else's daughter, hoping to extort a payoff. A single round of questioning and the father confessed.

召為御史，巡鹽兩淮。竈丁無妻者，泰為婚匹。出知鳳陽府。父憂去，服闋起知南陽。余子俊督師，薦為大同兵備副使，擢山西按察使。泰剛廉，所至好搏擊豪強。太原知府尹珍塗遇弗及避，泰召至，跽而數之。珍不服，泰竟笞珍。珍訴於朝，且告泰非罪杖人死，逮下詔獄。王恕請寬泰罪，會事經赦，乃降湖廣參議。弘治四年轉浙江右布政使，復以母憂去。

He was summoned as investigating censor to inspect the salt administration of the two Huai regions. For salt workers who had no wives, Tai arranged marriages. He left the capital to serve as prefect of Fengyang. He left office for his father's mourning; when the mourning period ended he was appointed prefect of Nanyang. When Yu Zijun supervised the army, Tai was recommended as Datong vice commissioner for military preparedness and was promoted to Shanxi surveillance commissioner. Tai was stern and incorrupt; wherever he served he took pleasure in crushing powerful wrongdoers. Taiyuan Prefect Yin Zhen failed to give way promptly when they met on the road; Tai summoned him, made him kneel, and rebuked him to his face. Yin refused to accept this; Tai had him caned anyway. Yin appealed to the court and accused Tai of killing a man by improper beating; Tai was arrested and sent to the imperial prison. Wang Shu asked that Tai's punishment be lightened; as the matter coincided with a general amnesty, he was demoted to participant in Huguang. In the fourth year of Hongzhi he was transferred to Right Administering Commissioner of Zhejiang, then left again for his mother's mourning.

十二年起右副都御史，巡撫宣府。官馬死，軍士不能償，泰言於朝，以官帑市。邊軍貧，有妻者輒鬻，泰請官為資給。尚書周經因令貧者給聘財，典賣者收贖，軍盡歡。參將王傑有罪，泰劾之，下泰逮問。泰又請按千戶八人，帝以泰屢抑武臣，方詔都察院行勘。而參將李稽坐事畏泰重劾，乞受杖，泰取大杖決之。稽乃奏泰淩虐，帝遣給事中徐仁偕錦衣千戶往按。傑復使人走登聞鼓下，訟泰妄逮將校至八十六人，並及其婿納賂事。法司核上，褫為民。

In the twelfth year he was made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and governor of Xuanfu. When government horses died, the troops could not afford replacements; Tai petitioned the court to purchase them from the public treasury. Frontier troops were so poor that married men often sold their wives; Tai asked that the government provide funds. Minister Zhou Jing followed through: the poor were given betrothal funds and redeemed wives were restored, and the troops were overjoyed. Deputy commander Wang Jie had committed an offense; Tai impeached him and was himself ordered down for questioning. Tai also asked to investigate eight battalion commanders; the emperor, seeing that Tai repeatedly humbled military officers, had just ordered the Censorate to investigate. Meanwhile Deputy Commander Li Ji, embroiled in a case and fearing Tai's harsh impeachment, asked to accept beating; Tai took up a heavy rod and thrashed him. Li then memorialized that Tai was brutal; the emperor sent Supervising Secretary Xu Ren with a thousand-household of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate on the spot. Jie also sent agents to beat the Denunciation Drum, accusing Tai of wrongful arrests of eighty-six officers and alleging bribery by his son-in-law. The judicial offices reviewed the case and submitted their findings; Tai was degraded to commoner status.

武宗立，給事中潘鐸等薦泰有敢死之節，克亂之才。吏部尚書馬文升遂起泰南京右副都御史，提督操江，固辭不赴。正德三年春，許進為吏部，復起前官。七月擢南京戶部尚書。劉瑾，泰鄉人也，怒泰不與通，甫四日即令致仕。謂進私泰，遂削二人籍，而追斥馬文升及前薦泰者尚書劉大夏、給事中趙士賢、御史張津等為民，其他罰米輸邊者又五十余人。泰歸，居韋曲別墅，不入城市。瑾誅，復官，致仕。年八十卒。卒時榻下有聲若霆者。

When the Wuzong emperor came to the throne, Supervising Secretaries Pan Duo and others recommended Tai for his fearless integrity and talent for putting down disorder. Minister of Personnel Ma Wensheng thereupon recalled Tai as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing to supervise the Yangtze fleet; Tai firmly declined and did not take up the post. In the spring of the third year of Zhengde Xu Jin became Minister of Personnel and restored Tai to his former post. In the seventh month he was promoted to Minister of Revenue at Nanjing. Liu Jin was Tai's fellow townsman and resented Tai for refusing to deal with him; after only four days in office Tai was ordered to retire. Claiming that Xu Jin had favored Tai privately, Jin stripped both men from the roster and also punished Ma Wensheng and those who had earlier recommended Tai—Minister Liu Daxia, Supervising Secretary Zhao Shixian, Censor Zhang Jin, and others—by reducing them to commoner status; more than fifty others were fined grain for the frontier. Tai went home, lived in a villa at Wei Qu, and never entered the city. After Jin was executed his offices were restored, and he retired. He died at eighty. At the moment of his death a sound like thunder came from beneath his couch.

泰奉身儉素。貴賓至，不過二肉。為尚書，無緋衣。及卒，家人始制以斂。天啟中，追謚端惠。

Tai lived a frugal and austere life. Even when honored guests came, he served no more than two meat dishes. Though he had risen to minister, he owned no ceremonial red robe. Only after his death did his family have one made for his burial. In the Tianqi period he was granted the posthumous title Duanhui (Upright and Kind).

張津，字廣漢，博羅人。成化末進士，除建陽知縣。築城郭，遏礦盜，建朱熹、蔡元定諸賢祠，置祭田畀其子孫。憂歸，補大治，征授御史。弘治十四年冬，吏部缺尚書，廷臣推馬文升、閔珪，而津偕同官文森、曾大有請用致仕尚書周經、兩廣總督劉大夏。忤旨下詔獄。給事御史論救，得釋。已，言：「陛下延訪大臣，而庶官不預，非所以明目達聰也。乞命卿佐侍從及考滿朝覲諸外僚，鹹得以時進見，通達下情。」武宗初，巡按廣西，劾總鎮中官韋經擅移官帑。預平富賀賊，被賚，出為泉州知府。坐嘗舉泰，勒為民。劉瑾敗，起寧波知府，遷山東左參政，擢右僉都御史，提督操江。進右副都御史，巡撫應天諸府。所部水旱，請停織造。車駕北巡，疏諫，不報。浙孝豐奸民據深山拒捕，積二十年莫能制。津托別事赴浙，悉縛之。加戶部右侍郎，巡撫如故。帝自宣府還，復欲北幸，津疏切諫，不報。卒，贈南京戶部尚書。

Zhang Jin, courtesy name Guanghan, was a native of Boluo. Having passed the examinations in the late Chenghua reign, he was appointed magistrate of Jianyang. He walled the city, curbed mining bandits, erected shrines to Zhu Xi, Cai Yuanding, and other sages, and endowed sacrificial fields for their descendants. After mourning he was transferred to Dazhi, then summoned and appointed investigating censor. In the winter of the fourteenth year of Hongzhi the Ministry of Personnel had no minister; court officials recommended Ma Wensheng and Min Gui, while Jin together with colleagues Wen Sen and Zeng Dayou petitioned to appoint the retired Minister Zhou Jing and the governor-general of the two Guangs Liu Daxia. The petition offended the throne and he was sent to the imperial prison. Supervising secretaries and censors protested on his behalf and he was released. Shortly afterward he memorialized: "Your Majesty consults chief ministers, but ordinary officials are not admitted—this is not how to see clearly and hear acutely. I beg that ministers, aides-in-waiting, and outer officials who have finished their tenure and come to court be allowed audience from time to time, so lower grievances may be heard." At the beginning of Wuzong's reign he inspected Guangxi as touring censor and impeached the eunuch grand commander Wei Jing for misappropriating official funds. He took part in pacifying bandits in Fu and He counties, was rewarded, and left office as prefect of Quanzhou. He was demoted to commoner status for having once recommended Tai. After Liu Jin's fall he was made prefect of Ningbo, transferred to Left Participant in Shandong, then promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief to supervise the Yangtze fleet. He was further promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and made governor of the Yingtian prefectures. In his district flood and drought struck, and he asked that imperial weaving be halted. When the emperor toured the north, he submitted a remonstrating memorial, but received no reply. In Xiaofeng, Zhejiang, lawless villagers held out in the deep mountains and resisted arrest; for twenty years no one could subdue them. Jin went to Zhejiang on another pretext and captured them all. He was made Right Vice Minister of Revenue while retaining his post as governor. After the emperor returned from Xuanfu he wished to go north again; Jin submitted a forceful remonstrance, again without reply. He died and was posthumously made Minister of Revenue at Nanjing.

陳壽，字本仁，其先新淦人。祖誌弘，洪武間代兄戍遼東，遂籍寧遠衛。壽少貧甚，得遺金，坐守至夜分，還其主。從鄉人賀欽學，登成化八年進士，授戶科給事中。視宣、大邊防，劾去鎮守中官不檢者。又嘗劾萬貴妃兄弟及中官梁芳、僧繼曉，系詔獄。得釋，屢遷都給事中。

Chen Shou, courtesy name Benren, came from a family originally of Xingan. His grandfather Zhihong, in the Hongwu reign, took his elder brother's place on garrison duty in Liaodong and was registered at Ningyuan Guard. Shou was very poor in his youth; when he found lost gold he sat guarding it until midnight and returned it to its owner. He studied under his fellow townsman He Qin, passed the examinations in the eighth year of Chenghua, and was appointed supervising secretary of the Household Section. Inspecting border defenses at Xuanfu and Datong, he impeached and removed stationed eunuchs who had grown lax. He also once impeached the brothers of Consort Wan, the eunuch Liang Fang, and the monk Jixiao, and was sent to the imperial prison. He was released and was repeatedly promoted to Chief Supervising Secretary.

弘治元年，王恕為吏部，擢壽大理丞。劉吉憾恕，諷御史劾壽不習刑名，冀以罪恕。竟調壽南京光祿少卿，就轉鴻臚卿。

In the first year of Hongzhi, when Wang Shu headed the Ministry of Personnel, Shou was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review. Liu Ji bore a grudge against Shu and prompted a censor to impeach Shou for ignorance of penal law, hoping to bring Shu down with him. Shou was in the end transferred to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments at Nanjing and soon after made Director of the Court of State Ceremonial.

十三年冬，以右僉都御史巡撫延綏。火篩數盜邊，前鎮巡官俱得罪去。壽至，蒐軍實，廣間諜，分布士馬為十道，使互相應援，軍勢始振。明年，諸部大入，先以百余騎來誘。諸將請擊之，壽不可。自出帳，擁數十騎，據胡床指麾飲食。寇望見，疑之，引去。諸道襲擊，斬獲甚多。朝廷方遣苗逵等重兵至，而壽已奏捷。孝宗嘉之，加錄一等。逵欲乘勝搗巢。駐延綏久，戰馬三萬匹日費芻菽不貲。壽請出牧近塞，就水草，眾有難色。壽跨馬先行，眾皆從之，省費數十萬。當戰捷時，或勸註子弟名籍，壽曰：「吾子弟不知弓槊，寧當與血戰士同受賞哉？」竟不許。

In the winter of the thirteenth year he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and made governor of Yansui. Huosai had repeatedly raided the frontier, and successive commanders and inspectors had all been punished and removed. When Shou arrived he reviewed true military strength, expanded intelligence networks, and deployed troops and horses in ten columns that could support one another, and the army's morale began to recover. The next year the tribes invaded in force, first sending more than a hundred horsemen as bait. The generals asked to attack, but Shou refused. He came out of the tent himself with only a few dozen horsemen, sat on a camp chair, and calmly directed his meal. The raiders saw this, grew suspicious, and withdrew. The columns then struck from every direction and killed or captured a great many of the enemy. The court was just dispatching Miao Kui and other commanders with a large relief force when Shou had already reported victory. Emperor Xiaozong commended him and raised his recorded rank by one grade. Kui wanted to follow up the victory by destroying the enemy base. After long encampment at Yansui, the daily cost of fodder for thirty thousand war horses was enormous. Shou asked to drive the herds out to pasture near the border where there was water and grass, but the men were reluctant. Shou mounted his horse and led the way, and everyone followed; the move saved several hundred thousand in costs. After the victory some urged him to register his sons and younger brothers for rewards, but Shou said, "My sons and younger brothers do not know bow and spear—should they really share rewards with men who fought in blood? He would not allow it in the end.

十六年以右副都御史掌南院。正德初，劉瑾矯詔逮南京科道戴銑、薄彥徽等，壽抗章論救。瑾怒，令致仕。尋坐延綏倉儲虧損，罰米二千三百石、布千五百匹。貧不能償，上章自訴。瑾廉知壽貧，特免之。中官廖堂鎮陜西貪暴，楊一清以壽剛果，九年正月起撫其地。堂初奉詔制氈幄百六十間，贏金數萬，將遺權幸。壽檄所司留備振，復戒諭堂勿假貢獻名有所科取。堂怒，將傾之。壽四疏乞休，不得。堂爪牙數十輩散府縣漁利，壽命捕之，皆逃歸，氣益沮。其秋，拜南京兵部侍郎，陜人號呼擁輿，移日不得行。逾年，乞駭骨，就進刑部尚書，致仕。

In the sixteenth year he was made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and placed in charge of the Censorate at Nanjing. Early in the Zhengde reign Liu Jin forged an edict to arrest the Nanjing censors and supervising secretaries Dai Xuan, Bo Yanhui, and others; Shou submitted a forceful memorial in their defense. Jin was enraged and forced him to retire. He was soon punished for deficits in the Yansui granaries with a fine of 2,300 shi of grain and 1,500 bolts of cloth. Too poor to pay, he memorialized the throne in his own defense. Jin looked into the matter, learned that Shou was poor, and specially exempted him. The eunuch Liao Tang ruled Shaanxi with greed and violence; Yang Yiqing, valuing Shou's firmness and resolve, had him recalled in the first month of the ninth year to govern the province. Tang had first been ordered to make 160 felt tents, skimmed off tens of thousands in gold, and planned to give the surplus to powerful favorites at court. Shou ordered the relevant offices to keep the goods for famine relief and warned Tang not to levy exactions under the pretense of presenting tribute. Tang was furious and set out to ruin him. Shou submitted four memorials asking to retire, but was not allowed to leave. Several dozen of Tang's agents were scattered through the prefectures and counties extorting profit; Shou ordered them arrested, and they all fled back to him, so that his arrogance was much diminished. That autumn he was appointed Vice Minister of War at Nanjing; the people of Shaanxi shouted and thronged his carriage so that for days he could not move on. The following year he asked to retire; he was promoted on departure to Minister of Punishments and then retired.

壽為給事中，言時政無隱，獨不喜劾人，曰：「吾父戒吾勿作刑官，易枉人。言官枉人尤甚，吾不敢妄言也。」嘉靖改元，詔進一品階，遣有司存問，時年八十有三。壽廉，歷官四十年，無家可歸。寓南京，所居不蔽風雨。其卒也，尚書李充嗣、府尹寇天敘為之斂。又數年，親舊賻助，始得歸葬新淦。

As a supervising secretary Shou spoke frankly on current affairs, but he disliked impeaching others and said, "My father warned me not to become a penal official, for it is easy to wrong people. Censors wrong people even more readily, and I dare not speak rashly. When the Jiajing reign began, an edict raised him one rank and sent local officials to inquire after him; he was then eighty-three years old. Shou was incorruptible; after forty years in office he had no home of his own to return to. He lived in Nanjing in a house that could scarcely keep out wind and rain. When he died, the minister Li Chongsi and the prefect Kou Tianxu prepared his body for burial. Only after several more years, with help from relatives and friends in funeral gifts, was he at last buried in his native Xingan.

樊瑩，字廷璧，常山人。天順末，舉進士，引疾歸養。久之，授行人，使蜀不受饋，土官作卻金亭識之。

Fan Ying, courtesy name Tingbi, was a native of Changshan. Late in the Tianshun reign he passed the examinations as a jinshi, then pleaded illness and returned home to care for his parents. Long afterward he was appointed a traveling envoy; on a mission to Shu he refused all gifts, and the native officials erected a Refused-Gold Pavilion in his honor.

成化八年，擢御史。山東盜起，奉命捕獲其魁。清軍江北，所條奏多著為例。改按雲南，交阯誘邊氓為寇，馳檄寢其謀。出知松江府。運夫苦耗折，瑩革民夫，令糧長專運，而寬其綱，用以優之。賦役循周忱舊法，稍為變通，民困大蘇。憂歸，起知平陽。

In the eighth year of Chenghua he was promoted to investigating censor. When bandits rose in Shandong he was ordered to capture them and seized their leader. Inspecting troops north of the Yangtze, he submitted many proposals that were adopted as permanent regulations. Transferred to inspect Yunnan, he found that Jiaozhi was inciting border subjects to raid; he issued a swift proclamation that put an end to the scheme. He left the censorate to serve as prefect of Songjiang. Transport workers were burdened by wastage deductions; Ying abolished civilian corvée transport, put grain chiefs in sole charge of hauling, and eased their quotas as a benefit to them. He followed Zhou Chen's old tax and corvée system with modest adjustments, and the people's distress was greatly eased. After mourning he was recalled and appointed prefect of Pingyang.

弘治初，詔大臣舉方面官。侍郎黃孔昭以瑩應，尚書王恕亦器之，擢河南按察使。黃河為患，民多流移。瑩巡振，全活甚眾。河南田賦多積弊，巡撫都御史徐恪欲考本末，眾難之。瑩曰：「視萬猶千，視千猶百耳，何難。」恪以屬瑩部吏鉤考，旬日間，宿蠹一清。四年遷應天府尹。守備中官蔣琮與言官訐奏，所蔓引多至罪黜。瑩承命推鞫，初若不為異者，琮大喜。後奏其傷孝陵山脈事，琮遂下獄，充凈軍。

Early in the Hongzhi reign the throne ordered senior ministers to recommend provincial officials. Vice Minister Huang Kongzhao recommended Ying, Minister Wang Shu also esteemed him, and he was promoted to Surveillance Commissioner of Henan. When the Yellow River brought disaster, many people were displaced. Ying toured the region distributing relief and saved a great many lives. Henan's land taxes were riddled with long-standing abuses; Governor Xu Ke wanted to trace every account to its source, but others thought it impossible. Ying said, "Treat ten thousand as a thousand and a thousand as a hundred—that is all there is to it; what is so hard? Xu Ke put the task in the hands of Ying's clerks for a full audit, and within ten days every long-standing abuse had been cleared away. In the fourth year he was transferred to magistrate of the Capital Prefecture. The garrison eunuch Jiang Cong and the censors traded accusations, and many of those drawn into the affair were punished or dismissed. Ying was ordered to conduct the inquiry and at first appeared to treat Jiang Cong no differently, to Cong's great delight. He then reported that Cong had damaged the geomantic line of the Xiaoling tombs; Cong was imprisoned and reduced to menial service.

七年遷南京工部右侍郎，尋改右副都御史巡撫湖廣。錦田賊結兩廣瑤、僮為寇，瑩諭散余黨，戮首惡十八人。歲餘，以疾乞休。家居七年，中外交薦，起故官撫治鄖陽，旋改南京刑部右侍郎。

In the seventh year he was made Right Vice Minister of Works at Nanjing, then soon appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and governor of Huguang. Bandits at Jintian allied with Yao and Zhuang raiders from the two Guangs; Ying persuaded the lesser followers to disperse and executed eighteen ringleaders. After a little more than a year he asked to retire on grounds of illness. He lived at home for seven years until recommended from every quarter, was recalled to his former rank to govern Yunyang, and was soon made Right Vice Minister of Punishments at Nanjing.

十六年，雲南景東衛晝晦七日，宜良地震如雷，曲靖大火數發，貴州亦多災異，命瑩巡視。至則劾鎮巡官罪，黜文武不職者千七百人。廉知景東之變，乃指揮吳勇侵官帑，圖脫罪，因雲霧晦冥虛張其事，劾罪之。還進本部尚書。

In the sixteenth year Jingdong Guard in Yunnan was dark at noon for seven days, Yiliang was shaken by thunderous earthquakes, Qujing suffered repeated great fires, and Guizhou too reported many omens; Ying was ordered to investigate. On arrival he impeached the frontier commanders and inspectors and dismissed 1,700 incompetent civil and military officials. His inquiry showed that the Jingdong portent was really Commander Wu Yong's embezzlement of public funds; to escape blame Wu had exaggerated the omen of darkness and mist, and Ying impeached and punished him. On his return he was promoted to Minister of his department.

武宗踐阼，致仕歸。劉瑾以會勘隆平侯爭襲事，連及瑩，削籍。明年又坐減松江官布，罰米五百石輸邊。瑩素貧，至是益窘。三年十一月卒，年七十五。瑾敗，復官，贈太子少保，謚清簡。

When Emperor Wuzong ascended the throne he retired and went home. Liu Jin implicated Ying in the joint inquiry into the Longping Marquis's disputed succession and struck him from the rolls. The next year he was again punished for having reduced the official cloth quota at Songjiang and was fined 500 shi of grain for the frontier. Ying had always been poor, and now his circumstances grew still worse. He died in the eleventh month of the third year, aged seventy-five. After Jin's fall his office was restored; he was posthumously made Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince with the posthumous name Qingjian (Pure and Simple).

瑩性誠愨，農月坐籃輿戴笠，子孫舁行田間，曰：「非徒視稼，欲子孫習勞也。」其後人率教，多願樸力學者。

Ying was sincere and unassuming; in the farming season he rode in a bamboo litter under a straw hat while his sons and grandsons carried him through the fields, saying, "This is not only to inspect the crops—I want my descendants to learn hard work. His descendants generally followed his teaching, and many became men of plain habits who devoted themselves to learning.

熊繡，字汝明，道州人，其先以戍籍自豐城徙焉。繡舉成化二年進士，授行人。奉使楚府，巡茶四川，力拒饋遺。擢御史，巡按陜西。左布政於璠以官帑銀饋苑馬卿邵進，繡發其罪。璠遁赴京訐繡，帝並下繡吏，謫知清豐，璠、進亦除名。久之，鳳翔闕知府，擢繡任之。

Xiong Xiu, courtesy name Ruming, was a native of Daozhou; his forebears had moved there from Fengcheng on military registration. Xiu passed the examinations as a jinshi in the second year of Chenghua and was appointed a traveling envoy. On missions to the Chu princely establishment and on tea inspection in Sichuan he firmly refused all gifts. He was promoted to censor and sent to inspect Shaanxi. Left Administration Commissioner Yu Fan had given official silver from the treasury to the Park of Imperial Horses director Shao Jin; Xiu exposed the crime. Fan fled to the capital to accuse Xiu; the emperor had both men arrested, demoted Xiu to magistrate of Qingfeng, and struck Fan and Jin from the rolls as well. Long afterward, when Fengxiang had no prefect, Xiu was promoted to the post.

弘治初，遷山東左參政，進右布政使。七年以右副都御史巡撫延綏。榆林初僅小堡，屯兵備冬。景泰中，始移巡撫、總兵官居之，遂為西北巨鎮，城隘弗能容，繡因請增築千二百余丈。涖鎮數年，練兵積粟，邊政修舉。歷兵部左、右侍郎，尚書劉大夏深倚信之。勝騰四衛勇士額三四萬人，率虛籍。歲糜錢谷數十萬，多入奄人家。廷臣屢請稽核，輒被撓。十八年命繡清厘，未竟而孝宗崩。朝政漸變，繡力持不顧，得詭冒者萬四千人。禦馬太監寧瑾等疏請復舊，給事御史交章劾瑾，大夏亦力爭。武宗不得已從之，而宥瑾等不問。

Early in the Hongzhi reign he was transferred to Left Participant in Shandong and then promoted to Right Administration Commissioner. In the seventh year he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and made governor of Yansui. Yulin was at first only a small fort, with troops stationed there to prepare for winter. During the Jingtai reign the grand coordinator and regional commander were first posted there, and it became a major northwestern stronghold. The walls were too cramped to hold the garrison; Xiu therefore requested an extension of more than twelve hundred zhang. After several years in command he drilled troops and built up grain stores, and frontier administration was brought into good order. He served in turn as Left and Right Vice Minister of War, and Minister Liu Daxia placed deep trust in him. The warrior rolls of the four Tengxiang guards listed thirty to forty thousand men, but for the most part the rolls were fictitious. Every year hundreds of thousands in money and grain were wasted, much of it ending up in eunuchs' households. Court officials repeatedly called for audits, but each time their efforts were blocked. In the eighteenth year Xiu was ordered to investigate and clear the rolls, but before he could finish, Emperor Xiaozong died. Court policy gradually changed, yet Xiu stood firm regardless and exposed fourteen thousand fraudulent enrollees. Imperial Horse Supervisor Ning Jin and other eunuchs memorialized to restore the old rolls; supervising secretaries and censors submitted memorial after memorial impeaching Jin, and Liu Daxia argued forcefully as well. Emperor Wuzong had no choice but to assent, yet pardoned Jin and the others without pursuing the matter.

正德元年擢右都御史，總督兩廣軍務兼巡撫事。既抵鎮，盡裁幕府供億，秋毫無所取。二年與總兵官伏羌伯毛銳討平賀縣僮。劉瑾以前汰勇士事深疾繡，伺察無所得。召掌南京都察院事，尋以中旨罷之。已，復摭延綏倉儲浥爛為繡罪，罰米五百石，責繡躬輸於邊。繡家遂破。

In the first year of Zhengde he was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief, placed in overall command of military affairs in the two Guang, and made grand coordinator as well. Once he reached his post he slashed all staff provisioning to the bone and took nothing for himself, however small. In the second year, together with Regional Commander Ma Rui, the Earl Who Pacified the Qiang, he campaigned and pacified the Zhuang of Hexian. Liu Jin deeply resented Xiu for his earlier purge of the warrior rolls and kept watch on him, but found nothing to use against him. He was summoned to head the Nanjing Censorate, but soon afterward was dismissed by a direct edict from the throne. Later, spoiled grain in the Yansui granaries was made Xiu's crime; he was fined five hundred shi of grain and ordered to deliver it in person to the frontier. Xiu's household was thus ruined.

十年閏四月卒，無子。巡撫秦金頌其清節於朝，贈刑部尚書。太仆少卿何孟春以繡承繼孫幼且貧，無以為養，請如主事張鳳翔孔琦例，賜月廩，且乞予謚。遂謚莊簡，給其孫米月一石。

In the tenth year, in the intercalary fourth month, he died without sons. Grand Coordinator Qin Jin praised his integrity at court, and he was posthumously made Minister of Justice. Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud He Mengchun said that the grandson of Xiu's adopted heir was young and poor and had no means of support, and asked that he be granted a monthly grain allowance on the precedent of Directors Zhang Fengxiang and Kong Qi, and also that Xiu be given a posthumous title. He was therefore given the posthumous title Zhuangjian, and his grandson was granted one shi of grain each month.

潘蕃，字廷芳，崇德人。初冒鐘姓，既顯始復。成化二年舉進士，授刑部主事。歷郎中。雲南鎮守中官錢能為巡撫王恕所劾，詔蕃按，盡得其實。出為安慶知府，改鄖陽。時府治初設，陜、洛流民畢聚。蕃悉心撫循，皆成土著。累遷山東、湖廣左右布政使。

Pan Fan, courtesy name Tingfang, was a native of Chongde. At first he had taken the surname Zhong; after he rose to prominence he restored his own surname. In the second year of Chenghua he passed the examinations as a jinshi and was appointed a principal clerk in the Ministry of Justice. He rose through the ranks to bureau director. The Yunnan garrison eunuch Qian Neng was impeached by Grand Coordinator Wang Shu; Fan was ordered to investigate and established the facts in full. He was sent out as prefect of Anqing and then transferred to Yunyang. At that time the prefectural seat had only just been established, and displaced people from Shaanxi and the Luoyang region all gathered there. Fan devoted himself to settling and guiding them until all became permanent residents. He was promoted in turn to Left and Right Administration Commissioner in Shandong and Huguang.

弘治九年，以右副都御史巡撫四川，兼提督松潘軍務。宣布威信，蠻人畏服，單車行松、茂莫敢犯。遷南京兵部右侍郎，就改刑部。

In the ninth year of Hongzhi he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and made grand coordinator of Sichuan, with concurrent charge of Songpan military affairs. He proclaimed his authority and won trust; the tribes feared and submitted. Traveling alone through Song and Mao, none dared molest him. He was transferred to Right Vice Minister of War in Nanjing and then immediately moved to the Ministry of Justice.

十四年進右都御史，總督兩廣。帳下士舊不下萬人，蕃汰之，才給使令而已。黎寇符南蛇亂海南，聚眾數萬。蕃令副使胡富調狼土兵討斬之，平賊巢千二百余所。論功，進左都御史。已，又平歸善劇賊古三仔、唐大鬢等。思恩知府岑濬與田州知府岑猛相仇殺，攻陷田州，猛窮乞援。蕃諭濬罷兵，不從，乃與鎮守太監韋經、總兵官伏羌伯毛銳集兵十余萬，分六哨討之。濬死，傳首軍門，斬級四千七百，盡平其地。回軍討平南海縣豐湖賊褟元祖。捷聞，璽書嘉勞。蕃奏，思恩宜設流官，猛構兵失地，宜降同知，俾還守舊土。兵部尚書劉大夏議，猛世濟兇惡，不宜歸舊治，請兩府皆設流官，而降猛為千戶，徙之福建。帝從之。正德改元之正月召為南京刑部尚書。逾年，致仕。

In the fourteenth year he was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and placed in overall command of the two Guang. Staff under his command had formerly numbered no less than ten thousand; Fan cut them back until only enough remained to carry out his orders. The Li rebel Fu Nan She rose in Hainan and gathered tens of thousands of followers. Fan ordered Vice Commissioner Hu Fu to mobilize Lang and Tu native troops to campaign against him and take his head, pacifying more than twelve hundred bandit lairs. For his merit he was promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief. Later he also pacified the fierce bandits Gu Sanzai, Tang Dabin, and others in Guishan. Sin'en Prefect Cen Jun and Tianzhou Prefect Cen Meng feuded and slaughtered one another's followers; Jun seized Tianzhou, and Meng, driven to desperation, begged for aid. Fan exhorted Jun to cease hostilities, but Jun refused; Fan then joined Garrison Supervisor Wei Jing and Regional Commander Ma Rui, the Earl Who Pacified the Qiang, mustering more than a hundred thousand troops in six columns to attack. Jun died and his head was sent to the army gate; four thousand seven hundred heads were taken in all, and the territory was wholly pacified. On the return march he also campaigned and pacified Tan Yuanzu, the bandit of Fenghu in Nanhai County. When news of victory arrived, an imperial letter commended and rewarded them. Fan memorialized that Sin'en ought to receive an appointed official, and that Meng, for raising troops and losing his territory, ought to be demoted to sub-prefect and allowed to return and guard his old lands. War Minister Liu Daxia argued that Meng's line had long been vicious and he ought not return to his old jurisdiction; he asked that both prefectures receive appointed officials, with Meng demoted to company commander and relocated to Fujian. The emperor assented. In the first month of the new Zhengde reign he was summoned as Minister of Justice in Nanjing. After a year he retired from office.

初，蕃去兩廣，岑猛據田州不肯徙，知府謝湖畏猛悍，亦逗遛。事聞，逮湖詔獄。湖委罪蕃及韋經、毛銳，經復委罪於尚書大夏。劉瑾方惡大夏，遂並逮四人。大夏以不從蕃言為罪，而蕃亦坐不能撫猛，俱謫戍肅州，三年九月也。既而瑾從戶部郎中莊祥言，遣太監韋霦核廣東庫藏，奏應解贓罰諸物多朽敝，梧州貯鹽利軍賞銀六十余萬兩不以時解。逮問蕃及前總督大夏、前左布政使仁和沈銳等八百九十九人，罰米輸邊。銳廉介，已遷南京刑部右侍郎，乞休歸，至是奪職。瑾誅，蕃以原官致仕。逾六年，卒。銳至嘉靖初，始復職致仕。

Earlier, when Fan left the two Guang, Cen Meng held Tianzhou and refused to move; Prefect Xie Hu feared Meng's ferocity and also delayed. When word reached the court, Hu was arrested and sent to the imperial prison. Hu shifted blame onto Fan, Wei Jing, and Mao Rui; Jing in turn shifted blame onto Minister Liu Daxia. Liu Jin happened to hate Daxia, so all four were arrested together. Daxia was punished for not following Fan's proposal, and Fan was also punished for failing to pacify Meng; all were exiled to garrison Suzhou in Gansu—this was in the ninth month of the third year. Later, at Bureau Director Zhuang Xiang's urging, Jin sent eunuch Wei Yin to audit Guangdong treasuries. The memorial reported that goods due as fines and penalties were mostly rotten, and that more than six hundred thousand taels of silver from salt profits stored at Wuzhou for military rewards had not been forwarded on time. Fan, former overall commander Liu Daxia, former Left Administration Commissioner Shen Rui of Renhe, and eight hundred ninety-nine others were arrested and questioned, and fined grain to be delivered to the frontier. Shen Rui was upright and incorruptible; he had already been promoted to Right Vice Minister of Justice in Nanjing and had asked to retire home, but now lost his post. After Jin was executed, Fan retired with his original rank restored. More than six years later he died. Shen Rui was not restored to office and allowed to retire until the early Jiajing reign.

方蕃解官歸，無屋，稅他人宅居之。與鄉人飲，露坐花下，醉則任所之。其風致如此。

When Fan left office and returned home, he had no house of his own and rented another's dwelling to live in. Drinking with fellow townsmen, he would sit in the open beneath the flowers, and when drunk would go wherever he pleased. Such was his bearing.

胡富，字永年，績溪人。成化十四年進士。授南京大理評事。弘治初，歷福建僉事。福寧系囚二百余人，富一訊皆定，囹圄頓空。以憂去，起補山東，遷廣東副使。四會瑤亂，剿擒五百余人。瀧水瑤出沒無時，富度其所經地，得荒田三千余頃，招僮戶耕牧其中。瑤畏僮不敢出擾，居民得田作。符南蛇圍儋州，富與參議劉信往覘。賊突至，殺信，富手斬劇賊一人，賊乃退。還益兵討平之。歷陜西左、右布政使。

Hu Fu, courtesy name Yongnian, was a native of Jixi. He passed the examinations as a jinshi in the fourteenth year of Chenghua. He was appointed a reviewing clerk at the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. Early in the Hongzhi reign he served as Fujian Assistant Commissioner. At Funing more than two hundred prisoners awaited trial; Fu examined them once and settled every case, and the prisons were suddenly empty. He left office to observe mourning, then was recalled to Shandong and transferred to Guangdong Vice Commissioner. When the Yao of Sihui rebelled, he campaigned against them and captured more than five hundred. The Yao of Longshui raided at unpredictable times; Fu surveyed the routes they used and found more than three thousand qing of wasteland, then recruited Zhuang households to farm and herd there. The Yao feared the Zhuang and dared not come out to raid, and local residents were able to work the fields. Fu Nan She besieged Danzhou; Hu Fu and Participant Liu Xin went to reconnoiter. Bandits charged in suddenly and killed Liu Xin; Fu personally beheaded one fierce bandit, and the bandits then withdrew. He returned, reinforced his troops, and campaigned until the rebels were pacified. He served as Left and Right Administration Commissioner in Shaanxi.

正德初，入為順天府尹。三年進南京大理寺卿，就遷戶部右侍郎。五年正月坐大理時勘事遲緩，勒致仕。亦瑾意也。瑾敗，起故官。七年拜本部尚書。南都倉儲僅支一年，富在部三載，有六年積。上十余事，率權貴所不便，格不行，遂引年歸。嘉靖元年卒。贈太子少保，謚康惠。

Early in the Zhengde reign he entered the capital as prefect of Shuntian. In the third year he was promoted to Chief Minister of the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review and immediately transferred to Right Vice Minister of Revenue. In the first month of the fifth year he was forced to retire for slow handling of cases during his tenure at the Judicial Review. This too was at Liu Jin's instigation. After Jin's fall he was restored to his former post. In the seventh year he was appointed Minister of Revenue. Nanjing's grain stores could barely supply one year when he took office; after three years under Fu there was a six-year reserve. He submitted more than ten proposals, most of them inconvenient to powerful families; when they were all blocked he cited his years and retired. He died in the first year of Jiajing. He was posthumously made Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous title Kanghui.

張泰，字叔亨，廣東順德人。成化二年進士。除知沙縣。時經鄧茂七之亂，泰撫綏招集，流亡盡復。入為御史，偕同官諫萬貴妃幹政，廷杖幾斃。出督京畿學校，以憂去，家居十余年。

Zhang Tai, courtesy name Shuheng, was a native of Shunde in Guangdong. He passed the examinations as a jinshi in the second year of Chenghua. He was appointed magistrate of Shaxian. The district had just passed through Deng Maoqi's rebellion; Tai soothed and rallied the people, and all exiles returned. He entered service as a censor; together with colleagues he remonstrated against Consort Wan's interference in government and was nearly beaten to death in the outer court. He was sent out to supervise schools in the metropolitan region, left on mourning, and remained at home for more than ten years.

弘治五年起故官，按雲南。孟密土舍思揲構亂，以兵遏木邦宣慰使罕挖法於孟乃寨。守臣撫諭，拒不聽。泰與巡撫張誥集兵示必討，思揲懼，始罷兵。滇池溢，為民災，泰築堤以弭其患。還朝，乞罷織造內臣，減皇莊及貴戚莊田被災稅賦，給畿省災民牛種。詔止給牛種，余不行。寇入永昌，甘肅遊擊魯麟委罪副總兵陶禎，而總兵官劉寧疏言守臣不和，詔泰往勘。泰奏鎮守太監傅德、故總兵官周玉侵據屯田。巡撫馮續減削軍餉，寇數入莫肯為禦，失士卒六百余、馬駝牛羊二萬皆不以聞。帝怒，下之吏。德降內使，錮南京，續編氓口外。泰又言甘州膏腴地悉為中官、武臣所據，仍責軍稅；城北草湖資戍卒牧馬，今亦被占。請悉歸之軍，且推行於延、寧二鎮，詔皆從之。遷太仆少卿，改大理。

In the fifth year of Hongzhi he was recalled to his former post and sent to inspect Yunnan. Mengmi native official Si Die fomented rebellion and used troops to block Mang Myit pacification commissioner Han Wafa at Mengnai stockade. Border officials tried to pacify him by exhortation, but he refused to listen. Tai and Grand Coordinator Zhang Hao massed troops to show they would certainly campaign; Si Die grew afraid and only then ceased hostilities. Lake Dian overflowed and brought disaster on the people; Tai built dikes to check the damage. On returning to court he asked that palace silk-weaving eunuchs be abolished, that tax levies on imperial estates and noble estates stricken by disaster be reduced, and that cattle and seed be given to disaster victims in the metropolitan provinces. An edict granted only cattle and seed; the rest was not carried out. When bandits raided Yongchang, Gansu roving-attendant Lu Lin laid the blame on Vice Regional Commander Tao Zhen, while Regional Commander Liu Ning memorialized that the defending officials were at odds; the court ordered Tai to go and investigate. Tai reported that Garrison Eunuch Fu De and former Regional Commander Zhou Yu had encroached on military colony lands. Grand Coordinator Feng Xu had cut military pay; when bandits repeatedly raided, no one would stand and fight, and losses of more than six hundred troops and twenty thousand horses, camels, cattle, and sheep were never reported. The emperor was enraged and had them turned over to the judicial authorities. De was demoted to inner attendant and confined in Nanjing; Xu was registered as a commoner and exiled beyond the frontier. Tai also reported that Ganzhou's fertile lands had all been seized by palace eunuchs and military officials, who still exacted military taxes from them; the Grass Lake north of the city, which provided pasture for the garrison's horses, had now been taken as well. He asked that everything be restored to the army and that the same policy be applied in the Yan and Ning garrisons; the court approved it all. He was promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, then transferred to the Dali Tribunal.

初，薊州民田多為牧馬草場所侵，又侵禦馬監及神機營草場、皇莊，貧民失業，草場亦虧故額。孝宗屢遣給事中周旋，侍郎顧佐、熊翀等往勘，皆不能決。至是命泰偕錦衣官會巡撫周季麟復勘。泰密求得永樂間舊籍，參互稽考，田當歸民者九百三十余頃，而京營及禦馬監牧地鹹不失故額。奏入，駁議者再，尚書韓文力持之，留中未下。及武宗嗣位，文再請，始出泰奏，流亡者鹹得復業。

Earlier, much of the farmland in Jizhou had been swallowed up by horse pastures, which also encroached on pastures of the Imperial Horse Directorate and the Divine Engine Corps as well as on imperial estates; the poor lost their livelihoods, and the pastures themselves fell below their original quotas. Emperor Xiaozong repeatedly sent Supervising Secretary Zhou Huan and Vice Ministers Gu Zuo, Xiong Chong, and others to investigate, yet none could resolve the dispute. Now he ordered Tai, together with Brocade Guard officers, to join Grand Coordinator Zhou Jilin in a fresh investigation. Tai secretly obtained old registers from the Yongle reign and cross-checked them; he found more than nine hundred thirty qing of land that should be returned to the people, while the capital garrison and Imperial Horse Directorate pastures would all keep their original quotas intact. When the memorial arrived, opponents debated it twice; Minister Han Wen stood firm, and the memorial was held at court without being promulgated. After Emperor Wuzong took the throne, Wen petitioned again, and only then was Tai's memorial issued; those who had been driven off all returned to their fields.

尋遷右副都御史督儲南京。奏厘革十二事，多報可。正德二年，召為工部右侍郎，逾年遷南京右都御史。泰清謹。劉瑾專權，朝貴爭賂遺。泰奏表至京，惟饋土葛。瑾憾之，其年十月令以南京戶部尚書致仕。明年七月卒，摭他事罰米數百石。瑾誅，予葬祭如制。

Soon he was made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and put in charge of grain stores at Nanjing. He memorialized twelve reforms; most were approved. In the second year of Zhengde he was recalled as Right Vice Minister of Works; a year later he was made Nanjing Right Censor-in-Chief. Tai was upright and scrupulous. When Liu Jin monopolized power, court grandees competed in offering him bribes and gifts. When Tai's congratulatory memorial reached the capital, he sent only local hemp cloth as a gift. Jin resented this; in the tenth month of that year he had him retired as Nanjing Minister of Revenue. He died in the seventh month of the following year; on other pretexts a fine of several hundred piculs of grain was imposed on his estate. After Jin was executed, burial and sacrifices were granted according to regulation.

吳文度，字憲之，晉江人，從父客江寧，遂家焉。登成化八年進士，除龍泉知縣，征授南京御史。偕同官孫需等論妖僧繼曉，被廷杖。尋遷汀州知府。瑤弗靖，設方略綏撫，瑤承賦如居民。弘治中歷江西左參政，山西、河南左、右布政使。正德元年遷右副都御史，巡撫雲南。師宗州賊阿本等作亂，諭不從，乃遣參議陳一經等督軍二萬攻之，別遣兵截盤江，據賊巢背，先後俘斬千人。入歷戶部侍郎。三年冬進南京右都御史。方文度召自雲南，劉瑾以地產金寶，屢責賄。文度無以應，瑾深銜之。會工部尚書李鐩致仕，廷推文度及南京戶部侍郎王珩，遂改文度南京戶部尚書，與珩俱致仕。命下，舉朝駭異。既歸，所居屋僅數椽。瑾誅，未及用而卒。珩，趙人。起家進士，亦以清操聞。

Wu Wendu, courtesy name Xianzhi, was a native of Jinjiang; he accompanied his father to Jiangning as a guest and settled his family there. He passed the jinshi examination in the eighth year of Chenghua, was appointed magistrate of Longquan, and was then summoned to serve as a Nanjing censor. Together with fellow censors Sun Xu and others he denounced the heterodox monk Jixiao and was beaten in a court flogging. He was soon made prefect of Tingzhou. When the Yao were restless, he devised policies to pacify them, and the Yao paid taxes like ordinary subjects. During Hongzhi he served in turn as Left Administration Commissioner of Jiangxi and as Left and Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shanxi and Henan. In the first year of Zhengde he was made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Yunnan. When the bandits Aben and others of Shizong Prefecture rebelled, persuasion failed; he then sent Administration Commissioner Chen Yijing and others to lead twenty thousand troops against them, while another force blocked the Pan River and took the bandits' lair from the rear; more than a thousand were captured or killed in all. He was recalled to the capital and served as Vice Minister of Revenue. In the winter of the third year he was promoted to Nanjing Right Censor-in-Chief. Just as Wendu was recalled from Yunnan, Liu Jin—knowing the region produced gold and jewels—repeatedly demanded bribes from him. Wendu had nothing to give; Jin bore a deep grudge against him. When Minister of Works Li Yong retired, the court nominated Wendu and Nanjing Vice Minister of Revenue Wang Heng; Wendu was then made Nanjing Minister of Revenue, and both he and Heng were forced to retire. When the order was issued, the whole court was astonished. After he returned home, his dwelling had only a few beams. After Jin was executed, he died before he could be reappointed. Heng was a native of Zhao. A jinshi by origin, he was also known for his integrity.

張鼐，字用和，歷城人。成化十一年進士。授襄陵知縣，入為御史。憲宗末年數笞言官，鼐力諫。又嘗劾妖僧繼曉、方士鄧常恩等。帝心惡之。出按江西。盜賊多強宗佃仆，鼐與巡撫閔珪交奏其事。尹直等構之，乃貶珪而坐鼐尹旻黨，謫郴州判官。

Zhang Nai, courtesy name Yonghe, was a native of Licheng. He passed the jinshi examination in the eleventh year of Chenghua. Appointed magistrate of Xiangling, he was later recalled to serve as a censor. In the late years of Emperor Xianzong, remonstrance officials were repeatedly flogged; Nai remonstrated forcefully against this. He also once impeached the heterodox monk Jixiao, the Daoist adept Deng Chang'en, and others. The emperor took a dislike to him. He was sent out to inspect Jiangxi. Most bandits were tenant servants of powerful clans; Nai and Grand Coordinator Min Gui submitted joint memorials on the matter. Yin Zhi and others framed them; Gui was demoted while Nai was treated as part of the Yin Min faction and banished to the post of judge in Chenzhou.

弘治初，擢河南僉事，進參議，以協治黃陵岡遷副使。十五年進按察使。鼐官河南久，屢遭河患，督治有方，民為立祠。是年秋，擢右僉都御史巡撫遼東。時軍政久馳，又許余丁納貲助驛遞，給冠帶，復其身。邊人競援例避役。鼐言不可，因條上定馬制、核屯糧、清隱占、稽客戶、減軍伴數事，悉允行。尋劾分守中官劉恭貪虐罪，築邊墻自山海關迄開原叆陽堡凡千餘里。遼撫自徐貫後，歷張岫、張玉、陳瑤、韓重四人，多得罪去，至鼐稱能。

Early in Hongzhi he was promoted to Henan Surveillance Commissioner and then to Administration Commissioner; for helping manage the Huangling Gorge works he was made Vice Commissioner. In the fifteenth year he was promoted to Surveillance Commissioner. Nai served in Henan for many years, faced repeated floods, and supervised repairs with such skill that the people erected a shrine in his honor. That autumn he was made Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Liaodong. Military administration had long been lax; moreover surplus sons were allowed to pay a fee to support the courier service, receive caps and belts, and regain personal status. Frontier people rushed to cite the precedent to avoid corvée service. Nai said this could not stand, and memorialized measures to fix horse regulations, audit colony grain, clear concealed encroachments, check tenant households, and reduce military attendants; all were approved and implemented. He soon impeached Garrison Eunuch Liu Gong for greed and cruelty, and built border walls from Shanhaiguan to Aiyang Fort at Kaiyuan—a stretch of more than a thousand li in all. After Xu Guan, Liaodong had four grand coordinators in succession—Zhang Xiu, Zhang Yu, Chen Yao, and Han Chong—most of whom left office in disgrace; only under Nai was ability acknowledged.

武宗立，移撫宣府。正德改元，召還，尋進右副都御史署院事。有知縣犯贓當褫職，卒殺人當抵死。劉瑾納重賄，欲寬之，鼐執不可，出為南京右都御史。焦芳子黃中欲強市其居，畀通政魏訥，鼐不從，芳父子亦怨之。會瑾遣給事中王翊等核遼東軍餉，還奏芻粟多浥爛，遂以為守臣罪，逮鼐及繼任巡撫馬中錫、鄧章，前參政冒政，參議方矩，郎中王藎、劉繹下詔獄，令其家人輸米遼東。鼐坐輸二千石，以力不辦，系遼東。久之，總兵官毛倫等具奏諸人苦狀，請得折價，瑾勉從之。閱三年事始竟，皆斥為民。瑾誅，復官。鼐前卒，世宗初予恤。

When Emperor Wuzong took the throne, Nai was transferred to Grand Coordinator of Xuanfu. At the change of reign title in Zhengde he was recalled; soon he was made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and put in charge of the Censorate. A magistrate had taken bribes and should be dismissed; a soldier had killed a man and should pay with his life. Liu Jin had taken heavy bribes and wanted leniency; Nai refused, and was sent out as Nanjing Right Censor-in-Chief. Jiao Fang's son Huang Zhong tried to force the sale of his residence and hand it to Communications Commissioner Wei Na; Nai refused, and the Jiao father and son resented him as well. When Jin sent Supervising Secretary Wang Yi and others to audit Liaodong military provisions, they reported on their return that much of the fodder grain had rotted from damp; the defending officials were then held guilty, and Nai, his successor Grand Coordinator Ma Zhongxi, Deng Zhang, former Administration Commissioner Mao Zheng, Administration Commissioner Fang Ju, Bureau Director Wang Jin, and Liu Yi were arrested and sent to the imperial prison, with orders that their families deliver grain to Liaodong. Nai was sentenced to deliver two thousand piculs of grain; unable to pay, he was detained in Liaodong. After a long time Regional Commander Mao Lun and others memorialized in full on the men's plight and asked that they be allowed to pay in cash; Jin reluctantly agreed. After three years the case was finally closed; all were reduced to commoner status. After Jin was executed, their offices were restored. Nai had already died; at the beginning of Emperor Shizong's reign posthumous honors were granted.

冒政，泰州人。鼐同年進士，歷官右副都御史，巡撫寧夏。守官廉，劉瑾覬賄不得，遂假遼東事逮之，罰米至三千石。瑾誅，復職致仕。久之，卒。

Mao Zheng was a native of Taizhou. A jinshi of the same year as Nai, he rose to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and served as Grand Coordinator of Ningxia. He served with integrity; Liu Jin coveted bribes but could not get them, so on the pretext of the Liaodong affair he was arrested and fined up to three thousand piculs of grain. After Jin was executed, his office was restored and he retired. Some time later he died.

王璟，字廷采，沂人。成化八年進士。為登封知縣。歷兩京御史。

Wang Jing, courtesy name Tingcai, was a native of Yi. He passed the jinshi examination in the eighth year of Chenghua. He served as magistrate of Dengfeng. He served in turn as a censor in both capitals.

弘治十四年，以南京鴻臚卿拜右僉都御史，理兩浙鹽政。振荒浙江，奏行荒政十事，多所全活。十七年冬巡撫保定。武宗立，太監夏綬乞於真定諸府歲加葦場稅，少監傅琢請履畝核靜海、永清、隆平諸縣田，太監張峻欲稅寧晉小河往來客貨，詔皆許之。又以莊田故，遣緹騎逮民魯堂等二百余人，畿南騷動。璟抗疏切諫。尚書韓文等力持之，管莊內臣稍得召還。

In the fourteenth year of Hongzhi he was made Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief from his post as Nanjing Director of Ceremonials and put in charge of the salt administration of the two Zhe provinces. While relieving famine in Zhejiang, he memorialized ten famine-relief measures; many lives were saved. In the winter of the seventeenth year he was appointed Grand Coordinator of Baoding. When Emperor Wuzong took the throne, Eunuch Xia Shou asked for an annual reed-marsh tax in Zhending and other prefectures; Junior Supervisor Fu Zhuo asked to survey fields mu by mu in Jinghai, Yongqing, Longping, and other counties; Eunuch Zhang Jun wanted to tax goods carried by travelers on the small river at Ningjin; the court approved them all. On account of estate lands as well, brocade-clad guards were sent to arrest commoners Lu Tang and more than two hundred others, throwing the region south of the capital into turmoil. Jing submitted a forceful memorial of remonstrance. Minister Han Wen and others stood firm, and the eunuchs managing the estates were partly recalled.

正德元年四月引疾致仕，命馳傳歸。三年坐累奪官閑住。六年起撫山西。制火槍萬余，槍藏箭六，皆傅毒藥，用以禦寇，寇不敢西。累遷右都御史。已，遷左，以張綸為右都御史代之。後陳金以太子太保左都御史入院，位璟上，人號璟「中都御史」焉。時群小用事，大臣靡然附之，璟獨守故操。再進太子太保。世宗立，致仕，卒。贈少保，謚恭靖。

In the fourth month of the first year of Zhengde he cited illness and retired; he was ordered home by express relay. In the third year he was implicated in a case, stripped of office, and lived in retirement. In the sixth year he was reappointed Grand Coordinator of Shanxi. He had more than ten thousand fire lances made; each lance held six arrows, all coated with poison, and with these he repelled bandits so that they did not dare advance westward. He was promoted in stages to Right Censor-in-Chief. He was later made Left Censor-in-Chief, and Zhang Lun was appointed Right Censor-in-Chief in his place. Later Chen Jin entered the Censorate as Left Censor-in-Chief with the title Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent, ranking above Jing; people nicknamed Jing the "Central Capital Censor." Petty men held power at court; great ministers all fawned on them, but Jing alone held to his old principles. He was again promoted to Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent. When Emperor Shizong took the throne, he retired and died. He was posthumously made Junior Guardian and given the posthumous title Gongjing.

初，璟自保定巡撫歸，其後兵科給事中高淓勘滄州鹽山牧地，劾六十一人，及璟與前巡撫都御史高銓。銓即淓父也。詔去職者勿問，璟、銓並獲免。

Earlier, after Jing returned from his post as Grand Coordinator of Baoding, Supervising Secretary of the Military Bureau Gao Shu later investigated pasture lands at Cangzhou and Yanshan and impeached sixty-one people, including Jing and former Grand Coordinator and Censor-in-Chief Gao Quan. Quan was Shu's father. An edict declared that dismissed officials would not be prosecuted; both Jing and Nai were spared.

銓，江都人，累官南京戶部尚書。正德二年廷推左都御史，瑾勒令致仕。尋坐事逮下獄，復坐隆平侯家襲爵事除名，罰米五百石。後瑾益事操切，每遣使勘核，多務苛急承瑾意，淓遂並銓在劾中。淓後官至光祿少卿，以劾父不齒於人。瑾誅，銓復官致仕，卒。贈太子少保。

Nai came from Jiangdu and eventually served as minister of Revenue at Nanjing. In the second year of Zhengde the court nominated him for left censor-in-chief, but Liu Jin compelled him to retire. He was soon arrested and imprisoned on a charge, then struck from the rolls over the Marquis of Longping's inheritance dispute and fined five hundred piculs of grain. As Jin grew harsher, his investigators usually sought severity to please him, and both Fang and Nai were caught up in the prosecutions. Fang later rose to vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, but men despised him for having impeached his own father. After Jin was executed, Nai was restored to office, retired, and died. He was posthumously made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

朱欽，字懋恭，邵武人。師吳與弼，以學行稱。舉成化八年進士，授寧波推官。治最，征授御史。出督漕運，按河南，清軍廣西，並著風節。

Zhu Qin, whose style was Maogong, came from Shaowu. He studied under Wu Yubi and was renowned for scholarship and integrity. He passed the jinshi examination in the eighth year of Chenghua and was appointed judicial assistant of Ningbo. His administration was rated the best in the province, and he was summoned to serve as a censor. He supervised grain transport, investigated Henan, and inspected troops in Guangxi, earning a reputation for moral courage in each post.

弘治中，遷山東副使，歷浙江按察使。十五年入覲。吏部舉天下治行卓異者六人，欽與焉。僉都御史林俊又舉欽自代，乃稍遷湖廣左布政使。

During the Hongzhi reign he became vice commissioner of Shandong and later surveillance commissioner of Zhejiang. In the fifteenth year he came to the capital for an audience. The Ministry of Personnel nominated six officials empire-wide for outstanding governance, and Qin was one of them. Vice Censor-in-Chief Lin Jun also recommended Qin as his successor, and he was promoted to left provincial administration commissioner of Huguang.

武宗立，以右副都御史巡撫山東。中官王嶽被謫，道死。欽上言：「嶽謫守祖陵，罪狀未暴，賜死道路，不厭人心。臣知嶽為劉瑾輩所惡，必瑾譖毀以至此。望陛下察嶽非辜，懲瑾讒賊。」疏至，瑾屏不奏，銜之。欽以山東俗淫酗，嚴禁市酤，令濟南推官張元魁察之，犯者罪及鄰。比有懼而自縊者，其母欲奏訴，元魁與知府趙璜賄之乃已。瑾使偵事校尉發之，俱逮下詔獄，勒欽致仕，璜除名，元魁謫戍。瑾憾欽未已，摭前湖廣時小故，下巡按御史逮問。俄坐山東勘地事，斥為民。又坐修曲阜先聖廟會計數多，罰輸米六百石塞下。又坐撫山東時，以民夫給事尚書秦纮家，再下巡按御史逮問。瑾誅，乃復官。十五年卒，年七十七。與弼之門以宦學顯者，欽為稱首。

When Wuzong ascended the throne, Qin was appointed right vice censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Shandong. The eunuch Wang Yue was banished and died en route. Qin memorialized: "Yue was banished to guard the imperial tombs; his crimes were never made public, yet he was put to death on the road—this cannot satisfy public opinion. I know that Yue was hated by Liu Jin's faction and that Jin must have slandered him to bring about this end. I beg Your Majesty to see that Yue was innocent and punish Jin the slanderer. When the memorial arrived, Jin suppressed it and bore a deep grudge against Qin. Because Shandong was given to licentious drinking, Qin strictly banned the sale of wine in markets, ordered Zhang Yuankui of Jinan to enforce the ban, and made neighbors liable when offenders were found. Soon a man hanged himself in fear; when his mother tried to lodge a complaint, Yuankui and Prefect Zhao Huang bribed her into silence. Jin sent investigating guards to expose the affair; all were imprisoned, Qin was forced to retire, Huang was struck from the rolls, and Yuankui was banished to frontier service. Jin's resentment was not satisfied; he dredged up petty matters from Qin's time in Huguang and ordered the touring censor to arrest him. Soon he was reduced to commoner status over a land survey in Shandong. He was also fined six hundred piculs of frontier grain because the accounts for repairing Confucius's temple at Qufu showed a surplus. He was again prosecuted for assigning corvée laborers to serve at Minister Qin Xian's household while grand coordinator of Shandong. After Jin was executed, he was restored to office. He died in the fifteenth year, aged seventy-seven. Among Wu Yubi's disciples who achieved distinction in public life, Qin was the foremost.

贊曰：武宗初，劉、謝受遺輔政，韓文、張敷華等為列卿長，當路多正人，國事有賴。「八虎」潛伏左右，雖未敢顯與朝士為難，固腹心之蠹也。夫以外攻內，勢所甚難。況相權之輕，遠異前代，雖抱韓琦之忠，初無書敕之柄。區區爭勝於筆舌間，此難必之剛明之主，而以望之武宗，庸有濟乎？一擊不勝，反噬必毒，消長之機，間不容發。宦豎之貽禍烈也，籲可畏哉！

The commentator says: At the start of Wuzong's reign, Liu Jian and Xie Qian received the deathbed charge and assisted the government; Han Wen, Zhang Fuhua, and others headed the ministries; upright men held power, and the state had reason to hope. The Eight Tigers lurked at the emperor's side; though they did not yet dare openly challenge the court, they were parasites at the heart of the state. Attacking an inner foe from outside is inherently very difficult. Moreover, the Grand Secretaries wielded far less power than in earlier dynasties; even with Han Qi's loyalty, they lacked control over imperial edicts. To fight with memorials alone required a firm and enlightened ruler; to expect success from Wuzong was hopeless. A failed strike invites a deadly counterattack; the turning point allows no delay. The calamity wrought by palace eunuchs is terrible indeed—how frightening!

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