1
何鑒馬中錫陸完洪鐘 〈(陳鎬蔣昇)〉 陳金俞諫周南 〈(孫祿)〉 馬昊
He Jian, Ma Zhongxi, Lu Wan, and Hong Zhong (Appended biographies: Chen Hao and Jiang Sheng.)〉 Chen Jin, Yu Jian, and Zhou Nan (Appended biography: Sun Lu.)〉 Ma Hao.
2
何鑒,字世光,浙江新昌人。 成化五年進士。 授宜興知縣。 征拜御史,巡宣府、大同。 劾巡撫鄭寧以下數十人不職,按裨將孟璽等罪。 還巡太倉。 總督太監卒犯法,逮治之,為所構,下錦衣獄。 得釋,再按江北。 鳳陽皇陵所在,近境取寸木,法皆死,陵軍多倚禁虐民。 鑒請以山麓為限,他樵采勿禁,遂著為令。 出為河南知府。 振累歲饑,條行荒政十事。 歷四川左、右布政使。
He Jian, whose style was Shiguang, came from Xinchang in Zhejiang. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Chenghua. He was appointed magistrate of Yixing county. He was summoned to serve as investigating censor and toured Xuanfu and Datong. He impeached Grand Coordinator Zheng Ning and dozens of officials under him for neglect of duty, and brought charges against Assistant Generals Meng Xi and others. On his return he inspected Taicang. When a eunuch attendant of the grand coordinator broke the law, Jian arrested and tried him; the man framed him, and he was thrown into the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison. After his release he again conducted inspections north of the Yangzi. The imperial tombs at Fengyang lay in that region; within the neighboring districts the law made even gathering an inch of firewood a capital offense, and the tomb garrison troops often abused the people by invoking the prohibition. Jian asked that the mountain foothills be set as the boundary and that fuel gathering elsewhere be permitted; the rule was then written into law. He was transferred to serve as prefect of Henan. The prefecture had suffered famine for successive years; he laid out ten measures for famine relief. He served in turn as left and right provincial administration commissioner of Sichuan.
3
弘治六年以右副都御史巡撫江南,兼理杭、嘉、湖三府稅糧。 蘇、松水災,用便宜發漕米十五萬石振之。 與侍郎徐貫疏吳淞、白茆諸渠,泄水入海,水患以除。 復巡撫山東,遷刑部侍郎。 母憂去。
In the sixth year of Hongzhi he was appointed right vice censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Jiangnan, and was also put in charge of the tax grain of the three prefectures of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou. When Suzhou and Songjiang were hit by floods, he exercised his discretionary powers to release one hundred fifty thousand piculs of transport grain for relief. Together with Vice Minister Xu Guan he dredged the Wusong, Baimao, and other channels to discharge water into the sea, and the flood menace was ended. He again governed Shandong as grand coordinator and was promoted to vice minister of justice. He left office to observe mourning for his mother.
4
十八年還朝。 時承平久,生齒日繁。 孝宗覽天下戶籍數乃視國初反減,咎所司溺職,欲厘正之。 敕鑒以故官兼左僉都御史往河南、湖廣、陜西閱實戶口。 得戶二十三萬五千有奇,口七十三萬九千有奇,因疏善後十事及軍民利病以聞。 會孝宗已崩,武宗悉采納之。
In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi he returned to court. The realm had long been at peace and the population grew daily. When Emperor Xiaozong reviewed the empire's household registers, the figures were actually lower than at the dynasty's founding; he blamed the responsible offices for dereliction and wished to rectify the registers. He ordered Jian, retaining his former rank and concurrently serving as left assistant censor-in-chief, to proceed to Henan, Huguang, and Shaanxi to verify household registers. He found two hundred thirty-five thousand odd households and seven hundred thirty-nine thousand odd persons, and memorialized ten follow-up measures together with benefits and harms affecting troops and civilians. By then Xiaozong had already died; Emperor Wuzong adopted every proposal.
5
正德二年拜南京兵部尚書參贊機務。 鑒前撫江南,嘗按千戶張文冕罪,文冕亡去。 至是構於劉瑾,而瑾亦嗛鑒不與通,遂坐以事連罰米。 貧不能償,奏訴獲免。
In the second year of Zhengde he became Minister of War at Nanjing with concurrent charge of military affairs. Earlier, when Jian had governed Jiangnan, he had prosecuted Thousand-Household Zhang Wenmian for a crime; Wenmian had fled. By then he was framed through Liu Jin, who also resented Jian for refusing to deal with him; Jian was therefore fined rice on a connected charge. Too poor to pay, he appealed in a memorial and was exempted.
6
六年正月,召為刑部尚書。 時大盜並起,劉寵、劉宸、楊虎、劉惠、齊彥名、朱諒等亂畿輔; 方四、曹甫、藍廷瑞、鄢本恕等躪四川; 汪澄二、羅光權、王浩八、王鈺五等擾江西,皆稱王。 四方告急無虛日。 兵部尚書王敞不能辦賊。 帝既命洪鐘、陳金、馬中錫督師分討。 其年五月,罷敞,以鑒代之。 鑒乃選將練兵,錄民間材武士,令鄉聚悉樹柵浚溝,團結相救。 河南、山西兵守黃河,斷太行。 京操班軍,留守所在城邑。 每漕艘運卒一人屯河濱,護運道,通行旅。 文武大吏軼賊,請敕峻責之,而褒縣令能擊賊者。 以中錫玩寇,奏遣陸完代還,調邊將從完討賊。 賊連為邊軍所破,奔迸四出。 會中官谷大用、伏羌伯毛銳率師駐臨清,賊遂謀以十二月朔伺帝省牲南郊,乘間犯駕,先一日趨霸州。 鑒立奏聞,夜設備。 厥明,帝召問鑒。 鑒請早出安人心,遂成禮而還。 賊知有備,西掠保定諸州縣以去。 河南巡撫鄧璋請濟師,鑒言:「山東賊不及萬,官軍奚啻十倍。 緣勢要私人營充頭目,撓律攘功,失將士心。 請盡遣若屬還。 都指揮以下失事,即軍前行戮。 益調邊軍助璋。」 帝悉從之。 尋以捷書屢聞,加鑒太子少保。
In the first month of the sixth year he was summoned as Minister of Justice. Great bandits rose on every side: Liu Chong, Liu Chen, Yang Hu, Liu Hui, Qi Yanming, Zhu Liang, and others threw the capital region into disorder; Fang Si, Cao Fu, Lan Tingrui, Yan Benshu, and others ravaged Sichuan; Wang Chenger, Luo Guangquan, Wang Haoba, Wang Yuwu, and others harassed Jiangxi, each styling himself king. Alarms from every quarter arrived day after day without respite. The Minister of War Wang Chang could not cope with the bandits. The Emperor had already ordered Hong Zhong, Chen Jin, and Ma Zhongxi to take command in separate suppression campaigns. That fifth month Chang was removed and Jian took his place. Jian then selected generals, trained troops, enrolled able-bodied men of martial talent from among the people, and ordered every village to erect palisades and dig ditches so that neighbors could unite and rescue one another. Troops from Henan and Shanxi guarded the Yellow River and blocked the passes of Taihang. Capital-training detachments remained behind to guard their local cities and towns. One soldier from each grain transport convoy was stationed along the river to protect the transport route and secure travelers. When civil and military grand officials let bandits escape, he asked for stern imperial reprimands, while he commended magistrates who could strike bandits down. Finding Zhongxi lax toward the bandits, he memorialized to send Lu Wan to replace him and return, and transferred frontier generals to follow Wan in suppressing the bandits. Frontier troops broke the bandits again and again, and they fled in all directions. Meanwhile the eunuch Gu Dayong and the nobility-holder Mao Rui led troops stationed at Linqing; the bandits then plotted that on the first day of the twelfth month, when the Emperor would inspect the sacrificial victim south of the suburban altar, they would seize the chance to strike at the imperial procession, and one day earlier they hastened toward Bazhou. Jian immediately memorialized the court and made preparations through the night. At dawn the Emperor summoned Jian to question him. Jian asked that the Emperor set out early to steady the people's hearts; the rites were then completed and the Emperor returned. Learning that preparations had been made, the bandits raided west through Baoding and the other prefectures and counties, then departed. Deng Zhang, grand coordinator of Henan, asked for reinforcements; Jian replied: "The bandits in Shandong number fewer than ten thousand, while government troops are more than ten times as many. Because men serving powerful private interests were installed as unit leaders, they obstructed regulations and seized credit, and officers and soldiers lost heart. I ask that all such persons be sent back home. Regional commanders and below who fail in their duties should be executed before the army on the spot. Additional frontier troops should also be transferred to assist Zhang." The Emperor adopted every proposal. Before long reports of victory came in repeatedly, and Jian was given the additional title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
7
明年正月,賊突霸州,京師戒嚴。 鑒令邊兵亟邀賊,賊遁去。 賊渠楊虎、朱諒死,其黨分擾山東、河南。 鑒以山東賊劉寵、劉宸、齊彥名等,責邊將許泰、郤永、劉暉、李鋐; 以河南賊劉惠、趙鐩、刑老虎等,責邊將馮禎、時源、神周、金輔。 未幾,毛銳敗績,與大用俱召還。 鑒乃請用彭澤,與仇鉞同辦河南賊,而以山東賊專委陸完。 五月,河南賊平。 七月,山東余賊亦平。 陳金、洪鐘亦以次平江西、四川諸賊。 帝喜,加鑒太子太保,蔭子錦衣世百戶。 鑒乃上言:「群盜蕩平,民罹兵久,乞量免田租,多方振贍。 黜貪殘長吏,停不急工役。 還民故業,貸以牛種,復其家三年。 有訐舊事及怙惡者,並置於理。」 帝悉報可。
In the first month of the next year the bandits suddenly struck Bazhou and the capital was put on alert. Jian ordered frontier troops to intercept them at once; the bandits fled. Bandit chiefs Yang Hu and Zhu Liang died, and their followers scattered to raid Shandong and Henan. For the Shandong bandits Liu Chong, Liu Chen, Qi Yanming, and the rest, Jian held Xu Tai, Xi Yong, Liu Hui, and Li Qian responsible; for the Henan bandits Liu Hui, Zhao Zhen, Xing Laohu, and the rest, he held Feng Zhen, Shi Yuan, Shen Zhou, and Jin Fu responsible. Soon Mao Rui was defeated and recalled together with Dayong. Jian then asked that Peng Ze be appointed, who together with Qiu Yue would handle the Henan bandits, while the Shandong bandits were entrusted solely to Lu Wan. By the fifth month the Henan bandits were pacified. By the seventh month the remaining bandits in Shandong were pacified as well. Chen Jin and Hong Zhong also pacified the bandits of Jiangxi and Sichuan in turn. The Emperor rejoiced, gave Jian the additional title of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and ennobled his son as hereditary hundred-household commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Jian then memorialized: "The mass of bandits has been swept away; the people have long suffered from warfare. I beg that field rents be reduced in measure and that relief be provided by many means. Remove greedy and cruel senior officials; halt labor corvées that are not urgent. He asked that the people be restored to their former occupations, that oxen and seed be lent them, and that their households be exempted for three years. Anyone who denounced old wrongs or clung to evil should be brought to justice." The Emperor approved all of it.
8
先是,七月中,鑒以群盜未盡,請留邊將劉暉戍山東,時源戍河南,郤永戍畿輔,李鋐戍淮、揚,各假總兵之職,俟事寧始罷。 仇鉞言,邊軍久勞,風土不習,人馬俱病。 今賊已漸平,請留三之一討賊,余悉遣還。 廷議,二人議俱是,請四將各千人鎮壓,他將許泰、神周、金輔、溫恭輩俱統所部還邊鎮。 帝許之,命延綏軍徑還,遼東、宣府,大同軍過闕勞賜。
Earlier, in the seventh month, because the mass of bandits was not yet exhausted Jian had asked that the frontier general Liu Hui remain to garrison Shandong, Shi Yuan garrison Henan, Xi Yong garrison the capital region, and Li Qian garrison Huai and Yang, each on temporary appointment as regional commander until affairs were settled and only then dismissed. Qiu Yue said that the frontier troops had long labored, were unaccustomed to the climate, and that both men and horses were ill. Now that the bandits were gradually pacified, he asked that one third be kept to suppress bandits and that the rest all be sent back. In court deliberation both proposals were held correct; it was requested that each of the four generals keep one thousand men to maintain order, while the other generals Xu Tai, Shen Zhou, Jin Fu, Wen Gong, and the rest should all lead their commands back to the frontier garrisons. The Emperor approved; Yan-sui troops were to return directly, while Liaodong, Xuanfu, and Datong troops were to pass the capital to be rewarded after their labor.
9
帝時好弄兵。 群小寵幸者言邊軍憨健過京軍遠甚,宜留之京營。 帝以為然。 至十一月,三鎮軍畢至,遂命留之,以京軍往代。 鑒力陳不可,廷臣集議,復極言其害,帝竟不從。 自是,邊軍於大內團操,號為「外四家軍」,而江彬進用矣。
At that time the Emperor delighted in military affairs. Petty favorites said that frontier troops were far sturdier and keener than capital troops and ought to be kept in the capital garrison. The Emperor thought this correct. By the eleventh month the troops of the three garrisons had all arrived, and he then ordered them retained while capital troops were sent to replace them. Jian argued strongly that this must not be done; the court ministers met and again set forth the harm at length, yet the Emperor would not agree. Henceforth frontier troops drilled in formation within the inner palace, called the "Four Outer Household Armies," and Jiang Bin came into power.
10
八年,宣府送迤北降人脫脫太等至京,命充禦馬監勇士。 鑒等上言:「漢、魏徙氐、羌於關中,郭欽、江統皆勸晉武早絕亂階。 苻堅處鮮卑於漢南,苻融亦慮其窺測虛實。 今使降人出入禁中,假寵逾分,且生慢侮。 萬一北寇聞之,潛使黠賊偽降,以為間諜,寧不為將來患哉?」 帝不聽。
That year Xuanfu presented the surrendered northerner Tuotuotai and his party at court, and the Emperor enrolled them as warriors of the Imperial Stud Office. Jian and others memorialized: "Under Han and Wei the Di and Qiang were moved into Guanzhong; Guo Qin and Jiang Tong both urged Emperor Wu of Jin to cut off the source of disorder early. Fu Jian settled the Xianbei south of the Han, and Fu Rong too feared they would spy out weaknesses. To let surrendered men now enter and leave the forbidden precinct and grant them favor beyond their station will only breed contempt. Should northern enemies hear of this and secretly send cunning bandits to feign surrender as spies, would this not become a calamity in future?" The Emperor refused to listen.
11
寧王宸濠謀復護衛,鑒力遏之。 都督白玉以失事罷,厚賄豹房諸幸臣求復,鑒執不從。 諸幸臣嗾诇事者發鑒家僮取將校金錢,言官遂交章劾鑒,致仕去。 閱九年卒,年八十。
The Prince of Ning, Zhu Chenhao, plotted to recover his guard; Jian blocked it resolutely. Regional Commander Bai Yu, dismissed for failure, bribed the Leopard Quarter favorites to seek reinstatement; Jian would not consent. The favorites incited investigators to expose Jian's servants taking money from officers; censors then impeached him in succession, and he retired. Nine years later he died, at the age of eighty.
12
馬中錫,字天祿,故城人。 父偉,為唐府長史,以直諫忤王,械送京師,而盡縲其家人。 中錫以幼免,乃奔訴巡按御史。 御史言於王,釋其家。 復奉母走京師訴冤,父竟得白,終處州知府。
Ma Zhongxi, whose style was Tianlu, came from Gucheng. His father Wei served as chief steward of the Tang princely establishment; for blunt remonstrance he offended the prince, was shackled and sent to the capital, and his entire household was bound with ropes. Because he was still a child, Zhongxi was spared; he fled to appeal to the touring investigating censor. The censor spoke to the prince, and the family was released. He again took his mother to the capital to plead the wrong; his father was finally cleared and ended as prefect of Chuzhou.
13
中錫舉成化十年鄉試第一,明年成進士,授刑科給事中。 萬貴妃弟通驕橫,再疏斥之,再被杖。 公主侵畿內田,勘還之民。 又嘗劾汪直違恣罪。 歷陜西督學副使。
Zhongxi topped the provincial examination in the tenth year of Chenghua; the following year he became a jinshi and was appointed supervising secretary in the Bureau of Punishments. Consort Wan's younger brother Tong was arrogant and overbearing; Zhongxi memorialized twice to denounce him and twice was beaten with the staff. When a princess encroached on fields within the capital region, he surveyed the lands and returned them to the people. He also once impeached Wang Zhi for lawless arrogance and excess. He served in turn as vice education intendant of Shaanxi province.
14
弘治五年,召為大理右少卿。 南京守備太監蔣琮與兵部郎中婁性、指揮石文通相訐,連數百人,遣官按,不服。 中錫偕司禮太監趙忠等往,一訊得實。 性除名,琮下獄抵罪。 擢右副都御史,巡撫宣府。 劾罷貪耄總兵官馬儀,革鎮守以下私役軍士,使隸尺籍。 寇嘗犯邊,督軍敗之。 引疾歸,中外交薦。
In the fifth year of Hongzhi he was summoned to the Court of Judicial Review as right vice president. The Nanjing garrison eunuch Jiang Cong, Bureau of War director Lou Xing, and commander Shi Wentong sued one another; several hundred persons were implicated; officials were sent to investigate, but they would not submit. Zhongxi went together with the Directorate of Ceremonial eunuch Zhao Zhong and others; in a single inquiry the facts were obtained. Xing was struck from the rolls; Cong was cast into prison to answer for his crime. He was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and appointed grand coordinator of Xuanfu. He impeached and dismissed the greedy, senile regional commander Ma Yi, and abolished the private use of soldiers by officials below the garrison commander, returning them to the muster rolls. When bandits once raided the frontier, he supervised the troops and defeated them in battle. He cited illness and returned home, and was recommended both within and outside the court.
15
武宗即位,起撫遼東。 還屯田於軍,而劾鎮守太監朱秀置官店、擅馬市諸罪。 正德元年入歷兵部左右侍郎。 劉瑾初得誌,其黨朱瀛冒邊功至數百人。 尚書閻仲宇許之,中錫持不可。 瑾大恚,中旨改南京工部。 明年勒致仕。 其冬,逮系詔獄,械送遼東,責償所收腐粟。 逾年事竣,斥為民。 瑾誅,起撫大同。 中錫居官廉,所至革弊任怨,以故有名。
When Emperor Wuzong took the throne he was raised to govern Liaodong. He restored garrison fields to the troops and impeached the garrison eunuch Zhu Xiu for establishing official shops, monopolizing the horse market, and other offenses. In the first year of Zhengde he came to court and served in turn as left and right vice minister of war. When Liu Jin first gained power, his follower Zhu Ying falsely claimed frontier merit for several hundred men. Minister Yan Zhongyu approved it, but Zhongxi held that it could not be done. Jin was greatly enraged; an order from the palace changed Zhongxi to the Nanjing Ministry of Works. The following year he was compelled to retire from office. That winter he was arrested, cast into the imperial prison, sent in cangues to Liaodong, and ordered to repay spoiled grain he had received. After more than a year the affair was concluded and he was reduced to commoner status. When Jin was executed he was raised again to govern Datong. Zhongxi was incorrupt in office; wherever he went he reformed abuses and bore resentment, and for this he won a reputation.
16
六年三月,賊劉六等起,吏部尚書楊一清建議遣大臣節制諸道兵。 乃薦中錫為右都御史提督軍務,與惠安伯張偉統禁兵南征。
In the third month of the sixth year bandits Liu Liu and others rose; Minister of Personnel Yang Yiqing proposed sending a grand minister to command troops on the various circuits. He then recommended Zhongxi as right censor-in-chief to take charge of military affairs, together with the Earl of Huian Zhang Wei commanding the forbidden troops on a southern campaign.
17
劉六名寵,其弟七名宸,文安人也,並驍悍善騎射。 先是,有司患盜,召寵、宸及其黨楊虎、齊彥名等協捕,頻有功。 會劉瑾家人梁洪征賄於寵等不得,誣為盜。 遣寧杲、柳尚義繪形捕之,破其家。 寵等乃投大盜張茂。 茂家高樓重屋,復壁深窖,素招亡命為逋逃主。 宦官張忠與鄰,茂結為兄,夤緣馬永成、谷大用、於經輩得出入豹房,侍帝蹴鞠,而乘間為盜如故。 後數為河間參將袁彪所敗。 茂窘,求救於忠。 忠置酒私第,招茂、彪東西坐。 酒酣,舉觴屬彪字茂曰:「彥實吾弟也,自今毋相厄。」 又舉觴屬茂曰:「袁公善爾,爾慎毋犯河間。」 彪畏忠,唯唯而已。 已,茂為寧杲所擒,寵等相率詣京謀自首。 忠與永成為請於帝,且曰:「必獻萬金乃赦。」 寵、宸不能辦,逃去。 既而瑾誅,有詔許自首。 寵等乃出詣官。 兵部奏赦之,令捕他盜自效。 寵等憚要束,未幾復叛。 黨日眾,所至,陷城殺將吏。
Liu Liu was styled Chong and his younger brother Qi was styled Chen; they were men of Wenan, both fierce and skilled at mounted archery. Earlier, because officials worried about bandits, they summoned Chong, Chen, and their followers Yang Hu, Qi Yanming, and others to assist in arrests, and they repeatedly won merit. It happened that Liu Jin's household retainer Liang Hong sought bribes from Chong and others and failed to obtain them; he then falsely accused them as bandits. Ning Gao and Liu Shangyi were sent to paint their likenesses and hunt them down, and their households were ruined. Chong and the others then threw in their lot with the great bandit Zhang Mao. Mao's house had lofty towers and layered rooms, hidden passages and deep cellars; he had long recruited fugitives as patrons of escape. The eunuch Zhang Zhong was his neighbor; Mao bonded with him as brothers, and through Ma Yongcheng, Gu Dayong, Yu Jing, and others gained entry to the Leopard Quarter, attended the Emperor at kickball, and in spare moments continued as bandits as before. Later he was several times defeated by Yuan Biao, assistant regional commander of Hejian. Cornered, Mao sought rescue from Zhong. Zhong set wine in his private residence and summoned Mao and Biao to sit facing east and west. When the wine was heated he raised his cup toward Biao and said of Mao: "Yanshi is my younger brother; from now on do not constrain one another." He raised his cup again toward Mao: "Lord Yuan treats you well; take care not to offend Hejian. Biao, fearing Zhong, could only assent. Before long Mao was captured by Ning Gao; Chong and the others went in succession to the capital to plan surrender. Zhong and Yongcheng pleaded for them before the Emperor, saying: "They must present ten thousand taels of gold before pardon is granted." Unable to raise the sum, Chong and Chen fled. After Jin was executed, an edict permitted voluntary surrender. Chong and the others then came out and reported to the authorities. The Ministry of War memorialized to pardon them and ordered them to capture other bandits as redemption. Chong and the others feared restraint and before long rebelled again. Their party grew daily; wherever they went they stormed cities and killed generals and officials.
18
中錫等受命出師,敗賊於彰德,既又敗之河間,進左都御史。 然賊方熾,諸將率畏懦,莫敢當其鋒,或反與之結。 參將桑玉嘗遇賊文安村中。 寵、宸窘蹙,跳民家樓上,欲自剄。 而玉素受賊賂,故緩之。 有頃,彥名持大刀至,殺傷數十人,大呼抵樓下。 寵、宸知救至,出,射殺數人。 玉大敗。 參將宋振禦賊棗強,不發一矢,城遂陷,死者七千人。
Zhongxi and others took the field under orders, defeated the bandits at Zhangde, and again at Hejian; he was promoted to left censor-in-chief. Yet the bandits were then at their height; most generals were timid and would not meet their edge, or even joined with them. Assistant Regional Commander Sang Yu once encountered the bandits in a Wenan village. Hard pressed, Chong and Chen leaped into a commoner upper story and wished to cut their own throats. Yu had long taken bribes from the bandits and therefore delayed. Before long Yanming arrived with a great blade, killed and wounded several dozen men, and shouted as he reached below the tower. Knowing rescue had come, Chong and Chen came out and shot and killed several men. Yu suffered a crushing defeat. Assistant Regional Commander Song Zhen resisted the bandits at Zaoqiang without loosing a single arrow; the city was then taken and seven thousand died.
19
當是時,寵、宸等自畿輔犯山東、河南,南下湖廣,抵江西。 復自南而北,直窺霸州。 楊虎等由河北入山西,復東抵文安,與寵等合,破邑百數,縱橫數千里,所過若無人。 中錫雖有時望,不習兵。 偉亦紈袴子,見賊強,諸將怯,度不能破賊,乃議招撫。 謂盜本良民,由酷吏寧杲與中官貪黷所激,若推誠待之,可毋戰降也。 遂下令:賊所在勿捕,過勿邀擊,饑渴則食飲之,降者待以不死。 賊聞,欲就撫,相戒毋焚掠。 猶豫未定。 而朝廷以京軍弱,議發邊兵。 中錫欲戰,則兵未集,欲撫,則賊時向背,終不得要領。 既建議主撫,不能變。 會寵等聞邊兵且至,退屯德州桑園。 中錫肩輿入其營,與酒食,開誠慰諭之。 眾拜且泣,送馬為壽。 寵慷慨請降,宸乃仰天咨嗟曰:「騎虎不得下。 今奄臣柄國,人所知也。 馬都堂能自主乎?」 遂罷會。 而是時方詔懸賞格購賊。 寵等偵知之,益疑懼,徑去,焚掠如故。 獨至故城,戒毋犯馬都堂家。 由是,中錫謗大起,謂其以家故縱賊。 言官交劾之,下詔切責。 中錫猶堅持其說以請。 兵部尚書何鑒謂「賊誠解甲則貰死,即不然,毋為所誑」。 既而寵等終不降,乃遣侍郎陸完督師,而召中錫、偉還。
At that time Chong, Chen, and others from the capital region raided Shandong and Henan, swept south into Huguang, and reached Jiangxi. They again swept from south toward north and directly threatened Bazhou. Yang Hu and others from Hebei entered Shanxi, again came east to Wenan, joined Chong and the others, stormed a hundred-odd districts and counties, ranged over several thousand li, and wherever they passed it was as if there were no one. Zhongxi, though he enjoyed reputation at the time, was not versed in military affairs. Wei too was a pampered nobleman son; seeing the bandits strong and the generals timid, he judged they could not break the bandits and turned to pacification by enlistment. They held that the robbers were originally good people stirred up by the cruel official Ning Gao and greedy eunuchs; treated with sincerity, they could surrender without fighting. They then issued orders: where bandits were, do not capture; when passing do not intercept; if hungry or thirsty give food and drink; those who surrendered were to be spared death. Hearing this, the bandits wished to accept pacification and admonished one another not to burn and plunder. They hesitated and could not reach a decision. Meanwhile, because capital troops were weak, the court deliberated sending frontier troops. Zhongxi wished to fight but troops were not yet gathered; he wished to pacify but the bandits wavered, and in the end he could grasp no clear policy. Having already proposed to make pacification the main policy, he could not change course. Learning that frontier troops were about to arrive, Chong and the others withdrew to camp at Sangyuan in Dezhou. Zhongxi entered their camp in a sedan chair, gave them wine and food, and with open sincerity comforted and instructed them. The crowd bowed and wept and presented horses as a gift of longevity. Chong generously offered to surrender; Chen looked up to heaven and sighed: "Riding a tiger, one cannot dismount. Eunuchs now hold the state — all men know it. Can Vice Minister Ma truly act on his own?" With that the meeting was dismissed. Meanwhile an edict had just been issued setting a bounty for the bandits' heads. Chong and the others learned of this, grew more suspicious and fearful, went straight away, and burned and plundered as before. Only at Gucheng did they admonish one another not to harm Vice Minister Ma household. From this, slander against Zhongxi swelled, claiming he indulged the bandits for his household sake. Censors in succession impeached him, and an edict sternly reprimanded him. Zhongxi still firmly held to his view in his memorial. Minister of War He Jian said: "If the bandits truly lay down arms, spare their lives; otherwise do not be deceived. Before long Chong and the others still would not surrender; Vice Minister Lu Wan was sent to supervise the army, and Zhongxi and Wei were recalled.
20
初,中錫受命討賊,大學士楊廷和謂楊一清曰:「彼文士耳,不足任也。」 竟無功,與偉同下獄論死。 中錫死獄中,偉革爵。 十一年,巡按御史盧雍追訟中錫冤,謂:「賊實聽撫,僉事許承芳忌之,潛請益兵,疑賊心。 及賊再受約,方至軍門,而檻車已就道矣。」 朝廷乃復中錫官,賜祭,予蔭。
Earlier, when Zhongxi received orders to suppress bandits, Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe told Yang Yiqing: "He is only a literary man — unfit for the task." In the end he achieved nothing and, together with Wei, was cast into prison and sentenced to death. Zhongxi died in prison, and Wei was stripped of his nobility. In the eleventh year Investigating Censor Lu Yong pursued Zhongxi wrong, saying: "The bandits truly heeded pacification; Vice Commissioner Xu Chengfang, envying this, secretly requested more troops and made the bandits suspicious. When the bandits again accepted terms and had just reached headquarters, the prisoner cart was already on the road." The court then restored Zhongxi office, granted him sacrifice, and awarded hereditary privilege.
21
陸完,字全卿,長洲人。 為諸生。 中官王敬至蘇,以事庭曳諸生。 諸生競起擊之,完不與。 惡完者中之,敬遂首列完名上聞。 巡撫王恕極論敬罪,完乃得免。 舉成化二十三年進士。 謁選,恕方為吏部,曰:「是嘗擊奄人者,當為御史。」 入臺,果有聲。
Lu Wan, whose style was Quanqing, came from Changzhou. He was a licentiate of the local school. When the eunuch Wang Jing came to Suzhou, he hauled students into the courtyard over some affair. The students rose together to strike him, but Wan did not join. Those who hated Wan slandered him, and Jing listed Wan's name first when reporting to the throne. Grand Coordinator Wang Su strongly argued Jing's crime, and Wan was spared. He passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-third year of Chenghua. When he presented himself for appointment, Wang Shu was serving as Minister of Personnel and declared: "Here is the man who once struck the eunuchs — he should be made a censor." Once in the Censorate, his reputation quickly followed.
22
正德初,歷江西按察使。 寧王宸濠雅重之,時召預曲宴,以金罍為贈。 三年冬,擢右僉都御史,巡撫宣府。 劉瑾惡完赴闕後期,命以試職視事。 明年夏,復改南院,督江防軍。 完以都御史試職非故事,懼甚,賄瑾,召為左僉都御史。 五年春,拜兵部侍郎。 瑾敗,言者劾其黨附,帝不問。
At the beginning of Zhengde he rose to become Jiangxi surveillance commissioner. Prince Ning Chen Hao held him in high regard, frequently invited him to intimate feasts, and gave him a gold libation cup. That winter in the third year he was elevated to Right Vice Censor-in-chief and appointed to oversee Xuanfu. Liu Jin took offense at Wan's tardy arrival at court and commanded him to serve in a provisional capacity. The following summer his post shifted to the Southern Court, where he directed the river-defense army. Fearing that a probationary censorate post broke precedent, Wan bribed Jin heavily and was recalled as Left Vice Censor-in-chief. In the fifth year's spring he received appointment as Vice Minister of War. After Jin's downfall, memorialists accused Wan of collusion, but the emperor took no notice.
23
明年,霸州賊劉六、劉七等起,奉楊虎為首。 惠安伯張偉、右都御史馬中錫師出無功,逮系論死。 八月,詔完兼右僉都御史提督軍務,統京營、宣府、延綏軍討之。 行及涿州,忽傳賊且逼京師,命還軍入衛。 會副總兵許泰、遊擊郤永等敗楊虎等於霸州,賊南走,京師始解嚴。 指揮賀勇等再敗賊信安,副總兵馮楨復大敗之阜城,分兵追擊。 賊東圍滄州。 會劉六、七中流矢,乃解而南,陷山東縣二十。 楊虎兵亦北殘威縣、新河。 於是完頻請濟師。 益發遼東、山西諸鎮兵逐賊。 賊益南,圍濟寧,焚運舟,轉寇曹州。 楨、泰、永擊斬二千余人,獲其魁朱諒。 錄功,進完右都御史,諸將皆增秩。 中官谷大用、張忠意賊旦暮平,乃自請督師。 詔以大用總督軍務,伏羌伯毛銳充總兵官,忠監神槍,統京軍五千人,會完討賊。
The following year Liu Six, Liu Seven, and fellow rebels erupted in Bazhou and set up Yang Hu as their chief. The Earl of Huian, Zhang Wei, and the Right Censor-in-chief Ma Zhongxi marched out to no avail and were seized and condemned to death. In the eighth month Wan was ordered to serve concurrently as Right Vice Censor-in-chief directing operations, uniting the metropolitan camp with Xuanfu and Yansui forces against the rebels. Marching as far as Zhuozhou, he was suddenly told the rebels were nearing the capital and commanded to wheel his troops back for its defense. By then Deputy Commander Xu Tai and guerrilla leader Xi Yong had routed Yang Hu at Bazhou; the rebels fled southward and the capital stood down from alert. Commander He Yong beat them again at Xin'an, and Deputy Commander Feng Zhen inflicted a still greater defeat at Fucheng before detachments were sent in pursuit. The rebels then laid siege to Cangzhou from the east. Liu Six and Liu Seven, wounded by arrows, broke off the siege and drove south, overrunning twenty counties in Shandong. Yang Hu's band turned north as well, laying waste to Weixian and Xinhe. Wan thereupon pleaded again and again for additional troops. Reinforcements were drawn from Liaodong, Shanxi, and other frontier commands to hunt the rebels down. The rebels drove deeper south, encircled Jining, torched grain barges, and swung toward Caozhou. Feng Zhen, Xu Tai, and Xi Yong killed over two thousand rebels and seized their leader Zhu Liang. Rewards were entered on the rolls: Wan was promoted to Right Censor-in-chief and every commander gained a step in rank. The eunuchs Gu Dayong and Zhang Zhong, convinced the rebels would fall any day, volunteered to take command in person. The throne appointed Dayong grand coordinator, the Earl of Fuxiang Mao Rui as commander-in-chief, and Zhang Zhong over the firearm corps, sending five thousand capital troops to fight alongside Wan.
24
時劉六等縱橫沂、莒間,而楊虎陷宿遷,執淮安知府劉祥、靈璧知縣陳伯安,連陷虹、永城、虞城、夏邑及歸德州。 邊兵追及,賊退至小黃河渡口。 百戶夏時設伏蹙之,虎溺死。 余賊奔河南,推劉惠為首,大敗副總兵白玉軍,攻陷沈丘,殺都指揮王保,執都指揮潘翀,北陷鹿邑。 有陳翰者,與寧龍謀奉惠為奉天征討大元帥,趙鐩副之。 翰自為侍謀軍國重務元帥府長史,與龍立東西二廠治事。 分其軍為二十八營,以應列宿,營各置都督,聚眾至十三萬。 欲牽制官軍,於是惠、鐩擾河南,劉六及齊彥名等擾山東,黨分為二。 已而六復轉而北,永敗之濰縣。 還趨霸州,帝將出郊省牲,聞之懼,急召完赴援,完擊破之文安。 賊南至湯陰,完又督諸將追敗之,先後俘斬千人。
Liu Six roamed between Yi and Ju while Yang Hu seized Suqian, took Huai'an prefect Liu Xiang and Lingbi magistrate Chen Bo'an prisoner, and overran Hong, Yongcheng, Yucheng, Xiayi, and Guide in turn. Pursuing border troops pressed them back to the ford on the Little Yellow River. Centurion Xia Shi sprang a trap and drove them hard; Yang Hu drowned in the river. The survivors fled into Henan, raised Liu Hui as chief, shattered Deputy Commander Bai Yu's force, stormed Shenqiu, slew Commander Wang Bao, captured Commander Pan Chong, and pushed north into Luyi. A rebel named Chen Han joined Ning Long in proclaiming Hui Grand Marshal for the Suppression Campaign Mandated by Heaven, with Zhao Zan as his lieutenant. Han styled himself chief secretary of the marshal's staff for military and state planning, and he and Long set up eastern and western offices to run their regime. The rebel host was split into twenty-eight camps to mirror the constellations, each with its own commander, until their numbers swelled to one hundred thirty thousand. Seeking to pin down the government armies, Hui and Zan ravaged Henan while Liu Six and Qi Yanming terrorized Shandong, and the rebel cause divided in two. Soon Liu Six veered north once more, only to be beaten by Xi Yong at Weixian. As they headed back toward Bazhou the emperor, preparing a suburban inspection of the sacrificial livestock, was seized with fear and urgently recalled Wan, who smashed them at Wen'an. The rebels pushed south to Tangyin; Wan once more directed his generals in pursuit, taking a thousand heads and captives between the engagements.
25
當是時,六等眾號數萬,然多脅從,精銳不過千余人。 自兵部下首功令,官軍追賊,賊輒驅良民前行,急則棄所掠逸去。 官軍所殺皆良民,以故捷書屢奏,而賊勢不衰。
By then Liu Six's host was claimed at tens of thousands, but most were pressed into service; his hardened fighters numbered barely a thousand. Once the Ministry of War began rewarding by heads taken, the rebels whenever pursued would drive commoners before them and, when hard pressed, cast aside their plunder and slip away. The slain were often harmless villagers, so dispatches of victory multiplied even as the rebellion refused to fade.
26
明年正月,六等復突霸州,京師戒嚴。 詔完及大用、銳還禦近畿,賊乃西掠博野,攻蠡縣、臨城。 大用、銳與遇於長垣,大敗。 廷議召二人還,別命都御史彭澤同鹹寧伯仇鉞辦河南賊,以畿輔、山東賊委完。 完遣永追敗劉六於宋家莊。 賊南犯滕縣,副總兵劉暉大敗之,賊遂奔登、萊海套。 完師次平度,檄永、玉與遊擊溫恭三道進攻,命副總兵張俊、李鋐及泰、暉分軍邀其奔逸。 賊走,連戰皆大敗之,賊乃變服易馬而遁,先後擒斬二千六百余人。 賊止三百人北走,沿途招聚,勢復張。 剽香河、寶坻、玉田,轉攻武清。 遊擊王杲敗沒,巡撫寧杲兵亦敗,畿輔復震動。 而賊轉南至冠縣,暉襲敗之,指揮張勛又敗之平原。 賊南奔邳州,渡河抵固始。 會河南賊已平,劉六等勢益衰,遂走湖廣。 奪舟到夏口,遇都御史馬炳然,殺之。 復登陸,焚漢口,為指揮滿弼等追及,劉六中流矢,與子仲淮赴水死。
In the first month of the following year Liu Six and his fellows stormed Bazhou again, and the capital was placed under guard. Wan, Gu Dayong, and Mao Rui were recalled to shield the home provinces while the rebels swept west through Boye and struck at Lixian and Lincheng. Gu Dayong and Mao Rui encountered the rebels at Changyuan and suffered a crushing defeat. The court recalled the pair and assigned Censor-in-chief Peng Ze and the Earl of Xianning, Qiu Yue, to the Henan rebels, leaving the capital districts and Shandong to Wan. Wan dispatched Xi Yong, who ran Liu Six down and defeated him at Song Family Estate. The rebels pushed into Tengxian in the south, where Deputy Commander Liu Hui broke them decisively and drove them toward the sea inlets of Deng and Lai. Wan encamped at Pingdu, sent Xi Yong, Bai Yu, and guerrilla commander Wen Gong forward on three columns, and set Deputy Commanders Zhang Jun, Li Gang, Xu Tai, and Liu Hui to cut off their escape. The rebels ran; battle after battle went against them until they swapped garments and mounts to flee, leaving more than twenty-six hundred killed or taken. Barely three hundred rebels escaped northward, yet they recruited along the road until their force swelled once more. They plundered Xianghe, Baodi, and Yutian before wheeling to strike Wuqing. Guerrilla commander Wang Gao was wiped out, Grand Coordinator Ning Gao's men were beaten as well, and the home provinces trembled anew. The rebels veered south to Guanxian, where Liu Hui surprised and routed them, and Commander Zhang Xun beat them again on the plain of Pingyuan. They raced south to Pizhou, crossed the river, and made for Gushi. With the Henan rebels already crushed, Liu Six and his band weakened and took flight into Huguang. They commandeered boats to Xiakou, where they encountered Censor-in-chief Ma Bingran and slew him. Back on land they torched Hankou until Commander Man Bi and others overtook them; Liu Six took an arrow and he and his son Zhonghuai drowned themselves.
27
劉七、齊彥名率五百人舟行,自黃州順流抵鎮江。 南京告急,完疾趨而南。 帝命彭澤、仇鉞會完軍進剿。 大兵盡集江南、北,賊猶乘潮上下肆掠。 操江武靖伯趙弘澤、都御史陳世良遇之,敗績,死者無算。 七月,賊治舟孟瀆。 完等至鎮江,留鉞防守,令恭以騎駐江北,暉、永以舟趨江陰,完率都指揮孫文、傅鎧趨福山港。 賊懼,抵通州。 颶風大作,棄舟走保狼山。 完命同知羅瑋夜導軍登山南蹙之。 彥名中槍死,七中矢亦赴水死,余賊盡平。 還朝,進完太子少保左都御史,蔭子錦衣世百戶。 明年代何鑒為兵部尚書。
Liu Seven and Qi Yanming, with five hundred men in boats, drifted down from Huangzhou to Zhenjiang. Nanjing sounded the alarm, and Wan raced southward. The throne commanded Peng Ze and Qiu Yue to unite with Wan's forces for the final campaign. Armies massed on both banks of the Yangtze, yet the rebels still rode the tides to raid up and down the river. The river-defense commander, the Earl of Wujing Zhao Hongze, and Censor-in-chief Chen Shiliang met them and were routed with countless dead. In the seventh month the rebels outfitted their fleet at Mengdu. Wan reached Zhenjiang, left Qiu Yue to hold the line, posted Wen Gong's horsemen north of the river, sent Liu Hui and Xi Yong by water toward Jiangyin, and himself led Commanders Sun Wen and Fu Kai to Fushan Harbor. Fearing encirclement, the rebels made for Tongzhou. A fierce hurricane struck; they abandoned their boats and fled ashore to fortify Lang Mountain. Wan had Vice Prefect Luo Wei lead the army by night up the southern slope to hem them in. Qi Yanming fell to a musket ball, Liu Seven, pierced by arrows, drowned himself as well, and the last rebels were extinguished. Back at court Wan was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Left Censor-in-chief, and his son received hereditary appointment in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for one hundred households. The following year he succeeded He Jian as Minister of War.
28
完有才智,急功名,善交權勢。 劉暉、許泰、江彬皆其部將,後並寵幸用事,完遂行其力。
Clever and ambitious, Wan hungered for reputation and cultivated ties with men in power. Liu Hui, Xu Tai, and Jiang Bin had served under him; when they later rose to imperial favor, Wan drew on their influence in turn.
29
時宸濠已萌異志。 聞完為兵部,致書盛陳舊好,欲復護衛及屯田。 完答書,令以祖制為詞。 宸濠遂遣人輦金帛巨萬,寓所善教坊臧賢家,遍遺用事貴人,屬錢寧為內主。 比奏下,完遂為復請,而以屯田屬戶部,請付廷議。 內閣擬旨上,並予之。 舉朝嘩然。 六科給事中高淓、十三道御史汪賜等力爭,章並下部,久不覆。 南京給事中徐文溥繼言之,完乃請納諫官言,帝竟不許。 十年改吏部尚書。
By then Prince Ning Chen Hao was already harboring treasonous intent. Learning that Wan headed the Ministry of War, he sent a lavish letter recalling their old intimacy and asking that his guard and military colonies be restored. Wan answered with the language of ancestral law as his excuse. Chen Hao then carted tens of thousands in gold and silk to the house of the entertainer Zang Xian, whom he favored, distributing gifts among the men who held sway at court and putting Qian Ning forward as his patron within the palace. Once the memorial reached him, Wan petitioned for the prince's guard to be restored while referring the colonies to the Ministry of Revenue and asking that the matter be debated at court. The Grand Secretariat drew up an edict granting both requests. Outrage swept the entire court. Censors of the Six Offices, Gao Qing among them, and investigating censors from thirteen circuits led by Wang Ci protested vehemently; their memorials went to the ministries and languished without reply. The Nanjing supervising secretary Xu Wenpu took up the charge again; Wan then asked to heed the remonstrators, but the emperor still refused. In the tenth year he was moved to head the Ministry of Personnel.
30
宸濠反,就執。 中官張永至南昌,搜其籍,得完平日交通事,上之。 帝大怒。 還至通州,執完。 收其母妻子女,封識其家。 比還京,反縛之竿,揭姓名於首,雜俘囚中,列凱旋前部以入,將置極刑。 值武宗崩,世宗立,法司復奏完交外藩而遺金不卻,處護衛而執奏不堅,當斬。 完復乞哀,下廷臣覆讞。 以平賊功,在八議之列,遂得減死,戍福建靖海衛。 母年九十余,竟死獄中。
When Chen Hao rose in rebellion he was seized at once. The eunuch Zhang Yong arrived at Nanchang, searched the prince's archives, found Wan's routine correspondence with him, and reported it to the throne. The emperor flew into a rage. On the return march to Tongzhou he had Wan arrested. He took Wan's mother, wife, sons, and daughters into custody and sealed his household for inventory. Upon reaching the capital he bound Wan head-down on a pole, labeled him by name, marched him among the captives at the front of the victory procession, and prepared the harshest penalty. Emperor Wuzong died and Emperor Shizong succeeded; the judiciary again charged that Wan had trafficked with an outer prince, accepted gold without refusal, and failed to stand firm on the guard question — crimes warranting decapitation. Wan pleaded once more for his life, and the case was referred to the assembled ministers for rehearing. Because of his service in crushing the rebels he fell under the eight mitigations; his sentence was reduced from death to exile at Jinghai Guard in Fujian. His mother, past ninety, died in custody at last.
31
初,完嘗夢至一山曰「大武」。 及抵戍所,有山如其名,嘆曰:「吾戍已久定,何所逃乎!」 竟卒於戍所。
Long before, Wan had dreamed he came to a mountain named Great Martial. On reaching his place of exile he found a mountain of that very name and sighed, "My banishment was settled long ago — where could I escape?" He died in exile at last.
32
洪鐘,字宣之,錢塘人。 成化十一年進士。 為刑部主事,遷郎中,奉命安輯江西、福建流民。 還言福建武平、上杭、清流、永定,江西安遠、龍南,廣東程鄉皆流移錯雜,習鬥爭,易亂,宜及平時令有司立鄉社學,教之《詩》《書》禮讓。
Hong Zhong, whose style was Xuanzhi, came from Qiantang. He passed the jinshi examination in the eleventh year of Chenghua. He served as a secretary in the Ministry of Punishments, rose to director, and was dispatched to pacify displaced people in Jiangxi and Fujian. Returning, he warned that in Wuping, Shanghang, Qingliu, and Yongding in Fujian, Anyuan and Longnan in Jiangxi, and Chengxiang in Guangdong migrants were intermingled, quarrelsome, and ripe for rebellion; in quiet times local officials ought to found village schools and teach the Odes, Documents, and the rites of courtesy.
33
弘治初,再遷四川按察使。 馬湖土知府安鰲恣淫虐,土人怨之刺骨,有司利其金置不問,遷延二十年。 僉事曲銳請巡按御史張鸞按治,鐘贊決,捕鰲送京師,置極刑。 安氏自唐以來世有馬湖,至是改流官,一方始靖。 歷江西、福建左、右布政使。
At the opening of the Hongzhi reign he was promoted again, to Sichuan surveillance commissioner. At Ma Lake the native prefect An Ao ruled with unrestrained lust and cruelty; the tribespeople loathed him, yet officials, greedy for his bribes, looked away until twenty years had passed. Vice Commissioner Qu Rui asked Investigating Censor Zhang Luan to take the case; Zhong backed the move, and Ao was seized, sent to the capital, and executed. The An family had ruled Ma Lake since the Tang; with the post turned over to appointed officials, the area finally knew peace. He rose through the left and right provincial administration commissions of Jiangxi and Fujian.
34
十一年擢右副都御史,巡撫順天。 整飭薊州邊備,建議增築塞垣。 自山海關西北至密雲古北口、黃花鎮直抵居庸,延亙千餘里,繕復城堡二百七十所,悉城緣邊諸縣,因奏減防秋兵六千人,歲省挽輸犒賚費數萬計。 所部潮河川去京師二百里,居兩山間,廣百余丈,水漲成巨浸,水退則坦然平陸,寇得長驅直入。 鐘言:「關以東三里許,其山外高內庳,約余二丈,可鑿為兩渠,分殺水勢,而於口外斜築石堰以束水。 置關堰內,守以百人,使寇不得馳突,可免京師北顧憂,且得屯種河堧地。」 兵部尚書馬文升等請從之。 比興工,鑿山,山石崩,壓死者數百人。 御史弋福、給事中馬予聰等劾鐘。 巡撫張烜等請罷役,不聽。 未幾,工成,侍郎張達偕司禮中官往視。 還言石洞僅泄小水,地近邊垣多沙石,不利耕種。 給事中屈伸等劾鐘欺妄三罪,諸言官及兵部皆請逮鐘。 帝以鐘為國繕邊,不當罪,停俸三月。
In the eleventh year he became Right Vice Censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Shuntian. He reorganized the Jizhou frontier and urged the extension of the border ramparts. From northwest of Shanhaiguan through Miyun's Gubeikou and Huanghua garrison to Juyong—over a thousand li—he restored two hundred seventy forts, walled every frontier county, and won approval to cut six thousand autumn-defense troops, saving tens of thousands yearly in transport and reward expenses. The Chaohu River in his charge stood two hundred li from the capital between two hills; when swollen it became a vast flood, and when it fell it left open ground over which enemies could gallop straight in. Zhong argued that three li east of the pass the hills rose outside and dipped within, leaving about two zhang of height where two channels could be cut to split the current, with a slanting stone weir below to hold the water back. With the pass set behind the weir and a hundred men to hold it, raiders could be stopped from breaking through, the capital spared its northern anxiety, and the river flats put under cultivation. Minister of War Ma Wensheng and others petitioned to adopt his plan. Once construction started and the hills were cut, the rock gave way and buried several hundred workers. Investigating Censor Yi Fu and Supervising Secretary Ma Yucong impeached Zhong. Grand Coordinator Zhang Xuan petitioned to stop the works, but the throne refused. Soon the project was done, and Vice Minister Zhang Da went with a palace eunuch to inspect it. They returned saying the stone channels let through only a trickle and that the soil near the wall was sandy and stony, poor for planting. Supervising Secretary Qu Shen charged Zhong with three counts of deceit, and censors and the Ministry of War alike demanded his arrest. The emperor held that Zhong had fortified the border for the realm and ought not be punished; his salary was withheld for three months.
35
正德元年,由巡撫貴州召督漕運兼巡撫江北。 明年就進右都御史。 蘇、松、浙江運舟由下港口及孟瀆河溯大江以達瓜洲,遠涉二百八十餘里,往往遭風濤。 鐘言:「孟瀆對江有夾河,可抵白塔河口。 舊置四閘,徑四十里。 至宜陵鎮再折而北,即抵揚州運河。 開浚為便。」 從之。 改掌南京都察院,就遷刑部尚書。 四年冬,加太子少保兼左都御史,掌院事。
In the first year of Zhengde he was recalled from Guizhou to direct the grain transport and oversee the north bank. The following year he was promoted on the spot to Right Censor-in-chief. Grain barges from Suzhou, Songjiang, and Zhejiang had to ascend the Yangzi from Xiaogangkou and the Mengdu River to Guazhou—a run of more than two hundred eighty li, often battered by wind and tide. Zhong reported that across from Mengdu lay a channel that could reach the mouth of the Baieta River. Four locks had once been placed along forty li. At Yiling it bent north once more and joined the Yangzhou canal. Dredging it would shorten the route. The court approved. He was moved to head the Nanjing Censorate and soon made Minister of Punishments. In the fourth year's winter he was named Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Left Censor-in-chief, presiding over the Censorate.
36
五年春,湖廣歲饑盜起。 命鐘以本官總制軍務,陜西、河南、四川亦隸焉。 沔陽賊楊清、丘仁等僭稱天王、將軍,出沒洞庭間。 圍岳州,陷臨湘,官軍屢失利。 鐘及總兵官毛倫檄都指揮潘勛、柴奎,布政使陳鎬,副使蔣昇擊破之於麻穰灘,擒斬七百四十余人,賊遂平。 初,鐘掌院事,劉瑾方熾。 及瑾誅,言官劾鐘徇瑾撻御史。 朝議以鐘討賊,置不問。
In the fifth year's spring Huguang suffered famine and rebels broke out. Zhong was commanded to take overall charge of operations, with Shaanxi, Henan, and Sichuan placed under his authority as well. The Mianyang rebels Yang Qing and Qiu Ren proclaimed themselves Heavenly King and General and roamed the Dongting region. They encircled Yuezhou, seized Linxiang, and government forces met defeat again and again. Zhong and Commander-in-chief Mao Lun sent Commanders Pan Xun and Chai Kui with Administration Commissioner Chen Hao and Vice Commissioner Jiang Sheng to crush the rebels at Mahang Beach, killing or capturing over seven hundred forty, after which the uprising collapsed. When Zhong first headed the Censorate, Liu Jin was at the height of his power. After Jin's fall, censors accused Zhong of pandering to Jin and having a fellow censor beaten. The court decided Zhong was still needed against the rebels and took no action.
37
時保寧賊藍廷瑞自稱順天王,鄢本恕自稱「刮地王」,其黨廖惠稱「掃地王」,眾十萬余,置四十八總管,延蔓陜西、湖廣之境。 廷瑞與惠謀據保寧,本恕謀據漢中,取鄖陽,由荊、襄東下。 巡撫林俊方議遏通江,而惠已至,攻陷其城,殺參議黃瓚,僉事錢朝鳳等遁去。 適官軍自他郡還,賊疑援兵至,亦遁。 俊益發羅、回及石矽士兵助朝鳳進剿,參議公勉仁亦會。 龍灘河漲,賊半渡,羅、回奮擊之,擒斬八百余人,墜崖溺水甚眾。 俊復遣知府張敏、何珊等追之,獲惠,余眾奔陜西西鄉。 鐘乃下令招撫,歸者萬余人。 既而賊收散亡,陷營山,殺僉事王源,縱掠蓬、劍二州。
Meanwhile the Baoning rebel Lan Tingrui called himself King Shun of Heaven, Yan Benyu took the title "King Who Scrapes the Earth," and his lieutenant Liao Hui "King Who Sweeps the Earth"; their forces passed one hundred thousand, with forty-eight chiefs, and ravaged Shaanxi and Huguang. Tingrui and Hui aimed to seize Baoning while Benyu planned on Hanzhong, Yunyang, and a march east through Jing and Xiang. Grand Coordinator Lin Jun was still debating how to block the Tong River when Hui was already upon them, took the city, slew Vice Commissioner Huang Zan, and drove Qian Zhaofeng and others to flight. Government troops happened to be returning from another district; the rebels, mistaking them for fresh reinforcements, withdrew as well. Jun sent Luo and Hui tribesmen and Shixi native troops to reinforce Zhaofeng, and Vice Commissioner Gong Mianren joined the pursuit. At the swollen Longtan ford the rebels were half across when Luo and Hui tribesmen fell on them, killing or capturing over eight hundred while many plunged from cliffs or drowned. Jun sent Prefects Zhang Min and He Shan after them, seized Hui, and drove the remnant into Xixiang in Shaanxi. Zhong proclaimed an offer of surrender, and over ten thousand came in. Soon the rebels regrouped, stormed Yingshan, slew Vice Commissioner Wang Yuan, and looted Peng and Jian.
38
鐘赴四川,與俊議多不合,軍機牽制,賊益熾。 已,乃檄陜西、湖廣、河南兵分道進,湖廣兵先追及於陜西石泉。 廷瑞走漢中,都指揮金冕圍之。 陜西巡撫藍章方駐漢中,廷瑞遣其黨何虎詣章,乞還川就撫。 章以廷瑞本川賊,恐急之必致死,陜且受患,遂令冕護之出境。 廷瑞既入川,求降,鐘等令至東鄉聽撫。 賊意在緩師,遷延累月,依山結營,要求營山縣或臨江市屯其眾,遣官為質。 鐘令漢中通判羅賢入其營。 本恕來謁,約既定,會官軍有殺其樵采者,賊復疑懼,遂殺賢,剽如故。 官軍為七壘守之,賊不得逸,其黨漸潰。 廷瑞以所掠女子詐為己女,結婚於永順土舍彭世麟,冀得間逸去。 世麟密白鐘,鐘授方略使圖之。 及期,廷瑞、本恕暨其黨王金珠等二十八人鹹來會。 伏發悉就擒,惟廖麻子得脫。 其眾聞變,驚潰渡河。 鐘遣兵追擊,俘斬七百余人,以功進太子太保。
Zhong entered Sichuan, clashed repeatedly with Jun over strategy, and as operations bogged down the rebellion flared worse. He then directed Shaanxi, Huguang, and Henan forces along separate routes; the Huguang column first overtook the rebels at Shiquan in Shaanxi. Tingrui ran for Hanzhong, where Commander Jin Mian encircled him. Grand Coordinator Lan Zhang of Shaanxi held Hanzhong when Tingrui sent He Hu to beg leave to return to Sichuan and accept pacification. Zhang, knowing Tingrui was a Sichuan rebel at heart, feared driving him to extremes would endanger Shaanxi and told Mian to escort him across the border. Back in Sichuan, Tingrui offered to surrender; Zhong ordered him to Dongxiang to negotiate terms. They meant to stall the campaign, lingered for months in hill camps, demanded Yingshan or Linjiang to quarter their men, and insisted on a hostage from the government. Zhong sent Hanzhong Assistant Prefect Luo Xian into the rebel camp. Benyu came in to parley and terms seemed set, until soldiers killed some rebel foragers; the rebels panicked, murdered Xian, and returned to plunder. Seven government camps penned them in; their following began to crumble. Tingrui passed off a captive woman as his daughter and married into the house of the Yongshun chieftain Peng Shilin, hoping for a chance to escape. Shilin secretly reported to Zhong, who furnished a stratagem. On the appointed day Tingrui, Benyu, Wang Jinzhu, and twenty-eight others all appeared. Hidden troops seized them all; only Liao Mazi got away. The rebel masses, hearing what had happened, broke in panic across the river. Zhong's pursuers killed or captured over seven hundred more, and for this he was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
39
未幾,廖麻子及其黨曹甫掠營山、蓬州。 七年,總兵官楊宏,副使張敏、馬昊、何珊等合擊之。 賊勢蹙,鐘乃議招撫。 敏以單騎詣甫營,甫聽命,遂赴軍門受約束,歸散其黨。 而麻子忿甫背己,殺之,並其眾,轉掠川東。 官軍不敢擊,潛躡賊後,馘良民為功,土兵虐尤甚。 時有謠曰:「賊如梳,軍如篦,土兵如剃。」 巡按御史王綸、紀功御史汪景芳劾鐘縱兵不戢。 綸復奏鐘樂飲縱遊,致賊自合州渡江陷州縣。 詔召鐘還,以彭澤代,鐘遂乞歸。 嘉靖三年卒,謚襄惠。
Soon Liao Mazi and his lieutenant Cao Fu were raiding Yingshan and Pengzhou again. In the seventh year Commander-in-chief Yang Hong with Vice Commissioners Zhang Min, Ma Hao, and He Shan joined forces against them. Pressed hard, Zhong turned again to offers of surrender. Zhang Min rode alone into Fu's camp; Fu submitted, came to headquarters under bond, and sent his men home. Mazi, furious at Fu's defection, slew him, took over his band, and swept through eastern Sichuan. Regular troops scarcely fought, trailing the rebels to cut off civilians' heads for credit, while native levies were worse still. People said, "The rebels comb lightly, the army combs closer, and the native soldiers shave you bare. Investigating Censor Wang Lun and merit censor Wang Jingfang accused Zhong of letting his men run wild. Wang Lun added that Zhong feasted and wandered while rebels crossed from Hezhou and overran towns. The throne recalled Zhong, sent Peng Ze in his place, and Zhong sought retirement. He died in the third year of Jiajing and was posthumously titled Xianghui.
40
陳鎬,會稽人。 成化二十三年進士。 既平賊,就遷右副都御史,巡撫湖廣。 蔣昇,祁陽人,鎬同年進士。
Chen Hao came from Kuaiji. He passed the jinshi in the twenty-third year of Chenghua. After the rebellion he was made Right Vice Censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Huguang on the spot. Jiang Sheng of Qiyang had taken the jinshi in the same year as Chen Hao.
41
陳金,字汝礪,應城人,徙武昌。 祖坦,夔州知府。 父琳,廣西僉事。 金舉成化八年進士,除婺源知縣,擢南京御史。
Chen Jin, whose style was Ruli, was born in Yingcheng and later moved to Wuchang. His grandfather Tan had served as prefect of Kuizhou. His father Lin had been a vice commissioner in Guangxi. Jin passed the jinshi in the eighth year of Chenghua, became magistrate of Wuyuan, and rose to censor at Nanjing.
42
弘治初,出按浙江,還因災異劾文武大僚十九人,侍郎丁永中、南京大理卿吳道宏、南寧伯毛文等多罷去。 尋遷山西副使,歷雲南左布政使,討平竹子箐叛苗。
Early in Hongzhi he inspected Zhejiang; returning, he used celestial warnings to impeach nineteen high officials, bringing down Vice Minister Ding Yongzhong, Nanjing chief justice Wu Daohong, the Earl of Nanning Mao Wen, and many others. He was soon made Shanxi vice commissioner, rose to Yunnan left provincial administration commissioner, and crushed the Zhuziqing Miao revolt.
43
十三年,就拜右副都御史,巡撫其地。 孟養酋思祿與孟密酋思揲構兵積年。 金奉詔發緬甸、幹崖、隴川、南甸諸部兵,聚糧十二萬,為征討計,而遣參議郭緒往撫之。 思祿懼,遂罷兵修貢,金以功賚銀幣。 貴州兵敗賊婦米魯,米魯退攻平夷衛及大河、扼勒諸堡。 金發兵連破之,增俸一等,召為南京戶部右侍郎。
In the thirteenth year he was named Right Vice Censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Yunnan on the spot. The Mengyang chief Silu and the Mengmi chief Siye had been at war for years. Ordered to mobilize Burma, Ganyai, Longchuan, Nandian, and other dependencies, amass one hundred twenty thousand piculs of grain, and prepare an expedition, Jin sent Vice Commissioner Guo Xu to negotiate. Silu, alarmed, stood down and renewed tribute; Jin received silver and silks in reward. Guizhou forces lost to the rebel woman Milu, who then turned on Pingyi Guard and the forts of Dahe and Ele. Jin sent troops, broke them in a series of battles, gained one rank in salary, and was recalled as Right Vice Minister of Revenue at Nanjing.
44
正德改元,給事中周璽等劾不職大臣,金與焉。 詔不問。 金以母老乞歸,不允。 尋以右都御史總督兩廣軍務。 時內臣韋霦等建議,請輸兩廣各司所貯銀於京師。 金疏不可,詔留二十余萬。 馬平、洛容僮猖獗,金偕總兵官毛銳發兵十三萬征之,俘斬七千余人,進左都御史。 斷藤峽苗時出剽。 金念苗嗜魚鹽,可以利縻也,乃立約束,令民與苗市,改峽曰永通。 苗性貪而黠,初陽受約,既乃不予直,殺掠益甚。 潯州人為語曰:「永通不通,來葬江中,誰其作者? 噫,陳公!」 蓋咎金失計也。
When Zhengde began, Supervising Secretary Zhou Xuan and others impeached negligent ministers, Jin included. The throne took no action. Jin asked to retire to care for his aged mother but was refused. He was soon appointed Right Censor-in-chief to direct the two Guang. Palace eunuch Wei Zhen and others proposed shipping the silver hoarded in Guang offices to the capital. Jin protested; the court left more than two hundred thousand in place. The Yao of Maping and Luorong were rampant; Jin and Commander Mao Rui marched one hundred thirty thousand men against them, killed or captured over seven thousand, and Jin was promoted to Left Censor-in-chief. The Miao of Duanteng Gorge raided whenever they could. Jin reckoned the Miao could be tamed with fish and salt, set market rules, and renamed the gorge Yongtong, "Ever Open." The Miao were greedy and sly: they accepted the bargain in name, then refused fair payment and looted worse than before. Xunzhou folk sang, "Ever Open stays shut—who gets buried in the river? Who wrought this? Alas, Lord Chen! The rhyme blamed Jin for the miscalculation.
45
三年十月,遷南京戶部尚書。 明年冬,召為左都御史,未聞命,以母喪歸。 六年二月,江西盜起。 詔起金故官,總制軍務。 南畿、浙江、福建、廣東、湖廣文武將吏俱隸焉。 許便宜從事,都指揮以下不用命者專刑戮。 當是時,撫州則東鄉賊王鈺五、徐仰三、傅傑一、揭端三等; 南昌則姚源賊汪澄二、王浩八、殷勇十、洪瑞七等; 瑞州則華林賊羅光權、陳福一等; 而贛州大帽山賊何積欽等又起。 官軍累年不能克。 金以屬郡兵不足用,奏調廣西狼土兵。 明年二月先進兵東鄉,遣參議徐蕃等分屯要害,而令副總兵張勇,土官岑瑽、岑猛各統官兵、目兵擊賊熟塘。 進戰南甗,追敗之赤岸蔭嶺。 擒仰三,馘鈺五等,克柵二百六十五,斬首萬一千六百余級,俘七百五十余人。 五月移師姚源,令參政董樸、吳廷舉等分營余幹、安仁、貴溪、鄱陽、樂平遏賊,而親統大軍搗其巢,勇十重創死。 會張勇以目兵至,毒弩射殺瑞七、成七等,俘斬共五千余人。 七月乘勝斬光權。 華林賊盡平。 又督副使王秩等擊大帽山賊,獲積欽,俘斬千七百余人。 半歲間,剿賊幾盡。 遂即東鄉立縣,並立萬年縣,招降人居之。 前後每奏捷,輒賜璽書嘉勞,賚銀幣。 加太子少保,蔭子錦衣世百戶。
In the third year's tenth month he became Minister of Revenue at Nanjing. The following winter he was called to be Left Censor-in-chief, but before the appointment arrived his mother died and he went home in mourning. In the sixth year's second month rebels broke out in Jiangxi. The throne recalled Jin to his old rank to take overall command of operations. Every civil and military officer from the southern capital districts through Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Huguang fell under his authority. He could act as he saw fit, and any regional commander or subordinate who defied orders might be put to death on his word alone. In Fuzhou the Dongxiang rebels included Wang Yuwu, Xu Yangsan, Fu Jieyi, and Jie Duansan; in Nanchang the Yaoyuan rebels Wang Chenger, Wang Haoba, Yin Yongshi, and Hong Ruiqi; in Ruizhou the Hualin rebels Luo Guangquan and Chen Fuyi; while on Ganzhou's Great Hat Mountain He Jiqin and others rose as well. Government forces had failed to crush them for years. Finding local troops inadequate, Jin asked for Guangxi wolf native levies. The next year's second month he opened with Dongxiang, posted Vice Commissioner Xu Fan at choke points, and sent Deputy Commander Zhang Yong with native chiefs Cen Cong and Cen Meng against Shutang. At Nanyan he pressed the attack and drove them in defeat to Chian and Yinling. He seized Yangsan, beheaded Yuwu and others, stormed two hundred sixty-five stockades, took eleven thousand six hundred heads, and captured over seven hundred fifty men. In the fifth month he moved on Yaoyuan, set Dong Pu and Wu Tingju to block escape routes through Yugan and neighboring counties, and led the main column against the nest himself; Yin Yongshi died of his wounds. Zhang Yong arrived with native troops whose poisoned bolts killed Ruiqi and Chengqi; kills and captures passed five thousand. In the seventh month he pressed the advantage and beheaded Guangquan. The Hualin rebels were wiped out. He also directed Vice Commissioner Wang Zhi against Great Hat Mountain, seized Jiqin, and killed or captured over one thousand seven hundred. In half a year the rebels were nearly gone. He founded a county at Dongxiang, created Wannian county, and resettled those who surrendered. Each victory brought sealed praise from the throne and gifts of silver and silk. He was named Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and his son received hereditary rank in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for one hundred households.
46
金累破劇賊,然所用目兵貪殘嗜殺,剽掠甚於賊,有巨族數百口闔門罹害者。 所獲婦女率指為賊屬,載數千艘去。 民間謠曰:「土賊猶可,土兵殺我。」 金亦知民患之,方倚其力,不為禁。 又不能持廉,軍資頗私入。 功雖多,士民皆深怨焉。
Though Jin crushed formidable rebels, his native levies were greedy and savage, looting worse than the bandits themselves; great families of hundreds perished to the last soul. Women taken in the campaigns were called rebel dependents and shipped away by the thousand in boats. People said, "Rebel natives we can endure; the government's native soldiers kill us. Jin knew the people suffered, yet he depended on their strength and did not stop them. Nor could he keep his hands clean; much of the war chest found its way into his own purse. His victories were many, but scholars and commoners alike deeply resented him.
47
東鄉之役,瑽兵縱弩射,趫捷若飛,賊大窘。 鎏兵要賞千金,金靳不予,乃縱賊使逸。 桀黠者多不死,尚數千人。 金急欲成功,遂下令招撫。 其破姚源賊也,金喜,謂功在旦夕,與將吏置酒高會。 賊覘諸要害無守者,乃悉所有賂目兵,乘暮遁去。 時賊絕爨已三日,自分必死,沿途棄稚弱,散婦女。 及抵貴溪,始得一飽食,遂轉掠衢、徽間。 金知失策,亦下令招降。 賊首王浩八等故偽降以緩官兵,攻剽如故,卒不能盡賊。 紀功給事中黎奭及兩京言官交章劾金。 乃召金還,以俞諫代。 金遂請終喪去。
At Dongxiang, Cen Cong's men shot crossbows and moved like the wind, pinning the rebels hard. Cen Meng's men demanded a thousand taels of gold; Jin refused, and they let the rebels slip away. The craftiest survived; several thousand rebels remained. Eager to declare victory, Jin ordered offers of surrender. After breaking the Yaoyuan rebels Jin rejoiced, thinking victory was days away, and feasted with his officers. The rebels saw the passes unguarded, bribed the native troops with everything they had, and fled at dusk. Starving for three days and sure of death, they abandoned children and cast off women along the road. At Guixi they ate their first full meal, then swept through Quzhou and Huizhou. Realizing his mistake, Jin again proclaimed surrender. Chiefs like Wang Haoba had feigned surrender to stall the army and kept raiding; the rebels were never fully destroyed. Merit secretary Li Shuang and censors of both capitals impeached Jin in turn. The court recalled Jin and sent Yu Jian in his place. Jin asked to finish mourning and retire.
48
十年再起,督兩廣軍務。 府江賊王公珣等為亂,金集諸道兵偕總兵官郭勛等分六路討之,斬公珣,大有所俘獲。 加少保太子太保,蔭子如初。 復以饒平捷,詔子先受蔭者進一秩。 金承召還朝,道得疾歸,詔強起之。 十四年冬入掌都察院事。 世宗立,請老,命乘傳還。 久之,卒。
In the tenth year he was recalled to direct the two Guang. The Fujiang rebel Wang Gongxun rose; Jin gathered forces under Guo Xun on six routes, slew Gongxun, and took many prisoners. He was named Junior Guardian and Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, with the same hereditary honors for his son. After victory at Raoping, the son already ennobled was advanced one rank. Recalled to court, he fell ill on the road and went home; the throne ordered him back despite illness. In the winter of the fourteenth year he took charge of the Censorate. When Emperor Shizong succeeded, he asked to retire and was sent home by imperial post. Long afterward he died.
49
俞諫,字良佐,桐廬人。 父藎,舉進士,官御史,按江西,治外戚王氏、萬氏宗族恣橫罪。 坐事,謫澧州判官。 大築陂堰,溉田可萬頃。 累遷鄖陽知府。
Yu Jian, whose style was Liangzuo, came from Tonglu. His father Jin became a jinshi, served as censor in Jiangxi, and punished the Wang and Wan clans of imperial in-laws for their violence. After a court offense he was banished to serve as assistant magistrate of Lizhou. He built great dikes and weirs that irrigated fields of ten thousand qing. He rose to become prefect of Yunyang.
50
諫舉弘治三年進士,授長清知縣,擢南京御史。 遷河南僉事,擒嵩賊呂梅。 歷江西參議,平大帽山賊。 遷廣東副使,中道召為大理少卿。
Jian passed the jinshi in the third year of Hongzhi, became magistrate of Changqing, and rose to censor at Nanjing. As Henan vice commissioner he captured the Song bandit Lü Mei. He served as Jiangxi vice commissioner and pacified the Great Hat Mountain rebels. Promoted to Guangdong vice commissioner, he was summoned on the road to be vice president of the Court of Judicial Review.
51
正德六年擢右僉都御史,治水蘇、杭諸府,修治圩塘,民享其利。 尋進右副都御史,提督操江。 八年春,姚源降賊王浩八叛,詔以諫代陳金督江西、浙江、福建諸軍討之。 時浩八眾萬余,屯浙江開化,為同知伍文定等所敗,遁還江西德興,以所執都指揮白弘、江洪為質,求撫於按察使王秩。 秩受之,為傳送姚源。 浩八奔據貴溪裴源山,余眾復集,連營十里。 諫令秩與副使胡世寧、參政吳廷舉列屯要害,斷其歸路,而躬與都督李鋐乘夜冒雨潛進。 大破之,俘斬數千人,遂擒浩八。 其黨潰走玉山。 諫與南贛巡撫周南、江西巡撫任漢復擊斬七百余人。 余賊奔姚源,諫督廷舉等進剿,逼擒之。
In the sixth year of Zhengde he became Right Vice Censor-in-chief, managed waterworks across Suzhou and Hangzhou, repaired dikes and polders, and the people prospered. Soon he was made Right Vice Censor-in-chief and put in charge of river defense. In the eighth year's spring the surrendered rebel Wang Haoba of Yaoyuan rose again; Jian was sent to replace Chen Jin and command Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Fujian. Haoba commanded over ten thousand men at Kaihua in Zhejiang, was beaten by Wu Wending, fled to Dexing in Jiangxi, and with captured commanders Bai Hong and Jiang Hong as hostages begged Wang Zhi for peace. Wang Zhi accepted and sent them on to Yaoyuan. Haoba fled to Peiyuan Mountain in Guixi; survivors regrouped in a ten-li chain of camps. Jian posted Zhi, Hu Shining, and Wu Tingju at choke points to cut retreat while he and Regional Commander Li Gang stole forward through rain by night. He shattered them, killing or capturing thousands, and took Haoba. The remnant fled toward Yushan. With Grand Coordinators Zhou Nan and Ren Han, Jian killed over seven hundred more. Survivors ran to Yaoyuan; Jian drove Tingju forward until they were taken.
52
諫懲金失,一意用兵,而任漢懦。 先為布政使,嘗贊金主撫。 雖亟上首功,追賊緩,余當復起。 先是,東鄉賊為金所敗乞降,隸世寧,號新兵,而剽掠如故。 既懼罪復叛,遣參將桂勇等討擒之。 萬年雖立縣,賊尚眾,吏胥多賊黨,官府動息必知之。 副使李情治峻急,眾欲叛,畏鋐在余幹不敢發。 會鋐卒,王垂七、胡念二等遂作亂。 殺情及饒州通判陳達、秦碧,指揮邢世臣等,焚廨舍。 諫發兵擒之,亂乃定。 言官劾諫及漢、南。 兵部請召漢還,命諫兼領巡撫。 明年擊臨川賊,斬其魁,而遣參將李隆擊新淦賊。 賊踞萬山中,僭稱王且八年。 隆等深入,悉就擒,俘斬千七百余人。 錄功,進諫右都御史,巡撫如故。 劇賊徐九齡者,初嘯聚建昌、醴源。 已,出沒江、湖間,積三十年。 黃州、德安、九江、安慶、池州、太平鹹被其害。 諫討斬之,群盜悉平。 寧王宸濠諷御史張鰲山劾諫,十一年召還,遂乞致仕。
Blaming Jin's failures, Jian insisted on force, while Ren Han was timid. Han had once been administration commissioner and had backed Jin's preference for pacification. Though he hurried victory reports, pursuit was slack and the rebels would regather. Dongxiang rebels beaten by Jin had surrendered to Shining as "new troops" but kept looting. Fearing punishment they rebelled again until Gui Yong and others hunted them down. Wannian county existed in name, but rebels remained numerous, clerks were often their spies, and officials' plans were known at once. Vice Commissioner Li Qing ruled harshly; people meant to rebel but dared not while Li Gang held Yugan. After Gang died, Wang Chuiqi and Hu Nianer rose in revolt. They slew Li Qing, Raozhou officials Chen Da and Qin Bi, Commander Xing Shichen, and others, and burned the yamen. Jian sent troops, seized them, and the disturbance ended. Censors impeached Jian along with Han and Nan. The Ministry of War recalled Han and let Jian serve concurrently as grand coordinator. The next year he struck Linchuan rebels, beheaded their chiefs, and sent Li Long against Xingan. They held the deep mountains and had called themselves kings for eight years. Long drove deep inland and took them all, killing or capturing over one thousand seven hundred. For merit Jian was made Right Censor-in-chief while keeping his grand coordinator post. The formidable rebel Xu Jiuling had first gathered in Jianchang and Liyuan. Later he roamed the Yangzi region for thirty years. Huangzhou, De'an, Jiujiang, Anqing, Chizhou, and Taiping all suffered at his hands. Jian hunted him down and beheaded him, and the remaining bands were pacified. Prince Ning Chen Hao prompted Zhang Aoshan to impeach Jian; in the eleventh year he was recalled and retired.
53
嘉靖改元,用薦起故官,總督漕運。 青州礦盜王堂等起顏神鎮,流劫東昌、兗州、濟南。 都指揮楊紀及指揮楊浩等擊之,浩死,紀僅免。 詔責山東將吏,於是諸臣分道逐賊,賊不復屯聚,流劫金鄉、魚臺間。 突曹州,欲渡河不得,復掠考城並河西岸,至東明、長垣。 河南及保定守臣鹹告急。 賊黨王友賢等轉掠祥符、封丘,南抵徐州。 廷議以諸道巡撫權位相埒,乃命諫與都督魯綱並提督兩畿、山東、河南軍務,以便宜節制諸道兵討之。 賊復流至考城。 官軍方欲擊,而河南降賊張進引三百騎馳至。 中都留守顏愷與俱前,方戰,進忽三麾其旗先卻。 賊乘之,官軍大潰,將士死者八百余人。 諫等連營進,賊始滅。 其秋,召掌都察院事。 逾年卒官,贈太子太保,謚莊襄。
When Jiajing began he was recommended back to superintend grain transport. Qingzhou mine rebels Wang Tang and others rose at Yanshen and raided Dongchang, Yanzhou, and Jinan. Commander Yang Ji and Commander Yang Hao attacked; Hao was killed and Ji barely escaped. The throne rebuked Shandong commanders; ministers pursued on separate routes; the rebels stopped camping together and raided between Jinxiang and Yutai. They struck Caozhou, failed to cross the river, swept the west bank through Kaocheng, and reached Dongming and Changyuan. Henan and Baoding officials all cried for help. The rebel Wang Youxian and others raided Xiangfu and Fengqiu and pushed south to Xuzhou. Because grand coordinators held equal rank, the court ordered Jian and Regional Commander Lu Gang jointly to direct the two capital regions, Shandong, and Henan, with full power to command all routes against the rebels. The rebels swept back toward Kaocheng. As government forces prepared to attack, the Henan turncoat Zhang Jin arrived at a gallop with three hundred horsemen. Central Capital commander Yan Kai marched with him; in the midst of battle Jin suddenly waved his standard three times and pulled back. The rebels pressed the advantage; government troops collapsed, and more than eight hundred officers and men were killed. Jian pressed forward in linked camps until the rebels were finally destroyed. That fall he was recalled to head the Censorate. A year later he died in post and was posthumously named Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent with the title Zhuangxiang.
54
周南,字文化,縉雲人。 成化十四年進士。 除六合知縣,擢御史,出按畿輔。 弘治初,再按廣東,劾總兵官柳景。 歷江西右布政使,擢右副都御史,巡撫大同。
Zhou Nan, whose style was Wenhua, came from Jinyun. He passed the jinshi in the fourteenth year of Chenghua. He became magistrate of Liuhe, rose to censor, and inspected the home provinces. Early in Hongzhi he inspected Guangdong again and impeached Commander Liu Jing. He rose to Jiangxi right provincial administration commissioner, then Right Vice Censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Datong.
55
武宗初立,寇入宣府,參將陳雄等邀擊,敗之。 錄功,增南俸一秩,母喪歸。 正德三年,劉瑾擅政,以大同倉粟有浥爛者,逮南及督糧郎中孫祿下詔獄,械送大同,責倍輸。 會赦,大同總兵官葉椿等為請,免其倍數。 輸畢,釋為民。 瑾誅,以故官撫宣府不就,引病歸。 明年起督南、贛軍務。 南贛巡撫之設,自南始。
At Wuzong's accession raiders entered Xuanfu; Assistant Commander Chen Xiong and others beat them back. For merit his southern salary rose one rank; then his mother died and he went into mourning. In Zhengde's third year Liu Jin ruled alone; spoiled grain at the Datong depot brought Nan and Director Sun Lu to the imperial prison, shackled to Datong, and ordered to pay double restitution. An amnesty followed; Commander Ye Chun of Datong pleaded for them and the double levy was dropped. Once the fine was paid they were released as civilians. After Jin's fall he was offered his old post at Xuanfu but refused and retired on grounds of illness. The following year he was recalled to direct military affairs in southern Gan. The office of southern Gan grand coordinator began with him.
56
汀州大帽山賊張時旺、黃鏞、劉隆、李四仔等聚眾稱王,攻剽城邑,延及江西、廣東之境,數年不靖,官軍討之輒敗。 推官莫仲昭、知縣蔣璣、指揮楊澤等被執,賊勢愈熾。 南集諸道兵擊之龍牙,擒時旺。 義民林富別擊斬鏞於鐵坑。 其他諸寨為指揮孫堂等所破。 而副使楊璋、僉事淩相等亦擊隆、四仔,擒之。 先後斬獲五千人,仲昭等得逸還。 捷聞,賜敕獎勞。 南乃移師會總督陳金,共平姚源諸賊,境內遂寧。 九年春,進右都御史,總督兩廣軍務。 逾年乞歸,卒。 贈太子少保。
At Tingzhou's Great Hat Mountain, Zhang Shiwang, Huang Yong, Liu Long, Li Sizai, and others gathered, proclaimed themselves kings, raided towns across Jiangxi and Guangdong, and for years defied government troops who marched against them only to lose. Assistant Prefect Mo Zhongzhao, Magistrate Jiang Ji, and Commander Yang Ze were taken prisoner, and the rebels grew bolder. Nan assembled forces from every circuit, struck at Longya, and captured Shiwang. A local volunteer, Lin Fu, separately attacked and beheaded Yong at Tiekeng. Commander Sun Tang and others overran the remaining stockades. Vice Commissioners Yang Zhang and Ling Xiang also attacked Long and Sizai and took them. Five thousand were killed or captured in all, and Zhongzhao and the rest made their way back alive. Victory dispatches brought sealed praise from the throne. Nan then marched to join Grand Coordinator Chen Jin, together pacifying the Yaoyuan rebels until the region was calm. In the ninth year's spring he became Right Censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of the two Guang. The following year he asked to retire and died. He was posthumously named Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
57
孫祿,棲霞人。 弘治九年進士。 由戶部主事歷郎中。 瑾敗,起故官,累遷至應天府尹。
Sun Lu came from Qixia. He passed the jinshi in the ninth year of Hongzhi. He served as a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue and rose to director. After Jin's fall he was restored and eventually became prefect of Yingtian.
58
馬昊,本姓鄒,字宗大,寧夏人。 弘治十二年進士。 由行人選御史。 正德初,遷山東僉事,坐累謫真定推官。 境內數有盜,昊教吏士習射,廣設方略,盜發輒獲。 再坐累謫判開州。 真定吏民伏闕請留,乃免。
Ma Hao, born Zou, whose style was Zongda, came from Ningxia. He passed the jinshi in the twelfth year of Hongzhi. He entered service as a courier and was chosen censor. Early in Zhengde he became Shandong vice commissioner, then was demoted to assistant magistrate of Zhending for an offense. Bandits were frequent in his district; he trained clerks and students in archery, laid many stratagems, and seized rebels whenever they struck. He was demoted again, to assistant magistrate of Kaizhou. The people of Zhending knelt at the palace gates to keep him; the demotion was canceled.
59
遷四川僉事。 昊長身驍捷,善騎射,知兵。 巨寇方四、曹甫等方熾,洪鐘討之久無功。 昊至,閱所部,笑曰:「將不知兵,其何以戰?」 於是擇健卒千人分數隊,隊立長,教之。 會甫將襲江津,昊從巡撫林俊剿賊,大敗之,俘斬及焚死者二千余人。 明年,方四陷江津,破綦江,薄重慶。 昊夜出百騎,舉火擊賊,賊驚潰。 乘之,斬獲多,遂合羅、回土兵博賊。 賊陳左而伏兵其右,昊以正兵當左,身率百騎搗其伏。 伏潰,趨左,左亦潰,四奔婺川,與甫相攻,眾遂散。 四變姓名走,為他將所獲。 昊再被獎,進副使,與總兵官楊宏擊敗甫。
He was moved to Sichuan vice commissioner. Hao was tall and quick, a fine horseman and archer who understood war. The great rebels Fang Si and Cao Fu were at their peak; Hong Zhong had campaigned against them for years without success. On arrival he inspected his troops and laughed: "Generals who do not know war — how can they fight? He chose a thousand strong soldiers, divided them into companies with captains, and drilled them hard. As Fu prepared to strike Jiangjin, Hao joined Grand Coordinator Lin Jun, crushed the rebels, and killed, captured, or burned more than two thousand. The next year Fang Si seized Jiangjin, overran Qijiang, and threatened Chongqing. Hao led a hundred horsemen out at night with torches, struck the rebels, and sent them fleeing in panic. He pressed the pursuit, took many heads, then joined Luo and Hui native levies to close with the enemy. The rebels formed on the left with an ambush on the right; Hao held the left with his main body and personally led a hundred horsemen against the trap. The ambush broke; he wheeled on the left wing and broke it too; Si fled to Wuchuan, clashed with Fu, and the rebel host scattered. Si changed his name and ran, only to be taken by another commander. Rewarded again, Hao was made vice commissioner and, with Commander Yang Hong, broke Fu's force.
60
甫降,而其黨廖麻子並其眾,連陷銅梁、榮昌。 坐奪冠帶。 時洪鐘已召還,巡撫高崇熙恇怯,復主撫。 麻子等陽受約,崇熙遽罷諸軍,令副使張敏徙開縣臨江市民,空其地處之,許給復三年,為請於朝。 昊力爭,謂臨江市蜀襟喉,上達重、敘,下連湖、湘,地土饒衍,奈何棄以資賊,自遺患。 崇熙不從,昊乃益治兵觀變。 其明年,賊果執敏叛。 詔逮崇熙,而擢昊右僉都御史代之。 賊圍中江,將趨成都。 昊以五千騎與總督彭澤敗之。 遊擊閻勛追斬麻子劍州,余眾走,推其黨喻思俸為主。 總兵官陳珣追至富村,賊偽降。 因北渡江,襲殺都指揮姚震,轉入巴山故巢。 尋出走大安鎮,珣不敢前。 而陜西兵與賊戰潰,賊遂越寧羌犯略陽。 珣軍鼓噪,賊夜走,度廣元,為官軍所遏,還趨通、巴招余黨。 諸將率稱病不擊賊,詔逮珣,且讓昊。 昊乃與彭澤督諸軍獲思俸西鄉山中,復與澤平內江賊駱松祥,群盜悉靖。 錄功,進副都御史。
Fu surrendered, but Liao Mazi took over his band and seized Tongliang and Rongchang in turn. He was stripped of rank for the loss. By then Hong Zhong was gone; the new grand coordinator Gao Chongxi was timid and favored negotiation again. Mazi and the rest pretended to submit; Chongxi hurriedly dismissed the armies and told Vice Commissioner Zhang Min to evacuate Linjiang marketfolk in Kaixian, clear the land for the rebels, grant three years' tax relief, and petition the court. Hao protested fiercely: Linjiang was Shu's throat, linking Chongqing and Xuzhou above with Huguang and Hunan below on rich soil — to abandon it to rebels was to invite disaster. Chongxi refused; Hao redoubled his training and watched how events would turn. The next year the rebels seized Zhang Min and rose again. Chongxi was arrested and Hao promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-chief in his place. The rebels besieged Zhongjiang and aimed at Chengdu. Hao led five thousand horsemen, joined Peng Ze, and routed them. Guerrilla Yan Xun ran Mazi down and killed him at Jianzhou; survivors fled and raised Yu Sibo as chief. Commander Chen Xun pursued to Fucun, where the rebels pretended to surrender. They crossed north, ambushed and killed Commander Yao Zhen, and withdrew into their old Ba Mountain stronghold. Soon they broke out toward Da'an; Xun would not advance. Shaanxi troops were beaten; the rebels crossed Ningqiang and struck Lueyang. Xun's men raised a din; the rebels fled by night, were blocked at Guangyuan, and turned back toward Tong and Ba to gather survivors. Commanders mostly pleaded illness and would not fight; Xun was arrested and Hao rebuked. Hao and Peng Ze then took Sibo in the Xixiang hills and crushed the Neijiang rebel Luo Songxiang; every band was pacified. For merit he was promoted to Vice Censor-in-chief.
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十年,亦不剌寇松藩,番人磨讓六少等乘機亂,為之向導,西土大震。 昊招土番為間,發兵掩擊之。 千戶張倫等夜率熟番攻破賊,獲磨讓六少,亦不剌遁去。 昊以松潘地險阻,番人往往邀劫饋運,乃督參將張傑等修築墻柵,自三舍堡至風洞關,凡五十里。 賜敕褒之。
In the tenth year Ibrahim raided Songpan; Tibetan chiefs including Mo Rangliushao stirred rebellion as guides, and the western frontier shook. Hao turned native Tibetans as spies and launched a surprise strike. Centurion Zhang Lun led loyal Tibetans in a night assault, seized Mo Rangliushao, and Ibrahim fled. Songpan's terrain was treacherous and Tibetans often ambushed supplies; Hao had Zhang Jie build palisades from Sanshe fort to Fengdong Pass, fifty li in all. The throne sent sealed praise.
62
烏蒙、芒部二府壤接筠連、珙縣,圍亙千里,山箐深阻。 諸蠻僰人子、羿子、仲家子、苗子、倮、佫等雜居其中。 有僰人子普法惡者,通漢語,曉符錄。 妄言彌勒出世,自稱蠻王,煽諸夷作亂。 流民謝文禮、謝文義應之。 都指揮杜琮戰敗,文義奪其胄。 十二年,昊督指揮曹昱進討,法惡敗,走保青山寨。 昊分據水口,絕其汲道,闕南方圍待之。 賊乏水渴,突南圍,官軍遮擊。 法惡中流矢死,諸蠻大奔。 以功,再進右都御史,蔭子錦衣世百戶。
Wumeng and Mangbu prefectures adjoined Junlian and Gong across a thousand li of rugged mountains. Bozi, Yizi, Zhongjiazi, Miaozi, Luo, and Gela tribes lived intermingled throughout. A Bozi named Pufa E spoke Chinese and knew charms and registers. He claimed Maitreya had come, styled himself barbarian king, and incited the tribes to revolt. Migrants Xie Wenli and Xie Wenyi joined him. Commander Du Cong was routed; Wenyi took his helmet. In the twelfth year Hao directed Commander Cao Yu against him; E was beaten and fled to Qingshan stockade. Hao seized the water sources, cut off supply, and left the south open to lure them out. Parched for water, the rebels charged the southern gap; government troops met them head-on. E took an arrow and died; the tribes broke and ran. For merit he was made Right Censor-in-chief again, and his son received hereditary rank in the Embroidered Uniform Guard for one hundred households.
63
昊有才氣,能應變,揮霍自喜,所向輒有功。 然官川中久,狎其俗,銳意立功名,卒以是敗。 先是,亦不剌既遁,昊移兵攻小東路番寨未下,茂州群蠻懼見侵,遂糾生苗圍城堡。 參將芮錫等討之,兵敗,指揮龐昇等皆死。 又嘗遣副總兵張傑、副使吳澧擊松潘南北二路番,不利,亡軍士三千余人,匿不以聞。 僰蠻平,不置戍守,遽班師。 請改高縣為州,設長吏,增高、珙、筠連田租千八百石,令指揮魏武度田奪降人業給之軍民。 而珙縣知縣步梁窺昊意,誘殺降人阿尚。 杜琮以亡胄故,怨文義,潛使人購其頭。 於是文義乘群蠻怨,嗾之,遂大訌。 攻高、慶符二縣,破其城。 琮率兵禦之,又敗,死傷七百人。 自黎雅以西,天全六番皆相繼亂。 南京給事中孫懋暨巡按御史盧雍、黎龍先後劾昊。 十四年遂遣官逮昊。 行至河南,疏稱疾篤,留於家。 世宗即位,始就逮,尋削籍歸。 楊一清、胡世寧薦之,為桂萼所駁而止。 久之,卒。
Talented and bold, adaptable and free-spending, Hao usually won wherever he fought. Yet long service in Sichuan had made him too familiar with local ways; his hunger for glory was what ruined him in the end. After Ibrahim fled, Hao attacked Lesser Eastern Route Tibetan stockades without success; fearing invasion, Maozhou tribes rallied raw Miao to besiege forts. Assistant Commander Rui Xi marched against them, was routed, and Commander Pang Sheng and others were killed. He once sent Zhang Jie and Wu Li against Songpan's northern and southern Tibetans, lost over three thousand men, and hid the defeat from court. Once the Bo rebels were beaten, he left no garrisons and rushed the army home. He asked to elevate Gaoxian to a prefecture, appoint senior officials, raise land tax in Gao, Gong, and Junlian by one thousand eight hundred shi, and have Commander Wei Wu survey fields and strip surrendered people's land for troops and settlers. Gong Magistrate Bu Liang, reading Hao's mind, lured and killed the surrendered chief A Shang. Du Cong, shamed by the lost helmet, hated Wenyi and secretly put a price on his head. Wenyi played on the tribes' anger, stirred them up, and open rebellion followed. They stormed Gao and Qingfu and breached both county seats. Du Cong marched to meet them, was beaten again, and lost seven hundred killed or wounded. West of Liya, the six Tianquan fan districts erupted one after another. Nanjing Supervising Secretary Sun Mao and investigating censors Lu Yong and Li Long impeached Hao in turn. In the fourteenth year the court at last sent officers to seize him. On the road to Henan he pleaded grave illness and was left at home. Only after Emperor Shizong succeeded was he taken; soon he was struck from the register and sent home. Yang Yiqing and Hu Shining urged his restoration, but Gui E blocked it and nothing came of it. Long afterward he died.
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贊曰:何鑒綰中樞,能任諸將滅賊,蓋其時楊廷和在政府,閣部同心,故克奏效雲爾。 馬中錫雅負時望,而軍旅非其所長,適用取敗。 然觀劉宸阻降之言,亦可以觀朝事矣。 陸完交結之罪浮於首功,得從八議,有佚罰焉。 洪鐘、陳金威略甚著,而土兵之謠,聞之心惻,斯又統戎旃者所當留意也。
The historians remark that He Jian commanded the center and used his generals well because Yang Tinghe still led the government and court and ministries pulled together — only then could the campaigns succeed. Ma Zhongxi enjoyed great literary fame, but armies were not his gift; put in command, he was bound to fail. Yet in Liu Chen's refusal to accept surrender one can read the temper of the times at court. Lu Wan's treasonable dealings outweighed his service against the rebels; under the eight mitigations his punishment was softened — perhaps too softly. Hong Zhong and Chen Jin won striking victories, yet the folk rhyme about native troops still wounds the ear — a warning any commander bearing the army standard should remember.