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卷二百 列傳第八十八 姚鏌 張嵿 伍文定 蔡天祐 詹榮 劉天和 楊守禮 張岳 郭宗臯 趙時春

Volume 200 Biographies 88: Yao Mo, Zhang Ding, Wu Wending, Cai Tianyou, Zhan Rong, Liu Tianhe, Yang Shouli, Zhang Yue, Guo Zonggao, Zhao Shichun

Chapter 200 of 明史 · History of Ming
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Chapter 200
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1
嵿
Yao Mo; Zhang Ding; Wu Wending; Cai Tianyou; Zhan Rong; Liu Tianhe; Yang Shouli; Zhang Yue; Guo Zonggao; Zhao Shichun.
2
西 使 使 西使
Yao Mo, styled Yingzhi, was a native of Cixi. In Hongzhi year 6 he passed the jinshi examination. He was appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Rites, then promoted to assistant department director. He was promoted to assistant education intendant of Guangxi. He founded the Xuancheng Academy and invited instructors in the Five Classics to teach the students. The people of Guangxi worshipped the mountain spirit Zhuo Wang. Mo destroyed the image, and local custom changed accordingly. He was transferred to Fujian as vice commissioner and soon afterward was reassigned to oversee educational affairs. In Zhengde year 9 he was promoted to surveillance commissioner of Guizhou. In year 15 he was appointed right vice censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Yan-sui. He submitted six proposals on frontier affairs, and all were approved for implementation. In Jiajing 1, Jirong invaded Jingyang. Mo sent mobile commander Peng Yuan by the western route, released Commander Bu Yun from prison, and appointed him as his deputy. They launched a midnight ambush, beheaded two enemy generals, and the raiders then withdrew. The emperor sent a personal edict commending him. He was soon summoned as right vice minister of Works, sent out to supervise the grain transport system, and then transferred to left vice minister of War.
3
調使 使 便
In year 4 he was promoted to right censor-in-chief, placed in overall command of Guangdong-Guangxi military affairs, and also appointed grand coordinator. Cen Meng, the native official of Tianzhou, plotted rebellion. Mo mobilized the Yongshun and Baojing forces and had Shen Xiyi, Zhang Jing, Li Zhang, Zhang You, and Cheng Jian each lead eighty thousand troops in a multi-pronged campaign. Mo himself, together with regional commander Zhu Qi and others, took Dingluo and Danliang. Following Shen Xiyi's plan, he secured Meng's father-in-law Cen Zhang as an inside ally, inflicted a crushing defeat, and beheaded Meng's son Bangyan. Zhang lured Meng to his death and presented his head. An edict promoted Mo to left censor-in-chief, conferred on him the additional title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, granted office to one of his sons, and advanced the generals in rank to varying degrees. Mo asked that native offices be replaced with regular officials and submitted seven proposals for postwar consolidation; the court approved. The court then ordered participating secretary Wang Bidong, assistant commissioner Shen Hui, and assistant regional commander Zhang Jing to garrison the area with ten thousand troops. Wang Bidong and Shen Hui pleaded illness and moved their garrisons elsewhere. Meng's partisans Lu Su, Wang Shou, and others spread the false report that Meng was still alive and that two hundred thousand Annamese troops were on their way; the tribal peoples believed them. Lu and his men pressed the city; Zhang Jing broke out and fled, and the city was lost. Wang Shou also attacked and captured Sien Prefecture. Investigating censor Shi Jin impeached Mo for strategic failure and deceiving the throne, and also criticized the former supreme commander Sheng Yingqi. The emperor held that Mo still had merit and allowed him discretionary authority to pacify or suppress as circumstances required. Lu and Wang repeatedly petitioned for amnesty, but Mo refused and was preparing a major punitive campaign. The court then resolved to recall Wang Shouren to command the Guangdong-Guangxi armies and ordered Mo to serve alongside him. Mo pleaded illness and asked to be relieved of duty; he was permitted to return home by express relay.
4
Earlier, Guangdong education intendant Wei Xiao had seized thousands of mu of temple and monastery land, all of which ended up in the hands of Huo Tao, Fang Xianfu, and their allies. When Mo arrived in Guangdong, he recovered the land for the government. Huo and Fang resented him deeply and joined Zhang Cong and Gui E in a concerted attack on Mo. They charged that where Datong should have been fought he had chosen to pacify, and where Tianzhou should have been pacified he had chosen to fight—all fruits of Fei Hong's unsound governance, which had bred disasters in both north and south. Although Hong was already out of office, they still used Mo to attack him by implication. After Mo's request for relief was granted, while he was awaiting his successor, company commanders Wei Gui and Xu Wu attacked and recovered Sien. Mo reported this to the throne. An edict first rewarded Wei and the others, but left questions of pacification and suppression to Wang Shouren's judgment. Mo then submitted a memorial rebutting Shi's earlier accusation, charging Shi with obstruction and with nurturing the rebels. Shi likewise submitted another memorial denouncing Mo. The emperor, having already been persuaded by Zhang Cong and his allies, stripped Mo of office and ordered him to live in retirement.
5
Later, when Lu and Wang rebelled again, the emperor gradually came to regret dismissing Mo. In year 13 the supreme command over the three frontiers fell vacant. Grand Secretaries Fei Hong and Li Shi were summoned together for an audience. Hong recommended Mo, and Shi seconded the recommendation. Mo was accordingly ordered to take up the post of Minister of War with overall command of military affairs on the three frontiers. Before he could take up the appointment, Hong died. Mo declined the appointment. The emperor was displeased and again stripped him of office, ordering him to live in retirement. After Mo was dismissed, as many as twenty recommendation memorials were submitted on his behalf, but he was not reappointed. He lived at home for several years and then died.
6
殿
His son Lai, styled Weidong. In Jiajing year 2 he placed first in the palace examination. He was appointed Hanlin Academician Expositor. He joined the dispute over the Grand Rites and was beaten in court. He also argued that the merger of suburban sacrifices should not be undertaken lightly. When summoned to compile the Great Canon of Ming Ethics, he earnestly declined and did not take part. He rose through successive posts to Reader-in-waiting of the Hanlin Academy.
7
嵿 祿 嵿 西使 嵿 嵿 祿
Zhang Ding, styled Shijun, was a native of Xiaoshan. In Chenghua year 23 he passed the jinshi examination. Early in the Hongzhi reign, while compiling the Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong, he was sent to Suzhou, Songjiang, and other prefectures to gather overlooked material. When the work was completed, he was appointed magistrate of Shangrao. He was transferred to principal clerk in the Nanjing Ministry of War and was soon promoted in place to director in the Ministry of Punishments. Early in the Zhengde reign he was transferred to prefect of Xinghua. Marquis of Longping Zhang You had no son; his younger brother Lu and kinsmen disputed the succession, appealed to the Nanjing judiciary, and after long delay appealed again to the capital. Liu Jin was then in control of the government and stripped Minister Fan Ying and Censor-in-chief Gao Quan of their official standing. Ding, as the investigating director, took on the case and was himself reduced to commoner status. After Jin's fall he was restored to office and appointed magistrate of Nanxiong. He was promoted to administration commissioner of Jiangxi and then to right provincial administration commissioner. Cited for outstanding administrative performance, he was transferred to the left commissionership. The Prince of Ning, Zhu Chenhao, wished to seize more land and enlarge his residence; Ding refused to allow it. Enraged, Chenhao sent someone to present him with gifts. When Ding opened the parcel, he found jujubes, pears, ginger, and mustard—a veiled curse by homophonic wordplay. Before long he was summoned to serve as Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Appointed right vice censor-in-chief to grand-coordinate the Baoding prefectures, he offended powerful eunuchs and retired on grounds of illness.
8
便
Wu Wending, styled Shitai, was a native of Songzi. His father Xiu had served as administration commissioner of Guizhou. Wending passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi year 12. He was powerfully built, skilled at archery and horsemanship, and spoke with passionate conviction. Appointed investigating commissioner of Changzhou, he was acute and decisive in judgment and was known as a formidable magistrate. When Duke of Wei Xu Si disputed land with commoners, Wending investigated the case and restored the fields to the people. Liu Jin accepted heavy bribes from Xu Si and launched a major prosecution; grand coordinator Ai Pu and fourteen others were all arrested. Wending had already been transferred to vice prefect of Chengdu, but he too was thrown into the imperial prison and reduced to commoner status. After Jin's fall he was restored to office and appointed magistrate of Jiaxing.
9
西 殿西 調 西使
Wang Haoba and other Yaoyuan bandits from Jiangxi raided Kaihua in Zhejiang; Censor-in-chief Yu Jian ordered Wending, together with regional vice commander Li Long, commander-in-chief Jiang Hong, and assistant commissioner Chu Shan, to suppress them, and they encamped at Huabu. Commander-in-chief Bai Hong and Huzhou prefect Huang Zhong, however, set up a separate camp at Majin. The bandit Liu Chang defeated them three times, captured Hong, and the government forces suffered a major defeat. Haoba struck at Huabu; Hong and Wending repulsed him and pursued as far as Kongbu. Long and Shan also pursued the bandits to Chihuai, destroyed their stronghold, and advanced against Yintian. Hong led a picked force deep into enemy territory, fell into an ambush, and was captured along with Commander Zhang Lin and others. Wending and the others covered the retreat and got back safely; the bandits also fled into Jiangxi. Yu Jian and the others submitted a memorial praising Wending's loyal courage; an edict ordered the relevant offices to reward him. Promoted to prefect of Henan, he devised stratagems and captured the major bandits Zhang Yong and Li Wenjian. Recognizing his talent for governing difficult jurisdictions, the court transferred him to Ji'an. By stratagem he pacified the bandits of Yongfeng and Mount Damao. He later assisted Grand Coordinator Wang Shouren in pacifying Tonggang and Hengshui. When Chenhao rebelled, the gentry and commoners of Ji'an scrambled to flee and hide. Wending beheaded one man who tried to flee, and the people were thereby steadied. He then welcomed Shouren into the city. Prefects Xing Xun, Xu Lian, Dai Deru, and others arrived one after another, and together they marched against the rebels. Wending served as the chief commander. In the battle on the bingchen day he exposed himself to arrows and stones; though fire scorched his beard, he did not flinch. When the rebels were pacified, his merit ranked first, and he was promoted to surveillance commissioner of Jiangxi. Zhang Zhong and Xu Tai reached Nanchang intending to steal the credit, but Shouren had already captured Chenhao and was escorting him to Zhejiang. Zhong and his party were disappointed and filled with hatred. When Wending came out to pay his respects, they bound him on the spot. Wending cursed them, saying, "I did not spare my own kin in order to pacify a great rebel for the state—what crime is that? You are the Son of Heaven's closest retainers, yet you humiliate loyal men and avenge rebels—by law you deserve execution. Zhong grew even angrier and clubbed Wending to the ground. Wending asked to be relieved of duty, but received no reply.
10
使 西 西 西
He was soon transferred to right provincial administration commissioner of Guangdong. Before he could take up the appointment, Emperor Shizong succeeded to the throne. He submitted a memorial detailing the crimes of Zhong and the others, saying, "When Zhong and Tai came to Jiangxi with Liu Hui, Zhong called himself the emperor's younger brother, Hui called himself the emperor's son, and Tai styled himself Vice General of Might and Prestige, claiming to be the emperor's equal. They insulted commissioned officials and falsely persecuted innocent people. Their exactions were endless, and their plunder exceeded a million. They left the fields strewn with the starved dead and bandits running rampant. Even if the three were cut to pieces inch by inch, it would not be enough to answer to the people of Jiangxi. Now the great criminals Jiang Bin and Qian Ning have both been executed; these three were in fact their accomplices. I beg that they be swiftly punished by law to uphold the statutes of the realm. He also asked that Chenhao's assets be disbursed and returned to Jiangxi to fund public expenses; and that innocents framed by Zhong and Tai, together with Ning princely clansmen who had not joined the plot, be shown mercy in order to clear wrongful imprisonments. The emperor approved all of these proposals. In recognition of his merit he was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and placed in command of the Caojiang defense. In Jiajing year 3 he captured more than two hundred sea bandits including Dong Xiao and was rewarded with an imperial edict of commendation. He soon retired on grounds of illness.
11
In year 6 he was summoned to serve as right vice minister of War. That winter he was promoted to right censor-in-chief to replace Hu Shining as head of the Censorate. The Yunnan tribal chief An Quan rebelled, defeated administration vice commissioner Huang Zhaodao, and captured Xundian and Songming. The following year the Wuding tribal chief Feng Chaowen also rebelled, killed officials below the rank of sub-prefect, and joined forces with Quan to besiege Yunnan. An edict promoted Wending to Minister of War while retaining his former duties, placed him in overall command of the armies of Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Huguang to suppress them, and appointed Vice Minister Liang Cai to supervise supplies. At the same time Pulu, son of the Mangbu rebel chief Shabao, rose in revolt, and this campaign was also assigned to Wending. Before Wending reached Yunnan, Quan and his followers had already been defeated by Grand Coordinator Ouyang Chong, so he shifted his army to campaign against Pulu. Left censor-in-chief Li Chengxun argued forcefully that Sichuan and Guizhou were too devastated for war; Wending was recalled and ordered to command the capital barracks. When Wending reached Huguang, he memorialized asking leave to return home for ancestral sacrifices. Later, Sichuan investigating censor Dai Jin submitted another memorial, saying, "When the rebel chiefs first rose, their strength could still have been pacified. Yet Wending resolved to advance troops without the slightest regard for consequences. He rushed grain forward by forced labor, squandering hundreds of thousands. Even after an edict ordered the troops withdrawn, he still would not stop. He also vehemently denounced the crimes of tribal chiefs such as Aji. Soldiers and civilians spread rumors, and unrest nearly broke out again. This subject, in his ignorance, believes Wending deserves punishment. Ministers Fang Xianfu and Li Chengxun accordingly denounced Wending for grandstanding, wasting resources, and disturbing the populace, and he was ordered to retire.
12
Wending prided himself on loyalty and righteousness, dared to act decisively, and would not bend with the times. In the Mangbu campaign he was angered that petty chiefs repeatedly rebelled and wished to vindicate the state's authority, but was thwarted by critics on the sidelines. The court devoted itself solely to appeasement, and for this reason his achievement could not be brought to completion. In the seventh month of year 9 he died at home. Early in the Tianqi reign he was posthumously granted the title Loyal and Assisting.
13
滿 使
Xing Xun, a native of Dangtu, passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi year 6. Early in the Zhengde reign he rose through posts to director in the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. He offended Liu Jin and was struck from the official register. After Jin was executed he was restored to the Nanjing Ministry of Works and transferred to prefect of Ganzhou. He induced the major bandit Man Zong and others to surrender, granted them houses and fields, and treated them with great generosity. Later, in campaigns against other bandits, he relied heavily on their strength. When Shouren campaigned against Hengshui and Tonggang, Xun often served as the army vanguard. His merit ranked first, and he received a two-rank advancement. When Chenhao rebelled, he tried to win Zong over with rich rewards. Zong seized Chenhao's envoy and sent him to Xun, then followed Xun in pacifying Chenhao.
14
西 使
Xu Lian was a native of Chaoyi. He was a jinshi of the same year as Wending. From a post as director in the Ministry of Revenue he went out to serve as prefect of Yuanzhou. In the campaign against Chenhao he took more than a thousand enemy heads. When the affair was settled, Xun and Lian were transferred to right administration commissioners of Jiangxi. Emperor Shizong recorded their merit, and each received a two-rank advancement. In the grand review of Jiajing year 2, supervising secretaries and censors impeached twenty-two surveillance and administration officials for dereliction of duty; Xun and Lian were among them. The Ministry of Personnel, citing unpaid military merit, requested that they be advanced to administration commissioners and allowed to retire; this was approved. In the end the two men were cast aside entirely.
15
使
Xun's son Zhi had once studied under Zhang Cong. Early in the Jiajing reign he passed the provincial examination. When Cong rose to power he repeatedly wished to support him, but Zhi declined and would not accept. He was appointed magistrate of Pucheng. There was a man named Xu Pu who served in the government office. At first sight Zhi recognized his unusual talent, had him study with his son, and found him a wife. Later he passed the metropolitan examination and became a supervising secretary. His family worshipped Zhi generation after generation. His younger brother Zhi, a jinshi, served through posts as censor and ended his career as salt transport commissioner of Shandong. He was known for his pure integrity.
16
使 使 祿
Dai Deru was a native of Linhai. He passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi year 18. He rose through posts to assistant department director in the Ministry of Works. While supervising the Wuhu tax, he earned a reputation for integrity. He was transferred to serve as prefect of Linjiang. When Chenhao rebelled, he sent envoys to seize the prefectural seal; Deru beheaded them. He swore to his family, "I will die defending this lone city. If danger comes, you are to drown yourselves in the pool—I will not fail the state. That very day he put the city under martial law. He soon joined Shouren in destroying Chenhao. He left office to observe mourning. Because Deru had disciplined his troops most strictly, Emperor Shizong alone gave him a three-rank advancement and appointed him right provincial administration commissioner of Yunnan. When his boat stopped at Xuzhou, he drowned in a capsize. Later he was posthumously granted the title Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and office was granted to one of his sons.
17
Xun, Lian, and the others took the lead in the righteous campaign against the rebels and within little more than a month achieved a great victory. Those in power, because they resented Shouren, harshly suppressed them. Sometimes rewarded and sometimes not, they were often driven from office under the pretext of the evaluation law. When Shouren twice memorialized declining enfeoffment, he spoke on their behalf, saying:
18
退
When Chenhao's rebellion first erupted, its momentum was fierce and overwhelming; people's hearts were filled with doubt, fear, and hesitation. At that time, those who first joined the righteous army included, besides Wu Wending, Xing Xun, Xu Lian, Dai Deru, and others, the prefects Chen Huai, Zeng Yu, and Hu Yaoyuan; the magistrates Liu Yuanqing, Ma Jin, Fu Nanqiao, Li Mei, Li Ji, Yang Cai, Wang Mian, Gu Bi, Liu Shouxu, and Wang Shi; the local censor-in-chief Wang Maozhong; the compiler Zou Shouyi; and the censors Zhang Aoshan, Wu Xiru, and Xie Yuan. Some broke enemy lines and charged formations, some lay in ambush and launched surprise attacks, some assisted in planning and deliberation and supervised records and logistics—the so-called shared merit as one body. Men under his command—such as the selected official Lei Ji, the deceased merit appointee Xiao Yu, the retired county assistant Long Guang, the commander Gao Rui, and the company commander Wang Zuo—either forged military dispatches to disrupt the enemy's movements and ruin their plans, or forged letters to sow discord among their trusted followers and break up their faction. Now I hear that in the merit records and registers, the revisions have cut away much of what was recorded. The presented scholar Ji Yuanheng persuaded the Prince of Ning on my behalf, yet was framed by villains and died in prison—a case especially heartbreaking and gruesome to behold, and one for which I bear a debt in the deepest dark.
19
西
Chenhao's accumulated power and intimidation were such that even thousands of li away, none failed to be shaken and alarmed into confusion. How much more so for the Jiangxi prefectures and counties directly exposed to danger—everywhere one looked there were rebel troops, rebel agents at every turn—unless one truly had the righteousness of giving one's body to meet calamity and the loyalty of exerting all strength to repay one's lord, who would willingly accept being ground to powder, submit to the execution of the whole clan, tread ground certain to mean death, and hope for merit one in ten thousand times unlikely to be obtained!
20
使退
Now I alone am grandly enfeoffed with titles, while these fellow participants—some received no reward and moreover had their merits cut away; some were punished before any reward arrived; some nominally received promotions yet were thereby made to retire; and some falsely bore the label of disloyalty and were then dismissed. Nor is it only that they were already slandered and framed by the various powerful villains and humiliated. Hostility and envy abound; all that matters is picking faults and searching them out for pleasure. I have never seen anyone voice their injustice or redress their wrongs, and I am deeply pained.
21
The memorial was submitted and ultimately shelved without being implemented.
22
使 西使
Cai Tianyou, styled Chengzhi, was a native of Suizhou. His father Sheng was prefect of Jinan and was known for integrity and benevolence. Tianyou passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi year 18, was appointed a Hanlin probationer, was made supervising secretary in the Secretariat Personnel Bureau, and went out to serve as administration vice commissioner of Fujian. He served as Shandong vice commissioner with responsibility for patrolling Liaoyang. In a year of famine he kept more than ten thousand starving people alive. He opened tens of thousands of acres of coastal embankment fields, and the people named them "Lord Cai's fields." He was steadily promoted to surveillance commissioner of Shanxi.
23
In Jiajing year 3 the Datong troops mutinied and Grand Coordinator Zhang Wenjin was killed. An edict offered a partial pardon to the mutinous soldiers and transferred Grand Coordinator of Xuanfu Li Duo to pacify them. Duo did not come on account of mourning for his mother, so Tianyou was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Datong. Tianyou rushed into the city with only a few horsemen, exhorted the soldiers to surrender the ringleaders, and the troops gradually calmed. When Minister Jin Xianmin and Regional Commander Hang Xiong marched toward Gansu and passed through Datong, the mutinous soldiers suspected they had come to attack and again raised a clamor. Tianyou grew afraid and urgently requested another pardon. The Ministry of War said, "Unless the chief villains are removed there is no way to warn those who come after." They requested that a special senior minister be dispatched to take overall command of military affairs in Xuanfu and Datong to control the situation. Hu Zan, Vice Minister of Revenue, was then ordered to go together with Commander Lu Gang at the head of three thousand capital troops. Before Zan and the others set out, the jinshi Li Zhi arrived carrying supply silver. The mutinous soldiers said, "This carries out a secret edict to kill all the people of Datong—it is bounty for the army. That night fire broke out; they surrounded Li Zhi's lodge, and only when documents were produced and shown to them did they disperse. Soon afterward they again killed Magistrate Wang Wenchang, surrounded the Prince of Dai's residence, and coerced the prince to memorialize begging pardon. The prince urgently fled with two commandery princes to Xuanfu. Investigating Censor Wang Guan said, "The mutinous soldiers are just now clamorous, and great armies press the border—this will only drive them to rebel. I beg that the capital troops be halted immediately and that I be allowed to plan in secret. Zan was then ordered to halt his troops at Xuanfu. Before long Tianyou memorialized that Regional Commander Gui Yong had already captured fifty-four men and requested that the capital troops not be dispatched. The emperor rebuked him for obstruction and ordered that the ringleaders Guo Jian and others must be captured. Soon afterward Zan reached Yanghe; Yong and Tianyou had Company Commander Miao Deng capture and behead Jian and eleven others, sent the heads in boxes to Zan, and requested withdrawal of the army.
24
使
Barely two days later, Jian's father Guo Bazizi again gathered Xu Zhan'er and others to kill Yong's family at night and also destroyed Miao Deng's house. Zan said the mutineers could not be pacified unless they were completely annihilated. The emperor then sharply rebuked Tianyou, recalled Yong to the capital, replaced him with the former regional commander Zhu Zhen, and ordered Zan to remain stationed at Xuanfu. Before long Tianyou captured and executed Xu Zhan'er and others, and Zan and the others then withdrew the army. In the first month of the following year, Vice Ministers Li Kun and Meng Chun and Regional Commander Ma Yong jointly memorialized that Bazizi had secretly fled beyond the frontier and would surely become a future threat. The emperor was about to dispatch an inspector when Zan returned to the capital and said the escaped soldiers were no great concern; the emperor then canceled sending the inspector. Bazizi again secretly entered the city and burned Zhen's residence. At dawn the next day Tianyou closed the city and conducted a thorough search. They captured Bazizi and thirty-four of his followers and executed them all as a public warning. All who had been coerced were pardoned, and public sentiment was greatly settled. When the affair was reported, silver and silks were bestowed as reward. Thereafter he was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief while continuing as grand coordinator.
25
祿便
Soon afterward he was further promoted to Vice Minister of the Right in the Ministry of War. After a long time he was recalled to the ministry. Tianyou, because fief stipends had long been in arrears and it was also the year for repairing the frontier walls, used his discretionary authority to raise the price of Huai salt certificates, adding five thousand taels of silver per certificate, and was impeached. The emperor pardoned him. At this time Censor Li Zongshu again pursued investigation of the earlier affair, and Tianyou therefore cited illness and resigned. After two years he was ordered by edict to return to service. Before reaching the capital he fell ill, requested leave to return home, and died. He was ninety-five years old.
26
Tianyou had talent and wisdom. At the time of the military mutiny. Those around him were all the rebels' eyes and ears; every movement of the headquarters was fully known to them. Tianyou widely recruited astrologers and men of various arts to come and go in the army, and thereby fully learned their situation; success in the end relied on this. During seven years in the post his prestige and virtue were greatly noted, and the elders established an Anji Temple for him.
27
Hu Zan, styled Boheng, was a native of Yongping. He was a jinshi. He ended his career as Minister of Works in Nanjing.
28
西
Zhang Wenjin was a native of Anqiu. He passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi year 12 and was appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. Early in the Zhengde reign he was framed by Liu Jin, arrested and imprisoned in the imperial prison, and dismissed as a commoner. After Jin was executed he was restored to his former post. He was promoted again to bureau director. While supervising tax collection in Shaanxi, he submitted ten measures for securing the frontier and enriching the people. He was transferred to serve as prefect of Anqing. He judged that Prince of Ning Chenhao would surely rebel and with Regional Commander Yang Rui made plans for defense. Chenhao did rebel and sailed down the river. Wenjin and the others feared he would attack the Southern Capital and had soldiers mount the walls to revile him. Chenhao therefore stayed to attack but ultimately could not take it. The affair is fully related in the Biography of Yang Rui. An imperial edict of commendation praised him, and he was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Stud. In Jiajing 1 he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Datong. Wenjin was by nature stern. Because resisting the rebels had won him a heavy reputation, he thereupon set his mind on vigorous reform; his handling was sharp and rather disordered. North of Datong the land was level and open on every side; when raiders came there was nothing to block them. Wenjin said, "When raiders invade Xuanfu they cannot approach the garrison city because Ge Valley, Baiyang, and other forts serve as outer screens. Now the battlefield is right outside the city walls—how can this show weight? It was decided to add five forts ninety li north of the city: Shuikou, Xuannning, Zhihe, Liugou, and Huagou. Assistant Regional Commander Jia Jian supervised the labor strictly, and the soldiers were already resentful. When the forts were completed, he wished to transfer twenty-five hundred garrison households to guard them. The troops feared going and requested recruiting new recruits instead; the subordinate officials all spoke in favor of this. Wenjin angrily said, "If it is like this, then orders will not be carried out. The garrison's personal troops go first—who would dare lag behind! The personal troops had long been idle pleasure-seekers with families. Hearing they were to be dispatched, they were greatly terrified. They requested going alone without their families, in rotation. This too was not granted, and strict orders hurried them on. Jian, taking his cue from above, caned their squad leader. The frontier soldiers, since the five guards of Ganzhou had killed Grand Coordinator Xu Ming and the court had treated the matter lightly, had little fear. At this time soldiers Guo Jian, Liu Zhong, and others, taking advantage of the crowd's anger, then incited the mutiny. They killed Jia Jian, tore his corpse apart, fled beyond the frontier, and encamped at Jiaoshan Beacon. Wenjin feared they would join with external raiders and ordered Vice General Shi Chen and others to summon them back into the city, then immediately demanded the punishment of the ringleaders. Guo Jian and the others, seized with terror, rose again in mutiny. They burned the gate of Datong Prefecture, entered the Regional Military Commission to free the prisoners, and burned the gate of the grand coordinator's yamen as well. Wenjin scaled the wall and fled, taking refuge in the mansion of the Prince of Boye. The mutinous soldiers wanted to burn the princely residence. The prince, in fear, handed Wenjin over. Guo Jian and his followers killed him, tore his corpse apart, and then burned the headquarters of the regional commander. They freed the former regional commander Zhu Zhen from prison and forced him to serve as their leader. This occurred in the eighth month of Jiajing year 3. When word reached the throne, the emperor ordered Vice Minister Li Kun to grant amnesty to the mutinous soldiers. Li Kun petitioned for posthumous honors for Wenjin, but received no response. Long afterward, Wenjin's father Zheng brought suit over his son's merits in defending Anqing; the Ministry of Rites interceded on his behalf, but the throne still refused. Wenjin's wife, Lady Li, submitted another memorial pleading in anguish. The emperor flew into a rage and ordered the bearer of the memorial arrested and punished. Vice Censor-in-Chief Chen Hongmo said, "Wenjin brought ruin upon himself through reckless conduct; the court could have put him to death. But to leave the killing to mutinous soldiers and let the story spread across the realm has done no small harm to the dynasty's prestige." Another imperial edict was issued reproaching Lady Li. After that, no one at court dared raise the matter again. Only during the Wanli reign was he posthumously granted the rank of Right Censor-in-Chief. Early in the Tianqi reign, he was posthumously honored with the title Zhongmin, "Loyal and Compassionate."
29
Zhan Rong, styled Renfu, was a native of Shanhai Guard. He passed the jinshi examination in Jiajing year 5. He was appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue and rose to department director.
30
祿
While supervising grain supplies at Datong, he was caught up in a mutiny in which the soldiers killed Regional Commander Li Jin. Grand Coordinator Liu Yuanqing led an army to besiege the city, but could not reduce it for a long time. Rong had always been quick-witted and resourceful, skilled at adapting to crisis. Though the mutineers plundered the city, none laid a hand on Rong. As the siege tightened, Rong secretly pledged an alliance with Regional Commander Ji Zhen, Mobile Commander Dai Lian, and Garrison Commander Wang Ning to put down the rebels together. Finding that the rebel soldiers Ma Sheng and Yang Lin bore no treasonous intent, he openly sent Wang Ning with a petition from officials and townspeople to Yuanqing's camp seeking amnesty for the mutineers, while secretly apprising Yuanqing of his plan: spare Ma and Yang from execution, grant them three thousand taels of silver, and let them raise a corps of die-hard fighters to prove their loyalty. By then Yuanqing had already been removed from office, and Grand Coordinator Fan Jizu approved the arrangement. Ma and Yang rallied their trusted followers, seized the ringleaders Huang Zhen and eight others, and put them to death. Rong then opened the city gates, admitted Fan Jizu, and twenty-six more men were arrested and executed. His service was officially recognized: he was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, then transferred to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
31
使 歿 祿
In Jiajing year 22, he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Gansu. More than ninety tribute envoys from Rum who were staying at Ganzhou were driven by Regional Commander Yang Xin into battle against raiders; one in ten died. Rong memorialized: "They came in friendship, yet we sent them into the clash of arms. This alienates distant peoples and advertises the empire's weakness." The throne ordered Yang Xin's dismissal, had the dead placed in coffins, and sent them home. The frontier peoples were deeply gratified. The following year, because Grand Coordinator Zhao Jin of Datong and Regional Commander Zhou Shangwen could not work together, the throne ordered Rong and Zhao to swap posts. When Altan led tens of thousands of horsemen in a raid, Rong and Zhou Shangwen routed them on the sunny slope of Black Mountain, and Rong was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. The raiders returned in force against the middle sector; Regional Vice Commander Zhang Feng and others fell on the field. Rong, Zhou Shangwen, and Grand Coordinator Weng Wanda massed their forces at Yanghe, sent cavalry to harry the enemy along the route, inflicted heavy casualties, and the raiders withdrew. Chong Zhuo, a State Supporting General of the Princedom of Dai, had taken to raiding; Rong memorialized for the confiscation of his stipend. Chong Zhuo and his confederates colluded with the Little Prince to raid the frontier and plotted to seize Datong. Rong alerted Zhou Shangwen, who captured them; all were duly punished. Concluding that Datong lacked natural defenses, Rong built one hundred thirty-eight li of border wall along the eastern route, seven forts, and one hundred fifty-four beacon towers. He also argued that frontier defense required stored grain. Thirty-one nearby forts of the Hongsi sector stretched more than five hundred li; once cleared and cultivated, they yielded fertile fields totaling several hundred thousand qing. He memorialized to have troops called out to farm the land, exempt them from rents and corvée labor, and repurpose Datong's annual horse-purchase budget to buy oxen for distribution. In autumn and winter the troops would muster there to block raiders. The emperor promptly approved. When raiders struck again, he and Zhou Shangwen defeated them at Mount Mituo and beheaded a tribal chief.
32
For quelling the mutiny he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War; for fortifying the frontier and defeating the enemy he received repeated rewards from the throne. He was recalled to manage affairs at the Ministry of War and promoted to Left Vice Minister. When Minister Zhao Tingrui was removed, Rong acted in his stead and submitted ten measures for autumn frontier defense. Soon afterward Weng Wanda entered the ministry as minister but was mourning his mother; Rong was again expected to act in his place, yet he pleaded illness and asked to retire. The emperor, angered, stripped him of rank and sent him home in disgrace. Two years later he died.
33
While Rong served as grand coordinator of Datong, Weng Wanda was frontier governor-general and Zhou Shangwen was regional commander. All three were men of talent and skill; though raiders struck repeatedly, they never gained their object. Their successors proved unequal to the task; raiders crossed the border every year, and men looked back all the more fondly on Rong and his colleagues. The following year Altan raided to the very walls of the capital; by then both Weng Wanda and Rong were gone. Commentators held that had the two men still been in office, the raiders might never have come so far. During the Wanli reign, Rong's grandson Yan, serving as deputy magistrate of Shuntian, submitted a memorial vindicating his grandfather's record. Rong was posthumously granted the rank of Minister of Works, with mourning benefits according to regulation.
34
Liu Yuanqing, styled Rucheng, was a native of Dongping. He passed the jinshi examination in Zhengde year 9. He was appointed magistrate of Jinxian.
35
使 殿 西 使
When the Prince of Ning rebelled, Yuanqing piled firewood around his house and told his family, "If matters turn desperate, burn this house down." One servant tried to flee; Yuanqing cut him down with his own hand as an example to the rest. Every local ruffian who had dealings with the rebels he had beaten to death. Lou Bo, younger brother of the Prince of Ning's consort, returned to Shangrao to raise troops; Yuanqing ambushed and killed him. When a rebel manifesto arrived, he immediately beheaded the bearer. Meanwhile Yegan Magistrate Ma Jin and Longjin Post assistant Sun Tianyou also took up arms against the rebels. A rebel known as the Seventh Highness seized transport boats at Longjin; Sun Tianyou fought him and killed several of his men. When rebel recruits passed through Longjin, Sun Tianyou pursued them, killed many, and burned their boats. The Lou family's armed followers marching west were likewise blocked by Sun Tianyou, who captured more than seventy men. That rebel forces dared not cross east of Lake Poyang to threaten the two Zhe provinces was owed to these three men. After the rebellion was suppressed, Yuanqing was summoned to serve as a censor. At the beginning of the Jiajing reign, Ma Jin also entered service as a censor. Ma Jin was a native of Chuzhou. He ended his career as vice commissioner of Fujian. Yuanqing was soon promoted to vice director of the Court of Judicial Review, then retired citing illness.
36
西
In the summer of Jiajing year 6, he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Xuanfu. The bandit Guo Chun of Dingshui Cliff seized a city in revolt and declared himself king. Yuanqing sent soldiers to capture him, but the operation was discovered. Vice Regional Commander Liu Yuan issued an order to "capture the ringleader only" and, banners unfurled, rode around the city calling out the terms. Guo Chun's followers scattered; Guo and his associates slit their own throats. Regional Commander Xi Yong abused his subordinates; Yuanqing impeached him and had him removed. He was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief. In Jiajing year 12, amid frontier emergencies, he was appointed Left Vice Minister of War with overall command of the garrisons of Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, and Baoding. Datong Regional Commander Li Jin ordered a forty-li moat dug at Zuogudian in Tiancheng and drove the labor relentlessly. Soldiers Wang Fusheng and others killed Li Jin by fire and burned the yamen of Grand Coordinator Pan Fang. Pan Fang memorialized that Li Jin had provoked the mutiny; the emperor ordered Yuanqing and Regional Commander Xi Yong to suppress it. Yuanqing issued a proclamation ordering the mutineers to disband. But the proclamation cited the earlier Five Forts mutiny as having been treated too leniently, and the surviving mutineers were seized with terror. When the army encamped at Yanghe, Pan Fang and others secretly arrested mutineers and beat more than ten to death, delivered more than seventy ringleaders including Wang Bao in bonds, and petitioned to withdraw the troops. Still mindful of the earlier debacle involving Hu Zan, Yuanqing refused to stand down and turned the prisoners over to Censor Su You. Under interrogation the prisoners falsely claimed that former Regional Commander Zhu Zhen had failed in duty and sparked the mutiny, implicating many innocent men besides. Yuanqing sent Regional Vice Commander Zhao Gang into the city on a sweeping manhunt. Rumors swept the city that a general massacre was imminent; the mutineers rose in uproar and killed Thousand-Commander Zhang Qin. Vice Commissioner Sun Yunzhong arrived from Yuanqing's headquarters, explained Yuanqing's intent, and only after his reassurances did the city quiet down. Zhu Zhen had been coerced by the mutineers and had never truly rebelled; he went to Yuanqing to clear his name. Unable to clear his name, he killed himself in despair.
37
When Xi Yong's army arrived at the walls and looted the city, the surviving mutineers from the Five Forts rose in full revolt. They gave battle and killed Mobile Commander Cao An. Government forces stormed and held the four passes, pressing the siege around the clock. The mutineers freed former Regional Commander Huang Zhen and others from jail, proclaimed them leaders, and prepared to die defending the city. Pan Fang, State-maintaining General Jun Yin, and others went up on the walls and urged that the assault be halted. Jun Yin went out to meet Xi Yong and begged for a respite in the fighting, but his pleas went unheeded. Sun Yunzhong was let down from the wall by rope and reported the indiscriminate killings by the troops. Yuanqing rebuked him: "Are you acting as the rebels' advocate?" He meant to have him arrested. Sun Yunzhong did not dare go back inside the city. Yuanqing then posted extra patrols to intercept memorials from the princely residence and from officials and civilians alike, and asked that reinforcements be raised to fifty thousand men. The emperor ordered Vice Minister Qian Rujing and Commissioner Jiang Huan to lead eight thousand capital troops to the scene. He soon thought better of it, canceled the deployment, and held Yuanqing and Xi Yong solely responsible for putting down the mutiny. Pan Fang sent an urgent memorial stating that indiscriminate killings by the troops had provoked the revolt, and urging a swift withdrawal of the army so the disorder might be ended. Yuanqing in turn denounced Pan Fang for appeasing the rebels. Zhang Fuyi sided with Yuanqing, while Vice Ministers Gu Dingchen and Huang Wan argued that military action was misguided, and the emperor could not make up his mind. As the siege wore on, the city fell into desperate straits, and the mutineers demolished the princely residence and government buildings for fuel. The Ministry of War issued fresh pacification orders, and Yuanqing also raised surrender banners; mutineers began trickling in one by one. The ringleader Huang Zhen and others also came out on successive days, asking that woodcutters be allowed to pass in and out, and Xi Yong agreed. The next day, when woodcutters went out, Xi Yong had them all arrested. Terror spread through the city; the mutineers rebelled again and called in outside raiders for help. Xi Yong met them in battle, was routed, and fled. The mutineers then brought more than ten raider horsemen into the city, pointed at the residence of the Prince of Dai, and said, "This shall be the nayan's dwelling." "Nayan" means "great lord" in Chinese. When the townspeople heard this, they wept in the streets. The next day the outside raiders attacked the two southeastern passes while the mutineers struck from another angle; government troops fought desperately, and both sides suffered losses. Finding the mutineers unreliable, the raiders turned on them, cursed them roundly, and withdrew. Meanwhile the raiders' scouting horsemen swept south as far as Shuo and Ying. Yuanqing asked to raise troops from the nine frontier garrisons and appoint an additional overall commander to hold them off so that he could devote himself to the siege, but the emperor refused. Yuanqing then assaulted from every direction, dug tunnels under the walls, and the dead from poisonous smoke lay heaped together. He again petitioned to dam the water and flood the city. The emperor was deeply displeased, dismissed him from office to live in retirement, and replaced him with Vice Minister of War Zhang Zan. Before Zhang Zan arrived, Director Jin Rong and others had already seized all the ringleaders.
38
Huang Wan reviewed merits and faults, declared Yuanqing and Xi Yong the true culprits, and impeached them in detail for extortionate bribery. Supervising Secretaries Zeng Bian and others argued that during the Prince of Ning rebellion Yuanqing had distinguished himself in defense and deserved the leniency afforded by the Eight Deliberations. The emperor was enraged, imprisoned Zeng Bian and his colleagues, and had Yuanqing arrested and prosecuted. The case dragged on without resolution; after Huang Wan withdrew in distress, the sentence was commuted from death and Yuanqing was banished as a commoner. When Altan Khan threatened the capital, Yuanqing was recalled from retirement, but died before he could report for duty. At the opening of the Longqing reign, he was posthumously appointed Minister of War.
39
西
Liu Tianhe, styled Yanghe, came from Macheng. He passed the jinshi examination in Zhengde year 3. He was appointed a secretary in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. When Liu Jin dismissed eighteen censors and filled their posts with twenty-four men transferred from other offices, Tianhe was among the replacements. He was sent out as investigating censor in Shaanxi. When the eunuch frontier commander Liao Tang was ordered to procure food and tribute goods at Lanzhou, Tianhe held that this lay outside his jurisdiction and refused to go. Liao Tang memorialized that Tianhe had defied orders, and an imperial edict ordered his arrest. Ten thousand local people wept as they escorted him away. Held long in the imperial prison, he was defended in a memorial by Minister of Personnel Yang Yiqing; the judicial offices recommended a fine and caning followed by reinstatement, but an imperial rescript instead demoted him to assistant magistrate of Jintan. Sun Jifang, a secretary in the Ministry of Punishments, submitted an urgent memorial in his defense, but received no reply. After several promotions he became prefect of Huzhou, where he carried out many policies that benefited the people.
40
西使 西
At the start of the Jiajing reign he was promoted to Vice Commissioner for Education in Shanxi. He rose through successive promotions to Vice Director of the Nanjing Court of Imperial Sacrifices. As Vice Censor-in-Chief he oversaw military colonization in Gansu. He proposed settling able-bodied men from Suzhou and displaced people from Shanxi and Shaanxi to farm and herd along the near frontier, and extending the policy to other border regions. He soon submitted ten recommended reforms, and frontier agriculture flourished. He was transferred to serve as grand coordinator of Shaanxi. He petitioned to remove the eunuch frontier commanders and to abolish more than thirty practices that harmed the people, and the emperor approved every proposal. When forty-two Tibetan tribes of Tao and Min grew restless, Tianhe executed those who refused to submit. He also suppressed the major bandits of Pinghu Store and the sorcerer rebels of Hanzhong, and was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief on that account.
41
After mourning his mother, he resumed his former rank and was put in charge of the Grand Canal. When the Yellow River shifted southward, the regions of Ji and Xu were flooded on every side. Tianhe dredged the Bian River from Zhuxian Town to Feiyun Bridge in Pei, cutting back its lower course. He cleared the seventy-two springs of Shandong from Mount Fu, Mount Ni, and other peaks down to the Nanwang River, dredging their lower channels. Using twenty thousand laborers, the work was completed in less than three months. He was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Works. By precedent the eight prefectures of Henan conscripted laborers each year for river work; those who did not serve paid three taels of silver apiece. Because of famine that year, Tianhe asked that levies on those near the river who were liable for corvée be wholly remitted, and that those farther away who had not yet served pay half. The emperor approved the request.
42
仿 宿
In Jiajing year 15 he was appointed Left Vice Minister of War with overall command of the Three Frontiers. The army wagons all had two wheels and required twenty men to move; they bogged down in rough terrain, moved too slowly, and were ill suited to campaigning. Tianhe proposed reviving the single-wheeled cart used by the former overall commander Qin Hong, mounting cannon, muskets, axes, and halberds on it, placing suanni shields before the carriage and tiger shields to either side, and linking two carts so that thirty or forty men could fight under cover. One man hauled it, two pushed, and two more flanked it on each side. In battle cavalry sheltered inside; at long range they used firearms, at medium range bows and crossbows, at close quarters short weapons, and when the enemy fled cavalry gave chase. He also devised small tents carried with the carts so the men would not have to sleep in the open. He also poisoned crossbow bolts and repaired the frontier walls, moats, and trenches. All his proposals were approved.
43
西 西 西 退
Jicang encamped with a hundred thousand men behind Helan Mountain and sent a detachment against Liangzhou; Vice General Wang Fu pursued them and captured their battle standard. When they raided Zhuanglang, Regional Commander Jiang Yi defeated them repeatedly. Tianhe was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief. The raiders massed again and prepared to invade. Reasoning that the raiders, finding the west well defended, would strike east, Tianhe secretly ordered Yan-Sui Vice General Bai Jue to march by night and join Regional Vice Commander Wu Ying. The raiders did enter from the east at Heihe Dun, ran into Bai Jue's ambush, suffered heavy losses, and withdrew. When they entered Jili Chuan again, Bai Jue struck from the rear and many raiders were killed. They soon raided Jiajian and Zhangjiata and were defeated by Bai Jue and Wu Ying. The force that struck Ningxia was again defeated by Regional Commander Wang Xiao. The emperor was greatly pleased and promoted Tianhe to Left Censor-in-Chief. When Jicang invaded west of the river, Tianhe drove him back and was promoted to Minister of War. As the raiders were about to enter Pinglu Fort, Tianhe laid an ambush at Huamachi. The raiders were defeated in battle and fled toward the river. They ran into the ambush, and many drowned. Jicang seized the opportunity to raid Guyuan and plundered to his fill. Heavy rains set in, glueing up bows and arrows, and the troops lost all fighting spirit. Many of the generals hung back in fear; Tianhe executed two commanders and recalled the former regional commander Zhou Shangwen, ordering him to redeem himself in battle. When Shaanxi Regional Commander Wei Shi intercepted the raiders at Heishui Yuan, Zhou Shangwen brought up all his crack troops in a pincer attack and killed Jicang's son, the Little Tenth Prince. As the raiders withdrew toward Ningxia, Grand Coordinator Yang Shouli, Regional Commander Ren Jie, and others intercepted them again, defeated them at Tiezhu Quan, and took more than four hundred forty heads and captives in all. For these achievements Tianhe was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, one son was granted a hereditary post as commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and he received silver and silks on more than ten occasions. He was transferred to Minister of Revenue at Nanjing, then recalled to serve as Minister of War and supervise the Corps Divisions. When censorial officials criticized him as too old for office, he requested retirement and returned home. After three years at home he died. He was posthumously awarded the title of Junior Guardian, with the posthumous name Zhuangxiang.
44
When Tianhe first passed the jinshi examination, Liu Jin wished to acknowledge him as a kinsman and discuss their shared lineage, but he politely declined and would not go. In his later years, when he was summoned to court, Tao Zhongwen welcomed him with a calling card and addressed him as a kinsman by marriage. Tianhe returned the card and said, "You are mistaken. Among all my marital connections, near and far, there is no such person." Zhongwen took offense, and he had no small part in bringing about Tianhe's dismissal from office.
45
Yang Shouli, styled Bingjie, was a native of Puzhou. He passed the jinshi examination in Zhengde year 6. He was appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. At the beginning of the Jiajing reign he was repeatedly promoted until he became surveillance vice commissioner of Huguang. By stratagem he captured the bandit chieftain of Gong'an. For an offense he was demoted to assistant prefect of Xuzhou. Through successive promotions he became Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Sichuan. Together with deputy general He Qing he pacified the rebellions of the various tribes and was awarded silver and silks. Earlier, when Shouli had been demoted to Xuzhou, he was humiliated by surveillance vice commissioner Zhang Wenkui. At this point Wenkui was transferred to Sichuan as administration vice commissioner. Fearing that Shouli would settle old scores, he first memorialized the court with charges he had dredged up. An edict ordered both men to resign their posts and return home.
46
Shouli was quick and capable, and both inside and outside the court he was regarded as a man of talent. Not long after he returned home, Minister of Works Qin Jin and others jointly recommended him, and he was recalled to serve as administration commissioner of Henan. He was again promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Ningxia. When raiders invaded Guyuan, they were defeated by Grand Coordinator Liu Tianhe. As they tried to withdraw from Ningxia, Shouli together with regional commander Ren Jie and others intercepted and defeated them. When Tianhe was recalled, Shouli was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and appointed to supervise military affairs in his place. For his earlier achievements he was promoted to Minister of War. Regional commanders Li Yi and Yang Xin repeatedly drove back Jicang, and on three occasions imperial edicts accompanied by silver and silks were bestowed. Soon afterward he memorialized requesting retirement. The emperor resented him for shirking hardship and reduced his salary by two grades.
47
調 退
That autumn thirty thousand mounted raiders reached Suide. Mobile detachment commander Zhang Peng drove them back, regional commander Wu Ying and others pursued them beyond the frontier, and Eastern Route deputy commander Zhou Wen's troops also arrived; in a pincer attack the raiders were defeated. Investigating censor Yin Xue argued that since the raiders had penetrated five hundred li into the interior, the generals should be punished. The ministry replied that the mobile troops of Yan-Sui had all been transferred to Xuan-Da, and the raiders had deliberately avoided strong points to strike where defenses were weak. Yet the commanders had defeated a larger force with fewer troops, and their merit ought to be recorded. Shouli was then made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, while Xue was demoted and sent away from court. Shouli soon left office to observe mourning. When Altan Khan approached the capital, court officials first recommended Shouli, and an edict ordered him to set out at once. When the raiders withdrew, the summons was canceled and he did not go. After some time he died.
48
便 西 西 西
Zhang Yue, styled Weiqiao, was a native of Huian. From youth he loved learning and set his sights on becoming a great Confucian scholar. He passed the jinshi examination in Zhengde year 11 and was appointed a courier. Emperor Wuzong lay ill in the Leopard Quarter. He requested that grand ministers attend the emperor, that censorial officials take turns watching over his daily routine, inspect his medicines, and guard against any unexpected turn of events. There was no response. Together with fellow officials he remonstrated against the southern tour, was beaten at the palace gate, and was demoted to director of studies at the Nanjing Imperial Academy. When Emperor Shizong succeeded to the throne, Yue was restored to his former post and promoted to Right Bureau Vice Director. Because his mother was aged, he requested a convenient post so he could care for her; he was transferred to vice director of Military Appointments at Nanjing and later served as bureau director of Receptions. At that time the court was debating the Grand Sacrifice rite. Zhang Cong sought to identify and substantiate the emperor's actual founding ancestor, and the ritual officials all murmured their assent. Yue said to Minister Li Shi, "It would be better to reserve a place for the Imperial Primordial Ancestor without identifying it with any particular person." Li Shi was greatly pleased and told Zhang Cong. Zhang Cong did not agree and submitted the original proposal. The emperor ultimately ordered the tablet inscribed with the title Imperial Primordial Ancestor, just as Yue had advised. Zhang Cong harbored resentment, and Yue was sent out to serve as education intendant vice commissioner of Guangxi. While on tour in Liuzhou, the troops went unpaid and raised a great uproar; the city gates were shut for five days. Yue ordered the garrison to open the gates, summoned the rioters for questioning, paid them their arrears, and sent them away. Soon afterward, by stratagem, he captured the ringleaders and brought them to justice. When he entered court to offer congratulations, he was transferred to education intendant of Jiangxi. Because he did not thank Zhang Cong, Cong dismissed seven selected tribute students from Guangxi and demoted Yue to salt tax intendant of Guangdong. He was promoted to prefect of Lianzhou. He supervised the people in reclaiming abandoned land and taught them to irrigate it with shadufs. The people of Lianzhou often poached from the pearl pools. Yue lived there four years and never once entered a pearl pool.
49
使使使使 西 使
The emperor sent an envoy to Annam to investigate Mo Dengyong's murder of the ruler. Yue said to Grand Coordinator Zhang Jing, "The Mo clan usurped the Le dynasty; that much can be known without any investigation. If the envoy goes, he will only receive deceitful words and disgrace the state. Please detain the envoy and do not let him proceed." Zhang Jing would not agree. Lin Xiyuan, magistrate of Qinzhou, memorialized requesting a decisive campaign against the Mo clan. Yue sent him a letter urging him to stop and also submitted six reasons in separate items why an attack should not be launched. He wrote to the chief ministers, saying, "According to reports from border people, Le Cong inherited the throne without a son of his own and adopted his elder brother's son Hui. Chen Gao launched a rebellion, Cong was killed, and Gao usurped the throne. Before long the people supported Hui, and Gao fled to Lang Son. Hui ruled for seven years before Mo Dengyong forced him out to live at Sinh Hoa. Dengyong installed Hui's younger brother Fei and served as his prime minister, then finally assassinated Fei and seized the throne himself, and the state split into three parts. The Le held the south, the Mo the center, and the Chen the northwest. Later Lang Son also fell to Dengyong, and the Chen line was finally extinguished. The territory held by the Le was the ancient Rinan region, bordering Champa and bounded by the sea; Dengyong could not cross south of it, and so both regimes survived. Recently Dengyong entrusted Jiaozhou to his grandson Fuhai while establishing his own residence at Do Du in the Hai Dong prefecture. Of all the prefectures of Annam, Hai Dong alone had the largest territory; this was the so-called Wangshan Commandery. This rebel bears the stigma of usurpation and treason, constantly drills troops against us, and from time to time loudly professes a wish to offer tribute. Because he was not the former king, the border people dared not report these overtures. I am inclined to think that since their internal disorder has not yet led to any invasion of our territory, the matter can be set aside for now and tribute accepted only after their turmoil has settled. If war must be waged, the outcome, whether victory or defeat, profit or loss, is beyond what Yue dares presume to know." The chief ministers received the letter but could not reach a decision. Then Mao Bowen came to inspect the army, and Zhang Jing wholly entrusted military affairs to Yue. Because Weng Wanda was also talented, he recommended both men to Bowen. Yue spoke with Bowen for several days, and Bowen said, "The Annam affair is in your hands." He allowed Dengyong to proceed according to Yue's proposal. When Yue was transferred to vice education intendant of Zhejiang and then to administration commissioner, Bowen urgently memorialized to retain him; he was then reassigned as administration commissioner of Guangdong with separate responsibility for Haibei. When Dengyong surrendered, Yue's salary was raised one grade and he was awarded silver and silks. Soon afterward, for his achievements in campaigning against the rebel Li of Qiongzhou, he received the same salary increase and gifts.
50
西 西
With much trouble on the frontier, remonstrating officials recommended Yue for his frontier expertise. Bowen said, "Yue can serve in the south, and Weng Wanda can serve in the north." Yue was then promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Pacification Commissioner of Yunyang. He was soon transferred to Jiangxi as grand coordinator, promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, and appointed supreme commander of military affairs in the Two Guangs with concurrent duties as grand coordinator. He defeated the Yao bandits of Fengchuan in Guangdong, including Su Gongle and others, and was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War. He pacified the Yao bandits in counties such as Maping in Guangxi, capturing and beheading four thousand in all, pacifying and recruiting more than twenty thousand people, executing bandit chiefs including Wei Jintian, and receiving a one-grade salary increase. He was summoned to serve as Right Vice Minister of Punishments, but on the memorial of censor Xu Nanjin an order was issued for him to remain in his current post. Li Jin, a bandit of Lianshan, and Ni Zhongliang and other bandits of Hexian had roamed Heng, Yong, Chen, and Gui for thirty years without being pacified; Yue mustered a large force and captured them. After four years in command, all the major bandits had been pacified, and he was summoned and appointed Left Vice Minister of War.
51
西 使
Between Huguang and Guizhou there is a mountain called La'er where various Miao peoples live. To the east it belonged to the Gaoziping Native Official Office of Zhenxi Guard Station, under Huguang; to the west to the two native official offices of Tongren and Pingtou, under Guizhou; and to the north it bordered Youyang in Sichuan, extending hundreds of li in every direction. The various Miao rebelled repeatedly, and government troops could not bring them under control. Vice Minister Wan Yao campaigned against them for four years without success. The court then invested the chieftain Long Xubao with official cap and belt. The Miao of the lake region briefly quieted, but those in Guizhou rose again as before. When Yao withdrew his army, Long Xubao and his follower Wu Heimiao rose in rebellion once more. When Guizhou grand coordinator Li Yizhuang sounded the alarm, Yue was appointed to oversee military affairs in Huguang, Guizhou, and Sichuan and ordered to suppress the rebels. He was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief. Yizhuang held to Yao's conciliation policy, but Yue impeached him for blocking the use of force and had him removed from office. Wang Xueyi, who had preceded Yizhuang as grand coordinator of Guizhou, had aligned with Yao and Yan Song in favor of conciliation and repeatedly undermined Yue from court. Yue held his position all the more firmly. Xubao raided and took captive the magistrate of Yinjiang, Xu Wenbo, and the assistant prefectural judge of Shiqian, Deng Benzhong; Yue's salary was suspended as punishment. He dispatched Regional Commander Shen Xiyi and Assistant Regional Commander Shi Bangxian along separate routes, while he personally entered Tongren to direct the campaign. They successively executed fifty-three rebel chiefs, but Xubao and Heimiao alone escaped capture. Yue reported his victory, noting that the Guizhou Miao were being subdued and the lake-region Miao had accepted conciliation, and requested permission to send native troops back to their farms; the court agreed. Before long, Youyang pacification commissioner Ran Yuan incited Xubao and Heimiao to attack Si Prefecture and abduct Prefect Li Yunjian. Shi Bangxian's troops intercepted the band and recovered Yunjian, but he died in the end. Yan Song and his son had long resented Yue and wanted him arrested and punished, but Xu Jie held firm against it. He was stripped of his rank as Right Censor-in-Chief and demoted to Vice Minister of War to command the army. Shi Bangxian and the others soon broke the rebels. Yue searched the mountain strongholds, and the remaining rebels surrendered the Si Prefecture seal along with Xubao. Huguang troops also defeated and captured the ringleader Li Tonghai and others. Since Heimiao had not yet been captured, Yue did not dare claim credit for victory. When Ran Yuan's conspiracy came to light, Yue exposed his treachery. Ran bribed Yan Shifan to criticize Yue for exterminating the Miao partisans. Shi Bangxian finally captured Heimiao and presented him to Yue, and the Miao unrest was ended.
52
Yue died at Yuanzhou. As his coffin was borne home, the people of Yuanzhou lined the road in unbroken mourning. Later, when his merits were reviewed, his rank as Right Censor-in-Chief was restored, he was posthumously awarded the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and given the posthumous name Xianghui.
53
Yue was widely read, adept at literary composition, and deeply grounded in classical learning; he rejected Wang Shouren's doctrines and adhered to the teachings of the Cheng-Zhu school.
54
使
Li Yunjian was a native of Rong County. He entered official service through the provincial examination. Because bandits were rampant in the prefecture, he sent his wife and children home along the road and remained alone with his grandson Sun Bingwen. Both grandfather and grandson were taken captive; Xubao held them hostage to extract a large ransom. From captivity, Yunjian sent word to Shi Bangxian urging him to advance immediately. While in the bandits' hands he threw himself from a high cliff; the bandits pulled him out and left him by the roadside. The people of Si Prefecture carried him back, but he died upon reaching Qinglang Guard. An edict posthumously conferred on him the rank of Vice Commissioner of Guizhou, granted him state sacrificial rites and a state funeral, and gave one son an official appointment.
55
輿 使西
Guo Zonggao, styled Junbi, was a native of Fushan. He passed the jinshi examination in Jiajing year 8. He was selected as a Hanlin Bachelor. Soon an edict reassigned all those selected from the Hanlin, and he was appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Justice. He was promoted to censor. In the tenth month of year 12, meteors fell like rain. Before long Crown Prince Aichong died, and the garrison at Datong rose in mutiny. Zonggao urged the emperor to embrace generosity and magnanimity, heed loyal counsel, and not rely exclusively on severity as a method of rule. The emperor was furious, had him imprisoned in the edict prison, beaten forty strokes, and then released. He served in turn as investigating censor for Suzhou, Songjiang, and Shuntian. When making the rounds of his jurisdiction he rode on horseback and refused a sedan chair. When the court nominated Baoding grand coordinator Liu Kui to return and head the Censorate, Zonggao charged that Kui had once recommended the son of Grand Secretary Li Shi, was obsequious and corrupt, and unfit to uphold censorial standards; for this Zonggao was punished with two months' suspension of salary. He was soon posted as vice commissioner for the Yanmen defense circuit, transferred to administration commissioner of Shaanxi, and promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.
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宿 調 調
In the tenth month of year 23, raiders entered Wanquan Right Guard, advanced to Guangchang, and pitched camp in a forty-li line. Shuntian grand coordinator Zhu Fang was thrown into prison, and Zonggao was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief to replace him, by which time the raiders had already withdrawn. Zonggao memorialized: "Miyun is the most critical point and should be garrisoned with substantial forces. I request that the three garrisons of Malan, Taiping, and Yanhe be ordered to send a thousand men each year in the fifth month to Miyun, and that when alarm arises the regional commander himself should lead reinforcements. Juyong and Baiyang are strategically vital but weakly garrisoned; in an emergency troops cannot be moved in time because one must wait for approval from the ministry. I propose prearranged transfer arrangements under which the three Jianchang garrisons would support Miyun in peacetime and redeploy to Juyong when alarm arises." All proposals were approved. After some time Zonggao heard reports that four hundred thousand enemy horsemen were preparing to invade by separate routes, and he memorialized requesting reinforcements from the capital garrisons, Shandong, and Henan. The report proved entirely false, and he was punished with one year's suspension of salary. By established practice, the capital garrisons each year dispatched the Five Armies to Ji Town for autumn defense. Zonggao requested that three of the armies be discontinued and their reward funds used to cover local recruitment costs for the garrison. He also requested that surplus funds from border repairs be used to strengthen the Yanhe camp and Gubeikou. The emperor suspected corruption and ordered him dismissed and sent home pending investigation. Before long he was cleared of wrongdoing. He was restored to office, appointed grand coordinator of Datong, and exchanged posts with Li Ren, grand coordinator of Xuanfu.
57
西 椿 椿 西
He was soon promoted to Right Vice Minister of War and appointed grand coordinator of military affairs in Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi. Altan invaded Wanquan Left Guard with thirty thousand horsemen; Regional Commander Chen Feng and Vice Regional Commander Lin Chun engaged them at Yaor Ling with roughly equal losses on both sides, and Zonggao's salary was suspended as punishment. The following year the raiders struck Datong again; Regional Commander Zhang Da and Lin Chun were both killed in battle, and the salaries of Zonggao and grand coordinator Chen Yao were suspended. Supervising Secretary Tang Yu reviewed the circumstances of the fallen and declared that the entire army had been annihilated — a catastrophe unmatched in decades. The emperor then had Zonggao and Yao arrested and beaten one hundred strokes each; Yao died from the beating, and Zonggao was exiled to Jinglu Guard in Shaanxi.
58
At the beginning of the Longqing reign he was recalled from exile as Right Vice Minister of Justice, transferred to the Ministry of War, and charged with assisting in military administration. He was soon promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing, then transferred to Minister of War with a role in state council deliberations. Supervising Secretary Zhuang Guozhen impeached Zonggao as senile and incompetent; Zonggao, finding himself too old to serve, also requested retirement, and the emperor granted his request. During the Wanli reign the court twice sent envoys to inquire after him and granted him an annual stipend and attendants. In year 16, when Zonggao reached ninety, the court again dispatched a palace emissary to inquire after him. He died that same year. He was posthumously awarded the title Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous name Kangjie.
59
Zhao Shichun, styled Jingren, was a native of Pingliang. As a child, when playing with other boys he would set up banners and drill them as if by the art of war. At fourteen he passed the provincial examination. Four years later, in Jiajing year 5, he ranked first in the metropolitan examination. He was selected as a Hanlin Bachelor. On Zhang Cong's recommendation he was reassigned and appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. He was soon transferred to the Ministry of War. In the seventh month of year 9 he submitted a memorial, saying, "Your Majesty has sought counsel regarding calamities and portents for a full month, yet officials high and low have mostly offered empty words and face-to-face flattery. Ever since the magistrate of Lingbao was rewarded for reporting that the Yellow River had run clear, Censor-in-Chief Wang Hong presented sweet dew; now Vice Censor-in-Chief Xu Zan and instructor Fan Zhongbin have presented auspicious wheat, Commander Zhang Ji has presented fine grain, Hong and Censor Yang Dong have presented salt flowers, and Minister of Rites Li Shi has again requested a formal congratulatory address. Men like Fan Zhongbin are beneath notice, but Hong and Zan oversee censorial discipline and Shi presides over the three rites — yet they deceive the throne, corrupt public morals, and damage governance." The emperor rebuked him for reckless speech and ordered him to submit loyal counsel and sound policies. Shichun, filled with alarm, accepted blame but had not yet responded. When the emperor pressed him, Shichun submitted a memorial:
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仿使殿
Among present priorities, four are greatest and three are most urgent. Of the greatest priorities, the first is to honor the foundations of governance. The ruler's moods are the wellspring of rewards and punishments; do not treat unwelcome truths as cause for anger, and rewards and punishments will be just and the realm well governed. The second is to uphold the credibility of commands. Do not rely on the word of a single person; weigh all informed opinion; do not fixate on immediate advantage; measure policies by their lasting effects. If a policy yields ten parts gain and one part harm, the gain is not worth pursuing; if a project yields a hundred parts benefit but consumes half as much again in cost, it is still not worth undertaking. In this way the realm will enjoy lasting peace and stability. The third is to broaden consultation. The court should revive the ancient practice of rotating audiences and the Ming custom of imperial summons, so that ministers, censorial remonstrators, and attendants may each speak freely before the throne, while officials at large are summoned to account for their duties. The fourth is to nurture integrity and a sense of shame. Ministers should be treated with respect; weigh their essential loyalty and overlook minor faults. When censorial remonstrators speak rightly, heed them; when they are wrong, treat them with forbearance. In this way officials will value their honor and exert themselves without need of compulsion.
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退 祿
Of the most urgent priorities, the first is to preserve human talent. Officials who have fallen from favor should not have their talents discarded; their faults may be pardonable. A generous decree should restore them to their former offices. Moreover, when the southern suburban rites are completed, remit the penalties of exile and frontier service and give them a fresh start. The second is to secure the borderlands. The laws governing defeated armies should be strict: when troops retreat in battle, vice commanders should be empowered to execute soldiers, regional commanders to execute vice commanders, and supreme commanders to execute regional commanders. This would strike fear into every heart and make all obey their orders. The third is to rectify governance and moral instruction. I request restoring the ancient rites of capping, marriage, mourning, and sacrifice, and putting an end to spirit offerings and prayer rituals. Any Buddhist or Daoist who falsely claims magical talismans, performs scripture-based penance, pretends to transmute gold and silver, or claims to ascend to immortality in order to win favor and office should immediately be dismissed and banished. In this way the right path will be maintained and the people's convictions will be settled.
62
The emperor read the memorial, grew even angrier, and had him thrown into prison for interrogation under torture, then reduced to commoner status. After some time, when selecting Eastern Palace officials, he was recalled as Hanlin Compiler and concurrently appointed collator of the Classics Collation Bureau.
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殿 使
When the emperor fell ill, Shichun, Luo Hongxian, and Tang Shunzhi submitted a memorial requesting that the crown prince preside in the palace hall and receive the officials' New Year's Day court audience. The emperor was furious and again dismissed him to commoner status. When raiders struck the capital, the court decided that Shichun understood military affairs; he was appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of War to assist in managing capital garrison affairs and placed in charge of training militia. Grand General Qiu Luan advocated establishing a horse market. Shichun said angrily, "This is nothing but a revival of Qin Hui's policy. To hold the rank of grand general yet behave like a market huckster — is that acceptable? He offended Qiu and was framed by him, nearly incurring serious punishment again. He was gradually transferred to Shandong Assistant Commissioner and then promoted to Vice Commissioner.
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西 使 調
In year 32 he was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed grand coordinator of Shanxi. Shichun was bold-spirited and possessed of unusual confidence; he was skilled in horsemanship and archery. Grieved that raiders ranged freely while commanders failed in their duties, he often told people, "If I were given command of five thousand picked troops, Altan and Qiu Fu would be easy to subdue." He wrote On Repelling Raiders, setting forth offense and defense in great detail. Once he held military command, he was all the more determined to distinguish himself on the battlefield. That September raiders entered the forts of Shenchi, Limin, and elsewhere; Shichun led cavalry and infantry to repel them. Reaching Guangwu, he assembled all the generals. Intelligence reported more than two thousand enemy horsemen, about sixty li away. Shichun armored himself and prepared to charge; Grand General Li Lai firmly restrained him. Shichun declared boldly, "Once the bandits know I have arrived they will surely flee; delay pursuit and we will never catch them." Thereupon he spurred his horse forward. At Dachong Ridge ambushers sprang up on every side, and the force was routed. In panic he fled to a signal tower; the garrison soldiers lowered a rope and hauled him up, and only thus did he escape; Li Lai's army was entirely destroyed. Impeached, he was dismissed from office and held pending reassignment. Shichun had always loved to talk of military affairs, yet here one engagement brought defeat. Yet at that time commanders generally avoided the raiders and refused to engage. Governors and coordinators sat safely in fortified cities, directing military affairs from a distance; none personally engaged the raiders. Though Shichun's campaign failed, people throughout the realm admired his courage.
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Shichun read widely and had an excellent memory; his prose was bold and expansive, and he ranked among the leading literati alongside Tang Shunzhi and Wang Shenzhong. His poetry was equally bold and self-assured, much like the man himself.
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The encomium states: Yao Mo and his colleagues distinguished themselves on the frontiers through their planning; in military affairs their stratagems proved effective, and their achievements all merit record. Wu Wending followed Wang Shouren in suppressing the Prince of Ning rebellion; his achievement was the greatest of them all. Zhao Shichun fancied himself a strategist, yet his first campaign ended in defeat. To speak lightly of grave affairs — is that not precisely what those who truly understand warfare refuse to do?
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