Volume 208 Biographies 96: Zhang Qin, Wang Yingzhen, Xiao Mingfeng, Qi Zhiluan, Yuan Zongru, Xu Xiangqing, Gu Ji, Zhang Qiao, Yu Shan, Wei Shangchen, Li Guan, Peng Rushi, Zheng Zibi, Qi Xian, Liu Hui, Qian Wei, Hong Yuan, Zhou Sijian, Yan Jing

張芹汪應軫蕭鳴鳳〈（高公韶）〉齊之鸞袁宗儒許相卿顧濟〈（子章誌）〉章僑余珊〈（汪珊）〉韋商臣黎貫〈（王汝梅）〉彭汝實鄭自璧戚賢劉繪〈（子黃裳）〉錢薇洪垣〈（方瓘）〉（呂懷）周思兼顏鯨

Zhang Qin, Wang Yingzhen, and Xiao Mingfeng (See the biography of Gao Gongshao)〉 Qi Zhiluan, Yuan Zongru, Xu Xiangqing, and Gu Ji (See the biographies of Zhang Zhi and related figures)〉 Zhang Qiao and Yu Shan (See the biography of Wang Shan)〉 Wei Shangchen and Li Guan (See the biography of Wang Rumei)〉 Peng Rushi, Zheng Zibi, Qi Xian, and Liu Hui (See the biography of Huang Shang)〉 Qian Wei and Hong Yuan (See the biography of Fang Guan)〉 (See the biography of Lu Huai) Zhou Sijian and Yan Jing

張芹，字文林，峽江人。弘治十五年進士。授福州推官。正德中，召為南京御史。寧夏既平，大學士李東陽亦進官蔭子。芹抗疏曰：「東陽謹厚有余，正直不足；儒雅足重，節義無聞。逆瑾亂政，東陽為顧命大臣，既不能遏之於始，及惡跡既彰，又不能力與之抗。脂韋順從，惟其指使。今叛賊底平，東陽何力？冒功受賞，何以服人心？乞立賜罷斥，奪其加恩，為大臣事君不忠者戒。」疏出，東陽涕泣不能辯。帝責芹沽名，令對狀。芹請罪，停俸三月。

Zhang Qin, whose style name was Wenlin, came from Xiajiang. He received his jinshi degree in the fifteenth year of the Hongzhi reign (1502). He was appointed investigating censor in Fuzhou. During the Zhengde reign he was summoned to serve as a censor at Nanjing. After Ningxia had been pacified, Grand Secretary Li Dongyang was also promoted and granted hereditary privilege for his son. Qin submitted a forceful memorial, saying: "Dongyang is more than sufficiently prudent and steady, yet insufficiently upright; his scholarly elegance carries weight, but one hears nothing of his integrity or moral resolve. When the unruly Liu Jin threw the government into disorder, Dongyang was an entrusted minister; he could neither check him at the outset, and once Jin's wicked deeds were plain, he still could not muster the strength to resist him. He flattered and submitted, doing only as Jin directed. Now that the rebels have been put down, what had Dongyang to do with it? To claim merit and receive reward—how can this satisfy the hearts of the people? I beg that he be dismissed at once and stripped of his added favors, as a warning to great ministers who are unfaithful in serving their ruler." When the memorial was issued, Dongyang wept and could not defend himself. The emperor reproached Qin for courting fame and ordered him to answer the charges in person. Qin pleaded guilty and had his salary suspended for three months.

給事中竇明言事下獄，芹疏救之。帝嘗馳馬傷，編修王思切諫，坐遠戍。芹曰：「彼非諫官尚爾，吾儕可坐視乎！」遂上疏曰：「孟子言：『從獸無厭謂之荒』。老聃曰：『馳騁田獵，使人心發狂』。心狂誌荒，何事不忘？皆甚言無益有害也。今輕萬乘之尊，乘危冒險，萬一有不可諱，皇嗣未誕，如宗廟社稷何！」帝不省。

Supervising Secretary Dou Ming was imprisoned for remonstrating on affairs of state; Qin submitted a memorial to save him. The emperor was once injured while galloping on horseback; Compiler Wang Si remonstrated sharply and was sentenced to distant exile. Qin said: "He was not even a remonstrating official, yet he acted thus—can we simply sit and watch!" Thereupon he submitted a memorial, saying: "Mencius said: 'To follow beasts without restraint is called dissipation. Laozi said: 'Galloping in the hunt makes the human heart go mad.'" When the heart runs wild and the will dissolves, what affair will not be neglected? Both spoke plainly that such conduct was without benefit and harmful. Now you lightly treat the dignity of the Son of Heaven, riding into danger and courting peril; if by any chance something irreparable should occur while the imperial heir is not yet born, what will become of the ancestral temples and the altars of soil and grain!" The emperor took no heed.

尋出為徽州知府。寧王宸濠反，言者以芹家江西，慮賊劫其親屬，取道出徽。乃改知杭州。已，復還徽州。嘉靖初，遷浙江海道副使。歷右參政、右布政使。坐為海道時倭人爭貢誤傷居民，罷歸。

Before long he was sent out to serve as prefect of Huizhou. When the Prince of Ning, Chen Hao, rebelled, remonstrators noted that Qin's family was in Jiangxi and feared the rebels might seize his relatives; they urged that he travel by way of Huizhou. He was therefore transferred to administer Hangzhou. Afterward he returned again to Huizhou. At the beginning of the Jiajing reign he was promoted to vice commissioner of the Zhejiang maritime circuit. He successively served as right administration commissioner and right provincial administration commissioner. Because while serving on the maritime circuit Japanese disputing over tribute had mistakenly injured local residents, he was dismissed and returned home.

芹事繼母孝，持身儉素，枲袍糲食終其身。

Qin was filial toward his stepmother, lived frugally and simply, and wore hemp robes and ate coarse food to the end of his days.

汪應軫，字子宿，浙江山陰人。少有誌操。正德十二年成進士，選庶吉士。十四年，詔將南巡。應軫抗言：「自下詔以來，臣民旁皇，莫有固誌。臨清以南，率棄業罷市，逃竄山谷。茍不即收成命，恐變生不測。昔谷永諫漢成帝，謂：『陛下厭高美之尊號，好匹夫之卑字。數離深宮，挺身晨夜，與群小相逐。典門戶奉宿衛者，執幹戈而守空宮』。其言切中於今。夫谷永，諧諛之臣；成帝，庸暗之主。永言而成帝容之。豈以陛下聖明，不能俯納直諫哉？」疏入，留中。繼復偕修撰舒芬等連章以請。跪闕門，受杖幾斃。

Wang Yingzhen, whose style name was Zisu, came from Shanyin in Zhejiang. From youth he possessed resolve and moral integrity. In the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign he passed the jinshi examination and was selected as a Hanlin bachelor. In the fourteenth year an edict announced that the emperor would tour the south. Yingzhen remonstrated forcefully: "Since the edict was issued, officials and commoners alike have been adrift, with none holding firm purpose. South of Linqing, people have everywhere abandoned their trades and shut their markets, fleeing into the mountains and valleys. If Your Majesty does not immediately withdraw the command, I fear unforeseen troubles may arise. Formerly Gu Yong remonstrated with Emperor Cheng of Han, saying: 'Your Majesty dislikes the lofty and august title of honor and delights in the lowly style of a common man. You repeatedly leave the inner palace, thrust yourself forth morning and night, and race with petty men. Those who manage the gates and attend night watch hold weapons and guard an empty palace.'" His words cut directly to the present situation. Now Gu Yong was a fawning and flattering minister; Emperor Cheng was a mediocre and dim ruler. Yong spoke, and Emperor Cheng accepted it. Surely Your Majesty, being sage and enlightened, can bow to accept straightforward remonstrance?" When the memorial was submitted, it was kept at court without action. Thereafter he again joined Compiler Shu Fen and others in successive memorials requesting withdrawal of the tour. They knelt at the palace gate and were beaten with staves nearly to death.

教習竣，擬授給事中。有旨補外，遂出為泗州知州。土瘠民惰，不知農桑。應軫勸之耕，買桑植之。募江南女工，教以蠶繅織作。由是民足衣食。帝方南征，中使驛騷道路。應軫率壯夫百余人列水次，舟至，即挽之出境。車駕駐南京，命州進美婦善歌吹者數十人。應軫言：「州子女荒陋，無以應敕旨。臣向募有桑婦，請納之宮中，傳受蠶事。」事遂寢。

When their instruction was completed, they were slated to be appointed supervising secretaries. An edict ordered them assigned outside the capital, and Yingzhen was sent out as prefect of Sizhou. The soil was poor and the people indolent; they knew neither farming nor sericulture. Yingzhen urged them to plow and bought mulberry trees for planting. He recruited women workers from Jiangnan and taught them silkworm rearing, reeling, and weaving. Thereby the people came to have sufficient clothing and food. The emperor was then on his southern expedition, and palace envoys disturbed the roads at every relay station. Yingzhen led more than a hundred strong men to line the riverbank; when a boat arrived, they immediately towed it out of the prefecture. When the imperial carriage halted at Nanjing, he ordered the prefecture to present several dozen beautiful women skilled in song and wind instruments. Yingzhen said: "The women of this prefecture are crude and plain; there are none fit to answer the imperial command. Your subject has previously recruited women skilled in sericulture; I beg to send them into the palace to transmit the arts of silkworm raising." The matter thereupon lapsed.

世宗踐阼，召為戶科給事中。山東礦盜起，掠東昌、兗州，流入畿輔、河南境。應軫奏言：「弭盜與禦寇不同。禦寇之法，驅之境外而已。若弭盜而縱使出境，是嫁禍於鄰國也。凡一方有警，不行撲滅，致延蔓他境者，俱宜重論。」報可。在科歲餘，所上凡三十余疏，鹹切時弊。以便養，乞改南，遂調南京戶科。張璁、桂萼在南京，方議追尊獻皇帝。雅知應軫名，欲倚以自助。應軫與議不合，即奏請遵禮經、崇正統，以安人心。不報。

When the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne, Yingzhen was summoned as supervising secretary of the Household Section. Mining bandits rose in Shandong, plundering Dongchang and Yanzhou and spilling into the capital region and Henan. Yingzhen memorialized: "Quelling bandits differs from repelling invaders. The method for repelling invaders is merely to drive them beyond the borders. If in quelling bandits one lets them escape across the border, that is shifting disaster onto a neighboring region. Whenever alarm arises in one region and officials fail to suppress it, allowing trouble to spread into other regions, all such cases should be heavily punished." The response approved it. While serving in the section for more than a year, he submitted more than thirty memorials in all, each penetratingly addressing the abuses of the times. To facilitate caring for his parents, he begged transfer to the south and was reassigned to the Household Section at Nanjing. Zhang Cong and Gui E were at Nanjing, then debating posthumous elevation of the Jiajing Emperor's father. They had long known Yingzhen's reputation and wished to rely on him for support. Yingzhen disagreed with their position and immediately memorialized asking that the ritual classics be followed and the legitimate succession honored, to settle the people's hearts. No response was given.

嘉靖三年春，出為江西僉事。居二年，具疏引疾，不俟命而歸，為巡按所劾。詔所司逮問。應軫自陳親老，鮮兄弟，乞休侍養。吏部為之請，乃免逮。久之，廷臣交薦，起故官，視江西學政。父艱歸，病卒。

In the spring of the third year of Jiajing he was sent out as assistant administration commissioner of Jiangxi. After two years he submitted a full memorial citing illness, returned home without awaiting orders, and was impeached by the touring censor. An edict ordered the relevant offices to arrest and question him. Yingzhen stated in his own defense that his parents were aged, he had few brothers, and begged leave to retire and serve them. The Ministry of Personnel memorialized on his behalf, and he was therefore exempted from arrest. After a long interval, court officials jointly recommended him; he was restored to his former rank and appointed to oversee educational administration in Jiangxi. He returned home to observe mourning for his father and died of illness.

蕭鳴鳳，字子雝，浙江山陰人。少從王守仁遊，舉鄉試第一。正德九年成進士，授御史。副使胡世寧下獄，抗章救之。同官內江高公韶劾王瓊誤邊計，言：「松潘副將吳坤請增設總兵於成都，瓊即以坤任之。花當本我屬衛，日憑陵。由本兵非人，致小醜輕中國。」瓊怒，奏訐公韶。中旨責公韶陰結外蕃，交通間諜，令首實。鳴鳳上疏曰：「公韶劾瓊，所論者天下之事。瓊不當逞忿恣辯，以箝諫官口。」中旨責鳴鳳黨庇，而謫公韶富民典史。鳴鳳又劾江彬恃寵恣肆，蔓將難圖。士論壯之。尋巡視山海諸關。武宗將出塞捕虎，鳴鳳疏諫，因具陳官司掊克，軍民疾苦狀。不報。引疾歸。

Xiao Mingfeng, whose style name was Ziyong, came from Shanyin in Zhejiang. In youth he studied under Wang Shouren and placed first in the provincial examination. In the ninth year of the Zhengde reign he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed censor. When Vice Commissioner Hu Shining was imprisoned, he submitted a forceful memorial to save him. His colleague Gao Gongshao of Neijiang impeached Wang Qiong for errors in frontier strategy, saying: "Songpan Vice Commander Wu Kun requested that a regional commander be newly established at Chengdu, and Qiong immediately appointed Kun to the post. Huadang was originally our subordinate guard, yet day by day he encroached and bullied us. Because the Ministry of War was not in capable hands, petty foes came to despise the Middle Kingdom." Qiong was enraged and memorialized to denounce Gongshao. An edict from the inner court reproached Gongshao for secretly allying with foreign tribes and communicating with spies, ordering him to confess the facts first. Mingfeng submitted a memorial, saying: "Gongshao impeached Qiong on matters concerning the realm. Qiong ought not vent his anger and argue at will, thereby silencing remonstrating officials." An edict from the inner court reproached Mingfeng for factional protection, while Gongshao was demoted to clerk at Fumin. Mingfeng again impeached Jiang Bin for relying on imperial favor and acting wantonly, warning that his influence would spread and prove hard to uproot. Scholarly opinion applauded him. Before long he was assigned to inspect the mountain and sea passes. When the Zhengde Emperor was about to go beyond the passes to hunt tigers, Mingfeng memorialized in remonstrance and set forth in detail the extortion of officials and the sufferings of soldiers and civilians. No response was given. He cited illness and returned home.

起督南畿學政。諸生以比前御史陳選，曰「陳，泰山；蕭，北斗」。嘉靖初，遷河南副使，仍督學政。考察拾遺被劾。吏部惜其學行，調為湖廣兵備副使。明年復改督廣東學政。鳴鳳三督學政，廉無私。然性剛狠，以憤撻肇慶知府鄭璋。璋慚恚，投劾去，由是物論大嘩。八年考察，兩京言官交章論，坐降調。已，與璋相詆訐。皆下巡按御史逮治。鳴鳳遂不出。

He was recalled to supervise educational administration in the Southern Metropolitan Region. The students compared him with the former censor Chen Xuan, saying "Chen is Mount Tai; Xiao is the Northern Dipper." At the beginning of the Jiajing reign he was transferred to vice commissioner of Henan, while continuing to supervise educational administration. In the evaluation for omitted cases he was impeached. The Ministry of Personnel valued his learning and conduct and transferred him to vice commissioner for military preparedness in Huguang. The following year he was again reassigned to supervise educational administration in Guangdong. Mingfeng supervised educational administration three times, incorrupt and without private favor. Yet his nature was harsh and fierce; in anger he had the Zhaoqing prefect Zheng Zhang beaten. Zhang, ashamed and enraged, submitted his resignation and left; public opinion was thereby greatly stirred. In the eighth-year evaluation, remonstrating officials of both capitals submitted successive memorials against him; he was demoted and transferred. Afterward he and Zhang mutually slandered and accused each other. Both were handed over to the touring censor for arrest and punishment. Mingfeng thereupon never took office again.

公韶，正德中為御史，嘗劾總兵官郭勛罪。朵顏花當入寇，又劾總兵官遂安伯陳鏸、中官王欣、巡撫王倬，鏸坐解職。世宗立，起謫籍。歷右副都御史，巡撫江西。終戶部右侍郎。

Gongshao served as censor during the Zhengde reign and once impeached Regional Commander Guo Xun for crimes. When the Doyan leader Huadang invaded, he again impeached Regional Commander Chen Yi, Earl of Sui'an, the palace eunuch Wang Xin, and Grand Coordinator Wang Zhuo; Chen was dismissed from office. When the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne, he was raised from the registers of the demoted. He successively served as right vice censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Jiangxi. He ended his career as right vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

齊之鸞，字瑞卿，桐城人。正德六年進士。改庶吉士，授刑科給事中。十一年冬，帝將置肆於京城西偏。之鸞上言：「近聞有花酒鋪之設，或云車駕將臨幸，或云朝廷收其息。陛下貴為天子，富有四海，乃至競錐刀之利，如倡優館舍乎？」應州奏捷，帝降敕：「總督軍務威武大將軍總兵官朱壽剿寇有功，宜特加公爵」。制下，舉朝大駭。之鸞偕諸給事中上言：「自古天子亦有親臨戰陣勘定禍亂者，成功之後，不過南面受賀，勒之金石，播之歌頌已耳，未有加爵酬勞，如今日之顛倒者。不知陛下何所取義，為此不祥之舉，以駴天下耳目，貽百世之譏笑也。」

Qi Zhiluan, whose style name was Ruiqing, came from Tongcheng. He received his jinshi degree in the sixth year of the Zhengde reign. He was transferred to Hanlin bachelor and appointed supervising secretary of the Punishments Section. In the winter of the eleventh year the emperor was about to establish shops in the western quarter of the capital. Zhiluan memorialized: "I have recently heard of the establishment of flower-and-wine shops; some say the imperial carriage will visit them, others that the court will collect their profits. Your Majesty is honored as Son of Heaven and possesses all within the four seas—must you compete for petty profits, like the keeper of an actor's lodging house?" When Yingzhou reported victory, the emperor issued an edict: "Zhu Shou, Commander-in-Chief of Military Affairs, Mighty General, and Regional Commander, has merit in suppressing bandits and should be specially advanced to duke." When the decree was issued, the whole court was greatly alarmed. Zhiluan joined the supervising secretaries in memorializing: "Since antiquity there have been emperors who personally went to the battlefield to settle calamities and disorder; after success they merely faced south to receive congratulations, had it carved in metal and stone, and spread it in song and praise—that was all. Never has there been ennoblement and reward as perverse as today's. I do not know what principle Your Majesty takes as his guide in performing this inauspicious act, startling the eyes and ears of the realm and bequeathing ridicule for a hundred generations."

未幾，請召還編修王思，給事中張原、陳鼎，御史周廣、高公韶、李熙、徐文華、李穩、施儒、劉寓生，僉事韓邦奇，評事羅僑，皆不聽。帝將巡邊，復自稱威武大將軍。御史袁宗儒疏諫，大學士楊廷和、蔣冕、毛紀以去就爭。之鸞偕同官言：「三臣居師保之重，身系安危，邇者先後稱疾。今六飛臨邊逾月矣，宗廟社稷百官萬姓寄空城中。人心危疑，幾務叢積，復杜門求決去。萬一事起倉卒，至於僨敗，三臣將何辭謝天下？乞陛下以社稷為重，亟返宸居，與大臣共圖治理。」已而御史李潤等復爭之，卒不省。

Before long he requested the recall of Compiler Wang Si, Supervising Secretaries Zhang Yuan and Chen Ding, Censors Zhou Guang, Gao Gongshao, Li Xi, Xu Wenhua, Li Wen, Shi Ru, and Liu Yusheng, Assistant Administration Commissioner Han Bangqi, and Reviewing Official Luo Qiao—all were refused. The emperor was about to tour the frontier and again styled himself Mighty General. Censor Yuan Zongru memorialized in remonstrance; Grand Secretaries Yang Tinghe, Jiang Mian, and Mao Ji contended by threatening resignation. Zhiluan joined his colleagues in saying: "The three ministers hold the weighty post of tutor and protector; their persons are bound up with the dynasty's security. Recently they have successively claimed illness. Now the imperial carriage has been on the frontier for more than a month; the ancestral temples, altars of soil and grain, the hundred officials, and the myriad people are left in an empty city. Hearts are anxious and doubtful, state affairs pile up in confusion, yet they again shut their doors and seek final departure. If by any chance trouble should arise in haste and lead to ruin, what words will the three ministers have to answer the realm? I beg Your Majesty to take the altars of soil and grain as paramount, swiftly return to the imperial residence, and plan governance together with the great ministers." Thereafter Censor Li Run and others again contended, but in the end the emperor took no heed.

之鸞再遷兵科左給事中。中官馬永成死，詔授其家九十余人官。之鸞言：「永成貴顯，用事十有余年，兄弟子侄皆高爵美官。而其儕復為陳乞，將及百人。永成何功，恩濫如此，恐天下聞而解體也。」帝將南巡，之鸞偕同官及御史楊秉中等交章力諫。章入二日，未報。之鸞等不知所出，伏闕俟命，自辰至申。帝令中官傳諭，乃退。明日托疾免朝，欲以為之鸞等罪。會諸曹郎黃鞏等聯章力諫，乃止不行。然鞏等下獄杖譴，之鸞輩亦不敢救也。宸濠反，張忠、許泰等南征，命之鸞偕左給事中祝續從軍紀功。未至，賊已滅。群小忌王守仁，譖毀百端，之鸞力白其誣。忠、泰廣搜逆黨，株引無辜，之鸞多所開釋。且請蠲田租、停力役、寬逋負，帝頗采納。初冒徐姓，至是始復焉。

Zhiluan was again promoted to left supervising secretary of the Military Section. When the palace eunuch Ma Yongcheng died, an edict granted offices to more than ninety members of his household. Zhiluan said: "Yongcheng was noble and eminent, wielding power for more than ten years; brothers, sons, and nephews all held high ranks and fine offices. Yet his associates again petition on his behalf, soon to reach a hundred persons. What merit had Yongcheng, that favor should overflow thus? I fear that when the realm hears of it, hearts will lose all cohesion." The emperor was about to tour the south; Zhiluan joined his colleagues and Censor Yang Bingzhong and others in successive forceful memorials of remonstrance. Two days after the memorials were submitted, no response came. Zhiluan and the others knew not what to do; they knelt at the palace gate awaiting orders from morning until late afternoon. The emperor ordered a palace eunuch to transmit an edict, and they withdrew. The next day he pleaded illness to excuse himself from court, intending to make this a crime for Zhiluan and the others. Just then Section Clerks Huang Gong and others submitted joint memorials of forceful remonstrance, and the tour was stopped. Yet Gong and the others were imprisoned and beaten in punishment; Zhiluan's party also dared not save them. When the Prince of Ning, Chen Hao, rebelled, Zhang Zhong, Xu Tai, and others marched south; Zhiluan was ordered to join Left Supervising Secretary Zhu Xu in following the army to record merit. Before they arrived, the rebels had already been destroyed. Petty men envied Wang Shouren and slandered him on a hundred counts; Zhiluan forcefully declared the calumny false. Zhong and Tai broadly searched out rebel partisans and implicated the innocent; Zhiluan secured the release of many. He also requested remission of land tax, suspension of corvée labor, and leniency on tax arrears; the emperor largely adopted these proposals. At first he had falsely borne the surname Xu; only now did he restore his own surname.

世宗踐阼，首上疏言：「祖宗法制，悉紛更於群小。補救之道，在先定聖誌，次廣言路。先朝元兇雖去，根據盤互，連蔓滋多，猶恐巧相營結，或邀定策之賞，或假迎扈之勞，以取憐固寵。天下事豈堪若輩更壞！言者久遏於權奸，欲吐忠鯁懣憤之氣，必有不顧忌諱，至於逆耳者，在嘉納而優容之。若稍或抑裁，則小人又乘之以讎忠直。言路一塞，不可復開，大為新政累矣。陛下誠舉邇年亂政，盡返其初，中興之烈可以立睹。」帝嘉納之。又劾許泰及兵部尚書王憲，二人竟獲譴。

When the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne, he first memorialized: "The laws and institutions of the ancestors have all been confused and altered by petty men. The way to remedy this lies first in fixing the imperial resolve, and next in broadening the path of remonstrance. Although the chief villains of the previous reign are gone, their roots and bases intertwine and spread, growing ever more numerous; I still fear they will craftily league together, some seeking reward for fixing the succession, others borrowing merit for escorting the imperial entourage, to win pity and secure favor. How can affairs under Heaven endure further ruin by such men! Remonstrators have long been suppressed by powerful villains; wishing to release loyal and indignant breath, there must be some who disregard taboo and speak harsh truths—these should be gladly accepted and generously tolerated. If there is the slightest suppression, petty men will again seize the chance to take revenge on the loyal and upright. Once the path of remonstrance is blocked, it cannot be reopened—this would greatly burden the new administration. If Your Majesty truly reverses the disorders of recent years and wholly returns to the beginning, the splendor of restoration can be seen at once." The emperor praised and accepted it. He again impeached Xu Tai and Minister of War Wang Xian; both ultimately received punishment.

其秋大計京官，被中傷，謫崇德丞。屢遷寧夏僉事。饑民采蓬子為食，之鸞為取二封，一進於帝，一以貽閣臣。且言時事可憂者三，可惜者四，語極切。帝付之所司。時方大修邊墻，之鸞董役。巡撫胡東臯稱其能，舉以自代。歷河南、山東副使。召為順天府丞。未行，盜發，留鎮撫。尋擢河南按察使。卒官。

That autumn, in the great evaluation of capital officials, he was wounded by slander and demoted to assistant magistrate of Chongde. He was repeatedly transferred to assistant administration commissioner of Ningxia. Starving people gathered lotus seeds for food; Zhiluan took two packets, presenting one to the emperor and sending one to the grand secretaries. He also said there were three matters of the times to worry over and four to regret, his words extremely urgent. The emperor handed the memorial to the relevant offices. At the time the frontier walls were being greatly repaired; Zhiluan supervised the labor. Grand Coordinator Hu Donggao praised his ability and recommended him to succeed himself. He successively served as vice commissioner of Henan and Shandong. He was summoned as vice magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture. Before he departed, bandits rose; he was retained to pacify them. Before long he was promoted to surveillance commissioner of Henan. He died in office.

袁宗儒，字醇夫，雄縣人。正德三年進士。授御史。十二年冬，帝在大同，以郊祀將回鑾，既而復止。宗儒率同官力諫。明年夏，孝貞純皇后將葬，帝還京。宗儒等復引災異，力請罷皇店，遣邊兵，既又諫帝巡邊。語極危切。皆不報。擢大理寺丞。嘉靖三年爭「大禮」，廷杖。歷官右僉都御史，巡撫貴州。吏部尚書桂萼議宗儒改調，遂解職歸。未幾，起鄖陽，改山東。坐屬吏振饑無術，不能覺察，罷免。以薦起左副都御史。扈蹕承天，還京卒。

Yuan Zongru, whose style name was Chunfu, came from Xiong County. He received his jinshi degree in the third year of the Zhengde reign. He was appointed as a censor. In the winter of the twelfth year, the emperor was at Datong and was about to return to the capital for the suburban sacrifice, but then halted again. Zongru led his colleagues in a forceful memorial of remonstrance. The following summer, as Empress Xiaozhenchun was to be interred, the emperor returned to Beijing. Zongru and his colleagues again invoked celestial omens, urgently calling for the abolition of the imperial shops and the return of frontier troops, and then remonstrated against the emperor's planned border tour. Their words were piercingly urgent. The emperor gave no answer to any of them. He was promoted to vice director of the Court of Review at the Ministry of Justice. In the third year of Jiajing, during the Great Rites controversy, he was beaten at court. He rose to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and served as grand coordinator of Guizhou. When Minister of Personnel Gui E proposed transferring him elsewhere, Zongru resigned and went home. Shortly afterward he was recalled to Yunyang, then reassigned to Shandong. He was dismissed after a subordinate bungled famine relief and he had failed to catch the problem. Recommended back to service, he was appointed Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. While escorting the emperor to Chengtian, he died on the journey back to Beijing.

許相卿，字伯臺，海寧人。正德十二年進士。世宗立，授兵科給事中。宦官張銳、張忠有罪論死，帝復寬之。給事中顧濟疏爭，帝下所司議，卒欲寬其死。相卿言：「天下望陛下為孝皇，陛下奈何自處以正德？」帝議加興獻帝皇號，相卿復爭之。

Xu Xiangqing, whose style name was Baitai, came from Haining. He received his jinshi degree in the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign. When the Jiajing Emperor took the throne, he was appointed supervising secretary in the Ministry of War bureau. The eunuchs Zhang Rui and Zhang Zhong had been convicted and sentenced to death, but the emperor pardoned them again. Supervising Secretary Gu Ji submitted a memorial in protest, but the emperor referred the case to the relevant offices and still intended to spare them from execution. Xiangqing said: "The people look to Your Majesty to rule as the Hongzhi Emperor did—why conduct yourself as the Zhengde Emperor did?" When the emperor proposed granting his father the Xingxian Emperor an imperial title, Xiangqing remonstrated again.

嘉靖二年詔蔭中官張欽義子李賢為錦衣世襲指揮。相卿言：「于謙子冕止錦衣千戶，王守仁子正憲止錦衣百戶。賢中官廝養，反過之。忠勛大臣裔曾不若近幸奴，殉國勤事之臣誰不解體？部臣彭澤、科臣許復禮、安磐相繼言之，悉拒不納。毋乃重內侍而輕士大夫哉！」

In the second year of Jiajing, an edict made Li Xian—the adopted son of the eunuch Zhang Qin—a hereditary commander of the Embroidered-Uniform Guard. Xiangqing said: "Yu Qian's son Mian was granted only the rank of qianhu in the Embroidered-Uniform Guard, and Wang Shouren's son Zhengxian only the rank of baihu. Li Xian was nothing but a eunuch's fosterling, yet he was rewarded above them. The heirs of loyal, meritorious ministers were outranked by a favorite's lackey—what servant of the state would not be disheartened? Peng Ze of the ministries, Xu Fuli of the censorate, and An Pan spoke in turn, but the emperor refused to accept any of it. Are you not placing eunuchs above the scholar-official class?!"

尋復言：「天下政權出於一則治，二三則亂；公卿大夫參議則治，匪人僭幹則亂。陛下繼統之初，登用老成，嘉納忠讜，裁抑僥幸，竄殛憸邪，可謂明且剛矣。曾未再期，偏聽私昵，秕政亟行，明少蔽，剛少遜，操權未得其術，而陰伺旁竊者得居中制之。如崔文以左道罔上，師保臺諫言之而不聽。羅洪載守職逮系，廷臣疏七十上而不行。近又庇崔文奴奪法司之守，斥林俊以違旨，怒言官之奏擾。事涉中人，曲降溫旨，犯法不罪，請乞必從。此與正德朝何異哉！俊，國之望也，其去誌決矣。俊去，類俊者必不留。陛下將與二三近習私人共理天下乎？今日天下，與先朝異。武宗時，勢已阽危，然元氣猶壯，調劑適宜，可以立起。何也？承孝宗之澤也。今日病雖稍蘇，而元氣已竭，調劑無方，將至不起。何也？承武宗之亂也。伏願深察亂機，收還政柄，取文輩置之重典。然後務學親賢，去讒遠色，延訪忠言，深恤民隱。務使宮府一體，上下一心，而後天下可為也。」同官趙漢等亦皆以文為言，帝卒不聽。未幾，以給事中李學曾、章僑、主事林應驄皆言事奪俸，復上疏諫。指帝氣驕誌怠，甘蹈過愆。詞甚切。

Soon he memorialized again: "When authority under Heaven flows from a single source, the realm is governed; when it flows from two or three, the realm falls into disorder; when grand ministers share in deliberation, there is order; when unworthy men usurp power, there is chaos. At the start of your reign, you employed seasoned statesmen, welcomed loyal counsel, checked favor-seekers, and banished the wicked—you seemed both clear-sighted and resolute. Before two years had passed, you listened only to intimates, bad policies multiplied, your clarity dimmed and your resolve softened, you had not yet mastered how to wield power—and men who schemed in the shadows had seized control from the center. Cui Wen deceived the throne with sorcery, yet though tutors and censorate officials remonstrated, you would not listen. Luo Hongzai was arrested simply for doing his duty, and though court officials submitted seventy memorials on his behalf, nothing was done. Recently you shielded Cui Wen's slave, stripping the judiciary of its prerogatives, dismissed Lin Jun for disobedience, and grew angry at censorial memorials as mere annoyance. Whenever eunuchs were involved, you issued conciliatory edicts—crimes went unpunished and every petition was granted. How does this differ from the Zhengde reign?! Lin Jun is a pillar of the state, and his resignation signals that his mind is made up. Once Lin Jun goes, others like him will not stay either. Will you run the empire with a handful of personal favorites? The realm today is not what it was under the previous emperor. Under the Wuzong Emperor the state was near collapse, yet its vital force was still strong—with the right remedies it could have been restored at once. Why was that? Because it still drew on the legacy of the Hongzhi Emperor. Today the symptoms have eased slightly, but the vital force is spent—without effective remedy, the patient will not recover. Why is that? Because it inherits the chaos left by the Wuzong Emperor. I beg Your Majesty to discern the roots of disorder, reclaim the reins of power, and punish Wen and his like with the full severity of the law. Then study earnestly, keep worthy men close, banish slanderers, shun sensual indulgence, seek loyal counsel, and deeply relieve the people's hidden suffering. Strive to unite the palace and the administration, align rulers and ruled—and only then can the realm be governed." Colleagues such as Zhao Han also spoke against Wen, but the emperor still refused to listen. Soon afterward, after Supervising Secretaries Li Xuezeng and Zhang Qiao and Director Lin Yingcong all lost salary for speaking out, he submitted another remonstrance. He accused the emperor of arrogance and complacency, willing to repeat past mistakes. His words were blisteringly sharp.

為給事三年，所言皆不聽，遂謝病歸。八年，詔養病三年以上不赴都者，悉落職閑住，相卿遂廢。夏言故與同僚相善，既秉政，招之，謝弗應。

After three years as supervising secretary, with none of his advice heeded, he resigned on grounds of illness and went home. In the eighth year, an edict dismissed all officials who had been on sick leave for more than three years without returning to the capital; Xiangqing was therefore forced into retirement. Xia Yan, once his colleague and now in power, summoned him back, but Xiangqing politely refused.

顧濟，字舟卿，昆山人。正德十二年進士。授行人，擢刑科給事中。武宗自南都還，臥病豹房，惟江彬等侍。濟言：「陛下孤寄於外，兩宮隔絕，骨肉日疏。所恃以為安者，果何人哉？漢高帝臥病數日，樊噲排闥，警以趙高之事。今群臣中豈無噲憂者！願陛下慎擇廷臣更番入直，起居動息鹹使與聞。一切淫巧戲劇，傷生敗德之事，悉行屏絕，則保養有道，聖躬自安。」不報。再逾月而帝崩。

Gu Ji, whose style name was Zhouqing, came from Kunshan. He received his jinshi degree in the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign. He began as a courier and was promoted to supervising secretary in the Ministry of Justice bureau. When the Wuzong Emperor returned from Nanjing, he lay ill in the Leopard Quarter, attended only by Jiang Bin and his clique. Ji said: "Your Majesty dwells alone far from court; the two palaces are cut off from each other, and your kin grow more distant by the day. On whom do you truly rely to feel secure? When Emperor Gaozu of Han fell ill, Fan Kuai forced his way in and warned him with the example of Zhao Gao. Surely there are ministers today as anxious as Fan Kuai was! I urge Your Majesty to select court officials to attend in rotation, so that your every movement and rest is known to trustworthy men. Ban every lewd diversion and performance that harms body and character—then you will be properly cared for and Your Majesty's person will be secure. The emperor gave no answer. Little more than a month later, the emperor died.

世宗即位之月，濟上疏曰：「陛下踐阼，除弊納諫，臣民踴躍，思見德化之成。然立法非難，守法為難；聽諫非難，樂諫為難。今新政所厘，多不便於奸豪權悻。臣恐盤據既深，玩縱未已，非依怙宮闈，必請托左右。持法不固，則此輩將叢聚而壞之。此守法之難也。唐太宗貞觀初，每導群臣使言。及至晚年，諫者乃多忤旨。陛下首辟言路，臣工靡不因事納忠。高遠者似涉於迂闊，切直者或過於犯顏。若怒其犯顏，其言必不入；視為迂闊，則計必不行。此樂諫之難也。」尋復言：「內臣張雄、張銳等，詿誤先帝，業已逮治，又獲寬假。願斷以大義。俾無所售奸。」帝頗嘉納。既又劾司禮蕭敬黨庇銳等，而三法司會訊依違，無大臣節。不聽。帝欲加興獻帝皇號，濟言不可。尋請侍養歸，越數年卒。

In the month the Jiajing Emperor took the throne, Ji submitted a memorial: "Your Majesty has ascended the throne, rooting out abuses and welcoming remonstrance; officials and people rejoice, eager to see your virtuous rule take full shape. Yet enacting laws is not hard—upholding them is hard; hearing remonstrance is not hard—welcoming it gladly is hard. The reforms you have begun mostly inconvenience corrupt magnates and powerful favorites. I fear that, deeply entrenched and still unrestrained, they will either lean on the inner palace or press their case through your inner circle. If you do not hold firm to the law, they will gather and undermine it. That is the difficulty of upholding the law. At the start of the Zhenguan reign, Emperor Taizong of Tang constantly encouraged his ministers to speak freely. In his later years, however, remonstrators often found themselves at odds with the throne. Your Majesty first opened the channels of remonstrance, and officials have seized every occasion to offer loyal counsel. Counsel that reaches far may seem impractical; counsel that is blunt may seem to insult your dignity. If you grow angry at blunt speakers, their words will never reach you; if you dismiss them as impractical, their proposals will never be acted on. That is the difficulty of truly welcoming remonstrance." He soon memorialized again: "The eunuchs Zhang Xiong and Zhang Rui misled the late emperor; though already arrested for trial, they have again been granted leniency. I urge you to judge them by the standards of righteousness. So that they can no longer peddle their schemes." The emperor responded favorably. He then impeached Director of Ceremonials Xiao Jing for shielding Rui and others, while the three highest judicial offices hedged in their joint inquiry, lacking the backbone expected of grand ministers. The emperor refused to listen. When the emperor proposed granting his father the Xingxian Emperor an imperial title, Ji opposed it. He soon asked to go home to care for his parents and died several years later.

子章誌，嘉靖三十二年進士。累官南京兵部侍郎。奏減進奉馬快船額，南都人祀之。

Zhang Zhi, his son, received his jinshi degree in the thirty-second year of the Jiajing reign. He rose to serve as Vice Minister of War in Nanjing. He memorialized to cut the quota for tribute express boats, and the people of Nanjing enshrined him in gratitude.

章僑，字處仁，蘭溪人。正德十二年進士。授行人。嘉靖元年擢禮科給事中。疏劾中官蕭敬、芮景賢等。又言：「三代以下正學莫如朱熹。近有聰明才智，倡異學以號召，天下好高務名者靡然宗之。取陸九淵之簡便，詆朱熹為支離。乞行天下，痛為禁革。」御史梁世驃亦言之。帝為下詔申禁。

Zhang Qiao, whose style name was Churen, came from Lanxi. He received his jinshi degree in the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign. He began his career as a courier. In the first year of Jiajing he was promoted to supervising secretary in the Ministry of Rites bureau. He memorialized impeaching the eunuchs Xiao Jing, Rui Jingxian, and others. He also wrote: "Since the Three Dynasties, no scholar has embodied orthodox learning better than Zhu Xi. Lately, clever men have been preaching unorthodox doctrines and drawing crowds; scholars hungry for reputation have flocked to them. They embrace Lu Jiuyuan's shortcut to enlightenment while dismissing Zhu Xi as tedious and overcomplicated. I urge that such teachings be banned throughout the empire without delay." Censor Liang Shipiao made the same argument. The emperor responded with an edict reinforcing the ban.

尋又請依祖宗故事，早朝班退，許百官以次啟事。經筵日講，賜清問，密勿大臣勤召對。又簡儒臣十數人，更番直便殿，以備咨訪。上納其言，而不能用。奸人何淵請立世室於太廟東北，僑力言其不可。未幾，又言：「添設織造內臣，貪橫殊甚。行戶至廢產鬻子以償。惟急停革，與天下更始。」疏入，不省。又因條列營務，劾定國公徐光祚、陽武侯薛倫不職，倫遂解任。尋請斥張璁、霍韜等，不聽。

He soon proposed restoring the old custom of allowing officials, after the morning audience, to report matters to the throne in turn. He urged daily Classics Colloquium lectures, open questioning by the emperor, and regular private audiences with senior ministers. He also recommended that a dozen scholar-officials rotate through duty in the side hall, available for the emperor's consultation. The emperor acknowledged the proposal but never acted on it. When the schemer He Yuan proposed building a Shishi chamber northeast of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Qiao remonstrated vigorously against it. Soon after he wrote: "The eunuchs added to oversee imperial textile manufacture are flagrantly greedy and abusive. Weaving households have been driven to ruin their property and sell their children to meet demands. They must be abolished at once so the empire can begin anew." The memorial was received but ignored. In a detailed account of military administration he impeached Duke of Dingguo Xu Guangzuo and Marquis of Yangwu Xue Lun for neglect of duty; Xue Lun was promptly removed from office. He soon urged that Zhang Cong, Huo Tao, and their faction be dismissed, but the emperor refused.

孝陵司香谷大用乞還京治疾。僑言：「大用初連逆瑾，後引寧、彬，樹『八黨』之兇，釀十六年之禍，至先帝不得正其終。若不早遏絕，恐乘間伺隙，群兇競起，不至復亂天下不止。」章下所司。吳廷舉請召家居大臣議禮，僑劾其陰附邪說。孟秋時享太廟，帝遣京山侯崔元。僑言：「奉命臨時，倉皇就位，誠敬何存？」帝怒，奪其俸二月。歷禮科左給事中。出知衡州府，終福建布政使。

Gu Dayong, who tended incense at the Xiaoling Mausoleum, petitioned to return to Beijing for medical treatment. Qiao wrote: "Dayong first conspired with the rebel eunuch Liu Jin, then brought in Qian Ning and Jiang Bin, raised the notorious 'Eight Cliques,' and set in motion sixteen years of ruin until our late emperor died before his time. Unless he is stopped now, they will watch for their chance, the whole villainous crew will rise together, and the empire will be plunged into turmoil once more." The memorial was referred to the appropriate departments. When Wu Tingju proposed summoning retired grand ministers to debate the rites controversy, Qiao impeached him for secretly siding with the heterodox faction. For the midsummer seasonal offering at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, the emperor sent Duke of Jingshan Cui Yuan in his place. Qiao protested: "Sent at the last minute to stand in for the emperor—where is the sincerity such a rite demands?" The emperor was enraged and withheld two months of his salary. He went on to serve as Left Supervising Secretary in the Ministry of Rites bureau. He was posted as prefect of Hengzhou and eventually rose to serve as Fujian Provincial Administration Commissioner.

余珊，字德輝，桐城人。正德三年進士。授行人，擢御史。庶吉士許成名等罷教習，留翰林者十七人。珊以為濫，疏論之。語侵內閣，不納。乾清宮災，疏陳弊政，極指義子、西僧之謬。巡鹽長蘆，發中官奸利事。為所誣，械系詔獄，謫安陸判官。移知澧州。

Yu Shan, styled Dehui, came from Tongcheng. He received his jinshi degree in the third year of the Zhengde reign. He began as a courier and was promoted to censor. When Hanlin Bachelor-designates including Xu Chengming were removed as instructors, seventeen were still kept on in the Hanlin Academy. Shan considered the retention excessive and memorialized against it. His criticism reached the Grand Secretariat and was rejected. After the Qianqing Palace burned, he memorialized on abuses in government, denouncing especially the folly of imperial adoptive sons and Tibetan monks. On a salt-inspection tour of Changlu, he uncovered eunuch profiteering schemes. Framed by his accusers, he was clapped in irons in the Imperial Prison and demoted to assistant magistrate of Anlu. He was later transferred to serve as prefect of Lizhou.

世宗立，擢江西僉事，討平梅花峒賊。遷四川副使，備兵威、茂。嘉靖四年二月應詔陳十漸，其略曰：

After the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne, he was promoted to Jiangxi Assistant Commissioner and put down the bandits of Meihua Cave. He was promoted to Sichuan Vice Commissioner with military responsibility for the Wei and Mao regions. In the second month of the fourth year of Jiajing, answering an imperial call for memorials, he presented his "Ten Gradual Declines"; in summary:

陛下有堯、舜、湯、武之資，而無稷、契、伊、周之佐，致時事漸不克終者有十。

Your Majesty has the makings of Yao, Shun, Tang, and Wu, but not ministers of the caliber of Ji, Qi, Yi Yin, and the Duke of Zhou—and ten creeping failures now threaten to undo what you have begun.

正德間，逆瑾專權，假子亂政，不知紀綱為何物，幸陛下起而振之。未幾而事樂因循，政多茍簡，名實乖謬，宮府異同，紛泄沓。以為在朝廷而不在朝廷，以為在宮省而不在宮省，遂至天子以其心為心，百官萬民亦各以其心為心。此紀綱之頹，其漸一也。

Under Zhengde, Liu Jin seized power, imperial favorites ran wild, and law and order collapsed—until Your Majesty restored the regime. Yet soon the court drifted back into inertia, policy grew careless, word and deed parted company, palace and government fell out of step, and disorder spread unchecked. Ministers behaved as if they governed when they did not, as if they served the throne when they did not—until even the emperor followed his private inclinations, and every official and subject did the same. This is the first gradual decline: the collapse of institutional order.

正德間，士大夫寡廉鮮恥，趨附權門，幸陛下起而作之。乃今則前日之去者復來，來者不去。自夫浮沈一世之人擢掌銓衡，首取軟美脂韋。重富貴薄名檢者，列之有位，致諛佞成風，廉恥道薄。甚者侯伯專糾彈，罷吏議禮樂。市門復開，賈販仍舊。此風俗之壞，其漸二也。

Under Zhengde, officials lost their sense of honor and shame and flocked to powerful patrons—until Your Majesty set out to reform them. Now the men who were driven out have come back, and those who returned refuse to leave. Ever since time-servers were put in charge of appointments, the soft, smooth, and pliable have been favored above all. Men who prize wealth and rank over decency have been seated in office, until flattery has become custom and shame has all but vanished. At worst, noblemen have taken it upon themselves to lodge impeachments, and dismissed officials to dictate ritual policy. The gates of office are open for sale again, and the traffickers in favor are back in business. This is the second gradual decline: the corruption of public morals.

正德間，國柄下移，王靈不振，是以有安化、南昌之變，賴陛下起而整肅之。乃塞上戍卒近益驕恣。曩殺許巡撫而姑息，頃遂殺張巡撫而效尤。曩縛賈參將以立威，近又縛桂總兵而報怨。致榆關妖賊效之而戕主事，北邊庫吏仿之而賊縣官。陛下惑鄙儒姑息之談，牽俗吏權宜之計，遂使廟堂號令出於二三戍卒之口。此國勢之衰，其漸三也。

Under Zhengde, authority slipped from the throne and imperial prestige waned, spawning the rebellions of the Prince of Anhua and the Prince of Ning—until Your Majesty restored order. Yet lately the garrison troops on the frontier have grown ever more insolent and unruly. When they murdered Governor Xu they were let off lightly; now they have murdered Governor Zhang, and others have taken it as precedent. Once they seized Deputy Commander Jia to make an example; now they have seized Regional Commander Gui out of spite. Bandits at Yulin Pass followed suit and killed a director; warehouse clerks on the northern frontier copied them and murdered county magistrates. Misled by petty scholars preaching leniency and bound by clerks counseling compromise, Your Majesty has let the orders of state be dictated by a handful of mutinous soldiers. This is the third gradual decline: the waning of national strength.

自逆瑾以來，以苞苴易將帥，故邊防盡壞，賴陛下起而申嚴之。然積弊已久，未能驟復。今朵顏蹢躅於遼海，羌戎跳梁於西川，北狄蹂躪於沙漠。寇勢方張，而食肉之徒不能早見預料，亟求制馭之方，乃假鎮靜之虛名，掩無能之實跡。甚且詐飾捷功，濫邀賞賚，虛張勞伐，峻取官階，而塞上多事日甚。此外裔之強，其漸四也。

Since Liu Jin's day, military commands have been bought with bribes and the frontier defenses ruined—until Your Majesty tightened discipline again. But the rot runs deep, and recovery cannot come overnight. The Tümed linger off Liaodong, Qiang and Tibetans riot in western Sichuan, and northern tribes ravage the desert frontier. Enemies grow bolder by the day, yet the privileged officials at court cannot read the danger in time or devise a response—they merely invoke "pacification" to hide their own incompetence. Some falsify victory reports, claim rewards they do not deserve, inflate their campaigns, and trade paper triumphs for rapid promotion—while the frontier burns hotter every day. This is the fourth gradual decline: the growing strength of foreign enemies.

自逆瑾以來，盡天下之脂膏，輸入權貴之室，是以有劉、趙、藍、鄢之亂，賴陛下起而保護之。乃近年以來，黃紙蠲放，白紙催征；額外之斂，下及雞豚；織造之需，自為商賈。江、淮母子相食，兗、豫盜賊橫行，川、陜、湖、貴疲於供餉。田野嗷嗷，無樂生之心。此邦本之搖，其漸五也。

Since Liu Jin's day, the wealth of the empire has been drained into the coffers of the powerful, spawning the rebellions of Liu, Zhao, Lan, and Yan—until Your Majesty shielded the people. Yet in recent years the court issues edicts of tax relief on yellow paper, then sends white-paper orders to collect just the same; Extra levies reach down to the farmer's last chicken and pig; Demands for imperial textile work have become a private business for eunuch traders. Along the Yangtze and Huai people have been driven to cannibalism; in Yan and Yu bandits rule the roads; and Sichuan, Shaanxi, Huguang, and Guizhou groan under the burden of supplies. Across the countryside people cry out in misery, with no will to go on living. This is the fifth gradual decline: the shaking of the nation's foundations.

正德朝，衣冠蒙禍，家國幾空，幸陛下起而收錄之。乃未幾而狂瞽之言，一鳴輒斥。昔猶謫遷外任，今或編配遐荒。昔猶禁錮終身，今至箠死殿陛。蓋自呂柟、鄒守益等去而殿閣空，顧清、汪俊等去而部寺空，張原、胡瓊等死而言路空。間有一二忠直士，又為權奸排擠而違之，俾不通，致陛下耳囂目眩，忽不自知其在鮑魚之肆矣。此人才之雕，其漸六也。

Under Zhengde, the gentry were struck down and the court all but emptied—until Your Majesty recalled the exiled and the sidelined. Yet within a short time bold remonstrance is punished on first utterance. Once dissenters were demoted to provincial posts; now they are banished to the frontier wilds. Once they were imprisoned for life; now they are beaten to death at the foot of the throne. With the departure of Lü Nan and Zou Shouyi the inner court stands empty; with the departure of Gu Qing and Wang Jun the ministries stand empty; with the deaths of Zhang Yuan and Hu Qiong the channels of remonstrance stand empty. The occasional honest voice is blocked by powerful schemers, until Your Majesty hears nothing but noise, sees nothing but glare, and no longer notices that you dwell in an atmosphere of corruption—as a man in a fish market grows deaf to the stench. This is the sixth gradual decline: the wasting away of talent.

正德朝，奸邪叠進，忠諫不聞，幸陛下起而開通之。顧閱時未久，而此風復見。降心未懲其憤，逆耳或動諸顏。不剿說而折人以言，即臆度而虞人以詐。朝進一封，暮投千里。甚至三木囊頭，九泉含泣。此言路之塞，其漸七也。

Under Zhengde, the wicked rose one upon another and loyal counsel went unheard—until Your Majesty reopened the path of remonstrance. Yet scarcely had the channels opened when the old pattern returned. Those who speak with humility are not spared the emperor's wrath; words that grate the ear still provoke the royal countenance. Without weighing the argument, the emperor rejects the speaker; on mere suspicion he treats honest counsel as treachery. Speak at dawn and by nightfall you are exiled a thousand li. Some are tortured with cangue and hood until they die with grievance unspoken. This is the seventh gradual decline: the sealing of the channels of remonstrance.

正德朝，忠賢排斥，天下幾危，賴陛下起而主持之。豈期一轉瞬間，憸邪投隙而起。飾六藝以文奸言，假《周官》而奪漢政。堅白異同，模棱兩可。是蓋大奸似忠，大詐似信。王莽匿情於下士之日，安石垢面於入相之初。雖有聖哲，誰其辨之？臣恐正不敵邪，群陰日盛。此邪正之淆，其漸八也。

Under Zhengde, worthy men were driven out and the realm stood on the brink—until Your Majesty restored proper governance. Yet in the blink of an eye, the cunning and corrupt have seized their opening. They dress up treachery in the language of the Six Classics and invoke the Rites of Zhou to hijack imperial authority. They quibble over fine distinctions and speak from both sides of their mouths. Thus the greatest treachery wears the mask of loyalty, and the deepest fraud the mask of sincerity. Wang Mang concealed his ambitions while playing the humble scholar; Wang Anshi wore a mask of austerity when he first rose to power. Even a sage on the throne might fail to tell them apart. I fear righteousness cannot hold against corruption, and the dark faction grows stronger each day. This is the eighth gradual decline: the blurring of good and evil.

正德之世，大臣日疏，小人日親，致政事乖亂，賴陛下紹統，堂廉復親。乃自大禮議起，凡偶失聖意者，譴謫之，鞭笞之，流竄之，必一網盡焉而後已。由是小人窺伺，巧發奇中，以投主好，以弋功名。陛下既用先入為主，順之無不合，逆之無不怒。由是大臣顧望，小臣畏懼，上下乖戾，浸成睽孤，而泰交之風息矣。此君臣之睽，其漸九也。

Under Zhengde, great ministers were pushed away and petty men drew close, until government broke down—until Your Majesty's accession restored intimacy between throne and court. Yet since the Great Rites controversy began, anyone who once crossed the emperor has been demoted, flogged, or exiled—and not one has been spared. Petty men seized the opportunity, tailoring flattery to the emperor's mood and trading sycophancy for rank. Having set your mind on the first opinion offered, Your Majesty accepts whatever agrees with it and rages at whatever does not. Senior ministers hesitate, junior officials tremble, the court falls out of step with the throne, estrangement deepens into isolation—and the spirit of open communion between ruler and subject is lost. This is the ninth gradual decline: the breach between emperor and court.

正德之世，天鳴地震，物怪人妖，曾無虛歲，賴陛下紹統，災異始除。乃頃歲以來，雨雹殺禽獸，雷風拔樹屋，婦人產子兩頭，無極晝晦如夜，四方早潦，奏報不絕，曾何異正德之季乎？且京師陰霾之氣，上薄太陽，白晝冥冥，罕有暉采，尤為可畏。此災異之臻，其漸十也。

Under the Zhengde emperor, heaven thundered, the earth shook, and omens piled up year after year without respite. Only when Your Majesty took the throne did those portents begin to fade. Yet in these last years hail has slaughtered livestock, storms have torn up trees and houses, women have given birth to two-headed infants, and at Wuji the daylight blackened like night. Drought and flood reports pour in from every province without pause. How is this unlike the closing years of Zhengde? Worse still, a murk hangs over the capital, blurring the sun so that even at noon the city stays dim and colorless—a sight that inspires real dread. This is the tenth gradual decline: the return of calamities and portents.

此十者，天子有一，無以保四海。陛下聖明，何以致此？無乃輔弼召之歟？竊見今日之為輔弼第一人者，徒以奸佞，伴食怙恩。致上激天變，下召民災，中失物望。臣逆知其非天下之第一流，而陛下乃任信之，不至於魚爛不已。願亟去其人，更求才兼文武如前大學士楊一清，老成厚重如今大學士石缶者，並置左右，庶弊政可除，天下可治。

If the emperor falls prey to even one of these ten trends, he cannot hold the realm together. Your Majesty is wise and perceptive. How could things have reached this point? Surely your chief ministers have brought this upon the court? I see that the man now ranked first among your ministers is nothing but a sycophant and schemer—a courtier who eats at the public table and trades on imperial favor. He provokes heaven's wrath above, brings disaster on the people below, and forfeits the respect of the court in between. I know in advance that he is no true leader of the realm, yet Your Majesty keeps trusting him—and the rot will not stop until the whole catch spoils. Remove him at once, Your Majesty, and appoint men of real stature—soldier-statesmen like the former Grand Secretary Yang Yiqing and seasoned counselors like the present Grand Secretary Shi Fu. With such men at your side, corrupt rule might be cleared away and the empire set right.

臣又聞獻皇帝好賢下士，容物恕人，天下所共知也。今議禮諸臣，一言未合，輒以悖逆加之。謫配死徙，朝寧為空。此豈獻皇帝意？茍非其意，雖尊以天下，無當也。陛下何不起而用之，使駿奔清廟，以慰獻皇帝在天之靈哉！

I have also heard—and all the realm knows it—that the Xian Emperor loved talent, honored scholars, and was magnanimous and forgiving. Today, ministers who spoke on the rites controversy need only disagree once to be branded rebels. They were demoted, banished, executed, and exiled until the court stood hollow. Can this be what the Xian Emperor would have wanted? If this is not his will, then no honor in the world can make it right. Why not summon them back to service, Your Majesty, and send worthy men racing to the altars of state—thereby comforting the Xian Emperor's spirit in heaven?

疏反覆萬四千言，最為剴切，帝付之所司。其所斥輔弼第一人，謂費宏也。

The memorial ran to fourteen thousand words, repeated its points with cutting earnestness, and the emperor referred it to the appropriate ministry. The chief minister it attacked as foremost among the counselors was Fei Hong.

珊律己清嚴，居官有威惠。外艱歸，士民祠之名宦。後副使胡東臯謁祠，獨顧珊嘆曰：「此吾師也。」服闋，以故官蒞廣東。終四川按察使。

Shan held himself to a strict standard of integrity and governed with a balance of firmness and grace. When he went home to mourn a parent, local gentry and commoners erected a shrine to him as a distinguished official. Later, when Vice Commissioner Hu Donggao visited the shrine, he looked at Shan alone and sighed: "He was my teacher. After the mourning period he resumed his former office and went to Guangdong. He ended his career as Surveillance Commissioner of Sichuan.

先是，有御史汪珊者，於嘉靖元年七月疏陳十漸。略言：「陛下初即位，天下忻然望治，邇來漸不如初。初每事獨斷，今戚裏左右，或潛移陰奪。初每事咨訪大臣，今禮貌雖隆，而實意日疏。初罷諸不經淫祠，今稍稍議復。初屏絕玩好，今教坊諸司或以新聲巧伎進。初日覽奏章，今或置不省，輒令左右可否。初厘革冗食冗費，今騰驤勇士不行核實，禦馬實數不得稽察。初裁革錦衣冒濫，今大臣近侍以迎立授世陰，舊邸旗校盡補親軍。初中官有罪，懲以成法，今犯者多貸死，舉朝爭不得。初中官有過不復任用，今鎮守守備營求易置，悻門復啟。初納諫如流，今政事不便者，言官論奏，直曰『有旨』，訑訑拒人。」帝頗納其說。未幾，出為河南副使，歷官至南京戶部右侍郎。珊，字德聲，貴池人。正德六年進士。巡撫貴州時，討都勻叛苗有功。

Earlier, a censor named Wang Shan had submitted a memorial in the seventh month of Jiajing 1 describing ten gradual declines. It said in brief: "When Your Majesty first took the throne, the realm looked to you with hope; lately matters have steadily fallen short of that promise. At first you decided every matter yourself; now imperial in-laws and court favorites quietly steer or steal your decisions. At first you consulted senior ministers on every issue; now the courtesies remain grand, but genuine trust grows thinner by the day. At first you shut down improper local cults; now people are already talking about bringing them back. At first you banished frivolous pleasures; now the Music Office and other agencies again offer fresh songs and clever entertainments. At first you read memorials every day; now some are left unread while attendants are told simply to approve or deny them. At first you cut redundant posts and wasteful spending; now cavalry rolls go unchecked and no one can audit the true number of imperial horses. At first you reined in the Embroidered Uniform Guard's swollen ranks; now ministers and favorites receive hereditary honors for supporting your accession, and every banner guard from the old residence is enrolled as a personal soldier. At first eunuchs who broke the law were punished by statute; now most offenders are spared death, and the whole court protests in vain. At first disgraced eunuchs were never reappointed; now garrison and defense eunuchs lobby for new posts, and the old back doors are open again. At first you welcomed remonstrance freely; now when censors protest bad policy they are brushed off with a flat 'The emperor has decided,' and turned away without a hearing." The emperor largely accepted what he said. Before long he was posted as Vice Commissioner of Henan and eventually rose to Right Vice Minister of Revenue at Nanjing. Shan, courtesy name Desheng, came from Guichi. He passed the jinshi examination in Zhengde 6. As Grand Coordinator of Guizhou he earned distinction by suppressing the Miao rebellion at Duyun.

韋商臣，字希尹，長興人。嘉靖二年進士。授大理評事。明年冬，商臣以「大禮」初定，廷臣下吏貶謫者無虛日，乃上疏曰：「臣所居官，以平獄為職。乃自授任以來，竊見群臣以議禮忤旨者，左遷則吏部侍郎何孟春一人，謫戍則學士豐熙等八人，杖斃則編修王思等十七人，以咈中使逮問，則副使劉秉鑒，布政馬卿，知府羅玉、查仲道等十人，以失儀就系，則御史葉奇、主事蔡乾等五人，以京朝官為所屬訐奏下獄，則少卿樂頀、御史任洛等四人。此皆不平之甚，上幹天象，下駭眾心。臣竊以為皆所當宥。況比者水旱疫癘，星隕地震，山崩泉湧，風雹蝗蝻之害，殆遍天下，有識莫不寒心。及今平反庶獄，復戍者之官，錄死者之後，釋逮系者之囚，正告訐者之罪，亦弭災禳患之一道也。」帝責以沽名賣直，謫清江丞，量移德安推官。

Wei Shangchen, courtesy name Xiyin, was from Changxing. He became a jinshi in Jiajing 2. He was appointed a reviewing official in the Court of Judicial Review. The following winter, with the Great Rites controversy freshly settled and court officials being punished or banished almost every day, Shangchen submitted a memorial: "My office exists to see justice done in the courts. Since taking office I have watched minister after minister punished for disputing the rites: He Mengchun, Vice Minister of Personnel, demoted; Feng Xi and seven other academicians banished to frontier service; Wang Si and sixteen other compilers beaten to death; Liu Bingjian, Ma Qing, Luo Yu, Zha Zhongdao, and six others arrested for offending palace envoys; Ye Qi, Cai Qian, and three others detained for breaches of ceremony; and Yue Yi, Ren Luo, and two others jailed because subordinates had impeached capital officials. These are grave injustices that offend heaven above and terrify the people below. I believe every one of them deserves pardon. And now floods, drought, plague, falling stars, earthquakes, collapsing mountains, bursting springs, hail, locusts, and crop pests afflict nearly the whole realm. No thoughtful person can watch without dread. To reverse unjust verdicts now, restore banished officials, provide for the families of the dead, free the imprisoned, and punish false accusers would itself be a way to calm heaven's anger and avert disaster." The emperor accused him of courting fame under the guise of integrity, demoted him to assistant magistrate of Qingjiang, and later transferred him to judicial officer at De'an.

遷河南僉事。討平永寧巨寇，以功受賞。伊王虐殺其妃，商臣論如律。嘗治裏居給事中杜桐殺人罪。桐構之吏部尚書汪鋐。甫遷四川參議，遂以考察落職歸。言官薛宗鎧、戚賢、戴銑輩交章救，不納。家居數十年，卒。

He was promoted to Assistant Surveillance Commissioner of Henan. He crushed the major bandit force at Yongning and was rewarded for his service. When the Prince of Yi brutally murdered his consort, Shangchen prosecuted the case by the book. He once tried Supervising Secretary Du Tong, then living in retirement, on a charge of murder. Du Tong then framed Shangchen before Minister of Personnel Wang Gong. He had barely been appointed Administration Vice Commissioner of Sichuan when a performance review stripped him of office and sent him home. Censors Xue Zongkai, Qi Xian, Dai Xiao, and others petitioned repeatedly on his behalf, but the throne refused. He lived in retirement for decades before he died.

黎貫，字一卿，從化人。正德十二年進士。改庶吉士，授御史。刷卷福建，劾鎮守內官尚春侵官帑狀，悉追還之。世宗入繼，貫請復起居註之制，命詞臣編類章奏備纂述，從之。登極詔書禁四方貢獻，後鎮守中貴貢如故。貫上言：「陛下明詔甫頒，而諸內臣曲說營私，希恩固寵。其假朝命以征取者謂之額，而自挾以獻者謂之額外，罔虐百姓，致朝廷之澤壅而不流，非所以昭大信，彰君德也。」

Li Guan, courtesy name Yiqing, was from Conghua. He passed the jinshi examination in Zhengde 12. He entered the Hanlin as a bachelor and was appointed censor. While auditing records in Fujian he impeached the garrison eunuch Shangchun for raiding public funds and recovered the full amount. After the Shizong Emperor succeeded to the throne, Guan urged restoration of the court diary and asked that literary officials compile memorials for the historical record; the emperor agreed. The accession edict banned local tribute from the provinces, yet garrison eunuchs kept sending gifts as before. Guan memorialized: "Your Majesty's clear edict has only just been issued, yet palace eunuchs already twist the rules for private gain, trading flattery for favor. What they levy in the emperor's name they call the regular quota; what they seize on their own and present as gifts they call extra tribute. They cheat and abuse the people, choking off the court's bounty before it reaches them. That is no way to show the realm your sincerity or burnish imperial virtue."

嘉靖二年，帝從玉田伯蔣輪請，於承天立興獻帝家廟，以輪子榮奉祀。貫言：「陛下信一諛臣之說，委祀事於外戚。神不歆非類，獻帝必將吐之。」不聽。尋疏言：「國初，夏秋二稅，麥四百七十一萬，而今損九萬。米二千四百七十三萬，而今損二百五十萬。以歲入則日減，以歲出則日增。乞敕所司通稽祖宗以來賦額及今日經費之數，列籍上聞。知賦入有限，則費用不容不節。」帝嘉納焉。

In Jiajing 2 the emperor granted Yutian Earl Jiang Lun's request to build a family temple to the Xingxian Emperor at Chengtian, with Lun's son Rong placed in charge of the rites. Guan protested: "Your Majesty has taken the word of a single sycophant and handed sacred rites over to a maternal relative. Spirits do not accept offerings from the wrong hands—the Xian Emperor's spirit will surely reject them." The emperor would not hear it. Soon after he memorialized: "At the dynasty's founding the summer and autumn wheat levy stood at 4.71 million units; today it has fallen by ninety thousand. The rice levy was 24.73 million; it has now fallen by 2.5 million. Revenue shrinks year by year while spending grows. I ask that Your Majesty order the ministries to audit tax quotas since the founding of the dynasty and today's expenditures, set them out in registers, and report the figures to the throne. Once the limits of revenue are known, spending cannot go unchecked." The emperor approved the proposal.

出按江西，父喪歸。久之，起故官。會帝從張孚敬議，去孔子王號，改稱先師，並損籩豆佾舞之數。編修徐階以諫謫。禦制《改正祀典說》，頒示廷臣；而孚敬復為《祀典或問》，以希合帝意。議已定，貫率同官合疏爭之。帝震怒，曰：「貫等謂朕已尊皇考為皇帝，孔子豈反不可稱王？奸逆甚矣。其悉下法司按治。」於是都御史汪鋐言：「比者言官論事，每挾眾以淩人曰：『此天下公議也』，不知倡之者止一人。請究倡議之人，明正其罪。」帝然之。已而刑部尚書許贊等上其獄，當贖杖還職，帝特命褫貫為民。久之，卒於家。

He was sent to inspect Jiangxi, then went home when his father died. After a long interval he was restored to his former post. Just then the emperor adopted Zhang Fufu's proposal to strip Confucius of his royal title, rename him Former Teacher, and cut back the ritual vessels, offerings, and dancers at his shrine. Compiler Xu Jie was banished for protesting the change. The emperor issued his own essay, "On Reforming the Sacrificial Canon," and circulated it to the court; and Zhang Fufu answered with his own "Questions on the Sacrificial Canon" to align himself with the emperor's views. Once the decision was fixed, Guan led his colleagues in a joint memorial of protest. The emperor flew into a rage: "Guan and his colleagues argue that because I have already elevated my father to emperor, Confucius somehow cannot remain a king? This is rank treason. Hand them all over to the judicial authorities for prosecution." Censor-in-Chief Wang Gong then said: "Lately censors have banded together to intimidate the court, calling their views 'the opinion of the whole realm'—when in truth only one man started it. Investigate the ringleader and punish him openly." The emperor agreed. When Minister of Justice Xu Zan and others reported the verdict—commutation by fine and beating with restoration to office—the emperor personally ordered Guan stripped of rank and reduced to commoner status. Years later he died at home.

方貫等上疏時，禮科都給事中華陽王汝梅亦率同官抗論，且曰：「陛下萬幾之余，留神典禮，甚盛舉也。但恐生事之臣望風紛起，今日獻一議，謂某制當革，明日進一說，謂某制當復，國家自此多事矣。況祖宗成法，守之百六十年，縱使少不如古，循而行之，亦未為過，何必紛紛事更易乎？」帝覽奏，斥其違旨，以《祀典說》示之。

When Guan and his colleagues submitted their protest, Wang Rumei of Huayang, Chief Drafter of the Ministry of Rites Section, joined his colleagues in dissent, writing: "Your Majesty's attention to ritual amid the press of state affairs is a worthy undertaking. But I fear opportunists will take this as a signal: today one faction proposes abolishing an old institution, tomorrow another urges restoring it. The court will never know peace. The institutions of the founding emperors have stood for a hundred and sixty years. Even if they fall short of antiquity, following them would hardly be a crime. Why invite endless tinkering? The emperor read the memorial, rebuked Wang for defying his will, and sent him the emperor's own "Explanation of the Sacrificial Canon."

汝梅，字濟元，由行人歷禮科都給事中。八年二月以災異求言。汝梅言：「比來章奏多逢迎，請分別忠佞，毋信諛言。大臣奏事，近多留中，請悉付之公論。人主之學，詞命非所重。今一事之行，動煩宸翰，亦少褻矣。宜仿祖宗故事，時禦平臺，召見宰執，面決大議，既省筆劄之勞，且絕壅蔽之害。」疏入，忤旨。及夏言請分祀天地，汝梅復偕同官力爭。尋出為浙江參政，卒官。

Rumei, courtesy name Jiyuan, rose from courier to Chief Drafter of the Ministry of Rites Section. In the second month of year eight the emperor called for memorials in response to portents. Rumei wrote: "Memorials lately are mostly flattery. Distinguish loyal counsel from sycophancy, Your Majesty, and do not trust adulation. Too many ministers' memorials are now held back unread. Submit them all to open debate. In a sovereign's education, polished prose and formal edicts ought not weigh heavily. That every petty affair must await the emperor's own hand is undignified and exhausting. Follow the old imperial custom: hold open audiences on the terrace, summon the chief ministers, and decide weighty matters in person. That would spare endless paperwork and keep the court from going blind." When the memorial reached the throne, it displeased the emperor. When Xia Yan proposed separate rites for Heaven and Earth, Rumei again led his colleagues in vehement opposition. He was soon posted as Administrator of Zhejiang, where he died in office.

彭汝實，字子充，嘉定州人。正德十六年進士。授南京吏科給事中。嘉靖三年疏言：「九江盜起，殺傷官軍。操江伍文定不即議剿，應城伯孫鉞擁兵不出，俱宜切責。」帝並從之。呂柟、鄒守益下獄，汝實抗章救。又因災異上言：「邇者黃風黑霧，春早冬雷，地震泉竭，揚沙雨土。加以群小盛長，盜賊公行，萬民失業。木異草妖，時時見告。天變於上，地變於下，人物變於中，而修省之詔無過具文。廷陛之間，忠邪未辨，以逢迎為合禮，以守正為沽直。長鯨巨鮞決綱自如，腴田甲第橫賜無已。陛下春秋已逾誌學，而經筵進講略無問難，黃閣票擬依常批答。棄燕閑於女寵，委腹心於貂珰。二廖諸張尚然緩死，李隆、蘇晉竟得無他。如此而望天意回，人心感，不可得矣。」

Peng Rushi, courtesy name Zichong, was from Jiading Prefecture. He passed the metropolitan examination in the sixteenth year of the Zhengde reign. He was appointed drafter of the Ministry of Personnel section at Nanjing. In the third year of Jiajing he memorialized the throne: "Bandits have risen at Jiujiang and killed government troops. Wu Wending, river-defense commander, has not moved to suppress them; Sun Yue, Marquis of Yingcheng, holds his troops back. Both deserve stern rebuke." The emperor accepted both recommendations. When Lü Nan and Zou Shouyi were thrown into prison, Rushi memorialized the throne in their defense. Citing portents, he wrote again: "Yellow winds and black mists, thunder in winter and drought in spring, earthquakes, dried springs, sandstorms and rains of dust— petty men thrive, bandits roam openly, and the people have lost their livelihoods. Reports of freakish trees and uncanny plants arrive unceasingly. Heaven, earth, and men all show signs of disorder, yet the emperor's calls for self-reform remain hollow formulae. At court, loyalty and treachery go undistinguished. Flattery passes for propriety; steadfast integrity is mocked as self-righteousness. Great predators slip every net, while fertile estates and mansions are lavished without end. Your Majesty is past fifteen, yet the lectures on the classics draw no probing questions, and drafts from the Grand Secretariat receive routine approval. Leisure is surrendered to palace women; the emperor's confidence is placed in eunuchs. The two Liaos and their Zhang allies received only delayed sentences; Li Long and Su Jin escaped entirely unscathed. On such terms one cannot expect Heaven to relent or the people to be won over."

大學士費宏以子坐事被論不出，禮部侍郎溫仁和以慶王臺浤事聽勘。汝實言宜聽二臣避位，以明進退之義。因薦石缶、羅欽順、顧清、蔣冕可代宏，李廷相、崔銑、湛若水、何瑭、許誥可代仁和。章下所司。

Grand Secretary Fei Hong stayed away after his son's involvement drew censure; Vice Minister of Rites Wen Renhe faced investigation over matters involving the Prince of Qing's estate. Rushi argued that both ministers should be permitted to withdraw, thereby honoring the code of when to serve and when to step down. He recommended Shi Fou, Luo Qinshun, Gu Qing, and Jiang Mian to succeed Hong, and Li Tingxiang, Cui Quan, Zhan Ruoshui, He Tang, and Xu Gao to succeed Renhe. The memorial was referred to the appropriate department.

奸人王邦奇之訐楊廷和、彭澤也，汝實言：「邦奇先後兩疏，始為惶駭之語，終雜鄙褻之辭。中所引事，多顛倒淆惑，至謂費宏、石缶夜入楊一清門。今不聞召問一清，一清又久不為白，何也？陛下即位之初，廷和裁省冗員數萬，坐此叢怒罷去。今其長子業以狂愚發遣，亦可已矣。而群小蓄忿，蔓連不已，並其次子及婿又復下獄。夫誣告之律，視其所誣輕重反坐，此國法也。願追究主使之人，與告人同罪，毋令茍免，貽譏外蕃。」不聽。

When the schemer Wang Bangqi denounced Yang Tinghe and Peng Ze, Rushi wrote: "Bangqi's two memorials began in tones of alarm and ended in vulgar, irreverent abuse. The incidents he cites are mostly garbled and contradictory, even alleging that Fei Hong and Shi Fou entered Yang Yiqing's house by night. Yet Yiqing has not been summoned to answer these charges, nor has he long since cleared his name. Why not? At the start of Your Majesty's reign, Tinghe cut tens of thousands of redundant posts and was driven from office by the fury of those he displaced. His eldest son Ye has already been banished for folly. Surely that is enough. Yet petty men nurse their grudges and widen the vendetta without end; even his second son and son-in-law have been thrown back into prison. The law on false accusation requires that the accuser suffer the penalty appropriate to the crime he invented. That is the law of the realm. Pursue the men behind the accusation and punish them as the accusers would be punished. Do not let them slip free and invite mockery from beyond the borders." The emperor refused.

汝實數言時政缺失，又嘗力爭「大禮」，為璁、萼等所惡。以親老再疏請改近地教職，而舉貢士高任說、王表自代。章下，吏部承璁、萼指，言：「汝實倡言鼓眾，撓亂大禮，且與御史方鳳、程啟充朋黨通賄。自知考察不容，乃欲辭尊居卑，不當聽其幸免。」遂奪職閑住。與啟充及徐文華、安磐皆同里，時稱「嘉定四諫」。

Rushi repeatedly criticized failures of governance and had also fought the "Great Rites" controversy, earning the enmity of Zhang Cong, Gui E, and their faction. Citing aged parents, he twice asked to be transferred to a teaching post nearer home, recommending the presented scholars Gao Renshuo and Wang Biao to take his place. When the memorial was referred downward, the Ministry of Personnel, at Cong and E's direction, reported: "Rushi incited the crowd and obstructed the Great Rites. He also formed a faction with Censor Fang Feng and Cheng Qichong and exchanged bribes. Knowing he cannot survive the next inspection, he now seeks to quit a high office for a low one. He must not be allowed to slip away." He was stripped of office and ordered to live in retirement. He was from the same home district as Qichong, Xu Wenhua, and An Pan; together they were known as "the Four Remonstrators of Jiading."

鄭自璧，字采東，祥符人，隸籍京師。正德十二年進士。改庶吉士，除工科給事中。

Zheng Zibi, courtesy name Caidong, was from Xiangfu but registered as a resident of the capital. He passed the metropolitan examination in the twelfth year of the Zhengde reign. He entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor and was then appointed drafter of the Ministry of Works section.

世宗踐阼，中外競言時政。自璧請采有關化理者，類輯成書，以備觀覽，從之。初，正德中，奄人多奪民業為莊田，至是因民訴，遣使往勘。自璧復備言其弊，帝命勘者嚴治，民患稍除。嘉靖二年，後父陳萬言辭黃華坊賜第，請西安門外新宅，詔予之。自璧以所請宅已鬻之民，不當奪，與安磐力爭。不聽。明年爭「大禮」受杖。

When the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne, officials throughout the empire vied to speak on affairs of state. Zibi asked that memorials bearing on moral governance be collected and arranged into a book for the emperor's reading. The request was granted. Under the Zhengde Emperor, eunuchs had often seized commoners' land for private estates. Now, responding to popular complaints, the court sent investigators. Zibi again laid out the abuses in detail. The emperor ordered strict punishment, and the people's grievances were partly eased. In the second year of Jiajing, the empress's father Chen Wanyan declined the mansion at Huanghua Lane and asked for a new residence outside Xi'an Gate. An edict granted his request. Zibi argued that the house in question had already been sold to commoners and must not be seized. He and An Pan protested vigorously. The emperor refused. The following year he was beaten for opposing the "Great Rites."

三遷至兵科都給事中。中官李能以修墩堡為詞，請定山海關稅額。中官張忠、尚書金獻民等論甘肅功，蔭子錦衣，其下參隨皆進秩。鎮守江西中官黎鑒，參隨逾常額。中官武忠從子英冒功，擢副千戶。錦衣官裁革者多夤緣復職，而司禮監奏收已汰諸匠近五百人。孝陵凈軍於喜擅赴京奏辨。安邊伯許泰戍死，其子請襲祖職。中官扶安黃英先後死，官其親屬。自璧皆抗疏爭，帝多不聽。嘗偕同官劾郭勛奸貪。及李福達事起，復劾勛交結妖人。帝以勛故，降旨責自璧。六年三月，宣府失事。復劾總兵傅鐸，並及鎮守中官王玳、巡撫周金、副將時陳等罪。鐸逮問，陳褫冠帶，而玳、金責立功贖罪。禮部侍郎桂萼請起王瓊於邊。自璧率同官與御史譚纘等言瓊罪宜追治，萼引奸邪，請並論。不納。

After three promotions he became chief drafter of the Ministry of War section. Eunuch Li Neng, citing repairs to frontier forts, asked to fix the customs quota at Shanhai Pass. Eunuch Zhang Zhong, Minister Jin Xianmin, and others reported merit in Gansu. Sons were ennobled in the Brocade Guard, and every attendant in their retinues was promoted. Li Jian, the eunuch commissioner in Jiangxi, kept more attendants than regulations allowed. Ying, nephew of eunuch Wu Zhong, falsely claimed military credit and was promoted to vice thousand-household. Many officials cut from the Brocade Guard regained their posts through patronage, while the Directorate of Ceremonial asked to reinstate nearly five hundred craftsmen already dismissed. Yu Xi of the Xiaoling Pure Guard went to the capital on his own authority to plead his case. Border-pacifying Marquis Xu Tai died on frontier duty; his son asked to inherit the family title. The eunuchs Fu An and Huang Ying died in turn, and their relatives were given official posts. Zibi protested all of these by memorial; the emperor usually refused. He once joined his colleagues in impeaching Guo Xun for corruption and treachery. When the Li Fuda case broke, he again impeached Xun for consorting with sorcerers. For Xun's sake the emperor issued an edict rebuking Zibi. In the third month of the sixth year, the frontier command at Xuanfu suffered a defeat. He again impeached the commander Fu Duo, and also charged the frontier eunuch Wang Dai, Grand Coordinator Zhou Jin, Vice Commander Shi Chen, and others. Duo was arrested and interrogated; Chen was stripped of rank; Dai and Jin were ordered to redeem themselves through service. Vice Minister of Rites Gui E asked that Wang Qiong be recalled to frontier service. Zibi led his colleagues and Censor Tan Zuan and others in arguing that Qiong's crimes should be pursued and that E, who had promoted a villain, should be prosecuted as well. The court rejected the proposal.

自璧最敢言，所言皆權幸，直聲震朝野。側目者共為蜚語，聞於上。吏部以資推太仆少卿，不用。至是科道共劾，中旨降二級，調外任，遂謫江陰縣丞。命下，大臣幸其去，無救者。後廷臣屢論薦，竟不召。

Zibi was the boldest of speakers. He aimed always at the powerful and the favored, and his reputation for integrity resounded through court and country. Those who resented him spread slander together until it reached the emperor's ears. The Ministry of Personnel recommended him for vice director of the Court of the Imperial Stud on grounds of seniority, but he was passed over. Then the censorial officials jointly impeached him. By secret edict he was demoted two ranks, sent to a provincial post, and finally relegated to assistant magistrate of Jiangyin. When the order came down, senior officials were glad to see him go, and no one spoke for him. Later, court officials recommended him again and again, but he was never summoned back.

戚賢，字秀夫，全椒人。嘉靖五年進士。授歸安知縣。縣有蕭總管廟，報賽無虛日。會久早，賢禱不驗，沈本偶於河。居數日，舟過其地，木偶躍入舟，舟中人皆驚。賢徐笑曰：「是特未焚耳。」趣焚之。潛令健隸入岸傍社，誡之曰：「水中人出，械以來。」已，果獲數人。蓋奸民募善泅者為之也。

Qi Xian, courtesy name Xiufu, was from Quanjiao. He passed the metropolitan examination in the fifth year of the Jiajing reign. He was appointed magistrate of Gui'an. The county had a Temple of Administrator Xiao, and offerings of thanks were made there every day. During a long drought his prayers went unanswered, so he sank the temple idol in the river. A few days later a boat passed the spot. The wooden image leaped into the boat and terrified everyone aboard. Xian smiled and said calmly: "It simply has not been burned yet." He ordered it burned at once. Secretly he posted strong attendants at the shrine on the bank with orders: "When men come out of the water, seize them in shackles and bring them here." Before long several men were captured. Scoundrels had hired skilled swimmers to stage the miracle.

知府萬雲鵬操下急，賢數忤之。當上計，有毀雲鵬者，將被黜。賢走吏部白其枉，雲鵬竟得免。而尚書桂萼獨心異賢，喪去，起知唐縣。召為吏科給事中。

Prefect Wan Yunpeng was harsh with his subordinates, and Xian repeatedly crossed him. At the annual evaluation someone slandered Yunpeng, and he was about to be dismissed. Xian went to the Ministry of Personnel to declare Yunpeng innocent, and Yunpeng was spared after all. Minister Gui E alone took a dislike to Xian. After a period of mourning leave, Xian was reappointed magistrate of Tang County. He was summoned to the capital as drafter of the Ministry of Personnel section.

十四年春，當大計外吏。大計罷者，例永不用，而是時言事諸臣忤柄臣意，率假計典錮之。賢乃先事言所黜有未當者，宜聽言官論救。帝稱善，從其請。會參議王存、韋商臣言事忤要人，前給事中葉洪劾汪鋐被謫，果在黜中。賢方勘事陜西，給事中薛宗鎧因據賢疏伸救。吏部持不可，帝遂命已之。及賢還朝，以鋐恣橫，實張孚敬庇之，乃條其罪狀曰：「輔臣孚敬布腹心以操吏部之權，懸利害以箝言官之口。即如考察一事，陛下曲聽臣言，許其申雪，正防大臣行私也。今言官為洪等辯救，孚敬乃曲庇冢臣，巧言阻遏。陛下有堯、舜知人之明，輔臣負伯鯀方命之罪。放流之典具在，惟陛下以威斷之。」帝內嘉賢言，而重違孚敬、鋐意，洪等竟不復。

In the spring of the fourteenth year came the triennial evaluation of provincial officials. Officials dismissed in the grand evaluation were by precedent never reemployed. Now, however, remonstrating officials who had offended the men in power were being purged through the evaluation itself. Xian therefore proposed in advance that where dismissals were unjust, remonstrating officials should be allowed to appeal on the accused men's behalf. The emperor approved and granted his request. Just then Vice Censor-in-Chief Wang Cun and Wei Shangchen had offended powerful men by their remonstrances, and former drafter Ye Hong, who had impeached Wang Qiong, had been banished. They indeed appeared on the dismissal list. Xian was then on inspection duty in Shaanxi. Drafter Xue Zongkai appealed for their reinstatement, citing Xian's earlier memorial. The Ministry of Personnel objected that it could not be done, and the Emperor ordered the matter dropped. When Xian returned to court, he saw that Qiong's arrogance owed everything to Zhang Fujing's protection. He laid out the charges in a memorial: "Chief Minister Fujing stations his own men to control the Ministry of Personnel and dangles reward and ruin to silence the remonstrating officials. Take the evaluation alone. Your Majesty bent to hear me and allowed the wronged to clear their names—precisely to keep grand ministers from acting for private ends. Now the remonstrating officials speak in defense of Hong and the others, yet Fujing bends to shield his favored minister and blocks them with clever words. Your Majesty has the discernment of Yao and Shun in knowing men, yet the chief minister bears the crime of Gun, who defied Heaven's command. The precedents for banishment are all in place. May Your Majesty act with resolute authority alone. The Emperor inwardly approved what Xian said, but he was reluctant to cross Fujing and Qiong. Hong and the others were never restored.

再以喪去。補刑科都給事中。夏言柄國，會當選庶吉士，不能無所徇。賢疏陳請屬之弊，帝納其言。久之，劾郭勛吞噬遍天下。太廟災，復劾勛及尚書張瓚、樊繼祖等，而薦聞淵、熊浹、劉天和、王畿、程文德、徐樾、萬鏜、呂柟、魏校、程啟充、馬明衡、魏良弼、葉洪、王臣可任用。言滋不悅，激帝怒，謫山東布政司都事。諸被薦者皆奪俸。

He again left office to observe mourning. He was appointed chief drafter of the Punishments section. While Xia Yan held the reins of state, Hanlin probationers were due to be chosen, and he could not entirely avoid favoritism. Xian memorialized on the evils of soliciting patronage, and the Emperor accepted his argument. After some time he impeached Guo Xun for preying on the realm from end to end. When the Imperial Ancestral Temple burned, he again impeached Xun along with Ministers Zhang Zan and Fan Jizu, and recommended Wen Yuan, Xiong Jia, Liu Tianhe, Wang Ji, Cheng Wende, Xu Yue, Wan Tong, Lü Shan, Wei Xiao, Cheng Qichong, Ma Mingheng, Wei Liangbi, Ye Hong, and Wang Chen as men fit for office. Yan grew ever more displeased, roused the Emperor's anger, and had him banished to chief clerk of the Shandong provincial administration commission. All those he had recommended had their salaries suspended.

賢尋以父老自免。歸十余年，卒。賢少聞王守仁說，心契之。及官於浙，遂執弟子禮。

Before long Xian resigned on the grounds that his parents were old. He lived at home for more than ten years, then died. In youth Xian heard Wang Shouren's teachings and found his heart in accord with them. When he served in Zhejiang he took up the duties of a disciple toward him.

劉繪，字子素，一字少質，光州人。祖進，太仆少卿。繪長身修髯，磊落負奇氣。好擊劍，力挽六石弓。舉鄉試第一，登嘉靖十四年進士，授行人，改戶科給事中。

Liu Hui, courtesy name Zisu, also known as Shaozhi, was from Guang Prefecture. His grandfather Jin had been vice director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. Hui was tall and long-bearded, open and bold, with an uncommon spirit about him. He loved swordplay and could draw a six-stone bow. He placed first in the provincial examination and passed the metropolitan examination in the fourteenth year of the Jiajing reign. He was appointed courier, then transferred to drafter of the Revenue section.

二十年，詔兩京言官會薦邊才。給事中邢如默等薦毛伯溫、劉天和等二十人，而故御史段汝礪、副都御史翟瓚、參議王洙與焉。繪言：「汝礪乃大學士翟鑾姻戚，瓚、洙則夏言諭指如默排群議而薦之者。相臣挾權以遏言官，言官懼勢而咈公議，上下雷同，非社稷福。乞罷鑾、言，罪如默，為徇私植黨者戒。」帝是其言，出如默於外。言適罷政，鑾置不問。

In the twentieth year an edict ordered remonstrating officials of both capitals to recommend frontier talent jointly. Drafter Xing Rumo and others recommended twenty men, including Mao Bowen and Liu Tianhe. Among them were former censor Duan Rushi, vice censor-in-chief Zhai Zan, and vice censor Wang Zhu. Hui said: "Rushi is a relation by marriage of Grand Secretary Zhai Luan. Zan and Zhu were put forward because Xia Yan instructed Rumo to override the collective opinion and recommend them. The chief minister wields power to silence remonstrating officials; the remonstrating officials fear that power and turn against public opinion. When high and low echo one another alike, the altars of state are not served. I beg that Luan and Yan be dismissed and Rumo be punished, as a warning to those who favor their own and build factions. The Emperor approved his argument and sent Rumo to an external post. Yan had just been removed from power, and Luan was left untouched.

明年，寇大入山西。繪上疏曰：「俺答方強，必為腹心患。議者謂宜守不宜戰，以故邊將多自全，或拾殘騎報首功。督巡諸臣亦第列士馬守要害，名曰清野，實則避鋒；名曰守險，實則自衛。請專任翟鵬，得便宜從事。馳發宣、大、山西士馬，合十七八萬人。三路並舉，有進無退，寇雖多，可計日平也。」帝壯其言。令假鵬便宜，得戮都指揮以下。然鵬竟不能出塞。頃之，劾山西巡撫劉臬結納夏言，且請罷吏部尚書許瓚、宣府巡撫楚書。臬、書由是去職。

The next year the raiders drove deep into Shanxi. Hui submitted a memorial saying: "Altan is strong now and is sure to become a threat at the empire's heart. Counselors say the frontier should hold, not fight. Frontier generals mostly look to their own safety, or gather up broken bands of riders and report them as enemy heads for merit. The supervising and touring officials likewise merely array troops and horses at key points. They call it clearing the countryside; in fact they avoid the enemy's edge. They call it holding the passes; in fact they are protecting themselves. I ask that Zhai Peng be given sole charge, with full authority to act at discretion. Dispatch at speed the troops and horses of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi—one hundred seventy or eighty thousand men in all. Advance on three routes at once, with advance and no retreat. However many the enemy, they can be pacified within days. The Emperor was impressed by what he said. He granted Peng discretionary authority and the power to execute regional commanders and men below them. Yet in the end Peng never crossed beyond the frontier passes. Before long he impeached Shanxi grand coordinator Liu Nao for forming ties with Xia Yan, and also asked that Minister of Personnel Xu Zan and Xuanfu grand coordinator Chu Shu be dismissed. Nao and Shu thereupon left office.

繪兩劾言，言憾之，出為重慶知府。土官爭地相讎，檄諭之，即定。上官交薦，而言再入政府，屬言者論罷之。家居二十年，卒。

Hui impeached Yan twice. Yan resented him and had him sent out as prefect of Chongqing. Native chieftains disputed land and nursed mutual vendettas. He sent proclamations instructing them, and the matter was settled at once. Superiors repeatedly recommended him, but when Yan returned to government he had remonstrators impeach him and had him dismissed. He lived at home for twenty years, then died.

子黃裳，兵部員外郎。倭陷朝鮮，命贊畫侍郎宋應昌軍務。渡鴨綠江，抵平壤，大敗賊兵。賊遁，黃裳追逐，又連破之。錄功，進郎中。

His son Huang Shang was a vice director in the Ministry of War. When Japan invaded Korea, he was ordered to assist Vice Minister Song Yingchang in managing military affairs. He crossed the Yalu River, reached Pyongyang, and routed the enemy army. The enemy fled. Huang Shang pursued and defeated them again and again. His merit was recorded and he was promoted to director.

錢薇，字懋垣，海鹽人。嘉靖十一年進士。受業湛若水。官行人，泊然自守。與同年生蔣信輩朝夕問學。擢禮科給事中。請令將帥家丁得自耕塞下田，毋征其賦，總督大臣假便宜，專制閫外。格不行。又疏劾大學士李時、禮部尚書夏言、工部尚書溫仁和、外戚蔣輪。

Qian Wei, courtesy name Maoyuan, was from Haiyan. He passed the metropolitan examination in the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign. He studied under Zhan Ruoshui. As courier he lived quietly and held himself apart. With his examination-year fellows Jiang Xin and others he pursued learning morning and evening. He was promoted to drafter of the Rites section. He asked that generals' household retainers be allowed to farm frontier lands without tax, and that grand coordinators be granted discretionary authority and sole command beyond the passes. The proposal was blocked and never implemented. He again memorialized impeaching Grand Secretary Li Shi, Minister of Rites Xia Yan, Minister of Works Wen Renhe, and the imperial in-law Jiang Lun.

進右給事中。郭勛請復鎮守內官，擅易置宿衛將校。薇憤，疏其不法七事。帝眷勛，然素知其橫，兩不問。已，因星變，極言主德之失，帝深銜之未發。疏諫南巡，坐奪俸。內閣夏言輩所選宮僚，多以徇私劾罷。薇偕同官呂應祥、任萬里乞如會推故事，集內閣九卿公舉。帝特命並斥為民。累薦，皆報寢。

He was promoted to right drafter. Guo Xun asked to restore resident eunuchs and on his own authority replaced palace guard officers. Wei was indignant and memorialized seven of his illegal acts. The Emperor favored Xun, yet had long known how overbearing he was, and took action against neither man. Later, when a celestial anomaly occurred, he spoke at length of the sovereign's moral failings. The Emperor deeply resented it but did not yet act. He memorialized against the southern tour and was punished by loss of salary. He repeatedly impeached and had dismissed the Eastern Palace staff chosen by Xia Yan and his fellows in the Grand Secretariat, mostly on grounds of partiality. Wei, together with his colleagues Lü Yingxiang and Ren Wanli, asked that appointments follow the precedent of collective recommendation, with the Grand Secretariat and the Nine Ministers nominating candidates jointly in public. The Emperor specially ordered all three dismissed and reduced to commoner status. He was recommended again and again, but each memorial was shelved.

集鄉里晚進與講學，足跡不及公府。倭患起，請於巡撫王忬，集兵為備。鄉人德之。卒年五十三。隆慶初贈太常少卿。

He gathered the younger men of his home district to lecture on learning, and never set foot in the halls of power. When the Japanese raider threat arose, he asked grand coordinator Wang Yu to gather troops for defense. The people of his district were grateful to him. He died at the age of fifty-three. At the beginning of the Longqing reign he was posthumously granted vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

洪垣，字峻之，婺源人。嘉靖十一年進士。禮部侍郎湛若水講學京師，垣受業其門。授永康知縣，征授御史。十八年，世宗南巡，冊立皇太子，命閣臣夏言、顧鼎臣選宮僚。垣再疏言溫仁和、張衍慶、薛僑、胡守中、屠應飐、華察、胡經、史際、白悅、皇甫涍等皆庸流，不可使輔導青宮。帝亦已從他諫官言，廢黜者數人。未幾，劾文選郎中黃禎先「賄選郎楊育秀，得為考功。及居文選，貪婪欺罔。知州王顯祖等考察調簡，而補大州。知縣何瑚年過六十，而選御史。皆非制。今當大計京官，乃以猥瑣之曹世盛為考功郎，誤國甚」。帝下其章都察院，令會吏科參核。乃下禎詔獄，及育秀、顯祖等，鹹斥為民。因詰責吏部尚書許贊、都御史王廷相，而令十三道御史公舉隱年冒進若瑚者。御史王之臣等坐調者四人，世盛亦改他部。垣一疏，而御史、曹郎以下得罪者至二十余人。

Hong Yuan, courtesy name Junzhi, was from Wuyuan. He passed the metropolitan examination in the eleventh year of the Jiajing reign. When Vice Minister of Rites Zhan Ruoshui lectured in the capital, Yuan studied under him. He was appointed magistrate of Yongkang, then recalled to the capital and appointed censor. In the eighteenth year, when the Emperor toured the south and invested the crown prince, he ordered Grand Secretaries Xia Yan and Gu Dingchen to select Eastern Palace staff. Yuan twice memorialized that Wen Renhe, Zhang Yanqing, Xue Qiao, Hu Shouzhong, Tu Yingran, Hua Cha, Hu Jing, Shi Ji, Bai Yue, Huangfu Qin, and others were all mediocre men unfit to guide the crown prince. The Emperor had already heeded other remonstrating officials, and several men were dismissed. Before long he impeached Selection Director Huang Zhen, saying first that "he bribed Selection Clerk Yang Yuxiu and thereby obtained the post of merit examiner. Once he held the Selection office, he was greedy and deceitful. Prefect Wang Xianzu and others were rated in evaluation as fit for transfer to lesser posts, yet were assigned to greater prefectures. Magistrate He Hu was past sixty, yet was selected as censor. None of this accorded with regulation. Now, when the grand evaluation of capital officials is at hand, he appoints the petty Cao Shisheng as merit examiner—a grave injury to the state." The Emperor sent his memorial to the Censorate and ordered a joint investigation with the Personnel section. Thereupon Zhen was sent to the imperial prison, and Yuxiu, Xianzu, and the others were all dismissed and reduced to commoner status. The Emperor then rebuked Minister of Personnel Xu Zan and censor-in-chief Wang Tingxiang, and ordered censors of the thirteen circuits jointly to expose men who concealed their age to advance improperly, such as Hu. Four censors, including Wang Zhichen, were punished by transfer, and Shisheng was also moved to another ministry. With a single memorial from Yuan, more than twenty censors, bureau directors, and men below were punished.

出按廣東。以安南款附，增俸一級。未竣，出為溫州知府。歲饑，有閉糴者，饑民殺之，垣坐落職歸。復與同里方瓘往從若水，若水為建二妙樓居之。家食四十余年，年九十。

He went out to inspect Guangdong. Because Annam submitted in allegiance, his salary was raised one grade. Before his inspection tour was complete, he was sent out as prefect of Wenzhou. In a year of famine someone hoarded grain; starving people killed him, and Yuan was demoted, stripped of office, and sent home. Again he went with his townsman Fang Guan to study under Ruoshui, who built the Hall of Two Wonders for them to live in. He lived in retirement at home for more than forty years and died at the age of ninety.

瓘絕意仕進。嘗自廣東還，同行友瘴死。舟中例不載屍，瓘秘不以告，與同寢累日，至韶州始發之。

Guan gave up all thought of an official career. Once, on his way back from Guangdong, a traveling companion died of tropical fever. Boats by custom did not carry corpses. Guan kept this secret and told no one, sleeping beside the body for days on end, and only at Shaozhou did he finally disclose it.

垣同年呂懷，廣信永豐人，亦若水高弟子。由庶吉士授兵科給事中，改春坊左司直郎，歷右中允，掌南京翰林院事。每言王氏之良知與湛氏體認天理同旨，其要在變化氣質。作《心統圖說》以明之。終南京太仆少卿。

Yuan's examination-year fellow Lu Huai, from Yongfeng in Guangxin, was also a leading disciple of Zhan Ruoshui. From Hanlin bachelor he was appointed drafter of the Military section, then transferred to left director of the Eastern Palace, served as right household companion, and oversaw the Nanjing Hanlin Academy. He often said that Wang Yangming's doctrine of innate moral knowledge and the Zhan school's method of apprehending heavenly principle pursued the same end, and that the essential point was to transform one's temperament. He wrote An Illustrated Explanation of the Heart's Governance to expound it. He ended his career as vice director of the Court of the Imperial Stud at Nanjing.

周思兼，字督夜，華亭人。少有文名。嘉靖二十六年進士。除平度知州。躬巡郊野，坐藍輿中，攜飯一盂，令鄉民以次舁行。因盡得閭閻疾苦狀，悉蠲除之。王府奄人縱莊奴奪民產，監司杖奴斃，奄迫王奏聞，巡撫彭黯令思兼讞之。王置酒欲有所囑，竟席不敢言。思兼閱獄詞曰：「此決杖不如法。罪當杖，以王故，加一等。奄誣告，罪當戍，以王故，末減。」監司竟得復故秩。旁郡饑民掠食，所司持之急，且為亂，上官檄思兼治之。作小木牌數千散四郊，令執牌就撫，悉振以錢谷，事遂定。入覲，舉治行第一，當遷。州人走闕下以請，乃復留一年。

Zhou Sijian, courtesy name Duye, was from Huating. He was known for his literary talent from an early age. He passed the metropolitan examination in the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign. He was appointed prefect of Pingdu. He personally toured the countryside, seated in a blue sedan chair with a single bowl of food, and had villagers take turns carrying him from place to place. In this way he learned the full extent of the people's hardships and remitted every burden he could. A eunuch of the princely estate let estate bondsmen seize commoners' property. The supervising official caned a bondsman to death, and the eunuch pressured the prince to memorial the throne. Grand coordinator Peng An ordered Sijian to review the case. The prince set out wine hoping to press his wishes upon him, but Sijian did not dare speak a word through the entire banquet. Sijian reviewed the case records and said: "This execution by beating was not lawful. The crime warranted beating; on account of the prince, increase the penalty one degree. The eunuch's false accusation warranted border service; on account of the prince, reduce the penalty at the lowest degree." In the end the supervising official recovered his former rank. In neighboring prefectures starving people were looting food. The responsible officials pressed them harshly, and rebellion was imminent, so the superior ordered Sijian to handle the matter as well. He made several thousand small wooden placards and distributed them through the countryside, telling holders to come forward for relief. He supplied them all with money and grain, and the crisis was resolved. When he presented himself at court, his record of governance was ranked first and he was due for promotion. The people of the prefecture went to the capital to petition on his behalf, and he was kept in office for another year.

擢工部員外郎，督臨清磚廠，士民遮道泣送。同年生貌類思兼，使經平度，民競走謁。見非是，各嘆息去。河將決，思兼募民築堤，身立赤日中。堤成三日而秋漲大發，民免於災。進郎中，出為湖廣僉事。岷府宗室五人封爵皆將軍，殺人掠貲財，監司避不入武岡者二十年。思兼廉得奸狀，縛其黨，悉系之獄。五人藏利刃入，思兼與揖，而捫其臂曰：「吾為將軍百口計，將軍乃為此曹死耶？」皆沮退。乃列其罪奏聞，悉錮之高墻，還田宅子女於民。遭內艱去官，不復出。居久之，起廣西提學副使，未聞命而卒。

He was promoted to vice director of the Ministry of Works and put in charge of the brickworks at Linqing. Gentry and commoners blocked the road weeping as they saw him off. An examination-year fellow who resembled Sijian in appearance passed through Pingdu, and the people all rushed out to greet him. When they saw it was not he, each sighed and went away. When the river was about to breach its banks, Sijian recruited the people to build dikes and himself stood in the blazing sun. Three days after the dikes were finished, the autumn flood surged, and the people were spared disaster. He was promoted to bureau director and sent out as vice commissioner of Huguang. Five members of the Min princely clan, all ennobled as generals, murdered and plundered at will. Supervising officials had avoided entering Wugang for twenty years. Sijian thoroughly investigated and uncovered their crimes, bound their followers, and imprisoned them all. The five men entered with hidden blades. Sijian bowed in greeting while feeling their arms and said: "I am thinking of the safety of your entire households, Generals—will you throw your lives away for these men?" All were discouraged and withdrew. Thereupon he listed their crimes and memorialized the throne. All were confined within high walls, and fields, houses, and dependents were returned to the people. When his mother died he left office and never served again. After living in retirement for a long time, he was recalled as vice commissioner for education in Guangxi, but died before the appointment reached him.

顏鯨，字應雷，慈溪人。嘉靖三十五年進士。授行人。擢御史，出視倉場。奸人馬漢怙定國公勢，貸子錢漕卒。償不時，則沒入其糧，為怨家所訴。漢持定國書至，鯨立論殺之。四十一年，畿輔、山東西、河南北大諗。鯨請州縣贓罰銀毋輸京師，盡易粟備振，且發之。內府新錢為糴本。帝悉報可。已，上漕政便宜六事。

Yan Jing, courtesy name Yinglei, was from Cixi. He passed the metropolitan examination in the thirty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign. He was appointed courier. He was promoted to censor and sent out to inspect the granaries. The villain Ma Han relied on the power of the Duke of Dingguo to lend money at usury to grain-transport corvée laborers. When repayment was not made on time, he confiscated their grain allotment, and an enemy brought suit against him. Han brought a letter from the Duke of Dingguo, but Jing immediately argued for his execution. In the forty-first year, the capital region, eastern and western Shandong, and northern Henan suffered great famine. Jing asked that silver from corruption fines in prefectures and counties not be sent to the capital, but wholly exchanged for grain for famine relief and distributed at once. New coin from the inner treasury was to serve as capital for buying grain. The Emperor approved all of it. Soon after, he submitted six expedient measures for grain transport administration.

明年出按河南。伊王典楧怙惡，久結掖廷中官、嚴嵩父子，內外應援，所請奏立下，爪牙率礦盜。鯨欲除之，與參政耿隨卿計，持王承奉王钅盬罪，钅盬日告王所謀。時嵩已敗，鯨乃奏記徐階，說諸大珰絕其援，又盡捕王偵事飛騎。托言防寇，檄知府兵分屯要害地。乃會巡撫胡堯臣劾典楧抗旨、矯敕、僭擬、淫虐十大罪。王護衛及諸亡命幾萬人，不敢發。帝震怒，廢王為庶人，錮之高墻，沒其貲，削世封。兩河人鼓舞相慶。景王之國，越界奪民產為莊田，鯨執治其爪牙。魏國公侵民產，假欽賜名樹碑為界。鯨仆其碑，戍其人。錦衣帥受諸俠少金，署名校尉籍中，為民害。列侯使王府，道路驛騷。王府內官進奉，駕龍舟，所過恣橫。鯨請校尉缺從兵部補，冊封改文臣，王府進奉遣屬吏。詔冊親王及妃遣列侯，余皆如鯨議。

The next year he went out to inspect Henan. The Prince of Yi, Zhu Dianyuan, relied on his wickedness. Long allied with palace eunuchs and Yan Song and his son, with support inside and outside the court, whatever he requested was memorialized and immediately granted, and his henchmen were mostly mine robbers. Jing wished to eliminate him. With vice commissioner Geng Suiqing he plotted to seize upon the crimes of the prince's palace attendant Wang Jian, who daily reported the prince's schemes. By then Yan Song had already fallen. Jing sent a letter to Xu Jie, persuading the chief eunuchs to cut off the prince's support, and also captured all the prince's mounted scouts. Under the pretext of guarding against bandits, he ordered the prefect's troops to garrison strategic points. Thereupon, joining grand coordinator Hu Yaochan, he impeached Zhu Dianyuan on ten counts: resisting imperial orders, forging edicts, overstepping prerogatives, and debauchery and cruelty. The prince's guard and various fugitives numbered nearly ten thousand, but dared not rise. The Emperor was greatly angered. He degraded the prince to commoner status, confined him within high walls, confiscated his wealth, and stripped his hereditary enfeoffment. The people of the two Henans rejoiced and celebrated together. When the Prince of Jing took up his fief, he crossed boundaries to seize commoners' property as estate lands, and Jing prosecuted his henchmen. The Duke of Wei encroached on commoners' property and, falsely invoking an imperial grant, erected a stele to mark the boundary. Jing toppled the stele and sentenced the man to border service. The Embroidered Uniform Guard commander accepted bribes from various young ruffians and registered their names in the guard roster, to the people's harm. When marquises were sent on missions to princely estates, the roads and post stations were thrown into turmoil. When palace attendants of princely estates went to present tribute, they rode dragon boats and acted with reckless violence wherever they passed. Jing asked that guard vacancies be filled from the Ministry of War, that investiture missions use civil officials, and that princely tribute missions send subordinate clerks. An edict ordered that marquises be sent only to invest princes and consorts; all else followed Jing's proposals.

鯨按河南時，黜新鄭知縣，其人高拱所庇也。在湖廣，王篆欲祀其父鄉賢，執不許。至是，拱掌吏部，篆為考功，遂以不謹落鯨職。萬歷中，給事中鄒元標、御史饒位交章薦之，報寢。御史顧雲程言：「陛下大起遺佚，獨鯨及管誌道以考察格之。夫相與冢宰賢，則黜幽為公典，否則驅除異己而已。近又登用被察吳中行、艾穆、魏時亮、趙世卿，獨靳鯨、誌道何也？」給事中姜應麟、李弘道亦言之，僅以湖廣副使致仕。中外論薦十余疏，不果用。

When Jing inspected Henan, he dismissed the magistrate of Xinzheng, a man under Gao Gong's protection. In Huguang, Wang Zhuan wished to enshrine his father among local worthies, but Jing steadfastly refused. By then Gong controlled the Ministry of Personnel and Zhuan served as merit examiner; on grounds of lack of prudence they stripped Jing of office. During the Wanli reign, drafter Zou Yuanbiao and censor Rao Wei submitted successive memorials recommending him, but each was shelved. Censor Gu Yuncheng said: "Your Majesty is greatly raising overlooked men, yet Jing and Guan Zhidao alone are blocked by evaluation records. If the chief minister is worthy together with the chancellor, then dismissing the obscure is a public norm; otherwise it is merely driving out those unlike oneself. Recently Wu Zhonghang, Ai Mu, Wei Shiliang, and Zhao Shiqing, all men who had been evaluated and dismissed, were again appointed—why alone withhold Jing and Zhidao?" Drafters Jiang Yinglin and Li Hongdao also spoke on it, but he was granted only retirement as vice commissioner of Huguang. Inside and outside the court more than ten memorials recommending him were submitted, but he was never employed.

贊曰：傳稱：「未信而諫，則以為謗己」。然誌節之士，忄卷忄卷忠愛，何忍以不信自外其君哉？張芹等懷抱悃忱，激昂論事。其言雖不盡用，要與緘默者異矣。

The commentary says: The Classic says: "If one remonstrates before trust is established, it is taken as slander against oneself." Yet men of steadfast integrity, with earnest loyal devotion—how could they bear to hold themselves apart from their lord through disbelief? Zhang Qin and the others harbored sincere devotion and spoke on affairs with passionate force. Though their words were not wholly adopted, they were after all unlike those who kept silent.

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