Volume 224 Biographies 112: Yan Qing, Song Xun, Lu Guangzu, Sun Long, Chen Younian, Sun Piyang, Cai Guozhen, Yang Shiqiao

嚴清宋纁陸光祖孫鑨子如法陳有年孫丕揚蔡國珍楊時喬

Yan Qing, Song Xun, Lu Guangzu, Sun Rufa (son of Sun Long), Chen Younian, Sun Piyang, Cai Guozhen, and Yang Shiqiao.

嚴清，字公直，雲南後衛人。嘉靖二十三年進士。除富順知縣。公廉恤民，治聲大起。憂歸，補邯鄲。入為工部主事，歷郎中。董作京師外城，修九陵，吏無所侵牟，工成加俸。連丁內外艱。服除，補兵部，擢保定知府。故事，歲籍民充京師庫役，清罷之。振荒弭盜，人以比前守吳嶽。歷遷易州副使，陜西參政，四川按察使、右布政使。並以清望，薦章十余上。隆慶二年，以右僉都御史巡撫貴州。未上，改四川。清久宦川中，僚吏憚其風采，相率厲名行，少墨敗者。郡縣卒歲團操成都，清罷之。番人入貢，裁為定額。痛絕強宗悍吏，毀者亦眾。陜西賊流入境，巡按御史王廷瞻劾清縱寇。大學士趙貞吉言：「賊起鄖、陜，貽害川僥，即有罪，當罪守土臣，不宜專責巡撫。臣蜀人，深知清約己愛人，省事任怨。今蜀地歲荒民流，方倚清如父母，奈何棄之！任事臣欲為國家利小民，必得罪豪右。論者不察，動以深文求之。頃海瑞既去，若清復罷，是任事之臣皆不免彈擊，惟全軀保位為得計矣。」疏奏，不允，命解官聽調。清遂不出。

Yan Qing, whose style was Gongzhi, came from Yunnan Rear Guard. He passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-third year of the Jiajing reign (1544). He was appointed magistrate of Fushun County. Fair, incorruptible, and compassionate toward the people, he soon won a towering reputation for good government. After taking leave for mourning, he was reassigned to Handan. He entered the capital as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Works and rose through the ranks to director. He oversaw construction of the outer wall of the capital and repairs to the nine imperial tombs; no clerk could extort anything, and when the work was finished his salary was increased. He successively mourned deaths in both his father's and his mother's families. When his mourning ended, he was reassigned to the Ministry of War and promoted to prefect of Baoding. By longstanding practice, commoners were registered each year to serve as warehouse laborers in the capital; Qing abolished the practice. He relieved famine and suppressed banditry, and people compared him to the former prefect Wu Yue. He was promoted in succession to vice commissioner of Yizhou, administration commissioner of Shaanxi, and surveillance commissioner and right administration commissioner of Sichuan. On account of his spotless reputation, more than ten memorials recommending him were submitted. In the second year of Longqing (1568), he was appointed Right Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Guizhou. Before he could take up the post, he was transferred to Sichuan. Qing had long served in Sichuan, and subordinates feared his imposing integrity; they one after another cultivated reputation and proper conduct, and few were corrupt. Districts and counties had commoners drill in groups at year's end in Chengdu; Qing abolished the practice. When frontier peoples came to pay tribute, he limited the practice to a fixed quota. He ruthlessly suppressed powerful clans and violent officials, and many slandered him in return. Shaanxi bandits crossed into his territory, and touring censor Wang Tingzhan impeached Qing for indulging the raiders. Grand Secretary Zhao Zhenji said: "The bandits arose in Yun and Shaan and harmed the Sichuan frontier. Even if there is guilt, the local territorial officials should bear it; the Grand Coordinator alone should not be solely blamed. I am a native of Shu and know well that Qing restrains himself, cares for others, streamlines administration, and accepts blame without complaint. Sichuan now suffers famine year after year and the people flee; they rely on Qing as on a parent—how can we cast him aside! Officials who take responsibility and wish to benefit the state and the common people must inevitably offend the powerful. Critics do not see this and readily subject them to severe legal prosecution. Hai Rui has only just left office; if Qing is dismissed as well, then no official who takes responsibility can escape impeachment, and only preserving one's person and one's post will count as the wise course. When the memorial was submitted, it was not accepted, and Qing was ordered to resign and await reassignment. Qing then never took office again.

萬歷二年，起撫山西。未赴，改貴州。歷兩京大理卿，三遷刑部尚書。張居正當國，尚書不附麗者獨清。居正既卒，籍馮保家，得廷臣饋遺籍，獨無清名，神宗深重焉。會吏部尚書梁夢龍罷，即以清代。日討故實，辨官材，自丞佐下皆親署，無一幸進者。中外師其廉儉，書問幾絕。甫半歲，得疾歸。帝數問閣臣：「嚴尚書病愈否？」十五年，兵部缺尚書，用楊博故事，特詔起補。遣使趣行，而清疾益甚，不能赴。又三年卒。贈太子太保，謚恭肅。

In the second year of Wanli (1574), he was recalled as Grand Coordinator of Shanxi. Before he could go, he was transferred to Guizhou. He served as Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review in both capitals and was promoted three times to Minister of Justice. While Zhang Juzheng held power, Qing alone among the ministers refused to attach himself to him. After Juzheng died, when Feng Bao's household was inventoried and the registry of gifts from court officials was obtained, Qing's name alone was absent, and the Shenzong Emperor thought all the more highly of him. When Minister of Personnel Liang Menglong was dismissed, Qing was appointed in his place. Each day he researched precedents and assessed officials' qualifications; from assistant prefects downward he personally signed every appointment, and not one advanced by favoritism. Officials inside and outside the government took his probity and frugality as their model, and private correspondence nearly ceased altogether. After only half a year he fell ill and returned home. The emperor repeatedly asked the Grand Secretaries: "Has Minister Yan recovered from his illness? In the fifteenth year (1587), when the Ministry of War lacked a minister, following the precedent of Yang Bo, a special edict recalled him to fill the post. Envoys were sent to urge him on, but Qing's illness grew worse and he could not go. Three years later he died. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous name Gongsu.

清初拜尚書，不能具服色，束素犀帶以朝。或嘲之曰：「公釋褐時，七品玳瑁帶猶在耶？」清笑而已。

When Qing first took office as minister, he could not afford full ceremonial dress and attended court girded with plain white cloth and a rhinoceros-horn belt. Someone mocked him: "When you first took office, was your seventh-rank tortoiseshell belt still there? Qing only smiled.

宋纁，字伯敬，商丘人。嘉靖三十八年進士。授永平推官。擢御史，出視西關，按應天諸府。隆慶改元，再按山西。俺答陷石州，將士捕七十七人，當斬。纁訊得其誣，釋者殆半。靜樂民李良雨化為女，纁言此陽衰陰盛之象，宜進君子退小人，以挽氣運。帝嘉納之。擢順天府丞，尋以右僉都御史巡撫保定諸府。核缺伍，汰冗兵，罷諸道援兵防禦，省餉無算。

Song Xun, whose style was Bojing, came from Shangqiu. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-eighth year of the Jiajing reign (1559). He was appointed investigating censor of Yongping. He was promoted to censor, inspected the western passes, and investigated the prefectures of Yingtian. At the beginning of the Longqing reign, he again investigated Shanxi. When Altan Khan took Shizhou, officers and soldiers captured seventy-seven men who were sentenced to execution. Xun investigated and found they had been falsely accused; nearly half were released. When a commoner of Jingle named Li Liangyu was said to have transformed into a woman, Xun argued that this was a sign of yang declining and yin rising, and that gentlemen should be advanced and petty men dismissed to restore the cosmic balance. The emperor praised and accepted his advice. He was promoted to vice prefect of Shuntian Prefecture and soon appointed Right Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of the Baoding prefectures. He verified missing ranks in the rolls, eliminated redundant troops, abolished relief armies and defensive garrisons on the various routes, and saved incalculable amounts in military pay.

萬歷初，與張居正不合，引疾歸。居正卒，廷臣交薦，以故官撫保定。獲鹿諸縣饑，先振後以聞。帝以近畿宜俟命，令災重及地遠者便宜振貸，餘俱奏聞。尋遷南京戶部右侍郎。召還部，進左，改督倉場。請減額解贖銀，民壯弓兵諸役已裁者，勿征民間工食。十四年，遷戶部尚書。民壯工食已減半，復有請盡蠲者，纁因並歷日諸費奏裁之。有司征賦懼缺額，鞭撻取盈，纁請有司考成，視災傷為上下。山西連歲荒，賴社倉獲濟，纁請推行天下，以紙贖為糴本，不足則勸富人，或令民輸粟給冠帶。又言：「邊儲大計，最重屯田、鹽策。近諸邊年例銀增至三百六十一萬，視弘治初八倍，宜修屯政，商人墾荒中鹽。」帝皆稱善。聖節賞賚，詔取部帑銀二十萬兩，纁執奏，不從。潞王將之國，復取銀三十萬兩市珠寶，纁亦力爭，乃減三之一。故事，金花銀歲進百萬兩，帝即位之六年，增二十萬，遂以為常。纁三請停加額，終不許。

Early in the Wanli reign he clashed with Zhang Juzheng and retired on grounds of illness. After Juzheng died, court officials recommended him one after another, and he was reappointed Grand Coordinator of Baoding at his former rank. When Huolu and other counties suffered famine, he provided relief first and reported afterward. The emperor held that the capital region should await orders; he directed that where disaster was severe or the place remote, officials might relieve and lend grain as expedient, but all other cases must be reported first. He was soon transferred to Right Vice Minister of Revenue in Nanjing. He was recalled to the ministry, promoted to Left Vice Minister, and then transferred to supervise the granaries. He requested a reduction in the fixed quota of redemption silver delivered to the court, and asked that for militia, archers, and other services already abolished, labor wages no longer be levied from the people. In the fourteenth year (1586) he was transferred to Minister of Revenue. Militia labor wages had already been halved, but some asked that they be abolished entirely; Xun therefore memorialized to cut calendar-day fees and other charges as well. Local officials collecting taxes feared shortfalls and flogged taxpayers to make quotas; Xun requested that officials be assessed on performance with targets adjusted up or down according to disaster and crop loss. Shanxi had suffered famine year after year and had been saved by community granaries; Xun requested extending the system throughout the empire, using paper redemption payments as capital to buy grain, urging the wealthy where funds fell short, or allowing commoners to deliver grain in exchange for honorary titles. He also said: "The great plan for frontier stores depends above all on garrison fields and the salt policy. Recently annual quota silver on the frontiers has risen to 3,610,000 taels—eight times the level at the beginning of Hongzhi. Garrison administration should be restored, and merchants should be allowed to open wasteland in exchange for salt certificates. The emperor praised all of these proposals. For imperial birthday rewards, an edict ordered 200,000 taels of silver taken from the ministry treasury; Xun memorialized in opposition, but the emperor would not listen. When the Prince of Lu was about to depart for his fief, another 300,000 taels were taken to buy jewels; Xun argued forcefully again, and the amount was reduced by one third. By precedent, floriate silver was presented yearly at one million taels; in the sixth year of the emperor's reign, 200,000 taels were added, and this increase became permanent. Xun three times requested that the increase be stopped, but was never permitted.

纁為戶部五年，值四方多災。為酌盈虛，籌緩急，奏報無需時，上下賴之。而都御史吳時來以吏部尚書楊巍年老求去，忌纁名出己上，兩疏劾，纁因杜門乞休，帝不許。及巍去，卒以纁代之。巍在部，不能止吏奸，且遇事輒請命政府。纁絕請寄，獎廉抑貪，罪黠吏百余人，於執政一無所關白。會文選員外郎缺官，纁擬起鄒元標。奏不下，再疏趣之。大學士申時行遂擬旨切責，斥元標南京。頃之，以序班盛名昭註官有誤，時行劾奏之。序班劉文潤遷詹事府錄事，時行又劾文潤由輸粟進，不當任清秩。時殿閣中書無不以貲進者，時行獨爭一錄事。纁知其意，五疏乞休。福建僉事李琯言：「時行庇巡撫秦燿，而纁議罷之。仇主事高桂，而纁議用之。以故假小事齮龁，使不得安其位。」帝不納琯言，亦不允纁請。無何，纁卒官。詔贈太子太保，謚莊敬。

Xun served as Minister of Revenue for five years, a period when disasters struck in every direction. He balanced surplus and deficit and planned for urgent and routine needs; memorials and reports went up without delay, and the court and the provinces alike relied on him. Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai, resenting that Yang Wei, the Minister of Personnel, was old and wished to retire while Xun's reputation outshone his own, impeached Xun twice; Xun shut his door and begged to retire, but the emperor would not allow it. When Wei left office, Xun was eventually appointed in his place. While Wei was in the ministry he could not stop clerical corruption, and on every matter he promptly sought orders from the chief ministers. Xun utterly refused private entreaties, rewarded integrity and suppressed greed, punished more than a hundred cunning clerks, and never once made a private appeal to those in power. When a vacancy occurred in the post of director in the Bureau of Appointments, Xun proposed recalling Zou Yuanbiao. The memorial was not approved, and he submitted another to urge action. Grand Secretary Shen Shixing then drafted an edict sharply rebuking Xun and banished Yuanbiao to Nanjing. Before long, because a ceremonial usher named Sheng Mingzhao had an error in his registered appointment, Shixing impeached Xun over it. When ceremonial usher Liu Wenrun was transferred to recorder in the Household of the Heir Apparent, Shixing again impeached him, arguing that Wenrun had advanced by delivering grain and should not hold a clean office. At the time none of the secretaries in the Hall and Pavilion had advanced except by purchase of office; Shixing alone contested one recorder's appointment. Xun understood his intent and five times memorialized begging to retire. Fujian Assistant Commissioner Li Guan said: "Shixing shielded Grand Coordinator Qin Yao, while Xun proposed dismissing him. He bore enmity toward Director Gao Gui, while Xun proposed employing him. For this reason he seized on petty matters to pick quarrels and prevent Xun from holding his post in peace. The emperor did not accept Guan's words and also did not grant Xun's request to retire. Before long Xun died in office. An edict posthumously enfeoffed him as Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and gave him the posthumous name Zhuangjing.

纁凝重有識，議事不茍。石星代為戶部，嘗語纁曰：「某郡有奇羨，可濟國需。」纁曰：「朝廷錢谷，寧蓄久不用，勿使搜括無余。主上知物力充羨，則侈心生矣。」星憮然。有郎言漕糧宜改折，纁曰：「太倉之儲，寧紅腐不可匱絀，一旦不繼，何所措手？」中外陳奏，帝多不省，或直言指斥，輒曰「此沽名耳」，不罪。於慎行稱帝寬大，纁愀然曰：「言官極論得失，要使人主動心；縱罪及言官，上意猶有所儆省。概置勿問，則如痿痹不可療矣。」後果如其言。

Xun was grave and discerning, and never careless in deliberation. When Shi Xing replaced him as Minister of Revenue, he once said to Xun: "A certain prefecture has a special surplus that could meet state needs. Xun said: "The court's money and grain are better stored long unused than exhausted by squeezing every source dry. If the sovereign knows material resources are abundant, extravagant desires will arise." Shi Xing was abashed. When a director said the grain transport tax should be converted to silver payments, Xun said: "Stores in the Taicang granary are better left to rot than to run short; if supply fails overnight, what recourse will there be? When memorials arrived from within and outside the court, the Emperor often ignored them. If someone spoke bluntly in criticism, he would dismiss it as mere "reputation-seeking" and let the matter pass without punishment. When Yu Shenxing praised the Emperor as magnanimous, Xun looked grave and said: "Censorial officials should debate right and wrong to the utmost—the point is to move the ruler's heart; Even if punishment falls on the censorial officials, the sovereign's mind will still take some warning and reflect. If everything is dismissed without inquiry, it is like paralysis that can no longer be cured. Events later proved exactly as he had said.

陸光祖，字與繩，平湖人。祖淞，父杲，皆進士。淞，光祿卿。杲，刑部主事。光祖年十七，與父同舉於鄉。尋登嘉靖二十六年進士，除浚縣知縣。兵部尚書趙錦檄畿輔民築塞垣，光祖言不便。錦怒，劾之。光祖言於巡撫，請輸雇值，民乃安。郡王奪民產，光祖裁以法。

Lu Guangzu, whose style was Yusheng, came from Pinghu. His grandfather Song and his father Gao had both passed the jinshi examination. Song served as Director of the Directorate of Imperial Regalia. Gao served as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Justice. At seventeen, Guangzu passed the provincial examination in the same year as his father. He soon passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign (1547) and was appointed magistrate of Jun County. When Minister of War Zhao Jin ordered the people of the capital region to build defensive walls, Guangzu said the plan was impracticable. Zhao Jin was enraged and impeached him. Guangzu appealed to the grand coordinator, requesting that hire wages be paid, and only then did the people settle down. When a commandery prince seized the people's property, Guangzu adjudicated the case according to law.

遷南京禮部主事，請急歸。補祠祭主事，歷儀制郎中。嚴訥為尚書，雅重光祖，議無不行。及訥改吏部，調光祖驗封郎中，改考功。王崇古、張瀚、方逢時、王一鶚掛物議，力雪之。既而改文選，益務汲引人才，登進耆碩幾盡。又破格擢廉能吏王化、江東、邵元善、張澤、李珙、郭文通、蔡琮、陳永、謝侃。或由鄉舉貢士，或起自書吏。由是下僚競勸，訥亦推心任之，故光祖得行其誌。左侍郎朱衡銜光祖，有後言，御史孫丕揚遂以專擅劾光祖。時已遷太常少卿，坐落職閑住。

He was transferred to a principal clerkship in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites and requested urgent leave to return home. He was reassigned as a principal clerk of Rites of Sacrifice and rose through service as a bureau director in Ritual Regulations. When Yan Ne became Minister, he greatly respected Guangzu, and none of their deliberations failed to be carried out. When Ne was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel, Guangzu was moved to bureau director of Seal Verification and then to bureau director of Merit Evaluation. Wang Chonggu, Zhang Han, Fang Fengshi, and Wang Yie were mired in public controversy; Guangzu vigorously cleared their names. He was then transferred to bureau director of Civil Appointments and devoted himself all the more to drawing up talent, advancing nearly all the senior and distinguished men of the day. He also broke precedent to promote the incorruptible and capable officials Wang Hua, Jiang Dong, Shao Yuanshan, Zhang Ze, Li Gong, Guo Wentong, Cai Cong, Chen Yong, and Xie Kan. Some had come up through provincial recommendation as tribute scholars; others had risen from clerical posts. From this, subordinate officials competed in offering counsel; Ne also trusted him wholeheartedly, so Guangzu was able to carry out his aims. Vice Minister Zhu Heng resented Guangzu and spoke against him behind his back; Censor Sun Piyang then impeached Guangzu for acting on his own authority. By then he had already been transferred to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; he was dismissed from office and lived in retirement.

大學士高拱掌吏部，謀傾徐階。階賓客皆避匿，光祖獨為排解。及拱罷，楊博代為吏部，義之，特起南京太仆少卿。未上，擢本寺卿。又就進大理卿。半道丁父艱。萬歷五年，起故官。張居正以奪情杖言者，光祖遺書規之。及王用汲劾居正，居正將中以危禍，光祖時入為大理卿，力解得免。居正與光祖同年相善，欲援為助，光祖無詭隨。及遷工部右侍郎，以議漕糧改折懺居正，御史張一鯤論之，光祖遽引歸。

Grand Secretary Gao Gong took charge of the Ministry of Personnel and plotted to bring down Xu Jie. All of Xu's retainers went into hiding; Guangzu alone worked to mediate and resolve matters. When Gao was dismissed, Yang Bo replaced him at the Ministry of Personnel, respected Guangzu's conduct, and specially recalled him as Vice Director of the Nanjing Court of the Imperial Stud. Before he could take up the post, he was promoted to Director of that office. He was then forthwith promoted to Director of the Court of Judicial Review. Halfway there he was overtaken by mourning for his father's death. In the fifth year of the Wanli reign (1577), he was recalled to his former post. When Zhang Juzheng had remonstrators beaten for refusing to leave mourning, Guangzu sent him a letter admonishing him. When Wang Yongji impeached Juzheng, Juzheng was about to ensnare him in mortal danger; Guangzu had just entered office as Director of Judicial Review and vigorously intervened so that Wang was spared. Juzheng and Guangzu were fellow provincial graduates on good terms and wished to draw him in as an ally; Guangzu would not fawningly follow along. When he was transferred to Vice Minister of Works, his proposal to convert the grain transport tax offended Juzheng; Censor Zhang Yikun criticized it, and Guangzu promptly resigned and returned home.

十一年冬，薦起南京兵部右侍郎。甫旬日，召為吏部。悉引居正所擯老成人，布九列。李植、江東之力求居正罪，光祖言居正輔翼功不可泯，與言路左。植輩以丁此呂故攻尚書楊巍，光祖右巍詆言者。言者遂群攻光祖，乃由左侍郎出為南京工部尚書。御史周之翰劾光祖附宗人炳得清華，帝不問。御史楊有仁遂劾光祖受賕請屬，巍力保持之，事得寢，光祖竟引疾去。

In the winter of the eleventh year, he was recommended and recalled as Vice Minister of War at Nanjing. Only ten days after taking office, he was summoned to the Ministry of Personnel. He brought in all the seasoned elders whom Juzheng had sidelined and placed them throughout the nine ministries. Li Zhi and Jiang Dong forcefully sought to establish Juzheng's guilt; Guangzu said Juzheng's supporting merits could not be erased and stood opposed to the remonstrators. Li Zhi and his faction attacked Minister Yang Wei because of the Ding Cilü affair; Guangzu sided with Wei and denounced the remonstrators. The remonstrators then attacked Guangzu as a group; he was therefore moved from Vice Minister to Minister of Works at Nanjing. Censor Zhou Zihan impeached Guangzu for gaining a prestigious appointment by attaching himself to his clansman Bing; the Emperor did not inquire into it. Censor Yang Youren then impeached Guangzu for accepting bribes and soliciting favors; Wei vigorously shielded him, the matter was shelved, and Guangzu ultimately resigned on grounds of illness.

十五年，起南京刑部尚書，就改吏部。率同官劾東廠太監張鯨，且乞宥李沂。已，言國本未定，由鯨構謀，請除之以安宗社。及帝召還鯨，復率同官極諫。入為刑部尚書。帝嘗書其名禦屏。吏部尚書宋纁卒，遂用光祖代，而以趙錦代光祖。御史王之棟言二人不當用。帝怒，貶之棟雜職。時部權為內閣所奪，纁力矯之，遂遭挫，光祖不為懾。嘗以事與大學士申時行迕。時行不悅，光祖卒無所徇。時行謝政，特旨用趙誌臯、張位，時行所密薦也。光祖言，輔臣當廷推，不當內降。帝命不為後例。

In the fifteenth year, he was recalled as Minister of Justice at Nanjing and was promptly transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. He led his fellow officials in impeaching the Eastern Depot eunuch Zhang Jing and also requested pardon for Li Yi. Later he said the heir had not been settled because of Jing's scheming and requested his removal to secure the ancestral temple and the state. When the Emperor recalled Jing, he again led his fellow officials in strenuous remonstrance. He entered office as Minister of Justice. The Emperor once wrote his name on the imperial screen. When Minister of Personnel Song Xun died, Guangzu was appointed to replace him, and Zhao Jin replaced Guangzu. Censor Wang Zhidong said the two men ought not to be appointed. The Emperor was enraged and demoted Zhidong to a miscellaneous post. At the time the ministry's authority had been usurped by the inner cabinet; Xun had forcefully corrected this and was thereby frustrated, but Guangzu was not intimidated. He once clashed with Grand Secretary Shen Shixing over a matter. Shixing was displeased, but Guangzu in the end yielded to no one. When Shixing retired from government, a special imperial order appointed Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei—men Shixing had secretly recommended. Guangzu said assisting ministers should be chosen by court recommendation, not by secret edict from within. The Emperor ordered that this would not become a precedent.

二十年，大計外吏，給事中李春開、王遵訓、何偉、丁應泰，御史劉汝康皆先為外吏，有物議，悉論黜之。又舉許孚遠、顧憲成等二十二人，時論翕然稱焉。頃之，以推用饒伸、萬國欽懺旨，文選郎王教以下盡逐。光祖謂事由己，引罪乞休，為郎官祈宥，不許。及會推閣臣，廷臣循故事，首光祖名。詔報曰：「卿前請廷推，推固宜首卿。」光祖知不能容，日懷去誌。無何，以王時槐、蔡悉、王樵、沈節甫老成魁艾，特推薦之，給事中喬胤遂劾光祖及文選郎鄒觀光。光祖遂力求去，許馳驛。在籍五年卒。贈太子太保，謚莊簡。

In the twentieth year, at the major evaluation of outer officials, supervising secretaries Li Chunkai, Wang Zunxun, He Wei, and Ding Yingtai and censor Liu Rukang had all previously served as outer officials and were subject to public criticism; all were discussed for dismissal. He also recommended Xu Fuyuan, Gu Xiancheng, and twenty-two others, and contemporary opinion universally praised this. Before long, because recommending Rao Shen and Wan Guoqin offended the imperial will, Bureau Director Wang Jiao and all those below him were entirely expelled. Guangzu said the affair originated with himself, took blame and requested retirement, and pleaded for clemency for the bureau directors; this was not granted. When court officials jointly recommended grand secretaries, they followed precedent and placed Guangzu's name first. An edict replied: "You previously requested court recommendation; in recommendation it is indeed fitting to place you first. Guangzu knew he could not remain; day by day he harbored thoughts of leaving office. Before long, because Wang Shihuai, Cai Xi, Wang Qiao, and Shen Jiefu were eminent elders of seasoned integrity, he specially recommended them; supervising secretary Qiao Yin then impeached Guangzu and Bureau Director Zou Guan'guang. Guangzu then forcefully sought to leave, and permission was granted for post-horse travel. After five years at home on his native register, he died. He was posthumously granted Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous title Zhuangjian (Solemn and Simple).

光祖清強有識，練達朝章。每議大政，一言輒定。初官禮部，將擢尚寶少卿，力讓時槐。丕揚劾罷光祖，後再居吏部，推轂之甚力。趙用賢、沈思孝以論此呂事與光祖左，後亦數推挽之。御史蔡時鼎、陳登雲嘗劾光祖，光祖引登雲為知己。時鼎視鹺兩淮，以建言罷，商人訐於南刑部，光祖時為尚書，雪其誣，罪妄訴者。人服其量。

Guangzu was upright, firm, and discerning, and thoroughly versed in court regulations. Whenever great policy was deliberated, a single word from him would settle the matter. In his early post in the Ministry of Rites, when he was about to be promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, he forcefully yielded the position to Wang Shihuai. Sun Piyang had impeached and dismissed Guangzu; later, when Guangzu again served in the Ministry of Personnel, Piyang pushed him forward with great force. Zhao Yongxian and Shen Simiao had stood opposed to Guangzu over the Ding Cilü affair; later they also repeatedly promoted him. Censors Cai Shiding and Chen Dengyun had once impeached Guangzu, yet Guangzu regarded Dengyun as a bosom friend. Shiding oversaw the salt monopoly in the two Huai regions and was dismissed for remonstrance; merchants then sued him at the Nanjing Ministry of Justice. Guangzu was then Minister and cleared the false accusation, punishing those who had sued falsely. People admired his magnanimity.

孫鑨，字文中。父升，字誌高，都御史燧季子也。嘉靖十四年進士及第。授編修，累官禮部侍郎。嚴嵩枋國，升其門生也，獨無所附麗。會南京禮部尚書缺，眾不欲行，升獨請往。卒，贈太子少保，謚文恪。升嘗念父死宸濠之難，終身不書寧字，亦不為人作壽文。居官不言人過，時稱篤行君子。四子，鑨、鋌、錝、鑛。鋌，南京禮部右侍郎。錝，太仆卿。鑛自有傳。

Sun Long, whose style was Wenzhong. His father Sheng, whose style was Zhigao, was the youngest son of Censor-in-Chief Sun Sui. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourteenth year of the Jiajing reign (1535) with highest honors. He was appointed a compiler and rose through successive posts to Vice Minister of Rites. When Yan Song controlled the state, Sheng was his student yet alone attached himself to no faction. When the post of Minister of Rites at Nanjing fell vacant, the others did not wish to go; Sheng alone requested the appointment. Upon his death he was posthumously granted Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous title Wenke (Cultured and Reverent). Sheng always remembered his father dying in the disaster of Prince Ning's rebellion; all his life he did not write the character for "Ning," nor did he compose birthday congratulations for others. In office he did not speak of others' faults; at the time he was called a man of sincere conduct. He had four sons: Long, Ting, Cong, and Kuang. Ting served as Vice Minister of Rites at Nanjing. Cong served as Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. Kuang has his own biography.

鑨舉嘉靖三十五年進士，授武庫主事。歷武選郎中，尚書楊博深器之。世宗齋居二十年，諫者輒獲罪。鑨請朝群臣，且力詆近幸方士，引趙高、林靈素為喻。中貴匿不以聞，鑨遂引疾歸。隆慶元年，起南京文選郎中。萬歷初，累遷光祿卿。引疾歸。裏居十年，坐臥一小樓，賓客罕見其面。起故官，進大理卿。都御史吳時來議律例，多紕盭，鑨力爭之。帝悉從駁議。歷南京吏部尚書，尋改兵部，參贊機務。命甫下，會陸光祖去，廷推代者再，乃召為吏部尚書。

Long passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign (1556) and was appointed principal clerk of the Armory. He served as bureau director of Military Appointments, and Minister Yang Bo deeply valued him. The Shizong Emperor had lived in seclusion for twenty years, and remonstrators invariably were punished. Long requested an audience with all court officials and forcefully denounced favored attendants and Daoist masters, citing Zhao Gao and Lin Lingsu as examples. The inner eunuchs concealed the memorial and did not report it; Long then resigned on grounds of illness. In the first year of the Longqing reign (1567), he was recalled as bureau director of Civil Appointments at Nanjing. At the beginning of the Wanli reign, he was promoted in succession to Director of the Directorate of Imperial Regalia. He resigned on grounds of illness and returned home. He lived at home for ten years, passing his days in a single small tower, and guests rarely saw his face. He was recalled to his former office and promoted to Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. When Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai drafted revisions to legal statutes and precedents, many entries were flawed and contradictory, and Long vigorously contested them. The emperor accepted all of Long's objections. He served in succession as Minister of Personnel at Nanjing and was soon transferred to the Ministry of War to assist in state affairs. The order had scarcely been issued when Lu Guangzu left office; after the court twice recommended a replacement, Long was summoned to serve as Minister of Personnel.

吏部自宋纁及光祖為政，權始歸部。至鑨，守益堅。故事，冢宰與閣臣遇不避道，後率引避。光祖爭之，乃復故。然陰戒騶人異道行，至鑨益徑直。張位等不能平，因欲奪其權。建議大僚缺，九卿各舉一人，類奏以聽上裁，用杜專擅。鑨言：「廷推，大臣得共衡可否，此『爵人於朝，與眾共之』之義，類奏啟幸途，非制。」給事中史孟麟亦言之。詔卒如位議。自是吏部權又漸散之九卿矣。

Since Song Xun and Guangzu held power in the Ministry of Personnel, authority had gradually returned to the ministry. Under Long, this holding was even more resolute. By precedent, when the Chief Minister met Grand Secretaries neither would yield the way; later they routinely withdrew to yield. Guangzu contested this, and the former practice was restored. Yet Guangzu privately instructed his outrunners to take a different road; Long, by contrast, was even more direct and unyielding. Zhang Wei and the others could not reconcile themselves to this and therefore sought to wrest power from him. They proposed that when senior posts fell vacant, each of the nine ministers should nominate one candidate and submit grouped memorials for the emperor's decision, so as to prevent monopolistic appointments. Long said: "Court recommendation allows senior ministers jointly to weigh candidates' fitness; this embodies the principle of 'conferring rank in court and sharing the decision with all.' Grouped memorials open a path to favoritism and are not the established system. Supervising secretary Shi Menglin made the same argument. An edict finally adopted Zhang Wei's proposal. From this point the Ministry of Personnel's authority again gradually dispersed among the nine ministers.

二十一年，大計京朝官，力杜請謁。文選員外郎呂胤昌，鑨甥也，首斥之。考功郎中趙南星亦自斥其姻。一時公論所不予者貶黜殆盡，大學士趙誌臯弟預焉。由是執政皆不悅。王錫爵方以首輔還朝，欲有所庇。比至而察疏已上，庇者在黜中，亦不能無憾。會言官以拾遺論劾稽勛員外郎虞淳熙、職方郎中楊於廷、主事袁黃。鑨議謫黃，留淳熙、於廷。詔黃方贊畫軍務，亦留之。給事中劉道隆遂言淳熙、於廷不當議留，乃下嚴旨責部臣專權結黨。鑨言：「淳熙，臣鄉人，安貧好學。於廷力任西事，尚書石星極言其才。今寧夏方平，臣不敢以功為罪。且既名議覆，不嫌異同。若知其無罪，以諫官一言而去之，自欺欺君，臣誼不忍為也。」帝以鑨不引罪，奪其俸，貶南星三官，淳熙等俱勒罷。

In the twenty-first year (1593), during the grand evaluation of capital officials, he forcefully blocked personal solicitations. Assistant director of the Bureau of Civil Appointments Lü Yinchang, Long's nephew, was the first dismissed. Personnel Evaluation bureau director Zhao Nanxing likewise removed his own in-law from consideration. Nearly all whom public opinion rejected were demoted or dismissed, including the younger brother of Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao. Because of this the chief ministers were all displeased. Wang Xijue had just returned to court as Senior Grand Secretary and wished to protect certain individuals. By the time he arrived the evaluation memorial had already been submitted; those he wished to protect were among those dismissed, and he could not but feel resentment. At this time censorial officials impeached Records Verification assistant director Yu Chunxi, Bureau of Military Appointments director Yang Yuting, and secretary Yuan Huang on supplemental-removal grounds. Long recommended demoting Huang while retaining Chunxi and Yuting. An edict noted that Huang was then assisting in military planning, and he too was retained. Supervising secretary Liu Daolong then argued that Chunxi and Yuting should not have been retained; a stern imperial rescript rebuked the ministry for monopolizing power and forming factions. Long said: "Chunxi is a fellow townsman of mine, content in poverty and devoted to learning. Yuting vigorously undertook western frontier affairs, and Minister Shi Xing spoke highly of his talent. Now that Ningxia has just been pacified, I dare not treat merit as crime. Moreover, since this is called deliberative review, difference of opinion is not to be avoided. If I know them to be innocent yet remove them on a censor's single word, that would deceive myself and the emperor — conduct my integrity as minister cannot bear. The emperor, because Long did not plead guilty, stripped his salary, demoted Nanxing three ranks, and forced Chunxi and the others to resign.

鑨遂乞休，且白南星無罪。左都御史李世達以己同掌察，而南星獨被譴，亦為南星、淳熙等訟。帝皆不聽。於是僉都御史王汝訓，右通政魏允貞，大理少卿曾乾亨，郎中於孔兼，員外郎陳泰來，主事顧允成、張納升、賈嚴，助教薛敷教交章訟南星冤，而泰來詞尤切，其略曰：

Long then requested retirement and declared Nanxing innocent. Left Censor-in-Chief Li Shida, who had jointly supervised the evaluation yet saw Nanxing alone punished, also petitioned on behalf of Nanxing, Chunxi, and the others. The emperor refused to listen to any of them. Thereupon Right Vice Censor-in-Chief Wang Ruxun, Right Administration Vice Commissioner Wei Yunzhen, Assistant Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Zeng Qianheng, bureau director Yu Kongjian, assistant director Chen Tailai, secretaries Gu Yuncheng, Zhang Nasheng, and Jia Yan, and instructor Xue Fuguan all submitted memorials contesting Nanxing's injustice; Tailai's language was especially forceful. In summary:

臣嘗四更京察。其在丁丑，張居正以奪情故，用御史朱璉謀，借星變計吏，箝制眾口。署部事方逢時、考功郎中劉世亨依違其間。如蔡文範、習孔教輩並掛察籍，不為眾所服。辛巳，居正威福已成，王國光唯諾惟謹，考功郎中孫惟清與吏科秦耀謀盡錮建言諸臣吳中行等。今輔臣趙誌臯、張位、撫臣趙世卿亦掛名南北京察，公論冤之。丁亥，御史王國力折給事中楊廷相、同官馬允登之邪議。而尚書楊巍素性模棱，考功郎徐一槚立調停之畫。涇、渭失辯，亦為時議所議。獨今春之役，旁咨博采，核實稱情，邪諂盡屏，貪墨必汰；乃至鑨割渭陽之情，南星忍秦、晉之好，公正無逾此者。元輔錫爵兼程赴召，人或疑其欲幹計典。今其親故皆不能庇，欲甘心南星久矣。故道隆章上，而專權結黨之旨旋下。夫以吏部議留一二庶僚為結黨，則兩都大僚被拾遺者二十有二人，而閣臣議留者六，詹事劉虞夔以錫爵門生而留，獨可謂之非黨耶？且部權歸閣，自高拱兼攝以來，已非一日。尚書自張瀚、嚴清而外，選郎自孫钅廣、陳有年而外，莫不奔走承命。其流及於楊巍，至劉希孟、謝廷寀而掃地盡矣。尚書宋纁稍欲振之，卒為故輔申時行齮龁以死。尚書陸光祖、文選郎王教、考功郎鄒觀光矢誌澄清，輔臣王家屏虛懷以聽，銓敘漸清。乃時行身雖還裏，機伏垣墻，授意內榼張誠、田義及言路私人，教、觀光遂不久斥逐。今祖其故智，借拾遺以激聖怒，是內榼與閣臣表裏，箝勒部臣，而陛下未之察也。

I have four times participated in the capital evaluation. In the dingchou year (1577), because Zhang Juzheng had declined mourning leave, he used censor Zhu Lin's scheme to leverage an astronomical anomaly to control officials and silence dissent. Acting minister Fang Fengshi and Personnel Evaluation bureau director Liu Shiheng wavered between the two sides. Figures such as Cai Wenfan and Xi Kongjiao were listed on the evaluation rolls yet were not accepted by public consensus. In xinsi (1581), Juzheng's power was already entrenched; Wang Guoguang merely assented; Personnel Evaluation bureau director Sun Weiqing and secretariat official Qin Yao plotted to lock out all memorializing officials such as Wu Zhongxing. Today assisting ministers Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei and Grand Coordinator Zhao Shiqing also appear on the evaluations of both capitals, and public opinion considers this unjust. In dinghai (1587), censor Wang Guoli forcefully refuted the perverse proposals of supervising secretary Yang Tingxiang and colleague Ma Yundeng. Yet Minister Yang Wei was by nature ambiguous, and Personnel Evaluation director Xu Yijiao devised a plan of mediation. Right and wrong became as indistinguishable as the Jing and Wei rivers, and this too was criticized in public discourse. Only this spring's evaluation consulted widely, verified facts, matched sentiment, expelled flattery entirely, and purged the corrupt without fail; So much so that Long severed ties with his maternal kin and Nanxing set aside marriage alliances — in impartiality nothing surpassed this. Senior Grand Secretary Xijue rushed day and night to answer the summons, and some suspected he wished to interfere in the evaluation proceedings. Now even his kin and friends could not be protected; they had long wished to ruin Nanxing to their satisfaction. Therefore when Daolong's memorial was submitted, the rescript on monopolizing power and forming factions followed immediately. If retaining one or two junior officials by ministry deliberation counts as forming a faction, then among the twenty-two senior officials in both capitals impeached by supplemental removal and the six retained by Grand Secretaries — Tutor Liu Yuqi retained because he was Xijue's pupil — can these alone be called non-factional? Moreover, the ministry's authority returning to the Grand Secretariat dates from Gao Gong's concurrent appointment and has not been a matter of a single day. Apart from ministers Zhang Han and Yan Qing, and apart from appointment directors Sun Kuang and Chen Younian, all rushed about carrying out orders. This current extended to Yang Wei, and by Liu Ximeng and Xie Tingshen the ministry's integrity was swept away entirely. Minister Song Xun tried to revive it but in the end was hounded to death by former Grand Secretary Shen Shixing. Minister Lu Guangzu and Civil Appointments director Wang Jiao and Personnel Evaluation director Zou Guanguang vowed to clarify affairs; Grand Secretary Wang Jiaping listened with an open mind, and appointments gradually became clear. Yet although Shixing had returned home, his schemes lurked within the palace walls; he conveyed his intent to inner eunuchs Zhang Cheng and Tian Yi and private allies on the censorial circuit, and Jiao and Guanguang were soon expelled. Now they revive his old stratagem, using supplemental impeachment to provoke Your Majesty's anger — inner eunuchs and Grand Secretaries working in concert to constrain the ministry, while Your Majesty has not perceived it.

疏入，帝怒，謫孔兼、泰來等。世達又抗疏論救，帝怒，盡斥南星、淳熙、於廷黃為民。鑨乃上疏言：「吏部雖以用人為職，然進退去留，必待上旨。是權固有在，非臣部得專也。今以留二庶僚為專權，則無往非專矣；以留二司屬為結黨，則無往非黨矣。如避專權結黨之嫌，畏縮選忄耎，使銓職之輕自臣始，臣之大罪也。臣任使不效，徒潔身而去，俾專權結黨之說終不明於當時，後來者且以臣為戒，又大罪也。」固請賜骸骨，仍不允。鑨遂杜門稱疾。疏累上，帝猶溫旨慰留，賜羊豕、酒醬、米物，且敕侍郎蔡國珍暫署選事，以需鑨起。鑨堅臥三月，疏至十上，乃許乘傳歸。居三年卒。贈太子太保，謚清簡。

When the memorial was submitted, the emperor grew angry and demoted Kongjian, Tailai, and the others. Shida again submitted a forceful memorial pleading for rescue; the emperor grew angry and dismissed Nanxing, Chunxi, Yuting, and Huang entirely as commoners. Long then submitted a memorial saying: "Although the Ministry of Personnel has the appointment of officials as its duty, promotion, dismissal, departure, and retention all await Your Majesty's command. That authority inherently rests with Your Majesty; it is not something my ministry may monopolize. Now if retaining two junior officials counts as monopolizing power, then every act becomes monopolizing power; If retaining two subordinates counts as forming a faction, then every act becomes forming a faction. If, to avoid suspicion of monopolizing power and forming factions, I shrink back in fear from appointment affairs, causing the ministry's authority to seem slight starting with me, that is my great failing. If I fail in my assignment yet depart with only my personal integrity intact, leaving the charge of monopolizing power and forming factions unresolved so that later officials take me as a warning, that is again a great failing. He firmly requested permission to retire; still it was not granted. Long then closed his doors and claimed illness. Memorials piled up; the emperor still sent warm words to comfort and retain him, bestowed sheep, pigs, wine, sauce, and grain, and ordered Vice Minister Cai Guozhen temporarily to handle appointment affairs, awaiting Long's return to office. Long remained bedridden for three months; after ten memorials he was permitted to return home with post relays. Three years later he died. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous name Qingjian.

鑨嘗曰：「大臣不合，惟當引去。否則有職業在，謹自守足矣。」其誌節如此。

Long once said: "When senior ministers are at odds, one should only withdraw. Otherwise, with official duties at hand, strict self-preservation is enough. Such was his integrity and resolve.

子如法，官刑部主事。以諫阻鄭貴妃進封，貶潮陽典史。久之，移疾歸。廷臣累薦，悉報寢。卒，贈光祿少卿。

His son Rufa served as a secretary in the Ministry of Justice. For remonstrating against the elevation of Consort Zheng, he was demoted to county clerk at Chaoyang. After a long time he resigned on grounds of illness and returned home. Court officials repeatedly recommended him, but all recommendations were shelved. When he died, he was posthumously granted the title of Vice Director of the Directorate for Court Banquets.

陳有年，字登之，余姚人。父克宅，字即卿，正德九年進士。嘉靖中官御史。哭爭「大禮」，有大僚欲去，克宅扼其項曰：「奈何先去為人望？」其人愧而止。俄系獄廷杖。獲釋，先後按貴州、河南，多所彈劾。吏部尚書廖紀姻為所劾罷，惡之，出為松潘副使。累遷右副都御史，巡撫貴州。都勻苗王阿向作亂，據凱口囤。克宅與總兵官楊仁攻斬阿向。論功，進秩。旋移撫蘇、松。既行，而阿向黨復叛，坐罷官候勘。巡撫汪珊討平賊，推功克宅。克宅已卒，乃賜恤典。

Chen Younian, whose style was Dengzhi, was a native of Yuyao. His father Kezhai, whose style was Jiqing, received his jinshi degree in the ninth year of the Zhengde reign (1514). During the Jiajing reign he served as censor. Weeping, he disputed the "Grand Rites" controversy; when a senior official wished to leave, Kezhai seized him by the collar and said: "How can you be the first to leave when others look to you? That man, ashamed, stopped. Soon he was imprisoned and beaten at court. After his release, he successively toured Guizhou and Henan and impeached many officials. Minister of Personnel Liao Ji's in-law was impeached by him and dismissed; Ji resented him and had him sent out as vice commissioner of Songpan. He was promoted in succession to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Guizhou. The Duyun Miao king A Xiang rebelled and occupied Kaikou stockade. Kezhai together with regional commander Yang Ren attacked and killed A Xiang. When merit was assessed, his rank was advanced. Soon he was transferred as Grand Coordinator of Suzhou and Songjiang. After he had departed, A Xiang's followers rebelled again, and he was dismissed from office pending investigation. Grand Coordinator Wang Shan suppressed the rebels and credited the merit to Kezhai. Kezhai had already died, and posthumous consolation rites were then granted.

有年舉嘉靖四十一年進士，授刑部主事。改吏部，歷驗封郎中。萬歷元年，成國公朱希忠卒，其弟錦衣都督希孝賄中官馮保援張懋例乞贈王，大學士張居正主之。有年持不可，草奏言：「令典：功臣歿，公贈王，侯贈公，子孫襲者，生死止本爵。懋贈王，廷議不可，即希忠父輔亦言之。後竟贈，非制。且希忠無勛伐，豈當濫寵。」左侍郎劉光濟署部事，受指居正，為刪易其稿。有年力爭，竟以原奏上。居正不懌，有年即日謝病去。

Younian received his jinshi degree in the forty-first year of the Jiajing reign (1562) and was appointed secretary in the Ministry of Justice. He was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel and served in succession as director of the Bureau of Verification and Seals. In the first year of the Wanli reign (1573), Duke of Chengguo Zhu Xizhong died. His younger brother, Brocade-Guard Commander Xixiao, bribed the eunuch Feng Bao and, citing the precedent of Zhang Mao, petitioned that Xizhong be posthumously ennobled as a prince. Grand Secretary Zhang Juyi supported the proposal. Younian objected and drafted a memorial stating: "According to established regulations, when meritorious ministers die, a duke is posthumously ennobled as a prince and a marquis as a duke; descendants who inherit the title hold only the original rank in life and death. When Mao was posthumously ennobled as a prince, the court found it unacceptable in deliberation; even Xizhong's father Fu had said so. He was posthumously ennobled in the end all the same, which was not according to regulation. Moreover, Xizhong had no recorded merit in campaign; how could he be granted such excessive favor? Left Vice Minister Liu Guangji was acting head of the ministry; following Zhang Juyi's instructions, he revised and altered the draft. Younian argued forcefully and ultimately submitted the original memorial unchanged. Juyi was displeased, and Younian resigned that same day on grounds of illness.

十二年起稽勛郎中，歷考功、文選，謝絕請寄。除目下，中外皆服。遷太常少卿，以右僉都御史巡撫江西。尚方所需陶器，多奇巧難成，後有詔許量減，既而如故。有年引詔旨請，不從。內閣申時行等固爭，乃免十之三。南畿、浙江大祲，詔禁鄰境閉糴，商舟皆集江西，徽人尤眾。而江西亦歲儉，群乞有年禁遏。有年疏陳濟急六事，中請稍弛前禁，令江西民得自救。南京御史方萬山劾有年違詔。帝怒，奪職歸。薦起督操江，累遷吏部右侍郎。改兵部，又改吏部。尚書孫鑨、左侍郎羅萬化皆鄉里，有年力引避，朝議不許。

In the twelfth year he was appointed director in the Bureau of Meritorious Service Records, served in succession in the Bureaus of Evaluations and Appointments, and refused all requests for favoritism. When appointment orders were issued, officials throughout the court and the provinces alike accepted them. He was transferred to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and appointed Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Jiangxi. The ceramic ware required by the imperial workshops was often ingeniously wrought and difficult to produce. Later an edict permitted a measured reduction, but soon matters returned to what they had been. Younian cited the edict in petitioning for relief, but his request was denied. Grand Secretaries Shen Shixing and others argued forcefully, and a reduction of three-tenths was finally granted. Great famine struck the Southern Capital region and Zhejiang. An edict forbade neighboring jurisdictions from hoarding grain, and merchant boats all gathered in Jiangxi, with people from Huizhou especially numerous. But Jiangxi also suffered a lean year, and the people in mass begged Younian to block the influx. Younian memorialized setting forth six measures for urgent relief, among them requesting that the earlier prohibition be slightly relaxed so that the people of Jiangxi could save themselves. Nanjing censor Fang Wanshan impeached Younian for violating the edict. The emperor was angry and stripped him of office, sending him home. Recommended and recalled, he was appointed to supervise the Yangtze defenses and was promoted in succession to Right Vice Minister of Personnel. He was transferred to the Ministry of War, then again to the Ministry of Personnel. Minister Sun Long and Left Vice Minister Luo Wanhua were both from his native place; Younian strenuously sought to withdraw on that account, but court opinion would not permit it.

尋由左侍郎擢南京右都御史。二十一年與吏部尚書溫純共典京察，所黜鹹當。未幾，遂代純位。其秋，鑨謝事，召拜吏部尚書。止宿公署中，見賓則於待漏所。引用僚屬，極一時選。明年，王錫爵將謝政，廷推閣臣，詔無拘資品。有年適在告，侍郎趙參魯、盛訥、文選郎顧憲成往咨之，列故大學士王家屏、故禮部尚書沈鯉、故吏部尚書孫鑨、禮部尚書沈一貫、左都御史孫丕揚、吏部侍郎鄧以贊、少詹事馮琦七人名上。蓋鑨丕揚非翰林，為不拘資，琦四品，為不拘品也。家屏以爭國本去位，帝意雅不欲用。又推及吏部尚書、左都御史非故事，嚴旨責讓。謂：「不拘資品乃昔年陸光祖自為內閣地。今推鑨、丕揚，顯屬徇私。前吏部嘗兩推閣臣，可具錄姓名以上。」於是備列沈鯉、李世達、羅萬化、陳於陛、趙用賢、朱賡、於慎行、石星、曾同亨、鄧以讃等。而世達故左都御史也，帝復不悅。謂：「詔旨不許推都御史，何復及世達。家屏舊輔臣，不當擅議起用。」乃命於陛、一貫入閣，而謫憲成及員外郎黃縉、王同休，主事章嘉禎、黃中色為雜職。錫爵首疏救，有年及參魯等疏繼之，帝並不納。趙誌臯張位亦佯為言。而二人者故不由廷推，因謂：「輔臣當出特簡，廷推由陸光祖交通言路為之，不可為法。」帝喜。隆旨再譙責，遂免縉等貶謫，但停俸一年。給事中盧明諏疏救憲成。帝怒，貶明諏秩，斥憲成為民。

Soon he was promoted from Left Vice Minister to Right Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing. In the twenty-first year he together with Minister of Personnel Wen Chun presided over the capital officials review, and those dismissed were all appropriate cases. Before long he succeeded to Chun's post. That autumn Long retired from office, and Younian was summoned and appointed Minister of Personnel. He lodged only in the official quarters and received guests in the waiting hall. In appointing subordinates he selected the finest men of the age. The following year Wang Xijue was about to retire from office. The court recommended grand secretaries, and an edict ordered that qualifications and rank not be strictly observed. Younian happened to be on leave. Vice Ministers Zhao Canlu and Sheng Ne and appointments director Gu Xiancheng went to consult him and submitted the names of seven men: former Grand Secretary Wang Jiaping, former Minister of Rites Shen Li, former Minister of Personnel Sun Long, Minister of Rites Shen Yiguan, Left Censor-in-Chief Sun Piyang, Vice Minister of Personnel Deng Yizan, and Junior Mentor Feng Qi. This was because Long and Piyang were not Hanlin academicians, illustrating the non-observance of qualifications, and Qi was of fourth rank, illustrating the non-observance of rank. Jiaping had left office over the dispute concerning the heir apparent, and the emperor had never wished to employ him. Moreover, recommending the Minister of Personnel and the Left Censor-in-Chief was not precedent, and a stern edict rebuked them. It stated: "The non-observance of qualifications and rank was in former years Lu Guangzu's way of securing a place in the Grand Secretariat for himself. Now recommending Long and Piyang clearly shows favoritism. The Ministry of Personnel has twice before recommended grand secretaries; the full list of names may be recorded and submitted. Thereupon the full list was submitted: Shen Li, Li Shida, Luo Wanhua, Chen Yubi, Zhao Yongxian, Zhu Geng, Yu Shenxing, Shi Xing, Zeng Tongheng, Deng Yizan, and others. But Shida was formerly Left Censor-in-Chief, and the emperor was again displeased. He stated: "The edict forbade recommending censors-in-chief; why was Shida included again? Jiaping is a former grand secretary; he should not be discussed and recalled without authorization. Thereupon Yubi and Yiguan were ordered into the Grand Secretariat, while Xiancheng and department directors Huang Jin and Wang Tongxiu and section chiefs Zhang Jiazhen and Huang Zhongse were demoted to miscellaneous minor posts. Xijue was the first to memorialize in their defense; memorials from Younian, Canlu, and others followed, but the emperor accepted none of them. Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei also feigned speaking on their behalf. But the two of them had originally not come through court recommendation, and therefore said: "Grand secretaries should be specially appointed; court recommendation was instituted by Lu Guangzu through collusion with the censorate and should not be taken as precedent. The emperor was pleased. A lofty edict again rebuked them, and Jin and the others were spared demotion and exile but had their salaries suspended for one year. Supervising Secretary Lu Mingzou memorialized in defense of Xiancheng. The emperor was angry, reduced Mingzou's rank, and dismissed Xiancheng to commoner status.

有年抗疏言：「閣臣廷推，其來舊矣。曩楊巍秉銓，臣署文選，廷推閣臣六人，今元輔錫爵即是年所推也。臣邑前有兩閣臣，弘治時謝遷，嘉靖時呂本，並由廷推，官止四品，而耿裕、聞淵則以吏部尚書居首。是廷推與推及吏部，皆非自今創也。至不拘資品，自出聖諭，臣敢不仰承。」因固乞骸骨。帝得疏，以其詞直，溫旨慰答。有年自是累疏稱疾乞罷。帝猶慰留，賚食物、羊酒。有年請益力。最後，以身雖退，遺賢不可不錄，力請帝起廢。帝報聞。有年遂杜門不出。數月中，疏十四上。乃予告，乘傳歸。歸裝，書一篋，衣一笥而已。二十六年正月卒，年六十有八。四月詔起南京右都御史，而有年已前卒。贈太子太保，謚恭介。

Younian submitted a forthright memorial stating: "Court recommendation of grand secretaries is an old practice. Formerly when Yang Wei held the seals of appointment, I was acting head of the Bureau of Appointments; six grand secretaries were recommended by the court, and the present chief minister Xijue was among those recommended that year. My native place has produced two grand secretaries before: Xie Qian in the Hongzhi reign and Lu Ben in the Jiajing reign; both came through court recommendation while holding only fourth rank, whereas Geng Yu and Wen Yuan headed the lists as Ministers of Personnel. Thus court recommendation and the inclusion of the Minister of Personnel were none of them innovations beginning today. As for non-observance of qualifications and rank, that came from the imperial edict, and how could I dare not receive it reverently? He therefore firmly petitioned to retire on grounds of old age. When the emperor received the memorial, because its language was forthright he responded with a gracious edict of consolation. From then on Younian repeatedly memorialized citing illness and requesting dismissal. The emperor still urged him to remain and bestowed food, mutton, and wine. Younian petitioned all the more forcefully. At last, though he himself would withdraw, worthy men left unused could not go unrecorded, and he forcefully petitioned the emperor to recall the dismissed. The emperor acknowledged receipt. Younian thereupon shut his doors and went out no more. Within several months he submitted fourteen memorials. He was then granted leave and returned home by official relay. His baggage on returning home consisted of one case of books and one trunk of clothes, and nothing more. In the first month of the twenty-sixth year he died, aged sixty-eight. In the fourth month an edict recalled him as Right Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing, but Younian had already died earlier. He was posthumously ennobled as Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous title Gongjie.

故事，吏部尚書未有以他官起者。屠滽掌都察院，楊博、嚴清掌兵部，皆用原銜領之。南京兵部尚書楊成起掌南院，亦領以故銜。有年以右都御史起，蓋帝欲用之，而政府陰抑之也。有年風節高天下。兩世朊仕，無宅居其妻孥，至以油莫障漏。其歸自江西，故廬火，乃僦一樓居妻孥，而身棲僧舍。其刻苦如此。

By precedent, no Minister of Personnel had ever been recalled from another office. Tu Fu directed the Censorate, Yang Bo and Yan Qing directed the Ministry of War—all held their original titles while serving. Minister of War at Nanjing Yang Cheng was recalled to direct the southern Censorate and also held his former title while serving. Younian was recalled as Right Censor-in-Chief; the emperor wished to employ him, but the chief ministers secretly held him back. Younian's integrity was esteemed throughout the realm. Two generations of his family had served in office, yet he had no house in which his wife and children could live and had to use oiled cloth to patch leaks. When he returned from Jiangxi his old dwelling had burned, so he rented a single upper story to house his wife and children while he himself lodged in a monk's quarters. Such was his austerity.

孫丕揚，字叔孝，富平人。嘉靖三十五年進士。授行人。擢御史。歷按畿輔、淮、揚，矯然有風裁。隆慶中，擢大理丞。以嘗劾高拱，拱門生給事中程文誣劾丕揚，落職候勘。拱罷，事白，起故官。

Sun Piyang, whose style was Shuxiao, came from Fuping. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign (1556). He was appointed courier. He was promoted to censor. He served in succession as investigating censor in the capital region, Huai, and Yangzhou, and was notably upright in his conduct. During the Longqing reign he was promoted to vice director of the Court of Judicial Review. Because he had once impeached Gao Gong, Gong's protégé Supervising Secretary Cheng Wen falsely impeached Piyang, who was dismissed from office pending investigation. When Gong was dismissed, the matter was cleared, and Piyang was restored to his former office.

萬歷元年擢右僉都御史，巡撫保守諸府。以嚴為治，屬吏皆惴惴。按行關隘，增置敵樓三百余所，築邊墻萬余丈。錄功，進右副都御史。中官馮保家在畿內，張居正屬為建坊，丕揚拒不應。知二人必怒，五年春引疾歸。

In the first year of the Wanli reign (1573) he was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Baoding, Shouhai, and other prefectures. He governed with severity, and subordinate officials were all fearful. Inspecting the passes, he added more than three hundred watchtowers and built more than ten thousand zhang of border wall. When merit was recorded he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. The eunuch Feng Bao's family estate lay within the capital region; Zhang Juyi asked that a commemorative arch be built for him, but Piyang refused to comply. Knowing the two would surely be angry, in the spring of the fifth year he resigned on grounds of illness and returned home.

其冬大計京官，言路希居正指劾之。詔起官時，調南京用。御史按陜西者，知保等憾不已，密諷西安知府羅織其贓。知府遣吏報御史，吏為虎噬。及再報，則居正已死，事乃解。起應天府尹。召拜大理卿，進戶部右侍郎。

That winter, during the grand review of capital officials, the censorate, hoping to follow Juyi's lead, impeached him. When an edict recalled him to office, he was transferred for service at Nanjing. The censor investigating Shaanxi, knowing that Bao and the others still harbored resentment, secretly prompted the prefect of Xi'an, Luo, to fabricate charges of corruption against him. The prefect sent a clerk to report to the censor, but the clerk was devoured by a tiger. When a second report was sent, Juyi had already died, and the matter was resolved. He was recalled as Prefect of Yingtian. He was summoned and appointed chief judge of the Court of Judicial Review, then promoted to Right Vice Minister of Revenue.

十五年，河北大饑。丕揚鄉邑及鄰縣蒲城、同官至采石為食。丕揚傷之，進石數升於帝，因言：「今海內困加派，其窮非止啖石之民也。宜寬賦節用，罷額外徵派有諸不急務，損上益下，以培蒼生大命。」帝感其言，頗有所減罷。

In the fifteenth year great famine struck Hebei. In Piyang's native district and the neighboring counties of Pucheng and Tongguan, people went so far as to gather stone powder for food. Piyang was grieved by this and presented several sheng of the stone to the emperor, stating: "Now throughout the realm the people are exhausted by additional levies; their destitution is not limited to those who eat stone. Taxes should be lightened and expenditures curtailed; extra levies and various non-urgent undertakings should be abolished; the upper should be reduced to benefit the lower, thereby nurturing the great life of the common people. Moved by his words, the emperor substantially cut back and abolished a number of levies and expenditures.

尋由左侍郎擢南京右都御史，以病歸。召拜刑部尚書。丕揚以獄多滯囚，由公移牽制。議刑部、大理各置籍，凡獄上刑部，次日即詳讞大理，大理審允，次日即還刑部，自是囚無淹系。尋奏：「五歲方恤刑，恐冤獄無所訴。請敕天下撫按，方春時和，令監司按行州縣，大錄系囚，按察使則錄會城囚。死罪矜疑及流徒以下可原者，撫按以達於朝，期毋過夏月。輕者立遣，重者仍聽部裁，歲以為常。」帝報從之。已，條上省刑省罰各三十二事。帝稱善，優詔褒納。自是刑獄大減。有內堅殺人，逃匿禁中。丕揚奏捕，卒論戍。改左都御史。陳臺規三事，請專掌印、重巡方、久巡城，著為令。已，又言：「閭閻民瘼非郡邑莫濟，郡邑吏治非撫按監司莫清。撫按監司風化，非部院莫飭。請立約束頒天下，獎廉抑貪，共勵官箴。」帝鹹優詔報許。

Before long he was promoted from Left Vice Minister to Right Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing, then went home on account of illness. He was summoned and appointed Minister of Justice. Piyang found the prisons crowded with long-detained prisoners and his efforts hampered at every turn by official paperwork. He proposed that the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Revision each maintain registers so that every case sent up to the ministry would be fully reviewed at the Court of Revision the following day, and once that court approved the judgment, it would be returned to the ministry the day after. From then on, prisoners were no longer held indefinitely. He soon memorialized: "Because the compassionate review of punishments is held only once every five years, I fear that victims of wrongful imprisonment have no timely recourse. I ask that Your Majesty command the governors and censors throughout the realm that, once spring brings mild weather, surveillance commissioners inspect the prefectures and counties and compile full registers of all prisoners, while each surveillance commissioner records the prisoners held in his provincial capital. Death sentences warranting mercy on grounds of doubt, and exile, penal servitude, or lesser punishments that may be remitted, should be reported by the governors to the court no later than the summer months. Light cases should be released at once; serious ones should still await ministry adjudication. This should become annual practice." The emperor approved the proposal. Later he submitted thirty-two itemized proposals each on reducing punishments and reducing penalties. The emperor praised the proposals and issued a gracious edict commending and accepting them. From then on the volume of criminal litigation fell sharply. An inner eunuch killed a man and fled into hiding within the palace precincts. Piyang memorialized that he be arrested; in the end he was sentenced to frontier banishment. He was transferred to Left Censor-in-Chief. He submitted three reforms to censorate regulations, asking that the seal be kept under exclusive control, that provincial inspection tours be given greater weight, and that capital patrol duty be extended, and that these be written into permanent regulations. Later he also said: "The hardships of the people in town and village can be relieved only by the counties and prefectures; the conduct of county and prefectural officials can be kept clean only by the governors and surveillance commissioners. The moral example set by governors and surveillance commissioners cannot be corrected except by the ministries and the censorate. I ask that binding rules be established and promulgated throughout the realm, rewarding integrity and repressing greed, so that all officials may uphold their duty together." The emperor fully approved with a gracious edict.

二十二年，拜吏部尚書。丕揚挺勁不撓，百僚無敢以私幹者，獨患中貴請謁。乃創為掣簽法，大選急選，悉聽其人自掣，請寄無所容。一時選人盛稱無私，然銓政自是一大變矣。二十三年，大計外吏。九江知府沈鐵嘗為衡州同知，發巡撫秦耀罪，江西提學僉事馬猶龍嘗為刑部主事，定御史祝大舟贓賄，遂為庇者所惡。考功郎蔣時馨黜之，丕揚不能察。及時馨為趙文炳所劾，丕揚力與辨雪。謂釁由丁此呂，此呂坐逮。丕揚又力詆沈思孝，於是思孝及員外郎嶽元聲連章訐丕揚。丕揚請去甚力。其冬，帝以軍政故，貶兩京言官三十余人。丕揚猶在告，偕九卿力諫，弗納。已而帝惡大學士陳於陛論救，謫諸言官邊方。丕揚等復抗疏諫，帝益怒，盡除其名。

In the twenty-second year he was appointed Minister of Personnel. Piyang was upright and unyielding. None among the hundred officials dared approach him with private requests; his sole vexation was the stream of solicitations from eunuchs. He therefore devised the lot-drawing method. For major and urgent selections alike, appointees were allowed to draw lots themselves, leaving patronage requests no room to gain footing. For a time those selected greatly praised the impartiality, yet personnel policy was from then on fundamentally transformed. In the twenty-third year the grand review of local officials was held. The Jiujiang prefect Shen Tie had once served as vice prefect of Hengzhou and exposed the crimes of Grand Coordinator Qin Yao; the Jiangxi education intendant Ma Youlong had once served as a principal clerk in the Ministry of Justice and established the censor Zhu Dazhou's bribery. Both were therefore hated by those who sheltered the guilty. Jiang Shixin, director in the Department of Evaluations, dismissed them, and Piyang failed to detect the impropriety. When Shixin was impeached by Zhao Wenbing, Piyang strenuously defended him and cleared his name. He said the quarrel originated in the Ding Cilü affair, and Ding Cilü was arrested on that account. Piyang also vigorously denounced Shen Sixiao, whereupon Sixiao and assistant department director Yue Yuansheng submitted a series of memorials impeaching Piyang. Piyang pressed his request to resign with great force. That winter, on grounds of military administration, the emperor demoted more than thirty censorial officials of both capitals. Piyang was still on leave. Together with the nine ministers he remonstrated strenuously, but the emperor would not accept their counsel. Before long the emperor took offense at Grand Secretary Chen Yubi's pleas in their defense and relegated the censorial officials to frontier posts. Piyang and the others again submitted defiant memorials of remonstrance. The emperor grew angrier still and struck all their names from the rolls.

初，帝雖以夙望用丕揚，然不甚委信。有所推舉，率用其次。數請起廢，輒報罷。丕揚以誌不行，已懷去誌，及是杜門逾半歲。疏十三上，多不報。至四月，溫諭勉留，乃復起視事。主事趙學仕者，大學士誌臯族弟也，坐事議調，文選郎唐伯元輒註饒州通判。俄學仕復以前事被訐，給事中劉道亨因劾吏部附勢，語侵丕揚。博士周獻臣有所陳論，亦頗侵之。丕揚疑道亨受同官周孔教指，獻臣又孔教宗人，益疑之，復三疏乞休。最後貽書大學士張位，懇其擬旨允放。位如其言。丕揚聞，則大恚，謂位逐己，上疏詆位及道亨、孔教、獻臣、思孝甚力。帝得疏，不直丕揚。位亦疏辯求退，帝復詔慰留，而位同官陳於陛、沈一貫亦為位解。丕揚再被責讓，許馳傳去。

At first, although the emperor employed Piyang for his longstanding reputation, he did not greatly trust or rely on him. When Piyang recommended someone, the emperor usually chose the second name on the list. Repeated requests to restore dismissed officials were always answered with refusal. Because his proposals were not carried out, Piyang had already harbored an intent to leave. At this point he shut his doors for more than half a year. He submitted thirteen memorials, most of which received no reply. By the fourth month a warm edict urged him to remain, and he then resumed his duties. A principal clerk named Zhao Xueshi was a clansman of Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao. Owing to misconduct he was under discussion for transfer, and the Selection Bureau director Tang Boyuan immediately assigned him vice prefect of Raozhou. Before long Xueshi was again impeached over the earlier affair, and supervising secretary Liu Daoheng impeached the Ministry of Personnel for currying favor with the powerful, his words encroaching on Piyang. Doctor Zhou Xianchen also submitted a statement that impinged on him considerably. Piyang suspected that Daoheng had acted at the direction of his colleague Zhou Kongjiao, and since Xianchen was also a clansman of Kongjiao, he grew more suspicious and again submitted three memorials requesting retirement. Finally he sent a letter to Grand Secretary Zhang Wei, earnestly asking him to draft an edict approving his release. Zhang Wei did as he asked. When Piyang learned of this he was greatly enraged, saying Zhang Wei had driven him out. He submitted a memorial vigorously denouncing Wei along with Daoheng, Kongjiao, Xianchen, and Sixiao. When the emperor received the memorial he did not side with Piyang. Zhang Wei also submitted a memorial in his own defense and requested retirement. The emperor again issued an edict comforting him and urging him to stay, and Wei's colleagues Chen Yubi and Shen Yiguan also spoke in his defense. Piyang was censured again and permitted to leave by imperial courier relay.

久之，起南京吏部尚書，辭不就。及吏部尚書李戴免，帝艱其代，以侍郎楊時喬攝之。時喬數請簡用尚書。帝終念丕揚廉直，三十六年九月，召起故官。屢辭，不允。明年四月始入都，年七十有八矣。三十八年大計外吏，黜陟鹹當。又奏舉廉吏布政使汪可受、王佐、張偲等二十餘人，詔不次擢用。

After a long interval he was recalled as Minister of Personnel at Nanjing, but he declined and did not accept. When Minister of Personnel Li Dai was dismissed, the emperor found a replacement hard to appoint and had Vice Minister Yang Shiqiao serve as acting minister. Shiqiao repeatedly requested that a minister be selected and appointed. The emperor finally remembered Piyang's integrity and uprightness. In the ninth month of the thirty-sixth year he recalled him to his former office. Piyang declined repeatedly, but the emperor would not permit it. Only in the fourth month of the following year did he enter the capital. He was seventy-eight years old. In the thirty-eighth year, during the grand review of local officials, dismissals and promotions were all appropriate. He also memorialized recommending more than twenty incorrupt officials, including administration commissioners Wang Keshou, Wang Zuo, and Zhang Si, and an edict ordered their exceptional promotion out of turn.

先是，南北言官群擊李三才、王元翰，連及裏居顧憲成，謂之東林黨。而祭酒湯賓尹、諭德顧天飐各收召朋徒，干預時政，謂之宣黨、昆黨；以賓尹宣城人，天飐昆山人也。御史徐兆魁、喬應甲、劉國縉、鄭繼芳、劉光復、房壯麗，給事中王紹徽，朱一桂、姚宗文、徐紹吉、周永春輩，則力排東林，與賓尹、天飐聲勢相倚，大臣多畏避之。至是，繼芳巡按浙江，有偽為其書抵紹徽、國縉者，中雲「欲去福清，先去富平；欲去富平，先去耀州兄弟」。又言「秦脈斬斷，吾輩可以得誌」。福清謂葉向高，耀州謂王國、王圖，富平即丕揚也。國時巡撫保定，圖以吏部侍郎掌翰林院，與丕揚皆秦人，故曰「秦脈」。蓋小人設為挑激語，以害繼芳輩，而其書乃達之丕揚所。丕揚不為意。會御史金明時居官不職，慮京察見斥，先上疏力攻圖，並詆御史史記事、徐縉芳，謂為圖心腹。及圖、縉芳疏辯，明時再劾之，因及繼芳偽書事。國縉疑書出縉芳及李邦華、李炳恭、徐良彥、周起元手，因目為「五鬼」；五人皆選授御史候命未下者也。當是時，諸人日事攻擊，議論紛呶，帝一無所問，則益植黨求勝，朝端哄然。

Previously, censorial officials north and south had jointly attacked Li Sancai and Wang Yuanhan, extending the attack to the retired Gu Xiancheng, whom they called the Donglin faction. Meanwhile Rector Tang Binyin and Reader Gu Tianyi each gathered followers and meddled in current politics, and were called the Xuan faction and the Kun faction; for Binyin was a native of Xuancheng and Tianyi of Kunshan. Censors Xu Zhaokui, Qiao Yingjia, Liu Guojin, Zheng Jifang, Liu Guangfu, and Fang Zhuangli, together with supervising secretaries Wang Shaohui, Zhu Yigui, Yao Zongwen, Xu Shaoji, and Zhou Yongchun, then forcefully opposed the Donglin faction and relied on Binyin and Tianyi for mutual support in power. Many grand ministers feared them and kept their distance. At this time Jifang was touring as investigating censor in Zhejiang when a forged letter purporting to be from him reached Shaohui and Guojin, containing the lines "To remove Fuqing, first remove Fuping; to remove Fuping, first remove the brothers from Yaozhou." It also said, "Once the Shaanxi vein is cut, we can achieve our aims." "Fuqing" referred to Ye Xianggao, "Yaozhou" to Wang Guo and Wang Tu, and "Fuping" was Piyang himself. Wang Guo was then Grand Coordinator of Baoding; Wang Tu, as Vice Minister of Personnel, oversaw the Hanlin Academy. Together with Piyang they were all natives of Shaanxi, hence "the Shaanxi vein." Villains had fabricated these provocative words to harm Jifang and his associates, yet the letter reached Piyang's residence. Piyang paid it no mind. Meanwhile Censor Jin Mingshi was derelict in office. Fearing dismissal in the capital officials' review, he preemptively submitted a memorial vigorously attacking Wang Tu and also denouncing censors Shi Jishi and Xu Jinfang as Tu's inner circle. When Tu and Jinfang submitted memorials in their own defense, Mingshi impeached them again and brought up the matter of Jifang's forged letter. Guojin suspected the letter had been written by Jinfang, Li Banghua, Li Binggong, Xu Liangyan, and Zhou Qiyuan, and therefore labeled them the "Five Demons"; all five had been selected for appointment as censors but were still awaiting their orders. At that time the various parties pressed their attacks day after day. Debate grew clamorous, yet the emperor made no inquiry into any of it, so they only planted factions more deeply in search of victory, and the court grew tumultuous.

及明年三月，大計京官。丕揚與侍郎蕭雲舉、副都御史許弘綱領其事，考功郎中王宗賢、吏科都給事中曹於汴、河南道御史湯光京、協理御史喬允升佐之。故御史康丕揚、徐大化，故給事中鐘兆鬥、陳治則、宋一韓、姚文蔚，主事鄭振先、張嘉言及賓尹、天飐、國縉鹹被察，又以年例出紹徽、應甲於外。群情翕服，而諸不得誌者深銜之。當計典之初舉也，兆京謂明時將出疏要挾，以激丕揚。丕揚果怒，先期止明時過部考察，特疏劾之。旨下議罪，而明時辯疏復犯禦諱。帝怒，褫其職。其黨大嘩。謂明時未嘗要挾兆京，只以劾圖一疏實之，為圖報復。於是刑部主事秦聚奎力攻丕揚，為賓尹、大化、國縉、紹徽、應甲、嘉言辨。時部院察疏猶未下，丕揚奏趣之，因發聚奎前知績溪、吳江時貪虐狀。帝方向丕揚，亦褫聚奎職。由是黨人益憤，謂丕揚果以偽書故斥紹徽、國縉，且二人與應甲嘗攻三才、元翰，故代為修隙，議論洶洶。弘綱聞而畏之。累請發察疏，亦若以丕揚為過當者。黨人藉其言，益思撼丕揚。禮部主事丁元薦甫入朝，慮察疏終寢，抗章責弘綱，因盡發昆、宣黨構謀狀。於是一桂、繼芳、永春、光魁、宗文爭擊元薦，為明時等訟冤。賴向高調獲，至五月察疏乃下。給事中彭惟成、南京給事中高節，御史王萬祚、曾成易猶攻訐不已。丕揚以人言紛至，亦屢疏求去，優詔勉留。先是，楊時喬掌察，斥科道錢夢臯等十人，特旨留任。至是丕揚亦奏黜之，群情益快。

In the third month of the following year the grand review of capital officials was held. Piyang, together with Vice Minister Xiao Yunju and Vice Censor-in-Chief Xu Honggang, presided over the review, assisted by Evaluation Bureau director Wang Zongxian, chief supervising secretary of the Personnel Section Cao Yubian, Henan Circuit censor Tang Guangjing, and coordinating censor Qiao Yunsheng. Former censor Kang Piyang and Xu Dahua, former supervising secretaries Zhong Zhaodou, Chen Zhi'ze, Song Yihan, and Yao Wenwei, principal clerks Zheng Zhenxian and Zhang Jiayan, and also Binyin, Tianyi, and Guojin were all found unfit in the review. By seniority Shaohui and Yingjia were also sent out of the capital. Public sentiment was united in approval, but those who failed to achieve their aims harbored deep resentment. When the review first commenced, Guangjing said that Mingshi would submit a memorial to coerce and extort, so as to provoke Piyang. Piyang was indeed angered. Ahead of schedule he stopped Mingshi from passing through the ministry for review and specially submitted a memorial impeaching him. An imperial rescript was issued to deliberate punishment, and Mingshi's defense memorial again violated imperial taboo. The emperor was enraged and stripped him of office. His faction raised a great outcry. They said Mingshi had never coerced Guangjing but had been punished solely for his memorial impeaching Wang Tu—a case of Tu's revenge. Thereupon Ministry of Justice principal clerk Qin Jukui vigorously attacked Piyang and spoke in defense of Binyin, Dahua, Guojin, Shaohui, Yingjia, and Jiayan. At the time the ministries' and censorate's review memorial had not yet been issued. Piyang memorialized urging its prompt release and also exposed Jukui's corrupt and brutal conduct when he had served as magistrate of Jixi and Wujiang. The emperor was then leaning toward Piyang and also stripped Jukui of office. Thereupon the faction men grew angrier still, saying that Piyang had indeed dismissed Shaohui and Guojin because of the forged letter—and that since the two, together with Yingjia, had once attacked Li Sancai and Wang Yuanhan, he was settling scores on their behalf. Debate grew tumultuous. Honggang heard of this and was afraid. He repeatedly requested that the review memorial be issued, himself seeming to regard Piyang as having gone too far. The faction men seized on his words and all the more wished to bring Piyang down. Ministry of Rites principal clerk Ding Yuanjian had just entered court. Fearing the review memorial would ultimately be shelved, he submitted a defiant memorial reproaching Honggang and fully exposing the schemes of the Kun and Xuan factions. Thereupon Yigui, Jifang, Yongchun, Zhaokui, and Zongwen vied to attack Yuanjian and plead innocence for Mingshi and the others. Only through Ye Xianggao's mediation was a settlement reached, and in the fifth month the review memorial was finally issued. Supervising secretaries Peng Weicheng and Gao Jie of Nanjing, and censors Wang Wanzuo and Zeng Chengyi, still continued their impeachments without cease. As opinion poured in from all sides, Piyang also repeatedly submitted memorials requesting retirement, but gracious edicts urged him to remain. Previously, when Yang Shiqiao presided over the review, he had dismissed ten censorate officials including Qian Menggao, but a special imperial rescript kept them in office. Now Piyang also memorialized that they be dismissed, and public sentiment was all the more pleased.

丕場以白首趨朝，非薦賢無以報國。先後推轂林居耆碩，若沈鯉、呂坤、郭正域、丘度、蔡悉、顧憲成、趙南星、鄒元標、馮從吾、於玉立、高攀龍、劉元珍、龐時雍、姜士昌、範淶、歐陽東鳳輩。帝雅意不用舊人，悉寢不報。丕揚又請起故御史錢一本等十三人，故給事中鐘羽正等十五人，亦報罷。丕揚齒雖邁，帝重其老成清德，眷遇益隆。而丕揚乞去不已，疏復二十余上。既不得請，則於明年二月拜疏徑歸。向高聞之，急言於上。詔令乘傳，且敕所司存問。既而丕揚疏謝，因陳時政四事，帝復優詔報之。家居二年卒，年八十三。贈太保。天啟初，追謚恭介。

Though his hair had turned white, Piyang still hurried to court, declaring that recommending worthy men was the only way he could repay his country. Time and again he recommended worthy elders living in retirement—among them Shen Li, Lü Kun, Guo Zhengyu, Qiu Du, Cai Xi, Gu Xiancheng, Zhao Nanxing, Zou Yuanbiao, Feng Congwu, Yu Yuli, Gao Panlong, Liu Yuanzhen, Pang Shiyong, Jiang Shichang, Fan Tai, Ouyang Dongfeng, and others of that stamp. The Emperor had no wish to bring back former officials, and every recommendation was shelved without response. Piyang also petitioned to recall thirteen former censors led by Qian Yiben and fifteen former supervising secretaries led by Zhong Yuzheng; these requests too were rejected. Though Piyang was well advanced in years, the Emperor esteemed his seasoned wisdom and upright character, and treated him with ever greater regard. Yet Piyang never stopped asking to retire, submitting more than twenty memorials to that effect. When his requests went unanswered, in the second month of the following year he offered a parting memorial and returned home directly. When Ye Xianggao heard of it, he urgently reported the matter to the throne. The Emperor ordered him to travel by official relay and instructed the relevant offices to inquire after his welfare. Piyang soon sent a letter of thanks, taking the occasion to address four matters of state; the Emperor responded again with a commendatory edict. After two years at home he died at the age of eighty-three. He was posthumously honored as Grand Tutor. Early in the Tianqi reign he was posthumously granted the title Gongjie ("Respectful and Upright").

蔡國珍，字汝聘，奉新人。嘉靖三十五年進士。鄉人嚴嵩當國，欲羅致門下。國珍不應，乞就南，為刑部主事。盜七十余人久系，讞得其情，減釋過半。就改吏部，進郎中。出為福建提學副使，以侍養歸。遭母喪。服除，遂不出。家居垂二十年。張居正既卒，朝議大起廢籍。萬歷十一年，仍以故官蒞福建。遷湖廣右參政，分守辰沅。洞蠻亂，將吏議剿，國珍檄諭之，遂定。歷浙江左布政使，以右僉都御史提督操江。召為左副都御史，歷吏部左、右侍郎，與尚書孫鑨、陳有年綜核銓政。擢南京吏部尚書。

Cai Guozhen, whose style was Ruwei, came from Fengxin. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-fifth year of the Jiajing reign (1556). His fellow townsman Yan Song held power and tried to bring him into his faction. Guozhen declined, asked to serve in the south, and was appointed a principal clerk in the Ministry of Justice. More than seventy accused bandits had been held for a long time; after he verified the facts of each case, he reduced sentences and released more than half. He was then moved to the Ministry of Personnel and promoted to director. He was sent out as educational intendant vice commissioner of Fujian, then retired to care for his parents. His mother died. When his mourning ended, he declined further service. He remained at home for nearly twenty years. After Zhang Juzheng's death, the court began vigorously calling for the recall of banished officials. In the eleventh year of Wanli (1583), he resumed his former post in Fujian. He was promoted to Right Administration Commissioner of Huguang, with defense duties in the Chen-Yuan region. When the Cave Miao rose in rebellion, military officers favored a punitive campaign; Guozhen instead issued proclamations to counsel them, and the region was pacified. He rose through the posts of Left Administration Commissioner of Zhejiang and Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief in charge of Yangtze river defense. Recalled as Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, he then served as Left and Right Vice Minister of Personnel, working with Ministers Sun Kuang and Chen Younian to overhaul the appointment system. He was appointed Minister of Personnel in Nanjing.

二十四年閏八月，孫丕揚去國，帝久不除代。部事盡弛，其年十二月竟廢大選。閣臣及言官數為言，明年二月，始命國珍為吏部尚書。三殿災，率諸臣請修省。旋有詔起廢。國珍列三等，人品正大、心術光明者，文選郎王教等二十四人；才有足錄、過無可棄者，給事中喬允等三十三人；因人詿誤、釁非己作者，給事中耿隨龍等三十六人，並請錄用。竟報寢。明年三月，倡廷臣詣文華門請舉皇長子冊立、冠婚，言必得請方退。帝遣中官諭曰：「此大典，稍需時耳，何相挾若是！」乃頓首出。給事中戴士衡劾文選郎白所知贓私，國珍為辨，且求罷。帝不聽，除所知名。御史況上進因諭國珍八罪。帝察其誣，不問。國珍遂稱疾，累疏乞休。先是，丕揚坐忤張位去官，位欲援同己者為助，以國珍鄉人，汲引甚力。及秉銓，一守成憲，不為位用。位惡之，國珍乃懷去誌。至是，帝忽怒吏部，貶黜諸郎二十二人。國珍求去益力，許乘傳歸。

In the intercalary eighth month of the twenty-fourth year of Wanli (1596), Sun Piyang left office, and the Emperor long delayed appointing a successor. Ministry business fell into complete neglect, and that December the major appointment round was canceled altogether. After repeated appeals from Grand Secretariat ministers and memorializing officials, in the second month of the following year Guozhen was finally appointed Minister of Personnel. When fire destroyed the three main palace halls, he led the ministers in urging the Emperor to examine his conduct and reform. Shortly afterward an edict was issued calling for the recall of banished officials. Guozhen divided candidates into three categories: twenty-four men of upright character and open purpose, including Selection Bureau director Wang Jiao; thirty-three whose ability warranted appointment and whose faults were pardonable, including supervising secretary Qiao Yun; and thirty-six who had been caught up in others' mistakes and bore no fault of their own, including supervising secretary Geng Suilong—all recommended for reinstatement. The recommendations were ultimately shelved without action. The following March he led the court to Wenhua Gate to demand the investiture, coming-of-age ceremony, and marriage of the heir apparent, vowing they would not leave until their petition was granted. The Emperor sent a eunuch with this message: "These are great state ceremonies and will require some time. Why are you pressuring me like this?" They kowtowed and departed. When supervising secretary Dai Shiheng accused Selection Bureau director Bai Suozhi of graft, Guozhen spoke in his defense and asked to be dismissed himself. The Emperor refused and dismissed Bai Suozhi from office. Censor Kuang Shangjin then submitted a memorial listing eight offenses against Guozhen. The Emperor saw through the fabrication and took no action. Guozhen thereupon pleaded illness and repeatedly asked to retire. Earlier, Piyang had been forced out after crossing Zhang Wei; Wei hoped to enlist allies and, since Guozhen was a fellow townsman, worked hard to pull him into his camp. Once in charge of appointments, he adhered strictly to established rules and refused to serve Wei's interests. Wei turned against him, and Guozhen began planning his departure. At this juncture the Emperor suddenly turned on the Ministry of Personnel and demoted twenty-two of its bureau directors. Guozhen pressed his resignation more urgently and was allowed to return home by official relay.

初，楊巍為吏部，與內閣相比，得居位八年。自宋纁、陸光祖力與閣抗，權雖歸部，身不容，故自纁至國珍卒未浹歲去，惟丕揚閱二年。時鹹議閣臣怯，而惜糸熏等用未竟也。國珍素以學行稱，風力不及孫鑨、陳有年，而清操似之，均為時望所屬。家居十三年卒，年八十四。贈太子太保，謚恭靖。楊時喬，字宜遷，上饒人。嘉靖四十四年進士。除工部主事。榷稅杭州，令商人自署所入，輸之有司，無所預。隆慶元年冬，上時政要務，言：「幾之當慎者三，以日勤朝講為修德之幾，親裁章奏為出令之幾，聽言能斷為圖事之幾。弊之最重者九：曰治體怠弛，曰法令數易，曰賞罰無章，曰用度太繁，曰鬻官太濫，曰莊田擾民，曰習俗侈靡，曰士氣卑弱，曰議論虛浮。勢之偏重者三：宦寺難制也，宗祿難繼也，邊備難振也。」疏入，帝褒納，中外傳誦焉。

Early on, Yang Wei had served eight years as Minister of Personnel on nearly equal footing with the Grand Secretariat. After Song Xu and Lu Guangzu had forcefully stood up to the Grand Secretariat, the ministry regained its authority but its ministers could not keep their posts; from Song Xu through Guozhen, none served even a full year except Piyang, who lasted two. At the time everyone faulted the Grand Secretariat for its timidity and lamented that Chen Younian and his like had been unable to serve out their terms. Guozhen had long been respected for scholarship and character. He lacked the forcefulness of Sun Kuang and Chen Younian, but his moral integrity was comparable, and all three were pillars of public esteem. After thirteen years at home he died at eighty-four. He was posthumously honored as Crown Prince Grand Tutor with the posthumous title Gongjing ("Respectful and Tranquil"). Yang Shiqiao, whose style was Yiqian, came from Shangrao. He passed the jinshi examination in the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign (1565). He was appointed a principal clerk in the Ministry of Works. While collecting taxes at Hangzhou, he required merchants to declare their payments in their own hand and pay directly to the appropriate offices, with no role for himself. In the winter of the first year of Longqing (1567), he submitted a memorial on pressing matters of state, writing: "Three things demand the utmost care: treating daily attendance at court lectures as the measure of moral self-cultivation, personally reviewing memorials as the test of command, and hearing advice yet knowing when to decide as the standard of governance. The nine worst abuses are these: lax administration, constantly shifting laws, arbitrary rewards and punishments, excessive spending, rampant sale of offices, imperial estates that harass the people, wasteful customs, a demoralized scholar class, and hollow, self-indulgent debate. Three imbalances weigh most heavily: eunuchs who resist control, clan stipends that cannot be maintained, and frontier defenses that cannot be restored." The memorial was received with imperial praise, and it was soon read and praised throughout the court and the realm.

擢禮部員外郎，遷南京尚寶丞。萬歷初，以養親去。服除，起南京太仆丞，復遷尚寶。移疾歸。時喬雅無意榮進，再起再告。閱十七年始薦起尚寶卿，四遷南京太常卿。疏請議建文帝謚，祠禮死節諸臣。就遷通政使。秩滿，連章乞休，不允。三十一年冬，召拜吏部左侍郎。時李戴已致仕，時喬至即署部事。絕請謁，謝交遊，止宿公署，苞苴不及門。及大計京朝官，首輔沈一貫欲庇其所私，憚時喬方正，將令兵部尚書蕭大亨主之，次輔沈鯉不可而止。時喬乃與都御史溫純力鋤政府私人。若給事中錢夢臯、御史張似渠、於永清輩，鹹在察中，又以年例出給事中鐘兆鬥於外。一貫大慍，密言於帝，留察疏不下。夢臯亦假楚王事再攻郭正域，謂主察者為正域驅除。帝意果動，特留夢臯；已，盡留科道之被察者，而嚴旨責時喬等報復。時喬等惶恐奏辨，請罷斥，帝不問。夢臯既留，遂合兆鬥累疏攻純，並侵時喬。時喬求去。已而員外郎賀燦然請斥被察科道，亦詆純挾權鬥捷，顧獨稱時喬。又言：「陛下睿斷躬操，非閣臣所能竊弄」，意蓋為一貫解。時喬以與純共事，復疏請貶黜，不報。及純去，夢臯、兆鬥亦引歸。帝復降旨譙讓，謂「祖宗朝亦常留被察科道，何今日揣疑君父，誣詆輔臣」。因責諸臣朋比，令時喬策勵供職，而盡斥燦然及劉元珍、龐時雍輩。時喬嘆曰：「主察者逐，爭察者亦竄矣，尚可顏居此乎？」九疏引疾，竟不得請。時中外缺官多不補，而群臣省親養病給假，及建言詿誤被譴者，充滿林下，率不獲召。時喬乃備列三百余人，三疏請錄用。三十四年，皇長孫生，有詔起廢，時喬復列上遷謫鄒元標等九十六人，削籍範俊等一百十人。帝卒不省。

He was promoted to Vice Director in the Ministry of Rites and then transferred to Vice Director of the Nanjing Court of Imperial Regalia. Early in the Wanli reign he retired to care for his parents. When his mourning ended, he was recalled as Vice Director of the Nanjing Court of the Imperial Stud and again promoted within the Court of Imperial Regalia. He pleaded illness and returned home. Shiqiao had never sought advancement for its own sake; each time he was recalled, he asked to leave again. Only after seventeen years was he recommended and recalled as Director of the Court of Imperial Regalia; four promotions later he became Director of the Nanjing Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He memorialized calling for a posthumous title for the Jianwen Emperor and rites honoring the officials who died for their loyalty. He was promptly promoted to Transmission Commissioner. When his term expired he repeatedly asked to retire, but was refused. In the winter of the thirty-first year of Wanli (1603), he was summoned as Left Vice Minister of Personnel. By then Li Dai had already retired, and Shiqiao assumed charge of the ministry as soon as he arrived. He refused all personal petitions, broke off social ties, and slept in his office so that no gift or bribe ever reached his door. During the major evaluation of capital officials, Chief Grand Secretary Shen Yiguan sought to shield his protégés. Deterred by Shiqiao's rectitude, he tried to put Minister of War Xiao Daheng in charge, but Secondary Grand Secretary Shen Li blocked the move. Shiqiao then worked with Censor-in-Chief Wen Chun to purge the Grand Secretariat's patronage network. Supervising secretaries Qian Menggao and censors Zhang Siqu and Yu Yongqing were among those marked for removal, and by the usual rotation supervising secretary Zhong Zhaodou was also sent out of the capital. Yiguan was furious; he secretly persuaded the Emperor to withhold the evaluation memorial. Menggao revived the Prince of Chu affair to attack Guo Zhengyu again, claiming the reviewers were acting on Zhengyu's behalf. The Emperor was swayed and ordered Menggao retained; Before long every censor and supervising secretary slated for removal was kept in office, and a stern edict condemned Shiqiao and his colleagues for settling scores. Shiqiao and his allies, alarmed, defended themselves and asked to be removed; the Emperor took no action. With Menggao spared, he joined Zhong Zhaodou in a series of attacks on Wen Chun, implicating Shiqiao as well. Shiqiao asked to resign. Soon Vice Director He Shuran petitioned to purge the reviewed censors and secretaries, accusing Wen Chun of abusing power while praising Shiqiao alone. He added: "Your Majesty's wise judgments rest in your own hands; the Grand Secretariat cannot secretly manipulate them"—plainly an attempt to shield Yiguan. Because he had worked alongside Wen Chun, Shiqiao again asked to be demoted and dismissed, but received no answer. After Wen Chun left office, Menggao and Zhong Zhaodou resigned as well. The Emperor issued another rebuke: "Even in the days of our forefathers, reviewed censors were often retained. Why now do you presume to doubt your sovereign and slander his ministers?" He accused the officials of forming factions, told Shiqiao to rededicate himself to duty, and dismissed Shuran along with Liu Yuanzhen, Pang Shiyong, and others. Shiqiao sighed: "Those who ran the review have been driven out, and those who challenged it have been banished too. How can I still hold this office with any dignity?" He submitted nine illness memorials asking to leave, but was never allowed to resign. Many posts at court and in the provinces stood vacant; officials on leave to visit parents or recover from illness, along with those punished for ill-advised memorials, crowded the retirement hills, rarely to be recalled. Shiqiao compiled a list of more than three hundred such men and submitted three memorials urging their reinstatement. In the thirty-fourth year of Wanli (1606), when the crown prince's eldest son was born, an edict called for recalling banished officials; Shiqiao submitted ninety-six men demoted or exiled, including Zou Yuanbiao, and one hundred ten stripped from the register, including Fan Jun. The Emperor ignored the lists altogether.

明年，大計外吏。時喬已偕副都御史詹沂受事，居數日，帝忽命戶部尚書趙世卿代時喬，遂中輟；蓋去冬所批察疏，至是誤發之也。輔臣朱賡謂非體，立言於帝。帝亦覺其誤，即日收還。時喬堅辭不肯任，吏科陳治則劾其怨懟無人臣禮。有旨詰責，時喬乃再受事。永年伯王棟卒，其子明輔請襲。時喬以外戚不當傳世，固爭之，弗聽。時一貫已罷，言路爭擊其黨。而李廷機者，一貫教習門生也，閣臣闕，眾多推之；惟給事中曹於汴、宋一韓、御史陳宗契持不可。時喬卒從眾議。未幾，又推黃汝良、全天敘為侍郎，諸攻一貫者益不悅。給事中王元翰、胡忻遂交劾時喬。時喬疏辨，力求罷。

The following year came the grand evaluation of outer officials. Shiqiao had already begun the evaluation with Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhan Yi, but after several days the emperor suddenly ordered Minister of Revenue Zhao Shiqing to replace him, and the process was halted midway. This was because the evaluation memorial approved the previous winter had been mistakenly reissued. Assistant minister Zhu Geng said the move was improper and immediately spoke to the emperor. The emperor also perceived the error and had the order recalled the same day. Shiqiao firmly declined and refused to resume duty; secretariat official Chen Zhi impeached him for resentment and breach of a subject's deportment. After an edict rebuked him, Shiqiao again took up the evaluation. When Yongnian Earl Wang Dong died, his son Mingfu petitioned to inherit the title. Shiqiao held that titles should not pass down through maternal kin and argued forcefully, but the emperor would not listen. By then Yiguan had already been dismissed, and censorial officials vied to attack his faction. Li Tingji had been Yiguan's student in the classics tutorial; with a vacancy among grand secretaries, many recommended him. Only supervising secretaries Cao Yubian and Song Yihan and censor Chen Zongqi objected. In the end Shiqiao bowed to majority opinion. Before long he again recommended Huang Ruliang and Quan Tianxu as vice ministers, which displeased Yiguan's opponents all the more. Supervising secretaries Wang Yuanhan and Hu Xin then jointly impeached Shiqiao. Shiqiao memorialized in his own defense and strenuously sought dismissal.

當是時，帝委時喬銓柄，又不置右侍郎，一人獨理部事，銓敘平允。然堂陛扞格，曠官廢事，日甚一日，而中朝議論方囂，動見掣肘。時喬官位未崇，又自溫純去，久不置都御史，益無以鎮厭百僚。由是上下相淩，紀綱日紊，言路得收其柄。時喬亦多委蛇，議者諒其苦心，不甚咎也。秉銓凡五年。最後起故尚書孫丕揚。未至，而時喬已卒。篋余一敝裘，同列賻襚以殮。詔贈吏部尚書，謚端潔。

At this time the emperor entrusted Shiqiao with appointment power and left the right vice ministership vacant; he alone handled ministry affairs, and his appointments were fair and even-handed. Yet court and throne were at odds, offices stood vacant and affairs were neglected with each passing day, while debate at court grew clamorous and he was constantly thwarted. Shiqiao's rank was not exalted, and since Wen Chun had left office the post of censor-in-chief had long gone unfilled, leaving him even less able to keep the bureaucracy in order. From this superiors and subordinates bullied one another, discipline grew daily more chaotic, and censorial officials regained their grip on power. Shiqiao too often yielded and compromised; critics understood his difficult position and did not greatly blame him. He wielded appointment power for five years in all. Finally the former minister Sun Piyang was recalled. Before Piyang arrived, Shiqiao had already died. In his case there remained only one worn fur coat; colleagues contributed funeral gifts to lay him out. An edict posthumously enfeoffed him as Minister of Personnel and gave him the posthumous name Duanjie.

時喬受業永豐呂懷，最不喜王守仁之學，辟之甚力，尤惡羅汝芳。官通政時具疏斥之曰：「佛氏之學，初不混於儒。乃汝芳假聖賢仁義心性之言，倡為見性成佛之教，謂吾學直捷，不假修為。於是以傳註為支離，以經書為糟粕，以躬行實踐為迂腐，以綱紀法度為桎梏。逾閑蕩檢，反道亂德，莫此為甚。望敕所司明禁，用彰風教。」詔從其言。

Shiqiao had studied under Lü Huai of Yongfeng; he disliked Wang Shouren's learning and refuted it vigorously, detesting Luo Rufang above all. When he served in the Court of Transmission he submitted a memorial denouncing Rufang, saying: "Buddhist learning at first did not mingle with Confucianism. Yet Rufang borrowed the language of the sages on benevolence, righteousness, and human nature, and advocated a teaching of seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha, claiming that true learning is direct and needs no cultivation. Thereupon he treated commentaries as fragmentary, the classics as dregs, personal practice as pedantry, and statutes and law as shackles. Transgressing bounds and casting off restraint, turning against the Way and disordering virtue—nothing surpasses this. I hope Your Majesty will order the responsible offices to forbid it clearly and thereby uphold moral instruction. An edict followed his recommendation.

贊曰：古者冢宰統百官，均四海，即宰相之任也。後代政柄始分，至明中葉，旁撓者眾矣。嚴清諸人，清公素履，秉正無虧，彼豈以進退得失動其心哉。孫丕揚創掣簽法，雖不能辨材任官，要之無任心營私之弊，茍非其人，毋寧任法之為愈乎！蓋與時宜之，未可援古義以相難也。

The appraiser says: In antiquity the chief minister governed the hundred officials and balanced all within the four seas—that was the work of the prime minister. In later ages political power began to be divided; by the mid-Ming, those who interfered from the side were many. Yan Qing and men like him were pure in public conduct and plain in personal walk, upright without stain—how could advancement, retreat, gain, or loss move their hearts? Sun Piyang created the lot-drawing method; though it could not distinguish talent and assign offices accordingly, it at least avoided the flaw of acting on whim and seeking private gain—if the man is not right, is it not better to rely on the method? It suited the times, and one cannot invoke ancient principle to criticize it.

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