Volume 227 Biographies 115: Pang Shangpeng, Song Yiwang, Zhang Yue, Li Cai, Lu Shude, Xiao Lin, Jia Sanjin, Li Yi, Zhu Hongmo, Xiao Yan, Sun Weicheng, Xie Jie, Guo Weixian, Wan Xiangchun, Zhong Huamin, Wu Dake

龐尚鵬宋儀望張嶽李材陸樹德蕭廩賈三近李頤朱鴻謨蕭彥〈（弟雍查鐸）〉孫維城謝傑郭惟賢萬象春鐘化民吳達可

Pang Shangpeng, Song Yiwang, Zhang Yue, Li Cai, Lu Shude, Xiao Lin, Jia Sanjin, Li Yi, Zhu Hongmo, and Xiao Yan (See also Yong, Cha, and Duo)]〉 Sun Weicheng, Xie Jie, Guo Weixian, Wan Xiangchun, Zhong Huamin, and Wu Dake

明年春，朝議興九邊屯、鹽。擢尚鵬右僉都御史，與副都御史鄒應龍、唐繼祿分理。尚鵬轄兩淮、長蘆、山東三運司，兼理畿輔、河南、山東、江北、遼東屯務。抵昌平，劾內侍張恩擅殺人，兩淮巡鹽孫以仁贓罪，皆獲譴。其秋，應龍等召還，命尚鵬兼領九邊屯務。疏列鹽政二十事，鹺利大興。乃自江北躬歷九邊，先後列上屯政便宜，江北者四，薊鎮者九，遼東、宣、大者各十一，寧夏者四，甘肅者七。奏輒報可。尚鵬權既重，自負經濟才，慷慨任事。諸御史督鹽政者以事權見奪，欲攻去之。河東巡鹽郜永春劾尚鵬行事乖違，吏部尚書楊博議留之。會中官惡博，激帝怒，譙讓，罷博而落尚鵬職，汰屯鹽都御史官。時三年十二月也。明年，復坐按浙時驗進宮幣不中程，斥為民。

The following spring, the court debated reviving garrison farming and salt policy along the nine frontier sectors. Shangpeng was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and shared the work with Vice Censors-in-Chief Zou Yinglong and Tang Jilu. Shangpeng oversaw the Liang-Huai, Changlu, and Shandong salt transport offices while also supervising garrison colonies in the capital districts, Henan, Shandong, Jiangbei, and Liaodong. At Changping he impeached the eunuch Zhang En for unauthorized killings and the Liang-Huai salt inspector Sun Yiren for bribery; all were punished. That autumn Yinglong and his colleagues were recalled, and Shangpeng was put in sole charge of garrison farming on all nine frontiers. He memorialized twenty reforms to salt policy, and salt profits rose sharply. He then left Jiangbei to tour the nine frontiers in person, submitting practical proposals for garrison farming: four for Jiangbei, nine for Jizhen, eleven each for Liaodong and Xuan-Da, four for Ningxia, and seven for Gansu. His proposals were invariably approved. With his power at its height, Shangpeng trusted in his administrative gifts and threw himself into public service with bold energy. Censors charged with salt supervision, feeling their authority had been stripped away, plotted to bring him down. The Hedong salt inspector Gao Yongchun impeached Shangpeng for misconduct, but Minister of Personnel Yang Bo recommended keeping him in office. Palace eunuchs who hated Bo goaded the emperor into a rage; Bo was dismissed, Shangpeng was stripped of his post, and the special censorate for garrison colonies and salt was abolished. This took place in the twelfth month of the third year of Longqing. The following year he was again punished: while investigating Zhejiang he had certified palace tribute coins that failed inspection, and was reduced to commoner status.

神宗立，御史計坤亨等交薦，保定巡撫宋纁亦白其無罪。萬曆四年冬，始以故官撫福建。奏蠲逋餉銀，推行一條鞭法。劾罷總兵官胡守仁，屬吏咸奉職。張居正奪情，重譴言者。尚鵬移書救，居正深銜之。會拜左副都御史，居正令吏科陳三謨以給由歲月有誤劾之，遂罷去。家居四年卒。浙江、福建暨其鄉廣東皆以徭輕故德尚鵬，立祠祀。天啟中，賜謚惠敏。

After Shenzong's accession, Censor Ji Kunheng and others repeatedly recommended him, and Baoding governor Song Xu also declared him innocent. In the winter of Wanli 4 he was finally restored to his former rank as grand coordinator of Fujian. He secured remission of overdue levy payments and introduced the single-whip tax reform. He impeached and removed Regional Commander Hu Shouren, after which his subordinates all performed their duties faithfully. When Zhang Juzheng sought to shorten his mourning and remain in power, those who protested were harshly punished. Shangpeng wrote in their defense, and Juzheng bore a deep grudge against him. Shortly after his appointment as Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, Juzheng had Chen Sanmo of the Personnel Section impeach him for errors in the dates on his appointment papers, and he was dismissed. He lived in retirement for four years and then died. Zhejiang, Fujian, and his native Guangdong all revered him for easing corvée burdens and erected shrines in his honor. During the Tianqi reign he was posthumously granted the epithet Huimin, meaning Benevolent and Keen.

宋儀望，字望之，吉安永豐人。嘉靖二十六年進士。授吳縣知縣。民輸白糧京師，輒破家。儀望令諸區各出公田，計役授田贍之。禁火葬，創子遊祠，建書院，惠績甚著。征授御史。劾大將軍仇鸞挾寇自重，疏留中。已，陳時務十二策。巡鹽河東，請開桑乾河通宣、大餉道，言：「河發源金龍池下甕城驛古定橋，會眾水，東流千餘里，入盧溝橋。其間惟大同卜村有叢石，宣府黑龍灣石崖稍險，然不逾五十里，水淺者猶二三尺，疏鑿甚易。曩大同巡撫侯鉞嘗乘小艇赴懷來，歷卜村、黑龍灣，安行無虞。又自懷來溯流，載米三十石達之古定河，足利漕可徵。」時方行挖運，率三十石致一石。儀望疏至，下廷議。兵部尚書聶豹言：「河成便漕，兼制敵騎。」工部尚書歐陽必進言：「道遠役重。」遂報罷。

Song Yiwang, styled Wangzhi, came from Yongfeng in Ji'an prefecture. He passed the metropolitan examination in Jiajing 26. He was appointed magistrate of Wu County. Transporting tribute grain to the capital routinely ruined local households. Yiwang had each district set aside public land, apportioned duties by labor quota, and assigned fields to support those who carried grain to the capital. He banned cremation, founded the Ziyou Shrine, established an academy, and won wide renown for his benevolent administration. He was recalled to the capital and appointed censor. He impeached Grand General Qiu Luan for exploiting the border threat to build his own power; the memorial was shelved at court. He later submitted twelve policy proposals on state affairs. On salt inspection duty in Hedong he petitioned to open the Sanggan River as a supply route to Xuanfu and Datong, writing: 'The river rises below Golden Dragon Pool at the ancient Ding Bridge by Wengcheng Post, gathers tributary streams, flows east for more than a thousand li, and reaches Lugou Bridge. Only at Bucun in Datong are there rock clusters, and at Heilongwan in Xuanfu the cliffs are somewhat steep—but these obstacles span no more than fifty li, and even the shallowest stretches are still two or three feet deep, so dredging would be straightforward. Former Datong grand coordinator Hou Yue had once taken a small boat to Huailai, passing Bucun and Heilongwan without mishap. From Huailai he had also gone upstream and delivered thirty shi of grain to Guding River—enough to show that profitable grain transport was feasible.' At the time overland haulage was standard, and it typically took thirty shi of effort to deliver one shi of grain. When Yiwang's memorial reached court, it was referred for deliberation. Minister of War Nie Bao argued: 'Opening the river would ease grain transport and also help contain enemy cavalry. 」 Minister of Works Ouyang Bijin countered: 「The route is too long and the labor burden too heavy.」' The plan was rejected.

儀望尋省母歸。還朝，發胡宗憲、阮鶚奸貪狀，鶚被逮。二人皆嚴嵩私人，嵩由是不悅。及受命督三殿門工，嵩子世蕃私賈人金，屬必進俾與工事，儀望執不可。工竣，敘勞，擢大理右寺丞。世蕃以為德，儀望請急歸，無所謝，世蕃益怒。會災異考察京官，必進遷吏部，遂坐以浮躁，貶夷陵判官。嵩敗，擢霸州兵備僉事。請城涿州，除馬戶逋稅。進大名兵備副使，改福建。與總兵官戚繼光合兵破倭，因列海防善後事。詔從其請。隆慶二年，吏部尚書楊博欲黜儀望，考功郎劉一儒持之，乃鐫二秩，補四川僉事。四遷大理少卿。

Yiwang soon left office to care for his mother. Back at court he exposed the corruption of Hu Zongxian and Ruan E; Ruan was arrested. Both were protégés of Yan Song, who took offense at the attack. When he was assigned to supervise construction on the Three Halls gates, Shifan—Yan Song's son—took a bribe from a merchant and asked Bijin to let him into the contract; Yiwang refused. When the project was completed, his service was rewarded with promotion to Right Assistant Director of the Court of Judicial Review. Shifan took this as a debt owed him, but Yiwang asked for urgent leave to go home and offered no thanks—so Shifan grew even angrier. During a review of capital officials prompted by omens, Bijin was moved to the Ministry of Personnel and Yiwang was found guilty of rashness and demoted to assistant magistrate of Yiling. After Yan Song's fall he was promoted to Military Intendant of Bazhou. He petitioned to fortify Zhuozhou and cancel overdue taxes on horse-breeding households. He was promoted to Vice Commissioner for Military Affairs at Daming, then transferred to Fujian. He joined Regional Commander Qi Jiguang to defeat the pirates and then submitted a program for consolidating coastal defense. The court approved his proposals. In Longqing 2, Minister Yang Bo sought to dismiss Yiwang, but Review Director Liu Yiru intervened; Yiwang was reduced two ranks instead and appointed a commissioner in Sichuan. After four promotions he became Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review.

萬曆二年，張居正當國，雅知儀望才，擢右僉都御史，巡撫應天諸府。奏減屬郡災賦。海警稍定，將吏諱言兵，儀望與副使王叔果修戰備。倭果至，禦之黑水洋，斬獲多，進右副都御史。先有詔雪建文諸臣，儀望創表忠祠祀之南京。宋忠臣楊邦晙，儀望鄉人也，葬江寧，歲久漸湮，儀望為封其墓，載其祠祀典。故太常卿袁洪愈、祭酒姜寶皆不為居正所喜，儀望薦之朝，漸失居正意。四年，稍遷南京大理卿。逾年改北，被劾罷歸。

In Wanli 2, with Zhang Juzheng in power, Yiwang—whose ability Juzheng had long respected—was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and made grand coordinator of the Yingtian region. He secured reductions in disaster levies across his jurisdiction. With coastal threats easing, officers avoided discussing military readiness; Yiwang and Vice Commissioner Wang Shuguo nonetheless rebuilt defenses. Pirates did appear; he met them at Heishuiyang, inflicted heavy casualties, and was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. After an edict rehabilitated the officials who had served Emperor Jianwen, Yiwang founded the Shrine of Loyal Remembrance in Nanjing to honor them. Yang Bangjun, a Song loyalist and fellow townsman, lay buried in Jiangning until his grave faded from memory; Yiwang restored the tomb and secured his place in the official sacrificial register. Former Director of Imperial Sacrifices Yuan Hongyu and Libationer Jiang Bao were both out of favor with Juzheng; when Yiwang recommended them to court he gradually lost Juzheng's goodwill. In the fourth year he was transferred to serve as Director of the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. A year later he was moved to the northern capital, impeached, dismissed, and sent home.

儀望少師聶豹，私淑王守仁，又從鄒守益、歐陽德、羅洪先遊。守仁從祀，儀望有力焉。家居數年卒。

As a youth Yiwang studied under Nie Bao, privately revered Wang Yangming, and also learned from Zou Shouyi, Ouyang De, and Luo Hongxian. Yiwang had played a significant role in securing Wang Yangming's admission to the Confucian temple. He lived in retirement for several years and then died.

張嶽，字汝宗，餘姚人。嘉靖三十八年進士。授行人。擢禮科給事中。巡視內府庫藏，奏行厘弊八事。已，又陳時政，極言講學者以富貴功名鼓動士大夫，談虛論寂，靡然成風。又今吏治方清，獨兵部無振刷，推用總兵黃印、韓承慶等，非庸即狡。曹司條例淆亂無章，胥吏朋奸，搏噬將校，其咎必有所歸。時徐階當國，為講學會，而楊博在兵部，意蓋指二人也。博奏辨乞罷，帝慰留之。博自是惡嶽。及掌吏部，嶽已遷工科左給事中，遂出為雲南參議。再遷河南參政。

Zhang Yue, styled Ruzong, came from Yuyao. He passed the metropolitan examination in Jiajing 38. He was appointed a courier-attendant in the Ministry of Rites. He was promoted to Supervising Secretary in the Rites Section of the Censorate. While inspecting the inner palace treasuries he proposed eight reforms to curb abuses, all of which were adopted. He later addressed current affairs again, sharply criticizing moral philosophers who stirred officials with promises of wealth and office and had made empty talk of quietism the fashion of the day. Civil administration was being cleaned up, he added, but the Ministry of War showed no similar renewal: regional commanders it promoted, such as Huang Yin and Han Chengqing, were either mediocre or cunning. Department regulations were in disorder, clerks formed corrupt factions that preyed on officers, and someone had to be held accountable. At the time Xu Jie held power and led a lecture society, while Yang Bo headed the Ministry of War—the criticism was plainly aimed at both men. Bo defended himself in a memorial asking to resign; the emperor reassured him and kept him in post. From then on Bo bore a grudge against Yue. When Bo took charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Yue had already moved to Left Supervising Secretary in the Works Section and was then posted out as Administrative Vice Commissioner of Yunnan. He was later promoted to Administrative Commissioner of Henan.

萬曆初，張居正雅知嶽，用為太僕少卿。再遷南京右僉都御史，督操江。甫到官，會居正父喪謀奪情，南京尚書潘晟及諸給事、御史，咸上疏請留居正。嶽獨馳疏請令馳驛奔喪，居正大怒。會大計京官，給事中傅作舟等承風劾嶽，貶一秩調外，嶽遂歸。久之，操江僉都御史呂藿、給事中吳綰知居正憾未釋，摭劾嶽落職閑住。甫兩月，居正死，南京御史方萬山薦嶽，劾作舟。作舟坐斥，起嶽四川參議。旋擢右僉都御史，巡撫南、贛。入為左僉都御史，獻時政四議。其一言宗藩宜以世次遞殺，親盡則停，俾習四民之業。其一言治河之策，夏鎮固當開，沽頭亦不可廢。並報寢。進左副都御史，上疏評議廷臣賢否，為給事中袁國臣等所論。時已遷刑部右侍郎，坐罷歸。

Early in the Wanli reign Zhang Juzheng, who had long respected Yue, appointed him Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. He was then promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief at Nanjing with charge of the Yangtze naval command. He had barely taken office when Juzheng sought to shorten mourning after his father's death; Nanjing Minister Pan Sheng and the supervising secretaries and censors all petitioned to keep him in power. Yue alone sent an urgent memorial demanding that Juzheng rush home by relay post for the funeral; Juzheng was furious. During the capital officials' evaluation, Supervising Secretary Fu Zuozhou and others took their cue from Juzheng and impeached Yue; he was demoted one rank, posted outside the capital, and went home. Long afterward, knowing Juzheng's resentment had not faded, Caojiang Censor Lü Huo and Supervising Secretary Wu Wan dredged up charges and had Yue dismissed to idle retirement. Two months later Juzheng died; Nanjing Censor Fang Wanshan recommended Yue and impeached Fu Zuozhou. Fu Zuozhou was dismissed, and Yue was recalled as Administrative Vice Commissioner of Sichuan. He was soon promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and appointed grand coordinator of Nan and Gan prefectures. He was recalled to the capital as Left Censor-in-Chief and submitted four policy proposals. One proposed that imperial clansmen should be demoted rank by rank each generation until the degree of kinship was exhausted, then allowed to take up ordinary trades. Another addressed river control: opening Xiazhen was necessary, but abandoning Gutou was not. All were shelved without action. Promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, he submitted a memorial ranking court officials as worthy or unworthy and was impeached by Supervising Secretary Yuan Guochen and others. By then he had already been made Right Vice Minister of Justice; on these charges he was dismissed and sent home.

李材，字孟誠，豐城人，尚書遂子也。舉嘉靖四十一年進士，授刑部主事。素從鄒守益講學。自以學未成，乞假歸。訪唐樞、王畿、錢德洪，與問難。隆慶中還朝。由兵部郎中稍遷廣東僉事。羅旁賊猖獗，材襲破之周高山，設屯以守。賊有三巢在新會境，調副總兵梁守愚由恩平，遊擊王瑞由德慶入，身出肇慶中道，夜半斬賊五百級，毀廬舍千餘，空其地，募人田之。亡何，倭五千攻陷電白，大掠而去。材追破之石城，設伏海口，伺其遁而殲之，奪還婦女三千餘。會奸人引倭自黃山間道潰而東。材聲言大軍數道至以疑賊，而返故道迎擊，盡殺之。又追襲雷州倭至英利，皆遁去，降賊渠許恩於陽江。錄功，進副使。

Li Cai, courtesy name Mengcheng, was a native of Fengcheng and the son of Minister Su Sui. He earned his jinshi degree in the forty-first year of Jiajing and was appointed a principal clerk in the Ministry of Punishments. He had long studied under Zou Shouyi. Feeling his studies were still unfinished, he asked for leave to go home. He visited Tang Shu, Wang Ji, and Qian Dehong, debating and testing his understanding with them. During the Longqing reign he returned to the capital. Starting as a director in the Ministry of War, he was gradually promoted to assistant commissioner of Guangdong. The Luopang bandits were running wild; Cai struck and routed them at Mount Zhougao, then established garrison farms to hold the ground. The bandits maintained three strongholds in Xinhui territory. Cai sent Vice Commander-in-Chief Liang Shouyu in from Enping and Mobile Corps Commander Wang Rui from Deqing, while he himself marched out of Zhaoqing along the central route. At midnight they took five hundred heads, burned more than a thousand buildings, cleared the land, and brought in settlers to cultivate it. Before long, five thousand Japanese raiders stormed Dianbai, looted the place thoroughly, and withdrew. Cai pursued them, broke them at Shicheng, laid an ambush at Haikou, and wiped them out as they fled, recovering more than three thousand captive women. At that moment, traitors led the Japanese through a hidden pass at Huangshan, and they burst through toward the east. Cai spread word that large imperial forces were closing in from several directions to unsettle the enemy, then doubled back along the old route to intercept them and killed every man. He pursued the Leizhou pirates all the way to Yingli; they all fled. At Yangjiang he accepted the surrender of the bandit leader Xu En. His achievements were entered on the rolls, and he was promoted to vice commissioner.

萬曆初，張居正柄國，不悅材，遂引疾去。居正卒，起官山東。以才調遼東開原。尋遷雲南洱海參政，進按察使，備兵金騰。金騰地接緬甸，而孟養、蠻莫兩土司介其間，叛服不常。緬部目曰大曩長、曰散奪者，率數千人據其地。材謂不收兩土司無以制緬，遣人招兩土司來歸，而間討抗命夷阿坡。居頃之，緬遣兵爭蠻莫，材合兩土司兵敗緬眾，殺大曩長，逐散奪去。緬帥莽應裏益兵至孟養，復擊沈其舟，斬其將一人，乃退。有猛密者，地在緬境，數為緬侵奪，舉族內徙，有司居之戶碗。至是，緬勢稍屈，材資遣還故土。亡何，緬人驅象陣大舉復仇，兩土司告急。材遣遊擊劉天俸率把總寇崇德等出威緬，渡金沙江，與孟養兵會遮浪，迎擊之。賊大敗，生擒繡衣賊將三人。巡撫劉世曾、總兵官沐昌祚以大捷聞，詔令覆勘。未上，而材擢右僉都御史，撫治鄖陽。

Early in Wanli, Zhang Juzheng dominated the government and took a dislike to Cai, who then resigned on grounds of illness. After Juzheng's death, Cai was recalled to serve in Shandong. On account of his ability he was transferred to Kaiyuan in Liaodong. He was soon made administrative commissioner at Erhai in Yunnan, then promoted to surveillance commissioner with military responsibility over Jinteng. Jinteng bordered Burma, with the native offices of Mengyang and Manmo lying between them—forever shifting between loyalty and revolt. Two Burmese subordinate chiefs, Dalangchang and Saneduo, led several thousand men in seizing the region. Cai argued that without winning back the two native offices he could not check Burma. He sent envoys to bring them back into allegiance while simultaneously moving against the defiant tribesman Apo. Before long Burma sent troops to seize Manmo. Cai joined forces with the two native offices, routed the Burmese army, killed Dalangchang, and drove off Saneduo. The Burmese commander Mang Yingli reinforced at Mengyang. Cai struck again, sank their boats, killed one of their generals, and forced them to retreat. Mengmi lay within Burmese territory and had been repeatedly overrun by Burma. Its people had moved en masse into Ming lands, and the authorities resettled them at Huwan. By then Burmese strength had waned somewhat, and Cai furnished supplies to send the people back to their homeland. Not long after, the Burmese marched in force with elephant columns to take revenge, and the two native offices cried for help. Cai sent Mobile Corps Commander Liu Tianfu with garrison commanders including Kou Chongde through Weimian, across the Jinsha River, to join Mengyang forces at Zhelang and meet the enemy head-on. The enemy was routed, and three enemy generals in embroidered robes were taken alive. Grand Coordinator Liu Shizeng and Regional Commander Mu Changzuo reported a great victory, and the throne ordered the claims verified. Before the report even went up, Cai was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and appointed to govern Yunyang.

材好講學，遣部卒供生徒役，卒多怨。又徇諸生請，改參將公署為學宮。參將米萬春諷門卒梅林等大噪，馳入城，縱囚毀諸生廬，直趨軍門，挾賞銀四千，洶洶不解。居二日，萬春脅材更軍中不便十二事，令上疏歸罪副使丁惟寧、知府沈鈇等，材隱忍從之。惟寧責數萬春，萬春欲殺惟寧，跳而免，材遂復劾惟寧激變。詔下鈇等吏，貶惟寧三官，材還籍候勘。時十五年十一月也。御史楊紹程勘萬春首亂，宜罪。大學士申時行庇之，置不問，旋調天津善地去。而材又以雲南事被訐，遂獲重譴。初，有詔勘征緬功，巡按御史蘇贊阝言斬馘不及千，破城拓地皆無驗，猛密地尚為緬據，材、天俸等虛張功伐，副使陳嚴之與相附和，宜並罪。帝怒，削世曾籍，奪昌祚祿一年，材、嚴之、天俸俱逮下詔獄。刑部尚書李世達、左都御史吳時來、大理少卿李棟等，當材、天俸徒，嚴之鐫秩。帝不懌，奪郎中、御史、寺正諸臣俸，典詔獄李登雲等亦解官。於是改擬遣戍。特旨引紅牌說謊例，坐材、天俸斬，嚴之除名。大學士時行等數為解，給事中唐堯欽等亦言：「材以夷攻夷，功不可泯。奏報偶虛，坐以死，假令盡虛無實，掩罪為功，何以罪之？設不幸失城池，全軍不返，又何以罪之？」帝皆不聽。幽系五年，論救者五十餘疏。已，天俸以善用火器，釋令立功，時行等復為材申理，皆不省。

Cai loved to lecture and kept a circle of students, assigning his troops to wait on them—a duty the soldiers deeply resented. He also gave in to the students' petition and turned the brigade commander's headquarters into a school. Brigade Commander Mi Wanchun goaded gate guards led by Meilin into open mutiny. They galloped into the city, freed prisoners, wrecked the students' lodgings, marched on headquarters, and demanded four thousand taels in reward silver, roaring and refusing to stand down. Two days later Wanchun forced Cai to rewrite twelve military regulations to the army's liking and submit a memorial blaming Vice Commissioner Ding Weining, Prefect Shen Fu, and others. Cai swallowed the humiliation and obeyed. Weining sharply rebuked Wanchun, who tried to kill him; Weining leapt aside and escaped. Cai then impeached Weining again, accusing him of provoking the uprising. An edict put Shen Fu and the others before the courts, demoted Weining three ranks, and sent Cai home to await investigation. This was the eleventh month of the fifteenth year. Censor Yang Shaocheng investigated and concluded that Wanchun had instigated the rebellion and deserved punishment. Grand Secretary Shen Shixing protected him, dropped the case, and soon transferred him to a soft posting in Tianjin. Cai, meanwhile, was denounced over the Yunnan campaign and received harsh punishment. Earlier an edict had ordered the Burma campaign merits investigated. Touring Censor Su Zan reported that fewer than a thousand enemy heads had been taken, that no claims of captured cities or expanded territory checked out, that Mengmi remained in Burmese hands, and that Cai, Tianfu, and others had exaggerated their victories while Vice Commissioner Chen Yan'zhi had backed them—all deserved joint punishment. The emperor flew into a rage. He struck Liu Shizeng from the rolls, cut Mu Changzuo's salary for a year, and had Cai, Yan'zhi, and Tianfu arrested and thrown into the imperial prison. Minister of Punishments Li Shida, Left Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai, Court of Judicial Review Vice Minister Li Dong, and others recommended exile for Cai and Tianfu and a reduction of rank for Yan'zhi. The emperor was displeased. He suspended the salaries of the recommending directors, censors, and tribunal officials, and dismissed Li Dengyun, superintendent of the imperial prison, and others. The verdict was then revised to exile on frontier garrison duty. By special edict, invoking the precedent of the red-placard perjury case, Cai and Tianfu were sentenced to decapitation and Yan'zhi was struck from the rolls. Grand Secretary Shixing and others repeatedly pleaded for mercy, and Supervising Secretary Tang Yaoqin also argued: 「Cai used barbarians against barbarians—his service cannot be wiped away. A little exaggeration in a report earns the death penalty? If the report were wholly false, with crimes dressed up as merit—how would you punish that? And if he had lost cities and fortresses and the entire army never came home—how would you punish that?」 The emperor would hear none of it. He languished in prison for five years while more than fifty memorials pleaded for his release. Later Tianfu was released on account of his mastery of firearms and told to redeem himself in battle. Shixing and others again argued Cai's case—all to no avail.

亡何，孟養使入貢，具言緬人侵軼，天朝救援，破敵有狀，聞典兵者在獄，眾皆流涕。而楚雄士民閻世祥等亦相率詣闕訟冤。帝意乃稍解，命再勘。勘至，材罪不掩功。大學士王錫爵等再疏為言，帝故遲之，至二十一年四月，始命戍鎮海衛。

Before long a Mengyang tribute envoy arrived and gave a full account of Burmese incursions and the court's rescue, with proof of victories on the ground. When he said the commander sat in prison, everyone wept. Meanwhile gentry and commoners of Chuxiong, led by Yan Shixiang, marched in groups to the palace gates to protest the injustice. The emperor's mind softened somewhat, and he ordered the case reinvestigated. When the reinvestigation concluded, Cai's faults did not outweigh his achievements. Grand Secretary Wang Xinjue and others memorialized again on his behalf, but the emperor deliberately dragged his feet. Not until the fourth month of the twenty-first year did he finally order Cai exiled to Zhenhai Guard.

材所至，輒聚徒講學，學者稱見羅先生。系獄時，就問者不絕。至戍所，學徒益眾。許孚遠方巡撫福建，日相過從，材以此忘羈旅。久之赦還。卒年七十九。

Wherever Cai went he gathered students and taught; scholars called him Master Jianluo. Even in prison, students came to him without end. At his place of exile his following only grew. Xu Fuyuan was then touring as grand coordinator of Fujian; they saw each other daily, and in his company Cai forgot the ache of banishment. In time he was pardoned and allowed to return home. He died at seventy-nine.

陸樹德，字與成，尚書樹聲弟也。嘉靖末進士。除嚴州推官。行取當授給事、御史，會樹聲拜侍郎，乃授刑部主事。隆慶四年，改禮科給事中。穆宗御朝講，不發一語。樹德言：「上下交為泰，今暌隔若此，何以劘君德，訓萬幾？」不報。屢遷都給事中。六年四月，詔輟東宮講讀，樹德言：「自四月迄八月，為時甚遙，請非盛暑，仍御講筵。」不聽。穆宗頗倦勤，樹德言：「日月交蝕，旱魃為災，當及時修省。」及帝不豫，又請謹藥餌，善保護，仲夏亢陽月，宜益慎起居。帝不悅，疏皆留中。內臣請祈福戒壇，已得旨，樹德言：「戒壇度僧，男女擾雜，導淫傷化。陛下欲保聖躬，宜法大禹之惡旨酒，成湯之不邇聲色，何必奉佛。」未幾，穆宗崩，神宗嗣位，中官馮保擠司禮孟沖而代之。樹德言：「先帝甫崩，忽傳馮保掌司禮監。果先帝意，何不傳示數日前，乃在彌留後？果陛下意，則哀痛方深，萬幾未御，何暇念中官？」疏入，保大恨。比議祧廟，樹德請毋祧宣宗，仍祀睿宗世室，格不行。已，極陳民運白糧之患，請領之漕臣，從之。

Lu Shude, courtesy name Yucheng, was the younger brother of Minister Lu Shusheng. He earned his jinshi degree at the end of the Jiajing reign. He was appointed magistrate of Yan Prefecture. Selected for promotion to the capital, he would normally have received a post as supervising secretary or censor, but because Shusheng had just become a vice minister he was instead made a principal clerk in the Ministry of Punishments. In the fourth year of Longqing he was transferred to supervising secretary in the Bureau of Rites. Emperor Muzong attended court lectures but never spoke a word. Shude said: 「When ruler and minister speak freely together, the realm flourishes. With this wall between you, how can Your Majesty hone his virtue or guide the myriad affairs of state? 」He received no answer. He rose repeatedly until he became supervising secretary-in-chief. In the fourth month of the sixth year an edict suspended the crown prince's lectures. Shude said: 「From the fourth month to the eighth is a long gap; I beg that, except in the worst heat of summer, Your Majesty continue the lecture hall. 」The emperor refused. Emperor Muzong grew weary of governing. Shude said: 「The sun and moon have been eclipsed, and drought demons have brought disaster—the court should repent and reform at once. 」When the emperor fell ill, he urged careful use of medicine and proper care of the imperial person: in the blazing midsummer heat, daily regimen deserved still greater caution. The emperor was displeased, and every memorial was shelved without reply. Palace eunuchs asked to set up a Buddhist fasting altar for blessings; the request had already been approved when Shude said: 「Fasting altars ordain monks, men and women crowd together in confusion, and debauchery undermines public morals. If Your Majesty wishes to preserve his health, follow Yu the Great's hatred of strong wine and King Tang's distance from music and women—why turn to Buddhism?」 Before long Emperor Muzong died and Emperor Shenzong ascended the throne. The eunuch Feng Bao pushed aside Meng Chong of the Directorate of Ceremonial and took his place. Shude said: 「The late emperor had barely died when word suddenly came that Feng Bao would head the Directorate of Ceremonial. If this truly reflected the late emperor's wish, why proclaim it only after his death throes, and not days before? If it is Your Majesty's own wish, then grief is still fresh and state affairs lie untouched—what moment is this to worry over eunuchs?」 When the memorial arrived, Feng Bao hated him for it. When the court debated ancestral temple succession, Shude argued against elevating Xuanzong in the line and for keeping Ruizong's spirit shrine—his proposal was rejected. He then laid out at length the abuses of civilian transport of white-grain tribute and asked that canal transport officials take charge—the request was granted.

樹德居言職三年，疏數十上，率侃直。會樹聲掌禮部，乃量遷尚寶卿。歷太常少卿，南京太僕卿，以右僉都御史巡撫山東。樹德素清嚴，約束僚吏，屏絕聲伎。山東民壯改民兵，戍薊門，隆慶末令歲輸銀二萬四千，罷其戍役。尋命增輸三萬，樹德請如河南例罷之。帝不從，而為免增輸之數。德府白雲湖故民田，為王所奪，後已還民，王復結中官謀復之。樹德爭不得，乞休歸。久之卒。

Shude spent three years in the remonstrance offices, submitting dozens of memorials, almost all of them blunt and direct. When Shusheng took over the Ministry of Rites, Shude was quietly promoted to vice minister of the Court of Imperial Stud. He served as vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and minister of the Imperial Stud at Nanjing, then was appointed Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief to govern Shandong. Shude had always been stern and incorruptible. He kept his staff on a tight rein and banned music and performers. Shandong's militia, drawn from sturdy commoners, had garrisoned Jizhou Pass. At the end of Longqing the court ordered them to pay twenty-four thousand taels of silver a year in lieu of service. Soon the quota was raised to thirty thousand taels. Shude asked that the levy be abolished, following the Henan precedent. The emperor refused the abolition but waived the increase. Baiyun Lake in the Princedom of De had once been commoners' farmland until the prince seized it. It had later been returned to the people, but the prince now colluded with eunuchs to take it back. Shude fought the scheme and lost, then asked to retire. He died some years later.

蕭廩，字可發，萬安人。祖乾元，以御史劾劉瑾，廷杖下獄，終雲南副使。廩舉嘉靖末進士，授行人。隆慶三年擢御史。因地震，請加禮中宮。已，出核陜西四鎮兵食。斥將吏隱占卒數萬人歸伍。固原州海剌都之地，密邇松山，為楚府牧地。廩言楚府封武昌，牧地在塞下，與寇接，王所收四五百金，而奸宄窟穴，弊甚大，宜諭使獻之朝廷。詔可。已，改巡茶馬。七苑牧地，養馬八千七百餘匹，而占地五萬五千三百頃有奇。廩但給萬二千二百餘頃，歲益課二萬。萬曆元年，巡按浙江。請祀建文朝忠臣十二人，從祀王守仁於文廟。尋擢太僕少卿，再遷南京太僕卿。九年，由光祿卿改右僉都御史，巡撫陜西。時方核天下隱田，大吏爭希張居正指增賦，廩令如額而止。境內回回部常群行拾麥穗，間或草竊，耀州以變告。廩撫諭之，戮數人，變遂定；令拾麥毋帶兵器，儕偶不得至十人。進右副都御史，移撫浙江。先以賞貢使，歲增造彩幣二千。廩請均之福建及徽、寧諸府，從之。已，請減上供織造，不許。遷工部右侍郎，召改刑部。進兵部左侍郎，以官卒。贈尚書。

Xiao Lin, courtesy name Kefa, was a native of Wan'an. His grandfather Ganyuan had impeached Liu Jin as a censor, was beaten at court and thrown into prison, and ended his career as vice commissioner of Yunnan. Lin earned his jinshi degree at the end of Jiajing and was appointed a courier in the Ministry of Rites. In the third year of Longqing, he was promoted to censor. On account of an earthquake, he petitioned that greater honor be shown to the empress. Soon after, he was dispatched to audit the military provisions of the four garrisons in Shaanxi. He exposed military officers and officials who had concealed and misappropriated soldiers, returning tens of thousands of men to the ranks. The land at Hailadu in Guyuan Prefecture, close to Songshan, was princely pasture belonging to the Prince of Chu. Lin argued that the Prince of Chu had been enfeoffed at Wuchang, but his pastures lay below the frontier and bordered raiders; the prince collected four or five hundred taels of gold, yet bandits made their nests there, causing great harm — he should be instructed to surrender the land to the court. The edict approved it. Soon after, he was reassigned as commissioner for tea and horses. The pastures of the seven stud farms supported more than 8,700 horses, yet occupied over 53,300 qing of land. Lin allotted only a little more than 12,200 qing, yielding an annual increase in tax revenue of 20,000 taels. In the first year of Wanli, he served as touring censor of Zhejiang. He petitioned to sacrifice to the twelve loyal ministers of the Jianwen reign, and to have Wang Shouren enshrined in the Confucian temple as an associate sacrifice. Soon he was promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, then transferred again to Director of the Nanjing Court of the Imperial Stud. In the ninth year, he moved from Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Shaanxi. At that time the empire was auditing concealed landholdings; high officials vied to follow Zhang Juzheng's lead in raising taxes, but Lin ordered that assessments stop at the proper quota. Within his jurisdiction, Hui communities often went about in groups gleaning wheat ears; occasionally they committed petty theft, and Yaozhou reported an outbreak of unrest. Lin pacified and instructed them, executed several men, and the unrest was settled; He ordered that gleaners carry no weapons and that groups not exceed ten persons. He was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and transferred to Grand Coordinator of Zhejiang. Previously, to reward tribute envoys, annual production of brocade tribute goods had been increased by two thousand pieces. Lin petitioned to spread this burden evenly among Fujian and the prefectures of Huizhou, Ningguo, and the like; the court agreed. Soon after, he petitioned to reduce imperial tribute weaving; the request was denied. He was transferred to Right Vice Minister of Works, then summoned and reassigned to the Ministry of Punishments. He was promoted to Left Vice Minister of War and died in office. He was posthumously granted the title of Minister.

廩初從歐陽德、鄒守益遊。制行醇謹，故所至有立。

In his youth Lin had studied under Ouyang De and Zou Shouyi. His conduct was pure and careful, so wherever he served he achieved lasting results.

賈三近，字德修，嶧縣人。隆慶二年進士。選庶吉士，授吏科給事中。四年六月，疏言：「善治者守法以宜民，去其太甚而已。今廟堂之令不信於郡縣，郡縣之令不信於小民。蠲租矣而催科愈急，振濟矣而追逋自如，恤刑矣而冤死相望。正額之輸，上供之需，邊疆之費，雖欲損毫厘不可得。形格勢制，莫可如何。且監司考課，多取振作集事之人，而輕寬平和易之士，守令雖賢，安養之心漸移於苛察，撫字之念日奪於征輸，民安得不困！乞戒有司務守法。而監司殿最毋但取旦夕功，失惇大之體。」已，復疏言：「撫按諸臣遇州縣長吏，率重甲科而輕鄉舉。同一寬也，在進士則為撫字，在舉人則為姑息。同一嚴也，在進士則為精明，在舉人則為苛戾。是以為舉人者，非華顛豁齒不就選；人或裹足毀裳，息心仕進。夫鄉舉豈乏才良，宜令勉就是途，因行激勸。」詔皆俞允。再遷左給事中，勘事貴州。中道罷遣，遂請急歸。

Jia Sanjin, courtesy name Dexiu, was a native of Yi County. He became a jinshi in the second year of Longqing. Selected as a Hanlin bachelor, he was appointed supervising secretary of the Bureau of Personnel. In the sixth month of the fourth year, he submitted a memorial saying: 「A ruler who governs well upholds the law to suit the people, removing only what is excessive. Today the court's orders are not trusted in the prefectures and counties, and the prefectures' and counties' orders are not trusted among the common people. Rent is remitted, yet collection grows only more urgent; relief is extended, yet pursuit of arrears proceeds as before; mercy in punishments is proclaimed, yet wrongful deaths stretch on in sight of one another. The regular quotas, the needs of imperial tribute, and frontier expenses — though one wished to reduce them by the slightest measure, it could not be done. Circumstance checked and power constrained; nothing could be done. Moreover, in the examinations of circuit intendants, those who were forceful and gathered achievements were mostly chosen, while men who were lenient, peaceful, and easygoing were slighted; though magistrates were worthy, their hearts for nourishing the people gradually shifted toward harsh scrutiny, and their concern for care and comfort was daily seized by tax collection — how could the people not fall into distress! I beg that officials be admonished to uphold the law. And that circuit intendants, in ranking performance, not take only short-term achievements and lose the larger principle of generous governance. 」 Soon after, he again submitted a memorial saying: 「When grand coordinators and touring censors meet with chief magistrates of prefectures and counties, they generally favor jinshi and slight provincial graduates. The same leniency, in a jinshi, was called care for the people; in a provincial graduate, indulgence. The same strictness, in a jinshi, was called shrewdness; in a provincial graduate, cruelty. For this reason, among provincial graduates, none entered selection unless their hair was white and their teeth gone; some wrapped their feet and tore their garments, abandoning all ambition for office. Surely the provincial graduates were not lacking in talent and worth; they ought to be encouraged to pursue this path, and thereby be spurred on. 」 The edicts approved all of these. He was promoted again to Left Supervising Secretary and sent to investigate affairs in Guizhou. Midway he was dismissed and sent home, whereupon he requested urgent leave to return.

神宗嗣位，起戶科給事中。萬曆元年，平江伯陳王謨以太后家姻，夤緣得鎮湖廣。三近劾其垢穢，乃不遣。給事中雒遵、御史景嵩、韓必顯劾譚綸被謫，三近率同列救之，詔增供用庫黃蠟歲二萬五千，三近等又諫，皆不從。時方行海運，多覆舟，以三近言罷其役。肅王縉貴，隆慶間用賄以輔國將軍襲封，至是又請復莊田，三近再疏爭，遂弗予。初，有令征賦以八分為率，不及者議罰。三近請地雕敝者減一分，詔從之。中官溫泰請盡輸關稅、鹽課於內庫，三近言課稅本餉邊，今屯田半蕪，開中法壞，塞下所資惟此，茍歸內帑，必誤邊計。議乃寢。頃之，擢太常少卿。再遷南京光祿卿，請假歸。十二年，召掌光祿，其秋，拜右僉都御史，巡撫保定。畿輔大饑，振貸有方。召拜大理卿。未上，以親老歸養。起兵部右侍郎，復以親老辭，不許。尋卒。

When the Shenzong Emperor succeeded to the throne, he was recalled as supervising secretary of the Bureau of Revenue. In the first year of Wanli, the Earl of Pingjiang, Chen Wangmo, through kinship with the empress dowager's family, maneuvered to obtain command of Huguang. Sanjin impeached him for filth and corruption, and so he was not dispatched. When Supervising Secretary Luo Zun and Censors Jing Song and Han Bixian impeached Tan Lun and were punished, Sanjin led his colleagues to save them; when an edict increased the annual supply of yellow wax to the Supplies Treasury by twenty-five thousand, Sanjin and others remonstrated again — all were ignored. Sea transport was then in use, and many boats capsized; on Sanjin's advice the service was abolished. Prince Su, Jingui, had during Longqing used bribes to inherit the title through the rank of State Assisting General; now he again petitioned to recover his estate lands; Sanjin remonstrated twice, and the request was denied. Initially there was an order that tax collection follow a rate of eighty percent, with punishment proposed for those who fell short. Sanjin petitioned that in ravaged districts the rate be reduced by one tenth; the edict agreed. Eunuch Wen Tai petitioned that all customs duties and salt levies be remitted to the inner treasury; Sanjin said that these taxes were originally meant to supply the frontier; now half the garrison farms lay waste, the frontier-provisioning salt-exchange system was broken, and the border relied on this alone — if it went to the inner purse, the frontier plan would surely be ruined. The proposal was then shelved. Before long he was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He was transferred again to Director of the Nanjing Court of Imperial Entertainments and requested leave to return home. In the twelfth year he was summoned to head the Court of Imperial Entertainments; that autumn he was appointed Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Baoding. The capital region suffered great famine; he distributed relief with proper methods. He was summoned and appointed Director of the Court of Judicial Review. Before taking office, he returned home to care for his aged parents. He was raised to Right Vice Minister of War, again declined on grounds of aged parents, but was not permitted. Soon after he died.

李頤，字惟貞，余幹人。隆慶二年進士。授中書舍人。博習典故，負才名。萬曆初，擢御史。同官胡涍、景嵩、韓必顯，給事中雒遵相繼獲譴，抗疏申救，不聽。清軍湖廣、廣西，請免士民遠戍，只充傍近衛所軍，制可。忤張居正，出為湖州知府。遷蘇松兵備副使、湖廣按察使。鄖陽兵變，知府沈鈇且得罪，頤為白其冤，而密殲首亂者。以母喪歸。

Li Yi, courtesy name Weizhen, was a native of Yugan. He became a jinshi in the second year of Longqing. He was appointed a secretary in the Secretariat. He was broadly versed in institutional precedent and bore a reputation for talent. In the early Wanli reign he was promoted to censor. His colleagues Hu Qiao, Jing Song, and Han Bixian, and Supervising Secretary Luo Zun, were successively punished; he submitted forceful memorials in their defense, but his pleas went unheeded. While inspecting troops in Huguang and Guangxi, he petitioned to exempt local gentry and commoners from distant frontier service, allowing them to serve only in nearby guard units; the order was approved. He offended Zhang Juzheng and was sent out as prefect of Huzhou. He was transferred to vice commissioner for military defense in Su-Song, then provincial surveillance commissioner of Huguang. During the military mutiny at Yunyang, Prefect Shen Fu was about to be punished; Yi cleared his innocence while secretly destroying the ringleaders of the revolt. He returned home upon his mother's death.

起故官，蒞陜西，進河南右布政使。擢右僉都御史，巡撫順天。進右副都御史。以定亂兵進兵部右侍郎。長昂桀驁，頤與總兵王保擒其心腹小郎兒等七人，賊遂軿。已，別部伯牙入寇，督將士敗之羅文峪，進左侍郎。久之，進右都御史。

Recalled to his former rank, he went to Shaanxi and was promoted to Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Henan. He was promoted to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Shuntian. He was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief. For pacifying the mutinous troops he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War. Chang Ang was arrogant and defiant; Yi, together with Regional Commander Wang Bao, captured seven of his close followers including Xiao Lang'er, and the bandits thereafter submitted. Soon after, another band under Boya invaded; he directed officers and soldiers to defeat them at Luowen Valley and was promoted to Left Vice Minister. After some time he was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief.

時礦稅使四出。馬堂駐天津，王忠駐昌平，王虎駐保定，張曄駐通州。頤疏言：「燕京王氣所鐘，去陵寢近，開鑿必損靈氣。」又言：「畿輔地荒歲儉，而敕使誅求，不遺纖屑，恐臨清激變之慘，復見輦轂下。」已，遼東稅使高淮誣劾山海同知羅大器，頤復言：「內監外僚，初無統攝，且遼陽礦稅，何預薊門？若皆效淮所為，有司將無遺類。陛下奉天之權，制馭宇內，今盡落宦豎手，朝奏夕報，如響應聲。縱所劾當罪，尚非所以為名，何況無辜，暴加摧折。」皆不報。頤在鎮十年，威望大著。中使憚頤廉正，畿民少安。二十九年，以工部右侍郎代劉東星管理河道。議上築決口，下疏故道，為經久計。甫兩月，以勞卒。贈兵部尚書。

At that time mining-tax commissioners were sent out in every direction. Ma Tang was stationed at Tianjin, Wang Zhong at Changping, Wang Hu at Baoding, and Zhang Ye at Tongzhou. Yi submitted a memorial saying: 「The capital region is where the royal aura gathers; it lies close to the imperial tombs — excavation will surely impair the numinous force. 」 He also said: 「The capital region's land is barren and years are lean, yet imperial envoys extract without leaving the smallest scrap; I fear the horrors of the Linqing outbreak may again appear beneath the imperial wheels. 」 Soon after, the Liaodong tax commissioner Gao Huai falsely impeached Subprefect Luo Daqi of Shanhai; Yi again said: 「Inner eunuchs and outer officials originally have no command relationship; moreover, how does Liaoyang's mining tax concern Ji's gates? If all follow Huai's example, there will soon be no officials left. Your Majesty holds Heaven's mandate and governs all within the realm, yet now this has wholly fallen into eunuchs' hands — memorials filed in the morning are answered by evening, like echo answering sound. Even if those impeached were guilty, this would still not befit Your Majesty's reputation — how much less when the innocent are violently broken! 」 All went unanswered. Yi held his post for ten years, and his prestige grew greatly. Eunuch envoys feared Yi's integrity and uprightness, and the people of the capital region found a measure of peace. In the twenty-ninth year, as Right Vice Minister of Works he replaced Liu Dongxing in managing the waterways. He proposed building up the breached levee above and dredging the old channel below, as a lasting plan. After only two months he died from exhaustion. He was posthumously granted Minister of War.

頤仕宦三十餘年，敝車羸馬，布衣蔬食。初為御史，首請祀胡居仁於文廟，寢未行。見居仁裔孫希祖幼且貧，字以女，養之於家。弟謙早卒，以己蔭畀其子。

Yi served in office for more than thirty years, with a worn cart and weak horses, coarse cloth and simple food. When he first became a censor, he was the first to petition sacrifice to Hu Juren in the Confucian temple; the proposal was shelved and not carried out. When he saw that Hu Juren's descendant Sun Xizu was still young and poor, he betrothed his daughter to him and brought him up in his own home. His younger brother Qian had died young, so he transferred his own hereditary privilege to Qian's son.

朱鴻謨，字文甫，益都人。隆慶五年進士。授吉安推官。識鄒元標於諸生，厚禮之。擢南京御史。元標及吳中行等得罪，鴻謨疏救，語侵居正，斥為民。鴻謨歸，杜門講學，不入城市。居正卒，起故官，出按江西。奏蠲水災賦，請減饒州磁器，不報。又疏薦建言削籍者，忤旨，奪俸。擢光祿少卿。由大理少卿擢右僉都御史，提督操江。改撫應天、蘇州十府。引二祖節儉之德，請裁上供織造，報聞。吳中徭役不均，令一以田為準，不及百畝者無役，縣為立籍，定等差。貴遊子弟恣里中，無賴者與共為非，遠近訛言謂有不軌謀。鴻謨盡捕之，上疏告變。朝議將用兵，兵部主事伍袁萃亟言於尚書石星，令覆勘，乃解。鴻謨尋入為刑部右侍郎，卒官。不能斂，僚屬醵金以辦。贈刑部尚書，謚恭介。蕭彥，字思學，涇縣人。隆慶五年進士。除杭州推官。萬曆三年，擢兵科給事中。自塞上多警，邊吏輒假招降幸賞。彥言：「議招逆黨，為中國逋亡設耳，乃欲以此招漠北敵人。夫李俊、滿四等休養百年，稱亂一旦，降人不可處內地明矣。宜一切報罷。」從之。以工科左給事中閱視陜西四鎮邊務。還奏訓兵、儲餉十事，並允行。

Zhu Hongmo, styled Wenfu, came from Yidu. He passed the metropolitan examination in Longqing 5. He was appointed magistrate-judge of Ji'an. Among the students he recognized Zou Yuanbiao and honored him with exceptional courtesy. He was promoted to censor at Nanjing. When Yuanbiao, Wu Zhongxing, and the others fell afoul of power, Hongmo submitted a rescue memorial whose language impugned Zhang Juzheng; he was stripped of office and reduced to commoner status. Hongmo went home, shut his doors to teach, and no longer entered the cities. After Juzheng's death he was restored to his former rank and sent out to inspect Jiangxi. He memorialized for remission of flood levies and asked that Raozhou porcelain tribute be reduced; the court gave no answer. He memorialized again recommending officials who had been struck from the rolls for remonstrance; the memorial defied the throne, and his salary was cut. He was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. From Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review he rose to Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and was put in charge of the Yangtze river patrol. He was transferred to govern the ten prefectures of Yingtian and Suzhou. Invoking the frugal virtue of the dynasty's two founders, he asked that imperial tribute weaving be reduced; the court acknowledged the memorial. Corvée service in Wu was unequal, so he ruled that land alone would determine obligation: households with less than a hundred mu owed no corvée, and each county was to keep registers and fix graded dues. Young men of noble families ran riot through the countryside; ruffians joined them in wrongdoing, and from near and far came rumors of a seditious plot. Hongmo arrested them all and memorialized to report the emergency. The court was on the verge of mobilizing troops when Ministry of War clerk Wu Yuancui urgently appealed to Minister Shi Xing to have the case reinvestigated, and the affair was settled. Hongmo soon entered the capital as Right Vice Minister of Justice and died in office. His estate could not cover burial expenses, so his colleagues pooled money to see to the funeral. He was posthumously made Minister of Justice and granted the posthumous name Gongjie, 「Respectful and Upright.」 Xiao Yan, styled Sixue, came from Jing County. He passed the metropolitan examination in Longqing 5. He was appointed magistrate-judge of Hangzhou. In Wanli 3 he was promoted to supervising secretary in the Military Bureau. With the northern frontier constantly on alert, border officials repeatedly used false surrender to win rewards. Yan said: 「The policy of accepting rebel surrender was devised for fugitives within China, yet now they would use it to win over enemies from beyond the northern deserts. Men like Li Jun and Man Si had lain quiet for a century and then rose in rebellion overnight — it is already plain that surrendered peoples must not be settled in the interior. Every such proposal should be rejected outright. 」The court followed his advice. As Left Supervising Secretary in the Works Bureau he inspected frontier affairs in Shaanxi's four garrisons. On returning he submitted ten proposals on drilling troops and stockpiling provisions, and all were approved.

尋進戶科都給事中。初，行丈量法，延、寧二鎮益田萬八千餘頃。總督高文薦請三年征賦，彥言：「西北墾荒永免科稅，祖制也。況二鎮多沙磧，奈何定永額，使初集流庸懷去誌。」遂除前令。詔購金珠，已，停市，而命以其直輸內庫。彥言不當虛外府以實內藏，不聽。尋上言：「察吏之道，不宜視催科為殿最。昨隆慶五年詔征賦不及八分者，停有司俸。至萬曆四年則又以九分為及格，仍令帶征宿負二分，是民歲輸十分以上也。有司憚考成，必重以敲撲。民力不勝，則流亡隨之。臣以為九分與帶征二議，不宜並行。所謂寬一分，民受一分之賜也。」部議允行。未幾，浙江巡撫張佳胤復以舊例請，部又從之。彥疏爭，乃詔如新令。詔取黃金三千二百兩，彥請納戶部言減其半，不從。

He was soon promoted to Chief Supervising Secretary in the Revenue Bureau. When the land-measurement law was first applied, the Yan and Ning garrisons gained more than eighteen thousand additional qing of fields. Governor-General Gao Wenjian asked to levy taxes on the new fields for three years; Yan said: 「Reclaimed land in the northwest is permanently exempt from taxation by ancestral institution. Moreover, much of the two garrisons is sandy waste — how can a permanent quota be fixed and still expect newly gathered vagrants not to think of leaving? 」The earlier order was therefore revoked. An edict ordered the purchase of gold and pearls; the market was later halted, but officials were still commanded to pay the price into the inner treasury. Yan argued that the outer treasuries should not be emptied to fill the inner storehouse; the emperor would not listen. Soon after he submitted a memorial saying: 「The way to inspect officials should not treat tax collection as the sole criterion for ranking. Previously, in Longqing 5, an edict held that officials whose tax collection fell short of eighty percent would have their salaries suspended. By Wanli 4 the passing mark had become ninety percent, yet officials were still required to collect two percent of old arrears along with the current levy — meaning the people paid more than ten percent each year. Fearing the performance evaluation, officials were sure to rely heavily on beating and flogging. When the people's strength could not bear it, flight followed. I hold that the ninety-percent standard and the collection of arrears should not be enforced together. What is called granting one percent of relief is granting the people one percent of grace. 」The ministry deliberated and approved. Before long, Zhejiang Governor Zhang Jiayin again petitioned under the old rule, and the ministry again agreed. Yan memorialized in protest, and an edict then restored the new rule. An edict ordered three thousand two hundred taels of gold; Yan asked, following the Revenue Ministry's recommendation, to cut the amount in half; the emperor refused.

擢太常少卿，以右僉都御史巡撫貴州。都勻答千巖苗叛，土官蒙詔不能制，彥檄副使楊寅秋破擒之。宣慰安國亨詭言獻大木，被賚。及征木無有，為彥所劾。國亨懼，誣商奪其木，訐彥於朝。帝怒，欲罪彥。大學士申時行等言國亨反噬，輕朝廷，帝乃止。

He was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and, as Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief, was sent to govern Guizhou. When the Dajianyan Miao of Duyun rebelled and native official Meng Zhao could not suppress them, Yan dispatched Vice Commissioner Yang Yinqiu, who routed them and took the rebels captive. Pacification Commissioner An Guoheng falsely claimed to present great timber and was rewarded. When timber was demanded and none was found, Yan impeached him. Guoheng, in fear, falsely accused merchants of seizing his timber and denounced Yan at court. The emperor was enraged and wished to punish Yan. Grand Secretaries Shen Shixing and others said Guoheng had turned on his accuser and slighted the court; the emperor then desisted.

改撫雲南。時用師隴川，副將鄧子龍不善御軍，兵大噪，守備姜忻撫定之。而其兵素驕，給餉少緩，遂作亂。鼓行至永昌，趨大理，抵瀾滄，過會城。彥調土、漢兵夾攻之，斬首八十，脅從皆撫散。事聞，賚銀幣。自緬甸叛，孟養、車裏二宣慰久不貢。至是修貢，彥撫納之。

He was transferred to govern Yunnan. At that time troops were being deployed in Longchuan; Vice General Deng Zilong was poor at commanding soldiers, and the army raised a great uproar until Garrison Commandant Jiang Xin pacified them. But the troops had long been arrogant, and when pay was briefly delayed they mutinied. Beating drums, they marched to Yongchang, pressed on to Dali, reached Lancang, and passed through Huicheng. Yan deployed native and Han troops to attack them from both sides, beheaded eighty men, and dispersed all who had been coerced to follow. When the affair was reported, he was rewarded with silver and silks. Since the Burma rebellion, the pacification commissions of Mengyang and Cheli had long ceased paying tribute. Now they restored tribute, and Yan received and settled them.

尋以副都御史撫治鄖陽。進兵部右侍郎，總制兩廣軍務。日本躪朝鮮。會暹羅入貢，其使請勤王，尚書石星因令發兵搗日本。彥言暹羅處極西，去日本萬里，安能飛越大海，請罷其議。星執不從。既而暹羅兵卒不出。召拜戶部右侍郎，尋卒。

He was soon made Vice Censor-in-Chief and put in charge of governing Yunyang. He was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War and given overall command of military affairs in the Two Guangs. Japan overran Korea. When Siam came to pay tribute, its envoy asked to come to the throne's aid; Minister Shi Xing therefore ordered troops sent to strike at Japan. Yan said Siam lay at the far west, ten thousand li from Japan — how could it fly across the sea? He asked that the plan be abandoned. Xing held to his view and would not agree. In the end the Siamese troops never appeared. He was summoned and appointed Right Vice Minister of Revenue, and soon after died.

彥從同縣查鐸學，有誌行。服官明習天下事，所在見稱。後贈右都御史，謚定肅。弟雍，廣東按察使。宦績亞於彥，而學過之。時稱「二蕭」。

Yan had studied under Zha Duo of the same county and possessed resolve and conduct. In office he clearly understood affairs throughout the realm, and wherever he served he was praised. Later he was posthumously made Right Censor-in-Chief and granted the posthumous name Dingsu, 「Steadfast and Solemn.」 His younger brother Yong was Surveillance Commissioner of Guangdong. His official achievements were second to Yan's, but his learning surpassed him. People of the time called them 「the Two Xiaos.」

查鐸，字子警，嘉靖四十五年進士。隆慶時，為刑科左給事中。忤大學士高拱，出為山西參議。萬曆初，官廣西副使，移疾歸。繕水西書院，講王畿、錢德洪之學，後進多歸之。

Zha Duo, styled Zijing, passed the metropolitan examination in Jiajing 45. In the Longqing reign he served as Left Supervising Secretary in the Punishments Bureau. He offended Grand Secretary Gao Gong and was sent out as Administrative Commissioner of Shanxi. At the start of Wanli he served as Vice Commissioner of Guangxi, then resigned on grounds of illness and returned home. He repaired the Shuixi Academy and lectured on the learning of Wang Ji and Qian Dehong; many younger scholars came to him.

孫維城，字宗甫，丘縣人。隆慶五年進士。歷知浚、太康、任丘三縣。萬曆十年，擢南京御史。初，張居正不奔喪，寧國諸生吳仕期欲上書諫。未發，太平同知龍宗武告之操江胡槚，以聞於居正。會有偽為海瑞劾居正疏者，播之邸抄。宗武意仕期，遂置獄，榜掠七日而卒。居正死，仕期妻訟冤，維城疏言狀。槚已擢刑部侍郎，宗武湖廣參議，皆落職戍邊，天下快之。中官田玉提督太和山，請兼行分守事，帝許之，維城援祖制力陳不可。

Sun Weicheng, styled Zongfu, came from Qiu County. He passed the metropolitan examination in Longqing 5. He successively served as magistrate of Jun, Taikang, and Renqiu. In Wanli 10 he was promoted to censor at Nanjing. At first, when Zhang Juzheng did not leave office to mourn his father, the Ningguo student Wu Shiji wished to submit a remonstrance. Before it was sent, Taiping Vice Prefect Long Zongwu reported it to Hu Jiao, who commanded the Yangtze patrol, and Jiao informed Juzheng. Then someone forged a memorial by Hai Rui impeaching Juzheng and circulated it in the palace gazette. Zongwu suspected Shiji; he was imprisoned, beaten under torture for seven days, and died. After Juzheng died, Shiji's wife petitioned about the injustice; Weicheng memorialized stating the facts. Jiao had already been promoted to Vice Minister of Justice and Zongwu to Administrative Commissioner of Huguang; both were stripped of office and sent to frontier garrison, and all under Heaven rejoiced. The eunuch Tian Yu supervised Mount Taihe and asked also to hold separate-garrison duties; the emperor approved; Weicheng cited ancestral institutions and forcefully argued it was impermissible.

俄以救言官範俊，奪俸一年。忤座主大學士許國，出為永平知府。遷赤城兵備副使。繕亭障二百六十所，招史、車二部千餘人。以功屢進按察使，兵備如故。部長安兔挾五千騎邀賞，維城請於督、撫，革其市賞而責之，戢不敢肆。尋以右布政使移守宣府，改廣東左布政使。二十九年，拜右僉都御史，巡撫延綏。河套常犯順，罷貢市十餘年。後復松山，築邊城，諸部長恐，益侵軼。至是，吉囊、卜莊等乞款。聞巡撫王見賓當去，請益切。在寧夏者曰著宰，亦請之巡撫楊時寧。兩鎮交奏，給事中桂有根請聽邊臣自主。維城方代見賓，時寧亦遷去，以黃嘉善代，二人並申約束。維城又條善後六事，款事復堅。

Soon after, for defending remonstrating official Fan Jun, his salary was suspended for one year. He offended his chief examiner, Grand Secretary Xu Guo, and was sent out as prefect of Yongping. He was transferred to Vice Commissioner for defense at Chicheng. He repaired two hundred and sixty watch-pavilions and border barriers and recruited more than a thousand men from the Shi and Che divisions. For his achievements he was repeatedly promoted to surveillance commissioner while retaining his military-defense duties. The tribal leader Chang'an Tu came with five thousand horsemen to demand rewards; Weicheng appealed to the governor-general and the grand coordinator, abolished their market rewards, and held them accountable, and they dared not run riot. Soon afterward, as Right Administrative Commissioner he was transferred to govern Xuanfu, then was made Left Administrative Commissioner of Guangdong. In the twenty-ninth year he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Yan-sui. The Ordos region had long violated submission, and tribute markets had been suspended for more than ten years. Later Songshan was recovered and border cities were built; the tribal chiefs grew fearful and raided all the more. By this time Ji Nang, Buzhuang, and others begged for peace. Hearing that Grand Coordinator Wang Jianbin was about to leave, they pleaded all the more urgently. The one at Ningxia called Zhuzai also petitioned Grand Coordinator Yang Shining. The two garrisons memorialized jointly; Supervising Secretary Gui Yougen asked that frontier officials be allowed to decide for themselves. Weicheng was just replacing Jianbin, and Shining was also transferred away; Huang Jiashan replaced him, and the two men together imposed strict terms. Weicheng also set forth six measures for lasting order, and the peace agreement was again secured.

初，維城在宣府，與總兵官麻承恩不相能。會承恩亦移鎮延綏。一日，維城見城外積沙及城，命余丁除之。承恩紿其眾曰：「食不宿飽，且塞沙可盡乎？」卒遂噪。維城曉之曰：「除城沙，以防寇耳，非謂塞上沙也。」卒悟而散。維城因自劾，帝慰留維城，治嘩者。然維城竟坐是得疾，不數月卒。將吏入視其橐，僅俸數金，賻而歸其喪。

At first, when Weicheng was at Xuanfu, he and Regional Commander Ma Chengen did not get along. It happened that Chengen was also transferred to command at Yan-sui. One day Weicheng saw sand piled outside the wall as high as the ramparts and ordered spare laborers to clear it. Chengen deceived the troops, saying, "You are not fed to fullness — and can the desert sand ever be cleared? The soldiers then made a clamor. Weicheng explained to them, "Clearing sand from the wall is to guard against bandits — I do not mean the sand of the northern desert. The soldiers understood and dispersed. Weicheng therefore impeached himself; the emperor comforted him and kept him in office and punished those who had made the uproar. Yet Weicheng ultimately fell ill on account of this and died within a few months. When officers entered to view his bags, they found only a few taels of salary; they contributed funeral gifts and sent his coffin home.

謝傑，字漢甫，長樂人。萬曆初進士。除行人。冊封琉球，卻其饋。其使入謝，仍以金饋，卒言於朝而返之。歷兩京太常少卿。南京歲祀懿文太子，以祠祭司官代，傑言：「祝版署御名，而遣賤者將事，於禮為褻。請如哀沖、莊敬二太子例，遣列侯。」帝是之，乃用南京五府僉書。累遷順天府尹。以右副都御史巡撫南、贛。屬吏被薦者以賄謝，傑曰：「賄而後薦，干戈之盜；薦而後賄，衣冠之盜。」人以為名言。進南京刑部右侍郎。

Xie Jie, courtesy name Hanfu, was a native of Changle. He became a jinshi at the beginning of the Wanli reign. He was appointed an imperial messenger. When enfeoffing Ryukyu he refused their gifts. When their envoy came to give thanks he was again offered gold; he reported it at court and returned it. He successively served as Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices at both capitals. At Nanjing the annual sacrifice to the Yiwen Crown Prince was performed by an official of the Sacrificial Affairs Bureau in place of the proper officer; Jie said, "The prayer tablet bears the imperial name, yet a lowly man is sent to conduct the rite — by ritual this is profane. He asked that, as in the cases of the Aichong and Zhuangjing crown princes, a marquis be dispatched. The emperor agreed, and the five Nanjing princely establishments were used. He was promoted in succession to prefect of Shuntian. As Right Vice Censor-in-Chief he grand-coordinated southern Jiangxi and southern Gan. A subordinate whom he had recommended tried to thank him with a bribe; Jie said, "A bribe before recommendation is the theft of arms; recommendation before a bribe is the theft of robes." People regarded it as a saying worth remembering. He was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Punishments at Nanjing.

二十五年春，傑以帝荒於政事，疏陳十規。言：「前此兩宮色養維一，今則定省久曠，慶賀亦疏。孝安太后發引，並不親送。前此太廟時饗皆躬親，今則皆遣代。前此經筵臨御，聖學日勤，今則講官徒設，講席久虛。前此披星視朝，今則高拱深居，累年不出。前此歲旱步禱郊壇，今則圜丘大報，久缺齋居；宸宮告災，亦忘修省。前此四方旱澇，多發帑金，今則采礦榷稅。前此用財有節，今則歲進月輸；而江右之磁，江南之纻，西蜀之扇，關中之絨，率取之逾額。前此樂聞讜言，今則封事甫陳，嚴綸隨降，但經廢棄，永不賜環。前此撫恤宗室，恩義有加，今則楚藩見誣，中榼旋出，以市井奸宄，間骨肉懿親。前此官盛任使，下無曠鰥，今則大僚屢虛，庶官不補。是陛下孝親、尊祖，好學、勤政、敬天、愛民、節用、聽言、親親、賢賢，皆不克如初矣。」不報。召為刑部左侍郎，擢戶部尚書督倉場。時四方遇災，率請改折，傑請歲運必三百萬以上方許議折，從之。三十二年，卒官。

In the spring of the twenty-fifth year Jie, because the emperor neglected government, memorialized ten admonitions. He said: "Before this, nurturing both palaces was the sole concern; now audiences at dawn and evening are long neglected, and congratulations are also rare. When Empress Dowager Xiao'an departed, he did not escort her in person. Before this the emperor personally attended seasonal offerings at the Imperial Ancestral Temple; now he always sends substitutes. Before this he attended the classics lecture in person and his sacred learning grew daily; now the lecturers are mere fixtures and the lecture seat has long stood empty. Before this he held court before dawn; now he sits deep within, and for years has not emerged. Before this, in years of drought he walked in prayer at the suburban altars; now the great report at the Circular Mound lacks long fasting; when the palace reported fire, he also forgot self-examination. Before this, for drought and flood throughout the realm, he often issued treasury funds; now he levies mining and transit taxes. Before this expenditures were restrained; now yearly and monthly deliveries increase; porcelain from Jiangxi, ramie cloth from Jiangnan, fans from western Shu, and felt from Guanzhong are all taken beyond the quota. Before this he gladly heard blunt counsel; now as soon as a sealed memorial is submitted, stern edicts follow, and once discarded, reinstatement is never granted. Before this he treated the imperial clan with added grace; now the Chu princely house was slandered, the inner eunuch was sent out at once, and market ruffians are set between flesh-and-blood kin. Before this high offices were fully staffed and no talent lay idle; now great posts often stand empty and junior posts go unfilled. Thus Your Majesty's filial piety toward kin, reverence for ancestors, love of learning, diligence in government, reverence for Heaven, love of the people, frugality, heeding counsel, cherishing kin, and honoring the worthy — none can be kept as at first. No reply came. He was summoned as Left Vice Minister of Punishments and promoted to Minister of Revenue in charge of the granary depots. When disasters struck everywhere, officials often asked to convert grain tax to silver; Jie ruled that annual transport must exceed three million piculs before conversion could be discussed, and this was followed. In the thirty-second year he died in office.

初，傑父教諭廷袞家居老矣，族人假其名逋賦。縣令劉禹龍言於御史逮之。傑代訊，幾斃。後撫贛，禹龍家居，未嘗修隙，時服其量。

At first Jie's father Tinggun, an instructor, was old and living at home when clansmen borrowed his name to evade taxes. Magistrate Liu Yulong told the censor, who had him arrested. Jie took the interrogation in his father's place and nearly died. Later, when grand-coordinating Gan, Yulong was living at home; Jie had never nursed a grudge, and at the time people admired his magnanimity.

郭惟賢，字哲卿，晉江人。萬曆二年進士。自清江知縣拜南京御史。張居正既死，吳中行、趙用賢等猶未錄。會皇長子生，詔赦天下，惟賢因請召諸臣。馮保惡其言，謫江山丞。保敗，還故官。劾左都御史陳炌希權臣指，論罷御史趙耀、趙應元，不可總憲紀。炌罷去。又薦王錫爵、賈三近、孫鑨、何源、孫丕揚、耿定向、曾同亨、詹仰庇，皆獲召。主事董基諫內操被謫，惟賢救之，忤旨，調南京大理評事。給事中阮子孝、御史潘惟嶽等交章救。帝怒，奪俸有差。惟賢尋遷戶部主事，歷順天府丞。

Guo Weixian, courtesy name Zheqing, was a native of Jinjiang. He became a jinshi in the second year of Wanli. From magistrate of Qingjiang he was appointed censor at Nanjing. After Zhang Juzheng died, Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian, and others had still not been restored. When the eldest imperial son was born, an amnesty was proclaimed for all under Heaven; Weixian therefore asked that those officials be summoned back. Feng Bao hated his words and demoted him to assistant magistrate of Jiangshan. When Bao fell, Weixian was restored to his former post. He impeached Left Censor-in-Chief Chen Can for currying favor with powerful ministers, having censors Zhao Yao and Zhao Yingyuan dismissed — unfit to head the censorate. Can was dismissed. He also recommended Wang Xijue, Jia Sanjin, Sun Long, He Yuan, Sun Bujang, Geng Dingxiang, Zeng Tongheng, and Zhan Yangbi, and all were summoned. Clerk Dong Ji remonstrated against inner training of troops and was demoted; Weixian rescued him, defying the imperial will, and was transferred to reviewing clerk at the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. Supervising Secretary Ruan Zixiao and Censor Pan Weiyue and others memorialized jointly in his defense. The emperor was angry and docked salaries by graded amounts. Weixian was soon moved to principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue and rose to vice prefect of Shuntian.

二十年，以右僉都御史巡撫湖廣。景王封德安，土田倍諸藩，國絕賦額猶存。及帝弟潞王之國衛輝，悉以景賦予王。王奏賦不及額，帝為奪監司以下俸，責撫按急奏報。惟賢言：「景府賦額皆奸民投獻，妄張其數。臣為王履畝，增賦二萬五千，非復如往者虛數，王反稱不足，何也？且潞去楚遠，莫若征之有司，轉輸潞府。《會典》皇莊及勛戚官莊，遇災蠲減視民田。今襄、漢水溢，王佃民流亡過半，請蠲如例。」又言：「長沙、寶慶、衡州三衛軍戍武岡，而永州、寧遠諸衛遠戍廣西，瘴癘死無數。請分番叠戍武岡，罷其戍廣西者。」帝悉報許。承天守備中官以征興邸舊賦，請罪潛江知縣及諸佃民，旨下撫按勾捕。惟賢言：「臣撫楚，事無不當問。今中官問，而臣等為勾捕，臣實不能。」帝直其言而止。尋請以太和山香稅充王府逋祿，免加派小民，又請以周敦頤父輔成從祀啟聖。詔皆從焉。

In the twentieth year he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Huguang. When the Prince of Jing was enfeoffed at De'an, his land allotment doubled other princes, yet the state's abolished tax quotas still remained. When the emperor's younger brother the Prince of Lu went to his fief at Weihui, all of Jing's tax assessment was given to the prince. The prince memorialized that the assessment did not reach the quota; the emperor stripped salaries from supervising officials downward and ordered the grand coordinators to report urgently. Weixian said: "The Jing fief assessments were all false numbers inflated by scheming commoners through fraudulent gifts. I measured fields for the prince and added twenty-five thousand in assessment — no longer the former empty figures — yet the prince still says it is insufficient; why? Moreover Lu is far from Chu; better to levy through local officials and forward payment to the Lu fief. The Statutes say that imperial estates and noble and official estates, when disaster strikes, receive tax relief like commoners' fields. Now the Han and Xiang rivers overflowed and more than half the prince's tenant farmers fled; he asked for relief by precedent. He also said: "The three guards of Changsha, Baoqing, and Hengzhou garrison Wugang, while the guards of Yongzhou, Ningyuan, and others garrison Guangxi from afar — countless die of miasma. He asked to rotate garrison at Wugang in turns and end the Guangxi garrison." The emperor approved all in reply. The garrison eunuch at Chengtian, citing old levies of the Xing residence, asked that the magistrate of Qianjiang and tenant farmers be punished; an edict ordered the grand coordinators to arrest them. Weixian said: "As grand coordinator of Chu, there is nothing I should not investigate. Now the eunuch investigates while we are made to arrest — I truly cannot. The emperor upheld his words and stopped the order. He soon asked that Mount Taihe incense tax pay the prince's arrears in stipends and spare extra levies on commoners, and also asked that Zhou Dunyi's father Fucheng be added to sacrifice at the Sage's temple. Edicts approved both.

入為左僉都御史。言行取不宜久停，言官不宜久系，臺員不宜久缺。已，復言天下多故，乃自大僚至監司率有缺不補，政日廢弛，且建言獲譴者不下百餘人，效忠者皆永棄。帝不納。尋遷左副都御史。請早建皇儲，慎簡輔弼，亟行考選，盡下推舉諸疏。俱不報。久之，以憂歸。起戶部左侍郎，未上卒。贈右都御史。天啟初，謚恭定。

He entered the capital as Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. He said that direct appointment from the provinces should not long be suspended, remonstrating officials should not long be imprisoned, and censorate posts should not long stand vacant. Later he again said that under many emergencies, from high ministers to surveillance commissioners, posts often stood vacant without filling, government daily decayed, and more than a hundred who had offered counsel had been punished — loyal men were forever cast aside. The emperor did not accept it. He was soon promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. He asked that the heir apparent be established early, chief assistants be chosen carefully, examinations and selections be hurried, and all recommendation memorials be fully implemented. None received reply. After some time he went home to mourn a bereavement. He was raised to Left Vice Minister of Revenue but died before he could assume office. He was posthumously granted the title Right Censor-in-Chief. Early in the Tianqi reign he received the posthumous epithet Gongding.

萬象春，字仁甫，無錫人。萬曆五年進士。選庶吉士，授工科給事中。皇女生，詔戶部、光祿寺各進銀十萬兩。象春力諫，不聽。屢遷禮科都給事中。鄭貴妃有盛寵，而帝耽於酒。象春因慈寧宮災疏諫，報聞。時宗室繁衍，歲祿不繼，象春議變通。會河南巡撫褚鈇亦奏其事，帝即命象春遍詣河南、山西、陜西諸王府，計畫以聞。象春抵河南，方集議，而周府諸宗人疑鈇疏出宗正睦挈意，群毆睦挈幾死。象春以狀聞，帝為奪諸人歲祿。象春復以次詣秦、晉諸藩，奏上便宜十五事，多著為令。真人張國祥乞三年一覲，象春言左道無民社寄，不當在述職之列。時詔許後父永年伯王偉乘肩輿，象春言：「勛戚不乘輿，祖制也。固安伯陳景行、武清伯李偉，太后父，衰白封，始賜肩輿。定國公徐文璧班首重臣，嗣爵久，故亦蒙殊典。今偉非三人比，乞寢前命。」皆不許。孟秋將享廟，帝齋宿宮中，象春言當在便殿，不當於內寢。帝怒，停俸三月。已，因災異，言：「外吏貪殘不當遣緹騎逮問，宮禁邃密不當宿重兵，廷臣建言貶黜當敘遷，內臣有犯當付外廷按治。」帝報聞。象春在諫垣久，前後七十餘疏，多關軍國計。請復建文年號，加景帝廟謚，尤為時所稱。

Wan Xiangchun, style name Renfu, came from Wuxi. He became a jinshi in the fifth year of the Wanli reign. Chosen as a Hanlin bachelor, he was made a supervising secretary in the Ministry of Works. On the birth of an imperial daughter, the throne ordered the Ministries of Revenue and of Imperial Entertainments each to contribute one hundred thousand taels of silver. Xiangchun argued strenuously against it, but the emperor would not heed him. He rose through several posts to chief supervising secretary in the Bureau of Rites. Consort Zheng was in high favor, while the emperor indulged heavily in drink. After the Cining Palace burned, Xiangchun memorialized in protest, and the court took note. As the imperial house multiplied and yearly allotments fell short, Xiangchun urged adaptive reforms. When Henan grand coordinator Chu Tie submitted a similar memorial, the emperor immediately sent Xiangchun through the Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi princely houses to devise measures and report back. Xiangchun had barely reached Henan and begun deliberations when Zhou-house kinsmen, suspecting Tie's memorial came from clan steward Muzhu, attacked Muzhu in a crowd and nearly killed him. Xiangchun reported what had happened, and the emperor confiscated the offenders' yearly stipends. He then toured the Qin and Jin establishments in turn, submitting fifteen practical proposals, most of which became standing rules. When the Daoist adept Zhang Guoxiang petitioned for triennial audiences, Xiangchun argued that occult sects bore no responsibility for the realm and ought not to be counted among officials presenting themselves at court. An edict then allowed the empress's father, Yongnian Earl Wang Wei, to use a shoulder sedan; Xiangchun protested: "Imperial in-laws do not ride sedans—that is ancestral law. Gu'an Earl Chen Jingxing and Wuqing Earl Li Wei, both fathers of empresses dowager, received their enfeoffments in their gray-haired years and only then were given the sedan privilege. Dingguo Duke Xu Wenbi, the ranking grandee, had held his hereditary title for many years and so likewise received that exceptional grant. Wei cannot be compared with those three; I ask that the earlier command be revoked." None of these pleas was accepted. As the emperor prepared for the autumn temple sacrifice and kept vigil in the palace, Xiangchun insisted he should observe abstinence in the audience hall, not in the private inner chambers. The emperor grew angry and withheld his salary for three months. Later, invoking omens and disasters, he argued that rapacious local officials should not be hauled in by the emperor's mounted guards, that the secluded inner quarters should not house large garrisons, that censured remonstrators deserved eventual reinstatement, and that offending palace eunuchs should be tried by the civil administration. The emperor noted his memorial. Having spent years in the censorial and remonstrance posts, he filed over seventy memorials, most touching on military and fiscal affairs. His calls to revive the Jianwen reign name and augment the temple title of the Jing Emperor won particular acclaim.

出為山東參政。妖賊郭大通為亂，計擒之。歷山西左布政使。二十五年，以右副都御史巡撫山東。倭躪朝鮮，濱海郡邑悉戒嚴。象春拊軍民，供饋運，應機立辦。中使陳增以礦稅至，象春疏論其害。福山知縣韋國賢忤增被侵辱，象春力保持之，增遂劾國賢沮撓，象春黨庇。詔逮國賢，奪象春俸，遂引疾歸。起南京工部右侍郎，未上卒。贈右都御史。

He was posted as administration vice commissioner of Shandong. When the sorcerer-bandit Guo Datong rebelled, he engineered his capture. He later became Left Administrative Commissioner of Shanxi. In the twenty-fifth year he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Shandong. As Japanese forces ravaged Korea, every maritime command went on full alert. Xiangchun reassured soldiers and populace, organized supplies and transport, and met each crisis as it came. When eunuch tax commissioner Chen Zeng came to impose mining levies, Xiangchun memorialized against the damage. Fushan magistrate Wei Guoxian crossed Chen Zeng and was publicly humiliated; Xiangchun fought to shield him, and Zeng retaliated by charging Guoxian with interference and Xiangchun with favoritism. The throne ordered Guoxian seized and docked Xiangchun's pay; Xiangchun thereupon resigned on grounds of illness. He was summoned to Right Vice Minister of Works at Nanjing yet died before assuming the post. He was posthumously granted the title Right Censor-in-Chief.

鐘化民，字維新，仁和人。萬曆八年進士。授惠安知縣，多異政。御史安九域薦於朝，以俸未及期，移知樂平，治復最。征授御史。與同官何卓、王慎德交章請建儲，不報。出視陜西茶馬，言：「邊塞土寒，獨畜馬為業。今慮其闌出為厲禁，於是民間孳息與境內貿易俱廢，公私緩急亦無所資。請聽逾境販鬻，特不得入番中。又曩寧夏乏餉，歲發萬金易米二萬七千石，後所司幹沒，濫征之民。請以墾田粟補之，永停征派。」俱報可。巡按山東，歲旱，請蠲振先發後聞。坐寧夏時取官銀交際，為尚寶丞周弘禴所劾，調行人司正。累遷儀制郎中。沈王呈堯由支庶嗣，請封其庶子為郡王，化民持不可。帝傳諭曰：「第予虛名，令藉是婚娶耳。」化民奏曰：「沈王子與元子孰親？王子不即封，慮妨婚娶，元子不即立，不慮妨豫教乎？」帝怒，以化民辭直，無以難。帝命並封三王，化民與顧允成等面詰王錫爵於朝房。尋進光祿丞。二十二年，河南大饑，人相食，命化民兼河南道御史往振。荒政具舉，民大悅。既竣，繪圖以進。帝嘉之，褒諭者再。擢太常少卿。二十四年，以右僉都御史巡撫河南，討平南陽礦盜。夾河賊嘯聚數千人，復督兵破之。時方采礦，抗疏力諫。

Zhong Huamin, style name Weixin, came from Renhe. He became a jinshi in the eighth year of the Wanli reign. As magistrate of Huian he carried out numerous notable reforms. Censor An Jiucheng recommended him to the court; still within his salary term, he was moved to Leping, where his administration again topped the evaluations. He was called to the capital and made a censor. He joined censors He Zhuo and Wang Shende in successive memorials demanding the crown prince's installation, all unanswered. While inspecting Shaanxi's tea-for-horses trade, he wrote: "Border lands are frigid, and horse breeding is the people's chief livelihood. Fearing animals would cross the frontier and cause trouble, officials banned everything, ending domestic breeding and internal trade alike so that neither state nor household could meet sudden needs. He asked that cross-border sales be allowed, provided horses did not enter the tribal interior. He also noted that when Ningxia ran short of funds, the court once sent ten thousand taels yearly to buy twenty-seven thousand piculs of grain, but officials later skimmed the money and extorted the populace. He proposed covering the gap with grain from reclaimed fields and abolishing the exaction forever." The throne approved both requests. On drought duty in Shandong he urged that tax remissions and famine relief be issued immediately and reported to the throne afterward. He was accused by Court of Imperial Seals director Zhou Hongfu of using official silver for gifts while in Ningxia and was transferred to director of the Bureau of Envoys. He rose step by step to director in the Bureau of Rites. When Prince Shen of Yao, a cadet line successor, sought to ennoble a concubine-born son as a commandery prince, Huamin objected. The emperor replied privately: "Give only an empty title so he can marry on that basis. Huamin rejoined: "Which is nearer kin—the prince's younger son or the heir apparent? If you withhold enfeoffment from the younger son lest marriage suffer, will you likewise delay installing the heir lest his tutoring suffer? The emperor fumed, yet Huamin's blunt logic left him no good reply. When the throne commanded enfeoffing three princes at once, Huamin and Gu Yuncheng openly challenged Wang Xinjue in the ministers' waiting room. He was soon made vice director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. In the twenty-second year, when Henan starved so badly that men devoured one another, he was sent as concurrent Henan-route censor to administer relief. He implemented every measure of famine relief, to the people's deep gratitude. On completing the mission he submitted illustrated reports to the court. The emperor lauded his work with repeated commendations. He rose to Vice Minister of Rites. In the twenty-fourth year he became Right Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Henan, crushing the Nanyang mining rebels. Several thousand brigands rallied along the Jia River, and he once more led troops to defeat them. As imperial mining expanded, he filed a vigorous memorial in opposition.

化民短小精悍，多智計。居官勤厲，所至有聲。遍歷八府，延父老問疾苦。勞瘁卒官，士民相率頌於朝。詔贈右副都御史，賜祠曰忠惠。

Huamin was small in build but sharp and full of stratagems. He worked tirelessly in every post and left a reputation at each. Touring all eight prefectures, he called elders before him to hear their grievances. Exhausted by overwork he died in service, and gentry and commoners alike sang his praises at the capital. The throne posthumously made him Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and dedicated a shrine named Zhonghui.

吳達可，字安節，宜興人，尚書儼從孫也。萬曆五年進士。歷知會稽、上高、豐城，並有聲。選授御史。疏請御經筵勤學，時與大臣臺諫面議政務，報聞。大學士趙誌臯久疾乞休，未得請。達可力言志臯衰庸，宜罷，不納。二十八年正月，請因始和布令，舉皇長子冊立冠婚禮，簡輔臣補臺諫，撤礦稅中使，不報。視鹽長蘆。歲侵，繪上饑民十四圖，力請振貸。稅使馬堂、張日華議加鹽稅，奸商妄稱嘉靖中大同用兵貸其貲三萬六千金，請於鹽課補給，戶部許之。達可皆抗爭，事得已。改按江西。稅使潘相毆折輔國將軍謀圮肢，並系宗人宗達，誣以劫課，劾上饒知縣李鴻主使。帝切責謀圮等，奪鴻官。達可言：「宗人無故受刑，又重之以詰責，將使天潢人人自危。鴻無辜，不當黜。願亟正相罪，復鴻官。」同官湯兆京亦極論相罪，且言遼東高淮、陜西梁永、山東陳增、廣東李鳳、雲南楊榮皆元惡，為民害，不可一日留。皆弗聽。鴻，吳人，大學士申時行之婿。萬曆十六年舉北闈鄉試，為吏部郎中高桂所攻。後七年成進士。至是，抗相，以強直稱。相又請開廣信銅塘山，采取大木，鑿泰和斌姥山石膏，達可復極諫不可，閣臣亦爭之，乃寢。還掌河南道事。佐溫純大計京官。尋陳新政要機，痛規首輔沈一貫。疏留中。擢太僕少卿，再遷南京太僕卿。召改光祿，進通政使。鎮撫史晉以罪罷，妄投封章詆朝貴。達可封其疏而劾之，晉尋得罪。奏請正疏式、屏讒邪、重駁正、懲奸宄數事，帝嘉納焉。尋上疏乞休去。卒，贈右副都御史。

Wu Dake, style name Anjie, came from Yixing and was a grand-nephew of Minister Wu Yan. He became a jinshi in the fifth year of the Wanli reign. He governed Kuaiji, Shanggao, and Fengcheng in turn, earning praise in each post. He was chosen and appointed a censor. He urged the emperor to keep up the classics lectures, study diligently, and confer face to face with ministers and remonstrators on policy; the memorial was noted. Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao, long ill, had sought retirement without success. Dake bluntly argued that Zhigao was senile and incompetent and should go; the court refused. In the first month of the twenty-eighth year he petitioned that, as spring began, the throne proclaim the heir's investiture, capping, and marriage, replenish ministers and censors, and recall mining-tax eunuchs—all unanswered. He was assigned to inspect the Changlu salt monopoly. During a famine year he presented fourteen sketches of starving folk and pressed for relief grain and loans. Tax agents Ma Tang and Zhang Rihua sought higher salt duties while conniving merchants claimed the Jiajing Datong war had borrowed 36,700 jin from them and demanded repayment from salt revenues, which the Ministry of Revenue approved. Dake fought each proposal and saw them shelved. He was reassigned as touring censor of Jiangxi. Tax commissioner Pan Xiang assaulted defender-general Mou Ji until his limbs were broken, jailed kinsman Zong Da on a trumped-up charge of robbing tax goods, and impeached Shangrao magistrate Li Hong as mastermind. The emperor sharply censured Mou Ji and his party and dismissed Hong from office. Dake protested: "Imperial kinsmen were beaten without cause and then scolded again—every branch of the house will live in fear. Hong is guiltless and should not be removed. I urge immediate punishment of Pan Xiang and reinstatement of Hong. Colleague Tang Zhaojing likewise denounced Pan Xiang and named Liaodong's Gao Huai, Shaanxi's Liang Yong, Shandong's Chen Zeng, Guangdong's Li Feng, and Yunnan's Yang Rong as chief evils who must not remain another day. The court ignored them all. Hong, a native of Wu, was married to Grand Secretary Shen Shixing's daughter. In Wanli sixteen he passed the northern provincial examination and was assailed by Personnel director Gao Gui. Seven years on he finally attained his jinshi degree. By defying Pan Xiang here he won renown for unyielding integrity. Pan Xiang further sought to open Guangxin's Tongtang Mountain for timber and Taihe's Binlaoshan for gypsum; Dake again protested vehemently, cabinet ministers joined him, and the projects were abandoned. Back at court he resumed duties on the Henan route. He aided Wen Chun in the major review of metropolitan officials. He soon laid out priorities for the new reign and sharply criticized chief minister Shen Yiguan. That memorial was held within the palace and never acted on. He rose to Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud, then to Nanjing Minister of the Imperial Stud. Recalled, he moved to the Court of Imperial Entertainments and then to Commissioner of the Office of Transmission. Brocade Guard colonel Shi Jin, dismissed for misconduct, recklessly filed a sealed memorial defaming high officials. Dake kept the document sealed and impeached him; Jin was soon found guilty. He requested proper memorial forms, silencing calumny, honoring rebuttals, and punishing wicked plotters—measures the emperor commended and adopted. Shortly afterward he asked leave to retire. After he died he was posthumously made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.

贊曰：龐尚鵬諸人歷官中外，才諝幹局，咸有可稱。賈三近陳時政，多長者之言，其言資格，深中積弊。謝傑卻屬吏饋，亦無愧楊震云。

The historian comments: Pang Shangpeng and his fellows served at court and in the provinces; in ability, shrewdness, and executive skill each had something to his credit. Jia Sanjin's counsel on current affairs often sounded the seasoned voice of an elder statesman, and his argument about seniority struck at deep-seated abuses. Xie Jie too refused presents from subordinates, no less honorably than Yang Zhen.

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