Volume 243 Biographies 131: Zhao Nanxing, Zou Yuanbiao, Sun Shenxing, Gao Panlong, Feng Congwu

趙南星鄒元標孫慎行〈（盛以弘）〉高攀龍馮從吾

Zhao Nanxing, Zou Yuanbiao, and Sun Shenxing. (Sheng Yihong)〉 Gao Panlong and Feng Congwu.

趙南星，字夢白，高邑人。萬歷二年進士。除汝寧推官。治行廉平，稍遷戶部主事。張居正寢疾，朝士群禱，南星與顧憲成、姜士昌戒弗往。居正歿，調吏部考功。引疾歸。

Zhao Nanxing, whose style name was Mengbai, came from Gaoyi. He received his jinshi degree in the second year of the Wanli reign. He was appointed investigating censor in Runing prefecture. His conduct in office was upright and fair, and he was gradually promoted to secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. When Zhang Juzheng took to his sickbed, officials thronged the court to pray for him; Nanxing, together with Gu Xiancheng and Jiang Shichang, urged their colleagues not to go. After Juzheng's death he was transferred to the Directorate of Personnel Evaluation in the Ministry of Personnel. He resigned on grounds of illness and went home.

起歷文選員外郎。疏陳天下四大害，言：「楊巍乞休，左都御史吳時來謀代之，忌戶部尚書宋糸熏聲望，連疏排擠。副都御史詹仰庇力謀吏、兵二部侍郎。大臣如此，何以責小臣，是謂幹進之害。禮部尚書沈鯉、侍郎張位、諭德吳中行、南京太仆卿沈思孝相繼自免，獨南京禮部侍郎趙用賢在，詞臣黃洪憲輩每陰讒之，言官唐堯欽、孫愈賢、蔡系周復顯為詆誣。眾正不容，宵人得誌，是謂傾危之害。州縣長吏選授太輕，部寺之官計日而取郡守，不問才行。而撫按論人贓私有據，不曰未甚，則曰任淺，概止降調，其意以為惜才，不知此乃惜不才也。吏治日汙，民生日瘁，是謂州縣之害。鄉官之權大於守令，橫行無忌，莫敢誰何。如渭南知縣張棟，治行無雙，裁抑鄉官，被讒不獲行取，是謂鄉官之害。四害不除，天下不可得治。」疏出，朝論韙之。而中所抨擊悉時相所庇，於是給事中李春開起而駁之。其疏先下，南星幾獲譴。給事中王繼光、史孟麟、萬自約，部曹姜士昌、吳正誌並助南星詆春開，且發時來、仰庇、洪憲讒諂狀。春開氣沮，然南星卒以病歸。再起，歷考功郎中。

Called back to office, he rose through posts in the Directorate of Appointments, ending as vice director. In a memorial he laid out the four great afflictions plaguing the realm, writing: "Yang Wei has asked to retire, yet the left censor-in-chief Wu Shilai is plotting to succeed him. Jealous of Revenue Minister Song Xu's standing, he has peppered the throne with memorials meant to force him out. Vice censor-in-chief Zhan Yangbi is working just as hard to secure the vice-ministerships of Personnel and War. When senior ministers behave this way, how can one hold junior officials to account? This is the harm of unseemly ambition for office. Minister of Rites Shen Li, Vice Minister Zhang Wei, tutor Wu Zhongxing, and Nanjing director of the Court of the Imperial Stud Shen Sixiao resigned in succession, while only Nanjing vice minister of rites Zhao Yongxian held on. Literary officials such as Huang Hongxian whispered against him behind the scenes, and remonstrance officials Tang Yaoqin, Sun Yuxian, and Cai Jizhou joined in open defamation. When the upright have no room to stand and schemers carry the day, the polity itself is put at risk—this is the harm of subverting good government. Appointments to prefectural and county magistracies are made far too lightly; officials in the central ministries and directorates treat a provincial post as something to be seized on a timetable, with no regard for ability or character. When provincial overseers report proven corruption, the response is either "not very serious" or "too short a tenure," and the offender is usually merely demoted and reassigned. They imagine they are sparing talent; in truth they are sparing the talentless. As local administration rots, the common people grow poorer by the day—this is the harm wrought at the prefectural and county level. Rural gentry now wield more power than the magistrates themselves, riding roughshod over the countryside with no one daring to check them. Zhang Dong, magistrate of Weinan, governed with unrivaled integrity and reined in the local gentry; for that he was slandered and blocked from promotion to the capital—this is the harm of entrenched rural power. Until these four scourges are cleared away, the realm cannot be well governed." When the memorial appeared, opinion at court broadly approved it. But nearly everyone he named enjoyed the chief ministers' protection, and supervising secretary Li Chunkai rose to refute him. Chunkai's memorial reached the throne first, and Nanxing came close to being punished. Supervising secretaries Wang Jiguang, Shi Menglin, and Wan Ziyue, together with section officials Jiang Shichang and Wu Zhengzhi, rallied to Nanxing's side against Chunkai and laid bare the slander and flattery of Shilai, Yangbi, and Hongxian. Chunkai lost heart, but Nanxing still retired in the end, again citing illness. Summoned back once more, he served as director in the Directorate of Personnel Evaluation.

二十一年大計京官，與尚書孫鑨秉公澄汰。首黜所親都給事中王三余及鑨甥文選員外郎呂胤昌，他附麗政府及大學士趙誌臯弟皆不免，政府大不堪。給事中劉道隆因劾吏部議留拾遺庶僚非法。得旨，南星等專權植黨，貶三官。俄因李世達等疏救，斥南星為民。後論救者悉被譴，鑨亦去位，一時善類幾空。事具鑨傳。

In the twenty-first year of Wanli came the great triennial review of capital officials, which he conducted impartially with Minister Sun Lu. He began by demoting his own relative, chief supervising secretary Wang Sanyu, and Lu's nephew Lü Yinchang, vice director of appointments; others who had attached themselves to the ruling faction, down to Grand Secretary Zhao Zhigao's younger brother, were struck as well, and the court faction was deeply stung. Supervising secretary Liu Daolong then impeached the ministry for unlawfully retaining remonstrance officials and junior appointees. The throne replied that Nanxing and his colleagues had monopolized power and formed factions; three officials were demoted. Before long, after Li Shida and others pleaded for them, Nanxing was stripped of rank and sent home as a commoner. Those who later spoke up for them were punished in turn; Lu left his post as well, and for a time the ranks of the upright were nearly emptied. The affair is recounted in Sun Lu's biography.

南星裏居，名益高，與鄒元標、顧憲成，海內擬之「三君」。中外論薦者百十疏，卒不起。

In retirement his reputation only grew; together with Zou Yuanbiao and Gu Xiancheng he was hailed throughout the realm as one of the "Three Lords." More than a hundred memorials from within and beyond the court urged his recall, yet he was never brought back.

光宗立，起太常少卿。俄改右通政，進太常卿，至則擢工部右侍郎。居數月，拜左都御史，慨然以整齊天下為任。天啟三年大計京官，以故給事中亓詩教、趙興邦、官應震、吳亮嗣先朝結黨亂政，議黜之，吏科都給事中魏應嘉力持不可。南星著《四兇論》，卒與考功郎程正己置四人不謹。他所澄汰，一如為考功時。浙江巡按張素養薦部內人材，及姚宗文、邵輔忠、劉廷元，南星劾其謬，素養坐奪俸。先是，巡方者有提薦之例，南星已奏止之；而陜西高弘圖、山西徐揚先、宣大李思啟、河東劉大受，復踵行如故，南星並劾奏之，巡方者始知畏法。

When Emperor Guangzong took the throne, Nanxing was appointed vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He was soon made right commissioner of the Court for the Imperial Clan, then minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; no sooner had he arrived than he was promoted vice minister of works. Within a few months he was named left censor-in-chief and took upon himself the task of putting the government to rights. In the third year of Tianqi, during the great review of capital officials, he moved to dismiss the former supervising secretaries Qi Shijiao, Zhao Xingbang, Guan Yingzhen, and Wu Liangsi for the factional disorder they had sown late in the previous reign; Wei Yingjia, chief supervising secretary of the personnel section, fought the decision hard. Nanxing wrote his 《Treatise on the Four Villains》 and, with evaluation director Cheng Zhengji, finally marked all four as "not diligent." The rest of his purge followed the same uncompromising standard he had shown in the directorate of evaluation. Zhang Suyang, the touring censor of Zhejiang, recommended several men from his circuit, among them Yao Zongwen, Shao Fuzhong, and Liu Tingyuan; Nanxing attacked the list as improper and Suyang was fined a year's salary. Touring censors had long enjoyed the custom of forwarding talent lists; Nanxing had already secured an order ending the practice; yet Gao Hongtu in Shaanxi, Xu Yangxian in Shanxi, Li Siqi in Xuan-Da, and Liu Dashou in Hedong all did the same as before, and Nanxing impeached them together until touring officials at last learned to fear the law.

尋代張問達為吏部尚書。當是時，人務奔競，苞苴恣行，言路橫尤甚。每文選郎出，輒邀之半道，為人求官，不得則加以惡聲，或逐之去。選郎即公正無如何，尚書亦太息而已。南星素疾其弊，銳意澄清，獨行己誌，政府及中貴亦不得有所幹請，諸人憚其剛嚴不敢犯。有給事為貲郎求鹽運司，即註貲郎王府，而出給事於外。知縣石三畏素貪，夤緣將行取，南星亦置之王府。時進士無為王官者，南星不恤也。

He soon succeeded Zhang Wenda as minister of personnel. Men at court cared for nothing but advancement; bribery ran unchecked, and the remonstrance offices were more overbearing than ever. Whenever a director of appointments stepped outside, someone would intercept him on the road to beg an appointment; refusal brought abuse, and sometimes he was driven off outright. Even an upright director was helpless, and the minister could only sigh. Nanxing had long hated these abuses and set out to purge them, following his own course; neither the cabinet nor the inner eunuchs could secure favors from him, and men feared his severity too much to test him. One supervising secretary sought a salt-transport commission for his son-in-law, a tribute student; Nanxing posted the son-in-law to a prince's household and sent the father out of the capital on assignment. The magistrate Shi Sanwei was notoriously corrupt and, through connections, was on the verge of capital promotion; Nanxing assigned him to a prince's household as well. No jinshi had served in a prince's household in living memory; Nanxing did not care.

魏忠賢雅重之，嘗於帝前稱其任事。一日，遣娣子傅應星介一中書贄見，南星麾之去。嘗並坐弘政門，選通政司參議，正色語忠賢曰：「主上沖齡，我輩內外臣子宜各努力為善。」忠賢默然，怒形於色。大學士魏廣微，南星友允貞子也，素以通家子畜之。廣微入內閣，嘗三至南星門，拒勿見。又嘗嘆曰：「見泉無子。」見泉，允貞別號也。廣微恨刺骨，與忠賢比而龁南星。

Wei Zhongxian thought highly of him and once praised his diligence before the emperor. One day he sent his nephew Fu Yingxing, carrying a visiting card from a palace secretary, to call on Nanxing, who showed him the door. Once, as they sat together at Hongzheng Gate selecting a vice commissioner of the Court for the Imperial Clan, he said gravely to Zhongxian: "The sovereign is still a child; we ministers inside and outside ought each to do our utmost for the good. Zhongxian said nothing, but anger showed on his face. Grand Secretary Wei Guangwei was the son of Nanxing's friend Wei Yunzhen, whom Nanxing had long treated as a member of the family. After Guangwei entered the Grand Secretariat he called three times at Nanxing's door and was turned away each time. Nanxing once sighed aloud: "Jianquan left no worthy son. Jianquan was Wei Yunzhen's sobriquet. Guangwei hated him to the marrow and joined Zhongxian in working to destroy him.

東林勢盛，眾正盈朝。南星益搜舉遺佚，布之庶位。高攀龍、楊漣、左光鬥秉憲；李騰芳、陳於廷佐銓；魏大中、袁化中長科道；鄭三俊、李邦華、孫居相、饒伸、王之寀輩悉置卿貳。而四司之屬，鄒維璉、夏嘉遇、張光前、程國祥、劉廷諫亦皆民譽。中外忻忻望治，而小人側目，滋欲去南星。給事中傅櫆以維璉改吏部己不與聞，首假汪文言發難，劾南星紊舊制，植私人。維璉引去，南星奏留之，小人愈恨。會漣劾忠賢疏上，宮府益水火。南星遂杜門乞休，不許。

The Donglin movement was ascendant and the upright filled the court. Nanxing searched out overlooked talent all the more eagerly and placed such men in secondary posts throughout the government. Gao Panlong, Yang Lian, and Zuo Guangdou held the censorate; Li Tengfang and Chen Yuting assisted with appointments; Wei Dazhong and Yuan Huazhong led the remonstrance offices; Zheng Sanjun, Li Banghua, Sun Juxiang, Rao Shen, Wang Zhicai, and others were all given vice-ministerial rank. Among the four bureaus of the ministry, Zou Weilian, Xia Jiayu, Zhang Guangqian, Cheng Guoxiang, and Liu Tingjian likewise enjoyed public esteem. Within and beyond the court men looked forward to better days, while petty officials glared and longed all the more to see Nanxing removed. Supervising secretary Fu Zhen, angry that he had not been consulted when Weilian was moved to personnel, opened the attack through Wang Wenyan, impeaching Nanxing for violating established procedure and filling posts with his own men. Weilian offered to withdraw; Nanxing memorialized to keep him, and the malcontents hated him all the more. When Yang Lian's memorial impeaching Zhongxian reached the throne, court and palace grew more bitterly opposed than ever. Nanxing shut his doors and asked to retire, but the request was denied.

攀龍之劾崔呈秀也，南星議戍之。呈秀窘，夜走忠賢邸，叩頭乞哀，言：「不去南星及攀龍、漣等，我兩人未知死所。」忠賢大以為然，遂與定謀。會山西缺巡撫，河南布政使郭尚友求之。南星以太常卿謝應祥有清望，首列以請。既得旨，而御史陳九疇受廣微指，言應祥嘗知嘉善，大中出其門，大中以師故，謀於文選郎嘉遇而用之，徇私當斥。大中、嘉遇疏辯，語侵九疇，九疇再疏力詆，並下部議。南星、攀龍極言應祥以人望推舉，大中、嘉遇無私，九疇妄言不可聽。忠賢大怒，矯旨黜大中、嘉遇，並黜九疇，而責南星等朋謀結黨。南星遽引罪求去，忠賢復矯旨切責，放歸。明日，攀龍亦引去。給事中沈惟炳論救，亦出之外。俄以會推忤忠賢意，並斥於廷、漣、光鬥、化中，引南星所擯徐兆魁、喬應甲、王紹徽等置要地。小人競進，天下大柄盡歸忠賢矣。

When Panlong impeached Cui Chengxiu, Nanxing proposed that he be banished. Cornered, Chengxiu fled by night to Zhongxian's house, kowtowed, and pleaded: "Unless Nanxing and Panlong, Lian, and the rest are removed, neither of us knows where we shall end our days. Zhongxian was fully persuaded, and together they laid their plan. A vacancy opened for grand coordinator of Shanxi, and Guo Shangyou, administrative commissioner of Henan, sought the post. Nanxing, holding Vice Minister Xie Yingxiang of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices in high regard for his integrity, placed his name first on the nomination. Once the appointment was approved, censor Chen Jiuchou, acting at Guangwei's direction, charged that Yingxiang had once been magistrate of Jiashan, that Dazhong had been his pupil, and that Dazhong, out of regard for his teacher, had conspired with appointments director Jiayu to secure the post—nepotism that demanded punishment. Dazhong and Jiayu defended themselves in memorials that reflected on Jiuchou; Jiuchou answered with another fierce attack, and the case was sent to the ministries for joint review. Nanxing and Panlong insisted that Yingxiang had been put forward on merit, that Dazhong and Jiayu were blameless, and that Jiuchou's charges were not to be credited. Zhongxian was enraged and forged an edict dismissing Dazhong and Jiayu—and Jiuchou as well—while rebuking Nanxing and his allies for forming a faction. Nanxing at once took the blame and asked to withdraw; Zhongxian forged another edict sharply reproving him and sent him home. The next day Panlong resigned as well. Supervising secretary Shen Weibing spoke up for them and was sent out of the capital too. Soon afterward, when a court nomination displeased Zhongxian, Bing Yu, Lian, Guangdou, and Huazhong were driven out together, while men Nanxing had cast aside—Xu Zhaokui, Qiao Yingjia, Wang Shaohui, and the like—were installed in crucial posts. Petty men rushed forward, and the great lever of state fell entirely into Zhongxian's hands.

忠賢及其黨惡南星甚，每矯敕諭，必目為元兇。於是御史張訥劾南星十大罪，並劾維璉、國祥、嘉遇及王允成。得旨，並削籍。令再奏南星私黨，訥復列上邦華及孫鼎相等十四人，並貶黜。自是為南星擯棄者，無不拔擢，其素所推獎者，率遭奇禍。諸幹進速化之徒，一擊南星，輒遂所欲。而石三畏亦起為御史，疏攻南星及李三才、顧憲成、孫丕揚、王圖等十五人。死者皆削奪，縉紳禍益烈。尋以汪文言獄詞連及南星，下撫按提問。適郭尚友巡撫保定，而巡按馬逢臯亦憾南星，乃相與庭辱之。笞其子清衡及外孫王鐘龐，系之獄，坐南星贓萬五千。南星家素貧，親故捐助，始獲竣。卒戍南星代州，清衡莊浪，鐘龐永昌。嫡母馮氏、生母李氏，並哀慟而卒。子生七齡，驚怖死。南星抵戍所，處之怡然。

Zhongxian and his faction hated Nanxing with a passion; every forged instruction branded him the arch-villain. Censor Zhang Na then impeached Nanxing on ten capital charges and attacked Weilian, Guoxiang, Jiayu, and Wang Yuncheng as well. The forged edict followed: all were struck from the registers. They were told to submit a further list of Nanxing's partisans; Na named Banghua, Sun Dingxiang, and fourteen others, who were demoted in turn. From then on, men Nanxing had rejected were advanced one after another, while those he had favored mostly met with bizarre misfortune. Anyone who wanted rapid promotion had only to strike at Nanxing to get his wish. Shi Sanwei, too, was raised to censor and memorialized against Nanxing along with Li Sancai, Gu Xiancheng, Sun Piyang, Wang Tu, and fifteen others. The dead among them were posthumously stripped of honors, and disaster among the gentry grew ever fiercer. Soon the testimony in Wang Wenyan's case implicated Nanxing, and he was sent down to the provincial authorities for interrogation. By chance Guo Shangyou was grand coordinator of Baoding and surveillance commissioner Ma Fenggao also resented Nanxing; together they shamed him in open session. They beat his son Qingheng and grandsons Wang and Zhongpang, threw them into prison, and convicted Nanxing of embezzling fifteen thousand taels. The Nanxing household had always been poor; relatives and friends had to raise the money before the penalty could be settled. Nanxing was sent into exile at Daizhou, Qingheng to Zhuanglang, and Zhongpang to Yongchang. His stepmother Lady Feng and his birth mother Lady Li both died of grief. A son of seven sui died of terror. At the place of exile he bore his lot with composure.

莊烈帝登極，有詔赦還。巡撫牟誌夔，忠賢黨也，故遲遣之，竟卒於戍所。崇禎初，贈太子太保，謚忠毅。櫆、呈秀、廣微、九疇、兆魁、應甲、紹徽、訥、三畏、尚友、誌夔，俱名麗逆案，為世大僇焉。

When Emperor Zhuanglie took the throne, an edict ordered his recall. Grand coordinator Mou Zhikui, a partisan of Zhongxian, deliberately delayed his release, and Nanxing died in exile. Early in the Chongzhen reign he was posthumously made grand guardian of the heir apparent and given the posthumous name Zhongyi, "Loyal and Resolute." Zhen, Chengxiu, Guangwei, Jiuchou, Zhaokui, Yingjia, Shaohui, Na, Sanwei, Shangyou, and Zhikui were all named in the roll of traitors and became bywords for infamy.

鄒元標，字爾瞻，吉水人。九歲通《五經》。泰和胡直，嘉靖中進士，官至福建按察使，師歐陽德、羅洪先，得王守仁之傳。元標弱冠從直遊，即有誌為學。舉萬歷五年進士。觀政刑部。

Zou Yuanbiao, whose style name was Erzhan, came from Jishui. At the age of nine he had mastered the 《Five Classics》. Hu Zhi of Taihe, a Jiajing-era jinshi who rose to regional inspector of Fujian, had studied under Ouyang De and Luo Hongxian and inherited Wang Yangming's teaching. While still in his teens Yuanbiao studied under Hu Zhi and resolved to devote himself to learning. He received his jinshi degree in the fifth year of Wanli. He served a probationary term in the Ministry of Justice.

張居正奪情，元標抗疏切諫。且曰：「陛下以居正有利社稷耶？居正才雖可為，學術則偏；誌雖欲為，自用太甚。其設施乖張者，如州縣入學，限以十五六人，有司希指，更損其數。是進賢未廣也。諸道決囚，亦有定額，所司懼罰，數必取盈。是斷刑太濫也。大臣持祿茍容，小臣畏罪緘默，有今日陳言而明日獲譴者。是言路未通也。黃河泛濫為災，民有駕蒿為巢、啜水為餐者，而有司不以聞。是民隱未周也。其他用刻深之吏，沮豪傑之材，又不可枚數矣。伏讀敕諭『朕學尚未成，誌尚未定，先生既去，前功盡隳』，陛下言及此，宗社無疆之福也。雖然，弼成聖學，輔翼聖誌者，未可謂在廷無人也。且幸而居正丁艱，猶可挽留；脫不幸遂捐館舍，陛下之學將終不成，誌將終不定耶？臣觀居正疏言『世有非常之人，然後辦非常之事』，若以奔喪為常事而不屑為者，不知人惟盡此五常之道，然後謂之人。今有人於此，親生而不顧，親死而不奔，猶自號於世曰我非常人也，世不以為喪心，則以為禽彘，可謂之非常人哉？」疏就，懷之入朝，適廷杖吳中行等。元標俟杖畢，取疏授中官，紿曰：「此乞假疏也。」及入，居正大怒，亦廷杖八十，謫戍都勻衛。衛在萬山中，夷獠與居，元標處之怡然。益究心理學，學以大進。巡按禦中承居正指，將害元標。行次鎮遠，一夕，御史暴死。

When Zhang Juzheng forced his way back to office without completing mourning, Yuanbiao submitted a fierce memorial of opposition. He wrote: "Does Your Majesty retain Juzheng because he serves the altars of state? His talent may be usable, but his learning is one-sided; and though his will is to govern, he is far too self-willed. Among his misguided policies: capping enrollment in county and prefectural schools at fifteen or sixteen students, while local officials, eager to please him, cut the quotas still further. Thus the path for worthy men to advance has been narrowed, not widened. Circuit judges also face fixed quotas in capital cases; fearing punishment, they invariably fill the quota to excess. Thus executions have grown far too lavish. Senior ministers cling to their stipends and hold their tongues; junior officials fear reprisal and stay silent—some who speak today are punished tomorrow. Thus the channels of remonstrance remain blocked. The Yellow River has burst its banks; people live on reed rafts and drink muddy water for sustenance, yet officials do not report it. Thus the people's hidden suffering never reaches the throne. Beyond this, harsh magistrates and the suppression of able men are too numerous to list. I have read Your Majesty's instruction: 'My learning is not yet complete, my purpose not yet fixed; with the gentleman gone, all prior effort is undone.' When the throne speaks thus, the realm itself is blessed. Yet those who can complete the sovereign's learning and steady his purpose are not absent from this court. Moreover, Juzheng is in mourning and may still be recalled; but if he should die, will Your Majesty's learning never be completed and your purpose never fixed? Juzheng wrote in his memorial that 'only an extraordinary man can accomplish extraordinary things'—yet if one treats a parent's funeral as beneath one's dignity, one forgets that humanity consists in fulfilling the five constant relationships. If a man neglects his living parent and does not mourn his dead one, yet calls himself extraordinary, the world will deem him heartless or no better than a beast—can that be called extraordinary? When the memorial was ready he carried it to court just as Wu Zhongxing and others were undergoing court beating. Yuanbiao waited until the beating ended, handed the memorial to a palace attendant, and said it was merely a leave request. Once inside, Juzheng was furious and had him beaten eighty strokes at court and banished to Dutun Guard. The guard lay deep in the mountains among Yi and Miao peoples, yet Yuanbiao lived there at ease. He pursued the learning of the mind with renewed energy and advanced greatly. Touring censor Yu Zhongcheng, acting on Juzheng's orders, meant to destroy Yuanbiao. Passing through Zhenyuan, the censor died suddenly one night.

元標謫居六年，居正歿，召拜吏科給事中。首陳培聖德、親臣工、肅憲紀、崇儒行、飭撫臣五事。尋劾罷禮部尚書徐學謨、南京戶部尚書張士佩。

After six years in exile, when Juzheng died Yuanbiao was recalled as supervising secretary in the personnel section. He first memorialized on five themes: cultivating the sovereign's virtue, drawing close to ministers, enforcing the law, honoring Confucian conduct, and restraining provincial overseers. He soon impeached and brought about the dismissal of Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo and Nanjing Minister of Revenue Zhang Shipei.

徐學謨者，嘉定縣人。嘉靖中，為荊州知府。景恭王之藩德安，欲奪荊州城北沙市地。學謨力抗不予，為王所劾，下撫按逮問，改官。荊州人德之，稱沙市為「徐市」。居正素與厚。萬歷中，累遷右副都御史，撫治鄖陽。居正歸葬父，學謨事之謹，召為刑部侍郎。越二年，擢禮部尚書。自弘治後，禮部長非翰林不授，惟席書以言「大禮」故，由他曹遷；萬士和不由翰林，然先歷其部侍郎。學謨徑拜尚書，廷臣以居正故，莫敢言。居正卒，學謨急締姻於大學士申時行以自固。及奉命擇壽宮，通政參議梁子琦劾其始結居正，繼附時行，詔為奪子琦俸。元標復劾之，遂令致仕歸。

Xu Xuemo came from Jiading county. Under Jiajing he served as prefect of Jingzhou. When Prince Gong of Jing was enfeoffed at De'an, he sought to seize Shashi market north of Jingzhou. Xuemo resisted firmly and refused; the prince impeached him, and he was sent down to the provincial authorities for questioning and transferred. The people of Jingzhou honored him and called Shashi "Xu's Market." Juzheng had long been intimate with him. Under Wanli he rose to vice censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Yunyang. When Juzheng returned to bury his father, Xuemo attended him devotedly and was summoned as vice minister of justice. Two years later he was promoted minister of rites. Since Hongzhi, ministers of rites had been drawn from the Hanlin Academy; only Xi Shu, because of the Great Rites controversy, had come from another bureau; Wan Shihe had not been a Hanlin scholar, but he had first served as vice minister in the ministry. Xuemo was appointed minister outright; because of Juzheng, no one at court dared object. After Juzheng's death Xuemo hurried to ally himself by marriage with Grand Secretary Shen Shixing. When he was ordered to choose the imperial tomb site, vice commissioner Liang Ziqi impeached him for clinging first to Juzheng and then to Shixing; the throne fined Ziqi a year's salary. Yuanbiao impeached him again, and he was ordered to retire.

慈寧宮災，元標復上時政六事，中言：「臣曩進無欲之訓，陛下試自省，果無欲耶？寡欲耶？語云：『欲人勿聞，莫若勿為。』陛下誠宜翻然自省，加意培養。」當是時，帝方壯齡，留意聲色遊宴，謂元標刺己，怒甚，降旨譙責。首輔時行以元標己門生，而劾罷其姻學謨，亦心憾，遂謫南京刑部照磨。就遷兵部主事。召改吏部，進員外郎，以病免。起補驗封。陳吏治十事，民瘼八事，疏幾萬言。文選缺員外郎，尚書宋糸熏請用元標，久不獲命，糸熏連疏趣之。給事中楊文煥、御史何選亦以為言。帝怒，詰責糸熏，謫文煥、選於外，而調元標南京。刑部尚書石星論救，亦被譙讓。元標居南京三年，移疾歸。久之，起本部郎中，不赴。旋遭母憂，裏居講學，從遊者日眾，名高天下。中外疏薦遺佚，凡數十百上，莫不以元標為首。卒不用。家食垂三十年。

When the Cining Palace burned, Yuanbiao memorialized again on six affairs of state, writing among other things: "I once urged the teaching of freedom from desire. Let Your Majesty examine yourself: are you truly without desire? Or only with few desires? The ancients said: 'If you do not wish others to hear, better not to do it.' Your Majesty should turn inward, examine yourself, and devote yourself to self-cultivation. The emperor was then in his prime and devoted to pleasure; he took Yuanbiao's words as a personal attack, grew furious, and issued a rebuke. Chief minister Shen Shixing, whose student Yuanbiao had been, resented him for impeaching his son-in-law Xuemo and had him demoted to registrar in the Nanjing Ministry of Justice. He was soon made secretary in the Ministry of War. Called back to the Ministry of Personnel, he was promoted vice director and then resigned citing illness. Summoned again, he was appointed to the bureau of seals and investitures. He laid out ten proposals on official administration and eight on popular distress in a memorial of nearly ten thousand characters. When a vice directorship in appointments fell vacant, Minister Song Xu recommended Yuanbiao; the appointment was long delayed, and Song sent repeated memorials urging it. Supervising secretary Yang Wenhuan and censor He Xuan spoke up for him as well. The emperor was angry, rebuked Song Xu, banished Wenhuan and Xuan from the capital, and transferred Yuanbiao to Nanjing. Minister of Justice Shi Xing spoke in his defense and was rebuked as well. Yuanbiao spent three years in Nanjing, then resigned on grounds of illness. Long afterward he was appointed director in the ministry but did not take up the post. He soon entered mourning for his mother; at home he taught, his following grew daily, and his fame spread across the realm. Memorials from within and beyond the court recommending overlooked talent numbered in the hundreds, and nearly all named Yuanbiao first. In the end he was not recalled. He lived in retirement at home for nearly thirty years.

光宗立，召拜大理卿。未至，進刑部右侍郎。天啟元年四月還朝，首進和衷之說，言：「今日國事，皆二十年諸臣醞釀所成。往者不以進賢讓能為事，日錮賢逐能，而言事者又不降心平氣，專務分門立戶。臣謂今日急務，惟朝臣和衷而已。朝臣和，天地之和自應。向之論人論事者，各懷偏見，偏生迷，迷生執，執而為我，不復知有人，禍且移於國。今與諸臣約，論一人當惟公惟平，毋輕搖筆端，論一事當懲前慮後，毋輕試耳食，以天下萬世之心，衡天下萬世之人與事，則議論公，而國家自享安靜和平之福。」因薦塗宗浚、李邦華等十八人。帝優詔褒納。居二日，復陳拔茅闡幽、理財振武數事，及保泰四規。且請召用葉茂才、趙南星、高攀龍、劉宗周、丁元薦，而恤錄羅大纮、雒於仁等十五人。帝亦褒納。

When Emperor Guangzong took the throne, he was summoned as chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Before he arrived he was promoted vice minister of justice. He returned to court in the fourth month of Tianqi 1 and first advanced the doctrine of harmony, writing: "Today's affairs are the fruit of twenty years' ferment among court officials. They ceased to advance the worthy and yield to the able, instead shutting up talent and driving out ability; and those who spoke on policy would not lower their voices or calm their tempers, but devoted themselves to forming factions. I hold that today's urgent task is for ministers to harmonize their purpose. When ministers are at one, the harmony of heaven and earth responds in turn. Those who judge men and affairs each carry bias; bias breeds delusion, delusion breeds obstinacy, and obstinacy becomes self-interest until one no longer sees others—and calamity falls on the state. I ask all ministers: in judging a man, be fair and do not lightly strike with the pen; in judging a matter, learn from the past and look to the future and do not trust rumor. Weigh men and affairs with the mind of the ages, and debate will be public and the realm will know quiet peace. He recommended Tu Zongjun, Li Banghua, and eighteen others. The emperor responded with a gracious edict of praise. Two days later he memorialized again on uncovering hidden talent, managing finances, reviving military strength, and the four rules for preserving stability. He asked that Ye Maocai, Zhao Nanxing, Gao Panlong, Liu Zongzhou, and Ding Yuanjian be recalled, and that Luo Daxuan, Luo Yuren, and fifteen others receive posthumous honors. The emperor again responded with praise.

初，元標立朝，以方嚴見憚，晚節務為和易。或議其遜初仕時，元標笑曰：「大臣與言官異。風裁踔絕，言官事也。大臣非大利害，即當護持國體，可如少年悻動耶？」時朋黨方盛，元標心惡之，思矯其弊，故其所薦引不專一途。嘗欲舉用李三才，因言路不與，元標即中止。王德完譏其首鼠，元標亦不較。南京御史王允成等以兩人不和，請帝諭解。元標言：「臣與德完初無纖芥，此必有人交構其間。臣嘗語朝士曰：『方今上在沖歲，敵在門庭，只有同心共濟。倘復黨同伐異，在國則不忠，在家則不孝。世自有無偏無黨之路，奈何從室內起戈矛耶？』」帝嗣位已久，而先朝廢死諸臣猶未贈恤，元標再陳闡幽之典，言益懇切。

When Yuanbiao first entered office he was feared for his stern rectitude; in later years he sought ease and harmony. Some said he had grown milder than in his youth; Yuanbiao smiled and said, "A senior minister is not a remonstrance official. Daring, uncompromising speech is the remonstrator's role. Unless the state's interest is gravely at stake, a senior minister must uphold the body's dignity—can he behave like an impetuous youth? Factionalism was then at its height; Yuanbiao hated it and sought to correct the abuse, so his recommendations did not follow a single factional line. He once wished to appoint Li Sancai, but when the remonstrance offices objected, he dropped the matter. Wang Dewan mocked him as timid and wavering; Yuanbiao did not answer him. Nanjing censor Wang Yuncheng and others, noting discord between the two men, asked the emperor to urge a reconciliation. Yuanbiao replied: "Dewan and I were never at odds; someone must be playing us against each other. I once told colleagues: 'The sovereign is still a child and the enemy stands at the gate; we must stand together. If we again form factions and attack one another, that is disloyalty to the state and unfilial to the family. There is a path without bias or faction—why draw swords under our own roof? The emperor had long been on the throne, yet ministers disgraced and killed under the previous reign still lacked posthumous honors; Yuanbiao memorialized again, his words growing more urgent.

其年十二月改吏部左侍郎。未到官，拜左都御史。明年，典外察，去留惟公。御史潘汝楨、過庭訓雅有物議，及庭訓秩滿，汝楨註考溢美。元標疏論之，兩人並引疾去。已，言丁已京察不公，專禁錮異己，請收錄章家禎、丁元薦、史記事、沈正宗等二十二人。由是諸臣多獲昭雪。又言：「明詔收召遺佚，而諸老臣所處猶是三十年前應得之官，宜添註三品崇秩，昭陛下褒尊耆舊至意。」帝納其言。於是兩京太常、太仆、光祿三卿各增二員。

In the twelfth month of that year he was made left vice minister of personnel. Before he could take up that post he was appointed left censor-in-chief. The following year he conducted the outer review of officials, retaining or dismissing solely on merit. Censors Pan Ruzhen and Guo Tingxun were widely criticized; when Tingxun's term ended, Ruzhen entered a glowing evaluation for him. Yuanbiao attacked the report in a memorial, and both men resigned citing illness. He then charged that the dingsi capital review had been unfair, chiefly used to shut up dissenters, and asked that Zhang Jiazhen, Ding Yuanjian, Shi Jishi, Shen Zhengzong, and twenty-two others be restored. Many officials were thereby rehabilitated. He also wrote that the edict recalling overlooked men still left veteran ministers with only the ranks they had earned decades before, and urged added third-rank honors to show the throne's respect for age. The emperor accepted his advice. The three courts of sacrifices, the imperial stud, and imperial banquets in both capitals each gained two additional posts.

孫慎行之論「紅丸」也，元標亦上疏曰：「乾坤所以不毀者，惟此綱常；綱常所以植立者，恃此信史。臣去年舟過南中，南中士大夫爭言先帝猝然而崩，大事未明，難以傳信。臣初不謂然。及既入都，為人言先帝盛德，宜速登信史。諸臣曰：『言及先帝彌留大事，令人閣筆，誰敢領此？』臣始有疑於前日之言。元輔方從哲不伸討賊之義，反行賞奸之典，即謂無其心，何以自解於世？且從哲秉政七年，未聞建樹何事，但聞馬上一日三趣戰，喪我十萬師徒。訊問誰秉國成，而使先帝震驚，奸人闖宮，豺狼當路，憸邪亂政？從哲何詞以對？從來懲戒亂賊，全在信史。失今不成，安所底止。」時刑部尚書黃克纘希內廷意，群小和之，而從哲世居京師，黨附者眾，崔文升黨復彌縫於內，格慎行與眾議，皆不得伸。未幾，慎行及王紀偕逐，元標疏救，不聽。

When Sun Shenxing took up the "red pill" affair, Yuanbiao memorialized as well: "Heaven and earth endure because of the bonds of right conduct; and those bonds stand only because faithful history preserves them. Last year, passing through the south, I heard everywhere that the late emperor died suddenly, that the great matter remains unclear, and that truth cannot yet be written. At first I did not believe it. In the capital I spoke of entering the late emperor's virtues in the veritable record. They answered: 'To speak of the late emperor's final illness is to lay down the brush—who dares write it?' Only then did I credit what I had heard in the south. Chief minister Fang Congzhe did not pursue the assassins but rewarded the guilty; even if he lacked murderous intent, how can he answer the world? For seven years in power he built nothing, yet urged battle three times in a single day from horseback and lost a hundred thousand men. Who held the reins when the late emperor was shaken, villains burst into the palace, wolves blocked the road, and slanderers ran the government? What answer can Congzhe give? Punishment of traitors has always rested on the faithful record. Fail to write it now, and where will justice end? Minister of Justice Huang Kexuan courted the inner palace; petty men echoed him; Congzhe's capital faction was large; Cui Wensheng's party smoothed matters inside—so Shenxing and public opinion could not prevail. Soon Shenxing and Wang Ji were expelled together; Yuanbiao pleaded for them in vain.

元標自還朝以來，不為危言激論，與物無猜。然小人以其東林也，猶忌之。給事中朱童蒙、郭允厚、郭興治慮明年京察不利己，潛謀驅逐。會元標與馮從吾建首善書院，集同誌講學，童蒙首請禁之。元標疏辨求去，帝已慰留，允厚復疏劾，語尤妄誕。而魏忠賢方竊柄，傳旨謂宋室之亡由於講學，將加嚴譴。葉向高力辨，且乞同去，乃得溫旨。興治及允厚復交章力攻，興治至比之山東妖賊。元標連疏請益力，詔加太子少保，乘傳歸。陛辭，上《老臣去國情深疏》，歷陳軍國大計，而以寡欲進規，人為傳誦。四年，卒於家。明年，御史張訥請毀天下講壇，力詆元標，忠賢遂矯旨削奪。崇禎初，贈太子太保、吏部尚書，謚忠介。

Since his return Yuanbiao had avoided harsh rhetoric and bore no grudges. Yet petty men still resented him as a Donglin man. Supervising secretaries Zhu Tongmeng, Guo Yunhou, and Guo Xingzhi, fearing the coming capital review, plotted secretly to drive him out. When Yuanbiao and Feng Congwu founded the Shou Shan Academy for joint study, Tongmeng was first to demand its closure. Yuanbiao defended himself and asked to withdraw; the emperor had already urged him to stay, but Yunhou impeached him again with wild charges. Wei Zhongxian, seizing power, transmitted word that the Song fell through lecturing and threatened severe punishment. Ye Xianggao argued fiercely and offered to resign with him; only then came a mild edict. Xingzhi and Yunhou attacked again; Xingzhi even compared him to Shandong sorcerers. Yuanbiao begged to leave with growing force; the throne made him grand guardian of the heir apparent and sent him home by express. At his farewell he submitted "An Old Minister's Deep Feeling on Leaving Court," laying out state and military policy and urging restraint of desire; men copied and recited it. In the fourth year he died at home. The next year Zhang Na demanded the destruction of lecture halls empire-wide and attacked Yuanbiao; Zhongxian forged an edict stripping his honors. Early in Chongzhen he was posthumously made grand guardian of the heir apparent and minister of personnel, with the posthumous name Zhongjie.

童蒙等既劾元標，遂得罪清議，尋以年例外遷。及忠賢得誌，三人並召還。歲餘，允厚至戶部尚書、太子太保。童蒙至右副都御史，巡撫延綏，母死不持服，為忠賢建生祠。興治亦加至太仆卿。忠賢敗，三人並麗逆案雲。

After impeaching Yuanbiao, Tongmeng and his allies offended public opinion and were soon transferred on seniority. When Zhongxian triumphed, all three were recalled. Within a year Yunhou rose to minister of revenue and grand guardian of the heir apparent. Tongmeng became vice censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Yan-sui; he failed to mourn his mother and built a living shrine to Zhongxian. Xingzhi rose to minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud. When Zhongxian fell, all three were named in the roll of traitors.

孫慎行，字聞斯，武進人。幼習聞外祖唐順之緒論，即嗜學。萬歷二十三年舉進士第三人，授編修，累官左庶子。數請假裏居，鍵戶息交，覃精理學。當事請見，率不納。有以政事詢者，不答。

Sun Shenxing, whose style name was Wensi, came from Wujin. As a boy he absorbed the teachings of his maternal grandfather Tang Shunzhi and took to learning at once. In Wanli 23 he placed third on the jinshi list, was appointed compiler, and rose to left sub-reader. He repeatedly sought leave to live at home, shut his door to visitors, and pursued Neo-Confucian learning in depth. Men in power who sought audience were usually turned away. Questions about government he would not answer.

四十一年五月，由少詹事擢禮部右侍郎，署部事。當是時，郊廟大享諸禮，帝二十余年不躬親，東宮輟講至八年，皇長孫九齡未就外傅，瑞王二十三未婚，楚宗人久錮未釋，代王廢長立幼，久不更正，臣僚章奏一切留中，福府莊田取盈四萬頃，慎行並切諫。已，念東宮開講，皇孫出閣，系宗社安危，疏至七八上。代王廢長子鼎渭，立愛子鼎莎，李廷機為侍郎時主之，其後，群臣爭者百余疏，帝皆不省。慎行屢疏爭，乃獲更置。楚宗人擊殺巡撫趙可懷，為首六人論死，復錮英憔等二十三人於高墻，禁蘊鈁等二十三人於遠地。慎行力白其非叛，諸人由此獲釋。皇太子儲位雖定，福王尚留京師，須莊田四萬頃乃行，宵小多窺伺。廷臣請之國者愈眾，帝愈遲之。慎行疏十余上，不見省。最後，貴妃復請帝留王慶太后七旬壽節，群議益籍籍。慎行乃合文武諸臣伏闕力請，大學士葉向高亦爭之強。帝不得已，許明年季春之國，群情始安。韓敬科場之議，慎行擬黜敬。而家居時素講學東林，敬黨尤忌之。會吏部缺侍郎，廷議改右侍郎李鋕於左，而以慎行為右，命俱未下。御史過廷訓因言鋕未履任，何復推慎行，給事中亓詩教和之。慎行遂四疏乞歸，出城候命，帝乃許之。已而京察，御史韓浚等以趣福王之國，謂慎行邀功，列之拾遺疏中。帝察其無罪，獲免。

In the fifth month of year 41 he was promoted from vice director of the Hanlin Academy to vice minister of rites, directing the ministry. For more than twenty years the emperor had not performed the great sacrifices; the heir apparent's lectures had ceased for eight years; the eldest imperial grandson of nine sui had no outer tutor; the Prince of Rui at twenty-three remained unmarried; Chu clansmen languished in prison; the Prince of Dai had set aside the eldest for the younger without correction; memorials were held back; and the Prince of Fu's estate had swollen to forty thousand qing—Shenxing remonstrated on every point. Later, seeing that the heir apparent's lectures and the imperial grandson's schooling touched the fate of the dynasty, he memorialized seven or eight times. The Prince of Dai had deposed his eldest son Dingwei for the favored Dingsha; Vice Minister Li Tingji had backed the change, and though more than a hundred memorials followed, the emperor ignored them. Shenxing protested repeatedly until the succession was corrected. Chu clansmen had killed grand coordinator Zhao Kehuai; six ringleaders were sentenced to death, yet Yingqiao and twenty-two others were walled up again and Yun'ang and twenty-three others sent to distant confinement. Shenxing insisted they were not rebels, and the men were released. Though the crown prince's place was fixed, the Prince of Fu lingered in the capital until granted forty thousand qing; opportunists watched and waited. More courtiers urged him to his fief, yet the emperor delayed ever longer. Shenxing memorialized more than ten times without answer. At last the honored consort asked the emperor to keep the prince for the dowager of Qing's seventieth birthday, and public uproar grew. Shenxing then joined civil and military officials in kneeling at the palace gate; Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao argued fiercely as well. The emperor, cornered, promised departure the following spring, and public feeling eased. In the examination scandal involving Han Jing, Shenxing proposed demoting Jing. At home he had long associated with the Donglin movement, and Jing's faction hated him all the more. When a personnel vice ministership fell vacant, court opinion moved Li Zhi from the right to the left and Shenxing to the right; the orders had not yet been issued. Censor Guo Tingxun objected that Li Zhi had not yet taken office—why advance Shenxing? Supervising secretary Qi Shijiao agreed. Shenxing submitted four memorials asking to retire, waited outside the city for the edict, and the emperor let him go. In the capital review, censor Han Jun and others, citing his pressure on the Prince of Fu, called him a glory-seeker and listed him among remonstrance officials to be dismissed. The emperor saw he was innocent and spared him.

熹宗立，召拜禮部尚書。初，光宗大漸，鴻臚寺丞李可灼以紅鉛丸藥進。俄帝崩，廷臣交章劾之。大學士方從哲擬旨令引疾歸，賚以金幣。天啟元年四月，慎行還朝，上疏曰：

When Emperor Xizong took the throne, he was summoned as minister of rites. When Emperor Guangzong lay gravely ill, Court of State Ceremonial director Li Kezhuo presented red-lead pills. The emperor soon died, and courtiers impeached him in succession. Grand Secretary Fang Congzhe drafted an edict ordering Kezhuo to retire citing illness and bestowed gold and silk. In the fourth month of Tianqi 1, Shenxing returned to court and memorialized:

先帝驟崩，雖雲夙疾，實緣醫人用藥不審。閱邸報，知李可灼紅丸乃首輔方從哲所進。夫可灼官非太醫，紅丸不知何藥，乃敢突然以進。昔許悼公飲世子藥而卒，世子即自殺，《春秋》猶書之為弒。然則從哲宜何居？速引劍自裁以謝先帝，義之上也；合門席稿以待司寇，義之次也；乃悍然不顧，至舉朝共攻可灼，僅令回籍調理，豈不以己實薦之，恐與同罪與？臣以為從哲縱無弒之心，卻有弒之事；欲辭弒之名，難免弒之實。實錄中即欲為君父諱，不敢不直書方從哲連進藥二丸，須臾帝崩，恐百口無能為天下後世解也。

The late emperor died suddenly; though called a long illness, it came from careless medicine. The gazette shows that Li Kezhuo's red pills were presented by Chief Minister Fang Congzhe. Kezhuo was no imperial physician, and no one knows what the red pills were—yet he dared present them. When Duke Xu of Zheng's heir gave him medicine and he died, the heir killed himself, yet the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》 still records regicide. What standing does Congzhe deserve? The highest righteousness would be to draw his sword and die apologizing to the late emperor; the next, to sit on straw awaiting the minister of justice; yet he defied all decency, and when the court attacked Kezhuo, allowed him merely to return home—fearing shared guilt because he had recommended him? I hold that Congzhe, though he may lack a murderer's heart, committed a murderer's act; to escape the name of regicide, he cannot escape its reality. In the veritable record, even to spare the late emperor one must write plainly that Fang Congzhe presented two pills in succession and the emperor died at once—or a hundred mouths cannot explain it to posterity.

然從哲之罪實不止此。先是則有皇貴妃欲為皇后事，古未有天子既崩而立後者。倘非禮官執奏，言路力持，幾何不遺禍宗社哉！繼此則有謚皇祖為恭皇帝事。歷考晉、隋、周、宋，其末世亡國之君率謚曰「恭」，而以加之我皇祖，豈真不學無術？實乃咒詛君國，等於亡王，其設心謂何？後此則有選侍垂簾聽政事。劉遜、李進忠幺麽小豎，何遂膽大揚言。說者謂二豎早以金寶輸從哲家，若非九卿、臺諫力請移宮，選侍一日得誌，陛下幾無駐足所。聞爾時從哲濡遲不進，科臣趣之，則雲遲數日無害。任婦寺之縱橫，忍君父之杌隉，為大臣者宜爾乎？臣在禮言禮，其罪惡逆天，萬無可生之路。若其他督戰誤國，罔上行私，縱情蔑法，幹犯天下之名義，釀成國家之禍患者，臣不能悉數也。陛下宜急討此賊，雪不共之仇！毋詢近習，近習皆從哲所攀援也；毋拘忌諱，忌諱即從哲所布置也。並急誅李可灼，以泄神人之憤。

Congzhe's crimes do not end there. Earlier came the honored consort's bid to become empress—unprecedented after a sovereign's death. Had ritual officials and remonstrators not held firm, what calamity might not have befallen the dynasty! Next came posthumously honoring the imperial grandfather as Emperor Gong. In Jin, Sui, Zhou, and Song, doomed last rulers were often styled "Gong"; to give our grandfather that style—was it mere ignorance? It cursed ruler and state like a doomed king—what was the intent? After that came the selecting consort hearing government behind the curtain. Petty eunuchs Liu Xun and Li Jinzong—how did they dare speak so boldly? Some said the two eunuchs had long bribed Congzhe's household; had not the nine ministers and the remonstrance offices forced the move from the palace, the selecting consort would have had her way in a day and the emperor would scarcely have had footing. They said Congzhe lingered without acting; when a section official pressed him, he said a few days' delay did no harm. To indulge palace women and eunuchs while ruler and father stood in peril—is that what a great minister should do? Speaking as minister of rites, I say their crime rebels against Heaven and leaves no path to life. As for urging war and misleading the state, deceiving the ruler, indulging lawlessness, violating public morality, and brewing national calamity—I cannot list them all. Your Majesty should punish this villain at once and avenge a hatred that cannot be shared! Do not heed those close at hand—all are Congzhe's creatures; do not be bound by taboos—those taboos are Congzhe's snares. Execute Li Kezhuo at once to appease gods and men.

時朝野方惡從哲，慎行論雖過刻，然爭韙其言。顧近習多為從哲地，帝乃報曰：「舊輔素忠慎，可灼進藥本先帝意。卿言雖忠愛，事屬傳聞。並進封移宮事，當日九卿、臺諫官親見者，當據實會奏，用釋群疑。」於是從哲疏辨。刑部尚書黃克纘右從哲，亦曲為辨。慎行復疏折之，曰：「由前則過信可灼，有輕進藥之罪，由後則曲庇可灼，有不討賊之罪，兩者均無辭乎弒也。從哲謂移宮有揭，但諸臣之請在初二，從哲之請在初五。爾時章疏入乾清不入慈慶者已三日，國政幾於中斷，非他輔臣訪知，與群臣力請，其害可勝言哉！伏讀聖諭『輔臣義在體國，為朕分憂。今似此景象，何不代朕傳諭一言，屏息紛擾，君臣大義安在？』又雲『朕淩虐不堪，晝夜涕泣六七日。』夫從哲為顧命元臣，使少肯義形於色，何至令至尊憂危如此！惟阿婦寺之意多，戴聖明之意少，故敢於淩皇祖，悖皇考，而欺陛下也。」末復力言克纘之謬。章並下廷議。既而議上，惟可灼下吏戍邊，從哲置不問。

Court and country hated Congzhe; though Shenxing's words were harsh, most approved them. Those close at hand mostly shielded Congzhe; the emperor replied: "The former chief minister has always been loyal; Kezhuo's medicine followed the late emperor's wish. Your words, though loyal, rest on hearsay. Together with the move from the palace—let the nine ministers and remonstrators who were present report according to fact and dispel doubt. Congzhe memorialized in his defense. Minister of Justice Huang Kexuan sided with Congzhe and twisted the argument in his favor. Shenxing refuted him again: "Before, he overtrusted Kezhuo—rash medicine; after, he shielded him—failure to punish the villain; either way the charge of regicide stands. Congzhe said a memorial on moving the palace existed—but other officials asked on the second, Congzhe on the fifth. For three days memorials entered Qianqing but not Cining; government nearly halted. Had other ministers not learned of it and joined the plea, who can measure the harm! I read the sacred instruction: 'Chief ministers should embody the state and share Your Majesty's cares. With turmoil such as this, why not speak one word for Us to calm it—where is ministerial duty? It also says: 'We are unbearably abused and have wept six or seven days and nights.' Congzhe as entrusted minister—had he shown righteous anger, how could the sovereign have been driven to such distress! He favored palace creatures over the throne, insulted the imperial grandfather, wronged the imperial father, and deceived Your Majesty. He again attacked Kexuan's errors at length. The memorials went to court for deliberation. Deliberation ended with only Kezhuo banished to the frontier; Congzhe went untouched.

山東巡撫奏，五月中，日中月星並見。慎行以為大異，疏請修省，語極危切。秦王誼漶由旁枝進封，其四子法不當封郡王，厚賄近幸，遂得溫旨。慎行堅不奉詔，三疏力爭，不得。七月謝病去。

Shandong's grand coordinator reported sun, moon, and stars visible together at noon in the fifth month. Shenxing took it as a dire omen and memorialized for repentance in urgent terms. Prince Yi Huan, raised from a collateral line, sought commandery-prince titles for four sons contrary to law; heavy bribes to favorites won a mild edict. Shenxing refused the edict and protested in three memorials without success. In the seventh month he resigned citing illness.

其冬，廷推閣臣，以慎行為首，吏部侍郎盛以弘次之。魏忠賢抑不用，用顧秉謙、朱國禎、朱延禧、魏廣微，朝論大駭。葉向高連疏請用兩人，竟不得命。已，忠賢大熾，議修《三朝要典》，「紅丸」之案以慎行為罪魁。其黨張訥遂上疏力詆，有詔削奪。未幾，劉誌選復兩疏追劾，詔撫按提問，遣戍寧夏。未行，莊烈帝嗣位，以赦免。

That winter's court nomination for the Grand Secretariat placed Shenxing first and Vice Minister Sheng Yihong second. Wei Zhongxian blocked them and installed Gu Bingqian, Zhu Guozhen, Zhu Yanzhi, and Wei Guangwei instead; court opinion was appalled. Ye Xianggao repeatedly asked that the two be appointed, but no order came. When Zhongxian grew all-powerful, compilers of the 《Essentials of the Three Reigns》 made Shenxing the arch-culprit in the red-pill affair. Partisan Zhang Na attacked him fiercely; an edict stripped his honors. Soon Liu Zhixuan impeached him again; an edict ordered provincial interrogation and banishment to Ningxia. Before he left, Emperor Zhuanglie succeeded and amnesty spared him.

崇禎元年，命以故官協理詹事府，力辭不就。慎行操行峻潔，為一時搢紳冠。朝士數推轂入閣，吏部尚書王永光力排之，迄不獲用。八年廷推閣臣，屢不稱旨，最後以慎行及劉宗周、林釬名上，帝即召之。慎行已得疾，甫入都，卒。贈太子太保，謚文介。

In Chongzhen 1 he was ordered to assist the Directorate of the Heir Apparent at his former rank but declined. Shenxing's conduct was stern and pure; gentry of the age ranked him first. Courtiers repeatedly urged his appointment to the Grand Secretariat; Minister Wang Yongguang blocked him, and he was never used. In year 8, court nominations for the Grand Secretariat repeatedly failed to please the emperor; at last Shenxing, Liu Zongzhou, and Lin Qian were named and summoned. Shenxing was already ill; he died soon after reaching the capital. He was posthumously made grand guardian of the heir apparent with the posthumous name Wenjie.

盛以弘，字子寬，潼關衛人。父訥，字敏叔。訥父德，世職指揮也，討洛南盜戰死。訥號泣請於當事，水漿不入口者數日，為發兵討斬之。久之，舉隆慶五年進士。由庶吉士累官吏部右侍郎。與尚書陳有年、左侍郎趙參魯共厘銓政。母憂歸，以篤孝聞。卒，贈禮部尚書。天啟初，謚文定。

Sheng Yihong, whose style name was Zikuan, came from Tongguan Guard. His father Sheng Ne, styled Minshu. Ne's father De held a hereditary commander's post and died fighting bandits in Luonan. Ne wailed and begged the authorities; for days he took no food or drink until troops were sent to hunt down and kill the bandits. Long afterward he became a jinshi in Longqing 5. From Hanlin academician reader he rose to vice minister of personnel. With Minister Chen Younian and Left Vice Minister Zhao Canlu he reformed appointments. He went home for his mother's mourning and was famed for filial piety. At his death he was posthumously made minister of rites. Early in Tianqi he received the posthumous name Wending.

以弘，萬歷二十六年進士。由庶吉士累官禮部尚書。天啟三年謝病歸。魏忠賢亂政，落其職。崇禎初，起故官，協理詹事府，卒官。明世，衛所世職用儒業顯者，訥父子而已。

Yihong became a jinshi in Wanli 26. From Hanlin academician reader he rose to minister of rites. In Tianqi 3 he resigned citing illness. When Wei Zhongxian seized power, his post was stripped. Early in Chongzhen he was restored to assist the Directorate of the Heir Apparent and died in office. In Ming times, only the Ne father and son among hereditary guards won fame through Confucian learning.

高攀龍，字存之，無錫人。少讀書，輒有誌程朱之學。舉萬歷十七年進士，授行人。四川僉事張世則進所著《大學初義》，詆程、朱章句，請頒天下。攀龍抗疏力駁其謬，其書遂不行。

Gao Panlong, whose style name was Cunzhi, came from Wuxi. From youth, whenever he read, he resolved to follow the learning of Cheng and Zhu. In Wanli 17 he became a jinshi and was appointed courier. Zhang Shize, assistant administration commissioner of Sichuan, submitted his 《Initial Meaning of the Great Learning》, attacking Cheng-Zhu exegesis, and asked that it be promulgated empire-wide. Panlong refuted it in a fierce memorial, and the book was not issued.

侍郎趙用賢、都御史李世達被訐去位，朝論多咎大學士王錫爵。攀龍上疏曰：

Vice Minister Zhao Yongxian and censor-in-chief Li Shida were driven out; court opinion largely blamed Grand Secretary Wang Xijue. Panlong memorialized:

近見朝寧之上，善類擯斥一空。大臣則孫鑨、李世達、趙用賢去矣，小臣則趙南星、陳泰來、顧允成、薛敷教、張納陛、於孔兼、賈巖斥矣。邇者李禎、曾乾亨復不安其位而乞去矣，選郎孟化鯉又以推用言官張棟，空署而逐矣。

Recently the good have been swept from court. Great ministers Sun Lu, Li Shida, and Zhao Yongxian are gone; lesser officials Zhao Nanxing, Chen Tailai, Gu Yuncheng, Xue Fujiao, Zhang Nalu, Yu Kongjian, and Jia Yan have been expelled. Recently Li Zhen and Zeng Qianheng could not hold their posts and begged leave; appointments director Meng Huayu, for recommending remonstrator Zhang Dong, was left titular and driven out.

夫天地生才甚難，國家需才甚亟，廢斥如此，後將焉繼。致使正人扼腕，曲士彈冠，世道人心何可勝慨！且今陛下朝講久輟，廷臣不獲望見顏色。天言傳布，雖曰聖裁，隱伏之中，莫測所以。故中外群言，不曰：「輔臣欲除不附己」，則曰「近侍不利用正人」。陛下深居九重，亦曾有以諸臣賢否陳於左右；而陛下於諸臣，亦嘗一思其得罪之故乎？果以為皆由聖怒，則諸臣自孟化鯉而外，未聞忤旨，何以皆罷斥？即使批鱗逆耳，如董基等，陛下已嘗收錄，何獨於諸臣不然？臣恐陛下有祛邪之果斷，而左右反借以行冒嫉之私；陛下有容言之盛心，而臣工反遺以拒諫諍之誚。傳之四海，垂諸史冊，為聖德累不小。

Talent is hard for heaven and earth to produce and the state urgently needs it—dismiss so many, and who remains? Upright men wring their hands while crooked men rejoice—what lament can suffice for the age! Moreover, morning lectures have long ceased and ministers cannot see your face. Imperial words are issued as sacred decisions, yet none can trace their hidden source. So rumor says not that chief ministers purge dissenters, but that those close at hand cannot abide upright men. Your Majesty dwells deep within the palace—has anyone reported which ministers are worthy? Have you pondered why they were punished? If all were punished by your anger, apart from Meng Huayu none offended the throne—why are all dismissed? Even when remonstrators offended, as with Dong Ji whom you recalled, why not these men? I fear you have resolve to expel evil, yet those at your side use it for private envy; you have a heart willing to hear words, yet ministers earn the shame of rejecting remonstrance. Spread abroad and fix in history, the burden on your sacred virtue is not small.

輔臣王錫爵等，跡其自待，若愈於張居正、申時行，察其用心，何以異於五十步笑百步？即如諸臣罷斥，果以為當然，則是非邪正，恒人能辨，何忍坐視至尊之過舉，得毋內泄其私憤，而利於斥逐之盡乎？末力詆鄭材、楊應宿讒諂宜黜。應宿亦疏訐攀龍，語極妄誕。疏並下部院，議請薄罰兩臣，稍示懲創。帝不許，鐫應宿二秩，謫攀龍揭陽添註典史。御史吳弘濟等論救，並獲譴。攀龍之官七月，以事歸。尋遭親喪，遂不出，家居垂三十年。言者屢薦，帝悉不省。

Chief Minister Wang Xijue and others seem better than Zhang Juzheng and Shen Shixing in manner, yet in intent differ only as fifty paces from a hundred. If their dismissal were just, any man could see right from wrong—how bear to watch your mistaken measures? Is it not private resentment profiting from their expulsion? He ended by demanding dismissal of Zheng Cai and Yang Yingsu for slander and flattery. Yingsu attacked Panlong in turn with absurd charges. Both memorials went to the ministries; deliberation proposed light punishment for both. The emperor refused; Yingsu was reduced two ranks and Panlong banished to Jieyang as registry clerk. Censors Wu Hongji and others who pleaded for him were punished as well. Panlong had served seven months and returned home on business. He soon entered mourning for his father and did not return, living at home nearly thirty years. Remonstrators repeatedly recommended him; the emperor ignored them.

熹宗立，起光祿丞。天啟元年進少卿。明年四月，疏劾戚畹鄭養性，言：「張差梃擊實養性父國泰主謀。今人言籍籍，鹹疑養性交關奸宄，別懷異謀，積疑不解，當思善全之術。至劉保謀逆，中官盧受主之，劉於簡獄詞具在。受本鄭氏私人，而李如楨一家交關鄭氏，計陷名將，失地喪師。於簡原供，明言李永芳約如楨內應。若崔文升素為鄭氏腹心，知先帝癥虛，故用泄藥，罪在不赦。陛下僅行斥逐，而文升猶潛住都城。宜勒養性還故裏，急正如楨、文升典刑，用章國法。」疏入，責攀龍多言，然卒遣養性還籍。

When Emperor Xizong took the throne, he was made vice director of the Court of Imperial Banquets. In Tianqi 1 he was promoted vice minister. In the fourth month of the following year he impeached imperial kinsman Zheng Yangxing, writing: "Zhang Chai's assault was masterminded by Yangxing's father Guotai. Talk is clamorous; many suspect Yangxing of dealing with traitors—suspicion unresolved, means should be found to protect him. Liu Bao's rebellion was directed by palace eunuch Lu Shou, as Liu's confession shows. Shou was the Zheng family's man; the Li Ruzhen family colluded with the Zhengs, framed a famous general, and lost territory and troops. The confession states plainly that Li Yongfang agreed to respond within at Ruzhen's signal. Cui Wensheng, long the Zheng family's confidant, knowing the late emperor's weakness, used a purging medicine—a crime unpardonable. Your Majesty expelled him, yet Wensheng still lurks in the capital. Yangxing should be sent home; Ruzhen and Wensheng should be punished at once to uphold the law. The memorial drew rebuke for speaking too much, yet Yangxing was still sent home.

孫慎行以「紅丸」事攻舊輔方從哲，下廷議。攀龍引《春秋》首惡之誅，歸獄從哲。給事中王誌道為從哲解，攀龍遺書切責之。尋改太常少卿，疏陳務學之要，因言：「從哲之罪非止紅丸，其最大者在交結鄭國泰。國泰父子所以謀危先帝者不一，始以張差之梃，繼以美姝之進，終以文升之藥，而從哲實左右之。力扶其為鄭氏者，力鋤其不為鄭氏者；一時人心若狂，但知鄭氏，不知東宮。此賊臣也，討賊則為陛下之孝。而說者乃曰『為先帝隱諱則為孝』，此大亂之道也。陛下念聖母則宣選侍之罪，念皇考則隆選侍之恩，仁之至義之盡也，而說者乃曰『為聖母隱諱則為孝』。明如聖諭，目為假托；忠如楊漣，謗為居功。人臣避居功，甘居罪，君父有急，袖手旁觀，此大亂之道也。惑於其說，孝也不知其為孝，不孝也以為大孝；忠也不知其為忠，不忠也以為大忠。忠孝皆可變亂，何事不可妄為？故從哲、養性不容不討，奈何猶令居輦轂下！」時從哲輩奧援甚固，摘疏中「不孝」語激帝怒，將加嚴譴。葉向高力救，乃奪祿一年。旋改大理少卿。鄒元標建書院，攀龍與焉。元標被攻，攀龍請與同罷，詔留之。進太仆卿，擢刑部右侍郎。

Sun Shenxing attacked former chief minister Fang Congzhe over the red-pill affair, and the case went to court deliberation. Panlong cited the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》 on punishing the chief villain and laid guilt on Congzhe. Supervising secretary Wang Zhidao defended Congzhe; Panlong sent a letter rebuking him sharply. Made vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, he memorialized on learning and wrote: "Congzhe's crimes exceed the red pill; the greatest was collusion with Zheng Guotai. Guotai father and son endangered the late emperor step by step—Zhang Chai's staff, beautiful women, Wensheng's medicine—and Congzhe stood at their side. He backed the Zheng faction and uprooted all who would not; for a time men knew only the Zheng name, not the heir apparent. This is treason; to punish the villain is filial service to Your Majesty. Yet some say sparing the late emperor's name is filial—that is the road to chaos. Mindful of the empress dowager, proclaim the selecting consort's crime; mindful of your father, honor her as duty requires—yet some call that unfilial. Clear imperial words they call false pretense; Yang Lian's loyalty they call self-promotion. Ministers shun merit and accept guilt; when ruler and father are in peril they stand aside—that is chaos. Under such talk, filial piety is not recognized as filial, and unfilial conduct is called great filial piety; loyalty is not recognized as loyal, and disloyalty is called great loyalty. If loyalty and filial piety can be twisted into chaos, what may not be done? Congzhe and Yangxing cannot go unpunished—why do they still dwell near the throne! Congzhe's faction was strong; the word "unfilial" in the memorial enraged the emperor and severe punishment loomed. Ye Xianggao pleaded hard, and he was fined one year's salary. He was soon made vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Zou Yuanbiao founded the academy, and Panlong joined him. When Yuanbiao was attacked, Panlong asked to resign with him but was ordered to stay. He was promoted minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and then vice minister of justice.

四年八月，拜左都御史。楊漣等群擊魏忠賢，勢已不兩立。及向高去國，魏廣微日導忠賢為惡，而攀龍為趙南星門生，並居要地。御史崔呈秀按淮、揚還，攀龍發其穢狀，南星議戍之。呈秀窘，急走忠賢所，乞為義兒，遂摭謝應祥事，謂攀龍黨南星。嚴旨詰責，攀龍遽引罪去。頃之，南京御史遊鳳翔出為知府，訐攀龍挾私排擠。詔復鳳翔故官，削攀龍籍。呈秀憾不已，必欲殺之，竄名李實劾周起元疏中，遣緹騎往逮。攀龍晨謁宋儒楊龜山祠，以文告之。歸與二門生一弟飲後園池上，聞周順昌已就逮，笑曰：「吾視死如歸，今果然矣。」入與夫人語，如平時。出，書二紙告二孫曰：「明日以付官校。」因遣之出，扃戶。移時諸子排戶入，一燈熒然，則已衣冠自沈於池矣。發所封紙，乃遺表也，云：「臣雖削奪，舊為大臣，大臣受辱則辱國。謹北向叩頭，從屈平之遺則。」復別門人華允誠書云：「一生學問，至此亦少得力。」時年六十五。遠近聞其死，莫不傷之。

In the eighth month of the fourth year he was appointed left censor-in-chief. Yang Lian and others attacked Wei Zhongxian together; the breach was irreparable. When Xianggao left office, Wei Guangwei daily led Zhongxian deeper into evil, while Panlong, Nanxing's student, held a key post. Censor Cui Chengxiu, returning from Huai-Yang inspection, had his corruption exposed by Panlong; Nanxing proposed banishment. Cornered, Chengxiu fled to Zhongxian, begged to become his adopted son, and seized on the Xie Yingxiang affair to call Panlong Nanxing's partisan. A stern edict rebuked him; Panlong took blame and resigned. Soon Nanjing censor You Fengxiang, sent out as prefect, accused Panlong of driving men out from private spite. An edict restored Fengxiang and struck Panlong from the rolls. Chengxiu's hatred was unslaked; he inserted Panlong's name in Li Shi's memorial against Zhou Qiyuan and sent guards to arrest him. That morning Panlong visited the shrine of the Song scholar Yang Guishan and addressed him in a written prayer. Returning, he drank with two students and a younger brother by the garden pool; hearing Zhou Shunchang had been arrested, he smiled: "I regarded death as going home; today it is so. He spoke with his wife as on any ordinary day. He wrote two sheets for his grandsons: "Give these to the guards tomorrow. Then he sent them out and barred the door. When his sons broke in, a single lamp still burned—he had donned cap and robes and drowned himself in the pool. The sealed papers were a final memorial: "Though stripped of rank, I was a great minister; when a minister is shamed, the state is shamed. I kowtow northward and follow Qu Yuan's example. To his student Hua Yuncheng he wrote: "A lifetime of learning—here at last it proves its worth." He was sixty-five. Near and far, all grieved his death.

呈秀憾猶未釋，矯詔下其子世儒吏。刑部坐世儒不能防閑其父，謫為徒。崇禎初，贈太子少保，兵部尚書，謚忠憲，授世儒官。

Chengxiu's hatred endured; a forged edict sent his son Shiru before the magistrates. The Ministry of Justice convicted Shiru for failing to restrain his father and sentenced him to convict labor. Early in Chongzhen he was posthumously made grand guardian of the heir apparent and minister of war with the posthumous name Zhongxian; Shiru received an office.

初，海內學者率宗王守仁，攀龍心非之。與顧憲成同講學東林書院，以靜為主。操履篤實，粹然一出於正，為一時儒者之宗。海內士大夫，識與不識，稱高、顧無異詞。攀龍削官之秋，詔毀東林書院。莊烈帝嗣位，學者更修復之。

Earlier, scholars empire-wide mostly followed Wang Yangming; Panlong inwardly disagreed. With Gu Xiancheng he taught at the Donglin Academy, taking stillness as the core. His conduct was solid and sincere, wholly upright, and he was patriarch of the age's Confucians. Scholars everywhere, knowing him or not, spoke of Gao and Gu with one voice. When Panlong was struck from office, an edict ordered the Donglin Academy destroyed. When Emperor Zhuanglie succeeded, scholars restored it.

馮從吾，字仲好，長安人。萬歷十七年進士。改庶吉士，授御史。巡視中城，閹人修刺謁，拒卻之。禮科都給事中胡汝寧傾邪狡猾，累劾不去。從吾發其奸，遂調外。時當大計，從吾嚴邏偵，苞苴絕跡。

Feng Congwu, whose style name was Zhonghao, came from Chang'an. He became a jinshi in Wanli 17. He became a Hanlin academician reader and was appointed censor. Patrolling the inner city, he refused eunuchs who came with bribes. Chief supervising secretary of the rites section Hu Runing was crooked; though repeatedly impeached he would not go. Congwu exposed his crimes and he was transferred out of the capital. During the great review Congwu patrolled strictly and bribery ceased.

二十年正月，抗章言：「陛下郊廟不親，朝講不禦，章奏留中不發。試觀戊子以前，四裔效順，海不揚波；己丑以後，南倭告警，北寇渝盟，天變人妖，疊出累告。勵精之效如彼，怠斁之患如此。近頌敕諭，謂聖體違和，欲借此自掩，不知鼓鐘於宮，聲聞於外。陛下每夕必飲，每飲必醉，每醉必怒。左右一言稍違，輒斃杖下，外庭無不知者。天下後世，其可欺乎！願陛下勿以天變為不足畏，勿以人言為不足恤，勿以目前晏安為可恃，勿以將來危亂為可忽，宗社幸甚。」帝大怒，欲廷杖之。會仁聖太后壽辰，閣臣力解得免。尋告歸，起巡長蘆鹽政。潔己惠商，奸宄斂跡。既還朝，適帝以軍政大黜兩京言官。從吾亦削籍，猶以前疏故也。

In the first month of year 20 he memorialized sternly: "Your Majesty does not attend sacrifices, does not hold morning lectures, and holds memorials without reply. Before the wuzi year the four quarters submitted and the sea was calm; after jichou, Japanese pirates alarmed the south and northern enemies broke treaty; omens multiplied. The fruit of diligence was peace; the fruit of slackness is peril. A recent edict claimed ill health to cover indulgence—not knowing palace drums are heard outside. Every evening you drink, every drinking ends in drunkenness, every drunkenness in rage. One word from those at your side brings death by staff; the outer court knows all. Can you deceive the world and posterity! Do not think omens unworthy of fear, public talk unworthy of heed, present ease secure, or future peril remote—the dynasty would be blessed. The emperor was furious and meant to beat him at court. It was the Ren Sheng empress dowager's birthday; chief ministers interceded and he was spared. He soon asked to retire and was appointed to inspect the Changlu salt administration. He kept himself pure, favored honest trade, and criminals shrank back. On his return the emperor dismissed remonstrance officials of both capitals on military grounds. Congwu was struck from the rolls as well—still for the earlier memorial.

從吾生而純愨，長誌濂、洛之學，受業許孚遠。罷官歸，杜門謝客，取先正格言，體驗身心，造詣益邃。家居二十五年。光宗踐阼，起尚寶卿，進太仆少卿，並以兄喪未赴。俄改大理。

Congwu was pure by nature; from youth he devoted himself to the learning of Zhou Dunyi and the Cheng brothers under Xu Fuyuan. Dismissed, he shut his door, tested former worthies' sayings in his own person, and deepened his attainment. He lived at home twenty-five years. When Guangzong ascended he was made vice minister of seals and of the imperial stud, but did not go because of his brother's mourning. He was soon moved to the Court of Judicial Review.

天啟二年擢左僉都御史。甫兩月，進左副都御史。廷議「三安」，從吾言：「李可灼以至尊嘗試，而許其引疾，當國何心！至梃擊之獄，與發奸諸臣為難者，即奸人也。」由是群小惡之。

In Tianqi 2 he was promoted left vice censor-in-chief. Barely two months later he was made left censor-in-chief. In deliberation on the "three pacifications," Congwu said: "Li Kezhuo was allowed to retire after testing medicine on the sovereign—what mind ruled the state! In the staff-assault case, those who trouble the men who exposed the villain are villains themselves. The petty men hated him for it.

已，與鄒元標共建首善書院，集同誌講學其中，給事中朱童蒙遂疏詆之。從吾言：「宋之不競，以禁講學故，非以講學故也。我二祖表章《六經》，天子經筵，皇太子出閣，皆講學也。臣子以此望君，而己則不為，可乎？先臣守仁，當兵事倥傯，不廢講學，卒成大功。此臣等所以不恤毀譽，而為此也。」因再稱疾求罷，帝溫詔慰留。而給事中郭允厚、郭興治復相繼詆元標甚力。從吾又上言：「臣壯歲登朝，即與楊起元、孟化鯉、陶望齡輩立講學會，自臣告歸乃廢。京師講學，昔已有之，何至今日遂為詬厲？」因再疏引歸。

Later he and Zou Yuanbiao founded the Shou Shan Academy; Zhu Tongmeng denounced them. Congwu wrote: "The Song fell because lecturing was forbidden, not because it was practiced. Our founding emperors exalted the 《Six Classics》; the sovereign's classics lecture and the heir apparent's schooling are lecturing. Ministers expect this of the ruler yet refuse it themselves—can that stand? Wang Yangming, amid war, did not cease lecturing and achieved great merit. That is why we do not spare reputation in this. He again asked to retire citing illness; the emperor comforted him and kept him. But Guo Yunhou and Guo Xingzhi attacked Yuanbiao again with great force. Congwu memorialized again: "In my vigorous years I entered court and with Yang Qiyuan, Meng Huayu, and Tao Wangling founded a lecture society; after I retired it lapsed. Lecturing in the capital is nothing new—how has it become abuse overnight? He submitted another memorial asking to retire.

四年春，起南京右都御史，累辭未上，召拜工部尚書。會趙南星、高攀龍相繼去國，連疏力辭，予致仕。明年秋，魏忠賢黨張訥疏詆從吾，削籍。鄉人王紹徽素銜從吾，及為吏部，使喬應甲撫陜，捃摭百方，無所得。乃毀書院，曳先聖像，擲之城隅。從吾不勝憤悒，得疾卒。崇禎初，復官，贈太子太保，謚恭定。

In the spring of the fourth year he was made Nanjing right censor-in-chief but repeatedly declined; he was then summoned as minister of works. When Zhao Nanxing and Gao Panlong left in succession, he repeatedly begged to retire and was granted retirement. The following autumn Zhang Na, a partisan of Wei Zhongxian, denounced Congwu and had him struck from the rolls. Wang Shaohui, a fellow townsman, had long resented Congwu; as minister of personnel he sent Qiao Yingjia to Shaanxi to gather evidence by every means and found nothing. They destroyed the academy, dragged off the sage's image, and flung it by the city wall. Congwu could not bear the outrage; he fell ill and died. Early in Chongzhen his office was restored; he was posthumously made grand guardian of the heir apparent with the posthumous name Gongding.

贊曰：趙南星諸人，持名檢，勵風節，嚴氣正性，侃侃立朝，天下望之如泰山喬嶽。《詩》有之，「邦之司直」，其斯人謂歟？權枉盈廷，譴謫相繼，「人之雲亡，邦國殄瘁」，悲夫！

The historian comments: Zhao Nanxing and his fellows upheld integrity, encouraged moral conduct, and stood at court with unbending rectitude; the realm looked to them as to Mount Tai. The 《Odes》 says, "the state's upright judge"—was it not men such as these? Power bent and filled the court; punishment followed punishment—"when worthy men depart, the state wastes away"—how lamentable!

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