1
張鶴鳴 〈（弟鶴騰）〉 董漢儒 〈（汪泗論）〉 趙彥王洽 〈（王在晉高第）〉 梁廷棟熊明遇張鳳翼陳新甲馮元飆 〈（兄元飏）〉
Zhang Heming (younger brother He Teng)〉 Dong Hanru (Wang Silun)〉 Zhao Yan; Wang Qia (Wang Zaijin; Gao Di)〉 Liang Tingdong; Xiong Mingyu; Zhang Fengyi; Chen Xinjia; Feng Yuanbiao (elder brother Yuan Yang)〉
2
張鶴鳴，字元平，潁州人。 中萬歷十四年會試，父病，馳歸。 越六年，始成進士。 除歷城知縣，移南京兵部主事。 累官陜西右參政，分巡臨、鞏，以才略聞。
Zhang Heming, whose style was Yuanping, came from Yingzhou. He passed the metropolitan examination in Wanli year 14, but when his father fell ill he rushed home. Six years later he at last completed his jinshi degree. He was made magistrate of Licheng and later transferred to a principal secretary post in the Nanjing Ministry of War. He rose to become Right Administration Commissioner of Shaanxi, with separate patrol authority over Lin and Gong, and won a reputation for ability and bold planning.
3
再遷右僉都御史，巡撫貴州。 自楊應龍平後，銷兵太多，苗仲所在為寇。 鶴鳴言：「仲賊乃粵西瑤種，流入黔中。 自貴陽抵滇，人以三萬計，砦以千四百七十計，分即為民，合即為盜。 又有紅苗，環銅仁、石阡、思州、思南四郡，數幾十萬，而鎮遠、清平間，大江、小江、九股諸種，皆應龍遺孽，眾萬余。 臣部卒止萬三千，何以禦賊？」 因列上增兵增餉九議。 合諸土兵剿洪邊十二馬頭，大破紅苗，追剿猱坪。 賊首老蠟雞據峰巔仰天窩，窩有九井，地平衍，容數千人，下通三道，各列三關，老蠟雞僭王號。 鶴鳴奪其關，老蠟雞授首，撫降余眾而還。 尋發兵擊平定廣、威平、安籠諸賊，威名甚著。 遷兵部右侍郎，總督陜西三邊軍務。 未上，轉左侍郎，佐理部事。 時兵事亟，兵部增設二侍郎，而鶴鳴與祁伯裕、王在晉並臥家園不赴。
He was promoted again to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Guizhou. After Yang Yinglong's defeat, too many troops were stood down, and Miao zhong bands turned to banditry throughout the province. Heming reported: "These zhong raiders are Yao from western Guang who have drifted into Guizhou. From Guiyang to the Yunnan border they number some thirty thousand people in nearly fifteen hundred stockades—scattered they pass as ordinary subjects, gathered they become robbers. The Red Miao ring the four prefectures of Tongren, Shiqian, Sizhou, and Sinan in numbers approaching several hundred thousand; between Zhenyuan and Qingping the Da Jiang, Xiao Jiang, and Jiugu clans—all Yinglong's surviving followers—still field more than ten thousand men. My command has only thirteen thousand soldiers—how are we to hold them off?" He then laid out nine proposals for reinforcing the army and raising funds. He rallied the native militias to strike the twelve matou strongholds at Hongbian, broke the Red Miao in a major battle, and drove the pursuit as far as Yaoping. The rebel leader Old Wax Chicken held Yangtian Nest on a mountain crest—a level basin with nine wells that could shelter several thousand men, with three approaches below each guarded by three passes—and had taken a king's title for himself. Heming stormed the passes, Old Wax Chicken was beheaded, and after accepting the surrender of the rest Heming withdrew. He soon sent forces against the rebels of Dingguang, Weiping, Anlong, and other districts, and his military fame spread widely. He was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War and appointed supreme commander of Shaanxi's three border commands. Before he could take up that post he was shifted to Left Vice Minister to help run the ministry. Military affairs were pressing, and though the Ministry of War added two vice-minister posts, Heming, Qi Boyu, and Wang Zaijin all stayed at home and refused to take office.
4
至天啟元年，遼陽破，兵事益亟。 右侍郎張經世督援師出關，部中遂無侍郎。 言官請趣鶴鳴等，章數十上，帝乃克期令兵部馬上督催，鶴鳴等始履任。 至則論平苗功，進本部尚書，視侍郎事。 尚書王象乾出督薊、遼軍務，鶴鳴遂代其位。 給事中韋蕃請留象乾，出鶴鳴督師。 忤旨，謫外。 時熊廷弼經略遼東，性剛負氣，好謾罵，淩轢朝士。 鶴鳴與相失，事多齟齬，獨喜巡撫王化貞。 化貞本庸才，好大言，鶴鳴主之，所奏請無不從，令無受廷弼節度。 中外皆知經、撫不和，必誤封疆，而鶴鳴信化貞愈篤，卒致疆事大壞。
In the first year of Tianqi Liaoyang fell, and the military crisis deepened. Right Vice Minister Zhang Jingshi led relief forces beyond the pass, leaving no vice minister at the ministry. Censors repeatedly urged that Heming and his colleagues be summoned; after dozens of memorials the emperor set a deadline and ordered the Ministry of War to press them immediately, and only then did they take office. On arrival his success against the Miao was recognized and he was promoted to full minister of the ministry while still handling vice-minister duties. When Minister Wang Xiangqian left to supervise the Ji and Liaodong commands, Heming succeeded to his post. Supervising Secretary Wei Fan asked that Xiangqian be retained at court and Heming sent out to command the armies. He had crossed the emperor and was banished to an outside post. Xiong Tingbi was then military commissioner of Liaodong—a proud, combative man who loved to hurl abuse and ride roughshod over colleagues at court. Heming took against him; the two quarreled constantly, while Heming alone favored Grand Coordinator Wang Huazhen. Huazhen was a mediocrity fond of grand promises; backed by Heming, every request he made was approved, and he was told not to take orders from Tingbi. Everyone at court and beyond knew the commissioner and coordinator were at odds and would wreck the frontier, yet Heming's faith in Huazhen only deepened—and in the end the border collapsed.
5
二年正月，廷議經、撫去留。 給事中惠世揚、周朝瑞議以鶴鳴代廷弼，其他多言經、撫宜並任，鶴鳴獨毅然主撤廷弼，專任化貞。 議甫上，化貞已棄廣寧遁。 鶴鳴內慚，且懼罪，乃自請行邊，詔加太子太保，賜蟒玉及尚方劍。 鶴鳴憚行，逗遛十七日，始抵山海關。 至則無所籌畫，日下令捕間諜，厚啖蒙古炒花、宰賽諸部而已。
In the first month of year two the court debated whether to keep or remove the commissioner and the coordinator. Supervising Secretaries Hui Shiyang and Zhou Chaorui urged replacing Tingbi with Heming; most voices favored keeping both men; Heming alone insisted on removing Tingbi and giving Huazhen sole command. Hardly had the debate been joined when Huazhen abandoned Guangning and fled. Ashamed and fearing blame, Heming volunteered to take the field; the emperor made him Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and gave him python robes, jade, and the imperial sword. Reluctant to go, he dawdled for seventeen days before reaching Shanhaiguan. Once there he devised no strategy at all, issuing daily orders to round up spies and stuffing the Mongol leaders Chaohua, Zaisai, and their followers with gifts—and nothing more.
6
初，廣寧敗書聞，廷臣集議兵事。 鶴鳴盛氣詈廷弼自解。 給事中劉弘化首論之，坐奪俸。 御史江秉謙、何薦可繼劾，並貶官。 廷臣益憤。 御史謝文錦，給事中惠世揚、周朝瑞、蕭良佐、侯震旸、熊德陽等交章極論，請用世宗戮丁汝夔、神宗逮石星故事，與化貞並按。 鶴鳴抵言廷弼僨疆事，由故大學士劉一燝、尚書周嘉謨黨庇不令出關所致，因詆言者為一燝鷹犬。 且曰：「祖宗故事，大司馬不以封疆蒙功罪。」 於是朝瑞等復合疏劾之，御史周宗文亦列其八罪。 帝不問。 鶴鳴遷延數月，謝病歸。
When word of the Guangning disaster reached the capital, the court gathered to debate military policy. Heming raged against Tingbi in an effort to clear his own name. Supervising Secretary Liu Honghua led the attack on him and was fined a year's salary. Censors Jiang Bingqian and He Jianku followed with impeachments and were both demoted in rank. Court opinion grew fiercer still. Censor Xie Wenjin and supervising secretaries Hui Shiyang, Zhou Chaorui, Xiao Liangzuo, Hou Zhenyang, Xiong Deyang, and others flooded the throne with memorials demanding precedents like the execution of Ding Ruqi under Jiajing and the arrest of Shi Xing under Wanli, and joint prosecution of Heming and Huazhen. Heming retorted that Tingbi had ruined the frontier because former Grand Secretary Liu Yijian and Minister Zhou Jiamo had shielded him in faction and kept him from taking the field, and called his critics Liu Yijian's lackeys. He added: "By ancestral precedent the Minister of War is not to be rewarded or punished for frontier gains and losses." Chaorui and others then submitted another joint impeachment, and Censor Zhou Zongwen listed eight charges against him. The emperor took no action. After months of delay Heming resigned on grounds of illness and went home.
7
六年春，魏忠賢勢大熾，起鶴鳴南京工部尚書。 尋以安邦彥未滅，鶴鳴先有平苗功，改兵部尚書，總督貴州、四川、雲南、湖廣、廣西軍務，賜尚方劍。 功未就，莊烈帝嗣位。 給事中瞿式耜、胡永順、萬鵬以鶴鳴由忠賢進，連章擊之。 鶴鳴求去，詔加太子太師，乘傳歸。 崇禎八年，流賊陷潁州，執鶴鳴，倒懸於樹，罵賊死，年八十五。
In the spring of year six, as Wei Zhongxian's power surged, Heming was recalled as Nanjing Minister of Works. Soon, with An Bangyan still undefeated and Heming's earlier Miao campaigns remembered, he was made Minister of War and supreme commander over Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan, Huguang, and Guangxi, with the imperial sword. Before the campaign was finished, the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne. Supervising secretaries Qu Shisi, Hu Yongshun, and Wan Peng attacked him in a stream of memorials, citing his rise through Wei Zhongxian's patronage. Heming asked to resign; the emperor made him Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and sent him home by official relay. In Chongzhen year eight bandits took Yingzhou, seized Heming, hung him head-down from a tree, and he died cursing them at the age of eighty-five.
8
弟鶴騰，字元漢，舉萬歷二十三年進士。 歷官雲南副使。 行誼醇篤，譽過其兄。 城陷被執，罵不絕口而死。
His younger brother He Teng, styled Yuanhan, took his jinshi degree in Wanli year 23. He rose to become Vice Commissioner of Yunnan. His character was upright and steadfast, and his reputation outshone his brother's. When the city fell he was captured and died still cursing the enemy without pause.
9
董漢儒，開州人。 萬歷十七年進士。 授河南府推官，入為戶部主事。 疏陳減織造、裁冒濫諸事。 且曰：「邇來九閽三殿間，惟聞縱酒、淫刑、黷貨。 時事可憂，不止國計日絀已也。」 不報。 朝鮮再用兵，以郎中出理餉務。
Dong Hanru came from Kaizhou. He became a jinshi in Wanli year 17. He was made investigating commissioner of Henan Prefecture, then entered the capital as a principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. He memorialized urging cuts to imperial weaving, elimination of fraudulent claims, and related reforms. He wrote: "Lately, between the Nine Gates and the Three Halls, one hears only of drunken excess, cruel punishments, and bribery. The times are alarming—not only because state revenues shrink daily." The court did not respond. When war broke out again in Korea he went out as a bureau director to manage military supplies.
10
尋遷山東僉事，進副使，歷湖廣左右布政使，所在有聲。 四十年，就拜右副都御史，巡撫其地。 帝賜福王莊田，責湖廣四千四百余頃，漢儒以無所得田，請歲輸萬金代租，不聽。 楚宗五十余人，訐假王事獲罪，囚十載，漢儒力言，王，假也，請釋系者。 又為滿朝薦、卞孔時等乞宥。 俱不報。 憂歸。
He was soon promoted through Shandong vice commissioner to vice commissioner, then served as left and right provincial administration commissioner of Huguang, winning renown wherever he was posted. In year 40 he was appointed on the spot as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Huguang. The emperor granted estate lands to the Prince of Fu and demanded more than 4,400 qing from Huguang; Hanru, unable to locate the land, asked to pay ten thousand taels a year in lieu of rent—the request was denied. More than fifty members of the Chu imperial clan had been imprisoned for ten years after denouncing a bogus prince; Hanru argued forcefully that the prince was a fraud and asked that the detainees be freed. He also pleaded for pardons for Man Chaojian, Bian Kongshi, and others. None of these petitions was answered. He returned home to observe mourning.
11
光宗立，召拜工部右侍郎。 旋改兵部，總督宣府、大同、山西軍務。 天啟改元，遼陽失，簡精卒二千入衛，詔褒之。 明年秋，以左侍郎協理戎政。 未上，擢兵部尚書。 時遼地盡亡，漢儒請逮治諸降將劉世勛等二十九人家屬，立誅逃將蔡汝賢等，報可。 毛文龍居海外，屢以虛言誑中朝，登萊巡撫袁可立每代為奏請。 漢儒言文龍計畫疏，虛聲未可長恃； 又請誅逃將管大藩、張思任、孟淑孔等，語甚切。 帝命逮治思任等，而大藩卒置不問。 諸鎮援遼軍多逃逸，有出塞投插部者，漢儒請捕獲立誅，同伍相擒捕者重賞； 且給餉以時，則逃者自少。 帝亦嘉納。
When Emperor Guangzong took the throne he was recalled as Right Vice Minister of Works. He was soon transferred to the Ministry of War as supreme commander of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi. At the beginning of the Tianqi reign Liaoyang fell; he selected two thousand elite troops for the capital guard and received an imperial commendation. The following autumn he was made Left Vice Minister to help manage military affairs. Before he could take up that post he was promoted to Minister of War. With Liaodong lost entirely, Hanru urged arresting the families of twenty-nine surrendered generals including Liu Shixun and executing deserters including Cai Ruxian—the court agreed. Mao Wenlong held an offshore base and repeatedly fed the court empty boasts; Grand Coordinator Yuan Keli of Deng-Lai often forwarded his petitions. Hanru warned that Wenlong's plans were unsound and his empty reputation could not be trusted for long; he also demanded execution of deserters Guan Dafan, Zhang Siren, Meng Shukong, and others in urgent terms. The emperor ordered Siren and the others arrested, but Dafan was ultimately left alone. Troops from the garrisons sent to aid Liaodong deserted in large numbers, some crossing the border to join the Cha tribes; Hanru urged immediate execution of anyone captured and heavy rewards for comrades who turned them in; and argued that timely pay would itself reduce desertions. The emperor approved these proposals as well.
12
奄人王體乾、宋晉、魏忠賢等十二人有舊勞，命所蔭錦衣官皆予世襲。 漢儒據祖制力爭，帝不從。 給事中程註、御史汪泗論等合疏諫，給事中朱大典、周之綱，御史宋師襄、胡良機特疏繼之，卒不納。 漢儒旋以母喪歸。 後忠賢大橫，漢儒服闋，遂不召。 追敘甘肅功，即家進太子太保，蔭子錦衣百戶。 卒贈少保，謚肅敏。
Twelve eunuchs including Wang Tigan, Song Jin, and Wei Zhongxian had past service to their credit; the emperor ordered that all their hereditary brocade-guard appointments be made permanent. Hanru fought the order on grounds of ancestral precedent, but the emperor refused. Supervising secretaries Cheng Zhu and censor Wang Silun joined in a joint remonstrance; Zhu Dadian, Zhou Zhigang, Song Shixiang, and Hu Liangji followed with separate memorials—but the emperor would not budge. Hanru soon left office to mourn his mother. Later, as Wei Zhongxian's power swelled, Hanru finished mourning but was never recalled. His service in Gansu was recognized posthumously: he was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent at home, and his son received a hereditary brocade-guard command of one hundred households. After his death he was posthumously made Junior Guardian with the temple name Sumi.
13
汪泗論，字自魯，休寧人。 祖垍，嘉靖中進士，歷官福建兵備僉事，分守福寧。 倭犯同安，垍釋重囚七人為軍鋒，擊倭卻之。 捷聞，賚金幣。
Wang Silun, styled Zilu, came from Xiuning. His grandfather Ji took the jinshi in the Jiajing era and rose to Military Affairs Vice Commissioner of Fujian, with separate command of Funing. When Japanese raiders struck Tong'an, Ji released seven condemned prisoners to lead the assault and drove the enemy back. On news of victory he received gifts of gold and silk.
14
泗論中萬歷三十八年進士。 授漳浦知縣，調福清，有惠政，清屯田，繕城堡。 征擢御史，首請杜內批以嚴履霜之漸，又請召還科臣楊漣等以作士氣。 巡按江西，敦重持大體，奸宄肅然。 宗人祿不給，疏以橋稅贖鍰存留接濟。 歷太仆寺少卿。 嘗識黃道周於諸生中，人服其精鑒。
Silun became a jinshi in Wanli year 38. He served as magistrate of Zhangpu, then Fuqing, where his benevolent rule included clearing military colonies and repairing fortifications. Promoted to censor, he first urged blocking imperial rescripts from the inner court to check creeping abuse, and asked that Yang Lian and other supervising secretaries be recalled to revive scholarly morale. As touring censor of Jiangxi he was grave and principled, and wrongdoing subsided. When clan stipends fell short, he memorialized that bridge tolls and retained fines be used for relief. He rose to Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. He had spotted Huang Daozhou among the students, and others admired his keen eye for talent.
15
趙彥，膚施人。 萬歷十一年進士。 授行人，屢遷山西左布政使。 光宗嗣位，以右僉都御史巡撫山東。 遼陽既失，彥請增兵戍諸島，特設大將登州，登、萊設鎮，自此始。 天啟二年，廣寧復失。 彥以山東南北咽喉，列上八事，詔多允行。
Zhao Yan came from Fushi. He became a jinshi in Wanli year 11. He was made a courier and rose to Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shanxi. When Emperor Guangzong succeeded, he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Shandong. After Liaoyang fell, Yan urged reinforcing the offshore islands, creating a senior commander post at Dengzhou and establishing the Deng-Lai garrison command—measures begun at his initiative. In Tianqi year two Guangning fell again. Calling Shandong the strategic throat between north and south, Yan submitted eight proposals; the court approved most of them.
16
先是，薊州人王森得妖狐異香，倡白蓮教，自稱聞香教主。 其徒有大小傳頭及會主諸號，蔓延畿輔、山東、山西、河南、陜西、四川。 森居灤州石佛莊，徒黨輸金錢稱朝貢，飛竹籌報機事，一日數百里。 萬歷二十三年，有司捕系森，論死，用賄得釋。 乃入京師，結外戚中官，行教自如。 後森徒李國用別立教，用符咒召鬼。 兩教相仇，事盡露。 四十二年，森復為有司所攝，越五歲，斃於獄。 其子好賢及鉅野徐鴻儒、武邑於弘誌輩踵其教，徒黨益眾。 至是，好賢見遼東盡失，四方奸民思逞，與鴻儒等約是年中秋並起兵。 會謀泄，鴻儒遂先期反，自號中興福烈帝，稱大成興勝元年，用紅巾為識。 五月戊申陷鄆城，俄陷鄒、滕、嶧，眾至數萬。
Earlier, Wang Sen of Jizhou claimed a magical fox had given him a strange fragrance; he founded the White Lotus teaching and called himself Leader of the Fragrant-Smelling Sect. His followers used ranks such as great and small transmission heads and assembly chiefs, and the movement spread through the capital region, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan. Sen lived at Shifo Manor in Luanzhou; disciples paid tribute in gold and silver, and bamboo tallies carried intelligence hundreds of li in a single day. In Wanli year 23 officials arrested Sen and sentenced him to death, but he bought his release. He then went to the capital, cultivated ties with imperial in-laws and eunuchs, and continued preaching as before. Later Sen's follower Li Guoyong founded a rival sect that summoned spirits with talismans and spells. The rival sects turned on each other and the whole affair came to light. In year 42 Sen was arrested again; five years later he died in prison. His son Haoxian, Xu Hongru of Juye, Yu Hongzhi of Wuyi, and others carried on the teaching, and the movement swelled. By then Haoxian saw Liaodong lost and malcontents everywhere ready to strike; he and Hongru agreed to rise together at that year's Mid-Autumn Festival. When the plot leaked, Hongru rose early, proclaimed himself Emperor of Restored Fortune and Fierce Blessing, dated his reign Great Accomplishment and Rising Victory year one, and adopted red scarves as his banner. On the wushen day of the fifth month he seized Yancheng, then quickly took Zou, Teng, and Yi, gathering tens of thousands of followers.
17
時承平久，郡縣無守備，山東故不置重兵。 彥任都司楊國棟、廖棟，而檄所部練民兵，增諸要地守卒。 請留京操班軍及廣東援遼軍，以備征調。 薦起故大同總兵官楊肇基為山東總兵官，討賊。 賊乘肇基未至，襲兗州，為滋陽知縣楊炳所卻。 棟等擊敗賊，復鄆城。 其別部犯鉅野，知縣趙延慶固守不下，國棟兵至，敗之，又敗其犯兗州者。 遂偕棟等合攻鄒縣。 兵潰，遊擊張榜戰死，賊遂圍曲阜、郯城。 旋敗去，遂復嶧縣。
After long peace the prefectures were undefended, and Shandong had never maintained a large garrison. Yan put regional commanders Yang Guodong and Liao Dong in charge, ordered militia drill throughout his jurisdiction, and reinforced garrisons at key points. He asked to retain the capital drill corps and Guangdong troops sent to aid Liaodong for deployment. He recommended recalling former Datong commander Yang Zhaoji as Shandong supreme commander to suppress the rebels. The rebels struck Yanzhou before Zhaoji arrived but were driven back by Ziyang magistrate Yang Bing. Dong and others defeated the rebels and retook Yancheng. A splinter force attacked Juye; magistrate Zhao Yanqing held the city until Guodong arrived and routed them, then defeated another column heading for Yanzhou. He then joined Dong and others in a combined assault on Zou County. The army broke; guerrilla commander Zhang Bang was killed, and the rebels besieged Qufu and Tancheng. They were soon beaten back and Yi County was recovered.
18
七月，彥視師兗州。 甫出城，遇賊萬余，彥縋入城。 肇基急迎戰，而令國棟及棟夾擊，大敗之橫河。 時賊精銳聚鄒、滕中道，彥欲攻鄒、滕。 副使徐從治曰：「攻鄒、滕難下，不如搗其中堅，兩城可圖也。」 彥乃與肇基令遊兵綴賊鄒城，而以大軍擊賊精銳於黃陰、紀王城，大敗賊，蹙而殪之嶧山，遂圍鄒。 大小數十戰，城未下，令天津僉事來斯行及國棟等乘間復滕縣。 國棟又大破賊沙河，乃築長圍以攻鄒。 鴻儒抗守三月，食盡，賊黨盡出降； 鴻儒單騎走，被擒。 撫其眾四萬七千余人。 彥乃紀績，告廟獻俘，磔鴻儒於市。 鴻儒躪山東二十年，徒黨不下二百萬，至是始伏誅。
In the seventh month Yan inspected the troops at Yanzhou. Barely outside the walls he met more than ten thousand rebels and had to be hauled back inside by rope. Zhaoji rushed to engage while Guodong and Dong struck from both flanks, routing the enemy at Heng River. The rebels' best troops were massed between Zou and Teng, and Yan wanted to attack both cities. Vice Commissioner Xu Congzhi said: "Zou and Teng will be hard to take directly; better to strike their main force, and both cities may then fall." Yan and Zhaoji pinned the rebels at Zou with light troops while the main army crushed their elite at Huangyin and Jiwangcheng, destroyed them at Yishan, and then besieged Zou. After dozens of battles Zou still held; he sent Tianjin Vice Commissioner Lai Sixing and Guodong to retake Teng County when an opening appeared. Guodong routed the rebels again at Sha River, and they built a long encirclement around Zou. Hongru held out three months until food ran out; his followers surrendered en masse; Hongru fled alone on horseback and was captured. He pacified more than forty-seven thousand of their followers. Yan recorded the victory, reported to the ancestral temple, presented captives, and had Hongru dismembered in public. Hongru had plagued Shandong for twenty years with a following said to reach two million; only now was he finally put to death.
19
於弘誌亦於是年六月據武邑白家屯，將取景州應鴻儒。 斯行方赴援山東，還軍討之。 弘誌突圍走，為諸生葉廷珍所獲，凡舉事七日而滅。 好賢亦捕得伏誅。
That same year, in the sixth month, Yu Hongzhi seized Baijia Village in Wuyi, planning to take Jingzhou in support of Hongru. Sixing, who had been marching to aid Shandong, turned back to suppress him. Hongzhi broke out and fled but was seized by student Ye Tingzhen; the entire rising collapsed in seven days. Haoxian was also captured and executed.
20
彥已加兵部侍郎，論功，進尚書兼右副都御史，再加太子太保，蔭子錦衣世僉事，賚銀幣加等。 奏請振濟，且捐鄒、滕賦三年，鄆城、嶧、滋陽、曲阜一年，鉅野半之，皆報許。
Already a vice minister of war, Yan was promoted to minister and Right Vice Censor-in-Chief for his victory, made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, granted his son a hereditary brocade-guard vice commandership, and rewarded with silver and silk at an elevated grade. He requested relief and remitted three years of taxes for Zou and Teng, one year for Yancheng, Yi, Ziyang, and Qufu, and half a year for Juye—all approved.
21
三年八月，召代董漢儒為兵部尚書，極陳邊將克餉、役軍、虛伍、占馬諸弊，因條列綜核事宜。 帝稱善，立下諸邊舉行。 參將王楹行邊，為哈剌慎部襲殺，彥請核實論罪，並敕諸邊撫賞毋增故額。 有傳我大清兵欲入喜峰口者，彥憂之，畫上八事，帝皆褒納。 楊漣劾魏忠賢二十四罪，彥亦抗疏劾之，自是為忠賢所惡。 貴州征苗兵屢敗，彥列八策以獻，詔頒示軍中。
In the eighth month of year three he was summoned to replace Dong Hanru as Minister of War, denounced frontier abuses such as withholding pay, impressing soldiers, padded rolls, and seizing horses, and laid out a comprehensive audit plan. The emperor approved and ordered the frontiers to carry it out. Assistant General Wang Ying was killed on a border tour in a Kharchin raid; Yan demanded investigation and punishment, and ordered frontier commands not to increase gift payments beyond established quotas. When rumors spread that Qing forces might enter through Xifeng Pass, Yan submitted eight countermeasures; the emperor praised and accepted them all. When Yang Lian impeached Wei Zhongxian on twenty-four counts, Yan joined with a bold memorial of his own—and earned Zhongxian's lasting hatred. After repeated defeats in the Guizhou Miao campaigns, Yan submitted eight strategies; the court ordered them circulated in the army.
22
彥有籌略，曉暢兵事。 然征妖賊時，諸將多殺良民冒功，而其子官錦衣，頗招搖都市。 給事、御史交劾之。 彥三疏乞罷，忠賢挾前憾，令乘傳歸，子削籍。 初，妖賊興，遼東經略王在晉遣兵助討，彥敘功不及在晉，在晉憾之，至是為南京吏部，數詆彥。 給事中袁玉佩遂劾彥冒功濫蔭，且言京觀不當築。 詔削其世蔭，並京觀毀之。 尋追敘兵部時邊功，即家進太子太傅。 未幾卒。
Yan was a capable strategist who understood military affairs well. Yet during the sect suppression many generals killed civilians to claim credit, and his son, a brocade-guard officer, swaggered through the markets. Supervising secretaries and censors impeached him in turn. Yan begged to resign three times; Zhongxian, nursing his grudge, sent him home by relay and struck his son from the rolls. When the sect rebellion broke out, Liaodong commissioner Wang Zaijin had sent troops to help; Yan's victory report omitted him, and Zaijin, now at the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel, repeatedly slandered Yan. Supervising Secretary Yuan Yupei then impeached Yan for inflating merit and abusing hereditary grants, and argued that the victory mound of enemy heads should not be built. An edict stripped his hereditary privilege and ordered the victory mound demolished. Soon his frontier service as minister of war was recognized posthumously and he was made Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent at home. He died not long after.
23
王洽，字和仲，臨邑人。 萬歷三十二年進士。 歷知東光、任丘。 服闋，補長垣。 治儀表頎偉，危坐堂上，吏民望之若神明。 其廉能為一方最。
Wang Qia, styled Hezhong, came from Linyi. He became a jinshi in Wanli year 32. He served as magistrate of Dongguang and Renqiu. After mourning he was assigned to Changyuan. Qia was tall and imposing; seated upright in court, officials and commoners regarded him almost as a deity. His integrity and competence were unmatched in the region.
24
擢吏部稽勛主事，歷考功文選郎中。 天啟初，諸賢匯進，洽有力焉。 遷太常少卿。 三年冬，以右僉都御史巡撫浙江。 洽本趙南星所引，及魏忠賢逐南星，洽乞罷，不許。 五年四月，御史李應公希忠賢指劾洽，遂奪職閑住。
He was promoted to principal secretary in the Ministry of Personnel's Merit Records section and rose to bureau director in Merit Evaluation and Civil Appointment. At the start of the Tianqi reign he helped bring worthy men into office. He was made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In the winter of year three he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Zhejiang. Qia had been Zhao Nanxing's protégé; when Wei Zhongxian ousted Nanxing, Qia asked to resign but was refused. In the fourth month of year five Censor Li Yinggong, doing Zhongxian's bidding, impeached Qia and had him stripped of office and sent into retirement.
25
尋上言：「祖宗養兵百萬，不費朝廷一錢，屯田是也。 今遼東、永平、天津、登、萊沿海荒地，及寶坻、香河、豐潤、玉田、三河、順義諸縣閑田百萬頃。 元虞集有京東水田之議，本朝萬歷初，總督張佳允、巡撫張國彥行之薊鎮，為豪右所阻。 其後，巡撫汪應蛟復行之河間。 今已墾者荒，未墾者置不問，遺天施地生之利，而日講生財之術，為養軍資，不大失策乎！ 乞敕諸道監司，遵先朝七分防操、三分屯墾之制，實心力行，庶國計有裨，軍食無缺。」 帝稱善，即命行之。 嘗奏汰年深武弁無薦者四十八人，以邊才舉監司楊嗣昌、梁廷棟，後皆大用。
He soon memorialized: "Our ancestors supported a million troops without costing the court a coin—through military colonies. Today a million qing of idle land lies along the Liaodong, Yongping, Tianjin, and Deng-Lai coasts and in Baodi, Xianghe, Fengrun, Yutian, Sanhe, and Shunyi. In the Yuan, Yu Ji had proposed irrigated fields in eastern Jing; in early Wanli commanders Zhang Jiayun and Zhang Guoyan tried it at Jizhou but were blocked by powerful families. Later Grand Coordinator Wang Yingjiao tried again in Hejian. Now reclaimed land lies fallow and unreclaimed land is ignored—we waste heaven's bounty while debating how to raise money for the army. Is this not a grave mistake? I ask that circuit officials be ordered to follow the old ratio of seven parts defense drill to three parts colony reclamation and carry it out in earnest, so state revenue may gain and army rations not fail." The emperor approved and ordered it carried out at once. He once urged dismissal of forty-eight long-serving military officers with no recommendations, and recommended Yang Sichang and Liang Tingdong for frontier talent—both later rose to high command.
26
二年十月，我大清兵由大安口入，都城戒嚴。 洽急征四方兵入衛，督師袁崇煥，巡撫解經傳、郭之琮，總兵官祖大壽、趙率教、滿桂、侯世祿、尤世威、曹鳴雷等先後至，不能拒，大清兵遂深入。 帝憂甚，十一月召對廷臣。 侍郎周延儒言：「本兵備禦疏忽，調度乖張。」 檢討項煜繼之，且曰：「世宗斬一丁汝夔，將士震悚，強敵宵遁。」 帝頷之，遂下洽獄，以左侍郎申用懋代。 明年四月，洽竟瘐死。 尋論罪，復坐大辟。
In the tenth month of year two Qing forces entered through Da'an Pass and the capital was placed under martial law. Qia urgently summoned troops from all directions for the capital guard; Yuan Chonghuan, Xie Jingchuan, Guo Zhizong, Zu Dashou, Zhao Shuaijiao, Man Gui, Hou Shilu, You Shiwei, Cao Minglei, and others arrived in turn but could not stop them, and Qing forces drove deep into the realm. The emperor was deeply troubled and in the eleventh month summoned the court for audience. Vice Minister Zhou Yanru said: "The Ministry of War has been negligent in defense and its deployments chaotic. Reviewing compiler Xiang Yu added: "When Emperor Jiajing executed Ding Ruqi alone, the army was shaken and the enemy fled overnight. The emperor nodded; Qia was thrown into prison and Left Vice Minister Shen Yongmao replaced him. The following fourth month Qia died in prison. His case was later judged and he was again sentenced to death.
27
洽清修伉直，雅負時望，而應變非所長。 驟逢大故，以時艱見絀。 遵化陷，再日始得報。 帝怒其偵探不明，又以廷臣玩祇，擬用重典，故於洽不少貸。 厥後都城復三被兵，樞臣鹹獲免，人多為洽惜之。
Qia was upright and principled and widely respected, but crisis management was not his strength. When catastrophe struck, he was overwhelmed by the moment. Zunhua fell, and word reached the capital only two days later. The emperor was furious at the poor intelligence and the court's complacency, intended severe punishment, and showed Qia no mercy. Later the capital was attacked three more times, yet other military ministers escaped blame—many felt Qia had been treated unfairly.
28
高第，字登之，灤州人。 萬歷十七年進士。 歷官兵部尚書，經略薊、遼。 未數月，以恇怯劾罷去。 崇禎二年冬，大清兵破灤州，第竄免。
Gao Di, styled Dengzhi, came from Luanzhou. He became a jinshi in Wanli year 17. He rose to Minister of War and military commissioner of Ji and Liaodong. Within months he was impeached for cowardice and dismissed. In Chongzhen year two winter Qing forces took Luanzhou and Di fled.
29
梁廷棟，鄢陵人。 父克從，太常少卿。 廷棟舉萬歷四十七年進士。 授南京兵部主事，召改禮部，歷儀制郎中。 天啟五年，遷撫治西寧參議。 七年，調永平兵備副使。 督撫以下為魏忠賢建祠，廷棟獨不往，乞終養歸。
Liang Tingdong came from Yanling. His father Kecong was Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Tingdong took his jinshi in Wanli year 47. He was a principal secretary in the Nanjing Ministry of War, then transferred to the Ministry of Rites as bureau director of Ceremonial Regulations. In Tianqi year five he became administration commissioner for governing Xining. In year seven he became Military Affairs Vice Commissioner of Yongping. While grand coordinators and below built shrines to Wei Zhongxian, Tingdong refused to attend and asked to retire to care for his parents.
30
三年正月，兵部尚書申用懋罷，特召廷棟掌部事。 時京師雖解嚴，羽書旁午，廷棟剖決無滯。 而廷臣見其驟用，心嫉之。 給事中陳良訓首刺廷棟，同官陶崇道復言：「廷棟數月前一監司耳，倏而為巡撫、總督、本兵，國士之遇宜何如報。 乃在通州時，言遵、永易復，良、固難破，自以為神算。 今何以難者易，易者難？ 且嘗請躬履行間，隨敵追擊，以為此報主熱血。 今偃然中樞，熱血何銷亡也？ 謂制敵不專在戰，似矣，而伐謀用間，其計安在？」 帝不聽崇道言。 廷棟疏辨，乞一巖疆自效，優詔慰留之。 未幾，工部主事李逢申劾廷棟虛名，崇道又言廷棟輕於發言，致臨洮、固原入衛兵變。 帝皆不納。 五月，永平四城復，賞廷棟調度功，加太子少保，世蔭錦衣僉事。
In the first month of year three Minister Shen Yongmao was dismissed and Tingdong was specially summoned to run the ministry. Though the capital alert had ended, urgent dispatches poured in and Tingdong handled them without delay. Court ministers resented his sudden rise. Supervising Secretary Chen Liangxun attacked him first; Tao Chongdao added: "Months ago Tingdong was only a surveillance commissioner; now he is grand coordinator, supreme commander, and minister—what return does such favor deserve? At Tongzhou he said Zunhua and Yongping would be easy to recover and Liang and Gu hard to crack—he called it foresight. Why are the hard ones now easy and the easy ones hard? He once vowed to take the field and pursue the enemy—hot blood repaying his sovereign. Now he sits comfortably at headquarters—where did that hot blood go? He says victory is not all fighting—but where are his stratagems and espionage? The emperor ignored Chongdao. Tingdong defended himself and asked to serve on a critical frontier; the emperor comforted him and kept him in post. Soon Li Fengshen impeached him for empty reputation; Chongdao added that rash orders had caused mutiny among Lintao and Guyuan troops sent to the capital. The emperor accepted none of it. In the fifth month Yongping's four cities were recovered; Tingdong was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and his son granted a hereditary brocade-guard post.
31
其秋，廷棟以兵食不足，將加賦，因言：「今日閭左雖窮，然不窮於遼餉也。 一歲中，陰為加派者，不知其數。 如朝覲、考滿、行取、推升，少者費五六千金，合海內計之，國家選一番守令，天下加派數百萬。 巡按查盤、訪緝、饋遺、謝薦，多者至二三萬金，合天下計之，國家遣一番巡方，天下加派百余萬，而曰民窮於遼餉，何也？ 臣考九邊額設兵餉，兵不過五十萬，餉不過千五百三十余萬，何憂不足。 故今日民窮之故，惟在官貪。 使貪風不除，即不加派，民愁苦自若； 使貪風一息，即再加派，民歡忻亦自若。」 疏入，帝俞其言，下戶部協議。 戶部尚書畢自嚴阿廷棟意，即言今日之策，無逾加賦，請畝加九厘之外，再增三厘。 於是增賦百六十五萬有奇，海內並咨怨。 已，陳厘弊五事：曰屯田，曰鹽法，曰錢法，曰茶馬，曰積粟。 又極陳陜西致寇之由，請重懲將吏貪汙者以紓軍民之憤，塞叛亂之源。 帝皆褒納。
That autumn, with military funds short, Tingdong planned new levies and said: "The people are poor—but not only from Liaodong pay. Hidden surcharges within a single year are beyond counting. Court audiences, evaluations, selections, and promotions cost magistrates at least five or six thousand taels each; nationwide each round of appointments adds millions in surcharges. Touring censors' inspections, gifts, and bribes can reach twenty or thirty thousand taels; each dispatch adds over a million nationwide—yet we blame Liaodong pay alone? I calculate the nine frontiers' established pay: no more than five hundred thousand troops and fifteen million three hundred thousand taels—why fear shortage? Today's poverty comes solely from official corruption. If corruption is not checked, the people will suffer even without new levies; if corruption stops, the people will bear even added levies willingly. The emperor approved and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to discuss. Minister Bi Ziyan sided with Tingdong and said the only policy was more levies—three additional fen per mu beyond the nine fen already imposed. The levy added more than 1.65 million taels and provoked nationwide outrage. He then proposed reforms in five areas: military colonies, salt, coinage, tea and horses, and grain reserves. He also detailed how corruption in Shaanxi bred rebels and urged punishing corrupt officers to relieve popular anger and stop rebellion at its source. The emperor approved all.
32
廷棟居中樞歲餘，所陳兵事多中機宜，帝甚倚任。 然頗挾數行私，不為朝論所重。 給事中葛應鬥劾御史袁弘勛納參將胡宗明金，請囑兵部； 廷棟亦劾弘勛及錦衣張道濬通賄狀。 兩人遂下獄。 兩人者，吏部尚書王永光私人也。 廷棟謀並去永光，以己代之，得釋兵事，永光遂由此去。 御史水佳允者，弘勛郡人也，兩疏力攻廷棟，發其所與司官手書，且言其縱奸人沈敏交關薊撫劉可訓，納賄營私。 廷棟疏辯求去，帝猶慰留。 有安國棟者，初以通判主插漢撫賞事，廷棟薦其才，特擢職方主事，仍主撫賞，頗為奸利，廷棟庇之。 後佳允坐他事左遷行人司副，復上疏發兩人交通狀，並列其賄鬻將領數事，事俱有跡。 廷棟危甚，賴中人左右之，得閑住去，以熊明遇代。 八年冬，召拜兵部右侍郎兼右都御史，代楊嗣昌總督宣、大、山西軍務。 明年七月，我大清兵由間道逾天壽山，克昌平，逼京師。 山後地，乃廷棟所轄也，命戴罪入援。 兵部尚書張鳳翼懼罪，自請督師。 兩人恇怯不敢戰，近畿地多殘破，言官交章論劾。 兩人益懼，度解嚴後必罹重譴，日服大黃藥求死。 八月十九日，大清兵出塞。 至九月朔，鳳翼卒。 逾旬日，廷棟亦卒。 已，法司定罪，廷棟坐大辟，以既死不究雲。
For more than a year at headquarters his military proposals mostly hit the mark and the emperor relied on him heavily. Yet he schemed for private ends and was not respected at court. Supervising Secretary Ge Yingdou impeached Censor Yuan Hongxun for taking gold from Assistant General Hu Zongming and asked the ministry to act; Tingdong also impeached Hongxun and Zhang Daojun for bribery. Both were imprisoned. Both were clients of Minister of Personnel Wang Yongguang. Tingdong plotted to remove Yongguang and take his post, freeing himself from military duties; Yongguang was forced out. Censor Shui Jiayun, Hongxun's townsman, attacked Tingdong twice, exposing his letters to colleagues and accusing him of sheltering Shen Min's corrupt dealings with Grand Coordinator Liu Kexun. Tingdong defended himself and asked to resign; the emperor still kept him. An Guodong had managed Chaohan gifts as assistant prefect; Tingdong promoted him to a bureau post while keeping him on gifts work, and profited corruptly—Tingdong protected him. Later Jiayun was demoted and again exposed their dealings, listing bribe sales of commands with evidence. Tingdong was in grave danger; with palace favor he was allowed to retire and Xiong Mingyu replaced him. In the eighth year winter he was recalled as Right Vice Minister of War and Right Censor-in-Chief, replacing Yang Sichang as supreme commander of Xuan, Da, and Shanxi. The next seventh month Qing forces by a hidden route crossed Tianshou Mountain, took Changping, and threatened the capital. The mountain country behind was his jurisdiction; he was ordered to aid the capital under penalty of death. Minister Zhang Fengyi, fearing blame, volunteered to command in person. Both were too timid to fight; the suburbs were ravaged; censors impeached them in droves. They grew more afraid, guessing heavy punishment after the siege lifted, and took rhubarb daily hoping to die. On the nineteenth of the eighth month Qing forces withdrew beyond the pass. By the first of the ninth month Fengyi died. Ten days later Tingdong died too. The judiciary sentenced him to death; as he was already dead the case was dropped.
33
廷棟既歿，其父克從尚在。 後賊破鄢陵，避開封。 及開封被淹，死於水。
After Tingdong's death his father Kecong still lived. When bandits took Yanling he fled to Kaifeng. When Kaifeng was inundated he drowned.
34
熊明遇，字良孺，進賢人。 萬歷二十九年進士。 知長興縣。 四十三年，擢兵科給事中，旋掌科事。 上疏極陳時弊，言：
Xiong Mingyu, styled Liangru, came from Jinxian. He became a jinshi in Wanli year 29. He served as magistrate of Changxing. In year 43 he was promoted to military affairs supervising secretary and soon headed the section. He memorialized at length on abuses of the day, saying:
35
今春以來，天鼓兩震於晉地，流星晝隕於清豐，地震二十八，天火九，石首雨菽，河內女妖，遼東兵端吐火，即春秋二百四十年間，未有稠於今日者。 且山東大昆，人相食，黃河水稽天，兼以太白經天，輔星湛沒，熒惑襲月，金水愆行，或日光無芒，日月同暈，為恒風，為枯旱。 天譴愈深，而陛下所行皆誣天拂經之事，此誠禽息碎首、賈生痛哭之時也。 敢以八憂、五漸、三無之說進。
Since spring heaven's drum has thundered twice in Shanxi, a meteor fell by day at Qingfeng, there have been twenty-eight earthquakes, nine heaven-fires, bean-rain at Shishou, a female demon in Henei, and Liaodong troops breathing fire—nothing in the Spring and Autumn Annals' 240 years matches today's omens. Shandong saw great locusts and cannibalism; the Yellow River rose to the sky; the Great White star crossed the heavens, the Assistant star set, Mars assailed the moon, metal and water wandered from their courses; the sun lost its rays, sun and moon shared halos; constant winds and drought followed. Heaven's warnings deepen, yet Your Majesty pursues deeds that defy heaven and the classics—this is the hour for shattered heads and Jia Yi's tears. I venture to offer eight worries, five gradual declines, and three absences.
36
今內庫太實，外庫太虛，可憂一。 餉臣乏餉，邊臣開邊，可憂二。 套部圖王，插部覬賞，可憂三。 黃河泛濫，運河膠淤，可憂四。 齊苦荒天，楚苦索地，可憂五。 鼎鉉不備，棟梁常撓，可憂六。 群嘩盈衢，訛言載道，可憂七。 吳民喜亂，冠履倒置，可憂八。
The inner treasuries are too full and the outer too empty—first worry. Supply officials lack funds while frontier officials expand the frontier—second worry. The Tao tribes seek kingship and the Cha tribes covet gifts—third worry. The Yellow River floods and the Grand Canal silts up—fourth worry. Qi groans under heaven-sent famine, Chu under land seizures—fifth worry. State vessels are incomplete and pillars constantly buckle—sixth worry. Mobs clamor in the streets and rumors fill the roads—seventh worry. Wu people relish disorder and ranks are inverted—eighth worry.
37
八憂未已，五漸繼之。 太阿之柄，漸入中涓。 魁壘之人，漸如隕籜。 制科之法，漸成奸藪。 武庫之器，漸見銷亡。 商旅之途，漸至梗塞。
Before the eight worries end, five gradual declines follow. Power of the great sword gradually passes to inner eunuchs. Leading men gradually fall like shed husks. The special examination system becomes a nest of corruption. Arsenal weapons gradually disappear. Merchant routes gradually choke off.
38
五漸未已，三無繼之。 匹夫可熒惑天子，小校可濫邀絲綸，是朝廷無紀綱。 滇、黔之守令皆途窮，揚、粵之監司多規避，是遠方無吏治。 讒構之口甚於戈戟，傾危之禍慘於蘇、張，是士大夫無人心。 天下事可不寒心哉！
Before the five declines end, three absences follow. Commoners can mislead the emperor and petty officers can abuse imperial favor—the court has lost its discipline. Magistrates in Yunnan and Guizhou are desperate; surveillance commissioners in Jiangnan and Guangdong mostly shirk duty—the frontier lacks governance. Slander cuts deeper than spears; ruin is crueler than Su Qin and Zhang Yi—scholar-officials have lost their conscience. Can one not be chilled to the heart by affairs under heaven!
39
帝不省。 亓詩教等以明遇與東林通，出為福建僉事，遷寧夏參議。
The emperor paid no heed. Qi Shijiao and others, claiming Mingyu was tied to the Donglin faction, sent him to Fujian as vice commissioner and then to Ningxia.
40
五年正月，山東叛將李九成等陷登州，明遇過信巡撫余大成言，力主撫議，久愈猖獗，萊城被圍幾陷，乃調關外軍討定之。 語詳《徐從治傳》。 當是時，我大清兵入宣府，巡撫沈棨與中官王坤等遣使議和，饋金帛牢醴，師乃旋。 事聞，帝惡棨專擅，召對明遇等於平臺。 明遇曲為棨解，帝不悅，逮棨下吏。 於是給事中孫三傑力詆明遇、棨交關誤國，同官陳贊化、呂黃鐘，御史趙繼鼎連劾之。 明遇再疏乞罷，帝責以疏庸僨事，命解任候勘。 尋以故官致仕。 久之，用薦起南京兵部尚書，改工部，引疾歸。 國變後卒。
In the fifth year first month Shandong mutineers led by Li Jiucheng took Dengzhou; Mingyu trusted Yu Dacheng's counsel, pushed negotiation, and the rebels grew bolder until Laizhou was nearly lost—only then were outside troops called in. Details appear in the "Biography of Xu Congzhi." Then Qing forces entered Xuanfu; Grand Coordinator Shen Qi and eunuch Wang Kun sent envoys to negotiate, offering gold, silk, and provisions, and the army withdrew. When word reached the capital the emperor was angry at Qi's unauthorized peace talks and summoned Mingyu and others to the platform. Mingyu excused Qi; the emperor was displeased and had Qi arrested. Supervising Secretary Sun Sanjie denounced Mingyu and Qi's collusion; Chen Zanhua, Lü Huangzhong, and Censor Zhao Jiding followed with impeachments. Mingyu begged to resign again; the emperor called his work mediocre and bungled and ordered him relieved pending investigation. He soon retired at his former rank. Long afterward he was recommended as Nanjing Minister of War, transferred to Works, and retired ill. He died after the fall of the dynasty.
41
張鳳翼，代州人。 萬歷四十一年進士。 授戶部主事。 歷廣寧兵備副使，憂歸。
Zhang Fengyi came from Daizhou. He became a jinshi in Wanli year 41. He was made a principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. He became Military Affairs Vice Commissioner of Guangning and returned home to mourn.
42
天啟初，起右參政，飭遵化兵備。 三年五月，遼東巡撫閻鳴泰罷，擢鳳翼右僉都御史代之。 自王化貞棄廣寧後，關外八城盡空，樞輔孫承宗銳意修復，而版築未興。 鳳翼聞命，疑承宗欲還朝，以遼事委之己，甚懼，即疏請專守關門。 其座主葉向高、鄉人韓爌柄政，抑使弗上。 既抵關，以八月出閱前屯、寧遠諸城，上疏極頌承宗經理功，且曰：「八城畚插，非一年可就之工； 六載瘡痍，非一時可起之疾。 今日議剿不能，言戰不得，計惟固守。 當以山海為根基，寧遠為門戶，廣寧為哨探。」 其意專主守關，與承宗異議。
At the start of Tianqi he was recalled as Right Administration Commissioner to oversee Zunhua defenses. In the third year fifth month Yan Mingtai was dismissed as Liaodong grand coordinator and Fengyi was promoted to replace him. After Wang Huazhen abandoned Guangning all eight cities beyond the pass were empty; Sun Chengzong was eager to rebuild but work had not begun. Fearing Chengzong meant to return to court and leave Liaodong to him, he immediately asked to defend only the passes. His patron Ye Xianggao and townsman Han Kuang, who held power, kept the memorial from being sent. Reaching the frontier he inspected Qiantun and Ningyuan in the eighth month, praised Chengzong lavishly, and said: "Rebuilding the eight cities is not a one-year task; six years of devastation cannot be healed overnight. Suppression is impossible and open battle unwise; the only plan is firm defense. Take Shanhai as base, Ningyuan as gate, and Guangning as outpost. His aim was to hold the passes only—opposing Chengzong.
43
時趙率教駐前屯，墾田、練卒有成效。 及袁崇煥、滿桂守寧遠，關外規模略定。 忽有傳中左所被兵者，永平吏民洶洶思竄，鳳翼心動，亟遣妻子西歸。 承宗曰：「我不出關，人心不定。」 遂於四年正月東行。 鳳翼語人曰：「樞輔欲以寧前荒塞居我，是殺我也。 國家即棄遼左，猶不失全盛，如大寧、河套，棄之何害？ 今舉世不欲復遼，彼一人獨欲復耶？」 密令所知居言路者詆馬世龍貪淫及三大將建閫之非，以撼承宗。 承宗不悅，舉其言入告。 適鳳翼遭內艱，遂解去。 承宗復上疏為世龍等辨，因詆鳳翼才鄙而怯，識暗而狡，工於趨利，巧於避患。 廷議以既去不復問。
Zhao Shuaijiao at Qiantun was reclaiming land and drilling troops with success. With Yuan Chonghuan and Man Gui at Ningyuan, the frontier beyond the pass was roughly stabilized. Rumors that Zhongzuo was attacked panicked Yongping; Fengyi sent his family west in alarm. Chengzong said: "If I do not go beyond the pass, morale will not settle. He went east in the fourth year first month. Fengyi said: "Chengzong wants to park me in the wasteland before Ning—that is to kill me. Even abandoning Liaodong would not end prosperity—as with Daning and the Ordos, what harm? No one wants to recover Liaodong—why should he alone? He secretly had censors attack Ma Shilong and the three generals' commands to undermine Chengzong. Chengzong reported his words to the throne. Fengyi then left on mourning leave. Chengzong defended Shilong and called Fengyi base, cowardly, dim, crafty, greedy, and evasive. The court let the matter drop since he had left.
44
六年秋，起故官，巡撫保定。 明年冬，薊遼總督劉詔罷，進鳳翼右都御史兼兵部右侍郎代之。 崇禎元年二月，御史寧光先劾鳳翼前撫保定，建魏忠賢生祠。 鳳翼引罪乞罷，不許。 未幾，謝病去。 諸建祠者俱入逆案，鳳翼以邊臣故獲宥。
In the sixth year autumn he was recalled as Grand Coordinator of Baoding. Next winter Liu Zhao was dismissed; Fengyi became Right Censor-in-Chief and Right Vice Minister of War in his place. In Chongzhen year one second month Censor Ning Guangxian impeached him for building a Wei Zhongxian shrine at Baoding. Fengyi confessed and begged to resign; the court refused. He soon resigned on grounds of illness. Shrine-builders were listed in the treason cases, but Fengyi was spared as a frontier official.
45
三年起故官，代劉策總督薊、遼、保定軍務。 既復遵、永四城，敘功，進太子少保、兵部尚書，世蔭錦衣僉事。 鳳翼以西協單弱，條奏增良將、宿重兵、備火器、預軍儲、遠哨探數事，從之。 已，復謝病去。 久之，召為兵部尚書。
In year three he was recalled to replace Liu Ce as supreme commander of Ji, Liaodong, and Baoding. After recovering Zun, Yong, and four cities he was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and Minister of War, with a hereditary brocade-guard post for his son. Finding the western line weak, he proposed better generals, heavier garrisons, firearms, stores, and scouting—all approved. He again resigned on grounds of illness. Long afterward he was summoned as Minister of War.
46
明年二月，召對平臺，與吏部尚書李長庚同奉「為國任事，潔己率屬」之諭。 尋以宣、大兵寡，上言：「國初額軍，宣府十五萬一千，今止六萬七千。 大同十三萬五千，今止七萬五千。 乞兩鎮各增募萬人，分營訓練。 且月餉止給五錢，安能致赳桓之士，乞一人食二餉。」 帝並從之。 給事中周純修、御史葛征奇等以兵事日棘，劾鳳翼溺職。 鳳翼連疏乞休，皆不許。
The next second month he and Minister Li Zhanggeng were summoned and told to serve the state and lead subordinates with integrity. Soon he reported that Xuanfu's founding quota was 151,000 troops but only 67,000 remained. Datong's quota was 135,000; only 75,000 remained. He asked each command to recruit ten thousand more and train them in camps. Monthly pay was only five fen—he asked double rations to attract stalwart soldiers. The emperor approved all. As military affairs worsened, Zhou Chunxiu, Ge Zhengqi, and others impeached Fengyi for dereliction. Fengyi repeatedly begged to retire; each time he was refused.
47
七年以恢復登州功，加太子少保。 七月，我大清西征插漢，師旋，入山西、大同、宣府境。 帝怒守臣失機，下兵部論罪。 部議巡撫戴君恩、胡沾恩、焦源清革職贖杖，總督張宗衡閑住。 帝以為輕，責鳳翼對狀。 於是總督、巡撫及三鎮總兵睦自強、曹文詔、張全昌俱遣戍，監視中官劉允中、劉文忠、王坤亦充凈軍。 時討賊總督陳奇瑜以招撫僨事，給事中顧國寶劾鳳翼舉用非人，帝亦不問。 奇瑜既罷，即命三邊總督洪承疇兼督河南、山西、湖廣軍務，剿中原群盜。 言官以承疇勢難兼顧，請別遣一人為總督，鳳翼不能決，既而承疇竟無功。 及賊將南犯，請以江北巡撫楊一鵬鎮鳳陽，防護皇陵，溫體仁不聽，鳳翼亦不能再請。 八年正月，賊果毀鳳陽皇陵。 言官交章劾鳳翼，鳳翼亦自危，引罪乞罷。 帝不許，令戴罪視事。
In year seven he was made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent for recovering Dengzhou. In the seventh month Qing forces campaigned against the Cha tribes, then entered Shanxi, Datong, and Xuanfu. The emperor blamed frontier officials for missing the chance and ordered the ministry to assign guilt. The ministry proposed stripping grand coordinators Dai Jun'en, Hu Zhan'en, and Jiao Yuanqing and retiring Zhang Zongheng. The emperor thought this too light and ordered Fengyi to answer at court. The supreme commander, grand coordinators, and commanders Mu Ziqiang, Cao Wenchao, and Zhang Quanchang were exiled; eunuchs Liu Yunzhong, Liu Wenzhong, and Wang Kun were demoted to common soldiers. Chen Qiyu failed in pacification talks; Gu Guobao impeached Fengyi for bad appointments, but the emperor took no action. Qiyu was dismissed and Hong Chengchou was ordered to command Henan, Shanxi, and Huguang as well as the three borders against midland bandits. Censors said Chengchou could not cover both fronts and asked for another commander; Fengyi could not decide; Chengchou failed. As bandits moved south he asked to post Yang Yipeng at Fengyang to guard the imperial tombs; Wen Tiren refused and Fengyi could not press the point. In the eighth year first month bandits destroyed the Fengyang imperial tombs. Censors impeached Fengyi in droves; he confessed guilt and begged to resign. The emperor refused and ordered him to continue under penalty of death.
48
初，賊之犯江北也，給事中桐城孫晉以鄉里為憂。 鳳翼曰：「公南人，何憂賊？ 賊起西北，不食稻米，賊馬不飼江南草。」 聞者笑之。 事益急，始令朱大典鎮鳳陽。 尋推盧象升為總理，與洪承疇分討南北賊，而賊已蔓延不可制矣。 給事中劉昌劾鳳翼推總兵陳壯猷，納其重賄。 鳳翼力辯，昌貶秩調外。
When bandits threatened Jiangbei, Supervising Secretary Sun Jin of Tongcheng worried for his home region. Fengyi said: "You are a southerner—why fear bandits? Bandits rise in the northwest—they do not eat rice, and their horses do not eat southern grass. Listeners laughed. As crisis deepened he finally posted Zhu Dadian at Fengyang. He then made Lu Xiangsheng coordinator to split north and south bandits with Chengchou, but the rebellion was already out of control. Liu Chang impeached Fengyi for promoting Chen Zhuangyou after taking a heavy bribe. Fengyi fought back; Chang was demoted and transferred.
49
已而鳳翼言：「剿賊之役，原議集兵七萬二千，隨賊所向，以殄滅為期。 督臣承疇以三萬人分布豫、楚數千里，力薄，又久戍生疾，故尤世威、徐來朝俱潰。 以二萬人散布三秦千里內，勢分，又孤軍無援，故艾萬年、曹文詔俱敗。 今既益以祖寬、李重鎮、倪寵、牟文綬兵萬二千，又募楚兵七千，合九萬有奇，兵力厚矣。 請以賊在關內者屬承疇，在關外者屬象升，倘賊盡出關，則承疇合剿於豫，盡入關，則象升合剿於秦。 臣更有慮者，賊號三四十萬，更叠出犯，勢眾而力合； 我零星四應，勢寡而力分。 賊所至因糧於我，人皆宿飽； 我所至樵蘇後爨，動輒呼庚。 賊馬多行疾，一二日而十舍可至； 我步多行緩，三日而重繭難馳。 眾寡、饑飽、勞逸之勢，相懸如此，賊何日平。 乞嚴敕督、理二臣，選將統軍，軍各一二萬人，俾前茅、後勁、中權聯絡相貫，然後可制賊而不為賊制。 今賊大勢東行，北有黃河，南有長江，東有漕渠，彼無舟楫，豈能飛越？ 我兵從西北窮追，猶易為力。 此防河扼險，目前要策，所當申飭者也。」 帝稱善，命速行之。 鳳翼自請督師討賊，帝優詔不允。
Fengyi then said: "The bandit campaign was planned for 72,000 troops to follow and destroy the enemy. Chengchou spread 30,000 men over thousands of li in Henan and Huguang—too thin; long service bred sickness, and You Shiwei and Xu Laichao collapsed. Twenty thousand scattered across the three Qins were divided and unsupported—Ai Wannian and Cao Wenchao were defeated. Adding Zu Kuan, Li Chongzhen, Ni Chong, and Mou Wenxuan's 12,000 plus 7,000 Hubei recruits, the force exceeds 90,000. Let Chengchou handle bandits inside the passes and Xiangsheng those outside; if they leave, Chengchou strikes in Henan; if they enter, Xiangsheng strikes in Qin. The bandits claim 300,000–400,000 and raid in waves—numerous and united; we respond in scattered fragments—few and divided. Bandits live off our grain and march well fed; we gather fuel after arriving and constantly cry for supplies. Bandit horses are fast—ten stages in a day or two; our infantry are slow—calluses form in three days. Numbers, food, and fatigue diverge so sharply—when will bandits be pacified? I urge the two commanders to field armies of 12,000 each, vanguard, rear, and center linked—only then can we control bandits. The main rebel force moves east, bounded by the Yellow River, Yangzi, and Grand Canal—they lack boats; how can they cross? Pursuit from the northwest is still the easier course. Defending rivers and choke points is the urgent policy now. The emperor approved and ordered swift implementation. Fengyi asked to take command against bandits; the emperor graciously refused.
50
九年二月，給事中陳昌文上言：「將在軍，君命有所不受。 今既假督、理二臣以便宜，則行軍機要不當中制。 若今日議不許斬級，明日又議必斬級，今日議征兵援鳳，明日又議撤兵防河，心至無所適從。 願樞臣自今凡可掣督、撫之肘者，俱寬之文法，俾得展布可也。 兵法：守敵所不攻，攻敵所不守，奇正錯出，滅賊何難。 今不惟不能滅，乃今日破軍殺將，明日又陷邑殘州，止罪守令而不及巡撫，豈法之平？ 願樞臣自今凡可責諸撫之成者，勿寬文法，俾加磨礪可也。」 帝納其言。
In the ninth year second month Supervising Secretary Chen Changwen said: "In the field a general need not obey every order from court. Having given the two commanders discretion, operational decisions should not be micromanaged from the capital. Today court forbids counting heads, tomorrow demands them; today it sends troops to Fengyang, tomorrow pulls them to defend the river—commanders cannot act. I ask that whatever legal rules bind commanders be relaxed so they can act. Military doctrine: defend where the enemy will not strike, strike where they are undefended; alternate regular and irregular forces—suppression should not be hard. We not only fail to destroy them—we lose armies today and cities tomorrow, yet only magistrates are punished, not grand coordinators—is that justice? I ask that legal excuses not shield coordinators from accountability. The emperor accepted his advice.
51
江北之賊，自滁州、歸德兩敗後，盡趨永寧、盧氏、內鄉、淅川大山中，關中賊亦由閿鄉、靈寶與之合。 鳳翼請敕河南、鄖陽、陜西三巡撫各督將吏扼防，毋使軼出，四川、湖廣兩巡撫移師近界，聽援剿，而督、理二臣以大軍入山蹙之，且嚴遏米商通販，賊可盡殄。 帝深然之，克期五月蕩平，老師費財，督撫以下罪無赦。 鳳翼雖建此策，象升所部多騎軍，不善入山，賊竟不能滅。
After defeats at Chuzhou and Guide, Jiangbei bandits fled into the mountains of Yongning, Lushi, Neixiang, and Xichuan, joined by Shaanxi rebels from Wenxiang and Lingbao. Fengyi urged Henan, Yunyang, and Shaanxi coordinators to block the mountains, Sichuan and Huguang to move up, and the two supreme commanders to squeeze the rebels while cutting off grain trade. The emperor agreed, set a deadline of the fifth month for victory, and warned that prolonged campaigns would cost commanders their lives. Xiangsheng's cavalry could not fight in mountains, and the plan failed.
52
至七月，我大清兵自天壽山後入昌平，都城戒嚴。 給事中王家彥以陵寢震驚，劾鳳翼坐視不救。 鳳翼懼，自請督師。 賜尚方劍，盡督諸鎮勤王兵。 以左侍郎王業浩署部事，命中官羅維寧監督通、津、臨、德軍務，而宣大總督梁廷棟亦統兵入援。 三人相掎角，皆退怯不敢戰，於是寶坻、順義、文安、永清、雄、安肅、定興諸縣及安州、定州相繼失守。 言官劾疏五六上，鳳翼憂甚。
In the seventh month Qing forces entered Changping behind Tianshou Mountain and the capital was placed under martial law. Wang Jiayan impeached Fengyi for failing to rescue the tombs. Terrified, Fengyi volunteered to command. He received the imperial sword and command over all relief armies. Wang Yehao acted as minister; eunuch Luo Weining supervised Tongzhou, Tianjin, Linqing, and Dezhou; Liang Tingdong also brought Xuan-Da troops. All three were timid and would not fight; Baodi, Shunyi, Wen'an, Yongqing, Xiong'an, Ansu, Dingxing, Anzhou, and Dingzhou fell in turn. Censors flooded him with impeachments.
53
己巳之變，尚書王洽下獄死，復坐大辟。 鳳翼知不免，日服大黃藥，病已殆，猶治軍書不休。 至八月末，都城解嚴，鳳翼即以九月朔卒。 已而議罪奪其官。 十一年七月，論前剿寇功，有詔敘復。
In the jisi crisis Minister Wang Qia had died in prison, again sentenced to death. Knowing he could not escape, he took rhubarb daily yet still worked on military papers. When the siege lifted at month's end he died on the ninth month's first day. He was posthumously stripped of rank. In year eleven seventh month his record was restored for earlier bandit service.
54
帝在位十七年間，易中樞十四人，皆不久獲罪。 鳳翼善溫體仁，獨居位五載。 其督師也，意圖逭責，乃竟以畏法死。
In seventeen years the emperor replaced the minister of war fourteen times; all soon fell. Fengyi alone held the post five years through Wen Tiren's favor. He took command to escape blame—and died from fear of punishment.
55
七年九月，擢右僉都御史，代焦源清巡撫宣府。 新甲以戎備久弛，親歷塞垣，經前人足跡所不到，具得士馬損耗、城堡傾頹、弓矢甲仗朽敝狀。 屢疏請於朝，加整飭，邊防賴之。 楊嗣昌為總督，與新甲共事，以是知其才。 九年五月，內艱歸。
In the seventh year ninth month Chen Xinjia was made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Xuanfu, replacing Jiao Yuanqing. Finding defenses neglected, he toured the frontier to places none had reached and documented depleted horses, ruined forts, and rotten arms. He repeatedly urged the court to rectify defenses, and the frontier relied on him. Working with supreme commander Yang Sichang, Sichang recognized his ability. In the ninth year fifth month he went home to mourn.
56
十一年六月，宣大總督盧象升丁外艱，嗣昌方任中樞，薦新甲堪代。 詔擢兵部右侍郎兼右僉都御史，奪情任之。 會大清兵深入內地，詔新甲受代，即督所部兵協禦。 未幾，象升戰歿，孫傳庭代統其軍，新甲與相倚仗，終不敢戰。 明年春，畿輔解嚴。 順天巡按劉呈瑞劾其前後逗撓。 新甲歷陳功狀，且言呈瑞挾仇，帝不問。 既赴鎮，列上編隊伍、嚴哨探、明訓練、飭馬政、練火器、禁侵漁諸事，報可。 麾下卒夜嘩，新甲請罪，亦不問。 給事中戴明說嘗劾之，帝以輕議重臣，停其俸。
In year eleven sixth month Lu Xiangsheng mourned his father; Sichang at the ministry recommended Xinjia to replace him. He was promoted to Right Vice Minister of War and Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and ordered to serve despite mourning. Qing forces penetrated the interior; Xinjia was ordered to succeed and defend at once. Xiangsheng fell in battle; Sun Chuanting took his army; Xinjia relied on Sun but still would not fight. The next spring the capital region alert ended. Liu Chengrui impeached his repeated delays. Xinjia listed his merits and claimed a grudge; the emperor ignored it. At his post he proposed organizing units, scouting, training, horse policy, firearms, and stopping abuses—all approved. When his troops mutinied at night he confessed guilt and was again spared. Dai Mingshuo impeached him; the emperor fined Dai for attacking a senior minister.
57
十三年正月，召代傅宗龍為兵部尚書。 自弘治初賈俊後，乙榜無至尚書者。 兵事方亟，諸大臣避中樞，故新甲得為之。 陛見畢，陳保邦十策，多廷臣所嘗言。 惟言天壽山後宜設總兵，徐州亦宜設重鎮，通兩京咽喉，南護鳳陵，中防漕運，帝並采用之。 復陳樞政四要及兵事四失，帝即命飭行。
In the thirteenth year first month he replaced Fu Zonglong as Minister of War. Since Jia Jun in early Hongzhi, no provincial graduate had become minister of war. With military crisis urgent and senior ministers avoiding the post, Xinjia got it. After his audience he presented ten policies for saving the realm, mostly familiar points. He uniquely urged a commander behind Tianshou Mountain and a strong post at Xuzhou to guard the two capitals, southern tombs, and grain transport—the emperor adopted both. He presented four essentials and four failures in military administration; the emperor ordered them carried out.
58
十四年三月，賊陷雒陽、襄陽，福、襄二王被難，鐫新甲三秩視事。 舊制，府、州、縣城郭失守者，長吏論死。 宛平知縣陳景建言村鎮焚掠三所者，長吏當戍邊。 新甲主其議，言：「有司能兼顧鄉城，即與優敘。 若四郊被寇，與失機並論。」 帝即從之。 然是時中原皆盜，其法亦不能行也。 楊嗣昌卒於軍中，新甲舉丁啟睿往代，議者尤其失人。 然傅宗龍、孫傳庭並以微罪系獄，新甲於召對時稱其才，退復上章力薦，兩人獲用，亦新甲力也。 尋論秋防功，復所鐫秩。
In year fourteen third month bandits took Luoyang and Xiangyang and killed the Fu and Xiang princes; Xinjia was demoted three ranks but kept in office. By old rule, losing a walled city meant death for the chief official. Magistrate Chen Jingyan proposed frontier service for officials when three villages were burned. Xinjia agreed: "Officials who protect both town and countryside should be rewarded. If the suburbs are raided, they share guilt for failure. The emperor approved. But the central plain was all bandit country and the law could not be enforced. When Yang Sichang died Xinjia recommended Ding Qirui; critics said he misjudged talent. Fu Zonglong and Sun Chuanting were imprisoned on minor charges; Xinjia praised and recommended them at audience and they were restored. Soon his demoted ranks were restored for autumn defense merit.
59
時錦州被圍久，聲援斷絕。 有卒逸出，傳祖大壽語，請以車營逼，毋輕戰。 總督洪承疇集兵數萬援之，亦未敢決戰。 帝召新甲問策，新甲請與閣臣及侍郎吳甡計之，因陳十可憂、十可議，而遣職方郎張若麒面商於承疇。 若麒未返，新甲請分四道夾攻，承疇以兵分力弱，意主持重以待。 帝以為然，而新甲堅執前議。 若麒素狂躁，見諸軍稍有斬獲，謂圍可立解，密奏上聞。 新甲復貽書趣承疇，承疇激新甲言，又奉密敕，遂不敢主前議。 若麒益趣諸將進兵。 諸將以八月次松山，為我大清兵所破，大潰，士卒死亡數萬人。 若麒自海道遁還，言官請罪之，新甲力庇，復令出關監軍。 錦州圍未解，承疇又被圍於松山，帝深以為憂，新甲不能救。 十五年二月，御史甘惟爃劾新甲寡謀誤國，請速令舉賢自代，不納。 三月，松山、錦州相繼失，若麒復自寧遠遁還。 言官劾若麒者，悉及新甲。 新甲屢乞罷，皆不從。
Jinzhou had been besieged long with no relief. An escaped soldier brought Zu Dashou's message: press with the chariot camp and do not fight rashly. Hong Chengchou gathered tens of thousands to relieve Jinzhou but dared not fight. The emperor asked Xinjia's counsel; he consulted grand secretaries and Wu Shen, listed ten worries and ten debates, and sent Zhang Ruoqi to Chengchou. Before Ruoqi returned Xinjia urged a four-route attack; Chengchou wanted concentration. The emperor sided with Chengchou, but Xinjia insisted on his plan. Ruoqi, rash by nature, saw minor victories and reported the siege would soon lift. Xinjia urged Chengchou on; provoked and pressed by a secret edict, Chengchou yielded. Ruoqi pressed the generals forward. In the eighth month the army camped at Songshan and was destroyed by Qing forces; tens of thousands died. Ruoqi fled by sea; censors demanded punishment; Xinjia shielded him and sent him back to supervise troops. Jinzhou still stood besieged and Chengchou was trapped at Songshan; the emperor despaired and Xinjia could not help. In year fifteen second month Gan Weiliang impeached Xinjia for shallow planning; the court refused. In the third month Songshan and Jinzhou fell; Ruoqi fled again from Ningyuan. Impeachments of Ruoqi also hit Xinjia. He begged to resign repeatedly and was refused.
60
新甲雅有才，曉邊事，然不能持廉，所用多債帥。 深結中貴為援，與司禮王德化尤昵，故言路攻之不能入。 當是時，闖賊蹂躪河南，開封屢被圍，他郡縣失亡相踵，總督傅宗龍、汪喬年出關討賊，先後陷歿，賊勢愈張。 言官劾新甲者，章至數十。 新甲請罪章亦十余上，帝輒慰留。
Xinjia was capable and knew the frontier but was corrupt and favored indebted generals. He cultivated eunuchs, especially Wang Dehua, so censors could not touch him. The roving band ravaged Henan; Kaifeng was besieged repeatedly; Fu Zonglong and Wang Qiaonian died beyond the pass and rebels grew stronger. Dozens of memorials impeached Xinjia. He submitted more than ten resignation pleas; the emperor always kept him.
61
初，新甲以南北交困，遣使與大清議和，私言於傅宗龍。 宗龍出都日，以語大學士謝升。 升後見疆事大壞，述宗龍之言於帝。 帝召新甲詰責，新甲叩頭謝罪。 升進曰：「倘肯議和，和亦可恃。」 帝默然，尋諭新甲密圖之，而外廷不知也。 已，言官謁升。 升言：「上意主和，諸君幸勿多言。」 言官駭愕，交章劾升，升遂斥去。 帝既以和議委新甲，手詔往返者數十，皆戒以勿泄。 外廷漸知之，故屢疏爭，然不得左驗。 一日，所遣職方郎馬紹愉以密語報，新甲視之置幾上。 其家僮誤以為塘報也，付之抄傳，於是言路嘩然。 給事中方士亮首論之，帝慍甚，留疏不下。 已，降嚴旨，切責新甲，令自陳。 新甲不引罪，反自詡其功，帝益怒。 至七月，給事中馬嘉植復劾之，遂下獄。 新甲從獄中上書乞宥，不許。 新甲知不免，遍行金內外。 給事中廖國遴、楊枝起等營救於刑部侍郎徐石麒，拒不聽。 大學士周延儒、陳演亦於帝前力救，且曰：「國法，敵兵不薄城不殺大司馬。」 帝曰：「他且勿論，戮辱我親藩七，不甚於薄城耶？」 遂棄新甲於市。
Earlier, with north and south in crisis, Xinjia sent envoys to negotiate peace with the Qing and told Fu Zonglong privately. Leaving the capital Zonglong told Grand Secretary Xie Sheng. When the frontier collapsed Sheng repeated this to the emperor. The emperor summoned and rebuked Xinjia; he kowtowed in confession. Sheng added: "If we negotiate peace, peace may still serve us. The emperor was silent, then ordered secret peace talks unknown to the court. Later censors visited Sheng. Sheng said: "The emperor wants peace—do not speak against it. Censors were shocked and impeached Sheng until he was dismissed. The emperor entrusted peace to Xinjia with dozens of secret hand edicts. The court gradually learned and protested but lacked proof. One day Ma Shaoyu reported in secret; Xinjia left the note on his desk. A servant mistook it for a public bulletin and copied it; the court erupted. Fang Shiliang led the attack; the emperor withheld his memorial in anger. A stern edict rebuked Xinjia and ordered confession. Xinjia did not confess but boasted of merit; the emperor grew angrier. In the seventh month Ma Jiazhi impeached him again and he was imprisoned. From prison he begged pardon and was refused. Knowing he would die, he spread bribes everywhere. Supervising secretaries Liao Guolin and Yang Zhiqi pleaded with Vice Minister Xu Shiqi, who refused. Grand Secretaries Zhou Yanru and Chen Yan pleaded before the emperor: "By state law the minister of war is not executed unless the enemy reaches the walls. The emperor replied: "Never mind that—did slaughtering seven of my princes not matter more than reaching the walls? Xinjia was executed in the marketplace.
62
新甲為楊嗣昌引用，其才品心術相似，軍書旁午，裁答無滯。 旁初甚倚之，晚特惡其泄機事，且彰主過，故殺之不疑。 厥後給事中沈迅力詆其失，帝曰：「令爾作新甲，恐更不如。」 迅慚而退。 新甲初自陽和入都門，黃霧四塞，識者以為不祥，及是果應。
Introduced by Yang Sichang, Xinjia matched him in talent and dispatch—he handled endless military papers without delay. The emperor first relied on him, then hated his leaks and exposure of imperial faults, and killed him without hesitation. Later Shen Xun attacked his failures; the emperor said: "If you were minister of war you might do worse. Xun withdrew ashamed. When Xinjia entered the capital from Yanghe, yellow fog filled the sky—an omen of what followed.
63
馮元飆，字爾弢，慈溪人。 父若愚，南京太仆少卿。 天啟元年，元飆與兄元飏同舉於鄉。 明年，元飆成進士，歷知澄海、揭陽。
Feng Yuanbiao, styled Ertao, came from Cixi. His father Ruoyu was Nanjing Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. In Tianqi year one Yuanbiao and his elder brother Yuanyang both passed the provincial exam. The next year Yuanbiao became a jinshi and served as magistrate of Chenghai and Jieyang.
64
崇禎四年，征授戶科給事中。 帝遣中官出鎮，元飆力爭。 時元飏亦疏論中官，兄弟俱有直聲。 無何，上疏力詆周延儒，被切責。 尋論山東總督劉宇烈縱寇主撫罪。 又言禮部侍郎王應熊無大臣體，宜罷。 復薦詞臣姚希孟孤忠獨立，不當奪講官； 科臣趙東曦正詞讜論，不當奪言路。 皆不納。 應熊謀改吏部，元飆復摭劾其貪穢數事。 被旨譙責，遂乞假歸。
In Chongzhen year four he was made a revenue-section supervising secretary. When the emperor sent eunuchs to garrison commands Yuanbiao fought the order. Yuanyang also memorialized against eunuchs; both brothers won a reputation for integrity. He soon attacked Zhou Yanru sharply and was rebuked. He soon judged Liu Yulie guilty of letting Shandong bandits go through pacification policy. He urged dismissal of Vice Minister Wang Yingxiong for lacking ministerial stature. He recommended that literary official Yao Ximeng, loyal and independent, should not be stripped of his lecturing post; He also urged that supervising secretary Zhao Dongxi should not be stripped of his remonstrance rights—all rejected. None were accepted. When Yingxiong sought transfer to Personnel, Yuanbiao impeached his corruption again. Rebuked by imperial order, he begged leave and went home.
65
八年春還朝。 時鳳陽皇陵毀，廷臣交論溫體仁、王應熊朋比誤國。 元飆上言：「政本大臣，居實避名，受功辭罪。 平時養威自重，遇天下有事，輒曰：『昭代本無相名，吾儕止供票擬。』 上委之聖裁，下委之六部，持片語，叢百欺。 夫中外之責，孰大於票擬？ 有漢、唐宰相之名而更代天言，有國初顧問之榮而兼隆位號，地親勢峻，言聽誌行，柄用專且重者莫如今日，猶可謝天下責哉？」 遷禮科右給事中，再遷刑科左給事中。 數言部囚多輕罪，請帝寬宥，並采納之。 詔簡東宮講官，左諭德黃道周為首輔張至發所扼，且疏詆之。 元飆言：「道周至清無徒，忠足以動人主，惟不能得執政歡。」 至發恚，兩疏詆元飆，帝皆置不問。 由戶科都給事中擢太常少卿，改南京太仆卿，就遷通政使。
In the eighth year spring he returned to court. When Fengyang's imperial tombs were destroyed, ministers blamed Wen Tiren and Wang Yingxiong for factional harm. Yuanbiao wrote: "Chief ministers avoid responsibility, take credit, and refuse blame. In peace they cultivate prestige; in crisis they say: 'Our age has no true prime ministers—we only draft rescripts. They leave decisions to the emperor and the six ministries, hiding behind a phrase while deceiving all sides. What duty is greater than drafting imperial decisions? They hold Han and Tang titles yet speak for heaven, enjoy founding-era honor yet wield supreme power—how can they evade responsibility? He became right supervising secretary of rites, then left supervising secretary of punishments. He urged leniency for light offenses in ministry prisons and was heeded. When lecturers were chosen for the Eastern Palace, Huang Daozhou was blocked by Zhang Zhifa, who slandered him. Yuanbiao said: "Daozhou is incorruptibly loyal—only he cannot please the chief minister. Zhifa attacked Yuanbiao twice; the emperor ignored both. He rose through vice director of sacrifices, Nanjing director of the imperial stud, to transmission commissioner.
66
十五年六月召拜兵部右侍郎，轉左。 元飆多智數，尚權譎，與兄元飏並好結納，一時翕然稱「二馮」。 然故與馮銓通譜誼。 初在言路，詆周延儒，及為侍郎，延儒方再相，元飆因與善。 延儒欲以振饑為銓功，復冠帶，憚眾議，元飆令引吳甡入閣助之，既而甡背延儒議。 熊開元欲盡發延儒罪，元飆沮止之，開元以是獲重譴。 兵部尚書陳新甲棄市，元飈署部事。 一日，帝召諸大臣遊西苑，賜宴明德殿，因論兵事。 良久，出禦馬佳者百余匹，及內制火箭，次第示元飆，元飆為辨其良楛。 帝曰：「大司馬缺久，無逾卿者。」 元飆以多病辭，乃用張國維。
In the fifteenth year sixth month he was summoned as Right then Left Vice Minister of War. Yuanbiao was shrewd and power-minded; with Yuanyang he cultivated connections and was known as "the two Fengs." He was also related by clan to Feng Quan. He had attacked Zhou Yanru as a censor, then befriended him when Yanru returned to power. Yanru wanted to credit Feng Quan with famine relief; Yuanbiao brought Wu Shen into the secretariat to help, but Shen then opposed Yanru. Xiong Kaiyuan tried to expose Yanru; Yuanbiao stopped him and Kaiyuan was heavily punished. When Chen Xinjia was executed, Yuanbiao acted as minister of war. One day the emperor entertained ministers at Mingde Hall in the Western Park and discussed military affairs. He showed Yuanbiao over a hundred fine horses and court-made rockets, which Yuanbiao judged expertly. The emperor said: "The ministry has been vacant long—no one surpasses you. Yuanbiao declined on grounds of illness; Zhang Guowei was appointed instead.
67
十六年五月，國維下獄，遂以元飆為尚書。 帝倚之甚至，元飆顧不能有所為。 河南、湖廣地盡陷，關、寧又日告警。 至八月，以病劇乞休。 帝慰留之，賜瓜果食物，遣醫診視。 請益堅，乃允其去。
In the sixteenth year fifth month Guowei was imprisoned and Yuanbiao became minister. The emperor relied on him utterly, yet he accomplished nothing. Henan and Huguang were lost; Shanhai and Ningxia alarms came daily. By the eighth month his illness was severe and he begged to retire. The emperor comforted him, sent food and physicians. When he insisted, the emperor let him go.
68
元飆頗能料事。 孫傳庭治兵關中，元飆謂不可輕戰。 廷臣多言不戰則賊益張，兵久易懦。 元飆謂將士習懦，未經行陣，宜致賊而不宜致於賊。 乃於帝前爭之曰：「請先下臣獄，俟一戰而勝，斬臣謝之。」 又貽書傳庭，戒毋輕鬥，白、高兩將不可任。 傳庭果敗。 將歸，薦李邦華、史可法自代。 帝不用，用兵科都給事中張縉彥，都城遂不守。 福王時，元飆卒，其家請恤。 給事中吳適言：「元飆身膺特簡，莫展一籌，予以祭葬，是使誤國之臣生死皆得誌也。」 部議卒如所請。
Yuanbiao could forecast events rather well. When Sun Chuanting trained troops in Guanzhong, Yuanbiao warned against light engagement. Ministers said avoiding battle would let rebels grow and garrisons grow soft. Yuanbiao said the army was untested and cowardly—the enemy should be brought to them, not the reverse. He told the emperor: "Imprison me first; if one battle wins, execute me afterward. He wrote Chuanting not to fight rashly and that generals Bai and Gao were unreliable. Chuanting was indeed defeated. Leaving office he recommended Li Banghua and Shi Kefa to replace him. The emperor chose Zhang Jinyan instead; the capital fell. Under the Prince of Fu, Yuanbiao died; his family sought posthumous honors. Wu Shi objected: "Specially appointed yet he devised nothing—funeral honors would reward a minister who failed the state. The ministry granted honors anyway.
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元飏，字爾賡，舉崇禎元年進士，授都水主事。 帝遣中官張彜憲總理戶、工二部事。 元飆抗疏謂：「內臣當別立公署，不當踞二部堂，二部司屬亦不得至彜憲門，犯交結禁。」 帝責以沽名，彜寧亦慍，元飏請告歸。 尋起禮部主事，進員外郎中，遷蘇松兵備參議。 溫體仁當國，唐世濟為都御史，皆烏程人，其鄉人盜太湖，以兩家為奧主。 元飏捕得其渠魁，則世濟族子也，置之法。 遷福建提學副使，巡撫張國維奏留之。 太倉人陸文聲訐其鄉官張溥、張采倡復社，亂天下。 巡按倪元珙以屬元飏，元飏盛稱溥等，元珙據以入告。 體仁庇文聲，兩人並獲譴，元飏謫山東鹽運司判官。 十一年，濟南被兵，攝濟寧兵備事。 十四年，遷天津兵備副使。 十月，擢右僉都御史，代李繼貞巡撫天津，兼督遼餉。 明年敘軍功，蔭一子錦衣衛。 時元飆已掌中樞。 帝顧其兄弟厚，嘗賜宮參療元飏疾。 而元飏以衰老乞休。 詔遣李希沆代，未至而京城陷，元飏乃由海道脫歸。 是秋九月卒。
Yuanyang, styled Erjin, became a jinshi in Chongzhen year one and was made a waterways principal secretary. The emperor sent eunuch Zhang Yixian to supervise both Revenue and Works. Yuanbiao memorialized that eunuchs should have separate offices, not sit in ministry halls, and that ministry staff must not visit Yixian's gate. The emperor called it grandstanding; Yixian was angry; Yuanyang went home. He was recalled to Rites, then made Suzhou-Songjiang military affairs commissioner. Under Wen Tiren and Censor-in-Chief Tang Shiji, both Wucheng men, locals plundered Lake Tai with the two families as patrons. Yuanyang arrested the ringleader—Shiji's clansman—and punished him. Transferred to Fujian education vice commissioner, he was retained at Zhang Guowei's request. Lu Wensheng denounced Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai for founding the Fushe society and disordering the realm. Censor Ni Yuanqi asked Yuanyang, who praised Pu and Cai; Yuanqi reported upward. Tiren shielded Wensheng; both were punished; Yuanyang was demoted to Shandong salt transport judge. In year eleven, when Jinan was attacked, he acted as Jining military commissioner. In year fourteen he became Tianjin military vice commissioner. In the tenth month he became Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Tianjin, supervising Liaodong rations. The next year his son received a hereditary brocade-guard post for military merit. By then Yuanbiao held the central command. The emperor favored the brothers and sent palace ginseng for Yuanyang's illness. Yuanyang begged to retire on grounds of age. Li Xikuang was sent to replace him; before he arrived the capital fell and Yuanyang fled by sea. He died that autumn in the ninth month.
70
贊曰：明季疆場多故，則重本兵之權，而居是位者乃多庸暗阘冗之輩。 若張鶴鳴之任王化貞，陳新甲之舉丁啟睿，皆暗於知人。 至松山之役，其誤國可勝言哉！ 梁廷棟謂民窮之故在官貪，似矣。 而因以售其加派之說，是所謂亡國之言也。
The historians comment: Late Ming multiplied frontier crises and elevated the ministry of war, yet most ministers were mediocre and incompetent. Zhang Heming backed Wang Huazhen; Chen Xinjia promoted Ding Qirui—both misjudged men. The Songshan disaster alone defies description. Liang Tingdong said popular poverty came from official corruption—partly true. Yet he used that truth to sell ruinous tax increases—the talk of a dying state.