Volume 261 Biographies 149: Lu Xiangsheng, Liu Zhilun, Qiu Minyang

盧象升〈（弟象晉象觀從弟象同）〉劉之綸邱民仰〈（邱禾嘉）〉

Lu Xiangsheng (His younger brothers were Xiangjin and Xiangguan; his cousin was Xiangtong.)〉 The biographies treat Liu Zhilun and Qiu Minyang. (Qiu Hejia.)〉

盧象升，字建鬥，宜興人。祖立誌，儀封知縣。象升白皙而臞，膊獨骨，負殊力。舉天啟二年進士，授戶部主事。歷員外郎，稍遷大名知府。

Lu Xiangsheng, whose courtesy name was Jiandou, came from Yixing. His grandfather Lizhi had served as magistrate of Yifeng. Xiangsheng was pale and spare, with striking shoulder blades and an unusual build, yet he possessed remarkable strength. He took his jinshi degree in the second year of Tianqi and was appointed a principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. He rose through the vice directorships and was eventually promoted to prefect of Daming.

崇禎二年，京師戒嚴，募萬人入衛。明年，進右參政兼副使，整飭大名、廣平、順德三府兵備，號「天雄軍」。又明年舉治行卓異，進按察使，治兵如故。象升雖文士，善射，嫻將略，能治軍。

In the second year of Chongzhen, when Beijing was placed under martial alert, he raised ten thousand men to march to the capital for its defense. The next year he was promoted to Right Assistant Commissioner with concurrent duties as vice commissioner, charged with reorganizing the military defenses of Daming, Guangping, and Shunde; his command was styled the Tianxiong Army. The year after that, cited for outstanding governance, he was promoted to surveillance commissioner while continuing to handle military affairs as before. Though a scholar by training, Xiangsheng was an able archer, versed in strategy, and skilled at bringing an army under discipline.

六年，山西賊流入畿輔，據臨城之西山。象升擊卻之，與總兵梁甫、參議寇從化連敗賊。賊走還西山，圍遊擊董維坤冷水村。象升設伏石城南，大破之，又破之青龍岡，又破之武安。連斬賊魁十一人，殲其黨，收還男女二萬。三郡之民，安堵者數歲。象升每臨陣，身先士卒，與賊格鬥，刃及鞍勿顧，失馬即步戰，逐賊危崖，一賊自巔射中象升額，又一矢仆夫斃馬下，象升提刀戰益疾。賊駭走，相戒曰：「盧廉使遇即死，不可犯。」象升以是有能兵名。賊懼，南渡河。

In the sixth year, rebels from Shanxi entered the metropolitan region and seized the Western Hills near Lincheng. Xiangsheng beat them back and, with Regional Commander Liang Fu and Participating Secretary Kou Conghua, defeated them again and again. The rebels retreated to the Western Hills and besieged Guerrilla Officer Dong Weikun at Lengshui Village. Xiangsheng laid an ambush south of Shicheng and crushed them; he crushed them again at Qinglong Ridge and yet again at Wu'an. In all he cut down eleven rebel leaders in succession, annihilated their bands, and recovered twenty thousand captives, men and women. For several years thereafter the people of the three prefectures lived in peace. Whenever he entered battle Xiangsheng placed himself at the head of his men and grappled with the rebels himself; if a blade struck his saddle he ignored it, and if thrown from his horse he fought on foot, chasing them up sheer cliffs—once a rebel on the heights put an arrow in his forehead, and a second arrow killed his groom and horse beneath him, yet Xiangsheng only gripped his saber and fought the harder. The rebels fled in terror, warning one another, "Meet Vice Commissioner Lu and you die—do not cross him." It was thus that Xiangsheng won his name as a commander who could fight. Fearing him, the rebels crossed the Yellow River to the south.

明年，賊入楚，陷鄖陽六縣。命象升以右僉都御史，代蔣允儀撫治鄖陽。時蜀寇返楚者駐鄖之黃龍灘，象升與總督陳奇瑜分道夾擊，自烏林關、乜家溝、石泉壩、康寧坪、獅子山、太平河、竹木砭、箐口諸處，連戰皆捷，斬馘五千六百有奇，漢南寇幾盡。因請益鄖主兵，減稅賦，繕城郭，貸鄰郡倉谷，募商采銅鑄錢，鄖得完輯。

The next year the rebels entered Huguang and overran six counties of Yunyang. Xiangsheng was ordered to take up the post of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief in place of Jiang Yunyi as pacification commissioner of Yunyang. Sichuan rebels who had returned to Huguang were then encamped at Huanglongtan in Yunyang; Xiangsheng and Governor Chen Qiyu struck from separate routes, and from Wulin Pass, Yijia Ravine, Shiquan Dam, Kangning Flat, Lion Mountain, the Taiping River, Zhumu Slope, Jingkou, and other points won battle after battle, slaying more than five thousand six hundred; the rebels of southern Han were nearly wiped out. He then petitioned for more regular troops for Yunyang, lighter taxes, repairs to the walls, grain loans from neighboring prefectures, and merchants to mine copper and cast cash; in this way Yunyang was made whole again.

八年五月，擢象升右副都御史，代唐暉巡撫湖廣。八月，命總理江北、河南、山東、湖廣、四川軍務，兼湖廣巡撫。總督洪承疇辦西北，象升辦東南。尋解巡撫任，進兵部侍郎，加督山西、陜西軍務，賜尚方劍，便宜行事。汝、洛告警，象升倍道馳入汝。賊部眾三十余萬，連營百里，勢甚盛。象升督副將李重鎮、雷時聲等擊高迎祥於城西，用強弩射殺賊千余人。迎祥、李自成走，陷光州，象升復大破之確山。先是，大帥曹文詔、艾萬年陣亡，尤世威敗衄，諸將率畏賊不敢前，象升每慷慨灑泣，激以忠義。軍中嘗絕三日餉，象升亦水漿不入口，以是得將士心，戰輒有功。

In the fifth month of the eighth year he was elevated to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and replaced Tang Hui as governor of Huguang. In the eighth month he was charged with overall direction of military affairs in Jiangbei, Henan, Shandong, Huguang, and Sichuan, while continuing as governor of Huguang. Governor Hong Chengchou was to manage the northwest, Xiangsheng the southeast. Before long he was relieved of the governorship, promoted to Vice Minister of War, and given additional supervision of Shanxi and Shaanxi military affairs, together with the imperial sword and authority to act as he saw fit. When Ruzhou and Luoyang were threatened, Xiangsheng raced there by forced marches. The rebel forces numbered more than three hundred thousand, their camps strung out for a hundred li, and their momentum was overwhelming. Xiangsheng directed Vice Generals Li Chongzhen, Lei Shisheng, and others to strike Gao Yingxiang west of the city; with heavy crossbows they killed more than a thousand rebels. Yingxiang and Li Zicheng withdrew, then took Guangzhou; Xiangsheng again routed them decisively at Queshan. Earlier the great commanders Cao Wenchao and Ai Wannian had fallen in battle, You Shiwei had been beaten, and most generals were so afraid of the rebels that they would not advance; Xiangsheng would weep openly in his indignation and stir them with talk of loyalty and duty. Once the army went three days without pay, yet Xiangsheng likewise took neither food nor drink; by this he won the soldiers' hearts, and in battle he invariably prevailed.

九年正月，大會諸將於鳳陽。象升乃上言曰：「賊橫而後調兵，賊多而後增兵，是為後局；兵至而後議餉，兵集而後請餉，是為危形。況請餉未敷，兵將從賊而為寇，是八年來所請之兵皆賊黨，所用之餉皆盜糧也。」又言：「總督、總理宜有專兵專餉。請調鹹寧、甘、固之兵屬總督，薊、遼、關、寧之兵屬總理。」又言：「各直省撫臣，俱有封疆重任，毋得一有賊警即求援求調。不應則吳、越也，分應則何以支。」又言：「臺諫諸臣，不問難易，不顧死生，專以求全責備。雖有長材，從何展布。臣與督臣，有剿法無堵法，有戰法無守法。」言皆切中機宜。

In the first month of the ninth year he assembled the generals at Fengyang. Xiangsheng then submitted a memorial, saying, "Rebels grow bold before troops are mobilized; they multiply before reinforcements arrive—this is always fighting from behind; pay is debated only after the army arrives; funds are requested only after the host is assembled—this is a posture of extreme danger. And when the funds requested never fully arrive, officers and men join the rebels and become bandits in their own right—for eight years the soldiers raised have been rebel allies, and the grain spent has been thieves' rations." He also argued, "The governor-general and the overall commander each need troops and funds of their own. He asked that troops from Xianning, Gansu, and Guyuan be placed under the governor-general, and troops from Ji, Liaodong, the frontier passes, and Ningxia under the overall commander." He also urged, "Every provincial governor bears a weighty charge for his territory and must not, at the first alarm of rebels, beg for aid and troop transfers. If none respond, it is Wu and Yue standing apart; if all respond piecemeal, how can the state hold?"." He also said, "The remonstrance officials, heedless of difficulty or danger and careless of life and death, concern themselves only with demanding perfection and fixing blame. Even men of real ability have nowhere to show what they can do. Your servant and the governor-general have ways to pursue and destroy, but none to block; ways to fight, but none merely to hold ground." Every point he made went straight to the crux of the matter.

於是迎祥圍廬州，不克，分道陷含山、和州，進圍滁州。象升率總兵祖寬、遊擊羅岱救滁州，大戰城東五里橋，斬賊首搖天動，奪其駿馬。賊連營俱潰，逐北五十里，朱龍橋至關山，積屍填溝委塹，滁水為不流。賊乃北趨鳳陽，圍壽州，突潁、霍、蕭、碭、靈璧、虹，窺曹、單。總兵劉澤清拒河，乃掠考城、儀封而西。其犯亳者，折入歸德。永寧總兵官祖大樂邀擊之，賊乃北向開封。陳永福敗之朱仙鎮，賊遂走登封，與他賊合，分趨裕州、南陽。象升合寬、大樂、岱兵大破之七頂山，殲自成精騎殆盡。已，次南陽，令大樂備汝寧，寬備鄧州，而躬率諸軍蹙賊。遣使告湖廣巡撫王夢尹、鄖陽撫治宋祖舜曰：「賊疲矣，東西邀擊，前阻漢江，可一戰殲也。」兩人竟不能禦，賊遂自光化潛渡漢入鄖。象升遣總兵秦翼明、副將雷時聲由南漳、谷城入山擊賊。寬等騎軍，不利阻隘，副將王進忠軍嘩，羅岱、劉肇基兵多逃，追之則彎弓內向。象升乃調四川及筸子土兵，搜捕均州賊。是時，楚、豫賊及迎祥等俱在秦、楚、蜀之交萬山中，象升自南陽趨襄陽進兵。賊多兵少，而河南大饑，餉乏，邊兵益洶洶。承疇、象升議，關中平曠，利騎兵，以寬、重鎮軍入陜，而襄陽、均、宜、谷、上津、南漳，環山皆賊。七月，象升渡淅河而南。九月，追賊至鄖西。

Thereupon Yingxiang besieged Luzhou without success, sent columns to take Hanshan and Hezhou, and pressed on to besiege Chuzhou. Xiangsheng led Regional Commander Zu Kuan and Guerrilla Officer Luo Dai to relieve Chuzhou; east of the city at Wuli Bridge he fought a great battle, slew the rebel chief Yaotiandong, and captured his fine horse. The rebel camps broke entirely; driving them fifty li north from Zhulong Bridge to Guanshan, corpses choked the ditches and ramparts until the Chu River would not flow. The rebels then turned north toward Fengyang, besieged Shouzhou, overran Ying, Huo, Xiao, Dang, Lingbi, and Hong, and threatened Cao and Shan. Regional Commander Liu Zeqing barred them at the river, so they looted Kaocheng and Yifeng and marched west. The column that struck Bo wheeled into Guide. Yongning Regional Commander Zu Dale intercepted them, and the rebels then turned north toward Kaifeng. Chen Yongfu routed them at Zhuxian Town; the rebels fled to Dengfeng, merged with other bands, and split toward Yuzhou and Nanyang. Xiangsheng united Kuan, Dale, and Dai and crushed them at Qidingshan, nearly wiping out Zicheng's picked horsemen. He then encamped at Nanyang, set Dale to guard Runing and Kuan to guard Dengzhou, and personally led the armies to hem the rebels in. He sent word to Huguang Governor Wang Mengyin and Yunyang Commissioner Song Zushun: "The rebels are spent; hit them from east and west with the Han River in front, and they can be wiped out in one fight. Yet the two men could not stop them; the rebels slipped across the Han at Guanghua and entered Yunyang." Xiangsheng dispatched Regional Commander Qin Yiming and Vice General Lei Shisheng through Nanzhang and Gucheng into the hills to attack the rebels. Kuan's horsemen fared poorly in confined ground; Vice General Wang Jinzhong's men mutinied; many of Luo Dai's and Liu Zhaoji's troops deserted, and when pursued they wheeled about with bows drawn on their own side. Xiangsheng then brought up Sichuan troops and Gaozi native levies to hunt the Junzhou rebels. By then the rebels of Huguang and Henan, Yingxiang included, were all in the maze of mountains where Shaanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan met; Xiangsheng advanced from Nanyang toward Xiangyang. Rebels were plentiful and soldiers few; Henan was in severe famine, funds ran short, and the frontier troops grew increasingly mutinous. Chengchou and Xiangsheng agreed that the Guanzhong plain, being open, suited cavalry, and that Kuan's and Chongzhen's forces should enter Shaanxi, while Xiangyang, Jun, Yi, Gu, Shangjin, and Nanzhang were ringed by mountains full of rebels. In the seventh month Xiangsheng crossed the Xi and marched south. In the ninth month he pursued the rebels to western Yunyang.

京師戒嚴，有詔入衛，再賜尚方劍。既行，賊遂大逞，骎驍乎不可復制矣。既解嚴，詔遷兵部左侍郎，總督宣、大、山西軍務。大興屯政，谷熟，畝一鐘，積粟二十余萬。天子諭九邊皆式宣、大。

When the capital was again placed under alert he was ordered to the capital for its defense, and the imperial sword was granted once more. After he left, the rebels surged unchecked and soon could not be restrained at all. When the emergency ended he was promoted to Left Vice Minister of War and made governor-general of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi. He threw himself into garrison agriculture; grain ripened to a full zhong per mu, and more than two hundred thousand dan were stored. The emperor directed that all nine frontier districts should follow the Xuan-Datong example.

明年春，聞宣警，即夜馳至天城。矢檄旁午，言二百里外乞炭馬蹄闊踏四十里。象升曰：「此大舉也。」問：「入口乎？」曰：「未。」象升曰：「殆欲右窺雲、晉，令我兵集宣，則彼乘虛入耳。」因檄雲、晉兵勿動，自率師次右衛，戒邊吏毋輕言戰。持一月，象升曰：「懈矣，可擊。」哨知三十六營離墻六十里，潛召雲師西來，宣師東來，自督兵直子午，出羊房堡，計日鏖戰。乞炭聞之遂遁。象升在陽和，乞炭不敢近邊。五月，丁外艱，疏十上，乞奔喪。時楊嗣昌奪情任中樞，亦起陳新甲制中，而令象升席喪候代。進兵部尚書。新甲在遠，未即至。

The following spring, on word of trouble in Xuanfu, he galloped through the night to Tiancheng. Dispatches flew in from every quarter, saying that two hundred li away Qi Tan's horses had trampled a track forty li wide. Xiangsheng said, "This is a major campaign." He asked, "Have they entered the passes?" The reply was, "Not yet." Xiangsheng said, "They likely mean to probe Yun and Jin on the right, draw our forces to Xuan, and slip through where we are weak." He ordered the Yun and Jin armies to stand fast, led his own force to encamp at Youwei, and warned frontier officers not to talk rashly of fighting. After a month he said, "They have grown careless; we can strike. Scouts found the thirty-six camps sixty li from the wall; he secretly called the Yun force from the west and the Xuan force from the east, and personally led his men straight through Ziwu and out by Yangfang Fort to fight on a fixed day." Qi Tan heard of it and withdrew immediately. While Xiangsheng held Yanghe, Qi Tan did not dare come near the border. In the fifth month his father died; he submitted ten memorials begging leave to observe mourning. Yang Sichang had meanwhile left mourning to head the Secretariat; Chen Xin Jia was also recalled to the center, while Xiangsheng was left in mourning dress awaiting his successor. He was promoted to Minister of War. Xin Jia was still distant and did not arrive at once.

九月，大清兵入墻子嶺、青口山，殺總督吳阿衡，毀正關，至營城石匣，駐於牛蘭。召宣、大、山西三總兵楊國柱、王樸、虎大威入衛，三賜象升尚方劍，督天下援兵。象升麻衣草履，誓師及郊，馳疏報曰：「臣非軍旅才。愚心任事，誼不避難。但自臣父奄逝，長途慘傷，潰亂五官，非復昔時；兼以草土之身踞三軍上，豈惟觀瞻不聳，尤虞金鼓不靈。」已聞總監中官高起潛亦衰绖臨戎，象升謂所親曰：「吾三人皆不祥之身也。人臣無親，安有君。樞輔奪情，亦欲予變禮以分愆耶？處心若此，安可與事君。他日必面責之。」當是時，嗣昌、起潛主和議。象升聞之，頓足嘆曰：「予受國恩，恨不得死所，有如萬分一不幸，寧捐軀斷脰耳。」及都，帝召對，問方略。對曰：「臣主戰。」帝色變，良久曰：「撫乃外廷議耳，其出與嗣昌、起潛議。」出與議，不合。明日，帝發萬金犒軍，嗣昌送之，屏左右，戒毋浪戰，遂別去。師次昌平，帝復遣中官賫帑金三萬犒軍。明日，又賜禦馬百，太仆馬千，銀鐵鞭五百。象升曰：「果然外廷議也，帝意銳甚矣。」決策議戰，然事多為嗣昌、起潛撓。疏請分兵，則議宣、大、山西三帥屬象升，關、寧諸路屬起潛。象升名督天下兵，實不及二萬。次順義。

In the ninth month the Qing army entered through Qiangzi Ridge and Qingkou Mountain, killed Governor Wu Aheng, broke the main pass, reached Shixia at Yingcheng, and encamped at Niulan. The three regional commanders of Xuan, Datong, and Shanxi—Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, and Hu Dawei—were called to the capital; Xiangsheng received the imperial sword a third time and was placed over all relief armies in the realm. Clad in hemp and straw sandals, Xiangsheng took the oath with his army at the city outskirts and sent an urgent memorial: "I am no soldier by talent. Yet with an honest heart I accept the charge and in principle do not shrink from hardship. But since my father's sudden death the long road has wrecked me with grief; my senses are scattered—I am not the man I was; and as one still in grave clothes I sit above three armies—not only will the sight fail to inspire awe, I fear above all that drum and gong will lack force." Learning that the supervising eunuch Gao Qiqian also wore mourning as he went to war, Xiangsheng told those near him, "The three of us are ill-starred men. A subject without parents—how can he still have a sovereign? The chief minister has left mourning—does he mean to let me bend ritual so we may share the fault? A heart set on such things—how can one serve the throne? One day I shall call him to account face to face." By then Sichang and Qiqian were steering the court toward peace talks. Xiangsheng heard and stamped his foot in anguish: "The state has shown me grace—I only wish I had a place to die. If the slightest mischance should come, I would gladly give my body and let them take my head." On reaching the capital he was called in audience and asked for his plan. He answered, "I favor war." The emperor's face darkened; after a long silence he said, "Peace is only the outer court's talk—go discuss it with Sichang and Qiqian." He went out to meet them and they could not agree. The next day the emperor sent ten thousand taels in gold to reward the troops; Sichang saw him off, sent attendants away, warned him not to fight rashly, and left. The army encamped at Changping; the emperor again sent a eunuch with thirty thousand taels from the treasury to reward the men. The day after he also granted a hundred imperial horses, a thousand from the Imperial Stud, and five hundred silver-tipped iron whips. Xiangsheng said, "So it was the outer court after all—the emperor himself is keen for battle. He chose to fight, yet at every turn Sichang and Qiqian obstructed him. He memorialized to split the armies: the three Xuan-Datong-Shanxi commanders would answer to Xiangsheng, the frontier passes and Ningxia to Qiqian. Though titled commander of all armies in the realm, he had in fact fewer than twenty thousand men. He then moved his camp to Shunyi.

先是，有瞽而賣卜者周元忠，善遼人，時遣之為媾。會嗣昌至軍，象升責數之曰：「文弱，子不聞城下盟《春秋》恥之，而日為媾。長安口舌如鋒，袁崇煥之禍其能免乎？」嗣昌頰赤，曰：「公直以尚方劍加我矣。」象升曰：「既不奔喪，又不能戰，齒劍者我也，安能加人？」嗣昌辭遁。象升即言：「元忠講款，往來非一日，事始於薊門督監，受成於本兵，通國聞之，誰可諱也？」嗣昌語塞而去。又數日，會起潛安定門，兩人各持一議。新甲亦至昌平，象升分兵與之。當是時，象升自將馬步軍列營都城之外，沖鋒陷陣，軍律甚整。

Earlier a blind fortune-teller, Zhou Yuanzhong, knew the Liao side well and was repeatedly sent to treat for peace. When Sichang came to camp Xiangsheng upbraided him: "Wenruo, have you not read how the Spring and Autumn counts a treaty under the walls as shame—yet you bargain day after day? Chang'an's gossip is sharp as swords—do you think you can escape Yuan Chonghuan's end? Sichang flushed and said, "You may as well lay the imperial sword to my throat." Xiangsheng said, "You would not leave mourning, yet you will not fight—the one who should bite the sword is I. How could I lay it on you?" Sichang made his excuses and withdrew. Xiangsheng went on, "Yuanzhong's negotiations have shuttled back and forth for days; they began with the Jimen supervisor and were sealed by the Minister of War—the whole court knows. Who can hide it? Sichang had no reply and left. Days later he met Qiqian at Anding Gate; each clung to his own policy. Xin Jia reached Changping as well, and Xiangsheng gave him a share of the force. At that time Xiangsheng himself led foot and horse in camps outside the capital, always in the forefront; his discipline was severe.

大清兵南下，三路出師：一由淶水攻易，一由新城攻雄，一由定興攻安肅。象升遂由涿進據保定，命諸將分道出擊，大戰於慶都。編修楊廷麟上疏言：「南仲在內，李綱無功；潛善秉成，宗澤殞恨。國有若人，非封疆福。」嗣昌大怒，改廷麟兵部主事，贊畫行營，奪象升尚書，侍郎視事。命大學士劉宇亮輔臣督師，巡撫張其平閉絕餉。俄又以雲、晉警，趣出關，王樸徑引兵去。

The Qing army came south in three columns: one through Laishui against Yi, one through Xincheng against Xiong, one through Dingxing against Ansu. Xiangsheng advanced from Zhuo to hold Baoding, sent his generals out on separate routes, and fought a great battle at Qingdu. Editor Yang Tinglin submitted a memorial: "With Nanzhong inside the palace, Li Gang could achieve nothing; with Qianshan wielding authority, Zong Ze perished in bitterness. When the state keeps men like these, the borders are not blessed. Sichang was enraged, demoted Tinglin to a drafting officer with the field army, reduced Xiangsheng from minister to vice minister, and kept him at work. Grand Secretary Liu Yuliang was sent to supervise as assisting minister; Governor Zhang Qiping blocked rations. Soon, with trouble on the Yun-Jin front, he was pressed to leave the passes; Wang Pu marched his men straight away.

象升提殘卒，次宿三宮野外。畿南三郡父老聞之，鹹叩軍門請曰：「天下洶洶且十年，明公出萬死不顧一生之計為天下先。乃奸臣在內，孤忠見嫉。三軍捧出關之檄，將士懷西歸之心，棲遲絕野，一飽無時。脫巾狂噪，雲帥其見告矣。明公誠從愚計，移軍廣順，召集義師。三郡子弟喜公之來，皆以昔非公死賊，今非公死兵，同心戮力，一呼而裹糧從者可十萬，孰與只臂無援，立而就死哉！」象升泫然流涕而謂父老曰：「感父老義。雖然，自予與賊角，經數十百戰未嘗衄。今者，分疲卒五千，大敵西沖，援師東隔，事由中制，食盡力窮，旦夕死矣，無徒累爾父老為也。」眾號泣雷動，各攜床頭鬥粟餉軍，或貽棗一升，曰：「公煮為糧。」十二月十一日，進師至鉅鹿賈莊。起潛擁關、寧兵在雞澤，距賈莊五十里而近，象升遣廷麟往乞援，不應。師至蒿水橋，遇大清兵。象升將中軍，大威帥左，國柱帥右遂戰。夜半，觱篥聲四起。旦日，騎數萬環之三匝。象升麾兵疾戰，呼聲動天，自辰迄未，炮盡矢窮。奮身鬥，後騎皆進，手擊殺數十人，身中四矢三刃，遂仆。掌牧楊陸凱懼眾之殘其屍而伏其上，背負二十四矢以死。仆顧顯者殉，一軍盡覆。大威、國柱潰圍乃得脫。

Xiangsheng led his broken remnant and camped in the wilds at the Three Palaces. The elders of the three southern districts came to the gate and pleaded: "For ten years the land has boiled in turmoil; you have stepped forward, ready to die ten thousand deaths and not count one life, leading the world. Yet villains sit within the court, and your solitary loyalty is resented. The three armies flourish the order to march out; soldiers dream of going west; they camp in the wastes and go hungry day after day. They tear off their caps and shout; the Yun commander has told us as much. If you would heed our counsel, move to Guangshun and rally loyal volunteers. The youths of the three districts rejoice that you have come; they say, 'Before we would have died for you against rebels; now we would die for you against these troops.' Unite in one will and one call will bring a hundred thousand with grain on their backs. How is that worse than standing alone, without help, and dying at once?" Xiangsheng wept and told the elders, "Your loyalty moves me. Yet since I first met the rebels in battle I have fought scores of engagements and never been beaten. Now I lead five thousand spent men; a great foe drives from the west and help is blocked to the east; the court meddles from afar; we are out of food and out of strength—I will die soon. Do not let me drag you down with me." They cried as one; each brought a peck of grain from home, or a handful of dates, saying, "Boil these for your meal, my lord." On the eleventh of the twelfth month he marched to Jia Village in Julu. Qiqian held the Guan-Ning army at Jize, only fifty li away; Xiangsheng sent Tinglin to beg reinforcements, but none came. At Haoshui Bridge the army met the Qing host. Xiangsheng took the center, Dawei the left wing, Guozhu the right, and they joined battle. At midnight suona horns sounded from all quarters. At dawn tens of thousands of horsemen closed round them in three rings. Xiangsheng drove his men to fight; the roar shook the sky; from mid-morning until late afternoon powder and arrows were gone. He plunged into the press; the rear horse all surged up; he cut down dozens with his own hand; four arrows and three blade-cuts struck him, and he fell. Herdsman Yang Lukai, fearing the enemy would hack the body, covered it with his own and died with twenty-four arrows in his back. When he fell, the notable Gu Xian died beside him, and the entire force was wiped out. Dawei and Guozhu broke the ring and escaped.

起潛聞敗，倉皇遁，不言象升死狀。嗣昌疑之，有詔驗視。廷麟得其屍戰場，麻衣白網巾。一卒遙見，即號泣曰：「此吾盧公也。」三郡之民聞之，哭失聲。順德知府於穎上狀，嗣昌故靳之，八十日而後殮。明年，象升妻王請恤。又明年，其弟象晉、象觀又請，不許。久之，嗣昌敗，廷臣多為言者，乃贈太子少師、兵部尚書，賜祭葬，世蔭錦衣千戶。福王時，追謚忠烈，建祠奉祀。

Qiqian heard of the rout and fled in panic, saying nothing of how Xiangsheng had died. Sichang doubted the report; the throne ordered the facts checked. Tinglin found his body on the field—in hemp clothes and a white gauze cap. A soldier glimpsed him from afar and cried, "That is our Lord Lu. The people of the three districts heard and wept until they could not speak. Shunde Prefect Yu Ying filed a report from the wall; Sichang deliberately held it back, and the burial waited eighty days. The following year Xiangsheng's wife Wang petitioned for mourning grants. Another year on, his brothers Xiangjin and Xiangguan petitioned again, without success. Long afterward, when Sichang himself was ruined, many at court spoke up; only then was Xiangsheng posthumously made Junior Tutor and Minister of War, given state funeral and burial, and his line enfeoffed as hereditary guard of a thousand households. Under the Prince of Fu he received the posthumous name Zhonglie and a shrine was raised for his cult.

象升少有大誌，為學不事章句。居官勤勞倍下吏，夜刻燭，雞鳴盥櫛，得一機要，披衣起，立行之。暇即角射，箭銜花，五十步外，發必中。愛才惜下如不及，三賜劍，未嘗戮一偏裨。

As a youth Xiangsheng harbored great designs and did not fuss over exegetical niceties in his learning. In office he worked twice as hard as the men beneath him; he read by candle deep into the night and was washed and combed at cockcrow; the moment he seized a key point he rose in his robes and acted on it. In spare moments he practiced archery with flowered shafts; fifty paces off, he never missed. He loved able men and cherished his officers beyond measure; though the imperial sword was granted thrice, he never put a single lieutenant to death.

高平知縣侯弘文者，奇士也。僑寓襄陽，散家財，募滇軍隨象升討賊。象升移宣、大，弘文率募兵至楚，巡撫王夢尹以擾驛聞。象升上疏救，不得，弘文卒遣戍。天下由是惜弘文而多象升。

Hou Hongwen, magistrate of Gaoping, was a man of unusual spirit. He lived in Xiangyang, spent his family fortune, and raised Yunnan troops to follow Xiangsheng against the rebels. When Xiangsheng went to Xuan-Datong, Hongwen brought his recruits to Huguang; Governor Wang Mengyin reported him for harassing the post roads. Xiangsheng memorialized in his defense but failed; Hongwen was sent to frontier exile. The realm pitied Hongwen and esteemed Xiangsheng all the more.

象升好畜駿馬，皆有名字。嘗逐賊南漳，敗，追兵至沙河，水闊數丈，一躍而過，即所號五明驥也。

Xiangsheng loved fine horses and gave each a name. Once, beaten at Nanzhang, pursuers caught him at the Sha River, many zhang across; he cleared it in a single bound—his horse Wuming Ji.

方象升之戰歿也，嗣昌遣三邏卒察其死狀。其一人俞振龍者，歸言象升實死。嗣昌怒，鞭之三日夜，且死，張目曰：「天道神明，無枉忠臣。」於是天下聞之，莫不欷歔，益恚嗣昌矣。

When Xiangsheng fell, Sichang sent three frontier scouts to learn how he had died. One, Yu Zhenlong, came back reporting that Xiangsheng was truly dead. Sichang flew into a rage and flogged him for three days and nights; near death he opened his eyes and said, "Heaven and the spirits see true—do not wrong a loyal minister. When the realm heard it, none could hold back tears, and men hated Sichang all the more.

其後南都亡，象觀赴水死，象晉為僧，一門先後赴難者百余人。從弟象同及其部將陳安死尤烈。

Later, when the Southern Capital was lost, Xiangguan drowned himself; Xiangjin took the tonsure; more than a hundred of the clan died in the calamity. His cousin Xiangtong and his officer Chen An died especially hard.

象觀，崇禎十五年，鄉薦第一，成進士。官中書。象晉、象同皆諸生。象升死時，年三十九。

Xiangguan, in Chongzhen 15, topped the provincial exams and took the jinshi degree. He served as a drafting secretary. Xiangjin and Xiangtong were both licentiates. Xiangsheng was thirty-nine when he died.

劉之綸，字元誠，宜賓人。家世務農。之綸少從父兄力田，間艾薪樵，賣之市中。歸而學書，銘其座曰「必為聖人」，里中由是號之綸劉聖人。天啟初，舉鄉試。奢崇明反，以策幹監司扼賊歸路，監司不能用。

Liu Zhilun, courtesy name Yuancheng, came from Yibin. His family had farmed for generations. As a boy Zhilun worked the fields beside his father and brothers, and between whiles cut firewood to sell in town. Back home he took up books and wrote over his seat, "I must become a sage"; neighbors called him Liu the Sage. Early in Tianqi he passed the provincial examination. When She Chongming rose in revolt he offered plans to the supervising officials to cut the rebels' retreat, but they would not adopt them.

崇禎元年第進士，改庶吉士。與同館金聲及所客申甫三人者相與為友，造單輪火車、偏廂車、獸車，刳木為西洋大小炮，不費司農錢。

In Chongzhen 1 he took the jinshi and entered the Hanlin as a bachelor. He befriended his Hanlin colleague Jin Sheng and a guest, Shen Fu; together they built a single-wheeled fire cart, a side-carriage, and a beast-drawn cart, and hollowed logs into large and small Western-style cannon without drawing on the Ministry of Revenue.

明年冬，京師戒嚴。聲上書得召見，薦之綸及甫。帝立召之綸、甫。之綸言兵，了了口辨。帝大悅，授甫京營副總兵，資之金十七萬召募；改聲御史，監其軍；授之綸兵部右侍郎，副尚書閔夢得協理京營戎政。於是之綸賓賓以新進驟躋卿貳矣。

The next winter the capital was placed under martial alert. Jin Sheng memorialized and was called to audience; he recommended Zhilun and Fu. The emperor immediately summoned Zhilun and Fu. When Zhilun spoke of war his exposition was lucid and his tongue quick. The emperor was delighted and made Fu vice commander of the Capital Garrison, funding him with 170,000 taels to raise troops; Jin Sheng was made a censor to oversee the force; Zhilun was appointed Right Vice Minister of War; Vice Minister Min Mengde helped coordinate capital garrison affairs. Thus Zhilun, still a newcomer, had vaulted to a vice-ministerial rank.

初，正月元日有黑氣起東北亙西方。甫見之大驚，趨語之綸、聲曰：「天變如此，汝知之乎？今年當喋血京城下，可畏也。」聞者皆笑。及冬十一月三日，大清兵破遵化，十五日至壩上，二十日薄都城，自北而西。都人從城上望之，如雲萬許片馳風，須臾已過。遂克良鄉，還至蘆溝，夜殺甫一軍七千余人，黎明掩殺大帥滿桂、孫祖壽，生擒黑雲龍、麻登雲以去。之綸曰：「元日之言驗矣。」請行，無兵，則請京營兵，不許；則請關外川兵，不許；則議召募，召募得萬人，遂行。抵通州，時永平已陷，天大雨雪。之綸奏軍機，七上，不報。

Earlier, on New Year's Day, black vapor had risen in the northeast and stretched westward. Fu was deeply alarmed and rushed to Zhilun and Sheng: "Heaven shows such a sign—do you understand it? This year blood will run under the capital walls. It is terrifying. Everyone who heard them laughed. That winter, on the third of the eleventh month, the Qing took Zunhua; on the fifteenth they reached Bashang; on the twentieth they pressed the capital from the north and west. From the walls the people saw them like ten thousand clouds driven by wind; in a moment they had swept past. They seized Liangxiang, withdrew to Lugou, killed more than seven thousand of Fu's men that night, and at dawn ambushed the great commanders Man Gui and Sun Shou, taking Heiyunlong and Ma Dengyun alive. Zhilun said, "What we said on New Year's Day has come true. He asked to march; without troops he begged for capital-garrison soldiers—refused; then for frontier Sichuan troops—refused; then for a levy; when ten thousand were raised, he marched. At Tongzhou, Yongping had already fallen; rain and snow fell in torrents. Zhilun sent seven military memorials; none was answered.

明年正月，師次薊。當是時，大清兵蒙古諸部號十余萬，駐永平；諸勤王軍數萬在薊。之綸乃與總兵馬世龍、吳自勉約，由薊趨永平，牽之無動，而自率兵八路進攻遵化。既由石門至白草頂，距遵化八里娘娘山而營，世龍、自勉不赴約。二十二日，大清兵自永平趨三屯營，驍騎三萬，望見山上軍，縱擊之。之綸發炮，炮炸，軍營自亂。左右請結陣徐退，以為後圖，之綸叱曰：「毋多言！吾受國恩，吾死耳！」嚴鼓再戰，流矢四集。之綸解所佩印付家人，「持此歸報天子」，遂死。一軍皆哭，拔營野戰，皆死之。屍還，矢飲於顱，不可拔，聲以齒嚙之出，以授其家人。

In the first month of the new year his army encamped at Ji. The Qing host and Mongol allies numbered more than a hundred thousand at Yongping; relief armies in the tens of thousands lay at Ji. Zhilun agreed with Ma Shilong and Wu Zimian to rush from Ji toward Yongping and pin the enemy, while he led eight columns against Zunhua. He marched through Shimen to Baicao Peak and camped eight li from Zunhua at Niangniang Mountain; Shilong and Zimian never came. On the twenty-second the Qing force hurried from Yongping toward Santunying; thirty thousand picked horsemen saw the hilltop army and charged. Zhilun fired his guns; a piece burst and his camp collapsed into chaos. His officers begged to form up and withdraw for another day; Zhilun snapped, "Enough talk! I owe the state my life—that is all there is to it! He ordered the drums for another stand; arrows flew from every side. Zhilun handed his seal to a kinsman: "Take this to the Son of Heaven," and died. The whole army wept, left camp to fight in the open, and perished to a man. When the body came back, an arrow had sunk into the skull and would not come free; Sheng bit it out with his teeth and gave it to the kin.

初，講官文震孟入都，之綸、聲往見之，震孟教以持重。之綸既受命視師，驟貴，廷臣抑之。震孟使人諷之，謂宜辭侍郎而易科銜以行，不聽。既行，通州守者不納，雨雪宿古廟中，御史董羽宸劾其行留。之綸曰：「小人意忌，有事則委卸，無事則議論，止從一侍郎起見耳。乞削臣今官，賜骸骨。」不許。及戰死，天子嘉其忠，從優恤，贈兵部尚書。震孟止之曰：「死綏，分也，侍郎非不尊。」遂不予贈，賜一祭半葬，任一子。之綸母老，二子幼，貧不能返柩，請於朝，給驛還。久之，贈尚書。後十五年，聲死難。

Earlier Lecturer Wen Zhenmeng had entered the capital; Zhilun and Sheng visited him, and he taught them to be steady. Once Zhilun took command and rose so fast, the courtiers checked him. Zhenmeng hinted he should drop the vice-ministership and march under a lesser title; he refused. On the march Tongzhou would not let him in; he slept in a ruined temple in snow; Censor Dong Yuchen accused him of delay. Zhilun said, "Small men envy me; they shirk work and chatter when there is none—all because I am a vice minister. Strip my rank and let me go home in my bones. The court refused. When he fell the emperor praised his loyalty and granted generous mourning, posthumously making him Minister of War. Zhenmeng objected: "Dying at one's post is duty enough; a vice minister is honor enough. So the higher posthumous rank was denied; he received half the state rites and one son was enfeoffed. His mother was old, his sons young; too poor to bring the coffin home, they petitioned and were given post relays. Long afterward he was posthumously made Minister of War. Fifteen years later Jin Sheng too died in the nation's ruin.

邱民仰，字長白，渭南人。萬歷中舉於鄉。以教諭遷順天東安知縣，厘宿弊十二事。河嚙，歲旱蝗，為文祭禱。河他徙，蝗亦盡。調繁保定之新城。

Qiu Minyang, courtesy name Changbai, came from Weinan. Under Wanli he passed the provincial examination. Promoted from instructor to magistrate of Dong'an in Shuntian, he swept away twelve entrenched abuses. The river ate its banks; drought and locusts struck together; he wrote prayers and offered sacrifice. The river shifted course and the locusts vanished. He was moved to the demanding county of Xincheng in Baoding.

崇禎二年，縣被兵，晨夕登陴守。四方勤王軍畢出其地，民仰調度有方，民不知擾。擢御史，號敢言。時四方多盜，鎮撫率怯懦不敢戰，釀成大亂。吳橋兵變，列城多陷，巡撫余大成、孫元化皆主撫。流賊擾山西，巡撫宋統殷下令，殺賊者抵死。民仰先後疏論其非，後皆如民仰言。遭妻喪，告歸。出為河間知府，遷天津副使，調大同監軍汝寧，遷永平右參政，移督寧前兵備。民仰善理劇，以故所移皆要地。

In Chongzhen 2 the county was harried by troops; dawn to dusk he manned the walls. Armies hurrying to the capital all passed through; Minyang directed them so well the people barely noticed. He rose to censor and was famed for blunt speech. Bandits swarmed everywhere; pacifiers were timid and would not fight, brewing catastrophe. The Wuqiao mutiny toppled many towns; Governors Yu Dacheng and Sun Yuanhua both favored negotiation. When rebels ravaged Shanxi, Governor Song Tongyin decreed death for anyone who killed a "bandit." Minyang protested again and again; events later proved him right. After his wife's death he sought leave to mourn at home. He served as prefect of Hejian, vice commissioner at Tianjin, military supervisor at Runing in Datong, Right Assistant Commissioner at Yongping, and finally Ningqian military commissioner. Minyang excelled at knotty administration, so every post he held was critical.

十三年三月，擢右僉都御史，代方一藻巡撫遼東，按行關外八城，駐寧遠。十四年春，錦州被圍，填壕毀塹，聲援斷絕。有傳其帥祖大壽語者：「逼以車營，毋輕戰。」總督洪承疇集兵，民仰轉餉，未發。帝憂之。朝議兩端。命郎中張若麒就行營計議，若麒至，則趣進師。七月，師次乳峰，去錦州五六里而營，旦日，楊國柱之軍潰。逾月，王樸軍亦潰。未幾，馬科等五將皆潰。大清兵掘松山，斷我歸路，遂大敗，蹂躪殺溺無算，退保松山。圍急，外援不至，芻糧竭。至明年二月，且半年矣，城破，承疇降，民仰死，若麒跳從海上蕩漁舟而還，寧遠、關門勁旅盡喪。事聞，帝驚悼甚，設壇都城，承疇十六，民仰六，賜祭盡哀。贈民仰右副都御史，官為營葬，錄其一子。尋命建祠都城外，與承疇並列，帝將親臨祭焉。將祭，聞承疇降，乃止。

In the third month of year 13 he became Right Vice Censor-in-Chief, replacing Fang Yizao as Liaodong governor; he toured the eight outer cities and camped at Ningyuan. In spring of year 14 Jinzhou was besieged; ditches filled, walls ruined, links severed. Word came in Zu Dashou's name: "They press us with wagon forts—do not fight rashly. Governor-General Hong Chengchou massed the army; Minyang was forwarding grain but had not yet sent it. The emperor was deeply worried. Court opinion was divided. Director Zhang Ruoji was sent to camp to decide; on arrival he pressed for battle. In the seventh month the host camped at Rufeng, five or six li from Jinzhou; next day Yang Guozhu's wing broke. A month on, Wang Pu's force collapsed too. Soon Ma Ke and four other generals were routed as well. The Qing dug at Songshan and severed retreat; the rout was beyond counting—trampled, slain, drowned; the army clung to Songshan. The siege tightened, no relief came, grain and fodder ran out. By the second month of the next year—nearly half a year—the city fell; Chengchou surrendered; Minyang died; Ruoji escaped by fishing boat; Ningyuan and the passes lost their best troops. News reached the capital; the emperor was stricken; altars rose in the city—sixteen rites for Chengchou, six for Minyang—with full mourning. Minyang was posthumously Right Vice Censor-in-Chief; the state buried him and enfeoffed a son. A shrine outside the walls was ordered, paired with Chengchou's; the emperor would worship in person. When worship was due, news came that Chengchou had surrendered, and the rites were canceled.

邱禾嘉，貴州新添衛人。舉萬歷四十一年鄉試，好談兵。天啟時，安邦彥反，捐資制器，協擒其黨何中蔚。選祁門教諭，以貴州巡撫蔡復一請，遷翰林待詔，參復一軍。

Qiu Hejia came from Xintian Guard in Guizhou. He passed the provincial exams in Wanli 41 and loved to talk of war. Under Tianqi, when An Bangyan rebelled, he funded arms and helped seize the rebel He Zhongwei. Made instructor at Qimen, then—at Governor Cai Fuyi's request—Hanlin attendant on Fuyi's staff.

寧遠自畢自肅遇害，遂廢巡撫官，以經略兼之，至是議復設。廷棟力推禾嘉才，超拜右僉都御史，巡撫其地，兼轄山海關諸處。禾嘉初蒞鎮，大清兵以二萬騎圍錦州，禾嘉督諸將赴救，城獲全。登萊巡撫孫元化議徹島上兵於關外，規復廣寧及金、海、蓋三衛，禾嘉議用島兵復廣寧、義州、右屯。廷棟慮其難，以咨承宗。承宗上奏曰：「廣寧去海百八十里，去河百六十里，陸運難。義州地偏，去廣寧遠，必先據右屯，聚兵積粟，乃可漸逼廣寧。」又言：「右屯城已隳，修築而後可守。築之，敵必至，必復大、小淩河，以接松、杏、錦州。錦州繞海而居敵，難陸運。而右屯之後即海，據此則糧可給，兵可聚，始得為發軔地。」奏入，廷棟力主之，於是有大淩築城之議。

After Bi Zisu's death at Ningyuan the Liaodong governorship was dropped and the frontier commissioner took over; now restoration was debated. Tingdong pushed Hejia's talent; he was suddenly made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief for the region, also overseeing Shanhaiguan. On taking command the Qing invested Jinzhou with twenty thousand horse; Hejia led relief and saved the city. Sun Yuanhua of Deng-Lai wanted island troops beyond the passes to retake Guangning and the Jin-Hai-Gai guards; Hejia wanted them for Guangning, Yizhou, and Youtun. Tingdong doubted the plan and asked Chengzong. Chengzong wrote: "Guangning lies 180 li from the sea and 160 li from the river—land supply is hard. Yizhou is remote from Guangning; hold Youtun first, mass grain and men, then edge toward Guangning." He added: "Youtun's wall is broken—it must be rebuilt to be held. Rebuild it and the enemy will come—they will retake the Greater and Lesser Ling to link Songshan, Xing, and Jinzhou. Jinzhou hugs the sea amid foes—land routes are hard. Behind Youtun is the sea; hold it and grain and troops can flow—only then is there a foothold." The memorial entered; Tingdong backed it hard, and the Greater Ling fort was born."

會禾嘉訐祖大壽，大壽亦發其贓私。承宗不欲以武將去文臣，抑使弗奏，密聞於朝，請改禾嘉他職。四年五月，命調南京太仆卿，以孫谷代。谷未至，部檄促城甚急。大壽以兵四千據其地，發班軍萬四千人築之，護以石矽土兵萬人。禾嘉往視之，條九議以上。工垂成，廷棟罷去。廷議大淩荒遠不當城，撤班軍赴薊，責撫鎮矯舉，令回奏。禾嘉懼，盡撤防兵，留班軍萬人，輸糧萬石濟之。

Hejia denounced Zu Dashou; Dashou exposed his corruption. Chengzong would not see a general removed by a civil officer; he suppressed the papers, secretly asked the court to move Hejia. In the fifth month of year 4 he was ordered to Nanjing as Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud; Sun Gu would replace him. Gu had not arrived when the ministry urgently pressed fort building. Dashou held the site with four thousand men; fourteen thousand rotating laborers built, guarded by ten thousand Shixi natives. Hejia inspected the works and submitted nine proposals. The works were nearly done when Tingdong fell from power. The court judged Greater Ling too remote to fortify; rotating troops were pulled to Ji; the governor was rebuked for reckless counsel and told to answer. Fearing censure, Hejia pulled back the garrison, left ten thousand rotating troops, and sent ten thousand dan of grain.

八月，大清兵抵城下，掘濠築墻，四面合圍，別遣一軍截錦州大道。城外堠臺皆下，城中兵出，悉敗還。禾嘉聞之，馳入錦州，與總兵官吳襄、宋偉合兵赴救。離松山三十餘里，與大清兵遇，大戰長山、小淩河間，互有傷損。九月望，大清兵薄錦州，分五隊直抵城下。襄、偉出戰不勝，乃入城。二十四日，監軍張春會襄、偉兵，過小淩河東五里，築壘列車營，為大淩聲援。大清兵扼長山，不得進。禾嘉遣副將張洪謨、祖大壽、靳國臣、孟道等出戰五里莊，亦不勝。夜趨小淩河，至長山接戰，大敗。春及副將洪謨、楊華征、薛大湖等三十三人俱被執，副將張吉甫、滿庫、王之敬等戰歿。大壽不敢出，淩城援自此絕。敗書聞，舉朝震駭。孫谷代禾嘉，未至而罷，改命謝璉。璉畏懼，久不至。後兵事亟，召璉駐關外，禾嘉留治中。及是聞敗，移駐松山，圖再舉，言官以推委詆之帝。帝以禾嘉獨守松山，非卸責，戒飭而已。

In the eighth month the Qing came under the walls, dug trenches, built parapets, invested on four sides, and detached a force to sever the Jinzhou road. Outer beacon towers fell; sorties from the city were beaten back. Hejia raced into Jinzhou and joined Wu Xiang and Song Wei for relief. Thirty li from Songshan they met the Qing and fought hard between the Long and Lesser Ling, both sides taking losses. On the fifteenth of the ninth month the Qing pressed Jinzhou in five columns to the walls. Xiang and Wei sallied, failed, and withdrew into the city. On the twenty-fourth Commissioner Zhang Chun joined Xiang and Wei, crossed five li east of the Lesser Ling, built ramparts and wagon forts to support Greater Ling. The Qing held Long Mountain and they could not get through. Hejia sent Zhang Hongmo, Zu Dashou, Jin Guochen, Meng Dao, and others to Wulizhuang; again they lost. At night they rushed to the Lesser Ling; at Long Mountain they fought and were shattered. Chun, Hongmo, Yang Huazheng, Xue Dahu, and thirty others were taken; Zhang Jifu, Manku, Wang Zhijing, and others fell. Dashou would not sally forth; from then on Greater Ling had no relief. News of the rout shook the court. Sun Gu was named to replace Hejia but never came; Xie Lian was appointed. Lian was timid and long delayed. As war pressed on, Lian was called to the frontier while Hejia stayed inland. Hearing of the rout he shifted to Songshan to try again; censors accused him of evasion. The emperor judged Hejia was holding Songshan, not shirking, and merely warned him.

大淩糧盡食人馬。大清屢移書招之，大壽許諾，獨副將可綱不從。十月二十七日，大壽殺可綱，與副將張存仁等三十九人投誓書約降。是夕出見，以妻子在錦州，請設計誘降錦州守將，而留諸子於大清。禾嘉聞大淩城炮聲，謂大壽得脫，與襄及中官李明臣、高起潛發兵往迎。適大壽偽逃還，遂俱入錦州。大淩城人民商旅三萬有奇，僅存三之一，悉為大清所有，城亦被毀。十一月六日，大清復攻杏山，明日攻中左所。城上用炮擊，乃退。大壽入錦州，未得間，而禾嘉知其納款狀，具疏聞於朝。因初奏大壽突圍出，前後不讎，引罪請死。於是言官交劾，嚴旨飭禾嘉。而帝於大壽欲羈縻之，弗罪也。

At Greater Ling grain ran out and men ate their horses. The Qing sent repeated summons; Dashou agreed; only Vice General Ke Gang refused. On the twenty-seventh of the tenth month Dashou killed Ke Gang; with Zhang Cunren and thirty-eight others he swore surrender. That night he appeared, pleading that with wife and children in Jinzhou he would lure the garrison while leaving his sons as hostages. Hearing guns at Greater Ling, Hejia thought Dashou had broken out and with Xiang and eunuchs Li Mingchen and Gao Qiqian sent troops to meet him. Dashou feigned escape and they all entered Jinzhou together. Greater Ling held more than thirty thousand people and travelers; only a third lived; the rest went to the Qing and the fort was razed. On the sixth of the eleventh month the Qing struck Xingshan; next day Zhongzuosuo. Cannon from the walls drove them back. Dashou entered Jinzhou without an opening; Hejia learned he had surrendered and reported fully. His first report said Dashou had broken out—now the stories clashed; he confessed and begged death. Censors piled on; stern edicts rebuked Hejia. Yet the emperor meant to keep Dashou on a string and did not punish him.

新撫璉已至，禾嘉猶在錦州，會廷議山海別設巡撫。詔罷璉，令方一藻撫寧遠，禾嘉仍以僉都御史巡撫山海、永平。尋論築城召釁罪，貶二秩，巡撫如故。禾嘉請為監視中官設標兵。御史宋賢詆其諂附中人，帝怒，貶賢三秩。禾嘉持論每與承宗異，不為所喜，時有詆諆。既遭喪敗，廷論益不容，遂堅以疾請。五年四月，詔許還京，以楊嗣昌代。令其妻代陳病狀。乃命歸田，未出都卒。

New governor Lian had come, but Hejia remained at Jinzhou; the court debated a separate Shanhai governor. Lian was dismissed; Fang Yizao took Ningyuan; Hejia kept his rank over Shanhai and Yongping. Soon he was found guilty of provoking war by building the fort, demoted two ranks, but kept office. Hejia asked for an elite guard for the supervising eunuch. Censor Song Xian called it flattery of the eunuchs; the emperor was angry and demoted Xian three ranks. Hejia often disagreed with Chengzong, who disliked him; slander followed. After the disasters the court would not bear him; he pleaded illness in earnest. In the fourth month of year 5 he was allowed back to the capital; Yang Sichang would replace him. His wife filed illness on his behalf. Ordered home to his fields, he died before he left the capital.

明世舉於鄉而仕至巡撫者，隆慶朝止海瑞，萬歷朝張守中、艾穆。莊烈帝破格求才，得十人：邱民仰、宋一鶴、何騰蛟、張亮以忠義著，劉可訓以武功聞，劉應遇、孫元化、徐起元皆以勤勞致位，而陳新甲官最顯。

In Ming times, provincials who rose to governor: under Longqing only Hai Rui; under Wanli Zhang Shouzhong and Ai Mu. Chongzhen broke form to find talent and got ten: Minyang, Song Yihe, He Tengjiao, and Zhang Liang for loyalty; Liu Kexun for arms; Liu Yingyu, Sun Yuanhua, and Xu Qiyuan for tireless service; Chen Xin Jia rose highest.

贊曰：危亂之世，未嘗乏才，顧往往不盡其用。用矣，或掣其肘而驅之必死。若是者，人實為之，要之亦天意也。盧象升在莊烈帝時，豈非不世之才，乃困抑之以至死，何耶！至忠義激發，危不顧身，若劉之綸、邱民仰之徒，又相與俱盡，則天意可知矣。

The comment says: In dangerous times talent is never scarce, yet it is seldom fully used. When used, someone often holds its arm and drives it to die. Men do this—but in the end Heaven wills it too. Was not Lu Xiangsheng under Chongzhen a man of his age—yet crushed to death; why! When loyalty and duty stir men to face death unflinching, as with Liu Zhilun, Qiu Minyang, and such, all falling together—then Heaven's intent is plain.

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