1
賀逢聖 〈（傅冠尹如翁）〉 南居益 〈（族父企仲族弟居業）〉 周士樸呂維祺 〈（弟維祮）〉 王家禎焦源溥 〈（兄源清）〉 李夢辰宋師襄麻僖王道純田時震 〈（朱崇德崇德子國棟）〉
He Fengsheng. (Fu Guan and Yin Ruweng)〉 Nan Juyi. (His clan elder Qi Zhong and younger clansman Juye)〉 Zhou Shipu and Lu Weiqi. (His younger brother Lu Weineng)〉 Wang Jiazhen and Jiao Yuanpu. (His elder brother Jiao Yuanqing)〉 Li Mengchen, Song Shixiang, Ma Xi, Wang Daochun, and Tian Shizhen. (Zhu Chongde and Chongde's son Zhu Guodong)〉
2
賀逢聖，字克繇，江夏人。 與熊廷弼少同里闬，而不相能。 為諸生，同受知於督學熊尚文。 尚文並奇二生，曰：「熊生，幹將、莫邪也； 賀生，夏瑚、商璉也。」 舉於鄉。 家貧，就應城教諭。 萬歷四十四年，殿試第二人，授翰林編修。
He Fengsheng, styled Keyao, came from Jiangxia. He and Xiong Tingbi grew up in the same neighborhood but never got along. Both were licentiates whom the education intendant Xiong Shangwen favored. Shangwen praised them both, saying, "Xiong is Ganjiang and Moye— He is the coral of Xia and the ritual disks of Shang. He passed the provincial examination. Poor at home, he accepted a post as county instructor in Yingcheng. In Wanli 44 he ranked second in the palace examination and was appointed Hanlin Compiler.
3
天啟間，為洗馬。 當是時，廷弼已再起經略遼東矣。 廣寧之敗，同鄉官將揭白廷弼之冤，意逢聖且沮之。 逢聖作色曰：「此乃國家大事，吾安敢小嫌介介，不以明！」 即具草上之。 湖廣建魏忠賢生祠，忠賢聞上梁文出逢聖手，大喜，即日詣逢聖。 逢聖曰：「誤，借銜陋習耳。」 忠賢咈然去。 翌日削逢聖籍。
Under Tianqi he served as Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent. By then Xiong Tingbi had already been restored to command in Liaodong. After Guangning fell, hometown officials meant to clear Tingbi's name, fearing Fengsheng would block them. Fengsheng flushed and said, "This is a matter of state—how could I let a private feud keep the truth hidden!" He drafted a memorial at once and sent it up. When Huguang raised a shrine to Wei Zhongxian, Zhongxian learned the beam inscription was Fengsheng's and came to see him the same day, delighted. Fengsheng said, "A mistake—just an old habit of lending my name." Zhongxian stalked off in a fury. The next day Fengsheng was removed from office.
4
莊烈帝即位，復官，連進秩。 九年六月，以禮部尚書兼東閣大學士，入閣輔政，加太子太保，改文淵閣。 十一年致政。 十四年再入閣。 明年再致政。
When Chongzhen acceded, Fengsheng was restored and promoted again and again. In the sixth month of year nine he became Minister of Rites and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Lodge, entered the Grand Council, was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and moved to the Wenyuan Lodge. In year eleven he retired from office. In year fourteen he returned to the Grand Council. The next year he retired once more.
5
逢聖為人廉靜，束修砥行。 帝頗事操切，逢聖終無所匡言。 其再與周延儒同召，帝待之不如延儒。 及予告，宴餞便殿，賜金，賜坐蟒。 感激大哭，伏地不能起，帝亦汍瀾動容焉。
Fengsheng was frugal and reserved, austere and upright in conduct. The emperor ruled harshly, yet Fengsheng never truly corrected him. Called back with Zhou Yanru, he was treated less warmly than Yanru. On his retirement the emperor feasted him in the side hall, gave him gold, and granted python robes for seated wear. He wept in gratitude and could not rise from the ground; the emperor's face also brimmed with tears.
6
是時，湖廣賊大擾。 明年春，張獻忠連陷蘄、黃，逼江夏。 有大冶人尹如翁，逢聖門生，走三百里，持一僧帽、一袈裟來貽逢聖。 逢聖反其衣曰：「子第去，毋憂我。」 如翁去。 五月，壬戌晦，賊陷武昌，執逢聖，叱曰：「我朝廷大臣，若曹敢無禮！」 賊麾使去，遂投墩子湖死也。 賊來自夏，去以秋雲。 大吏望衍而祭，有神夢於湖之人，「我守賀相殊苦，汝受而視之，有黑子在其左手，其征是。」 覺而異之，俟於湖，赫然而屍出，驗之果是，蓋沈之百有七十日，面如生。 以冬十一月壬子殮，大吏揮淚而葬之。
Bandits were then ravaging Huguang. Next spring Zhang Xianzhong took Qizhou and Huangzhou in turn and closed on Jiangxia. Yin Ruweng of Daye, Fengsheng's pupil, walked three hundred li to bring him a monk's cap and kasaya. Fengsheng handed the robes back and said, "Go now—do not worry about me." Ruweng left. On the last day of the fifth month, renxu, the rebels took Wuchang and seized Fengsheng, who cried, "I am a minister of the court—how dare you treat me so!" The rebels motioned him away; he threw himself into Dunzi Lake and died. The rebels came in summer and drifted away like autumn clouds. High officials prayed toward the shallows; a spirit appeared in a lakeside dream: "I have guarded Chancellor He with great pain—take him up and look: a black mole on his left hand will prove it." Awake, they wondered, waited at the lake, and his body rose suddenly from the water; it was indeed he, submerged one hundred and seventy days yet lifelike in the face. On renzi in the eleventh winter month he was encoffined, and the great officials buried him through tears.
7
初，城之陷也，逢聖載家人以其句鹿出墩子，鑿其氐當，皆溺。 賀氏死者，妻危氏，子覲明，子婦曾氏、陳氏，孫三人，次子光明自他所來，凡二十余人。 福王時，贈少傅，謚文忠，祭葬蔭子如制。
When the city first fell, Fengsheng put his family in his square-stern boat at Dunzi, bored holes in the hull, and all drowned. The He dead included his wife Lady Wei, his son Jingming, daughters-in-law Ladies Zeng and Chen, three grandsons, and his second son Guangming, who had come from elsewhere—more than twenty in all. Under the Prince of Fu he was posthumously made Junior Tutor, titled Wenzong, and given state burial and hereditary honors for his sons as prescribed.
8
如翁去，歸大冶。 大冶城破，其慷慨而死者，如翁也。
Ruweng went home to Daye. When Daye fell, Ruweng was among those who died defiantly.
9
其後有傅冠。 冠，字元甫，進賢人。 祖炯，南京刑部尚書。 天啟二年，冠舉進士第二，授翰林編修。 崇禎十年秋，由禮部右侍郎拜尚書兼東閣大學士。 性簡易，有章奏發自御前，冠以為揭帖，援筆判其上。 既知誤，惶恐引罪，帝即放歸。 唐王時，命以原官督師江西。 嗜酒，或劾之，乃致仕。 大清下江西，冠走匿門人泰寧汪亨龍家。 亨龍執而獻之有司，殺之汀州，血漬地，久而猶鮮。
After him came Fu Guan. Guan, styled Yuanfu, came from Jinxian. His grandfather Jiong had been Nanjing Minister of Justice. In Tianqi 2 he ranked second among jinshi and was appointed Hanlin Compiler. In the autumn of Chongzhen 10 he rose from Vice Minister of Rites to Minister and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Lodge. Plain and easygoing by nature, he mistook an imperial memorial for a routine note and wrote a verdict on it. When he realized the mistake he confessed in terror, and the emperor sent him home at once. Under the Prince of Tang he was ordered to command in Jiangxi at his former rank. Fond of wine, he was impeached and retired. When the Qing took Jiangxi, Guan fled and hid with his pupil Wang Henglong of Taining. Henglong seized him and handed him over; he was killed at Tingzhou, and his blood on the ground stayed bright for a long time.
10
南居益，字思受，渭南人，尚書企仲族子、師仲從子也。 曾祖從吉與曾伯祖大吉皆進士。 兩人子姓，科第相繼。
Nan Juyi, styled Sishou, came from Weinan; he was a clansman of Minister Qi Zhong and nephew of Shizhong. His great-grandfather Congji and great-great-uncle Daji had both been jinshi. Their sons and grandsons won degrees in succession.
11
企仲，大吉孫，萬歷八年進士。 以祖母年高，請終養。 祖母既歿，授刑部主事。 客寓貲其家，夫婦並歿，企仲呼其子還之。 吏部尚書孫丕揚以為賢，調為己屬。 歷文選郎，擢太仆少卿，進太仆卿。 三十年，帝以疾詔免礦稅，釋系囚，錄建言貶斥諸臣。 既而悔之，命礦稅如故，余所司議行。 吏、刑二部尚書李戴、蕭大亨遲數日未奏，企仲請亟罷二人，而敕二部亟如詔奉行。 帝大恚，傳諭亟停二事，落企仲一官。 給事中蕭近高，御史李培、余懋衡亦請信明詔，帝益怒，並奪其俸，且命益重前貶謫官鄒元標等罰，欲以鉗言者。 諸閣臣力爭，乃止。 而給事中張鳳翔迎帝意，劾企仲他事，遂削籍。 天啟初，起太常卿，累遷南京吏部尚書，以老致仕。 師仲父軒，吏部郎中，嘗著《通鑒綱目前編》。 師仲至南京禮部尚書。
Qi Zhong, Daji's grandson, took the jinshi in Wanli 8. His grandmother being old, he asked leave to nurse her to the end. After she died he was made a principal clerk in the Ministry of Justice. A lodger had left goods with his household; when both husband and wife died, Qi Zhong called the lodger's son to return them. Sun Piyang, Minister of Personnel, thought him worthy and took him onto his staff. He rose through the Bureau of Appointments to Vice Minister and then Minister of the Imperial Stud. In year thirty the emperor, ill, abolished mining taxes, freed prisoners, and restored officials banished for speaking out. He soon regretted it, restored the mining taxes, and let the rest be handled as each office saw fit. Li Dai and Xiao Daheng of Personnel and Justice delayed for days; Qi Zhong urged their immediate dismissal and ordered both ministries to obey the edict at once. The emperor was furious, ordered both matters stopped at once, and demoted Qi Zhong one rank. Xiao Jingao and censors Li Pei and Yu Maoheng also urged trust in the edict; the emperor grew angrier still, stripped their salaries, and ordered heavier punishments on Zou Yuanbiao and others to silence critics. The Grand Secretaries argued hard, and he relented. Zhang Fengxiang, courting the emperor's mood, impeached Qi Zhong on other grounds and had him struck from the rolls. Early in Tianqi he was recalled as Minister of Imperial Sacrifices, rose to Nanjing Minister of Personnel, and retired in old age. Shizhong's father Xuan, a director in the Ministry of Personnel, had compiled a preliminary draft of the Comprehensive Mirror. Shizhong rose to Nanjing Minister of Rites.
12
居益少厲操行，舉萬歷二十九年進士，授刑部主事。 三遷廣平知府，擢山西提學副使，雁門參政，歷按察使、左右布政使，並在山西。
Juyi was strict in conduct from youth; he took the jinshi in Wanli 29 and became a principal clerk in the Ministry of Justice. Promoted thrice, he became prefect of Guangping, then Shanxi Vice Commissioner of Education, Yanmen Pacification Commissioner, and in turn surveillance commissioner and left and right administration commissioners—all in Shanxi.
13
天啟二年，入為太仆卿。 明年擢右副都御史，巡撫福建。 紅毛夷者，海外雜種，紺眼，赤須發，所謂和蘭國也，自昔不通中土，由大泥、咬留吧二國通閩商。 萬歷中，奸民潘秀引其人據彭湖求市，巡撫徐學聚令轉販之二國。 二國險遠，商舍而之呂宋。 夷人疑呂宋邀商舶，攻之，又寇廣東香山澳，皆敗，不敢歸國，復入彭湖求市，且築城焉。 巡撫商周祚拒之，不能靖。 會居益代周祚，賊方犯漳、泉，招日本、大泥、咬留吧及海寇李旦等為助。 居益使人招旦，說攜大泥、咬留吧。 賊帥高文律懼，遣使求款，斬之，築城鎮海港，逼賊風櫃。 賊窮蹙，泛舟去，遂擒文律，海患乃息。 五年遷工部右侍郎，總督河道。 魏忠賢銜居益敘功不及己，格其賞。 給事中黃承昊復論居益倚傍門戶，躐躋通顯，遂削籍去。 閩人詣闕訟之，不聽。 乃立祠以祀，勒碑於彭湖及平遠臺。
In Tianqi 2 he entered the capital as Minister of the Imperial Stud. The next year he was made Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Fujian. The Red-Haired foreigners were a mixed overseas people with indigo eyes and red hair—the so-called Holland—never in direct contact with China, reaching Fujian traders through Da Ni and Malacca. In Wanli the rogue Pan Xiu brought them to Penghu to trade; Grand Coordinator Xu Xueju told them to trade through the two countries instead. Those routes being dangerous and remote, merchants turned to Luzon. Suspecting Luzon of seizing merchant ships, they attacked it, then raided Xiangshan Anchorage in Guangdong; defeated everywhere, they dared not go home, returned to Penghu to trade, and built a fort. Grand Coordinator Shang Zhouzuo refused them but could not restore order. When Juyi replaced Zhouzuo, the raiders were attacking Zhangzhou and Quanzhou and had enlisted Japan, Da Ni, Malacca, and the pirate Li Dan. Juyi sent envoys to win Li Dan and persuaded him to bring Da Ni and Malacca with him. The rebel leader Gao Wenlü, afraid, sent envoys to sue for peace; Juyi beheaded them, fortified Zhenhai Harbor, and pressed the rebels' anchorage at Fenggui. Cornered, the raiders took to their boats and fled; Wenlü was captured and the sea raids ended. In year five he became Vice Minister of Works and Grand Coordinator of the waterways. Wei Zhongxian, angry that Juyi's merit report omitted him, blocked his reward. Huang Chenghao charged that Juyi had climbed through factional patronage; he was struck from the rolls. Fujianese went to court to plead for him, but were not heard. They raised a shrine to him and set up stelae at Penghu and Pingyuan Terrace.
14
崇禎元年，起戶部右侍郎，總督倉場。 陜西鎮缺餉至三十余月，居益請以陜賦當輸關門者留三十萬，紓其急，報可。 畿輔戒嚴，居益在通州，為城守計甚備。 會工部尚書張鳳翔坐軍械不具下吏，四司郎中瘐死者三，遂詔居益代鳳翔。 未幾，試炮而炸，兵部尚書梁廷棟劾郎中王守履失職。 守履懼，詆兵部郎中王建侯誣己。 廷議不如守履言，遂下獄。 居益疏捄，帝以為徇私，削籍歸。 廷杖守履六十，斥為民。 尋敘城守功，復居益冠帶。
In Chongzhen 1 he was recalled as Vice Minister of Revenue and Grand Coordinator of the granaries. Shaanxi troops had gone unpaid for more than thirty months; Juyi secured approval to retain three hundred thousand taels of Shaanxi tax bound for Tongmen. With the capital region on alert, Juyi at Tongzhou made thorough plans for the city's defense. When Zhang Fengxiang was prosecuted for deficient armaments and three bureau directors died, Juyi was ordered to replace him. Soon a cannon trial exploded; Minister of War Liang Tingdong impeached Director Wang Shoulü. Afraid, Shoulü claimed Wang Jianhou of the Ministry of War had framed him. The court rejected his claim and sent him to prison. Juyi memorialized in his defense; the emperor called it favoritism, struck Juyi from the rolls, and sent him home. Shoulü received sixty strokes at court and was dismissed. Soon his merit in the city's defense was recognized and his rank restored.
15
十六年，李自成陷渭南，責南氏餉百六十萬。 企仲年八十三矣，遇害。 誘降居益及企仲子禮部主事居業，皆不從。 明年正月，賊遣兵擁之去，加炮烙。 二人終不屈，絕食七日而死。
In year sixteen Li Zicheng took Weinan and demanded 1.6 million in provisions from the Nan family. Qi Zhong, aged eighty-three, was killed. They tried to win over Juyi and Qi Zhong's son Juye, a Ministry of Rites clerk; both refused. The next first month rebels dragged them away and tortured them with branding irons. Neither yielded; after seven days without food they died.
16
周士樸，字丹其，商丘人。 萬歷四十一年進士。 除曲沃知縣。 泰昌元年征授禮科給事中。 中官王添爵選凈身男子，索賄激變。 守陵劉尚忠鼓陵軍挾賞。 劉朝等假賫送軍器名，出行山海外，勢洶洶。 織造李實訐周起元。 群珰索冬衣，辱尚書鐘羽正。 士樸皆疏爭。 士樸性剛果，不能委蛇隨俗，尤好與中官相搘柱，深為魏忠賢所惡。 會當擢京卿，忠賢持不下，士樸遂謝病歸。
Zhou Shipu, styled Danqi, came from Shangqiu. He took the jinshi in Wanli 41. He was made magistrate of Quwo. In Taichang 1 he was summoned as supervising secretary in the Bureau of Rites. The eunuch Wang Tianjue, selecting candidates for castration, demanded bribes and provoked a riot. Tomb guardian Liu Shangzhong incited the tomb guards to extort rewards. Liu Chao and others traveled beyond the passes ostensibly delivering arms, their retinue menacing. Weaving intendant Li Shi denounced Zhou Qiyuan. Eunuchs demanded winter garments and insulted Minister Zhong Yuzheng. Shipu protested each abuse in memorials. Firm and unable to bend with the times, he especially loved to block palace eunuchs, and Wei Zhongxian hated him deeply. Due for promotion to a capital post, he was blocked by Zhongxian and retired on grounds of illness.
17
十五年，廷臣交薦，不召。 其年八月，李自成陷商丘，與妻曹、妾張、子舉人業熙、子婦沈同日縊死。
In year fifteen the court repeatedly recommended him, but he was not recalled. That August Li Zicheng took Shangqiu; Shipu, his wife Lady Cao, concubine Lady Zhang, his licentiate son Yexi, and daughter-in-law Lady Shen hanged themselves the same day.
18
呂維祺，字介孺，新安人。 祖母牛氏以守節被旌。 父孔學，事母孝，捐粟千二百石振饑，兩旌孝義。 維祺舉萬歷四十一年進士，授兗州推官，擢吏部主事，更歷四司。 光宗崩，皇長子未踐阼，內侍導幸小南城。 維祺謁見慈慶宮，言梓宮在殯，乘輿不得輕動，乃止。 天啟初，歷考功、文選員外郎，進驗封郎中，告歸。 開封建魏忠賢生祠，遺書士大夫戒勿預。 忠賢毀天下書院，維祺立芝泉講會，祀伊洛七賢。
Lu Weiqi, styled Jieru, came from Xin'an. His grandmother Lady Niu was honored for her widowhood. His father Kongxue was filial, gave twelve hundred shi of grain in famine relief, and was twice honored for virtue. Weiqi took the jinshi in Wanli 41, served as Yanzhou investigating censor, rose to a Personnel clerk, and rotated through all four bureaus. When Guangzong died the heir had not yet ascended, and inner attendants led him to the Small Southern City. Weiqi visited Ciqing Palace and said the imperial coffin was still in mourning and the carriage must not move; the visit was canceled. Early in Tianqi he rose through Evaluations and Appointments to director in the Bureau of Seals, then retired. When Kaifeng built a shrine to Wei Zhongxian, he warned scholars not to take part. When Zhongxian destroyed academies nationwide, Weiqi founded the Zhi Spring lecture society and honored the seven Yi-Luo sages.
19
三年，擢南京戶部右侍郎，總督糧儲。 設會計簿，鉤考隱沒侵欺，及積逋不輸，各數十百萬，大者彈奏，小者捕治。 立法嚴督屯課，倉庾漸充。 條上六議，曰稽出入以杜侵漁，增比較以完積案，設本科以重題覆，時會計以核支收，定差序以杜營私，禁差假以修職業。 帝稱善，即行之。
In year three he became Nanjing Vice Minister of Revenue and Grand Coordinator of grain storage. He set up ledgers, uncovered concealed fraud and arrears worth millions, impeached major offenders, and arrested minor ones. Strict laws on garrison land taxes gradually filled the granaries. He proposed six reforms: audit receipts and payments against embezzlement; tighten comparisons to clear backlogs; strengthen review; hold regular accounts; fix assignment ranks against private dealing; and curb leave abuse. The emperor approved and put them into effect at once.
20
六年，拜南京兵部尚書，參贊機務。 清冒伍八千余名。 請申飭江防，鳳陵單外為憂，弗省。 八年正月，賊犯江北，遣參將薛邦臣防全椒，趙世臣戍浦口。 世臣潰走，南京震動，鳳陽亦旋告陷。 大計拾遺，言官復劾他事，遂除名。 時維祺父孔學避賊洛陽，維祺乃歸留洛，立伊洛會，及門二百余人。 著《孝經本義》成，上之。
In year six he became Nanjing Minister of War and joined in military deliberations. He struck more than eight thousand falsely enrolled soldiers from the rolls. He urged tighter Yangzi defenses, warning that the imperial tombs at Fengyang lay exposed, but was ignored. In the first month of year eight rebels struck north of the Yangzi; he sent Xue Bangchen to Quanjiao and Zhao Shichen to Pukou. Shichen fled in rout, Nanjing was shaken, and Fengyang soon fell. At the grand evaluation censors impeached him on other grounds and he was dismissed. His father Kongxue had fled to Luoyang; Weiqi stayed there, founded the Yi-Luo society, and gathered more than two hundred disciples. He finished his Original Meaning of the Classic of Filial Piety and presented it to the throne.
21
十二年，洛陽大饑。 維祺勸福王常洵散財餉士，以振人心，王不省。 乃盡出私廩，設局振濟。 事聞，復官。 然饑民多從賊者，河南賊復大熾。 無何，李自成大舉來攻，維祺分守洛陽北城。 夜半，總兵王紹禹之軍有騎而馳者，周呼於城上，城外亦呼而應之，於是城陷。 賊有識維祺者曰：「子非振饑呂尚書乎？ 我能活爾，爾可以間去。」 維祺弗應，賊擁維祺去。 時福王常洵匿民舍中，賊跡而執之，遇維祺於道。 維祺反接，望見王，呼曰：「王，綱常至重。 等死耳，毋屈膝於賊！」 王瞠不語。 見賊渠於周公廟，按其項使跪，不屈，延頸就刃而死。 時十四年之正月某日也。 維祺年五十有五，贈太子少保，祭葬，蔭子如制。 而維祺之家在新安者，十六年城陷，家亦破。
In year twelve Luoyang suffered severe famine. Weiqi urged Prince Changxun of Fu to spend his wealth feeding troops and steadying morale; the prince ignored him. He emptied his private granaries and set up relief offices. When word reached court, his office was restored. Yet many starving people joined the rebels, and Henan flared up again. Soon Li Zicheng attacked in force; Weiqi was assigned the north wall of Luoyang. At midnight horsemen rode out from Wang Shaoyu's army; calls on the wall were answered from outside, and the city fell. A rebel who knew him said, "Are you not Minister Lu who fed the starving? I can spare you—you may slip away in the confusion." Weiqi did not answer; the rebels dragged him away. Prince Changxun of Fu was hiding in a commoner's house; the rebels tracked him down and met Weiqi on the road. Bound, Weiqi saw the prince and cried, "Your Highness, ritual propriety is everything. Death is the same—do not kneel to rebels!" The prince stared and said nothing. At the Temple of the Duke of Zhou they forced him to kneel; he refused, stretched his neck to the blade, and died. It was a day in the first month of year fourteen. Weiqi was fifty-five; he was posthumously made Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent, given state burial, and his sons hereditary honors as prescribed. His family home in Xin'an was destroyed when that city fell in year sixteen.
22
弟維祮，字泰孺，由選貢生為樂平知縣者也。 至是解職歸，亦抗節死。 贈按察僉事。 福王立南京，加贈維祺太傅，謚忠節。
His younger brother Weineng, styled Tairu, had become magistrate of Leping through the tribute-student route. By then he had retired home and also died defiantly. He was posthumously made Vice Surveillance Commissioner. When the Prince of Fu ruled from Nanjing, Weiqi was further made Grand Tutor posthumously and titled Zhongjie.
23
王家禎，長垣人。 萬歷三十五年進士。 天啟間，歷官左僉都御史，巡撫甘肅。 松山部長銀定、歹成擾西鄙二十余年，家禎至，三犯三卻之，先後斬首五百四十。 擢戶部右侍郎，轉左。 崇禎元年攝部事，邊餉不以時發。 秋，遼東兵鼓噪，巡撫畢自肅自縊死。 帝大怒，削家禎籍。 已，敘甘肅功，復其冠帶。
Wang Jiazhen came from Changyuan. He took the jinshi in Wanli 35. Under Tianqi he became Left Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Gansu. The Songshan chiefs Yinding and Daicheng had raided the west for twenty years; Jiazhen repelled three invasions and beheaded five hundred and forty in all. He rose to Vice Minister of Revenue, then to the left-hand post. In Chongzhen 1 he acted as head of the ministry, but frontier pay was not issued on time. That autumn Liaodong troops mutinied; Grand Coordinator Bi Zisu hanged himself. The emperor was furious and struck Jiazhen from the rolls. Later his Gansu merit was recognized and his rank restored.
24
九年七月，京師被兵，起兵部左侍郎，尋以本官兼右僉都御史，總理河南、湖廣、山西、陜西、四川、江北軍務，代盧象升討賊。 會河南巡撫陳必謙罷，即命兼之。 督將士會剿賊馬進忠等於南陽，復遣兵救襄陽，大戰牌樓閣。 其冬，家丁鼓噪，燒開封西門。 家禎夜自外歸，慰諭犒賞，詰旦，發往南陽討土寇楊四以去。 楊四者，舞陽劇盜也。 初，四與其黨郭三海、侯馭民等降於必謙，至是復叛，故家禎有是遣。 其後南陽同知萬年策與監紀推官湯開遠，諸將左良玉、牟文綬等連破四，四焚死，其黨亦為諸將所擒誅雲。
In the seventh month of year nine, with the capital threatened, he became Left Vice Minister of War and Right Vice Censor-in-Chief overseeing Henan, Huguang, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Jiangbei, replacing Lu Xiangsheng against the rebels. When Henan Grand Coordinator Chen Biqian was dismissed, he was ordered to hold that post as well. He led troops against Ma Jinzhong at Nanyang, sent relief to Xiangyang, and fought a great battle at Pailou Pavilion. That winter his household troops mutinied and burned Kaifeng's west gate. Jiazhen returned at night, calmed them with rewards, and at dawn marched to Nanyang against the local bandit Yang Si. Yang Si was a fierce bandit of Wuyang. Si and his followers Guo Sanhai and Hou Yumin had once surrendered to Biqian but rebelled again, hence Jiazhen's march. Then Wan Niance, Tang Kaiyuan, and generals Zuo Liangyu and Mou Wenshou repeatedly defeated him; Si burned to death and his followers were captured and executed.
25
當是時，流賊盡趨江北，留都震驚。 言者謂家禎奉命討安慶賊，未嘗一出中州。 帝亦以家丁之變心輕之。 明年四月乃以總理授熊文燦，令家禎專撫河南。 文燦未至，詔遣左良玉援安慶，家禎不遣。 秋，劉國能犯開封，裨將李春貴等戰歿。 議罪，家禎落職閑住。 久之，李自成陷京師，遣兵據長垣，設偽官。 家禎與其子元炌並自經死。
By then the rebels had all pressed toward the Yangzi's north bank, and Nanjing was shaken. Critics said he had been ordered to fight Anqing rebels but had never left the Central Plain. The emperor also lost confidence in him after the household mutiny. The next fourth month Xiong Wencan was made supreme coordinator, and Jiazhen was left to govern Henan alone. Before Wencan arrived, the court ordered Zuo Liangyu to relieve Anqing, but Jiazhen did not send him. That autumn Liu Guoneng attacked Kaifeng; Lieutenant Generals Li Chungui and others were killed. Blame was debated and Jiazhen was dismissed to live in retirement. Long afterward Li Zicheng took the capital, seized Changyuan, and set up puppet officials. Jiazhen and his son Yuanchao hanged themselves.
26
焦源溥，字涵一，三原人。 萬歷四十一年進士。 歷知沙河、浚二縣，考最，召為御史。
Jiao Yuanpu, styled Hanyi, came from Sanyuan. He took the jinshi in Wanli 41. He served as magistrate of Shahe and Jun, rated highest, and was summoned as a censor.
27
熹宗嗣位，移宮議起，刑部尚書黃克纘請寬盜寶諸奄。 源溥折之曰：「光宗，神宗元子也； 為元子者為忠，則為福藩者非忠。 孝端、孝靖，神宗後也； 為二後者為忠，則為鄭貴妃者非忠。 孝元、孝和，光宗後也； 為二後者為忠，則為李選侍者非忠。 貴妃三十年心事，人誰不知？ 張差持梃，危在呼吸，尚忍言哉！ 況當先帝御極之初，忽傳皇祖封後之命，請封不得，冶容進矣。 張差之梃不中，則投以女優之惑； 崔文升之藥不速，則促以李可灼之丸。 痛哉！ 先帝欲諱言進禦之事，遂甘蒙不白之冤。 今即厚待貴妃，始終恩禮，而鄭養性之都督不可不奪也，崔文升不可不磔也。 若竟置弗問，不幾於忘父乎！ 李選侍一宮人，更非貴妃比，如聖諭阻陛下於暖閣，挾陛下以垂簾，及淩虐聖母狀，有臣子所不忍言者。 今即為選侍乞憐，第可求曲宥前辜，量從優典，而移宮始末不可得而抹摋也，盜寶諸奄不可得而寬宥也。 若竟置諸奄弗問，不幾於忘母乎！」 疏上，舉朝寒懼。
When Xizong succeeded, the palace-move controversy erupted; Minister of Justice Huang Keguan urged leniency for the treasure-stealing eunuchs. Yuanpu rebutted him: "Guangzong was Shenzong's eldest son— loyalty lies with the eldest son; siding with the Prince of Fu is disloyalty. Empresses Xiaoduan and Xiaojing were Shenzong's consorts— loyalty lies with the two empresses; siding with Consort Zheng is disloyalty. Empresses Xiaoyuan and Xiaohe were Guangzong's consorts— loyalty lies with the two empresses; siding with Attendant Li is disloyalty. Who did not know the consort's thirty years of designs? Zhang Chai raised a club and death hung by a breath—how can one still plead leniency! At the start of the late emperor's reign came word of a command to make her empress; denied, she advanced with seductive looks. When Zhang Chai's club missed, female entertainers were sent to beguile him; when Cui Wensheng's medicine was too slow, Li Kezhuo's pills were pressed upon him. How painful! The late emperor wished to hush what entered the bedchamber and bore an unredressed injustice. Even if the consort is now treated generously, Zheng Yangxing's command must be stripped and Cui Wensheng dismembered. To leave them unpunished is nearly to forget one's father! Attendant Li was only a palace woman, far beneath a consort; she blocked Your Majesty in the warm chamber, held you to rule from behind the curtain, and abused the empress mother—things subjects cannot bear to recount. Even if one pleads for Attendant Li, only past offenses may be indulged; the palace move cannot be erased, nor the treasure-stealing eunuchs pardoned. To leave the eunuchs unpunished is nearly to forget one's mother!" When the memorial went up, the whole court shuddered.
28
天啟二年憂歸。 服闋還朝，出按真定諸府，例轉鳳陽兵備副使。 時崔文升出鎮兩淮，欲甘心源溥，遂移疾歸。
In Tianqi 2 he returned home in mourning. After mourning he returned, inspected Zhending prefectures, and was transferred to Fengyang military vice commissioner. Cui Wensheng was then posted to the two Huai regions and meant to ruin him; Yuanpu pleaded illness and went home.
29
崇禎二年起故官，分巡河東道，遷寧武參政，有平寇功，就遷山西按察使。 七年擢右僉都御史，巡撫大同。 時邊事日棘，兵缺伍，餉又久乏，歲洊饑，民淘馬糞以食。 源溥請蠲振增餉，當事不能應。 逾年，自劾求去，遂罷歸。 十六年冬，李自成陷關中，與從兄源清同被執，勒令輸金。 源溥瞋目大罵，賊拔其舌，支解之。
In Chongzhen 2 he was recalled, toured Hedong, became Ningwu Pacification Commissioner, suppressed bandits, and rose to Shanxi Surveillance Commissioner. In year seven he became Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Datong. Frontier affairs grew urgent; troops were understrength, pay long overdue, famine repeated yearly, and people sifted horse dung for food. Yuanpu asked for tax relief, grain aid, and higher pay, but the authorities could not comply. After a year he impeached himself and was dismissed. In the winter of year sixteen Li Zicheng took Guanzhong; he and his cousin Yuanqing were seized and ordered to pay gold. Yuanpu glared and cursed; the rebels cut out his tongue and dismembered him.
30
源清，字湛一，由進士歷官宣府巡撫。 七年秋，坐萬全左衛失守，奪官謫戍。 久之釋還，年七十。 至是抗節，不食七日死。
Yuanqing, styled Zhanyi, rose through the jinshi route to Grand Coordinator of Xuanfu. In the autumn of year seven Wanquan Left Guard fell; he was stripped of office and banished. Long afterward he was released, aged seventy. By then he resisted to the end and died after seven days without food.
31
李夢辰，字元居，睢州人。 崇禎元年進士。 授庶吉士，改兵科給事中，時盜起陜西，山東曹、濮間之盜，道梗三百余裏，河北有回賊。 夢辰歷陳其狀，請敕將吏急防。 五年，上疏言：「中外交訌，秦、晉、齊、魯多亂，兩河居中尤要地。 鉛硝久市直未償，漕米歲輸累無已，宗祿並征，南陽加派，河決歲歉，郵傳催科之患百出，民室如懸罄，生計日不支，急難誰肯用命？ 兩河標兵、磁兵，新舊不滿七千，一有警，防禦何資？ 今日之務急防河，繕城，備器，練鄉兵，治甲胄，尤以收拾人心為本。」 帝命所司嚴飭。 六年冬，鉅盜盡萃河北。 夢辰慮其南犯，請敕河南諸道監司急防渡口，而巡撫移駐衛輝，與山西、保定二撫臣掎角急擊。 帝方下兵部議，賊已從澠池潛渡。 自是中州郡縣無日不告警矣。
Li Mengchen, styled Yuanju, came from Suizhou. He took the jinshi in Chongzhen 1. Made a Hanlin bachelor, then War Bureau supervising secretary; bandits rose in Shaanxi, blocked roads for three hundred li between Cao and Pu in Shandong, and Hui bandits appeared in Hebei. Mengchen detailed the situation and urged urgent orders to generals and officials to guard against them. In year five he memorialized: "Strife within and without has thrown Qin, Jin, Qi, and Lu into disorder, and the two central river provinces are especially crucial. Unpaid lead and saltpeter debts, endless transport grain levies, princely stipends collected together, extra Nanyang levies, river breaches and crop failure, courier and tax abuses everywhere—households emptied, livelihoods failing; who will obey in crisis? The two provinces' standard and Ci troops number fewer than seven thousand—what defense is possible once alarm comes? Today's tasks are to defend the river, repair walls, prepare arms, train militia, restore armor, and above all rally the people's hearts." The emperor ordered the relevant offices to enforce this strictly. That winter the great bandits all gathered in Hebei. Fearing a southern invasion, he urged Henan supervisors to guard the crossings, the grand coordinator to move to Weihui, and Shanxi and Baoding coordinators to strike in concert. The emperor had just referred the matter to the Ministry of War when the bandits had already crossed secretly from Mianchi. From then on the Central Plain was alarmed every day.
32
累遷本科左給事中。 復言：「將驕軍悍，鄧玘、張外嘉之兵弒主而叛，曹文詔、艾萬年之兵望賊而奔，尤世威、徐來朝之兵離汛而遁，今者，張全昌、趙光遠之兵且倒戈為亂矣。 滎澤劫庫殺人，偃師列營對壘。 且全昌等會剿豫賊，隨處逗遛，及中途兵變，全昌竟東行，光遠始西向。 驕抗如此，安可不重治。」 帝頗采其言。 進吏科都給事中。 都御史唐世濟薦霍維華，福建巡按應喜臣薦周維京，冀並翻逆案。 夢辰疏駁之，世濟、喜臣皆下吏謫戍。
He rose to Left Supervising Secretary of the bureau. He said again: "Generals are arrogant and troops fierce—Deng Qi and Zhang Waijia's men murdered their commanders; Cao Wenzhao and Ai Wannian's men fled at sight of bandits; You Shiwei and Xu Laichao's men deserted their posts; now Zhang Quanchang and Zhao Guangyuan's men have mutinied. At Xingyang they raided the treasury and killed men; at Yanshi they faced one another in camp. Quanchang and others dallied everywhere on the Henan campaign; when mutiny broke out midway, Quanchang went east while Guangyuan only then turned west. Such arrogance—how can they escape severe punishment?" The emperor largely adopted his advice. He rose to Chief Supervising Secretary of the Bureau of Personnel. Censor-in-Chief Tang Shiji recommended Huo Weihua and Fujian censor Ying Xichen recommended Zhou Weijing, hoping to overturn the treason cases. Mengchen rebutted them in a memorial; Shiji and Xichen were prosecuted and banished.
33
尋擢太常少卿，累遷至通政使。 坐代人削章奏，貶秩調任。 未幾，有持金囑中書舍人某賄大學士，求為副都御史者。 邏卒廉得之，詞連夢辰。 帝令夢辰自奏，事得白。 然夢辰竟坐是削籍。
Soon he became Vice Minister of Imperial Sacrifices and rose to Commissioner of Transmission. Because another person had trimmed a memorial for him, he was demoted and transferred. Soon someone brought gold and asked a Secretariat drafter to bribe a grand secretary for the post of Vice Censor-in-Chief. Patrol guards uncovered it, and the testimony implicated Mengchen. The emperor ordered Mengchen to report on himself, and he was cleared. Yet Mengchen was still struck from the rolls over the affair.
34
十五年春，賊攻開封，不克，遂去，陷西華，屠陳州，逼睢州。 時州缺正官，夢辰歸，即乘城主守。 無何，賊從他門入，擁夢辰見羅汝才。 汝才問所欲，曰：「我大臣，但欲死爾。」 汝才去，遣其客說降，且進之酒。 夢辰覆杯於地，太息起，扼吭而卒。 妻王氏，方病，聞之，不食死。
In the spring of year fifteen the rebels failed at Kaifeng, took Xihua, massacred Chenzhou, and pressed Suizhou. The prefecture lacked a magistrate; Mengchen had returned home and at once took command on the wall. Soon the rebels entered by another gate and brought Mengchen before Luo Rucai. Rucai asked what he wanted; he said, "I am a great minister—I only wish to die." Rucai left, sent a guest to urge surrender, and offered wine. Mengchen overturned the cup, sighed, rose, and died clutching his throat. His wife Lady Wang, ill, died without eating on hearing it.
35
宋師襄，耀州人。 萬歷四十四年進士。 歷官御史。
Song Shixiang came from Yaozhou. He took the jinshi in Wanli 44. He served as a censor.
36
天啟三年五月請罷內操，言：「自劉朝營脫死，與沈纮謀為固寵計。 纮以募兵為朝外護，朝以內操為纮內援。 宮府內外，知有朝而不知天子。 天牖聖聰，一旦發露，屏之南京。 然朝雖去，而三千虎旅安歸？ 世未有蓄怨藏怒之人潛布左右而不為患者，今惟有散之而已。 夫平日卵翼朝者，黃克纘也，亡何以戎政內宣； 抄參朝者，毛士龍也，未幾以構陷削籍。 豈非握兵據要，轉相恐喝，以至是乎？」 帝以內操祖宗故事，不納。 又陳足財之策，請減上供，汰冗官，核營造，省賚賞。 皆宦官所不便，格不行。 奉聖夫人客氏子及中官王體乾、宋晉、魏進忠等十二人俱世襲錦衣。 進忠者，魏忠賢也。 師襄力諫。 又言左都御史熊尚文、工部侍郎周應秋、登萊巡撫袁可立當去不去，光祿卿須之彥、太常卿呂純如不當來而來。 帝皆不聽。
In the fifth month of Tianqi 3 he asked to abolish inner-court drilling, saying, "Since Liu Chao escaped death in camp, he and Shen Hong plotted to secure favor. Hong used recruited troops as Chao's outer support, and Chao used inner drilling as Hong's inner support. Inside and outside the palace they knew Chao but not the Son of Heaven. Heaven enlightened the emperor; once exposed, Chao was banished to Nanjing. Yet though Chao is gone, where shall his three thousand tiger troops go? Never has one who harbors hidden wrath been posted at one's side without harm; they must be dispersed. Huang Keguan daily sheltered Chao—why is military administration now proclaimed within the palace? Mao Shilong copied and reported on Chao; soon he was struck from the rolls on a framed charge. Is it not because they hold troops and key posts and intimidate one another?" The emperor, citing ancestral precedent, did not accept it. He also proposed securing funds by reducing tribute, cutting redundant offices, auditing construction, and reducing gifts and rewards. All were inconvenient to the eunuchs and were blocked. The son of Lady Ke of Imperial Favor and twelve palace eunuchs including Wang Tigan, Song Jin, and Wei Jinzhong were granted hereditary Embroidered-Uniform Guard posts. Jinzhong was Wei Zhongxian. Shixiang remonstrated strenuously. He also said Xiong Shangwen, Zhou Yingqiu, and Yuan Keli ought to leave but had not, while Xu Zhiyan and Lü Chunru ought not to come but had. The emperor heard none of it.
37
四年，巡按河南。 陛辭，言：「今之言者，皆曰治平要務，乃終日籌邊事、商國計、飭吏治、計民生、弭盜賊，而漫無實效。 所以然者，臺諫以進言為責，條奏一入，即雲盡職，言之行否，置弗問矣。 六曹以題覆為責，題覆一上，即雲畢事，事之行否，置弗問矣。 內閣以票擬為責，票擬一定，即為明綸，旨之行否，置弗問矣。 上謾下欺，釀成大患。 今人怨已極，天怒已甚，災害並至，民不聊生，相聚思亂，十而八九。 臣恐今日之患，不在遼左、黔、蜀，而在數百年休養之赤子也。」 明年復命薦部內人才，首及尚書盛以弘。 魏忠賢責以徇私，貶一秩調任，師襄遂歸。
In year four he toured Henan as censor. On taking leave he said, "Today's speakers all call these the essentials of good government, yet they spend their days on frontier affairs, state finance, official discipline, livelihood, and bandits—with no real effect. The reason is that censors take submitting words as their duty; once a memorial enters, they say their office is done, and whether it is carried out is left unasked. The six ministries treated review reports as their duty; once a report went up, they called the matter finished and never asked whether it was carried out. The Grand Council treated drafting rescripts as its duty; once a draft was fixed, it became law, and whether the order was carried out was left unasked. Superiors deceived and subordinates cheated, brewing great calamity. Popular resentment has peaked, Heaven's anger is extreme, disasters multiply, the people cannot live, and eight or nine in ten think of rebellion. I fear today's peril lies not in Liaodong, Guizhou, or Sichuan, but in the common people nurtured in peace for centuries." The next year he was again ordered to recommend ministry talent, naming Minister Sheng Yihong first. Wei Zhongxian charged favoritism; he was demoted one rank and transferred, and Shixiang went home.
38
麻僖，慶陽人。 父永吉，由庶吉士為御史，終湖廣按察使，以清操聞。 僖舉萬歷三十五年進士，授庶吉士，改兵科給事中。 代王長子鼎渭訐父廢長立幼，僖劾代王無君鼎渭無父。 四十年，疏陳納諫諍、舉枚卜、補大僚、登遺佚、速考選數事，不報。 已，復請重武科、復比試、清納級、汰家丁、恤班操、急邊餉，時亦不能用。 遼東巡撫楊鎬請用舊將李如梅，以僖言，改用張承蔭。 承蔭未至而鎮遠堡、曹莊相繼失事，鎬皆不以實聞。 僖兩疏劾之，鎬旋引去。 已，與同官孫振基等劾熊廷弼殺人媚人。 又言湯賓尹取韓敬，關節顯然，語具《振基傳》。 尋乞假歸。 四十五年京察，賓尹黨用事，以僖倚附東林，謫山西按察知事。
Ma Xi came from Qingyang. His father Yongji rose from Hanlin bachelor to censor and ended as Huguang Surveillance Commissioner, famed for integrity. Xi took the jinshi in Wanli 35, became a Hanlin bachelor, and transferred to War Bureau supervising secretary. The Prince of Dai's eldest son Dingwei denounced his father for deposing the elder heir; Xi impeached the prince as unprincely and Dingwei as unfilial. In year forty he memorialized on accepting remonstrance, holding divination for appointments, filling high offices, elevating the overlooked, and speeding selections—no reply. Later he again urged restoring the military exam, reviving comparative testing, clarifying purchased ranks, cutting household troops, relieving guard duty, and hurrying frontier pay—all ignored. Liaodong Grand Coordinator Yang Hao wanted the old general Li Rumei; on Xi's advice, Zhang Chengyin was used instead. Before Chengyin arrived, Zhenyuan Fort and Caozhuang fell in succession; Hao reported none of it truthfully. Xi impeached him twice, and Hao soon withdrew. Later he and Sun Zhenji impeached Xiong Tingbi for killing men to please others. He also exposed Tang Binyin's obvious string-pulling for Han Jing; details are in Zhenji's biography. Soon he asked leave and went home. At the year-45 capital evaluation the Binyin faction ruled; Xi was demoted to Shanxi surveillance commissioner for leaning on Donglin.
39
天啟二年，起兵部主事，歷尚寶丞、少卿，改太常。 五年六月，魏忠賢黨御史陳世飐劾之，遂落職。 崇禎初，復官，致仕家居。 十六年冬，李自成陷慶陽，僖死之。
In Tianqi 2 he rose in the Ministry of War, served in the Imperial Seals Office, and transferred to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In the sixth month of year five Wei Zhongxian's censor Chen Shichou impeached him and he was dismissed. Early in Chongzhen his office was restored; he retired home. In the winter of year sixteen Li Zicheng took Qingyang, and Xi died.
40
王道純，字懷鞠，蒲城人。 天啟五年進士。 授中書舍人。 崇禎三年擢御史。 疏陳破資格之說，言銓除、舉劾、考選，甲乙科太低昂，宜變通，則賢才日廣。 帝命所司即行，而甲科勢重，卒不能返。 流賊躪關中，道純請急振饑民，毋使從賊，報可。 已，劾罷光祿卿蘇晉、參政張爾基。 四年，劾吏部尚書王永光當去者三，不可留者四，不納。
Wang Daochun, styled Huaiju, came from Pucheng. He took the jinshi in Tianqi 5. He was appointed Secretariat drafter. In Chongzhen 3 he was promoted censor. He memorialized on breaking rigid qualifications, saying appointment, impeachment, and examination grades were too rigid and should be flexible so worthy talent would grow. The emperor ordered it carried out, but the jia-grade faction was too powerful and nothing changed. As roving bandits ravaged Guanzhong, Daochun urged urgent relief so the starving would not join them; approval was granted. Later he impeached and removed Su Jin and Zhang Erji. In year four he gave three reasons Wang Yongguang should leave and four why he could not stay; the emperor did not accept it.
41
巡按山東。 其時李九成、孔有德叛於吳橋，南下。 道純移書巡撫余大成，令討捕，大成不信。 再促之，遂托疾請告，與登萊巡撫孫元化遣使招撫。 道純以為非，請敕二撫速剿。 及賊陷登州，元化被縶，大成猶主招撫。 道純憤，抗疏力爭，帝即命道純監軍。 及徐從治代大成，謝璉代元化，並入萊州，為賊困。 在外調度，止道純一人。 賊遣人偽乞撫，道純焚書斬使，馳疏言：「賊日以撫愚我，一撫而六城陷，再撫而登州亡，三撫而黃縣失，今四撫而萊州被圍。 我軍屢挫，安能復戰？ 乞速發大軍，拯此危土。」 時周延儒、熊明遇主撫議，道純反被責讓。 明遇遣職方主事張國臣贊畫軍事，國臣入賊中招諭。 賊佯許之，攻圍如故。 及總督劉宇烈至，進兵沙河，道純與之俱。 宇烈中情怯，頓兵不進，日議撫，尋棄軍奔。 道純復請速討，不納。 迨巡撫謝璉被執，帝震怒，逮宇烈，召道純還京，而明遇亦罷去。 宇烈下吏，引道純分過。 道純疏駁其所奏十余事，命所司並按。 又劾明遇、國臣交通誤國十罪，語侵延儒。 疏未下，延儒泄之國臣，國臣亦劾道純十罪，道純遂並劾延儒。 帝皆不問。 已而賊平，道純竟坐監軍溺職，斥為民。
He toured Shandong as censor. Then Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde rebelled at Wuqiao and marched south. Daochun wrote Grand Coordinator Yu Dacheng ordering pursuit; Dacheng did not believe it. Urged again, Dacheng pleaded illness and, with Deng-Lai Grand Coordinator Sun Yuanhua, sent envoys to pacify them. Daochun thought this wrong and asked that both coordinators be ordered to suppress them at once. When the rebels took Dengzhou and seized Yuanhua, Dacheng still favored pacification. Daochun angrily memorialized in protest; the emperor at once ordered him to supervise the army. When Xu Congzhi replaced Dacheng and Xie Lian replaced Yuanhua, both entered Laizhou and were trapped. Of those directing affairs outside, only Daochun remained. The rebels sent false peace envoys; Daochun burned their letters and beheaded them, memorializing urgently: "Pacification fools us—one round and six cities fell, a second and Dengzhou was lost, a third and Huangxian fell; now a fourth and Laizhou is besieged. Our army has been repeatedly defeated—how can we fight again? Send a great army quickly to save this endangered land." Zhou Yanru and Xiong Mingyu favored pacification, and Daochun was rebuked instead. Mingyu sent Zhang Guochen of the Bureau of War to plan the campaign; Guochen entered the rebel camp to win them over. The rebels pretended to agree but attacked and besieged as before. When Grand Coordinator Liu Yulie arrived and advanced to Shahe, Daochun went with him. Yulie was cowardly, halted the army, daily discussed pacification, and soon fled. Daochun again urged swift suppression; he was ignored. When Xie Lian was seized, the emperor was furious, arrested Yulie, recalled Daochun, and dismissed Mingyu. Yulie was prosecuted and cited Daochun to share the blame. Daochun rebutted more than ten items in his report and ordered a full investigation. He also impeached Mingyu and Guochen on ten counts of collusion harming the state, implicating Zhou Yanru. Before it was issued, Yanru leaked it to Guochen; Guochen impeached Daochun on ten counts, and Daochun impeached Yanru in turn. The emperor inquired into none of it. When the rebels were pacified, Daochun was still punished for neglect as army supervisor and dismissed.
42
十五年以廷臣薦，將起用，未果。 及李自成陷蒲城，道純抗節死。 福王時，贈恤如制。
In year fifteen the court recommended recalling him, but it did not happen. When Li Zicheng took Pucheng, Daochun died defiantly. Under the Prince of Fu he was posthumously granted condolence as prescribed.
43
田時震，富平人。 天啟二年進士。 歷知光山、靈寶。 崇禎二年入為御史，疏劾南京戶部尚書範濟世、順天巡撫單明詡、御史卓邁黨逆罪，而請免故御史夏之令誣坐贓，並從之。 劾劉鴻訓納田仰金，囑吏部尚書王永光用為四川巡撫，仰迄罷去。 時震以發鴻訓私，進秩一等。 未幾，又劾永光及溫體仁，忤旨切責。 御史袁弘勛者，永光心腹也，被劾罷職，永光力援之。 時震言：「弘勛因閣臣劉鴻訓賄敗，輒肆瀆辯。 不知鴻訓之差快人意者，正以能別白徐大化、霍維華諸人之奸而斥去之，安得借此為翻案之端耶？ 弘勛計行，大化、維華輩將乘間抵隙，害不可勝言。」 因薦故光祿少卿史記事，蕭然四壁，講學著書，亟宜召用，帝不納。
Tian Shizhen came from Fuping. He took the jinshi in Tianqi 2. He served as magistrate of Guangshan and Lingbao. In Chongzhen 2 he became a censor, impeached Fan Jishi, Shan Mingxu, and Zhuo Mai for factional treason, and secured exemption for Xia Zhiling's false embezzlement conviction—all granted. He impeached Liu Hongxun for taking Tian Yang's gold and having Wang Yongguang appoint Yang grand coordinator of Sichuan; Yang was dismissed. Shizhen was promoted one rank for exposing Hongxun. Soon he impeached Yongguang and Wen Tiren and was sharply rebuked. Censor Yuan Hongxun, Yongguang's intimate, was impeached and dismissed; Yongguang strongly supported him. Shizhen said, "Hongxun, because Grand Secretary Liu Hongxun fell to bribery, indulges in insolent argument. He does not see that Hongxun's fall was satisfying because he exposed Xu Dahua, Huo Weihua, and others—how can this reopen those cases? If Hongxun succeeds, Dahua, Weihua, and their kind will seize every opening; the harm is incalculable." He recommended the former Vice Minister Shi Jishi, who lived in bare rooms lecturing and writing, and ought urgently to be recalled—the emperor did not accept it.
44
時震既屢忤永光，遂以年例出為江西右參議，調山西，就遷左參政，罷歸。 十六年冬，流賊陷富平，授以偽職，不屈死。
Having repeatedly offended Yongguang, he was transferred by seniority to Jiangxi Right Pacification Commissioner, then Shanxi Left Pacification Commissioner, and dismissed home. In the winter of year sixteen rebels took Fuping; offered a puppet post, he died without yielding.
45
同邑朱崇德，字淳庵，侍郎國棟父也。 國棟中天啟二年進士，歷戶科給事中。 吏部侍郎張捷薦逆案呂純如，國棟上疏力詆。 已，又劾兩廣總督熊文燦，招撫海盜劉香，奏詞掩飾欺罔五罪，帝切責文燦。 而國棟累遷巡撫山東右僉都御史，督治昌平。 十五年卒。
His fellow townsman Zhu Chongde, styled Chun'an, was Vice Minister Guodong's father. Guodong took the jinshi in Tianqi 2 and served as Revenue Bureau supervising secretary. Vice Minister Zhang Jie recommended treason-case figure Lü Chunru; Guodong memorialized in fierce protest. Later he impeached Liang-Guang supreme coordinator Xiong Wencan for pacifying the pirate Liu Xiang on five counts of concealment; the emperor sharply rebuked Wencan. Guodong rose to Shandong Grand Coordinator as Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and supervised Changping. He died in year fifteen.
46
國棟卒之明年，富平陷於賊。 賊驅崇德往長安，中道稱病。 賊見其老，以為果病也，聽之歸。 崇德曰：「始吾所以隱忍者，為九族計也，今得死所矣。」 乃北面再拜，自縊死。 是時關中諸死節者甫議恤，而國變至。 福王立，始贈崇德右副都御史。
The year after Guodong died, Fuping fell to the rebels. The rebels drove Chongde toward Chang'an; midway he claimed illness. Seeing him old, the rebels thought him truly ill and let him return. Chongde said, "At first I endured in hiding for my clan's sake; now I have found the place to die." He faced north, bowed twice, and hanged himself. Condolence for Guanzhong's martyrs was just being discussed when the dynasty fell. When the Prince of Fu ruled, Chongde was first posthumously made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.
47
贊曰：流賊荼毒中原，所至糜爛。 士大夫遘難者，不死則辱。 然當其時，徘徊隱忍、蒙垢而終以自戕者，亦不少矣。 賀逢聖諸人從容就義，臨患難而不易其節，一死顧不重哉！ 逢聖與南居益、周士樸公方清正，呂維祺邃學純修，固中朝賢士大夫。 宋師襄所謂「上謾下欺，釀成大患」，末季之習，痛哉其言之也。
The commentator says: Roving bandits poisoned the Central Plain; wherever they went all was ruined. Scholar-officials who met calamity either died or were disgraced. Yet many hesitated, endured in hiding, bore shame, and destroyed themselves in the end. He Fengsheng and the others calmly accepted death and did not change their integrity in hardship—was their death not weighty indeed! Fengsheng, Nan Juyi, and Zhou Shipu were upright and pure; Lu Weiqi was deep in learning and pure in conduct—truly worthy central-court scholars. Song Shixiang's words—"superiors deceive and subordinates cheat, brewing great calamity"—capture the habit of the dynasty's last days; how painful his warning!