Volume 265 Biographies 153: Fan Jingwen, Ni Yuanlu, Li Banghua, Wang Jiayan, Meng Zhaoxiang, Shi Bangyao, Ling Yiqu

範景文倪元璐李邦華王家彥孟兆祥〈（子章明）〉施邦曜淩義渠

Fan Jingwen, Ni Yuanlu, Li Banghua, Wang Jiayan, and Meng Zhaoxiang (Zhang Ming, his son)〉 Shi Bangyao and Ling Yiqu are also treated here.

崇禎十有七年三月，流賊李自成犯京師。十九日丁未，莊烈帝殉社稷。文臣死國者，東閣大學士範景文而下，凡二十有一人。福王立南京，並予贈謚。皇清順治九年，世祖章皇帝表章前代忠臣，所司以範景文、倪元璐、李邦華、王家彥、孟兆祥、子章明、施邦曜、淩義渠、吳麟征、周鳳翔、馬世奇、劉理順、汪偉、吳甘來、王章、陳良謨、申佳允、許直、成德、金鉉二十人名上。命所在有司各給地七十畝，建祠致祭，且予美謚焉。

In the third month of the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign, the rebel Li Zicheng assaulted the capital. On the nineteenth day, a dingwei day, the Chongzhen Emperor perished with his dynasty. Twenty-one civil officials died for the dynasty, beginning with Grand Secretary Fan Jingwen of the Eastern Pavilion. After the Prince of Fu raised his standard at Nanjing, they were all granted posthumous honors. In the ninth year of Shunzhi, the Shunzhi Emperor commended loyal ministers of earlier dynasties, and the responsible office submitted twenty names: Fan Jingwen, Ni Yuanlu, Li Banghua, Wang Jiayan, Meng Zhaoxiang, Zhang Ming, Shi Bangyao, Ling Yiqu, Wu Linzheng, Zhou Fengxiang, Ma Shiqi, Liu Lishun, Wang Wei, Wu Ganlai, Wang Zhang, Chen Liangmo, Shen Jiayun, Xu Zhi, Cheng De, and Jin Xuan. He ordered local officials everywhere to allot seventy mu of land, erect shrines for sacrifice, and grant them honored posthumous titles.

範景文，字夢章，吳橋人。父永年，南寧知府。景文幼負器識，登萬歷四十一年進士，授東昌推官。以名節自勵，苞苴無敢及其門。歲大饑，盡心振救，闔郡賴之。用治行高等，擢吏部稽勛主事，歷文選員外郎，署選事。泰昌時，群賢登進，景文力為多，尋乞假去。

Fan Jingwen, whose style was Mengzhang, came from Wuqiao. His father Yongnian had served as prefect of Nanning. From youth Jingwen showed promise and ability. He took his jinshi degree in the forty-first year of Wanli and was appointed investigating censor of Dongchang. He held himself to the highest standards of integrity, and no one dared offer him a bribe. When famine struck the region, he threw himself into relief work, and the entire prefecture owed him its survival. Rated highly for his administrative record, he was promoted to principal clerk in the Ministry of Personnel's merit-records section, rose through the civil appointments bureau to vice director, and handled selections in an acting capacity. During the brief Taichang reign he helped advance many worthy men, then soon took leave and left office.

天啟五年二月，起文選郎中，魏忠賢暨魏廣微中外用事，景文同鄉，不一詣其門，亦不附東林，孤立行意而已。嘗言：「天地人才，當為天地惜之。朝廷名器，當為朝廷守之。天下萬世是非公論，當與天下萬世共之。」時以為名言。視事未彌月，謝病去。

In the second month of the fifth year of Tianqi he was recalled as director in the civil appointments bureau. Wei Zhongxian and Wei Guangwei dominated court and capital alike. Though a fellow townsman of theirs, Jingwen never called at their doors and refused to join the Donglin faction, standing apart and following his own conscience. He once said, "The talents heaven and earth provide ought to be cherished as heaven and earth's own treasure. The honored offices of the court ought to be guarded for the court's sake. The public judgment of right and wrong, for all the world and for all time, should be shared with all the world and for all time. His contemporaries took these words for maxims. Before he had served a full month he resigned on grounds of illness.

崇禎初，用薦召為太常少卿。二年七月，擢右僉都御史，巡撫河南。京師戒嚴，率所部八千人勤王，餉皆自賫。抵涿州，四方援兵多剽掠，獨河南軍無所犯。移駐都門，再移昌平，遠近恃以無恐。明年三月，擢兵部添註左侍郎，練兵通州。通鎮初設，兵皆召募，景文綜理有法，軍特精。嘗請有司實行一條鞭法，徭役歸之官，民稍助其費，供應平買，不立官價名。帝令永著為例。居二年，以父喪去官。

Early in the Chongzhen reign he was summoned on recommendation to serve as vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In the seventh month of the second year he was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and appointed grand coordinator of Henan. When the capital went on alert, he led eight thousand troops to its relief and paid for their provisions out of his own purse. At Zhuozhou he found relief armies from every direction looting the countryside, but his Henan troops alone committed no depredations. He moved his camp to the capital gates and then to Changping, and people near and far took heart from his presence. The following March he was promoted to supplementary left vice minister of war and took charge of training troops at Tongzhou. The Tongzhou garrison was newly established and its soldiers were all recruits, but Jingwen organized them so effectively that the force became exceptionally disciplined. He urged local authorities to implement the single-whip tax reform in earnest: corvée duties would be handled by officials, the people would pay a modest levy, supplies would be bought at fair market rates, and no arbitrary official prices would be imposed. The emperor ordered the practice made a permanent rule. After two years he left office to observe mourning for his father.

七年冬，起南京右都御史。未幾，就拜兵部尚書，參贊機務。屢遣兵戍池河、浦口，援廬州，扼滁陽，有警輒發，節制精明。嘗與南京戶部尚書錢春以軍食相訐奏，坐鐫秩視事。已，敘援剿功，復故秩。十一年冬，京師戒嚴，遣兵入衛。楊嗣昌奪情輔政，廷臣力爭多被謫，景文倡同列合詞論救。帝不悅，詰首謀，則自引罪，且以眾論僉同為言。帝益怒，削籍為民。

In the winter of the seventh year he was recalled to serve as right censor-in-chief at Nanjing. Soon afterward he was appointed minister of war and joined in deliberations on state affairs. He repeatedly sent troops to garrison Chihe and Pukou, relieve Luzhou, and hold Chuyang. At every alarm he moved swiftly, and his command was sharp and sure. He once clashed with Qian Chun, the Nanjing minister of revenue, over military rations, exchanging impeachments that cost him a demotion though he remained in office. Later his merits in relief and suppression were recognized and his former rank restored. In the winter of the eleventh year, when the capital went on alert, he sent troops to its defense. When Yang Sichang left mourning to take up office, many officials who protested were exiled. Jingwen led his colleagues in a joint memorial pleading for them. The emperor was displeased and demanded to know who had led the effort. Jingwen took the blame on himself and said the court had spoken with one voice. The emperor's anger deepened, and Jingwen was struck from the rolls and reduced to commoner status.

十五年秋，用薦召拜刑部尚書，未上，改工部。入對，帝迎勞曰：「不見卿久，何臒也！」景文謝。十七年二月，命以本官兼東閣大學士，入參機務。未幾，李自成破宣府，烽火逼京師。有請帝南幸者，命集議閣中。景文曰：「固結人心，堅守待援而已，此外非臣所知。」及都城陷，趨至宮門，宮人曰：「駕出矣。」復趨朝房，賊已塞道。從者請易服還邸，景文曰：「駕出安歸？」就道旁廟草遺疏，復大書曰：「身為大臣，不能滅賊雪恥，死有余恨。」遂至演象所拜辭闕墓，赴雙塔寺旁古井死。景文死時，猶謂帝南幸也。贈太傅，謚文貞。本朝賜謚文忠。

In the autumn of the fifteenth year he was summoned on recommendation and appointed minister of justice, but before he could take up the post he was transferred to the Ministry of Works. When he came before the throne, the emperor greeted him warmly: "I have not seen you in so long—how thin you have become!" Jingwen expressed his gratitude. In the second month of the seventeenth year he was appointed concurrently as Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion and admitted to deliberations on state affairs. Before long Li Zicheng took Xuanfu, and warning fires drew near the capital. When some urged the emperor to flee south, he ordered the Grand Secretariat to deliberate. Jingwen said, "We must rally the people's loyalty, hold the city, and wait for relief—that is all I know to advise." When the city fell he rushed to the palace gate. A palace attendant told him, "His Majesty has already left." He turned toward the court offices, but rebels already blocked the way. His attendants urged him to change clothes and return home. Jingwen said, "If the emperor has left the palace, where can he possibly go?" At a roadside shrine he drafted a final memorial and wrote in large characters: "As a great minister I could not destroy the rebels and avenge this shame. Even in death my regret is more than I can bear." He went to the Observatory to take leave before the imperial tomb, then drowned himself in an old well beside Shuangta Temple. When Jingwen died he still believed the emperor had fled south. He was posthumously made Grand Tutor and given the posthumous title Wen Zhen, "Literary and Upright." The present dynasty granted him the posthumous title Wen Zhong, "Literary and Loyal."

倪元璐，字玉汝，上虞人。父凍，歷知撫州、淮安、荊州、瓊州四府，有當官稱。

Ni Yuanlu, whose style was Yuru, came from Shangyu. His father Dong had governed four prefectures—Fuzhou, Huai'an, Jingzhou, and Qiongzhou—and earned a reputation as a capable official.

天啟二年，元璐成進士，改庶吉士，授編修。冊封德府，移疾歸。還朝，出典江西鄉試。暨復命，則莊烈帝踐阼，魏忠賢已伏誅矣。楊維垣者，逆奄遺孽也，至是上疏並詆東林、崔、魏。元璐不能平，崇禎元年正月上疏曰：

In the second year of Tianqi, Yuanlu passed the jinshi examination, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed compiler. After taking part in the investiture of the Prince of De, he pleaded illness and returned home. When he returned to court he was sent to administer the Jiangxi provincial examination. By the time he reported back, the Chongzhen Emperor had already ascended the throne and Wei Zhongxian had already been put to death. Yang Weiyuan was a holdover from the eunuch faction. He now submitted a memorial denouncing the Donglin faction together with Cui and Wei. Yuanlu could not abide this. In the first month of the first year of Chongzhen he submitted a memorial that read:

臣頃閱章奏，見攻崔、魏者必與東林並稱邪黨。夫以東林為邪黨，將以何者名崔、魏？崔、魏既邪黨矣，擊忠賢、呈秀者又邪黨乎哉！東林，天下才藪也，而或樹高明之幟，繩人過刻，持論太深，謂之非中行則可，謂之非狂狷不可。且天下議論，寧假借，必不可失名義；士人行己，寧矯激，必不可忘廉隅。自以假借矯激為大咎，於是彪虎之徒公然背畔名義，決裂廉隅。頌德不已，必將勸進；建祠不已，必且呼嵩。而人猶且寬之曰：「無可奈何，不得不然耳。」充此無可奈何、不得不然之心，又將何所不至哉！乃議者以忠厚之心曲原此輩，而獨持已甚之論苛責吾徒，所謂舛也。今大獄之後，湯火僅存，屢奉明綸，俾之酌用，而當事者猶以道學封疆，持為鐵案，毋亦深防其報復乎？然臣以為過矣。年來借東林媚崔、魏者，其人自敗，何待東林報復？若不附崔、魏，又能攻去之，其人已喬嶽矣，雖百東林烏能報復哉？臣又伏讀聖旨，有「韓爌清忠有執，朕所鑒知」之諭。而近聞廷臣之議，殊有異同，可為大怪。爌相業光偉，他不具論，即如紅丸議起，舉國沸然，爌獨侃侃條揭，明其不然。夫孫慎行，君子也，爌且不附，況他人乎！而今推轂不及，點灼橫加，則徒以其票擬熊廷弼一事耳。廷弼固當誅，爌不為無說，封疆失事，累累有徒，乃欲獨殺一廷弼，豈平論哉？此爌所以閣筆也。然廷弼究不死於封疆而死於局面，不死於法吏而死於奸珰，則又不可謂後之人能殺廷弼，而爌獨不能殺之也。又如詞臣文震孟正學勁骨，有古大臣之品，三月居官，昌言獲罪，人以方之羅倫、舒芬。而今起用之旨再下，謬悠之譚不已，將毋門戶二字不可重提耶？用更端以相遮抑耶？書院、生祠，相勝負者也，生祠毀，書院豈不當修復！

Your servant has lately reviewed memorials and found that anyone who attacks Cui and Wei is invariably lumped together with the Donglin as members of an evil faction. If the Donglin are an evil faction, what name then shall we give Cui and Wei? If Cui and Wei were the evil faction, then were those who struck down Zhongxian and Chengxian also an evil faction? The Donglin were a gathering place for the empire's best minds. Some among them may have held themselves too loftily, judged others too harshly, or argued too fiercely—one may call that falling short of the middle way, but not falling short of passionate integrity. In public discourse one may tolerate a degree of pretense, but one must never abandon right names and moral principle; and in a gentleman's conduct one may tolerate excess, but one must never forget integrity. Once pretense and excess were treated as the gravest faults, men like Wei Zhongxian's henchmen openly abandoned moral principle and cast integrity aside. Endless flattery must lead to urging the ruler to usurp the throne; endless shrine-building must lead to addressing a minister as though he were the emperor, as Yan Song was addressed. Yet people still excused them, saying, "There was nothing to be done—they had no choice." Indulge that spirit of helpless necessity, and what limit will there be to what men will do? Yet debaters bent their generous hearts to excuse such men while applying the harshest standards only to our party—that is perversity indeed. After the great prosecutions only a handful survive, scorched as if by fire. The throne has repeatedly ordered that they be employed with discretion, yet those in power still treat the Donglin as beyond the pale—is this not fear of their revenge? Your servant believes this goes too far. In recent years those who used the Donglin name to flatter Cui and Wei destroyed themselves without any need for Donglin revenge. If a man refused to serve Cui and Wei and helped drive them from power, he already stood like a mountain—what could a hundred Donglin factions do to harm him? Your servant has also read with reverence the imperial edict stating, "Han Kuang is pure, loyal, and principled; We have observed this and know it to be true." Yet your servant has lately heard court opinion sharply divided on the matter—a thing most strange. Kuang's ministerial record was illustrious; I need not rehearse it all. When the Red Pill controversy erupted and the whole realm seethed, Kuang alone calmly laid out the facts and showed the charges were false. Sun Shenxing was a man of integrity, and even him Kuang would not court—how much less would he court lesser men! Yet now he is passed over for promotion while slander rains down on him—solely because of his memorial recommending Xiong Tingbi. Tingbi deserved punishment, and Kuang was not without grounds in recommending him. Border failures had countless culprits—yet to demand Tingbi's death alone, is that fair judgment? That is why Kuang laid down his brush and fell silent. Yet in the end Tingbi did not die for frontier failures but for political intrigue; he did not die at the hands of the law but at the hands of treacherous eunuchs. One cannot say that later men had the power to kill Tingbi while Kuang alone did not. Consider also the academician Wen Zhenmeng, a man of upright learning and firm backbone with the quality of great ministers of old. In three months in office his outspoken words brought punishment, and men compared him to Luo Lun and Shu Fen. Yet orders for his recall have been issued twice while absurd objections continue—is the word "faction" never to be spoken again? Are other pretexts to be found to block his appointment? Academies and living shrines stood in opposition to each other. If the living shrines are torn down, should not the academies be restored?

時柄國者悉忠賢遺黨，疏入，以論奏不當責之。於是維垣復疏駁元璐。元璐再疏曰：

Those in power were all holdovers from Zhongxian's faction. When the memorial arrived, Yuanlu was rebuked for improper argument. Weiyuan then submitted another memorial refuting Yuanlu. Yuanlu submitted a second memorial:

臣前疏原為維垣發也。陛下明旨曰：「分別門戶，已非治征」，曰「化異為同」，曰「天下為公」，而維垣則倡為孫黨、趙黨、熊黨、鄒黨之說。是陛下於方隅無不化，而維垣實未化；陛下於正氣無不伸，而維垣不肯伸。

Your servant's previous memorial was directed at Weiyuan. Your Majesty's clear edict declares that distinguishing factions is no sign of good government, that differences should be transformed into unity, and that all under heaven belongs to the public—yet Weiyuan promotes talk of the Sun faction, the Zhao faction, the Xiong faction, and the Zou faction. Your Majesty leaves no corner of the court un-transformed, yet Weiyuan remains untransformed; Your Majesty extends every upright spirit, yet Weiyuan refuses to extend his own.

維垣怪臣盛稱東林，以東林嘗推李三才而護熊廷弼也。抑知東林有力擊魏忠賢之楊漣，首劾崔呈秀之高攀龍乎！忠賢窮兇極惡，維垣猶尊稱之曰「廠臣公」、「廠臣不愛錢」、「廠臣知為國為民」，而何責乎三才？五彪五虎之罪，刑官僅擬削奪，維垣不駁正，又何誅乎廷弼？維垣又怪臣盛稱韓爌。夫舍爌昭然忤珰之大節，而加以罔利莫須有之事，已為失平。至廷弼行賄之說，乃忠賢借以誣陷清流，為楊、左諸人追贓地耳，天下誰不知，維垣猶守是說乎？維垣又怪臣盛稱文震孟。夫震孟忤珰削奪，其破帽策蹇傲蟒玉馳驛語，何可非？維垣試觀數年來破帽策蹇之輩，較超階躐級之儔，孰為榮辱。自此義不明，畏破帽策蹇者，相率而頌德建祠，希蟒玉馳驛者呼父、呼九千歲而不怍，可勝嘆哉！維垣又怪臣盛稱鄒元標。夫謂都門聚講為非則可，謂元標講學有他腸則不可。當日忠賢驅逐諸人，毀廢書院者，正欲箝學士大夫之口，恣行不義耳。自元標以偽學見驅，而逆珰遂以真儒自命，學宮之內，儼然揖先聖為平交。使元標諸人在，豈遂至此！維垣又駁臣假借矯激。夫當崔、魏之世，人皆任真率性，頌德建祠。使有一人假借矯激，而不頌不建，豈不猶賴是人哉！維垣以為真小人，待其貫滿可攻去之，臣以為非計也。必待其貫滿，其敗壞天下事已不可勝言，雖攻去之，不已晚乎！即如崔、魏，貫滿久矣，不遇聖明，誰攻去之？維垣終以無可奈何為頌德建祠者解，臣以為非訓也。假令呈秀一人舞蹈稱臣於逆珰，諸臣亦以為無可奈何而從之乎？又令逆珰以兵劫諸臣使從叛逆，諸臣亦靡然從之，以為無可奈何而然乎？維垣又言「今日之忠直，不當以崔、魏為對案」，臣謂正當以崔、魏為對案也。夫人品試之崔、魏而定矣，故有東林之人，為崔、魏所恨其牴觸、畏其才望而必欲殺之逐之者，此正人也。有攻東林之人，雖為崔、魏所借，而勁節不阿，或遠或逐者，亦正人也。以崔、魏定邪正，猶以明鏡別妍媸。維垣不取證於此，而安取證哉！

Yang Weiyuan objects that I lavish praise on the Donglin faction because it once backed Li Sancai and protected Xiong Tingbi. Does he not know that Donglin produced Yang Lian, who hammered Wei Zhongxian, and Gao Panlong, who led the charge against Cui Chengxiu? Wei Zhongxian was monstrous beyond measure, yet Weiyuan still hailed him as Lord Factory Minister, praised his supposed incorruptibility, and credited him with serving the realm—so how can he turn and blame Li Sancai? When the Five Leopards and Five Tigers were judged, the law officers proposed nothing harsher than demotion, and Weiyuan did not protest—so why demand Xiong Tingbi's head? Weiyuan likewise faults me for praising Han Kuang so highly. To ignore Han Kuang's plain record of defying the eunuchs and smear him with a fabricated charge of greed is injustice plain and simple. The tale of Xiong Tingbi's bribes was Wei Zhongxian's tool to frame the upright and claw back "stolen" goods from Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and their fellows—the whole world knew it—yet Weiyuan still repeats it? Weiyuan again faults me for praising Wen Zhenmeng so highly. Wen Zhenmeng defied the eunuchs and was stripped of office; when he boasted of his worn hat and lame donkey against courtiers in python robes racing the post roads—what fault is there in that? Let Weiyuan look at the men in worn hats on lame donkeys these past years beside those who vaulted over their superiors—which group bears honor, and which shame? Once that distinction blurred, men who feared the poverty of worn hat and lame donkey flocked to praise the powerful and build shrines to them, while men who craved python robes and post-horses cried "Father!" and "Nine thousand years!" without a blush—how lamentable! Weiyuan again faults me for praising Zou Yuanbiao so highly. One may argue that public lecturing at the capital was unwise; one may not claim that Zou Yuanbiao's teaching concealed some hidden agenda. When Wei Zhongxian expelled scholars and tore down academies, his aim was to silence the educated elite and do as he pleased. Once Zou Yuanbiao was banished for "heterodox learning," the treacherous eunuchs styled themselves true Confucians and in the academies bowed to the Sage as though he were their peer. Had Zou Yuanbiao and his like still been among us, would matters have sunk so low! Weiyuan also attacks me for feigned and theatrical outrage. In the days of Cui Yuanbiao and Wei Zhongxian, everyone was candid and unrestrained in praising the powerful and building shrines to them. If even one man only pretended outrage and refused to praise or build shrines, would we not still have owed him something! Weiyuan thinks a true villain should be left until he is glutted, then driven out; I say that is no strategy at all. Wait until he is glutted, and the harm done to the empire will be beyond reckoning—even if you remove him then, will it not be far too late? Look at Cui and Wei: they had been glutted for years; without a sage ruler, who could have driven them out? Weiyuan ultimately excuses those who praised the powerful and built shrines as having had no choice; I say that is no lesson for posterity. If Cui Chengxiu alone had danced and called himself the treacherous eunuch's subject, would the rest of the officials also have followed, pleading they had no choice? Or if the treacherous eunuch had used troops to force the officials into rebellion, would they likewise have gone along in droves, claiming they could do nothing else? Weiyuan also says that today's loyal and upright men should not be judged by the Cui–Wei standard; I say they should be judged by exactly that standard. Men's character is proven by how Cui and Wei treated them: Donglin men whom Cui and Wei hated for defying them, feared for their talent, and were determined to kill or exile—these are upright men. There are men who attacked Donglin; though Cui and Wei used them, if they held firm and would not bend, whether exiled or driven out, they too are upright men. To judge right and wrong by Cui and Wei is like telling beauty from ugliness with a bright mirror. If Weiyuan will not take his proof from this, where else will he find it!

總之東林之取憎於逆珰獨深，其得禍獨酷。在今日當曲原其被抑之苦，不當毛舉其尺寸之瑕。乃歸逆珰以首功，代逆珰而分謗，斯亦不善立論者矣。

In short, the Donglin faction alone earned the treacherous eunuchs' deepest hatred and alone suffered their cruelest punishments. Today we should make allowance for how they were crushed, not nitpick every small fault. To give the treacherous eunuchs the chief credit and share their blame in their place—that too is poor argument.

疏入，柄國者以互相詆訾兩解之。當是時，元兇雖殛，其徒黨猶盛，無敢頌言東林者。自元璐疏出，清議漸明，而善類亦稍登進矣。

When the memorial was submitted, those in power treated it as mutual slander from both sides and let the matter rest. At that time, though the chief villain had been put to death, his party remained strong, and no one dared speak well of Donglin. After Ni Yuanlu's memorial appeared, honest opinion gradually clarified, and good men began to win promotion again.

元璐尋進侍講。其年四月，請毀《三朝要典》，言：「梃擊、紅丸、移宮三議，哄於清流，而《三朝要典》一書，成於逆豎。其議可兼行，其書必當速毀。蓋當事起議興，盈廷互訟。主梃擊者力護東宮，爭梃擊者計安神祖。主紅丸者仗義之言，爭紅丸者原情之論。主移宮者弭變於幾先，爭移宮者持平於事後。數者各有其是，不可偏非。總在逆珰未用之先，雖甚水火，不害塤篪，此一局也。既而楊漣二十四罪之疏發，魏廣微此輩門戶之說興，於是逆珰殺人則借三案，群小求富貴則借三案。經此二借，而三案全非矣。故凡推慈歸孝於先皇，正其頌德稱功於義父，又一局也。網已密而猶疑有遺鱗，勢已重而或憂其翻局。崔、魏諸奸始創立私編，標題《要典》，以之批根今日，則眾正之黨碑；以之免死他年，即上公之鐵券。又一局也。由此而觀，三案者，天下之公議；《要典》者，魏氏之私書。三案自三案，《要典》自《要典》也。今為金石不刊之論者，誠未深思。臣謂翻即紛囂，改亦多事，惟有毀之而已。」帝命禮部會詞臣詳議。議上，遂焚其板。侍講孫之獬，忠賢黨也，聞之，詣閣大哭，天下笑之。

Ni Yuanlu was soon promoted to Lecturer-in-Attendance. That April he asked that Three Dynasties Essentials be destroyed, writing: "The Stick Case, the Red Pill, and the Palace Shift were debated among the upright faction, but Three Dynasties Essentials was compiled by treacherous minions. The debates may all stand; the book must be destroyed without delay. When each affair arose, debate flared and the whole court argued back and forth. Those who upheld the Stick Case fought to protect the heir apparent; those who contested it sought to reassure Emperor Shenzong. Those who upheld the Red Pill spoke in the name of justice; those who contested it appealed to human feeling. Those who upheld the Palace Shift sought to quell trouble before it spread; those who contested it held the balance once events had passed. Each side had its truth; none should be condemned outright. All this was before the treacherous eunuchs weaponized the cases; however fierce the quarrel, it did not destroy harmony like clashing pipes—this was one phase. Then came Yang Lian's memorial of twenty-four crimes and the factional rhetoric of Wei Guangwei and his like; from then on the treacherous eunuchs killed by wielding the Three Cases, and petty men sought wealth and rank by wielding them too. After these two abuses, the Three Cases were utterly perverted. Then came those who pressed filial piety on the late emperor and praised their "godfather"—that was another phase. Their net was already tight, yet they still feared a fish had slipped through; their power was already great, yet they still worried the game might turn. The villains Cui and Wei first compiled a private work called Essentials; used to attack opponents today, it became a stele of the righteous. Used to secure immunity in years to come, it was their iron certificate of grace. That was yet another phase. Seen in this light, the Three Cases are the public judgment of the realm. Essentials is the Wei faction's private book. The Three Cases are one thing; Essentials is another. Those who now treat it as an unalterable verdict have not thought the matter through. I hold that to overturn it would stir uproar and to revise it would be burdensome; there is only to destroy it. End of quoted memorial; the emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to convene the academicians for full deliberation. When their report was submitted, the printing blocks were burned. Lecturer Sun Zhixi, a partisan of Wei Zhongxian, heard the news, went to the Grand Secretariat, and wept aloud; the whole world laughed at him.

元璐歷遷南京司業、右中允。四年，進右諭德，充日講官，進右庶子。上制實八策：曰間插部，曰繕京邑，曰優守兵，曰靖降人，曰益寇餉，曰儲邊才，曰奠輦轂，曰嚴教育。又上制虛八策：曰端政本，曰伸公議，曰宣義問，曰一條教，曰慮久遠，曰昭激勸，曰勵名節，曰假體貌。其端政本，悉規切溫體仁；其伸公議，則詆張捷薦呂純如謀翻逆案事。捷大怒，上疏力攻，元璐疏辨，帝俱不問。八年，遷國子祭酒。

Ni Yuanlu rose in turn to Vice Director of Studies at Nanjing and Right Assistant Gentleman. In the fourth year he was promoted to Right Tutor, appointed Daily Lecturer, and then to Right Supervisor of the Heir Apparent. He submitted eight substantive policies: reorganizing ministries, repairing the capital, strengthening garrison troops, pacifying surrendered peoples, increasing bandit-suppression funds, cultivating border talent, securing the capital region, and tightening education. He also submitted eight formal policies: rectifying the political foundation, extending public debate, spreading moral inquiry, unifying instruction, planning for the long term, clarifying rewards and punishments, encouraging integrity, and restoring proper dignity to office. In rectifying the foundation, he admonished Wen Tiren throughout. In extending public debate, he denounced Zhang Jie for recommending Lü Chunru to overturn the treason cases. Zhang Jie was furious and memorialized in attack; Ni Yuanlu memorialized in reply; the emperor ignored both. In the eighth year he was appointed Chancellor of the National Academy.

元璐雅負時望，位漸通顯。帝意向之，深為體仁所忌。一日，帝手書其名下閣，令以履歷進，體仁益恐。會誠意伯劉孔昭謀掌戎政，體仁餌孔昭使攻元璐，言其妻陳尚存，而妾王冒繼配復封，敗禮亂法。詔下吏部核奏，其同里尚書姜逢元，侍郎王業浩、劉宗周及其從兄御史元珙，鹹言陳氏以過被出，繼娶王非妾，體仁意沮。會部議行撫按勘奏，即擬旨云：「登科錄二氏並列，罪跡顯然，何待行勘。」遂落職閑住。孔昭京營不可得，遂以南京操江償之。

Ni Yuanlu had long enjoyed public esteem, and his rank gradually rose to prominence. The emperor favored him, and Wen Tiren deeply resented it. One day the emperor wrote his name by hand and sent it to the Grand Secretariat, ordering his record forwarded; Wen Tiren grew still more afraid. When Honorary Marquis Liu Kongzhao sought military command, Wen Tiren baited him to attack Ni Yuanlu, alleging that his wife Chen still lived while concubine Wang had falsely claimed succession and reinstatement, violating ritual and law. An edict went to the Ministry of Personnel for investigation; his fellow-townsmen Minister Jiang Fengyuan, Vice Ministers Wang Yehao and Liu Zongzhou, and his cousin Censor Yuan Gong all testified that Chen had been divorced for misconduct and that Wang was a lawful second wife, not a concubine; Wen Tiren's scheme faltered. When the ministry proposed an investigation by provincial officials, he immediately drafted the rescript: "The examination register lists both families side by side; the offense is plain—why wait for an inquiry? End of quoted rescript; Ni Yuanlu was dismissed from office and sent home. Kongzhao could not obtain command of the capital army and was given the Nanjing river patrol post instead.

十五年九月，詔起兵部右侍郎兼侍讀學士。明年春抵都，陳制敵機宜，帝喜。五月，超拜戶部尚書兼翰林院學士，仍充日講官。祖制，浙人不得官戶部。元璐辭，不許。帝眷元璐甚，五日三賜對。因奏：「陛下誠用臣，臣請得參兵部謀。」帝曰：「已諭樞臣，令與卿協計。」當是時，馮元飆為兵部，與元璐同誌，鉤考兵食，中外想望治平。惟帝亦以用兩人晚，而時事益不可為，左支右詘，既已無可奈何。故事，諸邊餉司悉中差，元璐請改為大差，兼兵部銜，令清核軍伍，不稱職者即遣人代之。先是，屢遣科臣出督四方租賦，元璐以為擾民無益，罷之，而專責撫按。戶部侍郎莊祖誨督剿寇餉，憂為盜劫，遠避之長沙、衡州。元璐請令督撫自催，毋煩朝使。自軍興以來，正供之外，有邊餉，有新餉，有練餉，款目多，黠吏易為奸，元璐請合為一。帝皆報可。時國用益詘，而災傷蠲免又多。元璐計無所出，請開贖罪例，且令到官滿歲者，得輸貲給封誥。帝亦從之。

In the ninth month of the fifteenth year he was ordered appointed Vice Minister of War with concurrent Reader-in-Attendance. The following spring he reached the capital, laid out plans against the enemy, and the emperor was pleased. In the fifth month he was exceptionally promoted to Minister of Revenue with concurrent Hanlin Academician, while continuing as Daily Lecturer. By ancestral regulation, men from Zhejiang were barred from the Ministry of Revenue. Ni Yuanlu declined; the emperor would not allow it. The emperor favored Ni Yuanlu greatly, granting him audience three times in five days. He memorialized: "If Your Majesty truly means to use me, I ask leave to join the Ministry of War in planning. End of quoted memorial; the emperor said: "I have already told the military chiefs to work with you in planning." End of quoted reply; at that time Feng Yuanying headed the Ministry of War; sharing Ni Yuanlu's aims, they audited troops and supplies, and court and country looked toward better times. Yet the emperor too knew he had employed the two men too late; affairs grew ever harder to manage, and he was already stretched beyond remedy. By precedent all border pay offices were filled by mid-ranking envoys; Ni Yuanlu asked that they be changed to senior envoys with concurrent War Ministry rank, to audit armies clearly and replace incompetents immediately. Previously censors had repeatedly been sent to supervise rents and levies throughout the realm; Ni Yuanlu held this harassed the people without benefit, abolished the practice, and charged provincial governors alone. Vice Minister Zhuang Zuhui, charged with supervising bandit-suppression funds, feared robbery by bandits and fled as far as Changsha and Hengzhou. Ni Yuanlu asked that governors and commanders collect funds themselves without troubling court emissaries. Since the armies mobilized, beyond regular taxes there were border pay, new pay, and drill pay—so many categories that crafty clerks easily cheated the state; Ni Yuanlu asked that they be merged into one. The emperor approved all of these proposals. The treasury was shrinking, yet tax forgiveness for flood and famine only grew. Ni Yuanlu could find no other way and asked to open the commutation-of-punishment statute, and to let officials who had served a full year in post pay for patents of honor. The emperor assented to these as well.

先是，有崇明人沈廷揚者，獻海運策，元璐奏聞。命試行，乃以廟灣船六艘聽運進。月余，廷揚見元璐，元璐驚曰：「我已奏聞上，謂公去矣，何在此？」廷揚曰：「已去復來矣，運已至。」元璐又驚喜聞上。上亦喜，命酌議。乃議歲糧艘，漕與海各相半行焉。十月，命兼攝吏部事。陳演忌元璐，風魏藻德言於帝曰：「元璐書生，不習錢谷。」元璐亦數請解職。

Earlier, Shen Tingyang of Chongming had presented a plan for transport by sea; Ni Yuanlu reported it to the throne. The court ordered a trial run, and six Miao Bay vessels were placed at his disposal to carry grain to the capital. After more than a month Shen Tingyang called on Ni Yuanlu; Yuanlu exclaimed: "I have already told His Majesty you had gone—why are you still here? End of Yuanlu's quoted speech; Tingyang said: "I went and have returned; the grain has arrived." End of Tingyang's quoted speech; Ni Yuanlu, astonished and delighted, reported the news to the emperor. The emperor was likewise delighted and ordered the matter discussed at leisure. They then settled on sending that year's grain fleet half by the Grand Canal and half by sea. In the tenth month he was ordered to serve concurrently as acting head of the Ministry of Personnel. Chen Yan, who bore a grudge against Ni Yuanlu, incited Wei Zaode to tell the emperor: "Yuanlu is merely a scholar and knows nothing of fiscal administration. End of the quoted accusation relayed through Wei Zaode; Ni Yuanlu likewise petitioned several times to resign his post.

十七年二月，命以原官專直日講。逾月，李自成陷京師，元璐整衣冠拜闕，大書幾上曰：「南都尚可為。死，吾分也，勿以衣衾斂。暴我屍，聊誌吾痛。」遂南向坐，取帛自縊而死。贈少保，吏部尚書，謚文正。本朝賜謚文正。

In the second month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen he was ordered to retain his existing rank and devote himself exclusively to the daily lecture duty before the throne. A month later Li Zicheng took Beijing; Ni Yuanlu arrayed his hat and robes, bowed toward the palace, and wrote in large characters on his desk: "Nanjing can still be saved. To die is my duty; do not shroud me in robes and covers. Leave my body exposed, that my anguish may somehow be witnessed. End of his written testament; he then sat facing south, took a length of silk, and hanged himself. He was posthumously granted the ranks of Junior Tutor and Minister of Personnel, with the posthumous title Wenzheng, "Upright in Culture." The present dynasty likewise conferred upon him the posthumous title Wenzheng.

李邦華，字孟暗，吉水人。受業同里鄒元標，與父廷諫同舉萬歷三十一年鄉試。父子自相鏃礪，布衣徒步赴公車。明年，邦華成進士，授涇縣知縣，有異政。行取，擬授御史。值黨論初起，朝士多詆顧憲成，邦華與相拄，遂指目邦華東林。以是，越二年而後拜命，陳法祖用人十事：曰內閣不當專用詞臣，曰詞臣不當專守館局，曰詞臣不當教習內書堂，曰六科都給事中不當內外間阻，曰御史升遷不當概論考滿，曰吏部乞假不當積至正郎，曰關倉諸差不當專用舉貢任子，曰調簡推知不當驟遷京秩，曰進士改教不當概從內轉，曰邊方州縣不當盡用鄉貢。疏上，不報。

Li Banghua, whose style was Meng'an, came from Jishui in Jiangxi. He studied under his fellow townsman Zou Yuanbiao and, together with his father Li Tingjian, passed the provincial examination in the thirty-first year of the Wanli reign. Father and son sharpened each other like blade on stone and set out for the capital examinations in plain dress and on foot. The following year Li Banghua passed the metropolitan examination and was appointed magistrate of Jing County, where his governance won unusual praise. He was selected for central appointment from local service and was slated to receive a post as investigating censor. Factional strife was then just beginning; most court officials were attacking Gu Xiancheng, and Li Banghua stood against them, whereupon he was marked out as a man of the Donglin faction. For that reason his formal appointment came only two years later. In his memorial he set forth ten reforms for official selection: the Grand Secretariat ought not to rely exclusively on Hanlin academicians; Hanlin academicians ought not to remain permanently in the Hanlin Academy; Hanlin academicians ought not to teach in the Inner Writing Hall; the six supervising secretaries-in-chief should not be blocked between palace and bureaucracy; promotions of censors should not be decided merely by completion of a tour of duty; leave applications at the Ministry of Personnel should not be allowed to accumulate until an official reached full directorship; customs and warehouse posts should not be filled only by tribute-student hereditary appointments; magistrates transferred in from other circuits should not be rushed into capital posts; jinshi assigned as instructors should not invariably be brought inside the capital; and frontier prefectures and counties should not be staffed entirely with provincial graduates. His memorial was submitted, but the throne gave no answer.

四十一年，福王之藩已有期，忽傳旨莊田務足四萬頃。廷臣相顧愕眙，計田數必不足，則期將復更，然無敢抗言爭之者。邦華首疏諫，廷臣乃相繼爭，期得毋易。巡視銀庫，上祛弊十事，中貴不便，格不行。巡按浙江，織造中官劉成死，命歸其事於有司，別遣中官呂貴錄成遺貲。貴族奸民紀光詭稱機戶，詣闕保留貴代成督造。邦華極論二人交關作奸罪。光疏不由通政，不下內閣，以中旨行之。邦華三疏爭，皆不報。是時神宗好貨，中官有所進奉，名為孝順。疏中刺及之，並劾左右大奄之黨貴者，於是期滿久不得代。

In the forty-first year of Wanli, the date for the Prince of Fu to take up his fief had already been set, when suddenly an edict demanded that his estate lands must amount to forty thousand qing. The ministers stared at one another in dismay, calculating that the required acreage could not be met and the schedule would have to slip again, yet no one dared openly object. Li Banghua led with a memorial of remonstrance, and other officials followed in protest, so the scheduled date was left unchanged. While inspecting the silver vaults he submitted ten proposals to eliminate abuses; the palace eunuchs found them inconvenient, and the measures were blocked and never implemented. On his tour as investigating censor in Zhejiang, the eunuch Liu Cheng, who supervised the imperial silk workshops, died; the court ordered civil officials to take over the work and separately dispatched the eunuch Lü Gui to inventory Cheng's seized assets. Lü Gui incited his followers and a scheming commoner named Ji Guang, who falsely claimed to represent the loom masters and went to court to petition that Gui be kept on to replace Cheng as supervisor of the workshops. Li Banghua forcefully denounced the pair for conspiring in fraud. Ji Guang's petition bypassed the Transmission Office and the Grand Secretariat alike, and the appointment was executed by a direct edict from the palace. Li Banghua submitted three further memorials of protest, and none received a reply. At that time the Wanli Emperor was greedy for revenue, and eunuchs would present gifts to him under the name of "filial offerings." His memorial also struck at this practice and impeached the powerful eunuchs surrounding the throne; as a result, when his tour of duty ended he was long denied a successor and could not leave his post.

四十四年引疾歸。時群小力排東林，指鄒元標為黨魁。邦華與元標同里，相師友，又性好別黑白。或勸其委蛇，邦華曰：「寧為偏枯之學問，不作反覆之小人。」聞者益嫉之。明年以年例出為山東參議。其父廷諫時為南京刑部郎中，亦罷歸。邦華乃辭疾不赴。天啟元年起故官，飭易州兵備。明年遷光祿少卿，即還家省父。四月，擢右僉都御史，代畢自嚴巡撫天津。軍府新立，庶務草創，邦華至，極力振飭，津門軍遂為諸鎮冠。進兵部右侍郎，復還家省父。四年夏抵京，奄黨大嘩，謂樞輔孫承宗以萬壽節入覲，將清君側之惡，邦華實召之。乃立勒承宗還鎮，邦華引疾去。明年秋，奄黨劾削其官。

In the forty-fourth year of Wanli he retired on grounds of illness. Petty officials were then pressing hard against the Donglin faction and named Zou Yuanbiao as its ringleader. Li Banghua was a fellow townsman of Zou Yuanbiao and his close student and friend, and by nature he insisted on drawing sharp moral lines. When some urged him to bend with the times, Li Banghua said: "I would rather hold to a one-sided and rigid integrity than become a man who shifts with every wind. End of his quoted reply; those who heard him only hated him the more. The following year, under the routine for officials of long service, he was posted out as Assistant Administration Commissioner of Shandong. His father Li Tingjian was then a director in the Nanjing Ministry of Justice and had likewise been dismissed and sent home. Li Banghua therefore pleaded illness and declined to take up the post. In the first year of the Tianqi reign he was restored to his former rank and put in charge of drilling the defenses of Yizhou. The following year he was promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments and at once went home to attend to his father. In the fourth month he was elevated to Right Vice Censor-in-chief and succeeded Bi Ziyan as Grand Coordinator of Tianjin. The military headquarters had only just been established and every affair was still rudimentary; when Li Banghua arrived he threw himself into reform, and the Tianjin garrison soon ranked first among all frontier commands. He was promoted to Vice Minister of War and once more went home to care for his father. In the summer of the fourth year he reached the capital, and the eunuch faction raised a furious outcry, claiming that Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong was coming to court for the emperor's birthday to purge the evil at the ruler's side—and that Li Banghua had summoned him to do it. They at once forced Sun Chengzong back to his frontier command, and Li Banghua resigned on grounds of illness. The following autumn the eunuch faction impeached him and stripped him of his rank.

京營故有占役、虛冒之弊。占役者，其人為諸將所役，一小營至四五百人，且有賣閑、包操諸弊。虛冒者，無其人，諸將及勛戚、奄寺、豪強以蒼頭冒選鋒壯丁，月支厚餉。邦華核還占役萬，清虛冒千。三大營軍十余萬，半老弱。故事，軍缺聽告補，率由賄得。邦華必親校，非年壯力強者不錄，自是軍鮮冒濫。三營選鋒萬，壯丁七千，餉倍他軍，而疲弱不異。邦華下令，每把總兵五百，月自簡五人，年必二十五以下，力必二百五十斤以上，技必兼弓矢火炮，月一解送，補選鋒壯丁之缺，自是人人思奮。三大營領六副將，又分三十六營，官以三百六十七人計，所用掾史皆積猾。邦華按罪十余人，又行一歲二考察之令，自是諸奸為戢。

The capital garrison had long suffered from the abuses of commandeered labor and fictitious muster rolls. Under occupied service, soldiers were pressed into private service by generals; a single small camp might swell to four or five hundred men, with further abuses such as selling off duty time and hiring substitutes for drill. Under false rolls, no real soldiers existed at all: generals, noble clans, eunuch establishments, and local magnates listed household servants as elite vanguard troops and drew lavish monthly pay for them. Li Banghua audited the rolls and restored ten thousand men from illegal private service while eliminating one thousand fictitious names. The three great camps mustered more than a hundred thousand men, yet half were aged or infirm. By established practice, vacancies could be filled on application, and as a rule appointments were bought with bribes. Li Banghua personally inspected every recruit; only the young and strong were accepted, and from then on fraudulent enlistment became rare. The elite vanguard of the three camps numbered ten thousand men and the sturdy youths seven thousand; their pay was double that of ordinary troops, yet they were no less feeble. Li Banghua ordered that every company commander of five hundred men should each month personally select five recruits under twenty-five years of age, able to lift at least two hundred fifty jin, and trained in both archery and artillery; each month these men were forwarded to fill vacancies in the elite ranks, and from then on every soldier strove to excel. The three great camps were commanded by six deputy generals and subdivided into thirty-six battalions, with three hundred sixty-seven officers in all; the clerks they employed were veteran schemers. Li Banghua punished more than a dozen offenders and instituted biannual performance reviews; from then on the worst abuses were curbed.

營馬額二萬六千，至是止萬五千。他官公事得借騎，總督、協理及巡視科道，例有坐班馬，不肖且折橐入錢，營馬大耗。邦華首減己班馬三之一，他官借馬，非公事不得騎，自是濫借為希。

The authorized strength of camp horses was twenty-six thousand, but by this time only fifteen thousand remained on the rolls. Other officials on public business were allowed to borrow mounts, and the grand coordinator, co-administrator, and touring censors all had horses assigned for routine duty; the unscrupulous even extorted cash for loans, and camp horses were squandered on a vast scale. Li Banghua began by cutting his own assigned horses by one third, and ruled that other officials might borrow camp horses only for genuine public business; abusive borrowing thereafter became uncommon.

京營歲領太仆銀萬六千兩，屯田籽粒銀千六十兩，犒軍制器胥徒工食取給焉。各官取之無度，歲用不敷。邦華建議，先協理歲取千四百，總督巡視遞節減，自是營帑遂裕。

The capital garrison received sixteen thousand taels yearly from the Court of the Imperial Stud and another one thousand sixty taels from its garrison fields; troop rewards, arms production, clerks, laborers, and rations all depended on these funds. Officials drew on these funds without restraint, and every year the budget fell short. Li Banghua proposed that the co-administrator first cut his annual draw by fourteen hundred taels, with the grand coordinator and touring inspectors reducing theirs in turn; the garrison treasury thereafter became solvent.

營將三百六十，聽用者稱是。一官缺，請托紛至。邦華悉杜絕，行計日省成法。每小營各置簿，月上事狀於協理，以定殿最。舊制，三大營外復設三備兵營，營三千人，餉視正軍，而不習技擊，益為豪家隱冒。邦華核去四千余人，又汰老弱千，疏請歸並三大營不另設，由是戎政大厘。

There were three hundred sixty camp officers in all, and those who served under him approved of his reforms. Whenever a post fell vacant, favor-seekers swarmed in with petitions. Li Banghua shut them all out and instituted a system of daily progress accounting for every task. Each small camp kept its own ledger and submitted monthly reports to the co-administrator, who used them to rank performance. Under the old system, three reserve battalions of three thousand men each had been set up outside the three great camps; they received regular pay but received no combat training and served chiefly as a cover for powerful families to pad the rolls. Li Banghua struck more than four thousand names from the rolls, cut another thousand aged and weak troops, and memorialized that the reserve battalions be abolished and their men folded into the three great camps; military administration was thereby brought into order on a grand scale.

倉場總督南居益言：「京營歲支米百六十六萬四千余石，視萬歷四十六年增五萬七千余石，宜減省。」邦華因上議軍以十二萬為額，餉以百四十四萬石為額，歲省二十二萬有奇。帝亦報可，著為令。帝知邦華忠，奏無不從，邦華亦感帝知，不顧後患。諸失利者銜次骨，而怨謗紛然矣。

Nan Juyi, Grand Coordinator of the granary fields, reported: "The capital garrison now consumes more than 1,664,000 shi of grain yearly—57,000 shi more than in the forty-sixth year of Wanli—and the amount ought to be cut. End of Nan Juyi's quoted memorial; Li Banghua then proposed fixing troop strength at one hundred twenty thousand and grain rations at 1,440,000 shi, saving more than two hundred twenty thousand shi each year. The emperor approved the proposal and made it permanent law. The emperor knew Li Banghua to be loyal and approved every proposal he submitted; Li Banghua, moved by this trust, pressed on without regard for the consequences. Those who had lost their illicit gains hated him to the bone, and calumny spread on every side.

其年十月，畿輔被兵，簡精卒三千守通州，二千援薊州，自督諸軍營城外，軍容甚壯。俄有命邦華軍撤還守陴，於是偵者不敢遠出，聲息遂斷，則請防寇賊，緝間諜，散奸宄，禁訛言。邦華自聞警，衣不解帶，捐貲造炮車及諸火器，又以外城單薄，自請出守。而諸不逞之徒，乃構蜚語入大內。襄城伯李守锜督京營，亦銜邦華扼己，乘間詆諆。邦華自危，上疏陳情，歸命於帝。會滿桂兵拒大清兵德勝門外，城上發大炮助桂，誤傷桂兵多。都察院都事張道澤遂劾邦華，言官交章論列，遂罷邦華閑住。自是代者以為戒，率因循姑息，戎政不可問矣。邦華前後罷免家居二十年。父廷諫無恙。

That October the capital region came under attack; he picked three thousand elite troops to hold Tongzhou and two thousand to reinforce Jizhou, personally directing the armies encamped outside the walls, and the force presented an imposing front. Soon an order came for his troops to fall back and man the walls instead; scouts no longer dared venture far, intelligence dried up, and he memorialized for measures against raiders, the arrest of spies, the dispersal of subversives, and a ban on rumor-mongering. From the moment the alarm sounded Li Banghua slept in his clothes, spent his own funds to build gun carriages and other firearms, and because the outer walls were weak volunteered to take command outside the city. Yet scheming men fabricated slanders and carried them into the inner palace. Li Shouqi, the Marquis of Xiangcheng, who commanded the capital garrison, also resented Li Banghua for curbing his power and seized the chance to denounce him. Feeling himself endangered, Li Banghua submitted a heartfelt memorial and placed his fate entirely in the emperor's hands. Just then Man Gui's army was holding the Qing forces outside Desheng Gate; the defenders on the wall fired great guns to support him and accidentally killed many of his own men. Zhang Daoze, a director in the Censorate, then impeached Li Banghua; censorial officials piled on with memorial after memorial, and he was dismissed to live in retirement. His successors took this as a warning and as a rule shrank into complacency; military administration thereafter sank beyond remedy. Counting his several dismissals and restorations, Li Banghua spent twenty years living at home. Throughout this time his father Li Tingjian remained in good health.

十二年四月，起南京兵部尚書，定營制，汰不急之將，並分設之營。謂守江南不若守江北，防下流不若防上流。乃由浦口歷滁、全椒、和，相形勢，繪圖以獻。於浦口置沿江敵臺，於滁設戍卒，於池河建城垣，於滁、椒咽喉則築堡於藕塘。和遭屠戮，請以隸之太平。又請開府采石之山，置哨太平之港，大墾當塗閑田數萬頃資軍儲。徐州，南北要害，水陸交會，請宿重兵，設總督，片檄征調，奠陵京萬全之勢。皆下所司，未及行，以父憂去。

In the fourth month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen he was recalled as Minister of War at Nanjing, where he reorganized the garrison system, eliminated superfluous officers, and consolidated redundant battalions. He argued that defending the south bank of the Yangtze was inferior to holding the north bank, and that guarding the lower river was inferior to securing the upper reaches. He then traveled from Pukou through Chu, Quanjiao, and He, surveyed the terrain, and submitted maps of his findings to the throne. He proposed enemy-watch towers along the river at Pukou, garrison troops at Chu, walls along the Chi River, and a fort at Outang commanding the strategic junction between Chu and Jiao. The district of He had suffered slaughter; he asked that it be placed under the jurisdiction of Taiping. He also proposed establishing a command at the Caishi hills, posting sentries at Taiping harbor, and reclaiming tens of thousands of qing of idle land at Dangtu to build up military grain reserves. Xuzhou, the strategic hinge between north and south where land and water routes converged, ought in his view to hold a heavy garrison under a grand coordinator so that a single order could mobilize troops and secure both the imperial tombs and the southern capital beyond challenge. All these proposals were referred to the relevant offices, but before any could be implemented he resigned to observe mourning for his father.

十五年冬，起故官，掌南京都察院事，俄代劉宗周為左都御史。都城被兵，即日請督東南援兵入衛，力疾上道。明年三月抵九江。左良玉潰兵數十萬，聲言餉乏，欲寄帑於南京，艨艟蔽江東下。留都士民一夕數徙，文武大吏相顧愕眙。邦華嘆曰：「中原安靜土，東南一角耳。身為大臣，忍坐視決裂，袖手局外而去乎！」乃停舟草檄告良玉，責以大義。良玉氣沮，答書語頗恭。邦華用便宜發九江庫銀十五萬餉之，而身入其軍，開誠慰勞。良玉及其下皆感激，誓殺賊報國，一軍遂安。帝聞之，大喜，陛見嘉勞。邦華跪奏移時，數詔起立，溫語如家人，中官屏息遠伏。其後召對百官，帝輒目註邦華雲。舊例，御史出巡，回道考核。邦華謂回道而後黜，害政已多。論罷巡按、巡鹽御史各一人。奉命考試御史，黜冒濫者一人，追黜御史無顯過而先任推官著貪聲者一人。臺中始畏法。

In the winter of the fifteenth year he was recalled to his former rank, placed in charge of the Nanjing Censorate, and soon succeeded Liu Zongzhou as Left Censor-in-chief. When the capital came under attack he that same day petitioned to lead southeastern relief forces to its defense and set out at once despite his illness. The following March he reached Jiujiang. Zuo Liangyu's shattered army of several hundred thousand men was advancing downriver, claiming their pay was exhausted and demanding that the Nanjing treasury take charge of their funds, while their warships blackened the Yangtze from bank to bank. The people of Nanjing fled their homes repeatedly in a single night, while civil and military officials stared at one another in helpless dismay. Li Banghua sighed and said: "The Central Plain is still at peace; the southeast is only a corner of the realm. As a senior minister, how could I sit by while the realm tore itself apart, arms folded on the sidelines, and simply walk away? With that he anchored his boat, drafted a public letter to Zuo Liangyu, and rebuked him in the name of duty to the state. Zuo Liangyu's pride was broken; his written reply was notably deferential. Li Banghua exercised emergency powers to release 150,000 taels from the Jiujiang treasury for their pay, then went in person among the troops, speaking frankly to reassure and encourage them. Zuo Liangyu and his men were deeply moved; they pledged to kill the rebels in the state's service, and the entire army was settled. When the emperor heard, he was delighted and summoned Li Banghua to court, where he praised and rewarded him. Li Banghua knelt and spoke at length; several times the emperor ordered him to rise, speaking to him with familial warmth while the eunuchs held their breath and kept their distance. Afterward, whenever he convened the officials, the emperor's eyes always found Li Banghua. Under longstanding practice, touring censors were evaluated only after they completed their circuits and returned. Li Banghua argued that waiting until a censor came back to remove him did the realm great harm. He secured the dismissal of one touring intendant and one salt-region censor. In a mandated review of the censorate he removed one unqualified appointee and retroactively dismissed one censor who had no glaring offense on record but had earned a reputation for corruption as a magistrate before promotion. For the first time the censorate took the law seriously.

十七年二月，李自成陷山西。邦華密疏請帝固守京師，仿永樂朝故事，太子監國南都。居數日未得命，又請定、永二王分封太平、寧國二府，拱護兩京。帝得疏意動，繞殿行，且讀且嘆，將行其言。會帝召對群臣，中允李明睿疏言南遷便，給事中光時亨以倡言泄密糾之。帝曰：「國君死社稷，正也，朕誌定矣。」遂罷邦華策不議。未幾，賊逼都城，亟詣內閣言事。魏藻德漫應曰：「姑待之。」邦華太息而出。已，率諸御史登城，群奄拒之不得上。十八日，外城陷，走宿文信國祠。明日，內城亦陷，乃三揖信國曰：「邦華死國難，請從先生於九京矣。」為詩曰：「堂堂丈夫兮聖賢為徒，忠孝大節兮誓死靡渝，臨危授命兮吾無愧吾。」遂投繯而絕。贈太保、吏部尚書，謚忠文。本朝賜謚忠肅。

In the second month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), Li Zicheng overran Shanxi. Li Banghua sent a secret memorial urging the emperor to hold Beijing while following the Yongle precedent of sending the crown prince to Nanjing as regent of the south. After several days without a reply he proposed enfeoffing the Princes of Ding and Yong at Taiping and Ningguo to guard the two capitals. Moved by the memorial, the emperor paced the hall, reading and sighing, on the verge of accepting the plan. At an imperial audience the lecturer Li Mingrui urged relocation to the south; the supervising secretary Guang Shihang attacked him for leaking state secrets by broaching the idea. The emperor said: "A true sovereign dies with his altars — that is righteousness. My mind is made up. With that he shelved Li Banghua's proposals without further debate. Before long the rebels were at the gates; Li Banghua hurried to the Grand Secretariat to plead for action. Wei Zaode replied dismissively: "Let us wait a while. Li Banghua left with a heavy sigh. He then led his fellow censors to the walls, but eunuchs barred them from ascending. On the eighteenth the outer city fell; he took refuge in the shrine of the Duke of Wen. The next day the inner city fell as well; he bowed three times to the duke's spirit and said: "Banghua dies for the realm; let me follow you to the grave. He composed a poem: "A true man takes the sages as his companions; loyalty and filial piety are vows I will not break even in death; facing peril I accept my fate — I have no shame before myself. With that he hanged himself. He was posthumously made Grand Mentor and Minister of Personnel, with the posthumous title Zhongwen (Loyal and Literary). The present dynasty granted the posthumous title Zhongsu (Loyal and Reverent).

王家彥，字開美，莆田人。天啟二年進士。授開化知縣，調蘭溪。擢刑科給事中，彈擊權貴無所避。

Wang Jiayan (style Kaimei) was a native of Putian. He passed the metropolitan examination in the second year of Tianqi (1622). He was appointed magistrate of Kaihua and later transferred to Lanxi. Promoted to supervising secretary in the Penal Branch, he impeached the powerful without fear.

崇禎四年，請釋大學士錢龍錫於獄，龍錫得減死。請推行按月奏報例於四方，獄囚得無久淹。閩海盜劉香擾郡邑，撫鎮追剿多失利，朝議召募，將大舉。家彥言：「舊制，衛所軍餼於官，無別兵亦無別將，統於各衛之指揮。寨設號船，聊絡呼應，又添設遊擊等官，雖支洋窮港，戈船相望。臣愚以今日策防海，莫若復舊制，勤訓練。練則衛所軍皆勁卒，不練雖添設召募兵，猶驅市人而戰之，糜餉擾民無益，賊終不能盡。」時以為名言。奉命巡青，所條奏多議行。

In the fourth year of Chongzhen (1631) he pleaded for the release of Grand Secretary Qian Longxi from prison; Qian was spared execution. He urged extending monthly judicial reporting throughout the empire so prisoners would not languish in jail. The pirate Liu Xiang ravaged the Fujian coast; provincial and military commanders suffered repeated defeats, and the court prepared a major recruitment drive. Wang Jiayan argued: "Under the old system guard troops were state-provisioned, with no separate armies or generals; they answered to their guard commanders. Signal ships linked the coastal posts, and roaming-patrol officers were added layer upon layer, yet though their warships crowded every inlet, they only lined the coast without real coordination. I believe coastal defense today is best served by restoring that system and training the troops properly. Trained guard troops become real soldiers; without training, recruited levies are merely market crowds pressed into battle — wasting pay, burdening the people, and never destroying the pirates. The remark was hailed as wisdom. On an inspection tour of Shandong he submitted many proposals, most of which were adopted.

先是，隆慶間太仆種馬額存十二萬五千，邊馬至二十六萬。言者以民間最苦養馬，所納馬又不足用，議馬征銀十兩，加草料銀二兩，歲可得銀百四十四萬兩。中樞楊博持不可，詔折其半，而馬政始變。萬歷九年議盡行改折，南寺歲征銀二十二萬，北寺五十一萬，銀入冏寺而馬政日弛。家彥極陳其弊，請改國初種馬及西番茶馬之制。又班軍舊額十六萬，後減至七萬，至是止二萬有奇，更有建議盡征行糧、月糧，免其番上者。家彥時巡京營，力陳不可，且請免其工役，盡歸行伍。帝皆褒納其言。遵化鐵冶久廢，奸民請開之，家彥言有害無利。復有請開開化雲霧山以興屯者，亦以家彥言而止。

Earlier, in the Longqing era the stud farms had 125,000 breeding horses on the rolls and border herds reached 260,000. Critics noted that raising horses imposed the heaviest burden on households and the animals supplied were poor; they proposed a commutation fee of ten taels per horse plus two taels for fodder, yielding 1.44 million taels a year. Grand Secretary Yang Bo resisted; the court halved the fee, and the horse policy began to change. In Wanli 9 (1581) full commutation was adopted: the southern stud farm collected 220,000 taels a year, the northern 510,000; cash flowed in but the herds deteriorated daily. Wang Jiayan detailed the harm and urged restoring the early-Ming stud system and the tea-for-horses trade with Tibet. Rotational troops had fallen from a nominal 160,000 to 70,000 and now barely 20,000; some proposed replacing all grain allotments with cash and exempting them from capital duty entirely. While inspecting the capital garrison he argued firmly against the plan and asked that corvée duties be lifted so the men could return to full service. The emperor praised and adopted all of these proposals. The Zunhua ironworks had long been shut; speculators sought to reopen them, but Wang Jiayan showed the project would harm the realm without profit. A proposal to open Yunwu Mountain in Kaihua for military colonies was likewise blocked on his advice.

屢遷戶科都給事中。軍興餉詘，總督盧象升有因糧加餉之議，戶部尚書侯恂請於未被寇之地，士大夫家賦銀兩者，加二錢；民間五兩以上者，兩加一錢。家彥言：「民賦五兩上者，率百十家成一戶，非富民，不可以朘削。」軍食不足，畿輔、山東、河南、江北召買米豆輸天津，至九十余萬石，吏胥侵耗率數十萬。家彥請嚴治，帝並采納焉。憂歸。

He was repeatedly promoted, becoming chief supervising secretary of the Revenue Branch. War funds ran short; Grand Coordinator Lu Xiangsheng proposed surcharges on grain tax; Revenue Minister Hou Xun suggested that in unscathed regions scholar-official households taxed one tael should pay an extra 2 cash; and common households assessed five taels or more should pay an extra cash per tael. Wang Jiayan objected: "Households assessed at five taels or more usually represent a hundred poor families grouped as one tax unit — not the wealthy — and must not be squeezed further. With army rations short, the government requisitioned over 900,000 shi of grain and beans from the capital region, Shandong, Henan, and northern Jiangsu for Tianjin; clerks skimmed tens of thousands of shi. Wang Jiayan demanded severe punishment for the theft; the emperor accepted both proposals. He went home to observe mourning.

十二年起吏科都給事中。流寇日熾，緣墨吏朘民，民益走為盜。盜日多，民生日蹙。家彥上疏曰：「臣見秦、晉之間，饑民相煽，千百為群。其始率自一鄉一邑，守令早為之所，取《周官荒政十二》而行之，民何至接踵為盜，盜何至潰裂以極？論者謂功令使然，催科急者書上考，督責嚴者號循良，不肖而墨者以束濕濟其饕餮，一二賢明吏束於文法，展布莫由。惟稍寬文網，壹令撫綏，盜之聚者可散，散者可不復聚。又舊制捕蝗令，吏部歲九月頒勘合於有司，請實意舉行。」帝皆納之。擢大理丞，進本寺少卿。

In the twelfth year of Chongzhen he returned as chief supervising secretary of the Personnel Branch. Banditry grew daily because corrupt officials squeezed the people, who fled into outlawry. As outlaws multiplied, common life grew desperate. Wang Jiayan memorialized: "I see across Shaanxi and Shanxi starving people stirring one another into bands of hundreds and thousands. At first it is a village or a county; if local officials acted early under the Zhou famine relief statutes, how would people turn to banditry in droves, and how would outlawry spiral out of control? Critics blame the examination system: officials who press tax collection hardest earn top ratings; the harshest enforcers are called model governors; the corrupt wring what they can from the people while a few honest magistrates are trapped by regulations and cannot govern freely. Only by loosening legal strictures and giving local officials a single mandate to pacify the countryside can gathered rebels be dispersed and stay dispersed. He also urged enforcing the old locust-control regulations, which the Ministry of Personnel issued each ninth month — and asked that officials carry them out in earnest. The emperor accepted all of it. He was promoted to vice director and then vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

十五年遷太仆卿。家彥向言馬政，帝下兵部檄陜西督撫，未能行。至是，四疏言馬耗之故，請行官牧及金牌差發遺制。且言：「課馬改折，舊增至二十四萬兩，已重困。楊嗣昌不恤民，復增三十七萬，致舊額反逋，不可不厘正。」帝手其疏，語執政曰：「家彥奏皆善。」敕議行。然軍興方亟，不能盡舉也。

In the fifteenth year (1642) he became Director of the Court of Imperial Horses. He had long urged horse-policy reform; the emperor ordered the Ministry of War to instruct Shaanxi authorities, but nothing was done. Now he sent four memorials on the collapse of the herds, urging restoration of state stud farms and the old golden-plaque requisition system. He wrote: "Commutation for horse tax had already risen to 240,000 taels and badly burdened the people. Yang Sichang, heedless of the people's plight, added another 370,000 taels, leaving even the old levy in arrears — this must be corrected. The emperor held the memorials and told his ministers: "Everything Wang Jiayan proposes is sound. He ordered them debated and implemented. But the exigencies of war prevented full implementation.

頃之，擢戶部右侍郎。都城被兵，命協理戎政。即日登陴，閱視內外城十六門。雪夜，攜一燈，步巡城堞，人無知者。翊日校勤惰，將士皆服，爭自勵。初，分守阜成門，後移安定門，寢處城樓者半歲。解嚴，賜宴午門，增秩一等。

Soon after he was made Right Vice Minister of Revenue. When the capital came under siege he was ordered to assist in military administration. The same day he climbed the walls and inspected all sixteen gates of the inner and outer city. One snowy night he walked the battlements alone with a single lamp, unrecognized by anyone. The next day he reviewed diligence and slackness; the troops were impressed and strove to improve. He first guarded Fucheng Gate, then Anding Gate, sleeping in the gate tower for half a year. When the emergency passed he was feasted at the Meridian Gate and given one rank of promotion.

十七年二月，廷推戶部尚書。帝曰：「戎政非家彥不可。」特留任。賊逼京師，襄城伯李國禎督京營，又命中官王德化盡督內外軍。國禎發三大營軍城外，守陴益少。諸軍既出城，見賊輒降，降卒反攻城，城上人皆其儕，益無固誌。廷臣分門守，家彥守安定門。號令進止由中官，沮諸臣毋得登城，又縋叛監杜勛上，與密約而去。帝手敕兵部尚書張縉彥登城察視，家彥從，中官猶固拒，示之手敕，問勛安在，曰：「去矣。」秦、晉二王欲上城，家彥曰：「二王降賊，即賊也。賊安得上！」頓足哭。偕縉彥詣宮門請見，不得入。黎明，城陷，家彥投城下，不死，自縊於民舍，遭賊焚，殘其一臂，仆收其余體焉。贈太子太保、兵部尚書，謚忠端。本朝賜謚忠毅。

In the second month of the seventeenth year (1644) the court recommended him for Minister of Revenue. The emperor said: "Military affairs cannot do without Wang Jiayan. He was specially kept in his post. When rebels neared the capital, Earl Li Guozhen of Xiangcheng commanded the capital garrison while eunuch Wang Dehua was given overall command of all forces. Li Guozhen sent the Three Great Camps outside the walls, leaving ever fewer men on the ramparts. Once outside, the soldiers surrendered at sight of the enemy; the surrendered men then turned back to storm the walls, and the defenders recognized them as comrades — morale collapsed. Court officials were assigned gates; Wang Jiayan held Anding Gate. Eunuchs controlled all orders, barred officials from the walls, and lowered the turncoat Du Xun up on a rope to make a secret deal and flee. The emperor ordered War Minister Zhang Jinyan to inspect the walls; Wang Jiayan went with him; the eunuchs still blocked them until shown the imperial order; asked where Du Xun was, they said he had gone. When the Princes of Qin and Jin tried to come up, Wang Jiayan said: "Those princes have surrendered to the enemy — they are the enemy. How dare the enemy be admitted to the walls! He stamped his feet and wept. He and Zhang Jinyan went to the palace gates to beg an audience but were refused entry. At dawn the city fell; Wang Jiayan leapt from the wall but survived, then hanged himself in a private house; rebels set the fire that consumed him, leaving one arm; a servant gathered the rest of his body. He was posthumously made Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince and Minister of War, with the posthumous title Zhongduan (Loyal and Upright). The present dynasty granted him the posthumous title Zhongyi (Loyal and Resolute).

孟兆祥，字允吉，山西澤州人也。世籍交河，舉於鄉，九赴會試。天啟二年始擢第，除大理左評事。

Meng Zhaoxiang, courtesy name Yungji, came from Zezhou in Shanxi. His family had been registered in Jiaohe for generations; after passing the provincial examination he sat the metropolitan examination nine times. In 1622 he at last passed the metropolitan examination and was made Assessor on the Left of the Court of Judicial Review.

崇禎初，遷吏部稽勛主事，歷文選員外郎。門生謁選請善地，兆祥正色拒之，其人悚然退。進稽勛郎中，歷考功。忤權要，貶行人司副，稍遷光祿丞，進少卿。歷左通政、太仆卿，旋進通政使，拜刑部右侍郎。

At the start of the Chongzhen reign he became Supervisor of Records in the Ministry of Personnel and later Vice Commissioner in the Bureau of Appointments. When a protégé came seeking a good appointment, Zhaoxiang rebuffed him with a stern face and the man slunk away. He rose to Director of Records and also served in the Bureau of Evaluation. Offending the powerful, he was demoted to Vice Commissioner in the Bureau of Foreign Tributaries, but was gradually restored as Vice Director and then Senior Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. He served as Left Vice Commissioner of Transmission, Director of the Imperial Stud, and soon became Commissioner of Transmission and Vice Minister of Justice.

賊薄都城，兆祥分守正陽門。襄城伯李國禎統京營軍，稽月餉不予，士無固誌。城陷，兆祥曰：「社稷已覆，吾將安之！」自經於門下。

As rebels neared the capital, Zhaoxiang was posted to defend Zhengyang Gate. Xiangcheng Earl Li Guozhen commanded the capital troops but withheld their monthly pay, and morale collapsed. When the city fell he cried: "The realm is destroyed — where can I possibly go on living! He hanged himself under the gate.

長子章明，字綱宜，甫成進士，兆祥揮之曰：「我死，汝可去。」對曰：「君父大節也，君亡父死，我何生為！」乃投繯於父之側。兆祥妻呂，章明妻王相向哭，既而曰：「彼父子死忠矣，我二人獨不能死乎！」皆自縊。兆祥贈刑部尚書，謚忠貞，章明河南道御史，謚節湣。本朝賜兆祥謚忠靖，章明貞孝。

His eldest son Zhang Ming, styled Gangyi, had just earned his jinshi degree; Zhaoxiang motioned him away and said: "I am about to die — you should go. Zhang Ming answered: "Duty to sovereign and father is the supreme obligation; with the emperor gone and my father dead, why should I still live!" He then hanged himself beside his father. Zhaoxiang's wife Lü and Zhang Ming's wife Wang wept facing each other, then said: "Father and son have died loyal deaths — are we alone unable to die! Both women hanged themselves. Zhaoxiang was posthumously made Minister of Justice with the title Zhongzhen; Zhang Ming, Investigating Censor of the Henan Circuit, with the title Jiemin. The present dynasty granted Zhaoxiang the posthumous title Zhongjing and Zhang Ming Zhenxiao.

施邦曜，字爾韜，余姚人。萬歷四十一年進士。不樂為吏，改順天武學教授，歷國子博士、工部營繕主事，進員外郎。魏忠賢興三殿工，諸曹郎奔走其門，邦曜不往。忠賢欲困之，使拆北堂，期五日，適大風拔屋，免譙責。又使作獸吻，仿嘉靖間制，莫考。夢神告之，發地得吻，嘉靖舊物也，忠賢不能難。

Shi Bangyao, courtesy name Ertao, was from Yuyao. He became a jinshi in 1613. Disliking official life, he became instructor at the Shuntian Military School, then Lecturer at the Imperial Academy, Principal Secretary in the Bureau of Construction, and eventually Vice Director. When Wei Zhongxian launched construction on the Three Halls, bureau chiefs crowded his door; Bangyao stayed away. Zhongxian tried to trap him by assigning demolition of the North Hall within five days; a great wind that tore up buildings spared him blame. He was next ordered to make ridge beasts matching the Jiajing design, but no records survived. A god appeared in his dream; digging he unearthed the beast — an old Jiajing piece — and Zhongxian could not fault him.

遷屯田郎中，稍遷漳州知府，盡知屬縣奸盜主名，每發輒得，闔郡驚為神。盜劉香、李魁奇橫海上，邦曜縶香母誘之，香就擒。魁奇援鄭芝龍事請撫，邦曜言於巡撫鄒維璉討平之。遷福建副使、左參政、四川按察使、福建左布政使，並有聲。

Promoted to Director of State Farms and later Prefect of Zhangzhou, he knew every bandit chief by name in his counties; each raid captured its quarry, and the prefecture hailed him as uncanny. Pirates Liu Xiang and Li Kuiki terrorized the coast; Bangyao detained Xiang's mother as bait, and Xiang came in and was captured. Kuiki cited Zheng Zhilong's precedent to request enfeoffment; Bangyao urged Grand Coordinator Zou Weilian to pacify and crush him. He served as Fujian Vice Commissioner, Left Administrator, Sichuan Surveillance Commissioner, and Fujian Left Provincial Commissioner, earning acclaim everywhere.

或饋之朱墨竹者，姊子在旁請受之。曰：「不可。我受之，即彼得以乘間而嘗我，我則示之以可欲之門矣。」性好山水。或勸之遊峨嵋，曰：「上官遊覽，動煩屬吏支應，傷小民幾許物力矣。」其潔己愛民如此。

When someone offered him paintings in red ink on bamboo, his wife's nephew beside him asked to accept. He said: "That will not do. If I take it, they will find a crack through which to tempt me; I would be showing them where desire may enter. He loved landscape scenery by nature. Urged to visit Mount Emei, he said: "When superiors go sightseeing, subordinates must supply them — how much of the people's wealth is squandered! Such was the way he kept himself pure and cherished the people.

歷兩京光祿寺卿，改通政使。黃道周既謫官，復逮下詔獄。國子生塗仲吉上書訟之，邦曜不為封進，而大署其副封曰：「書不必上，論不可不存。」仲吉劾邦曜，邦曜以副封上。帝見其署語，怒，下仲吉獄，而奪邦曜官。逾年起南京通政使。入都陛見，陳學術、吏治、用兵、財賦四事，帝改容納焉。出都三日，命中使召還，曰：「南京無事，留此為朕效力。」吏部推刑部右侍郎。帝曰：「邦曜清執，可左副都御史。」時崇禎十六年十二月也。

He served as Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments in both capitals, then became Commissioner of Transmission. After Huang Daozhou's demotion he was again arrested and thrown into the imperial prison. National University student Tu Zhongji petitioned in Huang's defense; Bangyao did not seal and forward it but wrote large on the duplicate: "The petition need not reach the throne, but the argument must not be silenced. Zhongji impeached Bangyao, who then submitted the duplicate itself. The emperor saw what he had written, imprisoned Zhongji, and dismissed Bangyao. After more than a year he was appointed Nanjing Commissioner of Transmission. At audience in the capital he laid out four topics — scholarship, administration, warfare, and finance — and the emperor received them with changed expression. Three days after leaving, an imperial messenger recalled him: "Nanjing has nothing pressing — stay and serve Us here. The Ministry of Personnel recommended him for Vice Minister of Justice. The emperor said: "Bangyao is upright and resolute; he may be made Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. This was December of Chongzhen 16 (January 1644).

明年，賊薄近郊。邦曜語兵部尚書張縉彥檄天下兵勤王，縉彥慢弗省，邦曜太息而去。城陷，趨長安門，聞帝崩，慟哭曰：「君殉社稷矣，臣子可偷生哉！」即解帶自經。仆救之蘇，恨曰：「是兒誤我！」賊滿衢巷，不得還邸舍，望門求縊，輒為居民所麾。乃命家人市信石雜澆酒，即途中服之，血迸裂而卒。

The following year rebels neared the suburbs. Bangyao urged War Minister Zhang Jinyan to mobilize forces empire-wide; Jinyan was indifferent; Bangyao sighed and withdrew. At the city's fall he rushed to Chang'an Gate; learning of the emperor's death he wept: "The ruler has perished for the state — how can a minister steal life! He undid his belt and hanged himself. Servants revived him; he exclaimed in anger: "This boy has ruined me! Rebels thronged the streets; unable to reach home he begged at door after door for a place to hang himself and was turned away. He had servants buy arsenic mixed with wine and drank it in the street; blood burst from him and he died.

邦曜少好王守仁之學，以理學、文章、經濟三分其書而讀之，慕義無窮。魯時生者，裏同年生也，官庶吉士，歿京師。邦曜手治含斂，以女妻其子。嘗買一婢，命灑掃，至東隅，捧篲凝視而泣。怪問之，曰：「此先人御史宅也。時墮環茲地，不覺淒愴耳。」邦曜即分嫁女資，擇士人歸之。其篤於內行如此。贈太子少保、左都御史，謚忠介。本朝賜謚忠湣。

In youth he admired Wang Yangming, dividing his reading into Neo-Confucian philosophy, letters, and statecraft, and pursued righteousness without limit. Lu Shisheng, a fellow townsman of the same examination year, was a Hanlin bachelor and died in Beijing. Bangyao personally prepared the burial rites and gave his daughter to Lu's son in marriage. He once bought a maid and set her to sweep; at the eastern corner she held her broom, stared, and wept. Asked in surprise, she said: "This was my father's house when he was investigating censor. I fell from the railing here once — I cannot help my sorrow. Bangyao at once provided dowry funds, chose a scholar, and married her out honorably. Such was his devotion within the household. He was posthumously made Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince and Left Censor-in-Chief with the title Zhongjie. The present dynasty granted the posthumous title Zhongmin.

淩義渠，字駿甫，烏程人。天啟五年進士。除行人。崇禎三年授禮科給事中，知無不言。三河知縣劉夢煒失餉銀三千，責償急，自縊死，有司責其家。義渠言：「以金錢殞命吏，恐天下議朝廷重金，意不在盜也。」帝特原之。宜興、溧陽及遂安、壽昌民亂，焚掠巨室。義渠言：「魏羽林軍焚領軍張彜第，高歡以為天下事可知，日者告密漸啟，藩國悍宗入京越奏，裏閭小故叫閽聲冤，仆豎侮家長，下吏箝上官，市儈持縉紳，此《春秋》所謂六逆也。天下所以治，恃上下之分。防維決裂，即九重安所藉以提挈萬靈哉！」義渠與溫體仁同里，無所附麗。給事中劉含輝劾體仁擬旨失當，被貶二秩。義渠言：「諫官不得規執政失，而委申飭權於部院，反得制言路。大臣以攬權為奉旨，小臣以結舌為盡職，將貽國家無窮憂。」兵部尚書張鳳翼敘廢將陳狀猷功，為給事中劉昌所駁，昌反被斥。義渠言：「今上下盡相蒙，疆埸欺蔽為甚。官方盡濫徇，武弁幸功為甚。中樞不職，舍其大，摘其細，已足為言者羞。辨疏一入，調用隨之。自今奸弊叢生，功罪倒置，言者將杜口。」不納。

Ling Yiqu, courtesy name Junfu, was from Wucheng. He became a jinshi in 1625. He was appointed Junior Commissioner in the Bureau of Foreign Tributaries. In Chongzhen 3 he became a supervising secretary in the Bureau of Rites and spoke plainly on every issue he knew. Sanhe magistrate Liu Mengwei lost three thousand taels of transport silver; driven to repay urgently he hanged himself, and officials demanded restitution from his family. Yiqu argued: "That an official should die over money will make the empire think the court values silver above all and cares nothing for thieves. The emperor specially exempted the family. Uprisings in Yixing, Liyang, Suian, and Shouchang saw mobs burn and loot great houses. Yiqu wrote: "When Wei guards burned Commander Zhang Yi's mansion, Gao Huan judged that one could read the fate of the realm; lately informers multiply; fierce collateral princes come to Beijing with irregular memorials; neighborhoods bring petty quarrels clamoring at the palace gates; servants insult their masters; junior officials muzzle their superiors; tradesmen lord it over the gentry — these are the Six Rebellions of the Spring and Autumn Annals. The empire is kept in order only by the distinction between high and low. Once those bonds crack, what can the throne lean on to govern all beneath Heaven! Yiqu and Wen Tiren were fellow townsmen; he joined no faction. Supervising secretary Liu Hanhui impeached Wen Tiren for improper drafting of edicts and was demoted two ranks. Yiqu argued: "When censors may not reprove the chief minister's errors yet surrender the power of rebuke to ministries, those ministries end up controlling the voice of criticism. Ministers treat seizing power as obedience; junior officials treat silence as loyalty — the dynasty will inherit endless trouble. War Minister Zhang Fengyi recited the achievements of dismissed generals; supervising secretary Liu Chang refuted him — yet Liu Chang was the one dismissed. Yiqu wrote: "Today every level deceives the next; frontier falsification is worst of all. Civil posts are handed out with abandon; officers fake exploits more than anything. The central ministries neglect their charge; when even that is set aside to nitpick small matters, critics should be ashamed. One rebuttal submitted, and the speaker is soon transferred. Henceforth abuses will multiply, rewards and punishments will stand on their heads, and critics will fall silent. The throne did not accept his advice.

三遷兵科都給事中。東江自毛文龍後，叛者接踵。義渠言：「東島孤懸海外，轉餉艱，向仰給朝鮮。今路阻絕不得食，內潰可慮。」居無何，眾果潰，挾帥求撫。義渠言：「請陽撫陰剿，同惡必相戕。」及命新帥出海，義渠言：「殲渠散黨宜速，速則可圖功，遲則更生他釁。」後其語皆驗。

He was three times promoted to Chief Supervising Secretary in the Bureau of War. After Mao Wenlong, rebellion on the eastern islands followed one after another. Yiqu wrote: "The eastern island stands isolated at sea; supplying it is arduous; it once depended on Korea for grain. Now the routes are cut off and they cannot be fed — internal collapse is a real danger. Soon the troops did collapse, seizing their commander to demand enfeoffment. Yiqu urged: "Offer pacification in name while destroying them in secret — the wicked will turn on one another. When a new commander was ordered to sea, Yiqu said: "Break the leaders and scatter the bands at once — speed brings success; delay breeds new trouble." In time everything he predicted came true.

義渠居諫垣九年，建白多。吏科給事中劉安行惡之，以年例出義渠福建參政。尋遷按察使，轉山東右布政使，所至有清操。召拜南京光祿寺卿，署應天尹事。

Yiqu served nine years as a remonstrating official and offered many reforms. Supervising secretary Liu Anxing disliked him and used the rotation rule to post Yiqu to Fujian as Administrator. He was soon promoted to Surveillance Commissioner, then Right Provincial Commissioner of Shandong, winning repute for integrity everywhere. He was summoned as Nanjing Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments with acting duties as Yingtian magistrate.

十六年，入為大理卿。明年三月，賊犯都城，有旨召對。趨赴長安門，旦不啟扉。俄傳城陷，還。已，得帝崩問。負墻哀號，首觸柱，血被面。門生勸無死，義渠厲聲曰：「爾當以道義相勖，何姑息為！」揮使去。據幾端坐，取生平所好書籍盡焚之，曰：「無使賊手汙也。」旦日具緋衣拜闕，作書辭父。已，自系，奮身絕吭而死，年五十二。贈刑部尚書，謚忠清。本朝賜謚忠介。

In Chongzhen 16 he was made Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. The following March, as rebels assaulted the capital, an imperial summons called him to audience. He hurried to Chang'an Gate, but at dawn the gates were still shut. Before long word came that the city had fallen, and he turned back. Then he learned that the emperor was dead. He leaned against the wall and wailed, striking his head against a pillar until his face was covered with blood. His students urged him not to die. Yiqu said sharply, "You should encourage me with righteousness and duty—why urge me toward indulgence!" He waved them off and sent them away. He sat upright at his desk and burned every book he had cherished in life, saying, "Let no rebel hands defile them." At dawn he dressed in scarlet robes and bowed toward the palace, then wrote a farewell letter to his father. Then he bound himself, threw himself forward, and cut his throat. He was fifty-two. He was posthumously made minister of justice and given the posthumous title Zhong Qing, "Loyal and Pure." The present dynasty granted him the posthumous title Zhong Jie, "Loyal and Incorruptible."

贊曰：範景文、倪元璐等皆莊烈帝腹心大臣，所共圖社稷者，國亡與亡，正也。當時壎顏屈節，僥幸以偷生者，多被刑掠以死，身名俱裂，貽詬無窮。而景文等樹義烈於千秋，荷褒揚於興代，名與日月爭光。以彼潔此，其相去得失何如也。

The historian comments: Fan Jingwen, Ni Yuanlu, and their fellows were the Chongzhen Emperor's most trusted ministers, men who had staked their lives on the dynasty. When the state fell, they fell with it—and that was as it should be. Those who had bowed and scraped, bent their principles, and clung to life by luck were mostly tortured to death in the end—ruined in body and name, and shamed forever. But Jingwen and his companions planted deeds of righteous heroism for all time, were honored by the new dynasty, and left names that shine beside the sun and moon. Compare the one path with the other, and how vast the difference between ruin and honor.

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