Volume 266 Biographies 154: Ma Shiqi, Wu Linzheng, Zhou Fengxiang, Liu Lishun, Wang Wei, Wu Ganlai, Wang Zhang, Chen Liangmo, Chen Chunde, Shen Jiayin, Cheng De, Xu Zhi, Jin Xuan

馬世奇吳麟征周鳳翔劉理順汪偉吳甘來王章陳良謨陳純德申佳允成德許直金鉉

Ma Shiqi, Wu Linzheng, Zhou Fengxiang, Liu Lishun, Wang Wei, Wu Ganlai, Wang Zhang, Chen Liangmo, Chen Chunde, Shen Jiayun, Cheng De, Xu Zhi, and Jin Xuan.

馬世奇，字君常，無錫人。祖濂，進士，桂林知府。世奇幼穎異，嗜學有文名。登崇禎四年進士，改庶吉士，授編修。十一年，帝遣詞臣分諭諸藩。世奇使山東、湖廣、江西諸王府，所至卻饋遺。還，進左諭德。父憂歸。

Ma Shiqi, whose courtesy name was Junchang, came from Wuxi. His grandfather Lian had passed the jinshi examination and held the post of prefect of Guilin. As a boy Shiqi was unusually quick-witted; he loved learning and was already known for his literary gifts. In the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign he took his jinshi degree, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. In the eleventh year of his reign the emperor sent literary officials to announce imperial messages to the various princely domains. Shiqi was assigned to the princely courts of Shandong, Huguang, and Jiangxi, and at every stop he turned away presents offered to him. When he came back to the capital he was promoted to Left Reader-in-Waiting. He went home to observe mourning for his father.

久之還朝，進左庶子。帝數召廷臣問禦寇策。世奇言：「闖、獻二賊，除獻易，除闖難。人心畏獻而附闖，非附闖也，苦兵也。今欲收人心，惟敕督撫鎮將嚴束部伍，使兵不虐民，民不苦兵，則亂可弭。」帝善其言，為下詔申飭。時寇警日亟，每召對，諸大臣無能畫一策。世奇歸邸，輒太息泣下，曰：「事不可為矣。」十七年三月，城陷。世奇方早食，投箸起，問帝安在、東宮二王安在，或言帝已出城，或言崩，或又言東宮二王被執。世奇曰：「嗟乎，吾不死安之！」其仆曰：「如太夫人何？」世奇曰：「正恐辱太夫人耳。」將自經，二妾朱、李盛飾前。世奇訝曰：「若以我死，將辭我去耶？」對曰：「聞主人盡節，我二人來從死耳。」世奇曰：「有是哉！」二妾並自經，世奇端坐，引帛自力縊乃死。先是，兵部主事成德將死，貽書世奇，以慷慨從容二義質焉。世奇曰：「勉哉元升。吾人見危授命，吾不為其難，誰為其難者！與君攜手黃泉，預訂斯盟，無忘息壤矣。」世奇修頤廣顙，揚眉大耳，砥名行，居館閣有聲，好推獎後進。為人廉，父死，蘇州推官倪長圩以贖鍰三千助喪。世奇辭曰：「蘇饑，留此可用振。」座主周延儒再相，世奇同郡遠嫌，除服不赴都。及還朝，延儒已賜死，親昵者率避去，世奇經紀其喪。其好義如此。贈禮部右侍郎，謚文忠。本朝賜謚文肅。

After a long absence he returned to court and was made Left Sub-Reader. The emperor often called in court officials to hear their plans for dealing with the rebels. Shiqi said, "Of the two rebel chiefs, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, it is easy to destroy Zhang but hard to destroy Li. The people fear Zhang yet drift toward Li—not because they love Li, but because they are worn down by government armies. If we want to win the people back, we must command governors, coordinators, and garrison commanders to keep their men in strict order so troops do not prey on civilians and civilians are not crushed by the military—then the turmoil can be stilled. The emperor thought well of this advice and issued an edict calling for stricter discipline. Bandit alarms grew worse by the day; whenever the emperor summoned his ministers, none could offer a coherent strategy. Back at his house Shiqi would sigh and weep, saying, "There is nothing left to be done. In the third month of the seventeenth year the city fell. Shiqi was at breakfast when he threw down his chopsticks and stood up, demanding to know where the emperor was and where the two crown princes were. Some said the emperor had fled the city, some that he was dead, others that both princes had been seized. Shiqi said, "Alas—if I do not die, where else can I turn? His servant asked, "What about your mother?" Shiqi replied, "It is because I fear I would bring shame upon her." Just as he was about to hang himself, his two concubines Zhu and Li appeared before him in their finest attire. Shiqi said in astonishment, "Are you taking leave of me because I am about to die? They answered, "We heard that our master would die for his principles, and we two have come to die with you." Shiqi said, "So it is!" Both concubines hanged themselves at once; Shiqi sat erect, pulled the cord tight with his own hands, and strangled himself to death. Earlier Cheng De, a secretary in the Ministry of War, facing death, had written to Shiqi asking whether he would choose a passionate death or a composed one. Shiqi wrote back, "Press on, Yuansheng. When danger comes, a gentleman gives his life—if I will not do this hard thing, who will? Let us join hands in the underworld; we have sealed this pact beforehand—do not forget it, as one does not forget a vow sworn on the soil of Xirang. Shiqi wore a long beard and had a broad forehead, high brows, and large ears; he cultivated his moral reputation, was respected in the Academy, and liked to encourage younger scholars. He was a man of integrity. When his father died, Ni Changxu, the investigating censor of Suzhou, offered three thousand taels in commutated fines to help with the funeral expenses. Shiqi refused, saying, "Suzhou is in famine—keep this money; it can be used for relief. When his patron Zhou Yanru became chief minister again, Shiqi, being from the same district, kept his distance and did not return to the capital after his mourning ended. By the time he returned to court Yanru had already been put to death; most of his close associates kept away, but Shiqi saw to his funeral arrangements. Such was his sense of honor. He was posthumously appointed Vice Minister of Rites and granted the posthumous title Wenzhong. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Wensu.

吳麟征，字聖生，海鹽人。天啟二年進士。除建昌府推官，擒豪猾，捕劇盜，治聲日聞。父憂歸。補興化府，廉公有威，僚屬莫敢以私進。

Wu Linzheng, whose courtesy name was Shengsheng, came from Haiyan. He received his jinshi degree in the second year of the Tianqi reign. Appointed investigating magistrate of Jianchang, he seized local bullies and captured notorious bandits, and his reputation as an able administrator grew by the day. He went home to mourn his father. He was reassigned to Xinghua, where his probity and stern bearing kept subordinates from pressing private favors on him.

崇禎五年，擢吏科給事中，請罷內遣，言：「古用內臣以致亂，今用內臣以求治。君之於臣，猶父之於子，未有信仆從，舍其子，求家之理者。」又言：「安民之本在守令。郡守廉，縣令不敢貪；郡守慈，縣令不敢虐；郡守精明，縣令不敢叢脞。宜仿宣宗用況鐘故事，精擇而禮遣之，重以璽書，假便宜久任。民生疾苦，吏治臧否，使得自達天子。」時不能行。麟征在諫垣，直聲甚著。尋上疏乞假葬父。既去，貽言路公揭，謂：「自言官積輕，廟堂之上往往反其言而用之。奸人窺見此旨，明告君父，目為朋黨，自稱孤立，下背公論，上竊主權。諸君子宜盡化沾沾之意，毋落其彀中，使清流之禍再見明時。」居久之，還朝。劾吏部尚書田唯嘉贓汙，唯嘉罷去。再遷刑科給事中，丁繼母憂。服闋，起吏科都給事中，時貨賂公行，銓曹資格盡廢。麟征上言：「限年平配，固銓政之弊，然舍此無以待中才。今遷轉如流，不循資格，巧者速化，拙者積薪，開奔競之門，無益軍國之計。」帝深然之。

In the fifth year of Chongzhen he was made a supervising secretary in the Bureau of Personnel and urged an end to eunuch missions, saying, "In old times eunuchs were employed and brought chaos; now they are employed in the hope of good government. A ruler's relation to his ministers is like a father's to his sons; no one has ever trusted servants, turned away from his own sons, and still expected to govern the family well. He also said, "The key to securing the people lies in prefects and county magistrates. If the prefect is honest, magistrates will not dare to steal; if the prefect is humane, magistrates will not dare to abuse the people; if the prefect is vigilant, magistrates will not dare to fob off their duties in petty ways. The court should follow the Xuande emperor's example with Kuang Zhong—choose men carefully, send them out with honor, empower them with sealed edicts, and let them serve long terms with broad discretion. Then the people's suffering and the true state of local government could reach the emperor without obstruction." At the time nothing came of it. In the censorate Linzheng became widely known for his outspoken integrity. Before long he memorialized the throne asking leave to return home and bury his father. On leaving office he addressed an open letter to his colleagues in the censorate, saying, "People say remonstrance officials count for little, yet those in power often do the very opposite of what we urge. Crafty men see this and tell the emperor plainly that their rivals form factions while they alone are loyal; they defy public opinion below and seize power from the throne above. You gentlemen should cast off all petty factional zeal and not fall into their trap, lest the disasters of the Pure Stream faction be repeated in our own day. After a long stay at home he returned to the capital. He impeached Tian Weijia, Minister of Personnel, for bribery, and Tian was removed from office. He was promoted again to supervising secretary in the Bureau of Punishments, then went into mourning for his stepmother. After mourning he was recalled as chief supervising secretary in the Bureau of Personnel, at a time when graft was everywhere and the Board of Appointments had cast aside all seniority rules. Linzheng submitted a memorial saying, "Time-limited rotation is certainly a defect in personnel policy, but without it there is no orderly way to advance men of average ability. Today appointments change as fast as a stream, with no regard for seniority; the clever advance overnight while the slow are left stacked like firewood, opening the door to frantic office-seeking and doing nothing for army or state. The emperor agreed wholeheartedly.

十七年春，推太常少卿。未幾，賊薄京師。麟征奉命守西直門。門當賊沖，賊詐為勤王兵求入。中官欲納之，麟征不可，以土石堅塞其門，募死士縋城襲擊之，多所斬獲。賊攻益急，麟徵趨入朝，欲見帝白事。至午門，魏藻德引麟征手曰：「國家如天之福，必無他虞。旦夕兵餉集，公何遽為？」引之出，遂還西直門。明日城陷，欲還邸，已為賊所據。乃入道旁祠，作書訣家人曰：「祖宗二百七十余年宗社，一旦至此，雖上有亢龍之悔，下有魚爛之殃，而身居諫垣，無所匡救，法當褫服。殮用角巾青衫，覆以單衾，以誌吾哀。」解帶自經。家人救之蘇，環泣請曰：「待祝孝廉至，一訣可乎？」許之。祝孝廉名淵，嘗救劉宗周下獄，與麟征善者也。明日，淵至。麟征慷慨曰：「憶登第時夢隱士劉宗周吟文信國《零丁洋詩》，今山河碎矣，不死何為！」酌酒與淵別，遂自經，淵為視含殮而去。贈兵部右侍郎，謚忠節。本朝賜謚貞肅。

In the spring of the seventeenth year he was recommended for Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Before long the rebels were at the gates of the capital. Linzheng was ordered to hold the Xizhi Gate. The gate lay in the rebels' main line of attack; they disguised themselves as troops coming to relieve the capital and asked to be let in. The eunuchs wanted to let them in, but Linzheng refused; he packed the gate tight with earth and stone, raised volunteers to be lowered from the wall on ropes to attack the enemy, and killed or captured many. The rebel assault grew fiercer, and Linzheng rushed to court hoping to see the emperor and report what was happening. At the Meridian Gate Wei Zaode took his hand and said, "The dynasty enjoys heaven's protection; there is nothing to fear. Troops and supplies will arrive any day now—why are you in such a hurry? He led him away, and Linzheng went back to the Xizhi Gate. The next day the city fell; when he tried to go home he found his house already in rebel hands. He went into a roadside shrine and wrote a farewell letter to his family: "The ancestral realm of more than two hundred and seventy years has collapsed in a day. Though the throne bears the regret of a dragon that has risen too high and the people suffer ruin from the head down, I served in the censorate yet could save nothing—by right I should lay aside my official robes. Bury me in a scholar's cap and plain blue robe, covered with a single quilt, to show my sorrow. He untied his belt and hanged himself. His family revived him; they gathered round weeping and asked, "May we wait until Zhu the filial scholar comes so you can take leave of him? He consented. The filial scholar Zhu, whose given name was Yuan, had once helped free Liu Zongzhou from prison and was a close friend of Linzheng. The next day Zhu Yuan came. Linzheng said fervently, "When I passed the examinations I dreamed of Liu Zongzhou reciting Wen Tianxiang's 'Song of the Lonely Sea'; now the realm lies in ruins—what reason is there to live on! He shared a cup of wine in farewell with Zhu Yuan, then hanged himself; Yuan saw to his burial rites and left. He was posthumously appointed Vice Minister of War and granted the posthumous title Zhongjie. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Zhensu.

方賊之陷山西也，薊遼總督王永吉請撤寧遠吳三桂兵守關門，選士卒西行遏寇，即京師警，旦夕可援。天子下其議，麟征深然之。輔臣陳演、魏藻德不可，謂：「無故棄地二百里，臣不敢任其咎。」引漢棄涼州為證。麟征復為議數百言，六科不署名，獨疏昌言，弗省。及烽煙徹大內，帝始悔不用麟征言，旨下永吉，永吉馳出關，徙寧遠五十萬眾，日行數十里，十六日入關，二十日抵豐潤，而京師已陷矣。城破，八門齊啟，惟西直門堅塞不能通。至五月七日，集民夫發掘乃開。

When the rebels were overrunning Shanxi, Wang Yongji, grand coordinator of Jiliao, proposed withdrawing Wu Sangui's army from Ningyuan to hold the passes and sending picked troops west to block the rebels, so that once the capital was threatened reinforcements could arrive within days. The emperor ordered the proposal debated, and Linzheng strongly endorsed it. Chief ministers Chen Yan and Wei Zaode opposed it, saying, "To give up two hundred li of territory for no reason—we dare not take responsibility for that. They cited the Han precedent of abandoning Liangzhou as proof. Linzheng submitted another memorial of several hundred words; the six censorial bureaus refused to co-sign, but he spoke out alone in a separate memorial, and the court took no notice. When alarm fires reached the inner palace the emperor finally regretted ignoring Linzheng; an order went to Wang Yongji, who galloped out of the pass and marched five hundred thousand men from Ningyuan at several tens of li a day; they entered the pass on the sixteenth and reached Fengrun on the twentieth—but Beijing had already fallen. When the city fell all eight gates were opened; only the Xizhi Gate, packed shut, could not be used. Only on the seventh day of the fifth month were laborers assembled to dig it clear.

劉理順，字復禮，杞縣人。萬歷中舉於鄉。十赴會試，至崇禎七年始中式。及廷對，帝親擢第一，還宮喜曰：「朕今日得一耆碩矣。」拜修撰。益勤學，非其人不與交。

Liu Lishun, whose courtesy name was Fuli, came from Qi County. In the Wanli reign he passed the provincial examinations. He sat the metropolitan examination ten times before finally passing in the seventh year of Chongzhen. At the palace audience the emperor personally ranked him first; back in the palace he said joyfully, "Today I have found a seasoned scholar. He was appointed a Hanlin compiler. He threw himself even more into study and would not keep company with anyone he did not respect.

十二年春，畿輔告警，疏陳作士氣、矜窮民、簡良吏、定師期、信賞罰、招脅從六事。歷南京司業、左中允、右諭德，入侍經筵兼東宮講官。楊嗣昌奪情入閣，理順昌言於朝，嗣昌奪其講官。開封垂陷，理順建議河北設重臣，練敢死士為後圖，疏格不行。嗣昌、薛國觀、周延儒叠用事，理順一無所附麗。出溫體仁門，言論不少徇。

In the spring of his twelfth year at court, with the capital districts under threat, he memorialized the throne on six urgent reforms: stiffen the army's spirit, relieve the destitute, appoint worthy magistrates, set firm dates for campaigns, make rewards and punishments credible, and induce defectors from the rebel ranks. He rose through the posts of Nanjing Vice Director of Studies, Left Household Assistant, and Right Reader-in-Waiting, then entered the emperor's Classics Lecture and doubled as tutor to the crown prince. Yang Sichang had resumed office from mourning and joined the Grand Secretariat; Lishun spoke bluntly against him in open court, and Sichang removed him from his post as palace lecturer. With Kaifeng nearly lost, Lishun urged placing a senior commander in Hebei and drilling suicide squads for a fallback strategy, but the memorial was blocked and never carried out. Though Yang Sichang, Xue Guoguan, and Zhou Yanru dominated the government one after another, Lishun would not lean on any faction. He had risen under Wen Tiren, yet he rarely trimmed his words to please anyone.

賊犯京師急，守卒缺餉，陰雨饑凍。理順詣朝房語諸執政，急請帑，眾唯唯。理順太息歸，捐家貲犒守城卒。僚友問進止，正色曰：「存亡視國，尚須商酌耶！」城破，妻萬、妾李請先死。既絕，理順大書曰：「成仁取義，孔、孟所傳。文信踐之，吾何不然！」書畢投繯，年六十三。仆四人皆從死。群盜多中州人，入唁曰：「此吾鄉杞縣劉狀元也，居鄉厚德，何遽死？」羅拜號泣而去。後贈詹事，謚文正。本朝賜謚文烈。

Rebel armies closed on Beijing; the defenders went unpaid, and endless rain left them hungry and freezing. Lishun sought out the chief ministers in the morning hall and pleaded for an immediate grant from the treasury; they answered with vague, noncommittal noises. He went home with a deep sigh and spent his own fortune to treat the men defending the walls. Friends asked whether he would flee; he answered gravely, "Whether the dynasty lives or dies is at stake—what is there left to discuss? After the walls were breached, his wife Wan and concubine Li begged to die before him. Once they were dead, Lishun wrote boldly: "To die for humanity and righteousness is the teaching Confucius and Mencius bequeathed. Lord Wen practiced it—why should I fall short! He finished the lines and hanged himself. He was sixty-three. Four household servants died with him. Many rebels were natives of the central plain; they came to mourn and cried, "This is Liu the palace graduate from our Qi County—he was a man of great kindness at home; why did he have to die so soon? They kowtowed all around him, wailing, and left. Afterward he was posthumously appointed Grand Mentor and honored with the temple name Wen Zheng. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Wen Lie.

汪偉，字叔度，休寧人，寄籍上元。崇禎元年進士。十一年，由慈溪知縣行取。帝以國家多故，朝臣詞苑起家，儒緩不習吏事，無以理紛禦變，改舊例，擇知推治行卓絕者入翰林。偉擢檢討，給假歸。還朝，充東宮講官。

Wang Wei, whose courtesy name was Shudu, came from Xiuning but was entered on the registers at Shangyuan. He took his jinshi degree in the first year of the Chongzhen reign. In the eleventh year he was promoted to the capital from his post as magistrate of Cixi. The emperor judged that in a time of crisis, officials drawn from the literary academies were too bookish and inexperienced in administration to handle chaos; he altered precedent and recruited into the Hanlin those local magistrates and prefects whose records were truly outstanding. Wei was made a Hanlin Compiler and given leave to go home. When he came back to the capital he was appointed tutor to the crown prince.

十六年，賊陷承天、荊、襄。偉以留都根本之地，上《江防綢繆疏》，言：「金陵城周圍百二十里，雖十萬眾不能守。議者謂無守城法，有防江法。賊自北來，淮安為要；自上遊來，九江為要；禦淮所以禦江，守九江所以守金陵也。淮有史可法，屹然保障；九江一郡，宜設重臣鎮之。自是而上之至於武昌，下之至於太平、采石、浦口，命南京兵部大臣建牙分閫，以接聲援，而金陵之門戶固矣。南京兵部有重兵而無用，操江欲用兵而無人，宜使緩急相應。而府尹、府丞之官，重其權，久其任，聯百萬士民心，以分兵部操江之責。」帝嘉納之，乃設九江總督。又言：「兵額既虧，宜以衛所官舍余丁補伍操練，修治兵船，以資防禦。額餉不足，暫借鹽課、漕米給之。」所條奏皆切時務。

In the sixteenth year rebels captured Chengtian and overran Jing and Xiang. Wei, seeing Nanjing as the dynasty's last anchor, submitted his "Memorial on Thorough River Defense," arguing: "The walls of Jinling stretch one hundred and twenty li; no garrison of a hundred thousand could hold them. Strategists say the city cannot be defended—but the river can. If the enemy advances from the north, Huai'an is decisive; if from upstream, Jiujiang is decisive; holding the Huai defends the Yangtze, and holding Jiujiang defends Nanjing. On the Huai front Shi Kefa already stands as a rock; Jiujiang prefecture alone needs a senior commander posted there. From Wuchang upstream to Taiping, Caishi, and Pukou downstream, ministers of the Nanjing Board of War should establish separate commands to relay reinforcements—then Nanjing's approaches will be secure. Nanjing's war ministry commands troops it cannot deploy, while the river patrol needs men it does not have; the two branches should be made to act in concert when crisis strikes. He also urged strengthening the metropolitan magistrate and vice-magistrate, giving them longer terms and real power to rally the city's gentry and commoners and share the burden now borne only by the war ministry and river command. The emperor approved the plan and created the post of governor-general at Jiujiang. He further proposed filling depleted rolls with surplus sons from military households, drilling them, and repairing warships for river defense. Where regular pay fell short, salt revenues and transport grain could be advanced on loan to feed the troops. Each proposal addressed a pressing need of the hour.

明年三月，賊兵東犯。偉語閣臣：「事急矣，亟遣大僚守畿郡。都中城守，文自內閣，武自公侯伯以下，各率子弟畫地守。庶民統以紳士，家自為守。而京軍分番巡僥，以待勤王之師。」魏藻德笑曰：「大僚守畿輔，誰肯者？」偉曰：「此何等時，猶較尊卑、計安危耶？請以一劇郡見委。」藻德哂其早計。未幾，真定遊擊謝加福殺巡撫徐標迎賊。偉泣曰：「事至此乎！」作書寄友人曰：「賊據真定，奸人滿都城，外郡上供絲粟不至，諸臣無一可支危亡者，如聖主何！平時誤國之人，終日言門戶而不顧朝廷，今當何處伸狂喙耶！」賊薄都城，守兵乏餉，不得食，偉市餅餌以饋。已而城陷，偉歸寓，語繼室耿善撫幼子。耿泣曰：「我獨不能從公死乎！」因以幼子屬其弟，衣新衣，上下縫，引刀自剄不殊，復投繯遂絕，時年二十三。偉欣然曰：「是成吾志。」移其屍於堂，貽子觀書，勉以忠孝，乃自經。贈少詹事，謚文烈。本朝賜謚文毅。

The next year, in the third month, rebel forces drove eastward. Wei told the Grand Secretaries, "Matters are critical—dispatch senior ministers immediately to hold the capital districts. Inside Beijing, civil officials from the Grand Secretariat down and military nobles from the dukes and marquises down should each lead their sons to defend assigned sections of the wall. Ordinary townspeople should be grouped under local scholars, with every household responsible for its own defense. Capital troops should patrol in shifts until relief armies arrive. Wei Zaode laughed, "Send grand ministers to guard the suburbs? Who would go?" Wang Wei replied, "At a moment like this you still weigh rank and personal safety? Give me any serious prefecture and I will take it. Zaode mocked him for planning too far ahead. Soon afterward the Zhending irregular Xie Jiafu murdered Grand Coordinator Xu Biao and opened the city to the rebels. Wei wept, "So it has come to this! He wrote a friend: "The rebels hold Zhending, collaborators throng the capital, grain and silk from the provinces no longer reach us, and not one minister can stave off collapse—what will become of the Son of Heaven? The men who ruined us in easier days chatter about factions and ignore the throne—where will they wag their tongues now? As rebels closed on Beijing the defenders went hungry for lack of pay; Wei bought bread and cakes to feed them. When the city fell he went home and told his stepwife Geng to look after their little boy. Geng wept, "Must I alone be left behind? She handed the child to his brother, dressed in new garments sewn shut at neck and hem, slashed her throat without success, then hanged herself until she was dead. She was twenty-three. Wei said gladly, "Now my wish is fulfilled. He laid her in the main hall, set books before his son and charged him with loyalty and filial duty, then hanged himself. He was posthumously made Junior Grand Mentor with the temple name Wen Lie. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Wen Yi.

吳甘來，字和受，江西新昌人。父之才，西安府同知。甘來與兄泰來同舉鄉試。崇禎改元，甘來成進士，授中書舍人。後三年，泰來亦成進士，授南京太常博士。

Wu Ganlai, whose courtesy name was Heshou, came from Xinchang in Jiangxi. His father Zhicai served as vice commissioner of the Xi'an prefectural administration. Ganlai and his elder brother Tailai qualified together in the provincial examinations. In the first year of the Chongzhen reign Ganlai took the jinshi and was appointed a Secretariat drafter. Three years later Tailai also passed the jinshi and was made an erudite at the Nanjing Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

五年，甘來擢刑科給事中。七年，西北大旱，秦、晉人相食，疏請發粟以振，而言：「山西總兵張應昌等半殺難民以冒功，中州諸郡畏曹變蛟兵甚於賊。陛下生之而不能，武臣殺之而不顧，臣實痛之。」又言：「賞罰者，將將大機權也。陛下加意邊陲，賞無延格。乃紅夷獻俘，黔、蜀爭功，昌黎死守，功猶待勘，急則用其死綏，緩則束以文法。且封疆之罰，武與文二，內與外二，士卒與將帥二。受命建牙，或逮或逐，以封疆罪罪之；而跋扈將帥，罪狀已暴，止於戴罪。偏裨不能令士卒，將帥不能令偏裨，督撫不能令將帥，將聽賊自來自去，誰為陛下翦兇逆者？」憂歸。服闋，起吏科，進兵科右給事中，乞假歸。

In the fifth year Ganlai was promoted to supervising secretary of the Penal Section. In the seventh year severe drought ravaged the northwest; in Shaanxi and Shanxi people cannibalized one another. He asked that grain be released for relief and wrote: "Commanders like Zhang Yingchang in Shanxi butchered refugees wholesale to pad their reports, while in the heartland the people feared Cao Bianjiao's soldiers more than the rebels. Your Majesty would preserve them yet cannot; your generals slaughter them without consequence. This grieves me deeply. He also wrote: "Reward and punishment are the lever by which one general commands another. Your Majesty has lavished care on the borders and grants rewards without delay. Yet when Dutch prisoners were presented, Guizhou and Sichuan quarreled over credit; Changli was heroically held yet merit still awaits review; in crisis you demand death in battle, in calm you bind men with bureaucratic rules. Frontier justice, moreover, is one standard for civil officials and another for soldiers, one for the capital and another for the field, one for common troops and another for commanders. Men given independent commands are seized or dismissed for border offenses; yet arrogant generals whose guilt is plain are merely allowed to serve on probation. Company officers cannot control their men, generals cannot control company officers, governors cannot control generals—troops will let the enemy come and go at will. Who then will destroy the rebels for Your Majesty? He went home to observe mourning. After mourning he returned as supervising secretary of the Personnel Section, was promoted to right supervising secretary of the Military Section, and took leave to go home.

十五年，起歷戶科都給事中。中外多故，荊、襄數郡，賊未至而撫道諸臣率稱護藩以去。甘來曰：「若爾，則是棄地方而逃也。城社人民，誰與守者？」乃上疏曰：「天子眾建親親，將使屏藩帝室，故曰『宗子維城』。乃烽火才傳，一朝委去以為民望，而諸臣猶嘵嘵以擁衛自功，掩其失地之罪。是維城為可留可去之人，名都為可守可棄之土，撫道為可有可無之官。功罪不明，賞罰不著，莫此為甚！」疏入，帝大嘉嘆。一日，帝詰戶部尚書倪元璐餉額，甘來曰：「臣科與戶曹表裏，餉可按籍稽。臣所慮者，兵聞賊而逃，民見賊而喜，恐非無餉之患，而無民之患。宜急輕賦稅，收人心。」帝頷之。

In the fifteenth year he was recalled and rose to chief supervising secretary of the Revenue Section. Troubles multiplied at home and abroad; in several districts of Jing and Xiang the rebels had not even arrived, yet governors and circuit intendants routinely claimed they were escorting princes and fled. Ganlai said, "If that is allowed, officials are simply abandoning their posts and running. Who will guard the land and the people? He then memorialized: "The Son of Heaven multiplies princes of the blood so they may shield the throne—thus the ode says, 'The royal sons are the city's walls. Yet at the first beacon they fled in a morning, abandoning the people they were sworn to protect, while the same officials boasted of 'escorting' princes to mask their surrender of whole districts. The 'walls' became optional, great cities disposable, and frontier governors a luxury the court could take or leave. With merit and guilt undistinguished and reward and punishment unsettled, nothing could be worse.' The emperor read the memorial and praised it warmly. One day the emperor pressed Revenue Minister Ni Yuanlu on grain quotas; Ganlai said, "My office works hand in glove with the ministry; supplies can be verified against the rolls. What troubles me is that troops run when they hear rebels while commoners cheer when they see them—the danger is not empty granaries but empty allegiance. Light taxes at once and win the people back. The emperor nodded in assent.

甘來遘疾，連請告。會帝命編修陳名夏掌戶科，甘來喜得代。不數日，賊薄都城。時泰來官禮部員外郎矣，甘來屬兄歸事母，而自誓必死。明日，城陷，有言駕南幸者，甘來曰：「主上明決，必不輕出。」乃疾走皇城，不得入。返檢幾上疏草曰：「當賊寇縱橫，徒持議論，無益豪末。」盡取焚之，毋釣後世名，遂投繯死。贈太常卿，謚忠節。本朝賜謚莊介。

Ganlai fell ill and repeatedly asked to retire. The emperor then appointed Compiler Chen Mingxia to head the Revenue Section; Ganlai was relieved to be replaced. Within days rebels were at the walls of Beijing. Tailai was by then a secretary in the Ministry of Rites; Ganlai told his brother to go home and care for their mother while he himself swore to die. The next day the city fell; some said the emperor would flee south; Ganlai said, "The sovereign is clear-minded and resolute; he will not lightly abandon the capital. He rushed to the Forbidden City but could not get in. Back at his desk he looked over draft memorials and said, "With rebels running riot, talk alone is worthless. He burned every draft, unwilling to fish for posthumous fame, and hanged himself. He was posthumously made vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices with the temple name Zhong Jie. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Zhuang Jie.

王章，字漢臣，武進人。崇禎元年進士。授諸暨知縣。少孤，母訓之嚴。及為令，祖帳歸少暮，母訶跪予杖，曰：「朝廷以百里授酒人乎！」章伏地不敢仰視。親友為力解，乃已。治諸暨有聲。甫半歲，以才調鄞縣。諸暨民與鄞民爭挽章，至相嘩。治鄞益有聲，數註上考。

Wang Zhang, styled Hanchen, came from Wujin. He became a jinshi in the first year of the Chongzhen reign. He was appointed magistrate of Zhuji. He lost his father early, and his mother raised him with strict discipline. After he took office, the people gave him a send-off; he came home rather late one evening. His mother scolded him, knelt, and offered him a cane, saying, "Did the court give you charge of a district so you could play the wine-server? Zhang prostrated himself and would not raise his eyes. Kin and friends interceded vigorously before she relented. He won a strong reputation governing Zhuji. After only half a year his ability won him a transfer to Yin County. The people of Zhuji and Yin competed to keep him, coming to open quarrels. His reputation in Yin grew stronger still, and he repeatedly earned the highest performance ratings.

十一年，行取入都。時有考選翰林之命，行取者爭奔競，給事中陳啟新論之。帝怒，命吏部上訪冊，罪廷臣濫徇者。尚書姜逢元、王業浩，給事中傅元初，御史禹好善等六人閑住；給事中孫晉、御史李右讜等三人降調；給事中劉含輝、御史劉興秀等十一人貶二秩視事。吏部尚書田維嘉等乃請先推部曹，凡推二十二人，章與焉，授工部主事。章及任浚、塗必泓、李嗣京欲疏辨，憚為首獲罪。李士淳者耄矣，四人不告而首其名，士淳知之，懼且怒，與章等大詬。而帝知維嘉有私，詔許與考。又以為首者必良士也，擢士淳編修，章等皆御史。章上疏請罷內操，寬江南逋賦。

In the eleventh year of Chongzhen he was promoted to the capital through the direct-selection process. An imperial order called for exams to fill Hanlin posts, and the newly selected officials scrambled for appointment. Supervising Secretary Chen Qixin criticized the rush. The emperor flew into a rage and ordered the Ministry of Personnel to submit a review dossier to punish court ministers who had improperly favored candidates. Ministers Jiang Fengyuan and Wang Yehao, Supervising Secretary Fu Yuanchu, Censor Yu Haoshan, and five others—a total of six—were suspended from office; Supervising Secretary Sun Jin, Censor Li Youdan, and one other—a total of three—were demoted and reassigned; Supervising Secretary Liu Huihui, Censor Liu Xingxiu, and nine others—a total of eleven—were demoted two grades but kept their posts. Minister Tian Weijia and his colleagues then proposed promoting bureau staff first. Twenty-two men were nominated, Zhang among them, and he received appointment as principal clerk in the Ministry of Works. Zhang, Ren Jun, Tu Bihong, and Li Sijing wanted to submit a memorial clearing their names but feared whoever went first would be punished. Li Shichun was very old. The four men listed his name first without telling him. When he found out he was both afraid and furious, and he cursed Zhang and the others roundly. But the emperor knew Tian had acted with bias, and ordered that the candidates be allowed to sit for the exam. He also assumed whoever had been listed first must be a man of merit: Shichun was made Hanlin compiler, and Zhang and the others were all appointed censors. Zhang memorialized asking that palace drill units be abolished and arrears on Jiangnan land taxes be remitted.

明年出按甘肅，持風紀，飭邊防。西部寇莊浪，巡撫急征兵。章曰：「貧寇索食耳。」策馬入其帳，眾羅拜乞降，乃稍給之食。兩河旱，章檄城隍神：「御史受錢或戕害人，神殛御史，毋虐民。神血食茲土，不能請上帝蘇一方，當奏天子易爾位。」檄焚，雨大註。邊卒貸武弁金，償以賊首，武弁以冒功，坐是數召邊釁。章著令，非大舉毋得以零級冒功。劾罷巡撫劉鎬貪惰。又所部十道監司，劾罷其四。母憂歸。服闋，還朝，巡視京營，按籍額軍十一萬有奇。喜曰：「兵至十萬，猶可為也。」及閱視，半死者，余冒伍，憊甚，矢折刀缺，聞炮聲掩耳，馬未馳輒墮。而司農缺餉，半歲不發。章屢疏請帑，不報。

The following year he was dispatched to inspect Gansu, enforcing discipline and tightening frontier defenses. Western tribes raided Zhuanglang, and the grand coordinator urgently called up troops. Zhang said, "They are poor bandits looking for food, nothing more. He rode into their camp; they bowed in ranks begging to submit, and he gave them a little food. When drought struck the region, Zhang wrote to the city god: "If a censor takes bribes or kills the innocent, let heaven strike him down—not the common people. You feast on offerings in this land—if you cannot appeal to Heaven to save the people, I shall memorialize the emperor to replace you. He burned the summons; rain came down in torrents. Frontier soldiers borrowed from officers and paid them back with enemy heads; the officers used these to claim false victories, which repeatedly stirred border fighting. Zhang issued regulations: without a major campaign, petty kill-counts could not be used to claim merit. He impeached and dismissed Grand Coordinator Liu Hao for corruption and sloth. Of the ten provincial overseers under his authority, he drove four from office. He went home to observe mourning when his mother died. When mourning ended he returned and inspected the metropolitan garrison; the rolls listed somewhat more than 111,000 troops on paper. He said with satisfaction, "With a hundred thousand men we might still manage something. But on inspection half were ghosts on the roster, the rest were padding: they were spent—broken arrows, notched blades—and at cannon fire they covered their ears; they fell before their horses could break into a run. Meanwhile the treasury could not cover pay; none had been issued for half a year. Zhang repeatedly asked for emergency funds; the throne never answered.

逾月，賊陷真定，京師大震。襄城伯李國禎發營卒五萬營城外，章與給事中光時亨守阜成門。城內外堞凡十五萬四千有奇，三堞一卒。三月初登陴，閱十日始一還邸，櫛沐易新衣冠。家人大駭，章不應。賊傅城下，章手發二炮，賊少卻。頃之，各門炮聲絕。時亨攝章走，章厲聲曰：「事至此，猶惜死耶！」時亨曰：「死此與士卒何別？入朝訪上所在，不獲則死，死未晚也。」章從之，與時亨並馬行。俄賊突至，呼下馬。時亨倉皇下馬跪，章持鞭不顧，叱曰：「吾視軍御史也，誰敢犯！」賊刺章股，墮。章罵曰：「逆賊！勤王兵且至。我死，爾滅不旋踵矣。」賊怒，攢槊刺殺章而去。抵暮，家人覓屍，猶一手據地坐，張口怒目，勃勃如叱賊狀。妻姜在籍，聞之，一慟而絕。贈大理寺卿，謚忠烈。本朝賜謚節湣。次子之栻仕閩為職方主事，亦死難。

Within a month the rebels took Zhending, and panic seized the capital. Li Guozhen, the Duke of Xiangcheng, sent fifty thousand troops to camp outside the walls; Zhang and Supervising Secretary Guang Shiheng held the Fucheng Gate. There were some 154,000 crenels inside and outside the walls—one soldier for every three. On the third he took the wall; only after ten days did he return home once to bathe and change into clean clothes. His family was horrified; he gave no reply. When rebels pressed the wall Zhang fired two guns himself and they fell back a little. Before long cannon fire at every gate ceased. Shiheng grabbed Zhang to run. Zhang cried out, "It has come to this—and you still want to live? Shiheng said, "If we die here we are no different from common soldiers. Let us go to court and find the emperor; if we cannot, then we die. It is not too late. Zhang agreed, and they rode side by side. Suddenly rebels rushed up and ordered them down from their horses. Shiheng scrambled off his horse and knelt. Zhang, whip in hand, ignored them and shouted, "I am the army-inspecting censor—who dares touch me! A rebel stabbed him in the thigh and he fell. Zhang cursed, "Traitors! The relief armies are coming! When I am dead your end will come in no time. Enraged, they piled on with spears, killed Zhang, and left. At dusk his family found his body still sitting with one hand on the ground, mouth open and eyes wide, fierce as though still cursing the rebels. His wife Jiang was back in their home district; when she heard, she wailed once and died. He was posthumously made chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review with the temple name Zhong Lie. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Jie Min. His second son Zhishi served in Fujian as principal clerk in the Bureau of Military Appointments and also died in the crisis.

陳良謨，字士亮，鄞人。崇禎四年進士，授大理推官。初名天工。莊烈帝虔事上帝，詔群臣名「天」者悉改之，乃改良謨。在職六年，兩註上考。行取陛見，擢御史。

Chen Liangmo, styled Shiliang, came from Yin. A jinshi of the fourth year of Chongzhen, he was appointed investigating officer in the Court of Judicial Review. His original given name was Tiangong. The Chonglie Emperor was devoted to the Jade Emperor and ordered all officials whose names contained tian to change them; he took the name Liangmo. In six years on the job he twice earned the highest ratings. Selected for promotion he was presented at court and made a censor.

十二年，出按四川。期滿當代，再留任。時流寇大入蜀，詔良謨專護蜀王，巡撫邵捷春專辦賊。良謨飭守具，堅壁清野。賊犯成都，遣將據要害為掎角。一再戰，賊潰奔。帝聞賊擾蜀，下詔責良謨，已聞其善守禦，乃優旨賜銀幣。及還朝，賊勢益迫，所規畫率不行，而京師陷矣。

In the twelfth year he was dispatched to inspect Sichuan. When his term ended he was kept on for another. When bandit armies poured into Sichuan, the court ordered Liangmo to protect the Prince of Shu while Grand Coordinator Shao Jiechun focused on fighting the rebels. Liangmo prepared defenses and enforced scorched-earth tactics behind the walls. When rebels attacked Chengdu he sent generals to hold strategic points in mutual support. After several battles the rebels broke and fled. Hearing of trouble in Sichuan the emperor rebuked Liangmo, but when he learned how well he had defended the province he sent silver and silk with a complimentary edict. When he returned to the capital the rebel threat had grown worse; little of what he proposed was adopted—and then Beijing fell.

良謨嘗夢拜文文山於堂下，文山揖之上：「公與予先後一揆，何下拜為？」覺而異之。及是城陷，良謨方移疾臥邸中，一慟幾絕，自是水漿不入口。或勸良謨無死，不答。謂邑子李天葆曰：「吾為國死，義不顧家。惟是母老，先君莫葬，繼嗣未定，須一言耳。」因賦詩付天葆。未幾，聞帝崩煤山，大慟曰：「主上不冕服，臣子敢具冠帶乎！吾巾褻，安所得明巾。」天葆以巾進。良謨著巾，藍便服，起入戶。妾時氏隨之，遂與妾俱自縊死。時氏，京師人，年十八。良謨逾五十無子，以禮納之，侍良謨百三日耳。良謨既卒，其族人以其兄之子久樞為之後。未幾，久樞亦卒，良謨竟無後。贈太仆卿，謚恭湣。本朝賜謚恭潔。

Liangmo once dreamed he was bowing to Wen Tianxiang below the hall. Wen raised him up: "You and I are alike in different ages—why bow? When he woke he thought it strange. When the city fell Liangmo was ill in his quarters. He nearly died of grief and after that refused even water. Some urged him not to die; he made no reply. He told his townsman Li Tianbao, "I die for the realm and in duty cannot think of my family. Only that my mother is old, my father unburied, and no heir is fixed—that must be spoken of. He wrote a poem and gave it to Tianbao. Soon he heard the emperor had died on Coal Hill and lamented, "The sovereign died without his full regalia—how dare a minister dress in formal cap and belt! I have only my under-clothes—where will I find a proper headcloth? Tianbao offered him a headcloth. Liangmo put on the cloth, dressed in plain blue, and went inside. His concubine Lady Shi followed; together they hanged themselves. Lady Shi was from the capital, eighteen years old. Liangmo was past fifty without an heir and took her in proper ritual form; she had served him only a hundred days. After his death his clan made his elder brother's son Jiushu his heir. Jiushu soon died too, and in the end Liangmo left no line. He was posthumously made chief minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud with the temple name Gong Min. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Gong Jie.

陳純德，字靜生，零陵人。為諸生，以學行稱。嘗夜泊洞庭，為盜窘，躍出墮水，再躍入洲渚。比曉，坐蘆葦中，去泊舟數十丈。

Chen Chunde, styled Jingsheng, came from Lingling. As a student he was known for learning and character. Once he anchored on Dongting at night; robbed, he leapt overboard, fell into the water, then sprang onto a sandbar. By dawn he sat among the reeds, dozens of yards from where his boat lay.

崇禎十三年成進士，年已六十矣。莊烈帝召諸進士，咨以時事。純德奏稱旨，立擢御史，巡按山西。七月，部內嚴霜，民凍餒。純德上疏請恤，因陳抽練之弊，言：「兵抽則人失故居，無父母妻子之依，田園丘壟之戀，思歸則逃，逢敵則潰。抽余者即以餉薄而安於無用，抽去者又以遠調而不樂為用。伍虛而餉仍在，不歸主帥，則歸偏裨，樂其逃而利其餉，凡藉以營求遷秩，皆是物也。精神不以束伍，而以侵餉；厚餉不以養士，而以求官。伍虛則無人，安望其練；餉糜則愈缺，安望其充。此今日行間大弊也。」帝不能用。

He took his jinshi degree in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, by which time he was already sixty. The Chongzhen Emperor summoned the new graduates and asked their views on affairs of the day. Chunde's answers pleased the emperor, who at once named him censor and assigned him to inspect Shanxi. In the seventh month hard frost struck his circuit, and the people froze and starved. Chunde petitioned for relief and exposed the evils of the selective-training system, writing: "When soldiers are skimmed from local units, they lose their homes—cut off from parents, wives, and children, from fields and family graves. They desert when they yearn for home and rout at the first clash. The men left behind make do with meager pay and see no duty in being useful; those taken away resist distant postings and serve unwillingly. Companies stand empty while rations still flow—not to the commanding general but to junior officers who profit from desertion and hoard the pay. Everyone who schemes promotion through such fraud is of this breed. Their zeal goes not into keeping ranks full but into stealing rations; Fat allowances are not spent on the troops but on buying advancement. Empty companies mean no men to drill—how can training succeed? When pay is squandered the coffers run dry—how can companies ever be filled? This is the chief disease crippling the armies today. The emperor did not heed him.

還朝，督畿輔學政。將出按部，都城陷。賊下令百官以某日入見，眾攝純德入，還邸慟哭，遂自經。京山人秦嘉系買地葬之永定門外，立石表墓焉。贈太仆卿，謚恭節。

Back at court he oversaw education in the capital districts. He was preparing to set out on circuit when the capital fell. The rebels ordered officials to appear on a set day. Others dragged Chunde along, but once home he went to his quarters, wept, and hanged himself. Qin Jiaxi of Jingshan purchased a plot outside Yongding Gate and buried him there, with a stone marker at the grave. He was posthumously promoted to Grand Master of the Stud and given the posthumous title Gongjie ("Reverent Integrity").

申佳允，字孔嘉。永年人。崇禎四年進士。授儀封知縣。縣故多盜，佳允嚴保甲法，盜無所容。霪雨河決，艤舟怒濤中，塞其口。捕大猾置之法。以才調杞縣。八年，賊掃地王率萬人來攻，城土垣多圮。佳允募死士擊走賊，因甓其城。唐王聿鍵勤王，將抵開封。諸大吏惴恐，集議曰：「留之，不聽。行，守土者且得罪。」佳允曰：「惟周王可留之。」眾稱善，用其計。

Shen Jiayun, styled Kongjia. He came from Yongnian. A jinshi of the fourth year of Chongzhen. He was appointed magistrate of Yifeng. The county had long been infested with bandits; Jiayun enforced the baojia household-defense system so strictly that thieves could find no refuge. When weeks of rain burst the river, he anchored a boat in the flood and plugged the break from it. He seized a notorious outlaw and had him punished to the full extent of the law. His ability won him a transfer to Qixian. In the eighth year the rebel Saodiwang marched ten thousand men against the city; its earthen ramparts were crumbling. Jiayun raised a corps of volunteers, beat the rebels back, and rebuilt the walls in brick. Prince Tang Zhu Yujian was marching to the emperor's relief and was nearing Kaifeng. Terrified senior officials met and said, "If we detain him, he will not listen. If we let him pass, the local defenders will be punished. Jiayun said, "Only the Prince of Zhou can hold him." The assembly approved, and they followed his plan.

治行卓異，擢吏部文選主事，上備邊五策。進考功員外郎，佐京察。大學士薛國觀傾少詹事文安之。安之，佳允座主也，事連佳允，左遷南京國子博士。

Marked out for exceptional service, he was raised to principal clerk in the Ministry of Personnel's appointments office and presented five proposals for securing the borders. He was promoted to vice director in the Bureau of Merit Evaluation and helped conduct the capital-wide personnel review. Grand Secretary Xue Guoguan moved to ruin Junior Guardian Wen Anzhi. Anzhi had been Jiayun's patron in the examinations; the case dragged Jiayun down, and he was demoted to lecturer at the Nanjing National University.

久之，遷大理評事，進太仆丞，閱馬近畿。聞李自成破居庸，嘆曰：「京師不守矣！君父有難，焉逃死？」馳入都，遍謁大臣為畫戰守策，皆不省。貽子涵光書曰：「行己曰義，順數曰命；義不可背也，命不可違也。天下事莫不壞於貪生而畏死。死於疾，死於利，死於刑戮，於房幃，於鬥戰，均死也，死數者不死君父，蓋亦不善用死矣。今日之事，君父之事，死義也，猶命也，我則行之。」京師陷，冠帶辭母，策馬至王恭廠，從者請易服以避賊。佳允曰：「吾起微賤，食祿十三年。國事至此，敢愛死乎！」兩仆環守不去，紿之曰：「吾不死也，我將擇善地焉。」下馬，旁見灌畦巨井，急躍入。仆號呼，欲出之。佳允亦呼曰：「告太安人，有子作忠臣，勿過傷也。」遂死，年四十二，贈太仆少卿，謚節湣。本朝賜謚端湣。

Years later he became a reviewing officer in the Court of Judicial Review, then vice director of the Imperial Stud, inspecting horses around the capital. When he heard Li Zicheng had taken Juyong Pass, he sighed, "The capital is lost! Our lord and father are in peril—how can I run and live? He raced into the city, called on every senior minister with plans for defense, and none would listen. He wrote his son Zihanguang: "To live rightly is righteousness; to accept what heaven ordains is fate. Righteousness must not be betrayed, and fate must not be defied. Nothing under heaven comes to ruin faster than clinging to life and fearing death. Death from sickness, from gain, from the executioner's blade, in the bedchamber, or on the battlefield is still death—but those who die in such ways do not die for their lord and father, and so they do not know how to die well. What faces us today is the affair of lord and father; to die for righteousness is also fate, and I mean to do it. When the capital fell he dressed in full official regalia to bid his mother farewell, then rode to Wanggongchang. His servants begged him to change clothes to escape the rebels. Jiayun said, "I came from nothing and have drawn the state's pay for thirteen years. The realm is in this pass—how dare I cling to life! Two servants held close and would not leave. He lied: "I am not going to die—I am only choosing a proper place." He dismounted, spotted a great well beside the irrigated plots, and threw himself in. They screamed and tried to haul him out. Jiayun called back, "Tell my mother that she has a son who died a loyal minister—grieve no more than you must. He drowned at forty-two. He was posthumously made Vice Director of the Imperial Stud and given the posthumous title Jiemin. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Duanmin.

成德，字元升，霍州人，依舅氏占籍懷柔。崇禎四年進士。除滋陽知縣。性剛介，清操絕俗，疾惡若仇。文震孟入都，德郊迎，執弟子禮，語刺溫體仁，體仁聞而恨之。兗州知府增餉額，德固爭，又嘗捕治其牙爪吏。知府怒，讒於御史禹好善。好善，體仁客也，誣德貪虐，逮入京。滋陽民詣闕訟冤。震孟在閣，亦為之稱枉。德道中具疏極論體仁罪，而震孟已被體仁擠而去之。好善再劾德，言其疏出震孟手，帝不之究。德母張伺體仁長安街，繞輿大罵，拾瓦礫擲之。體仁恚，疏聞於朝。詔五城御史驅逐，移德鎮撫獄掠治。杖六十午門外，戍邊。坐贓六千有奇。而給體仁校尉五十人護出入。

Cheng De, styled Yuansheng, came from Huozhou but was registered in Huairou through his uncle's household. A jinshi of the fourth year of Chongzhen. He was appointed magistrate of Ziyang. Fiercely upright, he held himself to a purity few could match and hated wrongdoing as he would a sworn foe. When Wen Zhenmeng reached the capital, De rode out to meet him, treated him as his teacher, and in conversation lashed Wen Tiren—who took note and bore a grudge. The Yanzhou prefect raised the tax quota; De fought him stubbornly and once had one of his bully clerks arrested and punished. The prefect, furious, denounced him to Censor Yu Haoshan. Haoshan was Tiren's man; he charged De with corruption and cruelty and had him hauled to Beijing. The people of Ziyang marched to the palace gates to protest his innocence. Zhenmeng, now in the Grand Secretariat, also declared the case unjust. On the road De drafted a memorial detailing Tiren's crimes—but Zhenmeng had already been forced from office by him. Haoshan impeached De again, claiming the memorial was Zhenmeng's work; the emperor let it drop. De's mother, née Zhang, ambushed Tiren on Chang'an Avenue, circled his carriage shouting abuse, and pelted him with rubble. Tiren, furious, reported the incident to the throne. The emperor ordered the metropolitan censors to remove her and had De thrown into the Brocade Guard prison for torture. He was flogged sixty strokes outside the Meridian Gate and sent into frontier exile. He was convicted on a charge of embezzling more than six thousand taels. Yet fifty imperial guards were assigned to escort Tiren wherever he went.

德居戍所七年，用御史詹兆恒薦，起如臯知縣。尋擢武庫主事。以母老辭，不允，乃就道。至則上言：「年來中外多故，居官者爵祿迷心，廉恥道喪。陛下禦極十七年，何仗節死義之寥寥也！宋臣張栻有言：『仗節死義之臣，當於犯顏諫諍中求之。』夫犯顏諫諍何難，在朝廷養之而已。表厥宅裏，所以伸忠臣孝子於生前；殊厥井疆，所以誅亂臣賊子於未死。茍死敵者無功，則媚敵者且無罪；死賊者褒揚不亟，則從賊者恬而不知畏也。」未幾，城破，不知帝所在，旁皇廳事。已，趨至午門，見兵部尚書張縉彥自賊所出。德以頭觸縉彥胸，且詈之，俄聞帝崩，痛哭。持雞酒奔東華門，奠梓宮於茶棚之下，觸地流血。賊露刃脅之，不為動。奠畢歸家，有妹年二十余未嫁，德顧之曰：「我死，汝何依？」妹曰：「兄死，妹請前。」德稱善，哭而視其縊。入別其母，哭盡哀，出而自縊。母見子女皆死，亦投繯死。先是，懷柔城破，德父文桂遇害，家屬盡沒。妻劉在京，以征德贓急，憂悸死。至是，又闔門死難，惟幼子先寄友人家獲存。贈德光祿卿，謚忠毅。本朝賜謚介湣。

After seven years in exile, Censor Zhan Zhaoheng's recommendation brought him back as magistrate of Rugao. He was soon promoted to principal clerk in the Armory Bureau. He asked to stay home because his mother was elderly; the court refused, and he set out for the capital. On reaching his post he memorialized: "In these years turmoil has multiplied at home and abroad. Officials are dazzled by rank and pay; integrity and shame have vanished. In seventeen years on the throne, how few men have held to their principles and died for the cause! The Song scholar Zhang Shi wrote: 'Men who die holding their principles are found among those who speak truth to power.' To speak boldly is not hard in itself; what matters is that the court nurture such men. Honor a man's house and lane while he lives, and loyal ministers and filial sons will flourish; strip the lands of traitors before they die, and rebels and parricides will fear to act. If men who die fighting the enemy win no reward, those who bow to the enemy will go unpunished; if those who die resisting rebels are not swiftly honored, those who join the rebels will feel safe and unafraid. Not long after, the city fell. Not knowing where the emperor was, he paced the hall in anguish. He rushed to the Meridian Gate and saw Minister of War Zhang Jinyan emerging from the rebel camp. De butted his head into Jinyan's chest and cursed him; moments later, hearing the emperor was dead, he broke into wailing. He seized offerings of chicken and wine, ran to the East Flowery Gate, and poured libations before the emperor's coffin under a tea-shed, beating his forehead on the ground until it bled. Rebels bared their blades at him; he did not flinch. After the rites he went home. His younger sister, over twenty and still unmarried, stood before him. De said, "When I am gone, whom will you have? She answered, "When you die, let your sister go first." He praised her, wept, and stayed while she hanged herself. He went in to bid his mother farewell, wept until grief was spent, then went out and hanged himself. Seeing both children dead, his mother hanged herself as well. Earlier, when Huairou fell, De's father Wengui was killed and the family wiped out. His wife Liu, in Beijing, was hounded to pay the fine for his supposed graft and died of grief and terror. Now the whole household perished; only the youngest son, sent earlier to a friend's house, was spared. De was posthumously made Grand Master for Splendid Happiness and given the posthumous title Zhongyi ("Loyal and Resolute"). The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Jiemin.

許直，字若魯，如臯人。崇禎七年成進士。出文震孟之門，以名節自砥，除義烏知縣。母憂歸，哀毀骨立，終喪蔬食，寢柩旁。補廣東惠來縣。用清望，征授吏部文選主事，進考功員外郎。

Xu Zhi, styled Ruolu, came from Rugao. He took his jinshi degree in the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign. A disciple of Wen Zhenmeng, he honed himself on probity and principle and was appointed magistrate of Yiwu. When his mother died he went home to mourn; grief left him emaciated; for the full mourning year he ate plain food only and slept beside the bier. He was then posted to Huilai County in Guangdong. His unstained reputation won him a capital summons: chief clerk in the Ministry of Personnel's appointments bureau, then vice director in the evaluations bureau.

賊薄都城，約同官出貲饗士，為死守計。城陷，賊令百官報名。直曰：「身可殺，志不可奪。」有傳帝南狩者，直將往從。見賊騎塞道，出門輒返，曰：「四方兵戈，駕焉往？國亂不匡，君危無濟，我何生為！」已，知帝崩，一慟幾絕。客以七十老父為解，直曰：「不死，辱及所生。」賦絕命詩六章，闔戶自經。越旦視之，神氣如生。贈太仆卿，謚忠節。本朝賜謚忠湣。

When the rebels pressed the capital, he and his colleagues agreed to contribute funds to feast the soldiers and prepare a last stand. After the city fell, the rebels ordered every official to report and register. Zhi said, "They may kill my body, but they cannot break my resolve. When rumor spread that the emperor had fled south, Zhi set out to join him. Rebel cavalry choked the roads; he went out and turned back again and again, saying, "Arms blaze on every side—where can the Son of Heaven's carriage go? The state is in turmoil and I cannot rescue it; the ruler is in danger and I cannot save him—why should I go on living! When he learned the emperor was dead, his grief was so violent he nearly perished. A friend pleaded that his father was seventy; Zhi said, "If I live on, I disgrace those who bore me. He wrote six death poems, shut his door, and hanged himself. The next morning those who viewed his body said his bearing was as if he still lived. He was posthumously appointed Minister of the Imperial Stud and granted the posthumous title Zhongjie. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Zhongmin.

直有族子德溥者，在南，聞莊烈帝崩，大哭數日。揚州陷，又哭數日。每獨坐輒慟哭，食必以崇禎錢一枚置幾上，祭而後食，食已復哭。又刺其兩臂曰：「生為明臣，死為明鬼。」事發，死西市。

Zhi had a kinsman Debo in the south who, when he heard that Emperor Zhuanglie was dead, wept for days on end. When Yangzhou fell he wept again for days on end. Whenever he sat alone he broke into tears; before every meal he set a single Chongzhen coin on the table, made a small offering, and only then ate—and wept again when he had finished. He also carved into both arms: "Born a minister of the Ming, dead a ghost of the Ming. When the matter was discovered he was put to death at the West Market.

金鉉，字伯玉，武進人，占籍順天之大興。祖汝升，南京戶部郎中。父顯名，汀州知府。鉉少有大志，以聖賢自期許。年十八舉鄉試第一。明年，崇禎改元，成進士。不習為吏，改揚州府教授，日訓諸生闡濂、洛正學。燕居言動，俱有規格，諸生嚴憚之。歷國子博士、工部主事。

Jin Xuan, styled Boyu, came from Wujin but was enrolled as a resident of Daxing in Shuntian. His grandfather Rusheng had served as vice minister in the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. His father Xianming had been prefect of Tingzhou. From youth Xuan set his heart on great things and took the sages as his standard. At eighteen he placed first in the provincial examination. The following year, in the inaugural year of Chongzhen, he passed the jinshi. He had no taste for routine office work and was made prefectural instructor at Yangzhou, where each day he led his students in the orthodox teachings of the Zhou and Cheng schools. In private as in public his speech and conduct were measured; the students held him in deep awe. He rose in turn to lecturer in the Imperial Academy and principal clerk in the Ministry of Works.

帝方銳意綜核，疑廷臣朋黨營私。度支告匱，四方亟用兵，餉不敷，遣中官張彜憲總理戶、工二部，建專署，檄諸曹謁見，禮視堂官。鉉恥之，再疏爭，不納。乃約兩部諸僚，私謁者眾唾其面，彜憲慍甚。鉉當榷稅杭州，辭疾請假。彜憲摭火器不中程，劾鉉落職。鉉杜門謝客，躬爨以養父母。

The emperor was then intent on tightening control, suspecting that court ministers formed factions and pursued private gain. The treasury was empty; war pressed on every side and pay could not be met; the eunuch Zhang Yixian was dispatched to oversee both the Revenue and Works ministries, set up his own office, and ordered every bureau to attend on him with the ceremony owed a chief minister. Xuan was shamed by this and memorialized twice in protest, but his pleas were ignored. He then joined colleagues in both ministries in a pact: whoever paid Zhang a private visit would be spat in the face by the rest; Zhang was furious. When his turn came to supervise the commodity levy at Hangzhou, he pleaded illness and sought leave. Zhang seized on firearms that failed inspection and impeached Xuan, who was dismissed from office. Xuan closed his doors to guests and cooked for his parents himself.

十七年春，始起兵部主事，巡視皇城。聞大同陷，疏曰：「宣、大，京師北門。大同陷則宣府危，宣府危，大事去矣。請急撤回監宣中官杜勛，專任巡撫朱之馮。勛二心僨事，之馮忠懇，可屬大事。」不報，未幾，勛以宣府下賊，賊殺之馮，烽火逼京師。鉉奔告母：「母可且逃匿。兒受國恩，義當死。」鉉母章時年八十余矣，呵曰：「爾受國恩，我不受國恩乎！廡下井，是我死所也。」鉉哭而去。

In the spring of the seventeenth year he was at last recalled as principal clerk in the Ministry of War and assigned to inspect the imperial city. Learning that Datong had fallen, he memorialized: "Xuanfu and Datong are the capital's northern gates. If Datong falls, Xuanfu is in peril; if Xuanfu is in peril, the dynasty is lost. I beg that the eunuch inspector Du Xun at Xuanfu be recalled at once and full authority given to Grand Coordinator Zhu Zhifeng. Du is double-hearted and has botched the defense; Zhu is loyal and sincere—he can be trusted with the crisis. No answer came. Soon Du handed Xuanfu to the rebels; they killed Zhu, and alarm fires closed on the capital. Xuan ran to his mother and said, "Mother, you should hide for now. Your son has received the state's favor and ought to die for it. His mother Zhang was already past eighty. She scolded him: "You have received the state's grace—have I not received the state's grace! The well beneath the side hall is where I die." Xuan wept and went away.

城破，趨入朝，宮人紛紛出。知帝已崩，解牙牌拜授家人，即投金水河。家人爭前挽之，鉉怒，口嚙其臂，得脫，遂躍入水。水淺，濡首泥中乃絕。母聞即投井，妾王隨之，皆死。賊踞大內，逾月始去。金水河冠袍泛泛見水上，內官群指之曰：「此金兵部也。」弟錝辨其屍，驗網巾環，得鉉首歸，合以木身，如禮而殮。事竣，錝自經。後贈鉉太仆少卿，謚忠節。本朝賜謚忠潔。

When the walls were breached he rushed to court; palace women poured out in confusion. Learning the emperor was already dead, he took off his ivory tally, bowed and gave it to his family, and threw himself into the Golden Water River. His servants rushed to pull him back; he bit the arm that held him, broke free, and plunged in. The water was shallow; his head sank in the mud and he died. When his mother heard, she threw herself into the well at once; his concubine Wang followed—all perished. The rebels held the inner palace for more than a month before they left. Official caps and robes floated on the Golden Water River; the palace eunuchs pointed and said, "That is Jin of the War Ministry. His younger brother Zuan identified the body; by the mesh kerchief ring he recovered Xuan's head and buried it with a wooden effigy in proper ceremony. When the rites were finished, Zuan hanged himself. Later he was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud and granted the posthumous title Zhongjie. The present dynasty bestowed the posthumous title Zhongjie (Loyal Purity).

右範景文至鉉二十有一人，皆自引決。其他率委蛇見賊。賊以大僚多誤國，概囚縶之。庶官則或用或否，用者下吏政府銓除，不用者諸偽將搒掠取其貲，大氐降者十七，刑者十三。福王時，以六等罪治諸從逆者。而文武臣殉難並予贈蔭祭葬，且建旌忠祠於都城焉。曰正祀文臣，祀景文以下二十人，及大同巡撫衛景瑗、宣府巡撫朱之馮、布衣湯文瓊、諸生許琰四人。曰正祀武臣，祀新樂侯劉文炳、惠安伯張慶臻、襄城伯李國楨、駙馬都尉鞏永固、左都督劉文耀、山西總兵官周遇吉、遼東總兵官吳襄七人。曰正祀內臣，祀太監王承恩一人。曰正祀婦人，祀烈婦成德母張氏，金鉉母章氏，汪偉妻耿氏，劉理順妻萬氏、妾李氏，馬世奇妾朱氏、李氏，陳良謨妾時氏，吳襄妻祖氏九人。曰附祀文臣，祀進士孟章明及郎中徐有聲，給事中顧鋐、彭琯，御史俞志虞，總督徐標，副使朱廷煥七人。曰附祀武臣，祀成國公朱純臣、鎮遠侯顧肇跡、定遠侯鄧文明、武定侯郭培民、陽武侯薛濂、永康侯徐錫登、西寧侯宋裕德、懷寧侯孫維藩、彰武伯楊崇猷、宣城伯衛時春、清平伯吳遵周、新建伯王先通、安鄉伯張光燦、右都督方履泰、錦衣衛千戶李國祿十五人。曰附祀內臣，祀太監李鳳翔、王之心、高時明、褚憲章、方正化、張國元六人。有司春秋致祭。然顧鋐、彭琯、俞志虞輩，特為賊拷死，諸侯伯亦大半以兵死。而郎中周之茂、員外郎寧承烈、中書宋天顯、署丞於騰雲、兵馬指揮姚成、知州馬象乾皆以不屈死，顧未邀贈恤也。

From Fan Jingwen down to Jin Xuan, twenty-one men in all chose death by their own hand. The rest for the most part bowed and scraped and went to register with the rebels. The rebels, holding that senior ministers had largely ruined the realm, threw them into prison en masse. Junior officials were used or not as the case might be: those used were sent to the rebel government's board for appointment; those not used were beaten and robbed by the false generals. Roughly seven parts submitted and three were punished. Under the Prince of Fu, six degrees of guilt were fixed for those who had joined the rebels. Civil and military officials who had died for the dynasty were alike granted posthumous titles, hereditary honors, state sacrifices, and burial, and a Shrine of Loyal Martyrs was raised in the capital. Principal civil worship: Fan Jingwen and twenty others, with Grand Coordinator Wei Jingyuan of Datong, Grand Coordinator Zhu Zhifeng of Xuanfu, the commoner Tang Wenqiong, and the student Xu Yan—four in addition. Principal military worship: the Marquis of Xinle Liu Wenbing, the Earl of Huian Zhang Qingzhen, the Earl of Xiangcheng Li Guozhen, the Commandant-escort Gong Yonggu, the Left Chief Commander Liu Wenyao, the Shanxi commander-in-chief Zhou Yuji, and the Liaodong commander-in-chief Wu Xiang—seven men. Principal eunuch worship: the director Wang Chengen alone. Principal worship of women: nine martyred wives and mothers—Zhang, mother of Chengde; Zhang, mother of Jin Xuan; Geng, wife of Wang Wei; Wan, wife of Liu Lishun, and Li, his concubine; Zhu and Li, concubines of Ma Shiqi; Shi, concubine of Chen Liangmo; and Zu, wife of Wu Xiang. Ancillary civil worship: the jinshi Meng Zhangming; the director Xu Yousheng; the supervising secretaries Gu Yu and Peng Guan; the censor Yu Zhiyu; Grand Coordinator Xu Biao; and Vice Commissioner Zhu Tinghuan—seven men. Ancillary military worship: fifteen men including the Duke of Chengguo Zhu Chunchen, the Marquis of Zhenyuan Gu Zhaoji, the Marquis of Dingyuan Deng Wenming, the Marquis of Wuding Guo Peimin, the Marquis of Yangwu Xue Lian, the Marquis of Yongkang Xu Xideng, the Marquis of Xining Song Yude, the Marquis of Huaining Sun Weifan, the Earl of Zhangwu Yang Chongyou, the Earl of Xuancheng Wei Shichun, the Earl of Qingping Wu Zunzhou, the Earl of Xinjian Wang Xiantong, the Earl of Anxiang Zhang Guangcan, the Right Chief Commander Fang Lütai, and the thousand-commander of the Brocade Guard Li Guolu. Ancillary eunuch worship: six directors—Li Fengxiang, Wang Zhixin, Gao Shiming, Chu Xianzhang, Fang Zhenghua, and Zhang Guoyuan. The magistrates offered sacrifice each spring and autumn. Yet Gu Yu, Peng Guan, Yu Zhiyu, and others had died only under rebel torture, and most of the marquises and earls had likewise perished in battle. The director Zhou Zhimao, the vice director Ning Chengielie, the secretariat drafter Song Tianxian, the acting registrar Yu Tengyun, the horse-command director Yao Cheng, and the prefect Ma Xiangqian all died without submitting—yet none had been granted posthumous rewards.

徐有聲，字聞復，金壇人。登鄉薦，崇禎十三年特擢戶部主事，歷員外郎、郎中。督餉大同。城陷，被執不屈死。福王時，贈太仆少卿。

Xu Yousheng, styled Wenfu, came from Jintan. He passed the provincial examination; in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen he was specially promoted to principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue and rose to vice director and then director. He was charged with supervising grain funds at Datong. When the city fell he was taken and died refusing to submit. Under the Prince of Fu he was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud.

徐標，字準明，濟寧人。天啟五年進士。崇禎時，歷官淮徐道參議。十六年二月，超擢右僉都御史，巡撫保定。陛見，請重邊防，擇守令，用車戰禦敵，招流民墾荒。帝深嘉之。李自成陷山西，警日逼，加標兵部侍郎，總督畿南、山東、河北軍務，仍兼巡撫，移駐真定以遏賊。無何，賊遣使諭降，標毀檄戮其使。賊別將掠畿輔，真定知府邱茂華移妻孥出城，標執茂華下之獄。中軍謝加福伺標登城畫守禦策，鼓眾殺之，出茂華於獄。數日而賊至，以城降。福王時，贈標兵部尚書。

Xu Biao, styled Zhunming, came from Jining. In the fifth year of Tianqi he passed the jinshi. Under Chongzhen he served in turn as junior commissioner on the Huai-Xu circuit. In the second month of the sixteenth year he was suddenly promoted to Vice Censor-in-chief and grand coordinator of Baoding. At his audience he urged stronger frontier defense, the selection of able magistrates, chariot tactics against the enemy, and the settlement of refugees on abandoned land. The emperor praised him warmly. When Li Zicheng seized Shanxi and danger closed in daily, Biao was made Vice Minister of War and given overall command of troops in southern Zhili, Shandong, and Hebei while remaining grand coordinator of Baoding; he shifted his headquarters to Zhending to hold the rebels back. Soon the rebels sent envoys to demand his surrender; Biao tore up the letter and killed the messenger. A rebel column raided the capital region; the Zhending prefect Qiu Maohua sent his wife and children out of the city; Biao had him arrested and jailed. His central-army officer Xie Jiafu waited until Biao went up on the walls to plan the defense, then incited the troops, killed him, and freed Maohua from prison. Within days the rebels came and the city surrendered. Under the Prince of Fu he was posthumously made Minister of War.

朱廷煥，單縣人。崇禎七年進士。除工部主事，歷知廬州、大名二府，即以兵備副使分巡大名。十七年，賊逼畿輔，廷煥嚴守備。賊傳檄入城，怒而碎之。三月四日，賊來攻，軍民皆走，城遂陷。被執不屈死。福王時，贈右副都御史。

Zhu Tinghuan came from Shan County. He passed the jinshi in the seventh year of Chongzhen. He was appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Works, then in turn served as prefect of Luzhou and Daming, and was made vice commissioner for military preparedness with separate charge of the Daming circuit. In the seventeenth year, as rebels closed on the capital region, Tinghuan tightened the defenses. The rebels sent in a surrender summons; he tore it to pieces in fury. On the fourth day of the third month the rebels attacked; troops and people alike fled, and the city was lost. Taken captive, he died refusing to submit. During the reign of the Prince of Fu he was posthumously appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief.

周之茂，字松如，黃麻人。崇禎七年進士。歷官工部郎中。服闋，需次都下。賊搜得之，迫使跪，不屈，折其臂而死。

Zhou Zhimao, whose courtesy name was Songru, came from Huangma. He received his jinshi degree in the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign. He rose through the ranks to director in the Ministry of Works. After his mourning period he waited in the capital for an appointment. The rebels found him, forced him to kneel, and when he refused they broke both his arms and killed him.

寧承烈，字養純，大興人。舉於鄉，歷魏縣教諭，戶部司務，進本部員外郎，管太倉銀庫。城陷，自經於官廨。

Ning Chengle, whose courtesy name was Yangchun, came from Daxing. He passed the provincial examinations, served as county instructor in Wei and as a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, then was promoted to director in the ministry in charge of the Great Granary silver vault. When the city fell he hanged himself in his yamen.

宋天顯，松江華亭人。由國子生官內閣中書舍人。為賊所獲，自經。

Song Tianxian came from Huating in Songjiang. From a student of the Imperial Academy he was appointed secretary in the Grand Secretariat. Captured by the rebels, he hanged himself.

於騰雲，順天人。為光祿置丞。賊至，語其妻曰：「我朝臣，汝亦命婦，可汙賊耶！」夫婦並服命服，從容投繯死。

Yu Tengyun came from Shuntian. He held the post of assistant director in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When the rebels came he told his wife, "I am a minister of this dynasty and you are a lady of rank—how can we be defiled by rebels? Husband and wife donned their official robes and calmly hanged themselves.

姚成，字孝威，余姚人。由禮部儒士為北城兵馬司副指揮。城陷，自縊死。

Yao Cheng, whose courtesy name was Xiaowei, came from Yuyao. Starting as a Confucian licentiate in the Ministry of Rites, he was made vice commander of the Northern City Horse and Infantry Patrol. When the city fell he hanged himself.

馬象乾，京師人。舉於鄉，官濮州知州。方里居，賊入，率妻及子女五人並自縊。

Ma Xiangqian was a native of the capital. He passed the provincial examinations and served as magistrate of Puzhou. While at home in his native place the rebels entered; he led his wife and five children to hang themselves together.

至若御史馮垣登、兵部員外郎鄭逢蘭、行人謝於宣皆拷死，郎中李逢甲，拷掠久之，逼令縊死。與鋐、琯、志虞皆獲贈太仆少卿，而垣登、於宣至謚忠節。行取知縣鄒逢吉拷死，贈太仆寺丞。時南北阻絕，皆未能核實也。湯文瓊、許琰事載《忠義傳》。

Censor Feng Yuandeng, Bureau of War Director Zheng Fenglan, and Messenger Xie Yuxuan were all tortured to death; Director Li Fengjia was tortured at length and then compelled to hang himself. Together with Jin, Guan, and Zhiyu they were all posthumously made Vice Directors of the Court of the Imperial Stud; Feng Yuandeng and Xie Yuxuan were even granted the posthumous title Zhongjie. Zou Fengji, a magistrate promoted to the capital, was tortured to death and posthumously appointed Assistant Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. At the time the north and south were severed from each other, and none of these cases could be confirmed. The careers of Tang Wenqiong and Xu Yan are recorded in the Account of Loyalty and Righteousness.

贊曰：《傳》雲「君子居其位，則思死其官」。夫忠貞之士，臨危授命，豈矯厲一時，邀名身後哉！分誼所在，確然有以自持而不亂也。馬世奇等皆負貞亮之操，勵志植節，不欺其素，故能從容蹈義，如出一轍，可謂得其所安者矣。

The historian comments: "The Classic says, 'When a gentleman holds office, he is ready to die for it.'" Men of loyalty and integrity who meet danger and give their lives—how could they be striking poses for a moment to win posthumous renown! Where duty divides them, they have something firm to hold to and are not thrown into disorder. Ma Shiqi and the rest all possessed steadfast integrity, cultivated their principles, and did not betray their true nature; thus they could meet death for righteousness with the same composure—it may be said they died as they had lived.

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