1
馬從聘 〈（耿蔭樓）〉 張伯鯨宋玫 〈（族叔應亨陳顯際趙士驥等）〉 範淑泰高名衡 〈（王漢）〉 徐汧 〈（楊廷樞）〉 鹿善繼 〈（薛一鶚）〉
Ma Congpin (Geng Yinlou)〉 Zhang Bojing and Song Mei (clansman Yingheng, Chen Xianji, Zhao Shiji, and others)〉 Fan Shutai and Gao Mingheng (Wang Han)〉 Xu Qian (Yang Tingshu)〉 Lu Shanji (Xue Yie)〉
2
馬從聘，字起莘，靈壽人。 萬歷十七年進士。 授青州推官，擢御史。 勛衛李宗城冊封平秀吉逃歸，從聘言其父言恭不當復督戎政，不從。 出理兩淮鹽課，言近日泰山崩離，坼者裏余，由開礦斷地脈所致，當速罷，不報。 奸人田應璧請掣賣沒官余鹽助大工，帝遣中官魯保督之。 從聘極陳欺罔狀，不從。 還朝，改按浙江，又按蘇、松，請免增蘇、松、常鎮稅課，亦不報。 以久次擢太仆少卿，拜右僉都御史，巡撫延綏，失事奪俸。 既而有搗巢功，未敘，引疾歸。 加兵部右侍郎。 家居凡二十余年，終熹宗世不出。
Ma Congpin, whose style was Qishen, came from Lingshou. He became a jinshi in the seventeenth year of the Wanli reign. He was made investigating censor in Qingzhou and later rose to remonstrating censor. After the enfeoffed guardsman Li Zongcheng abandoned his mission to invest Hideyoshi and returned home, Congpin argued that Li's father Yangong should not resume command of military affairs; the emperor refused. While supervising the Two Huai salt tax, he reported that Mount Tai had lately split apart for more than a li because mining had cut the earth's veins, and urged an immediate halt; the memorial went unanswered. The schemer Tian Yingbi petitioned to liquidate surplus confiscated salt to subsidize great public works, and the emperor dispatched the eunuch Lu Bao to oversee the sale. Congpin laid out the deception at length, but again his advice was rejected. Back at court he was shifted to censorial duty in Zhejiang, then in Suzhou and Songjiang, and petitioned to abolish the newly raised taxes in those prefectures and Zhenjiang; once more there was no reply. After long tenure he was made Vice Minister of the Stud, then Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Yan-sui; a defeat cost him his stipend. He later won credit for storming rebel strongholds, yet received no promotion for it and retired on grounds of illness. He was additionally appointed Vice Minister of War. He stayed home for over twenty years and never served again throughout the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns of the late emperor.
3
崇禎十一年冬，大清破靈壽。 從聘年八十有二矣，謂其三子曰：「吾得死所矣。」 又曰：「吾大臣，義不可生，汝曹生無害也。」 三子不從。 從聘縊，三子皆縊。 贈兵部尚書，謚介敏，官其一子。
In the winter of Chongzhen 11, the Qing army overran Lingshou. At eighty-two Congpin told his three sons, "I have found where I am meant to die. He added, "As a chief minister I am bound by duty not to survive; you may go on living without disgrace." His sons refused. Congpin strangled himself, and all three sons did the same. He was posthumously honored as Minister of War with the temple name Jiemin, and one son received an official appointment.
4
耿蔭樓，從聘同邑人也，字旋極。 天啟中，任臨淄知縣。 久旱，囚服暴烈日中，哭於壇，雨立澍。 攝壽光，禱雨如臨淄。 崇禎中，入為兵部主事，調吏部，歷員外郎，乞假歸。 城破，偕子參並死之。 贈光祿少卿。
Geng Yinlou, from the same county as Congpin, styled Xuanji. In the Tianqi era he was magistrate of Linzi. In a prolonged drought he put on convict dress and stood weeping in the fierce sun at the altar until rain poured down immediately. While acting magistrate of Shouguang he prayed for rain with the same result. Under Chongzhen he entered the Ministry of War as a director, moved to Personnel, served as vice director, then took leave and went home. When the city was taken, he and his son Can died together. He was posthumously made Vice Director of the Imperial Household.
5
張伯鯨，字繩海，江都人。 萬歷四十四年進士。 歷知會稽、歸安、鄞三縣。 天啟中，大計，調補盧氏。
Zhang Bojing, styled Shenghai, came from Jiangdu. He took the jinshi in Wanli 44. He served in turn as magistrate of Kuaiji, Guian, and Yin. At the Tianqi grand evaluation he was reassigned to Lushi.
6
崇禎二年，稍遷戶部主事，出督延、寧二鎮軍儲。 自黃甫川西抵寧夏千二百里，不產五谷，芻粟資內地。 賀蘭山沿黃河漢、唐二渠，東抵花馬池，素沃野，亦荒蕪甚。 伯鯨疏陳其狀，為通商惠工，轉菽麥。 又仿邊商中鹽意，立官市法以招之，軍民稱便。 大盜起延綏，擢伯鯨兵備僉事，轄榆林中路。 擊破賀思賢，斬一座城、金翅鵬，敗套寇於長樂堡。 巡撫陳奇瑜上其功，詔進三階，為右參政，仍視兵備事。
In Chongzhen 2 he was promoted to a director in the Ministry of Revenue and sent to oversee army provisions on the Yan and Ning frontiers. From Huangfu west to Ningxia, a stretch of twelve hundred li grew no grain and relied on supplies from inland. The Han and Tang canals along the Yellow River by Helan, east to Huamachi, had been fertile but were now largely waste. Bojing described the plight in a memorial and urged commerce and crafts to move grain and beans. He also modeled the frontier salt-exchange system, set up official markets to draw merchants in, and soldiers and civilians alike welcomed the change. When major banditry broke out in Yan-sui, Bojing was made military defense vice commissioner over the middle route at Yulin. He smashed He Sixian, killed the bandit chiefs Yizuocheng and Jinchipeng, and routed Tatar raiders at Changle Fort. Grand Coordinator Chen Qiyu reported his victories; the throne advanced him three ranks to Right Vice Commissioner while he retained military defense duties.
7
七年春，奇瑜遷總督，遂擢伯鯨右僉都御史代之。 督總兵王承恩等分道擊破插漢部長及套寇於雙山、魚河二堡，斬首三百。 明年，以拾遺論罷。 尋論延綏功，詔起用，蔭子錦衣千戶。
In the spring of year 7, when Qiyu became grand coordinator, Bojing was promoted Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief in his place. He directed Regional Commander Wang Chengen and others to rout the Chahan chief and Tatar raiders at Shuangshan and Yuhe forts, taking three hundred heads. The following year he was removed after a remonstrance. Soon his Yan-sui achievements were recognized; he was recalled by edict and his son enfeoffed as an Embroidered-Uniform Guard chiliarch.
8
十年秋，楊嗣昌議大舉討賊，遣戶部一侍郎駐池州，專理兵食。 帝命傅淑訓。 明年，淑訓憂去，即家起伯鯨代之，如淑訓官。 又明年，熊文燦撫事敗，嗣昌自出督師，移伯鯨襄陽。 文燦之被逮也，言剿餉不至者六十余萬，伯鯨坐貶秩。
In the autumn of year 10 Yang Sichang planned a great pacification drive and stationed a Revenue vice minister at Chizhou to handle army grain alone. The emperor named Fu Shuxun. The next year Shuxun left for mourning and Bojing was called from home to replace him at the same rank. The year after, when Xiong Wencan's pacification collapsed, Sichang took the field himself and shifted Bojing to Xiangyang. At Wencan's arrest he claimed over six hundred thousand taels of pacification funds had never arrived; Bojing was demoted for the shortfall.
9
十五年，召為兵部左侍郎。 明年，尚書馮元飆在告，伯鯨攝部事。 召對萬歲山，疾作，中官扶出，遂乞休。 又明年，京城陷，微服遁還。 福王立於南京，伯鯨家居不出。 久之，揚州被圍，與當事分城守。 城破，自經死。
In year 15 he was recalled as Left Vice Minister of War. The next year, with Minister Feng Yuanbiao on leave, Bojing acted as head of the ministry. Called to audience at Wansuishan he fell ill, was helped out by eunuchs, and petitioned to retire. The next year, when the capital fell, he fled home in disguise. When the Prince of Fu was enthroned at Nanjing, Bojing remained at home. Long afterward Yangzhou came under siege; he joined the officials in dividing the walls for defense. When the city was lost he hanged himself.
10
宋玫，字文玉，萊陽人。 父繼登，萬歷三十二年進士。 歷官陜西右參議。 天啟五年大計謫官。 玫即以是年偕族叔應亨同舉進士，玫授虞城知縣，應亨得清豐。
Song Mei, styled Wenyu, was from Laiyang. His father Jideng had been a jinshi in Wanli 32. He had risen to Right Vice Commissioner in Shaanxi. At the Tianqi 5 grand evaluation he was cashiered. That same year Mei and his clansman Yingheng both passed the jinshi; Mei was sent to Yucheng and Yingheng to Qingfeng.
11
崇禎元年，玫兄琮亦舉進士，知祥符，而玫以才調繁杞縣，三人壤地相接，並有治聲。 應亨遷禮部主事，玫亦擢吏科給事中。 嘗疏論用人，謂：「陛下求治之心愈急，則浮薄喜事之人皆飾詭而釣奇； 陛下破格之意愈殷，則巧言孔壬之徒皆乘機而鬥捷。」 眾韙其言。 時應亨已改吏部，累遷稽勛郎中，落職歸。 玫方除母喪，起故官，歷刑科都給事中。 請熱審概行於天下。 又言獄囚稽滯瘐死，與刑死幾相半，宜有矜釋。 帝采納之。 遷太常少卿，歷大理卿、工部右侍郎。 玫父繼登已久廢，至是為浙江右參政。 大學士周延儒客盛順者，為浙江巡撫熊奮渭營內召，果擢南京戶部侍郎，繼登父子信之。
In Chongzhen 1 Mei's brother Cong also became a jinshi and governed Xiangfu, while Mei was moved to busy Qi County for his ability; their districts adjoined and all three were famed for good rule. Yingheng entered the Ministry of Rites as a director and Mei was made a remonstrating censor in Personnel. He once memorialized on appointments, saying, "The more urgently Your Majesty seeks order, the more shallow opportunists dress up trickery to court wonder; and the more freely Your Majesty breaks precedent, the more smooth talkers rush in to win favor. Many applauded the point. By then Yingheng had moved to Personnel, risen to director in the Merit Office, and gone home after dismissal. Mei had just left mourning, resumed office, and advanced to chief remonstrating censor in Punishments. He urged that the summer judicial review be extended empire-wide. He also said prisoners held so long they died of neglect nearly matched those executed, and should be released on mercy. The emperor accepted both proposals. He became Vice Minister of Ceremonies, then President of the Court of Judicial Review and Right Vice Minister of Works. Mei's father Jideng, long out of office, was now made Right Vice Commissioner in Zhejiang. Grand Secretary Zhou Yanru's client Sheng Shun had Zhejiang Grand Coordinator Xiong Fenwei lobby for his recall; he was made Nanjing Vice Minister of Revenue, and the Jidengs took it as proof of favor.
12
十五年夏，廷推閣臣，順為玫營推甚力。 會詔令再推，玫與焉。 帝已中流言，疑諸臣有私。 比入對，玫冀得帝意，侃侃敷奏。 帝發怒，叱退之，與吏部尚書李日宣等並下獄。 日宣等遣戍，玫除名，順乃驚竄。
In the summer of year 15, during court nomination of grand secretaries, Shun pushed hard for Mei. An edict called for a second nomination round and Mei was on the list. The emperor, already swayed by rumor, suspected collusion. At audience Mei hoped to please him and spoke boldly at length. The emperor erupted, drove him out, and jailed him with Minister of Personnel Li Rixuan and others. Rixuan and others were exiled; Mei was removed from office and Shun fled in panic.
13
閏十一月，臨清破，應亨與知縣陳顯際謀城守。 應亨以城北庳薄，出千金建甕城，浹旬而畢。 玫及邑人趙士驥亦出貲治守具。 無何，大清兵薄城，城上火炮矢石並發，圍乃解。 明年二月復至，城遂破，玫、應亨、顯際、士驥並死之。 顯際，真定人，士驥官中書舍人，並起家進士。 玫、應亨有文名。
In the intercalary eleventh month, when Linqing fell, Yingheng and Magistrate Chen Xianji resolved to defend the city. Yingheng, seeing the north wall weak, spent a thousand taels on a barbican finished in ten days. Mei and the townsman Zhao Shiji also paid for defensive gear. Soon Qing forces closed in; cannon, arrows, and stones poured from the walls and the siege lifted. They returned the second month of the following year; the city fell and Mei, Yingheng, Xianji, and Shiji all perished. Xianji was from Zhending; Shiji was a Secretariat drafter; both were jinshi. Mei and Yingheng were known for their writing.
14
沈迅，亦萊陽人也。 崇禎四年舉進士，歷知新城、蠡二縣，與膠州張若麒同年友善。 十一年行取入都。 帝以吏部考選行私，親策諸臣，迅、若騏並得刑部主事。 兩人大恚恨，結楊嗣昌，得改兵部。 其年冬，畿輔被兵，迅請於廣平、河間、定州、蠡縣各設兵備一人。 又請以天下僧人配尼姑，編入裏甲，三丁抽一，可得兵數十萬。 他條奏甚多。 章下兵部，嗣昌盛稱迅言可用，乃命為兵科給事中。
Shen Xun, too, was from Laiyang. He took the jinshi in Chongzhen 4, served as magistrate of Xincheng and Li, and was close friends with his classmate Zhang Ruoqi of Jiaozhou. In year 11 he was promoted by special selection to the capital. When the emperor found the Personnel evaluation corrupt, he examined candidates himself; Xun and Ruoqi were both made directors in Punishments. Bitter over the outcome, they allied with Yang Sichang and won transfer to the Ministry of War. When the capital region came under attack that winter, he urged appointing a military defense commissioner for each of Guangping, Hejian, Dingzhou, and Li. He also proposed registering monks with nuns in local militia rolls and drafting one man in three, claiming this would yield hundreds of thousands of soldiers. He submitted many other proposals besides. The War Ministry received his papers; Sichang praised them and Xun was made a remonstrating censor in the War Bureau.
15
迅欲自結於帝，數言事，皆中旨。 當是時，軍興方棘，廷臣言兵者即以為知兵，大者推督撫，小者兵備，一當事任，罪累立至。 於是上下諱言兵，章奏無敢及者。 迅極言其弊，乞敕廷臣五日內陳方略。 帝即從其言。 迅考選時為掌河南道御史王萬象所抑，因事劾罷萬象，勢益張，與若麒盡把持山東事。 會順天府丞戴澳誣劾平遠知縣王凝命、嘉興推官文德翼貪，迅上疏頌二人廉能，澳下吏削籍。 迅累遷禮科都給事中。 陳新甲主款，迅面斥其非，廷辨良久，又言：「楊嗣昌死有余戮，借久案以邀功，陳新甲負罪不遑，移邊勞而錄蔭，非論功議罪法。」 帝是其言。 迅本由嗣昌進，隨眾詆毀，時論訾薄之。
Seeking favor with the throne, he spoke often on policy and usually pleased the emperor. With war urgent, any official who talked of armies was treated as an expert; grand coordinators and defense commissioners alike were blamed the moment they took post. Soon everyone avoided discussing military affairs in memorials. Xun denounced the taboo and asked the emperor to order ministers to present strategy within five days. The emperor agreed immediately. Passed over in evaluation by Henan circuit censor Wang Wanxiang, he impeached and ousted him, grew bolder, and with Ruoqi dominated Shandong affairs. When Shuntian vice prefect Dai Ao falsely accused Pingyuan magistrate Wang Ningming and Jiaxing investigating censor Wen Deyi of corruption, Xun praised their integrity; Ao was arrested and removed from office. He rose to chief remonstrating censor in the Rites Bureau. When Chen Xinjia pushed peace talks, Xun denounced him in open court debate, saying Yang Sichang deserved execution many times over for trading on an old case, while Xinjia, fleeing guilt, turned border service into hereditary honors—neither was proper merit law. The emperor sided with him. Though Sichang had promoted him, he joined the chorus against Sichang, and contemporaries scorned him for it.
16
尋以保舉高鬥光為鳳陽總督不當，謫國子博士，乞假歸。 及新甲誅，命追論兵科不糾發罪，吏部上迅名。 帝曰：「迅御前駁議，朕猶識之，可復故官。」 未赴而京師陷。 迅家居，與弟迓設砦自衛。 迓短小精悍，馬上舞百斤鐵椎。 兄弟率里中壯士，捕剿土寇略盡。 大清兵至，破砦，迅闔門死之。
He was soon demoted to National University lecturer for a bad recommendation of Gao Douguang as Fengyang grand coordinator, then went home on leave. After Xinjia's execution the court reviewed the War Bureau's failure to expose his crimes, and Personnel listed Xun. The emperor said, "I still remember Xun debating before me; restore his former post. He had not yet returned when the capital fell. At home he and his brother Ya built a fortified camp. Ya was small but fierce and could whirl a hundred-jin iron mace on horseback. They led local braves and nearly wiped out bandits in the area. Qing forces overran the camp; Xun and his entire household perished.
17
若麒劾黃道周以媚嗣昌。 歷職方郎中，新甲遣赴寧、錦督戰，覆洪承疇等十余萬軍，獨渡海逃還，論死系獄。 李自成陷都城，出降。
Ruoqi impeached Huang Daozhou to curry favor with Sichang. As Appointments director he was sent by Xinjia to Ning-Jin, where Hong Chengchou's army of over one hundred thousand was ruined; he alone escaped by sea, was condemned to death, and imprisoned. When Li Zicheng seized the capital he submitted.
18
吏部張捷薦逆黨呂純如，淑泰極論其謬，並論大學士王應熊朋比行私，劾捷徇應熊意，用其私人王維章撫蜀。 言：「維章官西寧，坐加征激變，落職閑住。 捷朦朧啟事，明肆奸欺。」 帝責捷自陳。 捷詆淑泰黨同伐異，帝不問。 時皇陵被毀，巡撫楊一鵬得罪。 應熊以座主故，力庇之。 淑泰發其停匿章奏狀，帝亦不究。 淑泰乃摭應熊納賄數事上之，應熊捐貲助陵工，淑泰又劾其召寇庇奸。 帝責以挾私求勝，終不納。
Personnel Minister Zhang Jie recommended the eunuch partisan Lu Chunru; Shutai denounced the appointment and accused Grand Secretary Wang Yingxiong of clique favoritism, charging Jie with placing his client Wang Weizhang in Sichuan at Yingxiong's bidding. He said Weizhang had governed Xining, been removed after levies sparked mutiny, and now lived in retirement. Jie filed a vague report, openly practicing fraud. The emperor ordered Jie to explain. Jie accused Shutai of factional attack; the emperor ignored it. When the imperial tombs were ravaged, Grand Coordinator Yang Yipeng was blamed. Yingxiong, as Yipeng's patron, shielded him fiercely. Shutai exposed his suppression of memorials, but the emperor did not investigate. Shutai then listed Yingxiong's bribes; Yingxiong donated to tomb repairs, and Shutai impeached him again for harboring traitors. The emperor accused him of private spite and rejected the charges.
19
十一年冬，上疏言：「今以措餉故，至搜括借助。 即行之而得，再有兵事，能復行乎！ 治不規其可久，徒倉皇於補救之術，非所以為忠也。 陛下方以清節風天下，而乃條敘百官金錢於多寡之間，是教之貪也。 至借貸之說，尤不可行。 京師根本重地，邇者物力困竭，富商大賈大半旋歸。 內不安，何以攘外！ 乞立寢其說。」 又言：「強兵莫如行法。 今之兵，索餉則強，赴敵則弱； 殺良冒功則強，除暴救民則弱。 請明示法令，諸將能用命殺賊者，立擢為大將，否則死無赦。 毋以降級戴罪，徒為不切身之痛癢。」 帝是其言。
In the winter of year 11 he wrote, "To raise funds the court now resorts to forced levies and borrowing. Even if they work once, how can they be repeated when war returns? Governing without durable plans and only patching in haste is not loyal service. Your Majesty seeks to inspire integrity, yet ranking officials' wealth teaches greed. The borrowing scheme above all must be abandoned. Beijing is the empire's foundation; goods are exhausted and wealthy merchants have fled. With the interior unsettled, how can we face outward threats? I beg Your Majesty to abandon it immediately. He added, "Strong armies require strict law. Today's soldiers bully for pay but flee the enemy; bold in killing civilians for credit, timid in protecting the people. Make the law plain: commanders who obey and kill rebels rise to grand general; those who fail die without mercy. Do not treat demotion as a painless slap on the wrist." The emperor agreed.
20
十五年遷吏科，典浙江鄉試，事竣還家。 十二月，大清兵圍兗州，淑泰竭力固守。 城破，死之。 詔贈太仆少卿，官一子。
In year 15 he entered the Personnel Bureau, ran the Zhejiang provincial exams, then went home. In the twelfth month Qing forces besieged Yanzhou and Shutai defended fiercely. When the city fell he died. He was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Stud and one son received office.
21
高名衡，字仲平，沂州人。 崇禎四年進士。 除如臯知縣，以才調興化，征授御史。 十二年出按河南。 明年期滿，留再巡一年。
Gao Mingheng, styled Zhongping, came from Yizhou. He became a jinshi in Chongzhen 4. He governed Rugao, was transferred to Xinghua for ability, then summoned as censor. In year 12 he was sent to inspect Henan. When his term ended he was kept another year.
22
十四年正月，李自成陷洛陽，乘勝遂圍開封。 巡撫李仙風時在河北，名衡集眾守。 周王恭枵發庫金百萬兩，募死士殺賊，烝米屑麥，執爨以餉軍，凡七晝夜。 仙風馳還開封，副將陳永福背城而戰，斬首二千。 遊擊高謙夾擊，斬首七百。 賊解去。 仙風既還，與名衡互訐奏。 帝以陷福藩罪詔逮仙風，以襄陽兵備副使張克儉代。 克儉已前死難，即擢名衡右僉都御史代之。 以永福充總兵官都督僉事，鎮守河南。
In the first month of year 14 Li Zicheng took Luoyang and besieged Kaifeng. Grand Coordinator Li Xianfeng was in Hebei; Mingheng rallied the defense. Prince Gong Xu spent a million taels from the treasury, recruited volunteers, ground grain and cooked for the troops for seven days and nights. Xianfeng rushed back; Vice General Chen Yongfu fought with the wall at his back and took two thousand heads. Roving commander Gao Qian attacked from both flanks and took seven hundred heads. The rebels withdrew. Once back, Xianfeng and Mingheng traded impeachment memorials. Blaming the loss of the Fu prince's domain, the emperor arrested Xianfeng and named Zhang Kejian to replace him. Kejian had already died in battle; Mingheng was promoted Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief in his place. Yongfu was made regional commander and Vice Commissioner-in-Chief defending Henan.
23
當是時，賊連陷南陽、鄧、汝十余州縣，唐、徽二王遇害，名稀不能救。 開封周邸圖書文物之盛甲他藩，士大夫垔富，蓄積充刃。 自成攻之不能克，然欲得而甘心焉。 十二月杪，賊再圍開封。 永福射自成，中其左目，炮殪上天龍等。 自成大怒，急攻之。 開封故宋汴都，金帝南遷所重築也，厚數丈，內堅致而疏外。 賊用火藥放迸，火發即外擊，<番瓦>瓳飛鳴，賊騎皆糜爛，自成大驚。 會楊文嶽援兵亦至，乃解圍去。 西華、郾、襄、睢、陳、太康、商丘、寧陵、考城俱陷。
Bandits then seized Nanyang, Deng, Ru, and a dozen counties; the Tang and Hui princes were killed and Mingheng could not rescue them. Kaifeng's Zhou palace held finer collections than other princes; officials were rich and stores abundant. Zicheng could not storm it but was determined to have it. At month's end they besieged Kaifeng again. Yongfu shot Zicheng in the left eye; cannon killed Shang Tianlong and others. Enraged, Zicheng pressed the assault. Kaifeng, old Song Bianliang, had been rebuilt thick and hard inside, softer outside. They blasted the walls with gunpowder; the blast hurled bricks outward, shattering rebel cavalry and startling Zicheng. Yang Wenyue's relief arrived and the siege lifted. Xihua, Yan, Xiang, Sui, Chen, Taikang, Shangqiu, Ningling, and Kaocheng all fell.
24
十五年四月復至開封，圍而不攻，欲坐困之。 六月，帝詔釋故尚書侯恂於獄，命督保定、山東、河北、湖北諸軍務，並轄平賊等鎮援剿官兵。 拔知縣蘇京、王漢、王燮為御史。 詔蘇京監延、寧、甘、固軍，趣孫傳庭出關； 王漢監平賊鎮標楚、蜀軍，同侯恂等急擊； 王燮監陽、懷東晉軍，刻期渡河。 總兵許定國以晉軍次沁水，一夕潰去，寧武兵亦潰於懷慶，詔逮定國。 七月，河上之兵潰。 督師丁啟睿、保督楊文嶽合左良玉、虎大威、楊德政、方國安諸軍，次於朱仙鎮。 良玉走還襄陽，諸軍皆潰，啟睿、文嶽奔汝寧。 詔山東總兵官劉澤清援開封。 城中食盡，名衡、永福偕監司梁炳、蘇壯、吳士講，同知蘇茂灼，通判彭士奇，推官黃澍等守益堅。 澤清以兵來援，諸軍並集河北朱家寨不敢進。 澤清曰：「朱家寨去開封八里。 我以兵五千南渡，依河而營，引水環之。 以次結八營，直達大堤。 築甬道輸河北之粟，以餉城中。 賊兵已老，可一戰走也。」 諸軍皆曰：「善。」 乃以兵三千人先渡立營。 賊攻之，戰三晝夜，諸軍無繼者，甬道不就，澤清拔營歸。 日夜望傳庭出關，不至。
In the fourth month of year 15 they returned, besieging without assault to starve the city. In the sixth month the emperor freed former minister Hou Xun to command armies in Baoding, Shandong, Hebei, and Hubei and the pacification forces. Magistrates Su Jing, Wang Han, and Wang Xie were made censors. Su Jing was ordered to oversee Yan, Ning, Gan, and Gu troops and hurry Sun Chuanting out of the passes; Wang Han to lead Pacification Army Chu and Shu troops with Hou Xun; and Wang Xie to lead Yang and Huai eastern Jin forces across the river on schedule. Regional Commander Xu Dingguo's Jin army camped at Qinshui and fled overnight; Ningwu troops broke at Huaqing; Dingguo was arrested. In the seventh month the river armies collapsed. Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue gathered Zuo Liangyu, Hu Dawei, Yang Dezheng, and Fang Guo'an at Zhuxian Town. Liangyu fled to Xiangyang; the armies scattered; Qirui and Wenyue fled to Runing. Shandong regional commander Liu Zeqing was ordered to relieve Kaifeng. When food ran out, Mingheng, Yongfu, Liang Bing, Su Zhuang, Wu Shijiang, Su Maozhuo, Peng Shiji, Huang Shu, and others held ever firmer. Zeqing arrived, but allied armies camped at Zhujiazhai north of the river and would not advance. Zeqing said, "Zhujiazhai is eight li from Kaifeng. I will cross with five thousand men, camp on the riverbank, and ring the camp with water. Then build eight camps in succession up to the great dike. A covered way will bring grain from the north bank to feed the city. The rebels are exhausted; a single engagement should drive them off." The commanders all agreed: "Well said." He crossed first with three thousand men and pitched camp. Rebels assaulted the bridgehead; after three days and nights with no reinforcements and no covered way finished, Zeqing pulled back. They waited day and night for Chuanting to emerge from the passes, but he never came.
25
賊圖開封者三，士馬損傷多，積憤，誓必拔之。 圍半年，師老糧匱，欲決黃河灌之。 以城中子女貨寶，猶豫不決。 聞秦師已東，恐諸鎮兵夾擊，欲變計。 會有獻計於巡按御史嚴雲京者，請決河以灌賊。 雲京語名衡、澍，名衡、澍以為然。 周王恭枵募民築羊馬墻，堅厚如高岸。 賊營直傅大堤，河決賊可盡，城中無虞。 我方鑿朱家寨口，賊知，移營高阜，艨艟巨筏以待，而驅掠民夫數萬反決馬家口以灌城。 九月癸未望，夜半，二口並決。 天大雨連旬，黃流驟漲，聲聞百里。 丁夫荷鍤者，隨堤漂沒十數萬，賊亦沈萬人。 河入自北門，貫東南門以出，流入於渦水。 名衡、永福乘小舟至城頭，周王率其宮眷及寧鄉諸郡王避水棲城樓，坐雨絕食者七日。 王燮以舟迎王，王從城上泛舟出，名衡等皆出。 茂灼、士奇久餓不能起，並溺死。 賊浮艦入城，遺民俱盡，拔營而西。 城初圍時百萬戶，後饑疫死者十二三。 汴梁佳麗甲中州，群盜心艷之，至是盡沒於水。 帝聞，痛悼。 猶念諸臣拒守勞，命敘功。 加名衡兵部右侍郎，名衡辭以疾。 即擢王漢右僉都御史，代名衡巡撫河南。 名衡歸，未幾，大清兵破沂州，名衡夫婦殉難。
Having failed twice before at Kaifeng, with heavy casualties and mounting rage, the rebels swore the city would fall. Six months into the siege, with troops spent and grain gone, they planned to break the Yellow River and drown the city. The city's people and wealth gave them pause, and they could not bring themselves to act. When word came that Shaanxi troops were marching east, fearing encirclement by allied garrisons, they sought another course. Someone then proposed to touring censor Yan Yunjing that the river be opened to flood the rebels. Yunjing spoke with Mingheng and Huang Shu, and both agreed. The Prince of Zhou, Gongxiao, mobilized civilians to raise parapets as thick and firm as river levees. Rebel camps hugged the main embankment; a breach would sweep them away while the city stood safe. While defenders opened Zhujiazhai, the rebels shifted to high ground with warships and rafts at the ready, then forced tens of thousands of civilians to cut Majiakou and turn the flood against the city. At midnight on the full moon of the ninth month, both cuts gave way together. Rain fell for ten days straight; the Yellow River rose in a roaring flood audible a hundred li off. Hundreds of thousands of diggers were swept from the embankment and drowned; ten thousand rebels went under as well. Water poured in the north gate, cut through the southeast gate, and ran off into the Wo River. Mingheng and Yongfu reached the walltop by boat while the Prince of Zhou, his consorts, and the Ningxiang princes took refuge in the gate towers, seven days without food in the driving rain. Wang Xie sent boats for the prince, who floated out over the ramparts; Mingheng and his colleagues escaped with him. Maozhuo and Shiji, too weak from hunger to stand, drowned together. Rebels sailed into the drowned city; the last inhabitants perished; then they broke camp and withdrew west. Kaifeng had held a million households at the siege's start; famine and plague later killed perhaps a tenth of them. Kaifeng's celebrated women had been the envy of every rebel camp; now they vanished beneath the flood. The emperor was stricken with grief on hearing the news. Remembering how hard his defenders had fought, he ordered their service rewarded. Mingheng was made Vice Minister of War but pleaded illness and declined. Wang Han was promoted Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief and sent to replace Mingheng as Henan grand coordinator. Mingheng went home; soon after, Qing forces captured Yizhou, and he and his wife died defending it.
26
王漢，字子房，掖縣人。 崇禎十年進士。 除高平知縣。 調河內，擒巨寇天壇山劉二。 又乘雪夜破妖僧智善。 夜半渡河，破賊楊六郎。 李自成圍開封，漢然火金龍口柳林為疑兵，遣死士入賊中，聲言：「諸鎮兵來援，各數十萬至矣。」 賊聞則驚走。
Wang Han, styled Zifang, came from Ye County. He earned his jinshi in Chongzhen 10. He became magistrate of Gaoping. At Henei he captured the bandit chieftain Liu Er of Tiantan Mountain. He also routed the sorcerer-monk Zhishan in a night attack through snow. Crossing the river at midnight, he smashed Yang Liulang's band. During Li Zicheng's siege of Kaifeng, Han lit decoy fires at Jinlongkou and slipped agents into rebel lines to spread word that garrison relief—hundreds of thousands strong—had arrived." The rebels panicked and withdrew.
27
漢為人負氣愛士。 人有一長，嗟嘆之不容口。 僚屬紳士陳民疾苦，或言己過，則瞿然下拜。 用兵士卒同甘苦，人樂為之死。 好用間，賊中虛實莫不知。 攻天壇山賊，山陡絕，登者挽以布。 漢持刀直上，人服其勇。 時賊氛日熾，帝每臨朝而嘆漢前後破賊功，降旨優敘。
Han was proud-spirited and devoted to men of ability. He never tired of praising even one small gift in a man. If an aide or local notable told him of public suffering—or of his own failings—he would bow in sudden humility. On campaign he ate and marched with his troops, and they willingly died for him. A master of espionage, he always knew the rebels' true condition. Assaulting Tiantan Mountain, where the cliffs were sheer, his men were pulled up on cloth ropes. Han climbed sword in hand; all marveled at his daring. With rebellion spreading, the emperor often sighed over Han's victories and sent edicts of special commendation.
28
十五年春，以減俸行取入都，與蘇京、王燮同召對，稱旨。 命三臣皆以試御史監軍。 漢監平賊鎮標楚、蜀軍，與督臣侯恂南援汴。
In spring of year 15, summoned to court despite a pay cut, he and Su Jing and Wang Xie met the emperor and won his approval. All three were appointed provisional censor-supervisors of the field armies. Han took command of Pacification Army Chu and Shu units and marched south with Hou Xun to save Kaifeng.
29
時兵部奏援剿兵十萬，十之四以屬京、燮，屬漢以其六。 漢所監凡五萬九千，然大半已潰散，兵部空名使之。 漢乃請自立標營兵千人，騎二百，報可。 乃簡保營兵百余人，募邯鄲、鉅鹿壯士三百人，又取故治河內所練義兵及修武、濟源素從征剿者五百人，及親故子弟，合千人。 八月朔夜半，襲賊範家灘，斬一紅甲賊目。 檄諸將合剿。 自走襄陽，督左良玉兵救汴。 至潼關，有詔漢巡按河南。 時賊灌開封，漢聞，趣諸將自柳園夜半渡河，伏兵西岸。 檄卜從善等夾攻之，斬首九十余級，遂入汴，大張旗鼓為疑兵。 追賊至朱仙鎮，連戰皆捷。 巡撫高名衡謝病，即擢漢右僉都御史代之。 漢乃廣間諜，收土豪，議屯田，謀所以圖賊。
The Ministry of War listed a hundred thousand relief troops; forty percent went to Su Jing and Wang Xie, sixty to Han. Han nominally commanded fifty-nine thousand men, but most had already fled; the ministry had only titles to offer. He asked to form a thousand-man infantry and two-hundred-horse cavalry command of his own; the court agreed. From Pacification Army veterans, Handan and Julu recruits, his old Henei militia, campaign-hardened men from Xiuwu and Jiyuan, and sons of kin and friends, he assembled a thousand troops. On the first night of the eighth month he struck Fanjiatan and killed a red-armored rebel officer. He called on all generals to join in a joint attack. He raced to Xiangyang to hurry Zuo Liangyu's army toward Kaifeng. At Tong Pass he received orders appointing him Henan touring censor. When Kaifeng was inundated, Han rushed the generals to cross from Liuyuan at midnight and hide on the west bank. Bu Congshan and others struck from both flanks, taking ninety heads; Han then entered Kaifeng and beat drums and flags as a deception. He chased the rebels to Zhuxian Town and won a string of engagements. When Gao Mingheng stepped down ill, Han was promoted Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief in his place. He widened his intelligence, rallied local power-holders, planned garrison agriculture, and schemed against the rebels.
30
無何，劉超反永城。 超，永城人，跛而狡，為貴州總兵，坐罪免。 上疏言兵計，陳新甲用為河南總兵。 以私怨殺其鄉官御史魏景琦一家三十余人，懼罪，遂據城反。 漢上疏請討，語泄，超得為備。 明年正月，漢入永城，聲言招撫，為賊所殺。 參將陳治邦、遊擊連光耀父子皆戰死。 遊擊馬魁負漢屍以出，面如生。 詔贈兵部尚書，蔭錦衣世百戶，建祠致祭。 既而超伏誅，傳首九邊。
Soon Liu Chao rose in revolt at Yongcheng. A lame, wily Yongcheng man, Liu Chao had served as Guizhou regional commander until dismissed for misconduct. He submitted plans for the armies, and Chen Xin'a made him Henan regional commander. He slaughtered more than thirty kin of local censor Wei Jingqi in a private vendetta, then rebelled and held the city for fear of retribution. Han requested permission to attack, but word leaked and Chao made ready. The next first month he entered Yongcheng under the guise of amnesty and was murdered by the rebels. Chen Zhibang and the father-and-son team Lian Guangyao fell fighting. Ma Kui bore Han's corpse from the field; his face looked untouched by death. The court posthumously made him Minister of War, granted hereditary Guard rank to a hundred households, and ordered a memorial shrine. Chao was soon caught and executed; his head was displayed on the frontier.
31
徐汧，字九一，長洲人。 生未期而孤。 稍長砥行，有時名，與同里楊廷樞相友善。 廷樞，復社諸生所稱維鬥先生者也。 天啟五年，魏大中被逮過薊州，汧貸金資其行。 周順昌被逮，緹騎橫索錢，汧與廷樞斂財經理之。 當是時，汧、廷樞名聞天下。
Xu Qian, styled Jiuyi, came from Changzhou. His father died before his first birthday. As he matured he cultivated his character, won local renown, and befriended Yang Tingshu of the same district. Tingshu was the Fushe scholar known everywhere as Master Weidou. In Tianqi 5, when Wei Dazhong was seized and marched through Jizhou, Qian lent him travel money. When Zhou Shunchang was taken, the bailiffs demanded bribes; Qian and Tingshu raised money to see him through. By then Qian and Tingshu were famous across the empire.
32
崇禎元年，汧成進士，改庶吉士，授檢討。 三年，廷樞舉應天鄉試第一。 中允黃道周以救錢龍錫貶官。 倪元璐，道周同年生，請以己代謫，帝不允。 汧上疏頌道周、元璐賢，且自請罷黜，帝詰責汧。 汧曰：「推賢讓能，藎臣所務； 難進易退，儒者之風。 間者陛下委任之意希註外廷，防察之權輒逮閽寺，默窺聖意，疑貳漸萌。 萬一士風日賤，宸向日移，明盛之時為憂方大。」 帝不聽。 汧尋乞假歸。 還朝，遷右庶子，充日講官。
In Chongzhen 1 he became a jinshi, entered the Hanlin, and was made a reviser. In year 3 Tingshu topped the Jiangnan provincial exams. Huang Daozhou was reduced in rank for defending Qian Longxi. Ni Yuanlu, Daozhou's classmate, offered to accept the punishment himself; the emperor refused. Qian praised Daozhou and Yuanlu in a memorial and asked to be removed from office; the emperor scolded him. Qian replied: "To advance the worthy and yield to the able is what a loyal minister owes the throne; to enter reluctantly and withdraw readily is the scholar's way. Lately appointments rarely reach the outer court, yet surveillance powers keep falling to the eunuchs; reading the throne's mood, men have begun to doubt and divide. Should official morale sink and the emperor's favor swing day by day, the dynasty's golden age would be in grave peril." The emperor would not hear him. Qian soon took leave and went home. Back at court he became Right Sub-Reader and a daily lecturer to the throne.
33
十四年奉使益王府，便道還家。 當是時，復社諸生氣甚盛，汧與廷樞、顧杲、華允誠等往復尤契。 居久之，京師陷。 福王召汧為少詹事。 汧以國破君亡，臣子不當叨位，且痛宗社之喪亡，由朋黨相傾，移書當事，勸以力破異同之見。 既就職，陳時政七事，忄卷忄卷以化恩仇、去偏黨為言。 而安遠侯柳祚昌疏攻汧，謂：「朝服謁潞王於京口，自恃東林巨魁，與復社楊廷樞、顧杲諸奸狼狽相倚。 陛下定鼎金陵，彼為《討金陵檄》，所雲『中原逐鹿，南國指馬』是何語？ 乞置汧於理，除廷樞、杲名，其余徒黨，容臣次第糾彈。」 時國事方棘，事亦竟寢。 汧移疾歸。
In year 14 he served as envoy to the Prince of Yi and visited home on the way. Fushe's scholars were at their zenith; Qian corresponded most closely with Tingshu, Gu Gao, Hua Yuncheng, and their circle. Before long Beijing fell. The Prince of Fu called Qian to serve as Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Believing no loyal subject should take rank after the realm's fall, and grieving that faction had destroyed the dynasty, he wrote the court urging an end to partisan rancor. On taking office he offered seven reforms, earnestly pleading that grudges be healed and factions set aside. Marquis Liu Zuochang of Anyuan then impeached him, charging that Qian—in court dress—had visited the Prince of Lu at Jingkou, posing as a Donglin boss in league with Fushe's Yang Tingshu, Gu Gao, and other ringleaders. With the throne established at Jinling, they circulated a denunciation asking what was meant by 'contending for the realm in the north while marking out the south's steed.' He demanded Qian be prosecuted, Tingshu and Gao removed from office, and the rest of the clique impeached one by one." But with the realm in crisis, the accusation was quietly dropped. Qian pleaded illness and went home.
34
明年，南京失守，蘇、常相繼下。 汧慨然太息，作書戒二子，投虎丘新塘橋下死。 郡人赴哭者數千人。 時又有一人儒冠藍衫而來，躍虎丘劍池中，土人憐而葬之，卒不知何人也。
The following year Nanjing fell, then Suzhou and Changzhou in turn. He sighed in grief, wrote final letters to his sons, and drowned himself at the New Tang Bridge below Tiger Hill. Thousands from the prefecture came to mourn him. About then another man in cap and gown threw himself into Tiger Hill's Sword Pool; villagers buried him in pity, never learning his name.
35
於是廷樞聞變，走避之鄧尉山中。 久之，四方弄兵者群起，廷樞負重名，鹹指目廷樞。 當事者執廷樞，好言慰之，廷樞嫚罵不已，殺之蘆墟泗洲寺。 首已墮，聲從項中出，益厲。 門人迮紹原購其屍葬焉。
When Tingshu heard the news, he fled into the Dengwei hills. As warlords sprang up across the land, Tingshu's fame made him the man everyone watched. Authorities arrested Tingshu, tried to placate him, and when he cursed them without stopping, executed him at Luzhu Sizhou Temple. Even after decapitation a voice rose from his neck, louder and fiercer than before. His student Zuo Shaoyuan bought his body and gave it burial.
36
汧子枋，字昭法，舉十五年鄉試。 枋依隱，有高行雲。
Qian's son Fang, styled Zhaofa, passed the provincial exam in year 15. Fang withdrew from public life and was honored for his integrity.
37
鹿善繼，字伯順，定興人。 祖久征，萬歷中進士，授息縣知縣。 時詔天下度田，各署上中下壤，息獨以下田報，曰：「度田以紓民，乃病民乎！」 調襄垣，擢御史，以言事謫澤州判官，遷滎澤知縣，未任而卒。 父正，苦節自礪。 縣令某欲見之，方糞田，投鍤而往。 急人之難，傾其家不惜，遠近稱鹿太公。
Lu Shanji, styled Boshun, came from Dingxing. His grandfather Jiuzheng, a Wanli-era jinshi, served as magistrate of Xi County. When the throne ordered a national land survey graded by soil quality, Xi County alone reported all fields as lower grade, asking: "Was the survey meant to relieve the people or to harm them?" Transferred to Xiangyuan and made censor, he was banished to Zecheng for speaking out, then appointed to Yingze, but died before he could serve. His father Zheng lived in austere self-discipline. A magistrate once came to call while he was spreading manure; he dropped his spade and went to meet him. He would ruin his household to aid the distressed; neighbors far and near called him Old Master Lu.
38
善繼端方謹愨。 由萬歷四十一年進士，授戶部主事。 內艱除，起故官。 遼左餉中絕，廷臣數請發帑，不報。 會廣東進金花銀，善繼稽舊制，金花貯庫，備各邊應用。 乃奏記尚書李汝華曰：「與其請不發之帑，何如留未進之金？」 汝華然之。 帝怒，奪善繼俸一年，趣補進。 善繼持不可，以死爭。 乃奪汝華俸二月，降善繼一級，調外。 汝華懼，卒補銀進。 泰昌改元，復原官，典新餉。 連疏請帑百萬，不報。
Shanji was upright, careful, and scrupulous. A Wanli 41 jinshi, he entered the Ministry of Revenue as a secretary. He left office for his mother's mourning and returned afterward to the same post. Liaodong pay dried up; ministers repeatedly begged for treasury funds and received no answer. When Guangdong delivered tribute silver, Shanji cited precedent that such silver belonged in the treasury for frontier use. He wrote Minister Li Ruhua: "Better to hold back silver not yet forwarded than to plead for funds the throne will not release." Li Ruhua agreed. The emperor was furious, docked Shanji a year's pay, and demanded immediate delivery of the silver. Shanji refused and fought the order as if his life depended on it. Ruhua lost two months' salary; Shanji was demoted and sent out of the capital. Frightened, Li Ruhua finally sent the silver in. Under the Taichang emperor he was restored and put in charge of new frontier funds. He repeatedly asked for a million taels from the treasury and was ignored.
39
天啟元年，遼陽陷，以才改兵部職方主事。 大學士孫承宗理兵部事，推心任之。 及閱視關門，以善繼從。 出督師，復表為贊畫。 布衣羸馬，出入亭障間，延見將卒相勞苦，拓地四百里，收復城堡數十，承宗倚之若左右手。 在關四年，累進員外郎、郎中。 承宗謝事，善繼亦告歸。
In Tianqi 1, after Liaoyang fell, his ability won him a post in the Ministry of War's Bureau of Operations. Grand Secretary Sun Chengzong ran the War Ministry and gave Shanji his full trust. On inspection tours of the frontier passes he kept Shanji at his side. As supreme commander he again named Shanji his strategic planner. Clad plainly on a thin horse he moved among the defenses, comforted officers and men, reclaimed four hundred li of territory and dozens of forts; Chengzong leaned on him like a second self. Four years on the frontier brought him promotion to vice director and then director. When Chengzong stepped down, Shanji sought leave to go home.
40
先是，楊、左之獄起，魏大中子學洢、左光鬥弟光明，先後投鹿太公家。 太公客之，與所善義士容城舉人孫奇逢謀，持書走關門，告其難於承宗。 承宗、善繼謀借巡視薊門，請入覲。 奄黨大嘩，謂閣部將提兵清君側，嚴旨阻之。 獄益急，五日一追贓，搒掠甚酷。 太公急募得數百金輸之，而兩人者則皆已斃矣。 至是，善繼歸，而周順昌之獄又起。 順昌，善繼同年生，善繼又為募得數百金，金入而順昌又斃。 奄黨居近善繼家，難家子弟仆從相望於道。 太公曰：「吾不懼也。」 崇禎元年，逆榼既誅，善繼起尚寶卿，遷太常少卿，管光祿丞事，再請歸。
Earlier, during the Yang–Zuo persecutions, Wei Dazhong's son Xueyi and Zuo Guangdou's brother Guangming both took refuge with Old Master Lu. He sheltered them and, with his friend the Rongcheng scholar Sun Qifeng, sent word through the passes to Chengzong. Chengzong and Shanji planned to enter the capital under cover of inspecting Jizhou. Eunuch partisans cried that the Grand Secretariat meant to march on the capital; stern edicts stopped them. The prosecutions intensified—restitution demanded every five days amid savage torture. Old Master Lu frantically raised hundreds of taels in ransom, but both men were already dead. Shanji was home when the persecution of Zhou Shunchang began anew. Shunchang, Shanji's classmate, received the same help—but the silver came too late. With eunuch allies nearby, the roads around his home filled with the kin and servants of the accused. Old Master Lu said: "I do not fear them." In Chongzhen 1, after the eunuch tyrants were killed, Shanji returned as Court of Imperial Sacrifices minister, became Vice Minister of Rites overseeing the Banquets Directorate, and twice asked to retire.
41
九年七月，大清兵攻定興。 善繼家在江村，白太公請入捍城，太公許之。 與裏居知州薛一鶚等共守。 守六日而城破，善繼死。 家人奔告太公，太公曰：「嗟乎，吾兒素以身許國，今果死，吾復何憾！」 事聞，贈善繼大理卿，謚忠節，敕有司建祠。 子化麟，舉天啟元年鄉試第一，伏闕訟父忠。 逾年亦卒。
In the seventh month of year 9 Qing forces attacked Dingxing. Living at Jiang Village, he asked Old Master Lu's leave to join the city's defense; the old man agreed. He defended the city alongside the local retired prefect Xue Yie and others. Six days into the siege the wall gave way; Shanji was killed. When his family brought word, Old Master Lu said: "My son long ago gave his life to the realm; now he has paid—what more could I ask?" The court posthumously made him Grand Court President, styled him Loyal and Steadfast, and ordered an official shrine. His son Hualin topped the Tianqi 1 provincial exams and knelt at the palace gate to vindicate his father. A year later he too was dead.
42
薛一鶚，字百當，由貢生為黃州通判。 荊王姬誣他姬鴆世子，一鶚白其誣。 奄人傳太妃命，欲竟其獄，卒直之。 遷蘭州知州。 州北有田沒於番，吏派其賦於他戶，後田復歸，為衛卒所據，而民出賦三十年，一鶚核除其害。 至是佐善繼城守，遂同死。
Xue Yie, styled Baidang, became Huangzhou vice prefect by the tribute-student path. When a Jing prince's consort falsely accused a rival of poisoning the heir, Yie exposed the lie. A eunuch brought the Grand Consort's order to bury the matter; Yie insisted on the truth. He was promoted to prefect of Lanzhou. When tribal incursions had swallowed northern fields, officials shifted the tax to others; even after the land returned, garrison troops held it while commoners paid thirty years of levies; Yie audited the rolls and lifted the burden. He joined Shanji in the defense of Dingxing and died at his side.
43
贊曰：士大夫致政裏居，無封疆民社之責，可遜跡自全，非以必死為勇也。 然而慷慨捐軀，冒白刃而不悔，湛宗覆族，君子哀之。 豈非名義所在，有重於生者乎！ 氣節凜然，要於自遂其誌。 其英風義烈，固不可泯沒於宇宙間矣。
The commentators say: retired officials at home owe no frontier or communal charge; they may withdraw and save themselves—bravery is not measured by courting death. Yet they gave their lives freely, faced the blade without regret, and brought ruin on kin and clan—worthy men grieved for them. Was it not that duty and honor outweighed life itself! Their integrity stood bright; what mattered was to follow their chosen path. Their heroic spirit and righteous zeal cannot be erased from the world.