Volume 274 Biographies 162: Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Jiang Yueguang

【列傳第一百六十二史可法〈（任民育等·何剛等）〉 ·高弘圖·薑曰廣〈（周鑣·雷縯祚）〉】

[Biography 162: Shi Kefa (Ren Minyu and others · He Gang and others)〉 · Gao Hongtu · Jiang Yueguang (Zhou Biao · Lei Yunzuo)〉】〉

史可法，字憲之，大興籍，祥符人。世錦衣百戶。祖應元舉於鄉，官黃平知州，有惠政。語其子從質曰：「我家必昌。」從質妻尹氏有身，夢文天祥入其舍，生可法。以孝聞。舉崇禎元年進士，授西安府推官，稍遷戶部主事，曆員外郎、郎中。

Shi Kefa, courtesy name Xianzhi, was registered in Daxing but was a native of Xiangfu. His family had served for generations as hundred-household officers in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. His grandfather Yingyuan passed the provincial examinations and served as prefect of Huangping, where his policies won the people's affection. He told his son Congzhi, "Our family is bound to rise." While Congzhi's wife Lady Yin was pregnant, she dreamed that Wen Tianxiang entered their home, and thereafter Shi Kefa was born. He became known for his filial devotion. He passed the jinshi in the first year of the Chongzhen reign, was appointed reviewing officer of Xi'an Prefecture, and was gradually promoted through the Ministry of Revenue to supervising secretary, secretary, and director.

八年，遷右參議，分守池州、太平。其秋，總理侍郎盧象升大舉討賊。改可法副使，分巡安慶、池州，監江北諸軍。黃梅賊掠宿松、潛山、太湖，將犯安慶，可法追擊之潛山天堂寨。明年，祖寬破賊滁州，賊走河南。十二月，賊馬守應合羅汝才、李萬慶自鄖陽東下。可法馳駐太湖，扼其沖。十年正月，賊從間道突安慶石牌，尋移桐城。參將潘可大擊走賊，賊復為廬、風軍所扼，回桐城，掠四境。知縣陳爾銘嬰城守，可法與可大剿捕。賊走廬江，犯潛山，可法與左良玉敗之楓香驛，賊乃竄潛山、太湖山中。三月，可大及副將程龍敗歿於宿松。賊分其黨搖天動別為一營，而合八營二十餘萬眾，分屯桐城之練潭、石井、陶沖。總兵官牟文綬、劉良佐擊敗之掛車河。

In the eighth year he was promoted to right assistant administrator with responsibility for Chizhou and Taiping. That autumn, supreme commander Lu Xiangsheng, in his capacity as vice minister, mounted a major campaign against the rebels. Shi Kefa was reassigned as vice commissioner to patrol Anqing and Chizhou and to supervise all forces north of the Yangtze. Rebels from Huangmei plundered Susong, Qianshan, and Taihu and were poised to strike Anqing; Kefa pursued them to Tiantang Stockade in Qianshan. The following year Zu Kuan routed the rebels at Chuzhou, and they fled into Henan. In the twelfth month the rebel Ma Shouying united with Luo Rucai and Li Wanqing and marched east from Yunyang. Kefa rushed to Taihu and blocked their path of advance. In the first month of the tenth year the rebels struck Anqing's Shipai by a hidden route, then soon moved on to Tongcheng. Regimental commander Pan Keda beat the rebels back, but they were checked again by the Luzhou and Fengyang armies, withdrew to Tongcheng, and ravaged the countryside on all sides. Magistrate Chen Erming held the city under siege, while Kefa and Keda led the pursuit and suppression. The rebels fled to Lujiang and struck at Qianshan; Kefa and Zuo Liangyu defeated them at Maple Fragrance Post, after which they took refuge in the mountains of Qianshan and Taihu. In the third month Keda and vice commander Cheng Long were defeated and killed at Susong. The rebels detached their partisan Yao Tiandong as a separate camp, while the eight camps together fielded more than two hundred thousand men and encamped at Liantan, Shijing, and Taochong in Tongcheng. Regional commanders Mou Wenshou and Liu Liangzuo defeated them at Guache River.

當是時，陝寇聚漳、寧，分犯岷、洮、秦、楚、應、皖，群盜遍野。總理盧象升既改督宣、大，代以王家禎，祖寬關外兵亦北歸。未幾，上復以熊文燦代家禎，專撫賊。賊益狂逞，盤牙江北，南都震驚。七月擢可法右僉都御史，巡撫安慶、廬州、太平、池州四府，及河南之光州、光山、固始、羅田，湖廣之蘄州、廣濟、黃梅，江西之德化、湖口諸縣，提督軍務，設額兵萬人。賊已東陷和州、含山、定遠、六合，犯天長、盱眙，趨河南。可法奏免被災田租。冬，部將汪雲鳳敗賊潛山，京軍復連破老回回舒城、廬江，賊遁入山。時監軍僉事湯開遠善擊賊，可法東西馳禦，賊稍稍避其鋒。十一年夏，以平賊逾期，戴罪立功。

At that time Shaanxi rebels massed in Zhang and Ning and sent raiding columns into Min, Tao, Qin, Chu, Ying, and Wan, until bandits swarmed across the land. Supreme commander Lu Xiangsheng had already been reassigned to govern Xuanfu and Datong; Wang Jiazhen replaced him, and Zu's frontier army likewise marched north again. Before long the emperor again replaced Jiazhen with Xiong Wencan, charging him solely with pacifying the rebels. The rebels grew bolder still, dug in north of the Yangtze, and alarm spread through the Southern Capital. In the seventh month Kefa was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and appointed grand coordinator of Anqing, Luzhou, Taiping, and Chizhou, as well as Guangzhou, Guangshan, Gushi, and Luotian in Henan; Qizhou, Guangji, and Huangmei in Huguang; and Dehua, Hukou, and other counties in Jiangxi. He was put in charge of military affairs and allotted a standing force of ten thousand men. The rebels had already seized Hezhou, Hanshan, Dingyuan, and Luhe in the east, struck at Tianchang and Xuyi, and were pressing toward Henan. Kefa memorialized to remit land tax on fields stricken by disaster. That winter his subordinate Wang Yunfeng defeated the rebels at Qianshan; the capital army in turn routed Lao Huíhui at Shucheng and Lujiang, and the rebels withdrew into the hills. At the time supervising secretary Tang Kaiyuan was adept at fighting rebels; Kefa raced back and forth to meet them, and the rebels gradually gave his forces a wide berth. In the summer of the eleventh year, because the campaign to pacify the rebels had overrun its deadline, he was ordered to atone by achieving merit in the field.

可法短小精悍，面黑，目爍爍有光。廉信，與下均勞苦。軍行，士不飽不先食，未授衣不先禦，以故得士死力。連敗賊英山、六合，順天王乞降。十二年夏，丁外艱去。服闋，起戶部右侍郎兼右僉都御史。代硃大典總督漕運，巡撫鳳陽、淮安、揚州，劾罷督糧道三人，增設漕儲道一人，大浚南河，漕政大厘。拜南京兵部尚書，參贊機務。因武備久弛，奏行更新八事。

Kefa was short, wiry, and formidable; his face was dark, and his eyes shone with a keen light. He was upright and trustworthy, and shared hardship equally with the men under him. On campaign he would not eat until his men were fed, nor take warm clothing until they had been issued theirs; for this reason they gave him their lives willingly. He defeated the rebels repeatedly at Yingshan and Luhe, until Shuntian Wang sued for surrender. In the summer of the twelfth year he left office to observe mourning for his father. When his mourning ended he was recalled as right vice minister of revenue and concurrently right vice censor-in-chief. He replaced Zhu Dadian as director-general of grain transport and as grand coordinator of Fengyang, Huai'an, and Yangzhou. He impeached and dismissed three grain-route commissioners, added one commissioner for transport reserves, undertook a major dredging of the Southern Canal, and brought transport administration into good order. He was appointed minister of war at Nanjing with a role in deliberating military affairs. Because military readiness had long been neglected, he memorialized proposing eight measures to restore it.

十七年四月朔，聞賊犯闕，誓師勤王。渡江抵浦口，聞北都既陷，縞衣發喪。會南都議立君，張慎言、呂大器、薑曰廣等曰：「福王由崧，神宗孫也，倫序當立，而有七不可：貪、淫、酗酒、不孝、虐下、不讀書、干預有司也。潞王常訁芳，神宗侄也，賢明當立。」移牒可法，可法亦以為然。鳳陽總督馬士英潛與阮大鋮計議，主立福王，咨可法，可法以七不可告之。而士英已與黃得功、劉良佐、劉澤清、高傑發兵送福王至儀真，於是可法等迎王。五月朔，王謁孝陵、奉先殿，出居內守備府。群臣入朝，王色赧欲避。可法曰：「王毋避，宜正受。」既朝，議戰守。可法曰：「王宜素服郊次，發師北征，示天下以必報仇之義。」王唯唯。明日再朝，出議監國事。張慎言曰：「國虛無人，可遂即大位。」可法曰：「太子存亡未卜，倘南來若何？」誠意伯劉孔昭曰：「今日既定，誰敢復更？」可法曰：「徐之。」乃退。又明日，王監國，廷推閣臣，眾舉可法、高弘圖、薑曰廣。孔昭攘臂欲並列，眾以本朝無勳臣入閣例，遏之。孔昭勃然曰：「即我不可，馬士英何不可？」乃並推士英。又議起廢，推鄭三俊、劉宗周、徐石麒。孔昭舉大鋮，可法曰：「先帝欽定逆案，毋復言。」越二日，拜可法禮部尚書兼東閣大學士，與士英、弘圖並命。可法仍掌兵部事，士英仍督師鳳陽。乃定京營制，如北都故事，侍衛及錦衣衛諸軍，悉入伍操練。錦衣東西兩司房，及南北兩鎮撫司官，不備設，以杜告密，安人心。

On the first day of the fourth month of the seventeenth year, upon hearing that rebels had struck the capital, he rallied his troops to march to the emperor's aid. He crossed the Yangtze and reached Pukou; when he learned that the Northern Capital had already fallen, he donned plain white mourning dress and proclaimed the calamity. At that time the Southern Capital debated which prince to enthrone. Zhang Shenyan, Lü Daqi, Jiang Yueguang, and others said, "Prince Fu Zhu Yousong is a grandson of Emperor Shenzong and stands first in the order of succession, yet there are seven reasons he should not reign: greed, lewdness, heavy drinking, lack of filial piety, cruelty to subordinates, neglect of learning, and interference with officials. Prince Lu Zhu Changfang is a nephew of Emperor Shenzong, worthy and enlightened, and should be enthroned instead." They sent a dispatch to Kefa, and he agreed. Fengyang governor-general Ma Shiying secretly plotted with Ruan Dacheng in favor of enthroning Prince Fu. He consulted Kefa, who repeated the seven disqualifications. But Shiying had already joined Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, and Gao Jie in marching troops to escort Prince Fu to Yizhen, and so Kefa and the others went out to receive him. On the first day of the fifth month the prince paid his respects at Xiaoling and the Hall of Imperial Ancestors, then took up residence at the Inner Palace Guard headquarters. When the officials came to audience, the prince flushed and shrank back. Kefa said, "Your Highness must not withdraw; you should receive them as is proper." After the audience they debated strategy for war and defense. Kefa said, "Your Highness ought to wear plain mourning dress and lodge outside the city, raise an army for a northern expedition, and show the empire that vengeance is imperative." The prince murmured assent. The next day, at a second audience, they withdrew to discuss the regency. Zhang Shenyan said, "The throne stands empty; Your Highness may ascend it at once." Kefa said, "We do not yet know whether the crown prince is alive; if he should come south, what then?" Sincerity Earl Liu Kongzhao said, "Once the matter is settled today, who would dare reopen it?" Kefa said, "Let us wait." Then they withdrew. On the following day the prince assumed the regency, and at court recommendation for grand secretaries the assembly nominated Kefa, Gao Hongtu, and Jiang Yueguang. Kongzhao rolled up his sleeves and demanded equal standing, but the assembly, citing the lack of precedent for ennobled ministers in the Secretariat, blocked him. Kongzhao flushed with anger and said, "If I may not serve, why may Ma Shiying not?" Thereupon they nominated Shiying as well. They also debated recalling dismissed officials and nominated Zheng Sanjun, Liu Zongzhou, and Xu Shiqi. Kongzhao nominated Dacheng; Kefa said, "The late emperor definitively settled the treason case; let the matter not be reopened." Two days later Kefa was appointed minister of rites and concurrently grand secretary of the Eastern Pavilion, together with Shiying and Hongtu. Kefa continued to direct the Ministry of War, while Shiying continued to command armies at Fengyang. They then reorganized the capital garrison on the model of the Northern Capital, enrolling palace guards and all Embroidered Uniform Guard troops for drill. The eastern and western offices of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the northern and southern regional commissions were left understaffed, so as to cut off secret denunciations and reassure the people.

可法去，士英、孔昭輩益無所憚。孔昭以慎言舉吳甡，嘩殿上，拔刀逐慎言。可法馳疏解，孔昭卒扼甡不用。可法祭二陵畢，上疏曰：「陛下踐阼初，祗謁孝陵，哭泣盡哀，道路感動。若躬謁二陵，親見泗、鳳蒿萊滿目，雞犬無聲，當益悲憤。願慎終如始，處深宮廣廈，則思東北諸陵魂魄之未安；享玉食大庖，則思東北諸陵麥飯之無展；膺圖受籙，則念先帝之集木馭朽，何以忽遘危亡；早朝晏罷，則念先帝之克儉克勤，何以卒隳大業。戰兢惕厲，無時怠荒，二祖列宗將默佑中興。若晏處東南，不思遠略，賢奸無辨，威斷不靈，老成投簪，豪傑裹足，祖宗怨恫，天命潛移，東南一隅未可保也。」王嘉答之。

Once Kefa was gone, Shiying, Kongzhao, and their allies grew bolder still. Because Shenyan had recommended Wu Shen, Kongzhao raised an uproar in the hall, drew his sword, and drove Shenyan out. Kefa rushed in a memorial to explain, but Kongzhao in the end blocked Wu Shen, who was never appointed. After Kefa had completed the sacrifices at the two imperial mausoleums, he submitted a memorial saying, "When Your Majesty first ascended the throne, you reverently visited Xiaoling and wept with full grief, and travelers on the road were moved. If you were to visit the two mausoleums in person and see Sizhou and Fengyang overgrown to the horizon, silent of fowl and dog, your grief and indignation would only deepen. I pray you be as careful at the end as at the beginning: when you dwell in deep palaces and broad halls, remember that the souls of the northeastern mausoleums are not yet at rest; when you enjoy jade fare and great kitchens, remember that the northeastern mausoleums have not even a bowl of barley rice set out; when you receive the chart and accept the mandate, recall how the late emperor gathered kindling while the carriage rotted—how did ruin come upon us so suddenly; when you attend court early and retire late, recall how the late emperor was frugal and diligent—how did he in the end lose the great enterprise. Tremble in awe, be vigilant and strenuous, and never grow negligent; the two founders and the line of ancestors will silently aid our restoration. If you dwell at ease in the southeast, give no thought to distant strategy, distinguish neither the worthy from the villainous, wield no decisive authority, drive old statesmen to resign and heroes to hold back, then the ancestors will resent and grieve, Heaven's mandate will shift in secret, and even this corner of the southeast cannot be preserved." The prince praised the memorial and replied.

得功、澤清、傑爭欲駐揚州。傑先至，大殺掠，屍橫野。城中恟懼，登陴守，傑攻之浹月。澤清亦大掠淮上。臨淮不納良佐軍，亦被攻。朝命可法往解，得功、良佐、澤清皆聽命。乃詣傑。傑素憚可法，可法來，傑夜掘坎十百，埋暴骸。旦日朝可法帳中，辭色俱變，汗浹背。可法坦懷待之，接偏裨以溫語，傑大喜過望。然傑亦自是易可法，用己甲士防衛，文檄必取視而後行。可法夷然為具疏，屯其眾於瓜洲，傑又大喜。傑去，揚州以安，可法乃開府揚州。

Degong, Zeqing, and Jie each vied to station their troops at Yangzhou. Jie arrived first and carried out widespread slaughter and plunder; corpses lay across the fields. Panic seized the city; the people manned the walls in defense, and Jie besieged it for a full month. Zeqing likewise ravaged the Huai region. Linhuai refused to admit Liangzuo's army and came under attack as well. The court ordered Kefa to go and mediate; Degong, Liangzuo, and Zeqing all submitted to his authority. Then he went to see Jie. Jie had always feared Kefa; when Kefa arrived, Jie spent the night digging hundreds of trenches to bury the exposed corpses. At dawn he came to Kefa's headquarters; his manner and expression both changed, and sweat soaked his back. Kefa received him with open candor and addressed his junior officers with warm words; Jie was delighted beyond his hopes. Yet from this Jie also grew bolder toward Kefa, posting his own armored guards around him; every dispatch had to pass through Jie's hands before it could be issued. Kefa remained unmoved, drew up the memorial for him, and stationed his troops at Guazhou; Jie was again greatly pleased. When Jie withdrew, Yangzhou was pacified, and Kefa then established his headquarters there.

六月，大清兵擊敗賊李自成，自成棄京師西走。青州諸郡縣爭殺偽官，據城自保。可法請頒監國、登極二詔，慰山東、河北軍民心。開禮賢館，招四方才智，以監紀推官應廷吉領其事。八月出巡淮安，閱澤清士馬。返揚州，請餉為進取資。士英靳不發，可法疏趣之。因言：「邇者人才日耗，仕途日淆，由名心勝而實意不修，議論多而成功少。今事勢更非昔比，必專主討賊復仇。舍籌兵籌餉無議論，舍治兵治餉無人才。有摭拾浮談、巧營華要者，罰無赦！」王優詔答之。

In the sixth month the Qing army defeated the rebel Li Zicheng, and Zicheng abandoned the capital and fled west. Throughout Qingzhou, prefectures and counties vied to kill the puppet officials and held their cities in self-defense. Kefa asked that two edicts be issued—one on the regency and one on enthronement—to reassure soldiers and civilians in Shandong and Hebei. He opened a Hall for Honoring the Worthy to recruit talent from all quarters, placing supervising secretary Ying Tingji in charge of it. In the eighth month he inspected Huai'an and reviewed Zeqing's troops and horses. On returning to Yangzhou he requested pay and supplies to fund a northern advance. Shiying was stingy and refused to release the funds; Kefa memorialized to press him. He also wrote, "Lately talent grows scarcer and official careers more corrupt, because men chase reputation rather than cultivate real purpose, and talk is plentiful while achievement is rare. The situation now is nothing like before; we must devote ourselves solely to punishing the rebels and taking revenge. Apart from planning troops and supplies there should be no debate; apart from training troops and managing pay there should be no appointments. Whoever trades in idle talk and craftily seeks splendid posts—let him be punished without mercy!" The prince replied with a gracious edict.

初，可法虞傑跋扈，駐得功儀真防之。九月朔，得功、傑構兵，曲在傑。賴可法調劑，事得解。北都降賊諸臣南還，可法言：「諸臣原籍北土者，宜令赴吏、兵二部錄用，否則恐絕其南歸之心。」又言：「北都之變，凡屬臣子皆有罪。在北者應從死，豈在南者非人臣？即臣可法謬典南樞，臣士英叨任鳳督，未能悉東南甲疾趨北援，鎮臣澤清、傑以兵力不支，折而南走。是首應重論者，臣等罪也。乃因聖明繼統，钅未鉞未加，恩榮疊被。而獨于在北諸臣毛舉而概繩之，豈散秩閑曹，責反重于南樞、鳳督哉。宜摘罪狀顯著者，重懲示儆。若偽命未汙，身被刑辱，可置勿問。其逃避北方、俳徊而後至者，許戴罪討賊，赴臣軍前酌用。」廷議並從之。

Earlier Kefa had feared Jie's arrogance and stationed Degong at Yizhen to keep him in check. On the first day of the ninth month Degong and Jie clashed; the fault lay with Jie. Thanks to Kefa's mediation the affair was settled. Officials of the Northern Capital who had surrendered to the rebels were returning south. Kefa said, "Those whose native places lie in the north should be ordered to present themselves to the Ministries of Personnel and War for appointment; otherwise we may destroy their wish to come south." He also said, "In the fall of the Northern Capital, every subject bore guilt. Those in the north ought to have died with their ruler—are those in the south any less his subjects? Even I, Kefa, wrongly held the southern command, and Shiying presumptuously held the Fengyang post; we failed to muster the armies of the southeast and hurry north. Regional commanders Zeqing and Jie, their forces insufficient, turned south instead. We are the ones who ought first to be judged severely; the guilt is ours. Yet because the sage ruler succeeded to the throne, no punishment fell upon us, and favor and honor were heaped upon us instead. Yet for officials in the north alone we pick out every fault and punish them wholesale—can minor posts bear heavier blame than the southern command and the Fengyang post? We ought to select those whose crimes are conspicuous and punish them severely as a warning. If they were not stained by false commissions and suffered punishment and humiliation in person, they may be left alone. Those who fled the north, lingered, and arrived later may redeem their guilt by fighting rebels and be employed at my discretion." The court adopted all these proposals.

傑居揚州，桀驁甚。可法開誠佈公，導以君臣大義。傑大感悟，奉約束。十月，傑帥師北征。可法赴清江浦，遣官屯田開封，為經略中原計。諸鎮分汛地，自王家營而北至宿遷，最沖要，可法自任之，築壘緣河南岸。十一月四日，舟次鶴鎮，諜報我大清兵入宿遷。可法進至白洋河，令總兵官劉肇基往援。大清兵還攻邳州，肇基復援之，相持半月而解。

Jie remained at Yangzhou, arrogant and ungovernable. Kefa treated him with open candor and instructed him in the obligations of ruler and minister. Jie was deeply moved and submitted to discipline. In the tenth month Jie led his army north. Kefa went to Qingjiangpu, sent officials to open garrison farms at Kaifeng, and laid plans to recover the Central Plain. The regional commands divided garrison zones. From Wangjiaying north to Suqian was the most critical sector, which Kefa took upon himself, building fortifications along the south bank of the Yellow River. On the fourth day of the eleventh month his boat anchored at He Town; scouts reported that Qing forces had entered Suqian. Kefa advanced to the White Yang River and ordered regional commander Liu Zhaoqi to the rescue. The Qing army then attacked Pizhou; Zhaoqi went to its aid again, and after half a month of stalemate the crisis passed.

時自成既走陝西，猶未滅，可法請頒討賊詔書，言：

Zicheng had fled to Shaanxi but was not yet destroyed; Kefa asked that an edict to punish the rebels be issued, writing:

自三月以來，大仇在目，一矢未加。昔晉之東也，其君臣日圖中原，而僅保江左；宋之南也，其君臣盡力楚、蜀，而僅保臨安。蓋偏安者，恢復之退步，未有志在偏安，而遽能自立者也。大變之初，黔黎灑泣，紳士悲哀，猶有朝氣。今則兵驕餉絀，文恬武嬉，頓成暮氣矣。河上之防，百未經理，人心不肅，威令不行。復仇之師不聞及關、陝，討賊之詔不聞達燕、齊。君父之仇，置諸膜外。夫我即卑宮菲食，嘗膽臥薪，聚才智精神，枕戈待旦，合方州物力，破釜沉舟，尚虞無救。以臣觀廟堂謀畫，百執事經營，殊未盡然。夫將所以能克敵者，氣也；君所以能禦將者，志也。廟堂志不奮，則行間氣不鼓。夏少康不忘出竇之辱，漢光武不忘爇薪之時。臣願陛下為少康、光武，不願左右在位，僅以晉元、宋高之說進也。

Since the third month our great enemy has stood before our eyes, yet not a single arrow has been loosed. When the Jin court moved east, its ruler and ministers daily plotted to recover the north yet barely held the lands south of the Yangtze; when the Song court moved south, its ruler and ministers exhausted themselves in Chu and Shu yet barely held Lin'an. Partial security is a retreat from restoration; never yet has a court that aimed only at partial security been able to stand firm. At the beginning of the great calamity common people wept and gentry grieved; there was still vigor in the land. Now the troops are arrogant, pay is short, civil officials are complacent and military men sportive, and the land has sunk into evening lassitude. The river defenses are scarcely in order; discipline has collapsed and authority no longer prevails. We hear nothing of armies of revenge reaching Guan and Shaanxi, nothing of edicts to punish rebels reaching Yan and Qi. The debt owed our sovereign and father is set aside as if it did not exist. Even if we lived in humble quarters and ate plain food, tasted gall and slept on brushwood, gathered every resource of wisdom and spirit, slept on our spears awaiting dawn, and staked everything on one desperate throw, we might still fear no deliverance. As I observe the court's planning and the hundred officials' management, it is far from being so. What enables a general to overcome the enemy is morale; what enables a ruler to command his generals is resolve. If the court's resolve is not ardent, morale in the ranks cannot be roused. Xia Shaokang did not forget the shame of fleeing into hiding; Han Guangwu did not forget the days when he burned brushwood for warmth. I pray Your Majesty will be a Shaokang or a Guangwu, and not that those at your side advance only the counsel of Jin Yuandi and Song Gaozong.

先皇帝死于賊，恭皇帝亦死于賊，此千古未有之痛也。在北諸臣，死節者無多；在南諸臣，討賊者復少。此千古未有之恥也。庶民之家，父兄被殺，尚思穴胸斷豆，得而甘心，況在朝廷，顧可漠置。臣願陛下速發討賊之詔，責臣與諸鎮悉簡精銳，直指秦關，懸上爵以待有功，假便宜而責成效，絲綸之布，痛切淋漓，庶海內忠臣義士，聞而感憤也。

The late emperor died at rebel hands, and the Respectful Emperor likewise died at rebel hands—grief without precedent in a thousand ages. Among officials in the north, few died maintaining their integrity; among officials in the south, few are even fighting the rebels. This is shame without precedent in a thousand ages. In an ordinary household, when father and elder brother are killed, a man still dreams of piercing the enemy's chest and severing his limbs before he can rest; how much more at court—how can we treat the matter with indifference? I pray Your Majesty will swiftly issue an edict to punish the rebels, charge me and the regional commands to select crack troops and strike straight for the Qin Pass, hang high rank before the meritorious, grant discretionary authority and demand results, and let the imperial message ring with piercing grief, so that loyal men throughout the realm may hear it and be stirred to action.

國家遘此大變，陛下嗣登大寶，與先朝不同。諸臣但有罪之當誅，曾無功之足錄。今恩外加恩未已，武臣腰玉，名器濫觴。自後宜慎重，務以爵祿待有功，庶猛將武夫有所激厲。兵行最苦無糧，搜括既不可行，勸輸亦難為繼。請將不急之工程，可已之繁費，朝夕之燕衎，左右之進獻，一切報罷。即事關典禮，亦宜概從節省。蓋賊一日未滅，即有深宮曲房，錦衣玉食，豈能安享！必刻刻在復仇雪恥，振舉朝之精神，萃萬方之物力，盡並於送將練兵一事，庶人心可鼓，天意可回。

The state has met this great calamity; Your Majesty has succeeded to the throne under conditions unlike the previous reign. Among the officials there is guilt deserving death but no merit worth recording. Now favor is piled upon favor without end; military men wear jade at the waist and offices are handed out indiscriminately. Hereafter we ought to be cautious and reserve rank and salary for the meritorious alone, so that fierce generals and warriors may be stirred to effort. On campaign nothing is harder than lack of supplies; exactions can no longer be carried out, and voluntary contributions cannot be sustained. I ask that non-urgent works, expendable costs, daily feasting, and presents from attendants all be cancelled at once. Even where ritual is involved, we ought generally to practice economy. For while the rebels are not yet destroyed, how can one dwell in deep palaces and enjoy brocade robes and jade fare in peace! We must at every moment think of revenge and wiping away shame, rouse the court's spirit, gather the resources of every region, and devote them all to sending generals and training troops; then perhaps hearts may be roused and Heaven's intent may turn back.

可法每繕疏，迴圈諷誦，聲淚俱下，聞者無不感泣。

Whenever Kefa revised a memorial he would read it again and again, voice breaking and tears falling, and none who heard him failed to weep.

比大清兵已下邳、宿，可法飛章報。士英謂人曰：「渠欲敘防河將士功耳。」慢弗省。而諸鎮逡巡無進師意，且數相攻。明年，是為大清順治之二年，正月，餉缺，諸軍皆饑。頃之，河上告警。詔良佐、得功率師扼潁、壽，傑進兵歸、徐。傑至睢州，為許定國所殺。部下兵大亂，屠睢旁近二百里殆盡。變聞，可法流涕頓足歎曰：「中原不可為矣。」遂如徐州，以總兵李本身為提督，統傑兵。本身者，傑甥也。以胡茂順為督師中軍，李成棟為徐州總兵，諸將各分地，又立傑子元爵為世子，請恤於朝。軍乃定。傑軍既還，於是大樑以南皆不守。土英忌可法威名，加故中允衛胤文兵部右侍郎，總督興平軍，以奪可法權。胤文，傑同鄉也，陷賊南還，傑請為己監軍。傑死，胤文承士英旨，疏誚可法。士英喜，故有是命，駐揚州。二月，可法還揚州。未至，得功來襲興平軍，城中大懼。可法遣官講解。乃引去。

By then the Qing army had already taken Pizhou and Suqian; Kefa sent urgent memorials reporting it. Shiying said to others, "He only wants to record merit for the river-defense generals and soldiers." He was negligent and paid no heed. Meanwhile the regional commands hesitated with no intention of advancing, and repeatedly attacked one another. The next year was the second year of the Qing Shunzhi reign; in the first month pay ran short and all the armies went hungry. Before long alarm came from along the river. An edict ordered Liangzuo and Degong to lead armies and hold Ying and Shou, while Jie advanced toward Gui and Xu. Jie reached Suizhou and was killed by Xu Dingguo. His troops fell into great disorder and slaughtered nearly everything within two hundred li of Suizhou. When word of the disaster reached him, Kefa wept, stamped his feet, and cried, "The Central Plain is lost." He went at once to Xuzhou, made regional commander Li Benshen director-general, and took command of Jie's army. Benshen was his sister's son. He made Hu Maoshun central army commander of the director-general, Li Chengdong regional commander of Xuzhou, assigned each general his territory, established Jie's son Yuanjue as heir, and requested mourning favors from the court. Only then was the army brought under control. Once Jie's army had withdrawn, everything south of Kaifeng was left undefended. Shiying resented Kefa's prestige and promoted the former bachelor of arts Wei Yinwen to right vice minister of war and director-general of the Xingping army to strip Kefa of authority. Yinwen was Jie's fellow townsman; he had surrendered to the rebels and returned south, and Jie had requested him as supervising secretary. When Jie died, Yinwen followed Shiying's intent and memorialized to reproach Kefa. Shiying was pleased, and for this reason the appointment was made; Yinwen was stationed at Yangzhou. In the second month Kefa returned to Yangzhou. Before he arrived, Degong attacked the Xingping army and panic seized the city. Kefa sent an official to mediate. Degong then withdrew.

時大兵已取山東、河南北，逼淮南。四月朔，可法移軍駐泗州，護祖陵。將行，左良玉稱兵犯闕，召可法入援。渡江抵燕子磯，得功已敗良玉軍。可法乃趨天長，檄諸將救盱眙。俄報盱眙已降大清，泗州援將侯方岩全軍沒。可法一日夜奔還揚州。訛傳定國兵將至，殲高氏部曲。城中人悉斬關出，舟楫一空。可法檄各鎮兵，無一至者。二十日，大清兵大至，屯班竹園。明日，總兵李棲鳳、監軍副使高岐鳳拔營出降，城中勢益單。諸文武分陴拒守。舊城西門險要，可法自守之。作書寄母妻，且曰：「死葬我高皇帝陵側。」越二日，大清兵薄城下，砲擊城西北隅，城遂破。可法自刎不殊，一參將擁可法出小東門，遂被執。可法大呼曰：「我史督師也。」遂殺之。揚州知府任民育，同知曲從直、王纘爵，江都知縣周志畏、羅伏龍，兩淮鹽運使楊振熙，監餉知縣吳道正，江都縣丞王志端，賞功副將汪思誠，幕客盧渭等皆死。

By then the main army had taken Shandong and northern Henan and was pressing upon Huainan. On the first day of the fourth month Kefa moved his army to Sizhou to guard the imperial ancestral tombs. As he was about to depart, Zuo Liangyu raised troops against the court and Kefa was summoned to the capital's aid. He crossed the river to Swallow Rock Jetty, where he learned that Degong had already defeated Liangyu's army. Kefa then hastened to Tianchang and ordered the generals to rescue Xuyi. Before long word came that Xuyi had surrendered to the Qing, and Hou Fangyan, the relief commander at Sizhou, had lost his entire army. Kefa raced back to Yangzhou in a day and a night. A false report spread that Dingguo's troops were about to arrive and annihilate Gao's followers. The people of the city broke through the gates and fled; every boat was gone. Kefa called up the armies of every regional command, but not a single unit answered. On the twentieth the Qing army arrived in full strength and made camp at Banzhu Garden. The next day Li Qifeng, regional commander, and Gao Qifeng, supervisory deputy commissioner, broke camp and surrendered, leaving the city's defenses ever thinner. Civil and military officials divided the walls among themselves and held their posts. The western gate of the old city was the vital point; Kefa took charge of its defense himself. He wrote to his mother and wife, adding: "When I die, bury me beside the Gaozu Emperor's tomb." Two days later the Qing army reached the walls; cannon fire shattered the northwest corner, and the city fell. Kefa cut his throat but failed to kill himself; a staff colonel led him out through the Small East Gate, where he was captured. Kefa cried out: "I am Supervising Secretary Shi!" With that they killed him. Ren Minyu, prefect of Yangzhou; Qu Congzhi and Wang Zuojue, vice prefects; Zhou Zhiwei and Luo Fulong, magistrates of Jiangdu; Yang Zhenxi, Lianghuai salt transport commissioner; Wu Daozheng, provisions supervising magistrate; Wang Zhiduan, Jiangdu assistant magistrate; Wang Sicheng, reward-granting vice general; and the staff member Lu Wei—all perished.

可法初以定策功加少保兼太子太保，以太后至加少傅兼太子太傅，敘江北戰功加少師兼太子太師，擒劇盜程繼孔功加太傅，皆力辭，不允。後以宮殿成，加太師，力辭，乃允。可法為督師，行不張蓋，食不重味，夏不箑，冬不裘，寢不解衣。年四十餘，無子，其妻欲置妾。太息曰：「王事方殷，敢為兒女計乎！」歲除遣文牒，至夜半，倦索酒。庖人報殽肉已分給將士，無可佐者，乃取鹽鼓下之。可法素善飲，數鬥不亂，在軍中絕飲。是夕，進數十觥，思先帝，泫然淚下，憑幾臥。比明，將士集轅門外，門不啟，左右遙語其故。知府民育曰：「相公此夕臥，不易得也。」命鼓人仍擊四鼓，戒左右毋驚相公。須臾，可法寤，聞鼓聲，大怒曰：「誰犯吾令！」將士述民育意，乃獲免。嘗孑處鈴閣或舟中，有言宜警備者，曰：「命在天。」可法死，覓其遺骸。天暑，眾屍蒸變，不可辯識。逾年，家人舉袍笏招魂，葬于揚州郭外之梅花領。其後四方弄兵者，多假其名號以行，故時謂可法不死雲。

For helping fix the enthronement he was offered Junior Guardian and Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent; when the empress dowager arrived, Junior Mentor and Mentor to the Heir Apparent; for victories in northern Jiang, Junior Preceptor and Preceptor to the Heir Apparent; for capturing the notorious bandit Cheng Jikong, Grand Preceptor—each time he refused forcefully, and each time the court refused to let him. After the palace was finished he was again offered Grand Preceptor; he declined forcefully, and this time the court accepted his refusal. As supervising secretary he went without a parasol over his chair, ate a single dish at each meal, used no fan in summer and no fur in winter, and never unrobed to sleep. He was past forty and had no son; his wife wanted to bring in a concubine. He sighed and said: "State business presses upon us—how can I be scheming for a household?" On New Year's Eve he was still sending out documents; by midnight, exhausted, he called for wine. The cook said the meat had already been portioned out to the troops and there was nothing to go with the wine, so he took salt and drank it down with that. Kefa had always been a strong drinker who could hold several piculs without staggering, yet in camp he kept entirely sober. That night he drank dozens of cups; as he thought of the late emperor tears streamed down his face, and he lay his head on the desk. By morning officers and soldiers had assembled outside headquarters, but the gate stayed shut while attendants called out the reason from a distance. Prefect Ren Minyu said: "The Chancellor actually sleeping tonight is a rare thing." He ordered the watch-drums to hold at the fourth watch and told the attendants not to wake the Chancellor. Before long Kefa woke, heard the drums, and raged: "Who defied my command!" When the officers explained Minyu's reason, he spared them. Once, alone in headquarters or aboard his boat, when someone urged him to keep a tighter guard he said: "Life and death are Heaven's to decide." After Kefa's death they searched for his body. In the heat the piled corpses decayed beyond recognition. More than a year later his family performed a soul-summoning rite with his robe and court tablet and buried him at Meihua Ridge outside Yangzhou. Afterward rebels across the land often used his name to lend legitimacy to their cause, so people said Kefa was still alive.

可法無子，遺命以副將史德威為之後。有弟可程，崇禎十六年進士。擢庶起士。京師陷，降賊。賊敗，南歸，可法請置之理。王以可法故，令養母。可程遂居南京，後流寓宜興，閱四十年而卒。

Kefa had no son and left orders naming Vice General Shi Dewei as his heir. He had a younger brother, Ke Cheng, who passed the jinshi examination in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen. He was made a bachelor selected for the Hanlin Academy. When Beijing fell he submitted to the rebels. When the rebels were defeated he fled south, and Kefa asked that he be tried for his crime. For Kefa's sake the prince regent spared him and ordered him only to support their mother. Ke Cheng lived in Nanjing, later drifted to Yixing, and died there forty years on.

任民育，字時澤，濟寧人。天啟中鄉舉，善騎射。真定巡撫徐標請於朝，用為贊畫，理屯事。真定失，南還。福王時，授亳州知州。以才擢揚州知府，可法倚之。城破，緋衣端坐堂上，遂見殺，闔家男婦盡赴井死。

Ren Minyu, courtesy name Shize, came from Jining. In the Tianqi era he passed the provincial exams and was adept at riding and archery. Xu Biao, grand coordinator of Zhending, petitioned the court to appoint him staff planner in charge of garrison-farming. When Zhending fell he fled south. Under the Prince of Fu he was appointed prefect of Bozhou. Recognizing his ability, the court promoted him to prefect of Yangzhou, where Kefa came to rely on him heavily. When the city fell he sat upright in his crimson official robes in the hall and was slain; every man and woman in his household threw themselves into a well and died.

從直，遼東人，與其子死東門。纘爵，鄞人，工部尚書佐孫。志畏，亦鄞人，進士，年少好氣，數遭傑將士窘辱，求解職。會伏龍至，可法命代之。伏龍，新喻人。故梓潼知縣，受代甫三日。振熙，臨海人。道正，余姚人。志端，孝豐人。思誠，字純一，貴池人。

Congzhi, a native of Liaodong, died at the East Gate together with his son. Zuojue, from Yin county, was a grandson of a former Minister of Works. Zhiwei, also from Yin and a jinshi, was young and quick-tempered; after repeated humiliation by senior generals and officers he asked to be relieved of his post. When Fulong arrived, Kefa ordered him to take Zhiwei's place. Fulong was a native of Xinyu. He had formerly been magistrate of Zitong and had held his new post only three days. Zhenxi came from Linhai. Daozheng was a native of Yuyao. Zhiduan came from Xiaofeng. Sicheng, courtesy name Chunyi, was from Guichi.

渭，字渭生，長洲諸生，可法出鎮淮、揚，謂等伏闕上書，言：「秦檜在內，李綱居外，宋終北轅。」不納。居禮賢館久，可法才渭。渭方歲貢，當得官，不受職，而擬授昆山歸昭等二十余人為通判、推官、知縣。甫二旬，城陷，渭監守鈔關，投於河。昭死西門，從死者十七人。

Wei, courtesy name Weisheng, a licentiate of Changzhou—when Kefa went out to command Huai and Yang, Wei and others prostrated themselves at the palace gate and submitted a memorial: "With Qin Hui inside the court and Li Gang kept outside, Song ended by turning its chariot north." The memorial was rejected. After lodging long at the Hall for Honoring the Worthy, Kefa came to prize Wei's ability. Wei had just been nominated through the annual tribute route and was eligible for office, but he refused a post for himself and instead proposed appointing more than twenty men, including Gui Zhao of Kunshan, as sub-prefects, investigating censors, and district magistrates. Barely twenty days later the city fell; Wei, who was supervising the Caoguan tax barrier, drowned himself in the river. Zhao died at the West Gate, and seventeen others died with him.

時同守城死者，又有遵義知府何剛、庶起士吳爾壎。而揚州諸生殉養者，有高孝纘、王士琇、王纘、王績、王續等。又有武生戴之籓、醫者陳天拔、畫士陸愉、義兵張有德、市民馮應昌、舟子徐某，並自盡。他婦女死節者，不可勝紀。

Others who died defending the city included He Gang, prefect of Zunyi, and Wu Erxun, a bachelor selected for the Hanlin. Among the Yangzhou licentiates who died for the cause were Gao Xiaozuan, Wang Shixiu, Wang Zuan, Wang Ji, Wang Xu, and others. A military licentiate, Dai Zhifan; a physician, Chen Tianba; a painter, Lu Yu; a militiaman, Zhang Youde; a townsman, Feng Yingchang; and a boatman surnamed Xu—all took their own lives. The women who died defending their honor are beyond counting.

何剛，字愨人，上海人。崇禎三年舉於鄉。見海內大亂，慨然有濟世之志。交天下豪俊，與東陽許都善，語之曰：「子所居天下精兵處，盍練一旅以待用。」都諾而去。

He Gang, courtesy name Keren, came from Shanghai. He passed the provincial examination in the third year of Chongzhen. Seeing chaos engulf the realm, he resolved to serve the common good. He sought out heroes across the land and was close to Xu Du of Dongyang, to whom he said: "You live where the finest soldiers in the realm are found—why not drill a company and keep them ready?" Xu agreed and departed.

十七年正月，入都上書，言：「國家設制科，立資格，以約束天下豪傑。此所以弭亂，非所以戡亂也。今日救生民，匡君國，莫急於治兵。陛下誠簡強壯英敏之士，命知兵大臣教習之，講韜鈐，練筋骨，拓膽智，時召而試之。學成優其秩，寄以兵柄，必能建奇功。臣讀戚繼光書，繼光數言義烏、東陽兵可用。誠得召募數千，加之訓練，准繼光遺法，分佈河南郡縣，大寇可平。」因薦都及錢塘進士姚奇胤、桐城諸生周岐、陝西諸生劉湘客、絳州舉人韓霖。帝壯其言，即擢剛職方主事，募兵金華。而都作亂已前死，霖亦為賊用，剛不知，故並薦之。

In the first month of the seventeenth year he went to the capital and submitted a memorial: "The state created the examination system and fixed qualifications to keep the realm's bold spirits in check. That is a way to quiet disorder, not to crush it. Today, to save the people and restore the ruler and realm, nothing is more urgent than putting the army in order. If Your Majesty will truly choose strong, keen men and charge military ministers who understand war to train them—teaching strategy, hardening body and nerve, sharpening courage and wit, and testing them from time to time— then, once trained, honor them with rank, entrust them with command, and they will surely win extraordinary victories. I have read Qi Jiguang's works, in which he repeatedly says that troops from Yiwu and Dongyang are worth using. Recruit several thousand men, train them by Jiguang's methods, and station them across the commanderies and districts of Henan—the great bandits can be crushed." He then recommended Xu Du, Yao Qiyin of Qiantang, jinshi, Zhou Qi, licentiate of Tongcheng, Liu Xiangke, licentiate of Shaanxi, and Han Lin, provincial graduate of Jiangzhou. The emperor was impressed by his words and at once promoted Gang to secretary in the Ministry of War and ordered him to raise troops at Jinhua. Xu Du had already rebelled and died, and Han Lin was also serving the rebels—Gang did not know this and recommended them both.

剛出都，都城陷，馳還南京。先是，賊逼京師，剛友陳子龍、夏允彝將聯海舟達天津，備緩急，募卒二千人，至是令剛統之。子龍入為兵科，言防江莫如水師，更乞廣行召募，委剛訓練，從之。剛乃上疏言：「臣請陛下三年之內，宮室不必修，百官禮樂不必備。惟日救天下才，智者決策，廉者理財，勇者禦敵。爵賞無出此三者，則國富兵強，大敵可服。若以驕悍之將馭無制之兵，空言恢復，是卻行而求前也。優遊歲月，潤色偏安，錮豪傑于草間，迫梟雄為盜賊，是株守以待盡也。惟廟堂不以浮文取士，而以實績課人，則真才皆為國用，而議論亦省矣。分遣使者羅草澤英豪，得才多者受上賞，則梟傑皆畢命封疆，而盜魁亦少矣。東南人滿，徙之江北，或賜爵，或贖罪，則豪右皆盡力南畝，而軍餉亦充矣。」時不能用。

Gang had just left the capital when it fell; he raced back to Nanjing. Earlier, when rebels threatened the capital, his friends Chen Zilong and Xia Yunyi planned to link up sea vessels to reach Tianjin as a reserve force and raised two thousand men; Gang was now ordered to command them. Zilong entered the military affairs section and argued that river defense depended above all on a navy; he again asked for broad recruitment and entrusted training to Gang, and the court agreed. Gang then submitted a memorial: "I ask that for three years Your Majesty need not repair palaces or halls, and need not fully restore the rites and music of the hundred officials. Only rescue talent daily—the wise to decide policy, the incorrupt to manage funds, the brave to meet the enemy. If honors and rewards go only to these three kinds of men, the state will grow rich, the army strong, and great enemies can be overcome. If arrogant, unruly generals lead undisciplined troops while empty talk speaks of reconquest, that is walking backward and calling it advance. To idle away the months, polish a precarious peace, lock heroes in obscurity, and drive bold men into banditry—that is to stand still and wait for ruin. If the court stops choosing men by florid essays and judges them by real achievement, true talent will serve the state and empty debate will shrink. Send envoys far and wide to gather heroes from the wilds; reward most those who find the most talent—then bold men will spend their lives on the frontier, and bandit chiefs will grow fewer. The southeast is overcrowded; relocate people to the north, whether by granting rank or allowing crimes to be redeemed—then the gentry will work the fields and military supplies will be filled." At the time none of this could be put into practice.

尋進本司員外郎，以其兵隸史可法。可法大喜得剛，剛亦自喜遇可法知已。士英惡之，出剛遵義知府。可法垂涕曰：「子去，吾誰仗？」剛亦泣，願死生無相背。逾月，揚州被圍，佐可法拒守。城破，投井死。

He was soon promoted to assistant director in the same bureau, and his troops were placed under Shi Kefa's command. Kefa was overjoyed to have Gang; Gang in turn rejoiced at finding in Kefa a true confidant. Shi Ying disliked him and had him posted as prefect of Zunyi. Kefa wept and said: "When you leave, whom shall I rely on?" Gang wept as well and vowed that in life or death they would not forsake each other. A little over a month later Yangzhou was besieged, and he helped Kefa hold the city. When the city fell he drowned himself in a well.

吳爾壎，崇德人。崇禎十六年進士，授庶起士。賊敗南還，謁可法，請從軍贖罪，可法遂留參軍事。其父子屏方督學福建，爾壎斷一指畀故人祝淵曰：「君歸語我父母，悉出私財畀我餉軍。我他日不歸，以指葬可也。」從高傑北征至睢州，傑被難，爾壎流寓祥符。遇一婦人，自言福王妃。爾壎因守臣附疏以進，詔斥其妄言，逮之，可法為救免。後守揚州新城，投井死。

Wu Erxun came from Chongde. A jinshi of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, he was appointed a bachelor selected for the Hanlin Academy. After the rebels were routed and withdrew south, he went to see Kefa and asked to serve in the army to atone for his past; Kefa kept him on as a military adviser. His father Wu Ziping was then serving as provincial education commissioner in Fujian. Erxun severed a finger and gave it to his old friend Zhu Yuan, saying: "When you go back, tell my parents to give me all their private funds for army supplies. If I never come home, bury this finger in my place." He marched north with Gao Jie as far as Suizhou; when Jie was killed, Erxun took refuge in Xiangfu. There he met a woman who claimed to be Prince Fu's consort. Erxun had the local magistrate forward a memorial on his behalf; the court condemned his story as false and ordered his arrest, but Kefa pleaded for him and won his release. He later held the new walled quarter of Yangzhou and drowned himself in a well when it fell.

高弘圖，字研文，膠州人。萬曆三十八年進士。授中書舍人，擢御史。柧棱自持，不依麗人。天啟初，陳時政八患，請用鄒元標、趙南星。巡按陝西，題薦屬吏，趙南星糾之，弘圖不能無望，代還，移疾去。魏忠賢亟攻東林，其黨以弘圖嘗與南星有隙，召起弘圖故官。入都，則楊漣、左光鬥、魏大中等已下詔獄，鍛煉嚴酷。弘圖果疏論南星，然言「國是已明，雷霆不宜頻擊」，「詔獄諸臣，生殺宜聽司敗法」，則頗謂忠賢過當者。疏中又引漢元帝乘船事，忠賢方導帝遊幸，不悅，矯旨切責之。後諫帝毋出蹕東郊，又極論前陝西巡撫喬應甲罪，又嘗語刺崔呈秀。呈秀、應甲皆忠賢黨，由是忠賢大怒，擬順天巡按不用。弘圖乞歸，遂令閑住。

Gao Hongtu, courtesy name Yanwen, came from Jiaozhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli reign. He was made a Secretariat secretary and then promoted to censor. Principled and self-disciplined, he refused to depend on influential protectors. Early in the Tianqi reign he memorialized on eight ills plaguing government and urged the appointment of Zou Yuanbiao and Zhao Nanxing. While touring censor in Shaanxi he promoted subordinates in a memorial, but Zhao Nanxing attacked him for it. Hongtu nursed a grievance; when his term ended he went home on grounds of illness. As Wei Zhongxian pressed his assault on the Donglin, his followers recalled Hongtu to his old office, counting on his past quarrel with Nanxing. By the time he reached the capital, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, and others were already in the edict prison, suffering brutal interrogation. Hongtu did memorialize against Nanxing, but he also wrote that "the court's verdict is settled and the thunder of punishment should not fall again and again," and that "those in the edict prison should live or die according to the law" — language that plainly judged Zhongxian too harsh. The memorial also cited Emperor Yuan of Han's boating episode; Zhongxian, who was then steering the emperor toward pleasure tours, took offense and had a forged edict issued to rebuke him severely. He later warned the emperor against leaving the eastern suburbs under full guard, denounced the former Shaanxi governor Qiao Yingjia at length, and once made pointed remarks against Cui Chengxiu. Chengxiu and Yingjia were Wei Zhongxian's men, and Zhongxian, furious, blocked his appointment as Shuntian touring censor. Hongtu asked to retire and was sent home to live in enforced idleness.

莊烈帝即位，起故官。劾罪田詔、劉志選、梁夢環。擢太僕少卿，復移疾去。三年春，召拜左僉都御史，進左副都御史。五年遷工部右侍郎。方入署，總理戶、工二部中官張彝憲來會，弘圖恥之，不與共坐，七疏乞休。帝怒，遂削籍歸，家居十年不起。

Chongzhen's accession brought him back to his old office. He secured convictions against Tian Zhao, Liu Zhixuan, and Liang Menghuan. Promoted to vice minister of the Imperial Stud, he once more cited illness and resigned. In the spring of the third year he was called to serve as Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief and soon promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. In the fifth year he moved to Right Vice Minister of Works. On his first day in office the eunuch Zhang Yixian, who oversaw both Revenue and Works, came to call; Hongtu found the visit degrading, refused to share a seat, and seven times asked to retire. The emperor's wrath stripped him from the register; he went home and did not serve again for ten years.

十六年，召拜南京兵部右侍郎，就遷戶部尚書。明年三月，京師陷，福王立，改弘圖禮部尚書兼東閣大學士。疏陳新政八事。一，宣義問。請聲逆賊之罪，鼓發忠義。一，勤聖學。請不俟釋服，日禦講筵。一，設記注。請召詞臣入侍，日記言動。一，睦親籓。請如先朝踐極故事，遣官齎璽書慰問。一，議廟祀。請權附列聖神主於奉先殿，仍於孝陵側望祀列聖山陵。一，嚴章奏。請禁奸宄小人藉端妄言，脫罪僥倖。一，收人心。請蠲江北、河南、山東田租，毋使賊徒藉口。一，擇詔使。請遣官招諭朝鮮，示牽制之勢。並褒納焉。

In the sixteenth year he was recalled as Nanjing vice minister of war and at once made minister of revenue. When the capital fell the following third month and Prince Fu took the throne, Hongtu became minister of rites and grand secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. He memorialized on eight points of the new regime. First: proclaim the righteous cause. He urged that the rebels' crimes be denounced publicly to stir loyal hearts. Second: cultivate the emperor's learning. He asked that lectures resume at once, without waiting for mourning dress to end. Third: appoint diarists. He proposed that literary officials attend court each day to keep a record of the emperor's words and acts. Fourth: reconcile with the princely houses. Following earlier enthronement custom, he asked that envoys be sent with sealed letters of reassurance to the imperial clans. Fifth: settle ritual worship. He proposed temporarily placing the spirit tablets of past emperors in the Hall of Ancestors while offering distant rites toward their tombs from beside the Xiaoling mausoleum. Sixth: tighten control of memorials. He sought to stop scheming petty men from using reckless accusations as a pretext to evade punishment. Seventh: recover popular support. He urged remission of land tax in Jiangbei, Henan, and Shandong so rebels could not use hardship as an excuse. Eighth: choose imperial envoys. He proposed sending envoys to Korea with edicts of reassurance, displaying a strategy of tying down the enemy. The court praised and adopted them all.

當是時，朝廷大議多出弘圖手。馬士英疏薦阮大鋮，弘圖不可。士英曰：「我自任之。」乃命大鋮假冠帶陛見。大鋮入見，曆陳冤狀，以弘圖不附東林引為證。弘圖則力言逆案不可翻，大鋮、士英並怒。一日，閣中語及故庶起士張溥，士英曰：「我故人也，死，酹而哭之。」薑曰廣笑曰：「公哭東林者，亦東林耶？」士英曰：「我非畔東林者，東林拒我耳。」弘圖因縱臾之，士英意解。而劉宗周劾疏自外至，大鋮宣言曰廣實使之，於是士英怒不可止。而薦張捷、謝升之疏出，朝端益水火矣。內劄用戶部侍郎張有譽為尚書，弘圖封還，具奏力諫，卒以廷推簡用。中官議設東廠，弘圖爭不得。遂乞休，不許，加太子少師，改戶部尚書，文淵閣。尋以太后至，進太子太保。

In those days most weighty court decisions bore Hongtu's imprint. Ma Shiying memorialized to recommend Ruan Dacheng, but Hongtu refused. Shiying said: "I will answer for it myself." Dacheng was then allowed cap and sash and summoned to an audience. At audience Dacheng laid out his grievances at length, pointing to Hongtu's distance from the Donglin as evidence in his favor. Hongtu insisted the treason verdict must stand; Dacheng and Shiying were enraged. Once in the privy council they mentioned the late Hanlin bachelor Zhang Pu; Shiying said: "He was my friend; when he died I offered wine and mourned him." Jiang Yueguang smiled and said: "You weep for Donglin men — does that make you one of them?" Shiying replied: "I did not turn against the Donglin; they shut me out." Hongtu chimed in to soothe him, and Shiying's resentment eased. Then Liu Zongzhou's impeachment arrived from outside; Dacheng claimed Yueguang had put him up to it, and Shiying's fury knew no check. Memorials pushing Zhang Jie and Xie Sheng followed, and court factions drew further apart like fire and water. An inner draft made Revenue vice minister Zhang Youyu minister; Hongtu returned it sealed with a forceful protest, and the post was filled by regular court recommendation. When eunuchs moved to restore the Eastern Depot, Hongtu fought the plan and lost. He asked to retire but was refused; instead he was made junior tutor of the heir apparent, minister of revenue, and grand secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion. When the empress dowager reached the capital he was promoted to grand tutor of the heir apparent.

其年十月，弘圖四疏乞休，乃許之。弘圖既謝政，無家可歸，流寓會稽。國破，逃野寺中，絕粒而卒。

In the tenth month of that year Hongtu four times asked to leave office and was finally allowed to go. Out of office and homeless, Hongtu wandered and settled in Kuaiji. After the dynasty collapsed he hid in a country temple and starved himself to death.

姜曰廣，字居之，新建人。萬曆末，舉進士，授庶起士，進編修。天啟六年奉使朝鮮，不攜中國一物往，不取朝鮮一錢歸，朝鮮人為立懷潔之碑。明年夏，魏忠賢黨以曰廣東林，削其藉。崇禎初，起右中充。九年，積官至吏部右侍郎。坐事左遷南京太常卿，遂引疾去。十五年，起詹事，掌南京翰林院。莊烈帝嘗言：「曰廣在講筵，言詞激切，朕知其人。」每優容之。

Jiang Yueguang, courtesy name Juzhi, came from Xinjian. Late in the Wanli reign he became a jinshi, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and rose to compiler. On a Tianqi sixth-year mission to Korea he took nothing from China and brought nothing back; the Koreans raised a stele honoring his integrity. The following summer Wei's faction struck him from the rolls as a Donglin man. When Chongzhen came to the throne he was restored as right reader in the Hanlin. By the ninth year he had risen to right vice minister of personnel. After a demotion to Nanjing director of imperial sacrifices he pleaded illness and retired. In the fifteenth year he returned as tutor to the heir apparent and head of the Nanjing Hanlin Academy. Chongzhen once remarked: "When Yueguang speaks at lectures his language is fierce; I know what sort of man he is." The emperor always indulged him.

北都變聞，諸大臣議所立。曰廣、呂大器用周鑣、雷縯祚言，主立潞王，而諸帥奉福籓至江上。於是文武官並集內官宅，韓贊周令各署名籍。曰廣曰：「無遽，請祭告奉先殿而後行。」明日至奉先殿，諸勳臣語侵史可法，曰廣呵之，於是群小鹹目攝曰廣。廷推閣臣，以曰廣異議不用，用史可法、高弘圖、馬士英。及再推詞臣，以王鐸、陳子壯、黃道周名上，而首曰廣。乃改曰廣禮部尚書兼東閣大學士，與鐸並命。鐸未至，可法督師揚州，曰廣與弘圖協心輔政。而士英挾擁戴功，內結勳臣硃國弼、劉孔昭、趙之龍，外連諸鎮劉澤清、劉良佐等，謀擅朝權，深忌曰廣。

News of the fall of the northern capital set the ministers debating who should reign. Yueguang and Lü Daqi, following Zhou Biao and Lei Yanzuo, favored enthroning the Prince of Lu, while the generals were already bringing Prince Fu's house to the river. Civil and military officials then assembled at an eunuch's house, where Han Zanzhou had them sign a roll. Yueguang said: "We must not hurry; let us offer sacrifice at the Hall of Ancestors first." The next day at the Hall of Ancestors the nobles' remarks turned against Kefa; Yueguang scolded them, and the lesser men fixed hostile stares on him. When grand secretaries were chosen by court vote, Yueguang was passed over for his dissent; Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, and Ma Shiying were appointed. A second recommendation for literary grand secretaries listed Wang Duo, Chen Zizhuang, and Huang Daozhou, with Yueguang at the top. Yueguang was then made minister of rites and Eastern Pavilion grand secretary, appointed alongside Duo. Before Duo reached the capital, Kefa was commanding at Yangzhou, and Yueguang worked in concert with Hongtu to run the government. Shiying, however, traded on his role in enthroning Prince Fu, bonded inside with nobles Zhu Guobi, Liu Kongzhao, and Zhao Zhilong and outside with regional commanders Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo, and plotted to dominate the court while resenting Yueguang.

未幾，士英特薦起阮大鋮。曰廣力爭不得，遂乞休，言：

Soon Shiying pushed a special recall of Ruan Dacheng. Yueguang fought the appointment in vain and resigned, writing:

前見文武交競，既慚無術調和；近睹逆案忽翻，又愧不能寢弭。遂棄先帝十七年之定力，反陛下數日前之明詔。臣請以前事言之。臣觀先帝之善政雖多，而以堅持逆案為尤美；先帝之害政間有，而以頻出口宣為亂階。用閣臣內傳矣，用部臣勳臣內傳矣，用大將用言官內傳矣。而所得閣臣，則淫貪巧猾之周延儒也，逢君朘民奸險刻毒之溫體仁、楊嗣昌也，偷生從賊之魏藻德也；所得部臣，則陰邪貪狡之王永光、陳新甲；所得勳臣，則力阻南遷盡撤守禦狂稚之李國禎；所得大將，則紈絝支離之王樸、。倪寵；所得言官，則貪橫無賴之史褷、陳啟新也。凡此皆力排眾議，簡目中旨，後效可睹。

I have lately watched civil and military men clash and been ashamed that I could not reconcile them; I have now seen the treason verdict reversed and been ashamed that I could not stop it. This abandons the late emperor's seventeen-year resolve and overturns the clear edict Your Majesty issued only days ago. Let me speak from what has already happened. The late emperor did much that was good, but above all he held fast to the treason verdict; his misgovernment was sporadic, yet repeated verbal orders opened the way to chaos. Grand secretaries came by palace relay, ministry officials and nobles by palace relay, generals and censors by palace relay. The grand secretaries chosen were the dissolute and scheming Zhou Yanru, the sycophantic and ruthless Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang, and Wei Zaode, who saved himself by joining the rebels; the ministers picked were the covertly corrupt Wang Yongguang and Chen Xinji; the nobles chosen included Li Guozhen, who blocked flight south and stripped the capital of defenders in reckless folly; the generals chosen were the pampered and useless Wang Pu, and Ni Chong; the censors chosen were the grasping and brazen Shi Shen and Chen Qixin; In every case dissent was overridden, favorites were picked to match the throne's wish, and the consequences speak for themselves.

今又不然。不必僉同，但求面對，立談取官。陰奪會推之柄，陽避中旨之名，決廉恥之大防，長便佞之惡習。此豈可訓哉！

Now the pattern has returned. Unanimity is dispensed with; a private audience and a few flattering words suffice for appointment. They quietly strip the court of its power to nominate, publicly deny that the choice comes from the throne, tear down the wall of honor, and nourish sycophancy. What precedent is this!

臣待罪綸扉，苟好盡言，終蹈不測之禍。聊取充位，又來鮮恥之譏。願乞骸骨還鄉里。

I serve at the privy council on sufferance; speak my mind and I court ruin. Stay silent and I invite the charge of holding office without honor. I beg leave to retire to my home.

得旨慰留，士英、大鋮等滋不悅。國弼、孔昭遂以誹謗先帝，誣衊忠臣李國禎為言，交章攻之。

The throne answered with words of comfort and kept him on; Shiying, Dacheng, and their allies were only the more aggrieved. Guobi and Kongzhao thereupon filed memorial after memorial accusing him of insulting the late emperor and defaming the loyal Li Guozhen.

劉澤清故附東林，擁立議起，亦主潞王。至是入朝，則力詆東林以自解免。且曰：「中興所恃在政府。今用輔臣，宜令大帥僉議。」曰廣愕然。越數日，澤清疏劾呂大器、雷縯祚，而薦張捷、鄒之麟、張孫振、劉光鬥等。已，又請免故輔周延儒髒。曰廣曰：「是欲漸幹朝政也。」乃下部議，竟不許。

Liu Zeqing had once sided with the Donglin party and, when the succession was debated, had also backed Prince Lu. Now that he came to court, he vilified the Donglin faction to clear his own name. He added: "National revival rests on the cabinet. When choosing grand secretaries, the field marshals ought to have a collective say." Yueguang stared in disbelief. Days later Zeqing impeached Lu Daqi and Lei Yunzuo and recommended Zhang Jie, Zou Zhilin, Zhang Sunzhen, Liu Guangdou, and others. He then asked that burial honors be denied the late grand secretary Zhou Yanru. Yueguang said: "This is a step toward meddling in state affairs." The proposal went to the ministries for review and was rejected.

曰廣嘗與士英交詆王前。宗室硃統钅類者，素無行，士英啖以官，使擊曰廣。澤清又假諸鎮疏攻劉宗周及曰廣，以三案舊事及迎立異議為言，請執下法司，正謀危君父之罪。頃之，統钅類復劾曰廣五大罪，請並劉士楨、王重、楊廷麟、劉宗周、陳必謙、周鑣、雷縯祚置之理，必謙、鑣以是逮。曰廣既連遭誣衊，屢疏乞休，其年九月始得請。入辭，諸大臣在列。曰廣曰：「微臣觸忤權奸，自分萬死，上恩寬大，猶許歸田。臣歸後，願陛下以國事為重。」士英熟視曰廣，詈曰：「我權奸，汝且老而賊也。」既出，復於朝堂相詬詈而罷。

Yueguang and Shiying had already traded insults in the prince's presence. There was an imperial clansman named Zhu Tong, a man of bad character whom Shiying bought with office and set against Yueguang. Zeqing also fabricated petitions in the name of the regional armies against Liu Zongzhou and Yueguang, invoking the old factional cases and the dispute over enthronement, and demanded they be handed to the courts on charges of treason against sovereign and father. Soon Tong impeached Yueguang again on five capital charges and asked that Liu Shizhen, Wang Chong, Yang Tinglin, Liu Zongzhou, Chen Biqian, Zhou Biao, and Lei Yunzuo be tried together; Biqian and Biao were arrested accordingly. After a string of calumnies Yueguang petitioned repeatedly to resign; permission came only in the ninth month of that year. When he came in to take leave, the senior ministers were all present. Yueguang said: "Your servant offended men in power and expected death; the throne has been merciful and still allows me to go home. When I am gone, I beg Your Majesty to put the realm first." Shiying fixed his eyes on Yueguang and snarled: "So I am the villain in power — and you, old man, are a traitor to boot." Once outside, they continued shouting abuse at each other in the hall before parting.

曰廣骨鯁，扼於憸邪，不竟其用，遂歸。其後左良玉部將金聲桓者，已降於我大清，既而反江西，迎曰廣以資號召。聲桓敗，曰廣投偰家池死。

Yueguang was a man of stiff integrity, checked by corrupt ministers at court, and left office before he could accomplish what he had set out to do. Later Jin Shenghuan, a lieutenant of Zuo Liangyu who had surrendered to the Qing and then rebelled in Jiangxi, brought Yueguang in to lend his name to the cause. When Shenghuan fell, Yueguang drowned himself in the Xie family pool.

初，鑣世父尚書應秋、叔父御史維持，以附魏忠賢並麗逆案，鑣恥之。通籍後，即交東林，矯矯樹名節。及被放，與宣城沈壽民讀書茅山，廷臣多論薦之。十五年起禮部主事，進郎中，為吏部尚書鄭三俊所倚。然為人好名，頗飾偽，給事中韓如愈疏論之，罷歸。

At the outset Biao's grand-uncle the minister Yingqiu and his uncle the censor Weichi had been caught up in the Li treason case through their ties to Wei Zhongxian, and Biao was ashamed of the stain. Once he entered official life he joined the Donglin circle and made a conspicuous show of moral rectitude. After his dismissal he studied on Mount Mao with Shen Shoumin of Xuancheng, and many at court spoke up on his behalf. In the fifteenth year he became a clerk in the Ministry of Rites, rose to director, and won the trust of the minister of personnel Zheng Sanjun. But he craved reputation and was widely thought to play the part; Supervising Secretary Han Ruyu denounced him in a memorial, and he was sent home.

福王立于南京。馬士英既逐呂大器，以鑣及雷縯祚曾立潞王議，令硃統钅類劾曰廣，因言鑣、縯祚等皆曰廣私黨，請悉置於理，遂令逮治。而士英劾鑣從弟鐘從逆，並及鑣。鐘亦逮治。阮大鋮居金陵時，諸生顧杲等出《留都防亂公揭》討之，主之者鑣也，大鋮以故恨鑣。鑣獄急，屬御史陳丹衷求解于士英，為緝事者所獲，丹衷出為長沙知州。於是察處御史羅萬爵希大鋮指，上疏痛詆鑣。而光祿卿祁逢吉，鑣同邑人，見人輒詈鑣，遂得為戶部侍郎。亡何，左良玉稱兵檄討士英罪，言引用大鋮，構陷鑣、縯祚，鍛煉周內。士英、大鋮益怒。大鋮謂鑣實召良玉兵，王乃賜鑣、縯祚自盡，鐘棄市。

Prince Fu was enthroned at Nanjing. After Ma Shiying had ousted Lu Daqi, he used Biao's and Yunzuo's earlier support for Prince Lu as a pretext, had Zhu Tong impeach Yueguang, and declared Biao, Yunzuo, and the rest Yueguang's private clique; all were ordered arrested. Shiying further charged Biao's cousin Zhong with rebellion and implicated Biao as well. Zhong was arrested too. While Ruan Dacheng was living in Nanjing, the student Gu Gao and others published the Public Manifesto against Disorder in the Southern Capital denouncing him; Biao had led the effort, and Dacheng never forgave him. As Biao's case grew desperate he asked Censor Chen Danzhong to intercede with Shiying; investigators caught wind of it, and Danzhong was banished to be prefect of Changsha. Investigating censor Luo Wanjue, eager to please Dacheng, then filed a savage denunciation of Biao. Qi Fengji of the Directorate of Sacrifices, a townsman of Biao's, won promotion to vice minister of revenue by reviling Biao at every turn. Before long Zuo Liangyu took up arms and issued a manifesto against Shiying, accusing him of installing Dacheng, framing Biao and Yunzuo, and torturing them within the palace compound. Shiying and Dacheng were only the more enraged. Dacheng insisted that Biao had summoned Liangyu's army; the prince then ordered Biao and Yunzuo to take their own lives and had Zhong executed in public.

雷縯祚，太湖人。崇禎三年舉於鄉。十三年夏，帝思破格用人，而考選止及進士，特命舉人貢生就試教職者，悉用為部寺司屬推官知縣，凡二百六十三人，號為庚辰特用。而縯祚得刑部主事。明年三月劾楊嗣昌六大罪可斬，鳳陽總督硃大典、安慶巡撫鄭二陽、河南巡撫高名衡、山東巡撫王公弼宜急易，帝不悅。十五年擢武德道兵備僉事。山東被兵，縯祚守德州，有詔獎勵。乃疏劾督師範志完縱兵淫掠，折除軍餉，構結大黨。帝心善其言，以淫掠事責兵部，而令糸寅祚再陳。志完者，首輔周延儒門生也，縯祚意有所忌，久不奏。

Lei Yunzuo came from Taihu. He passed the provincial exams in the third year of Chongzhen. In the summer of the thirteenth year the emperor wanted to break with convention in appointments, yet the regular selection process reached only jinshi degree holders; he therefore ordered all juren, tribute students, and teaching candidates to be placed in ministry and directorate posts, as censors and county magistrates — 263 men in all — known as the special gengchen appointments. Yunzuo was made a clerk in the Ministry of Punishments. In the third month of the following year he charged Yang Sichang with six capital offenses and demanded the immediate replacement of Zhu Dadian at Fengyang, Zheng Eryang at Anqing, Gao Mingheng at Henan, and Wang Gongbi at Shandong; the emperor took offense. In the fifteenth year he was promoted to military intendant of Wude Circuit. When Shandong came under attack Yunzuo held Dezhou, and the throne issued words of praise. He then impeached the superintendent Fan Zhwan for allowing his troops to loot at will, skimming military pay, and building a faction. The emperor was inclined to believe him, rebuked the Ministry of War over the looting, and told Yunzuo to elaborate. Zhwan was a protégé of the chief grand secretary Zhou Yanru, and Yunzuo, mindful of the risk, held back his memorial for a long time.

明年五月，延儒下廷議，寅祚乃奏言：「志完兩載僉事，驟陟督師，非有大黨，何以至是。大僚則尚書范景文等，詞林則諭德方拱乾等，言路則給事中硃徽、沈胤培、袁彭年等，皆其黨也。方德州被攻，不克去，掠臨清，又五日，志完始至。聞後部破景州，則大懼，欲避入德州城。漏三下，邀臣議。臣不聽，志完乃偕流寓詞臣拱乾見臣南城古廟。臣告以督師非入城官，薊州失事，由降丁內潰，志完不懌而去。若夫座主當朝，罔利曲庇，只手有燎原之勢，片語操生死之權，稱功頌德，遍于班聯。臣不忍見陛下以周、召待大臣，而大臣以嚴嵩、傅國觀自待也。臣外籓小吏，乙榜孤蹤，不言不敢，盡言不敢，感陛下虛懷俯納，故不避首輔延儒與舉國媚附時局，略進一言。至中樞主計請餉必饋常例，天下共知，他幹沒更無算。」

In the fifth month of the following year Yanru was referred to court for deliberation; Yunzuo then submitted: "Zhwan rose from vice commissioner to superintendent in only two years — without a powerful faction behind him, how could that happen? Senior ministers such as Fan Jingwen, Hanlin readers such as Fang Gongqian, and supervising secretaries such as Zhu Hui, Shen Yinpei, and Yuan Pengnian — all belong to his clique. While Dezhou was besieged he would not budge, sent his men to plunder Linqing, and only showed up five days later. When he learned that the enemy rear guard had taken Jingzhou he panicked and wanted to hide inside Dezhou. At the third watch he summoned me to counsel him. I refused; Zhwan then brought the displaced literary official Gongqian to find me at an old temple in the southern quarter. I told him a superintendent has no business entering a walled city, and that the loss at Jizhou came of defectors within the ranks; Zhwan stalked off in a fury. His patron at court shields him for gain; with one hand he can kindle a prairie fire, with one word he can decide who lives or dies, and the whole court sings his praises. I cannot bear to watch Your Majesty honor your ministers as the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao honored theirs, while they conduct themselves like Yan Song and Fu Guanyun. I am a minor provincial official of the second rank, alone and without backing — afraid to speak, yet more afraid to stay silent; moved by Your Majesty's willingness to listen, I venture one word against Chief Grand Secretary Yanru and the nation's habit of flattering power. As for the men at the center who control the accounts, everyone knows that every request for funds carries its customary bribe; their other embezzlements are beyond reckoning."

疏入，帝益心動。命議舊計臣李待問、傅淑訓，樞臣張國維及戶科荊永祚，兵科沈迅、張嘉言罪，而召縯祚陛見。越數日，抵京。又數日入封，召志完、拱乾質前疏中語，拱乾為志完辨，帝頷之。問縯祚稱功頌德者誰，對曰：「延儒招權納賄，如起廢、清獄、蠲租，皆自居為功。考選台諫，盡收門下。凡求總兵巡撫者，必先賄幕客董廷獻。」帝怒，逮廷獻，誅志完，而令縯祚還任。糸寅祚尋以憂去。

When the memorial arrived the emperor was shaken anew. He ordered an inquiry into the former finance ministers Li Daiwen and Fu Shuxun, the pivot minister Zhang Guowei, and the supervising secretaries Jing Yongzuo of the revenue section and Shen Xun and Zhang Jiayan of the war section, and summoned Yunzuo to audience. Days later he reached the capital. A few days later he was received in audience; Zhwan and Gongqian were called to answer the charges in the memorial; Gongqian spoke for Zhwan, and the emperor nodded. Asked who had been praising merit and singing virtue, Yunzuo replied: "Yanru hoards power and takes bribes; restoring dismissed officials, clearing the prisons, remitting taxes — he claims every good deed as his own. He packs the censorate and remonstrance offices with his own men. Anyone seeking a command as regional general or provincial governor must first pay off his secretary Dong Tingxian." The emperor flew into a rage, arrested Tingxian, had Zhwan executed, and sent Yunzuo back to his post. Yunzuo soon resigned to observe mourning.

福王時，統钅類劾曰廣，因及之，遂逮治。明年四月與鑣同賜自盡。故事，小臣無賜自盡者。因良玉兵東下，故大鋮輩急殺之。

Under Prince Fu, Tong's impeachment of Yueguang swept Yunzuo in as well, and he was arrested. In the fourth month of the following year he and Biao were ordered to take their own lives. By custom, men of their rank were never granted the privilege of suicide. With Liangyu's army marching east, Dacheng and his allies rushed to dispose of them.

贊曰：史可法憫國步多艱，忠義奮發，提兵江滸，以當南北之沖，四鎮棋布，聯絡聲援，力圖興復。然而天方降割，權臣掣肘於內，悍將跋扈於外，遂致兵頓餉竭，疆圉曰蹙，孤城不保，志決身殲，亦可悲矣！高弘圖、薑曰廣皆蘊忠謀，協心戮力，而扼于權奸，不安其位。蓋明祚傾移，固非區區一二人之所能挽也。

The historians comment: Shi Kefa grieved the realm's peril, rallied in loyal resolve, took command on the Yangtze to hold the line between north and south, spread the four garrisons like pieces on a board, coordinated their mutual support, and fought to restore the dynasty. Yet Heaven itself seemed bent on ruin: court strongmen hamstrung him from within, unruly generals defied control without, armies stalled and supplies ran dry, the frontier shrank day by day, and the lone city could not stand; he died with his purpose unfulfilled — a tragedy indeed. Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang both held loyal designs and worked in concert, yet were blocked by corrupt ministers and driven from office. When the Ming dynasty's fate was already turning, no handful of men, however devoted, could have reversed it.

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