1
張允登 〈（郭景嵩郭應響）〉 張光奎 〈（楊於楷等）〉 李中正 〈（馬足輕等）〉 方國儒 〈（王紹正常存畏劉定國）〉 何承光 〈（高日臨等）〉 龐瑜 〈（董三謨等）〉 尹夢鰲 〈（趙士寬等）〉 盧謙 〈（張有俊等）〉 龔元祥 〈（子炳衡姚允恭）〉 王信史記言 〈（李君賜等）〉 梁誌仁 〈（單思仁等）〉 王國訓 〈（胡爾純等）〉 黎弘業 〈（馬如蛟等）〉 張紹登 〈（張國勛等）〉 王燾 〈（魏時光）〉 蔣佳徵 〈（吳暢春等）〉 徐尚卿 〈（王時化等）〉 阮之鈿郝景春 〈（子鳴鑾等）〉 張克儉 〈（鄺曰廣等）〉 徐世淳 〈（子肇梁余塙等）〉
Zhang Yundeng Guo Jingsong and Guo Yingxiang.)〉 Zhang Guangkui Yang Yukai and others.)〉 Li Zhongzheng Ma Zuqing and others.)〉 Fang Guoru Wang Shaochang, Chang Cunwei, and Liu Dingguo.)〉 He Chengguang Gao Rilin and others.)〉 Pang Yu Dong Sanmo and others.)〉 Yin Meng'ao Zhao Shikuan and others.)〉 Lu Qian Zhang Youjun and others.)〉 Gong Yuanxiang his sons Bingheng and Yao Yungong.)〉 Wang Xin, Shi Jiyan Li Junsi and others.)〉 Liang Zhiren Shan Siren and others.)〉 Wang Guoxun Hu Erchun and others.)〉 Li Hongye Ma Rujiao and others.)〉 Zhang Shaodeng Zhang Guoxun and others.)〉 Wang Tao Wei Shiguang.)〉 Jiang Jiazheng Wu Changchun and others.)〉 Xu Shangqing Wang Shihua and others.)〉 Ruan Zhitian, Hao Jingchun his son Mingluan and others.)〉 Zhang Kejian Kuang Riguang and others.)〉 Xu Shichun his sons Zhaoliang, Yu Qian, and others.)〉
2
張允登，漢州人。 萬歷三十八年進士。 歷知咸寧、咸陽，有善政。 其成進士，出湯賓尹之門，賓尹弗善也，而東林以賓尹故，惡之。 舉卓異，得刑部主事，累遷河西兵備副使。 鄜、延歲饑，亟遭盜，允登拊循備至，士民德之。 崇禎四年閏十一月督餉至甘泉，降卒潛與流賊通，殺知縣郭永固，劫餉。 允登力禦，不敵死。 鄜人素服迎其喪，哭聲震十里，罷市三日。
Zhang Yundeng was from Hanzhou. He received his jinshi degree in the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli reign. He served successively as magistrate of Xianning and Xianyang, where he won praise for effective governance. When he took his jinshi degree he had been a student of Tang Binyin, whom he had displeased; the Donglin faction in turn despised him on Binyin's account. Marked out for exceptional merit, he was appointed principal secretary in the Ministry of Punishments and was eventually promoted to military vice commissioner of Hexi. Famine struck Fu and Yan'an year after year, and bandit raids were constant; Yundeng comforted and supplied the people with every care, and officials and commoners alike were grateful to him. In the intercalary eleventh month of the fourth year of Chongzhen, while supervising grain transport at Ganquan, surrendered troops secretly colluded with roving bandits, killed Magistrate Guo Yonggu, and seized the supplies. Yundeng fought them with all his strength but could not prevail and was killed. The people of Fu came out in mourning dress to receive his coffin; wailing was heard for ten li around, and markets were closed for three days.
3
當是時，流賊日熾，總督洪承疇往來奔擊，日不暇給。 逾月陷宜君，又陷葭州，僉事郭景嵩死之。 明年二月陷鄜州，兵備副使郭應響死之。 應響，福清人，萬歷丙午舉鄉試第一。 寧塞余賊來犯，應響禦之，斬賊常山虎等十五人。 至是，混天猴率眾夜突至，應響登北關，集士卒拒守，手殺三賊，力不支遂死。 事聞，贈光祿寺少卿，謚忠烈，予祭葬，蔭一子入監讀書。
At that time the roving bandits grew fiercer by the day, and Governor-General Hong Chengchou rushed about in pursuit, scarcely able to catch his breath. Within a month they took Yijun and then Jiazhou as well; Assistant Commissioner Guo Jingsong died in the fighting. The following year, in the second month, they took Fuzhou; Military Vice Commissioner Guo Yingxiang died in the defense. Yingxiang was a native of Fuqing; in the bingwu year of Wanli he had ranked first in the provincial examination. When bandit remnants from Ningsai came to attack, Yingxiang repelled them and beheaded fifteen men, including the bandit known as Changshan Hu. On this occasion Hun Tianhou led his men in a night assault; Yingxiang mounted the North Gate, rallied the troops to hold the line, and personally killed three bandits before his strength gave out and he fell. When the affair was reported, he was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, given the posthumous title Zhonglie (Loyal and Fierce), granted funeral rites and sacrifice, and one son was granted enrollment in the Imperial Academy.
4
張光奎，澤州人。 仕至山東右參政。 崇禎五年，流賊躪山西，監司王肇生以便宜署歙人吳開先為將，使擊賊，戰澤州城西。 賊敗去，從沁水轉掠陽城。 開先恃勇渡沁，戰北留墩下，擊斬數百人，炮盡無援，一軍盡沒。 賊乃再犯澤州，光奎方里居，與兄守備光璽、千總劉自安等率眾固守八日，援兵不至，城陷，並死之。 澤，大州也，遠近為震動。 事聞，贈光祿卿，光璽等贈恤有差。
Zhang Guangkui was from Zezhou. He had risen to the post of Right Assistant Commissioner of Shandong. In the fifth year of Chongzhen, roving bandits overran Shanxi; Supervisor Wang Zhaosheng, exercising emergency powers, appointed Wu Kaixian of She county as general and sent him against the bandits; they fought west of Zezhou. The bandits were beaten and withdrew, then passed through Qinshui and turned to plunder Yangcheng. Kaixian, trusting in his courage, crossed the Qin and fought below Beiliu Mound, killing several hundred men; but when his ammunition was spent and no reinforcements came, his whole force was wiped out. The bandits then attacked Zezhou again; Guangkui was living at home at the time and, together with his elder brother the garrison commander Guangxi, chiliarch Liu Zi'an, and others, led the people in a stubborn defense for eight days; when no relief came and the city fell, they all perished. Ze was a major prefecture, and the shock was felt far and wide. When the affair was reported, Guangkui was posthumously made Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; Guangxi and the others received posthumous honors of varying degree.
5
是歲，紫金梁等寇遼州，裏居行人楊於楷與主事張友程，佐知州信陽李呈章拒守，力屈城陷，於楷被執，罵賊死。 呈章、友程及舉人趙一亨、侯標並死之。 明年六月，賊陷和順，裏居昌平副使樂濟眾被傷，不屈，投井死。 贈於楷光祿少卿，濟眾太仆少卿。 有徐明揚者，浮梁人，由選貢生為平順知縣。 六年四月，賊來犯，設策守禦，城破不屈死。
That year Zijin Liang and others raided Liaozhou; Yang Yukai, a metropolitan graduate living in retirement, and Principal Secretary Zhang Youcheng assisted Prefect Li Chengzhang of Xinyang in the defense; when their strength failed and the city fell, Yukai was taken and died cursing the bandits. Chengzhang, Youcheng, and the juren Zhao Yiheng and Hou Biao all died as well. The following year, in the sixth month, the bandits took Heshun; Yue Jizhong, a vice commissioner of Changping living in retirement, was wounded, refused to submit, and threw himself into a well to die. Yukai was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; Jizhong was made Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. There was also Xu Mingyang, a native of Fuliang, who through selection as a tribute student had become magistrate of Pingshun. In the fourth month of the sixth year the bandits attacked; he devised measures of defense, and when the city fell he refused to yield and died.
6
李中正，盧氏人。 萬歷末，舉會試，以天啟二年赴廷對，授承天府推官，遷兵部主事。 崇禎初，謝病歸。 六年，群盜大亂河北。 其冬，乘冰渡河，遂由澠池犯盧氏。 中州承平久，不設備。 驟聞賊至，吏民惶駴，知縣金會嘉棄城遁。 十二月，賊入城，中正勒家眾及里中壯士奮擊，眾寡不敵，力戰死。 賊縱掠城中，執舉人靳謙書，使跪，不屈，大罵而死。
Li Zhongzheng was from Lushi. At the end of the Wanli reign he passed the metropolitan examination; in the second year of Tianqi he attended the palace examination and was appointed investigating censor of Chengtian Prefecture, then transferred to principal secretary in the Ministry of War. At the beginning of the Chongzhen reign he resigned on grounds of illness and returned home. In the sixth year, bands of robbers threw Hebei into great disorder. That winter they crossed the river on the ice and advanced through Mianchi to attack Lushi. The central provinces had long been at peace and were unprepared. When word suddenly came that the bandits had arrived, officials and people were terrified; Magistrate Jin Huijia abandoned the city and fled. In the twelfth month the bandits entered the city; Zhongzheng rallied his household and the stalwarts of the neighborhood to fight fiercely; outnumbered, he battled to the death. The bandits plundered the city at will; they seized the juren Jin Qianshu and forced him to kneel, but he would not submit and died after cursing them fiercely.
7
賊以是冬始入河南，自是屢陷名城，殺將吏無算，鄉官舉貢多被難。 其宜陽馬足輕，靈寶許煇，新安劉君培、馬山、李登英，偃師裴君合，陜州張我正、張我德，孟津孫挺生，嵩縣傅世濟、李佩玉，上蔡劉時寵輩，則先後以布衣抗節顯。
The bandits entered Henan for the first time that winter; thereafter they repeatedly took famous cities, killed commanders and officials beyond count, and many local gentry and tribute students perished in the calamity. Among them Ma Zuqing of Yiyang, Xu Hui of Lingbao, Liu Junpei, Ma Shan, and Li Dengying of Xin'an, Pei Junhe of Yanshi, Zhang Wozheng and Zhang Wode of Shaanzhou, Sun Tingsheng of Mengjin, Fu Shiji and Li Peiyu of Song county, Liu Shichong of Shangcai and others in turn won fame as commoners who upheld their integrity.
8
足輕，性孝友。 弟惑婦言，迫分產，乃取田磽薄者自予。 萬歷末，歲大兇，出粟六百石以振，焚券千余。 崇禎六年冬，流賊渡河而南，挈家避之石龍崖。 三女皆殊色，慮賊汙，悉投崖死。 足輕被執，厲聲大罵。 賊怒，並三子殺之。 家眾皆遇害，惟存次子駿一人，後登鄉薦。 煇為縣陰陽官，為賊所掠，大罵見殺。
Zuqing was by nature filial and devoted to his brothers. His younger brother, swayed by his wife, pressed for a division of the estate; Zuqing therefore kept for himself the barren and poor fields. At the end of the Wanli reign, in a year of severe famine, he distributed six hundred shi of grain for relief and burned more than a thousand debt notes. In the winter of the sixth year of Chongzhen, as roving bandits crossed the river southward, he took his family to seek refuge at Shilong Cliff. His three daughters were all exceptionally beautiful; fearing defilement by the bandits, they all threw themselves from the cliff to their deaths. Zuqing was seized and cursed them in a thunderous voice. The bandits were enraged and killed him together with his three sons. The entire household perished; only the second son Jun survived, and later passed the provincial examination. Hui served as the county yin-yang official; seized by bandits, he cursed them fiercely and was killed.
9
君培有義行，攜子及從孫避難，道遇賊，欲殺其從孫。 君培曰：「我尚有男，此子乃遺孤，幸舍之而殺我。」 賊如其言，二子獲免。
Junpei was known for righteous conduct; while fleeing with his son and nephew, he met bandits on the road who wished to kill his nephew. Junpei said, "I still have a son; this boy is an orphan left in my care—please spare him and kill me instead. The bandits did as he asked, and the two boys were spared.
10
山性剛直，土寇於大中陷新安，獲山，使負米。 叱曰：「我天朝百性，肯為賊負米邪！」 大罵而死。 登英亦以罵賊死。
Shan was by nature stern and upright; when local bandits under Yu Dazhong took Xin'an, they seized him and made him carry rice. He shouted, "I am a subject of the Heavenly Dynasty—would I carry rice for bandits! He cursed them fiercely and was killed. Dengying likewise died after cursing the bandits.
11
君合幼孤，母苦節，孝養惟謹。 賊至，聚眾保沙岸寨。 攻圍十晝夜不克，說之降，大罵不從。 寨破，被磔。
Junhe was orphaned young; his mother lived in bitter widowhood, and he supported her with the utmost filial devotion. When the bandits came, he gathered the people to defend Sha'an Stockade. They besieged it for ten days and nights without success, urged him to surrender, but he cursed them and refused. When the stockade fell, he was dismembered.
12
我正素豪俠，集眾保鄉里，一方賴之。 十四年勒眾禦賊，馘三人。 俄賊大至，眾悉奔，奮臂獨戰。 賊愛其男，欲生致之，詬罵自刎死。 我德知賊至，恐妻子受辱，驅一家二十七人登樓自焚。
Wozheng had always been bold and chivalrous; he gathered the people to protect the countryside, and the whole region relied on him. In the fourteenth year he led the people against the bandits and killed three of them. Soon a great force of bandits arrived; everyone fled, but he fought on alone. The bandits admired his courage and wished to take him alive; he reviled them and cut his own throat. Wode, learning the bandits had come, feared his wife and children would be dishonored and drove twenty-seven members of his household up a tower to burn themselves alive.
13
挺生精星術，預卜十五年有寇禍，編茅河渚以居。 賊蹤跡得之，語其妻梁氏曰：「此匹夫徇義之秋也。」 夫婦對泣，詬賊而死。 世濟與兄世舟並為土寇於大中所執，將殺之。 兄弟相抱泣，賊議釋其一，世濟即奪賊刀自殺，世舟獲免。
Tingsheng was skilled in astrology; he foretold bandit calamity within fifteen years and built a thatched hut on the riverbank to live in. The bandits tracked him down; he said to his wife Lady Liang, "This is the season for a common man to die for righteousness. Husband and wife wept together, reviled the bandits, and died. Shiji and his elder brother Shizhou were both seized by local bandits under Yu Dazhong and were about to be killed. The brothers embraced and wept; the bandits debated releasing one of them; Shiji immediately seized a bandit's knife and killed himself, and Shizhou was spared.
14
佩玉者，御史興元孫也。 崇禎末，中州盡殘，佩玉結遺民捍鄉井，與鄰寨相掎角，往往尾賊後，奪其輜重。 賊憚之，不敢出其境。 後大舉圍別寨，佩玉往救，力戰而死，裏人聚哭之。
Peiyu was the grandson of Censor Xingyuan. At the end of the Chongzhen reign the central provinces were utterly devastated; Peiyu rallied survivors to defend their villages, coordinated with neighboring stockades, and often followed the bandits to seize their baggage trains. The bandits feared him and dared not leave his territory. Later, when bandits besieged another stockade in force, Peiyu went to the rescue, fought fiercely, and fell; the villagers gathered to mourn him.
15
時寵有孝行。 賊陷城，其父宗祀以年老不能行，命之速避，遂自殺。 時寵慟哭，刺殺一子、三女，夫婦並自剄。 其妹適歸寧，亦從死，一家死者八人。
Shichong was known for filial conduct. When the bandits took the city, his father Zongsi, too old to flee, urged him to escape quickly and then killed himself. Shichong wept in anguish, stabbed one son and three daughters to death, and he and his wife both cut their throats. His sister, visiting home on a return trip, died with them as well; eight people in the family perished.
16
方國儒，字道醇，歙縣人。 四歲失父，奉母以孝聞。 天啟元年舉於鄉。 崇禎間，授保康知縣。 流賊大入湖廣，將吏率望風先奔。 保康小邑素無兵，七年正月賊至，國儒急率鄉兵出禦，力不支，城遂陷。 亡何，賊退，國儒還入城。 逾月復至，督吏民固拒。 賊至益眾，復陷。 國儒官服坐堂上，被執大罵，身中七刃死。
Fang Guoru, styled Daochun, was from She county. He lost his father at the age of four and was known for supporting his mother with filial devotion. In the first year of Tianqi he passed the provincial examination. During the Chongzhen reign he was appointed magistrate of Baokang. Roving bandits poured into Huguang in force, and commanders and officials for the most part fled at the first rumor. Baokang was a small county that had never had troops; in the first month of the seventh year the bandits arrived, and Guoru urgently led local militia out to resist, but could not hold them and the city fell. Before long the bandits withdrew, and Guoru returned to the city. After more than a month they came again, and he urged officials and people to hold firm in resistance. The bandits came in even greater numbers, and the city fell again. Guoru sat in official dress in the hall; seized, he cursed them fiercely and died after seven blade wounds.
17
賊陷竹谿，訓導王紹正死之。 谷城舉人常存畏會試赴京，道遇賊，欲劫為首領，罵不絕口死。 他賊犯興山，知縣劉定國堅守。 城將陷，遣吏懷印送上官，罵賊死。
When the bandits took Zhuxi, Instructor Wang Shaozheng died in the defense. Chang Cunwei of Gucheng, a juren on his way to the capital for the metropolitan examination, met bandits on the road; they wished to seize him as their leader, but he cursed them without cease until he died. Other bandits attacked Xingshan; Magistrate Liu Dingguo held firm. As the city was about to fall, he sent an official bearing the seal to his superior, cursed the bandits, and died.
18
何承光，貴州鎮遠人。 萬歷四十年舉於鄉。 崇禎中，歷夔州同知。 七年二月，賊由荊州入夔門，犯夔州。 副使周士登在涪州，城中倉猝無備，通判、推官、知縣悉遁。 承光攝府事，率吏民固守，力竭城陷。 承光整冠帶危坐，賊入殺之，投屍於江。 事聞，贈承光夔州知府。
He Chengguang was from Zhenyuan in Guizhou. In the fortieth year of Wanli he passed the provincial examination. During the Chongzhen reign he served as subprefect of Kuizhou. In the second month of the seventh year, bandits entered through Kuimen from Jingzhou and attacked Kuizhou. Vice Commissioner Zhou Shideng was at Fuzhou; the city was wholly unprepared, and the subprefect, investigating censor, and magistrate all fled. Chengguang took charge of prefectural affairs, led officials and people in a steadfast defense, and when his strength was exhausted the city fell. Chengguang straightened his cap and sash and sat upright; the bandits entered, killed him, and threw his body into the river. When the affair was reported, Chengguang was posthumously made prefect of Kuizhou.
19
自賊起陜西，轉寇山西、畿輔、河南、北及湖廣、四川，陷州縣以數十許，未有破大郡者，至是天下為震動。
From the time the bandits rose in Shaanxi, they turned to raid Shanxi, the capital region, Henan, and northward into Huguang and Sichuan, taking dozens of prefectures and counties; never before had they broken a great prefecture—now the whole realm was shaken.
20
其他部自漢中犯大寧，知縣高日臨見勢弱不能守，嚙指書牒乞援上官，率眾禦之北門。 兵敗被執，大罵不屈，賊碎其體焚之。 訓導高錫及妻女，巡檢陳國俊及妻，皆遇害。 日臨，字儼若，鄱陽恩貢生。
Another band entered from Hanzhong to attack Daning; Magistrate Gao Rilin, seeing his force was too weak to hold, bit his finger and wrote a dispatch begging aid from his superior, then led the people to defend the North Gate. His troops were defeated and he was seized; he cursed them fiercely and would not yield; the bandits dismembered his body and burned it. Instructor Gao Xi and his wife and daughters, and Inspector Chen Guojun and his wife, all perished. Rilin, styled Yanruo, was an enfeoffed tribute student of Poyang.
21
賊陷夔州，他賊即以次日陷巫山，通江巡檢郭纘化陣沒，通江指揮王永年力戰死。 至四月，守備郭震辰、指揮田實擊賊百丈關，兵敗被執，罵賊死。
When bandits took Kuizhou, other bandits took Wushan the very next day; Tongjiang Inspector Guo Zuanhua fell in battle, and Tongjiang Commander Wang Yongnian fought fiercely and died. By the fourth month, Garrison Commander Guo Zhenchen and Commander Tian Shi attacked bandits at Baizhang Pass; their troops were defeated and they were seized; they cursed the bandits and died.
22
龐瑜，字堅白，公安人。 家貧，躬耕自給。 夏轉水灌田，執書從牛後，朗誦不輟。 由歲貢生授京山訓導。 崇禎七年擢陜西崇信知縣。 縣無城，兵荒，貧民止百余戶。 瑜知賊必至，言於監司陸夢龍，以無兵辭。 瑜集士民築土垣以守，流涕誓死職。 閏八月天大雨，土垣盡圮。 賊掩至，瑜急解印遣家人賫送上官，端坐堂上以待。 賊至，捽令跪。 瑜罵曰：「賊奴敢辱官長！」 拔刀脅之，罵益厲。 賊掠城中無所有，執至野外，剖心裂屍而去。 贈固原知州。
Pang Yu, styled Jianbai, was from Gong'an. His family was poor; he farmed with his own hands to support himself. In summer, while turning the water to irrigate the fields, he held a book behind the ox and recited aloud without cease. Through the annual tribute student route he was appointed instructor of Jingshan. In the seventh year of Chongzhen he was promoted to magistrate of Chongxin in Shaanxi. The county had no wall; amid war and famine, poor households numbered only a little over a hundred. Yu knew bandits would certainly come and spoke to Supervisor Lu Menglong, declining on grounds of having no troops. Yu gathered gentry and people to build earthen walls for defense, weeping as he swore to die at his post. In the intercalary eighth month a great rain fell, and the earthen walls all collapsed. Bandits came upon them suddenly; Yu urgently removed the seal and sent his family to deliver it to his superior, then sat upright in the hall to await them. When the bandits arrived, they seized him and ordered him to kneel. Yu cursed, "Bandit slaves dare insult an official! They drew knives to threaten him, but his curses grew fiercer. Finding nothing worth plundering in the city, the bandits took him to the wilds, cut open his heart, dismembered his corpse, and left. He was posthumously made prefect of Guyuan.
23
時賊盡趨秦中，長吏多殉城者。
At that time the bandits all pressed into Qinzhong, and many senior officials died with their cities.
24
山陽陷，知縣董三謨，黎平舉人也，及父嗣成、弟三元俱死之，妻李氏亦攜子女偕死。 贈光祿丞，立祠，與嗣成、三元並祀，妻女建坊旌表。
When Shanyang fell, Magistrate Dong Sanmo, a juren of Liping, died together with his father Sicheng and brother Sanyuan; his wife Lady Li also took her children and died with them. He was posthumously made Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; a shrine was established, and he was worshipped together with Sicheng and Sanyuan; his wife and daughters were honored with a commemorative arch.
25
吉永祚，輝縣人。 為鳳縣主簿，謝事將歸。 會賊至，知縣棄城遁，永祚倡義拒守。 城陷，北面再拜曰：「臣雖小吏，嘗食祿於朝，不敢以謝事逃責。」 大罵死之。 子士樞、士模皆死。 教諭李之蔚、鄉官魏炳亦不屈死。 永祚贈漢中衛經歷，余贈恤有差。
Ji Yongzuo was from Huixian. He served as registrar of Feng county and had resigned his post and was about to return home. Just then bandits arrived; the magistrate abandoned the city and fled, and Yongzuo took the lead in organizing resistance. When the city fell, he bowed twice facing north and said, "Though I am a minor official, I have received salary from the court and dare not use my resignation to escape responsibility. He cursed them fiercely and died. His sons Shishu and Shimo both died. Instructor Li Zhiwei and local official Wei Bing likewise refused to yield and died. Yongzuo was posthumously made secretary of Hanzhong Guard; the others received posthumous honors of varying degree.
26
婁琇知涇州。 閏八月，城陷死，贈太仆少卿。
Lou Xiu was prefect of Jingzhou. In the intercalary eighth month the city fell and he died; he was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud.
27
蒲來舉知甘泉。 賊來犯，守備孫守法等擁兵不救。 城破，來舉手刃一賊，傷六賊而後死。 贈光祿少卿。
Pu Laiju was magistrate of Ganquan. When bandits came to attack, Garrison Commander Sun Shoufa and others held troops but did not come to the rescue. When the city fell, Laiju killed one bandit with his own hand, wounded six bandits, and then fell. He was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
28
呂鳴世，福建人。 由恩貢生為麟遊知縣。 兵燹後，拊居民有恩。 城陷，賊不忍加害，自絕食六日卒。 有宋緒湯者，耀州諸生，被獲，大罵死。
Lü Mingshi was from Fujian. He entered service as a tribute student by grace and was appointed magistrate of Linyou. After the devastation of war, he showed kindness in comforting the townspeople. When the city fell, the bandits could not bring themselves to harm him; he starved himself for six days and died. One Song Xutang, a licentiate of Yaozhou, was captured; he cursed the bandits fiercely and was killed.
29
尹夢鰲，雲南太和人。 萬歷時舉於鄉。 崇禎中知潁州。 八年正月方謁上官於鳳陽，聞流賊大至，立馳還。 賊已抵城下，乃偕通判趙士寬率民固守。 城北有高樓間城中，諸生劉廷傳請先據之，夢鰲以為然。 而廷傳所統皆市人，不可用。 賊遂據樓以攻，且鑿城，頹數丈，城上人皆走，止之不可。 夢鰲持大刀，獨當城壞處，殺賊十余人，身被數刃。 賊眾畢登，遂投城下烏龍潭死，弟侄七人皆死之。
Yin Meng'ao was from Taihe in Yunnan. During the Wanli reign he passed the provincial examinations. During the Chongzhen reign he served as prefect of Yingzhou. In the first month of the eighth year, while visiting his superiors at Fengyang, he heard that roving bandits were approaching in great numbers and immediately rode back at full speed. The bandits had already reached the city walls; he joined Assistant Prefect Zhao Shikuan in leading the people in a staunch defense. North of the city stood a tall tower overlooking the inner city; licentiate Liu Tingchuan proposed seizing it first, and Meng'ao agreed. But the men under Tingchuan's command were all townspeople and proved unusable. The bandits then seized the tower and used it to attack, while also burrowing into the wall until several zhang collapsed; the defenders on the wall all fled and could not be restrained. Meng'ao took up a broadsword and alone stood at the breach, killing more than ten bandits before sustaining several wounds. When the bandits had all scaled the walls, he threw himself into Wulong Pond below the city and drowned; seven nephews and younger brothers died with him.
30
廷傳者，故布政使九光從子，任俠好義，亦罵賊死。 九光子廷石分守西城，中賊刃未絕，口授友人方略，令繕牘上當事，旋卒。
Tingchuan was the nephew of the former provincial administration commissioner Jiuguang; a man of chivalrous spirit who loved righteousness, he likewise cursed the bandits and was killed. Jiuguang's son Tingshi defended the western wall; though struck by a bandit's blade and not yet dead, he orally dictated a plan of defense to a friend, had it written up and sent to the authorities, and soon expired.
31
士寬，字汝良，掖縣人。 由門蔭為鳳陽通判，駐潁州。 以正旦詣郡城，聞警，一日夜馳三百里返州。 城陷，率家眾巷戰，力竭，亦投烏龍潭死。 妻李攜三女登樓自焚，仆王丹亦罵賊死。 鄉官尚書張鶴鳴、弟副使鶴勝、子大同，中書舍人田之穎，知縣劉道遠，光祿署正李生白，訓導丁嘉遇，舉人郭三傑，諸生韓光祿等，皆死之。
Shikuan, styled Ruliang, was from Ye county. Through hereditary privilege he was appointed assistant prefect of Fengyang and stationed at Yingzhou. On New Year's Day he had gone to the district seat; on hearing the alarm, he rode three hundred li in a single day and night to return to Yingzhou. When the city fell, he led his household in street fighting until exhausted, then likewise threw himself into Wulong Pond and died. His wife Lady Li took three daughters upstairs and burned themselves to death; his servant Wang Dan likewise cursed the bandits and was killed. The local official and former Minister Zhang Heming, his younger brother Vice Commissioner Hesheng, his son Datong, Secretariat Drafter Tian Zhiying, Magistrate Liu Daoyuan, Director of Imperial Banquets Li Shengbai, Instructor Ding Jiayu, juren Guo Sanjie, licentiate Han Guanglu, and others all perished.
32
光祖，進士獻策父也，被執，賊捽使跪。 叱曰：「吾生平讀書，止知忠義。」 遂大罵。 賊殺之，碎其屍。 妻武偕一妹、一女並獻策妻李赴井死。 妾李方有娠，賊剖腹剔胎死。 次子定策、孫日曦罵賊死，獨獻策獲存。 時被難者共一百三人，城中婦人死節者三十七人，烈女八人。 潁州忠烈，稱獨盛雲。
Guangzu was the father of jinshi Xiances; when captured, the bandits dragged him forward and forced him to kneel. He shouted, "All my life I have read books and know only loyalty and righteousness. He then cursed them fiercely. The bandits killed him and dismembered his body. His wife Lady Wu, together with a younger sister and a daughter, along with Xiances's wife Lady Li, threw themselves into a well and died. Concubine Li was pregnant; the bandits cut open her belly, extracted the fetus, and killed her. Second son Dingce and grandson Rixi cursed the bandits and were killed; only Xiances survived. In all, one hundred and three people perished in the catastrophe; thirty-seven women in the city died defending their chastity, and eight were counted as heroic martyrs. In its display of loyal martyrdom, Yingzhou stood alone in renown.
33
潁州衛隸河南，流賊至，指揮李從師、王廷俊，千戶孫升、田三震，百戶羅元慶、田得民、王之麟俱乘城戰死。 賊既陷潁州，屠其民。 其別部即以是月由壽州犯鳳陽。
Yingzhou Guard fell under Henan jurisdiction; when roving bandits arrived, Commanders Li Congshi and Wang Tingjun, Battalion Commanders Sun Sheng and Tian Sanzhen, and Platoon Commanders Luo Yuanqing, Tian Demin, and Wang Zhilin all took to the walls and died fighting. After the bandits captured Yingzhou, they massacred its people. That same month a separate bandit column advanced from Shouzhou against Fengyang.
34
鳳陽故無城，中都留守朱國相率指揮袁瑞徵、呂承蔭、郭希聖、張鵬翼、周時望、李郁、嶽光祚，千戶陳弘祖、陳其忠、金龍化等，以兵三千逆賊上窯山，多斬獲。 俄賊數萬至，矢集如猬，遂敗，國相自刎死，余皆陣沒。 賊遂犯皇陵，大肆焚掠。
Fengyang had never had city walls; Metropolitan Garrison Commandant Zhu Guoxiang led Commanders Yuan Ruizheng, Lü Chengyin, Guo Xisheng, Zhang Pengyi, Zhou Shiwang, Li Yu, and Yue Guangzuo, along with Battalion Commanders Chen Hongzu, Chen Qizhong, Jin Longhua, and others, with three thousand troops to intercept the bandits on Shangyao Mountain, inflicting many kills and captures. Soon tens of thousands of bandits arrived; arrows fell thick as bristles on a hedgehog, and the defenders were routed; Guoxiang slit his own throat and died, and the rest all fell on the field. The bandits then raided the imperial mausoleum, burning and looting on a vast scale.
35
知府顏容暄囚服匿於獄，釋囚獲之，容暄大罵，賊杖殺之。 血浸石階，宛如其像，滌之不滅。 士民乃取石立冢，建祠奉祀。
Prefect Yan Rongxuan, dressed in convict's garb, hid in the jail; released prisoners found him; Rongxuan cursed them fiercely, and the bandits beat him to death with staves. Blood soaked the stone steps in a likeness of his portrait; washing could not remove it. The officials and commoners then carved stone to raise a tomb and built a shrine where he was worshipped.
36
推官萬文英臥病，賊索之。 子元亨，年十六，泣語父曰：「兒不得復事親矣！」 出門呼曰：「若索官，何為？ 我即官也。 賊縶之。 顧見其師萬師尹亦被縶，紿賊曰：「若欲得者，官爾。 何縶此賤隸？」 賊遂釋之。 元亨乃極口大罵。 賊怒，斷脛死，文英獲免。
Administrative Aide Wan Wenying lay ill in bed; the bandits came searching for him. His son Yuanheng, aged sixteen, wept and said to his father, "I shall never again be able to serve you as a son! Stepping outside, he called out, "If you are looking for an official, why bother? I am the official. The bandits seized him. Seeing that his teacher Wan Shiyin had also been seized, he deceived the bandits, saying, "If you want the official, it is he. Why seize this worthless servant?" The bandits then released Shiyin. Yuanheng then cursed them without restraint. Enraged, the bandits severed his legs and killed him; Wenying was spared.
37
容暄，漳浦人。 文英，南昌人。 皆進士。 一時同死者，千戶陳永齡、百戶盛可學等四十一人，諸生六十六人。 舉人蔣思宸聞變，投繯死。
Rongxuan was from Zhangpu. Wenying was from Nanchang. Both were jinshi degree holders. Those who died at the same time included forty-one men such as Battalion Commander Chen Yongling and Platoon Commander Sheng Kexue, and sixty-six licentiates. On hearing of the disaster, juren Jiang Sichen hanged himself.
38
後給事中林正亨錄上其狀，贈夢鰲光祿少卿，士寬光祿丞，余贈恤有差。
Later, Supervising Secretary Lin Zhengheng memorialized the court with a full account; Meng'ao was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Shikuan Director of the same court, and the others received posthumous honors of varying degree.
39
盧謙，字吉甫，廬江人。 萬歷三十二年進士。 授永豐知縣。 擢御史，出為江西右參政，引疾歸。 崇禎八年二月，流賊犯廬江，士民具財帛求免，賊偽許之。 俄襲陷其城，謙服命服，危坐中門。 賊至，欲屈之，罵曰：「吾朝廷憲臣，肯為賊屈邪？ 鼠輩滅亡在即，安敢無禮！」 賊怒殺之，投屍於池，池水盡赤。 舉人張受、畢尹周亦不屈被殺。 是年正月，賊陷霍丘，縣丞張有俊，教諭倪可大，訓導何炳，鄉官田既庭、戴廷對，舉人王毓貞死焉。 賊陷巢縣，知縣嚴覺被執不屈，一門皆死。 二月犯太湖，知縣金應元據城東大濠以守。 奸人導賊渡濠，執應元，斫之未殊，自經死。 訓導扈永寧亦死之。 謙贈光祿卿，余贈恤如制。 覺，歸安人。 應元，浙江山陰人。 皆舉人。
Lu Qian, styled Jifu, was from Lujiang. He received his jinshi degree in the thirty-second year of the Wanli reign. He was appointed magistrate of Yongfeng. He was promoted to censor and then appointed Right Vice Commissioner of Jiangxi; citing illness, he retired to his home. In the second month of the eighth year of Chongzhen, roving bandits attacked Lujiang; the officials and people gathered money and goods to buy their safety, and the bandits falsely agreed. Soon they stormed and captured the city; Qian put on his official robes and sat upright at the main gate. When the bandits came seeking to break him, he cursed them, "I am a disciplinary official of the court—would I bow to bandits? You vermin are doomed to perish—how dare you treat me with disrespect! Enraged, the bandits killed him and threw his body into a pool, turning the water completely red. Juren Zhang Shou and Bi Yinzhou likewise refused to submit and were killed. In the first month of that year, bandits captured Huoqiu; Assistant Magistrate Zhang Youjun, Instructor Ni Keda, Sub-Instructor He Bing, local officials Tian Jiting and Dai Tingdui, and juren Wang Yuzhen all perished. When bandits captured Chaoxian, Magistrate Yan Jue was seized but refused to yield; his entire household perished. In the second month they attacked Taihu; Magistrate Jin Yingyuan defended from the great moat east of the city. A collaborator guided the bandits across the moat; they seized Yingyuan and hacked at him without finishing the job; he hanged himself. Sub-Instructor Hu Yongning died as well. Qian was posthumously made Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; the others received posthumous honors according to regulation. Jue was from Gui'an. Yingyuan was from Shanyin in Zhejiang. Both were juren degree holders.
40
龔元祥，字子禎，長洲人。 舉於鄉。 崇禎四年為霍山教諭，厲廉隅，以名教自任，與訓導姚允恭友善。 八年，賊陷鳳陽，元祥偕縣令守禦。 賊掩至，令逸去，元祥督士民固守。 或勸之避，元祥曰：「食祿而避難，不忠。 臨危而棄城，不義。 吾平日講說者謂何？ 倘不測，死爾。」 及賊陷城，元祥整衣冠危坐。 賊至，侃侃諭以大義。 賊欲屈之，厲聲曰：「死即死，賊輩何敢辱我！」 賊怒，執之去，罵不絕口，遂遇害。 子炳衡號呼罵賊，賊又殺之。 閱五日，允恭斂其屍，即自縊，適令至，解免。 越日，賊復入，允恭卒死之。 事聞，贈元祥國子助教，建祠曰忠孝，以其子配。 允恭亦被旌。
Gong Yuanxiang, styled Zizhen, was from Changzhou. He passed the provincial examinations. In the fourth year of Chongzhen he served as instructor of Huoshan; he strictly upheld personal integrity, held himself accountable to the teachings of moral order, and was close friends with Sub-Instructor Yao Yungong. In the eighth year, when bandits captured Fengyang, Yuanxiang joined the county magistrate in mounting a defense. The bandits struck without warning; the magistrate fled, and Yuanxiang rallied the officials and people in a staunch defense. When some urged him to flee, Yuanxiang said, "To draw a salary yet flee from danger is disloyalty. To abandon the city in a crisis is unrighteous. What then were all my daily lectures about? If the worst comes, then death it shall be. When the bandits captured the city, Yuanxiang straightened his cap and robes and sat in dignified composure. When the bandits arrived, he calmly reasoned with them on the obligations of righteousness. When they sought to break him, he said in a fierce voice, "If I must die, then die I shall—how dare you bandits dishonor me! Enraged, the bandits seized him and dragged him away; he never stopped cursing and was killed. His son Bingheng cried out and cursed the bandits; they killed him as well. Five days later, Yungong collected their bodies, then hanged himself; an order arrived just then and he was cut down and spared. The next day the bandits entered again, and Yungong finally perished. When word reached the court, Yuanxiang was posthumously made Assistant Instructor of the Directorate of Education; a shrine called Loyalty and Filial Piety was erected, with his son enshrined beside him. Yungong was also officially commended.
41
王信，陜西寧州人。 父歿，廬墓三年。 母歿，信年已六十，足不逾閾者三年。 崇禎初，由歲貢生除靈璧訓導，遷真陽知縣。 八年二月出撫土寇，會流賊猝至，被執，使諭降羅山、真陽。 信大罵不從，斷頭剖腹而死。 閱四日，其子來覓，猶舒指握子手。 贈光祿丞，建祠奉祀。
Wang Xin was from Ningzhou in Shaanxi. When his father died, he lived by the tomb in mourning for three years. When his mother died, Xin was already sixty; for three years he did not step beyond his threshold. Early in the Chongzhen reign, he entered service as a senior tribute student and was appointed instructor of Lingbi, then promoted to magistrate of Zhenyang. In the second month of the eighth year he went out to pacify local bandits; roving bandits suddenly arrived, seized him, and forced him to call for the surrender of Luoshan and Zhenyang. Xin cursed them fiercely and refused; they cut off his head, disemboweled him, and killed him. Four days later, when his son came looking for him, he was still able to stretch out his fingers and clasp his son's hand. He was posthumously made Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and a shrine was erected for his worship.
42
史記言，字司直，當塗人。 崇禎中舉人，由長沙知縣遷知陜州。 陜當賊沖，記言出私財募士，聘少室僧訓練之。 八年冬十一月，流賊犯陜，記言禦之，斬數十級，生擒二十余人。 老回回憤，率數萬人攻城，不克，乘雪夜來襲，而所練士方調他郡，城遂陷。 記言縱火自焚，兩僧掖之出曰：「死此，何以自明？」 乃越女墻下。 賊追獲之，令降，叱曰：「有死知州，無降知州也！」 遂被殺。 指揮李君賜殺數賊而死。 訓導王誠心，裏居教諭張敏行、姚良弼，指揮楊道泰、阮我疆，鎮撫陳三元，亦不屈死。 是月，賊陷盧氏，知縣白楹自剄。 十年九月陷澠池，知縣李邁林死之。 記言贈光祿少卿，余贈恤有差。
Shi Jiyan, whose courtesy name was Sizhi, was from Dangtu. Having passed the provincial examination in the Chongzhen reign, he rose from magistrate of Changsha to prefect of Shaanzhou. Shaanzhou lay on the main bandit route; Jiyan spent his own money to recruit troops and hired monks from Shaoshi to drill them. In the eleventh month of the eighth year, roving bandits attacked Shaanzhou; Jiyan drove them off, beheaded dozens, and took more than twenty alive. Enraged, Lao Huihui led tens of thousands to attack the city but failed; then on a snowy night he launched a surprise raid while Jiyan's trained troops had been dispatched to another prefecture, and the city fell. Jiyan set himself on fire; two monks pulled him out and said, "If you die here, how will you clear your name? Then he climbed over the outer wall. The bandits pursued and captured him and ordered him to surrender; he shouted, "There are dead prefects, but no prefects who surrender! He was then killed. Commander Li Junci killed several bandits before he himself was killed. Instructor Wang Chengxin, home-residing instructors Zhang Minxing and Yao Liangbi, commanders Yang Daotai and Ruan Wojiang, and garrison officer Chen Sanyuan likewise refused to yield and died. That same month the bandits took Lushi; Magistrate Bai Ying slit his own throat. In the ninth month of the tenth year Mianchi fell, and Magistrate Li Mailin died defending it. Jiyan was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; the others received posthumous honors of varying degree.
43
梁誌仁，南京人，保定侯銘之裔也。 萬歷末年舉於鄉。 崇禎六年授衡陽知縣，調羅田。 賊大擾湖廣，誌仁日夕儆備。 羅汝才謂左右曰：「羅田城小易克，然梁君長者，吾不忍加兵。 俟其去，當取之。」 會邑豪江猶龍與賊通，誌仁捕下獄。 猶龍知必死，潛導汝才別校來攻。 八年二月猝攻城。 誌仁急偕典史單思仁、教諭吳鳳來、訓導盧大受督民守禦。 城陷，誌仁持長矛巷戰，殺六賊。 力屈被縶，抑使跪。 罵曰：「我天子命官，肯屈膝賊輩邪！」 賊怒，碎其支體，焚之。 妻唐被逼，大罵，奪賊刀不得，口嚙賊手，遂遇害。 思仁等亦不屈死。 汝才在英山，聞之，馳至羅田，斬其別校，曰：「奈何擅害長者！」 以錦繡斂其夫婦屍。 鳳來，福建舉人。 大受，寶慶貢生。 詔贈誌仁蘄州知州，思仁羅田主簿，鳳來國子助教，大受學錄，蔭子，祭葬有差。
Liang Zhiren was from Nanjing and a descendant of Marquis Ming of Baoding. Near the end of the Wanli reign he passed the provincial examination. In the sixth year of Chongzhen he was appointed magistrate of Hengyang and later transferred to Luotian. As bandits ravaged Huguang, Zhiren remained on constant alert day and night. Luo Rucai said to his followers, "Luotian is a small city and easy to take, but Magistrate Liang is a man of worth—I cannot bring myself to attack him. When he is gone, we shall take it. Just then a local magnate, Jiang Youlong, was found colluding with the bandits; Zhiren had him arrested and thrown in prison. Knowing he would surely be executed, Youlong secretly guided one of Rucai's subordinate commanders to launch an attack. In the second month of the eighth year they launched a sudden assault on the city. Zhiren hastily joined Recorder Shan Siren, Instructor Wu Fenglai, and Assistant Instructor Lu Dashou in organizing the townspeople to defend the city. When the city fell, Zhiren fought through the streets with a long spear and killed six bandits. Exhausted, he was seized and forced to his knees. He cursed them, "I am an official appointed by the Son of Heaven—would I kneel before bandits! Enraged, the bandits shattered his limbs and burned him alive. His wife, née Tang, was seized and cursed them fiercely; failing to wrest a bandit's knife from him, she bit his hand and was killed. Siren and the others likewise refused to yield and died. Rucai was at Yingshan; when he heard what had happened, he raced to Luotian, beheaded his subordinate commander, and said, "How dare you kill a worthy man on your own authority! He had their bodies wrapped in brocade for burial. Fenglai was a provincial graduate from Fujian. Dashou was a tribute student from Baoqing. By imperial edict Zhiren was posthumously made magistrate of Qizhou, Siren registrar of Luotian, Fenglai Assistant Instructor of the Directorate of Education, and Dashou Recorder of the Directorate of Education; their sons received hereditary privilege, and sacrificial and funeral honors were granted according to rank.
44
王國訓，字振之，解州人。 天啟二年進士。 歷知金鄉、壽張、滋陽、武清。 坐大計，久之，補調扶風。 國訓性剛嚴，恥幹進，故官久不遷。 崇禎八年秋，賊來犯，偕主簿夏建忠、典史陳紹南、教諭張弘綱、訓導陳繻嬰城固守。 閱兩月，外援不至，城陷，罵賊死。 建忠等亦不屈死。 贈國訓光祿少卿，建忠等皆贈恤。
Wang Guoxun, whose courtesy name was Zhenzhi, was from Jiezhou. He passed the metropolitan examination in the second year of Tianqi. He served successively as magistrate of Jinxiang, Shouzhang, Ziyang, and Wuqing. Dismissed at the triennial evaluation, he was eventually reassigned to Fufeng. Guoxun was stern and upright by nature and ashamed of currying favor for advancement, and so long remained without promotion. In the autumn of the eighth year of Chongzhen, when bandits attacked, he joined Registrar Xia Jianzhong, Recorder Chen Shaonan, Instructor Zhang Honggang, and Assistant Instructor Chen Xu in sealing the city and holding firm. After two months with no relief, the city fell; he cursed the bandits and died. Jianzhong and the others likewise refused to yield and died. Guoxun was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; Jianzhong and the others all received posthumous honors.
45
當是時，大帥曹文詔、艾萬年等並戰歿，賊勢益張，關中諸州縣悉殘破。 八月，賊陷永壽，殺知縣薄匡宇。 尋陷咸陽，殺知縣趙躋昌。
At that time Grand Commander Cao Wenzhao, Ai Wannian, and others had all fallen in battle; the bandits grew stronger, and prefectures and counties throughout Guanzhong were laid waste. In the eighth month the bandits took Yongshou and killed Magistrate Bo Kuangyu. Soon afterward they took Xianyang and killed Magistrate Zhao Jichang.
46
其時長吏以死聞者，隴州知州胡爾純，自經死。 延長知縣萬代芳與教諭譚恩、驛丞羅文魁協力守城，城陷皆死之。 代芳妻劉、妾梁從死。 爾純，山東人，贈光祿少卿。 代芳贈光祿丞，妻妾建坊旌表。 恩等亦賜祭。
Among the senior officials reported dead at that time was Longzhou Prefect Hu Erchun, who hanged himself. Yanchang Magistrate Wan Daifang, Instructor Tan En, and post station assistant Luo Wenkuai worked together to defend the city; when it fell, they all perished. Daifang's wife, née Liu, and his concubine, née Liang, died with him. Erchun was from Shandong and was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Daifang was posthumously made Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and his wife and concubine were honored with a commemorative arch. En and the others also received sacrificial honors.
47
有孫仲嗣者，膚施人，由貢生為階州學正。 當事知其才，委以城守。 賊大至，盡瘁死守。 城破，與妻子十余人並死之。 贈國子博士。 又有楊呈秀，華陰人。 由進士歷官順慶知府，大計罷歸。 賊攻城，佐有司禦賊以死，贈恤如制。
There was a man named Sun Zhongsi from Fushi who, through the tribute student route, became Director of Studies at Jiezhou. The authorities recognized his ability and put him in charge of defending the city. When the bandits arrived in force, he threw himself into the defense with all his strength. When the city fell, he and more than ten members of his family died together. He was posthumously made Doctor of the Directorate of Education. There was also Yang Chengxiu, from Huayin. A metropolitan graduate, he had served as prefect of Shunqing before being dismissed at the triennial evaluation and returning home. When bandits attacked the city, he assisted the officials in resisting them and died; he received posthumous honors according to regulation.
48
黎弘業，字孟擴，順德人。 由舉人知和州。 崇禎八年，流賊犯和州，禦卻之。 十二月復至，與鄉官馬如蛟募死士，登陴固守。 城將陷，弘業系印於肘，跪告其母曰：「兒不肖，貪微官以累母，奈何！」 母李泣諭曰：「汝勿以我為意，事至此，有死而已。」 遂自縊。 妻楊、妾李及女四人繼之。 弘業北面慟哭再拜，自刎未殊，濡頸血大書曰：「為臣盡忠，為子盡孝，何惜一死。」 賊入，傷數刃而死。 贈太仆少卿，任一子。 判官錢大用偕妻妾子婦俱死。 吏目景一高被創死。 學正康正諫，祁門人，舉人。 偕妻汪、子婦章赴水死，贈國子監丞。 訓導趙世選不屈死，贈國子學錄。
Li Hongye, whose courtesy name was Mengkuo, was from Shunde. A provincial graduate, he served as prefect of Hezhou. In the eighth year of Chongzhen, roving bandits attacked Hezhou and he drove them off. They returned in the twelfth month; together with local official Ma Rujiao he recruited die-hard fighters and mounted the walls to hold firm. As the city was about to fall, Hongye tied his official seal to his arm, knelt before his mother, and said, "Your son is unworthy; in clinging to a petty office I have brought calamity upon you—what can be done! His mother, née Li, wept and urged him, "Do not worry about me; it has come to this—there is nothing left but death." She then hanged herself. His wife, née Yang, his concubine, née Li, and four daughters followed her in death. Hongye turned north, wept in grief, and bowed twice; he tried to cut his own throat but did not die at once; smearing the blood from his neck, he wrote in large characters, "I have done my utmost in loyalty as a minister and in filial piety as a son—why should I regret one death? When the bandits entered, he was cut down by several blades and died. He was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud, and one son was granted an official post. Assistant Prefect Qian Dayong died together with his wife, concubines, daughters-in-law, and sons' wives. Clerk Jing Yigao was wounded and died. Director of Studies Kang Zhengjian was from Qimen and a provincial graduate. He drowned himself together with his wife, née Wang, and his daughter-in-law, née Zhang, and was posthumously made Vice Director of the Directorate of Education. Assistant Instructor Zhao Shixuan refused to yield and died; he was posthumously made Recorder of the Directorate of Education.
49
馬如蛟，字騰仲，州人。 天啟二年進士。 授浙江山陰知縣，有清操。 崇禎元年征授御史，劾罷魏忠賢黨徐紹吉、張訥。 出按四川，蜀中奸民悉以他人田產投勢家，如蛟列上十事，永革其弊。 還朝，監武會試。 武舉董姓者，以技勇聞於帝，及入試，文不中程，被黜。 帝怒，黜考官，如蛟亦落職。 八年論平邦彥功，復故官，以父憂未赴。 流賊至，如蛟傾貲募士，佐弘業固守。 麾壯士出擊，兩戰皆捷。 賊將奔，會風雪大作，不辨人色，守者皆潰，賊遂入城。 如蛟急下令，能擊賊者，予百金，須臾得百余人。 巷戰，賊多傷，力屈，遂戰死。 兄鹽運司判官如虬、諸生如虹及家屬十四人皆死。 事聞，贈太仆少卿，官一子。
Ma Rujiao, whose courtesy name was Tengzhong, was a native of the prefecture. He passed the metropolitan examination in the second year of Tianqi. Appointed magistrate of Shanyin in Zhejiang, he was known for his incorruptible conduct. In the first year of Chongzhen he was recalled and appointed censor; he impeached and brought about the dismissal of Xu Shaoji and Zhang Ne, members of Wei Zhongxian's faction. Sent to inspect Sichuan, he found that throughout Shu scoundrels were registering others' lands in the names of powerful families; Rujiao submitted ten proposals and permanently abolished the practice. On returning to court, he supervised the military metropolitan examination. A military licentiate surnamed Dong, whose martial skill was well known to the emperor, failed the written portion of the examination and was dismissed. The emperor was enraged, dismissed the examiners, and Rujiao lost his post as well. In the eighth year his former office was restored in recognition of his merit in pacifying An Bangyan, but he did not take it up because he was in mourning for his father. When roving bandits arrived, Rujiao spent his entire fortune to recruit troops and helped Hongye hold the city. He led brave men out to attack; both engagements were won. The bandits were about to flee when a blizzard struck and no one could tell friend from foe; the defenders all scattered, and the bandits entered the city. Rujiao urgently promised a hundred taels of gold to anyone who could strike down a bandit; within moments he had gathered more than a hundred men. Fighting through the streets, they wounded many bandits; exhausted at last, he died in battle. His elder brother, Salt Transport Assistant Prefect Ma Ruqiu, his brother the student Ma Ruhong, and fourteen family members all died. When word reached the court, he was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud, and one son was granted an official post.
50
張紹登，字振夫，南城人。 崇禎中舉人，知應城縣。 九年，賊來犯，偕訓導張國勛、鄉官饒可久悉力禦之。 國勛曰：「賊不一創，城不易守。」 率壯士出擊，力戰一日夜，斬獲甚眾。 賊去，邑侍郎王瑊之子權結怨於族黨，怨家潛導賊復來攻。 國勛佐紹登力守，而乞援於上官。 副將鄧祖禹來救，守西南，國勛守東北，紹登往來策應。 會賊射書索權，權懼，斬北關以出，賊乘間登南城。 紹登還署，端坐堂上，賊至，奮拳擊之。 群賊大至，乃被殺。 賊渠嘆其忠，以冠帶覆屍，埋堂側。
Zhang Shaodeng, whose courtesy name was Zhenfu, was from Nancheng. A provincial graduate in the Chongzhen reign, he served as magistrate of Yingcheng. In the ninth year bandits attacked; he joined Assistant Instructor Zhang Guoxun and local official Rao Kejiu in resisting with all their strength. Guoxun said, "Unless the bandits are struck a hard blow, the city will not be easy to hold. He led brave men out to attack; after fighting hard for a day and a night, they beheaded and captured a great many. After the bandits withdrew, Quan, son of Vice Minister Wang Jian of the town, had made enemies among his clansmen; an enemy family secretly led the bandits back to attack. Guoxun assisted Shaodeng in holding the city with all their strength and pleaded for reinforcements from their superiors. Deputy General Deng Zuyu came to the rescue, holding the southwest while Guoxun held the northeast and Shaodeng moved between them to coordinate the defense. The bandits then shot in a message demanding Quan; terrified, he hacked through the north gate to escape, and the bandits seized the moment to scale the south wall. Shaodeng returned to the yamen and sat upright in the hall; when the bandits arrived, he struck at them with his bare fists. When a great swarm of bandits arrived, he was killed. The bandit chieftain sighed at his loyalty, covered the body with cap and sash, and buried him beside the hall.
51
國勛，黃陂歲貢生。 賊既入，朝服北面拜，走捧先聖神主，拱立以待。 賊遂焚文廟，投國勛於烈焰中。 祖禹亦不屈死。
Guoxun was an annual tribute student from Huangpi. Once the bandits had entered, he donned court dress and bowed facing north, then ran to take up the spirit tablets of the Sage and stood with clasped hands awaiting his fate. The bandits then burned the Confucian temple and cast Guoxun into the flames. Zuyu likewise died without yielding.
52
可久，幼孤，事母孝，舉於鄉。 知大興縣。 崇禎初，疏請更《三朝要典》，時奄宦擅權，謫光祿典簿。 遷應天府推官、刑部主事，歷知府，丁艱歸。 賊入，語妻程曰：「臣死忠，婦死節，分也。」 於是妻女相對自經。 可久被執，賊強之拜，曰：「頭可斷，膝不可屈也！」 遂遇害。 瑊為賊支解。
Kejiu lost his father in childhood, served his mother with filial devotion, and passed the provincial examination. He served as magistrate of Daxing County. At the beginning of the Chongzhen reign, he memorialized requesting revision of the Three Reigns Essential Records; eunuchs then monopolized power, and he was demoted to Record Clerk of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. He was transferred to investigating censor of Yingtian Prefecture and principal secretary in the Ministry of Justice, rose through posts as prefect, and returned home to mourn his parent's death. When the bandits entered, he told his wife Cheng, "A minister dies in loyalty, a wife dies in chastity — such is our allotted duty. Thereupon his wife and daughter hanged themselves facing each other. Kejiu was seized, and the bandits forced him to bow; he cried, "My head may be cut off, but my knees will not bend! He was then killed. Jian was dismembered by the bandits.
53
事聞，贈紹登尚寶少卿，國勛國子學正。
When word reached the court, Shaodeng was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Seals, and Guoxun was made Instructor of the Directorate of Education.
54
王燾，字浚仲，昆山人。 少孤貧，九歲為人後。 族人有謀其產者，燾舉以讓之，迎養嗣祖母及母惟謹。 萬歷末，舉於鄉，由教諭歷隨州知州。 州經群盜焚掠，戶不滿千。 燾訓民兵，繕守具。 土寇李良喬為亂，殲滅之。 十年正月，大賊奄至。 燾且守且戰，擊斬三百余人。 賊攻益力，相持二十余日。 天大風雪，守者多散。 燾知必敗，入署，整冠帶自經。 賊焚其署，火燭不及燾死所，屍直立不仆，賊望見駭走。 已，覓州印，得之燾所立尺士下。 事聞，贈太常少卿。 福王時，賜謚烈湣，建雙忠祠，與同邑蔡懋德並祀。
Wang Tao, whose courtesy name was Junzhong, was from Kunshan. Orphaned and poor in childhood, at nine he was adopted as another family's heir. When a clansman plotted to seize his property, Tao yielded it entirely; he received and cared for his adoptive grandmother and mother with the utmost diligence. At the end of the Wanli reign he passed the provincial examination; from instructor he rose to prefect of Suizhou. The prefecture had been burned and plundered by bandits, and households numbered fewer than a thousand. Tao trained the militia and repaired the city's defenses. When the local bandit Li Liangqiao rebelled, Tao annihilated him. In the first month of the tenth year, a great bandit army suddenly arrived. Tao both defended and fought, killing and beheading more than three hundred men. The bandits pressed their attack ever harder, and the two sides held out against each other for more than twenty days. A great wind and snowstorm struck, and many defenders scattered. Knowing defeat was inevitable, Tao entered the yamen, straightened his cap and sash, and hanged himself. The bandits burned his yamen, but the flames did not reach the spot where Tao had died; his corpse stood upright without falling, and bandits who saw it fled in terror. Later, searching for the prefectural seal, they found it buried one chi beneath the earth where Tao had stood. When word reached the court, he was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. During the reign of the Prince of Fu, he was granted the posthumous title Lie Min (Fierce and Compassionate); a Twin Loyalty Shrine was built, and he was worshipped together with Cai Maode of the same county.
55
有魏時光者，南昌人。 善舞雙刀。 崇禎九年夏，為廣濟典史。 邑遭殘破，長吏設排兵三百人，委之教練。 其冬，賊據蘄州河口，憚時光不敢渡。 時光益募死士，夜襲其營，手殺數賊，賊不敢逼。 俄賊大至，部卒皆散，時光單騎據高坡，又殺數人。 賊環繞之，靷斷被執，不屈死。 其兄陳於上官，卻不奏。 兄憤發病死，友人收殮之，哭盡哀，曰：「弟為國死，兄為弟死，吾獨不能表暴之乎！」 具牘力陳，乃奏聞。 贈廣濟主簿，予恤典。
There was one Wei Shiguang, a native of Nanchang. He was skilled at wielding twin swords. In the summer of the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign, he served as clerk of Guangji. The county had been ravaged; the chief official raised three hundred militia and entrusted their training to him. That winter bandits occupied the Qizhou river mouth; they feared Shiguang and did not dare cross. Shiguang further recruited volunteers willing to die, raided their camp by night, and personally killed several bandits; the bandits did not dare press close. Soon a large bandit force arrived and his troops all scattered; Shiguang alone on horseback held a high slope and killed several more. Bandits surrounded him; his bridle reins snapped and he was seized, but he died without yielding. His elder brother reported the matter to his superiors, but no memorial was submitted to the throne. The elder brother died of rage and grief; friends gathered his body for burial. Before he died he wept his full grief and said, "My younger brother died for the state; I die for my brother — can I alone fail to proclaim this deed to the world! He prepared a detailed petition forcefully setting out the case, and only then was it reported to the throne. Shiguang was posthumously made Recorder of Guangji, and mourning honors were granted.
56
蔣佳徵，灌陽人。 天啟四年舉於鄉。 崇禎中，知盱眙縣，有聲。 縣故無城，佳徵知賊必至，訓民為兵。 十年秋，賊果來犯，設伏要害，親率兵往誘，賊殲甚眾。 賊怒，環攻之，力戰死。 母聞之，亦投繯死。 兵部議贈奉訓大夫、尚寶少卿。 未幾，巡按御史言佳徵子忠母義，宜賜謚蔭，以植倫常。 乃建表忠祠，並母奉祀。
Jiang Jiazheng was from Guanyang. In the fourth year of the Tianqi reign he passed the provincial examination. During the Chongzhen reign he served as magistrate of Xuyi and earned a fine reputation. The county originally had no walls; Jiazheng knew bandits would surely come and trained the people as soldiers. In the autumn of the tenth year bandits indeed came to attack; he set ambushes at key points, personally led troops to lure them in, and a great many bandits were annihilated. Enraged, the bandits surrounded and attacked him; he fought hard and died. When his mother heard of it, she too hanged herself. The Ministry of War recommended posthumously making him Grand Master for Proper Instruction and Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Seals. Before long the touring censor said that Jiazheng's filial devotion and his mother's righteousness deserved posthumous titles and hereditary honors, to uphold the moral order. A Shrine to Manifest Loyalty was then built, and his mother was worshipped together with him.
57
同時江北死難者，有吳暢春。 崇禎八年為潛山天堂寨巡檢，練鄉兵防賊。 明年冬，賊至，夜設燎，大驚去之。 逾年，賊再至，暢春死守，力屈，仰天嘆曰：「吾得死所矣！」 手刃數賊，被執不屈死。 贈迪功郎、安慶府經歷，蔭子所鎮撫。
Among those who died in the crisis in Jiangbei at the same time was Wu Changchun. In the eighth year of the Chongzhen reign he served as inspector of Tiantangzhai in Qianshan, training local militia to guard against bandits. The next winter bandits came; he set signal fires by night and greatly frightened them into retreat. A year later the bandits came again; Changchun defended to the death until his strength was spent, then looked up to heaven and sighed, "I have found the place where I shall die! He personally killed several bandits with his blade, was seized, and died without yielding. He was posthumously made Progression Officer and administrative assistant of Anqing Prefecture, and his son was granted the post of garrison commander.
58
又有王寅，錢塘人。 膂力絕人，舉武鄉試，以父征播功為千戶。 崇禎中，擢撫標守備。 見步卒脆弱，詫曰：「曩戚將軍練浙兵，聞天下，今若爾邪！」 督教之，卒始可用。 十年遷龍江都司，調赴泗州護祖陵。 賊來犯，寅曰：「賊眾我寡，及其未集，可破也。」 卷甲疾趨，至盱眙，斬其先鋒一人。 戰自午迄申，賊來益眾，與守備陳正亨陷陣死。 贈鎮國將軍、都指揮僉事。 正亨贈昭勇將軍、指揮使。 並官一子。
There was also Wang Yin, a native of Qiantang. His physical strength was unmatched; he passed the military provincial examination and, for his father's meritorious service in the Bozhou campaign, was made a company commander. During the Chongzhen reign he was promoted to garrison commander of the Jiangsu garrison. Seeing how weak the infantry were, he exclaimed in astonishment, "In the past General Qi trained Zhejiang troops famed throughout the realm — and now they are like this! He supervised their training, and only then did the troops become fit for battle. In the tenth year he was transferred to Longjiang commandant and dispatched to Sizhou to guard the imperial ancestral tombs. When bandits came to attack, Yin said, "The bandits are many and we are few; before they assemble, we can break them. He rolled up his armor and hurried forward; reaching Xuyi, he beheaded one of their vanguard. The battle lasted from noon until the shen hour; bandits came in ever greater numbers, and he and Garrison Commander Chen Zhengheng fell in battle and died. He was posthumously made General Who Pacifies the State and Assistant Commander-in-Chief. Zhengheng was posthumously made General of Manifest Valor and Commandant. One son of each was granted an official post.
59
徐尚卿，南平人。 舉於鄉，知劍州。 崇禎十年十月，李自成、惠登相等以數十萬眾入四川，大將侯良柱敗歿於廣元，遂攻陷昭化，知縣王時化死之。 尚卿知賊必至，集士民泣曰：「城必不能守，若輩速去，吾死此。」 眾泣，請偕去，尚卿不可。 閱二日，城陷，投繯死，吏目李英俊從之。 賊遂長驅陷江油、彰明、安縣、羅江、德陽、漢州，吏民皆先遁。 尋掠郫縣，主簿張應奇死之。 陷金堂，典史潘孟科死之。 是月也，賊陷州縣三十六，以死事聞者四人。 事定，贈尚卿右參議，時化光祿丞，應奇按察司知事，孟科將仕郎，並賜恤典。 時化，湖廣人，舉鄉試第一。
Xu Shangqing was from Nanping. He passed the provincial examination and served as prefect of Jianzhou. In the tenth month of the tenth year of the Chongzhen reign, Li Zicheng, Hui Dengxiang, and others entered Sichuan with a force of several hundred thousand; Grand General Hou Liangzhu was defeated and killed at Guangyuan; they then captured Zhaohua, and Magistrate Wang Shihua died in its defense. Shangqing knew the bandits would surely come; he gathered officials and townspeople and wept, "The city cannot be held; you must leave at once — I shall die here. The crowd wept and begged to leave together, but Shangqing would not agree. Two days later the city fell; he hanged himself, and Clerk Li Yingjun followed him in death. The bandits then drove straight forward and captured Jiangyou, Zhangming, An County, Luojiang, Deyang, and Hanzhou; officials and people had all fled beforehand. Soon they plundered Pixian, and Recorder Zhang Yingqi died in its defense. They captured Jintang, and Clerk Pan Mengke died in its defense. That month the bandits captured thirty-six prefectures and counties; only four who died in service were reported to the throne. When affairs were settled, Shangqing was posthumously made Right Assistant Censor, Shihua Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, Yingqi Secretariat Associate of the Provincial Surveillance Commission, and Mengke Officer for Merit; all were granted mourning honors. Shihua was a native of Huguang and had ranked first in the provincial examination.
60
阮之鈿，字實甫，桐城諸生。 崇禎中，下詔保舉人才，同郡諭德劉若宰以之鈿應，授谷城知縣。 十一年正月，之鈿未至，張獻忠襲陷其城，據以求撫。 總理熊文燦許之，處其眾數萬於四郊，居民洶洶欲竄。 之鈿至，盡心調劑，民稍安，乃上疏言：「獻忠虎踞邑城，其謀叵測。 所要求之地，實兵餉取道咽喉，秦、蜀交會脈絡，今皆為所據。 奸民甘心效用，善良悉為迫脅。 臣守土牧民之官，至無土可守，無民可牧。 庫藏殫虛，民產被奪，無賦可征。 名雖縣令，實贅員爾。 乃廟堂之上專主撫議，臣愚妄謂撫剿二策可合言，未可分言，致損國威，而挫士氣。」 時不能用。 賊眾漸出野外行劫，之鈿執之以告其營將，稍置之法。 及再告，皆不應，曰：「官司不給餉耳，得餉自止。」 由是村民徙亡殆盡，遂掠及阛阓。 稍拒，輒挺刃相向，日有死者，一城大囂。 監軍僉事張大經奉文燦令來鎮撫，亦不能禁。
Ruan Zhitian, whose courtesy name was Shifu, was a licentiate of Tongcheng. During the Chongzhen reign an edict was issued recommending talent; Lecturer Liu Ruozai of the same prefecture recommended Zhitian, and he was appointed magistrate of Gucheng. In the first month of the eleventh year, before Zhitian had arrived, Zhang Xianzhong suddenly captured the city and occupied it seeking pacification. Grand Coordinator Xiong Wencan agreed and settled their force of tens of thousands in the outskirts; the residents were in uproar and wished to flee. When Zhitian arrived, he devoted himself to conciliation until the people were somewhat calmed, then memorialized, "Xianzhong crouches like a tiger in the county seat, and his designs are inscrutable. The territory he demands is in truth the throat through which military funds pass, the lifeline where Qin and Shu meet — all are now in his possession. Wicked people gladly serve him, while the good are all coerced. I am an official charged to guard the land and shepherd the people — yet I have no land to guard and no people to shepherd. The treasury is utterly empty, the people's property has been seized, and there are no taxes to levy. In name I am county magistrate; in truth I am merely a supernumerary. Yet at court they insist solely on pacification; this humble official ventures to say that the two policies of pacification and suppression may be discussed together, not separately — to the damage of national prestige and the dampening of troop morale. At the time his advice was not heeded. The bandit followers gradually began raiding in the countryside; Zhitian seized them and reported them to their camp commanders, who occasionally punished them according to law. When he reported again, none responded, saying, "The authorities simply do not issue rations; once we receive rations we will stop on our own. Consequently the villagers fled until nearly all were gone, and plunder soon reached the market streets. If anyone resisted even slightly, they would draw blades and confront one another; deaths occurred daily, and the whole city was in uproar. Supervising Secretary Zhang Dajing came on Wencan's orders to pacify the situation, yet he too could not restrain them.
61
明年，獻忠反形漸露，之鈿往說之曰：「將軍始所為甚悖，今幸得為王臣，當從軍立功，垂名竹帛。 且不見劉將軍國能乎？ 天子手詔進宮，厚賫金帛，此赤誠效也。 將軍若疑天朝有異論，之鈿請以百口保。 何嫌何疑，而復懷他誌。」 獻忠素銜之鈿，遂惡言極罵之。 之鈿憂憤成病，題數語於壁，自誓以死，遂不視事。 至五月，獻忠果反，劫庫縱囚，毀其城。 之鈿仰藥未絕，獻忠遣使索印，堅不予，賊遂殺之。 旋縱火焚公署，骸骨為燼。 而大經為賊劫去，不能死。 迨瑪瑙山戰敗，偕賊將曹威等出降，士論醜之。 之鈿後贈尚寶少卿。
The next year, as Xianzhong's rebellious intent gradually showed, Zhitian went to persuade him: "General, what you did at first was very perverse; now you are fortunate to have become a subject of the throne — you ought to follow the army and achieve merit and leave your name recorded in history. Have you not seen what happened to General Liu Guoneng? The emperor personally issued an edict summoning him to court and lavishly bestowed gold and silks — that was the reward of sincere loyalty. If you doubt that the dynasty holds other views, Zhitian asks to guarantee this with the lives of a hundred people. What grievance or doubt could you have that you should again harbor other designs? Xianzhong had long harbored a grudge against Zhitian and now hurled foul abuse at him. Zhitian, worn by grief and anger, fell ill; he wrote several lines on the wall vowing to die, and then ceased to attend to affairs. By the fifth month Xianzhong did indeed rebel, plundered the treasury, released prisoners, and destroyed the city walls. Zhitian had taken poison but was not yet dead; Xianzhong sent messengers to demand his seal; he steadfastly refused, and the bandits then killed him. They soon set fire to the official residence, and his bones were reduced to ashes. Dajing, however, was carried off by the bandits and failed to die. When they were defeated at Mount Agate, he surrendered together with the bandit generals Cao Wei and others, and public opinion reviled him. Zhitian was later posthumously made Vice Minister of the Imperial Insignia.
62
郝景春，字和滿，江都人。 舉於鄉，署鹽城教諭，坐事罷歸。 起陜西苑馬寺萬安監錄事，量移黃州照磨，攝黃安縣事。 甫三日，群賊奄至，堅守八日夜，始解去。
Hao Jingchun, whose courtesy name was Heman, was a native of Jiangdu. He passed the provincial examination, served as instructor at Yancheng, and was dismissed and sent home after an incident. He was recalled as clerk of the Wan'an Stud of the Shaanxi Pasturage Commission, was transferred by seniority to recorder at Huangzhou, and acted as administrator of Huang'an County. On the third day a band of bandits suddenly arrived; he held firm for eight days and nights before they finally withdrew.
63
崇禎十一年，擢知房縣。 羅汝才率九營之眾請降於熊文燦，文燦受之。 汝才猶豫，景春單騎入其營，偕汝才及其黨白貴、黑雲祥歃血盟。 汝才詣軍門降，分諸營於竹谿、保康、上津，而自與貴、雲祥居房縣之野。 當是時，鄖陽諸屬邑，城郭為墟，獨房賴景春拊循，粗可守。 及大眾雜處，居民日惴惴。 景春乃與主簿朱邦聞、守備楊道選修守具，輯諸營。
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen he was promoted and appointed magistrate of Fang County. Luo Rucai led the forces of nine camps to seek surrender from Xiong Wencan, and Wencan accepted them. Rucai hesitated; Jingchun rode alone into his camp and, together with Rucai and his followers Bai Gui and Hei Yunxiang, swore a blood oath. Rucai went to army headquarters to surrender; the various camps were distributed to Zhuxi, Baokang, and Shangjin, while he himself, together with Gui and Yunxiang, encamped in the wilds of Fang County. At that time among the subordinate counties of Yunyang, city walls lay in ruins; only Fang, relying on Jingchun's consoling rule, was roughly defensible. When the large forces were quartered together among them, the residents grew daily more fearful. Jingchun then, together with Registrar Zhu Bangwen and Guard Commander Yang Daoxuan, prepared defenses and organized the various camps.
64
明年五月，張獻忠反谷城，約汝才同反。 景春子鳴鑾，諸生也，力敵萬夫，謂父曰：「吾城當賊沖，而羸卒止二百，城何以守？」 乃擐甲詣汝才曰：「若不念香火盟乎？ 慎毋從亂。」 汝才佯諾。 鳴鑾覺其偽，歸與道選授兵登陴，而獻忠所遣前鋒已至，擊斬其將上天龍。 遣使縋城乞援於文燦，凡十四往，不報。
In the fifth month of the following year Zhang Xianzhong rebelled at Gucheng and invited Rucai to rebel with him. Jingchun's son Mingluan, a licentiate with strength to match ten thousand men, said to his father, "Our city lies in the bandits' path, yet our weak soldiers number only two hundred — how can the city be defended? He then donned armor and went to Rucai, saying, "Do you not remember our blood-oath bond? Take care not to join the rebellion. Rucai pretended to agree. Mingluan perceived the deceit; he returned and, with Daoxuan, armed the men and sent them onto the battlements; Xianzhong's advance guard had already arrived, and they struck down and killed its general Shang Tianlong. They sent messengers who lowered themselves from the wall to beg aid from Wencan; they went fourteen times in all, but received no reply.
65
已而賊大至，獻忠兵張白幟，汝才兵張赤幟，俄二幟相雜，環城力攻。 貴、雲祥策馬呼曰：「以城讓我，保無他也。」 獻忠又以張大經檄諭降，景春大罵碎之。 鳴鸞且守且戰，閱五日，賊多死。 乃負板穴城，城將崩，鳴鑾熱油灌之。 又擊傷獻忠左足，殺其所愛善馬。 乃用間入賊壘，陰識獻忠所臥帳，將襲擒之。 指揮張三錫啟北門揖汝才入，道選巷戰死。 大經使汝才說景春降，怒不答。 問庫藏儲蓄安在，叱曰：「庫藏若有物，城豈為汝陷！」 賊怒，殺一典史、一守備恐之，卒不屈，與鳴鑾俱被殺。 仆陳宜赤死之。 邦聞及其家人並不屈死。 事聞，贈景春尚寶少卿，建祠奉祀，道選等亦贈恤。 已，帝召見輔臣賀逢聖，備述其死事狀，改贈太仆少卿。 三錫後為官軍所獲，磔死。
Before long the bandits arrived in force; Xianzhong's troops raised white banners and Rucai's red banners; soon the two were mixed together as they encircled the city and attacked with all their strength. Gui and Yunxiang spurred their horses and shouted, "Give us the city and we guarantee no harm. Xianzhong again used a proclamation from Zhang Dajing to urge surrender; Jingchun cursed it bitterly and tore it to pieces. Mingluan both defended and fought; after five days many bandits were dead. The bandits then carried planks to tunnel under the wall; as the wall was about to collapse, Mingluan poured boiling oil over them. He also wounded Xianzhong's left foot and killed his favorite fine horse. They then sent a spy into the bandit camp who secretly identified the tent where Xianzhong slept, intending to make a surprise capture. Commander Zhang Sanxi opened the north gate and ushered Rucai in; Daoxuan died fighting in the lanes. Dajing had Rucai persuade Jingchun to surrender; enraged, he made no reply. They asked where the treasury stores were kept; he shouted, "If the treasury held anything, how could the city have fallen to you! The bandits were enraged; they killed one county clerk and one guard commander to intimidate him; he still would not yield, and he and Mingluan were both killed. Servant Chen Yichi died with him. Bangwen and his family all refused to yield and died. When the affair was reported, Jingchun was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Imperial Insignia and a shrine was built for his veneration; Daoxuan and others were also posthumously honored with mourning grants. Later the emperor summoned Grand Secretary He Fengsheng and had him fully recount the circumstances of his death in service; the posthumous rank was changed to Vice Minister of the Directorate of Horses. Sanxi was later captured by government troops and executed by dismemberment.
66
張克儉，字禹型，屯留人。 崇禎四年進士。 授輝縣知縣。 六年春，賊犯武安，守備曹鳴鶚戰死，遂犯輝縣。 克儉乘城固守，賊不能下，屯百泉書院，三日而去。 遷兵部主事，被薦召對，稱旨。 十二年擢湖廣僉事，監鄖、襄諸軍。 楊嗣昌鎮襄陽，深倚仗之。 張獻忠、羅汝才之敗也，小秦王、渾世王、過天星等皆降，嗣昌處之房、竹山中，命克儉安輯。 而諸賊得免死牌，莫肯散，自擇便地，連營數百里。 時河南、北大饑，流民就食襄、漢者日數萬，降卒多闌入流民中。 克儉深憂之，上書嗣昌曰：「襄陽自古要區，本朝筦鑰獻陵，視昔尤重。 近兩河饑民雲集，新舊降丁逼處其間，一夫叫呼，即足致亂。 況秦兵以長、武之變，西歸鄖、房。 軍府粗立，降營棋置，奚啻放虎自衛。 紫、漢、西、興，初無重門之備，何恃不恐。」 嗣昌不以為意，報曰：「昔高仁厚六日降賊百萬，迄擒阡能，監軍何怯耶？」 及嗣昌入蜀，委克儉以留務。 錄破賊功，加右參議，監軍如故。 未幾，以本官移守下川南道，鄖陽巡撫袁繼咸奏留之。
Zhang Kejian, whose courtesy name was Yuxing, was a native of Tunliu. He was a jinshi of the fourth year of Chongzhen. He was appointed magistrate of Huixian. In the spring of the sixth year bandits attacked Wu'an; Guard Commander Cao Ming'e died in battle, and they then attacked Huixian. Kejian mounted the walls and held firm; the bandits could not take the city; they encamped at Baiquan Academy and left after three days. He was transferred to be a secretary in the Ministry of War; recommended and summoned for audience, he pleased the emperor. In the twelfth year he was promoted to Vice Commissioner of Huguang and supervised the armies of Yun and Xiang. When Yang Sichang was stationed at Xiangyang, he relied deeply on him. When Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai were defeated, Little King of Qin, King of Universal World, Guo Tianxing, and others all surrendered; Sichang settled them in the mountains of Fang and Zhushan and ordered Kejian to pacify and organize them. But the bandits, having received death-exemption plaques, were unwilling to disperse; they chose convenient places for themselves and encamped in linked camps stretching for hundreds of li. At the time Henan and the north suffered great famine; refugees seeking food in Xiang and Han numbered tens of thousands daily, and many surrendered soldiers mingled among the refugees. Kejian was deeply troubled and memorialized Sichang, saying, "Xiangyang has from antiquity been a vital region; in our dynasty it is the key to the imperial tombs at Xianling, and is even more important than before. Recently famine refugees from the two Yellow River regions have gathered like clouds; new and old surrendered soldiers are pressed together among them — one man's shout would suffice to cause disorder. Moreover, because of the mutinies at Chang and Wu, Qin troops are returning west to Yun and Fang. The military headquarters is only roughly established; surrendered camps are scattered like chess pieces — this is no different from releasing tigers to guard oneself. The passes at Zi, Han, Xi, and Xing at first had no heavy defenses — on what do you rely that you are not afraid? Sichang paid it no heed and replied, "In former times Gao Renhou in six days received the surrender of a million bandits and finally captured Qian Neng — why is the supervising officer so timid?" When Sichang entered Shu, he entrusted Kejian with the remaining affairs. His merit in defeating bandits was recorded; he was promoted to Right Assistant Censor while continuing to supervise troops as before. Before long, retaining his original rank, he was transferred to defend the Lower Southern Chuan Circuit; Yunyang Grand Coordinator Yuan Jixian memorialized to retain him.
67
十四年二月擢右僉都御史，巡撫河南。 未聞命，獻忠令人假督府軍符誑入襄陽城。 克儉不能辨，夜分，賊從中起，焚襄王府。 克儉倉皇奔救，為賊所執，大罵死。 推官鄺曰廣、攝縣事李大覺、遊擊黎民安死焉。
In the second month of the fourteenth year he was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and appointed Grand Coordinator of Henan. Before he had received the appointment, Xianzhong had someone forge the grand coordinator's military tally to deceive their way into Xiangyang city. Kejian could not discern the fraud; at midnight the bandits rose from within and burned the Palace of the Prince of Xiang. Kejian rushed to the rescue, was seized by the bandits, cursed them bitterly, and was killed. Push Official Kuang Yueguang, Acting County Administrator Li Dajue, and Mobile Battalion Commander Li Min'an also died in the affair.
68
曰廣，番禺人。 崇禎十年進士。 居官有守。 奉檄核軍儲於荊州，甫還任而難作，中刃死，妻子女俱遇害。 大覺，字覺之，金谿人。 由鄉舉知谷城，兼署襄陽縣。 聞變，系印於肘，縊死堂上。 民安，大覺同縣人。 城中火起，率所部千余人搏戰，矢盡被縛，抗罵死。 獨知府夏邑王承曾遁免。
Yueguang was a native of Panyu. He was a jinshi of the tenth year of Chongzhen. In office he was principled. On orders he audited military stores at Jingzhou; he had just returned to his post when disaster broke out; he was slashed and died, and his wife, sons, and daughter were all killed. Li Dajue, whose courtesy name was Juezhi, was a native of Jinxi. Through the provincial recommendation he became magistrate of Gucheng and concurrently served as acting magistrate of Xiangyang County. On hearing of the uprising, he tied the seal to his elbow and hanged himself in the hall. Min'an was a fellow townsman of Dajue. When fire broke out in the city, he led more than a thousand of his men in fierce combat; when their arrows were exhausted they were bound, but he resisted with curses and was killed. Only Prefect Wang Chengzeng of Xiayi escaped.
69
初，獻忠敗於瑪瑙山，其妻敖氏、高氏被獲，他將搜山，又獲其軍師潘獨鰲，皆系襄陽獄。 承曾年少輕佻，每夕托問賊中情形，與獻忠二妻笑語。 獄吏又多納賊金，禁防盡弛，獨鰲等脫桎梏恣飲。 嗣昌移牒戒之，承曾笑曰：「是豈能飛至耶？」 及是，獨鰲果從獄中起，承曾率眾奪門走。 事聞，命逮治。 時河南亦大亂，久逮不至，未知所終。
Earlier, when Xianzhong was defeated at Mount Agate, his wives Lady Ao and Lady Gao were captured; another general searched the mountains and also captured his strategist Pan Du'ao; all were imprisoned in Xiangyang. Chengzeng was young and frivolous; each evening, on pretext of inquiring about conditions among the bandits, he joked and laughed with Xianzhong's two wives. The prison officials also accepted much bandit gold; restrictions were utterly relaxed; Du'ao and the others cast off their fetters and drank at will. Sichang sent a dispatch warning him; Chengzeng laughed and said, "Can he really fly here? At this moment Du'ao indeed rose from the prison; Chengzeng led his followers to seize the gate and flee. When the affair was reported, an order was issued for his arrest and punishment. At the time Henan was also in great disorder; he was long sought but never apprehended, and his ultimate fate is unknown.
70
徐世淳，字中明，秀水人。 父必達，字德夫，萬歷二十年進士。 知溧水縣，築石臼湖堤，奏除齊泰姻戚子孫軍籍二十六家。 累遷吏部考功郎中，與吏科給事中儲純臣同領察事。 純臣受贓吏賕，當大計日，必達進狀請黜純臣，面揖之退，一座大驚。 遷光祿丞，陳白糧利弊十一事，悉允行。 進少卿，巡漕御史孫居相以船壞不治，請雇民船濟運，必達爭止之。 天啟初，以右僉都御史督操江軍。 白蓮賊將窺徐州，必達募銳卒會山東兵擊破之。 遷兵部右侍郎，以拾遺罷歸，卒。
Xu Shichun, whose courtesy name was Zhongming, was a native of Xiushui. His father Bida, whose courtesy name was Defu, was a jinshi of the twentieth year of Wanli. As magistrate of Lishui County he built the Shijiu Lake embankment and memorialized to remove twenty-six families of Qi Tai's affinal kin from military registration. He rose to Director in the Ministry of Personnel's Department of Evaluation and, together with Supervising Secretary Chu Chunchen of the Ministry of Personnel section, jointly led the inspection affairs. Chunchen had accepted bribes from a corrupt official; on the day of the grand assessment Bida submitted a memorial requesting Chunchen's dismissal, bowed to him face to face and withdrew, and the whole assembly was greatly astonished. He was transferred to Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, presented eleven points on the advantages and disadvantages of white-grain transport, and all were approved and carried out. He was promoted to Vice Director; Grain Transport Censor Sun Juxiang, finding the boats damaged and unrepaired, requested hiring civilian boats to aid transport, but Bida strenuously opposed and stopped it. At the beginning of Tianqi he was made Right Vice Censor-in-Chief to supervise the Caojiang army. When a White Lotus bandit general threatened Xuzhou, Bida recruited crack troops and, together with Shandong forces, defeated him. He was transferred to Right Vice Minister of War, was dismissed and sent home after a memorial of impeachment, and died.
71
世淳，崇禎中舉人。 十三年冬，歷隨州知州。 州嘗被賊，居民蕭然。 世淳知賊必復至，集士民誓以死守。 會歲大荒，士多就食粥廠，嘆曰：「可使士以餒失禮乎？」 分粟振之。 潰兵過隨索餉，世淳授兵登陴，而單騎入見軍帥曰：「軍食不供，有司罪也。 殺我足矣，請械我以見督師。」 帥氣奪，斂眾去。
Shichun was a juren during the Chongzhen reign. In the winter of the thirteenth year he became prefect of Suizhou. The prefecture had already been ravaged by bandits, and the inhabitants were desolate. Shichun knew the bandits would return, gathered gentry and people, and swore to defend the city to the death. It happened to be a year of great famine, and many scholars went to eat at soup kitchens; he sighed and said, "Can we let scholars lose their dignity to hunger? He distributed grain to relieve them. Routed troops passing through Suizhou demanded pay; Shichun armed the men and sent them onto the walls, then rode alone to see the army commander and said, "If army provisions are not supplied, that is the fault of the officials. Killing me is enough; please bind me and take me to see the supervising general. The commander's spirit was taken aback, and he gathered his men and withdrew.
72
明年三月，張獻忠自襄陽來犯，世淳寢食南城譙樓，曉夜固守，告急於巡撫宋一鶴。 一鶴遣兵來援，為監司守承天者邀去。 守月余，援絕力窮，賊急攻南城，而潛兵墮北城以入。 世淳命子肇梁{艹}印廨後，勒馬巷戰，矢貫頤，耳鼻橫斷，墜馬，亂刃斫死。 肇梁奔赴，且哭且罵，賊將殺之，呼州人告以{艹}印處，乃死。 世淳妾趙、王及臧獲十八人皆死。 後贈太仆少卿，建祠，以肇梁祔。
The following year, in the third month, Zhang Xianzhong attacked from Xiangyang; Shichun ate and slept in the South Gate watchtower, held firm day and night, and sent urgent word to Grand Coordinator Song Yihe. Yihe sent troops to the rescue, but they were diverted by the supervisor defending Chengtian. After defending for more than a month, relief was cut off and their strength exhausted; the bandits pressed the attack on the south wall while troops secretly scaled the north wall to enter. Shichun ordered his son Zhaoliang to hide the seal behind the yamen, then spurred his horse to fight in the lanes; an arrow pierced his cheek, his nose and ears were severed, he fell from his horse, and was hacked to death. Zhaoliang rushed forward, weeping and cursing; the bandits were about to kill him, but he called to the people of the prefecture to tell them where the seal was hidden, and then died. Shichun's concubines Zhao and Wang and eighteen servants all died. Later he was posthumously made Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud; a shrine was built and Zhaoliang was enshrined with him.
73
隨自十年正月陷，及是再陷，至七月復陷，判官余塙死焉。 三陷之後，城中幾無孑遺。
Suizhou had fallen in the first month of the tenth year; it fell again on this occasion, and fell once more in the seventh month; Judge Yu Qian died there. After the three falls, scarcely a soul remained in the city.