Volume 294 Biographies 182: Loyal Officials 6

夏統春〈（薛聞禮等）〉陳美〈（郭裕等）〉諶吉臣〈（張國勛等）〉盧學古〈（朱士完等）〉陳萬策〈（李開先）〉許文岐〈（李新等）〉郭以重〈（嶽璧郭金城）〉崔文榮〈（朱士鼎）〉徐學顏〈（李毓英等）〉馮雲路〈（熊{川}明睿易道暹傅可知）〉蔡道憲〈（周二南等）〉張鵬翼〈（歐陽顯宇等）〉劉熙祚王孫蘭程良籌〈（程道壽）〉黃世清楊暄〈（朱一統等）〉唐時明〈（薛應玢唐夢鯤）〉段復興〈（靳聖居等）〉簡仁瑞〈（何相劉等）〉司五教〈（張鳳翮）〉都任〈（王家錄等）〉祝萬齡〈（王徵等）〉陳賓〈（周鳳岐）〉王徵俊〈（宋之俊等）〉丁泰運〈（尚大倫等）〉

• Xia Tongchun (Xue Wenli et al.)]〉 • Chen Mei (Guo Yu et al.)]〉 • Chen Jichen (Zhang Guoxun et al.)]〉 • Lu Xuegu (Zhu Shiwan et al.)]〉 • Chen Wance (see Li Kaixian)]〉 • Xu Wenqi (Li Xin et al.)]〉 • Guo Yizhong (Yue Bi and Guo Jincheng)]〉 • Cui Wenrong (see Zhu Shiding)]〉 • Xu Xueyan (Li Yuying et al.)]〉 • Feng Yunlu (Xiong Mingrui, Yi Daoxian, Fu Kezhi)]〉 • Cai Daoxian (Zhou Ernan et al.)]〉 • Zhang Pengyi (Ouyang Xianyu et al.)]〉 Liu Xizhuo, Wang Sunlan, and Cheng Liangchou (see Cheng Daoshou)]〉 Huang Shiqing and Yang Xuan (Zhu Yitong et al.)]〉 • Tang Shiming (Xue Yingbin and Tang Mengkun)]〉 • Duan Fuxing (Jin Shengju et al.)]〉 • Jian Renrui (He Xiangliu et al.)]〉 • Si Wujiao (see Zhang Fenghu)]〉 • Du Ren (Wang Jialu et al.)]〉 • Zhu Wanling (Wang Zheng et al.)]〉 • Chen Bin (see Zhou Fengqi)]〉 • Wang Zhengjun (Song Zhijun et al.)]〉 • Ding Taiyun (Shang Dalun et al.)]〉

夏統春，字元夫，桐城人。為諸生，慷慨有才志。用保舉授黃陂丞，嘗攝縣事，著廉能聲。十五年，賊犯黃陂。統春已遷麻陽知縣，未赴，乃督眾拒守，凡十五晝夜，賊忽解去。統春度賊必再至，而眾已疲甚，休於家。閱五日，賊果突至，城遂陷。統春巷戰，力竭被執，欲屈之。統春指賊魁大罵，賊怒，斷其右手。復以左手指賊罵，賊又斷之。罵不已，乃割其舌，目怒視，眥欲裂，賊又剜其目。猶以頭觸賊，遂支解之。

Xia Tongchun, styled Yuanfu, was from Tongcheng. A student of the classics, he was bold in spirit and had both talent and ambition. Recommended for promotion, he was appointed assistant magistrate of Huangpi. He once served as acting county magistrate and earned a reputation for integrity and ability. In the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen reign (1642), rebels attacked Huangpi. Tongchun had been promoted to magistrate of Mayang but had not yet left for his new post. He rallied the defenders instead, holding out for fifteen days and nights until the rebels abruptly withdrew. Tongchun judged that the rebels would return, but the defenders were exhausted and went home to rest. Five days later the rebels struck without warning, and the city fell. Tongchun fought street by street until he was spent and captured. The rebels tried to make him submit. Tongchun pointed at the rebel leader and hurled abuse at him. Enraged, the rebels severed his right hand. He then pointed at them with his left hand and kept cursing, so they cut that off as well. He would not stop reviling them, so they cut out his tongue. His eyes still blazed with rage until the corners seemed to split, and the rebels gouged them out too. Even then he tried to head-butt his captors, so they hacked him limb from limb.

有薛聞禮者，武進人。由府吏官黃陂典史。歲歉，民逋漕粟。聞禮奉使過漢口，貸於所知得千金，以代民逋。十六年，張獻忠陷黃陂，愛聞禮才，挾與俱去，暮即亡歸。會賊所設偽官為士民殺死，聞禮曰「禍大矣」，令士民遠避，而己獨留以當之。俄賊至，將屠城。聞禮挺身曰：「殺偽官者，我也。」賊欲活之，詈不止，乃見殺。

There was also Xue Wenli, from Wujin. He rose from a post in the prefectural yamen to become record keeper of Huangpi. When harvests failed, the people fell behind on their grain tax payments for transport to the capital. On official business Wenli passed through Hankou. He borrowed a thousand taels of silver from people he knew and used it to cover what the people owed. In Chongzhen 16 (1643), Zhang Xianzhong took Huangpi. Impressed by Wenli's ability, he forced him to come along, but Wenli escaped that same evening and made his way home. When local gentry and commoners killed one of the rebels' puppet officials, Wenli said, "This means calamity." He urged the townspeople to flee while he stayed behind to face the consequences alone. Soon the rebels came, intending to slaughter everyone in the city. Wenli stepped forward and declared, "I am the one who killed that puppet official." The rebels wanted to let him live, but he kept cursing them relentlessly, so they put him to death.

當是時，賊延蔓中原，覆名城不可勝數。其以小吏死難，有何宗孔、賈儒秀、張達、郝瑞日諸人。宗孔，紫陽典史。十一年五月，流賊再陷其城，死之。儒秀，商南典史，城陷，抗節死。達，興山典史。十四年二月，張獻忠自蜀來攻，都司徐日耀戰歿，達被縛，罵賊不屈死。瑞日，陜西人，為固始巡檢。羅山為賊陷，上官令瑞日攝縣事。單騎攜二童以往，至則止僧寺，將招流移為守禦計。未逾月，賊遣偽官至，土寇萬朝勛與之合。誘執瑞日，說之降，不從，拘於家。一日，朝勛置酒宴群賊，醉臥，瑞日潛入其室，殺之。將奔鳳陽，雨阻，復見縶。賊愛其勇，欲留之，叱曰：「我雖小吏，亦朝廷臣子，肯為賊用耶！」遂被害，二仆亦死。

By then rebels had overrun the Central Plains, toppling famous cities beyond counting. Among lower officials who died in the cause were He Zongkong, Jia Ruxiu, Zhang Da, Hao Ruori, and others. He Zongkong served as record keeper of Ziyang. In the fifth month of Chongzhen 11 (1638), roving rebels took the city again and he perished. Jia Ruxiu was record keeper of Shangnan. When the city fell, he held firm to his principles and died. Zhang Da was record keeper of Xingshan. In the second month of Chongzhen 14 (1641), Zhang Xianzhong marched from Sichuan to attack. Garrison commander Xu Riyao was killed in battle. Zhang Da was captured; he cursed the rebels and refused to submit, dying defiantly. Hao Ruori, a native of Shaanxi, served as district inspector of Gushi. After Luoshan fell to the rebels, his superiors put Ruori in charge of county administration. He rode out alone with two boy attendants. When he arrived he lodged at a monastery, planning to rally displaced people for the defense. Within a month rebel envoys arrived bearing puppet appointments, and the local outlaw Wan Chaoxun threw in with them. They tricked Ruori into capture and urged him to defect. He refused and was held under house arrest. One night Chaoxun held a banquet for the rebel gang and fell into a drunken sleep. Ruori slipped into his room and slew him. He tried to escape toward Fengyang, but rain blocked his way and he was captured again. The rebels admired his bravery and wanted to keep him. He shouted, "I may be a minor official, but I am still a servant of the throne — why would I fight for rebels!" He was put to death, and his two servants died as well.

有朱耀者，固始人。與父允義、兄炳、思成並以勇力聞。八年，賊來犯，耀父子力戰卻之。明年，賊復至。耀出戰，手馘數十人，追之，陷伏中，大罵死。允義曰：「我必報子仇。」炳謂思成曰：「我二人必報弟仇。」三人率眾奮擊，賊解去，城獲全。

One Zhu Yao was a native of Gushi. He, his father Zhu Yunyi, and his brothers Bing and Sicheng were all known for martial prowess. In Chongzhen 8 (1635), rebels attacked; Zhu Yao and his father fought fiercely and drove them off. The following year the rebels returned. Yao rode out to fight, killing dozens with his own hand. Pursuing the enemy, he walked into an ambush, cursed the rebels to the end, and died. Zhu Yunyi vowed, "I will avenge my son." Bing said to Sicheng, "We two brothers must avenge our younger brother." The three of them led the defenders in a furious counterattack. The rebels withdrew and the city was saved.

陳美，字在中，新建人。崇禎時由鄉舉知宜城縣。兵燹之余，民生雕瘵。及張獻忠據谷城，人情益懼，美安輯備至。襄陽陷，賊兵來犯。美偕守備劉相國迎擊，賊中伏敗去。巡按御史上其功，獲敘錄。撫治都御史王永祚以六等課所部有司，美居上上。薦於朝，未及擢用。十五年冬，李自成長驅犯襄陽，左良玉先奔，永祚及知府以下俱遁。賊入城，鄉官羅平、知州蔡思繩、福州通判宋大勛殉節。賊分兵寇宜城、棗陽、谷城、光化、均州。美守宜城，固拒八晝夜。城陷，抗罵不已，為賊磔死。訓導陽城田世福亦死之。

Chen Mei, courtesy name Zaizhong, came from Xinjian. During the Chongzhen era he entered office through the provincial examination and was appointed magistrate of Yicheng. In the wake of military disaster the people were exhausted and impoverished. When Zhang Xianzhong seized Gucheng, public fear deepened, and Chen Mei did everything he could to reassure and restore order. After Xiangyang fell, rebel forces marched against Yicheng. Chen Mei joined garrison commander Liu Xiangguo in a counterattack; the rebels walked into an ambush, suffered defeat, and retreated. The circuit censor reported his achievement, and he received formal commendation. Grand Coordinator Wang Yongzuo rated subordinate officials in six grades; Chen Mei ranked highest. He was recommended to the throne but died before he could be promoted. That winter of Chongzhen 15 (1642), Li Zicheng swept toward Xiangyang. Zuo Liangyu fled ahead of the enemy; Wang Yongzuo and everyone from the prefect down ran away. When the rebels took the city, local official Luo Ping, Prefect Cai Sichang, and Vice-Prefect Song Daxun of Fuzhou died loyal deaths. The rebels sent detachments to assault Yicheng, Zaoyang, Gucheng, Guanghua, and Junzhou. Chen Mei held Yicheng, stubbornly resisting for eight days and nights. When the city fell he never stopped cursing the rebels and was executed by dismemberment. Tian Shifu, instructor of Yangcheng, died in the same cause.

棗陽知縣郭裕，清江舉人。甫視事，張獻忠至。左良玉屯近邑，裕單騎邀與共禦，賊卻去。至是，賊將劉福來攻，裕發炮石，擊傷多。賊憤，攻益力，城陷。身被數槊，大罵。賊支解之，闔門遇害。

Guo Yu, magistrate of Zaoyang, was a provincial degree holder from Qingjiang. He had barely taken up his post when Zhang Xianzhong appeared. Zuo Liangyu was camped in a neighboring county. Guo Yu rode out alone to ask him to help defend the city, and the rebels withdrew. Now rebel commander Liu Fu came to besiege the city. Guo Yu unleashed cannon and catapult stones, inflicting many casualties. Enraged, the rebels pressed the assault harder and the city fell. He was pierced by many spears yet still cursed them fiercely. The rebels hacked him apart, and his entire family perished.

光化知縣萬敬宗，南昌人，貢生，到官以死自誓。賊薄城，遂自盡。賊義之，引去，城獲全。鄉官韓應龍，舉人，歷長蘆鹽運使，不受偽職，自縊死。谷城知縣周建中亦殉節。均州知州胡承熙被熱不屈，與其子爾英俱死。承熙有能聲，永祚課屬吏，亦列上上，遷刑部員外郎，未行，遇難。賊犯鄖陽，同知劉璇死之。保康陷，知縣萬惟壇與妻李氏俱列之。璇，永年人。惟壇，曹縣人。俱貢生。

Wan Jingzong of Nanchang was magistrate of Guanghua, a tribute student who from the day he took office pledged to die if need be. When rebels closed on the city he took his own life. Moved by his integrity, the rebels withdrew and the city was spared. Han Yinglong, a local graduate who had served as Changlu salt commissioner, refused a puppet appointment and hanged himself. Zhou Jianzhong, magistrate of Gucheng, also died a loyal death. Junzhou Prefect Hu Chenxi was branded with hot irons yet refused to submit; he and his son Erying both died. Hu Chenxi was known for his competence; Wang Yongzuo rated officials in his jurisdiction and ranked him highest as well. He had been appointed vice director in the Ministry of Punishments but was killed before he could take up the post. When rebels stormed Yunyang, Vice-Prefect Liu Xuan died defending it. When Baokang fell, Magistrate Wan Weitan and his wife Lady Li were both executed by dismemberment. Liu Xuan was a native of Yongnian. Wan Weitan came from Caoxian. Both had entered office as tribute students.

諶吉臣，字仲貞，南昌人。父應華，萬曆時，以參將援朝鮮，戰歿。吉臣由舉人為雲夢知縣。崇禎十五年十二月，李自成陷襄陽，其黨賀一龍陷德安。吉臣急遣孥歸，身誓死勿去。明年正月，雲夢陷，被執，不食累日。賊臨以兵，吉臣乞速死。賊壯之，授以官，不屈。驅上馬，曰：「我失守封疆，當死此，更安往。」乃見殺。福王時，贈太僕寺丞。

Chen Jichen, courtesy name Zhongzhen, was from Nanchang. His father Chen Yinghua served as vice general during the Wanli era in the Korean campaign and was killed in action. Chen Jichen entered office as a provincial graduate and became magistrate of Yunmeng. In the twelfth month of Chongzhen 15 (1642), Li Zicheng took Xiangyang while his lieutenant He Yilong seized De'an. Chen Jichen hurried his family away but vowed to stay and die with the city. In the first month of the following year Yunmeng fell. He was captured and refused food for days on end. When rebels pressed him at sword point, Chen Jichen asked only to die quickly. Impressed, the rebels offered him a post, but he refused. Forced onto a horse, he said, "I failed to hold my jurisdiction. I should die here — where else would I go?" And so he was put to death. Under the Prince of Fu he was posthumously created Senior Director in the Court of the Imperial Stud.

賊分兵犯旁邑，應城陷，訓導張國勛死之。國勛，黃陂人。城將陷，詣文廟抱先師木主大哭，為賊所執，大罵不屈，支解死。妻子十餘人皆殉節。

Rebel detachments ravaged neighboring counties. When Yingcheng fell, Instructor Zhang Guoxun died in its defense. Zhang Guoxun was a native of Huangpi. As the city was about to fall he went to the Confucian temple, clutched Confucius's wooden tablet, and wept bitterly. Captured by rebels, he cursed them and refused to submit, dying by dismemberment. His wife, children, and more than a dozen family members all died loyal deaths.

袁啟觀者，雲夢諸生也。賊據城，啟觀立寨自守。賊執去，出題試之。啟觀曰：「汝既知文，亦知亂臣賊子，人人得而誅之耶？」賊怒，殺之。

Yuan Qiguan was a student of Yunmeng. When rebels occupied the city, Qiguan raised a fortified camp and held out. They captured him and set him a literary examination question. Qiguan replied, "If you know letters, do you also know the Mencius saying that anyone may kill a traitor?" Enraged, the rebels killed him.

安陸城陷，知縣分水濮有容一門十九人皆死。鄉民結寨自保，賊將白旺連破數十寨，諸生廖應元守益堅。奸人執送旺，旺問：「汝欲何為？」厲聲曰：「欲殺賊耳！」賊怒，射殺之。應山舉人劉申錫養死士百人，城陷，謀恢復。兵敗，為旺所殺，百人皆戰死。沔陽陷，同知馬飈死之。

When Anlu fell, Pu Yourong, magistrate of Fenshui, and nineteen members of his household all perished. Local villagers built fortified camps for protection. Rebel commander Bai Wang overran dozens of them, but student Liao Yuanyuan's defense only grew fiercer. A collaborator handed him over to Bai Wang, who demanded, "What do you want?" He answered in a thunderous voice, "To kill rebels, nothing else!" Furious, the rebels shot him dead. Liu Shenxi of Yingshan, a provincial graduate, trained a hundred devoted fighters. After the city fell he plotted to retake it. His force was routed. Bai Wang killed him, and all hundred men died fighting. When Mianyang fell, Vice-Prefect Ma Piao died defending it.

盧學古，夏縣人。舉人。歷承天府同知，攝荊門州事。崇禎十五年十二月，李自成寇荊門，學古誓死守。學正黃州張郊芳、訓導黃岡程之奇亦盟諸生於大成殿，佐城守。賊環攻四日，無援，城陷。學古罵賊不絕口，剖腹而死。郊芳、之奇亦不屈死。

Lu Xuegu was a native of Xia County. He was a provincial degree holder. He had served as vice-prefect of Chengtian Prefecture and was acting administrator of Jingmen. In the twelfth month of Chongzhen 15 (1642), Li Zicheng attacked Jingmen. Lu Xuegu vowed to hold the city or die trying. Education Director Zhang Jiaofang of Huangzhou and Instructor Cheng Zhiqi of Huanggang also rallied the students in the Hall of Great Completion to help defend the walls. Rebels besieged the city for four days without relief, and it fell. Lu Xuegu never stopped cursing the rebels and was disemboweled alive. Zhang Jiaofang and Cheng Zhiqi likewise refused to submit and were killed.

有朱士完者，潛江舉人。鄉試揭榜夕，夢墨幟墮其墓門，粉書「亂世忠臣」四字。至是，賊破承天，長驅陷潛江。士完被執，械送襄陽，道由泗港，嚙指血書己盡節處，遂自經。賊所過焚毀，士完所題壁獨存。

One Zhu Shiwang was a provincial graduate of Qianjiang. On the night the provincial exam results were posted, he dreamed a black banner fell on his family tomb gate, bearing the words "loyal minister in troubled times." Now the rebels stormed Chengtian and swept onward to take Qianjiang. Zhu Shiwang was captured and sent in chains toward Xiangyang. Passing Sifang he wrote with blood from his bitten finger that he would die rather than submit, then hanged himself. Everywhere the rebels passed they burned and looted, yet the wall inscription Zhu Shiwang left was the only thing left untouched.

彭大翮者，竟陵之青山人。賊逼承天，大翮出所著《平賊權略》上之當事，不能用。遂自集一旅保鄉曲，邀斬賊過當。賊怒，雨夜襲之。大融太息曰：「吾子孫陣亡已盡，吾何用生為！」赴水死。

Peng Dapeng was from Qingshan in Jingling district. As rebels closed on Chengtian, Peng Dapeng submitted his treatise Outline for Suppressing Rebels to the authorities, but they would not adopt it. He then mustered a band to defend his homeland and ambushed rebels with such success that he killed far more than seemed prudent. Furious, the rebels struck his camp on a rainy night. Peng Dapeng sighed and said, "My sons and grandchildren have all fallen in battle — what point is there in my living on!" He threw himself into the water and drowned.

賊既陷荊門，遂向荊州。巡撫陳睿謨急渡江入城，奉惠王常潤南奔，監司以下皆奔，士民遂開門迎賊。訓導撖君錫正衣冠端坐明倫堂。賊至，欲屈之，詬罵而死。君錫，字賓王，絳縣人。賊大索縉紳，故相張居正子尚寶丞允修不食死。戶部員外郎李友蘭不屈死。諸生王維藩率妻朱及二女避難，為賊所掠。維藩令妻女赴井死，遂見殺。諸生王圖南被執，抗罵死。

After taking Jingmen the rebels marched on Jingzhou. Grand Coordinator Chen Ruimo hurried across the river into the city, then escorted Prince Zhu Changrun of Huai south in flight. Every official from the circuit intendant down ran away, and the townspeople opened the gates to the rebels. Instructor Shan Junxi dressed in full official robes and sat composed in the Hall of Illuminating Principle. When the rebels came they tried to break him, but he cursed them without cease and was killed. Shan Junxi, courtesy name Binwang, was a native of Jiang County. The rebels hunted down officials and gentry with particular zeal. Yunxiu, son of the late chief minister Zhang Juzheng and an assistant in the Court of Imperial Insignia, starved himself to death rather than submit. Li Youlan, a vice director in the Ministry of Revenue, refused to submit and was killed. Student Wang Weifan fled with his wife Zhu and their two daughters, but the rebels seized them. Weifan sent his wife and daughters into a well to drown, after which he himself was put to death. Student Wang Tunan was captured; he cursed the rebels defiantly and was killed.

夷陵李雲，由鄉舉知潁川州，州人祠祀之。謝事歸。流賊熾，大書「名義至重，鬼神難欺」二語於牖以自警。及城陷，不屈。執至江陵，絕食死。呂調元者，歸州千戶也。城陷，士民悉歸附，調元獨率部卒格鬥，陷重圍中。招之降，大罵，死亂刀下。

Li Yun of Yiling entered office through the provincial examination and served as prefect of Yingchuan, where the people later enshrined him in worship. He retired and went home. As roaming rebels grew bolder, he inscribed two lines on his window as a personal warning: "Honor and duty weigh most heavily; not even ghosts and gods can be fooled." When the city fell he refused to submit. Taken captive to Jiangling, he starved himself to death. Lu Tiaoyuan was a company commander in Guizhou. When the city fell the populace submitted en masse, but Tiaoyuan alone led his men in close combat until they were surrounded. When they called on him to surrender he cursed them fiercely and was cut down in the melee.

陳萬策，江陵人。天啟中，與同邑李開先先後舉於鄉，並有時名。崇禎十六年正月，李自成據襄陽，設偽官。其吏政府侍郎石首喻上猷，先為御史，降賊，薦兩人賢可用。自成遣使具書幣征之。萬策隱龍灣市，賊使至，嘆曰：「我為名誤，既不能奮身滅賊，尚可惜頂踵耶？」夜自經。賊使至開先家，開元瞋目大罵，頭觸墻死。福王時，俱命優恤。

Chen Wance was a native of Jiangling. During the Tianqi reign he and his fellow townsman Li Kaixian both passed the provincial exams in turn, and each enjoyed a strong local reputation. In the first month of Chongzhen 16 (1643), Li Zicheng seized Xiangyang and installed puppet officials. Yu Shangyou of Shishou, who served Li Zicheng as vice minister of personnel after surrendering from a censor's post, recommended both men as men of talent worth employing. Li Zicheng sent envoys bearing formal letters and gifts summoning them to serve. Wance was hiding in Longwan market. When the rebel envoys arrived he sighed and said, "My reputation has ruined me. Since I failed to throw myself into destroying the rebels, why should I still cling to this wretched life?" That night he hanged himself. When the rebel envoys came to Li Kaixian's home, Kaixian glared at them and cursed furiously, then dashed his head against the wall and died. Under the Southern Ming Prince of Fu, both men were granted posthumous honors.

許文岐，字我西，仁和人。祖子良，巡撫貴州右僉都御史。父聯樞，廣西左參政。文岐，崇禎七年進士。歷南京職方郎中。賊大擾江北，佐尚書範景文治戎備，景文甚倚之。遷黃州知府，射殺賊前鋒一隻虎，奪大纛而還。獄有重囚七人，縱歸省，克期就獄，皆如約至，乃請於上官貸之。十三年遷下江防道副使，駐蘄州。賊魁賀一龍、藺養成等萃蘄、黃間，文岐設備嚴。賊黨張雄飛將南渡，命遊擊楊富焚其舟，賊乃卻。巡撫宋一鶴上其功。副將張一龍善馭兵，文岐重之。嘗共宿帳中，軍中夜呼噪，文岐曰「此奸人乘夜思遁耳」，堅臥不出。質明，叛兵百餘人奪門遁，一龍追獲盡斬之，一軍肅然。楊富既久鎮蘄，一鶴復遣參將毛顯文至，不相得，兵民洶洶。文岐會二將，以杯酒釋之，始無患。十五年，左良玉潰兵南下大掠。文岐立馬江口迎之，兵莫敢犯。時警報日急，人無固志，會擢督糧參政當行，文岐嘆曰：「吾為天子守孤城二載矣，分當死封疆，雖危急，奈何棄之。」遣妻奉母歸，檄富、顯文出屯近郊，為固守計。無何，荊王府將校郝承忠潛通張獻忠。明年大舉兵來攻，文岐發炮斃賊甚眾。夜將半，雪盈尺，賊破西門入，文岐巷戰。雪愈甚，炮不得發，遂被執。獻忠聞其名，不殺，擊之後營。時舉人奚鼎鉉等數十人同系，文岐密謂曰：「觀賊老營多烏合，凡此數萬卒皆被掠良民，若告以大義，同心協力，賊可殲也。」於是陰相結，期四月起事，以柳圈為信。謀泄，獻忠索之，果得柳圈，縛文岐斬之。將死，語人曰：「吾所以不死者，志滅賊耳。今事不成，天也。」含笑而死，時文岐陷賊中已七十餘日矣。事聞，贈太僕卿。

Xu Wenqi, courtesy name Woxi, was a native of Renhe. His grandfather Xu Ziliang had served as right vice censor-in-chief and governor of Guizhou. His father Xu Lianshu had been left administrative vice commissioner of Guangxi. Xu Wenqi passed the palace examination in Chongzhen 7 (1634). He served as a bureau director in the Nanjing Ministry of War. When rebels ravaged the north bank of the Yangtze, he assisted Minister Fan Jingwen in organizing defenses, and Fan came to rely heavily on him. Promoted to prefect of Huangzhou, he shot dead the rebel vanguard known as One Tiger, captured his standard, and returned in triumph. There were seven convicts facing heavy sentences. He let them go home on parole with a fixed date to return, and when all seven came back as promised he petitioned his superiors to commute their sentences. In Chongzhen 13 (1640) he was appointed vice commissioner of the Lower Yangtze defense circuit and posted at Qizhou. Rebel leaders He Yilong, Lan Yangcheng, and others concentrated between Qizhou and Huangzhou, and Wenqi tightened defenses throughout the region. When rebel commander Zhang Xiongfei tried to cross the river southward, Wenqi ordered Ranger Yang Fu to burn their boats, forcing the rebels to retreat. Grand Coordinator Song Yihe memorialized the court praising his achievement. Vice General Zhang Yilong was an excellent commander, and Wenqi placed great trust in him. Once they were quartered together when a nighttime uproar broke out in camp. Wenqi said, "Traitors in the ranks are trying to desert under cover of dark," and lay calmly in his tent without stirring. At daybreak more than a hundred mutineers broke out of camp. Yilong hunted them down, executed every man, and discipline was restored throughout the army. Yang Fu had long held Qizhou when Song Yihe sent Regiment Commander Mao Xianwen to join him. The two commanders clashed, and alarm spread among soldiers and civilians alike. Wenqi brought the two generals together, settled their feud over a cup of wine, and averted further trouble. In Chongzhen 15 (1642), the routed troops of Zuo Liangyu swept southward in a wave of looting. Wenqi rode out to meet them at the river mouth, and not a man in that host dared lay a hand on the city. Alarm reports grew more urgent by the day and morale wavered. Just then Wenqi was promoted to grain-supply administrative commissioner and was expected to leave his post. He sighed and said, "I have held this isolated city for the emperor for two years. My duty is to die defending this frontier. However desperate things become, how can I abandon it?" He sent his wife home with his mother, ordered Yang Fu and Mao Xianwen to encamp in the suburbs, and prepared for a last-ditch defense. Before long, Hao Chengzong, an officer of the Prince of Jing's establishment, was discovered secretly colluding with Zhang Xianzhong. The following year Zhang Xianzhong launched a major assault. Wenqi's artillery killed large numbers of rebels. Near midnight, with snow a foot deep, the rebels broke through the west gate. Wenqi fought them street by street. The snowfall worsened until the guns could not be fired, and Wenqi was taken captive. Xianzhong, knowing his reputation, spared his life and sent him to the rear camp under guard. Dozens of captives, including Xi Dingxuan and other degree holders, were held with him. Wenqi secretly told them, "The rebel main camp is mostly a rabble. Tens of thousands of these soldiers are conscripted commoners. If we appeal to their sense of duty and act together, we can destroy the rebels." They then formed a secret pact to rise on the fourth month, with willow rings as their signal. When the plot was betrayed, Xianzhong searched and found the willow rings. Wenqi was bound and executed. Facing death, he told those around him, "The only reason I stayed alive was my determination to destroy the rebels. Now that the plan has failed, that is Heaven's decree." He died with a smile on his face. By then he had been captive among the rebels for more than seventy days. When word reached the court, he was posthumously granted the title Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud.

賊既陷蘄州，遂屠其民。鄉官陜西僉事李新舉家被執，賊欲屈之。新叱曰：「我昔官秦中，爾輩方為廝養，今日肯屈膝廝養耶！」賊怒，新抱父屍就刃。其時屬吏死節者，惟麻城教諭定遠蕭頌聖、蘄水訓導施州童天申。

After taking Qizhou the rebels massacred the populace. Li Xin, a retired Shaanxi assistant commissioner, and his entire family were taken prisoner as the rebels tried to break his will. Li Xin shouted, "When I was an official in Shaanxi, you were mere stable hands. Do you think I would now kneel and serve as one!" Enraged, the rebels killed him as he clutched his father's corpse. Among local officials who died defending their posts at that time, only Instructor Xiao Songsheng of Dingyuan in Macheng and Assistant Instructor Tong Tianshen of Shizhou in Qishui did so.

郭以重，黃州人。世為衛指揮。崇禎十六年，城陷，自他所來赴難。其妻欲止之，叱曰：「朝家畀我十三葉金紫，不能易一死哉！吾將先殺汝。」妻乃不敢言。既至，遇賊欲脅之去，堅不從。露刃懾之，乃好謂賊曰：「從汝非難，但抱小兒者，吾妻也，汝為我殺之，吾無累矣。」賊如其言。以重即奪賊刀擊斬一賊，群賊擁至，遂赴水死。

Guo Yizhong was a native of Huangzhou. His family had served for generations as guard commanders. In Chongzhen 16 (1643), when the city fell he rushed back from elsewhere to join the defense. When his wife tried to stop him he shouted, "The throne has granted our family thirteen generations of rank and emolument — is one death too much to pay in return! I'll kill you first myself." His wife said no more. When he arrived the rebels tried to force him away, but he stubbornly refused. When they bared their blades to frighten him, he said pleasantly to the rebels, "Going with you is no hardship — but the woman holding the baby is my wife. Kill her for me, and I'll have nothing left to worry about." The rebels did as he asked. Yizhong seized a rebel's sword, cut one man down, and when the rest closed in he threw himself into the water and drowned.

先是，蘄州破，指揮嶽璧自屋墮地，不死。賊執至城上，欲降之。厲聲曰：「我世臣也，城亡與亡，豈降賊！」賊刃之，仆地。氣將絕，瞋目曰：「我死為鬼，當滅汝！」時大雪，血流丈餘，目眥不合。

Earlier, when Qizhou fell, Commander Yue Bi fell from a roof but survived. The rebels dragged him to the wall and tried to force his surrender. He cried out, "I am a hereditary servant of the dynasty. When the city falls I fall with it — why would I surrender to rebels!" They cut him down and he collapsed. As life ebbed he glared and said, "When I die I will become a ghost and destroy you all!" It was snowing heavily. Blood flowed more than ten feet; his eyes would not close in death.

同時，郭金城為羅田守將，賊逼城，率所部五百人戰，斬級百餘，追之英山。賊大集，困三日，突圍不得出，被執。脅降不從，見殺。

At the same time Guo Jincheng was garrison commander at Luotian. When rebels threatened the city he led five hundred men into battle, killed more than a hundred of the enemy, and pursued them as far as Yingshan. Rebel forces massed against him. After three days trapped inside their lines he failed to break out and was captured. They tried to force his surrender; he refused and was executed.

崔文榮，海寧衛人。世指揮僉事，舉武會試，授南安守備。崇禎中，臨、藍盜起，逼桂陽，桂王告急。文榮督所部會剿，卻賊四萬人。以功，擢武昌參將。十六年四月，張獻忠犯漢陽，文榮渡江襲斬六百級。已而城陷，武昌震懼。巡撫宋一鶴既死，承天新任巡撫王聚奎未至，武昌素不宿重兵，城空虛。或議撤江上兵以守，文榮曰：「守城不如守江，團風、煤炭、鴨蛋諸洲，淺不及馬腹，縱之飛渡，而坐守孤城，非策也。」當事不從。賊果從團風渡江，陷武昌縣。縣無人，賊出營樊口，文榮軍洪山寺扼之。既，斂兵入城，以他將代守。賊全軍由鴨蛋洲畢渡，抵洪山，守將亦退入城。文榮以武勝門當賊沖，偕故相賀逢聖協守，賊攻之不能下。

Cui Wenrong was a native of Haining Guard. His family had long served as guard vice commanders. He passed the military metropolitan examination and was appointed garrison commander of Nan'an. During the Chongzhen era bandits from Linwu and Lanshan rose up and threatened Guiyang, and the Prince of Gui urgently called for help. Wenrong led his troops in a joint campaign and drove back forty thousand rebels. For this victory he was promoted to regiment commander at Wuchang. In the fourth month of Chongzhen 16 (1643), Zhang Xianzhong attacked Hanyang. Wenrong crossed the Yangtze in a raid and claimed six hundred enemy heads. Soon afterward Hanyang fell, and terror spread through Wuchang. Grand Coordinator Song Yihe was already dead, and Wang Jukui, the newly appointed governor of Chengtian, had not yet arrived. Wuchang had never maintained a large garrison, and the city was virtually undefended. Some officers proposed pulling the river forces back to man the walls. Wenrong said, "Better to hold the river than the city. The sandbars at Tuanfeng, Meitan, and Yadan are shallow — barely up to a horse's belly. If we let the rebels cross unopposed and simply sit behind city walls, that is no strategy at all." The authorities did not heed him. The rebels crossed at Tuanfeng as he had warned and seized Wuchang County. With the county undefended the rebels moved to encamp at Fankou, but Wenrong's force at Hongshan Temple blocked their advance. Later he withdrew his troops into the city and left another officer to hold the position. The rebel army finished crossing at Yadan Isle, reached Hongshan, and the defending commander fell back into the city as well. Wenrong held Wusheng Gate against the rebel assault alongside the former chief minister He Fengsheng, and the rebels failed to breach it.

監軍參政王揚基時已擢右僉都御史，巡撫承天、德安二郡，未聞命，尚駐武昌。見勢急，與推官傅上瑞詭言有事漢陽，開門遁去，人情益洶洶。先是，楚王出資募兵，應募者率蘄、黃潰卒及賊間諜，至是開文昌、保安二門納賊。文榮方出鬥還，闔城扉不及，躍馬大呼，殺三人。賊攢槊刺之，洞胸死。有朱士鼎者，起家武進士，為巡江都司。城陷被執，賊喜其勇敢，欲大用之。戟手大罵，賊斷其右手，乃以左手染血灑賊，賊又斷之，不死。賊退，令人縛筆於臂，能作楷字。招集舊卒，訓練如常。

Supervising Commissioner Wang Yangji had already been promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and appointed grand coordinator of Chengtian and De'an, but before word of the appointment reached him he was still in Wuchang. Seeing how desperate the situation had become, he and Magistrate's Assistant Fu Shangrui falsely claimed urgent business in Hanyang, opened the gate, and fled — spreading panic throughout the city. Earlier the Prince of Chu had financed a recruitment drive, but most enlistees proved to be routed troops from Qizhou and Huangzhou or rebel infiltrators. Now they opened the Wenchang and Bao'an gates and let the enemy in. Wenrong had just returned from a sortie and could not shut the gates in time. He spurred his horse forward shouting and killed three men. Rebels surrounded him with spears and ran him through the chest, killing him. There was also Zhu Shiding, who had entered service as a military metropolitan graduate and served as river-patrol commander. When the city fell he was taken prisoner. The rebels admired his courage and wanted to give him a major command. He brandished his halberd and cursed them loudly. The rebels severed his right hand, so he dipped his left in blood and flung it at them. They cut that off too, yet still he did not die. After the rebels withdrew, he had a brush bound to his arm and could still write regular script. He rallied his former soldiers and drilled them as before.

徐學顏，字君復，永康人。母疾，禱於天，請以身代。夜夢神人授藥，旦識其形色，廣覓之，得荊瀝，疾遂愈。父為中城兵馬指揮，忤權要人下吏。學顏三疏訟冤，所司格不上，遍叩諸公卿莫為雪，將置重辟。學顏號泣爭於刑部，不能得，至嚙臂血濺於庭，乃獲釋歸。推所居大宅讓其弟，尚義疏財，族黨德之。崇禎三年建東宮，詔舉孝友廉潔、博物洽聞可勵俗維風者，有司以學顏應，寢不行。十二年以恩貢生授楚府左長史，引義匡輔，王甚敬之。十五年冬，諸司長官及武昌知府、江夏知縣並以朝覲行，學顏攝江夏事，繕修守具。楚府新募兵，即令學顏將之。明年五月晦，新軍內叛，城陷。學顏格鬥，斷左臂，大罵不屈，為賊支解，一家二十餘人殉之。通判固安李毓英亦舉家自縊。

Xu Xueyan, styled Junfu, was a native of Yongkang. When his mother fell ill, he prayed to Heaven and offered to suffer in her place. That night he dreamed a divine being gave him medicine. At dawn he remembered its shape and color, searched far and wide, found dried thorowax sap, and his mother's illness was cured. His father served as military commander of Zhongcheng but offended a man in power and was thrown into prison. Xueyan submitted three memorials pleading his father's innocence, but the office blocked them from reaching the throne. He petitioned every senior official, yet none would clear his father's name, and a severe sentence was imminent. Xueyan wept and pleaded before the Ministry of Justice without success. He finally bit his own arm until blood splashed the courtyard, and only then was his father released. He gave up his large house to his younger brother, prized righteousness over riches, and was held in esteem by his kinsmen. In the third year of Chongzhen the Eastern Palace was established, and an edict called for men of filial piety, friendship, integrity, broad learning, and wide renown who could inspire the people and uphold public morals. The authorities nominated Xueyan, but the recommendation was shelved. In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, as an ennobled tribute student he was appointed Left Chief Secretary of the Princedom of Chu. He guided the prince with upright counsel, and the prince held him in great respect. In the winter of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the senior officials of the various offices, together with the prefect of Wuchang and the magistrate of Jiangxia, all left for the capital audience. Xueyan acted in Jiangxia affairs and repaired the city's defenses. The Princedom of Chu had newly recruited troops and immediately put Xueyan in command of them. On the last day of the fifth month the following year the new troops mutinied within the city, and Wuchang fell. Xueyan fought at close quarters until his left arm was severed, cursing the rebels without yielding until they dismembered him. More than twenty members of his household died with him. Vice Prefect Li Yuying of Gu'an also hanged his entire family.

武昌知縣鄒逢吉被害。同死者，武昌衛經歷汪文熙、巡檢戴良瑄及僧官一人，俱罵賊不屈，腰斬。賊既陷武昌，分兵陷屬邑，於是嘉魚知縣霍山王良鑒、蒲圻知縣臨川曾栻俱抗節死。事聞，學顏贈僉事，毓英等贈恤有差。

Zou Fengji, magistrate of Wuchang, was killed. Those who died with him included Registrar Wang Wenxi of the Wuchang Guard, Inspector Dai Liangxuan, and one Buddhist official — all cursed the rebels without yielding and were cut in two at the waist. Once the rebels had taken Wuchang they sent detachments to seize the subordinate counties. Magistrate Wang Liangjian of Jiayu, a native of Huoshan, and Magistrate Zeng Shi of Puqi, a native of Linchuan, both died resisting to the end. When word reached the throne, Xueyan was posthumously made a vice commissioner, while Li Yuying and the others received posthumous honors in varying degrees.

馮雲路，字漸卿，黃岡人。好學勵行，年三十，即棄諸生，從賀逢聖講學，遂寓居武昌，著書數百卷。崇禎三年，巡按御史林鳴球薦其賢，並上所著書，不用。及賊將渡江，雲路貽書逢聖曰：「在內，以寧湖為止水。在外，以漢江為汨羅。」寧湖者，雲路談經處也。城既陷，乘桴入寧湖。賊遣使來聘，遙應曰：「我平生只讀忠孝書，未嘗讀降賊書也。」遂投湖死。從遊諸生汪延陛亦死焉。

Feng Yunlu, styled Jianqing, was a native of Huanggang. He loved learning and cultivated his conduct. At thirty he gave up his studentship to study under He Fengsheng, settled in Wuchang, and wrote several hundred volumes of books. In the third year of Chongzhen the touring censor Lin Mingqiu recommended his virtue and submitted his writings, but the court took no notice. When the rebels were about to cross the river, Yunlu wrote to Fengsheng: "Within the city, take Ning Lake as still water. Without, take the Han River as the Miluo. Ning Lake was where Yunlu had lectured on the classics. After the city fell he took a raft out onto Ning Lake. The rebels sent an envoy to recruit him. From afar he answered: "All my life I have read only books of loyalty and filial piety. I have never read books on how to surrender to rebels. Then he threw himself into the lake and died. Wang Yanbi, a student who had studied under him, died as well.

其同邑熊，字渭公，亦移居武昌。喜邵子《皇極書》，頗言未來事。十六年元旦，盡以所撰《性理格言》、《圖書懸象》、《大易參》諸書付其季弟，曰：「善藏之。」城破前一日，貽書雲路，言「明日當覓我某樹下。」及期行樹傍，賊追至，躍入荷池以死。

A fellow townsman named Xiong, styled Wei Gong, had also moved to Wuchang. He delighted in Shao Yong's Book of Supreme Principles and often spoke of things yet to come. On New Year's Day of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen he gave all the books he had written — Nature and Principle Maxims, Illustrated Celestial Images, Great Changes Commentary, and others — to his youngest brother, saying: "Keep them safe. The day before the city fell he wrote to Yunlu: "Tomorrow you will find me under a certain tree. When the day came he walked beside the tree. Rebels pursued him there, and he leaped into a lotus pond and drowned.

有諸生明睿者，江夏人。城破，賊獨不入其門。睿慨然曰：「安有父母之邦覆，而偷生茍活者！」語家人：「速從我入井，否則速去。」於是妻及二子、二女並諸婢以次投井。睿笑曰：「吾今曠然無累矣。」從容榜諸門，赴井死，時人號為明井。

There was a student named Ming Rui, a native of Jiangxia. When the city fell the rebels alone did not enter his house. Rui said with indignation: "How can anyone whose native land has fallen choose to steal life and linger on in shame! He told his family: "Follow me into the well at once, or leave immediately. Thereupon his wife, two sons, two daughters, and the maidservants entered the well one after another. Rui smiled and said: "I am free of every burden now. Calmly he posted notices on the doors, then went to the well and died. People of the time called it the Bright Well.

先是，賊陷黃岡，諸生易道暹者，字曦侯。好學尚氣節，居深山中，積書滿家。賊氛漸逼，道暹惜所積書，又以己所著書多，不忍棄，逡巡未行。及賊至，子為瑚急奉母走青峰巖，道暹攜幼子為璉擔事以行。遇賊，紿曰：「余書賈也。賊笑曰：「汝易曦侯，何紿我。」道暹曰：「若既知我，當聽我一言，慎毋殺人焚廬舍。」賊曰：「若身不保，尚為他人言耶！」道暹厲色叱賊，賊怒殺之。為璉請代，賊並殺之。未幾，為瑚亦被殺。

Earlier, when the rebels took Huanggang, there was a student named Yi Daoxian, styled Xihou. He loved learning and prized integrity, living deep in the mountains with books piled throughout his home. As rebel disturbances drew nearer, Daoxian grieved over the books he had collected and could not bear to abandon the many volumes he had written himself, so he lingered and did not flee. When the rebels arrived, his son Weihu hurriedly escorted their mother to Qingfeng Cliff while Daoxian took his young son Weilian and carried their belongings as they went. They met rebels, and he deceived them, saying: "I am a bookseller. The rebels laughed and said: "You are Yi Daoxian — why try to deceive us? Daoxian said: "Since you already know who I am, hear one word from me: take care not to kill people or burn people's homes. The rebels said: "You cannot even save yourself — and you still speak for others! Daoxian rebuked the rebels with a stern face, and in their rage they killed him. Weilian asked to die in his father's place, and the rebels killed him too. Before long Weihu was killed as well.

時黃陂諸生傅可知亦以叱賊死。可知幼喪父，臥柩下三年。六十喪母，啜粥三年。黃陂陷，被執，可知年已逾八十。賊憫其老不殺，俾養馬，叱曰：「我為士數十年，肯役於賊耶！」延頸就刃，賊殺之。

At that time the Huangpi student Fu Kezhi also died for rebuking the rebels. Kezhi lost his father in childhood and lay beneath the coffin in mourning for three years. At sixty he lost his mother and ate only gruel for three years of mourning. When Huangpi fell he was captured. Kezhi was already over eighty. The rebels spared him because of his age and set him to tending horses. He shouted: "I have been a scholar for decades — would I serve rebels! He stretched out his neck to the blade, and the rebels killed him.

蔡道憲，字元白，晉江人。崇禎十年進士。為長沙推官。地多盜，察豪民通盜者，把其罪而任之。盜方劫富家分財，收者已至。召富家還所失物，皆愕不知所自。惡少年閉戶謀為盜，啟戶，捕卒已坐其門，驚逸去。吉王府宗人恣為奸，道憲先治而後啟王。王召責之，抗聲曰：「今四海鼎沸，寇盜日滋。王不愛民，一旦鋌而走險，能獨與此曹保富貴乎？」王悟，謝遣之。

Cai Daoxian, styled Yuanbai, was a native of Jinjiang. He became a metropolitan graduate in the tenth year of Chongzhen. He served as magistrate's assistant at Changsha. The region had many bandits. He detected powerful families colluding with them, seized on their guilt, and put them to work as informants. Bandits were in the midst of robbing a wealthy household to divide the loot when his agents already arrived. He summoned the wealthy family to recover their stolen goods, and all were astonished, not knowing how it had been done. Wicked youths shut their door to plot banditry, but when they opened it arresting soldiers were already seated at the gate. Startled, they fled. Princes of the Ji princedom committed outrages at will. Daoxian punished them first and only then informed the prince. The prince summoned and rebuked him. He answered boldly: "The realm boils on every side and bandits multiply daily. If Your Highness does not cherish the people, once they take desperate paths, can you alone with this crowd preserve your wealth and rank? The prince understood, thanked him, and sent him away.

十六年五月，張獻忠陷武昌，長沙大震。承天巡撫王揚基率所部千人，自岳州奔長沙。道憲請還駐岳州，曰：「嶽與長沙唇齒也，並力守嶽則長沙可保，而衡、永亦無虞。」揚基曰：「嶽，非我屬也。」道憲曰：「棄北守南，猶不失為楚地。若南北俱棄，所屬地安在？」揚基語塞，乃赴岳州。及賊入蒲圻，即遁去。湖廣巡撫王聚奎遠駐袁州，憚賊不敢進。道憲亦請移嶽，聚奎不得已至嶽，數日即徙長沙。道憲曰：「賊去嶽遠，可繕城以守。彼犯嶽，猶憚長沙援。若棄嶽，長沙安能獨全。」聚奎不從。賊果以八月陷岳州，直犯長沙。先是，巡按御史劉熙祚令道憲募兵，得壯丁五千訓練之，皆可用。至是親將之，與總兵官尹先民等扼羅塘河。聚奎聞賊逼，大懼，撤兵還城。道憲曰：「去長沙六十里有險，可柵以守，毋使賊逾此。」又不從。

In the fifth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong took Wuchang, and Changsha was thrown into panic. Wang Yangji, grand coordinator of Chengtian, led a thousand men of his command from Yuezhou to Changsha. Daoxian asked him to return and hold Yuezhou, saying: "Yue and Changsha are lip and teeth. If we hold Yue together, Changsha can be saved, and Heng and Yong will be secure as well. Yangji said: "Yue is not under my jurisdiction. Daoxian said: "Abandon the north and hold the south — you would still be keeping Chu territory. If you abandon both north and south, where will your jurisdiction be? Yangji had no reply and went to Yuezhou. When the rebels entered Puqi he fled at once. Wang Jukui, grand coordinator of Huguang, kept his distance at Yuanzhou, fearing the rebels and not daring to advance. Daoxian also urged him to move to Yuezhou. Jukui reluctantly went there, but within days shifted to Changsha. Daoxian said: "The rebels are still far from Yuezhou. We can repair the walls and hold the city. If they attack Yue they will still fear relief from Changsha. If Yue is abandoned, how can Changsha remain safe on its own? Jukui would not listen. The rebels did take Yuezhou in the eighth month and drove straight at Changsha. Earlier the touring censor Liu Xizuo had ordered Daoxian to raise troops. He obtained five thousand able-bodied men, trained them, and all proved usable. Now he personally led them, together with Regional Commander Yin Xianmin and others, to hold the line at Luotang River. Jukui heard the rebels were closing in and was terrified. He pulled his troops back into the city. Daoxian said: "Sixty li from Changsha there is a defensible pass where we can build palisades. Do not let the rebels get past it. Again Jukui would not listen.

時知府堵胤錫入覲未返，通判周二南攝攸縣事，城中文武無幾。賊薄城，士民盡竄。聚奎詭出戰，遽率所部遁。道憲獨拒守，賊繞城呼曰：「軍中久知蔡推官名，速降，毋自苦。」道憲命守卒射之斃。越三日，先民出戰，敗還。賊奪門入，先民降。道憲被執，賊啖以官，嚼齒大罵。釋其縛，延之上坐，罵如故。賊曰：「汝不降，將盡殺百姓。」道憲大哭曰：「願速殺我，毋害我民。」賊知終不可奪，磔之，其心血直濺賊面。健卒林國俊等九人隨不去，賊亦令說道憲降。國俊曰：「吾主畏死去矣，不至今日。」賊曰：「爾主不降，爾輩亦不得活。」國俊曰：「我輩畏死亦去矣，不至今日。」賊並殺之，四卒奮然曰：「願瘞主屍而死。」賊許之，乃解衣裹道憲骸，瘞之南郊醴陵坡，遂自刎。道憲死時年二十九，贈太僕少卿，謚忠烈。

At that time Prefect Du Yinxie had gone to court and not yet returned. Vice Prefect Zhou Ernan was acting in You County affairs, and there were few civil and military officials left in the city. The rebels pressed the city, and gentry and commoners alike fled. Jukui pretended to go out to fight, then suddenly fled with his command. Daoxian alone held the defense. Rebels circled the wall calling: "The army has long known Assistant Magistrate Cai's name. Surrender quickly — do not torment yourself. Daoxian ordered the defenders to shoot and kill the caller. Three days later Xianmin went out to fight and returned defeated. The rebels forced the gate and entered, and Xianmin surrendered. Daoxian was captured. The rebels tempted him with office, but he gnashed his teeth and cursed them loudly. They released his bonds and seated him in the place of honor, but he cursed them just as before. The rebels said: "If you do not surrender, we will slaughter every commoner in the city. Daoxian wept aloud and said: "Kill me at once — do not harm my people. The rebels knew he could never be won over, so they dismembered him. His heart's blood spattered straight onto their faces. Nine stalwart soldiers, including Lin Guojun, had stayed with him and would not leave. The rebels also ordered them to persuade Daoxian to surrender. Guojun said: "If our master feared death he would be long gone — he would never have held out until today. The rebels said: "If your master will not surrender, none of you will live either. Guojun said: "If we feared death we would have fled long ago — we would never have stayed until today. The rebels killed them all. Four soldiers cried out: "Let us bury our master's body and then die with him. The rebels granted their request. They stripped off their clothes to wrap Daoxian's body, buried him on Liling Slope in the southern suburbs, and then cut their own throats. Daoxian was twenty-nine when he died. He was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and given the posthumous title Zhonglie, Loyal and Fierce.

二南，字汝為，雲南人。由選貢為長沙通判，盡職業，與道憲深相得。擢岳州知府，士民固留，乃以新秩還長沙，後亦死。

Zhou Ernan, styled Ruwei, was a native of Yunnan. Through the selected-tribute route he became vice prefect of Changsha, performed his duties conscientiously, and became close friends with Daoxian. He was promoted to prefect of Yuezhou, but the gentry and commoners begged him to stay, so he returned to Changsha in his new rank. He too later died.

邑中舉人馮一第走湘鄉，將乞師他所，賊系其母與兄招之。一第歸就縛，賊將斬之，一老僧伏地哭請免。賊乃去其兩手置營中，一夕死，母兄獲免。賊陷東安，舉人唐德明仰藥死。犯耒陽，諸生謝如珂拒戰死。

The county xiucai Feng Yidi fled to Xiangxiang, intending to seek troops elsewhere. The rebels seized his mother and elder brother to lure him back. Yidi returned and submitted to capture. The rebels were about to behead him when an old monk prostrated himself and wept, begging for his life. The rebels cut off both his hands and left him in the camp. He died that night, but his mother and elder brother were spared. When the rebels took Dong'an, the xiucai Tang Deming took poison and died. When they invaded Leiyang, the student Xie Ruke fought in resistance and was killed.

張鵬翼，西充人。崇禎中，由選貢生授衡陽知縣。十六年八月，張獻忠逼衡州，巡撫王聚奎、李乾德及監司以下皆遁，士民盡奔竄。鵬翼獨守空城，賊至即陷。脅使降，戟髯詬詈，賊縛而投諸江，妻子赴水死。

Zhang Pengyi was a native of Xichong. During the Chongzhen reign he entered service as a selected-tribute student and was appointed magistrate of Hengyang. In the eighth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong pressed Hengzhou. Grand Coordinators Wang Jukui and Li Qiande, together with the supervisory commissioners and all officials below them, fled, and gentry and commoners alike scattered in panic. Pengyi alone held the empty city, and it fell as soon as the rebels arrived. They tried to force him to surrender, but he brandished a halberd, stroked his beard, and cursed them. The rebels bound him and cast him into the river. His wife and children drowned themselves.

賊之趨岳州也，巴陵教諭桂陽歐陽顯宇時攝縣事，死焉。其趨臨湘也，知縣莆田林不息抗罵不屈，斷其兩手殺之。湘陰陷，知縣大埔楊開率家屬十七人投水死。其丞賴萬耀攝醴陵縣事，城破亦死之。長沙府照磨莫可及，宜興人，攝寧鄉縣事，殉城死。二子若鼎、若鈺號慟奔赴，遇害。衡州既陷，屬縣衡山亦失守，知縣富順董我前、教諭分宜彭允中，皆盡節。府教授永明蔣道亨攝武陵縣事，抱印罵賊，見殺。其他文武將吏，非降則逃。長沙史可鏡，官給事中，丁艱歸，降賊，賊用為湖廣巡撫。及賊棄湖廣入四川，李乾德復還長沙，執可鏡，加榜掠，械送南都伏法。

As the rebels pressed toward Yuezhou, Ouyang Xianyu of Guiyang, instructor of Baling, was then acting in county affairs and died there. When they pressed toward Linxiang, Lin Buxi of Putian, the magistrate, resisted and cursed them without yielding. They cut off both his hands and killed him. When Xiangyin fell, Yang Kai of Dapu, the magistrate, led seventeen members of his household into the water and drowned. His assistant magistrate Lai Wanyao was acting in Liling county affairs and also died when the city fell. Mo Keji of Yixing, record keeper of Changsha Prefecture, was acting in Ningxiang county affairs and died with the city. His two sons, Ruoding and Ruoyu, wailed and rushed to the scene, where they too were killed. After Hengzhou fell, its subordinate county Hengshan was also lost. Dong Woqian of Fushun, the magistrate, and Peng Yunzhong of Fenyi, the instructor, both died faithful to the end. Jiang Daohang of Yongming, instructor of the prefecture, was acting in Wuling county affairs. He clutched the official seal and cursed the rebels, and was killed. All the other civil and military officers either surrendered or fled. Shi Kejing of Changsha, a censor-in-chief, had returned home in mourning. He surrendered to the rebels, who made him grand coordinator of Huguang. When the rebels abandoned Huguang and entered Sichuan, Li Qiande returned to Changsha, seized Kejing, had him flogged, and sent him in fetters to the Southern Capital to be executed.

乾德者，亦鵬翼同邑人。崇禎四年進士。十六年曆右僉都御史撫治鄖陽，未赴，改湖南。時武昌已陷，乾德守岳州。獻忠攻急，乾德棄城走長沙，岳州遂陷。轉徙衡、永，賊至，輒先避，長沙、衡、永皆隨陷。獻忠入四川，乃還長沙，以失地，謫赴督師王應熊軍前自效。永明王立，擢兵部侍郎，巡撫川南。乾德入蜀，其鄉邑已陷，父亦被難，乃說諸將袁韜攻佛圖關，復重慶。韜及武大定久駐重慶，食盡。乾德說嘉定守將楊展與大定結為兄弟，資之食。已而惡展，構韜殺之，據嘉定，蜀人咸不直乾德。會劉文秀自雲南至，擒韜，陷嘉定，乾德乃驅家人及其弟御史升德，俱赴水死。

Qiande was also a fellow townsman of Pengyi. He was a metropolitan graduate of the fourth year of Chongzhen. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief to pacify Yunyang, but before he could take up the post he was reassigned to Hunan. Wuchang had already fallen, and Qiande held Yuezhou. Xianzhong pressed the attack hard. Qiande abandoned the city and fled to Changsha, and Yuezhou fell. He moved between Hengzhou and Yongzhou, always fleeing before the rebels arrived. Changsha, Hengzhou, and Yongzhou all fell in turn. When Xianzhong entered Sichuan, Qiande returned to Changsha. For having lost territory he was demoted and sent to Grand Marshal Wang Yingxiong's headquarters to redeem himself in service. When the Prince of Yongli was enthroned, Qiande was promoted to Vice Minister of War and made grand coordinator of southern Sichuan. Qiande entered Shu. His home district had already fallen and his father had also perished. He then persuaded the generals, including Yuan Tao, to attack Fotu Pass and recover Chongqing. Tao and Wu Dading remained at Chongqing for a long time until their provisions ran out. Qiande persuaded Yang Zhan, the defending general of Jiading, to swear brotherhood with Dading and supplied them with food. Before long he turned against Yang Zhan, incited Yuan Tao to kill him, and seized Jiading. The people of Shu all held Qiande in contempt. When Liu Wenxiu came up from Yunnan, he captured Tao and took Jiading. Qiande then drove his family and his younger brother Shengde, a censor, into the water, and they all drowned.

劉熙祚，字仲緝，武進人。父純仁，泉州推官。熙祚舉天啟四年鄉試。崇禎中，為興寧知縣。奸民啖斷腸草，脅人財物。熙祚令贖罪者必以草，以是致死者勿問，草以漸少，弊亦止，課最，征授御史。十五年冬巡按湖南。李自成陷荊、襄諸郡，張獻忠又破蘄、黃，臨江欲渡。熙祚以明年二月抵岳州，檄諸將分防江滸，偏沅、鄖陽二撫聯絡形勢。會賊馬守應據澧州，窺常德，土寇甘明揚等助之。熙祚馳至常德，擊斬明揚。五月還長沙。

Liu Xizuo, styled Zhongji, was a native of Wujin. His father Chunren was a reviewing officer in Quanzhou. Xizuo passed the provincial examination in the fourth year of Tianqi. During the Chongzhen reign he served as magistrate of Xingning. Villainous men would swallow gut-wrench grass and then extort money and goods from others. Xizuo ordered that anyone seeking to redeem a crime must supply the grass himself, and that no inquiry would be made into deaths caused in the process. The grass gradually became scarce and the abuse stopped. Rated at the top of his class, he was summoned and appointed censor. In the winter of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen he was sent to inspect Hunan. Li Zicheng had captured the prefectures of Jing and Xiang, and Zhang Xianzhong had broken through at Qi and Huang and stood on the riverbank ready to cross. Xizuo reached Yuezhou in the second month of the following year, ordered the generals to divide their forces along the riverbanks, and coordinated the strategic situation with the grand coordinators of Pianyuan and Yunyang. The rebel Ma Shouying held Lizhou and eyed Changde, aided by local bandits such as Gan Mingyang. Xizuo galloped to Changde and killed Mingyang in battle. In the fifth month he returned to Changsha.

及武昌、岳州相繼陷，急令總兵尹先民、副將何一德督萬人守羅塘河，扼要害。而巡撫王聚奎乃撤守長沙，賊遂長驅至。聚奎率潰將孔全彬、黃朝宣、張先璧等走湘潭，長沙不能守。惠王避地至長沙，與吉王謀出奔，熙祚奉以奔衡州。衡州，桂王封地也，聚奎兵至，大焚劫，王及吉、惠二王皆登舟避亂。熙祚單騎赴永州為城守計。未幾，聚奎復走祁陽，衡州遂陷。永士民聞之，空城逃。三王至永州，聚奎繼至，越日全彬等亦至，劫庫金去。熙祚乃遣部將護三王走廣西，而己返永州拒守。賊騎追執之，獻忠踞桂王宮，叱令跪，不屈。賊群毆之，自殿墄曳至端禮門，膚盡裂。使降將尹先民說之，終不變，見殺。事聞，贈太常少卿，謚忠毅。弟永祚，字叔遠，由選貢生屢遷興化同知，擒賊曾旺。後以副使知興化府事。大清兵入城，仰藥死。弟綿祚，字季延。崇禎四年進士。為吉安永豐知縣。鄰境九蓮山，界閩、粵，賊窟其中，綿祚請會剿。賊怒，率眾攻。綿祚出擊，三戰三捷。賊益大至，綿祚伏兵黃牛峒，大破之。積勞得疾，請告歸卒。兄弟三人並死王事。

When Wuchang and Yuezhou fell in succession, he urgently ordered Regional Commander Yin Xianmin and Vice Commander He Yide to hold Luotang River with ten thousand men and block the vital pass. But Grand Coordinator Wang Jukui withdrew the garrison from Changsha, and the rebels drove straight in. Jukui led the routed generals Kong Quanbin, Huang Chaoxuan, Zhang Xianbi, and others in flight to Xiangtan, and Changsha could no longer be held. The Prince of Hui had taken refuge in Changsha and planned flight with the Prince of Ji. Xizuo escorted them to Hengzhou. Hengzhou was the Prince of Gui's fief. When Jukui's troops arrived they burned and plundered the city. The Prince of Gui and the Princes of Ji and Hui all boarded boats to flee the chaos. Xizuo rode alone to Yongzhou to plan the city's defense. Before long Jukui fled again, this time to Qiyang, and Hengzhou fell. When the people of Yongzhou heard this, they abandoned the city and fled. The three princes reached Yongzhou, Jukui followed, and the next day Quanbin and the others arrived as well. They looted the treasury and departed. Xizuo then sent subordinate generals to escort the three princes to Guangxi, while he himself returned to Yongzhou to hold the defense. Rebel cavalry pursued and captured him. Xianzhong seated himself in the Prince of Gui's palace and shouted for him to kneel, but he would not yield. The rebels beat him in a mob, dragged him from the palace terrace to the Duanli Gate, and flayed his skin to shreds. They had the surrendered general Yin Xianmin try to persuade him, but he never wavered and was killed. When word reached the throne, he was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and given the posthumous title Zhongyi, Loyal and Resolute. His younger brother Yongzuo, styled Shuyuan, entered through the selected-tribute route and rose to subprefect of Xinghua, where he captured the bandit Zeng Wang. He later served as vice commissioner administering the affairs of Xinghua Prefecture. When Great Qing forces entered the city, he took poison and died. His younger brother Mianzuo was styled Jiyan. He was a metropolitan graduate of the fourth year of Chongzhen. He served as magistrate of Yongfeng in Ji'an. Jiulian Mountain on the border, lying between Fujian and Guangdong, was a bandits' lair. Mianzuo requested a joint campaign to wipe them out. The bandits were enraged and led a force to attack. Mianzuo went out to meet them and won three battles in a row. When the bandits came in even greater force, Mianzuo laid an ambush at Huangniu Pass and routed them. Worn down by overwork, he fell ill, requested leave to return home, and died there. All three brothers died in service to the throne.

王聚奎既失永州，後伺賊退，潛還武昌，為代者何騰蛟所劾，夤緣免。

After Wang Jukui lost Yongzhou, he waited until the rebels withdrew and then secretly returned to Wuchang. His successor He Tengjiao impeached him, but he escaped punishment through connections.

王孫蘭，字畹仲，無錫人。崇禎四年進士。累遷成都知府。蜀宗人虐民，民相聚，將焚內江王第。孫蘭撫諭之，乃解。父擾，服闋，起官紹興，修荒政。遷廣東副使，分巡南雄、韶州二府。連州瑤賊為亂，馳剿，三戰皆捷。十六年，張獻忠大亂湖南，湖南之郴州宜章與韶接壤。孫蘭乞援督府，不應，最後以七百人至，一宿復調去。及賊陷衡州，肆屠戮。韶所轄樂昌、乳源、仁化，逋竄一空。連州守將先據城叛，韶士民聞之，空城逃，而賊所設偽官傳檄將至。孫蘭仰天嘆曰：「失封疆當死，賊陷城又當死，吾盍先死乎！」遂自縊。既死，賊竟不至，朝廷憫其忠，予贈恤。

Wang Sunlan, styled Wanzhong, was a native of Wuxi. He was a metropolitan graduate of the fourth year of Chongzhen. He rose through successive promotions to prefect of Chengdu. Princes of the Shu line abused the people, who gathered in a mob ready to burn down the Neijiang Prince's residence. Sunlan soothed and reasoned with them, and the crowd dispersed. After his father's death and the end of mourning, he resumed office at Shaoxing and undertook famine relief. He was transferred to Guangdong as vice commissioner with responsibility for Nanxiong and Shaozhou. When Yao bandits rebelled at Lianzhou, he rushed to suppress them and won three battles in succession. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong threw Hunan into chaos. Yizhang in Chenzhou, Hunan, bordered Sunlan's jurisdiction of Shaozhou. Sunlan begged the supreme command for reinforcements but received no answer. At last seven hundred men were sent, only to be transferred away again after a single night. When the rebels took Hengzhou they slaughtered without restraint. Lechang, Ruyuan, and Renhua under Shaozhou's jurisdiction were emptied as the people fled and scattered. The defending general at Lianzhou seized the city and rebelled first. When the gentry and commoners of Shaozhou heard of it they abandoned the city and fled, even as proclamations from the rebels' puppet officials were on their way. Sunlan looked up to heaven and sighed: "Losing one's jurisdiction means death; letting bandits take the city means death again — why not die first?" Thereupon he hanged himself. After his death the rebels never came. The court lamented his loyalty and granted him posthumous honors and relief for his family.

程良籌，字持卿，孝感人，工部尚書註子也。天啟五年進士。時註為太常少卿，不附魏忠賢。御史王士英劾其為趙南星、李三才私黨，忠賢遂矯旨並良籌除名，永不敘錄。未出仕而除名，前此未有也。崇禎元年起官，歷文選員外郎，掌選事。麻城李長庚為尚書，以同鄉故，甚倚之。正郎久缺不推補，同列多忌，朝論亦少之。長庚用推舉失當削籍，良籌亦下吏遣戍，久乃釋歸。

Cheng Liangchou, styled Chiqing, was a native of Xiaogan and the son of Zhu, the Minister of Works. He was a metropolitan graduate of the fifth year of Tianqi. At that time his father Zhu was serving as vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and did not align with Wei Zhongxian. Censor Wang Shiying impeached him as a clandestine partisan of Zhao Nanxing and Li Sancai. Zhongxian then forged an imperial decree stripping both Zhu and Liangchou from the rolls, with their names never to be reinstated. To be struck from the rolls before ever taking office was unprecedented. In the first year of Chongzhen he resumed official service, rose to vice director in the Bureau of Appointments, and managed personnel selection. Li Changgeng of Macheng was minister of the bureau and, being a fellow townsman, relied heavily on Liangchou. The post of principal director had long gone unfilled without a recommended successor. Colleagues envied him, and court opinion held him in low regard. Changgeng was stripped of his rank for improper use of recommendations, and Liangchou too was handed over to the authorities and sent to frontier garrison duty. Only after a long interval was he released and allowed to return home.

十六年，李自成犯承天，孝感亦陷。良籌以白雲山險峻，與同邑參政夏時亨築壘聚守。賊使說降，良籌毀其書。賊怒，設長圍攻之，相持四十餘日，解去。時漢陽、武昌亦為張獻忠所陷，四面皆賊，獨白雲孤處其間，賊頗患之。已，武昌為官軍所復，良籌號召遠近諸寨，掎角進兵。其冬，遂復孝感、雲夢。十二月，進薄德安，兵敗，退保白蓮寨。寨中人素通賊，為內應，良籌遂被執。說降，不屈，羈之密室。明年正月，左良玉遣將攻德安。賊懼，擁良籌令止外兵，不從。賊棄城去，逼良籌偕行，又不從，逐被殺。贈太常少卿。程道壽者，良籌里人也，嘗為來安知縣。賊陷孝感，置掌旅守之。道壽結里中壯士，擊殺掌旅。賊復至，杖之，系獄，令為書招良籌。道壽曰：「我不能助白雲滅汝，肯助汝耶？」遂見殺。

In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng attacked Cheng Tian, and Xiaogan fell as well. Liangchou chose the steep heights of Baiyun Mountain and, together with Xia Shiheng, administering censor of his county, built fortifications and gathered defenders there. The rebels sent envoys to urge surrender; Liangchou tore up their letter. The rebels were enraged and laid siege in a long encirclement. After a stalemate of more than forty days they withdrew. By then Hanyang and Wuchang had also fallen to Zhang Xianzhong. Rebels surrounded them on every side, yet Baiyun stood alone in their midst, much to the rebels' vexation. Before long the government forces retook Wuchang. Liangchou rallied stockades near and far and advanced in coordinated pincer movements. That winter he retook Xiaogan and Yunmeng. In the twelfth month he pressed toward De'an but was defeated and fell back to defend Bailian Stockade. Those in the stockade had long colluded with the rebels and served as inside agents. Liangchou was captured. They urged him to surrender, but he refused. They held him in a secret chamber. In the first month of the following year, Zuo Liangyu sent a general to attack De'an. The rebels in fear surrounded Liangchou and ordered him to halt the outside army; he refused. The rebels abandoned the city and fled, pressing Liangchou to go with them. Again he refused, and they killed him. He was posthumously enfeoffed as vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Cheng Daoshou was a fellow townsman of Liangchou and had once served as magistrate of Lai'an. When the rebels took Xiaogan they installed a Zhanglü to hold the city. Daoshou rallied stalwart men from the village and killed the Zhanglü. When the rebels returned they beat him with staves, threw him in prison, and ordered him to write a letter luring Liangchou to surrender. Daoshou said: "Since I would not help Baiyun destroy you, why would I help you?" Thereupon he was killed.

黃世清，字澄海，滕縣人。父中色，吏部員外郎。世清登崇禎七年進士，除戶部主事，榷滸墅關，有清操。歷員外郎，屢遷右參議，分守商、雒，駐商州。城屢遭兵，四野蕭然，民皆入保城中。而客兵所過淫掠，民苦兵甚於賊。世清下令兵不得闌入城。未幾，關中兵經其地，有二卒撾門，榜以徇。督撫發兵，誡毋犯黃參議令。李自成躪荊、襄，遠近震動。世清一子方幼，屬友人養人，誓身殉。十六年十月，自成敗孫傳庭軍，長驅入關，遣右營十萬人從南陽犯商州。世清憑城守，有奸民投賊，至城下說降，世清佯與語，發炮斃之，懸其首城上曰：「懷二心者視此！」士民皆效死，炮矢盡，繼以石，石盡，婦人掘街砌繼之。城陷，世清坐堂上，麾其仆朱化鳳去，化鳳願同死。賊牽世清下，化鳳叱曰：「奴才不得無禮！」賊批其頰，化鳳聲色愈厲。執至賊帥袁宗第營，世清植立，賊欲屈之，化鳳曰：「吾主堂堂憲司，肯拜賊耶！」賊先殺之，授世清以防御劄。罵不受，與一家十三人皆遇害。贈光祿卿。

Huang Shiqing, styled Chenghai, was a native of Teng County. His father Zhongse was a vice director in the Ministry of Personnel. Shiqing was a metropolitan graduate of the seventh year of Chongzhen, appointed a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. He collected levies at Huxu Pass and was known for his integrity. He rose through the ranks to vice director and was repeatedly promoted to right assistant censor with responsibility for defending Shangzhou and Luozhou, where he was stationed at Shangzhou. The city had been ravaged repeatedly by troops. The countryside was desolate, and the people had all fled into the walled city for protection. Yet whenever garrison troops passed through they raped and plundered; the people suffered from soldiers more than from rebels. Shiqing ordered that soldiers were not to force their way into the city. Before long Guanzhong troops passed through his jurisdiction. Two soldiers tried to force the gates; he had them publicly flogged as a warning. The supreme commanders sent out troops with orders not to violate Assistant Censor Huang's regulations. As Li Zicheng overran Jing and Xiang, regions far and near were shaken. Shiqing's only son was still young. He entrusted the boy to a friend to raise and vowed to give his own life for the cause. In the tenth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Zicheng routed Sun Chuanting's army and drove deep into the pass. He sent a hundred thousand men of the Right Camp from Nanyang to attack Shangzhou. Shiqing held the city in defense. A traitor who had gone over to the rebels came beneath the walls to urge surrender. Shiqing pretended to parley with him, then fired a cannon and killed him. He hung the man's head on the wall and declared: "Let anyone with divided loyalties look upon this!" Gentry and commoners alike fought to the death. When cannonballs and arrows were spent they threw stones; when stones ran out, women dug up paving bricks from the streets to hurl at the enemy. When the city fell Shiqing sat in the hall and motioned his servant Zhu Huafeng to leave. Huafeng wished to die with him. The rebels dragged Shiqing down. Huafeng shouted: "You wretched slaves — show some respect!" The rebels slapped his face, but Huafeng's voice and bearing grew only fiercer. They were taken to the rebel commander Yuan Zongdi's camp. Shiqing stood erect while the rebels tried to break his will. Huafeng said: "My master is a dignified provincial censor — would he bow to rebels!" The rebels killed Huafeng first and offered Shiqing a defensive appointment. Shiqing cursed them and refused. He and thirteen members of his household were all killed. He was posthumously enfeoffed as grand master for splendid happiness.

楊暄，高平人。崇禎十三年進士。授渭南知縣。歲大凶，畢力拯救，民稍獲安。十六年冬，李自成入潼關，兵備僉事楊王休降。教授許嗣復分守上南門，城破，持梃鬥，詈賊死，妻女被掠皆自殺。賊遂抵渭南。暄已擢兵部主事，未行，與訓導蔡其城同守。會舉人王命誥開門迎賊，暄被縛，索印不與，詬罵死。其城亦死之。

Yang Xuan was a native of Gaoping. He was a metropolitan graduate of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen. He was appointed magistrate of Weinan. During a year of severe famine he exhausted himself in relief work, and the people gradually found some measure of security. In the winter of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng entered the Tong Pass. Yang Wangxiu, assistant commissioner for defense, surrendered. Instructor Xu Sifu held the upper south gate. When the city fell he fought with a cudgel, cursed the rebels, and was killed. His wife and daughters, taken captive, all took their own lives. The rebels then reached Weinan. Xuan had already been promoted to clerk in the Ministry of War but had not yet departed. Together with the instructor Cai Qicheng he held the defense. At that point the metropolitan graduate Wang Minggao opened the gates to welcome the rebels. Xuan was bound. They demanded the official seal and he refused; they killed him amid his curses and reviling. Cai Qicheng died as well.

賊遂陷西安，咸陽知縣趙躋昌被害。屬邑望風降。蒲城知縣朱一統獨謀拒守，曰：「吾家七世衣冠，安可臣賊。」或言他州縣甲榜者皆已納款，一統曰：「此事寧論資格耶。」以體肥，令家人擴井口以待。會衙兵叛，奪印趣迎降。一統瞋目叱曰：「吾一日未死，印不可得！」日暮，左右盡散，從容赴井死。縣丞沁源姚啟崇亦死焉。一統，平定人，起家乙榜。

The rebels then took Xi'an. Zhao Jichang, magistrate of Xianyang, was killed. Subordinate counties surrendered at the first rumor of defeat. Zhu Yitong, magistrate of Pucheng, alone resolved to resist. He said: "My family has borne official robes for seven generations — how can I bow to rebels?" Some said that jinshi graduates in other prefectures and counties had already surrendered. Yitong said: "Is this a question of rank and qualifications?" Because he was stout of body, he had his family widen the mouth of a well in preparation. At that juncture the yamen soldiers mutinied, seized the seal, and pressed to open the gates in surrender. Yitong glared and shouted: "As long as I am alive one day more, you shall not have the seal!" At day's end those around him had all fled. Calmly he went to the well and died. Yao Qichong, assistant magistrate from Qinyuan, died as well. Yitong was a native of Pingding who had entered office through the provincial graduate list.

有朱迥滼者，沈府宗室也，由宗貢生為白水知縣。明習吏事，下不敢欺。賊潛入城，猶手弓射賊，與學官魏歲史、劉進並被難。

There was Zhu Jiongpan, a clansman of the Shen princely line who had entered office as a tribute student from the imperial clan and become magistrate of Baishui. He was well versed in administrative affairs, and those beneath him did not dare deceive him. When rebels secretly entered the city he still took up a bow and shot at them. He perished together with the school official Wei Suishi and Liu Jin.

唐時明，字爾極，固始人。舉於鄉。崇禎中，為長垣教諭。子路墓祀田為豪家奪，時明復其故。由國子學正屢遷鳳翔知府。十六年十月聞李自成入潼關，亟治戰守備。俄潰兵大掠，西入無固志。及自成據西安，分兵來冠，典史董尚質開門迎賊，時明被執。偽相牛金星曰：「吾主求賢若渴，君至西京，不次擢用。」時明叱曰：「我天朝命吏，肯臣賊耶！」金星令尚質說降，厲聲責之。賊令縛赴西安，時明托妻子於友人，至興平，乘間自縊。鳳翔既陷，屬城叛降。隴州同知薛應玢，武進人。時攝州事，勒兵守城。城陷，詈賊死。寶雞知縣唐夢鯤，番禺舉人。歷知仙居、天臺、富川、分水四縣。在富川，有撫瑤功。坐累，謫池州經歷，攝貴池縣事。左良玉擁兵下，鄉民奔入城，守者拒，夢鯤令悉納之。及改寶雞，賊已過潼關，星馳抵任。賊逼縣，知不可守，自經死。

Tang Shiming, styled Erji, was a native of Gushi. He passed the provincial examination. In the Chongzhen era he served as instructor of Changyuan. Sacrificial fields for the tomb of Zilu had been seized by powerful families; Shiming restored them to their rightful status. Starting as an instructor at the National University, he rose through successive promotions to prefect of Fengxiang. In the tenth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, hearing that Li Zicheng had entered the Tong Pass, he urgently put the city in order for war and defense. Before long routed troops looted on a grand scale, and the people streaming in from the west had no will to hold firm. When Zicheng held Xi'an he sent detachments to attack. Archive clerk Dong Shangzhi opened the gates to welcome the rebels, and Shiming was captured. The puppet chancellor Niu Jinxing said: "Our master thirsts for worthy men. If you come to the Western Capital you will be promoted out of turn." Shiming shouted: "I am an official appointed by the heavenly court — would I serve as minister to rebels!" Jinxing ordered Shangzhi to urge him to surrender, and Shiming rebuked him in a thunderous voice. The rebels had him bound and sent toward Xi'an. Shiming entrusted his wife and children to a friend, and when they reached Xingping he seized an opportunity and hanged himself. After Fengxiang fell, its subordinate cities rebelled and surrendered. Xue Yingbin, sub-prefect of Longzhou, was a native of Wujin. At that time he was acting in prefectural affairs; he rallied troops to defend the city. When the city fell he cursed the rebels and was killed. Tang Mengkun, magistrate of Baoji, was a provincial graduate of Panyu. He had served successively as magistrate of Xianju, Tiantai, Fuchuan, and Fenshui. At Fuchuan he had distinguished himself in pacifying the Yao. Implicated in an affair, he was demoted to administrator at Chizhou and acted in the affairs of Guichi County. When Zuo Liangyu marched south with his army, villagers fled into the city. The defenders tried to turn them away, but Mengkun ordered that all be admitted. When he was transferred to Baoji the rebels had already passed the Tong Pass. He raced to take up his post. When the rebels closed on the county he knew it could not be held and hanged himself.

段復興，字仲方，陽谷人。崇禎七年進士。歷右參議，分守慶陽。十六年十月，李自成據西安，傳檄諭降。復興裂其檄，集眾守。逾月，賊薄城，圍數匝，發炮石殺賊滿濠。久之，勢不支。拜辭其母，聚妻妾子女於樓，置薪其上，復乘城督戰。城陷，趨歸火其樓，母亦赴火死。乃持鐵鞭走北門，擊殺數賊，遂自刎。士民葬之西河坪，立祠祀之。同時死難者，慶陽推官靳聖居、安化知縣袁繼登。聖居，字淑孔，長垣人。崇禎元年進士，歷知濟源、萊陽二縣。屢謫復起，蒞慶陽時，已授刑部主事，未行，遇賊，佐復興死守。城破被執，罵不絕口死。繼登，南畿人。起家選貢，蒞任未浹歲即遘變，見賊求速死，賊殺之。

Duan Fuxing, styled Zhongfang, was a native of Yanggu. He passed the metropolitan examination in the seventh year of the Chongzhen reign (1634). He rose to Right Assistant Commissioner and was posted to defend Qingyang. In the tenth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), Li Zicheng held Xi'an and sent out a proclamation calling for surrender. Fuxing tore the proclamation to shreds and rallied the people to hold the city. More than a month later the rebels pressed the walls and ringed the city several times over. Cannon and catapult stones killed so many rebels that the moat was heaped with corpses. In time the defense could no longer hold. He bowed farewell to his mother, gathered his wives, concubines, and children in a tower and piled firewood on its roof, then returned to the ramparts to direct the fighting. When the city fell he rushed back and set the tower ablaze. His mother entered the flames and died as well. He seized an iron whip, ran to the North Gate, and killed several rebels before cutting his own throat. The gentry and common people buried him at Xiheping and erected a shrine in his honor. Those who died in the calamity at the same time were Jin Shengju, pushing officer of Qingyang, and Yuan Jideng, magistrate of Anhua. Shengju, styled Shukong, was a native of Changyuan. He passed the metropolitan examination in the first year of Chongzhen (1628) and served successively as magistrate of Jiyuan and Laiyang. Demoted and restored several times, he was already appointed a director in the Ministry of Justice when he reached Qingyang but had not yet left for the capital. When the rebels came he aided Fuxing in a desperate defense. When the city fell he was captured and cursed the rebels without pause until they killed him. Jideng was from the southern capital region. He had risen from the ranks as a selected tribute graduate. Less than a year after taking office calamity struck. When he saw the rebels he begged them to kill him quickly, and they did.

其陷寧州也，知州董琬死之。宗室朱新鍱者，以貢生授中部知縣。自成使人持檄招降，新鍱碎之。嘆曰：「城小無兵，空令士民受禍，計惟自靖耳。」令妻妾子女盡縊，乃投繯死。

When Ningzhou fell, Magistrate Dong Wan died in its defense. A member of the imperial clan, Zhu Xinyin, had been appointed magistrate of Zhongbu as a tribute graduate. Zicheng sent men with a proclamation summoning surrender. Xinyin tore it to pieces. He sighed and said: "The city is small and has no troops. I would only be letting the gentry and people suffer for nothing. The only course is to end my own life." He ordered his wives, concubines, and children to hang themselves, then hanged himself.

簡仁瑞，字季麟，榮縣人。由舉人歷安西官同知，遷平涼知府。十六年冬，賊入關，諸王及監司以下官謀遁走。仁瑞謁韓王曰：「長安有重兵，訛言不足信。殿下輕棄三百年宗社，欲何之？縱賊壓境，延、寧、甘、涼諸軍足相援，必不能支，同死社稷，亦不辱二祖列宗。」王不從。是夕，其護衛卒噪，挾王及諸郡王、宗室斬關出奔，脅仁瑞行。仁瑞曰：「吾平涼守也，吾去，誰與守？」眾遂去。仁瑞乃撤四關居民入城，以土石塞門為死守計。未幾，賊檄至，乃召所活死囚數輩，謂之曰：「吾昔嘗生汝，汝亦有以報我乎？」皆對曰：「唯命。」即托以幼子，令衛出。明日，賊抵城下，士民數人草降書，乞僉名署印。仁瑞怒叱責之，正衣冠，自經堂上。平涼既陷，屬城悉降。華亭教諭鄒姓者，援曾子居武城義，欲避去。訓導何相劉止之曰：「吾輩委質為臣，安可以賓師自待？」乃率諸生共守，乃城陷，與教諭皆殉難。

Jian Renrui, styled Jilin, was a native of Rong County. Starting as a provincial graduate, he served as sub-prefect of Anxiguan and was then promoted to prefect of Pingliang. In the winter of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen the rebels entered the pass. The princes and officials from surveillance commissioners on down plotted to flee. Renrui called on the Prince of Han and said: "Chang'an still has strong forces. Rumors are not to be trusted. Your Highness would lightly abandon three hundred years of dynastic altars — where do you mean to go? Even if rebels press the borders, the garrisons of Yan, Ning, Gan, and Liang can still come to one another's aid. If we truly cannot hold, to die for the altars of state together would not disgrace our founding emperors and all who came after." The prince would not listen. That night his guard soldiers mutinied, seized the prince together with the commandery princes and other members of the clan, broke through the gate and fled, and tried to force Renrui to go with them. Renrui said: "I am the defender of Pingliang. If I leave, who will hold the city?" The mob then left him. Renrui then brought in the residents from the four outer passes, blocked the gates with earth and stone, and prepared to defend to the death. Before long the rebel proclamation arrived. He summoned several condemned men whose lives he had once spared and said to them: "I once let you live. Can you repay me now?" They all answered: "We await your command." He then entrusted his young son to them and ordered them to escort the boy out of the city. The next day the rebels reached the walls. Several townspeople drafted a surrender letter and begged him to sign and seal it. Renrui angrily rebuked them, straightened his cap and robes, and hanged himself in the main hall. After Pingliang fell, all its subordinate cities surrendered. The instructor of Huating, surnamed Zou, citing the precedent of Zengzi leaving Wucheng when fire threatened, wished to flee. Instructor He Xiangliu stopped him and said: "We have pledged ourselves as subjects of the throne. How can we hold ourselves aloof like guest-teachers?" He then led the students in the defense. When the city fell, both he and the instructor died in the calamity.

司五教，字敬先，內黃人。篤學有志行。崇禎時，以歲貢為內丘訓導。十一年，邑被兵，佐長吏拒守有功。遷城固知縣，剿山寇滅之。十六年冬，賊據關中，郡縣風靡，五教激士民固守。有諸生謀內應，捕斬之，竿其首城上。無何，偽帥田見秀擁兵至，五教且戰且守。賊悉兵攻四日而城陷，既見執，厲聲罵賊。賊去其冠帶，輒自取冠之，罵益厲，乃被磔。

Si Wujiao, styled Jingxian, was a native of Neihuang. He was deeply learned and principled in conduct. In the Chongzhen era he became instructor of Neiqiu as an annual tribute graduate. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638), when the district came under attack, he aided the chief magistrate in the defense and earned distinction. He was promoted to magistrate of Chenggu, where he suppressed the mountain bandits and wiped them out. In the winter of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen the rebels held Guanzhong and counties surrendered one after another. Wujiao roused the gentry and people to hold firm. When a student plotted to open the gates from within, he captured and beheaded him and impaled the head on the wall. Before long the puppet commander Tian Jianxiu arrived with an army. Wujiao fought while holding the walls. The rebels threw their full strength against the city for four days until it fell. Once captured, Wujiao cursed them in a thunderous voice. The rebels stripped off his cap and sash, but he snatched them back and put them on again, cursing all the more fiercely, until they executed him by dismemberment.

鄉官張鳳翮，字健沖。天啟五年進士。崇禎中官御史，極論四川巡撫王維章貪劣，而請召還給事中章正宸，不納。出按雲南，還朝，言：「陛下議均輸再征一年，民力已竭，討賊諸臣泄泄沓沓，徒糜數百萬金錢。」帝納其言，敕兵部飛騎勒熊文燦進兵，而張獻忠已叛矣。十五年遷浙江右參政，未任而罷。賊陷城，脅之仕，不屈死。

Local gentry official Zhang Fenghe, styled Jianchong. He passed the metropolitan examination in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign (1625). In the Chongzhen era he served as censor, denouncing at length the greed and incompetence of Sichuan grand coordinator Wang Weizhang and calling for the recall of supervising secretary Zhang Zhengchen. The throne did not accept his plea. After touring Yunnan as investigating censor he returned to court and said: "Your Majesty proposes to levy the equalized transport tax for another year, yet the people's strength is already spent. The ministers charged with suppressing rebels dither and delay, squandering millions in silver for nothing." The emperor accepted his advice and ordered the Ministry of War to dispatch urgent riders commanding Xiong Wencan to advance — but by then Zhang Xianzhong had already rebelled. In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642) he was promoted to Right Assistant Commissioner of Zhejiang, but was dismissed before he could take up the post. When the rebels took his city they tried to force him into office. He refused to submit and was killed.

都任，字弘若，祥符人。萬曆四十一年進士。授南京兵部主事，進郎中，屢遷四川右參政。天啟五年大計，左遷江西僉事，復屢遷陜西左布政使。崇禎五年又謫山東右參政。再遷山西按察使。任性剛嚴，多忤物，數謫徙，終不變。月朔，同僚朝晉王，任據《會典》爭，不赴。巡按御史張孫振誣劾提學僉事袁繼咸，任數慰問繼咸，贐其行。孫振怒，復中以大計，貶秩歸。後復起，歷右布政使兼副使，飭榆林兵備。

Du Ren, styled Hongruo, was a native of Xiangfu. He passed the metropolitan examination in the forty-first year of the Wanli reign (1613). He was appointed a director in the Nanjing Ministry of War, promoted to bureau director, and rose through successive transfers to Right Assistant Commissioner of Sichuan. At the grand evaluation of the fifth year of Tianqi (1625) he was demoted to assistant commissioner in Jiangxi, then rose again through successive promotions to Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shaanxi. In the fifth year of Chongzhen (1632) he was demoted again, to Right Assistant Commissioner of Shandong. He was later transferred to surveillance commissioner of Shanxi. Stubborn and stern by nature, he often gave offense. Demoted and transferred again and again, he never changed. On the first day of the month his colleagues went to pay court to the Prince of Jin. Ren cited the Collected Statutes in protest and refused to go. Investigating censor Zhang Sunzhen falsely impeached education intendant Yuan Jixian. Ren repeatedly comforted Jixian and gave him travel expenses for his departure. Sunzhen was furious and had him struck again at the grand evaluation. Ren was reduced in rank and sent home. Later he was restored to office, served as Right Provincial Administration Commissioner and vice commissioner, and took charge of the military defenses of Yulin.

十六年九月，巡撫崔源之罷去，代者張鳳翼未至，總兵官王定從孫傳庭出關，大敗奔還，遠近震恐。李自成遂據西安，遣其將李過以精卒數萬徇三邊，延安、綏德相繼陷。定懼，詭言討河套寇，率所部遁去，榆林益空虛。任急集軍民，慷慨流涕，諭以大義，與督餉員外郎王家錄、副將惠顯等議城守。城中多廢將，任以尤世威知兵，推為主帥，率諸將王世欽等數十人誓死守。賊遣使招降，任斬以徇。賊大眾麕至，十一月望，城被圍，至二十七日，城陷，任猶巷戰，力不支，被執。欲降之，大罵不屈，遂見殺。世威等皆死，詳見世威傳中。

In the ninth month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, grand coordinator Cui Yuanzhi was dismissed. His replacement Zhang Fengyi had not yet arrived. Chief commander Wang Ding followed Sun Chuanting out of the pass, suffered a crushing defeat, and fled back. Terror spread far and wide. Li Zicheng then held Xi'an and sent his general Li Guo with tens of thousands of elite troops to sweep the three border regions. Yan'an and Suide fell one after another. Wang Ding was terrified. Claiming he was going to campaign against the Ordos bandits, he led his troops away in flight, leaving Yulin all the more defenseless. Ren urgently gathered soldiers and civilians, spoke with tears in his voice of duty and honor, and with grain supervisor Wang Jialu, vice general Hui Xian, and others planned the city's defense. The city held many retired generals. Ren knew that You Shiwei understood warfare and made him chief commander. With dozens of officers including Wang Shiqin, they swore to defend to the death. The rebels sent envoys to offer terms of surrender. Ren beheaded them as a public warning. Rebel forces gathered in vast numbers. On the full moon of the eleventh month the city was besieged. On the twenty-seventh day it fell. Ren still fought street by street until he was spent and captured. They tried to make him submit, but he cursed them loudly and would not yield, so they killed him. Shiwei and the others all died; the full account appears in Shiwei's biography.

家錄，黃岡人，舉於鄉。時已擢關南兵備僉事，未行，與任協守。圍急，男子皆乘城，家錄令婦人運水灌城，水厚數寸，賊不能攻。攻城陷，家錄自剄死。

Jialu was a native of Huanggang who had passed the provincial examination. He had already been promoted to assistant commissioner for the military defenses of southern Shaanxi but had not yet left. He joined Ren in the defense. As the siege tightened, all the men manned the walls. Jialu ordered the women to haul water and soak the ramparts until several inches had seeped in, so the rebels could not set them afire. When the city fell, Jialu cut his own throat and died.

一時同死者，裏居戶部主事張雲鶚，知州彭卿、柳芳，湖廣監紀趙彬，皆不屈死。指揮崔重觀自焚死，傅佑與妻杜氏自縊死。中軍劉光祐罵賊死。材官李耀，善射，矢盡，自刎死。同營李光裕趣家人死，亦自刎死；張天敘焚其積貯，自縊死。指揮黃廷政與弟千戶廷用、百戶廷弼奮力殺賊，同死。千戶賀世魁偕妻柳氏自縊死。參將馬鳴節聚妻子室中，自焚死。裏居戰死則山海副總兵楊明、定邊副總兵張發、孤山副總兵王永祚、西安參將李應孝。在官死事則遊擊傅德、潘國臣、李國奇、晏維新、陳二典、劉芳馨、文侯國，都司郭遇吉，中軍楊正韡、柳永年、馬應舉，旗鼓文經國，守備尤勉、惠漸、賀大雷、楊以偉，指揮李文焜、文燦。而副將常懷、李登龍，遊擊孫貴、尤養鯤，守備白慎衡、李宗敘，亦以守鄉土遭難。諸生則陳義昌、沈浚、沈演、白拱極、白含章罵賊死，張連元、連捷、李可柱、胡一奎、李蔭祥自經死。一城之中，婦女死義者數千人，井中屍滿，賊遂屠其城。

Those who died at the same time included the retired Ministry of Revenue director Zhang Yunhe, magistrates Peng Qing and Liu Fang, and Huguang supervision secretary Zhao Bin — all refused to submit and were killed. Commander Cui Zhongguan burned himself to death. Fu You and his wife Lady Du hanged themselves. Staff officer Liu Guangyou cursed the rebels and was killed. Martial officer Li Yao, a skilled archer, cut his own throat when his arrows were spent. Li Guangyu of the same camp urged his family to die first, then cut his own throat; Zhang Tianxu burned his stores and hanged himself. Commander Huang Tingzheng and his younger brothers, battalion commander Tingyong and company commander Tingbi, fought fiercely and killed rebels before dying together. Battalion commander He Shikui and his wife Lady Liu hanged themselves. Assistant general Ma Mingjie gathered his wife and children in one room and burned himself to death with them. Among the retired men who died in battle were vice commander-in-chief Yang Ming of Shanhai, vice commander-in-chief Zhang Fa of Dingbian, vice commander-in-chief Wang Yongzuo of Gushan, and assistant general Li Yingxiao of Xi'an. Among active officials who died in the line of duty were mobile corps commanders Fu De, Pan Guochen, Li Guoqi, Yan Weixin, Chen Erdian, Liu Fangxin, and Wen Houguo; regional commander Guo Yuji; staff officers Yang Zhengwei, Liu Yongnian, and Ma Yingju; banner-and-drum officer Wen Jingguo; garrison commanders You Mian, Hui Jian, He Dalei, and Yang Yiwei; and commanders Li Wenkun and Wen Can. Vice generals Chang Huai and Li Denglong, mobile corps commanders Sun Gui and You Yangkun, and garrison commanders Bai Shenheng and Li Zongxu also met calamity defending their homeland. Among the students, Chen Yichang, Shen Jun, Shen Yan, Bai Gongji, and Bai Hanzhang cursed the rebels and were killed; Zhang Lianyuan, Lianjie, Li Kezhu, Hu Yikui, and Li Yinxian hanged themselves. Within the city several thousand women died for honor, wells brimmed with corpses, and the rebels then put the whole place to the sword.

榆林為天下雄鎮，兵最精，將材最多，然其地最瘠，餉又最乏，士常不宿飽。乃慕義殉忠，志不少挫，無一屈身賊庭，其忠烈又為天下最。事聞，天子嗟悼，將大行褒恤，國亡不果。

Yulin was the empire's greatest fortress, with the finest troops and the most capable generals, yet its land was the poorest and its pay the scantiest. The soldiers often went to bed hungry. Yet they embraced duty and died for loyalty without faltering. Not one bowed before the rebel court. Their fidelity was unmatched anywhere in the realm. When word reached the throne the emperor mourned them and was about to grant them great honors and posthumous rewards, but the dynasty fell before it could be done.

祝萬齡，咸寧人。父世喬。有至行，以父遠遊不歸，年十五即獨身訪求，瀕死，歷數千里，卒得之。後由選貢通判南康，以清慎著。萬齡師鄉人馮從吾，舉萬曆四十四年進士。累官保定知府。天啟六年，魏忠賢盡毀天下書院，萬齡憤。逆黨李魯生遂劾萬齡倡訛言，謂天變、地震、物怪、人妖，悉由毀書院所致，非聖誣天實甚。萬齡遂落職。崇禎初，用薦起黃州知府，集諸生定惠書院，迪以正學。居三年，遷河南副使，監軍磁州。輝縣之北與山西陵川之南，有村曰水峪，回賊竊據數十年，大為民患。萬齡與山西監司王肇生合兵擊，六戰焚其巢三百餘，賊遂平。錄功，加右參政。流賊自山西入河北，掠新鄉。萬齡邀擊之，賊走陵川。已，復大至，坐失事，削籍歸。湯開遠訟其冤，不納。久之，廷臣交薦，未及用，而西安陷。萬齡深衣大帶，趣至關中書院，哭拜先聖，投繯死。僉事涇陽王徵、太常寺卿耀州宋師襄、懷慶通判咸寧竇光儀、儀封知縣長安徐方敬、芮城知縣咸寧徐芳聲、舉人宗室朱誼巉及席增光皆裏居，城破，並抗節死。

Zhu Wanling was from Xianning. His father was Shiqiao. Renowned for exceptional filial devotion, he set out alone at fifteen to search for his father, who had traveled far away and never returned. He nearly died on the journey, traveling thousands of li before at last finding him. He later entered office as a selected-tribute student and was appointed vice prefect of Nankang, where he won renown for integrity and discretion. Wanling studied under his fellow townsman Feng Congwu and passed the palace examination in the forty-fourth year of Wanli (1616). He rose through successive appointments to prefect of Baoding. In the sixth year of Tianqi (1626), Wei Zhongxian ordered the destruction of academies across the empire. Wanling was outraged. The factionist Li Lusheng then impeached Wanling for spreading seditious rumors, charging that heavenly omens, earthquakes, strange phenomena, and human abnormalities all stemmed from destroying the academies — a grave offense of blaspheming the sages and deceiving Heaven. Wanling was accordingly dismissed from office. At the start of the Chongzhen reign he was recommended back into service as prefect of Huangzhou, where he gathered students at Dinghui Academy and instructed them in the orthodox learning. After three years he was transferred to vice commissioner of Henan and placed in charge of military affairs at Cizhou. North of Huixian County and south of Lingchuan in Shanxi lay a village called Shuiyu, which Hui bandits had held in secret for decades, inflicting great harm on the people. Wanling joined forces with Wang Zhaosheng, the Shanxi surveillance commissioner, and after six battles burned more than three hundred rebel strongholds, finally pacifying the bandits. His merit was recorded and he was promoted to right administration commissioner. Roaming rebels entered Hebei from Shanxi and pillaged Xinxiang. Wanling intercepted and attacked them, and the rebels fled toward Lingchuan. Before long the rebels returned in force. Blamed for the failure, he was struck from the rolls and sent home. Tang Kaiyuan appealed on his behalf, but the court would not listen. In time officials at court repeatedly recommended him, but before he could be reappointed Xi'an fell. Wanling put on a deep robe with broad belt, hurried to Guanzhong Academy, wept and bowed before the sage, and hanged himself. Assistant commissioner Wang Zheng of Jingyang, minister of the Grand Ceremony Court Song Shixiang of Yaozhou, vice prefect of Huaiqing Dou Guangyi of Xianning, magistrate of Yifeng Xu Fangjing of Chang'an, magistrate of Ruicheng Xu Fangsheng of Xianning, metropolitan candidate and imperial clansman Zhu Yichan, and Xi Zengguang were all living in retirement. When the city fell, they all died resisting to the end.

陳賓，漳浦人。天啟五年進士。授慈谿知縣。崇禎十年為袁州推官，拒楚賊有功。屢遷右參議，分守湖南，討平八排賊。十六年，張獻忠陷長沙，圍參政周鳳岐於澧州。賓督兵往救，軍敗，被執。欲降之，不屈，斷手割肝而死。鳳岐，永康人。萬曆末年進士。歷工部郎中，掌節慎庫，忤奄人，落職歸。崇禎初，起故宮，進四川副使。苗人爭界，為立碑畫疆以定之。改右參政，分守澧州。賊來犯，援軍敗沒，城遂陷。賊帥親解其縛，說以降，怒罵而死。

Chen Bin was from Zhangpu. He was a metropolitan graduate of the fifth year of Tianqi. He was appointed magistrate of Cixi. In the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637) he served as investigating censor of Yuanzhou and won merit repelling bandits from Chu. After successive promotions to right consultant he was assigned to defend Hunan and pacified the bandits of the Eight Ranks. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), Zhang Xianzhong took Changsha and besieged administration commissioner Zhou Fengqi at Lizhou. Chen Bin led troops to the rescue, but his army was defeated and he was captured. The rebels tried to force him to surrender, but he refused. They cut off his hands and excised his liver, and he died. Zhou Fengqi was from Yongkang. He was a metropolitan graduate in the late Wanli era. He served as a director in the Ministry of Works in charge of the Jieshen Treasury, but after offending a eunuch he was dismissed and went home. At the start of Chongzhen he was recalled to his former post and promoted to vice commissioner of Sichuan. When Miao tribes disputed their boundaries, he set up stone markers and demarcated the borders to settle the dispute. He was transferred to right administration commissioner and assigned to defend Lizhou. When the rebels attacked, the relief force was wiped out and the city fell. The rebel chief personally loosened his bonds and tried to persuade him to surrender, but Fengqi railed at them in anger and was killed.

王徵俊，字夢卜，陽城人。天啟五年進士。授韓城知縣。崇禎初，流賊來犯，禦卻之。坐大計，謫歸德照磨。巡按御史李日宣薦於朝，給事中呂黃鐘請用天下必不可少之人，亦及徵俊，乃量移滕縣知縣。累官右參政，分守寧前，以憂歸。十七年二月，賊陷陽城，被執不屈，系之獄。士民爭頌其德，賊乃釋之。抵家北面再拜，投繯卒。

Wang Zhengjun, styled Mengbu, was from Yangcheng. He was a metropolitan graduate of the fifth year of Tianqi. He was appointed magistrate of Hancheng. At the start of the Chongzhen reign roving rebels attacked, and he drove them back. At the grand evaluation he was demoted to registrar at Guide. Touring censor Li Rixuan recommended him to the court, and supervising secretary Lü Huangzhong petitioned for the appointment of men the realm could not do without, naming Zhengjun among them. He was accordingly transferred laterally to serve as magistrate of Teng County. He rose to right administration commissioner and was assigned to defend the Ning-Yuan frontier, then retired home upon bereavement. In the second month of Chongzhen 17 (1644), rebels took Yangcheng. He was captured but refused to submit and was thrown into prison. Local gentry and commoners vied to praise his virtue, and the rebels released him. When he reached home he bowed twice toward the north and hanged himself.

其時士大夫居家盡節者，靈石宋之俊、翼城史可觀、陽曲朱慎鏤。之俊舉進士，歷官登萊監軍副使，忤巡按謝三賓，互訐於朝，落職歸。三賓亦貶秩。及遇變，之俊受刑死。妻喬詈賊撞階死。女斂屍畢，拔簪刺喉死。可觀，太常少卿學遷子。官中書舍人，加鴻臚少卿。城陷，自縊死。慎鏤，晉府宗室，攝靈丘郡王府事。賊陷太原，冠帶祀家廟，驅家人入廟中，焚之，己亦投火死。

Among scholar-officials living at home who died for their principles at that time were Song Zhijun of Lingshi, Shi Keguan of Yicheng, and Zhu Shenlou of Yangqu. Zhijun was a metropolitan graduate who rose to vice commissioner supervising military affairs in Dengzhou and Laizhou. After clashing with touring censor Xie Sanbin and mutually impeaching each other at court, he was dismissed and went home. Xie Sanbin was demoted as well. When disaster struck, Zhijun was tortured and killed. His wife, née Qiao, cursed the rebels and dashed herself against the steps to her death. After laying out the bodies, his daughter pulled out her hairpin, stabbed herself in the throat, and died. Shi Keguan was the son of vice minister of the Grand Ceremony Court Xueqian. He served as a secretariat drafter and was additionally appointed vice minister of the Grand Herald Court. When the city fell he hanged himself. Zhu Shenlou was an imperial clansman of the Princely Establishment of Jin and was acting head of the Lingqiu princely establishment. When rebels took Taiyuan he put on his cap and belt and performed rites at the family shrine, forced his family inside, set the shrine ablaze, and threw himself into the flames.

丁泰運，字孟尚，澤州人。崇禎十三年進士。除武陟知縣，調河內，著廉直聲。十七年二月，賊將劉方亮自蒲阪渡河。巡按御史蘇京托言塞太行道，先遁去，與陜西巡撫李化熙同抵寧郭驛。俄兵變，化熙被傷走。兵執京，披以婦人服，令插花行，稍違，輒抶之以為笑樂。叛將陳永福引賊至，京即迎降。賊遂逼懷慶，監司以下皆竄。泰運獨守南城，力不支，被執。賊擁見方亮，使跪不屈，燒鐵鎖炙之，亦不從，乃遇害。

Ding Taiyun, styled Mengshang, was from Zezhou. He was a metropolitan graduate of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen. He was appointed magistrate of Wuzhi, then transferred to Henei, where he earned a reputation for integrity and forthrightness. In the second month of Chongzhen 17 (1644), the rebel general Liu Fangliang crossed the Yellow River from Puban. Touring censor Su Jing claimed he was going to block the Taihang route but fled first, meeting Shaanxi governor Li Huaxi at Ningguo post station. Before long the troops mutinied. Li Huaxi was wounded and fled. The soldiers seized Su Jing, dressed him in women's clothes, and made him walk about with flowers in his hair. At the slightest disobedience they whipped him for sport. The turncoat general Chen Yongfu brought the rebels up, and Su Jing at once welcomed them and surrendered. The rebels then pressed toward Huaiqing, and surveillance officials and all ranks below them fled. Taiyun alone held the south city wall, but when he could no longer hold out he was captured. The rebels dragged him before Liu Fangliang and forced him to kneel, but he refused. They heated iron shackles and pressed them against his flesh, yet he still would not yield, and was killed.

賊既陷懷慶，尋陷彰德。安陽人尚大倫，字崇雅。由進士歷官刑部郎中。有國學生白夢謙以救黃道周系獄，大倫議寬之，忤尚書意，遂罷歸。城陷，抗節死。參將榆林王榮乃其子師易，皆死之。又有王橓徵，由鄉舉歷官蒲州知州，忤豪宗，謝事歸。為賊所執，傳詣李自成，道憤恨不食死。

After taking Huaiqing the rebels soon seized Zhangde as well. Shang Dalun of Anyang, styled Chongya, was a metropolitan graduate who rose to director of the Ministry of Punishment. When National University student Bai Mengqian was imprisoned for trying to aid Huang Daozhou, Dalun argued for leniency, offended his superior at the ministry, and was dismissed and sent home. When the city fell he died resisting to the end. His son Shiyi, who served as assistant general at Yulin under the name Wang Rong, died as well. There was also Wang Chunzheng, who entered office through the provincial examination and rose to prefect of Puzhou. After offending a powerful member of the imperial clan, he resigned and went home. He was captured by the rebels and was being taken to Li Zicheng, but on the way he died of grief and rage after refusing all food.

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