Volume 300 Biographies 188: Families of Imperial Consorts

明太祖立國，家法嚴。史臣稱後妃居宮中，不預一發之政，外戚循理謹度，無敢恃寵以病民，漢、唐以來所不及。而高、文二後賢明，抑遠外氏。太祖訪得高後親族，將授以官。後謝曰：「國家爵祿，宜與賢士大夫共之，不當私妾家。」且援前世外戚驕佚致禍為辭。帝善後言，賜金帛而已。定國之封，文皇后謂非己誌，臨終猶勸帝，毋驕畜外家。詒謀既遠，宗社奠安，而椒房貴戚亦藉以保福慶逮子孫，所全不已多乎。惟英宗時，會昌侯孫繼宗以奪門功，參議國是。自茲以下，其賢者類多謹身奉法，謙謙有儒者風。而一二怙恩負乘之徒，所好不過田宅、狗馬、音樂，所狎不過俳優、伎妾，非有軍國之權，賓客朋黨之勢。而在廷諸臣好為危言激論，汰如壽寧兄弟，庸駑如鄭國泰，已逐影尋聲，抨擊不遺余力。故有明一代，外戚最為孱弱。然而惠安、新樂，舉宗殉國，嗚呼卓矣！成祖後家，詳《中山王傳》，余采其行事可紀者，作《外戚傳》。

When the Hongwu Emperor founded the Ming dynasty, his household code was strict. The historians write that palace consorts took no part whatever in governance, while affinal kin observed the rules and kept their distance, none presuming on imperial favor to oppress the people—a record unmatched since the Han and Tang. The empresses of Hongwu and Yongle were especially wise and deliberately kept their kinsmen at arm's length. When Taizu tracked down kinsmen of Empress Ma and prepared to give them posts, the empress refused: "State honors ought to be shared with worthy scholar-officials, not reserved for my own clan. She cited the disasters wrought by arrogant affinal kin in earlier dynasties as her reason. The emperor approved her counsel and rewarded her kin with gold and silk alone. When enfeoffments for the Xuande era were proposed, Empress Xu said they ran counter to her wishes and on her deathbed still urged the emperor not to indulge his wife's kin. With such far-sighted policy the dynasty was secured, and imperial in-laws too were spared to pass on their good fortune to posterity—how many lives and houses were thereby saved. Only under Yingzong did Sun Jizong, Marquis of Huichang, parlay his role in restoring the throne into a voice in statecraft. After that, the better sort were for the most part scrupulous and law-abiding, with the modest bearing of literati. A few who traded on grace amused themselves with estates, horses, and music, and with players and concubines—but held no military power and built no factions. Court ministers nevertheless loved alarmist rhetoric: mediocrities like the Shouning brothers or dullards like Zheng Guotai were hunted on the slightest rumor and assailed without mercy. Thus for the whole Ming period affinal power was uniquely feeble. Yet the houses of Huian and Xingle died to a man for the dynasty—truly noble! Yongle's consort kin are treated in the biography of the Prince of Zhongshan; here I collect what is worth recording among the rest for this chapter on imperial affines.

○陳公馬公呂本馬全張麒〈（子昶升等）〉胡榮孫忠〈（子繼宗）〉吳安錢貴汪泉杭昱周能〈（子壽彧）〉王鎮〈（子源等）〉萬貴邵喜張巒夏儒陳萬言方銳陳景行李偉王偉鄭承憲王昇劉文炳〈（弟文燿等）〉張國紀周奎

○ Chen Gong, Ma Gong, Lü Ben, Ma Quan, Zhang Qi (sons Chang Sheng and others)〉 Hu Rong, Sun Zhong (son Jizong)〉 Wu An, Qian Gui, Wang Quan, Hang Yu, Zhou Neng (son Shouyu)〉 Wang Zhen (sons Yuan and others)〉 Wan Gui, Shao Xi, Zhang Luan, Xia Ru, Chen Wanyan, Fang Rui, Chen Jingxing, Li Wei, Wang Wei, Zheng Chengxian, Wang Sheng, Liu Wenbing (younger brother Wenyao and others)〉 Zhang Guoji, Zhou Kui

陳公，逸其名，淳皇后父也。洪武二年追封揚王，媼為王夫人，立祠太廟東。明年有言王墓在盱眙者，中都守臣按之信。帝乃命中書省即墓次立廟，設祠祭署，奉祀一人，守墓戶二百一十家，世世復。帝自制《揚王行實》，諭翰林學士宋濂文其碑，略曰：

Lord Chen, whose given name is lost, was the father of Empress Chun. In 1369 he was posthumously made Prince of Yang and his wife Lady of the Prince; a shrine was erected east of the ancestral temple. The following year it was reported that the prince's tomb lay at Xuyi; the official sent to investigate confirmed it. The emperor then ordered a temple built at the graveside, with a sacrificial office, one officiant, and two hundred and ten hereditary tomb-guard households forever exempt from corvée. The emperor himself wrote an account of Prince Yang's life and directed Hanlin Academician Song Lian to compose the stele inscription, which in summary reads:

王姓陳氏，世維揚人，不知其諱。當宋季，名隸尺籍伍符中，從大將張世傑扈從祥興。至元己卯春，世傑與元兵戰，師大潰，士卒多溺死。王幸脫死達岸，與一二同行者，累石支破釜，煮遺糧以療饑。已而絕糧，同行者聞山有死馬，將其烹食之。王疲極晝睡，夢一白衣人來曰：「汝慎勿食馬肉，今夜有舟來共載也。」王未之深信，俄又夢如初。至夜將半，夢中仿佛聞櫓聲，有衣紫衣者以杖觸王胯曰：「舟至矣。」王驚寤，身已在舟上，見舊所事統領官。

The prince was surnamed Chen, a native of the Yangzhou region for generations; his personal name is not recorded. At the fall of the Song his name was entered on the military rolls; he followed the general Zhang Shijie in the entourage of the boy emperor Bing. In the spring of 1339 Zhang Shijie fought the Yuan forces; his army was shattered and countless men drowned. The prince barely reached shore alive; with one or two companions he propped a broken pot on stones and boiled scraps of grain to stave off starvation. When the grain was gone, his companions heard of a dead horse on the hill and prepared to cook it. Exhausted, the prince fell asleep by day and dreamed that a man in white said, "Do not eat the horse meat—a boat will come tonight to take you away. He did not fully believe it, but soon dreamed the same dream again. Near midnight he seemed to hear oars in his sleep; a man in purple tapped his hip with a staff and said, "The boat is here. He woke with a start to find himself already aboard a boat with the officer he had once served under.

時統領已降於元將，元將令來附者輒擲棄水中。統領憐王，藏之艎板下，日取乾糇從板隙投之，王掬以食。復與王約，以足撼板，王即張口從板隙受漿。居數日，事泄，仿徨不自安。颶風吹舟，盤旋如轉輪，久不能進，元將大恐。統領知王善巫術，遂白而出之。王仰天叩齒，若指麾鬼神狀，風濤頓息。元將喜，因飲食之。至通州，送之登岸。

The commander had already surrendered to a Yuan general who ordered every defector thrown overboard. Pitying him, the commander hid him under the deck and each day dropped dry rations through the cracks for him to scoop up and eat. They agreed that when the commander kicked the planks the prince would open his mouth to receive broth through the cracks. After several days the secret was discovered and he was left in anguished uncertainty. A typhoon spun the boat like a wheel and held it fast for days, filling the Yuan commander with dread. Knowing the prince practiced divination, the commander reported him and had him brought out. The prince gazed skyward and chattered his teeth as though commanding spirits, and the storm fell still at once. The Yuan commander was delighted and gave him food and drink. At Tongzhou they put him ashore.

王歸維揚，不樂為軍伍，避去盱眙津裏鎮，以巫術行。王無子，生二女，長適季氏，次即皇太后。晚以季氏長子為後，年九十九薨，遂葬焉，今墓是已。

He returned to the Yangzhou region, left the army, and settled at Jinli in Xuyi, earning his living as a diviner. He had no sons but two daughters: the elder married into the Ji family, the younger became the empress dowager. In old age he adopted the Ji family's eldest son as heir; he died at ninety-nine and was buried there—the present tomb.

臣濂聞君子之制行，能感於人固難，而能通於神明為尤難。今當患難危急之時，神假夢寐，挾以升舟，非精誠上通於天，何以致神人之佑至於斯也。舉此推之，則積德之深厚，斷可信矣。是宜慶鐘聖女，誕育皇上，以啟億萬年無疆之基，於乎盛哉！

Your servant Lian observes that for a gentleman's conduct to move others is rare enough, but to move the spirits is rarer still. In mortal peril the spirits spoke through dreams and lifted him onto a boat—without sincerity reaching Heaven, how could divine aid come so far? From this one may surely believe how deep his accumulated virtue ran. No wonder blessed fortune gathered on his holy daughter, who bore the emperor and laid the foundation of an endless dynasty—how glorious!

臣濂既序其事，復再拜稽首而獻銘曰：皇帝建國，克展孝思。疏封母族，自親而推。錫爵維揚，地邇帝畿，立廟崇祀，玄冕袞衣。痛念宅兆，卜之何墟，閭師來告，今在盱眙。皇情悅豫，繼以涕洟，即詔禮官，汝往葺治，毋俾蕘豎，跳踉以嬉。惟我揚王，昔隸戎麾，獰風蕩海，糧絕阻饑。天有顯相，夢來紫衣，挾以登舟，神力所持，易死為生，壽躋期頤。積累深長，未究厥施，乃毓聖女，茂衍皇支。蘿圖肇開，鴻祚峨巍，日照月臨，風行霆馳。自流徂源，功亦有歸，無德弗酬，典禮可稽。聿昭化原，扶植政基，以廣孝治，以惇民彜。津裏之鎮，王靈所依，於昭萬年，視此銘詩。

Having narrated these events, your servant Lian bowed again and offered this inscription: The emperor founded the realm and fulfilled his filial duty. He ennobled his mother's kin, extending honor from those closest. He granted a title in Yangzhou, near the capital, raised a temple for solemn rites, and robed the spirit in imperial vestments. Longing for his forebear's grave, he sought its site; village elders came to say it lay at Xuyi. The emperor rejoiced, then wept, and at once charged the ritual officers: "Go and restore it; let no rustic boys trample it in sport." Our Prince of Yang once served in the armies; fierce winds lashed the sea, grain failed, and hunger barred his path. Heaven showed its favor: a man in purple came in dreams and lifted him aboard; divine power turned death to life and gave him a full span of years. His merit ran deep and long, its reward not yet spent—until he nurtured a holy daughter who richly extended the imperial line. The imperial line was opened, great fortune rose high; sun and moon looked down, wind and thunder raced. From the stream one traces the source—merit too finds its reward; no virtue goes unpaid; ritual precedent stands firm. Thus the source of transformation is made clear, the foundation of rule upheld, filial governance extended, and the people's customs secured. At Jinli Town his spirit rests; for ten thousand years may this inscription stand.

馬公，逸其名，高皇后父也，宿州人。元末殺人，亡命定遠。與郭子興善，以季女屬子興，後歸太祖，即高皇后也。

Lord Ma, whose given name is lost, was the father of Empress Ma and a native of Suzhou. At the end of the Yuan he killed a man and fled to Dingyuan. He befriended Guo Zixing and gave him his youngest daughter in marriage; she later wed Taizu and became Empress Ma.

公及妻鄭媼皆前卒，洪武二年追封徐王，媼為王夫人，建祠太廟東。皇后親奉安神主，祝文稱「孝女皇后馬氏，謹奉皇帝命致祭。」四年命禮部尚書陶凱即宿州塋次立廟，帝自為文以祭。

He and his wife Lady Zheng had died earlier; in 1369 he was posthumously made Prince of Xu and she Lady of the Prince, with a shrine east of the ancestral temple. The empress herself installed the spirit tablet; the prayer read, "Filial daughter Empress Ma, by the emperor's command, offers this sacrifice. In 1371 he ordered Minister of Rites Tao Kai to build a temple at the Suzhou graveside, and composed the sacrificial text himself.

文曰：「朕惟古者創業之君，必得賢後以為內助，共定大業。及天下已安，必追崇外家，以報其德。惟外舅、外姑實生賢女，正位中宮。朕既追封外舅為徐王，外姑為王夫人，以王無繼嗣，立廟京師，歲時致祭。然稽之古典，於禮未安。又念人生其土，魂魄必遊故鄉，故即塋所立廟，俾有司春秋奉祀。茲擇吉辰，遣禮官奉安神主於新廟，靈其昭格，尚鑒在茲。」

The text reads: "I reflect that founders of old needed worthy consorts as partners within to secure the realm together. When the realm was at peace, they always honored the consort's kin to repay their merit. My wife's father and mother bore a worthy daughter who took her place in the inner palace. I have enfeoffed my wife's father as Prince of Xu and her mother as Lady of the Prince; as the prince left no heir, I raised a temple in the capital for seasonal rites. Yet by ancient precedent this was not ritually proper. Remembering that the soul returns to its native soil, I have built a temple at the grave and charged officials to sacrifice in spring and autumn. On this auspicious day I send ritual officers to install the spirit tablet in the new temple—may your spirit descend and witness this."

二十五年設祠祭署，奉祀、祀丞各一人。王無後，以外親武忠、武聚為之，置灑掃戶九十三家。永樂七年北巡，親謁祠下。守冢武戡為建陽衛鎮撫，犯法，責而宥之。十五年，帝復親祭，以戡為徐州衛指揮僉事。

In 1392 a sacrificial office was established with one chief and one assistant officiant. As the prince left no heir, affinal kin Wu Zhong and Wu Ju were appointed, with ninety-three households for tomb maintenance. On his northern tour in 1409 the Yongle Emperor visited the shrine in person. Tomb guardian Wu Kan, a battalion commander of Jianyang Guard, broke the law and was rebuked but pardoned. In 1417 the emperor sacrificed in person again and made Kan assistant commander of Xuzhou Guard.

呂本，壽州人，懿文太子次妃父也。仕元，為元帥府都事。後歸太祖，授中書省令史。洪武五年歷官吏部尚書。六年改太常司卿。明年四月，御史臺言：「本奉職不謹，郊壇牲角非繭栗，功臣廟壞不修。」詔免官，罰役功臣廟。已，釋為北平按察司僉事。帝召本及同時被命楊基、答祿與權，諭之曰：「風憲之設，在肅紀綱，清吏治，非專理刑名。爾等往修厥職，務明大體，毋效俗吏拘繩墨。善雖小，為之不已，將成全德；過雖小，積之不已，將為大憝。不見幹雲之臺，由寸土之積，燎原之火，由一爝之微，可不慎哉！」本等頓首受命，尋復累遷太常司卿。逾二年卒，無子，賜葬鐘山之陰。

Lü Ben of Shouzhou was the father of Crown Prince Yiwen's secondary consort. Under the Yuan he served as chief clerk of a marshal's headquarters. He later submitted to Taizu and was made a clerk of the Secretariat. In 1372 he served as Minister of Personnel. In 1373 he was made Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The following April the Censorate reported that Ben had been negligent: suburban sacrifice victims' horns were not properly formed, and the shrine of meritorious ministers lay in disrepair. He was dismissed and sentenced to labor repairing the shrine of meritorious ministers. He was later released and appointed vice commissioner of the Beiping surveillance commission. The emperor summoned Lü Ben, along with Yang Ji, Dalu Yuquan, and the others appointed at the same time, and instructed them: "Censorial offices exist to uphold discipline and purify governance, not merely to handle criminal matters. Go and perform your duties, keeping the larger picture in view—do not imitate petty officials rigidly bound by statutes and rules. Though a virtue be small, pursued without end it will become full excellence; though a fault be small, accumulated without end it will become great wickedness. Do you not see that a platform reaching the clouds is built inch by inch, and a fire that burns the plain begins with a single spark? How can you not be on your guard! Lü Ben and the others kowtowed to accept the charge. Before long he was promoted again, in successive steps, to Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. A little over two years later he died. He had no son and was granted burial on the northern slope of Mount Zhong.

馬全，洪武中為光祿少卿。其女，乃惠帝後也。燕兵陷都城，全不知所終。

Ma Quan served under Hongwu as vice director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. His daughter was Empress to the Jianwen Emperor. When the Yan armies took the capital, Quan vanished without a trace.

昶從成祖起兵取大寧，戰鄭村壩，俱有功，授義勇中衛指揮同知。已，援蘇州，敗遼東軍，還佐世子守北平。永樂初，累官錦衣衛指揮使。昶嘗有過，成祖戒之曰：「戚畹最當守法，否則罪倍常人。汝今富貴，能不忘貧賤，驕逸何自生。若奢傲放縱，陵虐下人，必不爾恕，慎之。」昶頓首謝。仁宗立，擢中軍都督府左都督，俄封彭城伯，子孫世襲。洪熙改元，命掌五軍右哨軍馬。英宗嗣位，年幼，太皇太后召昶兄弟誡諭之，凡朝政弗令預。昶兄弟素恭謹，因訓飭益自斂。正統三年卒。

Chang Sheng followed the Yongle Emperor in arms, helped take Daning, and fought at Zheng Village Dam with distinction; he was made vice commander of the Yiyong Central Guard. He then marched to relieve Suzhou, routed the Liaodong forces, and returned to help the heir apparent hold Beiping. Early in Yongle he rose through the ranks to commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When Chang Sheng once transgressed, the Yongle Emperor warned him: "As imperial in-laws you above all must keep the law—otherwise your guilt will be twice that of ordinary men. You are wealthy and exalted now; if you never forget your humble beginnings, how can arrogance or indulgence take root? But if you grow extravagant, haughty, and unrestrained, and bully those beneath you, I will not pardon you. Take care. Chang Sheng kowtowed in thanks. When the Hongxi Emperor took the throne, he was promoted to left commander-in-chief of the Central Military Commission and soon enfeoffed as Earl of Pengcheng, the title to pass to his heirs. When the Hongxi reign was proclaimed, he was placed in charge of the cavalry of the Five Armies' right ward. When Yingzong succeeded as a child, the grand empress dowager summoned Chang Sheng and his brothers and warned them not to involve themselves in court policy. The brothers had always been deferential and careful; after this admonition they held themselves in all the more. He died in 1438.

長子輔病廢，子瑾嗣。以伯爵封輔，命未下而輔卒。初，昶私蓄奄人，瑾匿不舉。事發，下獄，已，獲釋。瑾從弟玘，天順中，官錦衣衛副千戶。飲千戶呂宏家，醉抽刀刺宏死，法當斬，有司援議親末滅。詔不從，迄如律。成化十六年，瑾卒，子信嗣。其後裔嗣封，見《世表》。

His eldest son Fu was invalided by illness, and Jin inherited the title. Fu was to receive an earldom, but the patent had not yet been issued when he died. Earlier Chang Sheng had secretly kept eunuchs in his household; Jin hid the fact and did not report it. When the matter came to light he was imprisoned, but was later released. Jin's younger cousin Qi served in the Tianshun era as deputy company commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. While drinking at the home of company commander Lü Hong, he drunkenly drew a knife and killed him. By law he merited execution, but the officials urged mitigation under the deliberation for imperial kin. The emperor refused, and in the end the sentence was carried out according to law. In 1480 Jin died, and his son Xin succeeded. The line's later inheritances are set out in the Genealogical Tables.

子鑭嗣。二十年，言官劾勛戚權豪家置店房、科私稅諸罪，鑭亦預，輸贖還爵。二十七年掌後府事。居三年卒。子元善嗣。隆慶四年僉書後府事。萬歷三十七年卒。子慶臻嗣。四十八年掌左府事。崇禎元年七月命提督京營。慶臻私請內閣，於敕內增入兼管捕營。捕營提督鄭其心訐慶臻侵職，帝怒，詰改敕故。大學士劉鴻訓至遣戍，慶臻以世臣停祿三年。後復起，掌都督府。十七年，賊陷都城，慶臻召親黨盡散貲財，闔家自燔死。南渡時，贈太師、惠安侯，謚忠武，合祀旌忠祠。初，世宗嘉靖八年革外戚世爵，惟彭城、惠安獲存，慶臻卒殉國難。

His son Lan succeeded. In the twentieth year, remonstrating officials impeached ennobled kin and mighty houses for keeping shops, collecting illegal levies, and related offenses; Lan was among them, paid a fine to redeem his rank, and was restored to his title. In the twenty-seventh year he took charge of the rear military commission. Three years later he died. His son Yuanshan succeeded. In 1570 he was appointed assistant director of the rear military commission. He died in 1609. His son Qingzhen succeeded. In the forty-eighth year he took charge of the left military commission. In the seventh month of 1628 he was appointed to supervise the capital garrison. Qingzhen privately asked the Grand Secretariat to insert into his commission that he would also oversee the Pacification Battalion. Zheng Qixin, who supervised the Pacification Battalion, accused Qingzhen of overstepping his post; the emperor was furious and demanded why the commission had been altered. Grand Secretary Liu Hongxun was sent into exile; Qingzhen, as a hereditary courtier, had his stipend suspended for three years. He was later restored and put in charge of the military commission. In 1644, when rebels took the capital, Qingzhen gathered his kin, gave away his entire fortune, and his whole household died by self-immolation. After the court moved south he was posthumously made grand preceptor and Marquis of Huian, with the posthumous name Loyal and Martial, and honored together in the Shrine of Loyalty. Earlier, in 1529 the Jiajing Emperor had abolished hereditary peerages for affinal kin, sparing only Pengcheng and Huian; Qingzhen in the end gave his life in the dynastic crisis.

胡榮，濟寧人。洪武中，長女入宮為女官，授錦衣衛百戶。永樂十五年將冊其第三女為皇太孫妃，擢光祿寺卿，子安為府軍前衛指揮僉事，專侍太孫，不蒞事。後太孫踐阼，妃為皇后，安亦屢進官。宣德三年，後廢，胡氏遂不振。

Hu Rong was from Jining. Under Hongwu his eldest daughter entered the palace as a female official, and he was given a company commandership in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In 1417, as his third daughter was to be invested as consort to the heir apparent, he was promoted to director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments; his son An was made assistant commander of the Forward Military Guard of the Imperial Bodyguard to attend the heir apparent exclusively, without taking up regular duties. When the heir apparent later ascended the throne and his daughter became empress, An too was promoted repeatedly. After the empress was deposed in 1428, the Hu family never recovered its standing.

孫忠，字主敬，鄒平人。初名愚，宣宗改曰忠。初，以永城主簿督夫營天壽山陵，有勞，遷鴻臚寺序班，選其女入皇太孫宮。宣宗即位，冊貴妃，授忠中軍都督僉事。三年，皇后胡氏廢，貴妃為皇后，封忠會昌伯。嘗謁告歸裏，禦制詩賜之，命中官輔行。比還，帝後臨幸慰勞。妻董夫人數召入宮，賜賫弗絕。正統中，皇后為皇太后。忠生日，太后使使賜其家。時王振專權，祭酒李時勉荷校國學門，忠附奏曰：「臣荷恩厚，願赦李祭酒使為臣客。坐無祭酒，臣不歡。」太后立言之帝，時勉獲釋。忠家奴貸子錢於濱州民，規利數倍，有司望風奉行，民不堪，訴諸朝，言官交章劾之。命執家奴戍邊，忠不問。景泰三年卒，年八十五，贈會昌侯，謚康靖。英宗復辟，加贈太傅、安國公，改謚恭憲。成化十五年再贈太師、左柱國。子五人：繼宗、顯宗、紹宗、續宗、純宗。

Sun Zhong, styled Zhujing, was a native of Zouping. He had originally been named Yu; the Xuande Emperor renamed him Zhong. He had first served as registrar of Yongcheng, supervising corvée labor on the Tianshou Mountain tomb with credit; he was promoted to attendant of the Court of Imperial Banquets, and his daughter was chosen for the heir apparent's inner quarters. When Xuande took the throne, his daughter was made noble consort and Zhong was given a vice commissionership in the central military command. In the third year Empress Hu was deposed, his daughter became empress, and Zhong was enfeoffed as Earl of Huichang. When he once asked leave to visit home, the emperor composed a poem himself as a gift and sent a eunuch to accompany him. On his return the emperor and empress came in person to visit and reward him. His wife, Lady Dong, was summoned to the palace again and again, and gifts never stopped. In the Zhengtong era his daughter became empress dowager. On Zhong's birthday the empress dowager sent envoys with gifts to his home. At the time Wang Zhen held sole power, and National University director Li Shimin was shackled at the academy gate. Zhong appended a memorial: "I have received such generous favor that I ask the pardon of Director Li so he may serve as my guest. Without the director present I cannot be at ease. The empress dowager at once repeated this to the emperor, and Li Shimin was freed. A household slave of Zhong's lent money at usurious rates to people in Binzhou; local officials rushed to enforce the claims, the people cried out to the throne, and censorial officials impeached him in droves. The slave was seized and banished to the border; Zhong himself was not prosecuted. He died in 1452 at eighty-five, and was posthumously made Marquis of Huichang with the posthumous name Peaceful and Tranquil. After Yingzong's restoration he was further honored as grand mentor and Duke of Anguo, and his posthumous name was changed to Respectful and Charitable. In 1479 he received further posthumous honors as grand preceptor and left pillar of the state. He had five sons: Jizong, Xianzong, Shaozong, Xuzong, and Chunzong.

純宗官錦衣衛指揮僉事，早卒。

Chunzong served as assistant commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard and died young.

繼宗，字光輔，章皇后兄也。宣德初，授府軍前衛指揮使，改錦衣衛。景泰初，進都指揮僉事，尋襲父爵。天順改元，以奪門功，進侯，加號奉天翊衛推誠宣力武臣，特進光祿大夫、柱國，身免二死，子免一死，世襲侯爵；諸弟官都指揮僉事者，俱改錦衣衛。復自言：「臣與弟顯宗率子、婿、家奴四十三人預奪門功，乞加恩命。」由是顯宗進都指揮同知，子璉授錦衣衛指揮使，婿指揮使武忠進都指揮僉事，蒼頭輩授官者十七人。五月，命督五軍營戎務兼掌後軍都督府事。

Jizong, styled Guangfu, was the elder brother of Empress Zhang. At the start of Xuande he was made commander of the Forward Military Guard of the Imperial Bodyguard, then transferred to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Early in Jingtai he was promoted to assistant commander-in-chief and soon inherited his father's rank. When the Tianshun reign was proclaimed, for his part in the Gate-opening coup he was raised to marquis, given the fuller title of meritorious subject who supports Heaven, guards the throne, and exerts loyal force, promoted to grand master of brilliant blessings and pillar of the state, granted immunity from death twice for himself and once for his son, with a hereditary marquisate; His younger brothers who had held assistant commanderships were all transferred to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He petitioned again: "My brother Xianzong and I, with forty-three sons, sons-in-law, and household slaves who shared in the Gate-opening merit, beg additional favor. Xianzong was then promoted to vice commander-in-chief; his son Lian was made commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; his son-in-law, commander Wu Zhong, was made assistant commander-in-chief; and seventeen retainers received official posts. In the fifth month he was ordered to supervise the military affairs of the Five Armies camps while also overseeing the rear military commission.

左右又有為紹宗求官者，帝召李賢謂曰：「孫氏一門，長封侯，次皆顯秩，子孫二十余人悉得官，足矣。今又請以為慰太后心，不知初官其子弟時，請於太后，數請始允，且不懌者累日，曰：『何功於國，濫授此秩，物盛必衰，一旦有罪，吾不能庇矣。』太后意固如此。」賢稽首頌太后盛德，因從容言祖宗以來，外戚不典軍政。帝曰：「初內侍言京營軍非皇舅無可屬，太后實悔至今。」賢曰：「侯幸淳謹，但後此不得為故事耳。」帝曰：「然。」已，錦衣逯杲奏英國公張懋、太平侯張瑾及繼宗、紹宗並侵官地，立私莊。命各首實，懋等具服，乃宥之，典莊者悉逮問，還其地於官。石亨之獲罪也，繼宗為顯宗、武忠及子孫、家人、軍伴辭職，帝止革家人、軍伴之授職者七人，余不問。五年，曹欽平，進太保。尋以疾奏解兵柄，辭太保，不允。

Others soon pressed for an appointment for Shaozong. The emperor summoned Li Xian and said: "In the Sun family the eldest line holds a marquisate and the rest hold high rank; more than twenty descendants already have posts—is that not enough? You now ask again to soothe the empress dowager—but when their kin were first given posts, the requests had to go to her, and only after repeated pleading did she agree, unhappily, saying for days: 'What service have they done the state to warrant such ranks? Full measure must turn to decline; if guilt should come, I cannot shield them.' That was truly the empress dowager's view. Li Xian kowtowed in praise of her virtue, then added gently that since the dynastic founders, affinal kin had not held military command. The emperor said: "At first the eunuchs argued that none but the empress's brother could be trusted with the capital garrison; the empress dowager has regretted it ever since. Li Xian said: "The marquis is fortunately honest and careful—but this must not become precedent." The emperor said: "Indeed." Soon Su Gao of the Embroidered Uniform Guard reported that the Duke of Ying, Zhang Mao, the Earl of Taiping, Zhang Jin, and Jizong and Shaozong alike had seized official land and set up private estates. Each was ordered to confess fully; Mao and the others admitted their guilt and were pardoned, but the estate managers were all arrested and the land returned to the government. When Shi Heng fell, Jizong tried to resign on behalf of Xianzong, Wu Zhong, and his sons, kin, servants, and military attendants; the emperor revoked appointments only for seven servants and attendants, and let the rest stand. In the fifth year, after Cao Qin's rebellion was put down, he was promoted to grand guardian. He soon asked to surrender his military authority on grounds of illness and to resign as grand guardian, but was refused.

憲宗嗣位，命繼宗提督十二團營兼督五軍營，知經筵事，監修《英宗實錄》。朝有大議，必繼宗為首。再核奪門功，惟繼宗侯如故。乞休，優詔不許。三年八月，《實錄》成，加太傅。十年，兵科給事中章鎰疏言：「繼宗久司兵柄，屍位固寵，亟宜罷退，以全終始。」於是繼宗上疏懇辭，帝優詔許解營務，仍蒞後府事，知經筵，預議大政。復辭，帝不許，免其奏事承旨。自景泰前，戚臣無典兵者，帝見石亨、張軏輩以營軍奪門，故使外戚親臣參之，非故事也。又五年卒，年八十五，贈郯國公，謚榮襄。再傳至曾孫杲，詳《世表》中。

When Chenghua succeeded, Jizong was appointed to supervise the Twelve Regiments and the Five Armies camps, to attend the classics lectures, and to oversee compilation of Emperor Yingzong's veritable records. Whenever the court debated major matters, Jizong was always listed first. When Gate-opening honors were reexamined, only Jizong kept his marquisate unchanged. He asked to retire, but a gracious edict refused. In the eighth month of the third year, when the veritable records were finished, he was made grand mentor. In the tenth year, Zhang Yi, a supervising secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs, memorialized: "Jizong has held military power too long, clinging to office to keep imperial favor; he should be dismissed at once so his career may end honorably. Jizong then memorialized in earnest to resign; the emperor graciously allowed him to lay down camp duties while he continued at the rear military commission, the classics lectures, and deliberations on major state affairs. He asked again to step down; the emperor refused, but relieved him of the duty of presenting memorials on the emperor's orders. Before the Jingtai period no imperial in-law had ever commanded troops. After Shi Heng and Zhang Yue used their camp armies to force the Gate Opening, the emperor assigned affinal kin a role in military affairs—something without precedent. Five years later he died at eighty-five and was posthumously made Duke of Tan, posthumous name Rongxiang. After two more generations the line reached his great-grandson Gao; details appear in the Genealogical Tables.

吳安，丹徒人。父彥名，有女入侍宣宗於東宮，生景帝。宣德三年冊為賢妃，彥名已卒，授安錦衣衛百戶。景帝嗣位，尊妃為皇太后，安進本衛指揮使。屢遷前府左都督，弟信亦屢擢都督僉事。景泰七年封安安平伯。信早亡，官其弟敬為南京前軍左都督。英宗復辟，太后復稱賢妃，降安為府軍前衛指揮僉事。敬及其群從南京錦衣衛指揮僉事智、府軍前衛指揮同知喜山、指揮僉事廣林、錦衣衛千戶誠，俱革職原籍閑住。尋命安為錦衣衛指揮使，子孫世襲。

Wu An was a native of Dantu. His father Yanming had a daughter who served in the heir apparent's palace under the Xuande Emperor and gave birth to the Jingdi Emperor. In Xuande 3 she was invested as Virtuous Consort; Yanming was already dead, and An was appointed a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When the Jingdi Emperor came to the throne, the consort was honored as empress dowager and An was promoted to commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He rose repeatedly to left commissioner-in-chief of the Forward Military Commission, and his younger brother Xin was likewise promoted to vice commissioner-in-chief. In Jingtai 7 he was enfeoffed as Earl of Anping. Xin died young, and his younger brother Jing was made left commissioner-in-chief of the Forward Army in Nanjing. When Yingzong was restored, the empress dowager was again styled Virtuous Consort, and An was reduced to vice commander of the Forward Guard of the Palace Army. Jing, together with his kinsmen—Vice Commander Zhi of the Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard, Assistant Commander Xishan of the Forward Guard of the Palace Army, Vice Commander Guanglin, and Centurion Cheng of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—were all dismissed and sent home to live in retirement. An was soon appointed commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a post made hereditary for his descendants.

錢貴，海州人，英宗睿皇后父也。祖整，從成祖起兵，為燕山護衛副千戶。父通嗣職，官至金吾右衛指揮使。貴嗣祖職，數從成祖、宣宗北征，屢遷都指揮僉事。正統七年，後將正位中宮，擢貴中府都督同知。英宗數欲封之，後輒遜謝，故後家獨不獲封。

Qian Gui was a native of Haizhou and father of Empress Xia of Emperor Yingzong. His grandfather Zheng followed the Yongle Emperor in raising troops and served as deputy centurion of the Yanshan Guard. His father Tong inherited the post and eventually became commander of the Right Jinwu Guard. Gui inherited his grandfather's post, joined the Yongle and Xuande emperors on several northern campaigns, and was repeatedly promoted to vice commander-in-chief. In Zhengtong 7, when the empress was about to ascend the central palace, Gui was promoted to vice commissioner-in-chief of the Central Military Commission. Yingzong repeatedly wanted to enfeoff him, but the empress always declined on his behalf, so her family alone went without a noble title.

貴卒，長子欽為錦衣衛指揮使，與弟鐘俱歿於土木。欽無子，以鐘遺腹子雄為後，年幼，以父錦衣故秩予優給。天順改元，累擢都督同知。成化時，後崩。憲宗優生母外家周氏，而薄錢氏，故後家又不獲封。雄卒，子承宗亦屢官錦衣衛都指揮使。弘治二年，承宗祖母王氏援憲宗外家王氏例，請封。乃封承宗安昌伯，世襲。先是，勛臣莊田租稅皆有司代收，至是王氏乞自收，始命願自收者聽，而禁管莊者橫肆。嘉靖五年，承宗卒，謚榮僖。子維圻嗣。尋卒，承宗母請以庶長子維垣嗣，詔授錦衣衛指揮使。已又請嗣伯爵。世宗以外戚世封非祖制，下廷臣議。八年十月上議曰：「祖宗之制，非軍功不封。洪熙時，都督張昶封彭城伯，弟升亦封惠安伯，外戚之封，自此始。循習至今，有一門數貴者，歲糜厚祿，逾分非法。臣等謹議：魏、定二公雖系戚裏，實佐命元勛，彭城、惠安二伯即以恩澤封，而軍功參半。其余外戚恩封，毋得請襲。有出特恩一時寵錫者，量授指揮，千、百戶之職，終其身。」制曰：「可。」命魏、定、彭城、惠安襲封如故，余止終本身，著為令。維垣遂不得襲，以錦衣終。

When Gui died, his eldest son Qin was commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; Qin and his younger brother Zhong both died at Tumu. Qin had no son, so Zhong's posthumous son Xiong was made heir. Because the boy was young and his father had commanded the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was granted preferential rank. After the Tianshun era began, he was repeatedly promoted to vice commissioner-in-chief. During the Chenghua reign the empress died. The Chenghua Emperor favored the Zhou family of his birth mother but looked coldly on the Qians, so the empress's family again received no enfeoffment. When Xiong died, his son Chengzong also held the post of commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard on several occasions. In Hongzhi 2, Chengzong's grandmother Lady Wang cited the precedent of the Wang family on Chenghua's maternal side and requested a noble title. Chengzong was then enfeoffed as Earl of Anchang, with the title made hereditary. Previously, rent and tax from the estate lands of meritorious officials were collected by government offices. Lady Wang now asked to collect them herself, and the court first allowed anyone who wished to do so, while forbidding estate managers from acting lawlessly. In Jiajing 5 Chengzong died and was given the posthumous title Rongxi. His son Weiji succeeded him. Weiji soon died; Chengzong's mother asked that the eldest son by a concubine, Weiyuan, succeed, and an edict made him commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. She then also asked that he inherit the earldom. The Jiajing Emperor, holding that hereditary enfeoffment of maternal kin was not ancestral practice, referred the matter to the court for deliberation. In the tenth month of the eighth year the court submitted its deliberation: "The ancestral rule was that enfeoffment was granted only for military merit. In the Hongxi reign Commissioner-in-Chief Zhang Chang was enfeoffed as Earl of Pengcheng and his younger brother Sheng as Earl of Huian; enfeoffment of maternal kin began then. The practice has continued to the present, and some families now have several persons of high rank who each year consume rich stipends—an excessive and unlawful departure from proper bounds. We respectfully propose: the Dukes of Wei and Ding, though maternal kin, were in fact founding supporters; the Earls of Pengcheng and Huian were enfeoffed by grace, yet military merit counted for half. All other enfeoffments granted maternal kin by grace may not be requested for inheritance. Where special grace granted a one-time favor, an appropriate post as commander, centurion, or platoon chief may be given for life only." The rescript read: "Approved." Wei, Ding, Pengcheng, and Huian were to inherit as before; all others would hold their titles only for life. This was established as law. Weiyuan therefore could not inherit the earldom and ended his career in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

汪泉，世為金吾左衛指揮使，家京師。正統十年，其子瑛有女將冊為成阝王妃，授瑛為中城兵馬司指揮，食祿不視事。妃正位中宮，進泉都指揮同知府軍衛，帶俸，瑛錦衣衛指揮使。尋並擢左都督，瑛弟亦授錦衣千戶有差。英宗復位，泉仍居金吾舊職，瑛錦衣舊職，其四弟皆奪官還故裏。尋命瑛錦衣指揮僉事，子孫世襲。

Wang Quan's family had for generations served as commanders of the Left Jinwu Guard and lived in the capital. In Zhengtong 10, Ying's daughter was chosen to enter the palace as consort; Ying was made commander of the Central City Horse and Foot Command with salary but no active duties. When the consort ascended the central palace, Quan was promoted to vice commander-in-chief of the Palace Army Guard with retained salary, and Ying to commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Both were soon promoted to left commissioner-in-chief, and Ying's younger brothers were also given centurion posts in the Embroidered Uniform Guard in varying ranks. When Yingzong was restored, Quan kept his old Jinwu post and Ying his old Embroidered Uniform Guard post, but the four younger brothers were stripped of office and sent home. Ying was soon appointed vice commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a post made hereditary for his descendants.

杭昱，女為景帝妃，生子見濟。景泰三年，帝欲廢英宗子而立己子，乃廢皇后汪氏，冊妃為后。昱累官錦衣衛指揮使。兄聚授錦衣千戶。聚尋卒，賜賻及祭葬。七年，後崩，官其弟敏錦衣百戶。英宗復辟，盡奪景帝所授外親官，尤惡杭氏，昱已前卒，敏削職還裏。

Hang Yu's daughter was consort to the Jingdi Emperor and bore Zhanji. In Jingtai 3 the emperor wished to set aside Yingzong's son and establish his own, so he deposed Empress Wang and invested the consort as empress. Yu rose repeatedly to commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. His elder brother Ju was appointed a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Ju soon died and was granted funeral subsidies and sacrificial burial honors. In the seventh year the empress died, and his younger brother Min was appointed a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When Yingzong was restored, he stripped all maternal kin of the offices Jingdi had granted them and especially hated the Hangs; Yu had already died, and Min was dismissed and sent home.

周能，字廷舉，昌平人。女為英宗妃，生憲宗，是為孝肅皇太后。英宗復位，授能錦衣衛千戶，賜賫甚渥。能卒，長子壽嗣職。憲宗踐阼，擢左府都督同知。成化三年封慶雲伯，贈能慶雲侯。壽以太后弟，頗恣橫。時方禁勛戚請乞莊田，壽獨冒禁乞通州田六十二頃，不得已與之。嘗奉使，道呂梁洪，多挾商艘。主事謝敬不可，壽與哄，且劾之，敬坐落陽。十七年進侯，子弟同日授錦衣官者七人，能追贈太傅、寧國公，謚榮靖。孝宗立，壽加太保。時壽所賜莊田甚多，其在寶坻者已五百頃，又欲得其余七百余頃，詭言以私財相易。部劾其貪求無厭，執不許，孝宗竟許之。又與建昌侯張延齡爭田，兩家奴相毆，交章上聞。又數撓鹽法，侵公家利，有司厭苦之。十六年加太傅，弟長寧伯彧亦加太保，兄弟並為侯伯，位三公，前此未有也。武宗立，汰傳奉官，壽子侄八人在汰中，壽上章乞留，從之。正德四年卒，贈宣國公，謚恭和。

Zhou Neng, styled Tingju, was a native of Changping. His daughter was consort to Yingzong and bore the Chenghua Emperor, who is known as Empress Dowager Xiaosu. When Yingzong was restored, Neng was appointed a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard and given exceptionally generous gifts. When Neng died, his eldest son Shou inherited the post. When Chenghua ascended the throne, Shou was promoted to vice commissioner-in-chief of the Left Military Commission. In Chenghua 3 he was enfeoffed as Earl of Qingyun, and Neng was posthumously made Marquis of Qingyun. As the empress dowager's younger brother, Shou was quite overbearing. At the time meritorious officials and imperial kin were forbidden to request estate lands, but Shou alone defied the ban and asked for sixty-two qing in Tongzhou, and the court reluctantly granted it. Once while on official business he passed Lüliang Rapid and requisitioned many merchant vessels. Chief clerk Xie Jing objected; Shou brawled with him and impeached him, and Jing lost his post. In the seventeenth year he was promoted to marquis; seven sons and nephews received Embroidered Uniform Guard posts on the same day; Neng was posthumously made grand mentor and Duke of Ning, posthumous name Rongjing. When the Hongzhi Emperor came to the throne, Shou was made grand guardian. By then Shou had been granted many estate lands; he already held five hundred qing in Baodi and wanted another seven hundred-odd qing, falsely claiming he would exchange private property for them. The ministry impeached his insatiable greed and refused, but the Hongzhi Emperor approved the request anyway. He also disputed land with Marquis Jianchang Zhang Yanling; servants of both households fought, and memorials from both sides reached the throne. He also repeatedly meddled with the salt monopoly and encroached on public revenue, to the exasperation of local officials. In the sixteenth year he was made grand mentor, and his younger brother Yu, Earl of Changning, was also made grand guardian—the brothers both held marquis or earl rank and the Three Excellencies, something without precedent. When the Zhengde Emperor came to the throne, supernumerary appointees were purged; eight of Shou's sons and nephews were among those cut, but Shou memorialized asking that they be retained, and the request was granted. In Zhengde 4 he died and was posthumously made Duke of Xuan, posthumous name Gonghe.

子瑛嗣，封殖過於父。嘉靖中，於河西務設肆邀商貨，虐市民，虧國課，為巡按御史所劾，停祿三月。而瑛怙惡如故，又為主事翁萬達所劾，詔革其廛肆，下家人於法司。時已革外戚世爵，瑛卒，遂不得嗣。

His son Ying succeeded him and amassed estates even beyond what his father had. During the Jiajing reign he set up shops at Hexiwu to intercept merchants' goods, abused townspeople, and reduced state revenue; a touring censor impeached him and his salary was suspended for three months. Yet Ying persisted in his wickedness; chief clerk Weng Wanda impeached him again, and an edict abolished his shops and handed his household retainers over to the judiciary. By then hereditary noble titles for maternal kin had been abolished, and when Ying died he could not pass on the title.

彧，太后仲弟也。成化時，累官左府都督同知。二十一年封長寧伯，世襲。弘治中，外戚經營私利，彧與壽寧侯張鶴齡至聚眾相鬥，都下震駭。九年九月，尚書屠滽偕九卿上言：

Yu was the empress dowager's second younger brother. During the Chenghua reign he repeatedly held the post of vice commissioner-in-chief of the Left Military Commission. In the twenty-first year he was enfeoffed as Earl of Changning, with the title made hereditary. During the Hongzhi reign, as maternal kin pursued private profit, Yu and Zhang Heling, Marquis of Shouning, even gathered crowds to fight each other, shocking the capital. In the ninth month of the ninth year, Minister Tu Yong together with the Nine Ministers submitted a memorial:

憲宗皇帝詔，勛戚之家，不得占據關津陂澤，設肆開廛，侵奪民利，違者許所在官司執治以聞。皇上踐極，亦惟先帝之法是訓是遵。而勛戚諸臣不能恪守先詔，縱家人列肆通衢，邀截商貨，都城內外，所在有之。觀永樂間榜例，王公仆從二十人，一品不過十二人。今勛戚多者以百數，大乖舊制。其間多市井無賴，冒名罔利，利歸群小，怨叢一身，非計之得。邇者長寧伯周彧、壽寧侯張鶴齡兩家，以瑣事忿爭，喧傳都邑，失戚裏之觀瞻，損朝廷之威重。伏望綸音戒諭，俾各修舊好。凡在店肆，悉皆停止。更敕都察院揭榜禁戒，擾商賈、奪民利者，聽巡城巡按御史及所在有司執治。仍考永樂間榜例，裁定勛戚家人，不得濫收。

The Chenghua Emperor decreed that the households of meritorious officials and imperial kin must not occupy passes, fords, ponds, and marshes, establish shops and open market stalls, or seize the people's profit; violators were to be arrested by local offices and reported. When Your Majesty ascended the throne, you likewise took the former emperor's laws as your instruction and guide. Yet meritorious officials and imperial kin have not faithfully kept the former decree, letting household members set up stalls along thoroughfares and intercept merchants' goods—inside and outside the capital, this occurs everywhere. Consider the Yongle-era posted regulations: princes and dukes were limited to twenty servants, and first-rank officials to no more than twelve. Today some meritorious officials and imperial kin have household members numbering in the hundreds—a great departure from the old system. Many among them are market riffraff who borrow names to seek profit; gain goes to the mob while resentment gathers on one man—not a winning strategy. Recently the households of Earl of Changning Zhou Yu and Marquis of Shouning Zhang Heling quarreled over a trivial matter; the uproar spread through the capital, unbecoming to imperial in-laws and diminishing the court's dignity. We humbly hope for an imperial edict of admonition so each may restore former goodwill. All shop stalls should be closed entirely. Further command the Censorate to post prohibitions: those who harass merchants or seize the people's profit may be arrested by city-patrol and touring censors and local officials. Still examine the Yongle posted regulations and fix limits on the household members of meritorious officials and imperial kin—they must not be taken on indiscriminately.

科道亦以為言，帝嘉納之。十八年進太保。彧求為侯，吏部言封爵出自朝廷，無請乞者，乃止。武宗立，悉擢彧子瑭等六人為錦衣官。彧尋卒。傳子瑭，孫大經，及曾孫世臣，降授錦衣衛指揮同知。

The censorial and remonstrance officials also spoke on the matter, and the emperor praised and accepted their advice. In the eighteenth year he was promoted to grand guardian. Yu asked to be made marquis; the Ministry of Personnel said enfeoffment comes from the court and no one should request it, so he desisted. When the Zhengde Emperor came to the throne, all six of Yu's sons including Tao were promoted to Embroidered Uniform Guard posts. Yu soon died. In turn his son Tang, his grandson Dajing, and his great-grandson Shichen were demoted to vice commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

先是，孝肅有弟吉祥，兒時出遊，去為僧，家人莫知所在，孝肅亦若忘之。一夕，夢伽藍神來，言後弟今在某所，英宗亦同時夢。旦遣小黃門，以夢中言物色，得之報國寺伽藍殿中，召入見。後且喜且泣，欲爵之不可，厚賜遣還。憲宗立，為建大慈仁寺，賜莊田數百頃。其後，周氏衰落，而慈仁寺莊田久猶存。

Earlier, Empress Xiaosu had had a younger brother named Jixiang who vanished in childhood while out playing and became a monk; the family lost track of him, and even Xiaosu seemed to have forgotten him. One night she dreamed that the guardian deity of a monastery came and said her brother was now at a certain place—and the Yingzong Emperor had the same dream at the same time. At dawn she sent a eunuch attendant to search as the dream directed; he was found in the guardian hall of Baoguo Monastery and brought in to see her. The empress wept and rejoiced by turns; she wanted to ennoble him but could not, and instead gave him rich gifts and sent him away. When the Chenghua Emperor came to the throne, he built the Great Ciren Monastery for Jixiang and granted it several hundred qing of estate lands. Thereafter the Zhou clan fell from power, but the Ciren Monastery's estate lands endured for a long time.

王鎮，字克安，上元人，憲宗純皇后父也。成化初，授金吾左衛指揮使。未幾，後將正位中宮，拜中軍都督同知。四年進右都督。鎮為人厚重清謹，雖榮寵，不改其素，有長者稱。十年六月卒。弘治六年追封阜國公，謚康穆。子三人：源，清，浚。

Wang Zhen, styled Ke'an, was a native of Shangyuan and father of Empress Chun, consort of the Chenghua Emperor. At the opening of the Chenghua reign he was appointed commander of the Left Jinwu Guard. Before long, as his daughter was about to become empress, he was made vice commissioner-in-chief of the Central Military Commission. In the fourth year he was promoted to vice commander-in-chief. Zhen was sober, dignified, and scrupulous; though showered with honors, he did not change his plain habits, and was known as a man of worth. He died in the sixth month of the tenth year. In the sixth year of Hongzhi he was posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Fuguo, with the posthumous title Kangmu, "Peaceful and Reverent." He had three sons: Yuan, Qing, and Jun.

源，字宗本，後弟也。父卒，授錦衣衛都指揮使。外戚例有賜田，源家奴怙勢，多侵靜海縣民業。十六年，給事中王垣等言：「永樂、宣德間，許畿輔八郡民盡力墾荒，永免其稅，所以培國本重王畿也。外戚王源賜田，初止二十七頃，乃令其家奴別立四至，占奪民產至二千二百余頃。及貧民赴告，御史劉喬徇情曲奏，致源無忌憚，家奴益橫。今戶部郎中張禎叔等再按得實，乞自原額外悉還氏，並治喬罪。」帝不悅，切責之。後詔禁外戚侵民產，源悉歸所占於民，人多其能改過。十八年擢中軍都督同知。二十年封瑞安伯。弘治六年進侯。十六年加太保。武宗登極，進太傅，增祿至七百石。嘉靖三年卒，贈太師，謚榮靖。清，成化十八年授錦衣衛千戶，累官中軍都督同知。弘治十年封崇善伯。武宗嗣位，加太保。嘉靖十三年卒。浚，成化十八年授錦衣衛百戶。兄清每遷職，輒以浚代，歷官中軍左都督。正德二年封安仁伯，逾月卒，贈侯。浚兄弟三人並貴顯，皆謙慎守禮，在戚里中以賢稱。源子橋、浚子桓，皆嗣伯。嘉靖中並清子極皆以例降革。

Yuan, styled Zongben, was the empress's younger brother. After his father's death he was appointed chief commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Imperial in-laws were routinely granted lands, but Yuan's household slaves, trading on his influence, seized large tracts of commoners' property in Jinghai County. In the sixteenth year, Secretariat Receivers Wang Yuan and others said: "Under Yongle and Xuande, the people of the eight metropolitan districts were allowed to reclaim wasteland with all their strength and granted permanent tax exemption—meant to strengthen the state's foundation and honor the capital region. The imperial kinsman Wang Yuan had originally been granted only twenty-seven qing, yet his household slaves marked out new boundaries and seized more than twenty-two hundred qing of commoners' land. When the poor petitioned for redress, Censor Liu Qiao filed a biased report, leaving Yuan unchecked and his household slaves ever more brazen. Now Ministry of Revenue Director Zhang Zhishu and others have reinvestigated and confirmed the facts; we ask that everything beyond the original grant be returned to the people, and that Qiao be punished as well. The emperor was displeased and sharply rebuked them. Later an edict forbade imperial in-laws from seizing commoners' property; Yuan returned everything he had taken, and many praised his willingness to reform. In the eighteenth year he was promoted to vice commissioner-in-chief of the Central Military Commission. In the twentieth year he was enfeoffed as Earl of Ruian. In the sixth year of Hongzhi he was raised to marquis. In the sixteenth year he was made grand guardian. When the Zhengde Emperor came to the throne, he was promoted to grand tutor and his stipend was raised to seven hundred shi. He died in the third year of Jiajing and was posthumously made grand preceptor, with the posthumous title Rongjing, "Glorious and Tranquil." Qing was appointed a battalion commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the eighteenth year of Chenghua and rose through the ranks to vice commissioner-in-chief of the Central Military Commission. In the tenth year of Hongzhi he was enfeoffed as Earl of Chongshan. When the Zhengde Emperor succeeded to the throne, he was made grand guardian. He died in the thirteenth year of Jiajing. Jun was appointed a company commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in the eighteenth year of Chenghua. Each time his elder brother Qing was promoted, Jun stepped into the post he vacated, eventually rising to left commander-in-chief of the Central Military Commission. In the second year of Zhengde he was enfeoffed as Earl of Anren; a month later he died and was posthumously raised to marquis. Jun and his two brothers all rose to eminence, yet each remained modest and scrupulous in propriety, and among imperial in-laws they were known for their virtue. Yuan's son Qiao and Jun's son Huan each inherited their fathers' earldoms. In the Jiajing era Qing's son Ji and the others were all demoted and stripped of rank under the usual regulations.

萬貴，憲宗萬貴妃父也，歷官錦衣衛指揮使。貴頗謹飭，每受賜，輒憂形於色曰：「吾起掾史，編尺伍，蒙天子恩，備戚屬，子姓皆得官。福過災生，未知所終矣。」時貴妃方擅寵，貴子喜為指揮使，與弟通、達等並驕橫。貴每見諸子屑越賜物，輒戒曰：「官所賜，皆著籍。他日復宣索，汝曹將重得罪。」諸子笑以為迂。成化十年卒，賻贈祭葬有加。十四年進喜都指揮同知，通指揮使，達指揮僉事。通少貧賤，業賈。既驟貴，益貪黷無厭，造奇巧邀利。中官韋興、梁芳等復為左右，每進一物，輒出內庫償，輦金錢絡繹不絕。通妻王出入宮掖，大學士萬安附通為同宗，婢仆朝夕至王所，謁起居。妖人李孜省輩皆緣喜進，朝野苦之。通死，帝眷萬氏不已，遷喜都督同知，達指揮同知。通庶子方二歲，養子方四歲，俱授官。憲宗崩。言官劾其罪狀。孝宗乃奪喜等官，而盡追封誥及內帑賜物，如貴言。

Wan Gui, father of Consort Wan of the Chenghua Emperor, served as commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Gui was a disciplined man; whenever he received an imperial gift, worry showed on his face. "I rose from clerk and army rolls," he would say, "received the Son of Heaven's grace, became an imperial kinsman, and all my descendants have gained office. When fortune runs too high, disaster follows—I do not know how this will end. At that time Consort Wan held the emperor's exclusive favor; Gui's son Xi served as commander, and he and his brothers Tong and Da were all arrogant and overbearing. Whenever Gui saw his sons treat imperial gifts casually, he would warn them: "Everything the court grants is entered in the register. If the court one day sends an edict demanding them back, you will commit a grave offense. His sons laughed and dismissed him as old-fashioned. He died in the tenth year of Chenghua; the court granted augmented funerary gifts, posthumous honors, and sacrificial rites. In the fourteenth year Xi was promoted to vice chief commander, Tong to commander, and Da to assistant commander. Tong had been poor and lowly in youth and made his living as a merchant. Once suddenly elevated, he grew ever greedier and more corrupt, devising ingenious schemes to turn a profit. Eunuchs Wei Xing, Liang Fang, and others again backed him; for every item he presented the inner treasury paid compensation, and carts of gold and cash flowed without end. Tong's wife Wang moved freely in and out of the palace women's quarters; Grand Secretary Wan An claimed kinship with Tong, and maids and servants came morning and evening to Wang's residence to pay their respects. Sorcerers such as Li Zisheng all rose through Xi's patronage, to the distress of court and countryside alike. When Tong died, the emperor's favor toward the Wan clan did not wane; Xi was made vice commissioner-in-chief and Da vice commander. Tong's two-year-old son by a concubine and his four-year-old adopted son were both granted offices. The Chenghua Emperor died. Remonstrance officials impeached them for their crimes. The Hongzhi Emperor then stripped Xi and the others of their offices and recovered all patents of enfeoffment, edicts, and gifts from the inner treasury—just as Gui had warned.

邵喜，昌化人，世宗大母邵太后弟也。世宗立，封喜昌化伯，明年卒。子蕙嗣，嘉靖六年卒，無子，族人爭嗣。初，太后入宮時，父林早歿。太后弟四人：宗、安、宣、喜。宗、宣無後，及蕙卒，帝令蕙弟萱嗣。蕙侄錦衣指揮輔、千戶茂言，萱非嫡派，不當襲，蕙母爭之，議久不決。大學士張璁等言：「邵氏子孫已絕，今其爭者皆旁枝，不宜嗣。」時帝必欲為喜立後，乃以喜兄安之孫傑為昌化伯。明年，《明倫大典》成，命武定侯郭勛頒賜戚畹，弗及傑。傑自請之，帝詰勛。勛怒，錄邵氏爭襲章奏，訐傑實他姓，請覆勘，帝不聽。會給事中陸粲論大學士桂萼受傑賂，使奴隸冒封爵。帝怒，下粲獄，而盡革外戚封，傑亦奪襲。

Shao Xi, a native of Changhua, was the younger brother of Empress Dowager Shao, grandmother of the Jiajing Emperor. When the Jiajing Emperor came to the throne, Xi was enfeoffed as Earl of Changhua; he died the following year. His son Hui succeeded him; Hui died in the sixth year of Jiajing without an heir, and clansmen fought over the succession. When the empress dowager first entered the palace, her father Lin had already died. The empress dowager had four younger brothers: Zong, An, Xuan, and Xi. Zong and Xuan left no heirs; when Hui died, the emperor ordered Hui's younger brother Xuan to succeed. Hui's nephews, Guard Commander Fu and Battalion Commander Mao Yan, argued that Xuan was not of the direct line and should not inherit; Hui's mother contested the point, and the dispute dragged on unresolved. Grand Secretary Zhang Cong and others said: "The Shao line is extinct; those disputing the succession are all collateral branches and ought not to inherit. The emperor was determined to establish an heir for Xi, so he made Jie, grandson of Xi's elder brother An, Earl of Changhua. The next year, when the Great Compendium of Human Relations was completed, the emperor ordered Marquis of Wuding Guo Xun to distribute copies among imperial in-laws—but Jie was not included. Jie asked for a copy himself, and the emperor questioned Xun. Xun grew angry, assembled the Shao succession dispute memorials, accused Jie of being of another surname altogether, and asked for reinvestigation; the emperor would not hear of it. Meanwhile Secretariat Receiver Lu Can accused Grand Secretary Gui E of taking bribes from Jie and using a slave to obtain enfeoffment by fraud. The emperor was enraged, imprisoned Can, and stripped all imperial in-laws of their enfeoffments; Jie too lost his title.

張巒，敬皇后父也。弘治四年封壽寧伯。立皇太子，進為侯。卒贈昌國公，子鶴齡嗣侯。十六年，其弟延齡亦由建昌伯進爵侯。巒起諸生，雖貴盛，能敬禮士大夫。

Zhang Luan was the father of Empress Jing. In the fourth year of Hongzhi he was enfeoffed as Earl of Shouning. When the crown prince was established, he was raised to marquis. At his death he was posthumously made Duke of Changguo; his son Heling inherited the marquisate. In the sixteenth year his younger brother Yanling was also raised from Earl of Jianchang to marquis. Luan had risen from the ranks of licentiates; though greatly honored, he treated scholar-officials with respect.

鶴齡兄弟並驕肆，縱家奴奪民田廬，篡獄囚，數犯法。帝遣侍郎屠勛、太監蕭敬按得實，坐奴如律。敬復命，皇后怒，帝亦佯怒。已而召敬曰：「汝言是也。」賜之金。給事中吳世忠、主事李夢陽皆以劾延齡幾得罪。他日，帝遊南宮，鶴齡兄弟入侍。酒半，皇后、皇太子及鶴齡母金夫人起更衣，因出遊覽。帝獨召鶴齡語，左右莫得聞，遙見鶴齡免冠首觸地，自是稍斂跡。正德中，鶴齡進太傅。世宗入繼，鶴齡以定策功，進封昌國公。時敬皇后已改稱皇伯母昭聖皇太后矣。帝以太后抑其母蔣太后故，銜張氏。嘉靖十二年，延齡有罪下獄，坐死，並革鶴齡爵，謫南京錦衣衛指揮同知，太后為請不得。

Heling and his brothers were arrogant and unrestrained, letting household slaves seize commoners' fields and homes, springing prisoners from jail, and repeatedly breaking the law. The emperor sent Vice Minister Tu Xun and the eunuch Xiao Jing to investigate; they confirmed the facts and punished the slaves according to law. When Jing reported back, the empress was furious, and the emperor feigned anger as well. Soon afterward he summoned Jing and said, "What you reported is correct. He rewarded him with gold. Secretariat Receivers Wu Shizhong and Section Chief Li Mengyang both nearly came to grief for impeaching Yanling. On another occasion the emperor visited the Southern Palace, and the Heling brothers attended him. When the wine was half finished, the empress, the crown prince, and Heling's mother Lady Jin withdrew to change clothes and went out sight-seeing. The emperor summoned Heling alone to speak; attendants could not hear what was said, but from a distance they saw Heling bare his head and knock it on the ground; from then on he somewhat checked his behavior. During the Zhengde reign he was promoted to grand tutor. When the Jiajing Emperor succeeded to the throne, Heling was raised to Duke of Changguo for his role in settling the succession. By then Empress Jing had already been restyled Grand Imperial Aunt, Empress Dowager Zhaosheng. Because the empress dowager had slighted his mother, Empress Dowager Jiang, the emperor bore a grudge against the Zhang clan. In the twelfth year of Jiajing Yanling was imprisoned on criminal charges and sentenced to death; Heling's title was also stripped and he was demoted to vice commander of the Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard—the empress dowager pleaded for him in vain.

初，正德時，日者曹祖告其子鼎為延齡奴，與延齡謀不軌。武宗下之獄，將集群臣廷鞫之，祖仰藥死。時頗以祖暴死疑延齡，而獄無左證，遂解。指揮司聰者，為延齡行錢，負其五百金。索之急，遂與天文生董昶子至謀訐祖前所首事，脅延齡賄。延齡執聰幽殺之，令聰子升焚其屍，而折所負券。升噤不敢言，常憤詈至。至慮事發，乃摭聰前奏上之。下刑部，逮延齡及諸奴雜治。延齡嘗買沒官第宅，造園池，僭侈逾制。又以私憾殺婢及僧，事並發覺。刑部治延齡謀不軌，無驗，而違制殺人皆實，遂論死。系獄四年，獄囚劉東山發延齡手書訕上，東山得免戍，又陰構奸人劉琦誣延齡盜宮禁內帑，所告連數十百人。明年，奸人班期、於雲鶴又告延齡兄弟挾左道祝詛，辭及太后。鶴齡自南京赴逮，瘐死，期、雲鶴亦坐誣謫戍。又明年，東山以射父亡命，為御史陳讓所捕獲，復誣告延齡並構讓及遂安伯陳鏸等數十人，冀以悅上意而脫己罪。奏入，下錦衣衛窮治，讓獄中上疏言：「東山扇結奸黨，圖危宮禁。陛下有帝堯既睦之德，而東山敢為陛下言漢武巫蠱之禍。陛下有帝爵底豫之孝，而東山敢導陛下以暴秦遷母之謀。離間骨肉，背逆不道，義不可赦。」疏奏，帝頗悟。指揮王佐典其獄，鉤得東山情，奏之。乃械死東山，赦讓、鏸等，而延齡長系如故。太后崩之五年，延齡斬西市。

Earlier, during the Zhengde reign, the diviner Cao Zu reported that his son Ding was Yanling's servant and had plotted treason with him. The Zhengde Emperor had them imprisoned and was about to convene the ministers for a court interrogation when Zu swallowed poison and died. Many then suspected Yanling because of Zu's sudden death, but the case lacked corroborating evidence and was dismissed. A commander named Si Cong had handled money for Yanling and owed him five hundred ounces of gold. When Yanling pressed him hard for payment, Cong joined with the astronomer Dong Chang's son Zhi in plotting to denounce the affair Zu had earlier reported, extorting a bribe from Yanling. Yanling seized Cong and secretly killed him, had Cong's son Sheng burn the body, and destroyed the debt note. Sheng dared not speak out and often cursed Zhi in private fury. Fearing exposure, Zhi assembled Si Cong's earlier memorial and submitted it to the throne. The case was referred to the Ministry of Punishments; Yanling and his household slaves were arrested and tried together. Yanling had purchased confiscated official residences and built gardens and ponds in extravagance that exceeded regulations. He had also killed a maidservant and a monk out of private spite, and all these crimes came to light together. The Ministry of Punishments found no proof of Yanling's treason plot, but confirmed his unlawful killings, and sentenced him to death. After four years in prison, the prisoner Liu Dongshan produced Yanling's handwritten letters mocking the emperor; Dongshan won exemption from frontier exile and covertly recruited the rogue Liu Qi to accuse Yanling of stealing from the palace treasury, implicating dozens or hundreds of people. The next year the rogues Ban Qi and Yu Yunhe again reported that the Yanling brothers employed sorcery to curse and plot, implicating the empress dowager in their accusation. Heling came from Nanjing to answer the summons and died en route of illness; Qi and Yunhe were also convicted of false accusation and exiled to frontier service. The year after that, Dongshan, fleeing after killing his father, was captured by Censor Chen Rang; he again falsely accused Yanling and framed Rang, Marquis of Suian Chen Yi, and dozens of others, hoping to please the emperor and escape punishment. When the memorial arrived, the case was referred to the Embroidered Uniform Guard for exhaustive investigation; from prison Rang submitted a memorial saying, "Dongshan has stirred up a faction of rogues and seeks to endanger the palace. Your Majesty possesses the virtue of Emperor Yao in making kin harmonious, yet Dongshan dares speak to Your Majesty of the witchcraft disaster of Emperor Wu of Han. Your Majesty possesses the filial piety that delights the imperial parent, yet Dongshan dares guide Your Majesty toward the Qin tyrant's scheme of displacing the empress dowager. He drives a wedge between flesh and blood, rebels against the Way, and by right cannot be pardoned. When the memorial was submitted, the emperor came partly to his senses. Commander Wang Zuo oversaw the case, extracted Dongshan's motives, and reported them. Dongshan was then executed in bonds; Rang, Yi, and the others were pardoned, while Yanling remained in long confinement as before. Five years after the empress dowager's death, Yanling was beheaded at the West Market.

夏儒，毅皇后父也。正德二年以後父封慶陽伯。為人長厚，父瑄疾，三年不去左右。既貴，服食如布衣時，見者不知為外戚也。十年以壽終，子臣嗣伯。嘉靖八年罷襲。

Xia Ru was the father of Empress Yi. In the second year of Zhengde he was enfeoffed as Earl of Qingyang as the empress's father. He was a man of generous character; when his father Xuan fell ill, he did not leave his side for three years. Once elevated, his dress and diet remained as in his commoner days, and those who saw him did not know he was an imperial in-law. In the tenth year he died of old age; his son Chen inherited the earldom. In the eighth year of Jiajing the succession was abolished.

陳萬言，肅皇后父也，大名人，起家諸生。嘉靖元年授鴻臚卿，改都督同知，賜第黃華坊。明年詔復營第於西安門外，費帑金數十萬。工商尚書趙璜以西安門近大內，治第毋過高。帝怒，逮營繕郎翟璘下獄。言官余瓚等諫，不省。尋封萬言泰和伯，子紹祖授尚寶司丞。又明年，萬言乞武清、東安地各千頃為莊田，詔戶部勘閑地給之。給事中張漢卿言：「萬言拔跡儒素，聯婚天室，當躬自檢飭，為戚裏倡，而僭冒陳乞，違越法度。去歲深冬冱雪，急起大第，徒役疲勞，怨咨載道。方今災沴相繼，江、淮餓死之人，掘穴掩埋，動以萬計。萬言曾不動念，益請莊田。小民一廛一畝，終歲力作，猶不足於食，若又割而畀之貴戚，欲無流亡，不可得也。伏望割恩以義，杜漸以法，一切裁抑，令保延爵祿。」帝竟以八百頃給之。巡撫劉麟、御史任洛復言不宜奪民地，弗聽。七年，皇后崩，萬言亦絀。十四年卒，子不得嗣封。

Chen Wanyan was the father of Empress Su, a native of Daming who rose from the ranks of licentiates. In the first year of Jiajing he was appointed Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, transferred to vice commissioner-in-chief, and granted a residence in Huanghua Ward. The next year an edict ordered another residence built outside Xi'an Gate, costing several hundred thousand taels from the treasury. Minister of Works Zhao Huang said that Xi'an Gate was near the inner palace and the residence ought not be built too high. The emperor was enraged and had Construction Director Zhai Lin imprisoned. Remonstrance officials including Yu Zan admonished him, but he paid no heed. Soon Wanyan was enfeoffed as Earl of Taihe, and his son Shaozu was appointed Assistant Director of the Imperial Regalia Office. The year after that, Wanyan requested a thousand qing each in Wuqing and Dong'an as estate lands; an edict ordered the Ministry of Revenue to survey idle lands and grant them. Secretariat Receiver Zhang Hanqing said: "Wanyan rose from plain scholar stock and married into the imperial house; he ought to restrain himself and set an example among imperial in-laws, yet he presumptuously petitions and oversteps the law. Last year, in deep winter with ice and snow, he hurriedly raised a great mansion; the laborers were worn out and complaint filled the roads. At present disasters follow one after another; on the Yangtze and Huai, those who starved to death were buried in pits by the tens of thousands. Wanyan gave no thought to this and instead asked for more estate lands. For commoners, each homestead and each mu, worked through the year, still does not suffice for food; if more is carved away and given to the nobility, to hope for no flight from the land is impossible. We humbly beg that favor be cut according to justice, excess be stopped according to law, and everything be restrained, so that he may preserve his title and stipend. The emperor still granted him eight hundred qing. Grand Coordinator Liu Lin and Censor Ren Luo again said it was improper to seize commoners' land, but he would not listen. In the seventh year the empress died and Wanyan was also demoted. In the fourteenth year he died; his son was not allowed to inherit the enfeoffment.

方銳，世宗孝烈皇后父也，應天人。後初為九嬪，銳授錦衣正千戶。嘉靖十三年，張後廢，後由妃冊為皇后，遷銳都指揮使。扈蹕南巡，道拜左都督。既封安平伯，尋進封侯。卒，子承裕嗣。隆慶元年用主事郭諫臣言，罷襲。

Fang Rui was the father of Empress Xiaolie of the Jiajing Emperor, a native of Yingtian. When the consort was first one of the Nine Pin, Rui was appointed chief battalion commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In the thirteenth year of Jiajing Empress Zhang was deposed; the consort was raised from consort to empress, and Rui was transferred to chief commander. While escorting the imperial tour to the south, he was en route made left commander-in-chief. He was enfeoffed as Earl of Anping and soon raised to marquis. At his death his son Chengyu succeeded. In the first year of Longqing, on the recommendation of Section Chief Guo Jianchen, the succession was abolished.

李偉，字世奇，漷縣人，神宗生母李太后父也。兒時嬉里中，有羽士過之，驚語人曰：「此兒骨相，當位極人臣。」嘉靖中，偉夢空中五色彩輦，旌幢鼓吹導之下寢所，已而生太后。避警，攜家入京師。居久之，太后入裕邸，生神宗。隆慶改元，立皇太子，授偉都督同知。神宗立，封武清伯，再進武清侯。太后能約束其家，偉嘗有過，太后召入宮切責之，不以父故骫祖宗法。以是，偉益小心畏慎，有賢聲。萬歷十一年卒，贈安國公，謚莊簡。子文全嗣侯，卒，子銘誠嗣。天啟末，銘誠頌魏忠賢功德，建祠名鴻勛。莊烈帝定逆案，銘誠幸獲免。久之，大學士薛國觀請勒勛戚助軍餉。時銘誠已卒，子國瑞當嗣爵，其庶兄國臣與爭產，言父遺貲四十萬，願輸以佐軍興。帝初不允，至是詔借餉如國臣言，國瑞不能應。帝怒，奪國瑞爵，遂悸死，有司復系其家人。國瑞女字嘉定伯周奎孫，奎請於莊烈後，後曰：「但迎女，秋毫無所取可也。」諸戚畹人人自危。會皇五子疾亟，李太后憑而言。帝懼，悉還李氏產，復武清爵，而皇五子竟殤。或云中人構乳媼，教皇五子言之也。未幾，國觀遂以事誅。

Li Wei, styled Shiqi, a native of Huo County, was the father of Empress Dowager Li, mother of the Wanli Emperor. As a child playing in the lane, a Taoist passed by and said in amazement to others, "This boy's bone structure shows he will rise to the highest rank among ministers. In the Jiajing era Wei dreamed of a five-colored imperial carriage in the sky, with banners, flags, and music escorting it down to his bedroom; afterward the empress dowager was born. To avoid an imperial edict of arrest, he moved his family to the capital. After living there a long time, the empress dowager entered the Prince of Yu's residence and bore the Wanli Emperor. At the change of reign to Longqing, when the crown prince was established, Wei was appointed vice commissioner-in-chief. When the Wanli Emperor came to the throne, he was enfeoffed as Earl of Wuqing and then raised to Marquis of Wuqing. The empress dowager could restrain her family; when Wei once transgressed, she summoned him to the palace and sharply rebuked him, not bending ancestral law because he was her father. For this reason Wei grew ever more cautious and careful, and gained a reputation for worthiness. In the eleventh year of Wanli he died and was posthumously made Duke of Anguo, with the posthumous title Zhuangjian, "Solemn and Simple." His son Wenquan inherited the marquisate; at his death his son Mingcheng succeeded. At the end of the Tianqi reign Mingcheng eulogized the merits of Wei Zhongxian and built a shrine named Hongxun, "Great Merit." When the Chongzhen Emperor settled the list of traitors, Mingcheng fortunately escaped punishment. After a long time Grand Secretary Xue Guoguan asked that imperial in-laws be compelled to aid military provisions. By then Mingcheng had died; his son Guorui was due to inherit the title, but his elder brother by a concubine, Guochen, disputed the estate, saying their father had left four hundred thousand in assets and offering to contribute them to aid the army. The emperor at first refused, but now issued an edict to borrow provisions as Guochen said; Guorui could not comply. The emperor was enraged, stripped Guorui of his title, and Guorui died of fright; the authorities again seized his family members. Guorui's daughter was betrothed to a grandson of Marquis of Jiading Zhou Kui; Kui asked the Chongzhen Empress, and the empress said, "Only welcome the daughter—take not the slightest thing besides. Every imperial in-law was thrown into fear for himself. When the fifth imperial son fell dangerously ill, Empress Dowager Li spoke leaning on him. The emperor was afraid, fully restored the Li family's property, and revived the Wuqing title—but the fifth imperial son still died young. Some said palace eunuchs had coached the wet nurse to teach the fifth imperial son to say it. Before long Xue Guoguan was executed on another charge.

王偉，神宗顯皇后父也。萬歷五年授都督。尋封永年伯。帝欲加恩偉子棟及其弟俊，閣臣請俱授錦衣正千戶。帝曰：「正德時，皇親夏助等俱授錦衣指揮使，世襲，今何薄也？」大學士張居正等言：「正德時例，世宗悉已厘革，請授棟錦衣衛指揮僉事，俊千戶，如前議。」帝意未慊，居正固奏，乃止。偉卒，傳子棟及曾孫明輔，襲伯如制。

Wang Wei was the father of Empress Xian of the Wanli Emperor. In the fifth year of Wanli he was appointed commissioner-in-chief. Soon he was enfeoffed as Earl of Yongnian. The emperor wished to extend favor to Wei's son Dong and his younger brother Jun; the grand secretaries asked that both be appointed chief battalion commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The emperor said, "Under Zhengde, imperial kinsmen such as Xia Zhu were all appointed commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard with hereditary succession—why so meager now? Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng and others said, "The precedents of the Zhengde era were all rectified by the Jiajing Emperor; we ask that Dong be appointed assistant commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Jun a battalion commander, as previously proposed." The emperor was still displeased; Juzheng pressed his memorial and only then did he desist. When Wei died, the title passed to his son Dong and then to his great-grandson Mingfu, who inherited the earldom according to regulation.

鄭承憲，神宗鄭貴妃父也。貴妃有寵，鄭氏父子、宗族並驕恣，帝悉不問。承憲累官至都督同知，卒。子國泰請襲，帝命授都指揮使。給事中張希臯言：「指揮使下都督一等，不宜授任子。妃家蒙恩如是，何以優後家。」不報。是時，廷臣疑貴妃謀奪嫡，群以為言。國泰不自安，上疏請立太子，其從子承恩亦言儲位不宜久虛。大學士沈一貫左右於帝，弗聽。詔奪國泰俸，而斥承恩為民，然言者終不息。萬歷二十六年，承恩復上疏劾給事中戴士衡、知縣樊玉衡，妄造《憂危竑議》，離間骨肉，汙蔑皇貴妃。帝怒。《憂危竑議》者，不知誰所作，中言侍郎呂坤構通宮掖，將與國泰等擁戴福王。而士衡前嘗論坤與承恩相結，玉衡方抗言貴妃沮立太子，疏並留中，故承恩指兩人。帝怒，士衡、玉衡皆永戍。廷臣益貧鄭氏。久之，皇太子立。四十三年，男子張差持梃入東宮，被擒。言者皆言國泰謀刺皇太子。主事王之寀鞫差，差指貴妃宮監。主事陸大受、給事中何士晉遂直攻國泰。帝以貴妃故，不欲竟事，詳之寀等傳。國泰官左都督，病死，子養性襲職。天啟初，光祿少卿高攀龍、御史陳必謙追論其罪，且言養性結白蓮賊將為亂。詔勒養性出京師，隨便居住。魏忠賢用事，宥還。

Zheng Chengxian was the father of Consort Zheng of the Wanli Emperor. As the consort held favor, the Zheng father and son and their entire clan grew arrogant and unrestrained, yet the emperor asked nothing of them. Chengxian rose through posts to vice commissioner-in-chief and died. His son Guotai asked to inherit; the emperor ordered him made chief commander. Secretariat Receiver Zhang Xigao said, "Assistant commander ranks one grade below commissioner-in-chief—it is not fitting to grant that post to a son. If the consort's family is favored so, how can the empress's family be honored? No reply was given. At that time court officials suspected the consort of plotting to supplant the heir apparent, and spoke out in groups. Guotai grew uneasy and submitted a memorial asking that the crown prince be established; his nephew Chengen also said the succession ought not remain vacant long. Grand Secretary Shen Yiguan sided with the emperor at court and would not listen. An edict stripped Guotai of his stipend and reduced Chengen to commoner status, yet the speakers still did not cease. In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli Chengen again submitted a memorial impeaching Secretariat Receiver Dai Shiheng and Magistrate Fan Yuheng for fabricating the "Pavilion of Shared Peril" pamphlet, driving a wedge between flesh and blood and slandering the Noble Consort. The emperor was enraged. The "Pavilion of Shared Peril" pamphlet was by an unknown author; it said Vice Minister Lu Kun had conspired with the palace women's quarters and would join Guotai and others in enthroning the Prince of Fu. Shiheng had earlier argued that Kun and Chengen were in league; Yuheng had just boldly said the consort was obstructing establishment of the crown prince—their memorials had both been held at court—so Chengen pointed at the two men. The emperor was enraged; Shiheng and Yuheng were both exiled in perpetuity. Court officials treated the Zheng clan with ever greater contempt. After a long time the crown prince was established. In the forty-third year a man named Zhang Cha entered the Eastern Palace wielding a club and was seized. Speakers all said Guotai had plotted to assassinate the crown prince. Section Chief Wang Zhicai interrogated Cha; Cha pointed to a eunuch of the consort's palace. Section Chief Lu Dashou and Secretariat Receiver He Shijin then pressed their attack on Guotai without restraint. For the Noble Consort's sake the emperor would not see the case through; particulars appear in the biographies of Zhicai and others. Guotai served as Left Commissioner-in-Chief, died of illness, and was succeeded by his son Yangxing. Early in the Tianqi reign, Vice Minister of Ceremonies Gao Panlong and Censor Chen Biqian reopened the case against him and charged that Yangxing had allied with White Lotus rebel commanders to foment disorder. An edict commanded Yangxing to quit the capital and live wherever he chose. Once Wei Zhongxian came to power, Yangxing was pardoned and permitted to return.

王升，熹宗生母孝和太后弟也。父鉞。天啟元年封升新城伯。尋以皇子生，進俟。卒，子國興嗣。崇禎十七年，京師陷，被殺。

Wang Sheng was the younger brother of Empress Dowager Xiaohe, mother of the Tianqi Emperor. His father was Yue. In the first year of Tianqi, Sheng received the title Earl of Xincheng. Soon afterward, when an imperial son was born, he was raised to marquis. He died, and his son Guoxing inherited the title. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, when the capital fell, he was slain.

劉文炳，字淇筠，宛平人。祖應元，娶徐氏，生女，入宮，即莊烈帝生母孝純皇太后也。應元早卒，帝即位，封太后弟效祖新樂伯，即文炳父也。崇禎八年卒，文炳嗣。是年，文炳大母徐年七十，賜寶鈔、白金、文綺。帝謂內侍曰：「太夫人年老，猶聰明善飯，使太后在，不知若何稱壽也。」因愴然泣下。九年進文炳為新樂侯，其祖、父世贈爵如之。

Liu Wenbing, styled Qijun, came from Wanping. His grandfather Yingyuan married a woman of the Xu clan; their daughter entered the palace and became Empress Dowager Xiaochun, mother of the Chongzhen Emperor. Yingyuan died young; when the emperor took the throne he enfeoffed the empress dowager's younger brother Xiaozu as Earl of Xinle—Wenbing's father. He died in the eighth year of Chongzhen, and Wenbing succeeded him. That same year Wenbing's grandmother, Lady Xu, turned seventy and was granted treasure notes, silver, and brocade. The emperor told the palace attendants, "The Lady is old, yet still sharp of mind and hearty at table—had the empress dowager lived, who knows what a birthday celebration we might have held. He then broke down in tears. In the ninth year Wenbing was raised to Marquis of Xinle, and his grandfather and father were posthumously ennobled to corresponding ranks.

十三年，宮中奉太后像，或曰未肖。帝不懌，遣司禮監太監王裕民同武英殿中書至文炳第，敕徐口授，繪像以進，左右鹹驚曰：「肖。」帝大喜，命卜日具鹵簿，帝俯伏歸極門，迎入，安奉奉慈殿，朝夕上食如生。因追贈應元瀛國公，封徐氏瀛國太夫人，文炳晉少傅，叔繼祖，弟文燿、文照俱晉爵有差。

In the thirteenth year the palace installed a portrait of the empress dowager, but some said it did not resemble her. The emperor was displeased and sent Directorate of Ceremonial eunuch Wang Yumin, together with a drafting secretary of the Hall of Military Glory, to Wenbing's house, where Lady Xu was ordered to describe her daughter's features from memory. When the portrait was submitted, all those present cried out in amazement: "It is her likeness. The emperor was overjoyed. He chose an auspicious day, assembled the full imperial escort, prostrated himself at the Gate of Ultimate Rest to welcome the portrait, and installed it in the Hall of Cherishing Kindness, where morning and evening offerings were served as though she still lived. Yingyuan was posthumously ennobled Duke of Ying, Lady Xu was enfeoffed Lady of Ying, Wenbing was promoted to Junior Mentor, and his uncle Jizu and younger brothers Wenyao and Wenzhao all received titles of varying rank.

文炳母杜氏賢，每謂文炳等曰：「吾家無功德，直以太后故，受此大恩，當盡忠報天子。」帝遣文炳視鳳陽祖陵，密諭有大事上聞。文炳歸，奏史可法、張國維忠正有方略，宜久任，必能滅賊，後兩人果殉國難。文炳謹厚不妄交，獨與宛平太學生申湛然、布衣黃尼麓及駙馬都尉鞏永固善。時天下多故，流賊勢益張，文炳與民麓等講明忠義，為守禦計。及李自成據三秦，破榆林，將犯京師。文炳知勢不支，慷慨泣下，謂永固曰：「國事至此，我與公受國恩，當以死報。」

Wenbing's mother, the virtuous Lady Du, often told Wenbing and his brothers, "Our family has no merit of its own; we owe this great favor only to the empress dowager. We must repay the emperor with absolute loyalty. The emperor sent Wenbing to inspect the imperial tombs at Fengyang and secretly instructed him to report anything of grave importance. On his return Wenbing memorialized that Shi Kefa and Zhang Guowei were loyal, upright, and capable, and should be kept in office long enough to destroy the rebels. Both men later died defending the realm. Wenbing was cautious and reserved in his friendships, associating closely only with Wanping Imperial Academy student Shen Zhanran, commoner Huang Nilu, and Commandant-in-Chief Gong Yonggu. As the realm fell into turmoil and rebel power swelled, Wenbing and Nilu and their circle studied loyalty and righteousness and laid plans for the capital's defense. When Li Zicheng seized the Three Qins, broke Yulin, and prepared to march on the capital— Seeing that the cause was lost, Wenbing wept with fierce resolve and told Yonggu, "Affairs have come to this pass. You and I have received the state's grace—we must repay it with our lives."

十七年正月，帝召文炳、永固等回國事。二人請早建藩封，遣永、定二王之國。帝是之，以內帑乏，不果行。三月初一日，賊警益急，命文武勛戚分守京城。繼祖守皇城東安門，文燿守永定門，永固守崇文門。文炳以繼祖、文燿皆守城，故未有職事。十六日，賊攻西直門，勢益急。尼麓踉蹌至，謂文炳曰：「城將陷，君宜自為計。」文炳母杜氏聞之，即命侍婢簡笥絳於樓上，作七八繯，命家僮積薪樓下，隨遣老仆鄭平迎李氏、吳氏二女歸，曰：「吾母女同死此。」又念瀛國太夫人年篤老，不可俱燼，因與文炳計，匿之申湛然家。

In the first month of the seventeenth year the emperor summoned Wenbing, Yonggu, and others to counsel him on the state of the realm. The two urged that the princes be enfeoffed without delay and that the Princes of Yong and Ding be dispatched to their fiefs. The emperor agreed in principle, but the inner treasury was empty and the plan never went forward. On the first day of the third month rebel alarms grew acute, and the emperor ordered civil and military officials, meritorious peers, and imperial kinsmen to divide the defense of the capital among them. Jizu held the Imperial City's East Pacification Gate, Wenyao the Everlasting Stability Gate, and Yonggu the Reverence for Culture Gate. With Jizu and Wenyao both assigned to the walls, Wenbing had no post of his own. On the sixteenth the rebels assaulted the Direct Gate, and the crisis deepened. Nilu came stumbling in and told Wenbing, "The city is about to fall—you must decide what to do for yourself. When Wenbing's mother, Lady Du, heard this, she at once had her maidservants choose silk cords upstairs and knot seven or eight nooses, ordered the servants to pile firewood below the tower, and sent the old retainer Zheng Ping to fetch the two daughters of the Li and Wu families, saying, "We mothers and daughters shall die together here." Remembering that the Lady of Ying was very old and could not be burned with them, she and Wenbing arranged to hide her at Shen Zhanran's house.

十八日，帝遣內使密召文炳、永固。文炳歸白母曰：「有詔召兒，兒不能事母。」母拊文炳背曰：「太夫人既得所，我與若妻妹死耳，復何憾。」文炳偕永固謁帝，時外城已陷。帝曰：「二卿所糾家丁，能巷戰否？」文炳以眾寡不敵對，帝愕然。永固奏曰：「臣等已積薪第中，當闔門焚死，以報皇上。」帝曰：「朕誌決矣。朕不能守社稷，朕能死社稷。」兩人皆涕泣誓效死，出馳至崇文門。須臾賊大至，永固射賊，文炳助之，殺數十人，各馳歸第。

On the eighteenth the emperor secretly dispatched palace envoys to summon Wenbing and Yonggu. Wenbing went home and told his mother, "There is an edict summoning me—I can no longer serve you, Mother. His mother patted his back and said, "The Lady is already safe; I and your wife and sisters need only die—what more is there to regret?" Wenbing and Yonggu went to audience with the emperor; by then the outer city had already fallen. The emperor asked, "The household troops you have gathered—can they fight in the streets? Wenbing answered that they were too few to stand against the enemy, and the emperor was stricken. Yonggu submitted, "We have already piled firewood in our mansions and shall burn our whole households to death to repay Your Majesty. The emperor said, "My mind is made up. I cannot preserve the altars of state, but I can die for them." Both men wept, swore to die in service, rode out, and galloped to the Reverence for Culture Gate. Before long the rebels arrived in force. Yonggu shot at them and Wenbing fought beside him, killing several dozen men; then each galloped back to his own house.

十九日，文照方侍母飯，家人急入曰：「城陷矣！」文照碗脫地，直視母。母遽起登樓，文照及二女從之，文炳妻王氏亦登樓。懸孝純皇太后像，母率眾哭拜，各縊死。文照入繯墮，拊母背連呼曰：「兒不能死矣，從母命，留侍太夫人。」遂逃去。家人共焚樓。文炳歸，火烈不得入，入後園，適湛然、尼麓至，曰：「鞏都尉已焚府第，自刎矣。」文炳曰：「諾。」將投井，忽止曰：「戎服也，不可見皇帝。」湛然脫己幘冠之，遂投井死。繼祖歸，亦投井死。繼祖妻左氏見大宅火，亟登樓自焚，妾董氏、李氏亦焚死。初，文燿見外城破，突出至渾河，聞內城破，復入，見第焚，大哭曰：「文燿未死，以君與母在。今至此，何生為！」遂覓文炳死所，大書版井旁曰「左都督劉文燿同兄文炳畢命報國處」，亦投井死，闔門死者四十二人。是時，惠安伯張慶臻集妻子同焚死。新城侯王國興亦焚死。宣城伯衛時春懷鐵券，闔門赴井死。與永固射賊楊光陛者，駙馬都尉子也，被甲馳突左右射，與永固相失，矢盡，投觀象臺下井中死。而湛然以匿瀛國為賊所拷掠，終不言，體糜爛以死。福王時，謚文炳忠壯，文燿忠果。

On the nineteenth Wenzhao was serving his mother at table when a servant burst in crying, "The city has fallen! Wenzhao's bowl dropped to the floor, and he looked straight at his mother. His mother rose at once and climbed the tower; Wenzhao and the two daughters followed, and Wenbing's wife, Lady Wang, went up as well. They hung a portrait of Empress Dowager Xiaochun; the mother led them in weeping and obeisance, and each hanged herself. Wenzhao put his head in the noose but fell; he patted his mother's back and cried again and again, "Your son cannot die—I obey Mother's command and remain to serve the Lady. Then he fled. The household together set fire to the tower. Wenbing returned, but the flames were too fierce to enter; he went into the rear garden. Just then Zhanran and Nilu arrived and said, "Commandant Gong has already burned his mansion and cut his own throat. Wenbing said, "So be it." About to throw himself into the well, he suddenly stopped and said, "I am in armor—I cannot appear before the emperor like this." Zhanran removed his own headcloth and put it on Wenbing's head; Wenbing then threw himself into the well and died. Jizu returned and likewise threw himself into a well and died. Jizu's wife, Lady Zuo, seeing the great house in flames, hurried upstairs and burned herself; concubines Lady Dong and Lady Li burned to death as well. Earlier, when Wenyao saw the outer city fall, he broke out as far as the Hun River; hearing that the inner city too had fallen, he returned, saw the mansion burning, and wept aloud, "Wenyao did not die because the emperor and Mother were still alive. Now that it has come to this—what reason is there to live! He then found the place where Wenbing had died, wrote on a board beside the well in large characters, "Here Left Commissioner Liu Wenyao and his elder brother Wenbing gave their lives for the realm," and threw himself into the well as well. Forty-two members of the household died in all. At that time Earl of Huian Zhang Qingzhen gathered his wife and children and burned with them to death. Marquis of Xincheng Wang Guoxing also burned to death. Earl of Xuancheng Wei Shichun, clutching his iron covenant tablet, led his entire household to the wells and died together. Yang Guangbi, who had fought beside Yonggu shooting at the rebels, was the son of a Commandant-in-Chief. Clad in armor he charged and shot on every side, lost contact with Yonggu, exhausted his arrows, and threw himself into the well beneath the Observatory Platform and died. Zhanran, for having hidden the Lady of Ying, was tortured by the rebels; he never spoke, and his body was torn apart until he died. Under the Prince of Fu, Wenbing was posthumously titled Loyal and Stalwart and Wenyao Loyal and Resolute.

張國紀，祥符人，熹宗張皇后父也。天啟初，封太康伯。魏忠賢與客氏忌皇后，因謀陷國紀，使其黨劉誌選、梁夢環先後劾國紀謀占宮婢韋氏，矯中宮旨鬻獄。忠賢將從中究其事，以撼後。大學士李國普曰：「君後，猶父母也，安有勸父構母者？」國紀始放歸故郡，忠賢猶欲掎之，莊烈帝立，乃得免。崇禎末，以輸餉進爵為侯，旋死於賊。

Zhang Guoji, a native of Xiangfu, was the father of Empress Zhang, consort of the Tianqi Emperor. Early in the Tianqi reign he was enfeoffed Earl of Taikang. Wei Zhongxian and Ke Shi resented the empress and plotted to ruin Guoji, sending their partisans Liu Zhixuan and Liang Menghuan to impeach him in turn for scheming to take possession of the palace maid Wei and sell pardons by forging the empress's orders. Zhongxian intended to pursue the case from within the palace in order to undermine the empress. Grand Secretary Li Guozhen said, "The emperor and empress are like father and mother—who would urge a father to plot against a mother? Guoji was first sent back to his home district; Zhongxian still sought to bring him down, but once the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne he was spared. Near the end of the Chongzhen reign he was raised to marquis for contributing military funds, and soon died at rebel hands.

周奎，蘇州人，莊烈帝周皇后父也。崇禎三年封嘉定伯，賜第於蘇州之葑門。帝嘗諭奎及田貴妃父弘遇、袁貴妃父祐，宜恪遵法度，為諸戚臣先。祐頗謹慎，惟弘遇驕縱，奎居外戚中，碌碌而已。李自成逼京師，帝遣內侍徐高密諭奎倡勛戚輸餉，奎堅謝無有。高憤泣曰：「後父如此，國事去矣。」奎不得已奏捐萬金，且乞皇后為助。及自成陷京師，掠其家得金數萬計，人以是笑奎之愚雲。

Zhou Kui, a native of Suzhou, was the father of Empress Zhou, consort of the Chongzhen Emperor. In the third year of Chongzhen he was enfeoffed Marquis of Jiading and granted a mansion at the Feng Gate in Suzhou. The emperor once admonished Kui, together with Tian Consort's father Hongyu and Yuan Consort's father You, to observe the law strictly and set an example for all imperial kinsmen. You was cautious and restrained; only Hongyu was proud and unrestrained. Among the empress's kinsmen, Kui was unremarkable. When Li Zicheng pressed the capital, the emperor sent palace attendant Xu Gao secretly to urge Kui to lead the meritorious kinsmen in contributing military funds; Kui firmly refused, insisting he had nothing to give. Gao wept in anger and said, "When the empress's father behaves like this, the realm is lost. Kui had no choice but to memorialize a donation of ten thousand taels of gold and also beg the empress for assistance. When Zicheng captured the capital, loot from his household yielded tens of thousands in gold, and people laughed at Kui's folly.

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