Volume 307 Biographies 195: Flatter and Imitation - Ji Gang, Men Da, Li Zisheng, Ji Xiao, Jiang Bin, Qian Ning, Lu Bing, Shao Yuanjie, Tao Zhongwen, Gu Kexue

漢史所載佞幸，如藉孺、閎孺、鄧通、韓嫣、李延年、董賢、張放之屬，皆以宦寺弄臣貽譏千古，未聞以武夫、健兒、貪人、酷吏、方技、雜流任親匿承寵渥於不衰者也。明興，創設錦衣衛，典新軍，匿居肘腋。成祖即位，知人不附己，欲以威詟天下，特任紀綱為錦衣，寄耳目。綱刺廷臣陰事，以希上指，帝以為忠，被殘殺者不可勝數。英宗時，門達、逮杲之徒，並見親信。至其後，廠衛遂相表裏，清流之禍酷焉。憲宗之世，李孜省、僧繼曉以祈禱被寵任，萬安、尹直、彭華等至因之以得高位。武宗日事般遊，不恤國事，一時宵人並起，錢寧以錦衣幸，臧賢以伶人幸，江彬、許泰以邊將幸，馬昂以女弟幸。禍流中外，宗社幾墟。世宗入繼大統，宜矯前軌，乃任陸炳於從龍，寵郭勛於議禮，而一時方士如陶仲文、邵元節、藍道行之輩，紛然並進，玉杯牛帛，詐妄滋興。凡此諸人，口銜天憲，威福在手，天下士大夫靡然從風。雖以成祖、世宗之英武聰察，而嬖幸釀亂，幾與昏庸失道之主同其蒙蔽。彼第以親己為可信，而孰知其害之至於此也。至顧可學、盛端明、朱隆禧之屬，皆起家甲科，致位通顯，乃以秘術幹榮，為世戮笑。此亦佞幸之尤者，附之篇末，用以示戒雲。

The favorites whom the Han histories record—Ji Ru, Hong Ru, Deng Tong, Han Yan, Li Yannian, Dong Xian, Zhang Fang, and men of that kind—were eunuchs and court buffoons, and posterity has always held them up to scorn. Never before had warriors, bravos, the grasping, cruel magistrates, ritual technicians, or other fringe figures been placed so close to the throne, sheltered in secrecy, and allowed to enjoy imperial favor without end. At the founding of the Ming, the court created the Embroidered Uniform Guard to command the new army, keeping it hidden at the sovereign's very side. When the Yongle Emperor came to the throne, he knew that many had not rallied to him and wished to cow the empire with terror; he therefore singled out Ji Gang for the Embroidered Uniform Guard and made him his eyes and ears. Gang ferreted out the hidden affairs of court officials to please the emperor, who took this for loyalty; the number of people put to cruel death was beyond reckoning. Under Emperor Yingzong, Men Da, Dai Gao, and men like them all won the emperor's close confidence. In time the inner palaces and the guard worked hand in glove, and the pure faction suffered calamities of appalling severity. Under Emperor Xianzong, Li Zisheng and the monk Ji Xiao won favor through prayer and ritual, and Wan An, Yin Zhi, Peng Hua, and others even rode their influence into high office. Emperor Wuzong spent his days in dissolute wandering and gave no thought to government; villains sprang up on every side—Qian Ning through the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Zang Xian as a performer, Jiang Bin and Xu Tai as frontier commanders, and Ma Ang through his younger sister. Disaster spread through the court and the realm, and the dynasty itself came close to collapse. When Emperor Shizong took the throne, he should have corrected the abuses of the past; instead he rewarded Lu Bing for aiding his accession, pampered Guo Xun during the Rites Controversy, and welcomed a swarm of Daoist adepts—Tao Zhongwen, Shao Yuanjie, Lan Daoxing, and others—so that jade cups, ox talismans, and every sort of imposture multiplied. These men all spoke with the emperor's authority; power and favor rested in their hands, and scholar-officials across the empire bowed before them as one. For all the martial brilliance and sharp discernment of the Yongle and Jiajing emperors, their favorites stirred up turmoil and left them almost as deluded as the most benighted sovereigns. They trusted only those who were close to them—who could have foreseen harm on such a scale. Men such as Gu Kexue, Sheng Duanming, and Zhu Longxi had all risen through the highest examination ranks to eminent office, yet they courted favor with occult arts and became laughingstocks of their age. These men too rank among the worst of the favorites; they are appended at the end of this chapter as a warning to posterity.

○紀綱門達〈（逮杲）〉李孜省繼曉江彬〈（許泰）〉錢寧陸炳邵元節陶仲文顧可學〈（盛端明等）〉

○ Ji Gang; Men Da (Dai Gao)〉 Li Zisheng; Ji Xiao; Jiang Bin (Xu Tai)〉 Qian Ning; Lu Bing; Shao Yuanjie; Tao Zhongwen; Gu Kexue (Sheng Duanming and others)〉

紀綱，臨邑人，為諸生。燕王起兵過其縣，綱叩馬請自效。王與語，說之。綱善騎射，便辟詭黠，善鉤人意向。王大愛幸，授忠義衛千戶。既即帝位，擢錦衣衛指揮使，令典親軍，司詔獄。

Ji Gang was a native of Linyi and had been a student of the classics. When the Prince of Yan marched through his county at the head of his army, Gang stopped the prince's horse and offered his service. The prince spoke with him and took a liking to him. Gang was an expert horseman and archer, quick-witted and cunning, and skilled at reading what others were thinking. The prince came to favor him greatly and made him a chiliarch in the Loyalty and Righteousness Guard. After he took the throne, he promoted Gang to commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, put him in charge of the personal army, and entrusted him with the imperial prison.

都御史陳瑛滅建文朝忠臣數十族，親屬被戮者數萬人。綱覘帝旨，廣布校尉，日摘臣民陰事。帝悉下綱治，深文誣詆。帝以為忠，親之若肺腑。擢都指揮僉事，仍掌錦衣。綱用指揮莊敬、袁江，千戶王謙、李春等為羽翼，誣逮浙江按察使周新，致之死。帝所怒內侍及武臣下綱論死，輒將至家，洗沐好飲食之，陽為言，見上必請赦若罪，誘取金帛且盡，忽刑於市。

The censor-in-chief Chen Ying had annihilated dozens of clans of loyal ministers from the Jianwen reign, and tens of thousands of their kinsmen had been slaughtered. Gang divined the emperor's wishes, spread his agents far and wide, and every day ferreted out the hidden affairs of officials and commoners alike. The emperor referred every case to Gang, who stretched the law to fabricate charges. The emperor took this for loyalty and cherished him as he would his own flesh. Gang was promoted to vice commissioner of the chief military command while continuing to head the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Gang relied on the commanders Zhuang Jing and Yuan Jiang and the chiliarchs Wang Qian and Li Chun as his agents; he framed the Zhejiang surveillance commissioner Zhou Xin and had him put to death. When eunuchs or military officers whom the emperor wished to punish were handed over to Gang for execution, he would take them home, bathe them, and feed them well, pretending to plead their case; before the emperor he would beg for mercy or a lighter sentence, squeeze them dry of gold and silks, and then suddenly have them executed in public.

數使家人偽為詔，下諸方鹽場，勒鹽四百余萬。還復稱詔，奪官船二十、牛車四百輛，載入私第，弗予直。構陷大賈數十百家，罄其資乃已。詐取交址使珍奇。奪吏民田宅。籍故晉王、吳王，乾沒金寶無算。得王冠服服之，高坐置酒，命優童奏樂奉觴，呼萬歲，器物僭乘輿。欲買一女道士為妾，都督薛祿先得之，遇祿大內，撾其首，腦裂幾死。恚都指揮啞失帖木不避道，誣以冒賞事，捶殺之。腐良家子數百人，充左右。詔選妃嬪，試可，令暫出待年，綱私納其尤者。吳中故大豪沈萬三，洪武時籍沒，所漏貲尚富。其子文度蒲伏見綱，進黃金及龍角、龍文被、奇寶異錦，願得為門下，歲時供奉。綱乃令文度求索吳中好女。文度因挾綱勢，什五而中分之。

He repeatedly had his household forge imperial edicts and send them to salt offices throughout the empire, extorting more than four million units of salt. He then claimed another edict, seized twenty government ships and four hundred ox-carts, hauled the goods to his private residence, and paid nothing for them. He framed scores of wealthy merchants and did not stop until he had stripped them of everything they owned. He extorted rare treasures from the envoy of Jiaozhi. He seized the fields and houses of officials and commoners alike. He seized the estates of the former Princes of Jin and Wu and embezzled untold quantities of gold and jewels. He took princely robes and crowns for himself, sat enthroned at a banquet, ordered boy actors to play music and offer him wine, shouted 'Long live the emperor,' and surrounded himself with regalia fit only for the throne. When he wished to buy a female Daoist as a concubine, he found that Commissioner-in-chief Xue Lu had already taken her; meeting Lu inside the palace, he beat him on the head until his skull nearly split and he almost died. He was enraged when the commander Yashitie Mu failed to make way for him in the street; he framed him for fraudulently claiming rewards and beat him to death. He had hundreds of sons of respectable families castrated to serve in his household. When an edict called for the selection of consorts and candidates passed inspection, they were sent home to await their year of service; Gang secretly took the most beautiful for himself. Shen Wansan, the former great magnate of Wu, had been stripped of his property in the Hongwu reign, yet his hidden wealth remained enormous. His son Wendu came crawling to Gang, offered gold, dragon horns, dragon-pattern quilts, rare treasures, and exotic silks, and begged to become his client and pay him tribute every year. Gang then ordered Wendu to procure the finest women of Wu for him. Wendu then used Gang's power to extort a ten percent cut and split the rest with himself.

綱又多蓄亡命，造刀甲弓弩萬計。端午，帝射柳，綱屬鎮撫龐瑛曰：「我故射不中，若折柳鼓噪，以覘眾意。」瑛如其言，無敢糾者。綱喜曰：「是無能難我矣。」遂謀不軌。十四年七月，內侍仇綱者發其罪，命給事、御史廷劾，下都察院按治，具有狀。即日磔綱於市，家屬無少長皆戍邊，列罪狀頒示天下。其黨敬、江、謙、春、瑛等，誅譴有差。

Gang also harbored many fugitives and had tens of thousands of blades, armor, bows, and crossbows made. On the Dragon Boat Festival, when the emperor shot at the willow branch, Gang told the registrar Pang Ying: I shall miss on purpose; if you break the willow and raise a shout, we can see how the crowd reacts. Ying did as he was told, and no one dared object. Gang said with delight: 'No one can stand in my way now. He then plotted rebellion. In the seventh month of the fourteenth year, the eunuch Chou Gang exposed his crimes; the emperor ordered supervising secretaries and censors to impeach him in open court and referred the case to the Censorate, where the charges were fully substantiated. That same day Gang was torn apart in the marketplace; every member of his household, young and old alike, was banished to the frontier, and his crimes were published throughout the empire. His accomplices Jing, Jiang, Qian, Chun, Ying, and others were executed or punished according to their guilt.

門達，豐潤人。襲父職為錦衣衛百戶。性機警沈鷙。正統末，進千戶，理鎮撫司刑。久之，遷指揮僉事，坐累解職。景泰七年復故官，佐理衛事兼鎮撫理刑。天順改元，與「奪門」功，進指揮同知。旋進指揮使，專任理刑。千戶謝通者，浙江人也，佐達理司事，用法仁恕，達倚信之。重獄多平反，有罪者以下禁獄為幸，朝士翕然稱達賢。然是時英宗慮廷臣黨比，欲知外事，倚錦衣官校為耳目，由是逯杲得大幸，達反為之用。

Men Da was a native of Fengrun. He inherited his father's post as a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He was sharp-witted, deep, and ruthless by nature. Near the end of the Zhengtong reign he was promoted to chiliarch and took charge of criminal cases in the registrar's office. In time he was promoted to vice commander, but was later dismissed when implicated in a case. In the seventh year of the Jingtai reign he was restored to office, assisted in running the guard, and again handled criminal cases as registrar. When the Tianshun era began, he was rewarded for his part in the "Storming the Gate" coup and promoted to commander of the second rank. Soon afterward he was promoted to commander of the first rank and put solely in charge of criminal cases. The chiliarch Xie Tong, a native of Zhejiang, assisted Da in running the office; he applied the law with mercy, and Da relied on him completely. Many serious cases were overturned; even the guilty considered it a blessing to be sent to his prison, and officials at court praised Da as a man of integrity. Yet Emperor Yingzong feared that his ministers were forming factions and wished to know what was happening outside the palace; he relied on the Embroidered Uniform Guard as his eyes and ears, and so Dai Gao won great favor while Da became his instrument.

逯杲者，安平人也，以錦衣衛校尉為達及指揮劉敬腹心，從「奪門」。帝大治奸黨，杲縛錦衣百戶楊瑛，指為張永親屬，又執千戶劉勤於朝，奏其訕上，兩人並坐誅。用楊善薦，授本衛百戶。以捕妖賊功，進副千戶。又用曹吉祥薦，擢指揮僉事。帝以杲強鷙，委任之，杲乃摭群臣細故以稱帝旨。英國公張懋、太平侯張瑾、外戚會昌侯孫繼宗兄弟並侵官田，杲劾奏，還其田於官。懋等皆服罪，乃已。石亨恃寵不法，帝漸惡之，杲即伺其陰事。亨從子彪有罪下獄，命杲赴大同械其黨都指揮朱諒等七十六人。杲因發彪弟慶他罪，連及者皆坐，杲進指揮同知。明年復奏亨怨望，懷不軌，亨下獄死。有詔盡革「奪門」功，達、杲言臣等俱特恩，非以亨故。帝優詔留任，以杲發亨奸，益加倚重。

Dai Gao was a native of Anping who served as a bailiff in the Embroidered Uniform Guard; he was a trusted agent of Da and Commander Liu Jing and took part in the "Storming the Gate" coup. When the emperor moved vigorously against treacherous factions, Gao arrested the centurion Yang Ying of the guard, claiming he was related to Zhang Yong, and seized the chiliarch Liu Qin at court on a charge of mocking the emperor; both men were executed. On the recommendation of Yang Shan he was appointed a centurion in the guard. For capturing rebel sorcerers he was promoted to deputy chiliarch. On the recommendation of Cao Jixiang he was further promoted to vice commander. The emperor found Gao fierce and capable and entrusted him with power; Gao then collected petty offenses of officials to please the emperor. The Duke of Ying Zhang Mao, the Marquis of Taiping Zhang Jin, and the maternal relatives the Marquis of Huichang Sun Jizong and his brothers had all seized government land; Gao impeached them and had the land restored to the state. Mao and the others all confessed their guilt before he relented. Shi Heng abused the emperor's favor and broke the law; as the emperor's dislike grew, Gao began to watch for his misdeeds. When Heng's nephew Biao was imprisoned, the emperor ordered Gao to go to Datong and arrest Biao's followers, including the commander Zhu Liang and seventy-six others. Gao then uncovered other crimes committed by Biao's younger brother Qing; all those implicated were punished, and Gao was promoted to commander of the second rank. The following year he memorialized again that Heng harbored resentment and plotted rebellion; Heng was imprisoned and died there. When an edict ordered that all rewards from the "Storming the Gate" coup be revoked, Da and Gao argued that they had received special favor and not on Heng's account. The emperor issued a gracious edict allowing them to keep their posts; because Gao had exposed Heng's treachery, the emperor relied on him all the more.

杲益發舒，勢出達上。白遣校尉偵事四方，文武大吏、富家高門多進伎樂貨賄以祈免，親藩郡王亦然。無賄者輒執送達，鍛煉成獄。天下朝覲官大半被譴，逮一人，數大家立破。四方奸民詐稱校尉，乘傳縱橫，無所忌。鼓城伯張瑾以葬妻稱疾不朝，而與諸公侯飲私第。杲劾奏，幾得重罪。杲所遣校尉誣寧府弋陽王奠壏母子亂，帝遣官往勘，事已白，靖王奠培等亦言無左驗。帝怒責杲，杲執如初，帝竟賜奠壏母子死。方舁屍出，大雷雨，平地水數尺，人鹹以為冤。指揮使李斌嘗構殺弘農衛千戶陳安，為安家所訴，下巡按御史邢宥覆讞，石亨囑宥薄斌罪。至是，校尉言：「斌素藏妖書，謂其弟健當有大位，欲陰結外番為石亨報仇。」杲以聞，下錦衣獄，達坐斌謀反。帝兩命廷臣會訊，畏杲不敢平反。斌兄弟置極刑，坐死者二十八人。

Gao grew ever more arrogant, and his power eclipsed Da's. He regularly sent his agents to spy throughout the empire; high officials and wealthy families showered him with entertainers, gifts, and bribes to avoid his attention, and even imperial princes did the same. Those who offered no bribes were seized and handed to Da, who fabricated cases against them. More than half of the officials who came to court for audience were punished; the arrest of a single man could ruin several great families at once. Rogue impostors throughout the empire posed as guard agents, traveled on government relay horses, and acted with complete impunity. The Earl of Gucheng Zhang Jin claimed illness and stayed away from court for his wife's funeral, yet feasted with other nobles in a private house. Gao impeached him, and he nearly suffered a severe penalty. An agent sent by Gao falsely accused the Prince of Yiyang of the Ning princedom, Mo Kan, and his mother of incest; the emperor sent officials to investigate, and when the case was cleared, the Prince of Jing Mo Pei and others testified that there was no evidence. The emperor angrily rebuked Gao, but Gao held to his story; in the end the emperor ordered Mo Kan and his mother put to death. As their bodies were being carried out, a violent thunderstorm broke, and water stood several feet deep on level ground; everyone took it as a sign of wrongful death. Commander Li Bin had once framed and killed the Hongnong Guard chiliarch Chen An; when the An family sued, the touring censor Xing You reviewed the case, and Shi Heng urged him to lighten Bin's sentence. Now a guard agent reported: 'Bin has long kept sorcerous texts claiming that his younger brother Jian is destined for greatness, and he seeks secretly to ally with foreign tribes to avenge Shi Heng. Gao reported this to the emperor; Bin was sent to the guard prison, and Da convicted him of treason. The emperor twice ordered court ministers to join in the interrogation, but they feared Gao and dared not overturn the verdict. Bin and his brothers suffered the most extreme punishments, and twenty-eight people died as a result of the case.

杲本由石亨、曹吉祥進，訐亨致死，復奏吉祥及其從子欽陰事，吉祥、欽大恨。五年七月，欽反，入杲第斬之，取其首以去。事平，贈杲指揮使，給其子指揮僉事俸。

Gao had risen through the patronage of Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang; he impeached Heng until Heng died, then reported Jixiang and his nephew Qin for their hidden misdeeds, and both men came to hate him bitterly. In the seventh month of the fifth year Qin rebelled, entered Gao's house, cut off his head, and carried it away. After the rebellion was suppressed, Gao was posthumously made a commander, and his son was granted a commander's third-rank salary.

時達已掌衛事，仍兼理刑。杲被殺，達以守衛功，進都指揮僉事。初，杲給事達左右，及得誌恣甚。達怒，力逐之。杲旋復官，欲傾達，達惴惴不敢縱。杲死，達勢遂張。欲踵杲所為，益布旗校於四方。告訐者日盛，中外重足立，帝益以為能。

By then Da already controlled the guard and still handled criminal cases as well. After Gao was killed, Da was promoted to commander of the third rank for his service in defending the palace. At first Gao had served at Da's side, but once he gained power he grew wildly arrogant. Da grew angry and drove him out by force. Gao soon returned to office and sought to destroy Da, who lived in fear and no longer dared act as he pleased. Once Gao was dead, Da's power expanded without restraint. Intent on repeating Gao's methods, he spread his banner guards even farther across the empire. Informers multiplied by the day; throughout the court and the realm people walked in fear, stepping lightly as if on each other's toes, and the emperor only admired Da the more for it.

外戚都指揮孫紹宗及軍士六十七人冒討曹欽功，達發其事。紹宗被責讓，余悉下獄。盜竊戶部山西司庫金，巡城御史徐茂劾郎中趙昌、主事王珪、徐源疏縱。達治其事，皆下獄謫官。達以囚多，獄舍少，不能容，請城西武邑庫隙地增置之，報可。御史樊英、主事鄭瑛犯贓罪。給事中趙忠等報不以實。達劾其徇私，亦下獄謫官。給事中程萬里等五人直登聞鼓，有軍士妻冤，會齋戒不為奏。達劾諸人蒙蔽，詔下達治。已，劾南京戶部侍郎馬諒，左都御史石璞，掌前府忻城伯趙榮，都督同知範雄、張斌老瞆，皆罷去。裕州民奏知州秦永昌衣黃衣閱兵。帝怒，命達遣官核，籍其貲，戮永昌，榜示天下。並逮布政使侯臣、按察使吳中以下及先後巡按御史吳琬等四人下獄，臣等停俸，琬等謫縣丞。御史李蕃按宣府，或告蕃擅撻軍職，用軍容迎送。御史楊琎按遼東，韓琪按山西，校尉言其妄作威福。皆下達治，蕃、琪並荷校死。陜西督儲參政婁良，湖廣參議李孟芳，陜西按察使錢博，福建僉事包瑛，陜西僉事李觀，四川巡按田斌，雲南巡按張祚，清軍御史程萬鐘及刑部郎中馮維、孫瓊，員外郎貝鈿，給事中黃甄，皆為校尉所發下獄。瑛守官無玷，不勝憤，自縊死，其他多遣戍。湖廣諸生馬雲罪黜，詐稱錦衣鎮撫，奉命葬親，布政使孫毓等八人鹹賻祭。事覺，法司請逮問，卒不罪雲。達初欲行督責之術，其同列呂貴曰：「武臣不易犯，曹欽可鑒也。獨文吏易裁耳。」達以為然，故文吏禍尤酷。

The imperial kinsman and commander Sun Shaozong, together with sixty-seven soldiers, falsely claimed credit for suppressing Cao Qin's rebellion, and Da exposed the fraud. Shaozong was rebuked, and all the others were thrown into prison. When gold was stolen from the Shanxi treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, the wall-patrol censor Xu Mao impeached the bureau director Zhao Chang and the section chiefs Wang Gui and Xu Yuan for negligent oversight. Da took charge of the case, and all of them were imprisoned and demoted. Prisoners had grown too numerous for the existing cells, so Da asked to expand the jails onto vacant ground beside the arsenal storehouse west of the city, and the request was approved. The censor Fan Ying and the section chief Zheng Ying were guilty of embezzlement. The supervising secretaries Zhao Zhong and others filed reports that did not reflect the facts. Da impeached them for bending the law out of personal favor, and they too were imprisoned and demoted. Five supervising secretaries, including Cheng Wanli, went directly to the Gongwen Drum because a soldier's wife had been wronged, but during the period of ritual fasting they failed to submit her petition. Da impeached them for suppressing the complaint, and an edict ordered them handed over to him for punishment. He next impeached the Nanjing Vice Minister of Revenue Ma Liang, the Left Censor-in-chief Shi Pu, the Xincheng Earl Zhao Rong, who managed the former palace, and the vice commanders Fan Xiong and Zhang Bin as senile and unfit; all were removed from office. The people of Yuzhou reported that Prefect Qin Yongchang had reviewed troops while dressed in yellow robes. The emperor flew into a rage, ordered Da to send officials to investigate, confiscate Yongchang's property, execute him, and publish the sentence throughout the realm. He also had the provincial administration commissioner Hou Chen, the provincial surveillance commissioner Wu Zhong, and their subordinates arrested, together with four touring censors who had served there in turn, including Wu Wan; Chen and the others had their salaries suspended, while Wan and his colleagues were demoted to assistant magistrates. When the censor Li Fan was on inspection in Xuanfu, someone accused him of flogging military officers at will and receiving guests with full military ceremony. The censor Yang Jin was inspecting Liaodong and Han Qi was inspecting Shanxi when guard agents reported that both men had abused their authority. All were handed over to Da for punishment; Fan and Qi both died in the cangue. Lou Liang, vice commissioner for grain storage in Shaanxi; Li Mengfang, vice commissioner in Huguang; Qian Bo, surveillance commissioner in Shaanxi; Bao Ying, intendant in Fujian; Li Guan, intendant in Shaanxi; Tian Bin, touring censor in Sichuan; Zhang Zuo, touring censor in Yunnan; Cheng Wanzhong, troop-review censor; Feng Wei and Sun Qiong, bureau directors in the Ministry of Justice; Bei Dian, bureau vice director; and Huang Zhen, supervising secretary—all were denounced by guard agents and thrown into prison. Bao Ying had served without reproach; unable to endure the humiliation, he hanged himself, while most of the others were sent into exile. Ma Yun, a student in Huguang who had been expelled for misconduct, falsely claimed to be an Embroidered Uniform garrison commissioner on imperial orders to bury his parent, and the provincial administration commissioner Sun Yu and eight others all sent gifts and attended the funeral rites. When the fraud came to light, the judicial offices asked that he be arrested and questioned, but in the end Yun went unpunished. Da at first meant to extend his harsh supervision to military officials as well, but his colleague Lü Gui said, 'Military men are not to be provoked lightly — Cao Qin's rebellion is warning enough. Civil officials alone are easy to bring down. Da agreed, and from then on civil officials suffered the cruelest punishments of all.

都指揮袁彬恃帝舊恩，不為達下。達深銜之，廉知彬妾父千戶王欽誆人財，奏請下彬獄，論贖徒還職。有趙安者，初為錦衣力士役於彬，後謫戍鐵嶺衛，赦還，改府軍前衛，有罪，下詔獄。達坐安改補府軍由彬請托故，乃復捕彬，搒掠，誣彬受石亨、曹欽賄，用官木為私第，索內官督工者磚瓦，奪人子女為妾諸罪名。軍匠楊塤不平，擊登聞鼓為彬訟冤，語侵達，詔並下達治。當是時，達害大學士李賢寵，又數規己，嘗譖於帝，言賢受陸瑜金，酬以尚書。帝疑之，不下詔者半載。至是，拷掠塤，教以引賢，塤即謬曰：「此李學士導我也。」達大喜，立奏聞，請法司會鞫塤午門外。帝遣中官裴當監視。達欲執賢並訊，當曰：「大臣不可辱。」乃止。及訊，塤曰：「吾小人，何由見李學士，此門錦衣教我。」達色沮不能言，彬亦歷數達納賄狀，法司畏達不敢聞，坐彬絞輸贖，塤斬。帝命彬贖畢調南京錦衣，而禁錮塤。

The commander Yuan Bin, trusting in old favor from the emperor, refused to bow to Da. Da hated him deeply, investigated and found that the father of Bin's concubine, the chiliarch Wang Qin, had swindled people's property, then memorialized to have Bin imprisoned; Bin was sentenced to penal servitude with redemption and then restored to office. There was a man named Zhao An who had first served Bin as an Embroidered Uniform strongman, was later banished to Tieling Guard, was pardoned and transferred to the Front Guard of the Five Armies, then committed an offense and was sent to the imperial prison. Da ruled that An's transfer to the Front Guard had come through Bin's intercession, then had Bin arrested again, tortured him, and fabricated charges that he had taken bribes from Shi Heng and Cao Qin, used official timber to build a private residence, extorted bricks and tiles from eunuchs supervising construction, and seized people's sons and daughters as concubines. The military artisan Yang Yong, outraged by the injustice, beat the Gongwen Drum to plead Bin's case; his words implicated Da, and an edict ordered both men handed over to Da for punishment. At that time Da resented Grand Secretary Li Xian both for his imperial favor and for repeatedly admonishing him; he had once slandered Xian to the emperor, claiming that Xian had taken gold from Lu Yu and repaid him with a ministerial appointment. The emperor was suspicious, and for half a year he withheld the appointment edict. Now Da tortured Yong and coached him to implicate Xian; Yong falsely declared, 'It was Academician Li who put me up to this. Da was delighted, immediately reported the matter, and asked the judicial offices to join in interrogating Yong outside the Meridian Gate. The emperor sent the eunuch Pei Dang to oversee the proceedings. Da wanted to seize Xian and question him as well, but Dang said, 'Grand ministers must not be humiliated. With that, Da desisted. Under questioning, Yong said, 'I am a nobody — how could I ever have seen Academician Li? The guard taught me to say this. Da's face fell and he was speechless; Bin also recounted Da's bribery at length, but the judicial offices feared Da and dared not report it; Bin was sentenced to strangulation with redemption, and Yong to decapitation. The emperor ordered that once Bin had redeemed his sentence he be transferred to the Nanjing Embroidered Uniform Guard, while Yong was imprisoned instead of executed.

明年，帝疾篤，達知東宮局丞王綸必柄用，預為結納。無何，憲宗嗣位，綸敗，達坐調貴州都勻衛帶俸差操。甫行，言官交章論其罪。命逮治，論斬系獄，沒其貲巨萬，指揮張山同謀殺人，罪如之。子序班升、從子千戶清、婿指揮楊觀及其黨都指揮牛循等九人，謫戍、降調有差。後當審錄，命貸達，發廣西南丹衛充軍，死。

The following year, as the emperor's illness grew grave, Da knew that the Eastern Palace bureau attendant Wang Lun would surely rise to power and set about cultivating him in advance. Before long the Xianzong Emperor succeeded to the throne; when Lun fell from power, Da was transferred to Dudun Guard in Guizhou, retaining his salary but assigned to menial duty. Hardly had he set out when censorial officials submitted memorial after memorial denouncing his crimes. An order went out for his arrest and trial; he was sentenced to decapitation and imprisoned, and property worth a fortune was confiscated; the commander Zhang Shan, his accomplice in murder, received the same sentence. His son Sheng, a ceremonial usher; his nephew Qing, a chiliarch; his son-in-law Yang Guan, a commander; and his followers, including the commander Niu Xun — nine men in all — were exiled or demoted to varying degrees. When the death sentences came up for review, the emperor ordered Da spared; he was sent to serve as a common soldier at Nandan Guard in Guangxi, where he died.

李孜省

Li Zisheng

李孜省，南昌人。以布政司吏待選京職，贓事發，匿不歸。時憲宗好方術，孜省乃學五雷法，厚結中官梁芳、錢義，以符箓進。成化十五年，特旨授太常丞。御史楊守隨、給事中李俊等劾孜省贓吏，不宜典祭祀，乃改上林苑監丞。日寵幸，賜金冠、法劍及印章二，許密封奏請。益獻淫邪方術，與芳等表裏為奸，漸干預政事。十七年，擢右通政，寄俸本司，仍掌監事。同官王昶輕之，不加禮。孜省譖昶，左遷太仆少卿。故事，寄俸官不得預郊壇分獻，帝特以命孜省。廷臣懲昶事，無敢執奏者。

Li Zisheng was a native of Nanchang. While serving as a clerk in the provincial administration commission and awaiting appointment to a capital post, he was exposed for embezzlement and went into hiding rather than return. The Xianzong Emperor was then devoted to esoteric arts, so Zisheng studied the Five Thunder rite, cultivated close ties with the eunuchs Liang Fang and Qian Yi, and gained access to court by presenting talismans and ritual registers. In the fifteenth year of the Chenghua reign he was appointed Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices by special imperial edict. The censor Yang Shousui and the supervising secretary Li Jun and others impeached Zisheng as a corrupt clerk unfit to oversee state sacrifices, and he was reassigned as Vice Director of the Imperial Park. His favor only grew; he received a golden crown, a ritual sword, and two seals, and was allowed to submit sealed memorials directly to the emperor. He offered ever more lascivious and heterodox arts, worked hand in glove with Fang and his circle, and gradually began to meddle in government affairs. In the seventeenth year he was promoted to Right Vice Commissioner of the Office of Transmission, with salary attached to that office, while continuing to manage the Imperial Park. His colleague Wang Chang looked down on him and showed him no courtesy. Zisheng slandered Chang, who was demoted to Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. By precedent, officials drawing attached salaries were not permitted to take part in suburban sacrificial offerings, but the emperor made a special exception for Zisheng. Court ministers, chastened by what had happened to Chang, dared not memorialize in protest.

初，帝踐位甫逾月，即命中官傳旨，用工人為文思院副使。自後相繼不絕，一傳旨姓名至百十人，時謂之傳奉官，文武、僧道濫恩澤者數千。鄧常恩、趙玉芝、淩中、顧工及奸僧繼曉輩，皆尊顯，與孜省相倚為奸，然權寵皆出孜省下。居二年，進左通政。給事中王瑞、御史張稷等交劾之。乃貶二秩，為本司左參議，他貶黜者又十二人。蓋特借以塞中外之望，孜省寵固未嘗替也。頃之，復遷左通政。

Barely a month after ascending the throne, the emperor began ordering eunuchs to transmit edicts appointing artisans as Deputy Directors of the Academy of Literary Design. Thereafter such appointments never stopped; a single transmitted edict might name a hundred people or more. They were called transmitted-appointment officials, and thousands of civil and military officials, monks, and Daoist priests received undeserved imperial favor. Deng Chang'en, Zhao Yuzhi, Ling Zhong, Gu Gong, and the villainous monk Ji Xiao and men like them all rose to exalted rank; they worked in league with Zisheng, yet all power and favor flowed from him. After two years he was promoted to Left Vice Commissioner of Transmission. The supervising secretary Wang Rui, the censor Zhang Ji, and others submitted joint impeachments against him. He was demoted two ranks to Left Assistant Commissioner of the same office, and twelve others were demoted as well. The demotion was only a gesture to appease public opinion; Zisheng's favor had not diminished in the least. Before long he was restored to Left Vice Commissioner of Transmission.

二十一年正月，星變求言。九卿大臣、給事御史皆極論傳奉官之弊，首及孜省、常恩等。帝頗感悟，貶孜省上林監丞，令吏部錄冗濫者名凡五百余人。帝為留六十七人，余皆斥罷，中外大說。孜省緣是恨廷臣甚，構逐主事張吉、員外郎彭綱，而益以左道持帝意。其年十月，再復左通政，益作威福。構罪吏部尚書尹旻及其子侍講龍。又假扶鸞術言江西人赤心報國，於是致仕副都御史劉敷、禮部郎中黃景、南京兵部侍郎尹直、工部尚書李裕、禮部侍郎謝一夔，皆因之以進。間采時望，若學士楊守陳、倪嶽，少詹事劉健，都御史余子俊，李敏諸名臣，悉密封推薦。搢紳進退，多出其口，執政大臣萬安、劉吉、彭華從而附麗之。通政邊鏞為僉都御史，李和為南京戶部侍郎，皆其力也。所排擠江西巡撫閔珪、洗馬羅璟、兵部尚書馬文升、順天府丞楊守隨，皆被譴，朝野側目。

In the first month of the twenty-first year, an irregularity in the heavens prompted the court to solicit candid memorials. The Nine Ministers, grand secretaries, supervising secretaries, and censors all denounced the abuses of transmitted-appointment officials, naming Zisheng, Chang'en, and their circle first of all. The emperor was somewhat moved; he demoted Zisheng to Vice Director of the Imperial Park and ordered the Ministry of Personnel to compile a list of more than five hundred redundant appointees. The emperor kept sixty-seven of them and dismissed all the rest, to widespread rejoicing inside and outside the court. Zisheng came to hate the court ministers bitterly for this; he framed and drove out the section chief Zhang Ji and the bureau director Peng Gang, and relied all the more on heterodox arts to hold the emperor's favor. That October he was again made Left Vice Commissioner of Transmission and abused his power more flagrantly than ever. He fabricated charges against the Minister of Personnel Yin Min and his son Long, a Hanlin lecturer. He also used planchette divination to declare that men of Jiangxi were loyal at heart and eager to serve the state, and on that pretext the retired Vice Censor-in-chief Liu Fu, the Bureau Director Huang Jing, the Nanjing Vice Minister of War Yin Zhi, the Minister of Works Li Yu, and the Vice Minister of Rites Xie Yikuai all rose to power. From time to time he also picked men of public esteem — the academicians Yang Shouchen and Ni Yue, the Junior Guardian Liu Jian, the Censor-in-chief Yu Zijun, Li Min, and other celebrated ministers — and recommended them all by sealed memorial. The rise and fall of officials largely depended on his word, and the ruling grand secretaries Wan An, Liu Ji, and Peng Hua attached themselves to his power. Bian Yong's appointment as Vice Censor-in-chief and Li He's as Nanjing Vice Minister of Revenue both came through his influence. Those he pushed aside — the Jiangxi Grand Coordinator Min Gui, the Hanlin reader Luo Jing, the Minister of War Ma Wensheng, and the Shuntian Assistant Prefect Yang Shousui — were all punished, and both court and country looked on in dismay.

吏部奏通政使缺，即以命孜省，而右通政陳政以下五人，遞進一官。時張文質方以尚書掌司事，通政故未嘗缺使也。已，復擢禮部右侍郎，掌通政如故。

When the Ministry of Personnel reported a vacancy in the Office of Transmission, Zisheng was immediately appointed to the post, and the five officials below Right Vice Commissioner Chen Zheng each moved up one rank. At the time Zhang Wenzhi was already managing the office as Minister, so the post of commissioner had never truly been vacant at all. Soon afterward he was promoted again to Vice Minister of Rites while continuing to manage the Office of Transmission as before.

常恩，臨江人，因中官陳喜進。玉芝，番禺人，因中官高諒進。並以曉方術，累擢太常卿。玉芝丁母憂，特賜祭葬，大治塋域，制度逾等。工、中不知何許人。工以扶鸞術，累官太常少卿，喪母賜祭，且給贈誥。故事，四品未三載無給誥賜祭者，憲宗特予之。吏部尚書尹旻因請並贈其父。未幾，進本寺卿。其二子經、綸，亦官太常少卿。中以善書供事文華殿，不數年為太常卿。逾月，以諫官言，降寺丞。孜省以星變貶，常恩亦貶本寺丞，而玉芝、工、中並如故。孜省復通政，常恩亦復太常卿。

Chang'en was a native of Linjiang who gained access through the eunuch Chen Xi. Yuzhi was a native of Panyu who gained access through the eunuch Gao Liang. Both, being skilled in esoteric arts, were repeatedly promoted until they reached the directorship of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When Yuzhi's mother died, the emperor specially granted funeral sacrifices and a state burial; his tomb was built on a lavish scale far beyond what his rank allowed. The native places of Gong and Zhong are unknown. Gong, through planchette divination, rose step by step to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; when his mother died he was granted funeral sacrifices and even a posthumous patent of nobility for her. By precedent, fourth-rank officials who had not completed three years of service were not granted patents of nobility or state funeral sacrifices; the Xianzong Emperor made a special exception in his case. The Minister of Personnel Yin Min thereupon asked that his own father be posthumously ennobled as well. Before long he was promoted to Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. His two sons, Jing and Lun, also held the post of Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Zhong, through his skill at calligraphy, served at the Wenhua Hall, and within a few years he became Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. After a month, on the advice of remonstrating officials, he was demoted to Assistant Director of the Court. Zisheng was demoted on account of the stellar omen; Chang'en was also demoted to Assistant Director of the Court, but Yuzhi, Gong, and Zhong remained as they were. Zisheng was restored to the Office of Transmission, and Chang'en was also restored to Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

有李文昌者，試術不效，杖五十，斥還。岳州通判沈政以繪事夤緣至太常少卿，請斂天下貨財充內府。帝怒，下獄，杖謫廣西慶遠通判。人頗以為快。

There was a man named Li Wenchang whose arts failed when put to the test; he was beaten fifty strokes and sent away. Shen Zheng, assistant prefect of Yuezhou, had schemed his way through painting to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and requested that all the wealth of the empire be gathered to fill the inner treasury. The emperor was enraged, had him imprisoned and beaten, and banished him to serve as assistant prefect of Qingyuan in Guangxi. People widely rejoiced at this.

然群奸中外蟠結，士大夫附者日益多。進士郭宗由刑部主事，以篆刻為中人所引，擢尚寶少卿，日與市井工技伍，趨走闕廷。兵科左給事中張善吉謫官，因秘術幹中官高英，得召見，因自陳乞復給事中，士論以為羞。大學士萬安亦獻房中術以固寵。而諸雜流加侍郎、通政、太常、太仆、尚寶者，不可悉數。

Yet the villainous factions were intertwined within and without the court, and ever more scholar-officials attached themselves to them. The jinshi Guo Zong, formerly a clerk in the Ministry of Justice, was introduced by a eunuch for his seal-carving and was promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Seals; day after day he consorted with marketplace artisans and scurried about the imperial court. Zhang Shanji, a left supervising secretary in the Office of Personnel, had been demoted; he petitioned the eunuch Gao Ying through secret arts, gained an audience, and asked to be restored as supervising secretary — opinion among the literati held this shameful. Grand Secretary Wan An also presented bedchamber arts to secure the emperor's favor. And the miscellaneous fringe types promoted to vice minister, vice commissioner of transmission, court director, director of the imperial stud, and director of imperial seals were beyond count.

憲宗崩，孝宗嗣位，始用科道言，盡汰傳奉官，謫孜省、常恩、玉芝、工、中、經戍邊衛。又以中官蔣琮言，逮孜省、常恩、玉芝等下詔獄，坐交結近侍律斬，妻子流二千里。詔免死，仍戍邊。孜省不勝搒掠，瘐死。

When Emperor Xianzong died and Emperor Xiaozong succeeded, he at last took the censorial officials' advice, purged all transmitted-appointment officials, and banished Zisheng, Chang'en, Yuzhi, Gong, Zhong, and Jing to frontier garrisons. Then, on the word of the eunuch Jiang Cong, Zisheng, Chang'en, Yuzhi, and the others were arrested and thrown into the imperial prison; under the statute on colluding with close attendants they were sentenced to decapitation, and their wives and children were exiled two thousand li. An edict spared them death and sent them to frontier service instead. Zisheng could not endure the beating and died in prison of illness.

繼曉，江夏僧也。憲宗時，以秘術因梁芳進，授僧錄司左覺義。進右善世，命為通元翊教廣善國師。日誘帝為佛事，建大永昌寺於西市，逼徙民居數百家，費國帑數十萬。員外郎林俊請斬芳、繼曉以謝天下，幾得重譴。繼曉虞禍及，乞歸養母，並乞空名度牒五百道，帝悉從之。帝初即位，即以道士孫道玉為真人。其後西番僧劄巴堅參封萬行莊嚴功德最勝智慧圓明能仁感應顯國光教弘妙大悟法王西天至善金剛普濟大智慧佛，其徒劄實巴、鎖南堅參、端竹也失皆為國師，錫誥命。服食器用，僭擬王者。出入乘棕輿，衛卒執金吾仗前導，錦衣玉食幾千人。取荒冢頂骨為數珠，髑髏為法碗。給事中魏元等切諫，不納。尋進劄實巴為法王，班卓兒藏卜為國師，又封領占竹為萬行清脩真如自在廣善普慧弘度妙應掌教翊國正覺大濟法王西天圓智大慈悲佛，又封西天佛子答刂失藏卜、劄失堅參、乳奴班丹、鎖南堅參、法領占五人為法王，其他授西天佛子、大國師、國師、禪師者不可勝計。羽流加號真人、高士者，亦盈都下。大國師以上金印，真人玉冠、玉帶、玉珪、銀章。繼曉尤奸黠竊權，所奏請立從。成化二十一年，星變，言官極論其罪，始勒為民，而諸番僧如故。

Ji Xiao was a monk of Jiangxia. During the reign of Emperor Xianzong, through secret arts he gained entry via Liang Fang and was appointed Left Supervising Instructor of the Buddhist Registry. He was promoted to Right Virtuous World and appointed State Preceptor of the Nation Assisting in Teaching and Propagating the Way with Universal Goodness. Day after day he lured the emperor into Buddhist rites; he built the Great Yongchang Temple in the Western Market, forced several hundred commoner households to relocate, and spent several hundred thousand taels from the state treasury. The outside secretary Lin Jun asked that Fang and Ji Xiao be executed to appease the realm; he nearly suffered severe punishment himself. Ji Xiao, fearing disaster, begged leave to return home to care for his mother and also requested five hundred blank ordination certificates; the emperor granted everything. When the emperor first ascended the throne, he immediately appointed the Daoist Sun Daoyu as a True Man. Afterward the Western Tibetan monk Zaba jiancan was enfeoffed with the title Buddha of Ten Thousand Practices, Solemn Merit, Supreme Victorious Wisdom, Perfect Illumination, Capable Benevolence, Responsive Manifestation, Illustrious State, Expansive Teaching, Wondrous Great Enlightenment Dharma King, Western Heaven Ultimate Goodness Diamond Universal Salvation Great Wisdom Buddha; his disciples Zhashiba, Suonan jiancan, and Duanyeshi were all made State Preceptors and granted patent letters of appointment. Their food, drink, clothing, and implements were on a par with those of kings. Going out and returning, they rode in palanquins of palm fiber; guard soldiers wielded golden maces as vanguard, and nearly a thousand enjoyed brocade robes and jade fare. They took skulls from desolate graves for prayer beads and used craniums as ritual bowls. The supervising secretary Wei Yuan and others remonstrated sharply; the emperor did not accept their counsel. Before long Zhashiba was promoted to Dharma King and Banzhuo'er zangbu to State Preceptor; Lingzhan zhu was also enfeoffed as Buddha of Ten Thousand Practices, Pure Cultivation, True Suchness, Self-Existence, Broad Virtue, Universal Wisdom, Expansive Salvation, Wondrous Response, Teaching the Doctrine, Assisting the State, True Awakening, Great Salvation Dharma King, Western Heaven Perfect Wisdom Great Compassion Buddha; and five Buddha's Sons of the Western Heaven — Dashizangbu, Zhajian can, Runu Bandan, Suonan jiancan, and Fa Lingzhan — were enfeoffed as Dharma Kings; the others granted the titles Buddha's Son of the Western Heaven, Grand State Preceptor, State Preceptor, and Meditation Master were beyond reckoning. Daoist priests granted the titles True Man and Lofty Gentleman also filled the capital. Grand State Preceptors and above received golden seals; True Men received jade caps, jade belts, jade tablets, and silver seals. Ji Xiao was especially cunning and stole power; whatever he requested in memorial was immediately granted. In the twenty-first year of the Chenghua reign, when the stars changed, censorial officials denounced his crimes to the utmost, and he was at last stripped to commoner status, but the various Tibetan monks remained as before.

孝宗初，詔禮官議汰。禮官言諸寺法王至禪師四百三十七人，刺麻諸僧七百八十九人。華人為禪師及善世、覺義諸僧官一百二十人，道士自真人、高士及正一演法諸道官一百二十三人，請俱貶黜。詔法王、佛子遞降國師、禪師、都綱，余悉落職為僧，遣還本土，追奪誥敕、印章、儀仗諸法物。真人降左正一，高士降左演法，亦追奪印章及諸玉器。僧錄司止留善世等九員，道錄司留正一等八員，余皆廢黜。而繼曉以科臣林廷玉言，逮治棄市。

At the beginning of Emperor Xiaozong's reign, an edict ordered the rites officials to discuss reductions. The rites officials reported four hundred thirty-seven persons from Dharma Kings down to Meditation Masters in the various temples, and seven hundred eighty-nine lamas and other monks. One hundred twenty Chinese who held the rank of Meditation Master or such monastic offices as Virtuous World and Supervising Instructor, and one hundred twenty-three Daoists from True Man and Lofty Gentleman down to the various Daoist offices of Orthodox Unity Persuading the Law — all were requested to be degraded and dismissed. An edict ordered Dharma Kings and Buddha's Sons demoted in succession to State Preceptor, Meditation Master, and chief monk; the remainder were stripped of office, returned to common monkhood, sent back to their native places, and their patent letters, seals, regalia, and other ritual objects were recovered. True Men were demoted to Left Orthodox Unity and Lofty Gentlemen to Left Persuading the Law; their seals and jade objects were also recovered. The Buddhist Registry retained only nine posts such as Virtuous World; the Daoist Registry kept eight posts such as Orthodox Unity; all others were abolished and dismissed. Ji Xiao, on the word of the censor Lin Tingyu, was arrested, tried, and executed in the marketplace.

江彬，宣府人。初為蔚州衛指揮僉事。正德六年，畿內賊起，京軍不能制，調邊兵。彬以大同遊擊隸總兵官張俊赴調。過薊州，殺一家二十余人，誣為賊，得賞。後與賊戰淮上，被三矢，其一著面，鏃出於耳，拔之更戰。武宗聞而壯之。七年，賊漸平，遣邊兵還鎮大同、宣府。軍過京師，犒之，遂並宣府守將許泰皆留不遣。彬因錢寧得召見。帝見其矢痕，呼曰：「彬健能爾耶！」彬狡黠強很，貌魁碩有力，善騎射，談兵帝前，帝大說，擢都指揮僉事，出入豹房，同臥起。嘗與帝弈不遜，千戶周騏叱之。彬陷騏搒死，左右皆畏彬。彬導帝微行，數至教坊司；進鋪花氈幄百六十二間，制與離宮等，帝出行幸皆禦之。

Jiang Bin was a native of Xuanfu. At first he was assistant commander of Youzhou Guard. In the sixth year of the Zhengde reign, rebels rose within the capital region and the capital army could not suppress them, so frontier troops were mobilized. Bin, as roaming commander of Datong, followed the regional commander Zhang Jun to the mobilization. Passing through Jizhou, he killed more than twenty people in one household, falsely claimed they were bandits, and received a reward. Later he fought bandits on the Huai; he took three arrows, one striking his face with the point emerging at his ear; he pulled it out and fought on. Emperor Wuzong heard this and admired his valor. In the seventh year, as the rebels were gradually suppressed, the frontier troops were sent back to garrison Datong and Xuanfu. When the army passed the capital, the emperor rewarded them and then kept both the Xuanfu garrison commander Xu Tai and the troops from being dismissed. Through Qian Ning, Bin gained an audience. Seeing the scar from the arrow, the emperor cried out, "So strong, Bin — you can do such things?! Bin was cunning, forceful, and obstinate; he had a towering, powerful build, excelled at horsemanship and archery, and when he spoke of military affairs before the emperor, the emperor was greatly pleased. He was promoted to vice commander of the guard, entered and left the Leopard Quarter, and slept and rose together with the emperor. Once he played weiqi with the emperor without proper deference; the chiliarch Zhou Qi rebuked him. Bin framed Qi, who was beaten to death; those about the emperor all feared Bin. Bin led the emperor on incognito outings, going many times to the Music Office; He presented one hundred sixty-two flower-pattern felt tents, made to the same standard as detached palaces; whenever the emperor went out on tour he used them.

寧見彬驟進，意不平。一日，帝捕虎，召寧，寧縮不前。虎迫帝，彬趨撲乃解。帝戲曰：「吾自足辦，安用爾。」然心德彬而嗛寧。寧他日短彬，帝不應。彬知寧不相容，顧左右皆寧黨，欲籍邊兵自固，固盛稱邊軍驍悍勝京軍，請互調操練。言官交諫，大學士李東陽疏稱十不便，皆不聽。於是調遼東、宣府、大同、延綏四鎮軍入京師，號外四家，縱橫都市。每團練大內，間以角戲。帝戎服臨之，與彬聯騎出，鎧甲相錯，幾不可辨。

Ning saw Bin's sudden rise and felt resentful. One day the emperor was catching a tiger and summoned Ning; Ning shrank back and would not advance. The tiger pressed the emperor; Bin rushed forward and grappled with it before the danger passed. The emperor said in jest, "I can handle this myself — what need have I of you? Yet in his heart he was grateful to Bin and resentful toward Ning. On another day Ning spoke ill of Bin, but the emperor did not respond. Bin knew Ning could not tolerate him; looking about, he saw that those close at hand were all Ning's partisans. Wishing to rely on frontier troops to secure himself, he repeatedly praised the frontier army as fierce and superior to the capital troops and asked that they be mutually rotated for training. Censorial officials remonstrated one after another; Grand Secretary Li Dongyang submitted a memorial listing ten inconveniences — all were ignored. Thereupon troops from the four garrisons of Liaodong, Xuanfu, Datong, and Yansui were transferred into the capital, styled the Four Outer Households, and rampaged through the city. Each time they drilled in the inner palace, wrestling and sumo-style contests were interspersed among the exercises. The emperor in military garb inspected them; riding out linked with Bin, their armor mingled and they were nearly indistinguishable.

八年命許泰領敢勇營，彬領神威營。改太平倉為鎮國府，處邊兵。建西官廳於奮武營。賜彬、泰國姓。越二年，遷都督僉事。彬薦萬全都指揮李琮、陜西都指揮神周勇略，並召侍豹房，同賜姓為義兒。毀積慶、鳴玉二坊民居，造皇店酒肆，建義子府。四鎮軍，彬兼統之。帝自領群閹善射者為一營，號中軍。晨夕馳逐，甲光照宮苑，呼噪聲達九門。帝時臨閱，名過錦。諸營悉衣黃罩甲，泰、琮、周等冠遮陽帽，帽植天鵝翎，貴者三翎，次二翎。兵部尚書王瓊得賜一翎，自喜甚。

In the eighth year Xu Tai was ordered to command the Daring Valor Battalion and Bin the Divine Might Battalion. The Taiping Granary was converted into Zhenguo Prefecture to house the frontier troops. A western official hall was built at the Fenwu Battalion. Bin and Tai were granted the imperial surname. Two years later he was transferred to vice commissioner of the guard. Bin recommended Li Cong, regional commander of Wanquan, and Shen Zhou, regional commander of Shaanxi, for courage and strategy; both were summoned to attend at the Leopard Quarter and likewise granted the surname as sworn sons. Residential quarters in Jiqing and Mingyu wards were demolished to build imperial shops and wine-houses and to construct a Palace of Sworn Sons. Bin commanded all four frontier armies jointly. The emperor personally led a battalion of eunuchs skilled in archery, called the Central Army. Morning and evening they galloped and chased one another; the glint of armor lit up the palace grounds, and their shouts reached the Nine Gates. The emperor sometimes inspected them in person, naming the event Passing through Brocade. All battalions wore yellow cover-armor; Tai, Cong, Zhou, and the like wore sun-shading caps with swan plumes planted in them — the most honored had three plumes, the next rank two. The Minister of War Wang Qiong received a gift of one plume and was exceedingly pleased with himself.

彬既心忌寧，欲導帝巡幸遠寧。因數言宣府樂工多美婦人，且可觀邊釁，瞬息馳千里，何郁郁居大內，為廷臣所制。帝然之。十二年八月，急裝微服出幸昌平，至居庸關，為御史張欽所遮，乃還。數日，復夜出。先令太監谷大用代欽，止廷臣追諫者。因度居庸，幸宣府。彬為建鎮國府第，悉輦豹房珍玩、女禦實其中。彬從帝，數夜入人家，索婦女。帝大樂之，忘歸，稱曰家裏。未幾，幸陽和。迤北五萬騎入寇，諸將王勛等力戰。至應州，寇引去。斬首十六級，官軍死數百人，以捷聞京師。帝自稱威武大將軍朱壽，又自稱鎮國公，所駐蹕稱軍門。中外事無大小，白彬乃奏，或壅格至二三歲。廷臣前後切諫，悉置不省。

Bin, already jealous of Ning at heart, wished to lead the emperor on tours to the distant frontier. He repeatedly said that Xuanfu had many beautiful women among its musicians, and that one could view frontier hostilities there; in an instant one could gallop a thousand li — why stay gloomily in the inner palace, constrained by court ministers? The emperor thought this right. In the eighth month of the twelfth year, hastily packing and in plain dress he went out in secret to visit Changping; at Juyong Pass he was blocked by the censor Zhang Qin and had to return. Several days later he went out again at night. First he ordered the eunuch Gu Dayong to replace Qin and stop the court ministers who pursued to remonstrate. Thus crossing Juyong, he proceeded in person to Xuanfu. Bin built a Zhenguo Prefecture mansion for him and had all the treasures and women of the Leopard Quarter carted there. Following the emperor, Bin many times entered people's houses by night and demanded women. The emperor greatly delighted in this, forgot about returning, and called the place home. Before long he visited Yanghe. Fifty thousand cavalry from the north invaded; the generals Wang Xun and others fought hard. At Yingzhou the raiders withdrew. Sixteen heads were taken and several hundred soldiers and officers died, yet victory was reported to the capital. The emperor styled himself the Great General of Might and Martiality Zhu Shou, and also styled himself Duke of Zhenguo; the place where he halted was called Military Gate. Matters great and small at court and without were first reported to Bin before memorializing, or were sometimes blocked for two or three years. Court ministers remonstrated sharply before and after, but all were ignored.

十三年正月還京，數念宣府。彬復導帝往，因幸大同。聞太皇太后崩，乃還京發喪。將葬，如昌平，祭告諸陵，遂幸黃花、密雲。彬等掠良家女數十車，日載以隨，有死者。永平知府毛思義忤彬，下獄謫官。典膳李恭疏請回鑾，指斥彬罪。未及止，彬逮恭死詔獄。帝駐大喜峰口，欲令朵顏三衛花當、把兒孫等納質宴勞，御史劉士元陳四不可，不報。帝既還，下詔稱總督軍務威武大將軍總兵官朱壽統率六軍，而命彬為威武副將軍。錄應州功，封彬平虜伯；子三人，錦衣衛指揮；泰，安邊伯；琮、周，俱都督。升賞內外官九千五百五十余人，賞賜億萬計。

In the first month of the thirteenth year he returned to the capital, yet his thoughts kept turning to Xuanfu. Bin again guided the emperor thither, and the emperor proceeded in person to Datong. When word came that the Grand Empress Dowager had died, he returned to the capital to announce the mourning. As the burial approached, he went to Changping to offer sacrifices and announce the news at the imperial tombs, then proceeded in person to Huanghua and Miyun. Bin and his men seized daughters of respectable families by the cartload—dozens of carts in all—and carried them along day after day; some died on the road. Mao Siyi, prefect of Yongping, gave offense to Bin and was thrown into prison and demoted from office. Li Gong, director of palace provisions, memorialized urging the emperor to return to the capital and denouncing Bin's crimes. Before the memorial could be halted, Bin had Gong seized; Gong died in the imperial prison. The emperor halted at Daxingfeng Pass and wished to have Huadang, Ba'ersun, and others of the Three Guards of Duoyan submit hostages and be feasted and rewarded. The censor Liu Shiyuan set forth four reasons why this should not be done, but received no reply. After the emperor returned, an edict declared that Zhu Shou, Great General of Might and Martiality, Commander-in-Chief, and Governor of Military Affairs, commanded the Six Armies, and appointed Bin Deputy Great General of Might and Martiality. Merit at Yingzhou was recorded, and Bin was enfeoffed as Baron Who Pacifies the Barbarians; his three sons were made commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; Tai was made Baron Who Pacifies the Frontier; Cong and Zhou were both made regional commanders. More than nine thousand five hundred fifty officials at court and throughout the empire were promoted and rewarded, and gifts ran into the hundreds of millions.

彬又導帝由大同渡黃河，次榆林，至綏德，幸總兵官戴欽第，納其女。還，由西安歷偏頭關，抵太原，大徵女樂，納晉府樂工楊騰妻劉氏以歸。彬與諸近幸皆母事之，稱曰劉娘娘。初，延綏總兵官馬昂罷免，有女弟善歌，能騎射，解外國語，嫁指揮畢春，有娠矣。昂因彬奪歸，進於帝，召入豹房，大寵。傳升昂右都督，弟炅、昶並賜蟒衣，大珰皆呼為舅，賜第太平倉。給事、御史諫，不應。嘗幸昂第，召其妾。昂不聽，帝怒而起。昂復結太監張忠進其妾杜氏，遂傳升炅都指揮，昶儀真守備。昂喜過望，又進美女四人謝恩。及是，納欽女，皆彬所導也。

Bin again guided the emperor from Datong across the Yellow River, stopping at Yulin and reaching Suide, where the emperor visited the residence of the regional commander Dai Qin and took his daughter. On the return journey, passing through Xi'an and Piantou Pass, he reached Taiyuan, conscripted female musicians on a grand scale, and took home Liu, wife of Yang Teng, a musician of the Jin princely establishment. Bin and all the close favorites treated her as a mother and addressed her as Lady Liu. Earlier, Ma Ang, regional commander of Yansui, had been dismissed from office. He had a younger sister skilled in song who could ride, shoot, and speak foreign languages; she had married the commander Bi Chun and was already with child. Through Bin, Ang seized her back and presented her to the emperor; she was summoned into the Leopard Quarter and became a great favorite. Ang was promoted by special edict to Right Regional Commander; his brothers Jiong and Chang were both granted python robes; the chief eunuchs all called him Uncle; and a mansion at Taiping Granary was bestowed upon him. Supervising secretaries and censors remonstrated, but the emperor paid no heed. On one occasion the emperor visited Ang's residence in person and summoned Ang's concubine. Ang refused, and the emperor rose in anger and left. Ang again joined with the eunuch Zhang Zhong to present his concubine Lady Du; Jiong was then promoted by special edict to Regional Commander, and Chang was made garrison commander of Yizhen. Ang's joy exceeded all expectation, and he again presented four beautiful women to express his gratitude. When he took Qin's daughter as well, all of it had been Bin's doing.

十四年正月自太原還至宣府，命彬提督十二團營。帝東西遊幸，歷數千里，乘馬腰弓矢，涉險阻，冒風雪，從者多道病，帝無倦容。及還京，復欲南幸。刑部主事汪金疏陳九不可，且極言酣酒當戒，帝不省。廷臣百余人伏闕諫，彬故激帝怒，悉下獄，多杖死者。彬亦意沮，議得寢。

In the first month of the fourteenth year, returning from Taiyuan to Xuanfu, he ordered Bin to supervise the Twelve Training Regiments. The emperor traveled east and west in person for thousands of li, riding with bow and arrows at his waist, crossing perilous ground and braving wind and snow. Many of his followers fell ill on the road, yet the emperor showed no sign of weariness. After returning to the capital, he again wished to travel south in person. Wang Jin, a principal clerk in the Ministry of Punishments, memorialized setting forth nine reasons why this should not be done and strongly urged that the emperor must guard against drunkenness, but the emperor took no notice. More than a hundred court ministers prostrated themselves at the palace gate to remonstrate. Bin deliberately incited the emperor's anger, and all were thrown into prison; many died under the rod. Bin's own enthusiasm waned as well, and the plan was dropped.

會寧王宸濠反，彬復贊帝親征，下令諫者處極刑。命彬提督贊畫機密軍務，並督東廠錦衣官校辦事。是時，張銳治東廠，錢寧治錦衣，彬兼兩人之任，權勢莫與比，遂扈帝以行。尋止寧，令董皇店役，不得從。八月發京師。彬在途，矯旨輒縛長吏，通判胡琮懼，自縊死。十二月至揚州，即民居為都督府，遍刷處女、寡婦，導帝漁獵。以劉姬諫，稍止。至南京，又欲導帝幸蘇州，下浙江，抵湖、湘。諸臣極諫，會其黨亦勸沮，乃止。當是時，彬率邊兵數萬，跋扈甚。成國公朱輔為長跪，魏國公徐鵬舉及公卿大臣皆側足事之。惟參贊尚書喬宇、應天府丞寇天敘挺身與抗，彬氣稍折。

When Prince Ning Chenghao rebelled, Bin again urged the emperor to lead the campaign in person and decreed that anyone who remonstrated would suffer the utmost penalty. Bin was ordered to supervise and plan confidential military affairs and also to oversee the operatives of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. At this time Zhang Rui controlled the Eastern Depot and Qian Ning controlled the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Bin held the duties of both men, and none could rival his power; thus he escorted the emperor on the march. Soon Ning was stopped, ordered to oversee the work at Huangdian, and forbidden to accompany the expedition. In the eighth month he set out from the capital. On the road, Bin repeatedly forged edicts and bound senior officials; the vice prefect Hu Cong, in terror, hanged himself. In the twelfth month he reached Yangzhou, seized private dwellings for a regional commander's headquarters, searched everywhere for virgins and widows, and guided the emperor in fishing and hunting. Because Lady Liu remonstrated, the practice was somewhat curbed. Reaching Nanjing, he again wished to guide the emperor in person to Suzhou, down through Zhejiang, and on to the lakes and the Xiang region. The ministers remonstrated with all their strength, and as it happened his own faction also urged restraint, so the plan was abandoned. At that time Bin led tens of thousands of frontier troops and was utterly overbearing. Zhu Fu, Duke of Chengguo, knelt for a long time before him; Xu Pengju, Duke of Weiguo, and the grand ministers all stood aside to defer to him. Only the participating minister Qiao Yu and the assistant prefect of Yingtianfu Kou Tianxu stood forth to resist him, and Bin's arrogance was somewhat checked.

十五年六月幸牛首山。諸軍夜驚，言彬欲為逆，久之乃定。時宸濠已就擒，系江上舟中，民間數訛傳將為變。帝心疑，欲歸。閏八月發南京。至清江浦，漁積水池，帝舟覆被溺，遂得疾。十月，帝至通州。彬尚欲勸帝幸宣府，矯旨召勛戚大臣議宸濠獄。又上言：「賴鎮國公朱壽指授方略，擒宸濠逆黨申宗遠等十五人，乞明正其罪。」乃下詔褒賜鎮國公，歲加彬祿米百石，蔭一子錦衣千戶。會帝體憊甚，左右力請乃還京。彬猶矯旨改團練營為威武團練營，自提督軍馬，令泰、周、琮等提督教場操練。

In the sixth month of the fifteenth year he visited Niushou Mountain in person. The armies were alarmed in the night, saying Bin intended rebellion; only after a long while did order return. At this time Chenghao had already been captured and was held bound on a boat on the river, while among the people false reports repeatedly spread that a revolt was imminent. The emperor grew suspicious and wished to return. In the intercalary eighth month he set out from Nanjing. Reaching Qingjiangpu, he fished in the Jishui Pool; the emperor's boat capsized and he was nearly drowned, and thereafter fell ill. In the tenth month the emperor reached Tongzhou. Bin still wished to urge the emperor to visit Xuanfu in person and forged an edict summoning meritorious kinsmen and grand ministers to discuss Chenghao's case. He also submitted a memorial saying, "Thanks to Duke of Zhenguo Zhu Shou's instruction in strategy, fifteen rebels of Chenghao's faction including Shen Zongyuan were captured; I beg that their crimes be clearly adjudicated." An edict was then issued praising and rewarding the Duke of Zhenguo; Bin's annual stipend in grain was increased by a hundred shi, and one son was granted hereditary appointment as a chiliarch in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The emperor's body was by then utterly exhausted, and only when those around him urgently pleaded did he return to the capital. Bin still forged an edict changing the Training Regiments into the Mighty Martial Training Regiments, personally supervising troops and horses, and ordered Tai, Zhou, Cong, and the others to supervise drill and training on the parade ground.

及帝崩，大學士楊廷和用遺命，分遣邊兵，罷威武團練營。彬內疑，稱疾不出，陰布腹心，衷甲觀變，令泰詣內閣探意。廷和以溫語慰之，彬稍安，乃出成服。廷和密與司禮中官魏彬計，因中官溫祥入白太后，請除彬。會坤寧宮安獸吻，即命彬與工部尚書李鐩入祭。彬禮服入，家人不得從。事竟將出，中官張永留彬、鐩飯，太后遽下詔收彬。彬覺，亟走西安門，門閉。尋走北安門，門者曰：「有旨留提督。」彬曰：「今日安所得旨？」排門者。門者執之，拔其須且盡。收者至，縛之。有頃，周、琮並縛至，罵彬曰：「奴早聽我，豈為人擒！」世宗即位，磔彬於市，周、琮與彬子勛、傑、鰲、熙俱斬，繪處決圖，榜示天下，幼子然及妻、女俱發功臣家為奴。時京師久旱，遂大雨。籍彬家，得黃金七十櫃，白金二千二百櫃，他珍缶不可數計。

When the emperor died, Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe, acting on the deathbed command, dispersed the frontier troops and abolished the Mighty Martial Training Regiments. Bin inwardly suspected trouble, claimed illness and stayed indoors, secretly deployed trusted men, wore armor under his robes to watch for changes, and sent Tai to the Grand Secretariat to probe their intent. Tinghe comforted him with gentle words; Bin was somewhat reassured and then came out to don mourning garb. Tinghe secretly plotted with Wei Bin, a eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and through the eunuch Wen Xiang entered to inform the Empress Dowager and ask that Bin be removed. When the beast finials were being installed at the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, Bin and Li Yong, Minister of Works, were at once ordered to enter and perform the sacrifice. Bin entered in ceremonial dress, and his household members were not permitted to follow. When the rite was finished and he was about to leave, the eunuch Zhang Yong detained Bin and Yong for a meal; the Empress Dowager suddenly issued an edict to seize Bin. Bin perceived what was happening and hastily fled to Xi'an Gate, but the gate was closed. Soon he fled to Beian Gate; the gatekeeper said, "There is an edict to detain the Supervisor." Bin said, "How could there be an edict today?" He shoved aside the gatekeepers. The gatekeepers seized him and plucked out nearly all his beard. Those sent to seize him arrived and bound him. Before long Zhou and Cong were also bound and brought; they cursed Bin, saying, "You fool—had you listened to me earlier, how could we have been captured!" When Emperor Shizong took the throne, Bin was dismembered in the marketplace; Zhou, Cong, and Bin's sons Xun, Jie, Ao, and Xi were all beheaded; pictures of the executions were painted and posted throughout the empire; the youngest son Ran, along with his wife and daughters, were all sent to serve as slaves in the households of meritorious officials. At that time the capital had long suffered drought; then a great rain fell. Bin's household goods were confiscated; there were found seventy chests of gold, two thousand two hundred chests of silver, and other precious vessels beyond counting.

許泰，江都人。都督寧子，襲職為羽林前衛指揮使。中武會舉第一，擢署都指揮同知。尋充副總兵，協守宣府。正德六年，與郤永、江彬俱調剿流賊，敗賊霸州，追敗之東光半壁店。未幾，復敗賊棗強。劉六寇曹州，泰與馮楨、郤永擊卻之，乘勝擒斬千八百人。賊犯蠡縣、臨城，泰等不敢擊，被劾停俸。既而賊奔衛輝，泰為所敗。調赴萊陽，逗遛不進，詔革署都督僉事新銜，仍以都指揮同知辦賊。賊平，進署都督同知，留京師，與彬日侍左右，賜國姓，歷遷左都督。冒應州功，封安邊伯。

Xu Tai was a native of Jiangdu. He was the son of Regional Commander Ning and inherited the post as commander of the Forward Left Branch of the Forest Guard. He placed first in the military metropolitan examination and was promoted to acting Left Vice Regional Commander. Soon he served as vice commander-in-chief and jointly defended Xuanfu. In the sixth year of the Zhengde reign, together with Xi Yong and Jiang Bin he was transferred to suppress roving bandits; they defeated the bandits at Bazhou and pursued and defeated them again at Banbodian in Dongguang. Before long they again defeated the bandits at Zaoqiang. When Liu Liu raided Caozhou, Tai, together with Feng Zhen and Xi Yong, struck and drove him back, and pressing the advantage captured and beheaded eighteen hundred men. When the bandits invaded Li County and Lincheng, Tai and the others did not dare attack and were impeached and had their salaries suspended. Before long the bandits fled to Weihui, and Tai was defeated by them. Transferred to Laiyang, he lingered and would not advance; an edict stripped his new acting appointment as Regional Vice Commander, and he continued to handle the bandits as Left Vice Regional Commander. When the bandits were pacified, he was promoted to acting Left Regional Commander, remained in the capital, and together with Bin attended daily at the emperor's side; he was granted the imperial surname and was eventually promoted to Left Regional Commander. By falsely claiming merit at Yingzhou, he was enfeoffed as Baron Who Pacifies the Frontier.

宸濠反，帝以泰為威武副將軍，偕中官張忠率禁軍先往。宸濠已為王守仁所擒。泰欲攘其功，疾馳至南昌，窮搜逆黨，士民被誣陷者不可勝計。誅求刑戮，甚於宸濠之亂。嫉守仁功，排擠之百方。執伍文定，窘辱備至。居久之，始旋師。世宗即位，廷臣交劾，文定亦備以虐民妒功狀上聞，下獄論死。夤緣貴近，減死徙邊」馬昂亦罷，炅等戍邊。

When Chenghao rebelled, the emperor made Tai Deputy Great General of Might and Martiality and, together with the eunuch Zhang Zhong, led the forbidden troops ahead. Chenghao had already been captured by Wang Shouren. Tai wished to seize the credit for himself, galloped swiftly to Nanchang, and searched exhaustively for rebels; the scholars and commoners falsely implicated were beyond counting. Extortion, punishment, and slaughter were worse than Chenghao's rebellion itself. Jealous of Shouren's merit, he obstructed him in every way. He seized Wu Wending and humiliated him to the utmost. After a long stay, he at last withdrew the army. When Emperor Shizong took the throne, court ministers jointly impeached him; Wending also fully reported to the throne his cruelty toward the people and jealousy of others' merit, and he was imprisoned and sentenced to death. By currying favor with those close to the powerful, his sentence was commuted from death to exile on the frontier. Ma Ang was also dismissed, and Jiong and the others were sent to guard the frontier.

錢寧，不知所出，或云鎮安人。幼鬻太監錢能家為奴，能嬖之，冒錢姓。能死，推恩家人，得為錦衣百戶。正德初，曲事劉瑾，得幸於帝。性猬狡，善射，拓左右弓。帝喜，賜國姓，為義子，傳升錦衣千戶。瑾敗，以計免，歷指揮使，掌南鎮撫司。累遷左都督，掌錦衣衛事，典詔獄，言無不聽，其名刺自稱皇庶子。引樂工臧賢、回回人於永及諸番僧，以秘戲進。請於禁內建豹房、新寺，恣聲伎為樂，復誘帝微行。帝在豹房，常醉枕寧臥。百官候朝，至晡莫得帝起居，密伺寧，寧來，則知駕將出矣。

Qian Ning—his origins are unknown; some say he was a native of Zhen'an. In youth he was sold as a slave to the household of the eunuch Qian Neng; Neng favored him, and he took the surname Qian. When Neng died, favor was extended to his household members, and he became a centurion in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. At the beginning of the Zhengde reign, he curried favor with Liu Jin and won the emperor's favor. By nature he was shrewd and wily, an excellent archer who could draw the bow with either hand. The emperor was delighted, granted him the imperial surname, adopted him as a son, and soon promoted him to chiliarch in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When Liu Jin fell, he escaped by a ruse, rose through the rank of commander, and took charge of the Southern Pacification Branch. He rose step by step to Left Regional Commander, took charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the imperial prison, and the emperor never refused a word he spoke; on his calling cards he styled himself an imperial bastard son. He brought in the musician Zang Xian, the Muslim Yu Yong, and various foreign monks, and presented lewd entertainments to the emperor. He had the Leopard House and a new temple built inside the palace grounds, gave himself over to music and performers, and again lured the emperor into secret excursions abroad. When the emperor stayed in the Leopard House, he would often lie drunk with his head resting on Ning's body. Officials waiting for audience would linger until late afternoon without learning whether the emperor had risen; they kept a covert watch on Ning, knowing that when he appeared, the emperor was about to go out.

太監張銳領東廠緝事，橫甚，而寧典詔獄，勢最熾，中外稱曰「廠、衛」。司務林華、評事沈光大皆以杖系校尉，為寧所奏，逮下錦衣獄，黜光大，貶華一級。錦衣千戶王註與寧匿，撻人至死，員外郎劉秉鑒持其獄急。寧匿註於家，而屬東廠發刑部他事。尚書張子麟亟造謝寧，立釋註，乃已。廠衛校卒至部院白事，稱尚書子麟輩曰老尊長。太仆少卿趙經初以工部郎督乾清宮工，乾沒帑金數十萬。經死，寧佯遣校尉治喪，迫經妻子扶櫬出，姬妾、帑藏悉據有之。中官廖常鎮河南，其弟錦衣指揮鵬肆惡，為巡撫鄧庠所劾，詔降級安置。鵬懼，使其嬖妾私事寧，得留任。

The eunuch Zhang Rui headed Eastern Depot investigations and ruled with brutal arrogance, while Ning controlled the imperial prison and wielded the fiercest power; court and country spoke of them together as "the Depot and the Guard." The clerk Lin Hua and the reviewer Shen Guangda had both beaten and detained bailiffs; Ning denounced them, they were thrown into the Embroidered Uniform prison, Guangda was dismissed, and Hua was demoted one rank. The Embroidered Uniform chiliarch Wang Zhu, acting in league with Ning, flogged a man to death; Assistant Department Director Liu Bingjian pressed the case hard. Ning hid Zhu in his own house and had the Eastern Depot divert the Ministry of Justice with other business. Minister Zhang Zilin rushed to Ning's door to apologize; Zhu was released at once, and only then was the affair dropped. When runners from the Depot and the Guard came to the ministries and courts on business, they addressed ministers like Zilin as "venerable elders." Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud Zhao Jing had first served as a bureau director in the Ministry of Works supervising repairs at the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and embezzled several hundred thousand taels from the treasury. When Jing died, Ning feigned kindness by sending bailiffs to arrange the funeral, forced Jing's wife and children to carry the coffin out themselves, and took possession of every concubine and every hoarded treasure. The eunuch Liao Chang held command in Henan; his younger brother Peng, an Embroidered Uniform commander, ran wild until Grand Coordinator Deng Xiang impeached him and an edict ordered his demotion and reassignment. Terrified, Peng sent his favorite concubine to cultivate Ning in private and so kept his position.

寧子永安，六歲為都督。養子錢傑、錢靖等，俱冒國姓，授錦衣衛官。念富貴已極，帝無子，思結強藩自全。為寧王宸濠營復護衛，又遣人往宸濠所，有異謀。又令宸濠數進金銀玩好於帝。謀召其世子司香太廟，為入嗣地。又以玉帶、彩纻附其典寶萬銳歸，詐稱上賜。凡宸濠所遣私人行賄京師，皆主伶人臧賢家，由寧以達帝左右。

Ning's son Yong'an was made a regional commander at the age of six. His adopted sons Qian Jie, Qian Jing, and others all falsely assumed the imperial surname and were given offices in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Seeing that he had risen as high as possible and that the emperor had no heir, he sought to bind himself to a powerful princely fief for safety. He worked to restore Prince Chenghao of Ning's guard corps, sent agents to Chenghao's domain, and entered into secret designs with him. He also had Chenghao send the emperor repeated gifts of gold, silver, and fine curios. They plotted to have Chenghao's heir summoned to tend incense at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, laying groundwork for a claim to the succession. He also sent jade belts and colored silks back with Chenghao's keeper of treasures Wan Rui, falsely claiming they were imperial gifts. Whenever Chenghao's private agents came to the capital to bribe officials, they lodged at the actor Zang Xian's house and, through Ning, reached the emperor's inner circle.

宸濠反，帝心疑寧。寧懼，白帝收宸濠所遣盧孔章，而歸罪賢，謫戍邊，使校尉殺之途以滅口，又致孔章瘐死，冀得自全。然卒中江彬計，使董皇店役。彬在道，盡白其通逆狀。帝曰：「黠奴，我固疑之。」乃羈之臨清，馳收其妻子家屬。帝還京，裸縛寧，籍其家，得玉帶二千五百束、黃金十余萬兩、白金三千箱、胡椒數千石。世宗即位，磔寧於市。養子傑等十一人皆斬，子永安幼，免死，妻妾發功臣家為奴。

When Chenghao rose in rebellion, the emperor began to suspect Ning. Ning, terrified, told the emperor to arrest Lu Kongzhang, whom Chenghao had dispatched, then pinned the blame on Zang Xian, had him banished to the frontier, and sent bailiffs to kill him on the road and silence him; he also arranged for Kongzhang to die wretchedly in custody, hoping to save his own skin. In the end he fell into Jiang Bin's trap and was assigned to supervise corvée labor at Huangdian. On the journey, Bin disclosed the full extent of his treasonous collusion. The emperor said, "That crafty slave—I had already suspected him." He then had him detained at Linqing and sent riders ahead to seize his wife, children, and entire household. When the emperor returned to the capital, Ning was stripped and bound; his estate was confiscated and searched, yielding two thousand five hundred sets of jade belts, more than one hundred thousand taels of gold, three thousand chests of silver, and several thousand piculs of pepper. When Emperor Shizong ascended the throne, Ning was executed by dismemberment in public. Eleven adopted sons including Jie were all beheaded; his son Yong'an, still a child, was spared; his wives and concubines were distributed as slaves to the households of meritorious officials.

陸炳，其先平湖人。祖墀，以軍籍隸錦衣衛為總旗。父松，襲職，從興獻王之國安陸，選為儀衛司典仗。世宗入承大統，松以從龍恩，遷錦衣副千戶。累官後府都督僉事，協理錦衣事。

Lu Bing's ancestors were natives of Pinghu. His grandfather Chi, registered for military service with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, served as a company commander. His father Song inherited the post, accompanied Prince Xingxian to his fief at Anlu, and was chosen keeper of regalia in the Ceremonial Guard. When Emperor Shizong came to the throne, Song was rewarded for having followed the new sovereign and was transferred to vice chiliarch in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He rose to vice commissioner of the rear military command and assisted in managing Embroidered Uniform Guard affairs.

世宗始生，松妻為乳媼，炳幼從母入宮中。稍長，日侍左右。炳武健沈鷙，長身火色，行步類鶴。舉嘉靖八年武會試，授錦衣副千戶。松卒，襲指揮僉事。尋進署指揮使，掌南鎮撫事。十八年從帝南幸，次衛輝。夜四更，行宮火，從官倉猝不知帝所在。炳排闥負帝出，帝自是愛幸炳。屢擢都指揮同知，掌錦衣事。

When the future Emperor Shizong was born, Song's wife served as his wet nurse, and the young Bing followed his mother into the palace. As he grew up, he attended the emperor every day. Bing was powerfully built, deep-voiced, and forbidding; tall and ruddy-faced, he walked with a crane-like stride. He passed the military metropolitan examination in the eighth year of the Jiajing reign and was appointed vice chiliarch in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. When Song died, he inherited his father's post as vice commander. He was soon promoted to acting commander and put in charge of Southern Pacification affairs. In the eighteenth year he accompanied the emperor on a southern progress and halted at Weihui. At the fourth watch, fire broke out in the traveling palace; the attendants panicked and could not find the emperor. Bing broke through the door, carried the emperor out on his back, and from that day the emperor held him in special favor. He was repeatedly promoted to vice commander-in-chief and put in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

帝初嗣位，掌錦衣者朱宸，未久罷。代者駱安，繼而王佐、陳寅，皆以興邸舊人掌錦衣衛。佐嘗保持張鶴齡兄弟獄，有賢聲。寅亦謹厚不為惡。及炳代寅，權勢遠出諸人上。未幾，擢署都督僉事。又以緝捕功，擢都督同知。炳驟貴，同列多父行，炳陽敬事之，徐以計去其易己者。又能得閣臣夏言、嚴嵩歡，以故日益重。嘗捶殺兵馬指揮，為御史所糾，詔不問。言故匿炳，一日，御史劾炳諸不法事，言即擬旨逮治。炳窘，行三千金求解不得，長跪泣謝罪，乃已。炳自是嫉言次骨。及嵩與言構，炳助嵩，發言與邊將關節書，言罪死。嵩德炳，恣其所為，引與籌畫，通賕賂。後仇鸞得寵，陵嵩出其上，獨憚炳。炳曲奉之，不敢與鈞禮，而私出金錢結其所親愛，得鸞陰私。及鸞病亟，炳盡發其不軌狀。帝大驚，立收鸞敕印，鸞憂懼死，至剖棺戮屍。

When the emperor first took the throne, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was headed by Zhu Chen, who was dismissed before long. Luo An replaced him, followed by Wang Zuo and Chen Yin; all were old associates from the Xing princely household who headed the Embroidered Uniform Guard in succession. Zuo had once shielded the Zhang Heling brothers during their trial and enjoyed a reputation for integrity. Yin too was cautious and upright and did no wrong. Once Bing replaced Yin, his power and influence far outstripped them all. Before long he was promoted to acting vice commissioner. For merit in arrests and pursuit, he was further promoted to associate commissioner. Bing's rise was sudden; many colleagues were men of his father's generation, and though he treated them with outward respect, he gradually schemed to remove anyone who might displace him. He also won the goodwill of Grand Secretaries Xia Yan and Yan Song, and so grew more powerful by the day. He once beat a cavalry commander to death; when a censor impeached him, an edict ordered that the matter go unpunished. Yan had long shielded Bing, but one day, when a censor impeached Bing on various unlawful acts, Yan immediately drafted an edict ordering his arrest and trial. Cornered, Bing offered three thousand taels of gold to buy his way out but failed; he knelt for a long time in tears begging forgiveness, and only then did Yan relent. From that day Bing hated Yan to the marrow. When Yan and Song fell into conflict, Bing sided with Song, exposed Yan's secret correspondence with frontier generals, and Yan was condemned to death. Song was grateful to Bing, let him do as he pleased, brought him into his counsels, and shared in his bribery. Later Qiu Luan won the emperor's favor, overshadowed Song, and feared no one but Bing. Bing fawned on him and never claimed equal ceremonial standing, but secretly spent gold and silver to cultivate Qiu's favorites and learned his hidden dealings. When Qiu fell gravely ill, Bing exposed the full extent of his treasonous conduct. The emperor was greatly alarmed and immediately seized Qiu's seals of commission; Qiu died in fear and despair, and in the end his coffin was opened and his corpse mutilated.

炳先進左都督，錄擒哈舟兒功，加太子太保。以發鸞密謀，加少保兼太子太傅，歲給伯祿。三十三年命入直西苑，與嚴嵩、朱希忠等侍修玄。三十五年三月賜進士恩榮宴。故事，錦衣列於西。帝以炳故，特命上坐，班二品之末。明年疏劾司禮中官李彬侵盜工所物料，營墳墓，僭擬山陵，與其黨杜泰三人論斬，籍其貲，銀四十余萬，金珠珍寶無算。尋加炳太保兼少傅，掌錦衣如故。三公無兼三孤者，僅於炳見之。

Bing had earlier been promoted to Left Regional Commander; for capturing Ha Zhou'er he was further made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. For exposing Qiu's secret plot he was further made Junior Guardian and Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent, with an earl's annual stipend. In the thirty-third year he was ordered to attend duty in the Western Park, where he served alongside Yan Song, Zhu Xizhong, and others in the emperor's esoteric devotions. In the third month of the thirty-fifth year he was granted the Banquet of Grace and Honor for successful metropolitan graduates. By precedent, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was seated on the west side. For Bing's sake the emperor specially ordered him seated in the place of honor, at the end of the second-grade order. The following year he memorialized against the Directorate of Ceremonial eunuch Li Bin for stealing construction materials, building tombs, and presumptuously imitating imperial mausoleums; Li and his accomplice Du Tai and one other were sentenced to decapitation, their estates confiscated, yielding more than four hundred thousand taels of silver and untold gold, pearls, and precious objects. Soon Bing was further made Grand Guardian and Junior Preceptor while continuing to head the Embroidered Uniform Guard as before. Never before had one of the Three Dukes also held all three Minor Tutorships; Bing alone was granted that distinction.

炳任豪惡吏為爪牙，悉知民間銖兩奸。富人有小過輒收捕，沒其家。積貲數百萬，營別宅十余所，莊園遍四方，勢傾天下。時嚴嵩父子盡攬六曹事，炳無所不關說。文武大吏爭走其門，歲入不貲，結權要，周旋善類，亦無所吝。帝數起大獄，炳多所保全，折節士大夫，未嘗構陷一人，以故朝士多稱之者。三十九年卒官。贈忠誠伯，謚武惠，祭葬有加，官其子繹為本衛指揮僉事。隆慶初，用御史言，追論炳罪，削秩，籍其產，奪繹及弟太常少卿煒官，坐贓數十萬，系繹等追償，久之貲盡。萬歷三年，繹上章乞免。張居正等言，炳救駕有功，且律非謀反叛逆奸黨，無籍沒者；況籍沒、追贓，二罪並坐，非律意。帝憫之，遂獲免。

Bing employed brutal agents as his enforcers and knew every petty fraud among the people down to the last coin. Wealthy men who committed the slightest offense were seized and their estates confiscated. He amassed wealth in the millions, built more than ten separate residences, and held estates across the empire; his power overshadowed the realm. At the time Yan Song and his son controlled the affairs of all six ministries, and there was scarcely a matter Bing did not influence. Civil and military grand officials flocked to his door; his annual income was incalculable; he cultivated the powerful, moved among worthy men, and spent without stint. The emperor repeatedly launched major prosecutions, yet Bing often shielded those caught up in them, treated scholar-officials with deference, and never framed a single man— for which many at court spoke well of him. He died in office in the thirty-ninth year. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Earl of Loyalty and Sincerity, given the posthumous title Martial and Gracious, granted enhanced funeral honors, and his son Yi was appointed vice commander of the guard. At the beginning of the Longqing reign, on a censor's recommendation, Bing's crimes were reviewed posthumously; his rank was stripped and his property confiscated; the offices of Yi and his younger brother Wei, Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, were revoked; the case involved embezzlement of several hundred thousand taels, Yi and the others were imprisoned and forced to make restitution, and in time their wealth was exhausted. In the third year of the Wanli reign, Yi submitted a memorial begging to be released from further payment. Zhang Juzheng and others argued that Bing had saved the emperor's life and that the law permitted confiscation only in cases of rebellion, treason, or factional villainy; moreover, to impose both confiscation and forced restitution for the same offense was not the law's intent. The emperor took pity on him, and the obligation was waived.

邵元節

Shao Yuanjie

邵元節，貴谿人，龍虎山上清宮道士也。師事範文泰、李伯芳、黃太初，鹹盡其術。寧王宸濠召之，辭不往。世宗嗣位，惑內侍崔文等言，好鬼神事，日事齋醮。諫官屢以為言，不納。嘉靖三年，徵元節入京，見於便殿，大加寵信，俾居顯靈宮，專司禱祀。雨雪愆期，禱有驗，封為清微妙濟守靜修真凝玄衍範誌默秉誠致一真人，統轄朝天、顯靈、靈濟三宮，總領道教，錫金、玉、銀、象牙印各一。

Shao Yuanjie, a native of Guixi, was a Daoist priest of the Shangqing Palace on Mount Longhu. He studied under Fan Wentai, Li Bofang, and Huang Taichu and thoroughly mastered their arts. Prince Chenghao of Ning summoned him, but he refused to go. When Emperor Shizong came to the throne, he was swayed by the palace attendants Cui Wen and others, took up devotion to spirits and ghosts, and spent his days in fasting rites and sacrifices. Remonstrating officials spoke out again and again, but he would not listen. In the third year of the Jiajing reign, Yuanjie was summoned to the capital, received in the informal hall, and showered with favor and trust; he was lodged at the Palace of Manifest Spirit and put exclusively in charge of prayer and sacrifice. When snow and rain failed to come on time, his prayers proved effective; he was enfeoffed as Realized Master of Clear Subtlety and Mysterious Salvation, Guardian of Stillness, Cultivator of Truth, Condenser of Mystery, Extender of the Norm, Recorder of Silence, Upholder of Sincerity, and Attainer of Unity, given jurisdiction over the three palaces of Chaotian, Manifest Spirit, and Spiritual Aid, made head of the Daoist church, and granted one seal each of gold, jade, silver, and ivory.

六年乞還山，詔許馳傳。未幾，趨朝。有事南郊，命分獻風雲雷雨壇。預宴奉天殿，班二品。贈其父太常丞、母安人，並贈文泰真人，賜元節紫衣玉帶。給事中高金論之，帝下金詔獄。敕建真人府於城西，以其孫啟南為太常丞，曾孫時雍為太常博士。歲給元節祿百石，以校尉四十人供灑掃，賜莊田三十頃，蠲其租。又遣中使建道院於貴谿，賜名仙源宮。既成，乞假還山。中途上奏，言為大學士李時弟員外文所侮。時上章引罪，文下獄獲譴。比還朝，舟至潞河，命中官迎入，賜蟒服及「闡教輔國」玉印。

In the sixth year he asked to return to the mountains; an edict permitted him to travel home by imperial relay. Before long he returned to court. When sacrifices were performed at the Southern Suburb, he was ordered to make the separate offering at the altar of wind, clouds, thunder, and rain. He attended a banquet in the Hall of Heavenly Worship, seated in the second rank. His father was posthumously appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and his mother Lady; Wentai was also posthumously enfeoffed as a Realized Master; Yuanjie was granted a purple robe and jade belt. Supervising Secretary Gao Jin remonstrated against this; the emperor had Jin thrown into the imperial prison. An edict ordered a Realized Master residence built west of the city; his grandson Qinan was appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and his great-grandson Shiyong Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Each year Yuanjie received a salary of one hundred shi, forty guard commanders to attend to sweeping and cleaning, and thirty qing of estate land with the rent waived. Eunuchs were again dispatched to build a Daoist monastery at Guixi, which was granted the name Palace of Immortal Source. When it was finished, he asked for leave to return to the mountains. On the way he submitted a memorial saying he had been insulted by Yuanwai Wen, younger brother of Grand Secretary Li Shi. Shi submitted a memorial accepting blame; Wen was imprisoned and punished. When he returned to court and his boat reached the Lu River, the emperor ordered eunuchs to welcome him in and granted him a python robe and a jade seal inscribed "Propagate the Teaching and Assist the State."

先是，以皇嗣未建，數命元節建醮，以夏言為監禮使，文武大臣日再上香。越三年，皇子疊生，帝大喜，數加恩元節，拜禮部尚書，賜一品服。孫啟南、徒陳善道等鹹進秩，贈伯芳、太初為真人。

Earlier, because no imperial heir had yet been born, Yuanjie had repeatedly been ordered to perform ritual altars; Xia Yan was made supervisor of rites, and civil and military grandees offered incense twice each day. Three years later princes were born one after another; the emperor was overjoyed, repeatedly heaped favors on Yuanjie, appointed him Minister of Rites, and granted him first-rank dress. His grandson Qinan, his disciple Chen Shandao, and others all rose in rank; Bofang and Taichu were posthumously enfeoffed as Realized Masters.

帝幸承天，元節病不能從。無何死，帝為出涕，贈少師，賜祭十壇，遣中官錦衣護喪還，有司營葬，用伯爵禮。禮官擬謚榮靖，不稱旨，再擬文康。帝兼用之，曰文康榮靖。啟南官至太常少卿。善道亦封清微闡教崇真衛道高士。隆慶初，削元節稱謚。

When the emperor visited Chengtian, Yuanjie was too ill to accompany him. Before long he died; the emperor wept, posthumously made him Junior Mentor, granted ten altars of sacrifice, sent eunuchs and Embroidered Uniform Guard to escort the body home, had officials arrange the burial, and accorded him earl rank funeral rites. Ritual officials proposed the posthumous title Splendid and Tranquil; this did not please the emperor, and they proposed Literary and Prosperous instead. The emperor used both, giving him the posthumous title Literary and Prosperous, Splendid and Tranquil. Qinan rose to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Shandao was also enfeoffed as Eminent Master of Clear Subtlety, Propagating the Teaching, Honoring Truth, and Guarding the Way. At the beginning of the Longqing reign, Yuanjie's titles and posthumous name were stripped away.

陶仲文

Tao Zhongwen

陶仲文，初名典真，黃岡人。嘗受符水訣於羅田萬玉山，與邵元節善。

Tao Zhongwen, originally named Dianzhen, was a native of Huanggang. He had once received the secret of talisman water on Mount Wanyu in Luotian and was on good terms with Shao Yuanjie.

嘉靖中，由黃梅縣吏為遼東庫大使。秩滿，需次京師，寓元節邱舍。元節年老，宮中黑眚見，治不效，因薦仲文於帝。以符水噀劍，絕宮中妖。莊敬太子患痘，禱之而瘥，帝深寵異。

During the Jiajing reign he rose from clerk of Huangmei County to warehouse commissioner of Liaodong. When his term expired he awaited appointment in the capital and stayed at Yuanjie's residence. Yuanjie was growing old; a dark malignancy appeared in the palace and treatment failed, so he recommended Zhongwen to the emperor. Spraying talisman water upon a sword, he eliminated the demons in the palace. When Crown Prince Zhuangjing contracted smallpox, prayer cured him; the emperor showered him with extraordinary favor.

十八年南巡，元節病，以仲文代。次衛輝，有旋風繞駕，帝問：「此何祥也？」對曰：「主火。」是夕行宮果火，宮人死者甚眾。帝益異之，授神霄保國宣教高士，尋封神霄保國弘烈宣教振法通真忠孝秉一真人。明年八月欲令太子監國，專事靜攝。太仆卿楊最疏諫，杖死，廷臣震懾。大臣爭諂媚取容，神仙禱祀日亟。以仲文子世同為太常丞，子婿吳浚、從孫良輔為太常博士。帝有疾，既而瘳，喜仲文祈禱功，特授少保、禮部尚書。久之，加少傅，仍兼少保。仲文起筦庫，不二歲登三孤，恩寵出元節上。乃請建雷壇於鄉縣，祝聖壽，以其徒臧宗仁為左至靈，馳驛往，督黃州同知郭顯文監之。工稍稽，謫顯文典史，遣工部郎何成代，督趨甚急，公私騷然。御史楊爵、郎中劉魁言及之。給事中周怡陳時事，有「日事禱祠」語。帝大怒，悉下詔獄，拷掠長系。吏部尚書熊浹諫乩仙，即命削籍。自是，中外爭獻符瑞，焚修、齋醮之事，無敢指及之者矣。

On the southern tour of the eighteenth year, Yuanjie fell ill and Zhongwen took his place. At Weihui a whirlwind circled the imperial carriage; the emperor asked, "What omen is this?" He answered, "It presages fire." That very night the traveling palace caught fire, and many palace women perished. The emperor regarded him as even more extraordinary, conferred on him the title Eminent Master of Spirit Sky, Guarding the State, Propagating the Teaching, and soon enfeoffed him as Realized Master of Spirit Sky, Guarding the State, Grand and Fierce, Propagating the Teaching, Stirring the Law, Penetrating Truth, Loyal and Filial, Upholding Unity. In the eighth month of the following year the emperor wished to have the crown prince supervise the realm while he devoted himself solely to quiet cultivation. Minister of the Imperial Stud Yang Zui remonstrated by memorial and was beaten to death; the court ministers were struck with terror. Grandees competed in flattery to win favor, and prayers to the immortals grew daily more urgent. Zhongwen's son Shitong was appointed Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and his son-in-law Wu Jun and grand-nephew Liangfu were appointed Doctors of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The emperor fell ill and then recovered; pleased with Zhongwen's prayers, he specially appointed him Junior Guardian and Minister of Rites. After some time he was promoted to Junior Mentor while still retaining Junior Guardian. Zhongwen had risen from warehouse management; in less than two years he attained the three grand mentors, and his favor surpassed even Yuanjie's. He then requested that a Thunder Altar be built in his home county to pray for the emperor's longevity, made his disciple Zang Zongren Left Attendant of Ultimate Spirit, sent him by relay post, and had Huangzhou Assistant Prefect Guo Xianwen supervise the work. When the work fell slightly behind schedule, Xianwen was demoted to registrar and Board of Works Director He Cheng was sent to replace him; the pressure to hurry was extreme, and public and private affairs were thrown into turmoil. Censor Yang Jue and Director Liu Kui spoke out about it. Supervising Secretary Zhou Yi addressed current affairs, using the phrase "daily devotion to prayer and sacrifice." The emperor was furious; all were thrown into the imperial prison, tortured, and held for long terms. Minister of Personnel Xiong Jian remonstrated against spirit-writing immortals and was immediately stripped of office. From then on, within and without the court all competed to present talismans and auspicious signs, and no one dared speak against incense burning, fasting, or ritual sacrifices.

帝自二十年遭宮婢變，移居西內，日求長生，郊廟不親，朝講盡廢，君臣不相接，獨仲文得時見；見輒賜坐，稱之為師而不名。心知臣下必議己，每下詔旨多憤疾之辭，廷臣莫知所指。小人顧可學、盛端明、朱隆禧輩，皆緣以進。其後，夏言以下冠香葉冠，積他釁至死。而嚴嵩以虔奉焚修蒙異眷者二十年。大同獲諜者王三，帝歸功上玄，加仲文少師，仍兼少傅少保。一人兼領三孤，終明世，惟仲文而已。久之，授特進光祿大夫柱國兼支大學士俸，蔭子世恩為尚寶丞。復以聖誕加恩，給伯爵俸，授其徒郭弘經、王永寧為高士。時都御史胡纘宗下獄，株連數十人。二十九年春，京師災異頻見，帝以咨仲文。對言慮有冤獄，得雨方解。俄法司上纘宗等爰書，帝悉從輕典，果得雨。乃以平獄功，封仲文恭誠伯，歲祿千二百石，弘經、永寧封真人。仇鸞之追戮也，下詔稱仲文功，增祿百石，蔭子世昌國子生。三十二年，仲文言：「齊河縣道士張演建大清橋，浚河得龍骨一，重千斤。又突出石沙一脈，長數丈，類有神相。」帝即發帑銀助之。時建元嶽湖廣太和山，既成，遣英國公張溶往行安神禮，仲文偕顧可學建醮祈福。明年，聖誕，加恩，蔭子錦衣百戶。

Since the palace maid incident in the twentieth year the emperor had moved to the Western Inner Palace, sought longevity day after day, no longer personally attended suburban and temple rites, completely abolished court lectures, and had no contact with his ministers— only Zhongwen was granted audiences from time to time; Whenever Zhongwen was received he was granted a seat and addressed as Master without using his name. Knowing his ministers must be criticizing him, every edict he issued was full of bitter, angry language, and court ministers could not tell whom he meant. Villains such as Gu Kexue, Sheng Duanming, and Zhu Longxi all advanced through this connection. Later Xia Yan and others were forced to wear the cassia-leaf crown; other accumulated offenses led to their deaths. Yet Yan Song enjoyed extraordinary favor for twenty years through devout observance of incense burning and cultivation. When the spy Wang San was captured at Datong, the emperor attributed the credit to the Supreme Mystery and promoted Zhongwen to Junior Mentor while he still held Junior Tutor and Junior Guardian. For one man to hold all three grand mentors at once— through the entire Ming dynasty, only Zhongwen did so. After some time he was granted specially advanced Grand Master of Glorious Blessings and Pillar of the State with concurrent receipt of grand secretary salary, and his son Shi'en was granted appointment as Director of Imperial Seals. On the emperor's birthday favor was added again: he was granted an earl's salary, and his disciples Guo Hongjing and Wang Yongning were made eminent masters. At that time Censor-in-Chief Hu Zongzong was imprisoned, implicating several dozen people. In the spring of the twenty-ninth year calamities and portents appeared frequently in the capital, and the emperor consulted Zhongwen. He replied that he feared there were wrongful imprisonments and that only when rain came would the matter be resolved. Soon the judiciary submitted Zongzong's and others' reports of conviction; the emperor applied lenient punishments throughout, and rain indeed fell. Then, for the merit of settling the cases, he enfeoffed Zhongwen as Earl of Respectful Sincerity with an annual salary of twelve hundred shi, and Hongjing and Yongning were enfeoffed as Realized Masters. When Qiu Luan was pursued and executed, an edict praised Zhongwen's merit, added one hundred shi to his salary, and granted his son Shichang enrollment as a National University student. In the thirty-second year Zhongwen reported: "The Daoist Zhang Yan of Qihe County is building the Great Qing Bridge; dredging the river he found a piece of dragon bone weighing a thousand jin. A vein of stone and sand also emerged, several zhang long, with what seemed a divine aspect." The emperor immediately disbursed treasury silver to assist. At that time the Primordial Peak was being built on Mount Taihe in Huguang; once it was completed the Duke of Yingguo Zhang Rong was sent to perform the rite of pacifying the spirit, and Zhongwen together with Gu Kexue performed ritual altars to pray for blessings. The next year, on the emperor's birthday, favor was added and his son was granted enrollment as an Embroidered Uniform Guard company commander.

帝益求長生，日夜禱祠，簡文武大臣及詞臣入直西苑，供奉青詞。四方奸人段朝用、龔可佩、藍道行、王金、胡大順、藍田玉之屬，鹹以燒煉符咒熒惑天子，然不久皆敗，獨仲文恩寵日隆重，久而不替，士大夫或緣以進。又創二龍不相見之說，青宮虛位者二十年。

The emperor sought longevity all the more, praying day and night; civil and military grandees and literary officials were selected to serve duty at the Western Garden and supply green prose. Villains from all quarters such as Duan Chaoyong, Gong Kepei, Lan Daoxing, Wang Jin, Hu Dashun, and Lantian Yu all used alchemical firing, talismans, and incantations to delude the Son of Heaven; yet before long they all failed; only Zhongwen's favor grew daily more grand and endured without decline, and scholar-officials sometimes advanced through that connection. He also invented the theory that two dragons must not meet, and the Eastern Palace stood empty for twenty years.

三十五年，上皇考道號為三天金闕無上玉堂都仙法主玄元道德哲慧聖尊開真仁化大帝，皇妣號為三天金闕無上玉堂總仙法主玄元道德哲慧聖母天後掌仙妙化元君，帝自號靈霄上清統雷元陽妙一飛玄真君，後加號九天弘教普濟生靈掌陰陽功過大道思仁紫極仙翁一陽真人元虛玄應開化伏魔忠孝帝君，再號太上大羅天仙紫極長生聖智昭靈統元證應玉虛總掌五雷大真人玄都境萬壽帝君。明年，仲文有疾，乞還山，獻上歷年所賜蟒玉、金寶、法冠及白金萬兩。既歸，帝念之不置，遣錦衣官存問，命有司以時加禮，改其子尚寶少卿世恩為太常丞兼道錄司右演法，供事真人府。

In the thirty-fifth year he bestowed upon his late father the Daoist title Great Emperor of Opening Truth and Benevolent Transformation, Supreme Sacred Worthy of Mysterious Origin, Moral Virtue, and Sagely Wisdom, Head of the Law of All Immortals in the Jade Hall Without Superior in the Three Heavens and Golden Gate, and upon his late mother the title Primordial Sovereign of Celestial Transformation, Presiding over Immortal Wondrous Transformation, Supreme Sacred Mother of Mysterious Origin, Moral Virtue, and Sagely Wisdom, Head of the Law of All Immortals in the Jade Hall Without Superior in the Three Heavens and Golden Gate; he styled himself Realized Lord of Spirit Sky, Upper Clarity, Commanding Thunder, Primordial Yang, Wondrous Unity, and Flying Mystery; later added the title Loyal and Filial Emperor-Lord of Opening Transformation, Subduing Demons, Primordial Void, Mysterious Response, One Yang Realized Man, Purple Ultimate Immortal Elder, Great Way of Reflecting Benevolence, Presiding over Yin and Yang and Merit and Fault, Universally Saving Living Beings, and Vastly Propagating the Teaching of the Nine Heavens; and again styled himself Myriad Years Emperor-Lord of the Mysterious Capital Realm, Great Realized Man Presiding over the Five Thunders, Jade Void, Testifying Response, Unifying the Origin, Manifest Spirit, Sagely Wisdom, Longevity, Purple Ultimate, Great Immortal of the Great Luo of the Supreme Lord. The next year Zhongwen fell ill, asked to return to the mountains, and presented all the python robes, jade, gold treasures, ritual caps, and ten thousand taels of white silver he had received over the years. Once he returned, the emperor could not stop thinking of him; he sent Embroidered Uniform officials to inquire after him, ordered officials to render timely honors, and changed his son Vice Director of Imperial Seals Shi'en to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and concurrent Right Promulgator of the Law in the Daoist Registry Office, to serve at the Realized Master residence.

仲文得寵二十年，位極人臣。然小心慎密，不敢恣肆。三十九年卒，年八十余。帝聞痛悼，葬祭視邵元節，特謚榮康惠肅。世恩後至太常卿。隆慶元年坐與王金偽制藥物，下獄論死。仲文秩謚亦追削。

Zhongwen enjoyed favor for twenty years and rose to the summit of human rank. Yet he was cautious and careful and never dared act recklessly. He died in the thirty-ninth year, aged over eighty. When the emperor heard, he grieved deeply; burial and sacrifice were accorded the same honors as Shao Yuanjie's, and he was specially given the posthumous title Splendid, Prosperous, Gracious, and Reverent. Shi'en later rose to Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In the first year of the Longqing reign he was convicted of conspiring with Wang Jin to fabricate medicines, imprisoned, and sentenced to death. Zhongwen's rank and posthumous title were also stripped posthumously.

段朝用

Duan Chaoyong

段朝用，合肥人。以燒煉幹郭勛，言所化銀皆仙物，用為飲食器，當不死。勛進之帝，帝大悅。仲文亦薦之，獻萬金助雷壇工費。帝嘉其忠，授紫府宣忠高士。朝用請歲進數萬金以資國用，帝益喜。已而術不驗，其徒王子巖攻發其詐。帝執子巖、朝用，付鎮撫拷訊，朝用所獻銀，故出勛資。事既敗，帝亦浸疏勛。明年，勛亦下獄，朝用乃脅勛賄，捶死其家人，復上疏瀆奏。帝怒，遂論死。

Duan Chaoyong, a native of Hefei. Through alchemical firing he attached himself to Guo Xun, claiming that the silver he transmuted was immortal substance and that using it for food and drink vessels would grant immortality. Xun presented him to the emperor, and the emperor was greatly pleased. Zhongwen also recommended him and presented ten thousand in gold to help pay for the Thunder Altar construction. The emperor praised his loyalty and conferred on him the title Eminent Master of Purple Mansion, Proclaiming Loyalty. Chaoyong offered to present several ten thousands in gold each year to support state expenses, and the emperor was even more pleased. Before long the art failed, and his disciple Wang Ziyan exposed his fraud. The emperor seized Ziyan and Chaoyong and handed them to the Brooding Authority for interrogation under torture; the silver Chaoyong had presented had in fact come from Xun's own funds. Once the affair collapsed, the emperor also gradually distanced himself from Xun. The next year Xun was also imprisoned; Chaoyong then extorted bribes from Xun, beat his family members to death, and again submitted an irreverent memorial. The emperor was enraged and sentenced him to death.

龔可佩

Gong Kepei

龔可佩，嘉定人。出家昆山為道士，通曉道家神名，由仲文進。諸大臣撰青詞者，時從可佩問道家故事，俱愛之，得為太常博士。帝命入西宮，教宮人習法事，累遷太常少卿。為中官所惡，誣其嗜酒，使使偵之，報可佩醉員外郎邵畯所。執下詔獄，並逮畯，俱杖六十。可佩杖死，屍暴潞河，為群犬所食，畯亦奪官。畯與可佩故無交，無敢白其枉者。

Gong Kepei, a native of Jiading. He left home at Kunshan to become a Daoist priest, was thoroughly versed in Daoist divine names, and was introduced through Zhongwen. Grandees who composed green prose often consulted Kepei on Daoist lore; all favored him, and he was appointed Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The emperor ordered him into the Western Palace to teach palace women ritual practices, and he was repeatedly promoted until he reached Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The palace eunuchs disliked him, falsely accused him of drunkenness, sent men to watch him, and reported that Kepei had been found drunk at the home of Outer Gentleman Shao Jun. Kepei was seized and sent to the imperial prison; Jun was arrested as well, and both were beaten sixty strokes with the staff. Kepei died under the beating; his corpse was left exposed by the Lu River to be devoured by dogs, and Jun was stripped of his office. Jun and Kepei had never been acquainted, and no one dared speak up for Kepei's innocence.

藍道行以扶鸞術得幸，有所問，輒密封遣中官詣壇焚之，所答多不如旨。帝咎中官穢褻，中官懼，交通道行，啟視而後焚，答始稱旨。帝大喜，問：「今天下何以不治？」道行故惡嚴嵩，假乩仙言嵩奸罪。帝問：「果爾，上仙何不殛之？」答曰：「留待皇帝自殛。」帝心動，會御史鄒應龍劾嵩疏上，帝即放嵩還。已，嵩诇知道行所為，厚賂帝左右，發其怙寵招權諸不法事。下詔獄，坐斬，死獄中。

Lan Daoxing won imperial favor through planchette divination; whenever the emperor had a question, Daoxing would seal it and send a palace eunuch to burn it at the altar, but the answers mostly failed to please. The emperor blamed the palace eunuchs for treating the rite with disrespect; frightened, the eunuchs colluded with Daoxing, opened and read the sealed questions before burning them, and only then did the answers please the emperor. The emperor was greatly pleased and asked, "Why is the empire not well governed today?" Daoxing had long hated Yan Song and used the spirits' words to accuse Song of treachery and crime. The emperor asked, "If that is so, why do the exalted immortals not destroy him?" The reply was, "Leave it for Your Majesty to destroy him yourself." The emperor was moved; just then the memorial impeaching Song by censor Zou Yinglong arrived, and the emperor immediately dismissed Song and sent him home. Later Song learned what Daoxing had done, lavished gifts on the emperor's intimates, and exposed his unlawful abuses of imperial favor and monopoly of power. Daoxing was sent to the imperial prison, sentenced to decapitation, and died there.

胡大順

Hu Dashun

胡大順者，仲文同縣人也。緣仲文進，供事靈濟宮。仲文死，大順以奸欺事發，斥回籍。後覬復用，偽撰萬壽金書一帙，詭稱呂祖所作，且言呂祖授三元大丹，可卻疾不老。遣其子元玉從妖人何廷玉賫入京，因左演法藍田玉、左正一羅萬象以通內官趙楹，獻之帝。

Hu Dashun was from the same county as Zhongwen. He was introduced through Zhongwen and served at Lingji Palace. After Zhongwen's death, Dashun's fraud was exposed, and he was dismissed and sent back to his native place. Later, hoping to be employed again, he forged a fascicle called the Golden Book of Myriad Longevities, falsely attributing it to Patriarch Lü and claiming that Lü had bestowed the Great Elixir of the Three Primes, which could ward off illness and forestall old age. He sent his son Yuanyu with the sorcerer He Tingyu to carry it to the capital; through Left Ritual Master Lantian Yu and Left Perfect One Luo Wanxiang they reached the palace eunuch Zhao Ying and presented it to the emperor.

田玉者，鐵柱觀道士。嚴嵩罷歸，至南昌，值聖誕，田玉為帝建醮。會御史姜儆訪秘法至，嵩索田玉諸符箓進獻。田玉亦自以召鶴術托儆附奏，得召為演法，與萬象並以扶鸞術供奉西內，因交觀楹。時帝方幸此三人，故大順書由三人進。帝覽書問：「既雲乩書，扶乩者何不來？」田玉遂詐為聖諭徵之，至則屢上書求見。帝語徐階曰：「自藍道行下獄，遂百孽擾宮。今大順來，可復用乎？」對曰：「扶乩之術，惟中外交通，間有驗者，否則茫然不知。今宮孽已久，似非道行所致。且用此輩，孽未必消。小人無賴，宜治以法。」帝悟，報曰：「田玉無狀，去冬代廷玉進水銀藥，遂詐傳密旨，徵取大順，不治無以儆將來。」階對：「水銀不可服食，詐傳詔旨罪尤重。倘置不問，群小互相朋結，恐釀大患。」乃命執大順、田玉、萬象等下錦衣獄，不知其奸由楹也。錦衣上獄詞，帝有意寬之，以問階。階力言不可不重治，乃下諸人法司，令重擬。楹伺間，具密奏，為諸人申理。帝大怒，付司禮拷訊，具得其交通狀，遂與大順、田玉、萬象、廷玉、元玉並論死。楹瘐死。帝以逆囚當顯戮，怒所司不如法，詔停刑部司官俸。嘉靖四十四年也。

Lantian Yu was a Daoist priest at Tiezhu Abbey. When Yan Song was dismissed and went home, he reached Nanchang on the emperor's birthday, and Lantian Yu performed a ritual altar on the emperor's behalf. Censor Jiang Jie happened to arrive investigating secret methods; Song obtained all of Lantian Yu's talismans and charms and presented them as tribute. Lantian Yu also had Jiang Jie submit a supplementary memorial on his crane-summoning art; he was summoned and appointed Ritual Master; he and Wanxiang both served the Western Inner Palace with planchette divination and thereby came to know Zhao Ying. The emperor was then favoring these three men, so Dashun's book was presented through them. After reading the book, the emperor asked, "If this is spirit-writing, why has the planchette operator not come?" Lantian Yu then forged an imperial summons for him; once he arrived he repeatedly submitted memorials requesting an audience. The emperor said to Xu Jie, "Since Lan Daoxing was sent to prison, all manner of demons have been troubling the palace. Now that Dashun has come, may he be employed again?" He replied, "Planchette divination works only when those inside and outside the palace collude; now and then there are results, but otherwise one knows nothing at all. These palace demons have persisted for a long time; it hardly seems they were caused by Daoxing. Moreover, if such men are employed again, the demons may not subside at all. Such petty men are unscrupulous and should be dealt with according to law." The emperor took the point and replied, "Lantian Yu is worthless; last winter, standing in for Tingyu, he presented mercury medicine and then fraudulently transmitted a secret edict summoning Dashun; if he is not punished, there will be no warning for the future." Jie replied, "Mercury must not be ingested, and falsely transmitting an imperial edict is an even graver crime. If this is left unpunished, petty men will band together, and a great disaster may follow." The emperor then ordered Dashun, Lantian Yu, Wanxiang, and the others seized and sent to the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison, not knowing that their fraud had originated with Zhao Ying. The Embroidered Uniform Guard submitted the prison testimony; the emperor was inclined to leniency and asked Jie's view. Jie forcefully argued that they could not escape severe punishment, and the men were sent to the judicial offices for re-sentencing. Ying watched for an opening, submitted a detailed secret memorial, and pleaded on the men's behalf. The emperor was furious, handed him over to the Directorate of Ceremonial for interrogation, fully established the facts of his collusion, and sentenced him to death together with Dashun, Lantian Yu, Wanxiang, Tingyu, and Yuanyu. Ying died of illness in prison. The emperor held that such traitorous prisoners should be publicly executed; angered that the responsible offices had not followed proper procedure, he ordered the salaries of Ministry of Justice officials suspended. This was in the forty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign.

世宗朝，奏章有前朝、後朝之說。前朝所奏者，諸司章奏也；他方士雜流有所陳靖，則從後朝入，前朝官不與聞，故無人摘發。賴帝晚年漸悟其妄，而政府力為執奏，諸奸獲正法雲。

During Emperor Shizong's reign, memorials spoke of a front court and a rear court. What the front court submitted were the memorials of the various offices; when other Daoist adepts and miscellaneous sorts had something to present, they entered through the rear court, and front-court officials were not informed, so no one could expose them. Only because the emperor gradually awakened to their falsity in his later years, and the government forcefully memorialized the throne, did the various villains receive due punishment.

王金者，鄠縣人也。為國子生，殺人當死。知縣陰應麟雅好黃白術，聞金有秘方，為之解，得末減。金遂逃京師，匿通政使趙文華所。以仙酒獻文華，文華獻之帝。及文華視師江南，金落魄無所遇。一日，帝於秘殿扶乩，言服芝可延年，使使采芝天下。四方來獻者，皆積苑中；中使竊出市人，復進之以邀賞。金厚結中使，得芝萬本，聚為一山，號萬歲芝山，又偽為五色龜，欲因禮部以獻，尚書吳山不為進。山罷，金自進之。帝大喜，遣官告太廟禮官袁煒率廷臣表賀，而授金太醫院禦醫。

Wang Jin was a native of Hu County. He was a student of the Imperial Academy; having killed a man, he was liable to death. County magistrate Yin Yinglin was devoted to gold-and-cinnabar alchemy; hearing that Jin possessed a secret formula, he secured his release with the lowest degree of sentence reduction. Jin then fled to the capital and hid at the residence of Commissioner of Transmission Zhao Wenhua. He presented immortal wine to Wenhua, and Wenhua presented it to the emperor. When Wenhua went to command troops in Jiangnan, Jin fell on hard times and found no favor. One day the emperor performed planchette divination in a secret hall; the spirits said that ingesting fungus could prolong life, and he sent envoys to gather fungus throughout the empire. All tributes from the four quarters piled up in the imperial gardens; eunuchs secretly took them out, bought replacements on the market, and re-submitted them to claim rewards. Jin lavishly bribed eunuchs, obtained ten thousand fungi, piled them into a mound called Mount Myriad-Years Fungus, and also forged a five-colored turtle; wishing to present them through the Ministry of Rites, Minister Wu Shan refused to advance them. When Wu Shan was dismissed, Jin presented them himself. The emperor was greatly pleased, dispatched officials to announce the omen at the ancestral temple, had ritual official Yuan Wei lead the court ministers in congratulatory memorials, and appointed Jin court physician of the Imperial Medical Institute.

先是，總督胡宗憲獻白鹿者再。帝喜，告謝玄極寶殿及太廟，進宗憲秩，百官表賀。已，宗憲獻靈芝五、白龜二。帝益喜，賜金幣、鶴衣，告廟表賀如初。不數日，龜死，帝曰：「天降靈物，朕固疑處塵寰不久也。」淮王獻白雁二，帝曰：「天降祥羽，其告廟。」嚴嵩孫鵠獻玉兔一、靈芝六十四，藍道行獻瑞龜。俱遣中官獻太廟，廷臣表賀。未幾，兔生二子，禮官請謝玄告廟。是月，兔又生二子，帝以為延生之祥，特建謝典告廟。已又生數子，皆稱賀。其他西苑嘉禾，顯陵甘露，無不告廟稱賀者。當是時，陶仲文已死，嚴嵩亦罷政，藍道行又以詐偽誅，宮中數見妖孽，帝春秋高，意邑邑不樂，中官因詐飾以娛之。四十三年五月，帝夜坐庭中，獲一桃禦幄後，左右言自空中下。帝大喜曰：「天賜也。」修迎恩醮五日。明日復降一桃，其夜白兔生二子。帝益喜，謝玄告廟。未幾，壽鹿亦生二子，廷臣表賀。帝以奇祥三錫，天眷非常，手詔褒答。

Earlier, Governor-General Hu Zongxian had twice presented white deer. The emperor was pleased, gave thanks at the Xuanji Precious Hall and the ancestral temple, promoted Zongxian in rank, and court officials offered congratulatory memorials. Soon afterward Zongxian presented five fungi and two white turtles. The emperor was still more pleased, bestowed gold and silk and crane robes, and announced the omen at the temple with congratulatory memorials as before. Within a few days the turtle died; the emperor said, "Heaven-sent spirit creatures—I had indeed doubted they could long remain in the dusty world." The Prince of Huai presented two white geese; the emperor said, "Heaven-sent auspicious feathers—let the ancestral temple be informed." Yan Song's grandson Hu presented one white rabbit and sixty-four fungi, and Lan Daoxing presented an auspicious turtle. All were sent via eunuchs to the ancestral temple, and court ministers offered congratulatory memorials. Before long the rabbit bore two young; ritual officials requested a thanksgiving rite at Xuanji and an announcement at the ancestral temple. That month the rabbit bore two more; the emperor regarded this as an omen of extended life and specially established a thanksgiving rite at the ancestral temple. Soon it bore several more young, and congratulations were offered each time. Likewise auspicious grain in the Western Park, sweet dew at the Xian Mausoleum—every such omen was announced at the temple with congratulations. At that time Tao Zhongwen had died, Yan Song had left office, and Lan Daoxing had been executed for fraud; demonic apparitions were frequently seen in the palace; the emperor was advanced in years and deeply unhappy; palace eunuchs therefore fabricated omens to amuse him. In the fifth month of the forty-third year, the emperor sat in the courtyard at night and found a peach behind the imperial canopy; attendants said it had descended from the sky. The emperor was greatly pleased and said, "A gift from Heaven." A five-day rite of receiving grace was performed. The next day another peach descended, and that night a white rabbit bore two young. The emperor was still more pleased and gave thanks at Xuanji and announced the omens at the ancestral temple. Before long a longevity deer also bore two young, and court ministers offered congratulatory memorials. The emperor, regarding the thrice-bestowed wondrous omens as extraordinary heavenly favor, wrote a personal edict in reply and praise.

時遣官求方士於四方，至者日眾。豐城人熊顯進仙書六十六冊，方士趙添壽進秘法三十二種，醫士申世文亦進三種。帝知其多妄，無殊錫。金思所以動帝，乃與世文及陶世恩、陶仿、劉文彬、高守中偽造《諸品仙方》、《養老新書》、《七元天禽護國兵策》，與所制金石藥並進。其方詭秘不可辨，性燥，非服食所宜。帝御之，稍稍火發不能愈。世恩竟得遷太常卿，仿太醫院使，文彬太常博士。未幾，帝大漸，遺詔歸罪金等，命悉正典刑，五人並論死系獄。隆慶四年十月，高拱柄國，盡反徐階之政，乃宥金等死，編口外為民。

At the time officials were dispatched to seek Daoist adepts throughout the empire, and those who arrived grew daily more numerous. Xiong Xian of Fengcheng presented sixty-six fascicles of immortal books; the adept Zhao Tianshou presented thirty-two kinds of secret methods; and the physician Shen Shiwen also presented three kinds. The emperor knew that most of these were absurd and granted no special rewards. Jin cast about for a way to move the emperor; he then joined with Shiwen, Tao Shi'en, Tao Fang, Liu Wenbin, and Gao Shouzhong in forging the Various Immortal Formulas, the New Book of Nourishing Old Age, and the Seven Primes Heavenly Birds Strategy for Protecting the State, and together with the mineral medicines he had compounded presented them all. The formulas were cryptic and unintelligible, of a dry and heating nature, and unsuitable for ingestion. The emperor took them and gradually developed internal heat that would not subside. Shi'en was eventually promoted to Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; Fang became superintendent of the Imperial Medical Institute; and Wenbin became Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Before long the emperor fell gravely ill; his death edict blamed Jin and the others and ordered that all receive due legal punishment; the five men were all sentenced to death and imprisoned. In the tenth month of the fourth year of the Longqing reign, Gao Gong held power, completely reversed Xu Jie's policies, pardoned Jin and the others from death, and registered them as commoners outside the capital.

顧可學

Gu Kexue

顧可學，無錫人。舉進士，歷官浙江參議。言官劾其在部時盜官帑，斥歸，家居二十余年。間世宗好長生，而同年生嚴嵩方柄國，乃厚賄嵩，自言能煉童男女溲為秋石，服之延年。嵩為言於帝，遣使賫金幣就其家賜之。可學詣闕謝，遂命為右通政。嘉靖二十四年超拜工部尚書，尋改禮部，再加至太子太保。時盛端明亦以方術承帝眷，可學獨揚揚自喜，請屬公事，人鹹畏而惡之。帝惑乩仙言，手詔問禮部：「古用芝入藥，今產何所？」尚書吳山博引《本草》、《黃帝內經》、《漢舊儀》、王充《論衡》、《瑞命記》，言：「歷代皆以芝為瑞，然服食之法未有傳，所產地亦未敢預擬。」乃詔有司采之五嶽及太和、龍虎、三茅、齊雲、鶴鳴諸山。無何，宛平民獻芝五本。帝悅，賚銀幣。自是，來獻者接踵。時又采銀礦、龍涎香，中使四出，論者鹹咎可學。可學尋以年老乞休。卒，賜祭葬，謚榮僖。

Gu Kexue was a native of Wuxi. He passed the jinshi examination and rose to serve as Administrative Commissioner of Zhejiang. Censorial officials impeached him for embezzling official funds while serving in the ministry; he was dismissed and returned home, where he lived in retirement for more than twenty years. Learning that Emperor Shizong coveted long life and that his fellow jinshi Yan Song then held power, he lavished bribes on Song, claiming that he could refine the urine of boys and girls into autumn stone that would prolong life if ingested. Song spoke of this to the emperor, and envoys were dispatched bearing gold and silk to bestow rewards at his home. Kexue came to court to give thanks and was then appointed Right Commissioner of Transmission. In the twenty-fourth year of the Jiajing reign he was super-promoted to Minister of Works; soon afterward he was transferred to the Ministry of Rites and further raised to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. At the time Sheng Duanming also enjoyed imperial favor through esoteric arts, but Kexue alone swaggered with self-satisfaction and solicited official business; people all feared and detested him. The emperor, deluded by planchette spirits, wrote personally to ask the Ministry of Rites, "Anciently fungus was used in medicine—where is it produced today?" Minister Wu Shan extensively cited the Materia Medica, the Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor, the Old Han Rites, Wang Chong's Discourses Weighed, and the Record of Auspicious Mandates, saying, "Each dynasty has regarded fungus as an auspicious omen, yet no method of ingesting it has been transmitted, and its places of production cannot be presumed in advance." An edict was then issued ordering the responsible offices to gather fungus from the Five Sacred Peaks and from Mounts Taihe, Longhu, Sanmao, Qiyun, Heming, and other mountains. Before long, a man of Wanping presented five stalks of lingzhi fungus. The emperor was pleased and rewarded him with silver and silks. From then on, tribute-bearers came in an unbroken stream. At the same time the court was opening silver mines and gathering ambergris, with palace envoys dispatched in every direction, and critics blamed Kexue for it all. Kexue soon asked to retire on grounds of age. When he died, the court granted him funeral sacrifices and burial honors and gave him the posthumous title Glorious and Joyful.

端明，饒平人。舉進士，歷官右副都御史，督南京糧儲，劾罷，家居十年。自言通曉藥石，服之可長生，由陶仲文以進，嚴嵩亦左右之，遂召為禮部右侍郎。尋拜工部尚書，改禮部，加太子少保，皆與可學並命。二人但食祿不治事，供奉藥物而已。端明頗負才名，晚由他途進，士論恥之。端明內不自安，引去，卒於家。賜祭葬，謚榮簡。隆慶初，二人皆褫官奪謚。

Sheng Duanming was a native of Raoping. He passed the metropolitan examination, rose to Right Vice Censor-in-chief in charge of Nanjing grain reserves, was impeached and dismissed, and spent ten years at home. He claimed mastery of elixirs that could grant long life; Tao Zhongwen introduced him to court, Yan Song backed him, and he was summoned as Right Vice Minister of Rites. Soon he was made Minister of Works, then transferred to the Ministry of Rites and given the additional title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, all in the same round of appointments as Kexue. The two men drew salaries but handled no government business; they only supplied drugs for the emperor. Duanming had once enjoyed a fine reputation, but his late advancement by occult arts made him an object of scorn among scholars. Ashamed at heart, Duanming resigned and died at home. The court granted him funeral sacrifices and burial honors and gave him the posthumous title Glorious and Simple. At the start of the Longqing reign, both men were stripped of their offices and their posthumous titles were revoked.

朱隆禧

Zhu Longxi

朱隆禧者，昆山人。由進士歷順天府丞，坐大計黜。二十七年，陶仲文赴太和山，隆禧邀至其家，以所傳長生秘術及所制香衲祈代進。仲文還朝，奏之。帝悅，即其家賜白金、飛魚服。隆禧入朝謝恩，帝以大計罷閑官例不復起，加太常卿致仕。居二年，加禮部右侍郎。會有邊警，仲文乘閑薦隆禧知兵。帝曰：「祖宗法不可廢。」卒不用。既卒，其妻請恤典，所司執不予，帝特諭予之。隆慶初，褫官。

Zhu Longxi was a native of Kunshan. A metropolitan graduate, he served as assistant prefect of Shuntian Prefecture until the grand evaluation dismissed him. In the twenty-seventh year Tao Zhongwen traveled to Mount Taihe; Longxi invited him home and asked him to present to the emperor the secret arts of longevity he had learned and the incense vestments he had made. When Zhongwen returned to court, he memorialized on Longxi's behalf. The emperor was pleased and sent white gold and flying-fish robes to Longxi's home. When Longxi came to court to give thanks, the emperor, citing the rule that officials dismissed in the grand evaluation were not reappointed, made him Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices with permission to retire. Two years later he was given the additional title of Right Vice Minister of Rites. When a frontier alarm arose, Zhongwen took the chance to recommend Longxi as knowledgeable in military affairs. The emperor said, 'The laws of our founders cannot be set aside.' In the end Longxi was not employed. After his death his wife petitioned for mourning honors; the responsible office refused, but the emperor personally ordered that they be granted. At the start of the Longqing reign his honors were stripped away.

帝晚年求方術益急，仲文、可學輩皆前死。四十一年冬，命御史姜儆、王大任分行天下，訪求方士及符箓秘書。儆，江南、山東、浙江、江西、福建、廣東、廣西；大任，畿輔、河南、湖廣、四川、山西、陜西、雲南、貴州。至四十三年十月還朝，上所得法秘數千冊，方士唐秩、劉文彬等數人。儆、大任擢侍講學士，秩等賜第京師。儆不自安，尋引退。大任入翰林，不為同官所齒。隆慶元年正月，言官劾兩人所進劉文彬等已正刑章，宜並罪，遂奪職。

In his later years the emperor's hunger for esoteric arts grew ever more urgent; Zhongwen, Kexue, and men like them had already died. In the winter of the forty-first year he ordered Censors Jiang Jing and Wang Daren to travel the empire separately in search of esoteric masters and secret books of talismans. Jing covered Jiangnan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi; Daren covered the capital region, Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou. They returned to court in the tenth month of the forty-third year, presenting several thousand volumes of secret methods and several esoteric masters, including Tang Zhi and Liu Wenbin. Jing and Daren were promoted to Hanlin Reader-in-Waiting, and Zhi and the others were given houses in the capital. Jing could not bear the shame and soon resigned. Daren entered the Hanlin Academy but was scorned by his colleagues. In the first month of the first year of Longqing, remonstrating officials argued that since Liu Wenbin and the others they had presented had already been punished, they too should be punished; both men were stripped of their offices.

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