1
列傳第四十一梁宗室上
Biographies 41 — The Liang Imperial Family, Part One
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吳平侯景長沙宣武王懿永陽昭王敷衡陽宣王暢桂陽簡王融臨川靖惠王宏
Marquis Jing of Wu Ping; Prince Xuanwu of Changsha, Yi; Prince Zhao of Yongyang, Fu; Prince Xuan of Hengyang, Chang; Prince Jian of Guiyang, Rong; and Prince Jinghui of Linchuan, Hong
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景，崇之子也。 八歲，隨父在郡，居喪以毀聞。 及長好學，才辯有識斷。 仕齊為永寧令，政為百城最。 永嘉太守范述曾居郡，號稱廉平，雅服景為政，乃牓郡門曰：「諸縣有疑滯者，可就永寧令決。」 以疾去官。 永嘉人胡仲宣等千人詣闕表請景為郡，不許。 永元二年，以長沙宣武王懿勳，除步兵校尉。 是冬懿遇害，景亦逃難。
Jing was a son of Chong. When he was eight, he went with his father to the commandery, and his mourning conduct became known for its severity. As an adult he loved learning and was gifted in debate, with sound judgment. Under the Qi he served as magistrate of Yongning, and his governance was rated the best in the realm. Fan Shuzeng, governor of Yongjia, was known as incorrupt and even-handed and greatly admired Jing's governance. He posted a notice on the commandery gate: "Counties with doubtful or stalled cases may bring them to the magistrate of Yongning for decision." He resigned on grounds of illness. Hu Zhongxuan of Yongjia and a thousand others petitioned at court for Jing to be made commandery governor, but the request was denied. In Yongyuan year 2, on the merit of Prince Xuanwu of Changsha, Yi, he was appointed colonel of footsoldiers. That winter Yi was killed; Jing fled as well.
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武帝起兵，以景行南兗州事。 時天下未定，沔北傖楚，各據塢壁。 景示以威信，渠帥相率面縛請罪，旬日境內皆平。 武帝踐阼，封吳平縣侯，南兗州刺史，加都督。 詔景母毛氏為國太夫人，禮如王國太妃，假金章紫綬。 景居州清恪，有威裁，明解吏職，文案無壅，下不敢欺，吏人畏敬如神。 會年荒，計口振恤，又為饘粥于路以賦之，死者給棺具，人甚賴焉。
When Emperor Wu took up arms, he put Jing in charge of Southern Yan Province. The realm was still unsettled; north of the Han, tribal groups each held fortified stockades. Jing won them over with authority and trust; chieftains came forward in succession, bound themselves, and begged pardon, and within ten days the whole region was at peace. When Emperor Wu took the throne, Jing was enfeoffed as marquis of Wu Ping county, made governor of Southern Yan Province, and given overall command. An edict made Jing's mother, Lady Mao, grand lady of the state with rites like a princely grand consort, and granted her a golden seal on a purple cord. As governor he was scrupulous and stern, understood official business thoroughly, and kept paperwork moving; subordinates did not dare cheat him, and officials and commoners revered him almost as a deity. When famine came, he counted households and gave relief, set out gruel by the roads, and provided coffins for the dead; the people depended on him heavily.
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天監七年，為左驍騎將軍，兼領軍將軍。 領軍管天下兵要，宋孝建以來，制局用事，與領軍分權，典事以上皆得呈奏，領軍垂拱而已。 及景在職峻切，官曹肅然，制局監皆近幸，頗不堪命，以是不得久留中。
In Tianjian year 7 he became general of valiant cavalry on the left and concurrently general who commands the army. The commander of the army controlled the realm's military essentials; since Emperor Xiaowu of Song, the Bureau of Regulations had shared power with the post, and directors and above could submit memorials directly while the commander merely nodded along. Jing was stern and exacting in office; the bureaus fell silent. The bureau supervisors were imperial favorites and could hardly bear his rule, so he could not remain long at court.
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尋出為甯蠻校尉、雍州刺史，加都督。 八年，魏荊州刺史元志攻潺溝，驅迫群蠻，群蠻悉度漢水來降。 議者以為蠻累為邊患，可因此除之。 景曰：「窮來歸我，誅之不祥； 且魏人來侵，每為矛楯，若悉誅蠻，則魏軍無礙，非長策也。」 乃開樊城受降，因命司馬朱思遠、甯蠻長史曹義宗、中兵參軍孟惠雋擊志於潺溝，大破之。 景初到州，省除參迎羽儀器服，不得煩擾吏人。 修葺城壘，申警邊備，理辭訟，勸農桑。 郡縣皆改節自勵，州內清靜，抄盜絕跡。
Soon he was sent out as colonel who pacifies the barbarians and governor of Yong Province, with overall command. In year 8, Yuan Zhi, Wei governor of Jing Province, attacked Chan'gou and drove the tribal peoples; they all crossed the Han to surrender. Advisers argued that the tribes had long troubled the frontier and could be wiped out now. Jing said, "They have come to us in desperation; to kill them would be ill-omened; and when Wei invades, they have always served as our shield. If we slaughter them all, the Wei army will meet no barrier—that is no sound policy." He opened Fancheng to receive them, then sent Chief of Staff Zhu Siyuan, chief clerk Cao Yizong, and army controller Meng Huijun against Zhi at Chan'gou and routed him. When Jing first took the province, he cut welcoming ceremonies, guard insignia, and formal dress, and would not burden officials or commoners. He repaired walls and ramparts, tightened frontier defenses, heard lawsuits, and encouraged farming and sericulture. Commanderies and counties reformed themselves; the province grew quiet and banditry disappeared.
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十三年，復為領軍將軍，直殿省，知十州損益事，月加祿五萬。 景為人雅有風力，長於辭令。 其在朝廷，為眾所瞻仰。 于武帝雖屬為從弟，而禮寄甚隆，軍國大事皆與議決。
In year 13 he again became general who commands the army, attended the hall directorate, oversaw fiscal matters in ten provinces, and received fifty thousand extra in monthly salary. Jing had natural dignity and excelled in eloquence. At court everyone looked up to him. Though only a cousin to Emperor Wu, he was treated with exceptional honor; major military and state affairs were all decided with his counsel.
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十五年，加侍中。 及太尉、揚州刺史臨川王宏坐法免，詔景以安右將軍監揚州，置佐史，即宅為府。 景越親居揚州，固讓至於涕泣，帝弗許。 在州尤稱明斷，符教嚴整。 有田舍老姥訴得符，還至縣，縣吏未即發，姥語曰：「蕭監州符如火，汝手何敢留之！」 其為人所畏敬如此。
In year 15 he was made attendant-in-ordinary. When Grand Commandant and Yang governor Prince Hong of Linchuan was dismissed for an offense, an edict put Jing, as general of secure right, in charge of Yang Province, with staff appointed and his own residence as headquarters. Though junior in kinship, Jing was put over Yang Province; he declined until he wept, but the emperor refused. In the province he was especially famed for clear judgment; his orders were strict and prompt. An old village woman who had won a writ returned to her county, but the clerk did not issue it at once. She said, "Supervisor Xiao's writ is like fire—how dare you hold it back!" Such was the awe he inspired.
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遷都督、郢州刺史。 將發，帝幸建興苑餞別，為之流涕。 在州復有能名。 齊安、竟陵郡接魏界，多盜賊，景移書告示，魏即焚塢戍保境，不復侵略。 卒於州，贈開府儀同三司，諡曰忠。 子勱。
He was transferred as commander-in-chief and governor of Ying Province. Before he left, the emperor came to Jianxing Park to bid him farewell and wept. In the province he again won renown for competence. Qi'an and Jingling bordered Wei and were plagued by bandits; Jing sent notices, and Wei burned its stockades and garrisons to guard the border and stopped raiding. He died in office; posthumously he was made grand master with golden seal and purple cord, equal in honor to the three excellencies, with the posthumous name Loyal. His son was Xun.
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勱字文約，弱不好弄，喜慍不形於色。 位太子洗馬，母憂去職，殆不勝喪。 每一思至，必徒步之墓。 或遇風雨，僕臥中路，坐地號慟，起而復前，家人不能禁。 景特所鍾愛，曰：「吾百年後，其無此子乎。」 使左右節哭。 服闋，除太子中舍人。 景薨於郢鎮，或以路遠，秘其凶問，以疾漸為辭。 勱乃奔波，屆于江夏，不進水漿者七日。 廬於墓所，親友隔絕。 會叔父曇下詔獄，勱乃率昆弟群從同詣大理，雖門生故吏，莫能識之。 後襲封吳平侯，對揚王人，悲慟嗚咽，傍人亦為隕涕。
Xun, styled Wenyue, as a boy disliked play; joy and anger never showed on his face. He served as groom of the heir apparent; when his mother died he left office and nearly could not survive his grief. Whenever grief seized him, he walked on foot to the tomb. In wind and rain servants collapsed on the road; he would sit wailing on the ground, rise, and go on—his family could not stop him. Jing especially loved him and said, "When I am gone, will I not lack this son?" He had attendants moderate his weeping. When mourning ended he was made palace attendant of the heir apparent. When Jing died at Ying, some concealed the death because of the distance and spoke only gradually of illness. Xun rushed off and reached Jiangxia; for seven days he took no food or drink. He built a hut at the tomb and cut himself off from kin and friends. When his uncle Tan was imprisoned, Xun led brothers and cousins to the court of justice; even his students and former subordinates could not recognize him. Later he inherited the marquisate of Wu Ping; facing the Yang king's envoy, he wept until those beside him wept too.
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除淮南太守，以善政稱。 遷宣城內史，郡多猛獸，常為人患，及勱在任，獸暴為息。 又遷豫章內史，道不拾遺，男女異路。 徙廣州刺史，去郡之日，吏人悲泣，數百里中，舟乘填塞，各齎酒肴以送勱。 勱人為納受，隨以錢帛與之。 至新淦縣岓山村，有一老姥以盤擎鰍魚，自送舟側奉上之，童兒數十人入水扳舟，或歌或泣。
He was made governor of Huainan and was famed for good governance. He was made interior secretary of Xuancheng, where fierce beasts had long troubled the people; under Xun their attacks ceased. He was then made interior secretary of Yuzhang, where no one picked up lost goods on the road and men and women walked on separate paths. He was made governor of Guang Province; on the day he left, officials and commoners wept, and for hundreds of li boats and carts clogged the roads as people brought wine and food to see him off. Xun had his men accept the gifts and then gave money and silk in return. At Qishan village in Xingan county an old woman brought loach on a tray to the boat and presented them; dozens of children waded in to hold the boat, singing or weeping.
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廣州邊海，舊饒，外國舶至，多為刺史所侵，每年舶至不過三數。 及勱至，纖豪不犯，歲十餘至。 俚人不賓，多為海暴，勱征討所獲生口寶物，軍賞之外，悉送還台。 前後刺史皆營私蓄，方物之貢，少登天府。 自勱在州，歲中數獻，軍國所須，相繼不絕。 武帝歎曰：「朝廷便是更有廣州。」 有詔以本號還朝，而西江俚帥陳文徹出寇高要，又詔勱重申蕃任。 未幾，文徹降附。 勱以南江危險，宜立重鎮，乃表台于高涼郡立州。 敕仍以為高州，以西江督護孫固為刺史。 徵為太子左衛率。
Guang Province lay on the sea and was once prosperous; foreign ships were often preyed on by governors, and only two or three arrived each year. Under Xun not even the smallest sum was taken, and more than ten ships came each year. The Li did not submit and often raided by sea; captives and booty from Xun's campaigns, beyond military rewards, all went back to the capital. Earlier governors had all amassed private wealth; local tribute rarely reached the imperial treasury. Under Xun several shipments went up each year; military and state needs were met without interruption. Emperor Wu sighed and said, "The court has gained another Guang Province." An edict recalled him at his former rank, but Li chieftain Chen Wenche of the West River raided Gaoyao, and another edict sent Xun back to the frontier post. Before long Wenche surrendered. Xun argued that the southern river region was dangerous and needed a major garrison; he memorialized to establish a province at Gaoliang commandery. An edict established Gaozhou and appointed Sun Gu, protector of the West River, as governor. He was summoned as left commandant of the heir apparent's guard.
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勱性率儉，而器度寬裕，左右嘗將羹至胸前翻之，顏色不異，徐呼更衣。 聚書至三萬卷，披翫不倦，尤好東觀漢記，略皆誦憶。 劉顯執卷策勱，酬應如流，乃至卷次行數亦不差失。 少交結，唯與河東裴子野、范陽張纘善。 卒於道，贈侍中，諡曰光侯。 勱弟勸。
Xun was plain and frugal but magnanimous; once when an attendant spilled soup on his chest, his expression never changed and he calmly asked for fresh clothes. He collected thirty thousand scrolls and read without tiring; he especially loved the Han Records of the Eastern Observatory and could recite most of it from memory. Liu Xian would quiz him from a scroll; Xun answered fluently, even to scroll, section, and line without error. He kept few associates; only Pei Ziye of Hedong and Zhang Zuan of Fanyang were close friends. He died on the road; posthumously he was made attendant-in-ordinary, with the posthumous name Marquis Radiant. Xun's younger brother was Quan.
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勸字文肅，少以清靜自立，封西鄉侯，位南康內史，太舟卿。 大寶元年，與南康王會理謀誅侯景，事發遇害。
Quan, styled Wensu, won repute in youth for purity and restraint; he was enfeoffed as marquis of Xixiang and served as interior secretary of Nankang and minister of the great boats. In Dabao year 1 he plotted with Prince Huili of Nankang to kill Hou Jing; when the plot was exposed he was killed.
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勸弟勉。
Quan's younger brother was Mian.
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勉字文祗，封東鄉侯，位太子洗馬，及勸同見害。
Mian, styled Wenzhi, was enfeoffed as marquis of Dongxiang, served as groom of the heir apparent, and was killed along with Quan.
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勉弟勃位定州刺史，封曲江鄉侯。 大寶初，廣州刺史元景仲將謀應侯景，西江督護陳霸先攻景仲，迎勃為刺史。 時湘東王繹在荊州，雖承制授職，力不能制，遂從之。 勃乃鎮嶺南，為廣州刺史。 後江表定，以王琳代為廣州，以勃為晉州刺史。 魏克江陵，勃復據廣州。 敬帝承制，加司徒。 紹泰中，為太尉，尋進為太保。 及陳武禪代之際，舉兵不從，尋敗，遇害。
Mian's younger brother Bo was governor of Ding Province and marquis of Qujiang township. Early in Dabao, Guang governor Yuan Jingzhong was about to side with Hou Jing; Chen Baxian, protector of the West River, attacked Jingzhong and installed Bo as governor. Prince Yi of Xiangdong was then in Jing Province; though he issued commissions under his provisional regime, he could not control events and went along. Bo then held the southern ranges as governor of Guang Province. Later, when the south was pacified, Wang Lin replaced him in Guang and Bo was made governor of Jin Province. When Wei captured Jiangling, Bo again seized Guang Province. Emperor Jing, under his provisional regime, made him minister of education. In the Shaotai era he became grand commandant and soon grand tutor. When Chen Wu seized the throne, Bo raised troops and refused to submit; he was soon defeated and killed.
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昌字子建，景弟也。 位衡州刺史。 性好酒，在州每醉，徑出入人家，或獨詣草野，刑戮頗無期度，醉時所殺，醒或求焉，亦無悔也。 累遷兼宗正卿，屢為有司所劾。 久留都，忽忽不樂，遂縱酒虛悸。 在石頭東齋，引刀自刺而卒。 弟昂。
Chang, styled Zijian, was Jing's younger brother. He was governor of Heng Province. He loved wine; drunk in the province he would walk into people's houses or wander alone in the wilds. Executions followed no rule—men killed while he was drunk he might ask about when sober, yet he never regretted it. He rose to concurrent minister of the imperial clan and was often impeached. Long in the capital, he grew restless and unhappy and drowned his fears in drink. In the eastern studio at Shitou he drew a knife and stabbed himself to death. He had a younger brother named Ang.
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昂字子明，位輕車將軍，監南兗州。 初，兄景再為兗州，德惠在人，及昂來代，時人方之馮氏。 徵為琅邪、彭城二郡太守。 時有女子年二十許，散髮黃衣，在武窟山石室中，無所修行，唯不甚食。 或出人間，時飲少酒，鵝卵一兩枚，人呼為聖姑。 就求子往往有效，造者充滿山谷。 昂呼問無所對，以為祅惑，鞭之二十。 創即差，失所在。 中大通元年，為領軍將軍。 久之，封湘陰侯，出為江州刺史。 卒，諡曰恭侯。
Ang, styled Ziming, served as general of light chariots and supervised Southern Yan Province. Earlier, his elder brother Jing had governed Yan Province twice, and his kindness still lived in people's hearts. When Ang succeeded him, contemporaries compared the succession to that of the Feng family. He was summoned to serve as governor of Langye and Pengcheng. At the time a woman of about twenty, hair loose and clad in yellow, lived in a stone cell on Mount Wuku. She undertook no religious discipline and scarcely ate. She sometimes appeared among people, drinking a little wine and one or two goose eggs. They called her the Holy Maiden. Women who came seeking sons often bore children, and pilgrims packed the valleys. Ang summoned and questioned her, but she would not answer. Thinking her an occult fraud, he had her flogged twenty strokes. Her wounds healed immediately, and she disappeared without a trace. In the first year of Zhongdatong (529), he was made general of the guards. Eventually he was enfeoffed as marquis of Xiangyin and appointed governor of Jiang Province. He died and was posthumously titled Marquis Gong.
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昂弟昱字子真，少而狂狷，不拘禮度，異服危冠，交遊冗雜。 尤善屠牛，業以為常。 於宅內酤酒。 好騎射。 歷位中書侍郎。 每求試邊州，武帝以其輕脫無威望，抑而不許。 遷給事黃門侍郎，上表請自解，帝手詔責之，坐免官。 因此杜門絕朝覲。
Ang's younger brother Yu, styled Zizhen, was wild and headstrong from youth, heedless of propriety, fond of outlandish dress and tall caps, and kept company with a riffraff crowd. He was especially skilled at butchering cattle and made a living at it. He ran a wine shop in his own house. He loved riding and archery. He rose to gentleman attendant at the secretariat. He repeatedly asked for a border post, but Emperor Wu, judging him reckless and without gravitas, refused each time. Promoted to attendant at the yellow gate, he memorialized asking to resign. The emperor answered with a personal edict of rebuke, and he was stripped of office. Thereafter he shut his doors and ceased appearing at court.
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普通五年，坐於宅內鑄錢，為有司所奏，下廷尉，得免死，徙臨海郡。 行至上虞，有敕追還，令受菩薩戒。 既至，恂恂盡禮，改意蹈道，持戒又精潔。 帝甚嘉之。
In the fifth year of Putong (524), he was impeached for minting coins at home, tried by the court of justice, spared execution, and exiled to Linhai. On the road at Shangyu he was recalled by imperial order and instructed to take the bodhisattva precepts. Back at court he was humble and scrupulous in ritual, turned his heart to the Buddhist path, and kept the precepts with exceptional purity. The emperor was deeply pleased.
22
以為晉陵太守，下車勵名跡，除煩苛，明法憲，嚴於奸吏，旬日之間，郡中大安。 俄而暴卒，百姓行號巷哭，市里為之喧沸，設祭奠於郡庭者四百餘人。 田舍有婦女夏氏年百餘歲，扶曾孫出郡，悲泣不自勝。 其惠化所感如此。 百姓相率為立廟建碑，以紀其德，又詣都表求贈諡。 詔贈湘州刺史，諡曰恭子。
Made governor of Jinling, he fostered good reputation from the day he arrived, swept away harsh petty rule, clarified the laws, and cracked down on corrupt clerks. Within ten days the commandery was at peace. He died suddenly soon after. People wailed in the streets, the markets rang with lament, and more than four hundred held memorial rites in the commandery hall. A peasant woman of the Xia clan, more than a hundred years old, led her great-grandson to the commandery seat and wept beyond consolation. Such was the power of his benevolent rule over the people. The people raised a shrine and stele in his honor and sent a delegation to the capital to petition for a posthumous title. An edict made him governor of Xiang Province posthumously and gave him the title Gongzi, "The Reverent."
23
文帝十男：張惶後生長沙宣武王懿、永陽昭王敷、武帝、衡陽宣王暢。 李太妃生桂陽簡王融。 融為東昏所害，敷、暢齊建武中卒，武帝踐阼，並追封郡王。 陳太妃生臨川靖惠王宏、南平元襄王偉。 吳太妃生安成康王秀、始興忠武王憺。 費太妃生鄱陽忠烈王恢。
Emperor Wen had ten sons. Queen Zhang bore Prince Xuanwu of Changsha, Yi; Prince Zhao of Yongyang, Fu; the future Emperor Wu; and Prince Xuan of Hengyang, Chang. Consort Li bore Prince Jian of Guiyang, Rong. Rong was killed by Emperor Donghun; Fu and Chang died under the Qi in the Jianwu era. When Emperor Wu took the throne, all three were posthumously enfeoffed as princes. Consort Chen bore Prince Jinghui of Linchuan, Hong, and Prince Yuanxiang of Nanping, Wei. Consort Wu bore Prince Kang of Ancheng, Xiu, and Prince Zhongwu of Shixing, Dan. Consort Fei bore Prince Zhonglie of Poyang, Hui.
24
長沙宣武王懿字元達，文帝長子也。 少有令譽，解褐齊安南邵陵王行參軍，襲爵臨湘縣侯。 歷位晉陵太守，以善政稱。 永明末，為梁、南秦二州刺史，加督。 是歲，魏軍入漢中，遂圍南鄭。 懿隨機拒擊，乃解圍遁去。 又遣氐帥楊元秀攻取魏曆城等六戍。 魏人震懼，邊境遂寧。
Prince Xuanwu of Changsha, Yi, styled Yuanda, was Emperor Wen's eldest son. Famous in youth, he entered service as a staff officer to the Prince of Shaoling under the An'nan command in Qi and inherited the marquisate of Linxiang. He served as governor of Jinling and was known for sound administration. At the end of Yongming he became governor of Liang and South Qin, with supervisory authority. That year Wei forces entered Hanzhong and laid siege to Nanzheng. Yi struck back as circumstances allowed until the besiegers broke off and withdrew. He also sent the Di leader Yang Yuanxiu to capture six Wei garrisons, including Licheng. The Wei were shaken with fear, and the border was secured.
25
永元二年，裴叔業據豫州反，懿以豫州刺史領曆陽、南譙二郡太守討之，叔業懼，遂降魏。 武帝時在雍州，遣典簽趙景悅說懿興晉陽之甲，誅君側之罪。 懿不答。 既而平西將軍崔慧景入寇，奉江夏王寶玄圍台城，齊室大亂，馳信召懿。 懿時方食，投箸而起，率銳卒三千人入援。 武帝馳遣虞安福下都說懿曰：「誅賊之後，則有不賞之功，當明君賢主，尚或難立； 況於亂朝，何以自免。 若賊滅之後，仍勒兵入宮，行伊、霍故事，此萬世一時。 若不欲爾，便放表還曆陽，托以外拒為事，則威振內外，誰敢不從。 一朝放兵，受其厚爵，高而無人，必生後悔。」 長史徐曜甫亦苦勸，並不從。 慧景遣其子覺來拒，懿擊大破之，乘勝而進，慧景眾潰，追斬之。 授尚書令、都督征討水陸諸軍事。
In the second year of Yongyuan (500), Pei Shuye rebelled while holding Yuzhou. Yi, as governor of Yuzhou and concurrent governor of Liyang and Nanqiao, marched against him. Shuye, in fear, defected to Wei. Emperor Wu was then in Yong Province and sent his chief clerk Zhao Jingyue to urge Yi to raise troops as at Jinyang and punish the evil advisors at court. Yi made no reply. Soon afterward General Who Pacifies the West Cui Huijing invaded, enthroned Prince Bao Xuan of Jiangxia, and besieged the imperial city. The Qi court fell into chaos, and urgent summons went to Yi. Yi was at table when the call came. He dropped his chopsticks, rose at once, and led three thousand picked troops to the capital's relief. Emperor Wu urgently sent Yu Anfu to the capital to tell Yi: "Once the rebels are dead, your merit will be beyond any reward. Even with a wise sovereign, you may still find yourself impossible to accommodate; how much more so in a court in chaos—how will you protect yourself? If, once the rebels fall, you march into the palace and follow the precedent of Yi Yin and Huo Guang, that is the chance of a lifetime. If you prefer otherwise, submit a memorial and return to Liyang on the pretext of guarding the frontier. Your authority will awe court and camp alike, and who will refuse to obey? But if you lay down your arms for a rich enfeoffment, you will stand too high with no one to support you—and regret will come. The chief administrator Xu Yaofu pressed him hard as well, but Yi would not listen to anyone. Huijing sent his son Jue to block him. Yi routed them utterly, pressed the pursuit, and when Huijing's army collapsed he hunted down and slew him. He was made minister director of affairs and supreme commander of land and naval forces.
26
懿名望功業素重，武帝本所崇敬。 帝以天監元年四月丙寅即位，是日即見褒崇。 戊辰，乃始贈第二兄敷、第四弟暢、第五弟融。 至五月，有司方奏追皇考皇妣尊號，遷神主於太廟。 帝不親奉，命臨川王宏侍從。 七月，帝臨軒，遣兼太尉、散騎常侍王份奉策上太祖文皇帝、獻皇后及德皇后尊號。 既先卑後尊，又臨軒命策，識者頗致譏議焉。
Yi's fame and achievements had always been great, and Emperor Wu had long revered him. On the bingyin day of the fourth month of the first Tianjian year (502), the day Emperor Wu took the throne, Yi was honored in person. Only on the wuchen day did he posthumously enfeoff his second brother Fu, fourth brother Chang, and fifth brother Rong. Not until the fifth month did the authorities memorialize to bestow posthumous titles on his father and mother and move their spirit tablets to the grand ancestral temple. The emperor did not attend in person and had Prince Hong of Linchuan perform the rites. In the seventh month the emperor took the throne hall and sent acting grand commandant Wang Fen to present patents raising his father to Grand Ancestor Emperor Wen and honoring the empresses Xian and De. Having honored his brothers before his parents and commanding the patent from the throne hall drew considerable criticism from observers.
27
懿子業字靜曠，幼而明敏，仕齊為太子舍人。 宣武之難，與二弟藻、象俱逃匿于王嚴秀家。 東昏知之，收嚴秀付建康獄，考掠備極，乃以鉗拔手爪，至死不言，竟以免禍。
Yi's son Ye, styled Jingkuang, was clever as a boy and served the Qi as an attendant to the crown prince. During the crisis of Prince Xuanwu, he fled with his brothers Zao and Xiang to the home of Wang Yanxiu. When Donghun learned of it he seized Yanxiu and threw him into the Jiankang jail, torturing him to the limit and tearing out his fingernails with pincers. Yanxiu never spoke, and the princes escaped harm.
28
天監二年，襲封長沙王，歷位秘書監，侍中，都督南兗州刺史。 運私邸米，僦人作甓以砌城，武帝善之。 徙湘州，尤著善政。 零陵舊有二猛獸為暴，無故相枕而死。 郡人唐睿見猛獸傍一人曰：「刺史德感神明，所以兩猛獸自斃。」 言訖不見，眾並異之。
In the second Tianjian year (503) he succeeded to the princedom of Changsha, then served as director of the secretariat, palace attendant, and regional commander as governor of Southern Yan. He shipped rice from his own stores and hired men to make bricks for the city walls. Emperor Wu praised him. Transferred to Xiang Province, he distinguished himself for excellent governance. Lingling had long been terrorized by two fierce beasts that suddenly died together, each atop the other, for no apparent reason. A local man named Tang Rui saw a figure beside the beasts who said, "The governor's virtue has moved heaven, and so the two beasts perished of their own accord." When he finished speaking, the figure vanished. All who heard it were astonished.
29
業性敦篤，所在留惠。 普通四年，為侍中、金紫光祿大夫。 薨，諡曰元王。 文集行於世。 子孝儼嗣。
Ye was by nature earnest and sincere, and wherever he served he left his kindness behind. In the fourth year of Putong (523) he became palace attendant and grand master of splendor with the purple ribbon. He died and was posthumously titled Prince Yuan. His literary collection circulated widely. His son Xiaoyian succeeded him.
30
孝儼字希莊，射策甲科，除秘書郎、太子舍人。 從幸華林園，於坐獻相風烏、華光殿、景陽山等頌，其文甚美，帝深賞異之。 薨，諡曰章。 子慎嗣。 業弟藻。
Xiaoyian, styled Xizhuang, took first rank in the civil examination and was made secretary gentleman and attendant to the crown prince. On an outing to Hualin Garden he presented odes on the wind-vane bird, Huaguang Hall, and Jingyang Mountain. The emperor admired them greatly. He died and received the posthumous title Zhang. His son Shen succeeded. Ye's younger brother was Zao.
31
九年，徵為太子中庶子。 初，鄧元起之在蜀也，崇於聚斂，財貨山積。 金玉珍帛為一室，名為內藏； 綺縠錦罽為一室，號曰外府。 藻以外府賜將帥，內藏歸王府，不有私焉。 及是還朝，輕裝就路。 再遷侍中。
In the ninth year (510) he was summoned as junior tutor of the crown prince. When Deng Yuanqi had governed Shu, he taxed heavily and amassed wealth in vast quantities. Gold, jade, and precious silks filled one chamber he called the inner treasury; Fine silks, brocades, and felts another, called the outer storehouse. Zao gave the outer storehouse to his officers and sent the inner treasury to the princely residence, keeping nothing for himself. When he returned to court he traveled light, with little baggage. He was promoted again to palace attendant.
32
藻性謙退，不求聞達，善屬文，尤好古體。 自非公宴，未嘗妄有所為，縱有小文，成輒棄本。 曆雍、兗二州刺史。 頻蒞州鎮，人吏咸稱之。 推善下人，常如弗及。 普通六年，為軍師將軍，與西豐侯正德北侵渦陽，輒班師，為有司奏，免官削爵土。 八年，復封爵。 中大通三年，為中軍將軍，太子詹事，出為丹陽尹。 帝每稱其小字，歎曰：「子弟並如迦葉，吾復何憂。」 入為尚書左僕射，加侍中，固辭，不許。 大同五年，遷中衛將軍、開府儀同三司、中書令，侍中如故。
Zao was modest and sought no fame, yet wrote well and especially favored archaic verse. Except at formal feasts he would not compose carelessly; even a short piece, once finished, he threw away. He governed Yong and Yan provinces. He held several provincial posts, and officials and commoners alike praised him. He gave credit to others and always acted as if he fell short of them. In the sixth year of Putong (525) he served as army strategist with Marquis Zhengde of Xifeng on a northern campaign against Guoyang but withdrew without orders. Impeached, he was stripped of office and enfeoffment. In the eighth year his title was restored. In the third Zhongdatong year (531) he became central army general, tutor to the crown prince, and governor of Danyang. The emperor often called him by his childhood name Kasyapa and sighed, "If all my sons and brothers were like Kasyapa, what would I have to fear?" He was made vice director of the left secretariat with the added rank of palace attendant. He declined firmly, but the emperor would not accept his refusal. In the fifth year of Datong (539), he was promoted to central guard general, granted grand-master honors equal to the Three Excellencies, and named director of the central secretariat while retaining his post as palace attendant.
33
藻性恬靜，獨處一室，床有膝痕，宗室衣冠莫不楷則。 常以爵祿太過，每思摒退，門庭閑寂，賓客罕通。 簡文尤敬愛之。 自遭家禍，恒布衣蒲席，不食鮮禽，非公庭不聽音樂，武帝每以此稱之。
Zao was calm and retiring, living alone in a single chamber until the knee-marks were worn into his couch; every princely kinsman in court dress looked to him as their standard. Believing his rank and stipend too great, he often wished to resign; his halls stayed quiet and few visitors came. Emperor Jianwen held him in exceptional esteem and affection. After his family's tragedy he wore only coarse cloth and sat on rush mats, forsook fresh meat, and heard music only at court functions—conduct Emperor Wu praised repeatedly.
34
出為南徐州刺史。 侯景亂，藻遣世子彧率兵入援。 及城開，加散騎常侍。 侯景遣其儀同蕭邕代之據京口，藻因感氣疾。 或勸奔江北，藻曰：「吾國之台鉉，任寄特隆，既不能誅翦逆賊，正當同死朝廷耳。」 因不食而薨。
He was posted as governor of Southern Xuzhou. When Hou Jing revolted, Zao sent his heir You at the head of troops to relieve the capital. When the siege lifted, he was made regular attendant of the scattered cavalry. Hou Jing sent his officer Xiao Yong to take over Jingkou in his place; Zao fell ill from distress. Some urged him to flee north of the Yangzi. Zao said, "I stand among the state's highest ministers with the heaviest charge upon me. Having failed to destroy the rebel, I can only die with the court. He stopped eating and died.
35
藻弟猷，封臨汝侯，為吳興郡守。 性倜儻，與楚王廟神交，飲至一斛。 每酹祀，盡歡極醉，神影亦有酒色，所禱必從。
Zao's brother You was made Marquis of Linru and governed Wuxing. Free-spirited by nature, he kept company with the god of the King of Chu shrine and could drink a hu of wine at a sitting. At every libation he drank to the full until utterly drunk, and the god's image itself seemed flushed with wine; whatever he prayed for was granted.
36
後為益州刺史，侍中，中護軍。 時江陽人齊苟兒反，眾十萬攻州城，猷兵糧俱盡，人有異心。 乃遙禱請救。 是日有田老逢一騎浴鐵從東方來，問去城幾裏，曰：「百四十」。 時日已晡，騎舉矟曰：「後人來，可令之疾馬，欲及日破賊。」 俄有數百騎如風，一騎過請飲，田老問為誰，曰：「吳興楚王來救臨汝侯。」 當此時，廟中請祈無驗。 十餘日，乃見侍衛土偶皆泥濕如汗者。 是日，猷大破苟兒。 猷在州頗僭濫，客筵內遂有香橙，不置連榻。 武帝末知之，以此為愆。 還都，以憂愧成疾，卒，諡曰靈，以與神交也。
He later served as governor of Yi, palace attendant, and colonel of the central guard. When Qi Gou'er of Jiangyang rebelled with a host of a hundred thousand and besieged the provincial capital, You's forces ran out of arms and grain, and his men began to waver. He prayed from afar for deliverance. That day an old farmer met a rider in black iron armor coming from the east and asked how far he was from the city. "One hundred forty li," the rider answered. It was already afternoon when the rider raised his spear and said, "Tell those who follow to ride hard—I mean to break the rebels before sunset. Soon hundreds of horsemen swept up like wind. One rider passing asked for wine. When the old farmer asked who they were, he said, "The King of Chu of Wuxing comes to rescue the Marquis of Linru." Meanwhile prayers at the shrine went unanswered. Not until more than ten days later were the temple guardian figures found covered in mud and wet as though they had sweated. That same day You routed Gou'er completely. In office You lived with princely extravagance—even fragrant oranges appeared at his banquets—and he would not share the long couch with guests. Emperor Wu learned of it only later and held it against him. Back at the capital he fell ill from shame and died. His posthumous title Ling ("spiritual") marked his commerce with the gods.
37
韶昔為幼童，庾信愛之，有斷袖之歡，衣食所資，皆信所給。 遇客，韶亦為信傳酒。 後為郢州，信西上江陵，途經江夏，韶接信甚薄，坐青油幕下，引信入宴，坐信別榻，有自矜色。 信稍不堪，因酒酣，乃徑上韶床，踐蹋肴饌，直視韶面，謂曰：「官今日形容大異近日。」 時賓客滿坐，韶甚慚恥。
In youth Shao won the love of Yu Xin; they shared the intimacy called "severed sleeve," and Xin supplied all his clothing and food. When guests came, Shao would pour wine for Xin as well. When Shao later governed Ying and Xin traveled west to Jiangling by way of Jiangxia, Shao received him coldly. Under a green-oil awning he invited him to feast but seated Xin apart on his own couch, wearing an air of pride. Xin could bear it no longer. Drunk, he climbed straight onto Shao's couch, trampled the dishes, stared into Shao's face, and said, "Your lordship looks very different today from what you did not long ago. The hall was full of guests; Shao was deeply humiliated.
38
韶弟駿字德款，善草隸，工文章，晚更習武，膂力絕人，與永安侯確相類。 位尚書殿中郎、超武將軍，封南安侯。 城陷，為賊任約所禮。 謀召鄱陽嗣王範襲約，反為所害。
Shao's brother Jun, style name Dekuan, excelled at cursive and clerical calligraphy and prose, and in later years took up arms as well—his strength was unmatched, much like Marquis Que of Yong'an. He rose to director in the palace secretariat and super martial general, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Nan'an. When the capital fell, the rebel Ren Yue treated him with respect. He plotted to bring in Fan the Prince of Poyang to strike Yue, but Yue killed him first.
39
猷弟朗字靖徹，天監五年，例以王子封侯。 曆太子洗馬，桂州刺史，加都督。 性倨而虐，群下患之。 記室庾丹以忠諫見害，帝聞之，使於嶺表以功自效。 丹父景休位御史中丞。 丹少有俊才，與伏挺、何子朗俱為周舍所狎。 初景休罷巴東郡頗有資產，丹負錢數百萬，責者填門。 景休怒，不為之償。 既而朝賢之丹不之景休，景休悅，乃悉為還之。 為建康正，坐事流廣州。
You's brother Lang, style name Jingche, received a marquisate in the fifth Tianjian year (506) as was customary for a prince's son. He served as groom of the heir's household, then governor of Gui with overall military command. Proud and cruel by nature, he made his subordinates miserable. His recorder Yu Dan was killed for frank counsel. When the emperor heard of it, he sent Lang to the far south to redeem himself by service. Dan's father Jingxiu had been censor-in-chief. Dan showed early brilliance and, with Fu Ting and He Zilang, enjoyed the patronage of Zhou She. When Jingxiu left his post in Badong he had amassed wealth, but Dan ran up debts of millions, and creditors crowded his door. Jingxiu refused in anger to pay them. When court grandees began calling on Dan but not on Jingxiu, the father was pleased and paid every debt. As magistrate of Jiankang he was banished to Guangzhou for a crime.
40
朗弟明字靖通，少被武帝親愛，封貞陽侯。 太清元年，為豫州刺史，百姓詣闕拜表，言其德政，樹碑於州門內。 及碑匠採石出自肥陵，明乃廣營廚帳，多召人物，躬自率領牽至州。 識者笑之，曰：「王自立碑，非州人也。」
Lang's brother Ming, style name Jingtong, was cherished by Emperor Wu from boyhood and was made Marquis of Zhenyang. In the first Taiqing year (547) he governed Yu. The people petitioned the throne praising his rule, and a monument was erected inside the provincial gate. When stonemasons took stone from Feiling, Ming set up a vast camp of kitchens, gathered a crowd, and personally led them dragging the blocks to the province. The knowing laughed and said, "The prince raised his own monument—not the people of the province."
41
武帝既納侯景，大舉北侵，使南康王會理總兵，明乃拜表求行。 固請，乃許之。 會理已至宿預，詔改以明代為都督水陸諸軍趣彭城，大圖進取。 敕曰：「侯景志清鄴、洛，以雪讎恥。 其先率大軍，隨機撫定。 汝等眾軍可止於寒山築堰，引清水以灌彭城。 大水一泛，孤城自殄，慎勿妄動。」 明師次呂梁十八里，作寒山堰以灌彭城，水及於堞，不沒者三板。 魏遣將慕容紹宗赴救，明謀略不出，號令莫行。 諸將每諮事，輒怒曰：「吾自臨機制變，勿多言。」 眾乃各掠居人，明亦不能制，唯禁其一軍無所侵掠。
After Emperor Wu took in Hou Jing and launched a great northern campaign, he put Prince Huili of Nankang in command; Ming petitioned to join the army. He pressed his request until the emperor assented. Huili had already reached Suyu when an edict replaced him with Ming as commander of all land and river forces bound for Pengcheng, with grand plans for conquest. The order read, "Hou Jing aims to recover Ye and Luoyang and wash away the stain of his revenge. Let him march first with the main force and pacify the region as fortune allows. The rest of you shall halt at Cold Mountain, build a dam, and channel the clear waters to flood Pengcheng. One flood will drown the lonely fortress without a fight—do not stir rashly. Ming's army camped eighteen li from Liang, built the Cold Mountain dam to flood Pengcheng, and raised the water to the battlements—only three plank-heights of wall stayed dry. Wei sent Murong Shaozong to relieve the city, but Ming devised no strategy and his orders went unheeded. When his generals asked counsel he would snap, "I shall adapt as the moment demands—hold your tongues. The troops turned to looting the countryside; Ming could not stop them, but kept his own division from taking anything.
42
紹宗至，決堰水，明命將救之，莫肯出。 魏軍轉逼，人情大駭。 胡貴孫謂趙伯超曰：「不戰何待。」 伯超懼不能對。 貴孫乃入陳苦戰，伯超擁眾弗敢救，曰：「與戰必敗，不如全軍早歸。」 乃使具良馬，載其愛妾自隨。 貴孫遂沒。 伯超子威方將赴戰，伯超懼其出，使人召之，遂相與南還。
When Shaozong arrived he breached the dam. Ming ordered his generals to stop him, but none would move. As the Wei army closed in, panic seized the host. Hu Guisun said to Zhao Bochao, "If we will not fight, what are we waiting for? Bochao, afraid, had no answer. Guisun charged into the line and fought fiercely. Bochao held his men back and said, "We are doomed if we join—better to save the army and retreat at once. He had swift horses saddled and took his favorite concubine with him. Guisun was killed. Bochao's son Weifang was riding out to fight when Bochao, afraid to lose him, sent men to call him back; father and son fled south together.
43
明醉不能興，眾軍大敗，明見俘執。 北人懷其不侵掠，謂之義王。 及至魏，魏帝引見明及諸將帥，釋其禁，送晉陽。 勃海王高澄禮明甚重，謂曰：「先王與梁主和好十有餘年，聞彼禮佛文，常雲奉為魏主並及先王，此甚是梁主厚意。 不謂一朝失信，致此紛擾。」 因欲與梁通和，使人以明書告武帝，方致書以慰高澄。
Ming lay too drunk to rise. The army was shattered and he was taken prisoner. The northerners, grateful that his troops had not looted, called him the Righteous Prince. In Wei the emperor received Ming and his officers, freed him, and sent him to Jinyang. Prince Gao Cheng of Bohai received Ming with great respect and said, "For more than ten years the former king and your sovereign kept peace. We heard that in his Buddhist dedications the Liang emperor prayed for our ruler and for our late king alike—that was true goodwill. Who would have thought he would break faith overnight and bring on this chaos? Seeking peace with Liang, he sent Ming's letter to Emperor Wu; only then did the emperor write back to reassure Gao Cheng.
44
東魏除明散騎常侍。 及聞社稷淪蕩，哀泣不舍晝夜。 魏平江陵，齊文宣使送明至梁，並前所獲梁將湛海珍等皆聽從明歸。 令上党王渙率眾送之。 是時太尉王僧辯、司空陳霸先在建康，推晉安王方智為太宰、都督中外諸軍事，承制置百官。 渙軍漸進，明與僧辯書求迎，僧辯不從。 及渙破東關，斬裴之橫，僧辯懼，乃納明。 於是梁輿東度，齊師北反。
Eastern Wei made Ming regular attendant of the scattered cavalry. When he learned the dynasty was lost, he wept without pause day or night. After Wei took Jiangling, Qi Emperor Wenxuan sent Ming back to Liang, allowing captured Liang officers such as Zhan Haizhen to return with him. He put Prince Huan of Shangdang at the head of the escort. Grand marshal Wang Senbian and minister of works Chen Baxian were then in Jiankang. They set up Prince Fangzhi of Jin'an as grand tutor and commander of all forces, and provisionally installed the full bureaucracy. As Huan's army drew near, Ming wrote Senbian asking to be received inland. Senbian refused. When Huan took Dong Pass and killed Pei Zhiheng, Senbian, afraid, finally admitted Ming. The Liang emperor crossed the Yangzi eastward as the Qi army withdrew north.
45
三年，子元簡位郢州刺史，卒于官，諡曰孝。 葬將引，柩有聲，議者欲開視。 王妃柳氏曰：「晉文已有前例，不聞開棺。 無益亡者之生，徒增生者之痛。」 遂止。 少子獻嗣。
In the third year his son Yuanjian, governor of Ying, died in office and was given the posthumous title Filial. As the funeral procession was about to set out, sounds came from the coffin. Some urged opening it to look. Princess Liu said, "Emperor Wen of Jin set the precedent—no one speaks of opening the coffin. It will not restore the dead but only deepen the grief of the living. They desisted. The youngest son Xian succeeded him.
46
象字世翼，容止閒雅，簡於交遊，事所生母以孝聞。 位丹陽尹。 象生長深宮，始親庶政，舉無失德，朝廷稱之。 再遷湘州刺史，加都督。 湘州舊多猛獸為暴，及象任州日，四猛獸死于郭外，自此靜息，故老咸稱德政所感。 歷位太常卿，加侍中，遷秘書監。 薨，諡曰敦。 子慥嗣。
Xiang, style name Shiyi, was graceful in bearing, chose his company sparingly, and was known for devotion to the mother who bore him. He served as governor of Danyang. Raised in the inner palace, he took up public affairs without a misstep, and the court praised him. He was promoted again to governor of Xiang with overall military command. Savage beasts had long ravaged Xiang, but in his first days in office four died outside the wall and the land grew quiet. The elders called it a response to his virtue. He rose to director of the court of sacrifices, was made palace attendant, and became director of the imperial library. He died and was given the posthumous title Dun ("sincere"). His son Cao succeeded him.
47
慥字元貞，位元信州刺史，有威惠。 太清二年，赴援台城，遇敕還蕃。 尋為張纘所構，書報湘東王曰：「河東、桂陽二蕃，掎角欲襲江陵。」 湘東乃水步兼行至荊鎮。 慥尚軍江津，不以為意，湘東至，乃召慥，深加慰喻，慥心乃安。 後留止省內，慥心知禍及，遂肆醜言。 湘東大怒，付獄殺之。
Cao, style name Yuanzhen, governed Yuanxin with a balance of sternness and grace. In the second Taiqing year (548) he marched to relieve the capital but was ordered back to his fief. Soon Zhang Zan slandered him with a letter to the Prince of Xiangdong: "The princes of Hedong and Guiyang mean to strike Jiangling in concert. The prince of Xiangdong marched by land and river together to the Jing garrison. Cao kept his army at Jiangjin and thought nothing of it. When the prince of Xiangdong arrived, he summoned Cao, reassured him at length, and Cao's mind was eased. He was then kept within the provincial compound. Cao knew disaster was coming and began to speak abusively. The prince of Xiangdong was furious and had him thrown into prison and executed.
48
四年，武帝詔宏都督諸軍侵魏。 宏以帝之介弟，所領皆器械精新，軍容甚盛，北人以為百數十年所未之有。 軍次洛口，前軍克梁城。 巨集部分乖方，多違朝制，諸將欲乘勝深入，宏聞魏援近，畏懦不敢進，召諸將欲議旋師。 呂僧珍曰：「知難而退，不亦善乎。」 宏曰：「我亦以為然。」 柳惔曰：「自我大眾所臨，何城不服，何謂難乎？」 裴邃曰：「是行也，固敵是求，何難之避？」 馬仙琕曰：「王安得亡國之言。 天子掃境內以屬王，有前死一尺，無卻生一寸。」 昌義之怒須盡磔，曰：「呂僧珍可斬也。 豈有百萬之師，輕言可退，何面目得見聖主乎！」 朱僧勇、胡辛生拔劍而起曰：「欲退自退，下官當前向取死！」 議者已罷，僧珍謝諸將曰：「殿下昨來風動，意不在軍，深恐大致沮喪，欲使全師而反。」 又私裴邃曰：「王非止全無經略，庸怯過甚。 吾與言軍事，都不相入。 觀此形勢，豈能成功。」 宏不敢便違群議，停軍不前。 魏人知其不武，遺以巾幗。 北軍歌曰：「不畏蕭娘與呂姥，但畏合肥有韋武。」 武謂韋叡也。 僧珍歎曰：「使始興、吳平為元帥，我相毗輔，中原不足平。 今遂敵人見欺如此。」 乃欲遣裴邃分軍取壽陽，大眾停洛口。 宏固執不聽，乃令軍中曰：「人馬有前行者斬。」 自是軍政不和，人懷憤怒。
In the fourth year (505), Emperor Wu ordered Hong to command all armies in an invasion of Wei. As the emperor's uterine younger brother, Hong led troops with gleaming new arms and a magnificent host; northerners said nothing like it had been seen in more than a century. The army camped at Luokou, and the vanguard captured Liangcheng. Hong's formations were badly arranged and often broke court rules. His generals wanted to press the advantage and drive deep, but Hong heard Wei reinforcements were near, lost his nerve, and dared not advance; he called his generals to discuss a retreat. Lü Sengzhen said, "When you see hardship ahead, to pull back—is that not wise? Hong said, "I think so too." Liu Yan said, "Wherever our great army has marched, what city has refused to yield? What hardship do you mean?" Pei Sui said, "We came on this campaign to find the enemy—why shy from hardship?" Ma Xianbi said, "My lord, how can you speak like a man presiding over a dying kingdom? The Son of Heaven has cleared the realm within the borders and entrusted it to you—die a foot forward, not an inch back alive." Chang Yizhi, trembling with rage, said, "Lü Sengzhen ought to be beheaded! How can a host of a million speak lightly of retreat? What face have we to show the sage sovereign?" Zhu Yong and Hu Xinsheng drew their swords and stood up. "Let those who want to retreat retreat," they said. "I will go forward and die!" When the meeting broke up, Sengzhen apologized to the generals. "Yesterday His Highness seemed unsteady," he said, "his mind not on the army. I feared morale would collapse and wanted to bring the whole force back intact." Privately he told Pei Sui, "The prince lacks not only strategy—his dullness and cowardice are beyond measure. When I discuss military matters with him, nothing I say gets through. Looking at this situation, how can we succeed?" Hong did not dare openly defy the consensus and kept the army halted without advancing. The Wei, knowing he was no warrior, sent him women's headcloths and skirts. A northern camp song ran, "We fear not the Xiao lass and the Lü hag, but only Wei the warrior at Hefei." Wu" means Wei Rui. Sengzhen sighed, "If the princes of Shixing and Wu Ping had been commanders and I had aided them, the central plains would not have been hard to pacify. Now we are ridiculed by the enemy like this. He wanted to send Pei Sui with a separate force to take Shouyang while the main army stayed at Luokou. Hong stubbornly refused and issued an army order: "Any man or horse that moves forward will be executed. After that, civil and military affairs fell out of harmony and the troops seethed with resentment.
49
魏奚康生馳遣楊大眼謂元英曰：「梁人自克梁城已後，久不進軍，其勢可見，當是懼我。 王若進據洛水，彼自奔敗。」 元英曰：「蕭臨川雖騃，其下有好將韋、裴之屬，亦未可當。 望氣者言九月賊退，今且觀形勢，未可便與交鋒。」
The Wei general Xi Kangsheng rode posthaste to send Yang Dayan to Yuan Ying. "Since the Liang took Liangcheng they have not advanced for a long time," he said. "Their situation is clear—they must fear us. If you advance and seize the Luo River, they will break and flee on their own. Yuan Ying said, "Though the prince of Linchuan is slow-witted, he has fine generals below him—men like Wei and Pei—and cannot be taken lightly. Men who read the omens say the rebels will withdraw in the ninth month. For now watch how things stand—we cannot yet join battle."
50
張惠紹次下邳，號令嚴明，所至獨克，下邳人多有欲來降。 惠紹曰：「我若得城，諸卿皆是國人； 若不能破賊，徒令公等失鄉，非朝廷吊人本意也。 今且安堵復業，勿妄自辛苦。」 降人咸悅。
Zhang Huishao camped at Xiapi. His discipline was strict and wherever he went he alone prevailed. Many in Xiapi wanted to surrender. Huishao said, "If I take the city, you will all be our countrymen again; if we cannot defeat the enemy, we would only make you lose your homes—and that is not what the court means by bringing comfort to the people. For now live in peace and return to your work. Do not trouble yourselves needlessly. Those who had wanted to surrender were all pleased.
51
九月，洛口軍潰，宏棄眾走。 其夜暴風雨，軍驚，宏與數騎逃亡。 諸將求宏不得，眾散而歸。 棄甲投戈，填滿水陸，捐棄病者，強壯僅得脫身。 宏乘小船濟江，夜至白石壘，款城門求入。 臨汝侯登城謂曰：「百萬之師，一朝奔潰，國之存亡，未可知也。 恐奸人乘間為變，城門不可夜開。」 宏無辭以對，乃縋食饋之。 惠紹聞洛口敗，亦退軍。
In the ninth month the army at Luokou collapsed. Hong abandoned his troops and fled. That night a violent storm broke. The army panicked, and Hong fled with only a few horsemen. The generals searched for Hong but could not find him. The army scattered and went home. Discarded armor and spears choked the roads and waterways. The sick were left behind; only the strong barely escaped alive. Hong crossed the Yangzi in a small boat and reached the Baishi fortress at night, knocking at the gate to be let in. The marquis of Linru mounted the wall and said, "An army of a million collapsed in a single morning. Whether the state survives is not yet known. I fear troublemakers may seize the moment to make mischief. The gate cannot be opened at night. Hong had nothing to say in reply. They lowered food down to him on a rope. When Huishao heard of the defeat at Luokou, he too pulled his army back.
52
宏妾弟吳法壽性粗狡，恃宏無所畏忌，輒殺人。 死家訴，有敕嚴討。 法壽在宏府內，無如之何。 武帝制宏出之，即日償辜。 南司奏免宏司徒、驃騎、揚州刺史。 武帝注曰：「愛巨集者兄弟私親，免宏者王者正法，所奏可。」
Wu Fashou, younger brother of Hong's concubine, was coarse and cunning by nature. Trusting in Hong's protection, he feared nothing and killed people as he pleased. The victims' families brought suit, and an edict ordered a strict investigation. Fashou stayed inside Hong's mansion, and no one could touch him. Emperor Wu ordered Hong to hand him over. That same day the debt of blood was paid. The southern bureau memorialized to strip Hong of his titles as director of the secretariat, cavalry-in-chief, and governor of Yangzhou. The emperor wrote in the margin, "To love Hong is a brother's private feeling; to dismiss him is the king's public law. The memorial is approved."
53
宏自洛口之敗，常懷愧憤，都下每有竊發，輒以宏為名，屢為有司所奏，帝每貰之。 十七年，帝將幸光宅寺，有士伏於驃騎航待帝夜出。 帝將行心動，乃於朱雀航過。 事發，稱為宏所使。 帝泣謂宏曰：「我人才勝汝百倍，當此猶恐顛墜，汝何為者。 我非不能為周公、漢文，念汝愚故。」 宏頓首曰：「無是，無是。」 於是以罪免。 而縱恣不悛，奢侈過度，修第擬于帝宮，後庭數百千人，皆極天下之選。 所幸江無畏服玩侔于齊東昏潘妃，寶屧直千萬。 好食鰿魚頭，常日進三百，其佗珍膳盈溢，後房食之不盡，棄諸道路。 江本吳氏女也，世有國色，親從子女遍游王侯後宮，男免兄弟九人，因權勢橫於都下。
After the defeat at Luokou Hong brooded on shame and anger. Whenever a theft occurred in the capital it was blamed on Hong. Officials reported him again and again, but the emperor pardoned him each time. In the seventeenth year, when the emperor was about to visit Guangzai Temple, a man lay in ambush at the Piaoqi crossing, waiting for the emperor to pass by night. As the emperor was about to set out, his heart misgave him, and he went by the Zhuque crossing instead. When the plot was uncovered, it was said Hong had sent the man. The emperor wept and said to Hong, "My ability surpasses yours a hundredfold, yet even I fear a fall in such moments—what are you doing? It is not that I cannot act like the Duke of Zhou or Emperor Wen of Han. I spare you because you are a fool. Hong kowtowed and said, "No, no—it is not so." On that account he was cleared of the crime. Yet he grew no more restrained. His extravagance knew no limit: his mansion rivaled the imperial palace, and his inner quarters held several hundred people, each the finest the realm could offer. His favorite, Jiang Wujie, dressed and played at finery to rival Consort Pan of the Eastern Qi. Her jeweled slippers were worth ten million. He loved globefish heads—three hundred were served every day. Other rare delicacies overflowed the kitchens. His inner quarters could not consume them all, and the surplus was thrown into the streets. Jiang was a Wu-clan woman of celebrated beauty. Her kin and children moved freely through princes' and marquises' inner quarters. Nine brothers on her side swaggered through the capital on her influence.
54
宏未幾復為司徒。 普通元年，遷太尉、揚州刺史，侍中如故。 七年四月薨，自疾至薨，輿駕七出臨視。 及薨，詔贈侍中、大將軍、揚州牧，假黃鉞，並給羽葆、鼓吹一部，增班劍為六十人，諡曰靖惠。
Before long Hong was made director of the secretariat again. In the first Putong year (520) he was promoted to grand marshal and governor of Yangzhou, retaining his post as palace attendant. He died in the fourth month of the seventh year (526). From the onset of illness until his death the emperor's carriage came seven times to visit him. After his death an edict posthumously made him palace attendant, grand general, and governor of Yangzhou, with the yellow battle-axe granted, a feather canopy and martial pipes supplied, and his guard of swords raised to sixty. His posthumous title was Jinghui (Tranquil and Gracious).
55
宏以介弟之貴，無佗量能，恣意聚斂。 庫室垂有百間，在內堂之後，關鑰甚嚴。 有疑是鎧仗者，密以聞。 武帝于友于甚厚，殊不悅。 宏愛妾江氏寢膳不能暫離，上佗日送盛饌與江曰：「當來就汝歡宴。」 唯攜布衣之舊射聲校尉丘佗卿往，與宏及江大飲，半醉後謂曰：「我今欲履行汝後房。」 便呼後合輿徑往屋所。 宏恐上見其賄貨，顏色怖懼。 上意彌信是仗，屋屋檢視。 宏性愛錢，百萬一聚，黃牓標之，千萬一庫，懸一紫標，如此三十餘間。 帝與佗卿屈指計見錢三億余萬，餘屋貯布絹絲綿漆蜜紵蠟朱沙黃屑雜貨，但見滿庫，不知多少。 帝始知非仗，大悅，謂曰：「阿六，汝生活大可。」 方更劇飲，至夜舉燭而還。 兄弟情方更敦睦。
Hong, elevated as the emperor's uterine younger brother, had no other talent and hoarded wealth as he pleased. Nearly a hundred treasury rooms stood behind the inner hall, locked with the strictest care. Someone suspected they held armor and weapons and reported it in secret. Emperor Wu cherished brotherly feeling deeply and was greatly displeased. Hong's beloved concubine Lady Jiang would not leave his bed and board even for a moment. On another day the emperor sent a lavish meal to Jiang with the message, "I shall come feast with you in joy. He took only his old friend in plain dress, Commandant of Archers Qiu Tuqing, and went to drink heavily with Hong and Jiang. Half drunk, he said, "Today I mean to walk through your rear apartments." He called for the rear palanquin and went straight to the storerooms. Hong feared the emperor would see his hoarded goods. His face went pale with terror. The emperor was all the more convinced they held weapons and inspected room after room. Hong loved money by nature. Each pile of a million had a yellow label; each storehouse of ten million bore a purple tag—more than thirty rooms in all. The emperor and Tuqing reckoned on their fingers and found more than three hundred million in coin. Other rooms held cloth, silk, floss, lacquer, honey, ramie, wax, cinnabar, yellow ore, and miscellaneous goods—storehouse after storehouse full, with no counting the total. The emperor then knew they were not weapons and was greatly pleased. "Ah, Sixth Brother," he said, "you live well indeed. They drank all the harder until nightfall and returned by torchlight. The brothers' affection grew warmer still.
56
宏都下有數十邸出懸錢立券，每以田宅邸店懸上文券，期訖便驅券主，奪其宅。 都下東土百姓，失業非一。 帝后知，制懸券不得復驅奪，自此後貧庶不復失居業。 晉時有錢神論，豫章王綜以宏貪吝，遂為錢愚論，其文甚切。 帝知以激宏，宣旨與綜：「天下文章何限，那忽作此？」 雖令急毀，而流布已遠，宏深病之，聚斂稍改。
Hong ran several dozen money offices in the capital that posted loans and bonds. He would register houses and shops on the loan documents, and when the term expired he drove off the creditors and seized the property. Common people from the eastern provinces in the capital lost their livelihoods—more than a few. When the emperor and empress learned of it, they decreed that posted bonds could no longer be used to seize property. After that the poor no longer lost their homes and livelihoods. In Jin times there had been an essay "On the Money God." Prince Zong of Yuzhang, finding Hong greedy and miserly, wrote "On the Money Fool," its language sharp. The emperor knew it was meant to goad Hong and sent word to Zong, "Essays in the world are without number—why write this one? Though he ordered it destroyed at once, the piece had already spread far and wide. Hong was deeply stung and moderated his hoarding somewhat.
57
宏又與帝女永興主私通，因是遂謀弑逆，許事捷以為皇后。 帝嘗為三日齋，諸主並豫，永興乃使二僮衣以婢服。 僮踰閾失屨，合帥疑之，密言于丁貴嬪，欲上言懼或不信，乃使宮帥圖之。 帥令內輿人八人，纏以純綿，立於幕下。 齋坐散，主果請間，帝許之。 主升階，而僮先趣帝后。 八人抱而擒之，帝驚墜於扆。 搜僮得刀，辭為宏所使。 帝秘之，殺二僮於內，以漆車載主出。 主恚死，帝竟不臨之。 帝諸女臨安、安吉、長城三主並有文才，而安吉最得令稱。
Hong also had a secret affair with the emperor's daughter Princess Yongxing. On that account he plotted regicide, promising that if the deed succeeded she would become empress. Once when the emperor kept a three-day fast, all the princesses attended. Yongxing sent two boy servants dressed as maids. One servant crossed the threshold and lost a shoe. The duty officer grew suspicious and told Consort Ding in secret. He wanted to report it but feared he would not be believed, so he had the palace marshal draw their likenesses. The marshal ordered eight inner palanquin bearers wrapped in padded cotton and stationed them beneath the curtain. When the fast ended and the assembly broke up, the princess asked for a private audience, and the emperor granted it. As the princess mounted the steps, the servants ran ahead toward the emperor and empress. The eight men seized them. The emperor started in shock and fell against the screen-frame. A search of the servants turned up knives. Under questioning they said Hong had sent them. The emperor kept the matter secret, executed the two servants within the palace, and had the princess carried out in a lacquered carriage. The princess died of shame and rage. The emperor never went to mourn her. Among the emperor's daughters, the princesses of Lin'an, Anji, and Changcheng all had literary gifts, but Anji won the finest name.
58
宏性好內樂酒，沈湎聲色，侍女千人，皆極綺麗。 慎衛寡方，故屢致降免。
Hong was devoted to the inner quarters and fond of wine, lost in music and women. He kept a thousand maidservants, every one of them ravishing. Though he tried to be careful, he lacked self-discipline, and was repeatedly demoted and stripped of his posts.
59
宏子十人許，可知者七人，長子正仁字公業，位秘書丞，早卒，諡哀世子。 正仁弟正義嗣。
Hong had about ten sons, of whom seven are recorded. The eldest, Zhengren (Gongye), served as Secretary Palace Aid. He died young and was posthumously titled Lamented Heir Apparent. Zhengren's younger brother Zhengyi succeeded to his place.
60
正德字公和，少而凶慝，招聚亡命，破塚屠牛，兼好弋獵。 齊建武中，武帝胤嗣未立，養以為子。 及平建康，生昭明太子，正德還本。 天監初，封西豐縣侯，累遷吳郡太守。 正德自謂應居儲嫡，心常怏怏，每形於言。 普通三年，以黃門侍郎為輕車將軍，置佐史。 頃之奔魏。 初去之始，為詩一絕，內火籠中，即詠竹火籠，曰：「楨幹屈曲盡，蘭麝氛氳銷，欲知懷炭日，正是履冰朝。」 至魏稱是被廢太子。 時齊蕭寶寅先在魏，乃上表魏帝曰：「豈有伯為天子，父作揚州，棄彼密親，遠投佗國。 不若殺之。」 魏既不禮之，正德乃殺一小兒稱為己子，遠營葬地，魏人不疑，又自魏逃歸。 見於文德殿，至庭叩頭。 武帝泣而誨之，特復本封。
Zhengde (Gonghe) was vicious from boyhood. He gathered outlaws, opened graves, butchered cattle, and loved the bow and the hunt. During Qi's Jianwu era, before Emperor Wu had named an heir, he adopted Zhengde as his son. After the pacification of Jiankang, when the Heir Apparent Zhaoming was born, Zhengde reverted to his birth family. At the opening of the Tianjian reign, he was made Marquis of Xifeng and eventually became Governor of Wu Commandery. Zhengde believed he should have been heir. He brooded on it constantly and let his bitterness show in what he said. In Putong year three (520) he was promoted from Gentleman at the Yellow Gate to General of the Light Chariot, with his own staff and clerks. Soon afterward he defected to Northern Wei. As he was leaving he wrote a four-line poem. Sitting by an inner brazier, he improvised verses on a bamboo hand-warmer: "The frame is bent through and through, the scent of orchid and musk all gone — if you wish to know the day you warm yourself by coals, it is the very morning you walk on ice. In Wei he claimed that he had been the deposed crown prince. Xiao Baoyin of Qi was already in Wei at the time. He memorialized the Wei emperor: "How can a man flee to a foreign realm when his brother is emperor and his father governs Yangzhou? He has cast off his own kin. Better to kill him. When Wei showed him no honor, Zhengde killed a small boy and passed the body off as his own son, arranging a distant funeral so the Wei court would not suspect him — then he escaped back to Liang. He presented himself at the Wende Hall and kowtowed in the courtyard. Emperor Wu wept as he reproached him, then restored his original title and lands.
61
正德志行無悛，常公行剝掠。 時東府有正德及樂山侯正則； 潮溝有董當門子暹，世謂之董世子者也； 南岸有夏侯夔世子洪。 此四凶者，為百姓巨蠹，多聚亡命，黃昏多殺人於道，謂之「打稽」。 時勳豪子弟多縱恣，以淫盜屠殺為業，父祖不能制，尉邏莫能禦。 車服牛馬，號西豐駱馬，樂山烏牛。 董暹金帖織成戰襖，直七百萬。 後正則為劫，殺沙門，徙嶺南死。 洪為其父夔奏系東冶，死於徒。 暹坐與永陽王妃王氏亂，誅。 三人既除，百姓少安。 正德淫虐不革，尋除給事黃門侍郎。
Zhengde showed no repentance at all and openly robbed as he pleased. In the Eastern Quarter at that time were Zhengde and Zhengze, Marquis of Leshan; along the Chaogou Canal lived Xuan, son of the Dong household — known everywhere as "the Dong heir"; on the south bank was Hong, heir of Xiahou Kui. These four villains were a plague on the people. They gathered gangs of outlaws and murdered travelers at dusk in a practice they called "beating the guard." Sons of the great clans ran wild across the capital, turning rape, theft, and murder into sport. Their fathers could not control them, and the night watch could not stop them. Their carriages, horses, and retinues were famed as "Xifeng's Bactrian camels" and "Leshan's black oxen." Dong Xuan wore a battle jacket of gold-thread brocade worth seven million cash. Zhengze was later caught in robbery and killed a monk; he was exiled to Lingnan and died there. Hong's father Kui had him imprisoned in the Eastern Forge; he died on the works gang. Xuan was executed for carrying on an affair with the princess consort of Yongyang, Lady Wang. After these three were removed, the common people breathed a little easier. Zhengde's depravity never changed. Soon he was appointed Gentleman Attendant at the Yellow Gate again.
62
六年為輕車將軍，隨豫章王北侵。 正德輒棄軍委走，為有司所奏下獄。 帝復詔曰：「汝以猶子，情兼常愛，故越先汝兄，剖符連郡。 往年在蜀，昵近小人，猶謂少年情志未定。 更于吳郡殺戮無辜，劫盜財物，雅然無畏。 及還京師，專為逋逃，乃至江乘要道，湖頭斷路，遂使京邑士女，早閉晏開。 又奪人妻妾，略人子女，徐敖非直失其配匹，乃橫屍道路； 王伯敖列卿之女，誘為妾媵。 我每加掩抑，冀汝自新，了無悛革，怨讎逾甚。 遂匹馬奔亡，志懷反噬。 遣信慰問，冀汝能還，果能來歸，遂我夙志。 謂汝不好文史，志在武功，令汝杖節，董戎前驅。 豈謂汝狼心不改，包藏禍胎，志欲覆敗國計，以快汝心。 今當宥汝以遠，無令房累自隨。 敕所在給汝稟餼。 王新婦、見理等當停太尉間，汝余房累悉許同行。」 於是免官削爵土，徙臨海郡。 未至徙所，道追赦之。 八年，復封爵。
In year six he became General of the Light Chariot and joined the Prince of Yuzhang's northern expedition. Zhengde deserted his command and fled. The authorities reported him and he was thrown into prison. The emperor issued another edict: "As my adopted son you held a special place in my heart — that is why I enfeoffed you before your elder brothers and gave you commanderies in succession. Years ago in Shu you consorted with riffraff, and I told myself it was the recklessness of youth. Then in Wu you slaughtered innocents and plundered property as boldly as if you owned the roads. Back in the capital you harbored fugitives, blocked the Jiangcheng highway and the lake roads, until men and women of the city dared not venture out until full day. You seized wives and ravished daughters. Xu Ao did not merely lose his wife — a corpse was left in the street; you abducted Wang Bo'ao's daughter, a minister's child, and kept her as your concubine. Again and again I shielded you and hoped for reform, yet you never repented, and the hatred you earned only grew. Then you rode off alone, your heart set on treason. I sent messengers urging you to return, and when you did, my old wish was fulfilled. Thinking you cared little for books but longed for glory in arms, I gave you a commander's staff and made you lead the van. Who could have known your wolf's heart would never change — that you nursed treason and aimed to ruin the realm for your own satisfaction? Now I exile you to a distant commandery. Let none of your household go with you. The authorities there are to supply your provisions. Lady Wang your new wife, Jianli, and certain others will remain in the Grand Marshal's quarters. The rest of your dependents may go with you. Thereupon he was stripped of rank and fief and banished to Linhai Commandery. Before he reached his place of exile, an edict overtook him and pardoned him. In year eight his title was restored.
63
正德北還，求交朱異。 帝既封昭明諸子，異言正德失職。 中大通四年，特封臨賀郡王。 後為丹陽尹，坐所部多劫盜，復為有司所奏，去職。 出為南兗州，在任苛刻，人不堪命。 廣陵沃壤，遂為之荒，至人相食噉。 既累試無能，從是黜廢，轉增憤恨，乃陰養死士，常思國釁。 聚蓄米粟，宅內五十間室，並以為倉。 自征虜亭至於方山，悉略為墅。 蓄奴僮數百，皆黥其面。
After returning from the north, Zhengde sought Zhu Yi's patronage. When the emperor enfeoffed Zhaoming's sons, Zhu Yi remarked that Zhengde had been left without station. In Zhongdatong year four he was specially raised to Prince of Linhe. As Governor of Danyang he presided over a district overrun by bandits. The authorities reported him again and he was dismissed. Sent out to govern Southern Yan, he ruled with such cruelty that the people could not endure life. The rich lands of Guangling were laid waste, until men devoured one another. Repeatedly judged unfit for office, he was cast aside, and his hatred deepened. He secretly kept a corps of daredevils and watched for any chance to strike at the state. He stockpiled grain, turning fifty rooms in his mansion into granaries. From Zhenglu Pavilion to Mount Fangshan he seized every plot for his private estates. He maintained hundreds of slaves, every face tattooed.
64
正德乃以長子見理為太子，以女妻景。 景為丞相，與約曰：「平城之日，不得全二宮。」 又令畿內王侯三日不出者，誅之。 及台城開，正德率眾揮刀欲入，賊先使其徒守門，故正德不果。 乃復太清之號，降正德為侍中、大司馬。 正德入問訊，拜且泣。 武帝曰：「惙其泣矣，何嗟及矣。」 正德知為賊所賣，深自咎悔，密書與鄱陽嗣王契，以兵入。 賊遮得書，乃矯詔殺之。
Zhengde named his eldest son Jianli crown prince and gave a daughter to Hou Jing in marriage. Hou Jing, as chancellor, bargained with him: "When Pingcheng falls, neither palace shall be left whole. He also decreed that any prince or marquis within the capital who did not show himself within three days was to be put to death. When the Taicheng Gate was breached, Zhengde led his men in with swords drawn, but the rebels had already posted his own followers at the gates, and he could not enter. The rebels restored the era name Taiqing and demoted Zhengde to Palace Attendant and Grand Marshal. Zhengde came in to pay his respects, bowing and weeping. Emperor Wu said, "Your grief comes too late — what is there now to lament? Zhengde realized the rebels had used him. He writhed in remorse and secretly wrote the Prince of Poyang, heir Qi, urging him to march in with troops. The rebels intercepted the letter and, on forged orders, had him executed.
65
先是，正德妹長樂主適陳郡謝禧，正德奸之，燒主第，縛一婢，加玉釧於手，以金寶附身，聲雲主被燒死，檢取婢屍並金玉葬之。 仍與主通，呼為柳夫人，生二子焉。 日月稍久，風聲漸露。 後黃門郎張准有一雉媒，正德見而奪之。 尋會重雲殿為淨供，皇儲以下莫不畢集。 准於眾中吒罵曰：「張准雉媒非長樂主，何可略奪！」 皇太子恐帝聞之，令武陵王和止之乃休，及出，送雉媒還之。 其後梁室傾覆既由正德，百姓至聞臨賀郡名亦不欲道。 童謠云：「寧逢五虎入市，不欲見臨賀父子。」 其惡之如是。
Earlier, Zhengde's sister the Princess of Changle had married Xie Xi of Chen. Zhengde seduced her, burned down the princess's mansion, bound a servant girl, clasped jade bracelets on her wrists and heaped gold and jewels on her body, then announced that the princess had perished in the fire. He buried the maid's corpse with the jewels, passing it off as the princess's. He continued the affair with the princess, calling her "Lady Liu," and she bore him two sons. In time the story began to leak. Later Zhang Zhun, a Gentleman at the Yellow Gate, owned a trained hen pheasant used as a hunting decoy. Zhengde saw it and took it by force. Soon a Buddhist assembly was held at the Chongyun Hall, and everyone from the crown prince downward attended. In the crowd Zhang Zhun shouted abuse: "Zhang Zhun's pheasant is not the Princess of Changle's property — who gave you leave to seize it! The crown prince, fearing the emperor would hear, had Prince He of Wuling silence him. After the assembly Zhengde returned the bird. When the dynasty fell, many blamed Zhengde. People could not bear even to speak the name of the Prince of Linhe. A children's rhyme ran: "Better meet five tigers in the market than lay eyes on the Linhe father and son. So deeply were they loathed.
66
見理字孟節，性甚凶粗，長劍短衣，出入廛裏，不為宗室所齒。 及肆逆，甚得志焉。 招聚群盜，每夜輒掠劫，於大航為流矢所中死。 正德弟正則。
Jianli (Mengjie) was brutish by nature, clad in short jacket and long sword, prowling the market alleys. The clan would not acknowledge him. When rebellion broke out he was in his element. He gathered robber bands and raided every night until a stray arrow killed him at the Great Ferry. Zhengde's younger brother was Zhengze.
67
正則字公衡，天監初，以王子封樂山侯。 累遷太子洗馬、舍人。 恒于第內私械百姓令養馬，又盜鑄錢。 大通二年，坐匿劫盜，削爵徙郁林。 帝敕廣州日給酒肉，南中官司猶處以侯禮。
Zhengze (Gongheng) was enfeoffed as Marquis of Leshan at the start of Tianjian, being a king's son. He rose to Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent and Palace Attendant. He kept commoners in his mansion by force to rear horses for him and counterfeited coin. In Datong year two he was caught sheltering bandits, stripped of his title, and exiled to Yulin. The emperor ordered Guangzhou to provide daily wine and meat, and the southern officials still received him with marquis's honors.
68
正則滋怨諸父，與西江督護靳山顧通室，招誘亡命，將襲番禺。 未及期而事發，遂鳴鼓會將攻州城。 刺史元景仲命長史元孝深討之。 正則敗，逃於廁，村人縛送之，詔斬於南海。 有司請絕屬籍，收妻子。 詔聽絕屬籍，妻子特原。 正則弟正立。 正立字公山，初封羅平侯。 母江有寵。 初，正仁之亡，宏溺情曲制，以正立為世子。 正立微有學，宏薨後，知非朝議，表求讓兄，帝甚嘉焉。 諸侯例封五百戶，正立改封實土建安縣侯，食邑一千戶。 後位丹陽尹，薨，諡曰敏。 子賁嗣。
Zhengze brooded on grievances against his uncles. He took up with Gu Tong, protector of the Western River at Jingshan, sharing the man's wife, and recruited outlaws for a strike on Panyu. Before the appointed day the plot was discovered. He beat the drum, mustered his commanders, and attacked the provincial capital. Inspector Yuan Jingzhong sent Chief Clerk Yuan Xiaoshen against him. Zhengze was defeated, hid in a latrine, and was seized and bound by villagers. An edict ordered him beheaded at Nanhai. The authorities asked that his line be expunged from the clan register and his wife and children taken. The emperor approved expunging his name but specially spared his wife and children. Zhengze's younger brother was Zhengli. Zhengli (Gongshan) was first enfeoffed as Marquis of Luoping. His mother, Lady Jiang, was a favorite. When Zhengren died, Hong had indulged affection and bent the rules, naming Zhengli heir. Zhengli had some learning. After Hong's death, knowing the court had not chosen him, he petitioned to yield to his elder brother, which the emperor greatly praised. Princes were usually granted five hundred households; Zhengli was re-enfeoffed with a substantive fief as Marquis of Jian'an, with a domain of one thousand households. He later served as governor of Danyang, then died; his posthumous name was Keen. His son Ben succeeded him.
69
賁字世文，性躁薄。 正德為侯景所立，賁出投之，專監造攻具，以攻台城，常為賊耳目。 南康嗣王會理謀襲景，賁與中宿世子子邕告之，賊矯封賁竟陵王，子邕隨郡王，並改姓侯氏。 賁為宗正卿，子邕都官尚書，專權陵蔑朝政，居嘗晝臥，見柳敬禮、蕭勸入室驅之，賁驚起乞恩。 俄而賊惡其翻覆，殺之。 正立弟正表，封封山侯，後奔樂山。 正表弟正信。
Ben, styled Shiwen, was rash and shallow by nature. When Hou Jing installed Zhengde, Ben went over to him, oversaw the building of siege engines against the Terrace City, and often acted as the rebels' spy. When Prince Huili of Nankang plotted against Jing, Ben and Ziyong, heir of Zhongsu, betrayed the plot; the rebels made Ben king of Jingling and Ziyong king of Su commandery and gave them the surname Hou. Ben became minister of the imperial clan and Ziyong minister of justice; they dominated the court with contempt. Once Ben napped by day; Liu Jingli and Xiao Quan entered and drove him out, and Ben leapt up begging for mercy. Soon the rebels, hating his treachery, killed him. Zhengli's younger brother Zhengbiao was made marquis of Fengshan and later fled to Leshan. Zhengli's younger cousin was Zhengxin.
70
正信字公理，封武化侯。 與正立同生，亦被宏鍾愛。 然幼不慧，常執白團扇，湘東王取題八字銘玩之。 正信不知嗤之，終常搖握。 位給事中，卒。
Zhengxin, styled Gongli, was enfeoffed as marquis of Wuhua. A uterine brother of Zhengli, he was also cherished by Hong. But he was dull as a boy and always carried a white round fan; Prince Yi of Xiangdong inscribed an eight-character motto on it to mock him. Zhengxin never understood the mockery and to the end kept waving it about. He served as attendant within the gates and died.