He Ze (何澤) | 24 Histories

Overview

He Ze was an official.

PeriodFive Dynasties

IdentityHistorical · Male

Roles

Found in

Life and dates

Death

AD 936 晉高祖入立後
Cause Illness
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 56, passage 153

Age

70
Reckoning Sui
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 56, passage 151

Attested activity

AD 923 to AD 936 莊宗至晉
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 56, passage 132

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of He Ding (何鼎)
father 父
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 56, passage 129

Places and affiliations

At Guangzhou 廣州
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 56, passage 128

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Addressed to Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang (唐莊宗)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 56, passages 132-135

References in the histories

Search passages

History

12 passages

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 56Volume 56 Miscellaneous Biographies 36: He Ning, Zhao Ying, Feng Yu, Lu Zhi, Lü Qi, Xue Rong, He Ze, Wang Quan, Shi Gui, Long Min · 12 passages

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何澤，廣州人也。 He Ze came from Guangzhou.

澤少好學，長於歌詩。 Ze loved learning from youth and excelled in poetry.

唐莊宗好畋獵，數踐民田，澤乃潛身伏草間伺莊宗，當馬諫曰：「陛下未能一天下以休兵，而暴斂疲民以給軍食。 Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang loved the hunt and often rode through the people's fields. Ze hid in the grass along the route and stepped before the emperor's horse to remonstrate: "Your Majesty has not yet unified the realm and brought the armies to rest, yet you levy harshly on an exhausted people to feed the troops.

澤伏閤切諫，明宗嘉之，拜吏部郎中、史館修撰。 Ze knelt at the gate in urgent remonstrance. Mingzong praised him and made him Director in the Ministry of Personnel and Compiler in the Historiographical Institute.

澤外雖直言，而內實邪佞，嘗於內殿起居，班退，獨留，以笏叩顙，北望而呼曰：「明主，明主！」 Though Ze spoke bluntly in public, in private he was sly and fawning. Once at court in the inner hall, when the officials withdrew he alone remained, bowing and striking his forehead with his tablet as he faced north, crying, "Wise sovereign! Wise sovereign!"

澤上書言其敝，明宗下詔悉廢戶部蠲紙。 Ze submitted a memorial describing this abuse, and Mingzong issued an edict abolishing the Ministry's exemption paper entirely.

澤與宰相趙鳳有舊，數私於鳳，求為給諫。 Ze had old ties with Chief Minister Zhao Feng and repeatedly visited him in private, seeking a post as remonstrance censor.

敕未出而澤先知之，即稱新官上章自訴。 Before the edict was even issued, Ze already knew of it. He immediately assumed the new title and submitted a memorial in his own defense.

章下中書，鳳等言：「澤未拜命而稱新官，輕侮朝廷，請坐以法。」 When the memorial reached the Secretariat, Feng and the others said, "Ze has styled himself by a new office before receiving appointment. This shows contempt for the court. We ask that he be punished according to law."

澤時年已七十，尚希仕進，即遣婢宜子詣匭上章言事，請立秦王為皇太子。 By then Ze was already seventy, yet still hungered for office. He sent his maid Yizi to deposit a memorial asking that the Prince of Qin be made crown prince.

秦王素驕，多不軌，遂成其禍，由澤而始。 The Prince of Qin was arrogant and repeatedly overstepped propriety. The disaster that followed began with Ze.

晉高祖入立，召為太常少卿，以疾卒於家。 When Later Jin's Gaozu took the throne, Ze was recalled as Vice Director of Sacrificial Worship, but died of illness at home.