1
夏侯惇
Xiahou Dun.
2
夏侯惇字元讓，沛國譙人，夏侯嬰之後也。 年十四，就師學，人有辱其師者，惇殺之，由是以烈氣聞。 太祖初起，惇常爲裨將，從征伐。 太祖行奮武將軍，以惇爲司馬，别屯白馬，遷折衝校尉，領東郡太守。 太祖征陶謙，留惇守濮陽。 張邈叛，迎吕布，太祖家在鄄城，惇輕車往赴，適與布會，交戰。 布退還，遂入濮陽，襲得惇軍輜重。 遣將僞降，共執持惇，責以寶貨，惇軍中震恐。 惇將韓浩乃勒兵屯惇營門，召軍吏諸將，皆案甲當部不得動，諸營乃定。 遂詣惇所，叱持質者曰：「汝等凶逆，乃敢執劫大將軍，復欲望生邪！ 且吾受命討賊，寧能以一將軍之故，而縱汝乎？」 因涕泣謂惇曰：「當奈國法何！」 促召兵擊持質者。 持質者惶遽叩头，言「我但欲乞資用去耳！」 浩數責，皆斬之。 惇既免，太祖聞之，謂浩曰：「卿此可爲萬世法。」 乃著令，自今已後有持質者，皆當并擊，勿顧質。 由是劫質者遂絕。 〈孫盛曰：案《光武紀》，建武九年，盜劫陰貴人母弟，吏以不得拘質迫盜，盜遂殺之也。 然則合擊者，乃古制也。 自安、順已降，政教陵遲，劫質不避王公，而有司莫能遵奉國憲者，浩始復斬之，故魏武嘉焉。〉
Xiahou Dun, styled Yuanrang, came from Qiao in Pei commandery. He traced his line back to Xiahou Ying. When he was fourteen he took a tutor; a man who humiliated that tutor was slain by Dun, and word of his fierce temper spread from that moment. In the earliest days of Cao Cao’s rise, Dun repeatedly served as a deputy commander and rode with him on every expedition. While Cao Cao held the acting title General Who Inspires Martial Might, he named Dun his chief of staff, detached him to hold Baima, advanced him to colonel of the shock corps, and added the post of governor of Dong commandery. When Cao Cao marched against Tao Qian, he left Dun behind to defend Puyang. Zhang Miao turned traitor and ushered in Lü Bu. Cao Cao’s household was still at Juancheng; Dun raced there with a light escort, ran straight into Lü Bu’s host, and joined battle. Lü Bu fell back, then doubled into Puyang and overran Dun’s baggage column before anyone could react. He sent a subordinate under false colors of surrender; the man seized Dun as a hostage and demanded ransom. Panic rippled through Dun’s camp. Han Hao, one of Dun’s commanders, drew up his men at the camp gate, called in every staff officer and captain, ordered each unit to stand fast in full kit, and so steadied the whole encampment. He strode to Dun’s position and roared at the kidnappers: “You are traitors who dare bind a commander-in-chief and still expect to walk away alive? I carry orders to extirpate rebels. Am I to spare you for the life of a single general?” Weeping, he told Dun, “The law of the realm leaves me no choice.” He ordered the assault troops forward against the hostage-takers. The kidnappers panicked, beat their heads on the ground, and cried, “We only wanted money to get away!” Han Hao berated them again and again, then had every one of them executed. After Dun was freed, Cao Cao heard the story and told Han Hao, “What you did should be the precedent for all time.” He then promulgated a rule: from that day forward, anyone who seized a hostage was to be cut down together with the victim—no one was to spare the captive for fear of the bandits. After that, hostage-taking in his armies all but disappeared. 〈Sun Sheng remarks: The Guangwu Annals record that in Jianwu 9 robbers kidnapped the mother and younger brother of Honored Lady Yin; officials, forbidden to storm the hostage to corner the outlaws, watched helplessly as the bandits murdered them. So the policy of striking hostage-takers without mercy was already an old precedent. After the An and Shun emperors, government grew slack and kidnappers no longer spared even princes of the blood, while magistrates shrank from enforcing the code. Han Hao was the first in ages to cut them down without negotiation, which is why Cao Cao praised him so warmly.〉
3
韓浩、史渙
Han Hao and Shi Huan.
4
夏侯淵
Xiahou Yuan.
5
夏侯淵字妙才，惇族弟也。 太祖居家，曾有縣官事，淵代引重罪，太祖營救之，得免。 〈《魏略》曰：時兖、豫大亂，淵以饑乏，棄其幼子，而活亡弟孤女。〉 太祖起兵，以别部司馬、騎都尉從，遷陳留、潁川太守。 及與袁紹戰於官渡，行督軍校尉。 紹破，使督兖、豫、徐州軍糧； 時軍食少，淵傳饋相繼，軍以復振。 昌豨反，遣于禁擊之，未拔，復遣淵與禁并力，遂擊豨，降其十餘屯，豨詣禁降。 淵還，拜典軍校尉。 〈《魏書》曰：淵爲將，赴急疾，常出敵之不意，故軍中爲之語曰：「典軍校尉夏侯淵，三日五百，六日一千。」〉 濟南、樂安黄巾徐和、司馬俱等攻城，殺長吏，淵將泰山、齊、平原郡兵擊，大破之，斬和，平諸縣，收其糧穀以給軍士。 十四年，以淵爲行領軍。 太祖征孫權還，使淵督諸將擊廬江叛者雷緒，緒破，又行征西護軍，督徐晃擊太原賊，攻下二十餘屯，斬賊帥商曜，屠其城。 從征韓遂等，戰於渭南。 又督朱靈平隃糜、汧氐。 與太祖會安定，降楊秋。
Xiahou Yuan, styled Miaocai, was a younger kinsman of Xiahou Dun. While Cao Cao was still a private gentleman he tangled with the county authorities; Yuan stepped forward and took the gravest charge on himself, and Cao Cao maneuvered until the sentence was lifted. 〈The Wei lüe relates that when Yan and Yu were convulsed by rebellion, famine forced Yuan to leave his own baby son to die while he saved the orphaned girl of a dead younger brother.〉 When Cao Cao first mustered an army, Yuan joined him as chief of staff of an independent column and as chief of cavalry, then rose to governor of Chenliu and Yingchuan. At Guandu he served as acting army inspector under Cao Cao’s command against Yuan Shao. After Shao’s defeat he was put in charge of grain convoys for Yan, Yu, and Xu; provisions were dangerously low, but Yuan kept the wagons moving without a break until the host could fight again. When Chang Xi rose in revolt, Yu Jin was first sent and stalled; Yuan was dispatched to reinforce him. Together they stormed Chang Xi, overran a dozen of his camps, and drove the rebel to surrender to Yu Jin. Yuan came back and was named colonel of the headquarters guard. 〈The Wei shu notes that Yuan habitually moved faster than anyone expected; soldiers coined the rhyme: “Headquarters colonel Xiahou Yuan—five hundred li in three days, a thousand in six.”〉 Yellow Turban remnants Xu He and Sima Ju in Jinan and Le’an were storming towns and murdering magistrates; Yuan led the Mount Tai, Qi, and Pingyuan levies against them, crushed their army, beheaded Xu He, restored order county by county, and seized their grain for the troops. In the fourteenth year of the Jian’an era he was made acting commander of the guard army. After Cao Cao’s expedition against Sun Quan, he sent Yuan to direct the generals against the Lujiang mutineer Lei Xu. When Lei Xu fell, Yuan took the acting post of western army protector and oversaw Xu Huang’s sweep of the Taiyuan bandits—twenty stockades stormed, chieftain Shang Yao executed, and his stronghold put to the sword. He marched with Cao Cao against Han Sui’s coalition and fought on the south bank of the Wei. He also directed Zhu Ling in subduing the Di peoples of Yumi and along the Qian River. He met Cao Cao at Anding and accepted Yang Qiu’s surrender.
6
十七年，太祖乃還鄴，以淵行護軍將軍，督朱靈、路招等屯長安，擊破南山賊劉雄，降其眾。 圍遂、超餘党梁興於鄠，拔之，斬興，封博昌亭侯。 馬超圍涼州刺史韋康於冀，淵救康，未到，康敗。 去冀二百餘里，超來逆戰，軍不利。 汧氐反，淵引軍還。 十九年，趙衢、尹奉等謀討超，姜叙起兵鹵城以應之。 衢等譎說超，使出擊叙，於後盡殺超妻子。 超奔漢中，還圍祁山。 叙等急求救，諸將議者欲湏太祖節度。 淵曰：「公在鄴，反覆四千里，比報，叙等必敗，非救急也。」 遂行，使張郃督步騎五千在前，從陳倉狹道入，淵自督糧在後。 郃至渭水上，超將氐羌數千逆郃。 未戰，超走，郃進軍收超軍器械。 淵到，諸縣皆已降。 韓遂在顯親，淵欲襲取之，遂走。 淵收遂軍糧，追至略陽城，去遂二十餘里，諸將欲攻之，或言當攻興國氐。 淵以爲遂兵精，興國城固，攻不可卒拔，不如擊長離諸羌。 長離諸羌多在遂軍，必歸救其家。 若羌獨守則孤，救長離則官兵得與野戰，可必虜也。 淵乃留督將守輜重，輕兵步騎到長離，攻燒羌屯，斬获甚眾。 諸羌在遂軍者，各還種落。 遂果救長離，與淵軍对陣。 諸將見遂眾，惡之，欲結營作塹乃與戰。 淵曰：「我轉鬭千里，今復作營塹，則士眾罷弊，不可久。 賊雖眾，易與耳。」 乃鼓之，大破遂軍，得其旌麾，還略陽，進軍圍興國。 氐王千萬逃奔馬超，餘眾降。 轉擊高平屠各，皆散走，收其糧穀牛馬。 乃假淵節。
In the seventeenth year Cao Cao went back to Ye and named Yuan acting protector general with Zhu Ling, Lu Zhao, and others to hold Chang’an. They routed the bandit Liu Xiong in the southern hills and brought his followers to heel. He bottled up Liang Xing, a remnant of Han Sui and Ma Chao’s faction, inside Hu, stormed the town, struck off Liang Xing’s head, and received the village marquisate of Bochang. Ma Chao penned Liangzhou Inspector Wei Kang inside Ji; Yuan raced to the relief but arrived too late—Wei Kang had already lost. Still over two hundred li short of Ji, he collided with Ma Chao’s vanguard and suffered a reverse. When the Di along the Qian rose, Yuan broke off and withdrew his column. In the nineteenth year Zhao Qu and Yin Feng conspired to destroy Ma Chao; Jiang Xu raised the standard at Lucheng to back them. Zhao Qu’s party tricked Ma Chao into riding out against Jiang Xu, then slaughtered every member of his family left behind. Ma Chao bolted to Hanzhong, then swung back to invest Qishan. Jiang Xu’s men begged for immediate aid; several generals argued they must wait for orders from Cao Cao at Ye. Yuan replied, “The Duke is four thousand li away in Ye. By the time a messenger returns, Jiang Xu will be dust. That is no rescue at all.” He moved at once, sent Zhang He ahead with five thousand horse and foot through the Cangcang defile, and himself shepherded the baggage train. Zhang He’s van reached the Wei’s north shore, where several thousand Di and Qiang troopers under Ma Chao barred the way. Before the lines closed Ma Chao bolted; Zhang He pushed on and scooped up abandoned gear by the wagonload. By the time Yuan came up, every county along the route had capitulated. Han Sui was holding Xianqin; Yuan tried to fall on him by surprise, but Sui slipped away. Yuan seized Han Sui’s granaries and chased him to Lueyang, closing to within twenty li. Some captains wanted to storm Sui’s camp; others urged a strike at the Di stronghold of Xingguo. Yuan judged Han Sui’s veterans too tough and the walls of Xingguo too high for a quick win; better to hit the Qiang settlements at Changli instead. Most of the Changli Qiang were serving in Han Sui’s ranks and would race home the moment their villages burned. Leave the Qiang isolated on the heights, or draw them out to save Changli—either way our men fight them in the open and can break them for good. He left deputies to shield the train, took picked horse and foot to Changli, torched the Qiang camps, and piled up heads and prisoners beyond count. Every Qiang who had marched with Han Sui melted back toward his own tribe. Han Sui did hurry to Changli, where he drew up against Yuan’s host. His officers blanched at Han Sui’s numbers and wanted to entrench and wait. Yuan said, “We have fought our way a thousand li. If we start digging lines now the men will be played out before a blow is struck. They outnumber us, but they are rabble we can break.” He beat the advance, shattered Han Sui’s line, seized his command banners, fell back to Lueyang, then swung the whole army against Xingguo. The Di chieftain Qianwan bolted to Ma Chao; everyone else submitted. He next hit the Tuge tribesmen of Gaoping; they broke and ran, leaving grain, oxen, and horses for the taking. The court then invested him with formal insignia of command.
7
初，枹罕宋建因涼州亂，自號河首平漢王。 太祖使淵帥諸將討建。 淵至，圍枹罕，月餘拔之，斬建及所置丞相已下。 淵别遣張郃等平河關，渡河入小湟中，河西諸羌盡降，隴右平。 太祖下令曰：「宋建造爲亂逆三十餘年，淵一舉滅之，虎步關右，所向無前。 仲尼有言：『吾與尔不如也。』」 二十一年，增封三百户，并前八百户。 還擊武都氐羌下辯，收氐穀十餘萬斛。 太祖西征張魯，淵等將涼州諸將侯王已下，與太祖會休亭。 太祖每引見羌、胡，以淵畏之。 會魯降，漢中平，以淵行都護將軍，督張郃、徐晃等平巴郡。 太祖還鄴，留淵守漢中，即拜淵征西將軍。 二十三年，劉備軍陽平關，淵率諸將拒之，相守連年。 二十四年正月，備夜燒圍鹿角。 淵使張郃護東圍，自將輕兵護南圍。 備挑郃戰，郃軍不利。 淵分所將兵半助郃，爲備所襲，淵遂戰死。 諡曰愍侯。
Earlier, when Liangzhou dissolved into chaos, Song Jian of Fuhan had crowned himself “River-head King Who Pacifies the Han.” Cao Cao dispatched Yuan at the head of several columns to destroy him. Yuan invested Fuhan, stormed it after a month, and executed Song Jian together with every minister he had named. He detached Zhang He to clear Heguan, crossed into Little Huangzhong, brought every Qiang tribe west of the river to terms, and quieted the Longyou corridor. Cao Cao proclaimed: “Song Jian wallowed in rebellion for thirty years; Xiahou Yuan wiped him out at a stroke, strode the Longyou like a tiger, and nothing stood in his path. Confucius once admitted, “I am not his equal; you are not like him." ’” In the twenty-first year three hundred new households were added to his fief, bringing the total to eight hundred. On his return he struck the Di and Qiang at Xiabian in Wu commandery and carried off well over a hundred thousand hu of their grain. When Cao Cao marched west against Zhang Lu, Yuan shepherded every Liangzhou commander from marquis rank downward to rendezvous with him at Xiuting. Whenever Cao Cao paraded Qiang and Xiongnu chiefs before his tent, they went pale at the sight of Yuan. After Zhang Lu yielded and Hanzhong was settled, Yuan became acting chief protector general and oversaw Zhang He and Xu Huang in mopping up Ba commandery. Cao Cao went back to Ye but left Yuan to hold Hanzhong, promoting him on the spot to general who campaigns west. In the twenty-third year Liu Bei’s army camped at Yangping Pass; Yuan commanded the defense, and the two sides glared at each other year after year. In the first month of the twenty-fourth year Liu Bei sent men by night to burn the palisade around the camp. Yuan assigned Zhang He to the eastern sector while he took picked troops to the south face himself. Liu Bei baited Zhang He into a sortie; Zhang He’s detachment came off worse. Yuan split his command to reinforce Zhang He, walked into an ambush laid by Liu Bei, and fell fighting. He was canonized as Marquis Min (the Compassionate).
8
初，淵雖數戰勝，太祖常戒曰：「爲將當有怯弱時，不可但恃勇也。 將當以勇爲本，行之以智計； 但知任勇，一匹夫敵耳。」
Even while Yuan was winning fight after fight, Cao Cao used to warn him: “A commander needs moments of caution; sheer daring is not enough. Courage must be the base, but it has to be guided by calculation; rely on nothing but brawn and you are no better than a common brawler.”
9
子霸等
His sons, including Ba, and their lines.
10
曹仁字子孝，太祖從弟也。 〈《魏書》曰：仁祖褒，潁川太守。 父炽，侍中、長水校尉。〉 少好弓馬弋猎。 後豪杰并起，仁亦陰結少年，得千餘人，周旋淮、泗之間，遂從太祖爲别部司馬，行厉鋒校尉。 太祖之破袁术，仁所斬获颇多。 從征徐州，仁常督騎，爲軍前鋒。 别攻陶謙將吕由，破之，還與大軍合彭城，大破謙軍。 從攻费、华、即墨、开陽，謙遣别將救諸縣，仁以騎擊破之。 太祖征吕布，仁别攻句陽，拔之，生获布將劉何。 太祖平黄巾，迎天子都许，仁數有功，拜广陽太守。 太祖器其勇略，不使之郡，以議郎督騎。 太祖征張绣，仁别徇旁縣，虜其男女三千餘人。 太祖軍還，爲绣所追，軍不利，士卒喪氣，仁率厉將士甚奮，太祖壯之，遂破绣。
Cao Ren, styled Zixiao, was a younger cousin of Cao Cao on his father’s side. 〈The Wei shu states that his grandfather Cao Bao had been governor of Yingchuan. His father Cao Chi served as attendant-in-chief and colonel of the Long River guards.〉 As a young man he was devoted to horsemanship, archery, and the chase. When the realm filled with warlords, Ren quietly recruited a thousand restless youths and ranged the country between the Huai and the Si until he joined Cao Cao as chief of an independent column, with the acting title colonel of the vanguard. At Cao Cao’s victory over Yuan Shu, Ren’s tally of killed and captured ran unusually high. During the drive on Xu province he habitually led the cavalry screen and spearheaded every assault. He detached a column against Tao Qian’s officer Lü You, broke him, rejoined the main host at Pengcheng, and helped shatter Tao Qian’s field army. He next joined the sieges of Fei, Hua, Jimo, and Kaiyang; when Tao Qian rushed relief columns to those towns, Ren rode them down in detail. During Cao Cao’s campaign against Lü Bu, Ren detached a column against Gouyang, stormed the town, and brought back Bu’s general Liu He as a prisoner. After Cao Cao crushed the Yellow Turbans, escorted the emperor to Xu, and set up his court there, Ren piled up enough victories to be named governor of Guangyang. Cao Cao prized his dash and tactical sense, kept him from a provincial desk job, and left him at court as a gentleman consultant in charge of the horse troops. On the Zhang Xiu expedition Ren ranged the outlying counties on his own and rounded up over three thousand civilians and soldiers. On the march home Cao Cao’s column was run down by Zhang Xiu and began to waver; Ren rallied the ranks until their spirit returned. Cao Cao admired the show of nerve and turned defeat into a rout of Zhang Xiu.
11
太祖與袁紹久相持於官渡，紹遣劉備徇㶏彊諸縣，多舉眾應之。 自许以南，吏民不安，太祖以爲憂。 仁曰：「南方以大軍方有目前急，其勢不能相救，劉備以彊兵临之，其背叛固宜也。 備新將紹兵，未能得其用，擊之可破也。」 太祖善其言，遂使將騎擊備，破走之，仁盡復收諸叛縣而還。 紹遣别將韓荀钞斷西道，仁擊荀於鸡洛山，大破之。 由是紹不敢復分兵出。 復與史渙等钞紹运车，燒其糧穀。
While Cao Cao and Yuan Shao glared at each other across the Guandu lines, Shao detached Liu Bei to sweep the counties south of the Yin, and town after town rose at his call. South of Xu the countryside was in turmoil, and the unrest weighed on Cao Cao’s mind. Ren argued, “The southerners know our main force is pinned here and cannot march to their aid. Liu Bei is leaning on them with a heavy army, so of course they are tempted to defect. Liu Bei has only just inherited Yuan Shao’s men; he has not welded them into a weapon. Hit him now and he will shatter.” Cao Cao agreed, gave Ren the cavalry, and sent him against Liu Bei. Ren broke his line, chased him off, and brought every mutinous county back under the flag. Yuan Shao ordered Han Xun to sever the western convoy route; Ren intercepted him on Mount Jiluo and tore his command apart. After that Yuan Shao never again risked splitting his army for side operations. He joined Shi Huan in another sweep against Yuan Shao’s grain carts and put the stores to the torch.
12
河北既定，從圍壶關。 太祖令曰：「城拔，皆坑之。」 連月不下。 仁言於太祖曰：「圍城必示之活門，所以开其生路也。 今公告之必死，將人自爲守。 且城固而糧多，攻之則士卒傷，守之則引日久； 今顿兵堅城之下，以攻必死之虜，非良計也。」 太祖從之，城降。 於是錄仁前後功，封都亭侯。
Once the Hebei plain was secure, he took part in the siege of Huguan Pass. Cao Cao’s order was blunt: “When the walls fall, put the entire population to the sword.” Month after month the assault failed to crack the defenses. Ren urged Cao Cao, “A siege needs a face-saving exit; only then will the garrison think surrender is possible. Tell them they are already as good as dead and every household will barricade itself for a last stand. The fort is high, the granaries deep: storming it will bleed us white, while sitting tight only stretches the calendar; and freezing an army under a sheer citadel to batter men who believe they have nothing left to lose is poor generalship.” Cao Cao took the advice; the city opened its gates. His whole record of service was entered in the rolls and he received the village marquisate at the metropolitan enclosure.
13
從平荆州，以仁行征南將軍，留屯江陵，拒吴將周瑜。 瑜將數萬眾來攻，前鋒數千人始至，仁登城望之，乃募得三百人，遣部曲將牛金逆與挑戰。 賊多，金眾少，遂爲所圍。 長史陳矫俱在城上，望見金等垂沒，左右皆失色。 仁意氣奮怒甚，謂左右取馬來，矫等共援持之。 謂仁曰：「賊眾盛，不可當也。 假使棄數百人何苦，而將軍以身赴之！」 仁不應，遂被甲上馬，將其麾下壯士數十騎出城。 去賊百餘步，迫沟，矫等以爲仁當住沟上，爲金形勢也，仁径渡沟直前，衝入賊圍，金等乃得解。 餘眾未盡出，仁復直還突之，拔出金兵，亡其數人，賊眾乃退。 矫等初見仁出，皆懼，及見仁還，乃叹曰：「將軍真天人也！」 三軍服其勇。 太祖益壯之，轉封安平亭侯。
After the conquest of Jing province he was named acting general of the southern expedition, left to hold Jiangling against Wu’s Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu came up the river with tens of thousands; only the van had closed to the walls when Ren climbed the parapet, scraped together three hundred volunteers, and ordered his client officer Niu Jin to ride out and provoke a fight. The enemy swarmed while Jin’s handful was swallowed in their midst. Chief clerk Chen Jiao stood beside him on the tower; as Niu Jin’s detachment sank beneath the odds, every face on the wall went grey. Ren flushed with battle fury and shouted for his horse; Chen Jiao and the staff grabbed his arms to hold him back. They pleaded, “The odds are impossible—no one could stand against that mass. What is the loss of a few hundred foot compared with throwing yourself into their teeth?” Ren said nothing, strapped on his armor, swung into the saddle, and led a few dozen picked horsemen out through the gate. A hundred paces from the enemy line he reached a dry moat; Chen Jiao assumed he would halt on the near bank to screen Niu Jin, but Ren splashed straight across, rammed the ring of spears, and tore the noose open around Jin. Before the rest of his squad could follow, he wheeled and charged back through the melee, pulled Niu Jin’s men clear at the cost of a few lives, and the besiegers fell back. Chen Jiao had watched him ride out in horror; when he watched him ride home again he murmured, “That man belongs to another order of being!” The whole army stood in awe of his courage. Cao Cao admired him all the more and moved his title to the village marquisate of Anping.
14
太祖討馬超，以仁行安西將軍，督諸將拒潼關，破超渭南。 苏伯、田银反，以仁行骁騎將軍，都督七軍討银等，破之。 復以仁行征南將軍，假節，屯樊，鎮荆州。 侯音以宛叛，略傍縣眾數千人，仁率諸軍攻破音，斬其首，還屯樊，即拜征南將軍。 關羽攻樊，時漢水暴溢，于禁等七軍皆沒，禁降羽。 仁人馬數千人守城，城不沒者數板。 羽乘船临城，圍數重，外内斷絕，糧食欲盡，救兵不至。 仁激厉將士，示以必死，將士感之皆無二。 徐晃救至，水亦稍减，晃從外擊羽，仁得溃圍出，羽退走。
During the campaign against Ma Chao he served as acting general of the western pacification, directed the defense of Tong Pass, and helped break Ma Chao on the south bank of the Wei. When Su Bo and Tian Yin rose in the north, Ren took the acting post of swift-cavalry general, commanded seven columns against them, and crushed the revolt. He was again named acting general of the southern expedition, invested with formal baton, and stationed at Fan to anchor Jing province. Hou Yin seized Wan and dragged thousands from the neighboring districts into revolt; Ren led the combined hosts against him, took his head, returned to Fan, and was confirmed as full general of the southern expedition. When Guan Yu closed on Fan, the Han burst its banks; Yu Jin’s seven armies were drowned in a night, and Yu Jin himself capitulated to Guan Yu. Ren held the town with a few thousand men while the flood lapped within a few planks of the parapet. Guan Yu brought war junks against the walls, ringed the city in depth, severed every line in or out, starved the garrison to the edge, and still no relief column appeared. Ren harangued his officers, swore they would die where they stood, and the men answered him with a single will. When Xu Huang’s corps finally fought its way in, the flood began to ebb; Huang hammered Guan Yu from the rear while Ren punched out of the ring, and Guan Yu drew off.
15
弟純
His younger brother Chun.
16
仁弟純， 〈《英雄記》曰：純字子和。 年十四而喪父，與同產兄仁别居。 承父業，富於財，僮僕人客以百數，純纲紀督御，不失其理，鄉里咸以爲能。 好學問，敬愛學士，學士多歸焉，由是爲遠近所稱。 年十八，爲黄門侍郎。 二十，從太祖到襄邑募兵，遂常從征戰。〉 初以議郎参司空軍事，督虎豹騎從圍南皮。 袁譚出戰，士卒多死。 太祖欲缓之，純曰：「今千里蹈敵，進不能克，退必喪威； 且縣師深入，難以持久。 彼勝而骄，我敗而懼，以懼敵骄，必可克也。」 太祖善其言，遂急攻之，譚敗。 純麾下騎斬譚首。 及北征三郡，純部騎获单於蹹顿。 以前後功封高陵亭侯，邑三百户。 從征荆州，追劉備於長坂，获其二女輜重，收其散卒。 進降江陵，從還譙。 建安十五年薨。 文帝即位，追諡曰威侯。 〈《魏書》曰：純所督虎豹騎，皆天下骁锐，或從百人將补之，太祖難其帥。 純以选爲督，抚循甚得人心。 及卒，有司白选代，太祖曰：「純之比，何可復得！ 吾獨不中督邪？」 遂不选。〉 子演嗣，官至領軍將軍，正元中進封平樂鄉侯。 演薨，子亮嗣。
Ren’s younger brother Chun— 〈The Yingxiong ji records that he bore the courtesy name Zihe. Orphaned at fourteen, he set up his own household apart from his elder brother Ren. He took over the family fortune, kept hundreds of retainers and clients in hand, and ran the household so tightly that neighbors praised his competence. He loved books, honored men of learning, and drew scholars from every quarter until his name was known for counties around. At eighteen he entered the palace as a gentleman attendant at the Yellow Gates. At twenty he rode with Cao Cao to Xiangyi to raise troops, and from then on he was seldom absent from the field.〉 He began as a gentleman consultant on the staff of the minister of works, took charge of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and joined the siege of Nanpi. Yuan Tan sallied from the walls and the assault troops took heavy casualties. Cao Cao wanted to pause the attack; Chun warned, “We have marched a thousand li onto enemy soil: if we slacken the pressure we lose face, and a lone column this deep cannot sit idle forever. They are flush with victory and already careless; we are smarting from a check and therefore cautious—pit a wary army against a cocky one and we can still win.” Cao Cao agreed, redoubled the assault, and broke Yuan Tan’s line. A trooper of Chun’s Tiger and Leopard riders struck off Yuan Tan’s head. On the northern expedition against the Wuhuan league, Chun’s horsemen ran down the chanyu Tadun. His cumulative merit earned the village marquisate of Gaoling with three hundred taxable households. In the drive on Jing province he chased Liu Bei through Changban, seized the two princesses and the baggage train, and scooped up stragglers by the hundred. He pressed on to accept Jiangling’s surrender, then marched home with the army to Qiao. He died in the fifteenth year of the Jian’an era. When Cao Pi took the throne he canonized him as Marquis Wei, “the Formidable.” 〈The Wei shu notes that Chun’s Tiger and Leopard riders were picked champions from every army, often promoted from centurions, so that Cao Cao despaired of finding a worthy colonel for them. Chun won the post by selection and led them with such tact that the corps would have followed him anywhere. After his death the ministry proposed a replacement; Cao Cao snapped, “Where am I to find another man like Chun? Am I myself unfit to command them?” No successor was named.〉 His son Yan inherited the title, rose to general of the central army, and in the Zhengyuan period was advanced to marquis of Pingle village. When Yan died, his son Liang became heir.
17
諸葛亮圍祁山，南安、天水、安定三郡反應亮。 帝遣真督諸軍軍郿，遣張郃擊亮將馬谡，大破之。 安定民楊条等略吏民保月支城，真進軍圍之。 条謂其眾曰：「大將軍自來，吾原早降耳。」 遂自缚出。 三郡皆平。 真以亮惩於祁山，後出必從陳倉，乃使將軍郝昭、王生守陳倉，治其城。 明年春，亮果圍陳倉，已有備而不能克。 增邑，并前二千九百户。 四年，朝洛陽，遷大司馬，賜劍履上殿，入朝不趋。 真以「蜀連出侵邊境，宜遂伐之。 數道并入，可大克也」。 帝從其計。 真當发西討，帝親临送。 真以八月发長安，從子午道南入。 司馬宣王溯漢水，當會南郑。 諸軍或從斜穀道，或從武威入。 會大霖雨三十餘日，或栈道斷絕，詔真還軍。
While Zhuge Liang pinned Qishan, Nan’an, Tianshui, and Anding threw off Wei and declared for Shu. The emperor ordered Cao Zhen to marshal the hosts at Mei while Zhang He fell on Zhuge Liang’s lieutenant Ma Su and broke him decisively. Yang Tiao of Anding dragged officials and townsfolk into revolt and barricaded Yuezhi city; Zhen invested the place. Yang Tiao told his followers, “If the grand general comes in person I mean to yield at once.” He then walked out with his hands tied behind his back. All three mutinous commanderies were brought back under control. Zhen reasoned that Zhuge Liang, smarting from Qishan, would next thrust through Chencang; he stationed Hao Zhao and Wang Sheng there and rebuilt the fortifications. The following spring Liang did lay siege to Chencang, yet the garrison was ready and he could not force an entry. His fief was enlarged until it totaled two thousand nine hundred households. In the fourth year of Taihe he was summoned to Luoyang, promoted to grand marshal, and honored with the privilege of wearing sword and shoes in the throne hall and walking the court at an easy pace. Zhen argued that “Shu keeps raiding our frontier and ought to be struck now, with several columns converging for a decisive blow.” The emperor approved the strategy. As Zhen prepared to march west, the sovereign himself attended the farewell. In the eighth month he left Chang’an and drove south through the Ziwu defile. Sima Yi was to move up the Han and link with him at Nanzheng. Other corps were to debouch from the Xie Valley or advance from Wuwei. Weeks of pounding rain washed out the plank roads; an edict recalled Zhen’s army.
18
子爽
His son Shuang.
19
〈《魏書》曰：爽使弟羲爲表曰：「臣亡父真，奉事三朝，入備冢宰，出爲上將。 先帝以臣肺腑遺緒，獎飭拔擢，典兵禁省，進無忠恪積累之行，退無羔羊自公之節。 先帝聖體不豫，臣雖奔走，侍疾嘗藥，曾無精誠翼日之應，猥與太尉懿俱受遺詔，且慙且懼，靡所厎告。 臣聞虞舜序賢，以稷、契爲先，成湯襃功，以伊、呂爲首，審選博舉，優劣得所，斯誠輔世長民之大經，錄勳報功之令典，自古以來，未之或闕。 今臣虛闇，位冠朝首，顧惟越次，中心愧惕，敢竭愚情，陳寫至實。 夫天下之達道者三，謂德、爵、齒也。 懿本以高明中正，處上司之位，名足鎮衆，義足率下，一也。 包懷大略，允文允武，仍立征伐之勳，遐邇歸功，二也。 萬里旋斾，親受遺詔，翼亮皇家，內外所向，三也。 加之耆艾，紀綱邦國，體練朝政； 論德則過於吉甫、樊仲； 課功則踰於方叔、召虎：凡此數者，懿實兼之。 臣抱空名而處其右，天下之人將謂臣以宗室見私，知進而不知退。 陛下岐嶷，克明克類，如有以察臣之言，臣以爲宜以懿爲太傅、大司馬，上昭陛下進賢之明，中顯懿身文武之實，下使愚臣免於謗誚。」 於是帝使中書監劉放令孫資爲詔曰：「昔吳漢佐光武，有征定四方之功，爲大司馬，名稱於今。 太尉體履正直，功蓋海內，先帝本以前後欲更其位者，輒不彌久，是以遲遲不施行耳。 今大將軍薦太尉宜爲大司馬，旣合先帝本旨，又放推讓，進德尚勳，乃欲明賢良、辯等列、順長少也。 雖旦、奭之屬，宗師呂望，念在引領以處其下，何以過哉！ 朕甚嘉焉。 朕惟先帝固知君子樂天知命，纖介細疑，不足爲忌，當顧栢人彭亡之文，故用低佪，有意未遂耳！ 斯亦先帝敬重大臣，恩愛深厚之至也。 昔成王建保傅之官，近漢顯宗以鄧禹爲太傅，皆所以優崇儁乂，必有尊也。 其以太尉爲太傅。」〉 爽弟羲爲中領軍，訓武衞將軍，彥散騎常侍侍講，其餘諸弟皆以列侯侍從，出入禁闥，貴寵莫盛焉。 南陽何晏、鄧颺、李勝、沛國丁謐、東平畢軌咸有聲名，進趣於時，明帝以其浮華，皆抑黜之； 及爽秉政，乃復進叙，任爲腹心。 颺等欲令爽立威名於天下，勸使伐蜀，爽從其言，宣王止之不能禁。 正始五年，爽乃西至長安，大發卒六七萬人，從駱穀入。 是時，關中及氐、羌轉輸不能供，牛馬騾驢多死，民夷號泣道路。 入穀行數百里，賊因山爲固，兵不得進。 爽參軍楊偉爲爽陳形勢，宜急還，不然將敗。 〈《世語》曰：偉字世英，馮翊人。 明帝治宮室，偉諫曰：「今作宮室，斬伐生民墓上松柏，毀壞碑獸石柱，辜及亡人，傷孝子心，不可以爲後世之法則。」〉 颺與偉爭於爽前，偉曰：「颺、勝將敗國家事，可斬也。」 爽不恱，乃引軍還。 〈《漢晉春秋》曰：司馬宣王謂夏侯玄曰：「春秋責大德重，昔武皇帝再入漢中，幾至大敗，君所知也。 今興平路勢至險，蜀已先據； 若進不獲戰，退見徼絕，覆軍必矣。 將何以任其責！」 玄懼，言於爽，引軍退。 費禕進兵據三嶺以截爽，爽爭嶮苦戰，僅乃得過。 所發牛馬運轉者，死失略盡，羌、胡怨歎，而關右悉虛耗矣。〉
〈The Wei shu relates that Shuang had his brother Xi compose a memorial: “My late father Zhen served three reigns, at court stood ready to act as chief minister, in the field held supreme command. The late emperor, seeing me as kin left on the stem, heaped favors on me and gave me troops inside the palace; yet I have shown neither steady loyalty in advance nor the unstained integrity expected of a high minister. When his majesty lay ill I hurried to his bedside and tasted his physic, yet offered nothing that could compare with dutiful sons of old; unworthily I received the deathbed edict together with Grand Commandant Sima Yi, and I live torn between shame and dread with no place to unburden myself. I have read that Shun ranked worthies with Ji and Xie at the top, and Tang rewarded service with Yi and Lü foremost: careful choice and wide recommendation, fitting each man to his grade, is the great principle for ordering the realm and the shining precedent for honoring merit—through all ages it has seldom been neglected. Today I am a hollow man whose title tops the court; I know I have outstripped my deserts, and my heart quails with mingled shame and fear; yet I must speak plainly. The world recognizes three measures of standing—moral weight, noble rank, and gray hair. First, Sima Yi is by nature judicious and upright; in high office his name alone steadies the host and his sense of duty draws men after him. Second, he combines breadth of design with gifts both civil and military and has repeatedly proved himself in the field; credit for those victories runs from the capital to the marches. Third, he marched ten thousand li at the head of the host, took the late emperor’s testament in his own hands, and has steadied the throne; court and camp alike look to him. Besides, he is a graybeard who sets the tone for the realm and knows every turn of government from long practice; by moral stature he outshines Jifu and Fanzhong of old; reckoned by deeds he surpasses Fangshu and Zhaohu—Sima Yi embodies every one of these qualities. If I keep a hollow title and still rank above him, everyone will say the imperial clan is playing favorites—that I know how to climb but not how to step down. Your Majesty is astute enough to weigh what I say: appoint Sima Yi Grand Tutor and Grand Marshal—so the throne shows the world it honors true talent, so Yi’s civil and military gifts are displayed in full, and so I may escape the charge of cronyism.” The emperor then had Liu Fang of the Secretariat instruct Sun Zi to draft an edict: “Wu Han aided Emperor Guangwu, conquered the four corners, and became Grand Marshal—a name still honored today. The Grand Commandant is upright in deed and word, and his service fills the realm. The late emperor more than once meant to change his post, yet each plan fell through before long, so the promotion hung fire. Now the Grand General urges that the Grand Commandant become Grand Marshal—honoring the late emperor’s purpose, rewarding modest refusal, prizing virtue and merit, and sorting rank between elder statesman and rising men. Even the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao, even the patriarch Lü Wang, would gladly take second place to such a man—what higher praise could there be? We heartily approve. We reflect that the late emperor knew a gentleman accepts Heaven’s will: petty scruples must not become superstition—he recalled the old omen of Bairen and “Peng’s death,” and therefore hesitated until his purpose went unfulfilled. That too was how deeply he respected his chief ministers and cherished them. King Cheng of Zhou created the offices of protector and tutor; Emperor Ming of Later Han named Deng Yu Grand Tutor—both moves exalted the worthiest men with fitting dignity. Let the Grand Commandant be promoted Grand Tutor.”〉" Shuang’s brother Xi commanded the palace guard, Xun became general of the martial guard, Yan was a supernumerary attendant and lecturer, and every other brother entered the inner palace as a full marquis—no clan ever basked in such favor. He Yan of Nanyang, Deng Yang, Li Sheng, Ding Mi of Pei, and Bi Gui of Dongping were famous men on the make; Emperor Ming had judged them shallow and shelved them; but once Shuang seized the government he brought them back and made them his inner circle. Deng Yang’s clique wanted Shuang to win glory abroad and talked him into invading Shu; Shuang agreed, and though Sima Yi argued against it he could not stop them. In Zhengshi 5 Shuang moved his headquarters to Chang’an, levied sixty or seventy thousand men, and marched them in through the Luogu defile. The supply line through Guanzhong and the Di and Qiang country broke down; draft animals died by the thousands, and Han and non-Han alike wept along the highways. They had gone only a few hundred li up the valley when Shu’s defenders, dug into the heights, blocked every forward step. Staff officer Yang Wei laid the facts before Shuang: withdraw at once or face ruin. 〈The Shiyu names him Yang Wei, styled Shiying, from Fengyi commandery. When Emperor Ming raised new palaces, Wei protested: “You are felling the pines on people’s ancestral graves and smashing tomb guardians and stele columns—an outrage to the dead and a wound to the living. Such work must not become precedent for later ages.”〉 Deng Yang quarreled with Yang Wei in Shuang’s presence; Wei snapped, “Deng Yang and Li Sheng will wreck the realm—they deserve execution.” Shuang took offense and marched his army home. 〈The Han–Jin chunqiu records Sima Yi telling Xiahou Xuan: “The classic holds great men to a stern standard—your own Emperor Wu twice invaded Hanzhong and nearly came to grief, as you recall. Today the Xingping route is sheer murder, and Shu already holds the heights; if you fail to force a battle going in, you will be cut to pieces pulling out—the army is doomed. How will you answer for that?” Xuan took fright, repeated the warning to Shuang, and the column retreated. Fei Yi pushed forward and sealed the three ridges to trap Shuang; Shuang had to fight his way through defile after defile before scraping clear. The draft animals requisitioned for the march were almost all lost; Qiang and Hu cursed the expedition, and the Longyou corridor was left empty.〉
20
初，爽以宣王年德並高，恒父事之，不敢專行。 及晏等進用，咸共推戴，說爽以權重不宜委之於人。 乃以晏、颺、謐爲尚書，晏典選舉，軌司隷校尉，勝河南尹，諸事希復由宣王。 宣王遂稱疾避爽。 〈初，宣王以爽魏之肺腑，每推先之，爽以宣王名重，亦引身卑下，當時稱焉。 丁謐、畢軌等旣進用，數言於爽曰：「宣王有大志而甚得民心，不可以推誠委之。」 由是爽恒猜防焉。 禮貌雖存，而諸所興造，皆不復由宣王。 宣王力不能爭，且懼其禍，故避之。〉 晏等專政，共分割洛陽、野王典農部桑田數百頃，及壞湯沐地以爲產業，承勢竊取官物，因緣求欲州郡。 有司望風，莫敢忤旨。 晏等與廷尉盧毓素有不平，因毓吏微過，深文致毓法，使主者先收毓印綬，然後奏聞。 其作威如此。 爽飲食車服擬於乘輿，尚方珍玩充牣其家，妻妾盈後庭，又私取先帝才人七八人，及將吏、師工、鼓吹、良家子女三十三人，皆以爲伎樂。 詐作詔書，發才人五十七人送鄴臺，使先帝倢伃教習爲伎。 擅取太樂樂器、武庫禁兵。 作窟室，綺疏四周，數與晏等會其中，飲酒作樂。 羲深以爲大憂，數諫止之。 又著書三篇，陳驕淫盈溢之致禍敗，辭旨甚切，不敢斥爽，託戒諸弟以示爽。 爽知其爲己發也，甚不恱。 羲或時以諫喻不納，涕泣而起。 宣王密爲之備。 九年冬，李勝出爲荊州刺史，往詣宣王。 宣王稱疾困篤，示以羸形。 勝不能覺，謂之信然。 〈《魏末傳》曰：爽等令勝辭宣王，并伺察焉。 宣王見勝，勝自陳無他功勞，橫蒙時恩，當爲本州，詣閤拜辭，不悟加恩，得蒙引見。 宣王令兩婢侍邊，持衣，衣落； 復上指口，言渴求飲，婢進粥，宣王持杯飲粥，粥皆流出沾胷。 勝愍然，爲之涕泣，謂宣王曰：「今主上尚幼，天下恃賴明公。 然衆情謂明公方舊風疾發，何意尊體乃爾！」 宣王徐更寬言，才令氣息相屬，說：「年老沈疾，死在旦夕。 君當屈并州，并州近胡，好善爲之，恐不復相見，如何！」 勝曰：「當還忝本州，非并州也。」 宣王乃復陽爲昏謬，曰：「君方到并州，努力自愛！」 錯亂其辭，狀如荒語。 勝復曰：「當忝荊州，非并州也。」 宣王乃若微悟者，謂勝曰：「懿年老，意荒忽，不解君言。 今還爲本州刺史，盛德壯烈，好建功勳。 今當與君別，自顧氣力轉微，後必不更會，因欲自力，設薄主人，生死共別。 令師、昭兄弟結君爲友，不可相舍去，副懿區區之心。」 因流涕哽咽。 勝亦長歎，荅曰：「輒當承教，須待勑命。」 勝辭出，與爽等相見，說：「太傅語言錯誤，口不攝杯，指南爲北。 又云吾當作并州，吾荅言當還爲荊州，非并州也。 徐徐與語，有識人時，乃知當還爲荊州耳。 又欲設主人祖送。 不可舍去，宜須待之。」 更向爽等垂淚云：「太傅患不可復濟，令人愴然。」〉
At first Shuang deferred to Sima Yi’s age and prestige and treated him almost as a father, never daring to act alone. Once He Yan and his friends rose to power they flattered Shuang with the argument that supreme authority must not rest in anyone else’s hands. He Yan, Deng Yang, and Ding Mi were named secretaries—He Yan ran appointments, Bi Gui took the metropolitan colonelcy, Li Sheng governed Henan—and business seldom reached Sima Yi’s desk. Sima Yi thereupon pleaded illness and withdrew from Shuang’s affairs. 〈Earlier Sima Yi had treated Shuang as the dynasty’s own flesh and blood and always yielded precedence; Shuang, awed by Yi’s reputation, kept his own manner humble, and contemporaries praised the pair. After Ding Mi and Bi Gui won office they kept telling Shuang, “Sima Yi harbors grand designs and commands deep popular loyalty—never trust him with real power.” From that day Shuang watched him with unrelenting suspicion. The courtesies continued, yet every new project bypassed Sima Yi entirely. Sima Yi lacked the leverage to fight back and feared their malice, so he feigned withdrawal.〉 He Yan’s ring ran the court, carved up hundreds of qing of state mulberry land around Luoyang and Yewang, seized imperial bath demesnes for private farms, looted the treasury under color of authority, and pulled strings in every province. Magistrates read which way the wind blew and never dared defy them. He Yan’s faction hated Commandant of Justice Lu Yu; they seized on a trivial slip by one of Yu’s clerks, tortured the statutes to indict Yu, confiscated his seal and sash before the throne ever heard the case. Such was the swagger of their power. Shuang’s table, wardrobe, and carriages aped the emperor’s; the imperial workshops emptied their curios into his halls; his harem overflowed the inner courts; he helped himself to seven or eight of the late emperor’s palace women and impressed thirty-three officers’ children, craftsmen, musicians, and daughters of respectable houses into his private troupe. He forged an order shipping fifty-seven palace ladies to the Ye terrace to drill the late emperor’s maids as entertainers. He stripped the court orchestra of its instruments and the arsenal of weapons reserved for the throne. He dug a pleasure vault ringed with pierced panels where he and He Yan’s set met night after night for drinking and revelry. Xi saw disaster in this and remonstrated again and again. He composed three essays on how pride and excess invite ruin—sharp pieces in which he never named Shuang but ostensibly lectured his brothers, intending Shuang to overhear the lesson. Shuang knew the essays were aimed at him and took deep offense. When his blunt advice went unheeded Xi would rise in tears. Sima Yi meanwhile laid his plans in secret. In the ninth year’s winter Li Sheng left for his post as Jing provincial inspector and called on Sima Yi. Sima Yi played the moribund invalid and let Li Sheng see a wasted frame. Li Sheng swallowed the act whole. 〈The Wei mo zhuan says Shuang sent Li Sheng to bid Sima Yi farewell while using the visit to spy on him. When they met Li Sheng disclaimed any merit, said he owed his rise to the times alone, explained that he was bound for his home province as governor, had come to the gate for a parting audience, and never expected the honor of a private interview. Sima Yi had two maids hold his robe; the robe slipped from his shoulders; he jabbed a finger at his mouth to mime thirst; a maid brought porridge; he lifted the bowl and let the gruel spill down his chest. Li Sheng was moved to pity, wept, and said, “The emperor is still a child; the realm leans on you, my lord. Yet rumor had it your old palsy had returned—who could imagine you reduced to this?” Sima Yi then spoke in a thin, broken voice: “Age and sickness have me by the throat; I may not see another dawn. You are headed for Bing province on the Hu frontier—treat the tribes kindly. I doubt we shall meet again—ah, what is to be done?” Li Sheng said, “I am ashamed to say I go to my home province as governor, not to Bing.” Sima Yi pretended greater confusion: “So you have reached Bing province—take good care of yourself there!” He jumbled his phrases until he sounded senile. ” Li Sheng repeated, “My post is Jing province, not Bing.” Sima Yi feigned a flicker of understanding: “Yi is old and his wits wander; I no longer follow what you say. You return as governor of your own province—noble spirit, fierce zeal, a man who loves to win glory on the frontier. Now we must part: I feel my strength ebbing and know we shall never meet again. Let me rouse myself to play host at a humble farewell—we will toast life and death together. I ask my sons Shi and Zhao to befriend you—do not part from them; that would ease this old man’s heart.” He broke into wracking sobs. ” Li Sheng sighed and replied, “I shall obey your charge—once the edict is issued.” When Li Sheng emerged and met Shuang’s circle he reported, “The Grand Tutor’s mind is gone—he cannot keep the cup to his lips and mistakes south for north. He insisted I was bound for Bing; I told him again and again my post was Jing, not Bing. Only when I spoke slowly and caught a lucid interval did he grasp that my governorship was Jing. He even wanted to host a farewell feast on the road. Do not rush away—wait for that kindness.” Turning again to Shuang’s men with tears he said, “The Grand Tutor cannot recover—how it wrings the heart.”〉
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十年正月，車駕朝高平陵，爽兄弟皆從。 〈《世語》曰：爽兄弟先是數俱出游，桓範謂曰：「總萬機，典禁兵，不宜並出，若有閉城門，誰復內人者？」 爽曰：「誰敢爾邪！」 由此不復並行。 至是乃盡出也。〉 宣王部勒兵馬，先據武庫，遂出屯洛水浮橋。 奏爽曰：「臣昔從遼東還，先帝詔陛下、秦王及臣升御牀，把臣臂，深以後事爲念。 臣言『二祖亦屬臣以後事爲念，此自陛下所見，無所憂苦； 萬一有不如意，臣當以死奉明詔』。 黃門令董箕等，才人侍疾者，皆所聞知。 今大將軍爽背棄顧命，敗亂國典，內則僭擬，外專威權； 破壞諸營，盡據禁兵，羣官要職，皆置所親； 殿中宿衞，歷世舊人皆復斥出，欲置新人以樹私計； 根據槃牙，縱恣日甚。 外旣如此，又以黃門張當爲都監，專共交關，看察至尊，候伺神器，離間二宮，傷害骨肉。 天下汹汹，人懷危懼，陛下但爲寄坐，豈得久安！ 此非先帝詔陛下及臣升御牀之本意也。 臣雖朽邁，敢忘往言？ 昔趙高極意，秦氏以滅； 呂、霍早斷，漢祚永世。 此乃陛下之大鑒，臣受命之時也。 太尉臣濟、尚書令臣孚等，皆以爽爲有無君之心，兄弟不宜典兵宿衞，奏永寧宮。 皇太後令勑臣如奏施行。 臣輒勑主者及黃門令罷爽、羲、訓吏兵，以侯就第，不得逗留以稽車駕； 敢有稽留，便以軍法從事。 臣輙力疾，將兵屯洛水浮橋，伺察非常。」 〈《世語》曰：初，宣王勒兵從闕下趣武庫，當爽門，人逼車住。 爽妻劉怖，出至廳事，謂帳下守督曰：「公在外。 今兵起，如何？」 督曰：「夫人勿憂。」 乃上門樓，引弩注箭欲發。 將孫謙在後牽止之曰：「天下事未可知！」 如此者三，宣王遂得過去。〉
In the first month of the tenth year the emperor went to sacrifice at the Gaoping tombs, and Shuang with every brother of his rode in the train. 〈The Shiyu notes that Shuang’s brothers often left the capital together; Huan Fan warned, “You control the government and the palace guard—you should never leave town at once: if someone slammed the gates, who would let you back in?” Shuang laughed, “Who would dare?” After that they avoided traveling in a pack. On this occasion, however, they all rode out together. Sima Yi struck first: he seized the imperial arsenal, then marched his men to the floating bridge over the Luo. He laid charges against Shuang: “When I returned from Liaodong the late emperor called Your Majesty, the Prince of Qin, and me to his couch, took my arm, and spoke of what must come after his death. I answered, ‘Your two imperial forebears gave me the same charge—Your Majesty witnessed it—so set your mind at rest; should anything go amiss, I will give my life to execute your clear command. Director of the Yellow Gates Dong Ji and the palace women who nursed him heard every word. Now Grand General Shuang has torn up the deathbed trust and trampled the law: inside the palace he apes the sovereign, outside it he wields unchecked power; he has dismantled the guard battalions, pocketed the palace army, and stuffed every key office with his creatures; the night watch inside the halls—men who had served for generations—he has cashiered wholesale in order to plant his own men; his roots and teeth are everywhere, and his arrogance grows by the day. Worse still, he set the eunuch Zhang Dang over all liaison with the throne, spying on Your Majesty, coveting the regalia, driving wedge between the two palaces, and wounding the imperial kin. The realm seethes with fear while Your Majesty sits as a mere figurehead—how can that endure? This was never what the late emperor meant when he took our hands on that couch. Though I am old and worn, dare I forget the oath I swore then? When Zhao Gao ran amok, the house of Qin fell; the Lü and Huo clans were destroyed in time, and the Han line endured for generations. These are warnings writ large for Your Majesty—and the very hour I accepted my charge from the throne. I, Grand Commandant Jiang Ji, Secretary Director Sima Fu, and the rest have memorialized the empress dowager at Yongning: Cao Shuang shows disloyalty to the throne; his brothers must not hold military command or the palace guard. The empress dowager has ordered me to execute that memorial to the letter. I have instructed the proper bureaus and the director of the Yellow Gates to strip Shuang, Xi, and Xun of their guards and staff, confine them to their marquisates as nobles without office, and forbid them to loiter and obstruct the imperial train; anyone who tarries will answer under military law. Though ill, I have mustered the strength to bring troops to the Luo floating bridge to guard against any coup.” 〈The Shiyu relates that Sima Yi first marched his men from under the palace gate toward the arsenal; at the gate of Shuang’s mansion retainers blocked the carriage. Shuang’s wife Liu ran panic-stricken to the outer hall and told the house guard, “My husband is still away with the court. Soldiers are moving in the capital—what are we to do?” The captain answered, “Do not fear, my lady.” He climbed to the gate tower, strung crossbows, and prepared to loose. Behind him general Sun Qian seized his arm and cried, “No one yet knows how the day will fall!” He repeated the plea three times until Sima Yi’s column was allowed through.〉
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爽得宣王奏事，不通，迫窘不知所爲。 〈干寶《晉紀》曰：爽留車駕宿伊水南，伐木爲鹿角，發屯甲兵數千人以爲衞。 魏末傳曰：宣王語弟孚，「陛下在外不可露宿，促送帳幔、太官食具詣行在所」。〉 大司農沛國桓範聞兵起，不應太後召，矯詔開平昌門，拔取劒戟，略將門候，南奔爽。 宣王知，曰：「範畫策，爽必不能用範計。」 範說爽使車駕幸許昌，招外兵。 爽兄弟猶豫未決，範重謂羲曰：「當今日，卿門戶求貧賤復可得乎？ 且匹夫持質一人，尚欲望活，今卿與天子相隨，令於天下，誰敢不應者？」 羲猶不能納。 侍中許允、尚書陳泰說爽，使早自歸罪。 爽於是遣允、泰詣宣王，歸罪請死，乃通宣王奏事。 〈干寶《晉書》曰：桓範出赴爽，宣王謂蔣濟曰：「智囊往矣。」 濟曰：「範則智矣，駑馬戀棧豆，爽必不能用也。」 《世語》曰：宣王使許允、陳泰解語爽，蔣濟亦與書達宣王之旨，又使爽所信殿中校尉尹大目謂爽，唯免官而已，以洛水爲誓。 爽信之，罷兵。 《魏氏春秋》曰：爽旣罷兵，曰：「我不失作富家翁。」 範哭曰：「曹子丹佳人，生汝兄弟，犢耳！ 何圖今日坐汝等族滅矣！」〉 遂免爽兄弟，以侯還第。 〈《魏末傳》曰：爽兄弟歸家，勑洛陽縣發民八百人，使尉部圍爽第四角，角作高樓，令人在上望視爽兄弟舉動。 爽計窮愁悶，持彈到後園中，樓上人便唱言「故大將軍東南行！」 爽還廳事上，與兄弟共議，未知宣王意深淺，作書與宣王曰：「賤子爽哀惶恐怖，無狀招禍，分受屠滅，前遣家人迎糧，於今未反，數日乏匱，當煩見餉，以繼旦夕。」 宣王得書大驚，即荅書曰：「初不知乏糧，甚懷踧踖。 令致米一百斛，并肉脯、鹽豉、大豆。」 尋送。 爽兄弟不達變數，即便喜歡，自謂不死。〉
Shuang never received Sima Yi’s memorial in time; trapped and bewildered, he could not think of a move. 〈Gan Bao’s Jin ji says Shuang halted the emperor south of the Yi, felled timber for chevaux-de-frise, and threw up a cordon of several thousand armored men. The Wei mo zhuan adds that Sima Yi told Sima Fu, “The emperor must not bivouac in the cold—rush tents and the imperial kitchen gear to his camp.”〉 Huan Fan of Pei, the grand minister of agriculture, hearing of the coup, ignored the dowager’s call, forged an order to open Pingchang Gate, armed himself at sword point, impressed the gate officer, and galloped south to Shuang. Sima Yi heard the news and said, “Huan Fan will offer counsel—but Shuang lacks the wit to follow it.” Huan Fan urged him to escort the emperor to Xuchang and call in armies from the provinces. The brothers dithered; Fan turned to Xi and demanded, “Do you imagine you can sink back into obscurity after this day? A common kidnapper with a single hostage still bargains for his life—yet you hold the emperor and could issue orders to the realm. Who would refuse you?” Xi still would not act. Attendants Xu Yun and Secretary Chen Tai talked Shuang into surrendering at once. Shuang dispatched Xu and Chen to Sima Yi, confessed his crimes, offered his life, and only then did Yi’s memorial reach him. 〈Gan Bao’s Jin shu notes that when Huan Fan rode to Shuang, Sima Yi told Jiang Ji, “The brains of the plot have arrived.” Jiang Ji answered, “Fan is clever—but a broken-down nag clings to its manger; Shuang will never heed him.” The Shiyu adds that Sima Yi sent Xu Yun and Chen Tai with terms, Jiang Ji wrote privately, and palace colonel Yin Damu, whom Shuang trusted, swore on the Luo that only office would be lost. Shuang believed them and stood his army down. The Wei shi chunqiu records that after laying down arms Shuang said, “At worst I retire a very rich commoner.” Huan Fan wept, “Cao Zhen was a hero among men—yet he sired you two calves! Who could have dreamed that listening to you would wipe out our houses!”〉" Shuang and his brothers were stripped of office and sent home under marquis’ titles only. 〈The Wei mo zhuan says the county impressed eight hundred civilians to ring Shuang’s compound, building watchtowers at each corner from which guards spied on every move. Shuang, at his wits’ end, wandered the rear garden with a pellet bow while a voice from the tower cried, “The ex–grand general is moving southeast!” Shuang went back to the hall, huddled with his brothers, still unsure how far Sima Yi meant to go, and wrote Yi begging, “Your worthless son Shuang trembles with guilt. I brought this ruin on myself and deserve extinction. Servants I sent to meet a grain convoy have not returned; we are hungry. Please send food to tide us over.” Sima Yi feigned shock and replied at once, “I had no idea you were short of grain—how mortifying. I am sending a hundred hu of rice, dried meat, salted beans, and soy.” The supplies arrived almost immediately. The brothers failed to read the omen, rejoiced at the gift, and told each other they would live.
23
鄧颺等
Deng Yang and his associates.
24
晏，何進孫也。 母尹氏，爲太祖夫人。 晏長於宮省，又尚公主，少以才秀知名，好老莊言，作《道德論》及諸文賦著述凡數十篇。 〈晏字平叔。 《魏略》曰：「太祖爲司空時，納晏母并收養晏，其時秦宜祿兒阿蘇亦隨母在公家，並見寵如公子。 蘇即朗也。 蘇性謹慎，而晏無所顧憚，服飾擬於太子，故文帝特憎之，每不呼其姓字，常謂之爲「假子」。 晏尚主，又好色，故黃初時無所事任。 及明帝立，頗爲冗官。 至正始初，曲合於曹爽，亦以才能，故爽用爲散騎侍郎，遷侍中尚書。 晏前以尚主，得賜爵爲列侯，又其母在內，晏性自喜，動靜粉白不去手，行步顧影。 晏爲尚書，主選舉，其宿與之有舊者，多被拔擢。 《魏末傳》曰：晏婦金鄉公主，即晏同母妹。 公主賢，謂其母沛王太妃曰：「晏爲惡日甚，將何保身？」 母笑曰：「汝得無妬晏邪！」 俄而晏死。 有一男，年五六歲，宣王遣人錄之。 晏母歸藏其子王宮中，向使者搏頰，乞白活之，使者具以白宣王。 宣王亦聞晏婦有先見之言，心常嘉之； 且爲沛王故，特原不殺。 《魏氏春秋》曰：初，夏侯玄、何晏等名盛於時，司馬景王亦預焉。 晏嘗曰：「唯深也，故能通天下之志，夏侯泰初是也； 唯幾也，故能成天下之務，司馬子元是也； 惟神也，不疾而速，不行而至，吾聞其語，未見其人。」 蓋欲以神況諸己也。 初，宣王使晏與治爽等獄。 晏窮治黨與，冀以獲宥。 宣王曰：「凡有八族。」 晏疏丁、鄧等七姓。 宣王曰：「未也。」 晏窮急，乃曰：「豈謂晏乎！」 宣王曰：「是也。」 乃收晏。 臣松之案：《魏末傳》云晏取其同母妹爲妻，此搢紳所不忍言，雖楚王之妻媦，不是甚也已。 設令此言出於舊史，猶將莫之或信，況厎下之書乎！ 案 〈諸王公傳〉 ，沛王出自杜夫人所生。 晏母姓尹，公主若與沛王同生，焉得言與晏同母？ 皇甫謐《烈女傳》曰：爽從弟文叔，妻譙郡夏侯文寧之女，名令女。 文叔早死，服闋，自以年少無子，恐家必嫁己，乃斷髮以爲信。 其後，家果欲嫁之，令女聞，即復以刀截兩耳，居止常依爽。 及爽被誅，曹氏盡死。 令女叔父上書與曹氏絕婚，彊迎令女歸。 時文寧爲梁相，憐其少，執義，又曹氏無遺類，冀其意沮，迺微使人諷之。 令女歎且泣曰：「吾亦惟之，許之是也。」 家以爲信，防之少懈。 令女於是竊入寢室，以刀斷鼻，蒙被而臥。 其母呼與語，不應，發被視之，血流滿牀席。 舉家驚惶，奔往視之，莫不酸鼻。 或謂之曰：「人生世間，如輕塵棲弱草耳，何至辛苦迺爾！ 且夫家夷滅已盡，守此欲誰爲哉？」 令女曰：「聞仁者不以盛衰改節，義者不以存亡易心，曹氏前盛之時，尚欲保終，況今衰亡，何忍棄之！ 禽獸不行，吾豈爲乎？」 司馬宣王聞而嘉之，聽使乞子字養，爲曹氏後，名顯於世。〉
He Yan was the grandson of He Jin. His mother, Lady Yin, entered Cao Cao’s harem as a consort. He grew up inside the palace, married an imperial princess, won early fame as a prodigy, doted on Laozi and Zhuangzi, and produced the Dao de lun plus dozens of essays and fu. 〈His courtesy name was Pingshu. The Wei Summary states: “When the Grand Progenitor was minister of works, he took Yan’s mother in marriage and also adopted and raised Yan; at that time Qin Yilu’s son A Su also followed his mother in the lord’s household, and together they were favored like noble sons. That A Su is Qin Lang. Qin Lang was careful by temperament, but He Yan dressed and swaggered like the crown prince; Emperor Pi loathed him, never used his name, and called him the “sham son.” Because he had married a princess and chased every pretty face, he held no post during the Huangchu years. Under Emperor Ming he idled in sinecures. At the opening of Zhengshi he curried favor with Cao Shuang; Shuang, valuing his brilliance, named him supernumerary cavalry gentleman, then palace attendant and secretary. His princess marriage had already won him a full marquisate, and with his mother still in the inner palace he grew vain, never without a cosmetic box, and minced along studying his reflection. As secretary he ran appointments and promoted every old crony in sight. The Wei mo zhuan names his wife as the Princess of Jinyang—He Yan’s own younger sister by the same mother. The princess was a woman of sense. She told her mother, the Princess Dowager of Pei, “He Yan’s crimes mount by the day—how will he save himself?” Her mother laughed, “You are simply jealous of your brother!” Soon after, He Yan was executed. He left a son of five or six; Sima Yi sent officers to take the child. He Yan’s mother smuggled the boy into the Prince of Pei’s palace, then threw herself before the escort, slapping her own face and begging for the child’s life; the officer reported everything to Sima Yi. Sima Yi had also heard the princess’s warning and admired her judgment; and for the prince’s sake he spared the boy. The Wei shi chunqiu records that Xiahou Xuan, He Yan, and their circle once dominated polite society, and Sima Shi moved among them. He Yan once said, “Only depth can fathom the mind of the world—there stands Xiahou Xuan; only subtlety can finish the world’s business—there stands Sima Shi; only the sage moves without haste yet arrives without walking—I have heard the phrase, but never met the man.” He meant the third name to be his own. Sima Yi first set He Yan to interrogate Cao Shuang’s associates. He Yan hounded every accomplice, hoping to buy mercy with zeal. Sima Yi said, “Eight great houses are implicated.” He Yan named seven houses—the Ding, Deng, and the rest. ” Sima Yi said, “You are short one.” He Yan, cornered, cried, “Surely you cannot mean me!” Sima Yi answered, “Precisely you.” He Yan was arrested. Pei Songzhi notes: the Wei mo zhuan claims He Yan married his own uterine younger sister—a deed polite society shrinks from naming; even the Chu king’s incestuous unions seem mild beside it. If such a tale surfaced in a canonical history we would doubt it—how much more a gossip sheet from the gutter! Note: 〈Biographies of the imperial princes〉 The Prince of Pei was Lady Du’s son by Cao Cao. He Yan’s mother was surnamed Yin; if the princess were Lady Du’s daughter like the Prince of Pei, she could not be He Yan’s uterine sister. Huangfu Mi’s Lienu zhuan tells of Lady Lingnu, daughter of Xiahou Wenning of Qiao, wife of Cao Wen Shu, a cousin of Cao Shuang. When Wen Shu died young she finished mourning, knew she was childless and still in her prime, and feared her in-laws would remarry her; she sheared her hair as a vow of widowhood. When the clan pressed a new marriage she sliced off both ears with a knife and clung to Cao Shuang’s protection. After Shuang fell, every Cao kinsman linked to him was put to death. Her uncle petitioned to annul the marriage to the Caos and had her dragged home by force. Her father Xiahou Wenning, then minister of Liang, pitied her youth and upright heart, knew the Cao line was extinct, and hoped her resolve would weaken; he sent a private messenger to probe her mood. She sighed through tears, “I have weighed it—perhaps I should yield.” The household took her at her word and relaxed the watch. She stole to her chamber, cut off her nose with a knife, and lay swathed in quilts. Her mother called; she did not answer. Throwing back the coverlet they found the bed awash with blood. The kinfolk ran in panic; every onlooker felt a stab in the nose. Someone urged her, “Life is dust on dew—why torture yourself so? Your husband’s clan is extinct—who benefits from this mutilation?” She answered, “They say the humane do not bend principle to fortune, the righteous do not swap loyalty for life. While the Caos flourished I meant to see my vow through; now that they are gone, how could I betray them? Birds and beasts would not stoop so low—shall I?” Sima Yi praised her, let her adopt an heir for the extinguished Cao house, and her fame spread through the realm.〉
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夏侯尚
Xiahou Shang.
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夏侯尚字伯仁，淵從子也。 文帝與之親友。 〈《魏書》曰：尚有籌畫智略，文帝器之，與爲布衣之交。〉 太祖定冀州，尚爲軍司馬，將騎從征伐，後爲五官將文學。 魏國初建，遷黃門侍郎。 代郡胡叛，遣鄢陵侯彰征討之，以尚參彰軍事，定代地，還。 太祖崩於洛陽，尚持節，奉梓宮還鄴。 并錄前功，封平陵亭侯，拜散騎常侍，遷中領軍。 文帝踐阼，更封平陵鄉侯，遷征南將軍，領荊州刺史，假節都督南方諸軍事。 尚奏：「劉備別軍在上庸，山道險難，彼不我虞，若以奇兵潛行，出其不意，則獨克之勢也。」 遂勒諸軍擊破上庸，平三郡九縣，遷征南大將軍。 孫權雖稱藩，尚益脩攻討之備，權後果有貳心。 黃初三年，車駕幸宛，使尚率諸軍與曹真共圍江陵。 權將諸葛瑾與尚軍對江，瑾渡入江中渚，而分水軍於江中。 尚夜多持油舩，將步騎萬餘人，於下流潛渡，攻瑾諸軍，夾江燒其舟舩，水陸並攻，破之。 城未拔，會大疫，詔勑尚引諸軍還。 益封六百戶，并前千九百戶，假鉞，進爲牧。 荊州殘荒，外接蠻夷，而與吳阻漢水爲境，舊民多居江南。 尚自上庸通道，西行七百餘里，山民蠻夷多服從者，五六年間，降附數千家。 五年，徙封昌陵鄉侯。
Xiahou Shang, styled Boren, was a nephew of Xiahou Yuan. Emperor Wen counted him among his closest friends. 〈The Wei shu says Shang was a strategist whom Emperor Wen prized as a friend from commoner days.〉 After Cao Cao conquered Ji, Shang served as army marshal, led cavalry on campaign, then became literary aide to the heir apparent. When the kingdom of Wei was founded he rose to gentleman attendant at the Yellow Gates. When the Hu of Dai rebelled, Cao Zhang, Marquis of Yanling, was sent against them with Shang on his staff; they pacified Dai and marched home. When Cao Cao died at Luoyang, Shang carried the imperial baton and convoyed the bier to Ye. His past service was entered in the rolls; he received the village marquisate of Pingling, was named supernumerary cavalry attendant, then chief of the palace guard. When Cao Pi took the throne Shang’s fief shifted to Pingling village, he became general of the southern expedition with concurrent duty as Jing provincial inspector, baton in hand over all southern armies. Shang memorialized: “Liu Bei’s detached force holds Shangyong over treacherous mountain tracks; they will not expect us. A silent column that strikes from nowhere can take them alone.” He led the combined hosts, stormed Shangyong, reduced three commanderies and nine counties, and was raised to grand general of the southern expedition. Though Sun Quan paid tribute as a vassal, Shang kept tightening the screws for war; Quan soon showed his duplicity. In Huangchu 3 the emperor traveled to Wan and ordered Shang with Cao Zhen to invest Jiangling. Sun Quan’s Zhuge Jin drew up opposite Shang across the Yangzi, crossed to a midstream sandbar, and split his fleet in the channel. Shang sent fire ships by night, slipped more than ten thousand men across the river below the enemy, fell on Jin’s camps, torched his fleet from both banks, and overran him by land and water. Before the walls fell a plague broke out; an edict recalled Shang’s army. Six hundred new households were added to his fief, bringing the total to nineteen hundred; he received the ceremonial axe and promotion to provincial shepherd. Jing was a shattered frontier touching barbarian country, fronting Wu across the Han, while most of the old Han population had fled south of the stream. He cut a supply road west from Shangyong for over seven hundred li; hill tribes and barbarians submitted by the thousand household, until within five or six years several thousand families had come over. In the fifth year his title was moved to the village marquisate of Changling.
27
子玄
His son Xuan.
28
玄字太初。 少知名，弱冠爲散騎黃門侍郎。 嘗進見，與皇后弟毛曾並坐，玄恥之，不恱形之於色。 明帝恨之，左遷爲羽林監。 正始初，曹爽輔政。 玄，爽之姑子也。 累遷散騎常侍、中護軍。 〈《世語》曰：玄世名知人，爲中護軍，拔用武官，參戟牙門，無非俊傑，多牧州典郡。 立法垂教，於今皆爲後式。〉
Xiahou Xuan bore the courtesy name Taichu. He won fame while young and at twenty became supernumerary cavalry gentleman at the Yellow Gates. Once at court he was seated beside the empress’s brother Mao Zeng; the pairing disgusted him and his face showed it. Emperor Ming took offense and busted him down to colonel of the feathered forest guard. When the Zhengshi era opened, Cao Shuang directed the regency. Xuan was Shuang’s cousin—son of Shuang’s aunt. He rose step by step to supernumerary cavalry attendant and protector of the army. 〈The Shiyu says the Xiahous were famed as judges of character; as protector of the army Xuan picked every martial post from gate guard upward for talent, and many of his men became governors and shepherds. The regulations he framed are still cited as models.〉
29
太傅司馬宣王問以時事，玄議以爲：「夫官才用人，國之柄也，故銓衡專於臺閣，上之分也，孝行存乎閭巷，優劣任之鄉人，下之叙也。 夫欲清教審選，在明其分叙，不使相涉而已。 何者？ 上過其分，則恐所由之不本，而干勢馳騖之路開； 下踰其叙，則恐天爵之外通，而機權之門多矣。 夫天爵下通，是庶人議柄也； 機權多門，是紛亂之原也。 自州郡中正品度官才之來，有年載矣，緬緬紛紛，未聞整齊，豈非分叙參錯各失其要之所由哉！ 若令中正但考行倫輩，倫輩當行均，斯可官矣。 何者？ 夫孝行著於家門，豈不忠恪於在官乎？ 仁恕稱於九族，豈不達於爲政乎？ 義斷行於鄉黨，豈不堪於事任乎？ 三者之類，取於中正，雖不處其官名，斯任官可知矣。 行有大小，比有高下，則所任之流，亦渙然明別矣。 奚必使中正干銓衡之機於下，而執機柄者有所委仗於上，上下交侵，以生紛錯哉？ 且臺閣臨下，考功校否，衆職之屬，各有官長，旦夕相考，莫究於此； 閭閻之議，以意裁處，而使匠宰失位，衆人驅駭，欲風俗清靜，其可得乎？ 天臺縣遠，衆所絕意。 所得至者，更在側近，孰不脩飾以要所求？ 所求有路，則脩己家門者，已不如自達於鄉黨矣。 自達鄉黨者，已不如自求之於州邦矣。 苟開之有路，而患其飾真離本，雖復嚴責中正，督以刑罰，猶無益也。 豈若使各帥其分，官長則各以其屬能否獻之臺閣，臺閣則據官長能否之第，參以鄉閭德行之次，擬其倫比，勿使偏頗。 中正則唯考其行迹，別其高下，審定輩類，勿使升降。 臺閣總之，如其所簡，或有參錯，則其責負自在有司。 官長所第，中正輩擬，比隨次率而用之，如其不稱，責負在外。 然則內外相參，得失有所，互相形檢，孰能相飾？ 斯則人心定而事理得，庶可以靜風俗而審官才矣。」
Grand Tutor Sima Yi asked his view of the times. Xuan answered: “Matching office to talent is how the state steers itself—so high policy belongs to the central ministries, while village reputation for filial piety belongs to local appraisal. If you want clean government and fair promotion, keep those two spheres apart and let neither swallow the other. Why? Let the center reach down too far and patronage replaces principle; let local appraisal climb the ladder and backstairs influence multiplies. When common gossip sets rank, the people hold the lever of power; when many doors open for intrigue, chaos follows. Since the nine-rank system began, years of crossed wires have produced no order—because the two functions were never kept distinct. Let the local grader rank only moral conduct among peers; when those grades are fair, appointments can follow. Why? Filial sons at home make loyal officials at court. Men praised for kindness within the clan govern with the same breadth. Fair dealing with neighbors shows capacity for responsibility. Where the local grader vouches for such qualities, you know the man can serve even before he holds a title. Character has degrees, peers have ranks—so the pool of appointees sorts itself clearly. Why force local graders to duplicate the ministry’s scales while ministers lean on village gossip—top and bottom gnawing at each other until nothing is clear? The ministries already watch every bureau, morning and night, with a chain of responsibility—nothing is more thorough. Let alley gossip overrule appointed heads and the whole machine panics—you will never see honest customs that way. The capital is far from the district; ordinary folk give up hope of justice. What they can touch is the local boss—who will not polish a façade to win him? Once favor runs through private channels, staying home to build virtue loses to courting the neighborhood elite. Courting the neighborhood elite loses to pulling strings at the provincial capital. Open that path and even harsh laws against the graders cannot stop men from faking virtue and forgetting substance. Better each keep his lane: let every chief send up a candid rating of his staff; let the ministries weigh those ratings against village reputation, match peers fairly, and forbid favoritism. The local grader then records conduct, sorts grades, fixes peer rank, and does not shuffle appointments on his own. The ministries synthesize the lists; if anything is wrong, blame rests with the bureaus. Chiefs rank ability, graders assign peer bands, and men are used in order; if a man fails in office, blame lies outside the grading chain. Court and country then check each other; credit and blame have addresses—who can paper over the truth? Hearts steady, right men in right posts—you may yet purify manners and pick true talent.”
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又以爲：「古之建官，所以濟育羣生，統理民物也，故爲之君長以司牧之。 司牧之主，欲一而專，一則官任定而上下安，專則職業脩而事不煩。 夫事簡業脩，上下相安而不治者，未之有也。 先王建萬國，雖其詳未可得而究，然分彊畫界，各守土境，則非重累羈絆之體也。 下考殷、周五等之叙，徒有小大貴賤之差，亦無君官臣民而有二統互相牽制者也。 夫官統不一，則職業不脩； 職業不脩，則事何得而簡？ 事之不簡，則民何得而靜？ 民之不靜，則邪惡並興，而姦偽滋長矣。 先王達其如此，故專其職司而一其統業。 始自秦世，不師聖道，私以御職，姦以待下； 懼宰官之不脩，立監牧以董之，畏督監之容曲，設司察以糾之； 宰牧相累，監察相司，人懷異心，上下殊務。 漢承其緒，莫能匡改。 魏室之隆，日不暇及，五等之典，雖難卒復，可粗立儀準以一治制。 今之長吏，皆君吏民，橫重以郡守，累以刺史。 若郡所攝，唯在大較，則與州同，無爲再重。 宜省郡守，但任刺史； 刺史職存，則監察不廢，郡吏萬數還親農業，以省煩費，豐財殖穀，一也。 大縣之才，皆堪郡守，是非之訟，每生意異，順從則安，直己則爭。 夫和羹之美，在於合異，上下之益，在能相濟，順從乃安，此琴瑟一聲也，蕩而除之，則官省事簡，二也。 又幹郡之吏，職監諸縣，營護黨親，鄉邑舊故，如有不副，而因公掣頓，民之困弊，咎生於此，若皆并合，則亂原自塞，三也。 今承衰弊，民人彫落，賢才鮮少，任事者寡，郡縣良吏往往非一，郡受縣成，其劇在下，而吏之上選，郡當先足，此爲親民之吏，專得厎下，吏者民命，而常頑鄙，今如并之，吏多選清良者造職，大化宣流，民物獲寧，四也。 制使萬戶之縣名之郡守，五千以上名之都尉，千戶以下令長如故，自長以上考課遷用，轉以能升，所牧亦增，此進才効功之叙也，若經制一定，則官才有次，治功齊明，五也。 若省郡守，縣皆徑達，事不擁隔，官無留滯，三代之風雖未可必，簡一之化庶幾可致，便民省費在於此矣。」
He also argued: “Ancient offices existed to nurture the people and order the world—hence rulers set magistrates to shepherd them. Shepherds need a single chain of command: unity fixes each man’s job and calms the ranks; specialization keeps duties sharp and business light. Light business, clear duties, a quiet chain of command—under that order nothing stays broken. The ancient kings split the realm into myriad polities—details are lost, but each lord held his own ground without a pile of overlapping overseers. Under Yin and Zhou the feudal ladder differed only in size and rank; lord, minister, and commoner did not answer to two rival chains of command. Split command and duties decay; decayed duties never simplify government; tangled government never calms the people; restless people breed crime and fraud. The sage kings saw this and gave each office a single line of authority. The Qin turned from the Way, ran offices by private whim, and set subordinates up for betrayal; fearing magistrates would slack, they piled on inspectors; fearing inspectors would bend, they added auditors; magistrate sat on magistrate, spy on spy, until every rank pursued a different purpose. Han inherited the tangle and never straightened it. Wei’s founders had no leisure to fix everything; the Zhou feudal model could not return overnight, yet a rough standard could still unify command. Today a county magistrate answers to the people, then to a governor, then to an inspector—triple harness on one horse. If the governor only repeats the inspector’s summary, the middle layer is dead weight. Abolish the commandery governor and leave the inspector alone; first, oversight survives while tens of thousands of redundant clerks go back to the plow, cutting cost and filling granaries. Second, able heads of large counties could be governors themselves; yet right and wrong suits breed feuds—yield and you are safe, stand on principle and you quarrel. Good stew needs mixed flavors; ruler and ruled should help each other—forced harmony is one note on two strings. Remove the middle layer and offices shrink while work clears—second gain. Third, commandery parasites who “supervise” counties really shield cronies; they trip any magistrate who resists. Merge the layers and you plug that spring of abuse. Fourth, in these ruined times talent is thin yet posts multiply; the commandery takes credit for county work while the real pain is downstream. Clerks are the people’s lifeline yet are often coarse men. Merge the ranks, pick honest clerks, and peace flows to the villages. Fifth, name ten-thousand-household counties “governor,” five-thousand-household seats “commandant,” smaller units “magistrate” as now, promote by merit up a ladder of wider responsibility—once the ladder is fixed, talent and achievement both stand clear. Abolish the governor and counties report straight up—no logjam, no dead files. We may not recover the Three Dynasties, but we can approach their lean government; the savings and relief to the people are here.”
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又以爲：「文質之更用，猶四時之迭興也，王者體天理物，必因弊而濟通之，時彌質則文之以禮，時泰侈則救之以質。 今承百王之末，秦漢餘流，世俗彌文，宜大改之以易民望。 今科制自公、列侯以下，位從大將軍以上，皆得服綾錦、羅綺、紈素、金銀飾鏤之物，自是以下，雜綵之服通於賤人，雖上下等級，各示有差，然朝臣之制已得侔至尊矣，玄黃之采已得通於下矣。 欲使市不鬻華麗之色，商不通難得之貨，工不作雕刻之物，不可得也。 是故宜大理其本，準度古法，文質之宜，取其中則，以爲禮度。 車輿服章，皆從質樸，禁除末俗華麗之事，使幹朝之家，有位之室，不復有錦綺之飾，無兼采之服、纖巧之物，自上以下至於樸素之差，示有等級而已，勿使過一二之覺。 若夫功德之賜，上恩所特加，皆表之有司，然後服用之。 夫上之化下，猶風之靡草。 樸素之教興於本朝，則彌侈之心自消於下矣。」
He added: “Civil polish and plain substance alternate like the seasons; the king must read the times—when the age is crude, teach ritual; when it grows decadent, return to simplicity. We stand at the tail of a hundred reigns, heir to Qin and Han excess; the age grows ever flashier—sweep it clean to shift popular ambition. The sumptuary code lets every noble from full marquis up and every general from grand general down wear brocade, gauze, gold, and silver, while colored silks reach commoners—grades exist on paper, yet ministers already ape the throne and forbidden colors seep to the street. You cannot ban gaudy goods in the market, rare luxuries in the shop, or filigree in the workshop while the law itself dresses everyone like an emperor. Strike at the root, measure dress against ancient mean between ornament and plain, and encode it in ritual. Simplify carriages, robes, and badges; outlaw vulgar finery so no court family flaunts brocade, two-tone silks, or gewgaws—let rank show only in modest steps of plain dress. Rewards of merit from the throne should be registered with the ministry before they may be worn or used. What the ruler does, the people follow like grass bending in the wind. Let this court practice austerity and the lust for display dies in the lanes below.”
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宣王報書曰：「審官擇人，除重官，改服制，皆大善。 禮鄉閭本行，朝廷考事，大指如所示。 而中間一相承習，卒不能改。 秦時無刺史，但有郡守長吏。 漢家雖有刺史，奉六條而已，故刺史稱傳車，其吏言從事，居無常治，吏不成臣，其後轉更爲官司耳。 昔賈誼亦患服制，漢文雖身服弋綈，猶不能使上下如意。 恐此三事，當待賢能然後了耳。」
Sima Yi wrote back: “Tighter appointments, fewer layers of office, simpler dress—excellent proposals. Village conduct as root, court examination as branch—your outline is sound. Yet habit piles up through reigns and cannot be overturned at a stroke. Qin knew no inspectors—only governors and magistrates. Han’s inspectors rode circuit on the six articles—mobile auditors, not resident lords—until the post hardened into another bureaucracy. Jia Yi once pleaded for sumptuary reform; even Emperor Wen in homespun could not force the realm to follow suit. I fear these three reforms will need worthier times before they can succeed."
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玄又書曰：「漢文雖身衣弋綈，而不革正法度，內外有僭擬之服，寵臣受無限之賜，由是觀之，似指立在身之名，非篤齊治制之意也。 今公侯命世作宰，追蹤上古，將隆至治，抑末正本，若制定於上，則化行於衆矣。 夫當宜改之時，留殷勤之心，令發之日，下之應也猶響尋聲耳，猶垂謙謙，曰『待賢能』，此伊周不正殷姬之典也。 竊未喻焉。」
Xuan answered again: “Emperor Wen’s homespun was personal theater—he never rewrote the code; court and harem still flouted dress laws while favorites took limitless gifts. He cared for reputation, not systemic reform. Today you lords steer the age toward the ancient ideal—cut excess and mend the root. Set the pattern at the top and the whole realm will follow. When the moment calls for reform, the realm will answer an edict like an echo—yet you still hide behind false modesty and say ‘wait for worthier men.’ That is not how Yi Yin and the Duke of Zhou once straightened the fallen houses of Shang and Zhou. Frankly, I cannot accept that.”
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初，中領軍高陽許允與豐、玄親善。 先是有詐作尺一詔書，以玄爲大將軍，允爲太尉，共錄尚書事。 有何人天未明乘馬以詔版付允門吏，曰「有詔」，因便馳走。 允即投書燒之，不以開呈司馬景王。 後豐等事覺，徙允爲鎮北將軍，假節督河北諸軍事。 未發，以放散官物，收付廷尉，徙樂浪，道死。 〈《魏略》曰：允字士宗，世冠族。 父據，仕歷典農校尉、郡守。 允少與同郡崔贊俱發名於冀州，召入軍。 明帝時爲尚書選曹郎，與陳國袁侃對，同坐職事，皆收送獄，詔旨嚴切，當有死者，正直者爲重。 允謂侃曰：「卿，功臣之子，法應八議，不憂死也。」 侃知其指，乃爲受重。 允刑竟復吏，出爲郡守，稍遷爲侍中尚書中領軍。 允聞李豐等被收，欲往見大將軍，已出門，回遑不定，中道還取袴，豐等已收訖。 大將軍聞允前遽，恠之曰：「我自收豐等，不知士大夫何爲忩忩乎？」 是時朝臣遽者多耳，而衆人咸以爲意在允也。 會鎮北將軍劉靜卒，朝廷以允代靜。 已受節傳，出止外舍。 大將軍與允書曰：「鎮北雖少事，而都典一方，念足下震華鼓，建朱節，歷本州，此所謂著繡晝行也。」 允心甚恱，與臺中相聞，欲易其鼓吹旌旗。 其兄子素頗聞衆人說允前見嫌意，戒允「但當趣耳，用是爲邪」！ 允曰：「卿俗士不解，我以榮國耳，故求之。」 帝以允當出，乃詔會羣臣，羣臣皆集，帝特引允以自近； 允前爲侍中，顧當與帝別，涕泣歔欷。 會訖，罷出，詔促允令去。 會有司奏允前擅以厨錢穀乞諸俳及其官屬，故遂收送廷尉，考問竟，減死徙邊。 允以嘉平六年秋徙，妻子不得自隨，行道未到，以其年冬死。 《魏氏春秋》曰：允爲吏部郎，選郡守。 明帝疑其所用非次，召入，將加罪。 允妻阮氏跣出，謂曰：「明主可以理奪，難以情求。」 允頷之而入。 帝怒詰之，允對曰：「某郡太守雖限滿文書先至，年限在後，某守雖後，日限在前。」 帝前取事視之，乃釋遣出。 望其衣敗，曰：「清吏也。」 賜之。 允之出爲鎮北也，喜謂其妻曰：「吾知免矣！」 妻曰：「禍見於此，何免之有？」 允善相印，將拜，以印不善，使更刻之，如此者三。 允曰：「印雖始成而已被辱。」 問送印者，果懷之而墜於厠。 相印書曰：「相印法本出陳長文，長文以語韋仲將，印工楊利從仲將受法，以語許士宗。 利以法術占吉凶，十可中八九。 仲將問長文『從誰得法』？ 長文曰：『本出漢世，有相印、相笏經，又有鷹經、牛經、馬經。 印工宗養以法語程申伯，是故有一十三家相法傳於世。』」 允妻阮氏賢明而醜，允始見愕然，交禮畢，無復入意。 妻遣婢覘之，云「有客姓桓」，妻曰：「是必桓範，將勸使入也。」 旣而範果勸之。 允入，須臾便起，妻捉裾留之。 允顧謂婦曰：「婦有四德，卿有其幾？」 婦曰：「新婦所乏唯容。 士有百行，君有其幾？」 許曰：「皆備。」 婦曰：「士有百行，以德爲首，君好色不好德，何謂皆備？」 允有慙色，知其非凡，遂雅相親重。 生二子，奇、猛，少有令問。 允後爲景王所誅，門生走入告其婦，婦正在機，神色不變，曰：「早知爾耳。」 門生欲藏其子，婦曰：「無預諸兒事。」 後移居墓所，景王遣鍾會看之，若才藝德能及父，當收。 兒以語母，母荅：「汝等雖佳，才具不多，率胷懷與會語，便自無憂，不須極哀，會止便止。 又可多少問朝事。」 兒從之。 會反命，具以狀對，卒免其禍，皆母之教也。 雖會之識鑒，而輸賢婦之智也。 果慶及後嗣，追封子孫而已。 《世語》曰：允二子：奇字子泰，猛字子豹，並有治理才學。 晉元康中，奇爲司隷校尉，猛幽州刺史。 傅暢《晉諸公贊》曰：猛禮樂儒雅，當時最優。 奇子遐，字思祖，以清尚稱，位至侍中。 猛子式，字儀祖，有才幹，至濮陽內史、平原太守。〉
Earlier, Xu Yun of Gaoyang, chief of the palace guard, had been close to Li Feng and Xiahou Xuan. Someone had forged an edict on the one-foot board naming Xuan Grand General and Xu Yun Grand Commandant, jointly to oversee the Secretariat. Before dawn a horseman thrust the wooden edict into Xu Yun’s gatehouse, cried “Imperial order!” and vanished at a gallop. Xu Yun threw the paper straight into the fire and never showed it to Sima Shi. When Li Feng’s plot surfaced, Xu Yun was transferred to general of the northern march, with baton over Hebei armies. Before he could depart he was charged with embezzling state property, handed to the commandant of justice, sentenced to exile in Lelang, and died en route. 〈The Wei lüe names him Xu Yun, styled Shizong, from a great lineage. His father Xu Ju had been an agricultural colonel and a commandery governor. In youth he and his townsman Cui Zan won fame in Ji and were drafted into the army. Under Emperor Ming he served in the Secretariat’s appointments bureau opposite Yuan Kan of Chen; both were jailed over a paperwork dispute; the emperor’s edict demanded a death—and hinted the more upright man should hang. Xu Yun told Yuan Kan, “You are a hero’s son—the eight grounds for clemency cover you; you will not hang.” Kan read between the lines and took the heavier sentence himself. After his term Xu Yun returned to office, became a governor, then rose to palace attendant, secretary, and chief of the palace guard. When Li Feng was arrested Xu Yun started for Sima Shi’s mansion, hesitated at the gate, doubled back for a pair of trousers, and by the time he returned the roundup was over. Sima Shi heard of Xu Yun’s panic and said, “I arrested Li Feng myself—why were the ministers scurrying about?” Many officials had been rushing that day, but rumor said Sima Shi’s eye was really on Xu Yun. When Liu Jing, general of the northern march, died, the court named Xu Yun his successor. He took the baton and tallies and moved to an outer residence to prepare his column. Sima Shi wrote, “The northern command is quiet, yet it rules a whole quadrant—imagine yourself with war drums and crimson baton riding through your native commandery: the proverbial homecoming in silks.” Xu Yun was delighted and asked the ministry to upgrade his band and banners for the parade. His nephew Xu Su had heard whispers that Xu Yun was under suspicion and urged him, “Just ride—why fuss over finery? Xu Yun snapped, “A pedant like you would not understand—I mean to honor the state, which is why I want the full panoply.” The emperor, thinking Xu Yun was leaving, called a full court and drew him to his side; Xu Yun, once a palace attendant, behaved as if bidding the emperor a last farewell, weeping openly. When the audience ended an edict hurried him out of the capital. The censorate then charged him with diverting kitchen funds to entertain actors and staff; he was jailed, interrogated, spared execution, and banished to the border. He left in the autumn of Jiaping 6 without his family, and died that winter before reaching his place of exile. The Wei shi chunqiu notes that as appointments secretary he picked a governor. Emperor Ming thought his choices out of sequence and summoned him for punishment. His wife Lady Ruan ran out barefoot and told him, “A wise emperor yields to argument, not tears.” Xu Yun nodded and went in. He explained, “One candidate’s paperwork arrived first though his seniority date was later; another’s file came later though his eligibility date was earlier.” The emperor checked the files himself and let him go. Seeing Xu Yun’s threadbare coat he said, “There goes an honest official.” and rewarded him with cloth. When named general of the north he told his wife, “Now I am safe!” She answered, “Disaster shows its face here—where is safety? Xu Yun read omens in official seals; before his investiture he had a flawed seal recut three times. He said, “The new seal is already dishonored before it reaches my hand.” The courier admitted he had tucked it in his robe and dropped it into a latrine. The book Reading Seals says: “The seal-reading method fundamentally came out from Chen Changwen; Changwen told it to Wei Zhongjiang; seal-craftsman Yang Li received the method from Zhongjiang and told it to Xu Shizong. Yang Li’s mantic reading was right eight or nine times in ten. Wei Dan asked Chen Qun where the art came from. Qun said it began in Han: treatises on seal and tablet omens, plus tracts on hawks, oxen, and horses. The craftsman Zong Yang passed it to Cheng Shenbo—hence the thirteen schools of seal lore." ’” Xu Yun’s wife Lady Ruan was wise but plain; after the wedding bows he refused to join her in the bedchamber. She sent a maid to watch; learning a visitor named Huan had come, she said, “That is Huan Fan—he will talk my husband inside.” Huan Fan did just that. Xu Yun went in, rose almost at once, and his wife grabbed his robe to stop him. He turned on her: “A wife should have the four virtues—which do you have?” She answered, “Among the four I lack only beauty. A gentleman needs a hundred virtues—which do you possess?” Xu Yun said, “Every one of them.” She retorted, “Virtue heads the list—yet you love looks, not virtue. How is that ‘complete’?” Xu Yun flushed, saw she was extraordinary, and thereafter honored her as a partner. They had two sons, Xu Qi and Xu Meng, both promising boys. When Sima Shi executed Xu Yun, a student rushed to tell Lady Ruan; she sat at her loom unmoved and said, “I expected this.” The student wanted to hide the boys; she said, “Leave my sons out of it.” After they moved near the grave, Sima Shi sent Zhong Hui to interview the sons—if they rivaled their father in talent, arrest them. She told them, “You are clever but not brilliant—speak from the heart with Zhong Hui, show neither genius nor deep grief, and stop when he stops. Ask a few harmless questions about court business.” They obeyed. Zhong Hui reported that they were harmless mediocrities, and the danger passed—entirely their mother’s lesson. For all Zhong Hui’s sharp eye, he was outplayed by a wise wife. Fortune later smiled on the line—only posthumous titles for the descendants. The Shiyu names the sons Xu Qi (Zitai) and Xu Meng (Zibao), both able administrators. Under Western Jin’s Yuankang, Qi became metropolitan colonel and Meng governor of You. Fu Chang’s Jin zhugong zan calls Xu Meng the age’s finest Confucian stylist in ritual and music. Qi’s son Xu Xia (Sizu) was famed for integrity and rose to palace attendant. Meng’s son Xu Shi (Yizu) was capable, ending as Puyang interior secretary and governor of Pingyuan.〉
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【評】
The historian’s closing judgment.
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評曰：夏侯、曹氏，世爲婚姻，故惇、淵、仁、洪、休、尚、真等並以親舊肺腑，貴重於時，左右勳業，咸有効勞。 爽德薄位尊，沈溺盈溢，此固大易所著，道家所忌也。 玄以規格局度，世稱其名，然與曹爽中外繾綣； 榮位如斯，曾未聞匡弼其非，援致良才。 舉茲以論，焉能免之乎！」
The historian remarks: The Xiahous and Caos had intermarried for generations, so Dun, Yuan, Ren, Hong, Xiu, Shang, Zhen, and the rest rose as kinsmen at court, basked in unique favor, and gave solid service on campaign and in council. Cao Shuang’s virtue was slight while his power was vast; he drowned in excess—the very fault the Yijing warns against and Daoist teachers curse. Xiahou Xuan won fame for scope and style, yet he was bound tight to Cao Shuang inside and out; with rank and glory such as his, he never once rebuked Shuang’s misrule or brought worthy men to his aid. Judged by that, how could he hope to escape ruin?”