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卷二十五 魏書二十五 辛毗楊阜高堂隆傳

Volume 25: Book of Wei 25 - Biographies of Xin Pi, Yang Fu, and Gaotang Long

Chapter 25 of 三國志 · Records of the Three Kingdoms
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Chapter 25
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1
Xin Pi, Yang Fu, and Gaotang Long.
2
西 使 西 使 西 使
Xin Pi, whose courtesy name was Zuozhi, came from Yangdi in Yingchuan. During the Jianwu reign, his forebears had migrated eastward out of Longxi. Xin Pi followed his elder brother Xin Ping into Yuan Shao's service. When Cao Cao held the post of Minister of Works, he called Xin Pi to office, but Xin Pi was unable to accept the appointment. When Yuan Shang besieged his older brother Yuan Tan at Pingyuan, Tan dispatched Xin Pi to Cao Cao to sue for peace. 〈The Record of Heroes relates that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fought at the outer gate, Tan's force was routed, and he fled north. Guo Tu urged Yuan Tan: "Your domain is small, your soldiers few, your grain is running out, and your position is weak. When Shang arrives in force, a drawn-out fight will not favor you. I would call Lord Cao in to strike Shang while you still can. Once Cao Cao arrives, he will move on Ye first, and Shang will have to double back to relieve the city. You march west with your army, and everything north of Ye falls within your grasp. If Shang's host is shattered, his men will scatter, and you can round them up and turn them against Cao Cao. Cao Cao is campaigning far from home; his supply lines will not hold, and he will withdraw of his own accord. When that moment comes, everything north of Zhao will be yours, and you will be strong enough to face Cao Cao on even terms. Otherwise the plan will not work." Tan refused at first, but in the end he adopted the advice. He asked Guo Tu, "Whom can we send? Guo Tu replied, "Xin Zuozhi is the man for it." Tan thereupon sent Xin Pi to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was on the point of marching against Jingzhou and had encamped at Xiping. When Xin Pi laid out Tan's proposal before Cao Cao, Cao Cao was delighted. A few days later he again favored striking Jingzhou first and letting Tan and Shang wear one another down. At a later banquet Xin Pi read a shift in Cao Cao's mood, sensed that the plan was changing, and spoke of it to Guo Jia. Guo Jia relayed this to Cao Cao, who asked Xin Pi, "Can we trust Tan? And can Shang really be defeated?" Xin Pi answered, "You need not trouble yourself with whether he is sincere. Consider only how the balance of power lies. The Yuans are tearing one another apart as brothers; they do not imagine outsiders can drive a wedge between them—they imagine they can settle the empire on their own. That they should now beg you for help in a single day tells you all you need to know. Shang has Tan cornered yet cannot finish him—that is exhaustion of military strength. Their armies have met defeat in the field, their strategists have been put to death at court, the brothers turn on each other, and the domain is cut in two; Year after year of campaigning has left lice breeding in the soldiers' mail; drought and locusts have piled on, and famine stalks the land. Granaries stand empty, and men march without rations in their packs. Portents of calamity gather above while human affairs founder below. High and low alike see the edifice crumbling—this is the moment Heaven has marked for Shang's fall. The military classics say that stone ramparts and moats like seething cauldrons, even with a million armored men, cannot be held if there is no grain. Strike Ye now: if Shang does not turn back to relieve it, he cannot hold the city on his own. If he does turn back, Tan will be on his heels. With your prestige, falling on an enemy already cornered and a host already spent, you will scatter them like a gale stripping the autumn woods. Heaven has handed you Yuan Shang on favorable terms, yet you would ignore him and march on Jingzhou instead. Jingzhou is rich and at peace, and you have no quarrel with its lords. Zhong Hui put it thus: 'Seize the moment when a rival is in turmoil; press the attack when he is on the verge of collapse. The two Yuans neglect long-range strategy and scheme against each other at home—that is what 'chaos' means; those who stay starve, and those who march have no grain—that is what 'perishing' means. They cannot plan from dawn to dusk; the people's lives hang by a thread. If you do not rescue them now and put off action for some later year, they may rally, realize their peril, and mend their rule—then you will have missed the whole point of wielding an army. To answer their plea for aid and bring them under your wing now is the greatest opportunity you could ask for. Among the powers that threaten you from every side, none outweighs what lies north of the Yellow River; pacify the north, and the imperial host will stand at full strength while the realm trembles at your approach." Cao Cao said, "Well said." He agreed to make peace with Tan and moved his camp to Liyang. The following year he took Ye by storm and recommended Xin Pi for appointment as a Gentleman Consultant.
3
使
Some time later Cao Cao sent Chief Protector Cao Hong to reduce Xiabian and attached Xin Pi and Cao Xiu to the expedition with these instructions: "The Han founder loved wealth and women, yet Zhang Liang and Chen Ping set his missteps right. Zuozhi and Wenlie now bear a heavy burden of care." When the force returned, Xin Pi was appointed chief clerk of the chancellery.
4
When Emperor Wen took the throne, Xin Pi rose to palace attendant and received the rank of secondary marquis within the passes. The court was debating a change to the calendar's inaugural month. Xin Pi argued that the Wei house had inherited the legitimate line of Shun and Yu and had answered both Heaven and the people; Tang of Shang and King Wu won the realm by arms and only then altered the calendar. Confucius said, 'I would follow the calendar of the Xia,' and the Zuo commentary calls the Xia reckoning 'the count that accords with Heaven's true month'—there is no need to insist on reversing it. The emperor approved the argument and dropped the proposal.
5
The emperor proposed resettling a hundred thousand garrison households from Ji Province south into the Henan heartland. Locusts had come in waves and the people were starving; every ministry advised against the move, but the emperor's resolve only hardened. Xin Pi went in with the senior ministers to seek an audience. Foreseeing a remonstrance, the emperor received them with a dark countenance, and no one dared speak. Xin Pi said, "If you mean to uproot the garrison families, what is the rationale?" The emperor shot back, "You think the resettlement is a mistake?" Xin Pi replied, "I believe it is." The emperor said, "Then I have nothing further to discuss with you." Xin Pi answered, "You appointed me to your side despite my mediocrity and gave me a seat among your advisers—how can you refuse to hear me out? I speak not for myself but for the altars of state—surely that is no cause for anger!" The emperor made no reply, rose, and withdrew to the inner chambers; Xin Pi followed, seized the hem of his robe, and the emperor shook him off and stayed away a long while before reappearing. "Zuozhi," he said, "why are you tugging at me so fiercely?" Xin Pi said, "If you press the move now, you forfeit the people's trust and leave them nothing to eat." In the end the emperor relocated only half the households he had first intended. On an outing when he accompanied the emperor pheasant hunting, the emperor exclaimed, "There is real sport in this!" Xin Pi replied, "It is pleasure for Your Majesty, but torment for your ministers." The emperor fell silent, and afterward he seldom went out on such hunts again.
6
洿
When Senior General Cao Zhen led a punitive expedition against Zhu Ran at Jiangling, Xin Pi served as army adviser on the campaign. On his return he was enfeoffed as village marquis of Guangping. When the emperor planned a major mobilization against Wu, Xin Pi remonstrated: "The peoples of Wu and Chu are stubborn and hard to govern: when the moral tone of government is high they are slow to submit, and when it falters they are the first to rebel. That has been the worry of every age, not ours alone. Your Majesty now holds the realm entire—how long can any who withhold allegiance hold out? Zhao Tuo once declared himself emperor, Gongsun Shu styled himself a sovereign, yet within a few years both had been brought to heel or destroyed. Rebellion cannot long endure, and where true great virtue holds sway nothing remains unsubdued. The empire is only lately pacified; territory is vast and population thin. Even when every detail has been weighed in council before troops march, a wise commander still meets each turn of events with caution—and now the plan itself is incomplete. I frankly see no advantage in pressing ahead. The late emperor more than once led picked hosts to the Yangzi only to wheel about without forcing a crossing. The imperial army is no stronger than it was then; to repeat the same attempt will not be easy. The better course today is to nurture the people as Fan Li did, to administer border counties as Guan Zhong advised, to open garrison farms after Zhao Chongguo's example, and to win distant peoples as Confucius taught; within ten years your prime cohorts will still be in their prime, your youths will have come of fighting age, the common people will understand where duty lies, and officers and men will burn to prove themselves. Then you may commit them to war and need not repeat the mobilization." The emperor said, "By your reasoning, am I to leave the foe for my sons and grandsons to deal with?" Xin Pi answered, "King Wen of Zhou left King Zhou of Shang for King Wu to overthrow—because he knew the hour had not yet come. When the times forbid action, what choice have you but to wait?" The emperor went ahead with the campaign against Wu in any case, marched to the river, and turned back.
7
When Emperor Ming came to the throne, Xin Pi was promoted to village marquis of Ying with a fief of three hundred households. Liu Fang, the supervisor of the secretariat, and Sun Zi, its director, enjoyed the sovereign's full confidence and shaped every decision of the day, so that every senior minister courted their favor—everyone except Xin Pi, who kept his distance. His son Xin Chang urged him, "Liu and Sun now hold the levers of power, and the whole court shadows their every step. You should bend your pride a little and blend your light with the dust of the world; otherwise slander will find you." Xin Pi answered sternly, "The sovereign may not yet be accounted a sage, but he is no fool. I have my own principles in how I comport myself. Even if Liu and Sun take against me, the worst they can do is keep me from the rank of one of the Three Dukes—what real harm is that? What sort of man would sell his integrity for a minister's chair?" Concurrent Deputy Director (pushe) Bi Gui submitted a memorial stating that Vice Director of the Secretariat Wang Si is a diligent veteran official, that in loyalty and planning he does not match Xin Pi, and that Xin Pi ought to replace Si." The emperor consulted Liu Fang and Sun Zi, who replied, "Your Majesty appointed Wang Si because you wanted practical service from him, not a hollow reputation. Xin Pi is candid and upright, but his temper is rigid and his manner uncompromising—Your Majesty should weigh that carefully." The recommendation was not adopted. He left court to serve as commandant of the guards.
8
殿巿 使 退 退
The emperor was raising palace halls while the people staggered under forced labor. Xin Pi presented a memorial: "I hear that Zhuge Liang is training his army and that Sun Quan is purchasing horses in Liaodong. From the drift of their designs, they appear ready to move in tandem against us. Readiness against the unexpected was the mark of wise rule in olden days, yet today construction soars while the harvests have failed year after year. The Book of Odes says, "The people are worn out; grant them a measure of ease; cherish the heartland, and the four quarters will be soothed." I beg Your Majesty to act for the sake of the altars of state." The emperor answered, "The two rebel powers still stand while I raise palaces—this is the very moment when blunt counsel earns a man his reputation. A king's capital should be finished while the people can still bear the burden, leaving posterity nothing essential to add—that was the grand layout Xiao He drew for the Han. You are a pillar of Wei; you should grasp the larger design as well." He also proposed leveling the Mang Hills north of Luoyang and erecting terraces there to command a view of the ford at Mengjin. Xin Pi objected: "Heaven and earth set heights and hollows as they are; to turn that order upside down offends their pattern; and to squander labor on top of that would crush the people under corvée duty. If the great rivers burst their banks and the hills have been shaved flat, what will hold the flood back?" The emperor abandoned the project. 〈The Brief Account of Wei relates that Zhuge Liang besieged Qishan, failed to reduce it, and pulled back. Zhang He pursued the retreat and was killed by a stray arrow. The emperor grieved for Zhang He and lamented at court, "Shu is still unconquered, and now Zhang He is gone—what can we do?" Minister of Works Chen Qun said, "Zhang He was an outstanding commander on whom the state relied." Xin Pi thought the loss of Zhang He grievous, but the dead cannot be recalled; it would be wrong to sap the sovereign's resolve in court or to advertise weakness to the enemy. He seized Chen Qun by the arm and said, "Lord Chen, what sort of talk is this? At the close of the Jian-an years the empire could not for a day do without Emperor Wu; when the mandate passed on, Emperor Wen took the throne, and in the Huangchu era men said the realm could not do without Emperor Wen; when he left the world to Your Majesty, you rose as the dragon successor. Tell me, is Zhang He the one thing our realm now lacks?" Chen Qun said, "Xin Pi speaks the truth." The emperor smiled and said, "Lord Chen, you change your tune nimbly." Pei Songzhi comments: When likening people to others, one must stay within their station; when choosing a figure of speech, one should stay within the same category. A gentleman does not speak lightly, and that is all. If Xin Pi meant to steady the emperor's mind, he should have named living champions such as Zhang Liao; the death of a single general is no occasion to invoke the founding emperors as parallels. Nothing could be more out of place; pushed forward it breaks category, drawn back it smacks of sycophancy—this is not what we expect of Xin Pi's blunt integrity. The Brief Account of Wei is already suspect, and the Xi family repeated the tale; I believe Xin Pi has been much maligned.
9
使 西西
In Qinglong 2 (234), Zhuge Liang marched his army to the south bank of the Wei. Earlier, Grand General Sima Yi had repeatedly asked leave to give battle, but Emperor Ming had always refused. Fearing he could no longer hold Sima Yi in check that year, the court named Xin Pi army adviser to the grand general and gave him the staff of authority; the six hosts stood in awe and accepted Xin Pi's orders; no one dared disobey. 〈The Brief Account of Wei says Sima Yi repeatedly pressed for an offensive, but Xin Pi forbade it and would not yield. Though Sima Yi could act on his own judgment, he repeatedly bowed to Xin Pi's restraint. After Zhuge Liang's death Xin Pi resumed his post as commandant of the guards. He died and received the posthumous title Marquis Su ("the Stern"). His son Xin Chang inherited the title and later served as administrator of Henan during the Xianxi era. 〈The Contemporary Tales says Xin Chang, courtesy name Taiyong, rose to the post of commandant of the guards. Xin Pi's daughter Xianying married Yang Dan of Taishan, the minister of ceremonies; her grandson Xiahou Zhan composed her biography, saying, "Xianying was clever and discerning. When Emperor Wen was still heir apparent and vied with Cao Zhi, the Prince of Chen, Wen eventually won the succession. He threw his arms around Xin Pi's neck and cried, "Lord Xin, can you guess how happy I am?" Xin Pi repeated this to Xianying, who sighed and said, "The heir takes the ruler's place before the ancestral shrines and the altars of state. To step into a father's place ought to bring sorrow, and to shoulder the realm ought to bring dread. If he is elated instead, how long can such a reign last? Wei will not prosper under him!" Her younger brother Xin Chang served as an adviser on the staff of Grand General Cao Shuang. When Sima Yi moved to purge Cao Shuang, he waited until Shuang had left the city and then sealed the gates. Lu Zhi, the major general under the grand general, led Cao Shuang's household troops, cut through the barricades, burst out of the city to reach Shuang, and urged Xin Chang to ride with him. Xin Chang was frightened and asked Xianying, "The emperor is outside the walls, the grand tutor has shut the gates, and rumor says the state is in peril—can things really be as bad as that?" She answered, "The world holds mysteries we cannot fathom, yet in my judgment the grand tutor had no choice but to act. On his deathbed Emperor Ming seized the grand tutor's arm and entrusted him with the succession; every minister still remembers that charge. Cao Shuang received the same regency as the grand tutor, yet he hoarded power, lived in arrogance and luxury, betrayed the house of Wei, and broke faith with common decency. This coup aims only at removing Cao Shuang." Xin Chang asked, "Then will the affair succeed?" She said, "It may well succeed. Cao Shuang is no match for the grand tutor." Xin Chang asked, "Then may I stay home?" She replied, "How could you stay away? Office and duty are the first obligations of a gentleman. Even common folk in distress deserve compassion; to take a post and then desert it when danger comes is ill-omened and wrong. To risk one's life for a lord and answer for his fate is the duty of a trusted officer—go with the rest." Xin Chang rode out. Sima Yi did execute Cao Shuang. When the dust settled, Xin Chang sighed, "Had I not asked my sister, I would nearly have failed in my duty." Later, when Zhong Hui was named general who guards the west, Xianying asked her nephew Yang Hu, "Why is Zhong Hui marching west?" Yang Hu said, "To conquer Shu." She said, "Zhong Hui indulges his whims in office; he is not a man who will long submit to another. I fear he harbors designs of his own." Yang Hu said, "Aunt, say no more." When Zhong Hui later asked Xin Xiu to join his staff as an adviser, Xianying said in alarm, "The day I saw Zhong Hui ride west I feared for the realm; today the trouble has reached our own door. This is a matter of state, and you cannot refuse." Xin Xiu pleaded with Sima Zhao, who would not release him. Xianying told him, "You must go—guard yourself well. The gentlemen of old showed filial devotion at home and integrity abroad; in office they pondered their duty, in crisis they weighed what was right, and they strove never to bring grief upon their parents. In the camp and on the battlefield, only kindness and restraint can save you. Mark my words and be careful." Xin Xiu followed her counsel and survived with his life. Xianying lived to seventy-nine and died in the fifth year of Taishi (269)."〉"
10
使
Yang Fu, courtesy name Yishan, was a native of Ji in Tianshui commandery. 〈The Brief Account of Wei says that in his youth Yang Fu won a local reputation alongside Yin Feng (courtesy Ciceng) and Zhao Ang (courtesy Weizhang) of the same commandery; Zhao and Yin served with Yang Fu as staff officers in Liangzhou. While serving on the provincial staff he was dispatched by Governor Wei Duan to the capital at Xu and was appointed chief clerk of Anding. On his return the generals beyond the pass asked whether Yuan Shao or Cao Cao would prevail. Yang Fu said, "Yuan Shao is magnanimous but cannot decide, fond of counsel but slow to commit; indecision saps authority, and hesitation loses the moment. He may look strong now, yet he will never finish the great work. Lord Cao has heroic gifts and long vision, seizes his chances without wavering, keeps the law uniform and his soldiers sharp, and can use unusual men so that each gives his utmost. He is the man who will achieve the great enterprise." The chief clerk's post did not suit him, so he resigned. Wei Duan was then recalled to serve as grand coachman, and his son Wei Kang succeeded him as provincial inspector, who appointed Yang Fu as attendant clerk. Nominated as filial and incorrupt, he was called to the chancellor's headquarters, but the province petitioned to keep him on its military staff.
11
使西 使 使
After Ma Chao was routed south of the Wei, he fled west among the Qiang and Rong tribes. Cao Cao pressed the pursuit to Anding, but Su Bo rose in revolt in Hejian, and he prepared to march the army back east. Yang Fu, then away on assignment, warned Cao Cao, "Ma Chao has the dash of Han Xin and Ying Bu; the Qiang and Hu rally to him, and the west trembles at his name. If the main force withdraws without leaving strong precautions, the commanderies along the Long plateau will no longer be ours." Cao Cao saw the point, but the withdrawal was hurried and the dispositions were incomplete. Ma Chao led the tribal chiefs against the Long counties, which rose for him one after another; only Ji city, loyal to the provincial and commandery authorities, held out. Ma Chao absorbed every force west of the Long frontier, while Zhang Lu sent his general Yang Ang with reinforcements—more than ten thousand men in all—to storm the walls. Yang Fu rallied over a thousand gentlemen, officials, and kinsmen fit to bear arms, had his cousin Yang Yue throw up a crescent-shaped redoubt on the battlements, and traded blows with Ma Chao from the first month to the eighth, yet no relief column came. The province sent its attendant clerk Yan Wen to slip out along the river for help; Ma Chao caught and killed him. The inspector and the administrator then turned pale and began to speak of yielding the city. Yang Fu wept and remonstrated, "We have brought fathers, brothers, and sons together under the banner of duty; we are resolved to die rather than turn traitor; even Tian Dan's defense of Jimo was no tighter than ours. To throw away a victory within reach and earn the name of traitors—I will defend this wall with my life." The defenders broke into loud weeping. In the end the inspector and the administrator sent envoys to sue for terms, opened the gates, and admitted Ma Chao. Ma Chao entered the city, held Yang Fu's cousin Yang Yue hostage in Ji, and had Yang Ang execute the inspector and the administrator.
12
便 使
Within himself Yang Fu burned to avenge Ma Chao, but he had not yet found his chance. Soon afterward he asked leave of absence to bury his wife. Yang Fu's maternal cousin Jiang Xu was encamped at Licheng. Yang Fu had been raised in Jiang Xu's home as a boy. When he saw Xu and Xu's mother, he told them what had happened during the siege of Ji and broke down in tears. Jiang Xu asked, "Why this outpouring?" Yang Fu said, "I held the walls yet could not save them; our lord fell yet I did not die at his side—how dare I show my face in the world? Ma Chao cast off his father and rebelled against his sovereign, butchered our commanders—this is not my private shame alone; every man of honor in Liangzhou bears the stain. You command an army and do as you please, yet you will not move against the traitor—the Chroniclers blamed Zhao Dun for regicide for less than this. Ma Chao is fierce but faithless; his misrule gives us openings we can exploit." Jiang Xu's mother, stirred to indignation, bade her son follow Yang Fu's design. Once the plot was set, they conspired in secret with Jiang Yin, Zhao Ang, Yin Feng, Yao Qiong, and Kong Xin of their home district, with Li Jun and Wang Ling of Wudu, swore to destroy Ma Chao, sent Yang Fu's cousin Yang Mo into Ji to warn Yang Yue, and won over Liang Kuan of Anding, Zhao Qu of Nan'an, and Pang Gong. The oath was sworn, and in the ninth month of Jian-an 17 (212) they rose with Jiang Xu at Lucheng. When Ma Chao learned of the uprising, he marched out in person. Zhao Qu and Liang Kuan meanwhile freed Yang Yue, sealed the gates of Ji, and turned on Ma Chao's family. Ma Chao struck Licheng and seized Jiang Xu's mother. She cursed him: "Rebel son who turned on his father, butcher who murdered his lord—does Heaven intend to shelter you forever? Why were you not struck down long ago? How dare you look honest men in the eye?" Ma Chao in his fury put her to death. Yang Fu fought Ma Chao in person, took five wounds, and lost seven kinsmen in the battle. Ma Chao then fled south into Zhang Lu's protection.
13
祿 西 西 使 使 西 西 西西
After the Long frontier was secured, Cao Cao enfeoffed eleven men for their part in crushing Ma Chao and awarded Yang Fu the rank of secondary marquis within the passes. Yang Fu demurred: "While my lord lived I did not save him from disaster; when he fell I did not die with him—by every rule of honor I deserve demotion, by every statute I deserve execution; and Ma Chao still lives—I have no right to accept rank and emolument without shame." Cao Cao answered, "You and your comrades won a signal victory; the west still tells the story with admiration. When Zi Gong refused a reward, Confucius said he had blocked the way of virtue. Open your heart and accept what the state offers you. Jiang Xu's mother spurred her son to strike first; such clear-sightedness—even the wife of Yang Chang could not surpass it. How worthy, how worthy! A careful historian will not let such deeds be forgotten." 〈Huangfu Mi's Exemplary Women relates that Jiang Xu's mother was the mother of Jiang Boyi of Tianshui. During the Jian-an years Ma Chao stormed Ji and slew Inspector Wei Kang of Liangzhou, leaving the province in grief and fury. Jiang Xu held the title of general who pacifies the Yi and camped his force at Li. Yang Fu, Jiang Xu's cousin by marriage, had formerly served on Wei Kang's staff; a dozen or so of his colleagues were likewise forced to submit to Ma Chao while secretly plotting vengeance, but they could find no opportunity. When Yang Fu's wife died, he begged Ma Chao for leave to carry her west for burial, stopped at Licheng to call on Jiang Xu's mother, and told her how Wei Kang had been slain and Ji thrown into chaos; mother and son wept together for a long while. The whole Jiang household was in tears. The old woman cried, "Enough! Boyi, Inspector Wei's murder shames all Liangzhou and falls on your shoulders as much as on Yishan's. Do not linger for my sake—delay will only breed new danger. Every man must die sometime. To die for one's country is the highest act of loyalty. Strike at once. I will answer for whatever follows—I will not chain your last years to my old age." She then told Jiang Xu to take counsel with Yang Fu. They agreed, sent word to Yin Feng, Zhao Ang, Liang Kuan of Anding, and the rest, and arranged for Jiang Xu to rebel first so that Ma Chao, in his rage, would march against Licheng in person, while Liang Kuan and his party would seal the gates of Ji behind him. Once the oath was sworn, Jiang Xu marched into Lucheng while Zhao Ang and Yin Feng held Qishan. Ma Chao heard the news and led his host against Jiang Xu as planned; Liang Kuan and the others shut the gates of Ji behind him, leaving Ma Chao without a base. Ma Chao passed through Lucheng, where Jiang Xu stood ready. He pressed on to Licheng. The townsfolk, seeing Ma Chao's banners, mistook them for Jiang Xu's column returning. Rumors also claimed that Ma Chao had fled to Hanzhong, so Licheng lowered its guard. When Ma Chao entered the town he seized Jiang Xu's mother, who reviled him to his face. Stung by her curses, he slew her and her son, fired the town, and withdrew. Yang Fu and his allies reported these deeds to Cao Cao, who praised them warmly and issued a personal decree of commendation, as recorded in the main text. Pei Songzhi notes that Huangfu Mi calls Yang Fu Jiang Xu's cousin by marriage, whereas the principal biography makes Jiang Xu Yang Fu's maternal cousin—the relationship is described differently. Huangfu Mi further records Zhao Ang's wife: Lady Yi, of the Wang clan, was the wife of Zhao Weizhang of Tianshui, the former inspector of Yi Province. Zhao Ang served as magistrate of Qiangdao, leaving his wife Yi in the west. When Liang Shuang of the same commandery revolted, stormed Xicheng, and slew Lady Yi's two sons, six-year-old Ying alone remained in the city with her mother. Lady Yi, seeing both sons dead and fearing rape at Liang Shuang's hands, drew a knife to end her life, then looked at Ying and sighed, "If I die I leave you helpless— I have read that when Xi Shi wore foul clothing passersby hid their noses—and I am no beauty like Xi Shi." She smeared herself with filth from the privy and wrapped her body in rough hemp, ate sparingly, and wasted away from spring until winter. When Liang Shuang made peace with the authorities, Lady Yi survived the ordeal. Zhao Ang sent a clerk to escort them home. Thirty li short of the city she halted and told Ying, "A woman without credentials or a chaperone does not step beyond her inner rooms. The Zhao maiden who sank into the river, the princess Bo Ji who stayed to burn—whenever I read their tales my spirit rises at their resolve. Now I have lived through rebellion without dying—how can I face my husband's kinswomen? The only reason I clung to life was pity for you. The yamen is close now. I leave you and mean to die." She swallowed poison. Someone forced an antidote down her throat, and after a long while she stirred again. During the Jian-an years Zhao Ang was posted to military staff and moved his household to Ji. When Ma Chao besieged Ji, Lady Yi donned plain armlets and helped Zhao Ang hold the walls, stripping off her jewelry and silks to reward the defenders. As the siege tightened and hunger gripped the city, the kindly Inspector Wei Kang, grieving for his battered people, wished to treat with Ma Chao. Zhao Ang's remonstrance went unheeded. When he told his wife, she said, "A ruler should heed outspoken ministers, and a minister may act without waiting for orders when duty demands it; to seize the initiative is not wrongdoing. Who can say relief will never reach the Long frontier? We must steel ourselves to win glory and die for the cause—we cannot consent to surrender." Before Zhao Ang could return, Wei Kang had already capitulated to Ma Chao. Ma Chao broke faith, murdered Wei Kang, seized Zhao Ang, and held his heir Yue hostage at Nan'zheng. He meant to employ Zhao Ang but still did not trust him fully. Ma Chao's wife Lady Yang, hearing of Lady Yi's virtue, asked to spend a day feasting with her. Lady Yi meant to win Ma Chao's confidence in Zhao Ang and further their plot. She told Lady Yang, "When Guan Zhong entered Qi he forged the league of nine hegemons; when You Yu went west, Duke Mu of Qin rose to supremacy. The dynasty is only now taking shape, and order depends on winning the right men. Liangzhou's cavalry can match the heartland—this is not a detail you can afford to overlook." Lady Yang was moved, believed Lady Yi spoke for her own good, and grew intimate with her. It was Lady Yi's doing that Zhao Ang won Ma Chao's trust and escaped harm while the plot matured. When Zhao Ang and Yang Fu prepared to strike Ma Chao, he confided in Lady Yi, "The plan is sound, but what of our son Yue?" She answered sharply, "Honor is built in one's own breast. To avenge our lord and master matters more than my life—what is one child? Xiang Tuo and Yan Yuan did not live a century; what endures is the righteousness they left behind." Zhao Ang said, "Well spoken." They barred the gates, drove Ma Chao out, and he fled to Hanzhong, where Zhang Lu gave him troops for a counterattack. Lady Yi joined Zhao Ang in defending Qishan; Ma Chao besieged them thirty days until relief broke the siege. Ma Chao later executed their son Yue. From the fall of Ji to the stand at Qishan, Zhao Ang devised nine stratagems, and Lady Yi had a hand in each.
14
退
When Cao Cao marched on Hanzhong he named Yang Fu inspector of Yi Province. On his return he was named administrator of Jincheng, but before he could take up the post he was shifted to Wudu. The commandery lay on the border of Shu; Yang Fu asked leave to follow Gong Sui's example and soothe the people without needless severity. Liu Bei dispatched Zhang Fei and Ma Chao along the Ju valley toward Xiabian, and Lei Ding of the Di with seven tribes of more than ten thousand tents rose in support. Cao Cao sent Chief Protector Cao Hong to check Ma Chao, who then drew back. Cao Hong gave a victory feast and had singing girls dance in sheer silk before the drum while the guests roared with laughter. Yang Fu rebuked him sharply: "The separation of the sexes is a pillar of public decency—how dare you parade women's bodies before a hall full of men? Even the debauchery of Jie and Zhou went no further than this." He threw down his napkin and walked out. Cao Hong dismissed the musicians, begged Yang Fu back to his place, and afterward treated him with wary respect.
15
使
When Liu Bei seized Hanzhong to threaten Xiabian, Cao Cao considered Wudu too remote and planned to evacuate the commandery, yet feared the people would not wish to leave their land. Yang Fu's prestige had long stood high; he had already resettled more than ten thousand households of commoners and Di between Jingzhao, Fufeng, and Tianshui, and when he shifted the seat to minor Huaili the people shouldered their children and followed without demur. He governed by broad principles alone, and his subordinates would not dream of deceiving him. Emperor Wen asked his attendants Liu Ye and the rest, "What sort of man is the administrator of Wudu?" Every one of them said Yang Fu had the stature of a man who could serve as chief minister. He was not promoted in time: Emperor Wen passed away first. He spent over a decade in Wudu, then was recalled and named colonel of the city gates.
16
𧛕
Yang Fu once found Emperor Ming in a cap and a short pale-silk jacket and asked, "What canonical garment is this by the rites?" The emperor gave no reply, and thereafter he never received Yang Fu unless he was properly robed.
17
使 調 退
He rose to the post of court architect. Palace construction had just begun, the inner apartments were being filled with selected women, and the emperor often rode out on the chase. That autumn storms broke, lightning flashed, and countless small birds were killed. Yang Fu presented a memorial: "I have read that when a wise ruler holds the throne, his officials leave nothing unsaid. Yao and Shun in their holiness invited criticism and welcomed frank advice; the Great Yu earned merit through labor and disdained lofty palaces; Tang of Shang faced drought and blamed his own rule; King Wen taught restraint to his wives and so brought order to clan and kingdom; Emperor Wen of Han lived plainly and dressed in homespun—all these rulers won renown and left their heirs a pattern worth following. You inherit the realm Martial Emperor carved out and the order Civil Emperor perfected; you should measure yourself against the sage-kings of antiquity and take warning from every decadent late reign. Good government means austerity and respect for the people's labor; bad government means indulging every impulse of the heart. Trace how each house shone at its dawn and guttered at its dusk; ponder the Han collapse—it should freeze the blood. Had Emperors Huan and Ling not torn down Gaozu's statutes and Wen and Jing's frugality, our martial founder, for all his genius, would have had no opening to act. On what foundation, then, would you sit on the throne today? Wu and Shu still stand unconquered and our hosts are abroad. May every move you make be thrice weighed; look before you leap; guard each coming and going; let past mistakes instruct the future—speech is easy, but the stakes are immense. Of late the skies have poured rain and unleashed freakish thunderbolts that have struck down birds in flocks. Heaven and earth treat the king as a son; when policy goes wrong, they answer with portents and scourges. Self-scrutiny and inward reckoning are what the sages enjoin. Guard against unseen peril and crush mischief at the bud; follow Han Emperor Wen, who freed Hui's palace ladies to find husbands of their own; and as for the little girls recently impressed into service, distant rumor says the levy was cruel—you should think ahead for them as well. Let every new work be done with the utmost frugality. The Book of Documents says, "Harmonize the nine kin, and the myriad regions will be at peace." Weigh each policy for fitness, keep to the golden mean, scheme with a clear mind, and spare the treasury. Once Wu and Shu are subdued, ruler and people will be at ease and the royal kin will thrive in concord. Continue in this spirit and the shades of your forebears will rejoice—though even Yao and Shun would call that standard almost too high to meet. Now is the time to broadcast steadfast faith across the empire, steady the common folk, and show distant lands that you mean peace." At the same time Prince Cao Zhi of Yongqiu smarted at his exclusion from power; the imperial clansmen were bone of the ruler's bone, yet they labored under suffocating restrictions—so Yang Fu enlarged on the duty of harmony within the nine branches of kin. The throne answered, "Your sealed memorial rehearses the sage-kings of old to reproach present failings; your words bite to the bone and your loyalty is plain. You withdraw to mend what is wrong, you would guide and save—the thoroughness of your care leaves nothing out. I have weighed your hard counsel and approve it with all my heart."
18
便 退 使退
He was later advanced to minister of the less treasury. Grand Marshal Cao Zhen was then leading an expedition against Shu but had bogged down in the rains. Yang Fu wrote, "King Wen received the red-bird portent, yet the sun was past the meridian before he could eat; when King Wu saw the white fish leap into the barge, he and his ministers blanched. Even good omens left them anxious—how much more, when Heaven sends warnings, ought we not stand aghast? Wu and Shu still defy us while omens pile up; you should answer with single-minded awe, hold court as if the mat were uneven, draw the far lands with virtue, and comfort your own people with restraint. No sooner did the hosts move than storms penned them in the passes, and they have been stuck there day after day. The cost in carts and bearers mounts hourly; if the line breaks, the whole design fails. The military maxim runs, "Strike when the moment favors you, retire when the terrain forbids—that is sound command." To trap the imperial army between cliffs with no ground to win and no road to retreat is no way to lead soldiers. King Wu turned his legions about and Yin collapsed of its own accord—he had read Heaven's timetable aright. The year is inauspicious and the people are starving; proclaim a public order to reduce court fare and dress and to scrap ingenious luxuries. In an age without crises Shao Xinchen pruned useless offices from the less treasury; now that the army strains the treasury, economy is twice as urgent." The emperor at once ordered all columns home.
19
便
An edict later invited debate on burdensome policies; Yang Fu held that "good rule rests on choosing able men, and a strong realm rests on farming. To spurn talent and elevate favorites is the gravest neglect of governance. To multiply palaces and pavilions at the expense of peasant labor is the gravest wound to agriculture. When artisans abandon useful craft to chase novelties for the court, the foundations of the realm are undermined. Confucius said, "Cruel rule is worse than a tiger." Petty officials who cling to paperwork, never grasp how government should work, and delight in nagging regulations are the worst plague on the commoners. Urgent business is to strike these four evils and command the nobles and provinces to nominate honest, plain-spoken talent—that too is a road to worthy ministers."
20
Yang Fu again asked to release neglected palace ladies and sent for the wardrobe clerk to learn the size of the harem. The clerk cited the standing rule: "The figure is classified; I cannot reveal it." Yang Fu had him flogged a hundred blows and shouted, "Are state secrets withheld from the Nine Ministers yet whispered to underlings?" Emperor Ming, hearing the story, only esteemed Yang Fu the more—and feared his tongue.
21
His favorite daughter Shu died in infancy; in his grief he posthumously titled her Princess of Pingyuan, raised a shrine in Luoyang, and laid her to rest at Nanling. As he prepared to follow the cortège, Yang Fu wrote, "You stayed away from the funerals of Emperor Wen and Empress Dowager Bian to shield the altars of state and leave no opening to danger. Would you now hazard the succession for a child still in blankets?" The emperor would not listen.
22
殿 鹿 西 使 使 使
He had just finished the Xu palace and was already raising new towers in Luoyang. Yang Fu wrote, "Yao lived under thatch and the world kept house in peace; Yu kept his halls low and all men gladly toiled; under Yin and Zhou the grand hall stood three feet high and nine mats across—no more. No wise founder ever beggared his people to pile up marble and gold. Jie raised the Jade Chamber and Ivory Gallery; Zhou built the Leaning Tower and Deer Terrace and lost the throne; King Ling of Chu built Zhanghua and perished by it. Qin Shihuang piled up Epang and ruin reached his son—the empire rebelled and the line ended in two generations. No ruler who spends the people without measure to please his senses has long endured. Take Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu as your pattern and Jie, Zhou, King Ling, and the First Emperor as your mirror. Heaven on high truly watches the virtue of kings. Guard the Mandate handed down by your forebears—this great enterprise can still be lost. If you neglect dawn-to-dusk vigilance, fail in compassion for the people, and idle while palaces climb ever higher, you court ruin. The Book of Changes reads, "He roofs his hall too high, blinds his household, peers through the gate, and meets silence—no one within." The Son of Heaven owns the realm as his house; the verse means that vainglorious building ends in desolation. The two enemy states league against us; armies of a hundred thousand race along the frontiers without pause; the plow lies idle and the people wear famine on their faces. Yet you fret not over that, but pour labor into endless palaces. If the dynasty could fall while I alone might outlive it, I could not hold my peace; 〈Pei Songzhi comments: the path of perfect loyalty is to forget the self— one corrects the ruler's faults without reckoning personal cost. Yet the sentence "If the realm could fall while I survived, I would not stay silent" reads like private pique, not devotion to the altars." Such wording jars with fearless integrity and mars an otherwise splendid memorial."〉 The ruler is the head, the ministers the limbs—we live or perish together, prosper or fail as one. The Classic of Filial Piety says, "Give the Son of Heaven seven ministers who dare remonstrate, and he will not lose the realm though he stray from the Way." Though I am slow and faint-hearted, would I forget the office of a remonstrating minister? Unless the words wound, they will not rouse you. If you brush this aside, the mandate won by your august forebears may crumble to dust. If my death could help the throne one jot, I would count the day of execution as a day of life. I have bathed and stand ready at my coffin, awaiting sentence." The emperor read it and was stirred; he answered with a brush-written rescript. At every court conference Yang Fu spoke as though the fate of the empire rested on him alone. He remonstrated again and again, and when he was ignored he asked to retire—yet the throne would not release him. He died leaving no hoarded wealth. His grandson Yang Bao inherited the fief.
23
Gaotang Long.
24
Gaotang Long, courtesy name Shengping, came from Pingyang in Taishan and traced his line to the classical master Gaotang Sheng of Lu. As a young scholar he was named chief of postal stations by Xue Ti, the Taishan administrator. The commandery's army supervisor quarreled with Xue Ti, addressed him by his private name, and shouted him down. Gaotang Long seized his sword and cried, "When Duke Ding of Lu was slighted, Confucius sprang up the hall steps; when the King of Zhao strummed the Qin zither, Lin Xiang Ru stepped forward with the clay drum. For an underling to bandy his lord's personal name is a crime against duty." The supervisor turned pale; Xue Ti leapt up to restrain Long. He later resigned and fled to Jinan for safety.
25
使祿 祿祿
In Jian-an 18 (213) Cao Cao named him a staff adviser to the chancellor, then tutor in letters to Cao Hui, Marquis of Licheng, and finally chancellor of that princely household. Cao Hui showed no grief at Cao Cao's death but rode out to hunt; Gaotang Long rebuked him on grounds of duty and comported himself as a true mentor should. During Huangchu he served as magistrate of Tangyang and was then chosen as tutor to the Prince of Pingyuan. When the prince took the throne he became Emperor Ming. Gaotang Long received appointments as palace attendant, erudite, and commandant of convoy for the princesses' consorts. At the beginning of the reign some courtiers urged a public celebration; Gaotang Long said, "The sage-kings Tang and Yu mourned in silence; Gaozong of Shang spoke not for three years—thus their perfect virtue shone and filled the realm." He argued against the feast, and the emperor agreed. He was raised to administrator of Chenliu. A local man named You Mu, past seventy and famed for virtue, was nominated clerk of the accounts bureau; the emperor commended the choice and specially named him a gentleman of the interior. Gaotang Long was recalled to serve as regular attendant of the household gentlemen and given the rank of secondary marquis within the passes. 〈The Brief Account of Wei states that the grand clerk found the Han calendar out of step with Heaven and recomputed lunations to draft the Taihe calendar. Since Gaotang Long's scholarship ran deep and he excelled at astronomy, the court paired him with Yang Wei of the secretariat and the astrologer Luo Lu to cross-check the new system. Yang Wei and Luo Lu belonged to the astrological bureau, while Gaotang Long defended the older tables; they traded memorials of accusation for years. Wei argued that Lu predicted eclipses but misjudged the darkness of month-end, whereas Long missed eclipses yet matched month-end darkness—the throne ruled in favor of the bureau. Gaotang Long lost the debate, yet everyone acknowledged his mathematical finesse.
26
殿西 使
During Qinglong the court raised vast halls and sent west for the great bell that had hung at Chang'an. Gaotang Long presented a memorial: "King Jing of Zhou spurned the shining examples of Wen and Wu, ignored the Duke of Zhou's institutions, minted giant coins, and hung a giant bell; Duke Shan remonstrated in vain, Leng Zhoujiu spoke to no avail, and the king wandered ever deeper into folly until Zhou power waned—the scribes set that tale before posterity as a warning. Petty flatterers now retail Qin and Han excess to sway you, bidding you fetch tokens of fallen dynasties without thought of measure, bleeding the people to wound good government—such is no path to ritual harmony or the gods' blessing." That very day the emperor toured the imperial workshops; Gaotang Long accompanied him with Bian Lan. The emperor gave Bian Lan Gaotang Long's memorial and told him to press the point: "Order rests with policy—what has a bell to do with it? If moral suasion fails, can you blame a bronze?" Gaotang Long answered, "Rites and music are the taproot of governance. When the nine sections of Shao were played, phoenixes came to dance; when the thunder drum rolled through six changes, the gods descended—thus punishments fell idle and the realm was tuned to perfection. Novel music undid King Zhou of Shang; the giant bell undid King Jing of Zhou—fortune and ruin turn on such choices; do you imagine dynastic fate has no rungs? The scribes record a sovereign's every act; to act outside the norm is to leave posterity no pattern. Sage kings welcome word of their failings and keep advisers at hand; loyal ministers burn to give their utmost and forget private safety for the throne." The emperor conceded the point.
27
殿
He rose to palace attendant and kept concurrent charge as grand clerk. When Chonghua Hall burned, the emperor asked Gaotang Long, "What reproof does this carry? Does ritual allow us to pray it away?" Gaotang Long answered:
28
殿 殿 西 退
Heaven sends warnings to teach the throne; only ritual conduct and moral cultivation can answer them. The tradition on the Changes reads, "When those aloft waste and those below spend, a curse of fire consumes the hall." It adds, "When the king piles his towers high, Heaven answers with flame." The gloss means a king who decks out palaces while the people are drained will meet drought from Heaven and fire that starts in the loftiest roof. Heaven lowers its bright mirror and so warns Your Majesty; you should magnify humane rule to match its intent. Taiwu of Shang saw freak mulberry in the courtyard; Wuding saw a shrieking pheasant on the tripod—both trembled, mended their ways, and within three years distant peoples paid tribute, earning the titles Middle and High Ancestor. They are plain mirrors from antiquity. Old divination books agree that such fires warn against terraces and halls. The reason your halls have swollen is the swarm of palace women. Winnow the inner court, keep the virtuous as Zhou did, and send the surplus away. This is how Zu Yi instructed Gaozong, and how Gaozong won his far-reaching title. The throne then asked, "When Emperor Wu's Bailiang Terrace burned, he built still grander palaces to ward off the omen—what sense had that?" Gaotang Long said, "When the western capital's Bailiang burned, southern shamans peddled a rite and the Weaving Palaces went up to counter the fire omen; that was barbarian sorcery, not the teaching of the sages. The Han Treatise on the Five Phases records that after the Bailiang blaze came Jiang Chong's witch-hunt and the ruin of Crown Prince Wei." By that account the shamans' new halls averted nothing. Confucius said, "Disasters match deeds; subtle forces answer one another to warn the ruler." Thus the sage king, seeing a portent, blames himself, retires to mend his virtue, and turns the omen aside. Now dismiss the people's forced labor gangs. Let halls be modest—roof enough for wind and rain, courtyard enough for rites. Clear the scorched earth and build nothing new there; lucky grain and auspicious sha-pu will sprout to answer your reverence. You cannot beggar strength and treasure out of the people! That is no way to draw omens of grace or win distant peoples.
29
殿殿
The emperor rebuilt Chonghua anyway; because nine dragons were reported in the provinces he renamed it the Hall of Nine Dragons.
30
When carpenters began the Lingxiao watchtower, magpies nested on the timbers. Gaotang Long quoted the Odes: "The magpie builds the nest; the dove takes it. You raise towers to the clouds, yet birds claim them first—a sign that the halls are unfinished and no Son of Heaven yet owns them. Heaven seems to warn that the palace is not yours to finish—that another house will seize the throne. Heaven is impartial and helps only the virtuous—ponder that with care. The last kings of Xia and Shang were lawful heirs who spurned Heaven's charge, heeded flatterers, and abandoned virtue for lust—so they fell overnight. Taiwu and Wuding trembled at omens and answered Heaven—so they rose with equal speed. End the levies, live within your means, lift good rule, walk as the Five Emperors walked, lift the people's burdens and grant their wishes, and you could outshine the Three Kings and match six emperors—far more than copying Shang's escape from disaster! I am close to your heart: if my death could heap blessings on you and steady the state, I would count annihilation of my kin a living year. Would I shrink from offending you and leave you deaf to honest counsel?" The emperor's face changed and he took the words to heart.
31
輿
That year a comet blazed in the Fang and Heart mansions. Gaotang Long wrote, "Kings who shift capitals first set the sites of Heaven, Earth, and the soil-and-grain shrines and serve them with awe. When they build, the ancestral temple comes first, granaries and stables second, living quarters last. Today those sacred sites stand unsettled, the temple system still breaks ritual, yet you gild private halls while nobles and peasants lose their trades. Gossip says the inner court costs as much as the army. The people cannot endure the levies and nurse anger. The Book of Documents says Heaven hears through the people's ears and sees through their eyes—when they sing praise Heaven sends the five blessings, when they sigh in wrath Heaven sends the six extremes. Rule must settle the people first, then borrow ancient models to touch every rank—so it has always been. Timber rafters and low roofs are how Yao, Shun, and Yu left their royal style; jade towers and jeweled halls are how Jie and Zhou offended Heaven. Your halls already break the rites, yet you outdo them with the Nine Dragons. The comet rose in Fang and Heart, crossed the throne stars, and brushed Ziwei—Heaven cherishes you and marks the throne again and again, pressing you to wake. It is a father's stern lesson; answer with a son's awe, lead the realm by example, and teach posterity—do not slight it and rouse Heaven twice."
32
使 使
Military crises multiplied and punishments grew harsh. Gaotang Long wrote, "Founding a line and handing down rule waits on a sage; steadying the age needs good ministers—only then do the myriad offices settle and the realm find peace. To change custom, spread the moral way, draw the four seas to one temper, and make distant lands face inward—no petty clerk can do that. Today yamen nitpick statutes and ignore the great Way—so punishments never end and manners never mend. Exalt rites and music, order the Bright Hall, restore the three academies, the great archery feast, and the care of the aged, build suburban shrines, honor literati, call forth hidden talent, proclaim institutions, fix the calendar, change court dress, spread mercy, prize simplicity—then you may mount feng and shan and offer merit to Heaven and Earth until song fills the realm and a gentle transformation reaches your heirs. That is the crown of good rule and an immortal achievement. Then the nine provinces may be governed with ease—what trouble remains? To ignore the root and trim the branches is to snarl the skein of rule. Bid the high ministers and great scholars draft the program and set it as law." Gaotang Long also urged changing the inaugural month, court colors, emblems, and ritual gear—the means by which sage kings made rule numinous and renewed the people's sight and hearing—so that the three "springs" of the calendar display the three legitimate lines. He laid out the classical precedents, submitted them, and the court adopted the changes. The emperor accepted: Qinglong 5, month 3, became Jingchu 1, month 4 of summer; court dress favored yellow, sacrifices used white victims, following the "earth" reckoning of the calendar.
33
祿 殿殿
He rose to supervisor of the imperial household. Emperor Ming piled on palaces: quartz from Taihang, figured marble from Gucheng, an artificial Jingyang hill in Fragrant Grove Park, Zhaoyang Hall north of the main hall, gilded bronze dragons and phoenixes, and fresh ornament for the Metal Rampart, Lingyun Tower, and Lingxiao Gate. Labor gangs swelled to tens of thousands; nobles, officials, even students were pressed into the dirt; the emperor took a spade himself to set the pace. Meanwhile Liaodong withheld tribute. The empress dowager Dao passed away. Heaven sent ceaseless rain; Ji Province flooded and washed away lives and property. Gaotang Long laid before the throne a blunt memorial:
34
使 使
He quoted the Changes: "The great virtue of Heaven and Earth is life; the great treasure of the sage is his position; How does he guard that position? The answer is, "With benevolence; How does he gather the people? The answer is, "With wealth." The gentry and the people are the ballast of the state; grain and silk are the lifeblood of the people. Neither grain nor silk grows without Heaven's nurture nor ripens without human toil. So the Son of Heaven breaks clod to urge the harvest and the empress tends silkworms to supply robes—showing service to Heaven and gratitude for its bounty. In high antiquity, under Yao of Tang, the age met the ninefold flood; waters covered the sky; Gun failed to dam them; Shun raised Yu, who tracked the ranges and hewed timber—twenty-two years in all before the work was done. No disaster matched that flood, no corvée ran longer—yet Yao and Shun, king and ministers, faced south and issued orders, nothing more. When Yu divided the nine provinces, every officer earned a rank, high and low each had his insignia. Today we face no such crisis, yet we yoke nobles to the same gangs as convicts—foreigners will hear no praise of it, historians will inscribe no glory. True kings nurture the people as parents, drawing lessons from near and far—hence the Odes call them "gentle and kind, fathers and mothers to the folk." Today corvée crushes high and low, plague and dearth spread, fields lie idle, famine returns each season, and families cannot see the year out; add mercy and relief to save them.
35
Every record of Heaven and humanity shows they answer each other. The sage-kings feared Heaven's mandate, followed the seasons, and trod softly lest they stray. Then good order rose, virtue matched the gods, and when portents came they mended their ways—none failed to win long reigns. Later tyrants spurned ancient models, spurned honest counsel, chased whim, shrugged at omens—and every one soon fell.
36
Heaven's lesson is plain; hear the human side as well. Six passions and five temperaments share one breast; desire and purity vie for a seat. When they stir, they war within the mind. If appetite outmuscles restraint, excess runs wild; if earnest intent does not rein it, dissipation knows no bound. The heart craves beauty, yet beauty costs labor and grain, not wishes alone. If passion knows no limit, men break under the work and the world cannot feed the greed. When labor and greed collide, rebellion follows. Trim desire or nothing can be supplied. Confucius said, "He who plans no afar will mourn at his door." Rites exist not to nag petty rules but to forestall ruin and build order.
37
使 忿
Wu and Shu are no bandit gangs: they hold river defiles, command armies, style themselves emperors, and aim at the heartland. Picture a messenger saying Sun Quan and Liu Bei had turned frugal, cut taxes, spurned luxuries, and heeded elders— would you not blanch and dread them as a lasting peril to the realm? Suppose instead he said they wallowed in excess, drove their people, and doubled taxes until the folk groaned without end— would you not burn to avenge your innocent subjects and then smile that weary foes are easy prey? Weigh the two tales and the right policy is plain.
38
使 使
Qin Shihuang raised Epang, not virtue; he feared not court intrigue but built the Long Wall. They meant to found an eternal line—who dreamed one cry would topple Qin? Had ancient kings foreseen ruin, they would never have begun. Doomed kings always thought themselves safe until they fell; wise kings always acted as if ruin were near—and so escaped it. Han Wendi was praised as wise, lived plainly, and loved the people—yet Jia Yi said the empire hung inverted, with one cause to weep for, two to mourn, three to sigh over. Today the land is stripped, homes hold no peck of grain, the treasury no year's store; enemies press the frontiers while palaces rise inland—if war comes, your bricklayers cannot march to meet it.
39
祿 祿
Officers' pay has been pared to a fifth of what it was; furloughed men lost their rations, and former tax exemptions now pay half—revenue rises while what reaches troops shrinks. Still the budget runs short and petty beef taxes multiply. Every coin must be going somewhere. Stipends are the breath of officials and people; to cut them is to strangle life. To give bounty and then snatch it back breeds hatred. The Zhou treasury matched nine incomes to nine outlays so none crossed another. Only after needs were met did surplus fund the king's pleasures. The king's spending passed review by the comptroller. 〈A gloss indicates the word is read kuai, referring to the comptroller's office.〉 Those who share your council are the Nine Ministers or your closest attendants—men who should speak freely. If they see waste yet stay mute, they are seat-fillers, not true counsellors. Li Si told Qin Ershi, "A king who does not indulge his whims wears the cangue of empire." Ershi listened, Qin fell, and Li Si's kin perished with him. Sima Qian condemned him for crooked counsel to warn posterity.
40
使
The emperor read it and told Liu Fang and Sun Zi, "This memorial frightens me."
41
Gaotang Long, dying, dictated a final memorial:
42
使
When Master Zeng lay sick, Meng Jingzi visited him. Zengzi said, "A dying bird's call is sad; a dying man's words are true." I lie abed worse each day and fear I may die tonight with my loyalty untold. My heart is no less honest than Zengzi's—deign to read. Cast off old mistakes, seize new beginnings, until gods and men answer, distant lands admire you, prodigies appear, and the Dipper shines bright—then you outrun the Three Kings and Five Emperors, far more than "keeping the text."
43
鹿 殿
Rulers always swear to match Yao, Shun, Tang, and Wu, yet walk the path of Jie and Zhou; they mock fallen tyrants yet refuse the ruts of the true sage-kings. Alas! Seeking glory by such means is fishing in a tree or making ice from steam—it cannot work. Under the three dynasties sages handed power through centuries; every clod was theirs, every subject loyal, the nine regions trim; Deer Terrace gold and Giant Bridge grain went unused—yet they faced south in ease. Jie and Zhou trusted brute force, rejected advice, masked fault, flattered favorites, piled towers, drowned in music and players, spun decadent airs from Pu. Heaven withdrew favor; capitals turned to dust; kings fell to slaves—Zhou died on the white standard, Jie died in exile; yet Tang and Wu took the throne—men of the same royal blood. When Qin united the rich Warring States it built Epang and the Wall, swaggered within China, terrified the tribes, until men dared only whisper. They dreamed their line would branch forever—who foresaw the second reign's crash? Han Wudi spent Wen and Jing's surplus on barbarian wars and palace mania until the empire seethed within ten years. He then trusted southern shamans, raised Weaving Palaces, and brought Jiang Chong's witch-hunt—palaces turned battlefield, father killed son, and the curse lasted generations.
44
使 輿
In Huangchu a freak chick was raised in a swallow's nest—red beak and breast—a dire omen for Wei: beware a strong minister inside the gate. Enfeoff princes with troops like chessmen ringing the capital to shield the throne. Zhou's eastern move leaned on Jin and Zheng; Han's Lü purge needed Liu Zhang—history's lesson. Heaven is impartial—it helps the virtuous alone. The people's praise lengthens a reign; their groans cost a throne. The empire belongs to the empire—not to you alone. Disease wastes me; I had myself borne home; if I die, my ghost will still tie grass in your debt.
45
退
The throne answered, "You rival Boyi in purity, surpass Shi Yu in bluntness—how can a passing illness send you home? Bing Ji's secret virtue cured him; Gong Yu's steadfastness healed his worst sickbed. Eat, gather your strength, and endure." Gaotang Long died, ordering a plain coffin and the clothes he wore. 〈Xi Zuochi says Gaotang Long was a true loyal minister. When the court turned extravagant he still rebuked vice; on his deathbed he still fretted for the state; his blunt words stirred a dull sovereign and proved true after he was gone—his voice rings louder in death. What is that if not loyalty and wisdom? The Classic of Poetry says, "Heed my counsel and you may escape deep regret." It also says, "They would not listen, and the great mandate collapsed." That is the man Gaotang Long was.
46
使 使
At the beginning, in the Taihe era, Central Army Protector Jiang Ji submitted a memorial saying "One ought to follow antiquity in performing the feng and shan sacrifices." The emperor answered, "Jiang Ji's words set my feet sweating." The plan slept for years, then the court revived it and told Gaotang Long to draft the liturgy. When Gaotang Long died, the emperor mourned, "Heaven bars my rite—the man I needed is gone." His son Gaotang Chen inherited the fief.
47
宿 祿 祿
Early in Jingchu the emperor saw Su Lin, Qin Jing, and other masters aging and feared their learning would die with them. He issued an edict: "When the sages died, their teaching lived on in the Six Classics. Of those texts the Rites matter most—they cannot be neglected for an instant. Decadent habit has long turned from the root. Min Zi mocked sloth, Xun Qing cursed Qin's persecution of scholars—without Confucian study, how can manners revive? Our old masters are dying—who will teach the next generation? When Fu Sheng grew old, Wendi sent Chao Cuo to learn from him; when the Guliang commentary lacked heirs, Xuandi assigned ten scholars to master it. Pick thirty able clerks who know the canon to study under Gaotang Long, Su Lin, and Qin Jing in the Four Books and Three Rites, with formal curricula and exams. Xiahou Sheng said, "Scholars fail by not mastering the classics; master them and high office is yours for the picking." Today whoever masters the canon will win rank and honor unsought. Let them strive!" Within a few years Gaotang Long and the rest were dead, and the school project died with them.
48
At the end of the main biographies comes Zhan Qian of Rencheng, who under Cao Cao served as a series of county magistrates 〈His courtesy name was Yanhuang, as Ying Qu's Forest of Letters records. He once commanded the defense of Ye. While the heir Cao Pi was addicted to the chase, riding out at dawn and back past dark, Zhan Qian warned him, "Walls and guards exist to secure the capital and guard against surprise. The Odes say, "The heir is the city wall—do not let it crumble." They add, "The fault is still near—so apply stern simplicity." To risk the realm for one day's sport baffles me." The heir was annoyed, but his hunts grew rarer afterward. In Huangchu, when Wen meant to raise Lady Guo to empress, Zhan Qian remonstrated; the text of his memorial stands in 〈the "Biographies of Empresses and Consorts."〉 Under Emperor Ming, as labor levies multiplied and imperial kin were sidelined, Zhan Qian wrote:
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殿調鹿 谿
Heaven made the people and set rulers over them to shelter and feed them—the realm is not the emperor's private estate nor the fiefs the nobles' playthings alone. From the Three Sovereigns through Yao and Shun, kings aided all under Heaven with simple virtue, and the people leaned on them. The Three Kings waned; by Han order thinned and chaos thickened, and no later reign matched the sages. Cao Cao was wise and martial: he swept away rebels, restored the royal pattern, and founded your line. Emperor Wen took Heaven's mandate, widened the base, yet seven years on the throne left every task unfinished. You inherit his work in sage virtue—you should prize peace and let the people breathe. Yet the frontiers boil, armies camp overseas, fleets and carts drain the treasury, and commoners abandon their trades while costs mount daily. You raise halls without count, haul timber from Culai and stone down the rivers, turn the whole capital district—meant for grain tribute—into hunting parks thick with scrub and game pens; farms are ruined, thorns choke the soil, pestilence spreads, harmony flees the skies, and the lucky grain will not sprout. King Wen built Feng without haste, and the people flocked to finish it overnight. He shared his Spirit Pond and Park with the commoners. Today your towers outshine Shun's thrift and copy Zhou of Shang's jade halls; closed parks span a thousand li; splendor rivals Epang; labor outdoes King Ling's dry trench—I fear the people are spent and cannot obey. Qin held the passes, boasted past all sage-kings, dreamed eternal rule—yet the second reign collapsed, for the trunk was sawn through at the root. The sage king brightens virtue, rewards merit, cherishes kin; when worthies serve, glory rises; when kin share power, the house weathers storm together; deep roots and strong limbs brace the throne through rise and fall. King Cheng was a child, yet the Duke of Zhou, the Grand Duke, Shao, and Bi guarded him; today you have no such guardians, no second line like the Duke of Zhou and Shi. No heir apparent is named—the empire has no second pillar. Watch the frontiers, secure the succession, and the realm will count itself blessed.
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He was later named marshal of Yan but pleaded illness, never took the post, and died.
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Appraisal
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The historian concludes: Xin Pi and Yang Fu were blunt as Ji An, remonstrating at personal risk. Gaotang Long mastered the classics and served his ruler with portent and plea—loyal indeed. Yet his zeal to change the calendar and cast Wei as Yu's heir may have overshot good sense.”
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