1
蕭相國何者，沛豐人也。 以文無害為沛主吏掾。
Chancellor Xiao He was a native of Feng in the district of Pei. His skill with documents and administrative competence earned him the position of chief clerk in Pei.
2
高祖為布衣時，何數以吏事護高祖。 高祖為亭長，常左右之。 高祖以吏繇咸陽，吏皆送奉錢三，何獨以五。
Back when Gaozu was still a commoner, Xiao He often used his official position to shield him from trouble. After Gaozu became a village headman, Xiao He was always at his side to help. When Gaozu was conscripted for labor service in Xianyang, every other official gave him three cash as a parting gift, but Xiao He alone gave five.
3
秦御史監郡者與從事，常辨之。 何乃給泗水卒史事，第一。 秦御史欲入言徵何，何固請，得毋行。
The Qin imperial censor assigned to oversee the commandery always commended Xiao He after working alongside him. Xiao He went on to serve as a clerk in the Sishui commandery, where he was rated first among all his peers. The Qin censor wanted to recommend him for a summons to the capital, but Xiao He firmly declined and managed to avoid the transfer.
4
及高祖起為沛公，何常為丞督事。 沛公至咸陽，諸將皆爭走金帛財物之府分之，何獨先入收秦丞相御史律令圖書藏之。 沛公為漢王，以何為丞相。 項王與諸侯屠燒咸陽而去。 漢王所以具知天下阸塞，戶口多少，彊弱之處，民所疾苦者，以何具得秦圖書也。 何進言韓信，漢王以信為大將軍。 語在淮陰侯事中。
When Gaozu rose in rebellion and became the Lord of Pei, Xiao He served as his deputy and managed all administrative affairs. When the Lord of Pei entered Xianyang, all the other generals raced to the treasuries to divide the gold, silk, and valuables among themselves. Xiao He alone went first to secure the Qin chancellor's and imperial censor's collections of laws, decrees, maps, and registers. When the Lord of Pei was named King of Han, he appointed Xiao He as his chancellor. Xiang Yu and the other lords sacked and burned Xianyang before departing. It was because Xiao He had secured the complete Qin archives that the King of Han came to know precisely where every strategic pass lay, how many households and people lived in each region, which areas were strong and which were weak, and what grievances the people bore. Xiao He recommended Han Xin, and the King of Han appointed him as supreme general. The details of this are recorded in the account of the Marquis of Huaiyin.
5
漢王引兵東定三秦，何以丞相留收巴蜀，填撫諭告，使給軍食。 漢二年，漢王與諸侯擊楚，何守關中，侍太子，治櫟陽。 為法令約束，立宗廟社稷宮室縣邑，輒奏上，可，許以從事； 即不及奏上，輒以便宜施行，上來以聞。 關中事計戶口轉漕給軍，漢王數失軍遁去，何常興關中卒，輒補缺。 上以此專屬任何關中事。
When the King of Han led his troops east to subdue the Three Qin kingdoms, Xiao He stayed behind as chancellor to secure Ba and Shu, pacifying the people with proclamations and keeping the army supplied with provisions. In the second year of Han, the King of Han joined the other lords in attacking Chu. Xiao He remained to guard the lands within the passes, attend the crown prince, and govern from Yueyang. He drafted laws and regulations, established ancestral temples, altars to the gods of soil and grain, palaces, and administrative districts. Whenever he submitted a memorial and it was approved, he was permitted to proceed. When there was no time to wait for approval, he acted as he saw fit and reported the matter upon the emperor's return. He managed the affairs within the passes by tallying households and organizing grain shipments to supply the army. Each time the King of Han lost his forces and had to flee, Xiao He raised fresh troops from within the passes and promptly filled the gaps. For this reason, the emperor entrusted Xiao He with sole authority over all affairs within the passes.
6
漢三年，漢王與項羽相距京索之閒，上數使使勞苦丞相。 鮑生謂丞相曰：「王暴衣露蓋，數使使勞苦君者，有疑君心也。 為君計，莫若遣君子孫昆弟能勝兵者悉詣軍所，上必益信君。」 於是何從其計，漢王大說。
In the third year of Han, while the King of Han faced Xiang Yu between Jing and Suo, the emperor repeatedly sent messengers to offer his regards to the chancellor. A man named Bao Sheng told the chancellor, 'The king endures hardship in the open field yet keeps sending messengers to inquire after you. This means he harbors suspicions about your loyalty. For your own sake, you should send every one of your sons, grandsons, and brothers who can bear arms to join the army at the front. The emperor will certainly trust you all the more for it.' Xiao He followed this advice, and the King of Han was greatly pleased.
7
漢五年，既殺項羽，定天下，論功行封。 群臣爭功，歲餘功不決。 高祖以蕭何功最盛，封為酂侯，所食邑多。 功臣皆曰：「臣等身被堅執銳，多者百餘戰，少者數十合，攻城略地，大小镑有差。 今蕭何未嘗有汗馬之勞，徒持文墨議論，不戰，顧反居臣等上，何也？」 高帝曰：「諸君知獵乎？」 曰：「知之。」 「知獵狗乎？」 曰：「知之。」 高帝曰：「夫獵，追殺獸兔者狗也，而發蹤指示獸處者人也。 今諸君徒能得走獸耳，功狗也。 至如蕭何，發蹤指示，功人也。 且諸君獨以身隨我，多者兩三人。 今蕭何舉宗數十人皆隨我，功不可忘也。」 群臣皆莫敢言。
In the fifth year of Han, after Xiang Yu had been slain and the realm pacified, the court debated each man's merits and awarded fiefs accordingly. The ministers quarreled over who deserved the most credit, and for more than a year no verdict was reached. Gaozu judged Xiao He's contributions the greatest and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Zan, granting him the largest fief of all. The other ministers with war records protested, 'We have donned armor and taken up arms, fighting over a hundred battles at most and several dozen at least, storming cities and seizing territory, each with his own record of distinction. Yet Xiao He has never once broken a sweat on horseback. All he did was wield a writing brush and talk. He never fought, and yet he is ranked above every one of us. How can this be?' The Emperor said, 'Do you gentlemen know anything about hunting?' They replied, 'We do.' 'And do you know what a hunting dog does?' They replied, 'We do.' The Emperor said, 'In a hunt, the ones who chase down and kill the game are the dogs, but the one who picks up the trail and directs the dogs to the quarry is the hunter. Now, you gentlemen can only run down the game. Your merit is that of the dogs. But Xiao He picked up the trail and pointed the way. His merit is that of the hunter.' 'Furthermore, each of you followed me with at most two or three of your kin. Xiao He brought his entire clan of several dozen people to follow me. That kind of merit must not be forgotten.' None of the ministers dared say another word.
8
列侯畢已受封，及奏位次，皆曰：「平陽侯曹參身被七十創，攻城略地，功最多，宜第一。」 上已橈功臣，多封蕭何，至位次未有以復難之，然心欲何第一。 關內侯鄂君進曰：「群臣議皆誤。 夫曹參雖有野戰略地之功，此特一時之事。 夫上與楚相距五歲，常失軍亡眾，逃身遁者數矣。 然蕭何常從關中遣軍補其處，非上所詔令召，而數萬眾會上之乏絕者數矣。 夫漢與楚相守滎陽數年，軍無見糧，蕭何轉漕關中，給食不乏。 陛下雖數亡山東，蕭何常全關中以待陛下，此萬世之功也。 今雖亡曹參等百數，何缺於漢？ 漢得之不必待以全。 柰何欲以一旦之功而加萬世之功哉！ 蕭何第一，曹參次之。」 高祖曰：「善。」 於是乃令蕭何［第一］，賜帶劍履上殿，入朝不趨。
After all the marquises had received their fiefs, the question of precedence arose. They all declared, 'The Marquis of Pingyang, Cao Can, bore seventy wounds on his body, storming cities and seizing territory. His merit is the greatest; he should rank first.' The emperor had already overruled the ministers once by granting Xiao He the largest fief. On the matter of precedence, he had no ready argument to counter them, yet in his heart he wanted Xiao He to be first. E Jun, who held the rank of Marquis within the Passes, stepped forward and said, 'The ministers are all wrong. Cao Can may have the merit of campaigning in the field and seizing territory, but these are achievements of the moment. The emperor confronted Chu for five years, repeatedly losing his army and his men, and fled for his life on more than one occasion. Yet Xiao He kept dispatching troops from within the passes to fill the gaps, without any edict or summons from the emperor, and on several occasions sent tens of thousands of reinforcements to relieve the emperor's desperate shortages. When Han and Chu were locked in a standoff at Xingyang for years and the army had no grain in sight, it was Xiao He who shipped provisions from within the passes, ensuring the troops never went hungry. Though Your Majesty lost the lands east of the mountains time and again, Xiao He always kept the heartland within the passes intact, waiting for Your Majesty's return. This is a merit that will endure for ten thousand generations. Even if we had lost a hundred men like Cao Can, what real harm would it have done to Han? The survival of Han did not depend on having every last one of them. How can you place the glory of a single day above the merit of ten thousand generations! Xiao He should rank first, and Cao Can second.' Gaozu said, 'Well spoken.' He thereupon decreed Xiao He first in rank and granted him the privilege of wearing his sword and shoes into the audience hall and of walking at his own pace when entering court.
9
上曰：「吾聞進賢受上賞。 蕭何功雖高，得鄂君乃益明。」 於是因鄂君故所食關內侯邑封為安平侯。 是日，悉封何父子兄弟十餘人，皆有食邑。 乃益封何二千戶，以帝嘗繇咸陽時何送我獨贏錢二也。
The emperor said, 'I have heard it said that the one who recommends a worthy man deserves the highest reward. Xiao He's merit is great, but it took E Jun's words to make it shine even more clearly.' He therefore took the fief that E Jun had held as a Marquis within the Passes and elevated him to the rank of Marquis of Anping. That same day, the emperor enfeoffed more than ten members of Xiao He's family, including his father, sons, and brothers, granting each of them a fief. He also increased Xiao He's fief by two thousand households, in memory of the time long ago when the emperor was conscripted to Xianyang and Xiao He alone had given him two extra cash beyond what the others offered.
10
漢十一年，陳豨反，高祖自將，至邯鄲。 未罷，淮陰侯謀反關中，呂后用蕭何計，誅淮陰侯，語在淮陰事中。 上已聞淮陰侯誅，使使拜丞相何為相國，益封五千戶，令卒五百人一都尉為相國衛。 諸君皆賀，召平獨弔。 召平者，故秦東陵侯。 秦破，為布衣，貧，種瓜於長安城東，瓜美，故世俗謂之「東陵瓜」，從召平以為名也。 召平謂相國曰：「禍自此始矣。 上暴露於外而君守於中，非被矢石之事而益君封置衛者，以今者淮陰侯新反於中，疑君心矣。 夫置衛衛君，非以寵君也。 願君讓封勿受，悉以家私財佐軍，則上心說。」 相國從其計，高帝乃大喜。
In the eleventh year of Han, Chen Xi rose in rebellion. Gaozu personally led the campaign and marched to Handan. Before the campaign was over, the Marquis of Huaiyin plotted rebellion within the passes. Empress Lu used a stratagem devised by Xiao He to have the marquis executed. The details are recorded in the account of the Marquis of Huaiyin. When the emperor learned of the Marquis of Huaiyin's execution, he sent a messenger to promote Chancellor He to the title of Prime Minister, increased his fief by five thousand households, and assigned five hundred soldiers under a commandant as the Prime Minister's personal guard. Everyone offered congratulations, but Shao Ping alone expressed concern. Shao Ping had been the Marquis of Dongling under the Qin dynasty. After Qin fell, he became a poor commoner and grew melons east of Chang'an. The melons were so fine that people called them 'Dongling melons' after his former title. Shao Ping said to the Prime Minister, 'This is where your troubles begin. The emperor is enduring hardship in the field while you guard the capital. You have faced no arrows or stones, yet he increases your fief and stations guards around you. The Marquis of Huaiyin just rebelled from within the capital—the emperor now suspects your loyalty. The guards posted around you are not a mark of favor; they are there to watch you. I urge you to decline the new fief and instead donate your entire personal fortune to support the army. Only then will the emperor's mind be set at ease.' The Prime Minister followed this advice, and Gaozu was overjoyed.
11
漢十二年秋，黥布反，上自將擊之，數使使問相國何為。 相國為上在軍，乃拊循勉力百姓，悉以所有佐軍，如陳豨時。 客有說相國曰：「君滅族不久矣。 夫君位為相國，功第一，可復加哉？ 然君初入關中，得百姓心，十餘年矣，皆附君，常復孳孳得民和。 上所為數問君者，畏君傾動關中。 今君胡不多買田地，賤貰貸以自汙？ 上心乃安。」 於是相國從其計，上乃大說。
In the autumn of the twelfth year of Han, Ying Bu rose in rebellion. The emperor personally led the campaign against him, and kept sending messengers back to ask what the Prime Minister was doing. Since the emperor was away at war, the Prime Minister comforted and rallied the people and poured all available resources into supporting the army, just as he had done during the campaign against Chen Xi. A retainer warned the Prime Minister, 'It will not be long before your entire clan is wiped out. You hold the office of Prime Minister and rank first in merit. What more could possibly be added? Ever since you first entered the lands within the passes, you have held the hearts of the people. For more than ten years they have all rallied to you, and you have worked tirelessly to win their goodwill. The reason the emperor keeps asking about you is that he fears you might stir up the lands within the passes. Why not buy up large tracts of land on the cheap, even taking loans at low interest, and so tarnish your own reputation? Then the emperor's mind will be put at ease.' The Prime Minister took this advice, and the emperor was greatly pleased.
12
上罷布軍歸，民道遮行上書，言相國賤彊買民田宅數千萬。 上至，相國謁。 上笑曰：「夫相國乃利民！」 民所上書皆以與相國，曰：「君自謝民。」 相國因為民請曰：「長安地狹，上林中多空地，棄，願令民得入田，毋收槁為禽獸食。」 上大怒曰：「相國多受賈人財物，乃為請吾苑！」 乃下相國廷尉，械系之。 數日，王衛尉侍，前問曰：「相國何大罪，陛下系之暴也？」 上曰：「吾聞李斯相秦皇帝，有善歸主，有惡自與。 今相國多受賈豎金而為民請吾苑，以自媚於民，故系治之。」 王衛尉曰：「夫職事茍有便於民而請之，真宰相事，陛下柰何乃疑相國受賈人錢乎！ 且陛下距楚數歲，陳豨、黥布反，陛下自將而往，當是時，相國守關中，搖足則關以西非陛下有也。 相國不以此時為利，今乃利賈人之金乎？ 且秦以不聞其過亡天下，李斯之分過，又何足法哉。 陛下何疑宰相之淺也。」 高帝不懌。 是日，使使持節赦出相國。 相國年老，素恭謹，入，徒跣謝。 高帝曰：「相國休矣！ 相國為民請苑，吾不許，我不過為桀紂主，而相國為賢相。 吾故系相國，欲令百姓聞吾過也。」
When the emperor returned from defeating Ying Bu, people along the road blocked his procession to present petitions, accusing the Prime Minister of using his power to buy up their fields and houses at low prices, spending tens of millions in all. When the emperor reached the capital, the Prime Minister came to present himself at court. The emperor laughed and said, 'So the Prime Minister has been looking after the people's interests!' He handed all the people's petitions to the Prime Minister and said, 'You can apologize to them yourself.' The Prime Minister then petitioned on behalf of the people, saying, 'The farmland around Chang'an is scarce. There is much vacant land lying unused in the Shanglin Park. I ask that the people be allowed to enter and cultivate it, leaving the stubble in the fields as fodder for the wild animals rather than collecting it.' The emperor flew into a rage, saying, 'The Prime Minister has taken bribes from the merchants, and now he dares petition for my royal park!' He had the Prime Minister handed over to the Commandant of Justice, who clapped him in fetters and chains. Several days later, the Commandant of the Palace Guard, Wang, was in attendance and ventured to ask, 'What terrible crime has the Prime Minister committed that Your Majesty treats him so harshly?' The emperor replied, 'I have heard that when Li Si served as chancellor under the First Emperor of Qin, he credited every good deed to his ruler and took every failing upon himself. Now the Prime Minister has accepted gold from petty merchants and then petitioned for my park on behalf of the people, all to ingratiate himself with them. That is why I have had him arrested and put under investigation.' The Commandant Wang said, 'If a minister discovers something that would benefit the people and petitions for it, that is precisely what a prime minister ought to do. How can Your Majesty suspect the Prime Minister of taking merchants' bribes? Moreover, Your Majesty fought Chu for years, and when Chen Xi and Ying Bu rose in rebellion, Your Majesty personally led the armies against them. During all that time, the Prime Minister guarded the lands within the passes. Had he so much as stamped his foot, everything west of the passes would have ceased to be yours. The Prime Minister did not seize his advantage then. Would he now stoop to profit from the gold of petty merchants? Besides, Qin lost the empire precisely because it refused to hear criticism. Li Si's practice of deflecting blame was hardly worth emulating. Your Majesty's suspicions of the Prime Minister are beneath you.' Gaozu was not pleased to hear this. Yet that very day, he sent an envoy bearing the imperial tally to pardon and release the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, old and ever deferential by nature, came before the emperor barefoot to offer his apology. Gaozu said, 'Enough, Prime Minister! You petitioned for the park on behalf of the people, and I refused. That only makes me a tyrant like Jie or Zhou, while you are a worthy minister. I had you arrested deliberately, so that the people would hear of my faults.'
13
何素不與曹參相能，及何病，孝惠自臨視相國病，因問曰：「君即百歲後，誰可代君者？」 對曰：「知臣莫如主。」 孝惠曰：「曹參何如？」 何頓首曰：「帝得之矣！ 臣死不恨矣！」
Xiao He and Cao Can had never been on good terms. When Xiao He fell gravely ill, Emperor Hui came personally to visit him at his sickbed and asked, 'When you are gone, who could take your place?' Xiao He replied, 'No one knows his ministers better than their lord.' Emperor Hui asked, 'What do you think of Cao Can?' Xiao He bowed his head to the ground and said, 'Your Majesty has found the man! I can die without regret.'
14
何置田宅必居窮處，為家不治垣屋。 曰：「後世賢，師吾儉； 不賢，毋為勢家所奪。」
Whenever Xiao He bought land or a house, he always chose an out-of-the-way location, and he never bothered to repair the walls or roof of his home. He said, 'If my descendants prove worthy, they will follow the example of my frugality. If they prove unworthy, at least the property will be too mean for powerful families to bother seizing.'
15
孝惠二年，相國何卒，謚為文終侯。
In the second year of Emperor Hui's reign, Prime Minister Xiao He passed away. He was given the posthumous title of Marquis Wenzhong.
16
後嗣以罪失侯者四世，絕，天子輒復求何後，封續酂侯，功臣莫得比焉。
His descendants lost the title through offenses over four successive generations and the line was extinguished, yet each time the Son of Heaven sought out Xiao He's heirs and restored them to the marquisate of Zan. No other minister of merit was ever treated with such honor.
17
太史公曰：蕭相國何於秦時為刀筆吏，錄錄未有奇節。 及漢興，依日月之末光，何謹守管籥，因民之疾（奉）［秦］法，順流與之更始。 淮陰、黥布等皆以誅滅，而何之勳爛焉。 位冠群臣，聲施後世，與閎夭、散宜生等爭烈矣。
The Grand Historian remarks: Chancellor Xiao He served as a petty clerk under the Qin, an unremarkable man with no record of extraordinary accomplishment. Yet when the Han dynasty arose, he rode in the reflected glory of the new order, faithfully guarding the keys of state. He seized upon the people's hatred of the harsh Qin laws, followed the current of the times, and helped bring about a fresh beginning. The Marquis of Huaiyin, Ying Bu, and the others all met their end by execution, but Xiao He's merit shone ever more brightly. He stood first among all the ministers, and his fame has endured through the ages, rivaling in splendor that of Hong Yao, San Yisheng, and the other great ministers of antiquity.