1
徐禧，字德占，洪州分寧人。 少有志度，博覽周遊，以求知古今事變、風俗利疚，不事科舉。 熙寧初，王安石行新法，禧作《治策》二十四篇以獻。 時呂惠卿領修撰經義局，遂以布衣充檢討。 神宗見其所上策，曰：「禧言朝廷用經術變士，十已八九，然竊襲人之語，不求心通者相半，此言是也。 宜試於有用之地。」 即授鎮安軍節度推官、中書戶房習學公事。 歲餘召對，顧問久之，曰：「朕多閱人，未見有如卿者。」 擢太子中允、館閣校勘、監察御史裏行。
Xu Xi, whose style name was Dezhan, came from Fenning in Hong Prefecture. As a young man he was ambitious and far-sighted; he read widely and traveled in search of knowledge about historical change and the strengths and weaknesses of regional customs, and never took the civil service examinations. At the beginning of the Xining era, as Wang Anshi was putting the New Policies into effect, Xi wrote twenty-four treatises on statecraft and submitted them to the throne. Lü Huiqing was then in charge of the bureau that compiled commentaries on the classics, and Xi was brought in as a reviser despite holding no official rank. When Emperor Shenzong read his policy memorials, he remarked, "Xi observes that in reshaping the scholar class through classical learning the court has succeeded in seven or eight cases out of ten, yet half the men involved merely parrot others and never grasp the heart of the matter—he is right about that. He ought to be tested in a position where he can do real work." He was immediately given the posts of judicial commissioner of the Zhen'an military commission and trainee in the Secretariat's household accounts section. A year later he was called in for a private audience; the emperor studied him at length and said, "I have met countless officials, but none like you." He was promoted to junior mentor of the heir apparent, collator in the palace library, and acting investigating censor.
2
與中丞鄧綰、知諫院范百祿雜治趙世居獄。 李士寧者，挾術出入貴人間，嘗見世居母康，以仁宗御製詩贈之，又許世居以寶刀，且曰：「非公不可當此。」 世居與其黨皆神之，曰：「士寧，二三百歲人也。」 解釋其詩，以為至寶之祥。 及鞫世居得之，逮捕士寧，而宰相王安石故與士寧善，百祿劾士寧以妖妄惑世居，致不軌。 禧奏：「士寧遺康詩實仁宗製，今獄官以為反，臣不敢同。」 百祿言：「士寧有可死之狀，禧故出之以媚大臣。」 朝廷以御史雜知、樞密承旨參治，而百祿坐報上不實貶，進禧集賢校理、檢正禮房。
He worked alongside Vice Censor-in-Chief Deng Wan and Fan Bailu, director of the Remonstrance Bureau, on the prosecution of Zhao Shiju. Li Shining was a man who trafficked in esoteric arts among the great families; he had once called on Zhao Shiju's mother, Lady Kang, and given her a poem in Emperor Renzong's own hand, and he also promised Shiju a precious sword, saying, "No one but you is worthy to bear this." Shiju and his circle treated him as a supernatural being and declared, "Shining is two or three centuries old." They read his poem as a sign of an incomparable treasure to come. Once the interrogation of Shiju produced evidence, Shining was arrested; Chief Councilor Wang Anshi had long been friendly with Shining, while Bailu charged that Shining had used occult fraud to bewitch Shiju and drive him toward sedition. Xi submitted a memorial: "The poem Shining gave Lady Kang was genuinely from Emperor Renzong's hand; the investigators now call it treasonous, and I cannot concur." Bailu retorted, "Shining deserves death; Xi is excusing him only to flatter the chief minister." The court added a deputy censor and a privy council delegate to the panel; Bailu was demoted for misreporting to the throne, while Xi was promoted to collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies and rectifier of the rites section.
3
安石與惠卿交惡，鄧綰言惠卿昔居父喪，嘗貸華亭富人錢五百萬買田事，詔禧參鞫。 禧陰右惠卿，綰劾之，會綰貶官，獄亦解。 禧出為荊湖北路轉運副使。 元豐初，召知諫院。 惠卿在鄜延，欲更蕃漢兵戰守條約，諸老將不謂然，帝頗采聽，將推其法於他路，遣禧往經畫。 禧是惠卿議，渭帥蔡延慶亦以為不然，帝召延慶還，加禧直龍圖閣，使往代，以母憂不行。 服除，召試知制誥兼御史中丞。 官制行，罷知制誥，專為中丞。 鄧綰守長安，禧疏其過，帝知其以惠卿故，雖改綰青州，亦左遷禧給事中。
After Anshi and Huiqing became estranged, Deng Wan accused Huiqing of having borrowed five million cash from a rich man in Huating to buy land while still in mourning for his father; the emperor instructed Xi to take part in the inquiry. Xi quietly sided with Huiqing; Wan impeached him for it, yet Wan was soon demoted himself and the case collapsed. Xi was posted as deputy transport commissioner on the Jinghu North circuit. At the start of the Yuanfeng era he was recalled to head the Remonstrance Bureau. While serving on the Fuyan frontier, Huiqing wanted to overhaul the regulations governing tribal and Han forces in attack and defense; the old generals objected, but the emperor largely accepted his views and intended to extend the scheme to other circuits, dispatching Xi to lay out the details. Xi endorsed Huiqing's proposal; Cai Yanqing, commander on the Wei frontier, disagreed as well; the emperor recalled Yanqing, granted Xi direct appointment to the Dragon Diagram Hall, and ordered him to take Yanqing's place, but mourning for his mother kept him from going. After the mourning period he was called back, examined, and appointed drafter of imperial edicts while also serving as censor-in-chief. After the bureaucratic reform took effect he relinquished the edict-drafting role and held only the censor-in-chiefship. Deng Wan was stationed at Chang'an when Xi impeached him for misconduct; the emperor saw that the move stemmed from the feud with Huiqing, and although Wan was reassigned to Qingzhou, Xi was demoted to gentleman attendant as well.
4
种諤西討，得銀、夏、宥三州而不能守。 延帥沈括欲盡城橫山，瞰平夏，城永樂，詔禧與內侍李舜舉往相其事，令括總兵以從，李稷主饋餉。 禧言：「銀州雖據明堂川、無定河之會，而故城東南已為河水所吞，其西北又阻天塹，實不如永樂之形勢險厄。 竊惟銀、夏、宥三州，陷沒百年，一日興復，於邊將事功，實為俊偉，軍鋒士氣，固已百倍； 但建州之始，煩費不貲。 若選擇要會，建置堡柵，名雖非州，實有其地，舊來疆塞，乃在腹心。 已與沈括議築砦堡各六。 砦之大者周九百步，小者五百步，堡之大者二百步，小者百步，用工二十三萬。」 遂城永樂，十四日而成。 禧、括、舜舉還米脂。 明日，夏兵數千騎趨新城，禧亟往視之。 或說禧曰：「初被詔相城，禦寇，非職也。」 禧不聽，與舜舉、稷俱行，括獨守米脂。 先是，种諤還自京師，極言城永樂非計，禧怒變色，謂諤曰：「君獨不畏死乎？ 敢誤成事。」 諤曰：「城之必敗，敗則死，拒節制亦死； 死於此，猶愈於喪國師而淪異域也。」 禧度不可屈，奏諤跋扈異議，詔諤守延州。 夏兵二十萬屯涇原北，聞城永樂，即來爭邊。 人馳告者十數，禧等皆不之信，曰：「彼若大來，是吾立功取富貴之秋也。」 禧亟赴之，大將高永亨曰：「城小人寡，又無水，不可守。」 禧以為沮眾，欲斬之，既而械送延獄。 比至，夏兵傾國而至，永亨兄永能請及其未陳擊之，禧曰：「爾何知，王師不鼓不成列。」 禧執刀自率士卒拒戰。 夏人益眾，分陣迭攻抵城下。 曲珍兵陳於水際，官軍不利，將士皆有懼色。 珍白禧曰：「今眾心已搖，不可戰，戰必敗，請收兵入城。」 禧曰：「君為大將，奈何遇敵不戰，先自退邪？」 俄夏騎卒度水犯陳。 鄜延選鋒軍最為驍銳，皆一當百，銀槍錦襖，光彩耀日，先接戰而敗，奔入城，蹂後陳。 夏人乘之，師大潰，死及棄甲南奔者幾半。 珍與殘兵入城，崖峻徑窄，騎卒緣崖而上，喪馬八千匹，遂受圍。 水砦為夏人所據，掘井不及泉，士卒渴死者太半。 夏人蟻附登城，尚扶創拒鬥。 珍度不可敵，又白禧，請突圍而南； 永能亦勸李稷盡捐金帛，募死士力戰以出，皆不聽。 戊戌夜大雨，城陷，四將走免，禧、舜舉、稷死之，永能沒於陳。
Zhong E led the western campaign and captured Yin, Xia, and You prefectures, yet proved unable to keep them. Shen Kuo, commander on the Yan frontier, wanted to ring Hengshan with fortresses overlooking Pingxia and to build Yongle City; the court sent Xi and the eunuch Li Shunju to inspect the site, with Kuo commanding the troops and Li Ji overseeing logistics. Xi argued, "Yin Prefecture may stand where the Mingtang and Wuding rivers meet, but the southeastern quarter of the old city has been eaten away by the water and the northwest is cut off by a natural chasm; in truth its ground is far less defensible than Yongle's rugged position. I would note that Yin, Xia, and You had lain in enemy hands for a hundred years and were restored in a day—a magnificent feat for any frontier commander—and troop morale is already many times what it was; yet founding new prefectures at the start entails costs beyond measure. If we select key positions and erect forts and palisades, they need not be called prefectures to control real ground, and what were once outer defenses would sit well inside our heartland. Kuo and I have already agreed to build six stockades and six forts apiece. The largest stockade would ring nine hundred paces, the smallest five hundred; the largest fort two hundred paces, the smallest one hundred; the project would demand two hundred thirty thousand man-days of labor." They went ahead and walled Yongle, finishing the work in fourteen days. Xi, Kuo, and Shunju withdrew to Mizhi. The following day several thousand Xia cavalry rode toward the new fortress, and Xi rushed to see for himself. Someone urged Xi, "Your original commission was only to choose the site; fighting off the enemy was never part of your brief." Xi refused to heed him and set out with Shunju and Ji, leaving Kuo alone at Mizhi. Earlier, when Zhong E came back from the capital and insisted that building Yongle was folly, Xi turned crimson and demanded, "Are you the only man here who does not fear death? How dare you obstruct what we are trying to accomplish?" E replied, "If we build it the position is doomed; when it falls we die, and if we disobey orders we die as well; dying here is still preferable to losing the imperial army and being overrun on foreign soil." Convinced that E would not yield, Xi reported him for insubordination and obstruction; the court ordered E to hold Yanzhou. Two hundred thousand Xia soldiers massed north of Jingyuan; as soon as they learned Yongle was being fortified, they marched to dispute the frontier. A dozen couriers galloped in with warnings, but Xi and his party dismissed them, saying, "If the enemy comes in strength, this is our chance to win glory and fortune." Xi pressed on at once; the general Gao Yongheng warned, "The fortress is small, the garrison thin, and there is no water—we cannot hold it." Xi took this for demoralizing the men and meant to behead him, but in the end had him bound and sent to the Yan circuit jail. When they arrived the Xia had thrown their entire strength into the field; Yongheng's elder brother Yongneng urged an attack before the enemy could deploy, but Xi snapped, "What do you know of such things? Imperial troops do not strike until the drums have sounded and the ranks are set." Gripping his sword, Xi personally led the men into battle. More and more Xia poured in, splitting into columns and assaulting in relays until they were under the walls. Qu Zhen formed his line along the riverbank; the imperial forces were getting the worse of it, and officers and soldiers alike looked frightened. Zhen told Xi, "The men's hearts are already wavering; we cannot fight—if we do we are doomed. Pull the army back inside the walls." Xi shot back, "You are a senior commander—how can you face the enemy and refuse to fight, running before anyone else?" In moments Xia cavalry forded the stream and crashed into the line. The Fuyan picked vanguard—men who counted as a hundred each, in silver spears and brocade coats that blazed in the sunlight—met the enemy first, broke, and bolted for the gate, crushing the units behind them. The Xia pressed the rout; the army shattered, and nearly half the men were killed or threw away their armor and fled south. Zhen and the remnants scrambled into the fortress; the cliffs were sheer and the paths tight, and horsemen had to lead their mounts up the rock face—eight thousand horses were lost—and the garrison was surrounded. The Xia took the water bastion; wells were sunk but never struck water, and more than half the troops died of thirst. The Xia swarmed the walls like ants; the defenders still fought on, propping up their wounded. Seeing the enemy could not be beaten, Zhen again appealed to Xi to break out toward the south; Yongneng likewise urged Li Ji to pour out all the gold and silk, hire daredevils, and fight their way out, but Xi would hear none of it. On the wuxu night a torrential rain fell and the city was lost; four generals got away, but Xi, Shunju, and Ji were killed, and Yongneng died in the fighting.
5
初，括奏夏兵來逼城，見官兵整，故還。 帝曰：「括料敵疏矣，彼來未出戰，豈肯遽退邪？ 必有大兵在後。」 已而果然。 帝聞禧等死，涕泣悲憤，為之不食。 贈禧金紫光祿大夫、吏部尚書，諡曰「忠湣」。 官其家二十人。 稷工部侍郎，官其家十二人。
Earlier Kuo had reported that Xia forces approached the fortress but withdrew when they saw the imperial troops in good order. The emperor said, "Kuo's estimate of the enemy is naive; they came without giving battle—why would they pull back so soon? A large force must be following behind." Events soon proved him right. When word came that Xi and the others had perished, the emperor wept in grief and rage and refused food for days. Xi was posthumously ennobled as Grandee of Splendid Happiness with Golden Seal and Minister of Personnel, with the posthumous epithet Loyal and Grieving. Twenty members of his household were granted official posts. Ji was posthumously made vice minister of works, and twelve members of his family received appointments.
6
禧疏曠有膽略，好談兵，每云西北可唾手取，恨將帥怯爾。 呂惠卿力引之，故不次用。 自靈武之敗，秦、晉困棘，天下企望息兵，而沈括、种諤陳進取之策。 禧素以邊事自任，狂謀輕敵，猝與強虜遇，至於覆沒。 自是之後，帝始知邊臣不可信倚，深自悔咎，遂不復用兵，無意於西伐矣。 子：俯，自有傳。
Xi was expansive and fearless, loved to talk of war, and often declared that the northwest could be seized with a flick of the wrist, blaming nothing but the cowardice of the commanders. Lü Huiqing pushed him hard, which is why he rose by irregular promotion. After the disaster at Lingwu, the Qin and Jin regions were in distress and the empire yearned for peace, yet Shen Kuo and Zhong E pressed plans for further conquest. Xi had long styled himself master of frontier affairs; his rash schemes and contempt for the enemy brought him suddenly against a formidable foe, and his force was wiped out. From that point the emperor realized frontier officers could not be relied upon, blamed himself bitterly, and never again took up arms with any thought of campaigning west. His son Fu has a separate biography.
7
李稷 〈附〉
Li Ji (Appended biography)
8
李稷，字長卿，邛州人。 父絢，龍圖閣直學士。 稷用蔭歷管庫，權河北西路轉運判官，修拓深、趙、邢三州城，役無愆素，然峭刻嚴忍。 察訪使者以為言，都水丞程昉亦訴其越職。 詔令件析。 御史周尹又論稷父死二十年不葬，僅徙東路，俄提舉蜀部茶場。 甫兩歲，羨課七十六萬緡，擢鹽鐵判官。 詔推揚其功以勸在位，遂為陝西轉運使、制置解鹽。 秦民作舍道傍者，創使納「侵街錢」，一路擾怨，與李察皆以苛暴著稱。 時人語曰：「寧逢黑殺，莫逢稷、察」。
Li Ji, whose style name was Changqing, came from Qiong Prefecture. His father Xuan had been a direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall. Ji entered government by hereditary privilege and worked his way through fiscal posts; as acting transport judge on the Hebei West circuit he enlarged the walls of Shen, Zhao, and Xing without waste or delay in the corvée, yet he was severe, exacting, and pitiless. Inspection commissioners complained of his methods, and Cheng Fang, director of waterways, also charged him with exceeding his authority. The court ordered each charge set out and examined. Censor Zhou Yin further accused Ji of leaving his father unburied for twenty years; he was only shifted to the eastern route, and shortly afterward was put in charge of the Shu tea monopoly. In scarcely two years he turned a surplus of seven hundred sixty thousand strings of cash and was promoted to salt and iron commissioner. The court publicized his achievement to spur others in office, and he was made Shaanxi transport commissioner with charge over the Jie salt monopoly. He invented a levy called "street-encroachment money" on Qin peasants who built along the highways, provoking resentment across the circuit; he and Li Cha were both infamous for brutal exactions. A saying of the day ran, "Better to run into the Black Killer than into Ji and Cha."
9
种諤起興、靈議，稷聞之亦上言：「可令邊面諸將各出兵撓之，使不得耕種，則其國必困，國困眾離，取可決也。」 及出境，稷督餉，民苦折運，多散逸，稷令騎士執之，斷其足筋，宛轉山谷間，凡數十人，累日乃得死。 始，稷受旨得斬郡守以下，於是上下相臨以峻法，雖小吏護丁夫，亦顓戮不請。 軍食竟不繼，諤謀斬稷，客呂大鈞引義責之，復使還取糧。 既集，諤猶宣言稷乏軍興，致大功不就，坐削兩秩，貶為判官。
When Zhong E revived the proposal to recover Xing and Ling, Ji heard of it and submitted his own plan: "Let every frontier commander send out raiding parties so the enemy cannot sow or reap; their state will grow desperate, and when it is desperate and the people scatter, victory is certain." Once the campaign crossed the border Ji oversaw logistics; civilians groaned under relay transport and many deserted; Ji had horsemen seize them, sever their heel tendons, and leave them writhing in the ravines—several dozen men who took days to die. From the start Ji had been authorized to execute anyone as low as a prefect; the whole chain of command now policed itself with draconian penalties, and even minor clerks overseeing corvée gangs would kill men outright without seeking permission. Supplies never kept pace with the army; E meant to execute Ji, but his adviser Lü Dajun appealed to duty and righteousness and persuaded him to send Ji back for more grain. Even after the grain arrived, E still proclaimed that Ji's failure to provision the campaign had ruined the great enterprise; Ji was stripped of two ranks and demoted to judge.
10
永樂既城，稷悉輦金、銀、鈔、帛充牣其中，欲誇示徐禧，以為城甫就而中已實。 積金既多，故受圍愈急，而稷守之不敢去，以及於難。 李舜舉別有傳。
After Yongle was walled, Ji had gold, silver, paper notes, and silk hauled in until the storehouses overflowed, eager to impress Xu Xi with the claim that the fortress was barely finished yet already fully provisioned. The hoard of treasure made the Xia press the siege all the harder, yet Ji clung to it and would not abandon the city, and so perished with it. Li Shunju has a separate biography.
11
高永能
Gao Yongneng
12
高永能，字君舉，世為綏州人。 初，伯祖文岯舉州來歸，即拜團練使，已而棄之北遷，其祖文玉獨留居延川，至永能始家青澗。 少有勇力，善騎射，由行伍補殿侍，稍遷供奉官。 种諤取綏州，發永能兵六千先驅入囉兀，五戰皆捷，轉供備庫副使。 治綏德城，辟地四千頃，增戶千三百，即知城事。
Gao Yongneng, whose style name was Junju, came from a Sui Prefecture family of many generations. His great-uncle Wen Yan had once surrendered Sui Prefecture and was immediately made militia training commissioner, but later abandoned the post and moved north; his grandfather Wen Yu alone stayed behind at Yanchuan, and the family first established itself at Qingjian in Yongneng's generation. As a young man he was strong and brave and excelled at mounted archery; rising from the ranks he became a palace attendant and was gradually promoted to tribute bearer. When Zhong E captured Sui Prefecture he dispatched Yongneng with six thousand troops as vanguard into Luowu; after five victories in succession he was made deputy commissioner of the supply reserve depot. He developed Suide City, reclaimed four thousand qing of land, added thirteen hundred households, and was put in charge of the city administration.
13
元豐初，為鄜延都監。 秋，大稔，夏人屯二千騎於大會平，將取稼。 永能簡精騎突過其營，騎卒驚潰，獲鈐轄二人。 轉六宅使。 夏人患之，令曰：「有得高六宅者，賞金等其身。」 經略使呂惠卿行邊，永能伏騎谷中，以備侵軼，邊騎果至，馳出擊走之。 夏兵二萬犯當川堡，永能以千騎與相遇，度不能支，依險設疑兵，且鬥且卻，而令後騎揚塵，若援兵至者，奮而前，遂解去。 擢本路鈐轄。
At the beginning of the Yuanfeng era he was made supervisory commissioner on the Fuyan circuit. That autumn brought a bumper harvest; the Xia posted two thousand horsemen at Dahui Ping to raid the crops. Yongneng led picked cavalry in a sudden strike through their camp; the enemy horsemen broke in panic, and two deputy commissioners were taken. He was promoted to commissioner of the Six Mansions. The Xia came to fear him and proclaimed, "Whoever captures Gao of the Six Mansions shall receive gold equal to his body weight." When frontier commissioner Lü Huiqing inspected the border, Yongneng concealed cavalry in a gorge against incursions; enemy scouts appeared as expected, and he charged out and routed them. When twenty thousand Xia attacked Dangchuan Fort, Yongneng met them with a thousand cavalry; seeing he could not prevail, he used the terrain to feign reinforcements, fought a fighting retreat while rear elements raised dust as though aid had come, then surged forward and the enemy withdrew. He was elevated to deputy commissioner of the circuit.
14
四年，西討，永能為前鋒，圍米脂城。 邊人十萬來援，永能謂弟永亨曰：「彼恃眾集易吾軍，營當大川，宜嚴陳待其至，張左右翼擊之，可破也。」 詰旦，鏖戰於無定河，斬首數千級，得馬三千、橐駝牛羊萬計。 城猶未下，密遣諜說降其東壁守將，衣以文錦，導以鼓吹，耀諸城下，酋令介訛遇乃出降。 進東上閤門使、寧州刺史，以年請老，不許，又進四方館使、榮州團練使。
In the fourth year of the western expedition he served as vanguard and besieged Mizhi. A hundred thousand tribal allies came to the relief; Yongneng told his brother Yongheng, "They trust their numbers to crush us; encamp on the broad river, hold a tight formation until they arrive, then hit them with both wings and they will break." At dawn they fought a bitter battle on the Wuding River, taking several thousand heads, three thousand horses, and tens of thousands of camels, cattle, and sheep. The city still held out; he sent secret agents to win over the eastern-wall commander, dressed him in brocade, paraded him with drums and pipes beneath the walls, and the chieftain Lingjie Eyu then surrendered. He was promoted to eastern upper gate envoy and prefect of Ningzhou; pleading age he asked to retire but was denied, and was further made envoy of the Four Directions Hall and militia training commissioner of Rongzhou.
15
永樂之役，獻謀皆不用。 城既陷，其孫昌裔欲援之從間道出，永能歎曰：「吾結髮從事西羌，戰未嚐挫，今年已七十，受國大恩，恨無以報，此吾死所也。」 顧易一卒敝衣，戰而死。 其子世亮與昌裔求得屍以歸。 詔贈房州觀察使，錄世亮為忠州刺史，諸孫皆侍禁殿直。
During the Yongle disaster every plan he offered was ignored. When the city fell his grandson Changyi wanted to reach him by a secret path; Yongneng sighed and said, "I have fought the western tribes since youth and never knew defeat; this year I am seventy, and the state has shown me great favor—I only regret I cannot repay it; this is where I die." He swapped clothes with a ragged private and died in the fighting. His son Shiliang and Changyi recovered the corpse and returned it home. The court posthumously made him observation commissioner of Fangzhou, appointed Shiliang prefect of Zhongzhou, and enrolled all his grandsons as palace attendants and imperial guardsmen.
16
永能家世州將，所領多故部曲，拊之有恩惠，遇敵則身先之。 下有傷者，載以己副馬，故能得士死力。 遠近喜言其事，稱之曰「老高」。 及死，邊人無不痛惜。 嘗過其遠祖唐綏州刺史思祥淘沙川廟，得畫像及神道碑，上之，詔即所在賜田三十頃，以奉祭祀。
The Gaos had been frontier commanders for generations; most of his troops were old retainers whom he treated generously and always led from the front. When men under him were wounded he gave them his own spare mount, and so won their willingness to die for him. People throughout the region loved to tell stories of him and called him "Old Gao." When he died the frontier people mourned him deeply. Passing the shrine of his distant ancestor, Tang Sui prefect Si Xiang, at Taosha River, he found a portrait and spirit-way stele, presented them to court, and received an edict granting thirty qing of land on the spot for sacrifices.
17
永能之亡，延州將皇城使寇偉亦力戰而沒，贈均州防禦使。
When Yongneng fell, Yanzhou commander Kou Wei also fought to the death and was posthumously made defense commissioner of Junzhou.
18
沈起，字興宗，明州鄞人。 進士高第，調滁州判官，與監真州轉般倉。 聞父病，委官歸侍，以喪免，有司劾其擅去。 終喪，薦書應格當遷用，帝謂輔臣曰：「觀過知仁。 今由父疾而致罪，何以厚風教而勸天下之為人子者。」 乃特遷之，知海門縣。
Shen Qi, whose style name was Xingzong, came from Yin in Ming Prefecture. He took the jinshi with high honors and became judge of Chuzhou, then supervised the transport granary at Zhenzhou. When he learned his father was ill he abandoned his post to care for him; after the funeral he was removed from office and impeached for unauthorized departure. After mourning his recommendation qualified him for promotion; the emperor told his ministers, "One knows a man's character by watching his mistakes. If we punish him for tending a sick father, how can we strengthen public morals and encourage filial sons everywhere?" He was thereupon given a special promotion and appointed magistrate of Haimen County.
19
縣負海地卑，間歲海潮至，冒民田舍，民徙以避，棄其業。 起為築堤百里，引江水灌溉其中，田益辟，民相率以歸，至立祠以報。 御史中丞包拯舉為監察御史。 吏部格，選吏以贓私絓法，無輕重終身不遷。 起論其情可矜者，可限年敘用，遂著為令。 立縣令考課法，設河渠司領諸道水政，乞采漢故事，擇卿大夫子弟入宿衛，選賢良文學高第給事宮省，勿專任宦官，宗室袒免親令補外官，復府兵，汰冗卒，書數十上。 以論興國鐵官事不合，出通判越州，改知蘄、楚二州。
The county lay on low coastal ground; every few years the sea tide flooded homes and fields, and people fled, abandoning their livelihoods. Qi built a hundred-li dike and channeled river water to irrigate the enclosed land; farmland expanded, people returned in numbers, and they even raised a shrine in thanks. Vice Censor-in-Chief Bao Zheng recommended him as investigating censor. Personnel regulations barred any selection official tainted by corruption, however lightly, from promotion for life. Qi argued that cases deserving mercy might be re-employed after a fixed interval, and the rule was codified. He proposed magistrate evaluation standards, a canals office to direct waterworks in every circuit, Han-style selection of ministers' sons for palace guard duty, talented literati for palace posts, an end to exclusive reliance on eunuchs, outer appointments for imperial clansmen in mourning, restoration of the militia, and cuts to redundant troops—submitting dozens of memorials. His views on the Xingguo iron bureau offended the court, so he was made vice prefect of Yuezhou and then prefect of Qi and Chu.
20
京東歲饑盜起，除提點刑獄。 至，則開首贖法攜其伍，盜內自睽疑，轉相束縛唯恐後。 改開封府判官，為湖南轉運使。 凡羽毛、筋革、舟楫、竹箭之材，多出所部，取於民無制，吏挾為奸。 起會其當用，自與商人貿易，所省什六七。 召為三司鹽鐵副使，直舍人院。
When famine in Jingdong bred banditry he was appointed judicial intendant. On arrival he offered leniency to those who surrendered with their gangs; the bandits turned on one another and tied each other up, each afraid of being last. He became vice prefect of Kaifeng and then Hunan transport commissioner. Feathers, sinew, leather, boats, and bamboo shafts mostly came from his circuit, seized from the people without limit while clerks extorted them. Qi calculated actual needs, traded with merchants directly, and saved sixty or seventy percent of the cost. He was recalled as salt and iron vice commissioner and attached to the Academy drafting office.
21
熙寧三年，韓絳使陝西，加起集賢殿修撰、陝西都轉運使。 慶州軍變，將寇長安，起率兵討平之。 會韓絳城綏州不利，起亦罷知江寧府。 入知吏部流內銓。 奉使契丹，至王庭，其位著乃與夏使等，起曰：「彼陪臣爾，不當與王人齒。」 辭不就列，遂升東朝使者，自是為定制。 六年，拜天章閣待制、知桂州。
In the third Xining year, when Han Jiang went to Shaanxi, Qi was made collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies and chief Shaanxi transport commissioner. When Qingzhou mutinied and threatened Chang'an, Qi led troops and put down the revolt. When Han Jiang's attempt to fortify Sui Prefecture failed, Qi was dismissed and made prefect of Jiangning. He entered the capital to head the Ministry of Personnel's inner roster. On embassy to the Khitan, at court his seat was set with the Xia envoy and others; Qi protested, "They are only retainers and should not rank with the sovereign's envoys." He refused his assigned place and was seated with the Song envoys instead, and this became permanent practice. In the sixth year he was made Hanlin academician awaiting orders and prefect of Guizhou.
22
自王安石用事，始求邊功，王韶以熙河進，章惇、熊本亦因此求奮。 是時，議者言交阯可取，朝廷命蕭注守桂經略之。 注蓋造謀者也，至是，復以為難。 起言：「南交小醜，無不可取之理。」 乃以起代注，遂一意事攻討。 妄言密受旨，擅令疆吏入溪洞，點集土丁為保伍，授以陣圖，使歲時肄習。 繼命指使因督餫鹽之海濱，集舟師寓教水戰。 故時交人與州縣貿易，悉禁止之。 於是交阯益貳，大集兵丁謀入寇。
Once Wang Anshi took power the court began chasing frontier glory; Wang Shao advanced through the Hexi corridor, and Zhang Dun and Xiong Ben likewise sought distinction. Advisers then claimed Jiaozhi could be seized; the court ordered Xiao Zhu to hold Guizhou and direct the effort. Zhu, who had first devised the scheme, now declared it too difficult. Qi said, "Jiaozhi is a trifling southern enemy—there is no reason it cannot be taken." Qi replaced Zhu and threw himself entirely into the offensive. He falsely claimed secret orders, sent frontier officials into tribal valleys on his own authority, mustered native levies into militia companies, taught them battle formations, and required annual drill. He then sent agents to oversee coastal salt transport and gathered boatmen for naval drill. All trade between Jiaozhi and local prefectures was banned. Jiaozhi grew more hostile, gathered troops, and planned an invasion.
23
蘇緘知邕州，以書抵起，請止保甲，罷水運，通互市。 起不聽，劾緘沮議，起坐邊議罷。 命劉彝代之以守廣，日遏絕其表疏，於是交人疑懼，率眾犯境，邊陷廉、白、欽、邕四州，死者數十萬人。 事聞，貶起團練使，安置郢州，徙越，又徙秀而卒。
Su Jian, prefect of Yongzhou, wrote urging Qi to halt the militia, end water transport, and reopen border trade. Qi refused, impeached Jian for obstruction, and Qi was removed from frontier planning. Liu Yi replaced him to guard Guang, daily suppressing reports from below; the Jiaozhi people grew fearful, rose in force, invaded, and Lian, Bai, Qin, and Yong fell with hundreds of thousands dead. When word reached court Qi was demoted to militia training commissioner and exiled to Yingzhou, then Yue, then Xiu, where he died.
24
起生平喜談兵，嘗以兵法謁范仲淹，仲淹器其材，注孫武書以自見，卒用此敗。
Qi loved military talk all his life; he once presented strategy to Fan Zhongyan, who admired his talent; he annotated Sunzi to show his learning—and was ruined by it.
25
劉彝，字執中，福州人。 幼介特，居鄉以行義稱。 從胡瑗學，瑗稱其善治水，凡所立綱紀規式，彝力居多。 第進士，為邵武尉，調高郵簿，移朐山令。 治簿書，恤孤寡，作陂池，教種藝，平賦役，抑奸猾，凡所以惠民者無不至。 邑人紀其事，目曰「治範」。
Liu Yi, whose style name was Zhizhong, came from Fuzhou. Even as a boy he was self-contained; in his home district he was praised for moral conduct. He studied under Hu Yuan, who praised his mastery of hydraulics; Yi did most of the work in every regulation Hu established. He passed the jinshi, served as Wei of Shaowu, became registrar of Gaoyou, and was made magistrate of Qushan. He managed records, cared for widows and orphans, built reservoirs, taught farming, equalized taxes and labor service, and suppressed sharp dealers—every way to help the people he pursued exhaustively. Locals recorded his deeds under the title "Models of Governance."
26
熙寧初，為制置三司條例官屬，以言新法非便罷。 神宗擇水官，以彝悉東南水利，除都水丞。 久雨汴漲，議開長城口，彝請但啟楊橋斗門，水即退。 為兩浙轉運判官。 知虔州，俗尚巫鬼，不事醫藥。 彝著《正俗方》以訓，斥淫巫三千七百家，使以醫易業，俗遂變。 加直史館，知桂州。 禁與交人互市，交阯陷欽、廉、邕三州，坐貶均州團練副使，安置隨州。 又除名為民，編隸涪州，徙襄州。 元祐初，復以都水丞召還，病卒於道，年七十。 著《七經中義》百七十卷，《明善集》三十卷，《居陽集》三十卷。
Early in Xining he served on the Fiscal Reform Commission and was dismissed for criticizing the New Policies. Emperor Shenzong chose a hydraulics expert; knowing Yi's mastery of southeastern waterworks, he made him director of waterways. After prolonged rain the Bian flooded; some wanted to open the Changcheng outlet; Yi urged opening only the Yangqiao sluice, and the water immediately fell. He was made transport judge on the Two Zhe circuit. At Qianzhou the people favored shamans and spirits and shunned physicians. Yi wrote Correct Customs Formulas to instruct the people, expelled three thousand seven hundred illicit shamans, and made them practice medicine instead, and customs changed. He received direct appointment to the historiographical institute and became prefect of Guizhou. He banned trade with Jiaozhi; Jiaozhi captured Qin, Lian, and Yong; he was demoted to deputy militia training commissioner of Junzhou and exiled to Suizhou. He was further stripped of rank, made a commoner, registered at Fuzhou, and moved to Xiangzhou. Early in Yuanyou he was again summoned as director of waterways but died on the journey at seventy. He wrote Interpretations of the Seven Classics in one hundred seventy juan, Collected Writings on Understanding Goodness in thirty juan, and Collected Writings from Juyang in thirty juan.
27
論曰：兵，凶器也，雖聖人猶曰未學。 輕敵寡謀，鮮有不自焚者。 永樂之陷，安南之畔，死者百萬，罹禍甚慘，良由數人者不自量度，以開邊釁。 禧、稷、永能之死，宜矣。 起執議益堅，妄意輕舉，雖貶官莫贖其責。 彝不能行所學，而規規然蹈前車之轍，以濟其過，烏得無罪？
The commentary says: War is an instrument of ill omen; even the sage said he had not fully learned it. Those who slight the foe and plot rashly seldom escape self-destruction. The fall of Yongle and the Annamese rebellion killed a million people in appalling disaster, because a handful of men would not gauge their strength and opened border war. The deaths of Xi, Ji, and Yongneng were deserved. Qi clung ever harder to his views, acted with reckless presumption, and even demotion could not absolve him. Yi could not apply what he had learned but pedantically retraced the ruts of his predecessors to worsen the harm—how could he be blameless?
28
熊本，字伯通，番陽人。 兒時知學，郡守范仲淹異其文。 進士上第，為撫州軍事判官，稍遷秘書丞、知建德縣。 縣令墳包魚池為窪田，本弛以與民。
Xiong Ben, whose style name was Botong, came from Poyang. He loved learning as a boy; Prefect Fan Zhongyan was impressed by his essays. He passed the jinshi with high standing, became military judge of Fuzhou, and rose to secretary and magistrate of Jiande County. The previous magistrate had turned grave-side fishponds into paddy; Ben restored them to the people.
29
熙寧初，上書言：「陛下師用賢傑，改修法度，得稷、禼、皋、夔之佐。」 由是提舉淮南常平、檢正中書禮房事。
Early in Xining he memorialized, "Your Majesty employs worthy men as teachers, reforms laws and institutions, and has aides like Ji, Xie, Gao, and Kui." He was thereby made supervisor of the Huainan ever-normal granary and rectifier of the Secretariat rites office.
30
六年，瀘州羅、晏夷叛，詔察訪梓、夔，得以便宜治夷事。 本嘗通判戎州，習其俗，謂：「彼能擾邊者，介十二村豪為鄉導爾。」 以計致百餘人，梟之瀘川，其徒股栗，願矢死自贖。 本請於朝，寵以刺史、巡檢之秩，明示勸賞，皆踴躍順命，獨柯陰一酋不至。 本合晏州十九姓之眾，發黔南義軍強弩，遣大將王宣、賈昌言率以進討。 賊悉力旅拒，敗之黃葛下，追奔深入。 柯陰窘，乞降，盡籍丁口、土田及其重寶善馬，歸之公，上受貢職。 於是烏蠻羅氏鬼主諸夷皆從風而靡，願世為漢官奴。 遷刑部員外郎、集賢殿修撰、同判司農寺。 神宗勞之曰：「卿不傷財，不害民，一旦去百年之患，至於檄奏詳明，近時鮮儷焉。」 賜三品服。 西南用兵蠻中始此。
In the sixth year the Luo and Yan tribes of Luzhou rebelled; he was sent to inspect Zi and Kui with discretionary authority over tribal affairs. Having served as vice prefect of Rongzhou he knew their ways and said, "Only the twelve village magnates who act as guides can stir border trouble." By ruse he lured in more than a hundred men and beheaded them at Luzhou; their followers shook with fear and vowed to die in atonement. He asked the court to honor them with prefect and inspector ranks as open encouragement; all eagerly submitted except one Ke Yin chieftain who stayed away. Ben rallied the nineteen Yan clans, mobilized Qiannan militia crossbowmen, and sent generals Wang Xuan and Jia Changyan to lead the attack. The rebels fought with their full strength; he routed them at Huangge and drove deep into their country. Cornered, Ke Yin sued for peace, registering population, land, treasure, and fine horses to the state, and the court accepted his tribute obligations. Then the Wuman Ghost Lords and other tribes submitted in waves, declaring they wished to be Han officials' bondsmen forever. He was promoted to vice director of punishments, collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, and concurrent director of the revenue ministry. Emperor Shenzong praised him: "You spent no treasure and harmed no people, yet in a day removed a century-old menace; your dispatches are lucid and precise—seldom matched in our day." He received third-rank court robes. This marked the beginning of southwestern warfare among the tribal peoples.
31
蔡京時為秀州推官，本言其學行純茂，練習新法，薦為幹當公事。 河、湟初復，本為秦鳳路都轉運使。 熙河法禁闊略，蓄積不支歲月，本奏省冗官百四十員，歲減浮費數十萬。
Cai Jing was then a Xiuzhou push officer; Ben praised his learning and conduct and knowledge of the New Policies and recommended him as a duty officer. When the He-Huang region was first recovered, Ben became chief transport commissioner on the Qinfeng circuit. Hexi regulations were lax and stores would not last a year; Ben proposed cutting one hundred forty redundant posts and saving several hundred thousand in annual waste.
32
渝州南川獠木鬥叛，詔本安撫。 本進營銅佛壩，抗其尤，焚積聚，以破其黨。 木斗氣索，舉溱州地五百里來歸，為四砦九堡，建銅佛壩為南平軍。 初，熟獠王仁貴以木斗親繫獄，本釋其縛置麾下，至是推鋒先登。 大臣議加本天章閣待制，帝曰：「本之文，朕所自知，當典書命。」 遂知制誥。 帝數稱其文有體，命院吏別錄以進。
The Moudou tribesmen of Nanchuan in Yuzhou rebelled, and Ben was ordered to pacify them. He advanced to Tongfo Dam, struck at their leaders, burned their stockpiles, and shattered their party. Moudou's resistance collapsed; he yielded five hundred li of Qin territory, organized into four stockades and nine forts, with Tongfo Dam made Nanping Army. Wang Rengui, an assimilated tribesman jailed for ties to Moudou, was freed and taken into Ben's service; now he led the vanguard assault. Ministers proposed making Ben a Hanlin academician; the emperor said, "I know Ben's prose myself—he should draft edicts." He was appointed drafter of imperial edicts. The emperor often praised his literary structure and ordered separate copies submitted to the throne.
33
又上疏云：「天下之治，有因有革，期於趣時適治而已。 議者猥用持盈守成之說，文苟簡因循之治，天下之吏因以安常習故為俗，奮言納忠者，悠悠之徒相與蹙額盱衡而詆罵之。 陛下出大號，發大政，可謂極因革之理。 然改制之始，安常習故之群圜視四起，交讙而合譟，或諍於廷，或謗於市，或投劾引去者，不可勝數。 陛下燭見至理，獨立不奪，今雖少定，彼將伺隙而逞。 願陛下深念之，勿使譟讙之眾有以窺其間，而終萬世難就之業，天下幸甚。」 本之意，專以媚王安石也。
He memorialized again: "Governance must both continue and change; the goal is only timely order suited to the age. Critics clung to 'hold what is full, guard what is achieved,' praising negligent precedent; officials coasted on habit, while men who spoke loyal truth were sneered at by the crowd. Your Majesty has proclaimed great reforms—this is continuity and change at its fullest. Yet at reform's start the old guard glared from every side, clamored together, quarreled in court, slandered in markets, and resigned in droves. You have seen the deepest principle and stood unmoved; though things seem calmer, they will watch for a chance to strike. Ponder this deeply, Majesty, lest the noisy opposition find a crack, and finish the work of ages—the empire would be blessed." Ben's aim was simply to flatter Wang Anshi.
34
范子淵創浚河之役，文彥博爭之，命本行視，議如彥博。 安石白出本分司西京。 居三年，起知滁州，改廣州，召為工部侍郎。 宜州蠻擾邊，道除龍圖閣待制、知桂州。 至則諭溪洞酋長，戒邊吏勿生事，請選將練兵代戍，益市馬以足騎兵，宜州遂無事。 民蔡寶㻇扇龍蕃與峒戶相仇殺，欲引兵致討以為功。 本質之色動，縛而投之海。 蠻夷以為神。
Fan Ziyuan launched a river-dredging project; Wen Yanbo objected; Ben inspected the site and agreed with Yanbo. Anshi had him posted to the Western Capital branch office. After three years he was recalled as prefect of Chuzhou, then Guangzhou, then summoned as vice minister of works. When Yizhou tribes raided the frontier he was made Dragon Diagram academician and prefect of Guizhou en route. He instructed tribal chiefs, warned border officers against provocation, sought trained replacements for garrisons, and bought horses to fill the cavalry; Yizhou was quiet thereafter. Cai Baoheng stirred Long Fan and cave people to slaughter one another, hoping to win glory by leading troops against them. Ben read his intent, had him bound, and thrown into the sea. The tribes regarded it as supernatural.
35
諜告交人明年將入寇，使者實其言，詔訪，本曰：「使者在道，安得此？ 藉使有謀，何自先知之？」 已而果妄。 是時，既以順州賜李乾德，疆畫未正，交人緣是輒暴勿陽地而逐儂智會。 智會來乞師，本檄問狀，乾德斂兵謝本，因請以宿桑八洞不毛之地賜之，南荒遂安。
Spies said Jiaozhi would invade the next year; an envoy confirmed it; when the court asked, Ben said, "The envoy is still traveling—how could he know? Even if they plotted, how could he foresee it?" It proved false. Shun Prefecture had been granted Li Qiande but borders were unsettled; Jiaozhi seized Wuyang lands and expelled Nong Zhihui. Zhihui begged for aid; Ben demanded an accounting; Qiande withdrew and apologized, requesting the barren Susang eight caves, and the south was calmed.
36
轉運判官許彥先議通湖南鹽於西廣，計口授民，度可得息三十萬。 本言：「桂管民貧地瘠，恐不堪命。」 議遂格。 入為吏部侍郎。 逾年，力請外，仍待制、知洪州。 言者謂本棄八洞為失謀，奪一官，徙杭州、江寧府，再知洪州。 召還，卒於道。 有文集、奏議共八十卷。
Transport judge Xu Yanxian proposed selling Hunan salt in western Guang by head count, expecting three hundred thousand profit. Ben said, "Guiguan is poor and thin-soiled—the people cannot bear it." The plan was shelved. He entered the capital as vice minister of personnel. A year later he begged for an outside post and remained academician awaiting orders at Hongzhou. Critics said abandoning the eight caves was Ben's blunder; he lost one rank, served Hangzhou and Jiangning, then Hongzhou again. Recalled to court, he died on the journey. He left collected writings and memorials in eighty juan.
37
蕭注，字岩夫，臨江新喻人。 磊落有大志，尤喜言兵。 常言：「四方有事，吾將兵數萬，鼓行其間，戰必勝，攻必取，豈不快哉！」
Xiao Zhu, style name Yanfu, came from Xinyu in Linjiang. He was bold and ambitious and especially loved to talk of war. He often boasted, "When the realm stirs I shall march tens of thousands in array—victory in every fight, conquest in every siege—what could be sweeter?"
38
舉進士，攝廣州番禺令。 儂智高圍州數月，方舟數百攻城南，勢危甚。 注自圍中出，募海濱壯士，得二千人，乘大舶集上流，因颶風起，縱火焚賊舟，破其眾。 即日發縣門納援兵，民持牛酒、芻糧相繼入，城中人始有生意。 自是每戰以勝歸。 蔣偕上其功，擢禮賓副使、廣南駐泊都監。 賊還據邕管，余靖患其嘯誘諸洞，以屬注。 注挺身入蠻中，施結恩信。 狄青師次賓州，召會諸將，疑注倚賊聲勢為奸利，欲誅之。 注覺，託為遊辭，不肯往。 賊破，青始聞注前功，以知邕州。
He passed the jinshi and served as acting magistrate of Panyu in Guangzhou. Nong Zhigao besieged the city for months with hundreds of boats against the south wall; the peril was extreme. Zhu broke out, recruited coastal fighters, gathered two thousand men, sailed large ships upstream, and when a typhoon rose burned the rebel fleet and broke their army. That day he opened the gates to relief troops; people brought oxen, wine, fodder, and grain in streams, and the city revived. Henceforth he returned victorious from every fight. Jiang Jie reported his deeds and he was made vice ceremonial envoy and Guangnan garrison commander. Rebels still held Yong and Guan; Yu Jing feared they would stir the caves and put Zhu in charge. Zhu went in person among the tribes, winning them with grace and trust. Di Qing halted at Binzhou, summoned generals, suspected Zhu of profiteering through the rebels' power, and meant to kill him. Zhu sensed it, pleaded illness, and refused to attend. After the rebels fell Qing learned of Zhu's earlier service and made him prefect of Yongzhou.
39
智高走大理國，母與二弟寓特磨道。 注帥師往討，獲一裨將。 引致臥內，與之語，具得賊情，悉擒送闕下。 拜西上閤門副使。 募死士使入大理取智高，至則已為其國所殺，函首歸獻。 轉為使。
Zhigao fled to Dali; his mother and two brothers remained on the Temo route. Zhu led troops out, capturing a deputy commander. He questioned him in private, learned the rebels' full situation, and sent all captives to court. He was made western upper gate vice envoy. He sent daredevils into Dali for Zhigao; he was already dead there; they brought back his head in a box. He was transferred to envoy.
40
居邕數年，陰以利啖廣源群蠻，密繕兵甲，乃上疏曰：「交阯雖奉朝貢，實包禍心，常以蠶食王土為事。 往天聖中，鄭天益為轉運使，云責其擅賦雲河洞。 今雲河乃落蠻數百里，蓋年侵歲吞，馴致於是。 臣已盡得其要領，周知其要害。 今不取，異日必為中國憂。 願馳至京師，面陳方略。」 未報，而甲洞申紹泰犯西平，五將被害。 諫官論注不法致寇，罷為荊南鈐轄、提點刑獄。 李師中又劾其沮威嗜利，略智高閹民為奴，發洞丁采黃金無帳籍可考。 中使按驗頗有實，貶泰州團練副使。 淮南轉運使言：「注椎牛屠狗，招集遊士，部勒為兵，教之騎射，請徙大州以縻之。」 詔改鎮南軍節度副使。
At Yong for years he secretly bribed Guangyuan tribes and armed his men, then wrote, "Jiaozhi pays tribute but harbors treachery and constantly eats away imperial soil. Under Tiansheng, transport commissioner Zheng Tianyi had rebuked their unauthorized levies in Yunhe Cave. Now Yunhe lies in tribal hands for hundreds of li—years of nibbling brought this. I know their essentials and their weak points. If we do not seize it now, it will trouble China later. I beg to rush to court and lay out strategy face to face." Before an answer came, Jiadong chief Shen Shaotai attacked Xiping and five generals died. Censors blamed Zhu's misconduct for the raid; he was demoted to Jingnan deputy commissioner and judicial intendant. Li Shizhong further charged him with crushing authority for gain, enslaving Zhigao's castrated followers, and sending cave levies to mine gold without accounts. Palace agents found the charges largely true; he was demoted to deputy militia training commissioner of Taizhou. The Huainan transport commissioner said Zhu butchered and gathered bravos, drilled them in archery, and asked he be moved to a large prefecture to restrain him." An edict made him deputy military commissioner of Zhennan Army.
41
近臣有訟注廣州功者，起為右監門將軍、邠州都監。 熙寧初，以禮賓使知寧州。 環慶李信之敗，列城皆堅壁，注獨啟關夜宴如平時。 復閤門使，管幹麟府軍馬。 辭云：「身本書生，差長拊納，不閑戰鬥，懼無以集事。」 時有言交人挫於占城，眾不滿萬，可取也。 遂以注知桂州。
A courtier pleaded Zhu's Guangzhou service; he was made right gate general and Binzhou garrison commander. Early in Xining he was ceremonial envoy and prefect of Ningzhou. After Li Xin's defeat on the Huan-Qing frontier every city shut its gates; Zhu alone opened his and feasted at night as if at peace. He was again gate envoy in charge of Linfu cavalry. He declined: "I am a scholar at heart, only skilled in winning people over—I am no fighter and fear failure." Some then said Jiaozhi, beaten by Champa, had fewer than ten thousand men and could be taken. Zhu was therefore made prefect of Guizhou.
42
入覲，神宗問攻取之策，對曰：「昔者臣有是言，是時溪洞之兵，一可當十； 器甲堅利，親信之人皆可指呼而使。 今兩者不如昔，交人生聚教訓十五年矣，謂之『兵不滿萬』，妄也。」 既至桂，種酋皆來謁。 注延訪山川曲折，老幼安否，均得其歡心，故李乾德動息必知之。 然有獻征南策者，輒不聽。 會沈起以平蠻自任，帝使代注而罷，注歸，卒於道，年六十一。 詔優錄其子，賻絹三百。
At audience Shenzong asked how to attack; Zhu replied, "I once said so, but then stream-valley warriors counted ten for one; arms were keen, and trusted men obeyed at a word. Now both are worse; Jiaozhi has trained fifteen years—to call them 'under ten thousand' is nonsense." At Guizhou every tribal chief came to call. He asked after terrain and families, winning every heart, so Li Qiande's every move reached him. Yet he refused every plan to conquer the south. When Shen Qi styled himself tribal pacifier the emperor replaced Zhu with him; Zhu went home and died on the road at sixty-one. The court favored his sons and granted three hundred bolts of silk for the funeral.
43
注有膽氣，嗜殺，而能相人。 自陝西還，帝問注：「韓絳為安撫使，施設何如？」 對曰：「廟算深遠，臣不能窺。 然知絳當位極將相。」 帝喜曰：「果如卿言，絳必成功。」 問王安石，曰：「安石牛目虎顧，視物如射，意行直前，敢當天下大事。 然不如絳得和氣為多，惟氣和能養萬物爾。」 王韶為建昌參軍，注曰：「君他日類孫沔，但壽不及。」 後皆如其言。
Zhu was fearless, bloodthirsty, and could read faces. Returning from Shaanxi the emperor asked Zhu, "How does Han Jiang perform as frontier commissioner?" He answered, "Court strategy is far beyond me. Yet I know Jiang will rise to the highest rank." The emperor said gladly, "If so, Jiang will succeed." Asked about Wang Anshi, he said, "Anshi has ox eyes and a tiger's stare, sees like an archer, drives straight ahead, and dares shoulder the empire's great tasks. Yet he lacks Jiang's harmony; only harmony nourishes all things." Wang Shao was a Jiancang staff officer; Zhu said, "You will one day resemble Sun Hao, but you will not live as long." Later events proved him right on both counts.
44
陶弼，字商翁，永州人。 少俶儻，放宕吳中。 行山間，有雙鯉戲溪水上，佇觀之。 傍一老父顧曰：「此龍也，行且鬥，君宜亟去。」 去百步許，雷大震而雨，岸圮木拔。 又出大雲，倉卒遇風暴怒，二十七艘同時溺，獨弼舟得濟，人以是異之。 一見丁謂，謂妻以宗女，因從學兵法，能持論縱橫。 慶曆中，楊畋討湖南徭，弼上謁，畋授之兵使往襲，大破之。 以功得陽朔主簿。
Tao Bi, whose style name was Shangweng, came from Yongzhou. As a youth he was bold and free-spirited, wandering the Wu region. Walking in the hills he saw two carp playing in a stream and stopped to watch. An old man nearby said, "Those are dragons about to fight—you should leave at once." A hundred paces on, thunder crashed and rain poured; the bank gave way and trees were torn up. At sea again, storm clouds rose and a sudden gale sank twenty-seven boats at once, yet Bi's alone survived—people took it as a sign. Meeting Ding Wei once, Wei gave him a clanswoman in marriage; he studied strategy and could argue with sweeping force. During the Qingli era Yang Tian campaigned against Hunan Yao; Bi sought him out, was given troops for a raid, and won a great victory. For this he was made chief clerk of Yangshuo.
45
儂智高犯南海，畋為安撫使，辟參軍謀。 使下英江會諸將議擊，未至，智高解去。 弼舍舟，從其徒數十人，間關步出赴畋。 次臨賀，大將蔣偕適戰死，餘眾畏亡將被誅，多降賊。 弼數與之遇，亟矯畋命揭榜道上，諭使歸，許以不死，凡得千五百人。 府罷，調陽朔令。 課民植木官道旁，夾數百里，自是行者無夏秋暑暍之苦，它郡縣悉效之。 攝興安令。 移書說桂守蕭固浚靈渠以通漕，不聽； 至李師中，卒浚之。 師征安南，饋餉於是乎出，大為民利。
When Nong Zhigao invaded the south, Tian as frontier commissioner made Bi his planning aide. Sent down the Ying River to coordinate generals for an attack, he arrived after Zhigao had already withdrawn. He abandoned his boat and with several dozen men made a hard overland march to Tian. At Linhe General Jiang Jie had just fallen; the survivors feared punishment for his death and many went over to the rebels. Bi met them again and again, forged Tian's orders, posted placards promising amnesty, and recovered fifteen hundred men. When the command was dissolved he became magistrate of Yangshuo. He had trees planted along the post road for hundreds of li, sparing travelers summer heat and autumn thirst; other counties copied him. He served as acting magistrate of Xing'an. He urged Gui Prefect Xiao Gu to dredge the Ling Canal for grain transport, but Gu refused; when Li Shizhong arrived he finally completed the dredging. When troops marched on Annam, supplies could flow through it—a great public benefit.
46
知賓、容、欽三州，換崇儀副使，遷為使，知邕州。 邕經儂寇，井隧蕩然，人不樂其生。 弼綏輯惠養，至忘其勤。 諸峒獻土物求內附，弼降意撫答，謝其贄，皆感悅無犯邊者。 邕地卑下，水易集，夏大雨彌月，弼登城以望，三邊皆漫為陂澤，亟窒垠江三門，諭兵民即高避害。 俄而水大至，弼身先版臿，召僚吏賦役，為土囊千餘置道上，水果從竇入，隨塞之。 城雖不壞，而人皆乏食，則為發廩以振於內，方舟以饁於外，水不及女牆者三板，旬有五日乃退，公私一無所失亡。 自橫、潯以東數州皆沒。 弼久於邕，請便郡，徙鼎州。 章惇經理五溪蠻事，薦為辰州，遷皇城使。 降北江彭師宴，授忠州刺史。
He governed Bin, Rong, and Qin, became vice ceremonial envoy, then envoy and prefect of Yongzhou. Yong had been ravaged by the Nong rebels; infrastructure lay in ruins and people despaired. Bi soothed and nurtured them until they forgot their suffering. Cave peoples brought tribute seeking submission; Bi received them humbly, declined gifts, and they were so moved that none raided the border. Yong was low-lying and flood-prone; one summer month of rain flooded three sides; Bi mounted the walls, blocked the Yuan River's three gates, and ordered people to higher ground. When the flood peaked Bi took shovel in hand, rallied officials and laborers, laid a thousand earth bags along the roads, and plugged every breach as water entered. The city held, but food ran short; he opened granaries and sent supply boats; water stayed three planks below the parapet; after fifteen days it fell without loss. East from Heng and Xun several prefectures were drowned. Long service at Yong led him to request a nearer post; he was moved to Dingzhou. Zhang Dun, managing Wuxi tribes, recommended him for Chenzhou; he became imperial city envoy. He subdued Peng Shiyan of the Northern River and was made prefect of Zhongzhou.
47
郭逵南征，轉弼康州團練使，復知邕州。 民再罹禍亂，散匿山谷，弼率百騎深入左江峒，民知其至，扶老攜幼以歸。 逵帥官軍臨富良江，使弼殿。 交人納款，逵欲班師，恐為所襲。 乃以計夜起，軍不整，騎步相蹈藉亂行。 賊隔江陰伺覘，知弼殿，弗敢追。 弼申令帳下毋動，遲明，結隊徐行，逵賴以善還。 建所得廣源峒為順州，桄榔為縣。 進弼西上閤門使，留知順州。
Under Guo Kui's southern campaign Bi became militia training commissioner of Kangzhou and again prefect of Yongzhou. Twice ravaged, people hid in the hills; Bi led a hundred horsemen into the Zuo River caves, and families came home at his arrival. Kui brought the imperial army to the Fu River and put Bi in charge of the rear. Jiaozhi submitted; Kui wanted to withdraw but feared attack. He broke camp at night by ruse; troops were disorderly and cavalry and foot tangled in chaos. Enemy scouts across the river saw Bi guarding the rear and dared not pursue. Bi held his men still; at dawn he formed ranks and marched slowly, and Kui escaped safely. Captured Guangyuan caves became Shun Prefecture with Kuanglang County. He was made western upper gate envoy and left to govern Shun Prefecture.
48
州去邕二千里，多毒草瘴霧，戍卒死者什七八，弼亦疾甚，然蚤莫勞軍，視其良苦，意氣激揚，士莫不感泣，強奮起為用。 交人襲取桄榔，揚聲欲圖州，獨難弼。 弼素得人心，賊動息皆先知。 獲間諜不殺，諭以逆順，縱之去，恩威兩施，以是終弼在不敢犯。 加東上閤門使，未拜而卒。 詔錄其家五人。
Two thousand li from Yong, with poison and miasma, seven or eight in ten garrison troops died; Bi fell gravely ill yet still labored for the army morning and night until men wept and roused themselves. Jiaozhi raided Kuanglang and vowed to take the prefecture, naming Bi as their obstacle. Bi had long won hearts; every enemy move reached him first. He spared spies, taught them loyalty and treason, and released them; mixing grace and terror, enemies dared not strike while he held the post. He was to be eastern upper gate envoy but died before taking the seal. The court enrolled five of his household in office.
49
弼能為詩，好士樂施，所得俸祿，悉以與人，家至貧不恤也。 既死，妻在鄉里，僦屋以居。
He wrote poetry, loved scholars, and gave freely; he spent every salary and let his household grow poor without care. After his death his wife in the country rented a room to live in.
50
林廣，萊州人。 以捧日軍卒為行門，授內殿崇班，從環慶蔡挺麾下。 李諒祚寇大順城，廣射中之。 李信敗於荔原，廣引兵西入，破十二盤，攻白豹、金湯，皆先登。 夜過洛河，夏人來襲，廣揚聲選強弩列岸側，實卷甲疾趨，夏人疑不敢渡。 嘗護中使臨邊，將及烏雞川，遽率眾循山行。 道遇熟羌以險告，廣不答，夏人果伏兵於川，計不行而去。 告者乃諜也。
Lin Guang came from Laizhou. Rising from a Pillar-of-the-Sun soldier to inner-palace honored ban, he served under Cai Ting on the Huan-Qing frontier. When Li Liangzuo raided Dashun City, Guang's arrow struck him. After Li Xin's defeat at Liyuan, Guang marched west, took Twelve Passes, and stormed Baibao and Jintang, always first up the walls. Crossing the Luo by night as Xia attacked, Guang feigned strong crossbows on the bank while hurrying on in armor; the Xia suspected an ambush and did not ford. Escorting a palace envoy to the frontier, nearing Wuji River he suddenly led his men along the ridges. Assimilated Qiang warned of danger; Guang ignored them; Xia had indeed ambushed the valley and withdrew when the ruse failed. The informant had been a spy.
51
夏人圍柔遠城，廣止守，戒士卒即有變毋得輕動。 火夜起積薪中，眾屯守自若。 明日，敵至馬平川，大持攻具來。 廣被甲啟他門鼓而出，若將奪其馬，敵舍城救馬，廣復入，益修守備，夜募死士斫其營。 夏人數失利，始引退。 累遷禮賓使。 韓絳奏為本道將。
When Xia besieged Rouyuan, Guang held the defense and forbade rash movement if trouble broke out. Night fire broke out in the fuel stacks; the garrison held steady. Next day the enemy reached Mapingchuan with heavy siege gear. Guang armored, sallied from another gate as if to seize horses; foes abandoned the walls; he re-entered, strengthened defenses, and sent night raiders into their camp. After repeated losses the Xia began to pull back. He rose repeatedly to ceremonial envoy. Han Jiang recommended him as a circuit general.
52
慶兵據北城叛，廣在南城，望其眾進退不一，曰：「是不舉軍亂也。」 挺身縋城出其後，諭以逆順，皆投兵聽命。 出者才三百人，廣語餘眾曰：「亂者去矣，汝曹事我久，能聽命，不唯得活，仍有功。」 得百餘人。 激厲要束，使反攻城下兵，禽戮皆盡，遂平北城。 出追亂者，至石門山與之遇，諭之不肯降； 縱兵尾擊，敵知不得免，始請命。 廣曰：「不從吾言，今窘而就死，非降也。」 悉斬之。 遷本路都監。 詔入對，神宗獎金湯、石門之功，慰賜甚厚，將使開熙河。 辭以不習洮、隴事，乃遷鈐轄使，還徙鄜延。 攻踏白城，功最，遷皇城使。 進討洮羌，加帝御器械、環慶副都總管。 安南用師，詣闕請行。 帝曰：「南方卑濕。 知卿病足，西邊方開拓，宜復歸。」 擢龍神衛四廂都指揮使、英州刺史。 邊臣或言：「往者劉平因救鄰道戰沒，今宜罷援兵。」 廣曰：「此乃制賊長計也。 使賊悉力寇一路，而他道不救，雖古名將亦無能為已。 平之所以敗，非出援罪。」 乃止。
Qing mutineers held the north city while Guang was in the south; seeing uneven movement he said, "This is not a full-army revolt." He roped down behind them, preached loyalty and treason, and all threw down arms and obeyed. Only three hundred came out; he told the rest, "The rebels are gone—you who obey will live and even win reward." He won more than a hundred men. He rallied them, turned them on the mutineers below the wall, killed them all, and pacified the north city. Pursuing rebels to Shimen Mountain, he urged surrender in vain; he harried them until, seeing no escape, they begged for mercy. Guang said, "You refused my words; cornered now you beg for life—that is not surrender." He beheaded them all. He was made circuit supervisory commissioner. At audience Shenzong praised Jintang and Shimen, rewarded him richly, and meant to send him to open the Hexi. He declined unfamiliarity with Tao and Long, was made deputy commissioner, then posted to Fuyan. Attacking Tabai City he won top honors and became imperial city envoy. Campaigning against Tao tribes he received imperial ordnance and became deputy overall commander of Huan and Qing. When war came to Annam he sought duty at court. The emperor said, "The south is low and damp. Knowing your foot troubles, and with the western frontier opening, you should return west." He was made commander of the Dragon Spirit Guard's fourth wing and prefect of Yingzhou. Some border officers said Liu Ping died aiding a neighbor and relief troops should end. Guang said, "That is the long-term plan for controlling enemies. Let foes concentrate on one route while others send no aid—even famous ancient generals would fail. Ping's defeat was not because he went to the rescue." The proposal was dropped.
53
再轉步軍都虞候。 韓存寶討瀘蠻乞弟，逗撓不進，詔廣代之。 廣至，閱兵合將，搜人材勇怯，三分之，日夕肄習，間椎牛享犒，士心皆奮。 遣使開曉乞弟，仍索所亡卒。 乞弟歸卒七人，奏書降而身不至。 乃決策深入，陳師瀘水，率將吏東鄉再拜。 誓之曰：「朝廷以存寶用兵亡狀，使我代之，要以必禽渠魁。 今孤軍遠略，久駐賊境，退則為戮，冒死一戰，勝負未可知。 縱死，猶有賞，愈於退而死也。 與汝等戮力而進，可乎？」 眾皆踴躍。 廣挾所得渠帥及質子在軍，而令以次酋護餉，以是入箐道而無鈔略之患。 師行有二途，從納溪抵江門近而險，從寧遠抵樂共壩遠而平。 蠻意官軍必出江門，盛兵阻隘； 而師趨樂共，蠻不能支，皆遁去。 廣分兵繞帽溪，掩江門後，破其險，水際皆通行，益前進，每戰必捷。 次落婆遠，乞弟遣叔父阿汝約降求退舍，又約不解甲。 廣策其有異，除阜為壇，距中軍五十步，且設伏。 明日，乞弟擁千人出降，匿弩士氈裘，猶豫不前謝恩。 廣發伏擊之，蠻奔潰，斬阿汝及大酋二十八人。 乞弟以所乘馬授弟阿字，大將王光祖追斬之，軍中爭其屍，乞弟得從江橋下脫走。 得其種落三萬，進次歸徠州，窮探巢穴，發故酋甫望箇恕塚。 天寒，士多墮指，而乞弟竟不可得。 監軍先受密詔，聽引兵還，遂班師。
He was again made chief adjutant of the foot armies. Han Cunbao stalled against Lu rebel Qidi; Guang replaced him. He reviewed troops, sorted men by courage, drilled them constantly, feasted them with slaughtered oxen, and morale soared. He sent envoys to Qidi and demanded the lost soldiers. Qidi returned seven men and wrote submission but did not appear. He advanced deep, formed line on the Lu River, and bowed east with his officers. He swore, "The court sent me because Cunbao failed, and demands the rebel chief be taken. A lone army deep in enemy country, retreat means death; one desperate battle may win or lose. Death may still bring reward, better than retreating to die. Will you fight with all your strength?" All leapt to agree. Guang took captured chiefs and hostages with the army and had lesser chiefs guard supplies, entering ravine paths without raider trouble. Two routes existed: Naxi to Jiangmen was short but dangerous; Ningyuan to Legong Dam was long but easy. Tribes expected troops at Jiangmen and massed to block the pass; but the army took Legong, tribes could not hold, and all fled. Guang sent troops around Maoxi to strike behind Jiangmen, opened the defile, and won every battle as he advanced. At Luopoyuan Qidi sent his uncle Ayue to feign surrender and demand withdrawal without disarming. Guang sensed treachery, built a platform fifty paces from camp, and laid an ambush. Next day Qidi brought a thousand men, crossbowmen hidden in fur coats, hesitating to approach. Guang sprang the ambush; tribes fled; Ayue and twenty-eight chiefs were beheaded. Qidi gave his horse to his brother Azi; Wang Guangzu killed him; troops fought over the body; Qidi escaped under Jiang Bridge. Thirty thousand tribesmen were taken; at Guilaizhou they probed deep, opening the tomb of former chief Fuwang Gezhu. Cold took many men's fingers to frostbite, yet Qidi could not be caught. The supervising commissioner held a secret edict allowing withdrawal, and troops were pulled back.
54
拜衛州防禦使、馬軍都虞候。 西兵未解，上疏求面陳方略。 及入見，言：「韓存寶雖有罪，功亦多，以今日朝廷待諸將，存寶不至死。」 廣還部，至閿鄉，疽發斷頸卒，年四十八。
He was made defense commissioner of Weizhou and chief horse-army adjutant. With western troops still active he asked to present strategy in person. At audience he said Cunbao deserved punishment but also great merit, and under present court treatment would not have had to die. Returning to his post, at Wenxiang a carbuncle broke his neck and he died at forty-eight.
55
廣為人有風義，輕財好施，學通《左氏春秋》。 臨事持重，長於料敵，以智損益《八陳圖》，又撰約束百餘條列上，邊地頗推行之。 其名聞於西夏。 秉常母梁氏將內侮，論中國將帥，獨畏廣，聞其南征，乃舉兵。 然在瀘以敕書招蠻，既降而殺之，此其短也。 遄被惡疾死，或以為殺降之報雲。
Guang was principled, generous with wealth, and versed in the Zuo Commentary. Weighty in action, skilled at reading enemies, he revised the Eight Formations by wit and drafted regulations widely used on the frontier. His name was known among the Western Xia. When Bingchang's mother Lady Liang plotted within, she feared only Guang among Song commanders; hearing of his southern campaign she raised troops. Yet at Lu he summoned tribes by imperial writ and killed them after submission—his fault. Soon he died of a vicious illness—some called it retribution for killing submitters.
56
論曰：宋太宗既厭兵，一意安邊息民，海內大治。 真宗、仁宗深仁厚澤，涵煦生民，然仁文有餘，義武不足，蓋是時中國之人，不見兵革之日久矣。 於是契丹、西夏起為邊患，乃不吝繒帛以成和好。 神宗撫承平之運，銳焉有為，積財練兵，志在刷恥，故一時材智之士，各得暴其所長，以興立事功，若熊本、蕭注、陶弼、林廣實然。 本、注起身科第，弼能詩好士，廣學通《左氏春秋》。 昔孫權勸呂蒙學，文武豈二致哉！ 本上書以媚時相，廣之征蠻，發塚殺降，君子疵之。
The commentary says: After Taizong tired of war he secured borders and rested the people, and the realm was greatly ordered. Zhenzong and Renzong nurtured the people with deep grace, yet culture outweighed martial vigor—for China had long been unaccustomed to war. Then Khitan and Western Xia troubled the borders, and silk was lavished to buy peace. Shenzong inherited peace, amassed wealth, drilled troops, and sought to erase shame; so Xiong Ben, Xiao Zhu, Tao Bi, and Lin Guang each shone. Ben and Zhu came through examinations; Bi wrote poetry and loved scholars; Guang mastered the Zuo Commentary. Sun Quan once urged Lü Meng to study—are wen and wu truly separate! Ben flattered the chief minister in memorials; Guang opened graves and killed submitters on campaign—gentlemen faulted both.