1
傅楫，字元通，興化軍仙遊人。 少自刻厲，從孫覺、陳襄學。 第進士，調揚州司戶參軍，攝天長令，發擿隱伏，姦猾屏跡。 轉福清丞，知龍泉縣。 孫覺為御史中丞，語之曰：「朝廷欲用君，盍少留？」 楫曰：「仕宦所以樂居中者，免外臺督責耳。 今俯首權門，與外臺奚擇？ 且外官，己所當得也。」 遂去不顧。
Fu Ji, styled Yuantong, was a native of Xianyou in Xinghua Circuit. From youth he drove himself hard and studied under Sun Jue and Chen Xiang. After passing the jinshi examination he was posted as revenue officer at Yangzhou, served as acting magistrate of Tianchang, rooted out concealed wrongdoing, and drove the corrupt and cunning from the county. He was transferred to assistant magistrate of Fuqing and then appointed magistrate of Longquan County. When Sun Jue became vice censor-in-chief, he told Fu Ji, "The court means to promote you—why not stay on here a little longer?" Fu Ji replied, "What men in office like about a central post is simply escaping the scrutiny of the regional inspectorates. If I bow my head at the doors of the powerful now, how is that any different from answering to an inspectorate? Besides, an outside appointment is what I am entitled to in the first place." With that he departed and never looked back.
2
道除太學博士，居四年，未嘗一跡大臣門。 既滿，徑赴銓曹。 楫丞福清時，受知郡守曾鞏，鞏弟布方執政，由是薦為太常博士。 徽宗以端王就資善堂學，擇師傅為說書，升楫記室參軍，進侍講、翊善，中人輗事於府者，多與宮僚狎，楫獨漠然不可親，一府嚴憚之。 五年不遷。 鄒浩得罪貶，楫以贐行免官。
En route he was appointed erudite of the Imperial University. For four years he never once set foot inside a senior minister's house. When his term ended he went straight to the Board of Appointments for a new posting. While serving as assistant magistrate of Fuqing he had won the favor of the prefect Zeng Gong. Zeng's younger brother Bu was then in power at court and on that account had him recommended as erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When Huizong was still Prince Duan he entered the Hall for the Cultivation of Virtue, and instructors were chosen to lecture him. Fu Ji was promoted to recorder of the household staff and then to lecturer-in-attendance and companion-in-attendance. The eunuchs who ran affairs at the princely residence mostly fraternized with the palace staff, but Fu Ji alone kept his distance and could not be approached; the entire household stood in awe of him. For five years he received no promotion. When Zou Hao was punished and banished, Fu Ji was stripped of his office for sending him a parting gift.
3
徽宗即位，召為司封員外郎，歷監察御史、國子司業、起居郎，拜中書舍人。 時曾布當國，自以於楫有汲引恩，冀為之用。 楫略無所傾下，凡命令有不當，用人有未厭，悉極論之，雖屢卻不為奪，布大失望。 帝以舊學故，多所延訪，楫每以遵祖宗法度、安靜自然為言。 他日，李清臣勸帝清心省事，帝曰：「近臣中唯傅楫嘗道此。」
After Huizong ascended the throne Fu Ji was summoned as outer gentleman of the Bureau of Honors, served successively as investigating censor, vice director of the Directorate of Education, and attendant of the imperial diary, and was appointed drafting attendant of the Secretariat-Chancellery. Zeng Bu was then directing the government. He believed he had done Fu Ji the favor of advancing his career and hoped to win his support. Fu Ji would not defer to him in the least. Whenever an edict seemed wrong or an appointment unsatisfactory, he argued the point to the full, and even repeated rebuffs did not silence him. Zeng Bu was deeply disappointed. Because of their long acquaintance from the princely household the emperor often sought his counsel, and Fu Ji always urged adherence to ancestral law and a policy of quiet, natural rule. On another occasion Li Qingchen urged the emperor to simplify his mind and lighten the burden of state affairs. The emperor replied, "Of all my close advisers, only Fu Ji has ever said that to me."
4
楫在朝歲餘，見時事浸異，竊歎曰：「禍其始此乎！」 聞者甚之，楫笑曰：「後當信吾言。」 遂上疏丐去，以龍圖待制知亳州。 卒，年六十一。 帝念其藩邸舊臣，賜絹三百匹。
After a little more than a year at court Fu Ji saw affairs drifting in a troubling direction and murmured to himself, "Is this where the trouble begins?" Those who overheard were horrified, but Fu Ji only smiled and said, "You will believe me in time." He then memorialized asking to leave office and was appointed dragon diagram attendant-in-waiting and prefect of Bozhou. He died at the age of sixty-one. Mindful that he had been an old servant from the princely household, the emperor granted three hundred bolts of silk.
5
沈畸，字德侔，湖州德清人。 第進士，歷官州縣。 崇寧中，為尚書議禮編修官，召對，擢監察御史。 畸至臺，欲有所論建，而六察無言事法，乃詣匭上十事，言花石擾民，土木弊國，冗費多，恩澤濫，議論異同，下情睽隔。 其論當十、夾錫錢最為剴當，略曰：
Shen Ji, styled Deyou, was a native of Deqing in Huzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and served in a series of prefectural and county posts. During the Chongning period he served as compiler for ritual discussions in the Secretariat, was summoned for an audience with the emperor, and was promoted to investigating censor. When Shen Ji entered the Censorate he wished to offer policy proposals, but the six investigating bureaus had no established procedure for reporting on affairs of state. He therefore submitted ten items through the petition box, denouncing the Flower-and-Stone Network for harassing the people, lavish construction for weakening the state, wasteful spending, indiscriminate grants of favor, factional wrangling, and the court's estrangement from popular sentiment. His arguments against the value-ten coins and the tin-alloy currency were especially penetrating. In summary he wrote:
6
「小錢之便於民，久矣。 古者軍興用之，或以一當百，至於當千，此權時之術，非可行於無事之世。 今當十之議，固足紓目前，然使遊手鼓鑄，無故有倍稱之息，何憚而不為？ 雖日加斷斬，勢不可止。 恐未能期歲，東南小錢輕，錢輕則物重，物重則民愈困，此盜賊所由起也。 陝西舊無銅錢，故以夾錫為貴，一切改鑄，則猶前日鐵錢耳。 今東南方私鑄，又將使西北效之，是導民犯法也。」
"Small-denomination coinage has long served the people well. In antiquity such measures were adopted only when armies were mobilized—one coin might pass for a hundred, or even a thousand. That was an expedient for emergencies, not a policy fit for peacetime. The proposal for value-ten coins may ease the present shortage, but once idlers discover they can mint coins and reap profits at double the face value, what will stop them? Even daily executions would not halt it. Within a year the southeast may see small coin debased. When money loses value, goods grow dear, and when goods grow dear the people suffer all the more—that is how banditry begins. Shaanxi long lacked copper currency and therefore valued tin-alloy coin. If everything is recast under the new system, the result will be no better than the old iron cash. Private minting in the southeast will soon spread to the northwest as well. That is simply teaching the people to break the law."
7
進殿中侍御史。 嘗經國子監門，有小內侍從數騎絕道突過，騶卒追問不為止，臺檄諸司捕之不獲。 畸曰：「風憲之地，可但已乎？」 入言之，徽宗下內省跡治，竟抵罪。
He was promoted to palace attendant censor. Once, passing the gate of the Directorate of Education, he saw a junior palace eunuch and several mounted attendants cut across the road at a gallop. The outriders' men called on them to halt, but they paid no heed. The Censorate ordered various offices to arrest them, but the culprits could not be found. Shen Ji said, "At the very seat of censorial authority, can we simply let the matter drop?" He reported the incident to the throne. Huizong ordered the Inner Palace to investigate, and the offenders were eventually punished.
8
蔡京興蘇州錢獄，欲陷章綖兄弟，遣開封尹李孝壽、御史張茂直鞫之。 株逮至千百，強抑使承盜鑄罪，死者甚眾，京猶以為緩。 帝獨意其非辜，遣畸及御史蕭服往代。 京將啖以顯仕，白為左正言，及擢侍御史。 畸至蘇，即日決釋無佐證者七百人，歎曰：「為天子耳目司，而可傅會權要，殺人以苟富貴乎？」 遂閱實平反以聞。 京大怒，削畸三秩，貶監信州酒稅，未幾，卒。 既而獄事竟，復羈管明州。 使者持敕至家，將發棺驗實，畸子浚泣訴乃止。 建炎初，贈龍圖閣直學士。 浚官至右正言。
Cai Jing engineered the Suzhou coin-forgery case to destroy the Zhang brothers and dispatched the Kaifeng intendant Li Xiaoshou and the censor Zhang Maozhi to conduct the interrogations. Implicated parties numbered in the thousands. Confessions to counterfeiting were extracted by force, and many died in custody, yet Cai Jing still thought the proceedings too lenient. The emperor alone suspected injustice and sent Shen Ji and the censor Xiao Fu to take over the case. Cai Jing tried to win him over with high office, had him appointed left rectifier of discourse, and then promoted him to attending censor. The day Shen Ji reached Suzhou he released seven hundred prisoners for whom no evidence existed and exclaimed, "As the emperor's eyes and ears, how can I fabricate charges to please the powerful and kill innocent men for my own advancement?" He then reviewed the cases, reversed the wrongful convictions, and reported his findings to the throne. Cai Jing was furious. He stripped Shen Ji of three ranks and demoted him to supervisor of the wine tax at Xinzhou. Before long Shen Ji died. When the case was finally closed, the court again ordered him placed under restricted supervision at Mingzhou. An envoy arrived at the family home with orders to open the coffin and verify the facts. Shen Ji's son Jun wept and pleaded until the order was withdrawn. At the beginning of the Jianyan era he was posthumously granted the title dragon diagram pavilion academician-in-attendance. His son Jun rose to the post of right rectifier of discourse.
9
蕭服 〈附〉
Xiao Fu 〈Appended biography〉
10
蕭服，字昭甫，廬陵人。 第進士，調望江令，治以教化為本。 訪古跡，得王祥臥冰池、孟宗泣筍臺，皆為築亭。 又刻唐縣令鞠信陵文於石，俾民知所向。 已而邑人朱氏女刲股愈母疾，人頌傳之，以為治化所致。 知高安縣，尉獲凶盜，獄具矣，服審其辭，疑之，且視其刀室不與刃合，頃之而殺人者得，囚蓋平民也。 徙知康州，未行，改親賢宅教授。 提舉淮西常平，召為將作少監。
Xiao Fu, styled Zhaofu, was a native of Luling. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed magistrate of Wangjiang, governing with moral instruction as his foundation. He searched out ancient sites, found the pool where Wang Xiang had lain on ice and the terrace where Meng Zong had wept for bamboo shoots, and built pavilions at each. He also had the essay of the Tang county magistrate Ju Xinling carved in stone so the people would know what to aspire to. Soon afterward a local woman of the Zhu clan cut flesh from her thigh to heal her mother's illness. People praised the deed far and wide and credited it to his civilizing rule. As magistrate of Gao'an, when the sheriff arrested a supposed murderer and the case seemed closed, Xiao Fu examined the confession and found it doubtful. He inspected the knife sheath and saw it did not match the blade. Before long the real killer was found—the prisoner was an innocent commoner. He was transferred to magistrate of Kangzhou, but before he could depart he was reassigned as instructor at the Residence of the Close and Worthy. He was appointed intendant of the Huaixi ever-normal granaries and then summoned as vice director of the Directorate of Palace Buildings.
11
以使事得入對，論人主聽言之要，以謂唐、虞盛世，猶畏巧言而堲讒說。 纚纚數百言，徽宗謂有爭臣風，擢監察御史。 奉詔作《崇寧備官記》，帝稱善，詔輔臣曰：「服文辭勁麗，宜居翰苑。 朕愛其鯁諤，顧臺諫中何可闕此人？」 俄偕沈畸使鞫獄，坐羈管處州，逾歲得歸。 張商英當國，引為吏部員外郎。 送遼使，得疾於道，遂致仕。 既愈，還舊職，以父老，得請知蘄州。 卒，年五十六。
On a diplomatic mission he gained an audience and spoke on how a ruler should weigh what he hears, observing that even in the golden age of Yao and Shun men still feared clever words and detested slander. He spoke at length for several hundred words. Huizong declared that he had the bearing of a remonstrating minister and promoted him to investigating censor. By imperial order he composed the Record of Prepared Offices in the Chongning Era. The emperor praised the work and told his chief ministers, "Fu's prose is forceful and elegant—he belongs in the Hanlin Academy. I value his blunt honesty, but how can the remonstrance and censorial offices do without a man like this?" Soon afterward he was sent with Shen Ji to investigate the Suzhou case and was punished with restricted supervision at Chuzhou. After more than a year he was allowed to return. When Zhang Shangying directed the government he brought Xiao Fu back as outer gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel. While escorting a Liao envoy he fell ill on the road and retired from office. After he recovered he resumed his former post, then secured appointment as prefect of Qizhou on grounds that his father was elderly. He died at the age of fifty-six.
12
徐勣，字元初，宣州南陵人。 舉進士，調吳江尉，選桂州教授。 王師討交阯，轉運使檄勣從軍。 餉路瘴險，民當役者多避匿，捕得千餘人，使者使勣杖之，勣曰：「是固有罪，然皆饑羸病乏，不足勝杖，姑涅臂以戒，亦可已。」 使者怒，欲並劾勣，勣力爭不變，使者不能奪。 郭逵宿留不進，勣謂副使趙禼曰：「師出淹時，而主帥無討賊意，何由成功？」 因具蠻人情狀疏於朝，謂斷者人主之利器，今諸將首鼠不進，惟斷自上意而已。 既而逵、禼果皆以無功貶。
Xu Ji, styled Yuanchu, was a native of Nanling in Xuanzhou. He passed the jinshi examination, was posted as sheriff of Wujiang, and was selected as instructor at Guizhou. When the imperial army campaigned against Jiaozhi, the transport commissioner ordered Xu Ji to join the campaign. The supply route ran through malarial and treacherous country. Many men liable for corvée labor had gone into hiding, and more than a thousand were captured. The envoy ordered Xu Ji to flog them. Xu Ji said, "They are indeed at fault, but all are starving, sick, and too weak to endure a beating. Brand their arms as a warning—that should be enough." The envoy was furious and threatened to impeach Xu Ji along with the prisoners, but Xu Ji argued his case without yielding, and the envoy could not overrule him. Guo Kui lingered in camp without advancing. Xu Ji said to the vice commissioner Zhao Xi, "The army has been in the field for months, yet the commander shows no will to fight the enemy. How can we succeed?" He then memorialized the court with a detailed account of conditions among the southern peoples, arguing that decisiveness is the ruler's sharpest weapon. With the generals wavering and refusing to advance, only a firm decision from the throne itself could break the stalemate. Before long both Guo Kui and Zhao Xi were demoted for achieving nothing.
13
舒亶聞其名，將以御史薦，勣惡亶為人，辭不答。 求知建平縣，入為諸王宮教授，通判通州。 瀕海有捍堤，廢不治，歲苦漂溺。 勣躬督防卒護築之，堤成，民賴其利。 復教授廣陵、申王院，改諸王府記室參軍。 哲宗見其文，諭獎之，欲俟滿歲以為左右史，未及用。
Shu Dan heard of his reputation and meant to recommend him as censor, but Xu Ji despised Shu's character and declined without a word. He sought appointment as magistrate of Jianping County, entered service as instructor in the princes' palaces, and served as vice prefect of Tongzhou. Along the coast stood a protective dike that had fallen into disrepair. Year after year the people suffered from flooding. Xu Ji personally supervised the garrison troops in rebuilding it. When the dike was finished the people at last had protection from the sea. He again served as instructor at Guangling and in the Shen Prince's academy, and was appointed recorder of the household staff in the princes' palaces. Zhezong read his writings, praised him, and intended to appoint him left or right historiographer when his term ended, but the appointment never came in time.
14
徽宗立，擢寶文閣待制兼侍講，遷中書舍人，修《神宗史》。 時紹聖黨與尚在朝，人懷異意，以沮新政。 帝謂勣曰：「朕每聽臣僚進對，非詐則諛； 惟卿鯁直，朕所倚賴。」 因論擇相之難，云已召范純仁、韓忠彥。 勣頓首賀曰：「得人矣！」 詔與蔡京同校《五朝寶訓》。 勣不肯與京聯職，固辭，奏京之惡，引盧杞為喻。 遷給事中、翰林學士。 上疏陳六事：曰時要，曰任賢，曰求諫，曰選用，曰破朋黨，曰明功罪。
When Huizong ascended the throne Xu Ji was promoted to baowen pavilion attendant-in-waiting and concurrent lecturer-in-attendance, then to drafting attendant of the Secretariat-Chancellery, and was assigned to compile the History of Emperor Shenzong. Members of the Shaosheng faction still held office at court, and many harbored private reservations that threatened to obstruct the new policies. The emperor told Xu Ji, "Whenever I hear officials address me in court, it is either deceit or flattery. Only you speak with blunt honesty. You are the adviser I rely on." He then spoke of the difficulty of choosing a chief minister and said he had already summoned Fan Chunren and Han Zhongyan. Xu Ji bowed and exclaimed, "Your Majesty has found the right men!" An edict ordered him to collate the Precious Instructions of Five Reigns together with Cai Jing. Xu Ji refused to serve alongside Cai Jing, declined firmly, memorialized against Cai's conduct, and compared him to the Tang minister Lu Qi. He was promoted to supervising secretary and Hanlin academician. He submitted a memorial outlining six priorities: the pressing needs of the time, appointing worthy men, encouraging remonstrance, improving selection and appointment, breaking up factional cliques, and distinguishing merit from guilt.
15
國史久不成，勣言：「《神宗正史》，今更五閏矣，未能成書。 蓋由元祐、紹聖史臣好惡不同，范祖禹等專主司馬光家藏記事，蔡京兄弟純用王安石《日錄》，各為之說，故論議紛然。 當時輔相之家，家藏記錄，何得無之？ 臣謂宜盡取用，參討是非，勒成大典。」 帝然之，命勣草詔戒史官，俾盡心去取，毋使失實。
The dynastic history had long gone unfinished. Xu Ji said, "The True History of Emperor Shenzong has now passed through five intercalary cycles without reaching completion. The reason is that historians of the Yuanyou and Shaosheng periods brought different prejudices to the work. Fan Zuyu and his colleagues relied exclusively on the family records kept by Sima Guang, while the Cai brothers drew only on Wang Anshi's Diary. Each side argued its own case, and debate became hopelessly tangled. In those days, which chief minister's household did not keep its own records? I believe all such materials should be consulted, their claims weighed against one another, and a definitive history compiled." The emperor agreed and ordered Xu Ji to draft an edict instructing the historians to weigh all sources carefully and permit no distortion of the truth.
16
帝之初政，銳欲損革新法之害民，曾布始以為然，已乃密陳紹述之說。 帝不能決，以問勣，勣曰：「聖意得非欲兩存乎？ 今是非未定，政事未一，若不考其實，姑務兩存，臣未見其可也。」 又因論棄湟州，請「自今勿妄興邊事，無邊事則朝廷之福，有邊事則臣下之利。 自古失於輕舉以貽後悔，皆此類也。」
Early in his reign the emperor was eager to roll back the New Policies' harm to the people. Zeng Bu at first agreed, but soon secretly urged a return to the reform legacy. The emperor could not decide and asked Xu Ji. Xu Ji replied, "Does Your Majesty mean to preserve both approaches at once? Right and wrong remain unsettled and policy is not unified. If we do not examine the facts and simply try to keep both sides, I see no way that can succeed." He also spoke against abandoning Huangzhou and urged, "From now on do not rashly stir up border troubles. No border wars mean blessing for the court; border wars mean profit for officials below. Throughout history, rash ventures that bred later regret have all followed this pattern."
17
勣與何執中偕事帝於王邸，蔡京以宮僚之舊，每曲意事二人，勣不少降節。 謁歸視親病，或言翰林學士未有出外者，帝曰：「勣謁告歸爾，非去朝廷也，奈何輕欲奪之！」 俄而遭憂。 京入輔，執中亦預政，擿勣行章惇詞，以為詆先烈。 服闋，以主管靈仙觀，入黨籍中。 起知江寧府，言者復論為元祐姦朋，必不能推行學政，罷歸。
Xu Ji and He Zhizhong had both served the emperor in the princely household. Cai Jing, as a former palace colleague, constantly curried favor with them, but Xu Ji would not defer to him in the least. When he asked leave to visit his ailing parent, some objected that no Hanlin academician had ever left the capital on such grounds. The emperor said, "Xu Ji is only taking leave to go home—he is not leaving the court. Why would you so lightly try to strip him of office?" Before long his parent died and he entered mourning. When Cai Jing entered the chief ministry and He Zhizhong joined the government, they seized on Xu Ji's conduct and words associated with Zhang Dun, accusing him of slandering the former worthies. When his mourning ended he was assigned to supervise the Lingxian Abbey and was entered on the factional blacklist. He was recalled to serve as prefect of Jiangning, but critics again denounced him as a Yuanyou factionalist who could not enforce the new school policies, and he was dismissed.
18
大觀三年，知太平州。 召入覲，極論茶鹽法為民病，帝曰：「以用度不足故也。」 對曰：「生財有道，理財有義，用財有法。 今國用不足，在陛下明詔有司，推講而力行之耳。」 帝曰：「不見卿久，今日乃聞嘉言。」 加龍圖閣直學士，留守南京。
In the third year of the Daguan era he was appointed prefect of Taiping. Summoned to court, he argued forcefully that the tea and salt monopolies were harming the people. The emperor replied, "That is because revenues are insufficient." Xu Ji answered, "There is a proper Way to generate revenue, righteousness in managing it, and law in spending it. If state revenues are still short, the remedy lies in Your Majesty's issuing clear orders to the offices to study these principles and enforce them with vigor." The emperor said, "I have not seen you in so long—today at last I hear words worth heeding." He was promoted to dragon diagram pavilion academician-in-attendance and appointed to guard Nanjing.
19
蔡京自錢塘召還，過宋見勣，微言撼之曰：「元功遭遇在伯通右，伯通既相矣。」 勣笑曰：「人各有志，吾豈以利祿易之哉？」 京慚不能對，勣亦終不復用。 以疾，除顯謨閣學士致仕。 卒，年七十九。 贈資政殿學士、正奉大夫。 勣挺挺持正，尤為帝所禮重，而不至大用，時議惜之。
When Cai Jing was recalled from Qiantang he passed through Song and visited Xu Ji, hinting, "Your early service to the emperor outranks Botong's, and Botong is already chief minister." Xu Ji laughed and said, "Every man has his own purpose. Would I trade mine for rank and salary?" Cai Jing was shamed into silence, and Xu Ji was never employed again. Illness led to his appointment as xianmo pavilion academician and retirement from office. He died at the age of seventy-nine. He was posthumously granted the titles zizheng hall academician and grandee of proper service. Upright and unyielding, Xu Ji was especially honored by the emperor, yet he never rose to high office—a loss widely regretted at the time.
20
張汝明
Zhang Ruming
21
張汝明，字舜文，世為廬陵人，徙居真州。 兄侍御史汝賢，元豐中以論尚書左丞王安禮，與之俱罷。 未幾，卒。 汝明少嗜學，刻意屬文，下筆輒千百言。 入太學，有聲一時。 國子司業黃隱將以子妻之，汝明約無飾華侈，協力承親歡，然後受室。
Zhang Ruming, styled Shunwen, came from a Luling family that had moved to Zhenzhou. His elder brother Ruxian, an attending censor, was dismissed in the Yuanfeng era after criticizing Vice Director Wang Anli of the Secretariat. He died soon afterward. From youth Zhang Ruming loved learning and devoted himself to writing; a single sitting could yield a thousand words or more. He entered the Imperial University and soon gained renown. Vice director Huang Yin of the Directorate of Education wished to give him his daughter in marriage. Zhang Ruming insisted they live without luxury, work together to please their parents, and only then marry.
22
登進士第，歷衛真、江陰、宜黃、華陰四縣主簿，杭州司理參軍，亳州鹿邑丞。 母病疽，更數醫不效，汝明刺血調藥，傅之而愈。 江陰尉貧且病，市物不時予直，部使者欲繩以法，汝明為鬻橐中裝，代償之。 華陰修嶽廟，費钜財窘，令以屬汝明。 汝明嚴與為期，民德其不擾，相與出力佐役，如期而成。 他廟非典祀、妖巫憑以惑眾者，則毀而懲其人。 滯州縣二十年，未嘗出一語干進，故無薦者。
He passed the jinshi examination and served successively as chief clerk in Weizhen, Jiangyin, Yihuang, and Huayin, as judicial administrator at Hangzhou, and as assistant magistrate of Luyi in Bozhou. When his mother suffered from a carbuncle and several physicians failed to cure her, Zhang Ruming drew his own blood to mix medicine, applied it, and she recovered. A Jiangyin sheriff, poor and ill, had fallen behind on payments to merchants, and the circuit envoy meant to punish him. Zhang Ruming sold his belongings and paid the debt for him. When Huayin undertook repairs on the mountain temple at enormous cost, the magistrate entrusted the project to Zhang Ruming. He set a firm deadline. The people appreciated that he did not harass them and volunteered labor, finishing on schedule. He destroyed illicit shrines and punished shamans who used them to mislead the people. He remained in local posts for twenty years and never once sought advancement through influence, so no one recommended him.
23
大觀中，或言其名，召置學制局，預考貢士，去取皆有題品，值不悅者，誣以背王氏學，詔究其事，得所謂《去取錄》，徽宗覽之曰：「考校盡心，寧復有此？」 特改宣教郎。
During the Daguan era someone mentioned his name, and he was summoned to the School Regulations Bureau to help examine candidates for the civil service. His evaluations were meticulous. Enemies accused him of betraying Wang Anshi's learning. When the court investigated and found his Record of Selections and Rejections, Huizong read it and said, "This examination was conducted with scrupulous care—how can such charges stand?" He was specially promoted to instructor gentleman.
24
擢監察御史。 嘗攝殿中侍御史，即日具疏劾政府市恩招權，以蔡京為首。 帝獎其介直。 京頗憚之，徙司門員外郎，猶虞其復用，力排之，出通判寧化軍。 地界遼，文移數往來，汝明名觸其諱，遼以檄暴於朝。 安撫使問故，眾欲委罪於吏，汝明曰：「詭辭欺君，吾不為也。」 坐責監壽州麻步場。 遇赦，簽書漢陽判官。 田法行，受牒按境內。 時主者多不親行，汝明使四隅日具官吏所至，而躬臨以閱實，雖雨雪不渝，以故吏不得通賄謝，而稅均於一路最。 晚知岳州，屬邑得古編鍾，求上獻。 汝明曰：「天子命我以千里，懼不能仰承德意，敢越職以幸賞乎？」 卒於官，年五十四。
He was promoted to investigating censor. While serving as acting palace attendant censor he submitted a memorial the same day impeaching the government for trading favors and hoarding power, naming Cai Jing as the chief offender. The emperor praised his blunt integrity. Cai Jing feared him, transferred him to outer gentleman of the Bureau of Gates, and still worried he might return to power. He worked hard to exclude him and sent him out as vice prefect of Ninghua Circuit. The post bordered Liao territory, and official correspondence passed frequently between the two states. Zhang Ruming's name violated a Liao taboo, and the Liao court publicized the offense in a dispatch to Song. When the pacification commissioner asked the cause, others wanted to blame a clerk. Zhang Ruming said, "I will not deceive the throne with false excuses." He was punished by assignment to supervise the hemp step station in Shouzhou. After an amnesty he was appointed signing judicial administrator at Han'yang. When the field-allotment law took effect he received orders to inspect the circuit. Most supervisors did not inspect in person. Zhang Ruming required daily reports from all four corners of the circuit on officials' movements while he personally verified on site, never slackening even in rain or snow. Clerks could not pass bribes, and tax assessments in his circuit became the most equitable in the region. Late in life he served as prefect of Yue. A subordinate county found an ancient set of bells and wished to present them to the throne. Zhang Ruming said, "The Son of Heaven entrusted me with a thousand li of territory. I fear I cannot even fully carry out his intent—how dare I overstep my office to seek reward?" He died in office at the age of fifty-four.
25
汝明事親孝，執喪，水漿不入口三日，日飯脫粟，飲水，無醯鹽草木之滋。 浸病羸，行輒踣。 夢父授以服天南星法，用之，驗，人以為孝感。 汝明學精微，研象數，貫穿經史百家，所著書不蹈襲前人語，有《易索書》、《張子卮言》、《大究經》傳於世。
Zhang Ruming was filial toward his parents. During mourning he took no food or drink for three days, then ate only husked millet and water with no salt, vinegar, or seasoning of any kind. He grew ill and emaciated and would collapse when he walked. In a dream his father taught him to take the herb tiannanxing. He did so and was cured; people attributed it to filial devotion moving Heaven. Zhang Ruming's scholarship was subtle and penetrating. He studied cosmology and numbers and mastered the classics, histories, and all major schools. His books never merely repeated earlier authors. His Inquiry into the Changes, Master Zhang's Goblet Words, and the Great Exhaustion Classic circulated in his day.
26
黃葆光
Huang Baoguang
27
黃葆光，字元暉，徽州黟人。 應舉不第，以從使高麗得官，試吏部銓第一，賜進士出身。 由徐州司理參軍為太學博士，遷秘書省校書郎，擢監察御史、左司諫。 始蒞職，即言：「三省吏猥多，如遷補、升轉、奉入、賞勞之類，非元豐舊制者，其大弊有十，願一切革去。」 徽宗即命厘正之，一時士論翕然。 而蔡京怒其異己，密白帝，請降御筆云：「當豐亨豫大之時，為衰亂減損之計。」 徙葆光符寶郎。 省吏醵錢入寶籙宮，作十道齋報上恩，帝思其忠，明年，復拜侍御史。
Huang Baoguang, styled Yuanhui, was a native of Yi in Huizhou. He failed the civil service examination but gained office by accompanying an envoy to Goryeo. He ranked first in the Ministry of Personnel selection examination and was granted jinshi status. He rose from judicial administrator at Xuzhou to erudite of the Imperial University, then to proofreader in the Secretariat, and was promoted to investigating censor and left remonstrator of the Secretariat. As soon as he took office he declared, "The Three Departments are overrun with clerks. Practices such as transfer appointments, promotions, salary supplements, and reward payments that depart from Yuanfeng institutions embody ten great abuses. I urge that they all be abolished." Huizong immediately ordered reforms, and scholarly opinion united in approval. Cai Jing, angered that Huang opposed him, secretly petitioned the emperor for an imperial brush note reading, "In this age of abundance and ease, why adopt plans fit for decline and disorder?" Huang Baoguang was transferred to gentleman of the tallies and seals. Secretariat clerks pooled funds for offerings at the Baolu Palace and held ten-day fasts to repay imperial grace. The emperor remembered Huang's loyalty, and the following year restored him as attending censor.
28
遼人李良嗣來歸，上《平夷書》規進用，擢秘書丞。 葆光論其五不可，大概言「良嗣凶黠忿鷙，犯不赦之罪於鄰國，逃命逭死，妄作《平夷》等書，萬一露泄，為患不細。 中秘圖書之府，豈宜以罪人為之？ 宜厚其祿賜，置諸畿甸之外。」 又言：「君尊如天，臣卑如地。 剛健者君之德，而其道不可屈； 柔順者臣之常，而其分不可亢。 苟致屈以求合，則是傷仁，非所以馭下也； 苟矯亢以求伸，則是犯分，非所以尊君也。」 帝感悟，命近臣讀其奏於殿中。
Li Liangsi, a man of Liao who had defected to Song, submitted a Pacify the Barbarians Book seeking advancement and was promoted to secretariat assistant. Huang Baoguang argued five reasons why this was inadmissible, in summary: "Liangsi is vicious, cunning, and violent. He committed unpardonable crimes in his own state and fled for his life. He rashly composed books such as Pacify the Barbarians. If they leak abroad, the harm will be grave. How can the central repository of books and maps be entrusted to a criminal? He should be given generous stipends and kept outside the capital region." He also wrote, "The ruler is lofty as Heaven; ministers are lowly as earth. Steadfast vigor is the ruler's virtue, and its Way must not be bent; gentle compliance is the minister's proper role, and his station must not be raised too high. If the ruler bends himself to seek harmony, he injures benevolence and loses the means to govern subordinates; if a minister forcibly raises himself to assert power, he violates his station and fails to honor the ruler." The emperor was deeply moved and ordered a close minister to read the memorial aloud in the hall.
29
自崇寧後，增朝士，兼局多，葆光以為言。 乃命蔡京裁定，京陽請一切廢罷，以激怒士大夫。 葆光言：「如禮制局詳議官至七員、檢討官至十六員，製造局至三十餘員，豈不能省去一二，上副明天子之意？」 時皆壯之。
Since the Chongning era the court had multiplied offices and concurrent appointments. Huang Baoguang spoke against the practice. The emperor ordered Cai Jing to decide the matter. Cai outwardly proposed abolishing all such posts to provoke the scholar-officials. Huang Baoguang said, "The Ritual Regulations Bureau alone has seven deliberation officials and sixteen revisers; the Manufactures Bureau has more than thirty. Surely one or two could be cut to match the Son of Heaven's intent?" At the time all admired his boldness.
30
政和末，歲旱，帝以為念。 葆光上疏曰：「陛下德足以動天，恩足以感人，檢身治事，常若不及，而不能感召和氣，臣所以不能無疑也。 蓋人君有屈己逮下之心，而人臣無歸美報上之意者，能致陰陽之變； 人君有慈惠惻怛之心，而人臣無將順奉承之意者，能致陰陽之變。 陛下恭儉敦樸以先天下，而太師蔡京侈大過制，非所以明君臣之分； 陛下以紹述為心，而京所行乃背元豐之法，強悍自專，不肯上承德意。 太宰鄭居中、少宰余深依違畏避，不能任天下之責。 此天氣下而地不應，大臣不能尚德以應陛下之所求者如此。」 疏入不報。 且欲再上章，京權勢震赫，舉朝結舌，葆光獨出力攻之。 京懼，中以它事，貶知昭州立山縣。 又使言官論其附會交結，泄漏密語，詔以章揭示朝堂，安置昭州。 京致仕，召為職方員外郎，改知處州。 州當方臘殘亂之後，盡心收養，民列上其狀。 加直秘閣，再任，卒，年五十八，州人祠之。
At the end of the Zhenghe era drought struck, and the emperor was deeply troubled. Huang Baoguang memorialized, "Your Majesty's virtue should move Heaven and your grace should move the people. You examine yourself and govern affairs as though never satisfied—yet harmonious qi does not respond. I cannot help but harbor doubts. When a ruler is willing to humble himself before his subjects yet ministers lack the will to credit his virtue and repay his grace, yin and yang can be thrown out of balance; when a ruler is kind and compassionate yet ministers refuse to follow and support him, yin and yang can be thrown out of balance. Your Majesty leads the realm in respect, frugality, and plain living, yet Grand Preceptor Cai Jing lives in extravagance beyond all propriety—this blurs the distinction between ruler and minister; Your Majesty means to continue the reform legacy, yet Cai Jing's conduct betrays Yuanfeng law, is domineering and self-willed, and refuses to carry out the imperial will. Grand steward Zheng Juzhong and junior steward Yu Shen waver and shrink from responsibility—they cannot bear the burden of governing the realm. This is why Heaven sends down drought yet Earth does not respond—the great ministers cannot uphold virtue to answer what Your Majesty seeks." The memorial received no reply. He prepared to submit another memorial. Cai Jing's power was overwhelming and the whole court fell silent, but Huang Baoguang alone pressed the attack. Cai Jing, alarmed, found another pretext and demoted him to magistrate of Lishan County in Zhaozhou. He also had censors accuse Huang of factional collusion and leaking confidential words. An edict displayed the charges in the court hall and placed him under restraint at Zhaozhou. When Cai Jing retired, Huang was recalled as outer gentleman of the Bureau of Credentials and appointed prefect of Chuzhou. The prefecture had suffered the devastation of Fang La's rebellion. He devoted himself to relief and rehabilitation, and the people petitioned the court in his praise. He was granted direct secretariat pavilion status and served a second term. He died at fifty-eight, and the people of the prefecture enshrined him.
31
葆光善論事，會文切理，不為橫議所移，時頗推重。 本出鄭居中門，故極論蔡京無所顧，然其他不能不迎時好，方作神霄萬壽宮，溫州郭敦實、泗州葉點皆坐是得罪。 葆光遂疏建昌軍陳并、秀州蔡崈、岳州傅惟蕭、祁門令葛長卿不即奉行制書，存留僧寺形勝、佛像，及決罰道流，乞第行竄黜，遂悉坐停廢，議者尤之。
Huang Baoguang was skilled at debate; his writing was lucid and principled, and he would not be swayed by factional pressure. His contemporaries held him in high regard. He had risen through Zheng Juzhong's patronage and therefore attacked Cai Jing without restraint. Yet in other matters he could not avoid courting the times. When the Divine Empyrean Longevity Palace was under construction, Guo Dunshi of Wenzhou and Ye Dian of Sizhou were both punished on related charges. Huang then memorialized against Chen Bing of Jianchang, Cai Song of Xiuzhou, Fu Weixiao of Yuezhou, and Magistrate Ge Changqing of Qimen for failing to enforce orders to demolish Buddhist temples on scenic sites and punish Daoist clergy, asking that they be exiled. All were dismissed from office, and critics especially condemned him.
32
石公弼
Shi Gongbi
33
石公弼，字國佐，越州新昌人。 登進士第，調衛州司法參軍。 淇水監牧馬逸，食人稻，為田主所傷。 圉者訟至密，郡守韓宗哲欲坐以重辟。 公弼謂此人無罪，宗哲曰：「人傷官馬，奈何無罪？」 公弼曰：「禽獸食人食，主者安得不禦，禦之豈能無傷？ 使上林虎豹出而食人，可無殺乎？ 今但當懲圉者，民不可罪。」 宗哲委以屬吏，既而使者來慮囚，如公弼議。 獲嘉民甲與乙鬥，傷指； 病小愈，復與丙鬥，病指流血死。 郡吏具獄，兩人以他物傷人，當死。 公弼以為疑，駁而鞫之，乃甲指血流傷，因而丙發，指脫瘕中風死，非由擊傷也。 兩人皆得免。
Shi Gongbi, styled Guozuo, was a native of Xinchang in Yuezhou. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed judicial military aide in Weizhou. Horses from the Qishui supervisory pasture broke loose, ate farmers' rice, and were wounded by a landowner. The stable hands brought suit at Miyi, and Prefect Han Zongzhe wanted to punish the landowner with a capital offense. Gongbi argued that the man was innocent. Zongzhe said, "He injured a government horse — how can he be innocent?" Gongbi replied, "When animals eat people's grain, the owner must drive them off — and when he does, how can there be no injury? If tigers and leopards from the imperial park came out and devoured people, would we not kill them? Only the stable hands should be punished now; the farmer must not be held guilty." Zongzhe handed the case to his staff. When an imperial envoy later came to review prisoners, the outcome followed Gongbi's reasoning. In Huojia, a man named A fought with B and injured a finger; When the wound had nearly healed, he fought again with a man named C; the injured finger bled, and he died. The prefectural clerks prepared the case and ruled that both men, having injured others with objects, deserved death. Gongbi found the verdict doubtful, rejected it, and reinvestigated. He learned that A's finger had bled from the old wound, which caused C's condition to flare up; the finger sloughed off, apoplexy set in, and he died — not from the blow itself. Both men were acquitted.
34
章惇求太學官，或薦公弼，使往見。 謝曰：「丞相素侮人，見者阿意苟容，所不忍也。」 再調漣水丞。 供奉高公備綱舟行淮，以溺告。 公弼曰：「數日無風，安有是？」 使尉核其所載，錢失百萬。 呼舟人物色之，乃公備與寓客妻通，殺其夫，畏事覺，所至竊官錢賂其下，故詭為此說。 即收捕窮治，皆服辜。
Zhang Dun was looking for an official for the Imperial Academy; someone recommended Gongbi and sent him for an audience. He declined, saying, "The chief councillor has always treated people with contempt, and those who visit him fawn and indulge him — that is something I cannot bring myself to do." He was transferred again, becoming assistant magistrate of Lianshui. Palace attendant Gao Gongbei reported that his convoy boat had sunk while traveling on the Huai River. Gongbi said, "There has been no wind for days — how could such a thing happen?" He had the district aide verify the cargo and found that one million cash was missing. He summoned the boatmen and questioned them closely. It turned out Gongbei had been having an affair with a lodger's wife, murdered her husband, and fearing exposure had stolen official funds at every stop to bribe his crew — which was why he invented the drowning story. Gongbei was arrested at once and the case pursued to the end; all involved confessed their guilt.
35
知廣德縣，召為宗正寺主簿。 入見，言：「朝廷比日所為，直詞罕聞，頌聲交至，未有為陛下廷爭可否者。 願崇忠正以銷諛佞，通諫爭以除壅蔽。」 徽宗善之。 擢監察御史，進殿中侍御史。 三舍法行，士子計等第，頗事告訐。 公弼言：「設學校者，將以仁義漸摩，欲人有士君子之行。 顧使之相告訐，非所以建學本意也。」 又言：「刪定敕令官、寺監丞簿等，皆以執政近臣子弟為之，未有資考，不習政事。 請一切汰遣，以開寒畯之路。」 從之。
He served as magistrate of Guangde County and was then summoned to be registrar of the Court of the Imperial Clan. At his audience he said, "In the court's recent conduct, honest speech is seldom heard while flattery pours in from every side, and no one stands before Your Majesty to debate what should or should not be done. I ask that loyalty and integrity be honored to drive out flattery, and that remonstrance be welcomed to remove obstruction and concealment." Emperor Huizong approved. He was promoted to investigating censor and then to palace censor. When the Three Halls system took effect, students competed for grade ranks and frequently informed on one another. Gongbi said, "Schools are established to gradually cultivate benevolence and righteousness, so that people may conduct themselves as scholars and gentlemen. Yet to have them inform on one another is not the original purpose of founding schools." He also said, "The commissioners for revising edicts and statutes, and the assistant registrars in the directorates and supervisory offices, are all sons and nephews of the chief ministers' intimates. They have no seniority or examination record and know nothing of public affairs. I ask that they all be dismissed, to open the way for men of humble birth." The emperor agreed.
36
由右正言改左司諫。 論東南軍政之敝，以為「有兵之籍，無兵之技。 以太半之賦，養無用之兵，異日懼有未然之患」，其後睦盜起，如其言。 太史保章正朱汝楫入奉得罪，而內侍失察者皆不坐。 公弼言：「是皆矯稱詔旨，安得勿論？ 請自今中旨雖不當覆者，亦令有司審奏。」
He was moved from Right Rectifier to adviser in the Left Remonstrance Bureau. He discussed the defects of military administration in the southeast, arguing that "the rolls list soldiers, but the men have no soldierly skills. More than half the tax revenue goes to maintain useless troops — I fear unforeseen disaster will follow." Later the Fang La rebellion broke out, just as he had predicted. Zhu Ruji, director of the Bureau of Astrological Prognostication, was punished for submitting a memorial without authorization, yet the eunuchs who had failed to inspect him were not prosecuted. Gongbi said, "They all falsely invoked imperial edicts — how can they go unpunished? From now on, even when inner-palace directives need not be re-reported, let the responsible offices still review and memorialize them."
37
遷侍御史。 蘇杭造作局工成，公弼陳擾民之害，請革技巧之靡麗者，稍罷進奉，帝納之。 蔡京始與公弼有連，故因得進用，至是，意浸異，京恚焉。 徙太常少卿，遷起居郎，兼定王、嘉王記室。 故事，初至宮，例得金繒之賜二百萬，公弼辭不受。
He was transferred to attendant censor. When the Suzhou and Hangzhou Manufactories Bureau finished its work, Gongbi described the harm done to the people, asked that extravagant craftsmanship be curtailed, and urged a reduction in tribute submissions. The emperor accepted his recommendations. Cai Jing had initially been connected with Gongbi, which helped Gongbi rise; by this time their views had gradually diverged, and Cai resented him. He was transferred to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, promoted to diarist, and concurrently served as secretary to the Princes of Ding and Jia. By custom, upon first entering the palace one received a gift of two million in gold and silk; Gongbi declined it.
38
大觀二年，拜御史中丞。 執政言：「國朝未有由左史為中執法者。」 帝曰：「公弼嘗為侍御史矣。」 時斥賣元豐庫縑帛，賤估其直，許朝士分售，皆有定數，從官至二千匹。 公弼得券，上還之。 宰相有已取萬匹者，即日反其故。
In the second year of the Daguan era, he was appointed Censor-in-Chief. The chief ministers said, "In our dynasty no left historiographer has ever become chief censor." The emperor replied, "Gongbi has already served as attendant censor." At that time silk from the Yuanfeng treasury was being sold off at undervalued prices, and court officials were allowed to purchase shares in fixed allotments — from junior officials up to two thousand bolts. Gongbi received his purchase warrant and returned it to the throne. A chief minister who had already taken ten thousand bolts returned them the same day.
39
水官趙霆建開直河議，謂自此無水憂，已而決壞鉅鹿，法當斬。 霆善交結，但削一官，猶為太僕少卿。 公弼論為失刑，霆坐貶。 京西轉運使張徽言欲因方田籍增立汝、襄、鄧三州稅，公弼以為「方田之制，奠天下之地征，正欲均其賦耳，而徽言掊克重斂，民何以堪？」 詔罷之。 遂劾蔡京罪惡，章數十上，京始罷。 又言吏員猥冗，戾元豐舊制。 於是堂選歸吏部者數千員，罷宮廟者千員、都水知埽六十員，縣非大郡悉省丞，在京茶事歸之戶部，諸道市舶歸之轉運司，仕塗為清。
Waterworks official Zhao Ting proposed opening a straight channel, claiming that floods would no longer be a concern; then the levee burst at Julu, and by law he deserved execution. Ting was skilled at cultivating connections; he merely had one rank stripped and remained Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud. Gongbi argued that justice had miscarried, and Ting was demoted as a result. Jingxi Transport Commissioner Zhang Huiyan wanted to use the square-field register to impose new taxes in Ru, Xiang, and Deng prefectures. Gongbi argued, "The square-field system was meant to establish land taxes throughout the realm and equalize levies — yet Huiyan is squeezing the people with heavy exactions. How can they endure it?" An edict halted the plan. He then impeached Cai Jing for his crimes, submitting dozens of memorials until Cai was finally dismissed. He also argued that the official ranks had become bloated and violated the old Yuanfeng system. Thereupon several thousand Hall-selected officials were returned to the Ministry of Personnel; a thousand temple sinecures were abolished; sixty dike superintendents in the Directorate of Waterways were removed; assistant magistrates were cut from all but the largest counties; capital tea affairs were returned to the Ministry of Revenue; and maritime trade in the circuits was returned to the transport commissions. The path to office was cleared.
40
京雖上相印，猶提舉修《實錄》。 公弼復言：「京盤旋京師無去志，其餘威震於群臣。 願持必斷之決，以消後悔。」 又因星變言之，竟出京杭州。 及劉逵主國柄，公弼復論其廢紹述良法，啟用元祐邪黨學術，人以是知其非一意於正者。 進兵部尚書兼侍讀。 上疏言：「崇寧以來，臣下專務生事，開邊興利，營繕徭役，蹶民根本，因之饑饉。 汴西挽運花石，農桑廢業，徒弊所有，以事無用。 宜使之休息，以承天意。」
Although Cai Jing had surrendered the chief minister's seal, he still supervised compilation of the Veritable Records. Gongbi again said, "Jing is lingering in the capital with no intention of leaving, and his remaining prestige still overawes the officials. I ask that Your Majesty hold firm to a decisive course, lest regret follow later." He raised the matter again when a celestial anomaly occurred, and Cai Jing was finally sent out to Hangzhou. When Liu Kui held power, Gongbi again criticized him for abolishing the sound laws of the Shaoshu reforms and reviving the heterodox learning of the Yuanyou faction — and people thereby saw that he was not wholly devoted to rectitude. He was promoted to Minister of War and concurrently served as lecturer-in-attendance. He submitted a memorial saying, "Since the Chongning era, officials have devoted themselves to stirring up trouble — opening frontiers, seeking profit, launching construction and corvée projects, uprooting the people's livelihood, and thereby bringing famine. West of Bian, hauling ornamental stones has ruined farming and sericulture, wasting everything the people have on useless projects. They should be given rest, to accord with Heaven's will."
41
張商英入相，欲引為執政，何執中、吳居厚交沮之。 以樞密直學士知揚州。 群不逞為俠於閭里，自號「亡命社」，公弼取其魁桀痛治，社遂破散。 江賊巢穴菰蘆中，白晝出剽，吏畏不敢問。 公弼嚴賞罰督捕，盡除之。 改述古殿直學士、知襄州。 蔡京再輔政，羅致其罪，責秀州團練副使，台州安置。 逾年，遇赦歸。 卒，年五十五。 後三歲，復其官。
When Zhang Shangying became chief minister, he wanted to bring Gongbi into the administration, but He Shizhong and Wu Juhou jointly blocked it. He was made Hanlin scholar of the Bureau of Military Affairs and appointed prefect of Yangzhou. A band of ruffians acted as vigilantes in the neighborhoods, calling themselves the Desperado Society. Gongbi seized their ringleaders and punished them severely, and the society was broken up. River bandits nested in the reed marshes and raided by daylight; officials feared them and dared not investigate. Gongbi enforced rewards and punishments strictly to drive the hunt, and eliminated them entirely. He was made Scholar of the Hall for Venerating Antiquity and appointed prefect of Xiangzhou. When Cai Jing returned to power, he fabricated charges against him, demoted him to honorary vice commissioner of military training in Xiuzhou, and assigned him to reside in Taizhou. After more than a year, he was pardoned and allowed to return home. He died at the age of fifty-five. Three years later his official rank was posthumously restored.
42
公弼初名公輔，徽宗以與楊公輔同名，改為公弼云。
Gongbi's original name was Gongfu; Emperor Huizong changed it to Gongbi because it was the same as Yang Gongfu's name.
43
張克公 〈附〉
Zhang Kegong 〈Appended biography〉
44
張克公，字介仲，潁昌陽翟人。 起進士。 大觀中，為監察御史，遷殿中侍御史。 蔡京再相，克公與中丞石公弼論其罪，京罷，克公徙起居舍人。 逾月，進中書舍人，改右諫議大夫。 京猶留京師，會星文變，克公復論之，中其隱慝，語在《京傳》。 京致仕，張商英為相，與鄭居中不合。 克公由兵部侍郎拜御史中丞，治堂吏訟，歸曲商英，且疏其罪十。 商英罷，京復召，銜克公弗置。 徽宗知之，為徙吏部尚書。 京欲以銓綜稽違中克公，既又擿其知貢舉事，帝以為所取得人，不問也。 居吏部六年，卒，贈資政殿學士。
Zhang Kegong, courtesy name Jiezhong, was a native of Yangdi in Yingchang. He entered official life through the jinshi examination. During the Daguan era, he served as investigating censor and was transferred to palace censor. When Cai Jing again became chief minister, Kegong joined Censor-in-Chief Shi Gongbi in indicting his crimes. After Cai was dismissed, Kegong was transferred to diarist-at-large. After more than a month, he was promoted to secretariat drafter and transferred to Right Remonstrance and Discussion Grandee. Cai Jing still remained in the capital. When celestial signs changed, Kegong indicted him again, striking at his hidden wickedness; the account is given in the Biography of Cai Jing. Cai Jing retired from office; Zhang Shangying became chief minister and fell out with Zheng Juzhong. Kegong was appointed Censor-in-Chief from his post as Vice Minister of War. He handled a lawsuit involving chancery clerks, found Shangying at fault, and memorialized ten of his crimes. Shangying was dismissed; Cai Jing was recalled to office and bore an undying grudge against Kegong. Emperor Huizong learned of this and transferred Kegong to Minister of Personnel. Cai Jing tried to trap Kegong on violations in personnel review, then picked at his conduct of the civil examinations; the emperor considered that Kegong had selected worthy men and did not pursue the matter. After six years in the Ministry of Personnel, he died and was posthumously granted the title Scholar of the Hall for Assisting Governance.
45
毛注，字聖可，衢州西安人。 舉進士，知南陵、高苑、富陽三縣，皆以治辦稱。 大觀中，御史中丞吳執中薦為御史，詔賜對，未及而執中罷，注辭焉。 徽宗固命之，既見，謂曰：「今士大夫方寡廉鮮恥，而卿獨知義命，故特召卿。」 即以為主客員外郎，俄擢殿中侍御史。
Mao Zhu, courtesy name Shengke, was a native of Xi'an in Quzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and served as magistrate of Nanling, Gaoyuan, and Fuyang, winning praise for effective governance in all three counties. During the Daguan era, Censor-in-Chief Wu Zhizhong recommended him for the censorate and an edict summoned him for audience; before he could attend, Zhizhong was dismissed, and Zhu declined the appointment. Emperor Huizong insisted that he accept. After the audience he said, "Today's scholar-officials mostly lack integrity and shame, yet you alone understand righteousness and fate — that is why I have specially summoned you." He was immediately made outer department clerk of the Host and Guest Bureau, and soon promoted to palace censor.
46
蔡京免相留京師，注疏其擅持威福，動搖中外，以葉夢得為腹心，交植黨與。 帝為逐夢得，而遷注侍御史。 遂極論京「受孟翊妖姦之書，與逆人張懷素遊處，引凶朋林攄置政府，用所親宋喬年尹京。 其門人播傳，咸謂陛下恩眷不衰，行且復用」，於是論者相繼，京遂致仕。
Cai Jing relinquished the chief ministership but remained in the capital. Zhu memorialized that he arbitrarily wielded power and favor, unsettling court and country, taking Ye Mengde as his intimate confidant and cultivating a faction. The emperor thereupon expelled Ye Mengde and promoted Zhu to attendant censor. He then fully indicted Cai Jing, charging that "he received the sorcerous and wicked writings of Meng Yi, consorted with the rebel Zhang Huaisu, brought the wicked associate Lin Chu into the government, and appointed his favorite Song Qiaonian as capital intendant. His disciples spread word that Your Majesty's favor toward him would never fade and that he would soon be reemployed." Memorials followed one after another, and Cai Jing finally retired from office.
47
四年，彗再見，注又言：「臣累論蔡京罪積惡大，天人交譴，雖罷相致政，猶怙恩恃寵，偃居賜第，以致上天威怒。 推原其咎，實在於京。 考京之罪，蓋不可以縷數：陛下去《黨碑》以開自新之路，京疾其異己而別為防禁； 陛下頒明詔以來天下之言，京惡其議己而重致於法； 以嚴刑峻罰脅持海內，以美官重祿交結人心，錢鈔屢更而商賈不行，邊事數易而國力大匱。 聲焰所震，中外憤疾，宜早令去國，消弭災咎。」 奏上，京始出居錢塘。
In the fourth year, a comet appeared again. Zhu further memorialized, "I have repeatedly indicted Cai Jing: his crimes are many and his wickedness great; Heaven and men alike condemn him. Though he relinquished the chief ministership and retired, he still relies on imperial favor, dwelling at ease in his granted mansion — and so Heaven's wrath has been provoked. Tracing the blame to its source, the fault truly lies with Cai Jing. Counting Cai Jing's crimes would be endless: Your Majesty removed the Faction Stele to open a path of repentance, yet Jing resented dissenters and imposed separate restrictions; Your Majesty issued clear edicts to solicit opinions from across the realm, yet Jing hated criticism and repeatedly prosecuted critics under the law; He coerced the realm through harsh punishments, bought loyalty with fine offices and heavy emoluments, changed paper currency so often that commerce stalled, and shifted frontier policy so frequently that the state's strength was exhausted. His prestige and power aroused outrage throughout court and country. He should be banished from the capital at once to avert calamity." When the memorial reached the throne, Cai Jing was finally sent to live at Qiantang.
48
注復采當世之急務，曰省邊事，足財用，收士心，禁技巧。 大概謂：
Zhu next addressed the pressing affairs of the day, proposing to reduce frontier commitments, stabilize finances, win back the scholar-official class, and forbid extravagant craftsmanship. In general he argued:
49
「近年以來，邊民僥倖苟得：昔所入貢者，今必城為郡縣； 昔所羈縻者，今盡納其土疆。 以內地金帛，而事窮荒不可計之費。 今黔南已有處分，如夔、渝新邊，宜在裁省。 運鹽昔主於漕計，今移於它司； 常平昔積於外州，今輸於都下。 經費安得不匱，財貨何以轉移？ 願詔有司，悉講復元豐舊制。 湯之遭旱，以士失職為辭。 今學校養士，蓋有常額，額外之人，不復可預教養，歲貢之餘，略無可進之地。 願留貢籍三分，暫存科舉，以待學外之士，使無失職。 東南造作奇玩、花石綱舟，與後苑工徒、京城營繕，並宜暫罷，以抑末敦本。 凡此，皆聖政之所當先，人心悅則天意解矣。」
"In recent years frontier policy has rewarded opportunism: territories that once paid tribute are now annexed and organized as commanderies and counties; Tribes once held by loose suzerainty now have their entire territories annexed. Inland gold and silks are spent on immeasurable costs in remote wastelands. Qiannan has already been settled; new frontiers such as Kui and Yu should be scaled back. Salt transport, once managed under the transport commissioner's budget, has been transferred elsewhere; Ever-Normal Granary reserves once held in outer prefectures are now diverted to the capital. Is it any wonder fiscal reserves are exhausted, and that wealth cannot reach where it is needed? I ask that Your Majesty order the responsible offices to review and restore the Yuanfeng-era institutions in full. When King Tang faced drought, he blamed the failure to employ worthy men. Schools now nurture scholars only up to a fixed quota; those beyond it can no longer receive state education, and after the annual quota there is almost no path to advancement. I ask that one-third of the tribute quota be reserved and the civil examinations be maintained for scholars outside the schools, so that none lose their chance to serve. The crafting of rare curios and Flower-and-Stone Convoy ships in the southeast, together with laborers in the imperial gardens and construction projects in the capital, should all be suspended for the time being, to curb extravagance and restore proper priorities. All of these should come first in wise governance. When the people's hearts are satisfied, Heaven's wrath will be appeased."
50
注所論切於世務類此。
Zhu's memorials on practical affairs were generally of this sort.
51
遷左諫議大夫。 張商英為相，言者攻之力，注亦言其無大臣體，然訖以與之交通，罷提舉洞霄宮，居家數歲，卒。 建炎末，追復諫議大夫。
He was promoted to Left Remonstrance Counselor. When Zhang Shangying became chief minister, critics attacked him vigorously, and Zhu too said he lacked the bearing of a great minister. Yet Zhu was ultimately dismissed as superintendent of Dongxiao Palace for associating with Zhang, lived at home for several years, and died. At the end of the Jianyan era, his title of Remonstrance Counselor was posthumously restored.
52
洪彥昇
Hong Yansheng
53
洪彥昇，字仲達，饒州樂平人。 登第，調常熟尉。 奉母之官，既至，前尉欲申期三月以規薦，而中分奉入。 彥昇處僧舍，卻奉不納，如約，始交印。 歷郴州判官，簽書鎮東軍節度判官。
Hong Yansheng, styled Zhongda, was a native of Leping in Raozhou. He passed the examinations and was appointed assistant magistrate of Changshu. He took his mother with him to his post. When he arrived, the outgoing assistant asked to extend his tenure three months to secure a recommendation and proposed splitting the salary. Yansheng stayed at a monastery, refused the salary, and only upon the agreed date did he receive the official seal. He served successively as administrative aide in Chenzhou and signing secretary on the staff of the Zhendong Army military governor.
54
彥昇嘗辟廣西經略府，或稱其才，擢提舉常平。 御史中丞石公弼薦新提舉廣西學事幸義可御史，及陛辭，適與同日，徽宗兩留之，遂為監察御史，遷殿中侍御史。 彥昇孤立，任言責閱五年，論：「蔡京再居元宰，假紹述之名，一切更張，敗壞先朝法度，朋奸誤國，公私困弊。 既已上印，而偃蹇都城，上憑眷顧之恩，中懷跋扈之志。 願早賜英斷，遣之出京。」 「何執中緣潛邸之舊，德薄位尊，當軸處中，殊不事事，見利忘義，唯貨殖是圖。 願解其機政，以全晚節。」 「呂惠卿與張懷素厚善，序其所注《般若心經》，云『我遇公為黃石之師』，且張良師黃石之策，為漢祖定天下，惠卿安得輒以為比？」 他如鄧洵仁、蔡薿、劉極、李孝稱、許光凝、許畿、盛章、李譓、任熙明之流，皆條摭其過，一不為回隱。
Yansheng had once joined the staff of the Guangxi military commission. When his talent was praised, he was promoted to intendant of the Ever-Normal Granary. Censor-in-Chief Shi Gongbi recommended Xing Yi, the newly appointed Guangxi educational intendant, for the censorate. When both men came for their farewell audience on the same day, Huizong detained them both. Yansheng was appointed investigating censor and later promoted to palace censor. Yansheng stood alone. For five years in the censorate he argued: "Cai Jing again held the chief ministership, borrowing the name of continuing the reforms to change everything, ruin the institutions of the previous reign, and let wicked factions mislead the state until public and private affairs alike were exhausted. Having already surrendered his seal, he still lingered obstinately in the capital, relying above on the emperor's favor while harboring overbearing ambition within. I ask that Your Majesty act with resolute judgment and send him out of the capital at once." " He Zhizhong draws on old ties from the Hidden Residence; his virtue is thin yet his position is exalted. Holding the chief ministership, he is wholly neglectful of affairs — seeing profit he forgets righteousness, and cares only for amassing wealth. I ask that he be removed from power, to preserve his reputation in his final years." " Lv Huiqing is on intimate terms with Zhang Huaisu. In a preface to his annotated Perfection of Wisdom Heart Sutra he wrote, 'When I met you, you were my Master of Yellow Stone' — yet Zhang Liang studied under the Master of Yellow Stone to help the Han founder settle the realm. How can Huiqing presumptuously compare himself in this way?" Others such as Deng Xunren, Cai Nai, Liu Ji, Li Xiaocheng, Xu Guangning, Xu Ji, Sheng Zhang, Li Wei, Ren Ximing, and the like — he itemized their faults without concealment or leniency.
55
右僕射張商英與給事中劉嗣明爭曲直，事下御史。 彥昇蔽罪商英，商英去。 又累疏言郭天信以談命進用，交結竄斥； 因請禁士大夫毋語命術，毋習釋教。
Right Vice Director Zhang Shangying and Supervising Secretariat Drafter Liu Siming clashed over a matter of right and wrong; the case was referred to the censorate. Yansheng shielded Shangying from blame, and Shangying was dismissed. He also repeatedly memorialized that Guo Tianxin had risen through fortune-telling and used his connections to exile and dismiss officials; He therefore asked that scholar-officials be forbidden to discuss fate and divination or to study Buddhism.
56
先是，詔諸道監司具法令未備，若未便於民者，久而弗上。 彥昇言：「吏狃於勢，隨時俯仰，不能上承德音，因緣為奸者眾。 有因追科而欲害熙寧保伍之法，因身丁而故搖崇寧學校之政，省事原情，當有勸沮。 宜遣官編彙，辨其邪正，以行賞罰。」 皆從之。 遷給事中。 嘗謁告一日，而張商英復官之旨經門下，言者以為顧避封駁，出知滁州。 尋加右文殿修撰，進徽猷閣待制，知吉州。 久之，知潭州，未行，卒，年六十三。 贈太中大夫。
Earlier, an edict had ordered circuit supervisors to report incomplete laws and regulations that inconvenienced the people, but for a long time none submitted reports. Yansheng said, "Officials are accustomed to power and bend with the times; they fail to carry out the imperial will, and many seize the opportunity to do evil. Some cite tax collection to attack the Xining-era Baowu system; others cite household quotas to undermine Chongning school policy. In reducing burdens and examining circumstances, there should be rewards and punishments. Officials should be dispatched to compile reports, distinguish right from wrong, and apply rewards and punishments accordingly." All of this was approved. He was promoted to Supervising Secretariat Drafter. Once, while he was on leave for a day, the edict reappointing Zhang Shangying passed through the Secretariat Gate. Critics said he had deliberately avoided exercising his power to seal and rebut it, and he was sent out as prefect of Chuzhou. Soon he was made Academician Expositor of the Hall of Right Culture, promoted to Gentlemen-Attendant of the Hall of Splendid Teachings, and appointed prefect of Jizhou. After some time he was appointed prefect of Tanzhou, but before he could take up the post he died, aged sixty-three. He was posthumously granted the title Grandee of Palace Assistance.
57
論曰：蔡京用事，炎焰熾然，其勢莫敢遏。 此數子者，乃力數其罪而連攻之，似矣。 然葆光、克公主鄭居中，公弼、注朋張商英，皆非端直士也。 若楫先見，畸、服不阿，汝明不欺，彥昇孤立，其賢乎！ 唯勣宮邸舊學，人望攸屬，而不使躋政地； 至京則暫罷亟起，始終倚任焉。 善善而不能用，惡惡而不能去，徽宗以之，此齊桓公所以嗤於郭亡也。
The historian comments: When Cai Jing held power, his influence burned like a raging fire, and none dared check him. These several men forcefully enumerated his crimes and joined in attacking him — so it would seem. Yet Baoguang and Kegong supported Zheng Juzhong; Gongbi and Zhu allied with Zhang Shangying — none of them were upright men. As for Ji with his foresight, Ji and Fu who would not bend, Ruming who would not deceive, and Yansheng who stood alone — were they not the worthy ones! Only Xu Ji, an old study companion from the palace residence and the man to whom public hopes turned, was not allowed to reach the seat of power; As for Cai Jing, he was briefly dismissed and quickly restored, and from first to last was relied upon. Favoring the good yet unable to employ them, hating the wicked yet unable to remove them — such was Huizong. This is why Duke Huan of Qi was mocked when the state of Guo perished.
58
鍾傅，字弱翁，饒州樂平人。 本書生，用李憲薦，為蘭州推官。 坐對獄不實，羈管郴州。 紹聖中，章惇興邊事，奏還其官。 得入對，為哲宗言：「兵貴智而不貴力，夏眾夥而勇，難以一舉滅。 但當擇城險要，以正不朝削地之法，坐待其斃。」 帝然之，命幹當熙河、涇原、秦鳳三路公事。
Zhong Chuan, styled Ruoweng, was a native of Leping in Raozhou. Originally a scholar, he entered service through Li Xian's recommendation as legal officer of Lanzhou. For giving false testimony in a trial he was placed under restraint and banished to Chenzhou. During the Shaosheng era, Zhang Dun promoted frontier affairs and memorialized to restore his office. Gaining an audience, he told Zhezong: "War values strategy, not brute force. The Xia forces are numerous and brave; they cannot be destroyed in a single campaign. One need only hold strategic fortresses in perilous terrain, uphold the policy of not ceding territory at audiences, and wait for them to collapse on their own." The emperor approved and appointed him to direct public affairs in the Xihe, Jingyuan, and Qinfeng circuits.
59
夏人陷金明，渭帥毛漸出兵攻其沒煙砦，傅合擊破之，又與熙州王文郁進築安西城，論功加秘閣校理。 章楶帥渭，命傅所置將苗履統眾會涇原之靈平，夏人悉力來拒，傅步騎二萬，出不意造河梁以濟師，遂作金城關，又獻白草原捷，連進集賢殿修撰、知熙州。 傅自始仕至此，僅再歲。 遂擅帥熙、秦騎四萬出塞，無功而還。 惇方主其議，不加罪。
When the Xia seized Jinming, Mao Jian, commander of Wei, led troops to attack their Moyan Fort; Chuan joined the attack and broke them. Together with Wang Wenyu of Xizhou he advanced to build Anxi City, and for his merit was made collator of the Secret Library. Zhang Jie commanded Wei and ordered Chuan's appointee Miao Lu to lead troops to rendezvous at Lingping in Jingyuan. The Xia came with full force to resist. Chuan, with twenty thousand infantry and cavalry, took them by surprise, building a river bridge to cross his army, and thereupon built Jincheng Pass. He also reported victory at White Grass Plain and was successively promoted to Academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies and prefect of Xizhou. From his first appointment to this point, barely two years had passed. Thereupon, on his own authority, he led forty thousand cavalry from Xi and Qin beyond the frontier, achieved nothing, and returned. Zhang Dun was then championing his proposals and did not punish him.
60
初，傅請合三路兵從青南訥心或顛耳關築天都城，以包淺井、癿囉、和市。 工既集，復言水源不壯，不可興役。 朝論以所奏乖異，將罷傅，曾布為言，但褫職。 俄而白草原詐增首虜事覺，責監永州稅，再貶連州別駕。 崇寧中，復起知河中府，歷鄆、瀛、渭三州，擢顯謨閣待制。 建言：「河南要地，靈武為根本。 其西十五州，六為王土。 其東由清遠距羅山走靈州不及百里，夏以五監軍統焉。 若選將簡師先擊之，以趨韋州，可斷其右臂。 徐當拊納離畔，漸規進取，訖城蕭關，可斷其左臂。」 乃條上十四事，未報。
Initially Chuan requested combining three-circuit forces from Qingnan Naxin or Dian'er Pass to build Tiancheng City, to envelop Qianjing, Qieluo, and Heshi market. When the labor force was already assembled, he again said the water sources were insufficient and the project could not proceed. Court opinion held his memorials contradictory; he was about to be dismissed, but Zeng Bu spoke on his behalf and he was merely stripped of office. Soon the affair of falsely inflated enemy heads at White Grass Plain was exposed; he was assigned to supervise Yongzhou tax collection, then demoted again to acting prefect of Lianzhou. During the Chongning era he was restored and appointed prefect of Hezhong; he served successively in Yan, Ying, and Wei prefectures, and was promoted to Gentlemen-Attendant of the Hall of Manifest Instruction. He memorialized: "In the vital region south of the Yellow River, Lingwu is the foundation. Of the fifteen prefectures to its west, six are imperial territory. To its east, from Qingyuan to Luoshan the route to Lingzhou is less than a hundred li; the Xia govern this with five supervisory armies. If we select able generals and elite troops to strike there first and press toward Weizhou, we can sever their right arm. Then we should gradually win over those who defect, plan further advances, and once Xiaoguan is fortified, sever their left arm." He then submitted fourteen detailed proposals; no response came.
61
詔諸道進討，傅遣將折可適領銳騎出蕭關，至靈州川，有功。 進龍圖閣直學士。 會別將高永年沒於西，而可適遇雨失道，為虜所乘，乃班師。 傅以稽違逗撓，黜知汝州，奪學士。 未幾，復為杭州、真定、永興、太原、延安府，以故職卒。 贈端明殿學士。 傅從布衣致通顯，所行事大氐欺妄，故屢起屢僨云。
An edict ordered advance campaigns on all circuits. Chuan dispatched general Zhe Keshi leading elite cavalry out through Xiaoguan to Lingzhou River Valley, where he achieved merit. He was promoted to Direct Academician of the Hall of Dragon Designs. When another general, Gao Yongnian, perished in the west and Keshi lost his way in the rain and was exploited by the enemy, the army withdrew. Chuan was demoted to prefect of Ruzhou and stripped of his academician title for delay and obstruction. Before long he served again as prefect of Hangzhou, Zhending, Yongxing, Taiyuan, and Yan'an, and died with his former title restored. He was posthumously granted the title Direct Academician of the Hall of Brilliant Governance. Chuan rose from commoner to high office; what he did was largely deceit and falsehood, and so he repeatedly rose and repeatedly fell.
62
陶節夫
Tao Jiefu
63
陶節夫，字子禮，饒州鄱陽人，晉大司馬侃之裔也。 第進士，起家為廣州錄事參軍。 楊元寇暴山谷間，捕繫獄，屢越以逸，且不承為盜，既累年。 節夫詰以數語，元即吐服，將適市，與諸囚訣曰：「陶公長者，雖死可無憾。」 知新會縣，廣守章楶重其材。 楶帥涇原，辟入府。
Tao Jiefu, styled Zili, was a native of Poyang in Raozhou and a descendant of Jin Grand Marshal Tao Kan. He passed the jinshi examination and began his career as recording secretary of Guangzhou. Yang Yuan plundered violently in the mountain valleys. Captured and imprisoned, he repeatedly escaped and would not confess to being a bandit — this went on for several years. Jiefu questioned him with a few words, and Yuan immediately confessed fully. About to go to the execution ground, he bade farewell to the other prisoners: "Master Tao is a worthy man — though I die, I have no regret." As magistrate of Xinhui, the Guangzhou prefect Zhang Jie valued his talent. When Zhang Jie commanded Jingyuan, he recruited Jiefu into his staff.
64
崇寧初，為講議司檢討官，進虞部員外郎，遷陝西轉運副使，徙知延安府。 以招降羌有功，加集賢殿修撰。 築石堡等四城。 石堡以天澗為隍，可趨者唯一路，夏人窖粟其間，以千數。 既為宋有，其酋驚曰：「漢家取我金窟堝！」 亟發鐵騎來爭。 節夫分部將士遮禦之，斬獲統軍以下數十百人。 夏人度不可得，斂兵退。 連擢顯謨閣待制、龍圖閣直學士。
At the start of the Chongning era he was review officer of the Deliberation Office; he was promoted to outer department vice director of the Works Bureau, transferred to vice transport commissioner of Shaanxi, and appointed prefect of Yan'an. For inducing Qiang tribes to submit he was appointed compiler of the Jixian Hall. He built four forts, including Shibao. Shibao used the Heavenly Ravine as its moat, with only a single approach. The Western Xia had stored grain there in pits by the thousands. Once it fell to Song, a Xia chieftain cried in alarm, "The Song have seized our golden storehouse!" They quickly sent armored cavalry to contest it. Jiefu deployed his officers and men to block them, killing and capturing dozens down to the rank of army commander. Seeing they could not recover it, the Xia withdrew their forces. He was promoted in succession to xianmo pavilion attendant-in-waiting and dragon diagram pavilion academician-in-attendance.
65
方議城銀州，諜告夏人已東。 節夫料必西趨涇原，官屬不肯從，節夫曰：「吾計之熟矣。」 乃遣裨將耿端彥疾驅至銀州，五日城成，夏人果從涇原至，則城備已固，遂遁去。 進樞密直學士。
While plans were made to fortify Yinzhou, spies reported that the Xia had moved east. Jiefu judged they would surely strike west toward Jingyuan, though his staff disagreed. He said, "I have thought this through thoroughly." He sent Vice General Geng Duanyan racing to Yinzhou; within five days the fort was complete. The Xia came from Jingyuan as he predicted, found the defenses ready, and withdrew. He was promoted to privy council academician-in-attendance.
66
節夫在延安日久，蔡京、張康國從中助之，故唯京意是徇。 夏人欲款塞，拒弗納。 放牧者執殺之，夏人怨怒，大入鎮戎軍，殺鹵數萬口。 節夫尋領經制環慶、涇原、河東邊事，言：「今既得石堡，又城銀州，西夏洪、宥皆在吾顧盼中。 橫山之地，十有七八，興州巢穴淺露，直可以計取。」 遂陳取興、靈之策。 加龍圖閣學士。 會朝廷罷經制司，且棄所城地，節夫乃求內郡。 徙洪州，改江寧府，歷青、秦二州、太原府。
Jiefu had long served at Yan'an, and Cai Jing and Zhang Kangguo backed him from court, so he followed only Cai Jing's wishes. When the Xia sought to open peace talks at the border, he refused them. Herders who crossed the border were seized and killed. The Xia, enraged, raided deep into Zhenrong Circuit and slaughtered tens of thousands of livestock. Jiefu soon took charge of frontier affairs in Huanqing, Jingyuan, and Hedong and said, "Now that we hold Shibao and have fortified Yinzhou, the Xia domains of Hong and You lie within our reach. Seven or eight tenths of the Hengshan region are exposed; Xingzhou's stronghold lies open and can be taken by strategy." He then submitted a plan to capture Xing and Ling. He was granted the title dragon diagram pavilion academician. When the court abolished the frontier command and abandoned the new fortifications, Jiefu sought a post in the interior. He was transferred to Hongzhou, then Jiangning Prefecture, and later served in Qing and Qin prefectures and at Taiyuan.
67
群盜李勉起遼州、北平之間，河東、河北騷動，兩路帥臣、憲臣皆罪去，至出臺郎督捕之。 節夫請悉罷所遣兵，卒以計獲勉。 坐上疏乞留本道兵勿移戍，降為待制、知永興軍，數月，卒。 追復龍圖閣學士。
The bandit Li Mian rose between Liaozhou and Beiping, throwing Hedong and Hebei into turmoil. Commanders and censors in both circuits were dismissed, and court censors were sent to supervise suppression. Jiefu asked that all dispatched troops be withdrawn and eventually captured Mian by stratagem. For memorializing to keep local troops from being redeployed, he was demoted to attendant-in-waiting and appointed prefect of Yongxing Circuit. He died several months later. He was posthumously restored to dragon diagram pavilion academician.
68
毛漸，字正仲，衢州江山人。 第進士，知寧鄉縣。 熙寧經理五溪，漸條利害以上察訪使，使者諉以區畫，遂建新化、安化二縣。 漸用是得著作佐郎、知安化縣，召為司農丞，提舉京西南路常平。
Mao Jian, styled Zhengzhong, was a native of Jiangshan in Quzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and served as magistrate of Ningxiang County. During the Xining administration of the Five Streams region, Jian analyzed local conditions and reported to the investigating commissioner, who blamed him for the planning but thereby enabled him to establish the counties of Xinhua and Anhua. On this account he became assistant compiler and magistrate of Anhua, was summoned as vice director of the Ministry of Revenue, and was appointed intendant of the Jingxi Southwest ever-normal granaries.
69
元祐初，知高郵軍，遷廣東轉運判官。 渠陽蠻擾邊，近臣言漸習知蠻事，徙荊湖北路轉運判官。 時朝廷議棄地，漸曰：「蠻徭畔服不常，非稍威以兵，未易懷德。 今一犯邊即棄地，非計也。」 不報。 渠陽既棄，蠻復大入鈔略，覆官軍，荊土為大擾。
At the beginning of the Yuanyou era he governed Gaoyou Circuit and was transferred to vice transport commissioner of Guangdong. When the Quyang tribes disturbed the border, a court intimate said Jian understood tribal affairs, and he was transferred to vice transport commissioner of Jinghu North Road. When the court debated abandoning frontier territory, Jian said, "The tribal Yao are never steady in allegiance. Without some military awe, virtue alone will not win them. To abandon territory at the first raid is no policy at all." The court did not respond. After Quyang was abandoned, the tribes raided again, defeated government forces, and threw Jing province into turmoil.
70
漸歷提點江西刑獄、江東、兩浙轉運副使。 浙部水溢，詔賜緡錢二百萬以振之。 漸言：「數州被害即捐二百萬，儻仍歲如之，將何以繼？」 乃案錢氏有國時故事，起長安堰至鹽官，徹清水浦入於海； 開無錫蓮蓉河，武進廟堂港，常熟疏涇、梅里入大江； 又開昆山七耳、茜涇、下張諸浦，東北道吳江，開大盈、顧彙、柘湖，下山小官浦以入海。 自是水不為患。
He served successively as intendant of judicial affairs in Jiangxi and as vice transport commissioner in Jiangdong and the two Zhe circuits. Floods struck the Zhe region, and the court granted two million strings of cash for relief. Jian said, "A few prefectures suffer flood damage and two million is granted—if this happens year after year, how can the treasury sustain it?" He investigated hydraulic works from the kingdom of Wu-Yue and reopened the Chang'an weir to Yanguan, clearing the Qingshui estuary to the sea; opened the lotus river at Wuxi and the Miaotang harbor at Wujin, and dredged the Jing and Meili channels at Changshu into the Yangzi; He also opened channels at Kunshan and other waterways linking lakes and estuaries to the sea through Wujiang and the coastal lakes. After this the floods ceased to be a calamity.
71
加集賢校理，入為吏部右司郎中。 以秘閣校理為陝西轉運使。 攝渭、秦、熙三州。 未幾，復攝帥涇原。 日夜治兵，乘夏人犯邊，遣將搗其虛，遂破沒煙砦。 進直龍圖閣、知渭州，命下，卒，年五十九。 優贈龍圖閣待制。
He was appointed compiler of the Jixian Hall and entered service as right section gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel. As secretariat proofreader he became Shaanxi transport commissioner. He served as acting prefect of Wei, Qin, and Xi. Before long he again served as acting commander of Jingyuan. He trained troops day and night. When the Xia raided the border he sent generals to strike their weak points and captured the Moyan stockade. He was promoted to direct dragon diagram pavilion and appointed prefect of Weizhou, but died at fifty-nine before he could take up the post. He was posthumously granted dragon diagram pavilion attendant-in-waiting.
72
王祖道
Wang Zudao
73
王祖道，字若愚，福州人。 第進士，又舉制科，會罷，調韓城尉，知松陽、白馬二縣。 為司農丞、監察御史。 數言事，以論樞密承旨張誠一試補吏挾私、延州呂惠卿遣禁卒饋徐禧公使物非是，改司封員外郎、知汀、泉、福三州。 歷使諸路，入為戶部、吏部員外郎，左司諫。 言陝西兵未可減，徽宗謂其論事無足行，依阿苟容，出知海州。 拜秘書少監，再為福州。 加直龍圖閣、知桂州。
Wang Zudao, styled Ruoyu, was a native of Fuzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and also entered the special examination, but when it was abolished he was posted as sheriff of Hancheng and served as magistrate of Songyang and Baima. He became vice director of the Ministry of Revenue and investigating censor. He repeatedly memorialized on affairs, denouncing Privy Council bearer Zhang Chengyi for favoritism in appointments and Lü Huizong of Yanzhou for misusing guards to deliver gifts to the envoy Xu Xi. He was transferred to outer gentleman of the Bureau of Honors and governed Ting, Quan, and Fu. He served on missions to various circuits and entered court as outer gentleman of the ministries of Revenue and Personnel and left remonstrator of the Secretariat. He argued that Shaanxi troops should not yet be reduced. Huizong declared his proposals worthless and accused him of fawning evasion, sending him out as prefect of Haizhou. He was appointed vice director of the Secretariat and again served at Fuzhou. He was granted direct dragon diagram pavilion and appointed prefect of Guizhou.
74
蔡京開邊，祖道欲乘時徼富貴，誘王江酋楊晟免等使納士，誇大其辭，言：「向慕者百三十峒、五千九百家、十餘萬口，其旁通江洞之眾，尚未論也。 王江在諸江合流之地，山川形勢，據諸峒要會，幅員二千里。 宜開建城邑，控制百蠻，以武臣為守，置溪峒司主之。」 詔以為懷遠軍，且頒諸司使至殿侍軍將告命，使第補其首領。 置二砦，為立學。
When Cai Jing pushed frontier expansion, Zudao sought wealth and honor and induced Wangjiang chieftains such as Yang Shengmian to submit, exaggerating in his report: Those who have long admired the court number one hundred thirty ravines, five thousand nine hundred households, and more than one hundred thousand people, not counting neighboring river peoples. Wangjiang lies where the rivers converge. Its terrain commands the ravines across two thousand li." We should establish cities to control the tribes, appoint military men as prefects, and set up a stream-and-ravine office to administer them. The court established Huaiyuan Circuit, issued patents to chieftains through various offices, and ranked their appointments.
75
又言：「黎人為患六十年，道路不通。 今願為王民，得地千五百里。」 遂以安口隘為允州，中古州地為格州，增提舉溪峒官三員。 又言羈縻知地州羅文誠、文州羅更晏、蘭州韋晏鬧、那州羅更從皆內附，請於黎母山心立鎮州，為下都督府，賜軍額曰靜海，知州領海南安撫都監，徙萬安軍於水口。 南丹州莫公佞獨拒命，發兵討擒之，遂築懷遠軍為平州，格州為從州，南丹為觀州，並允、地、文、蘭、那五州置黔南路。 擢祖道顯謨閣待制，進龍圖閣直學士。
Two stockades were built and schools established. He also said, "The Li people have plagued the region for sixty years and roads have been impassable." Now they wish to become imperial subjects, yielding fifteen hundred li of territory. Ankou Pass was made Yunzhou, central Gu region became Gezhou, and three stream-and-ravine posts were added. He reported that tribal prefects in Dizhou, Wenzhou, Lanzhou, and Nazhou had submitted and asked for a garrison at Limushan as a lower commandery, army title Jinghai, with the prefect overseeing Hainan pacification and Wan'an Circuit moved to the estuary. Only Mo Gongxun of Nandan refused. Troops were sent to capture him. Huaiyuan became Pingzhou, Gezhou became Congzhou, Nandan became Guanzhou, and with five other prefectures the Qiannan South Route was created.
76
召為兵部尚書，未行，與融州張莊謀，使莊奏言海南一千二十峒皆已團結，所未得者百七十峒，今黎人款化，則未得者才十之一耳。 於是徭、黎渠帥不勝忿，蜂起侵剽，圍新萬安軍及觀州，殺官吏。 初，祖道徙城時，言黎人伐木助役。 及是詔問，不能對。 京芘之，猶除端明殿學士、知福州，復以刑部尚書召。 大觀二年，卒，贈宣奉大夫。
Zudao was promoted to xianmo pavilion attendant-in-waiting and then dragon diagram pavilion academician-in-attendance. Summoned as minister of war before he departed, he colluded with Zhang Zhuang of Rongzhou so Zhuang would memorialize that of 1,020 Hainan ravines all but 170 had submitted and that with Li submission only one in ten remained outside control. Yao and Li chieftains, enraged, rose in arms, besieged the new Wan'an Circuit and Guanzhou, and killed officials. When Zudao had moved the city, he claimed the Li helped cut timber for the work. When the throne questioned this, he could not answer. Cai Jing protected him; he was still made duanming hall academician and prefect of Fuzhou, then recalled as minister of justice.
77
祖道在桂四年，厚以官爵金帛挑諸夷，建城邑，調兵鎮戍，輦輸內地錢布、鹽粟，無復齊限。 地瘴癘，戍者歲亡什五六，實無尺地一民益於縣官。 蔡京既自以為功，至謂：「混中原風氣之殊，當天下輿圖之半。」 祖道用是超取顯美。 張商英為相，治其誕罔，追貶昭信軍節度副使。 京再輔政，復還之。 然其所創名州縣，不旋踵皆罷。 是後龐恭孫、張莊、趙遹、程鄰皆以拓地受上賞，大抵皆規模祖道。 祖道起冗散，驟取美官，而朝廷受其敝云。
In the second year of Daguan he died and was posthumously granted grandee of proper service for the court. Zudao spent four years in Guizhou, lavishing offices, titles, gold, and silk on the tribes, building cities, garrisoning troops, and shipping inland money, cloth, salt, and grain without limit. The land was malarial; each year one or two soldiers in ten died in the garrisons—yet the treasury gained not a foot of land or a single subject. Cai Jing claimed the credit, even declaring that he had blended the customs of the interior with the frontier and expanded the realm by half. Zudao thereby vaulted to splendid appointments. When Zhang Shangying became chief minister he investigated Zudao's fabrications and posthumously demoted him to honorary vice commissioner of Zhaoxin Circuit. When Cai Jing returned to power the demotion was reversed. Yet the prefectures and counties he created were abolished almost as soon as they were founded. Afterward Pang Gongsun, Zhang Zhuang, Zhao Yu, and Cheng Lin all won high rewards for expanding territory, mostly following Zudao's model.
78
張莊，應天府人也。 元豐三年，擢進士第。 歷提舉司、講議司檢討官，出提舉荊湖、夔州等路香鹽事。 改提舉荊湖北路常平、本路提點刑獄，進龍圖閣直學士、廣南西路轉運副使。
Zudao rose from obscurity to fine office in a rush, and the court bore the cost. Zhang Zhuang was a native of Yingtian Prefecture. In the third year of Yuanfeng he passed the jinshi examination. He served as compiler in the directorate and discussion offices, went out as intendant of incense and salt in Jinghu and Kuizhou, became intendant of Jinghu North ever-normal granaries and judicial intendant of that circuit, and was promoted to dragon diagram pavilion academician-in-attendance and vice transport commissioner of Guangnan West Road.
79
王祖道既請立朱崖諸州縣，徙萬安軍，詔莊按覆相度，實與祖道相表裏。 祖道召為兵部尚書，授莊集賢殿修撰、知桂州。 祖道既留，以莊知融州。 已而祖道徙福州，莊復知桂州。 奏：「安化上三州一鎮地土，及恩廣監洞蒙光明、落安知洞程大法、都丹團黃光明等納土，共五萬一千一百餘戶，二十六萬二千餘人，幅員九千餘里。」 尋又奏：「寬樂州、安沙州、譜州、四州、七源等州納土，計二萬人，一十六州、三十三縣、五十餘峒，幅員萬里。」 蔡京帥百官表賀，進莊兼黔南路經略安撫使、知靖州。
After Wang Zudao petitioned to establish prefectures on Hainan and move Wan'an Circuit, Zhuang was ordered to inspect on site but in fact acted in concert with Zudao. When Zudao was summoned as minister of war, Zhuang was made compiler of the Jixian Hall and prefect of Guizhou. With Zudao remaining behind, Zhuang was made prefect of Rongzhou. Before long Zudao moved to Fuzhou and Zhuang again governed Guizhou. He memorialized that the upper three prefectures and one garrison of Anhua, together with submission by En-Guang tribal leaders, totaled more than fifty-one thousand households, two hundred sixty-two thousand people, and nine thousand li of territory. He soon memorialized again that Kuanle, Ansha, Pu, and other prefectures had submitted, totaling twenty thousand people, sixteen prefectures, thirty-three counties, and more than fifty ravines across ten thousand li. Cai Jing led officials in congratulatory memorials. Zhuang was made concurrent Qiannan South Route military commissioner and pacification commissioner and prefect of Jingzhou.
80
王子武者，惠恭皇后族子也。 靖州界接平、允、從三州，子武欲通之，因請復元祐所棄渠陽軍。 渠陽既城，乃上言：「湖北至廣西，繇湖南則迂若弓背，自渠陽而往，猶弓弦耳。」 因以利啖諸蠻使納土，立里堠。 莊忌之，且欲蠻之多屬廣西為己功，因誘復水蠻石盛唐毀其烽表、橋梁。 渠陽蠻酋楊惟聰請討之，子武以聞。 朝議謂其生事，罷子武。
Wang Ziwu was a kinsman of Empress Hui Gong. Jingzhou bordered Ping, Yun, and Cong. Ziwu wished to link them and asked to restore the Quyang garrison abandoned in Yuanyou. Once Quyang was fortified he memorialized, "From Hubei to Guangxi the Hunan route is as bent as a bow's back; from Quyang onward it is the bowstring." He used bribes to induce tribes to submit and set up boundary markers. Zhuang resented this and wanted more tribes credited to Guangxi. He induced the Fushui barbarian Shi Shengtang to destroy beacons and bridges. The Quyang chieftain Yang Weicong asked to attack them, and Ziwu reported it to the court. The court judged the affair needlessly provocative and dismissed Ziwu.
81
未幾，安化蠻納土，莊遣黃忱往築州城。 忱，蠻將也，知蠻情偽，力言不可。 莊怒，遣忱護築溪州，別遣胡超、儂昌等築安化城，果為蠻所掩，超等沒者幾千人。 中書舍人宇文粹中言：「祖道及莊擅興師旅，啟釁邀功，妄言諸蠻效順，納款得地。 當時柄臣攬為綏撫四夷之功。 奏賀行賞，張皇其事。 自昔欺君，無大於此。」 朝廷既追貶祖道，莊責舒州團練副使，永州安置，再貶連州，移和州。
Before long the Anhua tribes submitted territory, and Zhuang sent Huang Chen to build the prefectural seat. Chen was a tribal general who understood their duplicity and strongly urged against it. Zhuang was furious. He sent Chen to oversee construction at Xizhou and dispatched Hu Chao, Nong Chang, and others to build Anhua city. The tribes ambushed them as Chen had warned, and nearly a thousand men were lost. Secretariat drafter Yuwen Cuizhong said, "Zudao and Zhuang raised troops on their own authority, provoked conflict to claim merit, and falsely reported that the tribes had submitted and ceded territory. The minister then in power claimed the credit for pacifying the four quarters. They submitted congratulatory memorials, distributed rewards, and greatly magnified the affair. Never in history had a ruler been deceived on so grand a scale. The court posthumously demoted Zudao. Zhuang was reduced to deputy military training commissioner of Shuzhou and assigned to Yongzhou, then demoted again to Lianzhou and transferred to Hezhou.
82
起知荊南府，徙江寧。 復進徽猷閣直學士，歷知渭、毫、襄州、鎮江東平府。 宣和六年，坐繕治東平城不加功輒復摧圮，降兩官，提舉嵩山崇福宮。 卒，贈宣奉大夫。
He was recalled to govern Jingnan prefecture, then transferred to Jiangning. He was again made academician of the Huayou Pavilion and successively governed Wei, Hao, and Xiang prefectures and Dongping prefecture in Zhenjiang. In the sixth year of Xuanhe he was demoted two ranks for repairing Dongping's walls so poorly that they soon collapsed again, and was appointed to oversee Chongfu Palace on Mount Song. He died and was posthumously granted the title Xuanfeng Grandee.
83
趙遹，開封人。 大觀初，以發運司勾當公事為梓州路轉運司判官。 滬、戎諸夷納土，命遹相置，以建立純州縣砦勞，加直秘閣。 升轉運副使，俄授龍圖閣直學士，為正使。
Zhao Yu was a native of Kaifeng. At the start of the Daguan era he rose from a clerk in the grain transport commission to become judge of the Zizhou Route transport commission. When the Hu and Rong tribes submitted territory, Yu was ordered to arrange their settlement. For establishing Chun prefecture with its counties and forts he was made a drafter of the Secretariat. He was promoted to deputy transport commissioner and soon made academician of the Longtu Pavilion and chief commissioner.
84
政和五年，晏州夷酋卜漏反，陷梅嶺堡，知砦高公老遁。 公老之妻，宗女也，常出金玉酒器飲卜漏等，漏心豔之。 會滬帥賈宗諒以斂竹木擾夷部，且誣致其酋斗箇旁等罪，夷人咸怨。 漏遂相結，因上元張燈襲破砦，虜公老妻及其器物，四出剽掠。 遹行部昌州，聞之。 倍道趣瀘州。 賊分攻樂共城、長寧軍、武寧縣，宗諒皆遣將拒卻之。 已而樂共城監押潘虎誘殺羅始黨族首領五十人，其族蠻憤怒，合漏等復攻樂共城。 遹並劾之，詔斬虎，罷宗諒，代以康延魯，而聽遹節制。 遹陰有專討意，兵端益大矣。 於是詔發陝西軍、義軍、土軍、保甲三萬人，以遹為瀘南招討使。 遹與別將馬覺、張思正分道出，期會於晏州。 思峨州近而固，遹遣王育先破之，村囤諸落相繼而克，因其積穀食士卒。
In the fifth year of Zhenghe the Yanzhou chieftain Bu Lou rebelled, seized Meiling fort, and the fort commander Gao Gonglao fled. Gonglao's wife was a woman of the Zong clan. She often brought out gold and jade wine vessels to entertain Bu Lou and his men, and Lou coveted her. Meanwhile the Hu commander Jia Zongliang harassed the tribes by levying bamboo and timber and falsely implicated their chieftain Dou Gebeng and others in crimes, and the tribes were deeply resentful. Lou then formed an alliance. On the Lantern Festival he launched a surprise attack, seized Gonglao's wife and her goods, and raided in every direction. Yu was on circuit inspection in Changzhou when he heard the news. He forced the march and hastened to Luzhou. The rebels attacked Lekong city, Changning army, and Wuning county in separate columns, and Zongliang sent generals to repel each attack. Before long the Lekong garrison officer Pan Hu lured and killed fifty Luoshi clan leaders. The clan was enraged and joined Bu Lou in another assault on Lekong city. Yu impeached them both. An edict ordered Pan Hu executed, dismissed Zongliang, replaced him with Kang Yanlu, and placed Yu in overall command. Yu secretly intended to launch a full punitive campaign, and the war grew ever larger. An edict then mobilized thirty thousand troops from the Shaanxi army, volunteer forces, native troops, and baojia militia, and appointed Yu pacification commissioner of southern Luzhou. Yu and the detached generals Ma Jue and Zhang Sizheng marched by separate routes and planned to rendezvous at Yanzhou. Si'e prefecture was nearby and strongly held. Yu sent Wang Yu to take it first, then captured village stockades and settlements one after another and fed his troops from their stored grain.
85
既抵晏州，覺、思正各以兵來會。 漏據輪縛大囤，其山崛起數百仞，林箐深密，夷奔潰者悉赴之，乃壘石為城，外樹木柵，當道穿阬阱，仆巨枿，布渠答，夾以守障，俯瞰官軍。 矢石所中皆靡碎，遹軍不能進。 間從巡檢种友直、田祐恭按視，其旁山崖壁特峭絕，賊恃之無守備。 遹欲襲取，命友直、祐恭軍其下，而身當賊衝，番軍迭攻之。 未旦，鼓而進，迨夕則止，賊並力拒戰，不得息。 友直所部多思、黔土丁，習山險，而山多生猱，遹遣土丁捕之。 伐去蒙密，緣崩石挽藤葛而上，得猱數十頭，束麻作炬，灌以膏蠟，縛於猱背。 暮夜，復遣土丁負繩梯登崖顛，乃縋梯引下，人人銜枚，挈猱蟻附而上。 比雞鳴，友直、祐恭與其眾悉登，擁刀斧穿箐入。 及賊柵，出火然炬，猱熱狂跳，賊廬舍皆茅竹，猱竄其上，火輒發，賊號呼奔撲，猱益驚，火益熾。 官軍鼓譟破柵，遹望見火，麾軍躡雲梯攻其前。 兩軍相應，賊擾亂，不復能抗，赴火墮崖死者不可計，俘斬數千人。 卜漏突圍走，至輪多囤，追獲之。 晏州平，諸夷落皆降，拓地環二千里。 遹為建城砦，畫疆畝，募人耕種，且習戰守，號曰「勝兵」。 詔置沿邊安撫司，以轉運副使孫羲叟為安撫使。 高公老妻不辱而死，詔贈節義族姬。
When they reached Yanzhou, Jue and Sizheng arrived with their forces to join him. Bu Lou held the great stockade at Lunfu on a mountain rising hundreds of ren, its forests dense and deep. Fleeing tribesmen gathered there. They piled stone walls, raised wooden palisades, dug pits across the roads, felled great trees, laid caltrops, and posted defensive barriers, looking down on the government army below. Arrows and stones shattered everything they struck, and Yu's army could not advance. Yu sometimes accompanied patrol officers Zhong Youzhi and Tian Yougong on reconnaissance. A nearby cliff was extraordinarily steep, and the rebels, trusting in it, left it unguarded. Yu planned a surprise assault. He ordered Youzhi and Yougong to encamp below the cliff while he himself held the rebel front, sending tribal troops to attack in rotation. Before dawn they attacked to the drum; by evening they halted. The rebels fought with all their strength and could not rest. Youzhi's men were mostly native soldiers from Si and Qian, skilled in mountain terrain. The mountains held many macaques, and Yu sent native troops to capture them. They cleared the undergrowth and climbed crumbling rocks hand over hand on vines. They captured several dozen macaques, bound hemp into torches, soaked them in grease and wax, and tied them to the animals' backs. That night native soldiers climbed the cliff crest with rope ladders and lowered them again. Each man marched with a gag in his mouth, leading macaques up the face of the cliff like ants. By cockcrow Youzhi, Yougong, and all their men had reached the top and hacked their way through the thicket with axes. At the rebel palisade they lit the torches. The scorched macaques leaped wildly. The rebels' huts were thatch and bamboo; the animals darted onto the roofs and fire erupted everywhere. The rebels screamed and ran in panic; the macaques grew more frantic and the flames spread. The government army broke the palisade with drums and shouts. Yu saw the flames and led his troops up scaling ladders against the front. The two forces converged. The rebels fell into chaos and could no longer resist. Countless men died in the flames or fell from the cliffs; several thousand were captured or killed. Bu Lou broke out and fled to the Lunduo stockade, where he was pursued and captured. Yanzhou was pacified, all the tribal settlements submitted, and the frontier was extended by two thousand li. Yu built walled forts, surveyed boundaries and fields, recruited settlers to farm the land, and trained them in combat and defense. They were called the Victorious Soldiers. An edict established a frontier pacification commission and appointed deputy transport commissioner Sun Xisou as its commissioner. Gao Gonglao's wife died rather than submit to dishonor. An edict posthumously granted her the title Lady of Chastity and Righteousness of the Zong clan.
86
加遹龍圖閣直學士、熙河蘭湟經略安撫使。 遹以疾請祠，不許。 既入對，賜上舍出身，拜兵部尚書。 遹與童貫有隙，力請去，以提舉醴泉觀兼詳定一司敕令。 六年，出知成德軍，拜延康殿學士，賜其子永裔上舍出身、秘書省校書郎。
Yu was further made academician of the Longtu Pavilion and frontier military commissioner and pacification commissioner of Xixi, Lan, and Huang. Yu asked to retire to a temple post on grounds of illness, but the request was denied. After an audience with the emperor he was granted shangshe origin and appointed minister of war. Yu and Tong Guan were at odds. He pressed hard to leave office and was appointed to oversee Liquan Shrine while concurrently compiling edicts for one department. In the sixth year he was sent out to govern the Chengde army, made scholar of the Yankang Hall, and his son Yongyi was granted shangshe origin and appointed proofreader of the Secretariat.
87
淶水人董才得罪亡命，因聚眾為賊，攻敗城邑，遼人不能制。 中山帥府陰與才通，誘使來歸，才尋為遼所破，遂上書請取全燕以自效。 王黼、童貫大喜，將許之，遹言不可。 客或以沮朝廷密謀止遹，遹曰：「帥臣所部，封境雖異，事無異也。 且論思獻納，侍從之職，遹今以侍從備帥臣，而真定、中山邊接，隙苟一開，吾境得無事乎？」 疏奏，上然之，乃斥還才書。 才窮蹙，轉入河東。 詔以問遹，遹復具疏極論其害。 洎遹徙熙州，黼等卒納才，又慮遹過闕入見有所陳，趣使便道赴鎮。 諸蕃聞遹至，相賀曰：「吾父來，朝廷真欲無事矣！」 爭出鋤耨，牛價為頓高。
Dong Cai of Lai Shui fled after committing a crime, gathered a band of rebels, and seized towns and cities until the Liao could no longer control him. The Zhongshan command secretly contacted Cai and lured him to defect. Cai was soon defeated by the Liao and then submitted a memorial offering to conquer all of Yan to prove his worth. Wang Fu and Tong Guan were delighted and were about to approve the plan, but Yu said it must not be done. Some urged Yu not to obstruct the court's secret plan. Yu said, "Commanders may govern different borders, but their responsibilities are the same. Deliberation and remonstrance are an attendant's duty. I now serve as attendant to a frontier commander, and Zhending and Zhongshan share a border. If trouble opens there even once, can our own territory remain secure? His memorial was submitted. The emperor agreed and returned Cai's letter unopened. Cai, hard pressed, fled into Hedong. The court asked Yu for his opinion by edict, and he submitted another detailed memorial arguing strongly against the plan. When Yu was transferred to Xizhou, Fu and his allies finally accepted Cai. Fearing Yu might speak against the plan if he passed through the capital for an audience, they urged him to take the direct route to his post. When the frontier tribes heard Yu had arrived, they congratulated one another, saying, "Our father has come—the court truly means to keep the peace! They rushed out with hoes and plows to farm, and the price of oxen shot up.
88
時議更陝西大鐵錢，價與銅錢輕重等。 遹上言曰：「銅重鐵輕，自然之理，今反其理，民誰信之？ 以人奪天，雖厲其禁，終不可行也。」 居數月，以疾乞致仕，命提舉嵩山崇福宮。 起知中山、順昌、應昌府。 金人舉兵，召遹赴闕，尋卒。
At the time the court debated recoining Shaanxi's large iron currency so that its value would equal copper coin by weight. Yu memorialized, "Copper is heavy and iron is light—that is nature's order. To reverse that order—whom would the people believe? To use human decree to overturn heaven's order—even with harsh enforcement, it can never succeed. Several months later he requested retirement on grounds of illness and was appointed to oversee Chongfu Palace on Mount Song. He was recalled to govern Zhongshan, Shunchang, and Yingchang prefectures. When the Jurchens raised arms, Yu was summoned to court and soon died.
89
永裔歷知眉州。 言者論遹欺罔朝廷以軍功，永裔遂放罷。
Yongyi served as prefect of Meizhou. Critics charged that Yu had deceived the court to claim military merit, and Yongyi was dismissed.
90
論曰：夏人時蹈窾，逐之使出則已。 章惇、蔡京故撓之用兵，塗邊人肝腦於地，以幸己功，不亦顛乎？ 諸蠻溪峒，茅瘴非人域，鴆虺與居，況無敢闖吾圉。 京乃使祖道、張莊之徒鑿空為功，舉中國重貲，棄諸不毛，而文飾奸慝，鋪張表賀，徽宗亦偃然受其欺，好大黷武之心一侈，而燕朔之謀作矣。 《詩》云：「池之竭矣，不云自頻； 泉之竭矣，不云自中。」 徽之耗內貪外，馴召禍敗，跡所從來，此其本也。 嗚呼，可不戒哉！
The historians comment: When the Tangut probed for weakness, it was enough to drive them back across the border. Yet Zhang Dun and Cai Jing deliberately pushed for war, spilling the blood of frontier people to win credit for themselves—was this not madness? The tribal ravines were malarial wilderness where poison birds and vipers dwelled—not a land fit for men, and none of them dared breach our borders in the first place. Cai Jing sent men like Zudao and Zhang Zhuang to manufacture merit from nothing, pouring the empire's treasure into barren wastes while dressing up villainy with congratulatory fanfare. Emperor Huizong complacently accepted the deception. Once his appetite for war swelled, the plan to conquer Yan arose. The Odes say, "When the pool runs dry, do we not say it began at the banks? When the spring runs dry, do we not say it began at the source?" Huizong's ruin came from exhausting the realm within and grasping abroad. Tracing the path to catastrophe, this was its root. Alas—let this be a warning!