1
劉拯，字彥修，宣州南陵人。 進士及第。 知常熟縣，有善政，縣人稱之。 元豐中，為監察御史，歷江東淮西轉運判官、提點廣西刑獄。
Liu Zheng, courtesy name Yanxiu, was a native of Nanling in Xuanzhou. He passed the jinshi examination. As magistrate of Changshu County he enacted sound policies, and the people of the county praised him. During the Yuanfeng era he served as investigating censor, and later held the posts of transport-assistant commissioner for Jiangdong and Huai-xi and judicial intendant for Guangxi.
2
紹聖初，復為御史，言：「元祐修先帝《實錄》，以司馬光、蘇軾之門人范祖禹、黃庭堅、秦觀為之，竄易增減，誣毀先烈，願明正國典。」 又言：「蘇軾貪鄙狂悖，無事君之義，嘗議罪抵死，先帝赦之，敢以怨忿形於詔誥，醜詆厚誣。 策試館職，至及王莽、曹操之事，方異意之臣，分據要路，而軾問及此，傳之四方，忠義之士，為之寒心扼腕。 願正其罪，以示天下。」 時祖禹等已貶，軾謫英州，而拯猶鷙視不愜也。 進右正言累至給事中。
At the beginning of Shaosheng he was again appointed censor and memorialized: "During the Yuanyou era the Veritable Records of the late emperor were compiled by Fan Zuyu, Huang Tingjian, and Qin Guan—disciples of Sima Guang and Su Shi—who altered, added to, and cut the text, defaming the achievements of our august predecessors. I beg that the national statutes be clearly enforced." He also said: "Su Shi is greedy, base, arrogant, and rebellious, with no sense of duty to his sovereign. He was once judged deserving of death, yet the late emperor pardoned him; he nevertheless dares to vent resentment in edicts and proclamations, vilely slandering and grossly falsifying. In the examination for academy offices he went so far as to raise the cases of Wang Mang and Cao Cao. Ministers of heterodox intent now hold the key posts, yet Su Shi brought up such matters; when word spread to the four quarters, loyal and righteous men were chilled to the marrow and wrung their hands in anguish. I beg that his crimes be formally punished, as a lesson to all under Heaven." By then Fan Zuyu and the others had already been demoted, and Su Shi had been banished to Yingzhou, yet Liu Zheng still glared fiercely, unsatisfied. He was promoted to Right Remonstrator and eventually rose to Supervising Secretary.
3
徽宗立，欽聖后臨朝，而欽慈后葬，大臣欲用妃禮。 拯曰：「母以子貴，子為天子，則母乃后也，當改園陵為山陵。」 又言：「門下侍郎韓忠彥，雖以德選，然不可啟貴戚預政之漸。」 帝疑其阿私觀望，黜知濠州。 改廣州，加寶文閣待制，以吏部侍郎召還。 帝稱其議欽慈事，褒進兩秩，遷戶部尚書。
When Emperor Huizong came to the throne, Empress Dowager Qinsheng held court. As Empress Dowager Qinci was being buried, the chief ministers wished to use the rites prescribed for a consort. Liu Zheng said: "When a mother is ennobled through her son, and the son is Son of Heaven, then the mother is an empress; the garden tomb should be redesignated as a mountain tomb." He also said: "Vice Director of the Secretariat Han Zhongyan, though chosen for his virtue, must not be allowed to open the door to imperial affines meddling in government." The emperor suspected him of favoritism and fence-sitting, and demoted him to prefect of Haozhou. He was transferred to Guangzhou, granted the additional title of Baowen Pavilion Attendant-Reader, and recalled as Vice Minister of Personnel. The emperor praised his counsel on the matter of Empress Dowager Qinci, rewarded him with a two-rank advancement, and appointed him Minister of Revenue.
4
蔡京編次元祐姦黨，拯言：「漢、唐失政，皆分朋黨，今日指前人為黨，安知後人不以今人為黨乎？ 不若定為三等，某事為上，某事為中，某事為下，而不斥其名氏。」 京不樂。 又言戶部月賦入不足償所出。 京益怒，徙之兵部。 旋罷知蘄州，徙潤州。
When Cai Jing compiled the register of Yuanyou traitorous factions, Liu Zheng said: "The misgovernment of Han and Tang arose from dividing men into factions. Today you label the men of the past as a faction—how can you be sure that posterity will not label the men of today as a faction? Better to fix three grades—certain matters as serious, certain as moderate, certain as minor—and not publish their names." Cai Jing was displeased. He also reported that the Ministry of Revenue's monthly tax receipts were insufficient to cover expenditures. Cai Jing grew still angrier and transferred him to the Ministry of War. Shortly afterward he was dismissed from office and made prefect of Qizhou, then transferred to Runzhou.
5
張商英入相，召為吏部尚書。 拯已昏憒，吏乘為姦，又左轉工部，以樞密直學士知同州。 時商英去位，侍御史洪彥昇並劾之，削職，提舉鴻慶宮，卒。
When Zhang Shangying became chief councilor, Liu Zheng was summoned back as Minister of Personnel. Liu Zheng was already senile and confused; clerks took advantage to commit abuses. He was transferred again to the Ministry of Works, then sent out as Academician Expositor-in-ordinary of the Bureau of Military Affairs and prefect of Tongzhou. When Zhang Shangying had left office, Remonstrating Secretary Hong Yansheng jointly impeached him. His rank was stripped, he was made director of the Hongqing Palace, and there he died.
6
錢遹，字德循，婺州浦江人。 以進士甲科調洪州推官，累通判越州。 至校書郎。 徽宗立，擢殿中侍御史。 中丞豐稷論其回邪不可任風憲，不報。 稷復言：「必用遹則願罷臣」，乃以提舉湖北常平。
Qian Yu, courtesy name Dexun, was a native of Pujiang in Wuzhou. Having placed in the first class of the jinshi examination, he was appointed judicial assistant of Hongzhou and later served as vice-prefect of Yuezhou. He rose to the post of collator. When Emperor Huizong came to the throne, he was promoted to Attending Censor within the Palace. Censor-in-Chief Feng Ji argued that he was crooked and devious and unfit for the censorate; the court took no action. Feng Ji again said, "If Qian Yu must be appointed, then I beg to be dismissed," whereupon Qian Yu was made director of the Hubei Ever-Normal Granary.
7
崇寧初，召為都官員外郎、殿中侍御史。 劾曾布援元祐姦黨，擠紹聖忠賢，布去。 遷侍御史，閱兩月，進中丞。 乞治元符末大臣嘗乞復孟后而廢劉后事，韓忠彥、曾布、李清臣、黃履及議者曾肇、豐稷、陳瓘、龔夬皆坐貶。 遂與殿中侍御史石豫、左膚言：「元祐皇后得罪先朝，昭告宗廟，天下莫不知。 哲宗上賓，太母聽政。 當國大臣盡欲變亂紹聖之事，以逞私欲，因一布衣何大正狂言，復還廢后位號。 當時物議固已洶洶，乃至疏逖小臣，詣闕上書，忠議激切，則天下公議從可知矣。 今朝廷既已貶削忠彥等，及追褫大正誤恩，則元祐皇后義非所安。 孔子曰：『必也正名乎，名不正則言不順。』 夫在先朝則曰后，今日則謂之元祐皇后，於名為不正； 先朝廢而陛下復，於事為不順。 考之典禮，則古昔所無； 稽之本朝，則故實未有； 詢之師言，則大以為不然。 況既為先朝所廢，則宗廟祭告，歲時薦饗，人事有嫌疑之跡，神靈萌厭斁之心，萬世之後，配祔將安所施。 宜蚤正厥事，斷以大義，無牽於流俗非正之論，以累聖朝。」
At the beginning of the Chongning era he was recalled as Vice Director of the Bureau of Justice and Attending Censor within the Palace. He impeached Zeng Bu for supporting the Yuanyou traitorous faction and driving out the loyal worthies of Shaosheng; Zeng Bu was removed. He was promoted to Remonstrating Secretary, and two months later advanced to Censor-in-Chief. He called for punishment of the ministers who at the end of the Yuanfu era had sought to restore Empress Meng and depose Empress Liu. Han Zhongyan, Zeng Bu, Li Qingchen, Huang Lü, and the memorialists Zeng Zhao, Feng Ji, Chen Guan, and Gong Fu were all demoted. Thereupon, together with Attending Censor Shi Yu and Zuo Fu, he memorialized: "The Yuanyou Empress offended the former dynasty; the matter was proclaimed to the ancestral temple, and all under Heaven knows it. When Emperor Zhezong passed away, the Grand Empress Dowager held court. The ministers in power all wished to overturn the policies of Shaosheng to serve their private ends; on the mad words of a commoner, He Dazheng, the deposed empress's title and rank were restored. Public opinion was already in an uproar at the time; even remote minor officials came to the palace gate with memorials of fierce, loyal counsel—so the consensus of all under Heaven may readily be inferred. Now that the court has demoted Han Zhongyan and the others and has stripped He Dazheng of his undeserved rewards, the Yuanyou Empress, by right, cannot remain in her restored position. Confucius said, 'One must rectify names; if names are not correct, speech will not accord with reality.' In the former dynasty she was called empress; today she is called the Yuanyou Empress—in name this is incorrect; the former dynasty deposed her and Your Majesty restored her—in practice this is not accordant. Examined against canonical rites, it has no precedent in antiquity; checked against this dynasty, there is no established precedent; and when masters of ritual are consulted, they overwhelmingly deem it improper. Moreover, since she was deposed by the former dynasty, ancestral offerings and seasonal sacrifices would bear the taint of impropriety, and the spirits would be displeased; ten thousand generations hence, where would she be enshrined alongside the imperial dead? This matter should be rectified at once and decided on principle, without being swayed by vulgar, improper opinion to the detriment of the sagely dynasty."
8
明日，又言：「典禮所在，實朝廷治亂之所係，雖人主之尊不得而擅，又況區區臣下，敢輕變易者哉？ 元祐皇后得罪先朝，廢處瑤華，制誥一頒，天下無間然者。 並后匹嫡，《春秋》譏之，豈宜明盛之朝，而循衰世非禮之事？」 於是尚書右僕射京、門下侍郎將、中書侍郎尚書左丞挺之、右丞商英言：「元祐皇后再復位號，考之典禮，將來宗廟不可從享，陵寢不可配祔。 揆諸禮制，皆所未安，請如紹聖三年九月詔書旨。」 后由是復廢。 遹、豫遂言元符皇后名位未正，乃冊為崇恩太后。
The next day he again memorialized: "Ritual propriety is what the order and disorder of the court depend upon; even the sovereign may not alter it at will—how much less may petty subjects dare to change it lightly? The Yuanyou Empress offended the former dynasty and was deposed to Yaohua Palace; once the edict was promulgated, all under Heaven accepted it without dissent. Two empresses equaling the principal consort—the Spring and Autumn Annals ridicule this. How can a bright and flourishing dynasty follow the unritual practices of a declining age?" Thereupon Right Vice Director Cai Jing, Vice Director of the Chancellery Jiang, Vice Director of the Secretariat and Left Vice Director Tingzhi, and Right Vice Director Shangying said: "If the Yuanyou Empress is again given title and rank, ritual examination shows that in future she cannot share offerings in the ancestral temple, nor be enshrined jointly at the imperial tomb. By every measure of ritual law this is improper; we beg that the edict of the ninth month of the third year of Shaosheng be followed." The empress was thereby deposed again. Qian Yu and Shi Yu then argued that the Yuanfu Empress's title and status were not properly established, and she was thereupon enfeoffed as Empress Dowager Chong'en.
9
遹章所言小臣上書者，昌州推官馮澥也。 其書以謂：「先帝既終，則后無單立之義； 稽之逆順，陛下無立嫂之禮； 要之終始，皇太后亦不得伸慈婦之恩。 雖已遂之事，難復之失，然感悟追正，何有不可？」 澥用是得召對，除鴻臚主簿。
The minor official who submitted a memorial, as Qian Yu's memorial noted, was Feng Xie, judicial assistant of Changzhou. His memorial stated: "Since the late emperor has passed away, the empress has no standing to rule alone; by the standards of propriety and impropriety, Your Majesty has no ritual grounds for taking a sister-in-law as consort; and in the end, the Grand Empress Dowager cannot fulfill the kindness owed to a daughter-in-law. Although the deed is done and the error hard to undo, once one awakens to the truth and seeks to set matters right, what cannot be corrected?" By this Feng Xie obtained an audience with the throne and was appointed chief clerk of the Court of Imperial Entertainments.
10
蔡京謀取青唐，遹助成其議。 會籍元祐黨，遹以為多漏略，給事中劉逵駁之，左轉戶部侍郎，俄遷工部尚書兼侍讀。 逾年，以樞密直學士知潁昌府。 言者疏其罪，黜為滁州，稍復顯謨閣待制、直學士，徙宣州。 復為工部尚書，舉馮澥自代，謂：「澥趣操端勁，古人與稽，嘗建明典禮，忠義凜凜，搢紳歎服。」 言者又疏其罪，以待制知秀州； 中書舍人侯綬封還之，又奪待制。 久之，還故職，改述古殿直學士。 屏居十五年，方臘陷婺，遹逃奔蘭溪，為賊所殺，年七十二。
When Cai Jing plotted to seize Qingtang, Qian Yu helped bring the plan to fruition. When the register of Yuanyou faction members was compiled, Qian Yu argued that it contained too many omissions. Supervising Secretary Liu Kui rebutted him; he was demoted to Vice Minister of Revenue, then shortly promoted to Minister of Works with concurrent appointment as Lecturer-in-Attendance. A year later he was sent out as Academician Expositor-in-ordinary of the Bureau of Military Affairs and prefect of Yingchang. Memorialists listed his crimes; he was demoted to prefect of Chuzhou, then shortly restored as Xianmo Pavilion Attendant-Reader and Academician Expositor-in-ordinary, and transferred to Xuanzhou. He was again made Minister of Works and recommended Feng Xie as his successor, saying, "Feng Xie's character is upright and firm, worthy of comparison with the ancients. He once clearly upheld ritual propriety; his loyalty and righteousness inspire awe; the gentry admire him without reserve." Memorialists again listed his crimes; he was made Attendant-Reader and prefect of Xiuzhou; Drafting Attendant Hou Shou returned the appointment sealed, and his Attendant-Reader title was again stripped. After a long interval he was restored to his former office and made Academician Expositor-in-ordinary of the Shugu Hall. He lived in retirement for fifteen years. When Fang La captured Wuzhou, Qian Yu fled toward Lanxi and was killed by the rebels at the age of seventy-two.
11
石豫 〈附〉
Shi Yu (Appended)
12
左膚 〈附〉
Zuo Fu (Appended)
13
膚，廬州人，亦用安惇薦為御史，履歷大略與石豫同。 遷侍御史，累至刑、兵、戶三尚書，以樞密直學士知河南府，改永興軍，卒。
Fu was a native of Luzhou. He too entered the censorate on An Dun's recommendation; his career was largely the same as Shi Yu's. He was promoted to Remonstrating Secretary and eventually rose to head the ministries of Punishments, War, and Revenue in turn. He served as Academician Expositor-in-ordinary of the Bureau of Military Affairs and prefect of Henan, then was transferred to the Yongxing command, where he died.
14
許敦仁
Xu Dunren
15
許敦仁，興化人。 第進士。 崇寧初，入為校書郎。 蔡京以州里之舊，擢監察御史，亟遷右正言、起居郎，倚為腹心。 敦仁凡所建請，悉受京旨，言：「元符之末，姦臣用事，內外制詔，類多誣實。 乞自今日以前，委中書舍人或著作局討論刪正。」 起居郎、舍人，異時遇車駕行幸，惟當直者從，敦仁始請悉扈蹕。 遷殿中監，拜御史中丞。 甫視事，即上章請五日一視朝。 徽宗以其言失當，乖宵旰圖治之意，命罰金，仍左遷兵部侍郎； 他日，為朱諤言，且欲逐敦仁，而京庇之甚力，敦仁亦處之自如。 後二年卒。 靖康中，諫官呂好問論蔡京使敦仁請五日一視朝，欲顓竊國命，蓋指此也。
Xu Dunren was a native of Xinghua. He passed the jinshi examination. At the beginning of the Chongning era he entered service as collator. Cai Jing, drawing on old ties from their home region, promoted him to investigating censor, then quickly to Right Remonstrator and Recorder of the Left, and relied on him as a trusted confidant. In every proposal Dunren made, he followed Cai Jing's instructions. He said, "At the end of the Yuanfu era treacherous ministers held power; edicts and proclamations from within and without the court were largely false. I beg that from today backward, drafting attendants or the Bureau of Compilation be charged to review and correct them." Recorders of the Left and drafting attendants—in former times when the emperor went on progress, only those on duty accompanied him; Dunren was the first to request that all attend the procession. He was promoted to Director of the Palace Bureau and appointed Censor-in-Chief. As soon as he took office, he submitted a memorial requesting that the emperor hold court once every five days. Emperor Huizong deemed his proposal improper and contrary to his intent to labor tirelessly for good government; he was fined and demoted to Vice Minister of War; on another occasion Zhu E spoke against him and sought to drive Dunren from office, but Cai Jing shielded him vigorously, and Dunren bore it all with composure. Two years later he died. During the Jingkang era, Remonstrating Official Lü Haowen argued that Cai Jing had Dunren request court audiences once every five days in order to monopolize state power—this is almost certainly what he had in mind.
16
吳執中
Wu Zhizhong
17
吳執中，字子權，建州松溪人。 登嘉祐進士第，歷官州縣。 同門婿呂惠卿方貴盛，不肯附以取進。 凡三十餘年，始提舉河南常平，連徙河東、淮南、江東轉運判官，提點廣東刑獄，入為庫部、吏部、右司郎中。
Wu Zhizhong, courtesy name Ziquan, was a native of Songxi in Jianzhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the Jiayou era and served in various prefectural and county posts. His fellow examination graduate and son-in-law Lü Huiqing was then at the height of power, but Wu refused to attach himself to him for advancement. More than thirty years passed before he was made director of the Henan Ever-Normal Granary. He served in succession as transport-assistant commissioner for Hedong, Huainan, and Jiangdong, and as judicial intendant for Guangdong, then entered the capital as Director in the Bureau of the Palace Storehouse, Bureau of Personnel, and Right Office.
18
大觀初，擢兵部侍郎。 二年，進御史中丞，論開封府、內侍省、京畿、秦鳳違法干請，詔獎其得風憲體。 又言：「開封之治事，大理之決獄，將作之營繕，榷貨之入中，皆職所當為，乃妄以為功，一歲遷官至五六，宜行抑損。」 遂詔自今但賜束帛。 鄭居中知樞密院，執中言外戚不宜在政地，帝還其章，而諭所以用居中之意。
At the beginning of the Daguan era he was promoted to Vice Minister of War. In the second year he was promoted to Censor-in-Chief and exposed illegal solicitations by the Kaifeng prefecture, the Palace Domestic Service, the capital region, and Qinfeng; an edict commended him for upholding the spirit of the censorate. He also said, "The handling of affairs by Kaifeng, the adjudication of cases by the Court of Judicial Review, the construction work of the Directorate of Imperial Manufactories, and the procurement of the Monopoly Bureau are all routine duties, yet officials falsely claim them as achievements and receive five or six promotions in a single year. This should be curbed." An edict thereupon ordered that from then on only bundles of silk be bestowed as rewards. When Zheng Juzhong became director of the Bureau of Military Affairs, Zhizhong argued that imperial affines should not hold positions of power. The emperor returned his memorial and explained why Juzhong had been appointed.
19
初，蔡京忌張康國，故引執中居言路。 執中先劾劉炳兄弟、宋喬年父子，皆京客也。 帝嘗語執政，嘉其不阿。 康國曰：「是乃為逐臣地耳。」 已而章果至。 帝怒，黜知滁州。 未幾，徙越州。 石公弼以為執中反覆得罪，未宜殿大府。 改提舉洞霄宮，以集賢殿修撰知揚州，加顯謨閣待制、知河南府。 道過都，復拜中丞。
At first Cai Jing resented Zhang Kangguo and therefore installed Zhizhong in a censorial post on the remonstrance circuit. Zhizhong first impeached the Liu Bing brothers and the Song Qiaonian father and son, all of whom were clients of Cai Jing. The emperor once told the chief ministers that he admired Zhizhong for refusing to curry favor. Kangguo said, "This is only clearing ground to drive ministers from office." Before long, impeachment memorials did in fact arrive. The emperor was enraged and demoted him to prefect of Chuzhou. Before long he was transferred to Yuezhou. Shi Gongbi argued that because Zhizhong had been punished for his contradictory conduct, he was not yet fit to govern a great metropolitan prefecture. His appointment was changed to superintendent of the Dongxiao Palace. He then served as Academician-Compiler of the Hall for the Cultivation of Literature and prefect of Yangzhou, and was also given the added title of Awaiting Draftsman of the Hall of Manifest Counsel and appointed prefect of Henan. While passing through the capital on his journey, he was again appointed censor-in-chief.
20
帝以星變逐蔡京，言者未已，執中謂進退大臣，當全體貌，於是為京下詔，京得不重貶。 龐恭孫、趙遹適開梓、夔諸夷州，執中乞正其罪。 又言：「八行之舉，所得皆鄉曲常人，不足以為士，願下太學，考其道藝而進退之。」 所論多施行。 遷禮部尚書。
When celestial omens compelled the emperor to banish Cai Jing, the critics would not let the matter rest. Zhizhong argued that in advancing or dismissing great ministers the court ought to preserve their full dignity, and so he had an edict drafted for Jing, with the result that Jing escaped a heavier demotion. Pang Gongsun and Zhao Yu had just opened the various Yi prefectures of Zi and Kui. Zhizhong asked that their offenses be formally punished. He also said, "The Eight Conducts selection has produced only ordinary men of the local countryside, men unworthy to be counted among scholar-officials. I ask that they be sent to the Imperial College, where their learning and ability may be tested before they are advanced or dismissed." Most of what he proposed was carried out. He was promoted to Minister of Rites.
21
張商英罷，御史張克公言，執中與商英皆由郭天信以進，除樞密直學士、知越州。 尋降待制，又奪職。 卒於家。
When Zhang Shangying was dismissed, the censor Zhang Kegong charged that both Zhizhong and Shangying had risen through Guo Tianxin. Zhizhong was appointed Direct Academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs and prefect of Yuezhou. Before long he was demoted to a draftsman, and his office was stripped from him again. He died at home.
22
吳材，字聖取，處州龍泉人。 中進士第，歷青溪主簿、咸平尉、知江都縣。 入為太學博士，以趙挺之薦，擢右正言，遷左司諫。 黨論復起，材首論范純禮為朋附黨與，前日大臣變更神考法度，故引之執政，不宜復其職； 程之元為蘇軾心腹，不宜亞九卿； 張舜民當初政時，猖狂無所顧忌，不宜以從官處鄉郡。 其後受曾布指，與王能甫疏言：「元符之末，變神考之美政，逐神考之人材者，韓忠彥實為之首。」 忠彥遂罷。
Wu Cai, courtesy name Shengqu, was a native of Longquan in Chuzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and served successively as registrar of Qingxi, defender of Xianping, and magistrate of Jiangdu County. He entered the capital as Erudite of the Imperial College. On Zhao Tingzhi's recommendation he was promoted to Right Remonstrator and then transferred to Left Remonstrator of the Left Office. When factional politics revived, Cai was the first to charge that Fan Chunli had formed a clique and attached himself to a faction, that the great ministers of the previous reign had altered Emperor Shenzong's policies and for that reason had brought him into power, and that he ought not to be restored to office; Cheng Zhiyuan was a trusted confidant of Su Shi and ought not to stand just below the Nine Ministers; Zhang Shunmin had been reckless and utterly without restraint during the early reign, and ought not to be sent to his native prefecture as an attendant official. Later, at Zeng Bu's direction, he joined Wang Nengfu in a memorial stating, "At the end of the Yuanfu era, the man who altered Emperor Shenzong's fine policies and drove out Emperor Shenzong's men of talent was in truth Han Zhongyan, who led them all." Zhongyan was thereupon dismissed from office.
23
材鷙忍，疾視善類，所排逐最多。 進起居郎，以憂去。 蔡京用為給事中、吏部侍郎，陛見，有所陳，京不悅。 以天章閣待制知光州。 挺之作相，召拜工部侍郎，卒。
Cai was fierce and cruel, looked on the good with hatred, and drove from office more men than any of his fellows. He was promoted to Attendant of the Imperial Diary and left office to observe mourning. Cai Jing appointed him Supervising Secretary and Vice Minister of Personnel. When he appeared at court and made certain statements, Jing was displeased. He was made Awaiting Draftsman of the Hall of Heavenly Manifestation and appointed prefect of Guangzhou. When Tingzhi became chief councilor, Cai was summoned and appointed Vice Minister of Works, then died.
24
論曰：紹述說行，權臣顓假以攻元祐正士； 網既盡矣，復假以攻異己。 鷹犬外搏，鬼蜮內狙，宜小人得志而空朝廷也。 故劉拯摭實錄以肆詆，錢遹斥孟后以遍刺，石豫指繪像以削諸賢，吳材擿黨論以揃善類； 許敦仁五日一朝之請，吳執中體貌大臣之言，俱蔡京腹心計也。 讒說殄行，虞帝攸堲； 似是而非，孔聖惡佞。 有國家者，可不監夫！
The historians comment: Once the doctrine of continuing the father's way gained currency, powerful ministers seized upon it to assail the upright men of the Yuanyou era; once that net had closed, they exploited it again to strike down those who differed from themselves. Hawks and hounds tore at foes without, while demonic wiles lurked within—thus it was only fitting that petty men should have their way and leave the court empty. Hence Liu Zheng seized upon the Veritable Records to pour forth slander; Qian Yu drove out the empress to wound all sides; Shi Yu pointed at painted likenesses to strike down worthy men; Wu Cai raised factional charges to cut down the good; Xu Dunren's request for audiences every five days and Wu Zhizhong's speech on preserving the dignity of great ministers were both schemes hatched in Cai Jing's inner circle. When slander extinguishes virtue, even Emperor Shun was deeply resentful; what seems right but is not—Confucius detested flatterers. Can those who hold a state in their hands fail to take warning from this!
25
劉昺，字子蒙，開封東明人，初名炳，賜今名。 元符末，進士甲科，起家太學博士，遷秘書省正字、校書郎。
Liu Bing, courtesy name Zimeng, was a native of Dongming in Kaifeng. His original name was Bing; the name he bore here was granted by the throne. At the end of the Yuanfu era he passed the jinshi examination in the top class, began his career as Erudite of the Imperial College, and was transferred to Corrector and Collator in the Secretariat.
26
兄煒，通樂律。 煒死，蔡京擢昺大司樂，付以樂正。 遂引蜀人魏漢津鑄九鼎，作《大晟樂》。 昺撰《鼎書》、《新樂書》，皆漢津妄出己意，而為緣飾，語在《樂志》。 累遷給事中。 京置局議禮，昺又領之。 為翰林學士，改工部尚書。 提舉《紀元曆》，有所損益，為吳執中所論，以顯謨閣直學士知陳州。
His elder brother Wei was versed in musical pitch and regulation. After Wei died, Cai Jing promoted Bing to Director of the Imperial Music Office and entrusted him with the rectification of music. He thereupon brought in Wei Hanjin of Shu to cast the Nine Cauldrons and compose the Great Splendor Music. Bing compiled the Book of the Cauldrons and the New Book of Music, both of which merely dressed up ideas that Hanjin had rashly put forward on his own. The account appears in the Treatise on Music. He was promoted in succession to Supervising Secretary. Jing established a bureau to deliberate on ritual, and Bing again headed it. He became a Hanlin Academician and was transferred to Minister of Works. He supervised the Jiyuan Calendar and made revisions to it. Wu Zhizhong criticized this, and Bing was made Direct Academician of the Hall of Manifest Counsel and appointed prefect of Chenzhou.
27
昺與弟煥皆侍從，而親喪不葬，坐奪職罷郡，復以事免官。 京再輔政，召為戶部尚書。 昺嘗為京畫策，排鄭居中，故京力援昺，由廢黜中還故班。 御史中丞俞㮚發其姦利事，京徙㮚他官。
Bing and his younger brother Huan were both palace attendants, yet during mourning for their parents they failed to bury them. For this they were stripped of office and dismissed from their prefectures, and later were again dismissed on account of another matter. When Jing again served as chief councilor, Bing was summoned as Minister of Revenue. Bing had once devised plans for Jing to drive out Zheng Juzhong, and therefore Jing strongly supported him, restoring him from dismissal to his former rank. The censor-in-chief Yu Lin exposed his corrupt profiteering, and Jing transferred Lin to another office.
28
徽宗所儲三代彝器，詔昺討定，凡尊爵、俎豆、盤匜之屬，悉改以從古，而載所製器於祀儀，令太學諸生習肄雅樂。 閱試日，昺與大司成劉嗣明奏，有鶴翔宮架之上。 再為翰林學士，東宮建，為太子賓客，又還戶部。
The ritual vessels of the Three Dynasties stored by Emperor Huizong were ordered examined and fixed by Bing. All vessels such as goblets, sacrificial stands, platters, and ewers were entirely changed to follow antiquity. The vessels he designed were recorded in the sacrificial ordinances, and the students of the Imperial College were ordered to study and practice the elegant music. On the day of the review examination, Bing and the Grand Director Liu Siming reported that a crane flew above the palace musical frame. He again became a Hanlin Academician. When the Eastern Palace was established he became Mentor to the Heir Apparent, and again returned to the Ministry of Revenue.
29
大理議戶絕法，若祖有子未娶而亡，不得養孫為嗣。 昺曰：「計一歲諸路戶絕，不過得錢萬緡。 使歲失萬緡而天下無絕戶，豈不可乎？」 詔從其議。 加宣和殿學士，知河南府，積官金紫光祿大夫。 與王寀交通，事敗，開封尹盛章議以死，刑部尚書范致虛為請，乃長流瓊州。 死，年五十七。
The Court of Judicial Review deliberated on the law of extinct households, holding that if a grandfather had a son who died unmarried, one might not adopt a grandson as heir. Bing said, "If one calculates the extinct households in all circuits for a single year, the revenue obtained would not exceed ten thousand strings of cash. To lose ten thousand strings a year yet have no extinct households throughout the realm—would that not be acceptable?" An edict approved his proposal. He was given the added title of Academician of the Hall of Xuanhe and appointed prefect of Henan, eventually rising to Grandee of the Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon. He associated with Wang Cai. When the affair was exposed, the Kaifeng intendant Sheng Zhang proposed the death penalty, but the Minister of Justice Fan Zhixu pleaded on his behalf, and he was instead banished far to Qiongzhou. He died at the age of fifty-seven.
30
宋喬年
Song Qiaonian
31
宋喬年，字仙民，宰相庠之孫也。
Song Qiaonian, courtesy name Xianmin, was a grandson of the chief councilor Song Xiang.
32
父充國，刻意問學，以鄉書試禮部； 既自謂宰相子，輒罷舉。 仁宗知之，召試學士院，賜進士出身，簽書河南判官，判登聞鼓院，知太常禮院。 英宗祔廟，議者欲祧僖祖，藏夾室，充國請配感生帝為宋始祖，從之。 東西府建，上二箴以戒大臣，大臣不懌。 會廟饗宿齋，其妻遣兩妾至寺，充國自劾，罷禮院，遂致仕。 充國性剛介，孝於奉親，平居得微物，必先薦家廟，乃敢嘗。 官至太中大夫，卒。
His father Chongguo devoted himself to scholarship and took the provincial examination for the Ministry of Rites; then, considering himself the son of a chief councilor, he abruptly abandoned the examination. When Emperor Renzong learned of this, he summoned Chongguo for examination at the Hanlin Academy, bestowed jinshi status on him, and appointed him Signing Secretary as judge in Henan, judge of the Court for Memorials at the Drum, and director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When Emperor Yingzong was enshrined in the ancestral temple, deliberators wished to remove Emperor Xizu from the main line and place him in a side chamber. Chongguo requested that he be paired with the Spirit of Birth as founding ancestor of Song, and the court followed his proposal. When the Eastern and Western Bureaus were established, he submitted two admonitions to warn the great ministers, and the great ministers were displeased. During preparations for a temple feast he was keeping vigil in fasting. His wife sent two concubines to the temple. Chongguo impeached himself, was dismissed from the Court of Sacrifices, and then retired from office. Chongguo was stern and upright by nature and filial in serving his parents. In daily life, whenever he obtained even a trifling thing, he would first offer it at the family temple before he dared taste it. He rose to Grandee of the Palace and died.
33
喬年用父蔭監市易，坐與倡女私及私役吏失官，落拓二十年。 女嫁蔡京子攸。 京當國，始復起用。 崇寧中，提舉開封縣鎮、府界常平，改提點京西北路刑獄。 賜進士第，加集賢殿修撰、京畿轉運副使，進顯謨閣待制，為都轉運使，改開封尹，以龍圖閣學士知河南府。 京罷相，諫議大夫毛注、御史中丞吳執中交擊之，貶保靜軍節度副使，蘄州安置。 京復相，還舊官，知陳州。 政和三年，卒，年六十七，諡曰「忠文」。
Qiaonian used his father's privilege to supervise the Market Exchange. He lost office for consorting privately with singing girls and privately employing clerks, and remained adrift for twenty years. His daughter married You, the son of Cai Jing. When Jing held power, Qiaonian was at last restored and employed again. During the Chongning era he was made director of the Ever-Normal Granaries for the counties and market towns of Kaifeng and the capital region, then transferred to judicial intendant for the Jingxi-North Circuit. He was granted the jinshi degree and given the added posts of Academician-Compiler of the Hall for the Cultivation of Literature and transport-assistant commissioner for the capital region. He was advanced to Awaiting Draftsman of the Hall of Manifest Counsel, made metropolitan transport commissioner, then Kaifeng intendant, and finally Academician of the Hall of Dragon Diagrams and prefect of Henan. When Jing was dismissed as chief councilor, the Remonstrance and Policy Adviser Mao Zhu and the censor-in-chief Wu Zhizhong attacked him in turn. He was demoted to military commissioner-deputy of Baojing Army and settled at Qizhou. When Jing again became chief councilor, Qiaonian was restored to his former office and appointed prefect of Chenzhou. In the third year of the Zhenghe era he died at the age of sixty-seven. His posthumous title was Loyal and Cultured.
34
子昪
Son: Bian
35
子昪，字景裕。 崇寧初，由譙縣尉為敕令刪定官，數年，至殿中少監。 時喬年尹京，父子依憑蔡氏，陵轢士大夫，陰交諫官蔡居厚，使為鷹犬。 以徽猷閣待制知陳州。 喬年貶，亦謫少府少監，分司南京，未幾，知應天府。
His son Bian, courtesy name Jingyu. At the beginning of the Chongning era he rose from defender of Qiao County to editor of imperial ordinances, and within several years reached Vice Director of the Palace Domestic Service. At that time Qiaonian was intendant of the capital. Father and son relied on the Cai clan, trampled scholar-officials, and secretly cultivated the remonstrance official Cai Juhou, using him as their hawk and hound. He was made Awaiting Draftsman of the Hall of Imperial Eminence and appointed prefect of Chenzhou. When Qiaonian was demoted, Bian was also banished to Vice Director of the Palace Domestic Service with nominal duty at the Southern Capital. Before long he was appointed prefect of Yingtian.
36
喬年卒，起復為京西都轉運使，蒞葺西宮及修三山新河，擢至顯謨閣學士，方是時，徽宗議謁諸陵，有司預為西幸之備。 治宮城，廣袤十六里，創廊屋四百四十間，費不可勝。 會髹漆，至灰人骨為胎，斤直錢數千。 盡發洛城外二十里古塚，凡衣冠壟兆，大抵遭暴掘。 用是遷正議大夫、殿中監，又奉命補治三陵泄水坑澗，計役四百九十萬工。 未幾，卒，贈金紫光祿大夫、延康殿學士，諡曰「恭敏」。
When Qiaonian died, Bian was recalled from mourning and made metropolitan transport commissioner for the Jingxi-West Circuit. He oversaw repair of the Western Palace and construction of the new canal at Sanshan, and was promoted to Academician of the Hall of Manifest Counsel. At that time Emperor Huizong deliberated visiting the imperial tombs, and the responsible offices made preparations in advance for a western tour. He renovated the palace city, sixteen li in length and breadth, and built four hundred forty new corridor chambers at a cost beyond reckoning. When lacquer was applied, human bone ash was even used as the core, and a single catty was worth several thousand cash. Ancient tombs within twenty li outside Luoyang were all opened, and most graves with caps, robes, and marked mounds were violently excavated. On this account he was transferred to Grandee of the Right Discussion and Director of the Palace Domestic Service. He was again ordered to repair the leaking watercourses and gullies of the Three Tombs, with labor reckoned at four million nine hundred thousand work-units. Before long he died. He was posthumously given Grandee of the Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon and Academician of the Hall of Extended Glory, with the posthumous title Respectful and Keen.
37
強淵明
Qiang Yuanming
38
強淵明，字隱季，杭州錢塘人。 父至，以文學受知韓琦，終祠部郎中。 淵明進士第，調海州司法參軍，歷濟、杭二州教授，知蔡州確山縣，通判保定軍。 入為太府丞、軍器少監、國子司業。 與兄浚明及葉夢得締蔡京為死交，立元祐籍，分三等定罪，皆三人所建，遂濟成黨禍。 淵明以故亟遷秘書少監、中書舍人、大司成、翰林學士。
Qiang Yuanming, courtesy name Yinji, was a native of Qiantang in Hangzhou. His father Zhi, known for literary learning, won Han Qi's regard and ended his career as Director in the Bureau of Sacrifices. Yuanming passed the jinshi examination and was assigned as judicial aide in Haizhou. He served successively as professor in Ji and Hang prefectures, as magistrate of Queshan County in Caizhou, and as vice-prefect of Baoding Army. He entered the capital as Assistant Director of the Court of the Imperial Treasury, Vice Director of the Armory, and Vice Director of Studies in the Directorate of Education. Together with his elder brother Junming and Ye Mengde he bound himself to Cai Jing in sworn friendship, established the Yuanyou register, and divided offenders into three grades for sentencing—all proposals of these three men—and thus helped bring the factional disaster to completion. On this account Yuanming was swiftly promoted in succession to Vice Director of the Secretariat, Drafting Attendant of the Secretariat-Chancellery, Grand Director of the Directorate of Education, and Hanlin Academician.
39
大觀三年，京罷相，以龍圖閣直學士知永興軍，徙鄭、越二州。 召為禮部尚書，復拜學士，進承旨。 翰林廣直廬，帝書「摛文堂」榜賜之。 兼太子賓客。 以疾，改延康殿學士、提舉醴泉觀兼侍讀、監修國史。 卒，贈金紫光祿大夫、資政殿學士，諡曰「文憲」。 浚明早死。
In the third year of Daguan, when Cai Jing was dismissed as Chancellor, Yuanming was appointed Direct Academic of the Longtu Pavilion and prefect of Yongxing Army, and was later transferred to Zheng and Yue prefectures. He was recalled to serve as Minister of Rites, was again made Hanlin Academician, and promoted to Drafting Instructor. For the Hanlin Academy’s Broad Straight Studio, the Emperor wrote the plaque “Studio of Unfurling Writings” and bestowed it upon him. He also served as Household Companion to the Heir Apparent. Because of illness he was reassigned as Academic of the Yankang Hall, placed in charge of the Liquan Abbey while also serving as Lecturer to the Heir Apparent and supervisor of compilation of the national history. He died. He was posthumously granted Grandee of the Golden Purple Glow and Academician of the Hall for Assisting Governance, with the posthumous title Wenxian (“Cultivated and Law-abiding”). His elder brother Junming had died young.
40
蔡居厚
Cai Juhou
41
蔡居厚，字寬夫，熙寧御史延禧子也。 延禧嘗擊呂惠卿兄弟，有直名。 居厚第進士，累官吏部員外郎。 大觀初，拜右正言，奏疏曰：「神宗造立法度，曠古絕儗，雖符、祐之黨力起相軋，而終不能搖者，出於人心理義之所在也。 陛下繼志廣聲，政事具舉，願如明詔敕有司勒為成書，以明一代之制。」 遷起居郎，進右諫議大夫。 論東南兵政七弊，及言學官書局皆為要塗，宜公選實學多聞之士，無使庸常之徒。 得以幸進。
Cai Juhou, courtesy name Kuanfu, was the son of Yanxi, who had served as a censor in the Xining era. Yanxi had once attacked the brothers Lü Huiqing and enjoyed a reputation for blunt integrity. Juhou passed the jinshi examination and rose through the ranks to Vice Director in the Ministry of Personnel. At the beginning of Daguan he was appointed Right Rectifier and submitted a memorial: “Emperor Shenzong established laws and institutions without parallel since antiquity. Although the Yuanfu and Yuanyou factions exerted themselves in mutual rivalry, in the end they could not shake those institutions, because they rested on what human hearts and moral principle require. Your Majesty continues his will and extends his renown; government affairs are fully carried out. I pray that, as Your enlightened edict commands the relevant offices to compile them into a finished book, the institutions of a single age may be made clear.” He was promoted to Attendant Recorder and advanced to Right Remonstrator. He discoursed on seven abuses in southeastern military administration, and also said that posts in the Directorate of Education and the book bureaus were all coveted avenues to office: truly learned and broadly informed scholars ought to be openly selected, and mediocre commonplace men ought not be allowed to advance by mere luck.
42
河北、河東群盜起，太原、真定守皆以不能擒捕罪去。 居厚言：「將帥之才，不儲養於平時，故緩急無所可用，宜令觀察使以上，各舉所知。」 又言：「比來從事於朝者，皆姑息胥吏，吏強官弱，浸以成風。 蓋輦轂之下，吏習狡獪，故怯懦者有所畏，至用為耳目，倚為向導，假借色辭，過為卑辱，浸淫及於侍從。 今廟堂之上，稍亦為之，願重為之制。」 改戶部侍郎。 言者論其在諫省時，為宋喬年父子用，以集賢殿修撰知秦州。 降羌在州者逸入京師訴事，坐失察，削職罷。
Bandits rose in groups in Hebei and Hedong; the prefects of Taiyuan and Zhending were all removed and punished for failing to capture them. Juhou said: “Generals’ talent is not cultivated in peacetime, so when urgency comes there is no one fit to use. Each observation commissioner and above should recommend those he knows.” He also said: “Of late those serving at court all indulge clerks; clerks grow strong and officials grow weak, and this has gradually become the custom. Under the capital, clerks are practiced in cunning, so the timid have something to fear. Some even make them eyes and ears, rely on them as guides, borrow their looks and words, and go too far in self-abasement and insult—until this gradually infected even attendant officials. Now even those in the hall of state are somewhat doing the same; I pray that strict regulations be imposed anew.” He was transferred to Vice Minister of Revenue. Critics charged that while in the remonstrance office he had been used by Song Qiaonian and his son; he was made Compiler of the Hall of Assembled Worthies and prefect of Qinzhou. Surrendered Qiang tribesmen in the prefecture escaped and went to the capital to lodge complaints; for failure of oversight he was stripped of rank and dismissed.
43
蔡京再相，起知滄、陳、齊三州，加徽猷閣待制，為應天、河南尹。 初建神霄宮，度地汙下，為道士交訴，徙汝州。 久之，知東平府。 復以戶部侍郎召，未至，又以知青州。 病不能赴，未幾卒。
When Cai Jing became Chancellor again, Juhou was reappointed to govern Cang, Chen, and Qi prefectures, was given the additional title of Awaiting Instruction of the Huiyao Pavilion, and served as Prefect-Mayor of Yingtian and Henan. When the Divine Empyrean Palace was first built, the chosen site was low and marshy; Taoist priests lodged mutual complaints against one another, and he was transferred to Ruzhou. After a long while he was appointed prefect of Dongping. He was again summoned as Vice Minister of Revenue, but before he arrived he was again appointed prefect of Qingzhou. He fell ill and could not take up the post; before long he died.
44
劉嗣明
Liu Siming
45
劉嗣明，開封祥符人。 入太學，積以試藝，名出諸生右。 崇寧中，車駕幸學，解褐補承事郎，歷校書郎至給事中。
Liu Siming was a native of Xiangfu in Kaifeng. He entered the Imperial University and, rising through competitive examinations in literary composition, ranked above the other students. During Chongning, when the emperor visited the university, he was released from commoner status and appointed Gentleman for Meritorious Achievement, then rose through Secretary to Drafting Attendant.
46
張商英居相位，惡其不附己。 時鄭居中雖以嫌去樞密，然陰殖黨與，窺伺益固。 嗣明與之合，計傾商英。 門下省吏張天忱貶秩，嗣明駁弗下，商英爭之。 詔御史臺蔽曲直，商英以是罷。 嗣明遂論商英引李士觀、尹天民入政典局，矯為敕語，共造姦謀，三人俱坐責。
When Zhang Shangying held the Chancellorship he resented that Siming would not attach himself to him. At the time Zheng Juzhong, though removed from the Bureau of Military Affairs on suspicion, secretly planted his faction and watched for his chance ever more closely. Siming allied with him and plotted to bring Shangying down. An aide of the Department of State Affairs, Zhang Tianqin, was demoted in rank; Siming rejected the order and would not issue it; Shangying contested the matter. The emperor ordered the Censorate to obscure right and wrong; on this account Shangying was dismissed. Siming thereupon charged that Shangying had brought Li Shiguan and Yin Tianmin into the Bureau of Government Regulations, had forged imperial edicts, and jointly wrought treacherous designs—all three were punished.
47
嗣明遷大司成。 士子肄雅樂被恩，嗣明亦升班與學士等。 已而言者論其取悅權貴，妄升國子生預舍法以抑寒士，黜知潁州。 未幾，入為工部侍郎、翰林學士、工部尚書。 卒，贈資政殿學士、太中大夫。
Siming was promoted to Grand Director of the Directorate of Education. When students studying elegant music received imperial favor, Siming also advanced in court rank alongside the academicians. Before long critics charged that he curried favor with the powerful, wantonly advanced national university students under the Shed Ranking Law to suppress poor scholars, and he was demoted to prefect of Yingzhou. Not long after he was recalled to the capital as Vice Minister of Works, Hanlin Academician, and Minister of Works. He died. He was posthumously granted Academician of the Hall for Assisting Governance and Grandee of Supremacy within the Court.
48
蔣靜，字叔明，常州宜興人。 第進士，調安仁令。 俗好巫，疫癘流行，病者寧死不服藥，靜悉論巫罪，聚其所事淫像，得三百軀，毀而投諸江。 知陳留縣，與屯將不協，罷去。
Jiang Jing, courtesy name Shuming, was a native of Yixing in Changzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and was assigned as magistrate of Anren. The local custom favored shamans; epidemics spread, and the sick would rather die than take medicine. Jing prosecuted all shamans for their crimes, gathered the licentious images they served—three hundred figures in all—destroyed them, and cast them into the river. As magistrate of Chenliu he failed to get on with the garrison commander and was removed from office.
49
徽宗初立，求言，靜上言，多詆元祐間事，蔡京第為正等，擢職方員外郎； 中書舍人吳伯舉封還之，京怒，黜伯舉。 明年，遷國子司業。 帝幸太學，命講《書·無逸篇》，賜服金紫，進祭酒，為中書舍人。 以顯謨閣待制知壽州，徙江寧府。
When Huizong first ascended the throne and sought counsel, Jing submitted a memorial largely decrying affairs of the Yuanyou period. Cai Jing graded it top rank and promoted him to Vice Director in the Bureau of Appointments; Drafting Attendant Wu Boju returned the appointment sealed; Jing was enraged and had Boju demoted. The next year he was promoted to Vice Director of Studies in the Directorate of Education. The emperor visited the Imperial University and ordered him to lecture on the “Against Dissipation” chapter of the Documents; he was granted robes of gold and purple, advanced to Chancellor of the University, and made Drafting Attendant. With the additional title of Awaiting Instruction of the Xianmo Pavilion he was made prefect of Shouzhou, then transferred to Jiangning prefecture.
50
茅山道士劉混康以技進，賜號「先生」。 其徒倚為姦利，奪民葦場，強市廬舍，詞訟至府，吏觀望不敢治，靜悉抵於法。 徙睦州，移病，提舉洞霄宮。 越九年，召為大司成，出知洪州。 復告歸，加直學士。 卒，年七十一，贈通議大夫。
The Mt. Mao Taoist Liu Hunkang advanced through skill and was granted the title “Master.” His disciples relied on this for illicit profit, seized the people’s reed grounds, and forcibly bought cottages and houses. Lawsuits reached the prefecture, but clerks looked on and dared not act—Jing had them all punished according to law. He was transferred to Muzhou, cited illness, and was placed in charge of the Cave Heaven Abbey on Mt. Tongxiao. After nine years he was summoned as Grand Director of the Directorate of Education, then sent out as prefect of Hongzhou. Again he asked to retire; he was given the additional title of Direct Academician. He died at the age of seventy-one and was posthumously granted Master for Discussion of Governance.
51
賈偉節
Jia Weijie
52
賈偉節，開封人。 第進士，累擢兩浙轉運判官。 條上民間利病，加直秘閣，為江淮發運副使。 蔡京壞東南轉般法為直達綱，偉節率先奉承，歲以上供物徑造都下，籍催諸道逋負，造巨船二千四百艘，非供奉物而輒運載者，請論以違制。 花石、海錯之急切，自此而興。 論功進秩，遂拜戶部侍郎，改刑部。 歲餘，以顯謨閣直學士提舉醴泉觀，卒。
Jia Weijie was a native of Kaifeng. He passed the jinshi examination and rose in succession to transport-assistant commissioner of the two Zhe circuits. He itemized the people’s hardships and benefits in a memorial, was given the additional title of Direct Gentleman of the Secret Repository, and became Vice Commissioner for Hull Transport on the Yangzi and Huai. Cai Jing destroyed the southeastern barge-transfer relay system in favor of direct-route convoys. Weijie took the lead in compliance: each year tribute goods were sent straight to the capital, he registered and pressed every circuit for overdue payments, had twenty-four hundred great ships built, and requested that anyone who carried cargo not among tribute goods be tried for violation of regulations. The frantic demand for exotic flowers and stones and sea delicacies arose from this. For this merit he was promoted in rank; he was then appointed Vice Minister of Revenue and transferred to Vice Minister of Justice. After more than a year, as Direct Academician of the Xianmo Pavilion he was placed in charge of the Liquan Abbey and died.
53
論曰：善乎歐陽修之論朋黨也，其言曰：「君子以同道為真朋，小人以同利為偽朋，同道則同心相益而共濟，小人見利則爭先，利盡則疏而相賊害矣。」 蘇軾續修說，謂：「君子不得志則奉身而退，樂道不仕； 小人不得志則僥幸復用，唯怨之報，此所以不勝也。」 秦觀亦言：「君子小人，不免有黨。 人主不辨邪正，必至兩廢； 或言兩存，則小人卒得志，君子終受害。」 其說明甚，徽宗弗之察也。 唯蔽於紹述之說，崇姦貶正，黨論滋起。 於是紹聖指元祐為黨，崇寧指元符為黨，而鄭居中、張商英、蔡京、王黼諸人互指為黨，不復能辨。 始以黨敗人，終以黨敗國，衣冠塗炭，垂三十年，其禍汰於東都、白馬，蓋至是而三子之言效焉。 彼劉昺、強淵明、宋喬年、劉嗣明直斗筲耳，亦使攘臂恣睢，撼撞無忌，小人之為術蹙矣。 嗚呼！ 朋黨之說，真能空人之國如此哉。
The historians remark: How excellent is Ouyang Xiu’s discourse on factions! He said: “The gentleman forms a true faction through shared principle; the petty man forms a false faction through shared profit. Shared principle means like hearts mutually aid and jointly cross difficulties; petty men, seeing profit, contend first, and when profit is exhausted they grow distant and mutually harm one another.” Su Shi continued Xiu’s argument, saying: “When the gentleman is without office he retires and honors the Way without serving; when the petty man is without office he hopes by chance to be employed again and repays only with resentment—this is why they cannot prevail.” Qin Guan also said: “Gentleman and petty man must have factions. If the ruler does not distinguish heterodox from orthodox, he will surely discard both; or if he says to keep both, then the petty man in the end attains office and the gentleman in the end suffers harm.” Their arguments were very clear, yet Huizong did not examine them. Blinded only by the doctrine of continuing the legacy, he honored the crafty and demoted the upright, and factional discourse daily multiplied. Then Shaosheng pointed at Yuanyou as the faction; Chongning pointed at Yuanfu as the faction; and Zheng Juzhong, Zhang Shangying, Cai Jing, Wang Fu, and others reciprocally denounced one another as factions until none could any longer be distinguished. At first they ruined men through faction; in the end they ruined the state through faction. The gentry were scorched for nearly thirty years; the disaster surpassed the troubles of the Eastern Capital and White Horse—so at last the words of the three masters took effect. Men such as Liu Bing, Qiang Yuanming, Song Qiaonian, and Liu Siming were mere pint-measures, yet they too were allowed to fling up their sleeves, swagger without restraint, and crash about without fear—the petty man’s arts had run their course indeed. Alas! Can the doctrine of factions truly empty a state like this?
54
崔鶠，字德符，雍丘人，父毗，徙居潁州，遂為陽翟人。 登進士第，調鳳州司戶參軍、筠州推官。 徽宗初立，以日食求言，鶠上書曰：
Cui Yan, courtesy name Defu, was a native of Yongqiu. His father Pi moved the family to Yingzhou and thus became a man of Yangzhai. He passed the jinshi examination and was assigned as Revenue Aide in Fengzhou and as judicial reviewer in Yunzhou. When Huizong first ascended the throne, on account of a solar eclipse he sought frank counsel; Yan submitted a memorial saying:
55
「臣聞諫爭之道，不激切不足以起人主意，激切則近訕謗。 夫為人臣而有訕謗之名，此讒邪之論所以易乘，而世主所以不悟，天下所以卷舌吞聲，而以言為戒也。 臣嘗讀史，見漢劉陶、曹鸞、唐李少良之事，未嘗不掩卷興嗟，矯然有山林不反之意。 比聞國家以日食之異，詢求直言，伏讀詔書，至所謂『言之失中，朕不加罪』，蓋陛下披至情，廓聖度，以來天下之言如此，而私秘所聞，不敢一吐，是臣子負陛下也。
“I have heard that in the way of remonstrance, if words are not incisive they cannot rouse the ruler’s mind; if incisive they border on slander. For a subject to bear the name of slander—this is why slanderous heterodox arguments readily take hold, why worldly rulers fail to awaken, why all under heaven bite their tongues and hold their voices, and take speech as a warning. I have sometimes read history and seen the affairs of Liu Tao and Cao Luan of Han and Li Shaoliang of Tang; I never failed to close the book and sigh, and was suddenly moved with the wish never to return from mountains and forests. Of late I heard that on account of the solar eclipse the state seeks frank counsel. I have read the edict reverently, down to the words ‘if speech misses the mark, We shall not punish’—Your Majesty has unfolded utmost sincerity and cleared sacred breadth to summon the words of all under heaven thus; yet I privately hoard what I have heard and dare not speak out once—this is a subject failing Your Majesty.
56
方今政令煩苛，民不堪擾，風俗險薄，法不能勝，未暇一二陳之，而特以判左右之忠邪為本。 臣生於草萊，不識朝廷之士，特怪左右之人，有指元祐之臣為姦黨者，必邪人也。 使漢之黨錮，唐之牛、李之禍，將復見於今日，甚可駭也。
Nowadays government orders are vexatious and severe; the people cannot bear the harassment; custom is perilous and thin; law cannot prevail—I have no leisure to set these forth one by one, but take discerning loyal from heterodox as the root. Born among the common folk, I do not know the court’s gentlemen; I only marvel that among those near Your Majesty, some point at ministers of the Yuanyou period and call them a treacherous faction—they must be heterodox men. To let the partisan proscriptions of Han and the troubles of the Niu and Li factions of Tang appear again today is most appalling.
57
夫毀譽者，朝廷之公議。 故責授朱崖軍司戶司馬光，左右以為姦，而天下皆曰忠； 今宰相章惇，左右以為忠，而天下皆曰姦。 此何理也？ 臣請略言姦人之跡：夫乘時抵巇以盜富貴，探微揣端以固權寵，謂之姦可也； 包苴滿門，私謁踵路，陰交不逞，密結禁廷，謂之姦可也； 以奇伎淫巧蕩上心，以倡優女色敗君德，獨操賞刑，自報恩怨，謂之姦可也； 蔽遮主聽，排斥正人，微言者坐以刺譏，直諫者陷以指斥，以杜天下之言，掩滔天之罪，謂之姦可也。 凡此數者，光有之乎？ 惇有之乎？
Praise and blame are the court’s public consensus. Thus when Sima Guang was demoted and appointed Armory Master of Zhuya Army, those near the throne called him treacherous while all under heaven called him loyal; now the Counselor-in-Chief Zhang Dun—those near call him loyal while all under heaven call him treacherous. What principle is this? I venture to sketch traces of treacherous men: seizing the moment and probing cracks to steal wealth and nobility, peering into minute signs to secure power and favor—that may be called treachery; bribes filling the gates, private audiences crowding the road, secretly befriending the unyielding, closely knotting with the forbidden court—that may be called treachery; using strange arts and licentious craft to unsettle the ruler’s heart, using actors and women’s charms to ruin the ruler’s virtue, alone wielding rewards and punishments, repaying private grudges—that may be called treachery; screening the ruler’s hearing, expelling upright men, sitting those who speak subtly for satire, trapping straight remonstrators with denunciation, to stop the words of all under heaven and cover crimes reaching to the sky—that may be called treachery. Did Guang have any of these several matters? Does Dun have them?
58
夫有其實者名隨之，無其實而有其名，誰肯信之？ 《傳》曰：『謂狐為狸，非特不知狐，又不知狸。』 是故以佞為忠，必以忠為佞，於是乎有繆賞濫罰。 賞繆罰濫，佞人徜徉，如此而國不亂，未之有也。
When the reality is there, the name follows; when there is a name without the reality—who would believe it? The Commentary says: “To call a fox a raccoon-dog is not only to mistake the fox—it is to mistake the raccoon-dog as well.” Hence, if the crafty are taken for the loyal, the loyal must be taken for the crafty—and then rewards go astray and punishments run wild. When rewards go astray and punishments run wild, crafty men roam unchecked; that the state should not fall into chaos—never has such a thing been heard of.
59
光忠信直諒，聞於華夷，雖古名臣，未能遠過，而謂之姦，是欺天下也。 至如惇狙詐凶險，天下士大夫呼曰「惇賊」。 貴極宰相，人所具瞻，以名呼之，又指為賊，豈非以其孤負主恩，玩竊國柄，忠臣痛憤，義士不服，故賊而名之，指其實而號之以賊邪。 京師語曰：『大惇小惇，殃及子孫』，謂惇與御史中丞安惇也。 小人譬之蝮蠍，其凶忍害人，根乎天性，隨遇必發。 天下無事，不過賊陷忠良，破碎善類； 至緩急危疑之際，必有反覆賣國、跋扈不臣之心。
Guang was loyal, trustworthy, forthright, and sincere—renowned across the realm; even the great ministers of antiquity could scarcely surpass him, yet to call him treacherous is to deceive all under heaven. As for Dun—crafty, deceitful, fierce, and dangerous—scholar-officials throughout the realm call him “Dun the Brigand.” He rose to Counselor-in-Chief, the man all eyes turned upon—yet people call him by name and brand him a brigand. Is it not because he betrayed his sovereign’s grace, toyed with and usurped the reins of state, stirred the loyal to anguish and the righteous to refuse assent—so that they name him brigand, fixing on his reality and crying him brigand? A saying in the capital runs: “Great Dun and Little Dun—disaster will reach their descendants,” meaning Zhang Dun and Vice Censor-in-Chief An Dun. Petty men are like pit vipers—fierce, cruel, harmful to others by nature, and wherever they find an opening they must strike. In times of peace they do nothing but trap the loyal and worthy and shatter good men; but when crisis and doubt arise, they harbor treason and defiance toward the throne.
60
比年以來，諫官不論得失，御史不劾姦邪，門下不駁詔令，共持喑默，以為得計。 昔李林甫竊相位十有九年，海內怨痛，而人主不知。 頃鄒浩以言事得罪，大臣拱而觀之，同列無一語者，又從而擠之。 夫以股肱耳目，治亂安危所係，而一切若此，陛下雖有堯、舜之聰明，將誰使言之，誰使行之。
In recent years remonstrators no longer weigh right and wrong; censors no longer impeach the corrupt; the Secretariat no longer challenges edicts—all hold their tongues and call it wisdom. Long ago Li Linfu held the chancellorship for nineteen years; the realm groaned in bitterness, yet the sovereign knew nothing of it. Not long ago Zou Hao was punished for speaking out on state affairs; the chief ministers stood by with folded hands, his colleagues uttered not a word, and others pressed him further still. As arms, eyes, and ears of the throne, on whom order and chaos and safety depend—yet all is like this. Though Your Majesty has the wisdom of Yao and Shun, whom will you have speak, and whom will you have act?
61
夫日者陽也，食之者陰也。 四月正陽之月，陽極盛、陰極衰之時，而陰干陽，故其變為大。 惟陛下畏天威、聽明命，大運乾剛，大明邪正，毋違經義，毋鬱民心，則天意解矣。 若夫伐鼓用幣，素服徹樂，而無修德善政之實，非所以應天也。」
The sun is yang; what devours it is yin. The fourth month is the month of upright yang, when yang is at its height and yin at its ebb—yet yin encroached on yang, so the portent was grave. May Your Majesty revere heaven’s majesty and heed its clear command—greatly wield the firm strength of Qian, brightly distinguish wrong from right, neither depart from the classics nor stifle the people’s hearts—then heaven’s wrath may lift. Beating drums, offering silks, wearing plain dress, and suspending music—without the substance of cultivating virtue and good government—is not how one answers heaven.”
62
帝覽而善之，以為相州教授。
The emperor read the memorial and approved, appointing him professor at Xiangzhou.
63
後蔡京條籍上書人，以鶠為邪等，免所居官。 久之，調績溪令。 移病歸，始居郟城，治地數畝，為婆娑園。 屏處十餘年，人無貴賤長少，悉尊師之。
Later, when Cai Jing drew up the roster of memorial submitters, he classed Yan among the heterodox and stripped him of his post. After a long interval he was assigned magistrate of Jixi. He took leave on grounds of illness and went home, settling at Jia, where he laid out a few acres as the Posuo Garden. For more than ten years he lived in seclusion; without regard to rank or age, all honored him as their teacher.
64
宣和六年，起通判寧化軍，召為殿中侍御史。 既至而欽宗即位，授右正言。 上疏曰：
In the sixth year of Xuanhe he was recalled as vice commissioner of Ninghua Army and summoned as palace attendant censor. When he arrived, Qinzong had acceded to the throne, and he was appointed Right Remonstrator. He submitted a memorial saying:
65
「六月一日詔書，詔諫臣直論得失，以求實是，有以見陛下求治之切也。 數十年來，王公卿相，皆自蔡京出。 要使一門生死，則一門生； 用一故吏逐，則一故吏來。 更持政柄，無一人立異，無一人害己者，此京之本謀也。 安得實是之言聞於陛下哉？
“On the first day of the sixth month an edict called remonstrators to speak plainly of right and wrong and seek what is truly so—this shows how earnestly Your Majesty seeks good government. For decades, princes, dukes, and ministers have all been men raised up by Cai Jing. If he wished one clan to live or die, that clan lived; if he favored one old subordinate, that subordinate was brought in. He held the reins of power in turn; not one man stood apart, not one man could harm him—such was Jing’s fundamental design. How then could words of what is truly so reach Your Majesty?
66
諫議大夫馮澥近上章曰：「上無異論，太學之盛也。」 澥尚敢為此姦言乎！ 王安石除異己之人，著《三經》之說以取士，天下靡然雷同，陵夷至於大亂，此無異論之效也。 京又以學校之法馭士人，如軍法之馭卒伍，一有異論，累及學官。 若蘇軾、黃庭堅之文，范鎮、沈括之雜說，悉以嚴刑重賞，禁其收藏，其苛錮多士，亦已密矣。 而澥猶以為太學之盛，欺罔不已甚乎？ 原京與澥罪，乃天地否泰所係，國家治亂，由之以分，不可忽也。
Remonstrance Consultant Feng Xi recently submitted a memorial saying: “When there are no differing opinions above—that is the flourishing of the Imperial College.” Yet Xi still dares such treacherous words! Wang Anshi drove out those who differed from him and composed the Exegesis of the Three Classics to select scholars; the realm drifted into sameness, declining until great disorder—such is the fruit of “no differing opinions.” Jing again drove scholar-officials by school regulations as soldiers are driven by military law—one dissenting word and the school official was implicated. The writings of Su Shi and Huang Tingjian, the miscellaneous treatises of Fan Zhen and Shen Kuo—all were banned from collection under severe punishment and heavy reward; his harsh shackling of the literati was already thorough. Yet Xi still calls that the flourishing of the Imperial College—is his deception not extreme? Tracing the crimes of Jing and Xi bears on whether heaven and earth are blocked or open and whether the state stands ordered or chaotic—the realm turns on this and it cannot be neglected.
67
仁宗、英宗選敦樸敢言之士以遺子孫，安石目為流俗，一切逐去。 司馬光復起而用之，元祐之治，天下安於泰山。 及章惇、蔡京倡為紹述之論，以欺人主。 紹述一道德，而天下一於諂佞； 紹述同風俗，而天下同於欺罔； 紹述理財而公私竭； 紹述造士而人材衰； 紹述開邊而塞塵犯闕矣。 元符應詔上書者數千人，京遣腹心考定之，同己為正，異己為邪，澥與京同者也，故列於正。 京之術破壞天下，於茲極矣，尚忍使其餘蠹再破壞邪？ 京姦邪之計大類王莽，而朋黨之眾則又過之，願斬之以謝天下。」
Renzong and Yingzong selected men of honest simplicity who dared speak and bequeathed them to their descendants; Anshi labeled them the vulgar current and drove them all away. Sima Guang was raised again and employed; under the Yuanyou governance the realm stood secure as Mount Tai. When Zhang Dun and Cai Jing championed the doctrine of continuing the legacy, they deceived the sovereign. Continuing the legacy unified moral discourse, and the realm became one in flattery and craft; continuing the legacy unified custom, and the realm became one in deception; continuing the legacy managed state finance and public and private coffers were drained; continuing the legacy trained scholars and human talent withered; continuing the legacy opened the frontier until the enemy’s dust darkened the palace gates. In the Yuanfu era several thousand men answered the imperial call with memorials; Jing sent trusted agents to assess them—those who agreed with him were orthodox, those who differed heterodox; Xi sided with Jing, and so was listed among the orthodox. Jing’s methods have ruined the realm to the utmost—can we still bear to let his remaining poison ruin it again? Jing’s treacherous schemes greatly resemble Wang Mang’s, yet the throng of his faction surpasses even that—I beg that he be beheaded to answer the realm.”
68
累章極論，時議歸重。
He submitted memorial after memorial to the limit; public opinion turned increasingly to him.
69
忽得攣疾，不能行。 三求去，帝惜之，不許。 呂好問、徐秉哲為言，乃以龍圖閣直學士主管嵩山崇福宮，命下而卒。 鶠平生為文至多，輒為人取去，篋無留者。 尤長於詩，清峭雄深，有法度。 無子，婿衛昂集其遺文，為三十卷，傳於世。
Suddenly he contracted crippling illness and could not walk. Three times he sought to resign; the emperor valued him and would not allow it. Lü Haowen and Xu Bingzhe spoke on his behalf; he was then made direct academician of the Longtu Pavilion and put in charge of the Chongfu Palace on Mount Song—the order was issued, and he died. Yan wrote a great deal in his lifetime, but people always carried his work away; nothing remained in his chest. He excelled above all in poetry—clear, austere, bold, and deep, with true craft. He had no son; his son-in-law Wei Ang collected his surviving writings into thirty juan, which circulated in the world.
70
張根，字知常，饒州德興人。 少入太學，甫冠，第進士。 調臨江司理參軍、遂昌令。 當改京秩，以四親在堂，冀以父母之恩封大父母，而貤妻封及母，遂致仕，得通直郎，如其志。 時年三十一。 鄉人之賢者彭汝礪序其事，自以為不及。
Zhang Gen, courtesy name Zhichang, was a native of Deyang in Raozhou. In youth he entered the Imperial College; just after coming of age he passed the jinshi examination. He was appointed judicial administrator of Linjiang and magistrate of Suichang. When he was due for promotion to capital rank, with four parents still living he hoped through his parents’ grace to ennoble his great-grandparents, and through ennobling his wife to extend ennoblement to his mother; he therefore resigned office and received the rank of Tongzhi Lang, as he had wished. He was then thirty-one years old. Peng Rilü, a worthy man of his district, wrote a preface to the affair and declared himself unequal to him.
71
屏處十年，曾布、曾肇、鄒浩及本道使者上其行義，徽宗召詣闕。 為帝言：「人主一日萬幾，所恃者是心耳。 一累於物，則聰明智慮且耗，賢不肖混淆，綱紀不振矣。 願陛下清心省欲，以窒禍亂之原。」 遂請罷錢塘製造局。 帝改容嘉美，以為親賢宅教授。
After ten years in seclusion, Zeng Bu, Zeng Zhao, Zou Hao, and the envoy of his circuit submitted accounts of his conduct and righteousness, and Huizong summoned him to court. He said to the emperor: “The sovereign faces ten thousand affairs in a day; what he relies on is the heart alone. Once burdened by things, keen intelligence and deliberation are exhausted, worthy and unworthy are confused, and statutes and discipline fail. I beg Your Majesty to clear the heart and examine desires, to stop up the source of calamity and disorder.” He then requested abolition of the Qiantang Manufacture Bureau. The emperor’s expression changed and he praised him, appointing him professor of the Residence for Honoring the Worthy.
72
未幾，通判杭州，提舉江西常平。 內侍走馬承受舉劾一路以錢半給軍衣非是，自轉運使、郡守以下皆罷。 根言：「東南軍法與西北殊，此事行之百五十年矣。 帥守、監司，分朝廷憂，顧使有罪，猶當審處，豈宜以小奄尺紙空十郡吏哉？」 詔皆令復還。 又言：「本道去歲蠲租四十萬，而戶部責償如初。 祖宗立發運上供額，而給本錢數百萬緡，使廣糴以待用。 比希恩者乃獻為羨餘，故歲計不足，至為無名之斂。」 詔貸所蠲租，而以糴本錢還之六路。 洪州失官錫，繫治兵吏千計。 根曰：「此有司失於幾察之過也。 今羅取無罪之人，責以不可得之物，何以召和氣？」 乃罷其獄。
Before long he was vice commissioner of Hangzhou and intendant of Jiangxi Ever-Normal Granaries. A palace attendant courier memorial bearer impeached the entire circuit on the ground that paying half the sum for military clothing was improper; from transport commissioners and prefects downward, all were dismissed. Gen said: “Southeastern military regulations differ from the northwest; this practice has stood for a hundred and fifty years. Commanders, supervisors, and commissioners share the court’s cares; even if they are at fault, the matter should still be carefully handled—how can a petty eunuch’s blank sheet of paper empty ten prefectures of officials?” An edict ordered all to be restored to office. He also said: “This circuit last year remitted four hundred thousand in rent, yet the Ministry of Revenue demanded repayment as before. The ancestors established the transport tribute quota for the capital and provided several million strings in principal for local purchase to build reserves. Lately those seeking favor presented it as surplus tribute, so yearly accounts fell short and there came nameless levies. An edict loaned out the remitted rent and returned purchase principal to the six circuits. Hongzhou lost official tin stipends and imprisoned more than a thousand military clerks for investigation. Gen said: “This is the fault of officials who failed to observe matters closely. Now to net the guiltless and demand from them what cannot be obtained—how can this summon harmonious qi?” The case was then dismissed.
73
大觀中，入對言：「陛下幸滌煩苛，破朋黨，而士大夫以議論不一，觀望苟且，莫肯自盡。 陛下毀石刻，除黨籍，與天下更始，而有司以大臣仇怨，廢錮自如。 為治之害，莫大於此，願思所以勵敕之。」 即命為轉運副使，改淮南轉運使，加直龍圖閣。 上書請：「常平止聽納息，以塞兼並； 下戶均出役錢，以絕姦偽，市易惟取淨利，以役商賈。 雖名若非正，然與和賈不讎其直什一，而使之倍輸額外無名無數之斂，有間矣。」 又請：「分舉官為三科：一縣令，二學官，三縣丞曹。 州郡亦分三等。 明言其人某材堪充某州、某官、某縣令，吏部據以注擬，則令選稍清，視平配硬差遠矣。」 詔吏部、戶部相度以聞。 根又以水災多，乞蠲租賦，散活口米、常平青苗米，振貸流民。 詔褒諭之。
In the Daguan era he appeared at court and said: “Your Majesty has fortunately swept away vexatious severity and broken up factions, yet scholar-officials, because opinions are not united, watch and wait in compromise and dare not give their full effort. Your Majesty destroyed stone inscriptions and removed faction registers, making a fresh start with the realm, yet the offices still imprison and ban as before out of great ministers’ private grudges. For good government, no harm is greater than this; I beg you to consider how to encourage and admonish them.” He was immediately appointed vice transport commissioner, then transferred to Huainan transport commissioner, with the additional title direct academician of the Longtu Pavilion. He submitted a memorial requesting: “Ever-Normal Granaries should only be allowed to take interest, to block land annexation; lower households should uniformly pay corvée money to end fraud; the Market Exchange should only take net profit to employ merchants. Though the names are not orthodox, compared with harmonized purchase they do not reach one-tenth of its price, whereas making men pay double outside the quota in nameless, countless levies—there is a difference.” He also requested: “Divide officials recommended for promotion into three categories: first county magistrates, second school officials, third county assistants and clerks. Prefectures and circuits should also be divided into three grades. State clearly that a given man’s talent suits a given prefecture, office, or county magistracy; the Ministry of Personnel should assign posts accordingly—then magistrate selection would be somewhat clearer, far better than blanket assignment and rigid posting.” An edict ordered the Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Revenue to deliberate and report. Because floods were frequent, Gen again begged remission of rent and tax, distribution of relief grain and Ever-Normal and Green Sprouts grain, and relief loans to displaced persons. An edict praised and commended him.
74
徙兩浙，辭不行，乃具疏付驛遞奏。 大略謂：「今州郡無兼月之儲，太倉無終歲之積，軍須匱乏，邊備缺然。 東南水旱、盜賊間作，西、北二國窺伺日久，安得不豫為之計？」 因條列茶鹽、常平等利病之數，遂言：「為今之計，當節其大者，而莫大於土木之功。 今群臣賜一第，或費百萬。 臣所部二十州，一歲上供財三十萬緡耳，曾不足給一第之用。 以寵元勳盛德，猶慮不稱，況出於閭閻干澤者哉。 雖趙普、韓琦佐命定策所未有。 願陛下靳之。 其次如田園、邸店，雖不若賜第之多，亦願日削而月損之。 如金帛好賜之類，亦不可不節也。 又其次如錫帶，其直雖數百緡，亦必斂於數百家而後足，今乃下被僕隸，使混淆公卿間，賢不肖無辨。 如以其左右趨走，不欲墨綬，當別為制度，以示等威可也。」 書奏，權幸側目，謀所以中傷之者，言交上，帝察根誠，不之罪也。
He was transferred to the Two Zhe circuits but declined to go; he then prepared a memorial and sent it by post relay to present it. In general he said: “Nowadays prefectures and circuits lack even a combined month’s stores; the Grand Storehouse lacks a full year’s accumulation; military needs are depleted and frontier defense is wanting. In the southeast floods, droughts, and bandits arise intermittently; the two states west and north have long watched for opportunity—how can we not plan ahead?” He thereupon itemized the benefits and harms of tea, salt, Ever-Normal, and the rest, and then said: “For the present plan, one should economize on the great matters—and none is greater than works of earth and timber. Today, when ministers receive the gift of a mansion, the cost may run to a million. The twenty prefectures under my charge yield only three hundred thousand strings in annual tribute—barely enough to pay for one such mansion. To reward founding merit and great virtue one still fears the gift is unworthy—how much more when it goes to men who tug favor from the back alleys! Such largesse even Zhao Pu and Han Qi, who helped establish the throne and shape policy, never enjoyed. I beg Your Majesty to restrain such gifts. Next come gardens, fields, and shops—though lesser than mansions, I beg that these too be trimmed day by day and month by month. Gifts of gold, silk, and luxuries likewise must be restrained. Still lower are gifted sashes—though worth only hundreds of strings, the cost must be wrung from hundreds of households—yet now they are bestowed even on servants, blurring the ranks of court and nobility until worthy and unworthy cannot be told apart. If attendants are meant to hurry about and one dislikes black ribbons for them, let a separate rule mark rank and dignity.” When the memorial was in, the favorites glared and plotted to destroy him; charges piled up, but the emperor saw Gen's sincerity and did not punish him.
75
尋以花石綱拘占漕舟，官買一竹至費五十緡，而多入諸臣之家。 因力陳其弊，益忤權幸，乃擿根所書奏牘注切草略，為傲慢不恭，責監信州酒。 既又言根非詆常平之法，以搖紹述之政，再貶濠州團練副使，安置郴州。 尋以討淮賊功，得自便。 以朝散大夫終於家，年六十。
Soon the Flower-and-Stone Fleet was seizing transport barges; a single bamboo bought at state expense might cost fifty strings, and much of it found its way into ministers' homes. Because he forcefully exposed the abuse, he further provoked the favorites; they seized on the terse, cutting notes in his memorials as arrogant disrespect and made him supervise the wine monopoly at Xinzhou. They then accused him of slandering not only the Ever-Normal system but the policy of Continuing the Legacy; he was demoted again to training vice commissioner of Haozhou and exiled to Chenzhou. Soon, for merit in suppressing bandits on the Huai, he was allowed to go where he pleased. He died at home as Grandee of the Court for Court Participation, aged sixty.
76
根性至孝，父病蠱戒鹽，根為食淡。 母嗜河豚及蟹，母終，根不復食。 母方病，每至雞鳴則少蘇，後不忍聞雞聲。 子燾，自有傳。 弟樸。
Gen was deeply filial; when his father fell ill with gu poisoning and was forbidden salt, Gen ate only plain food. His mother loved pufferfish and crab; after she died Gen never touched them again. While his mother lay ill, she rallied slightly at each cockcrow; afterward he could not bear to hear a cock crow. His son Tao has a biography of his own. A younger brother: Pu.
77
弟樸
Younger Brother Pu
78
樸，字見素。 第進士。 歷耀、淄、宿三州教授、太學錄、升博士，改禮部員外郎。 高麗遣子弟入學肄業，又兼博士，遷光祿、太常少卿，擢侍御史。
Pu, courtesy name Jiansu. He passed the jinshi examination. He served as professor in Yao, Zi, and Su prefectures, as recorder of the Imperial College, rose to erudite, and was appointed vice director of the Ministry of Rites. Goryeo sent princes to study at the college; he also served as erudite, rose to vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and was promoted to attending censor.
79
鄭居中去位，樸言：「朋黨分攻，非朝廷福，若不揃其尤，久則難圖。」 於是宇文黃中、賈安宅等六人皆罷，凡蔡京所惡，亦指為居中黨而逐。 時郎員冗濫，至五十五人。 徽宗喻樸使論列，乃擿其庸繆者十六人，疏斥諸外。
When Zheng Juzhong left office, Pu said: “Factional strife is no blessing to the court; if the worst are not cut down, in time they will be hard to manage.” Thereupon Yuwen Huangzhong, Jia Anzhai, and six others were all dismissed; whoever Cai Jing hated was also labeled a Juzhong partisan and driven out. At the time bureau directors were so numerous they reached fifty-five. Huizong instructed Pu to review them; he singled out sixteen who were mediocre and erroneous and had them demoted and sent outside.
80
徐處仁議置裕民局，以京提舉，京不樂，樸言：「國家法令明具，何嘗不裕民乎？ 今置局非是」，卒罷之。 起復，修製大樂局管勾官田，為大晟府典樂，樸論為貪濫不法，物論弗齒，且典樂在太常少卿之上，修製冗官不當超踰，乃罷為樂令。 未幾，復前命，樸爭不已，改秘書少監。 蔡攸引為道史檢討官，召試中書舍人，卒。
Xu Churen proposed establishing a Bureau to Enrich the People, with Jing to head it; Jing was displeased, and Pu said: “The state's laws are fully set forth—when have we not enriched the people? To establish a bureau now is wrong,” and in the end it was abolished. Recalled to service, he was made director of music for the Great Splendor Bureau while the Bureau for Revising and Making Great Music managed official fields. Pu argued that this was greedy excess and unlawful; public opinion scorned him, and moreover the music director ranked above the vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices—such a redundant revising post should not be overstepped—so he was demoted to music intendant. Before long the former appointment was restored; Pu protested without cease and was changed to vice director of the Secretariat. Cai You brought him in as collator of the Taoist histories; he was summoned to trial for drafting secretary and died.
81
任諒，字子諒，眉山人，徙汝陽。 九歲而孤，舅欲奪母志，諒挽衣泣曰：「豈有為人子不能養其親者乎！」 母為感動而止。 諒力學自奮，年十四，即冠鄉書。 登高第，調河南戶曹。 以兵書謁樞密曾布，布使人邀詣闕，既見，覺不能合，徑去。 布為相，猶欲用之。 諒予書，規以李德裕事，布始怒。 蔣之奇、章楶在樞府，薦為編修官，布持其奏不下，為懷州教授。 徽宗見其所作《新學碑》，曰：「文士也。」 擢提舉夔路學事，歷京西、河北、京東，改轉運判官。 著《河北根本籍》，凡戶口之升降，官吏之增損，與一歲出納奇贏之數，披籍可見，上之朝。 張商英見其書，謂為天下部使者之最。
Ren Liang, courtesy name Ziliang, was a native of Meizhou who moved to Ruyang. Orphaned at nine, his uncle wished to force his mother to remarry; Liang clutched his mother's robe and wept, saying: “How can one be a son and not support his parents!” His mother was moved and desisted. Liang studied hard and roused himself; at fourteen he topped the district examination. He placed high in the examination and was appointed to Henan as revenue clerk. He presented a military book to Military Affairs Commissioner Zeng Bu; Bu sent someone to invite him to court; once they met, he felt they could not agree and left straightaway. When Bu became chancellor he still wished to employ him. Liang sent him a letter admonishing him with the affair of Li Deyu; only then did Bu grow angry. Jiang Zhiqi and Zhang Jie were in the Military Affairs Commission and recommended him as compilation officer; Bu held back the memorial and did not transmit it, and he was made professor at Huaizhou. Huizong saw his “Stele of the New Learning” and said: “A man of letters.” He was promoted to intendant of Kuizhou circuit studies, served in Jingxi, Hebei, and Jingdong, and was changed to transport vice commissioner. He wrote the Fundamental Register of Hebei, in which the rise and fall of households, the increase and decrease of officials, and the yearly receipts, disbursements, and surplus accounts could all be seen at a glance when the register was opened; he submitted it to court. Zhang Shangying saw his book and called it the finest work of any circuit envoy under heaven.
82
提點京東刑獄。 梁山濼漁者習為盜，蕩無名籍，諒伍其家，刻其舟，非是不得輒入。 他縣地錯其間者，鑱石為表。 盜發，則督吏名捕，莫敢不盡力，跡無所容。 加直秘閣，徙陝西轉運副使。 降人李訛哆知邊廩不繼，陰闕地窖粟而叛，遺西夏統軍書，稱定邊可唾手取。 諒諜知其謀，亟輸粟定邊及諸城堡，且募人發所窖，得數十萬石。 訛哆果入寇，失藏粟，七日而退。 他日，復圍觀化堡，而邊儲已足，訛哆遂解去。
He was made judicial intendant of Jingdong. Fishermen on Liangshan Marsh were accustomed to turn bandit and drifted without registry; Liang grouped their households, marked their boats, and none but they could enter. Where other counties' lands intermingled, he carved stone markers. When banditry broke out he urged clerks to arrest by name; none dared slacken, and tracks had nowhere to hide. He was given the additional title direct academician of the Secretariat and transferred as vice transport commissioner of Shaanxi. The surrendered man Li Yiduo knew frontier granaries were not replenished; he secretly blocked underground cellar grain and rebelled, sending a letter to the Western Xia commander-in-chief saying Dingbian could be taken in the crook of an arm. Liang spied out his plot, urgently shipped grain to Dingbian and the various forts, and also hired men to open the cellars, obtaining several hundred thousand piculs. Yiduo indeed invaded; having lost the hidden grain, he withdrew after seven days. Another day he again besieged Guanhua Fort, but frontier stores were already full and Yiduo thereupon lifted the siege.
83
加徽猷閣待制、江淮發運使。 蔡京破東南轉般漕運法為直達綱，應募者率遊手亡賴，盜用幹沒，漫不可核，人莫敢言。 諒入對，首論之，京怒。 會汴、泗大水，泗州城不沒者兩板。 諒親部卒築堤，徙民就高，振以米粟。 水退，人獲全，京誣以為漂溺千計，坐削籍歸田里。 執政或言：「水災守臣職，發運使何罪？」 帝亦知其枉，復右文殿修撰、陝西都轉運使。 尋復徽猷閣待制，進直學士。 童貫更錢法，必欲鐵錢與銅錢等，物價率十減其九。 詔諒與貫議，諒言為六路害，寢其策。 加龍圖閣直學士、知京兆府，徙渭州。 以母憂去。
He was given the additional title attendant gentleman of the Hall for Cherishing Culture and made Jiang-Huai transport commissioner. Cai Jing broke the southeastern relay transport method into direct convoys; those who answered the call were mostly idle wanderers and ruffians who embezzled and squandered beyond reckoning, and no one dared speak. Liang appeared at court and spoke of it first; Jing was angry. It happened that Bian and Si suffered great floods; in Sizhou city only two courses of the wall were not submerged. Liang personally led soldiers to build dikes, moved the people to higher ground, and relieved them with grain and millet. When the water receded the people were preserved whole; Jing slandered him, saying a thousand or more had drowned, and he was demoted and his name struck from the rolls and sent home to his village. A chief minister said: “Flood disaster is the duty of the guarding minister—what crime has the transport commissioner?” The emperor also knew he had been wronged and restored him as compiler of the Hall for the Right Culture and transport commissioner of all Shaanxi. Soon he was again given attendant gentleman of the Hall for Cherishing Culture and advanced to direct academician. Tong Guan changed the coinage law, insisting iron cash equal copper cash; prices on average fell nine-tenths. An edict ordered Liang to deliberate with Guan; Liang said it would harm the six circuits and the plan was shelved. He was given direct academician of the Longtu Pavilion and made prefect of Jingzhao, then transferred to Weizhou. He left office on account of his mother's mourning.
84
宣和七年，提舉上清寶籙宮、修國史。 初，朝廷將有事於燕，諒曰：「中國其有憂乎！」 乃作書貽宰相曰：「今契丹之勢，其亡昭然，取之當以漸，師出不可無名。 宜別立耶律氏之宗，使散為君長，則我有存亡繼絕之義，彼有瓜分輻裂之弱，與鄰崛起之金國，勢相萬也。」 至是，又言郭藥師必反。 帝不聽，大臣以為病狂，出提舉嵩山崇福宮。 是冬，金人舉兵犯燕山，藥師叛降，皆如諒言。 乃復起諒為京兆，未幾，卒，年五十八。
In the seventh year of Xuanhe he was made intendant of the Shangqing Precious Registers Palace and compiler of the national history. Earlier, when the court was about to take action against Yan, Liang said: “Will China have cause for worry!” He then wrote a letter to the chancellor saying: “The Khitan's position now—its fall is plain to see; taking it should be gradual, and troops must not march without a just cause. One should set up another scion of the Yelü house and scatter them as separate lords—then we have the righteousness of preserving what is perishing and continuing what is cut off, while they have the weakness of partition and fragmentation; compared with the rising Jin state next door, the disparity in power is ten thousandfold.” By this time he again said Guo Yaoshi would surely rebel. The emperor would not listen; the great ministers thought him mad and sent him out as intendant of the Chongfu Palace on Mount Song. That winter the Jin raised troops and invaded Yan Mountain; Yaoshi rebelled and surrendered—all as Liang had said. He was then recalled and made prefect of Jingzhao; before long he died, aged fifty-eight.
85
周常，字仲修，建州人。 中進士第。 以所著《禮·檀弓義》見王安石、呂惠卿，二人稱之，補國子直講、太常博士。 以養親，求教授揚州。 年未五十即致仕。
Zhou Chang, courtesy name Zhongxiu, was a native of Jianzhou. He passed the jinshi examination. Because of his work “The Meaning of the Tan Gong” in the Rites he was received by Wang Anshi and Lü Huiqing; the two praised him, and he was appointed erudite lecturer of the Directorate of Education and erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. To support his parents he sought to be professor at Yangzhou. Before he was fifty he resigned office.
86
久之，御史中丞黃履薦其恬退，起為太常博士，辭。 元符初，復申前命，兼崇政殿說書，遷著作佐郎。 疏言：「祖宗諸陵器物止用塗金，服飾又無珠玉，蓋務在質素，昭示訓戒。 自裕陵至宣仁后寢宮，乃施金珠，願收貯景靈殿，以遵遺訓。」 詔置之奉宸庫。 擢起居舍人。 鄒浩得罪，常於講席論救，貶監郴州酒。 徽宗立，召為國子祭酒、起居郎，從容言：「自古求治之主，未嘗不以尚志為先。 然溺於富貴逸樂，蔽於諂諛順適，則志隨以喪，不可不戒。 元祐法度互有得失，人才各有所長，不可偏棄。」
After a long time Vice Censor-in-Chief Huang Lü recommended his quiet withdrawal and he was summoned as erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; he declined. At the beginning of Yuanfu he again received the former appointment, concurrently lectured at the Chongzheng Hall, and was transferred to assistant compiler. In a memorial he said: “The vessels of the ancestral tombs use only gilding; garments likewise have no pearls or jade—this is to keep to simplicity and proclaim instruction and warning. From Yuling to the sleeping palace of Empress Dowager Xuanren gold and pearls were applied; I wish them gathered and stored in the Hall of the Spirits of the Ancestors to follow the legacy teaching.” An edict ordered them placed in the Imperial Treasury. He was promoted to attendant of the Palace Secretariat. When Zou Hao offended, Chang pleaded for him at the lecture seat and was demoted to supervise the wine monopoly at Chenzhou. When Huizong took the throne he was summoned as erudite of the Directorate of Education and attendant of the Palace Secretariat; he said at ease: “From antiquity rulers who sought good government have never failed to set high purpose first. Yet if one drowns in wealth, honor, ease, and pleasure, or is blinded by flattery and compliance, then purpose is lost with it—this cannot go unheeded. The Yuanyou laws each had gains and losses; men of talent each had strengths—none should be wholly cast aside.”
87
時以天暑，令記注官卯漏正即勿奏事，仍具為令。 常言：「本朝記注類多兼諫員，故凡言動，得以所聞見論可否。 神宗皇帝時，修注官雖不兼諫職，亦許以史事於崇政、延和殿直前陳述。 陛下於炎暾可畏之候，暫停進對，亦人情之常。 若著為定令，則必記於日錄，傳之史筆，使後人觀之，將以為倦於聽納，而忘先帝之美意矣。」 事遂寢。 進中書舍人、禮部侍郎。 蔡京用事，不能容，以寶文閣待制出知湖州。 尋又奪職，居婺州。 復集賢殿修撰。 卒，年六十七。
At the time, because the weather was hot, diary officials at the fifth watch of dawn were ordered not to report affairs, and this was also made a standing rule. Chang said: “In this dynasty diary officials mostly also held remonstrance posts, so in all speech and action they could discuss approval or disapproval from what they heard and saw. In the time of Emperor Shenzong, though diary compilers did not concurrently hold remonstrance posts, they were still permitted to state historical matters directly before the Chongzheng and Yanhe halls. Your Majesty, at a season when blazing heat is to be feared, has temporarily suspended advancing to speak—this too is human feeling. If this is written as a fixed rule, it must be recorded in the daily register and passed to the historical brush; when later men read it, they will think Your Majesty grew weary of listening and forgot the late emperor's fine intent.” The matter thereupon lapsed. He was advanced to drafting secretary and vice director of the Ministry of Rites. When Cai Jing held power he could not tolerate him and sent him out as attendant gentleman of the Hall for Cherishing Literary Works to serve as prefect of Huzhou. Shortly afterward his office was again stripped, and he lived in retirement at Wuzhou. He was again made Academician Compiler of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. He died at the age of sixty-seven.
88
論曰：徽宗荒於治，嬖幸塞朝，柄移權姦，不鳴者進，習為腝熟。 鶠、根、諒、常氣節偘偘，指切時敝，能盡言不諱。 卒不勝讒舌，根、常死外，鶠、諒甫用而病奪之，可悲也己！ 金兵既舉，郭藥師已叛，朝廷猶弗知，矧能先見禍幾哉，毋惑乎狂諒之言也。
The historians comment: Emperor Huizong neglected governance; favorites filled the court; power passed to treacherous ministers; the voiceless were promoted; and the court grew accustomed to base flattery. Cui Yan, Zhang Gen, Ren Liang, and Zhou Chang were men of upright spirit and forthright bearing; they pointed to the ills of the age and spoke without reserve. In the end they could not overcome slander: Gen and Chang died in exile; Yan and Liang had scarcely been put to use when illness took them away—how lamentable! When the Jin armies had already marched and Guo Yaoshi had already defected, the court still did not know—how much less could it have foreseen disaster? Small wonder that Ren Liang's urgent warnings seemed frantic.