1
2
He Guan, courtesy name Zhongyuan, was a native of Xiangfu in Kaifeng. He passed the military civil-service examination and became an aide in Hedong. Although the frontier commissioner Han Zhen repeatedly tested his abilities, he constantly held Guan back and gave him no backing. After a long while Han told him, "You are an extraordinary man; one day you will sit in my chair." Guan was appointed inspector of Fuzhou and the Huoshan Army. The bandit Su Yanfu was cunning and fierce and plagued both frontiers; Guan personally took his head. At Jiahu Tan there was a spring that Liao subjects often crossed the border to use. Guan personally laid out and marked the boundary to block them; enraged, they raised an army and attacked our territory. Guan met them from higher ground and shot; every arrow struck, and some buried in cliff rock to the fletching. The enemy took him for a god and withdrew after hesitating. Thirty years later the Khitan Grand Preceptor Xiao met Guan and spoke of old times, repeatedly asking about Inspector He's miraculous shooting. Guan said, "That was I." Xiao started up in alarm and bowed to him.
3
As a Hedong general he met the Xia; iron cavalry pursued him, and every shot Guan loosed pierced armor—some through the chest and out the back, skewering riders behind as well. The Qiang were terrified and withdrew. He served as prefect of Ninghua Army and Fengzhou, then was transferred to superintendent of the Xida River circuit. When he met Tong Guan he did not bow, and Tong resented it. Zhang Kangguo recommended him to Emperor Huizong. Summoned for audience, Guan was questioned on northwest frontier affairs; he traced on the imperial couch with his tablet and used the patterns on the emperor's robe to illustrate the terrain. The emperor said, "The enemy is plain before my eyes."
4
提點河東刑獄，遷西上閣門使、領威州刺史、知滄州。 以治城鄣功，轉引進使。 詔運粟三十萬石於並塞三州，灌言：「水淺不勝舟，陸當用車八千乘，沿邊方登麥，願以運費增價就糴之。」 奏上，報可。 安撫使忌之，劾雲板築未畢而冒賞，奪所遷官，仍再貶秩，罷去。
He was judicial intendant of Hedong, then promoted to West Upper Inner Gate Commissioner, acting prefect of Weizhou, and prefect of Cangzhou. For his work repairing walls and fortifications, he was promoted to Commissioner for Promotion of Merit. An edict ordered three hundred thousand shi of grain shipped to three frontier prefectures on the Bian line. Guan argued, "The water is too shallow for boats; overland would require eight thousand carts. Wheat is just coming up along the border—I ask that the transport costs be used instead to buy grain on the spot at a premium." He memorialized the court, and the proposal was approved. The pacification commissioner, jealous of him, impeached him, saying the rammed-earth fortifications were not yet finished and he had claimed the reward. Guan was stripped of his latest promotion, demoted again in rank, and removed from office.
5
Before long he was prefect of Minzhou. He diverted Miaochuan water to irrigate a thousand qing of dry fields; the people of Huang called the project the Broad Benefit Canal. He was transferred to Hezhou, then returned to hold Minzhou and was put in charge of the Xida River, Lan, and Huang archer militia. He went to court and said, "Under the Han, Jincheng and Huangzhong sold grain at eight cash per hu; present-day Xining, Huang, and Kuo occupy that same ground, and the old Han and Tang canals can still be traced. If we first repair the canals and bring in water so the fields are spared drought, people will gladly enlist and the archer quotas will be filled." The court agreed. In only half a year he brought under cultivation twenty-six thousand qing of good land and recruited seventy-four hundred men—the highest figure in any circuit. When Tong Guan campaigned in the west, Guan took Gugulong and the Majinwu Army, was made defense commissioner of Jizhou, and was reassigned as prefect of Lanzhou. He also attacked Renduo Spring city. A cannon ball wounded his foot, but he ignored it, finally stormed the city, and took five hundred heads. Soon afterward he was made defense commissioner of Kuo prefecture.
6
Early in the Xuanhe era Liu Fa was trapped by the enemy and Zhenwu was in grave peril; the Xida commander Liu Zhongwu sent Guan to relieve him. Outnumbered, Guan only spread false alarms to frighten them, and the Xia withdrew by night. Fearing the enemy would discover the truth, Guan hurriedly turned his army about. Zhongwu still reported him for stalling, and he was demoted to Huaixi command. He took part in suppressing Fang La, captured the rebel leader Lu Shinai, was made observation commissioner of Tongzhou and overall commander of eastern Zhe, then transferred to western Zhe.
7
On Tong Guan's northern campaign Guan was ordered to take overall command of the forces. Zhuo and Yi were pacified; he became prefect of Yi, was promoted to commissioner of the Ningwu Army and deputy overall commander of the Yan Mountain route, and was also made commander of the Dragon and Divine Guard. Kuilibu took Jingzhou and besieged Jizhou. Tong Guan palmed the military situation off on him; he quickly recovered Jing city and lifted the siege of Ji. Guo Yaoshi commanded both tribal and Han troops. Guan told him, "When the Zhe clan submitted in earlier years, the court set up a separate office to command Han troops alone; only under Kexing were the two allowed to camp together. Now Yaoshi should command only the Ever-Victorious Army, and the Han troops should be entrusted to me and my colleagues." Tong Guan would not listen. Recalled to court, he took charge of the Infantry Bureau.
8
While accompanying Liao envoys at archery in Jade Ford Garden, his first shot struck the target; the second did not. A guest asked, "Cannot the Grand Marshal do it?" He replied, "No—I was simply yielding the honor to our guest." He strung his bow again and hit the mark. The onlookers exclaimed in admiration, and the emperor personally bestowed wine to reward him. He was promoted to deputy commander of the Infantry.
9
When the Jin armies marched south, the entire palace guard was sent out under Liang Fangping to hold Liyang. Guan told the chief minister Bai Shizhong, "The Jin have thrown the whole kingdom into this expedition from far away; their momentum cannot be withstood. Fangping is now sweeping our best troops north. If they should fail to hold, how will we secure our rear? We ought to keep a force here to guard the capital itself." They did not listen. The next day Guan was ordered out again; he pleaded that his troops were unfit to fight but was overruled and appointed military commissioner of the Wutai Army and deputy commissioner for Hedong and Hebei. Before he could set out the emperor abdicated; Guan led his troops in to guard the capital. Kai, Prince of Yun, came to the gate wishing to enter. Guan said, "The succession is already settled—under whose orders does Your Highness come?" The prince's attendants, alarmed, withdrew. Guan set out after all. He could not muster the promised twenty thousand reinforcements and was allowed to recruit civilians to fill the ranks.
10
On the second day of the first month of Jingkang 1 he encamped at Huazhou. Fangping fled south, and Guan too broke and ran at the first sign of defeat. Not a man on the south bank of the Yellow River stood to oppose them, and the Jin armies marched straight on the capital. When Guan reached the city he begged an audience but was refused and ordered to hold the western sector. With the city at his back he fought for three days, was wounded, and fell in battle at the age of sixty-two. Han Zong and Lei Yanxing under his command were men of rare valor; each killed several enemies with his own hand and died with him. Emperor Qinzong mourned him, granted gold and silk, and ordered officials to escort his burial. Later critics charged that he had failed to hold the river crossings, and his ranks were posthumously stripped.
11
His eldest son Ji rose to the post of Gate Proclamation Attendant. He fought at his father's side; an arrow pierced his left arm. He pulled it out and died of the wound. In Shaoxing 4 his middle son Xian wept before the court over his father's case; an edict restored Guan's ranks as Left Vice Minister of Works and commissioner of the Loyal and Upright Army.
13
Li Xijing, courtesy name Zi'an, was a native of Jinling in Changzhou and a ninth-generation descendant of the Tang Duke of Wei, Li Deyu. His grandfather Jun and his father Gongbi had both passed the jinshi examination. Gongbi, early in the Chongning era, was vice-prefect of Luzhou. He argued that the Three Colleges law was unworkable; an envoy impeached him for obstructing imperial orders, and he was stripped of office and died in disgrace. Xijing passed the civil examination and also the erudite literary examination, was appointed recorder of the Imperial Academy and director of the National University, and was promoted to erudite. Because his father was elderly he asked for an outside post and was appointed to supervise educational affairs in Huaidong so he could care for his parents at home. When the appointment was issued, he had been given Hedong instead; the man who received Huaidong was Zang Youzhi. A clerk in the Secretariat had taken a bribe from Youzhi and simply swapped the two appointments. Someone urged him to report the matter himself. Xijing said, "In serving one's lord one does not choose the place—how could I expose another man's private wrongdoing for my own convenience?" The chief minister heard of this and admired him; Xijing was kept at court as vice director of the Ministry of War. He left office to mourn his father, then returned as vice director of the Right Office.
14
Wang Fu, as Grand Chancellor, also headed the Imperial Offerings Office. He was then pursuing the Yan-Yun campaign and set up a frontier pacification office within the Secretariat that he alone controlled; the other chief ministers were excluded. Xijing told him, "The duties of the Imperial Offerings Office are not what a chief minister should take on. The Ministry and the Bureau of Military Affairs each have military sections fully able to handle frontier affairs—what need is there for a separate pacification office?" Fu grew steadily more displeased with him. Five colleagues all vaulted into palace attendance posts while he alone was held back for four years. When the director of waterways lost his post he shifted the blame to Xijing, who was demoted two ranks and slated for transfer to director of the National University. The chief ministers protested that this was unacceptable, and he was moved only to vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. After Fu fell from power Xijing was made a Secretariat drafter, but Cai You also disliked him and he was sent out as prefect of Gongzhou.
15
Two months later he was recalled to his former post. At audience he said, "Though Yan Mountain is settled, we should be all the more careful to heed the warning to think of trouble before it comes and take preventive measures." Emperor Huizong said, "That is what the Odes mean: 'Before the sky has darkened with rain, gather mulberry bark and bind up the windows and doors.'" Xijing went on, "Confucius said of that ode, 'Its author knew the Way! He who can govern his state well—who would dare insult him? I pray Your Majesty will plan for lasting security.'" The emperor commended him.
16
Early in the Jingkang era he served at Longde Palace together with Tan Shiji, was made attendant of the Xianmo Hall, and put in charge of the Liquan Abbey. The Retired Emperor treated him with great favor and often spoke calmly of his abdication, saying, "Outsiders credit Wu Min, but they do not know this came from my own wish. If I had not wanted it, rumor would have destroyed my whole clan—who would have dared oppose me? Some say I resemble Tang Ruizong, who abdicated in awe of heaven's warning—but I have had this intention for a long time." Xijing bowed twice in congratulation. When Min heard of this he grew jealous and had Xijing punished for presenting himself at audience at an improper time.
17
After he refused Zhang Bangchang's summons he was consumed by grief and anger and would not eat. His family brought porridge and medicine to comfort him, but he had no will to live. An old friend came to see him in his illness; they embraced and wept. He asked for a brush and wrote Wang Wei's line, "When will the hundred officials again bow at dawn court?" He died the next day at fifty-three; he and Shiji were both posthumously made academicians of the Duanming Hall.
18
Wang Yun, courtesy name Zifei, was a native of Zezhou. His father Xianke rose to prefect of Yingzhou and administrator of Luzhou. When Huang Tingjian was exiled to Fu, Xiankhe treated him with great kindness, and contemporaries praised him for it. Yun passed the jinshi examination, accompanied an embassy to Goryeo, and composed the Record of Goguryeo, which he presented to the throne. He was promoted to collator in the Secretariat, served as prefect of Jianzhou, and was transferred to vice transport commissioner of Shaanxi. During the Xuanhe era he served on Tong Guan's pacification staff, then entered court as vice director of the Ministry of War and Secretariat drafter for imperial audiences.
19
In Jingkang 1 he was sent as supervising secretary to Wolibu's camp to negotiate ceding the three prefectures in exchange for peace. On his return he reported Wolibu's message: Nianhan had obtained a wax-sealed letter from the court to Yelü Yudu and insisted that the Song could not be trusted, intending to break the peace treaty. The chief ministers disagreed and demoted him to attendant of the Xianyou Hall and prefect of Tangzhou.
20
When the Jin captured Taiyuan he was recalled as Minister of Justice and sent on another embassy, offering the tax revenue of the three prefectures. Yun reached Zhending and sent his attendant Li Yu back with word: "The Jin no longer demanded territory but wanted the five imperial carriages and an exalted title for the emperor, and that the Prince of Kang must come before peace could be made." Emperor Qinzong agreed to everything and ordered Wang and Feng Xie to go as well. Before they could set out the imperial carriages reached Changyuan and were turned back, and Yun returned as well. Feng memorialized that Yun's fabrications had harmed the state. Yun said, "The situation has changed—the Jin will certainly demand the three prefectures, or they will advance on the capital at Bian." Court and country were shaken. An edict summoned all officials to deliberate. Yun insisted, "The Prince of Kang once won Zonghan's favor and should carry the mission." The emperor feared the prince would be detained. Yun said, "Once peace is made there will be no grounds to hold him—I stake the lives of my entire household on it." The prince accepted the commission, with Yun as his deputy in the rank of academician of the Zizheng Hall.
21
Earlier, on embassy, Yun had passed through Ci and Xiang and urged both prefectures to clear dwellings near the cities, move grain into the forts, and adopt a scorched-earth strategy—the people resented him for it. On this journey he halted at Cizhou and again bore a grudge against the defending official Zong Ze. The prince went out to pay respects at the Jiaying Spirit Shrine with Yun behind him. The people blocked the road and pleaded, "Prince Su was already detained by the Jin—Your Highness must not go north." They pointed at Yun and shouted, "The man who ordered the scorched earth—he is a true traitor!" As the prince left the shrine someone opened Yun's trunk and found a black silk headcloth—Yun had long suffered from vertigo and wore it to protect his head when he slept. The crowd was convinced he was a traitor, raised a clamor, and killed him. Seeing the uproar, the prince turned south and returned to Xiangzhou. Had Yun not died on this mission, the prince would surely have gone north; commentators took his death as proof that Heaven had intervened through Yun. Early in the Jianyan era he was posthumously made academician of the Guanwen Hall.
22
Yun's elder brother Ji, during the Chongning era, served as a detailed reviewer in the Policy Deliberation Office. He memorialized accusing Cai Jing of crimes and was tattooed and exiled to a sea island. Emperor Qinzong restored his rank; he followed Zhong Shizhong and died in battle.
24
Tan Shiji, courtesy name Yancheng, was a native of Changsha in Tanzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and served as instructor at Chenzhou. Wang Anshi's school was then in vogue, but Shiji had never cared for it. When asked about it he said, "Too many doctrines and too many changes—there is no teaching that does not shift." He set their books aside and would not read them. He also passed the erudite literary examination and was appointed collator in the Secretariat. The chief minister's son Cai You headed the book bureau, and many colleagues curried favor with him to win high office. Shiji alone sat in the duty lodge reading books all day. A client of Liang Shicheng lived nearby and repeatedly conveyed Liang's wish for friendship; Shiji declined.
25
After six years in the lodge without promotion, when Cai Jing fell he was appointed vice director of the Gate Office by seniority. Three years later he was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. When Cai Jing returned to power he resented Shiji's independence and dismissed him to supervise the Taiping Palace. After a long while he was restored to the Ministry of Personnel. A favored minister tried to use imperial favor to appoint his son; Shiji refused. A clerk cited a precedent. Shiji said, "How can a temporary precedent overturn established law!" Soon afterward they obtained an inner edict and carried it out anyway. Promoted to director of the Palace Workshops and then to Secretariat drafter, he addressed the throne on six matters—strict enforcement of orders, respect for official titles, a broader avenue of remonstrance, restraint in grants, correction of tribute, and reduction of waste—and again earned the jealousy of those in power. He was appointed attendant of the Xianyou Hall and prefect of Wuzhou, but before he could leave he was kept at court.
26
When Emperor Huizong abdicated, traveled east, and then returned, Shiji and Li Xijing were made deputies to the chief ministers to welcome him and together took charge of Longde Palace. He petitioned to correct the slanders in the national history concerning Empress Xuanren, cited Empress Qinsheng's testament to restore Yaohua, argued that great sacrifices to Shenzong should still use Fu Bi as companion spirit, and that Wang Anshi should not share the sage's altar—all were later adopted.
27
In the seventh month a comet appeared in the east. Some ministers said it foretold the decline of the barbarians. Shiji addressed the throne: "Heaven's signs are alarming—we should cultivate virtue to answer Heaven, not be misled by flattery." He was promoted to supervising secretary and concurrent reader-in-waiting. Inner attendants quarreled loudly at the palace gate; an edict proposed handling the matter with fines. Shiji objected to their disrespect and said, "Men like Tong Guan were once insignificant too—if small offenses go unpunished, great disasters will follow." When his memorial was submitted, his peers glared at him. He Li proposed dividing the outer prefectures into four circuits, each with an overall commander empowered to decide affairs on his own. Shiji said, "To split the realm among four men while the capital district governs only sixteen counties—do we not fear a tail too heavy to control?" He Li was displeased. He was transferred to vice minister of Rites.
28
As Jin cavalry pressed south in waves, Shiji said, "Holding the frontier is the best strategy; now that the frontier cannot be held, holding the Yellow River will secure the capital region—the middle strategy; touring the Yangzi and Huai and gathering southeast troops to resist the enemy—the worst strategy. After the Jin crossed the river he again asked that the general Qin Yuan be sent with his capital-region militia to guard the city gates in sections so forces could link up from end to end—then the Jin would not dare press the city." Sun Fu strongly agreed, but the plan was blocked by He Li's opposition. He again accompanied the imperial carriage to the Jin commander's tent, laid out ten harms to persuade their leaders, and argued the benefits of negotiation with loyal, impassioned words that made the Jin listen intently.
29
When Zhang Bangchang usurped the throne he ordered Shiji and Li Xijing to serve together in the Hanlin Academy. Both claimed illness and refused to rise; Shiji died of grief at fifty-four. Early in the Jianyan era his steadfast integrity was praised and he was posthumously made academician of the Duanming Hall.
31
Mei Zhili, courtesy name Hesheng, was a native of Pujiang in Wuzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and was assigned as assistant magistrate of Changshan but did not take up the post. By recommendation he became an editor of imperial commands and doctor of the Military Academy. The grand director Qiang Yuanming admired him and spoke of him to the chief minister, who regretted that he had never met him. Zhili heard this and said, "What is gained through others' words can be lost through others' words—I rely only on what is in myself." In the end he never went to pay his respects.
32
He served in the Armory and Honglu bureaus, then as vice director of the Revenue Section, whose duty was to audit goods and funds. Documents piled up like mountains and he generally had no time to read them all. A park clerk presented a tea certificate worth three million cash and, on Yang Kai's orders, pressed for payment with great urgency. Zhili read it once and saw it was fraudulent. His superiors hesitated to report it, so he memorialized alone that it was a false claim. He was transferred to Revenue and Personnel, promoted to vice director of the National University and concurrent tutor of the Zishan Hall, moved to vice director of the Left Office, and elevated to Secretariat drafter and supervising secretary.
33
Lin Shu, a former chief minister, came to court and lingered, hoping to recover his old post; Zhili argued for his dismissal. Meng Changling occupied a house in Yun pledged to a creditor and, when it should have been redeemed, refused to yield it and sought an inner edict to seize it. Tens of thousands of soldiers from outer prefectures left on service in the capital ran riot—an edict ordered them all sent home, but Yang Kai held them back; the inner attendant Zhang You supervised repairs to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and presumptuously sought a reward—Zhili memorialized against each request and none was granted. He was transferred to vice minister of Rites.
34
He had long been on good terms with Wang Fu, who once gave a banquet at his own residence and displayed the splendor of his gardens, ponds, and courtesans with evident pride. Zhili said, "As chief minister you should share the realm's joys and sorrows. Fang La's poison still ravages Wu, and the wounds have not healed—is this a time for song, dance, and feasting?" On leaving he admonished him again in verse. Fu was shamed and angry. When Zhili arrived late after the Meng sacrifice at the original temple he was demoted to attendant of the Xianmo Hall and prefect of Qizhou, then stripped of office again.
35
The next year he was transferred to Chuzhou and restored as compiler of the Jiying Hall. At the time the salt tax fell short of its quota, and Chuzhou also suffered from forced allotment. Zhili said, "This prefecture cannot equal a single district of Suzhou or Hangzhou, yet the salt levy doubles the grain quota—how can the people bear it?" He petitioned the court; an edict reduced the levy by two hundred thousand, and the people of Chuzhou were grateful.
36
When Emperor Qinzong ascended the throne he was transferred to Zhenjiang, summoned as Hanlin academician, appointed Minister of Personnel en route, then soon transferred to Minister of Revenue. With war under way, funds ran short. Zhili asked that palace funds be placed under the regular offices so that all provisions for the six palaces would pass through the Revenue Bureau before release. Once a minor palace attendant came to the ministry with an inner draft to withdraw money, but the seal did not bear the imperial seal. Realizing the error, he took the draft back. Zhili memorialized for investigation; an edict rebuked the keeper of the seals and had the attendant beaten.
37
金人圍京都，執禮勸帝親征，而請太上帝后、皇后、太子皆出避，用事者沮之。 洎失守，金人質天子，邀金帛以數百千萬計，曰：「和議已定，但所需滿數，則奉天子還闕。」 執禮與同列陳知質、程振、安扶皆主根索，四人哀民力已困，相與謀曰：「金人所欲無藝極，雖銅鐵亦不能給，盍以軍法結罪，儻窒其求。」 而宦者挾宿怨語金帥曰：「城中七百萬戶，所取未百一，但許民持金銀換粟麥，當有出者。」 已而果然。 酋怒，呼四人責之，對曰：「天子蒙塵，臣民皆願致死，雖肝腦不計，于金繒何有哉？ 顧比屋枵空，亡以塞命耳。」 酋問官長何在，振恐執禮獲罪，遂前曰：「皆官長也。」 酋益怒，先取其副胡舜陟、胡唐老、姚舜明、王俁，各杖之百。 執禮等猶為之請，俄遣還，將及門，呼下馬撾殺之，而梟其首，時靖康二年二月也。 是日，天宇晝冥，士庶皆隕涕憤歎。
When the Jin besieged the capital Zhili urged the emperor to take the field in person and asked that the Retired Emperor and Retired Empress, the empress, and the crown prince all withdraw to safety—those in power blocked the plan. When the city fell the Jin held the emperor hostage and demanded gold and silk in the tens of millions, saying, "Peace is already settled—once the full sum is paid we will return the Son of Heaven to the palace." Zhili and his colleagues Chen Zhizhi, Cheng Zhen, and An Fu all headed the search for funds. Grieving that the people were exhausted, the four plotted together: "The Jin demands are boundless—even copper and iron could not satisfy them. Why not fix guilt under military law and perhaps block their demands?" But eunuchs bearing old grudges told the Jin commander, "The city holds seven million households—you have taken less than one in a hundred. Allow the people to exchange gold and silver for grain and wheat and they will come forward." Before long it proved true. The chieftain was furious and summoned the four to rebuke them. They replied, "The Son of Heaven suffers in the dust—ministers and people alike would die for him without counting liver or brain; what of gold and silk? Only every household is hollow and empty—there is nothing with which to fulfill your command." The chieftain asked where the chief officials were. Zhen, fearing Zhili would bear the blame alone, stepped forward and said, "We are all chief officials." The chieftain grew still angrier and first seized his deputies Hu Shunzhi, Hu Tanglao, Yao Shunming, and Wang Hou, caning each a hundred strokes. Zhili and the others still pleaded for them. They were soon sent back, but as they neared the gate they were called down from their horses, beaten to death, and their heads displayed—it was the second month of Jingkang 2. That day the sky darkened at noon; scholars and commoners alike wept in grief and outrage.
38
Earlier, when the imperial carriage went out again, Zhili joined the imperial clansman Zifang and the generals Wu Ge and others in a plot to gather troops, seize the Wansheng Gate, raid the Jin commander's tent by night, and bring the two emperors home. But Wang Shiyong and Xu Bingzhe had Fan Qiong betray the plot, and it failed. He was forty-nine when he died. When Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, an edict posthumously granted Zhili the rank of Senior Grandee of the Court for Imperial Offerings and made him academician of the Duanming Hall. Critics thought the reward too modest, and he was further made academician of the Zizheng Hall.
39
Cheng Zhen, courtesy name Boqi, was a native of Leping in Raozhou. As a youth he showed outstanding talent. He entered the National University, and many celebrated men of the day sought his company. When Emperor Huizong visited the university, Zhen was appointed from among the students to a senior post, became recorder of the Imperial Academy, was promoted to erudite, transferred to erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and supervised educational affairs in eastern and western Jing. He petitioned to establish a temple at Zou to sacrifice to Mencius, with Gongsun Chou, Wan Zhang, Yuezheng Ke, and others as companion spirits at the altar, and the court agreed.
40
He supervised the Ever-Normal Granaries of western Jing, then entered court as vice director of the Provisions Bureau, investigating censor, vice director of the National University at the Imperial Academy, and vice director of the Left Office concurrent with attendant to the crown prince. As soon as he took up his post he said, "In antiquity at the great sacrifice, when the offering was set out and wine received, it had to be the eldest heir—this is recorded in the Book of Rites, and the Yuanfeng canonical regulations still stand intact. Yesterday the Son of Heaven performed the rites at the Bright Hall while Your Highness did not take part—this is not how to honor the ancestral temple and esteem the altars of soil and grain." The crown prince started and said, "None of my palace staff had ever raised this before." From this he won special praise and favor.
41
When Fang La rose, Zhen told Wang Fu he should seize the moment to reform the abuses of the realm, answering Heaven above and winning the people below. Fu was displeased and said, "His Majesty already suspects me of using the rebels for my own ends—what can I do?" Zhen knew Fu resented his words and hurried out, but the crown prince strongly recommended him and he was elevated to supervising secretary. Fu told the court that Zhen's qualifications were shallow and that he excelled at drafting documents, and asked that he be made a Secretariat drafter instead. Vice Minister Feng Xizai was sent out as prefect of Bozhou. Fu resented him and wanted Zhen to slander him with ugly words, but Zhen refused. Fu had critics impeach him as a factionalist, and he was dismissed to supervise the Chongyou Abbey. After three years he was restored to his former office.
42
靖康元年，進吏部侍郎，為欽宗言：「柄臣不和，論議多駁，詔令輕改，失於事幾。 金人交兵半歲，而至今不解者，以和戰之說未一故也。 裁抑濫賞，如白黑易分，而數月之間，三變其議，以私心不除，各蔽其黨故也。 今日一人言之，以為是而行； 明日一人言之，以為非而止。 或聖斷隃度而不暇疇咨，或大臣偏見而遂形播告，所以動未必善，處未必宜，乃輒為之反汗，其勢不得不爾也。」
In Jingkang 1 he was promoted to vice minister of Personnel and told Emperor Qinzong, "The power-holders are not in harmony, deliberations are constantly overturned, and edicts are lightly changed—opportunities are lost. The Jin have been at war for half a year and the conflict remains unresolved because the court cannot agree on peace or war. Restraining excessive rewards should be as clear as black and white, yet within a few months the policy changed three times because private motives were not removed and each faction sheltered its own. Today one man speaks and it is thought right and carried out; tomorrow another speaks and it is thought wrong and stopped. Sometimes the emperor decides in secret without time for broad consultation; sometimes a minister's bias is broadcast as policy—so actions are not necessarily sound, measures not necessarily fitting, and edicts are repeatedly reversed. The situation cannot be otherwise."
43
When Jin troops reached Hebei, Zhen asked to gather troops from all circuits to strike them from converging angles. He said, "They are so rampant—does Your Majesty still wish to cling to peace and deny them even a little punishment?" The emperor sighed over his words but was constrained by the outer court and could not act on them. He was appointed prefect of Kaifeng. In former times, for capital crimes where mercy was possible, many were memorialized for pardon; but since the Chongning era critics argued that the capital must be suppressed first and generally expedited execution by document. Zhen asked to restore the old system. An edict ordered fugitive soldiers captured; several thousand were taken. Zhen asked to assign them to the Infantry and remit their crimes. The Infantry Bureau wished to judge them according to law. Zhen said, "At a time of crisis, to kill several thousand men in one day would greatly alarm the public." They were all released. He was transferred to vice minister of Punishments.
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Jin cavalry were in the suburbs and demanded the imperial carriage leave the city. Zhen told He Li, "We must devise a strategy to rebuff them." He Li would not listen. Before long he met calamity at the age of fifty-seven. After the Jin departed, his nephew Ting recovered his head and brought it home for burial. Earlier Wang Fu had his client Shen Jizhong plot the Yan campaign. Zhen warned of future disaster, and Jizhong, afraid, said it could not be done. Yet in the end Zhen died for this very cause, and those who heard of it grieved.
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初，宣和崇道家之說，振侍坐東宮，從容言：「孔子以《鴟鴞》之詩為知道，其詞不過曰'迨天之未陰雨，綢繆牖戶'而已。 老子亦云：'為之於未有，治之於未亂。 '今不固根本於無事之時，而事目前區區，非二聖人意。」 他日，太子為徽宗道之。 徽宗寤，頗欲去健羨，疏左右近習，而宦寺楊戩輩方大興宮室，懼不得肆，因讒家令楊馮，以為將輔太子幸非常。 徽宗震怒，執馮誅之，而太子之言亦廢。 振尹京時，兩宮方困於惎間，振極意彌縫，治龍德梁忻獄，寬其罪，不使有纖介可指。 高宗即位，進秩七等，仍官其子及親屬三人，又贈端明殿學士。 端平初，曾孫東請諡，賜諡「剛愍」。 同時死者禮部侍郎陳知質，失其傳；給事中安扶，附見父《安燾傳》。
Earlier, in the Xuanhe era Daoist teachings were honored. Attending the Eastern Palace, Zhen said calmly, "Confucius took the ode 'Owl' as knowing the Way; its words are no more than 'Before the sky has darkened with rain, bind up the windows and doors.' Laozi also said, 'Act when it does not yet exist; govern when disorder has not yet arisen.' If we do not secure the foundation in a time of peace but attend only to petty present matters, this is not the intent of the two sages." Another day the crown prince reported this to Emperor Huizong. Huizong took the point and wished to cut excess and distance his close attendants, but eunuchs like Yang Jian were building palaces on a grand scale and feared they would lose their freedom. They slandered the household steward Yang Feng, claiming he would help the crown prince seize power irregularly. Huizong was furious, seized Feng and executed him, and the crown prince's counsel was abandoned as well. When Zhen was prefect of Kaifeng the two palaces were troubled by mutual suspicion. He did his utmost to mend matters, handled the Longde and Liang Xin case, lightened the offenses, and left no fault that could be seized upon. When Gaozong took the throne, Zhen was posthumously advanced seven ranks, offices were given to his son and three relatives, and he was further made academician of the Duanming Hall. Early in the Duanping era, his great-grandson Dong requested a posthumous title, and he was granted the posthumous name "Gang Min". Chen Zhizhi, vice minister of Rites, who died at the same time, has no surviving biography; An Fu, supervising secretary, is treated in his father's biography of An Tao.
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Liu Yanqing was a native of Bao'an Army. His family had been military men for generations. Bold and brave, he took part in several western campaigns, won battle honors, and rose to observation commissioner of Xiangzhou, commander of the Dragon and Divine Guard, and overall commander of the Fuyan route. He was transferred to military commissioner and observation regent of the Taining Army, then made a commissioner. He defeated the Xia at Chengde Army, captured their chieftain Shangqu, and received the surrender of the prince Yima Dangzheng. He was appointed military commissioner of the Baoxin Army and deputy commander of the Cavalry. He followed Tong Guan in suppressing Fang La and served as military commissioner of the three cities of Heyang. He again joined the northern campaign as overall commander of the pacification forces, leading one hundred thousand troops across the Bai Gou.
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Yanqing marched without discipline. Guo Yaoshi seized his horse and remonstrated, "The great army is marching in column without precautions. If the enemy sets an ambush, the van and rear cannot support each other and the troops will break at the first sign of dust." Yanqing would not listen. At Liangxiang the Liao general Xiao Gan led his forces against him. Yanqing fought and was defeated, then shut himself in the fort and would not come out. Yaoshi said, "Gan's troops number no more than ten thousand. He is exerting all his strength to resist us, so Yan Mountain must be empty. Give me five thousand picked troops to march by forced stages and seize it, with your son the Third General selecting a force as the follow-up." Yanqing agreed and sent the general Gao Shixuan with Yaoshi ahead. They entered Yan city at once, and Gan raised three thousand picked armored troops for street fighting. The Third General was Liu Guangshi.
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Guangshi broke the agreement and did not come. Yaoshi lost support, was defeated and fled, and Shixuan was killed. Yanqing encamped south of the Lu Gou. Gan divided his forces to cut the supply route, captured the grain escort general Wang Yuan, and took two Han soldiers. He blindfolded them and kept them in his tent. At midnight he feigned conversation: "I hear a hundred thousand Han troops press our border. Our army is triple theirs—more than enough to handle the enemy. We should divide into left and right wings, strike the center with picked troops, and have the wings respond—we will annihilate them to the last man." Secretly he let one man escape to return and report. At dawn Yanqing saw fires rise, thought the enemy had come, burned his camp and fled. Men trampled one another to death for more than a hundred li. Since the Xi and Feng eras the stored military supplies were nearly exhausted. He withdrew to hold Xiongzhou, and the people of Yan composed fu and songs to mock him. The court held that Yanqing had lost the army and the law could not go unenforced. He was demoted to commandant of the Commandant's Office and settled at Yunzhou. The Khitan concluded that China could not wage war and from this despised the Song.
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Before long he was again made military commissioner of the Zhenhai Army. During the Jingkang calamity Yanqing divided his forces to defend the capital. When the city fell he led ten thousand Qin troops to seize the Kaiyuan Gate and break out, but at Guier Temple he was killed by pursuing cavalry. Guangshi has his own biography.
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The commentators say: In the Jingkang transformation Zhili and Zhen could not bear to see the people of the capital suffer; they resisted the strong enemy's insatiable demands and personally met disaster. Xijing and Shiji would not serve two dynasties with one body and died refusing food in grief. Guan and Yanqing were defeated in battle and perished. These men met different fates, yet in dying for the state's calamity they were one. Yun's death, though he had brought it on himself, was perhaps also because Heaven did not yet wish to end the Song line; otherwise on that journey the Prince of Kang would have been in grave peril!