1
李光許翰許景衡張愨張所陳禾蔣猷
Li Guang, Xu Han, Xu Jingheng, Zhang Que, Zhang Suo, Chen He, and Jiang You
2
李光，字泰發，越州上虞人。 童稚不戲弄。 父高稱曰：「吾兒雲間鶴，其興吾門乎！」 親喪，哀毀如成人，有致賻者，悉辭之。 及葬，禮皆中節。 服除，遊太學，登崇甯五年進士第。 調開化令，有政聲，召赴都堂審察，時宰不悅，處以監當，改秩，知平江府常熟縣。 朱勔父沖倚勢暴橫，光械治其家僮。 沖怒，風部使者移令吳江，光不為屈。 改京東西學事司管勾文字。
Li Guang, styled Taifa, was a native of Shangyu in Yue Prefecture. Even as a child he shunned horseplay and frivolity. His father Gao exclaimed, "My boy is a crane soaring above the clouds—surely he will bring glory to our clan!" After a parent's death he mourned with the grief of a grown man and turned away every condolence gift offered him. At the funeral every observance was conducted with exact propriety. Once his mourning was over, he entered the Imperial Academy and took the jinshi degree in the fifth year of the Chongning reign. Posted as magistrate of Kaihua, he earned a reputation for good government and was called to the Court Bureau for review; the chief ministers took offense, assigned him supervisory duty with a change of rank, and made him administrator of Changshu County in Pingjiang Prefecture. Zhu Mian's father Chong bullied others by leaning on his son's influence; Guang had Chong's household servants arrested and put in the stocks for trial. Chong flew into a rage and had a ministry envoy hint that Guang should be transferred to Wujiang as magistrate, but Guang refused to bend. He was reassigned as a document clerk in the Eastern and Western Capitals Directorate of Education.
3
劉安世居南京，光以師禮見之。 安世告以所聞于溫公者曰：「學當自無妄中入。」 光欣然領會。 除太常博士，遷司封。 首論士大夫諛佞成風，至妄引荀卿「有聽從，無諫諍」之說，以杜塞言路； 又言怨嗟之氣，結為妖沴。 王黼惡之，令部注桂州陽朔縣。 安世聞光以論事貶，貽書偉之。 李綱亦以論水災去國，居義興，伺光于水驛，自出呼曰：「非越州李司封船乎？」 留數日，定交而別。 除司勳員外郎，遷符寶郎。
When Liu Anshi was living in Nanjing, Guang called on him with the deference owed a master. Anshi passed on what he had learned from Master Wen (Sima Guang): "True learning must begin from the gate of sincerity—without self-deception." Guang accepted the lesson with evident delight. He was made an Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and then moved to the Bureau of Seals. In his first memorial he denounced the way scholar-officials had made flattery the norm, even twisting Xunzi's line that rulers "listen and obey but never hear remonstrance" into an excuse to shut down frank counsel; He added that popular resentment had condensed into strange omens and disasters. Wang Fu took offense and had the ministry assign him to Yangshuo County in Gui Prefecture. Learning that Guang had been banished for speaking out, Anshi wrote to commend his courage. Li Gang, too, had been driven from court after memorializing about the floods and was staying in Yixing; he watched for Guang at a river station, stepped out, and hailed him: "Surely that is Vice Director Li from Yue Prefecture aboard?" They spent several days together, sealed their friendship, and went their separate ways. He was made Vice Director in the Bureau of Honors and then Registrar of Tallies and Seals.
4
郭藥師叛，光知徽宗有內禪意，因納符，謂知樞密院蔡攸曰：「公家所為，皆咈眾心。 今日之事，非皇太子則國家俱危。」 攸矍然，不敢為異。 欽宗受禪，擢右司諫。 上皇東幸，憸人間兩宮，光請集議奉迎典禮。 又奏：「東南財用，盡于朱勔，西北財用，困于李彥，天下根本之財，竭于蔡京、王黼。 名為應奉，實入私室，公家無半歲之儲，百姓無旬日之積。 乞依舊制，三省、樞密院通知兵民財計，與戶部量一歲之出入，以制國用，選吏考核，使利源歸一。」
When Guo Yaoshi turned traitor, Guang sensed that Huizong meant to abdicate; he handed in his seal of office and told Military Affairs Commissioner Cai You, "Everything your clan has done has defied the will of the people. In the crisis we face today, unless the Crown Prince takes the throne, both sovereign and realm will be lost." You blanched and dared raise no objection. After Qinzong accepted the throne, Guang was elevated to Remonstrator of the Right Bureau. When the Retired Emperor went east on his tour, schemers drove a wedge between the two courts; Guang asked that officials assemble to settle the protocol for receiving him back. He also submitted: "The southeast's revenues have been swallowed by Zhu Mian; the northwest's coffers have been squeezed dry by Li Yan; and the empire's core finances have been bled white by Cai Jing and Wang Fu. What was labeled imperial tribute in truth filled private vaults; the state lacks six months' reserves, and common households cannot scrape together ten days' provisions. I urge a return to precedent: let the Three Departments and the Bureau of Military Affairs coordinate military, civil, and fiscal planning; have the Ministry of Revenue tally annual receipts and disbursements to set national spending; appoint auditors to review accounts; and reunite every stream of revenue under one authority."
5
金人圍太原，援兵無功。 光言：「三鎮之地，祖宗百戰得之，一旦舉以與敵，何以為國？ 望詔大臣別議攻守之策，仍間道遣使檄河東、北兩路，盡起強壯策應，首尾掩擊。」 遷侍御史。
Jurchen forces had Taiyuan under siege, and every relief column failed. Guang argued: "Our ancestors won the Three Prefectures only after generations of bloodshed; if we surrender them wholesale to the enemy, what nation will be left for us to govern? I ask that the throne command senior ministers to debate fresh plans for offense and defense, and that couriers be sent by hidden routes to rouse every able man in the Hedong eastern and northern circuits so they can strike the invaders from both ends." He was promoted to Attending Censor.
6
時言者猶主王安石之學，詔榜廟堂。 光又言：「祖宗規摹宏遠，安石欲盡廢法度，則謂人主制法而不當制於法； 欲盡逐元老，則謂人主當化俗而不當化於俗。 蔡京兄弟祖述其說，五十年間，毒流四海。 今又風示中外，鼓惑民聽，豈朝廷之福？」
Memorialists were still championing Wang Anshi's doctrines, and an edict to that effect was posted in the ancestral temple. Guang protested again: "Our founders laid plans on a grand scale; Anshi sought to sweep away every statute and argued that a sovereign makes law and must never be bound by it; and when he meant to purge every senior statesman, he insisted that the throne must reshape society rather than let society reshape the throne. The Cai brothers took up and spread his teachings, and for fifty years their poison seeped into every corner of the realm. Now the court once more broadcasts this message at home and abroad, inflaming public opinion—how can that serve the dynasty's good?"
7
蔡攸欲以扈衛上皇行宮因緣入都，光奏：「攸若果入，則百姓必致生變，萬一驚犯屬車之塵，臣坐不預言之罪。 望早黜責。」 時已葺擷景園為甯德宮，而太上皇後乃欲入居禁中。 光奏：「禁中者，天子之宮。 正使陛下欲便溫凊，奉迎入內，亦當躬稟上皇，下有司討論典禮。」 乃下光章，使兩宮臣奏知，於是太上皇后居甯德宮。
Cai You planned to escort the Retired Emperor's mobile palace into the capital as a way to regain power; Guang wrote: "If You is allowed into the city, the populace will erupt; should the imperial procession be disturbed, I alone will bear blame for failing to warn of it. I beg that he be removed and punished without delay." Jiejing Garden had already been refurbished as Ningde Palace, yet the Retired Empress now wanted to take up residence inside the Forbidden City. Guang submitted: "The Forbidden City belongs to the reigning sovereign alone. Even if Your Majesty wishes to care for her comfort in person and bring her inside, you ought first to inform the Retired Emperor yourself and charge the proper offices with settling the ceremonial details." The throne circulated Guang's memorial for officials of both courts to relay upward, and the Retired Empress thereafter resided in Ningde Palace.
8
金人逼京城，士大夫委職而去者五十二人，罪同罰異，士論紛然，光請付理寺公行之。 太原圍急，奏：「乞就委折彥質盡起晉、絳、慈、隰、澤、潞、威勝、汾八州民兵及本路諸縣弓手，俾守令各自部轄。 其土豪、士人願為首領者，假以初官、應副器甲，協力赴援。 女真劫質親王，以三鎮為辭，勢必深入，請大修京城守禦之備，以伐敵人之謀。」
As Jurchen armies closed on the capital, fifty-two officials who deserted their posts were punished unevenly for the same crime; public opinion seethed, and Guang urged that the Court of Judicial Review apply one standard to all. With Taiyuan's plight worsening, he wrote: "Authorize Zhe Yanzhi immediately to mobilize every militiaman in Jin, Jiang, Ci, Xi, Ze, Lu, Weisheng, and Fen, along with county archer levies throughout the circuit, each district commander to lead his own men. Local magnates and gentry willing to lead should receive provisional rank, be furnished arms and armor, and march together to the rescue. The Jurchens hold an imperial prince hostage and demand the Three Prefectures; they will surely drive deeper inland. I urge a major overhaul of the capital's defenses to break their strategy."
9
又言：「朱勔托應奉脅制州縣，田園第宅，富擬王室。 乞擇清強官置司，追攝勔父子及奉承監司、守令，如胡直孺、盧宗原、陸寘、王促閔、趙霖、宋晦等，根勘驅磨，計資沒入，其強奪編戶產業者還之。」
He added: "Zhu Mian has used the tribute bureaucracy to bully prefectures and counties; his estates and mansions rival a prince's fortune. Appoint a bureau of upright, forceful officials to arrest Zhu Mian, his father, and the tribute commissioners and local magistrates who abetted them—men such as Hu Zhiru, Lu Zongyuan, Lu Zhi, Wang Cumin, Zhao Lin, and Song Hui—investigate every claim to the bottom, confiscate their wealth, and restore property wrested from registered households."
10
李會、李擢復以諫官召。 光奏：「蔡京復用，時會、擢迭為台官，禁不發一語； 金人圍城，與白時中、李邦彥專主避敵割地之謀。 時中、邦彥坐是落職，而會、擢反被召用，復預諫諍之列。 乞寢成命。」 不報。 光丐外，亦不報。
Li Hui and Li Zhuo were once more recalled to serve as remonstrators. Guang protested: "When Cai Jing returned to power, Hui and Zhuo took turns as censorial officers yet were barred from speaking a word of truth; when the Jurchens encircled the capital they sided with Bai Shizhong and Li Bangyan in pushing only to flee the foe and surrender land. Shizhong and Bangyan lost office for that very policy, yet Hui and Zhuo are rewarded with recall and seats among the remonstrators again. I ask that these appointments be revoked." The court gave no answer. Guang asked to be sent out of the capital; again he received no reply.
11
彗出寅、艮間，耿南仲輩皆謂應在外夷，不足憂。 光奏：「孔子作《春秋》，不書祥瑞者，蓋欲使人君恐懼修省，未聞以災異歸之外夷也。」 疏奏，監汀州酒稅。
A comet rose between the Yin and Gen asterisms; Geng Nanzhong and his allies insisted it foretold trouble among foreign tribes and was no cause for alarm. Guang wrote: "Confucius left auspicious signs out of the Spring and Autumn Annals so that rulers would tremble and reform themselves; I have never heard of blaming heaven's warnings on barbarians beyond the frontier." When his memorial went in, he was demoted to supervisor of the wine tax at Ting Prefecture.
12
高宗即位，擢秘書少監，除知江州； 未幾，擢侍御史，皆以道梗不赴。 建炎三年，車駕自臨安移蹕建康，除知宣州。 時範瓊將過軍，光先入視事，瓊至則開門延勞，留三日而去，無敢嘩者。 光以宣密邇行都，乃繕城池，聚兵糧，籍六邑之民，保伍相比，謂之義社。 擇其健武者，統以土豪，得保甲萬餘，號「精揀軍」。 又柵險要二十三所謹戍之，厘城止為十地分，分巡內外，晝則自便，夜則守城，有警則戰。 苗租歲輸邑者，悉命輸郡。 初歡言不便，及守城之日，贍軍養民，迄賴以濟。 事聞，授管內安撫，許便宜從事，進直龍圖閣。
After Gaozong ascended the throne, Guang was made Vice Director of the Palace Library and appointed prefect of Jiang Prefecture; soon afterward he was named Attending Censor, yet in each case war-blocked roads kept him from taking up the post. In the third year of Jianyan, as the court shifted from Lin'an to Jiankang, he was made prefect of Xuan Prefecture. Fan Qiong's army was due to march through; Guang took office ahead of them, and when Qiong arrived Guang opened the gates to welcome and provision his men. They stayed three days and moved on without a single riot. Because Xuan lay near the mobile court, Guang repaired the walls, stockpiled arms and grain, enrolled the people of six counties in linked mutual-security groups he called Righteous Societies. From their ranks he picked the sturdiest fighters, placed local leaders in command, and raised more than ten thousand militiamen under the name Elite Picked Army. He fortified twenty-three choke points, divided the city into ten wards with separate patrols inside and out, let residents move freely by day, manned the walls at night, and sent fighters out at the first alarm. He redirected every district's annual seedling-tax payment to the prefectural treasury. Huan had first complained that the policy was impractical, yet when siege came it was what kept the army fed and the people alive. When word reached the court, he was named Pacification Commissioner for the circuit with discretionary authority and promoted to direct appointee of the Dragon Diagram Hall.
13
杜充以建康降，金人奪馬家渡。 御營統制王曁燮、王曁民素不相能，至是，擁潰兵砦城外索鬥。 光親至營，諭以先國家後私讎之義，皆感悟解去。 時奔將、散卒至者，光悉厚貲給遺。 有水軍叛於繁昌，逼宣境，即遣兵援擊，出賊不意，遂宵遁。 進右文殿修撰。 光奏：「金人雖深入江、浙，然違天時地利，臣已移文劉光世領大兵赴州，並力攻討。 乞速委宣撫使周望，約日水陸並進。」
Du Chong handed Jiankang over to the Jurchens, who then took Majia Ford. Imperial Camp commanders Wang Siye and Wang Simin had long been at odds; now they massed routed soldiers outside the walls and challenged each other to battle. Guang went to both camps in person and urged them to place the realm before private vendetta; moved, they broke camp and withdrew. Every routed officer or stray soldier who reached Xuan received a generous stipend and was sent on his way. When rebel sailors at Fanchang threatened Xuan's border, he sent troops at once, took them by surprise, and drove them to flee under cover of night. He was promoted to Compiler of the Right Hall of Literary Glory. Guang wrote: "The Jurchens may have plunged deep into Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but they fight against season and terrain; I have already ordered Liu Guangshi to march a main force here for a joint offensive. I urge that Pacification Commissioner Zhou Wang be empowered at once and a date set for a coordinated land-and-water advance."
14
潰將邵青自真州擁舟數百艘，剽當塗、蕪湖兩邑間，光招諭之，遺米二千斛。 青喜，謂使者曰：「我官軍也，所過皆以盜賊見遇，獨李公不疑我。」 於是秋毫無犯。 他日，舟過繁昌，或紿之曰：「宣境也。」 乃掠北岸而去。
Routed general Shao Qing sailed from Zhen Prefecture with hundreds of boats and raided between Dangtu and Wuhu; Guang won him over with persuasion and sent two thousand bushels of rice. Qing was delighted and told the envoy, "We are imperial soldiers, yet everywhere we go people treat us as bandits—only Lord Li trusts us." From then on his men did not take so much as a blade of grain. Later, as his fleet passed Fanchang, someone tricked him into thinking he had entered Xuan Prefecture. He raided the north bank instead and sailed away.
15
劇盜戚方破甯國縣，抵城下，分兵四擊。 光募勇敢劫之，賊驚擾，自相屠蹂。 朝廷遣統制官巨師古、劉晏兼程來援。 賊急攻朝京門，纜竹木為浮梁以濟。 須臾，軍傅城，列炮具，立石對樓。 光命編竹若簾揭之，炮至即反墜，不能傷。 取桱木為撞竿，倚女牆以禦對樓，賊引卻。 劉晏率赤心隊直搗其砦，賊陽退，晏追之，伏發遇害。 師古以中軍大破賊，賊遁去。 初，戚方圍宣，與其副並馬巡城，指畫攻具。 光以書傅矢射其副馬前，言：「戚方窮寇，天誅必加，汝為將家子，何至附賊。」 二人相疑，攻稍緩，始得為備，而援師至矣。 嘗置匕首枕匣中，與家人約曰：「城不可必保，若使人取匕首，我必死。 汝輩宜自殺，無落賊手。」 除徽猷閣待制、知臨安府。
The notorious bandit Qi Fang overran Ningguo County, advanced to the walls of Xuan, and assaulted from four directions at once. Guang sent bold raiders against them; the rebels panicked and turned on one another in the dark. The court sent control officers Ju Shigu and Liu Yan to race to the rescue. The rebels stormed Chaojing Gate and lashed together a pontoon bridge of bamboo and timber to cross the moat. Within moments their forces pressed the wall, set up stone-throwers, and raised siege towers opposite the battlements. Guang had bamboo matting hung like curtains so that when boulders struck they bounced back and inflicted no damage. He fashioned battering beams from banyan trunks, braced them on the parapet to smash the enemy towers, and the rebels pulled back. Liu Yan led the Red-Heart Company in a direct assault on their camp; the rebels feigned retreat, then sprang an ambush and killed him as he pursued. Shigu's main force routed the rebels, who fled the field. Earlier in the siege Qi Fang and his lieutenant had ridden abreast around the walls, directing the placement of siege engines. Guang tied a letter to an arrow and shot it to the lieutenant's feet: "Qi Fang is a doomed outlaw whom heaven will surely destroy—you are born to a general's line; why side with rebels?" The two men began to mistrust each other, the assault slowed, Guang finally had time to prepare his defenses, and relief troops arrived. He kept a dagger in his pillow case and told his household: "The city may fall; if anyone is sent for that dagger, know that I mean to die. You must take your own lives rather than fall into the rebels' hands." He was made Awaiting Draftsman of the Hall of Literary Eminence and prefect of Lin'an.
16
紹興元年正月，除知洪州，固辭，提舉臨安府洞霄宮。 除知婺州，甫至郡，擢吏部侍郎。 光奏疏極論朋黨之害：「議論之臣，各懷顧避，莫肯以持危扶顛為己任。 駐蹕會稽，首尾三載。 自去秋迄今，敵人無復南渡之意，淮甸咫尺，了不經營，長江千里，不為限制，惴惴焉日為乘桴浮海之計。 晉元帝區區草創，猶能立宗社，修宮闕，保江、浙。 劉琨、祖逖與逆胡拒戰于並、冀、兗、豫、司、雍諸州，未嘗陷沒也。 石季龍重兵已至曆陽，命王導都督中外諸軍以禦之，未聞專主避狄如今日也。 陛下駐蹕會稽，江、浙為根本之地，使進足以戰、退足以守者，莫如建康。 建康至姑熟一百八十里，其隘可守者有六：曰江寧鎮，曰鹈岡砂夾，曰採石，曰大信，其上則有蕪湖、繁昌，皆與淮南對境。 其餘皆蘆簖之場，或鹈奇岸水勢湍悍，難施舟楫。 莫若預于諸隘屯兵積粟，命將士各管地分，調發旁近鄉兵，協力守禦。 乞明詔大臣，參酌施行。」
In the first month of Shaoxing 1 he was offered Hong Prefecture but firmly declined, accepting instead the sinecure of intendant of the Dongxiao Palace near Lin'an. Named prefect of Wu, he had barely arrived when he was promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel. Guang submitted a long memorial on the evils of faction: "Censors and remonstrators look out for themselves and hold back, unwilling to shoulder the task of saving a dynasty on the brink. The court had been encamped at Kuaiji for three full years. Since last autumn the enemy has shown no sign of crossing south again, yet the Huai frontier lies at our doorstep and goes utterly neglected; the thousand-li Yangzi is undefended; and the court trembles daily over plans to take ship and flee overseas. Emperor Yuan of Jin began with a tiny foothold, yet still restored the altars of state, rebuilt palaces, and held Jiang and Zhe. Liu Kun and Zu Ti fought the northern invaders across Bing, Ji, Yan, Yu, Si, and Yong, and those heartland provinces were never entirely lost. When Shi Hu's main army reached Liyang, the court ordered Wang Dao to command all forces against him—not to preach flight from the barbarians, as our ministers do today. Your Majesty is encamped at Kuaiji while Jiang and Zhe remain our foundation; for a capital where we can advance to fight and retreat to hold, nothing surpasses Jiankang. Jiankang lies one hundred eighty li from Gushu; six choke points can be held—Jiangning Post, Tigeang Shajia, Caishi, Daxin, and upstream Wuhu and Fanchang—all facing Huainan across the river. Elsewhere lie reed marshes and stretches where the current runs too fierce for fleets to pass. We should pre-position troops and grain at each pass, assign officers to sectors, mobilize local militia, and coordinate the defense. I urge Your Majesty to order the senior ministers to study this plan and put it into effect."
17
時有詔，金人深入，諸郡守臣相度，或守或避，令得自便。 光言：「守臣任人民、社稷之重，固當存亡以之。 若預開遷避之門，是誘之遁也，願追寢前詔。」 上欲移蹕臨安，被旨節制臨安府見屯諸軍，兼戶部侍郎、督營繕事。 光經營撙節，不擾而辦。 奏蠲減二浙積負及九邑科配，以示施德自近之意。 戚方以管軍屬節制，甚懼，拜庭下。 光握手起之，曰：「公昔為盜，某為守，分當相直； 今俱為臣子，當共勉力忠義，勿以前事為疑。」 方謝且泣。 兼侍讀，因奏：「金人內寇，百姓失業為盜賊，本非獲已，尚可誠感。 自李成北走，群盜離心，儻因斯時顯用一二酋豪，以風厲其黨，必更相效慕，以次就降。」 擢吏部尚書。
An edict then allowed every prefect to decide for himself whether to hold or flee as the Jurchens advanced. Guang argued: "Local officials hold the lives of the people and the fate of the altars in their hands; they must stand or fall with their posts. Opening an escape route in advance only invites flight; I beg that the earlier edict be withdrawn at once." When the emperor planned to move the court to Lin'an, Guang was ordered to take command of all troops stationed there, while also serving as Vice Minister of Revenue in charge of construction. Guang ran the work frugally and finished every task without troubling the populace. He petitioned to cancel accumulated tax debts in Zhejiang and levies in nine districts, showing that mercy should begin at home. Qi Fang, now under Guang's command, was terrified and kowtowed in the courtyard. Guang took his hand and lifted him up, saying, "Once you were a rebel and I was the prefect—we were fated to stand against each other; now we are both servants of the throne; let us devote ourselves to loyalty and leave the past behind." Fang thanked him through tears. As Lecturer-in-Waiting he added: "Jurchen raids have driven the people to banditry against their will; many can still be won back by honest persuasion. Since Li Cheng fled north the rebel bands have lost cohesion; if we now elevate a few chieftains as examples, the rest will follow and surrender one after another." He was promoted to Minister of Personnel.
18
大將韓世清本苗傅餘黨，久屯宣城，擅據倉庫，調發不行。 光請先事除之，乃授光淮西招撫使。 光假道至郡，世清入謁，縛送闕下伏誅。 初，光於上前面稟成算，宰相以不預聞，怒之。 未至，道除端明殿學士、江東安撫大使、知建康府、壽春滁濠廬和無為宣撫使。 時太平州卒陸德囚守臣據城叛，光多設方略，盡擒其黨。
General Han Shiqing, a holdover from Miao Fu's mutiny, had camped at Xuancheng for years, seized the granaries, and ignored every requisition. Guang asked leave to deal with him first and was named Pacification Commissioner of Huai West. Guang traveled by a roundabout route to the prefecture; Shiqing came to pay his respects, was seized, sent to the capital, and executed. Earlier Guang had laid his plan before the emperor in person; the chief minister, not having been consulted, was furious. Before he arrived, he was named Academician of the Hall of Bright Clarity, Grand Pacification Commissioner of Jiang East, prefect of Jiankang, and Pacification Commissioner over Shouchun, Chuzhou, Haozhou, Luzhou, Hezhou, and Wuwei. When a Taiping garrison soldier named Lu De imprisoned the prefect and seized the city, Guang devised several stratagems and captured the entire rebel band.
19
秦檜既罷，呂頤浩、朱勝非並相，光議論素與不合。 言者指光為檜黨，落職奉祠。 尋復寶文閣待制、知湖州，除顯謨閣直學士，移守平江，除禮部尚書。 光言：「自古創業中興，必有所因而起。 漢高因關中，光武因河內，駐蹕東南，兩浙非根本所因之地乎？ 自冬及春，雨雪不已，百姓失業，乞選台諫察實以聞。 兼比歲福建、湖南盜作，範汝為、楊麼相挺而起，朝廷發大兵誅討，殺戮過當。 今諸路旱荒，流丐滿路，盜賊出入。 宜選良吏招懷撫納，責諸路監司按貪贓，恤流殍。」
After Qin Hui fell, Lü Yihao and Zhu Shengfei shared power as chief ministers—men with whom Guang had long disagreed. Critics denounced him as a Qin Hui partisan; he was demoted to a temple sinecure. He was soon restored as Awaiting Draftsman of the Hall of Literary Treasures and prefect of Hu, made Direct Academician of the Hall of Manifest Counsel, transferred to Pingjiang, and appointed Minister of Rites. Guang observed: "Every dynasty founded or restored has risen from a secure base. Gaozu drew strength from Guanzhong and Guangwu from Henei; with the court in the southeast, are not the two Zhe circuits our natural foundation? Rain and snow had fallen without pause from winter into spring, leaving the people destitute; he asked that censors be sent to verify conditions and report back. Meanwhile banditry had flared in Fujian and Hunan; Fan Ruwei and Yang Yao had risen in succession, and the court's punitive campaigns had slaughtered far too many. Now drought and famine afflict every circuit; beggars choke the highways and bandits roam freely. Send capable officials to win rebels back by kindness, order circuit supervisors to prosecute corruption, and relieve the starving refugees."
20
議臣欲推行四川交子法于江、浙，光言：「有錢則交子可行。 今已謂樁辦若干錢，行若干交子，此議者欲朝廷欺陛下，使陛下異時不免欺百姓也。 若已樁辦見錢，則目今所行錢關子，已是通快，何至紛紛？ 其工部鑄到交子務銅印，臣未敢給降。」 除端明殿學士，守台州，俄改溫州。
Some ministers wanted to extend Sichuan's jiaozi paper money to Jiang and Zhe; Guang replied, "Jiaozi only works when it is fully backed by coin. They claim a reserve will be set aside while issuing notes regardless—such men would have the court deceive Your Majesty now so that you must deceive the people later. If coin reserves truly exist, the cash notes already in circulation work well enough—why stir up this controversy? As for the copper seal the Ministry of Works cast for the Jiaozi Office, I have refused to release it." He was made Academician of the Hall of Bright Clarity and sent to guard Taizhou, then soon transferred to Wenzhou.
21
劉光世、張俊連以捷聞。 光言：「觀金人佈置，必有主謀。 今已據東南形勢，敵人萬里遠來，利於速戰，宜戒諸將持重以老之。 不過數月，彼食盡，則勝算在我矣。」 除江西安撫、知洪州兼制置大使，擢吏部尚書，逾月，除參知政事。
Liu Guangshi and Zhang Jun sent news of victory after victory. Guang warned: "From the Jurchens' deployments, someone is clearly directing them. They now hold the southeast's strategic ground; the enemy has marched ten thousand li and needs a quick fight—our generals must be warned to stand firm and wear them down. Within a few months their supplies will run out, and victory will be ours." He was named Pacification Commissioner of Jiang West, prefect of Hong and Grand Commissioner for Military Affairs, promoted to Minister of Personnel, and a month later made Vice Grand Councilor.
22
時秦檜初定和議，將揭榜，欲籍光名鎮壓。 上意不欲用光，檜言：「光有人望，若同押榜，浮議自息。」 遂用之。 同郡楊煒上光書，責以附時相取尊官，墮黠虜奸計，隳平時大節。 光本意謂但可因和而為自治之計。 既而檜議徹淮南守備，奪諸將兵權，光極言戎狄狼子野心，和不可恃，備不可徹。 檜惡之。 檜以親黨鄭億年為資政殿學士，光于榻前面折之，又與檜語難上前，因曰：「觀檜之意，是欲壅蔽陛下耳目，盜弄國權，懷奸誤國，不可不察。」 檜大怒，明日，光丐去。 高宗曰：「卿昨面叱秦檜，舉措如古人。 朕退而歎息，方寄卿以腹心，何乃引去？」 光曰：「臣與宰相爭論，不可留。」 章九上，乃除資政殿學士、知紹興府，改提舉臨安府洞霄宮。
Qin Hui had just finalized the peace treaty and planned to post the public notice; he wanted Guang's prestige to silence opposition. The emperor was reluctant to use him, but Hui argued: "Guang commands public respect; if he countersigns the notice, idle criticism will die down." Guang was brought in. Yang Wei, a fellow townsman, wrote to rebuke him for currying favor with the chief minister, falling into the Jurchens' trap, and betraying his lifelong integrity. Guang had meant only to use the truce as breathing space to rebuild the state. When Hui then proposed stripping Huainan's garrisons and disarming the generals, Guang protested fiercely that the northern tribes are treacherous by nature, peace cannot be trusted, and defenses must not be dismantled. Hui came to hate him. When Hui appointed his protégé Zheng Yinian to the Hall for Assisting Governance, Guang openly rebuked the move before the emperor and again confronted Hui in court: "Hui means to blind Your Majesty, seize state power, and ruin the country through treachery—you must see through him." Hui flew into a rage; the next day Guang asked to resign. Gaozong said, "Yesterday you scolded Qin Hui to his face—you acted like the statesmen of old. I withdrew and sighed; I had just begun to trust you with my innermost counsels—why leave now?" Guang replied, "I have quarreled openly with the chief minister—I cannot stay." After nine memorials he was made Academician of the Hall for Assisting Governance and prefect of Shaoxing, then reassigned as intendant of the Dongxiao Palace.
23
十一年冬，中丞万俟禼論光陰懷怨望，責授建寧軍節度副使，藤州安置。 越四年，移瓊州。 居瓊州八年，仲子孟堅坐陸升之誣以私撰國史，獄成； 呂願中又告光與胡銓詩賦倡和，譏訕朝政，移昌化軍。 論文考史，怡然自適。 年逾八十，筆力精健。 又三年，始以郊恩，復左朝奉大夫，任便居住。 至江州而卒。 孝宗即位，復資政殿學士，賜諡莊簡。
In the winter of the eleventh year, Censor Moqi Xie charged him with brooding resentment; he was demoted to Vice Military Commissioner of Jianning and exiled to Teng Prefecture. Four years later he was moved to Qiong Prefecture. After eight years on Qiong Island, his second son Mengjian was convicted on Lu Shengzhi's false charge of writing an unauthorized history; Lü Yuanzhong then accused him of exchanging poems with Hu Quan that mocked the government, and he was banished farther to Changhua. He devoted himself to scholarship and history, serene in exile. Past eighty, his writing remained vigorous. Three years later an amnesty restored him to Left Grandee for Court Audience with permission to live where he pleased. He reached Jiang Prefecture and died there. When Xiaozong ascended the throne, Guang was posthumously restored as Academician of the Hall for Assisting Governance and given the posthumous title Zhuangjian (Solemn and Simple).
24
孟傳字文授，光幼子也。 光南遷之日，才六歲。 以光遺表恩，累官至太府丞。 韓侂胄願見之，孟傳曰：「行年六十，去計已決，不敢聞也。」 由是出知江州。 以朝請大夫、直寶謨閣致仕。 卒，年八十。 有《磐溪詩》二十卷，《文稿》三十卷，《宏辭類稿》十卷，《左氏說》十卷，《讀史》十卷，《雜志》十卷。 博學多聞，持身甚嚴，時推能世其家。
Mengchuan, styled Wenshou, was Guang's youngest son. When Guang was exiled south, the boy was only six. Thanks to his father's final petition he rose to Vice Director of the Imperial Treasury. When Han Tuozhou asked to meet him, Mengchuan replied, "I am sixty and have already decided to retire—I will not answer such a summons." For this he was posted out as prefect of Jiang Prefecture. He retired with the titles Grandee for Court Audience and Direct Academician of the Hall of Treasured Counsel. He died at eighty. His works included Panxi Poems (20 juan), Draft Writings (30 juan), Hongci Leigao (10 juan), Zuoshi Explanations (10 juan), Reading History (10 juan), and Miscellaneous Records (10 juan). Learned and rigorous in conduct, contemporaries hailed him as worthy to carry on his father's legacy.
25
許翰，字崧老，拱州襄邑人。 中元祐三年進士第。 宣和七年，召為給事中。 為書抵時相，謂百姓困弊，起為盜賊，天下有危亡之憂。 願罷雲中之師，修邊保境，與民休息。 高麗入貢，調民開運河，民間騷然。 中書舍人孫傅論高麗于國無功，不宜興大役，傅坐罷。 翰謂傅不當黜，時相怒，落職，提舉江州太平觀。
Xu Han, styled Songlao, was a native of Xiangyi in Gong Prefecture. He took the jinshi degree in the third year of the Yuanyou reign. In the seventh year of Xuanhe he was recalled as Supervising Secretary. He wrote the chief minister warning that the people were destitute, turning to banditry, and the empire stood on the brink of collapse. He urged an end to the Yunzhong campaign, secure the frontier, and give the people respite. When Goryeo sent tribute, the court conscripted labor to dredge the canal and the countryside erupted in protest. Drafting Secretary Sun Fu argued that Goryeo had done the state no good and that such grand projects were unwarranted; Sun was dismissed for his pains. Han protested that Sun should not have been punished; the chief minister was furious, stripped Han of office, and sent him to oversee the Taiping Abbey in Jiang Prefecture.
26
靖康初，復以給事中召。 時金人攻京師甫退，翰造闕，即日賜對，除翰林學士，尋改御史中丞。 上疏言邊事，因陳決勝之策。 陳邦昌為太宰，翰上疏力爭之。 種師道罷為中太一宮使，翰言：「師道名將，沉毅有謀，山西士卒，人人信服，不可使解兵柄。」 欽宗謂其老難用，翰曰：「秦始皇老王翦而用李信，兵辱于楚； 漢宣帝老趙充國，而卒能成金城之功。 自呂望以來，用老將收功者，難一二數。 以古揆今，師道雖老，可用也。」 且謂：「金人此行，存亡所系，令一大創，使失利去，則中原可保，四夷可服。 不然，將來再舉，必有不救之憂。 宜起師道邀擊之。」 上不能用。 擢中大夫、同知樞密院，論益不合，以病去，除延康殿學士、知亳州。 坐言者落職，提舉南京鴻慶宮。
At the start of the Jingkang era he was again summoned as Supervising Secretary. The Jurchens had just lifted their siege of the capital; Han presented himself at court, was granted an audience that same day, made Hanlin Academician, and soon promoted to Censor-in-Chief. He memorialized on frontier affairs and laid out a plan for victory. When Chen Bangchang was named Grand Steward, Han submitted a fierce protest. When Zhong Shidao was demoted to palace commissioner, Han protested: "Shidao is a renowned general, steady and resourceful; the Shanxi troops trust him completely—do not strip him of command." Qinzong said the general was too old; Han replied, "Qin Shihuang thought Wang Jian too aged and sent the young Li Xin instead—and his army was humiliated in Chu; Emperor Xuan of Han thought Zhao Chongguo too old, yet Zhao still won the Golden City campaign. Since the Duke of Zhou's day, victories won by veteran generals are too many to count on two hands. Judging by history, Shidao may be old, but he is still the man for the job." He added: "This Jurchen campaign is a matter of life or death for the dynasty; one crushing blow that drives them off will preserve the Central Plain and awe the frontier peoples. Otherwise, when they return, the realm may face disaster beyond remedy. He urged that Shidao be recalled to intercept and attack them." The emperor would not heed him. He was raised to Palace Attendant and made Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, but his counsel increasingly clashed with the court's; pleading illness, he withdrew and was given the Yankang Hall academician title and made prefect of Bo. Denounced for his outspokenness, he was stripped of office and sent to oversee the Hongqing Palace at the Southern Capital.
27
紹興元年，召復端明殿學士、提舉萬壽觀，辭不至。 二月，復資政殿學士。 三年五月，卒，贈光祿大夫。
In the first year of Shaoxing he was recalled as Duanming Hall academician and intendant of Wanshou Abbey, but he refused the summons. In the second month he was restored as Zizheng Hall academician. In the fifth month of the third year he died and was posthumously made Grand Mentor of the Palace.
28
翰通經術，正直不撓，曆事三朝，致位政府，徒以黼、攸、潛善輩薰蕕異味，橫遭口語，志卒不展。 綱雖力引之，不旋踵去，翰亦斥逐而死。 所著書有《論語解》、《春秋傳》。
Han was versed in the classics, upright and unbending; across three reigns he rose to the highest councils, yet Wang Fu, Cai You, Huang Qianshan, and men of their stripe—fragrant and foul mingled—set loose calumny against him, and his designs were never fulfilled. Li Gang had pressed hard for his return, but Han withdrew almost at once; he too was hounded from office and died in exile. His works included Explanations of the Analects and a Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals.
29
許景衡
Xu Jingheng
30
許景衡，字少伊，溫州里安人。 登元祐九年進士第。 宣和六年，召為監察御史，遷殿中侍御史。 是時，王黼、蔡攸用事，景衡言：「尚書省比闕長官，而同知樞密院亦久闕。 雖三公通治三省，然文昌政事之本，樞密總兵之地，各有攸屬，安可久虛其位？ 願博采公議，遴選忠賢，以補政府之闕。」 遂大忤黼意。 朝廷用童貫為河東、北宣撫使，將北伐，景衡論其貪繆不可用者數十事，不報。
Xu Jingheng, styled Shaoyi, was a native of Li'an in Wen Prefecture. He took the jinshi degree in the ninth year of the Yuanyou reign. In the sixth year of Xuanhe he was recalled as Investigating Censor and soon promoted to Palace Attending Censor. Wang Fu and Cai You then held sway; Jingheng said, "The Department of State Affairs has gone too long without a chief minister, and the Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs has likewise stood empty. Though the Three Excellencies may nominally oversee all three departments, civil affairs have their foundation at Wenchang and military affairs at the Bureau of Military Affairs—each has its proper sphere; how can these posts stand empty for long? I urge that public counsel be gathered widely and loyal worthies chosen to fill the vacancies at court." This deeply enraged Wang Fu. The court appointed Tong Guan Commissioner for Pacification of Hedong and Hebei in preparation for a northern campaign; Jingheng listed dozens of reasons why his greed and incompetence disqualified him—but no reply came.
31
睦寇平，江、浙郡縣殘毀，而茶鹽比較之法如故。 景衡奏：「茶鹽之法，當以食之眾寡為歲額之高下。 今收復之後，戶版半耗，民力蕭然，而茶鹽比較不減於昔。 民欲無困得乎？」 奏上，詔兩浙、江東路權免茶鹽比較，賊平日仍舊。
After the Fang La rebellion was put down, Jiang and Zhe prefectures lay in ruins, yet the tea-and-salt quota comparison system remained unchanged. Jingheng submitted: "Tea-and-salt levies ought to rise and fall with the number of consumers. Now that the region has been recovered, household registers are half empty and the people exhausted, yet the comparative quotas are no lower than before. How can the people escape distress?" The memorial reached the throne; an edict temporarily suspended tea-and-salt comparisons in the Two Zhes and Jiangdong circuits, to resume only when banditry had fully subsided.
32
朝廷既興燕雲之師，調度不繼，誅求益急。 景衡奏：「財力匱乏在節用，民力困弊在恤民。 今不急之務。 若營繕諸役，花石綱運，其名不一。 吏員猥多，軍額冗濫。 又無名功賞，非常賜予，皆夤緣僥倖，幹請無厭，宜節以祖宗之制而省去之。」 且極論和買、和糴、鹽法之害，不報。 會知洋州吳岩夫以私書抵執政子，道景衡之賢。 因從子婿符寶郎周離亨以達，離亨繆以其書誤致王黼，黼用是中景衡，逐之。
After the court launched the Yan-Yun campaign, logistics faltered and exactions grew ever harsher. Jingheng wrote: "Fiscal exhaustion demands frugality; popular exhaustion demands compassion. Yet non-urgent spending abounds. Palace repairs, the Huashi Convoy, and the like go under countless names. The civil bureaucracy is swollen and military rolls padded beyond measure. Unmerited rewards and extraordinary favors are seized through patronage and chance, with endless requests—cut them back to fit the ancestral statutes." He also laid bare the harm of compulsory purchase, state grain levy, and the salt monopoly—and again received no answer. Meanwhile Wu Yanfu, prefect of Yang, wrote privately to a chief minister's son praising Jingheng's talents. It was forwarded through his nephew-in-law Zhou Liheng, Keeper of the Talismans—but Liheng mistakenly delivered it to Wang Fu, who seized on the incident to ruin Jingheng and had him dismissed.
33
欽宗即位，以左正言召，旋改太常少卿兼太子諭德，遷中書舍人。 侍御史李光、正言程瑀以鯁亮忤執政斥，景衡為辨白，坐落職予祠。
When Qinzong ascended the throne Jingheng was summoned as Left Remonstrator, soon made Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and concurrent Tutor of the Heir Apparent, then promoted to Drafting Secretary. Attending Censor Li Guang and Remonstrator Cheng Yu, bold and upright, had offended the chief ministers and been driven out; Jingheng defended them, was stripped of office, and given a temple sinecure.
34
高宗即位，以給事中召，既至，除御史中丞。 宗澤為東京留守，言者附黃潛善等，多攻其短，欲逐去之。 景衡奏曰：「臣自浙渡淮，以至行在。 聞澤之為尹，威名政事，卓然過人，雖不識其人，竊用歎慕。 臣以為去冬京城內，有赤心為國如澤等數輩，其禍變未至如是之酷。 今若較其小短，不顧盡忠徇國之節，則不恕已甚。 且開封宗廟社稷所在，苟欲罷澤，別遣留守，不識搢紳中威名政事有加於澤者乎？」 疏入，上大悟，封以示澤，澤乃安。
When Gaozong came to the throne Jingheng was recalled as Supervising Secretary and, on arrival, made Censor-in-Chief. Zong Ze served as regent of the Eastern Capital; critics aligned with Huang Qianshan and his faction piled on his faults, seeking his removal. Jingheng wrote: "Since I crossed the Huai from Zhe to reach the Mobile Court, I have heard of Ze's tenure—his renown and governance plainly surpass all others; though I have never met him, I must admire him from afar. Had loyal men like Ze stood in the capital last winter, the catastrophe might never have grown so cruel. To harp on petty faults and ignore his devotion to the realm would be wanton cruelty. Kaifeng holds the imperial tombs and altars; if Ze is removed, is there any among the court officials whose renown and governance exceed his?" The memorial reached the emperor, who was deeply moved, sealed it and sent it to Ze, who was thereby reassured.
35
杭州叛卒陳通作亂，權浙西提刑趙叔近招降之，請授以官。 景衡曰：「官吏無罪而受誅。 叛卒有罪而蒙賞，賞罰倒置，莫此為甚。」 卒奏罷之。 除尚書右丞。 有大政事，必請間極論。 潛善、伯彥以景衡異己，共排沮之。 或言正、二月之交，乃太一正遷之日，宜於禁中設壇望拜。 高宗以問景衡，曰：「修德愛民，天自降福，何迎拜太一之有？」
When the Hangzhou mutineer Chen Tong rebelled, Acting Zhexi Judicial Intendant Zhao Shujin induced his surrender and asked that he be given an official post. Jingheng said, "Innocent officials were put to death, while guilty mutineers are rewarded—never was reward and punishment so perverted." He memorialized against it and the appointment was halted. He was made Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. On weighty matters of state he always sought a private audience to speak his mind fully. Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan, seeing Jingheng as an opponent, combined to thwart him at every turn. Some urged that at the turn of the first and second months—the day when the Great Unity star shifted position—the palace should erect an altar and worship it. Gaozong asked Jingheng, who replied, "Cultivate virtue and love the people, and Heaven sends blessing of its own—why bow to the Great Unity star?"
36
初，李綱議建都，以關中為上，南陽次之，建康為下。 綱既相，遂主南陽之議。 景衡為中丞，奏：「南陽無險阻，且密邇盜賊，漕運不繼，不若建康天險可據，請定計巡幸。」 潛善等傾綱使去，南陽之議遂格。 至是，諜報金人攻河陽、汜水，景衡又奏請南幸建康。 已而有詔還京，罷景衡為資政殿大學士、提舉杭州洞霄宮。 至瓜洲，得暍疾，及京口卒，年五十七，諡忠簡。
Early on Li Gang ranked capitals: Guanzhong first, Nanyang second, Jianye last. Once in office, he pressed for Nanyang. As Censor-in-Chief, Jingheng wrote: "Nanyang has no natural defenses, lies too close to bandit country, and cannot sustain canal supply—Jianye's terrain is far stronger; I urge a settled plan to move the court there." Huang Qianshan and his allies ousted Li Gang, and the Nanyang plan died. Then scouts reported Jurchen attacks on Heyang and Sishui, and Jingheng again urged a southern move to Jianye. Soon an edict ordered the court back to the capital; Jingheng was demoted to Zizheng Hall Grand Academician and sent to oversee the Dongxiao Abbey in Hangzhou. At Guazhou he was stricken with heatstroke; he died at Jingkou, aged fifty-seven, and was posthumously titled Loyal and Simple.
37
景衡得程頤之學，志慮忠純，議論不與時俯仰。 建炎初，李綱議幸南陽，宗澤請還京，景衡乃請幸建康。 黃潛善等素惡其異己，暨車駕駐揚州，怵于傳聞，不得已下還京之詔，遂借渡江之議罪之，斥逐而死。 既沒，高宗思之曰：「朕自即位以來，執政忠直，遇事敢言，惟許景衡。」 詔賜景衡家溫州官舍一區。
Jingheng studied under Cheng Yi; his intent was loyal and pure, and he would not trim his counsel to the fashion of the day. Early in Jianyan Li Gang favored Nanyang, Zong Ze urged a return to the capital, and Jingheng pressed for Jianye. Huang Qianshan and his faction had long resented his independence; when the court paused at Yangzhou, frightened by rumor, they reluctantly issued the edict to return north—then seized on his counsel to cross the Yangzi as a pretext to purge him, and he died in exile. After his death Gaozong mused, "Since my enthronement, of all who served loyally and spoke boldly on the affairs of state, only Xu Jingheng." He ordered a government residence in Wenzhou granted to Jingheng's family.
38
張愨，字誠伯，河間樂壽人。 登元祐六年進士第。 累遷龍圖閣學士、計度都轉運使。 高宗為兵馬大元帥，募諸道兵勤王，愨飛輓踵道，建議即元帥府印給鹽鈔，以便商旅。 不閱旬，得緡錢五十萬以佐軍。 高宗器重之，命以便宜權大名尹兼北京留守、馬步軍都總管。 愨初聞二帝北行，率副總管顏岐等三上箋勸進。 最後，愨上書，極論中原不可一日無君，高宗為之感悟。
Zhang Que, styled Chengbo, was a native of Lesou in Hejian. He took the jinshi in the sixth year of the Yuanyou reign. He rose through promotion to Longtu Pavilion academician and Director of Aggregate Transport Commissaries. When Gaozong was Grand Marshal rallying troops from every circuit, Que drove supply wagons in an unbroken stream and proposed that the marshal's office issue salt certificates on the spot to keep commerce moving. Within ten days he raised five hundred thousand strings of cash for the war chest. Gaozong relied on him heavily and gave him discretionary authority as acting Prefect of Daming, Northern Capital regent, and Grand Commander of Horse and Foot. When Que first learned the two emperors had been carried north, he led Deputy Commander Yan Qi and others in submitting three memorials urging Gaozong to take the throne. Finally Que wrote at length that the Central Plain could not endure a single day without an emperor—and Gaozong was deeply moved.
39
建炎改元，為戶部尚書，除同知樞密院事、措置戶部財用兼御營副使。 建言：「三河之民。 怨敵深入骨髓，恨不殲殄其類，以報國家之仇。 請依唐人澤潞步兵、雄邊子弟遺意，募民聯以什伍，而寓兵于農，使合力抗敵，謂之巡社。」 為法精詳，前此論民兵者莫及也。 詔集為書行之。 遷尚書左丞，官至中書侍郎。
With the Jianyan reign he became Minister of Revenue, then Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, commissioner for fiscal arrangements, and deputy commissioner of the Imperial Camp. He proposed: "The people of the Three Rivers— bear hatred for the foe to the bone and long to annihilate them to avenge the dynasty. Following the Tang examples of the Zelu foot soldiers and the frontier militia of the Xiongbian, I propose organizing the people in tens and fives, soldiers nested among farmers, jointly resisting the enemy—called Patrol Communities." His regulations were so thorough that no earlier militia plan could equal them. An edict ordered them compiled into a handbook and put into practice. He was promoted to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and eventually reached Secretariat Vice Director.
40
愨善理財，論錢谷利害，猶指諸掌。 在朝諤諤有大臣節，然論議可否，不形辭色，未嘗失同列之歡。 卒，諡忠穆。 上每念之，謂愨謀國盡忠，遇事敢諫，古之遺直也。
Que excelled at finance; on revenue and grain he spoke as if reading from his palm. In council he was forthright and possessed a great minister's bearing, yet on matters of dispute he showed neither face nor temper, and never lost the goodwill of his colleagues. He died and was posthumously titled Loyal and Solemn. The emperor often recalled him, saying Que served the realm with complete loyalty and dared speak bluntly on public affairs—an upright man in the mold of antiquity.
41
張所，青州人。 登進士第，曆官為監察御史。 高宗即位，遣所按視陵寢，還，上疏言：「河東、河北，天下之根本。 昨者誤用奸臣之謀，始割三鎮，繼割兩河，其民怨入骨髓，至今無不扼腕。 若因而用之，則可藉以守； 不則兩河兵民，無所系望，陛下之事去矣。」 且論還京師有五利，謂國之安危，在乎兵之強弱、將相之賢不肖，不在乎都之遷不遷。 又條上兩河利害。 上欲以其事付所，會所言黃潛善奸邪不可用，恐害新政。 乃罷所御史，改兵部郎中。 尋責所鳳州團練副使，江州安置。
Zhang Suo was a native of Qingzhou. He took the jinshi degree and rose to Investigating Censor. On Gaozong's enthronement Suo was sent to inspect the imperial tombs; on his return he memorialized: "Hedong and Hebei are the empire's foundation. Misguided ministers led us first to cede the Three Prefectures, then the Two Rivers; the people there resent it to the marrow, and every hand still clenches in grief. If we rally them now, they can hold the north for us; otherwise the soldiers and people of the Two Rivers will lose all hope, and Your Majesty's cause is lost." He also laid out five advantages of returning to the capital, arguing that a realm's fate depends on the strength of its armies and the quality of its generals and ministers—not on where the court sits. He also submitted a detailed account of the Two Rivers' strategic interests. The emperor meant to entrust the affair to Suo, but Suo had denounced Huang Qianshan as treacherous and unfit for office, which might sabotage the new government. Suo was therefore removed from the censorate and made a bureau secretary in the Ministry of War. Soon he was demoted to Regiment Vice Commander of Fengzhou and exiled to Jiangzhou.
42
後李綱入相，欲薦所經略兩河，以其嘗言潛善故，難之。 一日，與潛善從容言曰：「今河北未有人，獨一張所可用，又以狂言抵罪。 不得已抆拭用之，使為招撫，冒死立功以贖過，不亦善乎？」 潛善許諾，乃借所直龍圖閣，充河北招撫使。 賜內府錢百萬緡，給空名告千餘道； 以京西卒三千為衛，將佐官屬，許自辟置，一切以便宜從事。 所入見，條上利害。 上賜五品服遣行，命直秘閣王圭為宣撫司參謀官佐之。
Later, when Li Gang became chief minister, he wanted to appoint Suo to oversee the Two Rivers but hesitated because Suo had once denounced Huang Qianshan. One day he spoke to Huang Qianshan at ease: "Hebei has no capable man left but Zhang Suo—and he languishes in exile for blunt words. We have no choice but to wipe the slate clean and send him as pacification commissioner to risk his life for merit and redeem his fault—would that not serve us well?" Huang Qianshan agreed; Suo was lent the title Direct Academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion and made Hebei Pacification Commissioner. He was granted a million strings from the inner treasury and more than a thousand blank commission notices; three thousand Western Capital troops as his escort, with authority to appoint his own staff and act entirely at his discretion. On audience Zhang Suo laid out the strategic advantages and risks point by point. The emperor bestowed fifth-rank robes and dispatched him, appointing Wang Gui of the Direct Secretariat Pavilion as planning officer on the Pacification Commission to assist him.
43
河北轉運副使張益謙附黃潛善意，奏所置司北京非是； 且言自置招撫，河北盜賊愈熾，不若罷之，專以其事付帥司。 李綱言：「張所今留京師，招集將佐，尚未及行，益謙何以知其擾？ 朝廷以河北民無所歸，聚而為盜，故置司招撫，因其力而用之，豈由置司乃有盜賊乎？ 今京東、西群盜公行，攻掠郡縣，亦豈招撫司過耶？ 時方艱危，朝廷欲有所經理，益謙小臣，乃以非理沮抑，此必有使之者。」 上乃命益謙分析，命下樞密院，汪伯彥猶用其奏詰責招撫司。 李綱與伯彥爭于上前，伯彥語塞。
Zhang Yiqian, vice commissioner of Hebei transport, sided with Huang Qianshan and memorialized that the commission should not have been set up at the Northern Capital; and argued that banditry in Hebei had only worsened since the pacification office was created; it would be better to abolish it and leave the matter entirely to the military command. Li Gang said, "Zhang Suo is still in the capital recruiting officers and has not yet departed—how can Yiqian already know he is causing trouble? The court set up the pacification commission because displaced people in Hebei had nowhere to go and turned to banditry, so that their strength might be turned to the state's use—how could the commission itself have created the bandits? Bandits now roam openly through the Eastern and Western Capital circuits, raiding prefectures and counties—surely that is not the pacification commission's fault either? The realm is in grave peril and the court is trying to set things right; Yiqian is a minor official, yet he obstructs us without cause—someone must be putting him up to it." The emperor ordered Yiqian to submit a written explanation and sent the matter to the Bureau of Military Affairs, but Wang Boyan still used Yiqian's memorial to rebuke the pacification commission. Li Gang and Wang Boyan disputed the matter before the throne, and Boyan had no reply.
44
所方招來豪傑，以王彥為都統制，岳飛為準備將，而李綱已罷相。 朝廷以王圭代之，所落直龍圖閣，嶺南安置。 卒於貶所。 子宗本，以岳飛奏補官。
Suo was just recruiting bold men, appointing Wang Yan overall commander and Yue Fei preparation general, when Li Gang was already removed from the chief ministership. The court replaced him with Wang Gui; Suo lost his Direct Dragon Diagram Pavilion title and was exiled to Lingnan. He died in exile. His son Zongben was given office on Yue Fei's recommendation.
45
陳禾，字秀實，明州鄞縣人。 舉元符三年進士。 累遷辟雍博士。 時方以傳注記問為學，禾始崇尚義理，黜抑浮華。 入對契旨，擢監察御史、殿中侍御史。
Chen He, courtesy name Xiushi, was from Yin County in Ming Prefecture. He earned the jinshi degree in 1100, the third year of Yuanfu. He rose through successive appointments to Erudite of the Imperial University. Scholarship then prized glosses and rote interrogation; He was among the first to champion moral principle and to reject mere ornament. In audience he pleased the throne and was promoted to investigating censor and then palace censor.
46
蔡京遣酷使李孝壽窮治章綖鑄錢獄，連及士大夫甚眾，禾奏免孝壽。 京子壝為太常少卿，何執中婿蔡芝為將作監，皆疏其罪，罷之。 天下久平，武備寬弛，東南尤甚。 禾請增戍、繕城壁，以戒不虞。 或指為生事，格不下。 其後盜起，人服其先見。 遷左正言，俄除給事中。
Cai Jing dispatched the ruthless Li Xiaoshou to prosecute the Zhang Sui counterfeiting case to the end, sweeping up a host of gentlemen; He memorialized for Xiaoshou's removal. He exposed and secured the dismissal of Cai Jing's son Huang as Vice Director of the Imperial Ancestral Shrine and of He Zhizhong's son-in-law Cai Zhi as Director of Palace Construction. Long peace had left the empire's defenses slack, nowhere more so than in the southeast. He urged stronger garrisons and repairs to the walls against unforeseen danger. Critics charged him with stirring trouble, and the memorial was shelved. When bandits later rose, many marveled at his foresight. He was made Left Rectifier and soon appointed Supervising Secretary.
47
時童貫權益張，與黃經臣胥用事，御史中丞盧航表裏為奸，搢紳側目。 禾曰：「此國家安危之本也。 吾位言責，此而不言，一遷給舍，則非其職矣。」 未拜命，首抗疏劾貫。 復劾經臣：「怙寵弄權，誇炫朝列。 每云詔令皆出其手，言上將用某人，舉某事，已而詔下，悉如其言。 夫發號施令，國之重事，黜幽陟明，天子大權，奈何使宦寺得與？ 臣之所憂，不獨經臣，此塗一開，類進者眾，國家之禍，有不可遏，願亟竄之遠方。」
Tong Guan's influence was swelling; he and Huang Jingchen ran the government together while Censor-in-Chief Lu Hang abetted them from within—court gentlemen watched in alarm. He said, "This strikes at the very root of the state's safety. My office is to speak out. If I stay silent on this now, once I become supervising secretary I will no longer be charged with such remonstrance." Before even accepting the new post, he led with a bold memorial impeaching Tong Guan. He also impeached Huang Jingchen: "He leans on imperial favor to play with power and struts before the court. He brags that every edict passes through his hands, predicts whom the emperor will appoint or what he will decree, and when the order appears it matches his boast to the letter. To proclaim commands and wield the great power of appointing and dismissing is the emperor's alone—why should palace eunuchs have any part in it? My worry is not Huang Jingchen alone. Open this door and imitators will crowd in; the state's ruin may prove unstoppable. Exile him at once to the far marches."
48
論奏未終，上拂衣起。 禾引上衣，請畢其說。 衣裾落，上曰：「正言碎朕衣矣。」 禾言：「陛下不惜碎衣，臣豈惜碎首以報陛下？ 此曹今日受富貴之利，陛下他日受危亡之禍。」 言愈切，上變色曰：「卿能如此，朕復何憂？」 內侍請上易衣，上卻之曰：「留以旌直臣。」 翌日，貫等相率前訴，謂國家極治，安得此不詳語。 盧航奏禾狂妄，謫監信州酒。 遇赦，得自便還里。
Before he finished, the emperor rose and turned away. He seized the emperor's robe and begged leave to finish. The hem tore away. The emperor said, "Rectifier, you have torn Our robe." He replied, "If Your Majesty does not value a torn robe, how could your servant value his own life in answering you? They gain wealth and power today; Your Majesty will face ruin tomorrow." His words grew fiercer. The emperor's face changed. "If you speak thus," he said, "what have I to fear?" Attendants urged a change of robe; the emperor refused: "Leave it to commemorate an honest remonstrator." Next day Tong Guan and his circle filed complaints, insisting the realm was perfectly governed and calling such speech ill-omened. Lu Hang memorialized that He was reckless; he was banished to supervise the state wine monopoly at Xinzhou. An amnesty allowed him to return home.
49
初，陳瓘歸自嶺外，居於鄞，與禾相好，遣其子正匯從學。 後正匯告京罪，執詣闕，瓘亦就逮。 經臣蒞其獄，檄禾取證，禾答以事有之，罪不敢逃。 或謂其失對，禾曰：「禍福死生，命也，豈可以死易不義耶？ 願得分賢者罪。」 遂坐瓘黨停官。
Earlier Chen Guan, back from exile in the far south, settled at Yin, befriended He, and sent his son Zhenghui to study under him. Later Zhenghui denounced Cai Jing's crimes and was marched to the capital; Guan was arrested as well. Huang Jingchen presided over the trial and summoned He to testify. He admitted the facts and refused to evade blame. Some said he had answered badly. He said, "Life and death are ordained. How can I buy off injustice with my life? I would gladly share the punishment of a worthy man." He was dismissed as a partisan of Chen Guan.
50
遇赦，復起知廣德軍，移知和州。 尋遭內艱，服除，知秀州。 王黼新得政，禾曰：「安能出黼門下？」 力辭，改汝州。 辭益堅，曰：「寧餓死。」 黼聞而銜之。 禾兄秉時為壽春府教授，禾侍兄官居。 適童貫領兵道府下，謁不得入，饋之不受。 貫怒，歸而譖之，上曰：「此人素如此，汝不能容邪？」 久之，知舒州，命下而卒，贈中大夫，諡文介。
An amnesty restored him; he governed Guangde Army, then Hezhou. He then mourned his mother; after the mourning period he was made prefect of Xiuzhou. When Wang Fu newly rose to power, He said, "How can I serve under Wang Fu's patronage?" He pressed his refusal and was reassigned to Ruzhou. He refused all the more firmly: "I would rather starve." Wang Fu took offense. His elder brother Bingshi served as academic instructor at Shouchun; He lived with him in his official quarters. Tong Guan happened to lead troops past the prefecture. He denied him an audience and refused his gifts. Tong Guan complained to the throne. The emperor said, "He has always been this way—can you not bear him?" At length he was appointed prefect of Shuzhou but died before taking up the post. He was posthumously honored as Grandee of Palace Attendance with the posthumous title Wénjiè (Cultured and Upright).
51
禾性不苟合，立朝挺挺有風操。 有《易傳》九卷，《春秋傳》十二卷，《論語》、《孟子解》各十卷。
He would not trim to others' convenience; in office he stood rigidly upright in character. His writings included a nine-scroll Commentary on the Changes, a twelve-scroll Commentary on the Spring and Autumn, and ten-scroll exegeses each of the Analects and Mencius.
52
蔣猷，字仲遠，潤州金壇縣人。 舉進士。 政和四年，拜御史中丞兼侍讀，有直聲。 嘗論士風浮薄，廷臣伺人主意，承宰執風旨向背，以特立不回者為愚，共嗤笑之，此風不可長； 輔臣奏事殿上，雷同唱和，略無所可否，非論道獻替之禮； 內侍省不隸台察，紊元豐官制； 楊戩不當除節度使； 趙良嗣不宜出入禁中。 上皆嘉納，至揭其章內侍省，且詔自今無得規圖節鉞。 又疏孟昌齡、徐鑄等奸狀。 遷兵部尚書兼禮制局詳議官。 七年，知貢舉，改工部、吏部尚書。
Jiang You, courtesy name Zhongyuan, was from Jintan in Run Prefecture. He passed the civil service examination. In 1114 he became Vice Censor-in-Chief and Palace Reader, earning a name for fearless speech. He once deplored how shallow court morals had grown: officials read their superiors' moods, took their cue from the chief ministers' preferences, and mocked anyone who stood alone as a fool—such habits, he said, must not be indulged; that when chief ministers reported to the throne they chorused agreement without true debate, violating the rite of frank counsel; that the Inner Palace Service escaped censorial oversight, marring the Yuanfeng bureaucratic order; that Yang Jian should not have been made a military commissioner; and that Zhao Liangsi had no business coming and going within the inner palace. The emperor accepted every point, posted his memorial inside the Inner Palace Service, and decreed that eunuchs must never again seek military commissions. He also exposed the corrupt dealings of Meng Changling, Xu Zhu, and others. He was promoted to Minister of War and detailed deliberator of the Rites Reform Bureau. In the seventh year he oversaw the metropolitan examination, then became Minister of Works and Minister of Personnel.
53
以徽猷閣直學士知婺州。 明年，請祠歸。 宣和末，召為刑部尚書兼資善堂翊善。 靖康初，奉上表起居太上皇帝于淮陰，且特詔貶童貫。 猷奏貫得罪天下，願黜遠之。 太上以為然，亟令宣詔，趣貫赴貶所。 遂奉太上還京，移兵部尚書，累官正議大夫。 引疾，授徽猷閣直學士、提舉嵩山崇福宮。 卒。 贈特進。
As Academician of the Hall of Lofty Principles he governed Wuzhou. The following year he sought a temple posting and retired home. Late in the Xuanhe era he was recalled as Minister of Justice and companion to the Heir Apparent at the Hall of Exemplary Worth. Early in the Jingkang crisis he attended the Retired Emperor at Huaiyin and won a special edict demoting Tong Guan. Jiang You memorialized that Tong Guan had forfeited the world's trust and begged his banishment to the far marches. The Retired Emperor agreed and at once proclaimed the edict, pressing Tong Guan to his place of exile. He then escorted the Retired Emperor to the capital, was made Minister of War again, and rose to Rectifying Grandee. Citing illness, he was granted academician rank and made overseer of the Chongfu Palace on Mount Song. He died. He was posthumously honored as Special Advancement.
54
論曰：夫拯溺救焚之際，必以任人為急。 靖康、建炎之禍變，亦甚於焚溺矣。 當時非乏人才也，然而國恥卒不能雪者，豈非任之之道有所未至歟？ 夫以李光之才識高明，所至有聲； 許翰、許景衡之論議剴切； 張愨之善理財； 張所之習知河北利害：皆一時之雋也。 是數臣者，使其言聽計從，不為讒邪所抑，得以直行其志，其效宜可待也。 然或斥遠以死，或用之不竟其才，世之治亂安危，雖非人力所為，君子于此，則不能無咎于時君之失政焉。 蔣猷曆仕五朝，當建炎初，避地而終，則無足稱也。 陳禾引裾盡言，有古諫臣之風，其行事在宣和之前，孝宗以後乃加褒諡云。
The commentators say: When the realm is drowning in flame, nothing matters more than putting the right men in place. The calamities of Jingkang and Jianyan were worse than any flood or fire. The empire was not short of talent, yet national shame went unavenged—was this not because men were not truly entrusted with power to act? Li Guang was gifted and farsighted and won acclaim wherever he served; Xu Han and Xu Jingheng spoke with piercing force; Zhang Que excelled at finance; Zhang Suo knew the strategic situation in Hebei through and through: each was a leading man of his day. Had these men been heeded and not thwarted by slander, allowed to carry out their aims, results should have followed in due course. Yet some were exiled to die in obscurity, others used but never to the full; though fortune governs empires, the cultivated man cannot wholly excuse the ruler's failure to employ them rightly. Jiang You served five reigns, fled when Jianyan began, and died in retirement—little here to commend. Chen He seized the emperor's robe and spoke his fill in the manner of remonstrators of old; his deeds antedated Xuanhe, and only under Xiaozong was he finally honored with a posthumous title.