Volume 373 Biographies 132: Zhu Bian, Zheng Wangzhi, Zhang Shao, Hong Hao

朱弁，字少章，徽州婺源人。少穎悟，讀書日數千言。既冠，入太學，晁說之見其詩，奇之，與歸新鄭，妻以兄女。新鄭介汴、洛間，多故家遺俗，弁遊其中，聞見日廣。靖康之亂，家碎於賊，弁南歸。

Zhu Bian, styled Shaozhang, was from Wuyuan in Huizhou. As a boy he was exceptionally bright and could read several thousand characters a day. After he came of age he entered the Imperial University. Chao Shuozhi saw his poetry, was struck by it, took him back to Xinzheng, and married him to his elder brother's daughter. Xinzheng lay between Bianjing and Luoyang, where many old families and inherited customs still flourished. As Bian moved among them, what he heard and saw broadened day by day. When the Jingkang turmoil broke out, his family was destroyed by bandits, and Bian fled south.

建炎初，議遣使問安兩宮，弁奮身自獻，詔補修武郎，借吉州團練使，為通問副使。至雲中，見粘罕，邀說甚切。粘罕不聽，使就館，守之以兵。弁復與書，言用兵講和利害甚悉。

Early in the Jianyan reign, when the court debated sending envoys to inquire after the two imperial personages in the north, Bian volunteered himself. He was appointed Supplementary Xiowu Lang, lent the title of Regiment Commander of Jizhou, and made vice envoy for communication. On reaching Yunzhong he met Nianhan and pressed his arguments with great urgency. Nianhan would not listen. He had Bian lodged in the guest residence and kept him under armed guard. Bian wrote again, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of war and peace in exhaustive detail.

紹興二年，金人忽遣宇文虛中來，言和議可成，當遣一人詣元帥府受書還，虛中欲弁與正使王倫探策決去留，弁曰：「吾來，固自分必死，豈應今日覬幸先歸。願正使受書歸報天子，成兩國之好，蚤申四海之養於兩宮，則吾雖暴骨外國，猶生之年也。」倫將歸，弁請曰：「古之使者有節以為信，今無節有印，印亦信也。願留印，使弁得抱以死，死不腐矣。」倫解以授弁，弁受而懷之，臥起與俱。

In the second year of Shaoxing the Jurchens suddenly sent Yuwen Xu Zhong, saying that peace could be achieved if one man went to the marshal's headquarters to receive the letter and return. Xu Zhong wanted Bian and the chief envoy Wang Lun to feel out the situation and decide whether to stay or go. Bian said, "When I came north I had already resigned myself to death. How could I now hope to be the first to return home? Let the chief envoy take the letter and return to report to the Son of Heaven, so that the two states may be reconciled and the nurture of all under Heaven may soon be restored to the two palaces. Then even if my bones lie exposed in a foreign land, it will still count as living out my years." When Wang Lun was about to return, Bian asked, "In antiquity envoys carried tallies as tokens of office. Today we have no tally, but we have a seal—and the seal is a token too. Please leave the seal with me, so that I may hold it when I die. Then even in death I shall not be disgraced." Wang Lun unfastened it and gave it to Bian. Bian received it, kept it in his bosom, and never parted from it waking or sleeping.

金人迫弁仕劉豫，且訹之曰：「此南歸之漸。」弁曰：「豫乃國賊，吾嘗恨不食其肉，又忍北面臣之，吾有死耳。」金人怒，絕其餼遺以困之。弁固拒驛門，忍飢待盡，誓不為屈。金人亦感動，緻禮如初。久之，复欲易其官，弁曰：「自古兵交，使在其間，言可從從之，不可從則囚之、殺之，何必易其官？吾官受之本朝，有死而已，誓不易以辱吾君也。」且移書耶律紹文等曰：「上國之威命朝以至，則使人夕以死，夕以至則朝以死。」又以書訣後使洪皓曰：「殺行人非細事，吾曹遭之，命也，要當舍生以全義爾。」乃具酒食，召被掠士夫飲，半酣，語之曰：「吾已得近郊某寺地，一旦畢命報國，諸公幸瘞我其處，題其上曰『有宋通問副使朱公之墓』，於我幸矣。」眾皆泣下，莫能仰視。弁談笑自若，曰：「此臣子之常，諸君何悲也？」金人知其終不可屈，遂不復強。

The Jurchens pressed Bian to serve Liu Yu and tempted him, saying, "This is the first step on the road home to the south." Bian replied, "Yu is a traitor to our state. I have long regretted that I could not eat his flesh—how could I bear to face north and serve him as my lord? I have only death." The Jurchens were enraged and cut off his rations to break him. Bian barred the gate of the post-house, endured hunger to the point of death, and swore never to submit. The Jurchens were moved as well and restored his provisions as before. After a long interval they again tried to change his official title. Bian said, "Since antiquity, when states are at war envoys stand between them: if their words are heeded, they are heeded; if not, they are imprisoned or killed. Why must their office be changed? My office was granted by our own court. I have only death, and I swear I will not change it to bring shame on my sovereign." He also wrote to Yelü Shaowen and others: "When the august command of your state arrives in the morning, the envoy dies by evening; when it arrives in the evening, he dies by morning." He also wrote a farewell letter to the envoy who came after him, Hong Hao: "To kill an envoy is no trifling matter. That we have met this fate is destiny—but we must give up our lives to preserve righteousness." He then set out wine and food and summoned captured scholar-officials to drink with him. When they were half drunk he told them, "I have already secured a plot at a monastery in the near suburbs. When I give up my life for the state, I hope you will bury me there and inscribe above it, 'Tomb of Vice Envoy for Communication of the Song, Lord Zhu.' That would be my good fortune." All wept and could not bear to look up at him. Bian talked and laughed as usual and said, "This is what subjects are supposed to do—why do you grieve?" The Jurchens saw that he would never yield and pressed him no further.

王倫還朝，言弁守節不屈，帝為官其子林，賜其家銀帛。會粘罕等相繼死滅，弁密疏其事及金國虛實，曰：「此不可失之時也。」遣李發等間行歸報。其後，倫復歸，又以弁奉送徽宗大行之文為獻，其辭有曰：「嘆馬角之未生，魂消雪窖；攀龍髯而莫逮，淚灑冰天。」帝讀之感泣，官其親屬五人，賜吳興田五頃。帝謂丞相張浚曰：「歸日，當以禁林處之。」八年，金使烏陵思謀、石慶充至，稱弁忠節，詔附黃金三十兩以賜。

When Wang Lun returned to court he reported that Bian had held fast to his integrity and refused to yield. The emperor gave office to his son Lin and bestowed silver and silks on his family. When Nianhan and others died one after another, Bian sent a secret memorial reporting these events and the true condition of the Jin state, saying, "This is a moment that must not be missed." He sent Li Fa and others by secret routes to return and report. Later Wang Lun returned again and presented, on Bian's behalf, the memorial composed for the funeral procession of Emperor Huizong. Its wording included: "I sigh that horse-horns have not yet sprouted—my soul wastes away in the snow cellar; I grasp the dragon's whiskers yet cannot reach them—my tears fall upon the icy sky." The emperor read it and wept. He gave office to five of Bian's kinsmen and granted five qing of fields in Wuxing. The emperor said to Chief Councillor Zhang Jun, "When he returns, he should be placed in the Hanlin Academy." In the eighth year Jin envoys Wulingsimou and Shi Qingchong arrived, praised Bian's loyalty and integrity, and an edict ordered thirty taels of gold sent as a gift.

十三年，和議成，弁得歸。入見便殿，弁謝且曰：「人之所難得者時，而時之運無已；事之不可失者幾，而幾之藏無形。惟無已也，故來遲而難遇；惟無形也，故動微而難見。陛下與金人講和，上返梓宮，次迎太母，又其次則憐赤子之無辜，此皆知時知幾之明驗。然時運而往，或難固執；幾動有變，宜鑑未兆。盟可守，而詭詐之心宜嘿以待之；兵可息，而銷弭之術宜詳以講之。金人以黷武為至德，以苟安為太平，虐民而不恤民，廣地而不廣德，此皆天助中興之勢。若時與幾，陛下既知於始，願圖厥終。」帝納其言，賜金帛甚厚。弁又以金國所得六朝御容及宣和御書畫為獻。秦檜惡其言敵情，奏以初補官易宣教郎、直秘閣。有司校其考十七年，應遷數官。檜沮之，僅轉奉議郎。十四年，卒。

In the thirteenth year the peace agreement was concluded and Bian was able to return home. He was received in the side hall, thanked the emperor, and said, "What is hardest for men to obtain is opportunity, yet the movement of opportunity never ceases; what must not be missed in affairs is the subtle turning point, yet the subtle turning point hides without form. Because it never ceases, it arrives late and is hard to seize; because it has no form, its movement is slight and hard to perceive. Your Majesty has made peace with the Jurchens—first to bring back the imperial coffin, next to welcome the Grand Empress Dowager, and after that to pity the innocent people. This is clear proof that you know the time and seize the subtle moment. Yet as opportunity moves on, it may be hard to hold fast; when the subtle moment stirs, change follows, and you should take warning from what has not yet appeared. The alliance may be kept, but treacherous intent should be met in silence and watched for; arms may be stilled, but the methods of eliminating and pacifying conflict should be discussed in detail. The Jurchens take addicted warfare as supreme virtue and complacent ease as great peace. They mistreat the people without caring for them and extend territory without extending virtue—all of this is Heaven assisting the momentum of restoration. If in opportunity and the subtle moment Your Majesty has grasped them at the beginning, I pray you plan for their end." The emperor accepted his counsel and bestowed gold and silks in great abundance. Bian also presented the imperial portraits of the Six Dynasties and the Xuanhe-era calligraphy and paintings that had been taken by the Jin. Qin Hui resented his reports on enemy conditions and memorialized that his initial supplementary appointment be exchanged for Xuanjiao Lang and Direct Secretariat Aide. The responsible offices reviewed his seventeen years of service evaluation and found he should be promoted several ranks. Qin Hui blocked it, and Bian was promoted only to Fengyi Lang. In the fourteenth year he died.

弁為文慕陸宣公，援據精博，曲盡事理。詩學李義山，詞氣雍容，不蹈其險怪奇澀之弊。金國名王貴人多遣子弟就學，弁因文字往來說以和好之利。及歸，述北方所見聞忠臣義士朱昭、史抗、張忠輔、高景平、孫益、孫谷、傅偉文、李舟、五臺僧寶真、婦人丁氏、晏氏、小校閻進、朱勣等死節事狀，請加褒錄以勸來者。有《聘遊集》四十二卷、《書解》十卷、《曲洧舊聞》三卷、《續骫骳說》一卷，《雜書》一卷、《風月堂詩話》三卷、《新鄭舊詩》一卷、《南歸詩文》一卷。

In his writing Bian took Lu Xuangong as his model. His citations were precise and extensive, and he thoroughly expounded the principles of affairs. In poetry he studied Li Shangyin. His diction was dignified and measured, and he avoided the pitfalls of obscurity, strangeness, and difficulty. Many princes and nobles of the Jin sent their sons and younger brothers to study with him. Through written exchanges Bian explained to them the benefits of peace. On his return he recounted what he had seen and heard in the north concerning loyal ministers and righteous men who died preserving their integrity—Zhu Zhao, Shi Kang, Zhang Zhongfu, Gao Jingping, Sun Yi, Sun Gu, Fu Weiwen, Li Zhou, the Wutai monk Baozhen, the women surnamed Ding and Yan, the petty officer Yan Jin, Zhu Ji, and others—and asked that they be commended posthumously to encourage those who would come after. His works included the Pinyouji in forty-two juan, Shujie in ten juan, Quwo Jiujian in three juan, Xu Weibei Shuo in one juan, Zashu in one juan, Fengyuetang Shihua in three juan, Xinzheng Jiushi in one juan, and Nangui Shiwen in one juan.

鄭望之

Zheng Wangzhi

鄭望之，字顧道，彭城人，顯謨閣直學士僅之子也。望之少有文名，山東皆推重。登崇寧五年進士第，自陳留簿累遷樞密院編修官，歷開封府儀、工、戶曹，以治辦稱。臨事勁正，不受請託。宦寺有強佔民田者，奏歸之。蔡京子欲奪人妾，使人諭意，望之拒不受。除駕部員外郎兼金部。

Zheng Wangzhi, styled Gudao, was from Pengcheng and the son of Xianmo Pavilion Direct Academician Jin. Wangzhi gained a literary reputation early, and all east of the mountains held him in esteem. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Chongning, rose from Recorder of Chenliu to Compiler at the Bureau of Military Affairs, and served in the Ritual, Works, and Revenue sections of the Kaifeng prefecture, where he was known for effective administration. In office he was firm and upright and accepted no private requests. When eunuchs forcibly seized commoners' fields, he memorialized for their return to the owners. When a son of Cai Jing wished to seize another man's concubine and sent someone to convey his intent, Wangzhi refused. He was appointed Outer Gentleman of the Transport Office, concurrently serving in the Gold Section.

靖康元年，金人攻汴京，假尚書工部侍郎，俾為軍前計議使。既還，金人遣吳孝民與望之同入見。望之言金人意在金幣，且要大臣同議，乃命同知樞密院事李棁與望之再使，斡離不以朝廷受歸朝官及賜平州張覺手詔為辭，遣蕭三寶奴偕棁等還，以書求割三鎮，欲得宰相交地，親王送大軍過河。

In the first year of Jingkang, when the Jurchens attacked Bianjing, he was lent the title of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works and made commissioner for deliberation before the enemy army. After he returned, the Jurchens sent Wu Xiaomin to enter audience together with Wangzhi. Wangzhi reported that the Jurchens wanted gold and coin and also demanded that high ministers join in negotiations. The court therefore ordered Vice Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs Li Zhen and Wangzhi to go again as envoys. Woliyan cited as his pretext the court's acceptance of officials who had returned to the dynasty and its bestowal of an autograph edict on Zhang Jue of Pingzhou. He sent Xiao Sanbaonu back with Zhen and the others, demanding in a letter the cession of three circuits, the chief councillor's handover of territory, and a prince to escort the main army across the river.

時高宗在康邸慷慨請行，遂與張邦昌乘筏渡濠，自午至夜分，始達金砦。又除望之戶部侍郎，同棁再至金營，仍以珠玉遺金人。金人拘留望之逾旬。會姚平仲夜劫砦不克，斡離不以用兵詰責諸使者，邦昌恐懼涕泣，王不為動。金人遂不欲留王，更請肅王，乃以兵送望之詣國王砦詰問。會再遣宇文虛中持割地詔至，望之得還，因盛言敵勢強大，我兵削弱，不可不和。既而金兵退，朝廷以議和非策，罷望之提舉亳州明道宮。

At that time the future Gaozong, then at the Kang residence, volunteered himself with fervor. He and Zhang Bangchang crossed the moat on rafts and traveled from noon until midnight before reaching the Jin camp. Wangzhi was again appointed Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and went with Zhen once more to the Jin camp, again presenting pearls and jade to the Jurchens. The Jurchens detained Wangzhi for more than ten days. When Yao Pingzhong raided the camp by night but failed, Woliyan rebuked the envoys for the use of troops. Bangchang wept in fear, but the prince was unmoved. The Jurchens then did not wish to detain the prince and instead asked for Prince Su. They sent troops to escort Wangzhi to the Prince of Guo's camp for interrogation. When Yuwen Xu Zhong was again sent bearing the edict ceding territory, Wangzhi was able to return and spoke at length of the enemy's strength and our army's weakness, arguing that peace was unavoidable. Soon after the Jin army withdrew, the court regarded negotiation as the wrong policy and dismissed Wangzhi to superintendent of the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou.

建炎初，李綱以望之張皇敵勢，沮損國威，以致禍敗，責海州團練副使，連州居住。綱罷，詔望之為戶部侍郎，尋轉吏部侍郎。論王雲之冤，帝為感動，復云元官，與七子恩澤。尋兼主管御營司參贊軍事。論航海不便，忤旨，以集英殿修撰再領亳州明道宮。起知宣州，逾年，以言章罷。

Early in Jianyan, Li Gang held that Wangzhi had exaggerated enemy strength, damaged national prestige, and thereby brought on disaster. He was demoted to Vice Regiment Commander of Haizhou and ordered to reside in Lianzhou. When Li Gang was dismissed, an edict appointed Wangzhi Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and soon after he was transferred to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He argued the injustice done to Wang Yun. The emperor was moved and restored Yun's former office and granted favors to his seven sons. Soon after he was concurrently made supervisor of the Imperial Camp Office, assisting in military affairs. He argued that travel by sea was impracticable, ran counter to the imperial will, and was made Compiler at the Jiying Hall while again heading the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou. He was recalled to serve as prefect of Xuanzhou. After more than a year he was dismissed on a memorial of impeachment.

紹興二年，會赦，复徽猷閣待制致仕。七年，落致仕，召赴行在。望之以衰老辭，帝謂大臣曰：「望之，朕故人也。」於是升徽猷閣直學士，复致仕。三十一年，卒，年八十四。贈中大夫。

In the second year of Shaoxing, when an amnesty was proclaimed, he was again made Huixiu Pavilion Attendant-in-Ordinary and retired. In the seventh year his retirement was revoked and he was summoned to the mobile court. Wangzhi declined on account of old age. The emperor said to his high ministers, "Wangzhi is an old friend of mine." He was then promoted to Huixiu Pavilion Direct Academician and again retired. In the thirty-first year he died, aged eighty-four. He was posthumously given the title of Grandee of the Palace.

三年，金人南侵，詔求可至軍前者，邵慨然請行，轉五官，直龍圖閣，假禮部尚書，充通問使，武官楊憲副之，即日就道。至濰州，接伴使置酒張樂，邵曰：「二帝北遷，邵為臣子，所不忍聽，請止樂。」至於三四，聞者泣下。翌日，見左監軍撻攬，命邵拜，邵曰：「監軍與邵為南北朝從臣，無相拜禮。」且以書抵之曰：「兵不在強弱，在曲直。宣和以來，我非無兵也，帥臣初開邊隙，謀臣复啟兵端，是以大國能勝之。厥後偽楚僭立，群盜蜂起，曾幾何時，電掃無餘，是天意人心未厭宋德也。今大國复裂地以封劉豫，窮兵不已，曲有在矣。」撻攬怒，取國書去，執邵送密州，囚於祚山砦。

In the third year, when the Jurchens invaded south, an edict sought someone who could go before the enemy army. Shao volunteered with fervor, was promoted five ranks, made Direct Longtu Pavilion, lent the title of Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and made envoy for communication, with the military officer Yang Xian as his deputy. He set out the same day. When he reached Weizhou the receiving envoy set out wine and had music played. Shao said, "The two emperors were taken north. As their subject I cannot bear to hear this—please stop the music." He repeated this three or four times, and those who heard wept. The next day he saw the Left Overseer Tadan and was ordered to bow. Shao said, "The Overseer and I are subjects of the two courts of north and south—there is no ceremony of mutual bowing." He also sent him a letter saying, "In warfare strength and weakness do not matter—what matters is right and wrong. Since the Xuanhe era we have not lacked troops. Our commanders first opened border conflicts and our strategists again provoked warfare—therefore your great state was able to defeat us. Afterward the false Chu usurped the throne and bandits rose everywhere. In how short a time they were swept away like lightning, leaving nothing—this shows that Heaven's intent and men's hearts have not yet turned against Song virtue. Now your great state again carves territory to enfeoff Liu Yu and presses warfare without end—the wrong lies on your side." Tadan was enraged, took the state letter and left, seized Shao and sent him to Mizhou, and imprisoned him at the Zuoshan stockade.

明年，又送邵於劉豫，使用之。邵見劉豫，長揖而已，又呼為「殿院」，責以君臣大義，詞氣俱厲，豫怒，械置於獄，楊憲遂降。豫知邵不屈，久之，复送於金，拘之燕山僧寺，從者皆莫知所之。後又作書，為金言「劉豫挾大國之勢，日夜南侵，不勝則首鼠兩端，勝則如養鷹，飽則颺去，終非大國之利」，守者密以告，金取其書去，益北徙之會寧府，距燕三千里。金嘗大赦，許宋使者自便還鄉，人人多佔籍淮北，冀幸稍南。惟邵與洪皓、朱弁言家在江南。

The next year Shao was again sent to Liu Yu, who employed him. When Shao saw Liu Yu he merely made a long bow and addressed him as "Hall Commissioner," rebuking him with the great principle of ruler and subject. His words and tone were both severe. Yu was enraged and had him shackled and placed in prison. Yang Xian then surrendered. Yu knew Shao would not yield. After a long interval he was again sent to the Jin and detained in a Buddhist monastery at Yanshan. His attendants all vanished without trace. Later he wrote again, telling the Jin: "Liu Yu relies on your great state's power and invades south day and night. If he fails he will hedge between two sides; if he succeeds he is like a hawk you feed—when full it flies away. In the end this does not serve your great state's interests." The guards secretly reported this. The Jin took his letter and moved him farther north to Huining prefecture, three thousand li from Yan. The Jin once proclaimed a great amnesty and allowed Song envoys to return home at will. Most registered their households north of the Huai, hoping to move slightly south. Only Shao, together with Hong Hao and Zhu Bian, said their families were in Jiangnan.

十三年，和議成，及皓、弁南歸。八月，入見，奏前後使者如陳過庭、司馬樸、滕茂實、崔縱、魏行可皆歿異域未褒贈者，乞早頒卹典。邵並攜崔縱柩歸其家。升秘閣修撰，主管佑神觀。左司諫詹大方論其奉使無成，改台州崇道觀。移書時相，勸其迎請欽宗與諸王后妃。十九年，以敷文閣待制提舉江州太平興國宮。知池州，再奉祠卒，年六十一。累贈少師。

In the thirteenth year the peace agreement was concluded, and Hao and Bian returned south. In the eighth month he entered audience and memorialized that former envoys such as Chen Guoting, Sima Pu, Teng Maoshi, Cui Zong, and Wei Xingke had all died in foreign lands without posthumous honors, and begged that condolence rites be granted soon. Shao also brought Cui Zong's coffin back to his family. He was promoted to Compiler of the Secretariat and made superintendent of the Youzhen Observatory. Remonstrance Official of the Left Bureau Zhan Dafang argued that his mission had achieved nothing; he was reassigned to the Chongdao Observatory in Taizhou. He wrote to the chief councillors urging them to welcome back Emperor Qinzong and the princes, queens, and consorts. In the nineteenth year he was made Fuwen Pavilion Attendant-in-Ordinary and superintendent of the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou. He served as prefect of Chizhou, again received a sacrificial appointment, and died, aged sixty-one. He was posthumously promoted several times to Junior Preceptor.

邵負氣，遇事慷慨，常以功名自許，出使囚徙，屢瀕於死。其在會寧，金人多從之學。喜誦佛書，雖異域不廢。初，使金時，遇秦檜於濰州。及歸，上書言檜忠節，議者以是少之。後弟祁下大理獄，將株連邵，會檜死得免。有文集十卷。

Shao was high-spirited. In affairs he was fervent and often pledged himself to achieve fame and merit. As an envoy he was imprisoned and exiled and several times came near death. At Huining many Jurchens came to study with him. He delighted in reciting Buddhist texts and did not abandon this even in a foreign land. When he first went as envoy to the Jin he met Qin Hui at Weizhou. When he returned he memorialized that Hui was loyal and steadfast in integrity; critics therefore thought less of him. Later his younger brother Qi was imprisoned in the Court of Judicial Review and Shao was to be implicated; he was spared when Hui died. He had a collected works in ten juan.

子孝覽、孝曾、孝忠。孝曾後亦以出使歿於金，金人知為邵子，尚憐之。

His sons were Xiaolan, Xiaozeng, and Xiaozhong. Xiaozeng later also died in the Jin on an envoy mission; the Jurchens knew he was Shao's son and still pitied him.

洪皓，字光弼，番昜人。少有奇節，慷慨有經略四方志。登政和五年進士第。王黼、朱勔皆欲婚之，力辭。宣和中，為秀州司錄。大水，民多失業，皓白郡守以拯荒自任，發廩損直以糶。民坌集，皓恐其紛競，乃別以青白幟，涅其手以識之，令嚴而惠遍。浙東綱米過城下，皓白守邀留之，守不可，皓曰：「願以一身易十萬人命。」人感之切骨，號「洪佛子」。其後秀軍叛，縱掠郡民，無一得脫，惟過皓門曰：「此洪佛子家也。」不敢犯。

Hong Hao, styled Guangbi, was from Poyang. In youth he had an unusual integrity, was fervent, and harbored the ambition to govern all four directions. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Zhenghe. Wang Fu and Zhu Mian both wished to marry him to their families; he firmly declined. In the Xuanhe era he served as Recorder of Xiuzhou. When great floods came many people lost their livelihoods. Hao told the prefect he would take famine relief upon himself, opened the granaries, and sold grain at reduced prices. The people crowded in. Hao feared disorder and therefore used blue and white banners separately, marked their hands with ink to identify them, and made the regulations strict while benefits reached all. When the Zhedong transport grain passed below the city wall, Hao told the prefect to detain it. The prefect would not agree. Hao said, "I am willing to exchange my own life for the lives of a hundred thousand people." The people were deeply moved and called him "Hong the Buddha-son." Later the Xiuzhou garrison rebelled and plundered the people of the prefecture. None escaped except those who passed Hao's gate and said, "This is Hong the Buddha-son's house." They did not dare violate it.

建炎三年五月，帝將如金陵，皓上書言：「內患甫平，外敵方熾，若輕至建康，恐金人乘虛侵軼。宜先遣近臣往經營，俟告辦，回鑾未晚。」時朝議已定，不從，既而悔之。他日，帝問宰輔近諫移蹕者謂誰，張浚以皓對。時議遣使金國，浚又薦皓於呂頤浩，召與語，大悅。皓方居父喪，頤浩解衣巾，俾易墨衰絰入對。帝以國步艱難、兩宮遠播為憂。皓極言：「天道好還，金人安能久陵中夏！此正春秋邲、郢之役，天其或者警晉訓楚也。」帝悅，遷皓五官，擢徽猷閣待制，假禮部尚書，為大金通問使，龔璹副之。令與執政議國書，皓欲有所易，頤浩不樂，遂抑遷官之命。

In the fifth month of the third year of Jianyan the emperor was about to go to Jinling. Hao memorialized: "Internal troubles have just been settled and foreign enemies are still fierce. If you lightly go to Jiankang, I fear the Jurchens will seize the opportunity to raid. You should first send a close minister to make preparations. When all is reported ready, the imperial procession may return—not too late." The court's deliberation was already settled and did not follow his advice; afterward they regretted it. Another day the emperor asked the chief councillors who had recently remonstrated about moving the capital; Zhang Jun named Hao. When envoys to the Jin state were discussed, Jun again recommended Hao to Lü Yihao. He was summoned to speak and Yihao was greatly pleased. Hao was then in mourning for his father. Yihao removed his cap and scarf and had him change from ink mourning dress to enter audience. The emperor grieved that the dynasty's fortunes were hard and the two palaces were far away. Hao spoke at length: "Heaven's way delights in return. How can the Jurchens long bully central China! This is just like the battles of Bi and Ying in the Spring and Autumn—perhaps Heaven will warn Jin and instruct Chu." The emperor was pleased, promoted Hao five ranks, made him Huixiu Pavilion Attendant-in-Ordinary, lent him the title of Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and made him envoy for communication to the Great Jin, with Gong Yu as deputy. He was ordered to deliberate on the state letter with the chief councillors. Hao wished to change certain points and Yihao was displeased, and therefore suppressed the order promoting his rank.

時淮南盜賊踵起，李成甫就招，即命知泗州羈縻之。乃命皓兼淮南、京東等路撫諭使，俾成以所部衛皓至南京。比過淮南，成方與耿堅共圍楚州，責權州事賈敦詩以降敵，實持叛心。皓先以書抵成，成以汴涸，虹有紅巾賊，軍食絕，不可往。皓聞堅起義兵，可撼以義，遣人密諭之曰：「君數千里赴國家急，山陽縱有罪，當禀命於朝；今擅攻圍，名勤王，實作賊爾。」堅意動，遂強成斂兵。

At that time bandits rose one after another in Huainan. Li Cheng had just accepted recruitment and was appointed prefect of Sizhou to keep him in check. The court then appointed Hao concurrently Pacification Commissioner for Huainan, Jingdong, and other circuits, ordering Cheng to escort Hao with his troops to Nanjing. When he passed Huainan, Cheng was then with Geng Jian jointly besieging Chuzhou, pressing Jia Dunshi, who held acting prefectural authority, to surrender to the enemy—he in fact harbored rebellious intent. Hao first sent a letter to Cheng. Cheng said the Bian River was dry, Hong had red-turban bandits, and army provisions were cut off—he could not go. Hao heard that Jian had raised righteous troops and could be moved by righteousness. He sent someone secretly to urge him: "You have come thousands of li in the state's urgent need. Even if Shanyang is guilty, you should report to the court; now to attack and besiege on your own authority, your name is to aid the throne but in fact you are making yourself a bandit." Jian was moved and therefore forced Cheng to withdraw his troops.

皓至泗境，迎騎介而來，龔璹曰：「虎口不可入。」皓遂還，上疏言：「成以朝廷饋餉不繼，有『引眾建康』之語。今靳賽據揚州，薛慶據高郵，萬一三叛連衡，何以待之？此含垢之時，宜使人諭意，優進官秩，畀之以京口綱運，如晉明帝待王敦可也。」疏奏，帝即遣使撫成，給米伍萬石。頤浩惡其直達而不先白堂，奏皓託事稽留，貶二秩。皓遂請出滁陽路，自壽春由東京以行。至順昌，聞群盜李閻羅、小張俊者梗潁上道。皓與其黨遇，譬曉之曰：「自古無白頭賊。」其黨悔悟，皓使持書至賊巢，二渠魁聽命，領兵入宿衛。

When Hao reached the border of Si, welcoming horsemen came with weapons drawn. Gong Yu said, "A tiger's mouth cannot be entered." Hao then returned and memorialized: "Cheng, because the court's provisions did not continue, has spoken of leading his host to Jiankang. Now Jin Sai holds Yangzhou and Xue Qing holds Gaoyou—if by chance the three rebels join in alliance, how are we to deal with them? This is a time to swallow insults. Someone should be sent to convey the court's intent, generously advance his rank, and give him the Jingkou transport assignment, as Mingdi of Jin treated Wang Dun." When the memorial was submitted the emperor immediately sent an envoy to pacify Cheng and gave him fifty thousand piculs of grain. Yihao resented that he had reported directly without first informing the Secretariat and memorialized that Hao had delayed affairs on pretext; he was demoted two ranks. Hao then asked to go out by the Chuyang route, traveling from Shouchun through the Eastern Capital. When he reached Shunchang he heard that the bandits Li Yanluo and Little Zhang Jun blocked the road on the Ying River. Hao met their followers and admonished them: "Since antiquity there has never been a white-haired bandit." His followers repented. Hao had them carry a letter to the bandits' lair, and the two chieftains obeyed and led their troops to enter palace guard service.

皓至太原，留幾一年，金遇使人禮日薄。及至雲中，粘罕迫二使仕劉豫，皓曰：「萬里銜命，不得奉兩宮南歸，恨力不能磔逆豫，忍事之邪！留亦死，不即豫亦死，不願偷生鼠狗間，願就鼎鑊無悔。」粘罕怒，將殺之。旁一酋唶曰：「此真忠臣也。」目止劍士，為之跪請，得流遞冷山。流遞，猶編竄也。惟璹至汴受豫官。

When Hao reached Taiyuan he stayed nearly a year; the Jin's treatment of envoys grew daily thinner. When he reached Yunzhong, Nianhan pressed the two envoys to serve Liu Yu. Hao said, "I have carried commands ten thousand li and could not bring the two palaces south. I regret that my strength was not enough to dismember the rebel Yu—how could I endure to serve him! To remain is also death; not to serve Yu at once is also death. I do not wish to live like a rat or dog. I would rather enter the cauldron without regret." Nianhan was enraged and was about to kill him. A chieftain beside him cried, "This is a true loyal minister!" He stopped the swordsmen with his eyes and knelt to plead for him. Hao was sent by penal transport to Cold Mountain. Penal transport was still a form of banishment. Only Yu went to Bian and accepted office under Yu.

雲中至冷山行六十日，距金主所都僅百里，地苦寒，四月草生，八月已雪，穴居百家，陳王悟室聚落也。悟室敬皓，使教其八子。或二年不給食，盛夏衣粗布，嘗大雪薪盡，以馬矢然火煨麵食之。或獻取蜀策，悟室持問皓，皓力折之。悟室銳欲南侵，曰：「孰謂海大，我力可乾，但不能使天地相拍爾。」皓曰：「兵猶火也，弗戢將自焚，自古無四十年用兵不止者。」又數為言所以來為兩國事，既不受使，乃令深入教小兒，非古者待使之禮也。悟室或答或默，忽發怒曰：「汝作和事官，而口硬如許，謂我不能殺汝耶？」皓曰：「自分當死，顧大國無受殺行人之名，願投之水，以墜淵為名可也。」悟室義之而止。

From Yunzhong to Cold Mountain was a journey of sixty days, only a hundred li from where the Jin ruler dwelt. The land was bitterly cold—in the fourth month grass grew and by the eighth month there was already snow. A hundred households lived in caves; it was the settlement of Chen Wang Wushi. Wushi respected Hao and had him teach his eight sons. Sometimes for two years they gave no food. In midsummer he wore coarse cloth. Once when firewood was exhausted in great snow he used horse dung for fire to warm and eat noodles. Someone presented a plan to take Shu. Wushi held it out and asked Hao, who forcefully refuted it. Wushi was keen to invade south and said, "Who says the sea is great? My strength can dry it up—I only cannot make heaven and earth strike each other." Hao said, "Warfare is like fire. If not checked it will burn itself out—since antiquity there has never been forty years of continuous warfare." He also repeatedly spoke of why he had come—for the affairs of the two states. Since they would not receive him as envoy, they had him go deep in to teach little children—this was not the ancient way of treating envoys. Wushi would answer or remain silent. Suddenly he grew angry and said, "You are a peace commissioner, yet your mouth is this hard—do you think I cannot kill you?" Hao said, "I have already resigned myself to death, but I fear your great state would bear the name of killing an envoy. I would rather be cast into the water so the abyss may be my name." Wushi admired his righteousness and stopped.

和議將成，悟室問所議十事，皓條析甚至。大略謂封冊乃虛名，年號本朝自有；金三千兩景德所無，東南不宜蠶，絹不可增也；至於取淮北人，景德載書猶可覆視。悟室曰：「誅投附人何為不可？」皓曰：「昔魏侯景歸梁，梁武帝欲以易其侄蕭明於魏，景遂叛，陷臺城，中國決不蹈其覆轍。」悟室悟曰：「汝性直不誑我，吾與汝如燕，遣汝歸議。」遂行。會莫將北來，議不合，事復中止。留燕甫一月，兀术殺悟室，黨類株連者數千人，獨皓與異論幾死，故得免。

When peace was about to be concluded, Wushi asked about the ten items under negotiation. Hao analyzed them in detail. In general he said enfeoffment and investiture were empty names, and the reign title our dynasty already had its own; three thousand taels of gold the Jingde treaty never had; the southeast is unsuited to sericulture, and silk cannot be increased; as for taking people north of the Huai, the Jingde treaty documents can still be consulted. Wushi said, "Why can those who surrendered not be executed?" Hao said, "Formerly when Marquis Jing of Wei returned to Liang, Emperor Wu of Liang wished to exchange him for his nephew Xiao Ming in Wei. Jing then rebelled and took Taicheng—and central China will certainly not tread that path again." Wushi understood and said, "Your nature is straight and you do not deceive me. I will treat you like kin and send you back to deliberate." He then set out. When Mo Jiang came north to negotiate, the talks did not agree and the matter again stopped. He had stayed in Yan only a month when Wuzhu killed Wushi. Thousands in his faction were implicated, but Hao alone, because of his dissenting views, nearly died and therefore was spared.

方二帝遷居五國城，皓在雲中密遣人奏書，以桃、梨、粟面獻，二帝始知帝即位。皓聞祐陵訃，北向泣血，旦夕臨，諱日操文以祭，其辭激烈，舊臣讀之皆揮涕。紹興十年，因諜者趙德，書機事數万言，藏故絮中，歸達於帝。言：「順昌之役，金人震懼奪魄，燕山珍寶盡徙以北，意欲捐燕以南棄之。王師亟還，自失機會，今再舉尚可。」十一年，又求得太后書，遣李微持歸，帝大喜曰：「朕不知太后寧否幾二十年，雖遣使百輩，不如此一書。」是冬，又密奏書曰：「金已厭兵，勢不能久，異時以婦女隨軍，今不敢也。若和議未決，不若乘勢進擊，再造反掌爾。」又言：「胡銓封事此或有之，金人知中國有人，益懼。張丞相名動異域，惜置之散地。」又問李綱、趙鼎安否，獻六朝御容、徽宗御書。其後梓宮及太后歸音，皓皆先報。

When the two emperors were moved to the Five States City, Hao in Yunzhong secretly sent men to memorialize, presenting peaches, pears, and millet flour—the two emperors then learned that the emperor had ascended the throne. When Hao heard the mourning news for Youling he wept blood facing north, attended morning and evening, and on the anniversary composed a text to sacrifice. Its wording was fierce, and old ministers who read it all wiped away tears. In the tenth year of Shaoxing, through the spy Zhao De, he wrote several tens of thousands of words on military affairs, hid them in old cotton padding, and they reached the emperor. He said, "In the battle of Shunchang the Jurchens were shaken and lost their souls. Treasures of Yanshan were all moved north—they intend to abandon everything south of Yan. Our army returned in haste and lost the opportunity. If we strike again now it can still be done." In the eleventh year he also obtained a letter from the Grand Empress Dowager and sent Li Wei to carry it back. The emperor was greatly pleased and said, "I have not known whether the Grand Empress Dowager was safe for nearly twenty years. Though I have sent envoys a hundred times, none equals this one letter." That winter he again sent a secret memorial: "The Jin are already weary of warfare and cannot last long. Formerly they took women with the army; now they dare not. If peace is not yet settled, it would be better to strike while the momentum is favorable—restoration would be as easy as turning the hand." He also said, "Hu Quan's sealed memorial may exist. The Jurchens know there are men in China and fear all the more. Chief Councillor Zhang's name shakes foreign lands—it is a pity he is placed in an idle post." He also asked whether Li Gang and Zhao Ding were well, and presented the imperial portraits of the Six Dynasties and Emperor Huizong's calligraphy. Afterward, when news came of the return of the imperial coffin and the Grand Empress Dowager, Hao reported all of it first.

初，皓至燕，宇文虛中已受金官，因薦皓。金主聞其名，欲以為翰林直學士，力辭之。皓有逃歸意，乃請於參政韓昉，乞於真定或大名以自養。昉怒，始易皓官為中京副留守，再降為留司判官。趣行屢矣，皓乞不就職，昉竟不能屈。金法，雖未易官而曾經任使者，永不可歸，昉遂令皓校雲中進士試，蓋欲以計墮皓也。皓復以疾辭。未幾，金主以生子大赦，許使人還鄉，皓與張邵、朱弁三人在遣中。金人懼為患，猶遣人追之，七騎及淮，而皓已登舟。

When Hao first reached Yan, Yuwen Xuzhong had already taken office under the Jin and recommended him. The Jin ruler heard of him and wished to make him Hanlin Direct Academician, but Hao firmly refused. Hao wanted to flee south and petitioned Administrative Assistant Han Fang, asking to live quietly at Zhending or Daming. Fang was furious. He first reassigned Hao as Vice Commissioner of Zhongjing, then demoted him again to Remaining Office Aide. Fang pressed him repeatedly to take up the post, but Hao refused, and in the end Fang could not force him to yield. Under Jin law, anyone who had once served as an envoy could never go home, even if he had not formally changed office. Fang therefore had Hao proofread the Yunzhong metropolitan examination—a scheme meant to trap him. Hao again pleaded illness and declined. Not long afterward, the Jin ruler proclaimed a general amnesty for the birth of a son and allowed envoys to return home. Hao, Zhang Shao, and Zhu Bian were among those sent back. Fearing trouble, the Jurchens still sent pursuers after them. Seven riders reached the Huai just as Hao had already boarded a boat.

十二年七月，見於內殿，力求郡養母。帝曰：「卿忠貫日月，志不忘君，雖蘇武不能過，豈可舍朕去邪！」請見慈寧宮，帟人設簾，太后曰：「吾故識尚書。」命撤之。皓自建炎己酉出使，至是還，留北中凡十五年。同時使者十三人，惟皓、邵、弁得生還，而忠義之聲聞於天下者，獨皓而已。皓既對，退見秦檜，語連日不止，曰：「張和公金人所憚，乃不得用。錢塘暫居，而景靈宮、太廟皆極土木之華，豈非示無中原意乎？」檜不懌，謂皓子适曰：「尊公信有忠節，得上眷。但官職如讀書，速則易終而無味，須如黃鐘、大呂乃可。」八月，除徽猷閣直學士、提舉萬壽觀兼權直學士院。

In the seventh month of the twelfth year of Shaoxing, he had an audience in the inner hall and earnestly asked for a prefectural post so he could support his mother. The emperor said, "Your loyalty shines like sun and moon; your heart never forgets your sovereign. Even Su Wu could not surpass you—how could you leave me!" He asked to see the Grand Empress Dowager at Cining Palace. Attendants hung a curtain, but the empress dowager said, "I already know the Former Minister." She ordered the curtain taken down. Hao had been sent abroad in the jiyou year of Jianyan; now he returned after fifteen years in the north. Of the thirteen envoys sent at the same time, only Hao, Shao, and Bian returned alive—but of those whose name for loyalty and righteousness resounded through the realm, Hao alone stood apart. After his audience, Hao withdrew and saw Qin Hui, talking for days without stopping. He said, "Zhang Jun is the man the Jurchens fear, yet he is not used. The court dwells temporarily at Qiantang while Jingling Shrine and the Imperial Ancestral Temple are built to lavish splendor—is this not a sign that there is no will to recover the Central Plains?" Qin Hui was displeased and said to Hong Hao's son Hong Shi, "Your honored father truly has loyalty and integrity, and has won the emperor's favor. But office is like reading a book: if you rush through it, it ends too quickly and leaves no lasting savor. One must advance slowly, like the Yellow Bell and Great Lu tones." In the eighth month he was appointed Direct Academician of the Huayou Pavilion, Director of the Wanshou Abbey, and concurrently Acting Director of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies.

金人來取趙彬等三十人家屬，詔歸之。皓曰：「昔韓起謁環於鄭，鄭，小國也，能引義不與。金既限淮，官屬皆吳人，宜留不遣，蓋慮知其虛實也。彼方困於蒙兀，姑示強以嘗中國，若遽從之，謂秦無人，益輕我矣。」檜變色曰：「公無謂秦無人。」既而復上疏曰：「恐以不與之故，或致渝盟，宜告之曰：『俟淵聖及皇族歸，乃遣。』」又言：「王倫、郭元邁以身徇國，棄之不取，緩急何以使人？」檜大怒，又因言室撚寄聲，檜怒益甚，語在《檜傳》。翌日，侍御史李文會劾皓不省母，出知饒州。

The Jurchens came to reclaim the families of Zhao Bin and thirty others, and an edict ordered that they be sent back. Hao said, "Long ago Han Qi sought an audience with Huan at Zheng. Zheng was a small state, yet it upheld righteousness and refused to hand him over. The Jin is now bounded by the Huai, and these officials are all men of Wu. We ought to keep them and not send them back, for the Jin surely fear that we will learn their true strength and weakness. They are hard pressed by the Mongols and are only putting on a show of strength to test China. If we comply at once, they will say there is no one left in Qin's court and despise us all the more." Qin Hui's face changed and he said, "Sir, do not say there is no one in Qin's court." Later he submitted another memorial: "I fear that refusal may rupture the alliance. We should tell them, 'Wait until the Former Emperor and the imperial clan return, and then we will send them back.' He also said, "Wang Lun and Guo Yuanmai gave their lives for the state. If we abandon them and do not bring them home, how can we expect anyone to serve as envoy when the need is urgent?" Qin Hui was furious, and grew even angrier when Hao spoke of messages relayed by Shi Nian. The full account is given in the Biography of Qin Hui. The next day Supervising Censor Li Wenhui impeached Hao for neglecting his mother, and he was sent out as prefect of Raozhou.

明年，大水，中官白鍔宣言：「燮理乖盭，洪尚書名聞天下，胡不用？」檜聞之愈怒，系鍔大理獄，尋流嶺表。諫官詹大方遂論皓與鍔為刎頸交，更相稱譽，罷皓提舉江州太平觀。鍔初不識皓，特以從太后北歸，在金國素知皓名爾。

The next year there was a great flood, and the palace eunuch Bai E declared publicly, "The government is out of harmony, and Minister Hong's name is known throughout the realm—why is he not used?" When Qin Hui heard this he grew even angrier. He had Bai E imprisoned in the Court of Judicial Review and soon exiled him beyond the Lingnan passes. Remonstrance Official Zhan Dafa then charged that Hao and Bai E were sworn friends who praised each other in turn, and Hao was dismissed from his directorship of the Taiping Abbey in Jiangzhou. Bai E had not known Hao at first; he had only heard of Hao's name in the Jin state because he had returned south with the Grand Empress Dowager.

尋居母喪，他言者猶謂皓睥睨鈞衡。終喪，除饒州通判。李勤又附檜誣皓作欺世飛語，責濠州團練副使，安置英州。居九年，始復朝奉郎，徙袁州，至南雄州卒，年六十八。死後一日，檜亦死。帝聞皓卒，嗟惜之，复敷文閣直學士，贈四官。久之，复徽猷閣直學士，諡忠宣。

Before long he entered mourning for his mother, yet other critics still claimed that Hao was casting a covetous eye on high office. When mourning ended he was appointed Vice Prefect of Raozhou. Li Qin, again siding with Qin Hui, slandered Hao for spreading deceitful rumors; Hao was reduced to Regiment Vice Commander of Haozhou and settled at Yingzhou. After nine years there he was at last restored to Court Gentleman for Appeasement and transferred to Yuanzhou, but died on the road at Nanxiong Prefecture at the age of sixty-eight. One day after Hao's death, Qin Hui also died. When the emperor heard that Hao had died, he sighed in regret, restored him as Direct Academician of the Fujun Pavilion, and posthumously promoted him four ranks. After a long interval he was again restored as Direct Academician of the Huayou Pavilion and given the posthumous title Zhongxuan, "Loyal and Proclaiming."

皓雖久在北廷，不堪其苦，然為金人所敬，所著詩文，爭鈔誦求鋟梓。既歸，後使者至，必問皓為何官、居何地。性急義，當艱危中不少變。懿節后之戚趙伯璘隸悟室戲下，貧甚，皓賙之。范鎮之孫祖平為傭奴，皓言於金人而釋之。劉光世庶女為人豢豕，贖而嫁之。他貴族流落賤微者，皆力拔以出。惟為檜所嫉，不死於敵國，乃死於讒慝。

Although Hao had long suffered in the northern court and could hardly bear the hardship, the Jurchens respected him. People competed to copy, recite, and print his poems and essays. After he returned, whenever later envoys arrived they always asked what office Hao held and where he lived. By nature he was quick to act on principle and did not waver in the slightest amid hardship and danger. Zhao Bolin, a kinsman of Empress Yijie, served under Wushi and was desperately poor; Hao gave him relief. Fan Zhen's grandson Zuping had been reduced to hired servitude; Hao spoke to the Jurchens and secured his release. A concubine-born daughter of Liu Guangshi had been kept by a man who raised pigs; Hao redeemed her and saw her married. For other nobles who had fallen into low and wretched circumstances, he exerted himself to pull them out. Only because Qin Hui envied him, he did not die in the enemy state but perished from slander and malice.

皓博學強記，有文集五十卷及《帝王勇要》、《姓氏指南》、《松漠紀聞》、《金國文具錄》等書。子适、遵、邁。

Hao was broadly learned with a powerful memory. He left a collected writings in fifty juan, as well as books including Essentials of Imperial Valor, Guide to Surnames, Record of the Pine Desert, and Record of Jin Documents and Implements. His sons were Shi, Zun, and Mai.

子适

Son: Shi

适字景伯，皓長子也。幼敏悟，日誦三千言。皓使朔方，适年甫十三，能任家事。以皓出使恩，補修職郎。紹興十二年，與弟遵同中博學宏詞科。高宗曰：「父在遠方，子能自立，此忠義報也，宜升擢。」遂除敕令所刪定官。後三年，弟邁亦中是選，由是三洪文名滿天下。改秘書省正字。

Hong Shi, styled Jingbo, was Hong Hao's eldest son. As a child he was exceptionally bright and could recite three thousand characters a day. When Hong Hao went as envoy to the north, Shi was only thirteen but already able to manage the household. Through the grace of his father's ambassadorial service he was appointed Supplementary Xiuzhi Lang. In the twelfth year of Shaoxing he and his younger brother Hong Zun both passed the Erudite and Literary Grand Speech examination. Emperor Gaozong said, "Their father is far away, yet the sons can stand on their own. This is loyalty and righteousness rewarded—they should be promoted." Shi was thereupon appointed Collator at the Statutes and Decrees Office. Three years later his younger brother Mai also passed the same examination, and the literary fame of the three Hongs filled the realm. He was transferred to Corrector in the Secretariat.

甫數月，皓歸，忤秦檜，出知饒州，适亦出為台州通判。垂滿，皓謫英州，适复論罷，往來嶺南省侍者九載。檜死皓還，道卒，服闋，起知荊門軍。應詔上寬卹四事：輕茶額錢，它州代貢禮物，辟試闈以復舊額，蠲官田令不種者輸租。改知徽州，尋提舉江東路常平茶鹽，首言役法不均之弊。

Only a few months later Hong Hao returned, offended Qin Hui, and was sent out as prefect of Raozhou; Shi was also sent out as Vice Prefect of Taizhou. Near the end of his term, Hong Hao was demoted to Yingzhou and Shi was again impeached and dismissed. For nine years he traveled back and forth to Lingnan to attend his father. When Qin Hui died, Hong Hao started home but died on the road. After mourning ended, Shi was appointed to administer Jingmen Commandery. In response to an edict he submitted four proposals for lenient relief: reducing the tea quota levy, having other prefectures submit tribute goods in lieu, reopening examination halls to restore former quotas, and remitting rent on official fields for those who had not planted them. He was transferred to prefect of Huizhou, and soon appointed Commissioner of Ever-Normal Granaries, Tea, and Salt on the Jiangdong Circuit, where he first spoke of the evils of unequal labor levies.

會完顏亮來侵，上親征，适覲金陵，言：「本路旱，百姓逐食於淮，复遭金兵，今各懷歸而田產為官鬻，請聽其估贖之。」及亮斃，适上疏曰：「大定僭號，諸國未必服從，宜多遣密詔傳諭中原義士，各取州縣，因以畀之。王師但留屯淮、泗，募兵積粟，以為聲援。俟蜀、漢、山東之兵數道皆集，見可而進，庶幾兵力不頓，可以萬全。」升尚書戶部郎中，總領淮東軍馬錢糧。孝宗即位，海州解圍，符離用兵，饋餉繁夥，适究心調度，供億無闕。遷司農少卿。

When Wanyan Liang invaded and the emperor personally took the field, Shi had an audience at Jinling and said, "This circuit has suffered drought. The people went to the Huai for food and then met Jin troops again. Now they all wish to return, but their fields and property have been sold by the government. Please allow them to redeem them at assessed value." When Liang died, Shi submitted a memorial: "Da Ding has usurped the throne, and the various states may not submit to him. We should send many secret edicts to rally loyalists in the Central Plains, let each take prefectures and counties, and then grant those territories to them. Our imperial army need only remain encamped at Huai and Si, recruiting troops and accumulating grain to serve as a supporting force. Wait until armies from Shu, Han, and Shandong gather on several routes, then advance when the moment is right. In that way our forces will not be exhausted and the campaign may be made fully secure." He was promoted to Vice Director in the Ministry of Revenue and put in overall charge of military horses, funds, and grain in Huaidong. When Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne, Haizhou was relieved from siege and troops were deployed at Fuli. Supplies were numerous and complex, but Shi devoted himself to coordination and nothing was lacking. He was transferred to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Granaries.

隆興二年二月，召貳太常兼權直學士院。上欲除諸將環衛官，詔討論其制。适具唐及本朝沿革十一條上之，且言：「太祖、太宗朝，常以處諸將及降王之君臣，自後多以皇族為之，故國史以為官存而事廢。陛下修飭戎備，不必遠取唐制，祖宗故事蓋可法則。今徑行換授，恐有減奉之患，乞如閣職兼帶節度，至刺史帶上將軍，橫行遙郡帶大將軍，正使帶將軍，副使帶中郎將，又以下則帶左右郎將，其官府人吏，令有司相度以聞。」除中書舍人。時金人再犯淮，羽檄沓至，書詔填委，諮訪酬答率稱上旨，自此有大用意。金既尋盟，首為賀生辰使。金遣同簽書樞密院事高嗣先接伴，自言其父司空有德於皓，相與甚歡，得其要領以歸。

In the second month of the second year of Longxing he was summoned as Deputy Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and concurrently Acting Director of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies. The emperor wished to appoint the various generals to Palace Guard offices and ordered a discussion of the institution. Shi set forth eleven articles on the evolution of the institution under Tang and our dynasty and submitted them, saying, "In the reigns of Taizu and Taizong, these offices were commonly used to place generals and the ministers and subjects of surrendered kings. Later they were mostly filled by imperial clansmen, so the national history says the offices survived while their functions were abandoned. Your Majesty is strengthening military readiness. There is no need to reach back to Tang institutions—the precedents of our ancestors can serve as models. If we now directly transfer and appoint them, I fear there will be the harm of reduced stipends. I beg that, as with pavilion posts, they concurrently bear military titles: Inspectors up to General-in-Chief, Tranverse Commissioners of Remote Prefectures to Grand General, Chief Commissioners to General, Vice Commissioners to Major-General, and below that to Colonels of the Left and Right. As for their office staff and clerks, let the relevant offices measure the matter and report." He was appointed Drafting Secretary of the Secretariat. At the time the Jurchens again violated the Huai. Urgent dispatches piled up and documents and edicts overflowed his desk, yet his consultations and replies all accorded with the emperor's intent, and from this he came under great regard. Once the Jin soon renewed the alliance, he was first appointed envoy to congratulate them on the emperor's birthday. The Jin sent Co-Signatory of the Bureau of Military Affairs Gao Sixian as reception envoy. Gao said his father Sikong had shown kindness to Hong Hao, and the two got on very well. Shi returned having grasped their essentials.

六月，除端明殿學士、簽書樞密院事。上諭參政錢端禮、虞允文曰：「三省事與洪适商量。」東西府始同班奏事。八月，拜參知政事。諫議大夫林安宅以銅錢多入北境，請禁之，即蜀中取鐵錢行之淮上。事既行，适言其不可。上問之，适曰：「今每州不得千緡，一州以萬戶計之，每家才得數百，恐民間無以貿易。且客旅無回貨，鹽場有大利害。」上以為然，乃寢前命，但於蜀中取十五萬緡，行之廬、和二州而已。

In the sixth month he was appointed Academician of the Duandian Hall and Co-Signatory of the Bureau of Military Affairs. The emperor instructed Administrative Assistants Qian Duanli and Yu Yunwen, "Affairs of the Three Departments are to be deliberated with Hong Shi." The Eastern and Western bureaus for the first time jointly attended court to report affairs. In the eighth month he was appointed Vice Grand Councillor. Remonstrance and Petition Grandee Lin Anzhai, noting that much copper coin was flowing into the northern frontier, requested that it be banned and that iron coin be taken from Shu for circulation on the Huai. Once the measure was implemented, Shi said it would not work. The emperor asked him about it, and Shi said, "Now each prefecture receives no more than a thousand strings. For a prefecture of ten thousand households, each household gets only a few hundred. I fear the people will have nothing with which to trade. Moreover travelers will have no return goods to carry, and the salt fields have great stakes involved." The emperor agreed, shelved the earlier order, and took only a hundred and fifty thousand strings from Shu for circulation in Lu and He prefectures alone.

十二月，拜尚書右僕射、同中書門下平章事兼樞密使。未幾，春霖，适引咎乞退，林安宅抗疏論适，既而臺臣復合奏。三月，除觀文殿學士、提舉江州太平興國宮。尋起知紹興府、浙東安撫使。再奉祠。淳熙十一年薨，年六十八，諡文惠。

In the twelfth month he was appointed Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Co-Grand Councillor of the Secretariat-Chancellery, and concurrent Commissioner of Military Affairs. Before long, prolonged spring rains fell. Shi accepted blame and asked to retire. Lin Anzhai submitted a protesting memorial against him, and soon the censorial officials jointly memorialized again. In the third month he was appointed Academician of the Guanwen Hall and Director of the Taiping Xingguo Abbey in Jiangzhou. Soon he was raised to administer Shaoxing Prefecture and serve as Pacification Commissioner of Zhedong. He again received a sacrificial appointment. In the eleventh year of Chunxi he died at the age of sixty-eight and was given the posthumous title Wenhui, "Literary and Beneficent."

适以文學聞望，遭時遇主，自兩制一月入政府，又四閱月居相位，又三月罷政，然無大建明以究其學。家居十有六年，兄弟鼎立，子孫森然，以著述吟詠自樂，近世備福鮮有及之。或謂适黨湯思退，又謂适來自淮東，言張浚妄費，浚以此罷相，子九人：槻、柲、槢、𣘀、樌、桴、楹、槺、梠。

Shi was known for literary learning and reputation. Meeting the times and finding favor with his sovereign, he entered the government from the Two Drafting Offices within a month, held the chief ministership for four months, and resigned after three more—yet he had no great constructive proposals by which to fully apply his learning. At home for sixteen years, his brothers stood like a tripod and his descendants were numerous. He took delight in writing and poetry, and in recent times few have enjoyed such complete felicity. Some said Shi was partisan to Tang Situi; others said that Shi, coming from Huaidong, spoke of Zhang Jun's reckless expenditure, and that Jun was dismissed as chief councillor for this. He had nine sons: Gui, Bi, Ji, Qi, Gui, Fu, Ying, Hao, and Lu.

子遵

Son: Zun

遵字景嚴，皓仲子也。自兒時端重如成人，從師業文，不以歲時寒暑輟。父留沙漠，母亡，遵孺慕攀號。既葬，兄弟即僧舍肄詞業，夜枕不解衣。以父蔭補承務郎，與兄适同試博學宏詞科，中魁選，賜進士出身。高宗以皓遠使，擢為秘書省正字。中興以來，詞科中選即入館，自遵始。宰相秦檜子熺為官長，謦欬為人輕重，遵恬然不附麗。二年弗遷。

Hong Zun, styled Jingyan, was the second son of Hong Hao. Even as a child he carried himself with adult composure. He studied under teachers without breaking off his literary work, summer or winter. While his father was detained in the Jin northlands and his mother died, the boy mourned with inconsolable grief. After the funeral, he and his brothers moved into a monastery to prepare for the civil examinations, sleeping at night without even taking off their clothes. He entered office as Attendant Gentleman through his father's privilege. He and his elder brother Hong Shi took the Erudite Liturgy examination together, placed first, and received jinshi standing. Because Hong Hao was still abroad on diplomatic service, Emperor Gaozong appointed Hong Zun Collator in the Secretariat. From the Restoration onward, no one who passed the prestigious literary examination had entered the Hanlin institutes immediately—Hong Zun was the first. Qin Hui's son Qin Xi was his departmental superior, and his every gesture could make or break a career. Hong Zun remained unperturbed and refused to curry favor. For two years he received no promotion.

皓南還，與朝論異，出守。遵遂乞外，通判常、婺、越三州。紹興二十五年，湯思退薦之，復入為正字。八月，兼權直學士院。湯鵬舉副臺端，密薦為御史。方賜對而父訃聞。二十八年，免喪，召對，極陳父冤，曰：「先臣與龔璹同出疆，璹仕於劉豫，以妄殺兵官為豫所誅，而秦檜贈以節旄，擢用其子。先臣拒金人之命，留十五歲乃得歸，顧南竄嶺外，臣兄弟屏跡在外。檜不分忠逆如此。」高宗悉為道謗語所起，且曰：「卿再登三館，嘗典書命，今以修注處卿。」遂拜起居舍人。

When Hong Hao returned from the south, his views conflicted with court policy and he was sent out to a prefectural post. Hong Zun then asked to leave the capital and served as vice-prefect in Changzhou, Wuzhou, and Yuezhou in turn. In 1155 Tang Situi recommended him, and he returned to the capital as Collator in the Secretariat. That August he was given an additional appointment as acting member of the Hanlin Academy. Tang Pengju, a vice censor-in-chief, privately recommended him for a post as investigating censor. He was about to be received in audience when word came of his father's death. In 1158, when his mourning period ended, he was called to audience and pressed his father's case. He said: "My late father and Gong Shu went abroad together on diplomatic service. Shu entered Liu Yu's service and was executed by Yu for unlawfully killing army officers—yet Qin Hui rewarded his family with an imperial command baton and elevated his son. My father refused to obey the Jin and was detained for fifteen years before he could come home—only to be banished to the far south beyond the passes, while my brothers and I were forced to live in obscurity in the provinces. This is how Qin Hui failed to distinguish the loyal from the disloyal." Emperor Gaozong saw that the whole affair had been stirred up by slander, and said: "You have twice risen through the Three Institutes and once held charge of imperial documents. I shall now place you in the annals office." Hong Zun was then appointed Imperial Diarist.

奏乞以經筵官除罷及封章進對、宴會錫予、講讀問答等事，萃為一書，名之曰《邇英記註》。其後乾道間又有《祥曦殿記註》，實自遵始。又因面對，論鑄錢利害，帝嘉納之。遷起居郎兼權樞密院都承旨。舊制，修注官、經筵官許留身奏事，而近例無有。遵奏請復舊制，且言起居注未修者十五年，請除見修月進外，每月帶修，皆從之。

He petitioned that appointments and dismissals of lecture-hall officials, the presentation of memorials at audience, imperial banquets and gifts, lectures and imperial questions—all these matters be compiled into a single work titled Records of Er'yīng Notes. Later, during the Qiandao reign, Notes on the Xiangxi Hall would follow—the precedent was set by Hong Zun. In another audience he argued the pros and cons of coin minting, and the emperor praised and adopted his views. He was promoted to Gentleman of the Bedchamber and concurrently acting chief coordinator of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Under the old rules, annalists and lecture-hall officials were allowed to stay behind after court to memorialize the throne privately, but that practice had fallen into disuse. Hong Zun petitioned to restore the old practice, and noted that the Daily Record had gone unrevised for fifteen years. He asked that, in addition to the monthly progress reports already in place, additional monthly revision work be assigned—all of which was approved.

二十九年，拜中書舍人。殿前裨將輔逵轉防禦使，王綱轉團練使，遵言：「近制管軍官十年始一遷，今兩人不滿歲，安得爾？」時勳臣子孫多躐居臺省，遵極言乞明有所止。高宗曰：「正立法，自今功臣子孫序遷至侍從，並令久任在京宮觀。」遵曰：「侍從，朝廷高選，非如磨勘階官，安有遷序之制？」退而上奏言：「今內外將家無慮二十人，若以序遷，不出十年，西清次對皆可坐致。太祖開國功臣子孫不過諸司，惟曹彬之子琮、瑋以功名自奮，遂為節度，初不聞有遞遷侍從之例。今旨一出，使穆清之地類皆將種，非所以示天下。望收還前詔。」又言：「瑞昌、興國之間茶商失業，聚為盜賊。望揭榜開諭，許其自新，願充軍者填刺，願為農者放還。」上皆可其奏。

In 1159 he was appointed Secretariat Drafter. When adjutant Fu Kui was promoted to Defender Commandant and Wang Gang to Militia Commander, Hong Zun protested: "Under current rules army officers receive promotion only once in ten years. These two men have served less than a year—how can this be justified?" At the time many descendants of meritorious officials had leapfrogged into posts in the Censorate and secretariat. Hong Zun forcefully petitioned that clear limits be set. Emperor Gaozong replied: "Let us legislate properly: from now on the sons and grandsons of meritorious officials may advance in sequence only as far as attendant-in-waiting ranks, and must serve long terms at palace chapels in the capital." Hong Zun replied: "Attendant posts are among the highest appointments in court. They are not like routine merit-review ranks—what sense is there in a ladder of sequential promotion?" After withdrawing, he submitted a memorial: "There are roughly twenty military families in and around the court today. If they advance by seniority alone, within ten years every post in the inner palace secretariat could be filled without effort. Under Emperor Taizu, the descendants of founding meritors rarely rose above routine bureau posts. Only Cao Bin's sons Cao Cong and Cao Wei, through their own military achievements, became military commissioners—there was never any precedent for hereditary promotion into attendant ranks. Once this edict goes forth, the most exalted inner offices will be filled with military men—a poor message to send the empire. I beg that Your Majesty withdraw the recent edict." He also reported: "Between Ruichang and Xingguo, tea merchants ruined by unemployment have banded together as robbers. I ask that proclamations be posted offering amnesty. Those who wish to enlist should be enrolled; those who wish to return to farming should be released." The emperor approved all of his proposals.

論者欲复鄱陽永平、永豐兩監鼓鑄，詔給、舍議，遵曰：「唐有鼓鑄使，國朝或以漕臣兼領，或分道置使，厘為三司。自中興來，置都大提點，官屬太多，動為州縣之害。間者亟行廢罷，又無一定之論，初委運使，又委提刑，又委郡守、貳，號令不一，鼓鑄益少。竊以為復置便。」

Some officials argued for reopening the Yongping and Yongfeng mints at Poyang. The emperor ordered the draft office and secretariat to deliberate. Hong Zun argued: "The Tang appointed dedicated mint commissioners. In our dynasty responsibility sometimes fell to transport officials, sometimes to route commissioners, and was eventually divided among three bureaus. Since the Restoration, the grand mint commissioners carried too large a staff and frequently became a burden on local government. Recent repeated abolitions have left no consistent policy—authority has shifted from transport commissioners to judicial commissioners to prefects and vice-prefects in turn. With no unified command, mint output has only declined. I believe reestablishing dedicated mint officers would be the better course."

三十年正月，試吏部侍郎。異時選人詣曹改秩，吏倚為市，毫毛不中節，必巧生沮閡，須賂餉滿欲乃止。遵明與約，苟於大體無害，先行後審，薦員有定限，而舉者周遮重復，或同時一章而巧為兩牘，或當薦五員而輒逾十數，或當舉職官而詭為京狀，或身系常調而妄稱職司，或東西分曹而交錯攙補，或已予复奪而指雲事故，件析枚數，請凡如是者得通劾之。舊制，致仕任子，隨所在審敕牒即請行。是時，從議者請，必令於元州判奏。遵言：「士大夫或游宦粵、蜀，數千里外，不幸以死。臨終謝事，其家獲歸故里已為至難，今復因此齟齬，反复稽延，是明與惡吏為地也。」乃止仍舊貫。

In the first month of 1160 he served temporarily as Vice Minister of Personnel. In the past, when candidates came to the Ministry of Personnel for rank changes, clerks treated the office as a marketplace. They seized on the smallest irregularity to block proceedings and would not relent until bribes had filled their pockets. Hong Zun laid down clear rules: where no serious principle was at stake, candidates would proceed first and undergo review afterward. Quotas for recommendations were fixed, yet nominators evaded them in every way—splitting one memorial into two documents, recommending ten or more when only five were allowed, presenting local officials as capital appointments, claiming bureau status for men on routine rotation, coordinating nominations across regional offices, or revoking appointments already granted by invoking manufactured pretexts. He listed each abuse in detail and petitioned that all such cases be subject to collective impeachment. Under the old rule, when a retired official's son claimed his hereditary appointment, local authorities could verify the credentials on the spot and issue the appointment immediately. At the time proponents argued that such cases must be adjudicated in the official's original home prefecture. Hong Zun argued: "Scholar-officials sometimes serve in distant Guangdong or Sichuan, thousands of li from home—and die there. Even securing permission to retire and bring the body home is already immensely difficult. To add these bureaucratic disputes on top, drawing out delays again and again, is effectively to give corrupt clerks another pretext for extortion." The proposal was dropped and the old practice retained.

平江、湖、秀三州水，無以輸秋苗，有司抑令輸麥。遵言：「麥價珠不在米下，民困如是，奈何指夏以為秋，衍一以為二，使擠溝壑乎？願量取其半，而被水害者悉免之。」金人來索絳陽郭小的、安化劉孝恭二百家，遵以蜀之李特可為至戒，願以根集未足為解，淹引日月報之。遷翰林學士兼吏部尚書。汪澈論湯思退罷相，遵行製無貶詞，澈以為言。遂丐去，以徽猷閣直學士提舉太平興國宮。

Pingjiang, Huzhou, and Xiuzhou suffered flooding and could not deliver autumn rice tax. Local officials forced them to pay in wheat instead. Hong Zun protested: "Wheat is scarcely cheaper than rice. The people are already desperate—how can we treat summer grain as autumn tax, doubling their burden and driving them into ruin? I ask that half the levy be taken in kind, and that all flood victims be fully exempted." When the Jin demanded two hundred households—the families of Guo Xiaodi of Jiangyang and Liu Xiaogong of Anhua—Hong Zun cited Li Te's rebellion in Shu as a cautionary warning. He pleaded that record-gathering was incomplete and deliberately stalled for months in his replies. He was promoted to Hanlin Academician and concurrently Minister of Personnel. When Wang Che attacked Tang Situi's dismissal from the chancellorship, Hong Zun drafted the imperial rescript without a word of censure—drawing Wang Che's criticism. He then asked to resign and was given the post of Attendant Gentleman of the Huayou Pavilion, charged with overseeing Taiping Xingguo Palace.

三十一年，金主完顏亮命其尚書蘇保衡由海道窺二浙，朝廷以浙西副總管李寶御之。寶駐兵平江，守臣朱翌素與寶異，朝議以遵嘗薦寶，乃命遵知平江。及寶以舟師搗膠西，凡資糧、器械、舟楫皆遵供億，寶成功而歸，遵之助為多。車駕幸金陵，禁衛士丐索無藝，它郡隨與不厭。至吳，乃相告曰：「內翰在此，汝毋复然。」先是，朝廷慮商舶為賊得，悉拘入官，既而不返，並海縣團萃巨艦及募水手、民兵，皆縶留未得去。遵因對論之，以船還商，而聽水手自便，吳人德之。

In 1161 the Jin emperor Wanyan Liang sent his minister Su Baoheng by sea to reconnoiter the Zhejiang coast. The court assigned Li Bao, deputy commander of Western Zhe, to meet the threat. Li Bao was encamped at Pingjiang, but the prefect Zhu Yi had long been at odds with him. Because Hong Zun had once recommended Li Bao, the court appointed Hong Zun prefect of Pingjiang. When Li Bao struck the Jin fleet at Jiaoxi, Hong Zun furnished all provisions, weapons, and ships. Li Bao's victory owed much to his support. When the emperor traveled to Jinling, his guard troops made boundless demands for supplies. Other prefectures met every request without limit. When they reached Wu, word spread among the troops: "The Hanlin Academician is here—don't try that again." Earlier the court, fearing merchant vessels might fall into enemy hands, had impounded them for state use—but never returned them. Coastal counties had also gathered large ships and conscripted sailors and militia, all of whom remained detained and unable to leave. Hong Zun raised the matter at audience, restored the ships to merchants, and freed the sailors to go as they pleased. The people of Wu were deeply grateful.

知隆興元年貢舉，拜同知樞密院事。壽康殿產金芝十二，同列議表賀，遵引李文靖奏災異故事風止之。薦眉山李燾、永嘉鄭伯熊及林光朝，未及用，會湯思退為左相，而次相張浚罷，御史周璪策遵且超遷，上章致劾，上亟徙置他官。遵不能安位，連章乞免，訖與御史俱去。是年七月，以端明殿學士提舉太平興國宮。

He oversaw the civil examinations of 1163 and was appointed Vice Director of the Bureau of Military Affairs. When twelve golden lingzhi mushrooms appeared in the Shoukang Hall, his colleagues proposed a congratulatory memorial. Hong Zun cited the precedent of Li Wenjing's memorial treating such portents as omens and dissuaded them. He recommended Li Tao of Meishan, Zheng Boxiong of Yongjia, and Lin Guangchao—but before they could be appointed, Tang Situi became chief councillor and vice-councillor Zhang Jun was dismissed. Censor Zhou Cang, anticipating that Hong Zun would leap ahead in rank, submitted an impeachment. The emperor quickly moved Hong Zun to another post. Hong Zun could not remain in office and submitted repeated requests for dismissal. In the end both he and the censor left their posts. That July he was made Attendant Gentleman of the Duanming Hall and assigned to oversee Taiping Xingguo Palace.

乾道六年，起知信州。徙知太平州。前守周璪以嘗論遵，聞遵來，不俟合符馳去。遵追餞至十里，勞苦如平時，曰：「君當官而行，我何怨？」聞者以為盛德。圩田壞，民失業，遵鳩民築圩凡萬數。方冬盛寒，遵躬履其間，載酒食親餉饁，恩意傾盡，人忘其勞。運使張松忌功，妄奏圩未嘗決，民未嘗轉徙，必責圩戶自閼築，且裁省募工錢米之半。遵連疏爭，至乞遣朝臣覆按。於是將作少監馬希言、監察御史陳舉善狎至，黜松言，圩遂成，合四百五十有五。松無所洩其忿，則別治溧水永豐圩，來調丁、米、木，數甚廣。遵曰：「郡當歲儉，方振卹流移，勸分乞糴，如自刲其股以充喉，不暇食，況能飽他人腹哉。」執不從。

In 1170 he was recalled to serve as prefect of Xinzhou. He was transferred to Taiping Prefecture as prefect. The outgoing prefect Zhou Cang—who had once impeached Hong Zun—fled before the formal transfer of authority could even take place, upon hearing of Hong Zun's appointment. Hong Zun rode ten li to see him off and treated him with the same courtesy as always, saying: "You were only doing your duty as an official—why should I resent you?" Those who heard of it praised his magnanimity. When flood walls collapsed and farmers lost their livelihoods, Hong Zun organized the people to rebuild polders by the ten thousands. In the depth of winter he walked the worksites himself, bringing wine and food to feed the laborers with his own hands. His care was so wholehearted that the people scarcely felt their exhaustion. Transport Commissioner Zhang Song, jealous of his achievement, falsely reported that no polder had breached and no farmers had been displaced. He insisted polder households repair the works themselves and cut the allocated labor funds and grain by half. Hong Zun submitted memorial after memorial in protest, going so far as to request a court investigation. Assistant Director of Palace Buildings Ma Xiyan and Supervising Censor Chen Jushan were dispatched in turn. They rejected Zhang Song's account, and the polders were completed—a total of 455. Unable to vent his resentment elsewhere, Zhang Song turned to building the Yongfeng polder in Lishui County, requisitioning labor, grain, and timber on a vast scale from Hong Zun's jurisdiction. Hong Zun replied: "The prefecture is in the grip of famine. We are already providing relief to refugees and begging grain wherever we can. To meet these demands would be like cutting flesh from our own leg to feed our mouth when we are starving—how can we fill another man's belly?" He firmly refused.

楚地旱，旁縣振贍者慮不早，施置失後先，或得米而亡以炊，或闔戶莩藉而廩不至。遵簡賓佐，隨遠近壯老以差賦給，蠲租至十九，又告糴於江西，得活者不啻萬計。戍兵乘時盜利，曹伍剽於野，盡執拘以歸其軍。故當大札瘥而邑落晏然。徙知建康府、江東安撫使兼行宮留守。孝宗諭當制舍人范成大，褒其治績，且許入覲。

A drought struck the region. Neighboring counties that tried to provide relief acted too late or in the wrong order. Some families received grain but had no fuel to cook it; others starved at home while grain sat undelivered in the warehouses. Hong Zun delegated his staff to distribute relief by distance and by the needs of the young and old. He remitted up to ninety percent of land tax and purchased grain from Jiangxi. Tens of thousands of lives were saved. Garrison troops took advantage of the crisis to loot the countryside. Hong Zun arrested every band and returned the men to their units. Thus when plague struck the region, the towns and villages remained at peace. He was transferred to Nanjing as prefect, Jiangdong pacification commissioner, and caretaker of the imperial traveling palace. Emperor Xiaozong instructed Fan Chengda, who held drafting duty, to compose an edict praising Hong Zun's administrative record and granting him permission to appear at court.

子邁

His son Hong Mai

邁字景盧，皓季子也。幼讀書日數千言，一過目輒不忘，博極載籍，雖稗官虞初，釋老傍行，靡不涉獵。從二兄試博學宏詞科，邁獨被黜。紹興十五年始中第，授兩浙轉運司幹辦公事，入為敕令所刪定官。皓忤秦檜投閒，檜憾未已，御史汪勃論邁知其父不靖之謀，遂出添差教授福州。累遷吏部郎兼禮部。

Hong Mai, styled Jinglu, was the youngest son of Hong Hao. As a boy he read thousands of characters daily and never forgot what he had seen once. He mastered the classics so thoroughly that he ranged even through folk tales, collections like Yu Chu, and Buddhist and Daoist writings—nothing was outside his reading. He took the Erudite Liturgy examination alongside his two elder brothers—but only Hong Mai failed. In 1145 he passed the examination and was appointed staff officer of the Two-Zhe Transport Commission, then became a reviser in the Statutes Office. When Hong Hao clashed with Qin Hui and was sidelined, Qin's resentment did not end. Censor Wang Bo charged that Hong Mai had known of his father's "disloyal" intentions, and Hong Mai was transferred out as supernumerary professor at Fuzhou. He rose through the ranks to become department director of the Ministries of Personnel and Rites.

上居顯仁皇后喪，當孟饗，禮官未知所從，邁請遣宰相分祭，奏可。除樞密檢詳文字。建議令民入粟贖罪，以紓國用，又請嚴法駕出入之儀。

While the emperor was in mourning for Empress Dowager Xianren, ritual officials were uncertain how to conduct the first seasonal sacrifice. Hong Mai proposed that the chancellors perform the rites separately—and the proposal was approved. He was appointed textual reviewer in the Bureau of Military Affairs. He proposed allowing citizens to redeem offenses with grain contributions to ease state finances, and also called for stricter protocol for the imperial procession.

三十一年，議欽宗諡，邁曰：「淵聖北狩不返，臣民悲痛，當如楚人立懷王之義，號懷宗，以系復仇之意。」不用。吳璘病篤，朝論欲徙吳拱代之。邁曰：「吳氏以功握蜀兵三十年，宜有以新民觀聽，毋使尾大不掉。知樞密院事葉義問出視師，奏以邁參議軍事，至鎮江，聞瓜洲官軍與金人相持，遑遽失措。會建康走驛告急，義問遽欲還，邁力止之曰：「今退師，無益京口勝敗之數，而金陵聞返旆，人心動搖，不可。」遷左司員外郎。

In 1161, when the court debated Emperor Qinzong's posthumous title, Hong Mai argued: "The Captive Emperor never returned from the north. The grief of the court and people is unabated. We should follow the precedent of the Chu establishing King Huai of Chu and style him Emperor Huaizong, to keep alive the resolve for national restoration." The proposal was rejected. When Wu Lin fell gravely ill, court opinion favored transferring Wu Gong to replace him. Hong Mai argued: "The Wu family has commanded Sichuan's armies on merit for thirty years. The court should give the people some sign of renewal and not let the branch grow so powerful that it cannot be controlled. Ye Yiwen, commissioner-in-chief of the Bureau of Military Affairs, went out to inspect the troops and had Hong Mai appointed to advise on military affairs. When they reached Zhenjiang and learned that government forces at Guazhou were deadlocked with the Jurchens, Ye panicked and lost his composure. When an urgent courier arrived from Jiankang, Ye Yiwen wanted to pull back at once. Hong Mai forcefully dissuaded him: "A withdrawal now would not change the outcome at Jingkou, and if Nanjing hears that our banners are turning back, morale will collapse. That must not be done. He was promoted to assistant director of the Left Bureau.

三十二年春，金主褒遣左監軍高忠建來告登位，且議和，邁為接伴使，知閣門張掄副之。上謂執政曰：「向日講和，本為梓宮、太后，雖屈己卑辭，有所不憚。今兩國之盟已絕，名稱以何為正，疆土以何為準，朝見之儀，歲幣之數，所宜先定。」及邁、掄入辭，上又曰：「朕料此事終歸於和，欲首議名分，而土地次之。」邁於是奏更接伴禮數，凡十有四事。自渡江以來，屈己含忍多過禮，至是一切殺之，用敵國體，凡遠迎及引接金銀等皆罷。既而高忠建有責臣禮及取新復州郡之議，邁以聞，且奏言：「土疆實利不可與，禮際虛名不足惜。」禮部侍郎黃中聞之，亟奏曰：「名定實隨，百世不易，不可謂虛。土疆得失，一彼一此，不可謂實。」兵部侍郎陳俊卿亦謂：「先正名分，名分正則國威張，而歲幣亦可損矣。」

In the spring of 1162, the Jin emperor Bao sent Left Army Supervisor Gao Zhongjian to announce his accession and discuss peace. Hong Mai served as reception commissioner, with Palace Gate Commissioner Zhang Lun as his deputy. The emperor told his chief ministers: "When we negotiated peace before, it was above all for the imperial coffin and the empress dowager. I was willing to humble myself and use deferential language for that. Now that the alliance between the two states is broken, we must first settle what titles are proper, what borders should serve as the standard, the ceremonies of court audience, and the amount of annual tribute. When Hong Mai and Zhang Lun came to take leave, the emperor added: "I expect this matter will end in peace after all. I want status and titles settled first, and territory second. Hong Mai then memorialized to revise the reception protocol in fourteen points. Since the court had crossed the Yangzi, it had humbled itself and endured humiliations that far exceeded proper ritual. Hong Mai now cut all of that back and insisted on equal-state protocol. Distant greeting ceremonies and the presentation of gold and silver on escort were all abolished. When Gao Zhongjian raised demands for ministerial deference and the return of newly recovered prefectures and districts, Hong Mai reported this to the throne and argued: "Territory of real strategic value must not be surrendered; ceremonial titles are empty names not worth clinging to. Vice Minister of Rites Huang Zhong heard of this and urgently memorialized: "When the name is fixed, reality follows, and that does not change for a hundred generations. Titles cannot be called empty. Territorial gains and losses shift back and forth between the two states. That cannot be called a matter of solid advantage. Vice Minister of War Chen Junqing also argued: "Fix status and titles first. Once they are correct, national prestige will rise and annual tribute can be reduced as well."

進起居舍人。時議遣使報金國聘，三月丁巳，詔侍從、臺諫各舉可備使命者一人。初，邁之接伴也，既持舊禮折伏金使，至是，慨然請行。於是假翰林學士，充賀登位使，欲令金稱兄弟敵國而歸河南地。夏四月戊子，邁辭行，書用敵國禮，高宗親札賜邁等曰：「祖宗陵寢，隔闊三十年，不得以時灑掃祭祀，心實痛之。若彼能以河南地見歸，必欲居尊如故，正复屈己，亦何所惜。」邁奏言：「山東之兵未解，則兩國之好不成。」至燕，金閣門見國書，呼曰：「不如式。」抑令使人於表中改陪臣二字，朝見之儀必欲用舊禮。邁初執不可，既而金鎖使館，自旦及暮水漿不通，三日乃得見。金人語極不遜，大都督懷忠議欲質留，左丞相張浩持不可，乃遣還。七月，邁回朝，則孝宗已即位矣。殿中侍御史張震以邁使金辱命，論罷之。明年，起知泉州。

He was promoted to diarist of the palace. The court then debated sending envoys to return the Jin visit. On the dingsi day of the third month, an edict ordered palace attendants and remonstrance officials each to recommend one man fit for diplomatic service. When Hong Mai had served as reception commissioner, he had already used the revised protocol to force the Jin envoy into submission. Now he volunteered resolutely to go himself. He was then temporarily granted the title of Hanlin academician and appointed envoy to congratulate the new Jin ruler, with the aim of securing equal-state status as brother kingdoms and the return of Henan. On the wuzi day of the fourth month, Hong Mai took leave to depart. His credentials used equal-state protocol. Emperor Gaozong wrote to Hong Mai and his party in his own hand: "Our ancestral tombs have lain beyond reach for thirty years, and we have been unable to sweep and sacrifice to them in their season. That pain is real. If they will return Henan, I am willing to humble myself again and let them keep their superior position as before. What would there be to regret? Hong Mai memorialized: "If the armies in Shandong are not withdrawn, a lasting peace between the two states cannot be achieved. When they reached Yan, the Jin Gate Office inspected the state letter and shouted: "This does not conform to the required form. They forced the envoys to change the words "subordinate minister" in the memorial of credence and insisted that the audience ceremony follow the old protocol. Hong Mai at first refused. The Jin then locked the envoy lodge and cut off food and drink from dawn to dusk. Only after three days were the envoys granted an audience. The Jurchens spoke with extreme insolence. Grand Commissioner Huai Zhong proposed detaining the envoys as hostages, but Left Chancellor Zhang Hao objected, and the party was sent back. In the seventh month Hong Mai returned to court, by which time Emperor Xiaozong had already ascended the throne. Palace Censor Zhang Zhen memorialized for Hong Mai's dismissal on the grounds that his mission to the Jin had disgraced the imperial commission. The following year he was recalled and appointed prefect of Quanzhou.

乾道二年，复知吉州。入對，遂除起居舍人，直前言：「起居注皆據諸處關報，始加修纂，雖有日曆、時政記，亦莫得書。景祐故事，有《邇英延義二閣註記》，凡經筵侍臣出處、封章進對、宴會賜予，皆用存記。十年間稍廢不續，陛下言動皆罔聞知，恐非命侍本意。乞令講讀官自今各以日得聖語關送修注官，令講筵所牒報，使謹錄之，因今所御殿名曰《祥曦記註》。」制可。

In 1166 he was again appointed prefect of Jizhou. When he appeared at court, he was appointed diarist and spoke plainly: "The Daily Records depend on reports from various offices and are only then compiled. Even with the Calendar and Records of Current Policy, little of real substance gets written down. Under the Jingyou precedent there was the Record of the Eying and Yanyi Halls, in which the attendance of lecture officials, memorial submissions and imperial responses, banquets, and bestowals were all preserved. Over the past decade that practice has largely lapsed. Your Majesty's words and actions go unrecorded, which I fear was not the purpose of appointing palace attendants. I ask that lecturing officials hereafter transmit each day's imperial utterances to the revising diarists, with the lecture hall issuing regular reports so that they may be carefully recorded, and that the record be named the Xiangxi Annals after the hall now in use. The proposal was approved.

三年，遷起居郎，拜中書舍人兼侍讀、直學士院，仍參史事。父忠宣、兄适、遵皆歷此三職，邁又踵之。邁奏：「三省事無鉅細，必先經中書書黃，宰執書押，當制舍人書行，然後過門下，給事中書讀，如給、舍有所建明，則封黃具奏，以聽上旨。惟樞密院既得旨，即書黃過門下，例不送中書，謂之『密白』，則封駁之職似有所偏，況今宰相兼樞密，因而厘正，不為有嫌。望詔樞密院。凡已被制敕，並關左右省依三省書黃，以示重出命之意。」報可。

In the third year he was promoted to palace diarist and appointed vice minister of the Secretariat, concurrently lecturer and academician of the Hanlin Institute, while continuing to participate in historical compilation. His father, posthumously titled Zhongxuan, and his elder brothers Hong Shi and Hong Zun had all held these three posts; Hong Mai now followed in their footsteps. Hong Mai memorialized: "No matter how great or small, affairs of the Three Departments must first be drafted in yellow at the Secretariat, signed by the chancellors, and written for promulgation by the drafting vice minister. Only then do they pass to the Gate Department for review by the supervisory recipient. If the recipient or drafter has proposals, they seal the yellow draft and memorialize together for the emperor's decision. Only the Bureau of Military Affairs, once it receives the imperial decision, drafts in yellow and sends the document directly to the Gate Department without passing the Secretariat—a practice called 'secret white.' That leaves the review and remonstrance function incomplete. Now that chancellors also head the Bureau of Military Affairs, correcting this would involve no impropriety. I ask that the Bureau of Military Affairs be so instructed. All promulgated edicts should also be reported to the Left and Right Departments according to the Three Departments' yellow-draft procedure, to show the weight of imperial command. The memorial was approved.

六年，除知贛州，起學宮，造浮梁，士民安之。郡兵素驕，小不如欲則跋扈，郡歲遣千人戍九江，是歲，或怵以至則留不復返，眾遂反戈。民訛言相驚，百姓恟懼。邁不為動，但遣一校婉說之，俾歸營，眾皆聽，垂橐而入，徐詰什五長兩人，械送潯陽，斬於市。辛卯歲饑，贛適中熟，邁移粟濟鄰郡。僚屬有諫止者，邁笑曰：「秦、越瘠肥，臣子義耶？」尋知建寧府。富民有睚眥殺人衷刃篡獄者，久拒捕，邁正其罪，黥流嶺外。

In the sixth year he was appointed prefect of Ganzhou. He built a school and a floating bridge, and scholars and common people alike were put at ease. The prefectural troops were habitually unruly and became overbearing whenever their wishes were even slightly thwarted. Each year the prefecture sent a thousand men to garrison Jiujiang. That year some were incited to believe that once they arrived they would be kept there and never allowed home, and the men turned on their officers. False rumors spread among the people, and the populace was thrown into panic. Hong Mai remained calm. He sent one officer to reason with the men and persuade them back to camp, and they obeyed. When they entered carrying their packs, he quietly identified two squad leaders and had them bound and sent to Xunyang, where they were executed in the market. In a xinmao year of famine, Ganzhou had just enjoyed a moderate harvest, and Hong Mai transferred grain to relieve neighboring prefectures. When staff members urged him to stop, Hong Mai laughed and said: "Are we ministers only when Qin is starving and Yue is fat? Soon after he was appointed prefect of Jianning. A wealthy man who had killed over a petty grudge, concealed a blade on his person, and seized control of the jail had long evaded capture. Hong Mai tried him, had him tattooed, and exiled him beyond the Lingnan passes.

十一年[1]，知婺州，奏：「金華田多沙，勢不受水，五日不雨則旱，故境內陂湖最當繕治。命耕者出力，田主出穀，凡為公私塘堰及湖，總之為八百三十七所。」婺軍素無律，春給衣，欲以緡易帛，吏不可，則群呼嘯聚於郡將之治，郡將惴恐，姑息如其欲。邁至，眾狃前事，至以飛語榜譙門。邁以計逮捕四十有八人，置之理，黨眾相嗾，哄擁邁轎，邁曰：「彼罪人也，汝等何預？」眾逡巡散去。邁戮首惡二人，梟之市，餘黥撻有差，莫敢嘩者。事聞，上語輔臣曰：「不謂書生能臨事達權。」特遷敷文閣待制。

In the eleventh year, as prefect of Wuzhou, he memorialized: "The fields of Jinhua are mostly sandy and hold little water. Five days without rain bring drought, so the ponds and lakes within the prefecture most urgently need repair. He ordered cultivators to supply labor and landowners to supply grain. Public and private ponds, weirs, and lakes repaired in all numbered 837. The Wuzhou garrison had long lacked discipline. Each spring when clothing was issued, the soldiers wanted to exchange cash for silk cloth. When officials refused, they gathered in a shouting mob at the military commissioner's office. The commissioner, fearful, indulged them. When Hong Mai arrived, the men, emboldened by past indulgence, went so far as to post slanderous placards at the gate. Hong Mai by stratagem arrested forty-eight men and put them on trial. The faction incited one another and crowded around his sedan chair in uproar. Hong Mai said: "They are criminals. What business is that of yours? The crowd hesitated and dispersed. Hong Mai executed the two ringleaders and displayed their heads in the market. The rest received tattooing and flogging in varying degrees, and none dared raise an outcry again. When the matter was reported, the emperor told his chief ministers: "I did not expect a scholar to handle a crisis with such timely discretion. He was specially promoted to gentleman attendant at the Fuwen Pavilion.

明年，召對，首論淮東邊備六要地：曰海陵，曰喻洳，曰鹽城，曰寶應，曰清口，曰盱眙。謂宜修城池，嚴屯兵，立遊樁，益戍卒。又言：「許浦宜開河三十六里，梅里鎮宜築二大堰，作斗門，遇行師，則決防送船。」又言：「馮湛創多槳船，底平檣浮，雖尺水可運。今十五六年，修葺數少，不足用。」謂宜募瀕海富商入船予爵，招善操舟者以補水軍，上嘉之。以提舉佑神觀兼侍講、同修國史。

The next year, summoned for audience, he first discussed six key points of Huaidong frontier defense: Hailing, Yuru, Yancheng, Baoying, Qingkou, and Xuyi. He argued that city walls should be repaired, garrisons tightened, patrol stakes established, and frontier troops increased. He also argued: "At Xupu a canal thirty-six li long should be opened, and at Meili Town two great barrages with sluice gates should be built so that, when troops move, the dikes can be breached to float boats through. He also noted: "Feng Zhan devised multi-oar boats with flat bottoms and floating masts that can operate in as little as a foot of water. Now, fifteen or sixteen years later, too few have been repaired or replaced, and they are no longer adequate. He proposed recruiting wealthy coastal merchants to contribute boats in exchange for titles and enlisting skilled boatmen to replenish the navy. The emperor praised the plan. He was appointed superintendent of the Youshen Shrine, concurrently lecturer and co-compiler of the National History.

邁初入史館，預修《四朝帝紀》，進敷文閣直學士、直學士院。講讀官宿直，上時召入，談論至夜分。十三年九月，拜翰林學士，遂上《四朝史》，一祖八宗百七十八年為一書。

When Hong Mai first entered the History Institute, he helped compile the Records of Four Reigns and was promoted to academician of the Fuwen Pavilion and the Hanlin Institute. On nights when he was on duty as lecturing official, the emperor would summon him and talk until midnight. In the ninth month of the thirteenth year he was appointed Hanlin academician and submitted the History of Four Reigns, covering one founding ancestor, eight emperors, and 178 years in a single work.

紹熙改元，進煥章閣學士、知紹興府。過闕奏事，言新政宜以十漸為戒。上曰：「浙東民困於和市，卿往，為朕正之。」邁再拜曰：「誓盡力。」邁至郡，核實詭戶四萬八千三百有奇，所減絹以匹計者，略如其數。提舉玉隆萬壽宮。明年，再上章告老，進龍圖閣學士。尋以端明殿學士致仕，是歲卒，年八十。贈光祿大夫，諡文敏。

When the Shaoxi reign era was inaugurated in 1190, he was promoted to academician of the Huanzhang Pavilion and appointed prefect of Shaoxing. Passing through the capital to report on affairs, he warned that the new policies should heed his Ten Gradual Deteriorations. The emperor said: "The people of eastern Zhejiang are suffering under the forced-purchase system. Go and set that right for me. Hong Mai bowed twice and said: "I swear to do my utmost. When he reached the prefecture, he verified more than 48,300 fraudulent household registrations, and the silk tax reduction, counted in bolts, roughly matched that figure. He was appointed superintendent of the Yulong Wanshou Palace. The next year he again memorialized to retire and was promoted to academician of the Longtu Pavilion. Soon after he retired as academician of the Duanming Hall. That same year he died at the age of eighty. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grandee of Brilliant Happiness and given the posthumous title Wenmin.

邁兄弟皆以文章取盛名，躋貴顯，邁尤以博洽受知孝宗，謂其文備眾體。邁考閱典故，漁獵經史，極鬼神事物之變，手書《資治通鑑》凡三。有《容齋五筆》、《夷堅志》行於世，其他著述尤多。所修《欽宗紀》多本之孫覿，附耿南仲，惡李綱，所紀多失實，故朱熹舉王允之論，言佞臣不可使執筆，以為不當取覿所紀云。

The Hong brothers all won great fame through their writing and rose to high office. Hong Mai especially, through encyclopedic learning, won Emperor Xiaozong's favor; the emperor said his writings mastered every genre. Hong Mai reviewed institutional precedents and ranged widely through the classics and histories, exploring transformations of spirits, ghosts, and natural phenomena to their limits. He hand-copied the Comprehensive Mirror in full three times. His Rongzhai's Five Notes and Records of Yijian circulated widely, and his other writings were even more numerous. The Record of Emperor Qinzong that he compiled relied heavily on Sun Di, who sided with Geng Nanzhong and opposed Li Gang, so much of it was inaccurate. Zhu Xi therefore cited Wang Yun's argument that sycophants must not be allowed to wield the brush, holding that Sun Di's account should not have been used.

論曰：孔子云：「使於四方，不辱君命，可謂士矣。」當建炎、紹興之際，凡使金者，如探虎口，能全節而歸，若朱弁、張邵、洪皓其庶幾乎，望之不足議也。皓留北十五年，忠節尤著，高宗謂蘇武不能過，誠哉。然竟以忤秦檜謫死，悲夫！其子适、遵、邁相繼登詞科，文名滿天下，适位極臺輔，而邁文學尤高，立朝議論最多，所謂忠議之報，詎不信夫。

Commentary: Confucius said, "One sent on missions to the four directions who does not disgrace his ruler's commission may be called a true gentleman. In the Jianyan and Shaoxing era, serving as envoy to the Jin was like reaching into a tiger's maw. Those who preserved their integrity and returned—Zhu Bian, Zhang Shao, and Hong Hao came closest to that ideal. Zheng Wangzhi is not worth discussing. Hong Hao remained in the north for fifteen years, and his loyalty and integrity were especially remarkable. Emperor Gaozong said that even Su Wu could not surpass him—and that was true. Yet in the end he died in exile for having opposed Qin Hui. How tragic! His sons Hong Shi, Hong Zun, and Hong Mai passed the literary examination in succession, and their literary fame filled the empire. Hong Shi rose to the highest ministerial rank, while Hong Mai's scholarship was especially distinguished and his court deliberations the most numerous. The reward of loyal remonstrance—can one doubt that it is real?

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