1
章誼，字宜叟，建州浦城人。 登崇寧四年進士第，補懷州司法參軍，歷漳、台二州教授、杭州通判。 建炎初，陳通寇錢塘，城閉，部使者檄誼聚杭州七縣弓兵，以張聲勢。 會王淵討賊，誼隨淵得入城，賊平，旋加撫定，人皆德之。
Zhang Yi, whose courtesy name was Yishou, came from Pucheng in Jianzhou. He earned his jinshi degree in 1105, took up a post as judicial aide in Huaizhou, and later served as instructor in both Zhangzhou and Taizhou before becoming vice-prefect of Hangzhou. Early in the Jianyan reign, the bandit Chen Tong attacked the Hangzhou area; with the city sealed off, the regional commissioner ordered Zhang Yi to muster archer militia from Hangzhou's seven counties to swell the appearance of strength. Wang Yuan arrived to crush the rebels; Zhang Yi accompanied him into the city. Once order was restored, Yi was put in charge of reassurance work, and the people credited him with their deliverance.
2
帝幸臨安，苗、劉為變，帝御樓，宰臣百執事咸在，人心恟恟。 帝問群臣曰：「今日之事何如？」 浙西安撫司主管機宜文字時希孟輙曰：「乞問三軍。」 誼越班斥之曰：「問三軍何義？ 若將鼓亂邪？」 希孟卻立屏息，帝嘉之。 事定，竄希孟吉陽軍，誼遷二秩，擢倉部員外郎。 奉使二浙，貿易祠牒以濟軍用，以稽遲罷。 未幾，召為駕部員外郎，遷殿中侍御史。
After the emperor moved to Lin'an, Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan rose in mutiny. The emperor appeared atop the palace tower with all his chief ministers and officials in attendance while panic spread through the ranks. The emperor turned to his ministers and asked, "What is your judgment of what has happened today?" Shi Ximeng, a confidential clerk on the Zhexi Pacification staff, spoke up at once: "I submit that Your Majesty should ask the three armies." Zhang Yi broke ranks and rebuked him: "What do you mean by consulting the armies? Are you trying to stir up a mutiny?" Ximeng fell back and held his tongue. The emperor praised Zhang Yi for it. Once calm was restored, Ximeng was exiled to Jiyang, while Yi was raised two ranks and appointed vice director in the Revenue Ministry. He was sent on a mission through both Zhe circuits to exchange commemorative certificates for military funds, but lost his post for slow progress. Soon afterward he was recalled to the Transport Ministry and then promoted to palace supervising censor.
3
張浚宣撫陝西，誼奏：「自趙哲退敗，事任已重，處斷太專，當除副貳，使之自助。」 何㮚贈官，誼論其折衝無謀，守禦無策，乃中國招禍之首，乞寢免。
When Zhang Jun took up the Shaanxi pacification commission, Yi memorialized that since Zhao Zhe's defeat Zhang Jun's burden had grown so heavy and his discretion so absolute that a deputy should be named to share the load. When He Li was slated for a posthumous promotion, Zhang Yi argued that He had lacked both strategy in diplomacy and plans in defense—he had been chief among those who invited catastrophe on the state—and asked that the honor be set aside.
4
邵青自太平乘舟抵平江，所至劫掠。 誼請置水軍於駐蹕之地，且言：「古舟師有三等，大為陣腳，次為戰船，小為傳令，皆可為戰守之備。」 詔淮南三宣撫措置。 誼又獻戰守四策，謂：「金人累歲南侵，我亦累歲奔走，蓋謀國之臣誤陛下也。 比者駐蹕揚州，有兵數十萬，可以一戰。 斥候不明，金人奄至，逾江而東，此宰相黃潛善、汪伯彥過也。 前年，移蹕建康，兵練將勇，據長江之險，可守矣。 舟師不設，二相異意，金人未至，遵海而南，此宰相呂頤浩過也。 不知今年守戰之策安所從出？ 執政大臣誰為陛下任此事者？ 臣愚謂有江海，必資舟楫戰守之具； 有險阻，必資郡縣防守之力； 有兵將，必駕馭撫循，不可為將帥自衛之資； 有糧賦，必漕運轉輸，不可為盜賊侵據之用。 四者各付能臣，分路以辦，重賞嚴罰，誰敢不用命哉！」
Shao Qing sailed from Taiping to Pingjiang, looting every place he touched. Zhang Yi urged posting a river navy at the imperial encampment, noting that ancient fleets had three tiers—large ships as the battle line, mid-sized war junks, and small dispatch boats—each useful for attack or defense." The court ordered the three Huainan pacification commissioners to carry this out. Zhang Yi also offered four proposals on war and defense, arguing that while the Jurchens had invaded the south year after year, the court had spent those same years in flight—ministers charged with statecraft had misled the throne. When the court had lately encamped at Yangzhou, it had several hundred thousand troops on hand—enough to stand and fight. Because reconnaissance failed, the enemy appeared without warning and crossed the Yangzi eastward—a failure owed to Chief Councillors Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan. The year before, when the court shifted to Jiankang, the army was drilled and its commanders resolute; holding the Yangzi barrier, the position was defensible. No river navy was organized; the two chief ministers pulled in different directions; and before the enemy even arrived the court fled south along the coast—a failure laid at Lü Yihao's door. Who, then, is to supply this year's strategy for holding the line or giving battle? Which minister in power will actually shoulder this for Your Majesty? In my view, wherever there are rivers and seas, the state must have ships and gear for naval war and defense; where there are natural barriers, it must lean on prefectures and counties for defense; where there are armies and commanders, the throne must govern and reassure them, not let them become private guards for their generals; where there is grain revenue, it must move by canal transport, not fall into bandits' hands. Assign each of the four to able ministers, each with his own route and mandate, backed by rich rewards and harsh penalties—who would refuse to serve?"
5
詔問保民、弭盜、遏寇、生財之策，誼對曰：「去姦貪殘虐之吏，則民可保； 用循良廉平之吏，則盜可弭； 敵寇未遏，以未得折衝禦侮之臣； 財賦未裕，以未得掌財心計之臣。 凡此四者，任人不任法，則政治可得而治矣。」
The emperor solicited plans to protect the people, suppress bandits, hold back invaders, and grow revenue. Zhang Yi answered: "Remove corrupt and brutal officials, and the people can be secured; appoint upright and fair officials, and banditry will subside; invaders remain unchecked because we lack ministers who can confront the enemy and repel aggression; treasury revenue stays thin because we lack ministers who truly understand fiscal planning. On all four counts, if the throne appoints the right men rather than trusting rules alone, government can be set in order."
6
詔集議明堂配享，胡直儒等請合祭天地，而以太祖、太宗配。 誼言：「稽之經旨則未合，參之典故則未盡，施之事帝則未為簡嚴。 今國家既以太祖配天于郊，比周之后稷，則太宗宜配帝於明堂，以比周之文王。 仁宗皇祐二年，始行明堂合祭天地，並配祖宗，乃一時變禮。 至嘉祐七年，再行宗祀，已悟皇祐之非，乃罷配享，仍徹地示之位，故有去並侑煩文之詔。 如嘉祐之詔，則太祖地示已不與祭； 元豐正祀典之詔，則悉罷群祀。 臣等謂將來明堂大饗，宜專祀昊天上帝，而以太宗配。」 後不果行。
The court convened debate on Bright Hall spirit tablets. Hu Zhiru and others proposed a joint sacrifice to Heaven and Earth with both Taizu and Taizong as associates. Zhang Yi objected: "Measured against the classics it does not fit; measured against precedent it is incomplete; applied to the worship of Heaven it is neither concise nor dignified. The dynasty already pairs Taizu with Heaven at the suburban altar, as Zhou paired Hou Ji with Heaven; Taizong should therefore pair with the Lord at the Bright Hall, as Zhou paired King Wen. In Renzong's Huangyou reign, year 2, the court first performed a Bright Hall joint sacrifice to Heaven and Earth with the ancestors as associates—a one-time ritual change. By Jiayou year 7, when the ancestral rite was held again, the court had already seen the Huangyou arrangement as wrong, ended associate tablets, and removed Earth from the rite—hence the edict stripping away cumbersome joint-accompaniment forms. Under the Jiayou edict, Taizu and Earth no longer shared the altar; and the Yuanfeng edict reforming the sacrificial canon abolished miscellaneous rites entirely. We hold that future Bright Hall great feasts should worship the Supreme Lord of Heaven alone, with Taizong as associate." The proposal was never implemented.
7
紹興二年，除大理卿。 宰相奏知平江府，帝曰：「誼，儒者，賴其奏讞平恕，使民不冤，勿令補外。」 尋除權吏部侍郎，乞「詔有司編類四選通知之條，與一司專用之法，兼以前後續降指揮，自成一書。 如此則銓曹有可守之法，姦吏無舞文之弊，書成而吏銓有所執守矣。」
In 1132 he was made director of the Court of Judicial Review. When the chief ministers proposed him as prefect of Pingjiang, the emperor said: "Yi is a scholar-official; we depend on his fair and measured case reports so the people are not wronged—do not post him outside the capital." He was soon made acting vice minister of Personnel and asked that the relevant offices compile the notification rules for all four selection cycles together with each bureau's specialized regulations and successive directives into one book. Then the selection office would have fixed rules to follow, corrupt clerks could not twist the text, and once the book was done the personnel bureau would have a standard to enforce."
8
改刑部侍郎兼詳定一司敕令，誼奏：「比修紹興敕令格式，其忠厚之意，則本於祖宗； 其綱條之舉，則仍於舊貫。 今在有司，為日既久，州縣推行，漸見牴牾。 欲承疑遵用，則眾聽惑而不孚； 欲因事申明，則法屢變而難守。 乞詔監司、郡守與承用官司，參考祖宗舊典，各摭新書之闕遺，條具以聞，然後命官審訂刪去，著為定法。」
He was moved to vice minister of Justice with concurrent duty reviewing the unified bureau statutes. Zhang Yi memorialized: "The recent Shaoxing statutes and formats preserve the generous spirit of the ancestors; their main articles still follow established practice. But they have been in use long enough that implementation in the prefectures and counties is beginning to expose contradictions. If officials follow doubtful passages as written, the public is confused and unconvinced; if they clarify matters case by case, the law keeps changing and is hard to uphold. I ask that circuit commissioners, prefects, and applying offices consult the ancestors' canon, each gather gaps in the new code, report them in lists, and then have officials review, delete, and fix them as settled law."
9
遷徽猷閣直學士、樞密都承旨，誼奏：「漢有南北兩屯，唐有南北兩衛，皆天子自將之兵。 祖宗所置殿班親軍，處禁門之內，皆極天下之選。 今日神武兵萃於五軍，多逃亡之餘，市井之人，殿班親軍，倚以侍衛者，曾無千百。 願陛下酌漢、唐南北禁衛之意，修本朝遴選班直之法，選五軍及諸州各為一衛，合取萬人，分為兩衛，則禁衛增嚴，王室大競矣。」
He was promoted to Huaiyou Pavilion academician and chief coordinator at the Bureau of Military Affairs. Zhang Yi memorialized: "Han had northern and southern encampments; Tang had northern and southern guards—all forces the emperor commanded in person. The palace guards and personal armies the ancestors placed inside the forbidden gates were drawn from the finest troops in the realm. Today the Divine Martial forces are lumped into five armies filled with deserters and marketplace recruits; the palace guards on whom the throne relies for protection scarcely number a thousand or two. I urge Your Majesty to take Han and Tang's northern and southern palace guards as a model, restore our method of selecting guards, draw one guard unit from each of the five armies and from each prefecture, gather ten thousand men, and split them into two guards—then the palace guard will be strengthened and the royal house greatly secured."
10
四年，金遣李永壽、王翊來，求還劉豫之俘，及西北人在東南者，又欲畫江以益劉豫。 時議難之，欲遣大臣為報使。 參政席益以母老辭，薦誼為代，加誼龍圖閣學士，充軍前奉表通問使，給事中孫近副之。 誼至雲中，與粘罕、兀室論事，不少屈。 金人諭亟還，誼曰：「萬里銜命，兼迎兩宮，必俟得請。」 金人乃令蕭慶授書，併以風聞事責誼，誼詰其所自，金人以實告，乃還。 至南京，劉豫留之，以計得歸。 帝嘉勞之，擢刑部尚書。
In the fourth year the Jin sent Li Yongshou and Wang Yi to demand return of Liu Yu's captives and northerners held in the southeast, and also to redraw the Yangzi boundary in Liu Yu's favor. Court opinion resisted these demands, and ministers wanted to send a senior official as envoy in reply. Vice Grand Councillor Xi Yi declined because his mother was elderly and recommended Zhang Yi in his place. Yi was made Dragon Diagram academician and envoy bearing the memorial before the armies, with Sun Jin, recipient of edicts, as deputy. Zhang Yi reached Yunzhong and debated with Nianhan and Wushi, conceding little. The Jurchens pressed him to return at once. Zhang Yi replied: "I have come ten thousand li on imperial commission, also to welcome the two palaces—I must wait until my request is granted." The Jurchens had Xiao Qing deliver a letter and also rebuked Zhang Yi on matters they had heard by rumor. Yi demanded their source; when they told him plainly, he returned. At Nanjing, Liu Yu detained him, but Zhang Yi contrived his escape and returned. The emperor praised and rewarded him and promoted him to minister of Justice.
11
是冬，帝親征，王師大捷于淮陰，誼扈從。 還臨安，遷戶部尚書，誼言：「祖宗設官理財，內則戶部，外則諸路轉運使、副，東南委輸最盛，則又置發運，以督諸路供輸之入，皆有移用補助之法，戶部仰以不乏者也。 今川、廣、荊湖土貢歲輸，不入王府者累年矣，皆發運使失職之罪也。 頃因定都汴京，故發運使置司真、泗，今駐吳會，則發運當在荊湖南、北之間。 望討論發運置司之地，選能臣以充其任。」 又言：「戶部左右曹之設，諸路運司則左曹之屬也，提舉則右曹之屬也。 若復發運司，於諸路各置轉運使副二員，以一員檢察常平，以應右曹之選，則戶部財用無陷失矣。」
That winter the emperor took the field in person; the imperial army won a great victory at Huaiyin, and Zhang Yi accompanied the campaign. Back in Lin'an he was made minister of Revenue. Zhang Yi said: "The ancestors set up fiscal offices: the Revenue Ministry at court, transport commissioners and deputies in each circuit. Where southeastern tribute was heaviest they added transport dispatch to oversee deliveries—each with rules for transfers and supplements on which the ministry relied so funds would not run short. For years the annual tribute from Sichuan, Guang, and Jing-Hu has failed to reach the imperial treasury—all because transport dispatch commissioners have neglected their duties. When the capital was at Bianjing, transport dispatch was based at Zhen and Si; now that the court is in the Wu region, its office should lie between northern and southern Jinghu. I ask that the court decide where to base transport dispatch and choose able men for the post." He added: "The Revenue Ministry's left and right sections correspond to circuit transport commissioners on the left and intendant commissioners on the right. If transport dispatch is restored and each circuit gets two transport deputies, one to inspect Ever-Normal Granaries for the right section, the ministry's finances will not be lost."
12
五年，以疾請郡，除龍圖閣學士、知溫州。 適歲大旱，米斗千錢，誼用劉晏招商之法，置場增直以糴，米商輻輳，其價自平。 部使者以狀聞，詔遷官一等。 六年，移守平江。 時將臨幸，供億繁夥，誼處之皆當於理。 召對，賜帶笏，帝曰：「此不足以償卿之勞，其勿謝。」
In the fifth year he asked for a prefectural post on grounds of illness and was made Dragon Diagram academician and prefect of Wenzhou. That year a severe drought drove rice to a thousand cash per dou. Zhang Yi used Liu Yan's method of inviting merchants, set up purchase stations at premium prices, merchants flocked in, and the price fell on its own. The circuit commissioner reported this, and the court advanced his rank one grade. In the sixth year he was transferred to Pingjiang. When the emperor was about to visit, the supply burden was heavy; Zhang Yi handled every item properly. Called to audience, he was granted belt and tablet. The emperor said: "This is not enough to repay your service—do not thank me."
13
明年，移蹕建康，復為戶部尚書。 誼奏營田之策，謂：「京西、湖北、淮南東西失業者最多，朝廷必欲家給牛種、人給錢糧以勸耕，則財力不足。 今三大將各屯一路，如各捐數縣地均給將士，收其餘以省轉輸，非小補也。」
The next year, when the court moved to Jiankang, he again became minister of Revenue. Zhang Yi memorialized on garrison farming, arguing that Jingxi, Hubei, and eastern and western Huainan had the most displaced people; if the court meant to give every household oxen and seed and every person cash and grain to encourage farming, the treasury could not bear it. The three great generals each hold a circuit; if each surrendered several counties' land to distribute among their troops and the surplus were kept to cut transport costs, that would be a substantial gain."
14
七年，帝還臨安，以誼為端明殿學士、江南東路安撫大使、知建康府兼行宮留守。 未幾，提舉毫州明道宮，代還。 八年卒，年六十一，諡「忠恪」。
In the seventh year the emperor returned to Lin'an and made Zhang Yi Duanming Hall academician, grand pacification commissioner of Jiangnan East, prefect of Jiankang, and keeper of the traveling palace. Soon afterward he was made superintendent of the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou and relieved on his return. In the eighth year he died at sixty-one; his posthumous title was Loyal and Respectful.
15
誼寬厚長者，故事，臺官言事，非挾怨以快己私，即用仇家言為人報復，誼獨存大體，士論歸之。 立朝論事，奏疏無慮數十百篇，皆經國濟時之策。 初，席益薦誼使金，帝曰：「誼亦母老，朕當自諭之。」 誼聞命，略無難色，戒其家人勿使母知。 將行，告母曰：「是行不數月即歸，大似往年太學謁告時爾。」 及還，母竟不知其使金也。 誼卒，母年九十二。 子八人：駽、駒、駟、驔、𩤏、駉、馳、駰。
Zhang Yi was generous and dignified. By precedent censors who did not act from private spite would use an enemy's testimony to settle scores for others; Zhang Yi alone kept the larger interest in view, and scholars approved him for it. In office he debated policy in memorials numbering well over a hundred, nearly all aimed at ordering the state and aiding the times. When Xi Yi first recommended Zhang Yi as envoy to the Jin, the emperor said: "Yi also has an elderly mother; I shall tell him myself." When Zhang Yi received the order he showed no reluctance and told his family not to let his mother know. Before leaving he told his mother: "I will be back in a few months, much like when I took leave from the Imperial Academy in earlier years." When he returned, his mother never learned he had been envoy to the Jin. When Zhang Yi died, his mother was ninety-two. He had eight sons: Juan, Ju, Si, Zhan, (one character), Jiong, Chi, and Yin.
16
韓肖胄
Han Xiaozhou
17
韓肖胄，字似夫，相州安陽人。 曾祖琦，祖忠彥，再世為相。 父治。 肖胄以蔭補承務郎，歷開封府司錄。 與府尹同對殿中，徽宗問其家世，賜同上舍出身，除衛尉少卿，賜三品服。
Han Xiaozhou, whose courtesy name was Sifu, came from Anyang in Xiangzhou. His great-grandfather was Han Qi and his grandfather Han Zhongyan; for two generations his family had produced chief ministers. His father was Han Zhi. Xiaozhou entered office by hereditary privilege as clerk for ceremonial affairs and served as recorder of the Kaifeng prefectural office. He appeared at court with the prefect; Huizong asked about his lineage, granted him upper-house student status, made him vice director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, and bestowed third-rank robes.
18
尋假給事中、充賀遼國生辰使。 既還，時治守相州，請祠。 肖胄因乞補外侍疾，詔除直秘閣、知相州，代其父任。 陛辭，帝曰：「先帝詔韓氏世官於相。 卿父子相代，榮事也。」 在相四年，王師傳燕，肖胄策幽薊且有變，宜陰為守備。 已而金騎入境，野無所掠而去。
Soon he was made acting recipient of edicts and envoy to congratulate the Liao on the emperor's birthday. When he returned, his father Han Zhi was serving as prefect of Xiangzhou and had asked for a temple post. Xiaozhou asked for an outside post to care for his father; the court made him a direct Secretariat academician and prefect of Xiangzhou, succeeding his father. At his farewell audience the emperor said: "The late emperor decreed that the Han family should hold office in Xiang generation after generation. For father and son to succeed each other is a glorious thing." During his four years in Xiang, as imperial forces advanced toward Yan, Xiaozhou judged that the Yan region would soon see upheaval and urged quiet defensive preparations. Soon Jin cavalry crossed the border, found nothing to plunder in the countryside, and withdrew.
19
建炎二年，知江州，入為祠部郎，遷左司。 嘗言：「中原未復，所恃長江之險，淮南實為屏蔽。 沃野千里，近多荒廢，若廣修農事，則轉餉可省，兵食可足。」 自是置局建康，行屯田於江淮。 又應詔陳五事，曰：遠斥堠，戢戍兵，防海道，援中原，修軍政。 擢工部侍郎。
In 1128 he became prefect of Jiangzhou, entered the capital as a sacrifices director in the Rites Ministry, and was promoted to the left section. He once said: "The central plains are not yet recovered; we rely on the Yangzi barrier, and Huainan is our true shield. Its fertile fields stretch a thousand li, but much has lately gone to waste; if farming is broadly restored, transport costs will fall and army rations will suffice." Thereafter an office was set up at Jiankang and garrison farming was carried out on the Jiang and Huai. He also answered an edict with five proposals: extend outposts, restrain garrison troops, guard sea routes, aid the central plains, and reform military administration. He was promoted to vice minister of Works.
20
時川、陝馬綱路通塞不常，肖胄請於廣西邕州置司，互市諸蕃馬，詔行之。 時召侍從問戰守計，肖胄條奏千餘言，帝稱其所對事理簡當。 吏部尚書席益歎曰：「援古證今，切于時用，非世官不能也。」
Because Sichuan and Shaanxi horse routes were often blocked, Xiaozhou asked that an office be set up at Yongzhou in Guangxi to trade with frontier peoples for horses, and the court approved. When the emperor summoned attendants to discuss war and defense, Xiaozhou submitted a detailed memorial of more than a thousand words; the emperor praised his answers as concise and apt. Minister of Personnel Xi Yi sighed: "Citing antiquity to prove the present and pressing on what the times need—only a hereditary official could do that."
21
紹興二年，詔百官各言省費裕國、強兵息民之策，肖胄言：「天下財賦窠名，舊悉隸三司，今戶部惟有上供之目而已。 問諸路窠名於戶部，戶部不能悉，問諸州窠名于漕司，漕司不能悉，失一窠名，則此項遂亡。 願詔諸路漕司，括州縣出納，可罷罷之，可併併之，立為定籍。 漕司總諸州，戶部總諸路，則無失陷矣。 經費之大，莫過養兵。 今人亡而冒請者眾，願立諸軍核實之法，重將帥冒請之罪，則兵數得實，餉給不虛，省費裕國，此其大者。 生民常賦之外，迫以軍期，吏緣為姦，斂取百端。 復為寇所迫逐，田桑失時，寇去復業，未及息肩，催科之吏已呼其門矣。 願詔郡邑，招集流散，官貸之種，俟及三年，始責其賦，置籍書之，以課殿最，強兵息民，此其先者。」 時多所採納。 又請復天地、日月、星辰、社稷之祀，於是下有司定一歲祭禮。
In 1132 an edict asked all officials for plans to save expense, enrich the state, strengthen the army, and give the people rest. Xiaozhou said: "Revenue categories once all belonged to the Three Bureaus; now the Revenue Ministry tracks only tribute to the capital. Ask the Revenue Ministry about each circuit's categories and it cannot list them all; ask transport commissioners about each prefecture's categories and they cannot either—lose one category name and that revenue stream vanishes. I ask that each circuit's transport commissioner tally prefectural and county receipts and disbursements, abolish what can be abolished, merge what can be merged, and fix them in a settled register. Let transport commissioners oversee prefectures and the Revenue Ministry oversee circuits, and nothing will be lost. Of great expenditures, none surpasses maintaining the army. Many dead men still appear on the rolls; establish verification for each army and punish generals who file false claims—then troop numbers will be true, rations will not be wasted, and saving expense will enrich the state. This is the greatest matter. Beyond regular taxes the people are pressed by military deadlines; clerks use this to commit fraud and exact levies by every means. Bandits drive them off again; planting and sericulture miss their season; when bandits leave they return to the fields, but before they can catch their breath, tax collectors are already at their doors. Order prefectures and counties to gather the displaced, lend them seed on official account, wait three years before levying taxes, keep registers, and grade officials on this basis—strengthen the army and give the people rest. This comes first." Many of his proposals were adopted. He also asked to restore sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, sun and moon, stars, and the altars of soil and grain; the relevant offices were then ordered to fix the year's sacrificial calendar.
22
遷吏部侍郎，時條例散失，吏因為姦，肖胄立重賞，俾各省記，編為條目，以次行之，舞文之弊始革。 陣亡補官，得占射差遣，而在部常調人，守待不能注授，且有短使重難。 肖胄請陣亡惟許本家用恩例，異姓候經任收使，遂無不均，且嚴六部出入之禁，而請託不行。
He was made vice minister of Personnel. Regulations were scattered and clerks exploited the gaps; Xiaozhou offered heavy rewards, had each section record them, compiled articles, and implemented them in order—abuses of twisting the text began to end. Kin of men killed in battle could seize priority assignments, while regular candidates in the ministry waited without appointment, and light duties were sometimes made burdensome. Xiaozhou asked that only same-surname kin of the fallen use grace appointments, while others must wait until they had served—ending unfairness. He also tightened entry rules at the six ministries so patronage requests could not succeed.
23
三年，拜端明殿學士、同簽書樞密院事，充通問使，以胡松年副之，肖胄慨然受命。 時金酋粘罕專執政，方恃兵強，持和戰離合之策，行人皆危之。 肖胄入奏曰：「大臣各循己見，致和戰未有定論。 然和乃權時之宜，他日國家安強，軍聲大振，誓當雪此仇恥。 今臣等行，或半年不返命，必復有謀，宜速進兵，不可因臣等在彼而緩之也。」 將行，母文語之曰：「汝家世受國恩，當受命即行，勿以我老為念。」 帝稱為賢母，封榮國夫人。
In the third year he was made Duanming Hall academician and co-signer at the Bureau of Military Affairs, envoy for communication with the Jin, with Hu Songnian as deputy; Xiaozhou accepted with resolve. The Jin chief Nianhan then monopolized power, relied on military strength, and played alliance and war off against each other; every envoy regarded the mission as perilous. Xiaozhou memorialized: "Chief ministers each follow their own views, so peace and war have no settled conclusion. Peace is only a timely expedient; when the state is secure and strong and military renown rises, we swear to wipe away this hatred and shame. We may be gone half a year without returning; there will surely be further plots. Your Majesty should advance troops quickly and must not slacken because we are there." Before leaving, his mother Lady Wen told him: "Your family has received the state's grace for generations; when you receive the order, go at once—do not think of my old age." The emperor called her a worthy mother and enfeoffed her as Lady of the Glorious State.
24
肖胄至金國，金人知其家世，甚重之，往返才半年。 自帝即位，使者凡六七年未嘗報聘，至是始遣人偕來。 肖胄先北使入對，與朱勝非議不合，力求去，以舊職知溫州，提舉臨安府洞霄宮。
Xiaozhou reached the Jin court; knowing his lineage, the Jurchens treated him with great respect, and the round trip took only half a year. Since the emperor's accession, envoys had gone six or seven years without a return mission—only now did the Jin first send envoys back with him. After returning from the north, Xiaozhou had audience with the emperor, clashed with Zhu Shengfei, and pressed to leave office, becoming prefect of Wenzhou at his former rank and superintendent of the Dongxiao Palace in Lin'an.
25
五年，詔問前宰執戰守方略，肖胄言：「女真等軍皆畏服西兵勁銳善戰，今三帥所統多西人，吳玠繼有捷奏，軍聲益振，敵意必搖，攻戰之利，臣固知之。 自荊、襄至江、淮，綿亙數千里，不若擇文武臣僚按行計度，求險阻之地，屯兵積糧，則形勢相接。 今淮東、西雖命宣撫使，然將屯置司，乃在江上，所遣偏裨分守，不過資以輕兵，勢孤力弱，難以責其固志。 當移二將於江北，使藩籬可固。」 又言：「諸大將之兵自主庭戶，更相仇疾。 若欲並遣進攻，宜先命總帥，分以精銳，自成一軍，號令既一，則諸將疇敢不聽命。 畿甸、山東、關河之民怨金人入骨，當以安集流亡，招懷歸附為先，今淮南、江東西荒田至多，若招境上之人，授田給糧，捐其賦租，必將接跡而至。」 又奏：「江之南岸，曠土甚多，沿江大將各分地而屯，軍士舊為農者十之五六，擇其非甚精銳者，使之力耕，農隙則試所習之技藝，秋成則均以所種之禾麥，或募江北流徒及江南無業願遷之人分給之，創為營屯。 止則固守，出則攻討。」 起知常州，召赴行在，提舉萬壽觀，尋除簽書樞密院事。
In the fifth year the court asked former chief ministers for war and defense strategy. Xiaozhou said: "Jurchen armies fear the western troops' strength and skill in battle. The three commanders mostly lead westerners; Wu Jie has reported successive victories; military renown is rising and enemy resolve must waver. I already know the advantage of giving battle. From Jing and Xiang to the Jiang and Huai the line runs several thousand li; better to send civil and military officials to survey the ground, find defensible positions, station troops, and store grain so the positions link together. Eastern and western Huai have pacification commissioners, but generals' headquarters remain on the river; subordinate commanders posted to divide defense get only light troops—isolated and weak, they cannot be expected to hold firm. Two generals should be moved to the north bank so the barrier can be secured." He also said: "The great generals' troops are their own household guards and mutually hostile. If you wish to send them forward together, first appoint a supreme commander, assign elite troops, and form a single army—once orders are unified, which general would dare disobey? People of the capital region, Shandong, and the northern passes hate the Jurchens to the bone; settling the displaced and winning returnees must come first. Huainan and Jiangdong have much waste land; if border people are invited, given land and grain, and their taxes remitted, they will come in streams." He also memorialized: "South of the river there is much open land. River generals each hold territory; five or six tenths of their soldiers were once farmers. Choose the less elite, put them to farming, drill skills in farming intervals, divide the harvest equally, recruit refugees from the north and landless people in Jiangnan willing to move, and establish garrison colonies. When they halt they hold firm; when they march out they attack." He was made prefect of Changzhou, summoned to the traveling palace, made superintendent of the Wanshou Abbey, and soon appointed signer at the Bureau of Military Affairs.
26
和議已定，復命肖胄為報謝使。 接伴者逆於境，謂當稱謝恩使。 肖胄論難三四反，遂語塞。 既至，金遣人就館議事，肖胄隨問隨答，眾皆聳聽。 其還，給氈車及頓遞宴設，自肖胄始。
Once peace was settled, Xiaozhou was again appointed envoy of gratitude in reply. The reception envoy met him at the border and said he should be called envoy of gratitude for grace. Xiaozhou debated three or four rounds and left him speechless. Once he arrived, the Jin sent men to the lodge to discuss affairs; Xiaozhou answered each question on the spot, and all listened in awe. On his return he was given a felt carriage and relay banquets—a courtesy that began with Xiaozhou.
27
除資政殿學士、知紹興府。 尋奉祠，與其弟膺胄寓居於越幾十年。 事母以孝聞，弟不至不食，所得恩澤，皆先給宗族。 卒，年七十六，諡「元穆」。
He was made academician of the Hall for Aid in Governance and prefect of Shaoxing. Soon he took a temple post and lived in retirement in Yue with his younger brother Yingzhou for nearly ten years. He was known for filial devotion to his mother; he would not eat until his brother arrived; favors he received he always gave first to the clan. He died at seventy-six; his posthumous title was Original and Solemn.
28
琦守相，作晝錦堂，治作榮歸堂，肖胄又作榮事堂，三世守鄉郡，人以為榮。
When Qi served in Xiang he built the Daytime Brocade Hall; when Zhi served there he built the Hall of Glorious Return; Xiaozhou built the Hall of Glorious Affairs—three generations guarding their home prefecture, and people counted it an honor.
29
陳公輔
Chen Gongfu
30
陳公輔，字國佐，台州臨海人。 政和三年，上舍及第，調平江府教授。 朱勔方嬖幸，當官者奴事之，公輔絕不與交。 勔有兄喪，諸生欲往吊，公輔不予告。 勔不悅，諷權要移公輔越州。 累遷權應天府少尹，除秘書郎。
Chen Gongfu, whose courtesy name was Guozuo, came from Linhai in Taizhou. In 1113 he passed the upper-house examination and was assigned instructor in Pingjiang prefecture. Zhu Mian was then a court favorite; officials fawned on him, but Gongfu would have nothing to do with him. When Mian mourned a brother, students wished to attend the funeral; Gongfu refused them leave. Mian was displeased and hinted to the powerful that Gongfu should be transferred to Yuezhou. He rose in succession to acting vice prefect of Yingtian and was appointed a secretary.
31
靖康初，二府多宣和舊人，公輔言：「蔡京、王黼用事二十餘年，臺諫皆緣以進，唐重、師驥為太宰李邦彥引用，謝克家、孫覿為纂修蔡攸引用，及邦彥作相，又附麗以進。 此四人者，處臺諫之任，臣知其決不能言宰相大臣之過。 願擇人臣中樸茂純直，能安貧守節、不附權幸、慷慨論事者，列之臺諫，則所任得人，禮義廉恥稍稍振起，敵國聞之，豈不畏服哉！」 時吳敏、李綱不協，公輔奏：「陛下初臨萬機，正賴其同心合謀，而二臣不和，已有其跡，願諭以聖訓，俾務一心以安國家。」
Early in the Jingkang reign the two councils were full of Xuanhe-era holdovers. Gongfu said: "Cai Jing and Wang Fu held power for more than twenty years; censors and remonstrators all advanced through them. Tang Zhong and Shi Ji were introduced by Grand Steward Li Bangyan; Xie Kejia and Sun Jue were introduced by compiler Cai You—and when Bangyan became chief minister, they attached themselves to advance again. These four hold censor and remonstrator posts; I know they certainly cannot speak of chief ministers' faults. Choose plain, honest officials who can live in poverty, hold to integrity, refuse the powerful, and speak boldly—place them in censor and remonstrator posts, and ritual, righteousness, integrity, and shame will gradually revive. When enemy states hear of it, how would they not fear and submit! Wu Min and Li Gang were then at odds. Gongfu memorialized: "Your Majesty has just taken up rule and depends on their united counsel, yet these two ministers are already at odds. I hope Your Majesty will instruct them to strive with one mind to secure the state."
32
徽宗渡江未還，人情疑懼，公輔力陳父子之義，宜遣大臣迎奉。 欽宗嘉之，擢為右司諫。 孟夏享景靈宮，遂幸陽德、佑神觀。 公輔諫不當如平時事宴遊，論「蔡京父子懷姦誤國，終未行遣。 今朝廷公卿百執事半出其門，必有庇之者。」 詔謫京崇信軍節度副使，德安府安置。 又奏：「朱勔罪惡，都城之民皆謂已族滅其家，乞勿許其子姓隨上皇入京。」
Huizong had crossed the Yangzi and not returned; the people were anxious. Gongfu strongly urged the duty between father and son and said chief ministers should be sent to welcome him back. Qinzong commended him and made him remonstrator of the right section. In early summer he sacrificed at the Jingling Palace, then visited the Yangde and Youshen abbeys. Gongfu remonstrated that the emperor should not pursue banquets and excursions as in normal times, arguing: "Cai Jing and his sons harbored treachery and misled the state, yet were never punished. Now half the court's chief ministers and officials came from their faction—someone must be shielding them." An edict banished Cai Jing to vice military commissioner of Chongxin and assigned him residence at De'an. He also memorialized: "Zhu Mian's crimes are such that the people of the capital say his whole clan should be exterminated; I beg that his sons and kin not be allowed to follow the Retired Emperor into the capital."
33
時有指公輔為李綱之黨，鼓唱士庶伏闕者。 公輔自列，因辭位，後陳三事：其一言李綱書生，不知軍旅，遣援太原，乃為大臣所陷，必敗事。 其二言余應求不當以言遠謫。 其三言方復祖宗法度，馮澥不宜更論熙寧、元豐之政。 語觸時宰，遂與應求、程瑀、李光俱得罪，斥監合州稅。
Some then accused Gongfu of belonging to Li Gang's faction and of inciting scholars and commoners to prostrate themselves before the palace gates. Gongfu stated the facts himself and resigned; afterward he set forth three matters: first, that Li Gang was a scholar who did not understand warfare—sending him to aid Taiyuan was a trap set by chief ministers and would surely fail. Second, that Yu Yingqiu should not have been banished far for his words. Third, that as the ancestors' statutes were being restored, Feng Jie should not again discuss Xining and Yuanfeng policies. His words offended the chief minister; he was punished together with Yingqiu, Cheng Yu, and Li Guang and demoted to supervise taxes in Hezhou.
34
高宗即位，召還，除尚書左司員外郎。 明年，始達維揚。 初，李綱得政，公輔自外除郎，未至而綱罷，改南劍州，尋予宮觀。
When Gaozong took the throne, Gongfu was recalled and made vice director of the left section in the Ministry of State Affairs. The next year he finally reached Yangzhou. When Li Gang first gained power, Gongfu was appointed from outside but had not arrived before Gang fell; he was sent to Nanjian and soon given a palace abbey post.
35
紹興六年，召為吏部員外郎。 疏言：
In 1136 he was recalled as vice director of the Ministry of Personnel. In a memorial he said:
36
「今日之禍，實由公卿大夫無氣節忠義，不能維持天下國家，平時既無忠言直道，緩急詎肯伏節死義，豈非王安石學術壞之邪？ 議者尚謂安石政事雖不善，學術尚可取。 臣謂安石學術之不善，尤甚於政事，政事害人才，學術害人心，《三經》、《字說》詆誣聖人，破碎大道，非一端也。 《春秋》正名分，定褒貶，俾亂臣賊子懼，安石使學者不治《春秋》； 《史》、《漢》載成敗安危、存亡理亂，為聖君賢相、忠臣義士之龜鑑，安石使學者不讀《史》、《漢》。 王莽之篡，揚雄不能死，又仕之，更為《劇秦美新》之文。 安石乃曰：『雄之仕，合於孔子無可無不可之義。』 五季之亂，馮道事四姓八君，安石乃曰：『道在五代時最善，避難以存身。』 使公卿大夫皆師安石之言，宜其無氣節忠義也。」
"Today's calamity comes because chief ministers lack integrity and loyalty and cannot sustain the realm. In normal times they offer no loyal counsel—in crisis how would they die for principle? Was this not ruined by Wang Anshi's learning? Critics still say that though Anshi's administration was bad, his learning can still be taken. I hold that Anshi's learning was worse than his administration—administration harmed talent, learning harmed hearts. The Three Classics and Explication of Characters slander the sages and shatter the great Way—not in one respect alone. The Spring and Autumn Annals rectify names, fix praise and blame, and make traitors fear—Anshi had scholars stop studying them; the Records and Han Histories record success and failure, order and chaos—as a mirror for sage rulers and loyal subjects—Anshi had scholars stop reading them. When Wang Mang usurped the throne, Yang Xiong could not die for principle but served him and wrote Exalting Qin and Praising Xin. Anshi then said: "Xiong's serving accorded with Confucius's doctrine that one may do or not do as circumstances require." In the chaos of the Five Dynasties, Feng Dao served four houses and eight rulers; Anshi said: "Dao in the Five Dynasties was best—he avoided calamity to preserve himself." If chief ministers all took Anshi as their teacher, it is fitting that they have no integrity or loyalty."
37
復授左司諫，言中興之治在得天得人，以孝感天，以誠得民。 帝善其深得諫臣體，賜三品服，令尚書省寫圖進入，以便觀覽。
He was again made remonstrator of the left section and said restoration governance lies in gaining Heaven and gaining men—through filial piety move Heaven, through sincerity gain the people. The emperor praised him for grasping the remonstrator's role, bestowed third-rank robes, and ordered the Ministry of State Affairs to copy his diagrams and submit them for review.
38
公輔感帝知遇，益罄忠鯁，言：「正心在務學，治國在用人，朝廷之禍在朋黨。」 仍乞增輪對官，令審計、官告、糧料、榷貨、監倉及茶場等官，有己見，許面對。 時有詔將駐蹕建康，公輔上疏陳攻守之策，且乞選大臣鎮淮西，增兵將守要害，使西連鄂、岳，東接楚、泗，皆有掎角之形。
Moved by the emperor's recognition, Gongfu gave his loyal candor ever more fully: "Rectifying the heart lies in learning; governing the state lies in employing men; the court's calamity lies in factions." He also asked to increase rotating audience officials and allow auditors, credential clerks, grain officers, monopoly officers, warehouse supervisors, and tea-yard officials who had views of their own to face the throne. When an edict announced that the court would take up residence at Jiankang, Chen Gongfu submitted a memorial outlining offensive and defensive strategy. He also asked that a senior minister be posted west of the Huai to reinforce troops at key positions, linking Ezhou and Yuezhou in the west with Chu and Si in the east so that the whole line would form a mutual pincer.
39
徽宗訃至，公輔請宮中行三年之喪，視朝服淡黃，群臣未可純吉服，明堂未當以徽宗配，宜罷臨軒策士。 又乞權罷講筵，事不行。
When word of Emperor Huizong's death arrived, Chen Gongfu urged that the court observe the full three-year mourning within the palace, that the emperor appear at court in pale yellow, that ministers not yet wear bright celebratory dress, that Huizong not yet be paired in the Bright Hall rites, and that the palace examination be suspended. He also asked that the imperial lecture hall be temporarily closed, but the request was denied.
40
遷尚書禮部侍郎。 會趙鼎言進退人才乃其職分，疏稍侵公輔，因力請祠。 除集英殿修撰、提舉江州太平觀，尋知處州。 升徽猷閣待制，乃提舉太平觀。 卒，年六十六，贈太中大夫。 有文集二十卷，奏議十二卷，行於世。 公輔論事剴切，疾惡如仇，惟不右程頤之學，士論惜之。
He was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites. When Zhao Ding declared that appointing and removing officials was his own responsibility, his memorial took implicit aim at Chen Gongfu, who then pressed hard for a sinecure post at a Taoist temple. He was made Hanlin Academician of the Hall for Cultivating Talent and put in charge of the Taiping Temple in Jiangzhou, then shortly afterward became prefect of Chuzhou. Promoted to Hanlin Academician of the Huiyou Pavilion, he then took charge of the Taiping Temple. He died at sixty-six and was posthumously ennobled as Grandee of the Palace. Twenty volumes of his collected writings and twelve volumes of memorials circulated after his death. Chen Gongfu spoke to the point and hated wrongdoing with the passion of a sworn foe; his sole failing, in the eyes of literati opinion, was his refusal to champion Cheng Yi's school of thought.
41
張觷，字柔直，福州人。 舉進士，為小官，不與世詭隨。 時蔡京當國，求善訓子弟者，觷適到部，京族子應之以觷薦，觷再三辭，不獲，遂即館，京亦未暇與之接。 觷嚴毅聳拔，意度凝然，異于他師，諸生已不能堪，忽謂之曰：「汝曹曾學走乎？」 諸生駭而問曰：「嘗聞先生教令讀書徐行，未聞教以走也。」 觷曰：「天下被而翁破壞至此，旦夕賊來，先至而家，汝曹惟有善走，庶可逃死爾。」 諸子大驚，亟以所聞告京，曰：「先生心恙。」 京矍然曰：「此非汝所知也。」 即見觷深語，觷慷慨言曰：「宗廟社稷，危在旦夕。」 京斂容問計，觷曰：「宜亟引耆德老成置諸左右，以開道上心。 羅天下忠義之士，分佈內外，為第一義爾。」 京因扣其所知，遂以楊時薦，於是召時。
Zhang Xue, styled Rouzhi, came from Fuzhou. After passing the jinshi examination he held a minor post and refused to bend with the times. While Cai Jing held power he looked for a tutor for his sons. Zhang Xue had just arrived in the capital when Cai's kinsman Yingzhi recommended him. Zhang tried several times to decline but could not; he moved into the household as tutor, though Cai Jing himself never found time to see him. Zhang was austere and imposing, with a bearing quite unlike other tutors, and the boys were already at their limit. One day he suddenly asked them, "Have you ever been taught to run?" The boys were startled. "We have always been told to read and walk slowly," they said; "we have never been taught to run." Zhang replied, "Your father has brought the realm to ruin. Rebels will come any day, and your house will be the first hit. Your only hope of staying alive is to run fast." The boys were terrified and rushed to tell Cai Jing that the tutor had lost his mind." Cai Jing started. "That is not for you to understand," he said." He went at once to speak privately with Zhang, who said with fierce urgency, "The altars of state stand on the edge of ruin." Cai Jing collected himself and asked what should be done. Zhang said, "Summon respected elder statesmen at once and keep them close to the throne, so that the emperor's mind may be opened. Gather loyal men from across the realm and deploy them throughout the court and the provinces—that must come first." Cai Jing pressed him for names, and Zhang recommended Yang Shi, who was thereupon summoned to court.
42
觷後守南劍州，遷福建路轉運判官。 未行，會范汝為陷建州，遣葉徹擁眾寇南劍。 時統制官任士安駐軍城西，不肯力戰，觷獨率州兵與之戰，分為數隊，令城中殺羊牛豕作肉串，仍多具飯。 將戰，則食第一隊人，既飽，遣之入陣，便食第二隊人，度所遣兵力將困，即遣第三隊人往代，第四至五六隊亦如之。 更迭交戰，士卒飽而力不乏。 徹中流矢死，眾敗走。 觷知士安懼無功，即函徹首與之，州兵皆憤，觷曰：「賊必再至，非與大軍合力不能破也。」 士安得之大喜，遂馳報諸司，謂已斬徹。 未幾，徹二子果引眾聲言復父仇，縞素來攻。 於是士安與州兵夾攻，大敗之，城賴以全。
Zhang later served as prefect of Nanjian and was promoted to transport commissioner for Fujian Circuit. Before he could depart, Fan Ruwei captured Jianzhou and sent Ye Che at the head of a band to attack Nanjian. The regional commander Ren Shi'an had his troops camped west of the city but would not fight hard. Zhang alone led the prefectural militia into battle. He divided them into several companies and had the city slaughter livestock for meat skewers while preparing large quantities of food. Before each engagement he fed the first company; once they were full, he sent them into the line and fed the second. When he judged the men in the field near exhaustion, he sent the third company to relieve them, and did the same with the fourth, fifth, and sixth. By rotating companies in battle, his men stayed fed and never lost their strength. Ye Che was struck by an arrow and killed, and his followers fled in rout. Knowing that Ren Shi'an feared returning without credit, Zhang boxed Ye Che's head and handed it over. The prefectural troops were furious, but Zhang said, "The rebels will come again. We cannot break them without the main army's help." Ren Shi'an was delighted and galloped off to report to headquarters that he had personally beheaded Ye Che. Before long, Ye Che's two sons returned at the head of a force dressed in white mourning, crying that they would avenge their father. Ren Shi'an and the prefectural troops then attacked from both sides and routed them, and the city was saved.
43
再知處州，嘗欲造大舟，幕僚不能計其直，觷教以造一小舟，量其尺寸，而十倍算之。 又有欲築紹興園神廟垣，召匠計之，云費八萬緡，觷教之自築一丈長，約算之可直二萬，即以二萬與匠者。 董役內官無所得，乃奏紹興空乏難濟，太后遂自出錢，費三十二萬緡。 以直龍圖閣知虔州，蕩平餘寇，進秘閣修撰，卒。 後廟食邵武。
When he again served as prefect of Chuzhou, he once wanted to build a large vessel, but his staff could not estimate the cost. Zhang had them build a small boat, measure it, and multiply by ten. When officials planned a wall for the spirit temple in the Shaoxing Garden, craftsmen quoted eighty thousand strings of cash. Zhang had them build one zhang of wall themselves, reckoned the true cost at twenty thousand, and paid the craftsmen that amount. The eunuch overseeing the project got nothing from the deal and reported that Shaoxing could not afford the work. The Empress Dowager then paid out of her own purse—three hundred twenty thousand strings of cash. Appointed directly to the Dragon Diagram Pavilion, he governed Qianzhou, wiped out the remaining bandits, was promoted to Secretariat Compiler, and died in office. He was later given a place in the temple at Shaowu.
44
胡松年
Hu Songnian
45
胡松年，字茂老，海州懷仁人。 幼孤貧，母粥機織，資給使學，讀書過目不忘，尤邃于《易》。 政和二年，上舍釋褐，補濰州教授。 八年，賜對便殿，徽宗偉其狀貌，改校書郎兼資善堂贊讀。 為殿試參詳官，以沈晦第一，徽宗大悅曰：「朕久聞晦名，今乃得之。」 遷中書舍人。
Hu Songnian, styled Maolao, came from Huairen in Haizhou. Orphaned and poor as a boy, he was supported by his mother's loom and cloth sales. He read with a photographic memory and was especially deep in the Book of Changes. In the second year of Zhenghe he graduated from the upper dormitory, entered official service, and was appointed instructor at Weizhou. In the eighth year he was granted audience in the Privy Hall. Emperor Huizong was impressed by his bearing and made him collator and concurrent reader at the Hall of Cultivating Virtue. Serving as evaluation officer for the palace examination, he ranked Shen Hui first. Emperor Huizong was delighted. "I have long known Shen Hui's name," he said; "now I have him at last." He was promoted to drafting officer of the Central Secretariat.
46
時方有事燕雲，松年累章謂邊釁一開，有不勝言者。 咈時相意，提舉太平觀。 建炎間，密奏中原利害，召赴行在，出知平江府。 未入境，貪吏解印斂跡，以興利除害十七事揭于都市，百姓便之。 加徽猷閣待制。 奏防江利害：一曰立國無藩籬之固，二曰遣將無首尾之援，三曰不攻敵技之所短。
When the court was preparing action in Yan-Yun, Hu Songnian submitted memorial after memorial warning that once border war began, the consequences would be beyond words. Because he crossed the chief minister, he was sidelined as director of the Taiping Temple. During the Jianyan era he sent secret memorials on the strategic situation in the Central Plains, was summoned to the mobile court, and was sent out as prefect of Pingjiang. Before he even crossed the border of his jurisdiction, corrupt officials resigned and went to ground. He posted seventeen reforms for public benefit in the marketplace, and the people welcomed them. He was made Hanlin Academician of the Huiyou Pavilion. He memorialized on Yangtze River defense with three points: the state lacked secure frontiers; dispatched generals lacked coordinated support; and the army failed to strike the enemy where it was weakest.
47
召為中書舍人。 言武昌、九江、建昌、京口、吳江、錢塘、明、越宜各屯水戰士三千以為備。 唐恪追復觀文殿學士，松年繳奏曰：「靖康之禍，何㮚輕脫寡謀，宜為罪首。 去年秦檜還朝，力稱其抗義守正，遂被褒贈，已大咈士論。 今恪子琢自陳其父不獲伸迎請二帝之謀，飲藥而死。 此事凜然，追踪古人。 宜詔有司詳考實狀，庶不為虛美，以示激勸。」
He was recalled to serve as drafting officer of the Central Secretariat. He urged that Wuchang, Jiujiang, Jianchang, Jingkou, Wujiang, Qiantang, Mingzhou, and Yuezhou each maintain three thousand naval troops as a reserve. When Tang Ke was posthumously restored as Academician of the Hall for Viewing Literature, Hu Songnian returned the draft with a protest: "In the Jingkang catastrophe, He Bi was reckless and feckless. He should rank first among the guilty. Last year, after Qin Hui returned to court and vigorously praised Tang's steadfast resistance, Tang was posthumously honored—a move that already outraged literati opinion. Now Tang Ke's son Zhuo has declared that his father, unable to carry out a plan to bring the two captive emperors home, took poison and died. The act is solemn and worthy, echoing the noblest examples of antiquity. The throne should order the proper offices to verify the facts, so that praise is not hollow and others may be moved to follow his example."
48
除給事中。 會選將帥，松年奏：「富貴者易為善，貧賤者難為功，在上之人識擢何如爾。 願陛下親出勞軍，即行伍搜簡之，必有可為時用者。」 又奏：「恢復中原，必自山東始，山東歸附，必自登、萊、密始，不特三郡民俗忠義，且有通、泰飛艘往來之便。」 除兼侍講。
He was appointed supervising censor. When the court was choosing generals, Hu Songnian wrote, "Wealth and rank make virtue easy; poverty makes achievement hard. Everything depends on whether those above know talent when they see it. I urge Your Majesty to visit the camps in person and pick men from the ranks; there will surely be talent worth using." He also wrote, "Recovering the Central Plains must begin in Shandong, and Shandong's loyalty must begin in Deng, Lai, and Mi. Those three prefectures are not only steadfast in custom, but also enjoy the advantage of fast boats running between Tongzhou and Taizhou." He was also made concurrent lecturer.
49
王倫使金還，言金人欲再遣重臣來計議，以松年試工部尚書為韓肖胄副，充大金奉表通問使。 時使命久不通，人皆疑懼，松年毅然而往。 至汴京，劉豫令以臣禮見，肖胄未答，松年曰：「聖主萬壽。」 豫曰：「聖意何在？」 松年曰：「主上之意，必復故疆而後已。」 使還，拜吏部尚書。
When Wang Lun returned from his mission to the Jin and reported that the Jurchens wanted another high minister for negotiations, Hu Songnian was appointed acting Minister of Works and deputy to Han Xiaozhou as envoy to the Great Jin. Diplomatic contact had long been broken off, and everyone was afraid, but Hu Songnian went resolutely nonetheless. At Bianjing, Liu Yu required them to be received with the rites owed a subject. Han Xiaozhou said nothing, but Hu Songnian declared, "Long live the sage sovereign." Liu Yu asked, "What does the sage emperor intend?" Hu Songnian replied, "Our sovereign will not rest until the old territory is recovered." On his return he was appointed Minister of Personnel.
50
岳飛收復襄、漢，令松年籌度守禦事。 松年奏：「乞飛班師，徐窺劉豫意向，若豫置不問，其情叵測，當飭將士謹疆場可也。」 又條戰艦四利：一曰張朝廷深入之軍勢，二曰固山東欲歸之民心，三曰震疊強敵，使不敢窺江、浙，四曰牽制劉豫不暇營襄、漢。
After Yue Fei recovered Xiangyang and Hanzhong, the court put Hu Songnian in charge of planning the defense. Hu Songnian urged that Yue Fei be recalled and Liu Yu's intentions watched closely. "If Liu Yu shows no reaction, his designs are unknowable," he wrote; "the troops should be ordered to hold the frontier with care." He also set out four advantages of a fleet: projecting the court's power deep into enemy territory; securing the loyalty of Shandong people who wish to return; overawing the enemy so they dare not threaten Jiangsu and Zhejiang; and pinning Liu Yu down so he cannot build strength in Xiang and Han.
51
除端明殿學士、簽書樞密院事。 首奏八事：「立規摹以定中興之基，振紀綱以尊朝廷之勢，馭將帥使知畏，撫士卒使知勸，收予奪之柄，察毀譽之言，無以小疵棄人才，無以虛文廢實效。」 又薦張敵萬：「向在淮南誘敵深入，步騎四集，悉陷於淖，無得解者，金人至今膽落。 乞令統率軍馬別為任使，庶幾外閫漸多名將，不獨仗倚三四人而已。」
He was made Academician of the Duanming Hall and deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs. His first memorial laid out eight priorities: set a blueprint for restoration; restore discipline to strengthen the throne; make generals fear disobedience and soldiers feel rewarded; reclaim the power of appointment and dismissal; weigh praise and slander carefully; reject no talent over small faults; and let no empty paperwork displace real achievement." He also recommended Zhang Diwan: "In Huainan he once lured the enemy deep into marshland until infantry and cavalry were trapped on every side with no escape. The Jurchens have never recovered their nerve. Give him an independent command, so that the frontier gradually gains more capable generals and the court is not reduced to leaning on three or four men alone."
52
諜報劉豫於登、萊、海、密具舟楫，淮陽、順昌積芻粟，欲憑藉金人侵我邊鄙。 議者謂韓、劉、岳各當一面，可保無虞。 松年奏：「三人聲勢初不相屬，緩急必不相救。 況海道闊遠，蘇、秀、明、越最為要衝，乞選精兵萬人，命一大臣往駐建康，親督世忠、光世守採石、馬家渡，以張兩軍之勢，仍以兵五千屯明州、平江，控禦江海。 或無人可遣，臣願疾馳以赴其急。」 詔遣松年往江上，與諸將會議進討，因覘賊情。 帝決意親征，遂次平江，命松年權參知政事，專治戰艦，張浚專治軍器。 松年曰：「議論既定，力行乃有效，若今日行，明日止，徒紛紛無益。」
Intelligence reported that Liu Yu was preparing boats at Deng, Lai, Hai, and Mi and stockpiling fodder and grain at Huaiyang and Shunchang, planning to use Jin support to raid the frontier. Some argued that with Han Shizhong, Liu Guangshi, and Yue Fei each holding a front, there was nothing to fear. Hu Songnian replied, "Those three commands are not linked. In a crisis they will not come to one another's aid. The sea route is vast, and Suzhou, Xiuzhou, Mingzhou, and Yuezhou are the critical points. He asked for ten thousand picked troops and a senior minister posted at Jiankang to direct Han Shizhong and Liu Guangshi at Caishi and Majiadu, while five thousand men held Mingzhou and Pingjiang against attack from the rivers and sea. If no one else can be spared, I am willing to ride at once to meet the crisis." The emperor ordered Hu Songnian to the Yangtze front to confer with the generals on the advance and to reconnoiter the enemy. When the emperor resolved to take the field in person and halted at Pingjiang, he made Hu Songnian acting vice grand councillor in charge of warships and put Zhang Jun in charge of arms. Hu Songnian said, "Once policy is settled, only steady execution counts. Start today and stop tomorrow, and nothing is gained but confusion."
53
俄以疾提舉洞霄宮，卜居陽羨，雖居閑不忘朝廷事，屢言和糴科斂、防秋利害，帝皆嘉納。 十六年，病革，呼其子曰：「大化推移，有所不免。」 乃就枕，鼻息如雷，有頃卒，人謂不死也。 年六十。
Soon illness forced him to retire as director of the Dongxiao Palace at Yangxian. Even in retirement he kept advising the court on grain levies and autumn defense, and the emperor welcomed every memorial. In the sixteenth year, on his deathbed, he called his son and said, "The great cycle turns; no one escapes it." He lay back on his pillow, breathing like thunder. A moment later he was dead, yet for a time people thought he still lived. He was sixty.
54
松年平生不喜蓄財，每除官例賜金帛，以軍興費廣，一無所陳請，或勸其白於朝，曰：「弗請則已，白之是沽名也。」 喜賓客，奉入不足以供費，或請節用為子孫計。 松年曰：「賢而多財，則損其志，況俸廩，主上所以養老臣也。」 自持囊至執政，所舉自代，皆一時聞人，所薦一以至公，權勢莫能奪。
Hu Songnian never cared to hoard wealth. Each promotion brought its customary grant of gold and silk, but with war costs soaring he never asked for a share. When others urged him to petition the throne, he said, "Not asking is enough; asking would be fishing for praise." He loved entertaining guests, and his salary never covered the cost. Some urged him to cut back for his children's sake. Hu Songnian replied, "Wealth spoils a worthy man's resolve. Besides, my stipend is what the sovereign gives to sustain an old servant." He carried his own recommendations to the chief ministers. Every man he proposed to succeed him was eminent, and no power or patronage could sway his choices.
55
方秦檜秉政，天下識與不識，率以疑忌置之死地，故士大夫無不曲意阿附為自安計。 松年獨鄙之，至死不通一書，世以此高之。
While Qin Hui held power, anyone he knew or did not know could be destroyed by suspicion, so officials everywhere flattered him to survive. Hu Songnian alone scorned him and never exchanged a single letter with him to the day he died. The world honored him for it.
56
曹勛，字公顯，陽翟人。 父組，宣和中，以閤門宣贊舍人為睿思殿應制，以占對開敏得幸。 勳用恩補承信郎，特命赴進士廷試，賜甲科，為武吏如故。
Cao Xun, styled Gongxian, came from Yangdi. His father Zu, during the Xuanhe era, served as gate protocol attendant and composer for the Hall of Sagacious Contemplation, winning favor through his quick wit in divination and repartee. Cao Xun entered service by privilege as Bearer of Faithful Trust, was specially ordered to sit the palace jinshi examination, received the highest rank, and remained a military officer.
57
靖康初，為閤門宣贊舍人、勾當龍德宮，除武義大夫。 從徽宗北遷，過河十餘日，謂勛曰：「不知中原之民推戴康王否？」 翌日，出御衣，書領中曰：「可便即真，來救父母。」 並持韋賢妃、邢夫人信，命勛間行詣王。 又諭勛：「見康王第言有清中原之策，悉舉行之，毋以我為念。」 又言藝祖有誓約藏之太廟，不殺大臣及言事官，違者不祥。
At the start of the Jingkang era he was gate protocol attendant and supervisor of Longde Palace, and was made Grandee of Martial Righteousness. Accompanying Emperor Huizong on the forced march north, more than ten days after crossing the river he asked Cao Xun, "Do you think the people of the Central Plains have rallied to Prince Kang?" The next day he took out an imperial robe and wrote inside the collar, "Take the throne at once and come to save your parents." He also gave Cao Xun letters from Consort Wei and Lady Xing and ordered him to make his way secretly to the prince. He also told Xun, "When you find Prince Kang, tell him of any plan to reclaim the Central Plains and put every part of it into action. Do not let concern for me hold you back." He added that Taizu had left a sworn oath in the Imperial Ancestral Temple never to put to death grand ministers or officials who remonstrated; violation would bring ill fortune.
58
十一年，兀術遣使議和，授勛成州團練使，副劉光遠報之。 及淮，遇兀術，遣還，言當遣尊官右職持節而來，蓋欲亟和也。 勛還，遷忠州防禦使。 金使蕭毅等來，命勛為接伴使。 未幾，落階官為容州觀察使，充金國報謝副使，召入內殿，帝灑泣，諭以懇請親族之意。 及見金主，正使何鑄伏地不能言，勛反覆開諭，金主首肯許還梓宮及太后。 勛歸，金遣高居安等衛送太后至臨安，命勛充接伴使。 遷保信軍承宣使、樞密副都承旨。
In the eleventh year, Wuzhu dispatched envoys to discuss peace. Cao Xun was appointed Regimental Commissioner of Chengzhou and served as deputy to Liu Guangyuan in responding. On reaching the Huai River, they met Wuzhu, who sent them home and said a senior official bearing imperial credentials should come instead—clearly eager to conclude peace at once. Cao Xun returned and was promoted to Defender of Zhongzhou. When Jin envoys led by Xiao Yi arrived, Cao Xun was appointed to receive them. Soon he was given the honorary post of Observer of Rongzhou and appointed deputy envoy to return thanks to the Jin court. Summoned to the inner hall, the emperor wept and charged him with the earnest request to recover the imperial family. At their audience with the Jin emperor, chief envoy He Zhu fell prostrate and could not speak. Cao Xun argued the case again and again until the Jin ruler assented and agreed to return the imperial coffin and the Empress Dowager. After Cao Xun returned, the Jin sent Gao Ju'an and others to escort the Empress Dowager to Lin'an and again appointed Xun to receive her. He was promoted to Commissioner of the Bao Xin Army and Deputy Chief Palace Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs.
59
二十九年，拜昭信軍節度使，副王倫為稱謝使。 時金主亮已定侵淮計，勛與倫還，言鄰國恭順，和好無他，人譏其妄。 孝宗朝加太尉、提舉皇城司、開府儀同三司。 淳熙元年卒，贈少保。
In the twenty-ninth year he was made Military Commissioner of the Zhao Xin Army and served as deputy to Wang Lun on a mission of thanks. By then Emperor Hailing of Jin had already settled on a plan to strike south across the Huai. When Cao Xun and Wang Lun returned, they reported that the neighbor was respectful and the alliance sound; people ridiculed their delusion. Under Emperor Xiaozong he was further promoted to Grand Marshal, put in charge of the Imperial City Bureau, and granted the honors of Grand Preceptor equal to the Three Excellencies. He died in the first year of the Chunxi era and was posthumously granted the title Junior Guardian.
60
李稙，字元直，泗州臨淮人。 幼明敏篤學，兩舉於鄉。 從父中行客蘇軾門，太史晁無咎見之曰：「此國士也。」 以女妻焉。
Li Zhi, whose courtesy name was Yuanzhi, came from Linhuai in Sizhou. As a boy he was bright and diligent in study, and twice passed the provincial examinations. His uncle Zhonghang moved in Su Shi's circle; when Grand Astrologer Chao Wujiu met Li Zhi he said, "Here is a man fit to serve the realm." He gave Li Zhi his daughter in marriage.
61
靖康初，高宗以康王開大元帥府。 湖南向子諲轉運京畿，時群盜四起，餉道阨絕，環視左右無足遣者。 有以稙薦，遂借補迪功郎，使督四百艘，總押犒師銀百萬、糧百萬石，招募忠義二萬餘眾，自淮入徐趨濟，凡十餘戰，卒以計達。 時高宗駐師鉅野，聞東南一布衣統眾而至，士氣十倍，首加勞問。 稙占對詳敏，高宗大悅，親賜之食，曰：「得一士如獲拱璧，豈特軍餉而已。」 承制授承直郎，留之幕府。
Early in the Jingkang era, the future Gaozong, then Prince Kang, opened the Grand Marshal's Headquarters. Xiang Ziyin of Hunan was moving supplies to the capital region. Bandits were rising on every side, supply lines were severed, and he found no one around him fit to send. When Li Zhi was recommended, he received a provisional appointment as Bearer of Merit and was sent to supervise four hundred boats, escorting one million taels of silver in troop rewards and a million shi of grain while recruiting more than twenty thousand loyal volunteers. From the Huai he pushed through Xu toward Ji, fighting more than ten engagements, and finally broke through by stratagem. Gaozong was then encamped at Juye. When he heard that a plain-clothed man from the southeast had arrived at the head of an army, morale surged tenfold, and he was the first to receive and commend him. Li Zhi replied with detailed and nimble clarity. Gaozong was delighted, personally set food before him, and said, "To gain a man like this is like finding a treasured jade disk—not merely securing army supplies." By special order he was made Bearer of Upright Trust and retained on the marshal's staff.
62
稙三上表勸進：「願蚤正大寶，以定人心，以應天意。」 三降手劄獎諭。 稙感激知遇，言無不盡，為汪伯彥、黃潛善所忌。 高宗既即位，為東南發運司幹辦公事，尋以奉議郎知潭州湘陰。 縣經楊么蕩析，稙披荊棘，立縣治，發廩粟，振困乏，專以撫摩為急。
Li Zhi submitted three memorials urging accession: "I pray that Your Majesty will soon take the throne in full right, to settle the people's hearts and answer Heaven's will." Three times the emperor sent down handwritten notes of praise and encouragement. Deeply moved by this favor, Li Zhi spoke his mind without reserve and was resented by Wang Boyan and Huang Qianshan. After Gaozong took the throne, Li Zhi served as a staff officer of the Southeast Transport Commission, and soon afterward was appointed magistrate of Xiangyin in Tanzhou with the rank Bearer of Discussion. The county had been laid waste by Yang Yao. Li Zhi cut through the brambles, restored county government, opened the granaries, and relieved the destitute, making comfort and care his chief concern.
63
丞相張浚督師江上，知稙才，薦為朝奉郎、鄂州通判。 大盜馬友、孔彥舟未平，稙請修戰艦，習水戰，分軍馬為左右翼，大破彥舟伏兵，誅馬友，二盜平。 浚以破賊功上於朝，轉朝奉大夫、通判荊南府。 秩滿，除尚書戶部員外郎。
Grand Councilor Zhang Jun was directing troops on the Yangzi. Recognizing Li Zhi's ability, he recommended him as Senior Gentleman of the Court and vice-prefect of Ezhou. The great bandits Ma You and Kong Yanchou had not yet been subdued. Li Zhi had warships repaired, drilled his men in river fighting, and divided his forces into left and right wings. He smashed Yanchou's ambush, executed Ma You, and both bandits were brought to heel. Zhang Jun reported the victory to court, and Li Zhi was promoted to Grand Gentleman for Court Attendance and made vice-prefect of Jingnan. When his term ended, he was appointed Outer Assistant Director in the Ministry of Revenue.
64
時秦檜當國，凡帥府舊僚率皆屏黜，浚亦去國。 稙即丐祠奉親，寓居長沙之醴陵十有九年，杜門不仕。
Qin Hui was then in power. Nearly all former staff of the marshal's headquarters were pushed aside, and Zhang Jun too left the court. Li Zhi at once sought a sinecure so he could care for his parents, lived for nineteen years at Liling near Changsha, and kept his doors closed to office.
65
檜死，子諲以戶部尚書居邇列，語及龍飛舊事，識稙姓名，除戶部郎中。 稙始入見，帝曰：「朕故人也。」 方有意大用，以母老，每辭，願便養，除知桂陽軍。 丁母憂，歸葬，哀毀廬墓，有白鷺朱草之祥。 劉錡遺之書曰：「忠臣孝子，元直兼之矣。」
After Qin Hui died, Xiang Ziyin was Minister of Revenue and close to the throne. When talk turned to the old days of the emperor's accession, he remembered Li Zhi's name, and Li Zhi was appointed Director in the Ministry of Revenue. On Li Zhi's first audience, the emperor said, "You are an old friend of mine." The emperor meant to give him great responsibility, but because his mother was old Li Zhi repeatedly declined, asking instead for a post that would let him care for her, and was appointed prefect of Guiyang. When his mother died he returned home to bury her, grieved so deeply that he lived in a hut by her tomb, and white egrets and red grass appeared as auspicious signs. Liu Qi wrote to him, "In loyalty and filial piety alike, Yuanzhi has both."
66
服闋，參政錢端禮薦差知瓊州。 陛辭，帝慨然曰：「卿老矣，瓊管遠在海外。」 改知徽州。 徽俗崇尚淫祠，稙首以息邪說、正人心為事，民俗為變。 轉朝請大夫、直秘閣，改知鎮江府，遷江淮荊湘都大提點坑冶鑄錢公事。
When his mourning period ended, Vice Administrator Qian Duanli recommended him for appointment as prefect of Qiongzhou. At his farewell audience the emperor said with feeling, "You are old, and Qiongzhou lies far beyond the sea." He was reassigned as prefect of Huizhou instead. Huizhou's people favored illicit shrines. Li Zhi made suppressing heterodox cults and setting hearts right his first concern, and local customs changed. He was promoted to Grand Gentleman for Court Appearance with direct access to the Secret Archive, reassigned as prefect of Zhenjiang, and then made overall intendant of mining, smelting, and coinage for the Jiang-Huai, Jing, and Xiang regions.
67
逾年，金人敗盟，朝廷將大舉，以稙漕運有才略，授直敷文閣、京西河北路計度轉運使。 稙措畫有方，廷議倚重。 乾道元年，遷提刑江西。 二年，直寶文閣、江南東路轉運使兼知建康軍府兼本路安撫使，主管行宮留守司事。
A year later the Jin broke the treaty and the court prepared a major campaign. Because Li Zhi showed talent and strategy in transport, he was given direct access to the Hall of Spreading Culture and appointed planning transport commissioner for the Jingxi and Hebei circuits. Li Zhi planned with sound method, and court deliberations leaned heavily on him. In the first year of the Qiandao era he was made judicial intendant of Jiangxi. In the second year he was given direct access to the Hall of Treasured Culture, made transport commissioner of Jiangnan East circuit, concurrently prefect of Jiankang and pacification commissioner of the circuit, and put in charge of the traveling palace garrison headquarters.
68
稙上書極言防江十策，其略曰：「保荊、襄之障，以固本根； 審中軍所處，以俟大舉； 搜選強壯，以重軍勢； 度地險阨，以保居民； 避敵所長，擊其所短； 金人降者宜加賞勸。」 皆直指事宜，不為浮泛。 疏上，帝嘉其言，以太府卿召赴闕，有疾不克上道，遂以中奉大夫、寶文閣學士致仕，還湘。
Li Zhi submitted a memorial setting out ten strategies for river defense in detail. In summary he wrote: "Hold the barrier of Jing and Xiang to secure the state's foundation; choose where the central army should stand, to await the great offensive; recruit and select the strong to thicken the army's power; survey defensible ground to protect the people; avoid what the enemy does best and strike where he is weak; Jin deserters should be rewarded and encouraged." Every point went straight to practical matters, without empty generalities. When the memorial reached the throne, the emperor praised it and summoned him to court as Minister of the Imperial Treasury. Illness kept him from traveling, so he retired as Grand Gentleman for Palace Attendance and Academician of the Hall of Treasured Culture and returned to Hunan.
69
時胡安國父子家南嶽下，劉錡家湘潭，相與往還講論，言及國事，必憂形於色，始終以和議為恨。 年七十有六，卒。 有文集十卷，題曰《臨淮集》，廬陵胡銓為之序。 諡「忠襄」。
Hu Anguo and his sons lived below Mount Heng, and Liu Qi lived in Xiangtan. They visited one another in discussion, and whenever state affairs came up worry showed on their faces. To the end they regretted the peace settlement. He died at the age of seventy-six. He left a collected works in ten juan titled Collected Works of Linhuai, with a preface by Hu Quan of Luling. He was given the posthumous title "Loyal and Assisting."
70
子五人：汝虞，知桃源縣； 汝士，朝奉大夫、知黃州； 汝工，知昌化軍。
He had five sons: Ruyu, magistrate of Taoyuan county; Rushi, Senior Gentleman of the Court and prefect of Huangzhou; and Rugong, prefect of Changhua.
71
韓公裔
Han Gongyi
72
韓公裔，字子扆，開封人。 初以三館吏補官，掌韋賢妃閣箋奏，尋充康王府內知客。 金兵犯京，王出使，公裔從行。 渡河，將官劉浩、吳湛私鬥，公裔諭之乃解。 次磁州，軍民戕奉使王雲，隨王車入州廨，公裔復諭退之。 王之將南也，與公裔謀，間道潛師夜起，遲明至相，磁人無知者，自是親愛愈篤。 及兵退，張邦昌遣人同王舅韋淵來獻傳國璽。 時淵自稱偽官，議者又謂邦昌不可信，王怒將誅淵，公裔曰：「神器自歸，天命也。」 王遂受璽，命公裔掌之。 公裔力救淵，釋其罪。
Han Gongyi, whose courtesy name was Ziyi, came from Kaifeng. He first entered service as a clerk in the Three Halls, handled memorials for Consort Wei Xian's pavilion, and soon became inner host of Prince Kang's household. When Jin troops attacked the capital, the prince went out on a mission and Gongyi went with him. After crossing the river, officers Liu Hao and Wu Zhan fought among themselves; Gongyi reasoned with them until they stopped. At Cizhou the soldiers and people killed the envoy Wang Yun and followed the prince's carriage into the prefectural yamen. Gongyi again reasoned with them until they withdrew. When the prince was about to flee south, he and Gongyi planned a secret night march by a side road. At dawn they reached Xiangzhou without the people of Cizhou knowing. From then on the prince's affection for him deepened. After the armies withdrew, Zhang Bangchang sent men together with the prince's maternal uncle Wei Yuan to present the imperial seal of transmission. Yuan then styled himself an official of the puppet regime, and others said Zhang Bangchang could not be trusted. The prince in anger was about to execute Yuan. Gongyi said, "The imperial regalia has returned of its own accord—this is Heaven's mandate." The prince then accepted the seal and put Gongyi in charge of it. Gongyi pleaded hard for Yuan and secured his release from punishment.
73
元祐后詔王入承大統，府僚謂金兵尚近，宜屯彭城。 公裔言：「國家肇基睢陽，王亦宜於睢陽受命。」 時前軍已發，將趨彭城，會天大雷電，不能前，王異之，夜半抗聲語公裔曰：「明日如睢陽，決矣。」 既即帝位，公裔累遷武功大夫、貴州防禦使。
Empress Yuanyou ordered the prince to enter and succeed to the throne. The headquarters staff said Jin troops were still near and urged him to encamp at Pengcheng. Gongyi said, "The dynasty was founded at Suiyang; the prince too ought to receive the mandate there." The vanguard had already set out toward Pengcheng when heaven sent thunder and lightning so violent that they could not advance. The prince took this as a sign. At midnight he spoke loudly to Gongyi: "Tomorrow we go to Suiyang—that is settled." After the prince took the throne, Gongyi was repeatedly promoted until he reached Grandee of Military Merit and Defender of Guizhou.
74
後以事忤黃潛善，適帝幸維揚，公裔丐去，潛善以為避事，遂降三官，送吏部。 帝幸越，念其舊勞，召復故官、幹辦皇城司，仍帶御器械，累遷至廣州觀察使、提舉佑神觀。
Later he gave offense to Huang Qianshan over some matter. When the emperor was visiting Yangzhou, Gongyi asked to leave office. Qianshan took this as shirking duty and had him demoted three ranks and sent to the Ministry of Personnel. When the emperor fled to Yue, he remembered Gongyi's old service, recalled him to his former post as staff officer of the Imperial City Bureau, still bearing imperial arms, and eventually promoted him to Observer of Guangzhou and commissioner of the You Shen Abbey.
75
公裔給事藩邸三十餘年，恩寵優厚，每置酒慈寧宮，必召公裔。 會修《玉牒》，元帥府事多放佚，秦檜以公裔帥府舊人，奏令修書官就質其事。 俄除保康軍承宣使，檜疑其舍己而求於帝，銜之。 右諫議大夫汪勃希檜意，劾罷公裔，遂與外祠，在外居住，而帝眷之不衰。
Gongyi had served the princely household for more than thirty years with generous favor. Whenever the empress dowager held wine in the Cining Palace, Gongyi was always summoned. When the Jade Register was being compiled, many events of the marshal's headquarters had been lost. Qin Hui, knowing Gongyi was an old member of that staff, memorialized that the compilers should consult him. Soon he was made Commissioner of the Bao Kang Army. Qin Hui suspected he had gone over his head to the emperor and nursed a grudge. Right Remonstrance Grandee Wang Bo, eager to please Qin Hui, impeached and removed Gongyi. He was given an outside sinecure and lived away from court, yet the emperor's regard for him never faded.
76
檜死，即復提舉佑神觀，賜第和寧門西，帝曰：「朕與東朝欲常見卿，故以自近耳。」 升華容軍節度使，尋致仕。 後華容軍復為岳陽軍，公裔遂換岳陽軍節度使。 高宗既內禪，嘗與孝宗語其忠勞，因詔所居郡善視之。 乾道二年卒，年七十五，贈太尉，諡「恭榮」，官其親族八人。 高宗賜金帛甚厚。
After Qin Hui died he was at once restored as commissioner of the You Shen Abbey and given a residence west of the Henning Gate. The emperor said, "The empress dowager and I wish to see you often, so we have placed you close by." He was promoted to Military Commissioner of the Hua Rong Army and soon retired. Later, when the Hua Rong Army was renamed the Yue Yang Army, Gongyi exchanged his commission accordingly and became Military Commissioner of the Yue Yang Army. After Gaozong abdicated, he once told Xiaozong of Gongyi's loyal service and ordered the prefecture where he lived to look after him well. He died in the second year of the Qiandao era at seventy-five. He was posthumously made Grand Marshal, given the posthumous title "Respectful and Glorious," and eight of his kinsmen were granted office. Gaozong bestowed gold and silk on him in great abundance.
77
公裔律身稍謹，不植勢，不市恩，又敢與黃潛善、秦檜異，斯亦足取云。
Gongyi kept himself in some measure of restraint, did not build a power base, did not trade in favors, and dared to stand apart from Huang Qianshan and Qin Hui—points in his favor as well.
78
論曰：章誼有蹇諤之節，肖胄席父祖之蔭，二人多所論建，奉使不辱，亦可取矣。 陳公輔得諫臣之體，其劾蔡京、王黼之黨，論吳敏、李綱之隙，是矣。 然既辨安石學術之害，而不尚程頤之學，何邪？ 張觷斥蔡京之禍，薦楊時之賢，其趣操正矣，況平寇有術，而不自以為功乎？ 松年鄙秦檜而不交，知命通方，固不易得。 而曹勛崎嶇兵間，稍著勞效，然金人入侵之計已決，猶曰鄰國恭順無他，何其見幾之不早邪？ 若李稙、韓公裔早著忠藎，為天子故人，能與黃潛善、秦檜為異，閉門不出，待時而動，斯亦知所向方者哉！
Commentary: Zhang Yi had the integrity of blunt remonstrance; Han Xiaozhou rested on the prestige of his forebears. Both offered many proposals and served abroad without disgrace—these are merits worth noting. Chen Gongfu understood what a remonstrance minister should be. His impeachment of the factions of Cai Jing and Wang Fu and his analysis of the breach between Wu Min and Li Gang were sound. Yet having seen the harm of Wang Anshi's doctrines, why did he not uphold the learning of Cheng Yi? Zhang Xue condemned the ruin Cai Jing brought and recommended the worth of Yang Shi; his character was upright. Moreover, he had real skill in pacifying bandits yet did not claim the credit for himself. Hu Songnian despised Qin Hui and would have nothing to do with him. To know one's fate yet remain adaptable—such men are not easily found. Cao Xun endured the hardships of war and achieved some merit, yet when the Jin invasion was already decided he still reported that the neighbor was respectful and well disposed. How slow he was to read the signs! Li Zhi and Han Gongyi showed loyal devotion early on. As old companions of the emperor, they could stand apart from Huang Qianshan and Qin Hui, keep their doors closed, and wait for the right moment—they too knew where to stand.