1
范如圭
Fan Rugui
2
范如圭，字伯達，建州建陽人。 少從舅氏胡安國受《春秋》。 登進士第，授左從事郎、武安軍節度推官。 始至，帥將斬人，如圭白其誤，帥為已署不易也。 如圭正色曰：「節下奈何重易一字而輕數人之命？」 帥矍然從之。 自是府中事無大小悉以咨焉。 居數月，以憂去。 辟江東安撫司書寫機宜文字。 近臣交薦，召試秘書省正字，遷校書郎兼史館校勘。
Fan Rugui, styled Boda, came from Jianyang in Jian Prefecture. As a young man he studied the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》 under his maternal uncle Hu Anguo. After passing the jinshi examination, he received appointment as Left Attendant Cavalier and assessor to the military commissioner of the Wu'an Army. Shortly after his arrival, the commander was about to execute a man. Rugui reported that a mistake had been made, but the commander, having already signed the warrant, refused to reverse it. Rugui replied with stern countenance: "Your Excellency, how can you weigh a single altered character more heavily than several human lives?" Startled awake, the commander accepted his counsel. Thereafter, every matter in the headquarters, great or small, was brought to him for counsel. Several months later he left office to observe mourning. He was recruited to draft confidential dispatches for the Jiangdong Pacification Commission. Recommended by court intimates, he was summoned for examination and made Corrector in the Secretariat, then promoted to Collator with concurrent duties as reviser in the History Office.
3
秦檜力建和議，金使來，無所於館，將虛秘書省以處之。 如圭亟見宰相趙鼎曰：「秘府，謨訓所藏，可使仇敵居之乎？」 鼎竦然為改館。 既而金使至悖傲，議多不可從，中外憤鬱。 如圭與同省十餘人合議，並疏爭之，既具草，駭遽引卻者眾。 如圭獨以書責檜以曲學倍師、忘讐辱國之罪，且曰：「公不喪心病狂，奈何為此，必遺臭萬世矣！」 檜怒。 草奏與史官六人上之。
Qin Hui was pressing hard for a peace settlement. When Jin envoys arrived with no place to stay, the court planned to empty the Secretariat to lodge them there. Rugui sought out Chancellor Zhao Ding at once. "The secret archive holds the counsels and admonitions of the dynasty," he said. "Are we to let our enemies take rooms there?" Startled, Zhao Ding immediately arranged different lodgings. When the Jin envoys arrived, their arrogance made most of their demands unacceptable, and resentment seethed inside and outside the court. Rugui and more than a dozen colleagues in the same office agreed to submit a joint protest. Once the draft was ready, most of them, frightened, fell back. Rugui alone wrote to castigate Hui for warping scholarship to betray his teachers, forgetting old wrongs and shaming the nation. "Unless you have gone mad," he wrote, "how can you do such a thing? Your name will stink for ten thousand years." Hui flew into a rage. Rugui and six fellow historiographers submitted the memorial they had drafted.
4
金歸河南地，檜方自以為功。 如圭輪對，言：「兩京之版圖既入，則九廟、八陵瞻望咫尺，今朝修之使未遣，何以慰神靈、萃民志乎？」 帝泫然曰：「非卿不聞此言。」 即日命宗室士㒟及張燾以行。 檜以不先白己，益怒。
When the Jin restored the Henan territories, Hui congratulated himself on the triumph. In rotating audience Rugui said: "Now that the Two Capitals are back within our maps, the Nine Temples and Eight Imperial Tombs lie almost within sight — yet we have sent no envoy to restore them. How are we to comfort the ancestral spirits and rally the people's hearts?" The Emperor, eyes wet, said: "Had it not been for you, I would never have heard this." That very day he ordered the imperial clansman Shi Yi and Zhang Zhao to undertake the mission. Because he had not been told beforehand, Hui grew angrier still.
5
如圭謁告去，奉柩歸葬故鄉，既窆，差主管台州崇道觀。 杜門十餘歲，起通判邵州，又通判荊南府。 荊南舊戶口數十萬，寇亂後無復人跡，時蠲口錢以安集之，百未還一二也。 議者希檜意，遽謂流庸浸復而增之，積逋二十餘萬緡，他負亦數十萬，版曹日下書責償甚急。 如圭白帥，悉奏蠲之。
Rugui took leave, escorted his father's coffin home for burial, and after the interment was appointed administrator of the Chongdao Abbey in Taizhou. He kept to his home for more than ten years before being recalled as vice prefect of Shaozhou, then of Jingnan Prefecture. Jingnan had once counted several hundred thousand households. After the ravages of war almost no one remained. Poll taxes were waived to coax people back, yet fewer than one or two in a hundred had returned. To curry favor with Hui, officials abruptly declared that displaced laborers were filtering back and raised the levies accordingly. Arrears mounted to more than two hundred thousand strings of cash, with other debts running into hundreds of thousands, and the Revenue Office issued daily demands for payment. Rugui reported to the military commander and memorialized to have the entire burden remitted.
6
檜死，被旨入對，言：「為治以知人為先，知人以清心寡欲為本。」 語甚切。 又論：「東南不舉子之俗，傷絕人理，請舉漢《胎養令》以全活之，抑亦勾踐生聚報吳之意也。」 帝善其言。 又奏：「今屯田之法，歲之所獲，官盡征之。 而田卒賜衣廩食如故，使力穡者絕贏餘之望，惰農者無饑餓之憂，貪小利，失大計，謀近效，妨遠圖，故久無成功。 宜籍荊、淮曠土，畫為丘井，倣古助法，別為科條，令政役法，則農利修而武備飭矣。」
After Hui's death he was summoned to audience and said: "Good government begins with knowing men, and knowing men begins with a pure heart and restrained desires." He spoke with great force. He also argued that the southeastern custom of abandoning infants violated the most basic human bonds, and urged revival of the Han 《Fetal Nurture Edict》 to preserve lives — in the spirit of King Goujian's policy of replenishing the population to settle accounts with Wu. The Emperor praised what he said. He also submitted: "Under the present garrison-colony system, the state confiscates the entire year's harvest. Yet the colonists still received their usual clothing and grain rations, so hardworking farmers saw no hope of surplus while the idle felt no fear of hunger. Greed for small gains ruined the larger strategy; pursuit of quick results blocked the long view — and that is why the system had never succeeded. He proposed registering the idle lands along the Jing and Huai rivers, dividing them into well-field plots after the ancient aid system, drawing up separate statutes, and aligning corvée and tax levies — so that farming would prosper and defenses would be made sound."
7
以直秘閣提舉江西常平茶監，移利州路提點刑獄，以病請祠。 時宗藩並建，儲位未定，道路竊有異言。 如圭在遠外，獨深憂之，掇至和、嘉佑間名臣奏章凡三十六篇，合為一書，囊封以獻，請深考群言，仰師成憲，斷以至公勿疑。 或以越職危之，如圭曰：「以此獲罪，奚憾！」 帝感悟，謂輔臣曰：「如圭可謂忠矣。」 即日下詔以普安郡王為皇子，進封建王。 復起如圭知泉州。
Serving as Direct Secretarial Aide, he became intendant of the Jiangxi Ever-Normal Granary and Tea Monopoly, then was transferred to judicial intendant of Lizhou Circuit before requesting a temple appointment on grounds of illness. Princes of the imperial clan had all been enfeoffed, yet the heir remained unsettled, and rumor already murmured in the streets. Though far from court, Rugui alone brooded over the danger. He collected thirty-six memorials by eminent ministers from the Zhihe and Jiayou reigns, bound them into one volume, sealed it in a pouch, and presented it, urging the throne to weigh every view, follow established precedent, and decide with perfect impartiality and no hesitation. Some warned that he risked punishment for overstepping his office. Rugui replied: "If I suffer for this, what regret would I have?" Moved, the Emperor told his ministers: "Rugui has shown true loyalty." That very day an edict named the Prince of Pu'an as imperial son and elevated him to Prince of Ji. Rugui was recalled to serve as prefect of Quanzhou.
8
南外宗官寄治郡中，挾勢為暴，占役禁兵以百數，如圭以法義正之，宗官大沮恨，密為浸潤以去如圭，遂以中旨罷，領祠如故。 僦舍邵武以居，士大夫高之，學者多從之質疑。 卒年五十九。
Southern Outer Clan officials lodged in the prefectural seat and abused their power, commandeering scores of palace guards for personal service. Rugui upheld law and justice against them. The clan officials were deeply embittered and quietly worked behind the scenes to remove him; he was dismissed by confidential edict but kept his temple appointment. He rented quarters in Shaowu. Scholar-officials held him in high regard, and many students came to question him on the classics. He died at the age of fifty-nine.
9
如圭忠孝誠實，得之於天。 其學根於經術，不為無用之文。 所草具屯田之目數千言，未及上，張浚視師日，奏下其家取之，浚罷，亦不果行。 有集十卷，皆書疏議論之語，藏於家。 子念祖、念德、念茲。
Rugui's loyalty, filial devotion, sincerity, and honesty were innate gifts. His scholarship was grounded in the classics, and he wrote no ornamental fluff. He had drafted a colonization proposal of several thousand words but never submitted it. On the day Zhang Jun inspected the armies, an order was sent to his home to retrieve the manuscript. When Jun fell from power, the plan was never carried out. A collection in ten juan — all memorials and policy essays — was kept in the family. His sons were Nianzu, Niande, and Nianzi.
10
吳表臣
Wu Biaochen
11
吳表臣，字正仲，永嘉人。 登大觀三年進士第，擢通州司理。 陳瓘謫居郡中，一見而器之。 盛章者，朱勔黨也，嘗市婢，有武臣強取之，章誣以罪，繫獄。 表臣方鞫之，郡將曰：「知有盛待制乎？」 表臣佯若不知者，卒直其事。 累官監察御史，遷右正言。
Wu Biaochen, styled Zhengzhong, came from Yongjia. He passed the jinshi examination in Daguan 3 and was appointed judicial administrator of Tongzhou. Chen Guan, living in the prefecture under demotion, recognized Biaochen's ability at first meeting. Sheng Zhang belonged to Zhu Min's faction. He had bought a maidservant when a military officer seized her by force. Zhang framed the officer on a charge and had him jailed. While Biaochen was hearing the case, the prefectural commander said: "Do you know Assistant Director Sheng?" Biaochen feigned ignorance and in the end gave a just ruling. He rose through the ranks to Supervising Censor and then Right Remonstrator.
12
高宗詔臺諫條陳大利害，表臣請措置上流以張形勢，安輯淮甸以立藩蔽，擇民兵以守險阻，集海舶以備不虞。 其策多見用。 帝方鄉儒術，表臣乞選講官以裨聖德，且於古今成敗、民物情偽，邊防利害，詳熟講究。 由是詔開經筵。 邇臣有請用蔡京、王黼之黨者，侍御史沈與求乞明指其人，顯行黜責，執政不悅，奪其言職。 表臣爭曰：「臺諫為天子耳目，所以防壅蔽、杜姦邪，若咎其切直而黜之，後誰敢言，非國家福也。 請還與求以開言路。」
Emperor Gaozong ordered the censorate and remonstrance offices to lay out the great risks and gains of state. Biaochen urged securing the upper Yangzi to strengthen the strategic posture, stabilizing the Huai region as a defensive buffer, selecting militia to hold the mountain passes, and assembling seagoing vessels against contingencies. Most of his proposals were adopted. As the Emperor turned toward Confucian learning, Biaochen asked that lecture officials be chosen to deepen the emperor's virtue, and that the success and failure of past ages, the truth and deception among the people, and the strengths and weaknesses of the frontier be studied thoroughly. An edict thereupon established the Classics Lectures. When a court favorite proposed reemploying men from the factions of Cai Jing and Wang Fu, Supervising Censor Shen Yuqiu demanded that the culprits be named and openly punished. The chief ministers were displeased and stripped him of his remonstrance post. Biaochen protested: "The censorate and remonstrance offices are the emperor's eyes and ears — they exist to pierce obstruction and cut off corruption. Punish blunt honesty and who will dare speak thereafter? That is no blessing to the realm. Restore Yuqiu and reopen the road of remonstrance."
13
時防秋，議選守邊者，患乏才。 表臣曰：「唐蕭復言于德宗，陳少游任兼將相，首敗臣節，韋皐幕府下僚，獨建忠義，以皐代少遊鎮淮南。 善惡著明，則天下知逆順之理，初不以皐名賤官卑為疑。 今取忠義不屈有已試之驗者，不次而用，豈特可以勸，捍禦方略，亦堪倚仗。」 於是陳敏等十數人浸以錄用。 久之，以病請補外，以直秘閣知信州。
With autumn defenses under discussion, the court struggled to find capable men to guard the frontier. Biaochen cited Tang precedents: Xiao Fu told Emperor Dezong that Chen Shaoyou, though holding both civil and military rank, had been among the first to betray his oath as a minister, whereas Wei Gao, a junior staff officer, alone upheld loyalty and righteousness — and Gao was appointed to replace Shaoyou in governing Huainan. When merit and treachery stand plainly revealed, the empire understands which way loyalty runs — and no one hesitated because Gao was obscure and low in rank. Appoint men of tested loyalty and proven steadfastness regardless of rank, and you do more than encourage others — you gain commanders whose defensive plans can actually be trusted. Chen Min and more than a dozen others were gradually brought into service. Later, citing illness, he sought an outside post and was appointed prefect of Xinzhou with the rank of Direct Secretarial Aide.
14
宰相擬表臣為檢正，帝曰：「朕將自用之。」 遂除左司諫。 給事中胡安國以論事不合罷，表臣上疏留之。 前宰相朱勝非同都督江淮軍馬，表臣力言都督不可罷。 除侍讀，又累疏爭之，不聽，遂罷。 表臣送吏部。 授台州黃岩丞，尋除提點浙西刑獄，召為秘書少監，同修《哲宗實錄》。
The chancellor proposed appointing Biaochen as Rectifier in the Secretariat. The Emperor said: "I mean to use him myself." He was thereupon made Left Remonstrator in the Department of State Affairs. Drafting Officer Hu Anguo was dismissed after his policy views fell out of favor; Biaochen memorialized asking that he be kept at court. Former Chancellor Zhu Shengnon opposed the overall command of Jiang-Huai forces; Biaochen argued forcefully that the post must not be abolished. Though appointed Lecturer-in-Waiting, he memorialized repeatedly in protest, was ignored, and was dismissed. Biaochen was referred to the Ministry of Personnel. He was made Assistant Magistrate of Huangyan in Taizhou, then judicial intendant of Western Zhe, summoned as Vice Director of the Secretariat, and assigned to compile the 《Veritable Records of Emperor Zhezong》.
15
帝如建康，詔表臣兼留司參議官，除中書舍人、給事中、兵部侍郎。 建、崇二國公就外傅，兼翊善。 帝曰：「二國公誦習甚進，卿力也。」 徙禮部侍郎，遷吏部尚書兼翰林學士。 時秦檜欲使使金議地界，指政事堂曰：「歸來可坐此。」 表臣不答。 又以議大禮忤意，罷去。
When the emperor traveled to Jiankang, Biaochen was named concurrent deliberative officer for the remaining capital and appointed Secretariat Drafting Officer, Drafting Officer of the Department, and Vice Minister of War. When the princes of Jian and Chong received outside tutors, he served concurrently as their tutor. The emperor said: "The two princes have made remarkable progress in their studies — that is your doing." He was transferred to Vice Minister of Rites, then promoted to Minister of Personnel and concurrent Hanlin Academician. Qin Hui wished to send envoys to the Jin to negotiate borders. Pointing to the Hall of Administration he said: "When you return, you may take your seat here." Biaochen made no reply. He again fell afoul of the throne over the great rites controversy and was dismissed.
16
俄起知婺州。 會大水，發常平米振貸之，然後以聞，郡人德之。 課最，除敷文閣待制。 三歲請祠，進直學士，提舉江州太平興國宮。 家居數年，卒，年六十七。
He was soon recalled as prefect of Wuzhou. When catastrophic floods struck, he distributed Ever-Normal Granary rice for relief before reporting upward — and the people of the prefecture blessed him for it. Rated highest in performance review, he was made Attendant Gentleman of the Fuwengge Pavilion. After three years he requested a temple appointment, was promoted to Academician Exemplar, and made administrator of the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou. He lived in retirement several years and died at sixty-seven.
17
表臣晚號「湛然居士」，自奉無異布衣時，鄉論推其清約。
In later life Biaochen styled himself "Lay Follower of Stillness." He lived as plainly as he had as a commoner, and local opinion praised his austerity.
18
王居正
Wang Juzheng
19
王居正，字剛中，揚州人。 少嗜學，工文辭。 入太學，時習《新經》、《字說》者，主司輒置高選，居正語人曰：「窮達自有時，心之是非，可改邪？」 流落十餘年，司業黃齊得其文，曰：「王佐才也。」 及同知貢舉，欲擢為首，以風多士，他考官持之，置次選。 調饒州安仁丞、荊州教授，皆不赴。 大名、鎮江兩帥交辟教授府學，亦不就。
Wang Juzheng, styled Gangzhong, came from Yangzhou. From youth he loved study and wrote with real skill. At the Imperial Academy, candidates who mastered the New Classics and Wang Anshi's 《Explaining Graphs》 were always ranked at the top. Juzheng told his companions: "Success and failure come in their season — but can you change what your heart knows to be true?" For more than ten years he remained unrecognized. Vice Director Huang Qi read one of his essays and said: "Here is talent fit to assist a king." When Huang Qi served as co-examiner for the metropolitan examinations, he wanted to place Juzheng first as an example to scholars everywhere. The other examiners resisted and ranked him in the second tier. Appointments as Assistant Magistrate of Anren in Raozhou and as Professor in Jingzhou both came — and he accepted neither. The commanders of Daming and Zhenjiang both repeatedly invited him to serve as academy professor — and he declined those as well.
20
范宗尹薦於朝，召至，謂宗尹曰：「時危如此，公不極所學，拔元元塗炭中，尚誰待？ 居正避寇陽羨山間，勉出見公，一道此意爾。」 宗尹愧謝。 入對，奏：「昔人有云：『君以為難，易將至矣。』 今日之事，朝廷皆曰難，則當有易為之理。 然國勢日弱，敵氣日驕，何邪？ 蓋昔人於難者勉強為之，今以為難，不復有所為，以俟天意自回，強敵自斃也。 宣和末，以為難者十五六，至靖康與宣和孰難？ 靖康末，以為難者十八九，至建炎與靖康孰難？ 由此而言，今日雖難於前日，安知他日不難於今日？ 蓋宣和以為難，故有靖康之禍； 靖康以為難，故有今日之憂。 今而亦云，臣有所不忍聞。」 高宗嘉之，諭宗尹曰：「如王居正人才，歲月間得一人亦幸矣。」
Fan Zongyin recommended Wang Juzheng to the court. When Juzheng was summoned, the emperor said to Fan, "Times are this perilous—will you not bring all your learning to bear and lift the people from misery? Who else are we waiting for? Juzheng had been hiding from the invaders in the hills of Yangxian. Reluctantly he came out to see Fan and spoke to this effect." Fan apologized, abashed. At audience he memorialized, "A man of old said, 'When the ruler treats something as difficult, ease is about to arrive. In today's affairs, when the whole court calls everything difficult, there ought to be some way to make the difficult easy. Yet the state grows weaker by the day and the enemy grows prouder by the day—why? Men of old, when things were hard, still forced themselves to act. Today people call things hard and then do nothing, waiting for Heaven to turn of its own accord and the strong enemy to die on his own. At the end of the Xuanhe era, fifteen or sixteen out of every twenty men treated affairs as hopeless. Between Jingkang and Xuanhe, which was harder? At the end of Jingkang, eighteen or nineteen out of every twenty did the same. Between Jianyan and Jingkang, which was harder? By this reckoning, though today is harder than yesterday, who can say tomorrow will not be harder still? Because Xuanhe treated things as difficult, the Jingkang disaster followed; because Jingkang treated things as difficult, we have today's distress. To hear the same said now—I cannot bear it." Gaozong praised the memorial and told Fan Zongyin, "For talent like Wang Juzheng's, to gain one man in the space of months is already good fortune."
21
除太常博士，遷禮部員外郎。 建議合祭天地於明堂，請奉太祖、太宗配，宗尹是之，議遂定，天地復合祭。 侍御史沈與求劾宗尹，因及居正，宗尹去，居正乞補外，不許。 撫州守高衛言甘露降於州之祥符觀，為圖以獻。 居正論今日恐非天降祥瑞之時，卻其圖。
He was appointed Doctor of the Grand Imperial Sacrificial Office and promoted to Vice-Director of the Ministry of Rites. He proposed that Heaven and Earth be worshipped together in the Bright Hall, with Taizu and Taizong enshrined as associates. Fan Zongyin agreed, the measure was adopted, and the joint rite was restored. Remonstrance Censor Shen Yuqiu impeached Fan Zongyin and implicated Juzheng. Fan left office; Juzheng asked to serve outside the capital but was refused. Gao Wei, prefect of Fuzhou, reported that sweet dew had fallen at the prefecture's Xiangfu Temple and presented a diagram of the event. Juzheng argued that the present was hardly a time for heavenly omens of good fortune and rejected the diagram.
22
試太常少卿兼修政局參議，遷起居郎。 帝方鄉規諫，居正次前世聽納事為《集諫》十五卷，以廣帝意。 詔以時務訪群臣，居正獻疏數千言，論省費尤切，曰：「宋興百七十三年矣，所行多彌文之事。 今陛下所至曰行在，於一日二日少駐蹕之頃，欲盡為向者百七十三年之事，非所謂知變也。 夫不知隨時以省事，而乃隨事以省費，故今日例有減半之說，究其實未始不重費。 願詔大臣計百事之實而論定之，苟非禦寇備敵，任賢使能，振恤百姓，一切姑置，則費省而國裕。」
He was tried as Vice-Director of the Grand Imperial Sacrificial Office with concurrent duty as deliberator in the Bureau for Revision of Administrative Regulations, then promoted to Gentleman-in-Attendance. The emperor was then inclined to accept remonstrance. Juzheng compiled earlier instances of rulers heeding advice into fifteen scrolls entitled Collected Remonstrances, to broaden the emperor's mind. An edict solicited the ministers' views on current affairs. Juzheng submitted a memorial several thousand characters long, speaking most urgently on cutting expenses. He said, "The Song has stood one hundred seventy-three years, yet what is practiced is mostly ornamental ceremony. Your Majesty's present seat is called the Mobile Court. In the brief pause of a day or two, to try to do everything that belonged to those one hundred seventy-three years is not what is meant by knowing how to adapt. Not knowing how to cut work according to the times, but instead cutting costs item by item—hence today's talk of halving every expense; in fact it has never truly made things cheaper. I ask that Your Majesty charge the great ministers to reckon the real cost of every affair and settle it. Whatever is not repelling invaders, preparing against the enemy, appointing the worthy, employing the capable, or reviving and relieving the people should be set aside for now. Then expenses will fall and the state will be secure."
23
居正素與秦檜善，檜為執政，與居正論天下事甚銳，既相，所言皆不酬。 居正疾其詭，見帝言曰：「秦檜嘗語臣：『中國人惟當著衣啖飯，共圖中興。』 臣心服其言。 又自謂：『使檜為相數月，必聳動天下。』 今為相施設止是，願陛下以臣所聞問檜。」 檜銜之，出居正知婺州。 州貢羅，舊制歲萬匹，崇寧後增五倍，建炎中減為二萬。 至是，主計者請復崇寧之數，居正力言於朝，戶部督趣愈峻，居正置檄不行，語其屬曰：「吾願身坐，不以累諸君。」 呼吏為文書付之曰：「即有譴，以此自解。」 復手疏「五不可」以聞。 詔如建炎中數。 漕司市御炭，須胡桃文、鵓鴿色者，居正曰：「民以炭自業者，率居山谷，安知所謂胡桃文、鵓鴿色耶？」 入朝以聞，詔止之。
Juzheng had long been friendly with Qin Hui. While Qin held power, he and Juzheng debated state affairs sharply. Once Qin became chief councillor, none of Juzheng's proposals was heeded. Juzheng resented his duplicity. Seeing the emperor he said, "Qin Hui once told me, 'We Chinese need only dress and eat and together strive for restoration. I was convinced by what he said. He also said of himself, 'If I were chief councillor for a few months, I would surely stir the whole empire. Now that he is chief councillor, his measures go no further than this. I ask Your Majesty to put what I have heard to Qin Hui directly." Qin bore a grudge and had Juzheng sent out as prefect of Wuzhou. The prefecture's tribute of gauze silk had formerly been ten thousand bolts a year. After Chongning it was increased fivefold; during Jianyan it was reduced to twenty thousand. At this time those in charge of accounts asked to restore the Chongning quota. Juzheng forcefully argued against it at court. The Ministry of Revenue pressed ever harder; Juzheng set the order aside and did not carry it out, telling his staff, "I am willing to bear punishment myself and not involve any of you." He had a clerk draft a written statement and gave it to them, saying, "If blame falls, use this to clear yourselves." He also submitted in his own hand a memorial setting out five reasons why the increase should not be allowed. An edict fixed the quota at the Jianyan figure. The transport commissioner was purchasing imperial charcoal and required patterns like walnut grain and the color of the spotted dove. Juzheng said, "People who live by making charcoal mostly dwell in mountain valleys—how would they know what walnut grain or spotted-dove color means?" When he entered court and reported this, an edict halted the practice.
24
召為太常少卿，遷起居舍人兼權中書舍人、史館修撰。 帝欲遷趙令峸大中大夫，居正奏：「官非侍從不可轉，此祖宗法，若令峸以庶官得遷，則宗室為承宣者，不旋踵求為節度，何以卻之？」 遂寢其命。 上書人陳東、歐陽澈已贈官，居正乞重貶黃潛善、汪伯彥，以彰二子殺身成仁之美。 大將張俊遣卒至彭澤，卒故縣吏，怙俊勢侵辱令，令郭彥恭械之，俊訴於朝，帝為罷彥恭。 居正言：「彥恭不畏強禦，無可罪。」 俊又乞免徭役，居正言：「兵興以來，士大夫及勳戚家賦役與編戶均，蓋欲貴賤上下，共濟國事，以寬民力，俊反不能體此乎？」 和州請蠲進奉大禮絹，居正言：「大禮進奉，乃臣子享上之誠，初非朝廷取于百姓之物，若察民力無所從出，不能預降旨蠲之，至使州縣自陳，已為非是，乞速如所請。」 除目有自中出者，居正奏：「近習請託，進擬不自朝廷，所繫非輕。」 因錄皇佑詔書以進。 帝皆嘉納。
He was recalled as Vice-Director of the Grand Imperial Sacrificial Office and promoted to Gentleman of Diary-writing with concurrent acting duty as Drafting Secretary of the Secretariat and compiler of the History Office. The emperor wished to promote Zhao Lingqi to Grandee of Palace Attendance. Juzheng memorialized, "One who is not among the personal attendants may not be transferred to such a post—this is ancestral law. If Lingqi may be promoted from an ordinary office, then every imperial clansman who is commissioner of appearance will soon seek to become military commissioner—how can we refuse them?" The appointment was therefore shelved. The petitioners Chen Dong and Ouyang Che had already been granted posthumous honors. Juzheng asked that Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan be heavily demoted, to set off the two men's sacrifice for righteousness. The great general Zhang Jun sent a soldier to Pengze. The soldier had formerly been a county clerk and, relying on Jun's power, insulted the magistrate. Magistrate Guo Yangong had him put in fetters. Jun complained at court and the emperor dismissed Yangong. Juzheng said, "Yangong did not fear the powerful—he committed no offense." Jun also asked to be exempted from corvée and tax service. Juzheng said, "Since the war began, gentry and merit households have shared tax and corvée with ordinary households—the aim was that high and low together should sustain the state and ease the people's burden. Can Jun not grasp even this?" Hezhou requested remission of the silk tribute for the grand rites. Juzheng said, "The grand-rites tribute is the sincerity of subjects toward their ruler; it is not in the first place something the court takes from the people. If one sees that the people have no means to meet it, one ought to issue an edict remitting it beforehand. To wait until counties and prefectures petition on their own is already wrong; I ask that the request be granted at once." When appointments issued from within the palace, Juzheng memorialized, "Favorites petition for posts and nominations do not come from the court—the matter is no light one." He therefore copied out and submitted the edict of the Huangyou era. The emperor praised and accepted all his proposals.
25
兼權直學士院，又除兵部侍郎。 入對，以所論王安石父子之言不合於道者，裒得四十二篇，名曰《辨學》，上之。 又曰：「陛下惡安石之學，嘗於聖心灼見，其弊安在？」 帝曰：「安石之學，雜以伯道，欲效商鞅富國強兵，今日之禍，人徒知蔡京、王黼之罪，而不知生於安石。」 居正曰：「安石得罪萬世者不止此。」 因陳安石釋經無父無君者。 帝作色曰：「是豈不害名教邪？ 孟子所謂邪說，正謂是矣。」 居正退，序帝語繫於《辨學》首。
He held concurrent acting duty in the Hanlin Academy and was further appointed Vice-Minister of War. At audience he collected forty-two passages in which Wang Anshi and his son had spoken contrary to the Way, entitled the work Discerning Learning, and submitted it. He also said, "Your Majesty detests the learning of Anshi. You have plainly seen in your own mind where its harm lies?" The emperor said, "Anshi's learning, mixed with Legalist doctrine, sought to emulate Shang Yang in enriching the state and strengthening the army. Today's disaster—people know only the guilt of Cai Jing and Wang Fu, and do not see that it arose from Anshi." Juzheng said, "What makes Anshi guilty before ten thousand generations is not limited to this." He then set forth how Anshi, in interpreting the classics, had been without father and without lord. The emperor's expression changed. "Does this not harm the teaching of names and relationships? What Mencius called heterodox doctrine—this is exactly it." Juzheng withdrew and placed the emperor's words at the head of Discerning Learning.
26
出知饒州，尋改吉州。 侍御史謝祖信劾居正兇暴詭詐，傾陷大臣，罷官，屏居括蒼三載。 其弟駕部郎居修入對，帝曰：「卿兄今安在？ 行大用矣。」 中書舍人劉大中侍帝，論制誥，帝曰：「王居正極得詞臣體。」 侍御史蕭振論守令賢否，帝舉居正守婺免貢羅、御炭事，曰：「守臣愛百姓皆如此，朕復何憂。」
He was sent out as prefect of Raozhou, then transferred to Jizhou. Remonstrance Censor Xie Zuxin impeached Juzheng for violence, deceit, and ruining great ministers. He was dismissed and lived in seclusion at Kuocang for three years. His younger brother Juxiu, Gentleman of the Transport Ministry, attended audience. The emperor said, "Where is your elder brother now? He will soon be greatly employed." Drafting Secretary Liu Dazhong attended the emperor and discussed edict composition. The emperor said, "Wang Juzheng fully possesses the style of a drafting minister." Remonstrance Censor Xiao Zhen discussed whether prefects and magistrates were worthy. The emperor cited Juzheng's governing of Wu and his refusal of silk tribute and imperial charcoal, saying, "If every prefect loved the people as he did, what would I have to worry about?"
27
起知溫州。 是時檜專國，居正自知不為所容，以目疾請祠，杜門，言不及時事，客至談論經、史而已。 檜終忌之，風中丞何鑄劾居正為趙鼎汲引，欺世盜名，奪職奉祠，凡十年。 檜死，復故職。 紹興二十一年卒，年六十五。
He was recalled as prefect of Wenzhou. At that time Qin monopolized the state. Juzheng knew he would not be tolerated. Citing eye disease he requested a sinecure, shut his doors, and spoke of current affairs no more; when guests came he discussed only the classics and history. Qin still hated him and prompted Censor-in-Chief He Zhu to impeach Juzheng as promoted by Zhao Ding—deceiving the age and stealing a name. His office was stripped and he held a sinecure for ten years in all. When Qin died, his former post was restored. He died in the twenty-first year of Shaoxing, aged sixty-five.
28
居正儀觀豐偉，聲音洪暢。 奉祿班兄弟宗族，無留者。 郊祀恩以任其弟居厚，及卒，季子猶布衣。 其學根據《六經》，楊時器之，出所著《三經義辨》示居正曰：「吾舉其端，子成吾志。」 居正感厲，首尾十載為《書辨學》十三卷，《詩辨學》二十卷，《周禮辨學》五卷，《辨學外集》一卷。 居正既進其書七卷，而楊時《三經義辨》亦列秘府，二書既行，天下遂不復言王氏學。
Juzheng was tall and imposing in appearance and resounding in voice. He distributed his salary among brothers and clansmen—none was left out. At the grace granted after the suburban sacrifice he used his privilege for his brother Juhou. When he died, his youngest son was still in plain cloth. His learning was rooted in the Six Classics. Yang Shi valued him and showed him his Three Classics Discerning Meaning, saying, "I begin the thread—you finish my intent." Juzheng was stirred and worked for ten years from beginning to end, producing Discerning Learning of the Documents in thirteen scrolls, Discerning Learning of the Odes in twenty scrolls, Discerning Learning of the Rites of Zhou in five scrolls, and Outer Collected Discerning Learning in one scroll. After Juzheng had submitted seven scrolls of his book and Yang Shi's Three Classics Discerning Meaning was also placed in the imperial library, once the two works circulated the empire no longer spoke of the Wang family learning.
29
晏敦復
Yan Dunfu
30
晏敦復，字景初，丞相殊之曾孫。 少學于程頤，頤奇之。 第進士，為御史臺檢法官。 紹興初，大臣薦，召試館職，不就。 特命祠部郎官，遷吏部，以守法忤呂頤浩，出知貴溪縣。 會有為敦復直其事者，改通判臨江軍，召為吏部郎官、左司諫、權給事中，為中書門下省檢正諸房公事。
Yan Dunfu, styled Jingchu, was a great-grandson of Chief Councillor Yan Shu. In youth he studied under Cheng Yi, who considered him extraordinary. He passed the jinshi examination and became investigating legal officer of the Censorate. In the early Shaoxing period, great ministers recommended him. He was summoned to trial for an academy post but declined. He was specially appointed Gentleman of the Ministry of Rites and transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. For upholding the law he offended Lü Yihao and was sent out as magistrate of Guixi County. When someone vindicated Dunfu's case, he was changed to administrative vice-commissioner of Linjiang Army, recalled as Gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel, Left Remonstrator, and acting Supervising Censor, and served as rectifier of the general affairs of the Secretariat-Chancellery offices.
31
淮西宣撫使劉光世請以淮東私田易淮西田，帝許之。 敦復言：「光世帥一道，未聞為朝廷措置毫髮，乃先易私畝。 比者岳飛屬官以私事干朝廷，飛請加罪，中外稱美，謂有古賢將風。 光世自處必不在飛下，乞以臣言示光世，且令經理淮南，收撫百姓，以為定都建康計，中興有期，何患私計之未便。」 權吏部侍郎兼詳定一司敕令。
Military Commissioner Liu Guangshi of Huai West requested to exchange his private fields in Huai East for fields in Huai West. The emperor approved. Dunfu said, "Guangshi commands a whole circuit and has not been heard to arrange a hair's breadth for the court—yet he first exchanges private acres. Recently an officer under Yue Fei improperly petitioned the court on a private matter; Yue asked that he be punished, and within and without the court praised this, saying he had the bearing of the worthy generals of old. Guangshi surely does not place himself below Yue. I ask that my words be shown to Guangshi and that he be ordered to manage Huainan, gather and comfort the people, as part of the plan to fix the capital at Jiankang—then restoration will have its term; why worry that private schemes are not yet convenient?" He was acting Vice-Minister of Personnel with concurrent duty revising the statutes of the One Bureau.
32
渡江後，庶事草創，凡四選格法多所裁定。 敦復素剛嚴，居吏部，請謁不行，銓綜平允，除給事中。 冬至節，旨下禮部，取度牒四百充賜予。 敦復奏：「兵興費廣，凡可助用度者尤當惜，矧兩宮在遠，陛下當此令節，欲奉一觴為萬歲壽不可得，有司乃欲舉平時例行慶賜乎？」 遂寢。 有卒失宣帖，得中旨給據，太醫吳球得旨免試，敦復奏：「一卒之微，乃至上瀆聖聰，醫官免試，皆壞成法。 自崇寧、大觀以來，姦人欺罔，臨事取旨，謂之『暗嬴指揮』，紀綱敗壞，馴致危亂，正蹈前弊，不可長也。」 汪伯彥子召嗣除江西監司，敦復論：「伯彥姦庸誤國，其子素無才望，難任澄清。」 改知袁州。 又奏：「召嗣既不可為監司，亦不可為守臣。」 居右省兩月，論駁凡二十四事，議者憚之。 復為吏部侍郎。
After crossing the river, in the midst of founding everything anew, he adjudicated many matters of the four-selection regulations. Dunfu was by nature stern and severe. In the Ministry of Personnel he would not accept petitions; his evaluations were even-handed, and he was appointed Supervising Censor. At the Winter Solstice an instruction went to the Ministry of Rites to take four hundred ordination certificates for bestowal. Dunfu memorialized, "With war, expense is vast—anything that can assist the budget should especially be spared. Moreover the Two Palaces are far away; on this festive day Your Majesty cannot offer a cup for ten thousand years of life—are the officials yet intending to carry out the routine celebratory grants of ordinary times?" The matter was shelved. A soldier lost his dispatch slip yet received an inner instruction granting credentials; the court physician Wu Qiu received an instruction exempting him from examination. Dunfu memorialized, "For one soldier so slight to reach the point of sullying the imperial ear, and for a medical officer to be exempted from examination—both destroy established law. Since Chongning and Daguan, wicked men deceived the throne and, on each affair, took private instructions—calling them 'covert peremptory directives'—until discipline collapsed and disorder followed step by step. To tread that evil again must not be allowed." Wang Boyan's son Zhaosi was appointed surveillance commissioner of Jiangxi. Dunfu argued, "Boyan was treacherous and mediocre and ruined the state; his son has never had talent or repute and cannot bear the task of purification." Zhaosi was changed to prefect of Yuanzhou. He again memorialized, "Zhaosi can be neither surveillance commissioner nor prefect." In the Right Secretariat for two months he contested and refuted twenty-four matters in all; those who deliberated feared him. He was again made Vice-Minister of Personnel.
33
彗星見，詔求直言。 敦復奏：「昔康澄以『賢士藏匿，四民遷業，上下相徇，廉恥道消，毀譽亂真，直言不聞』為深可畏。 臣嘗即其言考已然之事，多本于左右近習及姦邪以巧佞轉移人主之意。 其惡直醜正，則能使賢士藏匿； 其造為事端，則能使四民遷業； 其委曲彌縫，則能使上下相徇； 其假寵竊權，簧鼓流俗，則能使廉恥道消； 其誣人功罪，則能使毀譽亂真； 其壅蔽聰明，則能使直言不聞。 臣願防微杜漸，以助應天之實。」 又論：「比來百司不肯任責，瑣屑皆取決朝省，事有不當，上煩天聽者，例多取旨。 由是宰執所治煩雜，不減有司，天子聽覽，每及細務，非所以為政。 願詳其大，略其細。」
A comet appeared; an edict sought frank speech. Yan Dunfu submitted a memorial: "Kang Cheng once warned that when worthy men withdraw into hiding, the four orders of society abandon their proper trades, officials shield one another from top to bottom, shame and integrity fade away, reputation drowns out truth, and honest counsel never reaches the throne—the state is in grave peril. I have weighed his words against events already past, and I find that the root cause lies with court intimates and corrupt officials who, through artful flattery, turn the emperor's mind from its proper course. When they despise integrity and malign the righteous, worthy men are driven into seclusion; when they manufacture crises, the people abandon their proper livelihoods; when they smooth over wrongdoing with evasions, officials at every level shield one another; when they exploit imperial favor to seize power and inflame public opinion, the nation's sense of shame is extinguished; when they distort men's deeds and punishments, reputation replaces truth; when they seal off the emperor's ears, honest counsel never reaches the throne. Your servant asks that we guard against small evils before they grow, so that our response to Heaven's warning may be genuine." He went on: "Lately every ministry has shirked its duties. Petty matters are all referred upward to the central court, and whenever something goes wrong the emperor must be consulted for a ruling. The result is that the chief ministers are as burdened as the line officials, and the emperor is drawn into trivial detail at every turn. That is no way to govern a state. Let the throne attend to great matters and leave the small ones to those charged with them."
34
八年，金遣使來要以難行之禮，詔侍從，臺諫條奏所宜。 敦復言：「金兩遣使，直許講和，非畏我而然，安知其非誘我也。 且謂之屈己，則一事既屈，必以他事來屈我。 今所遣使以詔諭為名，儻欲陛下易服拜受，又欲分廷抗禮，還可從乎？ 苟從其一二，則此後可以號令我，小有違異，即成釁端，社稷存亡，皆在其掌握矣。」 時秦檜方力贊屈己之說，外議群起，計雖定而未敢行。 勾龍如淵說檜，宜擇人為臺官，使擊去異論，則事遂矣。 於是如淵、施廷臣、莫將皆據要地，人皆駭愕。 敦復同尚書張燾上疏言：「前日如淵以附會和議得中丞，今施廷臣又以此躋橫榻，眾論沸騰，方且切齒，莫將又以此擢右史。 夫如淵、廷臣庸人，但知觀望，將則姦人也，陛下奈何與此輩斷國論乎？ 乞加斥逐，杜群枉門，力為自治自強之策。」 既又與燾等同班入對，爭之。 檜使所親諭敦復曰：「公能曲從，兩地旦夕可至。」 敦復曰：「吾終不為身計誤國家，況吾薑桂之性，到老愈辣，請勿言。」 檜卒不能屈。
In the eighth year of the reign, Jin dispatched envoys insisting on humiliating ceremonial terms. The emperor ordered his attendants and censorial officials to submit recommendations on how to respond. Dunfu argued: "Jin has twice sent envoys offering peace—not out of fear of us. Who is to say they are not baiting a trap? And if we call this "humbling ourselves," one concession will only invite the next. These envoys come bearing an "imperial proclamation." Suppose they demand that Your Majesty change into ceremonial dress and bow to receive it, or that they be received with equal standing in the hall—could we agree even to one such demand? Yield on one or two points and they will soon be issuing commands to us. The smallest breach of protocol will become a casus belli, and the fate of the dynasty will rest entirely in their hands." Qin Hui was then vigorously promoting the policy of national humiliation. Public outrage was widespread, and even after a decision was taken the court still hesitated to act on it. Gou Long Ruyuan urged Qin Hui to place his own men in the censorate and purge dissenting voices—then the policy could proceed unopposed. Ruyuan, Shi Tingchen, and Mo Jiang were accordingly installed in key positions, to the shock of the court. Dunfu and Minister of Works Zhang Tao jointly memorialized: "Ruyuan won the vice censorate by endorsing the peace terms; now Shi Tingchen has used the same route to a seat on the privy council. The court is in an uproar, and Mo Jiang has just been promoted to right recorder by the same means. Ruyuan and Tingchen are mediocrities who watch which way the wind blows; Mo Jiang is an outright villain. Why does Your Majesty entrust the nation's policy to men like these? We beg that they be dismissed and driven from office, that the door to factional corruption be shut, and that the court commit itself to genuine self-governance and self-strengthening." He and Zhang Tao then appeared before the throne together with their colleagues and argued the point at length. Qin Hui sent an intermediary to tell Dunfu: "If you will only yield on this point, both capitals can be recovered within days." Dunfu replied: "I will never sacrifice the state for my own advancement—and my disposition is like ginger and cassia bark: the older I grow, the sharper I become. Say no more." Qin Hui could not break him.
35
胡銓謫昭州，臨安遣人械送貶所。 敦復往見守臣張澄曰：「銓論宰相，天下共知，祖宗時以言事被謫，為開封者必不如是。」 澄愧謝，為追還。 始檜拜相，制下，朝士相賀，敦復獨有憂色曰：「姦人相矣。」 張致遠、魏矼聞之，皆以其言為過。 至是竄銓，敦復謂人曰：「頃言秦之姦，諸君不以為然，今方專國便敢爾，他日何所不至耶？」
Hu Quan was banished to Zhaozhou, and the Lin'an authorities sent men to escort him to exile in chains. Dunfu went to the local prefect Zhang Cheng and said: "Everyone knows Hu Quan was punished for criticizing the chief minister. In former reigns, officials exiled for remonstrance were never treated this way at Kaifeng." Zhang Cheng, ashamed, apologized and had the chains removed. When Qin Hui was first appointed chief minister and the edict was promulgated, the court congratulated itself—Dunfu alone looked troubled and said: "A villain holds the chief ministership." Zhang Zhiyuan and Wei Kang both thought he had gone too far. When Hu Quan was banished, Dunfu told others: "When I warned that Qin was a villain, none of you believed me. Now that he controls the state outright, he dares do this—what limit will there be tomorrow?"
36
權吏部尚書兼江淮等路經制使。 故事，侍從過宰相閣，既退，宰相必送數步。 敦復見檜未嘗送，每曰：「人必自侮而後人侮之。」 尋請外，以寶文閣直學士知衢州，提舉亳州明道宮。 閒居數年卒，年七十一。
He was appointed acting Minister of Personnel and concurrently commissioner for the Huai River region and other circuits. By custom, when a palace attendant passed the chief minister's office on leaving audience, the minister always walked him out several paces. Qin Hui never walked Dunfu out. Each time Dunfu remarked: "A man must first demean himself before others will demean him." He soon requested a provincial appointment and was made academician of the Baowen Pavilion, prefect of Quzhou, and superintendent of the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou. After several years in retirement he died at the age of seventy-one.
37
敦復靜默如不能言，立朝論事無所避。 帝嘗謂之曰：「卿鯁峭敢言，可謂無忝爾祖矣。」
Dunfu was quiet and unassuming, as though he could scarcely speak at all—yet once at court on official business he held back nothing. The emperor once told him: "You are blunt and fearless in remonstrance. You have not disgraced your forebears."
38
黃龜年
Huang Guinian
39
黃龜年，字德邵，福州永福人。 登崇寧五年進士第，調洺州司理參軍，累官河北西路提舉學士。 呂頤浩見而奇之，入為太常博士。
Huang Guinian, styled Deshao, was a native of Yongfu in Fuzhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Chongning, was appointed judicial assistant in Luozhou, and rose through successive posts to academician for the Hebei West Circuit. Lü Yihao was struck by his talent and brought him to court as erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
40
遷殿中侍御史。 會邊報王倫來歸，龜年劾檜專主和議，沮止恢復，植黨專權，漸不可長。 乃上書曰：「臣聞一言而盡事君之道曰忠，罪莫大於欺君； 一言而盡輔政之道曰公，罪莫大於私己。 臣人者背公而徇私，則刑賞僭濫。 慮人主之照其姦，則合黨締交，相與比周，熒惑主聽。 故附下罔上之黨盛，而威福之柄下移，禍有不可勝言者。 伏見秦檜還自金國，陛下驟任，不一年而超至宰輔，乃不顧國家，盜威福在己，欲永塞言路。」 書上，檜罷，並劾檜黨王㬇、王昞、王守道，皆罷之。 檜乃授觀文殿大學士、提舉江州太平觀，官如故。 龜年又奏：「比論檜徇私欺君，合正典刑，投諸裔土，以禦魑魅。 今乃任便居住，雖陛下曲全大臣之禮，秦檜姦狀暴露，復寵以儒學最上職名，俾優遊琳館，聽其自如。 律斷群盜，必分首從，為之從者皆已伏誅，獨置渠魁可乎？」 又曰：「臣聞恩莫隆于父子，義莫重於君臣。 不義則後其君，不仁則遺其親。 君親既然，則何忌憚而不為。 檜厚貌深情，矯言偽行，進迫君臣之勢，陽為面從； 退恃朋比之姦，陰謀沮格。 上不畏陛下，中不畏大臣，下不畏天下之議，無忌憚如此。 欺君私己，有一即可黜，況檜之欺與私顯著者為多乎？」 章凡三上，遂褫檜職。 復上章曰：「檜行詭而言譎，外縮而中邪，以巧詐取相位，姦回竊國柄，收召險佞，蟠結黨與。 陛下以智臨而辨之早，以剛決而去之速，故端人正士，舉手相慶，蓋以公天下之同惡耳。 臣願陛下發明詔，以檜潛慝隱惡暴白於天下，使知陛下數易相位真不得已也； 又所以破為臣姦膽，庶朋比之風不復作矣。」 除太常少卿，累遷起居舍人、中書舍人兼給事中。
He was promoted to palace censor. When frontier reports announced Wang Lun's return from Jin, Guinian impeached Qin Hui for monopolizing the peace policy, blocking recovery of lost territory, building a faction, and concentrating power—a trend that could not be allowed to continue. He submitted a memorial: "One word sums up service to one's ruler: loyalty. No crime is greater than deceiving the throne. One word sums up assisting in government: public-mindedness. No crime is greater than serving oneself. When officials pursue private ends against the public good, rewards and punishments are applied arbitrarily. Fearing exposure, they form cliques, bind one another in alliance, and cloud the emperor's judgment. The faction that deceives the throne from below grows strong, power slips from the emperor's hands, and the consequences are beyond words. I observe that Qin Hui, on returning from Jin, was suddenly elevated by Your Majesty and within a year reached the chief ministership. He then cared nothing for the state, seized power for himself, and sought permanently to silence all criticism." When the memorial was submitted, Qin Hui was dismissed, and Guinian also impeached Qin's allies Wang Biao, Wang Bing, and Wang Shoudao—all were removed from office. Qin Hui was granted the title Grandee of the Hall for Viewing Culture and made superintendent of the Taiping Abbey in Jiangzhou, retaining his former rank. Guinian memorialized again: "Qin Hui deserved canonical punishment for deceiving the throne and serving himself—exile to the frontier to ward off evil. Instead he has been allowed to live where he chooses. Your Majesty has shown the forbearance due a great minister—but Qin Hui's crimes are exposed, and he has been rewarded with the highest scholarly title and permitted to live in comfort at a palace abbey. The law distinguishes ringleaders from followers in bandit cases. The followers have already been punished—can the ringleader alone go free?" He added: "No bond is holier than that between father and son; no duty is weightier than that between ruler and minister. Without righteousness a man ranks his ruler last; without benevolence he abandons his kin. Once a man has betrayed ruler and kin, what will he not dare to do? Qin Hui wears a mask of virtue while harboring deep deceit. To the emperor's face he feigns compliance while pressing his advantage in the ruler-minister relationship; behind the throne he relies on his faction to obstruct policy in secret. He fears neither the emperor above, nor the great ministers around him, nor public opinion below. His audacity knows no bounds. Deceiving the throne or serving oneself—either alone warrants dismissal. Qin Hui's deceit and self-interest are flagrant and manifold." The memorial was submitted three times in succession, and Qin Hui was stripped of office. He submitted another memorial: "Qin Hui's conduct is devious and his words treacherous; outwardly submissive, inwardly corrupt. By cunning he seized the chief ministership, by treachery he usurped state power, gathered sycophants and dangerous men, and built a faction. Your Majesty, discerning early and acting decisively, has removed him—and upright men throughout the court rejoice, for the realm shares this hatred of evil. I ask that Your Majesty issue a clarifying edict exposing Qin Hui's hidden crimes to the realm, so that all may understand why the throne has changed chief ministers so often— and so that the wicked may be deterred and the wind of factional collusion may not rise again." He was appointed vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and was successively promoted to diarist, drafting secretary, and supervising censor.
41
侍御史常同言龜年陰結大臣，致身要地，又交結諸將，趣操不正，罷歸。 司諫詹大方希檜意劾龜年附麗匪人，搢紳不齒，落職，本貫居住。 卒，六十三。
Supervising censor Chang Tong accused Guinian of cultivating ties with senior ministers to advance himself and of associating with military commanders—conduct unworthy of his office. He was dismissed and sent home. Remonstrance official Zhan Dafang, currying favor with Qin Hui, impeached Guinian for associating with unworthy men. The gentry would have nothing to do with the charge, but Guinian was stripped of office and confined to his native district. He died at the age of sixty-three.
42
龜年微時，永福簿李朝旌奇之，許妻以女。 龜年既登第，而朝旌已死，家貧甚。 或勸龜年別娶，龜年正色曰：「吾許以諾，死而負之，何以自立。」 遂娶之。 任子恩，先奏其弟之子，人皆義之。 子衡，仕至湖南提舉。
In his youth, Li Chaojing, registrar of Yongfu, recognized his talent and promised him his daughter in marriage. By the time Guinian passed the jinshi examination, Chaojing had died and the family was destitute. Some urged him to marry elsewhere. Guinian said firmly: "I gave my word. If I abandon it now that he is dead, how can I face myself?" He married her. When exercising the privilege of appointing a kinsman by merit, he nominated his younger brother's son first—an act everyone praised as righteous. His son Heng rose to the post of fiscal intendant of Hunan.
43
程瑀，字伯㝢，饒州浮梁人。 其姑臧氏婦，養瑀為子，姑沒，始復本姓。 少有聲太學，試為第一，累官至校書郎。 為臧氏父母服，服闋，除兵部員外郎。 適高麗使回，充送伴使。 先是，使者往返江、浙間，調挽舟夫甚擾，有詔禁止。 提舉人舡王珣畫別敕，遇風逆水澁許調夫。 瑀渡淮，見民丁挽舟如故，遂劾珣，珣反奏瑀違御筆。 詔命淮南提舉潘良貴核實，良貴奏珣言非是。
Cheng Yu, styled Boyu, was a native of Fuliang in Raozhou. His aunt of the Zang clan and her husband raised him as their own; when she died he resumed his original surname. As a youth he was renowned in the Imperial Academy, ranked first in examination, and rose to the post of collator. He observed mourning for his foster parents of the Zang clan; when the mourning period ended he was appointed vice director in the Ministry of War. When a Goryeo envoy was returning home, he was appointed escort commissioner. Previously, envoys traveling between the Yangzi and Zhe regions had caused great hardship by requisitioning boat haulers; an edict now forbade the practice. Wang Xun, commissioner for imperial vessels, drafted a supplementary edict permitting hauler requisition when wind and current were adverse. Crossing the Huai, Yu saw commoners still hauling boats as before. He impeached Wang Xun, who counter-memorialized that Yu had violated the emperor's personal edict. The emperor ordered Pan Lianggui, fiscal intendant of Huainan, to investigate. Lianggui reported that Wang Xun's account was false.
44
金酋斡離不、粘罕爭功，故斡離不欲和，粘罕欲戰，朝廷遣人齎蠟書約余睹，皆為粘罕所得。 瑀因言：「金兵圍我重鎮，數月不能解，豈能出塞共謀人之國。 莫若遣使議和，然謹飭邊備，徐觀其變。」 使未行。 瑀復言：「徐處仁庸俗，吳敏昏懦，唐恪傾險，政事所以不振。 請盡黜免，別選英賢，共圖大計。」 帝嘉納之。
Jin commanders Wanyan Zonghan and Wanyan Nianhan were rivals for credit: Zonghan opposed peace while Nianhan favored war. The court sent envoys with sealed letters to negotiate with Yelü Yende—all were intercepted by Nianhan. Yu argued: "The Jin army has besieged our strongholds for months without success—how can they spare forces to plot against another kingdom? Better to send an envoy to discuss peace, but tighten frontier defenses and watch how matters develop." The envoy had not yet been dispatched. Yu added: "Xu Churen is a mediocrity, Wu Min is a fool, and Tang Ke is treacherous and overbearing—that is why government is in disarray. Dismiss them all and appoint worthy men to chart the nation's course." The emperor praised the proposal and adopted it.
45
時御史李光言星變，帝疑以問瑀，對言：「陛下毋問有無，第正事修德，則變異可消。」 瑀嘗論蔡京罪，帝因言吳敏庇京，又疑光黨京，謂瑀曰：「須卿作文字來。」 瑀辭。 改屯田郎官，謫瑀監漳州鹽稅。
When supervising censor Li Guang reported celestial anomalies, the emperor asked Yu for his view. Yu replied: "Your Majesty need not ask whether the omen is real. Rectify governance and cultivate virtue, and the portent will pass." Yu once argued for punishing Cai Jing. The emperor mentioned Wu Min's protection of Jing and suspected Li Guang of belonging to Jing's faction, telling Yu: "I need you to draft a memorial on this." Yu declined. He was transferred to the Directorate of Agriculture, then demoted to superintendent of the salt tax in Zhangzhou.
46
高宗即位，召為司封員外郎，遷光祿少卿、國子司業。 請祠，主管亳州明道宮。 尋召赴行在，疏十事以獻。 除直秘閣、提點江東刑獄，召為太常少卿，遷給事中兼侍講。
When Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, Yu was summoned as vice director in the Ministry of Rites and promoted to vice minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments and vice director of the Directorate of Education. He requested a temple appointment and was made superintendent of the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou. He was soon summoned to the mobile court and presented a memorial outlining ten policy recommendations. He was appointed with direct access to the Secretariat, made fiscal judicial intendant for Jiangdong, summoned as vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and promoted to supervising censor and lecturing attendant.
47
建修政局，其目曰省費裕國、強兵息民。 瑀條上十四事，皆切時務。 時三衙單弱，五軍多出於盜，瑀言：「李捧、崔增輩各將其徒，張俊、王𤫉本無兵機，今呂頤浩出征，即捧、增輩便可使隸戎行。」 帝因言：「頤浩熟於軍事，在外總諸將，檜在朝廷，庶幾內外相應，然檜誠實，但太執耳。」 瑀曰：「如求機警能順旨者，極不難得，但不誠實，則終不可倚。」 帝然之。
He proposed a program of reform under two headings: cutting expenditure to enrich the treasury, and building military strength to ease the burden on the people. Yu submitted fourteen specific proposals, each addressing an urgent problem of the day. The Three Commands were understrength and the Five Armies were largely recruited from bandits. Yu argued: "Men like Li Peng and Cui Zeng already command their own followers. Zhang Jun and Wang Si have no real military experience—yet with Lü Yihao in the field, Peng and Zeng could be pressed into service immediately." The emperor replied: "Yihao knows warfare. With him commanding the armies in the field and Hui at court, the civil and military branches should work in concert. Hui is honest—only rather inflexible." Yu said: "Clever men who know how to read the emperor's wishes are easy to find. But without honesty, none of them can be trusted." The emperor agreed.
48
權邦彥除簽書樞密院，瑀言邦彥五罪，疏三上，不報。 求罷，除兵部侍郎，不拜，以敷文閣待制知信州。 待御史江公躋左司諫方公孟，言瑀不可去，復以為給事中。 久之，復命知信州。 胡安國、劉一止言：「瑀忠信可以備獻納，正直可以司風憲，不宜去。」 遂復留。 頤浩薦席益，既得旨，以御批示後省官。 瑀曰：「益為人公豈不知，何必用？」 頤浩曰：「給事不見御批耶？」 瑀曰：「已見矣。 公不能執奏，乃先示瑀輩，欲使不敢論駁耶？ 然益之來，非公福也。」 頤浩赧然，即劾益。 未幾，以言者罷，提舉亳州明道宮，尋復徽猷閣待制、知撫州，無何，提舉江州太平興國宮。
When Quan Bangyan was appointed co-signer of the Bureau of Military Affairs, Yu charged him with five crimes and submitted three memorials—all unanswered. He asked to be relieved and was appointed vice minister of war, but declined the post and was made reader of the Fuwen Pavilion and prefect of Xinzhou. Censor Jiang Gongji and left remonstrance official Fang Gongmeng argued that Yu must not be dismissed, and he was restored as supervising censor. After some time he was again ordered to serve as prefect of Xinzhou. Hu Anguo and Liu Yizhi argued: "Yu's loyalty and integrity make him fit to remonstrate at court; his uprightness makes him fit to uphold censorial standards. He should not be dismissed." He was accordingly kept at court. Lü Yihao recommended Xi Yi; once the emperor's approval was obtained, he circulated the imperial endorsement among the secretariat staff. Yu objected: "Everyone knows what Xi Yi is like. Why appoint him at all?" Yihao retorted: "Did you not see the emperor's endorsement?" Yu replied: "I saw it. You could not memorialize in opposition yourself, so you showed it to us first—was that meant to silence our objections? But Xi Yi's appointment will bring you no good fortune." Yihao flushed with embarrassment and immediately impeached Xi Yi. Before long, critics brought about his dismissal and he was made superintendent of the Mingdao Palace in Bozhou. He was soon restored as reader of the Huiyou Pavilion and prefect of Fuzhou, then shortly afterward made superintendent of the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou.
49
居父母喪，服除，知嚴州，徙宣州，復奉祠。 俄召赴行在，除兵部侍郎兼侍讀。 因論：「鄧禹嘗言『興衰在德厚薄，初不論大小』。 光武不數年定大業，禹言如合符契。 今英俊滿朝，豈無為陛下畫至計者，願厲志而已。」 尋遷翊善。 論：「金人入侵，未嘗一大衄，有輕我心，豈可保其不背盟。 宜省費抑末，常賦外一毫不取於民，民日益厚，兵日益強，使金人不敢窺為長計。」 帝曰：「且作十年。」 瑀再拜曰：「十年之說，願陛下早夜毋忘。」 除兵部尚書。
After observing mourning for his parents, he served as prefect of Yanzhou, was transferred to Xuanzhou, and again granted a temple appointment. He was soon summoned to the mobile court and appointed vice minister of war and reading attendant. In audience he cited Deng Yu: "A dynasty's rise or fall depends on the depth of its virtue—not on the size of its territory. Emperor Guangwu secured the empire within a few years, exactly as Deng Yu had predicted. Talented men fill the court today. Surely someone can chart the path to recovery—Your Majesty has only to summon the will." He was soon promoted to tutor to the heir apparent. He warned: "The Jin have invaded repeatedly without suffering a major defeat. They hold us in contempt. How can we trust them to keep the peace? Cut spending and curb luxury trades. Beyond the regular tax, take not a penny more from the people. As the people grow wealthier and the army stronger, Jin will not dare treat us as a permanent inferior." The emperor said: "Let us plan for ten years." Yu bowed and said: "Then let Your Majesty never forget this ten-year plan, morning or night." He was appointed minister of war.
50
檜既主和，瑀議論不專以和為是，檜忌之，改龍圖閣學士、知信州。 會大水，檜見瑀奏牘，謂同列曰：「堯之洪水，不至如是。」 瑀遂稱疾，提舉江州太平興國宮。 坐通書李光，降朝議大夫，卒，年六十六。
Once Qin Hui committed the court to peace, Yu refused to treat peace as the only option. Qin Hui resented him and had him transferred to academician of the Longtu Pavilion and prefect of Xinzhou. During a great flood, Qin Hui read Yu's memorial and told his colleagues: "Even the flood of Emperor Yao was not this bad." Yu pleaded illness and was made superintendent of the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou. Convicted of corresponding with the disgraced Li Guang, he was demoted to Grandee of Court Discussion. He died at the age of sixty-six.
51
瑀在朝無詭隨，嘗為《論語說》，至「弋不射宿」，言孔子不欲陰中人。 至「周公謂魯公」，則曰可為流涕。 洪興祖序述其意，檜以為譏己，逐興祖。 魏安行鋟版京西漕司，亦奪安行官，籍其家，毀版。 檜死，瑀子孫乃免錮云。 有奏議六卷。
At court Yu never trimmed his words to please. In his Explanations of the Analects, on the passage "the archer does not shoot a bird at rest," he wrote that Confucius meant one should not strike an enemy from ambush. On "the Duke of Zhou addressed the Duke of Lu," he wrote that the passage could move one to tears. Hong Xingzu's preface to the work elaborated this reading. Qin Hui took it as a personal attack and had Hong Xingzu banished. Wei Anxing printed an edition through the Western Capital transport office. Qin Hui stripped him of office, confiscated his property, and destroyed the printing blocks. Only after Qin Hui's death were Yu's descendants released from official restriction. He left six fascicles of submitted memorials.
52
張闡字大猷，永嘉人。 幼力學，博涉經史，善屬文。 將命名，夢神人大書「闡」字曰：「以是名爾。」 父異之，力勉其為學。 未冠，由舍選貢京師。
Zhang Chan, styled Dayou, was a native of Yongjia. From youth he studied diligently, mastered the classics and histories, and wrote with distinction. Before he was named, his father dreamed that a divine figure wrote the character chan in large script and said: "Name him thus." His father took this as an omen and pressed him to devote himself to learning. Before coming of age he was selected from the local academy and sent to the capital as a tribute student.
53
登宣和六年進士第，調嚴州兵曹掾兼治右獄。 時方臘作亂，闡倡守禦計。 有義士請身督戰，既戰，稍卻，州將怒，付闡治，將殺之，闡力爭曰：「是士以義請戰，官軍卻，勢不得獨前，非首奔者，殺之何罪？」 州將意解，士得免。
He passed the jinshi examination in the sixth year of Xuanhe and was appointed military adjutant of Yanzhou, with concurrent charge of the right prison. When Fang La rebelled, Zhang Chan proposed a defensive strategy. A volunteer had offered to lead the attack in person. When the battle went poorly and government troops fell back, the prefect was furious and handed the man to Zhang Chan for punishment, intending to execute him. Zhang Chan protested vigorously: "This man volunteered out of loyalty. The army retreated—he could not advance alone. He was not the first to flee. What crime warrants death?" The prefect relented and the man was spared.
54
李回帥江西，席益帥湖南，皆辟置幕下。 群盜據洞庭，官軍多西北人，不閑水戰。 闡建策造戰艦，以大艦為營，小艦出戰，乘水涸直搗賊巢，賊勢以衰。 諸司交薦，改秩，吏部以微文沮之，闡弗辯，求嶽祠歸。 歷鄂、台二州教授。
Li Hui, military commissioner of Jiangxi, and Xi Yi, military commissioner of Hunan, both recruited him to their staffs. Bandits held Dongting Lake, and the government troops—mostly northerners—were unskilled in naval combat. Zhang Chan proposed building warships: large vessels as floating camps, small ones for attack. When the water fell he led a direct assault on the bandit stronghold and broke their power. Multiple offices recommended him for promotion, but the Ministry of Personnel blocked it on procedural grounds. Zhang Chan did not protest and requested a mountain abbey appointment, then returned home. He served as instructor in Ezhou and Taizhou.
55
紹興十年，詔侍從各舉所知，給事中林待聘以闡聞，召對。 時金人議和，歸關中地。 闡首言：「關中必爭之地，古號天府，願固守以蔽巴蜀，圖中原。」 次言監司、郡守薦舉之弊。 又乞嚴禁遏糴，以濟江、浙水患。 召試館職，除秘書省正字，遷校書郎兼吳、益王府教授。 時諸將恃功邀爵賞，有過則姑息，又兵布於外，禁衛單寡，闡上疏極論之。 後稍進退諸將必當其實，且召諸道兵以益禁旅，皆如闡言。
In the tenth year of Shaoxing the emperor ordered each palace attendant to recommend a worthy man. Supervising censor Lin Daipin nominated Zhang Chan, who was summoned for audience. Jin was then negotiating peace and offering to return the Guanzhong region. Zhang Chan spoke first: "Guanzhong is contested ground—the ancient Storehouse of Heaven. We must hold it firmly to shield Sichuan and plan recovery of the north." He then addressed abuses in the recommendation system for surveillance commissioners and prefects. He also urged strict prohibition of grain hoarding to relieve the flood disaster in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. He passed the palace examination, was appointed corrector of the Secretariat, and promoted to collator and instructor to the princes of Wu and Yi. Generals then traded on their victories to demand titles and rewards, while their failures went unpunished; troops were scattered in the provinces while the palace guard was dangerously thin. Zhang Chan submitted a forceful memorial on all these points. Subsequently, when generals were promoted or demoted, the decisions matched their actual merit; and when provincial troops were recalled to strengthen the palace guard—the court followed Zhang Chan's advice.
56
十三年，遷秘書郎兼國史院檢討官。 秦檜每薦臺諫，必先諭以己意，嘗謂闡曰：「秘書久次，欲以臺中相處何如？」 闡謝曰：「丞相見知，得老死秘書幸矣！」 檜默然，竟罷，主管台州崇道觀，歷泉、衢二州通判。
In the thirteenth year he was promoted to secretary and reviser of the National History Institute. Whenever Qin Hui recommended censorial officials he first told them what he expected. He once asked Zhang Chan: "You have served long in the Secretariat—would you like a post in the censorate?" Zhang Chan declined: "If the chief minister knows my worth, let me end my days in the Secretariat—that would be fortune enough!" Qin Hui said nothing further and eventually had him dismissed. Zhang Chan was made superintendent of the Chongdao Abbey in Taizhou and served as vice prefect of Quanzhou and Quzhou.
57
二十五年冬，帝躬攬萬機，起闡提舉兩浙路市舶，入為御史臺檢法官，升吏部員外郎。 孝宗在王邸，帝妙選宮僚，謂「莊重老成無逾闡者」，改命祠部兼建王府贊讀。
In the winter of the twenty-fifth year the emperor resumed personal governance and recalled Zhang Chan to supervise maritime trade in the Two-Zhe region. He entered court as examining judge of the Censorate and was promoted to vice director in the Ministry of Personnel. When the future Emperor Xiaozong was still prince, the emperor chose his household staff with care and said: "No one is more steady and seasoned than Zhang Chan," appointing him to the Ministry of Rites as reader for the prince's household.
58
三十一年春，大雨，無麥苗，荊、浙盜起，詔侍從、臺諫條陳弭災、禦盜之術。 闡上疏曰：「和議以來，歲有聘幣，民不堪命，臣願陛下毋以金人困中國可乎？ 歸正人時有遣還之命，怨聲聞道路，臣願陛下毋使金人得以甘心可乎？ 州縣吏職卑地遠，漁奪之禍被於編籍，臣願陛下嚴髒吏之誅可乎？ 蠲租之令，已赦復征，寬大之澤例為虛文，臣願陛下申詔令之禁可乎？ 是數者能次第行之，則足以動天地，召和氣，災異、盜賊不足慮也。」 又言：「金主亮將入侵，宜守要害，防海道，三邊不可無良將，督視不可無大帥。」 疏奏，帝嘉納，面諭曰：「卿所言深中時病，但遣人北歸，已載約書，朕不忍渝也。」 遷將作監，進宗正少卿。
In the spring of the thirty-first year torrential rains destroyed the wheat crop and bandits rose in Hubei and Zhejiang. The emperor ordered attendants and censorial officials to submit plans for disaster relief and bandit suppression. Zhang Chan memorialized: "Since the peace treaty we have paid tribute every year until the people can bear no more. Will Your Majesty stop treating Jin's drain on China as acceptable? When surrendered northerners are sent back against their will, the roads echo with their grief. Will Your Majesty stop giving Jin that satisfaction? County and prefectural officials are poorly paid and far from oversight—they prey on the people. Will Your Majesty punish corrupt local officials severely? Rent remissions granted in edicts are collected again once the amnesty expires—imperial grace becomes empty words. Will Your Majesty enforce the spirit of those edicts? If Your Majesty will act on these points in turn, Heaven itself will respond, harmony will return, and neither disaster nor banditry need trouble us further." He added: "Jin ruler Hailing is preparing to invade. We must hold the strategic passes, guard the coast, station able generals on every frontier, and appoint a supreme commander for the overall campaign." The emperor praised the memorial and told Zhang Chan in person: "Your analysis cuts to the heart of our problems—but repatriating northerners is already written into the treaty, and I cannot bring myself to break it." He was promoted to director of palace construction and vice director of the Court of the Imperial Clan.
59
三十二年，孝宗即位，闡權工部侍郎兼侍講，入謝，言：「諸將以敗為捷，冒受爵秩，州廂禁軍因覃霈皷譟，希厚賞，不可不正其罪。」 時悉為施行。
In the thirty-second year, when Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne, Zhang Chan was appointed acting vice minister of works and lecturing attendant. In his audience of thanks he said: "Generals report defeats as victories and receive titles they do not deserve. Garrison troops riot at every amnesty, demanding rewards they have not earned. These crimes must be punished." The court acted on every point.
60
金主亮死，葛王褒復求和，再議遣使。 闡言：「宜嚴遣使之命，正敵國之禮，彼或不從，則有戰爾。 如是，則中國之威可以復振。」 帝曰：「使者報聘，故事也，舊約不從，朕志定矣。」 是冬，給劄侍從、臺諫條具時務，闡上十事皆剴切。 當時應詔數十人，惟闡與國子司業王十朋指陳時事，斥權幸，無所回隱。 明日，召兩人對內殿，帝大加稱賞，賜酒及御書。 時進太上皇帝、太上皇后冊寶，工部例進官，闡辭。 或曰：「公轉一階，則澤可以及子孫，奈保辭？」 闡笑曰：「寶冊非吾功也，吾能為子孫冒無功賞乎？」
When Jin ruler Hailing was assassinated, Prince Ge (the future Emperor Shizong) renewed peace overtures and the court again debated sending envoys. Zhang Chan argued: "Send envoys with strict instructions and insist on proper diplomatic ceremony. If Jin refuses, we fight—that is all. Only then can China's standing be restored." The emperor replied: "Courtesy missions are established practice. If Jin will not honor the old terms, my mind is made up." That winter the emperor ordered attendants and censorial officials to submit policy recommendations. Zhang Chan offered ten proposals, each sharply argued. Dozens responded to the edict, but only Zhang Chan and Wang Shipeng, vice director of the Directorate of Education, spoke plainly about current affairs and condemned the powerful without evasion. The next day both were summoned to the inner hall. The emperor praised them warmly and bestowed wine and a scroll in his own hand. When the seals and regalia of the Retired Emperor and Retired Empress were presented, the Ministry of Works by custom received a promotion. Zhang Chan declined. Someone said: "Accept one rank and the benefit passes to your descendants. Why refuse?" Zhang Chan smiled: "The regalia ceremony was not my doing. How could I accept unearned reward for my descendants?"
61
隆興元年，真拜工部侍郎。 闡奏：「臣去冬乞守禦兩淮，陛下謂春首行之，夏秋當畢，今其時矣。」 帝曰：「江、淮事盡付張浚，朕倚浚為長城。」 會督府請受蕭琦降，詔問闡，闡請受其降。 俄報王師收復靈壁縣，闡慮大將李顯忠、邵宏淵深入無援，奏請益兵殿后。 已而王師果失利，眾論歸罪於戰。 闡曰：「陛下出師受降是也。 諸將違節度且無援而敗，當矯前失，安可遽沮銳氣。」 帝壯其言，益出御前器甲付諸軍，手詔勞浚，軍聲復振。
In the first year of Longxing he was formally appointed vice minister of works. Zhang Chan memorialized: "Last winter I asked to oversee defense of the Two Huai. Your Majesty said spring would be the start and the work would be finished by summer or autumn. That time has come." The emperor replied: "Matters on the Jiang and Huai are entirely in Zhang Jun's hands. I rely on him as my Great Wall." When the supreme command requested permission to accept Xiao Qi's surrender, the emperor consulted Zhang Chan, who advised accepting it. Soon word came that the imperial army had retaken Lingbi County. Zhang Chan, fearing that Li Xianzhong and Shao Hongyuan had advanced too deep without support, memorialized for reinforcements to cover the rear. The army was indeed defeated, and public opinion blamed the campaign. Zhang Chan said: "Your Majesty was right to send the army to accept the surrender. The generals broke command and were defeated without reinforcements—we should remedy that earlier error, not abruptly crush the army's fighting spirit. The Emperor was stirred by his argument and released more armor and weapons from the imperial armory to the troops, sending a personal edict to encourage Zhang Jun until army morale rallied again.
62
時數易臺諫，闡力言之，請增廣諫員。 帝曰：「臺諫好名，如某人但欲得直聲而去。」 闡曰：「唐德宗疑姜公輔為賣直，陸贄切諫，願陛下深以為鑒。」 帝再三嘉獎。
The remonstrating officials at the Censorate and Remonstrance Bureau were being replaced again and again; Chan argued forcefully that their ranks should be expanded. The Emperor said, "The censors and remonstrators love their reputations—take so-and-so, who only wanted to be known for blunt speech and then left." Chan replied, "Emperor Dezong of Tang suspected Jiang Gongfu of 'selling bluntness,' and Lu Zhi remonstrated with force—I beg Your Majesty to take that as a solemn warning." The Emperor praised and rewarded him again and again.
63
金人求和，帝與闡議，闡曰：「彼欲和，畏我耶？ 愛我耶？ 直款我耳。」 力陳六害不可許。 帝曰：「朕意亦然，姑隨宜應之。」 帝記「賣直」之語，謂：「胡銓亦及此。 朕非拒諫者，辨是非耳。」 闡曰：「聖度當如天，奈何與臣下爭名。」 帝曰：「卿言是也。」 頃之，除工部尚書兼侍讀。
When the Jurchens asked for peace, the Emperor consulted Chan, who said, "They want peace—do they fear us? Do they love us? They are simply trying to win us over with smooth words." He forcefully laid out six harms and argued that peace must not be granted. The Emperor said, "I agree—but for the moment let us answer as circumstances require." The Emperor remembered the talk of "selling bluntness" and said, "Hu Quan speaks the same way. I am not one who rejects remonstrance—I simply distinguish right from wrong." Chan said, "Your Majesty's magnanimity should be like Heaven—why contend with your ministers for a name?" The Emperor said, "You are right." Before long he was appointed Minister of Works and concurrent Lecturer-in-Waiting.
64
金副元帥紇石烈志寧以書諭通好，所請三事，國書、歲幣之議已定，惟割唐、鄧、海、泗未決，將遣王之望、龍大淵通問，而眾言紛紛不已。 闡謂：「不與四州乃可通和，議論先定乃可遣使，今彼為客，我為主，我以仁義撫天下，彼以殘酷虐吾民，觀金勢已衰，何必先示以弱。」 朝論韙之。
The Jin vice commander-in-chief He Shilie Zhining sent a letter proposing friendly relations. Of the three matters at issue, terms for the state letter and annual tribute were settled; only the cession of Tang, Deng, Hai, and Si prefectures remained in dispute. The court was about to send Wang Zhiwang and Long Dayuan to negotiate, yet public debate would not cease. Chan said, "Peace is possible only if we refuse the four prefectures; envoys can be sent only after policy is settled. They are the guest and we the host—we rule the realm with benevolence and righteousness while they cruelly abuse our people. Jin power is already fading; why show weakness first?" Court opinion approved.
65
帝用真宗故事，命經筵官二員遞宿學士院，以備顧問，闡入對尤數。 屢引疾乞骸骨，帝不忍其去。 二年，闡請益力，乃除顯謨直學士、提舉太平興國宮。 陛辭，帝問所欲言，闡奏：「許和則忘祖宗之仇，棄四州則失中原之心，遣歸正人則傷忠義之氣。 惟陛下毋忘老臣平昔之言。」 其指時事尤諄切，帝眷益篤。 諭以秋涼復召，加賜金犀帶，特許佩魚。 居家逾月卒，年七十四。 特贈端明殿學士。
Following Emperor Zhenzong's precedent, the Emperor ordered two Classics Mat lecturers to lodge in turn at the Hanlin Academy for consultation; Chan was summoned to audience with especial frequency. He repeatedly pleaded illness to retire, and the Emperor could not bear to let him leave. In the second year Chan pressed harder still and was finally made Direct Academic of the Exalted Policies Hall and Director of the Taiping Xingguo Palace. At his farewell audience the Emperor asked what he wished to say. Chan memorialized, "If we accept peace, we forget our ancestral enmity; if we abandon the four prefectures, we lose the heart of the Central Plains; if we send back loyalists who have come over to us, we break the spirit of righteousness. I only ask that Your Majesty not forget what your old servant said in former days." His remarks on current affairs were especially urgent and sincere, and the Emperor's regard for him deepened. The Emperor told him to return when autumn cooled, added a gold and rhinoceros-horn belt to his gifts, and specially allowed him to wear the fish insignia. After little more than a month at home he died, at seventy-four. He was posthumously granted the title Academician of the Duanming Hall.
66
朱熹嘗言：「秦檜挾敵要君，力主和議，群言勃勃不平。 檜既摧折忠臣義士之氣，遂使士大夫懷安成習。 至癸未和議，則知其非者鮮矣。 朝論間有建白，率雜言利害，其言金人世仇不可和者，惟胡右史銓、張尚書闡耳。」 子叔椿。
Zhu Xi once said, "Qin Hui, wielding the enemy to hold the throne hostage, forcefully pushed peace talks while voices of protest seethed everywhere. Once Qin had broken the spirit of loyal ministers and righteous men, he made the literati settle into complacency. By the guimao peace agreement, few still knew it was wrong. When court opinion did speak up, it mostly mixed talk of profit and loss. Of those who said the Jurchens were an ancestral foe with whom peace was impossible, only Right Clerk Hu Quan and Minister Zhang Chan." His son was Shu Chun.
67
洪擬，字成季，一字逸叟，鎮江丹陽人。 本弘姓，其先有名璆者，嘗為中書令，避南唐諱，改今姓。 後復避宣祖廟諱。 遂因之。
Hong Ni, courtesy name Chengji and also styled Yisou, was from Danyang in Zhenjiang. The family surname had originally been Hong; an ancestor named You had once served as Director of the Imperial Secretariat and, to avoid a Southern Tang taboo, changed to the present surname. Later they again avoided the taboo of the Founding Ancestor's temple name. They kept the change thereafter.
68
擬登進士甲科。 崇寧中為國子博士，出提舉利州路學事，尋改福建路。 坐譴，通判鄆州，復提舉京西北路學事，歷湖南、河北東路。 宣和中，為監察御史，遷殿中，進侍御史。 時王黼、蔡京更用事，擬中立無所附會。 殿中侍御史許景衡罷，擬亦坐送吏部，知桂陽軍，改海州。 時山東盜起，屢攻城，擬率兵民堅守。
Ni passed the jinshi examination in the top tier. During the Chongning era he was Doctor of the National University, then went out as Director of Educational Affairs for Lizhou Circuit and soon transferred to Fujian Circuit. After demotion he served as Vice-Prefect of Yanzhou, then again directed educational affairs for the Northwest Capital Circuit and held posts in Hunan and Hebei East circuits. In the Xuanhe era he was Remonstrance Official, then Palace Remonstrance Official, then Court Remonstrance Official. Wang Fu and Cai Jing were alternating in power; Ni stood apart and joined neither faction. When Palace Remonstrance Official Xu Jingheng was dismissed, Ni was sent to the Ministry of Personnel in the same affair, made Military Prefect of Guiyang, and later transferred to Haizhou. Bandits were rising in Shandong and repeatedly assaulting cities; Ni led soldiers and civilians in a resolute defense.
69
建炎間，居母憂，以秘書少監召，不起。 終喪，為起居郎、中書舍人，言：「兵興累年，饋餉悉出於民，無屋而責屋稅，無丁而責丁稅，不時之須，無名之斂，殆無虛日，所以去而為盜。 今關中之盜不可急，宜求所以弭之，江西之盜不可緩，宜求所以滅之。 夫豐財者政事之本，而節用者又豐財之本也。」 高宗如越，執政議移蹕饒、信間，擬上疏力爭，謂「舍四通五達而趨偏方下邑，不足以示形勢、固守禦。」
During the Jianyan era, while in mourning for his mother, he was summoned as Vice-Director of the Secretariat but declined. When mourning ended he became Attendant of the Secretariat and Drafting Drafter of the Secretariat and Chancellery, and said, "War has dragged on for years and every supply comes from the people. They are taxed for houses though they have no roof, taxed for adult sons though they have none. Untimely demands and nameless levies scarcely pause for a day—this is why people flee and turn bandit. The bandits in Guanzhong must not be pressed too hard—find means to pacify them. The bandits in Jiangxi must not be handled too gently—find means to destroy them. Enriching the treasury is the root of good government, and frugality is the root of enrichment." When Gaozong went to Yue, the chief councillors discussed moving the court to the region between Rao and Xin. Ni submitted a forceful memorial arguing that "to abandon a place where four roads meet and five roads cross, and flee to a remote small town, is not enough to show our strategic position or hold a firm defense."
70
遷給事中、吏部尚書，言者以擬未嘗歷州縣，以龍圖閣待制知溫州。 宣撫使孟庾總師討閩寇，過郡，擬趣使赴援。 庾怒，命擬犒師。 擬借封椿錢用之，已乃自劾。 賊平，加秩一等，召為禮部尚書，遷吏部。
He was promoted to Supervising Secretary and Minister of Personnel, but critics said Ni had never served in prefecture or county office, so he was made Awaiting-Orders at the Hall of Dragon Diagrams and Prefect of Wenzhou. Pacification Commissioner Meng Yu led the army against the Fujian bandits and passed through the prefecture; Ni urged him to hurry to its relief. Yu grew angry and ordered Ni to reward the troops. Ni borrowed funds from the sealed treasury reserve to do so, then impeached himself. When the bandits were suppressed he received one step in rank, was summoned as Minister of Rites, and transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.
71
渡江後，法無見籍，吏隨事立文，號為「省記」，出入自如。 至是修《七司敕令》，命擬總之，以舊法及續降指揮詳定成書，上之。
After crossing the Yangtze there were no law codes still on the books; clerks improvised documents case by case in what was called "Provincial Records," coming and going at will. At this time the Seven Departments Statutes and Orders were revised; Ni was ordered to oversee the work. Using old laws and successive supplemental commands, he worked out a detailed text and submitted it.
72
金人再攻淮，詔日輪侍從赴都堂，給劄問以攻守之策。 擬言：「國勢強則戰，將士勇則戰，財用足則戰，我為主、彼為客則戰。 陛下移蹕東南，前年幸會稽，今年幸臨安，興王之居，未有定議非如高祖在關中、光武在河內也。 以國勢論之，可言守，未可言戰。」 擬謂時相姑議戰以示武，實不能戰也。
When the Jurchens again attacked the Huai region, an edict ordered members of the Secretariat and Attendants-in-Waiting to rotate daily to the Hall of State Affairs, each given a note asking for offensive and defensive strategy. Ni said, "When national strength is strong one can fight; when officers and soldiers are brave one can fight; when finances are ample one can fight; when we are host and they guest one can fight. Your Majesty has moved the court southeast—last year to Kuaiji, this year to Lin'an—yet the seat from which a dynasty should rise has not been settled. This is not like Gaozu of Han in Guanzhong or Guangwu in Henei. Judging by national strength, one can speak of defense—not yet of war." Ni said the chief minister for the moment talked of war to show martial spirit, but in fact could not fight.
73
紹興三年，以天旱地震詔群臣言事，擬奏曰：「法行公，則人樂而氣和； 行之偏，則人怨而氣乖。 試以小事論之：比者監司、守臣獻羨餘則黜之，宣撫司獻則受之，是行法止及疏遠也。 有自庶僚為侍從者，臥家視職，未嘗入謝，遂得美職而去，若鼓院官移疾廢朝謁，則斥罷之，是行法止及冗賤也。 榷酤立法甚嚴，犯者籍家財充賞，大官勢臣連營列障，公行酤賣則不敢問，是行法止及孤弱也。 小事如此，推而極之，則怨多而和氣傷矣。」 尋以言者罷為徽猷閣直學士、提舉江州太平觀。 始，擬兄子駕部郎官興祖與擬上封事侵在位者，故父子俱罷。 起知溫州，提舉亳州明道宮。 卒，年七十五，諡「文憲」。
In the third year of Shaoxing, drought and earthquake prompted an edict calling on all officials to speak freely. Ni memorialized, "When law is applied impartially, people are content and the atmosphere harmonious. When it is applied with partiality, people resent it and the atmosphere turns discordant. Take a small matter: lately when circuit commissioners and prefects presented surplus revenue they were dismissed, but when the Pacification Commission presented surplus revenue it was accepted—this is applying the law only to the remote and insignificant. Some who rose from junior offices to Attendants-in-Waiting stayed home on duty without ever entering court to give thanks, yet obtained fine posts and left; yet if a drum-court official pleaded illness and missed court audience, he was dismissed—this is applying the law only to the redundant and lowly. The wine monopoly law was extremely strict; violators had their family property confiscated as reward; yet great officials and powerful clans lined their compounds in rows and sold wine openly without anyone daring to investigate—this is applying the law only to the isolated and weak. In small matters it is thus; extend this to the extreme and resentment will multiply and harmony will be injured." Before long, because of criticism, he was dismissed and made Direct Academic of the Huaiyou Hall and Director of the Taiping Abbey in Jiangzhou. Earlier Ni's nephew Xing Zu, an official in the Transport Bureau, and Ni himself had submitted sealed memorials offending those in power; therefore uncle and nephew were both dismissed. He was later recalled as Prefect of Wenzhou and Director of the Mingdao Abbey in Bozhou. He died at seventy-five; his posthumous title was Wenxian.
74
初，擬自海州還居鎮江。 趙萬叛兵逼郡，守臣趙子崧戰敗，遁去。 擬挾母出避，遇賊至，欲兵之，擬曰：「死無所避，願勿驚老母。」 賊舍之。 他賊又至，臨以刃，擬指其母曰：「此吾母也，幸勿怖之。」 賊又舍去。 有《淨智先生集》及《注杜甫詩》二十卷。
Earlier, when Ni returned from Haizhou he settled in Zhenjiang. Zhao Wan's mutinous troops pressed upon the prefecture; Prefect Zhao Zisong was defeated and fled. Ni took his mother and fled; when bandits arrived and wished to use force, Ni said, "Death cannot be avoided—I only ask that you not frighten my aged mother." The bandits let them go. Other bandits came again and held blades to them; Ni pointed to his mother and said, "This is my mother—please do not frighten her." Those bandits too let them go. He left the Collected Works of Master Jingzhi and a twenty-volume Commentary on Du Fu's Poetry.
75
趙逵，字莊叔，其先秦人，八世祖處榮徙蜀，家於資州。 逵讀書數行俱下，尤好聚古書，考歷代興衰治亂之跡，與當代名人鉅公出處大節，根窮底究，尚友其人。 紹興二十年，類省奏名，明年對策，論君臣父子之情甚切，擢第一。 時秦檜意有所屬，而逵對獨當帝意，檜不悅。 即罷知舉王曮，授逵左承事郎、簽書劍南東川。 帝嘗問檜，趙逵安在？ 檜以實對。 久之，帝又問，除校書郎。 逵單車赴闕，徵稅者希檜意，搜行橐皆書籍，才數金而已。 既就職，未嘗私謁，檜意愈恨。
Zhao Kui, courtesy name Zhuangshu, was descended from people of Qin; his eighth-generation ancestor Churong moved to Shu and settled in Zizhou. Kui could read several lines at a glance and especially loved collecting ancient books, tracing the rise and fall of dynasties through the ages and the great integrity of eminent men in their coming forward and withdrawal; he pursued matters to their roots and made such men his friends across time. In the twentieth year of Shaoxing he was listed in the provincial examination; the next year in the palace examination he argued the bond between ruler and minister, father and son with great urgency, and was ranked first. Qin Hui had someone else in mind, but Kui's answers alone matched the Emperor's intention; Qin was displeased. He immediately dismissed Wang Yan from the examination office and appointed Kui Left Officer of the Secretariat and Secretariat Officer of the Eastern Sichuan Circuit. The Emperor once asked Qin, "Where is Zhao Kui?" Qin answered truthfully. After a long interval the Emperor asked again, and Kui was appointed collator. Kui came alone to court in a single cart; the tax collector, hoping to please Qin, searched his luggage—all books, only a few pieces of gold. Once in office he never paid private visits; Qin resented him all the more.
76
逵賡御制《芝草詩》，有「皇心未敢宴安圖」之句，檜見之怒曰：「逵猶以為未太平耶？」 又謂逵曰：「館中祿薄，能以家來乎？」 逵曰：「親老不能涉險遠。」 檜徐曰：「當以百金為助。」 逵唯唯而已。 又遣所親申前言，諷逵往謝，逵不答，檜滋怒，欲擠之，未及而死。
Kui continued the imperial poem on lingzhi grass with the line "The imperial heart dares not yet seek ease and pleasure." When Qin saw it he said angrily, "Does Kui still think the realm is not yet at peace?" He also said to Kui, "The stipend in the Secretariat is thin—can you bring your family here?" Kui said, "My parents are old and cannot travel far through dangerous country." Qin said slowly, "Then I shall assist you with a hundred pieces of gold." Kui could only assent. Qin again sent a close associate to repeat the earlier suggestion, hinting that Kui should come to thank him; Kui did not respond, and Qin grew angrier still and wished to squeeze him out, but had not yet done so when he died.
77
帝臨哭檜還，即遷逵著作佐郎兼權禮部員外郎。 帝如景靈宮，秘省起居惟逵一人。 帝屢目逵，即日命引見上殿，帝迎謂曰：「卿知之乎？ 始終皆朕自擢。 自卿登第後，為大臣沮格，久不見卿。 秦檜日薦士，未嘗一語及卿，以此知卿不附權貴，真天子門生也。」 詔充普安郡王府教授。 逵奏：「言路久不通，乞廣賜開納，勿以微賤為間，庶幾養成敢言之氣。」 帝嘉納之。 普安府勸講至戾太子事，王曰：「于斯時也，斬江充自歸於武帝，何如？」 逵曰：「此非臣子所能。」 王意蓋有所在也。
When the Emperor returned from weeping at Qin's bier, Kui was immediately promoted to Associate Editor and acting Vice Minister of Rites. When the Emperor went to the Jingling Palace, among the Secretariat attendants recording imperial actions, only Kui was present. The Emperor looked at Kui several times, and that same day ordered him summoned to the upper hall. The Emperor greeted him, saying, "Do you know? From beginning to end it was I who raised you. After you passed the examination, great ministers blocked your advancement, and I did not see you for a long time. Qin Hui daily recommended men, yet never once mentioned you—I know from this that you do not attach yourself to the powerful. You are truly a disciple of the Son of Heaven." An edict appointed him instructor to the Prince of Pu'an's household. Kui memorialized, "The path of remonstrance has long been blocked; I beg that it be opened more widely, and that no one be excluded for being humble and lowly, so that a spirit of daring to speak may be cultivated." The Emperor praised and accepted this. When the Prince of Pu'an's household lectured on the affair of the Heir Apparent Li, the prince said, "At that time, if the heir had beheaded Jiang Chong and surrendered himself to Emperor Wu, what then?" Kui said, "That is not something a subject can do." The prince's meaning presumably lay elsewhere.
78
二十六年，遷著作郎，尋除起居郎。 入謝，帝又曰：「秦檜炎炎，不附者惟卿一人。」 逵曰：「臣不能效古人抗折權姦，但不與之同爾，然所以事宰相禮亦不敢闕。」 又曰：「受陛下爵祿而奔走權門，臣不惟不敢，亦且不忍。」 明年同知貢舉，盡公考閱，以革舊弊，遂得王十朋、閻安中。
In the twenty-sixth year he was promoted to Editor, and soon appointed Palace Attendant. When he entered to thank the throne, the Emperor again said, "When Qin Hui blazed with power, you alone did not attach yourself to him." Kui said, "Your servant cannot imitate the ancients in resisting and breaking powerful favorites, but simply will not join them—that said, in serving the chief minister I do not dare omit proper ritual either." He also said, "Having received rank and stipend from Your Majesty yet rushing to the doors of the powerful—your servant not only dares not, but could not bear to." The next year he served as co-supervisor of the examinations, examining entirely by public merit to reform old abuses, and thus obtained Wang Shipeng and Yan Anzhong.
79
始，逵未出貢闈，蔣璨除戶部侍郎，給事中辛次膺以璨交結希進，還之。 帝怒，罷次膺，付逵書讀，逵不可，璨以此出知蘇州，次膺仍得次對，逵兼給事中。 未幾，除中書舍人，登第六年而當外制，南渡後所未有也。 帝語王綸曰：「趙逵純正可用，朕於蜀士未見其比。 朕所以甫二歲令至此，報其不附權貴也。」
Earlier, before Kui left the examination hall, Jiang Can was appointed Vice Minister of Revenue; Supervising Secretary Xin Ciying returned the appointment because Jiang had cultivated connections seeking advancement. The Emperor was angry and dismissed Ciying, handing the document to Kui to read; Kui refused. Because of this Jiang was sent out as Prefect of Suzhou, while Ciying still received sequential audiences; Kui was given concurrent appointment as Supervising Secretary. Before long he was appointed Drafting Drafter of the Secretariat and Chancellery; in the sixth year after passing the examination he reached the outer-drafting post—unprecedented since the move south. The Emperor said to Wang Lun, "Zhao Kui is upright and can be used; among Sichuan scholars I have seen none to match him. That is why after only two years I brought him to this position—to reward his refusal to attach himself to the powerful."
80
先是，逵嘗薦杜莘老、唐文若、孫道夫皆蜀名士，至是奉詔舉士，又以馮方、劉儀鳳、李石、郯次雲應詔，宰執以聞。 帝曰：「蜀人道遠，其間文學行義有用者，不因論薦無由得知。 前此蜀中宦遊者多隔絕，不得一至朝廷，甚可惜也。」 自檜顓權，深抑蜀士，故帝語及之。
Earlier Kui had recommended Du Xinlao, Tang Wenruo, and Sun Daofu, all famous Sichuan scholars; now by edict he recommended gentlemen, and also recommended Feng Fang, Liu Yifeng, Li Shi, and Tan Ciyun in response to the summons; the chief ministers reported this. The Emperor said, "Sichuan is far; among its scholars useful in learning and integrity there are many who, without recommendation and discussion, could never be known. Previously many who served in office in Sichuan were cut off and could never once reach court—most regrettable." Since Qin monopolized power he deeply suppressed Sichuan scholars; therefore the Emperor spoke of this.
81
逵以疾求外，帝命國醫王繼先視疾，不可為矣。 卒年四十一。 帝為之抆淚歎息。 逵嘗自謂：「司馬溫公不近非色，不取非財，吾雖不肖，庶幾慕之。」
Kui, citing illness, requested an outside appointment; the Emperor ordered Court Physician Wang Jixian to examine him, but nothing could be done. He died at forty-one. The Emperor wiped away tears and sighed. Kui once said of himself, "Sima Wengong would not approach improper beauty or take improper wealth; though I am unworthy, I would fain emulate him."
82
方檜權盛時，忤檜者固非止逵一人，而帝亟稱逵不附麗，又謂逵文章似蘇軾，故稱為「小東坡」，未及用而逵死，惜其論建不傳於世。 有《棲雲集》三十卷。
When Qin's power was at its height, those who offended Qin were certainly not only Kui; yet the Emperor repeatedly praised Kui for not attaching himself, and also said Kui's literary style resembled Su Shi's—therefore he was called "Little Su Dongpo." Before he could be fully employed Kui died; it is a pity his policy proposals were not transmitted to the world. He left the Qiyun ji in thirty volumes.
83
論曰：如圭師于安國，居正師于楊時，敦復師于程頤，表臣交于陳瓘，其師友淵源有自來矣。 故其議論讜直，剛嚴鯁峭，不惑異說，不畏強禦，大略相似。 若夫居正辨王氏《三經》之繆，龜年首劾秦檜主和之非，程瑀力排蔡京之黨，尤為有功於名教。 張闡論事無避，洪擬樸實端亮，趙逵純正善文，皆一時之良，為檜所忌而不撓者。 語曰：「歲寒然後知松柏之後凋。」 信哉！
The commentators say: Rugui took Hu Anguo as master; Juzheng took Yang Shi; Dunfu took Cheng Yi; Biaochen associated with Chen Guan—their teachers and friends had provenance. Therefore their discussions were upright and frank, stern and uncompromising; they were not misled by heterodox teachings and did not fear the powerful; in broad outline they were much alike. As for Juzheng refuting the errors of Wang's Three Classics, Guinian being first to impeach Qin Hui for the wrong of advocating peace, and Cheng Yu forcefully driving out Cai Jing's faction—they were especially meritorious to the teaching of names and principles. Zhang Chan remonstrated without evasion; Hong Ni was plain, solid, and upright; Zhao Kui was pure, correct, and skilled in letters—all worthy men of their age whom Qin resented yet who did not bend. The saying goes, "Only when the year turns cold do we know that the pine and cypress are the last to wither." How true!