1
周執羔
Zhou Zhigao
2
周執羔，字表卿，信州弋陽人。 宣和六年舉進士，廷試，徽宗擢為第二。 授湖州司士曹事，俄除太學博士。
Zhou Zhigao, courtesy name Biaoqing, was a native of Yiyang in Xinzhou. In the sixth year of the Xuanhe reign he passed the jinshi examination, and at the palace examination Emperor Huizong ranked him second. He was appointed Recorder of the Huzhou commandery staff, and soon thereafter was made an Erudite of the Imperial Academy.
3
建炎初，乘輿南渡，自京師奔詣揚州，不及，遂從隆祐太后于江西，還覲會稽。 尋以繼母劉疾，乞歸就養，調撫州宜黃縣丞。 時四境俶擾，潰卒相挻為變，令大恐，不知所為，執羔諭以禍福，皆斂手聽命。 既又訹其黨，執首謀者斬以徇。 邑人德之，至繪像立祠。
At the beginning of the Jianyan era, when the imperial carriage crossed south, he rushed from the capital to reach Yangzhou but did not arrive in time; he therefore followed Empress Dowager Longyou into Jiangxi and later returned to attend the court at Kuaiji. Soon afterward, because his stepmother Lady Liu fell ill, he requested leave to return home and care for her and was transferred to the post of Assistant Magistrate of Yihuang County in Fuzhou. At the time unrest was breaking out on all sides, and routed soldiers were inciting one another to revolt. The magistrate was terrified and did not know what to do. Zhigao reasoned with them about reward and punishment, and they all submitted and obeyed. He then intimidated their followers, seized the ringleaders, and beheaded them as a public warning. The people of the district were grateful to him and even painted his portrait and erected a shrine.
4
紹興五年，改秩，通判湖州。 丁母憂，服闋，通判平江府。 召為將作監丞。 明年春，遷太常丞。 會始議建明堂，大樂久廢不修，詔奉常習肄之，訪輯舊聞，庀閱工器，製作始備。 累遷右司員外郎。
In the fifth year of the Shaoxing reign his rank was adjusted and he was made Vice Commissioner of Huzhou. After completing mourning for his mother, he was made Vice Commissioner of Pingjiang Prefecture. He was summoned to serve as Assistant Director of the Directorate of Works. The following spring he was promoted to Assistant Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. At that time plans were first being discussed to build the Bright Hall. Court music had long been neglected and unrepaired. An edict ordered the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to practice and rehearse it; old records were collected and researched, tools and instruments were prepared and inspected, and the production was at last put in order. He was repeatedly promoted, ultimately to External Vice Director of the Right Department.
5
八月，擢權禮部侍郎，充賀金生辰使。 往歲奉使官得自辟其屬，賞典既厚，願行者多納金以請，執羔始拒絕之。 使還，兼權吏部侍郎。 請賜新進士聞喜宴於禮部，從之。 軍興廢此禮，至是乃復。 同知貢舉。 舊例，進士試禮部下，歷十八年得免舉，又四試禮部下，始特奏名推恩。 秦檜既以科第私其子，士論喧嘩，為減三年以悅眾。 執羔言祖宗法不可亂，繇此忤檜，御史劾罷之。
In the eighth month he was promoted to Acting Vice Minister of Rites and appointed envoy to convey birthday congratulations to the Jin. In previous years envoys had been allowed to recruit their own staff, and since the rewards were generous, many who wished to join the mission had paid gold to obtain appointment. Zhigao was the first to refuse such payments. After returning from his mission, he was concurrently appointed Acting Vice Minister of Personnel. He requested that newly minted jinshi be granted the Banquet of Joyful News at the Ministry of Rites, and the request was approved. This ceremony had been abandoned when military campaigns began; only now was it restored. He served as Associate Examiner for the metropolitan examination. Under the old precedent, after jinshi had passed the metropolitan examination under the Ministry of Rites and served eighteen years, they could be exempt from re-examination; only after taking four examinations under the Ministry of Rites would they receive the special memorial name and related honors. Since Qin Hui had used the examination system to favor his own son, scholarly opinion was in an uproar, and to appease the public the requirement was reduced by three years. Zhigao declared that the laws of the ancestors must not be disturbed. For this he offended Qin Hui, and a censor impeached him and had him dismissed.
6
又六年，起知眉州，徙閬州，又改夔州，兼夔路安撫使。 夔部地接蠻獠，易以生事。 或告溱、播夷叛，其豪帥請遣兵致討，執羔謂曰：「朝廷用爾為長，今一方繹騷，責將焉往，能盡力則貰爾，一兵不可得也。」 豪懼，斬叛者以獻，夷人自是皆惕息。 三十年，知饒州，尋除敷文閣待制。
Six years later he was reappointed Prefect of Meizhou, transferred to Langzhou, then reassigned to Kuizhou, concurrently serving as Pacification Commissioner of the Kuizhou Circuit. The Kuizhou region bordered the Man and Liao peoples and was prone to incidents. When reports came that the Qin and Bo tribes had rebelled, their powerful chieftains asked that troops be sent to suppress them. Zhigao said to them: "The court appointed you as local leaders. Now that your region is in turmoil, where else can the blame fall? If you exert yourselves fully, you will be pardoned—but not one soldier will be sent. The chieftains were afraid, beheaded the rebels and presented their heads, and from then on the tribal peoples all lived in wary submission. In the thirtieth year he was appointed Prefect of Raozhou, and soon thereafter was made Attendant Draftsman at the Fuwen Pavilion.
7
乾道初，守婺州，召還，提舉佑神觀兼侍講。 首進二說，以為王道在正心誠意，立國在節用愛人。 二年四月，復為禮部侍郎。 孝宗患人才難知，執羔曰：「今一介干進，亦蒙賜召，口舌相高，殆成風俗，豈可使之得志哉！」 上曰：「卿言是也。」 一日侍經筵，自言「學《易》知數，臣事陛下之日短」，已乃垂涕，上惻然。 即拜本部尚書，升侍讀，固辭，不許。
At the beginning of the Qiandao era he governed Wuzhou, was recalled to court, and was appointed Director of the You Shen Temple, concurrently serving as Lecturer-in-Waiting. He first submitted two theses, arguing that the royal way lay in rectifying the heart and making intention sincere, and that founding a state lay in economizing expenditure and cherishing the people. In the fourth month of the second year he was again made Vice Minister of Rites. Emperor Xiaozong worried that it was hard to discern talent. Zhigao said: "Nowadays even the lowliest office-seeker may be summoned to court. Rivalry in glib talk has nearly become a custom—how can such people be allowed to succeed?" The emperor said: "What you say is right." One day, while attending the classics lecture, he said of himself, "Having studied the Changes, I know my allotted span; the days in which I may serve Your Majesty are few." He then burst into tears, and the emperor was deeply moved. He was immediately appointed Minister of his department and promoted to Lecturer-in-Waiting. He firmly declined, but the emperor would not allow it.
8
方士劉孝榮言《統元曆》差，命執羔厘正之。 執羔用劉義叟法，推日月交食，考五緯贏縮，以紀氣朔寒溫之候，撰《曆議》、《曆書》、《五星測驗》各一卷上之。
The adept Liu Xiaorong reported errors in the Tongyuan Calendar, and Zhigao was ordered to correct it. Zhigao applied the methods of Liu Yishou, calculated solar and lunar eclipses, and examined the advance and retreat of the five planets to record the signs of seasonal qi, new moons, and cold and warmth. He compiled one scroll each of A Discourse on the Calendar, A Book on the Calendar, and Verification of the Five Planets, and submitted them to the throne.
9
上嘗問豐財之術，執羔以為蠹民之本，莫甚於兵。 古者興師十萬，日費千金。 今尺籍之數，十倍於此，罷癃老弱者幾半，不汰之其弊益深。 論：「和糴本以給軍興，豫凶災。 蓋國家一切之政，不得已而為之。 若邊境無事，妨於民食而務為聚斂，可乎？ 舊糴有常數，比年每郡增至一二十萬石。 今諸路枯旱之餘，蟲螟大起，無以供常稅，況數外取之乎？ 宜視一路一郡一縣豐凶之數，輕重行之，災甚者蠲之可也。」 上矍然曰：「災異如此，乃無一人為朕言者！」 即詔從之。
The emperor once asked about methods to enrich the treasury. Zhigao held that nothing harmed the people more deeply as a root cause than the military. In antiquity, raising an army of a hundred thousand cost a thousand gold pieces a day. Today's roster figures are ten times that, and nearly half the men are crippled, enfeebled, old, or weak. If they are not weeded out, the harm will only deepen. He argued: "Government grain purchase was originally meant to supply military needs and prepare for famine and disaster. All such policies of the state are measures taken only when there is no alternative. If the borders are peaceful, is it acceptable to impede the people's food supply and yet strive to accumulate revenue? Grain purchases formerly had fixed quotas, but in recent years each prefecture has increased them to one or two hundred thousand shi. Now, after drought across the circuits, locust plagues have broken out on a great scale. The people cannot even meet ordinary tax levies—how much less tolerate collections beyond the quotas? Purchases should be adjusted in severity according to whether a circuit, prefecture, or county has had bounty or famine, and where disaster is severe they may be remitted altogether. The emperor said in alarm: "Disasters and portents are so grave, yet not one person has spoken of this to me!" He immediately issued an edict adopting the proposal.
10
充安恭皇后菆宮按行使，日與閹人接，卒事未嘗交一談，閹亦服其長者，不怨也。 拜疏求去，上謂輔臣曰：「朕惜其老成，宜以經筵留之。」 除寶文閣學士，提舉佑神觀。 上曰：「遂除龍圖可也。」 經筵二年，每勸上以辨忠邪、納諫爭，上深知其忠。
While serving as inspection envoy at the provisional tomb of Empress An Gong, he was in daily contact with eunuchs yet never exchanged a single private word with them from start to finish. Even the eunuchs respected him as a man of maturity and bore no resentment. He submitted a memorial requesting leave, and the emperor told his chief ministers: "I value his mature judgment and ought to keep him at the classics lecture." He was appointed Scholar of the Baowen Pavilion and Director of the You Shen Temple. The emperor said: "He may be made a Dragon Diagram Scholar as well." For two years at the classics lecture he repeatedly urged the emperor to distinguish loyalty from treachery and to accept remonstrance and debate. The emperor came to know his loyalty well.
11
明年三月，告老，上諭曰：「祖宗時，近臣有年逾八十尚留者，卿之齒未也。」 命卻其章。 閏月，復申前請。 上度不可奪，詔提舉江州太平興國宮，賜茶、藥、御書，恩禮尤渥，公卿祖帳都門外，搢紳榮之。 時閩、粵、江西歲饑盜起，執羔陛辭以為言，詔遣太府丞馬希言使諸路振救之。 乾道六年卒，年七十七。
In the third month of the following year he petitioned to retire on grounds of age. The emperor instructed him: "In the time of our ancestors, close ministers sometimes remained in office even past eighty. You are not yet so old." The emperor ordered his petition returned. In the intercalary month he repeated his earlier request. Seeing that his resolve could not be changed, the emperor ordered him appointed Director of the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou, granted tea, medicine, and imperial calligraphy. The honors were especially generous, and high officials gave him a farewell feast outside the capital gate—to the admiration of the gentry. At that time famine had struck Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, and bandits were rising. Zhigao raised the matter in his farewell audience, and an edict was issued dispatching the Palace Storehouse Assistant Ma Xiyan to the various circuits to provide relief. He died in the sixth year of the Qiandao era, at the age of seventy-seven.
12
執羔有雅度，立朝無朋比。 治郡廉恕，有循吏風。 手不釋卷，尤通于《易》。
Zhigao had a dignified bearing and formed no factions at court. In governing prefectures he was honest and lenient, with the manner of an exemplary local official. He never put his books aside and was especially versed in the Book of Changes.
13
王希呂
Wang Xilu
14
王希呂，字仲行，宿州人。 渡江後自北歸南，既仕，寓居嘉興府。 乾道五年，登進士科。 孝宗獎用西北之士，六年，召試，授秘書省正字。 除右正言。 時張說以攀援戚屬擢用，再除簽書樞密院事，希呂與侍御史李衡交章劾之。 上疑其合黨邀名，責遠小監當，既而悔之，改授宮觀。 方說之見用，氣勢顯赫，後省不書黃，學士院不草詔，皆相繼斥逐，而希呂復以身任怨，去國之日，屏徒御，躡履以行，恬不為悔。 由是直聲聞於遠邇，雖以此黜，亦以此見知。 出知廬州。
Wang Xilu, courtesy name Zhongxing, was a native of Suzhou. After crossing the Yangtze he came south from the north. Once in office, he made his home in Jiaxing Prefecture. In the fifth year of the Qiandao reign he passed the jinshi examination. Emperor Xiaozong encouraged the appointment of men from the northwest. In the sixth year Wang was summoned for an examination and granted the post of Collator in the Secretariat. He was appointed Remonstrator of the Right. At the time Zhang Shuo had been promoted through connections to imperial kin and was again appointed Co-signer of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Xilu and the Attendant Censor Li Heng submitted successive memorials impeaching him. The emperor suspected them of forming a faction to win renown and punished them with petty remote supervisory posts. He soon regretted this and changed their appointments to palace-temple sinecures. While Zhang Shuo was in favor his power was dazzling. Those in the rear secretariat who refused to write the approval notices and those in the Hanlin Academy who refused to draft edicts were all successively driven out. Yet Xilu again took the blame upon himself; on the day he left the capital he dismissed his attendants and carriage and walked away in his shoes, untroubled and unrepentant. From this his reputation for integrity was heard far and near; though he was dismissed for it, he was also recognized because of it. He was sent out to serve as Prefect of Luzhou.
15
淳熙二年，除吏部員外郎，尋除起居郎兼中書舍人。 淮右擇帥，上以希呂已試有功，令知廬州兼安撫使。 修葺城守，安集流散，兵民賴之。 加直寶文閣、江西轉運副使。
In the second year of the Chunxi reign he was appointed External Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel, and soon thereafter Attendant on the Emperor, concurrently serving as Secretariat Drafter. When choosing a commander for the region west of the Huai, the emperor, seeing that Xilu had already proved himself effective, ordered him to govern Luzhou while concurrently serving as Pacification Commissioner. He repaired the city defenses, settled scattered refugees, and both soldiers and civilians relied on him. He was additionally granted direct access to the Baowen Pavilion and appointed Vice Transport Commissioner of Jiangxi.
16
五年，召為起居郎，除中書舍人、給事中，轉兵部尚書，改吏部尚書，求去，乃除端明殿學士、知紹興府。 尋以言者落職，處之晏如。
In the fifth year he was recalled as Attendant on the Emperor, appointed Secretariat Drafter and Receiving Edicts, then promoted to Minister of War and transferred to Minister of Personnel. When he requested leave, he was made Scholar of the Duannming Hall and Prefect of Shaoxing. Soon afterward critics had him stripped of office, yet he took it as calmly as ever.
17
治郡百廢俱興，尤敬禮文學端方之士。 天性剛勁，遇利害無回護意，惟是之從。 嘗論近習用事，語極切至，上變色欲起，希呂挽御衣曰：「非但臣能言之，侍從、臺諫皆有文字來矣。」 佐漕江西，嘗作《拳石記》以示僚屬，一幕官舉筆塗數字，舉坐駭愕，希呂覽之，喜其不阿，薦之。
In governing the prefecture he revived every neglected undertaking and especially honored scholars of learning and integrity. By nature he was firm and unyielding. Where gain or harm was at stake he showed no partiality and followed only what was right. Once, when he spoke about close favorites wielding power, his words were extraordinarily pointed. The emperor changed color and started to rise, but Xilu held his imperial robe and said: "Your servant is not the only one who can say this—the attendants and remonstrating officials have all submitted writings on the matter." While assisting grain transport in Jiangxi, he once wrote Record of the Fist-Sized Stone to show his staff. One clerical officer picked up a brush and altered several characters—to the shock of all present. Xilu read it and, pleased that the man did not fawn, recommended him.
18
居官廉潔，至無屋可廬，由紹興歸，有終焉之意，然猶寓僧寺。 上聞之，賜錢造第。 後以疾卒於家。
In office he was honest and incorruptible—so much so that he had no house in which to live. When he returned from Shaoxing he intended to settle there for good, yet still lodged in a Buddhist temple. When the emperor heard of this, he granted him money to build a house. He later died of illness at home.
19
陳良祐
Chen Liangyou
20
首言會子之弊，願捐內帑以紓細民之急。 上曰：「朕積財何用，能散可也。」 慨然發內府白金數萬兩收換會子，收銅版勿造，軍民翕然。 未幾，戶部得請，改造五百萬。 又奏：「陛下號令在前，不能持半歲久，以此令民，誰能信之？ 豈有不印交子五百萬，遂不可為國乎？」 既而又欲造會子二千萬，屢爭之不得，遂請以五百萬換舊會，俟通行漸收之，常使不越千萬之數。
He first spoke of the abuses of paper notes and wished to draw on the inner treasury to relieve the distress of the common people. The emperor said: "What use is it for me to hoard wealth? It is enough that I can give it away." He forthwith issued several tens of thousands of taels of silver from the inner palace to buy back the notes, collected the copper printing plates and ordered no more made, and soldiers and civilians alike were heartened. Before long the Ministry of Revenue obtained approval to reissue five million notes. He memorialized again: "Your Majesty's command was issued earlier, yet it could not hold even half a year. With such commands given to the people, who can believe them? Surely the state does not become impossible for lack of printing five million jiaozi?" Later, when there was again a plan to issue twenty million new notes, he repeatedly objected but could not prevail. He then requested that five million be issued to replace the old notes, that as they circulated they be gradually withdrawn, and that the total be kept from exceeding ten million.
21
上銳意圖治，以唐太宗自比，良祐言：「太宗《政要》願賜省覽，擇善而從，知非而戒，使臣為良臣，勿為忠臣。」 上曰：「卿亦當以魏徵自勉。」
The emperor was keen to govern well and compared himself to Emperor Taizong of Tang. Liangyou said: "I beg that Your Majesty read Taizong's Essentials of Governance, follow what is good, take warning from what was wrong, and make your ministers good ministers rather than loyal ministers." The emperor said: "You too should take Wei Zheng as your model."
22
又言：「陛下躬行節儉，弗殖貨利。 或者託肺腑之親，為市井之行，以公侯之貴，牟商賈之利。 占田疇，擅山澤，甚者發舶舟，招蕃賈，貿易寶貨，麋費金錢。 或假德壽，或託椒房，犯法冒禁，專利無厭，非所以維持紀綱，保全戚畹。 願嚴戒敕，苟能改過，富貴可保，如其不悛，以義斷恩。」
He also said: "Your Majesty personally practices thrift and does not amass profit for yourself. Yet some, relying on their closeness to Your Majesty, behave like market folk and, despite the rank of duke or marquis, pursue merchants' profits. They seize fields, monopolize mountains and marshes, and in the worst cases dispatch ships, invite foreign merchants, trade in precious goods, and squander gold and silver. Some invoke ties to the retired emperor at Deshou Palace, others rely on connections to the imperial consorts; they violate laws, defy prohibitions, and pursue profit without limit. This is no way to uphold discipline or protect the imperial kin. I beg that Your Majesty issue strict warnings: if they can reform, their wealth and rank may be preserved; if they will not repent, sever ties to them in the name of righteousness."
23
時左相丁外艱，詔起復，良祐言：「起復非正禮，今無疆場之事，宜使之終喪。」 遂寢。 遷右諫議大夫兼侍講，同知貢舉，除給事中，兼直學士院，遷吏部侍郎。 尋除尚書。
At the time the Left Chancellor was in mourning for his father, an edict ordered him recalled to office. Liangyou said: "Recall from mourning is not proper ritual. There are no frontier emergencies now; he should be allowed to complete his mourning." The proposal was then dropped. He was promoted to Right Remonstrance and Discussion Grandee and concurrently made Lecturer, co-supervisor of the imperial examinations, appointed Receiving Edicts and concurrently given direct access to the Hanlin Academy, and then promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel. Soon afterward he was appointed Minister.
24
時議遣泛使請地，良祐奏：
At the time there was discussion of sending a general envoy to request territory. Liangyou memorialized:
25
「陛下恢復之志未嘗忘懷，然詞莫貴於僉同，不可不察； 博訪歸於獨斷，不可不審。 固有以用眾而興，亦有以用眾而亡； 固有以獨斷而成，亦有以獨斷而敗。 今遣使乃啟釁之端，萬一敵騎犯邊，則民力困於供輸，州郡疲於調發，兵禍結，未有息期。 將帥庸鄙，類乏遠謀，對君父則言效死，臨戰陣則各求生。 有如符離之役，不戰自潰，瓜洲之遇，望敵驚奔，孰可仗者？ 此臣所以未敢保其萬全。 且今之求地，欲得河南，曩歲嘗歸版圖，不旋踵而又失，如其不許，徒費往來，若其許我，必邀重幣。 經理未定，根本內虛，又將隨而取之矣。 向之四郡得之亦勤，尚不能有，今又無故而求侵地，陛下度可以虛聲下之乎？ 況止求陵寢，地在其中，曩亦議此，觀其答書，幾於相戲。 凡此二端，皆是求釁。 必須遣使，則祈請欽宗梓宮，猶為有辭。 內視不足，何暇事外？ 邇者未懷，豈能綏遠？」
"Your Majesty's resolve to recover lost territory has never left your heart, yet in policy nothing is more prized than unanimous agreement, and this cannot go unexamined; nor can broad consultation that ends in a sole decision go unscrutinized. There have indeed been states that rose by following the multitude, and also states that perished by following the multitude; there have been those who succeeded by acting alone, and also those who failed by acting alone. Sending an envoy now would open the door to provocation. If enemy cavalry should violate the border, the people's strength would be drained by supply levies, prefectures and counties would be worn out by mobilization, and military disaster would ensue with no end in sight. Our generals are mediocre and crude, mostly lacking far-sighted plans; before the sovereign they speak of dying in his service, yet on the battlefield each seeks to save himself. Witness the battle at Fuli, where the army routed itself without fighting, and the encounter at Guazhou, where men fled in panic at the sight of the enemy—on whom can we rely? This is why your servant dares not guarantee complete success. Moreover, the territory sought now is Henan. In former years it was once returned to our map, yet before we could turn around we lost it again. If they refuse, the mission will have been wasted; if they grant our request, they will surely demand heavy tribute. With our internal administration unsettled and our foundations hollow within, they will simply take it back again. The four prefectures we gained before were won only with great effort, and even then we could not hold them. Now, without cause, we seek further territory—does Your Majesty think they can be brought to yield by empty words? Moreover, if we seek only the imperial tombs, the land lies within their territory. This too was discussed before, and judging from their reply, it was nearly a mockery. Both of these courses alike amount to seeking provocation. If an envoy must be sent, then to petition for the return of Emperor Qinzong's coffin would at least offer grounds. When our internal affairs are not in order, how can we spare attention for external matters? When those near at hand are not yet won over, how can we bring peace to those far away?"
26
奏入，忤旨，貶瑞州居住，尋移信州。 九年，許令自便。 淳熙四年，起知徽州，尋除敷文閣待制、知建寧府，卒。
When the memorial was submitted, it offended the emperor's intent. He was demoted and ordered to reside in Ruizhou, and soon afterward was transferred to Xinzhou. In the ninth year he was permitted to go where he pleased. In the fourth year of the Chunxi reign he was recalled to serve as Prefect of Huizhou, and soon afterward was made Attendant of the Fuwenge Pavilion and Prefect of Jianning Prefecture. He died in office.
27
李浩，字德遠，其先居建昌，遷臨川。 浩早有文稱。 紹興十二年，擢進士第。 時秦熺挾宰相子以魁多士，同年皆見之，或拉浩行，毅然不往。 調饒州司戶參軍、襄陽府觀察推官，連丁內外艱，繼調金州教授，改太常寺主簿，尋兼光祿寺丞。
Li Hao, courtesy name Deyuan, was descended from a family that had lived in Jianchang and later moved to Linchuan. Hao early gained a reputation for literary talent. In the twelfth year of the Shaoxing reign he passed the jinshi examination. At the time Qin Xi, as the chancellor's son, ranked first among the successful candidates. His classmates all called on him, and some tried to pull Hao along, but he steadfastly refused to go. He was appointed Revenue Section Aide of Raozhou and Investigating Officer of Xiangyang Prefecture, successively completed mourning for both parents, then was transferred to Instructor at Jinzhou, promoted to Registrar of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and soon thereafter concurrently made Assistant Director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments.
28
輪對，首陳《無逸》之戒，且言：「宿衛大將楊存中恩寵特異，待之過，非其福。」 上悟，旋令就第。 自秦檜用事，塞言路，及上總攬權綱，激厲忠讜，此習尚存，朝士多務慎默。 至是命百官轉對，浩與王十朋、馮方、查籥、胡憲始相繼言事，聞者興起。
At a rotating audience he first cited the warning in No Dissipation and said: "The great general of the palace guard, Yang Cunzhong, enjoys exceptional favor. To treat him so lavishly is no blessing to him." The emperor took his meaning and soon ordered Yang to retire to his residence. Since Qin Hui had wielded power and blocked the channels of remonstrance, and even after the emperor gathered authority to himself and sought to encourage loyal speech, the old habit remained and court officials mostly kept silent out of caution. At this point the emperor ordered officials to speak in rotation. Hao, together with Wang Shipeng, Feng Fang, Zha Yao, and Hu Xian, were the first to speak in succession on affairs of state, and those who heard them were stirred.
29
浩不安於朝，請祠，主管台州崇道觀以歸。 孝宗即位，以太常丞召。 時張浚督師江、淮，宰相多抑之，浩引仁宗用韓琦、范仲淹詔章得象故事，乞戒諭令同心協濟。 兼權吏部郎官。 浩雅為湯思退所厚，御史尹穡欲引之以共擠浚，因薦浩。 及對，乃明示不同之意，二人皆不樂。 踰年，始除員外郎兼皇子恭王府直講。
Hao was ill at ease at court, requested a temple appointment, and returned home as supervisor of the Chongdao Abbey in Taizhou. When Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne, Hao was summoned as Assistant Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. At the time Zhang Jun was directing troops on the Jiang and Huai fronts, and the chancellors mostly held him back. Hao cited the precedent of Emperor Renzong's edict employing Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan and asked that the emperor admonish the court to unite in mutual support. He was concurrently appointed Acting Bureau Official of the Ministry of Personnel. Hao had long been favored by Tang Situi. The censor Yin Ji wished to draw him in to help squeeze out Zhang Jun and therefore recommended Hao. When he had his audience, he clearly showed a different intent, and both men were displeased. More than a year passed before he was appointed External Bureau Official and Direct Lecturer in the mansion of the Prince of Gong.
30
在王府多所裨益，且因事以及時政，書之於冊，幸上或見之，王亦素所愛重。 他日外補，累年以歸，王喜曰：「李直講來矣。」 未幾，宰相召為郎者四人，將進用之，尤屬意浩。 浩嘿然無一辭，同舍皆遷，浩獨如故。
In the princely mansion he was of much benefit, and he also used occasions to touch on current politics and wrote them in a book, hoping the emperor might see it. The prince too had long loved and valued him. When he later took an outside appointment and returned after several years, the prince said with pleasure: "Direct Lecturer Li has come." Before long the chancellor summoned four men to serve as bureau officials and intended to promote them, setting his hopes especially on Hao. Hao remained silent and said not a word. His colleagues were all promoted, but Hao alone remained as before.
31
逾年，浙河水災，詔郎官、館職以上條時政闕失，浩謂上憂勞如此，今何可不言，即奏疏指論近臣，並及宰執惟奉行，臺諫多迎合，百執事顧忌畏縮。 反覆數千言，傾倒罄竭，見者悚慄。 上不以為忤，執事者深忌之。
The following year the Zhe River flooded. An edict ordered bureau officials and academy appointees and above to itemize omissions in current policy. Hao said that with the emperor so burdened with worry, how could he remain silent? He immediately submitted a memorial criticizing close ministers and extending his criticism to the chancellors, who merely carried out orders; remonstrators who mostly flattered and complied; and officials who looked back in fear and shrank from action. Running to several thousand words, he poured out everything he had to say, and those who read it were shaken. The emperor did not take it as an offense, but those in power deeply resented him.
32
乞外，得台州。 州有揀中禁軍五百人，訓練官貪殘失眾心，不逞者因謀作亂，忽露刃於庭，浩謂之曰：「汝等欲為亂乎？ 請先殺我。」 眾駭曰：「不敢。」 乃徐推其為首者四人黥徙之，迄無事。 除直秘閣。 並海有宿寇，久不獲，浩募其徒，自縛贖罪，即得其魁。
He requested an outside appointment and was given Taizhou. The prefecture had five hundred selected troops of the central army. The training officer was greedy and cruel and had lost the men's loyalty. The unruly among them plotted mutiny and suddenly bared their blades in the courtyard. Hao said to them: "Do you wish to rebel? Then kill me first." The men were startled and said: "We dare not." He then calmly identified the four ringleaders, had them tattooed and exiled, and thereafter there was no further trouble. He was granted direct access to the Secret Pavilion. Along the coast there were long-standing bandits who had long evaded capture. Hao recruited their followers, offering them redemption if they bound themselves and surrendered, and immediately obtained the ringleader.
33
里豪民鄭憲以貲給事權貴人門，囊橐為姦，事覺，械繫之，死獄中，盡籍其家，徙其妻孥。 權貴人教其家訟冤，且誣浩以買妾事，言者用是擠之。 疏方上，權參政劉珙越次奏曰：「李浩為郡，獲罪豪民，為其所誣，臣考其本末甚白。」 上顧曰：「守臣不畏強禦，豈易得邪？」 且問章安在，珙袖出之，遂留中不下。 大理觀望，猶欲還其所沒貲，上批其後曰：「台州所斷至甚允當，鄭憲家資，永不給還，流徙如故。」 浩始得安。
A local magnate, Zheng Xian, used his wealth to serve powerful patrons and committed many crimes; when exposed he was imprisoned, died in jail, his property was confiscated, and his wife and children were banished. The powerful noble had Zheng's family sue for redress and also slandered Hao with a charge of buying a concubine. Critics used this to drive him out. Just as the memorial was submitted, the Acting Vice Grand Councilor Liu Gong stepped forward out of turn and said: "In governing his prefecture Li Hao offended a powerful man and was slandered by him. Your servant has examined the matter from beginning to end and finds it entirely clear." The emperor looked up and said: "A prefect who does not fear the powerful—is he so easily found?" He then asked where the memorial was. Liu Gong produced it from his sleeve, and the emperor kept it within the palace and did not issue it. The Court of the Grand Justice looked on and still wished to return the confiscated property. The emperor annotated the document: "Taizhou's judgment was entirely fair and appropriate. Zheng Xian's household assets shall never be returned, and the exile shall stand as before." Only then was Hao able to rest secure.
34
明年，除司農少卿。 時朝廷和糴米八萬，董其事者賤糴濕惡，隱克官錢，戶部不敢詰。 浩白發其姦，下有司窮竟。 戶部欲就支稽見數，大理附會之，浩爭曰：「非但惠姦，且虧軍食。」 上是其言。 會大理奏結他獄，上顧輔臣曰：「棘寺官得剛正如李浩者為之。」 已而卿缺，又曰：「無以易浩。」 遂除大理卿。
The following year he was appointed Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue. At the time the court was purchasing eighty thousand piculs of rice under the harmonized-purchase system. Those in charge bought wet and spoiled grain at low prices and secretly pocketed official funds, and the Ministry of Revenue did not dare investigate. Hao reported and exposed their fraud and ordered the responsible offices to investigate to the end. The Ministry of Revenue wished to settle the audit on the visible numbers, and the Court of the Grand Justice went along with this. Hao objected: "This not only favors fraud but also deprives the army of provisions." The emperor approved his view. When the Court of the Grand Justice memorialized on the conclusion of another case, the emperor looked at his assisting ministers and said: "The Court of the Grand Justice should have someone as firm and upright as Li Hao to head it." Soon afterward, when the directorship fell vacant, he said again: "No one can replace Hao." He was then appointed Director of the Court of the Grand Justice.
35
時上英明，有大有為之志，廷臣不能奉行，誕慢苟且，依違避事。 浩前在司農，嘗因面對，陳經理兩淮之策，至是為金使接伴還，奏曰：「臣親見兩淮可耕之田，盡為廢地，心嘗痛之。 條畫營屯，以為恢復根本。」 又言：「比日措置邊事甚張皇，願戒將吏嚴備禦，無規微利近功。 日與大臣修治具，結人心，持重安靜，以俟敵釁。」 上悉嘉納。
At the time the emperor was bright and wise and had a great resolve to act, yet court ministers could not carry out his will; they were absurd and negligent, perfunctory and evasive. When Hao had previously served in the Ministry of Revenue, he had once presented a plan for managing the Two Huai region in a face audience. Now, returning from serving as reception companion to a Jin envoy, he memorialized: "Your servant personally saw that the cultivable fields of the Two Huai have all become wasteland, and my heart has long been pained by it. I have itemized a plan for garrison colonies to serve as the foundation of recovery." He also said: "Recently arrangements for border affairs have been unduly alarmist. I beg that generals and officials be warned to prepare defenses strictly and not scheme for small profits and near-term gains. Work daily with the great ministers to repair the instruments of governance, unite the people's hearts, maintain weight and calm, and await the enemy's provocation." The emperor praised and accepted all of this.
36
宰相議遣泛使，浩與辨其不可，至以官職訹之，浩怒，以語觸之，且力求外。 以直寶文閣知靜江府兼廣西安撫。 有尚書郎入對，論及擇帥事，上曰：「如廣西，朕已得李浩矣。」 又諭大臣曰：「李浩營田議甚可行。」 大臣莫有應者。
The chancellor discussed sending a general envoy. Hao argued with him that it was impossible, and the chancellor even threatened him with his office. Hao grew angry, spoke words that gave offense, and forcefully sought an outside appointment. He was granted direct access to the Baowen Pavilion and appointed Prefect of Jingjiang Prefecture and concurrently Pacification Commissioner of Guangxi. When a bureau official of the Ministry entered audience and the matter of selecting a commander was discussed, the emperor said: "For Guangxi, I already have Li Hao." He also instructed the great ministers: "Li Hao's proposal on garrison colonies is very feasible." None of the great ministers responded.
37
浩至郡，舊有靈渠通漕運及灌溉，歲久不治，命疏而通之，民賴其利。 邕管所隸安平州，其酋恃險，謀聚兵為邊患，浩遣單使諭以禍福，且許其引赦自新，即日叩頭謝過，焚徹水柵，聽太府約束。
When Hao arrived in the prefecture, he found the old Ling Canal, which served both grain transport and irrigation, had long gone unrepaired. He ordered it dredged and reopened, and the people benefited from it. Anping Prefecture, under Yongguan's jurisdiction, had a tribal chief who relied on the terrain's advantages and plotted to gather troops and become a border menace. Hao sent a lone envoy to instruct him on reward and punishment and promised that if he cited the pardon and reformed himself, he would be accepted. That same day the chief kowtowed in apology, burned his water palisades completely, and submitted to the Grand Treasury's authority.
38
治廣二年，召還，入對，論俗不美者八，其言曰：「陛下所求者規諫，而臣下專務迎合，所貴者執守，而臣下專務順從； 所惜者名器，而僥倖之路未塞； 所重者廉恥，而趣附之門尚開； 儒術可行，而有險詖之徒； 下情當盡，而有壅蔽之患； 期以氣節，而偷惰者得以苟容； 責以實效，而誕慢者得以自售。」 上問誕慢謂誰，浩具以實對。 翌日，謂宰相曰：「李浩直諒。」 遂除權吏部侍郎。 時政府有怙寵竊權者，黨與非一，自浩之入，已相側目，且欲以甘言誘之，浩中立不倚，拒弗納。 於是相與謀嗾諫議大夫姚憲論浩以強狠之資，挾奸諛之志，置之近列，變亂黑白。 未及正謝而罷。
After governing Guangxi for two years he was recalled and entered audience, discussing eight unworthy customs. He said: "What Your Majesty seeks is remonstrance, yet your ministers devote themselves to flattery; what you value is steadfast integrity, yet your ministers devote themselves to compliance; what you cherish are titles and offices, yet the path of undeserved favor remains unblocked; what you esteem is integrity and shame, yet the door to fawning attachment remains open; Confucian learning can be put into practice, yet there are men of dangerous bias; the sentiments of those below should be fully heard, yet there is the trouble of obstruction; you expect moral fiber, yet the lazy and negligent are allowed to remain; you demand real results, yet the absurd and negligent are able to sell themselves." The emperor asked whom he meant by the absurd and negligent, and Hao answered fully and truthfully. The next day he said to the chancellor: "Li Hao is upright and sincere." He was then appointed Acting Vice Minister of Personnel. At the time there were men in the government who relied on favor to usurp power, and their faction was not small. From the time Hao entered office they already looked askance at him and wished to entice him with smooth words. Hao stood neutral and uncommitted and refused to accept. They therefore plotted together and had the Remonstrance and Discussion Grandee Yao Xian attack Hao as one of harsh and overbearing temperament who harbors a wicked desire to flatter, and as one whose placement in high office confuses right and wrong. Before he could formally thank the emperor for his appointment, he was dismissed.
39
乾道九年，提舉太平興國宮。 明年夏，夔路闕帥，命浩以秘閣修撰寵其行。 夔有羈縻州曰思州，世襲為守則田氏，與其猶子不協，將起兵相攻，浩草檄遣官為勸解，二人感悟，歃血盟，盡釋前憾，邊得以寧。 逾年，以疾請祠，提舉玉隆萬壽宮，命未至，以淳熙三年九月卒，年六十一。 諸司奏浩盡瘁其職以死，詔特贈集英殿修撰。
In the ninth year of the Qiandao reign he was made Supervisor of the Taiping Xingguo Palace. The following summer the Kuizhou circuit lacked a commander, and Hao was appointed with the title of Compiler of the Secret Pavilion to honor his departure. In Kuizhou there was an attached-and-pacified prefecture called Sizhou, hereditarily held by the Tian clan. The Tian chief and his nephew's son were at odds and were about to raise troops against each other. Hao drafted a proclamation and sent an official to mediate. The two men were moved to repentance, swore a blood oath, completely released their former grievances, and the border was thereby pacified. After more than a year, he requested a temple post on grounds of illness and was appointed superintendent of the Yulong Wanshou Palace, but before the order arrived he died in the ninth month of the third year of the Chunxi reign, at the age of sixty-one. The various offices reported that Hao had worn himself out in office until death, and an edict specially posthumously granted him the title of compiler at the Hall for Assembling Excellence.
40
浩天資質直，涵養渾厚，不以利害動其心。 少力學為文辭，及壯益沈潛理義。 立朝慨然以時事為己任，忠憤激烈，言切時弊，以此見忌於眾。 平居未嘗假人以辭色，不知者以為傲，或譖於上前，上謂：「斯人無他，在朕前亦如此，非為傲者。」 小人憚之，誘以祿利，正色不回，謀害之者無所不至，獨賴上察其衷，始終全之。 為郡尤潔己，自海右歸，不載南海一物。 平生奉養如布衣時，風裁素高，人不敢干以私云。
Hao was upright by nature, deeply cultivated in character, and never swayed in his heart by considerations of gain or loss. In youth he studied hard and cultivated literary composition; in maturity he immersed himself ever more deeply in principle and moral reasoning. At court he took current affairs upon himself with passionate resolve, his loyal indignation was fierce, and his words cut to the abuses of the age; for this he was widely resented. In daily life he never put on a pleasant face for others; those who did not know him took this for arrogance, and some slandered him before the emperor. The emperor said, "This man has no other motive—in Our presence he is the same. He is not being arrogant." Petty men feared him and tried to lure him with salary and profit, but he maintained a stern countenance and would not bend; those who plotted against him stopped at nothing. He owed his preservation throughout to the emperor's discernment of his true heart. As a prefect he was especially strict with himself; when he returned from the southern coast he brought back not a single thing from the South Sea. Throughout his life he maintained the same standard of living as when he was a commoner; his bearing had always been lofty, and it is said that people did not dare approach him with private requests.
41
陳橐，字德應，紹興餘姚人。 入太學有聲，登政和上舍第，教授寧州。 以母老改台州士曹，治獄平允。 更攝天臺、臨海、黃岩三邑，易越州新昌令，皆以愷悌稱。
Chen Tuo, courtesy name Deying, was a native of Yuyao in Shaoxing. He entered the Imperial Academy with a growing reputation, passed the upper-house examination in the Zhenghe reign, and served as instructor at Ningzhou. Because his mother was elderly, he transferred to the post of shicao at Taizhou, where he handled legal cases with fairness. He successively served in an acting capacity over the three districts of Tiantai, Linhai, and Huangyan, and then became magistrate of Xinchang in Yuezhou; in every post he was praised for kindness and gentleness.
42
呂頤浩欲援為御史，約先一見，橐曰：「宰相用人，乃使之呈身耶？」 謝不往。 趙鼎、李光交薦其才。 紹興二年五月，召對，改秩。 六月，除監察御史，論事不合。 八月，詔以宰邑有治行，除江西運判。 瑞昌令倚勢受賂，橐首劾罷之。 期年，所按以十數，至有望風解印綬者。
Lü Yihao wished to recommend him as censor and arranged to meet him first. Tuo said, "When a prime minister employs men, must he make them come forward and present themselves?" He declined and did not go. Zhao Ding and Li Guang both recommended his talent. In the fifth month of the second year of the Shaoxing reign he was summoned for an audience and his rank was changed. In the sixth month he was appointed investigating censor, but his views on affairs did not accord with those in power. In the eighth month an edict noted his record of good governance as a district magistrate and appointed him transport commissioner of Jiangxi. The magistrate of Ruichang relied on influence to accept bribes; Tuo was the first to impeach and have him dismissed. Within a year he investigated more than ten cases, and some officials even resigned their posts at the mere rumor of his approach.
43
以母年高，乞歸養，詔橐善撫字，移知台州。 台有五邑，嘗攝其三，民懷惠愛，越境歡迎，不數月稱治。 母喪，邦人巷哭，相率走行在所者千餘人，請起橐。 詔橐清謹不擾，治狀著聞，其敕所在州賜錢三十萬。 橐力辭，上謂近臣曰：「陳橐有古循吏風。」 終喪，以司勳郎中召。
Because his mother was advanced in years, he requested leave to return and support her; an edict praised Tuo's skill in caring for the people and transferred him to serve as prefect of Taizhou. Taizhou had five districts, and he had once served in an acting capacity over three of them; the people cherished his kindness, welcomed him across district borders, and within a few months his rule was acclaimed. When his mother died the people of the prefecture wept in the alleys, and more than a thousand of them went together to the emperor's temporary residence to request that Tuo be recalled to office. An edict praised Tuo as pure, careful, and unobtrusive, noted that his record of governance was widely known, and ordered his prefecture to grant him three hundred thousand cash. Tuo forcefully declined. The emperor told his close ministers, "Chen Tuo has the bearing of the virtuous officials of old." When his mourning ended he was summoned as langzhong in the Bureau of Merit.
44
累遷權刑部侍郎。 時秦檜力主和議，橐疏謂：「金人多詐，和不可信。 且二聖遠狩沙漠，百姓肝腦塗地，天下痛心疾首。 今天意既回，兵勢漸集，宜乘時掃清，以雪國恥； 否亦當按兵嚴備，審勢而動。 舍此不為，乃遽講和，何以繫中原之望。」
He was repeatedly promoted to acting vice minister of Justice. At that time Qin Hui strongly advocated peace talks. Tuo submitted a memorial saying, "The Jin are much given to deceit, and peace cannot be trusted. Moreover the two emperors are far off in the desert sands, the common people have been slaughtered until the ground is soaked with blood, and all under Heaven are heartsick and furious. Now that Heaven's intent has turned and military strength is gradually gathering, we ought to seize the moment to sweep the enemy away and wipe out the nation's shame; if not, we should at least hold our troops in readiness with strict defenses and act only after weighing the situation. To abandon this and instead rush into peace talks—how can that sustain the hopes of the Central Plains?"
45
既而金厚有所邀，議久不決，將再遣使，橐復言：「金每挾講和以售其姦謀。 論者因其廢劉豫又還河南地，遂謂其有意於和，臣以為不然。 且金之立豫，蓋欲自為捍蔽，使之南窺。 豫每犯順，率皆敗北，金知不足恃，從而廢之，豈為我哉？ 河南之地欲付之他人，則必以豫為戒，故捐以歸我。 往歲金書嘗謂歲帑多寡聽我所裁，曾未淹歲，反覆如此。 且割地通和，則彼此各守封疆可也，而同州之橋，至今存焉。 蓋金非可以義交而信結，恐其假和好之說，騁謬悠之辭，包藏禍心，變出不測。 願深鑒前轍，亦嚴戰守之備，使人人激厲，常若寇至。 苟彼通和，則吾之振飭武備不害為立國之常。 如其不然，決意恢復之圖，勿循私曲之說，天意允協，人心響應，一舉以成大勳，則梓宮、太后可還，祖宗疆土可復矣。」 檜憾之。 橐因力請去。 未幾，金果渝盟。
Soon afterward the Jin made heavy demands and deliberations dragged on without decision; as the court was about to send envoys again, Tuo spoke once more: "The Jin always use peace talks to advance their treacherous schemes. Commentators, seeing that the Jin had deposed Liu Yu and returned the lands of Henan, concluded that they were sincere about peace, but I do not think so. Moreover, in establishing Yu the Jin intended to create a shield for themselves and have him probe southward. Whenever Yu rebelled he was invariably defeated; once the Jin knew he could not be relied upon, they deposed him. Was that done for our sake? If they wished to entrust the lands of Henan to someone else, they would surely take Yu as a warning, and so they relinquished the territory to us. In past years a Jin letter once said that the size of the annual tribute would be left to our decision, yet before a full year had passed they reversed themselves in this way. Moreover, if peace through ceded territory means that each side keeps to its own borders, that would be acceptable—yet the bridge at Tongzhou still stands to this day. The Jin cannot be bound by righteousness and good faith; I fear they will use talk of amity to spin absurd and empty words, conceal treacherous intent, and strike with unforeseen changes. I wish that we deeply take warning from past mistakes and also tighten our preparations for war and defense, rousing every man so that we are always as if the enemy were at the gates. If they do seek peace, then our strengthening of military readiness would still be no more than the constant duty of sustaining a state. If that is not the case, then resolve on a plan of recovery and do not follow partisan and crooked counsel. When Heaven's intent accords and the people's hearts respond, one stroke can achieve great merit—the imperial coffin and the empress dowager can be brought back, and the territory of our ancestors can be restored." Hui resented this. Tuo therefore forcefully requested to leave office. Before long the Jin did indeed break the treaty.
46
除徽猷閣待制、知潁昌府。 時河南新疆初復，無敢往者，橐即日就道。 次壽春則潁已不守。 改處州，又改廣州。 兵興後，廣東盜賊無寧歲，十年九易牧守。 橐盡革弊政，以恩先之。 留鎮三年，民夷悅服。
He was appointed attendant draft at the Hall of Splendid Learning and prefect of Yingchang. At that time Henan had just been newly recovered and no one dared go there, but Tuo set out the same day. When he reached Shouchun, Ying was already lost. He was transferred to Chuzhou, and then again to Guangzhou. After the outbreak of war Guangdong knew no year free of bandits, and in ten years prefects were changed nine times. Tuo thoroughly reformed corrupt policies and led with kindness. He remained in command for three years, and both the people and the tribal groups were pleased and submitted.
47
初，朝廷移韓京一軍屯循州，會郴寇駱科犯廣西，詔遣京討之。 橐奏：「廣東累年困於寇賊，自京移屯，敵稍知畏。 今悉軍赴廣西，則廣東危矣。」 檜以橐為京地，坐稽留機事，降秩。 屢上章告老，改婺州，請不已，遂致仕。 又十二年，以疾卒於家，年六十六。
Initially the court had moved one army under Han Jing to garrison Xunzhou. When the Chen bandit Luo Ke invaded Guangxi, an edict ordered Jing to suppress him. Tuo submitted a memorial: "Guangdong has for years been harried by bandits; since Jing's garrison was moved here, the enemy have somewhat learned to fear us. If the entire army is now sent to Guangxi, Guangdong will be in peril." Hui, taking Tuo to be acting in Jing's interest, charged him with delaying critical affairs and reduced his rank. He repeatedly submitted memorials requesting retirement, was transferred to Wuzhou, and when his requests did not cease he finally retired from office. Twelve years later he died of illness at home, at the age of sixty-six.
48
橐博學剛介，不事產業，先世田廬，悉推予兄弟。 在廣積年，四方聘幣一不入私室。 既謝事歸剡中，僑寓僧寺，日糴以食，處之泰然。 王十朋為《風土賦》，論近世會稽人物，曰：「杜祁公之後有陳德應」云。
Tuo was broadly learned and firm in character; he did not pursue estates, and the fields and houses of his forebears he gave entirely to his brothers. During his many years in Guangzhou not a single gift of employment from any quarter entered his private quarters. After leaving office he returned to Shan and lodged in a monastery, buying grain each day for food, and bore it all with calm equanimity. Wang Shipeng, in his Rhapsody on Local Customs, discussing recent figures of Kuaiji, said, "After Duke Du of Qi there is Chen Deying," it is said.
49
胡沂，字周伯，紹興餘姚人。 父宗伋，號醇儒，能守所學，不逐時好。 沂穎異，六歲誦《五經》皆畢，不忘一字。 紹興五年進士甲科，陸沉州縣幾三十載，至二十八年，始入為正字。 遷校書郎兼實錄院檢討官，吏部員外郎。 轉右司，以憂去，終喪還朝。 孝宗受禪，除國子司業、鄧王府直講，尋擢殿中侍御史。
Hu Yi, courtesy name Zhoubo, was a native of Yuyao in Shaoxing. His father Zongji, styled the Pure Scholar, was able to hold to what he had learned and did not chase the fashions of the day. Yi was precocious; at six he had recited all of the Five Classics and forgot not a single character. In the fifth year of the Shaoxing reign he passed the jinshi examination in the first rank, then languished in prefecture and county posts for nearly thirty years until the twenty-eighth year, when he first entered the capital as a corrector. He was promoted to collator and concurrently reviser at the Academy of Veritable Records, and then to vice director in the Ministry of Personnel. He was transferred to the Right Office, left on account of mourning, and after his mourning ended returned to court. When Emperor Xiaozong received the abdication, Yi was appointed vice director of the Directorate of Education and direct lecturer at the mansion of Prince Deng, and was soon promoted to palace censor.
50
有旨侍從、臺諫條具方今時務，沂言：「守禦之利，莫若令沿邊屯田。 前歲淮民逃移，未復舊業，中原歸附，未知所處。 俾之就耕，可贍給，省餉饋。 東作方興，且慮敵人乘時驚擾，宜聚兵險隘防守。」 詔行其言。
An edict ordered attendant ministers and censors to itemize current affairs. Yi said, "For defense there is nothing better than ordering garrison farming along the frontier. In recent years the people of the Huai region fled and have not restored their old occupations, and those who have submitted from the Central Plains do not yet know where they will be settled. If they are made to take up farming, they can support themselves and the cost of supplying rations can be saved. Spring planting is just beginning, and we should also worry that the enemy may seize the moment to raid and disturb us; troops should be gathered at strategic passes for defense." An edict ordered that his proposal be carried out.
51
御史中丞辛次膺論殿帥成閔黷貨不恤士卒之罪，詔罷殿前司職事，與祠。 沂再言其二十罪，遂落太尉，婺州居住。
The censor-in-chief Xin Ciying charged the palace commander Cheng Min with embezzlement and neglect of his soldiers; an edict dismissed him from duties at the Palace Front Office and granted him a temple post. Yi again listed twenty crimes against him, whereupon Cheng was stripped of the rank of grand marshal and ordered to reside at Wuzhou.
52
沂又言：「將臣定十等之目，令其舉薦，施之擇將之頃則可，施之養士有素則未也。 夫設武舉，立武學，試之以弓馬，又試之以韜略之文、兵機之策，蓋將有所用也。 除高等一二名，餘皆吏部授以榷酤、征商，所養非所用，所用非所養，願詔大臣詳議，中舉者定品格，分差邊將下準備差遣，則人人思奮，應上之求矣。」 從之。
Yi also said, "To fix ten ranks for generals and order recommendations may be acceptable when selecting commanders, but it is not yet suited to officers who have been trained over time. Military examinations and military academies were established, candidates were tested in archery and horsemanship and again in texts on strategy and plans of military tactics—all evidently so that they might be put to use. Apart from the one or two top graduates, the rest are all assigned by the Ministry of Personnel to salt monopolies and tax collection—the men trained are not those employed, and those employed are not those trained. I wish that an edict would order the great ministers to discuss this in detail, fix grades for examination graduates, and assign them as reserve officers under frontier generals; then every man would strive to excel and respond to what the throne seeks." The proposal was adopted.
53
時龍大淵、曾覿以藩邸舊恩除知閤門事，張震、劉珙、周必大相繼繳回詞命。 沂論其市權招士，請屏遠之，未聽，而諫官劉度坐抗論左遷。 沂累章，益懇切，曰：「大淵、覿不屏去，安知無柳宗元、劉禹錫輩撓節以從之者。」 好進者嫉其言，共排之，沂亦以言不行請去，遂以直顯謨閣主管台州崇道觀。
At that time Long Dayuan and Zeng Di were appointed managers of gate affairs on account of old favor from the princely mansion; Zhang Zhen, Liu Guo, and Zhou Bida successively returned the sealed edicts in protest. Yi argued that they traded on power to recruit followers and requested that they be removed far from court; the request was not heeded, and the remonstrating official Liu Du was demoted for his outspoken opposition. Yi submitted repeated memorials, ever more earnest, saying, "If Dayuan and Di are not removed, how can we know that there will not be men like Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi who bend their integrity to follow them?" Those eager for advancement resented his words and combined to drive him out; Yi also requested leave because his advice was not followed, and was then appointed direct attendant at the Hall of Manifest Counsel to supervise the Chongdao Abbey at Taizhou.
54
乾道元年冬，召為宗正少卿兼皇子慶王府贊讀，尋兼侍講，進中書舍人、給事中。 進對，論命令當謹之於造命之初，上曰：「三代盛時如此。 卿職在繳駁，事有當然，勿謂拂君相不言。」 除吏部侍郎兼權尚書。
In the winter of the first year of the Qiandao reign he was summoned as vice director of the Directorate of the Imperial Clan and concurrently reader at the mansion of Prince Qing, soon also lecturer, and was advanced to drafter of the Secretariat and supervising secretary. At an audience he argued that commands ought to be treated with care at the very moment they are issued. The emperor said, "It was so in the flourishing age of the Three Dynasties. Your duty lies in returning sealed edicts when matters require it; do not think that opposing the ruler and minister means you should keep silent." He was appointed vice minister of Personnel and concurrently acting minister.
55
沂奏：「七司法自紹興十三年纂修成書，歲且一紀，歷月閱時，不無牴牾。 望令敕令所官討論章旨，此法可行不可行，此條當革不當革，將見行之法與當革之條輯為一書，頒之中外，庶可戢吏胥之姦。」 詔行之。 尋以目疾丐祠。
Yi submitted a memorial: "The statutes of the seven offices, compiled and completed in the thirteenth year of the Shaoxing reign, have now nearly reached a full cycle of years; as months and seasons have passed, contradictions have inevitably arisen. I wish that officials of the Office of Edicts and Decrees be ordered to discuss the intent of each chapter, determine which laws are practicable and which are not, which articles ought to be reformed and which ought not, compile the laws now in force together with the articles due for reform into one book, and promulgate it within and without the court, so that the treachery of clerks and runners may be curbed." An edict ordered that it be carried out. Soon afterward he requested a temple post on account of eye disease.
56
六年，出為徽猷閣待制、知處州。 復引疾奉祠，提舉江州太平興國宮。 八年，以待制除太子詹事，尋復拜給事中，進禮部尚書並兼領詹事，又改侍讀。 上顧沂厚，有大用意，而沂資性恬退，無所依附，數請去。
In the sixth year he was sent out as attendant draft at the Hall of Splendid Learning and prefect of Chuzhou. He again cited illness and received a temple post as superintendent of the Taiping Xingguo Palace at Jiangzhou. In the eighth year he was appointed crown prince tutor with the rank of attendant draft, was soon again appointed supervising secretary, was advanced to minister of rites while concurrently retaining the tutorship, and was then changed to reader. The emperor regarded Yi with great favor and had large designs for him, but Yi's disposition was calm and retiring and he relied on no faction; he repeatedly requested to leave office.
57
虞允文當國，希旨建策復中原，沂極論金無畔，而我諸將未見可任此事者，數梗其議。 遂以龍圖閣學士仍提舉興國宮。
When Yu Yunwen held power he sought favor by proposing a strategy to recover the Central Plains; Yi argued forcefully that the Jin had not rebelled and that none of our generals yet appeared capable of undertaking such a task, and repeatedly blocked the proposal. He was then appointed academician at the Hall of Dragon Diagram while still serving as superintendent of the Xingguo Palace.
58
淳熙元年卒，年六十八。 方疾革，整容素冠不少惰，蓋其為學所得者如此。 諡「獻肅」。
He died in the first year of the Chunxi reign, at the age of sixty-eight. When his illness turned critical he still composed his bearing and wore plain mourning cap without the least slackness—such was what his learning had made of him. He was given the posthumous title Xiansu.
59
唐文若
Tang Wenruo
60
唐文若，字立夫，眉山人。 父庚在《文苑傳》。 文若少英邁不群，為文豪健。 登進士第，分教潼川府。 給事中勾濤薦自代，詔赴行在所，既至，而勾濤出，不得見。 文若奏書闕下，略曰：「昔漢高慢士，四皓去之，而西鄙少廉恥之人； 光武禮賢，嚴光友之，而東都多節義之士。 陛下屈萬乘之尊，駐蹕東南，兩宮將歸，五路初復，正宜市朽骨，式怒蛙，以來豪傑，與之共治，寧遽惜此數刻之對耶？」 書奏，翌日召對便殿，高宗大悅，特旨改合入官，通判洋州。 洋西鄉縣產茶，亙陵谷八百餘里，山窮險，賦不盡括。 使者韓球將增賦以市寵，園戶避苛斂轉徙，饑饉相藉，文若力爭之，賦迄不增。
Tang Wenruo, courtesy name Lifu, was a native of Meishan. His father Geng is treated in the Literary Garden Biographies. Wenruo in youth was outstanding and stood apart from others; his writing was bold and vigorous. He passed the jinshi examination and was assigned to teach at Tongchuan prefecture. The supervising secretary Gou Tao recommended him as his own successor and an edict ordered him to proceed to the temporary residence; when he arrived, however, Gou Tao had already left office and he could not obtain an audience. Wenruo submitted a memorial to the throne, saying in summary, "In former times Emperor Gaozu of Han slighted scholars, the Four White-Haired Elders left him, and the western borderlands had few men of integrity and shame; Emperor Guangwu honored worthy men and treated Yan Guang as a friend, and the Eastern Capital had many men of integrity and righteousness. Your Majesty has lowered the dignity of the imperial throne and halted in the southeast; the two palaces are about to return and the five circuits have just been recovered. This is precisely the time to buy up old bones and take the angry frog as a model, to summon heroes and govern jointly with them—how can you hastily spare these few moments of audience?" When the memorial was submitted, he was summoned the next day for an audience in the side hall. Gaozong was greatly pleased, and by special decree his rank was changed to the appropriate level and he was appointed vice prefect of Yangzhou. Xixiang county in Yangzhou produced tea across hills and valleys for more than eight hundred li; the mountains were rugged and dangerous, and the tax could not be fully collected. The commissioner Han Qiu was about to increase the tax to win favor; tea growers fled harsh levies and migrated, and famine followed upon famine. Wenruo forcefully contested this, and the tax was never increased.
61
再通判遂寧府。 會大水，民多漂死，文若至城上，發庫錢募遊者，振活甚眾。 又力請於朝，除田租二萬一千頃，免場務稅二十餘所，築長堤以捍水勢，自是無水患。
He again served as vice prefect of Suining prefecture. When a great flood struck and many people drowned, Wenruo went up onto the city wall, issued treasury funds to hire laborers, and saved a great many lives. He also forcefully petitioned the court to remit field rent on twenty-one thousand qing of land, exempt taxes at more than twenty market offices, and build a long dike to hold back the floodwaters; from then on there was no further flood disaster.
62
秦檜死，上訪蜀士于魏良臣，以文若對。 二十六年，以光祿丞召，改秘書郎，為《文思箴》以獻，其略曰：「於赫我皇，兵既休矣。 兵休如何？ 莫若治兵。 居安思危，邦乃攸寧。 爰整其旅，文王以興。 載舞干羽，舜仁用成。 向戍弭兵，《春秋》所懲。 蕭俯去兵，禍亂乃萌。 師則多矣，軍則強矣。 縱弛不繩，猶曰無人。 兵非以殘，以兵休兵。」 凡千五百餘言。 自檜主和，朝論諱言兵，故文若以此風焉。
When Qin Hui died, the emperor asked Wei Liangchen about scholars of Shu, and he named Wenruo. In the twenty-sixth year he was summoned as assistant in the Office of Imperial Entertainments and transferred to lang in the Secretariat; he composed the Literary Thought Admonition and presented it, saying in summary, "How glorious is our emperor—the troops have already been rested. How are the troops to be rested? There is nothing better than governing the troops. In peace one must think of danger, and then the state will be secure. When he put his hosts in order, King Wen thereby rose to power. When shields and feathers were danced, Shun's benevolent rule was thereby accomplished. When Xiang Xu halted the troops, the Spring and Autumn Annals punished this. When Emperor Xiao Fu dismissed the troops, disaster and disorder then sprouted. The divisions are many and the armies are strong. If they are loosened and left unrestrained, it will still be said that there are no capable men. Troops are not for destruction—they are for resting the troops through military readiness." In all it ran to more than fifteen hundred words. Since Hui had advocated peace, court discussion tabooed talk of military affairs, and so Wenruo used this piece to admonish the court.
63
遷起居郎。 勸上收用西北人材以固根本，上深納之。 將命以掌制，時有為宣和執政請恩，為司諫淩哲所彈，文若喜其直，作《禾黍詩》以美之。 侍御史周方崇以為譏己，劾文若狂誕，出知邵州。 上屢為近臣言唐文若無罪，可改近郡。
He was promoted to diarist. He urged the emperor to gather and employ talent from the northwest to solidify the foundation, and the emperor deeply accepted this. He was about to be appointed to manage imperial drafting when someone requested favors for a Xuanhe-era chief minister and was impeached by the remonstrating official Ling Zhe; Wenruo was pleased at his uprightness and composed the Millet and Sorghum Poem to praise him. The attendant censor Zhou Fangchong thought the poem mocked him, impeached Wenruo as mad and reckless, and had him sent out as prefect of Shaozhou. The emperor repeatedly told his close ministers that Tang Wenruo was guiltless and could be transferred to a nearby prefecture.
64
知饒州，興學宮，減田租奇耗二萬石，又請歲糴常平義倉之儲什三與民平市，農末俱利，而粟不腐，遂以著令。 餘干嘗有劇盜，巡尉不能制，文若遣牙兵捕而戮之。 加直敷文閣，移知溫州。 三十一年，召為宗正少卿。
As prefect of Raozhou he restored the school precinct, reduced extraordinary field-rent losses by twenty thousand shi, and also requested that three-tenths of the yearly stores of the Ever-Normal and Charity Granaries be sold to the people at market price, benefiting both farmers and merchants while keeping grain from spoiling; this was then established as regulation. Yugan once had fierce bandits whom the patrol officers could not control; Wenruo sent yamen soldiers to capture and execute them. He was granted direct appointment at the Hall of Diffusing Culture and transferred to serve as prefect of Wenzhou. In the thirty-first year he was summoned as vice director of the Directorate of the Imperial Clan.
65
金人犯邊，文若求對，首建大臣節制江上之議。 上諭大臣以文若與虞允文、杜莘老、馬驥才皆可用，復除起居郎。 時諸將北出，捷書日聞，上下有狃志，獨文若憂之，圖上元嘉北伐故事。 上諭文若以創業所歷艱苦及敵情反覆甚悉，文若對曰：「願陛下深察大勢，趨策之長而避其短，無循前代軌轍，則大善。」
When the Jin violated the border, Wenruo requested an audience and was the first to propose that a great minister be appointed to command affairs on the Yangzi. The emperor told the great ministers that Wenruo, Yu Yunwen, Du Shenlao, and Ma Jicai were all usable, and Wenruo was again appointed diarist. At that time the generals were advancing north and victory reports arrived daily; above and below grew complacent, but Wenruo alone was worried and submitted a chart of the Yuanjia northern expedition as a warning. The emperor instructed Wenruo very fully on the hardships of founding the dynasty and the Jin's repeated reversals. Wenruo replied, "I wish that Your Majesty would deeply examine the overall situation, pursue what is strong in our policy and avoid what is weak, and not follow the tracks of previous ages—then all would be well."
66
未幾，諸軍退守，金主自將，圍大將王權于歷陽，權遁，淮南盡沒。 詔百官廷議，文若畫三策，一請上親征，二乞遣大臣勞軍，三乞起張浚。 工部侍郎許尹是其言，眾遂列奏上之，不報。
Before long the armies fell back to the defensive; the Jin ruler personally led his troops and surrounded the great general Wang Quan at Liyang. Quan fled and all of Huainan was lost. An edict ordered the hundred officials to deliberate at court. Wenruo outlined three plans: first, that the emperor personally take the field; second, that a great minister be sent to comfort the troops; third, that Zhang Jun be recalled. The vice minister of Works Xu Yin agreed with his proposal, and the officials jointly submitted a memorial, but there was no response.
67
文若尋面對，上問曰：「今計安出，卿熟張浚否？」 文若曰：「浚守道篤學，天下屬望，今四十年，天不死浚嶺海，正為今日。」 上矍然曰：「援浚者多，非卿無以發此。」 數日，遣楊存中護江上軍，緩親征之期，起浚知平江府，蓋上以浚雖忠愨，喜功，將士多不附。 文若復言浚本以孤忠得眾，尋改浚鎮建康府，將以為江淮宣撫使，中沮之而止。
Wenruo soon had a face-to-face audience. The emperor asked, "What plan should we adopt now? Do you know Zhang Jun well?" Wenruo said, "Jun upholds the Way and is deeply learned; all under Heaven looks to him. For forty years Heaven has not let him die in exile precisely for this day." The emperor started and said, "Many support Jun, but without you none could have raised this." Several days later Yang Cunzhong was sent to guard the armies on the Yangzi and the date of the emperor's personal campaign was postponed; Jun was recalled to serve as prefect of Pingjiang—probably because the emperor felt that though Jun was loyal and sincere, he loved glory and many officers and soldiers did not follow him. Wenruo again argued that Jun had originally won followers through solitary loyalty; soon Jun was transferred to command Jiankang prefecture and was about to be made pacification commissioner of the Huai and Yangzi region, but the plan was obstructed midway and stopped.
68
乘輿幸江表，以起居郎兼給事中，直學士院，同群司居守。 駕還，遷中書舍人。 上將內禪，前數日手詔追崇皇太子所生父，文若既書黃，因過周必大誦聖德，而疑名稱未安，歸白宰相，請更黃，堂吏不可，文若執不已，宰相以聞。 詔改稱本生親，尋又改宗室子偁，其後詔稱皇兄。
When the imperial carriage visited the Jiang region, he served as diarist and concurrently supervising secretary, was on duty at the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, and remained with the other offices to guard the capital. When the carriage returned he was promoted to drafter of the Secretariat. When the emperor was about to abdicate, several days beforehand a hand edict posthumously honored the crown prince's biological father. After Wenruo had drafted the edict in yellow, he visited Zhou Bida and recited the emperor's virtue, yet doubted that the title was not settled; he returned and told the chief minister, requesting a revised draft. The hall clerks refused, but Wenruo persisted until the chief minister reported the matter. An edict changed the title to biological parent; soon it was changed again to calling him a child of the imperial clan; afterward an edict called him imperial elder brother.
69
孝宗嗣位，張浚以右府都督江、淮軍事，文若時以疾請外，除敷文閣待制，知漢州，尋改都督府參贊軍事。 浚使行邊按守備，多所罷行者。 未還，除知鼎州，改江州。
When Xiaozong succeeded to the throne, Zhang Jun as head of the Right Office commanded military affairs on the Jiang and Huai fronts. Wenruo at the time requested an outside post on account of illness, was appointed attendant draft at the Hall of Diffusing Culture and prefect of Hanzhou, and was soon changed to military adviser on the commandery staff. Jun sent him to tour the border and inspect defenses, and many officials were dismissed. Before he returned he was appointed prefect of Dingzhou, then transferred to Jiangzhou.
70
明年，浚入相，都督府罷。 其冬，金復大入，官軍悉戍淮。 文若謂上流當嚴兵備，以定民志，奏籍鄉丁五萬，訓練有法，人倚以固。 解嚴，和糴大起，郡之數八萬，文若以民勞，堅請得減什三。 旋請祠，章三上未報。
The next year Jun entered the government as chief minister and the commandery was abolished. That winter the Jin invaded again on a large scale and the official armies were all stationed on the Huai front. Wenruo said the upper reaches ought to be strictly defended to steady the people's resolve; he memorialized to register fifty thousand village militia, trained them by proper methods, and the people relied on this for security. When the alert was lifted a large harmonized-purchase levy was imposed with a prefectural quota of eighty thousand; Wenruo, citing the people's exhaustion, firmly petitioned and obtained a reduction of three-tenths. He soon requested a temple post; three memorials were submitted without response.
71
乾道元年卒，年六十。 贈左通奉大夫。
He died in the first year of the Qiandao reign, at the age of sixty. He was posthumously granted the title of Left Grandee for Meritorious Service.
72
李燾，字仁甫，眉州丹棱人，唐宗室曹王之後也。 父中登第，知仙井監。 燾甫冠，憤金仇未報，著《反正議》十四篇，皆救時大務。 紹興八年，擢進士第。 調華陽簿，再調雅州推官。 改秩，知雙流縣。 仕族張氏子居喪而爭產，燾曰：「若忍墜先訓乎？ 盍歸思之。」 三日復來，迄悔艾無訟。 又有不白其母而鬻產者，燾置之理，豪強斂跡。 於是以餘暇力學。
Li Tao, courtesy name Renfu, was a native of Danling in Meizhou and a descendant of the Tang imperial clan's Prince of Cao. His father Zhong passed the examinations and served as supervisor of Xianjing. When Tao had just come of age, angry that the Jin enmity had not been avenged, he wrote fourteen chapters of Rectification Discussions, all on the great tasks of saving the age. In the eighth year of the Shaoxing reign he passed the jinshi examination. He was assigned as registrar of Huayang and then as investigating officer of Yazhou. His rank was changed and he became magistrate of Shuangliu county. A son of the official Zhang clan was in mourning yet disputing an inheritance. Tao said, "Can you bear to fall away from your ancestors' instruction? Why not go home and reflect on it?" Three days later he returned, and in the end repented and dropped the lawsuit. There was also someone who sold property without informing his mother; Tao placed the case in judgment and the powerful families restrained themselves. Thereupon, in his spare time, he studied vigorously.
73
燾恥讀王氏書，獨博極載籍，搜羅百氏，慨然以史自任，本朝典故尤悉力研核。 仿司馬光《資治通鑒》例，斷自建隆，迄于靖康，為編年一書，名曰《長編》，浩大未畢，仍效光體為《百官公卿表》。 史官以聞，詔給劄來上。 制置王剛中辟幹辦公事。
Tao was ashamed to read the books of the Wang clan; he alone ranged broadly through records and archives, gathered the hundred schools, and resolved to take history as his own task, especially exerting himself to research and verify the regulations of the present dynasty. Following the example of Sima Guang's Comprehensive Mirror, he compiled an annalistic work from the Jianlong reign through the Jingkang era, naming it the Extended Compilation; though vast and unfinished, he also imitated Guang's form in compiling the Table of Officials and Ministers. The historiographers reported this and an edict granted him a document ordering him to submit the work. The pacification commissioner Wang Gangzhong recruited him as a staff officer.
74
知榮州。 榮因溪為隍，夏秋率苦水潦，燾築防捍之。 除潼川府路轉運判官，入境，劾守令不職者四人。 縣多聚斂，燾括一路財賦額，通有無，酌三年中數，定為科約，上之朝，頒之州縣。
He served as prefect of Rongzhou. Rong relied on streams as its moat and each summer and autumn mostly suffered floods; Tao built defenses to hold them back. He was appointed transport commissioner of the Tongchuan circuit; upon entering the territory he impeached four prefects and magistrates for dereliction of duty. The counties mostly gathered excessive levies; Tao compiled the circuit's fiscal quotas, balanced surplus and deficit, weighed the median over three years, and fixed a tax covenant, which he submitted to the court and had promulgated to prefectures and counties.
75
乾道三年，召對，首舉藝祖治身、治家、治官、治吏典故，以為恢復之法，乞增置諫官，許六察言事，請練兵，毋增兵，杜諸將私獻，覈軍中虛籍。
In the third year of the Qiandao reign he was summoned for an audience and first cited precedents from Taizu's governing of himself, his family, officials, and clerks as a method of recovery; he requested additional remonstrating officials, permission for the six investigations to speak on affairs, drilling of troops rather than increasing troop numbers, stopping private gifts from generals, and verification of false rolls in the army.
76
除兵部員外郎兼禮部郎中。 會慶節上壽，在郊禮散齋內，議權作樂，燾言：「漢、唐祀天地，散齋四日，致齋三日，建隆初郊亦然。 自崇寧、大觀法《周禮》祭天地，故前十日受誓戒。 今既合祭，宜復漢、唐及建隆舊制，庶幾兩得。」 詔垂拱上壽止樂，正殿為北使權用。 正除禮部郎中，言中興祭禮未備，請以《開寶通禮》、《嘉祐因革禮》、《政和新儀》令太常寺參校同異，修成祭法。
He was appointed vice director in the Ministry of War and concurrently lang in the Ministry of Rites. When the celebration festival birthday offering fell within the dispersal fast of the suburban rites, there was deliberation over provisionally allowing music. Tao said, "In Han and Tang sacrifices to Heaven and Earth there were four days of dispersal fast and three days of concentration fast; the first suburban sacrifice of the Jianlong reign was the same. Since the Chongning and Daguan reigns followed the Rites of Zhou for sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, the oath and abstinence were received ten days beforehand. Now that the sacrifices are combined, we ought to restore the old systems of Han, Tang, and the Jianlong reign, so that both aims may be achieved." An edict ordered that music cease at the Chui Gong birthday offering and that the main hall be used provisionally for the northern envoys. He was formally appointed lang in the Ministry of Rites and said that the Restoration sacrifice rites were not complete; he requested that the Kaibao Comprehensive Rites, the Jiayou Reformed Rites, and the Zhenghe New Rituals be used to order the Directorate of Ceremonial to compare similarities and differences and compile a sacrifice code.
77
四年，上《續通鑒長編》，自建隆至治平，凡一百八卷。 時《乾道新曆》成，燾言：「曆不差不改，不驗不用。 未差無以知其失，未驗無以知其是。 舊曆多差，不容不改，而新曆亦未有大驗，乞申飭曆官討論。」 五年，遷秘書少監兼權起居舍人，尋兼實錄院檢討官。
In the fourth year he submitted the Continuation Comprehensive Mirror Extended Compilation, from the Jianlong reign through the Zhiping reign, in all one hundred eight juan. When the Qiandao New Calendar was completed, Tao said, "A calendar that is without error need not be changed; one that is without verification should not be used. Without error one cannot know its faults; without verification one cannot know its correctness. The old calendar had many errors and could not but be changed, yet the new calendar also had not yet been greatly verified; he begged that the calendar officials be ordered to discuss the matter." In the fifth year he was promoted to vice director of the Secretariat and concurrently acting diarist, and soon also reviser at the Academy of Veritable Records.
78
子垕試賢良方正直言極諫科。 燾素謂唐三百年不愧此科者惟劉去華，心慕之，嘗以所著《通論》五十篇見蜀帥張燾，欲應詔，不偶而止。 其友晁公溯以書勉之，燾答以當修此學，必不從此舉。 既不克躬試，於是命二子垕、塾習焉。 至是，吏部尚書汪應辰薦垕文行可應詔，故有是命。
His son Hou tested in the category of worthy and good, upright and direct, outspoken and remonstrating. Tao had always said that in three hundred years of Tang only Liu Quhua was worthy of this category without shame; he admired him in his heart and once showed his fifty chapters of General Discussions to the Shu commander Zhang Tao, wishing to respond to the edict, but stopped when the opportunity did not come. His friend Chao Gongsu encouraged him by letter, and Tao replied that he ought to cultivate this learning and would certainly not take this examination. Since he could not take the examination himself, he then ordered his two sons Hou and Shu to study for it. At this point the minister of personnel Wang Yingchen recommended Hou as having literary conduct worthy of responding to the edict, and therefore this appointment was made.
79
左相陳俊卿出知福州，右相虞允文任恢復事，更張舊典。 宰相以燾數言事，不樂，燾遂請去。 除直顯謨閣、湖北轉運副使，陛辭，以欲速變古為戒。
The left chief minister Chen Junqing was sent out as prefect of Fuzhou, the right chief minister Yu Yunwen undertook affairs of recovery, and old regulations were changed and expanded. The chief ministers were displeased because Tao repeatedly spoke on affairs, and Tao then requested to leave office. He was appointed direct attendant at the Hall of Manifest Counsel and vice transport commissioner of Hubei; at his farewell audience he warned against haste and changing antiquity.
80
又奏：「《禹貢》九州，荊田第八，賦乃在三，人功既修，遂超五等。 今田多荒蕪，賦虧十八。」 上命之條畫。 既至，奏：「京湖之民結茅而廬，築土而坊，傭牛而犁，糴種而殖，穀苗未立，睥睨已多，有橫加科斂者。 今宜寬侵冒之禁，依乾德詔書止輸舊稅，廣收募之術，如咸平、元豐故事，勸課有勞者推恩。」 詔從之。 總餉呂遊問入奏燾攝其事。
He again memorialized: "In the Tribute of Yu among the nine provinces, Jing ranked eighth in fields yet third in tax; once human labor had been applied, it surpassed five ranks. Now the fields are largely overgrown and tax revenue falls short by eighteen parts." The emperor ordered him to itemize plans. When he arrived he memorialized: "The people of Jing and Hu thatch huts for dwellings, build earth embankments, hire oxen to plow, and buy seed to plant; before the grain shoots are established, covetous eyes are already many, and some forcibly add levies. Now we ought to relax prohibitions on encroachment, follow the Qiande edict in paying only the old tax, broaden recruitment methods as in the Xianping and Yuanfeng precedents, and grant favor to those who labor in encouraging farming." An edict ordered that this be followed. The general supplies commissioner Lü Youwen entered court and reported that Tao had handled the matter.
81
歲饑，發鄂州大軍倉振之，僚屬爭執不可，燾曰：「吾自任，不以累諸君。」 尋如數償之。 遊問返，果劾燾專，上止令具析，不之罪也。
In a year of famine he issued grain from the great army granary at Ezhou for relief; his staff disputed that this could not be done. Tao said, "I myself bear responsibility and will not involve you gentlemen." Soon he repaid it in full. When Youwen returned he did impeach Tao for acting arbitrarily, but the emperor only ordered a detailed explanation and did not punish him.
82
八年，直寶文閣，帥潼川兼知瀘州，首葺石門堡以扼夷人，奏乞戒茶馬司市敘州羈縻馬毋溢額，戒官民毋於夷、漢禁山伐木造舟，奏移鎖水于開邊舊池，皆報可。
In the eighth year he was granted direct appointment at the Hall of Precious Culture, commanded Tongchuan while concurrently serving as prefect of Luzhou, first repaired Shimen fort to choke off the Yi, memorialized to warn the Tea-Horse Office not to exceed the quota in purchasing tributary horses from Xuzhou, warned officials and people not to cut timber and build boats in the forbidden mountains of the Yi and Han regions, and memorialized to move the Suo River to the old pool at Kaibian—all were approved.
83
淳熙改元，被召，適城中火，上章自劾。 提刑何熙志奏焚數不實，且言《長編》記魏王食肥彘，語涉誣謗，上曰：「憲臣按奏火數失實，職也，何預國史？」 命成都提刑李蘩究火事，詔熙志貶二秩罷，燾止貶一秩。
When the Chunxi reign title was changed he was summoned, but a fire broke out in the city and he submitted a memorial impeaching himself. The intendant He Xizhi memorialized that the fire count was false and said that the Extended Compilation records the Prince of Wei eating a fat pig, language involving slander. The emperor said, "For a censor to investigate and report a false fire count is his duty—what has that to do with national history?" He ordered the Chengdu intendant Li Fan to investigate the fire affair, issued an edict that Xizhi be demoted two ranks and dismissed, and Tao was demoted only one rank.
84
燾及都門，乞祠，除江西運副，且許臨遣。 或勸以方被讒，無及時事，燾曰：「聖主全度如此，竭忠所以為報。」 遂奏：「日食、地震皆陰盛，主敵國小人，不可不慮。」 且申「無變古、無欲速」兩言，又上《快箴》，引太祖罷朝悔乘快決事以諫，上曰：「朕當揭之座右。」 進秘閣修撰、權同修國史、權實錄院同修撰。
When Tao reached the capital gate he requested a temple post, was appointed vice transport commissioner of Jiangxi, and was granted a farewell audience. Some advised that since he had just been slandered he should not touch current affairs. Tao said, "The sagely lord's full magnanimity is such that exhausting loyalty is how one repays him." Thereupon he memorialized: "Solar eclipses and earthquakes all indicate yin flourishing and presage enemy states and petty men—we cannot fail to consider this." He also reiterated the two sayings "do not change antiquity" and "do not be hasty," and submitted the Haste Admonition, citing how Taizu after court regretted riding fast to decide affairs; the emperor said, "I shall post this at my right hand." He was advanced to compiler at the Secretariat, acting concurrent compiler of the National History, and acting concurrent compiler at the Academy of Veritable Records.
85
燾為左史時，嘗乞復行明堂禮，謂「南郊、明堂初無隆殺，合視圜壇，特免出郊浮費。」 至是申言之，詔集議，嬖幸沮止。 其後周必大為禮部尚書，申其說，始克行。 權禮部侍郎。
When Tao was Left Historian he once requested restoration of Bright Hall rites, saying, "The Southern Suburb and Bright Hall originally had no elevation or reduction in rank; they ought to be viewed together with the round altar, specially exempting the wasteful expense of going to the suburb." At this point he reiterated the proposal; an edict ordered deliberation, but favorites obstructed and stopped it. Afterward, when Zhou Bida became minister of rites, he reiterated the proposal and it was finally carried out. He served as acting vice minister of rites.
86
七月壬戌，雷震太祖廟柱，壞鴟尾，有司旋加修繕。 燾奏非所以畏天變，當應以實。 上諭大臣：「燾愛朕，屢進讜言。」 賜金紫。 嘗請正太祖東向之位。
On the renchen day of the seventh month thunder struck a pillar of Taizu's temple and damaged the owl-tail ornament; the relevant offices soon added repairs. Tao memorialized that this was not the way to fear heaven's changes and that the response ought to be substantive. The emperor told the great ministers, "Tao loves Us and repeatedly advances loyal words." He was granted gold and purple insignia. He once requested correction of Taizu's east-facing position.
87
四年，駕幸太學，以執經特轉一官。 燾論兩學釋奠：從祀孔子，當升范仲淹、歐陽修、司馬光、蘇軾，黜王安石父子； 從祀武成王，當黜李勣。 眾議不叶，止黜王雱而已。 真拜侍郎，仍兼工部。
In the fourth year, when the imperial carriage visited the Imperial Academy, he was specially advanced one rank for holding the classics. Tao discussed the libation sacrifices at the two academies: in accompanying sacrifice to Confucius, Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang, and Su Shi ought to be promoted and Wang Anshi and his son dismissed; in accompanying sacrifice to the Martial Accomplishment King, Li Ji ought to be dismissed. General discussion did not agree, and only Wang Pang was dismissed. He was formally appointed vice minister while still concurrently serving in the Ministry of Works.
88
《徽宗實錄》置院已久，趣上奏篇，燾薦呂祖謙學識之明，召為秘書郎兼檢討官。 夜直宣引，奏：「近者蒙氣蔽日，厥占不肖者祿，股肱耳目宜謹厥與。」 賜坐。 欲起，又留賜飲、賜茶。 尋詔監視太史測驗天文。
The academy for the Huizong Veritable Records had been established for a long time and was urged to submit chapters; Tao recommended Lü Zuqian for his bright learning and knowledge, and he was summoned as lang in the Secretariat and concurrently reviser. On night duty at the Xuan Hall audience he memorialized: "Recently haze has covered the sun; its omen is that unworthy men receive salary—the emperor's arms, legs, eyes, and ears ought carefully to consider their associations." He was granted a seat. When he wished to rise he was detained again and granted drink and tea. Soon an edict ordered him to supervise the grand astrologer in testing and verifying astronomy.
89
九月丁酉，日當夜食，燾為社壇祭告官，伐鼓禮廢，特舉行。 垕既中制科，為秘書省正字，尋遷著作郎兼國史實錄院編修檢討官。 父子同主史事，搢紳榮之。
On the dingyou day of the ninth month, when a lunar eclipse was expected, Tao as the altar sacrifice announcing officer specially carried out the drum-beating rite though it had been abolished. After Hou passed the decree examination category he became corrector in the Secretariat and was soon promoted to compiler, concurrently compiler and reviser at the National History and Veritable Records Academy. Father and son together managed historical affairs, and the gentry honored this.
90
燾感上知遇，論事益切，每集議，眾莫敢發言，獨條陳可否無所避。 近臣復舉其次子塾應制科，以閣試不中程黜。 垕偶考上舍試卷，發策問制科，為御史所劾，語連及燾，垕罷，燾亦知常德府。
Moved by the emperor's recognition, Tao spoke on affairs ever more earnestly; at each gathered deliberation none dared speak, but he alone itemized what was feasible and what was not without avoidance. Close ministers again recommended his second son Shu for the decree examination category, but he was dismissed because he did not meet the standard in the academy test. Hou accidentally examined upper-house test papers and issued a policy question on the decree category; he was impeached by a censor and the matter connected to Tao. Hou was dismissed and Tao was also sent out as prefect of Changde.
91
初，政和末，澧、辰、沅、靖四州置營田刀弩手，募人開邊，范世雄等附會擾民，建炎罷之。 乾道間，有建請復置者，燾為轉運使，嘗奏不當復，已而提刑尹機迫郡縣行之，田不能給。 燾至是又申言之，請度田立額，且約帥臣張栻列奏，詔從之。 境多茶園，異時禁切商賈，率至交兵，燾曰：「官捕茶賊，豈禁茶商？」 聽其自如，訖無警。
Initially, at the end of the Zhenghe reign, the four prefectures of Li, Chen, Yuan, and Jing established garrison-field crossbowmen to recruit people to open the frontier; Fan Shixiong and others attached themselves to the policy and disturbed the people, and it was abolished in the Jianyan era. During the Qiandao period some proposed restoring it; Tao as transport commissioner once memorialized that it ought not be restored, but afterward the intendant Yin Ji forced prefectures and counties to carry it out and the fields could not supply it. Tao at this point reiterated the matter, requested surveying fields and establishing quotas, and arranged with the commander Zhang Shi to submit a joint memorial; an edict followed this. The territory had many tea gardens; in the past merchants were strictly prohibited and this mostly led to armed conflict. Tao said, "Officials capture tea bandits—how can they forbid tea merchants?" He allowed them to come and go freely, and in the end there was no alarm.
92
累表乞閑，提舉興國宮。 秋，明堂大禮成，以其首議，復除敷文閣待制。 頃之，垕、塾繼亡，上欲以吏事紓燾憂，起知遂寧府。
He repeatedly submitted memorials requesting leisure and was appointed superintendent of the Xingguo Palace. In autumn, when the great Bright Hall rite was completed, he was again appointed attendant draft at the Hall of Diffusing Culture because of his original proposal. Soon afterward Hou and Shu died in succession; the emperor wished to relieve Tao's grief with administrative duties and recalled him to serve as prefect of Suining.
93
七年，《長編》全書成，上之，詔藏秘閣。 燾自謂此書寧失之繁，無失之略，故一祖八宗之事凡九百七十八卷，卷第總目五卷。 依熙寧修《三經》例，損益修換四千四百餘事，上謂其書無愧司馬遷。 燾嘗舉漢石渠、白虎故事，請上稱制臨決，又請冠序，上許之，竟不克就。
In the seventh year the complete Extended Compilation was finished; he submitted it and an edict ordered it stored in the Secret Pavilion. Tao himself said that this book might err on the side of prolixity but would not err on the side of brevity; therefore the affairs of one founder and eight emperors ran to nine hundred seventy-eight juan, with five juan of general catalog by juan. Following the example of the Xining revision of the Three Classics, he added, subtracted, revised, and replaced more than four thousand four hundred items; the emperor said the book was not unworthy before Sima Qian. Tao once cited the Han precedents of the Shiqu and White Tiger conferences, requested that the emperor personally decide by imperial decree, and again requested a preface at the head; the emperor permitted this, but it was finally not accomplished.
94
又奏：「陛下即位二十餘年，志在富強，而兵弱財匱，與『教民七年可以即戎者』異矣。」 一日，召對延和殿，講臣方讀《陸贄奏議》，燾因言：「贄雖相德宗，其實不遇。 今遇陛下，可謂千載一時。」 遂舉贄所言切於今可舉而行者數十事，勸上力行之。 上有功業不足之歎，燾曰：「功業見乎變通，人事既修，天應乃至。」 進敷文閣直學士，提舉佑神觀兼侍講、同修國史。 薦尤袤、劉清之十人為史官。
He again memorialized: "Your Majesty has been on the throne for more than twenty years with intent toward enrichment and strength, yet the troops are weak and the treasury exhausted—this differs from 'teach the people for seven years and they can take up arms.' One day he was summoned for an audience at the Yanhe Hall while the lecturers were reading Lu Zhi's Memorials; Tao thereupon said, "Though Zhi served as minister to Dezong, in fact he was not met with favor. Now meeting Your Majesty can be called a once-in-a-thousand-years moment." Thereupon he cited several tens of items from what Zhi said that cut to the present and could be practised, urging the emperor to carry them out forcefully. The emperor sighed that his merit was insufficient. Tao said, "Merit appears in adaptation; once human affairs are cultivated, heaven's response then arrives." He was advanced to direct academician at the Hall of Diffusing Culture, superintendent of the Youshen Abbey while concurrently lecturer and concurrent compiler of the National History. He recommended ten men including You Mao and Liu Qingzhi as historiographers.
95
十年七月，久旱，進祖宗避殿減膳求言故事，上亟施行。 丁丑雨。 一日宣對，燾言：「外議陛下多服藥，罕御殿，宮嬪無時進見，浮費頗多。」 上曰：「卿可謂忠愛，顧朕老矣，安得此聲。 近惟葬李婕妤用三萬緡，他無費也。」 遂因轉對，乞用祖宗故事召宰執赴經筵。
In the seventh month of the tenth year, after a long drought, he submitted the ancestors' precedents of avoiding the hall, reducing meals, and seeking remonstrance; the emperor urgently carried these out. On the dingchou day it rained. One day at an announced audience Tao said, "Outside there is talk that Your Majesty takes much medicine, rarely attends court, receives palace consorts at no fixed times, and has quite many wasteful expenses." The emperor said, "You can be called loyal and loving, but We are old—how could We obtain this reputation? Recently only the burial of Lady Li used thirty thousand strings; there were no other expenses." Thereupon, through a rotating audience, he begged to use the ancestors' precedents in summoning the chief ministers to the classics lecture.
96
太史言十一月朔，日當食心八分。 燾復條上古今日食是月者三十四事，因奏之曰：「心，天王位，其分為宋。 十一月于卦為復，方潛陽時，陰氣乘之，故比他食為重，非小人害政，即敵人窺中國。」 明日對延和殿，又及晉何曾譏武帝無經國遠圖。
The grand astrologer said that on the first day of the eleventh month the sun would eclipse eight parts of the Heart constellation. Tao again itemized thirty-four cases of ancient and present solar eclipses in this month and memorialized, saying, "The Heart is the Heavenly King's position, and its allotment is Song. The eleventh month in the hexagrams is Return, when yang is just hidden and yin force rides upon it; therefore this eclipse is heavier than others—either petty men are harming government or enemies are spying on the Middle Kingdom." The next day at an audience in the Yanhe Hall he again reached He Zeng of Jin mocking Emperor Wu for lacking a far-reaching plan for governing the state.
97
十一年春，乞致仕，優詔不允。 上數問其疾增損，給事中宇文价傳上旨，燾曰：「臣子戀闕，非老病，忍乞骸骨。」 因叩价時事，勉以忠藎。 又聞四川乞減酒課額，猶手劄贊廟堂行之。
In the spring of the eleventh year he begged to retire from office, but a gracious edict did not permit it. The emperor repeatedly asked after the increase or decrease of his illness; the supervising secretary Yuwen Jia transmitted the emperor's intent. Tao said, "A subject is loyal to the court; unless old or ill, how can one bear to beg to leave one's bones?" Thereupon he asked Jia about current affairs and urged him to loyal devotion. When he again heard that Sichuan had requested reduction of the wine tax quota, he still by hand note praised the court for carrying it out.
98
病革，除敷文閣學士，致仕。 命下，喜曰：「事了矣。」 口占遺表云：「臣年七十，死不為夭，所恨報國缺然。 願陛下經遠以藝祖為師，用人以昭陵為則。」 辭氣舒徐，乃卒，年七十。
When his illness turned critical he was appointed academician at the Hall of Diffusing Culture and retired from office. When the order was issued he said with pleasure, "The affair is finished." He orally composed a death memorial saying, "Your subject is seventy; death is not premature, but I regret that service to the state has been insufficient. I wish that Your Majesty would govern with far-reaching vision taking the Art Ancestor as teacher and employ men taking the Zhaoling reign as the rule." His words and breath were calm and unhurried, and then he died, at the age of seventy.
99
上聞嗟悼，贈光祿大夫。 他日謂宇文价曰：「朕嘗許燾大書『續資治通鑒長編』七字，且用神宗賜司馬光故事，為序冠篇，不謂其止此。」
When the emperor heard he sighed and mourned, and posthumously granted him the title of Grandee of Splendid Happiness. Another day he told Yuwen Jia, "We once promised Tao large writing of the seven characters 'Continuation Comprehensive Mirror Extended Compilation,' and to use the precedent of Shenzong's grant to Sima Guang in making a preface crown the work—we did not expect it would end here."
100
燾性剛大，特立獨行。 早著書，檜尚當路，檜死始聞於朝。 暨在從列，每正色以訂國論。 張栻嘗曰：「李仁甫如霜松雪柏。 無嗜好，無姬侍，不殖產。 平生生死文字間。」 《長編》一書用力四十年，葉適以為《春秋》以後才有此書。
Tao's nature was firm and great; he stood and walked alone. He wrote books early; Hui still held power, and only after Hui died was he heard of at court. When he was in the attendant ranks he each time with stern countenance corrected state discussion. Zhang Shi once said, "Li Renfu is like a frost pine or snow cypress. He had no hobbies, no concubine attendants, and did not accumulate estates. Throughout his life he lived and died among written words." The Extended Compilation was the work of forty years; Ye Shi thought that only since the Spring and Autumn Annals had there been such a book.
101
有《易學》五卷，《春秋學》十卷，《五學傳授》、《尚書百篇圖》、《大傳雜說》、《七十二子名籍》各一卷，《文集》五十卷，《奏議》三十卷，《四朝史稿》五十卷，《通論》十一卷，《南北攻守錄》三十卷，《七十二候圖》、《陶潛新傳》並《詩譜》各三卷，《歷代宰相年表》、《唐宰相譜》、《江左方鎮年表》、《晉司馬氏本支》、《齊梁本支》、《王謝世表》、《五代將帥年表》合為四十一卷。
He had Changes Learning in five juan, Spring and Autumn Learning in ten juan, Five Learning Transmission, Documents Hundred Chapters Chart, Great Tradition Miscellaneous Discussions, and Seventy-Two Disciples Name Registers each in one juan, Collected Works in fifty juan, Memorials in thirty juan, Four Dynasties History Draft in fifty juan, General Discussions in eleven juan, North-South Attack and Defense Record in thirty juan, Seventy-Two Seasonal Nodes Chart, Tao Qian New Biography, and Poetry Genealogy each in three juan, and Successive Dynasties Chief Ministers Year Table, Tang Chief Ministers Genealogy, Jiangzuo Regional Command Year Table, Jin Sima Clan Branch, Qi-Liang Branch, Wang-Xie Clan Table, and Five Dynasties Generals Year Table together in forty-one juan.
102
諡「文簡」，累贈太師、溫國公。 子垕、𡉙、塾、壁、𡌴。 垕，著作郎； 𡉙，夔州路提點刑獄； 壁、𡌴皆執政，別有傳。
He was given the posthumous title Wenjian and was repeatedly posthumously granted the titles of grand preceptor and Duke of Wen. His sons were Hou, 𡉙, Shu, Bi, and 𡌴. Hou served as compiler; 𡉙 served as intendant of punishments on the Kuizhou circuit; Bi and 𡌴 both held chief minister posts and have separate biographies.
103
論曰：執羔宿德雅度，在經筵，忠忱啟沃，以口舌相高為戒。 希呂剛直懇切，有古引裾風。 良佑力止泛使，懼開釁端，忤旨竄斥而甘心焉。 李浩獨不造秦熺，陳橐以呈身為恥，文若譏休兵，胡沂斥閹宦，其清風苦節，終始弗渝。 高、孝之世，李燾恥讀王氏書，掇拾禮文殘缺之餘，粲然有則，《長編》之作，咸稱史才，然所掇拾，或出野史，《春秋》傳疑傳信之法然歟！
The commentary says: Zhigao had long-standing virtue and an elegant bearing; at the classics lecture he nourished the ruler with loyal devotion and took competing in eloquence as a thing to be warned against. Xilu was firm, upright, and earnest, with the bearing of the ancients who pulled at the emperor's hem to remonstrate. Liangyou forcefully stopped general envoys, fearing the opening of a breach; though banished for opposing the imperial intent, he accepted it willingly. Li Hao alone did not visit Qin Xi; Chen Tuo took presenting oneself as shameful; Wenruo mocked ceasing military action; Hu Yi expelled eunuch officials—their pure bearing and bitter integrity never changed from beginning to end. In the age of Gaozong and Xiaozong, Li Tao was ashamed to read the books of the Wang clan; he gathered what remained of broken ritual texts and brilliantly established rules. The composition of the Extended Compilation was universally praised as historiographic talent, yet what he gathered sometimes came from unofficial histories—is this perhaps the method of the Spring and Autumn Annals in transmitting what is doubtful and what is trustworthy!