1
趙汝愚
Zhao Ruyu
2
趙汝愚，字子直，漢恭憲王元佐七世孫，居饒之餘干縣。
Zhao Ruyu, styled Zizhi, was seven generations removed from Prince Gongxian of Han, Yuanzuo, and made his home in Yugan County, Raozhou.
3
父善應，字彥遠，官終修武郎、江西兵馬都監。 性純孝，親病，嘗刺血和藥以進。 母畏雷，每聞雷則披衣走其所。 嘗寒夜遠歸，從者將扣門，遽止之曰：「無恐吾母。」 露坐達明，門啟而後入。 家貧，諸弟未制衣不敢制，已制未服不敢服，一瓜果之微必相待共嘗之。 母喪，哭泣嘔血，毀瘠骨立，終日俯首柩傍，聞雷猶起，側立垂涕。 既終喪，言及其親，未嘗不揮涕，生朝必哭於廟。 父終肺疾，每膳不忍以諸肺爲羞。 母生歲值卯，謂卯兔神也，終其身不食兔。 聞四方水旱，輒憂形於色。 江、淮警報至，爲之流涕，不食累日； 同僚會宴，善應悵然曰：「此寧諸君樂飲時耶！」 衆爲失色而罷。 故人之孤女，貧無所歸，善應聘以爲己子婦。 有嘗同僚者死不克葬，子傭食他所，善應馳往哭之，歸其子而予之貲，使葬焉。 道見病者必收恤之，躬爲煮藥。 歲饑，旦夕率其家人輟食之半，以飼饑者。 夏不去草，冬不破壤，懼百蟲之遊且蟄者失其所也。 晉陵尤袤稱之曰：「古君子也。」 既卒，丞相陳俊卿題其墓碣曰：「宋篤行趙公彥遠之墓」。
His father Shanying, styled Yanyuan, rose no higher than Gentleman for Cultivating Martial Virtue and Jiangxi Commander of Military and Horse Affairs. He was deeply filial by nature. When his parents were ill, he once pricked his finger and mixed the blood into their medicine before serving it. His mother was afraid of thunder, and at every peal he would throw on his clothes and hurry to her side. Once he came home late on a bitter night. As his attendants were about to knock at the door, he stopped them at once: "Don't startle my mother." He sat in the open air until daybreak and went in only after the gate was opened. The household was poor. He would not have clothes made until his younger brothers had theirs, nor wear new garments until they did, and even the humblest melon or fruit had to be shared before anyone tasted it. When his mother died he wept until he brought up blood, wasted to skin and bone, and spent the whole day bowed beside her coffin. He still rose at thunder, standing aside with tears streaming down. Even after mourning was over, mention of his parents never failed to move him to tears, and on their birthdays he always wept at the family shrine. His father had died of lung disease, and at every meal he refused to set out dishes made from lung. His mother had been born in a mao year, which he held to be the sign of the rabbit spirit, and he never ate rabbit meat as long as he lived. News of flood or drought anywhere in the realm always showed plainly on his face. When alarms arrived from the Jiang and Huai frontiers, he wept and went without food for days on end. At a colleagues' banquet he said bleakly, "Is this really a time for you to be drinking and making merry?" The others turned pale and the feast broke up. A friend's orphaned daughter, left destitute with nowhere to turn, he took as his own son's wife. A former colleague died too poor for burial while his son worked as a hired hand far away. Shanying rushed to mourn the body, brought the son home, gave him money, and saw the funeral done. Whenever he met the sick on the road he took them in and tended them himself, even boiling their medicine. In famine years he had his family give up half their meals morning and evening to feed the starving. In summer he would not weed, in winter he would not break ground, lest he disturb insects abroad or in their winter burrows. You Mao of Jinling called him "a gentleman of the old school." After he died, Chief Councillor Chen Junqing inscribed his tombstone: "Tomb of Zhao Gong Yanyuan of the Song, a man of steadfast virtue."
4
汝愚早有大志，每曰：「丈夫得汗青一幅紙，始不負此生。」 擢進士第一，簽書寧國軍節度判官，召試館職，除祕書省正字。 孝宗方銳意恢復，始見，即陳自治之策，孝宗稱善，遷校書郎。 知閤門張說擢簽書樞密院事，汝愚不往見，率同列請祠，未報。 會祖母訃至，即日歸，因自劾，上不加罪。
Ruyu had lofty ambitions from youth and often said, "A man has not wasted his life until he earns a line on history's green silk." He took first place in the jinshi examination, served as signing secretary on the Ningguo military commission, passed the institute examination, and was made rectifier in the Secretariat. Xiaozong was then bent on reconquest. At their first audience Ruyu laid out a program of internal reform, which the emperor praised, and he was made collator. When Zhang Yue, director of the palace gate, was promoted to sign the Bureau of Military Affairs, Ruyu refused to pay his respects and led his colleagues in asking for temple appointments. No answer came. News of his grandmother's death arrived and he went home the same day, impeaching himself in the process. The emperor did not penalize him.
5
遷著作郎、知信州，易台州，除江西轉運判官，入爲吏部郎兼太子侍講。 遷祕書少監兼權給事中。 內侍陳源有寵于德壽宮，添差浙西副總管。 汝愚言：「祖宗以童貫典兵，卒開邊釁，源不宜使居總戎之任。」 孝宗喜，詔自今內侍不得兼兵職。 舊制，密院文書皆經門下省，張說在西府，託言邊機不宜泄。 汝愚謂：「東西二府朝廷治亂所關，中書庶政無一不由東省，何密院不然？」 孝宗命如舊制。
He rose to compiler, governed Xinzhou, was transferred to Taizhou, then made Jiangxi transport commissioner before entering the capital as director in the Ministry of Personnel and lecturer to the heir apparent. He was promoted to vice-director of the Secretariat with acting rank as supervising secretary. The eunuch Chen Yuan, a favorite at Gaozong's retired palace, was given an extra post as deputy overall commander in western Zhejiang. Ruyu argued, "The founders put Tong Guan over the army and in the end provoked war on the frontier. Chen Yuan must not hold supreme military command." Xiaozong was pleased and ordered that eunuchs were henceforth barred from military office. By custom, Military Affairs documents all went through the Secretariat. Zhang Yue in the western office claimed frontier business must not be disclosed. Ruyu replied, "The two offices govern the fate of the dynasty. Every routine matter in the Secretariat passes through the eastern office—why should Military Affairs be exempt?" Xiaozong restored the old practice.
6
權吏部侍郎兼太子右庶子，論知閤王抃招權預政，出抃外祠。 以集英殿修撰帥福建，陛辭，言國事之大者四，其一謂：「吳氏四世專蜀兵，非國家之利，請及今以漸抑之。」 進直學士、制置四川兼知成都府。 諸羌蠻相挻爲邊患，汝愚至，悉以計分其勢。 孝宗謂其有文武威風，召還。 光宗受禪，趣召未至，殿中侍御史范處義論其稽命，除知潭州，辭，改太平州。 進敷文閣學士，知福州。
As acting vice-minister of Personnel and right tutor to the heir apparent, he charged Palace Gate director Wang Bian with seizing power in government, and Wang was sent to a temple post outside the capital. Made compiler at the Hall for Assembling Excellence and commander in Fujian, he took leave with four major policy points, the first being: "Four generations of the Wu clan have held Sichuan's armies—a danger to the realm. Please begin restraining them now, step by step." He was promoted to academician in regular attendance, made Sichuan commissioner, and concurrently prefect of Chengdu. Qiang and Man tribes were inciting one another along the border. Ruyu arrived and in each case used strategy to split their power. Xiaozong judged him to possess both civil and military authority and recalled him to court. When Guangzong took the throne, an urgent recall was issued before Ruyu arrived. Palace attendant Fan Chuyi charged him with tardiness. He was named prefect of Tanzhou, declined, and was given Taipingzhou instead. He was made academician of the Hall for Spreading Culture and prefect of Fuzhou.
7
紹熙二年，召爲吏部尚書。 先是，高宗以宮人黃氏侍光宗於東宮，及即位爲貴妃，后李氏意不能平。 是年冬十一月郊，有司已戒而風雨暴至，光宗震懼，及齋宿青城，貴妃暴薨，駕還，聞之恚，是夕疾作。 內侍馳白孝宗，孝宗倉卒至南內，問所以致疾之由，不免有所戒責。 及光宗疾稍平，汝愚入對。 上常以五日一朝孝宗于重華宮，至是往往以傳旨免，至會慶節上壽，駕不出，冬至朝賀又不出，都人以爲憂。 汝愚往復規諫，上意乃悟。 汝愚又屬嗣秀王伯圭調護，於是兩宮之情通。 光宗及后俱詣北內，從容竟日。
In Shaoxi year 2 he was recalled as minister of Personnel. Earlier Gaozong had placed the palace lady Huang in Guangzong's household as heir. When he became emperor she was made honored consort, and Empress Li was deeply unsettled. That winter, as the suburban rites approached in the eleventh month, a sudden storm struck though the ritual officers had already proclaimed the fast. Guangzong was terrified. While he kept ritual seclusion at Qingcheng, the honored consort died suddenly. On his return he flew into a rage, and that night he fell ill. A eunuch raced to tell Xiaozong, who hurried to the Southern Palace, asked what had brought on the illness, and could not refrain from scolding him. When Guangzong's illness eased slightly, Ruyu had an audience. The emperor had customarily visited Xiaozong at Chonghua Palace every five days, but now often excused himself by written order. He stayed away from the birthday felicitation at the Festival of Joint Celebration, and again from the winter solstice audience. The capital was full of anxiety. Ruyu remonstrated again and again until the emperor came to his senses. Ruyu also asked Prince Xiuxiu Bogui to help reconcile them, and feeling between the two courts was restored. Guangzong and the empress both visited the Northern Palace and spent a leisurely day there.
8
四年，汝愚知貢舉，與監察御史汪義端有違言。 汝愚除同知樞密院事，義端言祖宗之法，宗室不爲執政，詆汝愚植黨沽名，疏上，不納。 又論臺諫、給舍陰附汝愚，一切緘默，不報。 論汝愚發策譏訕祖宗，又不報。 汝愚力辭，上爲徙義端軍器監。 給事中黃裳言：「汝愚事親孝，事君忠，居官廉，憂國愛民，出於天性。 義端實忌賢，不可以不黜。」 上乃黜義端補郡，汝愚不獲已拜命。 未幾，遷知樞密院事，辭不拜，有旨趣受告。 汝愚對曰：「臣非敢久辭。 臣嘗論朝廷數事，其言未見用，今陛下過重華，留正復相，天下幸甚。 惟武興未除帥，臣心不敢安。」 上遂以張詔代領武興軍，汝愚乃受命。
In year four Ruyu ran the metropolitan examinations and clashed with investigating censor Wang Yiduan. Ruyu was made associate controller of Military Affairs. Yiduan cited ancestral law forbidding imperial clansmen in high office and accused Ruyu of faction-building and self-promotion. His memorial was ignored. He charged that censors and supervising secretaries were secretly backing Ruyu and keeping silent. Again no reply. He claimed Ruyu's examination questions had mocked the founders. Still no reply. Ruyu firmly declined the appointment, and the emperor transferred Yiduan to the Directorate of Armaments. Supervising secretary Huang Shang wrote, "Ruyu is filial to his parents, loyal to his sovereign, incorrupt in office, and cares for the realm and its people by nature. Yiduan is truly jealous of talent and must be removed." The emperor dismissed Yiduan to a prefecture, and Ruyu accepted the post with reluctance. Soon he was promoted to controller of Military Affairs. He declined but an imperial order pressed him to accept. Ruyu answered, "I do not mean to refuse for long. I have urged several policies that went unheeded. Now that Your Majesty has visited Chonghua and Liu Zheng is chief minister again, the realm is greatly blessed. Only the Wuxing command still lacks a new general, and I cannot rest easy until that is settled." The emperor replaced the Wuxing commander with Zhang Zhao, and Ruyu then took office.
9
光宗之疾生於疑畏，其未過宮也，汝愚數從容進諫，光宗出聞其語輒悟，入輒復疑。 五年春，孝宗不豫，夏五月，疾日臻。 光宗御後殿，丞相率同列入，請上詣重華宮侍疾，從臣、臺諫繼入，閤門吏以故事止之，不退。 光宗益疑，起入內。 越二日，宰相又請對，光宗令知閤門事韓侂胄傳旨云：「宰執並出。」 於是俱至浙江亭俟命。 孝宗聞之憂甚，嗣秀王簡丞相傳孝宗意，令宰執復入。 侂胄奏曰：「昨傳旨令宰執出殿門，今乃出都門。」 請自往宣押，汝愚等乃還第。
Guangzong's illness grew from suspicion and dread. Before he resumed visiting his father, Ruyu gently remonstrated with him many times. Guangzong would understand as he left, then doubt again once inside. In spring of year five Xiaozong fell ill. By the fifth month his condition was worsening daily. Guangzong held court in the rear hall. The chief minister and his colleagues entered and begged him to attend Xiaozong at Chonghua Palace. Attendant ministers and censors followed. Gate officers tried to bar them by precedent, but they refused to leave. Guangzong grew more suspicious, rose, and withdrew inside. Two days later the chief ministers again asked for audience. Guangzong had palace gate director Han Tuozhou announce: "All chief ministers are to leave." They all went to Zhejiang Pavilion to await further orders. Xiaozong heard and was deeply troubled. Prince Xiuxiu sent the chief minister a note conveying Xiaozong's wish that the ministers return. Tuozhou reported, "Yesterday's order sent the chief ministers out of the palace gate. Now they have left the capital gate altogether." He asked to go announce a recall in person, and Ruyu and the others returned home.
10
六月丁酉，夜五鼓，重華大閹扣宰執私第，報孝宗崩，中書以聞，汝愚恐上疑，或不出視朝，持其劄不上。 次日，上視朝，汝愚以提舉重華宮關禮狀進，上乃許過北內，至日昃不出，宰相率百官詣重華宮發喪。 壬寅，將成服，留正與汝愚議，介少傅吳琚請憲聖太后垂簾暫主喪事，憲聖不許。 正等附奏曰：「臣等連日造南內請對，不獲。 累上疏，不得報。 今當率百恭官請，若皇帝不出，百官相與慟哭于宮門，恐人情騷動，爲社稷憂。 乞太皇太后降旨，以皇帝有疾，蹔就宮中成服。 然喪不可無主，祝文稱『孝子嗣皇帝』，宰臣不敢代行。 太皇太后，壽皇之母也，請攝行祭禮。」 蓋是時正、汝愚之請垂簾也，以國本係乎嘉王，欲因簾前奏陳宗社之計，使命出簾幃之間，事行廟堂之上，則體正言順，可無後艱。 而吳琚素畏慎，且以后戚不欲與聞大計，此議竟格。
On dingyou of the sixth month, at the fifth watch, a senior Chonghua eunuch knocked at the ministers' doors with news of Xiaozong's death. The Secretariat reported it, but Ruyu feared suspicion would keep Guangzong from court and withheld the memorial. The next day Guangzong held court. Ruyu submitted the condolence papers in his role as commissioner for Chonghua rites, and the emperor agreed to visit the Northern Palace—but did not emerge until after noon. The chief minister led the officials to Chonghua to begin the mourning rites. On renyin, as the hemp mourning garments were to be donned, Liu Zheng and Ruyu consulted. Junior mentor Wu Ju asked Empress Dowager Xiansheng to draw the curtain and temporarily oversee the funeral. She refused. Zheng and the others added, "We have gone day after day to the Southern Palace seeking audience without success. We have submitted memorial after memorial without reply. We must now lead all officials in petition. If the emperor does not appear, the whole court will weep at the palace gate. We fear unrest among the people and peril to the realm. We beg the Grand Empress Dowager to order that, because the emperor is ill, he may temporarily complete mourning within the palace. Yet mourning cannot lack a chief mourner. The prayer names the 'filial son, succeeding emperor,' and we dare not perform it for him. The Grand Empress Dowager is Xiaozong's mother. We ask her to preside at the rites in his stead." In truth Zheng and Ruyu sought the drawn curtain because the succession hinged on Prince Jia. They hoped to lay state policy before the empress dowager at court, so orders would issue from behind the screen and business proceed in the open hall—proper in form and word, without later strife. But Wu Ju was timid by nature and, as the empress's kin, unwilling to hear of great designs. The plan was blocked.
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丁未，宰臣已下，待對和寧門，不報，乃入奏云：「皇子嘉王仁孝夙成，宜早正儲位以安人心。」 又不報。 越六日再請，御批云：「甚好。」 明日，同擬旨以進，乞上親批付學士院降詔。 是夕，御批付丞相云：「歷事歲久，念欲退閑。」 留正見之懼，因朝臨佯仆於庭，密爲去計。 汝愚自度不得辭其責，念故事須坐甲以戒不虞，而殿帥郭杲莫有以腹心語者。
On dingwei the chief ministers waited at the Gate of Harmonious Tranquility for audience without answer, then entered and said, "Prince Jia has shown filial virtue from youth. The heir apparent should be named early to steady the people's hearts." Again no reply. Six days later they asked again. The emperor's rescript read, "Very good." The next day they jointly drafted an order and asked the emperor to annotate it personally and send it to the Hanlin Academy for promulgation. That evening a rescript reached the chief minister: "I have served many years and wish to retire." Liu Zheng was terrified. At the next audience he feigned a fall in the courtyard and secretly planned his departure. Ruyu knew he could not evade responsibility. Precedent required the guard to stand to arms against surprise, yet Palace Commander Guo Gao had no confidant he would trust.
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會工部尚書趙彥逾至私第，語及國事，汝愚泣，彥逾亦泣，汝愚因微及與子意，彥逾喜。 汝愚知彥逾善杲，因繆曰：「郭杲儻不同，奈何？」 彥逾曰：「某當任之。」 約明乃復命。 汝愚曰：「此大事已出諸口，豈容有所俟乎？」 汝愚不敢入私室，退坐屏後，以待彥逾之至。 有頃，彥逾至，議遂定。 明日，正以五更肩輿出城去，人心益搖，汝愚處之恬然。 自吳琚之議不諧，汝愚與徐誼、葉適謀可以白意于慈福宮者，乃遣韓侂胄以內禪之意請於憲聖。 侂胄因所善內侍張宗尹以奏，不獲命，明日往，又不獲命。 侂胄逡巡將退，重華宮提舉關禮見而問之，侂胄具述汝愚意。 禮令少俟，入見憲聖而泣。 憲聖問故，禮曰：「聖人讀書萬卷，亦嘗見有如此時而保無亂者乎？」 憲聖曰：「此非汝所知。」 禮曰：「此事人人知之，今丞相已去，所賴者趙知院，旦夕亦去矣。」 言與淚俱。 憲聖驚曰：「知院同姓，事體與他人異，乃亦去乎？」 禮曰：「知院未去，非但以同姓故，以太皇太后爲可恃耳。 今定大計而不獲命，勢不得不去，將如天下何？ 願聖人三思。」 憲聖問侂胄安在，禮曰：「臣已留其俟命。」 憲聖曰：「事順則可，令諭好爲之。」 禮報侂胄，且云：「來早太皇太后于壽皇梓宮前垂簾引執政。」 侂胄復命，汝愚始以其事語陳騤、余端禮，使郭杲及步帥閻仲夜以兵衛南北內，禮使其姻黨宣贊舍人傅昌朝密制黃袍。
Minister of Works Zhao Yanyu happened to visit his home. When they spoke of state affairs Ruyu wept, Yanyu wept too, and Ruyu hinted at his plan for the heir. Yanyu was delighted. Knowing Yanyu was close to Guo Gao, Ruyu said disingenuously, "What if Guo Gao will not go along?" Yanyu said, "Leave that to me." They agreed he would return at dawn with word. Ruyu said, "This great matter is already spoken—how can we wait?" Ruyu would not go to his inner room but sat behind the screen waiting for Yanyu. Before long Yanyu returned and the plan was set. The next day Liu Zheng left the city in a litter before dawn. Public anxiety grew, but Ruyu remained perfectly calm. When Wu Ju's plan failed, Ruyu, Xu Yi, and Ye Shi looked for someone who could present their case at Cifu Palace and sent Han Tuozhou to ask Empress Dowager Xiansheng for an inner abdication. Through his friend the eunuch Zhang Zongyin he submitted the request but got no answer. He went again the next day and was refused again. As Tuozhou hesitated to leave, Guan Li, commissioner for Chonghua rites, saw him and asked what was wrong. Tuozhou explained Ruyu's plan in full. Li told him to wait, went in to see Xiansheng, and wept. When she asked why, Li said, "Your Majesty has read ten thousand books—has any age like this ever stayed free of chaos?" She said, "That is not your affair to judge." Li replied, "Everyone knows it. The chief minister is already gone. All that remains is Controller Zhao—and he will be gone any day now." He spoke through his tears. Alarmed, she said, "The controller is of our own clan—his case is not like others'. He is leaving too?" Li said, "He has not left yet only because he still trusts the Grand Empress Dowager—not merely because he shares your surname. Now the great decision is made but you will not approve it. He has no choice but to go. What then becomes of the realm? I beg Your Majesty to think again." She asked where Tuozhou was. Li said, "I have kept him waiting outside for your word." She said, "If the matter is proper, let it proceed. Tell him to see it done well." Li reported to Tuozhou and added, "Tomorrow morning the Grand Empress Dowager will draw the curtain before Xiaozong's coffin and receive the chief ministers. Tuozhou brought word back. Ruyu then told Chen Tuan and Yu Duanli, had Guo Gao and infantry commander Yan Zhongye post troops at both palaces, and Li had his kinsman, palace announcer Fu Changchao, secretly make the imperial yellow robe.
13
是日，嘉王謁告不入臨，汝愚曰：「禫祭重事，王不可不出。」 翌日，禫祭，群臣入，王亦入。 汝愚率百官詣大行前，憲聖垂簾，汝愚率同列再拜，奏：「皇帝疾，未能執喪，臣等乞立皇子嘉王爲太子，以繫人心。 皇帝批出有『甚好』二字，繼有『念欲退閑』之語，取太皇太后處分。」 憲聖曰：「既有御筆，相公當奉行。」 汝愚曰：「茲事重大，播之天下，書之史冊，須議一指揮。」 憲聖允諾。 汝愚袖出所擬太皇太后指揮以進，云：「皇帝以疾至今未能執喪，曾有御筆，欲自退閑。 皇子嘉王擴可即皇帝位，尊皇帝爲太上皇帝，皇后爲太上皇后。」 憲聖覽畢曰：「甚善。」 汝愚奏：「自今臣等有合奏事，當取嗣君處分。 然恐兩宮父子間有難處者，須煩太皇太后主張。」 又奏：「上皇疾未平，驟聞此事，不無驚疑，乞令都知楊舜卿提舉本宮，任其責。」 遂召舜卿至簾前，面喻之。 憲聖乃命皇子即位，皇子固辭曰：「恐負不孝名。」 汝愚奏：「天子當以安社稷、定國家爲孝。 今中外人人憂亂，萬一變生，置太上皇何地？」 衆扶入素幄，披黃袍，方卻立未坐，汝愚率同列再拜。 寧宗詣几筵殿，哭盡哀。 須臾，立仗訖，催百官班。 帝衰服出就重華殿東廡素幄立，內侍扶掖乃坐。 百官起居訖，行禫祭禮。 汝愚即喪次，召還留正長百僚，命朱熹待制經筵，悉收召士君子之在外者。 侍御史張叔椿請議正棄國之罰，汝愚爲遷叔椿官。
That day Prince Jia asked to be excused from the mourning vigil. Ruyu said, "The chan sacrifice is a grave affair. The prince must attend." The next day, at the chan rites, the officials entered—and the prince entered too. Ruyu led the officials before the late emperor's bier while Xiansheng drew the curtain. He and his colleagues bowed twice and said, "The emperor is ill and cannot mourn. We beg that Prince Jia be made heir apparent to steady the people's hearts. The emperor's rescript said 'very good,' then spoke of wishing to retire. We ask the Grand Empress Dowager to decide." She said, "Since there is an imperial note, the chief minister should obey it." Ruyu said, "This is too grave to leave informal. It will be known throughout the realm and recorded in history. We need a formal order." She agreed. Ruyu produced from his sleeve the draft order he had prepared: "Because of illness the emperor has been unable to mourn. He once wrote that he wished to retire. Prince Jia Kuo shall immediately ascend the throne. The emperor shall be honored as Retired Emperor and the empress as Retired Empress." After reading it she said, "Excellent." Ruyu added, "From now on our memorials should go to the new emperor. But we fear difficulties between father and son at the two palaces and ask the Grand Empress Dowager to preside." He also asked, "The Retired Emperor is still ill. This news may alarm him. Let Director Yang Shunqing oversee his palace and bear full responsibility." Shunqing was summoned before the curtain and instructed in person. Xiansheng then ordered the prince to ascend. He firmly refused: "I fear the charge of unfiliality." Ruyu said, "For a Son of Heaven, filial piety means securing the altars and settling the realm. Within and without the court everyone fears chaos. If trouble breaks out, what becomes of the Retired Emperor?" They helped him into the plain canopy and draped the yellow robe on him. He had barely stepped back when Ruyu and his colleagues bowed twice. Ningzong went to the spirit hall and wept his fill. Shortly the guard was drawn up and the officials were called to ranks. In hemp mourning the emperor came out to the plain canopy in Chonghua's east corridor. Attendants had to support him before he could sit. After the officials had paid their respects, the chan rites were performed. At the mourning site Ruyu recalled Liu Zheng to head the officials, appointed Zhu Xi to the classics colloquium, and brought back worthy men who had been abroad. Attendant censor Zhang Shuchun asked that Liu Zheng be punished for deserting his post. Ruyu promoted Shuchun instead.
14
是月，上命汝愚兼權參知政事。 留正至，汝愚乞免兼職，乃除特進、右丞相。 汝愚辭不拜，曰：「同姓之卿，不幸處君臣之變，敢言功乎？」 乃命以特進爲樞密使，汝愚又辭特進。 孝宗將攢，汝愚議攢宮非永制，欲改卜山陵，與留正議不合。 侂胄因而間之，出正判建康，命汝愚爲光祿大夫、右丞相。 汝愚力辭至再三，不許。 汝愚本倚正共事，怒侂胄不以告，及來謁，故不見，侂胄慚忿。 簽書樞密羅點曰：「公誤矣。」 汝愚亦悟，復見之。 侂胄終不懌，自以有定策功，且依託肺腑，出入宮掖，居中用事。 朱熹進對，以爲言，又約吏部侍郎彭龜年同劾之，未果。 熹白汝愚，當以厚賞酬勞，勿使預政，而汝愚謂其易制不爲慮。
That month the emperor named Ruyu acting vice grand councilor. When Liu Zheng returned, Ruyu asked to give up the concurrent post and was made specially advanced right chief minister. Ruyu refused to accept, saying, "A kinsman minister caught in this change between sovereign and subject—how dare I claim merit?" He was ordered to be Military Affairs controller with specially advanced rank. Ruyu declined the rank. As Xiaozong was to be placed in the temporary palace, Ruyu argued that this was not permanent and wanted a new mountain tomb site. He and Liu Zheng disagreed. Tuozhou drove a wedge between them, sent Zheng to Jiankang, and made Ruyu Grandee for Splendid Happiness and right chief minister. Ruyu refused again and again but was not allowed to decline. Ruyu had counted on working with Zheng and was angry that Tuozhou had not told him. When Tuozhou came to call, he refused to see him. Tuozhou was humiliated and furious. Military Affairs signatory Luo Dian said, "You are mistaken, my lord." Ruyu saw his error and received Tuozhou again. Tuozhou remained displeased. He credited himself with settling the succession, relied on his marriage tie to the imperial clan, moved freely in the inner palace, and wielded power at court. Zhu Xi remonstrated at audience and arranged with vice-minister Peng Guinian to impeach Tuozhou together, but failed. Zhu Xi told Ruyu to reward Tuozhou richly and keep him from office. Ruyu thought him easy to control and paid no heed.
15
侂胄恃功，爲汝愚所抑，日夜謀引其黨爲臺諫，以擯汝愚。 汝愚爲人疏，不虞其姦。 趙彥逾以嘗達意于郭杲，事定，冀汝愚引與同列，至是除四川制置，意不愜，與侂胄合謀。 陛辭日，盡疏當時賢者姓名，指爲汝愚之黨，上意不能無疑。 汝愚請令近臣舉御史，侂胄密諭中司，令薦所厚大理寺簿劉德秀，內批擢德秀爲察官，其黨牽聯以進，言路遂皆侂胄之人。 會黃裳、羅點卒，侂胄又擢其黨京鏜代點，汝愚始孤，天子益無所倚信。 於是中書舍人陳傅良、監察御史吳獵、起居郎劉光祖各先後斥去，群憸和附，疾正士如仇讎，而衣冠之禍始矣。
Tuozhou, checked by Ruyu, relied on his merit and plotted day and night to install his men as censors and drive Ruyu out. Ruyu was open by nature and did not foresee his treachery. Zhao Yanyu, who had once conveyed the plan to Guo Gao, hoped Ruyu would bring him into the chief ministers' circle. Instead he was sent to Sichuan as commissioner, was dissatisfied, and joined Tuozhou's plot. At his farewell audience he listed every worthy man of the day as Ruyu's partisan. The emperor could not help but doubt. Ruyu asked close ministers to recommend censors. Tuozhou secretly told the chief supervising secretary to nominate his protégé Liu Dexiu of the Grand Court. An inner rescript made Dexiu investigating censor, and Tuozhou's men took over the remonstrance offices. When Huang Shang and Luo Dian died, Tuozhou installed his man Jing Tang in Luo's place. Ruyu was isolated, and the emperor had no one left to trust. Secretariat drafter Chen Fuliang, censor Wu Lie, and diarist Liu Guangzu were driven out in turn. Sycophants flocked to Tuozhou and hated upright men like mortal foes. The persecution of the scholar-official class had begun.
16
侂胄欲逐汝愚而難其名，或教之曰：「彼宗姓，誣以謀危社稷，則一網無遺。」 侂胄然之，擢其黨將作監李沐爲正言。 沐，彥穎之子也，嘗求節度使于汝愚不得，奏：「汝愚以同姓居相位，將不利於社稷，乞罷其政。」 汝愚出浙江亭待罪，遂罷右相，除觀文殿學士、知福州。 臺臣合詞乞寢出守之命，遂以大學士提舉洞霄宮。
Tuozhou wanted to oust Ruyu but lacked a charge. Someone advised him, "He is of the imperial clan. Accuse him of plotting against the realm and you can sweep up the whole faction." Tuozhou agreed and made his man Li Mu of the Directorate of Palace Buildings chief remonstrator. Li Mu was Yan Ying's son. He had once asked Ruyu for a military commission and been refused. He memorialized, "Ruyu holds the chief ministership as an imperial kinsman and will harm the realm. I beg that he be removed from office." Ruyu went to Zhejiang Pavilion to await punishment. He was dismissed as right chief minister and made academician of the Hall for Viewing Culture and prefect of Fuzhou. Censors united in asking that the prefectural appointment be withdrawn. He was made grand academician and commissioner of Dongxiao Palace instead.
17
國子祭酒李祥言：「去歲國遭大戚，中外洶洶，留正棄相位而去，官僚幾欲解散，軍民皆將爲亂，兩宮隔絕，國喪無主。 汝愚以樞臣獨不避殞身滅族之禍，奉太皇太后命，翊陛下以登九五，勳勞著於社稷，精忠貫於天地，乃卒受黯黮而去，天下後世其謂何？」 博士楊簡亦以爲言。 李沐劾祥、簡，罷之。 太府丞呂祖儉亦上書訴汝愚之忠，詔祖儉朋比罔上，送韶州安置。 太學生楊宏中、周端朝、張衜、林仲麟、蔣傅、徐範等伏闕言：「去歲人情驚疑，變在朝夕。 當時假非汝愚出死力，定大議，雖百李沐，罔知攸濟。 當國家多難，汝愚位樞府，本兵柄，指揮操縱，何向不可，不以此時爲利，今上下安恬，乃獨有異志乎？」 書上，悉送五百里外羈管。
National University libationer Li Xiang said, "Last year the state suffered a great bereavement. Within and without there was uproar. Liu Zheng abandoned office. The bureaucracy nearly collapsed. Soldiers and civilians were on the verge of riot. The two palaces were estranged and mourning had no chief. Ruyu alone, as Military Affairs controller, risked death and the destruction of his clan, obeyed the Grand Empress Dowager, and helped Your Majesty to the throne. His merit stands on the altars, his loyalty reaches heaven and earth—yet he is cast out in disgrace. What will the world say?" Erudite Yang Jian spoke similarly. Li Mu impeached Xiang and Jian and had them removed. Treasury assistant director Lü Zujian also memorialized in Ruyu's defense. An edict called him a faction-monger deceiving the throne and sent him to Shaozhou in exile. National University students Yang Hongzhong, Zhou Duanzhao, Zhang Dao, Lin Zhonglin, Jiang Fu, Xu Fan, and others knelt at the palace gate and said, "Last year the people were terrified. Disaster was imminent day and night. Had Ruyu not risked his life to settle the succession, not even a hundred Li Mus could have saved the day. In the crisis Ruyu held Military Affairs and commanded the army. He could have taken any advantage then. He did not. Now that court and country are calm, does he alone harbor treason?" Their memorial was received and all were exiled five hundred li away under guard.
18
汝愚學務有用，常以司馬光、富弼、韓琦、范仲淹自期。 凡平昔所聞于師友，如張栻、朱熹、呂祖謙、汪應辰、王十朋、胡銓、李燾、林光朝之言，欲次第行之，未果。 所著詩文十五卷、《太祖實錄舉要》若干卷、《類宋朝諸臣奏議》三百卷。 汝愚聚族而居，門內三千指，所得廩給悉分與之，菜羹疏食，恩意均洽，人無間言。 自奉養甚薄，爲夕郎時，大冬衣布裘，至爲相亦然。
Ruyu pursued learning for practical use and measured himself against Sima Guang, Fu Bi, Han Qi, and Fan Zhongyan. He hoped to put into practice in turn the teachings of Zhang Shi, Zhu Xi, Lü Zuqian, Wang Yingchen, Wang Shipeng, Hu Quan, Li Tao, Lin Guangchao, and others—but never succeeded. He wrote fifteen juan of poetry and prose, several juan of Essentials from Taizu's Veritable Records, and three hundred juan of Classified Memorials of Song Ministers. Ruyu housed his whole clan—three thousand mouths under one roof. He divided every stipend among them, lived on vegetables and plain fare, treated all alike, and no one complained. He lived very frugally. As a Secretariat reviewer he wore cloth fur even in deep winter, and did the same as chief minister.
19
汝愚既歿，黨禁寖解，旋復資政殿學士、太中大夫，已而贈少保。 侂胄誅，盡復元官，賜諡「忠定」，贈太師，追封沂國公。 理宗詔配享寧宗廟庭，追封福王，其後進封周王。 子九人，崇憲，其長子也。
After Ruyu's death the faction ban gradually eased. He was restored as academician of the Hall for Assisting Governance and Grandee of Palace Attendance, then posthumously made Junior Guardian. When Tuozhou was executed, all Ruyu's offices were restored. He was given the posthumous name Loyal and Settled, made Grand Preceptor, and enfeoffed as Duke of Yi. Lizong ordered him enshrined in Ningzong's temple, enfeoffed him as Prince of Fu, and later advanced the title to Prince of Zhou. He had nine sons. Chongxian was the eldest.
20
子崇憲
Son: Chongxian
21
崇憲，字履常，淳熙八年以取應對策第一，時汝愚侍立殿上，降，再拜以謝。 孝宗顧近臣曰：「汝愚年幾何？ 已有子如此。」 越三年，復以進士對策，擢甲科。 上謂執政曰：「此汝愚子，豈即前科取應第一人者耶？」
Chongxian, styled Lüchang, took first place in the special response examination in Chunxi year 8. Ruyu was attending in the hall. He came down and bowed twice in thanks. Xiaozong turned to his close ministers and said, "How old is Ruyu? To have a son like this already!" Three years later he took the jinshi examination and was placed in the top grade. The emperor said to the chief ministers, "This is Ruyu's son—isn't he the boy who came first in the special examination three years ago?"
22
崇憲初仕爲保義郎、監饒州贍軍酒庫，換從事郎、撫州軍事推官。 汝愚帥蜀，辟書寫機宜文字，改江西轉運司幹辦公事，監西京中嶽廟。 汝愚既貶死，海內憤鬱，崇憲闔門自處。 居數年，復汝愚故官職，多勸以仕。
Chongxian's first posts were Gentleman for Preserving Righteousness and supervisor of the Raozhou army provision wine depot, then staff officer and military judicial officer of Fuzhou. When Ruyu commanded Sichuan he recruited him as confidential drafting officer, then made him executive clerk on the Jiangxi transport commission and supervisor of the Central Peak temple. After Ruyu was disgraced and died, the empire seethed with anger. Chongxian shut his doors and lived in seclusion. After several years Ruyu's offices were restored and many urged Chongxian to serve again.
23
改奉議郎、知南昌縣事，奉行荒政，所活甚衆。 升籍田令，制曰：「爾先人有功王室，中更讒毀，思其功而錄其子，國之典也。」 崇憲拜命感泣，陳疏力辭，以爲「先臣之冤未悉昭白，而其孤先被寵光，非公朝所以勸忠孝、厲廉恥之意」。 俄改監行在都進奏院，復引陳瓘論司馬光、呂公著復官事申言之，乞以所陳下三省集議：「若先臣心跡有一如言者所論，即近日恩典皆爲冒濫，先臣復官賜諡，與臣新命，俱合追寢。 如公論果謂誣衊，乞昭示中外，使先臣之讒謗既辨，忠節自明，而憲聖慈烈皇后擁佑之功德益顯。 然後申飭史官、改正誣史，垂萬世之公。」
He was made Gentleman for Advising the Court and magistrate of Nanchang County, where he carried out famine relief and saved a great many lives. He was promoted to magistrate of the state fields. The edict read, "Your father served the throne with merit, then suffered slander. To honor his service by advancing his son is the state's custom." Chongxian accepted the appointment in tears but memorialized to decline, saying, "My father's wrong is not yet fully cleared, yet his orphan is favored first. This is not how the court should encourage loyalty, filial piety, and integrity." Soon he was made supervisor of the capital memorial transmission office. He cited Chen Guan's memorial on restoring Sima Guang and Lü Gongzhu and asked the three departments to deliberate: "If my father's conduct was truly as his accusers claimed, then recent favors were undeserved, my father's restoration and posthumous title should be revoked, and my new appointment withdrawn. If public opinion holds he was slandered, I beg that this be proclaimed throughout the realm, so my father's name is cleared, his loyalty made plain, and the merit of Empress Dowager Xiansheng Cilie in protecting the succession stands forth the more clearly. Then order the historiographers to correct the slanderous record and leave justice to ten thousand generations."
24
又請正趙師召妄貢封章之罪，究蔡璉與大臣爲仇之姦，毀龔頤正《續稽古錄》之妄。 詔兩省史官考訂以聞。 已而吏部尚書兼修國史樓鑰等請施行如章，從之。 及誣史未正，復進言，其略謂：「前日史官徒以權臣風旨，刊舊史、焚元稿，略無留難。 今詔旨再三，莫有慨然奮直筆者，何小人敢於爲惡，而謂之君子者顧不能勇於爲善耶？」 聞者愧之。 其後玉牒、日曆所卒以《重修龍飛事實》進呈，因崇憲請也。
He also asked that Zhao Shizhao be punished for presumptuous memorials, Cai Lian investigated for feuding with chief ministers, and Gong Yizheng's Continued Record of Examining Antiquity condemned as false. An edict ordered the historiographers of both departments to investigate and report. Soon Minister of Personnel and national history compiler Lou Yue and others asked that Chongxian's requests be implemented as written, and the court agreed. When the falsified record had still not been corrected, he memorialized again in summary: "Earlier the historiographers simply followed a powerful minister's wishes, revised the old history, and burned the originals without hesitation. Now edicts have come again and again, yet no one stirs to write the truth with an upright brush. Why do petty men dare do evil while so-called gentlemen cannot boldly do good?" Those who heard were shamed. Later the Jade Register and Calendar Office presented the Revised Record of the Dragon's Ascent at Chongxian's request.
25
未幾，贈汝愚太師，封沂國公，擢崇憲軍器監丞，改太府監丞，遷祕書郎，辭，弗許。 尋爲著作佐郎兼權考功郎官。 嘗因閔雨求言，乃上封事，謂：「今日有更化之名，無更化之實。 人才，國之元氣，而忠鯁擯廢之士，死者未盡省錄，存者未悉褒揚。 言論，國之風采，其間輸忠亡隱，有所規益者，豈惟獎激弗加，蓋亦罕見施用； 偷安取容，無所建明者，豈惟黜罰弗及，或乃遂階通顯。」 至若勉聖學以廣聰明，教儲貳以固根本，戒宰輔大臣同寅盡瘁以濟艱難，責侍從臺諫思職盡規以宣壅蔽，防左右近習竊弄之漸，察姦憸餘黨窺伺之萌，皆懇懇爲上言之。
Soon Ruyu was posthumously made Grand Preceptor and Duke of Yi. Chongxian was promoted to assistant director of the Directorate of Armaments, then the Imperial Treasury, then made secretary. He declined but was not allowed to. He was soon made assistant compiler with acting rank as personnel reviewer. When the court sought advice during a drought, he submitted a sealed memorial: "Today there is talk of renewal but no renewal in fact. Talent is the state's vital breath, yet loyal men who were cast out—the dead have not all been posthumously honored, the living not all rewarded. Free speech is the state's dignity. Those who spoke frankly for the public good were not only unrewarded—they were rarely employed at all. Those who sought ease and curried favor, offering nothing of value, were not punished—some even rose to high office." He earnestly urged the emperor to pursue learning, train the heir, warn chief ministers to exhaust themselves in service, hold remonstrators to their duty, guard against favorites seizing power, and watch for remnants of the old faction—all spoken with full sincerity.
26
請外，知江州。 郡民歲苦和糴，崇憲疏於朝，永蠲之。 且轉糴旁郡穀別廩儲之，以備歲儉。 瑞昌民負茶引錢，新舊累積，爲緡十七萬有奇，皆困不能償，死則以責其子孫猶弗貸。 會新券行，視舊價幾倍蓰，崇憲歎曰：「負茶之民愈困矣。」 亟請以新券一償舊券二，詔從之。 蓋受賜者千餘家，刻石以紀其事。 修陂塘以廣溉灌，凡數千所。 提舉江西常平兼權隆興府及帥漕司事，遷轉運判官仍兼帥事。
He asked for an outside post and was made prefect of Jiangzhou. The people yearly suffered from government grain purchases. Chongxian memorialized the court and won permanent exemption. He also bought grain from neighboring prefectures and stored it in separate granaries against famine. Ruichang people owed tea certificate debts totaling more than 170,000 strings of cash. All were crushed and could not pay. Death only passed the debt to their children and grandchildren without relief. When new certificates were issued at several times the old price, Chongxian sighed, "The tea debtors will be crushed still further." He urgently asked that one new certificate redeem two old ones. The court agreed. More than a thousand households benefited, and they carved a stone monument to record it. He repaired dikes and ponds to expand irrigation—several thousand in all. He was made Jiangxi ever-normal commissioner with concurrent duties in Longxing and the military transport office, then transport commissioner while retaining military command.
27
初，汝愚捐私錢百餘萬創養濟院，俾四方賓旅之疾病者得藥與食，歲久寖移爲它用。 崇憲至，尋修復，立規約數十條，以愈疾之多寡爲賞罰。 棄兒于道者，亦收鞠之。 社倉久敝，訪其利害而更張之。
Earlier Ruyu had donated more than a million in private funds to found a hospice for sick travelers from afar. Over the years its funds had been diverted. When Chongxian arrived he soon restored it, drew up dozens of regulations, and rewarded staff by how many patients recovered. He also took in abandoned children found on the roads. The community granaries had long fallen into disrepair. He investigated their workings and reformed them.
28
以兵部郎中召，尋改司封，皆固辭，遂直祕閣、知靜江府、廣西經略安撫。 靜江之屬邑十，地肥磽略等，而陽朔、修仁、荔浦之賦獨倍焉。 自張栻奏減之餘，人猶以爲病。 崇憲請再加蠲減，詔遞損有差，三縣民立祠刻石。 瓊守非才，激黎峒之變，乃劾去之，改辟能者代其任。 蘿蔓峒者仍歲寇鈔爲暴，實民何向父子陰誘導之。 崇憲捐金繒付小校使繫以來，置之法。 因嚴民夷交通之禁，使邊民相什伍，寇至則鳴鼓召衆，先後掩擊，俘獲者賞，不至者有懲。 先是，部內郡邑有警，輒移統府兵戍之，在宜州者百人，古縣半之。 崇憲謂根本單虛，非所以窒姦萌，乃於其地各置兵如戍兵之數，而斂戍者以歸。 邕爲邊要害地，自狄青平儂智高，所以設捍防者甚至，歲久浸弛，而溪峒日強。 崇憲條上其議，朝廷頗采其言，然未及盡用也。
He was recalled as director in the Ministry of War, then offered the Department of Seals, declined both, and was made Secretariat rectifier, prefect of Jingjiang, and Guangxi military commissioner and pacification commissioner. Jingjiang had ten subordinate counties of roughly equal land quality, yet Yangshuo, Xiuren, and Lipu alone paid double the tax. Even after Zhang Shi's memorial to reduce them, the burden was still considered oppressive. Chongxian asked for further reductions. An edict ordered staged cuts by degree, and the people of the three counties erected shrines and carved monuments. The Qiongzhou prefect lacked ability and provoked unrest among the Li stockades. Chongxian impeached him and recruited a capable replacement. Luoman stockade raided year after year. In fact a local man, He Xiang, and his son secretly incited them. Chongxian paid gold and silk to a petty officer to seize them and bring them in, then punished them by law. He strictly enforced the ban on unauthorized contact between settlers and tribes, organized border people in groups of ten and five, and when raiders came sounded drums to summon them for ambush. Captors were rewarded; absentees punished. Earlier, when counties in his jurisdiction had alarms, troops from the overall command were posted as garrisons—one hundred at Yizhou, half that at Guxian. Chongxian said leaving the interior bare was no way to stop trouble at its root. He posted permanent garrisons in each place and recalled the roaming detachments. Yong was a vital frontier post. Since Di Qing pacified Nong Zhigao its defenses had been extensive, but over the years they slackened while the hill tribes grew stronger. Chongxian submitted detailed proposals. The court largely adopted them but did not fully implement them.
29
崇憲天性篤孝，居父喪，月餘始食食，小祥始茹果實，終喪不飲酒食肉，比御猶弗入者久之。
Chongxian was deeply filial by nature. During his father's mourning he ate no solid food for more than a month, tasted no fruit until the small felicitation, drank no wine and ate no meat through the full mourning period, and for a long time would not even enter the inner quarters.
30
論曰：自昔大臣處危疑之地，而能免於禍難者蓋鮮矣。 昔者周成王立而幼沖，周公以王室懿親爲宰輔，四國流言，而周公不免于居東之憂，非天降風雷之變，以彰周公之德而啟成王之衷，則所謂《金滕》之書，固無因而關於王之耳目，公之心果能以自明乎？ 公之心能自明，則天意之所以屬於周而綿八百載之丕祚者，實係於茲。 不然，周其殆哉！
The appraisal says: From antiquity, few great ministers placed in peril and doubt have escaped disaster. When King Cheng of Zhou came to the throne as a minor, the Duke of Zhou, the royal house's closest kin, served as regent. The four quarters spread slander, and the duke could not escape the ordeal of dwelling in the east. Had heaven not sent wind and thunder to manifest his virtue and open the young king's heart, how would the Metal-bound Coffer document ever have reached the king? Could the duke truly have cleared his own name? Whether the duke could clear his name was whether heaven's mandate to Zhou—and eight hundred years of greatness—would stand. Otherwise Zhou would have perished!
31
趙汝愚，宋之宗臣也，其賢固不及周公，其位與戚又非若周公之尊且昵也。 方孝宗崩，光宗疾，大喪無主，中外洶洶，一時大臣有畏難而去者矣。 汝愚獨能奮不慮身，定大計於頃刻，收召明德之士，以輔寧宗之新政，天下翕然望治，其功可謂盛矣。 然不幾時，卒爲韓侂胄所構，一斥而遂不復返，天下聞而冤之。 于此見天之所以眷宋者不如周，而宋之陵夷馴至於不可爲，信非人力之所能也。
Zhao Ruyu was an imperial clansman of the Song. His virtue fell far short of the Duke of Zhou's, and his rank and kinship were neither so lofty nor so close. When Xiaozong died, Guangzong was ill, mourning had no chief, and the realm was in uproar. Some chief ministers fled from the danger. Ruyu alone acted without regard for his life, settled the succession in an instant, and recalled worthy men to assist Ningzong's new reign. The realm looked to good government. His achievement was magnificent. Yet within little time he was framed by Han Tuozhou, driven out once, and never returned. The realm heard and judged it a grievous wrong. Here one sees that heaven favored the Song less than Zhou, and the Song's gradual decline to ruin was truly beyond human power to reverse.
32
汝愚父以純孝聞，而子崇憲能守家法，所至有惠政，亦可謂世濟其美者已。
Ruyu's father was famed for pure filial piety. His son Chongxian upheld the family tradition and brought benevolent government wherever he served—a true heir to that excellence through the generations.