Volume 404 Biographies 163: Wang Ruohai, Zhang Yun, Liu Yue, Li Shunchen, Sun Fengji, Zhang Ying, Shang Feiqing, Liu Ying, Xu Bangxian

汪若海

Wang Ruohai

京城失守，若海述麟為書以獻。及二帝北行，袖書抗粘罕，請存趙氏。縋而出，謁康王於濟州，謂神器久虛，異姓僭竊，宜蚤即位，以圖中興。一日間三被顧問，補修職郎，充帳前差使。高宗既即位，推恩改承奉郎，遷江南經制使，轉承事郎，監登聞檢院。五府交辟，改屬右府。

After the capital was lost, Ruohai wrote up the Book of Lin and submitted it as a memorial. When the two emperors were marched north as captives, he hid a letter on his person and presented it to Nianhan, begging that the Zhao house be spared. He was lowered over the wall by rope and made his escape, then went to see Prince Kang at Jizhou. He told the prince that the imperial regalia had long stood vacant while outsiders seized power in usurpation, and that he ought to ascend the throne without delay to plan the restoration of the dynasty. In the space of a single day he was summoned for counsel three times, was appointed Xiuzhi Lang, and served as an attendant in the prince's headquarters. Once Emperor Gaozong had ascended the throne, Ruohai received a favoring promotion to Chengfeng Lang, was made commissioner for the Jiangnan circuit, advanced to Chenshi Lang, and served as superintendent of the Dengwen Jingyouan. All five military offices sought him out in turn, and he was transferred to serve under the Right Office.

朝廷以張浚宣撫川、陝，議未決。若海曰：「天下者，常山蛇勢也，秦、蜀為首，東南為尾，中原為脊。今以東南為首，安能起天下之脊哉？將圖恢復，必在川、陝。」乃往見浚，極談終日，浚大驚，辟以自隨，以親老辭。繼論軍食，迕執政，通判沅州，以讒奪籍，謫英州。道出臨川，時節制江夏軍馬李允文擁眾數十萬，跋扈不用朝命，朝廷命招討使張俊屯江西，參謀官湯東野與若海故，得若海道中，喜甚。謂曰：「李允文懷反側，非君莫能開其自新。」若海即馳往，諭以成敗逆順，示以朝廷威德，復談三策以動之，辭旨明暢。允文大感悟，即舉軍東下。

The court was considering appointing Zhang Jun pacification commissioner for Sichuan and Shaanxi, but the decision had not yet been made. Ruohai said, "The realm is like the Mount Chang serpent of stratagem: Qin and Shu form the head, the southeast the tail, and the Central Plain the spine. If we take the southeast as our head now, how can we ever raise up the spine of the realm? Any plan for recovery must center on Sichuan and Shaanxi." He then went to see Zhang Jun and talked with him the whole day through. Jun was deeply impressed and invited him to join his staff, but Ruohai declined because his parents were elderly. Later, when he spoke out on army provisions, he offended the chief ministers. He was made vice-prefect of Yuanzhou, then stripped of his official standing on a charge of slander and exiled to Yingzhou. On his journey he passed through Linchuan. At that time Li Yunwen, commander of the Jiangxia forces, held several hundred thousand troops and defied the court with arrogant insubordination. The court ordered Pacification Commissioner Zhang Jun to encamp in Jiangxi. Staff officer Tang Dongye, an old friend of Ruohai's, met him along the road and was overjoyed. He told Ruohai, "Li Yunwen is nursing treacherous designs. No one but you can persuade him to return to loyalty." Ruohai rode to him at once. He explained the logic of success and failure and of loyalty versus rebellion, set forth the court's authority and benevolence, and laid out three stratagems to sway him, speaking with lucid force. Yunwen was deeply stirred and at once marched his army east in submission.

若海復為書招其徒張用、曹成、李宏、馬友同歸朝廷。用一見，以其眾二十萬解甲效順，惟成疑貳有他志，若海移書責之。成怒，將殺若海，若海夜宿王林軍帳，以計得林軍印，遂奪其眾五千人。翼日，成遂遁。若海遺宏書，使刺成以自歸；宏得書圖成而力不勝，復走長沙刺友，群盜解散。若海遂以林五千人歸招討使張俊，俊乃班師凱旋，軍容愈盛。

Ruohai also wrote letters calling on his followers Zhang Yong, Cao Cheng, Li Hong, and Ma You to submit together to the court. At their first meeting Yong disarmed his two hundred thousand men and submitted. Only Cheng wavered with other designs in mind, and Ruohai sent him a reproachful letter. Cheng flew into a rage and was about to kill Ruohai. Ruohai spent the night in Wang Lin's camp, contrived to obtain Lin's army seal, and thereby took command of his five thousand troops. The following day Cheng fled. Ruohai sent Hong a letter instructing him to kill Cheng and thereby earn his own pardon; Hong received the letter and plotted against Cheng but could not overcome him. He then went to Changsha to kill Ma You, and the bandit bands broke up and scattered. Ruohai then brought Wang Lin's five thousand troops back to Pacification Commissioner Zhang Jun. Jun withdrew his army in triumph, and his forces appeared more formidable than ever.

時朝廷方出師，若海以為為國家者，當化盜賊為我用，不可失英雄為國患。因獻平寇策，朝廷悉用之。其後李宏為劉忠所並，死長沙；劉忠為韓世忠所破，走劉豫；曹成走廣而復降，湖湘遂安。尋復承務郎、監潭州南岳廟、通判辰州。

The court was then launching campaigns, and Ruohai argued that a state ought to turn bandits into instruments of its power and must not let heroes slip away to become national dangers. He submitted a plan for pacifying the bandits, and the court adopted it entirely. Later Li Hong was absorbed by Liu Zhong and died at Changsha; Liu Zhong was broken by Han Shizhong and fled to Liu Yu; Cao Cheng fled into Guang and later surrendered again, and the Hunan region was finally brought to peace. Before long he was restored to Chengwu Lang, appointed superintendent of the Nanyue Temple at Tanzhou, and made vice-prefect of Chenzhou.

紹興九年，復三京，祗謁陵寢，事還，以前功，旬月四遷至承議郎、通判順昌府。金人奄至，太尉劉錡甫至，眾不滿三萬，遣人丐援於朝，無敢往者。若海毅然請行，具述錡明方略，善用兵，以偏師濟之，必有成功，朝廷從之，金兵果敗去。辟淮北宣撫司主管機宜文字。拓皐之役，復以勞兩轉至朝散郎、通判洪州，未上，丁內艱。服除，添差通判信州。秩滿，遷湖北帥司參議。知道州，陛辭得對，上曰：「久不見卿，卿向安在？」授直秘閣、知江州，丁父憂。時方經略中原，朝廷議起若海，而若海死矣。

In the ninth year of Shaoxing, when the three capitals were recovered, he paid reverent visit to the imperial tombs. On his return, his earlier services won him four promotions within a single month, to Chengji Lang and vice-prefect of Shunchang. The Jurchens swept in unexpectedly. Grand Marshal Liu Qi had only just arrived with fewer than thirty thousand men. He sent envoys begging the court for reinforcements, but no one dared go. Ruohai boldly volunteered to go. He explained at length that Qi was brilliant in strategy and adept at command, and that a supporting detachment would surely bring success. The court agreed, and the Jurchen forces were indeed driven off in defeat. He was recruited as director of planning documents for the Huabei Pacification Office. After the battle at Tuogao he was twice promoted for merit to Chaosan Lang and vice-prefect of Hongzhou, but before he could take up the post he went into mourning for his mother. When his mourning ended, he received an additional appointment as vice-prefect of Xinzhou. When his term expired, he was transferred to staff adviser on the Hubei military commission. He was appointed prefect of Daozhou. At his farewell audience the emperor spoke with him directly. "I have not seen you in a long while," the emperor said. "Where have you been?" He was appointed Direct Secretariat Drafter and prefect of Jiangzhou, then went into mourning for his father. The court was then planning operations to recover the Central Plain and debated recalling Ruohai—but by then Ruohai was already dead.

若海豁達高亮，深沈有度，恥為世俗章句學，為文操紙筆立就，蹈厲風發。高宗嘗以片紙書若海名諭張浚曰：「似此人材，卿宜收拾。」會浚去國，不果召。

Ruohai was magnanimous and high-minded, reserved yet measured in deportment. He disdained the pedantry of conventional textual scholarship. When he wrote, he took up brush and paper and finished on the spot, his prose forceful and swift. Emperor Gaozong once wrote Ruohai's name on a slip of paper and told Zhang Jun, "A man of this caliber is one you ought to bring into your service." But Jun left office before the summons could be carried out.

張運，字南仲，信之貴溪人，唐宰相文瓘之後。父貫，右通直郎，累贈太中大夫。運年二十五，以太學生登宣和三年進士第，賜同上舍出身，調桂陽監藍山縣丞。縣闕令，運攝縣事。縣與諸獠接壤，因俗為治，吏民安之。臨武寇與諸獠合，大剽掠，運親帥兵禽之。遷潭州攸縣尉。高宗南渡，劇賊王在據岐山，潭帥徴兵戍岳，運將二千人先至岳。賊平，改臨江新淦丞。縣新被兵，令不能支，沿江撫諭使張匯劾罷之，以運攝縣事。運撥煨燼，考版籍，正租賦，數月之間，弊除而民定。

Zhang Yun, courtesy name Nanzhong, was a native of Guixi in Xin Prefecture and a descendant of the Tang chancellor Zhang Wenguan. His father Guan held the rank of Right Tongzhi Lang and was posthumously ennobled to Grandee of the Palace. At twenty-five, while a student at the Imperial Academy, Yun passed the jinshi examination in the third year of Xuanhe, received the status of tongshangshe chushen, and was appointed assistant magistrate of Lanshan County under the Guiyang Superintendency. The county had no magistrate, so Yun assumed charge of county affairs. The county bordered various tribal peoples. He governed according to local custom, and officials and commoners alike lived in peace. Bandits from Linwu joined the tribal peoples in widespread pillaging. Yun personally led troops and captured them. He was transferred to the post of defender of You County in Tanzhou. When Emperor Gaozong fled south, the fierce rebel Wang Zai seized Qishan. The Tanzhou commander raised troops to garrison Yuezhou, and Yun led two thousand men there ahead of the main force. After the rebels were suppressed, he was appointed assistant magistrate of Xingan in Linjiang. The county had only recently been ravaged by war, and the magistrate could not cope. River-route Pacification Commissioner Zhang Hui impeached and removed him, and Yun was placed in charge of county affairs. Yun sifted through the ashes of destruction, reviewed the household registers, and set right taxes and levies. Within a few months the abuses were gone and the people were settled.

紹興五年，通判鼎州。賊楊么、黃誠擁眾數萬，殘破城邑，跳梁湖北。高宗遣張浚以都督董師，岳飛以招討舉兵擊之，賊率輕銳徑趨武溪南興，以臨鼎州，城中大震。運與太守程昌宇勒兵登城，控扼上下，以張其勢，賊宵潰。澧賊雷德進柵險稱亂，帥檄運討之。運將都統梁吉等率兵直搗其巢，破四十二柵，降其眾。

In the fifth year of Shaoxing he was appointed vice-prefect of Dingzhou. The rebels Yang Yao and Huang Cheng commanded tens of thousands of men, ravaged towns throughout the region, and ran riot across Hubei. Emperor Gaozong sent Zhang Jun as overall commander to direct the campaign and Yue Fei as pacification commissioner to attack them. The rebels led their crack troops straight toward Nanxing in Wuxi to threaten Dingzhou, throwing the city into panic. Yun and Prefect Cheng Changyu mustered troops onto the walls, held the upper and lower reaches of the river, and made a show of force so imposing that the rebels fled overnight. The Li rebel Lei Dejin fortified rugged ground and raised rebellion. The commander ordered Yun to suppress him. Yun led Commander-in-Chief Liang Ji and others in a direct assault on their stronghold, destroyed forty-two stockades, and accepted the surrender of their forces.

移貳濡須。金人犯廬、壽等州，大將駐兵淮壖以拒之，運給餉未嘗乏絕。歲餘，以親老還江東，寓居鄱。既而丁母及父憂，服除，起知桂陽監。五月而境內稱治，與部使者奏升監為軍。大修庠序之教，祠漢以來守令有功德於桂陽者衛颯、唐羌等七人於學，刻《續顏氏家訓》、《四時纂要》等書，散之民間，使之修德而務本。召入對，除知達州。方大旱，入境而雨。奏除病民五事。

He was transferred to serve as deputy administrator at Ruxu. The Jurchens attacked Luzhou, Shouzhou, and neighboring prefectures. The great generals encamped along the Huai to resist them, and Yun kept their supplies flowing without interruption. After more than a year he returned to the Jiangdong region because his parents were elderly, and settled at Po. He then went into mourning for his mother and father. When mourning ended he was recalled to serve as superintendent of the Guiyang Superintendency. Within five months his jurisdiction was said to be well governed. Together with the regional inspector he memorialized to elevate the superintendency to a military prefecture. He greatly expanded school instruction, enshrined in the academy seven officials since Han times who had served Guiyang with merit, including Wei Sa and Tang Qiang, had books such as the Continued Yan Family Instructions and the Essentials of the Four Seasons carved and distributed among the people, urging them to cultivate virtue and attend to the fundamentals of life. He was summoned to court for an audience and appointed prefect of Dazhou. A severe drought was afflicting the region; rain fell as soon as he entered the prefecture. He memorialized to abolish five abuses that were harming the people.

召為度支郎中。臨安樓店務錢歲三十餘萬緡，請以十萬歸省額。戶部所儲三佛齊國所貢乳香九萬一千五百斤，直可百二十餘萬緡，請分送江、浙、荊湖漕司賣之，以糴軍餉。及陳諸路綱運七弊，懲革十術，遠近遞輸以均勞逸。事皆施行。兼樞密院檢詳，遷軍器監。尋改大理少卿，請正兩浙鹽法，以寬私鬻之禁。紹興永裕、昭慈二陵官地與民犬牙相入，請縣重價聽民持券獻納，以免誤犯之罪。尤明於治獄，獄為之空。

He was summoned to court and appointed Director of the Revenue Section. The Lou Shop Office in Lin'an yielded more than three hundred thousand strings a year. He requested that one hundred thousand be returned to the provincial treasury quota. The Ministry of Revenue held ninety-one thousand five hundred jin of frankincense presented by the Three Buddhas Qi state, worth more than twelve hundred thousand strings. He proposed distributing it among the transport commissioners of Jiang, Zhe, and Jing-Hu to sell and use the proceeds to buy army provisions. He also identified seven abuses in tribute transport on the various routes, proposed ten corrective measures, and arranged relay transport over long and short distances to balance the burden of labor. All of these proposals were adopted and carried out. He also served as reviewer in the Bureau of Military Affairs and was promoted to Director of the Armory. He was soon made Vice Minister of Justice and proposed reforming the salt laws of the two Zhe circuits to ease the ban on private trade. The official lands of the Yongyu and Zhaoci imperial tombs intermingled with private holdings in a jagged patchwork. He proposed that counties set fair prices and allow holders to present their deeds and pay compensation, so that people would not be punished for inadvertent encroachment. He was especially skilled at managing legal cases, and the prisons were emptied under his administration.

拜刑部侍郎，言：「諸斥逐累赦未還者，宜從湔洗。諸申請條製，多重復牴牾，失於太煩。諸編置不以赦原、不以蔭論之類，失於太重。外路刑獄三經翻異，移送大理，刀鋸數施，非所以示遠。」及諸不便，皆從之。又請廣儲蓄，興鼓鑄，修屯田，作鄉兵。亦皆聽納。兼權戶部侍郎。時久雨傷蠶麥，及邊報有警，詔侍從臺諫陳弭災禦侮之策。運言：「天災人事，有甚可畏而不足畏者，視吾政之修不修；有甚可憂而不足憂者，視吾自治之善不善。」及宜邊淮建三大鎮以守之。

He was appointed Vice Minister of Punishments and said, "All those exiled and banished who, despite repeated amnesties, have not yet been allowed to return ought to be granted rehabilitation. The various regulations governing petitions are riddled with redundancy and contradiction and have become excessively burdensome. The various categories of registered offenders not eligible for amnesty or hereditary privilege are excessively harsh. When criminal cases in the provinces are reversed three times on appeal and transferred to the Court of Judicial Review, executions are repeatedly carried out—this is no way to display justice to the distant regions." On these and other abuses, the court adopted his recommendations. He also proposed expanding grain reserves, reviving minting, restoring garrison colonies, and organizing local militia. These proposals too were all accepted. He also served concurrently as acting Vice Minister of Revenue. Prolonged rains were damaging the silkworm and wheat crops, and alarming reports arrived from the frontier. The emperor ordered his attendants and remonstrance officials to propose strategies for averting disaster and repelling invasion. Yun said, "Heavenly disasters and human affairs alike contain much that seems terrifying yet is not truly to be feared, depending on whether our government is well ordered; and much that seems worrisome yet is not truly to be worried over, depending on whether we govern ourselves well." He also argued that three great garrison commands ought to be established along the Huai frontier for defense.

會金人渝盟，特遷戶部侍郎，以專饋餉。丞相陳康伯議遣李寶自四明控制海道，眾論紛紜，運直入贊決，以為上策，金人果敗走。因上疏：「乞降詔撫將士，蠲租賦，遣信使，結豪傑，堅城守，督漢中將士趨關陝以制其後。置四鎮三帥於兩淮、襄漢之間以為內固，以圖進取。」以御營隨軍都轉運使從上勞師江上。及駕還，因入對，固請補外。乃授集英殿修撰，出知太平州。當兵饑疾癘之餘，殫勞徠安輯之方，嚴斥堠攻守之備。理財賦，造戰艦，繕甲兵，申禁令，民賴以安。

When the Jurchens broke the treaty, he was specially promoted to Vice Minister of Revenue with sole responsibility for supplying the armies. Chief Councillor Chen Kangbo proposed sending Li Bao from Siming to control the sea lanes. Opinion was divided, but Yun went straight in to endorse the plan as the best strategy. The Jurchens were indeed defeated and driven off. He then submitted a memorial: "I beg that an edict be issued to comfort the troops, remit taxes and levies, dispatch trusted envoys, rally local heroes, hold the cities firm, and urge the forces of Hanzhong to advance toward Guanzhong and Shaanxi to threaten the enemy's rear. Establish four commands and three commanders between the two Huai regions and the Xiang-Han area as an inner bulwark, and thereby plan for advance and recovery." As Director of the Imperial Camp's Army Transport he accompanied the emperor in reviewing the troops along the Yangzi. When the imperial procession returned, he sought an audience and firmly requested an appointment outside the capital. He was appointed Compiler at the Hall for Cherishing Excellence and sent out as prefect of Taiping. In the aftermath of war, famine, and pestilence, he exhausted every means to encourage resettlement and restore order, and strictly maintained the beacon towers and defenses. He put finances and taxes in order, built warships, repaired armor and weapons, and enforced the laws. The people found security in his administration.

孝宗既受禪，運亦請老，以敷文閣待制提舉江州太平興國宮，尋授廣東經略，不赴，乃復祠祿。乾道七年，鄱大饑，運首發粟二千石以振之，自是民爭出粟以濟。連上章致政，不許，以疾卒。贈少師、左光祿大夫，官其後三人。嘉定六年，贈開府儀同三司。

After Emperor Xiaozong had ascended the throne, Yun also requested retirement. He was made Drafter-at-Large of the Fuwen Pavilion to superintend the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou. He was soon appointed Pacification Commissioner of Guangdong but declined to go, and thereafter held a stipendary post. In the seventh year of Qiandao, Poyang was stricken by severe famine. Yun was the first to release two thousand shi of grain for relief, and thereafter the people competed to bring forth their own grain to aid the hungry. He submitted memorial after memorial asking to retire from office, but permission was denied, and he died of illness. Posthumously he was honored as Junior Preceptor and Left Grandee of Splendid Happiness, and official rank was granted to three of his descendants. In the sixth year of Jiading, he was posthumously ennobled with the rank of Commissioner with the Ceremonial Honors of a Grand General of the Imperial Guard.

柳約，字元禮，秀州華亭人。大觀三年上舍進士，試中學官，為霸州教授。徙睦州，入為辟雍正。遷博士，改宣議郎，充廣親宅宗子博士。約深於經學，屬辭粹微，大為學者師慕。提舉福建鹽事，召對，論內外學政，次乞罷內外官到堂日投牒求官，以厚風俗。授秘書省校書郎，進著作佐郎、徽州司錄，改通判宿州，召拜監察御史。靖康初，兼權殿中侍御史，論三鎮不可棄。改尚書工部員外郎，進左司員外郎。父憂去官，服除，以直顯謨閣充御營司參謀官，遷太常少卿。

Liu Yue, styled Yuanli, was a native of Huating in Xiu Prefecture. In the third year of Daguan he earned his jinshi degree through the upper dormitory and passed the examination for academy officials, after which he was appointed instructor in Bazhou. He was transferred to Mizhou, then recalled to the capital to serve as deputy director of the Bureau for Recruiting Worthies. He was promoted to erudite, given the rank of Gentlemen for Promoting Harmony, and appointed erudite for imperial clansmen in the Broad Affection Residence. Yue was deeply learned in the classics, and his prose was refined and subtle; scholars looked to him as a master and held him in high esteem. While supervising salt affairs in Fujian, he was summoned to audience. He spoke on education policy at court and in the provinces, then petitioned to abolish the custom of officials submitting petitions for office on their day of court attendance, arguing that this would help restore proper conduct. He was appointed collator in the Secretariat, then promoted to assistant compiler and judicial recorder in Huizhou, later made vice prefect of Suzhou, and finally summoned and appointed investigating censor. Early in the Jingkang era he also served as acting palace attendant censor, where he argued that the Three Garrisons must not be surrendered. He was transferred to outer-section member of the Ministry of Works and then promoted to outer-section member of the Left Department. He resigned to observe mourning for his father. When the mourning period ended, he was appointed staff officer in the Imperial Camp Office with the title Direct Associate of the Hall for Manifesting Counsel, and was later promoted to vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

高宗將幸平江，約疏言兵可進，毋退以示怯於敵。乃以直龍圖閣知台州，未赴，徙嚴州，兼浙西兵馬都監、節制管內軍馬。當是時，金人大入，杜充擁眾北去，列郡震恐，莫有奔問官守者。約於橫潰中屹保孤城，悉力捍禦。境內按堵，則慨然上書，請糾合諸郡克復吳會。上嘉其忠，進右文殿修撰，守郡如故。詔以軍興費出無藝，吏慢弗虔，柳約獨謹賦輸，率先程督，進秩一等。又詔：「約郡當兵衝，而能不辭難、不避事，益嚴列柵，保綏一方，朕甚嘉之。其以約充集英殿修撰。」召入對，獎勞再三，擢權戶部侍郎。

When Gaozong was preparing to travel to Pingjiang, Yue submitted a memorial urging that the army should advance rather than withdraw, warning that retreat would only display fear before the enemy. He was then appointed prefect of Taizhou with the title Direct Associate of the Dragon Diagram Hall. Before he could take up the post, he was transferred to Yanzhou, where he also served as military supervisor of western Zhejiang and commander of the armed forces within his jurisdiction. At that time the Jurchens swept in with overwhelming force. Du Chong fled north with his troops, and the surrounding prefectures were gripped by panic; none sent help to the officials who remained at their posts. While all around him collapsed into chaos, Yue held his isolated city unyielding and poured every ounce of strength into its defense. When order had been restored within his jurisdiction, he submitted an impassioned memorial calling for the prefectures to be rallied together to recover the lands of Wu and Yue. The emperor commended his loyalty and promoted him to compiler of the Right Hall for Cultivating Culture, while he continued to govern his prefecture as before. An edict noted that with military expenses unlimited and officials slack and negligent, Liu Yue alone submitted his taxes with scrupulous diligence and personally enforced the collection schedule. For this he was promoted one rank. Another edict declared: "Yue's prefecture stands on the front line of war, yet he has neither shirked hardship nor avoided responsibility. He has strengthened the defenses and brought stability to his region. We commend him highly. Let Yue be appointed compiler of the Hall for Assembling Excellence." He was summoned to audience, praised and rewarded again and again, and promoted to acting vice minister of revenue.

約於是感激盡言，凡例外宣索，皆執奏不進。論吳幵等罪未正，非所以厲臣節；諸大將提兵入覲，各名其家，將有尾大不掉之患，皆人不敢言者。又言：「軍興科需百出，望官戶名田過制者，與編戶均一科敷。請增諸路酒錢，其半令提刑司樁管，以備軍費。」皆從之。會高麗請修貢，議遣使報聘，上顧廷臣無出約右，加試戶部侍郎充其選，且將大用。當路忌之，諷言者誣以事，罷為提舉太平觀。居七年，復秘閣修撰。

Deeply moved, Yue now spoke without reserve. Whenever the court issued extraordinary requisitions, he memorialized in protest and refused to carry them out. He argued that the crimes of Wu Kai and his associates had not yet been properly punished—a failure that could only undermine the integrity of the official class. He also warned that when the great generals marched their armies to court, each proclaimed his own private estate by name, creating the danger that the tail would grow too heavy to control—things no one else dared to say aloud. He further proposed: "With military levies multiplying on every side, let registered households whose land holdings exceed the legal limit be taxed at the same rates as ordinary households. I also request that the wine tax be increased in each circuit, with half the proceeds held in reserve by the judicial-intendant offices to meet military expenses." All of these proposals were adopted. When Goryeo requested the resumption of tribute missions, the court debated sending an envoy in reply. The emperor surveyed the officials at court and found none better suited than Yue. He gave him a probationary appointment as vice minister of revenue to qualify him for the mission and was preparing to entrust him with greater duties. Those in power grew jealous and prompted remonstrating officials to fabricate charges against him. He was dismissed and appointed supervisor of the Taiping View. After seven years he was restored to his post as compiler in the Secretariat.

金人歸侵疆，起知蔡州，被命而往，一無顧避。既而金人渝平，傳檄河南，守臣皆舉城降，約獨遣使數輩於武昌，得報而後返。未幾，以敷文閣待制食祠祿。十有五年，卒。贈四官。

When the Jurchens returned the occupied territories, he was appointed prefect of Caizhou. He accepted the commission and set out without a moment's hesitation. Before long the Jurchens broke the peace and issued a proclamation across Henan. The defending officials surrendered their cities one after another, but Yue alone dispatched several envoys to Wuchang and did not return until he had received a response. Shortly thereafter he was appointed academician of the Hall for Spreading Culture, drawing a stipend from a sinecure temple post. Fifteen years later he died. He was posthumously granted four ranks of office.

約天性至孝，母病甚，泣禱於天，願損壽以益親壽。母尋愈，約竟先母兩月卒。

Yue was profoundly filial by nature. When his mother fell gravely ill, he wept and prayed to Heaven, offering to shorten his own life in exchange for hers. His mother soon recovered, but Yue himself died two months before she did.

李舜臣

Li Shunchen

李舜臣，字子思，隆州井研人。生四年知讀書，八歲能屬文，少長通古今，推迹興廢，洞見根本，慨然有志於天下。

Li Shunchen, styled Zisi, was a native of Jingyan in Long Prefecture. At four he could read; at eight he could compose essays. As he matured he mastered the history of past and present, traced the rise and fall of states to their roots, and resolved to devote himself to the affairs of the realm.

紹興末，張浚視師江、淮，舜臣應詔上書，言：「乘輿不出，無以定大計，宜徙幸武昌。」又謂：「江東六朝皆嘗取勝北方，不肯乘機爭天下，宜為今日監。」著《江東勝後之鑒》十篇上之。中乾道二年進士第。時朝廷既罷兵，而為相者益不厭天下望。舜臣對策，論金人世仇，無可和之義，宰輔大臣不當以奉行文字為職業。考官惡焉，絀下第，調邛州安仁縣主簿。歲大祲，饑民千百持鉏棘大呼，響震邑市，令懼閉門。舜臣曰：「此非盜也，何懼為？」亟出慰勞遣之。

Late in the Shaoxing era, when Zhang Jun took command on the Yangzi and Huai fronts, Shunchen submitted a memorial in response to an imperial call, arguing: "Unless the emperor himself moves, no great strategy can be settled—the court should relocate to Wuchang." He also wrote: "The six dynasties of Jiangdong all once held the advantage over the north, yet none seized the moment to contest for the realm. Let that be a warning for our own day." He composed ten chapters entitled 《Lessons from Victory in Jiangdong》 and presented them to the throne. In the second year of Qiandao he earned his jinshi degree. By then the court had already ceased military operations, yet the chief ministers grew ever more deaf to the nation's hopes. In his palace examination response, Shunchen argued that the Jurchens were the dynasty's hereditary enemy and that peace was unthinkable, and that chief ministers should not reduce their office to the routine execution of written orders. The examiners took offense. He was placed in the lower tier of graduates and assigned as chief clerk of Anren County in Qiong Prefecture. That year famine struck. Hundreds of starving people, carrying hoes and thorn branches, raised a clamor that shook the market town. The magistrate, terrified, barred his gates. Shunchen said, "These are not bandits. What is there to fear?" He went out at once to comfort them and send them on their way.

教授成都府。時虞允文撫師關上，辟置幕府，用舉者改宣教郎、知饒州德興縣，專尚風化。民有母子昆弟之訟連年不決，為陳慈孝友恭之道，遂為母子兄弟如初。間詣學講說，邑士皆稱「蜀先生」。罷百姓預貸，償前官積逋逾三萬緡。民病差役，舜臣勸糾諸鄉，以稅數低昂定役期久近為義役。期年役成，民大便利。銀坑罷雖久，小戶猶敷銀本錢，官為償之。天申大禮助賞及軍器所需，皆不以煩民。

He served as instructor in Chengdu Prefecture. At that time Yu Yunwen held command on the frontier passes and recruited Shunchen into his staff. On his sponsor's recommendation he was given the rank of Gentlemen for Promoting Education and appointed magistrate of Dexing County in Rao Prefecture, where he devoted himself above all to moral reform. A lawsuit pitting mother against son and brother against brother had dragged on for years. He expounded the virtues of kindness, filial piety, fraternity, and respect, and mother, sons, and brothers were reconciled as before. He would occasionally visit the school to lecture, and the local scholars all called him "Master Shu." He abolished advance loans to the people and repaid more than thirty thousand strings in accumulated arrears left by his predecessor. The people were burdened by the corvée system. Shunchen urged the townships to reform it, setting the length of service obligations according to whether a household's tax quota was high or low. Within a year the reform was complete, and the people found the new arrangement a great relief. Though the silver mines had long been shut down, small households were still being charged silver-capital fees. The government repaid these on their behalf. When funds were needed for the rewards of the Grand Ceremony of Heavenly Submission and for military equipment, he never imposed the burden on the people.

幹辦諸司審計司，遷宗正寺主簿，重修《裕陵玉牒》。當曾布、呂惠卿初用，必謹書，或謂非執政除免，格不應書。舜臣曰：「治忽所關，何可拘常法。」他所筆削類此。尤邃於《易》，嘗曰：「《易》起於畫，理事象數，皆因畫以見，舍畫而論，非《易》也。畫從中起，乾坤中畫為誠敬，坎離中畫為誠明。」著《本傳》三十三篇。朱熹晚歲，每為學者稱之。所著書《群經義》八卷、《書小傳》四卷、文集三十卷、《家塾編次論語》五卷、《鏤玉餘功錄》二卷。子心傳、道傳、性傳。以性傳官二府，贈太師、追封崇國公。

He served in the Audit Office of the Various Bureaus, was promoted to chief clerk of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, and undertook a revision of the 《Imperial Genealogy of Yuzong》. When Zeng Bu and Lü Huiqing were first appointed, he always recorded the fact with scrupulous care. Some argued that since these were not appointments or dismissals made by the chief administrators, the regulations did not require such entries. Shunchen replied, "This bears on the rise and fall of good government. How can one be bound by routine rules?" His editorial judgments elsewhere followed the same principle. He was especially profound in the 《Book of Changes》, and once said: "The 《Changes》 begins with the trigrams. Principle, affairs, images, and numbers all become visible through them. To discuss the 《Changes》 apart from the trigrams is not to discuss the 《Changes》 at all. The lines proceed from the center: in Qian and Kun the central line signifies sincerity and reverence; in Kan and Li it signifies sincerity and clarity." He composed thirty-three chapters of the 《Original Transmission》. In his later years Zhu Xi often spoke of him with praise to his students. His written works included eight volumes of 《The Meaning of the Classics》, four volumes of 《Brief Commentary on the Documents》, thirty volumes of collected writings, five volumes of 《Family School Arrangement of the Analects》, and two volumes of the 《Record of Carving Jade's Remaining Achievement》. His sons were Xinchuan, Daochuan, and Xingchuan. Through Xingchuan's service in the Two Departments, he was posthumously granted the title Grand Preceptor and enfeoffed as Duke of Chong.

孫逢吉

Sun Fengji

孫逢吉，字從之，吉州龍泉人也。隆興元年進士第，授郴州司戶。乾道七年，太常黃鈞薦於丞相虞允文、梁克家，將處以學官，逢吉竟就常德教授以歸。李燾、劉珙、鄭伯熊、劉焞相繼薦之，知萍鄉縣，以治最聞。除諸軍審計司、國子博士。遷司農寺丞兼實錄院檢討官。紹熙元年，遷秘書郎兼皇子嘉王府直講。

Sun Fengji, styled Congzhi, was a native of Longquan in Ji Prefecture. In the first year of Longxing he earned his jinshi degree and was appointed revenue recorder in Chen Prefecture. In the seventh year of Qiandao, Huang Jun of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices recommended him to Chief Ministers Yu Yunwen and Liang Kejia, who were preparing to appoint him to an academy post. Fengji instead accepted an appointment as instructor in Changde and returned home. Li Tao, Liu Gong, Zheng Boxiong, and Liu Hun recommended him in turn. He was appointed magistrate of Pingxiang County and became renowned for the excellence of his administration. He was appointed to the Audit Office of the Various Armies and to erudite of the Directorate of Education. He was promoted to vice director of the Court of Imperial Granaries, concurrently serving as collator in the Veritable Records Institute. In the first year of Shaoxi he was promoted to secretary and concurrently appointed direct lecturer in the Hall of the Heir Apparent Jia.

二年春二月，雷雪之沴交作，詔求直言，疏八事：去蔽諛、親講讀、伸論駁、崇氣節、省用度、惜名器、拔材武、飭戎備。擢為右正言，建言：「都城之民，安居憚徙。宗戚營繕寖廣，每建一第，撤民居數百，咨怨者多。」時親王方更造樓觀未已，聞之，亟令罷役。浙漕沈詵見逢吉，謝曰：「非正言，漕計殆不可支。」初，工部侍郎兼知臨安府潘景珪結貴幸以進，司諫鄧馹屢疏其罪，景珪反以計傾之，除馹匠監。逢吉曰：「優遷其官而罷言職，後來者且以言為戒。」兩疏乞收馹新命，不報；並劾景珪脅持臺諫，蔑視朝綱，景珪遂罷。在諫垣七十日，章二十上，詞旨剴切，皆人所難言者。改國子司業，求去，為湖南提刑。以秘書監召，兼吏部侍郎。俄為孝宗攢宮按行使。

In the second year, in the second month of spring, thunder and snow struck together as omens of disorder. An edict called for forthright counsel, and he submitted eight recommendations: remove obstruction and flattery, attend closely to lectures and study, allow open debate and rebuttal, honor moral integrity, reduce expenditures, treat official titles with respect, promote men of talent and martial ability, and strengthen military preparedness. He was promoted to remonstrating official of the Right and submitted a memorial: "The people of the capital dwell in comfort and dread being uprooted. Imperial clansmen and consorts have steadily expanded their estates. Each time a mansion is built, hundreds of common dwellings are torn down, and the complaints are many." At that time an imperial prince was still building towers and pavilions without pause. On hearing the memorial, he immediately ordered the work halted. Shen Chuan, transport commissioner of Zhejiang, sought out Fengji and thanked him, saying, "Were it not for the remonstrating official, the transport accounts would scarcely have held." Earlier, Pan Jinggui, vice minister of works and concurrent prefect of Lin'an, had risen through connections with the powerful and favored. Remonstrating official Deng Ji had repeatedly memorialized against his crimes, but Jinggui retaliated with a plot to destroy him and had him appointed supervisor of the Artisans' Office. Fengji said, "To promote his rank while stripping him of his remonstrating office will teach those who follow to fear speaking out." He submitted two memorials requesting that Ji's new appointment be revoked, but received no response. He also impeached Jinggui for coercing the censorial and remonstrating offices and treating the court's authority with contempt. Jinggui was thereupon dismissed. In seventy days in the remonstrating office he submitted twenty memorials—incisive in language and all addressing matters others found too dangerous to speak of. He was transferred to vice director of education in the Directorate, then requested leave from court and was appointed judicial intendant of Hunan. He was summoned to serve as director of the Secretariat, concurrently holding the post of vice minister of personnel. Shortly afterward he was appointed commissioner for the inspection of Xiaozong's tomb.

朱熹在經筵持論切直，小人共不便，潛激上怒，中批與祠。劉光祖與逢吉同在講筵，吏請曰：「今日某侍郎輪講，以疾告，孫侍郎居次，請代之。」逢吉曰：「常所講《論語》，今安得即有講義？」已而問某侍郎講義安在，取觀之，則講《詩·權輿篇》，刺康公與賢者有始而無終，與逐朱熹事相類，逢吉欣然代之講。因於上前爭論甚苦。上曰：「朱熹言多不可用用。」逢吉曰：「熹議祧廟與臣不合，他所言皆正，未見其不可用。」寖失上意。

Zhu Xi spoke with uncompromising directness in the Classics Lecture Hall. Petty men found this intolerable and secretly stirred the emperor's anger; a rescript issued in mid-session dismissed him to a sinecure temple post. Liu Guangzu and Fengji were both in the lecture hall when an attendant asked, "The vice minister scheduled to lecture today has reported illness. Vice Minister Sun is next in order—may he take his place?" Fengji said, "We ordinarily lecture on the 《Analects》. How can I produce a prepared lecture at a moment's notice?" He then asked where the vice minister's lecture notes were. On reading them he found the lecture was on the 《Ode "The Locust Tree"》 in the 《Book of Poetry》—a satire on Duke Kang of Wei and on worthy men who begin well but finish badly, paralleling Zhu Xi's dismissal. Fengji gladly stepped in to deliver the lecture. Thereupon he argued strenuously before the emperor. The emperor said, "Most of what Zhu Xi says is of no use." Fengji said, "I disagree with Xi on the ancestral temple, but everything else he says is correct. I see no reason he should be dismissed as unusable." Gradually he lost the emperor's favor.

會彭龜年論韓侂胄專僭，出補郡。逢吉入疏曰：「道德崇重，陛下所敬禮者無若朱熹，志節端亮，陛下所委信者無若彭龜年。熹既以論侂胄去，龜年復以論侂胄絀，臣恐賢者皆無固志。陛下所用皆庸鄙憸薄之徒，何以立國？」侂胄見而惡之。丞相趙汝愚既罷，侂胄專國。一日從臣扈從重華宮，上行禮畢，駕興，扈從者出宮門上馬，忽傳呼侂胄至，扈從者卻入，斂板甚恭。逢吉曰：「既出復入揖，臣子事君父之禮當如是耶？」不揖而去。

At that time Peng Guinian criticized Han Tuozhou for monopolizing power and was sent out to serve as a prefect. Fengji submitted a memorial saying, "In moral stature, no one Your Majesty honors surpasses Zhu Xi; in integrity and uprightness, no one Your Majesty trusts surpasses Peng Guinian. Since Xi was removed for criticizing Tuozhou and Guinian was demoted again for the same reason, I fear worthy men will lose the will to stand firm. Those Your Majesty employs are all vulgar, base, crafty, and mean—how can the state endure?" Tuozhou saw the memorial and hated it. After Chancellor Zhao Ruyu was dismissed, Tuozhou monopolized the government. One day the attendant ministers were escorting the emperor at Chonghua Palace. When the rites were finished and the imperial carriage was raised, the escorts had already left the palace gate and mounted their horses when a sudden summons announced Tuozhou's arrival. The escorts turned back inside and stood holding their tablets with great deference. Fengji said, "You went out and then came back in to bow—is this how a minister serves his sovereign and father?" Without bowing himself, he walked away.

會部中會食，吏密報優人王喜除閤職，逢吉即言：「於上前效朱侍講進趨，以儒為戲者，豈可令汙閤職？」即抗疏力爭之。同列密以告侂胄。時王喜之命實未出，遂以誣詆，出知太平州。丐祠，提舉江州太平興國宮。起知贛州，已屬疾，卒，諡「獻簡」。弟逢年、逢辰，皆有文學行義，時稱「孫氏三龍」。

During a departmental meal, a clerk secretly reported that the actor Wang Xi was to be appointed to a Ge Office post. Fengji immediately said, "A man who before the emperor mimicked Lecturer Zhu's hurried advance and made a jest of the Confucian—how can he be allowed to defile a Ge Office post?" He immediately submitted a memorial and argued against it with all his strength. A colleague secretly told Tuozhou. Wang Xi's appointment had in fact not yet been issued, so Fengji was accused of slander and sent out as prefect of Taiping. He requested a sinecure and was appointed commissioner for the Taiping Xingguo Palace in Jiangzhou. He was recalled to serve as prefect of Ganzhou, but was already gravely ill. He died and was given the posthumous title Xianjian. His younger brothers Fengnian and Fengchen were both men of literary talent and moral conduct; people of the time called them "the Three Dragons of the Sun clan."

章穎，字茂獻，臨江軍人。以兼經中鄉薦。孝宗嗣服，下詔求言，穎為萬言書附驛以聞，禮部奏名第一，孝宗稱其文似陸贄。調道州教授，作周敦頤祠。會宜章寇為亂，郡僚相繼引去，穎獨留。寇平，郡守以功入為郎，奏穎有協贊之功，可大用。乃召對，除太學錄。禮部正奏第一人，初任即召對者自穎始。時樞密都承旨王抃以言者奉外祠。穎復言其風金使過求，欲己任調護以為功。孝宗謂其言太訐，久之不遷。及奏考試官，孝宗曰：「章穎可。」乃知上猶記其讜論也。頃之，遷太學博士。丁內艱，服闋，添差通判贛州，除太常博士。

Zhang Ying, styled Maoxian, was a native of Linjiang Prefecture. He passed the provincial examination by excelling in multiple classics. When Xiaozong ascended the throne, he issued an edict calling for counsel. Ying wrote a ten-thousand-character memorial and sent it by courier to the throne. The Ministry of Rites ranked him first on the list; Xiaozong said his prose recalled Lu Zhi. He was posted as professor at Daozhou and erected a shrine to Zhou Dunyi. When bandits at Yizhang rose in revolt, the prefectural staff withdrew one after another; Ying alone stayed. After the bandits were suppressed, the prefect was promoted to court for his merit and memorialized that Ying had helped coordinate the effort and was fit for greater use. He was summoned for an audience and appointed Director of Records at the Imperial Academy. When the Chief Administrator of Rites reported the top examination candidate, Ying was the first ever to be summoned for an audience upon taking up an initial appointment. At the time Wang Bian, Commissioner-in-Chief of the Bureau of Military Affairs, was granted an outside sinecure after censors attacked him. Ying spoke out again, saying Wang Bian had been overbearing toward Jin envoys in his demands, hoping to keep the mediating role for himself and claim the credit. Xiaozong said his words were too sharp; for a long time he received no promotion. When examination officials were being reported on, Xiaozong said, "Zhang Ying will do." From this they knew the emperor still remembered his candid counsel. Before long he was promoted to Erudite of the Imperial Academy. After mourning his mother, when the mourning period ended he was specially appointed Adjunct Prefect of Ganzhou and then appointed Erudite of the Court of Sacrificial Worship.

御史中丞何澹聞繼母訃，引不逮事之文，穎定議解官，澹猶未決去，乞下侍從朝列集議。太學諸生攻之曰：「朝廷專設奉常，議禮之所由出也。今不從議禮所由出之地，反以議禮不公，而欲侍從朝列集議，豈將啟逢迎希合，而為苟留進身之計乎？」除左司諫，時左相留正去，右相葛邲當國，穎論邲不足任大事，凡二十餘疏。從官議欲超除穎，俾去言職，庶可兩留。光宗曰：「是好諫官，何以遷之？」邲始出。穎屢疏請上問安重華宮，悉焚其稿。

Vice Censor-in-Chief He Tan received word of his stepmother's death and cited a passage exempting him from mourning obligations. Ying ruled that he must resign his office. Tan still hesitated to leave and asked that attendant ministers and the court assembly be convened to debate the matter jointly. Students of the Imperial Academy attacked him, saying, "The court maintains the Court of Sacrificial Worship precisely so ritual deliberation may proceed from it. Now, instead of deferring to the very office from which ritual deliberation should come, you declare the deliberation unfair and want attendant ministers and the whole court to debate it together—are you not opening the door to flattery and compliance, scheming to hold on to your post for advancement?" He was appointed Left Secretariat Remonstrator. Left Chancellor Liu Zheng had already left office and Right Chancellor Ge Bi was directing state affairs. Ying criticized Ge Bi as unfit for great affairs, submitting more than twenty memorials in all. Attendant officials discussed promoting Ying by extraordinary appointment and removing him from remonstrating office so that both men might be kept. Emperor Guangzong said, "He is a good remonstrator—why transfer him?" Only then did Ge Bi leave office. Ying repeatedly memorialized asking the emperor to visit Chonghua Palace to inquire after the retired emperor, and burned every draft.

寧宗即位，除侍御史兼侍講，尋權兵部侍郎。韓侂胄用事，穎侍經幃。上曰：「諫官有言及趙汝愚者，卿等謂何？」同列謾無可否，穎奏言：「天地變遷，人情危疑，加以敵人嫚侮，國勢未安，未可容易進退大臣，願降詔宣諭汝愚，無聽其去。」不報。奏請待罪，與郡；御史劾穎阿黨，罷。太學生周端朝等六人伏闕，辨汝愚被誣，且謂章穎言發於忠，首遭斥逐。端朝等皆被罪，自是黨論遂起矣。

When Emperor Ningzong ascended the throne, Ying was appointed Attendant Censor and Concurrent Lecturer, and soon given acting appointment as Vice Minister of War. Han Tuozhou held power, and Ying attended the imperial lectures. The emperor said, "Remonstrators have spoken about Zhao Ruyu—what do you think?" His colleagues evaded the question with vague noncommittal replies. Ying memorialized, saying, "Heaven and earth are in turmoil, hearts are anxious and unsettled, and the enemy adds contempt on top of it—the realm is not yet secure. Great ministers cannot be advanced or dismissed lightly. I beg Your Majesty to issue an edict telling Ruyu not to listen to those urging him to go." There was no response. He memorialized asking to await punishment and be sent out to a prefecture; censors impeached Ying for factional collusion, and he was dismissed. Imperial Academy students Zhou Duanchao and six others prostrated themselves at the palace gate, arguing that Ruyu had been slandered and that Zhang Ying had spoken from loyalty and been the first cast out. Duanchao and the others were all punished; from this the factional strife began.

穎家居久之，起知衢州，侍御史林行可劾罷之。尋知贛州，御史王益祥復劾，寢其命，再祠，需次知建寧府。侂胄誅，除集英殿修撰。累遷刑部侍郎兼侍講，對延和殿，上歎曰：「卿為權臣沮抑甚久。」穎乞修改《甲寅龍飛事跡》誣筆。除吏部侍郎，尋遷禮部尚書，升侍讀。詔穎以紹熙、慶元譙令憲《玉牒辨誣》，余端禮、趙彥逾《甲寅龍飛記》及趙汝愚當時所記事，考訂削誣，從實上之。丐去，奉祠。以嘉定十一年卒，年七十八。

Ying lived in retirement for a long time, then was recalled as prefect of Quzhou; Attendant Censor Lin Xingke impeached him and had him removed. Soon he was appointed prefect of Ganzhou, but Censor Wang Yixiang impeached him again and the appointment was shelved. He received another sinecure and waited his turn to serve as prefect of Jianning Prefecture. After Tuozhou was executed, he was appointed Compiler at the Hall for Advancing Worthies. He was promoted in succession to Vice Minister of Justice and Concurrent Lecturer. At audience in the Yanhe Hall, the emperor sighed and said, "You were held down by a power-holder for far too long." Ying asked that slanderous passages in the 《Record of the Jiayin Ascension》 be revised. He was appointed Vice Minister of Personnel, soon promoted to Minister of Rites, and elevated to Lecturer-in-Waiting. The emperor ordered Ying to take Qiao Lingxian's 《Jade Register Refutation of Slander》 from the Shaoxi and Qingyuan eras, Yu Duanli and Zhao Yanyu's 《Record of the Jiayin Ascension》, and Zhao Ruyu's contemporary records, examine them, strike out slander, and submit a truthful account. He requested leave and was granted a sinecure. In the eleventh year of Jiading he died, aged seventy-eight.

穎操履端直，生平風節不為窮達所移。雖仕多偃蹇，而清議與之。方黨論之興，朱熹遺以書，略曰：「世道反覆，已足流涕；而握其事者怒猶未已，未知終安所至極耶？然宗社有靈，公論未泯，異日必有任是責者，非公吾誰望耶？」贈光祿大夫，諡「文肅」。

Ying's conduct was upright; throughout his life his moral bearing was unchanged whether in hardship or prosperity. Though his official career was mostly stalled, public opinion stood with him. When factional strife arose, Zhu Xi sent him a letter that read in part, "The times turn back and forth—this alone is enough to bring one to tears; yet the man who holds the reins still has not spent his anger—who knows where it will end? Yet the altars of state have their spirits, and public opinion is not dead. Someday someone must bear this burden—if not you, whom can I look to?" He was posthumously awarded Grandee of Splendid Happiness and given the posthumous title Wensu.

商飛卿

Shang Feiqing

商飛卿，字翬仲，台州臨海人。淳熙初，由太學登進士第，任無為軍教授，累官至工部郎官。時韓侂胄柄國，氣焰薰灼，飛卿既至，未嚐輒一造請，踰月即丐去，提舉福建路常平茶鹽事。擢監察御史，以言事迕侂胄，罷為奉常。請外，以秘閣修撰為荊湖南路轉運判官。後改司農卿，總領江東、淮西軍馬錢糧。金陵故有帥、漕治所，合戎騎二帥、留鑰、內侍，號六司，宴飲饋遺，費動萬計。飛卿以身率儉，節縮浮苛，糧餉時斂散，稍稍以裕聞。開禧中，就擢戶部侍郎。侂胄將舉師，嘗問餉計豐約，飛卿以實告。比調遣浩繁，不克支，屬有旨俾飛卿軍前傳宣撫勞，值金兵大至，幾不免，以憂卒。

Shang Feiqing, styled Huizhong, was a native of Linhai in Taizhou. At the beginning of the Chunxi era he passed the metropolitan examination from the Imperial Academy, served as professor at Wuwei Army, and rose through successive promotions to Secretary in the Ministry of Works. At the time Han Tuozhou held the government and his arrogance blazed over all; after Feiqing arrived he never once went to call on him. Within a month he requested leave and was appointed Commissioner of Regular Grain and Salt for Fujian Circuit. He was promoted to Investigating Censor, but for memorializing in opposition to Tuozhou he was dismissed to the Court of Sacrificial Worship. He requested an outside post and, as Compiler of the Secretariat Pavilion, served as Transport Judge for Jinghu South Circuit. Later he was transferred to Director of the Directorate of Agriculture and given overall charge of military horses, funds, and grain for Jiang-East and Huai-West. Jinling originally had headquarters for the military commissioner and the transport commissioner; together with the two cavalry commanders, the stay-behind commissioner, and the inner attendant, they were called the Six Offices. Banquets, feasting, and gift-giving ran to tens of thousands. Feiqing personally practiced frugality and cut wasteful excess. Grain supplies were collected and disbursed on schedule, and gradually his name became associated with surplus. In the Kaixi era he was promoted on the spot to Vice Minister of Revenue. Tuozhou was about to mobilize the army and once asked whether provisions were ample or scarce; Feiqing told him the truth. When deployments multiplied and could no longer be sustained, an order came for Feiqing to go before the army as imperial envoy to proclaim comfort and encouragement. Jin forces arrived in great numbers and he nearly did not escape; he died of grief and anxiety.

劉穎，字公實，衢州西安人。紹興二十七年進士，調溧陽主簿。時張浚留守建康，金師初退，府索民租未入者，穎白浚言：「師旅之後，宜先撫摩，當盡蠲逋賦。」浚喜，即奏閣免，由是知之，遣其子栻與遊。教授全州，改官知鉛山縣，以外艱去。再知常熟縣，簽判潭州。王佐為帥，負其能，盛氣以臨僚吏，穎約以中道，多屈而改為。及陳峒反，所擒賊多穎計策，帥上其功，曰：「簽判宜居臣上。」召監進奏院，進太常寺主簿，遷丞，兼兵部郎官。

Liu Ying, styled Gongshi, was a native of Xi'an in Quzhou. In the twenty-seventh year of Shaoxing he passed the examination and was assigned as chief clerk at Liyang. At the time Zhang Jun was stay-behind commissioner at Jiankang. Jin forces had just withdrawn, and the prefecture was demanding unpaid rent from the people. Ying told Jun, "After armies have passed through, the people should be soothed first—all unpaid levies should be remitted." Jun was pleased and immediately memorialized for a wholesale exemption. From this he came to know Ying and sent his son Shi to keep company with him. He served as professor at Quanzhou, changed appointment to magistrate of Qianshan County, and left office to mourn his mother. He again served as magistrate of Changshu County and as signing judge of Tanzhou. Wang Zuo was military commissioner. Confident in his ability, he bullied subordinate officials with overbearing airs. Ying held him to the middle way, and Zuo often yielded and changed course. When Chen Dong rebelled, most of the bandits captured were taken through Ying's stratagems. The commissioner reported his merit, saying, "The signing judge's rank should be above mine." He was summoned to supervise the Memorial Submission Office, advanced to Registrar of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, promoted to Assistant Director, and concurrently served as Secretary in the Ministry of War.

提舉浙西常平茶鹽，還澱山湖，以泄吳松江一水，禁民侵築，毋使逼塞大流，民田賴之。就遷提刑，以洗冤澤物為任，間詣獄，察不應繫者縱遣之。御史以介僻劾罷。除江西運判。江州德化縣田逃徙太半，守乞蠲稅，不報。穎以見種之稅均於荒萊，民願耕者第減之，上供自若，而逃田盡復。

As Commissioner of Regular Grain and Salt for Western Zhejiang he returned to Lake Dianshan to open the Wusong River's single channel, forbidding the people from encroaching with construction lest the main flow be blocked—the people's fields benefited. He was promoted on the spot to Intendant. He took clearing wrongs and benefiting the people as his charge, sometimes visiting prisons himself and releasing those who should not be held. Censors impeached him for being stiff and aloof and had him dismissed. He was appointed Transport Commissioner of Jiangxi. In Dehua County, Jiangzhou, more than half the fields had been abandoned; the prefect requested remission of tax, but received no response. Ying spread the tax on surviving plots evenly over abandoned wasteland; for peasants willing to cultivate he reduced the levy, upper tribute remained as before, and the abandoned fields were all restored.

除直秘閣、淮東轉運副使。初，水敗楚州城，修補未竟，劉超欲移築，穎因接伴金國使，入對言：「國家何苦捐百萬緡為軍帥幸賞地邪？」光宗從之。除戶部郎中、淮東總領。務場以額鈔抵賞，陰耗餉計，二十年無知此弊者，穎究覈得之，以所賣數論賞而總餉增羨，遷司農少卿、淮西總領。前主計者請自為都釀，抱淨息而利贏餘，其後稍虧，反以大軍錢佐之，邀糴江、淮，回易如負販狀。穎以為失王人之體，遂罷之。內府宣限既迫，每移供軍錢以應歲輸。穎蒐吏弊，汰冗員，分月綱解，自是不復那移。

He was appointed Direct Compiler of the Secretariat Pavilion and Deputy Transport Commissioner of Huai-East. Flood had first broken the walls of Chuzhou city; repairs were not yet finished when Liu Chao wished to relocate and rebuild. Ying, while receiving Jin envoys, entered audience and said, "Why should the state throw away a million strings of cash to give a military commander a windfall?" Guangzong agreed. He was appointed Director in the Ministry of Revenue and Overall Commander of Huai-East. Service stations used quota notes to offset rewards, secretly draining provisions—for twenty years no one had known of this abuse. Ying investigated and uncovered it, used quantities sold to determine rewards, and overall provisioning grew surplus. He was promoted to Vice Director of Agriculture and Overall Commander of Huai-West. Previous chief accountants had asked to serve as their own brewmasters, keeping net profits for surplus gain; afterward losses mounted and they used great army funds to make up the shortfall, buying grain on the Jiang and Huai and trading back and forth like peddlers. Ying considered this unworthy of a royal commissioner and abolished the practice. When urgent demands from the inner palace pressed close, army funds were diverted each time to meet the annual tribute. Ying investigated clerical abuses, eliminated redundant staff, and divided deliveries into monthly quotas—in this way diversion ceased.

尋除直寶謨閣、江東運副、知平江府，皆未行。除宗正少卿，遷起居郎兼實錄院檢討官，權戶部侍郎，升同修撰。以疾丐祠，提舉興國宮。除集英殿修撰、知寧國府，改知紹興府。未幾，知平江府，徑歸，提舉興國宮。起知泉州，升華文閣待制，請興國祠以歸。興國祠滿，除敷文閣待制致仕。嘉定改元，召赴行在，落致仕，除刑部侍郎，辭，進龍圖閣待制、知婺州。請老，以寶謨閣直學士致仕。六年，卒於家，年七十八。贈光祿大夫。

Soon he was appointed Direct Compiler of the Baomo Pavilion, Deputy Transport Commissioner of Jiang-East, and Prefect of Pingjiang Prefecture—none of which he took up. He was appointed Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Clan, promoted to Palace Secretary and Concurrent Reviser at the Veritable Records Institute, given acting appointment as Vice Minister of Revenue, and elevated to Concurrent Compiler. On account of illness he requested a sinecure and was appointed Commissioner for Xingguo Palace. He was appointed Compiler at the Hall for Advancing Worthies and Prefect of Ningguo Prefecture, then transferred to Prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture. Before long he was appointed Prefect of Pingjiang Prefecture, went straight home, and was appointed Commissioner for Xingguo Palace. He was recalled to serve as Prefect of Quanzhou, promoted to Awaiting Orders at the Wenhua Pavilion, and requested return to the Xingguo sinecure. When the Xingguo sinecure term ended he was appointed Awaiting Orders at the Fuwén Pavilion and retired. When the Jiading era began he was summoned to the capital; his retirement was revoked and he was appointed Vice Minister of Justice. He declined and was advanced to Awaiting Orders at the Longtu Pavilion and Prefect of Wuzhou. He requested retirement on account of age and retired as Direct Academician of the Baomo Pavilion. In the sixth year he died at home, aged seventy-eight. He was posthumously awarded Grandee of Splendid Happiness.

在孝宗朝，人臣爭承意自獻。穎奏：「今日之失在輕聽人言，昔之施為，今復棄置，大損盛德。」孝宗嘉納之。光宗時，論人主難克而易流者四，曰：逸豫無節、賜予無度、儒臣易疏、近幸易昵。寧宗時，學禁初起，黨論日興。穎奏：「願陛下御之以道，容之以德，不然，元祐、崇、觀之事可鑒也。」其言皆切中於時。

In Xiaozong's reign ministers competed to read the emperor's wishes and offer themselves up. Ying memorialized, "Today's failing is that the court lightly heeds men's words—what was done yesterday is abandoned today, greatly harming the emperor's virtue." Xiaozong praised and accepted it. In Guangzong's time he spoke of four things hard for a ruler to resist yet easy to drift toward: unbounded indulgence in ease, unbounded largesse, easily estranging Confucian ministers, and easily drawing close to intimate favorites. In Ningzong's time, as the learning prohibition first arose, factional strife grew daily. Ying memorialized, "I wish Your Majesty to govern them by the Way and accommodate them with virtue—or else the affairs of Yuan You, Chong, and Guan may serve as a mirror." His words all struck home at the time.

自浙西請外，凡徙麾節十餘年，有以淹速玄訊之，穎笑曰：「吾所欲也。」其在從班日，韓侂胄舊與周旋無間，方居中用事，而穎謝絕之。常言：「士以不辱身為重。」其為少宗正，而丞相趙汝愚適歸，相遇於廢寺，泥雨不能伸足，但僧床立語曰：「寄謝余參政，某雖去而人才猶在朝遷，幸善待之。」穎曰：「相公人才即參政人才也，使果賢，參政之責，非宰相之憂也。」余參政，端禮也。余繼相，卒於善類多所全佑，穎之助云。

From requesting an outside post in Western Zhejiang through more than ten years of changing banners and seals, some tried to read his fortunes in the pace of his career; Ying smiled and said, "It is what I wanted." When he was in the inner court ranks, Han Tuozhou had formerly associated with him without reserve; just as Tuozhou held central power, Ying broke off relations. He often said, "For a gentleman, not disgracing oneself is what matters most." When he was Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Clan, Chancellor Zhao Ruyu happened to be returning home; they met at a ruined temple. Mud and rain kept them from stepping forward—they could only stand beside a monk's bed and speak: "Please tell Vice Administrator Yu: though I am gone, talented men remain at court; I hope you will treat them well in promotions." Ying said, "Your Excellency's talent is the Vice Administrator's talent. If they are truly worthy, nurturing them is the Vice Administrator's duty—not the Chancellor's concern." Vice Administrator Yu was Duanli. When Yu succeeded to the chancellorship he ultimately preserved many good men in several instances—Ying's assistance was part of this.

徐邦憲

Xu Bangxian

徐邦憲，字文子，婺州義烏人。幼穎悟，從陳傅良究名物義理，以通史傳百家之書。紹熙四年，試禮部，第一人登進士第。三遷為秘書郎。

Xu Bangxian, styled Wenzi, was a native of Yiwu in Wuzhou. From youth he was quick and penetrating. He studied with Chen Fuliang the principles of names and things and moral reason, to master histories, classics, and the books of the hundred schools. In the fourth year of Shaoxi he tested at the Ministry of Rites, ranked first, and passed the metropolitan examination. Through three promotions he became Secretariat Gentleman.

韓侂胄開兵端，同惡附和，無敢先發一語議其非者，邦憲獨首言之。丐外，知處州，陛辭，力諫用兵不可太驟。再歲召還，言：「求名義以息兵，莫若因建儲而肆赦，借殊常之恩，為弭兵之名，因行赦宥，大霈德澤。東委宣諭，西委宣撫，洗弄兵之咎，省戍邊之師；發倉粟以賑餓殍，及農時而復民業。如此則建儲之義，正與息兵相為表裏也。」

Han Tuozhou opened military hostilities; his allies echoed him and none dared speak against it first. Bangxian alone spoke first. He requested an outside post and was appointed Prefect of Chuzhou. At his farewell audience he strongly remonstrated that war could not be launched too hastily. After two years he was recalled and said, "To seek a righteous name for stopping war, nothing is better than using the establishment of an heir to grant a broad amnesty—borrowing extraordinary grace as a name for stopping war, and along with the amnesty extending great virtuous favor. In the east delegate imperial envoys to proclaim, in the west delegate commissioners to pacify—wash away the blame of reckless soldiers and reduce border garrison troops; release granary grain to relieve the starving dead, and restore the people's livelihood when farming season returns. In this way the meaning of establishing an heir aligns inside and out with stopping war."

又上侂胄書，侂胄惡其言，嗾御史徐柟擊之，鐫秩罷祠。未幾復官，除江西憲，改江東漕，以戶部郎為淮西總領。侂胄已誅，尚書倪思舉邦憲自代。召對，上言：「今日更化，未可與紹興乙亥同論。秦檜專權，天下猶可以緝理，今侂胄專權，天下敗壞盡矣。」除尚右郎兼太子侍講，除左司，為金賀正使接伴。除宗正少卿，回權工部侍郎、知臨安府。丐祠，知江州，奏乞郡，得節制屯戍兵，至郡疾，以寶謨閣待制致仕，卒於官，年五十七，諡「文肅」。

He also submitted a letter to Tuozhou. Tuozhou hated his words and instigated Censor Xu Kan to attack him—reduction in rank and dismissal to a sinecure. Before long he was restored to office; appointed Intendant of Jiangxi, changed to Transport Commissioner of Jiang-East, and served as Director in the Ministry of Revenue and Overall Commander of Huai-West. After Tuozhou had been executed, Minister Ni Si recommended Bangxian to succeed him. Summoned for audience he said, "Today's renewal cannot be discussed on the same terms as Shaoxing yihai. When Qin Hui monopolized power the realm could still be put in order; now that Tuozhou monopolized power the realm is ruined entirely. He was appointed Right Section Gentleman and Concurrent Lecturer to the Crown Prince, appointed Left Secretariat, and served as receiving commissioner for Jin envoys coming to congratulate the New Year. He was appointed Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Clan; on his return he was given acting appointment as Vice Minister of Works and Prefect of Lin'an Prefecture. He requested a sinecure and was appointed Prefect of Jiangzhou. He memorialized requesting the prefecture and received control of garrison troops. Upon reaching the prefecture he fell ill, retired as Awaiting Orders at the Baomo Pavilion, and died in office, aged fifty-seven; posthumous title Wensu.

論曰：汪若海、柳約仕於南渡播遷之時，其志將以尊君父，故讀其《麟書》而悲之。張運、李舜臣職舉事修，遺愛在民。孫逢吉、章穎辨正人之非邪，正學之非偽，君子哉！商飛卿、劉穎、徐邦憲皆有立於權臣柄國之日，卓乎不為勢利所移，故能爾耶！

In the appraisal it is said: Wang Ruohai and Liu Yue served when the court fled south in displacement—their intent was to honor sovereign and father; therefore reading their 《Book of Lin》 moves one to grief. Zhang Yun and Li Shunchen in office raised affairs well, and their lingering kindness remains among the people. Sun Fengji and Zhang Ying distinguished the wrong done to upright men from the wrong done to heterodoxy, genuine learning from counterfeit—true gentlemen! Shang Feiqing, Liu Ying, and Xu Bangxian all took their stand in the days when power-holders held the government—towering, unmoved by power and profit. That is why they could be so!

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