1
Chen Liang, courtesy name Tongfu, came from Yongkang in Wuzhou prefecture. From birth his gaze flashed; gifted and bold, he loved military talk, debate that swept like wind, and essays of thousands of words at a stroke. He studied how ancients won and lost wars and wrote the Discourses on Weighing Antiquity. Prefect Zhou Kui read his work, argued points with him, and exclaimed, 'One day he will be a pillar of the state.' He had Liang received as an honored guest. Once Zhou Kui entered the council, every courtier reporting business was told to bow to Liang; he met the age's boldest minds and aired every argument. He handed him the Mean and Great Learning, saying, 'Read these to master nature and destiny.' Liang took them and gave his whole mind.
2
When Longxing opened with a Jin peace, the realm sighed with relief; only Liang refused to accept it. Wuzhou was set to recommend him as top licentiate; he submitted the Five Discourses on Restoration, but the memorial vanished without answer. He retired home to study; disciples gathered, and for ten years he wrote and read without slackening.
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臣惟中國天地之正氣也，天命所鍾也，人心所會也，衣冠禮樂所萃也，百代帝王之所相承也。 挈中國衣冠禮樂而寓之偏方，雖天命人心猶有所係，然豈以是為可久安而無事也！ 天地之正氣鬱遏而久不得騁，必將有所發泄，而天命人心，固非偏方所可久係也。
I hold that China is Heaven and Earth's righteous breath, the seat of Mandate and hearts, the home of ritual and robes, the inheritance of a hundred reigns. To carry China's robes, rites, and music and lodge them in a remote corner may still leave some hold on Heaven's Mandate and human allegiance, but how could one regard that as lasting security without further action? When the upright qi of Heaven and Earth is dammed up too long, it must break out; Heaven's Mandate and the people's hearts cannot remain bound forever to a remote corner.
5
Two centuries of peace are a foundation the Three Ages never knew; the Two Sovereigns' capture is a shame Han and Tang never suffered. At the first retreat south, court and throne swore not to live with the enemy and, from rout and ruin, beat a foe unbeaten in a hundred fields. When Qin Hui preached perverse talk to thwart them, loyal ministers and righteous men were cast out to die in the south, and the realm's spirit went slack. Thirty years on, refugees from the north raised grandchildren in the southeast and forgot sovereign and father; only Hailing's death at Huainan reminded them war existed. Who could expect them to burn with old shame and together loose one arrow?
6
Bingwu and Dingwei feel distant, yet Hailing fell the year before you took the throne. You alone strive to destroy the foe while the world sleeps as if nothing were wrong. Men then murmured against you in secret, saying you loved merit and ignored later trouble; even Your Majesty with exalted power could not prevail alone, and bore it in silence until now—another seventeen years.
7
In Spring and Autumn, when fathers and sons, lords and ministers killed one another, an age called it normal. Only Confucius said that when the Three Bonds snapped, men became beasts; he could not rest one morning. Finding no ruler, he poured his will into the Spring and Autumn and still terrified traitors. Today the world forgets sovereign and father—how can the human way abide? Scholars of Confucius would urge you to act, not soothe you into sloth. Our armies have not marched north in years—surely some hero could rise! The pressure must break somewhere. If the state will not seize the moment, another will. One cannot rely on the old inheritance of robes, rites, and music, or on the deep accumulation left by the ancestors, and assume that Heaven's Mandate and human allegiance can sit secure and remain attached forever. 'Heaven is impartial; only virtue wins aid. Hearts shift; only kindness holds them.' The Three Sage rulers knew how terrible that truth is.
8
春秋之末，齊、晉、秦、楚皆衰，吳、越起於小邦，遂伯諸侯。 黃池之會，孔子所甚痛也，可以明中國之無人矣。 此今世儒者之所未講也。 今金源之植根既久，不可以一舉而遂滅； 國家之大勢未張，不可以一朝而大舉。 而人情皆便於通和者，勸陛下積財養兵，以待時也。 臣以為通和者，所以成上下之苟安，而為妄庸兩售之地，宜其為人情之所甚便也。 自和好之成十有餘年，凡今日之指畫方略者，他日將用之以坐籌也； 今日之擊球射雕者，他日將用之以決勝也。 府庫充滿，無非財也； 介胄鮮明，無非兵也。 使兵端一開，則其跡敗矣。 何者？ 人才以用而見其能否，安坐而能者不足恃也。 兵食以用而見其盈虛，安坐而盈者不足恃也。 而朝廷方幸一旦之無事，庸愚齷齪之人皆得以守格令、行文書，以奉陛下之使令，而陛下亦幸其易製而無他也。 徒使度外之士擯棄而不得騁，日月蹉跎而老將至矣。 臣故曰：通和者，所以成上下之苟安，而為妄庸兩售之地也。
At Spring and Autumn's end the great states faded; Wu and Yue rose from hamlets to rule the lords. Huangchi grieved Confucius most—it showed China had no men. Today's scholars never discuss it. Jin has rooted deep; one blow cannot end it; our momentum is not yet full; we cannot strike in a day. Men love peace and urge you to hoard gold and drill troops until the hour comes. Peace buys a false calm for court and people and a market for fools and mediocrities—no wonder all love it. Ten years of peace mean today's strategists will tomorrow sit in council; today's archers and ball-players will tomorrow win battles. Treasuries brim with coin; armor gleams with troops. When war starts, the bluff collapses. Why? Talent proves itself in action; idle competence is hollow. Armies and grain show truth only in use; paper plenty is not trust. The court blesses a quiet day; petty men shuffle papers and you bless them as easy to rule. Men of vision are shelved while days drift to old age. Peace, I say again, buys false calm and feeds fools and mediocrities.
9
東晉百年之間，南北未嘗通和也，故其臣東西馳騁，多可用之才。 今和好一不通，朝野之論常如敵兵之在境，惟恐其不得和也，雖陛下亦不得而不和矣。 昔者金人草居野處，往來無常，能使人不知所備，而兵無日不可出也。 今也城郭宮室、政教號令，一切不異於中國，點兵聚糧，文移往反，動涉歲月。 一方有警，三邊騷動，此豈能歲出師以擾我乎？ 然使朝野常如敵兵之在境，乃國家之福，而英雄所用以爭天下之機也，執事者胡為速和以惰其心乎？
For the hundred years of Eastern Jin, north and south never entered into peaceful relations; therefore its ministers raced east and west, and many were men of usable talent. Now one breach of peace and every voice fears war—even you must sue for peace again. Once Jin lived in tents and struck without warning. Now their cities, palaces, institutions, and commands are just like those of China; mustering troops, gathering grain, and shuttling documents back and forth takes months. One alarm stirs three borders—they cannot raid us every year. If we always felt the enemy at the gate, that would be fortune and heroes' chance—why hurry peace to dull us?
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At the battle of Bi between Jin and Chu, Luan Shu said, "Since Chu took Yong, its lord daily warned the people: 'Ah! Life is hard, disaster near—never slack vigilance.' In camp, not a day without reviewing stores: 'Ah! Victory is not sure; Zhou won a hundred fights yet had no heir.'" At Song's peace Zi Han said, "Arms awe the lawless and show virtue; sages rise by them, the chaotic fall; rise, fall, survival, ruin, light, and dark all come from arms. To seek to abolish arms is to slander the Way and blind the feudal lords." Hearts must not slack nor arms fade—even Cheng and Kang campaigned; Li Hang dreaded Zhenzong's Liao marriage. How much more, in a time when south and north stand opposed like two horns, if we abandon arms and make men's hearts lazy, causing them to grow comfortable in forgetting the great feud of lord and father, set China outside our calculations, and merely suit reckless mediocre men, then the error of those in office is very grave indeed. Why not break with Jin in righteous wrath?
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貶損乘輿，卻禦正殿，痛自克責，誓必復仇，以勵群臣，以振天下之氣，以動中原之心，雖未出兵，而人心不敢惰矣。 東西馳騁，而人才出矣。 盈虛相補，而兵食見矣。 狂妄之辭不攻而自息，懦庸之夫不卻而自退縮矣。 當有度外之士起，而惟陛下之所欲用矣。 是雲合響應之勢，而非可安坐所致也。 臣請為陛下陳國家立國之本末，而開今日大有為之略； 論天下形勢之消長，而決今日大有為之機，惟陛下幸聽之。
Lower the throne, mourn in the main hall, swear revenge, rouse ministers and the realm—even without marching, none dare slack. Ride east and west and talent appears. Surplus and want balance; grain and arms reveal truth. Rash talk dies unchallenged; cowards shrink unbidden. Then extraordinary men rise for you alone. That is clouds gathering, echoes answering—not armchair work. Let me lay the state's root and branch and open today's great plan; weigh the realm's rise and fall and seize the hour—hear me, sire.
12
唐自肅、代以後，上失其柄，藩鎮自相雄長，擅其土地人民，用其甲兵財賦，官爵惟其所命，而人才亦各盡心於其所事，卒以成君弱臣強、正統數易之禍。 藝祖皇帝一興，而四方次第平定，藩鎮拱手以趨約束，使列郡各得自達於京師。 以京官權知，三年一易，財歸於漕司，而兵各歸於郡。 朝廷以一紙下郡國，如臂之使指，無有留難。 自筦庫微職，必命於朝廷，而天下之勢一矣。 故京師嘗宿重兵以為固，而郡國亦各有禁軍，無非天子所以自守其地也。 兵皆天子之兵，財皆天子之財，官皆天子之官，民皆天子之民，紀綱總攝，法令明備，郡縣不得以一事自專也。 士以尺度而取，官以資格而進，不求度外之奇才，不慕絕世之雋功。 天子蚤夜憂勤於其上，以義理廉恥嬰士大夫之心，以仁義公恕厚斯民之生，舉天下皆由於規矩準繩之中，而二百年太平之基從此而立。
After Suzong and Daizong the Tang throne slipped; warlords seized land and men until lords grew weak and ministers strong. Taizu rose and the quarters submitted; each prefecture spoke straight to the capital. Capital men ruled three-year terms; revenue went to transport, troops to prefectures. One decree moved the realm like a finger on the arm. Even clerks were court appointees; power was one. The capital garrisoned heavy troops; each circuit kept imperial guards to hold the land. All troops were the Son of Heaven's troops, all wealth the Son of Heaven's wealth, all officials the Son of Heaven's officials, and all people the Son of Heaven's people. Discipline gathered everything under one control, laws and commands were clear and complete, and commanderies and counties could not take even one matter into their own hands. Scholars entered by measure, officers by seniority—no hunt for wild genius or matchless deeds. The Son of Heaven labored above from early morning until night, bound the hearts of scholar-officials with principle, integrity, and shame, and enriched the people's lives with benevolence, righteousness, fairness, and forbearance. All under Heaven moved within rule and measure, and from this the foundation of two hundred years of peace was established.
13
然契丹遂得以猖狂恣睢，與中國抗衡，儼然為南北兩朝，而頭目手足渾然無別。 微澶淵一戰，則中國之勢浸微，根本雖厚而不可立矣。 故慶曆增幣之事，富弼以為朝廷之大恥，而終身不敢自論其勞。 蓋契丹征令，是主上之操也； 天子供貢，是臣下之禮也。 契丹之所以卒勝中國者，其積有漸也。 立國之初，其勢固必至此。 故我祖宗常嚴廟堂而尊大臣，寬郡縣而重守令。 於文法之內，未嘗折困天下之富商巨室； 於格律之外，有以容獎天下之英偉奇傑，皆所以助立國之勢，而為不虞之備也。
Yet Khitan stood as a second court, hardly different from ours. Without Chanyuan our root would have failed though thick. Qingli's added tribute was Fu Bi's lifelong shame—he never boasted his service. Khitan commands—that is a sovereign's part; the emperor paying tribute—that is a subject's rite. Khitan won by inches piled year by year. At founding the trend was set. Ancestors honored ministers and empowered prefects. They never crushed great merchants within law; beyond statutes they rewarded heroes to brace the state against surprise.
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Qingli men raged at China's slump yet made ministers bicker over laws until the court itself grew light; they empowered surveillance to chase merit and made counties lighter still. Not only did they not aid the state's momentum, they further pared it away; though Zhang Dexiang and Chen Zhizhong in small part blocked them, how could the reformers not become discouraged themselves! Only out-of-turn appointments, farming, and leniency fit renewal; the rest was wrong. They never erased Khitan's equal stare and finally enraged Shenzong.
15
Wang Anshi's 'correct laws' pleased the throne yet meant to seize every troop and drill them at court; to sweep county revenue into the center and call it wealth. Green Sprouts feared only that rich farmers would not suffer; Uniform Transport feared only that merchants would not break. Suits for any crime silenced the scholar-officials. Eunuchs planned the frontiers and heroes refused to serve. Shenzong saw numbers and rushed to war, against his own intent, and the realm never truly stirred. They did not know that the court's founding momentum suffered precisely from civil forms being too dense, powers too divided, commanderies too light below and too petty to rely on, and troops and wealth too concentrated above and too heavy and slow to mobilize. Ancestors used four props; Wang drained them—ignorant of roots, unfit to govern. Yuanyou and Shaosheng's seesaw fed Jin's raids—how could China awe the world?
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南渡以來，大抵遵祖宗之舊，雖微有因革增損，不足為輕重有無。 如趙鼎諸臣，固已不究變通之理，況秦檜盡取而沮毀之，忍恥事仇，飾太平於一隅以為欺，其罪可勝誅哉！ 陛下憤王業之屈於一隅，勵志復仇，不免籍天下之兵以為強，括郡縣之利以為富。 加惠百姓，而富人無五年之積； 不重徵稅，而大商無巨萬之藏，國勢日以困竭。 臣恐尺籍之兵，府庫之財，不足以支一旦之用也。 陛下蚤朝晏罷，冀中興日月之功，而以繩墨取人，以文法涖事； 聖斷裁制中外，而大臣充位，胥吏坐行條令，而百司逃責，人才日以闒茸。 臣恐程文之士，資格之官，不足當度外之用也。 藝祖經畫天下之大略，太宗已不能盡用，今其遺意，豈無望於陛下也！ 陛下苟推原其意而行之，可以開社稷數百年之基，而況於復故物乎！ 不然，維持之具既窮，臣恐祖宗之積累亦不足恃也。 陛下試令臣畢陳於前，則今日大有為之略必知所處矣。
Since the crossing we mostly kept ancestral ways; tweaks changed little. Zhao Ding lacked flexibility; Qin Hui destroyed all, served the foe, and painted a corner as peace—his crime is beyond death. You rage at our cornered throne and seize troops and revenue for strength. You favor the people yet the rich lack five years' grain; you lighten tax yet merchants lack great stores—the state weakens daily. I fear rostered troops and treasury coin will not last one day's war. Your Majesty holds early court and leaves late, hoping for the work of restoration day by day and month by month, yet men are selected by measuring-cord rules and affairs are handled through written statutes; you judge all, yet ministers are placeholders, clerks rule, offices shirk—talent rots. Exam essayists and seniority men cannot meet extraordinary need. Taizu's design Taizong already half abandoned—surely it waits on you! Trace his intent and you open centuries of foundation—how much more recover the north! When maintenance fails, even ancestors' store may not hold. Let me speak fully and today's plan will find its place.
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夫吳、蜀天地之偏氣，錢塘又吳之一隅。 當唐之衰，錢鏐以閭巷之雄，起王其地，自以不能獨立，常朝事中國以為重。 及我宋受命，禘盡以其家入京師，而自獻其土。 故錢塘終始五代，被兵最少，而二百年之間，人物日以繁盛，遂甲於東南。 及建炎、紹興之間，為六飛所駐之地，當時論者，固已疑其不足以張形勢而事恢復矣。 秦檜又從而備百司庶府，以講禮樂於其中，其風俗固已華靡，士大夫又從而治園囿臺榭，以樂其生於干戈之餘，上下晏安，而錢塘為樂國矣。 一隙之地，本不足以容萬乘，而鎮壓且五十年，山川之氣蓋亦發泄而無餘矣。 故穀粟、桑麻、絲枲之利，歲耗於一歲，禽獸、魚鱉、草木之生，日微於一日，而上下不以為異也。 公卿將相，大抵多江、浙、閩、蜀之人，而人才亦日以凡下，場屋之士以十萬數，而文墨小異，已足以稱雄於其間矣。 陛下據錢塘已耗之氣，用閩、浙日衰之士，而欲鼓東南習安脆弱之眾，北向以爭中原，臣是以知其難也。
Wu and Shu are marginal breaths; Qiantang is Wu's corner. When Tang fell, Qian Liu, a lane bravo, ruled there and bowed to China for legitimacy. When our Song received the Mandate, Chu brought his whole house to the capital and himself offered the soil. Qiantang saw little war for two centuries and led the southeast. In Jianyan and Shaoxing it housed the court; men doubted it could restore the realm. Qin Hui packed offices there for ritual and music; officials built gardens and Qiantang became a pleasure land. A sliver held the throne fifty years until its qi ran dry. Grain and silk waned yearly, beasts and fish thinned daily—none thought it strange. Officials came from the southeast; talent grew common; a slight literary twist made a hero among thousands. You sit on spent Qiantang, employ fading southeastern scholars, and would drive soft habits north—I know how hard that is.
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荊、襄之地，在春秋時，楚用以虎視齊、晉，而齊、晉不能屈也。 及戰國之際，獨能與秦爭帝。 其後三百餘年，而光武起於南陽，同時共事，往往多南陽故人。 又二百餘年，遂為三國交據之地，諸葛亮由此起輔先主，荊楚之士從之如雲，而漢氏賴以復存於蜀； 周瑜、魯肅、呂蒙、陸遜、陸抗、鄧艾、羊祜皆以其地顯名。 又百餘年，而晉氏南渡，荊、雍常雄於東南，而東南往往倚以為強，梁竟以此代齊。 及其氣發泄無餘，而隋、唐以來，遂為偏方下州。 五代之際，高氏獨常臣事諸國。 本朝二百年之間，降為荒落之邦，北連許、汝，民居稀少，土產卑薄，人才之能通姓名於上國者，如晨星之相望。 況至於建炎、紹興之際，群盜出沒於其間，而被禍尤極，以迄於今，雖南北分畫交據，往往又置於不足用，民食無所從出，而兵不可由此而進。 議者或以為憂，而不知其勢之足用也。 其地雖要為偏方，然未有偏方之氣五六百年而不發泄者，況其東通吳會，西連巴蜀，南極湖湘，北控關洛，左右伸縮，皆足以為進取之機。 今誠能開墾其地，洗濯其人，以發泄其氣而用之，使足以接關洛之氣，則可以爭衡於中國矣，是亦形勢消長之常數也。
In Spring and Autumn Chu used Jing and Xiang to stare down Qi and Jin. In Warring States only they could vie with Qin for empire. Three centuries later Guangwu rose in Nanyang surrounded by hometown men. Two hundred years more it became the three states' contested ground; Zhuge Liang from here rose to aid the First Lord; Jing-Chu scholars followed like clouds, and the Han house relied on this to survive again in Shu; Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Lü Meng, Lu Xun, Lu Kang, Deng Ai, and Yang Hu won fame there. A century later Jin fled south; Jing and Yong led the southeast until Liang replaced Qi. When qi ran out, Sui and Tang made it a backwater. In Five Dynasties only the Gaos often submitted. For two Song centuries it was barren—few people, poor goods, rare talent. In Jianyan and Shaoxing bandits ravaged it; even now food fails and armies cannot march from there. Critics worry, not seeing its stored force. Although the region is a corner, no corner qi can remain bottled up for five or six hundred years without breaking out. It connects east to Wu-Kuaiji, west to Ba-Shu, south to Hu-Xiang, and north to the passes and Luo; on every side there is room to maneuver and chances to advance. Reclaim it, rouse its people, connect to the north, and we can contend for the realm—that is momentum's law.
19
陛下慨然移都建業，百司庶府皆從草創，軍國之儀皆從簡略，又作行宮於武昌，以示不敢寧居之意。 常以江、淮之師為金人侵軼之備，而精擇一人之沈鷙有謀、開豁無他者，委以荊、襄之任，寬其文法，聽其廢置，撫摩振厲於三數年之間，則國家之勢成矣。
You moved boldly to Jianye, rebuilt offices from scratch, simplified ritual, and built a Wuchang palace to show you would not rest. Keep Huai armies against Jin, choose one deep planner for Jing-Xiang, loosen his rules, and in a few years the state's force stands.
20
Later Jin lost Luolong and brought the Kaiyun disaster—in the years bingwu and dingwei. The next year Taizu first followed Grand Ancestor Guo in campaigns and finally pacified the realm. Later Khitan fell at Chanyuan in jiachen; between dingwei and wushen Zhenzong performed eastern feng and western sacrifices to proclaim peace—the dynasty at its peak. Sixty years later Shenzong took the throne in dingwei year—and state affairs turned here. Sixty years after that, bingwu and dingwei brought the Jingkang disaster. Heaven alone awakened you in that year and stirred your will to recover the north and avenge the wrong. Bingwu and dingwei are now barely ten years off. Heaven's Way shifts every sixty years—you must surely answer this shift! This is truly the hour for great action; do not rest easy and waste the months and years.
21
臣不佞，自少有驅馳四方之志，嘗數至行都，人物如林，其論皆不足以起人意，臣是以知陛下大有為之志孤矣。 辛卯、壬辰之間，始退而窮天地造化之初，考古今沿革之變，以推極皇帝王伯之道，而得漢、魏、晉、唐長短之由，天人之際昭昭然可考而知也。 始悟今世之儒士自以為得正心誠意之學者，皆風痹不知痛癢之人也。 舉一世安於君父之仇，而方低頭拱手以談性命，不知何者謂之性命乎？ 陛下接之而不任以事，臣於是服陛下之仁。 又悟今世之才臣自以為得富國強兵之術者，皆狂惑以肆叫呼之人也。 不以暇時謀究立國之本末，而方揚眉伸氣以論富強，不知何者謂之富強乎？ 陛下察之而不敢盡用，臣於是服陛下之明。 陛下厲志復仇足以對天命，篤於仁愛足以結民心，而又仁明足以照臨群臣一偏之論，此百代之英主也。 今乃委任庸人，籠絡小儒，以遷延大有為之歲月，臣不勝憤悱，是以忘其賤而獻其愚。 陛下誠令臣畢陳於前，豈惟臣區區之願，將天地之神、祖宗之靈，實與聞之。
I am untalented yet roamed to the capital; crowds talked, none stirred the heart—I know your great plan stands alone. In xinmao and renchen I studied heaven, history, and the ways of kings, and saw Heaven and man clearly. I saw today's 'sincere mind' scholars are numb to pain like men with wind paralysis. The age forgets the feud yet chats of nature and destiny—what is that! You heard me but gave no office—I honor your benevolence. I saw 'strong army' ministers are madmen shouting. They never study how states stand yet boast of strength—what is strength! You saw through them and did not fully use them—I honor your clarity. Your Majesty's stern resolve for revenge is enough to answer Heaven's Mandate; your deep humanity and love are enough to bind the people's hearts; and your benevolent clarity is enough to illuminate the one-sided arguments of ministers. This is the mark of a heroic ruler for a hundred generations. Yet you trust mediocres and cage small Ruists, wasting the months of action—I forget rank and speak plainly. If you let me speak fully, not only I but heaven and ancestors will hear.
22
The memorial shook Xiaozong; he would post it in court and promote Liang as with Zhong Fang. Ministers were baffled; Zeng Di came to see him—Liang scaled the wall and fled. Di was angry that Liang snubbed him. Ministers hated his bluntness and ordered a Hall review. The chief councilor questioned him; he would not soften—again rejected.
23
待命十日，再詣闕上書曰：
Ten days later he memorialized again:
24
Your resolve on revenge, refusing ease in a corner, is great merit. Yet Qiantang's luxury is the wrong ground for the Central Plain; the southeast's soft habits are the wrong army. Treasury wealth cannot read the realm's want and plenty; Roster troops cannot grasp the realm's courage and fear. So delay wins and your great plan stalls. In loyal rage I bathe and write, begging audience to lay root and branch and open the great plan; weigh rise and fall and seize the hour, fitting Taizu's design. Eight days passed without word. Heroes will read your intent—and the gathering cloud, answering echo, will never form.
25
又上書曰：
He memorialized again:
26
I believe the devices by which the state has maintained itself are now spent, but Taizu's great design for ordering the realm can still sustain us. If we recover its intent and adapt it to the present, restoration is within reach. Adaptation has three paths: decades, a century and a half, or centuries reborn. Effects differ wildly—only a sage of ages could hear each in turn. I dare not tell ministers first; they ask with folded hands, so I give three broad answers.
27
First: the Two Sovereigns' capture is national shame and public rage. Fifty years of sloth needs you and a few ministers to rouse men like private vengeance—as Spring and Autumn praised Wei's revenge.
28
其二曰：國家之規模，使天下奉規矩準繩以從事，群臣救過之不給，而何暇展布四體以求濟度外之功哉！
Second: the state binds all in rules; ministers chase faults—who has leisure for conquest!
29
Third: Taizu replaced warriors with scholars; this dynasty is Ru. And our Ru flourish beyond any age. The scholars of the realm today are overripe, slack, and spiritless, truly enough to disgust one. It rests precisely with the sovereign and a few great ministers to teach them by reversing that course, rouse and nurture their spirit, and ensure that when affairs arise there is no shortage of talent and that every talent can be put to use. Then the scale on which the state was founded will not depart from Taizu's original intent, and racing east and west to settle disasters and disorder need not depend solely on military men.
30
臣所以為大臣論者，其略如此。
That is what I would tell your ministers.
31
The emperor offered office; Liang laughed, 'I aim at centuries of foundation—not one post!' He crossed the river home at once. He drank with local rakes and, drunk, jested words that touched treason. A scholar denounced him to the Ministry of Justice. He Dan, who had failed him in exams, seized on insults and forwarded the charge. The Court of Judicial Review flogged him broken and forced a false confession. Xiaozong knew it was Liang; when the report came he said, 'A drunk scholar's babble is no crime!' He threw the paper down and Liang was spared.
32
Soon his servant killed a man who had once insulted Liang's father; the dead man's kin blamed Liang. When the matter was reported to the authorities, the servant was flogged with the bamboo until he died and revived several times, yet still would not confess. He also threw Liang's father into the prefectural prison. He then had the censorate deem Liang's crime serious and refer the case to the Court of Judicial Review. Chief Councilor Huai knew the emperor wanted Liang to live; Xin Qiji and Luo Dian, who had long admired his ability, argued for him with unusual vigor, and he was spared once more.
33
Taking himself for a swashbuckling spirit who had weathered repeated capital trials, Liang went home and threw himself into study with renewed zeal until his learning grew remarkably wide. After Mencius he ranked no scholar above Wang Tong, and he once remarked, "To plumb principle to its finest grain, sift past from present, trace the mind in a flash and weigh ritual to the inch, to labor by accumulation and stand upright by nurture, with glowing face and bent back, would leave one ashamed before the Confucians. Yet in marshaling a grand host under righteous banners, when storm and thunder break at once and dragon, serpent, tiger, and leopard leap in and out of sight, toppling a generation's wit and daring and widening the breast across ten thousand years, he believed himself for a day their better." Liang had Zhu Xi, Lü Zuqian, and such men chiefly in mind.
34
35
It takes an extraordinary man to achieve an extraordinary feat. To pursue a great enterprise with mediocre men, ordinary schemes, and routine measures is doomed—anyone can see that without being wise. For over twenty years Qin Hui's peace policy sapped the realm until its spirit lay flat and empty. Your Majesty's resolve to reunify the realm has, for another twenty years, shown scholars where their duty lies; the worthies who have served throne and state are beyond this humble servant's power to praise even in part. Gaozong was old; unwilling to shock him with war, you bowed your will and bent your head to comfort him in retirement—a filial devotion books have never matched. Now that Gaozong rests in the temple, heroes everywhere watch your next step—will you let the spirit you raised for twenty years collapse in a day?
36
Empires are not won from an armchair, victories do not last forever, and hard campaigning ill suits an elder of years and dignity. An heir at home 'oversees the state'; abroad he 'pacifies the army.' Why not now name the crown prince Pacifying-Army Grand General, send him yearly to Jianye to command all offices and generals, with a chief administrator to bear the toil, while you, in mourning, marshal men and balance the realm against every turn? That was the model Suzong followed in appointing the Prince of Guangping.
37
Gaozong's feud with Jin was a father's and elder brother's wrong; living, he could not avenge it—dying, he surely hoped his sons would. How could you tell that grief to the enemy? Mission followed mission—legacy bearers, thanksgiving envoys, return embassies—while gold, silk, and treasure poured out in trains of a thousand taels each. Yet the Jin people sent only a single envoy, as if they were approaching a petty state; their words of mourning and sacrifice were sparse and arrogant. Loyal and humane men feel the pain in their bones. How could Your Majesty, with your sagely clarity, wisdom, and courage, bear this?
38
If you deem righteousness paramount and the pacifying-army scheme feasible, put Jianye in order first, then send the heir to hold it. Even without a northern campaign this year, to organize Jianye, rouse the empire, and break with Jin would let your first ambition breathe again. Hear me once, sire, and wield joy, wrath, grief, and gladness to move the world.
39
40
Before that, at a hometown feast, hosts had placed pepper last in Liang's stew alone—a village honor for a distinguished guest. A table companion went home and died abruptly; rumor blamed poison in the special dish, and the case was already before the Court of Judicial Review. Then Lü Xing and He Niansi beat Lü Tianji almost dead, snarling, "Student Chen had me killed." Magistrate Wang Tian made the charge stick; the censorate told surveillance officials to pick pitiless examiners, but they found nothing and sent him to the Court of Judicial Review anyway, and everyone expected execution. Vice Minister Zheng Ruxie read the lone confession and exclaimed, 'Here is a wonder of the age. To execute an innocent scholar offends Heaven and severs the state's lifeblood.' He pleaded urgently before Guangzong, and Liang was released.
41
Soon Guangzong tested the palace graduates on ritual, music, law, and government; Liang spoke of the prince's and teacher's ways and said, 'I marvel that through twenty-eight years at Shouhuang's side not one matter escaped your mind. Between visits to his chamber you read his words and face, learned from countless signs, and already turned insight into action. Surely that was more than the capital's boast of four audiences a month!' Guangzong had stopped visiting Chonghua; ministers pleaded in turn without success, yet Liang's answer delighted him as the right medicine for father and son. Listed third on the rolls, he was promoted by imperial brush to the top. Learning it was Liang, the emperor cried, 'We chose well after all.' Xiaozong in the Southern Palace and Ningzong in the Eastern Palace rejoiced alike, so the residence grant read: 'Long ago you topped the civil lists; soon your memorials stirred the retired emperor's ear. Reading your palace answers, I rejoice in your depth and set you first—Heaven may have spared you for Us.' He received appointment as signing clerk in the Jianye prefectural office. He never took up the post; one night he died.
42
Returning home after his degree, Liang met his brother Chong at the county line; they bowed and wept together. Liang said, 'Should I rise and my grace reach you, let us meet our ancestors below in the robes our ranks allow—that will be enough.' Listeners were pierced by what he meant. Still his heart was fixed on public service; he prized his word, and all could read him through. He spoke always from the duties of ruler and subject, father and son; though without office, he recommended talent as zealously as any minister. A household of modest means, he still fed odd scholars and poor gentlemen year after year. After his death Vice Minister of Personnel Ye Shi asked the court to give one son an office—outside usual practice. Early in Duanping he received the posthumous title Wenyi and another son was given rank.
43
Zheng Qiao, courtesy name Yuzhong, came from Putian in Xinghua prefecture. He wrote books, not belles-lettres, and held himself no lesser than Liu Xiang or Yang Xiong. Living on Jiaji Mountain, he shut out the world. Later he roamed famous peaks and rivers, hunting curiosities and ruins; at every private library he borrowed and stayed until he had read every volume. From Zhao Ding and Zhang Jun on down, leading men prized him. He first wrote treatises on classics, ritual, writing, astronomy, geography, natural history, and esoterica; in Shaoxing year 19 he presented them and the throne ordered them into the imperial archives. Back home he drove his studies harder; over two hundred disciples gathered.
44
Recommended by Academician Wang Lun and He Yunzhong, he was called to court and denounced the flaws of official histories since Ban Gu. The emperor said, 'Your name has long been known to Us; you expound antiquity in a school of your own—why meet so late?' He was made Right Junior Merit Officer and war and rites archivist; Censor Ye Yiwen attacked him, so he became superintendent of Tanzhou's Southern Mountain temple, with orders to go home and copy his 《Comprehensive Treatises》. When the book was done he entered the Bureau of Military Affairs as compiler, soon adding review of documents for every office. He asked to revise Jin's Zhenglong bureaucracy against Song ranks and sought access to the Directorate of Archives to read its collections. Soon critics silenced the proposal and it died. When Jin raided the frontier, Qiao said Jupiter favored Song and the Jin ruler would kill himself—and so it happened. Gaozong's visit to Jianye called for presentation of the 《Comprehensive Treatises》, but Qiao fell ill and died at fifty-nine; scholars honor him as Master Jiaji.
45
46
Lin Ting of the same district, courtesy name Shiyin, took the Zhenghe jinshi; expert in numerology, he was Qiao's sworn friend. Lin Guangchao had been his pupil. He gathered thousands of volumes, collated them himself, and told his sons, 'I have secured a good inheritance for you.' Under Shaoxing he revised edicts in the statutes office, fiercely attacked Qin Hui's peace, resigned at once, and won the age's respect.
47
48
Li Daochuan, courtesy name Guanzhi, came from Jingyan in Long prefecture. His father Shunchen had served as registrar in the Court of the Imperial Clan. Daochuan was solemn from boyhood; later he studied the Cheng brothers of Henan, brooding on principle until he forgot meals, and even in a dark room sat straight-collared and still as at court. He took the jinshi in Qingyuan year 2, became revenue assistant in Lizhou, then instructor in Pengzhou.
49
When Kaixi war began and Jin pressed San Pass, Daochuan was drafting plans for the ministries when word came that Wu Xi had rebelled; outrage filled his face. He sent a messenger by hidden route to Pacification Commissioner Yang Fu, arguing Xi must fall: 'He is no hero; his treason alienates men—turn their hearts against him and you can bind him sitting down. If this action is truly decided on, it will not only settle the internal mutiny, but also make Jin know that China has men of ability, slightly quieting their covetous designs. Even defeat would stand without shame for ages.' Xi's party threatened him in Xi's name; Daochuan answered with duty, resigned, and went home. After Xi's fall an edict praised Daochuan's steadfastness and raised him two ranks.
50
嘉定初，召為太學博士，遷太常博士兼沂王府小學教授。 會沂府有母喪，遺表官吏例進秩，道傳曰：「有襄事之勞者，推恩可也，吾屬何與？」 於是皆辭不受。 遷秘書郎、著作佐郎，見帝，首言：「憂危之言不聞於朝廷，非治世之象。 今民力未裕，民心未固，財用未阜，儲蓄未豐，邊備未修，將帥未擇，風俗未能知義而不偷，人才未能彙進而不乏。 而八者之中，復以人才為要。 至於人才盛衰，係學術之明晦，今學禁雖除，而未嘗明示天下以除之之意。 願下明詔，崇尚正學，取朱熹《論語》、《孟子集注》、《中庸大學章句》、《或問》四書，頒之太學，仍請以周惇頤、邵雍、程顥、程頤、張載五人從祀孔子廟。」 時執政有不樂道學者，以語侵道傳，道傳不為動。 兼權考功郎官，遷著作郎。
Early in Jiading he became academy erudite, then court-of-sacrifices erudite and tutor in the Prince of Yi's school. When the prince mourned his mother, staff normally gained promotion; Daochuan said, 'Let those who served the rites receive grace—what is that to us?' All refused the reward. Promoted to secretary and assistant compiler, he told the emperor first, 'When warnings of danger never reach court, the age is not well ruled. People's strength is still thin, hearts unsettled, revenues meager, stores empty, borders unrepaired, generals unchosen, morals not yet upright, and talent not yet assembled without shortage. Of those eight, talent remains the key. Talent rises and falls with learning's light; though the learning ban was lifted, the court never openly declared it gone. Issue a clear edict to honor true learning, distribute Zhu Xi's Four Books—the 《Analects》, 《Mencius》, 《Great Learning and Mean》, and 《Questions》—through the academy, and add Zhou Dunyi, Shao Yong, the two Chengs, and Zhang Zai to Confucius's temple.' Ministers hostile to Learning of the Way sneered at him; he did not flinch. He briefly directed the Bureau of Evaluations, then became compiler.
51
時薛拯、胡榘等皆以新進用事，賄賂成風，道傳言：「今名優儒臣，實取材吏，刻剝殘忍、誕謾傾危之人進矣。」 遂求補郡，於是出知真州。 城圮弗治，道傳甓之，築兩石壩以護並江居民，益浚二壕，又堤陳公塘，有警，則決之以為阻，人心始固。 除提舉江東路常平茶鹽公事。 初至，即按部劾吏之貪縱者十餘人，胥吏為民害者，大黥小逐百餘人，釋獄之濫係者二百餘人，弛負錢一十餘萬緡。 夏大旱，道傳應詔言楮幣之換，官民如仇； 鈔法之行，商賈疑怨； 賦斂增加，軍將推剝，皆切中時病。 遂條上荒政，朝廷多從之。 與漕臣真德秀振饑，道傳分池、宣、徽三州，窮冬行風雪中，雖深村窮谷必至，賴以全活者甚眾。 攝宣州守，行朱熹社倉法，上饒、新安、南康諸郡翕然應命，人蒙其利。
Xue Zheng, Hu Ju, and other upstarts ruled by graft; Daochuan warned, 'Famed Ruists are now clerk fodder; cruel, lying adventurers rise instead.' He asked for a prefecture and was sent to govern Zhen. City walls crumbled; he rebuilt them in brick, raised two stone dams for riverside folk, deepened two moats, and diked Chen Gong Pond to flood as a barrier in alarm—then hearts steadied. He was made commissioner for Jiangdong's ever-normal granary and tea-salt monopoly. On arrival he inspected the circuit and impeached a dozen corrupt officers; he tattooed or expelled over a hundred harmful clerks, freed two hundred prisoners held without cause, and canceled levies owed in excess of a hundred thousand strings. In a fierce summer drought he answered an imperial edict, declaring that paper-money exchange had turned officials and people into enemies; Paper notes in circulation bred merchant suspicion and resentment; Higher levies and bullying by military officers struck every sore of the age. He then listed famine policies point by point, and the court mostly adopted them. With Intendant Zhen Dexiu he fought famine; Daochuan covered Chizhou, Xuanzhou, and Huizhou, trudging through winter storms into the remotest hamlets until multitudes lived. As acting prefect of Xuan he enforced Zhu Xi's community granaries; Shangrao, Xin'an, Nankang, and neighboring circuits followed suit and the people gained.
52
Guangde Prefect Wei Xian attacked Instructor Lin Xiu for neglecting exams to run famine relief, wielding the intendant against the prefect, and charged Zhen Dexiu with scorning court and hogging glory, demanding his removal. Daochuan rebutted him in a fierce memorial and Xian was dismissed. When Hu Ju became vice minister of personnel he nominated Daochuan as his successor. He pleaded illness to resign but was refused. Summoned to memorial duties he refused twice, was refused again, and at last faced the throne. From palace to court, attendants to censors, he named every fault without reserve, and the emperor did not bristle. Named war ministry lang official, he declined and never took office. Censor Li Nan, reading the powers that be, asked that he be given a Shu commandery and was sent to govern Guo prefecture. At Jiujiang he fell ill and died at forty-eight; an edict promoted him one rank in retirement and posthumously titled him Wenjie.
53
From Shu to the southeast he never studied at Zhu Xi's door, yet sought his disciples, joined their discussions, and read every book the master left. He lived what he preached, and his integrity was unmistakable. He wrote no works on the classics, saying, 'My learning is not ripe—I dare not.' He would not rush verses, saying, 'My learning is not ripe—I have no time.' Once he was ill at home when Zhen Dexiu visited; beside the couch stood four large characters—'Wake up, cut it off'—showing how sternly he guarded solitude. He governed for the people's good; his famine work left Jiangdong grateful for years.