1
忠義十
Ten Biographies of Loyalty and Righteousness
2
○陳東歐陽澈馬伸呂祖儉呂祖泰楊宏中華嶽鄧若水僧真寶莫謙之徐道明
○ Chen Dong, Ouyang Che, Ma Shen, Lü Zujian, Lü Zutai, Yang Hongzhong, Hua Yue, Deng Ruoshui, the monk Zhenbao, Mo Qianzhi, and Xu Daoming
3
李邦彥議與金和，李綱及種師道主戰，邦彥因小失利罷綱而割三鎮，東復率諸生伏宣德門下上書曰：
Li Bangyan argued for making peace with the Jin, while Li Gang and Zhong Shidao urged war. Bangyan used a minor military setback as a pretext to remove Gang and cede the Three Prefectures. Chen Dong once more led the students to kneel before the Xuande Gate and submit a memorial that read:
4
在廷之臣，奮勇不顧、以身任天下之重者，李綱是也，所謂社稷之臣也。 其庸繆不才、忌疾賢能、動為身謀、不恤國計者，李邦彥、白時中、張邦昌、趙野、王孝迪、蔡懋、李棁之徒是也，所謂社稷之賊也。
Among the officials at court, the man who acts with fearless courage and bears the weight of the realm on his shoulders is Li Gang—the kind of minister the state truly needs. Those who are incompetent and corrupt, who envy talent, who in every action serve themselves and not the nation—Li Bangyan, Bai Shizhong, Zhang Bangchang, Zhao Ye, Wang Xiaodi, Cai Mao, Li Zhuo, and their kind—are enemies of the state.
5
陛下拔綱列卿之中，不一二日為執政，中外相慶，知陛下之能任賢矣。 斥時中而不用，知陛下之能去邪矣。 然綱任而未專，時中斥而未去，復相邦彥，又相邦昌，自餘又皆擢用，何陛下任賢猶未能勿貳，去邪猶未能勿疑乎？ 今又聞罷綱職事，臣等驚疑，莫知所以。
Your Majesty raised Li Gang from among the ministers and within a day or two made him chief minister. The court and the country rejoiced alike, for they saw that Your Majesty knew how to appoint the worthy. You dismissed Bai Shizhong and refused to employ him, showing that Your Majesty knew how to remove the wicked. Yet Li Gang was given office but not full authority; Bai Shizhong was dismissed but not driven out; Li Bangyan was again made chief minister, and Zhang Bangchang was again made chief minister; and the rest were all promoted as well. How can Your Majesty still be undecided in appointing the worthy, and still hesitate in removing the wicked? Now we hear that Li Gang has been removed from office. We are shocked and bewildered, and do not know why.
6
綱起自庶官，獨任大事。 邦彥等疾如仇讎，恐其成功，因用兵小不利，遂得乘閑投隙，歸罪於綱。 夫一勝一負，兵家常勢，豈可遽以此傾動任事之臣。 竊聞邦彥、時中等盡勸陛下他幸，京城騷動，若非綱為陛下建言，則乘輿播遷，宗廟社稷已為丘墟，生靈已遭魚肉。 賴聰明不惑，特從其請，宜邦彥等讒嫉無所不至。 陛下若聽其言，斥綱不用，宗社存亡，未可知也。 邦彥等執議割地，蓋河北實朝廷根本，無三關四鎮，是棄河北，朝廷能復都大梁乎？ 則不知割太原、中山、河間以北之後，邦彥等能使金人不復敗盟乎？
Li Gang rose from a lowly post and alone shouldered the greatest responsibilities of state. Li Bangyan and his faction hated him like a mortal enemy and feared his success. Exploiting a minor setback in the war, they seized the opportunity to shift all blame onto Li Gang. Victory and defeat are the common pattern of war. How can a single setback be used so hastily to bring down the minister entrusted with the nation's affairs? We have heard that Li Bangyan, Bai Shizhong, and the others all urged Your Majesty to flee the capital. The city was in turmoil. If Li Gang had not counseled Your Majesty to stay, the imperial carriage would have been driven into exile, the ancestral temples would lie in ruins, and the people would have been slaughtered like fish on a block. Because Your Majesty's wisdom was clear and you heeded his counsel, it is no wonder that Li Bangyan and his allies slandered and envied him without restraint. If Your Majesty listens to them and dismisses Li Gang, the survival of the dynasty itself will be in doubt. Li Bangyan and his faction advocated ceding territory. Hebei is the very foundation of the dynasty. Without the Three Passes and Four Prefectures, Hebei would be abandoned—and could the court ever return its capital to Kaifeng? Do they imagine that after ceding Taiyuan, Zhongshan, and everything north of Hejian, Li Bangyan and his allies can somehow keep the Jin from breaking the treaty again?
7
一進一退，在綱為甚輕，朝廷為甚重。 幸陛下即反前命，復綱舊職，以安中外之心，付種師道以閫外之事。 陛下不信臣言，請遍問諸國人，必皆曰綱可用，邦彥等可斥也。 用舍之際，可不審諸！
A single advance or retreat may seem a small matter for Li Gang, but for the court it is a matter of grave consequence. We beg Your Majesty to revoke your previous order at once, restore Li Gang to his former post to reassure the court and the country, and entrust military affairs beyond the capital to Zhong Shidao. If Your Majesty does not believe us, ask anyone in the realm—you will find that all say Li Gang should be kept and Li Bangyan and his faction should be removed. When choosing whom to employ and whom to dismiss, how can Your Majesty fail to weigh the matter with the utmost care!
8
軍民從者數萬。 書聞，傳旨慰諭者旁午，眾莫肯去，方舁登聞鼓撾壞之，喧呼震地。 有中人出，眾臠而磔之。 於是亟詔綱入，復領行營，遣撫諭，乃稍引去。
Soldiers and civilians who joined them numbered in the tens of thousands. When the memorial arrived, imperial envoys came one after another to soothe the crowd, but the people refused to disperse. They raised the Petition Drum and smashed it, and their uproar shook the ground. When a eunuch emerged, the crowd tore him limb from limb and killed him. The court then urgently summoned Li Gang back and restored him to command of the field army. After envoys were sent to pacify the crowd, the people finally began to disperse.
9
金人既解去，學官觀望，時宰議屏伏闕之士，先自東始。 京尹王時雍欲盡致諸生於獄，人人惴恐。 朝廷用楊時為祭酒，復東職，遣聶山詣學撫諭，然後定。 吳敏欲弭謗，議奏補東官，賜第，除太學錄。 東又請誅蔡氏，且力辭官以歸，前後書五上。 既歸，復預鄉薦。
Once the Jin army had withdrawn, the education officials wavered. The chief ministers resolved to punish the students who had knelt at the palace gate, starting with Chen Dong. The capital prefect Wang Shiyong wanted to imprison every student involved, and fear spread among them all. The court appointed Yang Shi as libationer of the Imperial Academy, restored Chen Dong to his post, and sent Nie Shan to the academy to calm the students—and only then did the crisis subside. Wu Min, seeking to quell the controversy, proposed appointing Chen Dong to office, granting him an official residence, and making him a recorder of the Imperial Academy. Chen Dong again demanded that the Cai faction be punished, and firmly refused office so that he could return home. In all he submitted five memorials. After returning home, he again passed the provincial examination for official recommendation.
10
高宗即位五日，相李綱，又五日召東至。 未得對，會綱去，乃上書乞留綱而罷黃潛善、汪伯彥。 不報。 請親征以還二聖，治諸將不進兵之罪，以作士氣； 車駕歸京師，勿幸金陵。 又不報。 潛善輩方揭示綱幸金陵舊奏，東言綱在中途，不知事體，宜以後說為正，必速罷潛善輩。
Five days after Emperor Gaozong took the throne, he appointed Li Gang chief minister. Five days after that he summoned Chen Dong to court. Before Chen Dong could be received in audience, Li Gang had already left office. Dong then submitted a memorial asking that Li Gang be kept in power and that Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan be removed. The court gave no reply. He urged the emperor to lead a personal campaign to recover the two captive emperors and punish the generals who had failed to advance, so as to restore the army's fighting spirit. The imperial carriage should return to the capital and not withdraw to Jinling. Again there was no reply. Huang Qianshan and his allies had just posted Li Gang's earlier memorial urging withdrawal to Jinling. Chen Dong argued that Gang, still en route at the time, had not known the full situation, and that his later statements should prevail. Huang Qianshan and his faction must be removed immediately.
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會布衣歐陽澈亦上書言事，潛善遽以語激怒高宗，言不亟誅，將復鼓眾伏闕。 書獨下潛善‘所。 府尹孟庾召東議事，東請食而行，手書區處家事，字畫如平時，已乃授其從者曰：“我死，爾歸致此於吾親。 ”食已如廁，吏有難色，東笑曰：“我陳東也，畏死即不敢言，已言肯逃死乎？ ”吏曰：“吾亦知公，安敢相迫。 ”頃之，東具冠帶出，別同邸，乃與澈同斬於市。 四明李猷贖其屍瘞之。 東初未識綱，特以國故，至為之死，識與不識皆為流涕。 時年四十有二。
At the same time the commoner Ouyang Che also submitted a memorial on affairs of state. Huang Qianshan swiftly used Che's words to inflame Gaozong, warning that unless the two men were executed immediately, they would again rouse crowds to kneel at the palace gate. The memorial was routed solely to Huang Qianshan's office. The prefect Meng Yu summoned Chen Dong to discuss the matter. Dong asked for a meal before setting out and wrote out arrangements for his household affairs by hand; his script was as steady as ever. He then handed the note to his attendant and said, "When I am dead, take this home to my parents. " After he had eaten, he went to relieve himself. An officer looked uneasy. Dong laughed and said, "I am Chen Dong. If I feared death I would never have spoken out; and having spoken, would I now run from it? " The officer replied, "I know who you are, sir. How could I dare to pressure you? " A moment later Chen Dong dressed in full cap and sash, bid farewell to those sharing his lodging, and was executed in the marketplace together with Ouyang Che. Li You of Siming ransomed their bodies and gave them burial. Chen Dong had not even known Li Gang personally; he acted purely out of loyalty to the state and went so far as to die for him. All who heard of it wept, whether they had known him or not. He was forty-two years old.
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潛善既殺二人，明日府尹白事，獨詰其何以不先關白，微示慍色，以明非己意。 越三年，高宗感悟，追贈東、澈承事郎。 東無子，官有服親一人，澈一子，令州縣撫其家。 及駕過鎮江，遣守臣祭東墓，賜緡錢五百。 紹興四年，並加朝奉郎、秘閣修撰，官其後二人，賜田十頃。
After Huang Qianshan had the two men killed, the prefect reported to court the next day and Qianshan alone rebuked him for failing to notify him in advance, feigning indignation to make clear the killings had not been his wish. Three years later Emperor Gaozong came to his senses and posthumously granted Chen Dong and Ouyang Che the rank of Court Gentleman for Miscellaneous Service. Chen Dong had no son; one close relative in mourning was entered on the official register on his behalf. Ouyang Che had one son. The court ordered local officials to provide for their families. When the imperial procession passed through Zhenjiang, the emperor sent the local magistrate to offer sacrifice at Chen Dong's tomb and granted five hundred strings of cash. In the fourth year of the Shaoxing reign, both were further promoted to Recipient of Tributes from the Court and Compiler in the Secretariat Archive. Two of their descendants were given official posts, and ten qing of land were granted.
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歐陽澈，字德明，撫州崇仁人。 年少美須眉，善談世事，尚氣大言，慷慨不少屈，而憂國閔時，出於天性。 靖康初，應製條敝政，陳安邊禦敵十策，州未許發。 退而復采朝廷之闕失，政令之乖違，可以為保邦禦俗之方、去蠹國殘民之賊者十事，復為書，並上聞。 已而復論列十事，言：“臣所進三書實為切要，然而觸權臣者有之，迕天聽者有之，或結怨富貴之門，或遺怒台諫之官，臣非不知，而敢抗言者，願以身而安天下也。 ”所上書為三巨軸，廄置卒辭不能舉，州將為選力士荷之以行。
Ouyang Che, courtesy name Deming, was a native of Chongren in Fuzhou. In his youth he was handsome, with fine brows and beard. He was skilled at discussing current affairs, spoke with bold spirit and never easily yielded. His love of country and grief for the age came from his very nature. At the start of the Jingkang era he entered the imperial examination on defective policies and submitted ten strategies for securing the borders and repelling the enemy, but the prefectural authorities would not forward the memorial. He withdrew and compiled ten further matters—failures of the court and violations of policy that, if corrected, could protect the state, safeguard the people, and root out those who devoured the nation and preyed on the populace—wrote another memorial, and submitted both together. He later submitted ten more points, writing: "The three memorials I have submitted address matters of urgent necessity. Some have offended powerful ministers; some have displeased the throne; some have made enemies among the great families; some have provoked the censorial and remonstrance officials. I know all this, yet I speak because I am willing to sacrifice my own life to secure peace for the realm. The memorials he submitted filled three enormous scrolls. A stable guard said he could not lift them, so the prefect selected strong men to carry them on their shoulders.
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許翰在政府，罷朝，問潛善處分何人，曰：“斬陳東、歐陽澈耳。 ”翰驚失色，因究其書何以不下政府，曰：“獨下潛善，故不得以相視。 ”遂力求罷。 為東、澈著哀詞。 澈所著《飄然集》六卷，會稽胡衍既刻之，豐城範應鈐為之祠學中。
Xu Han served in the central government. After court he asked whom Huang Qianshan intended to punish. Qianshan replied, "Execute Chen Dong and Ouyang Che. " Xu Han was shocked and turned pale. He then asked why the memorial had not been routed to the central government. The answer was, "It was sent down only to Huang Qianshan's office, so we could not review it together. He then pressed vigorously for his own dismissal from office. He composed elegies for Chen Dong and Ouyang Che. Che's collected works, the Piaoran Collection in six volumes, were printed by Hu Yan of Kuaiji, and Fan Yingqian of Fengcheng erected a shrine to him in the academy.
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馬伸，字時中，東平人。 紹聖四年進士。 不樂馳騖，每調官，未嚐擇便利。 為成都郫縣丞，守委受成都租。 前受輸者率以食色玩好蠱訹而敗，伸請絕宿弊。 民爭先輸，至沿途假寐以達旦，常平使者孫俟早行，怪問之，皆應曰：“今年馬縣丞受納，不病我也。 ”俟薦於朝。
Ma Shen, courtesy name Shizhong, was a native of Dongping. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of the Shaosheng reign. He did not enjoy chasing after advancement. Whenever he was assigned to a post, he never chose the easy or convenient appointment. While serving as assistant magistrate of Pi County in Chengdu, the prefect entrusted him with collecting the Chengdu land tax. Previous collectors had usually been ruined by using feasts, women, and luxuries to bribe and intimidate the people. Ma Shen demanded an end to this longstanding abuse. The people competed to pay their taxes early. Some even dozed along the road until dawn. The Ever-Normal Granary commissioner Sun Si, traveling early, was puzzled and asked why. All answered, "This year Magistrate Ma is collecting the tax, and he does not harm us. " Sun Si recommended him to the court.
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崇寧初，範致虛攻程頤為邪說，下河南府盡逐學徒。 伸注西京法曹，欲依頤門以學，因張繹求見，十反愈恭，頤固辭之。 伸欲休官而來，頤曰：“時論方異，恐貽子累，子能棄官，則官不必棄也。 ”曰：“使伸得聞道，死何憾，況未必死乎？ ”頤歎其有誌，進之。 自是公暇雖風雨必日一造，忌娼者飛語中傷之，弗顧，卒受《中庸》以歸。
At the start of the Chongning era, Fan Zhixu denounced Cheng Yi as a purveyor of heterodox doctrine, and the Henan prefectural government expelled all his students. Ma Shen was posted to the legal bureau of the Western Capital. Wishing to study under Cheng Yi's school, he sought an introduction through Zhang Yi. He visited ten times, growing more respectful each time, but Yi firmly refused. Ma Shen wanted to resign his post and come study in person. Cheng Yi said, "Opinion at court is hostile just now. I fear it would bring disaster upon you. If you are willing to give up your office, then your office need not be given up. Ma Shen replied, "If I can learn the Way, what regret is there in death? And besides, I may not die at all. Cheng Yi admired his resolve and accepted him as a student. From then on he visited every day in his free time, even in wind and rain. Jealous courtesans spread slanderous rumors against him, but he ignored them and in the end completed his study of the Doctrine of the Mean and returned home.
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靖康初，孫傅以卓行薦召，御史中丞秦檜迎辟之，擢監察御史。 及汴京陷，金人立張邦昌，集百官，環以兵脅之，俾推戴。 眾唯唯，伸獨奮曰：“吾職諫爭，忍坐視乎！ ”乃與御史吳給約秦檜共為議狀，乞存趙氏，復嗣君位。 會統製官吳革起義，募兵圖復二帝，伸預其謀。
At the start of the Jingkang era, Sun Fu recommended him for his outstanding character and he was summoned to court. The censor-in-chief Qin Hui welcomed him onto his staff, and he was promoted to supervising censor. When Bianjing fell, the Jin established Zhang Bangchang as ruler, assembled the officials, surrounded them with troops, and forced them to acclaim him. The others murmured their assent. Ma Shen alone spoke up boldly: "My duty is to remonstrate. How can I sit by and do nothing! " He then joined the censor Wu Ge and Qin Hui in drafting a joint petition asking that the Zhao dynasty be preserved and the rightful succession restored. When the system commander Wu Ge raised a rebellion, recruited troops, and plotted to recover the two captive emperors, Ma Shen took part in the scheme.
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邦昌既僭立，賊臣多從臾之，伸首具書請邦昌速迎奉元帥康王。 同院無肯連名者，伸獨持以往，而銀台司視書不稱臣，辭不受。 伸投袂叱之曰：“吾今日不愛一死，正為此耳，爾欲吾稱臣邪？ ”即繳申尚書省，以示邦昌。 其書略曰：
After Zhang Bangchang had usurped the throne, many treacherous ministers urged him on. Ma Shen was the first to draft a full memorial urging Bangchang to welcome and serve Prince Kang, the marshal, without delay. No one else in his office would co-sign the memorial. Ma Shen carried it alone. The Silver Terrace Office, seeing that the memorial did not use the language of a subject addressing a ruler, refused to accept it. Ma Shen flung his sleeve and shouted, "Today I do not value my life—and it is precisely for this. Do you want me to address him as my sovereign? He immediately forwarded it to the Ministry of Personnel to be shown to Zhang Bangchang. The memorial in brief reads:
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相公服事累朝，為宋輔臣。 比不幸迫於強敵，使當偽號，變出非常，相公此時豈以義為可犯，君為可忘，宗社神靈為可昧邪？ 所以忍須臾死而詭聽之者，其心若曰：與其虛遜於人而實亡趙氏之宗，孰若虛受於己而實存以歸之耳。 忠臣義士未即就死，闔城民庶未即生變者，亦以相公必能立趙孤也。
Lord Chancellor, you have served many reigns as a minister of Song. Recently, forced by a powerful enemy, you were made to assume a false title under extraordinary circumstances. At that moment, could you have believed that righteousness might be violated, that your sovereign might be forgotten, or that the spirits of the ancestral altars might be dishonored? The reason you endured a moment of shame and feigned obedience was that in your heart you reasoned: better to accept the title falsely yourself and in fact preserve the dynasty to be restored, than to defer falsely to others and in fact let the house of Zhao perish. Loyal ministers did not immediately lay down their lives, and the people of the capital did not immediately rise in rebellion, because they believed you would surely establish the Zhao heir.
20
今金人北還，相公義當憂懼，自列於朝。 康王在外，國統有屬，獄訟謳歌，人皆歸往。 宜即發使通問，掃清宮室，率群臣共迎而立之。 相公易服退處，省中庶事皆稟命太后，其赦書施恩惠、收人心等事，日下拘收，俟康王禦極施行。 然後相公北面引咎，以明身為人臣，昧於防患，遭寇仇脅汙，當時不能即死，以待陛下，今復何面目事君，請歸死司寇，為人臣失節之戒，伏闕下俟命。 如此，則明主必能察相公忠實存國，義非苟生，且棄過而錄功矣。
Now the Jin have withdrawn to the north. In righteousness you ought to be filled with anxiety and present yourself before the court. Prince Kang is abroad, and the imperial succession has a rightful heir. In every lawsuit and every song of praise, the people's hearts turn toward him. You should immediately send envoys to greet him, prepare the palace chambers, and lead the ministers together to welcome and establish him. You should change your robes and withdraw from office. All routine affairs of the Secretariat should be referred to the Empress Dowager. Amnesties, acts of grace, and other measures to win popular support should cease immediately and wait until Prince Kang ascends the throne to be carried out. Then you should turn northward, confess your fault, and declare that as a minister you failed to foresee the danger, were coerced and defiled by the enemy, and could not die immediately while waiting for the emperor's return. With what face can you now serve your sovereign? I ask that you go and accept death before the Minister of Justice as a warning to all faithless ministers, and kneel at the palace gate awaiting judgment. In this way the wise ruler will surely see that you loyally sought to preserve the state, that your righteousness was not mere clinging to life, and will overlook your fault and honor your service.
21
今乃謀不出此，時日已多，肆然尚當非據，偃寢禁闥，若固有之。 群心狐疑，道路混澒，謂相公方挾強金，使人遊說康王，姑令南遁，為久假不歸之計。 上天難欺，下民可畏。 相公若以愚言粗知覺悟，及此改圖，猶可轉禍為福於匪朝伊夕之間。 過此以往，則相公包藏已深，誌慮轉異，外飾事端，悽日待期，而陰結寇仇，合從為亂，九廟在天，萬無成理，伸必不能輔相公為宋朝叛臣也。 請先伏死都市，以明此心。”
Yet now you follow no such course. Many days have passed, and you brazenly continue to hold a throne that is not rightfully yours, sleeping within the forbidden palace as though it belonged to you. Public opinion is divided and the roads are in turmoil. People say you rely on Jin power, send envoys to persuade Prince Kang to flee south for the time being, and plan to keep the throne indefinitely without returning it. Heaven cannot be deceived, and the common people are not to be trifled with. If you can take my plain words to heart, awaken now, and change course, you may still turn disaster into blessing in no more than a day. Beyond that lies only deeper conspiracy and changed intent—outward pretexts, day by day awaiting the moment, while secretly allying with the enemy and plotting rebellion. With the ancestral spirits watching from Heaven, success would be impossible. I cannot help you become a traitor to Song. I ask only to die first in the capital marketplace, so that my loyalty may be made plain.
22
邦昌得書，氣沮謀喪。 明日，議迎哲宗後孟氏垂簾，追還偽赦，乃遣馮澥、李回等迎康王。
Zhang Bangchang received the memorial; his spirit collapsed and his schemes fell apart. The next day the court resolved to welcome Empress Meng, widow of Emperor Zhezong, to rule from behind the curtain, revoked the false amnesty, and sent Feng Xie, Li Hui, and others to welcome Prince Kang.
23
時王及之等猶請籍龍德宮寶貨，斥賣靈沼魚藕，以資官用。 伸復慨然引義檄之曰：“古者人臣去國，三年不反，然後收其田裏。 君之禮臣如此，臣之報君宜如何？ 今二聖遠狩，猶未出境，天下之人方且北首，欲追挽而還之。 君之府藏燕遊，忍一朝而毀乎？ 爾等逆節甚矣！ ”力爭乃止。
At that time Wang Jizhi and others still urged that the treasures of Longde Palace be catalogued and the fish and lotus roots of Ling Pond sold to fund the government. Ma Shen again, indignant, cited precedent and rebuked them in a memorial: "In antiquity, when a minister left his state, only after three years without return were his fields and homestead confiscated. If a sovereign treats his ministers thus, how should ministers repay their sovereign? Now the two emperors are held captive far away and have not yet left enemy territory. The people of the realm still turn northward, longing to bring them home. Can you bear to destroy your sovereign's treasuries and pleasure grounds in a single morning? Your treason is outrageous! " Through his forceful protest the plan was halted.
24
高宗即位，伸拜章以城陷不能救，主遷不能死，請就竄削。 上知其有忠力於國，擢殿中侍御史，撫諭荊湖、廣南，以誅邦昌及其黨王時雍等。 所過州縣，諏察吏之賢否與民利疚，以次列上於朝。
When Emperor Gaozong took the throne, Ma Shen submitted a memorial saying that because he had failed to save the capital when it fell and had not died when the sovereign was taken captive, he asked to accept demotion and exile. The emperor knew he had served the state with loyal force and promoted him to Palace Attendant Censor, sending him to pacify Jinghu and Guangnan and to execute Zhang Bangchang and his faction, including Wang Shiyong. In every prefecture and county he passed through, he investigated the merit of officials and the welfare or harm of the people, reporting his findings to the court in due order.
25
伸自湖、廣將入奏黃潛善、汪伯彥不法凡十有七事，草疏已具，朝廷方召孫覿、謝克家，乃先奏：“覿、克家趨操不正，在靖康間與王時雍、王及之等七人結為死黨，附耿南仲倡為和議，助成賊謀。 有不主和議者，則欲執送金人。 覿受金人女樂，草表媚之，極其筆力，乃負國之賊，宜加遠竄。 ”不報。 伸又進疏曰：
As Ma Shen was returning from Hunan and Guangdong to memorialize seventeen instances of misconduct by Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan, his draft already complete, the court was summoning Sun Jue and Xie Kejia. He submitted first: "Jue and Kejia are unprincipled. During the Jingkang era they joined Wang Shiyong, Wang Jizhi, and five others in a sworn faction, attached themselves to Geng Zhongzhong in advocating peace, and helped the enemy's designs. Those who opposed peace they wished to seize and hand over to the Jin. Jue accepted female musicians from the Jin and drafted a fawning memorial to them with all his literary skill. He is a traitor to the state and should be exiled far away. " The court gave no reply. Ma Shen then submitted another memorial:
26
陛下得黃潛善、汪伯彥以為輔相，委任不復疑。 然自入相以來，處事未嚐愜當物情，遂使女真日強，盜賊日熾，國本日蹙，威權日削。 且三鎮未服，汴都方危，前日遽下還都之詔，至今鑾輿未能順動。 其不謹詔命如此。 草茅對策不如式，考官罰金可矣，一日黜三舍人，乃取沈晦、孫覿、黃哲輩諸群小以掌誥命。 其黜陟不公如此。 吳給、張訚以言事被逐，邵成章緣上言遠竄。 其壅塞言路如此。 祖宗舊制，諫官御史有闕，御史中丞、翰林學士具名以進，三省不敢預，厥有深旨。 近擬用台諫，多取親舊，不過欲為己助。 其毀法自恣如此。 張愨、宗澤、許景衡公忠有才，皆可任重，潛善、伯彥忌之，沮抑至死。 其妨功害能如此。 或責以救焚拯溺之事，則曰難言，蓋謂陛下製之不得施設也。 或問陳東之死，則曰不知，蓋謂其事繇於陛下也。 其過則稱君、善則稱己如此。 呂源狂橫，陛下逐去，不數月由郡守升發運。 其強狠自專如此。 禦營使雖主兵權，凡行在諸軍皆其所統，潛善、伯彥別置親兵一千人，請給居處，優於眾兵。 其務收軍情如此。 廣市私恩，則多復祠官之闕； 同惡相濟，則力庇王安中之罪。 摭其所為，豈不辜陛下倚任之重哉？
Your Majesty appointed Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan as chief ministers and entrusted them without further doubt. Yet from the day they took office their conduct has never satisfied public sentiment: the Jurchen grow stronger daily, banditry spreads daily, the foundations of the state weaken daily, and imperial authority shrinks daily. The Three Prefectures remain unpacified and the capital is still in peril. An edict to return to the capital was issued hastily, yet the imperial carriage still has not moved accordingly. Such is their disregard for imperial commands. When commoners' examination answers failed to follow form, a fine for the examiner would suffice; yet in a single day three Secretariat Drafters were dismissed and Shen Hui, Sun Jue, Huang Zhe, and other petty men were installed to manage edicts and decrees. Such is their unfairness in appointments and dismissals. Wu Ge and Zhang Yan were driven out for speaking on state affairs; Shao Chengzhang was exiled far away for submitting a memorial. Such is their choking off of free speech. By ancestral institution, when remonstrance and censorial posts fell vacant, the censor-in-chief and Hanlin Academician submitted names; the Three Departments dared not intervene. This had profound purpose. Recently in proposing censorial and remonstrance appointments they have mostly chosen relatives and intimates, intending only to secure allies for themselves. Such is their destruction of law and self-willed conduct. Zhang Xuan, Zong Ze, and Xu Jingheng were loyal, talented, and fit for heavy responsibility. Qianshan and Boyan envied them and suppressed them until they died. Such is their obstruction of merit and harm to the capable. When charged with urgent rescue of the state, they would say it was difficult to speak of—meaning that Your Majesty restrained them so they could not act. When asked about Chen Dong's death, they would say they did not know—meaning that the affair arose from Your Majesty. They attributed faults to the ruler and claimed merit for themselves—such was their conduct. Lü Yuan was insolent and overbearing; Your Majesty drove him away, yet within months he was promoted from prefect to transport commissioner. Such is their fierce self-will. Although the Imperial Camp commissioner held military authority over all armies at the temporary capital, Qianshan and Boyan separately established a personal guard of one thousand men, requesting quarters and provisions superior to the rest. Such is their effort to win military favor. To spread private favor widely, they restored many vacant sinecure posts. As evil men aiding one another, they strenuously shielded Wang Anzhong's crimes. Gathering their conduct together, have they not betrayed the weight of Your Majesty's trust?
27
陛下隱忍不肯斥逐，塗炭遺民固已絕望，二聖還期在何時邪？ 臣每念此，不如無生。 歲月如流，時幾易失，望速罷潛善、伯彥政柄，別選賢者，共圖大事。
Your Majesty forbearingly refuses to dismiss them. The suffering people are already in despair. When will the two emperors return? Whenever I think of this, death seems better than life. Years flow like water and opportunities slip away easily. I beg Your Majesty to remove Qianshan and Boyan from power at once, select other worthy men, and together plan the nation's recovery.
28
疏入，留中。 明日，改衛尉少卿。 伸以論事不行，辭不拜，錄其疏申御史台，且疊上章言：“臣言可采，即乞施行，若臣言非是，合坐誣罔之罪。 ”移疾待命。 旬日，詔伸言事不實，送吏部責濮州監酒稅。 時用事者恚甚，必欲殺之，以濮迫寇境，故有是命。 趣使上道，伸怡然袱被而行，死道中。 或曰王淵在濮，潛善密嗾其不利於伸。 天下識與不識皆冤痛之。
When the memorial arrived, it was retained at court without action. The next day he was transferred to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Because his remonstrance had not been heeded, Ma Shen declined the appointment. He filed his memorial with the Censorate and repeatedly submitted memorials saying, "If my words may be adopted, let them be implemented. If my words are wrong, I ought to bear the crime of false accusation. " He reported illness and awaited the court's decision. Within ten days an edict declared that Ma Shen's charges were unfounded and sent him to the Ministry of Personnel to be punished with supervision of wine tax at Puzhou. Those in power were exceedingly angry and wished certainly to kill him. Because Puzhou lay close to enemy territory, this appointment was made. Urged to depart at once, Ma Shen calmly wrapped his bedding and set out, and died on the road. Some say Wang Yuan was at Puzhou and Huang Qianshan secretly instructed him to do harm to Ma Shen. Throughout the realm, whether they knew him or not, all grieved for him as for a wrongful death.
29
明年，金人陷廣陵，伸言始驗，潛善、伯彥始以誤國竄殛。 於是台臣奏伸嚐論潛善等罪，乃復以衛尉少卿召，實未知其存亡也。 尋加直龍圖閣。
The next year, when the Jin took Guangling, Ma Shen's warnings were vindicated and Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan were at last exiled and executed for misleading the state. Censorial officials then memorialized that Ma Shen had once indicted Qianshan and others, and he was again summoned as Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments—not knowing whether he was still alive. Shortly afterward he was further granted direct appointment to the Dragon Diagram Hall.
30
紹興初，胡安國上《時政論》，有曰：“伸言潛善、伯彥措置乖方，條其罪狀，凡舉一事，必立一證，皆眾所共知共見，不敢以無為有，以是為非。 而當時曾不從用，反以為言事不實而重責之，是罰沮忠讜，邪說何由而息，公道何由而明乎？ 伸既遠貶，雖有詔命，邈無來期，君子閔焉。 賁以龍圖，猶未盡褒勸之典。 乞重加追獎，及其子孫，以承天意。 ”詔贈諫議大夫。
In the early Shaoxing era, Hu Anguo submitted a Discourse on Current Policy, writing: "Ma Shen indicted the improper conduct of Qianshan and Boyan and listed their crimes. For each charge he established evidence known and seen by all. He did not dare to invent or deny facts. Yet the court did not follow his advice and instead punished him heavily for unfounded charges. This penalized loyal remonstrance. How then could heterodox doctrines cease and justice prevail? After Ma Shen was exiled far away, although edicts and appointments followed, there was no prospect of his return. Men of principle grieved for him. Honoring him with the Dragon Diagram Hall still fell short of the full measure of commendation he deserved. I pray that heavier posthumous rewards be granted to him and his descendants, to accord with Heaven's intent. " An edict posthumously granted him the title Remonstrance and Policy Adviser.
31
伸天資純確，學問有原委，勇於為義，而所韞深厚，恥以自名。 建炎初，右正言鄧肅嚐論朝士臣邦昌者，例貶二秩，伸不辨也。 凡有建明，輒削其稿，人罕知之。 居官，晨興必整衣端坐，讀《中庸》一遍，然後出涖事。 每曰：“吾誌在行道。 以富貴為心，則為富貴所累； 以妻子為念，則為妻子所奪，道不可行也。 ”故在廣陵，行篋一簷，圖書半之。 山東已擾，家尚留於鄆。 常稱：“孔子言：‘誌士不忘在溝壑，勇士不忘喪其元。 ’今日何日，溝壑乃吾死所也。”
Ma Shen's nature was pure and steadfast; his learning had deep roots. He was courageous in righteousness, yet his inner reserves were profound and he was ashamed to seek fame. In the early Jianyan era, the Right Remonstrance Adviser Deng Su discussed court officials who had served Zhang Bangchang; by precedent they were demoted two ranks. Ma Shen did not defend himself. Whenever he made proposals, he destroyed the drafts; few knew of his contributions. In office, every morning he straightened his garments, sat upright, read through the Doctrine of the Mean once, and only then went out to handle affairs. He often said, "My aim is to walk in the Way. If one takes wealth and honor as one's heart, one is bound by wealth and honor. If one takes wife and children as one's thought, one is seized by wife and children—the Way cannot be walked. " Therefore at Guangling his traveling chest held but one shelf, and books filled half of it. Shandong was already in turmoil; his family still remained in Yan. He often quoted Confucius: "The man of resolve does not forget that he may end in ditches and gullies; the man of courage does not forget that he may lose his head." What day is today? The ditches and gullies are where I shall die.
32
有何兌者，昭武人，受學於伸。 伸沒，兌嚐輯其事狀。 紹興中，為辰州通判，都郵報，秦檜自陳其存趙之功，謂它人莫預。 兌徑取所輯事狀達尚書省，檜大怒，下兌荊南詔獄，獄辭皆出吏手，兌坐削官竄真陽。 檜死始放還，復其官。 尋卒。
There was one He Dui, a native of Zhaowu, who had studied under Ma Shen. After Ma Shen died, He Dui compiled an account of his deeds. During the Shaoxing era he served as vice prefect of Chenzhou. The capital courier reported that Qin Hui himself claimed credit for preserving the Zhao dynasty, saying that others had no part in it. He Dui took the compiled account directly to the Ministry of Personnel. Qin Hui was enraged and had him thrown into the Jingnan imperial prison. The prison documents were all written by clerks; He Dui was stripped of office and exiled to Zhenyang. After Qin Hui died he was at last released and his office restored. Shortly afterward he died.
33
呂祖儉字子約，祖謙之弟也，受業祖謙如諸生。 監明州倉，將上，會祖謙卒。 部法半年不上者為違年，祖儉必欲終期喪，朝廷從之，詔違年者以一年為限，自祖儉始。
Lü Zujian, courtesy name Ziyue, was the younger brother of Lü Zuqian. He studied under Zuqian as other students did. He was supervising the Mingzhou granary and was about to report for duty when Zuqian died. By ministry law, failure to report within half a year counted as violation of the term limit. Zujian insisted on completing the full mourning period. The court acceded and decreed that violators would be allowed one year, beginning with Zujian.
34
終更赴銓，丞相周必大語尚書尤袤招之，祖儉已調衢州法曹而後往見。 潘時經略廣東，欲辟為屬，祖儉辭。 尋以侍從鄭僑、張杓、羅點、諸葛庭瑞薦，召除籍田令。
When his mourning ended he went for appointment review. Chief Minister Zhou Bida told Minister of Personnel You Mao to summon him. Zujian had already been assigned to the Quzhou legal bureau and went to see him only afterward. Pan Shi was pacification commissioner of Guangdong and wished to recruit him as staff. Zujian declined. Shortly afterward, on recommendation of attendant officials Zheng Qiao, Zhang Biao, Luo Dian, and Zhuge Tingrui, he was summoned and appointed Recorder of the Imperial Fields.
35
中丞何澹所生父繼室周氏死，澹欲服伯母服，下太常百官雜議。 祖儉貽書宰相曰：“《禮》曰：‘為伋也妻者，是為白也母。 ’今周氏非中丞父之妻乎？ 將不謂之母而謂之何？ 中丞為風憲首，而以不孝令，百僚何觀焉。 ”除司農簿，已而乞補外，通判台州。 寧宗即位，除太府丞。
Censor-in-chief He Dan's father's concubine after remarriage, Lady Zhou, died. Dan wished to wear mourning for an elder brother's wife. The Directorate of Sacrifices had all officials discuss the matter together. Zujian sent a letter to the chief minister saying, "The Rites says: 'For one who marries the younger son's wife, this is making her mother to the elder son Bai.' Is not Lady Zhou the wife of the censor-in-chief's father? If you will not call her mother, what will you call her? The censor-in-chief heads the censorial bureau; yet by this unfilial command, what example will the hundred officials follow? " He was appointed Registrar of the Directorate of Agriculture; shortly afterward he requested an outer appointment and was made Vice Prefect of Taizhou. When Emperor Ningzong took the throne, he was appointed Vice Director of the Imperial Treasury.
36
時韓侂胄浸用事，正言李沐論右相趙汝愚罷之。 祖儉奏：“汝愚亦不得無過，然未至如言者所雲。 ”侂胄怒曰：“呂寺丞乃預我事邪？ ”會祭酒李祥、博士楊簡皆上書訟汝愚，沐皆劾罷之。 祖儉乃上封事曰：“陛下初政清明，登用忠良，然曾未逾時，朱熹老儒也，有所論列，則亟使之去； 彭龜年舊學也，有所論列，亦亟許之去； 至於李祥老成篤實，非有偏比，蓋眾聽所共孚者，今又終於斥逐。 臣恐自是天下有當言之事，必將相視以為戒，鉗口結舌之風一成而未易反，是豈國家之利邪？”
At that time Han Tuozhou was gradually gaining power. Remonstrance Adviser Li Mu memorialized to dismiss the right chief minister Zhao Ruyu. Zujian memorialized, "Ruyu too cannot be without fault, yet he has not reached what the accuser claims. " Tuozhou said angrily, "Does Vice Director Lü of the Temple presume to meddle in my affairs? " When Libationer Li Xiang and Erudite Yang Jian both submitted memorials in defense of Ruyu, Li Mu memorialized to have them all dismissed. Zujian then submitted a sealed memorial, saying, "Your Majesty's initial government is clear and bright; you employ the loyal and worthy. Yet in no more than a season, Zhu Xi, an elder Confucian, whenever he offered criticism was immediately made to leave. Peng Guinian, too, was a member of Your Majesty's old study circle; whenever he offered criticism, he was likewise promptly allowed to leave. As for Li Xiang—mature, steady, and honest, without partiality or faction, trusted by all who heard him—he too has now been driven out. I fear that from now on, whenever something in the realm ought to be said, men will look to one another for warning and hold their tongues; once the habit of silenced speech takes hold, it will not easily be reversed—is that truly to the nation's benefit?
37
又曰：“今之能言之士，其所難非在於得罪君父，而在忤意權勢。 姑以臣所知者言之，難莫難於論災異，然言之而不諱者，以其事不關於權勢也。 若乃御筆之降，廟堂不敢重違，台諫不敢深論，給、舍不敢固執，蓋以其事關貴幸，深慮乘間激發而重得罪也。 故凡勸導人主事從中出者，蓋欲假人主之聲勢，以漸竊威權耳。 比者聞之道路，左右褻禦，於黜陟廢置之際，間得聞者，車馬輻湊，其門如市，恃權怙寵，搖撼外庭。 臣恐事勢浸淫，政歸幸門，不在公室。 凡所薦進皆其所私，凡所傾陷皆其所惡，豈但側目憚畏，莫敢指言，而阿比順從，內外表裏之患，必將形見。 臣因李祥獲罪而深及此者，是豈矯激自取罪戾哉？ 實以士氣頹靡之中，稍忤權臣，則去不旋踵。 私憂過計，深慮陛下之勢孤，而相與維持宗社者浸寡也。”
He also said, "Among those who dare speak today, what they fear is not offending their sovereign and father, but crossing those who wield power. To speak from what I know: nothing is harder than discussing portents and anomalies—yet those who speak without restraint do so because such matters have nothing to do with the powerful. But when an imperial rescript comes down, the ministers in the hall dare not openly defy it, the censor-remonstrators dare not probe deeply, and the drafting secretariat dare not stand firm—because such matters touch the favored and powerful, and they deeply fear that any opening might provoke fresh offense and graver punishment. Thus everyone who counsels the ruler while acting from behind the throne seeks to borrow the sovereign's authority and prestige in order gradually to seize power for himself. Lately one hears on the road that attendants close to the sovereign, when appointments and dismissals are decided and word occasionally leaks out, find their gates thronged with carriages and horses like a marketplace—relying on power and favor, they shake the outer court. I fear the situation will worsen by degrees until government rests with the favorites' doors, not with the public administration. Everyone they advance is their own protégé; everyone they ruin is their enemy. Not only will men watch sideways in fear and dare not speak—but fawning and collusion, the harm within and without, will surely become visible. I speak at such length because Li Xiang was punished—is this merely reckless exaggeration to bring guilt upon myself? In truth, with the spirit of the scholar-official class already sagging, a slight offense against a powerful minister means dismissal almost at once. Out of private anxiety I may overstate the case, yet I deeply fear that Your Majesty stands increasingly alone, and those who jointly uphold the altars of state grow ever fewer.
38
疏既上，束簷待罪。 有旨：呂祖儉朋比罔上，安置韶州。 中書舍人鄧馹繳奏，祖儉罪不至貶。 御筆：“祖儉意在無君，罪當誅。 竄逐已為寬恩。 ”會樓鑰進讀呂公著元祐初所上十事，因進曰：“如公著社稷臣，猶將十世宥之，前日太府寺丞呂祖儉以言事得罪者，其孫也。 今投之嶺外，萬一即死，聖朝有殺言者之名，臣竊為陛下惜之。 ”上問：“祖儉所言何事？ ”然後知前日之行不出上意。 侂胄謂人曰：“復有救祖儉者，當處以新州矣。 ”眾莫敢出口。 有謂侂胄曰：“自趙丞相去，天下已切齒，今又投祖儉瘴鄉，不幸或死，則怨益重，曷若少徙內地。 ”侂胄亦悟。 祖儉至廬陵，將趨嶺，得旨改送吉州。 遇赦，量移高安。 二年卒，詔令歸葬。
Once the memorial was submitted, he bound himself at the eaves and awaited punishment. An edict came down: Lü Zujian had formed factions and deceived his sovereign; he was to be settled at Shaozhou. Secretariat Drafter Deng Zhi submitted a rebuttal memorial, arguing that Zujian's offense did not warrant demotion. Imperial rescript: "Zujian's intent is disloyalty to his ruler; the crime deserves death. Banishment is already a lenient show of mercy. " Then Lou Yue, while reading aloud to the throne Lü Gongzhu's ten memorial items from the early Yuanyou era, added, "If even a pillar of state like Gongzhu should receive pardon for ten generations, Vice Director Lü Zujian, who was punished for speaking out the other day, is his grandson. Now, if he is sent beyond the mountain passes and should die, the dynasty will bear the name of slaying those who speak—I am deeply concerned for Your Majesty. " The emperor asked, "What did Zujian speak about? " Only then did he realize that the action the other day had not come from the emperor's own intent. Tuozhou said to others, "If anyone again tries to save Zujian, he shall be sent to Xin Prefecture. " No one dared speak out. Someone told Tuozhou, "Since Chief Minister Zhao was removed, the realm has already gnashed its teeth; now, if Zujian is sent to the malarial south and should unhappily die, resentment will only deepen—would it not be better to transfer him somewhat inward? " Tuozhou came to see the point. Zujian reached Luling and was about to cross the mountain passes when an order came to send him instead to Ji Prefecture. A general amnesty came, and he was transferred as permitted to Gao'an. Two years later he died; an edict ordered his remains returned for burial.
39
祖儉之謫也，朱熹與書曰：“熹以官則高於子約，以上之顧遇恩禮則深於子約，然坐視群小之為，不能一言以報效，乃令子約獨舒憤懣，觸群小而蹈禍機，其愧歎深矣。 ”祖儉報書曰：“在朝行聞時事，如在水火中，不可一朝居。 使處鄉閭，理亂不知，又何以多言為哉？ ”在謫所，讀書窮理，賣藥以自給。 每出，必草履徒步，為逾嶺之備。 嚐言：“因世變有所摧折，失其素履者，固不足言矣； 因世變而意氣有所加者，亦私心也。 ”所為文有《大愚集》。 祖儉從弟祖泰。
When Zujian was in exile, Zhu Xi wrote to him, "In rank I am higher than you, Ziyue, and in the favor and courtesy the sovereign has shown me I am treated more deeply than you—yet I sit by while petty men do as they please, unable to speak a single word in service, and let you alone pour out your indignation, provoke those petty men, and walk into the jaws of disaster. My shame and sighing run deep. " Zujian replied, "While at court one hears of current affairs as if living amid water and fire—it cannot be endured for a single morning. If one dwells in the countryside and does not know whether order or chaos prevails, what point is there in speaking much? " At his place of exile he studied books to exhaust principle and sold medicine to support himself. Whenever he went out, he always wore straw sandals and walked on foot, preparing himself to cross the mountain passes. He once said, "Those broken by the changes of the times who lose their lifelong integrity—of them there is nothing to say; but to let the changes of the times inflate one's spirit—that too is private feeling. " His writings were collected in the Dayu ji. Zujian's younger cousin was Zutai.
40
祖泰。 字泰然，夷簡六世孫，寓常之宜興。 性疏達，尚氣誼，學問該洽。 遍遊江、淮，交當世知名士，得錢或分挈以去，無吝色。 飲酒至數鬥不醉，論世事無所忌諱，聞者或掩耳而走。
Zutai. Style name Tairan, sixth-generation descendant of Lü Yijian, residing at Yixing in Chang Prefecture. By nature open and broad-minded, he valued honor and friendship, and his learning was wide and thorough. He traveled throughout the Yangzi and Huai regions, befriending celebrated men of the age; when he got money he sometimes shared it and went on without a hint of reluctance. He could drink several dou without getting drunk; when he discussed current affairs he held nothing back, and some who heard him covered their ears and fled.
41
慶元初，祖儉以言事安置韶州。 既移瑞州，祖泰徒步往省之，留月餘，語其友王深厚曰：“自吾兄之貶，諸人箝口。 我雖無位，義必以言報國，當少須之，今未敢以累吾兄也。 ”及祖儉沒貶所，嘉泰元年，周必大降少保致仕，祖泰憤之，乃詣登聞鼓院上書，論侂胄有無君之心，請誅之以防禍亂。 其略曰：“道學，自古所恃以為國也。 丞相汝愚，今之有大勳勞者也。 立偽學之禁，逐汝愚之黨，是將空陛下之國，而陛下不知悟邪？ 陳自強，侂胄童孺之師，躐致宰輔。 陛下舊學之臣，若彭龜年等，今安在邪？ 蘇師旦，平江之史胥，以潛邸而得節鉞； 周筠，韓氏之廝役，以皇后親屬得大官。 不識陛下在潛邸時果識師旦乎？ 椒房之親果有筠乎？ 凡侂胄之徒，自尊大而卑朝廷，一至於此也！ 願亟誅侂胄及師旦、周筠，而罷逐自強之徒。 獨周必大可用，宜以代之，不然，事將不測。 ”書出，中外大駭。
At the beginning of the Qingyuan reign, Zujian was settled at Shaozhou for memorializing on state affairs. After his transfer to Ruizhou, Zutai traveled on foot to visit him and stayed over a month, telling his friend Wang Shenhou, "Since my elder brother's banishment, everyone has silenced themselves. Though I hold no office, duty requires me to speak for the realm. I must wait a little—I dare not involve my brother yet. " When Zujian died in exile, in the first year of Jiatai Zhou Bida was demoted to Junior Guardian and retired; Zutai, in anger, went to the Memorial Drum Court and submitted a memorial accusing Tuozhou of disloyalty and asking that he be executed to guard against calamity. The gist read, "The Way and learning—since antiquity the state has relied upon them. Chief Minister Ruyu is a man of great merit in our time. To establish a ban on 'false learning' and drive out Ruyu's faction is to empty Your Majesty's realm—yet does Your Majesty not see it? Chen Ziqiang, Tuozhou's childhood tutor, leaped straight to the chief ministership. Your Majesty's old study companions, such as Peng Guinian—where are they now? Su Shidan, a clerk-scribe from Pingjiang, obtained military command through connection with the Hidden Residence; Zhou Yun, a menial of the Han clan, gained high office through kinship with the empress. Did Your Majesty really know Shidan when you were at the Hidden Residence? Did the empress's kin truly include Yun? In every way Tuozhou's faction exalts itself and belittles the court—matters have come to this! I beg that Tuozhou, Shidan, and Zhou Yun be swiftly put to death, and that Ziqiang and his ilk be dismissed and driven out. Zhou Bida alone is fit for service and should replace them; otherwise events will become unpredictable. " When the memorial appeared, court and countryside alike were deeply shaken.
42
有旨：“呂祖泰挾私上書，語言狂妄，拘管連州。 ”右諫議大夫程鬆與祖泰狎友，懼曰：“人知我素與遊，其謂預聞乎？ ”乃獨奏言：“祖泰有當誅之罪，且其上書必有教之者，今縱不殺，猶當杖黥竄遠方。 ”殿中侍御史陳讜亦以為言。 乃杖之百，配欽州牢城收管。
An edict came down: "Lü Zutai submitted a memorial out of private motive with reckless language; he is to be detained and supervised at Lian Prefecture. " Right Remonstrance Officer Cheng Song, an intimate friend of Zutai, feared and said, "People know I have long associated with him—will they think I knew in advance? " He then alone memorialized, "Zutai's crime deserves death, and there must have been someone who taught him to write that memorial; even if he is not killed now, he should still be flogged, tattooed, and exiled to a distant place. " Palace Censor Chen Tan also spoke to the same effect. He was flogged one hundred strokes and assigned to garrison detention at Qin Prefecture.
43
初，監察御史林采言偽習之成，造端自必大，故有少保之命。 祖泰知必死，冀以身悟朝廷，無懼色。 既至府廷，尹為好語誘之曰：“誰教汝共為章？ 汝試言之，吾且寬汝。 ”祖泰笑曰：“公何問之愚也。 吾固知必死，而可受教於人，且與人議之乎？ ”尹曰：“汝病風喪心邪？ ”祖泰曰：“以吾觀之，若今之附韓氏得美官者，乃病風喪心耳。”
Earlier, Supervising Censor Lin Cai had said the formation of 'false learning' originated with Bida, and so came the order making him Junior Guardian. Zutai knew he must die; he hoped to awaken the court through his own body, and showed no fear. When he reached the prefectural hall, the prefect tried to coax him with kind words: "Who taught you to write that memorial together? Tell me, and I shall lighten your punishment. " Zutai laughed and said, "Sir, how foolish to ask such a question! I knew from the start I must die—how could I accept instruction from another, or even discuss it with anyone? " The prefect said, "Are you mad with wind sickness and have lost your mind? " Zutai said, "As I see it, those who now attach themselves to the Han clan and win fine posts—they are the ones mad with wind sickness and bereft of mind.
44
祖泰既貶，道出潭州，錢文子為醴陵令，私贐其行。 侂胄使人跡其所在，祖泰乃匿襄、郢間。 侂胄誅，朝廷訪得祖泰所在，詔雪其冤，特補上州文學，改授迪功郎、監南嶽廟。 喪母無以葬，至都謀於諸公，得寒疾，索紙書曰：“吾與吾兄共攻權臣，今權臣誅，吾死不憾。 獨吾生還無以報國，且未能葬吾母，為可憾耳。 ”乃卒。 尹王柟為具棺斂歸葬焉。
After Zutai was banished, passing through Tan Prefecture on the road, Qian Wenzi was magistrate of Liling and privately supplied his journey. Tuozhou sent men to track his whereabouts; Zutai then hid between Xiang and Ying. When Tuozhou was executed, the court found where Zutai was, issued an edict clearing his wrong, specially appointed him Erudite of an upper prefecture, and reappointed him as Diligent Officer and keeper of the Southern Marchmount Temple. After his mother died he had no means to bury her; he went to the capital to seek help from the grandees, took a chill, asked for paper and wrote, "My elder brother and I alike assailed the powerful minister; now that minister is dead, I die without regret. Only that I have returned alive yet done nothing to serve the realm, and have been unable to bury my mother—that alone is regrettable. " Then he died. Prefect Wang Shan provided a coffin, prepared his remains, and sent them home for burial.
45
楊宏中字充甫，福州人。 弱冠補國子生。 孝宗崩，光宗以疾不能執喪。 時趙汝愚知樞密院，奏請太皇太后迎立寧宗於嘉邸，以成喪禮，朝野晏然。 遂命汝愚為右丞相，登進耆德及一時知名之士，有意慶曆、元祐之治。 韓侂胄竊弄國柄，引將作監李沐為右正言，首論罷汝愚，中丞何澹、御史胡紱章繼上，竄汝愚永州。 國子祭酒李祥、博士楊簡連疏救爭，俱被斥。 宏中曰：“師儒能辨大臣之冤，而諸生不能留師儒之去，於誼安乎？ ”眾莫應，獨林仲麟、徐範、張衟、蔣傅、周端朝五人願預其議。 遂上書曰：
Yang Hongzhong, style name Chongfu, was a man of Fuzhou. In his early twenties he entered the Imperial Academy as a student. When Emperor Xiaozong died, Emperor Guangzong was ill and unable to perform mourning rites. At that time Zhao Ruyu directed the Bureau of Military Affairs and memorialized asking the Grand Empress Dowager to welcome Ningzong from the Jia Residence to take the throne and complete the mourning rites; court and countryside alike were at peace. Ruyu was then made chief minister on the right, elevated venerable elders and celebrated men of the age, with an eye toward governance like the Qingli and Yuanyou eras. Han Tuozhou secretly wielded state power, brought in Li Mu from the Directorate of Palace Buildings as Right Remonstrance Adviser, who first memorialized to dismiss Ruyu; Censor-in-chief He Dan and Censor Hu Hong and others followed, and Ruyu was banished to Yong Prefecture. Academy Libationer Li Xiang and Erudite Yang Jian submitted successive memorials pleading in protest—both were driven out. Hongzhong said, "Our teachers can discern the injustice done to a great minister—yet we students cannot keep our teachers from leaving. Where is the propriety in that? " The crowd did not answer; only Lin Zhonglin, Xu Fan, Zhang Yu, Jiang Fu, and Zhou Duanchao—five men—wished to join the deliberation. They then submitted a memorial, saying:
46
自古國家禍亂之由，初非一道，惟小人中傷君子，其禍尤慘。 君子登庸，杜絕邪枉，要其處心實在於愛君憂國。 小人得誌，仇視正人，必欲空其朋類，然後可以肆行而無忌。 於是人主孤立，而社稷危矣。 黨錮敞漢，朋黨亂唐，大率由此。 元祐以來，邪正交攻，卒成靖康之變，臣子所不忍言，而陛下所不忍聞也。
Since antiquity the causes of a state's ruin and turmoil have never been single—but when petty men wound worthy men, the calamity is especially grievous. When worthy men hold office they shut out the crooked; at bottom their hearts lie in loving the ruler and grieving for the state. When petty men get their way they hate the upright, empty out their allies, and only then can act without restraint. Then the ruler stands alone, and the altars of soil and grain are in peril. The faction proscriptions ruined Han; cliques threw Tang into chaos—mostly from this pattern. From Yuanyou onward orthodox and heterodox attacked each other, until at last came the Jingkang catastrophe—what subjects cannot bear to speak of, and what Your Majesty cannot bear to hear.
47
臣竊見近者諫臣李沐論前宰相趙汝愚數談夢兆，擅權植黨，將不利於陛下。 以此加誣，實不其然。 汝愚乞去，中外谘憤，而言者以為父老歡呼，蒙蔽天聽，一至於此。 章穎力辨其非，首遭斥逐，聞者已駭； 既而祭酒李祥、博士楊簡相繼抗論，毅然求去，告假幾月，善類皇皇。 一旦有外補之命，言者惡其扶植正論，極力牴排，同日報罷，六館之士為之憤惋涕泣。 今李沐自知邪正之不兩立，而公議之不直己也，乃欲盡去正人以便其私，於是托朋黨以罔陛下之聽。 臣謂二人之去若未足惜，殆恐君子小人消長之機於此一判，則靖康已然之監，豈堪復見於今日邪？ 陛下厲精圖政，方將正三綱以維人心，采群議以定國是，遽聽奸回，概疑善類，此臣等之所未諭也。
I have observed that recently Remonstrance Adviser Li Mu spoke of former chief minister Zhao Ruyu discussing dream omens repeatedly, monopolizing power and building factions, with intent harmful to Your Majesty. To heap such false charges upon him is simply untrue. Ruyu begged to resign; court and countryside seethed with indignation, yet the remonstrators claimed the common people were cheering and had deceived the throne—things had sunk to this. Zhang Ying forcefully rebutted the charge and was the first expelled; all who heard of it were shaken; then the Erudite Li Xiang and the Erudite Yang Jian remonstrated in turn, resolutely resigned, took leave for months, and men of integrity grew fearful. When outside appointments were issued, the remonstrators resented their support of upright opinion and pressed hard for their removal; dismissed the same day, the students of the Six Halls wept in outrage. Li Mu, knowing that good and evil cannot coexist and that public opinion condemned him, sought to purge every upright man for his private advantage and invoked the charge of faction to mislead Your Majesty. Even if the loss of these two men were not yet grave in itself, I fear the decisive turn in the struggle between worthy men and petty men comes here; the warning of Jingkang already stands before us—can we endure to see it repeated? Your Majesty is striving to reform the realm, about to restore the Three Bonds and gather counsel to settle the nation's course—yet you suddenly heed traitors and suspect the good wholesale. We cannot fathom this.
48
臣願陛下鑒漢、唐之禍，懲靖康之變，精加宸慮，特奮睿斷。 念汝愚之忠勤，察祥簡之非黨，灼李沐之回邪，明示好惡，旌別淑慝，竄李沐以謝天下，還祥、簡以收士心，臣雖身膏鼎鑊，實所不辭。
I urge Your Majesty to heed the catastrophes of Han and Tang, take warning from Jingkang, sharpen your imperial judgment, and act with resolute wisdom. Remember Ruyu's loyal service, see that Xiang and Jian are no faction, expose Li Mu's depravity, declare your likes and dislikes, separate good from evil, banish Li Mu to appease the realm, restore Xiang and Jian to win scholars' hearts—even if I am boiled alive, I shall not refuse.
49
書奏不報，則繳副封於台諫、侍從。 侂胄大怒，坐以不合上書之罪，六人皆編置，以宏中為首，將竄之嶺南。 中書舍人鄧馹上書救之，不聽。 右丞相餘端禮拜於榻前至數十，丐免遠徙。 上惻然許之，乃送太平州編管。 天下號為“六君子”。
When the memorial went unanswered, they submitted a sealed copy to the remonstrance and censorial bureaus and the attendant officials. Tuozhou flew into a rage, convicted them of improper memorial submission, and banished all six—Hongzhong named first—to distant posts, intending exile to Lingnan. The Secretariat Drafter Deng Yi memorialized in their defense; the emperor would not listen. Chief Minister Yu Duanli kowtowed before the throne dozens of times, begging that they be spared distant exile. Moved to pity, the emperor assented and sent them to registered banishment in Taiping Prefecture. All the realm hailed them as the "Six Gentlemen."
50
明年，移福州聽讀。 嘉泰三年，寧宗幸學，持旨放還。 開禧元年，宏中登進士第，教授南劍州。 太守餘嶸，故相端禮子，與之相得甚歡。 侂胄誅，先以言得罪者悉加褒錄。 嘉定元年，特遷宏中一秩，亦不拜。 六年，以嶸與汪逵、趙彥橚薦，授戶部架閣，俄遷太學正。 八年夏旱，上封事，指切無隱。 遷武學博士，改宣教郎。
The following year they were transferred to Fuzhou to attend lectures. In Jiatai 3, when Emperor Ningzong visited the Imperial Academy, an edict ordered their release and return. In Kaixi 1, Hongzhong passed the jinshi examination and was appointed instructor in Nanjian Prefecture. The prefect Yu Zheng, son of the former chief minister Duanli, became his close friend. After Tuozhou's execution, all who had been punished for speaking out were commended and restored. In Jiading 1, Hongzhong was specially promoted one rank, but he still declined to accept. In year 6, recommended by Zheng, Wang Kui, and Zhao Yansu, he was made Archivist in the Ministry of Revenue and soon became Director of the Imperial Academy. In year 8, during a summer drought, he submitted a sealed memorial, speaking bluntly and hiding nothing. He was transferred to Erudite of the Military Academy and promoted to Instructor Gentleman.
51
時諫官應武論一學官，宏中季試策士及其故，武聞而銜之。 秋戊祀武成王，祭酒行事。 故事，博士攝亞獻，至是不命宏中，宏中白於祭酒。 於是武劾宏中與同列競，且謂其激矯不自愛，遂通判潭州。 以親老請祠，差知武岡軍，未受卒，年五十三。
The remonstrance official Ying Wu had criticized an academy officer; Hongzhong raised the matter in a seasonal examination of the students, and Wu, hearing of it, nursed a grudge. That autumn, on the wu day, the sacrifice to the Martial Accomplishment King was performed by the Erudite. By precedent the Erudite served as deputy presenter; this time Hongzhong was not appointed, and he reported the matter to the Erudite. Wu then impeached Hongzhong for contending with his colleagues and for reckless contentiousness, and had him made Vice Prefect of Tanzhou. Citing aged parents, he sought a temple post; he was appointed prefect of Wugang Army but died before taking office, aged fifty-three.
52
端朝字子靜，嘉定三年試禮部第一，終刑部侍郎兼侍講。 衟字用叟，以父任補官，有二子，與端朝同登進士第。 仲麟字景仲，傅字象夫，久居學校，忠鯁有聞，鹹以不偶死。 範自有傳。
Duanchao, style name Zijing, ranked first in the Ministry of Rites examination in Jiading 3 and rose to Vice Minister of Justice and Concurrent Lecturer. Yu, style name Yongsou, entered office by his father's privilege; he had two sons who passed the jinshi together with Duanchao. Zhonglin, style name Jingzhong, and Fu, style name Xiangfu, had long lived in the academies, famed for blunt loyalty; all died without receiving their due reward. Fan has his own biography.
53
華嶽，字子西，為武學生，輕財好俠。 韓侂胄當國，嶽上書曰：
Hua Yue, style name Zixi, was a student of the Military Academy—generous with his wealth and fond of bold deeds. When Han Tuozhou dominated the state, Yue submitted a memorial that read:
54
旬月以來，都城士民彷徨四顧，若將喪其室家； 諸軍妻子隱哭含悲，若將驅之水火。 闤闠籍籍，欲語復噤，駭於傳聞，莫曉所謂。 臣徐考之，則侍衛之兵日夜潛發，樞機之遞星火交馳，戎作之役倍於平時，郵傳之程兼於疇昔，乃知陛下將有事於北征也。
For a month now the people of the capital have wandered in dread, glancing about as though their homes and families were already lost; soldiers' wives and children weep in hidden grief, as though about to be cast into fire and water. Markets murmur with rumor; people want to speak yet fall silent, terrified by what they hear, unable to grasp what it means. On careful inquiry I find palace guards dispatched secretly day and night, military dispatches flying like sparks, corvée doubled, courier schedules doubled—Your Majesty is preparing a northern campaign.
55
侂胄以後族之親，位居極品，專執權柄，公取賄賂； 畜養無籍吏仆，委以腹心，賣名器，私爵賞，睥睨神器，窺覘宗社，日益炎炎，不敢向爾。 此外患之居吾腹心者也。
Tuozhou, kin to the empress dowager's clan, holds the highest rank, monopolizes power, and openly accepts bribes; he keeps unregistered clerks and servants as his intimates, sells offices and honors in private, covets the throne, and watches the altars of state—growing bolder daily, beyond what one dares confront. This is the external peril lodged in our very heart.
56
朝臣有以庸瑣之資，請姻師旦，驟入政府者； 有以諛佞之資，附阿侂胄，致身顯貴者。 陳自強老不知恥，貪不知止，私植黨與，陰結門第，凡見諸行事，惟知侂胄，不知君父。 此外患之居吾股肱者也。
Some court ministers of mediocre talent sought marriage ties with Shidan and suddenly entered the chief council; others of flattery and sycophancy clung to Tuozhou and rose to wealth and rank. Chen Ziqiang, old yet shameless, greedy without limit, secretly builds factions and binds himself to great houses—in all he does he knows only Tuozhou, not his ruler and father. This is the external peril lodged in our arms and legs.
57
爽、奕、汝翼諸李之貪懦無謀，倪、僎、倬、杲諸郭之膏粱無用，諸吳之恃寵專僭，諸彭之庸孱不肖； 皇甫斌、魏友諒、毛致通、秦世輔之雕瘵軍心、瘡痍士氣，以致陳孝慶、夏興祖、商榮、田俊邁之徒，皆以一卒之材，各得把麾專製，平日剜膏刻血，包苴侂胄，以致通顯，饑寒之士鹹願食其肉而不可得。 萬一陛下付以大事，彼之首領自不可保，奚暇為陛下計哉？ 此外患之居吾爪牙者也。
The Lis—Shuang, Yi, and Ruyi—are greedy cowards without counsel; the Guos—Ni, Zhuan, Zhuo, and Gao—are useless pampered sons; the Wus trade on favor and exceed their rank; the Pengs are mediocrities unfit for office; Huangfu Bin, Wei Youliang, Mao Zhitong, and Qin Shifu have drained the army's spirit and scarred its morale, so that men like Chen Xiaoqing, Xia Xingzu, Shang Rong, and Tian Junmai—each no better than a common soldier—hold independent command; they flayed the people and bribed Tuozhou for rank, while hungry scholars longed to devour them and could not. Should Your Majesty entrust them with great affairs, they could not save their own heads—much less plan for Your Majesty. This is the external peril lodged in our claws and teeth.
58
程鬆之納妾求知，或以售妹入府，或以獻妻入閣，魯 〈（宜宜）〉 之貢子為郎，富宮之庸駑充位。 此外患之居吾耳目者也。
Cheng Song took concubines to curry favor; some sold sisters to enter his mansion, some offered wives to enter the Cabinet; Lu —〉 offered his son as tribute to gain a court post; worthless men like Fu Tong filled the offices. This is the external peril lodged in our ears and eyes.
59
蘇師旦以穢吏冒節鉞，牙儈名爵； 周筠以隸卒冒戎鈐，市易將相。 此外患之扼吾咽喉者也。 彼之所謂外患者實未足憂，而此之外患蓋已周吾一身之間矣。
Su Shidan, a foul clerk, usurped the seal and battle-axe and brokered offices and titles; Zhou Yun, a menial soldier, usurped military authority and traded in generals and chief ministers. This is the external peril throttling our throat. The external enemies they speak of are hardly worth fearing; yet this peril already surrounds us on every side.
60
“禮樂征伐，自天子出”。 所貴乎中國者，皆聽命於陛下也。 今也與奪之命、黜陟之權，又不出於陛下，而出於侂胄。 是吾有二中國也。 命又不出於侂胄，而出於蘇師旦、周筠。 是吾有三中國也。 女真以區區之地，猶能逼我淮、漢，曾謂外患之居吾腹心、股肱、耳目、爪牙及吾咽喉，而不馮陵吾之宗廟社稷乎？ 曾謂一家之中自為秦、越，一舟之中自為敵國，而能製遠人乎？ 比年軍皆掊克，而士卒自仇其將佐； 民皆侵漁，而百姓自畔其守令，家自為戰。 此又啟吾中國億萬之仇敵也。 今不務去吾腹心、股肱、爪牙、耳目、咽喉與夫億萬之仇敵，而欲空國之師，竭國之財，而與遠人相從於血刃相塗之地，顧不外用其心歟？
"Rites, music, campaigns, and punishments issue from the Son of Heaven." The glory of the Middle Kingdom is that all obey Your Majesty's command. Now the power to appoint, dismiss, and promote no longer rests with Your Majesty but with Tuozhou. Thus we have two Middle Kingdoms. Commands no longer issue even from Tuozhou but from Su Shidan and Zhou Yun. Thus we have three Middle Kingdoms. The Jurchen, from a tiny domain, still press us on the Huai and Han—while peril sits in our heart, limbs, ears, claws, and throat, will they not overrun our altars of state? Can a household divided like Qin and Yue, or a boat whose passengers are enemy states, still command distant peoples? In recent years armies have been squeezed dry, and soldiers hate their own officers; officials plunder the people, and common folk turn against their magistrates—each household fights alone. This again raises tens of millions of enemies within our realm. Instead of removing the peril in our heart, limbs, claws, senses, throat, and those countless internal enemies, you would empty the armies and treasury to follow distant foes into slaughter—is this not misplacing your concern entirely?
61
臣嚐推演兵書，自去歲上元甲子，五福太一初度吳分，四神直符對臨荊、楚，始擊蜚符旁臨甌、粵，青門直使交次於幽、冀，黑殺黃道正按於燕、趙。 考之成法，主算最長，客算最短。 兵以先發為客，後發為主。 自太歲乙丑至庚午六年之間，皆不利於先舉。 儻其畔盟犯義，撓我疆場，至於事不獲已，然後應之，則反主為客，猶曰庶幾。 萬一國家首事倡謀，則將帥內睽，士卒外畔，肝腦萬民，血刃千里。 此天數之不利於先舉也。 矧將帥庸愚，軍民怨懟，馬政不講，騎士不熟，豪傑不出，英雄不收，饋糧不豐，形便不固，山砦不修，堡壘不設，吾雖帶甲百萬，餫餉千里，而師出無功，不戰自敗。 此人事之不利於先舉也。
Your servant has read the military texts: since last year's upper primordial jiazi, the Five Blessings and Grand Unity first measured Wu; the Four Spirits faced Jing and Chu; the Initial Strike hovered over Ou and Yue; the Blue Gate Envoy crossed You and Ji; the Black Killer pressed Yan and Zhao. By established method, the host's count is longest and the guest's shortest. In war, he who strikes first is the guest; he who strikes later is the host. From yichou through the six years to gengwu, all auguries disfavor striking first. If they break the alliance, violate righteousness, and harass our borders, and we respond only when there is no choice, host and guest are reversed—yet that may still be borne. But if the state takes the initiative, generals will quarrel within and soldiers rebel without; the people's blood will soak the land for a thousand li. This is Heaven's verdict against striking first. Moreover the generals are fools, soldiers and people resentful, horse policy neglected, cavalry unskilled, heroes ignored, provisions thin, terrain insecure, stockades unrepaired, fortresses unbuilt—though we field a million men and supply lines a thousand li long, the army will fail without victory and fall without battle. This is human affairs arrayed against striking first.
62
臣願陛下除吾一身之外患。 吾國中之外患既已除，然後公道開明，正人登用，法令自行，紀綱自正，豪傑自歸，英雄自附，侵疆自還，中原自復； 天下自底於和平，四海自躋於仁壽，何俟乎兵革哉？ 不然，則亂臣賊子毀冕裂冠，哦九錫隆恩之詩，恃貴不可侔之相，私妾內姬，陰臣將相，魚肉軍士，塗炭生靈，墜百世之遠圖，虧十廟之遺業。 陛下此時雖欲不與之偕亡，則禍迫於身，權出於人，俯首待終，何臍可噬。
I urge Your Majesty to remove the peril within our own body. Once internal peril is gone, the public Way will open, upright men will serve, laws and discipline will right themselves, heroes will rally, borders will return, and the Central Plain will be restored; the realm will find peace, the four seas reach benevolence and longevity—why wait on war? Otherwise traitors will tear the crown, chant the Nine Bestowals, lean on an unmatched chief minister, keep private concubines and hidden generals, devour soldiers and burn the people, and ruin the plan of a hundred generations and the legacy of the ten temples. Then, though Your Majesty wish not to perish with them, calamity will close in, power will belong to others, and you will bow your head awaiting the end with nowhere to turn.
63
事之未然，難以取信，臣願以身屬之廷尉，待其軍行用師，勞還奏凱，則梟臣之首風遞四方，以為天下欺君罔上者之戒。 儻或幹戈相尋，敗亡相繼，強敵外攻，奸臣內畔，與臣所言盡相符契，然後令臣歸老田裏，永為不齒之民。
Before events unfold, words are hard to trust; I offer my person to the Court of Judicial Review—if the army marches and returns in triumph, let the traitor's head be sent to the four quarters as a warning to all who deceive their ruler. But if war follows war, defeat follows defeat, enemies attack without and traitors rebel within, matching all I have said, then let me retire to my fields and live out my days disgraced.
64
書奏，侂胄大怒，下大理，貶建寧圜土中。 郡守傅伯成憐之，命獄卒使出入毋係。 伯成去，又迕守李大異，復置獄。
When the memorial was submitted, Tuozhou was enraged, had him tried, and banished him to imprisonment in Jianning. Prefect Fu Bocheng pitied him and ordered the jailers not to bind him. When Bocheng left and Yue again offended the new prefect Li Dayi, he was imprisoned again.
65
侂胄誅，放還，復入學登第，為殿前司官屬，鬱不得誌。 謀去丞相史彌遠，事覺，下臨安獄。 獄具，坐議大臣當死。 寧宗知嶽名，欲生之，彌遠曰：“是欲殺臣者。 ”竟杖死東市。
After Tuozhou's execution Yue was released; he re-entered the academy, passed the examinations, and became an officer of the Palace Front Office, but remained frustrated and unfulfilled. He plotted to remove Chief Minister Shi Miyuan; discovered, he was sent to the Lin'an jail. When the case was complete, he was convicted of plotting against a chief minister and sentenced to death. Emperor Ningzong knew Yue's name and wished to spare him; Miyuan said, "This is the man who wanted me dead. " In the end he was beaten to death in the eastern market.
66
鄧若水，字平仲，隆州井研人。 博通經史，為文章有氣骨。 吳曦叛，州縣莫敢抗，若水方為布衣，憤甚，將殺縣令，起兵討之。 夜刲雞盟其仆曰：“我明日謁知縣，汝密懷刃以從，我顧汝，即殺之。 ”仆佯許諾，至期三顧不發。 歸責其仆以背盟，仆曰：“平人尚不可殺，況知縣乎？ 此何等事，而使我為之。 ”若水乃仗劍徒步如武興，欲手刃曦，中道聞曦死，乃還。 人皆笑其狂，而壯其誌。
Deng Ruoshui, style name Pingzhong, was a native of Jingyan in Long Prefecture. He mastered the classics and histories, and wrote with force and integrity. When Wu Xi rebelled, prefectures and counties dared not resist; Ruoshui, then a commoner, was furious and planned to kill the magistrate and raise troops against him. At night he slaughtered a chicken and bound his servant by oath: "Tomorrow I shall visit the magistrate; secretly carry a blade and follow me—when I glance at you, strike him down. " The servant feigned assent; when the day came Ruoshui looked back three times, yet he did not strike. Home again, he rebuked the servant for breaking the oath; the servant said, "Ordinary men must not be killed—how much less a magistrate? What kind of deed is this, that you would have me do it? " Ruoshui then took up his sword and walked to Wuxing to kill Xi himself; halfway he heard Xi was already dead and turned back. People laughed at his madness, yet admired his resolve.
67
登嘉定十三年進士第。 時史彌遠柄國久，若水對策極論其奸，請罷之，更命賢相，否則必為宗社憂。 考官置之末甲。 策語播行，都士爭誦之。 彌遠怒，諭府尹使逆旅主人幾其出入，將置之罪，或為之解，乃已。
He passed the jinshi examination in Jiading 13. Shi Miyuan had long dominated the state; in his palace examination Ruoshui denounced his treachery, demanded his removal and the appointment of a worthy chief minister, warning otherwise the altars of state would be imperiled. The examiners ranked him last. His answers spread through the capital, and scholars vied to recite them. Miyuan was enraged and told the prefect to have innkeepers watch his movements, intending to punish him; someone interceded and the matter stopped.
68
理宗即位，應詔上封事曰：
When Emperor Lizong ascended the throne, he submitted a sealed memorial in response to an edict:
69
行大義然後可以弭大謗，收大權然後可以固大位，除大奸然後可以息大難。
Great righteousness alone can still great slander; recovered power alone can secure the throne; removing great traitors alone can quell great calamity.
70
寧宗皇帝晏駕，濟王當繼大位者也，廢黜不聞於先帝，過失不聞於天下。 史彌遠不利濟王之立，夜矯先帝之命，棄逐濟王，並殺皇孫，而奉迎陛下。 曾未半年，濟王竟不幸於湖州。 揆以《春秋》之法，非弑乎？ 非篡乎？ 非攘奪乎？ 當悖逆之初，天下皆歸罪彌遠而不敢歸過於陛下者，何也？ 天下皆知倉卒之間，非陛下所得知，亦諒陛下必無是心也，亦料陛下必能清表妖氛，以雪先帝、濟王父子終天之憤。 今逾年矣，而乾剛不決，威斷不行，無以大慰天下之望。 昔之信陛下之必無者，今或疑其有。 昔之信陛下不知者，今或疑其知。 陛下何以忍清明天日，而以此身受此汙辱也？ 蓋亦求明是心於天下，而俾有辭於千古乎？ 為陛下之計，莫若遵泰伯之至德，伯夷之清名，季子之高節，而後陛下之本心明於天下。 此臣所謂行大義以弭大謗，策之上也。
When Emperor Ningzong died, the Prince of Ji should have succeeded; his deposition was never announced by the late emperor, nor were any faults known to the realm. Shi Miyuan opposed the Prince of Ji's enthronement; by night he forged the late emperor's command, deposed the prince, killed the imperial grandson, and installed Your Majesty. Within half a year the Prince of Ji met his death at Huzhou. Judged by the Spring and Autumn Annals—is this not regicide? Is it not usurpation? Is it not violent seizure? When the treason began, the realm blamed Miyuan and dared not blame Your Majesty—why? All knew the sudden crisis lay beyond Your Majesty's knowledge, trusted you had no such intent, and expected you would purge the evil and avenge the late emperor and the Prince of Ji, father and son. More than a year has passed, yet you have not acted with firm resolve or authoritative judgment, and the realm's hopes remain unfulfilled. Those who once trusted you innocent now suspect guilt. Those who once believed you ignorant now suspect you knew. How can you endure the clear sky and bright sun while your person wears this stain? Is it not rather to prove your heart to the realm and leave your name clean for posterity? Your best course is to follow Taibo's supreme virtue, Boyi's pure fame, and Jizi's lofty integrity—then your true heart will shine before the realm. This is what I call acting on great righteousness to still great slander—the highest policy.
71
自古人君之失大權，鮮有不自廢立之際而盡失之。 當其廢立之間，威動天下。 既立則眇視人主，是故強臣挾恩以陵上，小人怙強以無上，久則內外相為一體，為上者喑默以聽其所為，日朘月削，殆有人臣之所不忍言者。 威權一去，人主雖欲固其位，保其身，有不可得。 宣繒、薛極，彌遠之肺腑也； 王愈，其耳目也； 盛章、李知孝，其鷹犬也； 馮榯，其爪牙也。 彌遠之欲行某事，害某人，則此數人者相與謀之，曷嚐有陛下之意行乎其間哉？ 臣以為不除此數凶，陛下非惟不足以弭謗，亦未可以必安其位，然則陛下何憚久而不為哉？ 此臣所以謂收大權以定大位，策之次也。
Since antiquity, rulers who lost supreme power rarely failed to lose it entirely at the very moment of a forced succession. At that moment their authority shook the realm. Once enthroned, they despise the ruler; powerful ministers lean on favor to tower over the throne, petty men on strength to act as though no superior existed—inside and outside merge, the ruler falls silent, power erodes daily, until even subjects cannot bear to speak of it. Once authority is gone, the ruler cannot secure throne or person even if he wishes. Xuan Zhan and Xue Ji are Miyuan's inner circle; Wang Yu is his eyes and ears; Sheng Zhang and Li Zhixiao are his hawks and hounds; Feng Shan is his claws and teeth. When Miyuan wishes some deed done or some man harmed, these men plot together—when has Your Majesty's will ever entered their counsel? Unless these villains are removed, Your Majesty cannot still slander or secure the throne—why hesitate? This is what I call recovering great power to secure the throne—the second policy.
72
次而不行，又有一焉，曰：除大奸然後可以弭大難。 李全，一流民耳，寓食於我，兵非加多，土地非加廣，勢力非特盛也。 賈涉為帥，庸人耳，全不敢妄動，何也？ 名正而言順也。 自陛下即位，乃敢倔強，何也？ 彼有辭以用其眾也。 其意必曰：“濟王，先皇帝之子也，而彌遠放弑之。 皇孫，先皇帝之孫也，而彌遠戕害之。 ”其辭直，其勢壯，是以沿淮數十萬之師而不敢睥睨其鋒。 雖曰今暫無事，未也，安知其不一日羽檄飛馳，以濟王為辭，以討君側之惡為名？ 彌遠之徒，死有餘罪，不可復惜，宗社生靈何辜焉？ 陛下今日而誅彌遠之徒，則全無辭以用其眾矣。 上而不得，則思其次，次而不得，則思其下，悲夫！
If the second fails, there is yet a third: remove great traitors to quell great calamity. Li Quan is only a refugee living on our grain; his troops, territory, and power have not greatly grown. Under Jia She, a mediocrity, Quan did not dare stir—why? The throne was legitimate and its word was righteous. Since Your Majesty's accession he has grown defiant—why? He has a rallying cry for his followers. He surely says, "The Prince of Ji was the late emperor's son, yet Miyuan deposed and murdered him. The imperial grandson was the late emperor's grandson, yet Miyuan destroyed him. " His case is plain and his force strong; thus hundreds of thousands along the Huai dare not meet his challenge. One may say there is no trouble yet—but who knows urgent dispatches may not fly tomorrow, invoking the Prince of Ji and the cause of purging evil beside the throne? Miyuan's faction deserve death many times over—but what crime have the altars and the people committed? Execute Miyuan's faction today, and Quan will lose every word with which to rally his followers. Unable to attain the highest aim, one settles for the next, then the next below—alas!
73
製置司不敢為附驛，卻還之。 以格當改官，奏上，彌遠取筆橫抹之而罷。
The Pacification Commission dared not forward it by courier and sent it back. Qualified for promotion, his memorial went up—but Miyuan crossed it out with a brush and blocked it.
74
嘉熙間，召為太學博士，當對，草奏數千言，略曰：“寧宗不豫，彌遠急欲成其詐，此其心豈復願先帝之生哉？ 先帝不得正其終，陛下不得正其始，臣請發塚斫棺，取其屍斬之，以謝在天之靈。 往年臣嚐上封事，請禪位近屬，以洗不義之汙，無路自達，今其書尚在，謹昧死以聞。”
In the Jiading–Chunyou period he was summoned as Erudite of the Imperial Academy; preparing to address the throne, he drafted a memorial of several thousand words, in essence: "When Emperor Ningzong fell ill, Miyuan rushed to complete his fraud—did he still wish the late emperor to live? The late emperor could not die in peace, Your Majesty could not accede in peace—I ask to open his tomb, break the coffin, behead the corpse, and appease Heaven. Years ago I submitted a sealed memorial asking you to abdicate to a close kinsman and wash away unrighteous stain; it never reached you, and the document still exists—I risk death to present it again.
75
將對前一日，假筆吏於所親潘允恭，允恭素知若水好危言，諭筆吏使竊錄之。 允恭見之，懼並及禍，走告丞相喬行簡，亦大駭。 翼日早朝，奏出若水通判寧國府。 退朝，召閣門舍人問曰：“今日有輪對官乎？ ”舍人以若水對，行簡曰：“已得旨補外矣，可格班。 ”若水袖其書待廡下，舍人諭使去，若水怏怏而退。 自知不為時所容，到官數月，以言罷，遂不復仕，隱太湖之洞庭山。
The day before his audience he borrowed a clerk from his friend Pan Yonggong; knowing Ruoshui's habit of extreme speech, Yonggong had the clerk copy the draft secretly. Reading it, Yonggong feared being swept into disaster, fled to Chief Minister Qiao Xingjian, and Xingjian was also terrified. Next morning at audience a memorial was submitted posting Ruoshui as Vice Prefect of Ningguo Prefecture. After audience the emperor summoned the Gatekeeper Attendant: "Is there an official to address the throne today? " The attendant named Ruoshui; Xingjian said, "An edict already posts him outside; dismiss the audience. " Ruoshui waited in the corridor with the draft in his sleeve; the attendant told him to leave, and he withdrew, bitter. Knowing the times would not bear him, he was dismissed within months; he never served again and hid on Dongting Mountain at Lake Tai.
76
賈似道在京湖，聞其名，辟參軍事。 若水雅思其鄉，乃起從其招，因西歸蜀。 居山中，有盜夜劫之，若水危坐不動，盜擊其首，流血被麵，亦不動，乃舍去。 若水為學務躬行，恥為空言。 削木為主，大書曰“自古以來忠臣孝子義夫節婦之位”，歲時祀之。 有一子，膂力絕人，築山砦，以兵捍衛鄉井。 砦破，舉家遇害。
Jia Sidao in Jinghu heard his name and recruited him as a staff officer. Long yearning for home, he accepted the summons and returned west to Shu. In the mountains bandits robbed him by night; Ruoshui sat upright without moving; they struck his head until blood covered his face, yet he did not stir, and they left. In scholarship Ruoshui devoted himself to practice and despised empty talk. He carved wooden tablets inscribed "The place of loyal ministers, filial sons, righteous husbands, and chaste women since antiquity," and sacrificed to them each season. He had a son of extraordinary strength who built a mountain stockade and raised troops to defend the countryside. When the stockade fell, the whole family perished.
77
僧真寶，代州人，為五台山僧正。 學佛，能外死生。 靖康之擾，與其徒習武事於山中。 欽宗召對便殿，眷齎隆縟。 真寶還山，益聚兵助討。 州不守，敵眾大至，晝夜拒之，力不敵，寺舍盡焚。 酋下令生致真寶，至則抗詞無撓，酋異之，不忍殺也。 使郡守劉騊誘勸百方，終不顧，且曰：“吾法中有口四之罪，吾既許宋皇帝以死，豈當妄言也？ ”怡然受戮。 北人聞見者歎異焉。
The monk Zhenbao, a native of Dai Prefecture, was abbot of Mount Wutai. He studied Buddhism and had mastered detachment from life and death. During the Jingkang turmoil he and his disciples trained in military affairs in the mountains. Emperor Qinzong summoned him to the side hall and lavished rich gifts upon him. Zhenbao returned to the mountain and gathered more troops to aid the resistance. When the prefecture fell, the enemy came in force; he resisted day and night until outmatched, and the monastery burned to the ground. The enemy leader ordered Zhenbao taken alive; brought before him, Zhenbao spoke without yielding; the leader marveled and could not bear to kill him. The prefect Liu Tao tried every persuasion, yet Zhenbao would not listen, saying, "My Law forbids false speech; I have promised the Song emperor my death—how can I speak falsely? " He accepted execution calmly. Northerners who witnessed it marveled.
78
時萬安僧亦起兵，舉旗曰“降魔”，又曰：“時危聊作將，事定復為僧。 ”旋亦敗死。
At that time the monk of Wan'an also raised troops under a banner reading "Subdue Demons," saying, "In crisis one briefly becomes a general; when peace returns, one becomes a monk again. " He too was soon defeated and died.
79
徐道明，常州天慶觀道士也。 為管轄，賜紫。 德祐元年，北兵圍城，道明謁郡守姚訔請曰：“事急矣，君侯計將安出？ ”訔曰：“內無食，外無援，死守而已。 ”道明亟還，慨然告其徒曰：“姚公誓與城俱亡，吾屬亦不失為義士。 ”乃取觀之文籍置石函，藏坎中。 兵屠城，道明危坐焫香，讀《老子》書。 兵使之拜，不顧，誦聲琅然； 以刃脅之，不為動，遂死焉。
Xu Daoming was a Daoist priest of the Tianqing Abbey in Chang Prefecture. He served as superintendent and was granted the purple robe. In Deyou 1, as northern armies besieged the city, Daoming visited Prefect Yao Yin: "Matters are urgent—what is your plan? " Yin said, "No food within, no aid without—we can only die defending the walls. " Daoming returned and told his disciples, "Prefect Yao swears to die with the city; we too shall not fail to be men of righteousness. " He placed the abbey's records in a stone casket and buried them in a pit. When the army sacked the city, Daoming sat upright burning incense and reading the Book of Laozi. Soldiers ordered him to bow; he ignored them, his recitation ringing clear; they threatened him with blades, yet he did not stir, and so he died.