1
弭德超侯莫陳利用趙贊王黼朱勔王繼先曾覿龍大淵附張說王抃姜特立譙熙載附
Mi Dezhao; Houmochen Liyong; Zhao Zan; Wang Fu; Zhu Mian; Wang Jixian; Zeng Di and Long Dayuan (supplementary); Zhang Yue; Wang Bian; Jiang Teli and Qiao Xizai (supplementary).
2
人君生長深宮之中，法家、拂士接耳目之時少，宦官、女子共啟處之日多，二者，佞幸之梯媒也。 剛明之主亦有佞幸焉，剛好專任，明好偏察，彼佞幸者一投其機，為患深矣。 他日敗闕，雖能殄除，隳城以求狐，灌社以索鼠，亦曰殆哉！ 宋世中材之君，朝有佞幸，所不免也。 太宗有弭德超，趙贊，孝宗有曾覿、龍大淵，二君固不可謂非剛明之主也。 作《佞幸傳》。
Raised in the seclusion of the inner palace, a sovereign hears little from men of law and rectitude, and spends far more of his days in the company of eunuchs and palace women. Both are the very rungs by which flatterers climb into favor. Even resolute and perceptive emperors are not immune. Strength of will invites exclusive trust; keen sight invites obsessive suspicion—and the moment a sycophant finds his angle, the damage can be profound. When the reckoning finally comes, the evil may still be uprooted—but only at the cost of razing a city to catch a fox, or drowning a shrine to flush out a rat. The cure itself is perilous. Under the Song, emperors of merely average ability could scarcely keep flatterers from their courts. Taizong had Mi Dezhao and Zhao Zan; Xiaozong had Zeng Di and Long Dayuan—yet neither can fairly be called a weak or dull-witted ruler. Hence this 'Biographies of Flatterers and Favorites.'
3
弭德超
Mi Dezhao
4
初，太宗念邊戍勞苦，月賜士卒銀，謂之月頭銀。 德超乘間以急變聞于太宗曰：「樞密使曹彬秉政歲久，得士眾心； 臣從塞上來，聞士卒言：'月頭銀曹公所致，微曹公我輩餒死矣。 '」又巧誣彬他事。 上頗疑之，出彬為天平軍節度。 以王顯為宣徽南院使，德超為宣徽北院使，並兼樞密副使。
In the beginning Taizong, taking pity on the toil of the border garrisons, granted the troops a monthly allowance in silver—known as 'month-head silver.' Dezhao seized his chance and urgently reported to Taizong: 'Privy Councillor Cao Bin has held power for years and holds the loyalty of the army; I have just come from the frontier, and the men say: "Our month-head silver comes from Lord Cao—without him we would have starved." He also wove other false charges against Bin. The emperor grew suspicious and removed Bin, posting him as military commissioner of Tianping. Wang Xian was appointed Commissioner of the Southern Bureau of the Palace Attendant Service, and Dezhao Commissioner of the Northern Bureau; both were also made vice commissioners of the Privy Council.
5
德超譖曹彬事成，期得樞密使，乃為副使； 又柴禹錫與德超官同，先授，班在其上。 故德超視事月餘，稱病請告，居常怏怏。 一日詬顯及禹錫曰：「我言國家大事，有安社稷功，止得線許大官。 汝等何人，反在我上，更令我效汝輩所為，我實恥之。」 又大罵曰：「：汝輩當斷頭，我度上無守執，為汝輩所眩惑。」 顯告之，太宗怒，命膳部郎中、知雜滕中正就第鞫德超，具伏，下詔奪官職，與其家配隸瓊州禁錮，未幾死。
Once his plot against Cao Bin had succeeded, Dezhao expected the Privy Councillorship—but received only the vice commissioner's post instead; and Chai Yuxi, who held the same rank but had been appointed earlier, outranked him in precedence. After little more than a month in office, Dezhao pleaded illness and took leave, brooding in perpetual discontent. One day he berated Xian and Yuxi: 'I counsel the throne on matters of state and have done service worthy of the realm—and for it I receive this paltry rank. Who are you to stand above me? That I should be made to ape your ways—I am ashamed of it. He went on to rage: 'You deserve to lose your heads! The emperor has no firm resolve—he is bewitched by the likes of you.' Xian reported the outburst. Taizong flew into a rage and sent Teng Zhongzheng, Director of the Palace Catering Office and acting miscellaneous-affairs director, to Dezhao's house to examine him. Dezhao confessed everything. Stripped of rank by edict, he and his household were banished to penal service and confined in Qiong Prefecture. He died soon after.
6
侯莫陳利用
Houmochen Liyong
7
侯莫陳利用，益州成都人，幼得變幻之術。 太平興國初，賣藥京師，言黃白事以惑人。 樞密承旨陳從信白于太宗，即日召見，試其術頗驗，即授殿直，累遷崇儀副使。 雍熙二年，改右監門衛將軍，領應州刺史。 三年，諸將北征，以利用與王侁並為并州駐泊都監，擢單州刺史。 四年，遷鄭州團練使。 前後賜與甚渥，依附者頗獲進用，遂橫恣無復畏憚。 其居處服玩皆僭乘輿，人畏之不敢言。
Houmochen Liyong was a native of Chengdu in Yizhou. From boyhood he mastered the arts of illusion and transformation. In the early Taiping Xingguo reign he peddled medicines in the capital, preaching the secrets of alchemical gold and silver to beguile the crowd. Chen Congxin, recipient at the Privy Council, brought him to Taizong's attention. Summoned that same day and put to the test, his tricks proved convincing; he was appointed Palace Attendant and eventually rose to Vice Commissioner of the Commission for Ceremonial Regalia. In the second year of Yongxi he was transferred to General of the Right Gate Guard and given concurrent appointment as Prefect of Yingzhou. In the third year, when the generals marched north, Liyong and Wang Huo were jointly made garrison commissioners at Bingzhou, and Liyong was promoted to Prefect of Shan. In the fourth year he was transferred to Regimentation Commissioner of Zheng Prefecture. Imperial largesse flowed to him in abundance, and those who clung to his coattails often won promotion. Emboldened, he grew insolent and unchecked, fearing nothing and no one. His residence, dress, and furnishings all trespassed on imperial privilege. Men feared him and held their tongues.
8
會趙普再入中書，廉知殺人及諸不法，盡奏之。 太宗遣近臣案得奸狀，欲貸其死，普固請曰：「陛下不誅，是亂天下法。 法可惜，此何足惜哉！」 遂下詔除名，配商州禁錮。 初籍其家，俄詔還之。
When Zhao Pu returned to the Central Secretariat, he personally investigated murders and a host of other crimes and memorialized the full record to the throne. Taizong sent a trusted attendant to verify the charges and wished to spare Liyong's life, but Pu pressed him hard: 'If Your Majesty does not put this man to death, you will overturn the law of the land. The law is worth preserving—this man is not!' An edict followed stripping his name from the registers and sentencing him to penal registration and confinement in Shang Prefecture. At first his property was confiscated and inventoried; soon afterward an edict ordered it restored.
9
趙普恐其復用，因殿中丞竇諲嘗監鄭州榷酤，知利用每獨南向坐以接京使，犀玉帶用紅黃羅袋； 澶州黃河清，鄭州用為詩題試舉人，利用判試官狀，言甚不遜。 召諲至中書詰實，令上疏告之。 又京西轉運副使宋沆籍利用家，得書數紙，言皆指斥切害，悉以進上。 太宗怒，令中使臠殺之，已而復遣使貸其死，乘疾置至新安，馬旋濘而踣，出濘換馬，比追及之，已為前使誅矣。
Zhao Pu, fearing Liyong might be recalled, turned to Palace Director Dou Yin, who had once overseen the wine monopoly at Zheng and knew that Liyong always received capital envoys seated alone facing south, wearing a rhinoceros-horn and jade belt in red and yellow silk pouches— when the Yellow River at Chan ran clear, Zheng Prefecture set it as the theme for a literary examination; Liyong, reviewing the chief examiner's report, wrote with brazen insolence. Zhao Pu summoned Yin to the Central Secretariat to confirm the facts and ordered him to submit a memorial denouncing Liyong. Meanwhile Song Hang, Vice Transport Commissioner of the Western Capital circuit, inventoried Liyong's household and found several pages of writing filled with bitter, scathing invective, all of which he forwarded to the throne. Taizong's wrath was kindled; he ordered a palace envoy to execute Liyong by dismemberment, then sent another envoy to commute the sentence. Liyong, gravely ill, was carted toward Xin'an; the horse at once foundered in the mire and fell. They changed horses after clearing the mud, but when the second envoy caught up, the first had already carried out the execution.
10
趙贊，并州人，性險詖辯給，好言利害。 初為軍小吏，與都校不協，因誣營中謀叛，劉繼元屠之無遺類，稍署贊右職。 太原平，隸三司為走吏，又許本司補殿直，太宗頗任之。 遷供奉官、閤門祗候，提舉京西、陝西數州錢帛，發摘甚眾。 又自乞捕盜，至永興，得兵士盜錢二百，欲磔諸市，知府張齊賢奪而釋之。 太宗命御史台按問，停贊官數月。 復令專鉤校三司簿，令贊自選吏十數人為耳目，專伺中書、樞密及三司事，乘間白之。 太宗以為忠無他腸，中外益畏其口。 會改三司官屬，以贊為西京作坊副使、度支都監。
Zhao Zan was a native of Bingzhou—treacherous, cunning, glib of tongue, and ever ready to discourse on profit and loss. He began as a lowly military clerk and fell out with the garrison commander. He then falsely denounced the camp for plotting rebellion; Liu Jiyuan massacred every man involved and gradually elevated Zan to more responsible posts. After Taiyuan fell he entered the Three Departments as a runner-clerk, then secured appointment as Palace Attendant through his bureau. Taizong came to rely on him heavily. Promoted to Service Officer and Envoy Receiving Officer at the Gate, he was charged with overseeing coin and silk across several prefectures of the Western Capital and Shaanxi circuits, and his denunciations multiplied. He also volunteered to hunt down bandits. At Yongxing he caught a soldier who had stolen two hundred strings of cash and sought to have him torn apart in the marketplace; Prefect Zhang Qixian intervened and set the man free. Taizong ordered the Censorate to investigate, and Zan was suspended from office for several months. He was then put in charge of auditing the Three Departments ledgers, allowed to handpick a dozen clerks as his eyes and ears to watch the Central Secretariat, the Privy Council, and the Three Departments, and to report whatever he found at the first opportunity. Taizong took him for a loyal man without hidden designs, and throughout the court and bureaucracy men grew ever more afraid of his tongue. When the Three Departments were reorganized, Zan was appointed Vice Commissioner of the Western Capital Workshop and Director of Revenue Expenditure.
11
時又有鄭昌嗣者，宣州人，亦起三司役吏，稍遷侍禁。 奉使西川，回奏在官不治者數十人，太宗嘉其直。 會市物吏因緣為奸，列肆屢謁開封訴之，乃置雜買務，使昌嗣監之。 昌嗣乞著籍便殿門，許非時入奏，與贊親比相表裏，累遷至西上閣門副使、鹽鐵都監。 二人既得聯事，由是益橫恣，所為皆不法。 太宗頗知之，以問左右，皆畏二人，無敢言其惡。
At the same time there was Zheng Changsi of Xuan Prefecture, who likewise rose from a menial clerk in the Three Departments and was gradually promoted to Palace Attendant Guard. On a mission to Western Sichuan, he returned to report that dozens of officials were neglecting their duties, and Emperor Taizong praised his blunt honesty. When purchasing clerks began abusing their posts for private gain, merchants repeatedly petitioned the Kaifeng authorities; the court therefore established the Miscellaneous Purchases Office and put Changsi in charge of it. Changsi asked to be registered at the Convenient Hall Gate and was granted leave to enter and report at any hour. He and Zan drew close, backing each other openly and in secret, and through successive promotions rose to Vice Commissioner of the Western Upper Gateway and Director of the Salt and Iron Monopoly. Once the two men held office together, they grew still more arrogant and lawless in all they did. Emperor Taizong had some knowledge of this and questioned those around him, but all feared the two men and none dared speak of their crimes.
12
至道元年上元節，京城張燈，太宗以上清宮成，臨幸。 贊與昌嗣邀其黨數人，攜妓樂登宮中玉皇閤，飲宴至夜分； 掌舍宦者不能止，以其事聞。 太宗大怒，並摭諸事，下詔奪贊官，許攜家配隸房州禁錮，即日驛遣之。 昌嗣黜唐州團練副使，不署事。 既數日，並賜死于路。
On the Lantern Festival of the first year of Zhidao, the capital was hung with lanterns; with the Shangqing Palace newly completed, the emperor went in person to visit it. Zan and Changsi invited several of their partisans, brought courtesans and musicians, and climbed to the Jade Emperor Pavilion inside the palace, where they feasted and drank deep into the night; The palace attendants charged with keeping order could not restrain them and reported what had happened. Emperor Taizong was furious. Collecting their various offenses, he issued an edict stripping Zan of rank, allowing him to take his family into exile as registered bondsmen under house arrest in Fangzhou, and had him sent off that same day by courier. Changsi was demoted to Deputy Military Training Commissioner of Tangzhou, a post without actual responsibilities. A few days later, both were ordered to take their own lives on the road.
13
太宗謂侍臣曰：「君子小人如芝蘭荊棘，不能絕其類，在人甄別耳。 苟盡君子，則何用刑罰焉？」 參知政事寇准對曰：「帝堯之時，四凶在庭，則三代之前，世質民淳，已有小人矣。 今之衣儒服、居清列者，亦頗朋附小人，為自安計。 如贊、昌嗣之類奔走賤吏，不足言也。」
Emperor Taizong said to his ministers: "The gentleman and the petty man are like orchids and thorns. One cannot wipe out either kind; it is for men to tell them apart. If everyone were a gentleman, what need would there be for punishments?" Vice Grand Councillor Kou Zhun replied: "Even in the age of Emperor Yao the Four Criminals sat in court—so before the Three Dynasties, in that plain and unsophisticated age, petty men already existed. Those who today wear Confucian robes and hold high office also often attach themselves to petty men for their own safety. Men like Zan and Changsi—scurrying petty clerks—are hardly worth speaking of."
14
王黼字將明，開封祥符人。 初名甫，後以同東漢宦官，賜名黼。 為人美風姿，目睛如金，有口辯，才疏雋而寡學術，然多智善佞。 中崇甯進士第，調相州司理參軍，編修《九域圖志》，何志同領局，喜其人，為父執中言之，薦擢校書郎，遷符寶郎、左司諫。 張商英在相位，浸失帝意，遣使以玉環賜蔡京于杭； 黼覘知之，數條奏京所行政事，並擊商英。 京復相，德其助己，除左諫議大夫、給事中、御史中丞，自校書至是財兩歲。
Wang Fu, courtesy name Jiangming, was a native of Xiangfu in Kaifeng. His original given name was Fu; later, because it matched that of an Eastern Han eunuch, the throne granted him the name Fu. Handsome in bearing, with eyes bright as gold, he was quick of tongue—clever and sharp-witted, though shallow in learning—yet full of wiles and skilled at flattery. He passed the jinshi examination in the Chongning era and was appointed judicial administrator of Xiangzhou. While compiling the Gazetteer of the Nine Regions under He Zhitong, he won He's favor; He spoke of him to his father Zhizhong, who recommended him for promotion to proofreader, and he was later transferred to seal keeper and Left Remonstrance Official. While Zhang Shangying held the chancellorship he gradually lost the emperor's favor and sent an envoy to Hangzhou to bestow a jade ring on Cai Jing; Fu discovered this through secret observation and repeatedly submitted detailed memorials on Cai Jing's policies, attacking Shangying as well. When Cai Jing returned to power, grateful for his assistance, he appointed Fu Left Grandee of Remonstrance, Attendant Censor, and Vice Censor-in-Chief—from proofreader to these posts in only two years.
15
黼因執中進，乃欲去執中，使京顓國，遂疏其二十罪，不聽。 俄兼侍讀，進翰林學士。 京與鄭居中不合，黼復內交居中，京怒，徙為戶部尚書，大農方乏，將以邦用不給為之罪。 既而諸班禁旅賚犒不如期，詣左藏鼓噪，黼聞之，即諸軍揭大榜，期以某月某日，眾讀榜皆散，京計不行。 還為學士，進承旨。
Fu had risen through Zhizhong's patronage, but now wished to remove him so that Cai Jing could monopolize the government; he therefore submitted a memorial listing twenty crimes against Zhizhong, but the court would not listen. Before long he was also made Lecturer-in-Attendance and promoted to Hanlin Academician. Cai Jing fell out with Zheng Juzhong, and Fu secretly allied himself with Juzhong again. Cai Jing was enraged and transferred him to Minister of Revenue; the state granaries were then empty, and Cai intended to blame him for the treasury's shortfall. Soon afterward the various units of the imperial guard, finding their reward stipends overdue, went to the Left Treasury and raised an uproar. When Fu heard of it, he immediately had large notices posted in every camp promising payment on a fixed date; the men read the notices and dispersed, and Cai Jing's scheme came to nothing. He was restored to Hanlin Academician and promoted to Academician-in-Attendance.
16
蔡京致仕，黼陽順人心，悉反其所為，罷方田，毀辟雍、醫、算學，並會要、六典諸局，汰省吏，減遙郡使、橫班官奉入之半，茶鹽鈔法不復比較，富戶科抑一切蠲除之，四方翕然稱賢相。
When Cai Jing retired, Fu outwardly followed popular sentiment and reversed nearly everything Cai had done: he abolished the equal-field system, dismantled the Imperial Academy and the medical and arithmetic schools, merged the offices compiling the Comprehensive Statutes, the Six Canons, and other state works, cut redundant clerks, halved the salaries of commissioners in distant prefectures and horizontal-rank officials, stopped audits under the tea-and-salt certificate system, and remitted all surcharges levied on wealthy households. Everywhere people suddenly hailed him as a worthy chancellor.
17
既得位，乘高為邪，多畜子女玉帛自奉，僭擬禁省。 誘奪徽猷閣待制鄧之綱妾，反以罪竄之綱嶺南。 加少保、太宰。 請置應奉局，自兼提領，中外名錢皆許擅用，竭天下財力以供費。 官吏承望風旨，凡四方水土珍異之物，悉苛取於民，進帝所者不能什一，餘皆入其家。 御史陳過庭乞盡罷以御前使喚為名冗官，京西轉運使張汝霖請罷進西路花果，帝既納，黼復露章劾之，兩人皆徙遠郡。
Once secure in power, he abused his high station for wicked ends, hoarding women, jade, and silk for his own indulgence and presumptuously copying the style of the inner palace. He seduced and seized the concubine of Deng Zhigang, Attendant Drafting Official of the Huiyao Pavilion, then turned about, charged Deng with a crime, and banished him to Lingnan. He was given the additional titles of Junior Tutor and Grand Steward. He requested the creation of a Tribute Service Bureau and put himself in charge of it; every named fund inside and outside the court was placed at his disposal, and he drained the empire's wealth to supply his expenses. Officials, eager to follow his wishes, harshly extorted from the people every rare product of land and water from every region; what reached the emperor amounted to less than one tenth, and the rest went into Fu's own house. Censor Chen Guoting petitioned to abolish entirely the superfluous offices known as imperial summons attendants; Jingxi Transport Commissioner Zhang Rulin asked to end the western-route tribute of fruits and flowers. After the emperor accepted these proposals, Fu submitted an open impeachment against them both, and the two men were transferred to distant prefectures.
18
睦寇方臘起，黼方文太平，不以告，蔓延彌月，遂攻破六郡。 帝遣童貫督秦甲十萬始平之。 猶以功轉少傅，又進少師。 貫之行也，帝全付以東南一事，謂之曰：「如有急，即以御筆行之。」 貫至吳，見民困花石之擾，眾言：「賊不亟平，坐此耳。」 貫即命其僚董耘作手詔，若罪已然，且有罷應奉局之令，吳民大悅。 貫平賊歸，黼言於帝曰：「臘之起由茶鹽法也，而貫入奸言，歸過陛下。」 帝怒。 貫謀起蔡京以間黼，黼懼。
The bandit Fang La rose in Mu Prefecture, but Fu was then composing essays celebrating peace and did not report it; the rebellion spread for more than a month until six prefectures had been overrun. The emperor sent Tong Guan to command one hundred thousand troops from the Qin region before the rebellion was finally put down. Fu was nonetheless promoted to Junior Preceptor for this achievement, and later advanced to Junior Mentor. When Tong set out, the emperor wholly entrusted him with affairs in the southeast and said to him: "If there is urgency, act on the authority of the imperial brush alone. When Tong reached Wu, he saw the people worn down by the Huashi tribute, and many said: "If the rebels are not quickly crushed, it is because of this. Tong at once had his aide Dong Yun draft a handwritten edict, as though guilt had already been confessed and including an order to abolish the Tribute Service Bureau; the people of Wu were overjoyed. After Tong suppressed the rebels and returned, Fu said to the emperor: "La's rebellion arose from the tea-and-salt laws, yet Tong has taken in malicious counsel and shifted the blame onto Your Majesty. The emperor was enraged. Tong plotted to restore Cai Jing in order to drive a wedge against Fu, and Fu grew afraid.
19
是時朝廷已納趙良嗣之計，結女真共圖燕，大臣多不以為可。 黼曰：「南北雖通好百年，然自累朝以來，彼之慢我者多矣。 兼弱攻昧，武之善經也。 今弗取，女真必強，中原故地將不復為我有。」 帝雖向其言，然以兵屬貫，命以保民觀釁為上策。 黼復折簡通誠於貫曰：「太師若北行，願盡死力。」 時帝方以睦寇故悔其事，及黼一言，遂復治兵。
By then the court had already adopted Zhao Liangsi's plan to ally with the Jurchen and jointly seize Yan, though most senior ministers did not think it wise. Fu said: "Although North and South have been at peace for a hundred years, from reign after reign they have often treated us with contempt. To ally with the weak and strike the incompetent—that is the highest art of war. If we do not take it now, the Jurchen will surely grow strong, and the old lands of the Central Plain will never be ours again. Though the emperor was inclined to agree, he placed the army under Tong's command and ordered that protecting the people and watching for an opening should be the highest strategy. Fu then sent Tong a letter pledging his sincerity, saying: "If the Grand Mentor goes north, I shall devote myself to the utmost." The emperor had just begun to regret the whole undertaking because of the Fang La rebellion in Mu, but after a single word from Fu, he resumed military preparations.
20
黼於三省置經撫房，專治邊事，不關之樞密。 括天下丁夫，計口出算，得錢六千二百萬緡，竟買空城五六而奏凱。 率百僚稱賀，帝解玉帶以賜，優進太傅，封楚國公，許服紫花袍，騶從儀物幾與親王等。 黼議上尊號，帝曰：「此神宗皇帝所不敢受者也。」 卻弗許。
Fu set up frontier-pacification offices within the Three Departments to handle border affairs exclusively, bypassing the Bureau of Military Affairs. He conscripted laborers empire-wide and levied a head tax, raising sixty-two million strings of cash; he then 'recovered' five or six deserted cities and reported a triumph. He led the hundred officials in offering congratulations. The emperor removed his own jade belt and bestowed it on him, graciously promoted him to Grand Preceptor, enfeoffed him as Duke of Chu, and permitted him to wear the purple flowered robe; his ceremonial escorts and insignia nearly equaled those of imperial princes. Fu proposed that an honorific title be bestowed upon the emperor. The emperor said, "Even Emperor Shenzong did not dare accept such a thing. He refused and would not allow it.
21
始，遼使至，率迂其驛程，燕犒不示以華侈。 及黼務於欲速，令女真使以七日自燕至都，每張宴其居，輒陳尚方錦繡、金玉、瑰寶，以誇富盛，由是女真益生心。 身為三公，位元宰，至陪扈曲宴，親為俳優鄙賤之役，以獻笑取悅。
At first, when Liao envoys arrived, their routes were usually lengthened and their progress delayed; the banquets and rewards at Yan were kept plain, without ostentatious display. But Fu, impatient for results, ordered Jurchen envoys to reach the capital from Yan in seven days. At every banquet held in their quarters he displayed imperial brocades, jades, gold, and rare treasures to flaunt the empire's wealth — and the Jurchen grew still more covetous. Though he ranked among the Three Dukes and held the chief ministership, at the emperor's private banquets he would personally play the buffoon — performing the meanest comic roles to win laughter and favor.
22
欽宗在東宮，惡其所為。 鄆王楷有寵，黼為陰畫奪宗之策。 皇孫諶為節度使、崇國公，黼謂但當得觀察使，召宮臣耿南仲諭指，使草代東宮辭諶官奏，竟奪之，蓋欲以是撼搖東宮。
Qinzong, then crown prince, detested his conduct. Prince Yun Ke enjoyed the emperor's favor, and Fu secretly plotted to supplant the heir. The imperial grandson Shen held the posts of military commissioner and Duke of Chongguo. Fu declared that he deserved only an observation commissioner, summoned the palace official Geng Nanzhong, explained his intent, and had him draft a memorial on the crown prince's behalf resigning Shen's offices. Shen was stripped of his titles — a move intended to undermine the Eastern Palace.
23
帝待遇之厚，名其所居閤曰「得賢治定」，為書亭、堂榜九。 有玉芝產堂柱，乘輿臨觀之。 梁師成與連牆，穿便門往來，帝始悟其交結狀。 還宮，黼眷頓熄，尋命致仕。
The emperor treated him with extraordinary favor, naming his residence hall "Gaining the Worthy, Order Settled," and personally inscribed nine plaques for his pavilions and halls. When jade-colored fungus sprouted on a hall pillar, the emperor came in person to behold it. He shared a wall with Liang Shicheng and used a private gate to pass back and forth; the emperor then began to perceive the full extent of their collusion. After returning to the palace, imperial favor toward Fu abruptly waned; before long he was ordered to retire.
24
欽宗受禪，黼惶駭入賀，閤門以上旨不納。 金兵入汴，不俟命，載其孥以東。 詔貶為崇信軍節度副使，籍其家。 吳敏、李綱請誅黼，事下開封尹聶山，山方挾宿怨，遣武士躡及于雍丘南輔固村，戕之，民家取其首以獻。 帝以初即位，難於誅大臣，托言為盜所殺。 議者不以誅黼為過，而以天討不正為失刑矣。
When Qinzong ascended the throne, Fu came in panic to offer congratulations, but the Gatekeepers, acting on imperial orders, refused him entry. When the Jin army entered Bian, he fled east with his family without awaiting orders. An edict demoted him to deputy military commissioner of the Chongxin Army and ordered the confiscation of his household property. Wu Min and Li Gang petitioned for Fu's execution; the case was referred to Kaifeng intendant Nie Shan. Nursing an old grudge, Shan dispatched warriors who tracked Fu to Fugu village south of Yongqiu and killed him. A commoner's household took his head and presented it. The emperor, having just ascended the throne, was reluctant to execute a great minister and put it about that Fu had been killed by bandits. Commentators did not fault the killing of Fu, but held that heaven's judgment had been improperly carried out — a failure of lawful punishment.
25
朱勔，蘇州人。 父沖，狡獪有智數。 家本賤微，庸於人，梗悍不馴，抵罪鞭背。 去之旁邑乞貸，遇異人，得金及方書歸，設肆賣藥，病人服之輒效，遠近輻湊，家遂富。 因修蒔園圃，結遊客，致往來稱譽。
Zhu Mian was a native of Suzhou. His father Chong was cunning and full of schemes. The family was originally humble; Chong hired himself out as a laborer. Stubborn and unruly, he was punished with a back whipping for an offense. He went to a neighboring county to borrow money, met a strange man, and returned with gold and a book of recipes. He opened a medicine shop, and his remedies cured the sick at once; people flocked from near and far, and the family grew rich. He then laid out gardens, cultivated ornamental plants, and befriended traveling guests, winning praise wherever he went.
26
始，蔡京居錢塘，過蘇，欲建僧寺閣，會費钜萬，僧言必欲集此緣，非朱沖不可。 京以屬郡守，郡守呼沖見京，京語故，沖願獨任。 居數日，請京詣寺度地，至則大木數千章積庭下，京大驚，陰器其能。 明年召還，挾勔與俱，以其父子姓名屬童貫竄置軍籍中，皆得官。
At first, when Cai Jing was living at Qiantang and passed through Suzhou, he wished to build a Buddhist temple pavilion at a cost of tens of thousands. The monks said that if the funds were to be raised, none but Zhu Chong could manage it. Cai Jing entrusted the matter to the prefect, who summoned Chong to meet him. Cai Jing explained the project, and Chong volunteered to take sole responsibility. After several days he invited Cai Jing to the temple to survey the site. When Cai Jing arrived, several thousand timbers were piled in the courtyard. Cai Jing was astonished and secretly admired his ability. The next year Cai Jing was recalled to court and brought Mian with him. He had Tong Guan surreptitiously enter the father and son's names in army registers, and both received office.
27
徽宗頗垂意花石，京諷勔語其父，密取浙中珍異以進。 初致黃楊三本，帝嘉之。 後歲歲增加，然歲率不過再三貢，貢物裁五七品。 至政和中始極盛，舳艫相銜於淮、汴，號「花石綱」，置應奉局于蘇，指取內帑如囊中物，每取以數十百萬計。 延福宮、艮岳成，奇卉異植充牣其中。 勔擢至防禦使，東南部刺史、郡守多出其門。
Emperor Huizong took a keen interest in ornamental flowers and stones. Cai Jing hinted to Mian to tell his father to secretly gather rare treasures from Zhejiang and present them to the throne. At first he sent three yellow poplar specimens, which the emperor praised. Later the tribute increased year by year, yet each year there were usually no more than two or three missions, and the items numbered only five or seven kinds. Not until the Zhenghe era did it reach its peak: ships linked stem to stern on the Huai and Bian rivers in what was called the "Huashi Convoy." A Tribute Service Bureau was established at Suzhou, and Mian drew on the inner treasury as though it were money in his own pocket — each levy running to tens of millions. When the Extended Blessings Palace and Genyue were completed, rare flowers and exotic plants filled them to overflowing. Mian rose to Defense Commissioner, and many prefects and magistrates of the southeast were his protégés.
28
徐鑄、應安道、王仲閎等濟其惡，竭縣官經常以為奉。 所貢物，豪奪漁取於民，毛髮不少償。 士民家一石一木稍堪玩，即領健卒直入其家，用黃封表識，未即取，使護視之，微不謹，即被以大不恭罪。 及發行，必徹屋抉牆以出。 人不幸有一物小異，共指為不祥，唯恐芟夷之不速。 民預是役者，中家悉破產，或鬻賣子女以供其須。 斫山輦石，程督峭慘，雖在江湖不測之淵，百計取之，必出乃止。
Xu Zhu, Ying Andao, Wang Zhonghong, and others abetted his abuses, draining county regular revenues to supply his tribute. The tribute items were seized from the people by force and plunder, without compensating them so much as a hair's breadth. If any scholar or commoner's household held a stone or tree even slightly worth admiring, he would lead strong soldiers straight into the home and mark it with a yellow seal. Though the item was not taken immediately, guards were posted; the slightest lapse in care was punished as the crime of great disrespect. When the time came to transport the goods, they invariably tore down houses and dug through walls to extract them. If someone unluckily possessed something even slightly unusual, neighbors would denounce it as an ill omen and fear only that it would not be uprooted quickly enough. Among those subject to this corvée, middle-class households were utterly ruined; some sold their sons and daughters to meet the demands. In quarrying mountains and hauling stones, supervision was harsh and cruel. Even from the unfathomable depths of lakes and rivers, every method was tried until the stone was extracted — only then would they stop.
29
嘗得太湖石，高四丈，載以巨艦，役夫數千人，所經州縣，有拆水門、橋樑，鑿城垣以過者。 既至，賜名「神運昭功石」。 截諸道糧餉綱，旁羅商船，揭所貢暴其上，篙工、柁師倚勢貪橫，陵轢州縣，道路相視以目。 廣濟卒四指揮盡給挽士猶不足。 京始患之，從容言於帝，願抑其太甚者。 帝亦病其擾，乃禁用糧綱船，戒伐塚藏、毀室廬，毋得加黃封帕蒙人園囿花石，凡十餘事。 聽勔與蔡攸等六人入貢，餘進奉悉罷。 自是勔小戢。
Once he obtained a Tai Lake stone four zhang in height, loaded it on a huge ship, and employed several thousand laborers. Along the route, water gates and bridges were demolished and city walls breached to let it pass. When it arrived, it was given the name "Stone of Divine Transport and Manifest Achievement." He seized grain-transport convoys from every route and requisitioned merchant ships besides, displaying the tribute openly atop them. The boatmen and helmsmen, relying on their power, grew greedy and overbearing, trampling prefectures and counties — travelers on the roads exchanged glances in silent dismay. All four command units of the Guangji Army were fully assigned as haulers, and still it was not enough. Cai Jing began to worry and gently advised the emperor to restrain the worst excesses. The emperor too was troubled by the harassment. He forbade the use of grain-transport ships, prohibited looting tombs and destroying dwellings, and barred yellow-sealed requisitions on people's gardens and ornamental flowers and stones — over ten such measures in all. Only Mian, Cai You, and four others were allowed to send tribute; every other presentation was discontinued. After that, Mian pulled back a little.
30
既而勔甚。 所居直蘇市中孫老橋，忽稱詔，凡橋東西四至壤地室廬悉買賜予己，合數百家，期五日盡徙，郡吏逼逐，民嗟哭于路。 遂建神霄殿，奉青華帝君像其中，監司、都邑吏朔望皆拜庭下，命士至，輒朝謁，然後通刺詣勔。 主趙霖建三十六浦閘，興必不可成之功，天方大寒，役死者相枕藉。 霖志在媚勔，益加苛虐，吳、越不勝其苦。 徽州盧宗原竭庫錢遺之，引為發運使，公肆掊克。 園池擬禁籞，服飾器用上僭乘輿。 又托挽舟募兵數千人，擁以自衛。 子汝賢等召呼鄉州官寮，頤指目攝，皆奔走聽命，流毒州郡者二十年。
Before long he was worse than ever. His home stood directly opposite Sun Lao Bridge in the Suzhou market district. Suddenly invoking an imperial order, he had every parcel of land and every dwelling within the bridge's east–west boundaries purchased and deeded to himself—several hundred households in all, given five days to vacate. Prefectural clerks hounded them out, and wailing filled the roads. He erected a Divine Empyrean Hall and enshrined an image of the Azure Flower Sovereign Lord within it. On the first and fifteenth of each month, supervisory commissioners and local officials bowed in his courtyard. Daoist priests, too, had to pay homage at the hall before they might present their cards and seek an audience with Mian. Under his direction Zhao Lin launched construction of thirty-six sluice gates at Pu—an impossible project, launched in the dead of winter. The conscript dead lay stacked like cordwood. Lin sought only to please Mian and turned the screws ever tighter; the people of Wu and Yue could endure no more. Lu Zongyuan of Huizhou drained the prefectural treasury showering Mian with gifts and secured him the post of Transport Commissioner—whereupon Mian plundered the region openly and without restraint. His gardens and ponds rivaled the imperial park; his dress, furnishings, and ritual objects outstepped what was fit for the Son of Heaven. He also raised several thousand men under cover of the convoy service and kept them as a private guard. His son Ru Xian and the rest summoned officials across town and countryside; a tilt of the chin, a flick of the eye, and men scrambled to obey. Their poison seeped through the southeastern prefectures for twenty years.
31
方臘起，以誅勔為名。 童貫出師，承上旨盡罷去花木進奉，帝又黜勔父子弟侄在職者，民大悅。 然寇平，勔復得志，聲焰熏灼。 邪人穢夫，候門奴事，自直秘閣至殿學士，如欲可得，不附者旋踵罷去，時謂東南小朝廷。 帝末年益親任之，居中白事，傳達上旨，大略如內侍，進見不避宮嬪。 曆隨州觀察使、慶遠軍承宣使。 燕山奏功，進拜甯遠軍節度使、醴泉觀使。 一門盡為顯官，騶僕亦至金紫，天下為之扼腕。
When Fang La rebelled, he proclaimed the slaughter of Mian as his cause. When Tong Guan took the field, he carried out an imperial order to halt all flower-and-stone tribute. The emperor also removed every son, brother, and nephew of Mian's clan who held office. The people rejoiced. But once the rebels were suppressed, Mian rose again—and his influence burned hotter than ever. Scoundrels and riffraff thronged his gate like household retainers. Posts from Attendant of the Secretariat Archive to Hall Academician could be had for the asking; anyone who refused to bend was dismissed on the spot. Contemporaries called his domain a petty court of the southeast. In his later years the emperor leaned on him ever more heavily. From his own residence Mian reported business and relayed the throne's wishes—much as an inner eunuch might. He entered audience without shying from the palace women's quarters. He rose through the posts of Suizhou Observation Commissioner and Qingyuan Army Imperial Commissioner. Credited with the Yanshan campaign, he was promoted to Military Commissioner of the Ningyuan Army and Commissioner of the Liquan Abbey. Every member of his clan held a glittering office; even his grooms and pages wore gold seals and purple robes. The whole empire ground its teeth.
32
靖康之難，欲為自全計，倉卒擁上皇南巡，且欲邀至其第。 欽宗用御史言，放歸田裏，凡由勔得官者皆罷。 籍其貲財，田至三十萬畝。 言者不已，羈之衡州，徙韶州、循州，遣使即所至斬之。
When the Jingkang crisis broke, scheming to save himself, he hurriedly pressed the Retired Emperor south on a tour of inspection—and meant to lodge him at his own mansion. Emperor Qinzong, acting on a censor's memorial, sent him home to his estates and dismissed everyone who had received office through Mian's patronage. His property was seized and inventoried; his land alone totaled three hundred thousand mu. The memorials kept coming. He was confined in Heng Prefecture, then moved on through Shao and Xun. An imperial agent was sent to execute him on the spot wherever he was found.
33
王繼先
Wang Jixian
34
王繼先，開封人。 奸黠善佞。 建炎初以醫得幸，其後浸貴寵，世號王醫師。 至和安大夫、開州團練使致仕。 尋以覃恩，改授武功大夫，落致仕。 給事中富直柔奏：「繼先以雜流易前班，則自此轉行無礙，深恐將帥解體。」 帝曰：「朕頃冒海氣，繼先診視有奇效。 可特書讀。」 直柔再駁，命乃寢。 既而特授榮州防禦使。
Wang Jixian was from Kaifeng. Treacherous, quick-witted, and expert at ingratiation. Early in the Jianyan reign he won the emperor's favor as a physician. Favor and rank mounted steadily thereafter, and the world knew him as Physician Wang. He rose to Grandee for Tranquility and Regimental Commander of Kaizhou, then retired from office. When a general amnesty soon followed, he was reappointed Military Grandee and recalled from retirement. Supervising Secretary Fu Zhirou memorialized: "If Jixian trades up from the miscellaneous track into the senior roster, every transfer after this will face no barrier—and I greatly fear the army's commanders will come apart at the seams. The emperor said: "I was lately seized by coastal miasma, and Jixian's treatment worked wonders. Issue a special edict and read it aloud. Zhirou protested again, and the appointment was shelved. Before long he was specially appointed Defender-in-Chief of Rong Prefecture.
35
太后有疾，繼先診視有勞，特補其子悅道為閣門祗候。 尋命繼先主管翰林醫官局，力辭。 是時，繼先用事，中外切齒，乃陽乞致仕，以避人言。 詔遷秩二等，許回授。 俄除右武大夫、華州觀察使，詔余人毋得援例。 吳貴妃進封，推恩遷奉甯軍承宣使，特封其妻郭氏為郡夫人。
When the Empress Dowager fell ill, Jixian tended her with distinction, and his son Yuedao was specially appointed Palace Gate Attendant. He was soon ordered to head the Hanlin Medical Bureau, but firmly declined. By then Jixian was in power, and hatred for him ran from court to countryside. He pretended to seek retirement to deflect the outcry. An edict raised him two ranks and allowed him to confer the benefit on his kin. He was soon made Right Military Grandee and Huazhou Observation Commissioner, with an edict that no one else might invoke his example. When Consort Wu received a promotion in rank, Jixian rose with her to Imperial Commissioner of the Fengning Army, and his wife Lady Guo was specially enfeoffed as Lady of the Commandery.
36
繼先遭遇冠絕人臣，諸大帥承順下風，莫敢少忤，其權勢與秦檜埒。 檜使其夫人詣之，敘拜兄弟，表裏引援。 遷昭慶軍承宣使，又欲得節鉞，使其徒張孝直等校《本草》以獻，給事中楊椿沮之，計不行。 繼先富埒王室，子弟通朝籍，總戎寄，姻戚黨與盤據要途，數十年間，無能搖之者。
Jixian's rise outstripped every subject at court. Great field commanders bowed before him; none dared cross him even slightly. His sway matched Qin Hui's. Qin Hui sent his wife to call on him; they addressed each other as brothers; openly and behind the scenes they traded favors. Promoted to Imperial Commissioner of the Zhaoqing Army, he sought a military commission next and had his followers Zhang Xiaozhi and others revise the Materia Medica as a gift to the throne. Supervising Secretary Yang Chun blocked the move, and the scheme failed. Jixian's fortune rivaled the imperial household. His sons and nephews held court rank and field command; kinsmen and allies clogged the arteries of power. For decades no one could budge them.
37
金兵將至，劉錡請為戰備，繼先乃言：「新進主兵官，好作弗靖，若斬一二人，和好復固。」 帝不懌曰：「是欲我斬劉錡乎？」
As Jin forces drew near, Liu Qi called for war preparations. Jixian said: "These newly elevated commanders love to stir trouble. Behead one or two of them and the peace will hold firm again. The emperor's brow darkened. "Are you asking me to execute Liu Qi?"
38
侍御史杜莘老劾其十罪，大略謂：「繼先廣造第宅，占民居數百家，都人謂之'快樂仙宮'； 奪良家婦女為侍妾，鎮江有娼妙於歌舞，矯御前索之； 淵聖成喪，舉家燕飲，令妓女舞而不歌，謂之'啞樂'； 自金使來，日輦重寶之吳興，為避走計； 陰養惡少，私置兵甲； 受富民金，薦為閤職； 州縣大獄，以賂解免； 誣姊姦淫，加之黥隸； 又于諸處佛寺建立生祠，凡名山大刹所有，大半入其家。 此特舉其大者，其餘擢發未足數也。」
Attending Censor Du Xinlao charged him with ten crimes. In summary: "Jixian has built vast estates, displacing hundreds of families—the people of the capital call his mansion the 'Palace of Joyful Immortals'; he seized women from respectable families for his harem; when a Zhenjiang courtesan famed for song and dance caught his eye, he forged an order from the palace to claim her; when mourning for the Captive Emperor was declared complete, his household gave a banquet and ordered courtesans to dance without singing—calling it 'mute music'; ever since the Jin emissaries arrived, he has been shipping his treasures daily to Wuxing, laying plans for flight; he secretly maintained bands of ruffians and illegally stockpiled arms and armor; he took bribes from wealthy men and secured them posts in the palace gates; major criminal cases in prefectures and counties were dismissed through his bribes; he falsely charged his elder sisters with incest and had them tattooed and enslaved; He also erected living shrines to himself at Buddhist temples across the land, and seized most of the estates belonging to famous mountains and great monasteries. These are only the worst of his crimes—the rest are too numerous to count."
39
奏入，詔繼先福州居住。 其子安道，武泰軍承宣使； 守道，朝議大夫、直徽猷閣； 悅道朝奉郎、直秘閣； 孫錡，承議郎、直秘閣，並勒停。 放還良家子為奴婢者凡百餘人。 籍其貲以千萬計，鬻其田園及金銀，並隸御前激賞庫。 其海舟付李寶，天下稱快。
When the memorial reached the throne, the emperor ordered Wang Jixian to take up residence at Fuzhou. His son Andao, an inspecting commissioner of the Wutai Army; Shoudao, Gentleman for Discussion at Court and rectifier of the Huiyou Pavilion; Yuedao, Attendant Gentleman and rectifier of the Secret Pavilion; and his grandson Jin, Gentleman for Discussion and rectifier of the Secret Pavilion—all were dismissed from office. More than a hundred persons of good family who had been enslaved as servants were freed. His assets, reckoned in the tens of millions, were inventoried; his estates, gold, and silver were sold, and the proceeds were placed in the Imperial Stimulating Rewards Treasury. His seagoing vessels were turned over to Li Bao, to universal acclaim.
40
方繼先之怙寵奸法，帝亦知之，故晚年以公議廢之，遂不復起。 孝宗即位，詔任便居住，毋至行在。 淳熙八年，卒。
The emperor had long known of Jixian's arrogance in favor and his lawlessness; in his later years he was removed through public outcry and never returned to power. When Emperor Xiaozong took the throne, an edict permitted him to live where he chose and forbade him to approach the court. He died in the eighth year of the Chunxi reign (1181).
41
龍大淵附
Long Dayuan (supplementary biography)
42
曾覿，字純甫，其先汴人也。 用父任補官。 紹興三十年，以寄班祗候與龍大淵同為建王內知客。 孝宗受禪，大淵自左武大夫除樞密副都承旨，而覿自武翼郎除帶禦器械、幹辦皇城司。 諫議大夫劉度入對，首言二人潛邸舊人，待之不可無節度； 又因進故事，論京房、石顯事。 大淵遂除知閣門事，而覿除權知閣門事。 度言：「臣欲退之，而陛下進之，何面目尚為諫官？ 乞賜貶黜。」 中書舍人張震繳其命至再，出知紹興府。 殿中侍御史胡沂亦論二人市權，既而給舍金安節、周必大再封還錄黃。 時張燾新拜參政，亦欲以大淵、覿決去就，力言之，帝不納。 燾辭去，遂以內祠兼侍讀。 劉度奪言職，權工部侍郎，而二人仍知閣門事。 必大格除目不下，尋與祠，二人除命亦寢。 未幾，卒以大淵為宜州觀察使、知閣門事； 覿，文州刺史、權知閣門：皆兼皇城司。 不數月間，除命四變。 劉度出知建寧府，尋放罷。
Zeng Di, courtesy name Chunfu, was a native of Bian (Kaifeng). He received his initial appointment through his father's yin privilege. In the thirtieth year of Shaoxing (1160), he and Long Dayuan, both palace attendant duty officers, served as inner intimates of the Prince of Jian. When Xiaozong accepted the abdication, Dayuan rose from Left Martial Grandee to deputy chief palace secretary of the Bureau of Military Affairs, while Di rose from Martial Wing Lang to bearer of the imperial arms and administrator of the Imperial City Bureau. Remonstrance and Discussion Grandee Liu Du, on entering audience, urged first that the two were old associates from the prince's hidden residence and must not be indulged without restraint; he also cited historical precedents, invoking the cases of Jing Fang and Shi Xian. Dayuan was then appointed director of the Gate, and Di acting director of the Gate. Du said, "I sought to have them removed, yet Your Majesty has promoted them—how can I still hold my face as a remonstrance official? I beg to be demoted and dismissed." Palace Drafter Zhang Zhen returned the appointment twice, and Liu Du was sent out as prefect of Shaoxing. Palace Attendant Censor Hu Yi also denounced the two for trafficking in power; soon Drafting Gentlemen Jin Anjie and Zhou Bida again sealed and returned the yellow record. Zhang Tao had just been appointed participating administrator and likewise sought to settle the fate of Dayuan and Di by their removal; he spoke forcefully, but the emperor would not heed him. Tao resigned and was given an inner temple post with concurrent appointment as imperial reader. Liu Du was stripped of his remonstrance office and made acting vice minister of Works, while the two still held the Gate directorships. Zhou Bida withheld the appointment documents and would not issue them; soon he too received a temple post, and the appointments of the two lapsed. Before long, Dayuan was finally made observation commissioner of Yizhou and director of the Gate; Di was made prefect of Wenzhou and acting director of the Gate—both concurrently held the Imperial City Bureau. Within a few months their appointments changed four times. Liu Du was sent out as prefect of Jianning and soon dismissed.
43
群臣既以言二人得罪去，侍御史周操章十五上，不報。 自是覿與大淵勢張甚，士大夫之寡恥者潛附麗之。 帝嘗令大淵撫慰兩淮將士，侍御史王十朋言大淵銜命撫師，非出朝廷論選之公，有輕國體。 時又有內侍押班梁珂者，三人表裏用事。 及珂以罪出，右正言龔茂良入對，首論：「二人害政甚珂百倍，陛下罷行一政事，進退一人才，必掠美自歸，謂為己力。 或時有少過，昌言於外，謂嘗爭之而不見聽。 群臣章疏留中未出，間得窺見，出以語人。 有司條陳利害，示以副封，公然可否。 若夫交通賄賂，幹求差遣，特其小者耳。 願特出威斷，並行罷去。」
After ministers had already been punished and removed for criticizing the two, Attendant Censor Zhou Cao submitted fifteen memorials and received no response. From then on Di and Dayuan grew formidable in power, and shameless scholars quietly attached themselves to them. The emperor once ordered Dayuan to console the officers and soldiers of the Two Huai; Attendant Censor Wang Shipeng said that Dayuan, bearing a mandate to console the armies, had not been chosen through the court's public deliberation—a slight to national dignity. At the time there was also the inner attendant and duty officer Liang Ke; the three worked in concert inside and out. When Ke was removed for crime, Right Remonstrance Official Gong Maoliang, on entering audience, argued first: "These two harm government a hundredfold more than Ke; whenever Your Majesty abolishes a policy or advances or dismisses a talent, they seize the credit and claim it as their own doing. If there was some small fault, they proclaimed abroad that they had argued against it but were not heeded. Memorials from ministers held in the palace and not issued—they sometimes glimpsed them and disclosed them to others. When offices submitted analyses of benefits and harms, they were shown the duplicate seal and openly approved or rejected them. Bribery and solicitation of appointments were only the lesser of their offenses. I beg Your Majesty to issue a resolute decree and remove them both at once."
44
先是，江、浙大水，詔侍從、台諫陳闕政。 著作郎劉夙上封事曰：「陛下與覿、大淵輩觴詠唱酬，字而不名。 罷宰相，易大將，待其言而後決。 嚴法守，裁僥倖，當自宮掖近侍始。」 茂良時為監察御史，亦言：「水至陰，其占為女寵，為嬖佞，為小人，蓋專指左右近習也。」 帝諭以二人皆潛邸舊人，非近習比； 且俱有文學，敢諫諍，杜門不出，不預外事，宜退而訪問。 茂良再上疏言：「德宗不知盧杞之奸邪，此其所以奸邪也。 大淵、覿所為，行道之人能言之，特陛下未之覺耳。」 疏入不報。 茂良待罪，除太常少卿，五辭不拜，出知建寧府。
Earlier, Jiang and Zhe had suffered severe flooding; an edict ordered attendants and remonstrance and censorial officials to report governmental failings. Authoring Gentleman Liu Su submitted a sealed memorial: "Your Majesty drinks and composes verse with Di, Dayuan, and their like, addressing them by style name rather than by office. You dismiss a chief minister or replace a great general only after waiting for their word. Strict enforcement of law and cutting off favoritism should begin with those close at hand in the inner palace." Maoliang was then investigating censor and also said, "Water is utmost yin; its omen is female favor, flatterers, and petty men—it plainly points to those close at hand on the left and right." The emperor replied that the two were old associates from the hidden residence and were not to be compared with recent intimates; moreover both were literarily accomplished, dared to remonstrate, kept their doors closed, did not meddle in outside affairs—one should withdraw and consult them instead. Maoliang submitted again: "Emperor Dezong did not know Lu Qi's treachery—that is precisely why Qi was treacherous. What Dayuan and Di do, travelers on the road can recount—it is only that Your Majesty has not yet perceived it." The memorial was submitted; no response was issued. Maoliang awaited punishment; he was made vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, declined five times, and was sent out as prefect of Jianning.
45
一日，右史洪邁過參政陳俊卿曰：「聞將除右史，邁遷西掖，信乎？」 俊卿曰：「何自得之？」 邁以二人告。 俊卿即以語宰相葉顒、魏杞，而己獨奏之，且以邁語質之帝前，帝怒，即出二人於外。 於是遷大淵為江東總管，覿為淮西副總管，中外快之。 尋改大淵浙東、覿福建。 乾道四年，大淵死，覿尚在福建。 帝憐，欲召之，樞密劉珙奏曰：「此曹奴隸爾，厚賜之可也。 引以自近而待以賓友，使得與聞政事，非所以增聖德、整朝綱也。」 帝納珙言，命遂寢。
One day Right Historian Hong Mai called on Participating Administrator Chen Junqing and said, "I hear a right historian is to be appointed and I am to move to the western drafting office—is it true?" Junqing said, "How did you learn of it?" Mai said the two men had told him. Junqing at once informed chief ministers Ye Yu and Wei Qi, while he alone memorialized the throne and confronted the emperor with Mai's words; the emperor was enraged and immediately sent the two outside. Dayuan was then transferred as Jiangdong commander-in-chief and Di as Huai West deputy commander-in-chief, to the joy of court and country. Soon Dayuan was reassigned to Zhe East and Di to Fujian. In the fourth year of Qiandao (1168), Dayuan died; Di was still in Fujian. The emperor pitied him and wished to recall him; Military Affairs Commissioner Liu Gong memorialized, "These fellows are mere slaves—generous gifts are enough. To draw them near and treat them as guest-friends, allowing them to hear of government affairs, is not the way to increase sagely virtue or rectify court discipline." The emperor accepted Gong's counsel and the summons lapsed.
46
既而覿垂滿，俊卿恐其入，預請以浙東總管處之。 台臣上疏論之，不報。 太學錄魏掞之亟上封事論列，且見俊卿切責之，掞之得台州教官以出。 覿至龍山已久，伺掞之去，然後入國門。 會虞允文使蜀還，與俊卿同奏覿不可留。 帝曰：「然，留則累朕。」 卒除浙東副總管。 未幾，以墨詔進覿一官為觀察使，中書舍人繳還，不因事除拜，必有人言。 帝不聽。 俊卿曰：「不爾，亦須有名。」 會汪大猷為賀金正旦使，俾覿副之。 比還，遷一秩，而竟申浙東之命，且戒閣門吏趣朝辭，覿由是怏怏而去。
Before long Di's term was nearing completion; Junqing, fearing he would enter the capital, beforehand requested that he be placed as Zhe East commander-in-chief. Censorial officials submitted memorials; no response. Imperial Academy Recorder Wei Dashan urgently submitted a sealed memorial criticizing the appointment and also saw Junqing to rebuke him sharply; Dashan received a teaching post at Taizhou and left. Di had lingered at Longshan a long time; he waited until Dashan had gone, then entered the capital gate. When Yu Yunwen returned from his mission to Shu, he joined Junqing in memorializing that Di must not be retained. The emperor said, "So it is—to retain him would burden Us. In the end Di was made Zhe East deputy commander-in-chief. Before long, by informal edict Di was advanced one rank to observation commissioner; the palace drafter returned the appointment, saying appointments not tied to some affair would surely draw criticism. The emperor would not listen. Junqing said, "If not, there must still be a pretext." When Wang Dayou was made envoy to congratulate the Jin on New Year's Day, Di was appointed his deputy. On their return he was advanced one grade, yet in the end the Zhe East appointment stood; the Gate officers were instructed to hurry his leave-taking audience, and Di departed in resentment.
47
六年夏，俊卿罷政。 十月，覿以京祠召。 七年，立皇太子，覿以伴讀勞，升承宣使。 八年，姚憲為賀金國尊號使，覿副之。 歸，除武泰軍節度使，提舉萬壽觀。 淳熙元年，除開府儀同三司。 四年，覿欲以文資官其子孫，帝遣中使至省中具使相奏補法，龔茂良時以參政行丞相事，遽以文武官各隨本色蔭補法繳進，覿大怒。 茂良退朝，覿從騎不避，茂良執而撻之，待罪乞出，不許。 戶部員外郎謝廓然忽賜出身，除侍御史。 廓然首論茂良，以資政殿學士知鎮江； 章再上，鐫罷； 言之不已，貶英州，皆覿所使也。 覿前雖預事，未敢肆，至是責逐大臣，士始側目重足矣。 廓然既以擅權罪茂良，從班有韓彥古者，覿之姻，廓然之黨，遂獻議助之，使人主疑大臣而信近習，至是益甚。
In the summer of the sixth year, Junqing left office. In the tenth month, Di was summoned on a capital temple post. In the seventh year, when the heir apparent was installed, Di was raised to inspecting commissioner for his labors as companion reader. In the eighth year, Yao Xian was made envoy to congratulate the Jin on their honorific title; Di served as his deputy. On his return he was made military commissioner of the Wutai Army and superintendent of the Wanshou Abbey. In the first year of Chunxi (1174), he was made commissioner with the same powers as the Three Excellencies. In the fourth year, Di wished to obtain civil-service appointments for his sons and grandsons; the emperor sent a palace envoy to the Secretariat for the regulations on memorial appointment for chief ministers; Gong Maoliang, then participating administrator acting as chief minister, hastily submitted the regulations on yin appointment for civil and military officials according to their original categories; Di was furious. When Maoliang left court, Di's mounted attendants did not yield; Maoliang seized and flogged them, submitted himself for punishment and begged to leave office, and was not permitted. Ministry of Revenue outer section member Xie Kuoran was suddenly granted initial status and made attendant censor. Kuoran first attacked Maoliang, who was made academician of the Hall for Cultivating Virtue and prefect of Zhenjiang; when the memorial was submitted again, he was engraved on the stone and dismissed; when he would not cease, he was demoted to Yingzhou—all at Di's instigation. Though Di had earlier taken part in affairs, he had not dared to act recklessly; only now did he drive out great ministers, and scholars began to regard him with sidelong eyes and deep apprehension. After Kuoran had condemned Maoliang for usurping power, among the court cohort was Han Yanggu, Di's in-law and Kuoran's partisan; he then offered counsel to assist them, causing the sovereign to doubt great ministers and trust close intimates—a tendency that grew worse thereafter.
48
六年二月，帝幸佑聖觀，召宰臣史浩及覿同賜酒。 是歲，加覿少保、醴泉觀使。 時周必大當草制，人謂其必不肯從，及制出，乃有「敬故在尊賢之上」之語，士論惜之。
In the second month of the sixth year, the emperor visited the You Sheng Abbey and summoned Chief Minister Shi Hao and Di to share wine together. That year, Di was made junior guardian and commissioner of the Liquan Abbey. At the time Zhou Bida was to draft the edict; men said he would surely refuse, yet when the edict appeared it contained the phrase "honoring the old ranks above honoring the worthy"—scholarly opinion lamented it.
49
覿始與龍大淵相朋，及大淵死，則與王抃、甘昪相蟠結，文武要職多出三人之門。 葉衡自小官十年至宰相。 徐本中由小使臣積階至刺史、知閣門事，換文資為右文殿修撰、樞密都承旨、賜三品服，俄為浙西提刑，尋以集英殿修撰奉內祠。 是二人者，皆覿所進也。
Di had at first been allied with Long Dayuan; after Dayuan died he intertwined with Wang Bian and Gan Bian, and important civil and military posts mostly issued from the three men's doors. Ye Heng rose from a minor office in ten years to chief minister. Xu Benzhong, from a minor envoy, accumulated ranks to prefect and director of the Gate; he exchanged military status for civil rank as academician of the Right Culture Hall, chief palace secretary of the Bureau of Military Affairs, and grant of third-rank robes; soon he was Huai West investigating commissioner for punishments; shortly thereafter he was made academician of the Hall for Assembling Excellence and received an inner temple post. Both men had been promoted through Zeng Di's patronage.
50
著作郎胡晉臣因轉對，極論近習怙權之害，遂出知漢州。 南康守朱熹應詔上書，其言尤力，有曰：「一二近習之人，蠱惑陛下心志，所謂宰相、師傅、賓友、諫諍之臣，或反出入其門牆，承望其風旨。」 疏入，帝怒，諭令分析，丞相趙雄言之，事遂止。 陳俊卿守金陵，過闕入見，首言曾覿、王抃招權納賂，薦進人才，皆以中批行之。 帝曰：「瑣細差遣，或勉循之。 至於近上之除，此輩何敢預。」 俊卿入辭，又曰：「向來士大夫奔覿、抃之門，十才一二，尚畏人知； 今則公然趨附，十已八九，大非朝廷美事也。」 帝感悟。 覿用事二十年，權震中外，至於譖逐大臣，貶死嶺外。 自是浸覺其奸，嘗謂左右曰：「曾覿誤我不少。」 遂稍疏覿。
Composition Officer Hu Jinchen, during a rotation audience, spoke forcefully against close intimates hoarding power and was sent out to serve as prefect of Hanzhou. Nankang Prefect Zhu Xi answered the imperial summons with a memorial whose language was especially blunt: 'A handful of close intimates have beguiled Your Majesty's mind. The men who ought to be your chief ministers, tutors, friends, and remonstrators instead come and go at their gates, eager to catch their drift.' When the memorial arrived, the emperor was furious and ordered a point-by-point rebuttal; Chief Minister Zhao Xiong intervened, and the matter was dropped. Chen Junqing, prefect of Nanjing, stopped at court for an audience and opened by accusing Zeng Di and Wang Bian of trading in power and bribes, pushing favorites through imperial rescripts. The emperor said, 'For petty appointments I might go along. But for posts near the throne—how could such men dare to meddle?' On his farewell audience Junqing added, 'Once, perhaps one scholar in ten would court Di or Bian, and even then in secret; now eight or nine in ten do so openly. That is no credit to the court.' The emperor took the point. Di had wielded power for twenty years, his influence felt inside and outside the court; he had slandered and expelled great ministers and sent men to die in exile beyond the mountains. He gradually came to see Di's deceit and once told his attendants, 'Zeng Di has led me badly astray.' He began to keep Di at arm's length.
51
覿憂恚，疽發於背。 七年三月，侍帝宴於翠寒堂，退為記以進。 十二月，卒。 於是凡前論覿得罪者皆錄贈，胡晉臣起至執政，魏掞之贈直秘閣，龔茂良悉還其職名恩數雲。
Di, anxious and bitter, developed a carbuncle on his back. In the third month of the seventh year he attended the emperor's banquet in the Cuihan Hall; afterward he wrote an account and submitted it. In the twelfth month he died. Then everyone who had earlier been punished for criticizing Di was posthumously honored; Hu Jinchen was recalled to the council; Wei Yan was posthumously made direct academician of the Secretariat; Gong Maoliang had his offices, titles, and privileges fully restored, and the like.
52
張說，開封人。 父公裕，省吏也，為和州防禦使，建炎初有軍功。 說受父任為右職，娶壽聖皇后女弟，由是累遷知閣門事。 隆興初，兼樞密副都承旨。 乾道初，為都承旨，加明州觀察使。
Zhang Shuo was a native of Kaifeng. His father Zhang Gongyu had been a provincial clerk, became defense commissioner of Hezhou, and won distinction in the opening years of the Jianyan era. Shuo inherited his father's right-rank appointment, married a younger sister of Empress Dowager Shousheng, and rose step by step to director of the Gate. At the opening of the Longxing era he also served as deputy chief palace secretary of the Bureau of Military Affairs. At the opening of the Qiandao era he became chief palace secretary and was made observation commissioner of Mingzhou.
53
七年三月，除簽書樞密院事。 時起復劉珙同知樞密院，珙恥與之同命，力辭不拜，命既下，朝論譁然不平，莫敢頌言於朝者。 惟左司員外郎張栻在經筵力言之，中書舍人范成大不草詞。 尋除說安遠軍節度使，奉祠歸第。 不數月，出栻知袁州。 說既奉祠，語人曰：「張左司平時不相樂，固也。 范致能亦胡為見攻？」 指所坐亭材植曰：「是皆致能所惠也。」
In the third month of the seventh year he was appointed deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Liu Qi had just been recalled as associate commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs; Qi was ashamed to share rank with Shuo and refused the post. Once the order went out, opinion seethed at court and no one dared voice approval. Only Zhang Shi of the left division spoke bluntly in the classics lecture hall; drafting attendant Fan Chengda refused to draft the appointment edict. Soon Shuo was made military commissioner of the Anyuan Army and sent home on a temple stipend. Within months Zhang Shi was sent out as prefect of Yuanzhou. After taking his temple post Shuo remarked, 'Left Division Member Zhang and I were never friendly—that much is true. But why did Fan Zhineng turn on me as well?' He gestured at the timber and plantings of his pavilion: 'All of this came from Zhineng.'
54
八年二月，復自安遠軍節度使提舉萬壽觀，簽書樞密院事。 侍御史李衡、右正言王希呂交章論之，起居郎莫濟不書錄黃，直院周必大不草答詔，於是命權給事中姚憲書讀行下，命翰林學士王暼嚴草答詔，未幾，暼嚴升學士承旨，憲贈出身，為諫議大夫。 詔希呂合黨邀名，持論反覆，責遠小監當。 衡素與說厚，所言亦婉，止罷言職，遷左史，而濟、必大皆與在外宮觀，日下出國門。 國子司業劉焞移書責宰相，言說不當用，即為言者所論，出為江西轉運判官。 於是說勢赫然，無敢攖之者。 九年春，說露章薦濟、必大，於是二人皆予郡，必大卒不出。
In the second month of the eighth year he was again raised from military commissioner of the Anyuan Army to superintendent of the Wanshou Abbey and deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Attendant censor Li Heng and remonstrator Wang Xilu attacked him in successive memorials; diary attendant Mo Ji refused to record the yellow copy; academician Zhou Bida refused to draft the reply edict. The order then went to acting drafting attendant Yao Xian to read and promulgate it, and Hanlin academician Wang Yanmo to draft the reply; soon Yanmo was promoted chief academician, Xian was granted initial status and made remonstrating grandee. An edict condemned Wang Xilu for faction-seeking and flip-flopping and demoted him to a distant minor supervisory post. Heng had long been friendly with Shuo and his language was mild; he merely lost his remonstrating post and was made left historiographer, while Ji and Bida were both sent to outer temple posts and ordered out of the capital that day. National University vice director Liu Xun wrote reproaching the chief minister for employing Shuo; critics at once attacked him and he was sent out as Jiangxi transport judge. Shuo's power now blazed, and no one dared challenge him. In the spring of the ninth year Shuo openly memorialized to recommend Ji and Bida; both were given prefectures, though Bida never took up his post.
55
先是，南丹州莫延葚表乞就宜州市馬，比橫山省三十程，說在樞筦以聞，樞屬有論其不便，說不聽。 說既貶，遂罷其議。 說又嘗建議欲郎官、卿監通差武臣，中書舍人留正以為不可，遂止。 與右相梁克家議使事不合，克家罷去而說留，其竊政權、傾大臣類如此。
Earlier the Nandan chieftain Mo Yanqin had asked to buy horses at Yizhou city—thirty stages closer than Hengshan. While Shuo sat in the Bureau he reported the request; staff argued against it, but he would not hear them. Once Shuo fell, the plan was dropped. Shuo once proposed rotating bureau officers and directorate commissioners with military officials; drafting attendant Liu Zheng objected and the plan died. He clashed with right chief minister Liang Kejia over embassy business; Kejia was dismissed while Shuo stayed—his habit of seizing power and toppling senior ministers followed this pattern.
56
王抃，初為國信所小吏。 金人求海、泗、唐、鄧、商、秦地，議久不決。 金兵至，遣抃往使，許以地，易歲貢為歲幣而還。 乾道中，積官至知閣門事，帝親信之。 金使至，議國書禮，不合，抃以宰執虞允文命，紿其使曰：「兩朝通好自有常禮，使人何得妄生事，已牒知對境。」 翌日，金使乃進書。 帝以為可任，遣詣荊襄點閱軍馬。
Wang Bian had begun as a minor clerk in the Credentials Office. The Jin demanded Hai, Si, Tang, Deng, Shang, and Qin; debate dragged on without resolution. When Jin armies approached, Bian was dispatched as envoy; he agreed to cede the territory, converted the annual tribute into annual payments in silk, and returned. During Qiandao he rose to director of the Gate, and the emperor trusted him personally. When a Jin envoy came and talks on the state-letter rites broke down, Bian—on Chief Minister Yu Yunwen's order—bluffed the envoy: 'Amity between our courts has fixed ceremonies. How dare an envoy stir trouble? I have already notified the border counterpart.' The next day the Jin envoy presented the letter after all. The emperor judged him capable and sent him to Jingxiang to review troops and horses.
57
淳熙中，兼樞密都承旨，建議以殿、步二司軍多虛籍，請各募三千人。 已而殿司輒捕市人充軍，號呼滿道，軍士乘隙掠取民財。 帝專以罪殿前指揮使王友直，而命抃權殿前司事。
In Chunxi he also served as chief palace secretary of the Bureau of Military Affairs and argued that the Palace and Infantry commands held many ghost names on the rolls; he asked to recruit three thousand men for each. Soon the Palace command began seizing townspeople to fill the ranks; cries filled the streets and soldiers looted civilians. The emperor blamed only Palace Front commander Wang Youzhi and put Bian in charge of the Palace Front command pro tempore.
58
先是，抃紿金使取國書，及使歸，金主誅之。 嗣歲，金使至，帝以德壽宮之命，為離席受國書，尋悔之。 淳熙八年，金賀正旦使至，復要帝起立如舊儀，帝遽入內，抃擅許金使用舊儀見。 翌日，汝愚侍殿上，帝不懌數日。 汝愚因亟攻抃，帝遂出抃外祠，不復召。 淳熙十一年，以福州觀察使卒。
Earlier Bian had tricked a Jin envoy into accepting the state letter; when that envoy returned home, the Jin ruler had him executed. The next year, when a Jin envoy arrived, the emperor—on orders from the Virtuous Longevity Palace—received the state letter while standing away from his seat, and soon regretted the concession. In the eighth year of Chunxi the Jin New Year's envoy again demanded that the emperor rise as in the old ceremony; the emperor rushed inside, and Bian on his own authority let the Jin envoy be received under the old forms. The next day Yu Yongshi attended in the hall; the emperor remained displeased for days. Yu Yongshi pressed the attack on Bian, and the emperor sent Bian to an outer temple post, never to recall him. In the eleventh year of Chunxi he died while holding the observation commissionership of Fuzhou.
59
姜特立
Jiang Teli
60
姜特立字邦傑，麗水人。 以父綬恩，補承信郎。
Jiang Teli, courtesy name Bangjie, was a native of Lishui. Through his father's yin privilege he was appointed credentialed gentleman.
61
淳熙中，累遷福建路兵馬副都監。 海賊姜大獠寇泉南，特立以一舟先進，擒之。 帥臣趙汝愚薦於朝，召見，獻所為詩百篇，除閣門舍人，命充太子宮左右春坊兼皇孫平陽王伴讀，由是得幸于太子。 太子即位，除知閣門事，與譙熙載皆以春坊舊人用事，恃恩無所忌憚，時人謂曾、龍再出。
During Chunxi he rose to deputy overall commander of Fujian Circuit troops and horses. The sea bandit Jiang Daliao raided southern Quanzhou; Teli took one boat ahead of the fleet and captured him. Circuit commander Zhao Ruyu recommended him at court; summoned to audience, he presented a hundred poems of his own composition and was made gate attendant, then assigned to the heir apparent's eastern palace spring mansions and as companion reader to the imperial grandson, Prince of Pingyang—thus winning the heir apparent's favor. When the heir apparent succeeded, Teli was made director of the Gate; he and Qiao Xizai, as veterans of the eastern palace, wielded power without restraint, trusting in favor—people said Zeng Di and Long Dayuan had come again.
62
留正為右相，執政尚闕人，特立一日語正曰：「帝以承相在位久，欲遷左揆，就二尚書中擇一人執政，孰可者？」 明日，正論其招權納賄之狀，遂奪職與外祠。 帝念之，復除浙東馬步軍副總管，詔賜錢二千緡為行裝。 正引唐憲宗召吐突承璀事，乞罷相，不許。 正復言：「臣與特立勢難兩立。」 帝答曰：「成命已班，朕無反汗，卿宜自處。」 正待罪國門外，帝不復召，而特立亦不至。 甯宗受禪，特立遷和州防禦使，再奉祠，俄拜慶遠軍節度使，卒。
Liu Zheng was right chief minister and the council still needed men; one day Teli asked Zheng, 'The emperor, thinking you have served long as chief minister, wants to shift you to the left seat and pick one of two ministers to join the council—who would you choose?' The next day Zheng denounced his trading in power and bribes; Teli was stripped of office and sent to an outer temple post. The emperor missed him and reappointed him deputy overall commander of Zhe East infantry and cavalry, with an edict granting two thousand strings of cash for travel expenses. Zheng cited Tang Xianzong's recall of the eunuch Tu Tu Chengcui and asked to resign the chief ministership; the request was denied. Zheng added, 'Teli and I cannot share power.' The emperor answered, 'The appointment is already promulgated; I will not reverse myself—you must handle this on your own.' Zheng waited in disgrace outside the National Gate; the emperor never recalled him, and Teli did not appear either. When Ningzong took the throne, Teli was promoted to defense commissioner of Hezhou, received another temple post, was soon made military commissioner of the Qingyuan Army, and died.
63
譙熙載附
Qiao Xizai (supplementary)
64
熙載亦為平陽邸伴讀，累官至忠州防禦使、知閣門事。 紹熙中卒，較之特立頗廉勤。
Xizai too had been companion reader at the Prince of Pingyang's residence and rose to defense commissioner of Zhongzhou and director of the Gate. He died in the Shaoxi era; beside Teli he was the more honest and diligent of the two.