Volume 474 Biographies 233: Treacherous Officials 4 - Wan Sixie, Han Tuozhou, Ding Daquan, Jia Sidao

万俟禼韓侂胄丁大全賈似道

Wan Sijie, Han Tuozhou, Ding Daquan, and Jia Sidao

万俟禼

Wan Sijie

万俟禼字元忠，開封陽武縣人。登政和二年上舍第。調相州、潁昌府教授，曆太學錄、樞密院編修官、尚書比部員外郎。紹興初，盜曹成掠荊湖間，禼時避亂沅、湘，帥臣程昌寓以便宜檄禼權沅州事。成奄至城下，禼召土豪、集丁壯以守，成食盡乃退。除湖北轉運判官，改提點湖北刑獄。岳飛宣撫荊湖，遇禼不以禮，禼憾之。禼入覲，調湖南轉運判官，陛辭，希秦檜意，譖飛於朝。留為監察御史，擢右正言。

Wan Sijie, whose style name was Yuanzhong, came from Yangwu County in Kaifeng. In the second year of Zhenghe (1112), he passed the upper-division examination at the Imperial University. He was posted as professor at Xiangzhou and Yingchang Prefecture, then served in turn as recorder of the Imperial University, compiler at the Bureau of Military Affairs, and vice director in the Ministry of Revenue's comparison bureau. Early in the Shaoxing era, the bandit Cao Cheng ravaged the Jinghu region. Sijie had fled the turmoil to Yuan and Xiang, where the regional commander Cheng Changyu gave him discretionary authority to govern Yuanzhou on a provisional basis. When Cao Cheng suddenly appeared before the walls, Sijie rallied local strongmen and mustered fighting men for the defense. Cao withdrew only after his supplies ran out. He was made vice commissioner of the Hubei transport circuit and later reassigned as judicial intendant for Hubei. When Yue Fei served as commissioner for the Jinghu region, he did not treat Sijie with proper respect, and Sijie bore a grudge. On returning to court, Sijie was reassigned as vice commissioner of the Hunan transport circuit. At his farewell audience he curried favor with Qin Gui and denounced Yue Fei before the throne. He was kept at court as an investigating censor and soon promoted to right rectifier of the Secretariat.

時檜謀收諸將兵權，禼力助之，言諸大將起行伍，知利不知義，畏死不畏法，高官大職，子女玉帛，已極其欲，盍示以逗遛之罰，敗亡之誅，不用命之戮，使知所懼。

Qin Gui was then scheming to strip the generals of their military authority, and Sijie strongly backed him. He argued that these commanders, raised from the ranks, knew gain but not duty, feared death but not the law, and with high rank, wealth, and families already had all they could want. He urged that they be shown penalties for delay, ruin, and disobedience so they would learn to fear the court.

張俊歸自楚州，與檜合謀擠飛，令禼劾飛對將佐言山陽不可守。命中丞何鑄治飛獄，鑄明其無辜。檜怒，以禼代治，遂誣飛與其子雲致書張憲令虛申警報以動朝廷，及令憲措置使還飛軍；獄不成，又誣以淮西逗遛之事。飛父子與憲俱死，天下冤之。大理卿薛仁輔、寺丞李若朴、何彥猷言飛無罪，禼劾之；知宗正寺士㒟請以百口保飛，禼又劾之，士㒟竄死建州。劉洪道與飛有舊，禼劾其足恭媚飛，聞飛罷，宜撫抵掌流涕。於是洪道抵罪，終身不復。參政範同為檜所引，或自奏事，檜忌之，禼劾罷，再論同罪，謫居筠州。又為檜劾李光鼓倡，孫近朋比，二人皆被竄謫。

Zhang Jun returned from Chuzhou and conspired with Qin Gui to oust Yue Fei, directing Sijie to accuse Fei of telling his officers that Shanyang was indefensible. The emperor ordered Vice Censor-in-Chief He Zhu to investigate the case, and Zhu found Yue Fei innocent. Qin Gui was furious and put Sijie in charge of the case instead. Sijie then fabricated charges that Yue Fei and his son Yun had written to Zhang Xian, urging him to raise false alarms to alarm the court and to arrange matters so Fei's troops would be recalled; When that case would not hold, he added the charge of deliberate delay during the Huai West campaign. Yue Fei, his son Yun, and Zhang Xian were all put to death, and people throughout the empire considered it a gross injustice. Grand Court Judge Xue Renfu, Vice Director Li Ruopu, and He Yanyou declared Yue Fei innocent, and Sijie impeached them in turn; Shi Yun, director of the Court of the Imperial Clan, offered to stake the lives of his entire household on Yue Fei's innocence, but Sijie impeached him as well. Yun was exiled and died in Jianzhou. Liu Hongdao had long been close to Yue Fei. Sijie accused him of groveling before Fei and of clapping his hands and weeping when he learned that Fei had been removed as commissioner. Hongdao was convicted on these charges and never held office again for the rest of his life. Participating Administrator Fan Tong had been Qin Gui's protégé but sometimes submitted memorials on his own initiative, which Gui resented. Sijie impeached him and had him removed; when his case was reopened, he was banished to Yunzhou. At Qin Gui's direction he also impeached Li Guang for inciting unrest and Sun Jin for forming a clique; both were exiled.

和議成，禼請詔戶部會計用兵之時與通和之後所費各幾何，若減於前日，乞以羨財別貯御前激賞庫，不許他用，蓄積稍實，可備緩急。梓宮還，以禼為郐贊宮按行使，內侍省副都知宋唐卿副之，禼請與唐卿同班上殿奏事，其無恥如此。張浚寓居長沙，禼妄劾浚卜宅逾制，至擬五鳳樓。會吳秉信自長沙還朝，奏浚宅不過眾人，常產可辦，浚乃得免。

Once peace was concluded, Sijie asked that the Ministry of Revenue calculate wartime expenditures against post-peace costs. If spending had fallen, he proposed that the surplus be set aside in the imperial reward treasury, barred from other use, so reserves could build up for emergencies. When the late emperor's coffin was brought back, Sijie was appointed commissioner for the escort mission to Kuai, with Song Tangqing of the Inner Service Bureau as his deputy. He requested to share Tangqing's schedule for ascending the hall to report—such was his brazenness. Zhang Jun was living in retirement at Changsha when Sijie falsely accused him of building a residence that violated sumptuary regulations, comparing it even to the Five Phoenix Tower. Wu Bingxin happened to return from Changsha and reported that Jun's house was no grander than an ordinary man's and could be paid for from normal means, and Zhang Jun was spared.

除參知政事，充金國報謝使。使還，檜假金人譽己數千言，囑禼以聞，禼難之。他日奏事退，檜坐殿廬中批上旨，輒除所厚者官，吏鈐紙尾進，禼曰：「不聞聖語。」卻不視。檜大怒，自是不交一語。言官李文會、詹大方交章劾禼，禼遂求去。帝命出守，檜愈怒。給事中楊願封還詞頭，遂罷去，尋謫居歸州。遇赦，量移沅州。

He was appointed participating administrator and sent as envoy to the Jin court to return thanks. After returning from his mission, he found that Qin Gui had fabricated several thousand words of Jin praise for himself and asked Sijie to report them to the throne. Sijie balked. On another occasion, after court business Sijie withdrew while Qin Gui remained in the side hall drafting rescripts and immediately promoting his favorites. When a clerk brought the stamped document forward, Sijie said, "I did not hear the emperor's words. He refused even to look at the document. Qin Gui was furious and thereafter would not speak a word to him. Censorial officials Li Wenhui and Zhan Dafang filed successive impeachments against him, and Sijie asked to resign. The emperor ordered him to take a prefectural post outside the capital, which only deepened Qin Gui's anger. Drafting drafter Yang Yuan returned the appointment edict unapproved, and Sijie was dismissed. He was soon banished to Guizhou. After an amnesty he was transferred under discretion to Yuanzhou.

二十五年，召還，除參知政事，尋拜尚書右僕射、同中書門下平章事。纂次太后回鑾事實，上之。張浚以禼與沈該居相位不厭天下望，上書言其專欲受命于金。禼見書大怒，以為金人未有釁，而浚所奏乃若禍在年歲間，浚坐竄謫。禼提舉刊修《貢舉敕令格式》五十卷、《看詳法意》四百八十七卷，書進，授金紫光祿大夫，致仕。卒，年七十五，諡忠靖。

In the twenty-fifth year of Shaoxing he was recalled, made participating administrator, and soon promoted to right vice director of the Department of State Affairs and Grand Councillor. He compiled a factual account of the empress dowager's return to the capital and submitted it to the throne. Zhang Jun, believing that Sijie and Shen Gai in office failed to meet public expectations, memorialized that they sought only to take their orders from the Jin. Sijie was furious when he read it, arguing that the Jin had given no provocation while Jun's memorial made war sound imminent. Zhang Jun was exiled as a result. He supervised compilation of fifty juan of examination statutes and four hundred eighty-seven juan of reviewed legal commentary. When the works were submitted he was granted the golden purple-girdle grandee rank and retired from office. He died at seventy-five and was posthumously titled Loyal and Tranquil.

禼始附檜，為言官，所言多出檜意；及登政府，不能受鉗制，遂忤檜去。檜死，帝親政，將反檜所為，首召禼還。禼主和固位，無異於檜，士論益薄之。

Sijie had first attached himself to Qin Gui as a censorial official, and his pronouncements largely echoed Gui's wishes; but once he reached high office he would not submit to Gui's control, offended him, and was driven out. After Qin Gui's death the emperor took personal control and planned to undo his policies, recalling Sijie first among the exiles. Sijie upheld peace to keep his position, no differently from Qin Gui, and educated opinion despised him all the more.

韓侂胄

Han Tuozhou

韓侂胄位元組夫，魏忠獻王琦曾孫也。父誠，娶高宗憲聖慈烈皇后女弟，仕至寶甯軍承宣使。侂胄以父任入官，曆閣門祗候、宣贊舍人、帶禦器械。淳熙末，以汝州防禦使知閣門事。

Han Tuozhou was an imperial son-in-law by rank and a great-great-grandson of Han Qi, Prince Zhongxian of Wei. His father Cheng married a younger sister of Empress Dowager Xiansheng Cilie of Gaozong and rose to commissioner of the Baoning Army. Tuozhou entered office through his father's privilege and served in turn as gate attendant of the Privy Portal, palace announcer, and bearer of the imperial armory insignia. Late in the Chunxi era he served as defender of Ruzhou while directing affairs of the Privy Portal.

孝宗崩，光宗以疾不能執喪，中外洶洶，趙汝愚議定策立皇子嘉王。時憲聖太后居慈福宮，而侂胄雅善慈福內侍張宗尹，汝愚乃使侂胄介宗尹以其議密啟太后。侂胄兩至宮門，不獲命，彷徨欲退，遇重華宮提舉關禮問故，入白憲聖，言甚懇切，憲聖可其議。禮以告侂胄，侂胄馳白汝愚。日已向夕，汝愚亟命殿帥郭杲以所部兵夜分衛南北內。翌日，憲聖太后即喪次垂簾，宰臣傳旨，命嘉王即皇帝位。

When Emperor Xiaozong died, Emperor Guangzong was too ill to preside over the mourning rites, and court and country were in turmoil. Zhao Ruyu proposed enthroning the prince, Prince Jia. Empress Dowager Xiansheng was then at Cifu Palace, and Tuozhou was on good terms with her attendant Zhang Zongyin. Ruyu had Tuozhou convey their plan to the empress dowager through Zongyin in secret. Tuozhou came twice to the palace gate but received no answer and was about to withdraw in dismay when Guan Li, superintendent of Chonghua Palace, asked his business. Li went in, reported earnestly to the empress dowager, and she approved the plan. Guan Li told Tuozhou, who galloped off to inform Zhao Ruyu. Evening was falling when Ruyu urgently ordered Palace Commander Guo Gao to deploy his troops at midnight to guard the inner and outer palaces. The next day Empress Dowager Xiansheng drew the curtain at the mourning hall, the chief ministers transmitted her edict, and Prince Jia was enthroned as emperor.

甯宗既立，侂胄欲推定策恩，汝愚曰：「吾宗臣也，汝外戚也，何可以言功？惟爪牙之臣，則當推賞。」乃加郭杲節鉞，而侂胄但遷宜州觀察使兼樞密都承旨。侂胄始觖望，然以傳導詔旨，浸見親幸，時時乘間竊弄威福。朱熹白汝愚當用厚賞酬其勞而疏遠之，汝愚不以為意。右正言黃度欲劾侂胄，謀泄，斥去。朱熹奏其奸，侂胄怒，使優人峨冠闊袖象大儒，戲于上前，熹遂去。彭龜年請留熹而逐侂胄。未幾，龜年與郡；侂胄進保甯軍承宣使，提舉佑神觀。自是，胄益用事，而以抑賞故，怨汝愚日深。

Once Emperor Ningzong was enthroned, Tuozhou sought reward for helping settle the succession. Zhao Ruyu said, "I am a clansman of the house and you are an affinal relative—how can either of us claim merit? Only the men who carried it out deserve reward." Guo Gao was given a military commission, while Tuozhou was merely promoted to observer of Yizhou and chief coordinator of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Tuozhou was resentful at first, but because he relayed imperial edicts he gradually won favor and began to seize chances to wield power and grant favors on his own. Zhu Xi advised Ruyu to reward Tuozhou generously but keep him at arm's length. Ruyu ignored the advice. Right rectifier Huang Du planned to impeach Tuozhou, but the plot leaked and Huang was dismissed. Zhu Xi memorialized against his misconduct. Tuozhou was furious and had actors dress as great Confucian scholars to mock Xi before the throne, and Zhu Xi left office. Peng Guinian asked that Zhu Xi be kept and Tuozhou expelled. Before long Peng Guinian was sent out to a prefecture; Tuozhou was promoted to commissioner of the Baoning Army and made superintendent of the You Shen Abbey. From then on Tuozhou wielded greater power, and because his rewards had been curtailed his resentment of Zhao Ruyu deepened daily.

縗川劉弼者，曩與侂胄同知閣門事，頗以知書自負。方議內禪時，汝愚獨與侂胄計議，弼弗得與聞，內懷不平，至是，謂侂胄曰：「趙相欲專大功，君豈惟不得節度，將恐不免嶺海之行矣。」侂胄愕然，因問計，弼曰：「惟有用台諫爾。」侂胄問：「若何而可？」弼曰：「御筆批出是也。」侂胄悟，即以內批除所知劉德秀為監察御史，楊大法為殿中侍御史；罷吳獵監察御史，而用劉三傑代之。於是言路皆侂胄之黨，汝愚之跡始危。

Liu Bi of Cuichuan had once served with Tuozhou as co-director of the Privy Portal and prided himself on his learning. When the inner abdication was being planned, Zhao Ruyu consulted only Tuozhou and excluded Bi, who nursed a grievance. He now told Tuozhou, "Chancellor Zhao means to keep all the credit for himself. You will not only miss out on a military commission—you may well be banished to the far south." Tuozhou was alarmed and asked what to do. Bi said, "You must use the censorial and remonstrance officials." Tuozhou asked, "How can that be done?" Bi said, "Issue appointments by imperial brush rescript." Tuozhou understood at once. By inner rescript he appointed his ally Liu Dexiu investigating censor and Yang Dafa palace censor; dismissed Wu Lie as investigating censor and replaced him with Liu Sanjie. The remonstrance route was now entirely Tuozhou's faction, and Zhao Ruyu's position began to look precarious.

侂胄欲逐汝愚而難其名，謀於京鏜，鏜曰：「彼宗姓，誣以謀危社稷可也。」慶元元年，侂胄引李沐為右正言。沐嘗有求於汝愚不獲，即奏汝愚以同姓居相位，將不利於社稷。汝愚罷相。始，侂胄之見汝愚，徐誼實薦之，汝愚既斥，遂並逐誼。朱熹、彭龜年、黃度、李祥、楊簡、呂祖儉等以攻侂胄得罪，太學生楊宏中、張衙、徐范、蔣傅、林仲麟、周端朝等又以上書論侂胄編置，朝士以言侂胄遭責者數十人。

Tuozhou wanted to oust Zhao Ruyu but lacked a charge. He consulted Jing Tang, who said, "He is of the imperial clan—accuse him of plotting against the state." In the first year of Qingyuan (1195), Tuozhou installed Li Mu as right rectifier. Li Mu had once asked a favor of Zhao Ruyu and been refused. He now memorialized that Ruyu, as a clansman holding the chancellorship, would endanger the state. Zhao Ruyu was dismissed from the chancellorship. Tuozhou had originally been introduced to Zhao Ruyu by Xu Yi. When Ruyu fell, Yi was expelled as well. Zhu Xi, Peng Guinian, Huang Du, Li Xiang, Yang Jian, Lü Zujian, and others were punished for attacking Tuozhou. Imperial University students Yang Hongzhong, Zhang Ya, Xu Fan, Jiang Fu, Lin Zhonglin, and Zhou Duanchao memorialized against him and were banished. Dozens of court officials who spoke out against Tuozhou were punished.

已而侂胄拜保甯軍節度使、提舉佑神觀。又設偽學之目，以網括汝愚、朱熹門下知名之士。用何澹、胡鲶為言官。澹言偽學宜加風厲，或指汝愚為偽學罪首。鲶條奏汝愚有十不遜，且及徐誼。汝愚謫永州，誼謫南安軍。慮他日汝愚復用，密諭衡守錢鍪圖之，汝愚抵衡暴薨。留正舊在都堂眾辱侂胄，至是，劉德秀論正引用偽黨，正坐罷斥。吏部尚書葉翥要侍郎倪思列疏論偽學，思不從，侂胄乃擢翥執政而免思官。侂胄加開府儀同三司。時台諫迎合侂胄意，以攻偽學為言，然憚清議，不欲顯斥熹。侂胄意未快，以陳賈嘗攻熹，召除賈兵部侍郎。未至，亟除沈繼祖台察。繼祖誣熹十罪，落職罷祠。三年，劉三傑入對，言前日偽黨，今變而為逆黨。侂胄大喜，即日除三傑為右正言，而坐偽學逆黨得罪者五十有九人。王沇獻言令省部籍記偽學姓名，姚愈請降詔嚴偽學之禁，二人皆得遷官。施康年、陳讜、鄧友龍、林采皆以攻偽學久居言路，而張釜、張岩、程松率由此秉政。

Soon afterward Tuozhou was made military commissioner of the Baoning Army and superintendent of the You Shen Abbey. He also created the label of "false learning" to ensnare prominent followers of Zhao Ruyu and Zhu Xi. He installed He Dan and Hu Nian as censorial officials. He Dan urged stern measures against false learning, and some named Zhao Ruyu as its ringleader. Hu Nian submitted a detailed memorial listing ten acts of insubordination by Zhao Ruyu and implicating Xu Yi as well. Zhao Ruyu was banished to Yongzhou and Xu Yi to Nan'an Army. Fearing Zhao Ruyu might one day return to power, Tuozhou secretly instructed Hengzhou prefect Qian Mou to deal with him. Ruyu died suddenly on reaching Hengzhou. Liu Zheng had once humiliated Tuozhou openly in the chief ministers' hall. Liu Dexiu now accused him of employing the false-learning faction, and Zheng was dismissed. Minister of Personnel Ye He wanted Vice Director Ni Si to join a memorial against false learning. When Si refused, Tuozhou promoted Ye to high office and stripped Si of his post. Tuozhou was granted the honorary title of commissioner with credentials equal to the Three Excellencies. The censorial and remonstrance officials now echoed Tuozhou and attacked false learning, yet they feared public opinion and hesitated to denounce Zhu Xi openly. Tuozhou was still unsatisfied. Because Chen Jia had once attacked Zhu Xi, he summoned Chen and appointed him vice director of the Ministry of War. Before Chen could take up the post, he urgently appointed Shen Jizu censorial investigator. Shen Jizu fabricated ten charges against Zhu Xi, who was stripped of office and deprived of his sacrificial stipend. In the third year Liu Sanjie appeared before the throne and declared that the former false-learning faction had now become a treasonous faction. Tuozhou was delighted and that same day made Sanjie right rectifier. Fifty-nine men were punished as members of the false-learning treasonous faction. Wang Yi proposed that ministries register the names of false-learning adherents, and Yao Yu asked for an edict tightening the ban. Both were promoted. Shi Kangnian, Chen Dan, Deng Youlong, and Lin Cai long held censorial posts through attacking false learning, while Zhang Fu, Zhang Yan, and Cheng Song largely rose to power by the same route.

四年，侂胄拜少傅，封豫國公。有蔡璉者嘗得罪，汝愚執而黥之。五年，侂胄使璉告汝愚定策時有異謀，具其賓客所言七十紙。侂胄欲逮彭龜年、曾三聘、徐誼、沈有開下大理鞫之，范仲藝力爭乃止。其年遷少師，封平原郡王。六年，進太傅。婺州布衣呂祖泰上書言道學不可禁，請誅侂胄，以周必大為相。侂胄大怒，決杖流欽州。言者希侂胄意，劾必大首植偽黨。降為少保。一時善類悉罹黨禍，雖本侂胄意，而謀實始京鏜。逮鏜死，侂胄亦稍厭前事，張孝伯以為不弛黨禁，後恐不免報復之禍。侂胄以為然，追復汝愚、朱熹職名，留正、周必大亦復秩還政，徐誼等皆先後復官。偽党之禁浸解。

In the fourth year, Han Tuozhou was appointed Junior Tutor and enfeoffed as Duke of Yu. A man named Cai Lian had once offended Zhao Ruyu, who had him arrested and branded. In the fifth year, Han Tuozhou had Cai Lian accuse Zhao Ruyu of treacherous designs during the succession crisis, submitting seventy pages of statements by Ruyu's retainers. Tuozhou wanted to arrest Peng Guinian, Zeng Sanpin, Xu Yi, and Shen Youkai and interrogate them in the Court of Judicial Review, but Fan Zhongyi protested vigorously and the plan was abandoned. That same year he was promoted to Junior Preceptor and enfeoffed as Prince of Pingyuan. In the sixth year, he was promoted to Grand Tutor. Lü Zutai, a commoner from Wuzhou, submitted a memorial arguing that the Way-learning must not be suppressed. He called for Tuozhou's execution and for Zhou Bida to be made chief minister. Tuozhou was furious and had him beaten and exiled to Qin Prefecture. Memorialists seeking to please Tuozhou impeached Zhou Bida as the ringleader of the false-learning faction. Bida was demoted to Junior Guardian. Many good men of the day fell victim to the factional purge. Though it served Tuozhou's designs, the scheme had actually originated with Jing Zong. After Jing Zong died, Tuozhou too began to tire of the persecution. Zhang Xiaobo warned that if the faction ban was not lifted, retribution would surely follow. Tuozhou agreed. He posthumously restored the official titles of Zhao Ruyu and Zhu Xi, reinstated Liu Zheng and Zhou Bida to office, and gradually restored Xu Yi and others to their posts. The ban on the false-learning faction was gradually eased.

三年，拜太師。監惠民局夏允中上書，請侂胄平章國政，侂胄繆為辭謝，乞致其仕，詔不許，允中放罷。時侂胄以勢利蠱士大夫之心，薛叔似、辛棄疾、陳謙皆起廢顯用，當時固有困於久斥，損晚節以規榮進者矣。若陳自強則以侂胄童子師，自選人不數年致位宰相，而蘇師旦、周筠又侂胄廝役也，亦皆預聞國政，超取顯仕。群小阿附，勢焰熏灼。侂胄凡所欲為，宰執惕息不敢為異，自強至印空名敕劄授之，惟所欲用，三省不預知也。言路厄塞，每月舉論二三常事而已，謂之月課。

In the third year, he was appointed Grand Preceptor. Xia Yunzhong, supervisor of the Bureau for Public Benefit, submitted a memorial asking that Tuozhou jointly administer state affairs. Tuozhou feigned refusal and asked to retire, but the emperor would not allow it; Yunzhong was dismissed instead. Tuozhou now used power and patronage to sway the scholar-official class. Xue Shushi, Xin Qiji, and Chen Qian were all recalled from disgrace to high office. Some, worn down by long exile, compromised their reputations in hopes of advancement. Chen Ziqiang had been Tuozhou's childhood tutor and rose from a lowly candidate to chief minister within a few years. Su Shidan and Zhou Yun, former servants in Tuozhou's household, also gained access to state affairs and vaulted to high office. A host of petty men flocked to his side, their influence blazing unchecked. Whatever Tuozhou wished, the chief ministers trembled and dared not dissent. Chen Ziqiang and the others merely stamped pre-signed edicts and handed them over, appointing whomever Tuozhou chose without consulting the Three Departments. The channels of remonstrance were choked off. Censors discussed only two or three routine matters each month in what was called the monthly assignment.

或勸侂胄立蓋世功名以自固者，於是恢復之議興。以殿前都指揮使吳曦為興州都統，識者多言曦不可，主西師必叛，侂胄不省。安豐守厲仲方言淮北流民願歸附，會辛棄疾入見，言敵國必亂必亡，願屬元老大臣預為應變計，鄭挺、鄧友龍等又附和其言。開禧改元，進士毛自知廷對，言當乘機以定中原，侂胄大悅。詔中外諸將密為行軍之計。先是，楊輔、傅伯成言兵不可動，抵罪。至是，武學生華岳叩閽乞斬侂胄、蘇師旦、周筠以謝天下，諫議大夫李大異亦論止開邊。嶽下大理劾罪編置，大異斥去。

Some urged Tuozhou to secure his position with a towering military achievement, and talk of recovering the Central Plains began. He appointed Wu Xi, commander-in-chief of the Palace Front, as military commissioner of Xing Prefecture. Observers warned that Xi would rebel if given command of western forces, but Tuozhou paid no heed. Prefect of Anfeng Li Zhongfang reported that refugees north of the Huai wished to return to Song rule. Xin Qiji, appearing before the throne, declared the Jurchen regime was doomed and urged senior ministers to prepare for the opportunity. Zheng Ting, Deng Youlong, and others seconded him. When the reign title was changed to Kaixi, Mao Zizhi, a presented scholar, answered at court audience that the moment had come to retake the Central Plains. Tuozhou was delighted. An edict ordered generals throughout the empire to prepare war plans in secret. Earlier, Yang Fu and Fu Bocheng had warned against mobilization and were punished for it. Now Hua Yue, a student of the Military Academy, beat the palace gate demanding that Tuozhou, Su Shidan, and Zhou Yun be executed to appease the nation. Remonstrance Grandee Li Dayi also urged halting the frontier war. Hua Yue was tried by the Court of Judicial Review and exiled. Li Dayi was dismissed.

陳自強援故事乞命侂胄兼領平章，台諫鄧友龍等繼以為請，侂胄除平章軍國事。蕭逵、李壁時在太常，論定典禮，三日一朝，因至都堂，序班丞相之上，三省印並納其第。侂胄昵蘇師旦為腹心，除師旦安遠軍節度使。自置機速房於私第，甚者假作御筆，升黜將帥，事關機要，未嘗奏稟，人莫敢言。

Chen Ziqiang cited precedent and requested that Tuozhou be granted concurrent authority over military and civil affairs. Censors including Deng Youlong joined the plea, and Tuozhou was appointed director of military and state affairs. Xiao Kui and Li Bi of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices set the ritual protocol: Tuozhou would attend court every three days, take precedence over the chief ministers when he entered the hall, and keep the seals of the Three Departments at his residence. Tuozhou treated Su Shidan as his closest confidant and appointed him military commissioner of Anyuan. He established a Rapid Affairs Office in his private residence. He even forged imperial edicts to promote and demote generals. Matters of critical import were never reported to the throne, and no one dared protest.

二年，以薛叔似為京湖宣諭使；鄧友龍為兩淮宣諭使；程松為四川宣撫使，吳曦副之。徐邦憲自處州召見，以弭兵為言，忤侂胄意，削二秩。於是左司諫易袚、大理少卿陳景俊、太學博士錢廷玉皆起而言恢復之計矣。詔侂胄日一朝。友龍、叔似並升宣撫使。吳曦兼陝西、河東招撫使，皇甫斌副之。時鎮江武鋒軍統制陳孝慶復泗州及虹縣，江州統制許進復新息縣，光州孫成復褒信縣。捷書聞，侂胄乃議降詔趣諸將進兵。

In the second year, Xue Shushi was appointed commissioner to proclaim and reassure in the Jing-Hu circuit; Deng Youlong was appointed commissioner in the Two Huai circuit; Cheng Song was appointed Sichuan pacification commissioner, with Wu Xi as deputy. Xu Bangxian was summoned from Chuzhou and urged peace. Offending Tuozhou, he was demoted two ranks. Left Secretariat Remonstrator Yi Ba, Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review Chen Jingjun, and Imperial Academy Erudite Qian Tingyu now joined in advocating recovery of the north. An edict required Tuozhou to attend court daily. Deng Youlong and Xue Shushi were both promoted to pacification commissioners. Wu Xi was also made recruitment and pacification commissioner of Shaanxi and Hedong, with Huangfu Bin as deputy. Chen Xiaoqing, commander of the Wufeng Army at Zhenjiang, recaptured Sizhou and Hong County. Xu Jin at Jiangzhou recaptured Xinxian, and Sun Cheng at Guangzhou recaptured Baoxin. When news of these victories arrived, Tuozhou proposed issuing an edict urging all generals to advance.

未幾，皇甫斌兵敗于唐州；秦世輔至城固軍潰；郭倬、李汝翼敗於宿州，敵追圍倬，倬執統制田俊邁以遺敵，乃獲免。事聞，鄧友龍罷，以嶽丘峑代為宣撫使。侂胄既喪師，始覺為師旦所誤。侂胄招李壁飲酒，酒酣，語及師旦，壁微摘其過侂胄以為然。壁乃悉數其罪，贊侂胄斥去之。翌日，師旦謫韶州，斬郭倬於京口，流李汝翼、王大節、李爽於嶺南。

Before long, Huangfu Bin's army was defeated at Tang Prefecture; Qin Shifu's army collapsed upon reaching Chenggu; Guo Chuo and Li Ruyi were defeated at Suzhou. Pursued and surrounded, Guo Chuo handed over his commander Tian Junmai to the enemy and only thus escaped. When the news reached court, Deng Youlong was dismissed and Yue Qiunan replaced him as pacification commissioner. After these defeats, Tuozhou finally realized Su Shidan had misled him. Tuozhou invited Li Bi to drink. When the wine had loosened tongues, they spoke of Su Shidan. Li Bi gently listed Shidan's failings, and Tuozhou agreed. Li Bi then catalogued Shidan's crimes in full and persuaded Tuozhou to dismiss him. The next day Su Shidan was demoted to Shaozhou. Guo Chuo was beheaded at Jingkou, and Li Ruyi, Wang Dajie, and Li Shuang were exiled to the far south.

已而金人渡淮，攻廬、和、真、揚，取安豐、濠，又攻襄陽，至棗陽，乃以丘峑僉書樞密院事，督視江、淮軍馬。侂胄輸家財二十萬以助軍，而諭丘峑募人持書幣赴敵營，謂用兵乃蘇師旦、鄧友龍、皇甫斌所為，非朝廷意。金人答書辭甚倨，且多所要索，謂侂胄無意用兵，師旦等安得專。峑又遣書許還淮北流民及今年歲幣，金人乃有許意。

Before long the Jurchens crossed the Huai, attacking Lu, He, Zhen, and Yang, capturing Anfeng and Hao, and pressing toward Xiangyang as far as Zaoyang. Yue Qiunan was appointed vice director of the Bureau of Military Affairs to oversee troops on the Jiang-Huai front. Tuozhou contributed two hundred thousand cash from his family fortune to the war effort and instructed Yue Qiunan to send envoys to the Jurchen camp claiming that the war had been the work of Su Shidan, Deng Youlong, and Huangfu Bin—not the court's will. The Jurchen reply was haughty and laden with demands. They asked how Su Shidan and the others could have acted alone if Tuozhou had not wanted war. Yue Qiunan sent another letter offering to return Huai-north refugees and pay the year's tribute. The Jurchens then showed willingness to negotiate.

會招撫使郭倪與金人戰，敗於六合；金人攻蜀，吳曦叛，受金命稱蜀王。峑乞移書敵營伸前議，且謂金人指太師平章為首謀，宜免系銜。侂胄忿，峑坐罷。曦反狀聞，舉朝震駭。侂胄亟遺曦書，許以茅土之封，書未達而安內、楊巨源已率義士誅曦矣。侂胄連遣方信孺使北請和，以林拱辰為通謝使。金人欲責正隆以前禮賂，以侵疆為界，且索犒軍銀凡數千萬，而縛送首議用兵之臣。信孺歸，白事朝堂，不敢斥言，侂胄窮其說，乃微及之。侂胄大怒，和議遂輟。起辛棄疾為樞密都承旨。會棄疾死，乃以殿前副都指揮使趙淳為江、淮制置使，復銳意用兵。

Meanwhile Recruitment Commissioner Guo Ni fought the Jurchens and was defeated at Liuhe; The Jurchens attacked Sichuan. Wu Xi rebelled and, at their command, declared himself King of Shu. Yue Qiunan asked to write again to the enemy camp, reiterating the earlier offer, and argued that since the Jurchens named the Grand Preceptor and director of state affairs as the chief instigator, Tuozhou's titles should be omitted from any correspondence. Tuozhou was enraged, and Yue Qiunan was dismissed. When Wu Xi's rebellion was reported, the entire court was shaken. Tuozhou urgently wrote Wu Xi offering him a feudal domain, but before the letter arrived, An Nei and Yang Juyuan had already led loyal troops to kill him. Tuozhou sent Fang Xinru north repeatedly to sue for peace, with Lin Gongchen as envoy of acknowledgment. The Jurchens demanded retroactive tribute payments from before the Zhenglong era, a border drawn at occupied territory, war indemnities totaling tens of millions in silver, and the handover of the officials who had first advocated war. Fang Xinru returned and reported to the court, too afraid to speak plainly. Only when Tuozhou pressed him did he hint at these demands. Tuozhou was furious, and peace negotiations broke off. Xin Qiji was recalled and appointed director of the Bureau of Military Affairs staff. Xin Qiji died soon after. Zhao Chun, deputy commander-in-chief of the Palace Front, was appointed Jiang-Huai military commissioner, and Tuozhou again pressed for war.

自兵興以來，蜀口、漢、淮之民死於兵戈者，不可勝計，公私之力大屈，而侂胄意猶未已，中外憂懼。禮部侍郎史彌遠，時兼資善堂翊善，謀誅侂胄，議甚秘，皇子榮王入奏，楊皇后亦從中力請，乃得密旨。彌遠以告參知政事錢象祖、李壁。御筆云：「韓侂胄久任國柄，輕啟兵端，使南北生靈枉罹凶害，可罷平章軍國事，與在外宮觀。陳自強阿附充位，不恤國事，可罷右丞相。日下出國門。」仍令權主管殿前司公事夏震以兵三百防護。象祖欲奏審，壁謂事留恐泄，不可。翌日，侂胄入朝，震呵止於途，擁至玉津園側殛殺之。

Since the war began, countless civilians in Sichuan, Hanzhong, and the Huai region had died in the fighting. Public and private resources were exhausted, yet Tuozhou still would not relent. Alarm spread through court and country alike. Vice Minister of Rites Shi Miyuan, who also served as tutor at the Hall for Nurturing Goodness, plotted to kill Tuozhou in deepest secrecy. Prince Rong entered a memorial, and Empress Yang added her urgent plea from within the palace. A secret edict was at last obtained. Miyuan confided in Vice Grand Councillors Qian Xiangzu and Li Bi. The emperor's own hand decreed: "Han Tuozhou has long wielded state power and recklessly provoked war, bringing wrongful death to countless people north and south. He is dismissed from the directorate of military and state affairs and assigned an outside palace commission. Chen Ziqiang has clung to office through flattery and neglected state affairs. He is dismissed from the right chancellorship. They are to leave the capital this day." At the same time, Acting Supervisor of Palace Front Affairs Xia Zhen was ordered to escort them with three hundred soldiers. Qian Xiangzu wanted to submit the edict for formal review, but Li Bi warned that delay risked exposure and must be avoided. The next day Tuozhou came to court. Xia Zhen halted him on the road, escorted him to the edge of Yujin Garden, and had him killed on the spot.

先一日，周筠謂侂胄，事將不善，侂胄與自強謀用林行可為諫議大夫，盡擊謀侂胄者。是日，行可方請對，自強坐待漏院，語同列曰：「今日大坡上殿。」俄侂胄先驅至，象祖色變。尋報侂胄已押出，象祖乃入奏。有詔斬蘇師旦於廣東。嘉定元年，金人求函侂胄首，乃命臨安府斫侂胄棺，取其首遺之。

The day before, Zhou Yun warned Tuozhou that trouble was brewing. Tuozhou and Chen Ziqiang plotted to appoint Lin Xingke remonstrance grandee and purge all who conspired against him. That same day Lin Xingke was requesting audience. Chen Ziqiang, waiting in the antechamber, told his colleagues, "Today's the big day—we ascend the hall." Soon Tuozhou's advance guard appeared. Qian Xiangzu's face went pale. Moments later word came that Tuozhou had been seized and removed. Qian Xiangzu then entered to present the edict. An edict ordered Su Shidan beheaded in Guangdong. In the first year of Jiading, the Jurchens demanded Tuozhou's head in a box. The Lin'an prefecture was ordered to open his coffin and send his head to them.

侂胄用事十四年，威行宮省，權震寓內。嘗鑿山為園，下瞰宗廟。出入宮闈無度。孝宗疇昔思政之所，偃然居之，老宮人見之往往垂涕。顏郐或草制，言其得聖之清。易袚撰答詔，以元聖褒之。四方投書獻頌者，謂伊、霍、旦、奭不足以似其勳，有稱為「我王」者。余𡕇請加九錫，趙師𢍰乞置平原郡王府官屬。侂胄皆當之不辭。所嬖妾張、譚、王、陳皆封郡國夫人，號「四夫人」，每內宴，與妃嬪雜坐，恃勢驕倨，掖庭皆惡之；其下，受封者尤眾。至是，論四夫人罪，或杖或徒，餘數十人縱遣之。有司籍其家，多乘輿服御之飾，其僭紊極矣。

Tuozhou had held power for fourteen years. His authority dominated the palace and ministries, and his influence shook the empire. He had carved out a hillside garden that looked down upon the imperial ancestral temple. He came and went within the palace without restraint. He occupied at ease the very chambers where Emperor Xiaozong had once pondered state affairs. Elder palace women who saw this often wept. Yan Yu once drafted an edict praising Tuozhou as attaining the sage's purity. Yi Ba drafted the imperial reply, extolling him as a primordial sage. Petitioners from across the realm declared that Yi Yin, Huo Guang, the Duke of Zhou, and the Duke of Shao could not compare with his achievements. Some even called him "Our King." Yu Yao requested that Tuozhou be granted the Nine Bestowals, and Zhao Shibo asked that a full staff be appointed for his Pingyuan princely household. Tuozhou accepted every such honor without demur. His favored concubines—the Zhang, Tan, Wang, and Chen women—were all enfeoffed as ladies of commanderies and states and styled the "Four Ladies." At palace banquets they sat indiscriminately among imperial consorts, insufferably arrogant. Everyone in the inner quarters despised them; Below them, still more women received noble titles. Now their crimes were prosecuted. The Four Ladies were flogged or sent to penal servitude, and several dozen others were released and dismissed. Officials inventoried their households and found many possessions fit only for imperial use. Their presumption had reached the utmost.

始，侂胄以導達中外之言，遂見寵任。朱熹、彭龜年既以論侂胄去，貴戚吳琚語人曰：「帝初無固留侂胄意，使有一人繼言之，去之易爾。而一時台諫及執政大臣多其党與，故稔其惡以底大僇。開禧用兵，帝意弗善也。侂胄死，甯宗諭大臣曰：「恢復豈非美事，但不量力爾。」

In the beginning, Tuozhou had won favor by serving as the empress's liaison to the court. After Zhu Xi and Peng Guinian were dismissed for criticizing Tuozhou, the imperial kinsman Wu Ju remarked, "The emperor never firmly meant to keep Tuozhou. Had even one more official spoken up, dismissing him would have been easy. But censors and chief ministers at the time were mostly his allies, so his wickedness only deepened until it brought him to ruin. The emperor never approved of the Kaixi war. After Tuozhou's death, Emperor Ningzong told his ministers, "Recovering lost territory is a worthy goal—but he failed to measure his strength."

侂胄娶憲聖吳皇后姪女，無子，取魯𡬐子為後，名㣉，既誅侂胄，削籍流沙門島云。

Tuozhou had married a grandniece of Empress Dowager Xiansheng Wu. Childless, he adopted the son of Lu Shuo as his heir and named him Kan. When Tuozhou was put to death, the boy was removed from the rolls and banished to Liushamen Island, or so it is recorded.

丁大全

Ding Daquan

丁大全字子萬，鎮江人。面藍色。嘉熙二年舉進士，調蕭山尉。上謁帥閫，安撫使史岩之俟眾賓退，獨留大全，款曲甚至，期以他日必大用。大全為戚裏婢婿，寅緣以取寵位。事內侍盧允升、董宋臣。累官為大理司直、添差通判饒州。入為太府寺簿，調尚書茶鹽所檢閱江州分司，復兼樞密院編修官。拜右正言兼侍講，辭。改右司諫，拜殿中侍御史。

Ding Daquan, styled Ziwan, was a native of Zhenjiang. His complexion was bluish. In 1238 he passed the jinshi examination and was posted as assistant magistrate of Xiaoshan. On a visit to the regional command, Pacification Commissioner Shi Yanzhi waited until the other guests had left, then kept Daquan behind and treated him with unusual warmth, assuring him that he would one day be given great office. Daquan had married the daughter of a maidservant in the imperial clan, and he climbed to favor and office through such connections. He attached himself to the eunuchs Lu Yunsheng and Dong Songchen. He rose through the ranks to direct clerk in the Court of Judicial Review and supernumerary vice commissioner of Raozhou. He entered the capital as a clerk in the Office of the Imperial Treasury, was transferred to review clerk at the Jiangzhou branch of the tea and salt bureau, and again served concurrently as a compiler in the Bureau of Military Affairs. He was offered the posts of right direct remonstrator and lecturer but declined them. He was reassigned as right remonstrator in the Department of State Affairs and appointed attendant censor within the palace.

升侍御史兼侍讀。劾奏丞相董槐，章未下，大全夜半調隅兵百餘人，露刃圍槐第，以台牒驅迫之出，紿令輿槐至大理寺，欲以此恐之。須臾，出北關，棄槐，嘂呼而散。槐徐步入接待寺，罷相之命下矣。自是志氣驕傲，道路以目。

He was promoted to attendant censor and concurrent lector. He impeached Chief Councillor Dong Huai, but before the memorial could be issued, Daquan summoned more than a hundred local guards in the dead of night, drew their blades, and surrounded Huai's house. With a writ from the Censorate he forced Huai out, then falsely ordered a sedan to carry him to the Court of Judicial Review, hoping to terrify him. A moment later they passed through the North Gate, left Huai behind, shouted, and scattered. Huai walked unhurriedly into the Reception Temple—the order removing him as chief councillor had already arrived. From then on he grew insufferably arrogant, and people in the streets dared only glance at him in silence.

尋為右諫議大夫，進端明殿學士、僉書樞密院事，封丹陽郡侯，進同知樞密院事兼權參知政事。寶祐六年，拜參知政事。四月，拜右丞相兼樞密使，進封公。初，大全以袁疴為九江制置副使，疴貪且刻，逮系漁湖土豪，督促輸錢甚急。土豪怒，盡以魚舟濟北來之兵。太學生陳宗、劉黼、黃鏞、曾唯、陳宜中、林則祖等六人，伏闕上書訟大全。台臣翁應弼、吳衍為大全鷹犬，鈐制學校，貶逐宗等。

Soon he was made right remonstration grandee, then promoted to academician of the Duanming Hall and junior director of the Bureau of Military Affairs, enfeoffed as marquis of Danyang, and further raised to vice director of the Bureau of Military Affairs with acting assistant chief councillor. In 1258 he was appointed assistant chief councillor. In the fourth month he became right chief councillor and commissioner of military affairs, and was raised in rank to duke. Earlier Daquan had made Yuan Ke vice military commissioner of Jiujiang. Ke was greedy and cruel: he seized local strongmen on the fishing lakes and pressed them relentlessly for money. Enraged, the local magnates used every fishing boat they had to ferry the northern invaders across the water. Six students of the Imperial Academy—Chen Zong, Liu Fu, Huang Yong, Zeng Wei, Chen Yizhong, and Lin Zzezu—knelt at the palace gate and submitted a memorial denouncing Daquan. The censors Weng Yingbi and Wu Yan served as Daquan's henchmen: they muzzled the academies and had Zong and his fellows demoted and banished.

明年，監察御史劉應龍請加竄，追削兩官，移竄貴州團練使。與州守游翁明失色杯酒間，翁明訴大全陰造弓矢，將通蠻為不軌。朱禩孫以聞于朝。又明年，移置新州。太常少卿兼權直舍人院劉震孫繳奏乞移徙海島。四年正月，將官畢遷護送，舟過藤州，擠之于水而死。

The following year Supervising Censor Liu Yinglong asked that Daquan be punished more severely: two ranks were retroactively stripped, and he was banished to serve as military training commissioner in Guizhou. Over wine with Prefect You Wengming, Daquan turned pale. Wengming then accused him of secretly making bows and arrows and plotting with the barbarians to rebel. Zhu Shunsun reported the matter to the court. The year after that he was transferred to Xingzhou. Liu Zhensun, vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and acting drafting officer of the Academy of Palace Deliberations, returned the memorial with a request that Daquan be sent to an island in the sea. In the first month of the fourth year the officer Bi Qian was assigned to escort him. When the boat reached Tengzhou, Bi Qian pushed him into the water and drowned him.

大全知淮西，總領鄭羽富甲吳門，始欲結姻，羽不從。遂令台臣卓夢卿彈之，籍其家。為子壽翁聘婦，見其豔，自取，為世所醜。

While Daquan governed Huai West, Chief Quartermaster Zheng Yu was the richest man in Suzhou. Daquan first sought a marriage alliance with his family, but Yu refused. Daquan then had censor Zhuo Mengqing impeach him and confiscate his estate. He arranged a bride for his son Shou Weng, but when he saw how beautiful she was he took her for himself—a deed universally despised.

賈似道

Jia Sidao

賈似道字師憲，台州人，制置使涉之子也。少落魄，為遊博，不事操行。以父蔭補嘉興司倉。會其姊入宮，有寵于理宗，為貴妃，遂詔赴廷對，妃於內中奉湯藥以給之。擢太常丞、軍器監。益恃寵不檢，日縱游諸妓家，至夜即燕遊湖上不反。理宗嘗夜憑高，望西湖中燈火異常時，語左右曰：「此必似道也。」明日詢之果然，使京尹史岩之戒敕之。岩之曰：「似道雖有少年氣習，然其材可大用也。」尋出知澧州。

Jia Sidao, styled Shixian, was a native of Taizhou and the son of Military Commissioner Jia She. In his youth he was shiftless, given to roaming and gambling, and cared nothing for proper conduct. Through his father's privilege of office he received appointment as grain storehouse officer in Jiaxing. When his elder sister entered the palace and became a favored consort of Emperor Lizong, Sidao was summoned for an imperial audience. From within the inner quarters she sent him soup and medicine to sustain him. He was promoted to vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and supervisor of the Armaments Directorate. Growing bolder in his favor, he abandoned all restraint. By day he wandered from brothel to brothel; by night he feasted on West Lake and did not come home. One night Emperor Lizong looked down from a height at West Lake and saw lights on the water unlike any ordinary night. He said to those around him, "That must be Sidao." The next day he asked and found it was indeed so. He had the capital magistrate Shi Yanzhi warn and admonish him. Shi Yanzhi replied, "Sidao may still have the habits of youth, but his talent is fit for great employment." Soon afterward he was sent out to serve as prefect of Lizhou.

淳祐元年，改湖廣總領。三年，加戶部侍郎。五年，以寶章閣直學士為沿江制置副使、知江州兼江西路安撫使。一歲中，再遷京湖制置使兼知江陵府，調度賞罰，得以便宜施行。九年，加寶文閣學士、京湖安撫制置大使。十年，以端明殿學士移鎮兩淮，年始三十餘。寶祐二年，加同知樞密院事、臨海郡開國公，威權日盛。台諫嘗論其二部將，即毅然求去。孫子秀新除淮東總領，外人忽傳似道已密奏不可矣，丞相董槐懼，留身請之，帝以為無有，槐終不敢遣子秀，以似道所善陸壑代之，其見憚已如此。四年，加參知政事。五年，加知樞密院事。六年，改兩淮宣撫大使。

In 1241 he was reassigned as chief quartermaster of Huguang. In the third year he received the additional title of vice minister of revenue. In the fifth year, as direct academician of the Baozhang Pavilion, he became vice military commissioner on the Yangzi line, prefect of Jiangzhou, and pacification commissioner of Jiangxi Circuit. Within a single year he was promoted twice, to military commissioner of Jinghu and concurrently prefect of Jiangling, with authority to reward and punish as he saw fit. In the ninth year he received the additional titles of academician of the Baowen Pavilion and grand pacification and military commissioner of Jinghu. In the tenth year, as academician of the Duanming Hall, he was transferred to command the Two Huai regions—he was then barely past thirty. In 1254 he was made vice director of the Bureau of Military Affairs and duke of Linhai commandery, and his power grew day by day. When the censors criticized two of his subordinate generals, he immediately and firmly asked to resign. Sun Zixiu had just been appointed chief quartermaster of Huai East when rumor spread that Sidao had secretly memorialized against him. Chief Councillor Dong Huai was alarmed and stayed behind to ask the emperor, who said there was no such memorial. Huai still dared not send Sun Zixiu and substituted Lu He, whom Sidao favored—such was the fear he inspired. In the fourth year he was made assistant chief councillor. In the fifth year he was made director of the Bureau of Military Affairs. In the sixth year he was reassigned as grand pacification commissioner of the Two Huai regions.

自端平初，孟珙帥師會大元兵共滅金，約以陳、蔡為界。師未還而用趙範謀，發兵據殽、函，絕河津，取中原地，大元兵擊敗之，範僅以數千人遁歸。追兵至，問曰：「何為而敗盟也？」遂縱攻淮、漢，自是兵端大啟。

From the start of the Duanping era, Meng Gong had led troops alongside the Great Yuan army to destroy Jin, with Chen and Cai agreed as the boundary. Before the army had even returned, the court followed Zhao Fan's plan and sent troops to seize Xiao and Han, block the river crossings, and take land in the Central Plains. The Great Yuan army routed them, and Fan fled home with only a few thousand men. Pursuing troops arrived and demanded, "Why have you broken the alliance?" They then swept into the Huai and Han regions, and from that point full-scale war began.

開慶初，憲宗皇帝自將征蜀，世祖皇帝時以皇弟攻鄂州，元帥兀良哈台由雲南入交沚，自邕州蹂廣西，破湖南，傳檄數宋背盟之罪。理宗大懼，乃以趙葵軍信州，禦廣兵；以似道軍漢陽，援鄂，即軍中拜右丞相。十月，鄂東南陬破，宋人再築，再破之，賴高達率諸將力戰。似道時自漢陽入督師。十一月，攻城急，城中死傷者至萬三千人。似道乃密遣宋京詣軍中請稱臣，輸歲幣，不從。會憲宗皇帝晏駕于釣魚山，合州守王堅使阮思聰踔急流走報鄂，似道再遣京議歲幣，遂許之。大元兵拔砦而北，留張傑、閻旺以偏師候湖南兵。明年正月，兵至，傑作浮梁新生磯，濟師北歸。似道用劉整計，攻斷浮梁，殺殿兵百七十，遂上表以肅清聞。帝以其有再造功，以少傅、右丞相召入朝，百官郊勞如文彥博故事。

At the opening of the Kaiqing era, Emperor Xianzong of Yuan personally led an expedition against Shu while the future Emperor Shizu, then a royal prince, attacked Ezhou. Marshal Uriyangqadai entered Jiaozhi through Yunnan, from Yongzhou ravaged Guangxi, broke into Hunan, and issued a proclamation listing Song's crimes for breaking the alliance. Emperor Lizong was terrified. He sent Zhao Kui's army to Xinzhou to block the Guangxi force; and Sidao's army to Hanyang to relieve Ezhou, appointing Sidao right there in camp as right chief councillor. In the tenth month the southeast corner of Ezhou was breached. The Song rebuilt it, and it was breached again. Only Gao Da leading the generals in fierce fighting held the line. Sidao himself then came from Hanyang to take command. In the eleventh month the assault intensified, and dead and wounded in the city rose to thirteen thousand. Sidao secretly sent Song Jing to the Yuan camp to offer submission and annual tribute, but they refused. When Emperor Xianzong died at Diaoyu Mountain, Hezhou Prefect Wang Jian sent Ruan Sicong racing through the rapids to bring word to Ezhou. Sidao again sent Song Jing to negotiate tribute, and this time they agreed. The Great Yuan army broke camp and marched north, leaving Zhang Jie and Yan Wang with a detached force to watch for Hunan troops. In the first month of the following year the troops arrived. Zhang Jie built a pontoon bridge at Xinsheng Ji and ferried the army back north. Following Liu Zheng's plan, Sidao attacked and severed the pontoon bridge, killing a hundred and seventy rearguard troops. He then memorialized the throne that the enemy had been completely cleared away. The emperor credited him with having saved the dynasty, summoned him to court as junior mentor and right chief councillor, and had all officials welcome him in the suburbs by the precedent set for Wen Yanzuo.

初，似道在漢陽，時丞相吳潛用監察御史饒應子言，移之黃州，而分曹世雄等兵以屬江閫。黃雖下流，實兵沖。似道以為潛欲殺己，銜之。且聞潛事急時，每事先發後奏；帝欲立榮王子孟啟為太子，潛又不可。帝已積怒潛，似道遂陳建儲之策，令沈炎劾潛措置無方，致全、衡、永、桂皆破，大稱旨。乃議立孟啟，貶潛循州，盡逐其黨人。高達在圍中，恃其武勇，殊易似道，每見其督戰，即戲之曰：「巍巾者何能為哉！」每戰，必須勞始出，否即使兵士嘩于其門。呂文德諂似道，即使人呵曰：「宣撫在，何敢爾邪！」曹世雄、向士璧在軍中，事皆不關白似道，故似道皆恨之。以核諸兵費，世雄、士璧皆坐侵盜官錢貶遠州。每言于帝欲誅達，帝知其有功，不從。尋論功，以文德為第一，而達居其次。

Earlier, while Sidao was at Hanyang, Chief Councillor Wu Qian, acting on Supervising Censor Rao Yingzi's advice, transferred him to Huangzhou and reassigned Cao Shixiong's troops and others to the Jiang military command. Huangzhou lay downstream, but it was a critical military position. Sidao believed Qian meant to destroy him and nursed a deep grudge. He also heard that in emergencies Wu Qian always acted first and reported afterward; and that when the emperor wished to make Prince Rong's son Meng Qi heir apparent, Qian had again objected. The emperor already harbored deep anger toward Qian. Sidao then proposed a plan to establish the heir, had Shen Yan impeach Qian for mismanagement that had led to the fall of Quan, Heng, Yong, and Gui—and won the emperor's full approval. They then resolved to install Meng Qi as heir, banished Qian to Xunzhou, and drove out all his followers. Gao Da, inside the siege lines, counted on his martial prowess and held Sidao in contempt. Whenever he saw Sidao directing the battle, he would mock him: "What can a man in a scholar's cap do!" Before every battle he had to be coaxed before he would come out; otherwise he set his soldiers to clamor at Sidao's gate. Lü Wende flattered Sidao and had a man shout, "The pacification commissioner is present—how dare you behave like this!" Cao Shixiong and Xiang Shibi were in the army and handled matters without reporting to Sidao, so he resented them both. On the pretext of auditing military expenses, Shixiong and Shibi were both convicted of embezzling public funds and banished to distant prefectures. He repeatedly urged the emperor to execute Gao Da, but the emperor knew Da's worth and refused. When rewards were later assigned, Wende was ranked first and Da second.

明年，大元世祖皇帝登極，遣翰林侍讀學士、國信使郝經等持書申好息兵，且征歲幣。似道方使廖瑩中輩撰《福華編》稱頌鄂功，通國皆不知所謂和也。似道乃密令淮東制置司拘經等於真州忠勇軍營。

The following year the Great Yuan emperor Kublai ascended the throne and sent Hanlin academician reader and national emissary Hao Jing and others with a letter offering friendship, calling for a halt to war, and demanding the annual tribute. Sidao meanwhile had Liao Yingzhong and others compile the Fuhua Bian to glorify the victory at Ezhou, and the whole realm knew nothing of any peace settlement. Sidao then secretly ordered the Huai East military commission to detain Hao Jing and his party at the Loyal and Brave Army camp in Zhenzhou.

時理宗在位久，內侍董宋臣、盧允升為之聚斂以媚之。引薦奔競之士，交通賄賂，置諸通顯。又用外戚子弟為監司、郡守。作芙蓉閣、香蘭亭宮中，進倡優傀儡，以奉帝為游燕。竊弄權柄。台臣有言之者，帝宣諭去之，謂之「節貼」。

By then Emperor Lizong had reigned for many years, and the eunuchs Dong Songchen and Lu Yunsheng amassed wealth to please him. They promoted ambitious schemers, traded in bribes, and placed them in high office. They also installed sons and nephews of the imperial in-laws as circuit intendants and prefects. They built the Furong Pavilion and Xianglan Pavilion within the palace, supplied singers, actors, and puppet players, and kept the emperor supplied with amusements. They wielded power behind the throne. When censors spoke against them, the emperor would issue an admonitory edict for their removal—a procedure called "jie tie."

似道入，逐盧、董所薦林光世等，悉罷之，勒外戚不得為監司、郡守，子弟門客斂跡，不敢幹朝政。由是權傾中外，進用群小。取先朝舊法，率意紛更，增吏部七司法。買公田以罷和糴，浙西田畝有直千緡者，似道均以四十緡買之。數稍多，予銀絹；又多，予度牒告身。吏又恣為操切，浙中大擾。有奉行不至者，提領劉良貴劾之。有司爭相迎合，務以買田多為功，皆繆以七八斗為石。其後，田少與磽瘠、虧租與佃人負租而逃者，率取償田主。六郡之民，破家者多。包恢知平江，督買田。至以肉刑從事。復以楮賤作銀關，以一準十八界會之三，自製其印文如「賈」字狀行之，十七界廢不用。銀關行，物價益踴，楮益賤。秋七月，彗出柳，光燭天，長數十丈，自四更見東方，日高始滅。台諫、布韋皆上書，言此公田不便，民間愁怨所致。似道上書力辯之，且乞罷政。帝勉留之曰；「公田不可行，卿建議之始，朕已沮之矣。今公私兼裕，一歲軍餉，皆仰於此。使因人言而罷之，雖足以快一時之議，如國計何！」有太學生蕭規、葉李等上書，言似道專政。命京尹劉良貴捃摭以罪，悉黥配之。後又行推排法。江南之地，尺寸皆有稅，而民力弊矣。

When Sidao came to power, he drove out Lu and Dong's protégés such as Lin Guangshi and dismissed them all. He forbade imperial in-laws from serving as circuit intendants or prefects, and their sons, nephews, and clients withdrew and dared not meddle in government. From then on his authority dominated court and country alike, and he filled office with petty men. He took the laws of earlier reigns and altered them at will, adding seven new statutes to the Ministry of Personnel. He purchased public fields to abolish the state grain-purchase system. In western Zhejiang some fields were worth a thousand strings per mu, yet Sidao bought them all at a flat forty strings. When the amount was somewhat larger, payment was made in silver and silk; When the amount was still larger, payment was made in ordination certificates and official appointment documents. Officials once again enforced the policy with arbitrary harshness, throwing central Zhejiang into turmoil. Anyone who failed to implement the policy fully was impeached by Liu Lianggui, the superintendent in charge. Local officials vied to ingratiate themselves, treating how much land they purchased as their measure of achievement—and all of them fraudulently counted seven or eight pecks as a full shi of grain. Later, when purchased fields proved too small or too barren, or when rents fell short and tenant farmers fled leaving unpaid rent, the landowner was invariably forced to make up the difference. In the six prefectures, countless families were driven to ruin. Bao Hui, as prefect of Pingjiang, supervised the land purchases. He even resorted to corporal punishment to enforce the policy. Because paper notes had depreciated, he also introduced silver certificates, valuing each at three notes from the eighteenth huizi issue. He designed the seal himself in the shape of the character "Jia" and put the new notes into circulation; the seventeenth issue was abolished. Once the silver certificates were in circulation, prices surged still higher and paper money sank even further in value. In the seventh month of autumn, a comet appeared in the Willow constellation, blazing across the heavens for dozens of zhang. Visible in the east from the fourth watch, it did not fade until the sun stood high. Censors, remonstrators, and commoners alike submitted memorials, attributing the omen to the burdensome public-field policy and the popular misery and resentment it had provoked. Sidao submitted a memorial forcefully rebutting the charge and asked to resign his post. The emperor pressed him to remain and said: "The public-field policy cannot be abandoned. When you first proposed it, I had already held back those who would have blocked it. Public and private coffers alike are now flush, and the whole year's military provisions depend on this policy. If we abandon it because of public clamor, we may appease opinion for the moment—but what then becomes of the state's finances?" Imperial Academy students such as Xiao Gui and Ye Li submitted memorials accusing Sidao of monopolizing power. The emperor ordered Capital Magistrate Liu Lianggui to scrape together charges against them; all were tattooed and exiled. Later he also implemented the land reassessment policy. In Jiangnan, even the smallest patch of ground carried a tax burden, and popular resources were utterly spent.

理宗崩，度宗又其所立，每朝必答拜，稱之曰「師臣」而不名，朝臣皆稱為「周公」。甫葬理宗，即棄官去，使呂文德報北兵攻下沱急，朝中大駭，帝與太后手為詔起之。似道至，欲以經筵拜太師，以典故須建節，授鎮東軍節度使，似道怒曰：「節度使粗人之極致爾！」遂命出節，都人聚觀。節已出，復曰：「時日不利。」亟命返之。宋制：節出，有撤關壞屋，無倒節理，以示不屈。至是，人皆駭歎。然下沱之報實無兵也。三年，又乞歸養。大臣、侍從傳旨留之者日四五至，中使加賜賚者日十數至，夜即交臥第外以守之。除太師、平章軍國重事，一月三赴經筵，三日一朝，赴中書堂治事。賜第葛嶺，使迎養其中。吏抱文書就第署，大小朝政，一切決于館客廖瑩中、堂吏翁應龍，宰執充位署紙尾而已。

When Lizong died, Duzong—whom Sidao had placed on the throne—would at every audience return his bow of respect, addressing him as "Master Minister" without speaking his name; court officials all called him "the Duke of Zhou." As soon as Lizong was buried, he resigned and left office, then had Lü Wende report that northern forces were pressing urgently against Xiatuo. The court was thrown into panic, and the emperor and empress dowager personally drafted an edict summoning him back. When Sidao returned, he sought appointment as Grand Preceptor through the classics lecture; precedent required that such an appointment be accompanied by the bestowal of a commandery standard, so he was made military commissioner of the Zhendong Army. Sidao fumed: "Military commissioner is the highest rank a crude man can reach!" Nevertheless he ordered the standard issued, and the people of the capital crowded around to watch. The standard had already been issued when he declared: "The day and hour are inauspicious." He immediately ordered it sent back. Under Song custom, when a commissioner received his standard, some would tear down gates or wreck buildings rather than let the standard pass reversed—there was no such thing as turning a standard back, for it symbolized resolute honor. At this, all who saw it were stunned and appalled. Yet the report of crisis at Xiatuo had been entirely false—there were no enemy troops at all. In the third year, he again asked to retire and return home to tend to his parents. Ministers and attendants bearing orders that he remain came four or five times daily; palace envoys bearing additional gifts arrived more than ten times a day; at night they lay stacked outside his gate to keep watch over him. He was made Grand Preceptor and Director of Military and State Affairs, required to attend the classics lecture three times a month, hold audience once every three days, and preside at the Central Secretariat. He was granted an estate at Geling, where his parents were installed for him to support in comfort. Clerks brought documents to his residence for his signature; all affairs great and small were decided by his house guest Liao Yingzhong and chief clerk Weng Yinglong—the chief ministers were merely figureheads who signed their names at the foot of each document.

似道雖深居，凡台諫彈劾、諸司薦辟及京尹、畿漕一切事，不關白不敢行，李芾、文天祥、陳文龍、陸達、杜淵、張仲微、謝章輩，小忤意輒斥，重則屏棄之，終身不錄。一時正人端士，為似道破壞殆盡。吏爭納賂求美職，其求為帥閫、監司、郡守者，貢獻不可勝計。趙氵晉輩爭獻寶玉，陳奕至以兄事似道之玉工陳振民以求進，一時貪風大肆。五年，復稱疾求去。帝泣涕留之，不從。令六日一朝，一月兩赴經筵。六年，命入朝不拜。朝退，帝必起避席，目送之出殿廷始坐。繼又令十日一入朝。

Though Sidao kept to his residence, nothing could proceed without his approval—censorial impeachments, departmental recommendations and appointments, the capital magistrate, metropolitan transport commissioners, all of it. Li Fu, Wen Tianxiang, Chen Wenlong, Lu Da, Du Yuan, Zhang Zhongwei, Xie Zhang, and others who crossed him even slightly were promptly dismissed; serious offenders were permanently banished from office. In that period, upright and principled officials were nearly all driven out by Sidao. Officials scrambled to buy their way into desirable posts; those seeking commands, circuit intendancies, and prefectures offered tribute beyond reckoning. Zhao Jin and others vied to present precious jades; Chen Yi even treated Sidao's jade craftsman Chen Zhenmin as an elder brother to win advancement. Greed ran rampant throughout the court. In the fifth year, he again pleaded illness and asked to resign. The emperor wept and begged him to stay, but Sidao would not agree. He was permitted to attend court once every six days and the classics lecture twice a month. In the sixth year, he was granted exemption from bowing when entering court. When court adjourned, the emperor always rose from his seat and watched Sidao leave the hall before sitting down again. He was later permitted to attend court only once every ten days.

時襄陽圍已急，似道日坐葛嶺，起樓閣亭榭，取宮人娼尼有美色者為妾，日淫樂其中。惟故博徒日至縱博，人無敢窺其第者。其妾有兄來，立府門，若將入者，似道見之，縛投火中。嘗與群妾踞地鬥蟋蟀，所狎客入，戲之曰：「此軍國重事邪？」酷嗜寶玩，建多寶閣，日一登玩。聞餘疴有玉帶，求之，已徇葬矣，發其塚取之。人有物，求不予，輒得罪。自是，或累月不朝，帝如景靈宮亦不從駕。八年，明堂禮成，祀景靈宮。天大雨，似道期帝雨止升輅。胡貴嬪之父顯祖為帶禦器械，請如開禧故事，卻輅，乘逍遙輦還宮，帝曰平章云云，顯祖紿曰：「平章已允乘逍遙輦矣。」帝遂歸。似道大怒曰：「臣為大禮使，陛下舉動不得預聞，乞罷政。」即日出嘉會門，帝留之不得，乃罷顯祖，涕泣出貴嬪為尼，始還。

While the siege of Xiangyang grew ever more desperate, Sidao passed his days at Geling, building towers and pavilions, taking beautiful palace women and courtesan nuns as concubines, and indulging in debauchery. Only his old gambling companions came daily to wager with him, and no one dared pry into his estate. When a concubine's brother appeared at the gate as though about to enter, Sidao had him bound and thrown into a fire. Once, while squatting on the ground with his concubines pitting crickets against each other, a favorite guest entered and teased him: "Is this the weighty business of state you were appointed to manage?" He was obsessed with precious curios, built a Hall of Many Treasures, and climbed to admire his collection every day. Learning that Yu Ke had owned a jade belt, he demanded it; told it had already been buried with its owner, he opened the tomb and took it. Anyone who refused to surrender a coveted object would immediately fall from favor. After this he sometimes went months without attending court, and when the emperor visited the Jingling Palace he did not accompany the imperial procession. In the eighth year, after the Bright Hall rites were completed, the emperor proceeded to sacrifice at the Jingling Palace. Rain fell in torrents, and Sidao expected the emperor to wait until it stopped before mounting the imperial carriage. Hu Guibin's father Xianzu, director of the imperial armory, asked that following the Kaixi precedent the imperial carriage be turned back and the emperor return to the palace in a covered palanquin. When the emperor said he must consult the chief minister, Xianzu lied: "The chief minister has already approved the palanquin." The emperor then returned to the palace. Sidao flew into a rage: "As commissioner for the great rites, I was not informed of Your Majesty's movements in advance. I beg to resign." That same day he left through the Jiahui Gate. Unable to keep him, the emperor dismissed Xianzu, weeping as he sent Guibin away to become a nun—only then did Sidao return.

似道既專恣日甚，畏人議己，務以權術駕馭，不愛官爵，牢籠一時名士，又加太學餐錢，寬科場恩例，以小利啖之。由是言路斷絕，威福肆行。

As Sidao's monopoly of power grew ever bolder, fearing criticism he relied on manipulation and stratagem. He lavished offices and ranks to win over leading scholars, increased Imperial Academy stipends, and relaxed examination privileges—dangling small favors to keep them quiet. Thus the channels of remonstrance were sealed off, and he wielded power without restraint.

自圍襄陽以來，每上書請行邊，而陰使台諫上章留己。呂文煥以急告，似道復申請之，事下公卿雜議。監察御史陳堅等以為師臣出，顧襄未必能及淮，顧淮未必能及襄，不若居中以運天下為得。乃就中書置機速房以調邊事。時物議多言高達可援襄陽者，監察御史李旺率朝士入言於似道。似道曰：「吾用達，如呂氏何？」旺等出，歎曰：「呂氏安則趙氏危矣。」文煥在襄，聞達且入援，亦不樂，以語其客。客曰：「易耳，今朝廷以襄陽急，故遣達援之，吾以捷聞，則達必不成遣矣。」文煥大以為然。時襄兵出，獲哨騎數人，即繆以大捷奏，然不知朝中實無援襄事也。襄陽降，似道曰：「臣始屢請行邊，先帝皆不之許，向使早聽臣出，當不至此爾。」

Since the siege of Xiangyang began, he repeatedly memorialized asking to take command on the frontier, while secretly arranging for censors and remonstrators to submit memorials urging him to remain. When Lü Wenhuan sent urgent reports, Sidao again petitioned to take the field, and the matter was referred to the chief ministers for deliberation. Supervising Censor Chen Jian and others argued that if the Master Minister left the capital, he could not simultaneously rescue Xiangyang and hold the Huai line; it was better to remain at the center and direct affairs from there. An Expedited Affairs Office was therefore set up within the Central Secretariat to coordinate frontier operations. Public opinion at the time held that Gao Da could relieve Xiangyang; Supervising Censor Li Wang led a group of court officials to press this on Sidao. Sidao replied: "If I appoint Gao Da, what becomes of the Lü family?" As they left, Wang and the others sighed: "When the Lü family is secure, the Zhao dynasty is in danger." At Xiangyang, Wenhuan heard that Gao Da was to be sent as relief and was displeased; he confided as much to a guest. His guest said: "That is easily solved. The court is sending Gao Da only because Xiangyang is desperate. Report a victory, and the dispatch will certainly be canceled." Wenhuan thought this excellent advice. Xiangyang troops sallied forth, captured several enemy scouts, and immediately reported a great victory— unaware that the court had never intended to send relief at all. When Xiangyang fell, Sidao said: "I repeatedly asked to take the field, but the late emperor never permitted it. Had he listened to me sooner, things would never have come to this."

十月，其母胡氏薨，詔以天子鹵簿葬之，起墳擬山陵，百官奉襄事，立大雨中，終日無敢易位。尋起復入朝。

In the tenth month his mother Lady Hu died. An edict granted her burial with the full imperial guard of honor; the tomb mound was built to rival an imperial mausoleum. Officials stood in pouring rain throughout the funeral rites, and for the entire day none dared move from his place. He was soon recalled from mourning and returned to court.

度宗崩。大兵破鄂，太學諸生亦群言非師臣親出不可。似道不得已，始開都督府臨安，然憚劉整，不行。明年正月，整死，似道欣然曰：「吾得天助也。」乃上表出師，抽諸路精兵以行，金帛輜重之舟，舳臚相銜百餘里。至安吉，似道所乘舟膠堰中，劉師勇以千人入水曳之不能動，乃易他舟而去。至蕪湖，遣還軍中所俘曾安撫，以荔子、黃甘遺丞相伯顏，俾宋京如軍中，請輸歲幣稱臣如開慶約，不從。夏貴自合肥以師來會，袖中出編書示似道曰：「宋曆三百二十年。」似道俯首而已。時一軍七萬餘人，盡屬孫虎臣，軍丁家洲。似道與夏貴以少軍軍魯港。二月庚申夜，虎臣以失利報，似道倉皇出，呼曰：「虎臣敗矣！」命召貴與計事。頃之，虎臣至，撫膺而泣曰：「吾兵無一人用命也。」貴微笑曰：「吾嘗血戰當之矣。」似道曰：「計將安出？」貴曰：「諸軍已膽落，吾何以戰？公惟入揚州，招潰兵，迎駕海上，吾特以死守淮西爾。」遂解舟去。似道亦與虎臣以單舸奔揚州。明日，敗兵蔽江而下，似道使人登岸揚旗招之，皆不至，有為惡語慢罵之者。乃檄列郡如海上迎駕，上書請遷都，列郡守於是皆遁，遂入揚州。

Duzong died. When the main Mongol force took Ezhou, Imperial Academy students also clamored that only the Master Minister's personal command would suffice. Sidao, left no alternative, finally established a commander-in-chief's headquarters at Lin'an—but fearing Liu Zheng, he did not take the field himself. In the first month of the following year Liu Zheng died. Sidao exulted: "Heaven is on my side." He then memorialized to take command in person, mustering elite troops from every circuit. Ships laden with gold, silk, and baggage stretched stem to stern for more than a hundred li. At Anji, Sidao's boat stuck fast in a sluice gate. Liu Shiyong put a thousand men in the water to drag it free, but it would not budge; Sidao simply boarded another boat and sailed on. At Wuhu he released the captive Zeng Anfu, sent lychees and mandarin oranges as gifts to Chancellor Bayan, and dispatched Song Jing to the Mongol camp to offer annual tribute and vassal submission on the terms of the Kaiqing agreement. Bayan refused. Xia Gui marched from Hefei to join him, drew a bound chronology from his sleeve, and showed it to Sidao: "The Song dynasty has endured three hundred and twenty years." Sidao could only bow his head in silence. An army of more than seventy thousand men under Sun Huchen was encamped at Dingjiazhou. Sidao and Xia Gui held Lugang with a smaller force. On the gengshen night of the second month, Huchen reported defeat. Sidao rushed out in panic, shouting: "Huchen is beaten!" He ordered Xia Gui summoned to counsel on what to do. Huchen soon arrived, clutched his chest, and wept: "Not a single soldier obeyed orders." Xia Gui smiled faintly: "I have already fought them to a bloody standstill." Sidao asked: "What is your plan?" Xia Gui said: "The troops have lost all heart. How can I fight? Your Excellency should go to Yangzhou, rally the routed troops, and escort the emperor to sea. I will hold west of the Huai to the death." With that he cast off and sailed away. Sidao fled to Yangzhou as well, sharing a single small boat with Huchen. The next day routed soldiers filled the river downstream. Sidao sent men ashore to wave flags and summon them, but none came—some hurled curses and abuse instead. He then ordered the prefectures to prepare to receive the emperor at sea and memorialized to move the capital. Prefects and magistrates throughout the region fled, and Sidao entered Yangzhou.

陳宜中請誅似道，謝太后曰：「似道勤勞三朝，安忍以一朝之罪，失待大臣之禮。」止罷平章、都督，予祠官。三月，除似道諸不恤民之政，放還諸竄謫人，復吳潛、向士璧等官，誅其幕官翁應龍，廖瑩中、王庭皆自殺。潘文卿、季可、陳堅、徐卿孫皆似道鷹犬，至是交章劾之。四月，高斯得乞誅似道，不從。而似道亦自上表乞保全，乃命削三官，然尚居揚不歸。五月，王氇龠論似道既不死忠，又不死孝，太皇太后乃詔似道歸終喪。七月，黃鏞、王應麟請移似道鄰州，不從。王氇龠入見太后曰：「本朝權臣稔禍，未有如似道之烈者。縉紳草茅不知幾疏，陛下皆抑而不行，非惟付人言於不恤，何以謝天下！」始徙似道婺州。婺人聞似道將至，率眾為露布逐之。監察御史孫嶸叟等皆以為罰輕，言之不已。又徙建寧府。翁合奏言：「建甯乃名儒朱熹故里，雖三尺童子粗知向方，聞似道來嘔惡，況見其人！」時國子司業方應發權直舍人院，封還錄黃，乞竄似道廣南；中書舍人王應麟、給事中黃鏞亦言之，皆不從。侍御史陳文龍乞俯從眾言，陳景行、徐直方、孫嶸叟及監察御史俞浙並上疏，於是始謫似道為高州團練使、循州安置，籍其家。

Chen Yizhong urged that Sidao be executed. Empress Dowager Xie said: "Sidao has served faithfully through three reigns. How can we, for a single day's failure, abandon the courtesy owed a great minister?" She merely stripped him of his posts as Grand Councillor and commander-in-chief and granted him a ceremonial sinecure. In the third month, Sidao's oppressive policies were abolished, exiles were recalled, Wu Qian and Xiang Shibi were restored to office, his chief clerk Weng Yinglong was executed, and Liao Yingzhong and Wang Ting both took their own lives. Pan Wenqing, Ji Ke, Chen Jian, and Xu Qingsun had all been Jia Sidao's henchmen; they now filed successive memorials impeaching him. In the fourth month Gao Side petitioned for Jia Sidao's execution, but the court refused. Sidao also memorialized begging to be spared. He was stripped of three ranks but still lingered at Yangzhou without returning. In the fifth month Wang Luyue argued that Sidao had shown neither loyalty to the state nor filial duty in mourning. The grand empress dowager then ordered him home to complete his mourning obligations. In the seventh month Huang Yong and Wang Yinglin asked that Sidao be transferred to a neighboring prefecture, but the court refused. Wang Luyue went in to see the empress dowager and said, "Among the powerful ministers of our dynasty who have brought disaster on the state, none has been as ruinous as Jia Sidao. Officials and commoners alike have submitted countless memorials, yet Your Majesty has suppressed them all. You not only ignore public outrage—how can you answer to the empire!" Only then was Sidao banished to Wuzhou. When the people of Wuzhou learned Sidao was coming, they rallied and posted public proclamations demanding his expulsion. Investigating censor Sun Rongsou and others protested that the punishment was too lenient and kept pressing the matter. He was transferred again to Jianning Prefecture. Weng He memorialized: "Jianning is the homeland of the great scholar Zhu Xi. Even children there know right from wrong—they retch at the news that Sidao is coming, let alone at the sight of him!" At that time Fang Yingfa of the Directorate of Education, acting head of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, returned the draft edict unapproved and asked that Sidao be exiled to the far south; Drafting drafter Wang Yinglin and drafting reviewer Huang Yong spoke as well, but the court would not agree. Attendant censor Chen Wenlong urged the court to heed public opinion. Chen Jingxing, Xu Zhifang, Sun Rongsou, and investigating censor Yu Zhe all memorialized. Only then was Sidao demoted to regiment commander of Gaozhou, settled at Xunzhou, and his property confiscated.

福王與芮素恨似道，募有能殺似道者使送之貶所，有縣尉鄭虎臣欣然請行。似道行時，侍妾尚數十人，虎臣悉屏去，奪其寶玉，徹轎蓋，𣌈行秋日中，令舁轎夫唱杭州歌謔之，每名斥似道，辱之備至。似道至古寺中，壁有吳潛南行所題字，虎臣呼似道曰：「賈團練，吳丞相何以至此？」似道慚不能對。嶸叟、應麟奏似道家畜乘輿服御物，有反狀，乞斬之。詔遣鞫問，未至。八月，似道至漳州木綿庵，虎臣屢諷之自殺，不聽，曰：「太皇許我不死，有詔即死。」虎臣曰：「吾為天下殺似道，雖死何憾？」拉殺之。

Prince Fu, Zhao Rui, had long hated Sidao and offered a reward for anyone who would kill him while escorting him to exile. County lieutenant Zheng Huchen eagerly volunteered. On the road Sidao still had dozens of concubines in attendance. Huchen dismissed them all, seized his jewels, removed the sedan canopy, and forced him to walk in the autumn heat while the bearers sang Hangzhou street songs mocking him by name, humiliating him in every way. At an old temple Sidao found on the wall an inscription left by Wu Qian on his own journey south. Huchen called out, "Regiment Commander Jia—how did Chancellor Wu end up here?" Sidao was ashamed and had no reply. Sun Rongsou and Wang Yinglin memorialized that Sidao's household possessed imperial carriage fittings and regalia suggestive of treason and asked that he be executed. An edict ordered him brought back for interrogation, but it had not yet arrived. In the eighth month Sidao reached the Kapok Hermitage in Zhangzhou. Huchen repeatedly urged him to take his own life. Sidao refused, saying, "The grand empress dowager promised I would not be killed. I will die only when there is an edict." Huchen said, "I am killing Sidao for the empire. What regret would I have even if I die for it? He killed him on the spot.

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