1
唐張徐
Tang, Zhang, and Xu.
2
◎唐臨 （交昭） 張文瓘 （文琮錫文收） 徐有功 （商彥若）
Tang Lin (Jiao Zhao) Zhang Wenqian (Wencong, Xi, and Wenshou) Xu Yougong (Shang Yanruo)
3
唐臨，字本德，京兆長安人。 周內史瑾之孫。 其先自北海內徙。 武德初，隱太子討王世充，臨以策進說，太子引直典書坊，授右衛率府鎧曹參軍。 太子廢，出為萬泉丞。 有輕囚久系，方春，農事興，臨說令可且出囚，使就畎畝。 不許。 臨曰：「有所疑，丞執其罪。」 令移疾，臨悉縱歸，與之約，囚如期還。
Tang Lin, whose style was Bende, came from Chang'an in the capital district of Jingzhao. He was the grandson of Tang Jin, who had served Zhou as Interior Secretary. His family had originally come from Beihai and later moved into the interior. Early in the Wude era, when the crown prince marched against Wang Shichong, Lin went to the camp with a strategic proposal. The prince took him into the crown prince's document office and made him a staff officer in the Right Guard's armor bureau. After the crown prince's fall, he was posted out as assistant magistrate of Wanquan County. Several minor offenders had been held a long time. Spring had come and farming was underway, and Lin urged the magistrate to release them temporarily so they could work their fields. The magistrate refused. Lin said, "If you have doubts, I will answer for this myself. The magistrate took sick leave, and Lin sent every prisoner home under bond to return on the appointed day—and they did.
4
再遷侍御史。 大夫韋挺責著位不肅，明日，挺越次與江夏王道宗語，臨進曰：「王亂班。」 道宗曰：「與大夫語，何至爾！」 臨曰：「大夫亦亂班。」 挺失色，眾皆悚伏。 俄持節按獄交州，出冤系三千人。 累遷大理卿。 高宗嘗錄囚，臨占對無不盡，帝喜曰：「為國之要在用法，刻則人殘，寬則失有罪，惟是折中，以稱朕意。」 它日復訊，余司斷者輒紛訴不已，獨臨所訊無一言。 帝問故，答曰：「唐卿斷囚不冤，所以絕意。」 帝嘆曰：「為獄者固當若是。」 乃自述其考曰「形如死灰，心若鐵石」雲。
He was promoted again to Attending Censor. Grand Master Wei Ting had scolded an official for failing to stand in proper order. The next day Ting himself stepped out of rank to speak with Prince Daozong of Jiangxia, and Lin stepped forward: "Your Highness has disturbed the court order. Daozong said, "I was only speaking with the grand master—must it come to this!" Lin replied, "The grand master has disturbed the order as well. Ting turned pale, and everyone present shrank in silence. Soon afterward he went to Jiao Prefecture with imperial credentials to review legal cases and secured the release of three thousand prisoners held on false charges. He rose through successive posts to Minister of Punishments. Emperor Gaozong once held a prison review. Lin answered every case without omission, and the emperor was pleased: "Governing a state depends on how the law is applied. Harshness maims the people; excessive leniency lets the guilty go free. Only a balanced middle course can satisfy my intent. On another review day, prisoners judged by the other officials all pleaded and protested endlessly, but not one of those Lin had tried said a word. The emperor asked why. He answered, "Minister Tang's rulings are never unjust, so they have nothing left to say. The emperor sighed and said, "This is how a judge ought to be. He then wrote his own appraisal of Lin: "His form was like dead ashes, and his heart like iron and stone."
5
臨累遷吏部尚書。 初，來濟謫臺州，李義府謫普州，臨奏許祎為江南巡察使，張倫劍南巡察使。 祎與濟善，而倫與義府有隙。 武後常右義府，察知之，謂臨遣所私督其過，坐免官。 起為潮州刺史，卒，年六十。
Lin was eventually promoted to Minister of Personnel. Earlier Lai Ji had been banished to Taizhou and Li Yifu to Puzhou. Lin recommended Xu Yi as touring commissioner for the Jiangnan region and Zhang Lun for the Sword-South circuit. Xu Yi was friendly with Lai Ji, while Zhang Lun was at odds with Li Yifu. Empress Wu habitually favored Li Yifu. Learning of the appointments, she accused Lin of sending his own men to pursue Yifu's faults and had him removed from office. He was later appointed prefect of Chaozhou, where he died at the age of sixty.
6
臨儉薄寡欲，不好治第宅。 性旁通，專務掩人過。 見妻子，必正衣冠。
Lin lived plainly with few desires and never built a grand residence. Broadly accomplished by nature, he made a point of concealing others' faults. Even before his wife and children he always dressed with full propriety.
7
兄皎，武德初，為秦王府記室，從王征討，掌書檄。 貞觀中，官吏部侍郎。 先是，選集四時補擬，不為限。 皎請以冬初集，盡季春止，後遂為法。 終益州長史，贈太常卿。
His elder brother Jiao, early in the Wude era, served as recorder in the household of the Prince of Qin, followed the prince on campaign, and handled dispatches and proclamations. During the Zhenguan reign he rose to Vice Minister of Personnel. Previously, civil-service selection assemblies for supplemental appointments had been held in all four seasons without fixed limits. Jiao proposed holding the assembly from early winter through late spring, and this later became standard practice. He ended his career as chief administrator of Yizhou and was posthumously honored as Grand Master of Splendid Happiness.
8
子之奇，給事中。 坐章懷太子屬徙邊。 後除括蒼令，與徐敬業起兵，誅。
His son Zhiqi served as Supervising Secretary. He was implicated as an associate of Crown Prince Zhanghuai and banished to the frontier. Later appointed magistrate of Kuocang, he joined Xu Jingye's rebellion and was put to death.
9
臨孫紹紹，神龍時為太常博士。 遷左臺侍御史、度支員外郎，常兼博士。 韋庶人請妃、公主、命婦以上葬給鼓吹，詔可。 紹曰：「鼓吹本軍容，黃帝戰涿鹿，以為警衛，故曲有《靈夔吼》、《雕鶚爭》、《石墜崖》、《壯士怒》之類。 惟功臣詔葬，得兼用之。 男子有四方功，所以加寵。 雖郊祀天地，不參設，容得接閨閫哉？ 在令，五品官昏葬，無給鼓吹者，唯京官五品則假四品，蓋班秩在夫若子。 請置前詔，用舊典。」 不省。
Lin's grandson Shaoshao served as an erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices during the Shenlong era. He was promoted to Attending Censor on the Left Terrace and Vice Director of the Revenue Section, often while retaining his erudite post. Empress Wei requested that imperial consorts, princesses, and titled ladies of rank and above be granted martial funeral music; the edict approved it. Shao objected: "Martial music was originally military ceremony. When the Yellow Emperor fought at Zhuolu he used it as a guard of honor, which is why the repertoire includes pieces such as 《Spirit Ao Roars》, 《Eagle and Hawk Contend》, 《Stone Falls from the Cliff》, and 《Warrior's Wrath》. Only meritorious ministers granted burial by imperial edict were permitted to use it. It was a mark of honor for men who had rendered service on all four sides. Even at the suburban sacrifices to Heaven and Earth it was not used—how then could it be extended to the women's quarters? Under the statutes, fifth-rank officials were not granted martial music for weddings or funerals. Only capital officials of fifth rank might borrow fourth-rank privileges, because their rank followed that of husband or son. I ask that the recent edict be withdrawn and the former regulations restored. His plea went unheeded.
10
中宗始郊，國子祭酒祝欽明等知韋後能制天子，欲迎諂之，即奏以皇后亞獻，安樂公主終獻，又四時及列帝誕日，遣使者詣陵如事生。 紹以為非禮，引正誼固爭。 帝又詔武氏陵及諸武墓皆置守戶，紹謂：「昊、順二陵守戶五百，與昭陵同。 在令，先世帝王陵戶二十，今雖崇奉外家，宜準附常典。 又親王墓戶十，梁、魯乃追贈，不可逾真王。 褒德衛卒，至逾宗廟，不可明甚，請罷之。」 又言：「比群臣務厚葬，以俑人象驂眩耀相矜，下逮眾庶，流宕成俗。 願按令切敕裁損，凡明器不許列衢路，惟陳墓所。 昏家盛設障車，擁道為戲樂，邀貨捐貲動萬計，甚傷化紊禮，不可示天下。」 事雖不從，議者美嘆。
When Emperor Zhongzong first performed the suburban sacrifice, National University Libationer Zhu Qinming and others, knowing Empress Wei could dominate the emperor, sought to flatter her. They memorialized that the empress perform the secondary offering and Princess Anle the final offering, and that envoys be sent to the imperial tombs in all four seasons and on successive emperors' birth anniversaries as though the dead were still living. Shao held these measures contrary to ritual and argued against them on principle without yielding. The emperor also ordered guard households placed at the Wu clan tombs and all Wu family graves. Shao protested: "The tombs of Emperors Hao and Shun have five hundred guard households—the same as Taizong's Zhaoling. The statutes prescribe only twenty guard households for the tombs of former emperors. Though the empress's kin are now honored, they should still follow the regular precedent. Princely tombs receive ten guard households. Liang and Lu were posthumous enfeoffments and cannot exceed true princes. To honor the Wu clan with guard troops that exceed even the imperial ancestral temple is plainly excessive. I ask that these orders be revoked. He also said, "Lately officials compete in lavish funerals, displaying figurines and carved teams of horses in dazzling show, and the fashion has spread even among commoners. I ask that the statutes be strictly enforced to curb this excess. Spirit goods should not be displayed on public roads but only at the burial site. Wedding processions now fill the roads with barrier carts and public entertainments, extorting contributions that run to tens of thousands. This deeply corrupts morals and disrupts ritual. Such practices must not be displayed before the empire. Though his proposals were not adopted, commentators praised him with admiration.
11
睿宗即位，數言政損益，再遷給事中，兼太常少卿。 先天二年，玄宗講武驪山，紹以典儀坐失軍容，當斬。 帝怒甚，執纛下，左右猶冀少貸，金吾將軍李邈遽傳詔斬之。 時深咎邈，帝亦悔，俄詔罷邈官，擯於家。
After Emperor Ruizong took the throne, he repeatedly offered advice on government policy and was twice promoted, becoming Supervising Secretary and concurrently Vice Minister of Imperial Sacrifices. In the second year of Xiantian, when Emperor Xuanzong held martial exercises at Mount Li, Shao was charged with a breach of ceremonial protocol in military display and sentenced to death. The emperor was furious. Shao was seized below the banner, and those nearby still hoped for some leniency, but Golden Crow General Li Miao immediately transmitted the execution order and had him beheaded. Many blamed Li Miao severely. The emperor himself soon regretted the affair and shortly dismissed Miao from office, banishing him to his home.
12
張文瓘，字稚圭，貝州武城人。 隋大業末，徙家魏州之昌樂。 幼孤，事母、兄以孝友聞。 貞觀初，第明經，補并州參軍。 時李勣為長史，嘗嘆曰：「稚圭，今之管、蕭，吾所不及。」 勣入朝，文瓘與屬僚二人皆餞，勣贈二人以佩刀、玉帶，而不及文瓘。 文瓘以疑請，勣曰：「子無為嫌。 若某，豫少決，故贈以刀，欲其果於斷； 某放誕少檢，故贈以帶，俾其守約束。 若子才，無施不可，焉用贈？」 因極推引。 再遷水部員外郎。 時兄文琮為戶部侍郎，於制，兄弟不並臺閣，出為雲陽令。 累授東西臺舍人，參知政事。 乾封二年，遷東臺侍郎、同東西臺三品，遂與勣同為宰相。 俄知左史事。
Zhang Wenqian, whose style was Zhigui, came from Wucheng in Beizhou. At the end of the Sui Daye era his family moved to Changle in Weizhou. Orphaned in childhood, he was famed for the filial devotion and brotherly affection with which he cared for his mother and elder brother. Early in the Zhenguan reign he passed the Mingjing examination and was appointed military aide in Bingzhou. Li Ji was then chief administrator of the prefecture. He once sighed and said, "Zhigui is a Guan Zhong or Xiao He for our age—he surpasses what I can do. When Li Ji went to court, Wenqian and two subordinate officials all saw him off. Ji gave the two men girdle knives and jade belts but gave Wenqian nothing. Wenqian asked about the omission. Ji said, "Do not take offense. One of them is hesitant by nature, so I gave him a knife to encourage firm decisions. The other is undisciplined and unrestrained, so I gave him a belt to keep him within bounds. Your talent needs no such aid—why should I give you a gift? He then strongly recommended Wenqian for advancement. He was promoted again to Vice Director of the Water Section. His elder brother Wencong was then Vice Minister of Revenue. Regulations forbade brothers from serving together at court, so Wenqian was posted out as magistrate of Yunyang. He was repeatedly appointed drafter of the Eastern and Western Terraces and joined in governing affairs. In the second year of Qianfeng he was made Vice Minister of the Eastern Terrace with third rank and became chief minister alongside Li Ji. He soon took charge of the Left Historian's office as well.
13
時高宗造蓬萊、上陽、合璧等宮，復征討四夷，京師養廄馬萬匹，帑瓘浸虛。 文瓘諫曰：「王者養民，逸則富以康，勞則怨以叛。 秦、漢廣事四夷，造宮室，至二世土崩，武帝末年戶口減半。 夫制治於未亂，保邦於未危。 人罔常懷，懷於有仁。 臣願撫之，無使勞而生怨。 隋監未遠，不可不察。」 帝善其言，賜繒錦百段，為減廄馬數千。
Emperor Gaozong was building the Penglai, Shangyang, and Hebi palaces, campaigning again on all frontiers, and maintaining ten thousand horses in the capital stables. The treasury was steadily drained. Wenqian remonstrated: "A ruler nourishes his people. When they are at ease they grow prosperous and secure; when overworked they resent and rebel. Qin and Han both campaigned widely and built palaces on a vast scale—Qin collapsed under the Second Emperor, and by the end of Emperor Wu's reign the registered population had been cut in half. Good government means ordering affairs before chaos arises and securing the state before danger appears. The people have no fixed loyalty except to those who show them benevolence. I beg Your Majesty to cherish them and not drive them to labor until resentment arises. The fall of the Sui is still recent history. This warning cannot be ignored. The emperor approved his advice, rewarded him with a hundred lengths of silk brocade, and reduced the imperial stables by several thousand horses.
14
改黃門侍郎，兼太子右庶子，又兼大理卿。 不旬日，斷疑獄四百，抵罪者無怨言。 嘗有小疾，囚相與齋禱，願亟視事。 時以執法平恕方戴胄。 後拜侍中，兼太子賓客。 諸囚聞其遷，皆垂泣，其得人心如此。 性嚴正，未嘗回容，諸司奏議，悉心糾駁，故帝委之。 或時移疾，佗宰相奏事，帝必問與文瓘議未。 若不者，曰：「往共籌之。」 或曰：「已議。」 即皆報可。
He was made Vice Minister of the Yellow Gate, concurrently Right Vice Heir Apparent of the crown prince, and also Minister of Punishments. Within ten days he resolved four hundred doubtful cases, and even those convicted had no complaint. Once when he fell slightly ill, the prisoners together fasted and prayed that he would soon return to duty. At the time he was regarded, together with Dai Zhou, as a model of fair and lenient justice. He was later appointed Palace Attendant and concurrently Guest of the Crown Prince. When the prisoners heard of his transfer they all wept. Such was the hold he had on people's hearts. Stern and upright by nature, he never showed favoritism. He scrutinized and corrected memorials from every office, and the emperor relied on him accordingly. Whenever he was ill and other chief ministers presented business, the emperor always asked whether they had consulted Wenqian. If they had not, he said, "Go consult with him together." Or they would say, "We have already consulted." The emperor then approved whatever they reported.
15
新羅叛，帝將出兵討之。 時文瓘病臥家，自力請見，曰：「吐蕃盜邊，兵屯境未解，新羅復叛，議者欲出師，二虜俱事，臣恐人不堪弊，請息兵修德，以懷異俗。」 詔可。
When Silla rebelled, the emperor prepared to send troops against them. Wenqian was bedridden at home but forced himself to seek an audience. He said, "Tibetans are raiding the frontier and troops remain tied down there, while Silla has rebelled again. Some counsel sending armies on both fronts at once. I fear the people cannot bear such burdens. I beg Your Majesty to halt the armies and cultivate virtue to win over foreign peoples." The edict approved his request.
16
初，同列以堂饌豐余，欲少損。 文瓘曰：「此天子所以重樞務、待賢才也，吾等若不任職，當自引避，不宜節減，以自取名。」 眾乃止。 卒，年七十三，贈幽州都督，謚曰懿。 以嘗事孝敬皇帝，詔陪葬恭陵。
Earlier his colleagues, finding their official banquet provisions overly lavish, wished to cut them back. Wenqian said, "The emperor provides these provisions to honor weighty state business and treat worthy officials. If we are not equal to our posts we should resign; we must not cut back to win praise for frugality." The others dropped the proposal. He died at seventy-three, was posthumously made governor of Youzhou, and given the posthumous name Yi. For having served Emperor Xiaojing, he was ordered buried at Gongling.
17
四子：潛，為魏州刺史； 沛，同州刺史； 洽，衛尉卿； 涉，殿中監。 父子皆至三品，時謂「萬石張家」。 韋溫誅，涉為亂兵所殺。
He had four sons: Qian became prefect of Weizhou; Pei, of Tong Prefecture; Qia, commandant of the guards; and She, director of the palace directorate. Father and sons all reached third rank, and contemporaries called them the Zhang family of ten thousand stone. When Wei Wen and his faction were killed, She died at the hands of mutinous troops.
18
文琮，好自寫書，筆不釋手。 子弟諫止，曰：「吾好此，不為倦。」 貞觀中，為治書侍御史，遷亳州刺史。 永徽初，獻《文皇帝頌》，優制褒美，拜戶部侍郎。 坐房遺愛從母弟，出為建州刺史。 州尚淫祀，不立社稷，文琮下教曰：「春秋二社本於農，今此州廢不立，尚何觀？ 比歲田畝卒荒，或未之思乎！ 神在於敬，可以致福。」 於是始建祀場，民悅從之。 卒於官。
Wencong loved to copy books by hand and never put down his brush. When his sons and younger brothers urged him to rest, he said, "I enjoy this and never grow weary." In the Zhenguan reign he served as attending censor for imperial documents and was promoted to prefect of Bozhou. In early Yonghui he presented an eulogy to Emperor Taizong; the emperor praised it in an edict and appointed him Vice Minister of Revenue. Implicated as a cousin of Fang Yiai, he was posted out as prefect of Jianzhou. The region still favored improper cults and had no state altars. Wencong issued an instruction: "The spring and autumn communal rites exist for farming, yet this prefecture alone has abandoned them. What example does that set? In recent years the fields have often failed. Has no one considered why! Spirits respond to reverence, and through reverence blessing may be won." He then established the sacrificial ground, and the people gladly followed. He died in office.
19
子錫，久視初，為鳳閣侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事，代其甥李嶠為宰相。 請還廬陵王，不為張易之所右。 與鄭杲俱知選，坐泄禁中語，又賕謝鉅萬，時蘇味道亦坐事，同被訊，系鳳閣，俄徙司刑三品院。 錫按轡專道，神氣不懾，日膳豐鮮，無損貶。 味道徒步赴逮，席地菜食。 武後聞之，釋味道，將斬錫，既而流循州。 神龍中，累遷工部尚書，兼修國史，東都留守。 韋後臨朝，詔同中書門下三品，旬日，出為絳州刺史。 累封平原郡公，卒。
His son Xi, early in the Jiushi era, became vice minister of the Phoenix Pavilion and chancellor, succeeding his nephew Li Qiao. He petitioned for the return of the Prince of Luling and earned the disfavor of Zhang Yizhi. He and Zheng Gao oversaw civil-service selection. For leaking palace secrets and accepting bribes of tens of thousands, he was investigated together with Su Weidao, detained in the Phoenix Pavilion, and soon moved to the Court of Punishments compound. Xi rode the dedicated lane to detention unafraid, ate rich meals every day, and showed no sign of distress. Weidao walked to his arrest and sat on the ground eating plain vegetables. Empress Wu released Weidao but was about to execute Xi; she then exiled him to Xunzhou instead. During the Shenlong era he rose to Minister of Works, helped revise the national history, and served as defender of the eastern capital. When Empress Wei held court she made him chancellor of the third rank, but within ten days he was posted as prefect of Jiangzhou. He was enfeoffed Duke of Pingyuan and eventually died.
20
文琮從父弟文收，終太子率更令。 善音律，著《新樂書》十餘篇。
Wencong's cousin Wenshou ended his career as commandant of the crown prince's rate-revision office. Skilled in music theory, he wrote New Music Writings in more than ten chapters.
21
徐有功，名弘敏，避孝敬皇帝諱，以字行，國子博士文遠孫也。 舉明經，累補蒲州司法參軍，襲封東莞縣男。 為政仁，不忍杖罰，民服其恩，更相約曰：「犯徐參軍杖者，必斥之。」 訖代不辱一人。 累遷司刑丞。 時武後僭位，畏唐大臣謀己。 於是周興、來俊臣、丘神勣、王弘義等揣識後指，置總監牧院諸獄，捕將相，俾相鉤逮，掩搦護送，楚掠凝慘。 又汙引天下豪桀，馳使者即按，一切以反論。 吏爭以周內窮詆相高，後輒勸以官賞，於是以急變相告言者無虛日。 朝野震恐，莫敢正言，獨有功數犯顏爭枉直，後厲語折抑，有功爭益牢。 時博州刺史瑯邪王沖，責息錢於貴鄉，遣家奴督斂，與尉顏餘慶相聞知，奴自市弓矢還。 會沖坐逆誅，魏州人告餘慶豫沖謀，後令俊臣鞫治，以反狀聞。 有司議：「餘慶更永昌赦，法當流。」 侍御史魏元忠謂：「餘慶為沖督償、通書，合謀明甚，非曰支黨，請殊死，籍其家。」 詔可。 有功曰：「永昌赦令：『與虺貞同惡，魁首已伏誅，支黨未發者原之。』 《書》曰：『殲厥渠魁』，律以『造意為首』，尋赦已伏語，則魁首無遺。 餘慶赦後被言，是謂支黨。 今以支為首，是以生入死。 赦而復罪，不如勿赦； 生而復殺，不如勿生。 竊謂朝廷不當爾。」 後怒曰：「何謂魁首？」 答曰：「魁者，大帥； 首者，元謀。」 後曰：「餘慶安得不為魁首？」 答曰：「若魁首者，虺貞是已。 既已伏誅，餘慶今方論罪，非支黨何？」 後意解，乃曰：「公更思之。」 遂免死。 當此時，左右及衛仗在廷陛者數百人，皆縮項不敢息，而有功氣定言詳，然不橈。
Xu Yougong, personal name Hongmin, avoided the taboo of Emperor Xiaojing and was known by his style; he was grandson of the National University erudite Xu Wenyuan. He passed the Mingjing examination, served repeatedly as judicial aide in Puzhou, and inherited the barony of Dongguan. He governed with benevolence and refused to use the rod. The people honored his kindness and agreed among themselves: "Whoever makes Staff Officer Xu use the rod will be driven out." By the end of his term not one person had been beaten. He was promoted repeatedly to vice director of the Court of Punishments. Empress Wu had seized the throne and feared plots from Tang ministers. Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, Qiu Shenji, Wang Hongyi, and others divined her intent, set up the supervisory prison system, arrested ministers and generals, forced mutual denunciations, and tortured prisoners with savage cruelty. They also implicated heroes across the empire; imperial envoys rushed to investigate, and every case was judged treason. Officials competed to extract confessions through torture; the empress rewarded them with offices, and accusations poured in daily without pause. The court and countryside trembled with fear and none dared speak plainly. Only Yougong repeatedly defied the empress to argue right from wrong; though she rebuked him harshly, he held all the more firm. The prefect of Bozhou, Prince Chong of Langye, was collecting interest in Guixiang and sent a household slave to press payment. The assistant magistrate Yan Yuqing knew of this, and the slave bought bows and arrows on his own. When Chong was executed for treason, men of Weizhou reported that Yuqing had foreknown the plot. The empress ordered Lai Junchen to investigate and reported a finding of treason. The responsible officials ruled: "Yuqing falls under the Yongchang amnesty and by law should be banished." Attending Censor Wei Yuanzhong argued: "Yuqing collected debts for Chong and exchanged letters—the conspiracy is clear. He is no mere follower. I request execution and confiscation of his property. The edict approved. Yougong said, "The Yongchang amnesty states: 'Those who shared the guilt of Hui Zhen—since the ringleaders have been executed, followers not yet exposed are pardoned. The Documents says, 'Destroy their chief ringleader,' and the law defines the originator as the head. Under the amnesty the ringleaders are already dead. Yuqing was accused only after the amnesty; he is therefore a follower. To treat a follower as the ringleader is to condemn the living as if they were dead. To pardon and then punish again is worse than never pardoning at all; to spare life and then kill is worse than never sparing at all. I submit that the court ought not act in this way." The empress angrily asked, "What do you mean by ringleader?" He answered, "Ringleader means the chief commander; head means the prime plotter." The empress said, "How can Yuqing not be the ringleader?" He replied, "If there is a ringleader, it is Hui Zhen. He has already been executed. Yuqing is now being judged for a separate offense—what is he if not a follower?" The empress relented and said, "Think on it again." Yuqing was spared death. At that moment hundreds of attendants and guards on the palace steps shrank in silence, yet Yougong spoke calmly and in detail without yielding.
22
有韓紀孝者，受徐敬業偽官，前已物故，推事使顧仲琰籍其家，詔已報可。 有功追議曰：「律，謀反者斬。 身亡即無斬法，無斬法則不得相緣。 所緣之人亡，則所因之罪減。」 詔從之，皆以更赦免，如此獲宥者數十百姓。
Han Jixiao had accepted a post from Xu Jingye's rebel regime and was already dead. Investigating commissioner Gu Zhongyan was seizing his estate after imperial approval. Yougong objected: "The law says rebels are beheaded. When the person is dead the capital penalty no longer applies; without capital penalty there can be no linked punishment. When the principal offender is dead, the dependent offense is reduced." The edict followed his view. All were spared under the next amnesty; dozens of households were saved in this way.
23
累轉秋官郎中。 鳳閣侍郎任知古、冬官尚書裴行本等七人被誣當死，後謂宰相曰：「古人以殺止殺，我今以恩止殺，就群公丐知古等，賜以再生，可乎？」 俊臣、張知默固請如法，後不許。 俊臣獨引行本更驗前罪。 有功奏曰：「俊臣違陛下再生之賜，不可以示信。」 於是悉免死。
He was promoted repeatedly to director of the Autumn Office. Phoenix Pavilion vice minister Ren Zhigu, Winter Office minister Pei Xingben, and seven others faced false charges of death. The empress told the chancellors, "The ancients stopped killing by killing; I now wish to stop killing by grace. I ask you to spare Zhigu and the others and give them life again—is that possible?" Lai Junchen and Zhang Zhimou insisted on applying the law, but the empress refused. Lai Junchen alone took Xingben back to reinvestigate earlier offenses. Yougong memorialized, "Lai Junchen violates Your Majesty's grant of renewed life and cannot be trusted." All were then spared death.
24
道州刺史李仁褒兄弟為人誣構，有功爭不能得。 秋官侍郎周興劾之曰：「漢法，附下罔上者斬，面欺者亦斬。 在古，析言破律者殺。 有功故出反囚，罪當誅，請按之。」 後不許，猶坐史官。
Li Renbao and his brothers of Daozhou were falsely accused, and Yougong argued in vain. Autumn Office vice minister Zhou Xing impeached him: "Han law beheads those who mislead superiors and deceive subordinates, and also those who deceive the throne to its face. In antiquity those who twisted the law with clever words were executed. Yougong deliberately released rebel prisoners and deserves death. I ask that he be prosecuted." The empress refused but still demoted him in the historiography office.
25
俄起為左肅政臺侍御史，辭曰：「臣聞鹿走山林而命系庖廚者，勢固自然。 陛下以法官用臣，臣守正行法，必坐此死矣。」 後固授之。 天下聞有功復進，灑然相賀。 時有詔：「公坐流、私坐徒以上會赦免，逾百日不首者，復論。」 有功奏曰：「陛下寬殊死罪，已發者原之，是通改過之心、自新之路。 故律，告赦前事，以其罪坐之。 若無告言，所犯終不自發； 如告言赦前事，則與律乖。 今赦前之罪，不自言者，還以法論，即恩雖布天下，而一罪不能貸，臣竊為陛下不取。」 後更詔五品以上議可。
He was soon appointed attending censor of the Left Office for Correcting Governance. He declined: "I have heard that when a deer runs in the mountains yet its life hangs on the kitchen, that is only the way of nature. Your Majesty appoints me as a judge. If I uphold the law uprightly I will surely die for it." The empress insisted on appointing him. When the empire heard Yougong had returned to office, people rejoiced throughout the land. An edict then stated: "For public crimes of exile and private crimes of penal servitude and above, if pardoned by amnesty, those who do not surrender within a hundred days will be prosecuted again." Yougong memorialized: "Your Majesty has widened mercy for capital crimes and pardoned those already exposed. This opens the way to repentance and renewal. The law therefore punishes reporting pre-amnesty offenses. Without a report the offense would never come to light; yet reporting pre-amnesty offenses contradicts the law. Now those who do not confess pre-amnesty crimes are still punished. Though grace covers the empire, a single offense cannot be forgiven. I submit that Your Majesty should not accept this." The empress ordered officials of fifth rank and above to deliberate and approve.
26
又上疏曰：「天下員有定，比選者日多，選曹諉囑公行，囂謗滿路。 唐季人多逆節，鞫訊結斷，刑慘獄嚴，革命歲久，其流弗改。 事表生情，法外構理，而刻薄吏驅扇成奸。 雖朝堂進表，列匭內牒，叫閽弗聽，叩鼓弗聞，使申其冤，正增其枉。 誠令天官銓註有所不平、法司推斷舞法深詆、三司理匭受所上章擁塞不白者皆許臣按驗劾發，奪祿貶勞，不越月逾時，可致刑措。」 後納之。
He also memorialized: "Posts throughout the realm have fixed quotas, yet candidates for selection grow daily. The Selection Office evades duty while patronage runs openly, and complaint fills the roads. Under the Tang many had turned against proper conduct; trials ended in cruel punishments and harsh prisons. Though the dynasty had long been secure, those practices had not changed. Cases were built on appearances and feelings; officials constructed guilt beyond the law, and harsh magistrates drove wrongdoing into conspiracy. Though memorials reached the morning court and petitions were placed in the complaint boxes, cries at the gate went unheard and drum appeals unanswered, so that seeking justice only deepened injustice. If Your Majesty permits me to investigate unfair selections, corrupt judgments, and blocked grievance petitions, to impeach offenders and strip their salaries and rank, within a month the realm could reach a state where punishments fall unused." The empress accepted his proposal.
27
竇孝諶妻龐為其奴怖以妖祟，教為夜解，因告以厭詛。 給事中薛季昶鞫之，龐當死。 子希瑊訟冤，有功明其枉。 季昶劾有功黨惡逆，當棄市。 有功方視事，令史泣以告。 有功曰：「豈吾獨死，而諸人長不死邪？」 安步去。 後召詰曰：「公比斷獄多失出，何耶？」 對曰：「失出，臣小過； 好生，陛下大德。」 後默然。 龐得減死，有功免為民。
Dou Xiaochen's wife Pang was terrorized by a slave who claimed she was possessed, taught her secret night rites, then accused her of curse-magic. Supervising Secretary Xue Jichang tried the case, and Pang faced execution. Her son Xi Huang appealed the injustice, and Yougong proved her innocence. Jichang impeached Yougong for siding with rebels and demanded his public execution. Yougong was at his desk when a clerk wept to tell him the news. Yougong said, "Do you think I alone must die while the rest of you will live forever?" He walked away calmly. The empress later summoned him and asked, "You often release prisoners improperly. Why?" He answered, "Releasing the wrongly accused is my small fault; cherishing life is Your Majesty's great virtue." The empress fell silent. Pang's sentence was commuted from death, and Yougong was reduced to commoner status.
28
起拜左司郎中，轉司刑少卿。 與皇甫文備同按獄，誣有功縱逆黨。 久之，文備坐事下獄，有功出之。 或曰：「彼嘗陷君於死，今生之，何也？」 對曰：「爾所言者私忿，我所守者公法，不可以私害公。」
He was restored as director of the Left Office and promoted to vice minister of the Court of Punishments. Investigating cases with Huangfu Wenbei, he was falsely accused by Wenbei of releasing rebel partisans. Later Wenbei was imprisoned for an offense, and Yougong secured his release. Someone asked, "He once tried to have you killed. Why save him now?" He replied, "That is private resentment. I uphold public law, and private feeling cannot harm the public good."
29
嘗謂所親曰：「大理，人命所系，不可阿旨詭辭，以求茍免。」 故有功為獄，常持平守正，以執據冤罔，凡三坐大辟，將死，泰然不憂，赦之，亦不喜，後以此重之。 所全活甚眾，酷吏為少衰，然疾之如仇矣。 改司仆少卿。 卒，年六十八，贈司刑卿。 中宗即位，加贈越州都督，遣使就第吊祭，賜物百段，授一子官。 開元初，竇希瑊等請以己官讓有功子惀，以報舊德，由是自大理司直遷恭陵令。 會昌中，追謚忠正。
He once told his intimates, "The Ministry of Punishments holds human lives in its hands. One cannot twist words to flatter superiors and escape responsibility." In every case he judged, he held to the middle way and relied on evidence against wrongful imprisonment. Three times he faced execution and met death calmly; when pardoned he showed no joy. For this the court esteemed him all the more. He saved a great many lives, and the cruel officials somewhat relented, though they hated him as an enemy. He was made vice minister of the Court of Equine Administration. He died at sixty-eight and was posthumously honored as Minister of Punishments. When Emperor Zhongzong took the throne he was posthumously made governor of Yuezhou; envoys mourned at his home, bestowed a hundred lengths of goods, and granted office to one son. Early in Kaiyuan, Dou Xi Huang and others asked to yield their offices to Yougong's son Lun in repayment of his kindness, and Lun rose from straightener in the Ministry of Punishments to magistrate of Gongling. In the Huichang era he was posthumously titled Loyal and Upright.
30
初，鹿城主簿潘好禮慕有功為人，論之曰：「昔稱張釋之為廷尉，天下無冤人，今有功斷獄，亦天下無冤人。 然釋之當漢文帝時，中外無事，守法而已。 有功居革命之際，周興、來俊臣等掩義隱賊，崇飾惡言，以誣盛德，有功守死明道，身濱殆者數矣，此其賢於釋之明甚。」 或稱有功仁恕過漢於、張。 起居舍人盧若虛曰：「徐公當雷霆之震，而能全仁恕，雖千載未見其比。」 五世孫商。
Earlier Pan Haoli, chief clerk of Lucheng, praised Yougong: "People once said that when Zhang Shizhi was minister of punishments there were no wronged persons under Heaven. Under Yougong there were likewise none. But Shizhi served Emperor Wen of Han when the realm was at peace and he needed only to uphold the law. Yougong lived in an age of revolution, when Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, and others concealed villains and twisted words to slander the throne. He held to the Way even at the risk of death, several times on the brink of execution. In this he far surpassed Shizhi. Some said Yougong's benevolence and forbearance surpassed the celebrated Han judges Yu Dingguo and Zhang Shizhi. Diary attendant Lu Ruoxu said, "Minister Xu preserved benevolence and forbearance even amid thunderous terror. In a thousand years his like has not been seen." His fifth-generation descendant was Shang.
31
贊曰：「徐有功不以唐、周貳其心，惟一於法，身蹈死以救人之死，故能處猜後、酷吏之間，以恕自將，內挫虐焰，不使天下殘於燎，可謂仁人也哉！ 議者謂過漢於、張，渠不信夫！
The commentator writes: "Xu Yougong never divided his loyalty between Tang and Zhou. He held only to the law and risked his own life to save others. Amid suspicion and cruel officials he governed through forbearance, checked their cruelty inwardly, and kept the realm from being consumed by fire. He may truly be called a benevolent man! Those who say he surpassed the Yu and Zhang of Han—who can doubt it!
32
商，字義聲，或字秋卿，客新鄭再世，因為新鄭人。 幼隱中條山。 擢進士第。 大中時，擢累尚書左丞。 宣宗詔為巡邊使，使有指，拜河中節度使。 突厥殘種保特峨山，以千帳度河自歸，詔商綏定。 商表處山東寬鄉，置備征軍，凡千人，襞紙為鎧，勁矢不能洞。 徙節山南東道，襄多山棚，為票賊，商取材卒為捕盜將，別為屯營，寇所發，輒跡捕，捕必得，遂為精兵。 江西都將反，韋宙乘傳抵山南發兵，商命部將韓季友以捕盜營士往。 賊平，宙表留季友所部為綱紀。 咸通初，以刑部尚書為諸道鹽鐵轉運使，封東莞縣子。 四年，進同中書門下平章事，出為荊南節度使。 累進太子太保，卒。
Shang, whose style was Yisheng or Qiujing, came from a family that had lived in Xinzheng for two generations and thus became a native of that place. In youth he lived in seclusion on Mount Zhongtiao. He passed the jinshi examination. During the Dazhong reign he rose to left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Emperor Xuanzong appointed him border-touring commissioner, and when his mission succeeded he became military commissioner of Hezhong. Remnant Turks held Mount E with a thousand tents and crossed the river to submit. The emperor ordered Shang to settle them. Shang settled them east of the mountains in Kuandxiang and formed a thousand-man reserve army whose pleated-paper armor strong arrows could not pierce. Transferred to eastern Shannan, where mountain bandits were numerous, he selected tough soldiers as anti-bandit troops in separate camps. Whenever raiders struck he tracked them down and always captured them, forging an elite force. When the Jiangxi military commissioner rebelled, Wei Zhou rushed to Shannan to raise troops, and Shang sent his general Han Jiyou with the anti-bandit battalion. After the rebellion was crushed, Wei Zhou kept Jiyou's unit as garrison troops. Early in Xiantong he became Minister of Punishments and salt-and-iron transport commissioner for all circuits, and was enfeoffed Viscount of Dongguan. In the fourth year he became chancellor and was posted as military commissioner of Jingnan. He rose to junior tutor of the heir apparent and died.
33
子彥若，事僖宗為中書舍人。 昭宗立，再用為御史中丞。 張浚師敗太原，以彥若為戶部侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 俄代李茂貞為鳳翔節度使，不得入，還為御史大夫。 乾寧初，復當國，進位太保、齊國公。 崔胤專政，以彥若位己右，不悅，以平章事為清海軍節度使，卒於鎮，而行軍司馬劉隱因主留務。 方時多難，彥若最見信於帝，有以事自陳者，帝曰：「汝當問彥若。」 其所倚任如此。
His son Yanruo served Emperor Xizong as secretariat drafting officer. When Emperor Zhaozong took the throne, Yanruo twice served as censor-in-chief. After Zhang Jun's defeat at Taiyuan, Yanruo was made vice minister of revenue and chancellor. He soon replaced Li Maozhen as military commissioner of Fengxiang but could not take up the post and returned as grand master of the censorate. Early in Qianning he again directed the government, rising to junior tutor of the heir apparent and Duke of Qi. Cui Yin dominated the government and, resenting Yanruo's senior rank, sent him to the Qinghai Army circuit as military commissioner in place of the chancellorship. He died in office, and the acting officer Liu Yin seized control of affairs. In those troubled times Yanruo was the emperor's most trusted minister. When anyone came with a private petition the emperor said, "Ask Yanruo." Such was the reliance the emperor placed on him.