2
3
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
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
In the first year of Yonghui he was appointed censor-in-chief. Xiao Lingzhi had once served as military governor of Guangzhou. Having accepted bribes, he was liable to death. The emperor ordered the ministers to deliberate and directed that he be judged according to law; an edict then ordered execution in the court hall. Lin memorialized: "The ministers do not understand the Son of Heaven's purpose in ordering deliberation. The law provides for eight mitigating considerations. Royal kin are executed in seclusion out of consideration for kinship; punishment does not reach great officers out of consideration for noble rank. Lingzhi's greed and corruption were wanton, and death would not have been excessive punishment. Yet Your Majesty treated him differently from other prisoners, had the responsible officials deliberate, and then ordered death—this is not how Yao and Shun applied punishment, and it must not become a precedent for later generations." The emperor approved. Lingzhi was a fifth-generation descendant of Emperor Gao of Qi and thus escaped death.
6
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.
7
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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 Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
9
10
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.
11
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.
12
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.
13
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.
14
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.
15
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 together with him." Or they would say, "We have already consulted." The emperor then approved whatever they reported.
16
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.
17
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.
18
He had four sons: Qian became prefect of Weizhou; Pei became prefect 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.
19
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.
20
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.
21
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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。」 后怒曰：「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？」 后意解，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.
23
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.
24
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.
25
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 to a historiographer post.
26
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.
27
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。」 后納之。
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.
28
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.
29
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."
30
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.
31
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.
32
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!"
33
Shang, whose style was Yisheng or Qiuqing, 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 by successive promotions to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. 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.
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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 Grand Guardian 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.