1
__FORCETOC__狄仁傑狄仁傑，字懷英，并州太原人。 爲兒時，門人有被害者，吏就詰，眾爭辨對，仁傑誦書不置，吏讓之，答曰：「黃卷中方與聖賢對，何暇偶俗吏語耶？」 舉明經，調汴州參軍。 爲吏誣訴，黜陟使閻立本召訊，異其才，謝曰：「仲尼稱觀過知仁，君可謂滄海遺珠矣。」 薦授并州法曹參軍。 親在河陽，仁傑登太行山，反顧，見白雲孤飛，謂左右曰：「吾親舍其下。」 瞻悵久之，雲移乃得去。 同府參軍鄭崇質母老且疾，當使絶域。 仁傑謂曰：「君可貽親萬里憂乎？」 詣長史藺仁基請代行。 仁基咨美其誼，時方與司馬李孝廉不平，相敕曰：「吾等可少愧矣！」 則相待如初，毎曰：「狄公之賢，北斗以南，一人而已。」
Di Renjie, whose courtesy name was Huaiying, came from Taiyuan in Bingzhou. As a boy, when someone in the household was murdered and magistrates came to question the family, everyone else argued their case while Renjie kept reading without pause. When an officer scolded him, he replied: "In these pages I am in conversation with the sages—what time have I for chatter with petty clerks? He passed the Mingjing examination and was posted as a military adjutant at Bianzhou. After a clerk lodged a false complaint against him, the touring inspector Yan Liben summoned him for questioning, was struck by his ability, and apologized: "Confucius said one may know a man's character from his faults—you are truly a pearl cast upon the open sea. On Yan's recommendation he was appointed legal adjutant in Bingzhou. While his parents were living at Heyang, Renjie climbed the Taihang range, turned to look back, and saw a solitary white cloud drifting by. He told his attendants: "My parents are staying beneath that cloud. He stood gazing after it for a long while in sorrowful longing, and only when the cloud had drifted away could he bring himself to leave. Zheng Chongzhi, another adjutant in the prefecture, had an aged, ailing mother yet had been ordered on a mission to a distant border region. Renjie said to him: "Would you lay a grief ten thousand li away upon your parents? He then went to the chief secretary Lan Renji and asked to take Zheng's place on the mission. Renji commended his filial devotion. At the time he was estranged from the marshal Li Xiaolian; the two admonished each other, saying: "We ought to feel a little ashamed of ourselves! Thereafter they treated each other as before, and Li would often say: "For worthiness like Lord Di's, there is only one man this side of the Southern Dipper."
2
稍遷大理丞，歳中斷久獄萬七千人，時稱平恕。 左威衞大將軍權善才、右監門中郎將範懷義坐誤斧昭陵柏，罪當免，高宗詔誅之。 仁傑奏不應死，帝怒曰：「是使我爲不孝子，必殺之。」 仁傑曰：「漢有盜高廟玉環，文帝欲當之族，張釋之廷諍曰：『假令取長陵一抔土，何以加其法？』 於是罪止棄市。 陛下之法在象魏，固有差等。 犯不至死而致之死，何哉？ 今誤伐一柏，殺二臣，後世謂陛下爲何如主？」 帝意解，遂免死。 數日，授侍御史。 左司郎中王本立怙寵自肆，仁傑劾奏其惡，有詔原之。 仁傑曰：「朝廷借乏賢，如本立者不鮮。 陛下惜有罪，虧成法，奈何？ 臣願先斥，爲群臣戒。」 本立抵罪。 繇是朝廷肅然。 使岐州，亡卒數百剽行人，道不通。 官捕系盜黨窮訊，而余曹紛紛不能制。 仁傑曰：「是其計窮，且爲患。」 乃明開首原格，出繫者，稟而縱之，使相曉，皆自縛歸。 帝歎其達權宜。
He rose to assistant director of the Court of Judicial Review and within a year cleared more than seventeen thousand long-pending cases, winning renown for fairness and clemency. Left Majestic Guard General Quan Shancai and Right Supervisor of the Palace Gate Central Companion Fan Huaiyi were found guilty of accidentally cutting down a cypress at the Zhao Mausoleum—a crime punishable by dismissal—yet Emperor Gaozong ordered them put to death. Renjie submitted that they did not deserve death. The emperor flew into a rage: "This would make me an unfilial son—I insist on executing them. Renjie replied: "Under the Han, men stole a jade ring from the imperial temple. Emperor Wen meant to wipe out their whole clan, but Zhang Shizhi remonstrated in open court: 'If someone took a handful of soil from Chang Mausoleum, how would you make the penalty heavier? The punishment was therefore limited to public execution. Your Majesty's laws are displayed at the elephant-gate tower and plainly set out gradations of punishment. When the offence does not warrant death, why bring death upon the offenders? Now, for mistakenly felling one cypress, you would kill two ministers—what kind of ruler will posterity call your Majesty?" The emperor's anger eased, and the two men were spared. A few days later he was appointed investigating censor. Wang Benli of the Left Department, trusting in imperial favor, behaved with arrogant license. Renjie impeached him for misconduct, but an edict pardoned Wang. Renjie said: "The court is said to lack talent, yet men like Benli are hardly rare. Your Majesty would spare the guilty and undermine settled law—how can that be justified? I ask to be dismissed first, as a warning to the other officials. Benli was duly punished. From that time the court grew markedly more disciplined. On assignment to Qizhou, he found several hundred deserters robbing travelers so that the roads were unsafe. Officials had arrested the ringleaders and interrogated them harshly, yet the remaining bands still ran riot beyond control. Renjie said: "They are at their wits' end and will only grow more dangerous. He publicly announced an amnesty for those who surrendered first, released the prisoners, and sent them out to spread word of it; every man came back and bound himself of his own accord. The emperor praised his grasp of practical expedients.
3
遷度支郎中。 帝幸汾陽宮，爲知頓使。 并州長史李沖玄以道出妒女祠，俗言盛服過者，致風雷之變，更發卒數萬改馳道。 仁傑曰：「天子之行，風伯清塵，雨師灑道，何妒女避邪？」 止其役。 帝壯之，曰：「真丈夫哉！」 出爲甯州刺史，撫和戎落，得其歡心，郡人勒碑以頌。 入拜冬官侍郎、持節江南巡撫使。 呉、楚俗多淫祠，仁傑一禁止，凡毀千七百房，止留夏禹、呉太伯、季劄、伍員四祠而已。
He was promoted to director of the Revenue Section. When the emperor visited Fenyang Palace, Renjie served as provisioning commissioner. Bingzhou chief secretary Li Chongxuan, because the route passed the Jealous Woman Shrine—where folk belief held that travelers in fine dress would stir wind and thunder—drafted tens of thousands of men to reroute the imperial highway. Renjie said: "When the Son of Heaven travels, the Wind Lord clears the dust and the Rain Master wets the road—why should he shun some jealous woman's shrine? He halted the project. The emperor was impressed and exclaimed: "What a true man! He was sent out as prefect of Ningzhou, won over the frontier tribes by gentle rule, and earned their goodwill; the people of the prefecture erected a stele in his honor. He returned to court as vice minister of the Works Department and imperial commissioner to tour and pacify the Jiangnan region. Wu and Chu were rife with improper shrines; Renjie suppressed them in one sweep, demolishing seventeen hundred halls in all and sparing only four—to Yu of Xia, Taibo of Wu, Jizha, and Wu Zixu.
4
轉文昌右丞，出豫州刺史。 時越王兵敗，支党餘二千人論死。 仁傑釋其械，密疏曰：「臣欲有所陳，似爲逆人申理； 不言，且累陛下欽恤意。 表成復毀，自不能定。 然此皆非本惡，詿誤至此。」 有詔悉謫戍邊。 囚出寧州，父老迎勞曰：「狄使君活汝耶！」 因相與哭碑下。 囚齋三日乃去。 至流所，亦爲立碑。 初，宰相張光輔討越王。 軍中恃功，多暴索，仁傑拒之。 光輔怒曰：「州將輕元帥邪？」 仁傑曰：「亂河南者一越王，公董士三十萬以平亂，縱使暴橫，使無辜之人鹹墜塗炭，是一越王死，百越王生也。 且王師之至，民歸順以萬計，自縋而下，四面成蹊。 奈何縱邀賞之人殺降以爲功，冤痛徹天？ 如得上方斬馬劍加君頸，雖死不恨！」 光輔還，奏仁傑不遜，左授復州刺史。 徙洛州司馬。
He was transferred to right vice director of the Secretariat and appointed prefect of Yuzhou. The Prince of Yue's rebellion had just been crushed, and more than two thousand of his followers still faced execution. Renjie had their shackles removed and sent a secret memorial: "I wish to speak frankly, though it may look as if I am pleading for rebels; yet if I stay silent, I will betray your Majesty's own intent of merciful forbearance. I drafted the memorial and tore it up again, unable to settle my own mind. These men were not wicked by nature; they were led astray and stumbled into crime. An edict banished them all to frontier garrison duty instead. As the prisoners passed through Ningzhou, the elders came out to greet them, crying: "Did Commissioner Di save you? They wept together beneath his stele. The prisoners observed three days of fasting before they left. At their place of exile they erected another stele in his honor. Earlier, chief minister Zhang Guangfu had led the campaign against the Prince of Yue. Many in the army, trusting in their merit, made violent demands; Renjie turned them down. Guangfu snapped: "Does a prefect dare slight the commander-in-chief? Renjie replied: "Only one Prince of Yue stirred trouble in Henan. You command three hundred thousand troops to put down rebellion—yet if you let your men run wild and innocent people suffer ruin, you will kill one Prince of Yue and breed a hundred more. When the imperial army arrived, tens of thousands of people came over in submission, lowering themselves down by rope until paths were worn on every side. Why let men hungry for reward slaughter those who surrender and call it achievement, until the people's anguish reaches heaven itself? If the emperor's executioner's sword could be laid to your neck, I would die content!" When Guangfu returned to court he reported Renjie for insubordination, and Renjie was demoted to prefect of Fuzhou. He was then transferred to serve as marshal of Luozhou.
5
天授二年，以地官侍郎同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。 武后謂曰：「卿在汝南有善政，然有譖卿者，欲知之乎？」 謝曰：「陛下以爲過，臣當改之； 以爲無過，臣之幸也。 譖者乃不願知。」 后歎其長者。 時太學生謁急，后亦報可。 仁傑曰：「人君惟生殺柄不以假人，至簿書期會，宜責有司。 尚書省決事，左、右丞不句杖，左、右丞相不判徒，況天子乎？ 學徒取告，丞、簿職耳，若爲報可，則胄子數千，凡幾詔耶？ 爲定令示之而已。」 后納其言。
In the second year of Tianshou (691) he was appointed vice minister of the Land Department and Grand Councillor of the Phoenix Pavilion and Crane Terrace. Empress Wu said to him: "You governed Runan well, yet someone has been slandering you—would you like to know who? He declined: "If Your Majesty believes I have erred, I shall reform; if Your Majesty believes I have not erred, that is my good fortune. As for who slandered me, I would rather not know." The empress sighed in admiration of his forbearance. When an Imperial University student petitioned for urgent leave, the empress had already approved it. Renjie said: "A ruler should reserve the power of life and death and not delegate it; routine paperwork and deadlines ought to be left to the proper offices. In the Department of State Affairs, the left and right assistant directors do not sign off on flogging cases, and the left and right chancellors do not rule on exile—how much less should the Son of Heaven? A student's leave petition is clerks' work; if Your Majesty approves each one personally, with thousands of students how many edicts would that require? Simply issue a fixed regulation and let them follow it. The empress took his advice.
6
會爲來俊臣所構，捕送制獄。 于時，訊反者一問即臣，聽減死。 俊臣引仁傑置對，答曰：「有周革命，我乃唐臣，反固實。」 俊臣乃挺系。 其屬王德壽以情謂曰：「我意求少遷，公爲我引楊執柔爲黨，公且免死。」 仁傑歎曰； 「皇天后土，使仁傑爲此乎！」 即以首觸柱，血流沫面。 德壽懼而謝。 守者浸弛，即丐筆書帛，置褚衣中，好謂吏曰； 「方暑，請付家徹絮。」 仁傑子光遠得書上變，后遣使案視。 俊臣命仁傑冠帶見使者，私令德壽作謝死表，附使以聞。 后乃召見仁傑，謂曰：「承反何耶？」 對曰：「不承反，死笞掠矣。」 示其表，曰：「無之。」 后知代署，因免死。 武承嗣屢請誅之，后曰：「命已行，不可返。」 時同被誣者鳳閣侍郎任知古等七族悉得貸。 御史霍獻可以首叩殿陛苦爭，欲必殺仁傑等，乃貶仁傑彭澤令，邑人爲置生祠。
He was soon framed by Lai Junchen, arrested, and sent to the special prison. At that time anyone interrogated for treason confessed at the first question and was allowed to plead for a reduced sentence. Junchen brought Renjie out for questioning; he answered: "The Zhou has replaced the dynasty; I remain a subject of Tang—treason is indeed the truth. Junchen then had him shackled in the cangue. His subordinate Wang Deshou spoke to him in confidence: "I am angling for a small promotion—if you will name Yang Zhirou as my accomplice, you may yet escape death. Renjie sighed and said: "Heaven and earth—would you have Renjie do such a thing! He immediately dashed his head against a pillar until blood streamed and foamed across his face. Deshou was frightened and apologized. As the guards grew lax, he begged for brush and cloth, wrote a message, hid it in his padded coat, and said pleasantly to a clerk: "The weather is hot—please ask my family to change my cotton padding. Renjie's son Guangyuan got hold of the letter and submitted an urgent appeal; the empress sent an envoy to investigate. Junchen ordered Renjie to dress in cap and belt to meet the envoy and secretly had Deshou draft a memorial accepting death, to be sent along with the envoy's report. The empress then summoned Renjie and asked: "You confessed treason—what was that about? He replied: "If I had not confessed treason, I would have been beaten to death." She showed him the memorial; he said: "I wrote no such thing." The empress realized someone else had written it and spared his life. Wu Chengsi repeatedly pressed for his execution; the empress said: "The order has already gone forth—it cannot be taken back. At the same time, all seven clans implicated with him, including Phoenix Pavilion vice director Ren Zhigu, were pardoned. Censor Huo Xianyi battered his head on the palace steps arguing that Renjie and the others must die; Renjie was demoted to magistrate of Pengze instead, and the people of the district erected a living shrine in his honor.
7
萬歳通天中，契丹陷冀州，河北震動，擢仁傑爲魏州刺史。 前刺史懼賊至，驅民保城，修守具。 仁傑至，曰：「賊在遠，何自疲民？ 萬一虜來，吾自辦之，何預若輩？」 悉縱就田。 虜聞，亦引去，民愛仰之，復爲立祠。 俄轉幽州都督，賜紫袍、龜帶，后自製金字十二於袍，以旌其忠。
During the Wansui Tongtian period the Khitans captured Jizhou and threw Hebei into alarm; Renjie was promoted to prefect of Weizhou. The previous prefect, fearing the enemy's approach, had driven the people into the city and rushed repairs to its defenses. When Renjie arrived he said: "The enemy is still far off—why exhaust the people before there is any need? If the enemy should come after all, I will deal with it myself—what business is that of yours? He sent them all back to their fields. When the Khitans heard of this, they withdrew as well. The people loved and revered him, and once again built a shrine in his honor. Before long he was transferred to serve as Military Governor of Youzhou and was granted a purple robe and a turtle belt. The Empress herself wrote twelve gold characters on the robe to commend his loyalty.
8
召拜鸞臺侍郎，復同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。 時發兵戍疏勒四鎮，百姓怨苦。 仁傑諫曰：
He was summoned to court and appointed Vice Director of the Luantai Secretariat, resuming his concurrent post as Grand Councilor of the Fengge and Luantai Secretariats. At that time the court was sending troops to garrison the Four Garrisons of Anxi, centered on Shule, and the people were bitter with resentment. Renjie memorialized the throne, saying:
9
天生四夷，皆在先王封域之外。 東距滄海，西隔流沙，北橫大漠，南阻五嶺，天所以限中外也。 自典籍所紀，聲教所暨，三代不能至者，國家既已兼之。 詩人矜薄伐於太原，化行於江、漢，前代之遐裔，而我之域中，過夏、商遠矣。 今乃用武荒外，邀功絶域，竭府庫之實，以爭磽確不毛之地，得其人不足以增賦，獲其土不可以耕織。 苟求冠帶遠夷，不務固本安人，此秦皇、漢武之所行也。 傳曰：「與覆車同軌者未嘗安。」 此言雖小，可以喻大。
Heaven created the four barbarian peoples, and all of them dwell beyond the domains the ancient kings once enfeoffed. To the east lies the blue sea, to the west drifting sands, to the north the great desert, and to the south the Five Ranges—Heaven's own boundaries between the Middle Kingdom and the outer world. From what the canonical texts record and from how far civilizing influence has reached, lands the Three Dynasties never attained, our dynasty has already brought under its sway. The poets once boasted of a modest campaign as far as Taiyuan and of civilization reaching the Yangtze and Han rivers—yet the distant frontiers of earlier dynasties are now within our own domain, far beyond what the Xia and Shang ever achieved. Yet now we employ arms in the outer wastes, seeking glory in the farthest reaches, draining the treasury to fight over barren, unproductive land—its people would not add enough to the tax rolls, and its soil would not sustain farming or weaving. If one seeks only to bring distant barbarians into the fold of civilization and does not devote oneself to securing the foundations and settling the people, one is following the path of the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han. The tradition says: "Those who follow the same track as an overturned cart have never found safety. Though this saying is small, it can illustrate a great matter.
10
臣伏見國家師旅歳出，調度之費狃以浸廣，右戍四鎮，左屯安東，杼軸空匱，轉輸不絶，行役既久，怨曠者多。 上不是恤，則政不行； 政不行，則害氣作； 害氣作，則蟲螟生，水旱起矣。 方今關東薦饑，蜀漢流亡，江、淮而南，賦斂不息。 人不復本，則相率爲盜，本根一搖，憂患非淺。 所以然者，皆貪功方外，耗竭中國也。 昔漢元帝納賈捐之之謀而罷珠崖，宣帝用魏相之策而棄車師田。 貞觀中，克平九姓，冊拜李思摩爲可汗，使統諸部，夷狄叛則伐，降則撫，得推亡固存之義，無遠戍勞人之役。 今阿史那斛瑟羅，皆陰山貴種，代雄沙漠，若委之四鎮，以統諸蕃，建爲可汗，遣禦寇患，則國家有繼絶之美，無轉輸之苦。 損四鎮，肥中國，罷安東，實遼西，省軍費於遠方，並甲兵於要塞，恒、代之鎮重，而邊州之備豐矣。
Your servant humbly observes that the state's armies march out year after year, and provisioning costs grow ever larger. We garrison the Four Garrisons in the west and station troops in Andong in the east. Household looms stand idle and storehouses run empty; transport never stops. Service has dragged on so long that widows and the resentful are everywhere. If the ruler above does not attend to this with concern, policy cannot be carried out; if policy fails, harmful forces arise; when harmful forces arise, pests multiply and floods and droughts follow. At present famine recurs east of the Pass, refugees stream from Shu and Han, and south of the Yangtze and Huai, tax levies never cease. When people cannot return to their livelihoods, they band together as bandits. Once the root is shaken, the troubles will run deep. The reason for all this is the greed for glory beyond the borders, which drains the heartland dry. In former times Emperor Yuan of Han accepted Jia Juanzhi's counsel and abandoned Zhuya, and Emperor Xuan adopted Wei Xiang's strategy and gave up the fields of Cheshi. In the Zhenguan era, after the Nine Surnamed tribes were pacified, Li Simo was enfeoffed as khan to command the various tribes. When the barbarians rebelled they were attacked; when they submitted they were comforted. This embodied the principle of supporting the perishing and preserving the surviving, without the burden of distant garrison service. Now Ashina Huseluo is of the noble stock of the Yin Mountains and has been a desert power for generations. If he were entrusted with the Four Garrisons to command the various tribes, established as khan, and charged with repelling invaders, the state would gain the merit of continuing a broken line and be spared the hardship of transport. Reduce the Four Garrisons and strengthen the heartland; abolish Andong and fortify Liaoxi; save military expenses in distant lands and concentrate armor and troops at the strongholds—the defenses of Heng and Dai would be made weighty, and the border prefectures would be well prepared.
11
且王者外甯，容有內危。 陛下姑敕邊兵謹守備，以逸待勞，則戰士力倍； 以主禦客，則我得其便； 堅壁清野，寇無所得。 自然深入有顛躓之慮，淺入無虜獲之益。 不數年，二虜不討而服矣。
Moreover, when a true king brings peace to the outer world, he may yet harbor danger within. Your Majesty should for the time being order the border troops to hold their defenses carefully. If they wait at ease for the weary enemy, the warriors' strength will be doubled; if the defender meets the invader, we gain the advantage; With strong walls and cleared fields, the invaders will gain nothing. Naturally, if they penetrate deeply they will fear stumbling; if they penetrate shallowly they will gain no booty. Within a few years, the two barbarian peoples will submit without being chastised.
12
又請廢安東，復高姓爲君長，省江南轉餉以息民，不見納。
He also requested the abolition of Andong, the restoration of the Gao clan as local rulers, and relief from grain transport from south of the Yangtze to give the people rest. The proposal was not accepted.
13
張易之嘗從容問自安計，仁傑曰：「惟勸迎廬陵王可以免禍。」 會后欲以武三思爲太子，以問宰相，眾莫敢對。 仁傑曰：「臣觀天人未厭唐德。 比匈奴犯邊，陛下使梁王三思募勇士於市，逾月不及千人。 廬陵王代之，不浹日，輒五萬。 今欲繼統，非廬陵王莫可。」 后怒，罷議。 久之，召謂曰：「朕數夢雙陸不勝，何也？」 於是，仁傑與王方慶俱在，二人同辭對曰：「雙陸不勝，無子也。 天其意者以儆陛下乎！ 且太子，天下本，本一搖，天下危矣。 文皇帝身蹈鋒鏑，勤勞而有天下，傳之子孫。 先帝寢疾，詔陛下監國。 陛下掩神器而取之，十有餘年，又欲以三思爲後。 且姑侄與母子孰親？ 陛下立廬陵王，則千秋萬歳後常享宗廟； 三思立，廟不祔姑。」 后感悟，即日遣徐彥伯迎廬陵王於房州。 王至，后匿王帳中，召見仁傑語廬陵事。 仁傑敷請切至，涕下不能止。 后乃使王出，曰：「還爾太子！」 仁傑降拜頓首，曰：「太子歸，未有知者，人言紛紛，何所信？」 后然之。 更令太子舍龍門。 具禮迎還，中外大悅。 初，吉頊、李昭德數請還太子，而后意不回，唯仁傑毎以母子天性爲言，后雖忮忍，不能無感，故卒復唐嗣。
Zhang Yizhi once casually asked him for a plan to ensure his own safety. Renjie said: "Only by advising the Empress to welcome back the Prince of Luling can one avoid disaster. At that time the Empress wished to make Wu Sansi crown prince and asked the chief ministers. None dared reply. Renjie said: "Your servant observes that Heaven and the people have not yet grown weary of the virtue of Tang. When the Turks recently violated the border, Your Majesty had Prince of Liang Sansi recruit brave men in the markets, yet in more than a month he did not reach a thousand. When the Prince of Luling replaced him, in less than a day there were fifty thousand. If you now wish to continue the succession, none but the Prince of Luling will do. The Empress was angry and dismissed the discussion. After some time she summoned him and said: "I repeatedly dream that I lose at backgammon—why is this? At that time Renjie and Wang Fangqing were both present. The two answered in the same words: "Losing at backgammon means having no sons. Might Heaven's intent be to warn Your Majesty! Moreover, the crown prince is the root of the realm. Once the root is shaken, the realm is in peril. Emperor Gaozu himself braved blades and arrows, toiled in hardship, and won the realm, passing it to his sons and grandsons. When the late emperor lay ill, he issued an edict that Your Majesty should oversee the state. Your Majesty seized the imperial regalia and took the throne, and for more than ten years you have ruled—yet now you wish to make Sansi your successor. Moreover, which is closer—an aunt and nephew, or a mother and son? If Your Majesty establishes the Prince of Luling, then after a thousand autumns and ten thousand years you will forever enjoy offerings in the ancestral temple; if Sansi is established, the temple will not enshrine an aunt." The Empress was moved to understanding. That very day she dispatched Xu Yanbo to welcome the Prince of Luling from Fangzhou. When the prince arrived, the Empress hid him in her tent and summoned Renjie to speak of the matter of Luling. Renjie pleaded earnestly and urgently, tears streaming down without cease. The Empress then had the prince come out and said: "I restore your crown princeship! Renjie bowed low and knocked his head on the ground, saying: "The crown prince has returned, but no one yet knows of it. With rumors flying everywhere, what can people believe?" The Empress agreed. She further ordered the crown prince to lodge at Longmen. With full ceremony he was welcomed back, and court and country rejoiced greatly. Earlier, Ji Xu and Li Zhaode had repeatedly requested the restoration of the crown prince, but the Empress's mind did not turn back. Only Renjie spoke each time of the natural bond between mother and son. Though the Empress was jealous and cruel, she could not remain unmoved, and so in the end the succession of Tang was restored.
14
尋拜納言，兼右肅政御史大夫。 突厥入趙、定，殺掠甚眾，詔仁傑爲河北道行軍元帥，假以便宜。 突厥盡殺所得男女萬計，由五回道去，仁傑追不能逮。 更拜河北安撫大使。 時民多脅從於賊，賊已去，懼誅，逃匿。 仁傑上疏曰：「議者以爲虜入寇，始明人之逆順，或迫脅，或願從，或受偽官，或爲招慰。 誠以山東之人重氣，一往死不爲悔。 比緣軍興，調發煩重，傷破家產，剔屋賣田，人不爲售。 又官吏侵漁，州縣科役，督趣鞭笞，情危事迫，不循禮義，投跡犬羊，以圖賒死，此君子所愧，而小人之常。 民猶水也，壅則爲淵，疏則爲川，通塞隨流，豈有常性。 昔董卓之亂，神器播越，卓已誅禽，部曲無赦，故事窮變生，流毒京室。 此由恩不溥洽，失在機先。 今負罪之伍，潛竄山澤，赦之則出，不赦則狂。 山東群盜，緣茲聚結。 故臣以爲邊鄙暫警不足憂，中土不寧可爲慮也。 夫持大國者不可以小治，事廣者不可以細分。 人主所務，弗檢常法。 願曲赦河北，一不問罪。」 詔可。
Soon he was appointed Chief Minister of the Palace Secretariat and concurrently Right Censor-in-Chief of the Suzheng Bureau. The Turks entered Zhao and Ding, killing and plundering in great numbers. An edict appointed Renjie Marshal of the Hebei Circuit campaign army and granted him discretionary authority. The Turks slaughtered all the men and women they had taken, numbering in the tens of thousands, and departed by the Wuhui route. Renjie pursued but could not overtake them. He was further appointed Commissioner for Pacification of Hebei. At the time many common people had been compelled to follow the bandits. After the bandits had gone, they feared punishment and fled into hiding. Renjie submitted a memorial, saying: "Those who discuss the matter hold that when the barbarians invaded, it first became clear who among the people were rebellious or loyal. Some were coerced, some willingly followed, some accepted false offices, and some served as recruiters and pacifiers. Truly the people of the eastern lands value honor; once they go forward they do not regret even unto death. Recently, because of military mobilization, levies and conscription have been burdensome and heavy, ruining households and breaking up estates. People stripped their houses and sold their fields, yet found no buyers. Moreover, officials preyed upon them, and prefectures and counties imposed corvée and taxes, driving them on with whips and beatings. When feelings were desperate and circumstances pressing, they abandoned ritual and righteousness and cast their lot with barbarians to seek a reprieve from death. This is what gentlemen would be ashamed of, but what petty men commonly do. The people are like water: dammed up they become a deep pool; opened they become a river. Whether blocked or flowing follows the current—how could they have a fixed nature? Formerly, in the turmoil of Dong Zhuo, the imperial regalia was cast adrift. After Zhuo was executed and captured, his followers were not pardoned. Because old cases reached their limit and new troubles arose, poison spread through the capital. This was because grace was not broadly applied, and the opportunity was lost beforehand. Now those burdened with guilt lurk hidden in mountains and marshes. If pardoned they will come out; if not pardoned they will run wild. The bandits of the eastern lands are gathering on this account. Therefore your servant holds that a temporary alarm on the border is not worth worrying over, but unrest in the central lands is what should be feared. One who holds a great state cannot govern it with petty measures; one who handles broad affairs cannot divide them into minute parts. What a ruler should devote himself to is not inspecting every ordinary law. I wish that a special pardon be granted to Hebei, with no one questioned for guilt. An edict approved it.
15
還，除內史。 后幸三陽宮，王公皆從，獨賜仁傑第一區，眷禮卓異，時無輩者。 是時李楷固、駱務整討契丹，克之，獻俘含樞殿，后大悅。 二人者，本契丹李盡忠部將，盡忠入寇，楷固等數挫王師，后降，有司請論如法。 仁傑稱其驍勇可任，若貸死，必感恩納節，可以責功。 至是凱旋，后舉酒屬仁傑，賞其知人。 授楷固左玉鈐衞大將軍、燕國公，賜姓武； 務整右武威衞將軍。
On his return he was appointed Director of the Palace Secretariat. When the Empress visited the Sanyang Palace, princes and ministers all followed, but Renjie alone was granted the finest residence. The favor shown him was extraordinary, and at the time none could compare with him. At that time Li Kaigu and Luo Wuzheng campaigned against the Khitans, defeated them, and presented captives in the Hanqu Hall. The Empress was greatly pleased. These two men had originally been generals under the Khitan Li Jinzhong. When Jinzhong invaded, Kaigu and the others repeatedly defeated the imperial armies. After they submitted, the responsible officials requested that they be judged according to law. Renjie praised their valor as fit for employment. If their lives were spared, they would surely repay the grace and accept discipline, and could be charged with achieving merit. When they now returned in triumph, the Empress raised a cup to Renjie and rewarded him for knowing men. Kaigu was appointed General of the Left Yulin Guard and Duke of Yan, and granted the surname Wu; Wuzheng was appointed General of the Right Wuwei Guard.
16
后將造浮屠大像，度費數百萬，官不能足，更詔天下僧日施一錢助之。 仁傑諫曰：「工不役鬼，必在役人； 物不天降，終由地出。 不損百姓，且將何求？ 今邊垂未寧，宜寬征鎮之傜，省不急之務。 就令顧作，以濟窮人，既失農時，是爲棄本。 且無官助，理不得成。 既費官財，又竭人力，一方有難，何以救之？」 后由是罷役。
The Empress was about to build a great Buddhist statue. The estimated cost was several million, and the treasury could not cover it. She further issued an edict that monks throughout the realm should contribute one coin per day to assist the project. Renjie memorialized the throne, saying: "If labor does not employ ghosts, it must employ men; if materials do not fall from Heaven, they must ultimately come from the earth. If the common people are not harmed, from what source will you seek them? Now the frontiers are not yet settled. It is fitting to lighten the corvée of the border garrisons and reduce non-urgent undertakings. Even if one were to look to forced labor to aid the poor, it would still miss the farming season and thus abandon the root. Moreover, without official assistance, by reason it cannot be completed. It would both waste official funds and exhaust human labor. If trouble arose in one region, with what would you rescue it? Because of this the Empress halted the project.
17
聖曆三年卒，年七十一。 贈文昌右相，諡曰文惠。 仁傑所薦進，若張柬之、桓彥範、敬暉、姚崇等，皆爲中興名臣。 始居母喪，有白鵲馴擾之祥。 中宗即位，追贈司空。 睿宗又封梁國公。 子光嗣、景暉。 仁傑子光嗣光嗣，聖曆初，爲司府丞。 武后詔宰相各舉尚書郎一人，仁傑薦光嗣，由是拜地官員外郎，以稱職聞。 后曰：「祁奚內舉，果得人。」 曆淄、許、貝三州刺史。 母喪，奪爲太府少卿，固讓，睿宗嘉其誠，許之。 累遷揚州長史，以罪貶歙州別駕，卒。
In the third year of the Shengli era he died, at the age of seventy-one. He was posthumously granted the title of Right Minister of the Wenchang Hall, with the posthumous name Wen Hui. Those whom Renjie recommended and advanced, such as Zhang Jianzhi, Huan Yanfan, Jing Hui, and Yao Chong, all became famous ministers of the restoration. When he first observed mourning for his mother, there was an auspicious sign of white magpies coming tamely and hovering about. When Emperor Zhongzong ascended the throne, Renjie was posthumously granted the title of Minister of Works. Emperor Ruizong further enfeoffed him as Duke of Liang. His sons were Guangsi and Jinghui. Di Renjie's son Guangsi, in the early Shengli era, served as Assistant Director of the Court of the Treasury. Empress Wu ordered each chief minister to recommend one Gentleman of the Masters of Writing. Renjie recommended Guangsi, who was then appointed Vice Director in the Ministry of Revenue and gained a reputation for competent service. The Empress said, "Like Qi Xi, who recommended a man from his own household, you have indeed found the right man. He served in succession as prefect of Zi, Xu, and Bei. While mourning his mother, he was recalled to serve as Vice Director of the Court of the Grand Treasury, but he firmly declined. Emperor Ruizong praised his sincerity and allowed him to remain in mourning. He rose in succession to Senior Administrator of Yangzhou, but was later demoted to Vice Prefect of Shezhou for an offense and died there.
18
景暉，官魏州司功參軍，貪暴爲虐，民苦之，因共毀其父生祠，不復奉。 至元和中，田弘正鎮魏博，始奏葺之，血食不絶。 族孫兼謨。 仁傑族孫兼謨兼謨字汝諧，及進士第。 辟襄陽使府，剛正有祖風。 令狐楚執政，薦授左拾遺，數上書言事。 曆刑部郎中、蘄鄧鄭三州刺史。 歳旱饑，發粟賑濟，民人不流徙。 改蘇州，以治最，擢給事中。 左藏史盜度支縑帛，文宗以經赦詔勿治，兼謨封還詔書，帝問之，對曰：「典史犯贓，不可免。」 帝曰：「朕已赦其長官，吏亦宜宥，與其失信，甯失罪人。」 既而曰：「後或事有不可，勿以還詔爲憚。」 遷御史中丞。 帝曰：「御史臺朝廷綱紀，一臺正，則朝廷治，朝廷正，則天下治。 畏忌顧望，則職業廢矣。 卿，梁公後，當嗣家聲，不可不慎。」 兼謨頓首謝。 江西觀察使呉士矩加給其軍，擅用上供錢數十萬。 兼謨劾奏：「觀察使爲陛下守土，宣國詔條，知臨戎賞士，州有定數，而與奪由己，貽弊一方，爲諸道觖望，請付有司治罪。」 士矩繇是貶蔡州別駕。 曆兵部侍郎、河東節度使。 還爲尚書左丞。 武宗子峴封益王，命兼謨爲傅。 俄領天平節度使，辭疾，以秘書監歸洛陽，遷東都留守，卒。 郝處俊郝處俊，安州安陸人。 父相貴，因隋亂，與婦翁許紹據峽州，歸國，拜滁州刺史，封甑山縣公。 處俊甫十歳而孤，故吏歸千縑賵之，已能讓不受。 及長，好學，嗜《漢書》，崖略暗誦。 貞觀中，第進士，解褐著作佐郎，襲父爵。 兄弟友睦，事諸舅謹甚。 再轉滕王友，恥爲王府屬，棄官去。 久之，召拜太子司議郎，累遷吏部侍郎。 高麗叛，詔李勣爲浿江道大總管，處俊副之。 師入虜境，未陣，賊遽至，舉軍危駭。 處俊方據胡床，體胖，安餐乾Я不顧，密畀料精銳擊之，虜卻，眾壯其謀。
Jinghui served as Recording Officer of Wei Prefecture. Greedy and brutal, he tyrannized the people until they together tore down his father's living shrine and ceased to maintain it. In the Yuanhe era, when Tian Hongzheng governed Weibo, he memorialized the throne to have the shrine restored, and sacrifices were once again offered without interruption. His clansman-grandson was Jianmo. Di Renjie's clansman-grandson Jianmo, whose courtesy name was Ru'xie, passed the jinshi examination. Recruited to the commissioner's staff at Xiangyang, he was upright and resolute, bearing something of his ancestor's character. When Linghu Chu came to power, he recommended Jianmo for appointment as Left Reminder, and Jianmo repeatedly submitted memorials on affairs of state. He served in succession as Director in the Ministry of Justice and as prefect of Qi, Deng, and Zheng. During a year of drought and famine, he distributed grain for relief, and the people did not flee the region. Transferred to Suzhou, he was promoted to Supervisor of Attendants for the excellence of his governance. A clerk of the Left Storehouse stole silk from the Department of Revenue. Emperor Wenzong, citing a general amnesty, ordered that the case not be prosecuted, but Jianmo sealed and returned the edict. When the Emperor questioned him, he replied, "A clerk who commits corruption cannot go unpunished. The Emperor said, "I have already pardoned his superior; the clerk should be forgiven as well — better to break one's word than to let a guilty man go free. Then he added, "If hereafter something proves unacceptable, do not hesitate to return an edict. He was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief. The Emperor said, "The Censorate holds the regulatory standard of the court. When that bureau is upright, the court is well governed; when the court is upright, the realm is well governed. If you fear consequences and hang back, your duties are lost. You are a descendant of Duke of Liang Di Renjie; you should carry on your family's renown — you must not be careless. Jianmo prostrated himself in thanks. Wu Shiju, Observation Commissioner of Jiangxi, made extra payments to his troops and on his own authority spent several hundred thousand strings of tribute funds. Jianmo impeached him, writing: "An observation commissioner guards territory on Your Majesty's behalf and should proclaim the laws of the land. He knows that rewards for troops on campaign have fixed quotas set by prefecture, yet he granted and withheld at his own whim, bequeathing harm on one region and stirring resentment throughout the other circuits. I ask that he be handed over to the proper authorities for punishment. Shiju was thereby demoted to Vice Prefect of Caizhou. He served in succession as Vice Minister of War and Military Commissioner of Hedong. He returned to court as Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. When Emperor Wuzong's son Prince Xian was enfeoffed as Prince of Yi, Jianmo was appointed his tutor. Soon he also served as Military Commissioner of Tianping. Citing illness, he retired to Luoyang as Director of the Secretariat, was later appointed Defender of the Eastern Capital, and died there. Hao Chujun was a native of Anlu in Anzhou. His father Xianggui, during the chaos of the Sui collapse, joined his father-in-law Xu Shao in holding Xiazhou. After submitting to the Tang, he was appointed Prefect of Chuzhou and enfeoffed as Duke of Zengshan County. Chujun was orphaned at ten. A former subordinate of his father brought a thousand rolls of silk as mourning gifts, but even then he knew to decline and would not accept them. As he grew up, he loved learning and was devoted to the Book of Han, able to recite it from memory in broad outline. During the Zhenguan era he passed the jinshi examination, entered service as Assistant Editor in the Palace Library, and inherited his father's title. He lived in friendly harmony with his brothers and served his maternal uncles with scrupulous care. After serving twice as Companion to the Prince of Teng, he felt ashamed to be a retainer of a princely household and resigned his office. After some time he was summoned to serve as Master of Ceremonies to the Heir Apparent and rose in succession to Vice Minister of Personnel. When Goguryeo rebelled, Li Ji was ordered to serve as Grand Commander of the Bijiang Circuit, with Chujun as his deputy. The army had entered enemy territory but had not yet formed ranks when the rebels suddenly appeared, filling the entire force with dread. Chujun was seated on a camp stool, corpulent and calm, eating dry rations without a glance at the enemy while secretly dispatching picked troops to strike. The barbarians withdrew, and the troops admired his strategy.
19
入拜東臺侍郎。 時浮屠盧伽逸多治丹，曰：「可以續年。」 高宗欲遂餌之，處俊諫曰：「脩短固有命，異方之劑，安得輕服哉？ 昔先帝詔浮屠那羅邇娑寐案其方書爲秘劑，取靈怪石，曆歳乃能就。 先帝餌之，俄而大漸，上醫不知所爲。 群臣請顯戮其人，議者以爲取笑夷狄，故法不得行。 前鑒不遠，惟陛下深察。」 帝納其言，第拜盧伽逸多爲懷化大將軍，進處俊同東西臺三品。
He entered court and was appointed Vice Director of the Eastern Terrace. At that time the monk Luoqieduo was compounding elixirs, claiming they could prolong life. Emperor Gaozong wished to take them at once, but Chujun remonstrated: "Long or short life is fixed by fate — how can one lightly swallow remedies from foreign lands? Formerly the late Emperor ordered the monk Narayanasleep to examine his formulary and prepare a secret elixir from spirit stones, and only after several years was it finished. The late Emperor took the elixir, and soon grew gravely ill, while the court physicians knew not what to do. The ministers asked that the man be publicly executed, but others argued that this would invite mockery from the barbarian peoples, and so the law could not be applied. That recent lesson is not far behind us — I ask only that Your Majesty examine this deeply. The Emperor accepted his counsel, merely granting Luoqieduo the title of General of Cherishing Transformation while promoting Chujun to Third Rank concurrently of the Eastern and Western Terraces.
20
咸亨初，幸東都，皇太子監國，諸宰相皆留，而處俊獨從。 帝嘗曰：「王者無外，何爲守禦？ 而重門擊柝，庸待不虞邪？ 我嘗疑秦法爲寬，荊軻匹夫耳，匕首竊發，群臣皆荷戟侍，莫敢拒，豈非習慢使然？」 處俊對曰：「此乃法急耳。 秦法，輒升殿者，夷三族。 人皆懼族，安有敢拒邪？ 魏曹操著令曰； 『京城有變，九卿各守其府。』 後嚴才亂，與徒數十人攻左掖門，操登銅爵臺望之，無敢救者。 時王脩爲奉常，聞變，召車騎未至，領官屬歩至宮門。 操曰； '彼來者，必王脩乎！ '此由脩察變識幾，故冒法赴難。 向若拘常，則遂成禍矣。 故王者設法不可急，亦不可慢。 《詩》曰'不懈於位，人之攸塈'，仁也； '式遏寇虐，無俾作慝'，刑也。 《書》曰'高明柔克，沈潛剛克'，中道也。」 帝曰：「善。」
At the beginning of the Xianheng era, when the Emperor visited the Eastern Capital and the Crown Prince supervised the realm, all the chief ministers remained at court — only Chujun accompanied the Emperor. The Emperor once said, "A sovereign has no 'outside' — why then maintain defenses? Heavy gates and watchmen beating the night clapper — is that how one waits for the unexpected? I once suspected that Qin law was too lenient. Jing Ke was but a common man, yet when he secretly drew a dagger, all the ministers stood by bearing halberds and none dared resist — was this not the result of habits bred from laxity? Chujun replied, "This is rather a matter of law being too severe. Under Qin law, anyone who rashly mounted the hall would have three generations exterminated. When everyone feared the extinction of their clan, who would dare resist? Cao Cao of Wei issued an order, saying: 'If turmoil arises in the capital, each of the Nine Ministers shall keep to his office. Later Yan Cai rebelled with several dozen followers and attacked the Left Flanking Gate. Cao mounted the Bronze Bird Terrace to watch, and none dared go to the rescue. At the time Wang Xiu was Director of Ceremonies. Hearing of the disturbance, he summoned his carriage, but before it arrived he led his subordinates on foot to the palace gate. Cao said: The man who comes must be Wang Xiu! This was because Xiu had discerned the disturbance and recognized the critical moment, and so defied the law to go to the rescue. Had he kept to convention, disaster would have ensued at once. Thus when a sovereign establishes law, it must be neither too severe nor too lax. The Book of Poetry says, 'Never slack in office — this gives men peace' — this is benevolence; Repress the violent and cruel — do not allow wickedness' — this is punishment. The Book of Documents says, 'What is lofty and bright is overcome by gentleness; what is deep and hidden is overcome by firmness' — this is the middle way. The Emperor said, "Well spoken."
21
轉中書侍郎，監脩國史。 初，顯慶中，令狐德棻、劉胤之撰國史，其後許敬宗復加緒次。 帝恨敬宗所紀失實，更命宰相刊正，且曰：「朕昔從幸未央宮，辟仗既過，有橫刀伏草中者，先帝斂轡卻，謂朕曰； '事發，當死者數十人，汝可命出之。 '史臣惟敘此爲實。」 處俊曰：「先帝仁恩溥博，類非一。 臣之弟處傑被擇供奉，時有三衞誤拂禦衣者，懼甚。 先帝曰：'左右無御史，我不汝罪。 '」帝曰：「此史臣應載。」 處俊乃表左史李仁實欲刪整偽辭，會仁實死而止。
He was transferred to Vice Director of the Secretariat and placed in charge of compiling the national history. Earlier, in the Xianqing era, Linghu Defen and Liu Yinzi had compiled the national history; afterward Xu Jingzong revised and continued their work. The Emperor resented that Jingzong's account was untrue and ordered the chief ministers to revise it, saying, "When I once accompanied the late Emperor on an excursion to Weiyang Palace, after the guard of honor had passed, a man with a broadsword lay hidden in the grass. The late Emperor reined in and drew back, saying to me: If this comes to light, several dozen men will deserve death — you may order them released. The historians should record only this as truth. Chujun said, "The late Emperor's benevolence and grace were broad and abundant — such examples were hardly unique. My younger brother Chujie was selected for palace attendance. Once three guards of the Three Guards accidentally brushed the Imperial robe and were terrified. The late Emperor said, 'With no censor at hand, I will not punish you. The Emperor said, "The historians should record this as well. Chujun thereupon memorialized that Left Historian Li Renshi wished to revise and purge false passages, but the effort stopped when Renshi died.
22
上元初，帝觀酺翔鸞閣，時赤縣與太常音技分東西朋，帝詔雍王賢主東，周王顯主西，因以角勝，處俊曰：「禮所以示童子無誑者，恐其欺詐之心生也。 二王春秋少，意操未定，乃公朋造黨使相誇，彼俳兒優子，言辭無度，爭負勝，相譏誚，非所以導仁義，示雍和也。」 帝遽止，歎曰：「處俊遠識，非眾臣所逮。」 遷中書令，兼太子賓客，檢校兵部尚書。
At the beginning of the Shangyuan era, the Emperor watched a feast at the Xiangluan Pavilion. The county officials and the Court of Ceremonies musicians divided into eastern and western factions, and the Emperor ordered Prince Xian of Yong to lead the east and Prince Xian of Zhou the west, setting them to compete. Chujun said, "Rites are meant to show children that there must be no deceit, lest a heart inclined to fraud take root. The two princes are still young and their character is not yet settled, yet you openly form factions and set them to vaunt one another. Jesters and players speak without restraint, vying over victory and defeat and mocking one another — this is no way to guide them in benevolence and righteousness, nor to display harmony. The Emperor immediately stopped the contest and sighed, "Chujun's far-sighted wisdom is beyond what the other ministers can reach. He was promoted to Director of the Secretariat, concurrently serving as Tutor to the Crown Prince and Acting Minister of War.
23
帝多疾，欲遜位武后，處俊諫曰：「天子治陽道，後治陰德，然則帝與后猶日之與月，陽之與陰，各有所主，不相奪也。 若失其序，上謫見於天，下降災諸人。 昔魏文帝著令，帝崩，不許皇后臨朝。 今陛下奈何欲身傳位天后乎？ 天下者，高祖、太宗之天下，非陛下之天下，正應謹守宗廟，傳之子孫，不宜持國與人，以喪厥家。」 中書侍郎李義琰曰：「處俊言可從，惟陛下不疑。」 事遂沮。 又兼太子左庶子，拜侍中，罷爲太子少保。 開耀元年卒，年七十五。 贈開府儀同三司、荊州大都督。 帝哀歎其忠，舉哀光順門，祭以少牢，賻絹布八百段、米粟八百石，詔百官赴哭，官庀葬事。 子北叟固辭，未聽。 裴炎爲白帝曰：「處俊阽死，諉臣曰； '生無益于國，死無煩費，凡詔賜，願一罷之。 '」帝聞惻然，答其意，止賻物而已。
The Emperor suffered frequent illness and wished to abdicate in favor of Empress Wu. Chujun remonstrated, saying, "The Son of Heaven governs the yang way and the empress the yin virtue — emperor and empress are like sun and moon, yang and yin, each with its own domain, neither usurping the other. If this order is lost, reproaches appear in heaven above and disasters descend upon the people below. Formerly Emperor Wen of Wei decreed that when an emperor dies, the empress may not attend court. How then can Your Majesty wish to transfer the throne in your own lifetime to the Heavenly Empress? The realm belongs to Gaozu and Taizong — it is not Your Majesty's to dispose of at will. You should faithfully guard the ancestral temple and pass the throne to your sons and grandsons, not hand the state to another and thereby destroy your own house. Vice Director of the Secretariat Li Yiyan said, "Chujun's words should be heeded — I ask only that Your Majesty harbor no doubts. The plan was thereby abandoned. He was also appointed concurrently Left Subordinate to the Crown Prince and promoted to Palace Attendant, then dismissed to serve as Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince. He died in the first year of the Kaiyao era, at the age of seventy-five. He was posthumously granted the titles of Grand Master of the Palace with Gold Seal and Ceremonial Regalia Equal to the Three Excellencies and Grand Protector General of Jingzhou. The Emperor mourned his loyalty, held mourning rites at the Guangshun Gate, and offered the secondary sacrifice. He granted eight hundred lengths of silk and cloth and eight hundred shi of grain as funeral gifts, ordered all officials to attend the mourning, and had the government arrange the burial. His son Beisou firmly declined the honors, but the Emperor would not listen. Pei Yan reported to the Emperor on his behalf, saying, "Near death, Chujun charged me, saying: In life I brought no benefit to the state; in death I wish for no lavish expense — of all edicts and gifts, I ask that they be entirely cancelled. When the Emperor heard this he was deeply moved, and in deference to Chujun's wish cancelled only the funeral gifts.
24
處俊資約素，土木形骸，然臨事敢言，自秉政，在帝前議論諄諄，必傅經義，凡所規獻，得大臣體。 武后雖忌之，以其操履無玷，不能害。 與舅許圉師同裏，俱宦達； 鄕人田氏、彭氏以高貲顯。 故江、淮間爲語曰：「貴如郝、許，富如田、彭。」 處俊孫象賢孫象賢，垂拱中，爲太子通事舍人，后素銜處俊，故因事誅之。 臨刑，極罵乃死，后怒，令離磔其屍，斫夷祖、父棺塚。 自是訖後世，將刑人，必先以木丸窒云。 朱敬則朱敬則，字少連，亳州永城人。 以孝義世被旌顯，一門六闕相望。 敬則志尚恢博，好學，重節義然諾，善與人交，振其急難，不責報於人。 與左史江融、左僕射魏元忠善。 咸亨中，高宗聞其名，召見，異之，爲中書令李敬玄所毀，故授洹水尉。 久之，除右補闕。
Chujun was plain and unadorned in manner — a man of clay and timber in bodily form — yet when matters arose he dared to speak plainly. From the time he wielded power, his counsel before the Emperor was earnest and sustained, always grounded in the classics; in all he proposed and presented, he bore the dignity of a great minister. Although Empress Wu resented him, his conduct was without blemish and she could find no way to destroy him. He and his maternal uncle Xu Yushi came from the same village, and both rose to high office; while fellow townsfolk of the Tian and Peng clans won renown through great wealth. Hence a saying ran through the Jiang and Huai regions: "As noble as the Haos and Xus, as rich as the Tians and Pengs. Chujun's grandson Xiangxian served during the Zhonggong era as Master of Communications Attendant to the Crown Prince. The Empress had long nursed a grudge against Chujun, and so found a pretext to have him executed. Facing execution, he cursed her without restraint until he died. The Empress in fury ordered his corpse torn apart and scattered, and had his grandfather's and father's coffins smashed and their tombs razed. From that time down through later ages, it is said, those about to be executed would first have their mouths stopped with wooden gags. Zhu Jingze, whose courtesy name was Shaolian, came from Yongcheng in Bozhou. His family's filial piety and righteousness had won imperial commendation for generations; six memorial gateways stood in succession within a single household. Jingze's aspirations were broad and generous. He loved learning, prized integrity and keeping his word, was skilled at friendship, and would rescue others in distress without asking anything in return. He was close to Left Historian Jiang Rong and Left Vice Director Wei Yuanzhong. During the Xianheng era, Gaozong heard his name, summoned him for an audience, and was impressed — but Chief Minister Li Jingxuan slandered him, and so he was posted as magistrate of Huanshui. After some time he was appointed Right Remonstrance Officer.
25
初，武后稱制，天下頗流言，遂開告密羅織之路，興大獄，誅將相大臣。 至是，已革命，事益寧。 敬則諫曰：
When Empress Wu first held the reins of government, seditious talk spread widely through the realm. She opened the path of secret denunciation and fabricated charges, raised great trials, and executed generals, ministers, and great officials. By now she had changed the dynasty, and affairs were growing steadily more settled. Jingze remonstrated, saying:
26
臣聞李斯之相秦也，行申、商之法，重刑名之家，杜私門； 張公室； 棄無用之費，損不急之官； 惜日愛功，亟戰疾耕。 既庶而富，遂屠諸侯。 此救弊之術也。 故曰：「刻薄可施子進趨，變詐可陳於攻戰。」 天下已平，故可易之以寬簡，潤之以淳和。 秦乃不然，淫虐滋甚，往而不反，卒至土崩。 此不知變之禍也。
I have heard that when Li Si served as chancellor of Qin, he implemented the laws of Shen Buhai and Shang Yang, emphasized the school of punitive names, and closed off private factions; and enlarged the public household; discarded useless expenditures and reduced non-urgent offices; cherished each day and loved achievement, fighting constantly and plowing urgently. Once the populace was numerous and the state was rich, he then destroyed the feudal lords. This was the method of remedying a failing age. Hence it is said: "Harshness may be applied to those pressing forward in pursuit; deceit may be displayed in attack and battle. When the realm was already pacified, one could replace these with leniency and simplicity, and nourish it with pure harmony. Yet Qin did not do so — debauchery and cruelty grew ever worse, pressing forward without turning back, until at last the realm collapsed like crumbling earth. This is the disaster of not knowing when to change.
27
陸賈、叔孫通事漢祖，當滎陽、成皋間，糧餉窮，智勇困，未嘗敢開一説，效一奇，唯進豪猾貪暴之人。 及區宇適定，乃陳《詩》、《書》，説禮、樂，開王道。 高帝忿然曰：「吾以馬上得之，安事《詩》、《書》？」 對曰：「馬上得之，可馬上治之乎？」 帝默然。 於是賈著《新語》，通定禮儀。 此知變之善也。 向若高帝斥二子，置《詩》、《書》，重攻戰，尊首級，則復道爭功，拔劍擊柱，晷漏之不保，何十二帝二百年乎？ 故曰：仁義者，聖人之蘧廬； 禮者，先王之陳跡。 祠祝畢，芻狗捐； 淳精流，糟粕棄。 仁義尚爾，況其輕乎？
Lu Jia and Shusun Tong served the Han founder. During the struggle between Xingyang and Chenggao, when provisions ran out and wit and courage were exhausted, they never dared offer a single proposal or present a single stratagem — they only recommended men who were overbearing, cunning, greedy, and violent. Once the realm was just settling, they set forth the Poetry and Documents, expounded ritual and music, and opened the way of the True King. The High Emperor said angrily, "I won the realm from horseback — what need have I for the Poetry and Documents? They replied, "You won it from horseback — but can you govern it from horseback? The Emperor fell silent. Thereupon Jia wrote New Discourses, and Tong fixed the rites and ceremonies. This is the virtue of knowing when to change. Had the High Emperor rejected these two men, set aside the Poetry and Documents, stressed attack and battle, and honored taking heads, then again on the road to dispute merit, drawing swords to strike pillars — could a single day's time even be preserved? How then twelve emperors and two hundred years? Hence it is said: Benevolence and righteousness are the sage's roadside inn; ritual is the former kings' trodden tracks. When the sacrifice is done, the straw dog is cast aside; when the pure essence flows forth, the dregs are discarded. If even benevolence and righteousness are thus, how much more what is lighter than them?
28
國家自文明以來，天地草昧，內則流言，外則構難。 故不設鉤距，無以順人； 不切刑罰，無以息暴。 於是置神器，開告端，故能不出房闈，而天下晏然易主矣。 臣聞急趨者無善跡，促柱者無和聲； 拯溺不規行，療饑不鼎食。 即向時秘策，今之芻狗也。 願鑒秦、漢之失，考時事之宜，毀蘧廬，遺糟粕； 下寬大之令，流曠蕩之澤，去萋斐之角牙，頓奸險之芒刃，塞羅織之妄源，掃朋黨之險跡，曠然使天下更始，豈不樂哉！
Since the Wenming era our state has been in primal twilight — within, seditious talk; without, enemies fomenting trouble. Therefore if one did not set traps and reckonings, there was no way to win men over; if one did not apply severe punishments, there was no way to quell violence. Thus the regalia of rule was set in place and the door of denunciation opened — and so, without leaving the inner chambers, the realm calmly changed masters. I have heard that one who runs in haste leaves no fine tracks, and one who tightens the pegs gets no harmonious sound; To save the drowning one does not keep to measured steps; to heal the starving one does not dine from a cauldron. The secret policies of that time are today's straw dogs. I pray that Your Majesty reflect on the failures of Qin and Han, examine what the present age requires, tear down the roadside inns and leave behind the dregs; Issue orders of leniency and breadth, extend the bounty of magnanimous release, remove the fangs of malicious slander, blunt the razor edges of treachery, block the reckless springs of fabricated charges, sweep away the perilous traces of faction — openly giving the realm a new beginning. Would this not be joy itself!
29
后善其言。 遷正諫大夫，兼修國史。 乃請高史官選，以求名才。 侍中韋安石嘗閱其稿史，歎曰：「董狐何以加！ 世人不知史官權重宰相，宰相但能制生人，史官兼制生死，古之聖君賢臣所以畏懼者也。」 時賦斂繁重，民多蕩析，后數召入禁中訪失得，進同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。 張易之構魏元忠、張説，欲誅之，無敢言者。 敬則獨奏曰：「元忠、説秉心忠一，而所坐無名，殺之失天下望。」 乃得不死。
The Empress approved his words. He was promoted to Direct Remonstrance Grand Master and concurrently charged with compiling the national history. He thereupon requested elevating the selection of historiographers to seek men of renown and talent. Attendant Gentleman Wei Anshi once reviewed his draft history and sighed: "What could Dong Hu add to this! The world does not know that the historian's authority outweighs the chief minister's — the chief minister can only command the living, but the historian commands both life and death. This is what made sage rulers and worthy ministers of old feel awe. At the time levies were heavy and multitudinous; the people were much scattered and uprooted. The Empress repeatedly summoned him into the inner palace to inquire into gains and losses, and promoted him to Associate Director of the Fengge and Luantai Secretariat. Zhang Yizhi framed Wei Yuanzhong and Zhang Yue, seeking to have them executed; no one dared speak out. Jingze alone memorialized: "Yuanzhong and Yue bear faithful and single-minded hearts, yet the crimes charged against them have no substance — killing them would lose the hope of the realm. Thus they were not put to death.
30
以老疾還政事，俄改成均祭酒、冬官侍郎。 易之等集名儒撰《三教珠英》，又繪武三思、李嶠，蘇味道、李迥秀、王紹宗等十八人像以爲圖，欲引敬則，固辭不與，世潔其爲人。 出爲鄭州刺史，遂致仕。 侍御史冉祖雍誣奏與王同皎善，貶涪州刺史。 既明其非罪，改廬州。 代還，無淮南一物，所乘止一馬，子曹歩從以歸。 卒年七十五。
Because of age and illness he returned his government duties; soon he was reassigned as Director of the Imperial University and Vice Director of the Ministry of Works. Yizhi and his group gathered eminent scholars to compile Pearls of the Three Teachings, and also painted portraits of Wu Sansi, Li Jiao, Su Weidao, Li Huixiu, Wang Shaozong, and eighteen others altogether to make a pictorial scroll. They wished to include Jingze, but he firmly declined; the world admired his character. He went out as prefect of Zhengzhou and then retired. Censor Assistant Ran Zuyong falsely memorialized that he was close to Wang Tongjiao, and he was demoted to prefect of Fuzhou. Once his innocence was established, his post was changed to Luzhou. When his term ended and he returned, he brought back not a single thing from Huainan; he rode only one horse, and his son Cao walked alongside him home. He died at age seventy-five.
31
敬則與三從昆弟居四十年，貲產無異。 及執政，毎以用人爲先，細務不省也。 嶺表蠻叛，以裴懷古有文武才，用爲桂州都督，蠻服其威惠，相率降。 薦魏知古爲鳳閣舍人，張思敬爲右史，皆稱職。 初，二張權寵盛，敬則密謂敬暉曰：「公若假太子令，舉北軍誅易之兄弟，兩飛騎力耳。」 暉卒用其策。 始崔實、仲長統、王朗、曹冏論封建，指秦爲失，敬則以爲秦、漢世禮義陵遲，不可復用周制封諸侯，著論明之，儒者以爲知言。
Jingze lived with three collateral cousins for forty years; their property and possessions were held in common without distinction. When he wielded power, he always put selecting personnel first and did not attend to petty affairs. When the barbarians of Lingnan rebelled, because Pei Huaigu possessed both civil and military talent, Jingze appointed him military governor of Guizhou; the barbarians submitted to his authority and kindness and surrendered in succession. He recommended Wei Zhigu as Secretariat Attendant of the Fengge and Zhang Sijing as Right Historian — both proved competent in their posts. When the Two Zhangs' power and favor were at their height, Jingze secretly told Jing Hui: "If you borrow the Crown Prince's command and mobilize the Northern Army to execute the Yizhi brothers, it would take but the strength of two Flying Cavalry. In the end Hui adopted his stratagem. When Cui Shi, Zhongchang Tong, Wang Lang, and Cao Jiong debated enfeoffment and pointed to Qin as erring, Jingze held that in the Qin and Han eras ritual and righteousness had declined and one could not revive the Zhou system of enfeoffing feudal lords; he wrote a treatise to clarify this, and Confucian scholars deemed it perceptive speech.
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睿宗嗣位，嘗曰：「神龍以來，忠於本朝者，李多祚、王同晈、韋月將、燕欽融並褒復矣，尚有遺者耶？」 劉幽求曰：「硃敬則忠正義烈，天下所推，往爲宗楚客、冉祖雍等所誣，謫守刺史。 長安中，嘗語臣曰：'相王必受命，當悉心事之。 '及韋氏幹紀，臣遂見危赴難。 雖天誘其衷，亦敬則啟之。」 於是追贈秘書監，諡曰元。 敬則兄仁軌敬則兄仁軌，字德容，隱居養親。 常誨子弟曰：「終身讓路，不枉百歩； 終身讓畔，不失一段。」 有赤烏、白鵲棲所居樹，按察使趙承恩表其異。 及卒，郭山惲、員半千、魏知古共諡爲孝友先生。 贊贊曰：武后乘唐中衰，操殺生柄，劫制天下而攘神器。 仁傑蒙恥奮忠，以權大謀，引張柬之等，卒復唐室，功蓋一時，人不及知。 故唐呂溫頌之曰：「取日虞淵，洗光咸池。 潛授五龍，夾之以飛。」 世以爲名言。 方高宗舉天下將以禪後，處俊固爭，不使妻乘夫，陰反陽，至奸人銜怨，仇胔以逞。 蓋所謂誼形於主耶。 敬則一諫，而羅織之獄衰，時而後言者歟！
When Ruizong succeeded to the throne, he once said: "Since the Shenlong era, those loyal to our dynasty — Li Duozuo, Wang Tongjiao, Wei Yuejiang, and Yan Qinrong — have all been posthumously honored and restored. Are there still any overlooked? Liu Youqiu said: "Zhu Jingze was upright, loyal, and resolute — esteemed throughout the realm. Formerly he was slandered by Zong Chuke, Ran Zuyong, and others, and demoted to serve as prefect. In the Chang'an period he once told me: 'The Prince of Xiang will inevitably receive the Mandate — you must devote yourself wholly to serving him. When the Wei clan committed outrage against the law, I thereupon saw the danger and went to meet the crisis. Though Heaven guided my heart, it was Jingze who opened the way. Thereupon Jingze was posthumously conferred as Director of the Palace Library, with the posthumous title Yuan. Jingze's elder brother Rengui, whose courtesy name was Derong, lived in seclusion to care for his parents. He often admonished his children and younger relatives: "Yield the path all your life and you will not go a hundred paces out of your way; yield the boundary all your life and you will not lose a single plot. Red crows and white magpies nested in the tree at his dwelling; the surveillance commissioner Zhao Chengen memorialized this as an auspicious sign. When he died, Guo Shanyun, Yuan Banqian, and Wei Zhigu jointly gave him the posthumous title Master of Filial Piety and Fraternity. Commentary: Empress Wu seized upon the Tang's mid-dynasty decline, grasped the power of life and death, coerced the realm, and usurped the regalia of rule. Renjie endured disgrace and roused loyalty, wielding great stratagem through borrowed authority; he led Zhang Jianzhi and others, and finally restored the house of Tang — his achievement eclipsed his age, though men did not fully know it. Hence Lü Wen of Tang praised him in verse: "Draw back the sun from the Pool of Darkness, rinse its light in the Pool of Universal Harmony. Secretly invest the Five Dragons, flanking them with wings in flight. The world took these lines for immortal words. When Gaozong proposed to yield the realm to the Empress, Chujun firmly remonstrated — he would not let the wife ride over the husband, the yin overturn the yang — until wicked men nursed grievances and wreaked vengeance even upon the corpses of their enemies. Was this not what is called righteousness taking visible form before the sovereign? With a single remonstrance Jingze brought the fabricated-charge trials to decline — was this not one who spoke at the right time!