1
別兒怯不花
Bie'erqiebuhua
2
別兒怯不花，字大用，燕只吉氏。 曾祖忙怯禿以千戶從憲宗南征有功。 父阿忽台事成宗為丞相，被誅，後贈和寧忠獻王。 別兒怯不花蚤孤，八歲，以興聖太后及武宗命，侍明宗於籓邸。 尋入國子學為諸生。 會明宗以周王出鎮雲南，別兒怯不花從行，至大同而還。 仁宗召入宿衛。 一日，從殿中望見其儀榘夐異，即召對，慰諭之。 八番宣撫司長乃其世職，英宗遂授懷遠大將軍、八番宣撫司達魯花赤。 既至，宣布國家恩信，峒民感悅。 有累歲不服者，皆喜曰：「吾故賢帥子孫也，其敢違命。」 率其十四部來受約束。 別兒怯不花以其事入奏，天子嘉而留之。
Bie'erqiebuhua, styled Dayong, belonged to the Yanzhijias clan. His great-grandfather Mangqiatu had served as a chiliarch on Emperor Xianzong's southern campaign and won distinction. His father Ahuotai had been grand councillor under Emperor Chengzong and was put to death; afterward he was posthumously enfeoffed as Prince Heining, with the temple name Zhongxian. Orphaned young, at the age of eight Bie'erqiebuhua was placed, on the orders of Empress Dowager Xingsheng and Emperor Wuzong, in attendance on Emperor Mingzong at his fief. He soon entered the Imperial Academy as a student. When Emperor Mingzong was sent to garrison Yunnan as Prince of Zhou, Bie'erqiebuhua went with him and turned back at Datong. Emperor Renzong summoned him into the palace guard. One day the emperor, gazing from the hall, noticed his bearing and deportment were strikingly out of the ordinary and summoned him at once for an audience and words of encouragement. The directorship of the Baban Pacification Commission was a hereditary office of his line, and Emperor Yingzong accordingly appointed him Huaiyuan General and darughachi of that commission. After he took up the post, he proclaimed the dynasty's grace and trust, and the cave peoples were deeply moved. Tribes that had withheld submission for years now exclaimed joyfully, "Surely he is the worthy descendant of our former commander — who would dare disobey." They led forth their fourteen divisions to submit to his authority. Bie'erqiebuhua reported this to the throne; the emperor commended him and kept him at court.
3
泰定三年，特授同知太常禮儀院事，益從耆老文學之士雍容議論。 尋拜監察御史。 明年，遷中書右司郎中。 又明年，升參議中書省事。 居二年，除吏部尚書。 至順元年，其兄治書侍御史自當諫止明里董阿子閭閭不當為監察御史，並出別兒怯不花為廣西兩江道宣慰使司都元帥。 未幾，丁內艱還京。 起復為江浙行省參知政事。 江浙歲漕米由海道達京師，別兒怯不花董其事。 尋除禮部尚書，遷徽政院副使，擢侍御史，特命領宿衛，升榮祿大夫、宣徽使，加開府儀同三司。 凡宿衛士有從掌領官薦用者，往往所舉多其親暱。 至別兒怯不花獨推擇歲久者舉之，眾論翕服。 宣徽所造酒，橫索者眾，歲費陶瓶甚多。 別兒怯不怯花奏制銀瓶以貯，而索者遂止。 至元四年，拜御史大夫、知經筵事，尋遷中書平章。
In the third year of Taiding he was given a special appointment as associate director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and increasingly took part in easy discourse with elders and literary men. He was soon made investigating censor. The next year he was transferred to right section director of the Central Secretariat. The year after that he rose to associate administrator of the Central Secretariat. Two years later he was appointed Minister of Personnel. In the first year of Zhishun his elder brother Zidang, in his capacity as supervising censor, objected that Mingli Dong'a's son Lü Lübu ought not hold an investigatorial post; Bie'erqiebuhua too was dismissed and appointed commander-in-chief of the Guangxi Liangjiang Pacification Commission. Before long he returned to the capital to observe mourning for his mother. He was recalled from mourning to serve as associate administrator of the Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat. Each year Jiang-Zhe's tax rice reached the capital by sea; Bie'erqiebuhua directed the operation. He was soon made Minister of Rites, then vice director of the Xuanzhen Court, then palace censor, with a special order to head the palace guard; he was raised to Grand Master for Glorious Happiness, made Xuanzhen Commissioner, and granted Privileges Equal to the Three Excellencies. When palace guards were advanced on the recommendation of their supervising officers, the nominees were often those officers' kin and favorites. Bie'erqiebuhua alone put forward men of long service, and opinion among the guards was unanimous in his favor. Wine from the Xuanzhen Office drew many extortionate demands, costing a vast number of pottery bottles every year. Bie'erqiebuhua memorialized that silver bottles be used for storage, and the extortion then stopped. In the fourth year of Zhizheng he became Censor-in-Chief and overseer of the Classics Collegium, and was soon transferred to vice councilor of the Central Secretariat.
4
至正二年，拜江浙行省左丞相。 行至淮東，聞杭城大火燒官廨民廬幾盡，仰天揮涕曰：「杭，浙省所治，吾被命出鎮，而火如此，是我不德累杭人也。」 疾馳赴鎮，即下令錄被災者二萬三千餘戶，戶給鈔一錠，焚死者亦如之，人給月米二斗，幼稚給其半。 又請日減酒課，為錢千二百五十緡，織坊減元額之半，軍器、漆器權停一年，泛稅皆停。 事聞，朝廷從之。 又大作省治，民居附其旁者，增直買其基，募民就役，則厚其傭直。 又請歲減江浙、福建鹽課十三萬引。 或遇淫雨亢旱，輒出禱於神祠，所禱無不應。 在鎮二年，雖兒童女婦莫不感其恩。 召還，除翰林學士承旨，仍掌宿衛。
In the second year of Zhizheng he was appointed Left Councilor of the Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat. En route on the Huai River east he learned that a great fire in Hangzhou had burned away nearly all government offices and private homes. He looked heavenward in tears and said, "Hang is the seat of Jiang-Zhe Province; I have been sent to govern it — that fire like this means my own want of virtue has visited woe on Hang's people." He galloped to his post at once, registered more than twenty-three thousand stricken households, and gave each household one ingot of paper money, with the same for those who had perished in the flames; each person received two dou of rice a month, and children half as much. He also petitioned to cut the wine tax by 1,250 strings of cash per day, halve the weaving workshops' original quotas, suspend arms and lacquerware levies for a year, and halt all miscellaneous taxes. When word reached the court, it approved his requests. He also rebuilt the provincial compound on a large scale, buying out adjoining homes at premium prices and paying generous wages to those he recruited for the work. He also petitioned to reduce the annual salt levy in Jiang-Zhe and Fujian by 130,000 yin. Whenever floods or drought struck, he went out to pray at local shrines, and his prayers were invariably answered. In two years at his post, even children and women felt the warmth of his rule. Recalled to court, he was made Academician Expositor-in-Chief of the Hanlin Academy while continuing to head the palace guard.
5
四年，拜中書左丞相。 朝廷議選奉使宣撫，使問民疾苦，察吏貪廉，且選習北籓風土及知典故者，俾別兒怯不花周行沙漠，洗冤除弊，不可勝計。 又奏發使諭諸王，賜以金衣重寶，使各撫其民，毋逾法制，於是內外震肅。 明年，歲大饑，流民載道，令有司賑之，欲還鄉者給路糧。 又錄在京貧民，日糶以糧。 帝還自上都，遣中使數輩趣使迎謁，比見，帝親酌酒勞之。 七年，進右丞相。 明年，御史劾奏別兒怯不花，而徽政院使高龍卜在帝側為解，帝遂不允。 乃出御史大夫亦憐真班為江浙左丞相，中丞以下皆辭職。 詔復加太保。 於是兩台各道言章交至，別兒怯不花益不自安，尋謫居渤海縣。 十年正月卒。 後子達世帖木而用於朝，遂贈弘仁輔治秉文守正寅亮同德功臣、開府儀同三司、上柱國、太師，追封冀王，諡忠宣。 達世帖木而字原理，仕至中書平章政事，有學識，能世其家。
In the fourth year he was appointed Left Councilor of the Central Secretariat. The court chose commissioners to tour the realm, hear the people's grievances, and scrutinize officials for corruption; Bie'erqiebuhua, versed in northern frontier customs and court precedent, was sent to travel the desert regions and redressed wrongs and abuses beyond number. He also memorialized sending envoys to instruct the princes, gifting them golden robes and rich treasures, and charging each to care for his people and keep within the law; court and countryside were awed into order. The next year famine struck; refugees thronged the roads; he ordered officials to provide relief and gave travel rations to those who wished to return home. He also registered the capital's poor and sold them grain daily at reduced prices. When the emperor returned from Shangdu, he sent several palace envoys urging Bie'erqiebuhua to come and pay his respects; at their meeting the emperor personally poured wine to honor him. In the seventh year he was promoted to Right Councilor. The next year the censors impeached Bie'erqiebuhua, but Xuanzhen Commissioner Gaolongbu pleaded his case at the emperor's side, and the throne would not assent. Bie'erqiebuhua was dismissed and Censor-in-Chief Yilianzhenban sent out as Left Councilor of Jiang-Zhe; the vice censor-in-chief and his subordinates all resigned in protest. An edict restored to him the rank of Grand Preceptor. Memorials from both censorates and every circuit then poured in; Bie'erqiebuhua grew ever more uneasy and was soon banished to Bohai County. He died in the first month of the tenth year. Later, when his son Dashitiemuer came into service at court, Bie'erqiebuhua was posthumously granted the title of meritorious minister Hongren Fuzhi Bingwen Shouzheng Yinliang Tongde, Privileges Equal to the Three Excellencies, Pillar of the State, and Grand Preceptor, enfeoffed posthumously as Prince of Ji, with the temple name Zhongxuan. Dashitiemuer, styled Yuanli, rose to vice councilor of the Central Secretariat; learned and able, he upheld his family's reputation.
6
太平，字允中，初姓賀氏，名惟一，後賜姓蒙古氏，名太平，仁傑之孫，勝之子也。 初，勝以非罪死，太平年尚幼，泰定帝雪其父冤而撫卹之。 太平資性開朗正大，雖在弱齡，儼然如老成人。 嘗受業於趙孟頫，又師事雲中呂弼。 太平始襲父職，為虎賁親軍都指揮使，尋擢陝西漢中道廉訪副使。 文宗召為工部尚書，都主管奎章閣工事，又除上都留守同知。 順帝元統初，命為樞密副使，尋升同知樞密院事，遷御史中丞。 時中書有參議佛家閭者，憸人也。 御史劾其罪，時宰庇之，事寢不行。 太平辭疾臥家。 至正二年，詔起為中書參知政事，辭。 進右丞，又辭。 會御史祁君璧复劾佛家閭，黜之，乃起就職。 宗室諸王歲賜廩食衣幣不均，太平請於帝，均其厚薄。 守令多失職，請選臺閣名臣充之。 仍遣使核其治行，其治最者則增秩，賜金幣。 遼、金、宋三史久未克修，至是太平力贊其事，為總裁官，修成之。 時粟貴而金銀賤，太平請出官本，委官收市之，所得不貲，其後兵興，卒獲其用。 四年，升中書平章政事。 五年，遷宣徽院使。 宣徽典飲膳，權勢橫索，太平取簿閱之，惟太常禮儀使阿剌不花一無所需，太平因言於帝，請擢居近職，且厚賜之。
Taiping, styled Yunzhong, was born He Weiyi of the He clan; later he was granted the Mongol surname and the name Taiping. He was the grandson of Renjie and the son of Sheng. Sheng had earlier been put to death on a false charge when Taiping was still a boy; Emperor Taiding cleared his father's name and raised him with care. Open and upright by nature, Taiping carried himself with the gravity of a seasoned man even in youth. He had studied under Zhao Mengfu and also took Lü Bi of Yunzhong as his teacher. Taiping first inherited his father's post as commander-in-chief of the Huben Imperial Guard and was soon promoted to vice surveillance commissioner of the Shaanxi Hanzhong Circuit. Emperor Wenzong summoned him as Minister of Works and superintendent of Kuizhang Pavilion construction, and also appointed him associate intendant of Shangdu. At the opening of the Yuantong era under Emperor Shundi he was made vice commissioner of the Privy Council, soon rose to associate commissioner, and was transferred to vice censor-in-chief. At that time the Central Secretariat had an associate administrator named Fojialü, a treacherous man. The censors impeached him, but the chief ministers shielded him and the case was quietly dropped. Taiping pleaded illness and retired to his home. In the second year of Zhizheng an edict recalled him as associate administrator of the Central Secretariat; he declined. Promoted to Right Vice Councilor, he declined again. When investigating censor Qi Junbi impeached Fojialü again and he was dismissed, Taiping at last accepted office. Annual grants of grain, clothing, and silks to the imperial princes were uneven; Taiping petitioned the emperor to equalize them. Many local officials were failing in their duties; he asked that distinguished ministers from the censorate and secretariat be appointed in their place. He also sent envoys to review their performance; those who governed best were promoted and rewarded with gold and silks. The histories of Liao, Jin, and Song had long gone unfinished; Taiping now strongly backed the project, served as chief compiler, and brought it to completion. Grain was dear and gold and silver cheap; Taiping asked the state to advance capital and commission officials to buy bullion on the market. The profit was immense, and when war broke out later the hoard proved invaluable. In the fourth year he was promoted to vice councilor of the Central Secretariat. In the fifth year he was made Xuanzhen Commissioner. The Xuanzhen Office managed the court's food and drink, and the powerful extorted from it at will. Taiping reviewed the ledgers and found that only Court of Imperial Sacrifices Commissioner Alabuhua had taken nothing; he spoke to the emperor, asking that Alabuhua be promoted to a post near the throne and richly rewarded.
7
六年，拜御史大夫。 故事，台端非國姓不以授，太平因辭，詔特賜姓而改其名。 七年，遷中書平章政事，班同列上。 國王朵而只為左丞相，請於帝曰：「臣藉先臣之廕，蚤襲位國王，昧於國家之理，今備位宰相，非得太平不足與共事。」 十一月，拜太平左丞相，朵而只為右丞相。 太平辭，帝不允，仍詔示天下。 明年正月，詔修后妃、功臣傳，特命太平同監修國史，蓋異數也。 太平請僧道有妻子者勒為民以減蠹耗，給校官俸以防虛冒，請賜經筵講官坐以崇聖學，立行都水監以治黃河。 舉隱士完者篤、執禮哈郎、董立、張樞、李孝光。 是時，天下無事，朝廷稽古禮文之典，有墜必舉。 平生好訪問人才，不問南北，必記錄於冊，至是多進用之。
In the sixth year he was made Censor-in-Chief. By precedent the head of the censorate went only to men of the imperial surname; Taiping declined, and an edict specially granted him the surname and changed his name. In the seventh year he was transferred to vice councilor of the Central Secretariat, ranking above his colleagues. Prince Duo'erzhi, serving as Left Councilor, told the emperor, "I inherited my princely rank early through my father's grace and knew little of statecraft; now that I hold a councillor's post, I cannot govern without Taiping at my side." In the eleventh month Taiping was made Left Councilor and Duo'erzhi Right Councilor. Taiping declined, but the emperor would not hear of it and issued an edict proclaiming the appointment throughout the realm. In the first month of the following year an edict ordered the revision of the biographies of empresses and meritorious ministers and specially appointed Taiping to jointly supervise the national history — a rare honor. Taiping asked that monks and Daoists with wives be compelled to return to lay status to curb waste and fraud, that collation officers be paid salaries to prevent false claims, that lecturers at the Classics Collegium be granted seats to honor sacred learning, and that a traveling Directorate-General of Waterways be set up to manage the Yellow River. He recommended the recluses Wanzhedu, Zhilihalang, Dong Li, Zhang Shu, and Li Xiaoguang. The realm was at peace; the court turned to the ancient rites and ceremonial codes and revived whatever had fallen into disuse. All his life he had sought out talent without regard to region, recording every name in his register; now many of those men were brought into office.
8
初，脫脫既罷相，出居西土。 會其父馬札兒台卒，太平力請令脫脫歸葬，以全孝道。 左右以為難，太平曰：「脫脫乃心王室，大義滅親，今父歿而不克奔訃，為善者不幾於怠乎！」 為之固請，以故脫脫得還。 脫脫既得還朝，即拜為太傅，然不知太平之有德於己也，因汝中柏讒間成隙，遽欲中傷之。 是時，中書參政孔思立等皆一時名人，太平所拔用者，悉誣以罪黜去。 九年七月，罷為翰林學士承旨，既又誣劾其過失，而並論其子也先忽都不宜僭娶宗室女。 脫脫之母聞之，謂脫脫兄弟曰：「太平好人也，何害於汝而欲去之。 汝兄弟若違吾言，非吾子也。」 侍御史撒馬篤揚言於朝曰：「御史欲害正人，壞台綱，如天下後世何？」 即臥病不起。 故吏田复勸太平自裁，太平曰：「吾無罪，當聽於天，若自殺，則誠有慊矣。」 遂還奉元，杜門謝客，以書史自適。
Earlier, after Toqto'a was dismissed from the councillorship, he withdrew to the western regions. When his father Majaritai died, Taiping strongly petitioned that Toqto'a be allowed home for the funeral and the full observance of filial duty. Those around the emperor objected that it would be difficult; Taiping said, "Toqto'a is loyal to the throne and has set public duty above private ties; if his father is dead and he cannot rush home, what man of virtue would not nearly fail in his duty!" He pressed the point firmly, and Toqto'a was allowed to return. Once Toqto'a returned to court he was immediately made Grand Preceptor, yet he did not know Taiping had done him a kindness; Ruizhong Bo's slander opened a rift between them, and Toqto'a suddenly sought to bring Taiping down. Among the Central Secretariat's associate administrators, Kong Sili and others were men of renown; every man Taiping had advanced was falsely charged and dismissed. In the seventh month of the ninth year he was demoted to Academician Expositor-in-Chief of the Hanlin Academy; then they falsely impeached him again and argued that his son Yexianhudou had no right to marry a woman of the imperial clan. When Toqto'a's mother heard of this, she told Toqto'a and his brothers, "Taiping is a good man — how has he harmed you that you wish to drive him out. If you brothers disobey me, you are no sons of mine." Palace censor Samadu declared openly at court, "The censors wish to harm upright men and destroy the integrity of the censorate — what will become of the realm and posterity?" He immediately took to his bed and would not rise. His former clerk Tian Fu urged Taiping to take his own life; Taiping said, "I am innocent and should await heaven's judgment; to kill myself would be a true cause for regret." He returned to Fengyuan, shut his doors to visitors, and found solace in books and histories.
9
河南盜起，十五年，詔命太平為江浙行省左丞相。 未行，改為淮南行省左丞相，兼知行樞密院事，總制諸軍，駐於濟寧。 時諸軍久出，糧餉苦不繼。 太平命有司給牛具以種麥，自濟寧達於海州，民不擾而兵賴以濟。 議立土兵元帥府，輪番耕戰。 十六年，移鎮益都。 未幾，除遼陽行省左丞相。 糴粟以給京師，處置有法，所致甚多而民不擾。 十七年五月，召為中書左丞相。 時毛貴據山東，明年，由河間入寇，官軍屢敗，漸逼京都，中外大駭，廷議遷都以避之，和者如出一口。 太平力爭以為不可，起同知樞密院事劉哈剌不花於彰德，引兵擊之，大敗賊眾，京城遂安。 會張士誠以浙西降，而晉、冀、關陝之間，察罕鐵木兒屢以捷奏聞。 於是中外人心翕然，有中興之望矣。
When bandits rose in Henan, an edict in the fifteenth year appointed Taiping Left Councilor of the Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat. Before he could depart he was reassigned as Left Councilor of the Huainan Branch Secretariat, concurrently acting commissioner of the Privy Council, with overall command of all armies, stationed at Jining. The armies had been in the field for a long time, and grain supplies could no longer keep pace. Taiping ordered officials to provide oxen and ploughs for wheat planting from Jining to Haizhou; the people were left undisturbed, and the armies were sustained. He proposed establishing marshal headquarters for local troops, who would rotate between farming and campaigning. In the sixteenth year he transferred his command to Yidu. Before long he was appointed Left Councillor of the Liaoyang Branch Secretariat. He bought grain for the capital with disciplined methods, procured a great quantity, and still left the people undisturbed. In the fifth month of the seventeenth year he was recalled to serve as Left Councillor of the Central Secretariat. Mao Gui then held Shandong; the next year he invaded through Hejian. Government troops suffered repeated defeats, and the rebels drew ever closer to the capital. Court and country were thrown into alarm, and the court debated moving the capital to escape him — nearly all spoke as one. Taiping forcefully objected that this must not be done. He recalled Liu Harbahua, Vice Commissioner of the Privy Council, from Zhangde, led troops against the rebels, and routed them completely, and the capital was made safe. About then Zhang Shicheng surrendered with western Zhejiang, while between Shanxi, Hebei, and the Guanzhong passes Chaghan Temür sent repeated reports of victory. Hearts within and without the court drew together, and the realm looked toward restoration.
10
太平又考求，凡死節之臣，雖布衣亦加贈諡，有官者就官其子孫，人尤感動。 當時右丞相搠思監家人以造偽鈔事覺，刑部欲連逮搠思監。 太平力為解之，曰：「堂堂宰相烏得有此事，四海聞之，若國體何！」 搠思監既劾罷，太平所得俸祿多分饋之。
Taiping further sought out every man who had died in loyalty: even commoners received posthumous titles, and where men had held office their descendants were given their ranks. People were deeply moved. At that time the family of Right Councillor Choson was caught counterfeiting currency, and the Ministry of Justice sought to implicate Choson himself. Taiping forcefully defended him, saying, "How could a grand councillor be guilty of such a thing — if the realm hears of it, what becomes of the dignity of the state." After Choson was impeached and dismissed, Taiping gave him much of his own salary.
11
二皇后奇氏與皇太子謀，欲內禪，遣宦者資正院使樸不花諭意於太平，太平不答。 皇后又召太平至宮中，舉酒申前意，太平依違而已。 是時，皇太子欲盡逐帝近臣，又令監察御史劾帝親暱臣御史中丞禿魯鐵木兒,未及奏而所劾御史被遷為他官，皇太子疑也先忽都洩其事，益決意去太平政柄。 知樞密院事紐的該聞而歎曰：「善人國之紀也，苟去之，國將何賴乎！」 數於帝前左右之，以故皇太子之志未及逞。 會紐的該死，皇太子遂令監察御史買住、桑哥失理劾左丞成遵、參政趙中等下獄死，以二人為太平黨也。 太平知勢有不可留，數以疾辭位。 二十年二月，拜太保，俾養疾於家。 台臣奏言以謂當時事之艱危，政賴賢材之宏濟，太平以師保兼相職為宜。 帝不能從。 會陽翟王阿魯輝鐵木兒倡亂，騷動北邊，勢逼上都，皇太子乃言於帝，命太平留守上都，實欲置之死地。 太平遂往。 有同知太常院事脫歡者，也先忽都故將也，聞陽翟王將至，乃引兵縛王至軍前，太平不受，令生致闕下，北邊以寧。 太平終不以為己功。 未幾，詔拜太傅，賜田若干頃，俾歸奉元。 帝欲以伯撒里為丞相，伯撒里辭曰：「臣老不足以任宰相，陛下必以命臣，非得太平同事不可。」 於是密旨令伯撒里留太平毋行。 太平至沙井，聞命而止，宿留久之。 皇太子惡其既去而復留也，二十三年，令御史大夫普化劾太平故違上命，當正其罪。 詔乃悉拘所授宣命及所賜物，俾往陝西之西居焉。 搠思監因誣奏之，安置土蕃，尋遣使者逼令自裁。 太平至東勝，賦詩一篇，乃自殺。 年六十三。 二十七年，監察御史辯其非辜，請加褒贈。
Empress Qi and the Crown Prince plotted an internal abdication and sent the eunuch Puhua, Commissioner of the Zizheng Court, to convey their intent to Taiping. Taiping made no reply. The empress summoned Taiping again to the palace, raised a cup, and renewed her earlier proposal; Taiping only equivocated. The Crown Prince then sought to drive out all the emperor's close ministers and had investigating censors impeach the emperor's intimate, Censor-in-Chief Tolu Temür. Before the memorial could be submitted, the impeaching censor was transferred elsewhere. The Crown Prince suspected Yexianhudu had leaked the affair and grew all the more determined to strip Taiping of power. Niudigai, Commissioner of the Privy Council, heard of this and sighed, "Good men are the cords of the state; if they are cast aside, upon what can the state rely." Several times he spoke for Taiping before the emperor, and so the Crown Prince's design had not yet been carried out. When Niudigai died, the Crown Prince had investigating censors Maizhu and Sangge Shili impeach Left Administrator Cheng Zun and Associate Administrator Zhao Zhong and others; they were thrown into prison and put to death as men of Taiping's faction. Taiping saw that he could not remain; several times he pleaded illness and asked to resign. In the second month of the twentieth year he was made Grand Preceptor and ordered to recover his health at home. Censorate officials memorialized that in the peril of the times governance depended on great talent, and that Taiping should serve as tutor and guardian while also holding a councillor's post. The emperor would not agree. Then Prince Aluhui Temür of Yangzhai raised rebellion, roiling the northern frontier and threatening Shangdu. The Crown Prince spoke to the emperor and ordered Taiping to remain and guard Shangdu — in truth intending to send him to his death. Taiping went. Toghan, Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and a former general of Yexianhudu, heard that the Prince of Yangzhai was approaching, led troops, and bound the prince before the army. Taiping would not accept this and ordered the prince delivered alive to court, and the northern frontier was pacified. Taiping never claimed the credit for himself. Before long an edict appointed him Grand Tutor, granted him several qing of land, and ordered him to return to Fengyuan. The emperor wished to make Bersar councillor. Bersar declined, saying, "I am too old to bear the burden of councillor; if Your Majesty must command me, I cannot serve unless Taiping serves at my side." A secret edict then ordered Bersar to keep Taiping from leaving. Taiping reached Shajing, heard the order, and halted; he lingered there a long while. The Crown Prince resented that Taiping had left and then returned to stay. In the twenty-third year he had Censor-in-Chief Puhua impeach Taiping for deliberately defying the imperial command and demand that his crime be punished. An edict confiscated every patent of appointment and every gift he had received and ordered him to dwell in the far west of Shaanxi. Choson then falsely memorialized against him; he was resettled in Tibet, and soon an envoy was sent to compel him to take his own life. When Taiping reached Dongsheng he composed a poem and then took his own life. He was sixty-three. In the twenty-seventh year an investigating censor argued that he had been innocent and petitioned for posthumous honors.
12
也先忽都，名均，字公秉。 少好學，有俊才，累遷殿中侍御史、治書侍御史、翰林侍讀學士，皆兼襲虎賁親軍都指揮使。 太平之為相也，務廣延才彥，而也先忽都以丞相子，又傾己下士，以故名稱籍然。 已而被劾罷，從親還奉元。 居六年，召為兵部尚書、同知樞密院事，除通政院使。 太平再相，授知樞密院事，遷太子詹事。 十九年，群盜由開平東屯遼陽。 冬，詔也先忽都以知樞密院事兼太子詹事率師往討。 太平以其年少，數請改命，不允。 至則遣將拔懿州省治，盜逾遼河東奔。 而朝廷讒構日甚，罷為上都留守。 尋改宣政院使，以丁內艱不起。 搠思監再相，復奏強起之，即日監察御史也帖木、李好直又劾罷之。 已而搠思監徇皇太子旨，構成大獄，誣老的沙、蠻子、按難達識理、沙加識理、也先忽都及脫歡等不軌，執脫歡煅煉其獄，連逮不已。 帝知其無辜，欲釋其事，特命大赦。 而搠思監增入條畫內，獨不赦前獄。 唯老的沙逃於孛羅鐵木兒大同軍中，蠻子、按難達識理等遂皆貶死。 也先忽都當貶撒思嘉之地，道由朵思麻，行宣政院使桓州閭素受知太平，因留居其地。 執政知其故，奏也先忽都違命，杖死之。 年四十四。 有詩集十卷。
Yexianhudu, personal name Jun, courtesy name Gongbing. From youth he loved learning and had outstanding talent. He rose through the posts of Palace Attendant Censor, Investigating Censor, and Hanlin Academician Reader-in-Waiting, each time also inheriting the command of the Huben Imperial Guard. When Taiping served as councillor he strove to gather men of talent; Yexianhudu, as the councillor's son, likewise humbled himself before scholars, and his name became widely known. Later he was impeached and dismissed and returned to Fengyuan with his family. After six years he was recalled as Minister of War and Vice Commissioner of the Privy Council, then appointed Commissioner of the Tongzheng Court. When Taiping again became councillor, he was appointed Commissioner of the Privy Council and promoted to Supervisor of the Crown Prince's Household. In the nineteenth year bandits encamped at Liaoyang after advancing from east of Kaiping. That winter an edict ordered Yexianhudu, as Commissioner of the Privy Council and Supervisor of the Crown Prince's Household, to lead troops against them. Taiping, thinking him too young, repeatedly petitioned to have the appointment changed, but was refused. On arrival he sent generals to capture the Yizhou provincial seat; the bandits crossed the Liao River and fled east. But slander at court grew daily worse, and he was demoted to Keeper of Shangdu. Soon he was transferred to Commissioner of the Xuanzheng Court, but mourning for his mother kept him from taking up the post. When Choson again became councillor, he memorialized to force Yexianhudu's recall; that same day investigating censors Yetiemur and Li Haozhi impeached him again and had him dismissed. Before long Choson, at the Crown Prince's bidding, fabricated a great case, falsely charging Laodesha, Manzi, Anundashili, Shajiashili, Yexianhudu, Toghan, and others with sedition. They seized Toghan and tortured him for confession, and the chain of arrests went on without end. The emperor knew they were innocent and wished to quash the affair; he specially ordered a general amnesty. Choson added a provision to the terms that alone excluded the earlier case from pardon. Only Laodesha escaped to Boluo Temür's army at Datong; Manzi, Anundashili, and the others were banished and put to death. Yexianhudu was to be banished to Sasiq; passing through Duosima, Huanzhou Lu, Commissioner of the Xuanzheng Court, who had long been favored by Taiping, kept him to dwell there. The chief ministers, knowing the reason, memorialized that Yexianhudu had disobeyed his orders and had him beaten to death. He was forty-four. He left a collected poetry in ten juan.
13
鐵木兒塔識
Tiemuertashi
14
鐵木兒塔識，字九齡，國王脫脫之子。 資禀宏偉，補國子學諸生，讀書穎悟絕人。 事明宗於潛邸。 文宗初，由同知都護府事累遷禮部尚書，進參議中書省事，擢陝西行台侍御史，留為奎章閣侍書學士，除大都留守，尋同知樞密院事。 後至元六年，拜中書右丞。 至正改元，昇平章政事。 伯顏罷相，庶務多所更張，鐵木兒塔識盡心輔贊。 每入番直，帝為出宿宣文閣，賜坐榻前，詢以政道，必夜分乃罷。 二年，郊，鐵木兒塔識言大祀竣事，必有實惠及民，以當天心，乃賜民明年田租之半。 嶺北地寒，不任穡事，歲募富民和糴為邊餉，民雖稍利，而費官鹽為多。 鐵木兒塔識乃請別輸京倉米百萬斛，儲於和林以為備。 日本商百餘人遇風漂入高麗，高麗掠其貨，表請沒入其人以為奴。 鐵木兒塔識持不可，曰：「天子一視同仁，豈宜乘人之險以為利？ 宜資其還。」 已而日本果上表稱謝。 俄有日本僧告其國遣人刺探國事者。 鐵木兒塔識曰：「刺探在敵國固有之，今六合一家，何以刺探為？ 設果有之，正可令睹中國之盛，歸告其主，使知向化。」 兩浙、閩鹽額累增而課愈虧，江浙行省請減額，鐵木兒塔識奏歲減十三萬引。
Tiemuertashi, styled Jiuling, was the son of King Toqto'a. Grand and imposing by nature, he entered the Imperial Academy and in his reading proved exceptionally quick beyond other men. He served Emperor Mingzong at the Hidden Residence. At the beginning of Emperor Wenzong's reign he rose from Vice Director of the Capital Protection Office through Minister of Rites to Associate Administrator of the Central Secretariat, then to Censor of the Shaanxi Branch Secretariat; he was retained as Academician Scribe of the Kuizhang Pavilion, appointed Keeper of Dadu, and soon made Vice Commissioner of the Privy Council. In the sixth year of the Zhiyuan era he was appointed Right Vice Councillor of the Central Secretariat. When the Zhizheng era began he was promoted to Grand Councillor. When Bayan was dismissed from the councillorship and many policies were overturned, Tiemuertashi devoted himself to assisting the new order. Whenever he came on palace duty the emperor would leave the Xuanwen Pavilion to receive him, grant him a seat before the couch, and inquire about governance until midnight. In the second year, after the suburban sacrifice, Tiemuertashi argued that a great rite must bring real benefit to the people if it was to accord with Heaven's heart; half of the next year's land tax was therefore remitted. The northern frontier was too cold for grain farming; each year wealthy households were recruited for coordinated grain purchases to supply the border. The people gained somewhat, but at great cost in official salt. Tiemuertashi then petitioned that a separate million hu of grain from the capital granaries be stored at Karakorum as a reserve. More than a hundred Japanese merchants were driven by wind into Goryeo; Goryeo seized their goods and memorialized asking that the men be confiscated and made slaves. Tiemuertashi objected, saying, "The Son of Heaven treats all alike with equal kindness — how can one take advantage of another's peril for profit? They should be supplied for their return." Before long Japan did send up a memorial of thanks. Soon a Japanese monk reported that his country had sent men to spy on state affairs. Tiemuertashi said, "Spying exists even among enemy states; now all under Heaven is one household — why speak of spying? If such men truly existed, they should be allowed to witness China's greatness and return to tell their lord, so that he might know to turn toward civilization." The salt quota in the Two Zhe and Fujian was repeatedly raised yet revenue fell ever further short; the Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat requested a reduction, and Tiemuertashi memorialized an annual cut of one hundred thirty thousand yin.
15
五年，拜御史大夫。 務以靜重持大體，不為苛嬈以立聲威。 建言：「近歲大臣獲罪，重者族滅，輕者籍其妻孥。 祖宗聖訓，父子罪不相及。 請除之。」 著為令。 近畿饑民爭赴京城，奏出贓罰鈔，糴米萬石，即近郊寺觀為糜食之，所活不可勝計。 居歲餘，遷平章政事，位居第一。 大駕時巡，留鎮大都。 舊法：細民糴於官倉，出印券，月給之者，其直三百文，謂之紅貼米； 賦籌而給之，盡三月止者，其直五百文，謂之散籌米。 貪民買其籌貼以為利。 鐵木兒塔識請別發米二十萬石，遣官坐市肆，使人持五十文即得米一升，姦弊遂絕。
In the fifth year he was appointed Censor-in-Chief. He strove to uphold the larger pattern with calm weight and did not rely on harsh measures to build a reputation for authority. He memorialized, saying, "In recent years condemned great ministers — in the gravest cases their clans were exterminated, in lighter cases their wives and children were registered; The ancestral teaching held that the crimes of fathers and sons did not extend to one another. Let this be abolished. The request was enacted as law. Hungry people near the capital rushed into the city; he memorialized to release confiscated and penal funds, buy ten thousand shi of rice, and set up gruel kitchens at suburban temples and monasteries; the number of lives saved could not be counted. After a little more than a year he was transferred to Grand Councillor, ranking first. When the emperor toured, he remained to guard Dadu. Under the old law, common people who bought from government granaries received stamped certificates and were given grain monthly at three hundred wen per unit — this was called red-coupon rice; those who paid tally-chits and received grain for only three months paid five hundred wen per unit — this was called scattered-tally rice. Greedy men bought up the tallies and coupons for profit. Tiemuertashi petitioned that a separate two hundred thousand shi of grain be issued, officials posted in market shops, and anyone holding fifty wen receive one sheng of rice; the abuses were then ended.
16
七年，首相去位，帝召鐵木兒塔識諭旨，若曰：「爾先人事我先朝，顯有勞績，爾實能世其家，今命汝為左丞相。」 鐵木兒塔識叩頭固辭，不允，乃拜命。 鐵木兒塔識修飭綱紀，立內外通調之法：朝官外補，許得陛辭，親授帝訓，責以成效； 郡邑賢能吏，次第甄拔，入補朝闕。 分海漕米四十萬石置沿河諸倉，以備凶荒。 先是，僧人與齊民均受役於官，其法中變，至是奏復其舊。 孔子後襲封衍聖公，階止四品，奏升為三品。 歲一再詣國學，進諸生而獎勵之。 中書故事，用老臣預議大政，久廢不設，鐵木兒塔識奏復其規，起腆合、張元樸等四人為議事平章。 曾未半年，救偏補弊之政以次興舉，中外咸悅。 從幸上京還，入政事堂甫一日，俄感暴疾薨。 年四十六。 贈開誠濟美同德翊運功臣、太師、中書右丞相，追封冀寧王，諡文忠。
In the seventh year, when the chief councillor left office, the emperor summoned Tiemuertashi and said, "Your forebear served my former dynasty with manifest merit; you truly can carry on your house. I now appoint you Left Councillor." Tiemuertashi kowtowed and firmly declined, but the emperor would not hear of it, and he accepted the appointment. Tiemuertashi restored discipline and established a law of mutual transfer between court and provinces: court officials sent to outer posts were granted audience for leave-taking, received the emperor's instruction in person, and were charged with results; worthy and able officials of the commanderies and districts were selected in turn to fill vacancies at court. He set aside four hundred thousand shi of sea-transport grain in granaries along the river as a reserve against famine. Earlier Buddhist monks and common people alike had borne corvée to the government; the law had been altered in the meantime, and now he memorialized to restore the old practice. The Duke Yansheng, Confucius's hereditary heir, held rank only at the fourth grade; he memorialized to raise it to the third. Each year he visited the Imperial Academy once or twice to honor the students and encourage them. By Central Secretariat precedent, aged ministers had once taken part in deliberating major affairs; the practice had long been abandoned. Tiemuertashi memorialized to restore it and appointed Tienhe, Zhang Yuanpu, and four others as deliberative grand councillors. In less than half a year, remedial reforms were launched one after another, and court and country alike rejoiced. After accompanying the emperor to the Upper Capital and back, he entered the Hall of Government Affairs for only a day before he was suddenly stricken with a violent illness and died. He was forty-six. He was posthumously granted the title of meritorious minister Kaicheng Jimei Tongde Yiyun, Grand Preceptor, and Right Councillor of the Central Secretariat, enfeoffed posthumously as Prince of Jining, with the posthumous title Wenzho.
17
鐵木兒塔識天性忠亮，學術正大，伊、洛諸儒之書，深所研究。 帝嘗問為治何先，對曰：「法祖宗。」 帝曰：「王文統奇才也，朕恨不得如斯人者用之。」 對曰：「世祖有堯、舜之資，文統不以王道告君，而乃尚霸術，要近利，世祖之罪人也。 使今有文統，正當遠之，又何足取乎！」 初，伯顏議罷科舉，鐵木兒塔識時在參議府，訖不署奏牘，及入中書，乃議復行之。 徵用處士，待以不次之擢。 或疑為太優，鐵木兒塔識曰：「隱士無求於朝廷，朝廷有求於隱士，區區名爵，奚足惜哉！」 識者誦之。 時修遼、金、宋三史，鐵木兒塔識為總裁官，多所協贊云。
Tiemuertashi was loyal and upright by nature, his scholarship broad and upright, and he studied deeply the works of the Yi-Luo school. The emperor once asked what should come first in governing. He replied, "Emulate the ancestors." The emperor said, "Wang Wensun is a rare talent. I only wish I could find someone like him to employ." He replied, "Emperor Shizu had the makings of Yao and Shun. Wensun did not counsel his lord with the kingly Way but instead prized hegemonic arts and sought immediate profit — he was Shizu's betrayer. If there were a Wensun today, he ought rightly to be kept at a distance. What would there be to esteem in him!" When Bayan proposed abolishing the civil examinations, Tiemuertashi was then in the Deliberation Office and refused to sign the memorial. Once he entered the Central Secretariat, he proposed restoring the examinations. He summoned recluses to office and promoted them out of turn. Some thought this too generous. Tiemuertashi said, "Recluses ask nothing of the court; the court asks something of recluses. Why begrudge them petty titles and ranks!" Men of discernment repeated his words. While the histories of Liao, Jin, and Song were being compiled, Tiemuertashi served as chief director and contributed much to the work.
18
達識帖睦邇
Dashitiemuer
19
達識帖睦邇，字九成。 幼與其兄鐵木兒塔識俱入國學為諸生，讀經史，悉能通大義，尤好學書。 初以世冑補官，為太府監提點，擢治書侍御史，以言罷。 除樞密院同知，升中書右丞、翰林承旨，遷大司農。 至正七年，出為江浙行省平章政事。 明年，又入為大司農。 九年，為湖廣行省平章政事。 沅、靖、柳、桂等路徭、獠竊發，朝廷以溪洞險阻，下詔招諭之。 達識帖睦邇謂：「寇情不可料，請置三分省，一治靜江，一治沅、靖，一治柳、桂，以左右丞、參政分兵鎮其地。 罷靖州路總管府，改立靖州軍民安撫司，設萬戶府，益以戍兵。」 朝廷皆如其言。 已而諸徭、獠悉降，召還，復為大司農。
Dashitiemuer, styled Jiucheng. As a youth he and his elder brother Tiemuertashi both entered the Imperial Academy as students. They read the Classics and histories and grasped their larger meaning; he was especially devoted to learning. At first he received office through hereditary privilege as intendant of the Imperial Household Commission. He was promoted to investigating censor, then dismissed because of his memorials. He was appointed associate administrator of the Privy Council, promoted to Central Secretariat vice councilor and Hanlin Academy chancellor, and then transferred to Grand Minister of Agriculture. In the seventh year of Zhizheng he was posted as Grand Councillor of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat. The next year he returned to the capital as Grand Minister of Agriculture. In the ninth year he became Grand Councillor of the Huguang branch secretariat. The Yao and Liao rose in revolt in Yuan, Jing, Liu, Gui, and other circuits. Because the stream-cave country was rugged and hard to reach, the court issued an edict summoning them to submit. Dashitiemuer said, "The rebels' movements cannot be foreseen. I request three branch secretariats — one at Jingjiang, one at Yuan and Jing, one at Liu and Gui — with left and right vice directors and associate councillors each commanding troops to hold the region. Abolish the Jingzhou circuit pacification commission and establish in its place the Jingzhou Military-Civilian Pacification Commission, set up a wanhu office, and add garrison troops." The court approved all of this. Before long all the Yao and Liao submitted. He was recalled and again made Grand Minister of Agriculture.
20
十一年，台州方國珍起海上。 達識帖睦邇奉詔與江浙行省參知政事樊執敬往招諭之。 明年，盜起河南。 拜河南行省平章政事。 至則修城池，飭備禦，賊不敢犯其境。 遷淮南行省平章政事。 十五年，入為中書平章政事。 時中書庶務多為吏胥遲留，至則責委提控掾史二人分督左右曹，悉為剖決。 出為江浙行省左丞相，尋兼知行樞密院事，許以便宜行事。 時江淮盜勢日盛，南北阻隔。 達識帖睦邇獨治方面，而任用非人，肆通賄賂，賣官鬻爵，一視貨之輕重以為高下，於是謗議紛然。 所部郡縣往往淪陷，亦恬不以為意。
In the eleventh year Fang Guozhen rose on the sea off Taizhou. Dashitiemuer received an edict and, together with Fan Zhijing, associate chief minister of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat, went to summon and persuade him to submit. The next year bandits rose in Henan. He was appointed Grand Councillor of the Henan branch secretariat. On arrival he repaired the walls and tightened defenses, and the bandits dared not enter his territory. He was transferred to Grand Councillor of the Huainan branch secretariat. In the fifteenth year he entered the capital as Grand Councillor of the Central Secretariat. Routine business at the Central Secretariat was then often delayed by clerks. On taking office he put two supervising secretaries in charge of the left and right offices and had every case decided. He was posted as Left Councillor of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat, soon also given concurrent charge of Privy Council affairs, with permission to act at discretion. Bandit power along the Yangzi and Huai grew daily, and north and south were cut off from one another. Dashitiemuer alone governed the region, yet he put unworthy men in office, took bribes openly, and sold offices and ranks according to the price offered, until criticism swirled everywhere. Commanderies and districts under his jurisdiction often fell, yet he remained untroubled and took no notice.
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十六年正月，張士誠陷平江。 七月，逼杭州，達識帖睦邇即棄城遁於富陽。 萬戶普賢奴力拒之，而苗軍帥楊完者時駐嘉興，亦引兵至，敗走張士誠，達識帖睦邇乃還。 初，達識帖睦邇以完者為海北宣慰使都元帥，尋升江浙行省參政，至是遂升右丞。 而苗軍素無紀律，肆為鈔掠，所過蕩然無遺。 達識帖睦邇方倚完者以為重，莫敢禁遏，故完者矜驕日肆而不可製。 明年，士誠寇嘉興，屢為完者所敗。 士誠乃遣蠻子海牙以書詐降。 蠻子海牙嘗為南行台御史中丞，以軍結水寨，屯採石，為大明兵所敗，因走歸士誠，故士誠使之來。 而書詞多不遜。 完者欲納之，達識帖睦邇不可，曰：「我昔在淮南，嘗招安士誠，知其反覆，其降不可信。」 完者固勸，乃許之。 士誠始要王爵，達識帖睦邇不許。 又請爵為三公，達識帖睦邇曰：「三公非有司所定，今我雖便宜行事，然不敢專也。」 完者又力以為請，達識帖睦邇雖外為正詞，然實幸其降，又恐忤完者意，遂授士誠太尉，其弟士德淮南行省平章政事，士信同知行樞密院事，其黨皆授官有差。 士德尋為大明兵所擒。 复升士信淮南行省平章政事。 然士誠雖降，而城池府庫甲兵錢穀皆自據如故。 於是朝廷以招安張士誠為達識帖木兒功，詔加太尉。
In the first month of the sixteenth year Zhang Shicheng captured Pingjiang. In the seventh month, as Zhang Shicheng pressed Hangzhou, Dashitiemuer abandoned the city and fled to Fuyang. Wanhu Pu Huatieer resisted him fiercely. Yang Waner, commander of the Miao army, was then stationed at Jiaxing and also brought troops up; together they defeated Zhang Shicheng and drove him off, and Dashitiemuer returned. Earlier Dashitiemuer had made Waner Pacification Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of Haibei, then promoted him to associate chief minister of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat; now he was raised to right vice director. But the Miao army had never known discipline and plundered wherever they went, leaving nothing behind. Dashitiemuer was then relying on Waner as his main strength and dared not restrain him, so Waner grew ever more arrogant and beyond control. The next year Shicheng attacked Jiaxing and was repeatedly defeated by Waner. Shicheng then sent Manzi Haiya with a letter offering a false surrender. Manzi Haiya had once been vice censor-in-chief of the Southern Branch Censorate. He had gathered troops into a water fort at Caishi, been defeated by the Ming army, and fled back to Shicheng — which was why Shicheng now sent him. But the letter's language was largely impertinent. Waner wanted to accept the offer. Dashitiemuer refused, saying, "When I was in Huainan I once tried to win Shicheng over. I know how fickle he is — his surrender cannot be trusted." Waner pressed hard, and in the end it was allowed. At first Shicheng demanded a princely title, and Dashitiemuer refused. He then asked to be made one of the Three Excellencies. Dashitiemuer said, "The Three Excellencies are not for a local officer to appoint. Though I may act at discretion, I dare not decide this alone." Waner again pressed the request hard. Outwardly Dashitiemuer spoke uprightly, but in truth he hoped for the surrender and feared offending Waner; he therefore made Shicheng Grand Commandant, his brother Shide Grand Councillor of the Huainan branch secretariat, Shixin associate administrator of the Privy Council, and gave offices of varying rank to his followers. Shide was soon captured by the Ming army. Shixin was then promoted to Grand Councillor of the Huainan branch secretariat. Yet though Shicheng had submitted, he still held cities, treasuries, arms, and grain as before. The court then counted the winning over of Zhang Shicheng as Dashitiemuer's achievement and issued an edict promoting him to Grand Commandant.
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當是時，徽州、建德皆已陷，完者屢出師不利。 士誠素欲圖完者，而完者時又強娶平章政事慶童女，達識帖木兒雖主其婚，然亦甚厭之，乃陰與士誠定計除完者。 揚言使士誠出兵復建德，完者營在杭城北，不為備，遂被圍，苗軍悉潰，完者與其弟伯顏皆自殺。 其後事聞於朝，贈完者潭國忠愍公，伯顏衡國忠烈公。 完者既死，士誠兵遂據杭州。 十九年，朝廷因授士信江浙行省平章政事。 士信乃大發浙西諸郡民築杭城。 先是，海漕久不通，朝廷遣使來徵糧，士誠運米十餘萬石達京師。 方面之權，悉歸張氏，達識帖睦邇徒存虛名而已。 俄而士誠令其部屬自頌功德，必欲求王爵。 達識帖睦邇謂左右曰：「我承製居此，徒籍口舌以馭此輩。 今張氏复要王爵，朝廷雖微，終不為其所脅，但我今若逆其意，則目前必受害，當忍恥含垢以從之耳。」 乃為具文書聞於朝，至再三，不報。 士誠遂自立為吳王，即平江治宮闕，立官屬。
By then Huizhou and Jiande had both fallen, and Waner repeatedly took the field without success. Shicheng had long wanted to destroy Waner. Waner had also forcibly taken Grand Councillor Qing Tong's daughter in marriage. Dashitiemuer had arranged the match, yet he too loathed Waner deeply, and so secretly plotted with Shicheng to remove him. They spread word that Shicheng would send troops to recover Jiande. Waner's camp lay north of Hangzhou and was unprepared; he was surrounded, the Miao army routed, and Waner and his brother Bayan both killed themselves. When word reached the court, Waner was posthumously made Duke Zhongmin of Tan and Bayan Duke Zhonglie of Heng. Once Waner was dead, Shicheng's troops occupied Hangzhou. In the nineteenth year the court appointed Shixin Grand Councillor of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat. Shixin then conscripted the people of western Zhe on a great scale to build Hangzhou's walls. Sea transport had long been cut off. The court sent envoys to levy grain, and Shicheng shipped more than a hundred thousand shi of rice to the capital. Regional power passed entirely to the Zhang clan, and Dashitiemuer retained only an empty title. Before long Shicheng had his subordinates praise his merits and insist on a princely title. Dashitiemuer said to those around him, "I hold this post by imperial commission and govern these men by words alone. Now the Zhangs again demand a princely title. The court may be weak, but it will not in the end be coerced by them — yet if I oppose them now, I will surely come to harm. I must bear shame and swallow disgrace and go along." He then drew up documents reporting to the court, again and again, but received no reply. Shicheng then declared himself Prince of Wu, built palace halls at Pingjiang, and appointed officials.
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時答蘭帖木兒為江浙行省右丞，真保為左右司郎中，二人諂事士誠，多受金帛，數媒孽達識帖睦邇之短，以故張氏遂有不相容之勢。 二十四年，士信乃使王晟等面數達識帖睦邇過失，勒其移諮省院，自陳老病願退。 又言：「丞相之任非士信不可。」 士信即逼取其諸所掌符印，而自為江浙行省左丞相，徙達識帖睦邇居嘉興。 事聞朝廷，即就以士信為江浙行省左丞相。 達識帖睦邇至嘉興，士信峻其垣牆，錮其門闥，所以防禁之者甚嚴。 達識帖睦邇皆不以為意，日對妻妾飲酒放歌自若。 士誠令有司公牘皆首稱「吳王令旨」，又諷行台為請實授於朝，行台御史大夫普化帖木兒皆不從。 至是，既拘達識帖睦邇，即使人至紹興從普化帖木兒索行台印章。 普化帖木兒封其印置諸庫，曰：「我頭可斷，印不可與。」 又迫之登舟，曰：「我可死，不可辱也。」 從容沐浴更衣，與妻子訣，賦詩二章，乃仰藥而死。 臨死，擲杯地上曰：「我死矣，逆賊當踵我亡也。」 後數日，達識帖睦邇聞之，歎曰：「大夫且死，吾不死何為！」 遂命左右以藥酒進，飲之而死。 士誠乃使載其柩及妻孥北返於京師。
Dalantemuer was then right vice director of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat and Zhenbao director in the left and right offices. The two fawned on Shicheng, took much gold and silk, and repeatedly spoke ill of Dashitiemuer, so the Zhang clan came to be at odds with him. In the twenty-fourth year Shixin sent Wang Sheng and others to recite Dashitiemuer's faults to his face and force him to submit a petition to the branch secretariat and central offices declaring himself aged and ill and wishing to retire. They also said, "The post of chief councillor can be held by none but Shixin." Shixin immediately seized all the seals and tallies in his charge, made himself Left Councillor of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat, and moved Dashitiemuer to Jiaxing. When word reached the court, Shixin was at once appointed Left Councillor of the Jiangzhe branch secretariat. When Dashitiemuer reached Jiaxing, Shixin raised his walls, barred his gates, and guarded him with the strictest confinement. Dashitiemuer paid no heed and daily drank and sang freely with his wives and concubines as before. Shicheng ordered all government documents to begin with "By order of the Prince of Wu" and also prompted the branch censorate to request formal appointment from the court, but Branch Censor-in-Chief Puhua Timur refused. Now that Dashitiemuer was confined, he sent men to Shaoxing to demand the branch censorate seals from Puhua Timur. Puhua Timur sealed the seals and put them in the treasury, saying, "My head may be cut off, but the seal will not be given." They again forced him aboard a boat. He said, "I can die, but I cannot be shamed." He bathed calmly, changed his clothes, took leave of wife and children, composed two poems, and swallowed poison and died. At the point of death he cast a cup to the ground and said, "I am dead — the rebel traitors will follow me to ruin." Several days later Dashitiemuer heard of it and sighed, "The grand minister is about to die — why should I not die!" He then ordered his attendants to bring medicinal wine, drank it, and died. Shicheng then had his coffin and wife and children sent north to the capital.
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普化帖木兒字兼善，答魯乃蠻氏，行台御史大夫帖木哥子也。 累遷福建行省平章政事，時境內皆為諸豪所據，不能有所施設。 及遷南行台，又為張士誠所逼而死。 然論者以為其死視達識帖睦邇為差勝云。
Puhua Timur, styled Jianshan, was of the Qarlughas clan and the son of Branch Censor-in-Chief Temuge. He rose to Grand Councillor of the Fujian branch secretariat, but the province was then held by local strongmen and he could accomplish nothing. When he was transferred to the Southern Branch Censorate, Zhang Shicheng again forced him to his death. Yet commentators held that compared with Dashitiemuer, his death was somewhat the more honorable.