1
逾年，除高郵縣尹，門無私謁。 縣民張提領，尚任俠，武斷鄉曲。 一日，至縣有所囑，楨執之，盡得其罪狀，里中受其抑者，咸來訴焉，乃杖而徒之，人以為快。 守城千戶狗兒妻崔氏，為其小婦所譖，虐死，其鬼憑七歲女詣縣訴楨，備言死狀，屍見瘞舍後。 楨率吏卒即其所，發土得屍，拘狗兒及小婦，鞫之，皆伏辜，人以為神明焉。
A year later he was made magistrate of Gaoyou County, and his door saw no private solicitations. Among the county people, one Zhang the Provision Leader still lived by the code of the knight-errant and bullied his neighbors at will. One day he came to the yamen with a favor to ask; Zhen arrested him, uncovered every count of his guilt, and when all who had suffered his oppression in the countryside came forward to accuse him, Zhen had him flogged and exiled—to general satisfaction. Cui, wife of Gou'er, a city-garrison commander of a thousand households, was framed by his concubine, abused, and killed; her spirit entered a seven-year-old girl who came to the county yamen to plead before Zhen, recounting every detail of her death, and the body was found where it had been secretly buried behind the quarters. Zhen led clerks and constables straight to the place, exhumed the corpse, seized Gou'er and the concubine, and examined them until both admitted guilt; the people took him for something more than human.
2
累除中政院判官，至正八年，拜監察御史，劾太尉阿乞剌欺罔之罪，並言：「明里董阿、也裡牙、月魯不花，皆陛下不共戴天之仇，伯顏賊殺宗室嘉王、郯王一十二口，稽之古法，當伏門誅，而其子兄弟尚仕於朝，宜急誅竄。 別兒怯不花阿附權奸，亦宜遠貶。 今災異迭見，盜賊蜂起，海寇敢於要君，閫帥敢於玩寇，若不振舉，恐有唐末籓鎮噬臍之禍。」 不聽。
He rose through several posts to vice-director of the Central Secretariat for Palace Affairs; in Zhizheng 8 he was appointed investigating censor and charged Grand Preceptor Aqila with fraud, adding: 'Mingli Dong'a, Yeliya, and Yuelu Buhua are mortal foes of Your Majesty; Bayan butchered twelve kinsmen of the imperial house, the Princes Jia and Tan—for which ancient law demands death at the palace gate—yet their sons and brothers still serve at court and ought to be executed and driven out at once. Berkebua, who had curried favor with the powerful and corrupt, should likewise be sent into distant exile. Portents and rebellions now come one after another; pirates at sea dare extort the throne, and border generals dare trifle with the foe. Unless the court rouses itself, we may see the late-Tang disaster of warlords tearing the realm apart from within.' The throne would not listen.
3
及毛貴陷山東，上疏陳十禍，根本之禍有六，征討之禍有四，歷數其弊：一曰輕大臣，二曰解權綱，三曰事安逸，四曰杜言路，五曰離人心，六曰濫刑獄，所謂根本之禍六也。 其言事安逸之禍，略曰：「臣伏見陛下以盛年入纂大統，履艱難而登大寶，因循治安，不預防慮，寬仁恭儉，漸不如初。 今天下可謂多事矣，海內可謂不寧矣，天道可謂變常矣，民情可謂難保矣，是陛下警省之時，戰兢惕厲之日也。 陛下宜臥薪嘗膽，奮發悔過，思祖宗創業之難，而今日墜亡之易，於是而修實德，則可以答天意，推至誠，則可以回人心。 凡土木之勞，聲色之好，燕安鴆毒之戒，皆宜痛撤勇改。 有不盡者，亦宜防微杜漸，而禁於未然，黜宮女，節浮費，畏天卹人。 而陛下乃安焉處之，如天下太平無事時，此所謂根本之禍也。」 至若不慎調度，不資群策，不明賞罰，不擇將帥，所謂征討之禍四也。 其言不明賞罰之禍，略曰：「臣伏見調兵六年，初無紀律之法，又無激勸之宜，將帥因敗為功，指虛為實，大小相謾，上下相依，其性情不一，而邀功求賞則同。 是以有覆軍之將，殘民之將，怯懦之將，貪婪之將，曾無懲戒，所經之處，雞犬一空，貨財俱盡。 及其面諛遊說，反以克復受賞。 今克復之地，悉為荒墟，河南提封三千餘里，郡縣星羅棋布，歲輸錢穀數百萬計，而今所存者，封丘、延津、登封、偃師三四縣而已。 兩淮之北，大河之南，所在蕭條。 夫有土有人有財，然後可望軍旅不乏，饋餉不竭。 今寇敵已至之境，固不忍言，未至之處，尤可寒心，如此而望軍旅不乏，饋餉不竭，使天雨粟，地湧金，朝夕存亡且不能保，況以地方有限之費，而供將帥無窮之欲哉！ 其為自啟亂階，亦已危矣。 陛下事佛求福，飯僧消禍，以天壽節而禁屠宰，皆虛名也。 今天下殺人矣，陛下泰然不理，而曰吾將以是求福，福何自而至哉？ 潁上之寇，始結白蓮，以佛法誘眾，終飾威權，以兵抗拒，視其所向，駸駸可畏，其勢不至於亡吾社稷、燼吾國家不已也。 堂堂天朝，不思靖亂，而反為階亂，其禍至慘，其毒至深，其關係至大，有識者為之扼腕，有志者為之痛心，此征討之禍也。」 疏奏，不省。 權臣惡其訐直。
When Mao Gui seized Shandong, he memorialized the throne on ten disasters—six rooted in government itself and four in the conduct of war—listing the abuses: treating great ministers lightly; letting the reins of power slip; settling into comfort; shutting the road of candid speech; estranging the people's hearts; and filling the prisons without cause. These were the six fundamental ills he named. On the evil of ease he wrote in part: 'I have seen Your Majesty, still in your prime, take up the great succession after hardship and win the throne—yet drift along in complacent peace without looking ahead; the generous restraint you showed at first has slowly worn away. The empire is in turmoil, the realm is not at rest, Heaven's signs are erratic, and the people's loyalty cannot be counted on. This is the hour for vigilance and the day for trembling care. You should brace yourself as King Goujian did, repent in earnest, remember how hard the founders labored and how easily the house may fall now; cultivate true virtue to answer Heaven, and show utmost sincerity to win the people back. Every palace building project, every indulgence in music and women, every taste of the poisoned cup of complacency—you should cut them off resolutely and reform at once. Where you cannot finish the purge, you should still check evil at its root and forbid it before it grows: dismiss superfluous palace women, cut wasteful spending, fear Heaven, and care for the people. Yet Your Majesty sits at ease as if the world were at peace. That is the fundamental calamity I mean.' As for careless logistics, refusal to heed collective counsel, muddled rewards and punishments, and the failure to choose the right commanders—these are the four war-related ills.' On confused rewards and punishments he wrote: 'For six years the armies have been mobilized without real discipline and without incentives that work. Generals turn defeat into victory on paper, call phantoms facts, lie to one another up and down the chain—different in character, alike in hunting rewards. So we have commanders who lose whole armies, who ravage the people, who are cowards, who are thieves—and none are punished. Wherever they march, not a chicken or dog is left, and every store of goods is stripped bare. Then they come to court with smooth words and are rewarded for reconquest. The land they claim to have recovered is ruin. Henan alone spans more than three thousand li, its counties once thick as stars on a board, paying millions in grain and cash each year—yet only Fengqiu, Yanjin, Dengfeng, and Yanshi, three or four counties, still stand. North of the Huai and south of the Yellow River, desolation is everywhere. Only with land, people, and wealth can armies be kept full and supplies unbroken. Where the enemy has already come, I can hardly bear to describe it; where he has not yet come, the prospect is worse still. Yet you still expect full armies and endless supplies—as if grain fell from Heaven and gold welled from the earth—when day to day survival is in doubt. How can the empire's thin purse satisfy commanders' bottomless greed? To open the door to chaos yourself is already a grave danger. You serve the Buddha for merit, feed monks to avert disaster, and ban slaughter on the Heavenly Longevity Festival—all empty gestures. Men are being killed across the empire while Your Majesty sits unmoved and says you will win blessing this way—from where should blessing come? The rebels of Yingshang began with the White Lotus, lured crowds with Buddhist talk, then took up arms under a show of authority. The way they advance is terrifying; their momentum will not end until altar and state alike are ashes. Our great dynasty does not seek to quell rebellion but supplies the steps to it. The harm is extreme, the poison deep, the stakes vast. Men of insight clench their fists; men of will ache in the heart. This is the war-related calamity.' The memorial went up; the court took no notice. The men in power hated his blunt honesty.
4
二十一年，除僉山南道肅政廉訪司事，至則劾中書參知政事也先不花、樞密院副使脫脫木兒、治書侍御史奴奴弄權誤國之罪，又不報。 方是時，孛羅帖木兒駐兵大同，察罕帖木兒駐兵洛陽，而毛貴據山東，勢逼京畿，二將玩寇不進，方以爭晉、冀為事，構兵相攻，互有勝負。 朝廷乃遣也先不花、脫脫木兒、奴奴往解之，既受命，不前進。 楨又言其「貪懦庸鄙，苟懷自安之計，無憂國致身之忠。 朝廷將使二家釋憾，協心討賊，此國之大事，謂宜風馳電走，而乃迂迴退懾，枉道延安以西，繞曲數千里，遲遲而行，使兩軍日夜仇殺，黎庶肝腦塗地，實此三人之所致也，宜急殛之，以救時危。」 亦不報。 楨乃慨然歎曰：「天下事不可為矣。」 即辭去，居河中安邑山谷間，結茅僅容膝。 有訪之者，不復言時事，但對之流涕而已。
In year 21 he was made commissioner of the Shannan surveillance circuit. On taking office he charged Yexian Buhua, associate administrator of the Secretariat, Toto'er, vice commissioner of the Privy Council, and Nunu, investigating censor, with abusing power and ruining the state. Again there was no answer. Boluo Temur held Datong, Chaghan Temur Luoyang, while Mao Gui held Shandong and threatened the capital. The two generals dallied with the enemy and refused to advance, busy fighting each other over Shanxi and Hebei, trading victories. The court sent Yexian Buhua, Toto'er, and Nunu to mediate—but once commissioned, they would not move. Zhen wrote again that they were 'greedy, cowardly, vulgar men who cared only for their own safety and had no loyalty that would give the state their lives. The court meant them to reconcile the two factions and join against the rebels—a matter of state that demanded speed like wind and lightning. Instead they shrank back, detoured west of Yan'an, wandered thousands of li, and crawled along while the two armies butchered each other day and night and the people died in heaps. These three men caused it; put them to death at once to save the hour.' Again nothing was done. Zhen sighed and said, 'Nothing under Heaven can be done anymore.' He resigned at once and lived in the valleys of Anyi in Hezhong, in a hut of thatch barely wide enough to kneel in. Visitors found him silent on public affairs; he could only weep in their presence.
5
二十四年，孛羅帖木兒犯闕，皇太子出居冀寧，奏除贊善，又除翰林學士，皆不起。 擴廓帖木兒將輔皇太子入討孛羅帖木兒，遣使傳皇太子旨，賜以上尊，且訪時事，楨復書曰：「今燕趙齊魯之境，大河內外，長淮南北，悉為丘墟，關陝之區，所存無幾，江左日思薦食上國，湘漢荊楚川蜀，淫名僭號，幸我有變，利我多虞。 閣下國之右族，三世二王，得不思廉、藺之於趙，寇、賈之於漢乎？ 京師一殘，假有不逞之徒，崛起草澤，借名義，尊君父，倡其說於天下，閣下將何以處之乎！ 守京師者，能聚不能散，禦外侮者，能進不能退，紛紛籍籍，神分志奪，國家之事，能不為閣下憂乎！ 《志》曰'不備不虞，不可以為師'，僕之惓惓為言者，獻忠之道也。 然為言大要有三：保君父，一也； 扶社稷，二也； 衛生靈，三也。 請以近似者陳其一二：衛出公據國，至於不父其父； 趙有沙丘之變，其臣成、兌平之，不可謂無功，而後至於不君其君； 唐肅宗流播之中，怵於邪謀，遂成靈武之纂。 千載之下，雖有智辯百出，不能為雪。 嗚呼！ 是豈可以不鑑之乎！ 然吾聞之，天之所廢不驟也，驟其得志，肆其寵樂，使忘其覺悟之心，非安之也，厚其毒而降之罰也。 天遂其欲，民厭其汰，而鬼神弗福也。 其能久乎？ 閣下覽觀焉，謀出於萬全，則善矣。 詢之輿議，急則其變不測，徐則其釁必起，通其往來之使，達其上下之情，得其情，則得其策矣。 孔子曰：'君君臣臣父父子子。 '今九重在上者如寄，青宮在下者如寄，生民之憂，國家之憂也，可不深思而熟計之哉！」 擴廓帖木兒深納其說，是用事克有成。 後三年，卒。
In year 24 Boluo Temur assaulted the capital; the heir apparent withdrew to Jining. Zhen was offered the posts of tutor and Hanlin academician but accepted neither. Kozha Temur was to escort the heir apparent in to punish Boluo Temur. He sent an envoy with the prince's order, fine wine, and a request for counsel. Zhen wrote back: 'Yan, Zhao, Qi, and Lu, all lands along the Yellow River and Huai, are ruins. Guanzhong and Shaanxi barely hold. The south covets our north daily. In the middle Yangzi and Sichuan, rebels take royal titles and wait for our troubles to multiply. You are of the state's great houses, three generations and two kings ennobled—will you not remember Lian Po and Lin Xiangru for Zhao, Kou Xun and Jia Yi for Han? Once the capital falls, some adventurer may rise from the wilds, take the name of loyalty to ruler and father, and preach his cause to the realm—what then will you do? Those who hold the capital can mass troops but not release them; those who face foreign foes can advance but not withdraw. Chaos divides mind and will. Can the state's affairs fail to trouble you? The Records say: without preparation and foresight one cannot lead an army. My earnest words are loyalty offered in full. Yet what I urge comes down to three things: first, preserve ruler and father; second, uphold the altars of state; third, guard the living people. Let me cite near parallels: Duke Chu of Wei held the state and would not honor his father; Zhao had the Sand Mound crisis; Cheng and Dui quelled it—not without merit—yet afterward they would not treat their lord as lord; Tang Suzong, adrift in exile, yielded to wicked counsel and accepted the usurpation at Lingwu. A thousand years on, no wit can wash that stain away. Alas! Should this not be your mirror! Yet I have heard that Heaven does not cast men down in a day. When the wicked rise fast, revel in favor, and forget conscience—that is not peace but poison heaped high before the fall. Heaven grants their desires; the people hate their excess; the spirits withhold blessing. Can they long endure? Read these cases, my lord, and plan for every contingency—that is best. Ask what the people say: press too hard and change comes unpredictably; move too slowly and quarrel is certain. Let envoys pass freely and learn what high and low feel—know that, and you know your policy. Confucius said: 'Let the ruler be ruler, the minister minister, the father father, the son son.' Today the throne above is like a guest-house, the heir apparent below like a guest-house—the people's grief is the state's grief. Should you not think long and plan hard!' Kozha Temur took his counsel to heart, and the campaign succeeded. Three years later he died.
6
○歸暘
○ Gui Yang
7
歸，暘字彥溫，汴梁人。 將生，其母楊氏夢朝日出東山上，有輕雲來掩之，故名暘。 學無師傳，而精敏過人。 登至順元年進士第，授同知潁州事，鉏姦擊強，人不敢以年少易之。 山東鹽司遣奏差至潁，恃勢為不法，暘執以下獄。 時州縣奉鹽司甚謹，頤指氣使，輒奔走之，暘獨不為屈。 轉大都路儒學提舉，未上。
Gui Yang, courtesy name Yanwen, was from Bianliang. Before his birth his mother Lady Yang dreamed the morning sun rose over the eastern hills and light clouds veiled it, so he was named Yang. He had no formal teacher, yet his quick mind surpassed others. He took the jinshi in Zhishun 1 and became associate prefect of Yingzhou, rooting out villains and crushing the powerful; none dared slight him for his youth. The Shandong Salt Commission sent a memorial envoy to Ying who abused his authority; Yang arrested him and threw him in jail. Prefectures and counties then groveled before the Salt Commission at a glance; Yang alone would not bend. He was moved to Confucian intendant of the Dadu Circuit but never reported.
8
至元五年十一月，杞縣人范孟謀不軌，詐為詔使，至河南省中，殺平章月魯帖木兒、左丞劫烈、廉訪使完者不花、總管撒里麻，召官屬及去位者，署而用之，以段輔為左丞，使暘北守黃河口。 暘力拒不從，賊怒，係於獄，眾叵測所為，暘無懼色。 已而賊敗，污賊者皆獲罪，暘獨免。 同里有吳炳者，嘗以翰林待制徵，不起。 賊呼炳司卯酉歷，炳不敢辭。 時人為之語曰：「歸暘出角，吳炳無光。」 暘自此名譽赫然。 明年，轉國子博士，拜監察御史。 及入謝，台臣奏曰：「此即河南抗賊者也。」 帝曰：「好事卿宜數為之。」 賜以上尊。 已而辭官歸，養親汴上，親既歿，家食久之。
In the eleventh month of Zhiyuan 5, Fan Meng of Qi County rebelled, posing as an imperial envoy. At the Henan provincial seat he killed Grand Councillor Yuelu Temur, Left Administrator Jielie, Surveillance Commissioner Wanzhe Buhua, and Prefect Salima, then summoned officials active and retired, gave them posts, made Duan Fu left administrator, and ordered Yang north to guard the Yellow River mouth. Yang refused outright. The rebels in rage threw him in prison; no one could guess what he would do, yet he showed no fear. Soon the rebels fell; all who had served them were punished, but Yang alone went free. A neighbor, Wu Bing, had been summoned as Hanlin awaiting edict but had refused office. The rebels made Bing keep the calendar; he did not dare refuse. People said: 'Gui Yang shows his horn; Wu Bing has lost his shine.' From that day Yang's fame blazed. The next year he became Erudite of the National University and investigating censor. When he came to give thanks, a censorate official said, 'This is the man who resisted the rebels in Henan.' The emperor said, 'Such good deeds—you should often do them.' He was given fine wine. He soon resigned and went home to care for his parents at Bian; after they died he lived in retirement for many years.
9
至正五年，除僉河南廉訪司事，行部西京，以法繩趙王府官屬之貪暴者，王三遣使請，不為動。 宣寧縣有殺人者，蔓引數十人，一讞得其情，盡釋之。 沁州民郭仲玉，為人所殺，有司以蒲察山兒當之，暘察其誣，踪跡得其殺人者，山兒遂不死。 六年，轉僉淮東廉訪司事，改宣文閣監書博士，兼經筵譯文官。
In Zhizheng 5 he became commissioner of the Henan surveillance circuit. On tour at the Western Capital he prosecuted greedy and violent men among the Prince of Zhao's staff; the prince sent envoys three times to intercede, but Yang would not budge. In Xuanding County a murder case had dragged in dozens; one examination uncovered the truth and he freed them all. Guo Zhongyu of Qinzhou was murdered; officials pinned it on Pucha Shan'er. Yang saw the frame-up, tracked the killer, and Shan'er was spared. In year 6 he became commissioner of the Huaidong surveillance circuit, then Doctor Overseer of Writings at the Xuanwen Pavilion and translator for the Classics Colloquium.
10
七年，遷右司都事。 順江酋長樂孫求內附，請立宣撫司，及置郡縣一十三處，暘曰：「古人有言：鞭雖長，不及馬腹。 使郡縣果設，有事不救，則孤來附之意，救之，則罷中國而事外夷，所謂獲虛名而受實禍也。」 與左丞呂思誠抗辨甚力。 丞相太平笑曰：「歸都事善戇如此，何相抗乃爾邪！ 然其策果將焉出？」 暘曰：「其酋長可授宣撫，勿責其貢賦，使者賜以金帛，遣歸足矣。」 卒從暘言。 京師苦寒，有丐訴丞相馬前，丞相索皮服予之，仍核在官所藏皮服之數，悉給貧民。 暘曰：「宰相當以廣濟天下為心，皮服能幾何，而欲給之邪！ 莫若錄寒飢者，稍賑之耳。」 丞相悟而止。 雲南死可伐叛，詔以元帥述律遵道往喻之； 未幾，命平章政事亦都渾將兵討之，事久無功。 二人上疏紛紜，中書欲罪述律，暘曰：「彼事未白，而專罪一人，豈法意乎？ 況一諭之而一討之，彼將何所適從？ 然亦非使者之罪也。」 湖廣行省左丞沙班卒，其子沙的方為中書掾，請奔喪，丞相以沙的有兄弟，不許，暘曰：「孝者，人子之同情，以其有兄弟而沮其請，非所以孝治天下也。」 遂從之。 廣海ＯＤ賊入寇，詔朵兒只班將思播楊元帥軍以討之，暘曰：「易軍而將不諳教令，恐不能決勝。 若命楊就統其眾，彼悅於恩命，必能自效，所謂以夷狄攻夷狄，中國之利也。」 帝不從，後竟無功。
In year 7 he was made director of the Right Secretariat. Lesun, chieftain of Shunjiang, sought to submit and asked for a pacification commission and thirteen new counties. Yang said, 'The ancients said: the whip may be long, but it cannot reach the horse's belly. If we set up counties and then failed them in crisis, we betray those who came to us; if we rescued them, we would drain the heartland to serve border tribes—empty honor and real harm.' He argued fiercely with Left Administrator Lü Sicheng. Chief Councillor Taiping laughed and said, 'Director Gui is stubbornness itself—why fight each other so! But what policy do you propose?' Yang said, 'Make their chieftain a pacification commissioner, demand no tribute, give gold and silk through an envoy, and send them home—that is enough.' In the end they took Yang's advice. The capital was bitterly cold. A beggar pleaded before the chief councillor's horse; he took off his fur coat and gave it, then inventoried official fur stores and gave everything to the poor. Yang said, 'A chief councillor should seek to relieve the whole realm. How many furs can there be that you think to clothe everyone! Better to register the cold and hungry and give modest relief.' The chief councillor took the point and stopped. When Sikewafa rebelled in Yunnan, the court sent Marshal Shulü Zundao to reason with him; Soon Grand Councillor Yiduhun was sent with an army; the campaign dragged on without result. Both filed conflicting memorials; the Secretariat wanted to punish Shulü. Yang said, 'The facts are unclear—how can you punish one man alone? That is not justice. Besides, you instruct them one day and attack the next—what are they to obey? Nor is it the envoy's fault.' When Shaban, left administrator of Huguang, died, his son Shadi, a Secretariat clerk, asked leave to mourn. The chief councillor refused because he had brothers. Yang said, 'Filial duty is every son's feeling; to deny him because he has brothers is not how to rule by filial example.' They granted the leave. When Guanghai pirates raided, the court ordered Dorbanshar to lead Marshal Yang's Sibao army against them. Yang said, 'Swap the army and the new commander will not know its orders—you may not win. Let Yang keep command of his own men; they will welcome the favor and fight hard—using barbarians against barbarians, to the empire's profit.' The emperor refused; the campaign failed.
11
八年，升左司員外郎。 中書用暘言，損河間餘鹽五萬引以裕民。 楮幣壅不行，廷議出楮幣五百萬錠易銀實內藏，暘复持不可曰：「富商大賈，盡易其鈔於私家，小民何利哉！」 六月，遷參議樞密院事。 時方國珍未附，詔江浙行省參知政事朵兒只班討之，一軍皆沒，而朵兒只班被執，將罪之，暘曰：「將之失利，其罪固當，然所部皆北方步騎，不習水戰，是驅之死地耳。 宜募海濱之民習水利者擒之。」 既而國珍遣人從朵兒只班走京師請降，暘曰：「國珍已敗我王師，又拘我王臣，力屈而來，非真降也。 必討之以令四方。」 時朝廷方事姑息，卒從其請，後果屢叛，如暘言。 遷御史臺都事，俄复參議樞密院事，十二月，升樞密院判官。
In year 8 he became vice director of the Left Secretariat. The Secretariat took Yang's advice and cut fifty thousand Hejian salt quotas to ease the people. Paper money would not circulate; the court proposed issuing five million ingots to swap for silver for the inner treasury. Yang again objected: 'Rich merchants will hoard the notes—what good is that for common folk?' In the sixth month he became deliberator of the Privy Council. Fang Guozhen had not yet submitted; Dorbanshar of Jiangzhe was sent against him. His whole force was destroyed and he was captured; the court would punish him. Yang said, 'Defeat is a general's fault—but his men were northern horse and foot who knew no naval fighting. You sent them to their deaths. Recruit coastal people who know naval warfare to take him.' Soon Guozhen sent men with Dorbanshar to the capital to sue for peace. Yang said, 'He has beaten our army and held our minister hostage—coming only when broken is not real surrender. Punish him to show the realm.' The court was in a conciliatory mood and granted his plea; he rebelled again and again, as Yang had warned. He became director of the Censorate, then again deliberator of the Privy Council; in the twelfth month he was made vice commissioner of the Privy Council.
12
九年正月，轉河西廉訪使，未上，改禮部尚書。 會開端本堂，皇太子就學，召暘為贊善。 未幾，遷翰林直學士、同修國史，仍兼前職。 暘言：「師傅當與皇太子東西相向授書，其屬亦以次列坐，虛其中座，以待至尊臨幸，不然，則師道不立矣。」 時眾言人人殊，卒從暘議。 俄以疾辭，帝遣左司郎中趙璉賜白金文綺，不受。 初，暘在上都時，脫脫自甘州還，且入相，中書參議趙期頤、員外郎李稷謁暘私第，致脫脫之命，屬草詔，暘辭曰：「丞相將為伊、周事業，入相之詔，當命詞臣視草，今屬筆於暘，恐累丞相之賢也。」 期頤曰：「若帝命為之，奈何？」 暘曰：「事理非順，亦當固辭。」 期頤知不可屈，乃已。 十年正月，遷四川行省參知政事，十二年，除刑部尚書，十五年，再除刑部尚書，凡三遷，皆以疾辭。 十七年，授集賢學士，兼國子祭酒，使者迫之，暘輿疾至京師，臥於南城不起。 時海內多故，暘上三策：一曰振紀綱，二曰選將材，三曰審形勢。 亹亹數千言，時以為老生常談，不能用。 十一月，以集賢學士、資德大夫致仕，給半俸終身，辭不受。 明年，乞骸骨，僑居弘州，徙蔚州，又徙宣德，皆間關避兵。 尋抵大同。 及關陝小寧，來居解之夏縣。 皇太子出冀寧，強起之，居數月，復還夏縣。 二十七年卒，年六十三。
In the first month of year 9 he was made surveillance commissioner of Hexi but never reported, then Minister of Rites. When the Duanyuan Hall opened for the heir apparent's studies, Yang was summoned as tutor. Soon he became Hanlin academician and associate compiler of the national history while keeping his tutor's post. Yang said, 'The tutor and prince should face each other east and west to teach; attendants sit in order with the center seat left empty for the emperor's visit—otherwise teacher's authority is not established.' Opinions differed; in the end they followed Yang. He soon resigned for illness; the emperor sent Zhao Lian of the Left Secretariat with white gold and brocade; he refused. Earlier at Shangdu, Toghto returned from Ganzhou to take the chancellorship. Zhao Qiyi and Li Ji came to Yang's home with Toghto's order to draft the appointment edict. Yang declined: 'The councillor aims at the work of Yi Yin and the Duke of Zhou—such an edict should go to the academicians. Asking me would stain his reputation.' Qiyi said, 'What if the emperor orders it?' Yang said, 'Even then one should refuse what is not right.' Qiyi saw he could not be moved and gave up. In the tenth year's first month he became associate administrator of Sichuan; in year 12 Minister of Punishments; in year 15 again Minister of Punishments—three appointments, each declined for illness. In year 17 he was made Academician of the Hall of Gathered Talents and rector of the National University; envoys pressed him; Yang came by litter to the capital and lay ill in the southern quarter, unable to rise. With turmoil across the realm, Yang offered three policies: restore law and order; choose able generals; read the strategic situation. He wrote thousands of earnest words; the court dismissed it as platitudes and did not act. In the eleventh month he retired with the titles Academician and Grand Master of Cherished Virtue, with half salary for life; he refused even that. The next year he asked to go home, lived in Hongzhou, moved to Yuzhou, then Xuande, each move a hard flight from war. He soon reached Datong. When Guanzhong and Shaanxi grew quieter, he settled at Xia County in Jie Prefecture. When the heir apparent withdrew to Jining he was pressed to serve; after some months he returned to Xia County. He died in year 27, aged sixty-three.
13
陳祖仁王遜志
Chen Zuren; Wang Xunzhi
14
陳祖仁，字子山，汴人也。 其父安國，仕為常州晉陵尹。 祖仁性嗜學，早從師南方，有文名。
Chen Zuren, courtesy name Zishan, was from Bian. His father Anguo served as magistrate of Jinling in Changzhou. Zuren loved learning; he studied in the south from youth and won a name for letters.
15
至正元年，科舉復行，祖仁以《春秋》中河南鄉貢。 明年會試，在前列，及對策大廷，遂魁多士，賜進士及第，授翰林修撰、同知制誥，兼國史院編修官。 歷太廟署令、太常博士，遷翰林待制，出僉山東肅政廉訪司事，擢監察御史，復出為山北肅政廉訪司副使，召拜翰林直學士，升侍講學士，除參議中書省事。
In Zhizheng 1 examinations resumed; Zuren passed the Henan provincial test on the Spring and Autumn Annals. The next year he ranked high in the metropolitan exam and topped the palace policy debate, taking jinshi with honors as Hanlin compiler, associate director of edicts, and compiler of the national history. He served as director of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and erudite of the Imperial Sacrifices, became Hanlin awaiting edict, commissioner of Shandong surveillance, investigating censor, vice commissioner of Shanbei surveillance, Hanlin academician, exposition academician, and Secretariat deliberator.
16
二十年五月，帝欲修上都宮闕，工役大興，祖仁上疏，其略曰：「自古人君，不幸遇艱虞多難之時，孰不欲奮發有為，成不世之功，以光復祖宗之業。 苟或上不奉於天道，下不順於民心，緩急失宜，舉措未當，雖以此道持盈守成，猶或致亂，而況欲撥亂世反之正乎！ 夫上都宮闕，創自先帝，修於累朝，自經兵火，焚毀殆盡，所不忍言，此陛下所為日夜痛心，所宜亟圖興復者也。 然今四海未靖，瘡痍未瘳，倉庫告虛，財用將竭，乃欲驅疲民以供大役，廢其耕耨，而荒其田畝，何異扼其吭而奪之食，以速其斃乎！ 陛下追惟祖宗宮闕，念茲在茲，然不思今日所當興復，乃有大於此者。 假令上都宮闕未復，固無妨於陛下之寢處，使因是而違天道，失人心，或致大業之隳廢，則夫天下者亦祖宗之天下，生民者亦祖宗之生民，陛下亦安忍而輕棄之乎！ 願陛下以生養民力為本，以恢復天下為務，信賞必罰，以驅策英雄，親正人，遠邪佞，以圖謀治道。 夫如是，則承平之觀，不日咸复，詎止上都宮闕而已乎！」 疏奏，帝嘉納之。
In the fifth month of year 20 the emperor planned to rebuild the Shangdu palaces and conscripted labor on a vast scale. Zuren memorialized in part: 'Since antiquity, which ruler in hard times has not wished to achieve something great and restore the founders' work? If above you ignore Heaven's way and below lose the people's hearts, if timing and measures are wrong—even holding a full vessel you may bring ruin, let alone set a chaotic age right! The Shangdu palaces were built by the founder and repaired by many reigns; war has burned them almost away—Your Majesty grieves day and night, and restoration is urgent. Yet the realm is not at peace, wounds are unhealed, treasuries empty, revenues failing—and you would drive exhausted people to great works, leave fields untilled and land waste. Is that not seizing their throats and their food to kill them faster? Your Majesty thinks constantly of the ancestral palaces, yet what must be restored today is something greater than brick and timber. If Shangdu were never rebuilt, Your Majesty could still sleep in peace—but if this work makes you lose Heaven and the people and wreck the great enterprise, can you lightly abandon the ancestors' realm and people? Take nourishing the people's strength as your root and recovering the realm as your task; reward and punish faithfully; draw heroes to you; keep upright men near and flatterers far; plan the way of good government. Do that, and peace will return soon—not only at Shangdu!' The emperor praised the memorial and accepted it.
17
二十三年十二月，拜治書侍御史。 時宦者資正使樸不花與宣政使橐驩，內恃皇太子，外結丞相搠思監，驕恣不法，監察御史傅公讓上章暴其過，忤皇太子意，左遷吐蕃宣慰司經歷。 它御史連章論諫，皆外除。 祖仁上疏皇太子言：「御史糾劾橐驩、不花奸邪等事，此非御史之私言，乃天下之公論，台臣審問尤悉，故以上啟。 今殿下未賜詳察，輒加沮抑，擯斥御史，詰責台臣，使奸臣蠹政之情，不得達於君父，則亦過矣。 夫天下者祖宗之天下，臺諫者祖宗之所建立，以二豎之微，而於天下之重、臺諫之言，一切不恤，獨不念祖宗乎！ 且殿下職分，止於監國撫軍、問安視膳而已，此外予奪賞罰之權，自在君父。 今方毓德春宮，而使諫臣結舌，凶人肆志，豈惟君父徒擁虛器，而天下蒼生，亦將奚望！」 疏上，皇太子怒，令御史大夫老的沙諭祖仁，以謂「台臣所言雖是，但橐驩等俱無是事，御史糾言不實，已與美除。 昔裕宗為皇太子，兼中書令、樞密使，凡軍國重事合奏聞者，乃許上聞，非獨我今日如是也。」 祖仁乃復上疏言：「御史所劾，得於田野之間，殿下所詢，不出宮牆之外，所以全此二人者，止緣不見其奸。 昔唐德宗云：'人言盧杞奸邪，朕殊不覺。 '使德宗早覺，杞安得相？ 是杞之奸邪，當時知之，獨德宗不知爾。 今此二人，亦皆奸邪，舉朝知之，在野知之，天下知之，獨殿下未知耳。 且裕宗既領軍國重事，理宜先閱其綱。 若至臺諫封章，自是御前開拆，假使必皆經由東宮，君父或有差失，諫臣有言，太子將使之聞奏乎，不使之聞奏乎？ 使之聞奏，則傷其父心，不使聞奏，則陷父於惡，殿下將安所處！ 如知此說，則今日糾劾之章，不宜阻矣，御史不宜斥矣。 斥其人而美其除，不知御史所言，為天下國家乎，為一身官爵乎？ 斥者去，來者言，言者無窮，而美除有限，殿下又安所處？」 祖仁疏既再上，即辭職，而御史下至吏卒皆辭閒。 於是皇太子以其事聞，樸不花、橐驩乃皆辭退。 而天子令老的沙諭旨祖仁等，祖仁复上書天子曰：「祖宗以天下傳之陛下，今乃壞亂不可救藥，雖曰天運使然，亦陛下刑賞不明之所致也。 且區區二豎，猶不能除，況於大者！ 願陛下俯從臺諫之言，擯斥此二人，不令其以辭退為名，成其奸計，使海內皆知陛下信賞必罰自二人始，則將士孰不效力。 天下可全，而有以還祖宗之舊，若猶優柔不斷，則臣寧有餓死於家，誓不與之同朝，牽聯及禍，以待後世正人同罪。」 書奏，天子大怒，而是時侍御史李國鳳亦上疏，言此二人必當斥，於是台臣自老的沙以下皆左遷，而祖仁出為甘肅行省參知政事。 時天極寒，衣
In the twelfth month of year 23 he became investigating censor of the Secretariat. The eunuchs Puhua, pacification commissioner, and Tuo Huan, Xuanzheng commissioner, relied on the heir apparent within and Chief Councillor Toghto without, and acted with arrogant lawlessness. Censor Fu Gongrang exposed them and was demoted to a post in Tibet for offending the prince. Other censors remonstrated in linked memorials; all were posted away from court. Zuren wrote the heir apparent: 'The censors' charges against Tuo Huan and Buhua are not private opinion but public judgment. The censorate examined the case thoroughly before reporting it. Your Highness has not looked into the matter but has blocked it, driven out the censors, and rebuked the censorate, so that wicked ministers' corruption cannot reach the emperor—that is going too far. The realm is the ancestors' realm; the censorate is the ancestors' institution—for two eunuchs you ignore the realm's weight and the censors' words. Do you not remember the ancestors? Your Highness's duty is to oversee the state, comfort the armies, and attend the emperor's health and meals—reward and punishment belong to the throne alone. You are still cultivating virtue in the Eastern Palace, yet remonstrators are silenced and villains run free—not only does the emperor hold an empty title, but what hope is left for the people?' The prince was angry and had Censor-in-Chief Lao Desha tell Zuren: 'The censorate may be right in form, but Tuo Huan and the rest did nothing wrong; the charges were false and they have already been given good posts. When Prince Yu was heir apparent he also held the chancellorship and privy council; only major military and state matters were reported upward. It is not only today that this is so.' Zuren wrote again: 'The censors learned the truth in the countryside; Your Highness inquired only within the palace walls. You spare these two only because you do not see their crimes. Tang Dezong once said, 'People say Lu Qi is wicked—I notice nothing.' Had Dezong seen it early, how could Qi have become chief minister? Everyone at court knew Qi's wickedness—only Dezong did not. These two are wicked too—the court knows, the countryside knows, the realm knows—only Your Highness does not. Since Prince Yu oversaw military and state affairs, he should first have read the essentials himself. Censorate memorials are opened before the emperor. If they must all pass through the Eastern Palace and the emperor errs, will the prince report the remonstrance or withhold it? Report it and you wound your father; withhold it and you trap him in wrong—where then will Your Highness stand! Knowing this, you should not block today's impeachment or drive out the censors. You drive out the accusers and reward the accused—do you think the censors spoke for the realm or for their own offices? Drive one out and another speaks; speakers are endless but fine posts are few—where will Your Highness stand then?' After Zuren submitted again he resigned, and censors down to clerks all quit their posts. The heir apparent reported upward, and Puhua and Tuo Huan both resigned. The emperor had Lao Desha convey his will to Zuren and the rest. Zuren wrote again to the emperor: 'The ancestors gave you the realm; now it is ruined beyond remedy. You may call it fate, but unclear rewards and punishments are also to blame. You cannot remove two petty eunuchs—what of greater evils! Accept the censors' counsel, drive these two out, and do not let resignation be their trick. Let the realm see that faithful reward and sure punishment begin with them—then who among the troops will not fight? The realm can be saved and the founders' order restored. If you still hesitate, I would rather starve at home than serve this court, and await later ages to judge us alike.' The emperor was furious. Attending Censor Li Guofeng also said the two must be expelled. Every censor from Lao Desha down was demoted, and Zuren was sent to Gansu as associate administrator. The weather was bitterly cold; his clothes
18
單甚，以弱女託於其友硃毅，即日就道。
were very thin; he left his young daughter with his friend Zhu Yi and set out the same day.
19
明年七月，孛羅帖木兒入中書為丞相，除祖仁山北道肅政廉訪使，召拜國子祭酒，遷樞密副使，累上疏言軍政利害，不報，辭職。 除翰林學士，遂拜中書參知政事。 是時天下亂已甚，而祖仁性剛直，遇事與時宰論議數不合，乃超授其階榮祿大夫，而仍還翰林為學士，尋遷太常禮儀院使。
The next year in the seventh month Boluo Temur became chief councillor. Zuren was made Shanbei surveillance commissioner, then rector of the National University, then vice commissioner of the Privy Council. He memorialized repeatedly on military affairs without answer and resigned. He became Hanlin academician, then associate administrator of the Secretariat. The realm was already in extreme disorder; Zuren was stiff and upright and often clashed with the chief ministers. They promoted him to Grand Master of Glorious Blessing but sent him back to the Hanlin, then made him director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Ritual.
20
二十七年，大明兵已取山東，而朝廷方疑擴廓帖木兒有不臣之心，專立撫軍院，總兵馬以備之。 祖仁乃與翰林學士承旨王時、待制黃哻、編修黃肅伏闕上書言：「近者南軍侵陷全齊，不踰月而逼畿甸，朝廷雖命丞相也速出師，軍馬數少，勢力孤危，而中原諸軍，左牽右掣，調度失宜，京城四面，茫無屏蔽，宗社安危，正在今日。 臣愚等以為馭天下之勢，當論其輕重強弱，遠近先後，不宜膠於一偏，狃於故轍。 前日南軍僻在一方，而擴廓帖木兒近在肘腋，勢將竊持國柄，故宜先於致討，則南軍遠而輕，而擴廓帖木兒近而重也。 今擴廓帖木兒勢已窮蹙，而南軍突至，勢將不利於宗社，故宜先於救難，則擴廓帖木兒弱而輕，南軍近而重也。 陛下寬仁涵育，皇太子賢明英斷，當此之時，宜審其輕重強弱，改弦更張，而撫軍諸官，亦宜以公天下為心，審時制宜。 今擴廓帖木兒黨與離散，豈能復振，若止分撥一軍逼襲，必就擒獲，其餘彼中見調一應軍馬，令其倍道東行，勤王赴難，與也速等聲勢相援，仍遣重臣，分道宣諭催督，庶幾得宜。 如復膠於前說，動以言者為擴廓帖木兒遊說，而鉗天下之口，不幸猝有意外之變，朝廷亦不得聞，而天下之事去矣。」 書上，不報。 十二月，祖仁又上書皇太子，言：「近日降詔，削河南軍馬之權，雖所當然，然此項軍馬，終為南軍之所忌。 設使其有悖逆之心，朝廷以忠臣待之，其心愧沮，將何所施。 今未有所見，遽以此名加之，彼若甘心以就此名，其害有不可言者。 朝廷苟善用之，豈無所助。 然人皆知之而不敢言者，誠恐誣以受財遊說罪名，無所昭雪也。 況聞擴廓帖木兒屢上書疏，明其心曲，是其心未絕於朝廷，以待朝廷之開悟。 當今為朝廷計者，不過戰、守、遷三事。 以言乎戰，則資其掎角之勢； 以言乎守，則望其勤王之師； 以言乎遷，則假其籓衛之力。 極力勉厲使行，猶恐遲晚，豈可使數万之師，棄置於一方。 當此危急之秋，宗社存亡，僅在旦夕，不幸一日有唐玄宗倉卒之出，則是以祖宗百年之宗社，朝廷委而棄之，此時雖欲碎首殺身，何濟於事！ 故今不復避忌，惟以宗社存亡為重，奉疏以聞。」 疏上，亦不報。
In year 27 the Ming army had taken Shandong while the court suspected Kozha Temur of disloyalty and set up a Pacification Army Commission to guard against him. Zuren with Wang Shi, Huang Xia, and Huang Su prostrated themselves at the palace gate and wrote: 'The southern army has overrun Qi and in less than a month threatens the capital. Yeshu was sent out with too few troops while central armies are pulled every way and deployment fails. The capital has no shield on any side—the fate of the dynasty hangs on today. We believe that steering the realm requires weighing what is light and heavy, strong and weak, near and far—not clinging to one fixed view or old habit. Earlier the southern army was distant while Kozha Temur was at your elbow and seemed ready to seize power—so attacking him first was right: the southern threat was far and lighter, Kozha Temur near and heavier. Now Kozha Temur is broken while the southern army has struck—disaster threatens the dynasty. Rescue comes first: Kozha Temur is now weak and light, the southern army near and heavy. Your Majesty is generous; the heir apparent is able and decisive. Now you should weigh priorities, change policy, and the Pacification Army officials should serve the public good and adapt to the hour. Kozha Temur's faction is scattered and cannot revive. Send one army to take him—it will succeed. Order the rest of his troops to march east at forced pace to relieve the capital and support Yeshu, with great ministers sent to urge them on—that may yet suffice. If you cling to the old view, call every speaker Kozha Temur's agent, and silence the realm—when sudden disaster comes the court will not hear of it, and the realm is lost.' No answer came. In the twelfth month Zuren wrote the heir apparent again: 'The recent edict stripping the Henan armies of authority is understandable, yet those troops are what the southern army most fears. If they were disloyal, treating them as loyal ministers would shame and discourage them—what could they then do? We have seen nothing to justify it, yet this title is being imposed on him in haste; if he willingly accepts it, the harm will be beyond reckoning. If the court would only make good use of him, would it not gain some real help? Yet everyone knows this and dares not speak out, for fear of being falsely accused of taking bribes to lobby on his behalf, with no hope of vindication. Moreover, Kocho Temür is said to have submitted memorial after memorial laying bare his intentions, showing that his loyalty to the court is not yet broken and that he waits for the court to come to its senses. For the court to plan at present, there are only three courses: to fight, to hold, or to relocate. If one speaks of fighting, one may draw on his power to strike from two sides; if one speaks of holding the capital, one looks to his armies marching to rescue the throne; if one speaks of relocating the court, one may borrow his strength as a frontier defender. We strain every effort to urge them to march, yet still fear it may already be too late—how can tens of thousands of troops be left idle in one region? At this hour of crisis, the fate of the altars of state hangs by a thread from one dawn to the next; if, heaven forbid, the court should one day flee in haste as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang once did, then the altars our forebears built over a century would be abandoned—and at that point, even smashing one's head and laying down one's life would avail nothing. Therefore I no longer hold back for fear of giving offense; I take only the survival of the altars of state as my concern and respectfully submit this memorial for Your Majesty's hearing.' The memorial was submitted, but again there was no reply.
21
二十八年秋，大明兵進壓近郊，有旨命祖仁及同僉太常禮儀院事王遜誌等載太廟神主，從皇太子北行。 祖仁等乃奏曰：「天子有大事出，則載主以行，從皇太子，非禮也。」 帝然之，還守太廟以俟命。 俄而天子北奔，祖仁守神主，不果從。 八月二日，京城破，將出健德門，為亂軍所害，時年五十五。
In the autumn of the twenty-eighth year, as the Ming armies pressed toward the suburbs, an edict ordered Zuren and Wang Xunzhi, Vice Commissioner of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, together with others to carry the spirit tablets from the Imperial Ancestral Temple and follow the Crown Prince north. Zuren and his colleagues then memorialized: "When the Son of Heaven departs on a grave emergency, he carries the spirit tablets with him—but to follow the Crown Prince is not according to ritual." The Emperor agreed; they returned to guard the Imperial Ancestral Temple and await further orders. Before long the Son of Heaven fled north; Zuren remained to guard the spirit tablets and did not go in the end. On the second day of the eighth month the capital fell; as he was about to leave by the Jiande Gate, he was killed by mutinous troops. He was fifty-five years old.
22
祖仁一目眇，貌寢，身短瘠，而語音清亮，議論偉然，負氣剛正，似不可犯者。 其學博而精，自天文、地理、律曆、兵乘、術數、百家之說，皆通其要。 為文簡質，而詩清麗，世多稱傳之。
Zuren had one blind eye, plain features, and a short, spare frame, yet his voice rang clear and his discourse was imposing; proud and upright in spirit, he seemed a man not to be crossed. His learning was broad and deep; from astronomy, geography, calendrics, military science, divination, and the teachings of the hundred schools, he had mastered their essentials. His prose was plain and spare, his poetry clear and graceful; the world widely praised and circulated his writings.
23
王遜志，字文敏，惲之曾孫也。 以廕授侍儀司通事舍人，歷隰州判官、大寧縣尹，擢陝西行台監察御史，累遷僉漢中、河西、山北三道肅政廉訪司事，入為工部員外郎，遷禮部郎中，拜監察御史。 劾詹事不蘭奚、平章宜童皆逆臣子孫，當屏諸遐裔。 除太府少監，出為江西廉訪副使，召僉太常禮儀院事。 京城不守，公卿爭出降，遜志獨家居，衣冠而坐。 其友中政院判官王翼來告曰：「新朝寬大，不惟不死，且仍與官，盍出詣官自言狀。」 遜志艴然斥之曰：「君既自不忠，又誘人為不義耶！」 因戒其子曰； 「汝謹繼吾宗。」 即自投井中死。
Wang Xunzhi, whose style name was Wenmin, was the great-grandson of Yun. Through hereditary privilege he entered service as an attendant in the Ceremonial Office, then served as judge of Xi Prefecture and magistrate of Daning County; he was promoted to investigating censor on the Shaanxi Branch Secretariat and rose through successive posts as commissioner on the Surveillance Commissions of the Hanzhong, Hexi, and Shanbei circuits; he entered the capital as vice director of the Ministry of Works, became director of rites in the Ministry of Rites, and was appointed investigating censor. He impeached the Chamberlain for the Heir Apparent Bolanxi and the Grand Councillor Yitong, both descendants of traitorous ministers, arguing that they should be banished to distant borderlands. He was appointed Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Storehouse, then sent out as Deputy Commissioner of the Jiangxi Surveillance Commission, and later recalled to serve as Vice Commissioner of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When the capital fell, the high officials rushed to surrender; Xunzhi alone stayed at home, seated in full court dress. His friend Wang Yi, a judge of the Central Secretariat for Palace Affairs, came and urged him: "The new dynasty is magnanimous—you will not only be spared death but may even keep your office. Why not go to the authorities and present yourself?" Xunzhi flushed with anger and rebuked him: "You are disloyal yourself—must you now lure others into disloyalty as well?" He then admonished his son, saying: "You must carefully carry on our family line." With that he cast himself into a well and died.
24
○成遵
○ Cheng Zun
25
成遵，字誼叔，南陽穰縣人也。 幼敏悟，讀書日記數千百言。 年十五，喪父。 家貧，勤苦不廢學問。 二十能文章。 時郡中先輩無治進士業者，遵欲為，以不合程式為患。 一日，憤然曰：「《四書》、《五經》，吾師也。 文無逾於《史》、《漢》、韓、柳。 區區科舉之作，何難哉。」 會楊惠初登第，來尹穰，遵乃書所作數十篇見之。 惠撫卷大喜，語之曰：「以此取科第，如拾芥耳。」 至順辛未，至京師，受《春秋》業於夏鎮，遂入成均為國子生。 時陳旅為助教，喜其文，數以語於奎章閣侍書學士虞集，集亟欲見之，旅令以己馬俾遵馳詣集。 集方有目疾，見遵來，迫而視之，曰； 「適觀生文，今見生貌，公輔器也。 吾老矣，恐不及見，生當自愛重也。」 元統改元，中進士第，授將仕郎、翰林國史院編修官。 明年，預修泰定、明宗、文宗三朝實錄。 後至元四年，升應奉翰林文字。 五年，辟御史臺掾。
Cheng Zun, whose style name was Yishu, was a native of Xiang County in Nanyang. As a boy he was quick-witted; in his reading he could memorize several thousand characters in a single day. At the age of fifteen he lost his father. His family was poor, yet through hard labor he never abandoned his studies. By twenty he could write accomplished essays. At that time none of the senior scholars in the prefecture had pursued the jinshi curriculum; Zun wished to do so but worried that his compositions did not fit the examination format. One day he said in exasperation: "The Four Books and the Five Classics are my teachers. In prose nothing surpasses the Records, the Han histories, Han Yu, and Liu Zongyuan. These petty examination compositions—what could be so difficult about them?" It happened that Yang Hui, who had just passed the examinations, came to serve as magistrate of Xiang; Zun then copied out several dozen of his compositions and presented them to him. Hui ran his hand over the scrolls and was delighted, telling him: "With writing like this to win the degree, it would be as easy as picking up a mustard seed from the ground." In the xinwei year of the Zhishun reign he went to the capital, studied the Spring and Autumn Annals under Xia Zhen, and entered the Imperial Academy as a National University student. At that time Chen Lü served as an assistant instructor; he admired Zun's writing and spoke of it again and again to Yu Ji, Attendant Academician of the Kuizhang Pavilion. Ji was eager to meet him, and Lü lent his own horse so that Zun could ride posthaste to see Ji. Ji was then suffering from an eye ailment; when he saw Zun arrive, he drew close to look at him and said: "Having just read your essays, I now see your bearing—you are destined for the highest offices. I am old now and fear I shall not live to see it; you must cherish yourself and hold yourself in esteem." When the Yuantong reign began, he passed the jinshi examinations and was appointed Junior Gentleman and compiler in the Hanlin Academy National History Office. The following year he took part in compiling the Veritable Records of the Taiding, Mingzong, and Wenzong reigns. In the fourth year of the Later Zhiyuan reign he was promoted to Attendant Drafter in the Hanlin Academy. In the fifth year he was recruited as a clerk of the Censorate.
26
至正改元，擢太常博士。 明年，轉中書檢校，尋拜監察御史。 扈從至上京，上封事，言天子宜慎起居，節嗜欲，以保養聖躬，聖躬安則宗社安矣。 言甚迫切，帝改容稱善。 又言台察四事：一曰差遣台臣，越職問事； 二曰左遷御史，杜塞言路； 三曰御史不思盡言，循敘求進； 四曰體覆廉訪聲跡不實，賢否混淆。 帝皆喜納之，諭台臣曰：「遵所言甚善，皆世祖風紀舊規也。」 特賜上尊旌其忠。 遵又言江浙火災當賑恤，及劾火魯忽赤不法十事，皆從之。 复上封事，言時務四事：一曰法祖宗，二曰節財用，三曰抑奔競，四曰明激勸。 奏入，帝稱善久之，命中書速議以行。 是歲，言事並舉劾凡七十餘事，皆指訐時弊，執政者惡之。 三年，自刑部員外郎出為陝西行省員外郎，以母病辭歸。 五年，丁母憂。 八年，擢僉淮東肅政廉訪司事，改禮部郎中，奉使山東、淮北察守令賢否，得循良者九人，貪懦者二十一人，奏之。 九人者，賜上尊幣帛，仍加顯擢； 其二十一人悉黜之。 九年，改刑部郎中，尋遷御史臺都事。 時台臣有嫉贓吏多以父母之憂免者，建論今後官吏，凡被案劾贓私，雖父母死，不許歸葬，須竟其獄，庶惡人不獲倖免。 遵曰：「惡人固可怒，然與人倫孰重？ 且國家以孝治天下，寧失罪人千百，不可使天下有無親之吏。」 御史大夫是其言。 升戶部侍郎。
When the Zhizheng reign began, he was promoted to Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The following year he was transferred to Inspector of the Central Secretariat, and soon after was appointed investigating censor. Accompanying the court to Shangdu, he submitted a sealed memorial urging the Son of Heaven to be careful in his daily conduct and restrain his appetites so as to preserve his health; when the sovereign's person is secure, the altars of state are secure. His words were urgent in the extreme; the Emperor's expression changed and he praised them. He also spoke of four matters concerning censorial oversight: first, dispatching censors beyond their duties to inquire into affairs; second, demoting investigating censors and blocking the path of remonstrance; third, censors who do not think to speak their minds fully but seek advancement by seniority alone; fourth, covering up false reports on the conduct and reputation of surveillance commissioners, so that the worthy and the unworthy are confused. The Emperor was pleased to accept them all and instructed the censors: "What Zun has said is excellent—all of it reflects the old regulations on conduct and discipline from the time of Emperor Shizu." He was specially granted fine wine in recognition of his loyalty. Zun also urged that the fire disaster in Jiang-Zhe should receive relief, and impeached Huoluhuochi on ten counts of misconduct—all were adopted. He again submitted a sealed memorial on four matters of current policy: first, follow the ancestral models; second, economize expenditures; third, restrain frantic competition for office; fourth, clarify rewards and encouragement. When the memorial was submitted, the Emperor praised it at length and ordered the Central Secretariat to deliberate quickly and put it into effect. That year, in memorials and impeachments together he addressed more than seventy matters, all pointing at current abuses; those in power came to hate him. In the third year he left his post as vice director of the Ministry of Punishments to become vice director of the Shaanxi Branch Secretariat, but resigned and returned home when his mother fell ill. In the fifth year he entered mourning for his mother. In the eighth year he was promoted to Commissioner of the Huaidong Surveillance Commission, then transferred to Director of Rites in the Ministry of Rites; commissioned to inspect the worthiness of prefectural and county officials in Shandong and north of the Huai, he found nine who were upright and diligent and twenty-one who were greedy or timid, and memorialized accordingly. The nine were granted fine wine and silks and further given conspicuous promotion; the twenty-one were all dismissed from office. In the ninth year he was transferred to Director of Punishments in the Ministry of Punishments, and soon after was promoted to Chief Clerk of the Censorate. At that time some censors, resenting that corrupt officials often escaped prosecution by claiming mourning for their parents, proposed that henceforth whenever an official was impeached for graft, even if his parents died he should not be permitted to return home for burial but must await the conclusion of his case, so that evildoers might not escape. Zun said: "Evildoers may indeed be enraging, but which weighs heavier—punishing them or the bonds of human relations? Moreover the state governs the realm through filial piety; better to let a thousand guilty men go than to have officials throughout the realm who are without parents." The Censor-in-Chief agreed with his words. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Revenue.
27
十年，遷中書右司郎中。 時刑部獄按久而不決者積數百，遵與其僚分閱之，共議其輕重，各當其罪，未幾，無遺事。 時有令輸粟補官，有匿其奸罪而入粟得七品雜流者，為怨家所告，有司議輸粟例，無有過不與之文，遵曰：「賣官鬻爵，已非盛典，況又賣官與姦淫之人，其將何以為治。 必奪其敕，還其粟，著為令，乃可。」 省臣從之。 除工部尚書。 先是，河決白茅，鄆城、濟寧皆為巨浸。 或言當築堤以遏水勢，或言必疏南河故道以殺水勢，而漕運使賈魯言：「必疏南河，塞北河，使復故道。 役不大興，害不能已。」 廷議莫能決。 乃命遵偕大司農禿魯行視河，議其疏塞之方以聞。 十一年春，自濟寧、曹、濮、汴梁、大名，行數千里，掘井以量地形之高下，測岸以究水勢之淺深，遍閱史籍，博採輿論，以謂河之故道，不可得復，其議有八。 而丞相脫脫已先入賈魯之言，及遵與禿魯至，力陳不可，且曰：「濟寧、曹、鄆，連歲饑饉，民不聊生，若聚二十萬人於此地，恐後日之憂又有重於河患者。」 脫脫怒曰：「汝謂民將反耶！」 自辰至酉，辨論終不能入。 明日，執政者謂遵曰：「修河之役，丞相意已定，且有人任其責矣，公其毋多言，幸為兩可之議。」 遵曰：「腕可斷，議不可易也。」 由是遂出為大都河間等處都轉運鹽使。 初，汝、汴二郡多富商，運司賴之，是時，汝寧盜起，侵汴境，朝廷調兵往討，括船運糧，以故舟楫不通，商販遂絕。 遵隨事處宜，國課皆集。
In the tenth year he was transferred to Director of the Right Department of the Central Secretariat. At that time several hundred cases in the prisons of the Ministry of Punishments had long gone undecided; Zun and his colleagues divided them for review, deliberated together on their severity, and assigned to each its proper penalty; before long nothing remained unresolved. At that time there was an order allowing grain contributions in exchange for office; one man who concealed his crimes of debauchery and bought a seventh-rank miscellaneous post through grain was denounced by an enemy; the authorities debated the grain-contribution precedent, which had no provision denying office to those with prior offenses; Zun said: "Selling offices and titles is already no proper institution—how much less selling them to men guilty of debauchery; how then is government to be conducted? His patent must be revoked, his grain returned, and this written into regulation—only then will it suffice." The provincial officials agreed. He was appointed Minister of Works. Earlier the Yellow River had burst its banks at Baimao, and Yuncheng and Jining were both submerged in vast floods. Some said dikes should be built to check the force of the waters, others that the old course of the southern river must be dredged to reduce it; but Jia Lu, Commissioner of Grain Transport, said: "The southern river must be dredged and the northern river blocked so that the old course may be restored. Unless labor on a great scale is undertaken, the harm cannot be ended." Court deliberation could reach no decision. The court then ordered Zun together with Tuolu, Grand Minister of Agriculture, to travel and inspect the river, deliberate on methods of dredging and blocking, and report back. In the spring of the eleventh year, from Jining, Cao, Pu, Bianliang, and Daming, they traveled several thousand li, sinking wells to measure the heights and lows of the terrain and surveying the banks to investigate the shallows and depths of the waters; they read widely in historical records and gathered public opinion broadly, concluding that the river's old course could not be restored, and set forth eight points in their proposal. But the Chancellor Toghto had already been won over by Jia Lu's words; when Zun and Tuolu arrived, they argued forcefully against the plan, saying: "Jining, Cao, and Yun have suffered famine year after year; the people can scarcely survive. If two hundred thousand men are gathered in this place, I fear that troubles hereafter may outweigh the harm of the river itself." Toghto said in anger: "Do you mean the people will rebel!" From morning until evening they argued, but in the end could not prevail. The next day those in power said to Zun: "On the river works the Chancellor's mind is already made up, and someone will bear responsibility for them; sir, speak no more on the matter—please offer a compromise proposal." Zun said: "My wrist may be cut off, but my position cannot be changed." Thereupon he was sent out as Commissioner of Salt Transport for Dadu, Hejian, and other circuits. At first the Ru and Bian prefectures had many wealthy merchants on whom the transport office relied; at this time bandits rose in Runing and invaded the Bian border; the court dispatched troops to suppress them and requisitioned boats to transport grain, so that shipping was blocked and commerce ceased. Zun handled each matter as circumstances required, and all state revenues were collected.
28
十四年，調武昌路總管。 武昌自十二年為沔寇所殘毀，民死於兵疫者十六七，而大江上下，皆劇盜阻絕，米直翔踴，民心遑遑。 遵言於省臣，假軍儲鈔萬錠，募勇敢之士，具戈船，截兵境，且戰且行，糴粟於太平、中興，民賴以全活者眾。 會省臣出師，遵攝省事，於是省中府中，惟遵一人。 乃遠斥候，塞城門，籍民為兵，得五千餘人，設萬夫長四，配守四門，所以為防禦之備甚至，號令嚴肅，賞罰明當。 賊船往來江中，終不敢近岸，城賴以安。 十五年，擢江南行台治書侍御史，召拜參議中書省事。 時河南之賊，數渡河而北，焚掠郡縣，上下視若常事。 遵率左右司僚佐，持其牘詣丞相言曰：「今天下州縣，喪亂過半，河北之民稍安者，以天塹黃河為之障，賊兵雖至，不能飛渡，所以剝膚椎髓以供軍儲而無深怨者，視河南之民，猶得保其室家故也。 今賊北渡河而官軍不禦，是大河之險已不能守，河北之民復何所恃乎？ 河北民心一搖，國勢將如之何！」 語未畢，哽咽不能言，宰相已下皆為之揮涕，乃以入奏。 帝詔即遣使罪守河將帥，而守禦自是亦頗嚴。
In the fourteenth year he was transferred to serve as Administrator of the Wuchang Circuit. Wuchang had since the twelfth year been ravaged by bandits from the Han region; six or seven tenths of the people died in war and pestilence, while up and down the great river fierce robbers blocked all passage; the price of rice soared, and the people's hearts were in turmoil. Zun spoke to the provincial officials, borrowing ten thousand ingots of military grain notes, recruiting brave men, equipping armed boats, cutting across the war zone while fighting as they went, and buying grain at Taiping and Zhongxing; many people relied on this to survive. When the provincial officials took the field, Zun acted in their stead in provincial affairs; thus in the provincial office and the prefectural office there was only Zun alone. He posted scouts far out, sealed the gates, and enrolled more than five thousand men as militia, appointing four commanders of ten thousand to hold the four gates. Defensive preparations reached their utmost; his commands were austere and rewards and punishments exact. Rebel vessels prowled the river but never dared come ashore; the city held secure. In year 15 he was promoted to investigating censor on the Jiangnan Branch Secretariat and summoned as an associate discussant in the Central Secretariat. Henan bandits were crossing the Yellow River northward again and again, burning towns—and the court treated it as routine. Zun led the left and right secretariat staff, memorial in hand, to the chancellor. He said: "More than half the empire's prefectures and counties lie in ruin. North of the Yellow River, folk endure only because the river is Heaven's moat—rebels cannot cross it at will. They strip themselves to fill the army's granaries yet resent little, for unlike Henan they still have roofs over their heads. Now rebels cross north and our troops do not meet them—the river's defense is lost. What will Hebei trust hereafter? If Hebei's hearts waver once, what becomes of the realm?" He could not finish; voice breaking, he fell silent. From the chancellor down, all wept, and the matter went before the throne. The emperor immediately sent envoys to discipline the river garrisons, and the northern defenses grew noticeably stricter.
29
先是，湖廣倪賊，質威順王之子，而遣人請降，求為湖廣行省平章，朝臣欲許者半，遵曰：「平章之職，亞宰相也。 承平之時，雖德望漢人，抑而不與，今叛逆之賊，挾勢要求，輕以與之，如綱紀何！」 或曰：「王子，世皇嫡孫也，不許，是棄之與賊，非親親之道也。」 遵曰：「項羽執太公，欲烹之以挾高祖，高祖乃以分羹答之，奈何今以王子之故，廢天下大計乎！」 眾皆韙其論。 除治書侍御史，俄復入中書為參知政事。 離省僅六日，丞相每決大議，則曰「姑少緩之」，眾莫曉其意，及遵拜執政，喜曰：「大政事今可決矣。」
Earlier the Ni bandits of Huguang held the Prince of Weishun's son hostage and sued for surrender, demanding the Huguang grand councillorship. Half the court would grant it. Zun said: "Grand councillor ranks just below chancellor. In peace even worthy Han were refused this rank; shall we lightly hand it to rebels who extort it by force? What of law and order?" Another said: "The prince is Emperor Shizu's own grandson; to refuse is to abandon him to bandits—not the way of kinship." Zun said: "Xiang Yu seized Liu Bang's father and threatened to boil him; Gaozu replied that he wanted a bowl of the soup too. How shall we discard the empire's great design for one prince's sake?" All endorsed his view. He was made investigating censor, then soon reentered the Secretariat as associate councillor. Zun had been out of the Secretariat only six days. On every weighty decision the chancellor said, "Let us wait"—none knew why—until Zun took office again, when he said joyfully, "Great matters can be settled now."
30
十七年，升中書左丞，階資善大夫，分省彰德。 是時，太平在相位，以事忤皇太子，皇太子深銜之，欲去之而未有以發，以為遵及參知政事趙中，皆太平黨也，遵、中兩人去，則太平之黨孤。 十九年，用事者承望風旨，嗾寶坻縣尹鄧守禮弟鄧子初等，誣遵與參政趙中、參議蕭庸等六人皆受贓，皇太子命御史臺、大宗正府等官雜問之，鍛煉使成獄，遵等竟皆杖死，中外冤之。 二十四年，御史臺臣辯明遵等皆誣枉，詔复給還其所授宣敕。
In year 17 he rose to left vice chancellor, rank of Senior Counselor for Goodness, with detached duty at Zhangde. Taiping then held the chancellorship and had offended the heir apparent, who nursed deep resentment and sought his removal without pretext. He counted Zun and Zhao Zhong among Taiping's allies; remove them, he reasoned, and Taiping would stand alone. In year 19 men in power read the prince's mood and set Deng Zichu, brother of Baodi magistrate Deng Shouli, to frame Zun, Zhao Zhong, Xiao Yong, and six others for bribery. The heir had the Censorate and Imperial Clan Office examine them; the case was forged to completion, and all were flogged to death—a wrong mourned throughout the realm. In year 24 the Censorate cleared them of false charges; an edict restored their commissions.
31
○曹鑑
○ Cao Jian
32
曹鑑，字克明，宛平人。 穎悟過人，舉止異常兒，既冠，南游，具通《五經》大義。 大德五年，用翰林侍講學士郝彬薦，為鎮江淮海書院山長。 十一年，南行台中丞廉恆辟為掾史。 丁內艱，復起，補掾史，除興文署。 命伴送安南使者，沿途問難倡和，應答如響，使者嘆服，以為中國有人。 至治二年，授江浙行省左右司員外郎。 明年，奉旨括釋氏白雲宗田，稽檢有方，不數月而事集，纖毫無擾。 泰定七年，遷湖廣行省左右司員外郎。 時丞相忽剌歹怙勢恣縱，妄為威福，僚屬多畏避，鑑遇事徇理輒行，獨不為回撓。 湖北廉訪司舉鑑宜居風紀，不報。 天曆元年，調江浙財賦府副總管。 屬淮、浙大水，民以災告，鑑損其賦什六七，勢家因而詭免者，鑑核實，諭令首輸。 元統二年，升同僉太常禮儀院，鑑習典故，達今古，凡禮樂、度數、名物，罔不周知。 因集議明宗皇后祔廟事，援禮據經，辯析詳明，君子多之。 至元元年，以中大夫升禮部尚書，俄感疾而卒，年六十五。 追封譙郡侯，諡文穆。
Cao Jian, style Keming, was from Wanping. Precocious beyond his peers, unlike ordinary boys in manner, he traveled south after coming of age and mastered the substance of the Five Classics. In Dade 5, on Hanlin lecturer Hao Bin's recommendation, he became head of the Zhenjiang Huai-Hai Academy. In year 11 Commissioner Lian Heng of the southern Branch Secretariat took him on as clerk. After mourning for his mother he returned, resumed as clerk, and was appointed to the Office for Promoting Literature. Ordered to escort an Annamese envoy, he met every challenge and verse along the road with instant wit. The envoy marveled, saying China indeed had its men. In Zhizhi 2 he was made outside vice-director on the Jiang-Zhe secretariat's left and right staffs. The next year he surveyed Baiyun Buddhist lands by imperial order—his audit so disciplined that within months the task was done without a whisper of trouble. In Taiding 7 he was transferred to the same post on the Huguang secretariat. Chancellor Huladai then lorded his power, dispensing favors at will. Most staff shrank away; Jian alone pressed what reason required without bending. The Huguang surveillance office recommended him for discipline posts; the court did not act. In Tianli 1 he was made vice administrator of Jiang-Zhe revenues. Floods ravaged the Huai and Zhe; people pleaded disaster. He cut taxes six- or seven-tenths. Powerful houses claiming exemption he audited and ordered to pay up first. In Yuantong 2 he rose in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Jian knew precedent through ages past and present—ritual, music, measures, and ritual objects left nothing unknown. Debating the enshrinement of Empress Mingzong, he argued from ritual and classics with luminous detail; men of discernment approved. In Zhiyuan 1 he rose to Minister of Rites as Grand Master of the Palace; illness soon took him at sixty-five. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Marquis of Qiao with the posthumous name Wenmu.
33
鑑天性純孝，親族貧乏者，周恤恐後。 歷官三十餘年，僦屋以居。 歿之日，家無餘貲，唯蓄書數千卷，皆鑑手較定。 鑑為詩賦，尚《騷》、《雅》，作文法西漢，每篇成，學者爭相傳誦。 有文集若干卷，藏於家。
Pure filial piety was his nature; to poor kin he gave aid, never behindhand. For thirty years in office he lived in a rented house. He died leaving no spare wealth, only several thousand books he had collated himself. His poetry and fu looked to the Songs of Chu and the Book of Odes; his prose modeled the Western Han. Scholars passed each new piece from hand to hand. A collected works in several juan remained in the family.
34
鑑任湖廣員外時，有故掾顧淵伯，以辰砂一包饋鑑，鑑漫爾置篋笥中。 半載後，因欲合藥劑，命取視之，乃有黃金三兩雜其中，鑑驚歎曰：「淵伯以我為何如人也！」 淵伯已歿，鑑呼其子歸之。 其廉慎不欺如此。
As Huguang vice-director, former clerk Gu Yuanbo gave him a packet of cinnabar; Jian tossed it in a chest. Half a year later, preparing medicine, he had it brought out and found three taels of gold mixed in. He cried in dismay: "What sort of man did Yuanbo take me for!" Yuanbo was dead; Jian summoned his son and returned the gold. Such was his integrity that he would neither deceive nor be deceived.
35
○張翥
○ Zhang Zhu
36
張翥，字仲舉，晉寧人。 其父為吏，從征江南，調饒州安仁縣典史，又為杭州鈔庫副使。 翥少時，負其才雋，豪放不羈，好蹴鞠，喜音樂，不以家業屑其意，其父以為憂。 翥一旦翻然改曰：「大人勿憂，今請易業矣。」 乃謝客，閉門讀書，晝夜不暫輟，因受業於李存先生。 存家安仁，江東大儒也，其學傳於陸九淵氏，翥從之遊，道德性命之說，多所研究。 未幾，留杭，又從仇遠先生學。 遠於詩最高，翥學之，盡得其音律之奧，於是翥遂以詩文知名一時。 已而薄遊維揚，居久之，學者及門甚眾。
Zhang Zhu, style Zhongju, was from Jinning. His father was a clerk who followed the southern campaigns, became record-keeper of Anren in Raozhou, then deputy of Hangzhou's paper-money vault. Young Zhu was brilliant and wild, loving kickball and music, caring nothing for the family trade—his father despaired. One day he turned and said, "Father, do not worry. I shall change my trade." He shut out guests, read night and day without pause, and studied under Master Li Cun. Li Cun of Anren was a great scholar of the southeast, heir to Lu Jiuyuan's school. Zhu studied with him, probing doctrines of nature and moral principle. Soon he stayed on in Hangzhou and studied under Master Qiu Yuan. Qiu Yuan mastered poetry; Zhu learned from him every secret of meter and tune, and soon his verse and prose were famous throughout the land. He traveled to Yangzhou and stayed long; scholars thronged his door.
37
至元末，同郡傅巖起居中書，薦翥隱逸。 至正初，召為國子助教，分教上都生。 尋退居淮東。 會朝廷修遼、金、宋三史，起為翰林國史院編修官。 史成，歷應奉、修撰，遷太常博士，升禮儀院判官，又遷翰林，歷直學士、侍講學士，乃以侍讀兼祭酒。 翥勤於誘掖後進，絕去崖岸，不徒以師道自尊，用是學者樂親炙之。 有以經義請問者，必歷舉眾說，為之折衷，論辯之際，雜以談笑，無不厭其所得而後已。 嘗奉旨詣中書，集議時政，眾論蜂起，翥獨默然。 丞相搠思監曰：「張先生平日好論事，今一語不出何耶？」 翥對曰：「諸人之議，皆是也。 但事勢有緩急，施行有先後，在丞相所決耳。」 搠思監善之。 明日，除集賢學士，俄以翰林學士承旨致仕，階榮祿大夫。
Near the end of the Zhiyuan era, fellow townsman Fu Yan of the Secretariat recommended Zhu as a recluse scholar. At Zhizheng's opening he was summoned as National University junior instructor to teach students at Shangdu. Soon he retired to east Huai. When the court compiled the Liao, Jin, and Song histories, he was raised as Hanlin national history compiler. After the histories were done he rose through composer and reviser posts to erudite of the Sacrifices Court, ritual vice director, then Hanlin—a progression through attending and lecturing academician until he held both lecturing academician and rector. He worked hard to lift juniors, shed all pretense of distance, and never masked himself in the teacher's dignity—scholars loved to draw near his warmth. On classical questions he weighed every school and reconciled them; debate blended with laughter until the questioner was satisfied. Once ordered to the Secretariat to debate current policy, he alone stayed silent while others buzzed. Chancellor Shisim Jian said, "Master Zhang always has views—why not one word today?" Zhu replied, "The gentlemen's proposals are all right. Only that affairs have their urgency and their season, and execution its order—all that rests with the chancellor." Shisim Jian approved. Next day he was made Collected Treasures academician; soon he retired as Hanlin recipient of edicts at the rank of Glory and Blessing Grand Master.
38
孛羅帖木兒之入京師也，命翥草詔，削奪擴廓帖木兒官爵，且發兵討之，翥毅然不從。 左右或勸之，翥曰：「吾臂可斷，筆不能操也。」 天子知其意不可奪，乃命他學士為之。 孛羅帖木兒雖知之，亦不以為怨也。 及孛羅帖木兒既誅，詔乃以翥為河南行省平章政事，仍翰林學士承旨致仕，給全俸終其身。 二十八年三月卒，年八十二。
When Boluo Temur entered the capital he ordered Zhu to draft an edict stripping Kozha Temur and sending troops against him; Zhu refused flatly. Some urged him; he said, "You may sever my arm, but I will not take up the brush." The emperor saw his resolve could not be bent and had another academician write it. Boluo Temur knew and bore no grudge. After Boluo Temur's execution, Zhu was named grand councillor of Henan while remaining retired Hanlin recipient of edicts with full salary for life. He died in the third month of year 28, aged eighty-two.
39
翥長於詩，其近體、長短句尤工。 文不如詩，而每以文自負。 常語人曰：「吾於文已化矣，蓋吾未嘗構思，特任意屬筆而已。」 它日，翰林學士沙剌班示以所為文，請易置數字，苦思者移時，終不就。 沙剌班曰：「先生於文，豈猶未化耶，何思之苦也？」 翥因相視大笑。 蓋翥平日善諧謔，出談吐語，輒令人失笑，一座盡傾，入其室，藹然春風中也。 所為詩文甚多。 無丈夫子。 及死，國遂亡，以故其遺稿不傳。 其傳者，有律詩、樂府，僅三卷。 翥嘗集兵興以來死節死事之人為書，曰《忠義錄》，識者韙之。
He excelled in poetry; regulated verse and ci were his especial mastery. His prose did not equal his verse, yet he prized it more. He would say, "My prose writes itself—I never plan it; the brush simply follows impulse." Once Hanlin academician Shala Ban showed him a draft and asked him to change a few words; Zhu brooded a long while and could not. Shala Ban said, "Master, is prose still unmastered for you? Why such agony?" They looked at each other and laughed. Zhu loved raillery; a word from him could overturn a table with laughter. His chamber breathed spring. His poetry and prose were voluminous. He had no sons. He died; the dynasty soon followed; his papers did not circulate. What survives—regulated verse and yuefu—fills only three scrolls. He once compiled a Record of Loyal and Righteous Acts listing men who died for principle or duty since the wars began; discerning readers approved.