1
烏古孫良楨
Wugusun Liangzhen
2
烏古孫良楨字幹卿，世次見父澤傳。 資器絕人，好讀書。 至治二年，蔭補江陰州判官，尋丁內艱，服除，調婺州武義縣尹，有惠政。 改漳州路推官，獄有疑者，悉平反之。 上言：「律，徒者不杖，今杖而又徒，非恤刑意，宜加徒減杖。」 遂定為令。 移泉州，益以能稱。 轉延平判官，拜陝西行臺監察御史，劾遼陽行省左丞相達識帖睦邇賣國不忠，援漢高帝斬丁公故事，以明人臣大義。 并劾御史中丞胡居祐奸邪，皆罷之，中外震懾。 陞都事，猶以言不盡行，解去。
Wugusun Liangzhen, whose courtesy name was Ganqing, is treated further in the genealogical account in his father Ze's biography. Gifted beyond ordinary men, he devoted himself to learning. In 1322 he inherited his father's privilege and was appointed assistant prefect of Jiangyin; shortly afterward he went into mourning for his mother. After the mourning period he was assigned magistrate of Wuyi in Wuzhou, where he earned a reputation for humane governance. Transferred to serve as judicial investigator on the Zhangzhou circuit, he overturned every conviction he found questionable. He memorialized the throne: "The law provides that those sentenced to penal servitude shall not also be flogged; yet offenders are now flogged and then sentenced to penal servitude as well. That is not the spirit of lenient punishment. The statute should be amended to increase the term of penal servitude and reduce the number of strokes." The reform was duly enacted as law. Posted to Quanzhou, he won still greater renown for his ability. Promoted to judicial investigator at Yanping and then appointed investigating censor on the Shaanxi Branch Secretariat, he impeached Dashi Timur, left chancellor of the Liaoyang Branch Secretariat, for betraying the state. Invoking the Han precedent of Emperor Gaozu executing Lord Ding, he argued to make plain the supreme duty owed by a subject to his sovereign. He also impeached Vice Censor-in-Chief Hu Juyou for corruption and treachery. Both men were removed from office, and the whole empire was shaken. Promoted to director of affairs, he resigned when his recommendations were not fully implemented.
3
復起為監察御史，良楨以帝方覽萬幾，不可不求賢自輔，於是連疏：「天曆數年間紀綱大壞，元氣傷夷。 天祐聖明，入膺大統，而西宮秉政，奸臣弄權，畜憾十有餘年。 天威一怒，陰晦開明，以正大名，以章大孝，此誠兢兢業業祈天永命之秋，其術在乎敬身修德而已。 今經筵多領以職事臣，數日一進講，不渝數刻已罷，而御小臣，恒侍左右，何益於盛德哉。 臣願招延儒臣若許衡者數人，置於禁密，常以唐、虞、三代之道，啟沃宸衷，日新其德，實萬世無疆之福也。」 又以國俗父死則妻其從母，兄弟死則收其妻，父母死無憂制，遂言：「綱常皆出於天而不可變，議法之吏，乃言國人不拘此例，諸國人各從本俗。 是漢、南人當守綱常，國人、諸國人不必守綱常也。 名曰優之，實則陷之，外若尊之，內實侮之，推其本心所以待國人者，不若漢、南人之厚也。 請下禮官有司及右科進士在朝者會議，自天子至於庶人，皆從禮制，以成列聖未遑之典，明萬世不易之道。」 又言：「隱士劉因，道學經術可比許文正公衡，從祀孔子廟庭。」 皆不報。 御史臺作新風憲，復疏其所當行者，以舉賢才為綱，而以厚風俗、均賦役、重審理、汰冗官、選守令、出奉使、均公田為目，指擿剴切，雖觸忌諱，亦不顧也。 宦者罕失嬖妾殺其妻，糜其肉飼犬，上疏乞正重刑，并論宦寺結廷臣撓政為害，可汰黜之。 憸佞側目。
Recalled to serve again as investigating censor, Liangzhen judged that with the emperor now personally attending to the myriad affairs of government, he could not afford to neglect recruiting worthy advisers. He therefore submitted a series of memorials: "During the Tianshun era the laws and institutions fell into grave disorder and the vital energies of the dynasty were grievously depleted. Heaven blessed Your Sagely Brilliance to ascend the great succession, yet the Western Palace held the reins of power, wicked ministers manipulated authority, and grievances festered for more than a decade. When Heaven's wrath was unleashed, darkness gave way to light; the imperial name was set right and filial piety was proclaimed to the world. This is truly the moment to serve Heaven with trembling diligence and pray for an enduring mandate—and the means lie solely in self-restraint and the cultivation of virtue. Today the Classics Lecture is led mostly by officials burdened with other duties. They lecture only once every few days and dismiss the session after a few moments, while petty attendants linger constantly at Your side. What good can this do for the cultivation of imperial virtue? I beg that several Confucian scholars of Xu Heng's stature be summoned to serve within the inner palace, there to instruct Your Majesty continually in the ways of Tang, Yu, and the Three Dynasties, renewing Your virtue day by day. That would be a blessing without limit for ten thousand generations." He also addressed Mongol customs by which a man marries his stepmother after his father's death, takes his brother's widow after a brother's death, and observes no mourning when parents die. He wrote: "The moral order proceeds from Heaven and cannot be altered. Yet the officials who draft legislation hold that Mongols need not observe these rules and that peoples of every realm may follow their native customs. In effect this means that Han Chinese and southerners must uphold the moral order, while Mongols and other subject peoples need not. What is called favor in name is entrapment in fact; what appears respect outwardly is contempt within. At bottom Mongols are treated less generously than Han Chinese and southerners. I beg that ritual officials, the responsible agencies, and jinshi of the Right Branch now at court be ordered to deliberate together, and that from the Son of Heaven to the common people all alike follow the ritual code—thereby completing the canon our sage forebears had not yet had leisure to enact and making plain the Way that must not change for ten thousand generations." He also urged that the recluse Liu Yin, whose mastery of the Way and classical learning rivaled that of Duke of Culture Xu Heng, be granted accompanying sacrifice in the temple of Confucius. None of these proposals received a response. When the Censorate promulgated new regulations for censorial oversight, he submitted another memorial setting forth what ought to be done: promoting worthy talent as the overarching principle, with enriching customs, equalizing taxes and corvée, strengthening judicial review, eliminating redundant officials, selecting prefects and magistrates, dispatching imperial envoys, and equalizing public fields as specific aims. His criticisms were sharp and unsparing; even when they touched forbidden topics he did not hold back. When a eunuch named Han, having lost a favored concubine, killed his wife, minced her flesh, and fed it to his dogs, Liangzhen memorialized asking that the severest penalty be imposed. He also argued that eunuchs who colluded with court officials to obstruct government were a grave evil and ought to be purged. The sycophants and flatterers glared at him with hatred.
4
至正四年，召為刑部員外郎，轉御史臺都事。 五年，改中書左司都事，出為江東道肅政廉訪司副使。 上官一日，辭歸。 六年，授平江路緫管，不拜。 八年，復召為右司員外郎。 九年，陞郎中，尋遷廣東道肅政廉訪使，未行，還為郎中，遷福建道肅政廉訪使，中道召還，參議中書省事，兼經筵官。 十一年，拜治書侍御史，陞中書參知政事、同知經筵事。
In 1344 he was summoned to serve as vice director in the Ministry of Punishments and was soon transferred to director of affairs at the Censorate. The following year he was appointed director of affairs in the Secretariat's Left Department, then posted as vice commissioner of the Jiangdong Surveillance Commission. He assumed the post for a single day and then resigned. In 1346 he was offered the post of general administrator of Pingjiang circuit but declined to accept it. In 1348 he was recalled to serve as vice director of the Secretariat's Right Department. In 1349 he was promoted to director, then appointed surveillance commissioner of the Guangdong circuit but recalled before he could take up the post. Reappointed director, he was next assigned surveillance commissioner of Fujian, then summoned back while still en route and made a participant in Secretariat affairs, concurrently serving at the Classics Lecture. In 1351 he was appointed supervising censor, then promoted to vice grand councillor of the Secretariat and associate director of the Classics Lecture.
5
十三年，陞左丞，兼大司農卿，仍同知經筵事。 時中書參用非人，事多異同，不得一一如志。 會軍餉不給，請與右丞悟良哈台主屯田，歲入二十萬石。 東宮久未建，懇懇為言，車駕幸上都，始冊皇太子。 立詹事院，驛召為副詹事，每直端本堂，則進正心誠意之說、親君子遠小人之道，皇太子嘉納焉。 當時盜賊蜂起，帝聞，惡之，下詔分討，必盡誅而後已。 良楨言：「平賊在收人心，以回天意，多殺非道也。」 乃赦以安之。
In 1353 he was promoted to left vice grand councillor and concurrent minister of the Great Agrarian Office, retaining his post as associate director of the Classics Lecture. The Secretariat was then staffed with unworthy men; policies were constantly disputed, and he could not always carry out his intentions. When military provisions ran short, he joined Right Vice Councillor Ulabqatai in supervising garrison agriculture, producing two hundred thousand piculs of grain annually. The heir apparent had long gone uninstalled; Liangzhen pleaded earnestly on the matter, and when the emperor traveled to the Upper Capital the crown prince was at last formally designated. When the Household of the Heir Apparent was established, he was summoned by urgent dispatch to serve as vice household head. Whenever he attended at the Hall of the Upright Root he instructed the crown prince in rectifying the mind and making the intentions sincere, and in drawing near to gentlemen while keeping petty men at a distance. The crown prince received his teaching with approval. Bandits and rebels were then rising everywhere. When the emperor heard of it he was enraged and issued an edict ordering separate campaigns of suppression, decreeing that none were to be spared until all had been exterminated. Liangzhen said: "To pacify rebellion one must win back the people's hearts and turn Heaven's wrath. Mass slaughter is not the Way." An amnesty was accordingly proclaimed to reassure the populace.
6
十四年，遷淮南行省左丞。 初，泰州賊張士誠既降復叛，殺淮南行省參知政事趙璉，進據高郵、六合，太師脫脫奉詔，緫諸王軍南征，而良楨洎參議龔伯璲、刑部主事廬山等從之。 既平六合，垂克高郵，會詔罷脫脫兵柄，遂有上變告伯璲等勸脫脫勒兵北向者，下其事逮問，詞連良楨，簿對無所驗。 即日還中書左丞，命分省彰德，主調軍食，居半歲，還中書。 十六年，進階榮祿大夫，賜玉帶一。
In 1354 he was transferred to left vice grand councillor of the Huainan Branch Secretariat. Earlier the Taizhou rebel Zhang Shicheng had surrendered and then rebelled again, killing Zhao Lian, participant in government of the Huainan Branch Secretariat, and seizing Gaoyou and Luhe. Grand Preceptor Toghto received orders to command the armies of the imperial princes on a southern campaign, and Liangzhen went with him, accompanied by Participant Gong Bojuan, Lu Shan of the Ministry of Punishments, and others. After Luhe was pacified and Gaoyou was nearly taken, an edict arrived stripping Toghto of military command. Someone then submitted a report accusing Gong Bojuan and others of urging Toghto to march the army north against the court. The case was sent down for arrest and interrogation, and Liangzhen was implicated in the testimony, but examination of the records found no evidence against him. That same day he was restored as left vice grand councillor of the Secretariat, then ordered to the Zhangde branch secretariat to oversee military provisions. After half a year he returned to the central government. In 1356 he was promoted to Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and granted a jade belt.
7
十七年，除大司農。 明年，陞右丞，兼大司農，辭，不允。 論罷陷賊延坐之令。 有惡少年誣知宜興州張復通賊之罪，中書將籍其孥，吏抱案請署。 良楨曰； 「手可斷，案不可署。」 同列變色，卒不署。
In 1357 he was appointed minister of the Great Agrarian Office. The following year he was promoted to right vice grand councillor while retaining the Great Agrarian portfolio. He declined but was not permitted to resign. He argued successfully for abolishing the statute imposing collective punishment on families of those accused of colluding with rebels. A vicious youth falsely accused Zhang Fu, prefect of Yixing, of communicating with rebels. The Secretariat was about to register his family for confiscation, and a clerk brought the dossier for Liangzhen's signature. Liangzhen said: "My hand may be severed, but I will not sign this dossier." His colleagues turned pale, but in the end he refused to sign.
8
良楨自左曹登政府，多所建白。 罷福建、山東食鹽，浙東、西長生牛租，瀕海被災圍田稅，民皆德之。 嘗論至正格輕重不倫，吏得並緣為奸，舉明律者數人，參酌古今，重定律書，書成而罷。 家居輒訓諸子曰：「吾無過人者，惟待人以誠，人亦以誠遇我，汝宜志之。」 晚歲病瘠，數謁告，病益侵，遂卒。 自號約齋。 有詩文奏議凡若干卷，藏于家。
From his rise through the Left Department to the highest councils of state, Liangzhen offered many constructive proposals. He abolished the salt monopoly in Fujian and Shandong, the long-life ox levy in eastern and western Zhe, and the enclosed-field tax on coastal lands stricken by disaster. The people everywhere blessed his name. He once argued that the Zhizheng code's gradations of punishment were inconsistent, allowing clerks to exploit the gaps for fraud. He nominated several experts in the Ming code to consult past and present precedents and redraft the statutes. The new code was completed, but the project was abandoned. At home he would instruct his sons: "I have no special gift beyond this: I treat others with sincerity, and they respond in kind. Remember that." In his later years he grew gaunt from illness, repeatedly requested leave, and as his condition worsened he died. He took the style Master of the Compact Studio. His collected poetry, prose, and memorials, comprising several juan, were preserved by his family.
9
賈魯字友恒，河東高平人。 幼負志節，既長，謀略過人。 延祐、至治間，兩以明經領鄉貢。 泰定初，恩授東平路儒學教授，辟憲史，歷行省掾，除潞城縣尹，選丞相東曹掾，擢戶部主事，未上。 一日，覺心悸，尋得父書，筆勢顫縮，即辭歸，比至家，父已有風疾，未幾卒。
Jia Lu, whose courtesy name was Youheng, came from Gaoping in Hedong. Even as a boy he showed firmness of purpose; when grown, his strategic judgment surpassed that of ordinary men. During the Yanyou and Zhizhi reigns he twice led his district's candidates in the provincial examinations through mastery of the Classics. At the beginning of the Taiding reign he was granted by imperial favor the post of professor at the Confucian school of Dongping circuit. He was recruited as a surveillance secretarial aide, served as a branch secretariat aide, was appointed magistrate of Lucheng, selected as secretarial aide in the Chancellor's Eastern Department, and promoted to director of affairs in the Ministry of Revenue—but never took up the last appointment. One day he felt his heart palpitate. Soon a letter arrived from his father, the brushstrokes trembling and contracted. He resigned at once and hurried home, but by the time he arrived his father was already stricken with paralysis and died shortly afterward.
10
魯居喪服闋，起為太醫院都事。 會詔修遼、金、宋三史，召魯為宋史局官。 書成，選魯燕南山東道奉使宣撫幕官，考績居最，遷中書省檢校官。 上言：「十八河倉，近歲淪沒官糧百三十萬斛，其弊由富民兼并，貧民流亡，宜合先正經界，然事體重大，非處置盡善，不可輕發。」 書累數萬言，切中其弊。 俄拜監察御史，首言御史有封事，宜專達聖聰，不宜臺臣先有所可否。 陞臺都事，遷山北廉訪副使，復召為工部郎中，言考工一十九事。
After the mourning period Jia Lu was recalled to serve as director of affairs at the Imperial Medical Academy. When an edict ordered the compilation of the histories of Liao, Jin, and Song, he was summoned to serve in the Song History Bureau. When the histories were completed he was selected as staff officer on the Yanshan-Shandong pacification commission, ranked first in performance evaluation, and transferred to revising official of the Secretariat. He memorialized: "At the Eighteen Rivers granaries, more than 1.3 million hu of state grain have been lost to inundation in recent years. The root of the abuse lies in wealthy households engrossing land while the poor flee as refugees. Field boundaries should first be rectified—but the matter is grave, and unless every measure is soundly planned it must not be undertaken lightly." His memorial ran to tens of thousands of words and struck to the heart of the abuses. Soon afterward he was appointed investigating censor. His first memorial held that sealed memorials from censors should reach the emperor directly, without censorate colleagues prejudging them by expressing approval or disapproval in advance. Promoted to director of affairs at the Censorate, then transferred to vice surveillance commissioner of the Shanbei circuit, he was recalled to serve as director in the Ministry of Works and submitted nineteen recommendations on works administration.
11
至正四年，河決白茅堤，又決金堤，並河郡邑，民居昏墊，壯者流離。 帝甚患之，遣使體驗，仍督大臣訪求治河方略，特命魯行都水監。 魯循行河道，考察地形，往復數千里，備得要害，為圖上進二策：其一，議修築北堤，以制橫潰，則用工省； 其一，議疏塞並舉，挽河東行，使復故道，其功數倍。 會遷右司郎中，議未及竟。 其在右司，言時政二十一事，皆見舉行。 調都漕運使，復以漕事二十事言之，朝廷取其八事：一曰京畿和糴，二曰優恤漕司舊領漕戶，三曰接連委官，四曰通州緫治豫定委官，五曰船戶困於壩夫，海運壞於壩戶，六曰疏濬運河，七曰臨清運糧萬戶府當隸漕司，八曰宣忠船戶付本司節制。 事未盡行。 既而河水北侵安山，淪入運河，延袤濟南、河間，將隳兩漕司鹽場，實妨國計。
In 1344 the Yellow River burst the Baimao dike and then the Jindi embankment as well. Towns and villages along the river were submerged; able-bodied men fled as refugees. The emperor was deeply troubled. He dispatched envoys to inspect the damage on the spot and ordered his ministers to seek strategies for controlling the river. Jia Lu was specially appointed acting director of the Directorate of Waterways. Jia Lu traveled the river course, surveyed the terrain, and journeyed back and forth over several thousand li until he had mastered every critical point. He submitted a map with two proposed strategies: the first, to build and repair the northern dike to contain lateral breaches, would require relatively little labor; the second, to dredge and block simultaneously and draw the river eastward back to its old course, would require several times the effort. Just then he was transferred to director of the Right Department, and deliberation on the plans was cut short. While serving in the Right Department he submitted twenty-one recommendations on current policy, all of which were adopted. Transferred to commissioner of metropolitan grain transport, he submitted twenty recommendations on transport affairs. The court adopted eight: government purchase of grain in the capital region; preferential relief for transport households formerly under the transport office; continuous appointment of supervisory officials; overall governance at Tongzhou with officials designated in advance; relief for boat households oppressed by dam laborers and for sea transport disrupted by dam households; dredging of the Grand Canal; subordination of the Linqing grain-transport ten-thousand-household office to the transport commission; and placing the Xuanzhong boat households under the commission's direct control. The remaining recommendations were not fully implemented. Before long the river invaded Anshan from the north and poured into the Grand Canal, spreading across Jinan and Hejian and threatening to destroy the salt fields of both transport commissions—a grave blow to state revenue.
12
九年，太傅、右丞相脫脫復相，論及河決，思拯民艱，以塞詔旨，乃集廷臣群議，言人人殊。 魯昌言：「河必當治。」 復以前二策進，丞相取其後策，與魯定議，且以其事屬魯。 魯固辭，丞相曰：「此事非子不可。」 乃入奏，大稱帝旨。 十一年四月，命魯以工部尚書、緫治河防使，進秩二品，授以銀章，領河南、北諸路軍民，發汴梁、大名十有三路民一十五萬，廬州等戍十有八翼軍二萬供役，一切從事大小軍民官，咸稟節度，便宜興繕。 是月鳩工，七月鑿河成，八月決水故河，九月舟楫通，十一月諸埽諸堤成，水土工畢，河復故道。 事見河渠志。 帝遣使報祭河伯，召魯還京師，魯以河平圖獻。 帝適覽臺臣奏疏，請褒脫脫治河之績，次論魯功，超拜榮祿大夫、集賢大學士，賞賚金帛，敕翰林丞旨歐陽玄製河平碑，以旌脫脫勞績，具載魯功，且宣付史館，并贈魯先臣三世。
In 1352 Grand Tutor and Right Chancellor Toghto returned to power. When the river breach was discussed, wishing to relieve the people's suffering and fulfill the imperial mandate, he convened the court for collective deliberation—but every minister had a different opinion. Jia Lu spoke forthrightly: "The river must be brought under control." He again presented his two earlier strategies. The chancellor chose the second, settled the plan with Jia Lu, and entrusted the entire project to him. Jia Lu firmly declined, but the chancellor said, "This cannot be accomplished without you." He then memorialized the throne, and the proposal met with the emperor's full approval. In the fourth month of 1351 Jia Lu was appointed minister of works and overall commissioner for river defense, advanced to second rank, and granted a silver seal. He was given command over military and civilian personnel throughout Henan and the north. From thirteen circuits including Bianliang and Daming he mobilized 150,000 civilians; from eighteen garrison wings including Luzhou he supplied 20,000 troops for labor. All officials, military and civilian, great and small, were placed under his command with discretionary authority to undertake whatever construction was required. That month work crews were assembled. In the seventh month the new channel was completed. In the eighth month the sluice was opened into the old course. By the ninth month boats were passing freely. In the eleventh month all revetments and dikes were finished, earthworks and waterworks completed, and the river restored to its ancient channel. The full account appears in the Treatise on Rivers and Canals. The emperor dispatched envoys to report the sacrifice to the River Lord and summoned Jia Lu back to the capital, where he presented a map of the pacified river. The emperor was just then reading memorials from censorate officials commending Toghto's achievements in controlling the river. Jia Lu's merits were discussed next. He was specially promoted to Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Academician-Expositor of the Hall for Advancing Worthies, rewarded with gold and silks, and ordered that Academician-Recipient Ouyang Xuan of the Hanlin Academy compose a stele commemorating the pacification of the river—honoring Toghto's labors while fully recording Jia Lu's achievements. The text was ordered proclaimed and deposited in the History Office, and honors were extended to three generations of Jia Lu's forebears.
13
尋拜中書左丞，從脫脫平徐州，脫脫既旋師，命魯追餘黨，分攻濠州，同緫兵官平章月可察兒督戰，魯誓師曰：「吾奉旨統八衛漢軍，頓兵于濠七日矣。 爾諸將同心協力，必以今日巳、午時取城池，然後食。」 魯上馬麾進，抵城下，忽頭眩下馬，且戒兵馬弗散，病愈亟，却藥不肯汗，竟卒于軍中，年五十七。 十三年五月壬午也。 月可察兒躬為治喪，選士護柩還高平，有旨賜交鈔五百錠以給葬事。 子稹。
Soon afterward he was appointed left vice grand councillor and accompanied Toghto in pacifying Xuzhou. After Toghto withdrew his army, Jia Lu was ordered to pursue remnant rebels and divide his forces to attack Haozhou. Pacification Commissioner Yexekä'r joined him as overall military commander. Jia Lu addressed the troops: "By imperial order I command the eight Han guard units. We have camped before Haozhou for seven days already. You generals must act as one and take the city by the si or wu hour today—only then will you eat." He mounted and led the charge to the foot of the walls, then suddenly grew dizzy and dismounted, ordering the troops not to scatter. His illness grew rapidly worse. He refused medicine that would induce sweating and died in camp at the age of fifty-seven. This was on the renwu day of the fifth month of 1353. Yexekä'r personally arranged the funeral, selected officers to escort the coffin back to Gaoping, and an edict granted five hundred ingots of paper currency for funeral expenses. His son was Zhen.
14
逯魯曾
Lu Luceng
15
逯魯曾字善止，修武人。 性剛介，通經術，中天曆二年進士第，授翰林國史院編修官，辟御史臺掾，掌機密。 監察御史劾中丞史顯夫簡傲，魯曾開實封於大夫前曰：「中丞素持重，不能與人周旋，御史以人情劾之，非公論。」 由是皆知其直。
Lu Luceng, whose courtesy name was Shanzhi, came from Xiuwu. Stern and upright by nature, he mastered the classical canon. In 1329 he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed revising official at the Hanlin National History Office. Recruited as a secretarial aide at the Censorate, he handled confidential matters. When an investigating censor impeached Vice Censor-in-Chief Shi Xianfu for arrogance, Luceng opened the sealed memorial before the assembled ministers and said: "The vice censor-in-chief has always been grave and reserved and is no adept at social maneuvering. To impeach him on personal grounds is not impartial judgment. From this everyone recognized his integrity.
16
除太常博士。 武宗一廟，未立后主配享，集群臣廷議之。 魯曾抗言：「先朝以武宗皇后真哥無子，不立其主。」 時伯顏為右丞相，以為明宗之母亦乞列氏，可以配享。 徽政院傳太后旨，以文宗之母唐兀氏可以配享。 伯顏問魯曾曰：「先朝既以真哥皇后無子，不為立主，今所立者，明宗母乎？ 文宗母乎？」 對曰：「真哥皇后在武宗朝，已膺玉冊，則為武宗皇后，明宗、文宗二母后，固為妾也。 今以無子之故，不為立主，以妾后為正宮，是為臣而廢先君之后，為子而追封先父之妾，於禮不可。 且燕王垂即位，追廢其母后，而立其生母為后，以配享先王，為萬世笑，豈可復蹈其失乎？」 集賢大學士陳顥，素嫉魯曾，出曰：「唐太宗冊曹王明之母為后，是亦二后也，豈不可乎？」 魯曾曰：「堯之母為帝嚳庶妃，堯立為帝，未聞冊以為后而配嚳。 皇上為大元天子，不法堯、舜，而法唐太宗邪？」 衆服其議，而伯顏韙之，遂以真哥皇后配焉。
He was appointed erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. For Emperor Wuzong's temple no principal consort had yet been designated for joint sacrifice, and the court convened the ministers for deliberation. Luceng spoke forthrightly: "The previous court, because Empress Zhenge of Emperor Wuzong had borne no son, did not install her as principal consort. Bayan was then right chancellor and held that the mother of Emperor Mingzong, of the Yilie clan, could serve for joint sacrifice. The Bureau of Palace Governance transmitted the empress dowager's decree that the mother of Emperor Wenzong, of the Tangut clan, could serve for joint sacrifice. Bayan asked Luceng: "Since the previous court did not install a principal consort because Empress Zhenge had no son, whom should we install now—the mother of Mingzong? Or the mother of Wenzong? He replied: "Empress Zhenge had already received the jade register during Wuzong's reign and was therefore Wuzong's empress. The mothers of Mingzong and Wenzong were by status mere concubines. To refuse a principal consort because she bore no son, yet install a concubine empress in the principal place, is for a subject to displace his sovereign's empress and for a son to ennoble his father's concubine—this ritual cannot permit. Moreover, when Murong Chui of Yan took the throne he deposed his empress and installed his birth mother in her place for joint sacrifice with the former king—a laughingstock for all posterity. How can we repeat that error?" Academician-Expositor Chen Hao of the Hall for Advancing Worthies, who had long resented Luceng, objected: "Emperor Taizong of Tang ennobled the mother of Prince Cao as empress—were there not then two empresses? Why should this not be permitted?" Luceng replied: "Yao's mother was a secondary consort of Emperor Ku. When Yao became emperor, no one ever heard of her being enregistered as empress to share sacrifice with Ku. Your Majesty is Son of Heaven of the Great Yuan. Will you take Yao and Shun as your model, or Tang Emperor Taizong?" The assembly was convinced by his argument, Bayan approved it, and Empress Zhenge was duly installed for joint sacrifice.
17
復拜監察御史，劾荅失海牙、阿吉剌太尉，鞏卜班右丞，兀突蠻刑部尚書，吉當普監察御史，哈剌完者、月魯不花院使，呂思誠郎中，皆黜之。 八人之中，惟思誠少過，亦變祖宗選法，餘皆伯顏之黨，朝廷肅然。
Reappointed investigating censor, he impeached Grand Guardian Dashihaiya, Grand Guardian Ajila, Right Vice Councillor Gongbuban, Minister of Punishments Utuman, Investigating Censor Jidangpu, Court Commissioners Harqanju and Yelü Buhua, and Director Lü Sicheng. All were dismissed. Of the eight, only Lü Sicheng was guilty of minor faults, and even he had altered the ancestral selection law. The rest were all Bayan's partisans. The court was sobered.
18
除樞密院都事，上言：「前伯顏專殺大臣，其黨利其妻女，巧誣以罪。 今大小官及諸人有罪，止坐其身，不得籍其妻女。 郯王為伯顏搆陷，妻女流離，當雪其無辜，給復子孫。」 從之。 除刑部員外郎，悉辨正橫罹伯顏所誣者。 遷宗正府郎中，出為遼陽行省左右司郎中，除僉山北道肅政廉訪司事，入為禮部郎中。
Appointed director of affairs at the Bureau of Military Affairs, he memorialized: "Formerly Bayan arbitrarily executed great ministers, and his faction coveted their wives and daughters and craftily framed them with crimes. When officials or private persons are now found guilty, only the offender himself should be punished. Their wives and daughters must not be registered for confiscation. The Prince of Tan was framed by Bayan, and his wife and daughters were driven into exile. Their innocence should be proclaimed and restoration granted to his descendants." The court adopted his recommendations. Appointed vice director of the Ministry of Punishments, he fully rectified the cases of those wrongly accused by Bayan. Transferred to director of the Imperial Clan Court, he was posted as director of the Left and Right Departments of the Liaoyang Branch Secretariat, appointed commissioner of the Shanbei Surveillance Commission, and recalled to serve as director of the Ministry of Rites.
19
至正十二年，丞相脫脫討徐州賊，以官軍不習水土，募瀕海鹽丁為軍，乃超遷魯曾資善大夫、淮南宣慰使，領征討事，遣其募鹽丁五千人從征。 徐州平，繼使領所部軍討淮東，卒於軍。
In 1352 Chancellor Toghto campaigned against the Xuzhou rebels. Because government troops were unaccustomed to the local climate, he recruited coastal salt workers as soldiers. Luceng was specially promoted to Grand Master for the Good of the Heir Apparent and pacification commissioner of Huainan, placed in charge of the punitive campaign, and five thousand salt workers he recruited were sent with the army. After Xuzhou was pacified he was ordered to lead his troops against the Huai east and died in camp.
20
貢師泰
Gong Shitai
21
貢師泰字泰甫，寧國之宣城人。 父奎，以文學名家，延祐、至治間，官京師，為集賢直學士，卒，諡文靖。
Gong Shitai, whose courtesy name was Taifu, came from Xuancheng in Ningguo. His father Kui was renowned for literary learning. During the Yanyou and Zhizhi reigns he served in the capital as direct academician of the Hall for Advancing Worthies. At his death he received the posthumous title Cultivated and Tranquil.
22
師泰早肄業國子學為諸生。 泰定四年，釋褐出身，授從仕郎、太和州判官。 丁外艱，改徽州路歙縣丞，江浙行省辟為掾，尋以土著，自劾去。 大臣有以其名聞者，擢應奉翰林文字。 丁內艱，服闋，除紹興路緫管府推官，郡有疑獄，悉為詳讞而剖決之。
Shitai studied early at the Imperial University as a student. In 1327 he left student robes for official service and was appointed Gentleman for Attendance and assistant prefect of Taihe. After mourning his father he was appointed assistant magistrate of She county on the Huizhou circuit. The Jiangzhe Branch Secretariat recruited him as a secretariat aide, but he soon resigned on the ground that, as a native of the district, he ought not hold the post. When a senior minister heard his name he was recommended and promoted to Hanlin literary attendant. After mourning his mother he was appointed judicial investigator for the Shaoxing circuit administration. In every doubtful case in the prefecture he reviewed the records in detail and rendered judgment.
23
山陰白洋港有大船飄近岸，史甲二十人，適取鹵海濱，見其無主，因取其篙櫓，而船中有二死人。 有徐乙者，怪其無物而有死人，稱為史等所劫。 史傭作富民高丙家，事遂連高。 史既誣服，高亦就逮。 師泰密詢之，則里中沈丁載物抵杭而回，漁者張網海中，因盜網中魚，為漁者所殺，史實未嘗殺人奪物，高亦弗知情，其冤皆白。
At Baiyang Harbor in Shanyin a large ship drifted ashore. Twenty men surnamed Shi, who happened to be gathering brine along the coast, saw that it had no owner and took its poles and oars. Inside the ship were two dead men. A man named Xu Yi found it strange that the ship held no cargo yet contained corpses, and accused Shi and the others of robbery and murder. Shi was a hired laborer in the household of the wealthy man Gao Bing, and the case thus implicated Gao as well. After Shi was forced into a false confession, Gao was arrested as well. Shitai made secret inquiries and learned that a villager named Shen Ding, returning from carrying goods to Hangzhou, had cast nets in the sea and was killed by fishermen when he stole fish from their nets. Shi had never killed anyone or seized goods, and Gao knew nothing of the affair. The innocence of both men was established.
24
游徼徐裕，以巡鹽為名，肆暴村落間。 一日，遇諸暨商，奪其所齎錢，撲殺之，投尸於水，走告縣曰：「我獲私鹽犯人，畏罪赴水死矣。」 官驗視，以有傷，疑之。 遂以疑獄釋。 師泰追詢覆按之，具得裕所以殺人狀，復俾待報。
Patrol officer Xu Yu, under the pretext of inspecting salt, committed violence wantonly in the villages. One day he met a merchant from Zhuji, seized his money, beat him to death, and threw the body into the water. He then ran to the county office and reported: "I captured a private-salt offender who, fearing punishment, threw himself into the water and drowned." Officials examined the body, found wounds, and grew suspicious. The case was released as doubtful. Shitai pursued the inquiry and re-examined the case, fully establishing how Xu Yu had committed the murder, and had him held pending final judgment.
25
餘姚孫國賓，以求盜，獲姚甲造偽鈔，受賕而釋之，執高乙、魯丙赴有司，誣以同造偽。 高嘗為姚行用，實非自造，孫既舍姚，因加罪於高，而魯與孫有隙，故并連之，魯與高未嘗相識也。 師泰疑高等覆造不合，以孫詰之，辭屈而情見。 即釋魯而加高以本罪，姚遂處死，孫亦就法。 其於冤獄詳讞之明多類此。 以故郡民自以不冤，治行為諸郡第一。
Sun Guobin of Yuyao, while pursuing thieves, captured Yao Jia making counterfeit notes, accepted a bribe and released him, then seized Gao Yi and Lu Bing and sent them to the authorities on a false charge of joint counterfeiting. Gao had once worked for Yao and had not himself counterfeited. Sun, having released Yao, shifted the guilt onto Gao. Lu bore a grudge against Sun and was implicated as well—though Lu and Gao had never even met. Shitai found the charge of repeated counterfeiting against Gao implausible and questioned Sun, whose testimony collapsed and exposed the truth. He released Lu and imposed on Gao only the crime he had actually committed. Yao was executed, and Sun was punished according to law. His clarity in reviewing wrongful convictions was mostly of this kind. For this reason the people of the prefecture believed themselves free of injustice, and his administrative record ranked first among all prefectures.
26
考滿，復入翰林為應奉，預修后妃、功臣列傳，事畢，遷宣文閣授經郎，歷翰林待制、國子司業，擢禮部郎中，再遷吏部，拜監察御史。 自世祖以後，省臺之職，南人斥不用，及是，始復舊制，於是南士復得居省臺，自師泰始，時論以為得人。
When his term was complete he returned to the Hanlin as literary attendant and helped compile the biographies of empresses and meritorious ministers. When the work was finished he was transferred to lecturer of the Xuanwen Pavilion, served as Hanlin attendant and vice chancellor of the Imperial University, was promoted to director of the Ministry of Rites, transferred again to the Ministry of Personnel, and appointed investigating censor. Since Emperor Shizu's reign southerners had been barred from Secretariat and Censorate posts. Now the old system was restored, and southern scholars could again hold such offices—beginning with Shitai. Contemporary opinion held that the court had at last found the right men.
27
至正十四年，除吏部侍郎。 時江淮兵起，京師食不足，師泰奉命和糴于浙右，得糧百萬石，以給京師。 遷兵部侍郎。 朝廷以京師至上都，驛戶凋弊，命師泰巡視整飭之。 至則歷究其病原，驗其富貧，而均其徭役，數十郡之民，賴以稍蘇。 豪貴以其不利於己，深嫉之，然莫能有所中傷也。 會朝廷欲仍和糴浙西，因除師泰都水庸田使。
In 1354 he was appointed vice director of the Ministry of Personnel. War had broken out along the Jiang-Huai, and the capital faced food shortages. Shitai was ordered to purchase grain in western Zhe and obtained one million piculs to supply the capital. He was transferred to vice director of the Ministry of War. Because relay households along the route from the capital to the Upper Capital were depleted and distressed, the court ordered Shitai to inspect and reorganize them. On arrival he traced the roots of the abuse, assessed rich and poor households, and equalized their corvée burdens. The people of dozens of prefectures were thereby given some relief. Powerful families deeply resented him because his reforms harmed their interests, yet they could find no means to injure him. When the court wished again to purchase grain in western Zhe, Shitai was appointed Commissioner of Water Control and Wasteland Reclamation.
28
十五年，庸田司罷，擢江西廉訪副使，未行，遷福建廉訪使，居亡何，除禮部尚書。 時平江缺守，廷議難其人，師泰又以選為平江路緫管。 其年冬，甫視事，張士誠自高郵率衆渡江，直抵城下，攻圍甚急。 明年春，守將弗能支，斬關遁去，師泰領義兵出戰，力不敵，亦懷印綬棄城遁，匿海濱者久之。
In 1355 the Wasteland Office was abolished. He was promoted to vice surveillance commissioner of Jiangxi but, before departing, was transferred to surveillance commissioner of Fujian. Shortly afterward he was appointed minister of rites. Pingjiang then lacked a prefect, and the court could find no suitable candidate. Shitai was again selected as general administrator of Pingjiang. That winter, just as he assumed office, Zhang Shicheng led his forces from Gaoyou across the Yangzi, came straight to the city walls, and laid siege with great urgency. The following spring the defenders could not hold. They cut through the gate and fled. Shitai led militia out to fight but was overpowered. He too took his seal and sash, abandoned the city, and hid along the coast for a long time.
29
士誠既納降，江浙行省丞相達識帖睦邇，以便宜授師泰兩浙都轉運鹽使。 至則剔其積蠹，通其利源，大課以集，國用資之。 丞相復承制除師泰江浙行省參知政事。
After Zhang Shicheng submitted, Dashi Timur, chancellor of the Jiangzhe Branch Secretariat, appointed Shitai by discretionary authority Commissioner of Salt Transport for the Two Zhe circuits. On taking office he eliminated accumulated abuses, opened new sources of revenue, and gathered substantial tax receipts on which state expenditure came to rely. The chancellor again appointed him, by imperial commission, participant in government of the Jiangzhe Branch Secretariat.
30
二十年，朝廷除戶部尚書，俾分部閩中，以閩鹽易糧，由海道轉運給京師，凡為糧數十萬石，朝廷賴焉。 二十二年，召為祕書卿，行至杭之海寧，得疾而卒。
In 1360 the court appointed him minister of revenue and ordered him to oversee Fujian, exchanging Fujian salt for grain and shipping it by sea to supply the capital—several hundred thousand piculs in all on which the court came to rely. In 1362 he was summoned as Secretary Director. En route he reached Haining in Hangzhou, fell ill, and died.
31
師泰性倜儻，狀貌偉然，既以文字知名，而於政事尤長，所至績效輒暴著。 尤喜接引後進，士之賢，不問識不識，即加推轂，以故士譽翕然咸歸之。 有詩文若干卷行于世。
Shitai was free-spirited and imposing in appearance. Though famous as a writer, he was especially skilled in administration, and wherever he served his achievements were immediately conspicuous. He especially delighted in guiding younger scholars. For any worthy man, whether he knew him or not, he would at once lend his support. For this reason scholarly reputation converged upon him. His collected poetry and prose, comprising several juan, circulated in his lifetime.
32
周伯琦
Zhou Boqi
33
周伯琦字伯溫，饒州人。 父應極，至大間，仁宗為皇太子，召見，獻皇元頌，為言于武宗，以為翰林待制。 後為皇太子說書，日侍英邸。 仁宗即位，遷集賢待制，終池州路同知緫管府事。 伯琦自幼從宦，游京師，入國學，為上舍生，積分及高等。 去，以蔭授將仕郎、南海縣主簿，三轉為翰林修撰。
Zhou Boqi, whose courtesy name was Bowen, came from Raozhou. His father Yingji, during the Zhida period when Renzong was crown prince, was summoned to audience and presented an Ode to the Primal Origin of the Sovereign. He spoke of it to Wuzong and was appointed Hanlin attendant. He later served as lecturer to the crown prince and attended daily at the princely residence. When Renzong took the throne he was transferred to attendant of the Hall for Advancing Worthies and ended his career as associate general administrator of Chizhou. Boqi followed his father's official career from youth, traveled to the capital, entered the Imperial University as a senior dormitory student, and accumulated credits to the highest grade. He left the university and, by inherited privilege, was appointed Gentleman for Progress and chief clerk of Nanhai county. After three promotions he became Hanlin reviser.
34
至正元年，改奎章閣為宣文閣、藝文監為崇文監，伯琦為宣文閣授經郎，教戚里大臣子弟，每進講，輒稱旨，且日被顧問。 帝以伯琦工書法，命篆「宣文閣寶」，仍題扁宣文閣； 及摹王羲之所書蘭亭序、智永所書千文，刻石閣中。 自是累轉官，皆宣文、崇文之間，而眷遇益隆矣。 帝嘗呼其字伯溫而不名。 會御史奏風憲宜用近臣，特命僉廣東廉訪司事。 八年，召入為翰林待制，預修后妃、功臣列傳，累陞直學士。
In 1341 the Kuizhang Pavilion was renamed the Xuanwen Pavilion and the Directorate of Literary Arts the Directorate of Esteeming Literature. Boqi was appointed lecturer of the Xuanwen Pavilion, teaching sons of imperial relatives and great ministers. His lectures always pleased the emperor, and he was consulted daily. Because Boqi was skilled in calligraphy, the emperor ordered him to cut the seal "Treasure of the Xuanwen Pavilion" and to inscribe the pavilion's name plaque; and to copy Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Orchid Pavilion and Zhiyong's Thousand-Character Classic for carving in stone within the pavilion. Thereafter his promotions kept him within the Xuanwen and Chongwen establishments, and imperial favor toward him grew ever greater. The emperor would sometimes address him by his courtesy name Bowen rather than by his personal name. When censors memorialized that censorial oversight should employ close ministers of the court, he was specially appointed commissioner of the Guangdong Surveillance Commission. In 1348 he was recalled as Hanlin attendant, helped compile the biographies of empresses and meritorious ministers, and was promoted to direct academician.
35
十二年，有旨令南士皆得居省臺。 除伯琦兵部侍郎，遂與貢師泰同擢監察御史。 兩人皆南士之望，一時榮之。 時御史大夫也先帖木兒以大軍南討，而失律喪師，陝西行臺監察御史劉希曾等十人共劾奏之。 伯琦乃劾希曾等越分干譽，希曾等皆坐左遷，補郡判官，由是不為公論所與。
In 1352 an edict declared that southern scholars might again hold Secretariat and Censorate posts. Boqi was appointed vice director of the Ministry of War, and he and Gong Shitai were together promoted to investigating censor. Both were leading figures among southern scholars, and for a time their appointment was celebrated as a great honor. Censor-in-Chief Yesun Temür was then campaigning in the south with a great army but violated discipline and lost troops. Liu Xizeng and nine other investigating censors of the Shaanxi Branch Secretariat jointly impeached him. Boqi then impeached Xizeng and the others for overstepping their authority to seek reputation. They were all demoted and appointed assistant prefects of various circuits. From this he lost the support of public opinion.
36
十三年，遷崇文太監，兼經筵官，代祀天妃。 丁內艱。 十四年，起復為江東肅政廉訪使。 長槍鎖南班陷寧國，伯琦與僚佐倉皇出見之，尋遁走至杭州除兵部尚書，未行，改浙西肅政廉訪使。 江南行臺監察御史余觀，糾言伯琦失陷寧國，宜正其罪。
In 1353 he was transferred to director of the Directorate of Esteeming Literature, concurrently serving at the Classics Lecture, and performed sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven as the emperor's delegate. He went into mourning for his mother. In 1354 he was recalled from mourning as surveillance commissioner of Jiangdong. When the Changqiang Suonan rebels seized Ningguo, Boqi and his staff went out in panic to meet them, then fled. Reaching Hangzhou he was appointed minister of war but did not take up the post and was instead appointed surveillance commissioner of western Zhe. Investigating censor Yu Guan of the Jiangnan Branch Secretariat impeached Boqi for the loss of Ningguo and argued that he should be punished.
37
十七年，江浙行省丞相達識帖睦爾承制假伯琦參知政事，招諭平江張士誠。
In 1357 Dashi Timur, chancellor of the Jiangzhe Branch Secretariat, provisionally appointed Boqi participant in government to negotiate with Zhang Shicheng of Pingjiang.
38
士誠既降，江南行臺監察御史亦辯釋伯琦罪，除同知太常禮儀院事，士誠留之，未行，拜資政大夫、江浙行省左丞。 於是留平江者十餘年。 士誠既滅，伯琦乃得歸鄱陽，尋卒。
After Zhang Shicheng submitted, investigating censors of the Jiangnan Branch Secretariat also cleared Boqi of blame. He was appointed associate director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Ritual, but Zhang Shicheng detained him and he could not leave. He was then appointed Grand Master of Governance and left vice grand councillor of the Jiangzhe Branch Secretariat. He remained at Pingjiang for more than ten years. After Zhang Shicheng was destroyed, Boqi was able to return to Poyang, where he soon died.
39
伯琦儀觀溫雅，粹然如玉，雖遭時多艱，而善於自保。 博學工文章，而尤以篆、隸、真、草擅名當時。 嘗著六書正訛、說文字原二書，又有詩文稿若干卷。
Boqi's bearing was warm and elegant, pure as jade. Though he lived through many hardships of the age, he was skilled at preserving himself. Broadly learned and skilled in literary composition, he was especially renowned in his time for seal, clerical, regular, and cursive scripts. He authored two books, Corrections in the Six Scripts and Origins of the Explanation of Characters, and left poetry and prose drafts in several juan.
40
吳當字伯尚，澄之孫也。 當幼承祖訓，以穎悟篤實稱。 長精通經史百家言，侍其祖至京，補國子生。 久之，澄既捐館，四方學子從澄遊者，悉就當卒業焉。
Wu Dang, whose courtesy name was Boshang, was the grandson of Wu Cheng. From childhood he received his grandfather's instruction and was known for keen intelligence and solid integrity. When grown he mastered the Classics, histories, and the teachings of the hundred schools. Accompanying his grandfather to the capital, he was enrolled as a student at the Imperial University. After Wu Cheng died, scholars from all directions who had studied under him came to Dang to complete their training.
41
至正五年，以父文蔭，授萬億四庫照磨，未上，用薦者改國子助教。 勤講解，嚴肄習，諸生皆樂從之。 會詔修遼、金、宋三史，當預編纂。 書成，除翰林修撰。 七年，遷國子博士。 明年，陞監丞。 十年，陞司業。 明年，遷翰林待制。 又明年，改禮部員外郎。 十三年，擢監察御史，尋復為國子司業。 明年，遷禮部郎中。 又明年，除翰林直學士。
In 1345, through his father Wen's inherited privilege, he was appointed reviser of the Treasury of the Ten Thousand Myriads but did not take up the post. On recommendation he was appointed assistant instructor at the Imperial University instead. He lectured diligently and supervised practice strictly, and the students gladly followed him. When an edict ordered the compilation of the histories of Liao, Jin, and Song, he participated in the work. When the histories were completed he was appointed Hanlin reviser. In 1347 he was transferred to erudite of the Imperial University. The following year he was promoted to vice chancellor of the university. In 1350 he was promoted to vice chancellor of instruction. The following year he was transferred to Hanlin attendant. The year after that he was appointed vice director of the Ministry of Rites. In 1353 he was promoted to investigating censor, and soon afterward was again appointed vice chancellor of the Imperial University. The following year he was transferred to director of the Ministry of Rites. The year after that he was appointed direct academician of the Hanlin Academy.
42
時江南兵起且五年，大臣有薦當世居江西，習知江西民俗，且其才可任政事者，詔特授江西肅政廉訪使，偕江西行省參政火你赤、兵部尚書黃昭，招捕江西諸郡，便宜行事。 當以朝廷兵力不給，既受命至江南，即召募民兵，由浙入閩。 至江西境建昌界，招安新城孫塔，擒殄李三。 道路既通，乃進攻南豐，渠凶鄭天瑞遁，鄭原自刎死。 十六年，調檢校章迪率本部兵，與黃昭夾攻撫州，勦殺首寇胡志學，進兵復崇仁、宜黃。 於是建、撫兩郡悉定。
Warfare in the Jiangnan had then been raging for nearly five years. A senior minister recommended Dang, who had long lived in Jiangxi and knew its customs, as a man whose talent suited government affairs. An edict specially appointed him surveillance commissioner of Jiangxi, together with Participant in Government Huonijichi of the Jiangxi Branch Secretariat and Minister of War Huang Zhao, to pacify the prefectures of Jiangxi with discretionary authority. Judging that the court's military strength was insufficient, once he received his commission and reached the Jiangnan he immediately recruited militia and advanced from Zhe into Fujian. Reaching the Jianchang border in Jiangxi, he won over Sun Ta of Xincheng by persuasion and captured and destroyed Li San. Once the roads were secure he advanced on Nanfeng. The ringleader Zheng Tianrui fled, and Zheng Yuan committed suicide by cutting his throat. In 1356 he ordered revising official Zhang Di to lead his troops in a pincer attack on Fuzhou with Huang Zhao, exterminated the chief rebel Hu Zhixue, and advanced to recover Chongren and Yihuang. The prefectures of Jianchang and Fuzhou were thereby fully pacified.
43
是時，參知政事朶歹緫兵撫、建，積年無功。 因忌當屢捷，功在己上，又以為南人不宜緫兵，則搆為飛語，謂當與黃昭皆與寇通。 有旨解二人兵柄，除當撫州路緫管，昭臨江路緫管，並供億平章火你赤軍。 火你赤殺當從事官范淳及章迪，將士皆憤怒不平，當諭之曰：「上命不可違也。」 而火你赤又上章言：「二人者，難任牧民。」 尋有旨當與昭皆罷緫管，除名。
Participant in Government Duodai had then been commanding troops in Fuzhou and Jianchang for years without success. Resenting Dang's repeated victories and his own lesser merit, and believing that southerners ought not command troops, he fabricated slanderous rumors claiming that Dang and Huang Zhao were both in league with the rebels. An edict stripped them of military command. Dang was appointed general administrator of Fuzhou circuit and Zhao of Linjiang circuit, and both were ordered to supply Pacification Commissioner Huonijichi's army. Huonijichi killed Dang's staff officers Fan Chun and Zhang Di. The officers and soldiers were furious, but Dang told them: "The sovereign's command cannot be disobeyed." Huonijichi then memorialized again: "These two men are unfit to govern the people." Soon an edict removed Dang and Zhao from their posts as general administrators and struck their names from the rolls.
44
十八年，火你赤自瑞州還龍興，當、昭皆隨軍不敢去。 先是，當與昭平賊功狀，自廣東由海道未達京師，而朶歹、火你赤等公牘乃先至，故朝廷責當、昭，皆左遷。 及得當、昭功狀，乃始知其誣，詔拜當中奉大夫、江西行省參知政事，昭湖廣行省參知政事。 命未下，而陳友諒已陷江西諸郡。 火你赤棄城遁，當乃戴黃冠，著道士服，杜門不出，日以著書為事。 友諒遣人辟之，當卧床不食，以死自誓，乃舁床載之舟，送江州，拘留一年，終不為屈。 遂隱居廬陵吉水之谷坪。 逾年，以疾卒，年六十五。 所著書，有周禮纂言及學言稿。
In 1358 Huonijichi returned from Ruizhou to Longxing. Dang and Zhao both followed the army and dared not leave. Earlier, Dang and Zhao's reports on pacifying the rebels, sent from Guangdong by sea, had not reached the capital, while the memorials of Duodai, Huonijichi, and others arrived first. The court therefore blamed Dang and Zhao and demoted them both. When Dang and Zhao's merit reports finally arrived, the court learned they had been slandered. An edict appointed Dang Grand Master of the Palace Attendance and participant in government of the Jiangxi Branch Secretariat, and Zhao participant in government of the Huguang Branch Secretariat. Before the appointments could be issued, Chen Youliang had already seized the prefectures of Jiangxi. Huonijichi abandoned the city and fled. Dang then put on a yellow cap and Daoist robes, shut his door, and devoted himself daily to writing. Youliang sent men to recruit him. Dang took to his bed and refused to eat, vowing to die rather than submit. They carried his bed onto a boat and sent him to Jiangzhou, where he was detained for a year but never yielded. He then went into seclusion at Guping in Jishui, Luling. A little more than a year later he died of illness at the age of sixty-five. His writings include Collected Sayings on the Rites of Zhou and Drafts of Learning Sayings.