Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance
By Sima Guang
Translated By Yiming Yang
Annals of Han Book 23 Scroll 31 (continued)
The 4th year of Emperor Cheng’s Hongjia Era (17 B.C.)
In autumn, the Yellow River overflowed in Bohai, Qinghe, and Xindu, flooding thirty-one counties and towns and destroying more than forty thousand government posts and civilian dwellings. Li Xun of Pingling and others advised: “There has long been a wish to locate the old courses of the Nine Rivers and dredge them. Now that the Yellow River has breached by itself, we should not block the openings, but observe the pattern of the water’s flow. The river will seek its own course and naturally scour away the sand. Then, by following these natural tendencies, we may make our plans, achieving success with minimal expenditure of resources.”
Accordingly, it was decided not to block the breaches. Court officials repeatedly expressed concern for the suffering of the people in the flooded regions, and the Emperor dispatched his representatives to provide relief and resettlement for the victims.
In Guanghan, the cabal of Zheng Gong and his confidantes grew ever more widespread, spreading across four counties and mustering nearly ten thousand followers; the local authorities were unable to contain them. In winter, Zhao Hu, Commandant of Hedong, was appointed Prefect of Guanghan. He mobilized thirty thousand men from his own commandery and from Shu Commandery to attack the rebels. Some were captured and executed, and within a month order was restored. Zhao Hu was then promoted to Bearer of the Mace (Chief of Capital Police) and awarded one hundred catties of gold.
That year, Wang Tan, Marquis of Ping’e, died. The Emperor regretted that he had deposed Wang Tan and prevented him from assisting in governance before his death. Accordingly, he reinstated Wang Shang, Marquis of Chengdu, as a Special Appointee to command the city gate guards, established a command post for him, and allowed him to appoint officials as a general would.
At that time, Du Ye of Weijun, a Palace Gentleman who had long been on good terms with the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Wang Yin, noticed that Wang Yin had previously fallen out with the Marquis of Ping’e, Wang Tan. Du Ye advised Wang Yin:
“Among relatives, who does not harbor some resentment? In the past, Duke Jing of Qin ruled a state of a thousand chariots, yet could not get along with his own brother by the same mother, and the Spring and Autumn Annals censured him for it. The Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao were otherwise: they assisted one another with loyalty, corrected one another with righteousness, treated their kin as equals, and shared both the glory and the burdens of the realm without seeking to monopolize them. They divided the state at Shanzhou, each governing his own half, and together served the Son of Heaven as left and right hands. Thus they bore no resentments within and no reproach without, enjoying Heaven’s favor and enduring renown.
“I have observed that the Marquis of Chengdu(Wang Shang) has been appointed Special Appointee to command the city gate guards, and that an edict permits him to appoint officials as do the Five Offices—the Chancellor, the Grand Master of the Censorate, and the Three Generals(General of the Left, Right, Chariots and Cavalry). This clearly shows the Emperor’s wish to favor him. You, General, should comply with His Majesty’s intent: treat him with exceptional courtesy, include him in every deliberation and decision, and extend to him sincere goodwill. With such sincerity, who would not be pleased?”
Wang Yin greatly valued this counsel and thereafter became close with Wang Shang, the Marquis of Chengdu. Both men held Du Ye in high esteem.
The 1st year of Emperor Cheng’s Yongshi Era (16 B.C.)
In the spring, on January 22, a fire broke out in the icehouse of the Imperial Kitchen. On January 27, another fire occurred at the south gate of the tomb of Empress Li(Lady Shi, Liu Ju’s concubine).
The Emperor wished to appoint Zhao Feiyan as Empress, but the Empress Dowager opposed it on account of her humble origins. The Empress Dowager’s nephew, Chunyu Chang, who held the post of Privy Counselor, frequently went to the Eastern Palace to convey messages from the Emperor. After more than a year, the Empress Dowager finally gave her consent.
In summer, on April 15, the Emperor first enfeoffed Zhao Feiyan’s father, Zhao Lin, as Marquis of Chengyang. The Grand Master of Remonstration, Liu Fu of Hejian, submitted a memorial:
“In former times, King Wu of Zhou and the Duke of Zhou accorded with Heaven’s will and thus received auspicious signs—the white fish entering the royal boat and the flames transforming into crows. Yet despite these portents, rulers and ministers alike remained humble and apprehensive, urging one another to act with caution. How much more should we do in these later days, when we lack even the fortune of a Crown Prince and yet repeatedly suffer Heaven’s displeasure through extraordinary phenomena! Though we reflect and reform day and night, revere Heaven’s mandate, and remember the great achievements of our ancestors—carefully selecting virtuous families from which to choose worthy women to serve the ancestral temples and satisfy both the spirits and the people’s expectations—we still fear it may be too late to secure the blessing of progeny. Yet now Your Majesty indulges in passion, favoring a woman of humble birth and intending to make her the mother of the nation, without fear of Heaven or shame before the people. Never has Your Majesty’s delusion been greater.
“An old saying goes: ‘Rotten wood cannot be sculpted, nor can a servant girl become a master.’ Matters that Heaven and the people do not approve will inevitably bring disaster, not fortune. This is a principle even commoners understand, yet none at court dares to speak. I am deeply distressed and dare not refrain from offering this counsel, even at the risk of my life.”
After submitting the memorial, the Emperor ordered the imperial inspector to arrest Liu Fu and detain him in the secret prison of the rear palace. The ministers did not know the reason for his arrest.
Accordingly, Left General Xin Qingji, Right General Lian Bao, Grand Chamberlain Shi Dan of Langya, and the Grand Master of the Palace, Gu Yong, submitted a memorial, saying:
“We observe that Liu Fu formerly served as a county magistrate and sought an audience with Your Majesty, who then promoted him to Grand Master of Remonstration. This shows that his words must have been of exceptional insight, fully in accord with Your Majesty’s intentions, and thus merited such rapid advancement. Yet in less than a month he was suddenly arrested and confined in the secret prison. We, in our simplicity, believe that Liu Fu, being newly come from the counties and unfamiliar with court protocol, may inadvertently have offended some imperial taboo. Such a fault should not be judged too severely. If his offense is minor, Your Majesty should show forbearance; if it is grave, it ought to be openly declared and handled by the judicial authorities, so that all may know his crime.
“Now, with Heaven showing displeasure and calamities occurring frequently, this is a time for benevolence and tolerance, for seeking wide counsel, rewarding forthright speech, and encouraging ministers to speak their minds. To impose harsh and secret punishments upon those who remonstrate will shock the court and stifle loyalty and candor. If Liu Fu was not punished for speaking frankly, yet his crime is not made known, the public will not understand. Liu Fu, as both kinsman and minister, was advanced for his frankness; for the proper ordering of the imperial kindred and the encouragement of loyal counsel, he should not be detained in the prison of the rear palace.
“Officials high and low, seeing Your Majesty swiftly promote and then as swiftly punish Liu Fu, will grow fearful, lose their resolve, and be discouraged from loyalty and frankness. This will neither display Your Majesty’s virtue in heeding honest advice, like Emperor Shun, nor uphold a noble standard of conduct. We are deeply distressed and respectfully beg Your Majesty to reconsider.”
The Emperor then transferred Liu Fu to the Gonggong Prison and commuted his death sentence to three years of penal servitude, assigning him to gather firewood for the ancestral temple.
Leave a Reply