Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance
By Sima Guang
Translated By Yiming Yang
Annals of Han Book 16 Scroll 24 (continued)
The 1st year of Emperor Zhao’s Yuanping Era (74 B.C. continued)
The Grand General Huo Guang was troubled in heart and distressed in mind. He sought counsel only from his trusted former colleague, the Minister of Agriculture, Tian Yannian. Tian Yannian said: “General, you are the pillar of the state. If this man proves unfit, why not present the matter to the Empress Dowager, and enthrone one worthy to inherit?”
Huo Guang asked: “Is there any precedent for such a deed in antiquity?”
Tian Yannian replied: “Yi Yin served as prime minister in the Yin, deposing Tai Jia for the security of the ancestral temple. Later ages have praised his loyalty. If the General acts thus, you will be the Yi Yin of the Han.”
Huo Guang thereupon appointed Tian Yannian as Palace Liaison, and in secret conspired with the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Zhang Anshi, to lay their plan.
While the Prince of Changyi went forth in an outing, the Grandee Chamberlain Xiahou Sheng of Lu stood before the imperial carriage and remonstrated, saying: “The heavens have long been overcast without rain; among the ministers there are conspiracies against the Son of Heaven. Whither does Your Majesty go?”
The Prince was angered, and charged Xiahou Sheng with words of ill omen, commanding him to be bound and delivered to the authorities.
The officials reported the matter to Huo Guang, yet Huo Guang did not take up the case. He laid blame upon Zhang Anshi, suspecting that their design had been disclosed.
But Zhang Anshi had leaked nothing, and summoned Xiahou Sheng to question him. Xiahou Sheng said: “In the Classic of Documents, within the chapter Hongfan[Great Charter], it is written: ‘When the sovereign attains not the utmost virtue, calamities are constant and hidden. At such times there may be subjects who plot against their ruler.’ I dared not speak it outright, and so I said, ‘There are conspiracies among the ministers.’ This was what I meant.”
Huo Guang and Zhang Anshi were greatly alarmed, and from this time depended more upon scholars versed in the Confucian classics.
The Privy Counselor, Fu Jia, many times offered remonstrance, yet the Prince of Changyi had him seized and cast into prison.
After Huo Guang and Zhang Anshi had resolved upon their course, they dispatched Tian Yannian to report to the Chancellor, Yang Chang. Yang Chang was stricken with fear, his countenance ashen, unable to utter a word. Sweat soaked his back, and he could only mumble incoherently. Tian Yannian withdrew to change his garments. The wife of Yang Chang hastened from the eastern chamber and said: “This concerns the fate of the state. Now that the Grand General has taken his stand, and the Nine Ministers have come to inform you, if you respond with hesitation, you shall be the first to suffer execution!”
When Tian Yannian returned, Yang Chang and his wife spoke in unison, saying: “We await the command of the Grand General.”
On June 28, Huo Guang assembled the Chancellor, the censors, the generals, the marquises, the officials of two-thousand-picul rank, the grandees, and the scholars in conference at Weiyang Palace. Huo Guang said: “The Prince of Changyi has thrown the realm into disorder and imperils the state. What course should be taken?”
The assembled ministers were all astonished, their faces drained of color. None dared to speak; they mumbled only confused words. Then Tian Yannian rose, drew his sword, and said: “The late Emperor entrusted to the Grand General an orphaned child, laying upon him the charge of the whole realm, for he alone was deemed capable, by loyalty and wisdom, of preserving the House of Liu. Now this man has plunged the state into chaos, and the empire stands on the brink of ruin.
“In the Han dynasty, those who upheld the line of sacrifice were often honored with the title ‘Filial,’ that their merits might endure with the ancestral temple. Should the imperial line be severed, even if the Grand General were to die, how could he face the late Emperor beneath the earth? Today’s decision must be swift and resolute. Any who waver or delay—I beg leave to strike them down with my sword!”
Huo Guang bowed and apologized: “The fault is mine. The Nine Ministers speak rightly. The empire is in turmoil; I alone shall bear the blame.” The assembled officials all knocked their heads and said: “The lives of the people rest in the Grand General. We will follow your command.”
Then Huo Guang, together with the ministers, entered to see the Empress Dowager and laid forth in detail the reasons why the Prince of Changyi could not be heir to the ancestral temple. The Empress Dowager took her carriage to Chengming Hall in Weiyang Palace, and issued an edict forbidding the ministers of Changyi to pass through any of the inner gates.
Reflection by Rio Grande 