Patent of appointment making the Duke of Hwanan Acting Grand Preceptor and Director of the Chancellery for State Affairs, with a separate proclamation on hemp paper淮安公爲守大師尙書令。余如故別宣麻敎書官誥。 官誥
云云。國君封懿戚茂親。雖獨以公侯之爵。宗室有元功大烈。亦得兼宰相之權。況朕之置中臺。猶天之有北斗。孰當斯任。今得其人。某官某。瓊樹挺姿。璿源毓粹。在家樂善。雅師河憲之賢。履法奉藩。復躡沛王之善。加又襟靈沈邃。世皆知早蓄壯心。氣節軒昂。朕亦諳可託大事。頃者上天降孼。頑虜侵疆。旣逼驅遐邇之人民。又求素君臣之子女。啖厚幣不足以悅志。馳膚使不能以講和。擬煩肺腑之親。往結漆膠之約。選於戚里。無若爾斗膽之豪雄。授以上公。使赴彼氈裘之屯聚。卿於是蹈艱若易。赴難如歸。謂濟世在吾此行。故捐身莫以爲懼。示麟趾振振之信。動罔不孚。雖獸心蠢蠢之徒。尙能知敬。果使戎兵而豁去。遂令吾俗以再寧。實卓然不世之功。宜賞以非常之寵。尙書乃樞機之司也。令爲之長。大師是模範之任也。君所尤尊。玆二者尙劣於元庸。予一人猶歉於私意。然人臣之資級。無過是官。以今日之頒宣。頗爲異渥。可特授云云。嗚戲。效殷王之命說。朕何望焉。體鄭伯之相周。汝所勉耳。矧自今摠政之繁劇。非若昔在邸之燕閑。敬服乃司。無替予命。云云。
And so forth.
When the ruler of a state enfeoffs a fair kinsman or a close relative, he does so with the office of duke or marquis alone; yet if one of the royal kin has the foremost merit and great achievement, he may also hold a minister's authority besides. Still more, that I have established the Central Terrace (中臺) is like heaven's having the Dipper — who then is fit to take on this charge? Now I have found the man.
So-and-so of such-and-such office has a bearing outstanding as a tree of jade, and has nurtured his purity at a source like a pearl. At home he delighted in goodness and took as his model the worthiness of Prince Xian of Hejian (河間獻王); treading the law and upholding his fief, he followed in turn after the goodness of the Prince of Pei (沛王). Moreover, the will he held in his breast was deep and hidden, so that all the world knew he had heaped up great aims early on; and his spirit and constancy were lofty and imposing, so that I too knew he was fit to be entrusted with great affairs.
Some time ago heaven sent down calamity, and dull barbarians invaded our territory. They had already driven and harried the people far and near, and they further demanded that we hand over the children of the sovereign and his subjects. Feeding them with generous gifts was not enough to gladden their intent, and sending outstanding envoys at a gallop could not conclude a peace. And so it was proposed to trouble one of our own flesh and blood and send him to conclude a bond firm as glue and lacquer. Choosing among the royal relatives, there was none like you, a bold man with a gall as big as a bushel. Therefore the office of Ducal Minister (上公) was given him, and he was sent forward to that place where the crowd in fur garments gathered.
You, my lord, thereupon trod hardship as though it were an easy thing and went into turmoil as though returning to your own house. You held that the saving of the age hung upon this journey of yours, and so you did not even fear to cast away your life. You showed a generous trustworthiness like the tracks of a unicorn, so that wherever you moved there was nothing untrustworthy; and even that crowd that wriggles with the heart of beasts came to know how to be respectful. In the end you made the barbarian troops withdraw wide away, and so brought our own ways to peace once more. This is truly an eminent merit, rare in the world, and it ought to be rewarded with uncommon favor.
The Chancellery for State Affairs is the office charged with the essential framework of the state, and the Director (令) is its head; the Grand Preceptor is a charge that makes an example, and is what the sovereign honors the more. Yet even these two fall short when set beside the foremost merit, and my single self is still not satisfied in heart. But among the ranks of a subject there is nothing higher than these offices. This command given today is a bounty quite beyond the ordinary, and it may be specially conferred. And so forth.
Ah. That I should take as my model the Shang king's commanding of Fu Yue (傅說) — how should I hope for it? That you should carry out in person the deeds of the Count of Zheng (鄭伯) in aiding the Zhou is what you must strive at. Still more, the busyness of leading the government from now on will not be like the leisure of your former residence. Reverently uphold what is laid upon you, and do not slight my command.
And so forth.