A statement of thanks for the edict showing that Chief Minister Zheng had been given the office of commander in chief謝詔示權令鄭相充都統狀

The above. Your servant respectfully received the edict of the ninth day of the ninth month of last year, which said, "You sent up a memorial by a byway and flew dispatches to the several commands, and you wished at once to drive your armored horses far and take the campaign in hand yourself. But you cannot come just yet, and there must be a provisional arrangement. So I have commanded Zheng Tian and the others, dividing them as commanders in chief on the four sides of the capital, to take charge of the troops of all the circuits. Fearing that you might not yet know of it, I show it to you by this edict." Your servant bows low and considers that the Book of Documents says, "When there is no leaning and no faction, the kingly transformation rises." And the Book of Songs says, "Not knowing and not perceiving, he follows the rule of the Lord on High." How much more, when troops go to strike rebels, must the matter follow what the moment allows. Last year your servant met first the invasion of his borders in Huaibei and afterward the blocking of the roads in Jiangnan, and he kept his army long encamped and did not carry the campaign through. Your Majesty has chosen wonderfully among the many talents and lately divided this heavy trust among them. Zheng Tian and the others all go before the fierce troops in their own persons and work the arts of war with their own hands, and as their angry hair strives upward, one may truly say the bandit's breast can be stabbed. They look up to repay the sage encouragement and will press their loyalty to the end. Your servant guards a distant command and faces the troops, but a strong neighbor has bound up a grudge against him, and he is ashamed only that his duty stands empty. How should he hope for success? Your Majesty still thinks of his labor and bends down to give him comfort and instruction, and he sees the kind purpose of high heaven and loosens the deep care of an outer land. You have already allowed the general to raise the orders of the Willow Camp alone, and he looks in the end for the rebel soldiers to come surely to the punishment of Zhuting. Your servant is bound to the guard of a frontier command and cannot give his thanks at the traveling court. He cannot bear the utmost of his gratitude and his trembling fear. He respectfully sends up this statement to set forth his thanks and make it heard. Respectfully submitted.