To Chief Minister Xiao Gou蕭遘相公
1Asking again that the court move to Yangzhou
某累貢表章。請議巡幸。忠誠屢罄。宸眷未廻。冀保始終。再陳利害。匪望河陽之狩。願迎汾水之遊。竊以諸道賦輿。皆遵峽路。多是𠌰五致一。蓋已萬水千山。後綱不繼前綱。所貢不如所費。況近者西從蜀國。南至荊門。似有微災。恐遺巨患。忽若草寇侵據。江陵阻艱。則榛梗旣多。苞茅莫入。或更蠻戎伺隙。必令越巂勞兵。避柱觸楹。防微可誡。行舟墜劍。執滯固難。某以孝子不諛其親。忠臣不諂其主。遂陳狂瞽。遠黷聖聰。唯望略泛龍舟。暫遷鳳里。庶使九州修貢。不愆任土之宜。四海歸仁。盡遂朝天之望。且賊巢兇狂聚衆。穢黷經時。縱能早覆妖巢。豈可便廻法駕。淮南乃寰中俗富。閫外名高。喩以金甌。永無釁缺。比於玉壘。實異繁華。伏惟相公居注意之朝。處沃心之位。周成王之卜洛。始託姬公。晉元帝之渡江。終資仲父。早申決議。仰贊宸衷。能成可久之規。益表無私之德。某頃在西川制置。及於南詔通和。雖爲先察於微。豈欲驟稱其伐。但緣相公皆垂目驗。不敢面欺。則今日荊蜀災星。未能退舍。吳楚福地。實可遷都。事歸從權。化資垂拱。永致一家之理。必輸萬里之誠。某言不近誣。志唯遠慮。非奪日官之業。冀垂天子之恩。幸望國僑。無譏裨竈。謹以具表陳請訖。伏惟云云。
I have offered memorial after memorial, asking that a royal progress be discussed. I have poured out my loyalty many times, but the imperial regard has not turned back to it. Hoping to hold to it from first to last, I set out the gains and the losses once more. I do not look for a hunt at Heyang. I wish to welcome a progress to the Fen River. Quietly I consider that the tax goods of every circuit follow the gorge road. Often five are lost to bring one through, for there are ten thousand streams and a thousand mountains. The later convoy does not catch the one before it, and what is delivered is less than what is spent. Still more, of late from Shu in the west to Jingmen in the south there seem to be small disasters, and I fear they will leave a great trouble behind. If brigands of the grass should suddenly invade and hold the land, and the road at Jiangling be blocked, the thickets are already many and the bundled rushes cannot come in. Or if the Man and the Rong watch for a gap, troops will surely be worn out at Yuexi. To dodge one pillar and strike another — this warns a man to guard the small beginnings. To drop a sword from a moving boat — to hold fast to a fixed mark is truly hard. A filial son does not flatter his parent, and a loyal subject does not fawn upon his lord. So I set out these mad and blind words and from afar defile the sage hearing. I wish only that the dragon boat be launched a little and the phoenix quarter moved for a time, so that the nine provinces may render tribute without failing what each land can bear, and the four seas may turn to benevolence and fulfill their hope of coming to court. Moreover the rebel Chao has gathered a violent and mad crowd and has fouled the land for a long time. Even if his foul nest can be overturned early, how could the imperial carriage turn back at once? Huainan has rich ways within the realm and a high name beyond the gates. Liken it to a golden bowl: it will never have a crack. Set it beside Yulei: its splendor is truly of another kind. I humbly consider that the Chief Minister stands in a court that gives him its attention and holds a place that waters the ruler's heart. When King Cheng of Zhou divined for Luo, he first entrusted it to the Duke of Zhou. When Emperor Yuan of Jin crossed the river, he relied in the end on Wang Dao. Set out your decision early and help the imperial heart from below. Then a plan that can last will be made, and a virtue free of private aims will show the more. Not long ago I had charge of the arrangements in Xichuan and of the peace made with Nanzhao. Though it was a matter of seeing the small signs first, would I hastily boast of that merit? But because the Chief Minister saw the proof of it with his own eyes, I dare not deceive him to his face. Today the star of disaster over Jing and Shu has not yet withdrawn, and the blessed land of Wu and Chu is truly fit for the capital to move to. The matter comes down to following expediency, and good rule rests on letting the robes hang down. Then the order of one household will last forever, and the sincerity of ten thousand li will surely be brought in. My words come nowhere near slander, and my mind is only on the far view. I do not take away the office of the court astronomer. I hope the Son of Heaven's grace may come down. I hope that Zichan will not mock Bi Zao. I have respectfully drawn up a memorial and finished setting out my request. I humbly consider, and so on.