On Blocking Slander and Wickedness論杜讒邪第二十三
貞觀初，太宗謂侍臣曰：「朕觀前代，讒佞之徒，皆國之蟊賊也。或巧言令色，朋黨比周。若暗主庸君，莫不以之迷惑，忠臣孝子所以泣血銜冤。故叢蘭欲茂，秋風敗之；王者欲明，讒人蔽之。此事著於史籍，不能具道。至如齊、隋間讒譖事，耳目所接者，略與公等言之。斛律明月，齊朝良將，威震敵國，周家每歲斫汾河冰，慮齊兵之西渡。及明月被祖孝征讒構伏誅，周人始有吞齊之意。高颎有經國大才，為隋文帝贊成霸業，知國政者二十餘載，天下賴以安寧。文帝惟婦言是聽，特令擯斥。及為煬帝所殺，刑政由是衰壞。又隋太子勇撫軍監國，凡二十年間，固亦早有定分。楊素欺主罔上，賊害良善，使父子之道一朝滅於天性，逆亂之源，自此開矣。隋文既混淆嫡庶，竟禍及其身，社稷尋亦覆敗。古人云『世亂則讒勝』，誠非妄言。朕每防微杜漸，用絕讒構之端，猶恐心力所不至，或不能覺悟。前史云：『猛獸處山林，藜藿為之不采；直臣立朝廷，奸邪為之寢謀。』此實朕所望於群公也。」魏徵曰：「《禮》云：『戒慎乎其所不睹，恐懼乎其所不聞。』《詩》云『愷悌君子，無信讒言。讒言罔極，交亂四國。』又孔子曰：『惡利口之覆邦家』，蓋為此也。臣嘗觀自古有國有家者，若曲受讒譖，妄害忠良，必宗廟丘墟，市朝霜露矣。願陛下深慎之！」
At the beginning of Zhenguan Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"When I look at the ages before us, the slanderers and the flatterers were all vermin and robbers of the state. Some of them make their words artful and their looks pleasing, and they band together in cliques and cling to one another. There is no dark and worthless lord who is not led astray by them, and this is why loyal ministers and filial sons weep blood and swallow their wrongs. So when the clustered orchids would grow thick, the autumn wind breaks them down, and when a king would be enlightened, slanderous men cover him over. These things stand plain in the histories, and they cannot all be told.
"As for the slanders and false charges between Qi and Sui, they have come to my own ears and eyes, and I will speak of them with you in outline. Hulü Mingyue was a good general of the court of Qi, and his awe shook the enemy state. Every year the house of Zhou broke the ice of the Fen River, fearing that the soldiers of Qi would cross westward. When Mingyue suffered the slander and contrivance of Zu Xiaozheng and was put to death, the men of Zhou first had the thought of swallowing up Qi.
"Gao Jiong had great ability to order a state. He helped Emperor Wen of Sui accomplish his hegemony, and he held the government of the state for more than twenty years, and the empire relied on him and was at peace. Yet Emperor Wen listened only to the words of a woman and had him cast out and driven away. When he was killed by Emperor Yang, punishment and government decayed and fell in ruin from this.
"Again, Yang Yong, the crown prince of Sui, soothed the army and watched over the state for twenty years in all, and his portion had truly been settled early. But Yang Su cheated his lord and deceived those above him and harmed the good and the worthy, and he made the way of father and son perish in a single morning from their inborn nature, and the spring of revolt and disorder was opened from this. Emperor Wen of Sui had already thrown the rightful heir and the lesser sons into confusion, and in the end calamity reached his own person, and the altars of soil and grain were soon overturned and ruined.
"The men of old said, 'When the age is in disorder, slander prevails.' This is truly no idle word. I am always guarding against the small beginnings and cutting off what seeps in little by little, so as to end the openings of slander and contrivance, and yet I fear that my heart and strength do not reach far enough and that at times I may not perceive it. The earlier histories say, 'When fierce beasts are in the mountains and forests, men do not gather goosefoot and bean leaves there; when an upright minister stands in the court, the crooked and the false give up their schemes.' This is truly what I hope for from you, my lords."
Wei Zheng said:
"The Book of Rites says, 'Be watchful and careful over what you do not see, be fearful over what you do not hear.' The Book of Songs says, 'Gentle and kindly lord, do not believe slanderous words. Slanderous words have no end, and they throw your four states into disorder together.' Confucius too said, 'I hate it that a glib mouth overturns states and houses.' This is what all of it speaks of.
"Your servant has observed that from of old, among those who held a state and those who held a house, if any bent to receive slander and false charges and recklessly harmed the loyal and the good, then his ancestral temple was sure to become a mound and a ruin, and frost and dew were sure to fall on his market and his court. I ask that Your Majesty be deeply careful of this."
貞觀七年，太宗幸蒲州。刺史趙元楷課父老服黃紗單衣，迎謁路左，盛飾廨宇，修營樓雉以求媚；又潛飼羊百餘口、魚數千頭，將饋貴戚。太宗知，召而數之曰：「朕巡省河、洛，經歷數州，凡有所須，皆資官物。卿為飼羊養魚，雕飾院宇，此乃亡隋弊俗，今不可復行。當識朕心，改舊態也。」以元楷在隋邪佞，故太宗發此言以戒之。元楷慚懼，數日不食而卒。
In the seventh year of Zhenguan Taizong went to Puzhou. Zhao Yuankai, the prefect, set the old men to put on plain yellow silk robes and to greet him at the left of the road, and he adorned the government buildings richly and repaired the towers and the battlements, seeking to please. He also secretly fed more than a hundred sheep and raised several thousand fish, meaning to send them to the noble kinsmen of the throne. Taizong learned of it, called him in, and reproached him:
"I am touring the He and the Luo and passing through several prefectures, and whatever has been needed has all come from the goods of the government offices. You feed sheep and raise fish and carve and adorn the halls of your offices. This is the bad custom of the fallen Sui, and it cannot be practiced again now. You are to understand my heart and change your old ways."
Because Yuankai had been crooked and fawning under the Sui, Taizong brought out these words to warn him. Yuankai was ashamed and afraid, and he did not eat for several days and died.
貞觀十年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「太子保傅，古難其選。成王幼小，以周、召為保傅，左右皆賢，足以長仁，致理太平，稱為聖主。及秦之胡亥，始皇所愛，趙高作傅，教以刑法。及其篡也，誅功臣，殺親戚，酷烈不已，旋踵亦亡。以此而言，人之善惡，誠由近習。朕弱冠交遊，惟柴紹、竇誕等，為人既非三益，及朕居茲寶位，經理天下，雖不及堯、舜之明，庶免乎孫皓、高緯之暴。以此而言，復不由染，何也？」魏徵曰：「中人可與為善，可與為惡，然上智之人自無所染。陛下受命自天，平定寇亂，救萬民之命，理致升平，豈紹、誕之徒能累聖德？但經云：『放鄭聲，遠佞人。』近習之間，尤宜深慎。」太宗曰：「善。」
In the tenth year of Zhenguan Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"The guardian and the tutor of a crown prince have from of old been hard to choose. When King Cheng was young and small, the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao were made his guardian and his tutor. Those about him were all worthy, and that was enough to make his benevolence grow. His rule reached great peace, and he was called a sage lord. As for Huhai of Qin, he was loved by the First Emperor, and Zhao Gao became his tutor and taught him punishments and laws. When he seized the throne he cut down the ministers of merit and killed his own kin, and his cruelty and harshness did not stop, and no sooner had he turned on his heel than he too perished. Speaking from this, the goodness and the badness of a man truly come from what he grows used to close at hand.
"When I was about twenty, those I went about with were only Chai Shao and Dou Dan and their like, and as men they were not the three kinds of friend who profit one. Yet since I have held this precious seat and ordered the empire, though I do not reach the enlightenment of Yao and Shun, I have nearly escaped the cruelty of Sun Hao and Gao Wei. Speaking from this, it does not after all come from what dyes a man. How is this?"
Wei Zheng said:
"A man of the middle sort may be led to do good and may be led to do evil, but a man of the highest wisdom has nothing that can dye him. Your Majesty received the mandate from Heaven, put down the disorder of the rebels, saved the lives of the myriad people, and brought your rule to peace and plenty. How could Chai Shao and Dou Dan and their like have stained your sage virtue? Still the classic says, 'Cast out the airs of Zheng and keep flattering men far off.' In the matter of those one grows used to close at hand, you ought all the more to be deeply careful."
Taizong said:
"Good."
尚書左仆射杜如晦奏言：「監察御史陳師合上《拔士論》，謂人之思慮有限，一人不可總知數職，以論臣等。」太宗謂戴胄曰：「朕以至公治天下，今任玄齡、如晦，非為勛舊，以其有才行也。此人妄事毀謗，止欲離間我君臣。昔蜀後主昏弱，齊文宣狂悖，然國稱治者，以任諸葛亮、楊遵彥不猜之故也。朕今任如晦等，亦復如法。」於是，流陳師合於嶺外。
Du Ruhui, the left vice director of the department of state affairs, reported:
"Chen Shihe, the investigating censor, has sent up his Discourse on Choosing Officers. He says that a man's thought and reckoning have their limits and that one man cannot know many offices together, and in this he argues against your servants."
Taizong said to Dai Zhou:
"I govern the empire with the utmost fairness. In giving office now to Xuanling and Ruhui, it is not because they are old men of merit, but because they have ability and conduct. This man's reckless slandering only means to set my ministers and me apart. Long ago the Later Lord of Shu was dark and weak and Emperor Wenxuan of Qi was mad and perverse, yet their states were still called well governed, and this was because they gave office to Zhuge Liang and Yang Zunyan and did not suspect them. In giving office now to Ruhui and the rest I follow the same rule."
So Chen Shihe was banished beyond the Ling ranges.
貞觀中，太宗謂房玄齡、杜如晦曰：「朕聞自古帝王上合天心，以致太平者，皆股肱之力。朕比開直言之路者，庶知冤屈，欲聞諫諍。所有上封事人，多告訐百官，細無可采。朕歷選前王，但有君疑於臣，則下不能上達，欲求盡忠極慮，何可得哉？而無識之人，務行讒毀，交亂君臣，殊非益國。自今以後，有上書訐人小惡者，當以讒人之罪罪之。」
During the Zhenguan years Taizong said to Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui:
"I have heard that from of old, when emperors and kings have matched the heart of Heaven above and so brought great peace, it has always been by the strength of their arms and legs, their ministers. In opening the road of straight speech of late, I wished to know of wrongs and injustice and to hear remonstrance. Yet most of those who send up sealed memorials lay charges against the hundred officials, and the matters are petty and there is nothing to take from them.
"When I go through the earlier kings one by one, wherever a lord suspected his ministers, those below could not reach those above. To seek that they should give their full loyalty and think to the end of their thought, how could that be had? And men without understanding work hard at slander and ruin and throw ministers and lord into confusion together, which is no profit at all to the state. From this time on, if any send up a document to lay bare the small faults of others, they are to be punished with the punishment of a slanderer."
魏徵為秘書監，有告徵謀反者。太宗曰：「魏徵，昔吾之讎，只以忠於所事，吾遂拔而用之，何乃妄生讒構？」竟不問徵，遽斬所告者。
When Wei Zheng was director of the palace library, there was one who charged that Wei Zheng was plotting revolt. Taizong said:
"Wei Zheng was once my enemy, but because he was loyal to the one he served I drew him out and used him. How then does this man recklessly raise up slander and contrivance?"
In the end he did not question Wei Zheng, and he at once had the accuser beheaded.
貞觀十六年，太宗謂諫議大夫褚遂良曰：「卿知起居，比來記我行事善惡？」遂良曰：「史官之設，君舉必書。善既必書，過亦無隱。」太宗曰：「朕今勤行三事，亦望史官不書吾惡。一則鑒前代成敗事，以為元龜；二則進用善人，共成政道；三則斥棄群小，不聽讒言。吾能守之，終不轉也。」
In the sixteenth year of Zhenguan Taizong said to Chu Suiliang, the grand counselor of remonstrance:
"You have charge of the record of daily life. Have you been writing down the good and the bad of what I have done of late?"
Suiliang said:
"The office of the historian was set up so that whatever the lord does is written down. Since the good is written down without fail, faults too are not hidden."
Taizong said:
"I now work diligently at three things, and I hope the historian will not write down my evil. The first is to take the affairs of success and failure in the ages before us as a mirror and to make them my great tortoise shell of divination. The second is to bring forward and use good men and to accomplish the way of government together with them. The third is to cast out and put away the crowd of petty men and not to listen to slanderous words. I am able to keep to these, and I will not turn from them to the end."