Taizu and Taizong knew how to win men's hearts,
Long ramparts stretched across the frontier to block the dust of invaders.
Grand Tutor Li Hanchao,
Palace Attendant He Jiyun.
These two pursued and engaged Wu and Sun,
Pacifying Qi and calming Di, their achievements equal.
Splendid were the ancestors, truly wise and bold,
Clear as autumn springs, firm as stone.
Once they took command, uniting these two,
Hearts and minds aligned, cutting off the slightest doubt.
By the side of Muji, beneath the city walls,
Wine profits and merchant taxes piled up like mountains.
The two opened storehouses to feast the warriors,
Measuring gold by rooms, silk by carts.
Great waves entered the seats as wine cups passed,
Oxen roasted, sheep steamed, laid out like ashes.
Yearly expenses, huge sums unrecorded,
Warriors cheered, their spirits a hundredfold.
The two rode along the border's edge,
Banners swirling, unfurling with ease.
Sweeping the sandy wastes without a speck of dust,
The frontier gates a thousand miles open through the night.
The strong plowed, the old fed, peaceful and content,
Mulberries and hemp covered the fields, blossoms abundant.
Jinan's distant peace inscribed on stone,
A hundred wells at night destroyed the nomad tents.
Divine were the ancestors, knowing the greater whole,
Zhao's appointment of Li Mu truly thus.
Han Wendi's pettiness hardly worth praise,
Officials provoked, faces stained red.
Now the Qiang and Yi run rampant long,
Soldiers like festering sores must be cut away.
Our grand ministers grasp banners and axes,
Great strategies and divine plans trapped in bonds.
The ancestors' laws and systems preserved in books,
Bright as daylight illuminating the sky.
State decorum and military rule must not be disordered,
I present this for Your Majesty's delight.