德彝 Déyí

Deyi, son of Tingmei

Deyi, styled Kejiu, was summoned by Taizu to be brought up in the palace. When Delong died, Deyi was made General-in-Chief of the Right Personal Guard and enfeoffed as Marquis of Changning Commandery, and took his elder brother Delong's place as administrator of Yi Prefecture, at the age of nineteen. When flying locusts entered the territory, the officials and people asked to dig pits to bury them and to burn them with fire, but Deyi said, "When Heaven sends down a calamity, it is the fault of the official who holds the territory." He then blamed himself and took the fault upon himself, fasted and prayed, and soon the locusts died of themselves. There was a Confucian scholar, Yi Shu, who lived and studied outside the city walls. One day a corpse was found lying beside his house, and the officials in charge arrested Shu and put him in prison, intending to punish him by law. Deyi suspected an injustice and ordered another office to examine the case; it found nothing different, so he ordered the sentence to be held over to wait. Before long the real killer was indeed caught, and Shu was released. Deyi was raised to Duke of a Commandery. In the fourth year of Chunhua he became General-in-Chief of the Right Gate Guard, was promoted to General-in-Chief of the Left Militant Guard, and his fief was changed to Guangping. The people of his district came to the palace gates to ask that he be kept in office, and an edict commended him. At the beginning of Zhenzong's reign he was recalled. In the second year of Xianping he was ordered to administer Chu Prefecture, but he and Degong were both kept back and not sent. In the third year he was made Prefect of Xu Prefecture, and rose through promotions to Acting Military and Surveillance Commissioner of the Baoxin Army. He died in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu, aged forty-nine. The emperor came to offer sacrifice and suspended court for three days. He was posthumously made Military Commissioner of the Zhaoxin Army and posthumously enfeoffed as Prince of Xindu Commandery, with the posthumous name Anjian. In the second year of Mingdao his fief was changed to Yingchuan. Edit

The sons of Deyi

His sons: Chengmo died before him; Chengju ended as Commissioner of Estates and was posthumously made Prefect of Bo Prefecture; Chengxu reached Palace Attendant and was posthumously made Vice Commissioner of the Six Mansions; Chengjie and Chenggong were both Commissioners of the Western Capital Workshops; Chengjie was Inner Palace Duty Officer; and Chengxi was Palace Attendant. Edit