《宋史·列传·卷一百六十六》
 从前掌握大权的宰相表面对陛下表达小妻一样的忠心，暗中窃取驾驭人的大权，以音乐女色和赏玩嗜好的物品在内部蛊惑陛下的思想和心计，而废除和设置、生和死，这一切都只按他的心意，想怎么做就怎么做，因此导致国家的法度被破坏，风俗颓废，军政不整治而且边疆的保卫和防备措施被毁坏和缺乏。
盖自曩者权相阳进妾妇之小忠，阴窃君人之大柄，以声色玩好内蛊陛下之心术，而废置生杀，一切惟其意之所欲为，以致纪纲陵夷，风俗颓靡，军政不修而边备废缺。
In the past, grand ministers holding great power outwardly feigned great loyalty towards Your Majesty, secretly seizing and controlling great power while internally using music, women and objects of amusement to bewitch the thoughts and intentions of Your Majesty, thereby dismissing or appointing officials, issuing orders of life and death, and so on purely according to their own will, so that the country’s laws and customs were undermined, and its military affairs and border defences in a state of disarray and disrepair.