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Former kings divided the realm and tended the people, using penal law to forbid wickedness and ritual teaching to guard against desire. Therefore they divided offices and appointed officials to govern the realm together. The Book of Documents says: "To know men is wisdom; to place men in office and settle the people is grace." A wise ruler wins clear-minded ministers; a benighted court breeds greedy, cruel officials. Gao Huan set the realm right after chaos and held pity close, so many prefects and magistrates proved fit for their posts. Yet he still sent battle-hardened generals to govern the outer marches—men who knew nothing of governance and had never learned the arts of rule. They were blind not only to precedent but even began by learning to hand cases to clerks by template; insatiable in levies, relentless in cruelty—though the law was sometimes enforced, they never truly reformed. Alas! This was a grave loss for the court. After the Daining era, refinement vanished; offices and judgments were sold, court and country deceived one another, and in the dynasty's last years venality grew worse still. Northern Qi had good officials—Xin Shu was not alone—many of whom won rank and fame and have their own biographies. Men such as Fang Zhonggan, who at the end of Wuping still stood apart from the crowd, are all the more praiseworthy. Here Zhang Huayuan and the rest are gathered under Good Officials.
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Zhang Huayuan, style Guoman, was from Dai commandery. As a youth he was bright and keen, with real capacity. When Gao Huan opened the Rapid Cavalry Office he made Huayuan a legal-cases staff officer, then a staff member of the Grand Chancellor's office, still attending at his side. He followed Gao Huan to Xindu and was deeply favored. Whenever Gao Huan commanded the three armies he often had Huayuan proclaim his intent.
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When Emperor Wen of Zhou first held Yong province, Gao Huan still hoped to persuade him with the logic of loyalty and rebellion and sent Huayuan through the passes to argue with him. Zhou Wen secretly meant to detain him and said: "If you can bend your swift horse's legs to stay here, we shall share wealth and honor; if not, your life ends today." Huayuan said: "The Prince of Bohai was born to order the age—perhaps Heaven itself set him free. Your lordship holds only the western passes and has cut yourselves off; Huayuan was sent to carry your message. If you will not change course today and turn calamity into blessing, but mean to coerce me, there is only death." Zhou Wen admired his candor and sent him back east. Gao Huan had long sighed over Huayuan's absence; when he heard of his return, joy showed on his face.
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累遷為兗州刺史，人懷感附，寇盜寢息。 州獄先有囚千餘人，華原皆決遣。 至年暮，唯有重罪者數十人，華原亦遣歸家申賀，依期至獄。 先是州境數有猛獸為暴，自華原臨州，忽有六駁食之，咸以化感所致。 後卒官，州人大小莫不號慕。
Promoted in time to inspector of Yan, he won the people's attachment and banditry ceased. The provincial prison had held more than a thousand prisoners; Huayuan judged and released them all. At year's end only several dozen men of serious crime remained; Huayuan sent even them home for New Year's greetings, on promise to return to prison on schedule. Before, fierce beasts had often ravaged the province; once Huayuan took office, six piebald horses suddenly devoured them—all called it the fruit of his transforming influence. He later died in office; people great and small mourned him aloud.
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Song Shiliang, style Yuanyou, was from Guangping. At fifteen he already had daring; he enlisted for the northern campaign and won battle merit again and again. Soon he became palace attendant censor and went to Hebei to register households, uncovering many hidden and idle persons. Returning, he saw many bones beside Ji commandery's city and wrote the provinces and commanderies to collect and bury them all. That night sweet rain poured down. Back at court, Emperor Xiaozhuang praised him: "The households you registered doubled the original rolls; if every official worked like you, it would be as if another realm had appeared under Heaven."
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He was appointed prefect of Qinghe. Shiliang was clear and bright in talent, especially skilled in governance; within the commandery his fame rose quickly. Southeast of the commandery lay Crooked Dike, where the Cheng clan alone held the ground and bandits gathered thickly. People said: "Better cross Wu and Kuaiji than pass Cheng's Crooked Dike." Shiliang applied his eight-article system and the bandits fled to other districts. The people rhymed: "Though Crooked Dike is steep, what good are bandits?—Lord Song alone screens their tracks." Later, at Tianbao's great amnesty, the commandery had not one prisoner beforehand—the clerks only bowed to the edict. Inside the prison millet grew, and peach trees and artemisia filled the yards. Daily the yamen gate stood empty; no one came to sue. That winter sweet springs appeared within the borders. When he was replaced, the whole city saw him off. An old man, Ding Jingang, wept and came forward: "I am ninety and recall thirty-five administrations; you govern well, and your clarity goes clean through. Now we lose a worthy magistrate—how shall the people be saved?" None failed to cling to him in tears. He was made prefect of Dong commandery and died in office. Shiliang studied hard and loved writing; he composed Outline of Characters in five chapters and Song Clan Separate Records in ten scrolls. He and his younger brother Shigui both won fame for filial piety and brotherly affection.
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世軌，幼自嚴整，好法律，稍遷廷尉卿。 洛州民聚結欲劫河橋，吏捕案之，連諸元徒黨千七百人。 崔暹為廷尉，以之為反，數年不斷。 及世軌為少卿，判其事為劫。 於是殺魁首，餘從坐悉舍焉。 時大理正蘇珍之亦以平幹知名。 寺中為之語曰：「決定嫌疑蘇珍之，視表見裏宋世軌。」 時人以為寺中二絕。 南臺囚到廷尉，世軌多雪之。 仍移攝御史，將問其濫狀，中尉畢義雲不送，移往復不止。 世軌遂上書，極言義雲酷擅。 顯祖引見二人，親勑世軌曰：「我知臺欺寺久，卿能執理與之抗衡，但守此心，勿慮不富貴。」 勑義雲曰：「卿比所為誠合死，以志在疾惡，故且一恕。」 仍顧謂朝臣曰：「此二人並我骨鯁臣也。」 及疾卒，廷尉、御史諸繫囚聞世軌死，皆哭曰：「宋廷尉死，我等豈有生路！」
Shigui, stern from youth, loved the law and rose in time to minister of justice. People of Luo province gathered to seize the Yellow River bridge; officials arrested them and implicated more than seventeen hundred Yuan clansmen and associates. Cui Xian as minister of justice called it rebellion; for years the case would not close. When Shigui became vice minister, he judged the matter robbery. The ringleaders were executed; the rest were all released. At the time Court chief justice Su Zhenzhi was also known for balanced competence. In the ministry they said: "To decide doubtful guilt—Su Zhenzhi; to see inside from the table—Song Shigui." Men of the time called them the ministry's twin marvels. Prisoners sent from the Southern Terrace to the Court of Justice—Shigui often cleared them. Transferred to investigating censor, he meant to inquire into their abuses; commandant Bi Yiyun would not hand prisoners over, and the exchanges would not end. Shigui memorialized, denouncing Yiyun's cruel overreach to the full. Emperor Xianzu summoned both and told Shigui: "I know the Terrace has long deceived the Court; hold to principle against them—keep this heart and you need not fear missing wealth and honor." He told Yiyun: "Your recent conduct truly deserves death; because you aim to hate evil, you are pardoned once." He turned to the court: "These two are both ministers who stick in my throat." When he died, prisoners of the Court and censorate wept: "Court Minister Song is dead—where is our road to life?"
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Shiliang's nephew Xiaowang was learned and loved literary ornament. Short and ugly in form, he loved to praise and blame others; opinion of the time detested him. He became staff officer in Duan Xiaoyan's opening office and was recommended as literary officer to the Prince of Beiping. Denied the Forest of Literature Hall, he slandered court gentlemen and compiled Separate Records in twenty scrolls; when Qi fell he retitled it Eastern Pass Customs and Traditions, broadened his material, and presented more than thirty scrolls. His words were mostly wild error; sections were redundant and confused, without real authorship.
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Lang Ji, style Shiye, was from Zhongshan. Eight chi tall, with a fine beard, he ranged through the classics and excelled at administrative affairs. He began as a court gentleman and rose to defender of Haixi. Wu Mingche of Liang besieged Haixi; Ji encouraged soldiers and people and held firm for more than a hundred days until grain and arms were gone—they carved wood for arrows and cut paper for fletching. When the siege lifted he returned; Vice Director Yang Yin met him: "You were a civil clerk, yet showed military strategy. Carving wood and cutting paper has no precedent—how could Ban and Mo's inventiveness be surpassed?"
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後帶潁川郡，積年留滯，數日之中，剖判咸盡，而臺報下，並允基所陳。 條綱旣疏，獄訟清息，官民遐邇，皆相慶悅。 基性清慎，無所營求，曾語人云：「任官之所，木枕亦不須作，況重於此事。」 唯頗令寫書。 潘子義曾遺之書曰：「在官寫書，亦是風流罪過。」 基答書曰：「觀過知仁，斯亦可矣。」 後卒官，柩將還，遠近將送，莫不攀轅悲哭。
Later he held Yingchuan concurrently; cases had stagnated for years, yet within days he cleared them all, and Terrace reports approved what Ji had ruled. Statutes grew sparse, litigation quiet, and officials and people far and near rejoiced. Pure and cautious, he sought nothing for himself; he once said: "In office one need not even make a wooden pillow—how much less anything beyond that." He only had books copied. Pan Ziyi wrote: "Copying books in office is also a fashionable fault." Ji replied: "To see fault and know benevolence—that will do." He later died in office; when the coffin was to return, escorts far and near clung to the carriage rails in tears.
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孟業，字敬業，鉅鹿安國人。 家本寒微，少為州吏。 性廉謹，同僚諸人侵盜官絹，分三十疋與之，拒而不受。 魏彭城王韶拜定州，除典籖。 長史劉仁之謂業曰：「我處其外，君居其內，同心戮力，庶有濟乎。」 未幾仁之徵入為中書令，臨路啟韶云：「殿下左右可信任者唯有孟業，願專任之。 餘人不可信也。」 又與業別，執手曰：「今我出都，君便失援，恐君在後，不自保全。 唯正與直，願君自勉。」 業唯有一馬，因瘦而死。 韶以業家貧，令州府官人同食馬肉，欲令厚償，業固辭不敢。 韶乃戲業曰：「卿邀名人也。」 對曰：「業以微細，伏事節下，旣不能裨益，寧可損敗清風。」 後高祖書與韶云：「典籖姓孟者極能用心，何不置之目前。」 韶，高祖之婿也。 仁之後為兗州，臨別謂吏部崔暹曰：「貴州人士，唯有孟業，宜銓舉之，他人不可信也。」 崔暹問業曰：「君往在定州，有何政績，使劉西兗如此欽歎？」 答曰：「稟性愚直，唯知自修，無他長也。」
Meng Ye, style Jingye, was from Anguo in Julu. His family was poor; in youth he was a provincial clerk. Honest and cautious, when colleagues who stole official silk offered him thirty bolts he refused. When Wei Prince of Pengcheng Shao took Ding province, Ye was made records-and-keeper. Chief Administrator Liu Renzhi told Ye: "I stand outside, you within; with one heart we may succeed." Soon Renzhi was summoned to the Secretariat; leaving, he told Shao: "Of those around you, only Meng Ye can be trusted—put sole trust in him. The rest cannot be trusted." Parting from Ye he took his hand: "I leave the capital and you lose support; I fear you cannot preserve yourself afterward. Only uprightness and straightness—urge yourself." Ye had only one horse; it died from thinness. Because Ye's family was poor, Shao ordered officials to eat the horse's flesh and meant to compensate him generously; Ye firmly declined. Shao jested: "You court a famous man's reputation." Ye answered: "I am minute and low, serving in attendance; since I cannot benefit you, how could I damage your clear reputation?" Later Gao Huan wrote Shao: "The records-keeper surnamed Meng is extremely attentive—why not keep him before your eyes?" Shao was Gao Huan's son-in-law. When Ren later became governor of Yanzhou, he took leave of Personnel Director Cui Xian and said, "Of the men in this province, only Meng Ye deserves selection and promotion; the rest are not to be trusted." Cui Xian asked Ye, "When you were in Dingzhou, what achievements made Liu of Western Yanzhou admire you so?" He answered, "By nature I am blunt and honest; I only know how to improve myself—I have no other talents."
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Early in the Tianbao era, Prince of Qinghe Yue became governor of Si Province; hearing Ye's reputation, he summoned him again as legal-affairs officer. Ye was short in stature; at their audience Yue inwardly scorned his slight build and laughed without a word. Later, after examining Ye's rulings, he told him, "Your clarity in judgment exceeds what your stature would suggest." He was soon made administrator of Dong commandery, where he became known for lenience and kindness. That year one wheat stalk bore five ears, while others bore three or four on a single stalk; the whole commandery regarded it as a sign of his transforming rule. He soon died of illness.
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Cui Boqian, styled Shixun, came from Boling. His father Wenye had been administrator of Julu. Orphaned young and poor, Boqian was devoted to supporting his mother. Gao Huan summoned him to Jinyang and made him staff merit officer in the chancellor's office, saying, "Pure, upright, and devoted to the public—he is a true fine assistant." He was transferred to vice governor of Ying Province. Gao Cheng made him metropolitan-area marshal and told him, "You have already distinguished yourself in the Ying region and won popular praise; the supervisory office's business is heavy—so I entrust this post to you." His clansman Xian then held favor and power; though they had been colleagues and schoolmates, Boqian never called on him except for weddings or funerals.
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Later appointed administrator of Jibei, he won wide trust through kindness and replaced the whip with one of soft tanned leather, unwilling to draw blood—shame alone was the aim. A court noble traveling through the commandery asked how the prefect governed. They answered, "Our lord's gracious rule is unlike anything of old. They recited the people's song: 'Prefect Cui governs well; change the whip, spread authority and virtue, and the people do not quarrel.'" The guest said, "If you call it gracious rule, how can there also be authority?" They said, "Officials fear his authority; common people receive his kindness." When he was summoned to Ye, the people wept and blocked the road. Because his brother Rang was in Guanzhong, he took no further inner post and was made administrator of southern Julu, personally reviewing every matter large or small. If the poor and weak had cases unsettled, they all said, "We have our White-Beard Lord—we need not worry it will go undecided." He later became silver-gleaming grand master for splendid virtue and died.
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Su Qiong, styled Zhenzhi, came from Wuqiang. His father Bei served Wei as far as junior chamberlain for the palace guards. As a boy Qiong followed his father to the frontier and once called on Eastern Jingzhou inspector Cao Zhi. Zhi asked playfully, "Do you want an office?" He answered, "Offices are established to seek men, not men to seek offices." Zhi marveled at the reply and appointed him senior adjutant in the office. Gao Cheng, holding the rank of fifth-order palace guard, opened a staff office and made him penal-affairs staff officer, often encouraging him. In Bing Province there had been bandits; the senior adjutant investigated, and every suspect had confessed under torture while the owners identified them—yet the stolen goods were never found. Gao Cheng put Qiong on a fresh exhaustive inquiry; he traced the case separately and found Yuan Jingrong and more than ten others, all with the loot recovered. Gao Cheng laughed and told those who had wrongly implicated the thieves, "If you had not met my fine staff officer, you would almost have been executed unjustly."
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除南清河太守，其郡多盜，及瓊至，民吏肅然，姦盜止息。 或外境姦非，輒從界中行過者，無不捉送。 零陵縣民魏雙成失牛，疑其村人魏子賓，送至郡，一經窮問，知賓非盜者，卽便放之。 雙成訴云：「府君放賊去，百姓牛何處可得？」 瓊不理，密走私訪，別獲盜者。 從此畜牧不收，多放散，云：「但付府君。」 有鄰郡富豪將財物寄置界內以避盜，為賊攻急，告曰：「我物已寄蘇公矣。」 賊遂去。 平原郡有妖賊劉黑狗，構結徒侶，通於滄海。 瓊所部人連接村居，無相染累。 鄰邑於此伏其德。 郡中舊賊一百餘人，悉充左右，人間善惡，及長吏飲人一杯酒，無不卽知。 瓊性清慎，不發私書。 道人道研為濟州沙門統，資產巨富，在郡多有出息，常得郡縣為徵。 及欲求謁，度知其意，每見則談問玄理，應對肅敬，研雖為債數來，無由啟口。 其弟子問其故，研曰：「每見府君，徑將我入青雲間，何由得論地上事。」 郡民趙潁曾為樂陵太守，八十致事歸。 五月初，得新瓜一雙自來送。 潁恃年老，苦請，遂便為留，仍致於聽事梁上，竟不剖。 人遂競貢新果，至門，聞知潁瓜猶在，相顧而去。 有百姓乙普明兄弟爭田，積年不斷，各相援引，乃至百人。 瓊召普明兄弟對衆人諭之曰：「天下難得者兄弟，易求者田地，假令得地失兄弟心如何？」 因而下灑，從人莫不淚泣。 普明弟兄叩頭乞外更思，分異十年，遂還同住。 每年春，總集大儒衛覬隆、田元鳳等講於郡學，朝吏文案之暇，悉令受書，時人指吏曹為學生屋。 禁斷淫祠，婚姻喪葬皆教令儉而中禮。 又蠶月預下綿絹度樣於部內，其兵賦次第並立明式，至於調役，事必先辦，郡縣長吏常無十杖稽失。 當時州郡無不遣人至境，訪其政術。 天保中，郡界大水，人災，絕食者千餘家。 瓊普集部中有粟家，自從貸粟以給付饑者。 州計戶徵租，復欲推其貸粟。 綱紀謂瓊曰：「雖矜饑餧，恐罪累府君。」 瓊曰：「一身獲罪，且活千室，何所怨乎？」 遂上表陳狀，使檢皆免，人戶保安。 此等相撫兒子，咸言府君生汝。 在郡六年，人庶懷之，遂無一人經州。 前後四表，列為尤最。 遭憂解職，故人贈遺，一無所受。 尋起為司直、廷尉正，朝士嗟其屈。 尚書辛述曰：「旣直且正，名以定體，不慮不申。」
Appointed administrator of southern Qinghe, a commandery rife with thieves, he brought officials and people to order and wicked theft ceased. Wrongdoers from neighboring districts who passed through his borders were invariably seized and delivered. Wei Shuangcheng of Lingling county lost an ox and suspected Wei Zibin of his village; Zibin was sent to the commandery, and after one thorough inquiry Qiong knew he was not the thief and released him at once. Shuangcheng complained, "The prefect let the thief go—how are ordinary people to recover their oxen?" Qiong ignored him, sent private inquiries, and separately caught the real thieves. After that people often stopped penning livestock and let herds roam free, saying, "Just leave them to the prefect." A wealthy man from a neighboring commandery stored goods inside the border to escape thieves; when bandits pressed him he said, "My goods are already with Lord Su." The bandits then withdrew. In Pingyuan commandery a demonic bandit, Liu Heigou, gathered followers with ties to the eastern sea. Villages along Qiong's border that adjoined the bandits' territory suffered no infection or implicated cases. Neighboring districts thereby submitted to his virtue. He took more than a hundred former thieves in the commandery as his attendants; good and ill among the people, and even when a senior official shared a cup of wine with someone—nothing failed to reach him at once. Qiong was pure and cautious by nature and never sent private letters. The monk Daoyan, Buddhist superintendent of Jizhou, was hugely wealthy and had many income streams in the commandery, often collected through county and commandery offices. When Daoyan wished to call on him, Qiong knew his intent; at each meeting he discussed abstruse principles with solemn respect—though Daoyan came repeatedly on debt business, he never found an opening. His disciples asked why; Daoyan said, "Each time I see the prefect he carries me straight into the blue clouds—how can I speak of earthly affairs?" A commandery man, Zhao Ying, had been administrator of Leling; at eighty he retired home. In early fifth month he brought a pair of fresh melons as a gift. Ying, relying on his age, pressed hard; Qiong finally kept them and hung them on a beam in the reception hall without ever cutting them. People then vied to offer fresh fruit; at the gate, learning Ying's melons were still there, they looked at one another and left. Commoners Yi Puming and his brothers disputed fields for years without settlement, each side citing supporters until the case involved nearly a hundred people. Qiong summoned the brothers before the crowd and said, "Brothers are what the world can scarcely obtain; fields are easy to find—if you gain land but lose your brothers' hearts, what then?" Tears fell from his eyes; none among those present failed to weep. The brothers kowtowed and begged to withdraw and reconsider; separated ten years, they then returned to live together. Each spring he gathered great Confucians Wei Jilong, Tian Yuanfeng, and others to lecture at the commandery school; in spare moments from documents he had all court clerks study—people called the clerks' quarters the students' hall. He forbade improper shrines and taught weddings and funerals to be frugal yet within ritual. In silkworm month he issued silk-gauze quota samples throughout the district; military levies were set in clear order; corvée and requisitions were always prepared in advance—commandery and county heads often had not even ten blows' penalty for delay. At the time every province and commandery sent men to his border to study his methods of government. During Tianbao, great floods struck the commandery; more than a thousand households were left without food. Qiong gathered every household in the district that had grain and personally borrowed from them to feed the hungry. The province counted households for tax levy and again sought to assess his borrowed grain. His clerks told him, "Though you pity the starving, I fear the guilt will fall on you, my lord." Qiong said, "One body may bear guilt, yet a thousand households live—what is there to resent?" He memorialized the facts, had the investigation remitted entirely, and households were kept secure. Those he had fostered as sons all said, "The prefect gave you birth." For six years in the commandery the people cherished him, and not one person brought a case to the province. Four successive memorials ranked him foremost. When mourning obliged him to leave office, he accepted none of the gifts old friends offered. Soon he was reappointed rectifier and director of the Court of Justice; court gentlemen sighed that he was underused. Master of Writing Xin Shu said, "Upright and correct—his name fixes his substance; there is no worry he will not prevail."
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初，瓊任清河太守，裴獻伯為濟州刺史，酷於用法，瓊恩於養人。 房延佑為樂陵郡，過州，裴問其外聲，佑云：「唯聞太守善，刺史惡。」 裴云：「得民譽者非至公。」 佑答言：「若爾，黃霸、龔遂君之罪人也。」 後有勑，州各舉清能。 裴以前言，恐為瓊陷，瓊申其枉滯，議者尚其公平。 畢義雲為御史中丞，以猛暴任職，理官忌憚，莫敢有違。 瓊推察務在公平，得雪者甚衆，寺署臺案，始自於瓊。 遷三公郎中。 趙州及清河、南中有人頻告謀反，前後皆付瓊推撿，事多申雪。 尚書崔昂謂瓊曰：「若欲立功名，當更思餘理，仍數雪反逆，身命何輕？」 瓊正色曰：「所雪者怨枉，不放反逆。」 昂大慚。 京師為之語曰：「斷決無疑蘇珍之。」 遷左丞，行徐州事。 徐州城中五級寺忽被盜銅像一百軀，有司徵檢，四鄰防宿及蹤跡所疑，逮系數十人，瓊一時放遣。 寺僧怨訴不為推賊，瓊遣僧，謝曰：「但且還寺，得像自送。」 爾後十日，抄賊姓名及贓處所，徑收掩，悉獲實驗，賊徒款引，道俗歎伏。 舊制以淮禁不聽商販輒度，淮南歲儉，啟聽淮北取糴。 後淮北人饑，復請通糴淮南，遂得商估往還，彼此兼濟，水陸之利，通於河北。 後為大理卿而齊亡，仕周為博陵太守。
Earlier, when Qiong was administrator of Qinghe, Pei Xianbo was inspector of Jizhou, harsh in applying the law, while Qiong was kind in nurturing people. Fang Yanyou was administrator of Leling; passing through the province, Pei asked outside reputation; You said, "I only hear the administrator is praised and the inspector is condemned." Pei said, "One who wins popular praise is not utterly impartial." You replied, "If that is so, then Huang Ba and Gong Sui were criminals by your standard." Later an edict ordered each province to recommend the pure and capable. Because of his earlier remark Pei feared Qiong would trap him; Qiong stated his wrongful detention, and commentators respected his fairness. Bi Yiyun was censor-in-chief, fierce and violent in office; legal officials feared him and none dared disobey. Qiong's investigations aimed at fairness; very many were cleared—court and censorate cases began with Qiong. He was transferred to gentleman of the three offices. In Zhao province, Qinghe, and southern Zhong people repeatedly reported rebellion; case after case went to Qiong for investigation, and many were cleared. Master of Writing Cui Ang told Qiong, "If you wish merit and fame, you should think of other principles; you still repeatedly clear treason cases—how lightly you hold your life?" Qiong said sternly, "What I clear are wrongful grievances—I do not release real rebels." Ang was deeply ashamed. The capital had a saying: "Judgment without doubt—Su Zhenzhi." He was transferred to left vice director and acted in Xu province affairs. In Xuzhou city the Five-Tier Temple was robbed of a hundred bronze statues; the authorities investigated neighbors on night watch and everyone suspicion touched—several tens were seized; Qiong released them all at once. The monks complained he did not pursue the thieves; Qiong sent them away, saying, "Just return to the temple—the statues will come back on their own." Ten days later he had the bandits' names and the hiding places, seized them directly, verified everything, and the thieves confessed in detail—monks and laypeople alike marveled. By old regulation the Huai crossing barred merchants at will; when Huainan had a lean year, Qiong memorialized to allow buying grain north of the Huai. Later when north Huai people were hungry, he again requested open grain trade with Huainan; merchants went back and forth, each side aiding the other, and water and land routes profited Hebei. He later became director of the Court of Justice, but Qi fell; he served Zhou as administrator of Boling.
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Fang Bao, styled Zhonggan, came from Qinghe. His grandfather Fashou has a biography in the Book of Wei. His father was Yizong. Bao was tall and broad-shouldered, with a handsome voice and bearing. He doffed the hemp and entered service as an opening-office staff officer and concurrent mobile-office gentleman, attending Murong Shaozong. Shaozong claimed a water bane was upon him, so he bathed aboard the war galley and even threw himself into the river, hoping an apotropaic counter-measure would turn fate aside. Bao said, "Fate is Heaven's to give—what mortal scheme could hurry or delay it? If you truly face disaster, I doubt any averting rite can lift it; if there is none in truth, what would you avert?" Murong Shaozong laughed. "Cannot escape the vulgar," he said; "one goes through the motions, that is all." Before long Murong Shaozong drowned; opinion at the time took it that Bao had read the omen.
20
遷樂陵太守，鎮以凝重，哀矜貧弱。 豹階庭簡靜，圄囹空虛。 郡治瀕海，水味多鹹苦，豹命鑿一井，遂得甘泉，遐邇以為政化所致。 豹罷歸後，井味復鹹。 齊滅，還鄉園自養，頻徵，辭疾。 終於家。
Promoted to administrator of Leling, he ruled with grave steadiness and pitied the poor and weak. Under Bao the yamen stayed plain and quiet and the cells stood empty. The seat lay on the coast, where the water ran salty and bitter. Bao had a well sunk and sweet water rose; people far and near credited his transforming rule. Once Bao had left office and gone home, the well turned salty again. When Qi fell he went home to tend his estate. Summons came again and again; he pleaded illness and stayed away. He died at home.
21
Lu Qubing was a native of Yangping. His manner was open and lucid; his looks were singular and striking. He doffed the hemp and became an opening-office staff officer. An edict required that cultivated men serve as county magistrates, and Qubing was appointed magistrate of Raoyang in Dingzhou. Qubing understood the affairs of the age and was by nature stern and firm; none dared cheat him, yet he was utterly fair, and officials and commoners alike marveled. He was promoted to magistrate of Cheng'an. Below the capital stood Ye, Linzhang, and Cheng'an—three counties long notorious under the imperial hub. Disorder piled on hard times; law's net hung slack, and meritorious ministers and imperial kin pressed requests from every side. Qubing tracked every matter and answered on principle. Men of influence—even grooms and petty servants—feared his bearing, yet none bore him a grudge. After the court moved to Ye, among the three magistrates' ways of rule, Qubing alone was ranked first. When Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou conquered Qi, he prized their competence in office. Qubing and Gongsun Jingmao, administrator of Jiyin, were the two not replaced; an edict singled them out for praise. In the Daye era of Sui he died in office as magistrate of Jishi.