Volume 89: Upright Officials

卷八十九循吏傳第五十九

Volume 89: Biographies of Exemplary Officials (59).

漢興之初，反秦之敝，與民休息，凡事簡易，禁罔疏闊，而相國蕭、曹以寬厚清靜為天下帥，民作「畫一」之歌。孝惠垂拱，高后女主，不出房闥，而天下晏然，民務稼穡，衣食滋殖。至於文、景，遂移風易俗。是時，循吏如河南守吳公、蜀守文翁之屬，皆謹身帥先，居以廉平，不至於嚴，而民從化。

When the Han first arose, it turned away from Qin's harsh excess and gave the people respite. Government stayed plain and light, and the law lay lightly upon them. Chancellors Xiao He and Cao Can led the empire with leniency and restraint, and the people sang of how rule had become steady and fair. Under Emperor Hui the court scarcely stirred; the Grand Empress Dowager Gao ruled from behind the curtain without stepping beyond the inner palace, yet the realm stayed calm. Folk bent their backs to farming, and food and clothing grew more plentiful. By the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, customs had begun to change for the better. Among them were model officials like the governor of Henan, Lord Wu, and the governor of Shu, Wen Weng: each kept his own conduct strict, led by example, governed with integrity and even-handed justice without leaning on harshness, and the people willingly came round.

孝武之世，外攘四夷，內改法度，民用凋敝，奸軌不禁。時少能以化治稱者，惟江都相董仲舒、內史公孫弘、□寬，居官可紀。三人皆儒者，通於世務，明習文法，以經術潤飾吏事，天子器之。仲舒數謝病去，弘、寬至三公。

Under Emperor Wu the court drove back the border peoples abroad while overhauling statutes at home. Common folk were drained, and lawbreaking ran unchecked. Few officials then won renown for civilizing rule through moral example; only Jiangdu Chancellor Dong Zhongshu, Capital Superintendent Gongsun Hong, and Kuan (the manuscript omits one character of his surname), among others, left careers worth remembering. All three were Confucian scholars who understood practical administration, knew the statutes inside out, and dressed routine bureaucratic work in classical learning; the emperor regarded them highly. Dong Zhongshu repeatedly begged off on grounds of ill health and left office, while Gongsun Hong and Kuan rose all the way to the rank of one of the Three Dukes.

孝昭幼沖，霍光秉政，承奢侈師旅之後，海內虛耗，光因循守職，無所改作。至於始元、元鳳之間，匈奴鄉化，百姓益富，舉賢良文學，問民所疾苦，於是罷酒榷而議鹽鐵矣。

Emperor Zhao was still a child when Huo Guang took the reins. He stepped into power after years of costly wars and lavish spending had hollowed out the realm. Huo held the line and changed little. Between the Shiyuan and Yuanfeng eras the Xiongnu began to submit, commoners grew wealthier, and the court summoned men of talent and learning to hear their grievances. The government monopoly on wine was lifted, and the great debate over salt and iron policy followed.

及至孝宣，由仄陋而登至尊，興於閭閻，知民事之艱難。自霍光薨後始躬萬機，厲精為治，五日一聽事，自丞相已下各奉職而進。及拜刺史守相，輒親見問，觀其所由，退而考察所行以質其言，有名實不相應，必知其所以然。常稱曰：「庶民所以安其田裡而亡歎息愁恨之心者，政平訟理也。與我共此者，其唯良二千石乎！」以為太守，吏民之本也。數變易則下不安，民知其將久，不可欺罔，乃服從其教化。故二千石有治理效，輒以璽書勉厲，增秩賜金，或爵至關內侯，公卿缺則選諸所表以次用之。是故漢世良吏，於是為盛，稱中興焉。若趙廣漢、韓延壽、尹翁歸、嚴延年、張敞之屬，皆稱其位，然任刑罰，或抵罪誅。王成、黃霸、朱邑、龔遂、鄭弘、召信臣等，所居民富，所去見思，生有榮號，死見奉祀，此廩廩庶幾德讓君子之遺風矣。

Emperor Xuan had climbed from humble obscurity to the throne; he came up through ordinary neighborhoods and knew firsthand how hard life could be for common folk. Only after Huo Guang died did he take personal charge of government. He threw himself into administration, holding court every five days, while everyone from the chancellor down brought forward their business in orderly turn. Whenever he named a regional inspector or a governor, he met the man face to face and sounded him out, then checked deeds against words once the appointee was in post. If reputation and performance failed to match, he dug until he understood why. He often remarked: "Common people settle quietly on their land only when governance is fair and justice runs straight; then they have no cause for bitter complaint." "The men who truly share that burden with me can only be worthy governors." He treated the grand administrator as the foundation of both officials and people. Constant reshuffling unsettles the countryside; when folk see that a governor will stay long enough that he cannot be fooled, they accept his moral guidance. Governors who proved effective received sealed edicts of praise, promotions in salary, gifts of gold, sometimes even elevation to marquis within the passes. When high ministerial posts fell vacant, he drew his next choices from the names they had recommended, in due order. Thus Han produced its richest crop of capable local officials in this age, and historians speak of it as the restoration. Men like Zhao Guanghan, Han Yanshou, Yin Wenggui, Yan Yanshou, and Zhang Chang filled their offices competently, yet built their reputations on harsh law; several ended condemned and put to death. Wang Cheng, Huang Ba, Zhu Yi, Gong Sui, Zheng Hong, Shao Xinchen, and their peers left districts wealthier than they found them and were mourned when they left. Honored in life and worshipped after death, they came closest to the old ideal of the gentleman who leads by deference and virtue.

文翁，廬江舒人也。少好學，通《春秋》，以郡縣吏察舉。景帝末，為蜀郡守，仁愛好教化。見蜀地辟陋有蠻夷風，文翁欲誘進之，乃選郡縣小吏開敏有材者張叔等十餘人親自飭厲，遣詣京師，受業博士，或學律令。減省少府用度，買刀布蜀物，繼計吏以遺博士。數歲，蜀生皆成就還歸，文翁以為右職，用次察舉，官有至郡守刺史者。

Wen Weng came from Shu District in Lujiang Commandery. As a young man he loved books, mastered the Spring and Autumn Annals, and won recommendation from a county post. Near the end of Emperor Jing's reign he was appointed governor of Shu, ruling with kindness and a passion for civilizing the people through education. Shu struck him as backward, almost frontier in manners. To lift it up he picked a dozen sharp young clerks like Zhang Shu, drilled them himself, and sent them to the capital to study under the court academicians or to train in the law codes. He trimmed his own privy purse, purchased Shu knives and cloth, and sent them along with the annual accounting mission as gifts for the academicians. Within a few years his protégés finished their studies and came home. He placed them in senior posts, recommended them in turn for higher office, and some rose to governorships or regional inspectorates.

又修起學官於成都市中，招下縣子弟以為學官弟子，為除更徭，高者以補郡縣吏，次為孝弟力田。常選學官僮子，使在便坐受事。每出行縣，益從學官諸生明經飭行者與俱，使傳教令，出入閨閣。縣邑吏民見而榮之，數年，爭欲為學官弟子，富人至出錢以求之。由是大化，蜀地學於京師者比齊魯焉。至武帝時，乃令天下郡國皆立學校官，自文翁為之始雲。

He founded a public school in the market at Chengdu and enrolled young men from the outlying counties as its students, exempting them from rotating labor service. The best graduates filled county and commandery posts; the next rank were commended as models of filial piety, brotherly duty, and diligent farming. He regularly drafted student aides and had them take notes or attend to paperwork beside him in informal session. On tours of the counties he brought along students who knew the classics and kept disciplined conduct, using them to relay his orders through courtyard after courtyard. Local officials and townsfolk looked on with admiration. Within a few years families scrambled to place sons in the school, and wealthy households sometimes paid for the privilege. Education transformed the region until the stream of Shu scholars heading for the capital rivaled that from Qi and Lu. By Emperor Wu's reign every commandery and kingdom was ordered to maintain official schools; the precedent is traced to Wen Weng.

文翁終於蜀，吏民為立祠堂，歲時祭祀不絕。至今巴蜀好文雅，文翁之化也。

Wen Weng died in office in Shu. Officials and commoners built him a shrine and kept seasonal offerings without interruption. Even today Ba and Shu cherish letters and refinement—that is Wen Weng's lasting influence.

王成，不知何郡人也。為膠東相，治甚有聲。宣帝最先褒之，地節三年下詔曰：「蓋聞有功不賞，有罪不誅，雖唐、虞不能以化天下。今膠東相成，勞來不怠，流民自佔八萬餘口，治有異等之效。其賜成爵關內侯，秩中二千石。」未及徵用，會病卒官。後詔使丞相、御史問郡國上計長吏守丞以政令得失，或對言前膠東相成偽自增加，以蒙顯賞，是後俗吏多為虛名雲。

Wang Cheng's native commandery is not recorded. As chancellor of Jiaodong he governed so effectively that his name traveled far. Emperor Xuan singled him out for praise early on. In the third year of Dijie an edict declared: "They say that where merit goes unrewarded and guilt unpunished, not even the sage-kings Yao and Shun could civilize the realm." "Our chancellor of Jiaodong, Cheng, has worked tirelessly to settle wanderers: over eighty thousand migrants have filed for residence under his care. His administration stands out among his peers." We therefore ennoble Cheng as marquis within the passes at the salary rank of two thousand bushels. Before he could be summoned to higher duty he fell ill and died in post. Later the emperor told the chancellor and chief clerk to quiz returning fiscal officers on what policies worked or failed. Some claimed the former Jiaodong chancellor Cheng had inflated his numbers to win honors. Thereafter petty officials chased hollow reputations—or so the story goes.

黃霸字次公，淮陽陽夏人也，以豪傑役使徙雲陵。霸少學律令，喜為吏，武帝末以待詔入錢賞官，補侍郎謁者，坐同產有罪劾免。後復入谷沈黎郡，補左馮翊二百石卒史。馮翊以霸入財為官，不署右職，使領郡錢谷計。簿書正，以廉稱，察補河東均輸長，復察廉為河南太守丞。霸為人明察內敏，又習文法，然溫良有讓，足知，善御眾。為丞，處議當於法，合人心，太守甚任之，吏民愛敬焉。

Huang Ba, courtesy name Cigong, was a native of Yangxia in Huaiyang Commandery; powerful local families had pressed him into forced labor, and he was banished with them to Yunling. As a youth Huang Ba studied the legal codes and wanted a bureaucratic career. Late in Emperor Wu's reign he bought an expectancy appointment, became a palace usher, then lost the post when impeached because a full brother had committed a crime. He next offered grain for appointment to Shenli Commandery and became a junior clerk at two hundred bushels in the offices of the governor of Zuo Fengyi. The governor of Fengyi, noting that Huang Ba had bought his way in, refused him a senior title and put him in charge of the commandery budget ledgers instead. His books balanced perfectly and he won a reputation for honesty. Recommended for merit, he became chief of the equal-distribution office in Hedong, then was recommended again and promoted to assistant governor of Henan. Huang Ba combined sharp judgment with a quiet, nimble mind; he knew the statutes cold yet remained courteous and modest, wise enough to win respect and skilled at handling men. As chief assistant he framed advice that matched both statute and popular feeling. His governor relied on him deeply, and officials and commoners alike admired him.

自武帝末，用法深。昭帝立，幼，大將軍霍光秉政，大臣爭權，上官桀等與燕王謀作亂，光既誅之，遂遵武帝法度，以刑罰痛繩群下，由是俗吏上嚴酷以為能，而霸獨用寬和為名。

From the late years of Emperor Wu onward, justice grew pitiless. Emperor Zhao came to the throne as a child while Huo Guang held power. Court factions clashed until Huo executed Shangguan Jie and his allies in the plot with the Prince of Yan. Thereafter the regime clung to Emperor Wu's harsh precedents, and petty bureaucrats climbed by proving how cruel they could be—except Huang Ba, who made his name with lenience.

時，上垂意於治，數下恩澤詔書，吏不奉宣。太守霸為選擇良吏，分部宣佈詔令，令民咸知上意，使郵亭鄉官皆畜雞豚，以贍鰥寡貧窮者。然後為條教，置父老師師伍長，班行之於民間，勸以為善防奸之意，及務耕桑，節用殖財，種樹畜養，去食谷馬。米鹽靡密，初若煩碎，然霸精力能推行之。吏民見者，語次尋繹，問它陰伏，以相參考。嘗欲有所司察，擇長年廉吏遣行，屬令周密。吏出，不敢捨郵亭，食於道旁，烏攫其肉。民有欲詣府口言事者適見之，霸與語，道此。後日吏還謁霸，霸見迎勞之，曰：「甚苦！食於道旁乃為烏所盜肉。」吏大驚，以霸具知其起居，所問豪猾不敢有所隱。鰥寡孤獨有死無以葬者，鄉部書言，霸具為區處，某所大木可以為棺，某亭豬子可以祭，吏往皆如言。其識事聰明如此，吏民不知所出，咸稱神明。奸人去入它郡，盜賊日少。

The emperor genuinely cared about good government and issued repeated edicts of grace, yet local officials failed to pass them on. Governor Huang Ba picked reliable subordinates, sent them district by district to proclaim every decree, and saw to it that ordinary subjects understood the throne's intent. He ordered every postal station and rural outpost to keep flocks of chickens and pigs for feeding widows, orphans, and the destitute. Next he laid down detailed regulations, appointed village elders, instructors, and squad leaders, and rolled the program out through the countryside. He urged honesty and vigilance against crime, pushed farming and sericulture, thrift and saving, planting orchards and raising stock, and culled grain-fed horses from the public herds. The rules covered everything down to rice and salt and looked tiresomely fussy at first, yet Huang Ba had the stamina to enforce them everywhere. Anyone who met him found that a casual conversation became an interrogation: he would follow every thread, probe what lay beneath it, and cross-check the answers. When he needed an investigation, he chose seasoned, honest officers, sent them out, and charged them to leave nothing unchecked. The inspector dared not stop at an inn and ate his meal by the roadside; crows swooped in and stole the meat from his plate. A farmer on his way to lodge a complaint witnessed the scene; Huang Ba chatted with him and mentioned what had happened. When the clerk returned to report, Huang Ba greeted him warmly and said, "You have had a hard time of it!" Those crows made off with your supper beside the road. The officer was thunderstruck, convinced that Huang Ba knew his every move; thereafter the powerful families he questioned dared hide nothing. When a report came in that a destitute widower, widow, or orphan had died with no one to pay for the funeral, Huang Ba worked out the details: this grove would supply timbers for a coffin, that post-station could spare a piglet for the rites. He sent men, and every detail matched his instructions. His knack for knowing things struck officials and commoners alike as uncanny; they spoke of him as almost supernatural. Troublemakers fled to neighboring jurisdictions, and crime dwindled by the day.

霸力行教化而後誅罰，務在成就全安長吏。許丞老，病聾，督郵白欲逐之，霸曰：「許丞廉吏，雖老，尚能拜起送迎，正頗重聽，何傷？且善助之，毋失賢者意。」或問其故，霸曰：「數易長吏，送故迎新之費及奸吏緣絕簿書盜財物，公私費耗甚多，皆當出於民，所易新吏又未必賢，或不如其故，徒相益為亂。凡治道，去其泰甚者耳。」

Huang Ba insisted on moral suasion before punishment and aimed above all to keep senior local officials effective and whole. County magistrate Xu was old and going deaf. The touring inspector wanted him dismissed, but Huang Ba replied: "Xu is an honest man. He can still rise and bow and manage formalities; he is merely hard of hearing—what is wrong with that?" Help him along instead; do not discourage men of talent." When someone pressed him for a rationale, he answered: "Every time you swap magistrates you force costly farewells and welcomes, give crooked clerks a chance to doctor the accounts and pocket funds, and pile losses on both treasury and populace. The replacement may be no better than the man you removed—often worse—and you only breed chaos." Sound administration trims only the worst excesses."

霸以外寬內明得吏民心，戶口歲增，治為天下第一。征守京兆尹，秩二千石。坐發民治馳道不先聞，又發騎士詣北軍馬不適士，劾乏軍興，連貶秩。有詔歸穎川太守官，以八百石居治如其前。前後八年，郡中愈治。是時，鳳皇神爵數集郡國，穎川尤多。天子以霸治行終長者，下詔稱揚曰：「穎川太守霸，宣佈詔令，百姓向化，孝子弟弟貞婦順孫日以眾多，田者讓畔，道不拾遣，養視鰥寡，贍助貧窮，獄或八年亡重罪囚，吏民向於教化，興於行誼，可謂賢人君子矣。《書》不雲乎？『股肱良哉！』其賜爵關內侯，黃金百斤，秩中二千石。」而穎川孝弟有行義民、三老、力田，皆以差賜爵及帛。後數月，征霸為太子太傅，遷御史大夫。

Outwardly indulgent but inwardly acute, Huang Ba won the trust of officials and commoners alike. His registers swelled year by year until his district ranked first in the empire. He was summoned to serve as governor of the capital at two thousand bushels. He was faulted for drafting labor to repair the imperial highways without prior notice and for sending cavalry to the Northern Army with mounts unfit for the men. Accused of sabotaging a mobilization, he suffered repeated demotions. An edict sent him back to Yingchuan as governor at eight hundred bushels, where he governed as before. Eight years in all, and the commandery grew better governed than ever. Phoenixes and "divine sparrows" were turning up in commanderies across the realm; Yingchuan reported more sightings than most. The emperor, deeming Huang Ba's career that of a true elder statesman, issued an edict of praise: "Governor Ba of Yingchuan has broadcast my decrees until the people have turned to virtue. Filial sons, dutiful younger brothers, chaste wives, and obedient grandsons multiply by the day. Farmers yield the boundary strips to one another; no one pockets what others drop on the road. Widows and orphans are cared for, the poor relieved. Some jails have seen no serious offender in eight years. Officials and subjects alike respond to moral instruction and prize honorable conduct. He is every inch the worthy gentleman." Does not the Book of Documents say: "How excellent are his ministers, the arms and legs of rule!" Grant him the rank of marquis within the passes, a hundred catties of gold, and salary at two thousand bushels. In Yingchuan, commoners noted for filial piety and righteous conduct, village elders, and model farmers received graded titles and bolts of silk as well. A few months later Huang Ba was summoned to be tutor to the heir apparent, then promoted to imperial clerk.

五鳳三年，代丙吉為丞相，封建成侯，食邑六百戶。霸材長於治民，及為丞相，總綱紀號令，風采不及丙、魏、於定國，功名損於治郡。時，京兆尹張敞捨鶡雀飛集丞相府，霸以為神雀，議欲以聞。敞奏霸曰：「竊見丞相請與中二千石博士雜問郡國上計長吏、守丞為民興利除害、成大化，條其對，有耕者讓畔，男女異路，道不拾遺，及舉孝子貞婦者為一輩，先上殿，舉而不知其人數者次之，不為條教者在後叩頭謝。丞相雖口不言，而心欲其為之也。長吏、守丞對時，臣敞捨有鶡雀飛止丞相府屋上，丞相以下見者數百人。邊吏多知鶡雀者，問之，皆陽不知。丞相圖議上奏曰：『臣問上計長吏、守丞以興化條，皇天報下神雀。』後知從臣敞捨來，乃止。郡國吏竊笑丞相仁厚有知略，微信奇怪也。昔汲黯為淮陽守，辭去之官，謂大行李息曰：『御史大夫張湯懷詐阿意，以傾朝廷，公不早白，與俱受戮矣。』息畏湯，終不敢言。後湯誅敗，上聞黯與息語，乃抵息罪而秩黯諸侯相，取其思竭忠也。臣敞非敢毀丞相也，誠恐群臣莫白，而長吏、守丞畏丞相指，歸捨法令，各為私教，務相增加，澆淳散樸，並行偽貌，有名亡實，傾搖解怠，甚者為妖。假令京師先行讓畔異路，道不拾遺，其實亡益廉貪貞淫之行，而以偽先天下，固未可也；即諸侯先行之，偽聲軼於京師，非細事也。漢家承敝通變，造起律令，所以勸善禁奸，條貫詳備，不可復加。宜令貴臣明飭長吏、守丞，歸告二千石、舉三老、孝弟、力田、孝廉、廉吏務得其人，郡事皆以義法令撿式，毋得擅為條教；敢挾詐偽以奸名譽者，必先受戮，以正明好惡。」天子嘉納敞言，召上計吏，使侍中臨飭如敞指意。霸甚慚。

In the third year of Wufeng he succeeded Bing Ji as chancellor, was ennobled as marquis of Jiancheng with six hundred households. Huang Ba's gifts lay in managing common folk. Once he took the chancellorship and had to orchestrate the whole bureaucracy, he lacked the presence of Bing Ji, Wei Xiang, or Yu Dingguo, and his renown dimmed beside what he had earned as a governor. Once sparrowhawks from Metropolitan Governor Zhang Chang's aviary settled on the chancellor's roof. Huang Ba mistook them for auspicious "divine sparrows" and prepared a memorial to the throne. Zhang Chang reported to the throne: "I observed the chancellor convene ministers and academicians to examine each fiscal officer on what good he had done for the people. Those who could claim that farmers yielded boundary strips, men and women kept separate paths, and lost articles stayed on the ground, and who could name exemplary sons and wives, were invited forward; those who cited miracles without head counts came next; anyone with no local regulations to show knelt in apology at the rear." Though the chancellor said nothing aloud, he plainly wanted them to claim such things. While those officers gave their answers, hawks from my own compound settled on the chancellor's roof before an audience of hundreds from the chancellor down. Frontier officers who knew a hawk when they saw one were questioned; every man pretended ignorance. The chancellor drafted a memorial reading: "When I asked the fiscal officers how they had promoted transformation, High Heaven answered by sending divine sparrows." Once he learned the birds had flown from my compound, he dropped the idea. Local officials quietly smiled at how kindly and clever the chancellor was—and how ready to credit omens. Long ago, when Ji An left for his post as governor of Huaiyang, he warned Grand Herald Li Xi: "Imperial Clerk Zhang Tang schemes and flatters to undermine the court. If you do not speak up soon, you will die beside him." Li Xi feared Zhang Tang and never breathed a word. After Zhang Tang fell and died, the emperor learned of that conversation, punished Li Xi, and made Ji An a kingdom chancellor to reward his stubborn loyalty. I do not mean to malign the chancellor, but I dread a court where no one speaks plainly. Magistrates may fear his hints, abandon the written law, invent private "teachings," and compete to exaggerate—thinning honest custom, encouraging hollow shows, trading substance for reputation until government wobbles and slackens, and in the worst case breeds outright sorcery. Even if the capital paraded tales of farmers yielding strips and separate walkways for men and women, it would not truly improve honesty or curb lust if the court taught the empire hypocrisy first—that cannot be right; and if the kingdoms began the charade, bogus reputations would outshine the capital itself—no trifling risk. Our dynasty inherited a broken age and rebuilt the statutes to reward virtue and restrain evil. The code is already exhaustive; little remains to be piled on top. Senior ministers should plainly instruct magistrates and assistants to report back to governors and to nominate worthy elders, exemplars of filial duty and farming, men qualified as filial-incorrupt or honest officials; county business must follow statute and precedent—no private "local policies" invented on the side; Anyone caught gaming the system for glory must face punishment first, so the court makes plain what it rewards and what it despises. The emperor approved Zhang Chang's memorial, summoned the fiscal officers from the commanderies, and sent palace attendants to relay his orders exactly as Zhang had urged. Huang Ba was deeply embarrassed.

又樂陵侯史高以外屬舊恩侍中貴重，霸薦高可太尉。天子使尚書召問霸：「太尉官罷久矣，丞相兼之，所以偃武興文也。如國家不虞，邊境有事，左右之臣皆將率也。夫宣明教化，通達幽隱，使獄無冤刑，邑無盜賊，君之職也。將相之官，朕之任焉。侍中樂陵侯高帷幄近臣，朕之所自親，君何越職而舉之？」尚書令受丞相對，霸免冠謝罪，數日乃決。自是後不敢復有所請。然自漢興，言治民吏，以霸為首。

Meanwhile Shi Gao, marquis of Leling, enjoyed influence at court as a maternal relative rewarded for past loyalty. Huang Ba nominated him for the vacant post of grand commandant. The emperor had the Secretariat summon Huang Ba and demand: "The grand commandantship has been dormant for years; the chancellor holds those duties so we may shift from war to civil rule." Should crisis strike or the frontier flare, every minister at hand becomes a general in effect. Spreading moral guidance, exposing hidden wrongs, keeping jails free of miscarriages and towns free of banditry—that is your office as chancellor. Who serves as general or minister is for me to decide." Shi Gao is my own trusted attendant inside the palace. Why did you overreach your charge by recommending him?" The director of the Secretariat took Huang Ba's answer back to the throne. Huang Ba doffed his cap and begged forgiveness; several days passed before the matter was closed. After that he never ventured another unsolicited nomination. Still, from the founding of Han down to his day, no name ranked above Huang Ba's among officials famed for governing common people.

始，霸少為陽夏游徼，與善相人者共載出，見一婦人，相者言：「此婦人當富貴，不然，相書不可用也。」霸推問之，乃其鄉里巫家女也。霸即娶為妻，與之終身。為丞相後徙杜陵。

In his youth Huang Ba had served as a patrol officer in Yangxia. Riding out with a fortune-teller, they passed a woman whom the man pronounced destined for wealth and rank—else his art was worthless. Huang Ba investigated and learned she was the daughter of a village diviner. He married her at once and kept her for life. After his elevation to chancellor he transferred his household registry to Duling.

朱邑字仲卿，廬江舒人也。少時為舒桐鄉嗇夫，廉平不苛，以愛利為行，未嘗笞辱人，存問耆老孤寡，遇之有恩，所部吏民愛敬焉。遷補太守卒史，舉賢良為大司農丞，遷北海太守，以治行第一入為大司農。為人淳厚，篤於故舊，然性公正，不可交以私。天子器之，朝廷敬焉。

Zhu Yi, courtesy name Zhongqing, came from Shu in Lujiang Commandery. As a young man he was bailiff of Tongxiang in Shu: honest, even-handed, never cruel. He sought to help rather than hurt, never beat or humiliated anyone, looked in on the elderly and isolated, and treated people generously. Officials and townsfolk under him loved and revered him. Promoted to a clerkship under the governor, then recommended as worthy and appointed assistant to the minister of agriculture, he became governor of Beihai and, ranked first in administrative performance, was recalled as minister of agriculture. He was warm and steadfast with old friends yet scrupulously fair; private favors could not sway him. The emperor prized him and the court treated him with respect.

是時，張敞為膠東相，與邑書曰：「明主游心太古，廣延茂士，此誠忠臣竭思之時也。直敞遠守劇郡，馭於繩墨，匈臆約結，固亡奇也。雖有，亦安所施？足下以清明之德，掌周稷之業，猶饑者甘糟糠，穰歲余梁肉。何則？有亡之勢異也。昔陳平雖賢，須魏無知而後進；韓信雖奇，賴蕭公而後信。故事各達其時之英俊，若必伊尹、呂望而後薦之，則此人不因足下而進矣。」邑感敞言，貢薦賢士大夫，多得其助者。身為列卿，居處儉節，祿賜以共九族鄉黨，家亡余財。

Zhang Chang, then chancellor of Jiaodong, wrote to Zhu Yi: "Our discerning ruler looks back to high antiquity and casts a wide net for talent. This is the moment for loyal servants to give everything they have." I am stuck governing a difficult frontier commandery, hemmed in by rules until my chest feels bound—hardly the place for brilliance. Even if I had ideas, where could I use them? You hold the minister's granaries with unsullied integrity: for you the meanest grain tastes sweet, while in a fat year others leave meat on the table. Why? Because surplus and want change how things feel. Chen Ping was a capable man, yet he advanced only after Wei Wuzhi had recommended him; Han Xin was a prodigy, yet he won trust only after Xiao He backed him. History shows every era advances its own capable men. If you insist on waiting for another Yi Yin or Lü Shang, talent will pass you by—those men will never owe their careers to you. Zhu Yi took Zhang Chang's words to heart, forwarded worthy candidates to court, and many men owed their breaks to him. Though he ranked among the nine ministers, he lived plainly and gave his stipends to extended family and neighbors, leaving no hoard at home.

神爵元年卒。天子閔惜，下詔稱揚曰：「大司農邑，廉潔守節，退食自公，亡強外之交，束脩之饋，可謂淑人君子，遭離凶災，朕甚閔之。其賜邑子黃金百斤，以奉其祭祀。」

He died in the first year of the Shenjue era. The emperor grieved and issued an edict: "Minister Zhu Yi was honest and upright, took only his public salary, cultivated no illicit ties abroad, and refused private gifts. He was the very model of a gentleman. Struck down untimely, I mourn him deeply." Award his son a hundred catties of gold for the ancestral offerings."

初，邑病且死，屬其子曰：「我故為桐鄉吏，其民愛我，必葬我桐鄉。後世子孫奉嘗我，不如桐鄉民。」及死，其子葬之桐鄉西郭外，民果共為邑起塚立祠，歲時祠祭，至今不絕。

When Zhu Yi lay dying he told his son: "I once served Tongxiang, and the people there loved me. Bury me among them." No descendant's sacrifices will mean as much as the devotion of those villagers." After his death his son interred him west of Tongxiang. The townsfolk raised a tomb and shrine for him and have kept seasonal sacrifices without fail ever since.

龔遂字少卿，山陽南平陽人也。以明經為官，至昌邑郎中令，事王賀。賀動作多不正，遂為人忠厚，剛毅有大節，內諫爭於王，外責傅相，引經義，陳禍福，至於涕泣，蹇蹇亡已。面刺王過，王至掩耳起走，曰：「郎中令善愧人。」及國中皆畏憚焉。王嘗久與騶奴宰人遊戲飲食，賞賜亡度。遂入見王，涕泣膝行，左右侍御皆出涕。王曰：「郎中令何為哭？」遂曰：「臣痛社稷危也！願賜清閒竭愚。」王辟左右，遂曰：「大王知膠西王所以為無道亡乎？」王曰：「不知也。」曰：「臣聞膠西王有諛臣侯得，王所為擬於桀、紂也，得以為堯、舜也。王說其諂諛，嘗與寢處，唯得所言，以至於是。今大王親近群小，漸漬邪惡所習，存亡之機，不可不慎也。臣請選郎通經術有行義者與王起居，坐則通《詩》、《書》，立則習禮容，宜有益。」王許之。遂乃選郎中張安等十人侍王。居數日，王皆逐去安等。久之，宮中數有妖怪，王以問遂，遂以為有大憂，宮室將空，語在《昌邑王傳》。會昭帝崩，亡子，昌邑王賀嗣立，官屬皆征入。王相安樂遷長樂衛尉，遂見安樂，流涕謂曰：「王立為天子，日益驕溢，諫之不復聽，今哀痛未盡，日與近臣飲食作樂，鬥虎豹，召皮軒，車九流，驅馳東西，所為悖道。古制寬，大臣有隱退，今去不得，陽狂恐知，身死為世戮，奈何？君，陛下故相，宜極諫爭。」王即位二十七日，卒以淫亂廢。昌邑群臣坐陷王於惡不道，皆誅，死者二百餘人，唯遂與中尉王陽以數諫爭得減死，髡為城旦。

Gong Sui, courtesy name Shaoqing, came from Nanpingyang in Shanyang Commandery. Recommended for classical learning, he rose to chief of palace gentlemen under Prince He of Changyi. Prince He's conduct was often improper. Gong Sui was loyal and blunt: he remonstrated with the prince in private, rebuked tutor and chancellor in public, quoted the classics on fortune and ruin, and wept as he pleaded without letting up. He confronted the prince with his errors until the prince clapped his hands over his ears and fled, crying, "The chief of gentlemen knows how to humiliate a man!" The whole kingdom learned to fear him. The prince often whiled away whole days drinking and gaming with stable boys and kitchen hands, handing out gifts without limit. Gong Sui crawled in on his knees, weeping, until even the attendants wept. The prince asked, "Why are you crying?" Gong Sui answered, "I weep because the altars of state stand in peril!" Grant me a moment alone to speak my mind." The prince sent everyone away. Gong Sui asked, "Do you understand how the Prince of Jiaoxi destroyed himself through villainy?" "I do not," came the reply. Gong Sui explained: "He kept a flatterer named Hou De who masked conduct worthy of Jie and Zhou with praise fit for Yao and Shun." The prince reveled in such words, shared his chamber with Hou De, and obeyed him alone—until ruin came. Now you surround yourself with petty men and soak in their vices. The hinge of survival hangs on what you do next—tread carefully. Let me choose gentlemen versed in the classics and upright conduct to attend Your Highness night and day: seated, they will read the Odes and Documents; standing, they will drill ritual bearing. That should help. The prince agreed. Gong Sui picked ten gentlemen, including Zhang An, to serve him. Within days the prince drove every one of them out. Strange omens kept appearing in the palace. When the prince asked, Gong Sui warned of grave disaster and an empty court—the full account stands in the biography of Prince He of Changyi. Emperor Zhao died without an heir, Prince He of Changyi succeeded, and his entire staff was summoned to the capital. Royal tutor Anle had become commandant of the Changle palace guard. Gong Sui went to him in tears: "Our lord is emperor now and grows more arrogant by the day; he ignores every remonstrance. Mourning for the late emperor is not finished, yet he feasts and sports with favorites, pits tigers and leopards, rides out in leather-canopied chariots followed by long trains of vehicles (the text reads 'nine currents'), and races east and west—conduct that flouts every decent rule." In older times ministers could withdraw in silence; today we cannot simply leave. Feigned madness brings its own peril. If we die disgraced, what then? You were his tutor—speak while speech may still matter." Twenty-seven days after his enthronement the emperor was deposed for debauchery. The Changyi ministers were condemned for leading their prince into wickedness; more than two hundred died. Only Gong Sui and commandant Wang Yang, having remonstrated often, escaped execution and were shorn for hard labor at dawn.

宣帝即位，不久，渤海左右郡歲饑，盜賊並起，二千石不能禽制。上選能治者，丞相、御史舉遂可用，上以為渤海太守。時，遂年七十餘，召見，形貌短小，宣帝望見，不副所聞，心內輕焉，謂遂曰：「渤海廢亂，朕甚憂之。君欲何以息其盜賊，以稱朕意？」遂對曰：「海瀕遐遠，不沾聖化，其民困於饑寒而吏不恤，故使陛下赤子盜弄陛下之兵於潢池中耳。今欲使臣勝之邪，將安之也？」上聞遂對，甚說，答曰：「選用賢良，固欲安之也。」遂曰：「臣聞治亂民猶治亂繩，不可急也；唯緩之，然後可治。臣願丞相、御史且無拘臣以文法，得一切便宜從事。」上許焉，加賜黃金，贈遣乘傳。至渤海界，郡聞新太守至，發兵以迎，遂皆遣還，移書敕屬縣悉罷逐捕盜賊吏。諸持鋤鉤田器者皆為良民，吏毋得問，持兵者乃為盜賊。遂單車獨行至府，郡中翕然，盜賊亦皆罷。渤海又多劫略相隨，聞遂教令，即時解散，棄其兵弩而持鉤鋤。盜賊於是悉平，民安土樂業。遂乃開倉廩假貧民，選用良吏，尉安牧養焉。

Soon after Emperor Xuan took the throne, famine struck Bohai and neighboring commanderies. Bandits rose everywhere and local governors could not suppress them. The emperor sought a capable man; chancellor and chief clerk recommended Gong Sui, and he was named governor of Bohai. Gong Sui was past seventy. At audience he looked undersized; Emperor Xuan, seeing him from afar, felt he did not match his reputation and secretly underestimated him. "Bohai lies in ruins," said the emperor, "and it weighs on me." How will you quiet the bandits there and satisfy my hopes?" Gong Sui answered: "Bohai lies far on the coast and has missed your transforming influence. The people starve while officials show no mercy, so your innocent subjects have merely borrowed your weapons to splash in a roadside puddle—no grave rebellion." Do you want me to crush them by force or to bring peace?" Delighted by the answer, the emperor said, "We chose a worthy man precisely because we mean to pacify them." Gong Sui continued: "They say unruly folk are like a snarled cord—you cannot yank it straight by force;" only gentle patience untangles it." Ask the chancellor and chief clerk not to tie my hands with paperwork so I may act as circumstances require." The emperor agreed, added a gift of gold, and sent him post-haste to his post. As he entered Bohai the district tried to greet him with armed escorts; he sent every soldier home and ordered all counties to dismiss officers tasked with hunting bandits. Anyone carrying hoes or sickles was a law-abiding farmer beyond official suspicion; only men bearing arms counted as bandits. He drove alone to headquarters. The commandery fell quiet, and the outlaw bands gave up. Bands that had roamed together looting broke up as soon as his orders circulated, dropping bows for farm tools. Order returned; people settled back to their fields and trades. He opened the granaries to feed the hungry, appointed capable officers, and nursed the district back to health.

遂見齊俗奢侈，好末技，不田作，乃躬率以儉約，勸民務農桑，令口種一樹榆，百本薤、五十本蔥、一畦韭，家二母彘、五雞。民有帶持刀劍者，使賣劍買牛，賣刀買犢，曰：「何為帶牛佩犢！」春夏不得不趨田畝，秋冬課收斂，益蓄果實菱芡。勞來循行，郡中皆有蓄積，吏民皆富實。獄訟止息。

Gong Sui found Qi folk addicted to luxury and petty trades while neglecting the plow. He set the example of thrift, pushed farming and sericulture, and ordered every person to plant one elm, a hundred scallions, fifty onions, and one bed of leeks; each household was to keep two sows and five chickens. Anyone wearing sword or knife had to sell steel for livestock until the slogan ran: "Why strap on an ox and hang a calf at your belt?" In spring and summer they had to head for the fields; in autumn and winter he assessed the harvest and urged households to lay in fruit, water caltrops, and foxnuts. Touring the commandery to encourage them, he left every district with reserves until officials and commoners alike grew prosperous. Lawsuits ceased.

數年，上遣使者征遂，議曹王生願從。功曹以為王生素耆酒，亡節度，不可使。遂不忍逆，從至京師。王生日飲酒，不視太守。會遂引入宮，王生醉，從後呼，曰：「明府且止，願有所白。」遂還問其故，王生曰：「天子即問君何以治渤海，君不可有所陳對，宜曰『皆聖主之德，非小臣之力也』。」遂受其言。既至前，上果問以治狀，遂對如王生言。天子說其有讓，笑曰：「君安得長者之言而稱之？」遂因前曰：「臣非知此，乃臣議曹教戒臣也。」上以遂年老不任公卿，拜為水衡都尉，議曹王生為水衡丞，以褒顯遂雲。水衡典上林禁苑，共張宮館，為宗廟取牲，官職親近，上甚重之。以官壽卒。

Some years later the emperor recalled Gong Sui to court. Wang Sheng of his deliberation office asked to accompany him. The chief clerk objected that Wang Sheng was a drunkard without discipline. Gong Sui hated to refuse him and brought him along to the capital. Wang Sheng drank every day and ignored his governor. As Gong Sui was ushered toward the palace, the drunken Wang Sheng hailed him from behind: "Governor, wait—I must speak." Gong Sui turned back. Wang Sheng said, "If the emperor asks how you ruled Bohai, volunteer nothing—answer only: 'It was entirely the sagely sovereign's virtue, not this petty official's doing.'" Gong Sui agreed. At audience the emperor did ask about Bohai, and Gong Sui answered exactly as coached. Pleased by his modesty, the emperor smiled and asked, "Where did an old fellow like you learn such deferential words?" Gong Sui stepped forward: "I did not think of it myself; my clerk from the deliberation office taught me." Deeming Gong Sui too aged for a ministerial portfolio, the emperor named him superintendent of the imperial parks and made Wang Sheng his deputy—a gesture meant to honor Gong Sui. The agency oversaw the Shanglin hunting preserve, supplied palace entertainments, and furnished temple victims—duties close to the throne, and the emperor valued the post. He died in office at an advanced age.

召信臣及其他

Shao Xinchen and others.

召信臣字翁卿，九江壽春人也。以明經甲科為郎，出補穀陽長。舉高第，遷上蔡長。其治視民如子，所居見稱述，超為零陵太守，病歸。復徵為諫大夫，遷南陽太守，其治如上蔡。

Shao Xinchen, courtesy name Wengqing, was a native of Shouchun in Jiujiang Commandery. Having passed the classics examination in the top tier, he became a gentleman of the palace and was posted as magistrate of Guyang. Recommended for outstanding performance, he was promoted to magistrate of Shangcai. He treated commoners as his own children and won praise wherever he served. Skipped ahead to governor of Lingling, he later resigned on grounds of illness. Recalled as a remonstrance counselor, he became governor of Nanyang and governed there as he had at Shangcai.

信臣為人勤力有方略，好為民興利，務在富之。躬勸耕農，出入阡陌，止捨離鄉亭，稀有安居時。行視郡中水泉，開通溝瀆，起水門提閼凡數十處，以廣溉灌，歲歲增加，多至三萬頃。民得其利，蓄積有餘。信臣為民作均水約束，刻石立於田畔，以防分爭。禁止嫁娶送終奢靡，務出於儉約。府縣吏家子弟好游敖，不以田作為事，輒斥罷之，甚者案其不法，以視好惡。其化大行，郡中莫不耕稼力田，百姓歸之，戶口增倍，盜賊獄訟衰止。吏民親愛信臣，號之曰召父。荊州刺史奏信臣為百姓興利，郡以殷富，賜黃金四十斤。遷河南太守，治行常為第一，復數增秩賜金。

Shao Xinchen was tireless and resourceful; he loved creating prosperity for the people and made their wealth his chief aim. He personally urged farmers along every ridge and furrow, lodging only at rural postal stops beyond the villages and seldom enjoying a quiet night at home. He surveyed springs and streams, dredged channels, and built dozens of sluices, dams, and intake gates until irrigated acreage climbed year after year to thirty thousand qing. Households reaped the benefit and filled their granaries. He drafted fair rules for sharing irrigation water and had them cut in stone at the field edge to forestall disputes. He banned lavish weddings and funerals and insisted that observances stay plain. Sons of official families who preferred idle amusement to farming were cashiered; repeat offenders faced prosecution for misconduct as a warning to others. His moral sway spread until everyone bent to the plow. Population doubled as families flocked in, while banditry and lawsuits dwindled away. Officials and commoners cherished him and called him "Father Shao." The regional inspector of Jingzhou reported how Shao Xinchen had enriched the people until the commandery thrived; the court rewarded him with forty catties of gold. Promoted to governor of Henan, he repeatedly ranked first in performance reviews and earned further raises and gold.

竟寧中，徵為少府，列於九卿，奏請上林諸離遠宮館稀幸御者，勿復繕治共張，又奏省樂府黃門倡優諸戲，及宮館兵弩什器減過泰半。太官園種冬生蔥韭菜茹，覆以屋廡，晝夜然蘊火，待溫氣乃生。信臣以為此皆不時之物，有傷於人，不宜以奉供養，乃它非法食物，悉奏罷，省費歲數千萬。信臣年老以官卒。

During the Jingning era he was summoned as privy treasurer among the nine ministers. He asked that distant lodges in the Shanglin preserve seldom visited by the emperor be left unmaintained, urged cuts to the imperial music bureau, palace entertainers, and court spectacles, and trimmed palace arms and gear by well over half. The imperial kitchen gardens forced scallions, leeks, and greens out of season under heated sheds, banking fires night and day until warmth coaxed shoots. Shao Xinchen held that out-of-season produce harmed health and should not provision the palace; he memorialized to end those practices and other irregular delicacies, saving tens of millions each year. He died of old age in office.

元始四年，詔書祀百辟卿士有益於民者，蜀郡以文翁，九江以召父應詔書。歲時郡二千石率官屬行禮，奉祠信臣塚，而南陽亦為立祠。

An edict in Yuanshi 4 ordered sacrifices to former ministers who had served the people; Shu Commandery nominated Wen Weng and Jiujiang nominated Father Shao. Each season the governor led his staff in rites at Shao Xinchen's tomb; Nanyang likewise maintained a shrine in his honor.

Cite this Chapter