1
魏裔介，字石生，直隸柏鄉人。 順治三年進士，選庶吉士。 四年，授工科給事中。 五年，疏請舉經筵及時講學，以隆治本。 又言：「燕、趙之民，椎牛裹糧，首先歸命。 此漢高之關中，光武之河內也。 今天下初定，屢奉詔蠲賦，而畿輔未霑實惠，宜切責奉行之吏，彰信於民。」 俱報聞。
Wei Yijie, whose style was Shisheng, came from Baixiang in Zhili. In Shunzhi 3 (1646) he passed the jinshi examination and was chosen as a Hanlin bachelor. The following year he was made supervising secretary of the Ministry of Works. In the fifth year he submitted a memorial asking that the emperor hold regular Classics Lectures and study without delay, so as to strengthen the foundations of rule. He also wrote: "The people of Yan and Zhao slaughtered cattle and packed provisions to be the first to submit to the new dynasty. They were to the Qing what Guanzhong had been to Gaozu of Han and Henei to Emperor Guangwu. Now that the realm is newly pacified, repeated edicts have remitted taxes, yet the capital districts have not felt the real benefit. Officials charged with carrying out these orders should be held strictly accountable so that the government's word is made credible to the people. All of these proposals were noted by the throne.
2
轉吏科，以母憂歸。 服闋，九年，起故官。 應詔疏言：「上下之情未通，滿、漢之氣中閼。 大臣闒茸以保富貴，小臣鉗結以習功名。 紀綱日弛，法度日壞。 請時禦正殿，召對群臣，虛心諮訪。 令部院科道等官面奏政事，仍令史官記註，以求救時之實。」 時世祖親政，裔介疏言：「督撫重臣宜慎選擇，不宜專用遼左舊人。」 又言：「攝政王時，隱匿逃人，立法太嚴，天下囂然，喪其樂生之心。 後以言官陳說，始寬其禁，責成州縣，法至善也。 若捨此之外別有峻法，竊恐下拂人心，上乾天和，非尋常政治小小得失而已。」 上韙之。
Transferred to the Secretariat Section, he went home to observe mourning for his mother. When his mourning period ended, in the ninth year he was recalled to his former post. In response to an imperial call for candid memorials, he wrote: "Feeling between ruler and subjects has not yet opened; the spirit between Manchu and Han remains obstructed in the middle. Senior ministers grow slack to protect their wealth and status, while junior officials hold their tongues to secure promotion and reputation. Discipline grows lax by the day, and statutes and precedents erode daily. I beg Your Majesty to hold court regularly in the main hall, summon the ministers for direct audience, and seek their counsel with an open mind. Let ministers, department heads, and censorate officials present affairs in person, with historiographers still taking note, so that the court may learn what is truly needed to rescue the age. By then the Shizu Emperor had begun to rule in person. Yijie memorialized: "Provincial governors and governors-general are posts of the greatest weight and should be chosen with care; the court ought not rely exclusively on veterans from the old Liaodong circle. He added: "Under the Prince Regent, laws against harboring fugitive bondsmen were so harsh that the whole country seethed and people lost the will to make a living. Later, after remonstrating officials explained the harm, the prohibition was eased and enforcement was entrusted to prefectures and counties—a policy that was altogether sound. If, abandoning this approach, the court adopts still harsher measures, I fear it will alienate the people below and offend Heaven's harmony above—far more than the usual petty gains and losses of routine administration. The emperor endorsed his views.
3
河南巡撫吳景道援恩詔薦舉明兵部尚書張縉彥。 裔介疏言：「縉彥仕明，身任中樞，養寇誤國，有盧杞、賈似道之姦，而庸劣過之。 宜予擯棄，以協公論。」 疏下部議，以事在赦前，予外用。 又疏言：「州縣遇災荒，既經報部，其例得蠲緩錢糧，即予停徵，以杜吏胥欺隱。 並就州縣積穀及存貯庫銀，先行賑貸。」 下所司議行。 時直隸、河南、山東諸省災，別疏請賑。 上命發帑金二十四萬，分遣大臣賑之，全活甚眾。
Henan Governor Wu Jingdao, invoking the general amnesty edict, recommended Zhang Jinyan, former Minister of War under the Ming. Yijie memorialized: "Jinyan served the Ming at the center of power, indulged rebels, and ruined the state. He had the treachery of a Lu Qi or Jia Sidao, yet was even more mediocre and incompetent than they. He ought to be rejected outright, in keeping with public opinion. The memorial was referred to the ministries, which ruled that because the offense predated the amnesty, Jinyan might be given an appointment outside the capital. He also proposed that when a prefecture or county reported a disaster to the ministry, any taxes eligible for remission or deferral under precedent should at once cease to be collected, so that clerks could not continue to extort the people in secret. Local granary stocks and treasury reserves on hand should be used at once for relief loans. The proposal was referred to the relevant offices and put into effect. When Zhili, Henan, Shandong, and other provinces were stricken by famine, he submitted a separate memorial requesting relief. The emperor ordered 240,000 taels from the treasury and dispatched senior ministers to administer relief, saving a great multitude of lives.
4
十一年，遷兵科都給事中。 東南兵事未定，疏言：「今日劉文秀復起於川南，孫可望竊據於貴築，李定國伺隙於西粵，張名振流氛於海島，連年征討，尚稽天誅。 為目前進取計，蜀為滇、黔門戶，蜀既守而滇、黔之勢蹙，故蜀不可不先取。 此西南之情形也。 粵西稍弱，昨歲桂林之役未大創，必圖再犯，以牽制我湖南之師。 宜令籓鎮更番迭出，相機戰守。 此三方者，攻瑕宜先粵西。 粵西潰則可望膽落，滇、黔亦當瓦解。」 又疏劾湖南將軍續順公沈永忠擁兵觀望，致總兵官徐勇、辰常道劉昇祚力竭戰死。 永忠坐罷任奪爵。 复劾福建提督楊名高玩寇，致漳州郡縣為鄭成功淪陷，名高坐罷任。
In the eleventh year he was promoted to chief supervising secretary of the Military Section. With fighting in the southeast still unresolved, he wrote: "Liu Wenxiu has risen again in southern Sichuan, Sun Kewang holds Guiyang, Li Dingguo waits for an opening in western Guangdong, and Zhang Mingzhen roams the coastal islands. Campaigns drag on year after year, yet Heaven's judgment on these rebels still tarries. For the immediate campaign, Sichuan is the gateway to Yunnan and Guizhou: once Sichuan is secured, the enemy in Yunnan and Guizhou is cramped, so Sichuan must be taken first. Such is the situation in the southwest. Guangxi is somewhat weaker: last year's battle at Guilin did not cripple the rebels, and they will surely try again to tie down our forces in Hunan. The regional commands should rotate troops in turn and seize opportunities to attack or defend as conditions require. Of these three fronts, the weakest point—and the one to strike first—is Guangxi. Once Guangxi collapses, Kewang will lose heart, and Yunnan and Guizhou should follow in dissolution. He also impeached Hunan General Shen Yongzhong, Prince Xushun, for holding his army back while watching events unfold, with the result that Regional Commander Xu Yong and Chenchang Circuit Intendant Liu Shengzuo fought until spent and died on the field. Yongzhong was dismissed from his post and stripped of his title. He also impeached Fujian Provincial Commander Yang Minggao for treating the enemy lightly, which led to the fall of Zhangzhou and its subordinate districts to Zheng Chenggong; Minggao was removed from office.
5
尋遷太常寺少卿，擢左副都御史。 十三年，疏劾大學士陳之遴營私植黨，之遴坐解官，發遼陽閒住。 十四年，遷左都御史，上諭之曰：「朕擢用汝，非繇人薦達。」 裔介益感奮，盡所欲言。 四月，因欽天監推算次月日月交食，疏請廣言路，緩工作，寬州縣考成，速頒恩赦，釋滯獄，酌复五品以下官俸，減徵調之兵，節供應之費。 上嘉之，下部詳議以行。 嘗侍經筵，講漢文帝春和之詔，因舉仁政所宜先者數事。 正陽門外菜園為前朝嘉蔬圃地，久為民居，部議入官。 裔介過其地，民走訴，即入告，仍以予民。 十六年，加太子太保。 十七年，京察自陳。 以御史巡方屢坐貪敗，責裔介未糾劾，削太子太保，供職如故。
He was soon made Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and then promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief. In the thirteenth year he impeached Grand Secretary Chen Zhibian for faction-building and self-dealing. Zhibian was dismissed and sent to live in retirement at Liaoyang. In the fourteenth year he became Left Censor-in-Chief. The emperor told him, "I promoted you myself; no one else brought you to my attention. Deeply stirred, Yijie spoke his mind without reserve. In the fourth month, when the Directorate of Astronomy forecast eclipses for the coming month, he urged the court to widen free speech, slow major construction, ease performance reviews for local officials, issue an amnesty promptly, clear long-pending cases, restore salaries for officials of the fifth rank and below where possible, cut troop levies, and reduce court expenditures. The emperor commended the memorial and referred it to the ministries for detailed implementation. Once, while attending the Classics Lecture, he discussed Emperor Wen of Han's edict on springtime harmony and went on to list several priorities for humane government. The market gardens outside Zhengyang Gate had been imperial vegetable plots in the previous dynasty but had long been occupied as residences; the ministry proposed reclaiming them for the state. When Yijie passed the area, residents rushed to plead with him. He reported at once to the throne, and the land was returned to them. In the sixteenth year he was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In the seventeenth year he filed a self-assessment at the metropolitan personnel review. Because several touring censors had been found guilty of corruption on his watch, he was faulted for failing to impeach them in time. He lost the Grand Guardian title but retained his post.
6
時可望猶據貴州，鄭成功亂未已。 裔介疏言：「可望恃峒蠻為助，宜命在事諸臣加意招徠，予以新敕印，舊者毋即收繳，則歸我者必多。 成功作亂海上，我水師無多，惟於沿海要地增兵築堡，使不得泊岸劫掠，然後招其攜貳，散其黨與，海患可以漸平。」 下部議行。 未幾，疏劾大學士劉正宗、成克鞏欺罔附和諸罪，命正宗、克鞏回奏，未得實，下法司勘訊，並解裔介官與質。 讞定，正宗獲罪籍沒，克鞏奪職視事，复裔介官。 時以雲南、福建用兵，加派錢糧。 裔介疏請敕戶部綜計軍需足用即停止，上命未派者並停止。 康熙元年，雲南既定，疏言：「雲南既有吳三桂籓兵數万，及督提兩標兵，則滿洲兵可撤。 但滇、黔、川、楚邊方遼遠，不以滿洲兵鎮守要地，倘戎寇生心，恐鞭長莫及。 荊、襄乃天下腹心，宜擇大將領滿兵數千駐防，無事則控制形勢，可以銷姦宄之萌； 有事則提兵應援，可以據水陸之勝。」 疏下部，格不行。 復請以湖廣總督移駐荊州，從之。
Sun Kewang still held Guizhou, and Zheng Chenggong's rebellion on the coast had not yet ended. Yijie wrote: "Kewang relies on the Dong peoples. Officials in the field should be ordered to win defectors over carefully, grant new patents and seals, and not demand the surrender of old ones at once—then many more will come over to us. Chenggong's rebellion at sea cannot be crushed at once, for our fleet is small. We should reinforce key coastal points and build forts so that his ships cannot land to raid; then we may win over waverers and break up his following, and the maritime threat can be reduced step by step. The memorial was referred to the ministries and carried out. Soon afterward he impeached Grand Secretaries Liu Zhengzong and Cheng Ke'gong for deceit and factional collusion. Ordered to respond, they could not substantiate their defense, and the case was referred to the judicial offices. Yijie was also temporarily removed from office to testify. When judgment was rendered, Zhengzong was convicted and his property confiscated; Ke'gong was stripped of rank but kept at his duties; Yijie was restored to office. Because of the campaigns in Yunnan and Fujian, extra grain and money levies were imposed. Yijie asked the throne to instruct the Ministry of Revenue to tally military needs and halt surcharges as soon as supplies were adequate. The emperor ordered that even levies not yet dispatched should be canceled. In Kangxi 1 (1662), after Yunnan had been pacified, he wrote: "With Wu Sangui's feudatory force of tens of thousands in Yunnan, together with the governor-general's and provincial commander's two standards, the Manchu garrison may be withdrawn. Yet the frontiers of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Huguang are vast and distant. Without Manchu troops at critical points, if enemies should stir, the court may find its reach too short. Jingzhou and Xiangyang are the strategic center of the empire. A senior commander should be chosen to station several thousand Manchu troops there. In peace they would control the terrain and nip conspiracy in the bud; in war they could march to reinforce other fronts and hold the advantage of both river and road. The memorial was referred downward but blocked and not adopted. He also asked that the Huguang governor-general be transferred to Jingzhou, and the court agreed.
7
進吏部尚書。 三年，拜保和殿大學士。 時輔臣柄政，論事輒爭執，裔介調和異同，時有所匡正。 預修世祖實錄，充總裁官。 九年，典會試。 是年內院承旨會吏、禮二部選新進士六十人，試以文字，擬上中下三等入奏，上親定二十七人為庶吉士。 御史李之芳劾裔介所擬上卷二十四人，先使人通信，招權納賄； 並謂與班布爾善相比，引用私人。 班布爾善官大學士，黨鼇拜，伏法。 上命裔介復奏，裔介疏辨，並言：「臣與班布爾善同官，論事輒齟《齒吾》。 以鼇拜之執焰，足跡不至其門，豈肯附班布爾善？ 臣服官以來，彈劾無所避忌。 前劾劉正宗，其黨切齒於臣者十年於茲。 之芳，正宗同鄉，今為報復。」 因自請罷斥，疏下吏部會質。 之芳力爭，裔介自引咎。 部議以之芳劾奏有因，裔介應削秩罰俸，上寬之，命供職如故。
He was promoted to Minister of Personnel. In the third year he was made Grand Secretary of the Hall of Preserving Harmony. The chief ministers then held real power and often quarreled over policy; Yijie mediated their disputes and sometimes corrected their course. He helped compile the Veritable Records of the Shizu Emperor and served as chief editor. In the ninth year he presided over the metropolitan civil service examination. That year the Inner Court drafter, together with the Ministries of Personnel and Rites, selected sixty new jinshi, tested their essays, and ranked them in three grades for the throne. The emperor personally chose twenty-seven as Hanlin bachelors. Censor Li Zhifang impeached Yijie, charging that of the twenty-four candidates he placed in the top grade, he had sent intermediaries ahead of time to trade influence for bribes; and alleged that he had acted like Banbu'ershan in advancing his own men. Banbu'ershan had been a grand secretary, a partisan of Oboi, and was eventually executed. The emperor ordered Yijie to reply in writing. Yijie defended himself, saying: "I served alongside Banbu'ershan, and whenever we discussed policy we were at odds. Because of Oboi's overbearing power I would not even set foot at his door—how then could I have sided with Banbu'ershan? Since I entered office I have impeached whomever duty required, without fear. When I impeached Liu Zhengzong earlier, his faction has hated me for these ten years. Zhifang is Zhengzong's fellow townsman and now seeks revenge. He then asked to be dismissed. The memorial was referred to the Ministry of Personnel for a joint inquiry. Zhifang pressed his case vigorously, while Yijie accepted blame himself. The ministry ruled that Zhifang's charges had some basis and recommended reducing Yijie's rank and fining his salary, but the emperor was lenient and allowed him to remain in office.
8
十年，以老病乞休，詔許解官回籍。 世祖實錄成，進太子太傅。 二十五年，卒，賜祭葬如製。
In the tenth year he asked to retire on grounds of age and illness; the emperor allowed him to resign and return home. When the Veritable Records of the Shizu Emperor were completed, he was made Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. In the twenty-fifth year he died, and the court granted him the prescribed funeral honors.
9
裔介居言路最久，疏至百餘上，敷陳剴切，多見施行。 生平篤誠，信程、硃之學，以見知聞知述聖學之統。 著述凡百餘卷，大指原本儒先，並及經世之學。 家居十六年，躬課稼穡，循行阡陌，人不知其為故相也。 雍正間，祀賢良祠。 乾隆元年，追諡文毅。
Yijie served longest on the censorial path, submitting more than a hundred memorials. His arguments were earnest and sharp, and many of his proposals were adopted. Throughout his life he was devout and sincere, devoted to the Cheng–Zhu school, and wrote to carry forward the orthodox transmission of the sages through the categories of innate knowing. His writings totaled more than a hundred juan, grounded chiefly in the Confucian classics and forebears, and extending to statecraft as well. During sixteen years at home he personally oversaw the farm, walked the fields himself, and neighbors did not realize he had once been chief minister. In the Yongzheng reign he was enshrined in the Shrine of Worthy Officials. In Qianlong 1 (1736) he was posthumously honored with the temple name Wényì.
10
熊賜履，字敬修，湖北孝感人。 順治十五年進士，選庶吉士，授檢討。 典順天鄉試，遷國子監司業，進弘文院侍讀。
Xiong Cilü, whose style was Jingxiu, came from Xiaogan in Hubei. In Shunzhi 15 (1658) he passed the jinshi examination, was chosen as a Hanlin bachelor, and appointed reviser. He presided over the Shuntian provincial examination, became Vice Director of Studies at the Directorate of Education, and was promoted to Reader in the Hall of Broad Learning.
11
康熙六年，聖祖詔求直言。 時輔臣鼇拜專政，賜履上疏幾萬言，略謂：「民生困苦孔亟，私派倍於官徵，雜項浮於正額。 一旦水旱頻仍，蠲豁則吏收其實而民受其名，賑濟則官增其肥而民重其瘠。 然非獨守令之過也，上之有監司，又上之有督撫。 朝廷方責守令以廉，而上官實縱之以貪； 方授守令以養民之職，而上官實課以厲民之行。 故督撫廉則監司廉，守令亦不得不廉； 督撫貪則監司貪，守令亦不得不貪。 此又理勢之必然者也。 伏乞甄別督撫，以民生苦樂為守令之賢否，以守令貪廉為督撫之優劣。 督撫得人，守令亦得人矣。 雖然，內臣者外臣之表也，本原之地則在朝廷。 其大者尤在立綱陳紀、用人行政之間。 今朝廷之可議者不止一端，擇其重且大者言之：一曰，政事極其紛更，而國體因之日傷也。 國家章程法度，不聞略加整頓，而急功喜事之人又從而意為更變，但知趨目前尺寸之利以便其私，而不知無窮之患已潛滋暗伏於其中。 乞敕議政王等詳議制度，參酌古今，勒為會典，則上有道揆、下有法守矣。 一曰，職業極其隳窳，而士氣因之日靡也。 部院臣工大率緘默瞻顧，外託老成慎重之名，內懷持祿養身之念。 憂憤者謂之疏狂，任事者目為躁競，廉靜者斥為矯激，端方者詆為迂腐。 間有讀書窮理之士，則群指為道學，誹笑詆排，欲禁錮其終身而後已。 乞申飭滿、漢諸臣，虛衷酌理，實心任事，化情面為肝膽，轉推諉為擔當。 漢官勿阿附滿官，堂官勿偏任司員。 宰執盡心獻納，勿以唯諾為休容，臺諫極力糾繩，勿以鉗結為將順，則職業修舉，官箴日肅而士氣日奮矣。 一曰，學校極其廢弛，而文教因之日衰也。 今庠序之教缺焉不講，師道不立，經訓不明。 士子惟揣摩舉業，為弋科名掇富貴之具，不知讀書講學、求聖賢理道之歸。 高明者或汎濫於百家，沉淪於二氏，斯道淪晦，未有甚於此時者也。 乞責成學院、學道，統率士子，講明正學，特簡儒臣使司成均，則道術以明，教化大行，人才日出矣。 一曰，風俗極其僭濫，而禮制因之日壞也。 今一裘而費中人之產，一宴而糜終歲之糧，輿隸被貴介之服，倡優擬命婦之飾，習為固然。 夫風俗奢、禮制壞，為飢寒之本原，盜賊、訟獄、兇荒所由起也。 乞明詔內外臣民，一以儉約為尚，自王公以及士庶，凡宮室、車馬、衣服，規定經制，不許逾越，則貪風自息、民俗漸醇矣。 雖然，猶非本計也。 根本切要，端在皇上。 皇上生長深宮，春秋方富，正宜慎選左右，輔導聖躬，薰陶德性，優以保衡之任，隆以師傅之禮； 又妙選天下英俊，使之陪侍法從，朝夕獻納。 毋徒事講幄之虛文，毋徒應經筵之故事，毋以寒暑有輟，毋以晨夕有間。 於是考諸六經之文，監於歷代之跡，實體諸身心，以為敷政出治之本。 若夫左右近習，必端其選，綴衣虎賁，亦擇其人。 佞幸不置於前，聲色不禦於側。 非聖之書不讀，無益之事不為。 內而深宮燕閒之間，外而大廷廣眾之地，微而起居言動之恆，凡所以維持此身者無不備，防閒此心者無不周，主德清明，君身強固。 由是直接二帝三王之心法，目足措斯世於唐、虞、三代之盛，又何吏治之不清，民生之不遂哉？」 疏入，鼇拜惡之，請治以妄言罪，上勿許。
In Kangxi 6 (1667) the emperor issued an edict calling for candid memorials. Oboi then dominated the government. Cilü submitted a memorial of nearly ten thousand characters, stating in essence: "The people's livelihood is in desperate straits. Unauthorized surcharges are twice the official tax, and miscellaneous levies exceed the regular quota. When floods and droughts strike in succession, remissions are swallowed by clerks while the people gain only the empty name of relief; relief funds fatten officials while the people grow leaner still. Yet this is not the fault of local magistrates alone. Above them stand the surveillance commissioners, and above them the governors and governors-general. The court demands integrity from magistrates, yet their superiors in practice indulge their greed; The court had just entrusted prefects and magistrates with the duty of caring for the people, yet their superiors in practice drove them to exactions that oppressed the people. When governors and governors-general were upright, the intendants followed suit, and local magistrates had no choice but to be upright as well; when governors and governors-general were corrupt, the intendants grew corrupt too, and local magistrates could hardly remain honest. Such is the inevitable logic of the system. I humbly ask that governors and governors-general be carefully assessed: let the people's hardship or welfare judge the worth of local magistrates, and let magistrates' integrity or corruption judge the quality of their superiors. Choose the right men for the provincial posts, and the right men will fill the local posts as well. Court officials set the example for those in the provinces, but the source of the problem lies in the capital itself. Above all, it turns on establishing standards, codifying rules, choosing officials, and governing well. Much at court deserves debate; I will take up only the weightiest points. First, policy has grown endlessly unsettled, and the institutions of state suffer daily harm. The empire's laws and institutions receive no real overhaul, while men hungry for quick results keep inventing new changes. They chase immediate gain for themselves, blind to the endless trouble quietly taking root. I ask that the regent princes be commanded to review the system in full, weigh ancient and modern practice, and fix it in a formal code—so that those above have clear principles of rule and those below have fixed laws to follow. Second, official conduct has sunk to ruinous slackness, and the spirit of the bureaucracy withers by the day. Most ministers and court officials keep silent and look about them. They affect sober caution in public while privately clinging to their stipends and their own safety. The anxious were labeled wild, the conscientious branded as pushy, the restrained dismissed as affected, and the upright mocked as hidebound. Whenever a scholar truly pursued learning and moral principle, the rest would cry 'Neo-Confucian!'—mocking and attacking him until they could see him ruined for good. I ask that Manchu and Han officials alike be charged to think openly, serve sincerely, replace favor-trading with honest counsel, and turn evasion into responsibility. Han officials must not curry favor with Manchu colleagues, nor may department heads play favorites among their subordinates. Let the grand secretaries speak their minds rather than treat compliance as courtesy; let the censors and remonstrators press their cases rather than treat silence as deference. Then duties will be properly performed, official discipline restored, and the spirit of service revived. Third, the schools have collapsed into neglect, and learning and moral instruction decay with each passing day. School instruction is scarcely given at all. The authority of teachers has vanished, and the meaning of the classics is lost. Students care only to polish their examination essays—the means to win degrees and fortune—and no longer read, debate, or seek the wisdom of the sages. The ablest wander lost among rival schools or drown in Buddhism and Daoism. The true Way has never been so obscured. I ask that provincial education officers be made responsible for guiding students in orthodox learning, and that distinguished Confucian scholars be appointed to head the Directorate of Education. Then the Way will be clear, instruction will flourish, and capable men will appear in steady succession. Fourth, public morals have grown wildly extravagant, and ritual propriety breaks down daily. A single coat may ruin a middling household; a single feast may devour a year's grain. Servants dress like gentlemen; players ape the finery of officials' wives—and no one thinks it strange. Luxury and the ruin of ritual are the wellspring of hunger and want, and the breeding ground of crime, litigation, and famine. I ask for a clear decree enjoining frugality on all, from princes to commoners, with fixed limits on houses, carriages, horses, and dress beyond which none may go. Greed will then subside, and custom will slowly recover its sobriety. Even so, this is not yet the root remedy. The decisive matter rests with the emperor himself. Your Majesty was raised within the palace walls and is still young. This is the time to choose your companions with care—men who can guide you, shape your character, serve you as guardians, and be honored as your teachers; and to gather the finest talent in the empire to attend you, offering counsel from dawn till dusk. Do not reduce study to empty ceremony, nor treat the classics mat as mere precedent. Let neither season nor hour interrupt it. Study the Six Classics, weigh the lessons of history, and make them part of your own person—the foundation from which all government must proceed. Those nearest you must be chosen with strict care—even attendants of the robe and the imperial guard must be men of worth. Let no sycophant stand before you, and let no pleasure of sound or color attend your side. Read nothing that is not the word of the sages; do nothing that does not serve the good. In private within the palace and in public before the court alike; in the smallest habits of daily life—leave nothing undone that sustains the person, nothing neglected that guards the mind. Then your virtue will shine clear and your person stand firm. Then you may inherit the wisdom of the sage-kings of antiquity and bring this age to the glory of Tang, Yu, and the Three Dynasties. What cause would remain to fear bad government or an unhappy people? The memorial was submitted. Oboi resented it and asked that Xiong Cilü be punished for reckless speech, but the emperor refused.
12
七年，遷秘書院侍讀學士。 疏言：「朝政積習未除，國計隱憂可慮。 年來災異頻仍，飢荒疊見，正宵旰憂勤、徹懸減膳之日，講學勤政，在今日最為切要。 乞時禦便殿，接見群臣，講求政治，行之以誠，持之以敬，庶幾轉咎徵為休徵。」 疏入，鼇拜傳旨詰問積習、隱憂實事，以所陳無據，妄奏沽名，下吏議，鐫二秩，上原之。 八年，鼇拜敗，命康親王杰書等鞫治，以鼇拜銜賜履，意圖傾害，為罪狀之一。 方鼇拜輔政擅威福，大臣稍與異同，立加誅戮。 賜履以詞臣論事侃侃無所避，用是著直聲。 上即位後，未舉經筵，賜履特具疏請之，並請設起居注官。 上欲幸塞外，以賜履疏諫，乃寢，且嘉其直。
In the seventh year, he was promoted to Reader Bachelor of the Secretariat. He memorialized: "Old abuses at court remain unremoved, and hidden dangers to the state give cause for alarm. Disasters have struck again and again, and famine has followed in succession. This is the very hour when the emperor should rise early and eat sparingly in anxious care. Study and diligent governance are now more urgent than ever. I ask that Your Majesty hold audience from time to time in the side hall, meet your ministers face to face, and earnestly discuss the business of government—with sincerity in action and reverence in constancy—so that ill omens may give way to good. The memorial was submitted. Oboi relayed an imperial demand for specifics on those old abuses and hidden dangers. Finding his charges unsupported and his purpose self-promoting, the authorities recommended demoting him two ranks; the emperor spared him. In the eighth year, Oboi was overthrown. Prince Kang Jieshu and others were ordered to investigate him, and among the charges listed was his grudge against Xiong Cilü and his attempt to destroy him. While Oboi held power, any senior minister who dared disagree even slightly was promptly put to death. Xiong Cilü spoke out boldly on public affairs without flinching, and so won a name for plainspoken integrity. After the emperor's accession, the classics lectures had not yet been restored. Xiong Cilü memorialized specifically to request them, and also asked that Diary Keeper posts be established. When the emperor planned a journey beyond the Great Wall, Xiong Cilü dissuaded him by memorial. The tour was dropped, and the emperor commended his candor.
13
九年，擢國史院學士。 未幾，复內閣，設翰林院，更以為掌院學士。 舉經筵，以賜履為講官，日進講弘德殿。 賜履上陳道德，下達民隱，上每虛己以聽。 十四年，諭★其才能清慎，遷內閣學士，尋超授武英殿大學士，兼刑部尚書。 十五年，陝西總督哈佔疏報獲盜，開復疏防官，下內閣，賜履誤票三法司核擬。 既，檢舉，得旨免究。 賜履改草簽，欲諉咎同官杜立德，又取原草簽嚼而毀之，立德以語索額圖。 事上聞，吏部議賜履票擬錯誤，欲諉咎同官杜立德，改寫草簽，复私取嚼毀，失大臣體，坐奪官。 歸，僑居江寧。
In the ninth year, he was promoted to Bachelor of the History Academy. Soon afterward the Grand Secretariat was restored and the Hanlin Academy established; he was again made Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. When the classics lectures began, Xiong Cilü served as lecturer, delivering daily instruction in the Hall of Expanding Virtue. Xiong Cilü spoke of moral principle to the throne and brought up the people's hidden troubles below; the emperor always listened with an open mind. In the fourteenth year, the emperor commended his ability as pure and cautious, promoted him to Grand Secretariat Bachelor, and soon elevated him directly to Grand Secretary of the Hall of Military Glory while also appointing him Minister of Justice. In the fifteenth year, Shaanxi Governor-General Hazhan reported the capture of bandits and the reinstatement of negligent frontier officers. When the memorial reached the Grand Secretariat, Xiong Cilü wrongly endorsed it for review by the Three Judicial Offices. The matter was later investigated, and an edict arrived excusing him from punishment. Xiong Cilü changed the draft endorsement, trying to blame his colleague Du Lede, then retrieved the original draft, chewed it up, and destroyed it. Du Lede reported this to Suo'etu. When the emperor learned of it, the Ministry of Personnel ruled that Xiong Cilü had erred in his endorsement, tried to blame Du Lede, altered the draft, and secretly destroyed it by chewing—conduct unworthy of a senior minister. He was stripped of his post. He went home and lived in retirement at Jiangning.
14
二十三年，上南巡，賜履迎謁，召入對，御書經義齋榜以賜。 二十七年，起禮部尚書。 未幾，以母憂去。 二十八年，上复南巡，賞賚有加。 二十九年，起故官，仍直經筵。 命往江南讞獄，調吏部。 會河督靳輔請豁近河所佔民田額賦，命賜履會勘。 奏免高郵、山陽等州縣額賦三千七百二十八頃有奇。 三十四年，弟編修賜瓚以奏對欺飾下獄，御史龔翔麟遂劾吏部銓除州縣以意高下，賜履偽學欺罔，乞嚴譴。 下都察院議，賜履與尚書庫勒納，侍郎趙士麟、彭孫遹當降官，上不問，賜瓚亦獲赦。
In the twenty-third year, during the emperor's southern tour, Xiong Cilü came forward to greet him, was summoned to audience, and received an imperial inscription for the Jingyi Studio written in the emperor's own hand. In the twenty-seventh year, he was recalled to serve as Minister of Rites. Before long he left office to observe mourning for his mother. In the twenty-eighth year, on the emperor's second southern tour, he received additional gifts and honors. In the twenty-ninth year, he was restored to his former post and again attended the classics lectures. He was sent to Jiangnan to hear criminal cases and was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. When River Commissioner Jin Fu asked that tax quotas be remitted on farmland taken by the river, the emperor ordered Xiong Cilü to investigate jointly with him. He reported remission of tax quotas on 3,728-odd qing of land in Gaoyou, Shanyang, and other counties. In the thirty-fourth year, his younger brother, Compiler Xiong Cizan, was jailed for deceitful answers at court. Censor Gong Xianglin then impeached the Ministry of Personnel for manipulating county appointments and accused Xiong Cilü of hypocritical learning and deception, demanding severe punishment. The Censorate recommended demotion for Xiong Cilü, Minister Kule Na, and Vice Ministers Zhao Shilin and Peng Sunyu, but the emperor took no action, and Cizan was also pardoned.
15
三十八年，授東閣大學士兼吏部尚書，預修聖訓、實錄、方略、明史，並充總裁官。 典會試者五。 以年老累疏乞休。 四十二年，溫旨許解機務，仍食俸，留京備顧問。 四十五年，乞歸江寧。 比行，召入講論累日。 賜履因奏巡幸所至，官民供張煩費，惟上留意，上頷之，給傳遣官護歸。 四十六年，上閱河，幸江寧，召見慰問，賜御用冠服。 四十八年，卒，年七十五，命禮部遣官視喪，賜賻金千兩，贈太子太保，諡文端。 五十一年，上追念賜履，知其貧，迭命江寧織造周恤其家，諭吏部召其二子志契、志夔詣京師，皆尚幼，复諭賜履僚屬門生醵金佽之。
In the thirty-eighth year, he was made Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion and Minister of Personnel. He helped compile the Imperial Instructions, Veritable Records, Strategic Accounts, and History of Ming, serving as chief editor. He administered the metropolitan examination five times. Age led him to memorialize repeatedly for retirement. In the forty-second year, a warm edict allowed him to withdraw from active duty while keeping his stipend and remaining in the capital as an adviser. In the forty-fifth year, he asked permission to return to Jiangning. On the eve of his departure, the emperor summoned him for days of conversation. Xiong Cilü then observed that imperial tours burdened officials and people with costly preparations, and asked the emperor to bear it in mind. The emperor nodded assent, gave him traveling horses, and sent an official to escort him home. In the forty-sixth year, while inspecting the rivers and visiting Jiangning, the emperor summoned Xiong Cilü, comforted him, and granted him an imperial cap and robe. In the forty-eighth year he died at seventy-five. The Ministry of Rites was ordered to oversee his funeral. He received a thousand taels of condolence money, was posthumously honored as Grand Protector of the Crown Prince, and given the posthumous name Wenduan. In the fifty-first year, remembering Xiong Cilü and knowing how poor his household was, the emperor repeatedly ordered the Jiangning Weaving Bureau to support his family, commanded the Ministry of Personnel to summon his sons Zhiji and Zhikui to the capital—they were still young—and asked Xiong Cilü's colleagues and students to raise funds for their upkeep.
16
賜履論學，以默識篤行為旨，其言曰：「聖賢之道，不外乎庸，庸乃所以為神也。」 著閒道錄，嘗進上，命備省覽。 雍正間，祀賢良祠。
In his teaching, Xiong Cilü held that true learning lay in quiet understanding and steadfast action. He said: "The Way of the sages is nothing but the ordinary; it is through the ordinary that the divine is reached. He wrote the Records of the Idle Way, presented it to the throne, and was told to keep a copy for the emperor's reading. In the Yongzheng period he was enshrined in the Temple of Worthies.
17
李光地，字晉卿，福建安溪人。 幼穎異。 年十三，舉家陷山賊中，得脫歸。 力學慕古。 康熙九年成進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 十二年，乞省親歸。
Li Guangdi, whose style was Jinqing, came from Anxi in Fujian. As a boy he showed exceptional talent. At thirteen his whole family was seized by mountain brigands; he alone escaped and made his way home. He studied hard and looked to the examples of antiquity. In Kangxi 9 (1670) he passed the jinshi examination, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed compiler. In the twelfth year he asked leave to visit his parents and went home.
18
十三年，耿精忠反，鄭錦據泉州，光地奉親匿山谷間，錦與精忠並遣人招之，力拒。 十四年，密疏言：「閩疆褊小，自二賊割據，誅求敲撲，民力已盡，賊勢亦窮。 南來大兵宜急攻，不可假以歲月，恐生他變。 方今精忠悉力於仙霞、杉關，鄭錦並命於漳、潮之界，惟汀州小路與贛州接壤，賊所置守禦不過千百疲卒。 竊聞大兵南來，皆於賊兵多處鏖戰，而不知出奇以搗其虛，此計之失也。 宜因賊防之疏，選精兵萬人或五六千人，詐為入廣，由贛達汀，為程七八日耳。 二賊聞急趨救，非月餘不至，則我軍入閩久矣。 賊方悉兵外拒，內地空虛，大軍果從汀州小路橫貫其腹，則三路之賊不戰自潰。 伏乞密敕領兵官偵諜虛實，隨機進取。 仍恐小路崎嶇，須使鄉兵在大軍之前，步兵又在馬兵之前，庶幾萬全，可以必勝。」 置疏蠟丸中，遣使間道赴京師，因內閣學士富鴻基上之。 上得疏動容，嘉其忠，下兵部錄付領兵大臣。 時尚之信亦叛，師次贛州、南安，未能入福建。 康親王杰書自衢州克仙霞關，復建寧、延平，精忠請降。 師進駐福州，令都統拉哈達、賚塔等討鄭錦，並求光地所在。 十六年，复泉州，光地謁拉哈達於漳州。 拉哈達白王，疏稱「光地矢志為國，顛沛不渝，宜予褒揚」，命優敘，擢侍讀學士。 行至福州，以父喪歸。
In the thirteenth year, Geng Jingzhong rose in rebellion and Zheng Jing seized Quanzhou. Li Guangdi concealed his parents in the hills. Both rebels sent envoys to win him over, but he steadfastly refused. In the fourteenth year he sent a secret memorial: "Fujian is a small province. Under the two rebels' rule, endless exactions have drained the people, and the rebels themselves are nearing collapse. The southern expedition should strike at once. To delay even a few months risks fresh trouble. Geng Jingzhong now concentrates his forces at Xianxia and Shanguan, while Zheng Jing mass troops on the Zhangzhou-Chaozhou line. Only the Tingzhou trail, bordering Ganzhou, is held by a mere thousand exhausted men. I understand the main army always engages where rebel numbers are greatest, never striking where they are weak. That is the flaw in the strategy. Exploit their thin defenses: send ten thousand picked men, or five or six thousand, feigning a march into Guangdong by way of Ganzhou to Tingzhou—a march of no more than seven or eight days. Both rebels would hurry to the rescue, but could not arrive in less than a month—by which time our forces would already be deep in Fujian. With their armies drawn outward and the interior bare, a thrust along the Tingzhou trail would cut straight through their center—and the rebel forces on all three fronts would crumble without a battle. I humbly ask that field commanders be secretly instructed to reconnoiter enemy strength and act as occasion allows. The trail is rough; local guides and militia should march ahead of the main force, with foot soldiers leading the cavalry. Only then will the plan be safe and victory certain. He sealed the memorial in a wax ball, sent a courier by hidden route to the capital, and had Grand Secretariat Bachelor Fu Hongji present it. The emperor was visibly moved when he read it, praised Li Guangdi's loyalty, and ordered the Ministry of War to copy the memorial and forward it to the field commanders. About then Shang Zhixin rebelled as well, and the imperial army stopped at Ganzhou and Nan'an, unable to push into Fujian. Prince Kang Jieshu marched from Quzhou, took Xianxia Pass, recaptured Jianning and Yanping, and Geng Jingzhong sued for peace. The army entered Fuzhou and ordered the commanders-in-chief Lahada, Ledah, and others to pursue Zheng Jing while searching for Li Guangdi. In the sixteenth year, after Quanzhou was retaken, Li Guangdi went to Zhangzhou to call on Lahada. Lahada informed the prince and memorialized that Li Guangdi "has kept his heart fixed on the state through every trial and never wavered; he deserves praise and reward." The throne ordered him specially commended and promoted him to Hanlin Reader-in-Waiting. He had only reached Fuzhou when he went home to mourn his father.
19
十七年，同安賊蔡寅結眾萬餘，以白巾為號，掠安溪。 光地募鄉勇百餘人扼守，絕其糧道，賊解去。 未幾，錦遣其將劉國軒陷海澄、漳平、同安、惠安諸縣，進逼泉州，斷萬安、江東二橋，南北援絕。 光地遣使赴拉哈達軍告急，值江水漲，道阻，乃導軍自漳平、安谿小道入。 光地從父日蠁率鄉勇度石珠嶺，芟荊棘，架浮橋以濟。 光地出迎，具牛酒犒軍。 又使弟光垤、光垠以鄉兵千度白鴿嶺，迎巡撫吳興祚軍於永春。 師次泉州，擊破國軒，竄入海。 拉哈達上其功，再予優敘，遷翰林學士。 光地上疏推功將帥，辭新命，不允； 並官日蠁，後積功官至永州總兵。
In the seventeenth year, the Tong'an rebel Cai Yin mustered more than ten thousand men, rallied under white headcloths, and raided Anxi. Li Guangdi raised a little over a hundred local fighters to block them, severed their supply lines, and the rebels broke off the attack. Soon afterward Zheng Jing sent his general Liu Guoxuan to overrun Haicheng, Zhangping, Tong'an, Hui'an, and the other counties, advance on Quanzhou, and destroy the Wan'an and Jiangdong bridges, isolating the city from relief on every side. Li Guangdi dispatched messengers to Lahada's camp for help; when floodwaters blocked the main routes, he led the troops in by the back trails through Zhangping and Anxi. Li Guangdi's uncle Ri Xiang took local militia over Shizhu Ridge, cut through the brush, and threw a pontoon bridge across the stream. Li Guangdi went out to welcome them and furnished oxen and wine to feast the troops. He also sent his brothers Guangya and Guangyin with a thousand local soldiers over Baige Ridge to meet Governor Wu Xingzuo's force at Yongchun. When the army reached Quanzhou it broke Liu Guoxuan's force and chased him back to sea. Lahada submitted a report of his services, and Li Guangdi was again specially commended and promoted to Hanlin Academician. Li Guangdi memorialized, pushing the credit onto the generals and asking to be allowed to refuse the new rank, but the court would not accept his resignation. Ri Xiang was given an official appointment as well; by later accumulated service he rose to commander at Yongzhou.
20
十九年，光地至京師，授內閣學士。 入對，言：「鄭錦已死，子克塽幼弱，部下爭權，宜急取之。」 且舉內大臣施琅習海上形勢，知兵，可重任，上用其言，卒平台灣。
In the nineteenth year Li Guangdi arrived in the capital and was made a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. In audience he said, "Zheng Jing is dead, his son Keshuang is still a child, and his officers are fighting among themselves. The court should move quickly to take them. He also recommended the inner minister Shi Lang, who knew the seas and the art of war and could be trusted with a major command. The emperor took his counsel, and Taiwan was finally pacified.
21
陳夢雷者，侯官人。 與光地同歲舉進士，同官編修。 方家居，精忠亂作，光地使日蠁潛詣夢雷探消息，得虛實，約並具疏密陳破賊狀，光地獨上之，由是大受寵眷。 及精忠敗，夢雷以附逆逮京師，下獄論斬。 光地乃疏陳兩次密約狀，夢雷得減死戍奉天。
Chen Menglei came from Houguan. He and Li Guangdi had taken the jinshi in the same year and both served as Hanlin compilers. While they were both living at home, Geng Jingzhong's rebellion erupted. Li Guangdi sent Ri Xiang in secret to Chen Menglei to learn what was really happening; once they knew the facts, they agreed to prepare a joint secret memorial on how the rebels might be broken. Li Guangdi submitted it alone, and from that moment he won extraordinary favor at court. After Geng Jingzhong fell, Chen Menglei was seized for having sided with the rebels, sent to the capital, imprisoned, and condemned to death. Li Guangdi then memorialized, setting out the two secret agreements, and Chen Menglei's sentence was commuted from death to exile in Fengtian.
22
二十一年，乞假奉母歸。 二十五年，還京，授翰林院掌院學士，直經筵，兼充日講起居注官，教習庶吉士。 逾年，以母病乞歸省。 二十七年，至京。 初，光地與侍讀學士德格勒善，於上前互相稱引。 上召德格勒與諸詞臣試乾清宮，以文字劣，鐫秩。 旋掌院庫勒訥劾其私抹起居注事，下獄論罪。 詔責光地，光地引罪，乞嚴譴，上原之。 尋擢兵部侍郎。 三十年，典會試。 偕侍郎博霽、徐廷璽，原任河督靳輔勘視河工。 三十三年，督順天學政。 聞母喪，命在任守制。 光地乞假九月回裡治喪。 御史沈愷曾、楊敬儒交章論劾，上令遵初命。 給事中彭鵬复疏論光地十不可留，目為貪位忘親，排詆尤力。 乃下九卿議，命光地解任，在京守制。 三十五年，服闋，仍督順天學政。 三十六年，授工部侍郎。
In the twenty-first year he asked for leave to go home and care for his mother. In the twenty-fifth year he came back to the capital, was made Chief Hanlin Academician, attended the emperor at the Classics Lectures, served concurrently as Daily Lecturer and Attendance Recorder, and tutored the junior Hanlin bachelors. The next year, when his mother fell ill, he asked to go home and see her. In the twenty-seventh year he returned to the capital. Earlier Li Guangdi had been close to Reader-in-Waiting Degele, and the two had praised each other before the throne. The emperor summoned Degele and the other literary officials to a writing test in the Qianqing Palace; Degele's work was judged poor and his rank was lowered. Before long Chief Academician Kule'ne impeached him for privately tampering with the attendance records, and he was jailed and convicted. An edict censured Li Guangdi. He accepted blame and begged for stern punishment, but the emperor forgave him. He was soon promoted to Vice Minister of War. In the thirtieth year he served as chief examiner for the metropolitan examination. Together with Vice Ministers Boji and Xu Tingxi, he accompanied the former Director-General of Rivers Jin Fu on an inspection of river engineering. In the thirty-third year he was made Educational Commissioner of Zhili. When news arrived of his mother's death, he was ordered to stay in his post and observe mourning there. Li Guangdi asked for nine months' leave to go home and bury his mother. Censors Shen Kaiyeng and Yang Jingru filed memorial after memorial against him, and the emperor told him to follow the original order. Supervising Secretary Peng Peng followed with a memorial setting out ten reasons Li Guangdi ought not remain in office, denouncing him as a man who coveted position and forgot his filial duty, and assailing him with unusual vehemence. The case was sent to the Nine Ministers for deliberation, and Li Guangdi was ordered to leave his post and mourn in the capital. In the thirty-fifth year, when his mourning was complete, he again became Educational Commissioner of Zhili. In the thirty-sixth year he was appointed Vice Minister of Works.
23
三十七年，出為直隸巡撫。 初，畿輔屢遭水患，上以漳河與滹沱合流易汎濫，命光地導漳自故道引入運河，殺滹沱之勢。 光地疏言：「漳河現分為三：一自廣平經魏、元城，至山東館陶入衛水歸運； 一為老漳河，自山東丘縣經南宮諸縣，與完固口合流，至鮑家嘴歸運； 一為小漳河，自丘縣經廣宗、鉅鹿合於滏，又經束鹿、冀州合於滹沱。 由衡水出獻縣完固口復分為兩支：小支與老漳河合流而歸運，大支經河間、大城、靜海入子牙河而歸淀。 今入衛之河與老漳河流淺而弱，宜疏濬； 其完固口小支應築壩逼水入河，更於靜海閻、留二莊挑土築堤，束水歸淀，俾無汎濫。」 詔報可。 尋奏霸州、永清、宛平、良鄉、固安、高陽、獻縣因濬新河，佔民田一百三十九頃，請豁免賦額，從之。 通州等六州縣額設紅剝船六百號，剝運南漕，每船給贍田，遇水旱例不蠲免，光地奏請援民田例概蠲免之。 三十九年，上臨視子牙河工，命光地於獻縣東西兩岸築長堤，西接大城，東接靜海，亙二百餘裡； 又於靜海廣福樓、焦家口開新河，引水入淀：由是下流益暢，無水患。 四十二年，上褒其治績，擢吏部尚書，仍管巡撫事。 四十三年，給事中黃鼎楫、湯右曾、許志進、宋駿業、王原等合疏劾光地撫綏無狀，致河間饑民流入京畿，並寧津縣匿災不報狀。 光地疏辨，引咎乞罷，詔原之。 再疏辭尚書，不許。 尋疏劾雲南布政使張霖假稱詔旨，販鬻私鹽，得銀百六十餘萬，霖論斬，籍沒。
In the thirty-seventh year he was sent out as Governor of Zhili. The capital region had long suffered floods. Because the Zhang and Hutuo rivers merged and easily burst their banks, the emperor ordered Li Guangdi to divert the Zhang along its old channel into the Grand Canal and weaken the Hutuo's force. Li Guangdi memorialized: "The Zhang River now divides into three branches. One runs from Guangping through Wei and Yuancheng to Guantao in Shandong, enters the Wei River, and rejoins the canal. One is the old Zhang River, which runs from Qiu County in Shandong through Nangong and the other counties, joins the stream at Wangu Pass, and at Baojia Mouth returns to the canal. One is the lesser Zhang River, which runs from Qiu County through Guangzong and Julu into the Fu River, then through Shulu and Jizhou into the Hutuo. From Hengshui it flows out at Wangu Pass in Xian County and splits again into two branches: the smaller branch merges with the old Zhang River and rejoins the canal; the larger branch runs through Hejian, Dacheng, and Jinghai, enters the Ziya River, and drains into Lake Dian. At present the branch entering the Wei and the old Zhang River are shallow and weak and should be dredged. The lesser branch at Wangu Pass should be dammed to drive the water into the canal, and at the Yan and Liu villages in Jinghai earthworks should be raised to build dikes, channeling the water into Lake Dian and preventing floods. The emperor approved the plan. He soon reported that dredging the new channels in Bazhou, Yongqing, Wanping, Liangxiang, Gu'an, Gaoyang, and Xian County had taken one hundred thirty-nine qing of private farmland, and asked that the tax on that land be remitted; the request was granted. Tongzhou and five other prefectures and counties maintained six hundred official red lighter-boats for transshipping southern tribute grain; each boat was allotted supporting farmland whose taxes were not normally remitted in flood or drought years. Li Guangdi asked that the same remission granted private fields be applied to these allotments as well. In the thirty-ninth year the emperor inspected the Ziya River works in person and ordered Li Guangdi to build long dikes on both banks at Xian County, running west to Dacheng and east to Jinghai, more than two hundred li in all. He also cut new channels at Guangfu Tower and Jiaojiakou in Jinghai to draw water into Lake Dian, after which the lower course ran more freely and the region was free of flooding. In the forty-second year the emperor commended his record in office, promoted him to Minister of Personnel, and left him in charge of the governorship as before. In the forty-third year Supervising Secretaries Huang Dingji, Tang Youzeng, Xu Zhijin, Song Junye, Wang Yuan, and others jointly impeached Li Guangdi for failing to govern and relieve the people properly, allowing famine refugees from Hejian to flood into the capital region, and for concealing disaster reports in Ningjin County. Li Guangdi answered with a memorial of defense, accepted blame, and asked to be removed from office; the emperor pardoned him. He memorialized again to resign the ministry, but was not allowed to do so. He soon impeached Zhang Lin, Financial Commissioner of Yunnan, for falsely invoking an imperial edict while trafficking in private salt and amassing more than 1,600,000 taels of silver. Zhang Lin was sentenced to death and his property was confiscated.
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四十四年，拜文淵閣大學士。 時上潛心理學，旁闡六藝，御纂硃子全書及周易折中、性理精義諸書，皆命光地校理，日召入便殿揅求探討。 四十七年，皇太子允礽以疾廢，命諸大臣保奏諸皇子孰可當儲位者。 尚書王鴻緒等舉皇子允禩，上切責之。 詢光地何無一言，光地奏：「前者皇上問臣以廢太子病，臣奏言徐徐調治，天下之福，臣未嘗告諸人也。」 光地被上遇，同列多忌之者，凡所稱薦，多見排擠，因以撼光地。 撫直隸時，御史呂履恆劾光地於秋審事任意斷決，上察其不實，還其奏。 給事中王原劾文選郎中陳汝弼受贓，法司論絞，汝弼，光地所薦也。 上察其供證非實，下廷臣確核，得逼供行賄狀，汝弼免罪，承讞官降革有差，原奪官。
In the forty-fourth year he was made Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion. The emperor was then immersed in Neo-Confucian learning, extending his studies into the Six Arts. The imperial compilations—the Complete Works of Zhu Xi, the Balanced Commentaries on the Book of Changes, the Essentials of Principle and Nature, and other such works—were all entrusted to Li Guangdi for collation, and he was summoned daily into the privy chamber to refine and discuss them. In the forty-seventh year the crown prince Yinreng was set aside because of illness, and the emperor ordered the senior ministers to recommend which prince ought to succeed him. Minister Wang Hongxu and others recommended Prince YinSi, and the emperor rebuked them sharply. He asked why Li Guangdi had said nothing. Li Guangdi answered, "When Your Majesty earlier asked me about the deposed crown prince's illness, I said he should be nursed back to health by degrees, which would be the realm's good fortune. I have never told that to anyone else. Li Guangdi enjoyed exceptional favor with the emperor, and many colleagues envied him. Those he recommended were often blocked, and his enemies used that to undermine him. While he was governor of Zhili, Censor Lü Lüheng accused Li Guangdi of deciding autumn review cases arbitrarily; the emperor saw that the charge was false and sent the memorial back. Supervising Secretary Wang Yuan accused Chen Rubi, a director in the Bureau of Appointments, of taking bribes. The judicial offices sentenced him to death by strangulation. Chen Rubi had been Li Guangdi's nominee. The emperor judged the evidence false and ordered a thorough review by the court. Forced confessions and fabricated bribery came to light. Chen Rubi was cleared, the officials who had framed him were demoted or dismissed in varying degrees, and Wang Yuan lost his post.
25
光地益敬慎，其有獻納，罕見於章奏。 江寧知府陳鵬年忤總督阿山，坐事論重闢，光地言其誣，鵬年遂內召。 兩江總督噶禮與巡撫張伯行互訐，遣大臣往訊，久不決。 嗣詔罷噶禮，复伯行官，光地實讚之。 桐城貢士方苞坐戴名世獄論死，上偶言及侍郎汪霦卒後，誰能作古文者，光地曰：「惟戴名世案內方苞能。」 苞得釋，召入南書房。 其扶植善類如此。
Li Guangdi grew still more cautious and restrained; the advice he offered seldom appeared in formal memorials. Chen Pengnian, prefect of Jiangning, offended Governor Ashan, was convicted on a charge that carried severe punishment. Li Guangdi declared the case a frame-up, and Chen Pengnian was summoned to the capital. Governor-General Gali and Governor Zhang Boxing denounced each other. Grand ministers were sent to investigate, but the case dragged on without resolution. An edict eventually removed Gali and restored Zhang Boxing to office—a outcome Li Guangdi had quietly favored. Fang Bao of Tongcheng, a presented scholar, had been condemned to death in the Dai Mingshi case. When the emperor casually asked, after Vice Minister Wang Lin's death, who could write ancient-style prose, Li Guangdi said, "Only Fang Bao, the man implicated in the Dai Mingshi case, has that ability. Fang Bao was released and called into the Southern Studio. This was the way he lifted up men of talent.
26
五十二年，與千叟宴，賜賚有加。 頃之，以病乞休，溫旨慰留。 越二年，復以為請，且言母喪未葬，許給假二年，賜詩寵行。 五十六年，還朝，累疏乞罷，上以大學士王掞方在告，暫止之。 五十七年，卒，年七十七，遣恆親王允祺奠醊，賜金千兩，諡文貞。 使工部尚書徐元夢護其喪歸，复諭閣臣：「李光地謹慎清勤，始終一節，學問淵博。 朕知之最真，知朕亦無過光地者！」 雍正初，贈太子太傅，祀賢良祠。
In the fifty-second year he attended the banquet for elders of a thousand years and received especially generous gifts. Before long he asked to retire on grounds of illness; a warm edict comforted him and urged him to stay. Two years later he asked again, adding that his mother's burial was still unfinished. He was granted two years' leave and sent off with an imperial poem. In the fifty-sixth year he returned to court and repeatedly asked to be dismissed, but the emperor held off because Grand Secretary Wang Yan was already away on leave. In the fifty-seventh year he died at seventy-seven. Prince Heng Yinqi was sent to offer libations, one thousand taels of silver were granted, and he was posthumously honored as Wen Zhen. Minister of Works Xu Yuanmeng was sent to escort the bier home, and the emperor again told the grand secretaries, "Li Guangdi was careful, pure, and diligent, unwavering to the end, and his learning was broad and deep. I know this better than anyone, and among those who truly know me, none surpasses Li Guangdi! Early in the Yongzheng reign he was posthumously made Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and entered the Shrine of Worthy Ministers.
27
弟光坡，性至孝，家居不仕，潛心經術。 子鍾倫，舉人，治經史性理，旁及諸子百家，從其叔父光坡治三禮，於周官、禮記尤精，稱其家學。 從子天寵，進士，官編修，有志操，邃於經學，與弟鍾僑、鍾旺俱以窮經講學為業。 鍾僑進士，官編修，督學江西，以實行課士，左遷國子監丞。 鍾旺，舉人，授中書，充性理精義纂修官。
His younger brother Guangpo was profoundly filial by nature. He lived at home without taking office and devoted himself to classical learning. His son Zhonglun, a provincial graduate, studied the classics, histories, and Neo-Confucian moral philosophy, as well as the masters and the hundred schools. He studied the Three Rites under his uncle Guangpo and was especially accomplished in the Offices of Zhou and the Book of Rites; their household learning was widely admired. His nephew Tianchong, a jinshi and Hanlin compiler, had strong moral purpose and deep learning in the classics. He and his brothers Zhongqiao and Zhongwang all devoted themselves to rigorous classical study and teaching. Zhongqiao, a jinshi and compiler, served as Educational Commissioner of Jiangxi. Because he judged candidates by real conduct rather than form alone, he was demoted to Vice Director of the Imperial Academy. Zhongwang, a provincial graduate, was appointed a secretarial officer in the Grand Secretariat and served on the editorial staff of the Essentials of Principle and Nature.
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論曰：聖祖崇儒重道，經筵講論，孜孜聖賢之學，朝臣承其化，一時成為風氣。 裔介久官臺諫，數進讜言，為憂盛危明之計，自登政府，柴立不阿，奉身早退，有古大臣之風。 賜履剛方鯁直，疏舉經筵，冀裨主德，庶乎以道事君者歟？ 光地易攵歷中外，得君最專，而疑叢業集，委蛇進退，務為韜默。 聖祖嘗論道學不在空言，先行後言，君子所尚。 夫道學豈易言哉？
The historians comment: Emperor Kangxi honored Confucian learning and held the Way in esteem. At the Classics Lectures he pursued the teachings of the sages with tireless zeal, and the ministers of the court were shaped by that influence until it became the temper of the age. Wei Yijie spent years in the censorate, offering forthright counsel again and again and thinking in terms of guarding against danger in times of prosperity. Once in the central government he stood straight as stacked firewood and would not yield, retired early, and carried himself like the great ministers of antiquity. Xiong Cilv was stern, upright, and blunt. He memorialized in favor of the Classics Lectures, hoping to strengthen the emperor's virtue—perhaps a man who truly served his ruler through the Way. Li Guangdi served both at court and in the provinces and enjoyed the emperor's trust more fully than anyone, yet suspicion gathered around him in thickets. He moved through office with supple caution, doing his best to keep silent. Emperor Kangxi once said that Neo-Confucian learning is not a matter of empty talk: deed must come before word, and that is what the gentleman values. But is the learning of the Way so easily spoken of?