1
索額圖明珠-{余國柱}-佛倫
Songgotu, Mingzhu, Yu Guozhu, and Folun
2
索額圖，赫舍里氏，滿洲正黃旗人，索尼第二子。 初授侍衛，自三等洊升一等。 康熙七年，授吏部侍郎。 八年五月，自請解任效力左右，復為一等侍衛。 及鼇拜獲罪，大學士班布爾善坐黨誅，授索額圖國史院大學士，兼佐領。 九年，改保和殿大學士。 十一年，世祖實錄成，加太子太傅。 十五年，大學士熊賜履票本有誤，改寫草簽，既又毀去。 索額圖與大學士巴泰、杜立德等疏劾，賜履坐罷歸。 十八年，京察，侍講學士顧八代隨徵稱職，翰林院以「政勤才長」注考，索額圖改注「浮躁」，竟坐降調。 語詳顧八代傳。
Songgotu of the Heseri clan, a Manchu of the Bordered Yellow Banner, was Sony's second son. He began as a guard and rose in steady steps from third to first rank. In Kangxi 7 (1668) he became vice president of the Board of Civil Appointments. In the fifth month of Kangxi 8 (1669) he resigned his office to serve at court and was restored to first-rank guard. After Oboi's fall, Grand Secretary Banbursan was put to death as his partisan; Songgotu was made grand secretary of the Historiographic Institute and company commander. In Kangxi 9 (1670) he became grand secretary of the Hall of Preserving Harmony. In Kangxi 11 (1672), on completion of the Shunzhi Veritable Records, he received the title Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. In Kangxi 15 (1676) Grand Secretary Xiong Cilü's draft memorial was faulty; he rewrote it on a slip and then destroyed the slip. Songgotu joined Grand Secretaries Batai and Du Lide in impeaching him, and Cilü was dismissed and sent home. At the Kangxi 18 (1679) metropolitan review, Lecturing Reader Gu Badai was rated competent on campaign service; the Hanlin entered 'diligent in government, gifted in talent,' but Songgotu altered it to 'frivolous,' and Badai was demoted. The full account appears in Gu Badai's biography.
3
索額圖權勢日盛。 會地震，左都御史魏象樞入對，陳索額圖怙權貪縱狀，請嚴譴。 上曰：「修省當自朕始！」 翌日，召索額圖及諸大臣諭曰：「茲遘地震，朕反躬修省。 爾等亦宜洗滌肺腸，公忠自矢。 自任用後，諸臣家計頗皆饒裕，乃朋比徇私，益加貪黷。 若事情發覺，國法具在，決不爾貸！」 是時索額圖、明珠同柄朝政，互植私黨，貪侈傾朝右，故諭及之。 上並書「節制謹度」榜賜焉。
Songgotu's power grew day by day. After an earthquake, Left Censor-in-Chief Wei Xiangsu reported Songgotu's abuse of power, greed, and license, and urged severe punishment. The emperor said, 'Self-reform must begin with me!' The next day he summoned Songgotu and the ministers and said, 'This earthquake has come; I must examine myself. You too must cleanse your hearts and devote yourselves to the public good. Since your appointments, many of you have grown wealthy, yet you form factions for private ends and grow ever more corrupt. If your deeds are exposed, the law stands ready—I will not spare you!' At that time Songgotu and Mingzhu shared power, each building private factions; their greed and extravagance dominated the court, which is why he spoke as he did. The emperor also wrote 'restraint and careful measure' on a placard and gave it to him.
4
十九年八月，以病乞解任，上優旨獎其「勤敏練達，用兵以來，贊畫機宜」，改命為內大臣。 尋授議政大臣。 先是索額圖兄噶布拉，以冊諡孝誠仁皇后推恩所生，封一等公； 弟心裕，襲索尼初封一等伯； 法保，襲索尼加封一等公。 二十三年三月，以心裕等嬾惰驕縱，責索額圖弗能教，奪內大臣、議政大臣、太子太傅，但任佐領，並奪法保一等公。 二十五年，授領侍衛內大臣。
In the eighth month of Kangxi 19 (1680) he resigned on grounds of illness; the emperor praised his diligence and skill in war planning and made him an interior minister. He was soon appointed a deliberative minister. Earlier, Songgotu's elder brother Gabula had been enfeoffed as a first-rank duke when favor was extended to the empress's birth family at Xiaochengren's posthumous investiture; his younger brother Xinyu inherited Sony's original rank as a first-rank baron; Fabao inherited Sony's augmented rank as a first-rank duke. In the third month of Kangxi 23 (1684), Xinyu and the others were condemned as idle and arrogant; Songgotu was blamed for poor discipline, stripped of his ministerial posts and Grand Tutor title, left only as company commander, and Fabao lost his dukedom. In Kangxi 25 (1686) he was appointed senior interior minister of the guards.
5
時俄羅斯屢侵黑龍江邊境，據雅克薩，其眾去復來，上發兵圍之。 察罕汗謝罪，使費耀多囉等來議界。 二十八年，上命索額圖與都統佟國綱往議。 索額圖奏謂：「尼布楚、雅克薩兩地當歸我。」 上曰：「尼布楚歸我，則俄羅斯貿易無所棲止，可以額爾固納河為界。」 索額圖等與議，費耀多囉果執尼布楚、雅克薩為請。 索額圖等力斥之，仍宣上意，以額爾固納河及格爾必齊河為界，立碑而還。
Russia had repeatedly raided the Amur frontier and held Albazin, its garrison withdrawing and returning; the emperor sent troops to besiege the post. The tsar apologized and sent Fyodor Alekseyevich and others to negotiate the boundary. In Kangxi 28 (1689) the emperor sent Songgotu and Commander-in-Chief Tong Guogang to negotiate. Songgotu memorialized that Nerchinsk and Albazin ought both to remain Chinese territory.' The emperor replied that if Nerchinsk were kept, Russia would have no base for trade, and proposed the Argun River as the boundary.' In the talks Fyodor Alekseyevich pressed for Nerchinsk and Albazin. Songgotu and his party firmly rejected the demand, upheld the emperor's terms, set the boundary at the Argun and Gorbi Rivers, erected boundary markers, and returned.
6
二十九年，上以裕親王福全為大將軍，擊噶爾丹，命索額圖將盛京、吉林、科爾沁兵會於巴林，敗噶爾丹於烏闌布通。 以不窮追，鐫四級。 三十五年，從上親征，率八旗前鋒、察哈爾四旗及漢軍綠旗兵前行，並命督火器營。 大將軍費揚古自西路抵圖拉。 上駐克魯倫河，噶爾丹遁走。 費揚古截擊之於昭莫多，大敗其眾。 三十六年，上還幸寧夏，命索額圖督水驛，會噶爾丹死。 敘功，复前所鐫級。 四十年九月，以老乞休，心裕代為領侍衛內大臣。
In Kangxi 29 (1690) Prince Yu Fuquan was made grand general against Galdan; Songgotu led Mukden, Jilin, and Khorchin forces to Bairin and helped defeat Galdan at Ulan Butung. He was demoted four ranks for not pursuing the enemy to the end. In Kangxi 35 (1696) he joined the emperor's personal campaign, leading the Eight Banners vanguard, four Chahar banners, and Green Standard Han troops, and supervised the firearms corps. Grand General Fiyanggū advanced along the western route to Tüla. The emperor encamped on the Kerulen while Galdan fled. Fiyanggū intercepted him at Jao Modo and routed his army. In Kangxi 36 (1697) the emperor returned to Ningxia and put Songgotu in charge of the water courier route; Galdan died about then. His service was rewarded and the four ranks previously taken were restored. In the ninth month of Kangxi 40 (1701) he retired on grounds of age; Xinyu succeeded him as senior interior minister of the guards.
7
索額圖事皇太子謹，皇太子漸失上意。 四十一年，上閱河至德州，皇太子有疾，召索額圖自京師至德州侍疾。 居月馀，皇太子疾愈，還京師。 是歲，心裕以虐斃家人奪官。 四十二年五月，上命執索額圖，交宗人府拘禁，諭曰：「爾為大學士，以貪惡革退，後復起用，罔知愧悔。 爾家人訐爾，留內三年，朕意欲寬爾。 爾乃怙過不悛，結黨妄行，議論國事。 皇太子在德州，爾乘馬至中門始下，即此爾已應死。 爾所行事，任舉一端，無不當誅。 朕念爾原系大臣，心有不忍，姑貸爾死。」 又命執索額圖諸子交心裕、法保拘禁，諭：「若別生事端，心裕、法保當族誅！」 諸臣黨附索額圖者，麻爾圖、額庫禮、溫代、邵甘、佟寶並命嚴錮，阿米達以老貸之。 又命諸臣同祖子孫在部院者，皆奪官。 江潢以家有索額圖私書，下刑部論死。 仍諭滿洲人與偶有來往者，漢官與交結者，皆貸不問。 尋索額圖死於幽所。
Songgotu served the crown prince faithfully, yet the heir gradually fell from the emperor's favor. In Kangxi 41 (1702), while the emperor inspected the rivers at Dezhou, the crown prince fell ill; Songgotu was summoned from Beijing to nurse him. After more than a month the heir recovered and they returned to Beijing. That year Xinyu lost his post for beating a servant to death. In the fifth month of Kangxi 42 (1703) the emperor had Songgotu arrested and confined by the Imperial Clan Court, saying, 'You were a grand secretary, dismissed for greed and corruption, then reappointed, yet you show no shame. Your own people denounced you; you were kept in confinement three years while I meant to be lenient. Yet you cling to your faults, form factions, act recklessly, and debate state affairs. At Dezhou you rode to the middle gate before dismounting—for that alone you deserved death. Any single deed of yours would merit execution. Remembering you were once a minister, I cannot bring myself to kill you—for now I spare your life.' He also had Songgotu's sons confined under Xinyu and Fabao, warning, 'If further trouble arises, Xinyu and Fabao's entire clans shall die!' Songgotu's partisans Ma'ertu, E'ekuli, Wendai, Shao Gan, and Tong Bao were strictly confined; Amida was spared because of his age. All their kinsmen serving in the ministries and courts were stripped of office. Jiang Huang was sent to the Ministry of Justice for execution because private letters from Songgotu were found in his home. Manchus who had had only occasional contact and Han officials who had associated with him were spared and not questioned. Soon afterward Songgotu died in confinement.
8
後數年，皇太子以狂疾廢，上宣諭罪狀，謂：「索額圖助允礽潛謀大事，朕知其情，將索額圖處死。 今允礽欲為索額圖報仇，令朕戒慎不寧。」 並按誅索額圖二子格爾芬、阿爾吉善。 他日，上謂廷臣曰：「昔索額圖懷私，倡議皇太子服禦俱用黃色，一切儀制幾與朕相似。 驕縱之漸，實由於此。 索額圖誠本朝第一罪人也！」
Years later the crown prince was deposed for madness; the emperor announced his crimes, saying, 'Songgotu helped Yinreng plot treason; I knew it and was about to execute Songgotu. Now Yinreng seeks to avenge Songgotu, leaving me watchful and uneasy.' He also executed Songgotu's sons Ge'erfen and A'erjishan. On another occasion the emperor told the court, 'Songgotu once urged that the crown prince's dress and regalia all be yellow, so that his ritual forms nearly matched my own. The heir's growing arrogance truly began here. Songgotu was truly the greatest criminal of our dynasty!'
9
明珠，字端範，納喇氏，滿洲正黃旗人，葉赫貝勒金台石孫。 父尼雅哈，當太祖滅葉赫，來降，授佐領。 明珠自侍衛授鑾儀衛治儀正，遷內務府郎中。 康熙三年，擢總管。 五年，授弘文院學士。 七年，命閱淮、揚河工，議復興化白駒場舊閘，鑿黃河北岸引河。 旋授刑部尚書。 改都察院左都御史，充經筵講官。 十一年，遷兵部尚書。 十二年，上幸南苑，閱八旗甲兵於晾鷹台。 明珠先布條教使練習之，及期，軍容整肅，上嘉其能，因著為令。
Mingzhu, styled Duanfan, of the Nara clan and the Bordered Yellow Banner, was a grandson of Yehe beile Gintaisi. His father Niyaha submitted when the Taizu destroyed Yehe and was made a company commander. From the guards Mingzhu became director of ceremonial regulation in the Imperial Procession Guard, then director in the Imperial Household Department. In Kangxi 3 (1664) he was promoted to superintendent. In Kangxi 5 (1666) he became an academician of the Hall of Literary Glory. In Kangxi 7 (1668) he inspected the Huai and Yangzhou river works and proposed restoring the Xinghua Baijuchang sluice and cutting a diversion on the Yellow River's north bank. He was soon appointed minister of justice. He became left censor-in-chief of the Censorate and lecturer at the Classics Colloquium. In Kangxi 11 (1672) he became minister of war. In Kangxi 12 (1673) the emperor reviewed the Eight Banners armored troops at the Hawk-Drying Terrace in the Southern Park. Mingzhu drew up drill regulations in advance; on the day of review the troops were perfectly ordered, and the emperor praised him and made his methods standard.
10
康熙初，南疆大定，留重兵鎮之：吳三桂雲南，尚可喜廣東，耿精忠福建。 十馀年，漸跋扈，三桂尤驕縱。 可喜亦憂之，疏請撤籓，歸老海城。 精忠、三桂繼請。 上召諸大臣詢方略，戶部尚書米思翰、刑部尚書莫洛等主撤，明珠和之。 諸大臣皆默然。 上曰：「三桂等蓄謀久，不早除之，將養癰成患。 今日撤亦反，不撤亦反，不若先發。」 因下詔許之。 三桂遂反，精忠及可喜子之信皆叛應之。 時爭咎建議者，索額圖請誅之。 上曰：「此出自朕意，他人何罪？」 明珠由是稱上旨。 十四年，調吏部尚書。 十六年，授武英殿大學士，屢充實錄、方略、一統志、明史諸書總裁，累加太子太師。 迨三叛既平，上諭廷臣以前議撤籓，惟明珠等能稱旨，且曰：「當時有請誅建議者，朕若從之，皆含冤泉壤矣！」
Early in the Kangxi reign the south was pacified but heavily garrisoned: Wu Sangui in Yunnan, Shang Kexi in Guangdong, and Geng Jingzhong in Fujian. After more than a decade they grew arrogant and overbearing, Sangui most of all. Kexi too grew alarmed and memorialized to surrender his fief and retire to Haicheng. Jingzhong and Sangui soon made the same request. The emperor consulted his ministers; Revenue Minister Misihan, Justice Minister Moluo, and others favored abolishing the fiefs, and Mingzhu agreed. The other ministers remained silent. The emperor said, 'Sangui and the others have plotted for years; if we do not act now, we will nurse a sore into a mortal disease. Whether we abolish the fiefs or not they will rebel—better to strike first.' He then issued an edict approving the plan. Sangui rebelled, and Jingzhong and Kexi's son Zhixin joined him. Blame fell on those who had urged abolition; Songgotu called for their execution. The emperor said, 'This was my decision—what crime have the others committed?' Mingzhu was thereafter praised as having matched the emperor's mind. In Kangxi 14 (1675) he became minister of civil appointments. In Kangxi 16 (1677) he became grand secretary of the Hall of Military Glory, repeatedly headed major compilations including the Veritable Records and History of the Ming, and rose to Grand Preceptor to the Crown Prince. After the three rebellions were crushed, the emperor told the court that only Mingzhu and his allies had matched his intent on abolishing the fiefs, adding, 'Some then wanted the advocates executed; had I agreed, they would lie wronged in their graves!'
11
明珠既擅政，簠簋不飭，貨賄山積。 佛倫、餘國柱其黨也，援引致高位。 靳輔督南河，主築堤束水，下游不濬自通。 於成龍等議濬下游，與異議。 輔興屯田，議者謂不便於民，多不右輔，明珠獨是其議。 蔡毓榮、張汧皆明珠所薦引者也，迨得罪按治，恐累舉者，傅輕比，上諭斥，始定。 與索額圖互植黨相傾軋。 索額圖生而貴盛，性倨肆，有不附己者顯斥之，於朝士獨親李光地。 明珠則務謙和，輕財好施，以招來新進，異己者以陰謀陷之，與徐乾學等相結。 索額圖善事皇太子，而明珠反之，朝士有侍皇太子者，皆陰斥去。 薦湯斌傅皇太子，即以傾斌。 會天久不雨，光地所薦講官德格勒明易，上命筮，得夬，因陳小人居鼎鉉，天屯其膏，語斥明珠。 事具德格勒傳。
Once Mingzhu dominated the government, he neglected official integrity and bribes piled mountain-high. Folun and Yu Guozhu were his allies; he advanced them to high office. Jin Fu, supervising the southern rivers, favored dikes to confine the current, arguing the lower course need not be dredged. Yu Chenglong and others urged dredging the lower reaches, and the two sides clashed. Fu also promoted military colonies; critics said they harmed the people, and most opposed him—only Mingzhu backed his plan. Cai Yurong and Zhang Qian had both been Mingzhu's protégés; when they were prosecuted, officials proposed leniency lest their patrons be implicated, until the emperor rebuked them and the sentences stood. He and Songgotu built rival factions and undermined each other. Born to wealth and power, Songgotu was arrogant; he openly drove off those who would not join him and favored only Li Guangdi among the court. Mingzhu cultivated humility, spent freely to win newcomers, ruined opponents by intrigue, and allied with Xu Qianxue and his circle. Songgotu cultivated the crown prince; Mingzhu opposed him and secretly drove away officials who served the heir. He recommended Tang Bin as tutor to the crown prince, then used the appointment to destroy him. During a long drought the emperor had Degeli, a lecturer on the Changes recommended by Guangdi, divine; the hexagram Guai led him to declare that petty men held power and heaven withheld its bounty—an indictment of Mingzhu. The full account appears in Degeli's biography.
12
二十七年，御史郭琇疏劾：「明珠、國柱背公營私，閣中票擬皆出明珠指麾，輕重任意。 國柱承其風旨，即有舛錯，同官莫敢駁正。 聖明時有詰責，漫無省改。 凡奉諭旨或稱善，明珠則曰'由我力荐'； 或稱不善，明珠則曰'上意不喜，我從容挽救'； 且任意附益，市恩立威，因而要結群心，挾取貨賄。 日奏事畢，出中左門，滿、漢部院諸臣拱立以待，密語移時，上意罔不宣露。 部院事稍有關係者，必請命而行。 明珠廣結黨羽，滿洲則佛倫、格斯特及其族侄富拉塔、錫珠等，凡會議會推，力為把持； 漢人則國柱為之囊橐，督撫籓臬員缺，國柱等展轉徵賄，必滿欲而後止。 康熙二十三年學道報滿應升者，率往論價，缺皆預定。 靳輔與明珠交結，初議開下河，以為當任輔，欣然欲行。 及上欲別任，則以於成龍方沐上眷，舉以應命，而成龍官止按察使，題奏權仍屬輔，此時未有阻撓意也。 及輔張大其事，與成龍議不合，乃始一力阻撓。 明珠自知罪戾，對人柔顏甘語，百計款曲，而陰行鷙害，意毒謀險。 最忌者言官，惟恐發其奸狀，考選科道，輒與訂約，章奏必使先聞。 當佛倫為左都御史，見御史李興謙屢疏稱旨，吳震方頗有彈劾，即令借事排陷。 明珠智術足以彌縫罪惡，又有國柱奸謀附和，負恩亂政。 伏冀立加嚴譴。」
In Kangxi 27 (1688) Censor Guo Xiu impeached them: 'Mingzhu and Guozhu betray the public for private gain; Grand Secretariat drafts all follow Mingzhu's orders, light or heavy at his whim. Guozhu carries out his will; even when drafts are wrong, no colleague dares correct them. Though the emperor sometimes rebukes them, they show no remorse or reform. When an edict praised someone, Mingzhu would say, 'That was my recommendation'; when someone was criticized, he would say, 'The emperor was displeased, but I smoothed it over'; he embellished at will, traded favors for power, bound followers to him, and extorted bribes. After daily audience he left by the central left gate while Manchu and Han ministers waited bowing; he whispered with them at length and revealed the emperor's every intention. On any ministry matter even remotely connected, they had to seek his permission first. Mingzhu built a wide faction among the Manchus—Folun, Gesite, Fularata, Xizhu, and others—and controlled every joint conference and recommendation; among Han officials Guozhu handled the money; for governorships and provincial posts they extorted bribes through intermediaries until every demand was met. By Kangxi 23, learning-intendants due for promotion routinely bargained for posts; every vacancy was sold in advance. Jin Fu was allied with Mingzhu; when opening the lower river was first proposed, Fu was eager to take charge. When the emperor wanted another appointee, they nominated the favored Yu Chenglong, though he was only a surveillance commissioner and Fu still controlled memorials—at that point they had not yet meant to obstruct. When Fu inflated the project and clashed with Chenglong, he began to obstruct it with all his power. Knowing his guilt, Mingzhu spoke gently in public and used every wile to please, while secretly he acted with ruthless malice. He most feared the censors and bound every new appointee to show him memorials before they were submitted. As left censor-in-chief, Folun saw Li Xingqian's memorials win praise and Wu Zhenfang's impeachments gain traction, and had them destroyed on trumped-up charges. Mingzhu's cunning covered his crimes; with Guozhu's schemes echoing his, he betrayed the throne and threw government into disorder. I humbly urge immediate severe punishment.'
13
疏入，上諭吏部曰：「國家建官分職，必矢志精白，大法小廉。 今在廷諸臣，自大學士以下，惟知互相結引，徇私傾陷。 凡遇會議，一二倡率於前，眾附和於後，一意詭隨。 廷議如此，國是何憑？ 至於緊要員缺，特令會同推舉，原期得人，亦欲令被舉者警心滌慮，恐致累及舉者，而貪黷匪類，往往敗露。 此皆植黨納賄所致。 朕不忍加罪大臣，且用兵時有曾著勞績者，免其發覺。 罷明珠大學士，交領侍衛內大臣酌用。」 未幾，授內大臣。 後從上徵噶爾丹，督西路軍餉，敘功復原級。
When the memorial arrived, the emperor told the Board of Civil Appointments, 'The state sets up offices and divides duties; officials must pledge themselves to purity, uphold the law, and practice scruple in small things. Today the ministers at court, from grand secretaries down, know only faction-making, private favor, and ruining rivals. In every conference one or two lead and the rest echo, all unprincipled followers. When court deliberation is like this, what can the state rely on? Important posts were to be filled by joint recommendation to find worthy men and make appointees fear disgracing their patrons—yet the corrupt are often exposed anyway. All this comes from faction-building and bribery. I cannot bear to punish great ministers, and some rendered merit in war, so I spare them exposure. Strip Mingzhu of his grand secretaryship and assign him to the senior interior ministers of the guards.' He was soon appointed an interior minister. He later joined the campaign against Galdan, supervised western-route provisions, and had his rank restored for merit.
14
明珠自罷政後，雖權勢未替，然為內大臣者二十年，竟不復柄用。 四十七年，卒。 子性德、揆敘自有傳。
After leaving office Mingzhu retained influence, but for twenty years as interior minister he never regained real power. He died in Kangxi 47 (1708). His sons Xingde and Kuixu have separate biographies.
15
-{余}-國柱，字兩石，湖廣大冶人。 順治九年進士，授兗州推官。 遷行人司行人，轉戶部主事。 康熙十五年，考授戶科給事中。 時方用兵，國柱屢疏言籌餉事，語多精覈。 二十年，擢左副都御史。 旋授江寧巡撫，請設機制寬大緞疋。 得旨：「非常用之物，何為勞費？」 當明珠用事，國柱務罔利以迎合之，及內轉左都御史，遷戶部尚書，湯斌繼國柱撫江蘇； 國柱索斌獻明珠金，斌不能應，由是傾之。 二十六年，授武英殿大學士，益與明珠結，一時稱為「-{余}-秦檜」。 會上謁陵，中途召-{于}-成龍入對，成龍盡發明珠、國柱等貪私。 上歸詢高士奇，士奇亦以狀聞。 及郭琇疏論劾，言者蜂起，國柱門人陳世安亦具疏糾之，頗中要害，國柱遂奪官。 既出都，於江寧治第宅，營生計，復為給事中何金蘭所劾，命逐之回籍。 卒於家。
Yu Guozhu, styled Liangshi, was from Daye in Huguang. A Shunzhi 9 jinshi, he became investigating censor of Yanzhou. He became a courier in the Courier Office, then a director in the Ministry of Revenue. In Kangxi 15 (1676) he became supervising censor of the Revenue Section. During the wars he memorialized repeatedly on supplies with sharp, precise analysis. In Kangxi 20 (1681) he became vice censor-in-chief of the left. He was soon made governor of Jiangning and proposed machine weaving of wide satin. The emperor replied, 'This is not an everyday item—why waste labor and money?' Under Mingzhu's power Guozhu sought illicit profit to please him; promoted to left censor-in-chief and revenue minister, he was succeeded in Jiangsu by Tang Bin; Guozhu demanded gold for Mingzhu; when Bin refused, they destroyed him. In Kangxi 26 (1687) he became grand secretary of the Hall of Military Glory, tightened his bond with Mingzhu, and was nicknamed 'Yu Qin Hui.' While attending the tombs the emperor summoned Yu Chenglong en route; Chenglong fully exposed the corruption of Mingzhu, Guozhu, and their circle. On his return the emperor questioned Gao Shiqi, who confirmed the report. After Guo Xiu's impeachment, accusers swarmed; even Guozhu's disciple Chen Shi'an memorialized against him with telling force, and Guozhu lost his post. After leaving Beijing he built a mansion at Jiangning; Supervising Censor He Jinlan impeached him again and he was ordered home. He died at home.
16
佛倫，舒穆祿氏，滿洲正白旗人。 自筆帖式累遷內閣學士。 吳三桂既死，其孫世璠猶據滇、黔，命佛倫總理糧餉，通鎮遠運道，旋兼理四川糧餉。 事平，遷刑部侍郎。 尋遷左都御史，擢工部尚書，轉刑、戶兩部。 先是下河工程，靳輔與按察使於成龍議不協，命佛倫偕侍郎熊一瀟等勘議。 佛倫受明珠指，議如輔言，為總漕慕天顏所劾。 御史陸祖修亦劾佛倫袒輔，且言：「九卿會議時，尚書科爾坤等阿佛倫意，尚書張玉書、左都御史徐乾學言興屯所佔民田應還之民，科爾坤置不聞。 他九卿或不得見隻字。」 上怒，下部嚴議。 及郭琇劾明珠，指佛倫為明珠黨，因解佛倫任。 召輔等廷對，佛倫乃奏停屯田，並汰前所設官。 部議奪佛倫官，上命留佐領。 旋授內務府總管。
Folun of the Sumuru clan was a Manchu of the Plain White Banner. He rose from clerk to Grand Secretariat academician. After Sangui's death his grandson Shifan still held Yunnan and Guizhou; Folun was put in charge of provisions, opened the Zhenyuan supply route, and soon managed Sichuan as well. When the rebellion ended he became vice president of justice. He became left censor-in-chief, then minister of works, then served in justice and revenue. On the lower-river project Jin Fu and Surveillance Commissioner Yu Chenglong clashed; Folun joined Vice President Xiong Yixiao and others to investigate. Directed by Mingzhu, Folun ruled for Fu's plan and was impeached by Grain Transport Director Mu Tianyan. Censor Lu Zuxiu also impeached Folun for favoring Fu, saying that at the Nine Ministers' conference Ke'erkun toadied to Folun while Zhang Yushu and Xu Qianxue argued that colony lands should be returned to the people—Ke'erkun ignored them. Other ministers sometimes never saw a word of the proceedings.' The emperor was furious and ordered a severe inquiry. When Guo Xiu impeached Mingzhu and named Folun as his partisan, Folun was dismissed. Fu and others were summoned to court; Folun then urged halting the colonies and abolishing the offices created for them. The ministry recommended stripping Folun of office; the emperor let him keep company command. He was soon made superintendent of the Imperial Household Department.
17
出為山東巡撫，疏請均賦役，令紳民一體應役，詔嘉其實心任事。 初，濰縣知縣硃敦厚以贓私為巡撫錢鎯所發，乞徐乾學請於鎯，獲免，且內擢主事。 至是事發，下佛倫鞫實，乾學坐奪官。 佛倫又劾琇知吳江縣時，嘗侵公帑，其父景昌故名爾標，乃明御史黃宗昌奴，坐賊黨誅，琇改父名冒封典，當追奪。 乾學故附明珠，後相失，或傳琇疏乾學實主之，故佛倫以是報。 尋擢川陝總督，入為禮部尚書。 三十八年，授文淵閣大學士。 三十九年，琇入覲，訟父受誣。 上詰佛倫，自承不實，當奪官，援赦得免。 未幾，以原品休致。 旋卒。
As governor of Shandong he memorialized to equalize taxes and corvée so gentry and commoners alike bore service; the emperor praised his earnest devotion. Earlier, Wei County magistrate Zhu Dunhou had been exposed for corruption by Governor Qian Li; through Xu Qianxue's intercession he escaped punishment and was even promoted to director in Beijing. When the affair surfaced, Folun investigated; Qianxue lost his post. Folun also charged that as Wujiang magistrate Xiu had embezzled public funds, and that his father Jingchang—formerly Erbiao, a slave of the Ming censor Huang Zongchang executed as a rebel—had been given a false name so Xiu could usurp honors, which should be revoked. Qianxue had once sided with Mingzhu and later broke with him; some said Xiu's impeachment was really Qianxue's work, and Folun struck back. He was soon made governor-general of Sichuan and Shaanxi, then minister of rites in Beijing. In Kangxi 38 (1699) he became grand secretary of the Hall of Literary Depth. In Kangxi 39 (1700) Xiu came to audience and pleaded that his father had been falsely accused. The emperor questioned Folun; he admitted the charges were false, deserved dismissal, and escaped punishment through amnesty. He soon retired at his former rank. He died soon after.
18
論曰：康熙中，滿洲大臣以權位相尚者，惟索額圖、明珠，一時氣勢熏灼，然不能終保令名，卒以貪侈敗。 索額圖以附皇太子得罪，禍延於後嗣。 明珠與索額圖競權，不附皇太子，雖被彈事罷相，聖祖猶念其贊撤籓，力全之，以視索額圖，豈不幸哉？ 若國柱、佛倫，則權門之疏附矣。
The commentator writes: In the Kangxi era only Songgotu and Mingzhu among Manchu ministers truly vied for power; for a time their influence blazed, yet neither kept a good name and both fell to greed and extravagance. Songgotu fell for siding with the crown prince, and disaster reached his descendants. Mingzhu rivaled Songgotu and did not back the crown prince; though impeached and removed from office, the Kangxi Emperor still remembered his support for abolishing the fiefs and protected him—compared with Songgotu, was he not the luckier man? Guozhu and Folun were only lesser hangers-on of the powerful.