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列傳六十四
Biographies 64
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-{于}-成龍孫準彭鵬陳瑸陳鵬年施世綸
Yu Chenglong, Sun Zhun, Peng Peng, Chen Bin, Chen Pengnian, and Shi Shilun
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-{于}-成龍,字北溟,山西永寧人。 明崇禎間副榜貢生。 順治十八年,謁選,授廣西羅城知縣,年四十五矣。 羅城居萬山中,盛瘴癘,瑤、僮獷悍,初隸版籍。 方兵後,遍地榛莽,縣中居民僅六家,無城郭廨舍。 成龍到官,召吏民拊循之,申明保甲。 盜發即時捕治,請於上官,讞實即處決,民安其居。 鄰瑤歲來殺掠,成龍集鄉兵將搗其巢,瑤懼,誓不敢犯羅山境。 民益得盡力耕耘。 居羅山七年,與民相愛如家人父子。 牒上官請寬徭役,疏鹺引,建學宮,創設養濟院,凡所當興罷者,次第舉行,縣大治。 總督盧興祖等薦卓異。
Yu Chenglong, styled Beiming, came from Yongning in Shanxi. Under the Ming he had passed the provincial examination as a secondary-list graduate during the Chongzhen era. In Shunzhi 18 he went up for selection and received appointment as magistrate of Luocheng in Guangxi—he was forty-five years old. Luocheng sat buried in rugged mountains where pestilence flourished; the Yao and Zhuang were wild and defiant, having only recently been entered on the tax rolls. Fresh from the wars, the district was choked with wilderness; only six families remained in the county seat, with no city walls or yamen buildings at all. On taking office Chenglong gathered officials and commoners to reassure them and set the mutual-responsibility baojia system in order. The moment banditry broke out he seized and punished the culprits, sought approval from above, and executed those whose guilt was proved—so the people could live without fear. Each year neighboring Yao raided and slaughtered; Chenglong mustered local militia to strike their strongholds, and the Yao, terrified, vowed never again to cross into Luocheng territory. The people could at last farm in peace and give their fields their full attention. He spent seven years in Luocheng, and he and the people cherished one another like kin—father and sons under one roof. He petitioned above to ease labor levies, open salt transport routes, erect a school, and found a relief hospice for the destitute; project by project he carried through every reform the county needed, until Luocheng was thoroughly well ordered. Governor-General Lu Xingzu and others nominated him for outstanding merit.
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康熙六年,遷四川合州知州。 四川大亂後,州中遺民裁百餘,正賦僅十五兩,而供役繁重。 成龍請革宿弊,招民墾田,貸以牛種,期月戶增至千。 遷湖廣黃岡同知,駐岐亭。 岐亭故多盜,白晝行劫,莫敢誰何。 成龍撫其渠彭百齡,貰罪,令捕盜自贖。 嘗察知盜所在,偽為丐者,入其巢,與雜處十餘日,盡得其平時行劫狀。 乃出呼役械諸盜,具獄辭,駢縛坑之,他盜皆遠竄。 嘗微行村堡,周訪閭里情偽,遇盜及他疑獄,輒踪跡得之,民驚服。 巡撫張朝珍舉卓異。
In Kangxi 6 he was moved to serve as prefect of Hezhou in Sichuan. After Sichuan's great upheaval barely a hundred people remained in the prefecture; regular tax revenue stood at only fifteen taels, while supply and corvée obligations weighed crushingly on them. Chenglong petitioned to sweep away entrenched abuses, drew settlers to reclaim farmland, and lent them oxen and seed grain; within a month household registers swelled to a thousand. He was promoted to sub-prefect of Huanggang in Huguang and posted at Qiting. Qiting had always been notorious for brigands who plundered in daylight while no one dared stand against them. Chenglong won over their ringleader Peng Bailing, pardoned his crimes, and charged him to hunt down bandits as his path to redemption. On one occasion, having traced the bandits' hideout, he disguised himself as a mendicant, slipped into their lair, and lived among them for ten-odd days until he knew every detail of their raids. He then emerged, summoned his constables to seize the gang, drew up the indictments, bound them in pairs and buried them in a mass grave—and the rest of the brigands scattered to distant parts. He often went about in plain dress through villages and stockades, sounding out local conditions; bandits and puzzling cases alike he tracked to their source, to the people's awe and admiration. Provincial Governor Zhang Chaozhen nominated him for outstanding service.
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十三年,署武昌知府。 吳三桂犯湖南,師方攻岳州,檄成龍造浮橋濟師,甫成,山水發,橋圮,坐奪官。 三桂散偽劄遍湖北州縣,麻城、大冶、黃岡、黃安諸盜,皆倚山結寨應三桂。 妖人黃金龍匿興寧山中,謀內亂。 劉君孚者,嘗為成龍役,善捕盜,亦得三桂劄,與金龍等結大盜周鐵爪,據曹家河以叛。 朝珍以成龍舊治得民心,檄往招撫。 成龍诇知君孚雖反,眾未合,猶豫持兩端。 兼程趨賊砦,距十里許止宿,榜示自首者免罪,來者日千計,皆貸之。 先遣鄉約諭君孚,降者待以不死。 乃策黑騾往,從者二,張蓋鳴鉦,迳入賊舍。 呼君孚出見,叩頭受撫,降其眾數千,分立區保,籍其勇力者,督令進討。 金龍走紙棚河,與其渠鄒君申往保山砦,成龍擒斬之。 朝珍以聞,請復官,即擢黃州知府,上允之。
In the thirteenth year he acted as prefect of Wuchang. When Wu Sangui struck Hunan and imperial forces were besieging Yuezhou, Chenglong was ordered to throw a pontoon bridge across the river for the army; scarcely was it finished when floods swept it away, and he lost his post as punishment. Sangui spread forged commissions across Hubei; brigands in Macheng, Daye, Huanggang, Huang'an, and neighboring districts all fortified mountain strongholds in his cause. The sorcerer Huang Jinlong lay hidden in the Xingning hills, plotting an uprising from within. Liu Junfu, who had once worked for Chenglong and excelled at hunting bandits, also received a commission from Sangui; he allied with Jinlong and the notorious Zhou Tiezhua, seized Caojia River, and rose in revolt. Chaozhen, knowing Chenglong still commanded the people's loyalty from his earlier tenure, dispatched him to win the rebels over by persuasion. Chenglong's scouts reported that though Junfu had turned rebel, his forces were not yet consolidated and he still wavered between loyalty and defiance. He marched day and night toward the rebel camp, halted ten li short, and posted notice that self-surrender meant amnesty; thousands came each day, and he spared them all. First he sent village elders to tell Junfu that surrender would spare his life. Then he rode a black mule with only two followers, canopy raised and gongs sounding, straight into the rebel camp. He summoned Junfu forth; Junfu kowtowed and submitted, and Chenglong disbanded several thousand followers into local baojia units, enrolled the able-bodied, and set them to pursue the remaining rebels. Jinlong fled toward Zhipeng River and, with his lieutenant Zou Junshen, made for Baoshan stockade; Chenglong seized and executed them both. Chaozhen reported the success and petitioned for Chenglong's reinstatement; the court immediately promoted him to prefect of Huangzhou, which the emperor approved.
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諸盜何士榮反永寧鄉,陳鼎業反陽邏,劉啟業反石陂,周鐵爪、鮑世庸反泉畈,各有眾數千,號東山賊,遙與湖口、寧州諸盜合,將趨黃州。 時諸鎮兵皆從師徇湖南,州中吏民裁數百,議退保麻城。 成龍曰:「黃州,七郡門戶,我師屯荊、岳,轉運取道於此。 棄此不守,荊、岳且瓦解。」 誓死不去。 遂集鄉勇得二千人,遣黃岡知縣李經政攻陽邏,得鼎業誅之。 士榮率賊數犯,自牧馬崖分兩路來犯。 成龍遣千總羅登雲以千人當東路,而自當西路。 令千總吳之蘭攻左,武舉張尚聖攻右,成龍力衝其中堅。 戰合,之蘭中槍死,師少卻; 成龍策馬冒矢石迳前,顧千總李茂升曰:「我死,汝歸報巡撫!」 茂升戰甚力,尚聖自右出賊後,賊大敗,生致士榮,檻送朝珍,遂進克泉畈。 凡二十四日,東山賊悉平。 十五年,歲饉,訛言復起。 成龍修治赤壁亭榭,日與僚吏歗詠其中,民心大定。 會丁繼母憂,總督蔡毓榮奏請奪情視事。 十六年,增設江防道,駐黃州,即以命成龍。
He Shirong rose at Yongning township, Chen Dingye at Yangluo, Liu Qiye at Shipi, and Zhou Tiezhua with Bao Shiyong at Quanfan—each commanding thousands and known collectively as the Eastern Mountain rebels. In concert with brigands from Hukou and Ningzhou they were converging on Huangzhou. All regional garrisons had marched south with the Hunan campaign; barely a few hundred officials and civilians remained in the prefecture, and some urged retreat to the safety of Macheng. Chenglong said, "Huangzhou is the gateway to seven prefectures. Our armies hold Jingzhou and Yuezhou, and all supply lines run through here. If we abandon it, the Jing-Yue front will unravel. He vowed to hold the city or die in the attempt. He mustered two thousand local militia and sent Huanggang Magistrate Li Jingzheng against Yangluo; Dingye was captured and put to death. Shirong led repeated rebel assaults, splitting his force at Muma Cliff to attack along two routes. Chenglong sent Battalion Commander Luo Dengyun with a thousand men to hold the eastern approach while he took the western line himself. He sent Battalion Commander Wu Zhilan against the left flank, military licentiate Zhang Shangsheng against the right, and drove personally into the enemy center. As the fight joined, Zhilan was shot dead and the line wavered; Chenglong spurred through a hail of arrows and stones, turned to Battalion Commander Li Maosheng, and cried, "If I fall, you ride back and tell the governor!" Maosheng fought ferociously; Shangsheng swung around the rebel right and struck from behind. The enemy broke completely; Shirong was taken alive and sent in a cage to Chaozhen, and the force went on to capture Quanfan. In twenty-four days the Eastern Mountain rebels were wholly suppressed. In the fifteenth year famine struck and alarming rumors spread anew. Chenglong restored the Red Cliff pavilions and spent his days there drinking and composing verse with his staff, until public anxiety subsided entirely. When he entered mourning for his stepmother, Governor-General Cai Yurong petitioned the throne to exempt him from leave so he could remain at his post. In the sixteenth year a new River Defense circuit was created at Huangzhou, and Chenglong was placed in command.
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十七年,遷福建按察使。 時鄭成功迭犯泉、漳諸郡,民以通海獲罪,株連數千人,獄成,當駢戮。 成龍白康親王杰書,言所連引多平民,宜省釋。 王素重成龍,悉從其請。 遇疑獄,輒令訊鞫。 判決明允,獄無淹滯。 軍中多掠良民子女沒為奴婢,成龍集資贖歸之。 巡撫吳興祚疏薦廉能第一,遷布政使。 師駐福建,月徵莝夫數万,累民,成龍白王罷之。
In the seventeenth year he became Fujian surveillance commissioner. Zheng Chenggong was raiding Quanzhou and Zhangzhou repeatedly; thousands were implicated for coastal contacts with the enemy, and when trials concluded they faced mass execution. Chenglong appealed to Prince Kang Jieshu, arguing that most of those caught up in the cases were ordinary civilians who should be released. The prince had always held Chenglong in high regard and granted every request. Whenever a case seemed doubtful he ordered it reinvestigated personally. His judgments were lucid and just, and no prisoner languished in detention. Soldiers had seized countless commoners' children as slaves; Chenglong raised funds to buy them back and restore them to their families. Provincial Governor Wu Xingzuo ranked him first in integrity and competence, and he was promoted to administration commissioner. With the army encamped in Fujian, tens of thousands of fodder porters were levied monthly, crushing the populace; Chenglong persuaded the prince to end the practice.
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十九年,擢直隸巡撫,蒞任,戒州縣私加火耗餽遺上官。 令既行,道府劾州縣,州縣即訐道府不得餽遺挾嫌,疏請嚴定處分,下部議行。 宣化所屬東西二城與懷安、蔚州二衛舊有水沖沙壓地千八百頃,前政金世德請除糧,未行,為民累; 成龍复疏請,從之。 又以其地夏秋屢被災,請治賑。 別疏劾青縣知縣趙履謙貪墨,論如律。 二十年,入覲,召對,上褒為「清官第一」,因問剿撫黃州土賊狀,成龍對:「臣惟宣布上威德,未有他能。」 問:「屬吏中亦有清廉否?」 成龍以知縣謝錫袞,同知何如玉、羅京對。 复諭劾趙履謙甚當,成龍奏:「履謙過而不改,臣不得已劾之。」 上曰:「為政當知大體,小聰小察不足尚。 人貴始終一節,爾其勉旃!」 旋賜帑金千、親乘良馬一,制詩褒寵,並命戶部遣官助成龍賑濟宣化等處饑民。 成龍复疏請緩真定府屬五縣房租,並全蠲霸州本年錢糧,均報可。 是年冬,乞假喪母,優詔許之。
In the nineteenth year he was made governor of Zhili; on arrival he forbade counties and prefectures from padding surcharges or showering superiors with gifts. Once the order took effect, circuit and prefectural officers denounced county magistrates, who retorted that their superiors were using the gift ban to settle private scores. Chenglong memorialized for fixed penalties, and the ministry approved and enforced them. In Xuanhua jurisdiction, the eastern and western districts together with Huai'an and Yuzhou guards still owed tax on eighteen hundred qing of land long since washed away or buried in sand; Jin Shide's earlier petition to remit the levy had never been granted, and the burden still crushed the people; Chenglong petitioned again, and the court approved. Because the region had suffered repeated summer and autumn disasters, he also requested famine relief. In a separate memorial he impeached Qing County Magistrate Zhao Lüqian for graft; the court sentenced him as the law required. In the twentieth year he attended court and was granted an audience. The emperor hailed him as "the foremost honest official" and asked how he had pacified Huangzhou's mountain rebels. Chenglong answered, "Your servant has done nothing but proclaim Your Majesty's majesty and benevolence—I had no other gift." The emperor asked, "Are any of your subordinates likewise incorrupt?" Chenglong named Magistrate Xie Xiduo and Sub-Prefects He Ruyu and Luo Jing. The emperor again praised his impeachment of Zhao Lüqian as apt. Chenglong said, "Lüqian would not mend his ways after repeated warnings; your servant had no choice but to denounce him." The emperor said, "Governing means grasping the larger design—petty cleverness and petty scrutiny are not to be prized. What matters is constancy from first to last—press on!" The emperor then granted him a thousand taels from the treasury, a fine horse from the imperial stables, and a poem of praise, and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to dispatch officials to help Chenglong relieve famine in Xuanhua and neighboring districts. Chenglong also petitioned to defer house rents in five Zhending counties and to remit Baozhou's full tax assessment for the year; both requests were granted. That winter he asked leave to mourn his mother, and the throne graciously granted it.
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未幾,遷江南江西總督。 成龍先後疏薦直隸守道董秉忠、阜城知縣王燮、南路通判陳天棟。 瀕行,复薦通州知州-{于}-成龍等。 會江寧知府缺,命即以通州知州-{于}-成龍擢補。 成龍至江南,進屬吏誥誡之。 革加派,剔積弊,治事嘗至達旦。 好微行,察知民間疾苦、屬吏賢不肖。 自奉簡陋,日惟以粗糲蔬食自給。 江南俗侈麗,相率易布衣。 士大夫家為減輿從、毀丹堊,婚嫁不用音樂,豪猾率家遠避。 居數月,政化大行。 勢家懼其不利,構蜚語。 明珠秉政,尤與忤。 二十二年,副都御史馬世濟督造漕船還京,劾成龍年衰,為中軍副將田萬侯所欺蔽。 命成龍回奏,成龍引咎乞嚴譴; 詔留任,萬侯降調。 二十三年,江蘇巡撫-{余}-國柱入為左都御史,安徽巡撫徐國相遷湖廣總督,命成龍兼攝兩巡撫事。 未幾,卒於官。
Soon afterward he was appointed governor-general of Jiangnan and Jiangxi. Before leaving Zhili, Chenglong had recommended Circuit Intendant Dong Bingzhong, Fucheng Magistrate Wang Xie, and Southern Route Sub-Prefect Chen Tiandong. On the eve of his departure he again recommended Tongzhou Prefect Yu Chenglong and others. When the Jiangning prefecture fell vacant, the court promoted Tongzhou Prefect Yu Chenglong to fill the post. On reaching Jiangnan, Chenglong summoned his subordinates and lectured them sternly on their duties. He abolished illegal surcharges, uprooted entrenched abuses, and often worked on state business until dawn. He loved to go about incognito, learning firsthand of the people's hardships and which subordinates were fit for office. He lived austerely, sustaining himself day after day on coarse grain and plain vegetables. Jiangnan's taste for luxury faded as people followed his example and took to plain cotton dress. Gentry families trimmed their retinues, stripped vermilion from their gates, and held weddings without music; powerful bullies fled the region with their kin. Within months his reforms had transformed the region. Powerful families, fearing for their interests, spread malicious rumors against him. Songgotu Mingzhu held the reins of power and clashed with him above all. In the twenty-second year Vice Censor-in-Chief Ma Shiji, returning to the capital after supervising grain-barge construction, accused Chenglong of senility and of being misled by Central Army Deputy Commander Tian Wanhou. The court ordered Chenglong to respond; he accepted blame and begged for severe punishment; but an edict kept him in post while Tian Wanhou was demoted and transferred. In the twenty-third year Jiangsu Governor Yu Guozhu became left censor-in-chief and Anhui Governor Xu Guoxiang was moved to Huguang governor-general; Chenglong was ordered to act concurrently for both provinces. Before long he died in office.
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成龍歷官未嘗攜家屬,卒時,將軍、都統及僚吏入視,惟笥中綈袍一襲、床頭鹽豉數器而已。 民罷市聚哭,家繪像祀之。 賜祭葬,諡清端。 內閣學士錫住勘海疆還,上詢成龍在官狀,錫住奏甚清廉,但因輕信,或為屬員欺罔。 上曰:「-{于}-成龍督江南,或言其變更素行,及卒後,始知其始終廉潔,為百姓所稱。 殆因素性鯁直,不肖挾仇讒害,造為此言耳。 居官如成龍,能有幾耶?」 是年冬,上南巡至江寧,諭知府於成龍曰:「爾務效前總督-{于}-成龍正直潔清,乃為不負。」 又諭大學士等曰:「朕博採輿評,咸稱-{于}-成龍實天下廉吏第一。」 加贈太子太保,廕一子入監,復製詩褒之。 雍正中,祀賢良祠。
Chenglong had never brought his family on any posting; when he died, generals, banner commanders, and staff came to view his effects and found only one silk robe in his trunk and a few dishes of salt and fermented beans beside his bed. The people shut their shops and gathered to mourn; families painted his portrait for household worship. The court granted state funeral rites and the posthumous title Qingduan, "Clear and Upright." When Grand Secretariat Academic Xizhu returned from inspecting the coast, the emperor asked about Chenglong's conduct in office. Xizhu reported that he had been exceptionally honest, though his trusting nature sometimes left him misled by subordinates. The emperor said, "When Yu Chenglong governed Jiangnan, some claimed he had abandoned his old ways; only after his death did people learn that he had been incorrupt from first to last, and the common people praised him for it. That was likely because he was bluntly upright by nature, and unworthy men who bore grudges against him invented such slanders. How many officials in office are there like Chenglong?" That winter, on his southern tour, the emperor reached Jiangning and told Prefect Yu Chenglong, "You must emulate the former governor Yu Chenglong in uprightness and integrity—that is how you will not betray your office." He also told the grand secretaries, "I have gathered opinion far and wide, and everyone agrees that Yu Chenglong is truly the foremost incorrupt official in the realm." He was posthumously promoted to Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, one son was granted admission to the Imperial Academy through hereditary privilege, and the emperor composed another poem in his praise. During the Yongzheng reign he was enshrined in the Hall of Eminent Worthies.
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孫準,字子繩。 自廕生授山東臨清知州,有清操。 舉卓異,入為刑部員外郎,遷戶部郎中。 出為江南驛鹽道,再遷浙江按察使,居成龍喪歸,起四川布政使。 康熙四十三年,授貴州巡撫。 飭州縣立義學,令土司子弟及苗民俊秀者悉入肄業,送督學考試。 調江蘇,歲饑,請發帑賑濟上元等十五縣及太倉、鎮海二衛。 濱江海田畝被潮汐衝擊,多坍沒,疏請豁免錢糧,詔允行。 以布政使宜思恭為總督噶禮所劾,準坐失察,罷歸。 雍正三年,復職銜。 尋卒。
Sun Zhun, whose courtesy name was Zisheng. As the son of an enfeoffed official he entered office by privilege and was appointed magistrate of Linqing in Shandong, where he maintained a reputation for integrity. Rated outstanding in performance, he was brought to the capital as a deputy director in the Ministry of Punishments and later promoted to director in the Ministry of Revenue. He served as Salt and Post Commissioner in Jiangnan, was promoted again to provincial surveillance commissioner in Zhejiang, went home to mourn Yu Chenglong, and was then recalled as financial commissioner in Sichuan. In the forty-third year of the Kangxi reign he was appointed governor of Guizhou. He ordered prefectures and counties to establish charity schools, required the sons of native chiefs and promising Miao youths to enroll, and sent them to the provincial education intendant for examination. Transferred to Jiangsu, he found famine that year and requested treasury funds to relieve Shangyuan and fifteen other counties, as well as the garrisons at Taicang and Zhenhai. Fields along the coast and rivers were battered by tides and largely washed away; he memorialized for exemption of taxes and grain, and the court approved. When Financial Commissioner Yi Sigong was impeached by Governor-General Gali, Zhun was held accountable for lax supervision, dismissed, and sent home. In the third year of the Yongzheng reign his former rank was restored. He died soon after.
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彭鵬,字奮斯,福建莆田人。 幼慧,有與其父仇,欲殺鵬,走匿得免。 順治十七年,舉鄉試。 耿精忠叛,迫就偽職,鵬陽狂示疾,椎齒出血,堅拒不從。 事平,謁選,康熙二十三年,授三河知縣。 三河當衝要,旗、民雜居,號難治。 鵬拊循懲勸,不畏強禦。 有妄稱御前放鷹者,至縣索餼牽,鵬察其詐,縶而鞭之。 治獄,摘發如神。 鄰縣有疑獄,檄鵬往鞫,輒白其冤。 二十七年,聖祖巡畿甸,召問鵬居官及拒精忠偽命狀,賜帑金三百,諭曰:「知爾清正不受民錢,以此養爾廉,勝民間數萬多矣!」 尋順天府尹許三禮劾鵬匿報控案,命巡撫-{于}-成龍察之。 成龍奏:「鵬訊無左驗,方緝兇,非不報也。」 吏議奪官,詔鐫級留任。 嗣以緝盜不獲,累被議,積至降十三級,俱從寬留任。
Peng Peng, whose courtesy name was Fensi, was a native of Putian in Fujian. As a boy he was clever; a man who bore a grudge against his father tried to kill Peng Peng, but he fled into hiding and escaped. In the seventeenth year of the Shunzhi reign he passed the provincial civil service examination. When Geng Jingzhong rebelled, Peng Peng was forced to take a post under the rebel regime; he feigned madness and illness, knocked out his own teeth until they bled, and steadfastly refused. After the rebellion was suppressed he presented himself for appointment, and in the twenty-third year of Kangxi he was made magistrate of Sanhe. Sanhe stood on a major thoroughfare where banner troops and civilians lived side by side, and it had a reputation as a difficult county to govern. Peng Peng soothed the people, punished wrongdoing, and exhorted them to reform, never flinching before the powerful. A man falsely claimed to be on imperial business flying hawks; he came to the county demanding fodder and attendants; Peng Peng exposed the fraud, bound him, and had him flogged. In handling lawsuits he uncovered the truth with uncanny skill. When neighboring counties had doubtful cases, they would summon Peng Peng to try them, and he invariably cleared the innocent. In the twenty-seventh year the Sagely Ancestor toured the capital region, summoned Peng Peng to ask about his conduct in office and his refusal of Geng Jingzhong's false commission, bestowed three hundred taels of treasury silver, and said, "I know you are upright and take no money from the people—use this to sustain your integrity; it is worth far more than the tens of thousands you might take from them!" Soon afterward Shuntian Prefect Xu Sanli impeached Peng Peng for concealing a petition case and failing to report it; the emperor ordered Governor Yu Chenglong to investigate. Yu Chenglong reported, "Peng Peng's investigation found no corroborating evidence; he was still hunting the culprit—it is not that he failed to report the case." The Board of Civil Officials recommended dismissal, but an edict reduced his rank and allowed him to remain in office. Later, because he failed to capture bandits, he was censured again and again until his rank had been reduced thirteen levels in all, each time leniently allowed to keep his post.
13
二十九年,詔舉廉能吏,用尚書李天馥薦,鵬與邵嗣堯、陸隴其、趙蒼璧並行取,擢為科道。 尋乞假歸,明年,即家起工科給事中。 三十二年,陝西西安、鳳翔,山西平陽災,發帑賑之。 又命運河南米十萬石畀陝西散饑民。 鵬疏論陝西、山西、河南三省有司不恤民狀,語甚切,下所司,並令鵬指實以聞。 鵬因奏涇陽知縣劉桂剋扣籽粒,猗氏知縣李澍杖殺災民,磁州知州陳成郊濫派運價,夏邑知縣尚崇震派銀包運,南陽知府硃璘曖昧分肥,並及聞喜、夏縣匿災不報狀。 詔三省巡撫察審,事不皆實,鵬例當譴,上貰之。
In the twenty-ninth year an edict called for recommendations of incorrupt and capable officials; on the recommendation of Ministry President Li Tianfu, Peng Peng was selected together with Shao Siyao, Lu Longqi, and Zhao Cangbi and promoted to the censorate. He soon requested leave to return home, and the following year was recalled from his home to serve as supervising secretary in the Ministry of Works. In the thirty-second year disasters struck Xi'an and Fengxiang in Shaanxi and Pingyang in Shanxi, and treasury funds were dispatched for relief. He was also ordered to transport one hundred thousand shi of grain from Henan to Shaanxi for distribution to famine victims. Peng Peng memorialized on how officials in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan were neglecting the people, in language so urgent it was sent to the responsible agencies and he was ordered to name the guilty parties. Peng Peng then reported that Jingyang Magistrate Liu Gui had withheld seed grain, Yishi Magistrate Li Shu had beaten famine victims to death, Cizhou Prefect Chen Chengjiao had levied transport fees recklessly, Xiayi Magistrate Shang Chongzhen had assigned silver in lump sums for transport, Nanyang Prefect Zhu Lin had divided spoils in murky fashion, and that Wenxi and Xia counties had concealed the disaster without reporting it. An edict ordered the governors of the three provinces to investigate; not all the charges proved true, and though by rule Peng Peng should have been punished, the emperor pardoned him.
14
三十三年,疏劾順天鄉試中式舉人李仙湄闈墨刪改過多,楊文鐸文謬妄,給事中馬士芳磨勘通賄。 下九卿等察議,以鵬奏涉虛,因摘疏語有「臣言如妄,請劈臣頭,半懸國門,半懸順天府學」,以為狂妄不敬,應奪官。 命鵬回奏,鵬疏言:「會議諸臣,徇試官徐倬、彭殿元欺飾,反以臣為妄,乞賜罪斥。」 上不問,而予倬、殿元休致。
In the thirty-third year he memorialized impeaching metropolitan examination graduate Li Xianmei for excessive deletions and alterations in his examination papers, Yang Wenduo for absurd errors in his essay, and supervising secretary Ma Shifang for bribery in the review process. The matter was sent to the Nine Ministers for deliberation; because Peng Peng's charges were not wholly substantiated, and because his memorial contained the words, "If I speak falsely, let my head be split in two, half hung at the national gate and half at the Shuntian prefectural school," they deemed this arrogant and disrespectful and recommended dismissal. The emperor ordered Peng Peng to respond; he memorialized, "The ministers in conference indulged the examiners Xu Chuo and Peng Dianyuan in concealment and deceit, yet call me the liar; I beg to be punished and dismissed." The emperor took no action against Peng Peng but granted Xu Chuo and Peng Dianyuan retirement.
15
是年,順天學政侍郎李光地遭母喪,上命在任守制,光地乞假九月。 鵬劾光地貪戀祿位,不請終制,應將光地解任,留京守制,上從之。 會廷臣集議,鵬追論楊文鐸文謬妄,與廷臣忿爭,事聞,命解職,以原品效力江南河工。 三十六年,召授刑科給事中。 三十七年,出為貴州按察使。
That year Shuntian Education Commissioner and Vice President Li Guangdi lost his mother; the emperor ordered him to remain in office while observing mourning, but Guangdi requested nine months' leave. Peng Peng impeached Guangdi for clinging to his salary and rank and failing to request the full mourning period; Guangdi should be removed from office and kept in the capital to observe mourning, and the emperor agreed. At a gathering of court officials Peng Peng again pressed the charge against Yang Wenduo's absurd essay and quarreled furiously with his colleagues; when the matter was reported, he was dismissed and ordered to serve on Jiangnan river works at his former rank. In the thirty-sixth year he was summoned and appointed supervising secretary in the Ministry of Punishments. In the thirty-seventh year he was appointed provincial surveillance commissioner in Guizhou.
16
三十八年,擢廣西巡撫。 湖廣總督郭琇請除學政積弊,給事中慕琛、滿晉,御史鄭惟孜等亦疏列順天鄉試事。 上以李光地。 張鵬翮、郭琇與鵬俱清廉,命各抒所見。 鵬疏言:「琇請嚴督撫處分,學政貪贓,提問督撫,需索陋規,視貪贓治罪,久有定例,請敕榜示律條。 維孜請令各省監生回籍鄉試,九卿慮成均空虛,應責成祭酒司業,就坐監讀書者講習考課,各省學政擇諸生有文行者送入成均,何慮空虛? 琛、晉請察封坐號以防換卷,臣謂換卷多在入門暗約出號交卷時,請嚴稽於此。」 又言:「文官子弟請皇上親試,臣謂當另立考場,去取聽睿裁。」 與光地等疏皆下九卿詳議。 互詳光地等傳。 時河南巡撫徐潮之任,上諭曰:「爾能如李光地、張鵬翮、郭琇、彭鵬,不但為今之名臣,亦足重於後世矣。」 鵬在官省刑布德,減稅輕徭。 廣西舊供魚膠、鐵葉,非其土物,赴廣東採運,鵬疏請免之。
In the thirty-eighth year he was promoted to governor of Guangxi. Huguang Governor-General Guo Xiu memorialized to remove longstanding abuses in the education intendantcy; supervising secretaries Mu Chen and Man Jin, and censor Zheng Weizi, also submitted memorials on the Shuntian provincial examination. The emperor turned to Li Guangdi. Zhang Pengfei, Guo Xiu, and Peng Peng were all known for integrity; the emperor ordered each to set forth his views. Peng Peng memorialized, "Guo Xiu asks for strict punishment of governors and governors-general when education intendants are corrupt; demanding customary fees has long been treated as corruption under established statutes—please issue an edict posting the relevant legal articles. Zheng Weizi asks that provincial supervising students return home for the provincial examinations; the Nine Ministers fear the Imperial College would be emptied—but charge the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor to lecture and examine those who remain, and let provincial education intendants select promising students to send to the college. Why should it be empty? Mu Chen and Man Jin ask to inspect sealed seat numbers to prevent paper-switching; I believe switching mostly occurs when candidates secretly agree numbers at entry and exchange papers at submission—please enforce strict checks at those moments." He also said, "Some ask that sons of civil officials be examined by the emperor in person; I believe a separate examination ground should be established, with acceptance and rejection left to imperial judgment." The memorials of Li Guangdi and the others were all sent to the Nine Ministers for detailed deliberation. See the biographies of Li Guangdi and the others for further detail. When Xu Chao took office as governor of Henan, the emperor told him, "If you can be like Li Guangdi, Zhang Pengfei, Guo Xiu, and Peng Peng, you will be not only a famous minister in your own day but one whose name will carry weight for generations." In office Peng Peng reduced punishments and spread benevolent rule, cut taxes, and lightened corvée labor. Guangxi had formerly been required to supply fish glue and iron leaf—products not native to the province—and had to procure them from Guangdong; Peng memorialized to have the obligation lifted.
17
尋移撫廣東,瀕行,疏言:「廣西州縣藉端私派,名曰均平。 臣到任,劾罷賀縣、荔浦、懷集、武緣諸貪吏。 前此諸州縣大者派至三千兩,其次一二千兩。 不肖官吏,往往先徵均平而後正課,甚者均平入己,遇事復行苛派。 其不派均平者,又取盈於火耗。 且均平所入,費於公者十之二三,費於饋遺者十之六七。 欲去舊弊、甦民困,必先養州縣之廉。 請於徵糧之內,明加火耗一分。 其餘陋規,概行禁止。」 疏入,下部議,謂火耗不可行,但嚴禁加派。 廣西舊未設武科,鵬奏請行之。 時與蕭永藻互調,上勉永藻效鵬,又諭大學士曰:「彭鵬人才壯健,前知三河,聞有賊,即佩刀乘馬馳捕,朕所知也。」 御史王度昭劾鵬在廣西知布政使教化新虧帑,不即糾舉; 迨離任始奏聞,又掩護其半。 廣西糧道張天覺改徵兵米浮銷九十餘萬,部勒追完,而鵬反以天覺署布政使。 兵米之案,必由籓司審詳,是直以天覺察天覺也。 命鵬回契,鵬疏辨,並訐度昭。 上以其辭忿激,降旨嚴飭。
He was soon transferred to governor of Guangdong, and on the eve of his departure memorialized, "Guangxi prefectures and counties had used pretexts for private levies called 'equalization. When I took office I impeached and dismissed corrupt officials in He, Lipu, Huaiji, Wuyuan, and other counties. Previously the larger prefectures and counties had levied as much as three thousand taels, and smaller ones one or two thousand. Unscrupulous officials often collected the equalization levy before the regular taxes; worse still, some pocketed the equalization funds and then imposed harsh levies when new needs arose. Those who did not levy equalization took their surplus from the melt-and-cast surcharge instead. Moreover, of the equalization funds collected, only two or three tenths went to public purposes; six or seven tenths went to gifts and entertainment. To remove these old abuses and relieve the people's hardship, one must first ensure that prefectural and county officials can live with integrity. I ask that one fen of melt-and-cast surcharge be openly added within the grain tax collection. All other irregular fees should be entirely prohibited." When the memorial arrived, the ministry deliberated and ruled that the melt-and-cast surcharge could not be adopted, but that extra levies must be strictly forbidden. Guangxi had never held military examinations; Peng memorialized to establish them. At that time he was transferred in a mutual exchange with Xiao Yongzao; the emperor urged Yongzao to emulate Peng Peng, and told the grand secretaries, "Peng Peng is a man of vigorous talent; when he was magistrate of Sanhe and heard of bandits, he would gird on his sword, mount his horse, and gallop out to capture them—I know this from personal knowledge." Censor Wang Duzhao impeached Peng Peng, charging that in Guangxi he had known Financial Commissioner Jiaohua Xin had depleted the treasury but failed to impeach him at once; he reported the matter only when leaving office, and even then concealed half the loss. Guangxi Grain Commissioner Zhang Tianjue had altered the collection of soldier grain and fraudulently misappropriated more than nine hundred thousand; the ministry ordered full recovery, yet Peng Peng appointed Tianjue acting financial commissioner. The soldier-grain case had to be reviewed by the provincial treasurer—this amounted to having Tianjue investigate himself. The emperor ordered Peng Peng to submit a memorial in reply; Peng defended himself in a memorial and also denounced Wang Duzhao. The emperor, finding his language too heated, issued a stern edict of admonition.
18
廣東因借兵餉,改額賦徵銀為徵米,較估報時值浮多,戶部屢飭追完。 鵬至官,是年歲稔米價低,以米計銀少七萬三千有奇,疏請令經管各官扣追存庫,並議嗣後額賦仍依原則徵銀,採購兵米; 其按年應追完之銀,實因豐歉不同,米價無定,乞免重追:詔允行。 鵬視事勤敏,遇墨吏糾劾無少徇。 歲旱,步禱日中,詣獄慮囚,開倉平糶,旋得雨,民大稱頌。 四十三年,卒官,年六十八,上深悼惜,稱其勤勞,賜祭葬。 尋祀廣東名宦。
Guangdong, having borrowed military funds, had changed quota grain taxes from silver to grain collection; compared with prices at the time of the original estimate, the amounts were far too high, and the Ministry of Revenue repeatedly ordered full recovery. When Peng Peng took office that year the harvest was good and grain prices low; reckoned in silver, the grain tax came to an odd remainder of more than seventy-three thousand taels less than expected; he memorialized that responsible officials should deduct and recover the surplus to the treasury, and proposed that hereafter quota grain be collected in silver as before while soldier grain be purchased separately; the silver recoverable each year in fact varied with harvests and grain prices were never fixed; he begged exemption from repeated recovery, and an edict approved. Peng Peng administered affairs with diligence and alertness; when he impeached corrupt officials he showed no favoritism whatsoever. During a drought he prayed on foot under the midday sun, visited the prisons to review cases, and opened granaries for fair-price grain sales; rain soon followed, and the people praised him widely. In the forty-third year he died in office at the age of sixty-eight; the emperor mourned him deeply, praised his diligence, and bestowed sacrificial rites and funeral honors. He was soon enshrined among Guangdong's famous officials.
19
陳瑸,字眉川,廣東海康人。 康熙三十三年進士,授福建古田知縣。 古田多山,丁田淆錯,賦役輕重不均,民逋逃遷徙,黠者去為盜。 瑸請平賦役,民以蘇息。 調台灣,台灣初隸版圖,民驍悍不馴。 瑸興學廣教,在縣五年,民知禮讓。 四十二年,行取,授刑部主事,歷郎中,出為四川提學道僉事。 清介公慎,杜絕苞苴。 上以四川官吏加派厲民,詔戒飭,特稱瑸廉。 未幾,用福建巡撫張伯行薦,調台灣廈門道。 新學宮建硃子祠於學右,以正學厲俗,鎮以廉靜,番、民帖然。 在官應得公使錢,悉屏不取。
Chen Bin, whose courtesy name was Meichuan, was a native of Haikang in Guangdong. A jinshi in the thirty-third year of Kangxi, he was appointed magistrate of Gutian in Fujian. Gutian was a mountainous county where household registers and land records were confused, taxes and labor obligations unevenly assessed, and people fled or migrated; the cunning among them turned to banditry. Chen Bin memorialized to equalize taxes and labor obligations, and the people were thereby relieved. Transferred to Taiwan, which had only recently been incorporated into the empire, he found a people fierce and difficult to govern. Chen Bin promoted schools and broad education; within five years as magistrate the people had learned ritual and deference. In the forty-second year he was selected for capital office, appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Punishments, rose to director, and was then sent out as education intendant in Sichuan. Pure, restrained, and scrupulously cautious in public affairs, he cut off gift-giving entirely. Because Sichuan officials were imposing extra levies that harmed the people, the emperor issued edicts of warning and singled out Chen Bin for his integrity. Before long, on the recommendation of Fujian Governor Zhang Boxing, he was transferred to the Taiwan-Xiamen circuit intendant post. At the new Confucian academy he built a shrine to Zhu Xi on its right side to uphold learning and improve local custom; governing with integrity and calm, he kept both aborigines and settlers docile. All public expense allowances due him in office he refused to accept.
20
五十三年,超擢偏沅巡撫。 蒞任,劾湘潭知縣王爰溱縱役累民,長沙知府薛琳聲徇庇不糾劾,降黜有差。 尋條奏禁加耗,除酷刑,糶積穀,置社倉,崇節儉,禁餽送,先起運,興書院,飭武備,停開採,凡十事。 詔嘉勉,諭以躬行實踐,勿騖虛名。 旋入覲,奏言:「官吏妄取一錢,即與百千萬金無異。 人所以貪取,皆為用不足。 臣初任知縣,即不至窮苦,不取一錢,亦自足用。」 比退,上目之曰:「此苦行老僧也!」
In the fifty-third year he was exceptionally promoted to governor of Bianyuan. Upon assuming office he impeached Wang Aizhen, magistrate of Xiangtan, for allowing runners to oppress the people, and Xue Linsheng, prefect of Changsha, for shielding him instead of bringing charges; each was demoted or dismissed according to his offense. He soon submitted a detailed memorial proposing ten measures: ban surcharges, abolish cruel punishments, sell stored grain, establish community granaries, promote frugality, forbid gift-giving, advance grain transport, found academies, strengthen military readiness, and halt mining. The emperor issued an edict of praise and encouragement, urging him to put reforms into practice himself and not chase empty reputation. Soon afterward he attended court and said, "When an official recklessly takes even a single cash, it is no different from seizing millions in gold. People steal because their legitimate expenses are not covered. When I first served as a magistrate I was never reduced to want; without taking a single cash I still had enough to live on." When he withdrew, the emperor watched him go and said, "There goes an old monk living on austerities!"
21
尋調撫福建,上諭廷臣曰:「朕見瑸,察其舉止言論,實為清官。 瑸生長海濱,非世家大族,無門生故舊,而天下皆稱其清。 非有實行,豈能如此? 國家得此等人,實為祥瑞。 宜加優異,以厲清操。」 陛辭,上問:「福建有加耗否?」 瑸奏:「台灣三縣無之。」 上曰:「火耗盡禁,州縣無以辦公,恐別生弊端。」 又曰:「清官誠善,惟以清而不刻為尚。」 瑸為治,舉大綱,不尚煩苛。 修建考亭書院及建陽、尤溪硃子祠,疏請御書榜額,並允之。 复疏言:「防海賊與山賊異,山賊嘯聚有所,而海賊則出沒靡常。 台灣、金、廈防海賊,又與沿海邊境不同,沿海邊境患在突犯內境,而台、廈患在剽掠海中。 欲防颱、廈海賊,當令提標及台、澎水師定期會哨,以交旗為驗。 商船出海,令台、廈兩汛撥哨船護送。 又令商船連環具結,遇賊首尾相救,不救以通同行劫論罪。」 下部議,以為繁瑣,上韙其言,命九卿再議,允行。
Soon he was transferred to governor of Fujian. The emperor told the court ministers, "I have met Chen Bin and observed his bearing and speech—he is truly an honest official. Chen Bin grew up on the coast; he comes from no great clan and has no network of students or old associates, yet the whole empire calls him incorrupt. Without genuine conduct in office, how could that be so? For the dynasty to obtain such men is truly an auspicious sign. He should receive added honors to encourage others in clean integrity." At his farewell audience the emperor asked, "Does Fujian levy surcharges?" Chen Bin replied, "The three counties of Taiwan do not." The emperor said, "If melting-loss allowances are banned entirely, prefectures and counties will have no funds for public business, and I fear new abuses will arise." He added, "Honest officials are indeed admirable, but what matters is integrity without harshness. Chen Bin governed by grasping the larger outline and did not favor petty severity. He rebuilt the Kaoting Academy and Zhu Xi shrines at Jianyang and Youxi, petitioned for imperial calligraphy for their plaques, and the requests were granted. He memorialized again: "Defending against pirates at sea differs from mountain bandits; mountain rebels gather in fixed haunts, but sea pirates appear and vanish without pattern. Defending Taiwan, Jinmen, and Xiamen against pirates again differs from the general coast: on the mainland frontier the danger is sudden raids inland, whereas for Taiwan and Xiamen the danger is plunder on the open sea. To guard Taiwan and Xiamen waters, the provincial commander and the Taiwan-Penghu naval forces should hold regular joint patrols, verified by exchanging flags. Merchant vessels putting to sea should be escorted by patrol boats dispatched from the Taiwan and Xiamen garrisons. Merchant ships should also bind themselves in convoys; when pirates attack, every vessel must aid the others, and any refusal is to be punished as complicity in piracy." The ministries deemed the plan cumbersome, but the emperor approved Chen Bin's proposal, ordered the Nine Ministers to reconsider, and allowed it to take effect.
22
是年冬,兼攝閩浙總督。 奉命巡海,自齎行糧,屏絕供億。 捐穀應交巡撫公費,奏請充餉。 上曰:「督撫有以公費請充餉者,朕皆未之允。 蓋恐準令充餉,即同正項錢糧,不肖者又於此外婪取,重為民累。」 令瑸遇本省需款撥用。 賓又請以司庫餘平賞賚兵役,命遵前旨。 廣東雷州東洋塘堤岸,海潮衝激,侵損民田,瑸奏請修築,即移所貯公項及俸錢助工費。 堤岸自是永固,鄉人蒙其利。 五十七年,以病乞休,詔慰留之。 未幾,卒於官。 遺疏以所貯公項餘銀一萬三千有奇充西師之費。 命以一萬佐餉,餘給其子為葬具。 尋諭大學士曰:「陳賓居官甚優,操守極清,朕所罕見,恐古人中亦不多得也。」 追授禮部尚書,廕一子入監讀書,諡清端。
That winter he was also appointed acting governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang. Ordered to patrol the coast, he carried his own provisions and refused all official supplies. He memorialized that grain he had donated, which was due as the governor's public expense fund, be applied to military rations instead. The emperor said, "Whenever governors have asked to divert public expense funds to military rations, I have refused. I fear that once such funds are treated like regular tax revenue, unworthy officials will extort still more on top of them and the people will be burdened again." He told Chen Bin to draw on those funds whenever the province required money. Chen Bin also asked to use treasury scale surpluses to reward soldiers and runners; the emperor ordered him to follow the earlier instruction. At Dongyang Pond in Leizhou, Guangdong, tidal surges were eroding farmland; Chen Bin petitioned to rebuild the dike and immediately diverted his stored public funds and salary to cover the work. The dike thereafter stood firm, and the local people benefited from it. In the fifty-seventh year he asked to retire on grounds of illness; an edict urged him to stay. Before long he died in office. In his final memorial he offered more than thirteen thousand taels of remaining public funds for the western campaign. The court ordered ten thousand taels applied to military rations and the remainder given his son for funeral expenses. Soon afterward he told the Grand Secretaries, "Chen Bin's service has been outstanding and his integrity exceptionally rare in my experience; even among the ancients such men were seldom found. He was posthumously appointed Minister of Rites, one son was granted entry to the Imperial Academy, and he received the posthumous title Qingduan, "Clear and Upright."
23
瑸服禦儉素,自奉惟草具粗糲。 居止皆於廳事,昧爽治事,夜分始休。 在福建置學田,增書院學舍,聘主講,人文日盛。 雍正中,入祀賢良祠。 乾隆初,賜其孫子良舉人; 子恭員外郎,官至知府。
Chen Bin dressed plainly and lived on coarse vegetable fare. He lived and worked in the main hall, began business at daybreak, and rested only after midnight. In Fujian he endowed school lands, expanded academy buildings, hired lecturers, and local learning flourished day by day. During the Yongzheng reign he was enshrined in the Shrine of Eminent Worthies. Early in the Qianlong reign his grandson Ziliang was granted the juren degree; his son Zigong became an outer-service secretary and rose to prefect.
24
陳鵬年,字滄洲,湖廣湘潭人。 康熙三十年進士。 授浙江西安知縣,當兵後,戶口流亡,豪強率佔田自殖。 鵬年履畝按驗,復業者數千戶。 烈婦徐冤死十年,鵬年雪其枉,得罪人置諸法。 禁溺女,民感之,女欲棄复育者,皆以陳為姓。 河道總督張鵬翮薦調赴江南河工,授江南山陽知縣,遷海州知州。 四十二年,聖祖南巡閱河,以山東飢,詔截漕四萬石,令鵬翮選賢幹吏運兗州分賑,以鵬年董事,全活數万人。 上回鑾,召見濟寧舟次,賦詩稱旨,賜御書。
Chen Pengnian, style name Cangzhou, was a native of Xiangtan in Huguang. He became a jinshi in the thirtieth year of Kangxi. Appointed magistrate of Xi'an county in Zhejiang after the wars, he found the population dispersed and powerful families seizing abandoned fields for themselves. Chen Pengnian walked the fields and verified holdings acre by acre, restoring several thousand households to their land. The chaste widow Xu had been wrongfully executed ten years earlier; Chen Pengnian cleared her name and punished those responsible. He forbade the drowning of infant girls; moved by his example, families who rescued abandoned daughters gave them the surname Chen. Grand Canal Director Zhang Penghe recommended him for Jiangnan river works; he was appointed magistrate of Shanyang and later promoted to prefect of Haizhou. In the forty-second year the emperor toured south to inspect the rivers; with Shandong in famine, he ordered forty thousand shi of tribute grain diverted, Zhang Penghe to choose capable officials to transport it to Yanzhou for relief distribution, and Chen Pengnian to direct the effort, saving tens of thousands of lives. On the return journey the emperor summoned him aboard at Jining, received a poem that pleased him, and granted imperial calligraphy.
25
尋擢江寧知府。 四十四年,上复南巡,總督阿山召屬吏議增地丁耗羨為巡幸供億,鵬年力持不可,事得寢。 阿山嗛之,令主辦龍潭行宮,侍從徵餽遺,悉勿應,忌者中以蜚語。 會致仕大學士張英入對,上問江南廉吏,舉鵬年; 复詢居官狀,英言:「吏畏威而不怨,民懷德而不玩,士式教而不欺,廉其末也。」 上意乃釋。 幸京口閱水師,先一日,阿山檄鵬年於江乾疊石為步,江流急,施工困難,胥徒惶遽。 鵬年率士民親運土石,詰旦工成。 顧阿山憾不已,疏劾鵬年受鹽、典各商年規,侵蝕龍江關稅銀,又無故枷責關役,坐奪職,系江寧獄。 命桑額、張鵬翮與阿山會鞫,江寧民呼號罷市,諸生千餘建幡將叩閽。 鵬年嘗就南市樓故址建鄉約講堂,月朔宣講聖諭,並為之榜曰「天語丁寧」。 南市樓者故狹邪地也,因坐以大不敬,論大辟。 上與大學士李光地論阿山居官,光地言阿山任事廉幹,獨劾陳鵬年犯清議,上頷之。 讞上,鵬年坐奪官免死,徵入武英殿修書。
Soon he was promoted to prefect of Jiangning. In the forty-fourth year, on another southern tour, Governor Ashan summoned subordinates to discuss raising land-tax surcharges to fund the imperial visit; Chen Pengnian firmly opposed it and the plan was dropped. Ashan resented him and put him in charge of the Longtan imperial lodge; when attendants solicited gifts he refused them all, and jealous rivals spread slander. When retired Grand Secretary Zhang Ying attended court, the emperor asked about honest officials in Jiangnan and he named Chen Pengnian; asked again about his conduct in office, Zhang Ying said, "Clerks fear his authority yet bear no grudge; the people cherish his virtue yet do not take liberties; scholars model themselves on his teaching without being deceived—integrity is the least of his gifts." The emperor's suspicions were lifted. On the emperor's visit to Jingkou to review the fleet, Ashan ordered Chen Pengnian the day before to pile stones along the riverbank for a walkway; the current was swift, work was difficult, and clerks and runners panicked. Chen Pengnian led local gentry and commoners to haul earth and stone himself, and the work was finished by dawn. Yet Ashan's resentment did not end; he impeached Chen Pengnian for taking annual payments from salt and pawn merchants, embezzling Longjiang customs revenue, and groundlessly punishing customs clerks; Chen Pengnian was stripped of office and imprisoned in Jiangning. Sang'e, Zhang Penghe, and Ashan were ordered to conduct a joint trial; the people of Jiangning wailed and shut their shops, and more than a thousand students raised banners to petition at the palace gates. Chen Pengnian had built a village compact lecture hall on the old site of South Market Tower, where on the first of each month he proclaimed the Sacred Edicts, and hung a plaque reading "Imperial words earnestly repeated." Because South Market Tower had been a pleasure quarter, he was charged with grave disrespect and sentenced to death. The emperor discussed Ashan's service with Grand Secretary Li Guangdi, who said Ashan was honest and capable but that impeaching Chen Pengnian had offended public opinion; the emperor nodded. When the verdict was submitted, Chen Pengnian was stripped of office but spared death and summoned to compile books in the Hall of Military Glory.
26
四十七年,復出為蘇州知府。 禁革奢俗,清滯獄,聽斷稱神。 值歲饑,疫甚,週曆村墟,詢民疾苦,請賑貨,全活甚眾。 四十八年,署布政使。 巡撫張伯行雅重鵬年,事無鉅細,倚以裁決。 總督噶禮與伯行忤,並忌鵬年。 已,劾布政使宜思恭、糧道賈樸,因坐鵬年覈報不實,吏議奪官,遣戍黑龍江,上寬之,命仍來京修書。 噶禮复密奏鵬年虎丘詩,以為怨望,欲文致其罪,上不報。 俄,噶禮與伯行互訐,屢遣大臣按治,議奪伯行職。 上以伯行清廉,命九卿改議,並諭曰:「噶禮曾奏陳鵬年詩語悖謬,宵人伎倆,大率如此。 朕豈受若輩欺耶?」 因出其詩畀閣臣共閱。 五十六年,出署霸昌道,仍回京修書。
In the forty-seventh year he was again appointed prefect of Suzhou. He banned extravagant customs, cleared backlog cases, and was said to judge cases with uncanny insight. In a year of famine and severe epidemic he toured villages to learn the people's hardships, secured relief supplies, and saved a great many lives. In the forty-eighth year he served as acting provincial treasurer. Governor Zhang Boxing greatly valued Chen Pengnian and relied on him for decisions great and small. Governor-General Gali was at odds with Zhang Boxing and also resented Chen Pengnian. Soon Gali impeached Provincial Treasurer Yi Sigong and Grain Intendant Jia Pu and implicated Chen Pengnian for false verification reports; the ministry recommended stripping his office and exiling him to Heilongjiang, but the emperor showed leniency and ordered him back to Beijing to compile books. Gali again secretly memorialized Chen Pengnian's Tiger Hill poem as evidence of resentment and tried to frame a charge, but the emperor did not respond. Before long Gali and Zhang Boxing impeached each other; the court repeatedly sent grand ministers to investigate, and they recommended stripping Zhang Boxing of office. Knowing Zhang Boxing was incorrupt, the emperor ordered the Nine Ministers to reconsider and said, "Gali once claimed Chen Pengnian's poem was seditious—such are the tricks of petty schemers. Do you think I can be fooled by such people?" He then produced the poem for the Grand Secretariat ministers to read together. In the fifty-sixth year he briefly served as acting intendant of Bachang circuit, then returned to Beijing to compile books.
27
六十年,命隨尚書張鵬翮勘山東、河南運河,時河決武陟縣馬營口,自長垣直注張秋,命河督趙世顯塞之。 議久不決,鵬年疏言:「黃河老堤衝決八九里,大溜直趨溢口,宜於對岸上流廣武山下別開引河,更於決口稍東亦開引河,引溜仍歸正河,方可堵築。」 奏入稱旨。 世顯罷,即命鵬年署河道總督。 六十一年,馬營口既塞復決,鵬年謂:「地勢低窪,雖有引河,流不能暢。 惟有分疏上下,殺其悍怒。 請於沁、黃交匯對岸王家溝開引河,使水東南行,入滎澤正河,然後堤工可成。」 詔如議行。 先是,馬營決口因桃汛流激,難以程工; 副都御史牛鈕奉命閱河,奏於上流秦家廠堵築,工甫竟,而南壩尾旋決一百二十餘丈,入馬營東下。 鵬年與巡撫楊宗義謀合之。 既,北壩尾复潰百餘丈,鵬年乃建此議。 世宗即位,命真除。 時南北壩尾合而復潰者四,至是以次合龍,而馬營口尚未塞。 鵬年止宿河堧,寢食俱廢,浸羸憊。 雍正元年,疾篤,遣御醫診視。 尋卒,上聞,諭曰:「鵬年積勞成疾,沒於公所。 聞其家有八旬老母,室如懸罄。 此真鞠躬盡瘁、死而後已之臣。」 褒錫甚至。 賜帑金二千,錫其母封誥,視一品例廕子,諡恪勤。 祀河南、江寧名宦。
In the sixtieth year he was ordered to accompany Minister Zhang Penghe in surveying the Shandong and Henan sections of the Grand Canal; the Yellow River had burst at Mayingkou in Wuzhi county and was pouring from Changyuan straight toward Zhangqiu, and River Director Zhao Shixian was ordered to seal the breach. Deliberation dragged on; Chen Pengnian memorialized, "The old Yellow River dike had been breached for eight or nine li and the main current was rushing toward the spillway; a diversion should be cut below Mount Guangwu on the opposite bank upstream, and another slightly east of the breach, to lead the current back to the main channel before the dike could be rebuilt." The memorial pleased the emperor when it was submitted. Zhao Shixian was dismissed and Chen Pengnian was immediately appointed acting Grand Canal Director. In the sixty-first year, after Mayingkou had been sealed it burst again; Chen Pengnian said, "The terrain is low-lying; though diversion channels exist, the flow cannot run freely. Only by dividing the current above and below can its fierce force be reduced. I ask that a diversion be cut at Wangjiagou on the opposite bank where the Qin and Yellow rivers meet, sending the water southeast into the main Yingze channel; only then can the dikes be completed." An edict ordered the plan carried out. Earlier, work at the Maying breach had been delayed because the spring flood current was too swift to schedule construction; Vice Censor-in-Chief Niu Niu was ordered to inspect the rivers and proposed blocking the current upstream at Qinjiazhuang; the work had barely finished when the southern dike tail burst for more than 120 zhang and the flood poured east through Maying. Chen Pengnian and Governor Yang Zongyi planned to close the breach together. Then the northern dike tail burst again for more than a hundred zhang, and Chen Pengnian advanced this proposal. When the Yongzheng Emperor took the throne, Chen Pengnian was confirmed in the post. By then the northern and southern dike tails had been joined and breached again four times; they were now closed in sequence, but Mayingkou remained unsealed. Chen Pengnian lodged on the riverbank, neglecting sleep and food until he grew gaunt and exhausted. In the first year of Yongzheng his illness grew grave and an imperial physician was sent to examine him. Soon he died; when the emperor heard, he said, "Chen Pengnian wore himself out in service and died at his post. I hear he leaves an eighty-year-old mother and a household with nothing in it. Such a minister truly devoted himself utterly and did not rest until death. The rewards and honors were extraordinary. The court granted two thousand taels from the treasury, conferred a noble patent on his mother, ennobled his son according to first-rank precedent, and gave him the posthumous title Keqin. He was enrolled in the shrines of eminent officials in Henan and Jiangning.
28
子樹芝、樹萱,聖祖時,以諸生召見,令隨鵬年校書內廷。 樹芝官至平越知府,樹萱官至戶部侍郎。
His sons Shuzhi and Shuxuan were summoned as licentiates during the Kangxi reign and ordered to join Chen Pengnian in collating books within the palace. Shuzhi rose to prefect of Pingyue, and Shuxuan to vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
29
施世綸,字文賢,漢軍鑲黃旗人,瑯仲子。 康熙二十四年,以廕生授江南泰州知州。 世綸廉惠勤民,州大治。 二十七年,淮安被水,上遣使督堤工,從者數十輩,驛騷擾民,世綸白其不法者治之。 湖北兵變,官兵赴援出州境,世綸具芻糧,而使吏人執梃列而待,兵有擾民,立捕治,兵皆斂手去。 二十八年,以承修京口沙船遲誤,部議降調。 總督傅臘塔疏陳世綸清廉公直,上允留任。 擢揚州知府。 揚州民好遊蕩,世綸力禁之,俗為變。 三十年八月,海潮驟漲,泰州范公堤圮,世綸請捐修。 三十二年,移江寧知府。 三十五年,瑯卒,總督范成勳疏以世綸輿情愛戴,請在任守制; 御史胡德邁疏論,世綸乃得去官,复居母喪。 歲餘,授蘇州知府,仍請終制,辭不赴。 三十八年,既終制,授江南淮徐道。
Shi Shilun, styled Wenxian, belonged to the Han Chinese Bordered Yellow Banner and was the second son of Shi Lang. In the twenty-fourth year of Kangxi he received the Taizhou magistracy in Jiangnan through hereditary privilege. Shi Shilun governed with integrity, kindness, and diligence, and the prefecture flourished. In the twenty-seventh year Huai'an was inundated; the emperor sent envoys to supervise the dikes, and their dozens of attendants harassed the people at relay stations until Shi Shilun reported the offenders for punishment. When troops mutinied in Hubei and relief forces passed through his jurisdiction, Shi Shilun supplied fodder and grain and lined clerks and townsfolk with clubs at the ready; any soldier who harassed the people was seized at once, and the troops all withdrew meekly. In the twenty-eighth year he was recommended for demotion for delays in repairing the sand boats at Jingkou. Governor-general Fu Lata memorialized that Shi Shilun was incorruptible and upright, and the emperor approved his retention. He was promoted to prefect of Yangzhou. The people of Yangzhou were prone to idle roaming; Shi Shilun strictly forbade it and changed local customs. In the eighth month of the thirtieth year a sudden tidal surge destroyed Taizhou's Fan Gong Dike, and Shi Shilun petitioned for charitable repair. In the thirty-second year he was transferred to prefect of Jiangning. In the thirty-fifth year Shi Lang died; Governor-general Fan Chengmo memorialized that the people deeply loved Shi Shilun and asked that he be allowed to observe mourning in office; Censor Hu Demai objected in a memorial, and only then was Shi Shilun allowed to leave office and resume mourning for his mother. More than a year later he was appointed prefect of Suzhou, but he again asked to complete his mourning period and declined the appointment. In the thirty-eighth year, when mourning was complete, he was made intendant of the Huai-Xu circuit in Jiangnan.
30
四十年,湖南按察使員缺,九卿舉世綸,大學士伊桑阿入奏,聖祖諭曰:「朕深知世綸廉,但遇事偏執,民與諸生訟,彼必袒民; 諸生與搢紳訟,彼必袒諸生。 處事惟求得中,豈偏執? 如世綸者,委以錢穀之事,則相宜耳。」 是歲授湖南布政使。 湖南田賦丁銀有徭費,漕米有京費。 世綸至,盡革徭費,減京費四之一,民立石頌之。 四十三年,移安徽布政使。
In the fortieth year the Hunan surveillance commission fell vacant; the Nine Ministers recommended Shi Shilun; Grand Secretary Yisang'a reported to the throne, and the Kangxi Emperor said, "I know well that Shi Shilun is incorruptible, but he is obstinate in judgment: when commoners sue licentiates, he always favors the commoners; When licentiates sue officials and gentry, he always favors the licentiates. In handling cases one only seeks the middle course—how is that obstinacy? For someone like Shi Shilun, fiscal and grain affairs would suit him better. That year he was appointed Hunan administration commissioner. In Hunan land taxes and poll levies carried corvée surcharges, and tribute grain carried capital surcharges. When Shi Shilun took office he abolished the corvée surcharges entirely and cut capital surcharges by a quarter; the people erected a stone to praise him. In the forty-third year he was transferred to Anhui administration commissioner.
31
四十四年,遷太僕寺卿。 四十五年,坐湖南任內失察營兵掠當舖,罷職。 三月,授順天府府尹,疏請禁司坊擅理詞訟、奸徒包攬捐納、牙行霸占貨物、流娼歌舞飲宴,飭部議,定為令。 四十八年,授左副都御史,兼管府尹事。 四十九年,遷戶部侍郎,督理錢法。 尋調總督倉場。 五十四年,授雲南巡撫,未行,調漕運總督。 世綸察運漕積弊,革羨金,劾貪弁,除蠹役,以嚴明為治。 歲督漕船,應限全完,無稍愆誤。
In the forty-fourth year he was made minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud. In the forty-fifth year he was dismissed for failing while in Hunan to prevent garrison troops from looting pawnshops. In the third month he was appointed Shuntian metropolitan prefect and memorialized to forbid neighborhood wards from hearing lawsuits, rascals from monopolizing contributions, brokers from seizing goods, and prostitutes from public revelry; the ministry deliberated and these became permanent regulations. In the forty-eighth year he was made left vice censor-in-chief while retaining charge of the metropolitan prefecture. In the forty-ninth year he was transferred to vice minister of Revenue to supervise currency. He was soon transferred to superintendent of the granary depots. In the fifty-fourth year he was appointed governor of Yunnan, but before he could depart he was made grain-transport governor-general. Shi Shilun exposed long-standing abuses in grain transport, abolished illicit surcharges, impeached corrupt officers, and expelled parasite clerks, governing with stern clarity. Each year the tribute fleets met their deadlines in full, without the slightest delay.
32
時西陲用兵,轉輸餽運,自河南達陝西。 陝西旱飢,五十九年,上命世綸詣陝西佐總督鄂海督軍餉,並令道中勘河南府至西安黃河輓運路徑,並察陝西現存穀石數目陳奏。 世綸乃溯河西上,疏言:「河南府孟津縣至陝西太陽渡,大小數十餘灘,纖道高低不等,或在河南,或在河北。 澠池以下,舟下水可載糧三百餘石,上水載及其半; 澠池以上,河流高迅,僅可數十石。 自砥柱至神門無纖道,惟路旁石往往有方眼,又有石鼻,從前輓運,其跡猶存。 自陝州至西安府,河水平穩,俱有輓運路徑。 謹繪圖以聞。」 又言:「河南府至陝州三門,今乃無舟。 請自太陽渡以下改車運,太陽渡至西安府黨家馬頭舟行為便。 黨家馬頭入倉復改車運,穀二十萬石都銀十萬三千兩有奇。 但運穀二十萬,止得米十萬。 請令河南以二穀易一米,則運價可省其半。 若慮米難久貯,請照例出陳易新。」 奏入,上念陝西災,發帑金五十萬,並令酌發常平倉穀; 又以地方官吏大半在軍前,令選部院司官詣陝西,命世綸總其事。 世綸令分十二路察貧民,按口分給,遠近皆遍。 六十年春,得雨,災漸澹。 上命世綸還理漕事。 六十一年四月,以病乞休,溫旨慰留,令其子廷祥馳驛省視。 五月,卒。 遺疏請隨父瑯葬福建,上允之,詔獎其清慎勤勞,予祭葬。
The western campaigns were then underway, and supplies moved from Henan to Shaanxi. Shaanxi was stricken by drought and famine; in the fifty-ninth year the emperor ordered Shi Shilun to Shaanxi to assist Governor-general E Hai in provisioning the armies, to survey Yellow River transport routes from Henan prefecture to Xi'an along the way, and to report the grain stores on hand in Shaanxi. Shi Shilun then surveyed up the west bank and reported: "From Mengjin in Henan prefecture to Taiyang Ford in Shaanxi there are dozens of rapids of varying size; towing paths rise and fall unevenly, sometimes on the south bank and sometimes on the north. Below Mianchi, downstream boats can carry over three hundred shi of grain, and upstream about half as much; Above Mianchi the river runs swift and high, and boats carry only a few dozen shi. From Dizhu to Shenmen there is no towing path; only stones along the road, often with square holes and stone pegs, still bear traces of the old hauling routes. From Shaanzhou to Xi'an the river is calm, and hauling routes exist throughout. I respectfully submit maps thereof. He also reported: "From Henan prefecture to the Three Gates at Shaanzhou there are presently no boats at all. I ask that transport below Taiyang Ford use carts, and that from Taiyang Ford to Dangjia Matou in Xi'an prefecture boats be used. From Dangjia Matou to the granaries carts should again be used; moving two hundred thousand shi of grain would cost a little over one hundred and three thousand taels of silver in all. Yet transporting two hundred thousand shi of grain yields only one hundred thousand shi of rice. I ask that Henan exchange two shi of grain for one shi of rice, which would halve the transport costs. If long storage is feared, the usual practice of releasing old grain and replenishing with new may be followed. When the memorial arrived, the emperor, mindful of Shaanxi's disaster, released five hundred thousand taels from the treasury and ordered discretionary release from ever-normal granaries; And because most local officials were at the front, he ordered ministry and court officials chosen for Shaanxi and put Shi Shilun in overall charge. Shi Shilun sent twelve teams to survey the poor and distribute rations per capita until relief reached every district, near and far. In the spring of the sixtieth year rain came and the famine eased. The emperor ordered Shi Shilun back to his grain-transport duties. In the fourth month of the sixty-first year he asked to retire for illness; a warm edict urged him to remain and sent his son Tingxiang post-haste to visit him. In the fifth month he died. His final memorial asked to be buried in Fujian beside his father Shi Lang; the emperor consented, praised his integrity, caution, diligence, and toil, and granted state funeral rites.
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世綸當官聰強果決,摧抑豪猾,禁戢胥吏。 所至有惠政,民號曰「青天」。 在江寧以憂歸,民乞留者逾萬。 既不得請,人出一錢建兩亭府署前,號一文亭。 官府尹,步軍統領託合齊方貴幸,出必擁騶從。 世綸與相值,拱立道旁俟。 託合齊下輿驚問,世綸抗聲曰:「國製,諸王始具騶從。 吾以為諸王至,拱立以俟,不意為汝也!」 將疏劾,託合齊謝之乃已。 賑陝西,陝西積儲多虛耗,將疏劾。 鄂海以廷祥知會寧,語微及之,世綸曰:「吾自入官,身且不顧,何有於子?」 卒疏言之。 鄂海坐罷去。
In office Shi Shilun was sharp and resolute, crushed local bullies, and kept clerks in check. Everywhere he served he brought real benefit, and the people called him "Blue Heaven." When he left Jiangning for mourning, more than ten thousand people pleaded that he stay. When he could not be persuaded to stay, the people each gave a cash to erect two pavilions before the yamen, called the One-Cash Pavilions. As metropolitan prefect he encountered the infantry commander Tuheqi, then a court favorite who never went abroad without a throng of mounted attendants. When their paths crossed, Shi Shilun bowed with folded hands and stood by the road to wait. Tuheqi stepped down in alarm and asked why; Shi Shilun declared loudly, "By imperial statute only princes may travel with mounted attendants. I thought a prince was coming and stood bowing to wait—I never imagined it was you!" He was about to impeach him in a memorial, but Tuheqi apologized and he desisted. While relieving Shaanxi he found the reserves largely hollowed by waste and was about to impeach those responsible. E Hai, whose son Tingxiang governed Huining, hinted at the matter; Shi Shilun said, "Since I entered office I have not spared myself—why should I spare my son?" He memorialized in the end all the same. E Hai was dismissed from office as a result.
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論曰:-{于}-成龍秉剛正之性,苦節自厲,始終不渝,所至民懷其德。 彭鵬拒偽命,立身不苟,在官亦以正直稱。 陳瑸起自海濱,一介不取,行能踐言。 陳鵬年、施世綸明愛人,不畏強禦。 之五人者,皆自牧令起,以清節聞於時。 成龍、世綸名尤盛,閭巷誦其績,久而弗渝。 康熙間吏治清明,廉吏接踵起,聖祖所以保全諸臣,其效大矣。
The commentary says: Yu Chenglong had a stern upright nature, disciplined himself through hardship, and never wavered; wherever he served the people cherished him. Peng Peng refused a rebel commission and lived without compromise; in office too he was famed for integrity. Chen Bin rose from the coast, took nothing that was not his, and matched deed to word. Chen Pengnian and Shi Shilun were clear-sighted in caring for the people and fearless before the powerful. All five rose from county and prefectural posts and were famed in their day for incorruptibility. Yu Chenglong and Shi Shilun were the most renowned; common folk recited their deeds for generations without forgetting. Under Kangxi officialdom was unusually clear, and honest officials arose one after another; the Kangxi Emperor's way of protecting such men yielded vast effects indeed.