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卷277 列傳六十四 于成龙 彭鹏 陈瑸 陈鹏年 施世纶

Volume 277 Biographies 64: Yu Chenglong, Peng Peng, Chen Bin, Chen Pengnian, Shi Shilun

Chapter 277 of 清史稿 · Draft History of Qing
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Biographies 64
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Yu Chenglong, Sun Zhun, Peng Peng, Chen Bin, Chen Pengnian, and Shi Shilun
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-{}-西 西
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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宿
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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宿
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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退 西
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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使 使
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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西
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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西 -{}- -{}- 輿 調 -{}-
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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-{}- -{}- 輿-{}-
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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使使 調 使
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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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.
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西西西 西 西西
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.
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殿 殿
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.
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祿 忿 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.
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西 滿 西
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.
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西 西 調 西使 西使 忿
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.
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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.
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調 調 使
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.
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退
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!"
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調 沿沿
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.
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西
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."
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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.
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西 調
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
殿
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
使 使
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
使 宿
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
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.
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使 使 調 輿
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.
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使 使 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
調 調
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.
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西西 西西西西 西西 西 西便 西 西
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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輿 西西
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.
34
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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.
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