Volume 282 Biographies 69: Jiang Xizhe, Yu Jin, De Ge Lei, Chen Zizhi, Ren Hongjia, Gao Cengyun, Shen Kaiceng, Gong Xianglin, Gao Xiachang

列傳六十九

Biographies 69

姜希轍餘縉德格勒陳紫芝笪重光任弘嘉高層雲

Jiang Xizhe, Yu Jin, Degele, Chen Zizhi, Da Chongguang, Ren Hongjia, and Gao Cengyun

沈愷曾龔翔麟高遐昌

Shen Kaiceng, Gong Xianglin, and Gao Xiachang

姜希轍，字二濱，浙江會稽人。明崇禎間舉人。順治初，除溫州教授。五年，以瑞安知縣缺員，令暫攝。鄭成功兵來犯，攻城，希轍督民守，遇事立應。援至，破成功兵齊云江上。九年，遷直隸元城知縣。畿北飢，流民至者日以萬計。逃人令方嚴，民慮溷入為累，輒拒不予食。希轍令察非逃人，使墾縣中荒田，田闢，饑民以活。善決獄，民稱之。

Jiang Xizhe, whose style was Erbin, came from Kuaiji in Zhejiang. He received his provincial graduate degree during the Chongzhen era of the Ming. In the early Shunzhi period he was appointed professor at Wenzhou. In the fifth year, with the magistracy of Ruian unfilled, he was ordered to act in the post temporarily. When Zheng Chenggong's forces came to attack and laid siege to the city, Xizhe led the people in its defense and met every emergency as it arose. Reinforcements arrived, and Chenggong's army was routed on the Qiyun River. In the ninth year he was transferred to serve as magistrate of Yuancheng in Zhili. Famine struck the capital region, and each day tens of thousands of displaced people arrived. The fugitive-slave law was then strictly enforced; locals feared being implicated if fugitives mixed in among them and routinely refused them food. Xizhe had those verified not to be fugitives reclaim wasteland within the county; once the fields were cleared, the starving were able to survive. He was skilled at adjudicating cases, and the people spoke well of him.

十五年，授工科給事中。吏得盜，自列義王孫可望家人，為買馬，鑲白旗丁為之因緣。希轍疏言：「可望來歸本朝，湔滌不暇，尚敢收亡命相關通？身為旗丁，豈復應桀驁冒法網？夫盜有根柢，有黨羽，臣請收義王家人及旗丁窮治之。」上下其疏，罪人皆抵法。國初考功法，獲逃人、闢荒田、督運漕糧，皆躐等升擢。希轍疏爭非政體，不當開幸進。上方嚴罪貪吏，吏往往曲法罰鍰。希轍疏言：「例贖杖分有力無力，所輕重不過銖兩間。今乃倍五倍十，不拘成數，不應則敲樸隨之。是昔以罰省刑，今以罰濟刑也。」命仍如定例。

In the fifteenth year he was appointed supervising secretary of the Board of Works. When officials caught a thief, he claimed to be connected to the household of Sun Kewang, Prince of Yi, for whom he had bought horses, with a Bordered White Banner bondservant acting as go-between. Xizhe memorialized: "Kewang submitted to the dynasty and scarcely has time to clear his own name—how could he still dare harbor fugitives and keep illicit contacts? As a banner bondservant, how could he again be expected to defy the law so brazenly? Thieves have roots and accomplices; I ask that the Prince of Yi's household members and the banner bondservant be arrested and thoroughly investigated." The memorial was circulated for action, and all the guilty were punished to the full extent of the law. In the early dynasty's merit-assessment system, capturing fugitives, opening wasteland, and supervising tribute-grain transport all earned promotion by skipped grades. Xizhe memorialized in protest that this was not sound governance and ought not to open a door to advancement by favor. The emperor was then imposing severe penalties on corrupt officials, and officials often bent the law to levy fines in cash. Xizhe memorialized: "The statutes on commuting the bastinado distinguish those able to pay from those unable; the difference in severity amounts to no more than a few cash. Now fines are multiplied five- or tenfold without regard to the fixed amounts, and if one does not comply the cudgel follows at once. In the past fines were meant to spare the body; now fines are used to supply corporal punishment." The court ordered that the established regulations be followed again.

十七年，上詔求言，希轍疏言：「臣聞君臣一德，原未嘗以憂勞之任獨歸之君父，為人臣諉卸責地也。臣觀今日積習病根，大要有二：巧於卸肩者，假詳慎以行推諉；畏於任事者，飾持重以蹈委靡。請進一德之箴，為中外諸臣誡。」師自江西下廣東，州縣供億繁重。南贛巡撫報曲江、始興兩知縣同時自戕。希轍疏言：「大兵所集，米豆、草束、槽秬、釜鑊，自所必需。然先時傳檄，使之預備，供億雖艱，何至捐僨？行兵不嚴，責在總督；立法不預，責在巡撫：二者必居一於是。請飭察究。」尋更歷兵、禮二科。時會計法嚴，錢糧完欠，每項各限十分定考成，條例繁賾，有司救過不給。希轍疏請：「總歸十分，以一歲之徵收，計一歲之款項，起訖既清，稽核亦便。」自此部計稍紓，有司得久任。

In the seventeenth year the emperor issued an edict soliciting counsel; Xizhe memorialized: "I have heard that ruler and minister share one virtue, and it was never meant that the burden of anxious toil should rest solely on the sovereign, leaving ministers room to shirk their duty. I observe that the deep-rooted habits of the day fall chiefly into two kinds: those skilled at shifting burdens feign meticulous caution in order to evade responsibility; those who fear taking on affairs cloak themselves in weighty reserve and sink into slackness. I ask that a maxim on shared virtue be offered as a warning to all officials at court and in the provinces." As the army advanced from Jiangxi into Guangdong, the burden of provisioning on prefectures and counties grew crushing. The governor of southern Gan reported that the magistrates of Qujiang and Shixing had taken their own lives on the same day. Xizhe memorialized: "Where great armies gather, grain, beans, fodder bundles, troughs, grain measures, and cooking pots are naturally indispensable. Yet if orders are sent in advance so that preparations can be made, however arduous provisioning may be, how could it drive men to abandon their posts? If troop movements are not disciplined, the governor-general is responsible; if regulations are not laid down in advance, the provincial governor is responsible: one of the two must be at fault. I ask that this be ordered investigated." He soon served in succession in the Military and Rites sections of the censorate. At the time accounting rules were strict: for each revenue item collected or outstanding, a ten-part scale fixed merit assessment; the regulations were numerous and cumbersome, and local officials could not keep pace with correcting their errors. Xizhe memorialized requesting: "Let everything be summed to ten parts, matching one year's collections against one year's accounts; once the period is clear, audit is straightforward as well." From this ministry accounting was somewhat eased, and local officials were able to serve longer terms.

康熙元年，考滿，內升，回籍待缺。九年，詣京師，复授戶科都給事中。具三疏：請增科員；請令巡撫得轄兵，防地方竊發；請緩奏銷之期，使催科不迫。遷順天府丞。遭父喪歸。十七年，授奉天府丞。乞養母歸。三十七年，卒於家。

In the first year of Kangxi, when his term assessment was complete, he was promoted within the capital ranks and returned home to await appointment. In the ninth year he went to the capital and was again appointed chief supervising secretary of the Revenue section. He submitted three memorials: to increase the number of censorial section members; to allow provincial governors to command troops against local outbreaks; and to relax the deadline for final accounts so that tax collection would not be pressed so hard. He was transferred to serve as vice prefect of Shuntian Prefecture. When his father died he returned home to observe mourning. In the seventeenth year he was appointed vice prefect of Fengtian Prefecture. He begged leave to return home and care for his mother. In the thirty-seventh year he died at home.

餘縉，字仲紳，浙江諸暨人。順治九年進士，授河南封丘知縣。兵後流亡未復，棄地彌望，朝議興屯，設道、廳董之。民田徵賦，屯田徵租，租視賦為重，民棄屯不耕。府縣吏急考成，以屯租散入田賦，民失業。總督李廕祖行部至縣，縉導觀民間困苦狀，廕祖疏聞，興屯道、廳悉罷。十七年，行取授山西道御史，乞養歸。起河南道御史。

Yu Jin, whose style was Zhongshen, came from Zhuji in Zhejiang. He passed the metropolitan examination in the ninth year of Shunzhi and was appointed magistrate of Fengqiu in Henan. After the wars the displaced had not returned, and abandoned fields stretched to the horizon; the court discussed opening military colonies and set up circuit and bureau offices to oversee them. Private fields paid land tax while colony fields paid rent, and rent was heavier than tax, so people abandoned the colonies and left them uncultivated. Prefectural and county clerks, anxious about merit assessment, folded colony rent into land tax, and the people lost their livelihoods. When Governor-General Li Yinzu toured the county, Jin led him to see the people's distress; Yinzu memorialized the throne, and all the colony circuit and bureau offices were abolished. In the seventeenth year, selected for promotion, he was appointed censor of the Shanxi circuit and begged leave to return home to care for his parents. He was recalled to serve as censor of the Henan circuit.

康熙初，鄭成功已死，其子錦屯廈門。有議棄舟山者，縉上疏爭之，略謂：「浙江三面環海，寧波尤孤懸海隅，以舟山為外籓。不知行間諸臣何所見而倡捐棄之議？江海門戶，斂手委之逆豎。夫閩海祗一廈門，數万之眾，環而攻之，窮年不能下。奈何以已克之舟山增其巢穴？」福建總督李率泰議遷海濱居民，縉复疏爭之。略謂：「海濱之民，與賊狎處。一二冥頑貪狡，嗜厚利，通消息，以相接濟者，固未必無之。但據所稱排頭、方田諸處，民或盜牧馬，或縛窮民潛送廈門。當此兩軍相望，巡徼嚴密，雖有姦宄，安能飛渡？是其號令不肅，已可概見。」又云：「派撥舵工、水手，公然不應。海上舵工名曰「老大」，其人必少長海舟內，外洋島嶼徑路，靡不熟歷，而後駕風使舵，操縱自如。奈何責之素不練習之民，視同里役，橫加僉派？彼即勉強應役，技既不精，心复叵測。萬一變從中起，將置數十萬奮戈持滿之士於何地？」兩疏語皆切至。

Early in Kangxi, Zheng Chenggong was already dead, and his son Jing held Xiamen. When some proposed abandoning Zhoushan, Jin memorialized in opposition, arguing in part: "Zhejiang is ringed by sea on three sides, and Ningbo especially stands isolated on the coast, with Zhoushan as its outer bulwark. What have the officials in the field seen to advocate surrendering it? The gateway of river and sea—are we to fold our hands and hand it to rebellious upstarts? In Fujian's seas there is only Xiamen; tens of thousands besiege it, yet a full year cannot bring it down. Why would we hand them Zhoushan, which we have already taken, to enlarge their lair?" Fujian Governor-General Li Shuaitai proposed relocating coastal inhabitants, and Jin again memorialized in opposition. He argued in part: "Coastal people live in familiar proximity with the rebels. A few obstinate and greedy men who crave great profit, pass messages, and supply mutual aid—such cases certainly exist. But according to what is alleged at Paitou, Fangtian, and other places, locals either steal pastured horses or bind poor men and secretly send them to Xiamen. With the two armies facing each other and patrols strict, even if traitors exist, how could they cross unseen? That their discipline is lax can already be seen plainly." He also wrote: "When helmsmen and sailors are assigned by levy, they openly refuse to comply. Sea helmsmen are called laoda; such men must have grown up aboard seagoing vessels and know every route among outer islands by heart before they can ride the wind, work the rudder, and handle a ship with ease. How can one demand this of people who have never practiced it, treat them like neighborhood corvée labor, and impose forced assignment? Even if they force themselves to serve, their skill is crude and their intentions impossible to read. If a mutiny breaks out among them, where will hundreds of thousands of armed troops be left?" The language of both memorials was penetrating and to the point.

聖祖親政，順治間建言諸臣坐遷謫者，次第赦還，惟議及逃人不在赦例。居數年，詔寬逃人禁。縉疏請敕部察當日建言被謫諸臣，存者召還錄用，歿者歸葬贈卹。尋命巡視長蘆鹽政。以改葬乞歸。二十八年，卒於家。

When the Sage Emperor took personal rule, officials banished during Shunzhi for offering counsel were pardoned and recalled in turn, except those who had spoken on fugitive slaves, who were not covered by the amnesty. After several years an edict relaxed the prohibition on fugitive slaves. Jin memorialized asking that the ministry investigate the officials banished in those days for offering counsel: survivors should be recalled and employed, the dead given burial at home and posthumous rewards. He was soon ordered to inspect the Changlu salt administration. He begged leave to return home for a reburial. In the twenty-eighth year he died at home.

縉廉而能，治事尤持正。妖人硃方旦言禍福，朝士多信之。縉曰：「此妄男子耳，於法當誅。」方旦卒坐死。

Jin was incorruptible and capable, and especially upright in handling affairs. The sorcerer Zhu Fangdan spoke of fortune and misfortune, and many court officials believed him. Jin said: "He is merely a deluded man; by law he ought to be executed." Fangdan was ultimately executed.

德格勒，滿洲鑲藍旗人。康熙九年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。累擢侍讀學士，充日講起居注官、掌院學士。李光地亟稱其賢。聖祖時，召見講論經史，嘗扈從巡行。大學士明珠柄政，務結納士大夫，將餽金為治裝。德格勒以裝具，固辭不受。會久旱，上命德格勒筮，遇夬。問其占，曰：「澤上於天，將降矣！而卦義五陽決一陰。小人居鼎鉉，故天屯其膏。決去之，即雨。」上愕然，曰：「安有是？」德格勒遂以明珠對。明珠聞，大惡之，時以蜚語上聞，謂德格勒與侍講徐元夢互相標榜。徐元夢亦不附明珠者也，故並嫉之。二十六年，光地乞假歸，入辭，面奏德格勒、徐元夢學博文優。踰月，上召尚書陳廷敬、湯斌等及德格勒、徐元夢試於乾清宮。閱卷畢，諭曰：「朕政暇好讀書，然不輕評論古人。評論古人猶易，評論時人更難。如德格勒每評論時人，朕心不謂然，故召爾等面試。妍媸優劣，今已判然。學問自有分量，毋徒肆議論為也。」二十七年，明珠罷。

Degele was a Manchu of the Bordered Blue Banner. He passed the metropolitan examination in the ninth year of Kangxi, was selected as a Hanlin bachelor, and appointed compiler. He rose in succession to reader-in-waiting, served as daily lecturer and recorder of the emperor's movements and residences, and became chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. Li Guangdi repeatedly praised his worth. Under the Sage Emperor he was summoned to discuss the classics and histories and once accompanied the emperor on tour. Grand Secretary Mingzhu held power and worked to win over scholar-officials; he was about to present gold as travel funds. Degele, saying he already had his outfit, firmly declined. During a long drought the emperor ordered Degele to divine by the Changes; he obtained Guai. Asked about the omen, he said: "The marsh is above heaven—rain is about to fall! Yet the hexagram's meaning is that five yang lines decide one yin. Petty men hold high office, and so Heaven hoards its bounty. Remove them decisively, and rain will come at once." The emperor was startled and said, "How can that be?" Degele then named Mingzhu in reply. When Mingzhu heard this he hated him deeply; from time to time slander reached the emperor, claiming that Degele and lecturer Xu Yuanmeng were promoting each other. Xu Yuanmeng also refused to attach himself to Mingzhu, and so Mingzhu envied them both. In the twenty-sixth year Li Guangdi begged leave to return home; on taking leave in audience he reported that Degele and Xu Yuanmeng were learned, broadly cultured, and excellent. A month later the emperor summoned Ministers Chen Tingjing, Tang Bin, and others, together with Degele and Xu Yuanmeng, to an examination in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. When the papers had been reviewed, he said: "In my spare time from government I love to read, yet I do not lightly judge men of old. Judging men of old is still easy; judging men of the present is harder still. Degele constantly comments on men of the present, and I do not agree; that is why I have summoned you for a face-to-face examination. Excellence and inferiority are now clearly distinguished. Learning has its own weight; do not indulge in loose talk alone." In the twenty-seventh year Mingzhu was dismissed from office.

未幾，掌院學士庫勒訥劾德格勒私抹起居注，並與徐元夢互相標榜，下刑部論罪。故事，起居注數易藁然後登籍，德格勒所刪易者，實未定藁也。讞上論斬，命改監候秋後處決，徐元夢亦坐譴。語詳徐元夢傳。光地還京師，上命尚書張玉書等以德格勒試卷示九卿，並詰光地。於是玉書等奏稱德格勒文實鄙陋，光地亦以妄奏引罪，命從寬免究。德格勒尋遇赦，釋歸本旗。卒。

Before long, Hanlin chancellor Kullene impeached Degele for privately altering the Veritable Records and for promoting each other with Xu Yuanmeng; the case was sent to the Ministry of Punishments. By precedent the Veritable Records went through many drafts before registration; what Degele had altered were not yet finalized drafts. The verdict called for decapitation; an order changed this to imprisonment awaiting autumn execution, and Xu Yuanmeng was also reprimanded. The full account appears in the biography of Xu Yuanmeng. When Li Guangdi returned to the capital, the emperor ordered Minister Zhang Yushu and others to show Degele's examination papers to the Nine Ministers and to question Guangdi as well. Yushu and the others memorialized that Degele's writing was crude and vulgar; Guangdi also took blame for his false report, and both were leniently pardoned. Degele was soon amnestied, released, and returned to his banner. He died.

陳紫芝，字非園，浙江鄞縣人。康熙十八年進士，選庶吉士。改陝西道御史，力持風紀，絕外僚餽遺。巡視南城，捕大猾鄧二置諸法。疏言：「朝章國典宜畫一，民間冠昏喪祭未有定制，請編纂禮書，頒行天下。」又請裁屯衛：「以屯務屬州縣，則田賦可覈，逃盜可清。」詔並允行。

Chen Zizhi, whose style was Feiyuan, came from Yin County in Zhejiang. He passed the metropolitan examination in the eighteenth year of Kangxi and was selected as a Hanlin bachelor. Transferred to censor of the Shaanxi circuit, he vigorously upheld discipline and refused gifts from outside officials. While inspecting the southern city he captured the notorious rogue Deng Er and punished him by law. He memorialized: "Court regulations and state statutes ought to be uniform; the people still lack fixed standards for capping, marriage, mourning, and sacrifice—please compile a book of rites and promulgate it throughout the realm." He also asked to abolish garrison colonies: "If colony affairs were placed under prefectures and counties, land tax could be audited and fugitives and bandits cleared away." An edict approved both requests.

時督、撫、監司皆由廷臣保舉。湖廣巡撫張汧，大學士明珠所私也，恃勢貪暴，言路莫敢摘發。二十六年，紫芝上疏劾之，言：「汧蒞任未久，黷貨多端，凡地方鹽引、錢局、船埠，靡不搜括，甚至漢口市肆招牌，亦按數派錢。當日保舉之人，必有賄囑情弊，請一併敕部論罪。」上命奪汧官，遣直隸巡撫於成龍、山西巡撫馬齊、副都御史開音布往按治。复諭廷臣，謂汧貪婪無人敢言，紫芝獨能彈劾，即予內升。成龍等按得汧以前官福建布政使虧帑令屬吏彌補，又派收鹽商銀九萬，上荊南道祖澤深婪取於民又八萬，讞上，論絞。保舉汧為巡撫者，侍郎王遵訓、學士盧琦、大理寺丞任辰旦，皆坐奪官。擢紫芝大理少卿。每讞獄，稍涉矜疑，即為駁正，多所平反。

At the time governors-general, governors, and surveillance commissioners were all recommended by court officials. Huguang Governor Zhang Han was a protégé of Grand Secretary Mingzhu; relying on his power he was greedy and violent, and no censor dared expose him. In the twenty-sixth year Zizhi memorialized to impeach him, stating: "Han has not long held his post, yet he is corrupt in many ways; he extorts every local salt franchise, money bureau, and ferry landing, even levying money by count on shop signs in Hankou market. Those who recommended him must have been involved in bribery—please order the ministry to punish them as well." The emperor stripped Han of office and dispatched Zhili Governor Yu Chenglong, Shanxi Governor Ma Qi, and Vice Censor-in-Chief Kai Yinbu to investigate. He again told the court that Han was greedy yet no one dared speak, while Zizhi alone impeached him, and immediately granted him promotion within the capital. Chenglong and the others found that as Fujian provincial treasurer Han had covered treasury deficits through subordinates and forcibly collected ninety thousand taels from salt merchants; his superior Zu Zeshen had greedily taken another eighty thousand from the people; the verdict called for strangulation. Wang Zunxun, Lu Qi, and Ren Chendan, who had recommended Han as governor, were all stripped of office. Zizhi was promoted to vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Whenever he reviewed cases, if there was the slightest ground for doubt he overturned the verdict, and many were reversed.

紫芝以峭直受上知，同朝多側目。無何，卒。或傳紫芝一日詣朝房，明珠延坐進茗，飲之，歸遂暴卒雲。

Zizhi won the emperor's trust through his stern uprightness, and many colleagues looked askance at him. Before long he died. Rumor had it that one day Zizhi went to the morning assembly hall, Mingzhu invited him to sit and served tea, he drank it, and died suddenly on returning home.

笪重光，字在辛，江南句容人。順治九年進士。自刑部郎中考選御史。巡按江西，與明珠忤，罷歸。初，鄭成功犯鎮江，重光縋城乞援。事平，賜御書榜。卒，祀鄉賢。

Da Chongguang, whose style was Zaixin, came from Jurong in Jiangnan. He passed the metropolitan examination in the ninth year of Shunzhi. From a post in the Ministry of Punishments he was selected by examination as a censor. While touring Jiangxi he clashed with Mingzhu and was dismissed to return home. Earlier, when Zheng Chenggong attacked Zhenjiang, Chongguang let himself down from the wall by rope to beg for reinforcements. When the affair was settled he was granted an imperial inscription plaque. He died and was enshrined among the local worthies.

任弘嘉，字葵尊，江南宜興人。初以舉人官行人。康熙十五年，成進士。十八年，考選江南道御史。巡南城，疏言：「各州縣宜有講堂書院，庶人知鄉學。」又言：「學道不惟受制籓司，抑且受制知府。蓋府道階級不甚懸，無以資表率。部郎聲望不甚重，又無由達封章。求其公明，實不可得，乞重其選。」改巡北城，疏陳五城應行事，謂：「盜風未靖，由保甲不行。稽察未清，由旗、民雜處。司坊未潔，由勸懲不當。」又言：「州縣昏夜比較，鄉民託宿無地，飢寒受杖，往往殞命。又或因分釐火耗之輕，受僉役橫索之累。」又言：「朝廷清丈，所以為民，而籓府駁冊，上下動費累百。津梁有關，所以御暴，今小港皆設巡攔，旱路亦行堵截，檢索至負擔，稅課遍雞豚。」所言皆痛切。弘嘉一日巡城，有錦衣駿馬突其前，訶叱之。隸卒白曰：「此王府優也。」弘嘉趨王府，索優出，杖之四十。上聞，直弘嘉。由是貴戚斂跡，毋敢玩法。

Ren Hongjia, whose style was Kuizun, came from Yixing in Jiangnan. At first, as a provincial graduate, he served as a courier official. In the fifteenth year of Kangxi he passed the metropolitan examination. In the eighteenth year he was selected by examination as censor of the Jiangnan circuit. While inspecting the southern city he memorialized: "Every prefecture and county ought to have lecture halls and academies so the common people may know village learning." He also said: "The educational commissioner is constrained not only by the provincial administration commissioner but by the prefect as well. For prefectural and circuit ranks are not greatly separated, leaving no basis for setting an example. A ministry director's prestige is not weighty enough, and there is no channel for sealed memorials to reach the throne. Fairness and clarity from such a post are unattainable; I ask that greater weight be given to its selection." Transferred to inspect the northern city, he memorialized on what the Five Wards ought to do, stating: "Banditry is not yet pacified because the baojia system is not enforced. Inspection is unclear because banner people and civilians are mixed together. Ward administration is not clean because encouragement and punishment are misapplied." He also said: "When prefectures and counties conduct night-time tax comparisons, villagers have nowhere to lodge; starving and cold they are beaten and often die. Or again because the melting-loss surcharge is slight, they suffer forced exactions by levy clerks." He also said: "The court's land surveys are meant to benefit the people, yet when princely establishments reject the registers, each case costs hundreds above and below. Ferry crossings and bridges have barriers to control violence; now small harbors all have patrol posts, overland routes conduct stop-and-search, inspection extends to porters' loads, and taxes reach even chickens and pigs." Everything he said was piercing and to the point. One day while Hongjia was patrolling the city, a man in brocade on a fine horse rushed before him, and he shouted him down. A runner said, "This is an actor from the princely establishment." Hongjia went straight to the princely residence, demanded the actor be produced, and had him beaten forty strokes. When the emperor heard of it he upheld Hongjia. From this the noble kin restrained themselves and did not dare trifle with the law.

尋掌山東道，兼江南道如故。上十漸疏：「一曰，朋黨交結之漸。始因交際為餽遺，漸以愛憎成水火。二曰，奢侈僭逾之漸。物力既殫，等威亦紊。三曰，文武訐訕之漸。督、撫、提、鎮挾私互訐，小吏效尤，何以使民無訟？四曰，紳士吹求之漸。有司視如仇讎，奸民以為魚肉。五曰，上下奉違之漸。國家良法美意，奉行者徒有虛文，過當者反成弊政。六曰，名器混淆之漸。為生養萬民計，守令宜用正途。七曰，常平侵漁之漸。貯穀久易浥損，又難盤察，不若聽民輸錢，數易稽而無朽蠹。八曰，河工興建之漸。從古無不徙之河，治河惟去其太甚，不必議開議塞，借一勞永逸之辭，為逐利幸功之術。九曰，情罪過當之漸。如逃人止於鞭刺，過宿反至竄流，輕重不平，枉誣尤甚。十曰，積習膠固之漸。升遷則趕缺壓缺，處分則忽重忽輕，視為故常，營競特甚。」复疏論銓政不平，並下部議行。三十三年，遷奉天府府丞，兼學政。轉通政司參議，署通政使。丁母憂歸。服闋，病目，卒於家。

Soon he took charge of the Shandong circuit while continuing to hold the Jiangnan circuit as before. He submitted a memorial on ten gradual deteriorations: "First, the gradual growth of factional cliques and mutual entanglement. It begins with social intercourse and gift-giving, and gradually love and hatred become irreconcilable. Second, the gradual growth of extravagance and presumptuous excess. Material resources are exhausted, and ranks of dignity are disordered as well. Third, the gradual growth of mutual denunciation between civil and military officials. Governors-general, governors, and military commanders denounce one another with private motives; petty clerks follow suit—how can the people be kept free of litigation? Fourth, the gradual growth of gentry pressing demands. Local officials regard them as enemies, while scoundrels treat the people as prey. Fifth, the gradual growth of contradiction between higher and lower levels in carrying out orders. The state's good laws and fine intentions are carried out only as empty forms, while those who go too far turn them into harmful policies. Sixth, the gradual confusion of titles and offices. For the sake of nurturing the people, prefects and magistrates ought to be appointed through the regular path. Seventh, the gradual encroachment and exploitation of the Ever-Normal Granaries. Stored grain easily spoils over time and is hard to audit; it would be better to let people pay in money, which is easy to count and free of rot and worms. Eighth, the gradual growth of river-works construction. From antiquity no river has failed to shift its course; governing rivers requires only removing the worst excesses, without debating opening or blocking channels, or using talk of permanent solutions as a pretext for profit and self-promotion. Ninth, the gradual growth of disproportion between circumstances and punishment. A fugitive slave merits only flogging, yet staying out overnight leads to banishment; severity and leniency are unbalanced, and false accusation is especially grave. Tenth, the gradual hardening of entrenched habits. In promotion officials rush vacancies and block rivals; in punishment they are now severe and now lenient—treated as normal, with scheming competition especially intense." He again memorialized on unfair appointment policy, and both were sent to the ministries for discussion and implementation. In the thirty-third year he was transferred to vice prefect of Fengtian Prefecture, concurrently serving as educational commissioner. He was transferred to councillor of the Court of Transmission and acted as commissioner of transmission. When his mother died he returned home to observe mourning. When mourning ended his eyes failed, and he died at home.

弘嘉素慎，疏上言過直，輒戰栗。或曰：「子葸若此，何如不言？」曰：「弘嘉之戰栗，氣不足也。然知其當言，不敢欺吾心，尤不敢負吾君耳。」

Hongjia was cautious by nature; when his memorials were too blunt he would tremble. Someone said to him, "You are so timid—why not simply say nothing?" He replied, "Hongjia trembles because his vital force is insufficient. Yet knowing one ought to speak, I dare not deceive my own heart, and still less dare I fail my sovereign."

高層雲，字二鮑，江南華亭人。康熙十五年進士。授大理寺評事。二十五年，授吏科給事中。二十六年，太皇太后崩，詔王大臣集永康左門外議喪禮。大學士王熙等向諸王白所議，跪移時，李之芳年老，起而踣。層雲曰：「是非國體也。」即日疏言謂：「天潢貴冑，大臣禮當致敬。獨集議國政，無弗列坐，所以重君命、尊朝廷也。況永康左門乃禁門重地，太皇太后在殯，至尊居廬，天威咫尺，非大臣致敬諸王之地。大學士為輔弼大臣，固當自重，諸王亦宜加以禮節，不可驕恣倨慢，坐受其跪，失籓臣體。」疏入，上曰：「朕召大臣議事，如時久，每賜墊坐語。今大臣為諸王跪，於禮不合。」下宗人府，吏、禮二部議，嗣後大臣與諸王會議，不得引身長跪，著為令。

Gao Cengyun, styled Erbao, came from Huating in Jiangnan. He passed the jinshi examination in the fifteenth year of the Kangxi reign (1676). He received appointment as a reviewing official in the Court of Judicial Review. In the twenty-fifth year of Kangxi (1686), he was made a supervising secretary in the Office of Scrutiny for Personnel. In the twenty-sixth year (1687), upon the death of the Grand Empress Dowager, the emperor ordered princes and senior ministers to gather outside the Left Gate of Yongkang to deliberate on the funeral ceremonies. Grand Secretary Wang Xi and others knelt for a long while as they briefed the princes on the matters under discussion; the aged Li Zhifang stood up only to collapse. Cengyun declared, "This is an affront to the dignity of the state." That same day he submitted a memorial arguing that princes of the imperial blood deserved the respect customarily paid them by ministers. When ministers meet solely to discuss state policy, however, all sit as equals in session—precisely to honor the emperor's commission and uphold the authority of the court. Moreover, the Left Gate of Yongkang is a restricted inner gate. With the Grand Empress Dowager lying in state and the emperor residing in mourning quarters, the majesty of the throne was close at hand—hardly the setting for grand ministers to prostrate themselves before princes. As the emperor's chief counselors, grand secretaries must uphold their own dignity, and princes should observe proper decorum rather than sit in arrogance accepting such obeisance—conduct unworthy of imperial kinsmen who serve the throne." When the memorial reached the throne, the emperor remarked, "Whenever I summon ministers for extended deliberations, I always provide cushions so they may sit while we speak. For grand ministers to kneel before princes is a breach of proper ritual." The case was referred to the Court of the Imperial Clan and the Ministries of Personnel and Rites, which ruled that in future meetings between senior ministers and princes, extended kneeling would be forbidden—a regulation thereafter enforced as law.

二十八年，京師旱，詔求言。層雲疏論江、淮間行屯田擾民，請急停蘇民困，上嘉納之。遷通政司參議。二十九年，遷太常寺少卿，卒官。

In the twenty-eighth year of Kangxi (1689), drought struck the capital, and the emperor issued an edict inviting memorials and advice. Cengyun submitted a memorial decrying how military colony programs along the Yangtze-Huai region were oppressing the populace and urging their immediate suspension to ease popular hardship; the emperor praised and adopted his recommendation. He was promoted to vice commissioner in the Office of Transmission. In the twenty-ninth year (1690), he was appointed vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, a post in which he died.

沈愷曾，字樂存，浙江歸安人。康熙二十六年進士，選庶吉士。三十年，改山東道御史。喀爾喀率屬內附，上親出塞拊循。愷曾疏言：「巡行口外，為蒙古諸臣定賞罰，編戶口，安插新附。但聖躬遠出，間關崎嶇，乘輿勞頓於外，群臣晏息於家，臣心何安？宜遣部院大臣經理，令逐一奏聞，仍與皇上親行無異。乞傳旨暫緩此行。」疏入，不報。上還京師，召愷曾入對，賜宴。三十五年，上親征噶爾丹，歲暮，以餘孽未靖，復出塞。愷曾复上疏請回鑾，語甚剴切。

Shen Kaiceng, styled Lecun, was from Guian prefecture in Zhejiang. He earned his jinshi degree in the twenty-sixth year of Kangxi (1687) and was chosen for appointment as a Hanlin bachelor. In the thirtieth year (1691), he transferred to serve as inspector on the Shandong circuit of the censorate. When the Khalkha Mongols led their tribes in submitting allegiance, the emperor personally journeyed beyond the Great Wall to receive and reassure them. Kaiceng memorialized that the emperor's tour beyond the frontier was intended to fix rewards and punishments for Mongol leaders, register households, and resettle the newly submitted tribes. Yet Your Majesty will travel far into arduous country while your ministers remain at home in comfort—how can I reconcile that in conscience? Senior ministers from the ministries and courts should be dispatched to manage these affairs and report each matter to the throne—an arrangement that would achieve the same ends as Your Majesty's personal journey. I humbly request that Your Majesty defer this expedition." The memorial was received but drew no imperial response. After returning to the capital, the emperor summoned Kaiceng for a private audience and honored him with a banquet. In the thirty-fifth year (1696), the emperor marched in person against Galdan; at year's end, with rebel holdouts still unpacified, he returned to the frontier. Kaiceng again memorialized urging the emperor to return to the capital, his language strikingly forthright and impassioned.

順天學政侍郎李光地有母喪，命奪情視事，光地請給假九月，言路大譁。愷曾疏言：「學臣關係名教，表率士子。使衰絰者衣錦論文，其何以訓？宜令終喪，以隆孝治。閣臣職司票擬，理應委曲奏請，始不當有在任守制之票，既不當有仍遵前旨之擬。科臣職司封駁，閣臣票擬不當，科臣繳旨覆奏，固其職也。乃亦復默然，不知其所謂封駁者何在也？臣不敢以妄擬閣臣為嫌，劾奏同列為咎。」疏入，下九卿議，尋用彭鵬言，令解任在京守制。陝西提督孫思克請令富民納粟佐軍，愷曾論奏乞敕部停止，上是之。

When Li Guangdi, educational commissioner of Shuntian, entered mourning for his mother, the emperor ordered him to leave mourning aside and remain in post; Guangdi's request for nine months' leave provoked an uproar among the memorializing officials. Kaiceng argued in a memorial that the educational commissioner was charged with upholding moral orthodoxy and setting an example for scholars. How can a man in mourning garb preside over literary examinations in full court dress—what lesson would that teach? He should be permitted to complete his mourning, thereby honoring the dynasty's ideal of filial governance. The grand secretaries, whose office is to draft imperial rescripts, should have tactfully petitioned the throne from the outset rather than issuing a draft permitting service while in mourning, and certainly should not later have drafted obedience to the earlier order. Censorial officials are charged with reviewing and rejecting improper rescripts; when the grand secretaries' draft was wrong, it was their duty to remonstrate. Yet they too held their tongues—where, then, was the censorate's vaunted power of remonstrance? I do not hesitate to criticize the grand secretaries or to impeach fellow officials when duty requires it." The memorial was referred to the Nine Ministers; shortly thereafter the court adopted Peng Peng's recommendation and ordered Li Guangdi to resign his post and observe mourning in the capital. When Shaanxi Military Governor Sun Sike proposed requiring wealthy households to contribute grain for military supplies, Kaiceng memorialized urging the relevant ministry to halt the scheme, and the emperor agreed.

入台七年，疏數十上，伉直敢言。歷掌山西、江南、浙江、河南道事，管登聞院。三十八年，巡兩廣鹽課，多惠政，商民德之。報滿，留任一年。還京，复掌山西道。丁父憂，以廣東運使罣誤事連坐，罷官。四十四年，上南巡，召試行在稱旨，賜御書。尋卒。

During seven years in the censorate he submitted dozens of memorials, distinguished by his forthright and fearless candor. He served in turn on the Shanxi, Jiangnan, Zhejiang, and Henan censorial circuits and oversaw the Court of Complaints. In the thirty-eighth year (1699), while inspecting salt administration in Guangdong and Guangxi, he enacted numerous reforms that endeared him to merchants and commoners alike. Upon completing his term, he was retained for an additional year. After returning to the capital, he resumed charge of the Shanxi censorial circuit. When he entered mourning for his father, he was dismissed from office after being implicated in a misconduct case involving the Guangdong transport commissioner. In the forty-fourth year (1705), during the emperor's southern tour, Kaiceng was summoned for examination at the imperial lodge, distinguished himself, and received the gift of imperial calligraphy. He died shortly thereafter.

龔翔麟，字蘅圃，浙江仁和人。父佳育，字祖錫。自龍驤衛經歷出知安定縣，又自兵部郎中出為分巡通永道僉事，擢江南布政使，所至有聲績。入授光祿寺卿。命修賦役簡明書，未竟。卒。

Gong Xianglin, styled Hengpu, was from Renhe in Zhejiang. His father was Jia Yu, styled Zuxi. Starting as a clerk in the Dragon Flying Guard, he went on to serve as magistrate of Anding County; later, as a director in the Ministry of War, he was posted as regional inspector of the Tongyong Circuit and eventually rose to financial commissioner of Jiangnan, earning distinction at every post. Recalled to the capital, he was appointed director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. The court ordered him to compile a concise manual on tax and corvée obligations, but the work remained unfinished. He died before completing the assignment.

翔麟自副貢生授兵部主事，出榷廣東關稅。沿海諸稅口，遠者去省二千里，吏役苛索，商民重困。翔麟嚴其禁，並移行府縣察究。康熙三十三年，考選陝西道御史，遂疏請以諸稅口交府縣徵收，著為令。

Xianglin entered service as a Ministry of War secretary after graduating as a tribute student, and was posted to collect Guangdong customs revenue. Coastal tax stations stretched as far as two thousand li from the provincial capital, where clerks and runners extorted merchants and commoners with crushing severity. Xianglin rigorously enforced prohibitions against such abuses and circulated orders to prefectures and counties to investigate offenders. In the thirty-third year of Kangxi (1694), after selection as a Shaanxi circuit censor, he memorialized that coastal tax collection be transferred to prefectures and counties—a reform thereafter enacted as permanent law.

尋命巡視西城。大學士熊賜履以誤擬旨罷，復起為吏部尚書。翔麟疏劾：「賜履竊講學虛聲，前因票擬錯誤，嚼毀草簽，卸過同官。皇上從寬，放歸田裡。旋賜起用，晉位冢宰，毫無報稱。其弟賜瓚包攬捐納，奉旨傳問，賜履不求請處分，猶泰然踞六卿之上。乞賜罷斥。」右通政張雲翮，故靖逆侯勇子。勇妻李卒，雲翮不居喪。翔麟疏劾：「雲翮縱非李出，嫡母、繼母並製三年，豈可視為陌路？乞嚴加議處，以儆敗類。」雲貴總督趙良棟討吳三桂，定雲南，以敘功未允，為部下乞恩，屢有求請。翔麟疏劾：「良棟效力行間，悉由皇上指授方略。蕩平後敘功，既經廷議，重以睿裁，輕重無不允當。事閱十年，而良棟猶嘵嘵不已，妄肆薦揚，市恩於眾，借矜己功。且越例求賜莊田、房屋，言詞狂悖，大不敬。乞下所司定罪。」賜履雅負清望，良棟功臣，雲翮功臣子，翔麟論列無所避，以是得直聲。俄又劾賜履及侍郎趙士麟亂銓政，條列以上。

He was soon appointed to inspect the Western City district of the capital. Grand Secretary Xiong Cilu had been dismissed for drafting an erroneous rescript, but was later restored and appointed minister of personnel. Xianglin impeached him in a memorial: "Cilu cultivates an empty reputation as a scholar-official. When he once drafted a mistaken rescript, he chewed up the draft slip and shifted blame onto a colleague. The emperor showed mercy and sent him home to retirement. He was soon recalled and promoted to head of the Six Ministries, yet has shown no gratitude in service whatsoever. His younger brother Cizan monopolized the sale of offices; when summoned for questioning by imperial order, Cilu made no request for punishment and still sits complacently above the six ministers. I request that he be dismissed from office." Right Vice Commissioner of Transmission Zhang Yunyi was the son of the late Marquis Yong, who had pacified rebellion. When Marquis Yong's wife Lady Li died, Yunyi failed to observe mourning. Xianglin impeached him: "Even if Yunyi was not Lady Li's biological son, both birth mother and stepmother require three years of mourning—how can he treat them as strangers? I request that he be severely punished as a warning to others who would violate moral norms." Yunnan-Guizhou Governor Zhao Liangdong had suppressed Wu Sangui and pacified Yunnan, but dissatisfied with the merit awards granted, he repeatedly petitioned on behalf of his subordinates. Xianglin impeached him: "Liangdong's battlefield service owed entirely to strategies assigned by the emperor. After the rebellion was crushed, merit awards were deliberated in court and confirmed by imperial judgment—every rank was fairly assigned. Ten years have passed, yet Liangdong still clamors on, recklessly promoting favorites, currying popular favor, and boasting of his own achievements. He has further transgressed precedent by demanding gifted estates and houses, his language wild and insolent—gross disrespect to the throne. I request that the appropriate authorities determine his punishment." Though Cilu enjoyed a long-standing reputation for integrity, Liangdong was a meritorious general, and Yunyi the son of one, Xianglin criticized them all without hesitation and thereby earned a reputation for upright candor. Shortly afterward he again impeached Cilu and Vice Minister Zhao Shilin for corrupting the appointment system, submitting a detailed bill of particulars.

官御史十年，乞歸，貧至不能舉火，蕭然不改恆度。尋卒。

After ten years as a censor he retired; though so poor he could scarcely afford fuel, he maintained his austere integrity unchanged. He died shortly thereafter.

高遐昌，字振聲，河南淇縣人。康熙十五年進士，授湖南龍陽知縣。以屯賦重，請減與民田同額。父憂去。服闋，補廣東東莞知縣，歷茂名、信宜，護高州知府，皆有聲。行取，擢刑部主事，累遷戶部郎中。

Gao Xiachang, styled Zhensheng, came from Qi County in Henan. A jinshi of the fifteenth year of Kangxi (1676), he was appointed magistrate of Longyang County in Hunan. Finding military colony taxes excessively burdensome, he petitioned to reduce them to the same rate as civilian farmland. He left office to observe mourning for his father. After mourning he was posted as magistrate of Dongguan in Guangdong, later served in Maoming and Xinyi, and acted as prefect of Gaozhou, earning a good reputation at each post. Selected for service in the capital, he rose from secretary in the Ministry of Justice to director in the Ministry of Revenue.

四十六年，授戶科給事中。時提督九門步軍統領託合齊恃權不法，給事中王懿德列款疏劾。上方幸熱河，遐昌詣行在繼劾之。略言：「託合齊欺罔不法，經懿德糾參，臣又何敢置喙？伏念其所以橫恣，皆緣握權太過。自督捕裁，而所轄三營改歸提督，悍將驕兵，毫無忌憚。請仍歸兵部擇司官督率，考勤惰、禁勒索，營務防汛，晝夜巡邏，即有姦匪，不得妄牽無辜，私刑酷訊。提督干預詞訟，奸民構弁兵，擇人而噬，民不聊生。請仍歸大、宛二縣，五城司坊、巡城御史以及府尹、治中。逃盜命案，歸於刑部，一秉國法。提督管理街道，縱其兵丁肆為貪噬，勢壓官民。請五城分治，仍歸司坊。每年工部保題司官督理，庶法官守制，無復軼越。此皆本朝舊例，當歸所司，防微杜漸，不致成積重之勢。」疏上，上以巡捕三營併步軍統領，非自託合齊始。司坊管街道，畏懼顯要，止知勒索鋪戶，故亦歸併步軍統領。今既累商民，即以遐昌兼管，期一年責以肅清。遐昌既任事，革除陋規，街道溝渠次第平治，兵民以安。兩屆報滿，仍命接管。

In the forty-sixth year of Kangxi (1707), he was appointed supervising secretary in the Office of Scrutiny for Revenue. At the time Tuoheqi, commander of the Nine Gates Infantry, abused his authority unlawfully; Supervising Secretary Wang Yide submitted a detailed impeachment memorial against him. While the emperor was at his Rehe retreat, Xiachang traveled to the imperial lodge and submitted a follow-up impeachment. He wrote in summary: "Tuoheqi has deceived the throne and broken the law; since Wang Yide has already impeached him, what more can I add? Yet I submit that his tyranny stems entirely from excessive concentration of power in his hands. Since the Chief Pursuit office was abolished and its three battalions placed under the infantry commander, fierce generals and arrogant soldiers have acted without restraint. The battalions should be returned to Ministry of War supervision, with bureau officials appointed to monitor discipline, forbid extortion, manage garrison and flood-defense duties, and patrol the walls day and night—so that even when criminals are at large, innocents are not arbitrarily detained or tortured in private interrogations. The commander interferes in civil litigation, while unscrupulous citizens frame soldiers against their enemies; the populace can scarcely survive. Civil jurisdiction should be restored to the counties of Daxing and Wanping, the Five Cities ward officers, the wall-patrol censors, and the metropolitan prefect and vice-prefect. Cases involving fugitives, bandits, and homicide should fall under the Ministry of Justice, to be adjudicated uniformly under national law. Street administration under the infantry commander has allowed soldiers to plunder freely, their power overwhelming both officials and commoners. Street governance should be divided among the Five Cities and restored to the ward officers. Each year the Ministry of Works should nominate supervising officials, so that each agency respects its proper jurisdiction and no further overreach occurs. These were all established precedents of our dynasty; restoring them to their proper agencies would check abuses early and prevent power from accumulating beyond control." When the memorial reached the throne, the emperor replied that consolidating the three pursuit battalions under the infantry commander predated Tuoheqi's tenure. Ward offices managed the streets but feared the powerful and only extorted shopkeepers, so street administration was merged under the infantry commandant as well. Now that merchants and people had suffered enough, Xiachang was put in concurrent charge, with one year to restore order. Once Xiachang took office he abolished corrupt practices; streets and drains were put in order, and soldiers and civilians lived in peace. After two terms he was still ordered to continue in charge.

託合齊陰圖報復，欲伺隙中傷。五十年，上自暢春園還，見內城街道被侵占甚窄，召託合齊詰責之。託合齊奏外城尤窄。命尚書赫碩色等察勘，託合齊故引視僻巷，民居佔官街得三百餘間，謂皆遐昌任內所造，逮下刑部獄。尚書齊世武，託合齊黨也，將刑訊，主事蔣晟持不可。乃議遐昌以官街邀民譽，應發奉天安置。託合齊黨复譁，言遐昌受賂。嚴訊家屬，定爰書，謂據供雖未受賂，但風聞街道舊規，鋪戶修房，每間與胥役錢二三百，以此例之，房三百餘間，計錢七百五十千，當枉法贓律處絞。朝審，具冤狀。尚書王掞、李天馥謂遐昌廉能為上知，宜從寬典，富寧安讚之，獄乃緩。會託合齊以病乞假，隆科多攝其職，因言託合齊罔上行私，橫恣貪婪，及誣陷遐昌狀。上命釋遐昌，都人爭赴獄舁之出，擁赴闕謝。及出都，送者填溢，醵金完懸贓。遐昌歸，未幾卒。

Tuoheqi secretly plotted revenge and watched for a chance to strike at him. In the fiftieth year, returning from the Garden of Everlasting Spring, the emperor saw inner-city streets narrowed by encroachment and summoned Tuoheqi to rebuke him. Tuoheqi reported that the outer city was even narrower. The emperor ordered Minister Hesose and others to inspect; Tuoheqi deliberately led them through secluded alleys, found more than three hundred dwellings encroaching on official streets, claimed all were built during Xiachang's tenure, and had him sent to the Ministry of Punishments prison. Minister Qishiwu, a member of Tuoheqi's faction, was about to torture him in interrogation; director Jiang Sheng objected. They then argued that Xiachang had used official streets to win popular praise and ought to be sent to Fengtian for resettlement. Tuoheqi's faction clamored again, claiming Xiachang had taken bribes. His family was strictly interrogated and the case record fixed: though confession showed no direct bribes, by old street practice shopkeepers paid clerks two or three hundred cash per room when repairing houses; for more than three hundred rooms that totaled seven hundred fifty thousand cash, warranting strangulation under the statute on illicit gain through bending the law. At court review he presented a statement of wrongful conviction. Ministers Wang Yan and Li Tianfu said the emperor knew Xiachang's integrity and ability and he ought to receive lenient treatment; Funing'an agreed, and the case was slowed. When Tuoheqi begged sick leave, Longkodo took over his duties and reported that Tuoheqi had deceived the throne, pursued private ends, acted violently and greedily, and had framed Xiachang. The emperor ordered Xiachang released; capital residents rushed to the prison to carry him out and escorted him to the palace gate to give thanks. When he left the capital, well-wishers filled the roads and pooled money to pay off the suspended illicit-gain fine. Xiachang returned home and died before long.

論曰：康熙間以直言著者，魏象樞、郝浴、楊素蘊、彭鵬、趙申喬輩，易攵歷中外，卓然為名臣。希轍、縉，自世祖朝巳在諫垣，有獻替。弘嘉論十漸，層雲爭國體，陳義皆甚高。若德格勒、紫芝、重光忤明珠，愷曾彈李光地，翔麟論熊賜履、趙良棟，遐昌抗託合齊，雖所糾繩賢不肖不同，謇謇匪躬，不為名懾，不為勢撓，謚為「遺直」，殆無愧歟？

The commentator says: Among those famed in the Kangxi era for blunt speech were Wei Xiangju, Hao Yu, Yang Suyun, Peng Peng, Zhao Shenqiao, and others, who served at court and in the provinces and stood out as renowned ministers. Xizhe and Jin had served in the remonstrance offices since the Shunzhi reign and offered constructive counsel. Hongjia discussed the ten gradual deteriorations and Cengyun contended for national dignity—the principles they advanced were all lofty. Degele, Zizhi, and Chongguang offended Mingzhu; Kaiceng impeached Li Guangdi; Xianglin criticized Xiong Cilu and Zhao Liangdong; Xiachang resisted Tuoheqi—though their targets differed in worth, all were upright and devoted to duty, unafraid of reputation and unbowed by power; styled "Remaining Upright," can they scarcely be said to fall short of that title?

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