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列傳七十二
Biographies 72
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Wang Zishou, whose courtesy name was Jinzhang, came from Xiangfu in Henan. In the third year of the Shunzhi reign he became a jinshi and was chosen as a Hanlin bachelor. After completing his Hanlin training he was made a compiler. He took leave to care for his parents and went home, living in the Sumen Mountains as a guest scholar under Sun Qifeng. He remained there seventeen years until his mother's death; after mourning, in the twelfth year of Kangxi he was appointed vice commissioner of the Gannan Circuit in Jiangxi.
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吳三桂反，贛南總兵劉進寶有謀略，紫綬推誠結納，預籌防禦。 既而江西降眾屯墾者相繼叛，惟贛南尚未動。 紫綬與進寶謀：「閩、粵反已見端，贛南扼其間，應援前朝故事，設巡撫以資鎮攝。」 申疆吏上請，允之。 十四年，賊勢益熾，山寇蜂起，鎮兵疲於奔命，乃練鄉勇以輔之，屢殺賊有功。 十五年，巡撫白色純及進寶先後卒官，參將周球領鎮兵。 三桂將高得捷、韓大任據吉安，餉道絕，屬縣相繼陷。 大任屢致書勸降，送偽署巡撫劄，紫綬斬其使。 球以乏餉為難，紫綬集士商勸輸間架稅，得白金四萬畀球，餉以無缺。 鎮南將軍覺羅舒恕率禁旅下廣東，為尚之信將嚴自明所敗，兵退，距贛州三十里。 自明約得捷由吉安會師夾擊。 紫綬薦降將許盛率所部漳州水兵五百人益師，夜泅江斫賊營，禁旅繼之，擊敗自明。 得捷等勢孤，不敢复窺贛。 鎮兵出剿土寇，掠村民，紫綬曰：「鄉民脅從，若並以賊論，贛南二府十六縣將無孑遺。」 戒鎮將毋妄發兵，飭有司招撫，分別留遣，賑濟難民，境內稍安。 乃規复萬安、泰和兩縣。 自螺山間道達墨潭，可登舟，於是南昌道始通，運餉銀十萬至。 又發附近倉穀贍軍，人心大定。 巡撫佟國禎亦自間道至，始知紫綬已擢浙江督糧道參政。 贛南久不通驛報，大學士李霨言於朝曰：「紫綬死守危疆，三年於茲。 為國惜才，援而出之，猶可大用。」 故有是擢。 紫綬聞命泣下。
When Wu Sangui rose in rebellion, Gannan's garrison commander Liu Jinbao proved resourceful; Zishou won his trust and laid plans for defense ahead of time. Soon surrendered troops on garrison farms across Jiangxi rebelled in succession, yet Gannan still held firm. Zishou urged Jinbao: "Revolt in Fujian and Guangdong is already visible; Gannan stands between them. As in earlier dynasties, we should petition for a provincial governor to tighten control." They submitted the proposal through frontier officials, and it was approved. In the fourteenth year the rebels grew stronger and mountain bandits rose everywhere; with garrison troops exhausted, he drilled local militia to aid them and won repeated victories. In the fifteenth year Governor Bai Sechun and Jinbao died in succession; Deputy Commander Zhou Qiu assumed command of the garrison. Sangui's generals Gao Dejie and Han Daren held Ji'an, cutting supply lines as dependent counties fell one by one. Han Daren wrote repeatedly urging surrender and sent a forged appointment as governor; Zishou beheaded the envoy. When Zhou Qiu pleaded shortage of funds, Zishou rallied merchants to pay a building-frame tax, raising forty thousand taels for him so supplies never failed. General Jueluo Shushu led the Banner guards into Guangdong, was beaten by Shang Zhixin's general Yan Ziming, and fell back to within thirty li of Ganzhou. Ziming arranged with Dejie to unite their armies from Ji'an in a converging strike. Zishou had the defector Xu Sheng bring five hundred Zhangzhou marines; at night they swam the river and struck the rebel camp, the guards following, and routed Ziming. Dejie and his allies, isolated, no longer dared menace Ganzhou. Garrison troops raided villagers while hunting bandits; Zishou warned: "These people were coerced—treat them all as rebels and Gannan's two prefectures and sixteen counties will be emptied." He barred reckless deployments, ordered officials to offer amnesty, sorted who to retain or send away, and relieved the destitute until the region quieted. He next set out to recover Wan'an and Taihe. A trail through Luoshan reached Motan where boats could embark; the Nanchang route reopened and a hundred thousand taels of supplies arrived. He released grain from nearby stores to feed the troops, and morale steadied. Governor Tong Guozhen arrived by a secret path and learned Zishou had already been promoted to Zhejiang grain-intendant. With no courier news from Gannan for years, Grand Secretary Li Ji told the court: "Zishou has held this desperate frontier three years running. For the state's sake, recall him while he can still serve greatly." That was why he received the promotion. When the order reached him Zishou wept.
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In the sixteenth year he took up his post, surveyed entrenched abuses, and sighed: "This grain office is unbearable! Canal cuts leave the army short while surcharges crush the people—how can I exhaust the southeast to profit from it?" Within a month he pleaded illness and resigned. When the special erudition examination opened, Wei Xiangshu nominated Zishou and Tang Bin to compete. Both were sent home. He died.
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袁州佐，字左之，山東濟寧人。 順治十二年進士，授陝西乾州知州。 入為工部員外郎，遷郎中。 有清直聲，胥吏不敢牟利。 時山陵工巨，經費浩穰，州佐曰：「民困極矣，寸縑尺縷，皆閭閻膏血！」 力清乾沒，司焚帛，省金錢鉅萬。 出為陝西甘山道僉事。 青海蒙古諸部覬得大草灘為牧地。 康熙九年，偕提督張勇度地畫界，堅拒，寢其議。 自後青海蒙古諸部人不敢复窺邊。 歲協西寧餽運，負載千里，甘州民苦之，州佐力請得罷。 甘州駐兵數千，待餉急，力為籌備，軍得宿飽。 十年，遷直隸口北道參議。 地確民貧，逋課積累，倉儲歷歲侵漁，耗蝕無算。 州佐請按籍覈實，清宿蠹。 大吏懼以失察得罪，陽韙而陰沮之。 州佐擘畫盤錯，致疾乞休，未去官，卒。
Yuan Zhouzuo, courtesy name Zuozhi, came from Jining in Shandong. In the twelfth year of Shunzhi he became jinshi and was made prefect of Qianzhou in Shaanxi. He entered the Ministry of Works as an outer-section clerk and rose to director. Known for integrity, he kept clerks from profiteering. Imperial tomb works were vast and costly; Zhouzuo said: "The people are exhausted—every inch of cloth is their lifeblood!" He rooted out graft, oversaw ritual burning, and saved vast sums. He was posted as assistant commissioner of the Ganshan Circuit in Shaanxi. Qinghai Mongol tribes eyed the Great Grass Beach for pasture. In Kangxi 9, with Commissioner Zhang Yong he surveyed the border, stood firm, and the plan died. After that Qinghai Mongols no longer raided the border. Annual Xining convoys over a thousand li burdened Ganzhou; Zhouzuo had the practice abolished. Thousands of troops at Ganzhou needed pay; he provisioned them so they ate full every night. In the tenth year he became assistant intendant of Koubei in Zhili. The soil was poor, taxes in arrears, granaries plundered yearly beyond reckoning. Zhouzuo asked to verify registers and purge old corruption. Superiors feared negligence charges; they praised him to his face while blocking him behind his back. Wrestling with knotty affairs he fell ill, sought retirement, and died still in post.
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Long at Ganzhou, he spoke of frontier defense with exhaustive clarity. He urged the kaizhong salt trade: one third of Hedong salt quotas could feed armies west of the river; militia should be drilled and drafted so elite troops need not wait on recruitment. An edict chose distinguished circuit officials for central posts; Zhouzuo was selected but died before taking office.
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Li Shihong, courtesy name Kuiceng, came from Changting in Fujian. As a youth he studied in the mountains twenty years, steeped in filial piety and fraternity. In Shunzhi 11 he passed the Shuntian provincial exam and became reviewing officer of Guangxin in Jiangxi. He uprooted bullies and punished graft until wrongdoers quailed. In trials he freed hundreds of innocents; people said, "Meet Li and you live." He also acted as magistrate of Yushan. After war grass stood three feet high in the streets; only thirty-two households remained. He founded schools and offices, gathered refugees, opened fields and set taxes, and people returned to their trades. When the post was cut he became magistrate of Yongxin. His rule was clean, prisons sparse, and the people rested. By custom tax collection opened in the second month and half was due in the fifth. He told superiors: "This small county is poor—in the second month ten piculs on the books cost a tael in loans; by the third month six piculs, by the fourth three. Open collection in the fourth and remit in the fifth—two months' delay would save the poor tens of thousands of piculs." Treasurer Liu Jian, naturally mild, agreed at once.
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甲訴乙悔婚。 鄉俗婚書各裝為卷，書男女生辰。 兩造固鄰舊，女生辰所素悉，偽為卷為證。 士弘先問媒證：「乙得甲聘禮若干？ 行聘時有何客？」 媒證出不意，妄舉以對。 復問甲，所對各異。 擘視捲軸，竹猶青，笑詰之曰：「若訂婚三載，捲軸竹色猶新，此非臨訟偽造者乎？」 甲乃服罪。 縣吏左梅伯有叔富而無子，梅伯糾賊劫殺之，獲賊而梅伯逃。 士弘抵任，叔妻哭訴，陰跡梅伯匿安福勢宦家，故緩詞曰：「此舊事。 前官不了，余安能按之？」 數月，梅伯歸，叔妻复訴，置不問。 梅伯且出收叔遺產，叔妻號於庭曰：「公號廉明，今寬殺人者罪，且佔寡婦田，何得為廉明！」 陽怒，批其牘曰：「止問田土，不問人命。」 梅伯益自得，赴縣訴理，乃笑謂曰：「候汝三載矣！」 批其牘曰：「止問人命，不問田土。」 梅伯遂伏法。 其善斷獄多類此。 考最，擢陝西甘州同知。 复考最，擢江南常州知府。
One party sued another for breaking a betrothal. Locally each marriage contract was a scroll with the couple's birth dates. As neighbors the girl's birth date was known; a forged scroll was produced. Shihong first asked the matchmaker: "How much betrothal gift did B take from A? Who attended the betrothal?" Caught off guard, the matchmaker invented answers. Questioning A, the answers did not match. He split the scroll—the bamboo was still green—and laughed: "Betrothed three years and the bamboo is fresh? This was forged for court." The plaintiff then confessed. Clerk Zuo Meibo's uncle was rich and childless; Meibo hired bandits to kill him; the bandits were caught but Meibo escaped. On taking office the widow appealed; he traced Meibo to a powerful Anfu household and said mildly, "This is an old affair. My predecessor left it unsettled—how can I take it up?" Months later Meibo returned; she appealed again and he ignored it. Meibo seized the estate; the widow cried in court: "They call you upright, yet you spare a killer and take a widow's fields—what uprightness is this!" Feigning anger he wrote: "I ask only about the land, not the killing." Emboldened, Meibo sued; Shihong smiled: "I have waited three years for you!" He wrote: "I ask only about the killing, not the land." Meibo was executed. Most of his judgments were of this sort. Rated top, he was promoted subprefect of Ganzhou in Shaanxi. Rated top again, he became prefect of Changzhou in Jiangnan.
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When Sangui rebelled the northwest shook; he was nominated vice commissioner of Taoxi, but Tao and Min fell before he arrived. Border tribes raided in the turmoil; he was posted to act as Ganshan commissioner. Wang Fuchen rebelled and the east bank of the river was lost. With troops massed he told the governor: "Recovering Hedong requires Hexi troops; and Hexi troops require Commissioner Zhang Yong." The memorial was sent; Yong became Pacification General commanding all forces. Lanzhou was retaken; Shihong's planning counted most. Acting Gansu judicial commissioner, he tried officials for lost posts with scrupulous fairness. When Ningxia troops mutinied and killed Commissioner Chen Fu, he was posted to the Ningxia Circuit. He held the defenses, quieted unrest, and waived seventy-five thousand piculs of guard-post grain arrears. In Kangxi 16, with the rebels subdued, he was promoted administration commissioner for his service. His mother aged; he sought retirement and lived at home nearly thirty years. He died at eighty.
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While readying troops on Ganshan he quoted Jin Xianying: "In camp only benevolence and forbearance avail." He named his hall accordingly.
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多弘安，字君修，直隸阜城人。 順治五年，選拔貢生。 康熙初，授廣東靈山知縣。 兵後荒殘，居無衙舍。 弘安請免積年逋賦，招撫流移，捐給牛種，民得安耕稼。 葺城垣，創學宮，繕官廨，捕除盜賊，靈山大治，士民刊石紀其績。 七年，遷奉天承德知縣。 旗、民抗法者，送部懲治，皆懾服。 十年，擢陝西延安靖邊同知。 十六年，補江南淮安山盱河務同知。 時高堰長堤潰決，淮水注寶應、高郵，不復出清口敵黃。 黃水直注里河，運道淤淺，复隨淮入堰，無由會清口下云梯關入海，近海口盡淤墊。 弘安與河督靳輔籌策築高堰，束淮敵黃，治爛泥淺諸故道，導清水入里河，運道乃通。 修築兩岸及河口清江大閘，與淮工相表裡。 清河達雲梯關數百里，葭葦榛蕪，壅塞故道。 用以水攻沙法，塞周橋、高澗諸閘，使清淮無旁洩，蓄全力攻積沙。 十七年，大雨，淮盛漲，與黃併入海。 治淮、治黃、治運，並收成效。 十九年，擢淮安知府。 二十年，擢淮揚道。 二十四年，擢安徽按察使。 時方議浚下河、治高堰。 弘安入覲，疏陳：「高堰宜急治，無論下河開浚與否。 治堰法，砌石先安地釘，湖底水深，費帑甚繁。 如用板若掃，水勢盪掣，尤易摧殘。 惟密釘排椿，內實以碎石，庶可敵風浪，省金錢。 十餘年後，黃河刷深，則湖、河水俱卑，高堰既固，下河亦漸就理。」 二十八年，遷江西布政使，乞歸。 後值黃、運兩河潰溢，起用弘安。 會病卒，祀靈山名宦。
Duo Hong'an, courtesy name Junxiu, came from Fucheng in Zhili. In Shunzhi 5 he was chosen as a specially promoted tribute student. Early in Kangxi he became magistrate of Lingshan in Guangdong. After war the district was ruined and he lacked even a yamen. Hong'an secured remission of tax arrears, gathered refugees, and gave oxen and seed until farming resumed. He rebuilt walls, founded a school, repaired offices, and suppressed bandits; order returned and the people set up a stone memorial. In the seventh year he became magistrate of Chengde in Fengtian. Law-breaking Bannermen and civilians were sent to the ministry for punishment and all submitted. In the tenth year he was made subprefect of Jingbian in Yan'an. In the sixteenth year he became subprefect of Shan'ou River works at Huai'an. The Gaoyan embankment burst; Huai water flooded Baoying and Gaoyou and no longer met the Yellow River at Qingkou. Yellow River water filled the inner channel; transport routes silted, then the Huai backed into the embankment with no outlet to Qingkou and the sea—the estuary choked with silt. Hong'an with Director Jin Fu built Gaoyan to pin the Huai against the Yellow River, dredged old channels, and sent clear water into the inner river until transport reopened. He repaired both banks and the Qingjiang sluice at the mouth, matching the Huai works. Hundreds of li to Yuntiling were choked with reeds blocking the old channel. By "using water to fight sand" he closed Zhouqiao and Gaojian sluices, kept Huai water from leaking off, and concentrated force to scour silt. In the seventeenth year heavy rains swelled the Huai, which entered the sea with the Yellow River. Huai, Yellow River, and transport control all succeeded together. In the nineteenth year he became prefect of Huai'an. In the twentieth year he became Huai-Yang intendant. In the twenty-fourth year he became Anhui judicial commissioner. Debate was underway on dredging the lower river and repairing Gaoyan. Hong'an at audience memorialized: "Gaoyan must be repaired at once, whether or not the lower river is dredged. Stone facing needs ground nails first; deep lake bed makes costs enormous. Boards or fascines are easily destroyed by surging water. Dense row piles packed with rubble resist wind and waves and save funds. In ten years the Yellow River will scour deeper, waters will fall, Gaoyan will hold, and the lower river will right itself." In the twenty-eighth year he became Jiangxi administration commissioner and retired. When the Yellow and transport rivers burst again he was recalled. He died of illness before reporting; Lingshan enshrined him among eminent officials.
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Tong Guopin, courtesy name Junxin, came from Fengtian. By hereditary privilege he became a clerk in the Ministry of Personnel. In Kangxi 10 he became magistrate of Dangshan on the Yellow River and studied control strategy deeply. He rose to Guiren embankment subprefect, then Sutao subprefect. Promoted Pingyuan prefect in Guizhou, Jin Fu kept him—over ten years as his right hand. He closed Yangjiazhuang and Xiaojiadu breaches, built Zhujiatang and Wenjiamiao stone dams, dredged nine Baiyang channels, built north and south embankments, and dredged the middle river. He was later promoted vice commissioner of Jining in Shandong. As hub of grain transport he eased corvée, cut harsh taxes and waste, and fulfilled his post. He was reassigned to supervise Gaoyan works. In the thirty-eighth year he died in office.
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王繻，字慎夫，河南睢州人。 少學於湯斌。 康熙二十五年，以歲貢生授直隸東明知縣。 糧賦多欺隱，易甲長，大戶使族長督之，飛灑不行，流亡來歸。 民間養官馬為累，力除之。 撫盜魁，責以緝捕，盜絕跡。 逃人誣攀良民，雪之。 民有繼妻素淫，欲並亂前妻女，不從，戕之死。 繻謂母道絕，當故殺妻前夫子律論斬，報可，因著為例。 母憂去，服闋，補獲鹿。 治驛有法，民不累於供億。 內遷戶部員外郎，擢郎中。 三十八年，出為江南糧儲道。 道舊有倉規銀鉅萬，繻一擯勿取。 將徵漕，扁舟行縣，懲其濫收者。 至宜興，宜興民曰：「吾民四十年不見糧道，今飛來耶？」 號曰「飛糧道」。 道庫歲收銀八十五萬兩，為修船及弁丁運費。 運丁預支行糧，例扣月息，丁益困，繻悉罷之。
Wang Xu, courtesy name Shenfu, came from Suizhou in Henan. As a youth he studied under Tang Bin. In Kangxi 25, as senior tribute student, he became magistrate of Dongming in Zhili. Grain fraud was rampant; he replaced headmen so clan elders supervised great households—false rolls ended and refugees returned. He abolished the burden of raising official horses. He won over bandit chiefs and charged them to hunt bandits until none remained. Fugitives had framed innocents; he exonerated them. A stepmother tried to violate her stepdaughter; the girl refused and was killed. Xu held the mother's bond severed and sought decapitation under the statute for killing a stepson's child; the court approved and made it precedent. After his mother's death and mourning he was posted to Huolu. He ran courier stations well so supply duties did not burden the people. He entered the Ministry of Revenue as clerk and rose to director. In the thirty-eighth year he became Jiangnan grain-intendant. The post carried tens of thousands of taels in customary fees; Xu refused them all. Before grain collection he toured counties by skiff and punished excessive levies. At Yixing people said: "Forty years without a grain intendant—has one flown here?" They nicknamed him the "Flying Grain Intendant." The treasury took 850,000 taels yearly for ships and transport staff. Laborers' grain advances carried monthly interest; Xu abolished the practice.
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In the fortieth year he became Jiangsu judicial commissioner. He judged with mercy and reversed many wrongful convictions. A Suzhou teacher's family was poisoned; his wife's brother was suspected and tortured into confessing. Xu doubted, asked visitors, and learned a twelve-year-old pupil had poisoned the food from fear of harsh teaching—the truth emerged. At Wuxi a man beat a tanner who died; an enemy monk claimed brawl killing. Seeing the brawl fell outside the grace period for wounds, Xu demanded: "If the injury was severe, why was there no medical care?" The prescription showed death from cold—the monk confessed. On the southern tour the emperor told Song Luo: "I hear Xu was an excellent grain intendant." Already ill, he received an imperial physician, delijiagao medicine, warm words, and imperial calligraphy. Xu said: "A judicial commissioner's burden is heavy—ruling from bed would betray the emperor's grace." He retired on illness at only fifty. He died at home years later.
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Tian Chengrui, courtesy name Jiepu, came from Fenyang in Shanxi. Under Kangxi he served as Secretariat draftsman. He went out to manage south Henan river works. An embankment faced the main current; he said: "If it breaks, ten thousand homes become fish in the flood! Earth works fail easily—stone should replace them." His family was wealthy and he paid from private funds. Promoted Daming intendant for merit, he was transferred to Lintao before taking office. In famine he rode through counties and valleys organizing relief so bullies and clerks dared not cheat. He cut a canal at Shifowan, taught water wheels, and added over a hundred thousand piculs yearly; the people built a living shrine. As Zhejiang grain-intendant acting he purged transport abuses. In drought he inspected famine in heat, fell ill, and was denied retirement. In the fifty-ninth year he died in office.
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Zhang Mengqiu, courtesy name Kuishi, came from Changzhou in Jiangnan. In Kangxi 24 he became jinshi and magistrate of Changle in Shandong. He entered the Ministry of Works as secretary. He rose to director in the Ministry of Rites. He served as Yunnan educational commissioner; after his father's death and mourning he became Fujian grain-courier. Garrison rations came from the transport system. Four upstream prefectures faced dangerous shoals. By custom tax was commuted to silver and officials procured goods, squeezing merchants. Mengqiu bought rice cheaply in Yan and Jian, hired civilian boats to the capital without clerks, and abuses ended. In mountainous country officials abused couriers; Mengqiu forbade private impressment. For major corvée he paid hire wages upfront, and courier stations were never harassed during his term.
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He was posted grain-intendant of Henan. Henan grain transport was collected and exchanged at the Weihui river landing. There had been no granaries or quota labor; transport boats were drawn from other provinces. When winter dried the rivers, grain piled on the banks, spoiled in rain and snow, and was stolen. Mengqiu first used surplus revenue to build granaries. He served as acting administration commissioner.
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For the Tibet campaign Henan supplied ten thousand horses and mules—three animals per laborer, due in two months. Mengqiu camped outside the city and inspected personally; on western routes near Shaanxi he sent officials to supervise and ended extortion and delays. In fifty-four days the full quota reached the army without troubling the people. He was promoted provincial judicial commissioner. A Lanyang man, Zhu Fuye, joined the White Lotus sect, claimed Ming descent, and stirred several counties. Mengqiu ordered Qi magistrate Ning Junzuo to ride out and capture the entire sect. The emperor sent Minister Zhang Tingshu to investigate; following Mengqiu, conspirators were executed and duped commoners released. Xichuan garrison soldiers gambled; Magistrate Cui Xi punished them; they mutinied, seized Prefect Shen Yuan of Nanyang and humiliated him, and Commander Gao Cheng could not restore order. Governor Zhang Shengzuo was under censure; acting in his place Mengqiu said: "Nanyang borders Xiang and Yun—push too hard and desperate men may turn violent; the outcome is uncertain." He secretly ordered neighboring counties to hold firm and proclaimed: "Only ringleaders die; surrender and you are spared." Seven ringleaders were executed and within days order returned.
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康熙末，乞歸，不復出。 乾隆初，卒，年八十。
Late in Kangxi he retired and never served again. Early in Qianlong he died at eighty.
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The appraisal runs: distinguished circuit officials can readily rise by routine promotion to governor-general. Men like Zishou retired early and ended as circuit officials. Zishou held a remote corner through war as the people's shield; Zhouzuo and Shihong tirelessly served the people's needs; Hong'an aided river control; Xu excelled in judging cases; Mengqiu could meet emergencies: as governor-general his achievements would surely have surpassed these. In a peaceful age they could act on conviction; knowing when to stop and be content, they surely had their reasons.