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卷285 列傳七十二 王紫绶 袁州佐 黎士宏 多宏安 王𦈡 张孟球

Volume 285 Biographies 72: Wang Zishou, Yuan Zhouzuo, Li Shihong, Duo Hong An, Wang Xu, Zhang Mengqiu

Chapter 285 of 清史稿 · Draft History of Qing
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Chapter 285
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Biographies 72
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Wang Zishou, Yuan Zhouzuo, Li Shihong, Duo Hong'an, Tong Guopin, Wang Xu, Tian Chengrui, and Zhang Mengqiu
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歿西使
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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西 使 退
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 Xiangju nominated Zishou and Tang Bin to compete. Both were sent home. He died.
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西 西 西 宿 宿
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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西
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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媿 西 使
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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西
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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西使 調 西 西 使 調 使
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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西 使 使 椿 西使
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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調宿 使 調
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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使 鹿
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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使 宿
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. The brawl fell outside the grace period for wounds; Xu asked why there was 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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西 調西 西 調
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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調 調 宿 使
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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西調 宿西 使
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 Tinglu 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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Late in Kangxi he retired and never served again. Early in Qianlong he died at eighty.
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退 使
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.
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