Volume 288 Biographies 75: E Ertai, Zhang Tingyu

列傳七十五

Biographies 75

鄂爾泰弟鄂爾奇子鄂弼鄂寧

Oerqi (Oertai's brother); Ebi and Ening (his sons)

張廷玉子若靄若澄若渟從子若溎

Zhang Tingyu's sons Ruowei, Ruocheng, and Ruoting, and his nephew Ruowei

鄂爾泰，字毅庵，西林覺羅氏，滿洲鑲藍旗人，世居汪欽。國初有屯泰者，以七村附太祖，授牛錄額真。子圖捫，事太宗，從戰大凌河，擊明將張理，陣沒，授備禦世職。雍正初，祀昭忠祠。

Oertai (courtesy name Yi'an), of the Xilin Gioro clan, was a Manchu of the Bordered Blue Banner whose family had long lived at Wangqin. In the dynasty's founding years, Tun Tai brought seven villages into allegiance to the Taizu and was made a company commander (niru ejen). His son Tumen served Taizong, fought at Dalinghe, attacked the Ming general Zhang Li, and was killed in battle; he was granted a hereditary assistant commandant's rank. In the early Yongzheng period he was enshrined in the Zhongzhong Shrine.

鄂爾泰，其曾孫也。康熙三十八年舉人。四十二年，襲佐領，授三等侍衛。從聖祖獵，和詩稱旨。五十五年，遷內務府員外郎。世宗在籓邸，偶有所囑，鄂爾泰拒之。世宗即位，召曰：「汝為郎官拒皇子，其執法甚堅。」深慰諭之。雍正元年，充雲南鄉試考官，特擢江蘇布政使。於廨中建春風亭，禮致能文士，錄其詩文為南邦黎獻集。以應得公使銀買穀三萬三千四百石有奇，分貯蘇、松、常三府備賑貸。察太湖水利，擬疏下游吳淞、白茆，役未舉。

Oertai was his great-grandson. He received his juren degree in the thirty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign. In the forty-second year he inherited his family's assistant commandant post and was made a third-rank imperial bodyguard. On a hunt with the Kangxi Emperor he composed responsive verse that won imperial approval. In the fifty-fifth year he was promoted to assistant department director in the Imperial Household Department. While the future Yongzheng Emperor was still prince, he sometimes asked favors of him, but Oertai refused. When Yongzheng took the throne he summoned him and said, "As a bureau officer you refused the prince's requests—your adherence to the law was remarkably firm." He comforted and praised him at length. In Yongzheng 1 he served as examiner for Yunnan's provincial examinations and was specially promoted to Jiangsu administration commissioner. In his official residence he built the Spring Breeze Pavilion, honored men of letters, and compiled their writings into the anthology Offerings of the Southern Realm. He used his allotted public envoy silver to buy more than 33,400 piculs of grain, stored across Suzhou, Songjiang, and Changzhou for famine relief and lending. He inspected Taihu waterworks and proposed dredging the Wusong and Baimao channels downstream, but the work was never carried out.

三年，遷廣西巡撫，甫上官，調雲南，以巡撫治總督事。貴州仲家苗為亂二十餘年，巡撫石禮哈、提督馬會伯請用兵，上未即許。巡撫何世璂疏言仲家苗藥箭銛利，地勢險阻，用兵不易，上即命世璂招撫，久未定，詔諮鄂爾泰。四年春，疏言：「雲、貴大患無如苗、蠻。欲安民必制夷，欲制夷必改土歸流。而苗疆多與鄰省相錯，即如東川、烏蒙、鎮雄，皆四川土府，東川距雲南四百餘里。去冬烏蒙攻掠東川，滇兵擊退，而川省令箭方至。烏蒙距雲南省城亦僅六百餘里，錢糧不過三百餘兩，取於下者百倍。一年四小派，三年一大派，小派計錢，大派計兩。土司娶子婦，土民三載不敢婚。土民被殺，親族尚出墊刀數十金，終身不見天日。東川雖已改流，尚為土目盤據，文武長寓省城，膏腴四百里無人敢墾。若改隸雲南，俾臣得相機改流，可設三府、一鎮。此事連四川者也。廣西土府、州、縣、峒、寨等一百五十餘員，分隸南寧、太平、思恩、慶遠四府。其為邊患，自泗城土府外，皆土目橫於土司。黔、粵以牂牁江為界，而粵屬西隆州與黔屬普安州越江互相鬥入。苗寨寥闊，將吏推諉。應以江北歸黔，江南歸粵，增州設營，形格勢禁。此事連廣西者也。滇邊西南界以瀾滄江，江外為車裡、緬甸、老撾諸境，其江內鎮沅、威遠、元江、新平、普洱、茶山諸夷，巢穴深邃，出沒魯魁、哀牢間，無事近患腹心，有事遠通外國。論者謂江外宜土不宜流，江內宜流不宜土。此雲南宜治之邊夷也。貴州土司向無鉗束群苗之責，苗患甚於土司。苗疆四圍幾三千餘里，千三百餘寨，古州踞其中，群寨環其外。左有清江可北達楚，右有都江可南通粵，蟠據梗隔，遂成化外。如欲開江路通黔、粵，非勒兵深入遍加剿撫不可。此貴州宜治之邊夷也。臣思前明流、土之分，原因煙瘴新疆，未習風土，故因地制宜，使之鄉導彈壓。今歷數百載，以夷治夷，即以盜治盜，苗、倮無追贓抵命之憂，土司無革職削地之罰。直至事上聞，行賄詳結，上司亦不深求，以為鎮靜，邊民無所控訴。若不剷蔓塞源，縱兵刑財賦事事整理，皆非治本。改流之法：計擒為上，兵剿次之；令其自首為上，勒獻次之。惟剿夷必練兵，練兵必選將。誠能賞罰嚴明，將士用命，先治內，後攘外，實邊防百世之利。」疏入，上深然之。

In the third year he was made Guangxi governor, but scarcely had he assumed office when he was transferred to Yunnan, where as grand coordinator he handled governor-general affairs. The Zhongjia Miao in Guizhou had rebelled for more than twenty years; Governor Shi Liha and Regional Commander Ma Huibo asked for troops, but the emperor did not approve at once. Governor He Shihong reported that the Zhongjia Miao's poisoned arrows were keen and the terrain forbidding, making war difficult; the emperor ordered Shihong to negotiate surrender, but after long stalemate he sought Oertai's advice. In the spring of the fourth year he wrote: "Yunnan and Guizhou's gravest troubles are the Miao and the tribal peoples. To secure the people one must control the tribes; to control the tribes one must replace native chieftains with regular officials (gaitu guiliu). The Miao frontier often straddles neighboring provinces. Dongchuan, Wumeng, and Zhenxiong are Sichuan native prefectures, yet Dongchuan is more than four hundred li from Yunnan. Last winter Wumeng attacked Dongchuan; Yunnan troops drove them back before Sichuan's orders even arrived. Wumeng lies only six hundred-odd li from the Yunnan capital, yet its registered land tax was barely three hundred taels while exactions from the people ran a hundred times higher. Every year brought four minor levies and every three years a major one—minor levies counted in cash, major ones in taels. When a native chief took a bride, commoners dared not marry for three years. When a commoner was murdered, his kin still paid dozens of taels in 'knife money' compensation, and the killer lived out his days unseen by daylight. Though Dongchuan had been converted to direct administration, native headmen still held sway; officials stayed in the provincial capital, and four hundred li of rich land lay unreclaimed. If placed under Yunnan so that I might convert native domains as opportunity allows, three prefectures and one garrison could be set up. This concerns Sichuan as well. Guangxi has more than 150 native prefectures, departments, counties, stockades, and villages under Nanning, Taiping, Sinan, and Qingyuan. Border troubles, except at Sincheng native prefecture, all arise from headmen lording it over native chiefs. Guizhou and Guangdong take the Zangge River as their border, yet Guangdong's Xilong and Guizhou's Pu'an cross the river and encroach on each other. Miao stockades stretch across vast territory, and officers shift blame onto one another. The north bank should go to Guizhou and the south to Guangdong; add prefectures and garrisons to constrain each other by geography. This concerns Guangxi as well. Yunnan's southwest border follows the Lancang River. Beyond it lie Cheli, Burma, and Laos; within it the tribes of Zhenyuan, Weiyuan, Yuanjiang, Xinping, Pu'er, and Chashan nest in deep mountains and raid between Lukui and Ailao—peaceable times they menace the interior, troubled times they reach abroad. Some hold that beyond the river native chiefs should rule and direct administration should not, while within the river the reverse applies. These are the frontier peoples Yunnan must govern. Guizhou native chiefs were never charged with controlling the Miao; the Miao threat exceeds that of the chiefs. The Miao frontier covers nearly three thousand li and more than 1,300 stockades, with Guzhou at the center and stockades all around. The Qing River on the left links north to Huguang; the Du River on the right links south to Guangdong; entrenched and obstructing, the region has become a land apart. To open river routes linking Guizhou and Guangdong, troops must advance deep with full suppression and pacification. These are the frontier peoples Guizhou must govern. I consider that the Ming split between direct and native rule arose because the malarial new territories were unfamiliar terrain, so they used native chiefs as guides and local enforcers. After centuries, ruling tribes with tribes means ruling thieves with thieves; Miao and Luo face no demand to return loot or forfeit life, and native chiefs face no dismissal or loss of territory. Only when cases reached the court did offenders bribe their way to closure; superiors did not probe deeply, calling it peace, and border people had no recourse. Unless the root cause is removed, organizing troops, punishments, and taxes will not touch the fundamental problem. The method of conversion: stratagem and capture first, military suppression second; inducing voluntary surrender first, forced submission second. To suppress the tribes one must train troops, and to train troops one must choose capable commanders. With strict rewards and punishments and obedient troops, pacifying the interior before securing the frontier would secure the border for generations." When the memorial arrived, the emperor strongly endorsed it.

會石禮哈疏報遣兵擊破谷隆、長寨、者貢、羊城諸隘，擒其渠阿革、阿給及諸苗之從為亂者，上命交鄂爾泰按讞。五月，鄂爾泰遣兵三道入：一自谷隆，一自焦山，一自馬落孔。破三十六寨，降二十一寨，撫苗民五百餘戶、二千餘口，察出荒熟田地三萬畝。又以鎮遠土知府刁澣、霑益土知州安於籓素兇詐，計擒之；者樂甸土司刁聯鬥乞免死，改土歸流。鄂爾泰疏報仲家苗悉定。上嘉其成功速，令議敘。旋條上經理仲苗諸事，報可。十月，真除雲貴總督。

Meanwhile Shi Liha reported that troops had broken the passes at Gulong, Changzhai, Zhegong, and Yangcheng and captured ringleaders Age and Agei along with rebel Miao; the emperor ordered Oertai to try the case. In the fifth month Oertai sent three columns: one through Gulong, one through Jiaoshan, one through Maluokong. They stormed thirty-six stockades, accepted twenty-one surrenders, pacified more than 500 Miao households and 2,000 people, and registered 30,000 mu of fallow and cultivated land. He also captured by stratagem the Zhenyuan native prefect Diao Huan and the Zhanyi native magistrate An Yufan, who had long been brutal and treacherous; the Zheledian native chief Diao Liandou pleaded for his life and accepted conversion to direct administration. Oertai reported that the Zhongjia Miao were fully pacified. The emperor praised his rapid success and ordered his merits recorded for promotion. He soon submitted detailed plans for administering the Zhong Miao, which were approved. In the tenth month he was formally confirmed as Yunnan-Guizhou governor-general.

四川烏蒙土司祿萬鍾為亂，侵東川。鄂爾泰請以東川改隸雲南，上從之。仍命會四川總督岳鍾琪按治，招其渠祿鼎坤出降。鄂爾泰令鼎坤招萬鍾，數往不就撫，乃檄總兵劉起元率師討之，破其所居寨。萬鍾走匿鎮雄土司隴慶侯所。五年，萬鍾詣鍾琪降，慶侯亦詣鍾琪請改土歸流。上命鍾琪以萬鍾、慶侯交鄂爾泰按讞。敘功，授世職拜他喇布勒哈番。三月，鎮沅倮刁如珍等戕官焚掠，遣兵討平之，獲如珍。泗城土知府岑映宸縱其眾出掠，又發兵屯者相，立七營。鄂爾泰疏劾，令諸道兵候檄進討，映宸乞免死存祀，改土歸流。鄂爾泰請映宸送浙江原籍，留其弟映翰奉祀。七月，發兵與湖北師會討定謬衝花苗，獲其渠，降其餘眾。威遠倮札鐵匠等、新平倮李百疊等應如珍為亂。九月，鄂爾泰檄臨元總兵孫宏本率師討之，獲札鐵匠，降李百疊。威遠、新平皆定。十一月，招降長寨後路苗百八十四寨，編戶口，定額賦。得旨嘉獎，進世職一等阿達哈哈番。十二月，攻破雲南倮窩泥種，取六茶山地千餘里，劃界建城，置官吏。

Lu Wanzhong, native chief of Wumeng in Sichuan, rebelled and raided Dongchuan. Oertai asked that Dongchuan be placed under Yunnan; the emperor agreed. He was also ordered to work with Sichuan governor-general Yue Zhongqi and summon the rebel leader Lu Dingkun to submit. Oertai had Dingkun summon Wanzhong, but Wanzhong refused surrender after repeated visits; Oertai then ordered regional commander Liu Qiyuan to attack and destroy his stronghold. Wanzhong fled and took refuge with the Zhenxiong native chief Long Qinghou. In the fifth year Wanzhong surrendered to Zhongqi, and Qinghou also came to Zhongqi to request conversion to direct rule. The emperor ordered Zhongqi to deliver Wanzhong and Qinghou to Oertai for trial. For his achievements he was granted the hereditary rank of Baitalabuleha. In the third month the Zhenyuan Luo chief Diao Ruzhen and others murdered officials and raided; Oertai sent troops to suppress them and captured Ruzhen. Sincheng native prefect Cen Yingchen allowed his followers to raid abroad and stationed troops at Zhexiang with seven camps. Oertai impeached him and ordered circuit troops to await orders to attack; Yingchen pleaded for his life and the preservation of ancestral rites and accepted conversion to direct rule. Oertai asked that Yingchen be sent to his native Zhejiang and that his brother Yinghan remain to maintain the ancestral rites. In the seventh month he sent troops to join Hubei forces against the Miaochonghua Miao, captured their leader, and accepted the surrender of the remainder. The Weiyuan Luo Zha Tiejian and the Xinping Luo Li Baidie joined Ruzhen's rebellion. In the ninth month Oertai ordered Linyuan regional commander Sun Hongben to attack them, captured Zha Tiejian, and accepted Li Baidie's surrender. Weiyuan and Xinping were both pacified. In the eleventh month he induced 184 rear-route Changzhai Miao stockades to surrender, registered households, and set fixed tax quotas. He received imperial commendation and was promoted in hereditary rank to first-class Adahahan. In the twelfth month he defeated the Yunnan Luo Wonizhong, seized more than a thousand li in the Liuchashan region, demarcated borders, built a walled town, and appointed officials.

雲南南徼地與安南接，前總督高其倬疏言安南國界應屬內地者百二十里，請以賭咒河為界。安南國王黎維祹奏辯，上命鄂爾泰清察。鄂爾泰請與地八十里，於鉛廠山下小河內四十里立界，上從之，敕諭安南。六年，維祹表謝，上嘉其知禮，命復與四十里。旋討擒東川法戛土目祿天佑、則補土目祿世豪；按治米貼土目祿永孝，論斬。永孝妻陸氏結倮儸為亂，檄總兵張耀祖討之，攻克門坎山。師入，獲陸氏。米貼平。廣西八達寨儂顏光色等為亂，提督田畯不能討。鄂爾泰遣兵往，儂殺光色以降。上命鄂爾泰總督雲、貴、廣西三省，發帑十萬犒師。旋又撫貴州拜克猛、長寨、古羊等生苗百四十五寨。十月，萬壽節，雲南卿雲見，鄂爾泰疏聞。

Yunnan's southern frontier borders Annam; former governor-general Gao Qisuo argued that 120 li of borderland should belong to China and proposed the Duzhou River as the boundary. Annam's king Li Weitao protested in a memorial; the emperor ordered Oertai to investigate. Oertai proposed ceding 80 li and setting the border 40 li inside the stream below Leadworks Mountain; the emperor agreed and sent instructions to Annam. In the sixth year Weitao sent thanks; the emperor praised his propriety and ordered another 40 li returned to Annam. He soon captured the Dongchuan Faga headman Lu Tianyou and the Zebu headman Lu Shihao; tried the Mitie headman Lu Yongxiao and sentenced him to death. Yongxiao's wife Lady Lu rallied the Luoluo in rebellion; he ordered regional commander Zhang Yaozu to attack and took Menkan Mountain. The troops advanced and captured Lady Lu. Mitie was pacified. At Guangxi's Bada stockade the Nong chieftain Yan Guangse rebelled; regional commander Tian Jun could not suppress them. Oertai sent troops; the Nong killed Guangse and submitted. The emperor made Oertai governor-general of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi and disbursed 100,000 taels from the treasury to reward the army. He soon pacified 145 raw Miao stockades in Guizhou at Baike, Changzhai, Guyang, and elsewhere. In the tenth month, on the emperor's birthday, auspicious clouds appeared in Yunnan; Oertai reported it in a memorial.

七年正月，命超授三等阿思哈尼哈番，雲、貴兩省巡撫、提督、總兵，文知縣、武千總以上，皆加級。三月，令按察使張廣泗率師攻貴州丹江雞溝生苗，破其寨，種人悉降。上下九股、清水江、古州諸地以次定。下部議敘，鄂爾泰疏辭，而乞予曾祖圖捫封典，俾昭忠祠位得改書贈官，列大臣之末，上允其請，仍命議敘。七月，招安順、高耀等寨生苗及儂、仲諸種人內附。十月，雲南趙州醴泉出，鄂爾泰疏聞。上褒鄂爾泰化民成俗，格天致瑞，尋加少保。八年五月，招黎平、都勻等寨生苗內附。鄂爾泰既討定群苗為亂者，諸土司懾軍威納土，疆理其地，置郡縣，設營汛，重定三省及四川界域，而諸土司世守其地，一旦歸版籍，其渠誅夷、遷徙皆無幸。

In the first month of the seventh year he was specially promoted to third-rank Ashanihan, and all officials in Yunnan and Guizhou from governors and regional commanders down to county magistrates and company commanders received rank advances. In the third month he ordered surveillance commissioner Zhang Guangsi to attack the raw Miao of Danjiang Jigou in Guizhou, destroyed their stockade, and all surrendered. The regions of upper and lower Jiugu, Qingshui River, Guzhou, and elsewhere were brought under control one after another. When the ministries recommended him for honors, Oertai declined in a memorial but asked that posthumous honors be granted to his great-grandfather Tumun so the Zhaozhong Shrine tablet could be revised to show a conferred posthumous rank, placed at the end of the grand ministers' row. The emperor granted this but still ordered the honors deliberation to proceed. In the seventh month he brought the raw Miao of stockades such as Anshun and Gaoyao, together with the Nong, Zhong, and other tribes, to submit to the empire. In the tenth month sweet springs flowed at Zhao Prefecture, Yunnan, and Oertai reported it to the throne. The emperor commended Oertai for civilizing the people and establishing proper customs, saying he had moved Heaven to bring auspicious signs, and shortly thereafter promoted him to Junior Guardian. In the fifth month of the eighth year he brought the raw Miao of Liping, Duyun, and other stockades to submit. After Oertai crushed the rebellious Miao, the native chiefs, intimidated by his military power, surrendered their domains under the gaitu guiliu policy of conversion to direct administration. He reorganized the territory, established prefectures and counties, posted garrisons, and redrew the borders of the three southwestern provinces and Sichuan. Chiefs who had held their lands by hereditary tenure for generations now entered the imperial rolls; their ringleaders who were executed, relocated, or driven out could expect no mercy.

屬苗內憤，烏蒙倮最狡悍，總兵劉起元移鎮其地，恣為貪虐。六月，祿鼎坤及其族人鼎新、萬福遂糾眾攻城，劫殺起元及游擊江仁、知縣賽枝大等，盡戕其孥。鄂爾泰疏聞，請罷斥，上慰諭之。烏蒙既陷，江外涼山、下方、阿驢，江內巧家營、者家海諸寨及東川祿氏諸土目皆起而應之，又令則補、以址諸寨要截江路，以則、以擢諸寨窺伺城邑，東川境內挖泥、矣氏、歹補、阿汪諸寨，東川境外急羅箐、施魯、古牛、畢古諸寨，及武定、尋甸、威寧、鎮雄所屬諸夷，遠近響應，殺塘兵，劫糧運，堵要隘，毀橋樑，所在屯聚為亂。鄂爾泰集官兵萬數千人，土兵半之，分三路進攻：令總兵魏翥國攻東川；哈元生攻威寧，副將徐成貞副之；參將韓勳攻鎮雄。翥國師行，土目祿鼎明遣行刺，被創，以總兵官祿代將。師進，焚苗寨十三。遣游擊何元攻急羅箐，殺三百餘，降一百三十餘。游擊紀龍攻者家海，破寨，盡殲其眾。勳與苗兵遇於莫都，戰一晝夜，破寨四，殺數百人。進攻奎鄉，戰三日，殺二千餘。元生、成貞自威寧攻烏蒙，射殺其渠黑寡、暮末，連破寨八十餘，擊敗其眾數万，遂克烏蒙。鄂爾泰檄提督張耀祖督諸軍分道窮搜屠殺，刳腸截脰，分懸崖樹間，群苗讋栗。上獎鄂爾泰及諸將，以元生、成貞、勳為功首，發帑犒師。隴慶侯庶母二祿氏、四川沙馬土婦沙氏以不從亂，給誥命，賚銀幣。於是苗疆复定。鄂爾泰令於雲、貴界上築橋，命曰庚戌橋，以年紀其績也。

Resentment festered among the affiliated Miao; the Lu people of Wumeng were especially cunning and fierce. When Brigadier General Liu Qiyuan was transferred to garrison the region, he engaged in unrestrained corruption and cruelty. In the sixth month Lu Dingkun and his kinsmen Dingxin and Wanfu raised a force, stormed the city, killed Liu Qiyuan along with regimental commander Jiang Ren and magistrate Sai Zhida, and massacred their families. Oertai reported the disaster and asked to be removed from office; the emperor comforted him and urged him to continue. After Wumeng fell, Liangshan, Xiafang, and Alu on the far side of the river, stockades such as Qiaojia Camp and Zhejiahai on the near side, and the Lu native headmen of Dongchuan all rose in revolt. Stockades at Zebu and Yizhi were ordered to cut the river route, while those at Yize and Yizhuo lay in wait against the towns. From Wani, Yishi, Daibu, and Awang within Dongchuan to Jiluoqing, Shilu, Guniu, and Bigu beyond its borders, and from the tribes under Wuding, Xundian, Weining, and Zhenxiong, rebels answered from every direction—killing garrison troops, raiding grain transports, holding the passes, tearing down bridges, and massing in rebellion wherever they could. Oertai gathered more than ten thousand regular troops, with native auxiliaries numbering half as many again, and launched a three-pronged offensive: brigadier general Wei Zhuguo was to strike Dongchuan; Ha Yuansheng to attack Weining, assisted by vice commander Xu Chengzhen; and regimental commander Han Xun to attack Zhenxiong. As Wei Zhuguo's column advanced, native headman Lu Dingming sent assassins and wounded him; brigadier general Guan Lu replaced him in command. The troops pushed forward and burned thirteen Miao stockades. He sent regimental commander He Yuan against Jiluoqing, where more than three hundred were killed and more than one hundred thirty surrendered. Regimental commander Ji Long assaulted Zhejiahai, stormed the stockade, and wiped out its defenders to the last man. Han Xun met Miao fighters at Modu and battled through a day and a night, destroying four stockades and killing several hundred. He pressed the attack on Kuixiang; after three days of fighting more than two thousand rebels were slain. Ha Yuansheng and Xu Chengzhen marched from Weining against Wumeng, killed the rebel leaders Heiguo and Mumu by bowshot, overran more than eighty stockades in succession, routed a force numbering in the tens of thousands, and at last recaptured Wumeng. Oertai ordered regional commander Zhang Yaozu to lead the armies in a thorough pursuit, slaughtering rebels, disemboweling corpses, severing heads, and displaying the remains from cliffs and trees until the Miao were struck with terror. The emperor commended Oertai and his generals, singled out Ha Yuansheng, Xu Chengzhen, and Han Xun as the leading contributors, and issued treasury funds to reward the troops. The two Lu clanswomen, secondary wives of the Marquis of Longqing, and Lady Sha, the native chieftainess of Shama in Sichuan, were granted patent letters of appointment and rewarded with silver and silks for refusing to join the rebellion. The Miao frontier was pacified once again. Oertai had a bridge built on the Yunnan-Guizhou border and named it the Gengxu Bridge, marking the year of his victory.

是歲，永昌邊外孟連土司請歲納廠課六百，鶴慶邊外皦子請歲貢土物，鄂爾泰疏聞。上以邊外野夷向化，命減孟連廠課之半。皦子入貢，犒以鹽三百斤。九年，疏請重定烏蒙、鎮遠、東川、威寧營汛。別疏請興雲南水利，濬嵩明州楊林海，開墾周圍草塘，疏宜良、尋甸諸水，耕東川城北漫海，築浪穹羽河諸堤，修臨安諸處工，暨通粵河道，皆下部議行。十年，召拜保和殿大學士，兼兵部尚書，辦理軍機事務。敘定苗疆功，部議進世職一等精奇尼哈番，上特命授一等伯爵，世襲。

That year the Menglian native chief beyond Yongchang offered to pay six hundred taels in annual mining dues, and the Jiaozi beyond Heqing asked to present local products as tribute; Oertai reported both petitions to the throne. Seeing that the wild tribes beyond the border had submitted to civilization, the emperor ordered Menglian's mining dues cut in half. When the Jiaozi came to pay tribute, they were rewarded with three hundred jin of salt. In the ninth year he memorialized asking that the garrisons at Wumeng, Zhenyuan, Dongchuan, and Weining be reorganized. In a separate memorial he proposed a broad program of Yunnan waterworks: dredging Yanglin Lake in Songming, reclaiming surrounding marshlands, channeling rivers at Yiliang and Xundian, farming the Manhai floodplain north of Dongchuan, building dikes on the Yu River at Langqiong, repairing projects at Lin'an and elsewhere, and opening the river route to Guangdong. All were referred to the ministries for approval and implementation. In the tenth year he was summoned to the capital as Grand Secretary of the Baohe Hall, concurrently Minister of War, with charge of Grand Council affairs. When honors were recorded for pacifying the Miao frontier, the ministry recommended a hereditary first-rank jingqi niha fan; the emperor instead specially granted a first-rank earldom to be inherited in perpetuity.

師討準噶爾，六月，命鄂爾泰督巡陝、甘，經略軍務。九月，師破敵額爾德尼昭，鄂爾泰檄大將軍張廣泗遣兵截袞塔馬哈戈壁，斷敵北遁道。尋疏請屯田。十一年六月，還京師。入對，言準部未可驟滅，用兵久，敝中國，無益，上頗然之。

While the army campaigned against the Dzungars, in the sixth month Oertai was ordered to inspect Shaanxi and Gansu and direct military operations. In the ninth month the army defeated the enemy at Erdeni-yin Juu; Oertai ordered field marshal Zhang Guangsi to send troops to block the Guntama Gobi and cut off the enemy's escape to the north. He soon memorialized proposing garrison colonization. In the sixth month of the eleventh year he returned to the capital. In audience he argued that the Dzungars could not be destroyed quickly and that a long war would exhaust the empire to no good end; the emperor largely agreed.

十三年，台拱苗复叛。上命設辦理苗疆事務處，以果親王、寶親王、和親王、鄂爾泰及大學士張廷玉等董其事。苗患日熾，焚掠黃平、施秉諸地。鄂爾泰以從前佈置未協，引咎請罷斥，並削去伯爵。上曰：「國家錫命之恩，有功則受，無功則辭，古今通義。」允其請，予休沐，仍食俸。尋命留三等阿思哈尼哈番。

In the thirteenth year the Taigong Miao rose in rebellion once more. The emperor established an Office for Managing Miao Frontier Affairs, placing Princes Guo, Bao, and He, Oertai, Grand Secretary Zhang Tingyu, and others in charge. The Miao threat intensified daily, with Huangping, Shibing, and other districts burned and plundered. Oertai, blaming himself for inadequate earlier arrangements, asked to be dismissed and requested that his earldom be revoked. The emperor said: "In the state's bestowal of honors, one accepts them when earned and declines them when not—this has been the universal principle from antiquity to the present." He granted the request, gave him leave to rest at home, and continued his salary. He was soon allowed to retain his third-rank ashainiha fan.

八月，世宗疾大漸，鄂爾泰仍以大學士與莊親王允祿，果親王允禮，大學士張廷玉，內大臣豐盛額、訥親、海望同被顧命。鄂爾泰與廷玉捧御筆密詔，命高宗為皇太子。俄，皇太子傳旨命鄂爾泰等輔政。世宗崩，宣遺詔以鄂爾泰志秉忠貞，才優經濟，命他日配享太廟。高宗即位，命總理事務，進一等精奇尼哈番。乾隆二年十一月，辭總理事務，授軍機大臣；又辭兼管兵部，上不許，加拜他喇布勒哈番，合為三等伯，賜號襄勤。迭主會試，充領侍衛內大臣、議政大臣、經筵講官。

In the eighth month, as Emperor Shizong's illness grew grave, Oertai as Grand Secretary was named to the regency council along with Prince Zhuang Yunlu, Prince Guo Yunli, Grand Secretary Zhang Tingyu, and inner ministers Fengsheng'e, Neqin, and Haiwang. Oertai and Zhang Tingyu received the emperor's secret edict in his own hand naming Prince Gaozong as crown prince. Shortly afterward the crown prince issued an edict ordering Oertai and the others to assist in government. When Emperor Shizong died, the testamentary edict praised Oertai's steadfast loyalty and superior talent in statecraft and ordered that he be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple after death. When Emperor Gaozong ascended the throne, he was put in charge of general affairs and advanced to first-rank jingqi niha fan. In the eleventh month of Qianlong 2 he stepped down from overseeing general affairs and was appointed a Grand Council minister; he also tried to resign his concurrent charge of the Ministry of War, but the emperor refused; he was further granted talabuleha fan, raising his combined rank to third-rank earl with the honorific name Xiangqin. He presided over the metropolitan examinations in turn and served as chief commandant of the guard, deliberative minister, and imperial lecturer.

四年，南河河道總督高斌請開新運口，河東河道總督白鍾山請復漳河故道，命鄂爾泰按視。尋加太保。七年，副都御史仲永檀以密奏留中事告鄂爾泰長子鄂容安，命王大臣會鞫，請奪鄂爾泰官逮問，上不許。十年，以疾乞解任。上慰留，加太傅。卒，命遵遺詔配享太廟，並祀賢良祠，賜祭葬，諡文端。二十年，內閣學士胡中藻以詩辭悖逆獲罪，中藻出鄂爾泰門下，鄂爾泰從子甘肅巡撫鄂昌與唱和，並坐譴。上追咎鄂爾泰植黨，命撤出賢良祠。

In the fourth year Grand Canal governor-general Gao Bin proposed opening a new transport mouth and East-of-the-Canal governor-general Bai Zhongshan proposed restoring the old Zhang River course; Oertai was ordered to inspect both projects on site. He was soon promoted to Senior Guardian. In the seventh year Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhong Yongtan disclosed to Oertai's eldest son E Rong'an the matter of a secret memorial withheld by the throne; princes and grand ministers were ordered to investigate jointly and recommended stripping Oertai of office and arresting him, but the emperor refused. In the tenth year he asked to be relieved of office on grounds of illness. The emperor comforted him, kept him in office, and promoted him to Senior Tutor. He died; in accordance with the testamentary edict he was enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple and also honored in the Shrine of Worthies, granted imperial funeral rites, and given the posthumous title Wenduan. In the twentieth year Academician Hu Zhongzao was convicted for treasonous language in his poetry; as Hu had studied under Oertai and Oertai's nephew E Chang, governor of Gansu, had exchanged verses with him, both were punished by association. The emperor retrospectively blamed Oertai for faction-building and ordered his tablet removed from the Shrine of Worthies.

鄂爾泰弟鄂爾奇，康熙五十一年進士，改庶吉士，散館授編修。雍正中，四遷至侍郎，歷工、禮二部，署兵部。五年，擢戶部尚書，兼步軍統領。十一年，直隸總督李衛論劾壞法營私、紊制擾民諸狀，鞫實，當治罪，上推鄂爾泰恩，宥之。十三年，卒。

Oertai's younger brother E Erqi, a jinshi of Kangxi 51, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor and, after completing his term, was appointed a compiler. Under Yongzheng he rose through four promotions to vice minister, serving in the Ministries of Works and Rites and acting as Minister of War. In the fifth year he was promoted to Minister of Revenue and concurrently made commandant of the Metropolitan Banner Garrison. In the eleventh year Zhili governor-general Li Wei impeached him for breaking the law for private gain, disrupting regulations, and harassing the people; the charges were verified and he was liable to punishment, but the emperor pardoned him out of regard for Oertai. He died in the thirteenth year.

鄂爾泰子鄂容安，鄂實，鄂弼，鄂寧，鄂圻，鄂謨。鄂容安自有傳。鄂實與高天喜同傳。

Oertai's sons were E Rong'an, E Shi, E Bi, E Ning, E Qi, and E Mo. E Rong'an has his own biography. E Shi shares a biography with Gao Tianxi.

鄂弼初授三等侍衛，遷正紅旗漢軍副都統。出為山西巡撫，調陝西，署西安將軍。擢四川總督，未上官，卒，賜祭葬，諡勤肅。

E Bi was first appointed a third-rank guardsman and later transferred to vice commander of the Plain Red Chinese Banner. He served as governor of Shanxi, was transferred to Shaanxi, and acted as general of Xi'an. He was promoted to governor-general of Sichuan but died before taking office; he was granted imperial funeral rites and given the posthumous title Qinsu.

鄂寧，舉人，初授戶部筆帖式。屢以員外郎署副都統，復自郎中擢禮部侍郎。出為湖北巡撫，調湖南，再調雲南。師徵緬甸，雲南總督楊應琚戰失利，鄂寧以實疏聞。明端代應琚，深入戰死。鄂寧劾參贊額勒登額、提督譚五格逗遛失機。上獎鄂寧，加內大臣銜，即命代明瑞為雲貴總督。尋以與參贊舒赫德合疏議撫失上指，奪內大臣銜，左授福建巡撫，迭降藍翎侍衛。卒。

E Ning, a provincial graduate, began as a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue. He repeatedly acted as vice commander while holding the rank of department director, then rose from department director to vice minister of Rites. He served as governor of Hubei, was transferred to Hunan, and then to Yunnan. During the Burma campaign, when Yunnan governor-general Yang Yingju suffered defeat, E Ning reported the facts truthfully to the throne. Mingrui replaced Yang Yingju, advanced deep into enemy territory, and was killed in battle. E Ning impeached deputy commander Eledeng'e and regional commander Tan Wuge for dallying and letting the opportunity slip. The emperor commended E Ning, granted him the inner minister title, and immediately appointed him governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou in Mingrui's place. Soon afterward, because he and deputy commander Suhede jointly proposed pacification contrary to the emperor's intent, he was stripped of his inner minister title, demoted to governor of Fujian, and successively reduced to blue-plume guardsman. He died.

張廷玉，字衡臣，安徽桐城人，大學士英次子。康熙三十九年進士，改庶吉士。散館授檢討，直南書房，以憂歸。服除，遷洗馬，歷庶子、侍講學士、內閣學士。五十九年，授刑部侍郎。山東鹽販王美公等糾眾倡邪教，巡撫李樹德令捕治，得百五十餘人。上命廷玉與都統託賴、學士登德會勘，戮七人、戍三十五人而讞定。旋調吏部。

Zhang Tingyu, styled Hengchen, was a native of Tongcheng, Anhui, and the second son of Grand Secretary Ying. A jinshi of Kangxi 39, he entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor. After completing his Hanlin term he was appointed a reviser, served in the Southern Study, and returned home to observe mourning. When mourning ended he was promoted to palace secretary and successively served as junior tutor, reader-in-waiting, and Grand Secretariat academician. In the fifty-ninth year he was appointed vice minister of Justice. In Shandong the salt peddlers Wang Meigong and others gathered followers to promote a heterodox sect; Governor Li Shude ordered arrests and more than one hundred fifty were seized. The emperor ordered Zhang Tingyu, banner commander Toloi, and Academician Dengde to investigate jointly; seven were executed, thirty-five banished, and the case was closed. He was soon transferred to the Ministry of Personnel.

世宗即位，命與翰林院學士阿克敦、勵廷儀應奉几筵祭告文字，賜廕生視一品，擢禮部尚書。雍正元年，復命直南書房。偕左都御史硃軾充順天鄉試考官，上嘉其公慎，加太子太保。尋兼翰林院掌院學士，調戶部。疏言：「浙江衢州，江西廣信、贛州，毗連閩、粵，無藉之徒流徙失業，入山種麻，結棚以居，號曰'棚民'。歲月既久，生息日繁。其強悍者，輒出剽掠。請敕督撫慎選廉能州縣，嚴加約束。其有讀書向學，膂力技勇，察明考驗錄用，庶生聚教訓，初無歧視。」下督撫議行。命署大學士事。四年，授文淵閣大學士，仍兼戶部尚書、翰林院掌院學士。五年，進文華殿大學士。六年，進保和殿大學士，兼吏部尚書。七年，加少保。

When Emperor Shizong ascended the throne, he was ordered with Hanlin Academician Akedun and Li Tingyi to draft the mourning-altar memorial texts, granted a first-rank yin privilege for a son, and promoted to Minister of Rites. In Yongzheng 1 he was again assigned to the Southern Study. Serving with Censor-in-Chief Zhu Shi as examiner for the Shuntian provincial examination, he was praised by the emperor for fairness and prudence and promoted to Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent. He soon became chancellor of the Hanlin Academy in addition to his other duties and was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue. He memorialized: "In Quzhou, Zhejiang, and Guangxin and Ganzhou, Jiangxi—regions bordering Fujian and Guangdong—rootless drifters without employment enter the mountains to plant hemp, build sheds to live in, and are known as 'shed people. As years pass their numbers grow daily. The more violent among them frequently raid and plunder. He asked that governors and governors-general be ordered to select honest, capable local officials and impose strict control. Those who study diligently or show physical strength and martial skill should, after investigation and examination, be enrolled for service, so that in settling and educating these people they would not be treated as outcasts from the start." The memorial was referred to the governors and governors-general for deliberation and implementation. He was ordered to serve as acting Grand Secretary. In the fourth year he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, retaining his concurrent posts as Minister of Revenue and chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. In the fifth year he was promoted to Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall. In the sixth year he rose to Grand Secretary of the Baohe Hall and also held the post of Minister of Personnel. In the seventh year he was made Junior Guardian.

八年，上以西北用兵，命設軍機房隆宗門內，以怡親王允祥、廷玉及大學士蔣廷錫領其事。嗣改稱辦理軍機處。廷玉定規制：諸臣陳奏，常事用疏，自通政司上，下內閣擬旨；要事用摺，自奏事處上，下軍機處擬旨，親禦硃筆批發。自是內閣權移於軍機處，大學士必充軍機大臣，始得預政事，日必召入對，承旨，平章政事，參與機密。

In the eighth year, with campaigns underway in the Northwest, the emperor ordered a military affairs office set up inside the Longzong Gate and put Prince Yi Yunxiang, Zhang Tingyu, and Grand Secretary Jiang Tingsi in charge. It was later renamed the Grand Council. Zhang Tingyu established the regulations: for routine matters officials used formal memorials routed through the Office of Transmission to the Grand Secretariat for rescript drafting; important matters used folded palace memorials submitted through the memorial office to the Grand Council for drafting, then personally annotated in vermilion by the emperor and issued. From then on Grand Secretariat power shifted to the Grand Council; a Grand Secretary had to serve on the Grand Council to take part in government—summoned daily for audience, receiving instructions, deliberating policy, and sharing in state secrets.

廷玉周敏勤慎，尤為上所倚。上偶有疾，獎廷玉等翊贊功，各予一等阿達哈哈番，世襲。廷玉請以子編修若靄承襲。十一年，疏言：「諸行省例，凡罪人重者收禁，輕者取保。獨刑部不論事大小、人首從，皆收禁，累無辜。請如諸行省例，得分別取保。刑部引律例，往往刪截，但用數語，即承以所斷罪；甚有求其仿彿，比照定議者：高下其手，率由此起。請敕都察院、大理寺駁正；扶同草率，並予處分。」命九卿議行。大學士英祀京師賢良祠，复即本籍諭祭，命廷玉歸行禮，並令子若靄從；弟廷璐督江蘇學政，亦命來會。發帑金萬為英建祠，並賜冠帶、衣裘及貂皮、人參、內府書籍五十二種。十二月，廷玉疏言：「行經直隸，被水諸縣已予賑，尚有積潦不能種麥，請敕加賑一月。」並議以工代賑。得旨允行。十二年二月，還京師，上遣內大臣、侍郎海望迎勞盧溝橋，賜酒膳。十三年，世宗疾大漸，與大學士鄂爾泰等同被顧命。遺詔以廷玉器量純全，抒誠供職，命他日配享太廟。高宗即位，命總理事務，予世職一等阿達哈哈番，合為三等子，仍以若靄襲。

Zhang Tingyu was thorough, quick, diligent, and cautious, and the emperor relied on him above all others. When the emperor fell briefly ill, he commended Zhang Tingyu and the others for their loyal support and granted each a hereditary first-class adaha guardsman title. Zhang Tingyu asked that his son Ruowei, a reviser, inherit the title. In the eleventh year he submitted a memorial: "Under provincial practice, serious offenders are detained and minor ones released on bail. The Ministry of Justice alone detains everyone regardless of the gravity of the offense or whether the person was principal or accessory, ensnaring the innocent. He asked that bail be granted by category, as in the provinces. The Ministry of Justice often cited statutes in truncated form—a few phrases, then straight to the sentence— or even hunted for rough analogies and decided by comparison—this is where arbitrary judgments usually begin. He asked that the Censorate and Court of Judicial Review be ordered to review and overturn faulty rulings; and that officials who colluded in slipshod work face punishment as well." The emperor ordered the Nine Ministers to deliberate and carry this out. Grand Secretary Ying was enshrined in the Worthies Shrine in the capital, and sacrifice was also ordered at his native place; Zhang Tingyu was sent home to perform the rites, with his son Ruowei accompanying him; his brother Tinglu, Jiangsu educational commissioner, was also summoned to join them. Ten thousand taels from the treasury were allocated to build Ying a shrine, along with grants of official regalia, fur robes, sable pelts, ginseng, and fifty-two kinds of books from the imperial library. In the twelfth month Zhang Tingyu memorialized: "Traveling through Zhili, I found flood-hit counties already under relief, but standing water still prevents wheat planting; I ask that relief be extended one month." Relief-through-labor was also proposed. The emperor approved and ordered it carried out. In the second month of the twelfth year he returned to the capital; the emperor sent an inner minister and Vice Minister Haiwang to greet him at the Lugou Bridge with wine and a feast. In the thirteenth year, as Emperor Shizong's illness worsened, he and Grand Secretary Oertai were named regents. The deathbed edict praised Zhang Tingyu's unsullied character and loyal service and commanded that he someday receive posthumous enshrinement in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. When Emperor Gaozong took the throne, Zhang Tingyu was put in overall charge of affairs and granted a hereditary first-class adaha guardsman title combined into a third-rank zi, with Ruowei still to inherit.

乾隆元年，明史成，表進，命仍兼管翰林院事。二年十一月，辭總理事務，加拜他喇布勒哈番，特命與鄂爾泰同進三等伯，賜號勤宣，仍以若靄襲。四年，加太保。尋諭：「本朝文臣無爵至侯伯者，廷玉為例外，命自兼，不必令若靄襲。」又諭：「廷玉年已過七十，不必向早入朝，炎暑風雪無強入。」十一年，若靄卒。上以廷玉入內廷須扶掖，命次子庶吉士若澄直南書房。十三年，以老病乞休。上諭曰：「卿受兩朝厚恩，且奉皇考遺命配享太廟，豈有從祀元臣歸田終老？」廷玉言：「宋、明配享諸臣亦有乞休得請者。且七十懸車，古今通義。」上曰：「不然。易稱見幾而作，非所論於國家關休戚、視君臣為一體者。使七十必令懸車，何以尚有八十杖朝之典？武侯鞠躬盡瘁，又何為耶？」廷玉又言：「亮受任軍旅，臣幸得優游太平，未可同日而語。」上曰：「是又不然。皋、夔、龍、比易地皆然。既以身任天下之重，則不以艱鉅自諉，亦豈得以承平自逸？朕為卿思之，不獨受皇祖、皇考優渥之恩，不可言去；即以朕十餘年眷待，亦不當言去。朕且不忍令卿去，卿顧能辭朕去耶？朕謂致仕之義，必古人遭逢不偶，不得已之苦衷。為人臣者，設預存此心，必將漠視一切，泛泛如秦、越，年至則奉身以退，誰復出力為國家治事？是不可以不辨。」因命舉所諭宣告朝列，並允廷玉解兼管吏部，廷玉自是不敢言去。然廷玉實老病，十四年正月，命如宋文彥博十日一至都堂議事，四五日一入內廷備顧問。是冬，廷玉乞休沐養疴，上命解所兼領監修、總裁諸職，且令軍機大臣往省。廷玉言：「受上恩不敢言去，私意原得暫歸。後年，上南巡，當於江寧迎駕。」上乃許廷玉致仕，命待來春冰泮，舟行歸里。親制詩三章以賜，廷玉入謝，奏言：「蒙世宗遺命配享太廟，上年奉恩諭，從祀元臣不宜歸田終老，恐身後不獲更蒙大典。免冠叩首，乞上一言為券。」上意不懌，然猶為頒手詔，申世宗成命，並製詩示意，以明劉基乞休後仍配享為例。次日，遣子若澄入謝。上以廷玉不親至，遂發怒，命降旨詰責。軍機大臣傅恆、汪由敦承旨，由敦為乞恩，旨未下。又次日，廷玉入謝，上責由敦漏言，降旨切責。廷臣請奪廷玉官爵，罷配享。上命削伯爵，以大學士原銜休致，仍許配享。十五年二月，皇長子定安親王薨，方初祭，廷玉即請南還，上愈怒，命以太廟配享諸臣名示廷玉，命自審應否配享。廷玉惶懼，疏請罷配享治罪。上用大學士九卿議，罷廷玉配享，仍免治罪。又以四川學政編修硃荃坐罪，荃為廷玉姻家，嘗薦舉，上以責廷玉，命盡繳歷年頒賜諸物。二十年三月，卒，命仍遵世宗遺詔，配享太廟，賜祭葬，諡文和。

In Qianlong 1 the History of Ming was completed and presented; he was told to continue overseeing the Hanlin Academy as well. In the eleventh month of the second year he resigned from overall charge; he was further invested as tabuha guardsman and, by special order, promoted with Oertai to third-rank count and granted the honorific Qinxuan, with Ruowei still to inherit. In the fourth year he was made Senior Guardian. Soon the emperor declared: "No civil official in this dynasty has been ennobled to marquis or count rank; Zhang Tingyu is the exception—let him hold the title himself, without requiring Ruowei to inherit." He was also told: "Zhang Tingyu is past seventy—he need not come to court early, and need not attend in extreme heat or snow." In the eleventh year Ruowei died. Seeing that Zhang Tingyu needed assistance entering the inner court, the emperor posted his second son Ruocheng, a Hanlin bachelor, to the Southern Study. In the thirteenth year he asked to retire on grounds of age and illness. The emperor replied: "You owe deep debt to two reigns, and my late father's edict names you for Ancestral Temple enshrinement—how can a minister honored for posthumous sacrifice retire to farm his fields?" Zhang Tingyu answered: "In Song and Ming times, ministers honored for posthumous sacrifice also asked to retire and were allowed. And retiring at seventy is a principle honored in every age." The emperor said: "That is not so. The Book of Changes speaks of retiring when one sees the turning point—but that does not apply when the state's welfare hangs in the balance and ruler and minister are one body. If retirement were mandatory at seventy, why does the tradition of attending court with a staff at eighty still stand? Zhuge Liang wore himself out in service—what was that for?" Zhang Tingyu replied: "Liang served at the head of armies in wartime; I have been lucky to serve in peaceful ease—they are not comparable." The emperor said: "That too is wrong. Gao Yao, Kui, Long, and Bi would act the same in each other's roles. Once you shoulder the weight of empire, you do not beg off because the burden is heavy—nor may you slacken because times are peaceful? Consider this: you owe more than generous debt to my grandfather and late father—you cannot speak of leaving; to say nothing of more than ten years of my own favor—you still ought not speak of leaving. I cannot bear to let you go—how can you insist on leaving me? I hold that retirement was meant for ancients who met ill fortune and had no alternative. A minister who nurses such a thought will treat duty lightly, drift apart like strangers, and retire when age permits—then who will do the work of state? This must be clarified." He ordered these words proclaimed to the court, granted Zhang Tingyu release from concurrent charge of the Ministry of Personnel, and Zhang Tingyu no longer dared speak of leaving. But Zhang Tingyu was genuinely old and ill; in the first month of the fourteenth year he was allowed, like Song Wen Yanbo, to attend the capital yamen every ten days for deliberation and enter the inner court every four or five days as consultant. That winter Zhang Tingyu asked leave to convalesce; the emperor relieved him of his concurrent supervising-editor posts and sent Grand Councilors to visit him. Zhang Tingyu said: "Having received your grace I dare not speak of leaving, but I had hoped in private to return home for a time. The year after next, when Your Majesty tours the south, I would meet you at Jiangning." The emperor then granted Zhang Tingyu retirement and told him to wait until the ice broke the following spring and go home by boat. The emperor personally wrote three poems as gifts; Zhang Tingyu came to give thanks and said: "Emperor Shizong's edict promised me Ancestral Temple sacrifice; last year Your Majesty's gracious word held that a minister honored for posthumous enshrinement should not retire to the fields—I feared that after death I might not receive that honor after all. He doffed his hat, kowtowed, and begged a word from the emperor as pledge." The emperor was displeased but still issued a personal edict reaffirming Shizong's command and wrote a poem clarifying his intent, citing Liu Ji's retirement yet posthumous enshrinement as precedent. The next day he sent his son Ruocheng to give thanks in his place. Angered that Zhang Tingyu had not come in person, the emperor ordered an edict of rebuke. Grand Councilors Fu Heng and Wang Youdun took the order; Youdun pleaded for leniency before the edict could issue. The day after, Zhang Tingyu came to give thanks; the emperor blamed Youdun for leaking the order and issued a sharp rebuke. Court ministers asked that Zhang Tingyu be stripped of rank and denied posthumous enshrinement. The emperor stripped his count's rank, granted retirement with his original Grand Secretary title, and still allowed posthumous enshrinement. In the second month of the fifteenth year the heir apparent, Prince Ding'an, died; at the very first mourning rites Zhang Tingyu asked to return south; the emperor's anger deepened, and he showed Zhang Tingyu the roll of ministers enshrined in the Ancestral Temple and bade him judge for himself whether he deserved that honor. Terrified, Zhang Tingyu memorialized asking that his enshrinement be revoked and that he be punished. The emperor, following the joint opinion of Grand Secretaries and Nine Ministers, revoked Zhang Tingyu's enshrinement but spared punishment. When Sichuan educational commissioner Zhu Quan, a reviser related to Zhang Tingyu by marriage whom he had once recommended, was punished for an offense, the emperor blamed Zhang Tingyu and ordered return of everything the court had bestowed on him over the years. In the third month of the twentieth year he died; the emperor ordered that Shizong's edict be honored—enshrinement in the Ancestral Temple, full funeral honors, posthumous title Wenhe.

乾隆三年，上將臨雍視學，舉古禮三老五更，諮鄂爾泰及廷玉。廷玉謂無足當此者，撰議以為不可行。四十三年，上撰三老五更說，闢古說踳駁，命勒碑辟雍。五十年，復見廷玉議，以所論與上同，命勒碑其次，併題其後，謂「廷玉有此卓識，乃未見及。朕必遵皇考遺旨，令其配享。古所謂老而戒得，朕以廷玉之戒為戒，且為廷玉惜之。」終清世，漢大臣配享太廟，惟廷玉一人而已。

In Qianlong 3, as the emperor prepared to preside at the imperial school, he revived the ancient rite of the Three Elders and Five Worthies and consulted Oertai and Zhang Tingyu. Zhang Tingyu held that no one was fit for the role and drafted an opinion against it. In the forty-third year the emperor wrote an exposition on the Three Elders and Five Worthies, rejecting the old interpretation as confused, and ordered it carved on a stele at the Piyong. In the fiftieth year he came upon Zhang Tingyu's opinion again; finding it agreed with his own, he ordered it carved on a second stele with an inscription afterward: "Zhang Tingyu had this keen insight, yet I failed to see it. I shall certainly honor my late father's edict and grant him enshrinement. The ancients warned against complacency in old age—I take Zhang Tingyu's warning as my own, and regret what befell him." Through the entire Qing dynasty, Zhang Tingyu was the only Han minister enshrined in the Ancestral Temple.

子若靄，字晴嵐。雍正十一年進士。廷試，世宗親定一甲三名。拆卷知為廷玉子，遣內侍就直廬宣諭。廷玉堅辭，乃改二甲一名，授編修，直南書房，充軍機章京。乾隆間，屢遷至內閣學士。若靄工書畫，內直禦府所藏，令題品鑑別，詣益進。十一年，扈上西巡，感疾，歸卒。

His son Ruowei, courtesy name Qinglan. A jinshi of Yongzheng 11. At the palace examination Emperor Shizong personally selected the top three of the first class. When the papers were opened and his son was identified, the emperor sent a eunuch to the examiners' lodge with a message. Zhang Tingyu firmly declined; his son was placed first in the second class instead, appointed reviser, posted to the Southern Study, and made a Grand Council secretary. Under Qianlong he rose to Grand Secretariat academician. Ruowei excelled at calligraphy and painting; he was assigned to inscribe and appraise pieces in the imperial collection, and his skill steadily improved. In the eleventh year, while accompanying the emperor on a western tour, he fell ill and died after returning home.

若澄，字鏡壑。乾隆十年進士，改庶吉士，直南書房，累遷至內閣學士。卒。若澄亦工畫，亞若靄。

Ruocheng, courtesy name Jinghe. A jinshi of Qianlong 10, he entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, served in the Southern Study, and rose to Grand Secretariat academician. He died. Ruocheng also painted well, though less accomplished than Ruowei.

若渟，字聖泉。入貲授刑部主事，充軍機章京，再遷郎中。出為雲南澂江知府、四川建昌道。內擢太僕少卿，五遷至侍郎，歷工、刑、戶諸部。嘉慶五年，授兵部尚書，調刑部。七年，卒，贈太子少保，賜祭葬，諡勤恪。

Ruoting, courtesy name Shengquan. He bought his way into a secretship in the Ministry of Justice, served as Grand Council secretary, and was promoted twice to department director. He served abroad as prefect of Chengjiang, Yunnan, and intendant of the Jianchang circuit in Sichuan. Recalled to the capital he became vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and after five promotions reached vice-ministerial rank in the Ministries of Works, Justice, and Revenue in turn. In Jiaqing 5 he was made Minister of War, then transferred to the Ministry of Justice. In the seventh year he died; he was posthumously made Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent, granted funeral honors, and given posthumous title Qinke.

從子若溎，字樹穀。雍正八年進士，授兵部主事。考選江西道御史。擢鴻臚寺少卿，六遷刑部侍郎，擢左都御史。上命旌卹勝朝殉節諸臣，若溎請遍行採訪。下大學士、九卿議，以為明史外兼採各省通志，專諡、通諡已至千五六百人，不必更行採訪。若溎以老乞休。上南巡，屢迎謁。五十年，與千叟宴，御書榜以賜。歸，又二年，卒。

His nephew Ruowei, courtesy name Shugu. He received his jinshi degree in Yongzheng 8 and was appointed a secretary in the Ministry of War. He was selected as a censor of the Jiangxi Circuit. He rose to vice minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, served six times as vice minister of Justice, and was then made left censor-in-chief. When the emperor ordered honors for Ming ministers who died loyal to their sovereign, Ruowei asked that a thorough investigation be conducted nationwide. The grand secretaries and Nine Ministers deliberated and held that beyond the History of Ming, provincial gazetteers had been used, and special and general posthumous titles already covered some 1,500–1,600 people, so further investigation was unnecessary. Ruowei retired on grounds of old age. On the emperor's southern tours he repeatedly came out to welcome him. In the fiftieth year he attended the banquet for a thousand elders and received an imperially inscribed placard. He returned home and died two years later.

論曰：世宗初即位，擢鄂爾泰於郎署，不數年至總督。廷玉已貳禮部，內直稱旨，不數年遂大拜。軍機處初設，職制皆廷玉所定。鄂爾泰稍後，委寄與相埒。庶政修舉，宇內乂安，遂乃受遺命，侑大烝，可謂極心膂股肱之重矣。顧以在政地久，兩家子弟賓客，漸且競權勢、角門戶，高宗燭幾摧萌，不使成朋黨之禍，非二臣之幸歟？

The commentator writes: When Yongzheng first took the throne he promoted Oertai from a bureau post to governor-general within a few years. Zhang Tingyu was already vice minister of Rites and won favor in inner service; within a few years he was made grand secretary. When the Grand Council was first established, Zhang Tingyu defined all its offices and procedures. Oertai came slightly later, but the trust placed in him was equal. With civil government well ordered and the realm at peace, they received the deathbed charge and were honored at the great sacrifice—truly they had reached the pinnacle of trust as the emperor's closest ministers. Yet after long years in power, the sons, clients, and guests of both families gradually competed for influence and formed factions; Qianlong detected the signs early and crushed them before factional disaster could arise—is this not the good fortune of both men?

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