Volume 289 Biographies 76: Zhu Shi, Xu Yuanmeng, Jiang Tingxi, Mai Zhu, Tian Congdian, Yin Tai

列傳七十六

Biographies 76

硃軾徐元夢蔣廷錫子溥邁柱白潢趙國麟

Zhu Shi, Xu Yuanmeng, Jiang Tingxi (and his son Pu), Mai Zhu, Bai Huang, and Zhao Guolin

田從典子懋高其位遜柱尹泰陳元龍

Tian Congdian (and his son Mao), Gao Qiwei, Sun Zhu, Yin Tai, and Chen Yuanlong

硃軾，字若瞻，江西高安人。康熙三十二年，舉鄉試第一。三十三年，成進士，改庶吉士，散館授湖北潛江知縣。潛江俗敝賦繁，軾令免耗羨，用法必持平。有鬥毆殺人獄，上官改故殺，軾力爭之，卒莫能奪。四十四年，行取，授刑部主事，累遷郎中。四十八年，出督陝西學政。修橫渠張子之教，以知禮成性、變化氣質訓士。故事，試冊報部科，當有公使錢。軾獨無，坐遲誤被劾，士論為不平。會有以其事聞上者，上命軾畢試事。五十二年，擢光祿寺少卿。歷奉天府尹、通政使。

Zhu Shi, whose style was Ruozhan, came from Gao'an in Jiangxi. In 1693 he took first place in the provincial civil service examination. The following year he passed the palace examination, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and after completing his term there was posted as magistrate of Qianjiang in Hubei. Qianjiang was plagued by corrupt local practice and crushing levies. Shi abolished surcharges and miscellaneous fees, and whenever he applied the law he insisted on even-handed justice. In a homicide arising from a brawl, his superior reclassified the charge as premeditated murder. Shi fought the change vigorously and ultimately could not be overruled. In 1705 he was selected for service in the capital, appointed a principal secretary in the Ministry of Punishments, and eventually promoted to department director. In 1709 he was sent out as educational commissioner of Shaanxi. He revived the teachings of Zhang Zai of Hengqu, training students in ritual knowledge, the completion of moral nature, and the refinement of character. According to established practice, reporting examination registers to the ministry entitled the commissioner to a per-candidate allowance. Shi alone refused such payments. He was impeached for delaying the reports, and educated opinion widely regarded this as unfair. Someone eventually brought the matter to the emperor's attention, and the emperor ordered Shi to finish the examination cycle. In 1713 he was promoted to vice minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. He went on to serve as governor of Fengtian Prefecture and as commissioner of the Office of Transmission.

五十六年，授浙江巡撫。五十七年，疏請修築海塘：北岸海寧老鹽倉千三百四十丈，南岸上虞夏蓋山千七百九十丈；並議開中亹淤沙，复江海故道。又疏言：「海寧沿塘皆浮沙，雖長椿巨石，難期保固。當用水櫃法，以鬆、杉木為匱，實碎石，用為塘根，上施巨石為塘身。附塘為坦坡，亦用水櫃，外砌巨石二三重，高及塘之半，用護塘址。塘內為河，名曰備塘河。居民築壩積淤，應去壩濬河，即以其土培岸。」俱下部議行。杭州南、北兩關稅，例由巡撫監收。軾以稅口五十餘，稽察匪易，請委員兼理。部議以杭州捕盜同知監收，仍令巡撫統轄。五十八年，疏劾巡鹽御史哈爾金索商人賄，上命尚書張廷樞、學士德音按治，論如律。五十九年，擢左都御史。六十年，遭父喪，命在任守制，疏辭，上不許，請從軍自效。

In 1717 he was appointed governor of Zhejiang. In 1718 he submitted a memorial requesting seawall repairs: 1,340 zhang along the north bank at Laoyancang in Haining, and 1,790 zhang along the south bank at Xiagai Mountain in Shangyu; he also proposed dredging the central shoal's silt deposits to reopen the former river and sea channels. He further memorialized: "Along the seawalls at Haining all is loose sand; even with long piles and massive stones, lasting solidity is hard to expect. The water-chest method should be used: making chests of pine and cedar, filling them with broken stone for the foundation of the wall, and placing massive stones above as the body of the wall. Beside the wall a gentle slope should be made, also using water chests, with two or three layers of massive stones on the outside reaching half the height of the wall, to protect the foot of the wall. Inside the wall a river should be made, called the reserve seawall river. Where residents had built dams to accumulate silt, the dams should be removed and the river dredged, using that earth to build up the banks." All of these proposals were referred to the ministry for deliberation and implementation. Customs duties at Hangzhou's southern and northern passes were customarily collected under the governor's supervision. Because there were more than fifty tax stations and thorough inspection was impracticable, Shi asked that additional commissioners be appointed to share the work. The ministry ruled that the Hangzhou subprefect responsible for bandit suppression should supervise collection, while the governor retained overall authority. In 1719 he impeached the salt-circuit censor Harjin for extorting bribes from merchants. The emperor sent Minister Zhang Tinglu and Academician Deyin to investigate, and the case was decided according to law. In 1720 he was promoted to left censor-in-chief. In 1721 his father died. He was ordered to observe mourning without leaving his post; he memorialized to decline, but the emperor refused. He then asked to join the army and prove his worth in the field.

上以山、陝旱災，發帑五十萬，命軾與光祿寺卿盧詢分往勸糶治賑。軾往山西，疏請令被劾司道以下出資贍饑民，富民與商人出資於南省糴米，暫停淮安、鳳陽等關米稅；饑民流徙，令所在地方官安置，能出資以贍者得題薦；饑民群聚，易生癘疫，設廠醫治。又疏言：「倉庾積貯，有司平日侵蝕，遇災复假平糶、借貸、煮粥為名，以少報多，有名無實。請敕詳察虧空，少則勒限補還，多則嚴究治罪。至因賑動倉穀，輒稱捐俸抵補，俸銀有限，倉穀甚多。借非實借，還非實還，宜並清覈。」皆從所議行。別疏請令山西各縣建社倉，引泉溉田。上謂：「社倉始於硃子，僅可行於小縣鄉村。若奏為定例，官吏奉行，久之，與民無益。山、陝山多水少，間有泉源，亦不能暢引溉田。軾既以為請，即令久駐山西，鼓勵試行。」軾自承冒昧，乞寢其議，上不許。未幾，川陝總督年羹堯劾西安知府徐容、鳳翔知府甘文煊虧帑，請特簡親信大臣會鞫。上命軾往勘，得實，論如律。六十一年，乞假葬父，歸。

When drought struck Shanxi and Shaanxi, the emperor released 500,000 taels from the treasury and sent Shi and Lu Xun, director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, to encourage grain sales and organize relief in the two provinces. Shi went to Shanxi and proposed that impeached officials from circuit intendant rank downward contribute to feeding the hungry, that wealthy households and merchants fund rice purchases in the south, and that the rice levy at Huai'an, Fengyang, and other passes be suspended temporarily; for refugees on the move, local officials were to provide settlement, and those who could fund relief for them were to be recommended for promotion; and where hungry people gathered in large numbers, clinics should be established to treat the epidemics that so easily followed. He further memorialized: "In granary storage, officials in ordinary times embezzle; when disaster comes they again use the names of fair-price sales, loans, and porridge kitchens, reporting much from little, with name but no reality. I request an imperial order for thorough investigation of deficits; where small, compel repayment within a deadline; where large, strictly investigate and punish by law. As for moving granary grain because of relief, they always claim salary donations to make up the deficit; salary silver is limited, but granary grain is very much. Borrowing is not real borrowing, and repayment is not real repayment; all should be cleared and audited together." All of these proposals were adopted and implemented. In a separate memorial he asked that every county in Shanxi establish community granaries and channel springs for irrigation. The emperor said: "Community granaries began with Master Zhu and can only be practiced in small counties and villages. If memorialized as a fixed regulation for officials to carry out, in time it will benefit the people not at all. Shanxi and Shaanxi have many mountains and little water; even where springs exist, they cannot be freely channeled to irrigate fields. Since Shi has already requested this, let him remain long in Shanxi and encourage trial implementation." Shi then confessed his proposal had been rash and asked that it be withdrawn. The emperor refused. Soon afterward Sichuan-Shaanxi governor-general Nian Gengyao impeached Xu Rong, prefect of Xi'an, and Gan Wenxuan, prefect of Fengxiang, for treasury deficits, and asked that a specially chosen trusted minister be sent to join the investigation. The emperor sent Shi to investigate. The charges proved true, and both men were sentenced according to law. In 1722 he asked for leave to bury his father and returned home.

世宗即位，召詣京師，充聖祖實錄總裁，賜第。雍正元年，命直南書房。予其母冷氏封。加吏部尚書銜，尋復加太子太保。充順天鄉試考官，嘉其公慎，進太子太傅。二年，兼吏部尚書。命勘江、浙海塘。三年，還，奏：「浙江餘姚滸山鎮西至臨山衛，舊土塘三道，本為民灶修築。今民灶無力，應動帑興修。自臨衛經上虞烏盆村至會稽瀝海所，土塘七千丈，應以石為基，就石累土。又海寧陳文港至尖山，土塘七百六十六丈，應就塘加寬，覆條石於巔，塘外以亂石為子塘，護塘址當修砌完固。至子塘處，依式興築。海鹽秦駐山至演武場石塘，圮八十丈，潰七十丈，均補築。都計工需十五萬有奇。江南金山衛城北至上海華家角，土塘六千二百餘丈，內三千八百丈當改為石塘。上海汛頭墩至嘉定二千四百丈，水勢稍緩，土塘加築高厚，足資捍禦。都計工需十九萬有奇。」下部議行。拜文華殿大學士，兼吏部尚書。

When the Yongzheng Emperor came to the throne, Shi was summoned to the capital, appointed chief compiler of the Kangxi emperor's veritable records, and given an official residence. In 1723 he was assigned to regular duty in the Southern Study. His mother, Lady Leng, was granted an honorific title. He received the concurrent rank of minister of personnel, and soon afterward was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. As examiner for the metropolitan provincial examination he was praised for fairness and care, and was promoted to Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. In 1724 he was appointed concurrent minister of personnel. He was ordered to inspect the seawalls of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In the third year he returned and reported: "From Hushen Town west in Yuyao, Zhejiang, to Linshan Guard, there are three old earthen seawalls originally built by the salt-producing households. Now the salt households lack the means, and treasury funds should be used to undertake repairs. From Linshan Guard through Wupen Village in Shangyu to the Lihai Office in Kuaiji, an earthen wall of seven thousand zhang should have stone as its foundation, piling earth upon the stone. Also from Chenwengang to Jianshan in Haining, an earthen wall of 766 zhang should be widened on the existing wall, with strip stones laid on the crest; outside the wall loose stones should form a subsidiary wall, and the foot of the wall should be repaired and built solid. Where subsidiary walls are needed, they should be built according to the prescribed method. The stone seawall from Qinzhu Mountain to the drill ground in Haiyan had collapsed for 80 zhang and breached for 70 zhang; all should be repaired and rebuilt. In all the works would require somewhat more than 150,000 [taels]. From north of Jinshan Guard in Jiangnan to Huajiajiao in Shanghai, earthen walls of more than 6,200 zhang, of which 3,800 zhang should be converted to stone walls. From Xuntoudun in Shanghai to Jiading, 2,400 zhang; the water force is somewhat gentler, and the earthen wall should be built higher and thicker, sufficient to provide defense. In all the works would require somewhat more than 190,000 [taels]." These proposals were referred to the ministry for deliberation and implementation. He was appointed Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall while retaining the concurrent post of minister of personnel.

上命怡親王胤祥總理畿輔水利營田，以軾副之。四年，請分設四局，各以道員領其事。二月，軾遭母喪，命馳驛回籍，諭曰：「軾事母至孝，但母年八十餘，祿養顯揚，俱無餘憾。當節哀抑慟，護惜此身，為國家出力。」賜內帑治喪，敕江西巡撫俟軾至家賜祭。軾奏謝，乞終制，上允解任，仍領水利營田，期八月詣京師。九月，軾將至，遣學士何國宗、副都統永福迎勞，許素服終喪。上以浙江風俗澆漓，特設觀風整俗使，軾疏言：「風俗澆漓，莫甚於爭訟。臣巡撫浙江，知杭、嘉、湖、紹四府民最好訟。請增設杭嘉湖巡道，而以紹興屬寧台道。民間詞訟冤抑，準巡道申理。」上從其請。六年，以病乞解任，上手詔留之。八年，怡親王薨，命軾總理水利營田。尋兼兵部尚書，署翰林院掌院學士。十三年，議築浙江海塘，軾請往董其役，上俞之，敕督撫及管理塘工諸大臣咸聽節制。

The emperor put Prince Yi, Yinxiang, in charge of waterworks and military colonies in the capital region, with Shi as his deputy. In 1726 he proposed dividing the work into four bureaus, each headed by a circuit intendant. In the second month Shi suffered his mother's death; he was ordered to return home by express relay, with an edict saying: "Shi served his mother with utmost filial piety, but his mother was over eighty, and in salary support and honoring her name he leaves no regret. He should restrain his grief and suppress his anguish, cherish this body, and exert strength for the state." Imperial funds from the privy purse were granted for the funeral, and the Jiangxi governor was instructed to conduct the sacrificial rites when Shi arrived home. Shi thanked the emperor and asked to observe the full mourning period. The emperor allowed him to step down from office but to retain charge of waterworks and military colonies, with orders to return to the capital in the eighth month. In the ninth month, as Shi was nearing the capital, Academician He Guozong and Vice Banner Commander Yongfu were sent to welcome him. He was permitted to wear plain mourning dress until the mourning period ended. Because Zhejiang customs were dissolute, the emperor specially established a commissioner to observe customs and rectify morals; Shi memorialized: "Of dissolute customs, none is worse than litigation. When I was governor of Zhejiang, I knew that the people of the four prefectures Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Shaoxing were most fond of lawsuits. I request adding a Hang-Jia-Hu circuit for patrol, and placing Shaoxing under the Ning-Tai circuit. For civil lawsuits in which the people suffered injustice, the circuit intendant should be allowed to hear and decide them." The emperor approved his request. In 1728, citing illness, he asked to resign. The emperor personally ordered him to stay in office. In 1730, when Prince Yi died, Shi was put in sole charge of waterworks and military colonies. He soon added the concurrent post of minister of war and served as acting chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. In 1735, when Zhejiang's seawalls were to be rebuilt, Shi asked to supervise the project in person. The emperor agreed and ordered governors and all officials in charge of seawall works to follow his instructions.

高宗即位，召還，命協同總理事務，予拜他喇布勒哈番世職。時治獄尚刻深，各省爭言開墾為民累，軾疏言：「四川丈量，多就熟田增加錢糧；廣西報部墾田數万畝，其實多系虛無。因請通行丈量，冀求熟田弓口之餘，以補報墾無著之數。大行皇帝洞燭其弊，飭停止丈量；而前此虛報昇科，入冊輸糧，小民不免苦累。河南報墾亦多不實。州縣田地間有未能耕種之處，或因山區磽確，旋墾旋荒；或因江岸河濱，東坍西漲。是以荒者未盡開墾，墾者未盡昇科。至已熟之田，或糧額甚輕，亦由土壤磽瘠，數畝不敵腴田一畝，非欺隱者比。不但丈量不可行，即令據實首報，小民惟恐察出治罪，勉強報升，將來完納不前，仍歸荒廢。請停止丈量，飭禁首報，詳察現在報墾之田，有不實者，題請開除。」又疏言：「法吏以嚴刻為能，不問是非曲直，刻意株連，惟逞鍛鍊之長，希著明察之號。請敕督撫諭有司，讞獄務虛公詳慎，原情酌理，協於中正。刑具悉遵定制，不得擅用夾棍、大枷。」上深嘉納之。

When the Qianlong Emperor came to the throne, Shi was recalled to assist in managing state affairs and granted the hereditary rank of Beitelabuleha Fan. At that time judicial administration favored severity, and every province competed to report land reclamation as a burden on the people; Shi memorialized: "In Sichuan's land survey, they often increased tax assessments on already cultivated fields; Guangxi reported to the ministry tens of thousands of mu of reclaimed land, but in fact most was empty and false. Therefore they requested general land surveys, hoping to find surplus from the measuring cords on cultivated fields to make up the numbers of reported but unsubstantiated reclamation. The late emperor clearly saw these abuses and ordered surveys stopped; yet the earlier false reports of promotion to taxation, entered in registers and paying grain, could not but impose hardship on the common people. Henan's reported reclamation was also largely untrue. Among prefectural and county fields there were places that could not be cultivated, some because mountain districts were barren and hard, reclaimed one year and abandoned the next; some because along river banks and shores, land collapsed on one side and rose on the other. Thus wasteland was not fully reclaimed, and reclaimed land was not fully promoted to taxation. As for already cultivated fields, some had very light tax quotas, also because the soil was barren and poor, and several mu did not equal one mu of fertile land—this was not comparable to concealment and evasion. Not only were surveys unworkable; even if truthful reporting were ordered, common people would only fear discovery and punishment, force themselves to report promotion, and in the future when payment could not be completed, the land would return to waste. I request stopping surveys, forbidding voluntary reports of promotion, and thoroughly investigating presently reported reclaimed fields; where untrue, memorializing for removal from the registers." He further memorialized: "Legal officials take severity as ability, without asking right from wrong, deliberately implicating others by association, only displaying their skill in forced confessions, hoping to win a reputation for keen discernment. I request an imperial order to governors-general and governors to instruct subordinate officials that in deciding cases they must be impartial, thorough, and cautious, considering the original circumstances and weighing reason, conforming to the mean. All instruments of punishment should follow the established regulations; they must not on their own authority use leg-crushing sticks or large cangues." The emperor warmly approved both memorials.

乾隆元年，充世宗實錄總裁。九月，病篤，上親臨視疾。軾力疾服朝服，令其子扶掖，迎拜戶外。翌日，卒。遺疏略言：「萬事根本君心，用人理財，尤宜慎重。君子小人，公私邪正，判在幾微，當審察其心跡而進退之。至國家經費，本自有餘，異日倘有言利之臣，倡加賦之稅，伏祈聖心乾斷，永斥浮言，實四海蒼生之福。」上震悼輟朝，复親臨致奠，發帑治喪。贈太傅，賜祭葬，諡文端。

In 1736 he was appointed chief compiler of the Yongzheng emperor's veritable records. In the ninth month his illness turned critical, and the emperor came in person to see him. Despite his weakness Shi donned court dress, had his son support him, and went out to bow in welcome at the gate. He died the following day. His final memorial briefly stated: "In all affairs the root lies in the sovereign's mind; in employing men and managing finances, especial care is needed. Gentleman and petty man, public and private, straight and crooked, are distinguished in the subtlest signs; one should carefully examine their hearts and conduct in promoting or dismissing them. As for state revenue, it is in itself already sufficient; if in future there should be profit-seeking ministers advocating increased taxes, I humbly pray that Your Sacred Mind decide firmly, forever rejecting empty talk—this would truly be the blessing of all the people within the four seas." The emperor was deeply grieved, suspended court, came again in person to offer sacrifices, and released treasury funds for the funeral. He was posthumously made Grand Tutor, granted state funeral honors, and given the posthumous title Wenduan, "Cultured and Upright."

軾樸誠事主，純修清德，負一時重望。高宗初典學，世宗命為師傅，設席懋勤殿，行拜師禮。軾以經訓進講，亟稱賈、董、宋五子之學。高宗深重之，懷舊詩稱可亭硃先生，可亭，軾號也。子必堦，以廕生官至大理寺卿；璂，進士，官至左庶子；必坦，舉人，襲騎都尉。

Shi served his sovereign with plain sincerity, cultivated pure integrity, and commanded the highest respect of his generation. When Qianlong first began his studies, the Yongzheng emperor appointed Shi as his tutor. A seat was set in the Maojin Hall and the prince performed the ceremony of bowing to his teacher. Shi lectured from the classics and repeatedly commended the learning of Jia Yi, Dong Zhongshu, and the Five Masters of the Song. Qianlong held him in the deepest regard. In a nostalgic poem he called him Master Zhu of Keting—Keting being Shi's sobriquet. His son Bijie, entering office by hereditary privilege, rose to chief judge of the Court of Judicial Review; Qi, a jinshi, rose to left sublector of the Heir Apparent; and Bitan, a provincial graduate, inherited the rank of Cavalry Commandant.

徐元夢，字善長，舒穆祿氏，滿洲正白旗人。康熙十二年進士，改庶吉士，散館授戶部主事。二十二年，遷中允，充日講起居注官。尋复遷侍講。徐元夢以講學負聲譽，大學士明珠欲羅致之，其遷詞曹直講筵，明珠嘗薦於上。徐元夢以明珠方擅政，不一至其門，而掌院學士李光地亦好講學，賢徐元夢及侍講學士德格勒，亟稱於上前，二人者每於上前相推獎；明珠黨蜚語謂與光地為黨。二十六年夏，上御乾清宮，召陳廷敬、湯斌、徐乾學、耿介、高士奇、孟亮揆、徐潮、徐嘉炎、熊賜瓚、勵杜訥及二人入試，題為理學真偽論。方屬草，有旨詰二人，德格勒於文後申辯，徐元夢卷未竟。上閱畢，於德格勒及賜瓚有所譙讓，命同試者互校，斌仍稱徐元夢文為是。

Xu Yuanmeng, whose style was Shanchang, was a Manchu of the Sumuru clan in the Plain White Banner. He passed the palace examination in 1673, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and after completing his term there was appointed a principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. In 1683 he was promoted to junior compiler and appointed diarist of the Daily Lecture. He was soon promoted again to lecturer. Xu Yuanmeng was renowned as a lecturer. Grand Secretary Mingzhu wished to recruit him, and when Xu was transferred to the secretariat and the lecture hall, Mingzhu once recommended him to the emperor. Because Mingzhu then monopolized power, Xu never once called at his door. Chancellor Li Guangdi also loved scholarly lecturing and esteemed Xu Yuanmeng and Lecturer Degeli, repeatedly praising both before the emperor. The two men often commended each other in the emperor's presence; and Mingzhu's faction spread rumors that they were in league with Li Guangdi. In the summer of 1687 the emperor held court in the Qianqing Palace and summoned Chen Tingjing, Tang Bin, Xu Qianxue, Geng Jie, Gao Shiqi, Meng Liangkui, Xu Chao, Xu Jiayan, Xiong Cixuan, Li Dunuo, and the two men to an examination on the theme "On the True and False in Neo-Confucian Learning." While they were still writing, an edict rebuked the two men. Degeli appended a defense to his essay; Xu Yuanmeng's paper was unfinished. After reading the papers, the emperor reproached Degeli and Xiong Cixuan and ordered the candidates to cross-check one another's work. Tang Bin still declared Xu Yuanmeng's essay the best.

是時斌被命輔導皇太子，尋亦命徐元夢授諸皇子讀。秋，上御瀛台，教諸皇子射，徐元夢不能挽強，上不懌，責徐元夢。徐元夢奏辯，上益怒，命撲之，創，遂籍其家，戍其父母。其夜，上意解，令醫為治創。翌日，命授諸皇子讀如故。徐元夢乞赦其父母，已就道，使追還。冬，掌院學士庫勒納奏劾德格勒私抹起居注，並言與徐元夢互相標榜，奪官逮下獄。二十七年春，獄上，當德格勒立斬，徐元夢絞。上命貸徐元夢死，荷校三月，鞭百，入辛者庫。上徐察徐元夢忠誠，三十二年，命直上書房，仍授諸皇子讀。尋授內務府會計司員外郎。四十一年，充順天鄉試考官。五十年，諭曰：「徐元夢繙譯，現今無能過之。」授額外內閣侍讀學士。五十一年，充會試考官。五十二年，擢內閣學士，歸原旗。

At this time Tang Bin was ordered to tutor the crown prince. Soon Xu Yuanmeng was also ordered to teach the imperial princes. In autumn the emperor went to Yingtai to teach the princes archery. Xu Yuanmeng could not draw a strong bow. The emperor was displeased and rebuked him. Xu memorialized in his own defense. The emperor grew angrier, ordered him beaten with the stick until he was wounded, confiscated his household property, and banished his parents. That night the emperor's anger eased, and he ordered physicians to treat Xu's wounds. The next day he ordered that Xu resume teaching the princes as before. Xu begged pardon for his parents. They had already set out into exile, but the emperor ordered them brought back. In winter Chancellor Kule'na impeached Degeli for privately altering the Veritable Records and accused him and Xu Yuanmeng of mutual puffery. Both men were stripped of office and imprisoned. In the spring of 1688 the case was reported upward. Degeli was sentenced to immediate decapitation and Xu Yuanmeng to strangulation. The emperor spared Xu's life. He wore the cangue for three months, received a hundred lashes, and was sent to the Sinister Works. Gradually the emperor came to see Xu's loyalty. In 1693 he was ordered back to the Upper Study to teach the princes again. He was soon appointed vice director in the Accounts Bureau of the Imperial Household Department. In 1702 he served as examiner for the metropolitan provincial examination. In the fiftieth year an edict said: "In translation Xu Yuanmeng today has no superior." He was appointed supernumerary reader of the Grand Secretariat. In 1712 he served as examiner for the metropolitan examination. In 1713 he was promoted to grand secretary and returned to his original banner.

五十三年，授浙江巡撫，上諭之曰：「浙江駐防滿洲兵，爾當與將軍協同訓練。錢糧有虧空，爾宜清理，無累百姓。至於用人，當隨材器使，不可求全。」賜御製詩文集及鞍馬以行。五十四年，疏言：「杭州、紹興等七府旱潦成災，已蒙蠲賑，並截漕平糶。未完額賦，尚有十三萬餘兩，請秋成後徵半，餘俟來歲。」上允之。又疏陳修復萬松嶺書院，上賜「浙水敷文」榜，因請以敷文名書院。

In the fifty-third year he was appointed governor of Zhejiang; the emperor instructed him: "The Manchu garrison troops in Zhejiang—you should jointly train them with the general. Where grain taxes have deficits, you should clear them up without burdening the people. As for employing men, you should assign them according to their talents and capacities, and must not demand completeness." The emperor granted him his own collected poems and essays and a saddle horse for the journey. In the fifty-fourth year he memorialized: "Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and six other prefectures have suffered drought and flood disaster; exemption and relief have already been granted, and grain transport has been diverted for fair-price sales. Of unpaid tax quotas there remain more than 130,000 taels; I request that after the autumn harvest half be collected, and the remainder wait until next year." The emperor approved. He also memorialized requesting repair of the Wansongling Academy; the emperor granted the plaque "Spreading Culture on the Zhe Waters," and he therefore requested that the academy be named Fufen.

五十六年，左都御史及翰林院掌院學士缺員，吏部以請。上曰：「是當以不畏人兼學問優者任之。」以命徐元夢。上諭科場積習未除，命甄別任滿學政及考官不稱職者，皆劾罷之。五十七年，遷工部尚書，仍兼掌院學士。六十年，上賜以詩，謂：「徐元夢乃同學舊翰林，康熙十六年以前進士祗此一人。」

In 1717 vacancies opened for left censor-in-chief and chancellor of the Hanlin Academy, and the Ministry of Personnel asked whom to appoint. The emperor said: "These posts should be filled by one who fears no man and whose learning is excellent." He appointed Xu Yuanmeng. The emperor said entrenched examination abuses had not been eliminated and ordered that educational commissioners and examiners who had completed their terms be screened; those found unfit were impeached and dismissed. In 1718 he was transferred to minister of works while retaining the concurrent post of Hanlin chancellor. In the sixtieth year the emperor granted him a poem, saying: "Xu Yuanmeng is an old Hanlin classmate; among jinshi before the sixteenth year of Kangxi he is the only one remaining." (Close of imperial quotation.)

世宗即位，復命直上書房，授諸皇子讀。雍正元年，命與大學士張鵬翮等甄別翰詹各官不稱職者，勒令解退回籍。大學士富寧安出視師，命徐元夢署大學士。尋復命兼署左都御史，充明史總裁，調戶部尚書。四年，以繙譯本章錯誤奪官，命在內閣學士之列效力行走，仍司繙譯。八年，复坐前在浙江失察呂留良逆書，命同繙譯中書行走。十三年，充繙譯鄉試考官。

When the Yongzheng Emperor came to the throne, Xu was again ordered to the Upper Study to teach the princes. In 1723 he was ordered, together with Grand Secretary Zhang Peng'e and others, to screen Hanlin officials who were unfit for office and compel them to resign and return home. When Grand Secretary Funing'an went out to inspect the army, Xu was ordered to serve as acting grand secretary. He was soon ordered to serve concurrently as acting left censor-in-chief, appointed chief compiler of the History of Ming, and transferred to minister of revenue. In 1726 errors in his translation of memorials cost him his office. He was ordered to serve among the grand secretaries while continuing to handle translation. In 1730 he was punished again for his earlier failure in Zhejiang to detect the seditious works of Lü Liuliang and was ordered to serve with the translating secretaries. In 1735 he served as examiner for the Manchu provincial examination.

高宗即位，命直南書房，尋授內閣學士。擢刑部侍郎，以衰老不能理刑名，疏辭，調禮部。充世宗實錄副總裁。詔輯八旗滿洲氏族通譜，命與鄂爾泰、福敏董其事。復命直上書房，課皇子讀。乾隆元年，乞休，命解侍郎任，加尚書銜食俸，仍在內廷行走，領諸館事。二年，上臨雍，疏請以有子升堂配享，改宰我、冉求兩廡，而進南宮適、虙不齊升配。下大學士九卿議，以有子升祀位次子夏，餘寢未行。复乞休，上曰：「徐元夢年雖逾八十，未甚衰憊，可量力供職。」四年正月，召同諸大臣賦柏梁體詩。尋加太子少保。

When the Qianlong Emperor came to the throne, Xu was assigned to the Southern Study and soon appointed grand secretary. He was promoted to vice minister of punishments but, citing age and inability to manage criminal cases, asked to be relieved and was transferred to the Ministry of Rites. He served as associate chief compiler of the Yongzheng emperor's veritable records. When the court ordered compilation of the Comprehensive Genealogies of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners, he was ordered with Ortai and Fumin to supervise the project. He was again ordered to the Upper Study to instruct the princes. In 1736 he asked to retire. He was relieved of the vice ministership but given ministerial rank with salary, kept at court, and placed in charge of the academies. In 1737, when the emperor lectured at the Confucian temple, Xu memorialized requesting that You Ruo be promoted to main-hall sacrifice, that Zai Wo and Ran Qiu be moved to the side halls, and that Nangong Kuo and Fu Buqi be advanced to main-hall sacrifice. The matter was referred to the grand secretaries and the Nine Ministers. Only You Ruo's promotion was approved, ranking below Zisi; the rest was shelved. He again requested retirement; the emperor said: "Although Xu Yuanmeng is over eighty, he is not very decrepit and may continue to serve according to his strength." In the first month of 1739 he was summoned with other ministers to compose poems in the Bolang style. He was soon made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.

六年秋，疾作，遣太醫診視，賜葠藥。冬十一月，疾劇，上諭曰：「徐元夢踐履篤實，言行相符。歷事三朝，出入禁近，小心謹慎，數十年如一日。壽逾大耋，洵屬完人。」命皇長子視疾。疾革，復遣使問所欲言。徐元夢伏枕流涕曰：「臣受恩重，心所欲言，口不能盡！」使出，呼曾孫取論語檢視良久。翌日遂卒，年八十七。上復命和親王及皇長子奠茶酒，發帑治喪。贈太傅，賜祭葬，諡文定。孫舒赫德，自有傳。

In the autumn of 1741 he fell ill. Imperial physicians were sent to examine him and ginseng medicine was granted. In the eleventh month of winter the illness grew severe; the emperor instructed: "Xu Yuanmeng's conduct is solid and sincere, his words and deeds accord. He served three reigns, entering and leaving the forbidden precincts, careful and cautious for decades as though it were a single day. His years exceeded great old age; he was truly a complete man." The eldest imperial son was ordered to visit him. When his illness reached its crisis, envoys were again sent to ask what he wished to say. Xu Yuanmeng, prostrate on his pillow and weeping, said: "Your servant has received heavy grace; what the heart wishes to say the mouth cannot fully express!" When the envoy withdrew, he called his great-grandson to bring the Analects and pored over it for a long while. He died the following day, aged eighty-seven. The emperor again ordered Prince He and the eldest imperial son to offer tea and wine in sacrifice and released treasury funds for the funeral. He was posthumously made Grand Tutor, granted state funeral honors, and given the posthumous title Wending, "Cultured and Settled." His grandson Shuhede has his own biography.

蔣廷錫，字揚孫，江南常熟人，雲貴總督陳錫弟。初以舉人供奉內廷。康熙四十二年，賜進士，改庶吉士。四十三年，未散館即授編修。屢遷轉至內閣學士。雍正元年，擢禮部侍郎，世宗賜詩賢之。廷錫疏言：「國家廣黌序，設廩膳，以興文教，乃生員經年未嘗一至學宮。請敕學臣通飭府、州、縣、衛教官，凡所管生員，務立程課，面加考校，講究經史。學臣於歲、科考時，以文藝優劣定教職賢否。會典載順治九年定鄉設社學，以冒濫停止。請敕督撫令所屬州、縣，鄉、堡立社學，擇生員學優行端者充社師，量給廩餼。鄉民子弟年十二以上、二十以下有志者得入學。」下部議，從之。二年，奏請續纂大清會典，即命為副總裁。調戶部。

Jiang Tingxi, whose style was Yangsun, came from Changshu in Jiangnan and was the younger brother of Yunnan-Guizhou governor-general Chen Xi. He first entered court service as a provincial graduate in attendance within the inner palace. In 1703 he was granted jinshi status and entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor. In 1704, before completing his Hanlin term, he was appointed compiler. He rose through repeated promotions to grand secretary. In 1723 he was promoted to vice minister of rites, and the Yongzheng emperor granted him a poem praising his worth. Tingxi memorialized: "The state broadly extends schools, establishes stipends, to promote culture and education—yet licentiates for years never once go to the school palace. I request an imperial order to educational commissioners to instruct broadly the instructors of prefectures, departments, counties, and guards that for all licentiates under their charge they must establish regular lessons, examine them face to face, and study the classics and histories. At the annual and triennial examinations educational commissioners should determine the worth of instructors by the quality of students' literary work. The Collected Statutes record that in the ninth year of Shunzhi it was fixed that townships should establish community schools, but because of abuse this was stopped. I request an imperial order to governors-general and governors to have their subordinate prefectures and counties establish community schools in townships and forts, selecting licentiates of superior learning and upright conduct to serve as community teachers, and granting stipends in due measure. Sons of township people between twelve and twenty who are ambitious may enter to study." The proposal was referred to the ministry for deliberation and adopted. In 1724 he memorialized requesting the continued compilation of the Collected Statutes of the Great Qing and was immediately appointed associate chief compiler. He was moved to the Ministry of Revenue.

三年，命與內務府總管來保察閱京倉。尋疏言：「漕運全資水利，宜通源節流，以濟運道。山東漕河，取資汶、濟、洸、泗四水，而四水又賴諸泉助成巨流。山東一省，得泉百有八十，其派有五，分水、天井、魯橋、新河、沂水是也。五派合為一水，是名泉河，舊設管泉通判。今雖裁汰，仍設泉夫。請飭有泉州縣，督率疏濬。濟南、兗州二府為濟水伏流之地，若廣為濬導，則散湮沙礫間者，隨地湧見。應立法泉夫濬出新泉，優賚銀米，歲終冊報，為州縣課最。諸泉所匯，為湖十五，各設斗門為減水閘，以時啟閉。漕溢則減漕入湖，漕涸則啟湖濟漕，號諸湖為水櫃。其後居民壅水佔耕，壩圮閘塞，低處多生茭草，高處積沙與漕河堤並。請察勘未耕之地，就低處挑深，即以挑出之土築堤，復水櫃之制。諸湖開支河，以承諸泉之入，益漕河之流，建閘以時減放。舊制，運河於每歲十月築壩，分洩諸湖，來春三月冰泮，開壩受水。法久玩生，築壩每至十一月，則失之遲；開壩在正月初旬，又失之早。請飭所司築必十月望前，開必二月朔後，以循舊制。汶水分流南北，運道攸賴。明宣德間，築戴村壩於汶水南，以遏汶水入洸；建坎河壩於汶水北，以節汶水歸海。嘉靖時，复堆積石灘，水溢縱使歸海，水平留之入湖。歲久頹廢，萬一汶水北注，挾湖泉盡歸大清河，四百餘裡運道所關非小。請飭總河相度形勢，修復舊石灘，改建滾水石壩，以為蓄洩。」上命內閣學士何國宗等攜儀器輿圖，會總河齊蘇勒、巡撫陳世倌履勘，請如廷錫奏。下九卿議行。

In 1725 he was ordered to join Laibao, superintendent of the Imperial Household Department, in inspecting the capital granaries. Soon afterward he memorialized: "Grain transport wholly relies on water works; one should open sources and economize flow to aid the transport channel. The grain-transport canal in Shandong draws on the four rivers Wen, Ji, Guang, and Si, and these four rivers in turn rely on the many springs to form a great flow. In Shandong province there are one hundred and eighty springs; their branches are five, namely Fenshui, Tianjing, Luqiao, Xinhe, and Yishui. The five branches combine into one watercourse called the Spring River; formerly a subprefect for managing springs was established. Although this office has now been abolished, spring laborers are still maintained. I request that counties possessing springs be ordered to supervise and lead dredging and clearing. The two prefectures of Jinan and Yanzhou are places where the Ji River flows underground; if dredging and channeling are broadly carried out, those scattered and buried among sand and gravel will emerge wherever the ground permits. Regulations should be enacted for spring laborers to dredge out new springs; silver and grain should be granted as special rewards, year-end registers reported, and this made the standard for judging prefectures and counties. The springs gather into fifteen lakes; at each a sluice gate should be set as a spillway gate, opened and closed according to season. When the grain canal overflows, spill the excess into the lakes; when the canal runs dry, open the lakes to aid the canal—these lakes are called water cabinets. Afterward residents dammed the water and occupied land for cultivation; dikes collapsed and gates clogged; in low places wild rice grass grew abundantly, and in high places sand accumulated level with the grain-canal dike. I request inspection and survey of uncultivated land: dig deep at low places and use the excavated earth to build dikes, restoring the water-cabinet system. Branch rivers should be opened from the lakes to receive the inflow of springs and increase the flow of the grain canal; sluice gates should be built to spill and release according to season. Under the old system, every year in the tenth month the Grand Canal had dikes built to divide and discharge into the various lakes; the following spring in the third month, when ice melted, the dikes were opened to receive water. When a rule is long enforced it breeds neglect; building dikes often waited until the eleventh month, which was too late; opening the dikes in the first ten days of the first month was again too early. I request that responsible offices be ordered to build necessarily before the fifteenth of the tenth month and open necessarily after the first of the second month, to follow the old system. The Wen River divides its flow north and south; the transport route depends on it. In the Xuande era of Ming, the Daicun Dam was built south of the Wen River to check the Wen and send it into the Guang; the Kanhe Dam was built north of the Wen River to regulate the Wen's return to the sea. In the Jiajing era, stone shoals were again piled up; when water overflowed it was allowed to return to the sea, and when the water level subsided it was retained to enter the lakes. After many years these fell into ruin; if by chance the Wen should pour north, carrying lake and spring waters entirely into the Daqing River, the transport route of more than four hundred li would be gravely affected. I request that the director-general of rivers survey the terrain, restore the old stone shoals, and rebuild them as rolling spillway stone dams for storage and release." The emperor ordered Grand Secretary He Guozong and others to bring instruments and maps and conduct an on-site survey with Director-General Qisuole and Governor Chen Shirui. They recommended adopting Jiang's proposals. The proposal was referred to the Nine Ministers for deliberation and implementation.

四年，遷戶部尚書，充順天鄉試考官。既入闈，諭曰：「廷錫佐怡親王董理戶部諸事，秉公執正，胥吏嫉妒懷怨。今廷錫典試，或乘此造作浮言，妄加謗議。令步軍統領、順天府尹、五城御史察訪捕治。」尋命兼領兵部尚書。遭母喪，遣大臣奠茶酒，予其母封誥，發帑治喪。命廷錫奉母喪還裡，葬畢還京，在任守制。六年，拜文華殿大學士，仍兼領戶部，充聖祖實錄總裁。七年，加太子太傅。命與果親王允禮總理三庫，予世職一等阿達哈哈番。九年，廷錫病，上遣醫療治。十年夏，病復作，上命日二次以病狀奏。閏五月，卒，上為輟朝，遣大臣奠茶酒，賜祭葬，諡文肅。

In 1726 he was promoted to minister of revenue and appointed examiner for the Shuntian provincial examination. Once he had entered the examination compound, an edict stated: "Tingxi has assisted Prince Yi in overseeing affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, upholding fairness and rectitude; clerks and runners are jealous and harbor resentment. Now that Tingxi presides over the examination, some may seize this occasion to fabricate loose talk and recklessly slander him. Let the metropolitan garrison commander, the Shuntian prefect, and the Five-City censors investigate, seek out offenders, and punish them." He was soon given the concurrent post of minister of war. When his mother died, the emperor sent a minister to offer libations, granted his mother a title of honor, and issued treasury funds for the funeral. Jiang was ordered to return home for his mother's funeral, then come back to the capital and observe mourning without leaving his post. In 1728 he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Wenhua Hall while retaining the Ministry of Revenue and made chief compiler of the Kangxi emperor's veritable records. In 1729 he was given the additional rank of Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. He was ordered to administer the Three Treasuries jointly with Prince Guo, Yunli, and granted the hereditary rank of first-class adaha gushan. In 1731 Jiang fell ill, and the emperor sent physicians to treat him. That summer his illness returned, and the emperor ordered twice-daily reports on his condition. In the intercalary fifth month he died. The emperor suspended court, sent a minister to offer libations, granted state funeral honors, and gave him the posthumous title Wensu.

廷錫工詩善畫，事聖祖內直二十餘年。世宗朝累遷擢，明練恪謹，被恩禮始終。

Jiang was accomplished in poetry and painting and served in the Kangxi emperor's inner service for more than twenty years. Under the Yongzheng emperor he rose steadily through promotion—capable, conscientious, and favored with grace from first to last.

子溥，字質甫。雍正七年，賜舉人。八年，進士，改庶吉士，直南書房，襲世職。廷錫卒，溥奉喪歸，命葬畢即還京供職。十一年，授編修。四遷內閣學士。乾隆五年，授吏部侍郎。疏言：「凡條奏發九卿會議，主稿衙門酌定準駁。會議日，書吏誦稿以待商度，其中原委曲折，一時難盡。請於會議前二日將議稿傳鈔，俾得詳勘暢言。至命、盜案，刑部例不先定稿，俟議時平決；不關命、盜各案，亦宜先期傳知，庶為審慎。」下部議，如所請。

His son Pu, whose style was Zhifu. In 1729 he was granted status as a provincial graduate. The following year he passed the palace examination, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, served in the Southern Study, and inherited the family hereditary rank. When Jiang Tingxi died, Pu went home for the funeral and was ordered to return to the capital and resume duty as soon as the burial was complete. In 1733 he was appointed compiler. After four promotions he became a grand secretary. In 1740 he was appointed vice minister of personnel. He memorialized: "Whenever memorial proposals are sent to joint conference of the Nine Ministers, the drafting yamen determines approval or rejection. On the day of conference, clerks recite the draft awaiting discussion; the ins and outs and twists within cannot be fully grasped at once. I request that two days before conference the draft for deliberation be circulated in copy, so that all may examine in detail and speak freely. As for homicide and robbery cases, the Ministry of Punishments by rule does not fix the draft beforehand but waits until conference to decide evenly; Cases not involving homicide or robbery should likewise be communicated beforehand, that deliberation may be more careful." The proposal was referred to the ministry, which ruled as he had requested.

八年，授湖南巡撫。九年，疏言：「永順及永綏、乾州、鳳凰諸處苗民貪暴之習未除，城步、綏寧尤多狡惡。臣整飭武備，漸知守法。」諭曰：「馭苗以不擾為要，次則使知兵威不敢犯。此奏得之。」旋劾按察使明德不詳鞫盜案，奪官；驛鹽道謝濟世老病，休致。給事中胡定奏請湖南濱湖荒土，勸民修築開墾，令溥察議。溥奏言：「近年湖濱淤地，築墾殆遍。奔湍束為細流，洲渚悉加堵截，常有衝決之慮。沅江万子湖、湘陰文洲圍，士民請修築開墾。臣親往履勘，文洲圍倚山面江，四圍俱有舊堤，已議舉行。萬子湖廣袤八十餘裡，四面受水，費大難築，並於上下游水利有礙。臣以為湖地墾築已多，當防湖患，不可有意勸墾。」上韙之。

In 1743 he was appointed governor of Hunan. In the ninth year he memorialized: "At Yongshun and at places such as Yongsui, Qianzhou, and Fenghuang, the Miao people's habits of greed and violence have not been eliminated; Chengbu and Suining especially have many cunning and wicked ones. Your servant has put military readiness in order, and they are gradually learning to obey the law." An edict stated: "In governing the Miao, non-disturbance is paramount; next is letting them know military might so they dare not transgress. This memorial hits the mark." He soon impeached Provincial Judge Mingde for failing to investigate a robbery case thoroughly and stripped him of office; Postal and Salt Circuit Intendant Xie Jishi was permitted to retire on account of age and illness. Censor Hu Ding proposed encouraging reclamation of wasteland along Hunan's lakes and ordered Pu to investigate and report. Pu memorialized: "In recent years silt land along the lakes has been almost entirely diked and reclaimed. Rushing torrents are confined into slender streams; sandbars and islets are all blocked off; there is constant fear of breach and collapse. At Wanzi Lake on the Yuan River and Wenzhou Enclosure in Xiangyin, gentry and commoners request dike-building and reclamation. Your servant personally went to inspect on site; Wenzhou Enclosure leans on mountains and faces the river, with old dikes on all four sides—it has already been decided to proceed. Wanzi Lake is more than eighty li in breadth; it receives water on all four sides; the cost is great and building difficult, and it would also harm upstream and downstream water management. Your servant holds that lake land has already been largely reclaimed and diked; one should guard against lake disasters and must not deliberately encourage reclamation." The emperor approved his assessment.

十年，授吏部侍郎、軍機處行走。十三年，擢戶部尚書，命專治部事。十五年，加太子少保。十八年，命協辦大學士，兼禮部尚書，掌翰林院事。二十年，兼署吏部尚書。二十四年，授東閣大學士，兼領戶部。二十六年，溥病，上親臨視。及卒，复親臨奠。贈太子太保，發帑治喪，賜祭葬，諡文恪。

In 1745 he was appointed vice minister of personnel with duty in the Grand Council. In 1748 he was promoted to minister of revenue and ordered to devote himself solely to ministry affairs. In 1750 he was given the additional rank of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. In 1753 he was appointed assistant grand secretary while serving concurrently as minister of rites and director of Hanlin Academy affairs. In 1755 he was given acting charge of the Ministry of Personnel. In 1759 he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Dongge Hall while retaining the Ministry of Revenue. In 1761, when Pu fell ill, the emperor visited him in person. When he died, the emperor again came in person to mourn him. He was posthumously honored as Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Treasury funds were granted for his funeral, state funeral honors were bestowed, and he received the posthumous title Wenk.

子檙，進士。自編修累遷兵部侍郎；賜棨，初授雲南楚雄知府，再至戶部侍郎。並坐事奪官，左授光祿寺卿。复奪官，以世職守護裕陵。

His son Zhen passed the palace examination. Rising from compiler, he was promoted to vice minister of war; Cici was first appointed prefect of Chuxiong in Yunnan and later rose to vice minister of revenue. Both were dismissed for misconduct and demoted to director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Stripped of office again, they were assigned to guard the Yuling Mausoleum under their hereditary rank.

邁柱，喜塔拉氏，滿洲鑲藍旗人。初授筆帖式，三遷戶部員外郎，授御史。康熙五十五年，巡視福建鹽課。雍正元年，巡視寧古塔。三年，命如荊州會將軍武納哈籍前任將軍阿魯家，償侵蝕兵餉。議荊州近縣民有原鬻地者，官購俾兵耕種，或招佃徵租，兵婚喪量佽之。下部議行。

Mai Zhu, of the Xitara clan, was a Manchu of the Bordered Blue Banner. He began as a clerk, rose through three promotions to department director in the Ministry of Revenue, and was appointed censor. In 1716 he inspected Fujian salt levies. In 1723 he inspected Ningguta. In 1725 he was ordered to Jingzhou to join General Wunaha in seizing the property of former general Aru's family to repay embezzled military funds. It was proposed that where residents of counties near Jingzhou had previously sold land, the government should buy it back for soldiers to farm, or lease it out and collect rent, with modest advances for soldiers' weddings and funerals. The proposal was referred to the ministry for deliberation and implementation.

擢工部侍郎，調吏部。命如江西按治德安知縣蕭彬、武寧知縣廖科齡虧帑，並命察通省錢糧積弊。尋命署巡撫。疏請以江西額徵丁銀攤入地糧，從之。五年，授湖廣總督，命俟江西事畢赴任。邁柱疏陳：「江西倉穀虧缺，弊在無穀無銀，虛報存貯，及至交代，又虛報民間借領，後任徵追，悉歸無著。又或出糶倉穀得價侵用，及至交代，以二錢一石折價，後任不敷糴補。又或因不敷之故，並此折價而亦侵用，及至交代，復稱民欠，多方掩飾。皆因前任巡撫裴幰度，布政使陳安策、張楷徇庇所誤。」上為奪幰度等官，察究追完。又言：「江西通省公用需款，請視河南、湖廣諸省例，提州、縣耗羨二分充用，另提充各員養廉，多至一分五釐，少至四釐，餘仍留州縣養贍。巡撫及司道，亦於所提一分五釐內量行支用。」又言：「江西被災州縣，設廠煮賑，米價石至一兩三四錢。請於未被災州縣發銀預購平糶。」又言：「南安、贛州，閩、廣交界，及鄱陽湖濱，最易藏奸。萬載、寧州等地，棚民聚集，素好多事。已飭嚴整塘汛，操練標兵，豫為之備。」得旨，嘉其條畫詳晰，令新任巡撫照行。尋讞定彬等俱論斬。並請令徇庇之上官分償虧帑，上命自雍正六年起著為例。獎邁柱秉公持正，下部議敘，乃赴湖廣任。

He was promoted to vice minister of works and then transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. He was sent to Jiangxi to investigate magistrates Xiao Bin of De'an and Liao Keling of Wuning for treasury deficits and to examine accumulated abuses in provincial tax and grain collection. He was soon appointed acting governor. He memorialized requesting that Jiangxi's poll tax be folded into the land tax, and the request was approved. In 1727 he was appointed governor-general of Huguang and ordered to take up the post once his Jiangxi duties were finished. Mai Zhu memorialized: "Jiangxi granary grain is deficient; the abuse lies in having neither grain nor silver yet falsely reporting stocks on hand, and when turnover comes, again falsely reporting that the populace borrowed and received it—successors then collect and pursue payment, all to no avail. Or else granary grain is sold off and the proceeds embezzled; when turnover comes, it is reckoned at two cash per shi, and successors cannot afford to buy grain to make up the shortfall. Again, because funds were insufficient, even this converted valuation was likewise embezzled; when the handover came, they again claimed it as arrears owed by the people and concealed it by every possible means. All were due to the misleading shielding by the former governor Pei Xiandu and the provincial commissioners Chen Ance and Zhang Kai." The emperor stripped Xiandu and his colleagues of their offices and ordered a thorough inquiry to recover the full amount. He also wrote: "For Jiangxi's province-wide public expenses, I ask that we follow the precedent of Henan, Huguang, and other provinces: draw two fen of prefectural and county surplus fees for use, and separately draw amounts for each official's integrity stipend—up to one fen five li at most and four li at least—while the remainder still goes to prefectures and counties for local upkeep. The governor and circuit intendants also drew as needed from the allocated one fen five li." He also wrote: "In Jiangxi's disaster-stricken prefectures and counties, relief kitchens were established for porridge distribution, and rice prices reached one tael and three or four cash per shi. He requested that silver be issued from undamaged prefectures and counties to pre-purchase grain for fair-price sale." He also wrote: "Nan'an and Ganzhou, on the Fujian–Guangdong border, and the shores of Poyang Lake are the easiest places for wrongdoers to hide. In places such as Wanzai and Ningzhou, shed-dwellers gathered and had long been prone to making trouble. He had already ordered patrol posts strictly reorganized, garrison troops drilled, and preparations made in advance." The emperor commended the memorial's thorough provisions and instructed the new governor to carry them out. Soon the cases were decided and Bin and his accomplices were all sentenced to execution. He also asked that shielding superiors be made to share the burden of repaying the treasury deficit; the emperor made this rule permanent from the sixth year of Yongzheng. Mai Zhu was commended for his impartial integrity, the ministry was instructed to record his merit, and he then proceeded to his post in Huguang.

湖廣瀕江州縣頻年被水，邁柱令民間按糧派夫，修築江堤，議定確估土方夫數及加修尺寸，並歲修搶險諸例。疏聞，上發帑六萬，命視工多寡分給。鎮筸苗最悍，屢入內地剽掠。邁柱疏言：「臣聞雲南提督張國正先任鎮筸總兵，以雕剿法治苗。聞有警，诇為何種苗，所屬何寨，即攜兵馳往，圍寨搜擒。如雕之捕鳥，取其速而鳥可必得。臣今與總兵週一德循行此法，但期得罪人而止，不敢多為殺戮。」居數年，又疏言：「收繳六里鎮筸土司所藏鳥槍，完整者俾兵充用，餘改造農具，給土苗耕作。土苗所用環刀、標槍，亦令給價收繳。」上諭曰：「所奏深得賣刀買犢之意。環刀、標槍，自當收繳，可順其原，不宜強迫。」疏定苗與民為市，於分界地設市，一月以三日為期，不得越界出入。民以物往市，預報地方官，知會塘汛查驗。苗疆州縣立苗長，選良苗充民壯，備差遣訪緝。鄂爾泰督雲、貴，建策改土歸流，邁柱亦行之湖廣，收永順、保靖、桑植三土司。永順設府縣，仍其名，又於府西北設縣曰龍山。保靖、桑植各設縣，仍其名。收容美土司設州，曰鶴峰，所屬五峰新設縣曰長樂。並改彝陵州為府，曰宜昌，領新設州縣。收第岡土司，改永定衛為縣，以其地屬焉。

Huguang's riverside counties suffered flooding year after year; Mai Zhu assigned corvée according to grain-tax quotas to repair the river dikes, setting fixed standards for earthwork crews, supplementary dimensions, and rules for annual upkeep and emergency repairs. The emperor approved the plan, released sixty thousand taels from the treasury, and ordered that the funds be divided according to the scale of each project. The Zhenqian Miao were the fiercest and raided the interior again and again. Mai Zhu submitted a memorial: "Your minister has heard that Yunnan provincial commander Zhang Guozheng, when he previously served as Zhenqian brigade commander, governed the Miao with the 'eagle pursuit' method. Upon hearing an alarm, he reconnoitered what kind of Miao they were and which stockade they belonged to, then immediately led troops in rapid march, surrounded the stockade, and searched to capture them. It was like an eagle catching a bird: relying on speed, the bird could be surely seized. Your minister now follows this method together with brigade commander Zhou Yide, only aiming to stop at those who have committed offenses, and not daring to slaughter excessively." After several years, he submitted another memorial: "Collect the bird guns hoarded by the native chieftains of Liuzhen in Zhenqian; intact ones shall be issued to the troops for use, and the rest remade into farming tools and given to the indigenous Miao for cultivation. The ring knives and javelins used by the indigenous Miao were likewise to be bought back and collected at set prices." The emperor instructed: "What you have memorialized deeply captures the meaning of 'selling one's knife to buy an ox calf.' Ring knives and javelins should indeed be collected, but this may follow their original inclination and ought not be forced." He regulated trade between Miao and Han by opening border markets three days a month and forbidding either side to cross the boundary. Commoners had to notify local officials before bringing goods to market, and patrol posts would inspect the shipments. Miao counties appointed Miao headmen and enrolled trustworthy Miao as local militia for patrols and arrests. While Ortai was implementing direct administration in Yunnan and Guizhou, Mai Zhu extended the same policy in Huguang, abolishing the Yongshun, Baojing, and Sangzhi chieftaincies. Yongshun became a prefecture and county under its old name, and a new county, Longshan, was created northwest of the prefectural seat. Baojing and Sangzhi were each organized as counties under their former names. The annexed Rongmei chieftaincy became Hefeng Prefecture, with its former Wufeng domain reorganized as Changle County. Yiling Prefecture was upgraded to Yichang Prefecture, which oversaw the newly created counties and sub-prefectures. After absorbing the Digang chieftaincy, Yongding Guard was converted into a county and its former domain incorporated.

上命通察湖廣積欠錢糧，都計銀三十餘萬，令與巡撫馬會伯、王國棟同董其事。逾年，報湖南已完六萬有奇，湖北已完八萬有奇。尋察出沔陽積欠內為官侵役蝕包攬未完者三萬有奇，其實欠在民者三萬二千有奇。上以沔陽常被水，民欠命予豁除。七年，邁柱疏請以湖廣額徵丁銀攤入地糧，從之。邁柱督湖廣數年，聲績顯著。他所區畫，如以漢陽通判移漢口，荊州通判移沙市。又裁施州、大田二衛所，合為縣曰恩施，復請改為府，曰施南，設縣四，曰宣恩、來鳳、咸豐、利川。宜昌既為府，設附郭縣曰東湖，又以歸州及所領長陽、興山、巴東諸縣隸焉。道州及寧遠、永明、江華諸縣鄰廣西，請以永州同知移江華，並分設游擊、守備，調駐兵千五百，與廣西桂臨營月三次會哨。永順、保靖、桑植三營新立，月餉給米折，永順石折一兩，保靖、桑植石折八錢，以苗疆米貴，不與他營同。上悉如所請。

The emperor ordered a province-wide audit of Huguang's tax arrears, which totaled more than three hundred thousand taels, and put Mai Zhu in charge alongside Governors Ma Huibo and Wang Guodong. Within a year Hunan had recovered a little over sixty thousand taels and Hubei a little over eighty thousand. The audit revealed that of Mianyang's backlog, more than thirty thousand taels remained uncollected because officials had embezzled, extorted, or farmed the taxes, while genuine arrears owed by commoners came to a little over thirty-two thousand. Learning that Mianyang suffered chronic flooding, the emperor ordered the people's arrears forgiven. In the seventh year Mai Zhu proposed merging Huguang's poll tax into the land tax assessment, and the throne assented. After several years governing Huguang, Mai Zhu's reputation and record stood out. His other reforms included relocating the Hanyang sub-prefect to Hankou and the Jingzhou sub-prefect to Shashi. He abolished the Shizhou and Datian guard posts and merged them into Enshi County, then persuaded the court to elevate the region to Shinan Prefecture with four new counties: Xuan'en, Laifeng, Xianfeng, and Lichuan. With Yichang elevated to a prefecture, he created Donghu County at the seat and placed Guizhou and its counties Changyang, Xingshan, and Badong under its jurisdiction. Because Daozhou and the counties of Ningyuan, Yongming, and Jianghua adjoin Guangxi, he moved the Yongzhou sub-prefect to Jianghua, posted brigade and garrison commanders with fifteen hundred troops, and arranged thrice-monthly joint patrols with Guangxi's Guilin garrison. For the new Yongshun, Baojing, and Sangzhi garrisons he set cash equivalents for grain rations—one tael per shi at Yongshun, eight cash at Baojing and Sangzhi—reflecting the higher rice prices on the Miao frontier. The emperor granted every request.

十三年，召拜武英殿大學士，兼吏部尚書。乾隆元年，兼管工部。二年，以病乞解任。三年，卒，賜祭葬，諡文恭。

In the thirteenth year he was recalled to court as Grand Secretary of the Hall of Military Glory and concurrent minister of personnel. In the first year of Qianlong he took charge of the Ministry of Works as well. In the second year he asked to retire on account of illness. He died in the third year; the court granted him state funeral honors and the posthumous title Wengong, "Cultured and Reverent."

同時督撫入為大學士者，又有白潢、趙國麟。

Other governors elevated to grand secretary at the same time included Bai Huang and Zhao Guolin.

潢，字近微，漢軍鑲白旗人。初授筆帖式，考授內閣中書，遷侍讀。授福建糧驛道僉事，以父憂去官。服闋，除山東登萊青道僉事，遷貴州貴東道參議。以巡撫劉廕樞薦，就遷按察使。潢操守廉潔，聞於聖祖，擢湖南布政使。未上官，會廕樞以請緩西師，命詣軍前察視，潢護貴州巡撫。貴州山多田少，諸鎮營兵餉米，於徵米諸州縣支發。以運道艱阻，改徵折色，遲至次年春夏，米值昂不足以糴。諸驛例設夫百、馬四十五，而巡撫以下私函付驛，謂之便牌，役夫至數百。潢奏請兵米於籓庫借支，州縣徵解歸項，並檄諸驛禁便牌。兵民困皆蘇。又以貴州僻遠，官於外，商於外，皆不肯歸，潢奏請勒限回籍。貴州民初以為不便，久之文物漸盛，乃思潢惠焉。

Huang, courtesy name Jinwei, was a Han bondsman of the Plain White Banner. He began as a clerical secretary, passed the examination for Hanlin drafter, and rose to reader. He was posted as an assistant intendant on Fujian's grain-and-post circuit, then resigned to mourn his father. After mourning he served as assistant intendant on Shandong's Deng-Lai-Qing circuit and was promoted to vice intendant of Guizhou's Guidong circuit. Recommended by Governor Liu Yinshu, he was promoted straight to provincial judge. His upright, incorruptible service reached the Kangxi Emperor, who promoted him to Hunan provincial commissioner. Before he could take up his Hunan post, Yinshu petitioned to slow the western campaign and was sent to inspect the front; Huang served as acting governor of Guizhou. Guizhou's rugged terrain left little farmland, so garrison grain rations were issued through the counties that collected rice taxes. Hazardous transport routes had led to cash commutation, but by the following spring and summer rice prices had risen so high that the cash could no longer buy enough grain. Post stations were allotted a hundred bearers and forty-five horses by regulation, yet officials down to the governor used private "convenience tokens" that could press hundreds of bearers into service. Huang arranged advances from the provincial treasury for troop grain, with counties responsible for repayment, and banned the convenience tokens at every post station. Both soldiers and commoners soon felt the relief. Because Guizhou was remote, officials and merchants who left the province seldom returned; Huang ordered them home under strict deadlines. Guizhou elites initially resented the policy, but as learning and culture flourished they came to credit Huang's foresight.

廕樞還貴州，調潢江西。入覲，至熱河謁上，即擢江西巡撫。潢革諸州縣漕節陋例，並令火耗限加一，舊加至三四者，悉罷除之，不率者奏劾。湖口關地險港窄，潢度關右武曲港山勢開闊，可容千艘，乃濬江口，建草壩，使估舟得聚泊。建亭頌潢德。會城西南有袁、贛二江，至臨江合流，舊有堤久圮，春夏水發，往往壞田廬。潢奏請重建，九閱月而成。民自是無水患，號為白公堤。五十九年，奏請補京職，授戶部侍郎。擢兵部尚書。六十一年，世宗即位，命協辦大學士。尋授文華殿大學士。疏辭，不許。充聖祖實錄總裁。雍正三年，以疾乞解任，許之。

When Yinshu returned to Guizhou, Huang was moved to Jiangxi. During his audience tour he met the emperor at Rehe and was immediately appointed governor of Jiangxi. Huang swept away abusive grain-transport customs and capped meltage surcharges at ten percent, abolishing older levies that had reached thirty or forty percent and impeaching officials who resisted. Hukou Pass was treacherous and its harbor cramped; Huang identified Wuju Harbor on the right as broad enough for a thousand vessels, dredged the river mouth, built a temporary embankment, and gave merchant shipping a safe anchorage. The people erected a pavilion in his honor. Southwest of the provincial seat the Yuan and Gan rivers meet at Linjiang; an ancient dike there had collapsed, and spring floods routinely ruined fields and homes. Huang rebuilt the dike, finishing the work in nine months. The people thereafter lived free of floods and named the structure Prefect Bai's Dike. In the fifty-ninth year he sought a capital posting and was appointed vice minister of revenue. He was soon promoted to minister of war. When Yongzheng took the throne in the sixty-first year, Huang was appointed acting grand secretary. He was soon made Grand Secretary of the Hall of Literary Splendor. He tried to decline but was overruled. He served as chief editor of the Kangxi Veritable Records. In the third year of Yongzheng he retired on account of illness, and the emperor consented.

潢撫江西時，南昌、吉安、撫州、饒州四府舊有落地稅千三百兩有奇，設大使徵收。潢以官役苛徵，令停收。巡撫、司道公捐代納，偽編納稅人名冊報部，王企崝、裴幰度代為巡撫，皆如潢例。及汪漋至，以其事聞，且請裁大使。上曰：「國家經制錢糧，豈可意為增減？若此稅不當收，潢當請豁免，何得以公捐代完，沽名邀譽？」下部議，奪潢官。漋亦坐左遷，稅如舊例徵收。乾隆二年，潢卒，命還大學士銜。

While governing Jiangxi, Huang found that Nanchang, Ji'an, Fuzhou, and Raozhou had levied a landing tax of more than thirteen hundred taels through specially appointed collectors. Finding the levies extracted harshly by official runners, he halted collection. He and his colleagues paid the tax from their own pockets and filed fabricated taxpayer rosters with the ministry; his successors Wang Qisong and Pei Xiandu did the same. When Wang Yong took office he reported the arrangement and asked to abolish the special collectors. The emperor said: "The state's fixed revenue in taxes and grain—how can it be increased or decreased at will? If this tax ought not to be collected, Huang should have requested exemption—why finish payment through officials' donations to burnish his reputation?" The case went to the ministry, which stripped Huang of rank. Wang Yong was demoted as well, and the tax was restored to its former levy. Huang died in the second year of Qianlong, and the throne restored his grand secretary rank posthumously.

國麟，字仁圃，山東泰安人。祖瑗，手書春秋內外傳，史、漢蒙文授之。篤志於學，以程、硃為宗。康熙四十五年進士。五十八年，授直隸長垣知縣。當官清峻，以禮導民，民戴如父母。世宗聞其賢，雍正二年，擢永平知府。三遷福建布政使，調河南。擢福建巡撫，調安徽。御史蔣炳奏請州縣徵收錢糧，依部頒定額，刊印由單，申布政使覈發。國麟以安徽通省數百萬由單由司覈發，恐誤徵收，疏請停止。內閣學士方苞疏言：「常平倉穀原定每年存七糶三，南省地卑濕，應令因地制宜。」下督撫詳覈。國麟疏言：「安徽所屬州縣濱江湖者，當改糶半存半，他州縣仍循舊例。」並下部議行。乾隆三年，擢刑部尚書，調禮部，兼領國子監。四年，授文華殿大學士，兼禮部尚書。

Guolin, courtesy name Renpu, came from Tai'an in Shandong. His grandfather Yuan tutored him from hand-copied editions of the Spring and Autumn Annals and Mongol-script versions of the Records and Han. He pursued learning with single-minded devotion in the Cheng–Zhu Neo-Confucian tradition. He earned his jinshi degree in the forty-fifth year of Kangxi. In the fifty-eighth year he was posted as magistrate of Changyuan in Zhili. He governed with austere integrity and led the people through ritual decorum; they revered him as they would their own parents. Hearing of his reputation, Yongzheng promoted him to prefect of Yongping in the second year of his reign. He rose through three postings to become Fujian provincial commissioner, then was transferred to Henan. He was promoted to governor of Fujian and soon moved to Anhui. Censor Jiang Bing proposed that counties collect taxes according to ministry quotas, print standardized receipt forms, and submit them to provincial commissioners for approval. Guolin argued that routing millions of Anhui tax receipts through the provincial administration would invite collection errors, and he memorialized to stop the scheme. Grand Secretary Fang Bao memorialized: "The ever-normal granary grain was originally fixed at keeping seven parts and selling three each year; the southern provinces have low, damp ground and should be allowed to adapt measures to local conditions." The throne referred the proposal to provincial governors for review. Guolin memorialized: "Among the prefectures and counties under Anhui that border rivers and lakes, half should be sold and half stored; other prefectures and counties should still follow the old precedent." Both memorials went to the ministry for deliberation and enactment. In the third year of Qianlong he became Minister of Punishments, moved to the Ministry of Rites, and took charge of the Imperial Academy as well. The following year he entered the Grand Secretariat as Wenhua Hall Grand Secretary while retaining the Ministry of Rites.

六年，御史仲永檀疏劾內閣學士許王猷邀九卿至京師民俞長庚家弔喪，國麟亦親往，下王大臣勘不實。國麟乞引退，上留之。俄，給事中盧秉純复論國麟當上舉永檀疏面詰，陽若不知，出告其戚光祿寺卿劉籓長，籓長被命休致；國麟又告以為侍郎蔣炳所劾。上命大學士鄂爾泰、張廷玉召國麟及籓長相質，籓長力辯。上命毋深究，令鄂爾泰、張廷玉諭國麟引退。國麟疏未即上，上降詔詰責，左授禮部侍郎。七年，擢尚書。國麟乞引退，不許。逾數月，復以請，上不悅，命奪官，在咸安宮效力。八年，乃許其還裡。十五年，詣京師祝上壽，賜禮部尚書銜。明年，卒。

In the sixth year Censor Zhong Yongtan accused Grand Secretary Xu Wangyou of summoning the Nine Ministers to mourn at a commoner's house in the capital; Guolin had attended as well. An inquiry by princes and senior ministers found the charge baseless. Guolin offered to retire, but the emperor refused to release him. Soon Supervising Secretary Lu Bingchun charged that when the emperor confronted Guolin with Yongtan's memorial, Guolin had pretended ignorance, then confided the matter to his kinsman Liu Fanzhang of the Court of Imperial Entertainments—who was ordered to retire. Guolin further claimed that Vice Minister Jiang Bing had impeached him. The emperor had Grand Secretaries Ortai and Zhang Tingyu summon both men for a face-to-face hearing; Fanzhang stoutly denied the accusation. The emperor declined to press the case further and told Ortai and Zhang Tingyu to advise Guolin to retire. When Guolin delayed submitting his retirement memorial, the emperor rebuked him by edict and demoted him to Vice Minister of Rites. In the seventh year he was restored to ministerial rank. Guolin again asked to retire, but the emperor would not allow it. Months later he renewed his plea; the emperor, angered, stripped him of rank and assigned him to menial duty at Xian'an Palace. In the eighth year he was finally allowed to go home. In the fifteenth year he traveled to the capital for the emperor's birthday and received the honorary rank of Minister of Rites. He died the following year.

田從典，字克五，山西陽城人。父雨時，明諸生。寇亂，挈子及兄之孤徙避，度不能兼顧，棄子負兄子以走。賊退，求得子草間，即從典也。

Tian Congdian, courtesy name Kewu, came from Yangcheng in Shanxi. His father Yushi had been a Ming dynasty licentiate. When bandits ravaged the region he fled with his son and his brother's orphaned boy; unable to save both, he left his own son behind and carried his nephew on his back. After the bandits withdrew he found his son alive in the grass: the boy who would become Congdian.

從典篤學，以宋五子為宗。康熙二十七年，成進士。旋居父喪，事必遵家禮。服終，就選。三十四年，授廣東英德知縣。縣地瘠，賦籍不可稽，詭寄逋逃，民重困。陋例兩加至八九錢，名曰「均平」。從典盡革之，清其籍。

Congdian studied with deep devotion in the tradition of the Song Neo-Confucian masters. He earned his jinshi degree in the twenty-seventh year of Kangxi. He immediately entered mourning for his father and observed every detail of the family rites. When the mourning period ended he entered the queue for official appointment. In the thirty-fourth year he was posted as magistrate of Yingde in Guangdong. Yingde was poor country with unreliable tax rolls; false registration and evasion had crushed the people under double burdens. A corrupt custom added surcharges twice, reaching eight or nine cash, called "equalization." Congdian abolished every such levy and rebuilt the tax registers.

四十二年，行取，四十三年，授雲南道御史。疏言：「督撫不拘成例，請調州縣，有秉公者，即有徇私者。州縣求調，其弊有三：圖優缺，避衝繁，預為卓薦地。督撫濫調，其弊亦有三：徇請託，得賄賂，引用其私人。名為整頓地方，簡拔賢良，實乃巧開捷徑。屢經敗露，有駭聽聞。嗣後請除江、浙等省一百一十餘縣錢糧難徵，及邊遠煙瘴地，仍舊例調補，其他不准濫調。」又疏言：「京官考選科道，令部院堂官保送，恐平日之交結，臨時之營謀，在所難免。請敕吏部，遇考選科道，凡正途部屬，及自知縣升任中、行、評、博，與翰林一體論俸開列，聽候考選。」均下部議行。巡視西城，罷鋪墊費。察通州倉儲，僦神祠以居，廟祝不受值，不入也。

Selected for capital service in the forty-second year, he became Yunnan Circuit Censor the year after. He memorialized: "When governors-general and governors, disregarding precedent, request transfers of prefects and magistrates, where there are those who act impartially, there are also those who act from private interest. When prefects and magistrates seek transfer, the abuses are three: seeking lucrative posts, avoiding difficult and busy ones, and securing ground for outstanding recommendation. When governors-general and governors transfer officials recklessly, the abuses are likewise three: indulging requests from patrons, taking bribes, and installing their own men. In name it is to put local administration in order and select the worthy; in reality it is a clever shortcut. Repeated exposures have been shocking to hear. Hereafter, except for the more than one hundred and ten counties in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and other provinces where tax collection is difficult, and remote malarial regions, which may still be filled by transfer according to old precedent, other cases should not permit reckless transfer." He also memorialized: "When capital officials are examined and selected for censorial posts, having ministry and court heads recommend them raises fears that everyday connections and last-minute scheming cannot be avoided. He requested that the Board of Civil Appointments be ordered: whenever censorial posts are filled by examination, all regular-route subordinates of ministries, together with middle, acting, reviewing, and erudite officials promoted from magistracies, should, like Hanlin members, be listed by seniority of salary and await examination and selection." Both proposals went to the ministry for deliberation and enactment. During his inspection of the Western City he abolished padding fees extorted from shopkeepers. Inspecting Tongzhou granaries, he rented a shrine for lodging but refused to enter when the caretaker would take no rent.

四十九年，擢通政司參議。屢遷轉授光祿寺卿。寺故有買辦人，虧戶部帑至四十一萬餘，從典請限年帶銷。遷左副都御史，再遷兵部侍郎，並命兼領光祿寺。五十八年，遷左都御史。兩江總督常鼐疏言安徽布政使年希堯、鳳陽知府蔣國正婪取，為屬吏所訐。命從典與副都御史屠沂往按，國正坐斬，希堯奪官。五十九年，擢戶部尚書。雍正元年，調吏部。二年，協辦大學士。三年，授文華殿大學士，兼吏部尚書。六年三月，乞休，優詔褒許，加太子太師致仕。賜宴於居第，令部院堂官並集，發帑治裝，行日，百官祖餞，馳驛歸里，驛道二十里內有司送迎。入辭，賜禦榜聯並冠服、朝珠。四月乃行，甫一舍，次良鄉，病大作，遂卒，年七十八。上聞，以從典子懋幼，遣內閣學士一、侍讀學士一為治喪，散秩大臣一、侍衛六奠茶酒，並命地方官送其喪歸里。賜祭葬，諡文端。

In the forty-ninth year he was promoted to vice director of the Transmission Office. Further promotions eventually brought him to the directorship of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Purchasing agents at the court had run up a deficit of more than 410,000 taels against the Ministry of Revenue; Congdian asked that the debt be written off in annual installments. He rose to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief, then Vice Minister of War, retaining charge of the Court of Imperial Entertainments throughout. In the fifty-eighth year he became Left Censor-in-Chief. Governor-General Chang Nai reported that Anhui Commissioner Nian Xiyao and Fengyang Prefect Jiang Guozheng had extorted their subordinates, who had impeached them. Congdian and Vice Censor-in-Chief Tu Yi were sent to investigate; Jiang Guozheng was condemned to execution and Nian Xiyao dismissed. In the fifty-ninth year he became Minister of Revenue. In Yongzheng's first year he moved to the Board of Civil Appointments. The following year he served as associate grand secretary. In the third year he entered the Grand Secretariat as Wenhua Hall Grand Secretary while heading the Board of Civil Appointments. In the third month of the sixth year he asked to retire; the emperor praised him warmly, granted the request, and invested him as Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent. The court feasted him at home, summoned every ministry chief to attend, paid his travel expenses from the treasury, and on departure day officials lined the road; he rode the courier post home while local magistrates escorted him for twenty li along the route. At his farewell audience the emperor bestowed an imperial couplet, court robes, and court beads. He left in the fourth month but had gone only one stage when he fell seriously ill at Liangxiang and died at seventy-eight. Learning that Congdian's son Mao was still a boy, the emperor sent a grand secretary and a reader-in-waiting to manage the funeral, a minister without portfolio and six guards to pour libations, and ordered local officials to escort the coffin home. The court granted state funeral honors and posthumously titled him Wende.

懋，自廕生授刑部員外郎，世宗命改吏部，遷郎中，授貴州道御史。乾隆初，遷禮科給事中。疏言河南秋審寬縱，巡撫尹會一、按察使隋人鵬下吏議。又劾工部尚書趙弘恩受賕，奪官，戍軍台。遷鰿臚寺少卿。高宗獎懋敢言，超擢副都御史。遷刑部侍郎，調吏部。十一年，上責懋奏事每漏言，且嗜酒務博，命解任歸里讀書。十四年，召授吏部侍郎。以僕從鬥毆傷人，責懋舊習未悛，仍命歸里讀書。家居二十年，卒。

Mao entered service through the yin privilege as a vice director in the Ministry of Punishments; Yongzheng moved him to the Board of Civil Appointments, where he rose to director and then Guizhou Circuit Censor. Early in Qianlong he became supervising secretary of the Rites Section. He charged that Henan's autumn judicial review was unduly lenient; Governor Yin Huiyi and Provincial Judge Sui Renpeng were referred for disciplinary review. He also impeached Minister of Works Zhao Hong'en for bribery; Zhao was dismissed and banished to a military penal colony. He was promoted to vice director of the Honglu Court of State Ceremonial. Qianlong commended Mao's outspokenness and leapfrogged him to Vice Censor-in-Chief. He served as Vice Minister of Punishments, then moved to the Board of Civil Appointments. In the eleventh year the emperor scolded Mao for leaking confidential business in his memorials and for drinking and gambling; he was dismissed and sent home to study. In the fourteenth year he was recalled and appointed vice minister of the Board of Civil Appointments. When his servants brawled and wounded a man, the emperor blamed Mao for failing to reform and sent him home to study once more. He spent twenty years in retirement before he died.

高其位，字宜之，漢軍鑲黃旗人。父天爵，語在忠義傳。其位初隸鑲白旗，自筆帖式管佐領。康熙間，以署參領從軍駐襄陽。叛將楊來嘉、王會等以二萬人出掠，將攻南漳，其位率二十騎覘敵，與遇，越敵隊入南漳，與共守，敵圍攻不能下。叛將譚弘以三萬人犯鄖陽，其位將百人扼楊谿鋪，與相持七十餘日。糧盡，煮馬韉以食。副都統李麟隆援至，合擊，大敗之。尋追論禦敵穀城失利，奪官。久之，授火器營操練校尉，襲其祖尚義二等阿達哈哈番。從大將軍裕親王福全討噶爾丹，戰於烏闌布通，破駱駝營，擢參領。授甘肅永昌副將。明法令，築堡塞，邊境肅清。遷湖廣襄陽總兵。擢提督，賜孔雀翎、櫜鞬、鞍馬。調江南。兩江總督常鼐有疾，上命其位署理。世宗即位，召入覲，旋命回提督任。奏請保護聖躬，上褒其有愛君之心，溫詔嘉許。雍正二年秋，奏飛鴉食蝗，秋禾豐茂。上以蝗不成災，傳示王大臣，賜詩褒之。冬，奏進黃浦漁人網得雙夔龍紐未刻玉印，上賜以四團龍補服。三年，授文淵閣大學士，兼禮部尚書，加太子少傅。以衰老辭，不許。改隸鑲黃旗。賜壽，賚榜聯及白金千。屢乞休，乃命以原官致仕。五年，卒，賜祭葬，諡文恪。

Gao Qiwei, courtesy name Yizhi, was a Han Chinese bannerman of the Bordered Yellow Banner. His father Tianjue's biography appears among the Loyalty and Righteousness biographies. Qiwei began in the Bordered White Banner, rising from clerk to assistant commandant. Under Kangxi he campaigned as acting commandant and was garrisoned at Xiangyang. Rebel generals Yang Laijia and Wang Hui raided with twenty thousand men toward Nanzhang; Qiwei rode out with twenty scouts, cut through the enemy column into the city, and helped hold the walls until the rebels gave up the siege. When rebel general Tan Hong marched thirty thousand men against Yunyang, Qiwei blocked Yangxi Post with a hundred troops and held for more than seventy days. When provisions ran out they boiled horse trappings to eat. Vice Commander-in-Chief Li Linlong arrived with reinforcements, and together they routed the rebels. A later review blamed him for the defeat at Gucheng, and he was stripped of rank. Years later he was made drill captain in the Firearms Brigade and inherited his grandfather Shangyi's second-class ada hafan title. Campaigning under Grand General Prince Fu against Galdan, he smashed the camel formation at Ulan Butung and was promoted to commandant. He was posted deputy commander at Yongchang in Gansu. He enforced discipline, built fortifications, and brought the frontier under control. He was posted regional commander at Xiangyang in Huguang. Promoted to provincial commander-in-chief, he received a peacock feather, bow case, and saddle horse from the throne. His command was moved to Jiangnan. When Governor-General Chang Nai fell ill, the emperor had Qiwei act in his place. Yongzheng summoned him to court on accession, then sent him back to his command. He memorialized pledging to guard the emperor's person; Yongzheng praised his loyalty and answered with a warm commendatory edict. That autumn he reported that crows had devoured the locusts and the autumn crop was thriving. The emperor circulated the good news among princes and senior ministers and rewarded him with a commendatory poem. That winter he presented an uncarved jade seal with twin dragon knobs that Huangpu fishermen had hauled in; the emperor bestowed a four-clawed dragon rank badge. In the third year he entered the Grand Secretariat as Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Secretary, headed the Ministry of Rites, and was named Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent. He pleaded old age, but the emperor would not release him. He was transferred to the Bordered Yellow Banner. On his birthday the court granted him a hall couplet and a thousand taels of silver. After many petitions he was finally allowed to retire with his full rank intact. He died in the fifth year; the court granted state funeral honors and posthumously titled him Wenke.

子高起，以廕生授四川茂州知州。累遷兵部尚書，坐事奪官逮治。乾隆初，戍軍台，釋回。卒。

His son Gao Qi entered service through the yin privilege as magistrate of Maozhou in Sichuan. He rose through successive promotions to Minister of War, but an official offense cost him his post and led to arrest and prosecution. In the early Qianlong years he was banished to a military penal colony before being pardoned and allowed to return home. He died.

遜柱，棟鄂氏，滿洲鑲紅旗人。曾祖郎色，太祖時，從其兄郎格來歸。遜柱初授筆帖式，擢工部主事。再遷戶部郎中，授御史。歷翰林院侍讀學士、內閣學士、盛京工部侍郎。召改吏部，擢兵部尚書。雍正五年，署大學士，旋授文淵閣大學士，仍兼兵部尚書。遜柱長兵部十六年，屢陳奏部政，多所考覈釐正。十年，以老，命不必兼兵部。十一年，致仕，卒，年八十四，諭褒遜柱「醇厚和平」，賜祭葬。

Sun Zhu, of the Dong'e clan, was a Manchu bannerman of the Bordered Red Banner. His great-grandfather Langse submitted to the dynasty in the Taizu era together with his elder brother Lange. Sun Zhu began as a clerk and was promoted to principal secretary in the Ministry of Works. He was next transferred to department director in the Ministry of Revenue and appointed censor. He served in turn as Hanlin reader-in-waiting, grand secretary, and vice minister of the Mukden Ministry of Works. He was recalled to the capital, moved to the Ministry of Personnel, and promoted to Minister of War. In 1727 he served as acting grand secretary and was soon made Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Secretary while retaining the Ministry of War. Sun Zhu ran the Ministry of War for sixteen years, repeatedly memorializing on its affairs and conducting extensive reviews and reforms. In 1732, citing old age, he was relieved of his concurrent post at the Ministry of War. In the eleventh year he retired; he died at age eighty-four. An edict praised Sun Zhu as "honest, generous, and conciliatory," and imperial funeral rites were granted.

尹泰，章佳氏，滿洲鑲黃旗人。初授翰林院筆帖式，再遷內閣侍讀。康熙二十七年，授翰林院侍講，充日講起居注官。三十四年，授國子監祭酒。三十七年，改錦州佐領。五十二年，以病罷，遂居錦州。世宗在籓邸，奉命詣奉天謁陵，過錦州宿焉，與語奇之，見其子尹繼善。雍正元年，召授內閣學士。遷工部侍郎，再遷左都御史。疏言：「六科書吏，賄通提塘，造為小鈔、晚帖，內開口傳諭旨，或誤繙清文，甚至偽造上有賜予及與諸臣問對，應請禁止。」二年，充會典總裁。三年，命以原品署盛京侍郎，兼領奉天府尹。疏言：「承德等九州縣原徵豆米，多貯無用。請自雍正四年始，停徵黑豆，按畝徵米，按丁徵銀，而以原貯米豆視時價出糶。」又言：「關東風高土燥，請掘地窖藏存穀，以節建倉工費。」

Yin Tai, of the Zhangjia clan, was a Manchu bannerman of the Bordered Yellow Banner. He began as a Hanlin clerk and was later transferred to reader in the Grand Secretariat. In 1688 he became Hanlin expositor and was appointed diarist of the Daily Lecture. In 1695 he was appointed chancellor of the Imperial Academy. In 1698 he was transferred to assistant commandant at Jinzhou. In 1713 illness forced his retirement, and he settled in Jinzhou. When the future Yongzheng emperor was still a prince, he was ordered to visit the imperial tombs at Fengtian. Passing through Jinzhou, he stayed overnight with Yin Tai, was deeply impressed by their conversation, and met Yin Jishan. In 1723 he was summoned to court and appointed grand secretary. He was promoted to vice minister of works and then to left censor-in-chief. He memorialized: "The clerks of the Six Offices of Scrutiny bribe the courier stations to produce small notices and evening bulletins containing orally transmitted edicts, sometimes mistranslating Manchu documents, and even forging imperial grants and exchanges between the throne and ministers. This should be forbidden." In 1724 he was appointed chief compiler of the Collected Statutes. In 1725 he was ordered to serve at his existing rank as acting Mukden vice minister while also serving as prefect of Fengtian. He memorialized: "The beans and rice originally levied from the nine prefectures and counties around Chengde are mostly stored without use. He requested that from the fourth year of Yongzheng the levy of black beans be stopped, that rice be levied by mu and silver by household, and that the grain and beans already stored be sold according to current prices." He further stated: "In the Eastern Pass region the winds are strong and the soil dry; he requested that underground pits be dug to store grain, so as to save the labor and expense of building granaries." (Close of memorial quotation.)

四年，山海關總管多索禮疏言應交莊頭餘地，尹泰不即派官丈收。命侍郎查郎阿往按，坐解府尹任，仍以左都御史協理奉天將軍。將軍噶爾議設外海水師，尹泰以為旅順、天津俱有水師，錦、复、蓋諸州亦可更番巡察，增設需費浩繁，於巡察無益。別疏以聞。下議政王大臣議，如尹泰言。六年，坐遺漏入官財產，奪官。尋命复官。七年正月，與尚書陳元龍同授額外大學士。尋授東閣大學士，兼兵部尚書。十三年，高宗即位，充世宗實錄總裁。乾隆元年，以老病乞罷，上留之。尹繼善自兩江總督入覲，授刑部尚書，俾使朝夕侍養。三年，复乞罷，命以原官致仕。尋卒，賜祭葬，諡文恪。尹繼善自有傳。

In 1726 Shanhaiguan commandant-general Duosuoli memorialized that surplus estate-manager land should be surrendered, but Yin Tai did not promptly send officials to survey and take possession. The court sent Vice Minister Chalang'a to investigate. Yin Tai was removed as prefect but continued as left censor-in-chief assisting the Fengtian general. When General Gar proposed establishing a coastal navy, Yin Tai argued that Lüshun and Tianjin already had naval forces and that Jinzhou, Fuxing, and Gaizhou could be covered by rotating patrols; new units would cost a fortune and do little for coastal surveillance. He submitted a separate memorial setting out his view. The case was referred to the Deliberative Council, which sided with Yin Tai. In 1728 he was dismissed for failing to report property due for confiscation to the state. He was soon restored to office. In the first month of 1729 he and Minister Chen Yuanlong were appointed Extra Grand Secretaries. He was soon made Dongge Grand Secretary while retaining the Ministry of War. In 1735, when the Qianlong emperor came to the throne, he was appointed chief compiler of the Yongzheng emperor's veritable records. In 1736 he asked to retire on account of age and illness, but the emperor kept him at court. Yin Jishan came from Liangjiang to audience and was appointed Minister of Punishments so that he could care for his father day and night. In 1738 he again asked to retire and was permitted to leave office with his full rank. He died soon after; the court granted state funeral honors and posthumously titled him Wenke. Yin Jishan has a separate biography.

陳元龍，字廣陵，浙江海寧人。康熙二十四年一甲二名進士，授編修，直南書房。郭琇劾高士奇，辭連元龍，謂與士奇結為叔侄，招納賄賂，命與士奇等並休致。語互詳士奇傳。元龍奏辯，謂：「臣宗本出自高，譜牒炳然。若果臣交結士奇，何以士奇反稱臣為叔？」事得白，命復任。累遷侍讀學士。元龍工書，為聖祖所賞，嘗命就御前作書，深被獎許。上御便殿書賜內直翰林，諭曰：「爾等家中各有堂名，不妨自言，當書以賜。」元龍奏臣父之闓年逾八十，家有愛日堂，御書榜賜之。四十二年，再遷詹事。以父病乞養歸，賜葠。時正編賦匯，令攜歸校對增益。上南巡，元龍迎謁，御書榜賜之闓及元龍母陸。之闓卒，喪終，召元龍授翰林院掌院學士。

Chen Yuanlong, courtesy name Guangling, was a native of Haining in Zhejiang. In 1685 he placed second in the first class of jinshi, was appointed Hanlin compiler, and entered the Southern Studio. When Guo Xiu impeached Gao Shiqi, he implicated Yuanlong as well, claiming the two had entered a corrupt uncle-nephew relationship and taken bribes. Yuanlong was ordered to retire along with Shiqi and the others. The affair is recounted at length in Gao Shiqi's biography. Yuanlong memorialized in his defense, saying: "My clan originally derives from the Gao family, and the genealogies are clear. If I had indeed colluded with Shiqi, why would Shiqi in turn call me uncle?" The case was cleared and he was restored to office. He rose through successive promotions to reader-in-waiting. Yuanlong was an accomplished calligrapher whom the Kangxi emperor admired. He was once ordered to write in the imperial presence and was warmly praised. The emperor, writing in a side hall, granted calligraphy to the Hanlin on inner duty and instructed them: "Each of you has a hall name at home; you may speak of it yourselves, and I shall write it as a gift." Yuanlong replied that his father Zhikai was over eighty and that the family hall was called the Hall of Cherishing the Sun. The emperor wrote a plaque and bestowed it. In 1703 he was promoted to tutor of the heir apparent. When his father fell ill he asked to return home to care for him and was granted ginseng as a gift. The court was then compiling the Collected Fu and ordered him to take the draft home to revise and supplement it. When the emperor toured the south, Yuanlong came forward to greet him. The emperor granted calligraphy to Zhikai and to Yuanlong's mother, Lady Lu. After Zhikai died and Yuanlong completed mourning, he was recalled and appointed chancellor of the Hanlin Academy.

五十年，遷吏部侍郎。授廣西巡撫。值廣東歲歉，廣西米價高，元龍遣官詣湖南採米平糶。五十四年，修築興安陡河閘，護兩廣運道。並於省城擴養濟院，立義學，創育嬰堂，建倉貯穀。五十七年，擢工部尚書。六十年，調禮部。世宗即位，命守護景陵。七年，與左都御史尹泰同授額外大學士，尋授文淵閣大學士，兼禮部尚書。元龍在廣西，請開例民捐穀得入監。李紱為巡撫，請以捐穀為開墾費。上責其借名支銷，命元龍詣廣西清理。紱旋奏：「元龍分得羨餘十一萬有奇，除在廣西捐公費九萬，又助軍需十萬。今倉穀尚有虧空，應令分償。」及授大學士，命免之。十一年，以老乞休，加太子太傅致仕，令其子編修邦直歸侍養。行日，賜酒膳，令六部滿、漢堂官餞送，沿途將吏送迎。乾隆元年，命在籍食俸。尋卒，賜祭葬，諡文簡。

In 1711 he was transferred to vice minister of personnel. He was named governor of Guangxi. When Guangdong had a poor harvest and Guangxi grain prices rose, Yuanlong sent officials to Hunan to buy rice and sell it at fair prices. In 1715 he repaired the Xing'an steep-river sluice gate to safeguard the Guangdong-Guangxi transport route. In the provincial capital he also expanded the poor-relief hospice, founded charity schools and a foundling hospital, and built granaries. In 1718 he was promoted to Minister of Works. In 1721 he was transferred to the Ministry of Rites. When the Yongzheng emperor came to the throne, he was ordered to serve as guardian of the Yongzheng mausoleum. In 1729 he and Left Censor-in-Chief Yin Tai were appointed Extra Grand Secretaries; he was soon made Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Secretary while retaining the Ministry of Rites. As governor of Guangxi, Yuanlong proposed allowing commoners to enter the Imperial Academy by donating grain. His successor Li Fu asked that donated grain be spent on land reclamation. The emperor rebuked Li for spending the funds under false pretenses and ordered Yuanlong to Guangxi to straighten out the accounts. Li Fu soon memorialized: "Yuanlong received a surplus share of more than 110,000 taels; apart from donating 90,000 taels for public expenses in Guangxi, he also contributed 100,000 taels for military supplies. The granary grain still shows a deficit, and he should be ordered to make restitution in proportion." When Yuanlong was appointed grand secretary, the emperor waived the demand for repayment. In 1733 he asked to retire on account of age, was made Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent, and was allowed to leave office; his son Bangzhi, a Hanlin compiler, was sent home to care for him. On the day he left the capital he was granted wine and food, the Manchu and Chinese heads of the Six Ministries were ordered to give him a farewell banquet, and officials along the route were to receive him. In 1736 he was permitted to draw his salary while living at home. He died soon after; the court granted state funeral honors and posthumously titled him Wenjian.

論曰：軾以德望尊，徐元夢以忠謇重。世宗譴允禩、允禟，徐元夢言：「二人罪當誅，原上念手足情緩其死。」二人者既死，吏議奴其子，軾言：「二人子實為聖祖孫，孰敢奴之？」世宗皆為動容。諒哉，古大臣不是過也。廷錫直內廷領戶部，邁柱等領疆節，卓然有績效。從典、尹泰皆以端謹奉職。古所謂大人長者，殆近之矣。

The historian remarks: Zhu Shi was revered for moral authority, and Xu Yuanmeng for steadfast loyalty and blunt integrity. When the Shizong Emperor punished Yin Zhi and Yin Tang, Xu Yuanmeng said: "The two men's crimes merited execution; I pray that Your Majesty, mindful of brotherly affection, may temper their punishment and spare their lives." After the two men died, the officials proposed enslaving their sons; Shi said: "The sons of the two men are in truth grandsons of the Holy Ancestor—who would dare enslave them?" The Yongzheng emperor was deeply moved on both occasions. How discerning they were—worthy of the great ministers of antiquity. Jiang Tingxi served in the inner court while running the Ministry of Revenue, and Mai Zhu and others held frontier commands—all with clear achievement. Tian Congdian and Yin Tai both discharged their duties with upright diligence. In the ancients' phrase, "great men and elders of character"—these men surely come close.

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