1
張照，字得天，江南婁縣人。 康熙四十八年進士，改庶吉士，授檢討，南書房行走。 雍正初，累遷侍講學士。 聖祖訓士民二十四條，世宗為之註，題曰聖諭廣訓，照疏請下學官，令學童誦習。 復三遷刑部侍郎。 十一年，授左都御史，遷刑部尚書，疏請更定律例數事。
Zhang Zhao, whose style was Detian, came from Lou County in Jiangnan. He took his jinshi degree in the forty-eighth year of Kangxi, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, was made a compiler, and served in the Southern Study. Early in Yongzheng's reign he rose by stages to Reader in the Hanlin Academy. Kangxi had issued twenty-four admonitions for scholars and the people; Yongzheng annotated them under the title Extended Exposition of the Sacred Edict. Zhao submitted a memorial asking that the text be sent down to local schools so pupils could memorize and study it. He was promoted three more times until he reached Vice Minister of Punishments. In the eleventh year he was made Left Censor-in-Chief and then Minister of Punishments, and submitted a memorial proposing several changes to the penal code.
2
大學士鄂爾泰初為雲貴總督，定亂苗，稍收其地，置流官。 既而苗复叛，揚威將軍哈元生、副將軍董芳討之，不以時定。 上責鄂爾泰措置不當，照素忤鄂爾泰，因請行。 十三年五月，上命照為撫定苗疆大臣。 照至貴州，議劃施秉以上為上游，用雲南、貴州兵，專屬元生； 以下為下游，用湖廣、廣東兵，專屬芳：令諸軍互易地就所劃。 元生、芳遂議村落道路皆別上下界，文移辨難。 照致書元生等，令劾鄂爾泰。 會高宗即位，召照還，以湖廣總督張廣泗往代。 上怒照挾私誤軍興，廣泗复劾照謬妄，元生等並發照致書令劾鄂爾泰事，遂奪職逮下獄。 乾隆元年，廷議當斬，上特命免死釋出獄，令在武英殿修書處行走。
Grand Secretary Ortai had earlier been governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou; he had pacified the Miao rebels, gradually brought their lands under control, and installed regular officials. The Miao soon rose again. General Ha Yuansheng and Deputy General Dong Fang were sent to suppress them but failed to bring the region under control on schedule. The emperor held Ortai responsible for mishandling the situation. Zhao had long been on bad terms with Ortai and seized the moment to ask to go in person. In the fifth month of the thirteenth year the emperor appointed Zhao Grand Minister for Pacifying the Miao Frontier. When Zhao reached Guizhou, he proposed dividing the territory above Shibing into an upper zone, assigning Yunnan and Guizhou troops exclusively to Yuansheng. The area below would be the lower zone, manned by Huguang and Guangdong troops under Fang alone; all forces were to swap posts and deploy according to this division. Yuansheng and Fang thereupon quarreled over boundaries, drawing upper and lower limits through villages and roads and exchanging disputatious official memos. Zhao sent letters to Yuansheng and his colleagues instructing them to bring charges against Ortai. When the Gaozong Emperor took the throne, Zhao was summoned back and replaced by Zhang Guangsi, governor-general of Huguang. The Emperor, angered that Zhao had let private motives derail the campaign, accepted Zhang Guangsi's further charge of reckless misconduct; when Yuansheng and others also revealed Zhao's letters commanding them to impeach Ortai, Zhao was dismissed and thrown into prison. In Qianlong 1 the court recommended execution, but the Emperor personally commuted the sentence, released him from jail, and assigned him to the Wuying Hall editorial bureau.
3
二年，起內閣學士，南書房行走。 五年，复授刑部侍郎。 照言：「律例新有更定，校刻頒行諸行省，期以一年。 舊輕新重者，待新書至日遵行，不必駁改； 舊重新輕者，刑部即引新書更正。 庶一年內薄海內外早被恩光。」 特旨允行。 上以朝會樂章句讀不協節奏，慮壇廟樂章亦復如是，命莊親王允祿及照遵聖祖所定律呂正義，考察原委。 尋合疏言：「律呂正義編摩未備，請續纂後編。 壇廟朝會樂章，考定宮商字譜，備載於篇，使律呂克諧，尋考易曉。 民間俗樂，亦宜一體釐正。」 下部議行。 七年，疏請矜卹軍流罪人妻孥，罪人發各邊鎮給旗丁為奴，其在籍子孫到配所省視，旗丁不得併沒為奴。
In the second year he was restored as a Grand Secretariat academician with duties in the Southern Study. In the fifth year he was once more made vice minister of justice. Zhao memorialized: 'The code has been newly revised; collating, printing, and issuing it to every province will require about a year. When an old provision was lighter and the new one heavier, courts should follow the new text only after it arrives, without reopening prior judgments; when the old was heavier and the new lighter, the Ministry of Justice should at once apply the new code to correct sentences. In this way, within a single year the Emperor's mercy could reach every corner of the realm, at home and abroad. An imperial rescript approved the proposal and ordered it carried out. Finding that court ceremonial music was phrased and punctuated out of rhythm, the Emperor feared the same fault in temple music and ordered Prince Zhuang Yunlu and Zhao to trace its foundations according to the Sacred Ancestor's Lüli Zhengyi. They soon submitted a joint memorial: 'The Lüli Zhengyi remains unfinished; we ask leave to compile a sequel. For temple and court music, we should fix the gong-shang character notation and set it down in full, so the pitches harmonize and the standards are easy to consult. Popular music, too, ought to be corrected on the same principles.' The memorial was sent down to the relevant ministries for review and execution. In the seventh year he asked that the wives and children of men banished to military service be shown mercy: though convicts sent to frontier garrisons were given to bannermen as bondsmen, registered descendants who came to visit them at their place of exile were not to be seized and enslaved as well.
4
尋擢刑部尚書，兼領樂部。 民間貸錢徵息，子母互相權，謂之「印子錢」。 雍正間，八旗佐領等有以印子錢朘所部旗丁者，世宗諭禁革。 都統李禧因請貸錢者得自陳，免其償，並治貸者罪。 至是，照言印子錢宜禁，如止重利放債，依違禁取利本律治罪，禧所議宜罷不用，從之。 九年十二月，父匯卒於家，照方有疾，十年正月，奔喪，上勉令節哀，毋致毀瘠。 至徐州，卒，加太子太保、吏部尚書，諡文敏。
He was soon promoted to minister of justice while also taking charge of the Music Office. Private lending at compound interest, in which principal and interest feed upon each other, was known as 'stamp money.' In the Yongzheng era some banner vice-commanders had used stamp money to squeeze their troops; the Shizong Emperor ordered the practice banned. Banner general Li Xi then proposed that borrowers be permitted to come forward on their own, be released from repayment, and that the lenders be prosecuted. Zhao now argued that stamp money should remain forbidden and that ordinary usury be punished under the statute against illicit interest; Li Xi's scheme, he said, should be set aside—and the Emperor agreed. In the twelfth month of the ninth year his father Hui died at home while Zhao himself was ill; when he set out in mourning in the first month of the tenth year, the Emperor urged him to govern his grief and not waste away. He died at Xuzhou and was posthumously given the ranks of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and minister of personnel, with the posthumous name Wenmin.
5
照敏於學，富文藻，尤工書。 其以苗疆得罪，高宗知照為鄂爾泰所惡，不欲深罪照，滋門戶恩怨。 重惜照才，复顯用。 及照卒，見照獄中所題白雲亭詩意怨望，又指照集憤嫉語，諭諸大臣以照已死不追罪。 後數年，一統志奏進，錄國朝松江府人物不及照，上復命補入，謂：「照雖不醇，而資學明敏，書法精工，為海內所共推，瑕瑜不掩，其文采風流不當泯沒也。」
Zhao was sharp of mind, fluent in letters, and above all a master of calligraphy. Though Zhao had fallen afoul of the court over the Miao frontier, the Gaozong Emperor knew Ortai despised him and was unwilling to punish him harshly for fear of inflaming factional rancor. Cherishing Zhao's ability, he restored him to high office. After Zhao's death, the Emperor found poems he had written in prison at Baiyun Pavilion full of grievance and bitter passages in his collected works; he told his ministers that, Zhao being dead, no posthumous penalty would be imposed. Some years later, when the Comprehensive Gazetteer was presented, its account of Songjiang figures under the dynasty omitted Zhao; the Emperor ordered him restored, saying: 'Zhao was not without fault, yet his gifts and learning were keen, his calligraphy superb, and his reputation widely shared across the realm; merit and blemish do not cancel one another, and such literary grace should not be allowed to vanish.'
6
甘汝來，字耕道，江西奉新人。 康熙五十二年進士，以教習授知縣，補直隸淶水知縣。 淶水旗丁與民雜居，汝來至，請罷雜派，以火耗補之。 禁莊田無故增租易佃。 旗丁例不得行笞，汝來請以柳梃約束。 三等侍衛畢里克調鷹至淶水，居民家，僕捶民幾斃，訴於汝來。 畢里克率其僕閧於縣庭，汝來逮畢里克，械其僕於獄。 事聞，下刑部議，奪汝來職，畢里克罰俸，聖祖命奪畢里克職，汝來無罪。 汝來自是負循吏名。 移知新安縣，鑿白楊淀堤，溉田數千頃。 又移知雄縣，懲奸吏，復請罷雜派。 雍正初，授吏部主事，擢廣西太平府知府，三遷至廣西巡撫。 五年，遷都察院左副都御史。
Gan Rulai, styled Gengdao, was a native of Fengxin in Jiangxi. He passed the jinshi examination in Kangxi 52, entered service as a magistrate through the instructor route, and was posted to Laishui in Zhili. At Laishui banner troops and civilians lived side by side; on taking office Rulai petitioned to abolish assorted surcharges and make up the shortfall from the authorized meltage fee. He prohibited manor lands from raising rents or switching tenants without cause. Banner soldiers were by rule exempt from the bamboo beating; Rulai asked that they be disciplined instead with willow switches. Third-rank guardsman Bilike arrived in Laishui with hunting hawks and lodged in a townsman's house, where his servant beat a civilian nearly to death; the man brought suit before Rulai. Bilike marched his servant into the county hall and raised a riot; Rulai seized Bilike and clapped his servant in irons. When the case reached the throne, the Ministry of Justice recommended dismissing Rulai and fining Bilike's salary; the Sacred Ancestor stripped Bilike of office instead and cleared Rulai of wrongdoing. From that time Rulai was known as a model local official. Transferred to Xin'an, he opened the Baiyangdian dike and irrigated several thousand qing of farmland. Later posted to Xiong County, he punished corrupt subordinates and again sought the abolition of miscellaneous exactions. At the start of Yongzheng he became a principal secretary in the Ministry of Personnel, rose to prefect of Taiping in Guangxi, and after three further promotions became governor of Guangxi. In the fifth year he was made left vice censor-in-chief.
7
汝來為按察使時，李紱為巡撫，奉議州土司羅文剛糾眾阻塘汛，吏請兵捕治，紱與汝來持不許。 事聞，世宗命紱、汝來如廣西捕文剛。 廣西巡撫韓良輔如雲南，與總督鄂爾泰計事，上令汝來署巡撫。 泗城府土司岑映宸所部民相仇，汝來與鄂爾泰、良輔、紱設謀縶映宸，隸其土流官。 汝來請於鎮安土府置學官，上以非苗疆急務，責其沽名。 又以汝來謝恩疏言曲賜寬容，上詰之曰：「人君持國法，當行直道，曲則不直，汝來語何意？」 召還京。 六年，良輔獲文剛，汝來坐疏縱奪職，在咸安宮官學行走。 山東巡撫費金吾議濬濟寧、嘉祥、沛縣等處水道，命汝來效力。 九年，起直隸霸昌道。 丁母憂，令在任守制。
While Rulai served as provincial judge under Governor Li Fu, the Fengyi native chieftain Luo Wengang mustered a mob to block the river patrol posts; the staff asked to send troops to seize him, but Fu and Rulai refused. When word reached the court, the Shizong Emperor ordered Fu and Rulai to proceed to Guangxi and arrest Wengang. When Guangxi governor Han Liangfu went to Yunnan to consult Governor-General Ortai, the Emperor put Rulai in charge as acting governor. At Sipu, subjects under the native chieftain Cen Yingchen fell into mutual vendetta; Rulai joined Ortai, Liangfu, and Fu in a plan to seize Yingchen and place his domain under regular officials. Rulai asked to appoint school officers in the Zhen'an native prefecture; the Emperor replied that this was no pressing need on the Miao frontier and rebuked him for courting fame. Further, in a memorial thanking the throne for mercy Rulai had written of a 'gracious bending of the law'; the Emperor challenged him: 'A sovereign upholds the law by the straight path; to bend is not to be straight—what do you mean by such words?' He was summoned back to the capital. In the sixth year, after Liangfu captured Wengang, Rulai was dismissed for leniency in the case and assigned to the Xian'an Palace official school. When Shandong governor Fei Jinwu proposed dredging the waterways of Jining, Jiaxiang, Peixian, and other places, Rulai was ordered to assist. In the ninth year he was restored as intendant of the Ba-Chang circuit in Zhili. When his mother died he was allowed to observe mourning without leaving his post.
8
再遷禮部侍郎。 高宗即位，議行三年喪，諮於諸大臣，汝來曰：「三年之喪，無貴賤，一也。 皇上法堯、舜之道，宜行週、孔之禮，立萬年彝倫之極。」 或言二十七月中朝祭大典若有所妨，汝來曰：「墨縗視事，越紼以祭，禮固言之，夫何疑？」 乃考載籍，上儀制，援古證今，具有條理。
He was again promoted to vice minister of rites. After the Gaozong Emperor's accession, as the court debated observing the three-year mourning rites, Rulai told the assembled ministers: 'The three-year mourning applies without distinction of rank. Your Majesty takes Yao and Shun as your model; you should enact the rites of the Zhou and of Confucius and fix the everlasting standard of human duty.' When some objected that major court sacrifices during the twenty-seven months of mourning might be impeded, Rulai replied: 'The rites already allow one in deep mourning to govern affairs and, stepping over the mourning cord, to perform sacrifice—what room for doubt?' He thereupon researched the classics, drafted the ritual protocol, and argued from antiquity to the present with orderly precision.
9
遷兵部尚書，疏言：「廣東海濱微露灘形，民間謂之'水坦'。 漸生青草，謂之'草坦'。 徐成耕壤，謂之'沙坦'。 坦初見，沿海民報圍築者，當先令立標定四至，毋於圍築後爭控。 民有田十頃以上，毋許圍築，以杜豪佔。 即貧民圍築，限五頃。 其出工本牛種助他人圍築量取租息者，聽。 陸地開墾例六年昇科，海田浮脃，當寬至十年。 潮大至坦沒，蠲一歲糧。 圍毀則免昇科原額。」 疏入，敕廣東督撫議行。 复疏言：「海濱居民單桅船採捕魚蝦，例不輸稅。 近聞各海關監督與雙桅船同令領牌納鈔，又閩、廣間貧民有置𥭋取魚者，有就埠育鴨者，吏或按𥭋按埠私徵稅，請通行嚴禁。」 從之。 乾隆三年，調吏部尚書，仍兼領兵部，加太子少保。
Promoted to minister of war, he memorialized: 'Along the Guangdong coast, where faint shoals emerge, the people call them water flats. When grass takes hold, they are called grass flats. When silt settles into arable ground, they are called sand flats. When a flat first appears, coastal residents who report enclosure and reclamation should first be required to set boundary markers on all four sides, so that disputes do not arise after the work is done. Householders who already hold more than ten qing of land should not be permitted to reclaim, so as to block powerful encroachment. Even the poor, if they reclaim, should be limited to five qing. Those who supply labor, capital, oxen, or seed to help others reclaim land and take rent or interest in proportion may be allowed to do so. Reclaimed upland is usually taxed after six years, but tidal fields are precarious and the grace period should be extended to ten. If a high tide submerges the flat, one year's grain levy should be remitted. If the enclosure is ruined, the original tax quota should be waived.' When the memorial arrived, the Emperor directed the Guangdong governor and governor-general to study it and put it into effect. He submitted another memorial: 'Coastal people who fish shrimp in single-masted boats are by rule exempt from tax. I have lately learned that customs superintendents are also requiring even double-masted vessels to take licenses and pay dues; and in Fujian and Guangdong poor folk who set fish weirs or raise ducks at the wharves are sometimes taxed privately by the inch of weir or foot of quay—I ask that such levies be strictly forbidden throughout.' The request was granted. In Qianlong 3 he was transferred to minister of personnel while retaining the war portfolio, and was given the rank of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
10
四年七月，汝來方詣廨治事，疾作，遂卒。 大學士訥親領吏部，與共治事，親送其喪還第。 至門，訥親先入，嫗縫衣於庭，納親謂曰：「傳語夫人，尚書暴薨於廨矣！」 嫗愕曰：「汝誰也？」 訥親具以告，嫗汪然而泣，始知即汝來妻也。 訥親因問有餘貲否，嫗曰：「有。」 持囊出所餘俸金，訥親為感泣。 奏上，上獎其寒素，賜銀千兩，命吏經紀其喪，諡莊恪。
In the seventh month of the fourth year, Rulai had just entered his office to transact business when he was seized by illness and died. Grand Secretary Neqin, who shared the personnel portfolio and often worked beside him, personally escorted the body home. At the gate Neqin went in ahead and found an old woman sewing in the courtyard; he said, 'Tell the lady that the minister has died suddenly at the yamen!' The old woman started and said, 'And who may you be?' Neqin explained everything; the old woman broke into sobs—it was only then that he realized she was Rulai's wife. Neqin then asked whether any money remained in the house; she answered, 'A little.' She fetched a pouch with what was left of his salary, and Neqin was moved to tears. When the account was reported, the Emperor praised their austere integrity, granted a thousand taels of silver, ordered officials to arrange the funeral, and gave him the posthumous name Zhuangke.
11
嘉慶間，汝來曾孫紹烈應順天鄉試，以懷挾得罪，仁宗猶念汝來居官持正，宥紹烈，命仍得原名應試。
In the Jiaqing era Rulai's great-grandson Shaolie, sitting for the Shuntian provincial examination, was convicted of smuggling notes into the hall; the Renzong Emperor, recalling Rulai's upright service, pardoned him and allowed him to keep his name and sit again.
12
陳惪華，字云倬，直隸安州人。 雍正二年一甲一名進士，授修撰，再遷侍讀學士。 提督廣東肇高學政，旋調廣韶學政。 遭母喪歸，未終制，召充一統志館副總裁官。 乾隆元年，遷詹事，上書房行走，再遷刑部侍郎。 四年，遷戶部尚書。 七年，調兵部尚書。 八年，以弟德正為陝西按察使，讞獄用酷刑，為巡撫塞楞額所劾。 德正具密摺擬揭部科，為書告惪華，惪華沮之，未奏聞。 上以惪華既知德正事非是，當奏聞，乃為隱匿，非大臣體，且曰：「父為子隱，子為父隱，直在其中。 朕非不知以此風天下。 然君臣之倫，實在弟兄之上。」 下部議奪職，命左遷兵部侍郎。 十二年，以議處江西總兵高琦武備廢弛，違例邀譽，奪職。 十四年，起為左副都御史，上書房行走。 以督諸皇子課怠，屢詰責奪俸。 二十二年，遷工部侍郎。 二十三年，遷禮部尚書。 二十九年，致仕。 三十六年，皇太后萬壽，詔繪九老圖，以惪華入致仕九老中。 四十四年，卒，年八十三。
Chen Dehua, styled Yunzhuo, was a native of Anzhou in Zhili. In Yongzheng 2 he took first place among the first class of jinshi, was appointed a Hanlin compiler, and was twice promoted to reader-in-waiting. He was made educational commissioner for the Zhao-Gao circuit in Guangdong, then soon transferred to the Guang-Shao circuit. After his mother died he went home to mourn; before the period of mourning was complete he was called back to serve as deputy chief compiler of the Comprehensive Gazetteer. In Qianlong 1 (1736), he was appointed Grand Mentor and attendant in the Upper Study, then promoted again to Vice Minister of Punishments. In Qianlong 4 (1739), he was made Minister of Revenue. In Qianlong 7 (1742), he was transferred to Minister of War. In Qianlong 8 (1743), his younger brother Dezheng, the Shaanxi surveillance commissioner, was impeached by Governor Sai Lenge for employing torture in criminal trials. Dezheng drafted a confidential memorial to lodge an impeachment through the ministry and wrote to tell Dehua; Dehua blocked him, and the matter was never reported to the throne. The emperor held that Dehua, knowing his brother's conduct was wrong, should have reported it rather than cover it up—conduct unworthy of a senior minister—and declared: "When a father conceals for his son and a son conceals for his father, rectitude lies therein. I do not fail to understand the lesson this would teach the realm. But the duty between sovereign and minister ranks above even the ties of brotherhood." The ministry recommended dismissal from office; the emperor ordered him demoted to Vice Minister of War. In Qianlong 12 (1747), he lost his post over the disciplinary handling of Jiangxi regional commander Gao Qi, whose defenses had been allowed to decay and who had improperly courted commendation. In Qianlong 14 (1749), he was restored to office as Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief and attendant in the Upper Study. Because he was remiss in overseeing the princes' lessons, he was repeatedly rebuked and docked pay. In Qianlong 22 (1757), he was transferred to Vice Minister of Works. In Qianlong 23 (1758), he was made Minister of Rites. In Qianlong 29 (1764), he retired. In Qianlong 36 (1771), for the Empress Dowager's grand birthday, the court ordered a painting of the Nine Elders, and Dehua was numbered among the nine retired worthies. In Qianlong 44 (1779), he died at the age of eighty-three.
13
惪華性篤儉，缊袍蔬食，蕭然如寒素。 立身循禮法，而不自居道學。 嘗謂：「士大夫之患，莫大於近名。 求以立德名，則必有迂怪不情之舉而實行荒； 求以立言名，則必有異同勝負之論而正理晦； 求以立功名，則必務見所長，紛更舊制。 立一法反生一弊，而實行無所裨。」 方為尚書時，京師富民俞民弼死，諸大臣皆往吊。 上聞，察未往者，惪華與焉。
Dehua was genuinely frugal by nature—patched robes, simple fare—and carried himself with the spare dignity of a poor scholar. He lived by ritual and law, but never styled himself a pedant of moral philosophy. He once remarked: "Nothing afflicts the scholar-official more than hunger for a name. Seek a name for virtue, and one will resort to queer, unbecoming acts while real conduct goes to waste; seek a name through doctrine, and one will breed partisan quarrels while the truth is obscured; seek a name through achievement, and one will parade one's talents and overturn established institutions at every turn. Each new rule spawns a fresh abuse, and in the end nothing is truly gained." While he was a minister, the wealthy Beijing merchant Yu Minbi died, and nearly every senior official went to mourn him. When the emperor learned of it, he checked who had stayed away—and Dehua was on the list.
14
王安國，字春圃，江南高郵人。 雍正二年一甲二名進士，授編修，再遷侍講。 提督廣東肇高學政，复再遷左僉都御史。 乾隆二年，疏請禁官吏居喪詣省會謁大吏，下部議行。 復三遷左都御史。 五年，兩江總督馬爾泰論廣東巡撫王謩徇縱，命安國往按，即命以左都御史領廣東巡撫。 安國曰：「吾奉命勘事而即得其位，古所譏蹊田奪牛者非歟？」 疏力辭，上不許。 廣東俗奢靡，安國事事整肅，倉有餘粟。 故事，自總督以下皆有分，安國獨以非制，止之。 九年正月，就遷兵部尚書，尋遭父喪。 廣州將軍策楞疏言安國孤介廉潔，歸葬無貲，與護理巡撫託庸等具賻歸之，報聞。
Wang Anguo, courtesy name Chunpu, was a native of Gaoyou in Jiangnan. In Yongzheng 2 (1724), he placed second in the first rank of jinshi graduates, was appointed Compiler, and was soon promoted to Lecturer-in-waiting. He served as educational commissioner for Zhaoqing and Gaozhou in Guangdong, then was twice promoted to Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief. In Qianlong 2 (1737), he submitted a memorial asking that officials in mourning be forbidden to travel to provincial capitals to pay court to their superiors; the ministry approved and put it into effect. He was promoted three ranks in succession to Left Censor-in-Chief. In Qianlong 5 (1740), when the Two Jiang governor-general Maertai accused Guangdong governor Wang Mo of favoritism and leniency, the emperor sent Anguo to investigate—and at once appointed him Left Censor-in-Chief to serve concurrently as Guangdong governor. Anguo said: "I am dispatched to examine a case and promptly given the post itself—is this not the very thing the ancients ridiculed as 'treading the furrow to take the ox'?" He memorialized in earnest refusal, but the emperor would not allow it. Guangdong was a province of lavish habits; Anguo enforced order in all affairs, and the public granaries held grain to spare. By custom, every official from the governor-general down received a personal share; Anguo alone deemed this irregular and abolished it. In the first month of Qianlong 9 (1744), he was promoted on the spot to Minister of War; before long his father died. Guangzhou general Celeng reported that Anguo was austere, upright, and poor, and lacked the means to bury his father; he and acting governor Tuoyong and others pooled funeral gifts for his return home and notified the court.
15
十年，召為兵部尚書，調禮部。 安國疏乞終喪，居廬營葬。 服闋，乃入朝。 十四年六月，安國入對，言諸行省方科試，諸學臣尚有未除積弊。 上令具疏陳，安國疏言：「上科鄉試後，頗聞諸學臣因錄科例嚴，轉開僥倖。 或於省會書院博督撫之歡，或於所屬義學徇州縣之請，或市恩於朝臣故舊，或縱容子弟家人乘機作弊，致取錄不甚公明。」 上召安國詢所論諸學臣姓名，安國舉尹會一、陳其凝、孫人龍、鄧釗等。 上以會一、釗已物故，其凝、人龍皆坐事黜，因責安國瞻徇，手詔詰難。 二十年，遷吏部尚書。 二十一年，疏乞假為父改葬。 上以來年當南巡，諭俟期扈行。 冬，病作，予假治疾。 二十二年春，卒，賜白金五百治喪，諡文肅。
In Qianlong 10 (1745), he was recalled as Minister of War, then transferred to the Ministry of Rites. Anguo memorialized asking to finish his mourning, living in the mourning hut and seeing to the interment himself. Only when mourning was complete did he resume attendance at court. In the sixth month of Qianlong 14 (1749), Anguo attended audience and reported that in the provincial examinations, educational commissioners still had lingering abuses that had not been cleared away. The emperor told him to set it out in a memorial; Anguo wrote: "After last year's provincial exams, I have heard that because the rules governing the follow-up examination were tightened, the commissioners turned instead to back doors and lucky chances. Some played to governors and governors-general at provincial academies; some bowed to prefects and magistrates at local charity schools; some dispensed favors to old friends of court ministers; some winked at cheating by sons, kinsmen, and household staff—so that selection was far from fair or transparent." The emperor summoned Anguo and asked which commissioners he meant; Anguo named Yin Huiyi, Chen Qining, Sun Renlong, Deng Zhao, and others. The emperor pointed out that Huiyi and Zhao were already dead, and that Qining and Renlong had both been removed for misconduct; he charged Anguo with partiality and sent a handwritten edict pressing him hard on the point. In Qianlong 20 (1755), he was made Minister of Personnel. In Qianlong 21 (1756), he asked leave to move his father's grave. The emperor replied that he would be making his southern tour the next year and told him to wait and join the retinue. That winter he fell ill and was granted leave to recover. In the spring of Qianlong 22 (1757), he died; the court granted five hundred taels of silver for his funeral and conferred the posthumous name Wensu.
16
安國初登第，謁大學士朱軾，軾戒之曰：「學人通籍後，惟留得本來面目為難。」 安國誦其語終身。 至顯仕，衣食器用不改於舊。 深研經籍，子念孫，孫引之，承其緒，成一家之學，語在儒林傳。
When Anguo had just earned his degree, he paid a visit to Grand Secretary Zhu Shi, who warned him: "Once a scholar takes office, nothing is harder than keeping the face you started with." Anguo kept those words with him to the end of his days. Even at the summit of power, his dress, diet, and household goods remained what they had always been. He immersed himself in the classics; his son Niansun and grandson Yinzhi carried on his scholarly line and formed a distinctive school of their own, as told in the Confucian Scholars biography.
17
劉吳龍，字紹聞，江西南昌人。 雍正元年進士，授庶吉士。 二年，以朱軾薦，改吏部主事。 六遷至光祿寺少卿。 嘗視讞牘，有以欲劫行舟定罪者，吳龍曰：「欲劫二字，豈可置人於死？」 論釋之。 十一年，出為安徽按察使。 十三年，內遷光祿寺卿，命管理北路軍需。 乾隆元年，召還，疏言：「北路軍需，有輸送科布多截留察漢廋爾諸處，應就車駝戶追繳腳價。 尚有逋負，請量予豁除。」 上從其議。 三遷左都御史，疏言：「步軍統領衙門番役，私用白役，生事害民，宜令具冊考覈，有所追捕，官畀差票，詣有司呈驗。 步軍統領鞫囚，旗人會本旗都統，民人會順天府尹、巡城御史，互相覺察。」 疏入，議行。 又疏言諸行省州縣董理訟獄，其有舛誤，小民無所申訴，宜令督撫遣監司按行稽考，以申民隱。 旋劾罷浙江巡撫盧焯，論如律。 遷刑部尚書。 七年，卒，賜白金五百治喪，諡清愨。
Liu Wulong, courtesy name Shaowen, was a native of Nanchang, Jiangxi. He passed the jinshi examination in Yongzheng 1 (1723) and was appointed a Hanlin bachelor. In Yongzheng 2 (1724), on Zhu Shi's recommendation, he was moved to a principal clerkship in the Ministry of Personnel. After six promotions he rose to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Once, reviewing case papers, he found a man sentenced to death on the charge of intending to hijack a boat; Wulong said: "Can the words 'intended to rob' alone justify taking a man's life?" He argued for acquittal. In Yongzheng 11 (1733), he was sent out as Anhui surveillance commissioner. In Yongzheng 13 (1735), he was recalled to the capital as Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments and charged with managing Northern Route military supplies. In Qianlong 1 (1736), recalled to court, he memorialized: "On Northern Route supplies, contractors hauling grain to Kebuduo, Chahannao'er, and other stations have been skimming deliveries; the cart and camel households should be made to repay the freight charges. Some debts remain beyond recovery; I ask that a portion be forgiven in due measure." The emperor approved. Promoted three ranks to Left Censor-in-Chief, he memorialized: "Runners of the Metropolitan Banner Brigade employ unauthorized men and harass the people; they should be made to keep rolls for audit, and whenever they pursue someone, officials should issue warrants for verification by the local magistracy. When the Brigade examines prisoners, bannermen should be overseen by their own banner commander, and commoners by the Shuntian prefect and the patrolling censor, each keeping watch on the other." The memorial was sent down for deliberation and adopted. He also urged that where prefects and magistrates mishandle lawsuits and prisons, ordinary people have nowhere to appeal; governors and governors-general should dispatch surveillance commissioners on inspection tours to audit local justice and bring hidden grievances to light. He soon impeached and removed Zhejiang governor Lu Chao; the penalty was fixed according to law. He was transferred to Minister of Punishments. In Qianlong 7 (1742), he died; the court granted five hundred taels of silver for his funeral and conferred the posthumous name Qingbi.
18
吳龍簡重，不苟言笑。 為政慎密持重，得大體。 督學直隸、江蘇，士循其教。 乾隆初，楊汝穀、張泰開與吳龍先後為左都御史，皆以篤謹被上眷。
Wulong was spare and solemn, seldom speaking or laughing without cause. In office he was careful, reserved, and steady, and he grasped the larger principles. As educational commissioner in Zhili and Jiangsu, he shaped the conduct of the scholar class. In the early Qianlong years, Yang Rugu, Zhang Taikai, and Wulong served in turn as Left Censor-in-Chief, each winning the emperor's trust through sober diligence.
19
楊汝穀，字令貽，江南懷寧人。 康熙三十九年進士，授浙江浦江縣知縣。 行取，授禮部主事。 三遷監察御史。 河南南陽鎮標兵以知府沈淵禁博，劫淵，圍諸教場三日。 汝穀論劾，上遣尚書張廷樞等往按，譴總兵高成誅標兵之首事者。 別疏言：「選人待缺，輒言出為人後，或值遠缺，報治喪，冀更選。 請飭選人具三代，已選，復稱出為人後，報治喪，以不孝論。」 下部議行。 六遷兵部侍郎，兼署左副都御史。 疏言直隸被水災，請運關東米十萬石至天津，留南漕十萬石存河間、保定適中地，分貯備賑。 下部議行。 高宗即位，調戶部侍郎，疏言：「河南滎澤地濱黃河，康熙三十六年河勢南侵，縣地多傾陷。 民困虛糧，流亡遠徙。」 上命河南巡撫察議，刪賦額。 尋遷左都御史。 乾隆三年，以老乞休，命本省布政使給俸。 五年，卒，年七十六，諡勤恪。
Yang Rugu, courtesy name Lingyi, was a native of Huaining in Jiangnan. He passed the jinshi examination in Kangxi 39 (1700) and was appointed magistrate of Pujiang County, Zhejiang. Selected for service in the capital, he became a principal clerk in the Ministry of Rites. After three promotions he was made a supervising censor. At the Nanyang garrison in Henan, troops whose gambling had been banned by Prefect Shen Yuan assaulted him and blockaded the parade ground for three days. Rugu impeached them; the emperor sent Minister Zhang Tingshu and others to investigate, censured regional commander Gao Cheng, and executed the soldier ringleaders. In another memorial he wrote: "Candidates waiting for appointment often suddenly claim they have been adopted as heirs, or, when sent to a distant post, report a death in the family, hoping to draw a new assignment. Require every candidate to submit three generations of lineage; if after appointment he again claims adoption or mourning, let him be punished for unfilial conduct." The ministry approved and put the rule into effect. After six promotions he rose to Vice Minister of War, concurrently serving as acting Left Assistant Censor-in-Chief. He memorialized that flood had struck Zhili and asked that one hundred thousand shi of grain be shipped from the Northeast to Tianjin, while one hundred thousand shi of southern tribute grain be held at convenient points in Hejian and Baoding and stored in reserve for relief. The ministry approved and carried it out. When Gaozong took the throne, Rugu was moved to Vice Minister of Revenue and memorialized: "In Henan, the Xingze district lies along the Yellow River; in Kangxi 36 (1697) the river swung south and much of the county sank away. The people were crushed by taxes levied on land that no longer existed, and fled in exile." The emperor ordered the Henan governor to investigate and recommend cuts to the tax rolls. He was soon made Left Censor-in-Chief. In Qianlong 3 (1738), he asked to retire on grounds of age and was granted salary from his home province's administration commissioner. In Qianlong 5 (1740), he died at seventy-six; his posthumous name was Qinke.
20
張泰開，字履安，江南金匱人。 乾隆七年進士，改庶吉士，命上書房行走。 旋自編修五遷禮部侍郎。 十九年，國子監學錄缺員，泰開舉同部侍郎鄒一桂子志伊。 上責其瞻徇，部議奪職，予編修，仍在上書房行走。 二十年，內閣學士胡中藻為詩謗朝政，坐誅，泰開為詩序，授刻，部議奪官治罪，上特宥之，仍在上書房行走。 尋复授編修。 二十二年，擢通政使。 三遷左都御史。 三十一年，授禮部尚書。 三十二年，复授左都御史。 三十三年，以老乞休，上獎其勤慎，加太子少傅，賦詩餞其行。 三十九年，卒，年八十六，諡文恪。
Zhang Taikai, courtesy name Lü'an, was a native of Jinque in Jiangnan. He passed the jinshi examination in Qianlong 7 (1742), entered the Hanlin Academy, and was appointed an attendant in the Upper Study. From Compiler he was promoted five ranks in succession to Vice Minister of Rites. In Qianlong 19 (1754), when a recorder's post at the Imperial Academy opened, Taikai recommended Zhi Yi, son of his fellow vice minister Zou Yigui. The emperor rebuked him for partiality; the ministry recommended dismissal from office, and he was reduced to Compiler while remaining an attendant in the Upper Study. In Qianlong 20 (1755), Grand Secretary Hu Zhongzao was put to death for poetry that slandered the government. Taikai had written a preface for the collection and arranged its printing. The ministry recommended that he be dismissed and punished, but the emperor pardoned him, and he remained an attendant in the Upper Study. He was soon reappointed Compiler. In Qianlong 22 (1757) he was promoted to commissioner of the Transmission Office. After three further promotions he became Left Censor-in-Chief. In Qianlong 31 (1766) he was appointed minister of Rites. In Qianlong 32 (1767) he was again made Left Censor-in-Chief. In Qianlong 33 (1768), pleading age, he asked to retire. The emperor commended his diligence and carefulness, granted him the rank of Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent, and wrote a poem to bid him farewell. He died in Qianlong 39 (1774), aged eighty-six, and was posthumously titled Wenge.
21
秦蕙田，字樹峰，江南金匱人。 祖松齡，順治十二年進士，官左春坊左諭德。 本生父道然，康熙四十八年進士，官禮部給事中，與貝子允禟善，為其府總管。 允禟得罪，逮下獄，蕙田往來省視。 世宗貸道然死，而獄未解。 乾隆元年一甲三名進士，授編修，南書房行走。 乃上疏言：「臣本生父道然身罹重罪，蒙恩曲宥； 以追銀未完，繫獄九年，年已八十，衰朽不堪。 本年五六月間，浸染暑濕，瘧癘時作，奄奄一息，幾至瘐斃。 情關骨肉，痛楚難忍。 臣雖備官禁近，還顧臣父，老病拘幽，既無完解之期，更無生存之望，方寸昏迷，不能自主。 誠不忍昧心竊祿，內慚名教。 伏惟皇上矜慎庶獄，一線可原，概予寬釋。 當此聖明孝治天下，惟有乞恩，匄臣父八十垂死之年，得以終老牖下。 臣原奪職效奔走以贖父罪。」 高宗命宥道然，並免所追銀。
Qin Huitian, styled Shufeng, was a native of Jinque in Jiangnan. His grandfather Songling passed the jinshi examination in Shunzhi 12 (1655) and served as Left Tutor in the Eastern Palace's Left Secretariat. His biological father Daoran took his jinshi degree in Kangxi 48 (1709), served as a supervising censor in the Ministry of Rites, was close to Beile Yinshi, and acted as chief steward of his princely household. When Yinshi was condemned and thrown into prison, Huitian visited him repeatedly. The Yongzheng Emperor spared Daoran execution, but the case against him remained unsettled. In Qianlong 1 (1736) he finished third among the top three jinshi graduates, was appointed a compiler, and served in the Southern Study. He then submitted a memorial: "My biological father Daoran was guilty of a grave crime, yet Your Majesty mercifully spared him; because the silver he was ordered to repay was never fully collected, he has remained in prison for nine years. He is already eighty, broken and frail beyond bearing. Between the fifth and sixth months of this year he was stricken by summer damp and fever; chills and ague came and went, and he now lies at the point of death, scarcely breathing. This touches my own flesh and blood, and the pain is more than I can endure. Though I hold office close to the throne, when I turn my thoughts to my father—old, sick, and shut away in prison—with no prospect of full release and no hope that he will live, my mind reels and I cannot command myself. I cannot in good conscience keep my post and draw salary in silence; inwardly I am ashamed before the moral teachings I am bound to uphold. I know that Your Majesty weighs every case with care and mercy, and that where even the thinnest thread of excuse may be found, full clemency may be granted. In this age when the sage emperor governs the realm through filial virtue, I can only beg for grace—that my father, at eighty and near death, may be allowed to end his days at home. I am willing to surrender my office and serve in any humble capacity to atone for my father's guilt. The Qianlong Emperor ordered Daoran pardoned and remitted the silver still owed.
22
蕙田累遷禮部侍郎，丁本生父憂，服將闋，命仍起禮部侍郎。 二十二年，遷工部尚書，署刑部尚書。 二十三年，調刑部尚書，仍兼領工部，加太子太保。 疏請諸行省流匄遞籍編甲收管，上諭曰：「蕙田所奏甚是，為清獄訟、弭盜賊之良法。 但此輩輾轉流徙，城市村落，所在皆有。 必一一收捕傳送，令原籍保甲監察，事理繁瑣，不若就所在地察禁。 當令有司遇流匄強悍不法，即時捕治。」 二十九年，以病乞休，上不允。 再請，上命南還謁醫，不必解任。 九月，卒於途，諡文恭。 明年，上南巡，幸無錫，賦詩猶及蕙田。
Huitian rose by stages to vice minister of Rites. When his biological father died he entered mourning, and as the mourning period was nearing its end he was ordered back to the same post. In Qianlong 22 (1757) he was transferred to minister of Works and concurrently served as acting minister of Punishments. In Qianlong 23 (1758) he was made minister of Punishments while still heading Works, and was granted the rank of Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent. In a memorial he asked that wandering petitioners in every province be registered through relay of their native-place records and placed under baojia supervision. The emperor replied: "What Huitian proposes is entirely sound. It is an excellent way to clear lawsuits and suppress banditry. But these people drift from place to place and are found in every town and village. To hunt them down one by one, send them back, and have their home districts' baojia keep watch would be endlessly cumbersome; it would be better to inspect and restrain them where they are found. Local officials should be ordered: whenever wandering petitioners prove violent and lawless, they are to be arrested and punished at once." In Qianlong 29 (1764), pleading illness, he asked to retire; the emperor refused. When he petitioned again, the emperor told him to return south for treatment without resigning his post. In the ninth month he died on the journey home and was posthumously titled Wengong. The following year, when the emperor toured the south and visited Wuxi, he wrote a poem that still spoke of Huitian.
23
蕙田通經能文章，尤精於三禮，撰五禮通考，首採經史，次及諸家傳說儒先所未能決者，疏通證明，使後儒有所折衷。 以樂律附吉禮，以天文曆法、方輿疆理附嘉禮。 博大閎遠，條貫賅備。 又好治易及音韻、律呂、算數之學，皆有著述。
Huitian was thoroughly versed in the classics and a capable writer, especially in the Three Rites. His Comprehensive Study of the Five Rites first drew on canonical and historical sources, then worked through disputed points among later schools that earlier scholars had never settled, clarifying and proving them so that later readers would have a basis for judgment. He attached music and pitch regulation to the section on auspicious rites, and astronomy, calendrical science, geography, and territorial administration to the section on celebratory rites. The work is broad and far-reaching, systematically arranged and comprehensively complete. He also loved the Book of Changes, phonology, pitch pipes, and mathematics, and wrote on all of them.
24
子泰鈞，乾隆十九年進士，翰林院編修。
His son Taijun passed the jinshi examination in Qianlong 19 (1754) and served as a Hanlin compiler.
25
彭啟豐，字翰文，江南長洲人。 祖定求，康熙十五年，會試、殿試皆第一，官至翰林院侍講。 啟豐，雍正五年會試第一，殿試置一甲第三，世宗親拔第一。 授翰林院修撰，南書房行走。 三遷右庶子。 乾隆六年，充江西鄉試副考官，再遷左僉都御史。 疏言：「臣驛路經宿州，宿州方被水，蒙恩賑恤。 知州許朝棟任甲長胥吏索費，饑民戶籍登記不以實。 鳳陽知府梅毓健不親詣察覈。」 下兩江總督那蘇圖嚴察。 七年，遷通政使，督浙江學政。 三遷刑部侍郎，疏言：「浙省吏民佔官湖為田，餘杭南湖發源天目，下注苕溪，溉杭、嘉、湖三郡。 自巡撫朱軾濬治，今已沙淤。 其他會稽、餘姚、慈谿等湖，皆僅存其名，請敕次第開濬。 江南漕米，每石收錢五十四，半給運丁，半歸州縣為公使錢。 杭、嘉、湖運丁有漕截，而州縣無漕費，石米私加一二升至五六升，請敕如江南例，石米收錢二十四，為州縣修倉鋪墊費，而禁其浮收。 浙江額設均平夫銀供差徭，差簡可以敷用，差繁每苦賠墊，本省官吏來往，任意多索，請敕部按官吏尊卑、差役繁簡，定人夫名額，俾為成例。 浙省黃岩、太平地多斥鹵，民家稍有餘鹽，兵弁藉以婪索。 婪索不遂，指為私鹽，甚或以數家數人之鹽合併誣報，請敕文武大臣申禁。」 下部議行。 尋以憂去。
Peng Qifeng, styled Hanwen, was a native of Changzhou in Jiangnan. His grandfather Dingqiu, in Kangxi 15 (1676), took first place in both the metropolitan and palace examinations and rose to reader in the Hanlin Academy. Qifeng placed first in the metropolitan examination in Yongzheng 5 (1727); in the palace examination he was ranked third among the top tier, but the Yongzheng Emperor personally raised him to first place. He was appointed Hanlin expositor and served in the Southern Study. After three promotions he became right sub-reader. In Qianlong 6 (1741) he served as associate examiner for the Jiangxi provincial examination and was promoted again to left assistant censor-in-chief. He memorialized: "On the courier route I passed through Suzhou Prefecture, which had just been flooded and was receiving imperial relief. Prefect Xu Chaodong allowed neighborhood headmen and clerks to demand fees, and the household registers of famine victims were not recorded truthfully. Fengyang prefect Mei Yujian did not go in person to inspect and verify the relief work. The matter was referred to Liangjiang governor-general Nasutu for strict investigation. In Qianlong 7 (1742) he was made commissioner of the Transmission Office and appointed Zhejiang education commissioner. After three more promotions he became vice minister of Punishments and memorialized: "In Zhejiang, officials and commoners have encroached on government lakes and turned them into fields. South Lake in Yuhang rises on Mount Tianmu and flows into Tiao Creek, watering the three prefectures of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou. Since Governor Zhu Shi dredged it, it has silted up again. Other lakes at Kuaiji, Yuyao, Cixi, and elsewhere exist only in name. I ask that an imperial order be issued to dredge them in turn. In Jiangnan, fifty-four cash are collected for each picul of tribute grain—half for transport laborers and half for prefectural and county public-service funds. In Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou the transport laborers receive canal subsidies, but the prefectures and counties receive no canal fees, so officials privately add one or two sheng—and sometimes as much as five or six sheng—per picul of rice. I ask that, following the Jiangnan precedent, twenty-four cash be collected per picul for prefectural and county warehouse and paving expenses, and that unauthorized surcharges be forbidden. Zhejiang sets aside equalization labor silver for corvée service; when duties are light the funds suffice, but when they are heavy officials often pay out of pocket. Officials traveling within the province demand extra labor at will. I ask the ministry to fix quotas of laborers according to rank and the frequency of assignments, and make that the standing rule. In Huangyan and Taiping the land is mostly saline; families with even a little surplus salt are prey to extortion by military officers. When extortion fails, they denounce the salt as contraband, even combining salt from several households and people in false reports. I ask that civil and military superiors be ordered to forbid this strictly. The ministry deliberated and implemented his recommendations. He soon left office to observe mourning.
26
十五年，授吏部侍郎。 十八年，調兵部侍郎。 二十年，疏乞養母，允之。 二十六年，复授吏部侍郎。 二十七年，以京察注考，吏部郎中阿敏爾圖諸尚書、侍郎皆列一等，啟豐獨列二等，上責其示異市名。 旋遷左都御史。 二十八年，遷兵部尚書。 三十一年，上以史奕昂為侍郎，入對，諭加意部事。 奕昂遂自恣，面斥啟豐，不稱尚書，侍郎期成額以是訐奕昂。 上詰啟豐，啟豐力言無之。 詢侍郎鍾音，鍾音對如期成額。 啟豐語乃塞。 上為罷奕昂，因謂：「啟豐學問尚優，治事非所長。 今乃巽愞模棱，奏對不以實，失大臣體。」 即降侍郎。 三十三年，命原品休致。 四十一年，上東巡，迎駕，予尚書銜。 四十九年，卒，年八十四。
In Qianlong 15 (1750) he was appointed vice minister of Personnel. In Qianlong 18 (1753) he was transferred to vice minister of War. In Qianlong 20 (1755) he memorialized asking to retire and care for his mother; the request was granted. In Qianlong 26 (1761) he was again appointed vice minister of Personnel. In Qianlong 27 (1762), during the capital personnel review, Personnel Bureau director Amin'ertu rated all the ministers and vice ministers in the first grade; Qifeng alone was placed in the second. The emperor rebuked him for making a display and courting a reputation for integrity. He was soon transferred to left censor-in-chief. In Qianlong 28 (1763) he was made minister of War. In Qianlong 31 (1766) the emperor appointed Shi Yi'ang vice minister of War; when Yi'ang came in for audience, the emperor told him to give close attention to the ministry's business. Yi'ang then grew insolent, openly berated Qifeng without addressing him by his ministerial title, and Vice Minister Qicheng'e impeached him for it. The emperor questioned Qifeng, who vigorously denied it. When he questioned Vice Minister Zhong Yin, Zhong Yin answered as Qicheng'e had. Qifeng was left with nothing to say. The emperor dismissed Yi'ang and then said: "Qifeng's learning is still excellent, but he is not strong in practical administration. Now he has become evasive and equivocal, answering in audience without speaking plainly. That is unworthy of a grand minister." He was immediately demoted to vice minister. In Qianlong 33 (1768) he was ordered to retire at his existing rank. In Qianlong 41 (1776), when the emperor toured the east, Qifeng came out to meet the imperial procession and was granted the honorary rank of minister. He died in Qianlong 49 (1784), aged eighty-four.
27
子紹升，語在文苑傳。
His son Shaosheng is discussed in the Biographies of Literary Men.
28
孫希濂，乾隆四十九年進士，官至刑部右侍郎，左遷福建按察使。
His grandson Xilian passed the jinshi examination in Qianlong 49 (1784), rose to right vice minister of Punishments, and was demoted to judicial commissioner of Fujian.
29
曾孫蘊章，自有傳。
His great-grandson Yunzhang has a separate biography.
30
夢麟，字文子，西魯特氏，蒙古正白旗人，尚書憲德子。 進士，改庶吉士，授檢討。 十五年，遷侍講學士，再遷祭酒，提督河南學政。 十六年，授內閣學士。 十七年，湖北羅田民據天堂寨謀亂，夢麟以河南商城鄰羅田，馳往捕治，上嘉之。 疏言：「商城界江、楚，峻嶺深岩，易藏奸宄，請增兵巡察。」 下河南巡撫議，移駐守備，增兵百。 十八年，署戶部侍郎，充江南鄉試考官，即命提督江蘇學政。 二十年，授工部侍郎，代還，調署兵部，兼鑲白旗蒙古副都統。 二十一年，命在軍機處學習行走。 大臣在軍機處，資望少淺者曰「學習行走」，自夢麟始。
Meng Lin, styled Wenzi, of the Xilute clan, was a Mongol of the Plain White Banner and the son of Minister Xiande. After taking his jinshi degree he entered the Hanlin as a bachelor and was appointed proofreader. In Qianlong 15 (1750) he was promoted to Hanlin reader, then to chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and was appointed Henan education commissioner. In Qianlong 16 (1751) he was appointed grand secretary of the Inner Cabinet. In Qianlong 17 (1752), the people of Luotian in Hubei seized Heaven's Terrace Fortress and plotted rebellion. Meng Lin, seeing that Shangcheng in Henan bordered Luotian, rushed there to suppress them, and the emperor praised his action. He memorialized: "Shangcheng lies on the border of Jiang and Chu; its steep ridges and deep ravines easily hide wrongdoers. I ask that troops be increased for patrol and inspection." The matter was referred to the Henan governor for deliberation; a garrison commander was moved to the post, and a hundred troops were added. In Qianlong 18 (1753) he served as acting vice minister of Revenue, examined the Jiangnan provincial examination, and was immediately appointed Jiangsu education commissioner. In Qianlong 20 (1755) he was appointed vice minister of Works; when his successor arrived he was transferred to acting vice minister of War and concurrently made deputy commander of the Mongol Bordered White Banner. In Qianlong 21 (1756) he was ordered to serve in the Grand Council as a "learning attendant." Grand councillors of relatively junior standing were called "learning attendants"—a usage that began with Meng Lin.
31
是歲，河決孫家集。 二十二年，河道總督白鍾山奏請開荊山橋河，命夢麟馳勘，趣即興工，工竟，議敘。 上南巡閱河，以六塘河以下積潦，桃源、宿遷、清河諸縣卑成浸，令夢麟勘治。 尋奏：「六塘河上承駱馬湖，至清河分兩派，由武障、義澤等河匯潮河入海，長三百餘裡，中間淤淺數十處，已令速疏濬南北兩堰。 並去年水壞宿遷堰工，及諸缺口，俱加修築。 諸縣積水，開溝十五，設涵洞五，建閘四，俾得宣洩。」 工既竟，又奏：「荊山橋河道經銅、沛、邳、睢四州縣，分設四汛； 黃水自丁家樓匯入蘇家閘，荊山橋正當其衝，應令堵築。 微山湖至荊山橋河下游王母山，紆長灣曲，每歲霜降後應令疏濬。 居民就灣築堰壩捕魚，渡口疊石為步，皆阻河道，應令嚴禁。」 上命如所議行。
That year the Yellow River burst at Sunjiaji. In Qianlong 22 (1757), Grand Canal director Bai Zhongshan memorialized to open the Jingshan Bridge River. Meng Lin was ordered to hurry there to survey the site and begin work at once; when the project was finished, rewards were deliberated. During the emperor's southern tour to inspect the rivers, stagnant floodwater below the Liutang River had left Taoyuan, Suqian, Qinghe, and other counties submerged in low-lying land; Meng Lin was ordered to survey and repair the damage. He soon reported: "The Liutang River rises from Luoma Lake; at Qinghe it splits into two branches and, through the Wuzhang, Yize, and other channels, joins the Chaohu River and reaches the sea—a course of more than three hundred li. Dozens of stretches along it have silted shallow, and orders have already been issued to dredge the northern and southern embankments at speed. Flood damage last year to the Suqian embankment works and to various breaches has all been repaired. To drain standing water in the affected counties, fifteen channels were opened, five culverts installed, and four sluice gates built. When that work was finished, he memorialized again: "The Jingshan Bridge River runs through the four districts of Tong, Pei, Pi, and Sui, and should be divided into four garrison zones; Yellow River water gathers at the Su Family Sluice from Dingjialou, and Jingshan Bridge lies directly in its path and should be blocked and reinforced. From Weishan Lake to Wangmu Mountain downstream of the Jingshan Bridge River the channel is long and winding; dredging should be ordered every year after the Frost Descent. Residents build weirs and dams in the bends to catch fish, and at ferry crossings stack stones into steps—all of which block the channel and should be strictly forbidden. The emperor ordered that his proposals be carried out.
32
山東巡撫鶴年奏金鄉、魚台、濟寧諸州縣水患，命侍郎裘曰修偕夢麟馳往相度，合疏言：「諸縣久為微山湖水所浸，當籌分洩之路。 韓莊閘南伊家河至江南梁旺城入運，今已久淤，當開濬引積水東注。」 從之。 兩江總督尹繼善以沂水入運為害，奏建湖口閘，命夢麟與在工諸臣分任其責。 合疏言：「沂水自盧口傍洩，淹民田，阻運河。 當築壩堵截，使不得入運，毋礙微山諸湖入河歸海之路。 六塘河在駱馬湖下游，為沂水疏泄要道，宿遷、桃源諸水自沭入漣歸海，並宜疏治宣通。 兼濬六塘河出口，使無淺阻。 此治沂水之概要也。 夏邑、永城諸水，自睢河下注洪澤湖，出清口會黃入海。 近歲河道多淤，董家溝諸地尤宜急治，兼濬洪澤湖出口。 清口束水二壩，遵旨撤除。 各閘口門亦宜加寬。 此治睢河之概要也。」 疏入，上許為頗得要領。 調戶部。 冬，工竟，還京師。 二十三年，復調工部，署翰林院掌院學士。 卒，賜祭葬。
Shandong governor Hexing reported flooding in Jinxiang, Yutai, Jining, and other districts. Vice Minister Qiu Yuexiu and Meng Lin were ordered to hurry there and survey the ground. They jointly memorialized: "These counties have long been flooded by Weishan Lake water, and channels for diverting the overflow must be planned. South of Hanzhuang Sluice, the Yi Family River runs to Liangwangcheng in Jiangnan and enters the Grand Canal; it has long been silted up and should be dredged to carry the standing water eastward. The emperor approved. Liangjiang governor-general Yin Jishan reported that the Yi River's entry into the Grand Canal was causing damage and memorialized to build a Hukou Sluice. Meng Lin and the officials on the project were ordered to divide the work among themselves. They jointly reported: "The Yi River escapes sideways at Lukou, flooding farmland and blocking the Grand Canal. An embankment should be built to cut it off so that it cannot enter the canal, without obstructing the path by which the Weishan lakes discharge into the river and reach the sea. The Liutang River lies downstream of Luoma Lake and is the main outlet for the Yi River; the waters of Suqian, Taoyuan, and other places that flow from the Shu into the Lian and then to the sea should all be dredged and opened. The mouth of the Liutang River should also be dredged so that it is not blocked by shallows. This is the general plan for managing the Yi River. The waters of Xiayi, Yongcheng, and other places descend through the Sui River into Hongze Lake, leave by Qingkou to join the Yellow River, and reach the sea. In recent years many channels have silted up; Dongjiagou and other places need urgent repair, and Hongze Lake's outlet should also be dredged. The two Qingkou embankments that had constricted the water were removed by imperial order. The gate openings at each sluice should also be widened. This is the general plan for managing the Sui River. When the memorial arrived, the emperor approved it, saying it had grasped the essentials rather well. He was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue. That winter the work was completed and he returned to the capital. In Qianlong 23 (1758) he was transferred again to the Ministry of Works and concurrently served as acting chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. He died and was granted state funeral rites.
33
論曰：照絀於盤錯，而優於詞翰，高宗知之審矣。 汝來以清節著，惪華等以文學庸，而安國博辨群書，好學深思，自為家法。 蕙田治禮，綜歷代政事學術，貫串會通，體大思精，尤彬彬名世之大業也。 夢麟早歲負清望，參大政，方駕遽稅，惜哉！
The commentators observe: Zhang Zhao faltered when affairs were tangled as knotted roots, yet excelled in literary craft—the Qianlong Emperor knew that perfectly well. Gan Rulai was noted for upright integrity; Chen Dehua and others were valued for literary talent; and Wang Anguo was broadly learned, loved study and deep reflection, and formed a scholarly tradition of his own. Qin Huitian's work on ritual gathered the administrative and scholarly learning of successive dynasties into one coherent whole—grand in design and refined in thought—truly a great achievement worthy to stand among the foremost scholars of the age. Meng Lin in his early years enjoyed a reputation for integrity and had a hand in great affairs of state, yet death cut him down just as his career was gathering speed—what a pity!