1
=曹一士=曹一士，字諤廷，江蘇上海人。 雍正七年進士，改庶吉士，散館授編修。 十三年，考選雲南道監察御史。 高宗即位，諭群臣更番入對。 一士疏言：「敬讀諭旨，曰'百姓安則朕躬安'，大哉王言，聞者皆感涕。 臣愚以為欲百姓之安，其要莫先於慎擇督撫。 督撫者守令之倡。 顧其中皆有賢者、有能者，賢能兼者上也，賢而不足於能者次之，能有餘而賢不足者又其次也。 督撫之為賢為能，視其所舉而瞭如。 今督撫舉守令，約有數端：曰年力富強，曰治事勤慎，曰不避嫌怨。 徵其實跡，則錢糧無欠，開墾多方，善捕盜賊。 果如所言，洵所謂能吏也。 乃未幾而或以贓汙著，或以殘刻聞，舉所謂貪吏、酷吏者，無一不出於能吏之中，彼誠有才以濟其惡耳。 夫吏之賢者，悃愊無華，惻怛愛人，事上不為詭隨，吏民同聲謂之不煩。 度今世亦不少其人，而督撫薦剡曾未及此，毋亦輕視賢而重視能之故耶？ 抑以能吏即賢吏耶？ 臣恐所謂能者非真能也，以趨走便利而謂之能，則老成者為遲鈍矣； 以應對捷給而謂之能，則木訥者為迂疏矣； 以逞才喜事而謂之能，則鎮靜者為怠緩矣； 以武健嚴酷、不恤人言而謂之能，則勞於撫字、拙於鍛鍊者謂之沽名釣譽、才力不及，而摭拾細故以罷黜之矣。 至於所取者潰敗決裂，則曰臣不合誤舉，聽部議而已。 夫有誤舉必有誤劾，誤舉如此，則誤劾者何如？ 誤舉者猶可議其罪，誤劾者將何從問乎？ 臣以為今之督撫，明作有功之意多，而惇大成裕之道少； 損下益上之事多，而損上益下之義少； 此治體所關也。 皇上於凡丈量開墾、割裂州縣、改調牧令，一切紛更煩擾，皆行罷革。 為督撫者，度無不承流宣化，所慮者，彼或執其成心，飾非自護； 意為迎合，姑息偷安。 臣敢請皇上特頒諭旨，剖析開導，俾於精明嚴肅之中，布優游寬大之政。 所屬守令，敕於保題薦舉時，分列賢員、能員，然後條疏實事於下。 能員有敗行，許自行檢舉； 賢員著劣跡，則從重處分。 倘所舉皆能而無賢，則非大吏乏正己率屬之方，即賢者有壅於上聞之患。 督撫之賢否，視所舉而瞭如矣。」 疏入，上為通諭諸督撫。
Cao Yishi, whose courtesy name was Eting, came from Shanghai in Jiangsu. In the seventh year of Yongzheng he passed the jinshi examination, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and after completing his probation was appointed a compiler. In the thirteenth year he was chosen by examination and appointed supervising censor for the Yunnan circuit. When Emperor Gaozong came to the throne, he ordered the officials to appear before him in rotation. Cao Yishi submitted a memorial: "Reading reverently the imperial rescript that says, 'When the people are secure, then I am secure'—what magnanimous words from the throne! All who heard them were moved to tears. Your subject believes that if the people are to be kept secure, nothing matters more than choosing governors-general and provincial governors with the utmost care. Governors-general and provincial governors stand at the head of the prefects and magistrates. Among them are men of virtue and men of ability; best are those who possess both, next are the virtuous who fall short in ability, and after them come the able who lack sufficient virtue. Whether a governor-general or provincial governor is virtuous or capable becomes perfectly clear from the men he recommends. Today, when governors-general and provincial governors put forward prefects and magistrates, they rely on a few standard points: vigor of age and body, diligence and prudence in office, and willingness to face enmity without flinching. When their actual record is examined, taxes and grain are paid in full, land is widely opened for cultivation, and bandits and thieves are effectively captured. If all this proves true, such men are indeed what people call capable officials. Yet before long some are exposed as corrupt, others become notorious for cruelty—and every one of these greedy or harsh officials had first passed as a capable one. They truly possessed talent enough to serve their wickedness. A worthy official is plain and sincere, tender-hearted toward the people, refuses fawning compliance with his superiors, and is praised alike by colleagues and commoners as a man who governs without vexation. I believe the present age still has no shortage of such men, yet they scarcely appear on the recommendation lists of governors-general and provincial governors. Is this not because worthiness is undervalued while capability is over prized? Or do they simply equate the capable official with the worthy one? I fear that what passes for ability is not ability at all. If quick compliance in running errands counts as ability, then seasoned and deliberate men are dismissed as slow and dull. If sharp and fluent replies count as ability, then plain, reserved men are judged pedantic and obtuse. If flaunting talent and courting trouble count as ability, then calm and steady men are condemned as lax and indolent. If martial harshness and contempt for public opinion count as ability, then men who wear themselves out nurturing the people and are awkward at showy exertion are called fame-seekers of insufficient talent, and are removed on trifling pretexts. When those they chose fail catastrophically, they say only, 'Your subject erred in recommendation,' and leave the matter to the ministry for deliberation. Where recommendations go wrong, impeachments go wrong as well. If mistaken recommendation is treated so lightly, what becomes of mistaken impeachment? A mistaken recommender may still be called to account, but against a mistaken impeacher where is justice to be sought? I believe today's governors-general and provincial governors are far readier to reward visible achievement than to cultivate greatness through generous forbearance. They do much that harms those below to serve those above, and little that sacrifices the interests of superiors for the sake of the people. This goes to the very foundations of good government. Your Majesty has already abolished every vexatious change—land surveys, reclamation drives, the carving up of prefectures and counties, the reassignment of pastoral officials, and the like. No governor-general or provincial governor can fail to echo this reforming tide; the worry is that some will cling to old habits, gloss over their faults, and shield themselves. Some will court approval and choose indulgent ease over honest effort. I beg Your Majesty to issue a special edict that analyzes and instructs them, so that within a rule both keen and strict there may also be room for a generous and humane policy. As for the prefects and magistrates under them, command that when securing nominations they distinguish worthy men from able men, and then set out concrete deeds in detail. If an able man later proves corrupt, let him be allowed to confess it himself. If a worthy man is found guilty of misconduct, punish him all the more severely. If every recommendation is of the able and none of the worthy, then either the senior official lacks the discipline to govern himself and his subordinates, or worthy men are being shut out from the throne's hearing. Whether a governor-general or provincial governor is worthy becomes perfectly clear from those he chooses to promote." When the memorial arrived, the Emperor circulated its substance in a general edict to all governors-general and provincial governors.
2
一士又請寬比附妖言之獄，並禁挾仇誣告，疏言：「古者太史采詩以觀民風，藉以知列邦政治之得失、風俗之美惡，即虞書在治忽以出納五言之意，使下情之上達也。 降及周季，子產猶不禁鄉校之議。 惟是行僻而堅，言偽而辨，雖屬聞人，聖人亦必有兩觀之誅，誠恐其惑眾也。 往者造作語言，顯有悖逆之跡，如罪人戴名世、汪景祺等，聖祖、世宗因其自蹈大逆而誅之，非得已也。 若夫賦詩作文，語涉疑似，如陳鵬年任蘇州知府，遊虎丘作詩，有密奏其大逆不道者，聖祖明示九卿，以為'古來誣陷善類，大率如此'。 如神之哲，洞察隱微，可為萬世法。 比年以來，小人不識兩朝所以誅殛大憝之故，往往挾睚眥之怨，借影響之詞，攻訐詩文，指摘字句。 有司見事風生，多方窮鞫，或致波累師生，株連親故，破家亡命，甚可憫也。 臣愚以為井田封建，不過迂儒之常談，不可以為生今反古； 述懷詠史，不過詞人之習態，不可以為援古刺今。 即有序跋偶遺紀年，亦或草茅一時失檢，非必果懷悖逆，敢於明布篇章。 使以此類悉皆比附妖言，罪當不赦，將使天下告訐不休，士子以文為戒，殊非國家義以正法、仁以包蒙之意。 伏讀皇上諭旨，凡奏疏中從前避忌，一概掃除。 仰見聖明廓然大度，即古敷奏采風之盛。 臣竊謂大廷之章奏尚捐忌諱，則在野之筆札焉用吹求？ 請敕下直省大吏，察從前有無此等獄案、現在不准援赦者，條列上請，以俟明旨欽定。 嗣後凡有舉首文字者，苟無的確踪跡，以所告之罪依律反坐，以為挾仇誣告者戒。 庶文字之累可蠲，告訐之風可息矣。」 上亦如其議。
Cao Yishi also asked that cases of "association with seditious speech" be treated more leniently and that malicious denunciation be forbidden. He wrote: "In antiquity the Grand Historian gathered folk songs to observe the people's customs, and so learned whether each state's government succeeded or failed and whether its manners were sound or corrupt. This is the meaning of the passage in the Book of Yu about watching over order and neglect in receiving and transmitting the people's words—it was meant to let grievances from below reach the throne. Even by the late Zhou, Zichan still did not forbid the talk at the village schools. Only when a man's conduct was perverse and unyielding, and his words false yet artful—even if he were a public figure—would the sage ruler resort to execution at the twin platforms, truly fearing that such a man might mislead the multitude. In earlier times, men such as Dai Mingshi and Wang Jingqi, who composed language with plainly treasonous intent, were executed by the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors because they had truly committed great rebellion—not without cause. When poetry or prose merely touched on what seemed suspicious—as when Chen Pengnian, while serving as prefect of Suzhou, wrote poems on a visit to Tiger Hill, and someone secretly accused him of treason—Emperor Kangxi openly told the Nine Ministers, 'Since antiquity, the framing of good men has mostly taken this form.' Such godlike discernment, piercing hidden truth, may stand as a model for all ages. In recent years petty men, failing to understand why the two previous reigns punished great traitors, have nursed private grudges and, seizing on vague insinuations, attacked poems and essays, picking over phrases and individual characters. Magistrates, scenting trouble, have pursued cases relentlessly, sometimes sweeping up teachers and pupils, dragging in relatives and friends, ruining families and driving men to flight—a grievous spectacle. I submit that talk of the well-field system and feudal enfeoffment is only the stock theme of pedantic scholars, and cannot be treated as a present-day attempt to overturn the age and restore antiquity. Lamentations and historical verse are merely the habitual manner of poets, and cannot be treated as covert satire on the present by appeal to the past. Even when a preface or colophon omits a reign title, it may be no more than a moment's carelessness by some obscure writer—not proof that he truly harbored rebellion and dared publish it openly. If every such case were punished as unpardonable sedition, denunciation would never cease and scholars would dread the written word—far from the state's intent to uphold law through righteousness and to shelter the imperfect through mercy. Reading humbly Your Majesty's recent edicts, I see that old taboos in official memorials have all been swept away. In this I see a sage's breadth of mind—the revival of that ancient flourishing when memorials were freely submitted and popular sentiment gathered in. If even court memorials may now speak without fear, what need is there to hunt through the private writings of men in the provinces? I ask that the provincial authorities be ordered to examine whether such cases occurred in the past and whether any remain ineligible for amnesty, report them item by item, and await the throne's clear ruling. Henceforth, whenever someone denounces another's writing, if no clear evidence of guilt appears, let the accuser be punished under the law for the crime he alleged—a warning to all who bear false witness out of revenge. Then the curse upon the written word may be lifted, and the epidemic of malicious accusation may be stilled." The Emperor approved this proposal as well.
3
雍正間督各省開墾，督撫以是為州縣課最，頗用以厲民。 一士疏言：「開墾者所以慎重曠土，勸相農夫，本非為國家益賦起見也。 臣聞各省開墾，奉行未善，其流弊有二：一曰以熟作荒。 州縣承上司意旨，並未勘實荒地若干，預報畝數，邀急公之名。 逮明知荒地不足，即責之現在熟田，以符報額。 小民畏官，俯首而從之，咸曰：此即新墾之荒地而已。 一曰以荒作熟。 荒地在河壖者，地低水溢，即成沮洳； 在山麓者，上土下石，堅不可掘； 州縣悉入報墾之數。 民貧乏食，止貪官給牛種草舍，餬旦夕之口，不顧地之不可墾也。 十年之後，民不得不報熟，官不得不昇科。 幸而薄收，完官不足。 稍遇歲歉，卒歲無資，逃亡失業之患從此起矣。 然且賦額一定，州縣不敢懸欠，督撫不敢開除，飛灑均攤諸弊，又將以熟田當之。 是名為開墾，有墾之名無墾之實也。 茲二弊者，緣有司但求地利，罔惜貽害； 大吏惟知慮始，不暇圖終； 是以仁民之政，反啟累民之階。 臣請敕下直省督撫，凡開墾地畝，無論已未昇科，俱令州縣官覆勘，內有熟田混報開墾，舉首除額，免其處分； 如實為新墾，具印結存案，少有虛偽，發覺從重治罪：則以熟作荒之弊可免矣。 新墾應昇科，督撫遴員覆勘，磽確瘠薄，即與免賦； 倘因報墾在先，必令起賦，以貽民累，發覺從重治罪； 則以荒作熟之弊亦可免矣。」
Under Yongzheng, the provinces were pressed to open wasteland, and governors-general and provincial governors made reclamation the measure by which prefectures and counties were judged—often to the people's harm. Cao Yishi memorialized: "Reclamation exists to treat idle land with care and to encourage farmers—it was never meant chiefly as a scheme to swell the state's tax revenue. I am told that reclamation is poorly enforced in the provinces, and that two abuses have arisen. The first is to treat cultivated land as wasteland. Following their superiors' wishes, prefectures and counties fail to measure the wasteland that actually exists, yet pre-report a quota of mu, thereby winning praise for public zeal. When they know the wasteland falls short, they simply levy the deficit against land already under cultivation so as to meet the reported figure. The people, fearing the magistrates, bow and submit, all agreeing to call it newly reclaimed wasteland. The second abuse is to treat wasteland as cultivated land. Wasteland along riverbanks lies low; when the water rises it turns at once to marsh. Wasteland at the foot of hills has thin soil over rock and cannot be broken for planting. Yet prefectures and counties count all such land in their reclamation reports. Poor peasants, desperate for food, grasp at the oxen, seed, and thatched shelters the government provides, living from day to day without heed to whether the land can truly be farmed. After ten years the peasants must declare the land cultivated, and the officials must assess tax upon it. If the harvest is meager, it will not even suffice to meet the tax. In a year of poor harvest they end the season penniless, and from this begin flight, ruin, and the loss of livelihood. Worse still, once the tax quota is fixed, prefectures and counties dare not leave arrears on the books and governors-general and provincial governors dare not grant relief; the old abuses of shifting burdens and spreading levies will again fall upon land already under cultivation. This is what passes for reclamation: the name exists, but the reality does not. These two abuses arise because local officials care only for land revenue and give no thought to the harm they leave behind. Senior officials think only of starting the work and never of how it will end. Thus a policy meant to bless the people becomes instead a ladder by which they are burdened. I ask that the provincial governors-general and governors be ordered: for all reclaimed acreage, whether already taxed or not, let prefectural and county officials re-survey it. Where cultivated land has been falsely reported as reclaimed, let it be reported and struck from the quota, and let the officials be exempted from punishment. If the land is truly new reclamation, let a sealed certificate be filed; the slightest falsification, once discovered, shall be heavily punished. Then the abuse of treating cultivated land as wasteland may be prevented. When newly reclaimed land is due for taxation, let governors-general and provincial governors send officials to re-survey it; if the soil is stony, barren, and thin, exempt it at once. If, because reclamation was reported earlier, officials nevertheless impose tax and thereby burden the people, let them, once discovered, be punished severely. Then the abuse of treating wasteland as cultivated land may also be prevented." (End of memorial.)
4
乾隆元年，遷工科給事中。 故事，御史遷給事中，較資俸深淺。 一士入台僅六月，出上特擢。 尋疏劾原任河東河道總督王士俊，疏未下，語聞於外。 上疑一士自洩之，召對詰責，下吏議，當左遷，仍命寬之。 一士复疏請復六科舊職，專司封駁，巡視城倉、漕鹽等差，皆不當與。 又疏論各省工程報銷諸弊，請敕凡有營造開濬，以所須物料工匠遵例估定，榜示工作地方。 又疏論州縣官讞獄，胥吏上下其手，竄改獄詞，請飭申禁。 又疏論鹽政諸弊，請毋令商人公捐，禁司鹽官吏與商人交結； 小民肩挑背負，戒毋苛捕； 大商以便鹽船阻通行水道，戒毋堵截。 皆下部議行。 一士病哽噎，即以是年卒。
In the first year of Qianlong he was transferred to supervising censor in the Office of Works. By established practice, when censors were promoted to supervising censors, precedence was determined by seniority of rank and service. Cao Yishi had served in the censorate only six months; his appointment was a special elevation by the throne. Soon afterward he memorialized to impeach Wang Shijun, the former governor-general of the Eastern Yellow River Directorate; before the memorial was issued, word of it leaked abroad. The Emperor suspected that Cao Yishi himself had leaked it, summoned him for questioning, and referred the matter for official deliberation, which recommended demotion; the Emperor nevertheless showed mercy. Cao Yishi again memorialized asking that the six departments be restored to their old duties of reviewing and rejecting memorials, and that they no longer be burdened with inspecting city granaries, transport grain, salt, and the like. He also exposed abuses in provincial engineering accounts and asked that for every construction or dredging project the required materials and labor be estimated by regulation and publicly posted at the work site. He also spoke of trials in the prefectures and counties, where clerks manipulated proceedings and altered testimony, and asked that this be strictly forbidden. He also addressed abuses in the salt administration, asking that merchants no longer be compelled to make public contributions and that salt officials be forbidden to collude with them. As for common people carrying salt on shoulder poles and in packs, he warned against harsh arrests. As for great merchants who used privileged salt boats to choke the waterways, he warned against blocking and seizing passage. All these proposals were referred to the ministries for deliberation and enactment. Cao Yishi was stricken with a choking illness of the throat and died that same year.
5
一士晚達，在言官未一歲，而所建白皆有益於民生世道，朝野傳誦。 聞其卒，皆重惜之。
Cao Yishi had risen late in life; he served as a remonstrating official for less than a year, yet every proposal he made served the people's welfare and the health of public morals, and his words were repeated throughout court and countryside. When news of his death spread, all mourned the loss.
6
=李慎修=李慎修，字思永，山東章丘人。 康熙五十一年進士，授內閣中書。 遷主事，出為浙江杭州知府。 雍正五年，入為刑部郎中，歷十餘年，治獄多所平反。 有侵帑獄，初議以挪移從末減，慎修執不可； 或諷以上意，亦不為動。 乾隆初，出為河南南汝光道，移湖北武漢黃德道，以憂去。 服除，授江南驛鹽道。 引見，高宗曰：「李慎修老成直爽，宜言官。」 特除江西道監察御史。 疏論戶部變亂錢法，苛急煩碎。 歷舉前代利害，並言錢值將騰貴，窮極其弊。 上元夜，賜諸王大臣觀煙火，慎修上疏諫，以為玩物喪志。 上喜為詩，嘗召對，問能詩否，因進言：「皇上一日萬幾，恐以文翰妨政治，祈不以此勞聖慮。」 上韙之，載其言於詩。 嘗謂慎修曰：「是何眇小丈夫，乃能直言若此？」 慎修對曰：「臣面陋而心善。」 上為大笑。 復出為湖南衡郴永道。 十二年，乞病歸，卒。
Li Shenxiu, whose courtesy name was Siyong, came from Zhangqiu in Shandong. In the fifty-first year of Kangxi he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed a drafter in the Secretariat. He was promoted to department director, then sent out to serve as prefect of Hangzhou in Zhejiang. In the fifth year of Yongzheng he returned to the capital as a department director in the Ministry of Justice; over more than ten years he handled cases and reversed many wrongful verdicts. In one case of embezzlement from the public treasury, the initial recommendation was to apply the lesser penalty for misappropriation; Shenxiu refused to accept it. Some even tried to needle him with hints of the emperor's displeasure, but he would not be swayed. Early in the Qianlong reign he was posted as intendant of Henan's Nanru Guang Circuit, then transferred to Hubei's Wuhan Huangde Circuit, and resigned to observe mourning. After his mourning period ended, he was appointed intendant of the Jiangnan Postal and Salt Circuit. When he was presented at court, the Qianlong Emperor said, "Li Shenxiu is seasoned and bluntly honest; he is fit to serve as a remonstrating official." He was specially appointed supervising censor of the Jiangxi Circuit. In a memorial he denounced the Board of Revenue for disordering the currency system with policies that were severe, rushed, and needlessly burdensome. He reviewed earlier dynasties' gains and losses point by point, warned that coin would soon grow scarce and costly, and laid bare the harm to the last degree. On Lantern Festival night the emperor treated the princes and senior ministers to fireworks; Shenxiu remonstrated in a memorial, arguing that chasing amusements blunts the will to govern. The emperor loved to write poetry; once, in private audience, he asked whether Shenxiu wrote verse, and Shenxiu replied: "Your Majesty's desk holds ten thousand matters; I fear that brushwork might distract you from statecraft—please do not let poetry tax your mind." The emperor agreed and worked his words into a poem. He once asked Shenxiu: "What puny man are you, to speak so plainly?" Shenxiu answered: "I am homely of face but sound of heart." The emperor burst out laughing. He was posted again as intendant of Hunan's Heng-Chen-Yong circuit. In the twelfth year he asked to retire for illness, went home, and died.
7
高密李元直為御史在其前，以剛直著。 慎修與齊名，為「山東二李」。 京師稱元直「戇李」，慎修「短李」。
Li Yuanzhi of Gaomi had been a censor earlier and was famed for blunt integrity. Shenxiu shared his renown; together they were known as "the Two Lis of Shandong." Beijing nicknamed Yuanzhi "Stubborn Li" and Shenxiu "Short Li."
8
元直，字象山。 康熙五十二年進士，改庶吉士，散館授編修。 雍正七年，考選四川道監察御史，八閱月，章數十上。 嘗歷詆用事諸大臣，謂：「朝廷都俞多，籲咈少，有堯、舜，無皋、夔。」 上不懌，召所論列諸大臣大學士硃軾、張廷玉輩並及元直，詰之曰：「有是君必有是臣。 果如汝所言無皋、夔，朕又安得為堯、舜乎？」 元直抗論不撓，上謂諸大臣曰：「彼言雖野，心乃無他。」 次日，復召入，獎其敢言。 會廣東貢荔枝至，以數枚賜之。 未幾，命巡視台灣，疏請增養廉、絕饋遺，併條上番民利病數十事。 台灣居海外，巡視御史至，每自視如客，事一聽於道府。 元直悉反所為，時下所屬問民疾苦。 欲有所施措，督撫劾其侵官，遂鐫級去。 家居二十餘年，卒。 世宗嘗曰：「元直可保其不愛錢，但慮任事過急。」 又嘗諭諸大臣曰：「甚矣才之難得！ 元直豈非真任事人？ 乃剛氣逼人太甚。」 元直晚年言及知遇，輒泣下。 初在翰林，與孫嘉淦、謝濟世、陳法交，以古義相勗，時稱四君子。 及嘉淦總督湖廣，治濟世獄，徇巡撫許容意，為時論所不直，元直遂與疏焉。
Yuanzhi, whose courtesy name was Xiangshan. In Kangxi 52 he passed the jinshi examination, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and after leaving the academy was appointed compiler. In Yongzheng 7 he won appointment by examination as supervising censor for the Sichuan circuit; in eight months he filed dozens of memorials. He repeatedly attacked the men then in power, declaring: "The court hears too much agreement and too little frank objection—we have Yao and Shun on the throne but no Gao or Kui at their side." The emperor took offense. He called in the officials Yuanzhi had named—Grand Secretaries Zhu Shi and Zhang Tingyu among them—and Yuanzhi as well, and demanded: "Every ruler finds the ministers he deserves. If, as you claim, there are no Gao or Kui here, how could I count myself Yao or Shun?" Yuanzhi stood his ground. The emperor told the others: "His language is rough, but his loyalty is plain." The next day he recalled Yuanzhi and praised his courage in speaking out. When Guangdong sent lychees as tribute, the emperor gave him a few. Soon he was sent to inspect Taiwan. He asked for higher "integrity nurture" stipends and an end to gift-giving, and listed several dozen measures for aboriginal welfare. Taiwan sat overseas; visiting censors often acted like guests and let the circuit intendant and prefect decide everything. Yuanzhi did the opposite, repeatedly dispatching subordinates to ask after the people's hardships. When he tried to act, the governor-general and governor accused him of encroaching on their authority; he was demoted and removed. He spent more than twenty years at home and died. The Yongzheng Emperor once said: "I can trust Yuanzhi not to crave money, but I fear he presses too hard in office." He also told his ministers: "How rare real talent is! Is Yuanzhi not exactly the sort who delivers results? Yet his blunt force overwhelms people." In old age, whenever Yuanzhi recalled the emperor's favor, he wept. As a young Hanlin scholar he befriended Sun Jiagan, Xie Jishi, and Chen Fa, urging one another to live by ancient standards; people called them the Four Gentlemen. When Sun Jiagan governed Huguang and tried Xie Jishi's case while bending toward Governor Xu Rong—conduct critics rejected—Yuanzhi broke with him.
9
法，字定齋，貴州安平人。 康熙五十二年進士，自檢討官至直隸大名道。 講學宗硃子，著明辨錄，辨陸、王之失。 蒞政以教養為先，手治文告，辭意懇摯。 既久，人猶誦之。
Chen Fa, whose courtesy name was Dingzhai, came from Anping in Guizhou. A jinshi of Kangxi 52, he rose from reviewer to intendant of Daming circuit in Zhili. He taught in the Zhu Xi tradition and wrote the Mingbianlu, refuting Lu and Wang. In office he put teaching and nurturing the people first, drafting every notice himself in language that was warm and plain. Years later people still quoted them from memory.
10
=胡定=胡定，字登賢，廣東保昌人。 雍正十一年進士，改庶吉士，授檢討。 乾隆五年，考選陝西道監察御史。 七年，湖南巡撫許容劾糧道謝濟世，下湖廣總督孫嘉淦按治，將坐濟世罪，八年二月，定疏陳容陷濟世、嘉淦袒容狀，錄湖南民揭帖，謂布政使張璨、按察使王玠、長沙知府張琳、衡州通判方國寶、善化知縣樊德貽承容指，朋謀傾陷； 並述京師民諺，目容為媼，謂其妒賢嫉能如婦人之陰毒。 疏入，上命戶部侍郎阿里袞如湖南會嘉淦覆勘，並令定從往。 會湖南嶽常道倉德密揭都察院，發璨請託私改文牘狀，阿里袞至湖南，雪濟世枉。 上奪嘉淦、容等職，諭謂：「定為言官，言事不實，自有應得之罪譴。 今既實矣，若止為濟世白冤抑，其事尚小； 因此察出督撫等挾私誣陷，徇隱扶同，使人人知所儆戒，此則有裨於政治，為益良多。 至諸行省督撫舉劾必悉秉公心，方為不負委任，若以愛憎為舉劾，如嘉淦、容居心行事，豈不抱媿大廷，負慚夙夜？ 諸督撫當深自儆省，以嘉淦、容為戒。」 定於是負敢言名。
Hu Ding, whose courtesy name was Dengxian, came from Baochang in Guangdong. In Yongzheng 11 he passed the jinshi examination, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and was appointed reviewer. In Qianlong 5 he won appointment by examination as supervising censor for the Shaanxi circuit. In Qianlong 7, Hunan governor Xu Rong impeached grain intendant Xie Jishi; Huguang governor-general Sun Jiagan was ordered to investigate and was poised to convict Jishi. In the second month of Qianlong 8, Hu Ding memorialized, detailing Rong's frame-up and Jiagan's partiality, and appended Hunan placards naming provincial administration commissioner Zhang Can, surveillance commissioner Wang Jie, Changsha prefect Zhang Lin, Hengzhou sub-prefect Fang Guobao, and Shanhua magistrate Fan Deyi as Rong's accomplices in a conspiracy to destroy Jishi; He also cited a Beijing rhyme that mocked Rong as a shrew, jealous of talent and spiteful as a woman's secret malice. When the memorial arrived, the emperor sent Vice Minister of Revenue Arigun to Hunan to reinvestigate with Jiagan and told Ding to go along. Meanwhile Yuechang circuit intendant Cang De secretly reported to the Censorate that Zhang Can had solicited favors and altered documents; once Arigun reached Hunan, Jishi was vindicated. The emperor dismissed Jiagan, Rong, and others and said: "Hu Ding speaks as a censor; if he had lied, he would deserve punishment. Now that it is true, merely exonerating Jishi would be a small thing; but because it exposes governors and governor-generals who lied from private grudges and covered for one another, warning everyone— that truly strengthens government and does great good. Every governor and governor-general must recommend and impeach with a fair mind or fail the trust placed in him; if favor and spite drive such decisions, as with Jiagan and Rong, how can they face the court without shame? Let every governor and governor-general take warning from Jiagan and Rong and examine himself." From then on Ding was famed for bold speech.
11
轉兵科給事中，巡視西城。 求居民善惡著稱者，皆榜姓名於衢。 民有訟者，即時傳訊判結。 西山臥佛寺被竊，同官誤以僧自盜奏，定廉得真盜，僧得雪。 旋以母老乞歸養。 服除，复授福建道御史。 疏論內務府郎中某朘民為私利，按治事不實，奪職下刑部，久之讞定，罷歸。 二十二年，上南巡，定迎駕杭州，復原銜。 卒，年七十九。 著有雙柏廬文集。
He moved to supervising secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs and inspected the Western City ward. He identified residents praised or notorious for their conduct and posted their names on public boards. When commoners brought disputes, he summoned them at once, heard them, and ruled on the spot. After thieves struck Wofo Temple in the Western Hills, a colleague wrongly reported that the monks had staged the theft; Ding traced the real culprits and cleared the monks. He soon asked to retire and care for his aged mother. After mourning he was reappointed supervising censor for the Fujian circuit. He charged an Imperial Household director with extorting the public; the inquiry found no basis, he lost his post and was sent to the Ministry of Punishments, and after a long trial was dismissed. In Qianlong 22, when the emperor traveled south, Ding greeted him at Hangzhou and regained his former rank. He died at seventy-nine. His collected writings survive as the Shuangbailu Collection.
12
=仲永檀=仲永檀，字襄西，山東濟寧人。 乾隆元年進士，改庶吉士，授檢討。 五年，考選陝西道監察御史。 疏請酌減上元燈火聲樂，略言：「人君一日萬幾，一有暇逸之心，即啟怠荒之漸。 每歲上元前後，燈火聲樂，日有進禦。 原酌量裁減，豫養清明之體。」 上降旨，謂：「書云'不役耳目'，詩云'好樂無荒'，古聖賢垂訓，朕所夙夜兢兢而不敢忽者。 惟是歲時宴賞，慶典自古有之，況元正獻歲，外籓蒙古朝覲有不可缺之典禮。 朕踵舊制而行之，未嘗有所增益。 至於國家政事，朕仍如常綜理，並未略有稽遲。 永檀胸有所見，直陳無隱，是其可嘉處，朕亦知之。」
Zhong Yongtan, whose courtesy name was Xiangxi, came from Jining in Shandong. A jinshi of Qianlong 1, he entered the Hanlin as a bachelor and was appointed reviewer. In Qianlong 5 he won appointment by examination as supervising censor for the Shaanxi circuit. He asked that Lantern Festival fireworks and music be trimmed, writing in brief: "A ruler faces ten thousand tasks; the moment he indulges ease, slackness begins. Each year around the festival, fireworks and music are daily brought before the throne. I ask that they be scaled back, so as to preserve a clear and disciplined body and mind." The emperor replied: "The Documents warn, 'Do not enslave ear and eye'; the Odes warn, 'Enjoy pleasure but never to excess'—these teachings of the sages I ponder nightly and dare not ignore. Seasonal feasts are ancient custom; at New Year, when the year is presented, Mongol tributaries from beyond the frontier must attend rites that cannot be omitted. I follow old practice and have added nothing. State business I handle as always; nothing has slipped. Yongtan speaks what he believes without hiding it—that is what I commend in him, and I know his heart. (End of rescript.)
13
京師民俞君弼者，為工部鑿匠，富無子。 既死，其戚許秉義謀爭產。 內閣學士許王猷與同族，囑招九卿會其喪，示聲氣，且首君弼有藏鏹。 步軍統領鄂善以聞，詔嚴鞫，秉義論罪如律，並奪王猷職，旨戒飭九卿。 六年，永檀奏：「風聞鄂善受俞氏賄萬金，禮部侍郎吳家駒赴吊得其貲； 又聞赴吊不僅九卿，大學士張廷玉以柬往，徐本、趙國麟俱親會，詹事陳浩為奔走，謹據實密奏，備訪查。」 又言：「密奏留中事，外間旋得消息，此必有私通左右暗為宣洩者。 權要有耳目，朝廷將不復有耳目矣。」 疏入，上疑永檀妄言，命怡親王，和親王，大學士鄂爾泰、張廷玉、徐本，尚書訥親、來保按治，摘永檀奏宣洩密奏留中果何事，又謂權要私通左右，此時無可私通之左右，亦無能私通左右之權要，詰何所見，命直陳。 鄂善僕及居間納賕者，皆承鄂善得俞氏賄，和親王等以聞。 上召和親王、鄂爾泰、訥親、來保同鄂善入見，上溫諭導其言，鄂善乃承得白金千。 上諭鄂善曰：「汝罪於律當絞。 汝嘗為大臣，不忍棄諸市。 然汝亦何顏復立於人世乎？ 汝宜有以自處。」 既又下和親王等會大學士張廷玉、福敏、徐本，尚書海望，侍郎舒赫德詳議，如上諭。 乃命訥親、來保持王大臣奏示鄂善，鄂善乃言未嘗受賕。 上因怒責鄂善欺罔，奪職下刑部，又命福敏、海望、舒赫德會鞫，論絞，上仍令賜死。 家駒、浩並奪職。 永檀答上詢宣洩留中事，舉吳士功密劾史貽直以對。 和親王等諮察大學士趙國麟等赴俞氏會喪雖無其事，然語有所自來。 上乃獎永檀摘姦發伏，直陳無隱，擢僉都御史。
In Beijing a Board of Works stonemason named Yu Junbi was rich and childless. After his death a relative, Xu Bingyi, schemed to seize the property. Grand Secretary Xu Wangyou, a clansman, had the Nine Ministers summoned to the funeral to show clout and first claimed Junbi had hoarded silver. Stepping Commandant E Shan reported it; the emperor ordered a stern investigation; Bingyi was punished by law, Wangyou was dismissed, and the Nine Ministers were rebuked by edict. In Qianlong 6, Yongtan reported: "Rumor says E Shan took ten thousand taels in bribes from the Yu family, and that Vice Minister of Rites Wu Jiaju received a share when he attended the funeral; I also hear that mourners were not only the Nine Ministers—Grand Secretary Zhang Tingyu sent a note, Xu Ben and Zhao Guolin came in person, and junior mentor Chen Hao ran messages; I report this secretly as I know it, ready for inquiry." He added: "Secret memorials kept at court still leak outside—someone must be whispering to those near the emperor. If the mighty have spies, the throne will be deaf. When the memorial arrived, the emperor doubted Yongtan and ordered Prince Yi, Prince He, Grand Secretaries Ortai, Zhang Tingyu, and Xu Ben, and Ministers Neqin and Laibao to investigate. They were to demand which withheld memorial he meant had leaked, and whom among the powerful he accused of bribing the inner circle—when, he said, there was no inner circle to bribe and no magnate who could— and to answer directly. E Shan's servants and the middlemen who took bribes all confessed that E Shan had accepted Yu family money; Prince He and the others so reported. The emperor called Prince He, Ortai, Neqin, and Laibao to confront E Shan; speaking gently, he drew out a confession that E Shan had taken a thousand taels of silver. The emperor told E Shan: "By law you deserve strangulation. You were once a great minister; I cannot leave you to the execution ground. Yet how can you face the world again? You must decide for yourself what to do." He then ordered Prince He and the others to confer with Grand Secretaries Zhang Tingyu, Fu Min, and Xu Ben and Ministers Haiwang and Vice Minister Shuhede, as he had directed. Neqin and Laibao were told to show E Shan the princes' and ministers' report; E Shan then denied ever taking a bribe. The emperor furiously accused E Shan of lying, stripped him and sent him to the Ministry of Punishments, had Fu Min, Haiwang, and Shuhede try him again, fixed strangulation—and still granted him suicide by imperial mercy. Wu Jiaju and Chen Hao were dismissed as well. Asked which secret memorial had leaked, Yongtan answered with Wu Shigong's secret impeachment of Shi Yizhi. Prince He and the others found that Grand Secretary Zhao Guolin and others had not attended the Yu funeral, yet the rumor was not baseless. The Emperor then praised Yongtan for uncovering hidden misconduct and speaking out without reserve, and promoted him to vice censor-in-chief.
14
國麟獨奏辨，言：「永檀風聞言事，以蒙恩坐論之崇班，而被以跪拜細人之醜行。 事有流弊，宜防其漸。 數有往復，當保其終。 明季言路與政府各分門戶，互相擠排，綱紀浸以大壞。 在今日權無旁撓，言無偏聽，寧為未然之慮，不弛將至之防。 乞特降諭旨，明示天下，以超擢永檀為獎其果敢，宥其冒昧。 嗣後凡詆斥大臣按之無實者，別有處分。 則功過不相掩，而賞罰無偏曲。 如以臣言過戇，乞賜罷斥，或容解退，以全初心。」 上手詔謂：「超擢永檀，亦善善欲長、惡惡欲短之意，大學士所云，老成遠慮，朕甚嘉納。 其入閣視事，毋違朕意。」 而國麟求去益力，給事中盧秉純劾國麟，謂：「上詢國麟嘗會俞氏喪否，出以告其戚休致光祿寺卿劉籓長，語無狀。」 上召籓長，令鄂爾泰、張廷玉、徐本、訥親、來保按其事，因謂籓長市井小人，國麟與論姻，又嘗奏薦，事非是。 遣鄂爾泰等諭意，令請退。 居數日，國麟疏不至，乃特詔左遷，留京師待缺。 秉純語過當，籓長刺探何緣被譴，不謹，皆奪職。
Guo Guolin alone submitted a rebuttal, saying: "Yongtan reports what he hears; he was raised to high rank as a reward, yet is now reproached for the petty offense of refusing to bow and kneel. When a practice tends toward abuse, one should check it before it takes root. When policy swings back and forth, one must see it through to a sound conclusion. In the late Ming, the censorial remonstrance and the executive government each formed separate camps and mutually ostracized one another, until public order was deeply undermined. Today no power rivals the throne, and no voice enjoys a partial ear; it is better to guard against evils not yet arisen than to slacken before dangers about to arrive. I beg that Your Majesty issue a special edict, promulgated throughout the realm, explaining that Yongtan's rapid promotion rewards his courage while indulging his rashness. Henceforth, whenever someone denounces a senior minister without substantiation, separate penalties shall apply. Then merit and fault will not cancel each other out, and rewards and punishments will not be skewed. If my words are too blunt, I beg dismissal, or leave to resign, that my original purpose may remain intact." The Emperor then issued an edict: "Raising Yongtan so swiftly also reflects the wish to nurture good and curtail evil. The Grand Secretary's words show seasoned foresight, and I welcome them gladly. Take up your duties in the Grand Secretariat and do not depart from my intent." Guo Guolin pressed his resignation all the harder; Supervising Censor Lu Bingchun impeached him, alleging that when the Emperor had asked whether Guo had attended the Yu family's mourning, Guo had left and told his kinsman Liu Fanzhang, a retired director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, in unseemly language. The Emperor summoned Liu Fanzhang and ordered O-er-tai, Zhang Tingyu, Xu Ben, Neqin, and Laibao to investigate, remarking that Liu was a vulgar man of the marketplace, that Guo had contemplated marriage ties with him and had once recommended him by memorial—the conduct was improper. He dispatched O-er-tai and the others to convey his wishes and instruct Guo to seek retirement. When after several days Guo's retirement memorial still had not come, the Emperor specially ordered him demoted one rank and kept in the capital awaiting a new post. Lu Bingchun had overreached in his language; Liu Fanzhang pried into why he had been punished—careless conduct—and both were dismissed from office.
15
又擢永檀左副都御史。 貴州甕安民羅尚珍詣都察院訴家居原任四川巡撫王士俊侵其墓地，命永檀如貴州會總督張廣泗按治，士俊論罪如律。 河南巡撫雅爾圖劾永檀自貴州還京師，道南陽，縱其僕撻村民，下部議罰俸。 七年十二月，命如江南會巡撫週學健治賑，未行，永檀以密奏留中事告大學士鄂爾泰子鄂容安。 上命奪職，下內務府慎刑司，令莊親王，履親王，和親王，平郡王，大學士張廷玉、徐本，尚書訥親、來保、哈達哈按其事。 鄂容安、永檀自承未奏前商謀，既奏後照會。 王大臣等用洩漏機密事務律論罪，上責其結黨營私，用律不合，令會三法司覆讞。 王大臣等因請刑訊，並奪大學士鄂爾泰職逮問，上謂鄂爾泰受遺大臣，不忍深究，下吏議，示薄罰。 永檀、鄂容安亦不必刑訊，永檀受恩特擢，乃依附師門，有所論劾，無不豫先商酌，暗結黨援，排擠異己，罪重大； 鄂容安罪亦無可逭，但較永檀當末減。 命定擬具奏，奏未上，永檀卒於獄。 鄂容安論戍，上寬之，語在鄂容安傳。
Yongtan was again promoted to left vice censor-in-chief. Luo Shangzhen, a commoner of Weng'an in Guizhou, petitioned the Censorate that Wang Shijun, formerly governor of Sichuan, had seized his family's burial ground at home; the Emperor ordered Yongtan to Guizhou to investigate jointly with Governor-General Zhang Guangsi, and Wang was convicted as the law required. Henan Governor Ya'ertu impeached Yongtan, charging that on his return from Guizhou he passed through Nanyang and let his servants beat villagers; the ministry deliberated and imposed a salary fine. In the twelfth month of the seventh year he was ordered to Jiangnan to manage famine relief with Governor Zhou Xuejian; before setting out, Yongtan disclosed to Grand Secretary O-er-tai's son O Rong'an the matter of a secret memorial withheld at court. The Emperor ordered Yongtan stripped of office and remanded to the Imperial Household Department's Office of Punishments; he charged Prince Zhuang, Prince Lu, Prince He, Prince Ping, Grand Secretaries Zhang Tingyu and Xu Ben, and Ministers Neqin, Laibao, and Hadaha to try the case. O Rong'an and Yongtan confessed that before the memorial was filed they had plotted together, and after filing they compared notes. The princes and senior ministers invoked the law on leaking state secrets; the Emperor rebuked them for forming cliques for private gain, declared the statute inapplicable, and ordered the Three Judicial Offices to review the verdict jointly. The princes and ministers then asked for judicial torture and also sought to dismiss Grand Secretary O-er-tai and arrest him; the Emperor said O-er-tai stood in the succession of a great minister and he could not bring himself to pursue the matter deeply, and referred it to the officials for deliberation with a token penalty in view. Yongtan and O Rong'an need not be tortured either; Yongtan had been specially favored with rapid promotion, yet attached himself to his patron's circle—for every accusation he had first plotted in secret, knitting factional ties and driving out dissent—the offense was serious; O Rong'an's guilt was likewise inescapable, but compared with Yongtan he deserved mitigation at sentencing. He ordered a final sentence drafted and submitted; before the memorial reached him, Yongtan died in custody. O Rong'an was sentenced to exile; the Emperor showed mercy—the details appear in his biography.
16
=柴潮生=柴潮生，字禹門，浙江仁和人。 雍正二年舉人，授內閣中書，充軍機處章京。 累遷工部主事。 乾隆七年，考選山西道監察御史。 是歲旱，上降詔求言。 潮生疏言：「君諮臣儆，治世之休風； 益謙虧盈，檢身之至理。 臣伏讀上諭有云：'爾九卿中能責難於君者何人？ 陳善閉邪者何事？ '此誠我皇上虛懷若谷、從諫弗咈之盛心也。 今歲入春以來，近京雨澤未經霑足，宵旰焦勞，無時或釋。 惟是天時雨暘，難以窺測； 而人事修省，不妨過為責難。 修省於事為者，一動一言，純雜易見； 修省於隱微者，不聞不見，朕兆難窺。 君心為萬化之源，普天率土，百司萬姓，皆於此託命焉。 皇上萬幾餘暇，豈無陶情適興之時？ 但恐一念偶動，其端甚微，而自便自恕之機，或乘於不及覺，遂致潛滋暗長而莫可遏。 則俄頃間之出入，即為皇功疏密所關。 伏乞皇上於百爾臣工所不及見，左右近習所不及窺，朝夕愈加劼毖，豈特隨時修省致感召之休徵已哉？」
Chai Chaosheng, whose courtesy name was Yumen, came from Renhe in Zhejiang. In the second year of Yongzheng he passed the provincial examination, was appointed a secretariat drafting clerk, and served as a clerk on the Grand Council. He rose in turn to principal clerk in the Ministry of Works. In the seventh year of Qianlong he was chosen by examination and appointed supervising censor for the Shanxi circuit. That year brought drought; the Emperor issued an edict inviting candid counsel. Chaosheng submitted a memorial: "When the ruler seeks counsel and ministers admonish one another, that is the wholesome custom of a well-governed age; to grow more humble and restrain excess, and to examine oneself—that is the supreme rule of personal discipline. Your subject has read with reverence the imperial words: "Among you nine ministers, who can hold the ruler to account?" What have you done to advance good and bar evil? This truly expresses our Emperor's open heart, deep as a valley, never weary of honest counsel. Since spring this year the capital region has not received adequate rain; Your Majesty labors day and night in anxiety without respite. Heaven's gift of rain and sun is beyond prediction; yet human effort at self-reform should not shy from the sternest self-criticism. Self-examination in outward conduct—in every act and word, what is pure or mixed is easily seen; self-examination in what is hidden—in what neither ear nor eye reaches, the first stirrings are hard to detect. The ruler's mind is the fountain of all change; the empire and every office and subject stake their fate upon it. Amid countless duties, does Your Majesty never have moments to refresh the spirit and take innocent pleasure? Yet I fear that when a single thought stirs by chance, the start is tiny, and the habit of indulgence and self-forgiveness may catch one unawares, until it spreads unseen and cannot be stopped. Then what passes through the mind in an instant bears on whether the imperial work is concentrated or diffuse. I humbly beg Your Majesty, in what the whole bureaucracy cannot see and intimates cannot spy upon, to grow daily more vigilant and strict—would that not surpass sporadic self-examination in drawing down Heaven's favorable response?"
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八年，天津、河間二府大旱。 九年，潮生復疏言：「河間、天津二府經流之大河三：曰衛河，曰滹沱河，曰漳河。 其餘河間分水之支河十有一，瀦水之淀泊十有七，蓄水之渠三； 天津分水之支河十有三，瀦水之淀泊十有四，受水之沽六：水道至多。 向若河渠深廣，蓄洩有方，旱歲不能全收灌溉之功，亦可得半。 即不然，而平日之蓄積，亦可支持數月，以需大澤之至。 何至拋田棄宅，挈子攜妻，流離道路哉？ 水利之廢，即此可知矣。 甘霖一日不足，則賑費固不可已。 臣竊以為徒費之於賑恤，不如大發帑金，遴遣大臣經理畿輔水利，俾以濟饑民、消旱潦，且轉貧乏之區為富饒。 救時之急務，籌國之遠謨，莫以易此。 臣考漢張堪為漁陽太守，於狐奴開稻田八千頃，狐奴今"昌平也。 北齊裴延俊為幽州刺史，修古督亢坡，溉田萬餘畝，督亢今涿州也。 宋何承矩為河北制置使，於雄、鄚、霸州興堰六百里灌田。 明汪應蛟為天津巡撫，捐俸開二千畝，畝收四五石。 今東西二淀，即承矩之塘濼，天津十字圍，即應蛟水田之遺址。 國朝李光地為巡撫，請興河間水田，言涿州水占之地，每畝售錢二百，開成水田畝易銀十兩。 上年總督高斌請開永定河灌田，亦云查勘所至，眾情欣悅。 臣聞石景山有莊頭修姓，自引渾河灌田，比常農畝收數倍。 蠡縣亦有富戶自行鑿井，旱歲能收其利。 霸州知州硃一蜚勸民開井二十餘口，民頗賴之。 證之近事，复確有據，則水利之可興也決矣。 今請特遣大臣齎帑金數十萬兩，往河間、天津二府，督同道府牧令，分委佐貳雜職，除運道所關，及滹沱正流水性暴急，慎勿輕動，其餘河渠淀泊，凡有故跡可尋者，皆重加疏浚。 又於河渠淀泊之旁，各開小河； 小河之旁，各開大溝：皆務深廣，度水力不及則止。 節次建立水門，遞相灌注。 旱則引水入溝以溉田，潦則放閘歸河以洩水。 其離水遼遠之處，每田一頃，掘井一口，十頃掘大塘一口，亦足供用。 其中有侵及民田，並古陂廢堰為民業已久者，皆計畝均分撥還，即將現在受賑饑民及外來流民，停其賑給，按地分段，就工給值，酌予口糧，寧厚無減。 一人在役，停其家賑糧二口； 二人在役，停其家賑糧四口。 其餘口及一戶皆不能執役者，仍如例給賑。 其疏濬之處，有可耕種，即藉予工本，分年徵還。 更請別簡大臣，齎帑金分巡直隸各府，一如河間、天津二府，次第舉行。 或曰：'北土高燥，不宜稻種，土性沙鹼，水入即滲，挖掘民地，易起怨聲。 前朝徐貞明行之而立敗，怡賢親王與大學士硃軾之經理亦垂成而坐廢，可為明鑑。 '臣按九土之種異宜，未聞稻非冀州之產，玉田、豐潤秔稻油油。 且今第為之興水利耳，固不必強之為水田也。 或疏或浚，則用官資，可稻可禾，聽從民便。 此不疑者一也。 土性沙鹼，是誠有之，不過數處耳，豈遍地皆沙鹼乎？ 且即使沙鹼，而多一行水之道，比聽其衝溢者不猶愈於已乎？ 此不疑者二也。 若以溝渠為捐地，尤非知農事者。 凡力田者，務盡力而不貴多墾。 今使十畝之地，捐一畝以蓄水，而九畝倍收，較十畝皆薄入孰利？ 況捐者又予撥還。 此不疑者三也。 至前人屢行屢罷，此亦有由，貞明所言百世之利，其時御史王之棟參劾，出於奄人勳戚之意。 其疏亦第言滹沱不可開，未嘗言水田不可行也。 但其募南人開墾，即以地予之，又許佔籍。 左光斗之屯學亦然。 是奪北人之田，又塞其功名之路，其致人言也宜矣。 至營田四局，成績具在。 當日效力差員，不無舉行未善，所以賢王一沒，遂過而廢之，非深識長算者之所出也。 非常之原，黎民所懼，所貴持久，乃可有功。 秦開鄭、白之渠，利及百世，而當時至欲殺水工鄭國。 漢河東太守番系引汾水灌田，河渠數徙，田者不能償種。 至唐長孫恕复鑿之，畝收十石。 凡始事難，成事易。 賡續以終之則是，中道而棄之則非。 此不疑者四也。 至水利既興，招募農師，造作水器，逐年作何經理，俾永無湮塞，應聽在事大臣詳加籌畫。 皇上視民如子，凡有賑恤，千萬帑金亦無可惜。 即如開通京師溝道，估費二十餘萬，以視興修一省水利，輕重較然。 況此舉乃以阜財，非以費財。 天災國家代有，荒政未有百全，何如擲百萬於水濱，而立收國富民安之效？ 縱有堯災湯旱，亦可挹彼注茲，是謂無弊之賑恤。 連年米價屢廑聖懷，盡停採買，豈可久行？ 捐監輸倉，亦非上策。 若小民收穫素裕，自然二鬴有資。 臣訪問直隸士民，皆云：'有水之田較無水之田，相去不啻再倍。』 是謂不竭之常平。 近畿多八旗莊地，直隸亦京兆股肱，皆宜致之富饒，始可居重馭輕。 漢武帝徙豪民於關中，明成祖遷富家於帝里，固非王政，不失深謀。 若水利既興，自然軍民兩利，是謂無形之帑藏。 且雨者水土之氣所上騰而下澤也，土氣太甚，則水氣受制。 直隸近年以來，閔雨者屢矣。 但使水土均調，自可雨暘時若，是謂有驗之調燮。 且水性分之則利，合之則害； 用之則利，棄之則害。 故周用有言：'人人皆治田之人，即人人皆治水之人。』 張伯行亦主此論。 陸隴其為靈壽令，督民濬衛河。 其始頗有怨言，謂開無水之河以病民； 既而水潦大至，獨靈壽有宣導，歲竟有秋。 貨殖者旱則資舟，為國者備斯無患，是謂隱寓之河防。 今生齒日繁，民食漸絀。 臣愚以為盡興西北之水田，闢東南之荒地，則米價自然平減。 但事體至大，請先以直隸為端，行之有效，次第舉行。 樂利萬年，庶其在此！」
In the eighth year the prefectures of Tianjin and Hejian suffered severe drought. In the ninth year Chaosheng memorialized again: "In Hejian and Tianjin the main rivers are three: the Wei, the Hutuo, and the Zhang. Besides these, Hejian has eleven distributary streams, seventeen storage marshes, and three retention canals; Tianjin has thirteen branch streams, fourteen storage marshes, and six receiving estuaries—the water network is vast. Had the rivers and canals been kept deep and wide with storage and release properly managed, even in drought years full irrigation could not always be achieved, yet half the benefit might still be secured. Even otherwise, water stored in normal times could sustain the land for months, until heavy rains arrived. How then could people abandon fields and homes, take up children and wives, and flee starving along the roads? The collapse of water management is plain from this. When even one day of good rain fails, relief spending cannot stop. Your subject believes that pouring money into relief alone is inferior to releasing a large treasury sum and dispatching senior ministers to oversee water works in the capital region—feeding the hungry, easing drought and flood, and turning poor districts prosperous. For immediate crisis and long-term national planning, nothing surpasses this. Your subject cites Han Zhang Kan, who as administrator of Yuyang opened eight thousand qing of rice fields at Hunu—today's Changping. Under Northern Qi, Pei Yanjun as regional inspector of Youzhou restored the ancient Dukang Slope and irrigated more than ten thousand mu—Dukang is today's Zhuozhou. In Song, He Chengju as Hebei commissioner built dikes six hundred li long to irrigate land in Xiong, Mo, and Ba. In Ming, Wang Yingjiao as Tianjin governor contributed his salary and opened two thousand mu yielding four or five shi per mu. Today's eastern and western storage marshes are He Chengju's Tangluo; Tianjin's Shiziwei is where Wang Yingjiao's paddies stood. In our dynasty Governor Li Guangdi asked to develop Hejian paddies, noting that flooded Zhuozhou land sold for two hundred cash per mu, yet once converted to paddy fetched ten taels of silver per mu. Last year Governor-General Gao Bin proposed irrigating from the Yongding River, likewise reporting universal joy wherever surveys went. Your subject has heard that at Shijingshan an estate steward named Xiu diverted the Hun River to irrigate and reaped several times the normal harvest per mu. In Li County a rich household dug its own wells and profited even in drought years. Bazhou Prefect Zhu Yifei persuaded the people to sink more than twenty wells, which they came to depend on. Recent examples furnish solid proof—water development can surely succeed. Your subject asks that a senior minister be sent with several hundred thousand taels to Hejian and Tianjin to supervise circuit, prefectural, and county officials and their deputies; save transport arteries and the violent main stream of the Hutuo, which must not be lightly tampered with, every river, canal, and marsh with recoverable traces should be thoroughly dredged. Beside each river, canal, and marsh, open smaller streams; beside those streams, open main ditches—all as deep and wide as feasible, stopping where the water cannot carry. Build sluice gates in stages to feed one another. In drought, channel water into ditches for irrigation; in flood, open the gates and send water back to the rivers. Where fields stand far from water, sink one well per qing and one large pond per ten qing—enough for practical use. Where works encroach on private land or ancient dykes long turned to livelihood, compensate by mu and restore shares; then suspend grain relief to current famine victims and refugees, assign them by section to paid labor, and grant rations generously rather than stingily. One family member on the works—suspend relief for two mouths at home; Two on the works—suspend relief for four at home. Remaining dependents and households unable to work should still receive relief as before. Where dredging yields cultivable land, lend seed and tools and recover the cost over successive years. Your subject further asks that another minister be chosen with treasury funds to tour every Zhili prefecture in the same phased manner as Hejian and Tianjin. Objectors say: "Northern ground is high and dry, ill suited to rice; soil is sandy and salty and water sinks away; digging up private land provokes resentment." Xu Zhenming in the previous dynasty tried and failed immediately; Prince Yi Xian and Grand Secretary Zhu Shi nearly succeeded yet abandoned the work—a plain warning. Your subject notes that soils differ in what they bear; rice is not unknown in Jizhou—Yutian and Fengrun produce fine japonica in abundance. Moreover, the proposal is only to restore water works; no one need force paddies. Whether dredging or digging, spend public money; plant rice or dry grain as the people prefer. That is the first objection answered. Sandy, salty soil exists, but only here and there—is the whole region nothing but sand and salt? Even where soil is sandy and salty, an extra watercourse still beats unchecked overflow. That is the second objection answered. To treat canal land as pure loss shows ignorance of farming. Farmers exhaust their strength on what they till and do not crave ever more acreage. Sacrifice one mu of ten to store water and the other nine may double their yield—is that not better than ten mu of meager harvest? Besides, donated land is compensated and restored by measure. That is the third objection answered. As for earlier efforts that started and stopped, there were causes: Xu Zhenming spoke of benefit for a hundred generations, yet Supervising Censor Wang Zhidong impeached him at the instigation of eunuchs and imperial in-laws. His memorial said only that the Hutuo should not be opened—it never said paddies could not be tried. Yet in recruiting southerners to reclaim land they granted them the plots outright and even allowed them to register locally for the examinations. Zuo Guangdou's colony-and-school schemes worked the same way. They took land from northerners and shut them out of the examination ladder; no wonder it provoked widespread complaint. The record of the four garrison-farming bureaus speaks for itself. Some agents back then performed poorly, yet when the worthy prince died the whole project was condemned and scrapped—hardly the counsel of statesmen who think in generations. Bold ventures at first alarm the people; only persistence turns them into lasting success. When Qin dug the Zheng and Bai canals the gain endured for centuries, yet at the time the court nearly executed the engineer Zheng Guo. Under Han, Hedong governor Fan Xi drew the Fen to irrigate fields, but as the channels kept shifting farmers could not recoup their seed. In Tang, Changsun Shu reopened the works and harvests reached ten shi per mu. Every great work is hard to start and easy to finish once it is underway. To see it through is right; to quit midway is wrong. This is the fourth matter beyond reasonable doubt. Once irrigation is in place, recruit skilled farmers, build sluices and tools, and lay out yearly upkeep so channels never choke up—let the responsible ministers plan this in detail. Your Majesty treats the people as his children; for relief and succor, even ten million taels from the treasury would not be too much. Clearing the capital's drainage alone was estimated at over two hundred thousand taels—against reviving an entire province's hydraulics, the relative cost is plain. Moreover this project builds wealth; it is not mere expenditure. Natural calamities repeat in every age, and famine relief is never foolproof—why not invest a million on river works and promptly secure a rich state and contented people? Even Yao's floods or Tang's droughts could be met by shifting water from abundance to want—relief without lasting harm. Grain prices have weighed on Your Majesty year after year; suspending government purchases entirely cannot be sustained forever. Selling the student quota to fill the granaries is no superior solution either. If ordinary farmers were steadily well-off at harvest, they would naturally afford two meals a day. I questioned officials and commoners in Zhili; all said, "Irrigated land yields more than twice what dry land does." This is an ever-normal granary that never runs empty. The capital environs hold many Banner estates; Zhili is the metropolis's vital province—both should be made prosperous so the center can anchor the realm. Han Wudi resettled great clans in Guanzhong and Ming Chengzu moved rich families to the capital—harsh perhaps, but far-sighted. With irrigation thriving, army and people both gain—a treasury no vault can hold. Rain rises when earth and water breathe upward and falls when they soak the soil; when earth dominates, moisture is stifled. Zhili has seen repeated drought prayers in recent years. Balance earth and water and seasonable rain and sun follow—proved harmony with nature. Water helps when channeled apart and harms when left to mass together; used it profits, discarded it destroys. Zhou Yong said, "Whoever farms the land also governs the water." Zhang Boxxing held the same view. As magistrate of Lingshou, Lu Longqi pressed the people to dredge the Wei River. At first there was grumbling that he was digging a dry riverbed to burden the people; Then floods struck; only Lingshou had channels to carry them off, and that year ended in harvest. Merchants turn to boats in drought; a state that prepares so need not fear flood—implicit river control. Population swells while the food supply thins. I believe developing paddies in the northwest and opening land in the southeast would naturally ease grain prices. The scheme is vast; begin in Zhili, and if it succeeds extend it gradually. Lasting prosperity for ages may begin here!"
18
十年，疏陳理財三策，言：「治天下要務，惟用人、理財兩大事。 承平日久，供億浩繁，損上益下，日廑宸衷； 而量入為出，似尚未籌至計。 禮曰：'財用足故百志成。 '若少有窘乏，則蠲徵平賦、卹災厚下之大政俱不得施。 遲之又久，則一切苟且之法隨之以起。 此非天下之小故也。 頃見台臣請定會計疏，言每年所入三千六百萬，出亦三千六百萬。 就今日計之，所入僅供所出。 就異日計之，所入殆不足供所出。 以皇上之仁明，國家之閒暇，而不籌一開源節流之法，為萬世無弊之方，是為失時。 臣等荷恩，備官台省，不能少竭涓埃，協贊遠謨，是為負國。 以臣之計，一曰開邊外之屯田以養閒散，一曰給數年之俸餉散遣漢軍，一曰改捐監之款項以充公費，三者行而後良法美意可得而舉也。 滿洲、蒙古、漢軍各有八旗，丁口蕃昌，視順治時蓋一衍為十，而生計艱難，視康熙時已十不及五，而且仰給於官而不已。 局於五百里之內而不使出，則將來上之弊必如北宋之養兵，下之弊亦必如有明之宗室，此不可不籌通變者也。 臣聞奉天沿邊諸地，水泉肥美，請遣幹略大臣，分道經理。 視可屯之處，發帑建堡墩，起屋廬，置耕牛農具，令各旗滿洲除正身披甲在京當差，其次丁、餘丁力能耕者前往居住。 所耕之田，即付為永業，分年扣完工本，更不昇科。 惟令農隙操演，數年之後皆成勁卒。 逐年發往軍台之人，令其分地捐貲效力，此後有原往者，令其陸續前往。 此安頓滿洲閒散之法也。 漢軍八旗已奉聽其出旗之旨，以定例太拘，故散遣寥寥。 今請不論出仕與否，概許出旗。 其家現任居官者給三年俸餉，無居官者給六年俸餉。 其家產許之隨帶，任其自便。 則貧富各不失所，而五年以後國帑節省無窮。 即一時不能盡給，分作數年以次散遣，都統以下、章京以上各官，改補綠旗提鎮將弁。 此安頓漢軍之法也。 臣又按耗羨歸公，天下之大利，亦天下之大弊也。 康熙間，法制寬略，州縣於地丁外私徵火耗，其陋規匿稅亦未盡釐剔。 自耗羨歸公，一切弊竇悉滌而清之，是為大利。 然向者本出私徵，非同經費，其端介有司，不肯妄取，上司亦不敢強，賢且能者則以地方之財治地方之事，故康熙間循吏多實績可紀，而財用亦得流通。 自耗羨歸公，輸納比於正供，出入操於內部，地丁公費，除官吏養廉無餘剩； 官吏養廉，除分給幕客家丁修脯工資，及事上接下之應酬，輿馬蔬薪之繁費，亦無餘剩。 地方有應行之事、應興之役，一絲一忽取公帑，有司上畏戶、工二部之駁詰，下畏身家之賠累，但取其事之美觀而無實濟者，日奔走之以為勤。 故曰天下之大弊也。 夫生民之利有窮，故聖人之法必改。 今耗羨歸公之法勢無可改，惟有為地方別立一公項，俾任事者無財用窘乏之患，而後可課以治效之成。 臣請將常平倉儲仍照舊例辦理，捐監一項留充各省公用，除官俸兵餉動用正項，餘若災傷當拯卹，孤貧當養贍，河渠水利當興修，貧民開墾當借給工本，壇廟、祠宇、橋樑、公廨當修治，採買倉穀價值不敷，皆於此動給，以地方之財，治地方之事。 如有大役大費，則督撫合全省而通融之； 又有不足，則移鄰省而協濟之。 稽察屬司道，核減屬督撫，內部不必重加切核，則經費充裕，節目疏闊，而地方之實政皆可舉行。 設官分職，付以人民，只可立法以懲貪，不可因噎而廢食。 唐人減劉晏之船料，而漕運不繼； 明人以周忱之耗米歸為正項，致逋負百出，路多飢殍。 大國不可以小道治，善理財者，固不如此。 此捐監之宜充公費也。 三法既行，則度支有定，經費有資，當今要務，無急於此者。 伏乞皇上深留睿慮，敕公忠有識大臣，詳議施行。」
In the tenth year he submitted a memorial outlining three fiscal policies, saying: "Governing the empire turns on two great matters: appointing the right men and managing the treasury. After long peace, state consumption has swelled; easing burdens on the people while revenue falters weighs on Your Majesty daily; yet matching expenditure to income still lacks a comprehensive plan. The Book of Rites says, "When revenue is ample, a hundred undertakings succeed." When funds run short, remissions, balanced taxation, disaster relief, and care for the poor—all the great policies of benevolent rule—cannot be fully applied. Procrastinate long enough and stopgap expedients multiply. This is no minor concern for the empire. Recently a censorial memorial proposed fixed accounts, stating annual revenue at thirty-six million taels and expenditure the same. Measured for the present, revenue barely covers spending. Projected forward, revenue will likely fall short of need. With Your Majesty's wisdom and the realm at peace, failure to devise lasting ways to increase revenue and cut waste is to miss the moment. We who serve in the censorate and provincial offices, though favored by grace, cannot contribute our mite to long-range planning—we fail the state. In my view the remedies are three: open frontier garrison farms for idle bannermen; pay out several years' stipends and release the Han Banners; redirect student-purchase fees to provincial public funds. Only then can sound policies be implemented. Manchu, Mongol, and Han Banners alike have seen registered population multiply tenfold since Shunzhi, while livelihoods are harder than in Kangxi—perhaps half as secure—and still they depend endlessly on state pay. Pen them within five hundred li and the upper evil will mirror the Northern Song's burden of idle troops, the lower evil the Ming's ruinous imperial clans—this demands flexible reform. I am told the Fengtian frontier offers rich soil and good water; dispatch able ministers to develop it by separate routes. Where land can be farmed, spend treasury funds on forts, beacons, dwellings, oxen, and tools; let each Manchu Banner send secondary and surplus men able to farm, while primary registers remain armored on capital duty. Grant tilled land as permanent holdings; recover construction costs over time without adding land tax. Require drill in farming slack seasons; in a few years they will become seasoned soldiers. Each year assign men from the courier stations to contribute land and funds; thereafter volunteers may follow in turn. This is how to settle idle Manchu banner population. The Han Banners were already permitted to leave the banners, but rigid regulations have made release rare. Now permit all to leave the banners whether or not they hold office. Families with an incumbent official receive three years' stipend; others receive six. They may take their property and go where they will. Rich and poor alike will find their footing, and after five years treasury savings will be immense. If full payout at once is impossible, disburse over several years; reassign banner officers from commanders down to senior clerks as Green Standard brigade and garrison commanders. This is how to settle the Han Banners. I further observe that consolidating surplus melt fees into the public treasury is both the empire's greatest fiscal gain and its greatest administrative ill. Under Kangxi, rules were loose; local officials still levied melt surcharges beyond land and poll taxes, and hidden customary fees were not fully eliminated. Once melt surcharges were centralized, corrupt channels were cleared—that was the gain. Formerly such funds were informal levies, not budget lines; upright magistrates would not abuse them and superiors dared not demand them; capable men used local money for local needs, so Kangxi produced many honest officials with real achievements and fluid finances. After consolidation, payments matched regular tribute and the Board of Revenue controlled every outlay; beyond integrity stipends from land tax and public funds, nothing remained; integrity stipends, after secretaries, servants, teachers, wages, obligatory courtesies, and carriage and household costs, also left nothing. When local projects required funding, officials feared Board rejection above and personal liability below; they pursued showy projects without real benefit and called daily bustle diligence. Hence it became a great ill for the empire. Public benefit has its limits; even sage institutions must adapt. The melt-fee consolidation cannot be reversed; only a separate local public fund can spare responsible officials financial paralysis, so that real governance can be required of them. Keep ever-normal granaries under the old rules; dedicate student-purchase fees to provincial public funds; beyond salaries and troop pay from regular revenue, use this pool for disaster relief, poor relief, hydraulics, reclamation loans, public works, and grain purchases when prices fall short—local funds for local needs. For major projects, governors-general and governors should pool provincial resources; if still insufficient, neighboring provinces should mutual aid. Circuit and prefectural officials should audit use; governors-general and governors should approve reductions; the Board need not micromanage—then funds will suffice, rules stay simple, and genuine local policy can proceed. Offices exist to serve the people; write laws against corruption, but do not abolish necessary funds for fear of abuse. Tang officials cut Liu Yan's shipping allowances and the grain transport system collapsed; Ming officials converted Zhou Chen's transport surcharges into regular tax, spawning arrears everywhere and starving dead along the roads. A great empire cannot be run by penny-wise tricks; sound fiscal statesmen do not act so. This is why student-purchase fees should fund provincial public expenses. Once these three measures take effect, revenue and spending will stabilize and funds will be secure; no present task is more urgent. I humbly beg Your Majesty to reflect deeply and charge loyal, capable ministers to deliberate and enact these proposals."
19
尋遷兵科給事中，巡視北城。 乞歸侍母，孝養肫至。 貧，以醫自給。 久之，卒。
He was soon promoted to supervising secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs and assigned to inspect the northern city ward. He requested leave to care for his mother and nursed her with devoted filial piety. In poverty he supported himself as a physician. In time he died.
20
=儲麟趾=儲麟趾，字履醇，江南荊溪人。 乾隆四年進士，改庶吉士，授編修。 進諸經講義，援據儒先，責難陳善，辭旨醇美。 十四年，考選貴州道監察御史。 編修硃荃與大學士張廷玉有連，督四川學政，母死發喪緩。 麟趾疏劾，語不避廷玉，高宗以是知其伉直。
Chu Linzhi, courtesy name Lüchun, was a native of Jingxi in Jiangnan. In 1739 he passed the jinshi examination, became a Hanlin bachelor, and was appointed compiler. In presenting classical commentaries he drew on the ancients, posed sharp questions, and offered constructive criticism in language of refined clarity. In 1749 he was selected and appointed supervising censor for the Guizhou circuit. The compiler Zhu Quan was related by marriage to Grand Secretary Zhang Tingyu; while serving as educational commissioner of Sichuan he delayed observing mourning when his mother died. Chu Linzhi submitted a memorial impeaching him without sparing Zhang Tingyu's name; Emperor Gaozong took this as proof of his blunt integrity.
21
嘗大旱，麟趾應詔上疏，略言：「臣聞天道若持衡然。 故雨暘寒燠，無時不得其平； 而氣化偶偏，必於亢陽伏陰示其像。 然往來推行，久而必復其常者，天道之無私也。 君道法天，亦若持衡然。 故喜怒刑賞，無事不得其平； 而意見偶偏，必於用人行政露其機。 然斟酌損益，終必歸於大中至正者，君德之極盛也。 漢臣董仲舒曰：'善言天者，必有驗於人，天人相應，捷於桴鼓。 春秋所以詳書災異也。 '皇上至聖極明，豈復有纖芥之事足以召祲而致災者？ 但愚臣蠡測管窺，以為自古人主患不明，惟皇上患明之太過； 自古人主患不斷，惟皇上患斷之太速。 即如擢一官、點一差，往往出人意表，為擬議所不及。 此則皇上意見之稍偏，而愚臣所謂聖明英斷之太過者也。 史臣之贊堯曰：'乃聖乃神。' 宋儒硃子曰：'聖人，神明不測之號。' 夫所貴乎不測者，錯綜參伍，與時偕行，而非於彼於此不可思議之謂也。 此雖不足上累聖德萬分之一，然臣尤原皇上開誠佈公，太和翔洽，要使天下服皇上用人之至當，不必徒使天下驚皇上用人之甚奇。 若云防微杜漸，不得不爾，則國法具在，試問諸臣行事邪正，又誰能欺皇上之洞鑑者？ 抑臣又聞之，唐臣韓愈曰：'獨陽為旱，獨陰為水。 君陽臣陰，有君無臣，是以久旱。 '今皇上宵衣旰食，焦勞於法宮之中，而王公大臣拱手備位，不聞出其謀畫，上贊主德，輔宣聖化。 是君勞於上，臣逸於下，天道下濟而地道不能上行。 其於致旱，理或宜然。 臣區區之忱，原皇上虛中無我，一切用人行政，不改鑑空衡平之體。 又於一二純誠憂國之大臣，時賜召對，清宴之餘，資其輔益。 必能時雨時風，消殄旱災矣。」
During a severe drought he answered an imperial call for memorials with a submission that, in essence, said: "Your subject has heard that Heaven's way is like keeping a steelyard in balance. Rain and sun, cold and heat—each in its season finds its proper mean; yet when the cosmic breath momentarily tilts, the sign appears in excessive yang suppressed beneath yin. Still, as cycles turn and time passes, balance always returns—that is Heaven's impartiality. The ruler's way mirrors Heaven, likewise as though holding a steelyard level. Joy and anger, punishment and reward—in governance nothing should stray from the mean; yet when judgment slips, the tell appears in whom you appoint and how you rule. Through careful adjustment, all must finally settle on the great mean and perfect rectitude—that is the height of royal virtue. The Han scholar Dong Zhongshu said: "Those who speak truly of Heaven prove it in human affairs; Heaven and humanity answer each other faster than stick strikes drum. That is why the Spring and Autumn Annals records disasters and portents at length. Your Majesty is utterly sage and penetratingly wise—surely no trifling fault could summon ill omens and bring disaster? Yet your foolish subject, guessing with a dipper and peering through a tube, believes that ancient rulers feared being unclear, whereas Your Majesty alone fears being too clear; ancient rulers feared indecision, whereas Your Majesty alone fears deciding too swiftly. Even a single promotion or appointment often surprises everyone, beyond what deliberation could anticipate. This is the slight tilt in Your Majesty's judgment—what I mean by an excess of sagely clarity and swift decisiveness. The historians' praise of Yao reads: "Sage upon sage, spirit upon spirit. The Song master Zhu Xi said: "The sage is the name for one whose spirit cannot be fathomed. What is admirable in "unfathomable" is weaving many strands together, weighing them in array, and moving with the times—not meaning inexplicable in this matter or that. This can hardly touch Your Majesty's virtue by one part in ten thousand, yet your subject especially wishes that Your Majesty would open your heart and act with perfect fairness, so that harmony pervades the realm and the world admires the rightness of your appointments—not merely marvels at how startling they are. If the answer is that one must do so to nip trouble in the bud, the laws of the realm are already complete; tell me which minister's conduct is crooked or straight—who could hide anything from Your Majesty's penetrating gaze? Your subject has also heard the Tang minister Han Yu say: "Yang alone brings drought, yin alone brings flood. The ruler is yang and ministers are yin; where there is a ruler but no ministers, drought persists. Today Your Majesty rises before dawn and retires after dark, worn with care within the palace, while princes and grand ministers stand with folded hands filling their seats, offering no counsel, doing nothing to magnify your virtue or help spread your sage rule. The ruler toils above while ministers idle below—Heaven's bounty flows downward while Earth's response cannot rise. As a cause of drought, the logic may well hold. In all humility your subject wishes that Your Majesty would empty the self and hold no private bias—in every appointment and every policy keep the even mirror and level balance unchanged. And toward one or two ministers of pure loyalty who fret for the realm, summon them now and then; in quiet moments after a simple repast, draw on their counsel. Then timely rain and wind will surely dispel the drought. (End of memorial.)
22
麟趾累遷太僕寺卿，移宗人府府丞。 引疾歸，家居十餘年。 卒，年八十二。
Chu Linzhi rose through several posts to vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, then became vice director of the Imperial Clan Court. He pleaded illness and retired, remaining at home for more than ten years. He died at the age of eighty-two.
23
=【論】=論曰：諫臣之益人國，最上匡君德，次則綢繆軍國，洞百年之利害。 若夫擊邪毖患，岳岳不避權要，固亦有不易言者。 高宗嗣服，虛己納諫。 一士、慎修、潮生、麟趾，其所獻替，合陳善責難之誼。 潮生所論理財三策尤閎遠，惜不能用也。 定劾許容，永檀彈鄂善，皆能舉其職者。 永檀乃以漏言敗，異哉！
Discussion: The historians observe that remonstrating ministers serve the state best when they rectify the ruler's virtue, next when they plan military and civil affairs and grasp a century's worth of gain and loss. As for striking down wickedness and shutting out harm, standing tall and not flinching before the powerful—that too demands courage not easily praised in words. When Gaozong took the throne, he humbled himself to accept remonstrance. Cao Yishi, Li Shenxiu, Chai Chaosheng, and Chu Linzhi—the counsel they offered fulfilled the duty of presenting good and pressing hard questions. Chai Chaosheng's three policies on public finance were especially far-sighted—a pity they were never adopted. Hu Ding's impeachment of Xu Rong and Zhong Yongtan's impeachment of E Shan both showed men who could perform their offices. Yet Yongtan destroyed himself through a leak of words—how strange!