1
恆文，烏佳氏，滿洲正黃旗人。 雍正初，以諸生授筆帖式，四遷兵科給事中。 外授甘肅平慶道，再遷貴州布政使。 乾隆初，方用兵金川，恆文奏言：「兵貴神速。 臣官甘肅平慶道時，見提督以下諸營，或三之一，或四之一，擇勇健者，名為援剿兵將，備預定旗幟器械，及獎賚諸項亦預存。 貴州乃無此例。 本年四川調兵二千，遲至六日方得起程。 請仿甘肅例預為計，提督駐安順，設重兵，請於府庫貯銀五千待用。」 既又疏上行軍諸節目。 上嘉其能治事，移直隸。 十六年，擢湖北巡撫。 疏請採漢銅廣鼓鑄，請增築武昌近城石堤，請停估變省城道倉空廒、備貯協濟鄰省米石，均得旨允行。 十八年，署湖廣總督，移山西巡撫。
Heng Wen, of the Wujia clan, was a Bannerman of the Plain Yellow. Early in the Yongzheng reign he entered service as a licentiate appointed bithesi clerk, and after four promotions reached supervising secretary in the military bureau. Posted outside the capital as intendant of Pingqing in Gansu, he was later promoted to provincial administration commissioner of Guizhou. Early in the Qianlong reign, while the Jinchuan campaign was underway, Heng Wen memorialized: "In war, speed is everything. When I was intendant of Pingqing in Gansu, I saw that in camps under the provincial commander either a third or a fourth of the troops were picked from the sturdiest men and designated as relief forces for suppression; banners, gear, and rewards were all laid in beforehand. Guizhou had nothing of the kind. That year two thousand troops were called up from Sichuan, yet six full days passed before they could march. I ask that we follow the Gansu model and plan ahead: station the commander-in-chief at Anshun, keep substantial forces there, and set aside five thousand taels in the prefectural treasury for immediate use." He later submitted another memorial detailing the particulars of marching troops. The Emperor commended his administrative ability and moved him to Zhili. In the sixteenth year he was promoted to governor of Hubei. He asked permission to cast more Han-style bronze drums, to raise the stone embankment near Wuchang, and to halt reassessment of empty highway granaries and stockpiling of grain to aid neighboring provinces—all approved. In the eighteenth year he served as acting governor-general of Huguang, then was made governor of Shanxi.
2
二十一年，擢雲貴總督。 二十二年三月，疏劾貴州糧道沈遷婪索屬吏，鞫實論斬。 恆文與雲南巡撫郭一裕議制金爐上貢，恆文令屬吏市金，減其值，吏民怨諮。 一裕乃疏劾恆文貪污敗檢，列款以上。 上命刑部尚書劉統勳會貴州巡撫定長即訊，得恆文令屬吏市金減金值，及巡察營伍縱僕婪索諸事，逮送京師。 上責恆文； 「為大臣，以進獻為名，私飽己橐，簠簋不飭，負恩罪大。」 遣待衛三泰、扎拉豐阿乘傳就恆文所至，宣諭賜自盡。
In the twenty-first year he was promoted to governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou. In the third month of the twenty-second year he impeached Shen Qian, Guizhou grain intendant, for extorting subordinates; the case was proved and Shen was sentenced to death. Heng Wen and Yunnan governor Guo Yiyu agreed to commission a gold censer as tribute; Heng Wen had subordinates buy the gold at reduced rates, and officials and commoners alike protested. Yiyu then impeached Heng Wen for corruption and debased conduct, setting out the charges in detail. The Emperor ordered Minister of Justice Liu Tongxun and Guizhou governor Ding Chang to investigate at once; they confirmed Heng Wen's gold purchases at deflated prices and his servants' extortion on camp inspections, and had him sent to Beijing. The Emperor rebuked Heng Wen: "As a senior minister you used tribute as a pretext to line your own pockets; your integrity failed and your ingratitude was a grave crime." He sent guardsmen San Tai and Zhala Feng'a by urgent relay to Heng Wen's location to announce the decree and permit him to take his own life.
3
郭一裕，湖北漢陽人。 雍正初，入貲為知縣，除江南清河知縣。 稍遷山西太原知府。 乾隆中，累擢雲南巡撫。 恆文對簿，具言貢金爐議發自一裕。 統勳等察知一裕亦令屬吏市金，見恆文以減值斂怨，乃先發為掩覆計。 事聞，上謂：「一裕本庸鄙，前為山東巡撫，嘗請進萬金上供。 在官惟以殖產營運為事，但尚不至如恆文之狼藉。」 命奪職，發軍台效力。 手詔謂：「恆文及一裕罪輕重一歸允當，毋謂一裕以漢吏劾滿洲終兩敗也。」 一裕呈部請輸金贖罪，會蔣洲、楊灝皆以婪索屬吏坐誅，洲獄具，得同官朋比狀。 上因謂：「恆文事發自一裕，尚彼勝於此。」 特許其納贖。 居數年，予三品銜，授河南按察使。 以老罷。 卒。
Guo Yiyu was from Hanyang in Hubei. Early in Yongzheng he bought his way into office as district magistrate and was appointed to Qinghe in Jiangnan. He was soon promoted to prefect of Taiyuan in Shanxi. Under Qianlong he rose step by step to governor of Yunnan. At trial Heng Wen testified that the gold-censer tribute had been Yiyu's idea. Tongxun's inquiry showed Yiyu had also ordered subordinates to buy gold; seeing Heng Wen blamed for cutting prices, Yiyu had impeached him first to cover his own tracks. When word reached the throne, the Emperor said: "Yiyu was coarse and low by nature; as Shandong governor he had once offered ten thousand taels in gold as tribute. In office he thought only of piling up wealth, yet he had not sunk to Heng Wen's level of excess." He was stripped of office and sent to serve at a military penal station. In a personal edict he wrote: "Each man's punishment fits his crime; do not imagine that because a Han official impeached a Manchu both were destroyed in the end." Yiyu petitioned to pay a fine in lieu of punishment; meanwhile Jiang Zhou and Yang Hao were executed for extorting subordinates, and Zhou's completed case exposed a pattern of official collusion. The Emperor then said: "Heng Wen's case began with Yiyu; Yiyu is still the lesser evil here." He specially allowed him to pay a redemption fine. After several years he received third rank and was appointed Henan surveillance commissioner. He retired on account of age. He died.
4
蔣洲，江南常熟人，大學士廷錫子。 自主事累擢至山西布政使。 二十二年，就遷巡撫，旋移山東，以塔永寧代。 塔永寧劾洲貪縱，虧庫帑鉅萬。 將行，令冀寧道楊龍文、太原知府七賚札諸屬吏納賕彌所虧。 統勳自雲南還，上命馳往會塔永寧按治。 解洲任，逮送山西嚴鞫，得實，誅洲，並及龍文、七賚論絞候。 諸屬吏虧帑，文職知州硃廷揚等、武職守備武璉等，皆論罪如律。 陝西巡撫明德，以前官山西嘗取洲及諸屬吏賕，亦論絞候。 上命發甘肅交黃廷桂聽差遣。
Jiang Zhou was from Changshu in Jiangnan, son of Grand Secretary Jiang Tingxi. From registrar he rose step by step to provincial administration commissioner of Shanxi. In the twenty-second year he was made governor on the spot, then moved to Shandong, with Ta Yongning taking his place. Ta Yongning impeached Zhou for corruption and license, citing treasury shortfalls in the tens of thousands. Before he left he had Jining intendant Yang Longwen and Taiyuan prefect Qi Sai instruct subordinates to pay bribes to make up his shortfall. When Tongxun returned from Yunnan, the Emperor ordered him to rush back and join Ta Yongning in the investigation. Zhou was dismissed, sent to Shanxi for rigorous trial, and executed when the case was proved; Longwen and Qi Sai were sentenced to strangulation after review. Subordinates with treasury shortfalls, civil prefect Zhu Tingyang among them and military commander Wu Lian, were all punished under the statutes. Shaanxi governor Mingde, who as a former Shanxi official had taken bribes from Zhou and his subordinates, was likewise sentenced to strangulation after review. The Emperor sent him to Gansu under Huang Tinggui's command.
5
楊灝，直隸曲陽人。 乾隆中，官湖南布政使。 時以湖南倉穀濟江南當糴補，灝發穀值百取一二，得金三千有奇。 巡撫陳宏謀疏劾，讞實，坐斬。 二十二年，秋讞，巡撫蔣炳以灝限內完贓，擬入緩決，上怒，命誅灝，奪炳官，逮京師，論罪坐斬。 上以炳意在沽譽，尚未嘗受賄，改戍軍台。 按察使夔舒亦坐是奪職。
Yang Hao was from Quyang in Zhili. Under Qianlong he served as Hunan provincial administration commissioner. Hunan granary grain was then shipped to Jiangnan for purchase contracts; Hao skimmed one or two percent of the grain payments and pocketed more than three thousand taels. Governor Chen Hongmou impeached him; the case was proved and he was sentenced to death. In the twenty-second year, at autumn review, Governor Jiang Bing sought a reprieve because Hao had made restitution on time; the Emperor was furious, ordered Hao executed, stripped Bing of rank, had him brought to the capital, and sentenced him to death. The Emperor judged that Bing had sought reputation rather than bribes and had not actually taken graft, and commuted his sentence to service at a military penal station. Surveillance commissioner Kui Shu was likewise dismissed on this account.
6
高恆，字立齋，滿洲鑲黃旗人，大學士高斌子也。 乾隆初，以廕生授戶部主事，再遷郎中。 出監山海關、淮安、張家口榷稅，署長蘆鹽政、天津總兵。 二十二年，授兩淮鹽政。 江蘇巡撫陳宏謀疏言：「海州產鹽盛，請令河東買運配引赴陝西引地行銷。 淮北鹽賤，並令淮南商買運適中之地，作常平倉鹽備缺額補配。」 命高恆會兩江總督尹繼善覆議，尋疏陳：「海洲產鹽盛衰，視天時晴雨，難定成數。 距陝西三千餘裡，黃河逆流而上，斷難輓運。 自海州出場，經淮、徐、海各屬，皆淮北食鹽口岸； 徐州以上，又係長蘆引地。 恐沿途挾私，淮南額引多，鹽場廣，有盈無絀。 即淮北鹽價稍賤，加以腳費折耗亦相等。 若令淮南銷淮北餘鹽，尤非商情所便。 縱發官帑與之收買，亦難強其領運。」 疏入，上從之。 湖廣總督李侍堯疏言湖北鹽驟貴，請飭淮商減價。 命高恆赴湖北會議。 定湖北鹽價，視淮商成本每包以二錢三分一釐為製。 二十九年，授上駟院卿，仍領兩淮鹽政。 三十年，以從兄高晉為兩江總督，當迴避，召署戶部侍郎。 疏陳整頓綱課，定分季運清獎勵之制，命以告後政普福。 尋授總管內務府大臣。 三十二年，署吏部侍郎。 是時上屢南巡，兩淮鹽商迎蹕，治行宮揚州，上臨幸，輒留數日乃去，費不貲，頻歲上貢稍華侈。
Gao Heng, styled Lizhai, was a Bannerman of the Bordered Yellow, son of Grand Secretary Gao Bin. Early in Qianlong, as a hereditary candidate he entered the Ministry of Revenue as director and was soon promoted to bureau director. He supervised transit levies at Shanhaiguan, Huai'an, and Zhangjiakou, and served as acting Changlu salt commissioner and Tianjin commander. In the twenty-second year he was appointed Two Huai salt commissioner. Jiangsu governor Chen Hongmou wrote: "Haizhou's salt output is abundant; let Hedong merchants buy and haul it under quota to sell in Shaanxi's licensed districts. North-of-Huai salt is cheaper; also let south-of-Huai merchants buy surplus salt for ever-normal stockpiles to fill quota shortfalls." The Emperor ordered Gao Heng to review the plan with Liangjiang governor-general Yin Jishan; Gao soon replied: "Haizhou output depends on weather and cannot be fixed in advance. Shaanxi lies more than three thousand li away, and hauling salt upstream on the Yellow River is out of the question. Salt leaving Haizhou passes through Huai, Xu, and Hai districts, all north-of-Huai consumption ports; and above Xuzhou the route lies in Changlu licensed territory. Smuggling along the route is a risk; south-of-Huai has ample quotas and salt fields and runs a surplus, not a deficit. Even when north-of-Huai salt is cheaper, freight and spoilage bring the cost back to parity. Forcing south-of-Huai merchants to sell north-of-Huai surplus salt suits merchant practice least of all. Even with treasury funds to buy the salt, merchants could not be forced to haul it." The memorial was approved. Huguang governor-general Li Shiyao reported that Hubei salt prices had spiked and asked that Two Huai merchants cut their prices. Gao Heng was sent to Hubei to confer on the matter. Hubei salt prices were set at two mace, three fen, and one li per bundle above Two Huai merchants' cost. In the twenty-ninth year he became director of the Imperial Stud while retaining the Two Huai salt post. In the thirtieth year his cousin Gao Jin became Liangjiang governor-general, requiring withdrawal on kinship grounds; he was recalled to serve as acting vice minister of revenue. He proposed reforms to salt transport quotas and quarterly clearance rewards, with orders to pass them to his successor Pufu. He was soon made superintendent of the Imperial Household Department. In the thirty-second year he served as acting vice minister of personnel. The Emperor was touring the south repeatedly; Two Huai salt merchants built a Yangzhou palace for his visits, where he would stay several days at vast expense, and yearly tribute grew increasingly lavish.
7
高恆為鹽政，陳請預提綱引歲二十萬至四十萬，得旨允行。 復令諸商每引輸銀三兩為公使錢，因以自私，事皆未報部。 三十三年，兩淮鹽政尤拔世發其弊，上奪高恆官，命江蘇巡撫彰寶會尤拔世按治。 諸鹽商具言頻歲上貢及備南巡差共用銀四百六十七萬餘，諸鹽政雖在官久，尚無寄商生息事。 上責其未詳盡，下刑部鞫實，高恆嘗受鹽商金，坐誅。 普福及鹽運使盧見曾等罪有差。
As salt commissioner, Gao Heng won approval to advance between two hundred thousand and four hundred thousand transport quotas each year. He also made merchants pay three taels per quota as "public-service" fees and pocketed them, reporting none of it to the ministry. In the thirty-third year successor commissioner You Bash exposed the abuses; the Emperor dismissed Gao Heng and ordered Jiangsu governor Zhang Bao to investigate with You Bash. Salt merchants reported that tribute and southern-tour expenses over the years totaled more than 4.67 million taels; despite long tenures, commissioners had not parked public funds with merchants for interest. The Emperor faulted the report as incomplete; the Ministry of Justice confirmed that Gao Heng had taken merchants' gold, and he was executed. Pufu, transport intendant Lu Jianzeng, and others were punished to differing degrees.
8
子高樸，初授武備院員外郎。 累遷給事中，巡山東漕政。 三十七年，超擢都察院左副都御史。 值月食，救護未至，上諭謂：「高樸年少奮勉，是以加恩擢用，非他人比。 乃在朕前有意見長，退後輒圖安逸，豈足副朕造就裁成之意？」 吏議奪職，命寬之。 遷兵部右侍郎。 上錄諸直省道府姓名，密記治行優絀，謂之道府記載，太監高雲從偶洩於外廷。 左都御史觀保，侍郎蔣賜棨、吳壇、倪承寬嘗因侍班私論其事，高樸聞，具疏劾，上怒，下刑部鞫治。 尋命誅雲從，貸觀保等，不竟其事。 詔謂：「雲從以賤役無忌憚，豈可不亟為整飭以肅紀綱？ 但不屑因此興大獄，故不復窮治。 諸大臣豈無見聞，獨高樸為之陳奏，內省應自慚。 若因此圖傾高樸，則是自取其死。 高樸若沾沾自喜，不知謹懍，轉致妄為，則高雲從即其前車，朕亦不能曲貸也。」 四十一年，命往葉爾羌辦事。 距葉爾羌四百餘裡，有密爾岱山，產玉，舊封禁。 高樸疏請開採，歲一次。 四十三年，阿奇木伯克色提巴勒底訴高樸役回民三千采玉，婪索金寶，並盜鬻官玉。 烏什辦事大臣永貴以聞，上命奪官嚴鞫，籍其家，得寄還金玉； 永貴又言葉爾羌存銀一萬六千餘、金五百餘。 高樸坐誅。
His son Gao Pu began as an assistant director in the Armory Bureau. He rose to supervising secretary and inspected Shandong grain transport. In the thirty-seventh year he was leap-promoted to left vice censor-in-chief. During a lunar eclipse the protective rites were late; the Emperor said: "Gao Pu is young and eager—that is why I favored him with promotion, unlike others. Yet he plays the grown man before Me and seeks comfort afterward—how does that meet My intent to train and temper him?" Personnel officials proposed dismissal, but the Emperor ordered leniency. He was transferred to right vice minister of war. The Emperor kept a secret register of circuit and prefect officials' performance—the Circuit-Prefect Record—which eunuch Gao Yuncong accidentally leaked to the outer court. Left censor-in-chief Guan Bao and vice ministers Jiang Ciqi, Wu Tan, and Ni Chengkuan had gossiped about the leak while on court duty; Gao Pu impeached them; the Emperor was furious and referred the case to the Ministry of Justice. He soon ordered Yuncong executed, pardoned Guan Bao and the others, and dropped the rest of the case. An edict read: "Yuncong, a menial servant, acted without restraint—discipline had to be tightened at once. But I would not launch a major prosecution over it, and pursued it no further. Surely other ministers knew of the leak—only Gao Pu reported it; they should examine their own consciences. Anyone who tries to ruin Gao Pu over this courts his own destruction. If Gao Pu grows smug, neglects caution, and acts recklessly, Yuncong's fate will be his—and I will not spare him." In the forty-first year he was sent to Yarkand on official business. Some four hundred li from Yarkand stood Mount Mi'erdai, famed for its jade and long sealed off from mining. Gao Pu memorialized asking permission to open the mines for one annual harvest. In the forty-third year, Akim Beg Sedibaleidi charged Gao Pu with impressing three thousand Hui laborers to mine jade, extorting gold and jewels, and embezzling official jade for private sale. Yonggui, the minister stationed at Ushi, reported the case; the Emperor ordered Gao Pu dismissed, rigorously tried, and his household assets seized, turning up gold and jade he had sent home; Yonggui further reported over sixteen thousand taels of silver and more than five hundred of gold still on hand at Yarkand. Gao Pu was put to death.
9
方上誅高恆，大學士傅恆從容言乞推慧賢皇貴妃恩貸其死，上曰：「如皇后兄弟犯法，當奈何？」 傅恆戰栗不敢言。 至是，諭曰：「高樸貪婪無忌，罔顧法紀，較其父高恆尤甚，不能念為慧賢皇貴妃侄而稍矜宥也。」
When the Emperor was about to execute Gao Heng, Grand Secretary Fu Heng calmly asked that the debt owed to Imperial Noble Consort Huixian be invoked to spare him. The Emperor replied: "If the Empress's own brothers violated the law, what would I do then?" Fu Heng shook with fear and said no more. Now an edict declared: "Gao Pu's greed knows no bounds and he scorns the law—worse than his father Gao Heng. I cannot spare him even a little for being Imperial Noble Consort Huixian's nephew."
10
王亶望，山西臨汾人，江蘇巡撫師子。 自舉人捐納知縣，發甘肅，知山丹、皋蘭諸縣。 選授雲南武定知府，引見，命仍往甘肅待缺，除寧夏知府。 累遷浙江布政使，暫署巡撫。 乾隆三十八年，上幸天津，亶望貢方物，范金為如意，飾以珠，上拒弗納。 三十九年，移甘肅布政使。 甘肅舊例，令民輸豆麥，予國子監生，得應試入官，謂之「監糧」，上令罷之。 既，復令肅州、安西收捐如舊例。 亶望至，申總督勒爾謹，以內地倉儲未實為辭，為疏請諸州縣皆得收捐； 既，又請於勒爾謹，令民改輸銀。 歲虛報旱災，妄言以粟治賑，而私其銀，自總督以下皆有分，亶望多取焉。 議初行，方半載，亶望疏報收捐一萬九千名，得豆麥八十二萬。 上謂：「甘肅民貧地瘠，安得有二萬人捐監？ 又安得有如許餘糧？ 今半年已得八十二萬，年復一年，經久陳紅，又將安用？ 即云每歲借給民間，何如留於閭閻，聽其自為流轉？」 因發「四不可解」詰勒爾謹，勒爾謹飾辭具覆。 上諭曰：「爾等既身任其事，勉力妥為之可也。」
Wang Danwang, from Linfen in Shanxi, was the son of the Jiangsu governor. After purchasing a county magistrate's post as a juren, he was posted to Gansu and served as magistrate of Shandan, Gaolan, and other counties. Named prefect of Wuding in Yunnan, he was received in audience and told to return to Gansu to await a vacancy; he was then appointed prefect of Ningxia. He rose to Financial Commissioner of Zhejiang and briefly served as acting governor. In Qianlong 38, when the Emperor traveled to Tianjin, Danwang offered local tribute: a gold ruyi scepter set with pearls. The Emperor declined it. In the thirty-ninth year he was made Financial Commissioner of Gansu. Under an old Gansu custom, peasants paid beans and wheat to buy Imperial Academy student status and thus qualify for office—the so-called "jianliang" tribute. The Emperor ordered the practice ended. Later, Suzhou and Anxi were again allowed to collect donations under the former rules. When Danwang arrived, he appealed to Governor-general Le'erjin, claiming inland granaries were unfilled, and memorialized that every prefecture and county be permitted to collect donations again; He then persuaded Le'erjin to let the people pay in silver rather than grain. Each year he filed false drought reports, pretended the grain was for famine relief, and pocketed the silver instead. Everyone from the governor-general down took a cut, with Danwang keeping the lion's share. Barely six months after the scheme began, Danwang reported nineteen thousand donors and 820,000 units of beans and wheat collected. The Emperor objected: "Gansu is poor and its soil is thin—how could twenty thousand men afford to buy Academy status? Where would so much surplus grain come from? You already claim 820,000 in half a year. Year on year it will rot in store—what use is that? Even if you lend it out annually, would it not be better to leave the grain in the villages and let people trade it among themselves?" He then sent Le'erjin the "Four Inexplicables"—four points he could not fathom—and Le'erjin answered with polished excuses. The Emperor replied: "You hold the office—see that you manage it conscientiously."
11
四十二年，擢浙江巡撫。 四十五年，上南巡，亶望治供張甚侈。 上謂：「省方問俗，非為遊觀計。 今乃添建屋宇，點綴鐙彩，華縟繁費，朕實所不取。」 戒毋更如是。 亶望旋居母喪，疏請治喪百日後，留塘工自效，上許之。 浙江巡撫李質穎入覲，奏陳海塘事，因及亶望意見不相合，遂言亶望不遣妻拏還裡行喪。 上降旨責其忘親越禮，奪官，仍留塘工自效。
In the forty-second year he was appointed Governor of Zhejiang. In the forty-fifth year, during the southern tour, Danwang staged lavish provisions and lodging. The Emperor said: "I tour the provinces to learn local conditions—not for pleasure. You have put up new buildings, hung lanterns and finery—lavish and wasteful. I want none of it." He warned them not to repeat such excess. Danwang soon went into mourning for his mother and asked to stay on the seawall project after the hundred-day rites; the Emperor agreed. When Zhejiang Governor Li Zhiying came to court, he reported on the seawalls and, disagreeing with Danwang, accused him of keeping his wife and children from returning home for the mourning rites. The Emperor rebuked him for neglecting filial duty and violating ritual, removed his rank, but let him remain on the seawall project.
12
四十六年，命大學士阿桂如浙江勘工。 阿桂疏發杭嘉湖道王燧貪縱、故嘉興知府陳虞盛浮冒狀，上諭曰：「朕上年南巡，入浙江境，即見其侈靡，詰亶望，言虞盛所為。 今燧等借大差為名，貪縱浮冒，必亶望為之庇護。」 命逮燧嚴鞫。 會河州回蘇四十三為亂，勒爾謹師屢敗，亦被逮。 大學士阿桂出視師，未即至，命尚書和珅先焉，和珅疏言入境即遇雨，阿桂報師行亦屢言雨。 上因疑甘肅頻歲報旱不實，諭阿桂及總督李侍堯令具實以聞。 阿桂、侍堯疏發亶望等令監糧改輸銀及虛銷賑粟自私諸狀，上怒甚，遣侍郎楊魁如浙江會巡撫陳輝祖召亶望嚴鞫，籍其家，得金銀逾百萬。 上幸熱河，逮亶望、勒爾謹及甘肅布政使王廷贊赴行在，令諸大臣會鞫。 亶望具服發議監糧改輸銀，令蘭州知府蔣全迪示意諸州縣偽報旱災，迫所轄道府具結申轉； 在官尚奢侈，皋蘭知縣程棟為支應，諸州縣饣鬼賂率以千萬計。 獄定，上命斬亶望，賜勒爾謹自裁，廷贊論絞，並命即蘭州斬全迪； 遂令阿桂按治諸州縣，冒賑至二萬以上皆死，於是坐斬者棟等二十二人，餘譴黜有差。 上謂：「此二十二人之死，皆亶望導之使陷於法，與亶望殺之何異？」 令奪亶望子裘等官，發伊犁，幼子逮下刑部獄，年至十二，即次第遣發，逃者斬。 陝甘總督李侍堯續發得賕諸吏，又誅閔鵷元等十一人，罪董熙等六人。
In the forty-sixth year the Emperor sent Grand Secretary Agui to Zhejiang to inspect the seawall project. Agui exposed the greed and lax oversight of Hang-Jia-Hu Circuit Intendant Wang Sui and the padded accounts of former Jiaxing Prefect Chen Yusheng. The Emperor said: "On last year's southern tour, the moment I entered Zhejiang I saw the extravagance. I questioned Danwang, and he blamed Chen Yusheng. Now Sui and his circle, under cover of a major project, are greedy, reckless, and fraudulent—Danwang must be protecting them." He ordered Wang Sui arrested and rigorously tried. About then the Hezhou Hui leader Su Forty-three rebelled; Le'erjin's forces suffered repeated defeats, and he was arrested as well. Grand Secretary Agui set out to command the campaign but had not yet arrived; Minister Heshen was sent ahead. Heshen reported rain the moment he crossed the border, and Agui's dispatches on the march likewise kept citing rain. The Emperor then suspected years of false drought reports from Gansu and ordered Agui and Governor Li Shiyao to send the truth. Agui and Shiyao exposed how Danwang and his circle had converted jianliang to silver payments and falsified famine relief to enrich themselves. Enraged, the Emperor sent Vice Minister Yang Kui to Zhejiang with Governor Chen Huizu to try Danwang and seize his estate, which held over a million taels in gold and silver. At Rehe the Emperor had Danwang, Le'erjin, and Gansu Financial Commissioner Wang Tingzan brought to the traveling court and ordered the grand ministers to try them jointly. Danwang confessed to proposing the switch from jianliang to silver, directing Lanzhou Prefect Jiang Quandi to have prefectures and counties file false drought reports, and coercing his circuit and prefectural subordinates to certify and forward the fraud; Even in office he lived lavishly; Gaolan Magistrate Cheng Dong managed his expenses, and bribes from prefectures and counties routinely ran to tens of thousands of taels. When judgment was rendered, the Emperor ordered Danwang executed, allowed Le'erjin to take his own life, sentenced Wang Tingzan to strangulation, and had Jiang Quandi beheaded on the spot in Lanzhou; Agui was then sent to investigate every prefecture and county; anyone who embezzled more than twenty thousand in relief funds was put to death. Twenty-two men, including Cheng Dong, were beheaded; the rest were punished or dismissed according to their guilt. The Emperor said: "These twenty-two died because Danwang led them into crime—what difference is there between that and murder by his hand?" He stripped Danwang's sons, including Qiu, of their posts and exiled them to Ili; the youngest was held in the Ministry of Justice prison and, on turning twelve, would be sent away in turn—flight meant death. Shaanxi-Gansu Governor Li Shiyao exposed still more bribe-taking officials; Min Yuan and eleven others were executed, and Dong Xi and six more were sentenced.
13
五十九年，上將歸政，國史館進師傳。 上覽其治績，乃赦亶望子還，幼者罷勿遣，謂「勿令師絕嗣也」。
In the fifty-ninth year, as the Emperor prepared to abdicate, the Historiographical Institute presented the collected biographies of his teachers. Reading Danwang's record of service, the Emperor pardoned his sons and let them return; the youngest was spared further exile, saying, "Do not let his father's line die out."
14
勒爾謹，宜特墨氏，滿洲鑲白旗人。 乾隆初，以繙譯進士授刑部主事，遷員外郎。 外授直隸天津道。 累遷陝甘總督。 四十二年，河州回黃國其、王伏林為亂，馳往捕治，誅國其、伏林及其徒四百餘人。 四十六年，循化回蘇四十三復起，勒爾謹令蘭州知府楊士璣、河州協副將新柱率二百人往捕，為所戕，遂破河州。 勒爾謹赴援，聞賊將自小道徑攻蘭州，引還城守。 上責勒爾謹觀望失機，奪官； 下刑部論斬，上命改監候，卒坐亶望獄死。 陳輝祖又以籍亶望家匿金玉器，譴誅。
Le'erjin, of the Yitemo clan, belonged to the Plain White Banner. In early Qianlong he passed the translation jinshi examination, entered the Ministry of Justice as a principal clerk, and rose to vice director. He was posted outside the capital as intendant of Tianjin Circuit in Zhili. He eventually rose to Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu. In the forty-second year the Hezhou Hui leaders Huang Guoqi and Wang Fulin rebelled; he rushed to suppress them and executed Guoqi, Fulin, and over four hundred followers. In the forty-sixth year Su Forty-three of Xunhua rebelled again. Le'erjin sent Lanzhou Prefect Yang Shiji and Hezhou Assistant Brigade Commander Xin Zhu with two hundred men to arrest him; they were slaughtered, and the rebels took Hezhou. Le'erjin marched to relieve the siege, but hearing the rebels would strike Lanzhou by a back route, he pulled back to defend the city. The Emperor blamed Le'erjin for hesitation and missed chances, and removed him from office; The Ministry of Justice recommended execution; the Emperor commuted the sentence to imprisonment awaiting execution. He ultimately died in prison during the Danwang affair. Chen Huizu was condemned and executed for hiding gold and jade when Danwang's estate was inventoried.
15
輝祖，湖南祁陽人，兩廣總督大受子也。 以廕生授戶部員外郎，遷郎中。 外授河南陳州知府。 累遷閩浙總督，兼領浙江巡撫。 亶望獄起，輝祖弟嚴祖為甘肅知縣，獄辭連染。 上以輝祖當知狀，詰之，不敢言，詔嚴切，乃具陳平日實有所聞，懼嚴祖且得罪，隱忍未聞上，因請罪，降三品頂戴留任。 時安徽巡撫閔鶚元亦坐其弟鵷元，與輝祖同譴。 既，布政使盛柱疏言檢校亶望家入官物與原冊有異同，命大學士阿桂按治，具得輝祖隱匿私易狀，論斬。 上曰：「輝祖罪固無可逭，然與亶望較，終不同。 傳云：'與其有聚斂之臣，寧有盜臣。 '輝祖盜臣耳。 亦命改監候。」 四十七年，浙江巡撫福崧奏桐鄉民因徵漕聚眾閧縣庭，輝祖寬其罪，次年乃復閧。 閩浙總督富勒渾奏兩省諸州縣虧倉穀，福建水師提督黃仕簡奏台灣民互鬥，於是上罪輝祖牟利營私，兩省庶政皆廢弛貽誤，罪無異亶望，賜自裁。 五十三年，又以湖北吏治闒茸，弊始輝祖為巡撫時，戍其子伊犁。
Huizu, from Qiyang in Hunan, was the son of Da Shou, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. Through hereditary privilege he entered the Ministry of Revenue as a vice director and rose to director. He was posted to Henan as prefect of Chenzhou. He rose to Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, also serving as Governor of Zhejiang. When the Danwang case broke, Huizu's brother Yan Zu, a Gansu county magistrate, was implicated in the testimony. The Emperor believed Huizu must have known and pressed him; at first he would not speak. Under stern edicts he finally admitted he had heard rumors but, fearing for Yan Zu, had kept silent. He pleaded guilty and was demoted three hat-ranks but kept his post. Anhui Governor Min Eyuan was punished at the same time because of his brother Min Yuan and received the same rebuke as Huizu. Later Financial Commissioner Sheng Zhu reported discrepancies between Danwang's seized property and the official inventory. Agui was ordered to investigate, proved Huizu had concealed and swapped items, and recommended execution. The Emperor said: "Huizu's guilt is undeniable, yet compared with Danwang he is not the same man. The Classic says: 'Better a thieving minister than one who squeezes the people dry.' Huizu is only a thief. The sentence was likewise commuted to imprisonment awaiting execution." In the forty-seventh year Zhejiang Governor Fu Song reported that Tongxiang peasants had mobbed the county yamen over grain tribute; Huizu treated them leniently, and the next year they rioted again. Governor-General Fu Lehun reported granary shortfalls across both provinces; Fujian Naval Commander Huang Shijian reported factional fighting in Taiwan. The Emperor then found Huizu guilty of profiteering and neglect, held that civil government in both provinces had collapsed under him, judged his crime equal to Danwang's, and granted him suicide. In the fifty-third year, citing the slipshod administration of Hubei—abuses that began when Huizu was governor there—his son was exiled to Ili.
16
乾隆季年，諸貪吏首亶望，次則鄭源鸘。
In Qianlong's final years, Wang Danwang stood first among corrupt officials; Zheng Yuanhuang was second.
17
源鸘，直隸豐潤人。 以貢生授戶部主事，累遷湖南布政使。 仁宗既誅和珅，有言源鸘貪黷狀，下巡撫姜晟按治。 源鸘具服收發庫項，加扣平餘，數逾八萬； 署內眷屬幾三百人，自蓄優伶，服官奢侈。 上宣示源鸘罪狀，因言：「諸直省大吏宴會酒食，率以囑首縣，首縣复斂於諸州縣。 率皆朘小民之脂膏，供大吏之娛樂，展轉苛派，受害仍在吾民。 通諭諸直省，令悛改積習。」 尋命斬源鸘。
Yuanhuang was from Fengrun in Zhili. Entering as a tribute student in the Ministry of Revenue, he rose to Financial Commissioner of Hunan. After the Jiaqing Emperor executed Heshen, reports of Yuanhuang's corruption reached the throne, and Governor Jiang Sheng was ordered to investigate. Yuanhuang confessed to skimming surplus balances when handling treasury receipts and payments, totaling more than eighty thousand taels; Nearly three hundred dependents crowded his yamen; he maintained a private opera troupe and lived in lavish style. The Emperor announced Yuanhuang's crimes and said: "When provincial governors feast, they routinely charge the seat county magistrate, who then levies every prefecture and county under him. In the end it is the common people's sweat and blood that pay for the grandees' pleasures—layer upon layer of exactions, and the suffering falls on our people still. Let a general edict go out to every province commanding them to abandon these entrenched abuses." Yuanhuang was soon executed.
18
國泰，富察氏，滿洲鑲白旗人，四川總督文綬子也。 國泰初授刑部主事，再遷郎中。 外擢山東按察使，遷布政使。 乾隆三十八年，文綬官陝甘總督，奉命按前四川總督阿爾泰縱子明德布婪索屬吏，徇不以實陳，戍伊犁。 國泰具疏謝，請從父戍所贖父罪。 上諭曰：「汝無罪，何必惶懼？」 四十二年，遷巡撫。
Guotai, of the Fuca clan and the Plain White Banner, was the son of Sichuan Governor Wen Shou. Guotai entered the Ministry of Justice as a principal clerk and was twice promoted to director. Posted to Shandong, he became surveillance commissioner and then financial commissioner. In Qianlong 38, Wen Shou served as Governor-General of Shaanxi and Gansu. Ordered to investigate former Sichuan Governor A'ertai for shielding his son Mingde's extortion of subordinates and filing a false report, he was exiled to Ili. Guotai memorialized in apology and asked to join his father in exile to atone for his crime. The Emperor replied: "You are guilty of nothing—why such fear?" In the forty-second year he was made governor.
19
國泰紈褲子，早貴，遇屬吏不以禮，小不當意，輒呵斥。 布政使於易簡事之諂，至長跪白事。 易簡，江蘇金壇人，大學士敏中弟也。 大學士阿桂等以國泰乖張，請改京朝官。 四十六年，上為召易簡詣京師問狀，易簡為國泰力辨。 上降旨戒國泰馭屬吏當寬嚴得中，令警惕改悔。 會文綬复官四川總督，以啯匪為亂，再戍伊犁，國泰未具疏謝。 居月餘，疏謝賜鹿肉，上詰責。 國泰請納養廉為父贖，並乞治罪，上寬之。
Guotai was a pampered young noble who rose early to power; he showed subordinates no courtesy and berated them over the smallest slight. Financial Commissioner Yu Yijian fawned on him so abjectly that he would kneel when presenting business. Yijian, from Jintan in Jiangsu, was the younger brother of Grand Secretary Minzhong. Grand Secretaries including Agui, finding Guotai insubordinate and overbearing, asked that he be moved to a post in the capital. In the forty-sixth year the Emperor summoned Yijian to the capital to answer for his conduct, and Yijian spoke out forcefully on Guotai's behalf. The Emperor sent down an edict admonishing Guotai to govern his subordinates with a proper balance of leniency and strictness, and commanded him to take heed and reform. When Wen Shou was reappointed Governor of Sichuan but then sent back into exile at Ili after trouble with Gao bandits, Guotai never submitted the required memorial of acknowledgment. More than a month later he memorialized to thank the Emperor for a gift of venison, and the Emperor sharply censured him. Guotai offered to forfeit his integrity salary to atone for his father and asked to be punished as well; the Emperor was merciful.
20
四十七年，御史錢灃劾國泰及易簡貪縱營私，徵賂諸州縣，諸州縣倉庫皆虧缺。 上命尚書和珅、左都御史劉墉按治，並令灃與俱。 和珅故袒國泰； 墉持正，以國泰虐其鄉，右灃。 驗歷城庫銀銀色不一，得借市充庫狀。 語互詳灃傳。 國泰具服婪索諸屬吏，數輒至千萬。 易簡諂國泰，上詰不敢以實對。 獄定，皆論斬，上命改監候，逮系刑部獄。 巡撫明興疏言通察諸州縣倉庫，虧二百萬有奇，皆國泰、易簡在官時事。 上命即獄中詰國泰等，國泰等言因王倫亂，諸州縣以公使錢佐軍興，乃虧及倉庫。 上以「王倫亂起滅不過一月，即謂軍興事急，何多至二百萬？ 即有之，當具疏以實聞。 國泰、易簡罔上行私，視諸屬吏虧帑恝置不問，罪與王亶望等均」。 命即獄中賜自裁。
In the forty-seventh year Censor Qian Feng impeached Guotai and Yijian for greed, lax discipline, and private profiteering, charging that they had extorted bribes from prefectures and counties until every granary in the province was in deficit. The Emperor ordered Minister Heshen and Censor-in-Chief Liu Yong to conduct the investigation and commanded Feng to go with them. Heshen deliberately took Guotai's side; Liu Yong stood firm on principle; remembering how Guotai had abused his own home district, he supported Feng. When they inspected Licheng's treasury silver and found the fineness inconsistent, they uncovered proof that market silver had been borrowed to pad the vault. The details are set out at length in Feng's biography. Guotai fully confessed to extorting his subordinates, with individual amounts often running into the millions. Yijian had fawned on Guotai, and when the Emperor pressed him he did not dare tell the truth. When judgment was rendered all were sentenced to death, but the Emperor commuted the sentence to imprisonment awaiting execution and had them held in the Ministry of Justice jail. Governor Mingxing reported that a province-wide audit of granaries had uncovered deficits of more than two million taels, all incurred while Guotai and Yijian were in office. The Emperor had Guotai and the others interrogated in prison; they claimed that during Wang Lun's rebellion prefectures and counties had diverted public funds to support the war effort, and that this had drained the granaries. The Emperor replied: "Wang Lun's rebellion broke out and was put down in barely a month. Even if war expenses were pressing, how could losses run to two million? If such losses truly existed, you should have memorialized the throne with a full and truthful account. Guotai and Yijian deceived the throne to serve themselves and turned a blind eye while their subordinates emptied the public coffers. Their guilt is on a par with Wang Danwang's." He ordered them granted the privilege of suicide there in prison.
21
郝碩，漢軍鑲黃旗人。 父郝玉麟，官兩江總督。 郝碩襲騎都尉世職，授戶部員外郎，直軍機處，遷郎中。 外授山東登萊青道，三遷江西巡撫。 將朝京師，以行李不具，徵屬吏納賕。 四十九年，兩江總督薩載論劾，逮京師鞫實。 上謂：「郝碩罪同國泰，國泰小有才，地方事尚知料理。 郝碩嘗朝行在，問以地方事，不知所對。 不意复貪婪若是！ 且郝碩託辭求賂，正國泰事敗時，乃明知故蹈，無復忌憚。 即視國泰例賜自裁。」 因通諭諸直省督撫，當持名節，畏憲典，以國泰、郝碩為戒。
Hao Shuo was a Han Bannerman of the Bordered Yellow. His father Hao Yulin had been Governor-General of Liangjiang. Hao Shuo inherited the hereditary rank of Commandant of Cavalry, entered the Board of Revenue as an assistant department director, served on the Grand Council staff, and rose to department director. Sent out as intendant of the Deng-Lai-Qing circuit in Shandong, he was promoted three times until he became Governor of Jiangxi. As he prepared to go to the capital for audience, his traveling funds fell short, so he squeezed bribes from his subordinates. In the forty-ninth year Governor-General Sa Zai impeached him by memorial; he was brought to the capital and the case proved. The Emperor said: "Hao Shuo's offense is the same as Guotai's. Guotai had some ability and at least knew how to handle provincial business. Hao Shuo once came to audience at the traveling palace, and when questioned about local affairs he had nothing coherent to say. Who would have thought he could be so greedy! And Hao Shuo contrived excuses to extort bribes right when Guotai's downfall was fresh—he knew the danger and did it anyway, utterly without restraint. He was immediately sentenced by Guotai's precedent and granted suicide." A general edict went out to governors and governor-generals in every province telling them to guard their honor, respect the law, and take Guotai and Hao Shuo as a warning.
22
良卿，富察氏，滿洲正白旗人。 乾隆七年進士，授戶部主事，遷郎中。 外授直隸通永道，累遷貴州布政使。 三十二年，命署巡撫。
Liang Qing, of the Fuca clan, was a Bannerman of the Plain White. Having passed the jinshi examination in Qianlong 7, he entered the Board of Revenue as a principal clerk and rose to department director. Posted out as intendant of the Tong-Yong circuit in Zhili, he worked his way up to Financial Commissioner of Guizhou. In the thirty-second year he was appointed acting governor.
23
師徵緬甸，良卿董台站。 上諭良卿：「師行供頓有資民力者，覈實奏聞。」 良卿疏言：「此項多鄉保措辦，銀數多寡參差，無從覈算。」 上謂：「師行供頓有資民力，亦當官為檢覈。 若以鄉保措辦遂置不問，民瘼何所仰賴？ 且吏役因以為奸，又何所不至耶？ 良卿以布政使署巡撫，何得諉為不知？」 下吏議，當降調，命改奪官，仍留任。 既，上發帑佐軍需，良卿請確查散給，上詰良卿：「既言無從覈算，何能確查散給？」 命留供續發官軍。 良卿又疏陳貴州兵極能走險耐瘴，請募五千人習槍砲、藤牌備徵發。 上嘉其盡心，賜孔雀翎。 尋移廣東，以募兵事未竟，仍留貴州。 貴州產鉛，歲採運供鑄錢，以糧道主其事。 三十四年，良卿疏劾威寧知州劉標運鉛不如額，並虧工本運值，奪標職，令良卿詳讞。 良卿疏陳標虧項，並劾糧道永泰，請簡大臣會鞫，上為遣內閣學士富察善如貴州會良卿按治。 永泰揭戶部陳標虧項由長官婪索，因及良卿及按察使高積貪黷狀，上解良卿職，復命刑部侍郎錢維城、湖廣總督吳達善即訊。 故事，奏摺置黃木匣，外護以黃綾袱，至御前始啟。 上發副將軍阿桂軍中奏，於袱內得普安民吳倎訴官吏、土目私派累民狀，命吳達善密勘； 而劉標亦遣人詣戶部訴上官婪索，呈簿記，上申命吳達善嚴鞫。
During the Burma campaign Liang Qing supervised the relay stations. The Emperor told Liang Qing: "Wherever marching troops and their supplies impose on the people, investigate the facts and report them." Liang Qing replied in a memorial: "Most of this is arranged through village headmen; the sums vary too widely to be audited." The Emperor said: "Even when marching troops and supplies lean on the people, officials must still inspect and verify. If you dismiss it because village headmen handle the arrangements, where can the people turn with their grievances? And clerks and runners will seize the chance for abuse—what limit would there be to their misconduct? Liang Qing is acting governor while still financial commissioner—how can he claim not to know?" The Board of Punishments recommended demotion, but the Emperor instead stripped him of rank while keeping him in post. Later the Emperor released treasury funds for the army, and Liang Qing asked to audit and distribute them carefully. The Emperor challenged him: "You said these sums could not be audited—how then can you audit and distribute them carefully?" He ordered the funds held back for continued disbursement to the troops. Liang Qing also reported that Guizhou soldiers were exceptionally hardy on difficult terrain and in malarial country, and asked to recruit five thousand men to drill with muskets, cannon, and rattan shields for future campaigns. The Emperor commended his diligence and awarded him a peacock feather. He was soon transferred to Guangdong, but because the recruitment drive was unfinished he stayed on in Guizhou. Guizhou produces lead that is mined and shipped each year for minting, under the supervision of the grain intendant. In the thirty-fourth year Liang Qing impeached Weining Prefect Liu Biao for falling short on lead shipments and for deficits in operating and transport costs; Biao was dismissed and Liang Qing was ordered to hear the case fully. Liang Qing reported Biao's deficits and also impeached Grain Intendant Yongtai, asking that a senior minister join the inquiry; the Emperor dispatched Grand Secretariat Academician Fucha Shan to Guizhou to investigate with Liang Qing. Yongtai appealed to the Board of Revenue, arguing that Biao's deficits came from extortion by his superiors and implicating Liang Qing and Surveillance Commissioner Gao Ji in corruption; the Emperor removed Liang Qing from office and ordered Vice Minister Qian Weicheng and Huguang Governor-General Wu Dashan to investigate immediately. By established practice, memorials were sealed in yellow wooden boxes wrapped in yellow silk and opened only in the Emperor's presence. When the Emperor opened a duplicate of General Agui's field report, he found inside the wrapping a petition from Wu Tian, a commoner of Pu'an, accusing officials and native chieftains of illegal levies that oppressed the people; he ordered Wu Dashan to investigate in secret; Liu Biao also sent an agent to the Board of Revenue accusing his superiors of extortion and submitting account books; the Emperor again ordered Wu Dashan to conduct a rigorous inquiry.
24
吳達善先後疏言標積年虧帑至二十四萬有奇。 良卿意在彌補掩覆，見事不可掩，乃以訪聞奏劾； 及追繳銀六千有奇，令留抵私填公項，不入查封，始終隱飾。 又及高積鬻儲庫水銀，良卿有袒庇狀。 良卿長支養廉，為前布政使張逢堯及積署布政使時支放。 普安州民吳國治訴知州陳昶籍軍興私派累民，良卿即令昶會鞫，不竟其事，乃致倎賄驛吏附奏事達御前。 上乃責良卿負恩欺罔，罪不止於骫法婪贓，命即貴州省城處斬，銷旗籍，以其子富多、富永發伊犁，畀厄魯特為奴。 積、逢堯、標皆坐譴。
Wu Dashan reported in successive memorials that Biao's accumulated treasury shortfalls over the years exceeded two hundred and forty thousand taels. Liang Qing had meant to cover the matter up; when concealment became impossible, he impeached Biao only on the basis of what he claimed to have heard; When more than six thousand taels were recovered, he had them kept back to cover sums he had privately used to fill public accounts, excluding them from the sealed inventory—he concealed the truth from start to finish. The inquiry also uncovered Gao Ji's sale of quicksilver from the reserve treasury, and Liang Qing had plainly shielded him. Liang Qing had long been drawing integrity stipends in advance, paid out during former Financial Commissioner Zhang Fengyao's term and during Ji's acting tenure. Wu Guozhi, a commoner of Pu'an Prefecture, sued Prefect Chen Chang for illegal levies disguised as war expenses; Liang Qing had Chang hold a joint hearing but never finished the case, which allowed Tian to bribe a relay clerk and smuggle a petition through to the throne. The Emperor then denounced Liang Qing for betraying imperial favor and deceiving the throne, his guilt going beyond corruption and bribery; he ordered him executed at once in the Guizhou provincial capital, struck from the banner rolls, and his sons Fuduo and Fuyong sent to Ili as slaves to the Oirats. Ji, Fengyao, and Biao were all punished as well.
25
方世俊，字毓川，安徽桐城人。 乾隆四年進士，授戶部主事。 累遷太僕寺少卿，外授陝西布政使。 二十九年，擢貴州巡撫。 三十二年，調湖南巡撫。 劉標訐發上官婪索，言世俊得銀六千有奇，上命奪官，逮送貴州，其僕承世俊得銀千。 獄成，械致刑部，論絞決，上命改監候。 秋讞入情實，伏法。
Fang Shijun, styled Yuchuan, was from Tongcheng in Anhui. A jinshi of Qianlong 4, he entered the Board of Revenue as a principal clerk. He rose to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and was then posted as Financial Commissioner of Shaanxi. In the twenty-ninth year he was made Governor of Guizhou. In the thirty-second year he was transferred to Governor of Hunan. Liu Biao exposed his superiors' extortion, claiming Shijun had taken more than six thousand taels; the Emperor stripped him of rank and sent him to Guizhou for trial, and his servant admitted Shijun had received one thousand taels. When the trial concluded he was sent in chains to the Ministry of Justice and sentenced to strangulation; the Emperor commuted the sentence to imprisonment awaiting execution. At the autumn review the case was confirmed as capital, and he was put to death.
26
錢度，字希裴，江南武進人。 乾隆元年進士，授吏部主事，累遷廣西道監察御史。 外授安徽徽州知府，累擢至方面。 其為江安督糧道、河庫道，皆再任，歷十餘年。 上嘉其久任奮勉。 二十九年，授雲南布政使。 三十三年，遷廣東巡撫。 師方徵緬甸，度主餽軍，命以巡撫銜領布政使。 未歲，移廣西巡撫，乃之官，賀縣囚越獄，度請寬知縣鄭之翀罪。 上命奪之翀職，責度寬縱。 學政梅立本按試鬱林，索供應，民聚閧。 上命度定學政供應夫船事例，度擬從寬備，失上指，仍左授雲南布政使。 三十七年，監銅廠。 宜良知縣硃一深揭戶部，告度貪婪，勒屬吏市金玉，上命刑部侍郎袁守侗如雲南會總督彰寶、巡撫李湖按治。 貴州巡撫圖思德奏獲度僕持金玉諸器，自京師將往雲南，值銀五千以上； 江西巡撫海明奏獲度僕攜銀二萬九千有奇，自雲南將往江南，並得度寄子酆書，令為複壁藏金，為永久計； 兩江總督高晉籍度家，得窖藏銀二萬七千，又寄頓金二千。 守侗等訊得度刻扣銅本平餘，及勒屬吏市金玉得值，具服，逮送京師。 命軍機大臣會刑部覆讞，以度侵欺勒索贓私具實，罪當斬，命即行法。 子酆亦論絞，上為改緩決。 尋遇赦，仍不令應試出仕。 嘉慶五年，弛其禁。
Qian Du, styled Xipei, was from Wujin in Jiangnan. A jinshi of Qianlong 1, he entered the Ministry of Personnel as a principal clerk and rose to censor of the Guangxi circuit. Posted out as Prefect of Huizhou in Anhui, he worked his way up to provincial commissioner rank. He served twice each as grain transport commissioner of Jiang'an and as river treasury commissioner, for more than ten years in all. The Emperor commended his long tenure and steady diligence. In the twenty-ninth year he became Financial Commissioner of Yunnan. In the thirty-third year he was made Governor of Guangdong. While the army was campaigning in Burma, Du oversaw military supplies and was ordered to serve as financial commissioner with governor's rank. Before the year ended he was transferred to Governor of Guangxi; soon after he took office prisoners broke jail in Hexian County, and Du asked that Magistrate Zheng Zhichong be treated leniently. The Emperor dismissed Zhichong and censured Du for being too lenient. Education Intendant Mei Liben, conducting examinations at Yulin, demanded provisions from the locals, and the people rose in protest. The Emperor ordered Du to establish rules for the supplies and transport owed to education intendants; Du drafted overly lenient regulations, missed the Emperor's intent, and was demoted to Financial Commissioner of Yunnan. In the thirty-seventh year he was put in charge of the copper mines. Yiliang Magistrate Zhu Yishen appealed to the Board of Revenue, accusing Du of greed and coercing subordinates into supplying gold and jade; the Emperor sent Vice Minister Yuan Shoutong to Yunnan to investigate with Governor-General Zhang Bao and Governor Li Hu. Guizhou Governor Tuside reported that Du's servant had been caught carrying gold, jade, and other valuables from the capital toward Yunnan, worth more than five thousand taels; Jiangxi Governor Haiming reported that another of Du's servants had been caught with more than twenty-nine thousand taels en route from Yunnan to Jiangnan, along with a letter from Du to his son Feng instructing him to build secret compartments for gold as a long-term hoard; Liangjiang Governor-General Gao Jin searched Du's household and uncovered twenty-seven thousand taels of buried silver and two thousand taels of stored gold. Shoutong and his colleagues established that Du had routinely skimmed copper-fund surpluses and forced subordinates to supply gold and jade; he confessed fully and was sent to the capital. Grand Council ministers and the Ministry of Justice reviewed the case, confirmed Du's embezzlement and extortion, found the capital offense proved, and he was executed at once. His son Feng was also sentenced to strangulation, but the Emperor commuted it to delayed execution. An amnesty followed, but he remained barred from the examinations and from office. In Jiaqing 5 the ban was lifted.
27
覺羅伍拉納，滿洲正黃旗人。 初授戶部筆帖式，外除張家口理事同知，累遷福建布政使。 林爽文之亂，伍拉納主餽軍，往來蚶江、廈門，事定，賜花翎，遷河南巡撫。 乾隆五十四年，授閩浙總督。 上以福建民情獷悍，戒伍拉納當與巡撫徐嗣曾商榷整飭。 伍拉納督屬吏捕盜，先後所誅殺百數十人。 以內地民多渡海至台灣，疏請海口設官渡，便稽察。 時定往台灣者出蚶江，民舟或自廈門渡，亦令至蚶江報驗，疏請罷其例，俾得迳出廈門。 言者以海中島嶼多，流民散處為盜藪，當毀其廬，徙其民，毋使滋蔓。 下濱海諸直省議，伍拉納疏言：「福建海中諸島嶼，流民散處，凡已編甲輸糧者，當不在例中。」 上命諸島嶼非例當封禁，皆任其居處。 浙江嘉善縣民訴縣吏徵漕浮收，下伍拉納按治，論如律。
Wulana, of the Aisin Gioro clan, was a Bannerman of the Plain Yellow. He began as a bithesi clerk in the Board of Revenue, was posted out as sub-prefect of Zhangjiakou, and rose to Financial Commissioner of Fujian. During Lin Shuangwen's rebellion Wulana oversaw military supplies, shuttling between Hanjiang and Xiamen; when order was restored he received a peacock feather and was made Governor of Henan. In Qianlong 54 he was appointed Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang. Finding the people of Fujian fierce and hard to govern, the Emperor warned Wulana to work closely with Governor Xu Sizeng on restoring order. Wulana put his subordinates to hunting bandits and, over time, had more than a hundred put to death. As many inland residents were crossing to Taiwan, he memorialized asking that official ferry stations be set up at harbors to ease inspection. Travelers to Taiwan were then required to leave from Hanjiang; even boats sailing from Xiamen had to report there for inspection. He asked that this rule be dropped so they could embark directly from Xiamen. Critics argued that the many offshore islands where refugees had settled had become thieves' lairs, and that their dwellings should be destroyed and the inhabitants relocated before the trouble spread. The coastal provinces were consulted. Wulana memorialized: "On the Fujian islands where refugees live scattered, anyone already registered and paying grain taxes should not be covered by this policy." The Emperor ruled that islands not subject to closure under existing rules should remain open to settlement. When residents of Jiashan County in Zhejiang accused county officials of overcharging on grain transport levies, the case was sent to Wulana; he investigated and punished them under the statutes.
28
伍拉納治尚嚴，疏劾金門鎮總兵羅英笈巡洋兵船遇盜不以實報，英笈坐譴； 又論邵武營守備餘朝武等侵餉，營吏黃國材等冒餉，黃岩右營守備葉起發屬兵遇盜不以實報，外委陳學明避盜偽為被創，營兵柯大斌誣告營官，皆傅重比。 五十七年，同安民陳蘇老、晉江民陳滋等為亂，設靝雰會。 「《表氣》雰」字妄造，以代「天地」。 伍拉納率按察使戚蓼生赴泉州捕得蘇老等，誅一百五十八人，戍六十九人。 五十九年，義烏民何世來，宣平民王元、樓德新等為亂，立邪教。 伍拉納率按察使錢受椿赴金華。 浙江巡撫吉慶已捕誅世來、德新，伍拉納覆讞諸脅從，复誅鮑茂山、吳阿成等，還福建至浦城，捕得元，誅之。
Wulana ran a strict administration. He impeached Luo Yingji, garrison commander at Jinmen, for filing false reports when patrol boats met bandits; Yingji was punished; He also convicted Yu Chaowu, garrison commander of Shaowu Camp, and others of embezzling pay; Huang Guocai and other camp clerks of drawing false salaries; Ye Qifa, garrison commander of the Right Battalion at Huangyan, because his men had lied about encounters with bandits; outer deputy Chen Xueming of faking wounds to avoid fighting; and camp soldier Ke Dabing of falsely accusing his officer—all under aggravated penalties. In the fifty-seventh year Chen Sulao of Tong'an, Chen Zi of Jinjiang, and others rebelled and formed the Tian Fen Society. They invented a bogus written form, biaoqi fen, to stand in for the words Heaven and Earth. Wulana took Surveillance Commissioner Qi Liaosheng to Quanzhou, captured Sulao and his followers, executed 158, and banished 69. In the fifty-ninth year He Shilai of Yiwu, Wang Yuan and Lou Dexin of Xuanping, and others rebelled and founded a heterodox sect. Wulana went to Jinhua with Surveillance Commissioner Qian Shouchun. Zhejiang Governor Ji Qing had already captured and executed Shilai and Dexin. Wulana re-tried the coerced followers, put Bao Maoshan, Wu Acheng, and others to death, then returned to Fujian; at Pucheng he captured Yuan and executed him.
29
六十年，台灣盜陳周全為亂，陷彰化。 伍拉納出駐泉州，發兵令署陸路提督烏蘭保、海壇鎮總兵特克什布赴剿，彰化民楊仲舍等擊破周全，亂已定。 是歲，漳、泉被水，飢。 伍拉納至，民閧集乞賑，未以聞。 上促伍拉納赴台灣，累詔詰責，伍拉納自泉州往。 福州將軍魁倫疏言：「伍拉納性急，按察使錢受椿等迎合，治獄多未協。 漳、泉被水，米值昂，民貧，巡撫浦霖等不為之所，多入海為盜。 虎門近在省會，亦有盜舟出沒。」 上為罷伍拉納、浦霖，命兩廣總督覺羅長麟署總督，魁倫署巡撫。
In the sixtieth year the Taiwan bandit Chen Quanzhou rebelled and seized Changhua. Wulana moved his headquarters to Quanzhou, sent troops, and ordered Acting Provincial Infantry Commander Ulanbao and Haitan garrison commander Tekeshibu to suppress the rebels; Yang Zhongshe and others in Changhua routed Quanzhou, and the rebellion was put down. That year Zhangzhou and Quanzhou were flooded, and the people went hungry. When Wulana arrived, crowds of people begged for relief, yet he never reported it to the throne. The Emperor pressed Wulana to go to Taiwan, censuring him again and again in edict after edict; Wulana finally set out from Quanzhou. Fuzhou General Kuilun memorialized: "Wulana is hot-tempered; Surveillance Commissioner Qian Shouchun and others indulge him, and many of his legal judgments are unsound. Zhangzhou and Quanzhou had been flooded; rice prices soared and the people were destitute, yet Governor Pu Lin and others did nothing for them, and many turned to piracy. Humen lies near the provincial capital, yet even there bandit boats were appearing." The Emperor removed Wulana and Pu Lin from office, ordered Liangguang Governor-General Aisin Gioro Changlin to serve as acting governor-general, and Kuilun as acting governor.
30
伍拉納至台灣，劾鹿仔港巡檢硃繼功以喪去官，賊起，即攜眷內渡，請奪官戍新疆。 上諭曰：「伍拉納為總督，台灣賊起，陷城戕官，朕屢旨嚴飭始行，繼功丁憂巡檢，轉責其攜眷內渡，加以遠戍。 伍拉納畏葸遷延，乃欲以此自掩，何其不知恥也！」 伍拉納、浦霖貪縱、婪索諸屬吏，州縣倉庫多虧缺。 伍拉納嘗疏陳清查諸州縣倉庫，虧穀六十四萬有奇、銀三十六萬有奇，限三年責諸主者償納。 至是，魁倫疏論諸州縣倉庫虧缺，伍拉納所奏非實數。 上命伍拉納、浦霖及布政使伊轍布、按察使錢受椿皆奪官，交長麟、魁倫按讞。
When Wulana reached Taiwan, he impeached Luzai Harbor sub-inspector Zhu Jigong, who had left office to mourn a parent's death; when the rebels rose Jigong at once took his family back to the mainland, and Wulana asked that he be stripped of rank and exiled to Xinjiang. The Emperor said: "Wulana was governor-general. When rebels rose in Taiwan, cities fell and officials were slaughtered, and I had to issue repeated stern orders before he would move. Jigong is a sub-inspector in mourning, yet Wulana turns on him for taking his family back across the strait and would send him into distant exile. Wulana was timid and slow to act, and now he would cover himself with this—what shamelessness!" Wulana and Pu Lin were greedy and lax, extorting their subordinates, and granaries in the prefectures and counties showed widespread shortfalls. Wulana had once memorialized on an audit of prefectural and county granaries, reporting grain shortfalls of more than 640,000 and silver shortfalls of more than 360,000 taels, and giving the responsible officials three years to make restitution. By then Kuilun had memorialized on granary shortfalls in the prefectures and counties, arguing that the figures Wulana had reported were not the true totals. The Emperor stripped Wulana, Pu Lin, Financial Commissioner Yizhebu, and Surveillance Commissioner Qian Shouchun of their posts and handed them over to Changlin and Kuilun for investigation and trial.
31
長麟、魁倫勘布政司庫吏周經侵庫帑八萬有奇，具獄辭以上。 上疑長麟等意將歸獄於經，斥其徇隱。 長麟等疏發伍拉納受鹽商賕十五萬，霖亦受二萬，別疏發受椿讞長秦械鬥獄，獄斃至十人，得賕銷案。 籍伍拉納家，得銀四十萬有奇、如意至一百餘柄，上比之元載胡椒八百斛； 籍霖家，得窖藏金七百、銀二十八萬，田舍值六萬有奇，他服物稱是； 逮京師，廷鞫服罪，命立斬。
Changlin and Kuilun investigated Zhou Jing, a clerk in the provincial treasurer's office, for embezzling more than 80,000 taels from the treasury and submitted a complete case report. The Emperor suspected that Changlin and his colleagues meant to pin the whole case on Zhou Jing and rebuked them for shielding the guilty. Changlin and his colleagues then memorialized that Wulana had taken 150,000 taels in bribes from salt merchants and Lin 20,000; in another memorial they exposed that Shouchun, while judging a Chang-Qin brawl case in which ten men died in custody, had taken bribes to suppress the case. An inventory of Wulana's household turned up more than 400,000 taels of silver and more than a hundred ruyi scepters; the Emperor compared the hoard to Yuan Zai's eight hundred piculs of pepper; An inventory of Lin's household found seven hundred taels of buried gold, 280,000 taels of silver, fields and buildings worth more than 60,000, and personal goods to match; They were brought to the capital, tried before the court, confessed, and were ordered executed at once.
32
伊轍布亦逮京師，道死。 受椿監送還福建，夾二次，重笞四十，乃集在省諸官吏處斬； 又以長麟主寬貸，奪官召還，以魁倫代之，遂興大獄，諸州縣虧帑一萬以上皆斬，誅李堂等十人，餘譴黜有差。
Yizhebu was also sent to the capital but died on the way. Shouchun was escorted back to Fujian under guard, put twice to the leg-press and given forty strokes of heavy bamboo, then executed before the assembled provincial officials; Because Changlin had favored leniency, he was stripped of rank and recalled; Kuilun replaced him, and a sweeping prosecution followed—every official with treasury shortfalls above 10,000 taels was executed; Li Tang and nine others were put to death; the rest were punished or dismissed in varying degrees.
33
霖，浙江嘉善人。 乾隆三十一年進士，授戶部主事，再遷郎中。 外授湖北安襄鄖道。 累遷福建巡撫，移湖南，复遷福建。 及得罪，上謂：「伍拉納未嘗學問，或不知潔己奉公之義。 霖以科目進，起自寒素，擢任封疆，乃貪黷無厭，罔顧廉恥，尚得謂有人心者乎？」 霖及伍拉納、伊轍布、受椿諸子皆用王亶望例戍伊犁。 嘉慶四年，赦還。
Lin was a native of Jiashan in Zhejiang. A jinshi of Qianlong 31, he was appointed a secretary in the Board of Revenue and was promoted twice to director. He was posted out as intendant of An-Xiang-Yun Circuit in Hubei. He rose to Governor of Fujian, was transferred to Hunan, and then was transferred back to Fujian. When they were condemned, the Emperor said: "Wulana never had a scholar's training and may not have understood what it means to keep oneself clean and serve the public. Lin entered by the examination route, rose from humble origins, and was elevated to a frontier post—yet he was insatiably corrupt and heedless of integrity and shame. Can such a man still be called human?" The sons of Lin, Wulana, Yizhebu, and Shouchun were all exiled to Ili under the precedent set in the Wang Danwang case. In Jiaqing 4 they were pardoned and allowed to return.
34
論曰：高宗譴諸貪吏，身大辟，家籍沒，僇及於子孫。 凡所連染，窮治不稍貸，可謂嚴矣！ 乃營私骫法，前後相望，豈以執政者尚貪侈，源濁流不能清歟？ 抑以坐苞苴敗者，亦或論才宥罪，執法未嘗無撓歟？ 然觀其所誅殛，要可以鑑矣！
The commentator says: Gaozong punished corrupt officials with the utmost severity—they themselves were executed, their households were confiscated, and disgrace reached their descendants. Everyone implicated was pursued to the end without mercy—truly stern! Yet private gain and bending of the law went on one after another—was it because those in power were still greedy and extravagant, so that when the source is muddy the stream cannot run clear? Or when men fell through bribery, was talent sometimes invoked to win pardon—so that enforcement was not always without compromise? Yet judged by those they executed and ruined, the lesson should be warning enough!