Volume 360 Biographies 147: Si Matao, Wang Bingtao, Ji Cheng Zhi, Kang Jitian, Wu Jing, Xu Duan, Chen Fengxiang, Li Shixu

列傳一百四十七

Biography 147

司馬騊王秉韜嵇承誌康基田吳璥徐端

Si Matao, Wang Bingtao, Ji Chengzhi, Kang Jitian, Wu Jing, and Xu Duan

陳鳳翔黎世序

Chen Fengxiang and Li Shixu

司馬騊，字云皋，江蘇江寧人。乾隆中，大學士高晉為兩江總督，闢佐幕司章奏。習河事，以從九品留工效用，授山陽主簿。累遷淮安同知，仍兼幕職。從晉塞河，屢有功。薩載繼任總督，亦倚之。五十年，奏擢江南河庫道。道庫歲修六十萬，溢額則俟上聞，遇險工，廳員借帑，久輒因緣為弊，騊從容籌補，公私具舉。五十五年，遷江西按察使，在官七年，巡撫簠簋不飭，被劾多所牽連，騊以謹慎獲免。嘉慶元年，遷山西布政使。二年，調山東，兼管河務。是年秋，曹州河溢，命騊偕兩江總督李奉翰、南河總督康基田、前山東巡撫伊江阿同任堵塞。冬，擢河東河道總督。曹工尋合龍。三年春，西壩蟄，革職留任。疏言豫東兩岸堤工卑薄，請擇要增高，以御汛漲。詔以下游不能深通，徒事加堤，斥其不揣本而齊末，曹工之蟄，由於堵築不堅，罰騊等賠修，奪翎頂，所議工事仍允行。九月，睢州河溢，詔免治罪，責速塞。四年正月，工竣，复頂戴，議敘，免其代賠帑銀。尋卒於工次，賜卹。

Si Matao, whose style name was Yungao, came from Jiangning in Jiangsu. In the Qianlong era, when Grand Secretary Gao Jin was Governor-General of the Two Jiangs, he brought Matao onto his staff to handle official documents. He studied river conservancy and was kept on the works at subordinate ninth rank, then made registrar of Shanyang. He rose step by step to subprefect of Huai'an, continuing to serve on the governor's staff at the same time. He followed Gao Jin in river-blocking projects and won credit again and again. When Sacai took over as governor-general, he too came to depend on him. In the fiftieth year of Qianlong, a memorial secured his promotion to Jiangnan River Grain Intendant. The intendant's treasury set aside six hundred thousand taels a year for repairs; any excess had to be reported to the throne. When urgent works arose, bureau staff borrowed from the treasury, and over time this became a standing source of corruption. Matao replenished shortfalls without fuss, so that public business and private accounts alike were kept in order. In the fifty-fifth year he became Judicial Commissioner of Jiangxi. He served seven years while the governor-general's integrity came under scrutiny; many colleagues were dragged into the investigations, but Matao's prudence kept him clear. In the first year of Jiaqing he was moved to Financial Commissioner of Shanxi. In the second year he was posted to Shandong with concurrent responsibility for river works. That autumn, when the Caozhou River overflowed, he was ordered to work with Li Fenghan, Governor-General of the Two Jiangs, Kang Jitian, Governor of the Southern Rivers, and the former Shandong governor Yijiang'a to seal the break. In winter he was raised to Governor of the Eastern River Conservancy. The Caozhou breach was soon sealed. In the spring of the third year the western dam gave way again; he was dismissed from office but left in place to serve. He memorialized that the levees on both banks in eastern Henan were too low and weak, and requested that critical sections be heightened to meet the flood season. The throne replied that the lower course could not be cut deeper and that piling height on the dikes alone showed he had not weighed fundamentals; the Caozhou dam had failed because the closure was poorly built. Matao and the others were ordered to pay for repairs and lost their peacock feathers, but the projects he had proposed were still allowed to proceed. In the ninth month the Suizhou River broke out; the court waived penalties and demanded a swift seal. In the first month of the fourth year the project was complete; his peacock feathers were restored, he was put forward for commendation, and he was released from paying indemnity silver. He soon died at the construction site and was granted posthumous relief.

王秉韜，字含谿，漢軍鑲紅旗人。由舉人授陝西三原知縣，累遷河南光州直隸州知州。緣事降浙江按察司經歷，改雲南知縣。累遷山西保德知州，有政聲。乾隆五十五年，擢安徽潁州知府，因讞獄遲延罷職，詔以原官發江蘇，補淮安。嘉慶二年，復調潁州。會教匪犯河南，去潁州甚近。秉韜慨然曰：「同為守土臣，豈可以畛域遺害乎？」與壽春鎮總兵定柱團結鄉勇數千，勵以忠義，助糧餉，戰於境上，破賊走之。時大學士硃珪為安徽巡撫，器其才。未幾，擢廣西左江道。復以在潁州失察逸犯，罣議，鐫級去官，留治江南豐、碭河工。尋署廬鳳道。洎仁宗親政，硃珪薦之，擢奉天府尹，遷河南布政使。五年，擢河東河道總督。

Wang Bingtao, whose style name was Hanxi, belonged to the Bordered Red Banner of the Han Army. A juren degree led to his appointment as magistrate of Sanyuan in Shaanxi; he was later promoted step by step to magistrate of Guangzhou Direct Prefecture in Henan. After an incident he was demoted to a clerkship in the Zhejiang Surveillance Commission, then transferred to a county post in Yunnan. Further promotions brought him to prefect of Baode in Shanxi, where he earned a name for effective administration. In Qianlong fifty-five he became prefect of Yingzhou in Anhui. A delayed trial cost him his post, but the court ordered him to Jiangsu at the same rank, and he filled the Huai'an prefecture. In Jiaqing two he was moved back to Yingzhou. Just then teaching-sect rebels struck Henan, and Yingzhou was only a short distance away. Bingtao declared with feeling: "We are all guardians of the realm—how can we let a border keep us from stopping disaster next door?" With Ding Zhu, commander of the Shouchun garrison, he rallied several thousand militia, stirred them with talk of loyalty and duty, helped pay their grain and supplies, met the bandits on the frontier, and drove them off in defeat. Grand Secretary Zhu Gui was then Governor of Anhui and recognized his ability. Soon he was promoted to Left River Circuit Intendant in Guangxi. He was censured again for letting a fugitive slip through his hands at Yingzhou, lost several ranks and his post, and was kept on to oversee the Feng and Dang river works in Jiangnan. He soon acted as Lu-Feng Circuit Intendant. After the Jiaqing Emperor began to rule in person, Zhu Gui recommended him; he became Prefect of Shuntian, then Financial Commissioner of Henan. In the fifth year he was made Governor of the Eastern River Conservancy.

秉韜老於吏事，治河主節費，堤埽單薄者擇要修築，不以不急之工擾民。河北道羅正墀信用劣幕舞弊，曹考通判徐鼐張皇糜費，並劾治之。薪料如額採買，河員濫報輒駮斥，使多積土以備異漲，於是浮冒者不便其所為，言官遽論劾，詔慰勉，戒勿偏於節省。七年，防汛，卒於工次。

Experienced in administration, Bingtao ran the rivers on a tight budget: where levees and revetments were thin, he repaired only what mattered and refused to burden the people with work that could wait. Luo Zhengchi of the Hebei Circuit relied on a crooked private secretary who cheated the accounts; Xu Tai, the Caozhou judge, wildly inflated costs—Bingtao had both prosecuted and punished. He purchased timber and supplies at the proper quota; inflated reports from river officers were regularly struck down, and he piled up earth against extraordinary rises. Officials who lived on padding the books resented him; memorialists attacked him at once. The throne sent words of encouragement but cautioned him not to lean too far toward saving money. In the seventh year, during flood prevention, he died on the works.

秉韜性方正，不沽名。時疆吏中長麟、汪志伊並以廉著，秉韜不愜其為人，嘗曰：「長三，汪六皆名過其實，奚足貴？」繼其任者為嵇承志。

By nature Bingtao was square-dealing and never traded on his name. Chang Lin and Wang Zhiyi were then famed as honest frontier governors, but Bingtao disapproved of them and once remarked: "Chang rates a three and Wang a six—both names outrun the men. What is there to prize?" Ji Chengzhi succeeded him in the post.

承志，大學士璜子。由舉人官內閣中書，累遷長蘆鹽運使。乾隆五十九年，天津海河溢，築堤守禦。高宗以承志無守土責，能盡力，特詔嘉之。尋病歸。嘉慶六年，從侍郎那彥寶治永定河，复授長蘆鹽運使。七年，署河東河道總督。承志年已老，上特以其家世習河事，故任之。八年，河決封丘衡家樓，次年，塞決工竣。召還京，授大理寺少卿。十年，遷順天府尹。尋卒。

Cheng Zhi was the son of Grand Secretary Huang. Starting as a juren in the Grand Secretariat drafting office, he rose step by step to Changlu Salt Transport Commissioner. In Qianlong fifty-nine the Hai River at Tianjin burst its banks; he threw up dikes to hold the flood. The Gaozong Emperor saw that Chengzhi bore no territorial charge yet gave his full strength, and issued a special edict of commendation. He soon went home on sick leave. In Jiaqing six he assisted Vice Minister Nayenbao on the Yongding River and was again made Changlu Salt Transport Commissioner. In the seventh year he acted as Governor of the Eastern River Conservancy. Cheng Zhi was by then elderly; the court gave him the post chiefly because his household had handled river works for generations. In the eighth year the river broke through at Hengjialou in Fengqiu; the following year the closure was complete. Recalled to the capital, he was made Vice Minister of the Court of Revision. In the tenth year he became Prefect of Shuntian. He died not long after.

康基田，字茂園，山西興縣人。乾隆二十二年進士，授江蘇新陽知縣，調昭文。為令幾十年，遷廣東潮州通判。以獲盜功，晉秩同知。累遷河南河北道，調江南淮徐道，治河有聲。五十二年，擢江蘇按察使。命每年大汛赴淮、徐襄河務。六月，河南睢州河溢，基田奉檄馳往堵築。次年，遷江寧布政使，兼河務如故。五十四年，署江南河道總督，尋回任。六月，基田防汛睢南，值周家樓河溢，上游魏家莊大埽翻陷，基田壓焉，援救得生。詔嘉其奮勉，特加恩賚。五十五年，護理安徽巡撫。以高郵糧胥偽造印串，巡撫閔鶚元被嚴譴，褫基田頂戴。復以陳奏不實，革職逮問，遣戍伊犁。尋許贖罪，以南河同知用。五十六年，仍授淮徐道。五十九年，力守豐汛曲家莊堤，特詔褒獎。擢江蘇按察使，調山東，仍兼黃、運兩河事。

Kang Jitian, style name Maoyuan, came from Xing County in Shanxi. He took his jinshi in Qianlong twenty-two, became magistrate of Xinyang in Jiangsu, and was moved to Zhaowen. He served as magistrate for nearly ten years, then was posted as subprefect of Chaozhou in Guangdong. Capturing bandits won him promotion to subprefect rank. Promotions took him to Hebei Circuit in Henan and then Huai-Xu Circuit in Jiangnan, where his river work became well known. In the fifty-second year he became Judicial Commissioner of Jiangsu. Each great flood season he was ordered to assist river works on the Huai and Xu. In the sixth month the Suizhou River in Henan broke; Jitian raced there under orders to seal it. The following year he became Financial Commissioner of Jiangning while keeping his river duties. In the fifty-fourth year he briefly served as Governor of the Southern River Conservancy, then resumed his former office. In the sixth month, while Jitian was fighting floods south of Suizhou, the Zhoujialou River burst; upstream the great revetment at Weijiazhuang overturned and trapped him, yet rescuers pulled him out alive. The court praised his exertions and granted him special rewards. In the fifty-fifth year he acted as Governor of Anhui. When Gaoyou grain clerks forged official tallies, Governor Min Eryuan was harshly punished and Jitian lost his peacock feathers. He was further dismissed and imprisoned for misreporting, then exiled to Yili. He was soon permitted to redeem his sentence and was used as Southern Rivers subprefect. In the fifty-sixth year he returned to Huai-Xu Circuit. In the fifty-ninth year he held the Qujiazhuang levee through the Feng flood season and won a special commendation. He became Judicial Commissioner of Jiangsu, was moved to Shandong, and still oversaw both the Yellow River and the Grand Canal.

嘉慶元年，南河豐汛河溢，基田赴工襄治，遷布政使。命回山東，疏消漫水，撫卹災民，基田遂往來其間。次年春，豐工竣，賜花翎。擢江蘇巡撫。秋，河溢碭山楊家壩，命馳視。山東曹縣河亦溢，復命往襄同堵築。授河東河道總督，尋調南河。三年，曹工合而復蟄，部議革職，詔寬免。疏言：「口門深逾十丈，擬就二壩前河勢灣處開引河，別築一壩，即以舊西壩改作挑水壩，俟秋後興工。」詔責其延玩，褫翎頂。尋命專任下游挑河事。九月，河南睢州河复溢，水入渦、濉諸河，正河斷流。大工旋合。次年春，睢工亦竣，河歸故道，引河通暢，复翎頂。時有條奏治海口及復舊制混江龍者，基田疏言：「治河之法，首在束水攻沙。自曹工漫溢，溜或旁趨，遂致正河淤墊。因上決而下淤，非先淤而後決。今睢工、曹工既竣，連年黃水漫衍，所在停沙，比至清江會淮，已成清水。海口刷滌寬三百數十丈，毋庸疏濬。混江龍助水之力甚微，不若束水攻沙、以水治水之力大而功倍。」仁宗嘉納之。

In Jiaqing one the Feng-season river on the Southern Rivers broke; Jitian hurried to the site to help and was promoted to Financial Commissioner. Ordered back to Shandong to drain standing water and succor the afflicted, he shuttled between the two provinces. The next spring the Feng project was done and he received the peacock feather. He was made Governor of Jiangsu. That autumn the river broke at Yangjiaba in Dangshan; he was told to go at once. The Caoxian River in Shandong flooded as well; he was again sent to help seal the break. He became Governor of the Eastern River Conservancy, then was shifted to the Southern Rivers. In the third year the Caozhou closure held and then failed; the Board urged dismissal, but the throne was merciful. He memorialized: "The breach mouth is now more than ten zhang deep. We propose to cut a diversion where the current bends before the second dam, erect a new dam, and turn the old western dam into a deflector—work to start after autumn." The court blamed his procrastination and took his peacock feathers. He was soon ordered to focus only on downstream dredging. In the ninth month the Suizhou River broke again; water poured into the Wo and Sui, and the main stream went dry. The great closure was finished soon after. Next spring the Suizhou project too was complete: the river returned to its old bed, the diversion flowed freely, and his feathers were given back. Memorials then urged dredging the estuary and restoring the old Mixed River Dragon; Jitian replied: "River control begins with forcing the current to scour its own silt. After the Caozhou breach spread, currents often veered aside and the main channel filled in. Silt accumulated because breaks opened upstream—not breaks because silt had piled up first. With Suizhou and Caozhou done, years of Yellow River floods had spread and dropped silt wherever they lingered; by Qingjiang, where it joins the Huai, the water had cleared. The mouth had scoured itself wider than three hundred zhang and required no digging. The Mixed River Dragon adds little force to the stream; binding the current to scour silt—governing water with water—does far more with far less." The Jiaqing Emperor accepted his reasoning.

秋，河溢邵家壩。十二月，堵合未旬日，壩复蟄，滲水，責基田賠帑。五年正月，壩工失火，積料盡焚，革職，留工效力。基田馭下素嚴，督率將卒守堤，動以軍法從事，稽延者杖枷不貸，人多怨之。又官吏積弊懼揭，陰縱火以掩其跡。帝亦知基田性剛守潔，惟責其苛細，仍命隨辦要工，欲復用之。及邵家壩工竣，以知州用，補江蘇太倉直隸州。逾年，擢廣東布政使，調江西，又調江寧。十一年，因貴州鉛船遲滯，降調，授戶部郎中。

That autumn the river broke at Shaojiaba. In the twelfth month the seal held less than ten days before the dam failed and seeped; Jitian was fined treasury silver. In the fifth year, first month, fire burned all stockpiled materials; he was dismissed but left to labor on the project. Jitian ran a tight ship: he drove officers and troops onto the levees and enforced military discipline without mercy—delays brought the rod or the cangue—and many bore him a grudge. Officials steeped in old corruption feared being exposed and quietly set fires to hide what they had done. The Emperor knew Jitian was rigid and honest, faulted only his severity, and still set him on critical projects with an eye to bringing him back. After Shaojiaba was closed he was restored at prefect rank and posted to Taicang Direct Prefecture in Jiangsu. A year later he became Financial Commissioner of Guangdong, then Jiangxi, then Jiangning. In the eleventh year delays in Guizhou lead convoys brought a demotion; he was made a director in the Ministry of Revenue.

十三年，從協辦大學士長麟、戴衢亨察視南河，基田請修復天然閘迤東十八里屯二石閘，靳輔所建也，足以減黃濟運，且山石夾峙，無奪溜衝決之患，據以入告。帝嘉其留心河務，加道銜，賜花翎。尋予太僕寺少卿職銜，稽核南河要工錢糧。十六年，以年逾八旬，乞休，允之，命來京就養，以示優恤。後議改建山盱五壩，特命與議。基田疏陳：「舊制盡善，不宜輕改。今仁、義、禮三壩石底損壞，跌成深塘，不得已為變通之計。請將仁、義二壩先改其一，俟大汛果見順利，再議添所建。擬禮壩先築草壩，非湖水大漲，不可輕放。」奏入，報聞。十八年，鄉舉重逢，賜三品卿銜，與鹿鳴宴。尋卒。

In the thirteenth year he joined Associate Grand Secretaries Chang Lin and Dai Yuheng on an inspection of the Southern Rivers. Jitian urged restoring the twin stone gates at Shibalicun east of the Natural Sluice—Jin Fu's work—which could bleed off Yellow River flow for the grain transport and sat between rock walls safe from rogue currents; he laid this out in a memorial. The throne commended his grasp of river work, gave him circuit-intendant rank, and awarded the peacock feather. He soon received the nominal title of Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud and audited money and grain for major Southern River projects. In the sixteenth year, past eighty, he asked to retire. The court agreed and summoned him to the capital for maintenance—a mark of special regard. When plans arose to rebuild the five Shanxu dams, he was specially called in to advise. Jitian wrote: "The old arrangement was sound and ought not be changed lightly. Today the stone beds of the Ren, Yi, and Li dams are broken and have scooped out deep pits—only then is a stopgap justified. Let us alter one of the Ren and Yi dams first; if the high-water season goes well, we can decide what more to build. For the Li dam I would start with a grass barrier and open it only when the lake truly surges." The memorial went in and was acknowledged. In the eighteenth year, at the jubilee of his jinshi year, he received third-rank minister rank and joined the Lu-Ming feast. He died not long after.

吳璥，字式如，浙江錢塘人，吏部侍郎嗣爵子。乾隆四十三年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。大考擢侍講學士，典陝西鄉試。五十四年，督安徽學政。召見，高宗因其父曾為總河，詢以河務，所對稱旨，即日授河南開歸陳許道。累遷布政使。五十九年，巡撫出視賑，璥充鄉試監臨，聞河水暴漲，即出闈馳防，帝嘉之。六十年，署巡撫。

Wu Jing, style name Shiru, came from Qiantang in Zhejiang; his father was Vice Minister of Personnel Sijue. He took his jinshi in Qianlong forty-three, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and became a compiler. A strong showing in the palace exam made him an expositor of the Hanlin, and he ran the Shaanxi provincial examinations. In the fifty-fourth year he was Education Commissioner of Anhui. At court Gaozong, knowing his father had headed river works, tested him on hydraulics. His answers satisfied the Emperor, and the same day he received the Kaifeng Circuit in Henan. He rose step by step to Financial Commissioner. In the fifty-ninth year, with the governor away on famine duty, Jing supervised the provincial exams. Hearing the river had surged, he left the hall immediately for the levees, and the Emperor commended him. In the sixtieth year he acted as governor.

嘉慶二年，楚匪齊王氏犯河南，擊走之，复剿息縣匪，賜花翎。母憂留任。四年，署河東河道總督，尋實授。請增河工料價，歸地糧攤徵，詔斥其病民，革職留任。五年，調南河，堵合邵家壩漫口，加太子少保。八年秋，河決衡家樓，命豫籌來年漕運，請疏邳州、宿遷諸閘，於宿遷、桃源交界築束水草壩，濬淤淺，依議行。又言徐州一帶河水寬深而未消落，乃海口壅塞所致，詔相度治之。尋疏陳：「雲梯關海口暗灘，尚非全被阻遏。請於黃泥嘴開引河，並挑吉家浦、於家港、倪家灘、宋家尖諸灘。」允之。九年秋，洪湖水漲未消，請緩築仁、智兩壩，以保堰、盱堤工。時東河衡工甫合，清江浦河口水淺阻糧船，上謂清水力弱，由啟放仁、智等壩所致，命侍郎姜晟往會籌蓄黃濟運。璥與合疏請堵二壩及惠濟閘之鉗口壩，使湖水全力東注，刷通河口，並啟李工口門，減掣黃水，從之。上終以璥多病，治河不力，雖宥其罪，命解職。十年，授兵部侍郎，調倉場侍郎。

In Jiaqing two, Chu rebels under Qi Wangshi struck Henan; he beat them back, then crushed bandits at Xixian and won the peacock feather. When his mother died he was kept in office despite mourning. In the fourth year he acted as Eastern River governor, then received the full appointment. He proposed higher material prices charged to the land tax; the throne called this a burden on the people, stripped his rank, and left him in place. In the fifth year he moved to the Southern Rivers, sealed Shaojiaba, and became Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Autumn of the eighth year brought a break at Hengjialou. Ordered to prepare the next grain fleet, he sought dredging at Pizhou and Suqian, a binding grass dam on the Suqian-Taoyuan line, and shoal clearance—the court agreed. He argued that around Xuzhou the river stayed wide and deep because the estuary was choked, and the court ordered a survey. He soon wrote: "Hidden bars at the Yuntiguan mouth do not yet fully block the current. Cut a diversion at Huangnizui and dredge Jijiapu, Yujiagang, Nijiatan, and Songjiajian." The court approved. In the ninth-year autumn Hongze had not fallen; he asked to postpone the Ren and Zhi dams to protect the Yan and Xu levees. Hengjialou had just been sealed, yet Qingjiangpu was too shallow for grain boats. The court blamed weak clear water on opening the Ren and Zhi dams and sent Vice Minister Jiang Sheng to plan storing Yellow River flow for transport. Jing and Jiang jointly urged blocking the two dams and the Huiji pinch dam so lake water could scour the mouth, and opening the Li breach to bleed Yellow River water—the plan was adopted. In the end the Emperor judged Jing too sick and too weak on the rivers; though forgiven, he was told to step down. In the tenth year he became Vice Minister of War, then Vice Minister of Grain Transport.

十一年，复授河東河道總督。因料物例價不敷，請依南河按時價折銷，允之。復請歲料幫價歸地糧攤徵，被嚴斥，革職留任。尋又以堤堰工需併入衡工善後題銷，上切責之。十三年，召回京，授刑部尚書。命偕侍郎托津赴江蘇鞫獄，並勘議海口改道，請仍復故道，接築雲梯關外大堤，從之。复授江南河道總督。十四年，疏陳：「海口應濬，而大堤不堅，旁洩必淤；蓄清為要，而堤壩不復，遇漲必潰。今閘壩無減黃之路，五壩無節宣之方，皆宜急為救治。」詔韙之，令盡心經理。是冬，以海口挑復正河，費用浩繁，不及於次年桃汛前舉工，請權宜仍濬北潮河以通去路。十五年春，偕兩江總督松筠合疏請修復正河，詔允行；而斥璥無定見，前後矛盾，責其認真督治，不得以事由松筠主持為推諉之地。尋因病乞假，詔解職，俟病痊以六部尚書用。

In the eleventh year he returned as Eastern River governor. Standard prices could not cover materials; he sought Southern Rivers-style write-offs at market rates, and the court agreed. He again wanted supplemental costs on the land tax, was sharply rebuked, and lost rank while staying on the job. He then tried to charge levee work to Hengjialou cleanup accounts and drew a sharp rebuke. In the thirteenth year he was recalled and made Minister of Punishments. With Vice Minister Tuojin he was sent to Jiangsu for trials and to study shifting the estuary; he urged the old course and extending the great dike beyond Yuntiguan—the court agreed. He was again made Southern River governor. In the fourteenth year he wrote: "The mouth must be dredged, yet a weak great dike will leak and silt up again; holding clear water matters, but without restored levees and dams every flood will burst through; today the gates cannot bleed the Yellow River and the five dams cannot regulate flow—all demand urgent repair." The throne endorsed his view and told him to give the work his full care. That winter, restoring the main channel through the mouth would cost too much to finish before the spring flood; he asked to reopen the Beichao River as a temporary outlet. In the fifteenth-year spring he and Governor-General Songyun jointly urged restoring the main channel, and the court approved; yet rebuked Jing for wavering and contradiction, telling him to supervise in earnest and not hide behind Songyun. He soon fell ill and asked leave; the court removed him but promised a Six Ministries post when he recovered.

璥既去任，松筠疏論河工積弊，謂璥與徐端治理失宜，用人不當，墊款九十餘萬，恐有冒捏。又兩淮鹽政阿克當阿劾揚河通判繆元淳浮冒工款，稱：「璥路過揚州，與言廳員營弁不肖者多，往往虛報工程，且有無工借支。前在任六七年，用帑一千餘萬，今此數年，竟至三四千萬。」詔斥璥知而不奏，命尚書托津等往南河按之，劾璥失察誤工；又濬淮北鹽河，未經奏陳，濬後復淤，詔切責，降四級調用，與徐端分賠鹽河工款，命璥赴南河襄辦王營減壩及李家樓漫口。十七年，補光祿寺卿，累遷吏部侍郎。

After Jing left, Songyun attacked river corruption, blaming Jing and Xu Duan for bad management, bad hires, and more than nine hundred thousand taels in advances that might be fictitious. Salt commissioner Akedanga impeached Yangzhou vice prefect Miao Yuanchun for inflated projects, noting: "When Jing passed Yangzhou he said many clerks and officers were crooked, filed false works, and sometimes took advances for nothing. In six or seven years he spent over ten million taels; in only a few years since, the figure has hit thirty or forty million." The throne rebuked Jing for silence and sent Minister Tuojin south; Jing was faulted for lax oversight and botched projects; He had dredged the Huai-Bei salt canal without reporting; it silted shut again. Rebuked and demoted four grades, he and Xu Duan were ordered to share salt-canal costs while Jing assisted on the Wangying reduction dam and Lijialou breach. In the seventeenth year he became Director of Imperial Entertainments and rose to Vice Minister of Personnel.

十八年，睢州河溢，命赴南河察勘湖河。十九年，授河東河道總督，督治睢工。次年，遷兵部尚書，工竣回京，歷刑部、吏部，協辦大學士。上以璥練習河務，無歲不奉使出勘河。二十一年，協防東河秋汛。二十二年，勘睢工及山東運河，南河蕭南民堰，清江浦禦黃、束清諸壩。二十三年，築沁河漫口。二十四年，築河南蘭陽、儀封及武涉馬營壩決口。二十五年，勘南河束清、禦黃諸壩及洩水事宜。其間再署河南巡撫，一署河東河道總督。道光元年，以病免。二年，因侍郎那彥寶治河不職降黜，追論璥與同罪，雖已致仕家居，褫其翎頂。尋卒。

In the eighteenth year the Suizhou River broke; he was sent south to survey lakes and rivers. In the nineteenth year he became Eastern River governor to oversee Suizhou. The next year he became Minister of War; when the project ended he returned, served in Punishments and Personnel, and became Associate Grand Secretary. Knowing Jing's river expertise, the Emperor dispatched him almost yearly to inspect waterways. In the twenty-first year he helped with autumn flood work on the Eastern River. In the twenty-second year he inspected Suizhou, the Shandong canal, the Minyan dike on the Southern Rivers, and Qingjiangpu's Yellow-control and Shuqing dams. In the twenty-third year he sealed the Qin River breach. In the twenty-fourth year he closed breaks at Lanyang and Yifeng in Henan and at Maying in Wu-She. In the twenty-fifth year he reviewed the Shuqing and Yellow-control dams and flood-release plans on the Southern Rivers. Between times he twice acted as Henan governor and once as Eastern River governor. In Daoguang one he retired for illness. In Daoguang two, Nayenbao's demotion for river failure brought a retroactive judgment against Jing; though retired, he lost his peacock feathers. He died not long after.

徐端，字肇之，浙江德清人。父振甲，官江蘇清河知縣。端少隨任，習於河事。入貲為通判。乾隆中，河決青龍岡。振甲知涉縣，分挑引河，端佐役，大學士阿桂督工，見而器之，留東河任用，授蘭儀通判。尋升缺為同知，調睢寧，又調開封下南河。

Xu Duan, style name Zhaozhi, came from Deqing in Zhejiang. His father Zhenjia had been magistrate of Qinghe in Jiangsu. Duan grew up on his father's postings and learned river work early. He bought his way into a subprefect post. Under Qianlong the river broke at Qinglonggang. Zhenjia, as magistrate of She County, oversaw a diversion; Duan helped on site. Grand Secretary Agui, directing the work, took notice, kept him on the Eastern River, and made him subprefect of Lanyi. He soon rose from acting subprefect to Suining, then to the Lower Southern River at Kaifeng.

嘉慶三年，署山東沂曹道。睢州河決，端預築曹州堤，得無害。四年，擢江西饒州知府，未之任，調江蘇淮安。七年，擢淮徐道，丁父憂，與假治喪，仍回任。九年，加三品頂戴，護理東河河道總督。時衡家樓甫塞決，詔以前官王秉韜惜費，嵇承志年衰，修防多疏，責端通籌全河為未雨綢繆之計。端疏陳臨河埽工固緊要，無工之地尤須慎防，仁宗韙之。冬，清口水淺阻漕船，端偕尚書姜晟等往視，請展引河，啟祥符五瑞壩，分河水入洪湖助清敵黃，清口乃通。尋授江南河道總督。十年，請疏治雲梯關沙淤，培築桃源以下堤工；又請移建河口束清壩於迤南湖水匯出之處，以資節制；挑清壩外築束清東壩，對岸張家莊增築西壩，留口門二十丈，視湖水大小為束展：詔允行。秋，築義壩。時命侍郎戴均元會籌蓄黃濟運，端與合疏請濬王營減壩以下鹽河，遇盛漲，相機啟放，庶黃減淮強，湖水暢出，堰工亦免著重，從之。

In Jiaqing three he acted as Yicao intendant in Shandong. When Suizhou broke, Duan had already strengthened the Caozhou levee and kept damage at bay. In the fourth year he was named prefect of Raozhou in Jiangxi but was shifted to Huai'an in Jiangsu before taking office. In the seventh year he became Huai-Xu intendant; when his father died he mourned but was allowed back afterward. In the ninth year he received third-rank peacock feathers and acted as Eastern River governor. Hengjialou had just closed. The court said Wang Bingtao had scrimped, Ji Chengzhi had aged, and upkeep had slipped, and told Duan to plan the whole river ahead of disaster. Duan wrote that revetments on the channel were critical, but empty stretches needed even more watchfulness; the Emperor agreed. That winter Qingkou shoaled and blocked grain boats. With Jiang Sheng and others he inspected, urged a longer diversion, opening the Xiangfu Wurui dam to feed Hongze and stiffen clear water against the Yellow River—and Qingkou opened. He soon became Southern River governor. In the tenth year he sought dredging at Yuntiguan and levees below Taoyuan; he also proposed moving the Shuqing dam south to the lake outfall for better control; dredge beyond the Qing barrier, build an eastern Shuqing dam, add a western dam at Zhangjiazhuang, and leave a twenty-zhang opening sized to the lake—approved. That autumn he built the Yi dam. Vice Minister Dai Junyuan was then planning Yellow River storage for transport. Duan joined him to dredge the salt canal below Wangying and open it in high floods so the Yellow River eased, the Huai strengthened, the lake drained, and the dams took less strain—the court agreed.

十一年，洪湖異漲，高堰賴新築子堰抵禦，不為害。俄黃水並漲，決鹽河民堰，運河東岸荷花塘亦決。以功過相抵，免議。舊制，南河設正副總河，後裁其副；至是授戴均元為河道總督，端副之。秋，河決周家樓，上游郭家房堤蟄，命端專治郭家房堵口，四閱月工竣。時黃水由減壩六塘河入海，正河斷流，群議改道，上頒示御製黃河改道記，命端視察海口。尋以六塘河下游水勢散漫，難施工作，复頒示御製治舊河記，命端專駐減壩督工。十二年春，工竣，河循故道，加太子少保。秋，海潮上漾，河由陳家浦旁溢入射陽湖歸海，請於黃泥嘴建壩，擇要疏淤，俾仍故道。

In the eleventh year Hongze surged abnormally; a new child weir at Gaoyan held and spared the main works. Then the Yellow River rose together with it; the salt canal Minyan dike failed, and the lotus pond on the canal's east bank broke as well. Credit and blame cancelled out, and no penalty followed. Formerly the Southern Rivers had principal and deputy directors-general; the deputy post was later cut; Dai Junyuan was now made river director-general, with Duan as his deputy. That autumn the river broke at Zhoujialou and the Guojiafang levee failed upstream. Duan was told to seal Guojiafang alone; four months later the job was done. Yellow River water then reached the sea through the reduction dam and Liutang River while the main bed went dry. Debate turned to shifting the course; the Emperor issued his essay on changing the Yellow River and ordered Duan to inspect the mouth. Soon the Liutang lower course proved too scattered to work. The Emperor reissued his essay on the old river and told Duan to stay at the reduction dam and supervise. In the twelfth-year spring the project finished and the river returned to its old bed; he became Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Autumn tides pushed the river aside at Chenjiapu into Sheyang Lake to the sea. He proposed a dam at Huangnizui and selective dredging to restore the old route.

十三年，署正總河。先是端屢言河淤由於海口流緩，宜接築雲梯關外長堤，束水攻沙，未及舉。至是兩江總督鐵保疏申前議，並請培高堰土坡，修補智、禮二壩，以備湖漲；复毛城鋪石堤、王營減壩，以節宣黃水：端贊其議。命協辦大學士長麟、戴衢亨察視，惟輟毛城鋪壩工，改建徐州十八里屯雙閘，餘依原議行。夏，湖水漲，端啟智、信二壩，不敷宣洩，壞磚工百餘丈，褫翎頂，降三級留任。尋堵合，復之。時黃水由馬港口分流，經灌河口歸海，命尚書吳璥、侍郎托津會勘，以荷花塘壩工垂成復蟄，降端為副總河。十五年，复授河道總督，裁副總河。端始終主復舊海口堵馬港，命尚書馬慧裕會同督治。兩江總督松筠劾端於河流逢灣取直，以致停淤，上不直其奏，端疏辨，詔松筠無預河務，責端與慧裕速施工，勿游移。尋以洪湖風汛，壞高堰、山盱兩廳工甚鉅，革職留任。松筠复密陳端祗知工程，不曉機宜，糜帑千萬，迄無成功，且恐有浮冒之弊。詔斥端不胜河督之任，革職留工，專任堵築義壩。十六年，命以通判用，復命治李家樓引河。十七年，工甫竣，病卒。

In the thirteenth year he acted as principal director-general. Duan had long argued that silting came from a sluggish mouth and urged a long levee beyond Yuntiguan to confine the current and scour silt, but the work had not started. Governor-General Tiebao now revived the plan and asked to heighten the Gaoyan slope and repair the Zhi and Li dams against lake surges; restore the Maocheng stone levee and Wangying reduction dam to regulate Yellow River flow—Duan backed it. Chang Lin and Dai Yuheng were sent to inspect. Only the Maocheng dam was dropped in favor of twin gates at Xuzhou Shibalicun; the rest went ahead. That summer he opened the Zhi and Xin dams, but release was inadequate and over a hundred zhang of brickwork failed. He lost his feathers, was demoted three ranks, and stayed on. The break was soon sealed and his rank restored. Yellow River water then split at Magang and exited through Guanhekou. Ministers Wu Jing and Tuojin surveyed together; when the lotus-pond dam nearly held and failed again, Duan was demoted to deputy director-general. In the fifteenth year he returned as director-general and the deputy post was cut. Duan kept pressing the old mouth and blocking Magang; Minister Ma Huiyu was ordered to join him. Songyun accused Duan of cutting bends straight and causing silt. The court sided with Duan; Songyun was told to stay out of river affairs while Duan and Huiyu were ordered to push the work without delay. A Hongze wind flood then wrecked major Gaoyan and Shanxu projects; he lost rank but remained on the job. Songyun secretly wrote again that Duan knew engineering but not policy, had spent ten million taels without success, and might be padding accounts. The court said Duan was unfit to head the rivers, stripped his rank, kept him on site, and limited him to closing the Yi dam. In the sixteenth year he was reduced to subprefect use and again put on the Lijialou diversion. In the seventeenth year the work had just finished when illness killed him.

端治南河七年，熟諳工作。葦柳積堤，一過測其多少。與夫役同勞苦，廉不妄取。河工積弊，端知之，憚於輕發，欲入覲面陳而終不得，以至於敗。繼之者為陳鳳翔，河事遂益敝。

For seven years Duan ran the Southern Rivers and knew the work inside out. Every reed and willow load on the levees he measured himself. He labored beside the workers, took nothing that was not his due, and stayed clean. He knew the river's entrenched abuses yet hesitated to expose them, hoping to plead in person at court but never getting the chance—and so he failed. Chen Fengxiang followed him, and the rivers slid further into decay.

陳鳳翔，字竹香，江西崇仁人。謄錄，議敘授縣丞，發直隸河工，累遷永定河道。嘉慶六年，畿輔大水，河決者四，鳳翔從侍郎那彥寶塞決，為仁宗所知。逾年，丁父憂，賜金治喪。後復授永定河道。

Chen Fengxiang, style name Zhuxiang, came from Chongren in Jiangxi. A transcription clerk, he became assistant magistrate on Zhili river works and rose to Yongding River intendant. In Jiaqing six the capital region flooded and four rivers broke. Fengxiang helped Nayenbao seal them and caught the Emperor's eye. A year later his father died and the court granted funeral silver. He later returned to the Yongding River intendant post.

十四年，擢河東河道總督，逾年，調南河。時南河敝壞已久，河湖受病日深，詔以蓄清敵黃為急務，其要在修復高堰之堤，責鳳翔剋期程工，尤以藉黃濟運為戒。十六年，疏陳急治河口及運河各工，高堰二堤亦次第興辦。尋偕兩江總督勒保奏報堵合禦黃、鉗口兩壩，疏末微言：「海口北岸無人煙之地，面面皆水，俟秋間水落，相機辦理。」上以上年堵築馬港，兩岸皆新堤，北岸地勢尤高，明是新決諱飾，責令據實奏聞。適王營減壩土堤又決，詔切責，革職留任。尋奏：「王營減壩旁注，由海口逼緊，水無他路，致有漫溢。請俟水落，修築減壩海口，但保南岸，勿築北岸，以免水逼。」援引高宗諭旨雲梯關外勿與水爭地，詔以「從前瀕海沙灘無居民，今則馬港口外現有村落，非昔可比。且水勢散漫，河緩沙停，弊不勝言。又鳳翔等所繪海口圖無村落地名，與十三年吳璥所呈圖說不同，河形曲直亦異。」斥鳳翔意存朦混，恃才妄作：「前稱雲梯關外溜勢暢達，未挑處刷深至十餘丈，可見海口非高仰；鳳翔既未身歷其境，今因北岸漫溢，束手無策，反言從前挑築皆屬非計，以相抵塞。」特簡百齡為兩江總督，與鳳翔同勘海口。鳳翔謂海口不能暢，下壅故上潰，諉為淮海道黎世序所言；而世序實謂下壅在倪家灘新堤上下，非在海口。及百齡至，親勘海口深通，惟中段涸成平陸，乃去歲挑河積土河灘，春水漫刷，仍歸河內。又攔潮壩放水時，壩根起除未淨，阻水停淤，世序屢請籌辦，鳳翔視為緩圖，詔斥因循貽誤。會上游綿拐山、李家樓兩處漫口，革職留任。

In the fourteenth year he became Eastern River governor; a year later he moved to the Southern Rivers. The Southern Rivers were already rotten and the lakes and channels worsening daily. The court made storing clear water against the Yellow River urgent—above all the Gaoyan levees—with a deadline for Fengxiang and a warning not to borrow Yellow River water for transport. In the sixteenth year he urged urgent estuary and canal work, and Gaoyan's twin levees were started in sequence. He and Governor-General Lebao soon reported the Yellow-control and pinch dams sealed, adding mildly that the north bank was uninhabited and awash, to be handled after autumn low water. The court recalled last year's Magang closure with new dikes on both banks—the north higher than before—and suspected a fresh break being hidden, demanding the truth. Then the Wangying reduction earthen dike failed again. He was sharply rebuked, stripped of rank, and kept on the works. He soon wrote: "Wangying overflowed because the mouth was too tight and the water had nowhere else to go. After low water, repair the reduction dam and mouth, shore up only the south bank, and leave the north bank unbuilt so the current is not forced." He cited Gaozong's order not to fight the sea for land beyond Yuntiguan. The court replied that the old shore was empty while villages now stood beyond Magang—no comparison. Besides, the current is scattered, the river sluggish, and silt piles up—the harm is beyond words. And Fengxiang's estuary map shows no villages or place names, unlike Wu Jing's thirteenth-year chart, and even the river's bends differ." The rebuke continued: he confused matters and acted rashly—"He once said the current beyond Yuntiguan ran freely and unscoured depths exceeded ten zhang, proving the mouth was not high; yet he has never been there. Now, with north-bank flooding, he is helpless and calls earlier dredging and building all mistakes—only to dodge blame." Bailing was specially made Liangjiang governor-general to survey the estuary with Fengxiang. Fengxiang claimed the mouth could not run clear and blamed upstream choking, citing Li Shixu of the Huai-Hai Circuit; Shixu in fact said the choke was at the new dike around Nijiatan, not at the mouth. When Bailing came he found the mouth deep and clear; only the middle had dried to flat ground—last year's dredge spoil, which spring floods would scour back in. When the tide dam released water, uncleared roots at its base blocked flow and silted the channel. Shixu urged action repeatedly; Fengxiang treated it as remote. The court rebuked his delay. Meanwhile breaks opened upstream at Mianguai Mountain and Lijialou; he lost rank but stayed on.

十七年春，禮壩又決，百齡劾：「鳳翔急開遲閉，壩下衝動，不早親勘堵築，用帑二十七萬兩有奇；而壩工未竣，清水大洩，下河成災。」嚴詔斥鳳翔貽誤，革職，罰賠銀十萬兩，荷校兩月，遣戍烏魯木齊。尋鳳翔訴辨，命大學士松筠、府尹初彭齡按訊，得百齡與鳳翔同時批准開壩狀；鳳翔又訐百齡信任鹽巡道硃爾賡額督辦葦蕩柴料，捏報邀功：譴百齡等，鳳翔免枷，仍赴戍，未行，病歿。

In the seventeenth-year spring the Li dam failed again. Bailing impeached: "Fengxiang opened too soon and closed too late, churning the current below without inspecting the closure himself, at a cost of more than 270,000 taels; yet before the dam was finished clear water drained away and the lower river flooded." A harsh edict blamed Fengxiang, dismissed him, fined him 100,000 taels, cangued him two months, and sent him to Urumqi. Fengxiang appealed. Songyun and Prefect Chupengling found Bailing had approved the dam opening at the same moment; Fengxiang also accused Bailing of trusting salt patrol Zhu Egen to pad reed and fuel accounts. Bailing was punished, Fengxiang lost the cangue but still went to exile—and died before he left.

黎世序，初名承惠，字湛溪，河南羅山人。嘉慶元年進士，授江西星子知縣，調南昌。擢江蘇鎮江知府。十六年，遷淮海道。與河督陳鳳翔爭堵倪家灘漫口，由是知名。

Li Shixu, born Chenghui, style name Zhanxi, came from Luoshan in Henan. He took his jinshi in Jiaqing one, became magistrate of Xingzi in Jiangxi, and moved to Nanchang. He was promoted to prefect of Zhenjiang in Jiangsu. In the sixteenth year he became Huai-Hai Circuit intendant. He clashed with River Governor Chen Fengxiang over sealing Nijiatan and made a name for himself.

十七年，調淮陽道。尋鳳翔黜，詔加世序三品頂戴，署南河河道總督，俟三年後果稱職，始實授。疏言：「自上年大濬，千里長河，王營減壩及李家樓漫口堵合，雲梯關外水深二三丈至四五丈，為近年所未有。而清江浦至雲梯關一帶，較之河底深通時尚高八九尺。此非人力所能猝辦，計惟竭力收蓄湖水，以期暢出。敵黃蓄清之法，在堰、盱二堤，有旨緩辦；今年禮壩跌損，宣洩路少，二隄尤應急築，以資捍衛。」允之。

In the seventeenth year he moved to Huaiyang Circuit. When Fengxiang fell, Shixu received third-rank feathers and acted as Southern River governor, with a full appointment after three years if he proved fit. He wrote: "Since last year's great dredging, with Wangying and Lijialou sealed, water outside Yuntiguan ran two to five zhang deep—depths not seen in years. Yet from Qingjiangpu to Yuntiguan the surface still stands eight or nine chi above the fully scoured bed. No crew can fix that overnight; we must hoard lake water with all our strength so it can pour out freely. Clear water against the Yellow River depends on the Yan and Xu levees, though the court had deferred them; this year the Li dam is broken and outlets are few—the two levees need urgent rebuilding for defense." The court agreed.

十八年，以仁、義、禮三壩基壞，請於蔣家壩附近山岡移建三壩，挑引河三道，詔令詳議，並飭填實舊壩。尋如議行。因全漕渡黃較早，議敘。疏請加高徐州護城石工，添築越堤，於清江浦汰黃堤外加重堤，又於駱馬湖尾閭五壩迤下添碎石滾壩，並允之。先是百齡擬於清江浦石馬頭築圈堤，其灣處對王營，上起禦黃壩，下屬貼心壩，河寬千餘丈，至此陡束為二百丈，論者以為不便，得不行；世序卒成之。是年秋，睢南薛家樓、桃北丁家莊漫水壞堤，世序躍入河者再。會上游河南睢州決口奪溜，河水陡落，睢、桃兩工得補築無事，詔以世序不能先事預防，降一級留任。睢州決口久未合，黃水全入洪湖。世序力籌宣洩，濬順清河於清口淤窄處，自束清壩起至禦黃壩止，挑引河三，束清、鉗口各壩一律闢展，智、仁兩壩及蔣壩以南，新挑仁、義兩壩引河，並為分減之路。至十九年霜降，安瀾，詔嘉世序修防得宜，加二品頂戴。

In the eighteenth year, with the Ren, Yi, and Li foundations ruined, he proposed relocating the three dams to hills near Jiangjiaba with three diversions. The court ordered study and solid filling of the old dams. The plan soon went ahead. The full grain fleet crossed the Yellow River earlier than usual, and he was put forward for reward. He asked to raise Xuzhou's stone city wall, add overflow levees, thicken the dike outside Qingjiangpu's Yellow-sifting levee, and add a stone rolling dam below Luoma Lake's five dams—all approved. Bailing had wanted an encircling dike at Qingjiangpu's Shima head, pinching a thousand-zhang river to two hundred opposite Wangying from the Yellow-control dam to Tixin; critics blocked it; Shixu finished it at last. That autumn breaks at Xuejialou and Dingjiazhuang damaged levees; Shixu jumped into the river twice. When Suizhou upstream in Henan stole the current, levels plunged and the Suizhou and Tao sites could be patched safely. The court said he should have foreseen it and demoted him one rank while keeping him on. Suizhou stayed open for long, and Yellow River water poured fully into Hongze. Shixu labored to release water: dredging Qingkou's Shunqing channel from Shuqing to Yellow-control, cutting three diversions, widening every dam, and adding Ren and Yi outlets south of Jiangba. By the nineteenth-year frost the rivers stood calm. The court praised his repairs and gave him second-rank feathers.

二十年，疏言：「徐州十八里屯舊有東西兩閘，金門寬三丈五尺，不足減水。其西南虎山腰兩山對峙，凹處寬二十餘丈，山根石腳相連，可作天然滾壩。北面臨河，即十八里屯，山岡淤於土中，剝平山頂，改作臨河滾壩。以虎山腰為重門擎托，可期穩固。」允之。夏，洪湖盛漲，拆展束清，禦黃兩壩，啟山盱引河滾壩，清水暢出，會黃東注，刷河益深，特詔嘉獎，賜花翎。

In the twentieth year he wrote: "At Xuzhou Shibalicun the old east and west gates are only three zhang five chi wide—too narrow to bleed flow. At Hushanyao southwest two mountains face a hollow twenty-odd zhang wide; their stone roots meet and can form a natural rolling dam. North along the river at Shibalicun the hill lies under silt; stripping the top can yield a riverside rolling dam. With Hushanyao as a second gate to brace it, the work should hold." The court agreed. That summer Hongze surged. He widened Shuqing and Yellow-control, opened the Shanxu rolling dam, let clear water run freely to meet the Yellow River eastward and scour deeper, and won special praise and the peacock feather.

世序治河，力舉束水對壩，課種柳株，驗土埽，稽垛牛，減漕規例價。行之既久，灘柳茂密，土料如林，工修河暢。南河歲修三百萬兩為率，每年必節省二三十萬。碎石坦坡，自靳輔始用之於高堰，後蘭第錫、吳璥、徐端偶一用之；世序始用之於通工，謗言四起，世序力持，卒獲其效。二十一年，京察，議敘。二十二年，因禦黃壩刷深不能施工，束清壩掣溜太急，亦難穩立，請於舊二壩水淺處添築重壩，又於束清壩外添建一壩，以為重門鉗束，於是比歲安瀾，奏減料價一成。

Shixu ran rivers by confining water against dams, planting willows, inspecting revetments, counting oxen and earth piles, and cutting transport quota prices. Over time the bank willows thickened, earth stockpiled like woods, works held, and the channel ran clear. Southern River repairs averaged three million taels a year; he saved two or three hundred thousand annually. Stone slope revetments began with Jin Fu at Gaoyan; Landi Xi, Wu Jing, and Xu Duan used them only now and then; Shixu applied them across the works. Critics howled, but he held firm and succeeded. In the twenty-first year he was recommended for reward at the capital review. In the twenty-second year, with Yellow-control scoured too deep to build and Shuqing's current too fierce, he added a heavy dam on the old shallow site and an outer Shuqing dam as a double gate. Year after year the river held calm, and he cut material prices ten percent.

道光元年，入覲，宣宗嘉其勞勚，加太子少保，開復一切處分，賜詩以寵之。二年，京察，复予議敘。四年，卒於官，優詔褒卹，加尚書銜，贈太子太保，諡襄勤，入祀賢良祠。江南請祀名宦建專祠，帝追念前勞，御製詩一章，命勒石於墓。賜其子學淳，主事；學淵，舉人；學澄，副榜貢生。

In Daoguang one he came to court. The Xuanzong Emperor praised his service, made him Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, restored every penalty, and gave him an imperial poem. In Daoguang two he was again recommended at the capital review. In the fourth year he died in office. The court mourned him richly, raised him to minister rank posthumously, made him Grand Guardian with the temple name Xiangqin, and enshrined him among eminent statesmen. Jiangnan sought a local shrine; remembering his service, the Emperor wrote a poem and ordered it carved on his tomb. His son Xuechun received a secretary post; Xueyuan, a juren; Xuecheng, a provincial graduate presented as tribute student.

自乾隆季年，河官習為奢侈，帑多中飽，浸至無歲不決；又以漕運牽掣，當其事者，無不蹶敗。世序澹泊寧靜，一湔靡俗。任事十三年，獨以恩禮終焉。幕僚鄒汝翼，無錫人，世序倚如左右手，欲援陳潢故事，薦之於朝，力辭而止。涇縣包世臣號知河事，世序多用其說，惟築圈堰一事論不合。及創虎山腰滾壩，世臣阻之曰：「河以無溜為至險，攻大埽不與焉；湖以淤底為至險，掣石工不與焉。公謂減黃入湖，為化險為平。黃緩湖高，吾坐見其積平成險也。兩險交至，其禍甚烈。公意在及身，然以憂患貽後世已。」世序初奏亦謂壩成遇不得已乃啟，然後實無歲不啟。洎嘉慶二十五年，上游河南睢州馬營兩口既合，閱歲大汛至，清河、安東、阜寧三縣境內河水常平堤，而中泓無溜。世序心知其害，憂瘁而卒。後數月，高堰竟決。

Late in Qianlong, river officers turned lavish, treasury funds vanished into pockets, and the river broke almost every year; and with the grain fleet always at stake, whoever took charge usually fell. Shixu was plain-spoken and calm, and scrubbed away the rotten habits. He served thirteen years and alone finished with the court's favor. His aide Zou Ruyi of Wuxi was trusted like a right hand. Shixu meant to follow Chen Huang's precedent and recommend him, but Ruyi refused and the plan died. Bao Shichen of Jing, who claimed river expertise, shaped much of Shixu's policy—except the encircling weir, where they split. When Shixu proposed the Hushanyao rolling dam, Bao objected: "A river's worst danger is losing its current—great revetments are not the whole story; a lake's worst danger is a silted bed—stone works are not the whole story either. You say bleeding Yellow River water into the lake turns danger into safety. When the Yellow River slackens and the lake rises, I see flat silt turning back into danger. When both dangers meet, the disaster will be fierce. You may mean to finish in your own day, but you are already leaving trouble to posterity." Shixu's first report said the dam would open only when unavoidable—yet in practice it opened every year. By Jiaqing twenty-five, after Suizhou and Maying upstream were sealed, the next great flood season brought level water against the levees in Qinghe, Andong, and Funing—yet no current in the main channel. Shixu saw the harm clearly, grieved himself to death. Months later the Gaoyan weir broke.

論曰：仁宗銳意治河，用人其慎。然承積弊之後，求治愈殷，窟穴於弊者轉益譸張以為嘗試。海口改道之說起，紛紜數載而後定。康基田、徐端等皆諳習河事，程功亦僅。至黎世序宣勤久任，南河乃安；而減黃病湖，遂遺隱患。得失之故，具於斯焉。

The appraisal says: Emperor Ren was earnest about the rivers and careful in choosing men. Yet amid entrenched abuses, the harder he pressed for cure, the bolder corruption's beneficiaries grew in calling every try reckless. Debate over shifting the estuary raged for years before a decision held. Kang Jitian, Xu Duan, and others knew the rivers well, yet achieved only modest success. Only when Li Shixu served long with steady exertion did the Southern Rivers settle; yet bleeding the Yellow River hurt the lakes and left a hidden peril. The reasons for success and failure are told here.

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