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列傳一百五十三
Biography 153
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孫玉庭、蔣攸銛、李鴻賓
Sun Yuting, Jiang Youxian, and Li Hongbin
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孫玉庭，字寄圃，山東濟寧人。 乾隆四十年進士，選庶吉士，授檢討。 五十一年，出為山西河東道，父憂去，服闋，補廣西鹽法道。 嘉慶初，就遷按察使，歷湖南、安徽、湖北布政使，舉發道員胡齊崙侵冒軍需，詔嘉之。
Sun Yuting, courtesy name Jipu, came from Jining in Shandong. He took his jinshi degree in the fortieth year of the Qianlong reign, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and received an appointment as reviser. In the fifty-first year he was posted as intendant of the Hedong circuit in Shanxi. He left office to observe mourning for his father, and when the mourning period ended he was assigned to the Guangxi salt administration circuit. Early in the Jiaqing reign he was promoted in place to provincial judicial commissioner, then served in turn as financial commissioner of Hunan, Anhui, and Hubei. When he exposed the circuit intendant Hu Qilun for embezzling military supplies, the throne commended him by edict.
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七年，擢廣西巡撫，調廣東。 安南國王阮光纘為農耐、阮福映所逼，叩關乞內避，命玉庭馳赴廣西察辦。 福映已滅光纘，遣使納款，玉庭疏陳其恭順，請受之。 尋福映請改國名曰南越，仁宗疑之。 玉庭言：「不可以語言文字阻外夷鄉化之心。 其先有古越裳地，繼並安南。 若改號越南，亦與中國南粵舊名有別。」 乃報可。 廣東海盜日橫，玉庭議防急於剿，請增兵嚴守口岸，禁淡水米糧出海以製之。 尋調廣西，十年，復調廣東。 時總督那彥成專意招撫，玉庭意不合，疏陳其弊，謂：「盜非悔罪，特為貪利而來。 官吏貪功，不惜重金為市。 陽避盜名，陰攖盜實。 廢法斂怨，莫此為尤。」 上韙其言，那彥成由是獲罪。
In the seventh year he was promoted to governor of Guangxi and soon transferred to Guangdong. The Annamese king Nguyen Quang Toan, hard pressed by Nong Nai and Nguyen Phuc Anh, came to the border seeking refuge within the empire. Sun Yuting was ordered to proceed posthaste to Guangxi to investigate. By then Phuc Anh had overthrown Quang Toan and sent envoys to offer submission. Sun Yuting memorialized that his conduct was respectful and submissive and urged the court to accept him. Soon afterward Phuc Anh asked to change his state's name to Nanyue, which made the Jiaqing Emperor uneasy. Sun Yuting argued: "We must not let quibbles over names and script stand in the way of a foreign state's wish to draw nearer to civilization. Their ancestors once held the lands of ancient Yueshang and later united Annam under their rule. If the state is renamed Yuenan, that title is still distinct from the old Chinese name Southern Yue." The request was approved. Piracy in Guangdong grew worse by the day. Sun Yuting argued that defense should take priority over pursuit, asked for more troops to hold the ports tightly, and proposed cutting off supplies of fresh water, rice, and grain at sea to bring the pirates to heel. He was soon transferred to Guangxi, and in the tenth year returned to Guangdong. The governor-general Nayancheng was then devoted entirely to winning pirates over by inducement. Sun Yuting disagreed and memorialized on the abuses of that policy, writing: "The bandits are not repenting of their crimes; they come only for gain. Greedy for credit, officials do not hesitate to pay huge sums to buy them off. Outwardly they shun the stigma of banditry while secretly sustaining the bandits in fact. Nothing breeds public resentment more than casting aside the law in this way." The emperor endorsed his view, and Nayancheng was punished as a result.
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十三年，英吉利兵船入澳門，總督吳熊光但停貿易，未遣兵驅逐，上斥畏葸，罷熊光，調玉庭貴州。 尋百齡至粵，追論熊光，且劾玉庭不以實入告，坐罷歸。 已而予官編修，在文穎館行走。 十五年，授雲南巡撫，兼署雲貴總督。 調浙江。 二十年，英吉利貢使不原行跪拜禮，廷議以其倔強，遣之。 會玉庭入覲，面奏馭夷之道：「妄有乾求，當折以天朝之法度； 歸心恪順，不責以中國之儀文。」 反覆開陳，上意乃解。
In the thirteenth year British warships entered Macao. Governor Wu Xiongguang merely suspended trade and sent no troops to expel them. The emperor denounced his timidity, removed him from office, and transferred Sun Yuting to Guizhou. Soon afterward Bailin arrived in Guangdong, reopened the case against Wu Xiongguang, and also impeached Sun Yuting for failing to report the facts truthfully. Sun Yuting was dismissed and sent home. Before long he was restored to the rank of Hanlin compiler and assigned to duty in the Wenyin Hall. In the fifteenth year he was appointed governor of Yunnan and concurrently served as acting governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou. He was then transferred to Zhejiang. In the twentieth year the British tribute envoy refused to perform the kowtow. The court judged him obstinate and sent him away. When Sun Yuting came to court for audience, he explained in person how to manage foreign powers: "If they presumptuously press demands, they should be checked by the laws of the dynasty; but if their hearts are truly submissive, do not insist on Chinese ritual forms." He explained this again and again until the emperor's mind was set at ease.
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二十一年，擢湖廣總督。 未幾，調兩江。 漕、鹽、河為江南要政，日臻疲累。 玉庭久任封圻，治尚安靜，整頓江西、湖北引岸緝私，籌款生息，津貼屯丁，減省漕委，隨事為補苴之計，稍稍相安。 宣宗即位，特加太子少保銜。 時用尚書英和言，清查直省陋規，立以限制，下疆臣議久遠之法。 玉庭疏言：「自古有治人無治法。 果督撫兩司皆得人，則大法小廉，自不虞所屬苛取病民； 非然者，雖立限制，仍同虛設，弊且滋甚。 各省陋規，本幹例禁。 語云：'作法於涼，其弊猶貪。 '禁人之取猶不能不取； 若許之取，勢必益無顧忌。 迨發覺治罪，民已大受其累。 府、廳、州、縣祿入無多，向來不能不藉陋規為辦公之需，然未聞准其加取於民垂為令甲者，誠以自古無此制祿之經也。 伏乞停止查辦，天下幸甚。」 疏入，詔褒其不媿大臣之言。
In the twenty-first year he was promoted to governor-general of Huguang. Before long he was transferred to the Two Jiangs. Grain transport, the salt monopoly, and river control were the chief affairs of Jiangnan, and all were growing more strained by the day. Having long served on provincial frontiers, Sun Yuting favored quiet governance. He tightened control over the salt transit banks of Jiangxi and Hubei to suppress smuggling, raised funds to earn interest, subsidized garrison colonists, and reduced grain-transport deputies. With such piecemeal remedies affairs gradually grew somewhat easier. When the Daoguang Emperor came to the throne, Sun Yuting was specially granted the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent. The court then followed Minister Yinghe's advice to investigate irregular local fees throughout the provinces, set limits on them, and order frontier officials to devise a lasting remedy. Sun Yuting memorialized: "From antiquity there have been men who govern well, not laws that govern well by themselves. If governors and the two provincial commissioners are the right men, great principles and small integrity follow of themselves, and there is no need to fear that subordinates will squeeze the people with harsh exactions; otherwise, though limits are imposed, they remain empty forms and abuses only grow worse. Such irregular fees have always been forbidden in principle by statute. As the saying goes, 'If you make law in a lenient spirit, the abuse will still be greed. Forbid people from taking and they will still take; permit them to take and they will inevitably grow all the more reckless. By the time abuses are discovered and punished, the people have already suffered greatly. The formal salaries of prefectures, subprefectures, departments, and districts are small, and officials have long had to rely on irregular fees for office expenses. Yet never before has the throne authorized additional exactions from the people and enshrined them in permanent statute—for from antiquity there has been no such way of fixing official pay. I humbly beg that this investigation be halted; the empire would be greatly fortunate." When the memorial arrived, an edict praised it as words worthy of a great minister.
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道光元年，授協辦大學士，仍留總督任。 是年入覲，與玉瀾堂十五老臣宴。 帝詢淮鹽疏銷之策，玉庭言：「漢口為淮南售鹽總岸，向來船到隨時交易，是以暢銷。 自乾隆中立封輪法，挨次輪售，私鹽乘間侵越。」 因臚陳六害，請復舊章，從之。 又言漕糧浮收不能禁革，不如明與八折為便。 御史王家相奏言事類加賦，侍郎姚文田、湯金釗亦論之，事遂寢。 然州縣困於丁費，浮收仍難禁絕，胥吏上下其手，專累良懦，因玉庭議不行，疆臣不敢復請； 至同治初，始定漕耗，卒如玉庭議。
In the first year of Daoguang he was appointed associate grand secretary while remaining governor-general. That year he came to court and was feasted with the fifteen senior ministers in the Yulan Hall. The emperor asked how to revive sluggish sales of Huai salt. Sun Yuting replied: "Hankou is the chief market for Huainan salt. Formerly, when ships arrived they could trade at once, and sales were brisk. Since the Qianlong reign established the sealed rotation system, with sales taken in strict turn, smuggled salt seized every opening to encroach." He then detailed six harms of the new system and asked to restore the old regulations, which was approved. He also argued that the illegal surcharges on tribute grain could not be stamped out, and that it would be better to grant an explicit twenty-percent reduction. Censor Wang Jiaxiang memorialized that the proposal amounted to a new levy. Vice Ministers Yao Wentian and Tang Jinshao also objected, and the matter was dropped. Yet districts and counties remained strained by labor fees, illegal surcharges could still not be stamped out, and clerks manipulated accounts to burden only the honest and weak. Because Sun Yuting's proposal was rejected, frontier officials did not dare raise it again; not until the early Tongzhi reign was the grain-transport surcharge fixed—ultimately along the lines Sun Yuting had proposed.
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四年，拜體仁閣大學士，留任如故。 會高家堰決，河督張文浩遣戍，部議玉庭革職，詔念前勞，寬之，留任。 尋復以借黃濟運無效，褫職，予編修休致。 戶部复劾其不行海運，而河病運阻，責償滯漕剝運費十之七，命留濬運河。 工竣，回籍。 十四年，重宴鹿鳴，加四品頂戴。 尋卒，年八十有三。
In the fourth year he was appointed grand secretary of the Tiren Pavilion while retaining his post as before. When the Gaojia Weir burst, River Director Zhang Wenhao was banished. The ministry proposed that Sun Yuting be dismissed, but an edict, mindful of his long service, showed leniency and kept him in office. Soon he was again stripped of office because the scheme of borrowing Yellow River water to aid transport had failed, and was granted retirement with the rank of Hanlin compiler. The Board of Revenue again impeached him for failing to implement sea transport. Because the river was failing and transport blocked, he was ordered to repay seven-tenths of the fees for delayed tribute grain and stripped transport costs, and was kept on to dredge the Grand Canal. When the work was finished, he returned home. In the fourteenth year he was again honored at the Luming banquet and granted a fourth-rank official button. He died soon afterward, at the age of eighty-three.
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子善寶，以舉人廕生授刑部員外郎，官至江蘇巡撫； 瑞珍，道光三年進士，由翰林官至戶部尚書，諡文定。 孫毓溎，道光二十四年一甲一名進士，官至浙江按察使； 毓汶亦以一甲二名進士，官至兵部尚書，自有傳。 曾孫楫，咸豐二年進士，翰林院庶吉士，官至順天府尹。 四世並歷清要，家門之盛，北方士族無與埒焉。
His son Shanbao entered office by hereditary privilege as a juren, served in the Board of Punishments, and rose to governor of Jiangsu; Ruizhen, a jinshi of the third year of Daoguang, rose from the Hanlin to Minister of Revenue and was posthumously titled Wending. His grandson Yuwen, top graduate of the first rank in the twenty-fourth year of Daoguang, rose to provincial judicial commissioner of Zhejiang; Yuwen was second graduate of the first rank and rose to Minister of War; he has his own biography. His great-grandson Ji, a jinshi of the second year of Xianfeng and Hanlin bachelor, rose to intendant of Shuntian prefecture. For four generations they held the empire's choicest offices, and no northern gentry clan could match the family's eminence.
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蔣攸銛，字礪堂，漢軍鑲紅旗人。 先世由浙江遷遼東，從入關，居寶坻。 乾隆四十九年，成進士，年甫十九，選庶吉士，授編修。 嘉慶初，遷御史，敢言有聲，受仁宗知。 五年，出為江西吉南贛道，署按察使。 八年，廣昌齋匪廖幹用作亂，攸銛率兵平之。 疆臣上其功，會丁母憂去。 十年，特起署廣東惠潮嘉道，歷江西按察使、雲南布政使。 十四年，調江蘇，就擢巡撫。 調浙江，擢江南河道總督，以不諳河務辭，詔回原任。
Jiang Youxian, courtesy name Litang, was a bondservant of the Bordered Red Banner. His ancestors had moved from Zhejiang to Liaodong, followed the Manchus through the Pass, and settled in Baodi. In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong he passed the jinshi examination at only nineteen, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and was appointed compiler. Early in the Jiaqing reign he was made a censor, gained a reputation for outspokenness, and won the Jiaqing Emperor's notice. In the fifth year he was posted as intendant of the Jinan-Gan circuit in Jiangxi and concurrently served as acting provincial judicial commissioner. In the eighth year the Zhai sect bandit Liao Ganqi rebelled at Guangchang. Jiang Youxian led troops and put down the revolt. Frontier officials reported his merit, but he left office to mourn his mother. In the tenth year he was specially recalled to serve as acting intendant of the Huichao-Jia circuit in Guangdong, then held in turn the posts of provincial judicial commissioner of Jiangxi and financial commissioner of Yunnan. In the fourteenth year he was transferred to Jiangsu and promoted in place to governor. Transferred to Zhejiang, he was promoted to director-general of the Jiangnan waterways but declined on grounds of unfamiliarity with river affairs. An edict ordered him back to his former post.
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十六年，擢兩廣總督。 嚴於治盜，遴勤幹文武大員駐廣、肇、韶、連諸郡居中之地，分路搜截，飭州縣官赴鄉勸導耆老，使境內不得藏奸，舉劾嚴明，吏皆用命。 歷擒匪盜七百馀名，自首者許自新，特詔褒獎。 十八年，應詔陳言，略曰：「我朝累代功德在民，而亂民愍不畏法，變出意外，此皆由於吏治不修所致。 臣觀近日道、府、州、縣，貪酷者少而委靡者多。 夫闒冗之釀患，與貪酷等。 竊以為方今急務，莫先於察吏，而欲振積習，必用破格之勸懲。 凡貪酷者固應嚴參，平庸者亦隨時勒休改用，勿俟大計始行覈辦。 其有勤能者，即請旨優獎。 果道、府、州、縣得人，則禍亂之萌自息。」 次年，又上疏曰：「道府由牧令起家者十之二三，由部員外擢者十之七八。 聞近來司員少卓著之才，由於滿洲之廕生太易，漢員之捐班太多。 請飭部臣隨時考覈，其不宜於部務者，以同知、通判分發各省，使練民事，部曹亦可疏通。 今之人才沉於下位者多矣，請飭大臣薦達，擇其名實相副者擢用。 抑臣更有請者，任事之與專擅，有義利之分，若任事而以專擅罪之，人皆推諉以自全矣。 協恭之與黨援，有公私之別，如協恭而以黨援目之，人且立異以遠嫌矣。 此近今之積習，為大臣者當力除之。 至翰林儒臣，務在崇正學，黜浮華，養成明體達用之才，不必以文章課殿最。 科道為耳目之官，敷陳能否得體，糾劾是否為公，詢事考言，難逃洞鑑。 其有卓越清正者，當由京堂而擢卿貳，與翰詹參用。 用人之道，因才因地因時，臣下無可市之恩，君上有特操之鑑。 人無求備，政在集思，此之謂也。」 疏入，上嘉納之。
In the sixteenth year he was promoted to governor-general of the Two Guangs. He was severe in suppressing banditry, posting diligent civil and military officials at central points in Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Shaozhou, and Lianzhou to search and intercept along separate routes. He ordered district and county magistrates to go into the countryside to persuade elders so that criminals could find no refuge within their jurisdictions. His promotions and impeachments were strict, and officials obeyed. In all he captured more than seven hundred bandits and robbers. Those who surrendered were allowed to reform themselves, and a special edict praised and rewarded him. In the eighteenth year, responding to an imperial edict, he memorialized in summary: "Our dynasty's merit has accumulated over generations among the people, yet disorderly elements no longer fear the law and upheavals arise unexpectedly. All this stems from the failure to repair official governance. I observe that among circuit, prefectural, departmental, and county officials of late, the cruel and greedy are few while the slack and spiritless are many. Slack incompetence breeds disaster no less than cruelty and greed. I believe that among today's urgent tasks none comes before inspecting officials, and to shake off entrenched habits one must use extraordinary rewards and punishments. The cruel and greedy should of course be strictly impeached, but mediocre officials should also be compelled to retire and be reassigned at any time rather than waiting for the triennial evaluation. Those who are diligent and capable should at once receive special rewards by imperial order. If circuit, prefectural, departmental, and county posts truly get the right men, the seeds of calamity and disorder will die away of themselves." The next year he memorialized again: "Of circuit and prefectural officials, only two or three in ten rise from magistrates, while seven or eight in ten are promoted from ministry secretaries. I hear that ministry clerks of late rarely show outstanding talent, because Manchu hereditary privilege is too easy and Han purchase of office too common. I ask that ministry officials examine them regularly. Those unsuited to ministry work should be sent to the provinces as subprefects and assistant prefects to gain experience in civil affairs, which would also relieve congestion in the ministries. Much talent today languishes in low posts. I ask that senior ministers be ordered to recommend men whose reputation and ability truly match for promotion. I have another request. Between taking responsibility and acting on one's own authority there is a distinction of right and expedience. If officials are punished for taking responsibility as though it were usurpation, everyone will shirk duty to preserve himself. Between harmonious cooperation and factional patronage there is a distinction of public and private interest. If cooperation is treated as factional patronage, people will set themselves apart to avoid suspicion. These are entrenched habits of recent times, and great ministers should strive to remove them. As for Hanlin scholar-officials, the task is to honor orthodox learning, dismiss flashy display, and nurture talent that grasps fundamental principles and can apply them—not necessarily to rank them by literary composition alone. Censors and remonstrators are the eyes and ears of the throne. Whether their presentations are appropriate and their impeachments public-spirited—inquiring into affairs and testing words—none escapes penetrating scrutiny. Those who are outstanding and upright should be promoted from metropolitan department heads to vice ministers and employed together with Hanlin scholars. The way to employ men depends on talent, place, and time. Subordinates have no favors to trade, and the sovereign has his own mirror of judgment. One does not demand perfection in every man; government lies in gathering counsel from many minds. That is the point." When the memorial arrived, the emperor praised and accepted it.
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英吉利兵船入內洋，攸銛飭停貿易，乃聽命引去。 請禁民人為洋人服役，洋行不許建洋式房屋，鋪商不得用洋字店號，清查商欠，不准無身家者濫充洋商，及內地人私往洋館，並如議行。 商人負暹羅國貨價，以官錢代償，既而貢使來繳還。 攸銛以奉旨頒給，乃示懷柔，不得復收回，卻之，詔嘉其得體。
When British warships entered the inner sea, Jiang Youxian ordered trade halted, and they then withdrew as instructed. He proposed forbidding Chinese from serving foreigners, forbidding foreign firms from building Western-style houses, forbidding shops from using foreign characters in their signs, investigating commercial debts, barring men without property from serving as foreign merchants, and forbidding inland people from visiting foreign quarters privately. All these measures were adopted. Merchants owed payment for Siamese goods, and official funds were used to cover the debt. Later the Siamese tribute envoy came to repay it. Jiang Youxian argued that since the payment had been bestowed by imperial order as a gesture of kindness, it could not be taken back. He refused the repayment, and an edict praised his tact.
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二十二年，調四川總督。 四川兵故驕縱，一裁以法。 民多帶刀劍，禁鄉村設爐制兵刃。 城市編牌取結，有犯連坐。 以義倉租息助灌縣都江堰歲修，禁派捐累民。 重修文翁石室，興學造士。 言官請禁非刑，飭屬銷毀違法刑具，而嚴戒縱匪，不得博寬厚虛名，貽閭閻實害。 二十四年，率土司頭目入都祝嘏，賞賚有加。 時因慶典，普免天下積欠錢糧，獨四川無欠可免，詔嘉其撫綏有方，予優敘。 二十五年，仁宗崩，入謁梓宮，宣宗諭褒為守兼優，加太子少保。
In the twenty-second year he was transferred to governor-general of Sichuan. Sichuan troops had long been arrogant and unruly; he brought them all under strict discipline. Because the people commonly carried swords, he forbade villages from setting up furnaces to forge weapons. In cities he organized household registers and mutual bonds, with joint punishment for offenders. He used interest from charity granaries to help fund annual repairs of the Dujiangyan at Guanxian and forbade levies that burdened the people. He rebuilt the Stone Chamber of Lord Wen and promoted learning to nurture scholars. When remonstrating officials asked to forbid illegal torture, he ordered subordinates to destroy unlawful instruments of punishment. He also strictly warned against indulging bandits or seeking a false reputation for leniency that would bring real harm to the people. In the twenty-fourth year he led native chieftains to the capital to offer congratulations, and they received especially generous rewards. Because of a celebration, accumulated tax arrears throughout the empire were generally remitted. Sichuan alone had no arrears to remit. An edict praised his effective governance and granted him preferential recognition. In the twenty-fifth year the Jiaqing Emperor died. Jiang Youxian went to pay respects at the coffin, and the Daoguang Emperor praised him as excellent in both defense and administration, granting him the title Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
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道光二年，召授刑部尚書。 尋授直隸總督。 值水災，請截南漕四十萬石，賑款先後二百萬兩，逾年賑事竣。 時方治畿輔水利，命侍郎張文浩蒞其事，尋以程含章代之，攸銛與合疏言東西兩淀，大清、永定、子牙、南北運五河，及天津海口、千里堤，不可緩之工，請部撥銀一百二十萬兩； 又疏陳千里堤章程，規复兩淀垡船汊夫，移改管河員弁駐所，添建巡防堡房。 並如議行。 命協辦大學士，仍留總督任。 五年，拜體仁閣大學士，充軍機大臣，管理刑部。 以回疆平，加太子太保。
In the second year of Daoguang he was summoned to court and appointed Minister of Punishments. Soon he was appointed governor-general of Zhili. When floods struck, he asked to divert four hundred thousand shi of southern tribute grain and disbursed two million taels in relief. After more than a year the relief work was finished. Waterworks in the capital region were then under way. Vice Minister Zhang Wenhao was ordered to oversee them and was soon replaced by Cheng Hanzhang. Jiang Youxian jointly memorialized that work on the eastern and western marshes, the Daqing, Yongding, Ziya, and north and south transport rivers, the Tianjin estuary, and the Thousand-Li Dike could not be delayed, and asked the ministry to allocate 1.2 million taels; He also memorialized regulations for the Thousand-Li Dike, proposing to restore marsh boats and channel laborers, relocate river officials and officers, and add patrol forts and houses. All were carried out as proposed. He was appointed associate grand secretary while retaining his post as governor-general. In the fifth year he was appointed grand secretary of the Tiren Pavilion, served on the Grand Council, and administered the Board of Punishments. Because the Muslim frontier was pacified, he was granted the title Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.
15
七年，授兩江總督。 疏言總督於河務非專責，與河臣同治，徒掣其肘，請毋庸駐清江浦，從之。 時清水不能敵黃，漕運屢阻。 攸銛初在浙，不主海運，至是見河、漕交困，試行海運便利，遂請續行，並預儲銀六十萬兩，備河運盤壩之用。 廷議方主倒塘濟運法，且疑其畏難便私，不許。 攸銛疏辯，極言倒塘之不足恃，上終不以為然，姑許海運，而禁言盤壩。 未幾，海運亦罷。 以張格爾就擒，追論贊畫功，晉太子太傅。
In the seventh year he was appointed governor-general of the Two Jiangs. He memorialized that the governor-general had no exclusive responsibility for river affairs and that governing jointly with the river director only hampered effective action. He asked not to be required to reside at Qingjiangpu, and the request was approved. At the time clear water could not overcome the Yellow River current, and grain transport was repeatedly blocked. Jiang Youxian had earlier opposed sea transport while in Zhejiang, but now, seeing both rivers and grain transport in distress, he found trial sea transport effective and asked to continue it. He also set aside six hundred thousand taels in advance for river transport and dam-transfer expenses. Court debate then favored reversing embankments to aid transport and suspected him of shirking difficulty for private convenience. The request was denied. Jiang Youxian memorialized in defense, arguing at length that reversing embankments could not be relied on. The emperor remained unconvinced, provisionally permitted sea transport, but forbade further discussion of dam transfer. Before long sea transport was abandoned as well. Because Jahangir was captured, his planning merit was recognized and he was promoted to Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent.
16
黃玉林者，鹽梟巨魁，以儀徵老虎頸為窟穴，長江千里，呼吸皆通，詔責嚴捕，玉林投首，乞捕私自效。 十年，攸銛病，乞假，假滿，召回京供職，而玉林复圖販私，攸銛疏請嚴治，發遣新疆，尋复慮其潛回滋事，密請處絞。 詔誅玉林，切責攸銛苟且從事，嚴議褫職，加恩降兵部侍郎。 未至京，卒於途，優詔軫惜，依尚書例賜卹。
Huang Yulin was a great salt-smuggling chieftain who used Laohujing at Yizheng as his lair. Along a thousand li of the Yangzi his network was complete. When an edict ordered his capture, Yulin surrendered and offered to hunt smugglers on the government's behalf. In the tenth year Jiang Youxian fell ill and took leave. When his leave ended he was recalled to the capital, but Yulin again took up smuggling. Jiang Youxian memorialized for strict punishment and banishment to Xinjiang, then secretly asked that he be executed, fearing he might slip back and cause trouble. An edict ordered Yulin executed and sharply rebuked Jiang Youxian for perfunctory handling. After strict deliberation he was stripped of office but, as a grace, reduced to vice minister of war. Before reaching the capital he died on the road. A gracious edict expressed sorrow, and he was granted funeral honors according to the precedent for ministers.
17
攸銛精敏強識，與人一面一言，閱數十年記憶不爽。 勇於任事，不唯阿。 尤長於察吏，薦賢如不及，所舉後多以事功名節著。 子霨遠，官至貴州巡撫，自有傳。
Jiang Youxian was keen and possessed a formidable memory. After a single meeting and a single remark, he could recall a person accurately even decades later. He was bold in taking responsibility and did not merely agree with others. He was especially skilled at judging officials and recommended the worthy as if he could not do so fast enough. Many of those he promoted later became famous for achievement, reputation, and integrity. His son Wuyuan rose to governor of Guizhou and has his own biography.
18
李鴻賓，字鹿蘋，江西德化人。 嘉慶六年進士，選庶吉士，授檢討。 遷御史、給事中。 十八年，巡視東漕。 會林清之變，數疏陳時政利弊； 又以山東、河南、直隸毗連之地，頻年遭兵，條上善後事，始受仁宗知。 命偕河督吳璥、巡撫同興按河督李亨特貪劣不職狀，得實以聞。
Li Hongbin, courtesy name Luping, came from Dehua in Jiangxi. He took his jinshi degree in the sixth year of the Jiaqing reign, entered the Hanlin as a bachelor, and was appointed reviser. He was transferred to censor and supervising secretary. In the eighteenth year he inspected the eastern grain transport route. At the time of Lin Qing's rebellion he repeatedly memorialized on the strengths and failings of current policy; and because Shandong, Henan, and Zhili were adjoining regions that had suffered warfare for years, he set forth measures for recovery. Only then did he win the Jiaqing Emperor's notice. He was ordered, together with River Director Wu Jing and Governor Tongxing, to investigate River Director Li Hengte's greed and incompetence. The charges were substantiated and reported.
19
十九年，超授東河副總河。 時微山湖蓄水盡涸，運河淤塞。 鴻賓自巡漕時講求疏泉濟運之策，至是疏瀹上游，湖水通暢，瀦蓄充盈，漕運無阻，被褒獎，命赴睢工，會同吳璥塞河。 二十年，擢河東河道總督。 由諫官不三年而膺方面，為時所罕。 尋丁母憂，賜金治喪，予諭祭，異數也。 服闋，署禮部、兵部侍郎，命赴河南、山東讞獄，並察黃河、運河、湖水情形。 二十三年，署廣東巡撫。 二十四年，授漕運總督，復調河東河道總督。 河決蘭陽、儀封，命偕尚書吳璥治之，鴻賓專駐儀封。 會北岸馬營壩復決，合疏言馬營土質沙松，河溜尚勁，未能遽定壩基，被詰責，遂自陳不胜河督之任。 詔斥其見吳璥辦工遲緩，慮同獲咎，預為地步，褫職，予郎中銜，留河南專司大工錢糧。 二十五年，命營山東運河事務，兼署山東巡撫，專駐張秋，籌備趲運事。 尋授安徽巡撫。 道光元年，調漕運總督。
In the nineteenth year he was exceptionally appointed deputy director-general of the Eastern Rivers. At the time the stored water of Weishan Lake was entirely exhausted and the Grand Canal silted up. Since his grain-transport inspection Li Hongbin had studied measures to dredge springs and aid transport. Now he dredged the upper reaches until lake water flowed freely, storage was full, and grain transport was unimpeded. He was praised and ordered to the Sui works to join Wu Jing in blocking the river. In the twentieth year he was promoted to director-general of the Hedong waterways. To rise from remonstrating official to frontier governor in less than three years was rare in his day. Soon he left office to mourn his mother. Gold was granted for the funeral and an imperial message of condolence was sent—an extraordinary honor. When mourning ended he served as acting vice minister of rites and war and was ordered to go to Henan and Shandong to judge cases and inspect conditions on the Yellow River, Grand Canal, and lakes. In the twenty-third year he served as acting governor of Guangdong. In the twenty-fourth year he was appointed director-general of grain transport and was again transferred to director-general of the Hedong waterways. When the river burst at Lanyang and Yifeng, he was ordered to manage the crisis together with Minister Wu Jing, with Li Hongbin stationed at Yifeng. When the Maying embankment on the north bank burst again, they jointly memorialized that the soil there was sandy and loose and the current still strong, so the embankment could not quickly be stabilized. After rebuke Li Hongbin confessed himself unequal to the post of river director. An edict rebuked him for seeing Wu Jing's slow progress, fearing shared guilt, and preparing an excuse in advance. He was stripped of office, given the rank of director, and kept in Henan to manage funds for the great works. In the twenty-fifth year he was ordered to manage Shandong canal affairs and concurrently serve as acting governor of Shandong, stationed at Zhangqiu to prepare urgent transport. Soon he was appointed governor of Anhui. In the first year of Daoguang he was transferred to director-general of grain transport.
20
二年，擢湖廣總督。 初，湖廣行銷淮鹽，用封輪法，大商壟斷，小商向隅，甫改開輪，又有跌價爭售之害。 鴻賓請設公司，簽商經理，無論鹽船到岸先後，小商隨到隨售，大商按所到各家計引均銷。 試行兩月後，販運踴躍，著為令。 時議折漕以資治河，鴻賓疏言徵收折色，弊竇叢生，莫若令民間完交本色，由州縣賣米易銀，轉解河工，詔以易啟抑勒捏價、加收平色諸弊，未允行。
In the second year he was promoted to governor-general of Huguang. At first Huguang marketed Huai salt under the sealed rotation system, which let great merchants monopolize trade while small merchants were shut out. When the system was changed to open rotation, price-cutting competition brought new abuses. Li Hongbin proposed establishing a company managed by contracted merchants. Small merchants could sell as soon as their salt arrived, regardless of order of arrival, while great merchants would divide sales evenly by quota according to each shipment. After a two-month trial transport and sales flourished, and the system was enacted as permanent regulation. At the time there was debate on converting tribute grain to fund river works. Li Hongbin memorialized that collecting commuted payments bred many abuses and that it would be better to have the people pay in kind, with districts and counties selling grain for silver to remit to river works. An edict held that this would easily breed extortion, forced prices, and added surcharges, and the proposal was rejected.
21
調兩廣總督。 廣東通商久，號為利藪。 自嘉慶以來，英吉利國勢日強，漸跋扈。 故事，十三行洋商有缺，十二家聯保承充，虧帑則攤償。 英領事顛地知洋行獲利厚，欲以洋廝容阿華充商，諸商不允，乃賄鴻賓得之。 顛地曰：「吾以為總督若何嚴重，詎消數万金便營私耶！」 於是始輕中國官吏。 容阿華尋以淫侈耗貲逃，勿獲，官帑無著，不能責諸商代償，乃以抽分法為彌補，眾商藉以漁利，夷情不服，日益多事。 鴉片流行日廣，漏銀外洋，鴻賓屢疏陳查禁之法及禁種罌粟，並增築虎門大角砲台，以資控禦，而奉行具文，未有實效。 十年，協辦大學士，仍留總督任。
He was transferred to governor-general of the Two Guangs. Guangdong had long traded with foreigners and was known as a nest of profit. Since the Jiaqing reign British power had grown steadily stronger and the foreigners had grown increasingly overbearing. By precedent, when a vacancy occurred among the thirteen licensed foreign merchants, the twelve remaining firms jointly guaranteed a replacement, and any loss to the treasury was shared among them. The English consul Dent knew how profitable the foreign trade was and wished to install the foreign clerk Rong Ahua as a licensed merchant. When the other merchants refused, he bribed Li Hongbin and secured the appointment. Dent said, "I thought a governor-general would be so formidable—who would have guessed he could be bought for private gain with only a few tens of thousands in gold!" From that moment he began to look lightly on Chinese officials. Rong Ahua soon fled after dissolute extravagance exhausted his wealth and could not be captured. With official funds unrecoverable and the other merchants unable to make up the loss, a profit-sharing scheme was adopted as compensation. The merchants used it to enrich themselves, foreign merchants were dissatisfied, and troubles multiplied. Opium spread ever wider and silver drained abroad. Li Hongbin repeatedly memorialized on methods of prohibition and on banning poppy cultivation, and also added fortifications at Humen and Dajiao to strengthen control. But enforcement remained mere form and achieved no real effect. In the tenth year he was appointed associate grand secretary while remaining governor-general.
22
十一年，崖州黎匪亂，鴻賓駐雷州，令提督劉榮慶、總兵孫得發剿平之。 給事中劉光三奏廣東匪徒立會滋擾，鴻賓疏陳：「無三點會名目，惟搶劫打單，勒索民財，根株未絕。 隨時訪拿，準自首免罪。 請廣、潮、肇、嘉諸府州山場荒地，令無業遊民報墾，永不昇科，庶衣食有資，免流匪僻。」 如議行。 入覲，賜花翎。 十二年春，湖南瑤趙金龍倡亂，廣東連州瑤聞風蠢動，遣兵防剿。 五月，鴻賓赴連州，三路進兵，雖有斬獲，兵弁傷亡多，疏請俟湖南事竣進剿，詔斥任賊蔓延； 提督劉榮慶衰庸，不早糾劾，嚴議革職，改留任。 命尚書禧恩等由湖南移師赴粵剿辦，禧恩言：「粵兵多食鴉片，不耐山險，鴻賓陳奏不實。」 褫職逮治，遣戍烏魯木齊。 十四年，釋還，予編修。 家居久之，二十年，卒。
In the eleventh year the Li bandits of Yazhou rebelled. Li Hongbin stationed himself at Leizhou and ordered Regional Commander Liu Rongqing and Brigadier Sun Defa to suppress them. Supervising Secretary Liu Guangsan memorialized that Guangdong bandits were forming societies and causing disturbances. Li Hongbin replied: "There is no society called the Three Dots. There are only robbery and written threats extorting the people's wealth, and the roots have not yet been cut. They are seized whenever found, and those who surrender are permitted to escape punishment. I ask that idle wasteland in the hills of Guangzhou, Chaozhou, Zhaoqing, and Jiaying be opened to registration by unemployed wanderers, never to be taxed, so that they may have food and clothing and wandering banditry may be reduced." This was carried out as proposed. He came to court for audience and was granted the peacock feather. In the spring of the twelfth year the Yao leader Zhao Jinlong rebelled in Hunan. Hearing the news, the Yao of Lianzhou in Guangdong stirred, and troops were sent to guard and suppress them. In the fifth month Li Hongbin went to Lianzhou and advanced on three routes. Though there were kills and captures, many officers and soldiers were killed or wounded. He memorialized asking to wait until the Hunan rebellion was finished before advancing. An edict rebuked him for letting the rebels spread; Regional Commander Liu Rongqing was decrepit and incompetent and had not been impeached in time. After strict deliberation he was dismissed from office but allowed to remain in post. Minister Xi'en and others were ordered to move troops from Hunan to Guangdong to suppress the rebellion. Xi'en reported: "Guangdong troops mostly use opium and cannot endure mountain terrain. Li Hongbin's memorials are not truthful." He was stripped of office, arrested and tried, and banished to Urumqi. In the fourteenth year he was released and restored to the rank of Hanlin compiler. He lived at home for many years and died in the twentieth year.
23
論曰：宣宗初政，勵精求治。 孫玉庭、蔣攸銛並以老成膺分陝之寄，大事多以諮決。 其時鹽、河、漕皆積困，玉庭持重，晚稍模棱。 攸銛直行己意，眷注遂衰，然其汲引人才，識量遠矣。 李鴻賓初以建言驟起，後乃簠簋不飭，貽海疆隱患。 三人皆不能以功名終，公私之殊，不可概論也。
The commentators say: At the beginning of the Daoguang reign the emperor strove diligently to seek good government. Sun Yuting and Jiang Youxian both, by their seasoned maturity, received the empire's weightiest frontier appointments, and great affairs were often decided after consulting them. At that time salt, rivers, and grain transport were all deeply strained. Sun Yuting was steady, but in his later years grew somewhat equivocal. Jiang Youxian went his own way, and imperial favor therefore declined, yet in promoting talent his vision was far-reaching. Li Hongbin at first rose swiftly through remonstrance, but later failed to keep his conduct clean and bequeathed hidden troubles on the maritime frontier. None of the three was able to end his career with full honor. The difference between public service and private conduct cannot be judged by a single measure.