1
林培厚，字敏齋，浙江瑞安人。 嘉慶十三年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 出為四川重慶知府。 啯匪帶刀異常制，禁鍛者毋制賣，有犯則坐。 沿江渡船為盜資，籍而稽其出入，刻姓名船側，盜為衰息。 民習天主教，搜其書，批抉繆妄，聞者多悔悟。 署川東道，所屬雷波廳民、夷忿爭，或覬覦邀功，請發兵，培厚不應，立縛治其魁，餘悉貸遣。 總督蔣攸銛器之，稱為蜀中良吏之最。 母憂歸，服闋，授直隸天津府。 畿輔大水，天津地窪下，災尤劇，培厚遍行屬縣，賑活饑民七萬有奇。 奉天、台灣商米先後抵海口，議以官錢收買，委曲劑量，商民交利，而官不費。 時蔣攸銛移督直隸，詔舉賢吏，遂薦之，不旬日，擢大順廣道。 畿南澇後，大興水利。 培厚先在天津治淀河，至大名治新衛河、洺河，浚築悉中程度。 培厚數以時事利病、屬吏賢否語攸銛，為布政使屠之申所忌。 及攸銛入相，那彥成代之，坐河北旱荒施賑不如法，解培厚任，宣宗夙知其能，改授湖北糧儲道。 時河患淺涸，漕舟數阻。 攸銛以大學士出督兩江，期八省漕以首夏畢渡河，乘清水盛漲，浮渡遄利。 培厚所部尤速達，為嘉慶以來數十年所未有，攸銛特疏陳給敘。 曆三運無誤，上意方鄉用，以勞卒於通州運次。
Lin Peihou, whose style was Minzhai, came from Rui'an in Zhejiang. He earned his jinshi degree in the thirteenth year of the Jiaqing reign, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. He was then posted as prefect of Chongqing in Sichuan. Because bandits went about armed in defiance of the usual rules, he forbade smiths to forge and sell blades without restriction, and punished anyone who violated the ban. River ferries had been a resource for bandits, so he registered them, inspected their traffic, and had names carved on each hull; piracy then subsided. The populace had taken up Catholicism; he seized their books, refuted their errors point by point, and many listeners came to their senses. While serving as acting intendant of eastern Sichuan, he faced a bitter feud between Han settlers and Yi people in Leibo; some officials, eager for glory, urged him to send troops. He refused, swiftly seized and punished the ringleaders, and released the rest with clemency. Governor-General Jiang Youxian held him in high regard and pronounced him the finest administrator in Sichuan. After returning home to mourn his mother and completing the mourning period, he was appointed prefect of Tianjin in Zhili. When catastrophic floods struck the capital region, Tianjin—lying low—suffered worst of all. Peihou toured every county under his jurisdiction and kept more than seventy thousand starving people alive through relief work. Commercial grain shipments from Fengtian and Taiwan reached the port in succession; he proposed buying them with public funds, carefully calibrating quantities so merchants and commoners alike benefited while the treasury spent nothing extra. Jiang Youxian had by then been transferred to govern Zhili; when the throne called for nominations of capable officials, he recommended Peihou, who within ten days was promoted intendant of the Da-Shun-Guang circuit. After the floods in southern Zhili, he launched a major program of hydraulic works. Peihou had first regulated the Dian River at Tianjin; at Daming he took charge of the new Wei and Ming rivers, and in every case his dredging and construction met the required standard. Peihou frequently reported to Jiang Youxian on the strengths and weaknesses of current policies and on the merit of subordinate officials, which earned him the enmity of Provincial Treasurer Tu Zhishen. After Jiang Youxian joined the Grand Council, Na Yancheng succeeded him as governor-general; Peihou was dismissed on the pretext that his drought relief in Hebei had not followed proper procedure, but the Xuanzong Emperor, who had long valued his talent, reassigned him as grain intendant of Hubei. The river had grown shallow and dry, and grain transports were repeatedly stalled. Jiang Youxian went out as Grand Secretary to supervise the Two Jiangs, aiming to move the grain fleets of eight provinces across the river by early summer, when the clear current would be at its height and passage swift and easy. Peihou's section of the transport was especially fast—unmatched in decades since the Jiaqing reign—and Jiang Youxian submitted a special memorial recommending him for commendation and promotion. He completed three transport cycles without a hitch just as the throne was turning toward promoting him, but he died of exhaustion at the Tongzhou transport depot.
2
李象鶤，字云皋，湖南長沙人。 嘉慶十六年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 道光二年，出為直隸宣化知府。 歲饑，禁姦販，安屯戶，煮粥以賑，民無失所。 課士有法，一變邊郡弇陋之習。 調正定，再調保定。 蔣攸銛、那彥成先後為總督，皆倚如左右手。 象鶤持正無撓，擢通永道，調河南鹽道。 治漕嚴，弁丁懍懍，禁胥役藉僱剝船擾民，請潞鹽仍歸商運，民便之。 丁父艱歸，服闋，補江西吉南贛寧道。 轄境與粵東犬牙相錯，多伏莽，屬縣僻瘠，幾不可治，象鶤掃除積弊，境內秩然。 擢江蘇按察使，署江寧布政使。 時陶澍為總督，賴其佐理焉。 調貴州按察使。 仁懷奸民為亂，株連眾，治之無枉縱。 擢布政使，禁漢奸盤剝苗民，多惠政。 二十四年，以假去職。 洎入覲，詔以三品京堂候補。 未幾，乞歸。
Li Xiangkun, whose style was Yungao, came from Changsha in Hunan. He earned his jinshi degree in the sixteenth year of the Jiaqing reign, entered the Hanlin Academy as a bachelor, and was appointed a compiler. In the second year of the Daoguang reign he was posted as prefect of Xuanhua in Zhili. When famine struck, he banned hoarding and profiteering, settled military colonists, and distributed congee relief so that no one was left destitute. He taught the local scholars with real method and transformed the backward customs of that frontier prefecture. He was transferred first to Zhengding and then to Baoding. Jiang Youxian and Na Yancheng served as governor-general in turn, and each relied on him as indispensable as his own two hands. Xiangkun stood firm and would not bend; he was promoted intendant of the Tong-Yong circuit and then transferred to serve as Henan salt intendant. He ran the grain transport with strict discipline, kept the boat crews in awe, and stopped clerks and runners from harassing the people by extorting hired labor on the boats; he also petitioned that Lu salt be returned to merchant carriage, which greatly benefited the populace. After mourning his father and completing the mourning period, he was appointed intendant of the Ji-Nan-Gan-Ning circuit in Jiangxi. His circuit bordered eastern Guangdong in a tangled checkerboard of territory, with brigands lurking everywhere and remote, impoverished counties that seemed almost beyond governance; Xiangkun cleared out long-standing abuses until order prevailed throughout the region. He was promoted provincial judge of Jiangsu and served as acting provincial treasurer of Jiangning. Governor-General Tao Shu relied heavily on him to help run the province. He was transferred to serve as provincial judge of Guizhou. When troublemakers in Renhuai stirred up a revolt and many were implicated, he tried the case without either executing the innocent or letting the guilty go free. Promoted provincial treasurer, he barred Han collaborators from exploiting the Miao and enacted many policies that benefited the people. In the twenty-fourth year of the reign he left office on personal leave. When he later presented himself at court, he was ordered to await appointment as a third-rank capital official. Before long he petitioned to retire to his home.
3
李宗傳，字孝曾，安徽桐城人。 嘉慶三年舉人。 授浙江上虞知縣先攝麗水、平湖、瑞安、建德、平陽，所至求民隱，鋤豪強，平反冤獄。 在麗水斷積案七百餘事，捐貲河工，敘知府，擢浙江督糧道。 道光三年，杭、嘉、湖三府大水，宗傳建議，浙西諸水尾閭，下由江蘇入海，必宜江、浙兩省通籌疏濬，大吏用其言，疏請合治。 坐事左遷，巡撫程含章薦之，以知府用，授湖南永州，葺濂溪書院，崇節義，勸種植。 擢四川成綿龍茂道，累攝鹽道、布政使。
Li Zongchuan, whose style was Xiaozeng, came from Tongcheng in Anhui. He passed the provincial examination in the third year of the Jiaqing reign. Appointed magistrate of Shangyu in Zhejiang, he had earlier served in acting posts at Lishui, Pinghu, Rui'an, Jiande, and Pingyang; everywhere he went he sought out the people's grievances, broke the power of local bullies, and overturned unjust verdicts. At Lishui he cleared more than seven hundred backlogged cases, donated his own money to river works, was recommended for promotion to prefect, and was elevated to grain intendant of Zhejiang. When Hang, Jia, and Hu were devastated by flood in the third year of Daoguang, Zongchuan argued that the lower reaches of western Zhejiang's rivers, which discharge through Jiangsu into the sea, had to be dredged through coordinated planning by both provinces; the senior officials accepted his plan and memorialized for joint works. After a demotion on disciplinary grounds, Governor Cheng Hanzhang recommended him for prefectural appointment; posted to Yongzhou in Hunan, he restored the Lianxi Academy, promoted loyalty and moral conduct, and encouraged agriculture. He was promoted intendant of the Cheng-Mian-Long-Mao circuit in Sichuan and repeatedly served in acting posts as salt intendant and provincial treasurer.
4
十三年，瓘邊屬倮夷降复叛，勢甚張，總督鄂山既奏劾提督楊芳，檄宗傳往察治。 宗傳上言：「四廳夷環山為巢，嗜利頑鈍，愈撫愈囂。 去年添兵設防，夷轉四出焚掠，攻壘窺城，略無忌憚。 雖擾一廳，實四廳安危所繫，不可姑息貽患。」 乃建三路進剿之策，倡助軍需，治兵選士，聲威大振。 三路大軍猶未至，宗傳先以計誘降十三支夷，縶之，勒還所掠人口，有業者復之，無業者給貲，縱俘歸，使諭威德。 夷猶豫未決，大軍由冷跡關逼老林巢藪，大破之於石門坎，擒斬數百，毀賊寨二百餘所，夷落悉平。 論功最，擢山東按察使。 捕大盜劉二鞍子置之法，群盜遠遁，遷湖北布政使。 年逾七十，引疾歸。
In the thirteenth year the Luo Yi on the Qian frontier, having submitted, rebelled again with great force; Governor-General E Shan had already impeached Regional Commander Yang Fang and dispatched Zongchuan to investigate and settle the matter. Zongchuan memorialized: "The Yi of the four subprefectures have their lairs in the surrounding mountains; greedy and obstinate, they grow bolder the more one tries to appease them. Last year, after reinforcements were posted and defenses strengthened, the Yi instead ranged out in every direction to burn and plunder, assault stockades, and probe the cities, showing almost no restraint. Though the trouble appears in one subprefecture, the security of all four hangs upon it; we cannot indulge them and leave a lasting menace." He then proposed a three-pronged campaign, rallied contributions for the army, drilled troops and picked the best men, and his authority rose sharply. Before the three armies even arrived, Zongchuan by stratagem induced thirteen Yi bands to surrender, seized their leaders, forced the return of captives, restored lands to those who had property, compensated those who did not, and sent prisoners home to spread word of imperial power and mercy. While the Yi still wavered, the main force pressed through Lengji Pass into their forest strongholds and routed them at Shimenkan, capturing or killing hundreds, destroying more than two hundred rebel camps, and pacifying every Yi settlement. Rated highest for merit, he was promoted provincial judge of Shandong. He captured the notorious bandit Liu Er'anzi and executed him; the rest of the gangs fled, and he was transferred to serve as provincial treasurer of Hubei. After passing seventy, he pleaded illness and retired home.
5
宗傳徵叛夷出奇有功，然居恆時以計取傷仁，意不自慊。 嘗從同縣姚鼐遊，能文章。
Zongchuan won distinction against the rebellious Yi through bold stratagems, yet he was uneasy at heart because his usual reliance on cunning often cut against humane conduct. He had studied under his fellow townsman Yao Nai and was himself a capable writer.
6
王鳳生，字竹嶼，安徽婺源人。 父友亮，乾隆四十六年進士。 由中書充軍機章京，累遷刑部郎中，精究法律，治獄矜慎。 改御史，巡城、巡漕，官至通政司副使，有清直聲。 以詩名。
Wang Fengsheng, whose style was Zhuyu, came from Wuyuan in Anhui. His father Youliang had earned his jinshi degree in the forty-sixth year of the Qianlong reign. Starting in the Secretariat, he served as a Grand Council clerk and rose to director in the Ministry of Punishments, where he mastered the law and tried cases with scrupulous care. He became a censor, took charge of city patrol and grain-transport inspection, rose to vice commissioner of the Office of Transmission, and was known for integrity and moral courage. He was also celebrated as a poet.
7
鳳生，嘉慶中，入貲為浙江通判，屢攝知縣事。 任蘭溪僅數月，清積案七百餘事。 任平湖，有民數百戶，誦經茹素，傳授邪教，鳳生憫其愚惑，開諭利害，治為首數人罪，餘釋之。 補嘉興府通判。 道光初，浙江清查倉庫，以鳳生總其事。 署嘉興知府，遷玉環廳同知。 會浙西大水，江、浙兩省議合治，調鳳生乍浦同知，勘水道，乃由天目山歷湖州、嘉興，沿太湖以達松江。 計畫甫就，事未行，值淮南高堰潰決，江南大吏疏調鳳生赴南河。 未幾，擢河南歸德知府，濬虞城、夏邑、永城三縣溝渠。 尋擢彰衛懷道，道屬河工五廳，歲修糜費，春秋防汛，虛應故事，鳳生力矯積習，事必躬親。 以歲修有定例，另案無定例，在任三年，力刪另案以杜弊。 尋以疾乞歸。
During the Jiaqing reign Fengsheng purchased appointment as vice-prefect of Zhejiang and repeatedly served in acting posts as county magistrate. In only a few months at Lanxi he cleared more than seven hundred backlogged cases. At Pinghu several hundred households were chanting scriptures, eating vegetarian fare, and spreading a heterodox sect; Fengsheng pitied their delusion, explained the consequences to them, punished only the ringleaders, and released the rest. He received a regular appointment as vice-prefect of Jiaxing. Early in the Daoguang reign, when Zhejiang undertook a general audit of granaries and storehouses, Fengsheng was placed in overall charge. He served as acting prefect of Jiaxing and was then transferred to be subprefect of Yuhuan. When western Zhejiang was hit by severe flooding and Jiangsu and Zhejiang agreed on joint works, Fengsheng was transferred to Zhapu to survey the waterways, tracing a route from Mount Tianmu through Huzhou and Jiaxing along Lake Tai to Songjiang. His plan was barely finished when the Gaoyan embankment on the Huainan front burst; the senior officials of Jiangnan memorialized to transfer him to the Southern River works. Soon afterward he was promoted prefect of Guide in Henan, where he dredged the canals and ditches of Yucheng, Xiayi, and Yongcheng. He was soon promoted intendant of the Zhang-Wei-Huai circuit, where the five river offices had long squandered funds on annual repairs and seasonal flood duty in hollow observance of form; Fengsheng fought these entrenched abuses and oversaw every task himself. Annual repairs followed fixed quotas while supplemental projects did not; during three years in office he worked hard to abolish those supplemental accounts and shut down corruption. Before long he petitioned to retire home on grounds of illness.
8
九年，兩江總督蔣攸銛薦起原官，署兩淮鹽運使。 鳳生以淮鹽極敝，條上十八事。 攸銛採其議，改灶鹽，節浮費，濬河道，增屯船，緝場私、鄰私之出入，禁江船、漕船之夾帶，及清查庫款，督運淮北諸條，疏陳待施行，會詔捕鹽梟巨魁黃玉林，鳳生計招出首，責緝私贖罪。 攸銛已入告，旋因告訐置之獄，又得玉林所寄其黨私書，意反复，密疏請處以重法。 上以前後歧異，譴攸銛，鳳生亦降調。 陶澍繼督兩江，與尚書王鼎、侍郎寶興會籌鹽法，合疏留鳳生襄議，於是大有興革，略與鳳生初議相出入； 又奏以鳳生察湖廣銷引，勘議淮北改票事，鳳生雖去官，仍與鹽事終始。 十二年，湖北大潦，總督盧坤疏留鳳生治江、漢堤工，袤亙數百里，半載告竣，秋水至，新堤有潰者，鳳生引咎乞疾歸。 尋淮北票鹽大暢，陶澍以鳳生首議功上聞，促之出，未行而卒。
In the ninth year Governor-General Jiang Youxian of the Two Jiangs had him recalled to his former rank, and he served as acting Liang-Huai salt transport commissioner. Seeing how badly the Huai salt system had decayed, Fengsheng submitted a detailed program of eighteen reforms. Jiang Youxian adopted his proposals—reforming furnace salt, cutting waste, dredging waterways, adding transport vessels, cracking down on field and cross-border smuggling, banning contraband on river and grain boats, auditing treasury funds, and tightening north-of-Huai transport—and memorialized the package for implementation. When the throne ordered the capture of the salt-smuggling kingpin Huang Yulin, Fengsheng devised a plan to induce the chief culprit to surrender and required him to hunt smugglers in exchange for clemency. Jiang Youxian had already reported the surrender to the throne, but Yulin was soon jailed after an informer's accusation; when letters from Yulin to his gang were found, Jiang took this as proof of double-dealing and secretly memorialized for the severest penalty. The emperor, seeing the contradiction between the two accounts, censured Jiang Youxian and demoted Fengsheng as well. Tao Shu succeeded as governor-general of the Two Jiangs and, with Minister Wang Ding and Vice Minister Bao Xing, worked out salt reforms; they jointly memorialized to keep Fengsheng to help draft the plan, and the resulting overhaul largely followed, though not entirely, his original proposals; They also had him inspect salt distribution in Huguang and study north-of-Huai ticket reform; though out of office, Fengsheng remained involved in salt policy from start to finish. In the twelfth year, after severe flooding in Hubei, Governor Lu Kun kept Fengsheng to repair hundreds of li of Yangtze and Han dikes; the work was declared finished in half a year, but when the autumn floods came some new embankments gave way, and Fengsheng took the blame and retired on grounds of illness. Soon ticket salt north of the Huai was thriving; Tao Shu reported Fengsheng's pioneering role to the throne and urged him to return to service, but he died before he could set out.
9
鳳生以仕為學，尤篤好圖誌，成浙西水利圖說備考、河北采風錄、江淮河運圖、漢江紀程、江漢宣防備考、淮南北場河運鹽走私道路圖，每吏一方，必能指畫其形勢，與所宜興革。 四方大吏爭相疏調，少竟其用，惟治淮鹽尤為陶澍所倚藉焉。
Fengsheng treated public service as his school of learning and was devoted to maps and local gazetteers, producing works such as Investigative Notes on Western Zhejiang Waterworks, Hebei Customs Record, Jiang-Huai River Transport Atlas, Han River Journey, Jiang-Han Flood-Control Notes, and maps of salt-smuggling routes on the Huai; in every post he could sketch the terrain and spell out what ought to be changed. Officials everywhere competed to have him transferred to their jurisdictions, yet few made full use of his talents; Tao Shu relied on him above all for reforming Huai salt.
10
黃冕，字服週，湖南長沙人。 年二十，官兩淮鹽大使，治淮、揚賑有聲。 初行海運，巡撫陶澍使赴上海集沙船與議，盡得要領，授江都知縣。 曆元和、上海，署太倉州，擢蘇州府同知，晉秩知府，署常州、鎮江，有大興作，大吏悉倚以辦。 疏治劉河海口，上海蒲匯塘，常州芙蓉江、孟河，冕皆躬任之。 海疆兵事起，從總督裕謙赴浙江。 裕謙死難，冕牽連遣戍伊犁，既而林則徐亦至戍，議興屯田，冕佐治水利有功，赦還。 江蘇巡撫陸建瀛復調冕治海運，革漕費，歲省銀數十萬，為忌者所中，劾罷歸。 咸豐初，粵匪圍長沙，冕建守禦策。 及曾國籓治兵討賊，冕創釐稅，興茶鹽之利，軍餉取給焉。 又開東征局，專餉曾國籓一軍。 起授江西吉安知府，復以事劾免歸，仍以餉事自任，湘軍賴以成功。 尋授雲南迤西道，辭病不赴，卒於家。
Huang Mian, whose style was Fuzhou, came from Changsha in Hunan. At twenty he was appointed Liang-Huai salt commissioner and won renown for famine relief in the Huai-Yang region. When sea transport was first introduced, Governor Tao Shu sent him to Shanghai to negotiate with the sand-shipping fleets; having mastered every detail, he was appointed magistrate of Jiangdu. He served in Yuanhe and Shanghai, acted as prefect of Taicang, was promoted vice-prefect of Suzhou and then to prefect, and held acting posts at Changzhou and Zhenjiang; whenever major projects arose, the senior officials relied on him to carry them out. He personally oversaw dredging at the mouth of the Liu River, Shanghai's Puhui Pond, and Changzhou's Furong and Meng rivers. When war broke out on the coast, he accompanied Governor Yuxie to Zhejiang. After Yuxie died in battle, Huang was implicated and exiled to Yili; when Lin Zexu was sent to the same frontier and colonization was proposed, Huang helped manage the irrigation works with distinction and was eventually pardoned and allowed to return. Jiangsu Governor Lu Jianying recalled him to run the sea transport, abolished extraneous grain-shipping charges, and saved several hundred thousand taels a year; jealous rivals brought him down by impeachment and he returned home. Early in the Xianfeng reign, when the Taiping rebels besieged Changsha, Huang drew up the city's defense plans. When Zeng Guofan raised an army against the rebels, Huang instituted the lijin transit tax and developed tea and salt revenues to fund the troops. He also set up an Eastern Campaign Bureau devoted solely to provisioning Zeng Guofan's forces. Recalled to serve as prefect of Ji'an in Jiangxi, he was impeached and sent home again, yet still took charge of supply work on his own; the Hunan army depended on him for its success. Soon afterward he was appointed intendant of western Yunnan, but pleaded illness and declined; he died at home.
11
冕仕宦初為陶澍、林則徐所知，晚在籍為駱秉章所倚任。 時稱其幹濟，被謗亦甚云。
Early in his career he won the notice of Tao Shu and Lin Zexu; in later years, while living at home, he was entrusted by Luo Bingzhang. Contemporaries praised his practical ability, yet he was also said to have been the target of fierce slander.
12
俞德淵，字陶泉，甘肅平羅人。 嘉慶二十二年進士，選庶吉士，散館授江蘇荊溪知縣。 始至，遮訴者百十輩，逾年，前訴者又易名來控，一見即識之，群驚為神。 調長洲，甚得民心。 遷蘇州督糧同知。 道光六年，初行海運，以德淵董其役，章程皆出手定，以憂去。 八年，服闋，擢常州知府，調江寧。
Yu Deyuan, whose style was Taoquan, came from Pingluo in Gansu. He earned his jinshi degree in the twenty-second year of the Jiaqing reign, entered the Hanlin Academy, and upon completing his term there was appointed magistrate of Jingxi in Jiangsu. On his arrival more than a hundred plaintiffs waylaid him; a year later former litigants returned under false names, yet he recognized them at once, and onlookers were astonished as if he were superhuman. Transferred to Changzhou, he won the deep affection of the people. He was promoted to grain supervisor vice-prefect of Suzhou. In the sixth year of Daoguang, when sea transport was first introduced, Deyuan was placed in overall charge and drafted every regulation himself, but left office to mourn a parent. In the eighth year, after mourning, he was promoted prefect of Changzhou and transferred to Jiangning.
13
十年，宣宗以兩淮鹽法大壞，授陶澍為兩江總督，命尚書王鼎、侍郎寶興赴江南會議改革。 時議者多主罷官商鹽，歸場灶科稅，以德淵有心計，使與議。 德淵具議數千言，略謂：「鹽歸場灶，其法有三：一曰歸灶丁按䥕起科，然其中有難行者三：一在灶丁之逋欠，一在䥕鑊之私煎，一在災祲之藉口； 二曰歸場官給單收稅，難行者亦有三：一在額數之難定，一在稽查之難週，一在官吏之難恃； 三曰歸場商認䥕納課，難行者亦有三：一在疲商之鑽充，一在殷戶之規避，一在垣外之私售。 以上三法，共有九難。 如就三者兼權之，則招商認䥕，猶為此善於彼。 苟得其人，或可講求盡善。 顧事關圖始，果欲行之，則宜先定章程。 清灶僉商、改官易制諸事，非三年不能就緒。 此三年中，額課未可長懸也，場鹽未可停售也，各岸食鹽未可久缺也。 新舊接替之時，非熟思審處，何能變通盡利乎？ 向來捆鹽之夫，淮北永豐有萬餘人，淮南老虎頸不下數万人，皆無賴遊民以此為事業。 一旦失所，此數万眾將安往？ 其患又不止私梟拒捕已也。」 議上，陶澍深然之，乃與朝使定議，不歸場灶，仍用官商如故； 惟奏罷鹽政，裁浮費，減窩價，凡積弊皆除之。 薦德淵超擢兩淮鹽運使。
In the tenth year, seeing how badly the Liang-Huai salt system had decayed, the Xuanzong Emperor appointed Tao Shu governor-general of the Two Jiangs and sent Minister Wang Ding and Vice Minister Bao Xing to Jiangnan to plan reforms. Most reformers then favored abolishing the official-merchant salt system and taxing production at the salt fields and furnaces; because Deyuan was known for shrewd planning, he was brought into the discussions. Deyuan submitted a memorial several thousand characters long, arguing in essence: "Returning salt revenue to the fields and furnaces admits three approaches. The first is to levy on furnace workers by salt pan, but three difficulties stand in the way: arrears among the workers, illicit private boiling, and disasters invoked as excuses; The second is for field officials to issue receipts and collect tax directly, but here too there are three difficulties: setting fixed quotas, conducting thorough inspections, and relying on local officials; The third is for licensed merchants at the fields to contract for pans and pay duty, but again three difficulties arise: bankrupt merchants muscling in, wealthy households evading registration, and illicit sales beyond the salt yards; Taken together, these three schemes present nine serious difficulties. If one weighs all three together, inviting merchants to contract for salt pans is still the least bad option. With the right men in charge, it might even be made to work tolerably well. Yet this is a matter of founding an entirely new system; if it is truly to be attempted, regulations must be settled first. Clearing the furnaces, enrolling merchants, replacing officials, and changing institutions cannot be completed in less than three years. During those three years, quota revenue cannot be left in suspense, salt from the fields cannot stop being sold, and the consuming provinces cannot long go without supply. At the moment of transition from old to new, how can the change be managed for full benefit without careful, deliberate planning? The men who bundled salt for transport numbered more than ten thousand at Yongfeng north of the Huai and tens of thousands at Laohujing south of the Huai—all rootless drifters who lived by that trade alone. If they lose their livelihood overnight, where are these tens of thousands to go? The danger would extend far beyond smugglers resisting arrest." When the memorial reached him, Tao Shu strongly agreed; he and the imperial commissioners then decided not to return revenue to the fields and furnaces but to keep the official-merchant system as before; they memorialized instead to abolish the salt commissioner, cut waste, reduce nest prices, and sweep away every entrenched abuse. He recommended Deyuan for exceptional promotion to Liang-Huai salt transport commissioner.
14
德淵精會計，又知人善任。 諸滯岸商憚往運，改以官督辦，千里行鹽，稽覈價用，瑣屑悉當。 每運恆有餘利，盡以充庫，無私取。 兩淮本脂膏地，運使多以財結權貴及四方遊客，餘贍給寒畯，取聲譽，皆出商貲。 德淵謹守筦鑰，失望者眾，言者時相攻訐，不顧也。 在任五年，力崇節儉，妻子常衣布素，揚州華侈之俗為之一變。 尚書黃鉞子中民為場大使，欲得美職，德淵曰：「美職以待有功，中民無功不可得。」 堅不與。 陶澍益賢之，薦其才可大用，以循良久在鹽官可惜，上亦嘉之，未及擢用而卒。
Deyuan was a master of accounts and knew how to choose and deploy the right men. When merchants at slow-selling depots refused to transport salt, he switched to official supervision; over thousand-li hauls he audited prices and costs down to the smallest item. Every shipment yielded a surplus, all of which went into the public treasury; he took nothing for himself. The Two Huai were a wealthy region; transport commissioners typically used merchant money to court powerful nobles and visiting guests, then distributed the rest to poor scholars for reputation. Deyuan kept a tight grip on the treasury keys; many were disappointed, and critics assailed him constantly, but he paid no attention. During five years in office he promoted frugality with all his strength; his wife and children wore only plain cloth, and Yangzhou's extravagant ways were transformed. Minister Huang Yue's son Zhongmin, a field commissioner, sought a desirable post; Deyuan replied: "Desirable posts are reserved for men of merit; Zhongmin has none and cannot have one." He refused firmly. Tao Shu admired him all the more, recommended him for higher office, and lamented that a man of such talent should linger so long in the salt administration; the emperor praised him too, but he died before he could be promoted.
15
姚瑩，字石甫，安徽桐城人。 嘉慶十三年進士，授福建平和知縣。 調龍溪，俗健悍，械鬥仇殺無虛日。 瑩擒巨惡立斃之，收豪猾為用，予以自新。 親巡問疾苦，使侵奪者各還舊業，誓解仇讎。 擇強力者為家長，約束族眾，籍壯丁為鄉勇，逐捕盜賊，有犯，責家長縛送。 械鬥平，盜賊亦戢，治行為閩中第一。 調台灣，署海防同知、噶瑪蘭同知，坐事落職。 尋以噶瑪蘭獲盜功，复官。 父憂歸，服闋，改發江蘇，歷金壇、元和、武進。 遷高郵知州，擢兩淮監掣同知，護鹽運使。 先後疆吏趙慎畛、陶澍、林則徐皆薦其可大用。
Yao Ying, whose style was Shipu, came from Tongcheng in Anhui. He earned his jinshi degree in the thirteenth year of the Jiaqing reign and was appointed magistrate of Pinghe in Fujian. Transferred to Longxi, where the people were fierce and armed feuds and revenge killings occurred almost daily. Yao seized the worst offenders and executed them on the spot, then enlisted local strongmen and gave them a chance to reform. He toured in person to hear the people's grievances, restored seized property, and had feuding parties swear to end their vendettas. He appointed strong men as clan heads to keep their kin in order, enrolled able-bodied men as village militia to hunt bandits, and held clan heads responsible for binding and delivering any offender. Armed feuds subsided, banditry was curbed, and his record of governance ranked first in Fujian. Transferred to Taiwan, he served as acting coastal defense vice-prefect and Gamlan vice-prefect, but was dismissed on disciplinary grounds. Soon afterward he was restored to office for capturing bandits at Gamlan. After mourning his father he was reassigned to Jiangsu, serving successively at Jintan, Yuanhe, and Wujin. He was promoted prefect of Gaoyou, then elevated to Liang-Huai salt inspection vice-prefect and served as acting salt transport commissioner. Frontier governors Zhao Shenque, Tao Shu, and Lin Zexu in turn recommended him for high office.
16
道光十年，特擢台灣道。 及海疆戒嚴，瑩與總兵達洪阿預為戰守計。 達洪阿性剛，與同官鮮合，瑩推誠相接，一日謁謝曰：「武人不學，為子所容久矣，自今聽子而行。」 二十一年秋，英兵兩犯雞籠海口，明年正月，又犯大安港。 瑩設方略，與達洪阿督兵連卻之，大有斬獲，收前所失寧波、廈門砲械甚多。 敵構奸民煽亂，海寇亦竊發，皆即捕戮，一方屹然，詔嘉獎，加二品銜，予雲騎尉世職。
In the tenth year of Daoguang he received a special promotion to Taiwan circuit intendant. When the coast was placed on military alert, Yao and Regional Commander Da Hong'a drew up plans for defense in advance. Da Hong'a was stubborn and rarely got on with his colleagues; Yao treated him with open sincerity until one day Da called to say: "We soldiers are unlettered men; you have borne with me long enough—from now on I shall follow your lead." That autumn British forces twice attacked Keelung, and in the first month of the following year they struck Da'an harbor as well. Yao devised the strategy; working with Da Hong'a he drove the enemy back again and again with heavy casualties inflicted on them, and recovered much of the artillery lost earlier at Ningbo and Xiamen. When the enemy incited collaborators and sea bandits rose in secret, Yao had them seized and executed at once; the region held firm; the court commended him, raised him to second rank, and granted a hereditary Cloud Cavalry Captain title.
17
洎江寧議款求息事，遂有台灣鎮道冒功之獄。 故事，台灣以懸隔海外，加兵備道按察使銜，得與鎮臣專奏事。 雞籠、大安之捷，飛章入告，總督怡良心不平。 英兵留駐鼓浪嶼，前獲俘欲解內地，勢不能達，奏請便宜誅之，以絕內患，已報可，怡良仍令解省。 瑩與達洪阿謀曰：「大府意欲市德，藉以退鼓浪嶼之兵。 兵不可退，徒示弱，不如殺之！」 怡良愈怒，諸帥並忌之。 款議既成，交還敵俘，以妄殺被劾，逮問。 瑩與達洪阿約，義不與俘虜質，即自引咎。 宣宗心知台灣功，入獄六日，特旨以同知直隸州知州發往四川效用，至則復為總督寶興所忌。 會西藏兩呼圖克圖相爭，檄往平之。 瑩謂：「夷人難以德化。 失職下僚，孑身往，徒損國威。」 不聽。 及至乍雅，果不得要領而返。 總督劾其畏難規避，責再往。 事竣，補蓬州。 在州二年，引疾歸。
When peace talks at Jiangning sought to end the war, a case arose accusing the Taiwan commander and intendant of falsely claiming credit. By precedent, because Taiwan lay far overseas, its military defense intendant held provincial judge rank and could memorialize the throne jointly with the regional commander on his own authority. Victories at Keelung and Da'an were reported by urgent memorial, to the deep displeasure of Governor Yi Liang. British troops remained on Gulangyu Island; earlier prisoners could not be sent inland, so a memorial requested discretionary execution to forestall trouble; the throne had approved, yet Yi Liang still ordered the prisoners sent to the provincial capital. Yao and Da Hong'a agreed: "The governor wants to curry favor and use the prisoners to get the British off Gulangyu. The troops will not withdraw; this only shows weakness—we should kill the prisoners instead!" Yi Liang was furious, and the senior commanders all turned against them. After the treaty was signed and enemy prisoners were to be returned, they were impeached for unlawful execution and taken into custody. Yao and Da Hong'a had agreed that they would not use prisoners as bargaining chips and at once accepted full responsibility. The Xuanzong Emperor knew the true worth of the Taiwan victories; after six days in prison a special edict sent him to Sichuan as a subprefect and department magistrate to redeem himself, but there Governor Bao Xing turned against him again. When two Tibetan hutuktus fell into conflict, he was ordered by dispatch to go and settle the dispute. Yao objected: "Barbarians cannot be won over by moral suasion alone. A disgraced junior official going alone would only damage the nation's prestige." His advice was ignored. When he reached Zhaya, he failed to achieve anything and returned empty-handed, as he had predicted. The governor impeached him for shirking a difficult assignment and ordered him to go again. When the mission ended, he was appointed magistrate of Pengzhou. After two years in office he pleaded illness and retired home.
18
文宗即位，黜大學士穆彰阿，詔宣示中外，並及瑩與達洪阿被陷狀，於是復起用，授湖北武昌鹽法道，未行，擢廣西按察使，命參大學士賽尚阿軍事。 時廣西寇漸熾，諸將不合，師久無功。 瑩至，任為翼長。 大軍圍賊紫金山，瑩言流賊如水，必環攻以斷其逸，不聽，賊遂竄永安。 又上書請斬僨事將，復不聽。 永安城小，都統烏蘭泰軍西南，提督向榮軍東北，合滇、黔、楚、蜀兵四萬餘人，賊數千壁險死鬥。 水竇者，永安東北之隘也，緣山徑可達桂林。 瑩與烏蘭泰皆主擊水竇，絕賊外援，向榮不從，自由龍寮嶺進而敗，乃議開水竇一路縱賊逸，尾追擊之。 瑩力辯其失，賽尚阿仍用向榮策，賊果突圍出犯桂林，烏蘭泰戰死，賽尚阿逮問。 賊勢益熾，連陷興安、全州，犯湖南，遂不可製。 瑩隨軍至湖南，巡撫張亮基奏署按察使，憂憤致疾，卒於官。
When the Wenzong Emperor came to the throne, Grand Secretary Mujangga was dismissed and an edict to the empire also cleared Yao and Da Hong'a of the false charges against them; Yao was then restored, appointed salt law intendant at Wuchang in Hubei, and before he could take up that post was promoted provincial judge of Guangxi and ordered to join Grand Secretary Saišangga's staff. Rebels in Guangxi were growing stronger, the generals could not cooperate, and the campaign had dragged on without success. When Yao arrived, he was made wing commander of the staff. When the main force besieged the rebels on Purple Gold Mountain, Yao argued that roving bandits were like water and must be encircled completely to cut off escape; his advice was ignored, and the rebels broke out toward Yong'an. He memorialized again asking that incompetent generals be executed; again he was ignored. Yong'an was a small city; Banner Commander Ulan Tai held the southwest and Regional Commander Xiang Rong the northeast; together they had more than forty thousand troops from Yunnan, Guizhou, Huguang, and Sichuan, while several thousand rebels held the high ground and fought desperately. Shuidou was the pass northeast of Yong'an; a mountain path there led to Guilin. Yao and Ulan Tai both urged an assault on Shuidou to cut off outside help; Xiang Rong refused, advanced by Longliao Ridge, and was defeated; the command then proposed opening Shuidou to let the rebels escape and chasing them afterward. Yao argued strenuously against the plan, but Saišangga followed Xiang Rong's strategy; the rebels broke out, struck toward Guilin, Ulan Tai was killed in battle, and Saišangga was arrested. The rebels grew stronger still, took Xing'an and Quanzhou in succession, invaded Hunan, and were beyond control. Yao followed the army into Hunan; Governor Zhang Liangji had him appointed acting provincial judge, but grief and anger brought on illness and he died in office.
19
瑩師事從祖鼐，不好經生章句，務通大意，見諸施行。 文章善持論，指陳時事利害，慷慨深切。 所著東溟文集、奏稿、後湘詩集、東槎紀略、康輶紀行及雜著諸書，為中復堂全集，行於世。
Yao studied under his kinsman Yao Nai, cared little for pedantic textual scholarship, sought the larger meaning, and put it into practice. His essays argued forcefully, analyzing current affairs with passionate conviction and depth. His works—including the Eastern Sea Collection, memorial drafts, Later Xiang Poems, Eastern Raft Notes, Journey Around Kang, and other writings—were published as the Zhongfu Hall Complete Works.
20
子濬昌，能繼家學。 曾國籓以名家子留佐幕，官江西安福、湖北竹山知縣。 工詩，有五瑞堂集。
His son Junchang carried on the family's scholarly tradition. Zeng Guofan kept him on his staff as the son of a distinguished family; he served as magistrate of Anfu in Jiangxi and Zhushan in Hubei. He was a skilled poet and left a collection entitled Wuru Hall.
21
論曰：林培厚救荒治河有實績，而以察吏招忌。 李宗傳便宜平夷，功在邊方。 王鳳生、俞德淵佐陶澍治淮鹽，尤濟時之才。 姚瑩保岩疆，挫強敵，反遭讒譴，然朝廷未嘗不諒其忠勤，海內引領望其再用，亦不可謂不遇矣。
The historians comment: Lin Peihou achieved real results in famine relief and river works, yet by reporting on subordinate officials he made powerful enemies. Li Zongchuan pacified the Yi by flexible measures, and his merit lay on the frontier. Wang Fengsheng and Yu Deyuan assisted Tao Shu in reforming Huai salt—men of outstanding practical talent for their time. Yao Ying defended the coastal frontier and humbled a powerful enemy, yet was slandered and punished; still the court never doubted his loyalty, and the empire looked to his recall—so one cannot say fortune wholly passed him by.