Volume 295 Biographies 54: Yin Zhu, Sun Fu, Xie Jiang, Ye Qingchen, Yang Cha

尹洙，字師魯，河南人。少與兄源俱以儒學知名。舉進士，調正平縣主簿。歷河南府戶曹參軍、安國軍節度推官、知光澤縣。舉書判拔萃，改山南東道節度掌書記、知伊陽縣，有能名。用大臣薦，召試，為館閣校勘，遷太子中允。會范仲淹貶，敕榜朝堂，戒百官為朋黨。洙上奏曰：「仲淹忠亮有素，臣與之義兼師友，則是仲淹之黨也。今仲淹以朋黨被罪，臣不可苟免。」宰相怒，落校勘，復為掌書記、監唐州酒稅。

Yin Zhu, whose courtesy name was Shilu, came from Henan. From his youth he and his older brother Yuan were both known for their learning in the Confucian tradition. After earning his jinshi degree, he was appointed registrar of Zhengping County. He served in turn as a staff officer in the Henan prefecture, as a military adjutant on the Anyang circuit, and as prefect of Guangze. When he placed at the top in the examination on legal judgments, he was moved to be secretary on the Shannan East circuit and prefect of Yiyang, where he won a name for administrative ability. Recommended by leading ministers, he was called to court for testing, made a collator in the Hanlin archives, and promoted to vice director in the crown prince's household. At this time Fan Zhongyan was demoted, and an imperial notice was displayed in the hall of audience forbidding officials to form factions. Zhu submitted a memorial: "Zhongyan's loyalty and uprightness are of long standing. My ties to him are those of both teacher and friend — so I too am one of Zhongyan's faction. Now that Zhongyan is condemned as a factionalist, I cannot seek to excuse myself." The chief ministers were furious. He was stripped of his collatorship and sent back to serve as a circuit secretary and to supervise the liquor tax at Tangzhou.

西北久安，洙作《敘燕》、《息戍》二篇，以為武備不可弛。《敘燕》曰：

With the northwest at peace for many years, Zhu composed two essays, Discourse on Yan and On Resting the Garrisons, arguing that military preparedness must not be allowed to lapse. Discourse on Yan reads:

「戰國世，燕最弱。二漢叛臣，持燕挾虜，蔑能自固，以公孫伯珪之強，卒制於袁氏。獨慕容乘石虎亂，乃並趙。雖勝敗異術，大概論其強弱，燕不能加趙。趙、魏一，則燕固不敵。唐三盜連衡百餘年，虜未嘗越燕侵趙、魏，是燕獨能支虜也。自燕入於契丹，勢日熾大。顯德世，雖復三關，尚未盡燕南地。國初，始與並合，勢益張，然止命偏師備禦。王師伐蜀伐吳，泰然不以兩河為顧，是趙、魏足以制之明矣。幷寇既平，悉天下銳專力契丹，不能攘尺寸地。頃嘗以百萬眾駐趙、魏，訖敵退莫敢抗，世多咎其不戰。然我眾負城，有內顧心，戰不必勝，不勝則事亟矣，故不戰未嘗咎也。

"In the Warring States period Yan was the weakest of the states. In Han times rebel ministers used Yan to shield themselves behind the northern tribes yet could not secure themselves; even with a commander as strong as Gongsun Zan, they were ultimately mastered by Yuan Shao. Only the Murong, seizing on the turmoil of Shi Hu's reign, was able to swallow Zhao. Though their methods of victory and defeat differed, on the whole Yan could not match Zhao in strength. Once Zhao and Wei stood as one, Yan could not hope to prevail. For over a century under the Tang the Three Brigands kept their alliance, and the northern tribes never crossed Yan to strike at Zhao and Wei — Yan alone could hold them at bay. After Yan fell to the Khitan, their power grew ever greater. In the Xiande era the three passes were recovered, yet the lands south of Yan were not fully regained. At the dynasty's founding the two realms were finally united, and Khitan strength swelled further — yet the court only stationed detached forces to guard the frontier. When the imperial armies marched against Shu and Wu, the court remained untroubled about the two He regions — a clear sign that Zhao and Wei were enough to keep the Khitan in check. After the northern enemy was subdued, the empire poured every elite force against the Khitan yet could not win back so much as a foot of ground. Recently a host of a million was stationed in Zhao and Wei; when the enemy withdrew no one dared give battle, and many blamed the commanders for failing to fight. Yet our troops leaned on walled cities and longed for home; battle offered no certainty of victory, and defeat would have made the crisis immediate — so refraining from battle was never truly faulted.

原其弊，在兵不分。設兵為三，壁於爭地，掎角以疑其勢，設覆以待其進。邊壘素固，驅民以守之，俾其兵頓堅城之下，乘間夾擊，無不勝矣。蓋兵不分有六弊：使敵蓄勇以待戰，無他枝梧，一也；我眾則士怠，二也；前世善將兵者必問幾何，今以中才盡主之，三也；大眾儻北，彼遂長驅無復顧忌，四也；重兵一屬，根本虛弱，纖人易以幹說，五也；雖委大柄，不無疑貳，復命貴臣監督，進退皆由中御，失於應變，六也。兵分則盡易其弊，是有六利也。

The root of the defect lay in failing to divide the army. Divide the forces into three, fortify contested ground, strike from two sides to unsettle the enemy, and lay ambushes to meet their advance. With border fortifications already strong, mobilize the people to hold them, pin the enemy beneath those walls, and strike from both flanks at the right moment — victory would be assured. Not dividing the army brings six harms: the enemy can gather its strength for a single battle with no distraction elsewhere — the first harm; when our numbers are great the troops grow lax — the second; skilled generals of old always asked how many men they would command, yet today men of only middling ability are placed over the whole host — the third; if the main army marches north, the enemy can ride deep without further restraint — the fourth; when all heavy forces answer to one man the heartland is left weak and petty men can easily sway policy — the fifth; even when full authority is granted, suspicion remains; eminent ministers are sent to oversee, and every move must be approved from the capital — losing the power to adapt — the sixth. Divide the army and all six harms are readily reversed — that is the sixfold gain.

勝敗兵家常勢。悉內以擊外，失則舉所有以棄之，苻堅淝水、哥舒翰潼關是也。是則制敵在謀不在眾。以趙、魏、燕南，益以山西，民足以守，兵足以戰。分而帥之，將得專制，就使偏師挫衄，他眾尚奮，詎能繫國安危哉？故師覆於外而本根不搖者，善敗也。昔者六國各有地千里，師敗於秦，散而復振，幾百戰猶未及其都，守國之固也。陳勝、項梁舉關東之眾，朝敗而夕滅，新造之勢也。以天下之廣謀其國，不若千里之固，而襲新造之勢，僥幸於一戰，庸非惑哉？兵既久弭，士大夫誦習，謂百世不復用，非甚妄者不談。然兵果廢則已，儻後世復用之，鑒此少以悟世主，故跡其勝敗云。」

Victory and defeat are the common lot of armies. Mass every resource at home to strike abroad, and one defeat costs everything — as with Fu Jian at the Fei River and Geshu Han at Tong Pass. Controlling the enemy depends on design, not on numbers. With Zhao, Wei, southern Yan, and Shanxi besides, the population is enough to hold the line and the soldiers enough to fight. Divide the forces and let each commander act on his own; even if one wing is beaten, the others remain eager — how could the nation's fate hang on a single clash? When armies are broken in the field yet the foundation does not tremble, that is mastery even in defeat. In old times the six states each held a thousand li; beaten by Qin they scattered and regrouped, and after hundreds of battles Qin had still not reached their capitals — that is what it means to defend a realm securely. Chen Sheng and Xiang Liang raised the armies east of the Pass; defeated at dawn, they were gone by dusk — the fate of a power newly forged. To stake the wide realm on one plan is not like securing a thousand li; yet to imitate a fledgling uprising and stake everything on one battle — is that not folly? With war long stilled, the literati recite their texts and declare that arms will not be needed for a hundred generations; only the most reckless still speak of war. If arms are truly to be cast aside, so be it; but should later ages take them up again, let this brief record awaken their rulers — hence I have traced these victories and defeats."

《息戍》曰：

On Resting the Garrisons reads:

「國家割棄朔方，西師不出三十年，而亭徼千里，環重兵以戍之。雖種落屢擾，即時輯定，然屯戍之費，亦已甚矣。西戎為寇，遠自周世，西漢先零，東漢燒當，晉氐、羌，唐禿髪，歷朝侵軼，為國劇患。興師定律，皆有成功，而勞弊中國，東漢尤甚，費用常以億計。孝安世，羌叛十四年，用二百四十億。永和末，復經七年，用八十餘億。及段紀明，用裁五十四億，而剪滅殆盡。今西北涇原、邠寧、秦鳳、鄜延四帥，戍卒十餘萬。一卒歲給，無慮二萬，騎卒與冗卒，較其中者，總廩給之數，恩賞不在焉，以十萬較之，歲用二十億。自靈武罷兵，計費六百餘億，方前世數倍矣。平世屯戍，且猶若是，後雖有他警，不可一日輟去，是十萬眾，有增而無損期也。國家厚利募商入粟，傾四方之貨，然無水漕之運，所輓致亦不過被邊數郡爾。歲不常登，廩有常給，頃年亦嘗稍匱矣。儻其乘我薦饑，我必濟師，饋饟當出於關中，則未戰而西垂已困，可不慮哉？

"The state surrendered Shuofang, and for thirty years no western expedition was launched — yet beacon towers line a thousand li of frontier, ringed by heavy garrisons. Though the tribes raided again and again and were quickly subdued, the cost of maintaining those garrisons had already grown enormous. Western raids date back to the Zhou — the Xianlian in Western Han, the Shaodang in Eastern Han, the Di and Qiang in Jin, the Tufa in Tang — generation after generation they harried the borders and were a grave national scourge. Every dynasty that raised armies and set policy achieved success, yet each wore down the heartland — Eastern Han most of all, with costs often running into the hundreds of millions. Under Emperor An the Qiang rebelled for fourteen years, consuming 24 billion in expenditure. At the close of the Yonghe era another seven years of war cost more than 8 billion. Under Duan Jiming the cost was only 5.4 billion, and the rebels were all but wiped out. Today the four northwestern commands — Jingyuan, Binning, Qinfeng, and Fuyan — keep more than a hundred thousand men on the frontier. Each soldier costs at least twenty thousand a year in supplies; counting cavalry and auxiliaries at a middle estimate, grain payments alone for a hundred thousand men run to two billion yearly, not counting rewards. Since the withdrawal from Lingzhou the total has passed 60 billion — several times what earlier dynasties spent. Even in peacetime garrison costs run this high; though new alarms may arise, the garrisons cannot stand down for a day — this host of a hundred thousand can only grow, never shrink, for years to come. The court pays lavish profits to lure merchants to haul grain, draining goods from every region — yet without canal transport the supply reaches only a handful of border prefectures. Harvests are not always good, yet the granaries must be fed without pause; in recent years reserves have even grown thin. If the tribes strike when famine grips us and we must send reinforcements, supplies must come from Guanzhong — the western frontier would be exhausted before a battle was fought. Should we not reckon with that?

按唐府兵，上府千二百人，中府千人，下府八百人。為今之計，莫若籍丁民為兵，擬唐置府，頗損其數。又今邊鄙雖有鄉兵之制，然止極塞數郡，民籍寡少，不足備敵。料京兆西北數郡，上戶可十餘萬，中家半之，當得兵六七萬。質其賦無他易，賦以帛名者不易以五穀，畜馬者又蠲其雜徭。民幸於庇宗，樂然隸籍。農隙講事，登材武者為什長、隊正，盛秋旬閱，常若寇至。以關內、河東勁兵傅之，盡罷京師禁旅，慎簡守帥，分其統，專其任。分統則兵不重，專任則將益勵，堅其守備，習其形勢，積粟多，教士銳，使虜眾無隙可窺，不戰而懾。《兵志》所謂「無恃其不來，恃吾有以待之」，其廟勝之策乎？」

Under the Tang frontier-militia system, upper prefectures fielded 1,200 men, middle ones 1,000, and lower ones 800. The best policy today is to register adult males as soldiers, reviving the Tang militia prefectures on a somewhat reduced scale. The frontier does have a militia system, but it covers only the outermost border counties; registered households are too few to face the enemy. Counting several prefectures northwest of the capital, wealthy households may exceed a hundred thousand; middle households half as many — yielding sixty or seventy thousand soldiers. Let them pledge their tax payments in kind without other levies; taxes assessed in silk need not be converted to grain, and horse-keepers should be freed from miscellaneous corvée. Glad of clan protection, the people would enroll willingly. Drill them in the farming slack season; promote the martially gifted as squad and company leaders; in late autumn hold ten-day reviews as if the enemy were upon them. Attach the crack troops of Guannei and Hedong, disband the capital guard, choose frontier commanders with care, divide command among them, and give each full responsibility. Split command so no single army grows too heavy; sole responsibility makes generals strive; fortify defenses, master the terrain, stock grain, sharpen troops — leave the barbarians no gap to probe, and they will be cowed without a battle. As the Art of War says, "Do not count on the enemy not coming; count on being ready when he does" — is that not victory won before the campaign begins?

又為《述享》、《審斷》、《原刑》、《敦學》、《矯察》、《考績》、《廣諫》，凡《雜議》共九篇上之。

He also wrote On Sacrificial Rites, On Judgment, On the Origins of Punishment, On Encouraging Learning, On Rectifying Investigation, On Assessing Performance, and On Broad Remonstrance — nine essays in all under the title Miscellaneous Discourses, which he submitted to the throne.

趙元昊反，大將葛懷敏辟為經略判官。洙雖用懷敏辟，尤為韓琦所深知。頃之，劉平、石元孫戰敗，朝廷以夏竦為經略、安撫使，范仲淹、韓琦副之，復以洙為判官。洙數上疏論兵，請便殿召對二府大臣議邊事，及講求開寶以前用兵故實，特出睿斷，以重邊計。又請減並柵壘，召募土兵，省騎軍，增步卒。又上鬻爵令。時詔問攻守之計，竦具二策，令琦與洙詣闕奏之。帝取攻策，以洙為集賢校理。洙遂趨延州謀出兵，而仲淹持不可。還至慶州，會任福敗於好水川，因發慶州部將劉政銳卒數千，趨鎮戎軍赴救，未至，賊引去。夏竦奏洙擅發兵，降通判濠州。當時言者謂福之敗，由參軍耿傅督戰太急。後得傅書，乃戒福使持重，毋輕進。洙以傅文吏，無軍責而死於行陣，又為時所誣，遂作《憫忠》、《辨誣》二篇。

When Zhao Yuanhao rebelled, the commander Ge Huaimin recruited him as adjutant on the frontier commission. Though Zhu had entered through Ge Huaimin's commission, Han Qi knew his worth especially well. Soon Liu Ping and Shi Yuansun were defeated; the court named Xia Song frontier commissioner and pacification commissioner, with Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi as deputies, and again appointed Zhu adjutant. Zhu repeatedly memorialized on military affairs, asking that ministers of the Two Departments be called to the side hall to discuss the border, and that precedents for warfare before the Kaibao era be studied — urging the emperor to decide personally and give real weight to frontier policy. He also urged reducing and merging stockades, recruiting local militia, trimming cavalry, and adding infantry. He also submitted a proposal on the sale of official ranks. When the court asked for plans of attack and defense, Xia Song drafted two strategies and sent Han Qi and Zhu to present them at court. The emperor chose the offensive plan and appointed Zhu collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies. Zhu hurried to Yanzhou to plan a campaign, but Fan Zhongyan insisted it should not go forward. On his return to Qingzhou, Ren Fu was defeated at Hao River; Zhu sent several thousand elite troops under the Qingzhou officer Liu Zheng toward Zhenrong to rescue them, but the enemy withdrew before they arrived. Xia Song reported that Zhu had mobilized troops without authorization and demoted him to vice prefect of Haozhou. Contemporaries said Ren Fu's defeat came because the adjutant Geng Fu had pressed the battle too hard. Later Geng Fu's letter was found; it had warned Ren Fu to be cautious and not advance rashly. Zhu held that Geng Fu, a civil official with no military command, had died in battle and been slandered by his contemporaries; he wrote Lament for the Loyal and Refuting Slander.

未幾，韓琦知秦州，辟洙通判州事，加直集賢院。上奏曰：

Before long Han Qi became prefect of Qinzhou, recruited Zhu as vice prefect, and gave him the additional title of academician in the Hall of Assembled Worthies. He submitted a memorial:

「漢文帝盛德之主，賈誼論當時事勢，猶云可為慟哭。孝武帝外制四夷，以強主威，徐樂、嚴安尚以陳勝亡秦、六卿篡晉為戒。二帝不以危亂滅亡為諱，故子孫保有天下者十餘世。秦二世時，關東盜起。或以反者聞，二世怒，下吏；或曰逐捕今盡，不足憂，乃悅。隋煬帝時，四方兵起，左右近臣皆隱賊數，不以實聞，或言賊多者，輒被詰。二帝以危亂滅亡為諱，故秦、隋宗社數年為丘墟。陛下視今日天下之治，孰與漢文？威制四夷，孰與漢武？國家基本仁德，陛下慈孝愛民，誠萬萬於秦、隋矣。至於西有不臣之虜，北有強大之鄰，非特閭巷盜賊之勢也。

"Emperor Wen of Han was a ruler of surpassing virtue; when Jia Yi surveyed the affairs of his day, he still said the situation could move one to tears. Emperor Wu subdued the four quarters to magnify imperial might; yet Xu Yue and Yan An still warned of Chen Sheng's overthrow of Qin and the six ministers' seizure of Jin. Those two emperors did not shrink from naming danger and ruin; that is why their line held the realm for more than ten generations. Under the Second Emperor of Qin, rebels rose east of the Pass. When someone reported rebels, the Second Emperor flew into a rage and punished the messenger; when another said the pursuit would soon capture them all and there was nothing to fear, he was pleased. Under Emperor Yang of Sui, armies rose on every side; close attendants hid the rebel numbers and would not report truthfully; whoever said the rebels were many was rebuked. Those two emperors would not hear of peril and ruin; within a few years the houses of Qin and Sui were heaps of rubble. Your Majesty, compare the governance of the realm today — is it closer to that of Han Wen? In awe-inspiring control of the four quarters — is it closer to that of Han Wu? The state's foundation is benevolence and virtue; Your Majesty is filial, benevolent, and loves the people — truly incomparably above Qin and Sui. Yet in the west stands an unsubmissive barbarian power, and in the north a mighty neighbor — this is no mere threat of street robbers.

自西夏叛命四年，幷塞苦數擾，內地疲遠輸。兵久於外而休息無期，卒有乘弊而起。《兵法》所謂「雖有智者，不能善其後」。當此之時，陛下宜夙夜憂懼，所以慮事變而塞禍源也。陛下延訪邊事，容納直言，前世人主。勤勞寬大，未有能遠過者。然未聞以宗廟為憂，危亡為懼，此賤臣所以感憤於邑而不已也。何者？今命令數更，恩寵過濫，賜與不節。此三者，戒之慎之，在陛下所行爾，非有難動之勢也。而因循不革，弊壞日甚。臣謂陛下不以宗廟為憂、危亡為懼者，以此。

Four years since Western Xia rebelled, the Bing frontier has been harried again and again, and the heartland is worn down supplying distant campaigns. The army has been in the field for years with no end to rest in sight; the rank and file may seize a moment of weakness to rise up. As the Art of War says: "Even the wise cannot set right what follows." In such a moment Your Majesty should worry day and night—that is how to foresee change and choke off the springs of disaster. Your Majesty seeks counsel on frontier affairs and accepts blunt speech—sovereigns of former ages in diligence and magnanimity—none could come close. Yet I have not heard you treat the ancestral altars as your concern or the threat of ruin as your fear—and that is why this humble official is stirred in my breast and cannot hold my peace. Why? Today commands shift constantly, favor is poured out without measure, and gifts know no limit. These three demand vigilance; they rest entirely in what Your Majesty does—there is no force beyond your reach. Yet you cling to old habits without reform, and the damage grows worse each day. Your servant says that Your Majesty does not treat the ancestral altars as your concern or the threat of ruin as your fear—and that, I believe, is why.

未命令者，人主所以取信於下也。異時民間，朝廷降一命令，皆竦視之；今則不然，相與竊語，以為不久當更，既而信然，此命令日輕於下也。命令輕，則朝廷不尊矣。又聞群臣有獻忠謀者，陛下始甚聽之，年復一人沮之，則意移矣。忠言者以信之不能終，頗自詘其謀，以為無益，此命令數更之弊也。

As for commands—they are how a ruler wins the trust of those below. In former times, when the court issued an order, the people received it with awe; now it is otherwise: they whisper that it will soon change—and they are right; commands grow lighter in the eyes of the people day by day. When commands carry little weight, the court is not honored. I also hear that when ministers offer loyal counsel Your Majesty at first listens closely, yet before a year is out someone blocks it and your mind turns elsewhere. Men of loyal counsel, seeing that trust cannot hold to the end, quietly set aside their plans as futile—this is the harm of commands that change too often.

夫爵賞，陛下所持之柄也。近時外戚、內臣以及士人，或因緣以求恩澤，從中而下謂之「內降」。臣聞唐氏政衰，或母后專制，或妃主擅朝，樹恩私黨，名為「斜封」。今陛下威柄自出，外戚、內臣賢而才者，當與大臣公議而進之，何必襲「斜封」之弊哉。且使大臣從之，則壞陛下綱紀；不從，則沮陛下德音。壞綱紀，忠臣所不忍為；沮德音，則威柄輕於上。且盡公不阿，朝廷所以責大臣。今乃自以私昵撓之，而欲責大臣之不私，難矣。此恩寵過濫之弊也。

Rank and reward are the lever Your Majesty holds. Of late consorts' kin, palace attendants, and literati have sought favor through connections; from the palace downward such appointments are called "inner promotions." I hear that as Tang governance declined, empresses dowager or favored consorts at times seized the court, heaping private patronage on their factions—what was called "slant appointment." Today Your Majesty's authority proceeds from yourself; for worthy and able consorts' kin and palace attendants, you should promote them only after open deliberation with chief ministers—why repeat the abuse of slant appointment? If you make chief ministers go along, you wreck Your Majesty's discipline; if they refuse, they thwart Your Majesty's gracious edicts. To wreck discipline—loyal ministers cannot bring themselves to do it; to thwart gracious edicts is to make authority light at the top. Moreover, to be wholly impartial—this is what the court demands of its chief ministers. Now you yourself sway them with private ties, yet expect chief ministers to be impartial—that is hard indeed. This is the harm of favor poured out without measure.

夫賜予者，國家所以勤功也。比年以來，嬪御及伶官、太醫之屬，賜予過厚。民間傳言，內帑金帛，皆祖宗累朝積聚。陛下用之，不甚愛惜，今之所存無幾。疏遠之人，誠不能知內府豐匱之數，但見取於民者日煩，即知畜於公帑者不厚。臣亦知國家自西方宿兵，用度浸廣，帑藏之積，未必悉為賜予所費，然下民不可家至而戶曉，獨見陛下行事感動爾。往歲聞邊將王珪，以力戰賜金，則無不悅服；或見優人所得過厚，則往往憤歎。人情不可不察，此賜予不節之弊也。

Gifts are how the state rewards achievement. In recent years consorts, entertainers, court physicians, and the like have been granted rewards far too lavish. Rumor among the people says the palace treasury's gold and silk were hoarded by the ancestors through reign after reign. Your Majesty spends them without much restraint; little now remains. Men far from court cannot know the palace coffers' true state, but when they see exactions from the people grow ever heavier, they know the public treasury is not full. Your servant also knows that since troops were stationed in the west costs have risen and not every coin in the treasury went to gifts; yet the common people cannot be reached in every home—they judge only by what Your Majesty does. Years ago, when the frontier general Wang Gui was rewarded with gold for hard fighting, all rejoiced and submitted; when they saw entertainers paid far too much, they often sighed in indignation. Public sentiment cannot be ignored—this is the harm of gifts without limit.

臣所論三事，皆人人所共知，近臣從諛而不言，以至今日。方今非獨四夷之為患，朝政日弊而陛下不寤，人心日危而陛下不知。故臣願先正於內，以正於外。然後忠謀漸進，紀綱漸舉，國用漸足，士心漸奮。邊境之患，庶乎息矣。惟深察秦、隋惡聞忠言所以亡，遠法漢主不諱危亂所以存，日親盛德，與民更始，則天下幸甚。」

The three points your servant raises are known to all; close advisers flattered and held their tongues—until now. Today the trouble is not the barbarians alone: court governance rots day by day while Your Majesty does not wake; hearts among the people grow fearful day by day while Your Majesty does not see it. Therefore your servant asks first to set the inner house in order, that the outer realm may follow. Then loyal counsel will advance step by step, discipline will rise, the treasury will fill, and the spirit of the scholar-officials will revive. The frontier troubles—perhaps then they may quiet. Only ponder deeply how Qin and Sui, refusing loyal counsel, were destroyed; take as your distant model how Han rulers, not fearing to name danger and ruin, endured—draw daily near true virtue and begin anew with the people; then the realm will be blessed indeed."

仁宗嘉納之。

Emperor Renzong received it with approval.

改太常丞、知涇州。以右司諫、知渭州兼領涇原路經略公事。會鄭戩為陝西四路都總管，遣劉滬、董士廉城水洛，以通秦、渭援兵。洙以為前此屢困於賊者，正由城砦多而兵勢分也。今又益城，不可，奏罷之。時戩已解四路。而奏滬等督役如故。洙不平，遣人再召滬，不至；命張忠往代之，又不受。於是諭狄青械滬、士廉下吏。戩論奏不已，卒徙洙慶州而城水洛。又徙晉州，遷起居舍人、直龍圖閣、知潞州。會士廉詣闕上書訟洙，詔遣御史劉湜就鞫，不得他罪。而洙以部將孫用由軍校補邊，自京師貸息錢到官，亡以償。洙惜其才可用，恐以犯法罷去，嘗假公使錢為償之，又以為嘗自貸，坐貶崇信軍節度副使，天下莫不以為湜文致之也。徙監均州酒稅，感疾，沿牒至南陽訪醫，卒，年四十七。嘉祐中，宰相韓琦為洙言，乃追復故官，及官其子構。

He was appointed Vice Director of the Imperial Sacrifices and magistrate of Jing Prefecture. As Right Remonstrator of the Secretariat he governed Wei Prefecture and concurrently directed Jingyuan Circuit frontier affairs. When Zheng Xian commanded all four Shaanxi circuits, he sent Liu Hu and Dong Shilian to build Shuiluo, opening a route for Qin and Wei relief forces. Zhu held that past defeats came precisely from too many fortified posts and scattered forces. Another fort, he argued, must not be built; he memorialized to halt the project. By then Xian had already left the four-circuit command. Yet he still reported that Hu and the others were pressing the work as before. Zhu, angered, twice sent men to summon Hu, but Hu would not come; he ordered Zhang Zhong to replace him, but Hu again refused. He then told Di Qing to seize Hu and Shilian in irons and deliver them to the courts. Xian kept memorializing; in the end Zhu was moved to Qing Prefecture while Shuiluo was completed. He was moved again to Jin Prefecture, then promoted to Attendant Gentleman, given direct access to the Dragon Diagram Pavilion, and made magistrate of Lu Prefecture. When Shilian reached court and accused Zhu, the throne sent Censor Liu Shi to investigate on site; no further offense was found. Yet Zhu's officer Sun Yong, promoted from the ranks to frontier service, had borrowed at interest in the capital and, on reaching his post, could not repay. Zhu, valuing his ability and fearing dismissal for debt, once used public envoy funds to cover the loan; this was judged as personal lending on Zhu's part, and he was demoted to deputy commissioner of the Chongxin Army—all under heaven believed Shi had trapped him with words. Reassigned to oversee Jun Prefecture's wine tax, he fell ill; traveling under his orders to Nanyang for treatment, he died at forty-seven. Under Jiayou, Chancellor Han Qi pleaded for him; his old rank was restored posthumously and his son Gou was given office.

洙內剛外和，博學有識度，尤深於《春秋》。自唐末歷五代，文格卑弱。至宋初，柳開始為古文，洙與穆修復振起之。其為文簡而有法，有集二十七卷。自元昊不庭，洙未嘗不在兵間，故於西事尤練習。其為兵制之說，述戰守勝敗，盡當時利害。又欲訓土兵代戍卒，以減邊費，為禦戎長久之策，皆未及施為。而元昊臣，洙亦去而得罪矣。

Zhu was steel within and mild without, learned and discerning, and especially steeped in the Spring and Autumn Annals. From late Tang through the Five Dynasties literary style had grown feeble. In early Song Liu Kai first revived the ancient prose; Zhu, with Mu Xiu, helped lift it once more. His prose was spare yet disciplined; he left collected works in twenty-seven juan. From Yuan Hao's rebellion onward Zhu was always with the troops; he knew western affairs especially well. His writings on military organization—on defense, attack, victory, and defeat—captured the stakes of the day. He also proposed training local militia to replace frontier garrisons and cut border costs—a lasting policy against the enemy—none of which was ever enacted. When Yuan Hao submitted, Zhu too had left office and fallen into disgrace.

孫甫，字之翰，許州陽翟人。少好學，日誦數千言，慕孫何為古文章。初舉進士，得同學究出身，為蔡州汝陽縣主簿。再舉進士及第，為華州推官。轉運使李紘薦其材，遷大理寺丞、知絳州翼城縣。杜衍辟為永興司錄，凡吏職，纖末皆倚辦甫。甫曰：「待我以此，可以去矣。」衍聞之，不復以小事屬甫。衍與讌語，甫必引經以對，言天下賢俊，歷評其才性所長。衍曰：「吾辟屬官，得益友。」諸生亦多從甫學問。

Sun Fu, courtesy name Zhihan, was a native of Yangzhai in Xu Prefecture. As a youth he loved study, reciting thousands of words a day, and took Sun He as his model in ancient prose. On his first jinshi attempt he received the tong jinshi chushen degree and became clerk of Runyang County in Cai Prefecture. On a second jinshi attempt he passed at the top and became investigative officer of Huazhou. Transport Commissioner Li Hong praised his ability; he was made Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review and magistrate of Yicheng in Jiang Prefecture. Du Yan took him on as recorder at Yongxing; for every clerical task, however small, he leaned on Fu. Fu said, "Treat me like this and I am done." Hearing this, Yan stopped handing him petty chores. At Yan's table Fu always answered with classical citations and reviewed the realm's eminent men, weighing each man's gifts. Yan said, "In hiring a clerk I gained a true friend." Students too often sought Fu for learning and debate.

徙知永昌縣，監益州交子務，再遷太常博士。蜀用鐵錢，民苦轉貿重，故設法書紙代錢，以便市易。轉運使以偽造交子多犯法，欲廢不用。甫曰：「交子可以偽造，錢亦可以私鑄，私鑄有犯，錢可廢乎？但嚴治之，不當以小仁廢大利。」後卒不能廢。衍為樞密副使，薦於朝，授秘閣校理。

He was made magistrate of Yongchang, oversaw the Yizhou Jiaozi office, and was again promoted to Erudite of the Imperial Sacrifices. Shu used iron coin, which made commerce burdensome; the government therefore issued paper notes to ease trade. The transport commissioner, seeing widespread forgery of jiaozi, wanted to abolish them. Fu said, "Jiaozi can be counterfeited, but coin can be illicitly cast too—when private casting is a crime, do we abolish coin? Enforce the law sternly; do not discard a great gain for a petty mercy." In the end they could not abolish it. When Yan became Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs he recommended Fu to court, and Fu was made Collation Officer of the Secret Archive.

是歲，詔三館臣僚言事。甫進十二事，按祖宗故實，校當世之治有所不逮者，論述以為諷諫，名《三聖政範》。改右正言。時河北降赤雪，河東地震五六年不止，甫推《洪範五行傳》及前代變驗，上疏曰：「赤雪者，赤眚也，人君舒緩之應。舒緩則政事弛，賞罰差，百官廢職，所以召亂也。晉太康中，河陰降赤雪。時武帝怠於政事，荒宴後宮。每見臣下，多道常事，不及經國遠圖，故招赤眚之怪，終致晉亂。地震者，陰之盛也。陰之象，臣也，後宮也，四夷也。三者不可過盛，過盛則陰為變而動矣。忻州趙分，地震六年。每震，則有聲如雷，前代地震，未有如此之久者。惟唐高宗本封於晉，及即位，晉州經歲地震。宰相張行成言，恐女謁用事，大臣陰謀，宜制於未萌。其後武昭儀專恣，幾移唐祚。天地災變，固不虛應，陛下救紓緩之失，莫若自主威福，時出英斷，以懾姦邪，以肅天下。救陰盛之變，莫若外謹戎備，內制後宮。謹戎備，則切責大臣，使之預圖兵防，熟計成敗；制後宮，則凡掖庭非典掌御幸者，盡出之，且裁節其恩，使無過分，此應天之實也。」時契丹、西夏稍強，後宮張修媛寵幸，大臣專政，甫以此諫焉。

That year an edict invited Three Institutes officials to address state affairs. Fu submitted twelve proposals, measuring present rule against ancestral precedent wherever it fell short, and set them down as remonstrance in a work titled Models of the Three Sagely Reigns. He was appointed Right Rectifier of Speech. Red snow then fell in Hebei and Hedong shook for five or six years without stop; Fu drew on the Hongfan Five Elements Treatise and past omens and wrote, "Red snow is a red portent—the sign of a ruler grown slack. Slackness loosens government, skews reward and punishment, and lets the bureaucracy neglect its charge—thus chaos is invited. In Jin's Taikang era red snow fell at Heyin. Then Emperor Wu neglected government and squandered his days feasting in the inner quarters. When he met his ministers he spoke only of routine matters, never of far-reaching statecraft; thus the red portent appeared and Jin fell into turmoil. Earthquake is yin in excess. Yin stands for ministers, the inner palace, and the outer barbarians. None of the three may grow too strong; when they do, yin shifts and the earth moves. In Xin Prefecture's Zhao region the earth shook for six years. Each shock brought thunderous noise; no earlier earthquake on record had endured so long. Only under Tang Gaozong, who had first been enfeoffed in Jin: once he took the throne, Jin Prefecture shook for a full year. Chief Councilor Zhang Xingcheng warned that palace women might seize power and senior ministers plot in the shadows, and urged curbing such trends before they took root. Later Wu Zhaoyi dominated the court and nearly overturned the Tang succession. Heaven's omens are never empty warnings. To correct Your Majesty's habit of lenient delay, nothing beats reclaiming authority, acting decisively when needed, terrifying the wicked, and restoring order under Heaven. To answer yin's excess, guard the frontier abroad and control the inner palace at home. For frontier readiness, rebuke your chief ministers until they plan defenses ahead and weigh every outcome; for the inner palace, remove every woman in the rear apartments who lacks proper title to the emperor's bed, and trim their privileges so none overstep — that is how one truly answers Heaven. The Khitans and Western Xia were gaining strength; Consort Zhang Xiuyuan held the emperor's favor; ministers ruled unchecked — it was for this that Fu spoke up.

又言：「修媛寵恣市恩，禍漸已萌。夫后者，正嫡也，其餘皆婢妾爾。貴賤有等，用物不宜過僭。自古寵女色，初不制而後不能制者，其禍不可悔。」帝曰：「用物在有司，朕恨不知爾。」甫曰：「世謂諫臣耳目官，所以達不知也。若所謂前世女禍者，載在書史，陛下可自知也。」

He added: "Xiuyuan abuses her favor to buy loyalty in the open; the harm has already begun to grow. The empress alone is the lawful consort; every other woman is merely a servant or concubine. Rank has its limits; no woman's goods should exceed her station. Throughout history, rulers who indulged beauty without restraint until restraint was impossible have suffered irreversible ruin." The emperor replied: "The responsible offices control such matters; I regret I did not know." Fu answered: "People call remonstrators the ruler's eyes and ears — our office exists to tell you what you do not know. As for the womanly calamities of past dynasties, they fill the histories; Your Majesty may read them for yourself."

夏國乞盟，甫上一利四害，曰：「宿兵以來，國用空耗。今若與之約和，則邊兵可減，科斂可省。其為利一也。始，契丹聲言，嘗遣使諭西人使臣中國。今和議既成，必恃其功。去歲有割地之請，朝廷已增歲賂，若更有求，將安拒之？其為害一也。自承平四十年，武事不飭，及邊鄙有警，而用不習之將，不練之兵，故久無成功。然比來邊臣中材謀勇健者，往往復出，方在講訓不懈，以張中國之威。一旦因議和弛備，復如曩日，緩急必不可用。其為害二也。自元昊拒命，終不敢深入關中者，以唃廝囉等族不附，慮為後患也。今中國與之和，獲歲遺之厚，彼必專力以制二蕃，強大之勢，自茲為始。其為害三也。且朝廷恃久安之勢，法令紀綱，弛而不葺。及西戎累敗，王師始議更張，以救前弊。今見戎人請和，苟貪無事，他時之患，不可救矣。其為害四也。凡利害之機，願陛下熟圖之。」

When Western Xia sought peace, Fu presented one gain and four losses: "Since we began keeping troops in the field, the treasury has been drained. If we treaty with them now, we can cut frontier garrisons and lighten taxes. That is the first gain. Earlier the Khitans boasted that they had once sent envoys to persuade the Western Xia to submit to the Song. Once peace is settled, they will surely claim credit for it. Last year they asked for land; we already raised the annual gift. If they demand more, how shall we refuse? That is the first loss. Forty years of peace left our armies neglected; when the frontier alarmed, we sent untrained generals and raw troops — hence our long failure. Yet lately capable, bold frontier officers have reappeared and drill without slackening to restore China's prestige. If we relax defenses for peace talks, we will be as helpless as before when crisis comes. That is the second loss. After Yuan Hao rebelled he never dared drive deep into Guanzhong, fearing the Gusiluo tribes and others who had not submitted would strike from behind. Once we treat with them and pay rich yearly gifts, they will turn their full strength on the two Tibetan powers — their rise begins here. That is the third loss. Moreover the court rests on long peace; statutes and discipline sag unrepaired. Only after repeated defeats of the Western Xia did the court begin to reform and remedy old abuses. If we grasp at peace because the barbarians sue for it, future calamity will be beyond remedy. That is the fourth loss. On every point of gain and loss, I beg Your Majesty to weigh it carefully."

又言：「張子奭使夏州回，元昊復稱臣，然乞歲賣青鹽十萬石，兼欲就京師互市諸物，仍求增歲給之數。臣以謂西鹽數萬石，其直不下錢十餘萬緡。況朝廷已許歲賜二十五萬，若又許其賣鹽，則與遺契丹物數相當。使契丹聞之，則貪得之心生矣。況自德明之時，累乞放行青鹽，先帝以其亂法，不聽。及請之不已，追德明弟入質而許之，是則以彼難從之事，杜其意也。蓋鹽，中國之大利，又西戎之鹽，味勝解池所出，而出產無窮。既開其禁，則流於民間，無以堤防矣。兼聞張子奭言，元昊自拒命以來，收結人心，鈔掠所得，旋給其眾，兵力雖勝，用度隨窘。當此之時，尤宜以計困之，安得汲汲與和，曲徇其請乎？」

He also said: "Zhang Zishi returned from Xia Prefecture reporting that Yuan Hao again calls himself our subject, yet asks to sell one hundred thousand piculs of green salt yearly, trade at the capital, and raise his annual stipend. I reckon tens of thousands of piculs of Western salt are worth no less than a hundred thousand strings of cash. We already grant them two hundred fifty thousand a year; if we also let them sell salt, our gift to Western Xia will match what we give the Khitans. When the Khitans hear of it, their greed will awaken. Since Li Deming's day they have repeatedly asked to sell green salt; the late emperor refused, lest it break the salt monopoly. When they would not stop asking, the court demanded Deming's brother as hostage before consenting — a hard condition meant to shut down the request. Salt is one of China's greatest revenues; Western salt tastes better than Jiechi salt and flows without end. Once the ban is lifted, salt will flood the people and we cannot contain it. Zhang Zishi also reports that since his rebellion Yuan Hao has won loyalty and paid loot straight to his troops; his armies win battles but his treasury grows tight. This is the moment to wear him down by policy — how can we rush to peace and indulge every demand?"

時陝西經略招討副使韓琦、判官尹洙還朝，甫建議請詔琦等，條四路將官能否，為上、中、下三等，黜其最下者。保州兵變前，有告者，大臣不時發之。甫因言樞密使副當得罪，使，乃杜衍也。邊將劉滬城水洛於渭州，總管尹洙以滬違節度，將斬之。大臣稍主洙議，甫以謂：「水洛通秦、渭，於國家為利，滬不可罪。」由是罷洙而釋滬。衍屢薦甫，洙與甫素善者，而甫不少假借，其鯁亮不私如此。

When Han Qi, Vice Commissioner for Shaanxi frontier affairs, and Yin Zhu, his judicial aide, returned to court, Fu urged the emperor to rank every general on the four frontier circuits as superior, middling, or inferior, and dismiss the worst. Before the Baozhou mutiny someone warned the court, but the chief ministers did not act in time. Fu then said the Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs should be punished — the commissioner was Du Yan. Frontier general Liu Hu built a fort at Shuiluo in Weizhou; overall commander Yin Zhu, citing disobedience, prepared to execute him. Most ministers backed Yin Zhu; Fu argued that "Shuiluo links Qin and Wei and serves the state — Liu Hu must not be punished." Yin Zhu was removed and Liu Hu freed. Du Yan had often recommended Fu; Yin Zhu was Fu's friend — yet Fu showed no favoritism; such was his upright, impartial character.

甫嘗言參知政事陳執中不學亡術，不可用。帝難之，由是求補外，不許。其後奏丁度因對求進用，帝曰：「度未嘗請也。」度乞與甫辯，且指甫為宰相杜衍門人。乃以右司諫出知鄧州，徙安州，歷江東、兩浙轉運使。

Fu once declared that Vice Councilor Chen Zhizhong was ignorant and without ability, and unfit for office. The emperor demurred; Fu then asked to leave the capital, but was refused. Later he reported that Ding Du had sought promotion during an audience; the emperor said, "Du never asked." Ding Du demanded a public debate and called Fu a protégé of Chief Councilor Du Yan. He was demoted to Right Remonstrator and sent to govern Deng, then An, and later served as transport commissioner for Jiangdong and the two Zhe circuits.

范仲俺知杭州，多以便宜從事。甫曰：「范公，大臣也。吾屈於此，則不得伸於彼矣。」一切繩之以法，然退未嘗不稱其賢。再遷尚書兵部員外郎，改直史館、知陝州，徙晉州。為河東轉運使、三司度支副使，遷刑部郎中、天章閣待制、河北都轉運使，留為侍讀。卒，特贈右諫議大夫。

Fan Zhongyan governed Hangzhou and often acted on his own authority. Fu said: "Lord Fan is a senior minister. If I bend here, I cannot hold firm there." He enforced the law without exception, yet in private never failed to praise Fan's virtue. He was promoted twice to Vice Director of the Ministry of War, made Direct Historian and prefect of Shaan, then transferred to Jin. He became Hedong transport commissioner and Vice Commissioner of Revenue, then Director of Punishments, Hanlin Academician of the Heavenly Writings Pavilion, and Chief Transport Commissioner for Hebei, and was kept at court as Imperial Reader. At his death he was posthumously made Right Remonstrator.

甫性勁果，善持論，有文集七卷，著《唐史記》七十五卷。每言唐君臣行事，以推見當時治亂，若身履其間，而聽者曉然，如目見之。時人言：「終日讀史，不如一日聽孫論也。」《唐史》藏秘閣。

Fu was firm and decisive, a powerful debater, author of seven juan of collected works and seventy-five juan of Records of Tang History. When he discussed Tang rulers and ministers, he made their age's rise and fall vivid, as though he had lived through it; listeners understood as if they saw it themselves. People said: "A whole day reading history is worth less than an hour hearing Sun Fu speak." His Tang History was deposited in the imperial Secret Repository.

謝絳，字希深，其先陽夏人。祖懿文，為杭州鹽官縣令，葬富陽，遂為富陽人。父濤，以文行稱，進士起家，為梓州榷鹽院判官。李順反成都，攻陷州縣，濤嘗畫守禦之計。賊平，以功遷觀察推官，權知華陽縣。亂亡之後，田廬荒廢，詔有能占田而倍入租者與之，於是腴田悉為豪右所占，流民至無所歸。濤收詔書，悉以田還主。改秘書省著作佐郎、知興國軍。還，以治行召對長春殿，命試學士院。會契丹入寇，真宗議親征，時曹、濮多盜，而契丹聲言趨齊、鄆，以濤知曹州。屬縣賦稅多輸睢陽助兵食，是歲霖潦，百姓苦於轉送，濤悉留不遣。奏曰：「江、淮漕運，日過睢陽，可取以餉軍。願留曹賦繇廣濟河以饋京師。」轉運使論以為不可，詔從濤奏。嘗使蜀還，舉所部官三十餘人。宰相疑以為多，濤曰：「有罪，願連坐之。」奉使舉官連坐，自濤始。久之，用馮拯薦，復召試，以尚書兵部員外郎直史館，遂兼侍御史知雜事。真宗山陵靈駕所經道路，有司請悉壞城門、廬舍，以過車輿象物。濤言：「先帝車駕封祀，儀物大備，猶不聞有所毀撤，且遺詔從儉薄。今有司治明器侈大，以勞州縣，非先帝意，願下少府裁損之。」進直昭文館，累官至太子賓客。

Xie Jiang, courtesy name Xishen, came originally from Yangxia. His grandfather Yiwen was magistrate of Yanguan in Hangzhou; buried at Fuyang, the family henceforth counted as Fuyang people. His father Tao was known for learning and integrity, a jinshi who served as judicial aide at the Zizhou salt monopoly. When Li Shun rebelled in Chengdu and overran the region, Tao drafted plans for defense. After the rebels were crushed he was promoted to observation push officer and acting magistrate of Huayang. After the rebellion fields lay waste; the throne promised land to anyone who would farm it and pay double rent, so the gentry seized the best fields and refugees had nowhere to go. Tao gathered the edicts and returned every field to its rightful owner. He was made Assistant in the Palace Library and military commissioner of Xingguo. Recalled for his record of governance, he was summoned to the Changchun Hall and examined for the Hanlin Academy. When the Khitans invaded and Zhenzong considered leading the army in person, Cao and Pu were rife with bandits and the Khitans threatened Qi and Yun — Tao was sent to govern Cao Prefecture. Subordinate counties had been shipping taxes to Suiyang for the army; floods that year made transport unbearable, and Tao kept every levy in place. He memorialized: "Grain from Jiang and Huai passes Suiyang daily and can supply the troops. Let Cao's taxes stay here and send them to the capital by the Guangji Canal instead." The transport commissioner objected, but the throne approved Tao's plan. Returning from a mission to Shu, he recommended more than thirty subordinates. The chief councilor thought the list too long; Tao said: "If any are guilty, punish me with them." Joint liability for envoys' nominees began with Tao. Later, on Feng Zheng's recommendation, he was examined again, made Vice Director of the Ministry of War and Direct Historian, and then also Palace Censor in charge of miscellaneous affairs. For Zhenzong's tomb procession the authorities asked to tear down every city gate and house along the route so the imperial carriage and ritual gear could pass. Tao argued: "When the late emperor traveled for the Feng and Shan rites, his equipage was magnificent, yet nothing was torn down; besides, his testament urged frugality. Now officials are building oversized burial goods that burden the provinces — this betrays the late emperor's will; let the Imperial Workshop scale them back." He was promoted to Direct Appointment in the Zhaowen Hall and rose to Guest of the Heir Apparent.

絳以父任試秘書省校書郎，舉進士中甲科，授太常寺奉禮郎、知汝陰縣。善議論，喜談時事，嘗論四民失業，累數千言。天禧中，上疏謂宋當以土德王天下。時大理寺丞董行父，請用天為統，以金為德。詔兩制議，皆言：「用土德，則當越唐上承於隋；用金德，則當越五代紹唐。而太祖實受終周室，豈可弗遵傳繼之序？」絳、行父議皆黜不用。

Jiang entered service by his father's rank, tried as a Secretariat collator, took the jinshi in the top grade, and became Ceremonial Officer of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and magistrate of Ruyin. He debated well and loved current affairs; once he wrote thousands of words on how the four estates were losing their livelihoods. During Tianxi he memorialized that Song should rule under the virtue of Earth. Then Assistant Director of the Court of Judicial Review Dong Xingfu proposed Heaven as the cosmic cycle and Metal as the dynasty's virtue. The Two Academies were ordered to debate; all said: "With Earth as our virtue we must skip Tang and inherit from Sui; with Metal we must skip the Five Dynasties and continue Tang. Yet Taizu truly took the throne from Zhou — how can we ignore the order of succession?" The views of Jiang and Xingfu were both rejected.

楊億薦絳文章，召試，擢秘閣校理、同判太常禮院。丁母憂，服除，仁宗即位，遷太常博士。用鄭氏《經》、唐故事議宣祖非受命祖，不宜配享感生帝，請以真宗配之。翰林學士承旨李維以為不可。尋出通判常州。天聖中，天下水旱、蝗起，河決滑州，絳上疏曰：

Yang Yi praised Jiang's writing; summoned for examination, he was made Palace Library collator and Associate Judge of the Court of Imperial Rites. After mourning his mother, when the mourning ended and Renzong ascended, he was made Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Citing the Zheng clan Classic and Tang precedent, he argued that Emperor Xuanzu was not the dynastic founder who received Heaven's mandate and should not share sacrifice with the Spirit-Generator Emperor, and proposed pairing Emperor Zhenzong instead. Li Wei, Expositor-in-Chief among the Hanlin Academicians, said it could not be allowed. He was soon posted out as vice-prefect of Changzhou. During Tiansheng, floods and drought struck the empire, locusts appeared, and the Yellow River broke through at Huazhou. Jiang memorialized the throne:

「去年京師大水，敗民廬舍，河渠暴溢，幾冒城郭；今年苦旱，百姓疫死，田穀焦槁，秋成絕望：此皆大異也。按《洪範》、京房《易傳》皆以為簡祭祀，逆天時，則水不順下；政令逆時，水失其性，則壞國邑，傷稼穡；顓事者知，誅罰絕理，則大水殺人；欲德不用，茲謂張，厥災荒；上下皆蔽，茲謂隔，其咎旱：天道指類示戒，大要如此。陛下夙夜勤苦，思有以上塞時變，固宜策告殃咎，變更理化，下罪己之詔，修順時之令，宣群言以導壅，斥近幸以損陰。而聖心優柔，重在改作，號令所發，未聞有以當天心者。

"Last year the capital was inundated. Homes were wrecked, rivers and canals burst their banks, and the flood nearly overtopped the walls; this year brings cruel drought: the people perish of plague, grain withers in the fields, and the autumn harvest is hopeless—all great portents. The Great Plan and Jing Fang's Commentary on the Changes both teach that when sacrifices are curtailed and Heaven's seasons are defied, water will not run down as it should; when edicts run against the season and water loses its proper nature, states and towns are ruined and the harvest is harmed; when power is monopolized by the knowing yet punishments cut off all reason, great flood takes human lives; when virtue goes unused, this is called "spread," and its calamity is famine; when above and below are shut off, this is called "barrier," and its blame is drought: Heaven's Way names the type and sends warning—the gist is just this. Your Majesty labors day and night, seeking from above to answer the seasons' change; you should proclaim the disasters and faults, renew civil order, issue a self-reproach edict, restore timely ordinances, open all counsel to clear blockage, and dismiss close favorites to reduce yin. Yet the imperial heart is gentle and slow, weighting grand reforms; among commands issued, none are heard to match Heaven's mind.

夫風雨、寒暑之於天時，為大信也；信不及於物，澤不究於下，則水旱為沴。近日制命，有信宿輒改，適行遽止，而欲風雨以信，其可得乎？天下之廣，萬幾之眾，不出房闥，豈能盡知？而在廷之臣，未聞被數刻之召，吐片言之善，朝夕左右，非恩澤即佞幸，上下皆蔽，其應不虛。

Wind, rain, cold, and heat in the heavenly seasons are the supreme pledge; when the pledge fails to reach things and favor does not soak the realm below, flood and drought become harms. Lately decrees are altered within a night, promulgated only to be stopped at once—yet you expect wind and rain to keep faith: how can that be? The empire is wide and affairs beyond counting; if they never leave the inner quarters, how can you know them all? Yet at court no minister is summoned for even an hour to offer a scrap of good counsel; those who attend you dawn to dusk are either favorites or flatterers—above and below shut off, and the omen is no empty sign.

昔兩漢日食、地震、水旱之變，則策免三公，以示戒懼。陛下進用丞弼，極一時之選，而政道未茂，天時未順，豈大臣輔佐不明邪？陛下信任不篤邪？必若使之，宜推心責成，以極其效；謂之不然，則更選賢者。比來姦邪者易進，守道者數窮，政出多門，俗喜由徑。聖心固欲盡得天下之賢能，分職受業；而宰相方考賢進吏，無敢建白。欲德不用之應，又可驗矣。

In the two Han dynasties, at eclipses, earthquakes, floods, and droughts, they removed the Three Excellencies by rescript to show alarm. Your Majesty has advanced chancellors picked as the finest of the time, yet government does not flourish and the seasons do not obey—are your ministers' counsel unclear? Or Your Majesty's trust not firm? If you mean to use them, lay your heart open, charge them with full responsibility, and demand their utmost; if not, choose worthier men again. Recently the wicked rise easily while men of the Way are often ruined; policy comes from many doors and the people love bypaths. The imperial heart surely seeks every worthy under Heaven, dividing offices and receiving their service; yet the chancellors are only grading worthies and promoting clerks, not daring to put forward a plan. The omen of "virtue not employed" can be confirmed again.

今陽驕莫解，蟲孽漸熾，河水妄行。循依違之跡，行尋常之政，臣恐不足回靈意、塞至戒。古者，穀不登則虧膳，災屢至則降服，凶年不塗塈。願下詔引咎，損太官之膳，避路寢之朝，許士大夫斥諱上聞，譏切時病。罷不急之役，省無名之斂，勿崇私恩，更進直道，宣德流化，以休息天下。至誠動乎上，大惠浹於下，豈有時澤之艱哉！」

Now yang flares and will not ease, insect plagues swell, and rivers run riot. Treading paths of hesitation, carrying on ordinary rule—I fear that will not turn Heaven's mind or seal off the supreme warning. Antiquity: when grain failed they cut meals; when disasters piled up they lowered dress; in famine years they did not plaster walls. I ask that you issue an edict of self-blame, cut the Grand Steward's fare, skip audience in the Road Chamber, let scholars and officials speak forbidden truths to the throne, and rebuke the ills of the day. Halt unneeded works, abolish nameless exactions, grant no private favor, advance the straight Way, proclaim virtue and spread reform, and let the realm rest. When utmost sincerity stirs above and great grace reaches below, what hardship could seasonal rain not end!"

仁宗嘉納之。

Emperor Renzong praised and adopted it.

會修國史，以絳為編修官，史成，遷祠部員外郎、直集賢院。時濤官西京，且老矣，因請便養，通判河南府。又論：「唐室麗正、史官之局，並在大明、華清宮內。太宗皇帝肇修三館，更立秘閣於昇龍門左，親為飛白書額，作贊刻石閣下。景德中，圖書寖廣，真宗皇帝益以內帑四庫。二聖數嘗臨幸，親加勞問，遞宿廣內者，有不時之召。人人力道術、究藝文，知天子尊禮甚勤，而名臣高位，繇此其選也。往者遭遘延燔，未遑中葺，或引兩省故事，別建外館，直舍卑喧，民櫩叢接。太官衛尉，供擬滋削，虧體傷風，莫茲為甚。陛下未嘗迂翠華、降玉趾，寥寥冊府，不聞輿馬之音，曠有日矣。議者以謂慕道不篤於古，待士少損於前。士無延訪之勤，而因循相尚，不自激策，文雅漸弊，竊為聖朝惜之。願辟內館，以恢景德之制。」詔可。

While the National History was in progress he was named editorial compiler; when it was complete he became Vice Director of Rites and Direct Appointment in the Academy of Assembled Talents. His father Tao then served in the Western Capital; old and infirm, he asked for a convenient post and was made vice-prefect of Henan. He also argued: "Under Tang, the Directorate of Fine Literature and the historiographers' office both stood inside the Daming and Huaqing palaces. Taizong first rebuilt the Three Halls and set up the Secret Pavilion east of the Ascending Dragon Gate; he wrote the plaque in flying-white script himself and carved his encomium in stone under the pavilion. In Jingde the collections grew, and Emperor Zhenzong enlarged them with the inner treasury's Four Repositories. Both emperors often came in person to encourage and question them; scholars lodged in the inner palace were sometimes summoned at odd hours. Scholars pressed the Way and studied letters, knowing how diligently the Son of Heaven honored learning—and eminent names and high office came from their ranks. After the great fire there was no time to rebuild the middle halls; citing the two departments' precedent, they built outer lodges—quarters cramped and loud, with common houses pressed close. The Grand Steward and Commandant of the Guard cut supplies ever further—nothing so harmed ritual and custom. Your Majesty has not turned the imperial carriage or set jade foot in the halls; the archives are silent, no sound of horses or wheels—for a long season now. Critics say your love of the Way falls short of antiquity and your regard for scholars has slackened from earlier reigns. Without the old diligence of imperial audiences, scholars drift in routine and fail to stir themselves—letters decline; I grieve for the court in secret. I ask that the inner lodges be restored to the Jingde arrangement." The throne approved.

絳雖在外，猶數論事。奏言：「近歲不逞之徒，託言數術，以先生、處士自名，禿巾短褐，內結權幸，外走州邑，甚者矯誣詔書，傲忽官吏。請嚴禁止。嘗以墨敕賜封號者，追還之。」

Even while serving outside the capital, Jiang still memorialized often. He wrote: "Lately restless men hide behind numerology, calling themselves Master or Recluse in bald cap and short coat; they court power within and roam the provinces without—some even forge edicts and scorn officials. I ask that this be strictly forbidden. Titles granted by ink edict should be revoked."

還權開封府判官，言：

He was recalled as vice-judge of Kaifeng and said:

「蝗亙田野，坌人郛郭，跳擲官寺，井匽皆滿。魯三書螟，《穀梁》以為哀公用田賦虐取於民。朝廷斂弛之法，近於廉平，以臣愚所聞，似吏不甚稱而召其變。凡今典城牧民，有顓方面之勢：才者掠功取名，以嚴急為術，或辯偽無實，數蒙獎錄；愚者期會簿書，畏首與尾。二者政殊，而同歸於弊。

"Locusts blanket the countryside, crowd the suburbs, leap into official temples, and wells and latrines overflow. Lu recorded caterpillars three times; the Guliang Commentary says Duke Ai's field tax cruelly squeezed the people. The court's tax policy is nearly fair; yet from what I hear, officials seem inadequate—and that may summon this plague. Today's magistrates rule like petty warlords: the able grab credit with harsh methods, or win praise with hollow show; the dull only chase deadlines in ledgers, afraid at every turn. Their styles differ, yet both end in ruin.

夫為國在養民，養民在擇吏，吏循則民安，氣和而災息。願先取大州邑數十百，詔公卿以下，舉任州守者，使得自辟屬縣令長，務求術略，不限資考。然後寬以約束，許便宜從事。期年條上理狀，或徙或留，必有功化風跡，異乎有司以資而任之者焉。漢時，詔問京房災異可息之術，房對以考功課吏。臣願陛下博訪理官，除煩苛之命；申敕計臣，損聚斂之役。勿起大獄，勿用躁人，務靜安，守淵默。《傳》曰：『大侵之禮，百官備而不制。』言省事也。如此而沴氣不弭，嘉休不至，是靈意𧫩讕，而聖言罔惑歟。」

A state stands on nurturing the people; nurturing the people stands on choosing officials; when officials keep the Way the people rest, qi harmonizes, and disasters fade. Take several dozen great prefectures, order ministers to recommend prefects, and let each appoint his own county magistrates, seeking talent and plan without regard to seniority or exams. Then bind them with broad covenant and let them act as need requires. After a year have them report results; move or keep them as merit dictates—then achievement and reform will differ from appointing by seniority alone. In Han, the emperor asked Jing Fang how to end strange disasters; Fang answered: examine merit and grade officials. I ask Your Majesty to seek out upright officials, abolish harsh and tangled orders; charge the revenue officers and cut exactions that pile up. Raise no great prosecutions, use no rash men; seek stillness and keep deep silence. The Commentary says: "In great famine the hundred offices stand ready but do not create anew." Meaning: cut redundant government. If even so the harm does not fade and blessing does not come, is Heaven's intent still unyielding while Your words go unheeded?"

會郭皇后廢，絳陳《詩白華》，引申后、褒姒事以諷，辭甚切至。徙三司度支判官，再遷兵部員外郎。上言：「邇來用物滋侈，賜予過制，禁中須索，去年計為緡錢四十五萬。自今春至四月，已及二十餘萬。比詔裁節費用，而有司移文，但求咸平、景德簿書。簿書不存，則無所措置。臣以謂不若推近及遠，遞考歲用而裁節之，不必咸平、景德為準也。」

When Empress Guo was deposed, Jiang cited the "White Hua" ode and the tales of Shen and Baosi to admonish the throne in the sharpest terms. He became vice-judge of the Revenue Commission, then Vice Director of War. He wrote: "Lately spending has grown lavish and gifts exceed rule; inner-palace demands last year totaled forty-five thousand strings of cash. From this spring through the fourth month, another twenty thousand and more have been spent. An edict lately ordered economy, yet offices ask only for Xianping and Jingde account books. When those books are gone, nothing can be done. Better to work from the present backward, review each year's spending in turn and trim—without fixing on Xianping and Jingde alone."

初，詔罷織密花透背，禁人服用，且云自掖庭始。既而內人賜衣，復取於有司。又後苑作製玳瑁器，索龜筒於市。龜筒，禁物也，民間不得有，而索不已。絳皆論罷之。又言：「號令數變則虧國體，利害偏聽則惑聰明。請者務欲各行，而守者患於不一。請罷內降，凡詔令皆由中書、樞密，然後施行。」因進《聖治箴》五篇。

An edict first banned weaving dense floral gauze with see-through backing and forbade the people to wear it, saying the inner palace would lead the ban. Soon palace women given garments took them again from the offices. Again the rear garden made faux tortoise-shell ware and demanded hawksbill from the market. Hawksbill is forbidden to commoners, yet the demand never stopped. Jiang protested and had each practice halted. He also said: "Frequent change of orders wounds the state; hearing only one side of gain and loss clouds judgment. Every petitioner wants his way enforced, while keepers of law fear inconsistency. Abolish inner directives; let every command go through the Secretariat and Military Commission before execution." He then presented five chapters of Admonitions for Sagely Governance.

以父憂去，服除，擢知制誥，判吏部流內銓、太常禮院。吏部擬官，舊視職田有無，不問多寡，以是不均。絳為核其實，以多寡為差，其有名而無實者皆不用，人以為便。初改判禮院為知禮儀事，自張絳建請。

He left for his father's mourning; when it ended he was made Drafting Edicts and judge of the Personnel Inner Selection Bureau and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Personnel appointments once looked only to whether an office field existed, not how large—so allotments were unfair. Jiang checked the facts and graded by size; empty titles without land were dropped—everyone found it fair. The change from Judge of the Rites Court to Director of Ritual Affairs began with Zhang Jiang's petition.

使契丹，還，請知鄧州。距州百二十里，有美陽堰，引湍水溉公田。水來遠而少，利不及民；濱堰築新土為防，俗謂之墩者，大小又十數，歲數壞，輒調民增築。姦人蓄薪茭，以時其急，往往盜決堰墩，百姓苦之。絳按召信臣六門堰故跡，距城三里，壅水注鉗廬陂，溉田至三萬頃。請復修之，可罷州人歲役，以水與民，未就而卒，年四十六。

After an embassy to the Khitan he asked to govern Dengzhou. A hundred twenty li from the city stood Meiyang Weir, channeling swift water to irrigate public fields. The source was distant and the flow slight; the people gained little; Along the bank a dozen earthen dikes called dun were raised; they broke yearly and the people were levied to rebuild. Rascals hoarded reed and brush, timed the crisis, and often breached weir and dike by night—the people groaned under it. Jiang traced Shao Xinchen's Six Gates Weir three li from the city, dammed the flow into Qianlu Pond, and could irrigate thirty thousand qing. He asked to rebuild it, ending yearly corvée and giving the water to the people; he died before it was done, at forty-six.

絳以文學知名一時，為人修潔醞藉，所至大興學舍，嘗請諸郡立學。在河南修國子學，教諸生，自遠而至者數百人。好施宗族，喜賓客，以故，卒之日，家無餘貲。有文集五十卷。子景初、景溫、景平、景回。景平好學，著詩書傳說數十篇，終秘書丞。景回早卒。

Jiang was renowned for literature, refined and self-possessed; everywhere he went he built schools, and once asked that every commandery found one. In Henan he rebuilt the Imperial University and taught students; several hundred came from distant places. He gave freely to kinsmen and loved to host guests; when he died his house held no spare wealth. His collected works ran to fifty juan. His sons were Jingchu, Jingwen, Jingping, and Jinghui. Jingping was devoted to study, wrote several dozen essays on the Odes, Documents, and classical lore, and died as Secretariat Director. Jinghui died in his youth.

子景溫

Son: Jingwen

景溫，字師直。中進士第，通判汝、莫二州，江東轉運判官。興宣城百丈圩，議者以為罪，降通判、知漣水軍。神宗初，知諫院邵亢直其前事，徙真州，提點江西刑獄。歷京西、淮南轉運使。

Jingwen, whose courtesy name was Shizhi. He passed the jinshi examination, was vice-prefect of Ru and Mo, and served as Jiangdong transport commission judge. He built the Baizhang polder at Xuancheng; critics called it misconduct, and he was demoted to vice-prefect and made prefect of the Lianshui garrison. Early in Shenzong's reign, Shao Kang of the Remonstrance Bureau cleared his earlier case; he was moved to Zhenzhou and made Jiangxi judicial intendant. He served as transport commissioner for Jingxi and then Huainan.

景溫平生未嘗仕中朝，王安石與之善，又景溫妹嫁其弟安禮，乃驟擢為侍御史知雜事。安石方惡蘇軾，景溫劾軾向丁憂歸蜀，乘舟商販。朝廷下六路捕逮篙工、水師窮其事，訖無一實。蘇頌等論李定不持母服，景溫察安石指，為辨於前。已而事下臺，景溫難違眾議，始云定當追服。又言薛向不當得侍從，王韶邊奏誣罔，寖失安石意，然猶以嘗助己，但改直史館兼侍讀。不敢拜，出知鄧州。

Jingwen had never held office in the capital. Wang Anshi favored him, and Jingwen's sister had married Anshi's younger brother Anli, so he was suddenly made Attendant Censor with concurrent miscellaneous duties. With Wang Anshi hostile to Su Shi, Jingwen impeached him for going to Shu during his father's mourning and trading from his boat. The court ordered the six circuits to seize boatmen and pilots and pursue the case to the end, but nothing was proved. When Su Song and others argued that Li Ding had not worn mourning for his mother, Jingwen read Wang Anshi's intent and defended him at court. When the case reached the Censorate, Jingwen could not defy the consensus and finally said Ding should resume mourning. He also said Xue Xiang should not enter the inner court and that Wang Shao's frontier reports were false. He slowly lost Anshi's favor, but because he had once helped him was merely made Direct Historiographer with concurrent Imperial Reader. He declined to accept and was sent out to govern Dengzhou.

逾年，進陝西都轉運使，以不奉司農約束，改知鄧、襄、澶三州，加直龍圖閣，判將作監。轉右諫議大夫、知潭州。章惇開五溪，景溫協力拓築，論功進官，召拜禮部侍郎。復出知洪州、應天府、瀛州。

A year later he became Shaanxi grand transport commissioner; for not obeying the Agriculture Commissioner's orders he was reassigned to govern Deng, Xiang, and Chan, given Direct Dragon Diagram Hall, and made judge of the Directorate of Works. He was made Right Remonstrance Grandee and governor of Tanzhou. When Zhang Dun opened the Five Streams, Jingwen helped extend the works; for merit he was promoted and summoned as Vice Minister of Rites. He was again sent out to govern Hongzhou, Yingtian, and Yingzhou.

元祐初，進寶文閣直學士、知開封府。未滿歲，御史中丞劉摯言其非撥煩吏。右司諫王覿言：「瀛州妖婦李自稱事九仙聖母，能與人通語言，談禍福。景溫在郡為所惑，禮餉甚厚，遣十兵挈之入京。數遣子慥至其處；補李婿為小史，使出入官府，崇大聲勢；至縱嬖妾之弟，醉歐市人。為政若此，尚何惜而不加譴。」於是罷知蔡州。

At the start of Yuanyou he was made Baowen Pavilion academician and prefect of Kaifeng. Before the year was out, Censor-in-Chief Liu Zhi said he was not the man to handle vexing clerks. Right Bureau Remonstrator Wang Di said: "At Yingzhou a sorceress surnamed Li claimed to serve the Nine Immortals' Holy Mother, could speak with people, and foretell fortune and disaster. Jingwen in the prefecture was taken in by her, honored and fed her lavishly, and sent ten soldiers to bring her to the capital. He repeatedly sent his son Zao to her; he appointed Li's son-in-law as a minor clerk, let him pass in and out of the offices, and magnified their prestige; he even indulged his favorite concubine's brother, who when drunk beat people in the market. With government like this, how could he escape censure?" He was therefore removed to govern Caizhou.

三年初，置權六曹尚書，以為刑部。劉安世復論之，改知鄆州，再歷永興軍。時章惇為相，景溫言元祐大臣改先帝之政，並西夏人偃蹇終未順命，宜罷分畫，以馬跡所至為境。惇用其說，徙知河陽，卒，年七十七。

Early in the third year provisional directors of the Six Ministries were created; he was made Director of Punishments. Liu Anshi criticized him again; he was moved to Yanzhou and later served again at Yongxing. With Zhang Dun as chief councilor, Jingwen said the Yuanyou ministers had overturned the late emperor's policies and the Western Xia remained defiant and unsubmissive; the partitioned borders should be abolished and the frontier drawn wherever horses could go. Zhang Dun took his advice; he was transferred to Heyang, died, aged seventy-seven.

葉清臣

Ye Qingchen

葉清臣，字道卿，蘇州長洲人。父參，終光祿卿。清臣幼敏異，好學善屬文。天聖二年，舉進士，知舉劉筠奇所對策，擢第二。宋進士以策擢高第，自清臣始。授太常寺奉禮郎、簽書蘇州觀察判官事。還為光祿寺丞、集賢校理，通判太平州、知秀州。入判三司戶部勾院，改鹽鐵判官。

Ye Qingchen, whose courtesy name was Daoqing, came from Changzhou in Suzhou. His father Can rose to Director of Palace Banquets. Qingchen was precocious as a boy, loved learning, and wrote well. In the second year of Tiansheng he passed the jinshi; chief examiner Liu Yun was struck by his policy essay and ranked him second. The Song practice of promoting jinshi to high rank on the strength of the policy essay began with Qingchen. He was made Ceremonial Officer of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and signing secretary on the Suzhou observation staff. He returned as assistant director of palace banquets and collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, was vice-prefect of Taiping, and governed Xiuzhou. He entered as judge of the Finance Commission personnel reconciliation bureau and became Salt and Iron judge.

上言九事：請遣使循行天下，知民疾苦，察吏能否；興太學，選置博士，許公卿大臣子弟補學生；重縣令；諸科舉人取名大義，責以策問；省流外官，無得入仕；聽武臣終三年之喪；罷度僧；廢讀經一業；訓兵練將，慎出令，簡條約。詞多不載。出知宣州，累遷太常丞，同修起居注，判三司鹽鐵勾院，進直史館。

He memorialized nine proposals: send envoys to tour the empire, learn the people's hardships, and judge officials' competence; expand the Imperial University, appoint erudites, and let sons of dukes, ministers, and high officials enroll as students; raise the standing of county magistrates; for the various examination tracks, choose candidates for broad learning and test them with policy questions; cut outer-service officials and bar them from office; let military officers observe the full three-year mourning; end the ordination of monks; abolish the scripture-recitation track alone; drill troops and train generals, issue orders cautiously, and simplify rules. Most of the text is omitted here. Sent out to Xuanzhou, he rose to Vice Director of Imperial Sacrifices, helped compile the Veritable Records, judged the salt and iron reconciliation bureau, and was made Direct Historiographer.

是冬，京師地震，上疏曰：「天以陽動，君之道也；地以陰靜，臣之道也。天動地靜，主尊臣卑。易此則亂，地為之震。乃十二月二日丙夜，京師地震，移刻而止；定襄同日震，至五日不止，壞廬寺，殺人畜，凡十之六。大河之東，彌千五百里而及都下，誠大異也。屬者熒惑犯南斗，治曆者相顧而駭。陛下憂勤庶政，方夏泰寧，而一歲之中，災變仍見。必有下失民望、上戾天意者，故垂戒以啟迪清衷。而陛下泰然不以為異，徒使內侍走四方，治佛事，修道科，非所謂消復之實也。頃范仲淹、余靖以言事被黜，天下之人，齰舌不敢議朝政者，行將二年。願陛下深自咎責，許延忠直敢言之士，庶幾明威降鑒，而善應來集也。」書奏數日，仲淹等皆得近徙。

That winter the capital was shaken by an earthquake. He memorialized: "Heaven moves through yang—the way of the ruler; earth rests in yin—the way of the minister. Heaven moves, earth is still: the sovereign is high, the minister is low. Reverse this and there is chaos, and the earth quakes. On the night of the second day of the twelfth month, at the hour of bing, the capital shook and stopped after a time; Dingxiang shook the same day and did not stop until the fifth, destroying houses and temples and killing people and livestock—six in ten. East of the Yellow River, for fifteen hundred li to the capital—it was a great portent indeed. Mars had lately encroached on the Southern Dipper, and the calendar-makers were alarmed. Your Majesty labors over government and the realm was tranquil in summer, yet within a year omens have recurred. Something below must have lost the people's trust and something above must have offended Heaven; these warnings come to awaken a pure heart. Yet Your Majesty is calm and treats them as nothing strange, only sending palace attendants about the realm for Buddhist rites and Daoist observances—not true restoration. Not long ago Fan Zhongyan and Yu Jing were dismissed for speaking out; for nearly two years the empire has held its tongue and dared not discuss court policy. I beg Your Majesty to blame yourself deeply and welcome loyal men who dare speak plainly; then perhaps Heaven will look down and good omens will gather." Within days of the memorial, Zhongyan and the others were all brought closer to court.

會詔求直言，清臣復上疏言大臣專政，仁宗嘉納之。清臣請外，為兩浙轉運副使。並太湖有民田，豪右據上遊，水不得泄，而民不敢訴。嘗建請疏盤龍彙、滬瀆港入於海，民賴其利。以右正言知制誥，知審官院，判國子監。

When the court sought blunt speech, Qingchen again memorialized that great ministers monopolized power; Renzong praised and accepted it. Qingchen asked to leave the capital and became deputy transport commissioner for the two Zhe circuits. Along Taihu were commoners' fields; powerful families held the upper reaches so water could not drain, and the people dared not complain. He petitioned to channel Panlong Creek and Hudu Harbor to the sea, to the people's benefit. He was made Right Remonstrator drafting edicts, director of the Bureau of Review, and judge of the Directorate of Education.

時陝西用兵，上言：「當今將不素蓄，兵不素練，財無久積。小有邊警，外無驍將，內無重兵。舉西北二垂觀之，若落大瓠，外示雄壯，其中空洞，了無一物。脫不幸戎馬猖突，腹內諸城，非可以計術守也。自元昊僭竊，因循至於延州之寇，中間一歲矣。而屯戍無術，資糧不充，窮年畜兵，了不足用，連監牧馬，未幾已虛。使蚩蚩之無所倚而安者，此臣所以孜孜憂大瓠之穿也。今羌戎稍卻，變詐亡窮，豈宜乘即時之小安，忘前日之大辱？又將泰然自處，則後日視今，猶今之視前也。」

With war on the Shaanxi frontier he said: "Today generals are not long trained, soldiers not long drilled, and funds not long stored. At the slightest frontier alarm there are no fierce generals outside and no heavy troops within. Look at the northwestern frontiers: it is like a great gourd—outwardly bold, inwardly hollow, holding nothing at all. If barbarian horses should burst forth, the inner prefectures cannot be held by stratagem alone. Since Yuanhao's rebellion, delay has continued to the Yanzhou raid—a full year has passed. Yet garrison methods fail, provisions run short; troops are kept a year yet are barely usable; even the border pasture horses are soon spent. To leave the people nothing to lean on in peace—this is why I fret that the great gourd will be pierced through. Now the Qiang and Rong have slightly withdrawn, yet their shifts and deceits never end; how can one take this small peace and forget yesterday's great humiliation? If the generals settle into complacency again, then the future will look on today as today looks on yesterday."

元昊圍延州，既解去，鈐轄內侍盧守懃與通判計用章更訟於朝。時內侍用事者，多為守懃遊說，朝廷議薄守懃罪，而流用章嶺南。清臣上疏曰：「臣聞眾議，延州之圍，盧守懃首對范雍號泣，謀遣李康伯見元昊，為偷生之計。計用章以為事急，不若退保鄜州，李康伯遂有『死難，不可出城見賊』之語。自元昊退，守懃懼金明之失、二將之沒，朝廷歸罪邊將；又思倉卒之言，一旦為人所發，則禍在不測。遂反覆前議，移過於人，先為奏陳，冀望取信。正如黃德和誣奏劉平，欲免退走之罪。尋聞計用章亦疏斥守懃事狀，詔文彥博置劾，未分曲直，而遽罪用章、康伯，特赦守懃。此必有議者結中人、惑聖聽，以為方當用師邊陲，不可輕起大獄。臣觀前史，魏尚、陳湯雖有功，尚不免削爵，罰作案驗吏士。何況擁兵自固，觀望不出，恣縱羌賊，破一縣，擒二將。大罪未戮，又自蔽其過，矯誣上奏，此而不按，何罪不容？設用章有退保之言，止坐畏懦；而守懃謀見賊之行，乃是歸款。二者之責，孰重孰輕，望詔彥博鞫正其獄。苟用章之狀果虛，守懃之罪果白，用章更置重科，物論亦允。無容偏聽一辭，以虧王道無黨之義。」其後獄具，守懃才降湖北兵馬都監。

When Yuanhao besieged Yanzhou and withdrew, eunuch Military Commission controller Lu Shouqin and vice-prefect Ji Yongzhang renewed their lawsuits at court. Powerful eunuchs mostly lobbied for Shouqin; the court debated lightening his guilt while exiling Yongzhang to Lingnan. Qingchen memorialized: "I hear it said that in the Yanzhou siege Lu Shouqin was first to face Fan Yong in tears and planned to send Li Kangbo to Yuanhao—a plan to save his own skin. Ji Yongzhang said the crisis was urgent and it was better to fall back on Fuzhou; Li Kangbo then said, "Better die than leave the city to see the enemy." After Yuanhao withdrew, Shouqin feared blame for the Jinming loss and the two generals' deaths; the court would blame the frontier commanders; he also feared that rash words might one day be exposed, with unforeseeable consequences. He reversed his earlier stance, shifted blame onto others, memorialized first, and hoped to be believed. This is like Huang Dehe's false impeachment of Liu Ping to escape the crime of flight. Soon Ji Yongzhang too memorialized against Shouqin; Wen Yanbo was ordered to investigate, yet before guilt was settled Yongzhang and Kangbo were punished while Shouqin was specially pardoned. Someone must have colluded with palace attendants and confused the throne, arguing that with troops on the frontier one must not lightly raise a major case. In former histories Wei Shang and Chen Tang, though meritorious, still lost rank and were punished as investigating officers. How much more when one holds troops, fortifies himself, watches without advancing, indulges Qiang raiders, destroys a county, and captures two generals. A great crime goes unpunished while he hides his fault and falsely impeaches—if this is not prosecuted, what crime would not be tolerated? Even if Yongzhang had spoken of withdrawing to hold the city, that is only cowardice; but Shouqin's plan to go out and see the enemy was surrender. Between the two, which charge is heavier—I beg that Yanbo be ordered to judge the case correctly. If Yongzhang's account proves false and Shouqin's guilt is clear, let Yongzhang receive the heavier sentence and opinion will be satisfied. Do not heed one side alone and wound the kingly way of impartiality." When the case was concluded, Shouqin was demoted only to Supervisory Commissioner of Hubei Troops and Horses."

時西師未解，急於經費，中書進擬三司使，清臣初不在選中。帝曰：「葉清臣才可用。」擢為起居舍人、龍圖閣學士、權三司使公事。始奏編前後詔敕，使吏不能欺，簿帳之叢冗者，一切刪去。內東門、御廚皆內侍領之，凡所呼索，有司不敢問，乃為合同以檢其出入。清臣與宋庠、鄭戩雅相善，為呂夷簡所惡，出知江寧府。逾年，入翰林學士，知通進銀臺司、勾當三班院。丁父憂，言者以清臣為知兵，請起守邊。及服除，宰相陳執中素不悅之，即除翰林侍讀學士、知邠州。道由京師，因請對，改澶州，進尚書戶部郎中、知青州。徙知永興軍，浚三白渠，溉田逾六千頃。

The western campaign was still unresolved and funds were urgently needed; the Secretariat proposed nominees for finance commissioner, and Qingchen was not initially on the list. The Emperor said, "Ye Qingchen's talent can be put to use." He was promoted to diarist, Dragon Diagram Hall academician, and acting commissioner for finance commission affairs. He first had edicts past and present compiled into registers so clerks could not deceive, and cut away every redundant ledger. The Inner East Gate and Imperial Kitchen were both run by palace eunuchs; whatever they requisitioned, regular offices did not dare ask, so he drew up joint agreements to audit their comings and goings. Qingchen was close to Song Kuan and Zheng Yan but was disliked by Lü Yijian and was sent out to govern Jiangning. After a year he entered the Hanlin as academician, supervised the Communications Silver Terrace Office, and managed the Three-Class Bureau. On his father's death he entered mourning; critics said Qingchen knew military affairs and asked that he be recalled to the border. When mourning ended, Chancellor Chen Zhizhong, who had never favored him, immediately made him Hanlin Reader and prefect of Bin. Passing through the capital en route, he requested an audience, was moved to Chan, and was advanced to director in the Revenue Ministry and prefect of Qing. He was transferred to Yongxing Circuit, dredged the Sanbai Canal, and irrigated more than six thousand qing.

仁宗御天章閣，召公卿，出手詔問當世急務。清臣聞之，為條對，極論時政闕失，其言多劘切權貴。且曰：「陛下欲息奔競，此係中書。若宰相裁抑奔競之流，則風俗惇厚，人知止足；宰相用憸佞之士，則貪榮冒進，激成渾波。向有職在管庫，日趨走時相之門。入則取街談巷言，以資耳目；出則竊廟謨朝論，以驚流輩。一旦皆擢職司，以酬所任。比日人士競踵此風，出入權要之家，時有『三屍』、『五鬼』之號。乃列館職，或置省曹。且臺諫官為天子耳目，今則不然，盡為宰相肘腋。宰相所惡，則捃以微瑕，公行擊搏；宰相所善，則從而唱和，為之先容。中書政令不平，賞罰不當，則箝口結舌，未嘗敢言。人主纖微過差，或宮闈小事，即極言過當，用為訐直。供職未逾歲時，遷擢已加常等。宋禧為御史，勸陛下宮中畜犬設棘，以為守衛。削弱朝體，取笑四夷，不加訶譴，擢為諫官。王達兩為湖南、江西轉運使，所至苛虐，誅剝百姓，徒配無辜，特以宰相故舊，不次拔擢，遂有河北之行。如此，是長奔競也。」其他所列利害甚眾。

Emperor Renzong attended at the Tianzhang Pavilion, summoned chief ministers, and handed down a personal edict asking about the urgent affairs of the age. Hearing of it, Qingchen drew up an itemized reply and spoke at length on the failures of current policy, much of it sharply cutting at the powerful. He also said, "If Your Majesty wishes to still frantic competition, this depends on the Secretariat. If the chancellor restrains the frantic, custom will grow sincere and people will know contentment; but if the chancellor employs fawning and treacherous men, they will greed for glory and rush ahead and stir muddy waves. Formerly officials in charge of storehouses daily hurried to the current chancellor's gate. Going in they gathered street talk and alley gossip to inform his ears and eyes; going out they stole court counsels and court debates to startle their peers. In a single day they were all promoted to offices to repay their service. Lately men have competed to follow this fashion, passing in and out of the houses of the powerful, and were sometimes called the "Three Corpses" and the "Five Ghosts." They were then given Hanlin posts or placed in ministry bureaus. Remonstrance and censorial officials should be the Son of Heaven's eyes and ears; now they are not—all have become the chancellor's henchmen. Those the chancellor hates, they gather minor flaws and attack openly; those the chancellor favors, they echo him and pave the way for him. When Secretariat policies are unfair and rewards and punishments are wrong, they clamp their mouths shut and never dare speak. For the ruler's minute faults or palace trifles, they speak to excess and call it frankness. Before they have served a year, their promotions already exceed the usual grade. Song Xi, as censor, advised Your Majesty to keep dogs in the palace and set thorn hedges for guards. This weakens court dignity and makes a laughingstock of the four barbarians, yet without rebuke he was promoted to remonstrance officer. Wang Da twice served as transport commissioner in Hunan and Jiangxi; wherever he went he was harsh and cruel, stripped the people, and exiled the innocent, yet solely as an old friend of the chancellor he was promoted out of turn and then sent to Hebei. That is how frantic competition is nourished." The other harms he listed were very numerous.

會河決商胡，北道艱食，復以為翰林學士、權三司使。舊制，有三司使、權使公事，而清臣所除，止言「權使」，自是分三等焉。以戶部副使向傳式不職，奏請出之。皇祐元年春，帝御便殿，訪近臣以備邊之策。清臣上對，略曰：

When the Yellow River broke at Shanghu and the northern routes were short of food, he was again made Hanlin academician and acting finance commissioner. Under the old system there were a finance commissioner and an acting commissioner for commission affairs, but Qingchen's appointment spoke only of "acting commissioner," and from then there were three grades. Because Household Bureau vice commissioner Xiang Chuanshi was negligent, he memorialized to have him removed. In the spring of the first year of Huangyou the Emperor attended at the side hall and asked close ministers for policies to prepare the border. Qingchen replied in summary, saying in part:

「陛下臨御天下，二十八年，未嘗一日自暇自逸。而西夏、契丹頻歲為患者，豈非將相大臣，不得其人，不能為陛下張威德而攘四夷乎？昔王商在廷，單于不敢仰視；郅都臨代，匈奴不敢犯邊。今內則輔相寡謀，綱紀不振；外則兵不素練，將不素蓄。此外寇得以內侮也。慶曆，劉六符來，執政無術略，不能折衝樽俎，以破其謀。六符初亦疑大國之有人，藏姦計而未發。既見表裏，遂肆陸梁。只煩一介之使，坐致二十萬物，永匱膏血，以奉腥膻。此有識之士，所以為國長太息也。

"Your Majesty has ruled the realm for twenty-eight years and has never taken a single day of leisure or ease. Yet Xi Xia and the Khitan have troubled us year after year—is it not because generals, ministers, and great officials are not the right men and cannot spread Your Majesty's might and drive off the four barbarians? Formerly when Wang Shang was at court the Chanyu dared not look up; when Zhi Du faced Dai the Xiongnu dared not violate the border. Now within, assisting ministers lack strategy and discipline is not restored; without, troops are not trained in peace and generals are not stored up in advance. Thus outer enemies are able to insult us from within. In the Qingli era Liu Liufu came; the rulers lacked strategy and could not settle matters at the banquet table to break his plot. At first Liufu also doubted that the great state had capable men and hid his treacherous plan without launching it. Once he had seen us inside and out, he then rampaged insolently. It took only troubling a single envoy to sit and bring about two hundred thousand goods, forever draining the nation's marrow to feed rank stench. This is why men of discernment sigh long for the state.

今詔問：「北使詣闕，以伐西戎為名，即有邀求，何以答之？」臣聞誓書所載，彼此無求。況元昊叛邊，累年致討，契丹坐觀金鼓之出，豈有毫髮之助？今彼國出師，輒求我助，奸盟違約，不亦甚乎？若使辯捷之人，判其曲直，要之一戰，以破其謀，我直彼曲，豈不憚服。苟不知咎，或肆侵陵，方河朔災傷之餘，野無廬舍，我堅壁自守，縱令深入，其能久居？既無所因之糧，則亟當遁去。然後選擇驍勇，遏絕歸師，設伏出奇，邀擊首尾，若不就禽，亦且大敗矣。

Now the edict asks, "A northern envoy comes to court under the pretext of attacking the Western Rong; if he makes demands, how are we to answer?" I have heard that the covenant records state that neither side seeks from the other. Moreover Yuanhao rebelled on the border and we have campaigned against him for years, while the Khitan sat watching our drums and banners go forth—what hair's breadth of help did they give? Now their state sends troops and immediately asks our aid—is not this a wicked breach of the covenant and extreme indeed? If we send an eloquent man to judge right and wrong and insist on one battle to break their plot, we are straight and they are crooked—would they not fear and submit? If they do not know their fault and perhaps raid wantonly, the Hebei and Shuo region has just suffered disaster and the fields have no huts; if we hold our walls and defend ourselves, even if we let them advance deep, how long can they stay? With no grain to rely on, they should flee at once. Then choose the brave and bold, cut off their returning army, set ambushes and strike with surprise, and attack head and tail; if they are not captured, they will still suffer a great defeat."

詔問：「輔翊之能，方面之才，與夫帥領偏裨，當今孰可以任此者？」臣以為不患無人，患有人而不能用爾。今輔翊之臣，抱忠義之深者，莫如富弼。為社稷之固者，莫知范仲淹。諳古今故事者，莫如夏竦。議論之敏者，莫如鄭戩。方面之才，嚴重有紀律者，莫如韓琦。臨大事能斷者，莫如田況。剛果無顧避者，莫如劉渙。宏達有方略者，莫如孫沔。至於帥領偏裨，貴能坐運籌策，不必親當矢石，王德用素有威名，范仲淹深練軍政，龐籍久經邊任，皆其選也。狄青、范全頗能馭眾，蔣偕沉毅有術略，張亢倜儻有膽勇，劉貽孫材武剛斷，王德基純愨勁勇，此可補偏裨者也。

The edict asks, "Who among those fit to assist and support, regional talents, commanders, and deputy commanders of today can be entrusted with this?" I believe the trouble is not that there are no men, but that there are men who cannot be used." Among assisting ministers today, none holds loyalty and righteousness so deep as Fu Bi. For securing the altars of state, none compares with Fan Zhongyan. For knowing ancient and modern precedents, none like Xia Song. For quickness in debate, none like Zheng Yan. For regional talent, grave and disciplined, none like Han Qi. For facing great affairs and being able to decide, none like Tian Kuang. For being resolute and bold without avoidance, none like Liu Huan. For being broad-minded and having strategy, none like Sun Mian. As for commanders and deputies, what is valued is the ability to sit and work out strategy and not necessarily face arrows in person; Wang Deyong has long had a fierce reputation, Fan Zhongyan is deeply versed in military affairs, and Pang Ji has long served on the border—all are fit choices. Di Qing and Fan Quan are quite able to command troops; Jiang Xie is steady and has strategy; Zhang Kang is bold and daring; Liu Yisun is martial and resolute; Wang Deji is pure, sincere, and fiercely brave—these can fill deputy posts.

詔謂：「朔方災傷，軍儲缺乏。」此則三司失計置，轉運使不舉職，固非一日。既往固已不咎，來者又復不追，臣未見其可也。且如施昌言承久弊之政，方欲竭思慮、辦職事，一與賈昌朝違戾，遂被移徙，軍儲何由不乏？自去年秋八月，計度市糴，而昌朝執異議，仲春尚未與奪，財賦何緣得豐？先朝置內帑，本備非常。今為主者之吝，自分彼我，緩急不以為備，則臣不知其所為也。至如粒食之重，轉徙為難，莫若重立爵等，少均萬數，豪民詿誤，使得入粟，以免杖笞，必能速辦。夫能儉嗇以省費，漸致於從容。德音及此，天下之福也。比日多以卑官躐請厚奉，或身為內供奉而有遙刺之給，或為觀察使便占留後之封，幸門日開，賜予無藝，若令有司執守，率循舊規，庶幾物力亦獲寬弛。

The edict states, "Shuofang has suffered disaster and military stores are lacking." This is failure of planning by the Finance Commission and transport commissioners not performing their duties—it is not a matter of a single day. The past is already not blamed, yet the future is again not pursued—I do not see how this can work. Take Shi Changyan: he bore a long-corrupt policy and was just about to exhaust his thought and perform his duties, but once he clashed with Jia Changchao he was transferred—how then are military stores not to run short? Since the eighth month of last autumn grain purchases were planned, yet Changchao held to a dissenting view and as late as mid-spring the matter was still undecided—how could revenues become abundant? The former court established the inner treasury to meet emergencies. Now those in charge are stingy, divide what is theirs from what is ours, and do not use it when urgent or slow—I do not know what they are doing. As for the weight of grain and the difficulty of transport, nothing is better than restoring rank grades, slightly reducing the ten-thousand quotas, and letting wealthy men who have been misled be allowed to submit grain to avoid flogging—they will surely manage it quickly. If one can be frugal and sparing to save expense, one may gradually reach ease. If a virtuous edict reaches this point, it will be the realm's fortune. Recently low officials have often leapt to request thick salaries, or served as inner attendants yet received stipends for remote prefectures, or served as observation commissioners yet kept acting military commissioner titles; the door of favor opens daily and gifts are boundless—if the responsible offices enforced the rules and followed the old regulations, perhaps material resources would also be eased.

詔問：「戰馬乏絕，何策可使足用？」臣前在三司，嘗陳監牧之弊，占良田九萬餘頃，歲費錢百萬緡。天閑之數，才三四萬，急有征調，一不可用。今欲不費而馬立辦，莫若賦馬於河北、河東、陝西、京東西五路。上戶一馬，中戶二戶一馬，養馬者復其一丁。如此，則坐致戰馬二十萬匹，不為難矣。」

The edict asks, "War horses are exhausted—what policy can make them sufficient?" When I was previously at the Finance Commission I once stated the abuses of the border pastures: they occupied more than ninety thousand qing of good land and spent a million strings a year. The number in the imperial stables was only thirty or forty thousand, and when there was an urgent levy not one was usable. If we now wish to have horses ready without expense, nothing is better than levying horses on the five circuits of Hebei, Hedong, Shaanxi, and the capital east and west. One horse for an upper household, one horse for every two middle households, and for those who raise horses one corvée laborer is remitted. In this way two hundred thousand war horses can be obtained seated—not difficult at all."

時清臣以河北乏兵食，自汴漕米繇河陰輸北道者七十餘萬；又請發大名庫錢，以佐邊糴。而安撫使賈昌朝格詔不從，清臣固爭，且疏其跋扈不臣。宰相方欲兩中之，乃徙昌朝鄭州，罷清臣為侍讀學士、知河陽。卒，贈左諫議大夫。

At the time Qingchen, because Hebei lacked grain for the troops, transported more than seven hundred thousand from Bian grain transport via Heyin on the northern route; he also asked to release cash from the Daming treasury to aid border grain purchases. But Pacification Commissioner Jia Changchao blocked the edict and would not obey; Qingchen disputed firmly and also memorialized his arrogance and disloyalty. The chancellors wished to split the difference, so Changchao was transferred to Zheng and Qingchen was dismissed to Reader and prefect of Heyang. When he died he was posthumously given Left Remonstrance Grandee.

清臣天資爽邁，遇事敢行，奏對無所屈。郭承祐妻舒王元偁女，封郡主，給奉；及承祐為殿前副都指揮使，妻以不加封，請增月給，清臣執奏不可。仁宗曰：「承祐管軍，妻又諸王女，當優之。」清臣曰：「是終為僥幸。」遂卷其奏置懷中，不行。數上書論天下事，陳九議、十要、五利，皆當世可行者。有文集一百六十卷。子均，為集賢校理。

Qingchen was by nature clear and bold, acted boldly in affairs, and never bent in memorial replies. Guo Chengyou's wife was the daughter of the Prince of Shu, Wang Yuanzheng; she was enfeoffed as county princess and given a salary; when Chengyou became Deputy Commander of the Palace Front, his wife, though not given an added title, asked for an increased monthly stipend; Qingchen insisted in memorial that it could not be done. Emperor Renzong said, "Chengyou commands the army and his wife is also a prince's daughter; she should be favored." Qingchen said, "That would end as favoritism." He then rolled up his memorial, placed it in his bosom, and did not enact it. He often memorialized on affairs of the realm, setting forth Nine Discussions, Ten Essentials, and Five Benefits, all feasible in his age. He left collected works in one hundred and sixty juan. His son Jun served as collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies.

楊察，字隱甫。其先晉人，從唐僖宗入蜀，家於成都。至其祖鈞，始從孟昶歸朝。鈞生居簡，仕真宗時，至尚書都官員外郎，嘗官廬州，遂為合肥人。居簡生察，景祐元年，舉進士甲科，除將作監丞、通判宿州。遷秘書省著作郎、直集賢院，出知潁、壽二州，入為開封府推官，判三司鹽鐵、度支勾院，修起居注，歷江南東路轉運使。屬吏以察年少，易之。及行部，數摘姦隱，眾始畏伏。察在部，專以舉官為急務。人或議之，察曰：「此按察職也，苟掎拾羨餘，則俗吏之能，何必我哉！」召為右正言、知制誥，權判禮部貢院。時上封者請罷有司糊名考士，及變文格，使為放軼以襲唐體。察以謂：「防禁一潰，則奔競復起。且文無今昔，惟以體要為宗，若肆其澶漫，亦非唐氏科選之法。」前議遂寢。

Yang Cha, whose courtesy name was Yinfu, came from Jin stock; his forebears followed Emperor Xizong of Tang into Shu and made their home in Chengdu. His grandfather Jun was the first to leave Meng Chang and submit to the Song. Jun's son Ju Jian served under Emperor Zhenzong, rising to vice director in the Ministry of Justice; after an appointment in Luzhou, the family became natives of Hefei. Ju Jian's son Cha placed in the top class of the jinshi in the first year of Jingyou and was made vice director of the directorate of palace buildings and vice prefect of Suzhou. He rose to drafting secretary in the Secretariat and collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, governed Ying and Shou, returned as investigating judge in Kaifeng, judged the salt and revenue offices, revised the Veritable Records, and served as transport commissioner on the Jiangnan East circuit. His staff, seeing how young he was, took him lightly. On his inspection rounds he repeatedly uncovered hidden abuses, and everyone soon learned to fear him. In his circuit Cha made recommending officials his chief priority. When some objected, Cha said: "That is an inspector's proper work; if I merely picked at petty surpluses, any clerk could do it — why need me?" He was recalled as right remonstrator and drafter of edicts, and concurrently supervised the Ministry of Rites examinations. Memorialists then asked to end the sealing of candidates' names in examinations and to change the literary format, urging loose compositions in imitation of Tang style. Cha argued that "once the barriers are breached, competition will rise again. Moreover, good writing knows no ancient or modern divide — only substance counts; indulgent sprawling prose is not the Tang way of selecting talent by examination either." The earlier proposal was dropped.

晏殊執政，以妻父嫌，換龍圖閣待制。母憂去職，服除，復為知制誥，拜翰林學士、權知開封府，擢右諫議大夫、權御史中丞。論事無所避。會詔舉御史，建言：「臺屬供奉殿中，巡糾不法，必得通古今治亂良直之臣。今舉格太密，公坐細故，皆置不取，恐英偉之士，或有所遺。」御史何郯以論事不得實，中書問狀。察又言：「御史，故事許風聞；縱所言不當，自係朝廷采擇。今以疑似之間，遽被詰問，臣恐臺諫官畏罪緘默，非所以廣言路也。」

When Yan Shu was in power, a conflict involving his wife's father led to his transfer to awaiting appointment in the Dragon Diagram Hall. He left office to mourn his mother; when mourning ended he again drafted edicts, became Hanlin academician and acting prefect of Kaifeng, and was promoted to right remonstrating censor and acting vice censor-in-chief. In debate he shrank from nothing. When the court called for censor nominations, he wrote: "Censors attend in the hall and patrol to correct violations; they must be men who know the rise and fall of ages and are upright in character. Today the criteria are too tight; minor public faults disqualify candidates, and I fear outstanding men are being overlooked." Censor He Yan was questioned by the Secretariat because his policy arguments lacked substantiation. Cha also said: "Censors, by precedent, may act on rumor; even if their reports prove wrong, the court still decides what to accept. Now on mere suspicion they are interrogated — I fear remonstrators will fall silent for fear of punishment, and that is not how to keep the path of speech open."

又數以言事忤宰相陳執中。未幾，三司戶部判官楊儀以請求貶官，察坐前在府失出笞罪，雖去官，猶罷知信州。徙揚州，復為翰林侍讀學士，又兼龍圖閣學士、知永興軍，加端明殿學士、知益州。再遷禮部侍郎，復權知開封府，復兼翰林學士、權三司使。

He also clashed repeatedly with Chief Councilor Chen Zhizhong over policy. Soon Revenue judge Yang Yi was demoted for seeking favors; Cha was punished for failing, while prefect earlier, to report a beating offense — though he had left that post, he was still removed as prefect of Xinzhou. He was moved to Yangzhou, again made Hanlin attendant academician, also made Dragon Diagram academician and prefect of Yongxing, then academician of the Duanming Hall and prefect of Yizhou. Twice promoted to vice minister of rites, he again acted as Kaifeng prefect and again served concurrently as Hanlin academician and acting revenue commissioner.

內侍楊永德毀察於帝，三司有獄，辭連衛士，皇城司不即遣，而有詔移開封府鞫之。察由是乞罷三司，乃遷戶部侍郎兼三學士，提連集禧觀，進承旨。逾年，復以本官充三司使。餌鍾乳過劑，病癰卒。贈禮部尚書，諡宣懿。

Inner attendant Yang Yongde slandered Cha to the emperor; a revenue case implicated palace guards, and the Imperial City Bureau delayed sending them — yet an edict moved the trial to Kaifeng. Cha asked to leave the Revenue Commission and was made vice minister of revenue with three academician titles, put in charge of Jixi Abbey, and promoted to chief academician. A year later he again served as revenue commissioner. He took an overdose of stalactite elixir and died of a carbuncle. He was posthumously made minister of rites, with the posthumous title Xuan Yi.

察美風儀。幼孤，七歲始能言，母頗知書，嘗自教之。敏於屬文，其為制誥，初若不用意；及稿成，皆雅致有體，當世稱之。遇事明決，勤於吏職，雖多益喜不厭。癰方作，猶入對，商畫財利，歸而大頓，人以為用神太竭云。有文集二十卷。無子，以兄子庶為嗣。

Cha was handsome in bearing. Orphaned young, he did not speak until seven; his mother was literate and taught him herself. Quick with the brush, he seemed at first not to labor over edicts; yet the finished drafts were always elegant and well-formed, and his contemporaries praised them. Clear and decisive in affairs, diligent in office, he never wearied though duties multiplied. When the abscess first formed he still attended audience to discuss finance; returning home he collapsed — people said he had exhausted his spirit. He left collected works in twenty juan. Childless, he adopted his elder brother's son Shu as heir.

弟寘，舉進士第一，通判潤州，以母憂不赴，毀瘠而卒。時人傷之。

His younger brother Zhi placed first in the jinshi, was appointed vice prefect of Runzhou, but did not take up the post while mourning his mother and died wasted away by grief. Contemporaries mourned him deeply.

論曰：當仁宗在位時，宋興且百年，海內嘉靖，上下安佚。然法制日以玩弛，僥幸之弊多。自西陲用兵，關中困擾，天子憫勞元元，奮然欲用群材以更內外之治，於時俊傑輩出。尹洙崎嶇兵間，亦頗論天下之事。孫甫馳騁言路，咸以文學、方正知名。絳文詞議論，尤為儒林所宗。朝廷方欲倚用之，不幸死矣。最後，清臣、察繇進士高等，不數年致位侍從，立朝謇謇，無所附麗，為一時名臣。豈非出於上之所自擢，故奮勵不撓，以圖報稱哉？

The commentators say: Under Renzong the Song dynasty had stood for nearly a century; within the seas all was tranquil, and court and country were at ease. Yet institutions grew lax by the day, and opportunism spread. When war opened on the western frontier and Guanzhong was harried, the emperor pitied the people and roused himself to employ talent to renew governance at home and abroad — and outstanding men emerged in throngs. Yin Zhu, struggling through the campaigns, also spoke broadly on affairs of state. Sun Fu charged along the path of remonstrance; both were famed for learning and upright character. Jiang's writings and policy debates were especially honored among Confucian scholars. The court was just then preparing to rely on him when he died untimely. Last came Qingchen and Cha, who from top jinshi ranks reached attendance within a few years; upright in court and tied to no faction, they were famed ministers of their day. Was this not because the sovereign himself had raised them up, so that they strove without bending to repay his trust?

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