1
王延德
Wang Yande
2
王延德，開封東明人。 曾祖芝，濮陽令。 祖璋，相州錄事參軍。 父溫，晉末契丹內寇，溫率鄉豪捍蔽境內，里人德之。 宣祖掌畿甸兵，與溫厚善，延德方總角，宣祖愛其謹重，召置左右。 太宗尹京，署為親校，專主庖膳，尤被倚信。
Wang Yande was from Dongming in Kaifeng. His great-grandfather Zhi served as magistrate of Puyang. His grandfather Zhang held the post of recording secretary in Xiang Prefecture. His father Wen, when the Khitans invaded late in the Jin period, led local leaders in defending the region, earning the gratitude of the community. While the founding emperor held command of the capital armies, he was on warm terms with Wen. Yande was still a child, and the founding emperor, taken with his careful and steady manner, had him brought into his personal service. When Emperor Taizong served as governor of the capital, he appointed Yande a personal attendant in charge of the kitchens and placed exceptional trust in him.
3
太平興國初，授御廚副使，數月，遷正使。 從征太原，未幾，加尚食使，賜浚儀縣壽昌坊宅一區。 俄領薊州刺史，兼掌武德司，改皇城使，掌御輦院、左藏庫。 延德所領凡五印，因對懇讓，遂罷左藏、御廚。 八年，兼充親王諸宮使。 延德素謹慎，以舊恩，每延訪外事。 端拱初，領本州團練使。 淳化中，當進秩，延德與王繼恩、杜彥鈞使額已極，特置昭宣使，以延德等為之。 至道二年，加領平州防禦使。
Early in the Taiping Xingguo reign he was made deputy commissioner of the imperial kitchen, and a few months later was promoted to commissioner. He accompanied the expedition against Taiyuan and soon afterward was made commissioner of imperial provisions and granted a house in Shouchang Ward of Junyi County. He soon took charge of Jizhou as prefect while also directing the Wude Bureau, then became commissioner of the imperial city with authority over the imperial carriage park and the left treasury. Yande held as many as five official seals at once; when he appeared in audience and earnestly declined the burden, he was relieved of the left treasury and the imperial kitchen. In the eighth year he was additionally appointed commissioner of the princes' palaces. Yande was by nature cautious, and on account of their long-standing bond the emperor would often call him in to ask about affairs beyond the palace. Early in the Duangong reign he was made regimental commander of his home prefecture. During the Chunhua period, when promotion was due, Yande, Wang Jien, and Du Yanjun had already topped out in commissioner ranks, so a new post of Zhaoxuan commissioner was created and they were appointed to it. In the second year of Zhidao he was also made defense commissioner of Ping Prefecture.
4
真宗嗣位，改領懷州。 永熙復土，提點緣路供頓。 咸平初，出知華州，占謝日，面請罷昭宣使，從之。 實以禦侮正秩，奉給優厚故也。 上幸大名，為東京舊城都巡檢使。 明年，以風痹請告，遣還本郡，是冬卒，年六十四。 贈邕州觀察使。
When Emperor Zhenzong came to the throne, Yande was reassigned to hold Huai Prefecture. During the Yongxi tomb restoration he was put in charge of provisioning along the route. Early in Xianping he was sent out as prefect of Hua. On the day he presented his thanks for the appointment, he asked in person to be relieved of the Zhaoxuan commission, and the emperor agreed. This was in fact because the regular military rank carried generous pay and perquisites. When the emperor traveled to Daming, Yande served as metropolitan patrol commissioner of the old Eastern Capital. The following year he asked for leave on account of wind paralysis and was sent home to his native prefecture, where he died that winter at the age of sixty-four. He was posthumously enfeoffed as observation commissioner of Yong Prefecture.
5
延德所至，好撰集近事。 掌禦廚則為《司膳錄》，掌皇城司則為《皇城紀事錄》，從郊祀為行宮使則為《南郊錄》，奉詔修內則為《版築記》，從靈駕則為《永熙皇堂錄》、《山陵提轄諸司記》，及治郡則為《下車奏報錄》。 先是，詔史官修太祖、太宗《實錄》，多以國初事訪延德，又上《太宗南宮事跡》三卷。
Wherever he served, Yande liked to compile records of recent events. While in charge of the imperial kitchen he compiled the 《Record of the Provisioners》; while directing the imperial city bureau, the 《Annals of the Imperial City》; as palace commissioner on the suburban sacrifice, the 《Record of the Southern Suburb》; on imperial orders to repair the inner palace, the 《Record of Construction》; on the funeral train, the 《Record of the Yongxi Imperial Hall》 and the 《Record of the Tomb Offices》; and as prefect, the 《Record of Reports upon Taking Office》. Earlier, when court historians were ordered to compile the 《Veritable Records》 of Taizu and Taizong, they frequently consulted Yande about the founding period, and he also submitted three fascicles of the 《Taizong's Affairs in the Southern Palace》.
6
子：應昌，莊宅使、端州團練使。
His son Yingchang served as commissioner of the crown estates and regimental commander of Duan Prefecture.
7
常延信
Chang Yanxin
8
常延信，幷州平晉人。 祖思，仕周歷昭義、歸德、平盧三鎮節度，延信皆補牙職，領和州刺史。 思卒，入為六宅使，領郡如故。
Chang Yanxin was from Pingjin in Bing Prefecture. His grandfather Si, while serving the Zhou, held in turn the governorships of Zhaoyi, Guide, and Pinglu; Yanxin served repeatedly on his staff and was made prefect of He Prefecture. After Si's death he was summoned to the capital as commissioner of the six residences while retaining his prefectural post.
9
建隆初，改領平州，坐與妻族相訟，左授右監門衛副率，領護滑州黃河堤。 開寶中，為京新城外汴河南巡檢，出為潼關監軍。 延信以關路岩險，奏易道路及填禁坑，役工四十餘萬。 又監通許鎮兵，改梓、遂十二州都巡檢使，賜袍帶、錢百萬。 太平興國初，秩滿，留再任，賜錢四十萬。 時亡命卒多以山林為寇，延信嘗領徒捕殺三百餘人。 又為唐、鄧都巡檢使，代還，繼改右清道、右司禦二副率。
Early in Jianlong he was reassigned to Ping Prefecture, but after a lawsuit with his wife's family he was demoted to deputy commandant of the Right Gate Guard and assigned to maintain the Yellow River dikes at Hua Prefecture. During the Kaibao period he patrolled the Bian River south of the new capital, then was sent out as military supervisor of Tong Pass. Finding the pass road steep and dangerous, Yanxin memorialized to reroute it and fill in hazardous pits, putting more than four hundred thousand laborers to work. He next supervised the garrison at Tongxu, then became metropolitan patrol commissioner for the twelve prefectures of Zi and Su, and was granted court robes, a belt, and a million in cash. Early in Taiping Xingguo, when his term ended, he was retained for another tour and given four hundred thousand in cash. At that time many deserters turned bandit in the hills; Yanxin once led a force that killed more than three hundred of them. He next served as metropolitan patrol commissioner of Tang and Deng, and on returning from that post was made deputy commandant of the Right Qingdao and Right Siyu guards in succession.
10
雍熙三年，命督鎮州以北至軍前芻糧。 是冬，為全、邵六州都巡檢使，令疾置之任。 就充羊狀六砦都鈐轄，遷右衛副率。 會誠州蠻歸款，命延信馳入溪洞，索其要領。 又逐蠻直趣古鎮，過西延、大木諸洞，蠻人懾伏。
In the third year of Yongxi he was ordered to supervise fodder and grain from north of Zhen Prefecture to the army front. That winter he was made metropolitan patrol commissioner of the six prefectures of Quan and Shao and told to reach his post at once. He was then appointed overall commander of the six stockades at Yangzhuang and promoted to deputy commandant of the Right Guard. When the tribes of Cheng Prefecture submitted, Yanxin was ordered to ride into the gorges and secure their strategic points. He then drove the tribes straight toward Guzhen, passing through the caves of Xiyan, Damu, and others until they submitted in fear.
11
淳化中，歷襄、鄧、宋、曹等州都巡檢使，改左監門衛將軍，屢部徒修護河防，改左領軍、左屯衛二將軍，充西京水南都巡檢使。 有盜掠彭婆鎮及甲馬營，延信馳以往，悉擒之。 咸平中，歷太康、鞏縣二監軍。 景德二年，卒，年六十四。
During Chunhua he served in turn as metropolitan patrol commissioner of Xiang, Deng, Song, Cao, and other prefectures, became a general of the Left Gate Guard, repeatedly led crews in river defense work, was made general of the Left Leading and Left Tunwei guards, and served as southern patrol commissioner on the waterways of the Western Capital. When bandits raided Pengpo town and the armor-and-horse camp, Yanxin rode out at once and captured them all. During Xianping he served in turn as military supervisor of Taikang and Gong counties. He died in the second year of Jingde at the age of sixty-four.
12
程德玄
Cheng Dexuan
13
程德玄，字禹錫，鄭州滎澤人。 善醫術。 太宗尹京邑，召置左右，署押衙，頗親信用事。 太祖大漸之夕，德玄宿信陵坊，夜有扣關疾呼趣赴宮邸者。 德玄遽起，不暇盥櫛，詣府，府門尚關。 方三鼓，德玄不自悟，盤桓久之。 俄頃，見內侍王繼恩馳至，稱遺詔迎太宗即位。 德玄因從以入，拜翰林使。
Cheng Dexuan, styled Yuxi, was from Xingze in Zheng Prefecture. He was skilled in medicine. When Emperor Taizong governed the capital, he summoned Dexuan to his side, appointed him aide-de-camp, and trusted him with considerable authority. On the night the founding emperor lay gravely ill, Dexuan was staying in Xinling Ward when someone knocked at the gate and urgently summoned him to the prince's residence. Dexuan sprang up without time even to wash or comb his hair and hurried to the residence, but its gate was still shut. It was the third watch, and Dexuan, not understanding what was happening, lingered outside for a long time. Before long he saw the inner attendant Wang Jien ride up, announcing that by the late emperor's testament Taizong was to be brought in to succeed. Dexuan followed him inside and was appointed Hanlin commissioner.
14
太平興國二年，陳洪進來朝，命德玄迎勞之。 船艦度淮，暴風起，眾恐，皆請勿進。 德玄曰：「吾將君命，豈避險？」 以酒祝而行，風浪遽止。 三年，遷東上閤門使，兼翰林司事。 是秋，領代州刺史。 從征太原，為行宮使，師還，以功改判四方館事。 俄遷領本州團練使，又加領本州防禦使。
In the second year of Taiping Xingguo, when Chen Hongjin came to court, Dexuan was sent to welcome and entertain him. As the fleet crossed the Huai, a violent storm arose; the company was terrified and all urged that they turn back. Dexuan said, "I carry the ruler's command—how can I shrink from danger?" He poured a libation and set out, and the wind and waves abruptly fell still. In the third year he was made eastern upper Gate commissioner while also directing Hanlin affairs. That autumn he was given Dai Prefecture. He accompanied the campaign against Taiyuan as palace commissioner, and on the army's return was made administrator of the Bureau of the Four Directions for his service. He was soon made regimental commander of his home prefecture and additionally defense commissioner there.
15
五年，坐市秦、隴竹木聯筏入京師，所過矯制免算，又高其估以入官，為王仁贍所發，責授東上閤門使，領本州刺史。 陝府西南轉運使、左拾遺韋務升，京西轉運使、起居舍人程能，判官、右贊善大夫時載，坐縱德玄等於部下私販鬻，務升洎能並責授右贊善大夫，載將作監丞。 是冬，車駕幸魏府，命總御營四面巡檢，掌給諸軍資糧。
In the fifth year he was found to have floated rafts of Qin and Long bamboo and timber to the capital, forged orders along the route to evade tolls, and inflated valuations when turning goods over to the state. Exposed by Wang Renzan, he was demoted to eastern upper Gate commissioner while retaining his home prefecture. Wei Wusheng, left remonstrator and transport commissioner for southwestern Shaan, Cheng Neng, recorder of the left and transport commissioner for the western capital circuit, and Shi Zai, judge and right aide to the heir apparent, were punished for allowing Dexuan and others to trade privately under their jurisdiction. Wusheng and Neng were both demoted to right aides to the heir apparent, and Zai to director of the Directorate of Works. That winter, when the emperor visited We Prefecture, he was put in overall charge of patrol on all sides of the imperial camp and of provisioning the armies.
16
德玄攀附至近列，上頗信其言，繇是趨附者甚眾。 或言其交遊太盛，遂出為崇信軍節度行軍司馬。 逾年，復拜慈州刺史，移知環州。 時西鄙酋豪相繼內附，詔以空名告敕百道付德玄，得便宜補授。 頃之，以疾求致仕，優詔不許。 淳化三年，改本州團練使、知邠州。 未半歲，復典環州。 李順之寇西蜀，移知鳳州，兼領鳳、成、階、文等州駐泊兵馬事，徙慶州。 咸平中，入朝，真宗命坐撫勞，訪以邊事。 俄出知幷州兼幷代副都部署，移鎮州，受代歸闕。 景德初，卒，年六十五。 大中祥符中，其子繼宗上章，懇祈贈典，上憫之，特贈鄭州防禦使。
Dexuan had risen by clinging to the inner circle, and the emperor came to trust his counsel, so many flocked to court his favor. When word spread that his circle of associates had grown too large, he was sent out as field marshal of the Chongxin command. A year later he was again made prefect of Ci and transferred to govern Huan Prefecture. As frontier chieftains on the western border submitted in succession, the court gave Dexuan a hundred blank patents of appointment with discretion to fill them as needed. Before long he asked to retire on account of illness, but a gracious edict refused permission. In the third year of Chunhua he was made regimental commander of his home prefecture and administrator of Bin Prefecture. Within half a year he was again put in charge of Huan Prefecture. When Li Shun rebelled in western Shu, he was transferred to Feng Prefecture with concurrent charge of stationed troops in Feng, Cheng, Jie, Wen, and neighboring prefectures, then moved to Qing Prefecture. During Xianping he came to court; Emperor Zhenzong had him seated, comforted him, and asked about frontier affairs. He was soon sent out as prefect of Bing while also serving as deputy overall commander of Bing and Dai, then transferred to Zhen Prefecture, and on being relieved returned to court. Early in Jingde he died at the age of sixty-five. During Dazhong Xiangfu his son Jizong memorialized earnestly for posthumous honors; moved to pity, the emperor specially granted him the title of defense commissioner of Zheng Prefecture.
17
兄德元同仕王府，至內酒坊副使。 繼宗，東頭供奉官、閤門祗候，次子繼忠，內殿崇班。 德元子賁，大中祥符五年舉進士，累遷太常博士。
His elder brother Deyuan also served in the princely household and rose to deputy commissioner of the inner wine bureau. Jizong served as eastern-head attendant-in-waiting and gate usher; his second son Jizhong was an inner-palace honored guardsman. Deyuan's son Ben passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu and rose in time to erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
18
王延德
Wang Yande
19
王延德，大名人。 少給事晉邸。 太平興國初，補殿前承旨，再遷供奉官。 六年，會高昌國遣使朝貢，太宗以遠人輸誠，遣延德與殿前承旨白勳使焉。 自夏州渡河，經沙磧，歷伊州，望北庭萬五千里。 雍熙二年，使還，撰《西州程記》以獻，授崇儀副使，掌御廚。 明年，拜正使，出知慶州。
Wang Yande was from Daming. In his youth he served in the household of the Prince of Jin. Early in Taiping Xingguo he was made attendant of the Hall Forecourt and soon promoted twice to attendant-in-waiting. In the sixth year, when Gaochang sent tribute envoys, Emperor Taizong, moved by their distant sincerity, sent Yande with forecourt attendant Bai Xun as envoys in return. They crossed the river from Xia Prefecture, crossed the desert sands, passed through Yi Prefecture, and gazed toward Beiting fifteen thousand li distant. When the mission returned in the second year of Yongxi, he presented his 《Record of the Journey to the Western Regions》, was made deputy commissioner of honored guards, and put in charge of the imperial kitchen. The following year he was made full commissioner and sent out as prefect of Qing Prefecture.
20
淳化三年，代還，監折博倉。 延德與張齊賢善，因國子博士朱貽業通言齊賢，求免掌庾，希進用。 齊賢為言之，上怒曰：「延德願掌倉以自效，未逾月，又禱宰相求免，何也？」 因召延德詰責，自言未嘗遣貽業詣相府有所求請。 上疑齊賢不實，召貽業至，貽業又諱之，齊賢恥自辨，因頓首稱罪。 上怒，即以延德領懿州刺史以寵之。 五年，提點三司衙司、磨勘憑由司。 未幾，拜左屯衛大將軍、樞密都承旨，俄授度支使。
In the third year of Chunhua, on returning from his post, he was put in charge of the exchange-and-trade granary. Yande was friendly with Zhang Qixian and, through Guozijian erudite Zhu Yiye, asked Qixian to have him relieved of the granary post in hopes of promotion. Qixian spoke for him, and the emperor angrily said, "Yande asked to run the granary to prove himself, yet within a month he is begging the chief minister to be relieved—what is this?" He summoned Yande to rebuke him; Yande insisted he had never sent Yiye to the chief minister's residence with any request. The emperor suspected Qixian was lying, summoned Yiye, and Yiye again denied it. Ashamed to argue his case, Qixian simply kowtowed and confessed fault. Still angry, the emperor made Yande prefect of Yi Prefecture as a mark of favor. In the fifth year he was made overseer of the Three Offices yamen and the credentials examination bureau. Before long he was made great general of the Left Tunwei Guard and overall bearer of the Privy Council, and soon afterward fiscal commissioner.
21
延德以攀附得官，傾險好進，時人惡之。 兄延之，乾德六年進士，至屯田郎中致仕。
Yande had risen by currying favor; overreaching and ambitious, he was widely disliked. His elder brother Yanzhi, a jinshi of the sixth year of Qiande, rose to director of the agricultural lands bureau before retiring.
22
張質，字守樸，博州高唐人。 少孤，養於兄讚。 讚為樞密院典謁，質因得隸兵房，頗為趙普、曹彬所知。 太宗征河東，還駐鎮陽，彬方典樞務。 一夕，議調發屯兵，時，軍載簿領，阻留在道。 質潛計兵數，部分軍馬，及得兵籍較之，悉無差謬。 淳化中，累遷本房副都承旨。
Zhang Zhi, styled Shoupu, was from Gaotang in Bozhou. Orphaned in youth, he was brought up by his elder brother Zan. Zan served as a reception clerk at the Bureau of Military Affairs, and Zhi thereby entered the military affairs section, where he won considerable notice from Zhao Pu and Cao Bin. When Emperor Taizong marched against Hedong and returned to encamp at Zhenyang, Cao Bin was then in charge of Bureau affairs. One evening the court deliberated mobilizing garrison troops, but the military transport ledgers were stalled on the road. Zhi quietly reckoned the troop totals, apportioned armies and horses, and when the military registers arrived for comparison, every figure matched without error. During the Chunhua reign he rose step by step to deputy associate director of his section.
23
咸平初，授左監門衛將軍、樞密副都承旨。 先是，樞密吏皆以年勞次補，有至主事而懵其職者。 景德三年夏，內出公事三條，令主事以下詳決之，命質與禮房副承旨尹德潤宿御書院考第。 翌日，上親臨閱視，凡選補四十餘人，不中式除崇班、供奉官、奉職者十餘人。 以質為左屯衛大將軍，加給月奉，歷右神武軍、右衛二大將軍。
At the opening of the Xianping reign he was made general of the Left Gate Guard Corps and deputy associate director of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Earlier, Bureau clerks had all been promoted by length of service in order; some rose as high as section chief without understanding their work. In the summer of Jingde 3, the palace issued three official cases for adjudication by all ranks below section chief, and ordered Zhi and Yin Derun, deputy attendant of the Rites Section, to stay at the Imperial Library Academy and grade the candidates. The next day the emperor reviewed the results in person. More than forty were chosen for promotion, while more than ten who failed were stripped of their ranks in the Honored Corps, as palace attendants, and as attendants-in-service. Zhi was appointed grand general of the Left Garrison Guard Corps with an added monthly stipend, and later served as grand general of both the Right Divine Martial Army and the Right Guard Corps.
24
大中祥符七年，轉都承旨。 在樞要僅五十日，練習事程，精敏端愨，未嘗有過。 舊，本院吏罕有遷至都承旨者，上素知質廉謹，故以授之。 嘗召問五代以降洎國初軍籍更易之制，且命條具利害，質纂為三篇，目曰《兵要》以進，上覽而稱善。
In Dazhong Xiangfu 7 he was promoted to associate director. Though he held this crucial post for only fifty days, he mastered every routine of the office—keen, efficient, and upright—and never once faltered. Seldom before had a Bureau clerk risen to associate director, but the emperor had long known Zhi for his integrity and carefulness, and so gave him the appointment. He was once summoned to explain how military registers had been altered from the Five Dynasties through the dynasty's founding, and ordered to set out the pros and cons in detail. Zhi compiled three chapters under the title 《Essentials of Warfare》 and submitted them; the emperor read the work and commended it.
25
楊允恭
Yang Yungong
26
楊允恭，漢州綿竹人。 家世豪富，允恭少倜儻任俠。 乾德中，王師平蜀，群盜竊發，允恭裁弱冠，率鄉里子弟砦於清泉鄉，為賊所獲，將殺之。 允恭曰：「苟活我，當助爾。」 賊素聞其豪宗，乃釋之。 陰結賊帥子，日與飲博，陽不勝，償以貲，使伺賊。 賊將害允恭，其子以告，因遁去。 內客省使丁德裕討賊至州，允恭以策幹之，署綿、漢招收巡檢，賊平，補殿前承旨。
Yang Yungong was from Mianzhu in Han Prefecture. His family had been rich for generations, and in youth Yungong was bold, unconventional, and fond of deeds of chivalry. During Qiande, as the imperial army pacified Shu, bandits broke out on every side. Yungong had only just come of age when he led local youths to fortify Qingquan Township; the bandits captured them and were about to execute him. Yungong said, "If you let me live, I will aid you." The bandits had long known his family as a powerful local house, and so they set him free. He secretly befriended the bandit chief's son, drinking and gambling with him every day; he would deliberately lose and pay his stakes in goods, all the while watching the bandits' movements. When the bandits were about to kill Yungong, the chief's son warned him, and he escaped in secret. When Ding Deyu, commissioner of the Inner Reception Bureau, arrived in the prefecture to suppress the bandits, Yungong offered his plan and was appointed recruitment and inspection commissioner for Mian and Han. After the bandits were pacified, he was made a palace front attendant.
27
太平興國中，以殿直掌廣州市舶。 自南漢之後，海賊子孫相襲，大者及數百人，州縣苦之。 允恭因部運入奏其事，太宗即命為廣、連都巡檢使。 又以海鹽盜入嶺北，民犯者眾，請建大庾縣為軍，官輦鹽市之。 詔建為南安軍，自是冒禁者少。 賊有葉氏者，眾五百餘，往來海上。 允恭集水軍，造輕舠，掩襲其首，斬之。 餘黨棄船走，伏匿山谷，允恭伐木開道，悉殲焉。 賊寇每遇風濤，則遁止洲島間。 允恭領眾涉海，捕之殆盡，賊皆望風奔潰。 又抵漳、泉賊所止處，盡奪先所劫男女六十餘口還其家。 詔書嘉獎，賜錢十萬，轉供奉官。 詔歸，改內殿崇班。
During Taiping Xingguo he served as a palace attendant in charge of Guangzhou maritime trade. Since the time of Southern Han, piracy had passed from father to son; the largest bands numbered several hundred men, and prefectures and counties were hard pressed by them. When Yungong returned to court on a transport mission and reported the situation, Emperor Taizong immediately appointed him chief inspection commissioner of Guang and Lian. Because sea salt was being smuggled north of the Nanling Mountains and violations were widespread, he also asked that Dayu County be elevated to a military prefecture where the government could haul in salt and sell it. An edict created Nan'an Military Prefecture, and from that time violations of the salt ban grew fewer. One pirate band, the Ye clan, numbered more than five hundred men and ranged back and forth across the sea. Yungong gathered a naval force, built light craft, and launched a surprise attack on the band's leader, whom he beheaded. The survivors abandoned their ships and fled into the mountains; Yungong cut timber to open paths and wiped them out to the last man. Whenever pirates ran into wind and heavy seas, they would take refuge among islands and sandbars. Yungong led his men across the sea and hunted them down almost to extinction; thereafter the pirates fled at the mere sight of his banners. He also tracked pirates to their haunts in Zhang and Quan, recovered more than sixty men and women they had seized, and sent them home. An imperial edict praised his service, granted him one hundred thousand cash, and promoted him to palace attendant officer. Recalled to court, he was transferred to the Inner Hall Honored Corps.
28
時緣江多賊，命督江南水運，因捕寇黨。 行及臨江軍，擇驍卒輕舟伺下江賊所止，夜發軍城，三鼓，遇賊百餘，拒敵久之，悉梟其首。 又趣通州境上躡海賊，賊係眾舟。 張幕，發勁弩、短炮。 允恭兵刃所向，多為幕所縈，炮中允恭左肩，流血及袖，容色彌壯。 徐遣善泅者以繩連鐵鉤散擲之，壞其幕，士卒爭進，賊赴水死者大半，擒數百人。 自是江路無剽掠之患。 以功轉洛苑副使，江、淮、兩浙都大發運、擘畫茶鹽捕賊事； 賜紫袍、金帶、錢五十萬。 先是，三路轉運使各領其職，或廩庾多積，而軍士舟楫不給，雖以官錢雇丁男挽舟，而土人憚其役，以是歲上供米，不過三百萬。 允恭盡籍三路舟卒與所運物數，令諸州擇牙吏，悉集，允恭乃辨數授之。 江、浙所運，止於淮、泗，由淮、泗輸京師，行之一歲，上供者六百萬。
Because bandits were rife along the Yangtze, he was ordered to supervise Jiangnan water transport and capture outlaw bands in the course of his duties. At Linjiang Military Prefecture he chose elite troops in light boats to scout where downstream bandits were hiding. Setting out from the garrison city at night, at the third watch he met more than a hundred bandits; after a long fight he beheaded them all. He then hurried to the Tong Prefecture frontier to pursue sea pirates, who had lashed their boats together in a line. They stretched protective screens and opened fire with powerful crossbows and short catapults. Wherever Yungong's men thrust, they were often snared by the screens. A catapult bolt struck his left shoulder and blood ran down his sleeve, yet his expression grew only fiercer. He calmly sent skilled swimmers to throw iron hooks tied to ropes and tear the screens apart; his soldiers surged forward, more than half the bandits drowned trying to escape into the water, and several hundred were taken alive. After that the river routes were free of piracy. For his achievements he was made deputy commissioner of the Luoyang Imperial Park and Grand Transport Commissioner for Jianghuai and the Two Zhes, with authority over tea, salt, and pirate suppression; and was granted a purple robe, a gold belt, and five hundred thousand cash. Previously the transport commissioners of the three routes each managed his own circuit. Granaries might be full while boats and supplies for the troops remained inadequate; although official funds were used to hire laborers to haul barges, local people dreaded the corvée, so the annual rice delivered to the capital did not exceed three million piculs. Yungong fully registered the boat crews and cargo totals of all three routes, had each prefecture choose clerks, gathered them together, and then assigned each his quota by careful reckoning. Jiang and Zhe shipments now stopped at Huai and Si, whence grain went on to the capital. After one year under the new system, tribute deliveries reached six million piculs.
29
淳化五年，轉西京作坊使。 初，產茶之地，民輸賦者悉計其直，官售之，精粗不校，咸輸榷務。 商人弗肯售，久即焚之。 允恭曰：「竭民利而取之，積腐而棄之，非善計也。」 至道初，劉式建議請廢緣江榷務，許商人過江，聽私貨鬻。 允恭以為諸州新陳相糅，兩河諸州風土，各有所宜，非雜以數品，即商人少利。 請依舊江北置務，均色號，以年次給之。 事下三司，鹽鐵使陳恕等以允恭議為是，詔從之。 即命允恭為發運使，始改「擘畫」為「制置」，以西京作坊副使李廷遂、著作佐郎王子輿並為同發運使。
In Chunhua 5 he was made commissioner of the Western Capital Workshops. At first, in tea-producing districts the grain tax was calculated at a fixed cash value and sold to the government, which made no distinction between fine and coarse grades; all of it went to the monopoly offices. Merchants refused to buy it, and after long storage it was burned. Yungong said, "To squeeze the people dry in collecting tea, stockpile it until it rots, and then throw it away—this is no sound policy." In the early Zhidao reign Liu Shi proposed abolishing the Yangtze monopoly offices and allowing merchants to cross the river and sell tea freely. Yungong argued that stocks of new and old tea were mingled among the prefectures, and that the soils of the Two He regions each suited different grades; unless several varieties were blended, merchants would see little profit. He asked that monopoly offices be restored north of the river as before, grades standardized, and tea issued by vintage. The proposal went to the Three Offices; Salt and Iron Commissioner Chen Shu and others endorsed Yungong's plan, and an edict adopted it. Yungong was immediately appointed transport commissioner, and the title was changed from "Planning" to "Regulation." Li Tingsui, deputy commissioner of the Western Capital Workshops, and Wang Ziyu, assistant editor, were appointed co-transport commissioners.
30
巢、廬江二縣舊隸廬州，道遠多寇，民輸勞費。 允恭請以二縣建軍，詔許之，以無為為額。 淮南十八州軍，其九禁鹽地，則上下其直，民利商鹽之賤，故販者益眾，至有持兵器往來為盜者。 允恭以為行法宜一，即奏請悉禁，而官遣吏主之。 事下三司，三司言其不可，允恭再三為請，太宗始從之。 是歲，收利巨萬。 允恭與王子輿、秦羲同主茶鹽之任，多作條製，遂變新法。
Chao and Lujiang counties had long been subordinate to Luzhou; the route was long, bandits were many, and the people bore heavy costs in delivering their taxes. Yungong asked that the two counties be made a military prefecture; the court approved, naming it Wuwei. Of Huainan's eighteen prefectures and armies, nine were government salt-monopoly zones where prices were adjusted up and down. Because commoners profited from cheap merchant salt, smugglers grew ever more numerous, until some went about armed as bandits. Yungong held that the law should be uniform throughout the region and immediately memorialized asking that private salt be fully prohibited and managed by officials sent by the government. The proposal went to the Three Offices, which declared it unworkable, but Yungong petitioned again and again until Emperor Taizong at last consented. That year revenues ran to tens of thousands of strings of cash. Yungong, Wang Ziyu, and Qin Xi jointly directed tea and salt policy, drafting many new regulations and thereby remaking the system.
31
俄知通利軍，兼黃、御河發運使。 會議減西鄙屯兵，以息轉餉，召允恭與崇儀副使竇神寶、閣門祗候李允則馳往經度，圖上郡縣山川之形勝。 允恭因建議曰：「自環州入積石、抵靈武七日程。 芻粟之運，其策有三。 然以人以驢，其費頗煩，而所載數鮮。 莫若用諸葛亮木牛之制，以小車發卒分鋪運之。 每一車四人挽之，旁設兵衛，加戈刃於其上，寇至則聚車於中，合士卒之力，禦寇於外。」 尋為議者所沮而止。 復遣之任，又議，江、淮鹽鐵使陳恕力爭，詔從允恭之議。 加領康州刺史。
Soon afterward he was made military prefect of Tongli and concurrently transport commissioner for the Huang and Imperial Canals. When the court debated reducing frontier garrisons in the west to cut supply costs, Yungong was summoned together with Vice Commissioner Dou Shenbao and Gate Attendant Li Yunze to ride post-haste and survey the region, submitting maps of the strategic terrain of its commanderies, counties, mountains, and rivers. Yungong thereupon proposed, "From Huanzhou through Jishi to Lingwu is a march of seven days. There are three ways to move forage and grain. But whether by men or by donkeys, the cost is heavy and the loads are small. Better to adopt Zhuge Liang's wooden-ox carts, using small wagons and relay teams of soldiers to move supplies along the route. Each cart would be hauled by four men, with guards posted alongside and weapons mounted on the wagons. When raiders appear, the carts would be drawn into a circle and the soldiers would combine to fight them off from within." The plan was soon blocked by critics and dropped. Yungong was sent back to his post, and when the matter was debated again, Jianghuai Salt and Iron Commissioner Chen Shu argued strenuously; an edict adopted Yungong's view. He was additionally made prefect of Kangzhou.
32
咸平初，以北邊賣馬，未有定直，命允恭主平其估，乃置估馬司，鑄印以為常制。 王均之亂，上慮南方有聚寇，命允恭為荊湖、江、浙都巡檢使，內殿崇班楊守遵副之，賜與甚厚。 二年夏，以疾聞，遣其子大理評事可乘傳侍疾。 七月，卒於升州，年五十六，賜其次子告同學究出身，賻錢二十萬、絹百匹。 又以錢五萬、帛五十匹給其家。 命揚州官造第一區賜之。
At the start of Xianping, because frontier horse sales had no fixed price, Yungong was ordered to establish fair valuations; he set up a horse-appraisal office and cast an official seal as a standing rule. During Wang Jun's rebellion the emperor feared bandits might gather in the south and appointed Yungong chief inspection commissioner of Jinghu, Jiang, and Zhe, with Yang Shouzun of the Inner Hall Honored Corps as his deputy; the gifts bestowed on him were lavish. In the second year, summer, word of his illness reached court, and his son Ke, a court reviewer, was sent by express relay to nurse him. In the seventh month he died at Shengzhou, aged fifty-six. His second son Gao was granted Academician Emeritus status, with funeral gifts of two hundred thousand cash and one hundred bolts of silk. The court also gave his family fifty thousand cash and fifty bolts of silk. Officials in Yang Prefecture were ordered to build a first-rank residence and grant it to the family.
33
允恭有膽幹，能以方略捕賊。 王小波之亂也，李順之兄自榮據綿竹，土人多被脅從。 允恭兄允升、弟允元，率鄉里子弟並力破之； 又為王師鄉導，執自榮詣劍門以獻。 王繼恩表其事，詔賜允升學究出身，授本縣令，允元什邡令。 明年，召赴闕，授允升右讚善大夫，允元大理評事。
Yungong was bold and resourceful and knew how to capture bandits by stratagem. During Wang Xiaobo's rebellion, Li Shun's elder brother Zirong seized Mianzhu, and many locals were forced to follow him. Yungong's elder brother Yunsheng and younger brother Yunyuan rallied local youths and together defeated them; they also guided the imperial army, captured Zirong, and brought him to Jianmen Pass as a prisoner. Wang Jien reported the affair to court; an edict granted Yunsheng Academician Emeritus status and made him magistrate of his home county, and appointed Yunyuan magistrate of Shifang. The next year they were summoned to court; Yunsheng was made Right Supporter of Goodness Grandee and Yunyuan a court reviewer.
34
可，咸平元年進士，喜屬文，有吏幹，累召試，曆戶部、鹽鐵判官，知洪、宣、潤、壽、潭州，至都官員外郎。 告，虞部員外郎。
Ke, a jinshi of Xianping 1, loved literary composition and had a gift for administration. Repeatedly summoned to court examinations, he served as judicial officer in the Ministry of Revenue and Salt and Iron, governed Hong, Xuan, Run, Shou, and Tan prefectures, and rose to vice director of the Ministry of Justice. Gao served as vice director of the Ministry of Works.
35
秦羲，字致堯，江寧人。 世仕江左。 曾祖本，岳州刺史。 祖進遠，寧國軍節度副使。 父承裕，建州監軍使、知州事。 李煜之歸朝也，承裕遣羲詣闕上符印，太祖召見，悅其趨對詳謹，補殿直，令督廣濟漕船。 太平興國中，有南唐軍校馬光璉等亡命荊楚，結徒為盜。 羲受詔，縛光璉以獻，太宗壯之。 積勞改西頭供奉官，決獄於淮南諸州。
Qin Xi, styled Zhiyao, was from Jiangning. His family had held office south of the Yangtze for generations. His great-grandfather Ben served as prefect of Yuezhou. His grandfather Jinyuan was vice military commissioner of the Ningguo Army. His father Chengyu was military supervisor of Jianzhou and acting prefect. When Li Yu surrendered to the Song, Chengyu sent Xi to court to present the seals and credentials. Emperor Taizu received him, pleased by his careful and thorough replies, appointed him a palace attendant, and put him in charge of Guangji transport boats. During Taiping Xingguo, the former Southern Tang army officer Ma Guanglian and others fled to Jingchu as outlaws and gathered a band of robbers. Xi received the order, bound Guanglian, and presented him to court; Emperor Taizong was greatly pleased. For long service he was promoted to western palace attendant officer and sent to adjudicate cases in the Huainan prefectures.
36
淳化中，又督洛南采銅。 雷有終稱其有心計，遣監興國軍茶務。 會楊允恭改茶鹽法，薦羲掌真州榷務，尋提點淮南西路茶鹽，得羨餘十餘萬，遂與允恭同為江、淮製置，擢授閣門祗候，兼製置礬稅。
During Chunhua he was again put in charge of copper mining at Luonan. Lei Youzhong praised him for his shrewdness and dispatched him to supervise tea affairs at Xingguo Army. When Yang Yungong reformed the tea and salt laws, he recommended Xi to run the monopoly office at Zhenzhou. Xi was soon appointed intendant of tea and salt for western Huainan Circuit, where he produced a surplus of more than one hundred thousand; he and Yungong then served together as Jiang-Huai commissioners. Xi was promoted to door attendant and also made commissioner for alum tax.
37
咸平初，入奏，真宗麵加慰勞。 淮南榷鹽，二歲增錢八十三萬餘貫，以勞改內殿崇班，又兼製置荊湖路。 江南群盜久為民患，羲討捕皆盡。 四年，領發運使事，改供備庫副使，獻議增榷酤歲十八萬緡，所增既多，尤為刻下。 會歲旱，詔罷之。 景德初，遷供備庫使、知江陵府。 坐舉官不如狀，削秩。
At the beginning of the Xianping reign he came to court to report, and Emperor Zhenzong personally comforted and praised him. Under his salt monopoly in Huainan, revenue rose by more than eight hundred thirty thousand strings of cash in two years. For this service he was promoted to Inner Hall Honored Rank and also made commissioner of Jinghu Circuit. Bandits in Jiangnan had long plagued the people, but Xi hunted them down until none remained. In the fourth year he assumed the duties of transport commissioner and was promoted to vice commissioner of the Supply Repository. He proposed raising the wine monopoly by one hundred eighty thousand strings a year; because the increase was so steep, he was especially harsh toward those beneath him. When drought struck that year, an edict abolished the increase. At the beginning of the Jingde reign he was transferred to Supply Repository commissioner and appointed prefect of Jiangling. Because a man he had recommended proved unqualified, he was demoted.
38
大中祥符初，起授供備庫副使、宿州監軍，稍遷東染院副使。 明年，廣州言澄海兵嘗捕宜賊，頗希恩桀驁，軍中不能制，部送闕下。 上以遠方大鎮，宜得材幹之臣鎮撫之。 宰相曆言數人，皆不稱旨。 上曰：「秦羲可當此任。」 復授供備庫使，充廣州鈐轄。 曆東染院使、知蘇州，改崇儀使、提舉在京諸司庫務。 因對，求典藩郡，遷內園使、知泉州。 天禧四年，代還。 道病卒，年六十四。
At the beginning of Dazhong Xiangfu he was recalled and appointed vice commissioner of the Supply Repository and military supervisor at Suzhou, then gradually promoted to vice commissioner of the Eastern Dyeing Office. The next year Guangzhou reported that Chenghai troops who had once captured Yizhou bandits had grown arrogant in expectation of reward and could no longer be controlled in camp, so they were escorted to the capital. The emperor felt that so important a post in a distant region required a capable minister to pacify and govern it. The chief ministers in turn recommended several men, but none satisfied the emperor. The emperor said, "Qin Xi can fill this post." Xi was again appointed Supply Repository commissioner and made commandant of Guangzhou. He served successively as commissioner of the Eastern Dyeing Office and prefect of Suzhou, then was promoted to Honored Ceremonial commissioner and put in charge of all warehouse offices in the capital. At an audience he asked to govern a frontier prefecture and was transferred to Inner Garden commissioner and prefect of Quanzhou. In the fourth year of Tianxi he completed his term and returned to the capital. He fell ill on the road and died at the age of sixty-four.
39
羲知書，好為詩，喜賓客，頗有士風。 曆財貨之任，凡十餘年，精勤練習，號為稱職。
Xi was literate, fond of poetry, enjoyed entertaining guests, and had something of a scholar's bearing. He held fiscal posts for more than ten years in all, working diligently and skillfully, and was regarded as thoroughly competent.
40
謝德權
Xie Dequan
41
謝德權，字士衡，福州人。 父文節，初仕王氏，為侯官令。 後入南唐，為忠烈都虞侯、饒州團練使，以驍勇聞。 周世宗南征，文節獨擐甲度大江，潛覘敵壘，吳人號為「鐵龍」。 後守鄂州，拒宋師，戰沒。
Xie Dequan, styled Shiheng, was from Fuzhou. His father Wenjie first served the Wang regime as magistrate of Houguan. Later he entered Southern Tang service as deputy commander of the Zhonglie Guard and regimental commissioner of Raozhou, famed for his fierce courage. When Emperor Shizong of Zhou marched south, Wenjie alone donned armor, crossed the great river, and secretly reconnoitered the enemy camps; the Wu people called him "Iron Dragon." Later he defended Ezhou, resisted the Song army, and died in battle.
42
德權初以父死事，李煜署莊宅副使。 歸宋，詣登聞檢院自薦，補殿前承旨，遷殿直、陝西巡檢，以勞就改右侍禁。 咸陽浮橋壞，轉運使宋太初命德權規畫，乃築土實岸，聚石為倉，用河中鐵牛之制，纜以竹索，繇是無患。
At first, because his father had died in service, Li Yu appointed Dequan deputy estate commissioner. After submitting to the Song he went to the Petition Inspection Court to recommend himself, was appointed a palace attendant aide, then transferred to palace guard and Shaanxi circuit inspector; for meritorious service he was promoted to right palace guard. When the Xianyang floating bridge collapsed, transport commissioner Song Taichu ordered Dequan to plan the repair. He piled earth to fill the banks, gathered stones into stores, used the iron-ox mooring system of the Yellow River, and secured the bridge with bamboo cables; thereafter there was no further trouble.
43
咸平二年，宜州溪蠻叛，命陳堯叟往經度之，德權預其行，以單騎入蠻境，諭以朝旨，眾咸聽命。 堯叟以聞，加閣門祗候，廣、韶、英、雄、連、賀六州都巡檢使。 代歸，提點京城倉草場。 先是，廥積多患地下濕，德權累甓為台以藉之，遂無敗腐。
In the second year of Xianping the Yizhou stream tribes rebelled, and Chen Yaosou was ordered to oversee the matter. Dequan joined the mission, rode alone into tribal territory, expounded the court's will, and all submitted. Yaosou reported this, and Dequan was promoted to door attendant and made overall circuit inspector of Guang, Shao, Ying, Xiong, Lian, and He prefectures. When his term ended and he returned, he was appointed intendant of the capital's granaries and hay fields. Previously stored grain often spoiled from dampness below ground; Dequan stacked bricks into platforms to support it, and spoilage ceased.
44
京城衢巷狹隘，命德權廣之。 既受詔，則先撤貴要邸舍，群議紛然。 有詔止之，德權麵請曰：「臣己受命，不可中止。 今沮事者皆權豪輩，吝屋室僦資耳，非有他也。」 上從之。 因條上衢巷廣袤及禁鼓昏曉之制。
The capital's lanes and alleys were narrow and cramped, and Dequan was ordered to widen them. Once he received the edict he first demolished the mansions of the powerful, and public outcry was vehement. An edict was issued to stop him, but Dequan personally petitioned, "Your servant has already received the commission—it cannot be halted. Those who now obstruct the work are all powerful magnates begrudging only the rent on their houses—there is nothing else to it." The emperor agreed. He then submitted detailed regulations on the width of lanes and alleys and the curfew-bell system for dusk and dawn.
45
會有凶人劉曄、僧澄雅訟執政與許州民陰構西夏為叛者，詔溫仲舒、謝泌鞫問，令德權監之。 既而按驗無狀，翌日，對便殿，具奏其妄。 泌獨曰：「追攝大臣，獄狀乃具。」 德權曰：「泌欲陷大臣耶！ 若使大臣無罪受辱，則人君何以使臣，臣下何以事君？」 仲舒曰：「德權所奏甚善。」 上乃可之。
Meanwhile the malefactor Liu Ye and the monk Chengya brought suit, alleging that chief ministers and a commoner of Xuzhou had secretly colluded with Western Xia in rebellion; Wen Zhongshu and Xie Bi were ordered to examine the case, with Dequan supervising. Investigation then found no substance to the charges; the next day, at audience in the informal hall, they fully reported that the accusation was false. Bi alone said, "If we summon and detain great ministers, the case record will then be complete." Dequan said, "Does Bi wish to trap great ministers! If great ministers suffer disgrace though innocent, how can the ruler employ ministers, and how can ministers serve the ruler?" Zhongshu said, "What Dequan has stated is very good." The emperor then approved it.
46
六年，命城新樂縣，遷供奉官。 又命浚北平砦濠，葺蒲陰城。 一日，遽乘傳詣闕求對，且言：「邊民多挈族入城居止。 前歲契丹入塞，傅潛閉壘自固，康保裔被擒，王師未有勝捷。 臣以為今歲契丹必寇內地，令邊兵聚屯一處，尤非便利，願速分戍鎮、定、高陽三路。 天雄城壘闊遠，請急詔蹙之，仍葺澶州城，北治德清軍城塹，以為豫備。 臣實慮蒲陰工作未訖，寇必暴至。」 上慰遣之，既而契丹果圍蒲陰。 及聞有詔修河北行宮，德權又驛奏，請車駕毋渡河，及至澶州，德權單馬間道赴行在。
In the sixth year he was ordered to fortify Xinle County and was promoted to palace attendant officer. He was also ordered to dredge the moat at Beiping Fort and repair Puyin city. One day he suddenly rode post-horses to the capital seeking an audience and said, "Frontier people have largely brought their clans into the cities to live. The year before last, when the Khitan entered the passes, Fu Qian closed his fort and held fast, Kang Baoyi was captured, and the imperial army had no victory to report. Your servant believes that this year the Khitan will surely raid the interior. Massing frontier troops in one place is especially ill-advised—I beg that garrisons be quickly divided among the three routes of Zhen, Ding, and Gaoyang. The Tianxiong fortifications are vast and spread out—please urgently order them tightened. Repair Chenzhou city as well, and fortify the walls and moat of Deqing Army to the north as a reserve measure. Your servant truly fears that work at Puyin is not yet finished and the enemy will suddenly arrive." The emperor comforted and sent him off; soon afterward the Khitan indeed besieged Puyin. When word came of an edict to build traveling palaces in Hebei, Dequan again memorialized by post relay, begging the imperial carriage not to cross the river. When the court reached Chenzhou, Dequan came alone on horseback by a bypath to the emperor's encampment.
47
未幾，遷內殿崇班、提轄三司衙司。 德權為設條製，均其差使。 有大將隸內侍主藏，內侍為奏留，規免煩重之役。 德權攜奏白上，極言僥幸，上稱其有守。 又命提總京城四排岸，領護汴河兼督輦運。 前是，歲役浚河夫三十萬，而主者因循，堤防不固，但挑沙擁岸址，或河流泛濫，即中流復填淤矣。 德權須以沙盡至土為垠，棄沙堤外，遣三班使者分地以主其役。 又為大錐以試築堤之虛實，或引錐可入者，即坐所轄官吏，多被譴免者。 植樹數十萬以固岸。 建議廢京師鑄錢監，徙西窯務於河陰，大省勞費。 改崇儀副使，兼領東西八作司。 先時，每營造患工少，至終歲不成。 德權按其役，皆克日而就。
Before long he was promoted to Inner Hall Honored Rank and put in charge of the Three Departments' clerical offices. Dequan established regulations to balance their assignments of duty. A general officer subordinate to an inner-attendant treasury custodian had the attendant memorialize to keep him on staff, scheming to evade heavy and troublesome duties. Dequan brought the memorial directly to the emperor and spoke sternly against such favoritism; the emperor praised his integrity. He was again ordered to take overall charge of the capital's four river embankment offices, oversee the Bian River, and supervise transport by imperial carriage. Previously three hundred thousand laborers were levied each year to dredge the river, but those in charge were lax and the dikes were not secure—they merely scraped sand to pile at the bank base—and when the river flooded, the middle channel would silt up again. Dequan required dredging until sand gave way to earth as the margin, cast sand outside the dike, and sent third-rank envoys to divide the territory and supervise the work. He also devised a large auger to test the solidity of the dikes; wherever the auger could be driven in, the responsible officials were punished, and many were dismissed. He planted several hundred thousand trees to strengthen the banks. He proposed abolishing the capital mint and moving the western furnace office to Heyin, greatly saving labor and expense. He was promoted to vice Honored Ceremonial commissioner and concurrently directed the eastern and western construction offices. Previously every construction project suffered from too few workers and might remain unfinished by year's end. Dequan monitored the work, and all projects were completed on schedule.
48
德權清苦幹事，好興功利，多所經畫。 見官吏徇私者，必麵斥之，所至整肅。 然喜采察纖微，以聞於上，朝論惡之。
Dequan was austere and hardworking, fond of promoting useful projects, and planned many undertakings. When he saw officials acting from private interest he would rebuke them to their faces; wherever he went, order was restored. Yet he liked to investigate minute matters and report them to the throne, and court opinion despised this.
49
閻日新
Yan Rixin
50
閻日新，宿州臨渙人。 少為本州牙職，補三司使役吏。 淳化中，選隸壽王府，主邸中記簿。 真宗即位，擢為供奉官，提點雄、霸、靜戎軍榷場。 咸平元年，遷內殿崇班、永興軍駐泊都監，徙劍門關兼知劍門縣，就加供備庫副使、慶州都監。 景德初，命管勾邠、寧、環州駐泊兵馬。 時，部署張凝屢入邊界焚族帳，日新皆提兵應援。 俄知涇州，未幾，移慶州。 上言：「野溪、三門等族恃嶮隘，桀黠難製，請開古川道，東至樂業鎮，西出府城。」 從之。 就轉供備庫使、知環州兼邠寧環慶路鈐轄、緣邊都巡檢使、安撫都監。 俄換涇原儀渭路。 二年，遷如京使，領萬州刺史。 上朝陵、東封，皆命為行宮使。
Yan Rixin was a native of Linhuan in Suzhou. In youth he served as a local adjutant clerk and was appointed a clerk in the Three Departments commissioner's office. During Chunhua he was selected to serve the Prince of Shou's household and kept its registry accounts. When Emperor Zhenzong acceded he was promoted to palace attendant officer and made intendant of the monopoly markets at Xiong, Ba, and Jingrong Army. In the first year of Xianping he was promoted to Inner Hall Honored Rank and overall supervisor of Yongxing Army garrison troops, transferred to Jianmen Pass while also serving as magistrate of Jianmen County, and concurrently promoted to vice Supply Repository commissioner and military supervisor of Qingzhou. At the beginning of the Jingde reign he was ordered to manage the garrison troops at Bin, Ning, and Huan prefectures. At that time deployment commander Zhang Ning repeatedly entered the borderlands to burn tribal camps, and Rixin each time led troops to support him. Soon he was made prefect of Jingzhou; before long he was transferred to Qingzhou. He memorialized, "The Yexi, Sanmen, and other tribes rely on rugged passes—they are crafty and hard to control. I request opening the ancient river route east to Leye garrison and west out from the prefectural city." The request was granted. He was then promoted to Supply Repository commissioner and prefect of Huanzhou, and concurrently made commandant of Bin-Ning-Huan-Qing Circuit, overall frontier circuit inspector, and pacification supervisor. Soon he was reassigned to the Jingyuan-Yiwei route. In the second year he was promoted to Capital Envoy and given the title of prefect of Wanzhou. For imperial tomb visits and the eastern Mount Tai feng sacrifice, he was each time appointed traveling-palace commissioner.
51
大中祥符初，改文思使。 日新起胥史，好雲為以進取，嘗上言：「群臣子弟以蔭得官，往往未童齔以受奉，望自今年二十以上，乃給廩。 又京城百官早朝，而學士、丞、郎、舍人以上，導從嗬止太盛，難於趨避，望令裁減。」 又屢請對，多所建白。 且自陳筋力尚壯，願正授刺郡，守邊城以效用。
At the beginning of Dazhong Xiangfu he was promoted to Literary Reflection commissioner. Rixin rose from clerk ranks and was fond of grand proposals for advancement. He once memorialized, "Sons and younger brothers of ministers who obtain office by inherited privilege often receive salaries before they even reach childhood—I hope that from this year stipends will be granted only from age twenty upward. Again, when all capital officials attend early court, the outriders and shouting attendants of academicians, vice-directors, bureau directors, and secretaries and above are too numerous and make it hard to pass—I hope an order will be issued to reduce them." He also repeatedly sought audiences and made many proposals. Moreover he declared himself still vigorous and asked to be formally appointed to a chartered prefecture, to guard a frontier city and serve usefully.
52
俄真拜坊州刺史、知渭州兼涇原路駐泊鈐轄。 將祀汾陰，故改知同州事，儼信頓即日新所部，車駕至，迎謁獻方物。 勞問久之，遂從祀睢上，賜以襲衣、金帶。 還過新市鎮，又設彩樓樂伎以迎駕。 明年，徙知徐州。 代還，以足疾，改右領軍衛大將軍、昭州團練使、知單州。 疾益甚，許還京師。 天禧初，卒，年六十八。
Soon he was formally appointed prefect of Fangzhou, acting prefect of Weizhou, and commandant of Jingyuan Circuit garrison troops. When the emperor was about to sacrifice at Fenyin, he was therefore transferred to acting prefect of Tongzhou. Yanxindun lay in Rixin's jurisdiction, and when the imperial carriage arrived he went out to welcome the emperor and presented local products. The emperor questioned and comforted him at length, then allowed him to follow the sacrifice at the Sui altar and bestowed on him ceremonial robes and a gold belt. On the return journey through Xinshi town he again erected decorated towers and staged musicians to welcome the imperial progress. The next year he was transferred to prefect of Xuzhou. When his term ended and he returned, because of a foot ailment he was transferred to grand general of the Right Leading Army Guard, regimental commissioner of Zhaozhou, and acting prefect of Shanzhou. His illness grew worse and he was permitted to return to the capital. At the beginning of the Tianxi reign he died at the age of sixty-eight.
53
靳懷德
Jin Huaide
54
靳懷德，博州高唐人。 祖昌範，殿中丞。 父隱，禹城令。 懷德太平興國中明法，解褐廣安軍判官。 秩滿，授鴻臚寺丞，曆著作佐郎、太子左讚善大夫、通判相州，改殿中丞、通判廣州，遷國子博士、通判滄州。 曆虞部、比部員外郎，又通判莫州，知德州。
Jin Huaide was from Gaotang in Bo Prefecture. His grandfather Changfan served as palace attendant. His father Yin was magistrate of Yucheng. Huaide passed the statutes examination during Taiping Xingguo and on entering service was made judge of Guangan Army. When his term ended he was made vice commissioner of the Court for Diplomatic Reception, then served in turn as assistant editorial director, left aide to the heir apparent, and vice prefect of Xiang Prefecture, became palace attendant and vice prefect of Guang Prefecture, and was promoted to Guozijian erudite and vice prefect of Cang Prefecture. He served in turn as vice director of the works and comparisons bureaus, then as vice prefect of Mo Prefecture and prefect of De Prefecture.
55
咸平中，契丹入寇，懷德固守城壁，又轉運使劉通言其善政，連有詔褒之。 徙知密州，會留後孔守正之鎮，代還。 鹽鐵使陳恕、判官王濟薦其武幹，換如京使、知邛州。 懷德本名湘，素遊寇準之門，準父名湘，景德中，準方為相，懷德乃改名焉。 俄知滄州。 大中祥符初，召還，復遣之任，吏民詣轉運使李士衡借留懷德，士衡以聞。 未幾，遷文思使。 三年秋，以江左旱歉，命為洪、虔十州安撫都監。 未至任，改知曹州。
During Xianping, when the Khitans invaded, Huaide held the city walls firm, and transport commissioner Liu Tong praised his governance as well, so the court issued repeated edicts commending him. He was transferred to Mi Prefecture, and when military governor Kong Shouzheng took up his command, Huaide was relieved and returned. Salt and iron commissioner Chen Shu and judge Wang Ji recommended his martial ability, and he was made capital envoy and prefect of Qiong Prefecture. Huaide had originally been named Xiang and long moved in Kou Zhun's circle; Zhun's father had also been named Xiang. In Jingde, when Zhun had just become chief minister, Huaide changed his name. He soon became prefect of Cang Prefecture. Early in Dazhong Xiangfu he was recalled, then sent out again; local officials and people petitioned transport commissioner Li Shiheng to keep Huaide on loan, and Shiheng reported this to the throne. Before long he was made commissioner of the Literary Atelier. That autumn, because of drought and famine south of the Yangzi, he was appointed overall pacification supervisor of the ten prefectures of Hong and Qian. Before he reached his post he was reassigned to Cao Prefecture.
56
明年春，選為益州鈐轄，加領長州刺史。 懷德曆官以強幹稱，然酗酒多失，將行，別詔戒勖。 真宗又麵諭之，就遷北作坊使。 在劍外，軍民甚畏愛之。 復以善職入拜西上閣門使，改領昭州刺史、知澶州。 是州居水陸之要，懷德悉心撫治，頗著政績，使車往復，多稱譽焉。 又知陝州，逾年，歸闕而卒，時天禧元年，年七十三。
The following spring he was chosen as commandant of Yi Prefecture and additionally made prefect of Chang Prefecture. Huaide had a reputation for forceful competence, but he drank heavily and often blundered; before he set out, a special edict admonished him. Emperor Zhenzong also instructed him in person and promptly promoted him to commissioner of the northern workshops. Beyond the Sword Pass, soldiers and civilians both feared and loved him. For good service he was again summoned to court as western upper Gate commissioner, made prefect of Zhao Prefecture, and sent to govern Chan Prefecture. That prefecture stood at a vital junction of water and land routes; Huaide governed it with devoted care and won a strong record, and touring commissioners often praised him. He next governed Shan Prefecture; a year later he returned to court and died in the first year of Tianxi at the age of seventy-three.
57
論曰：世乏全材，則各錄其所長而用焉，亦皆可以集事功。 允恭有心計，好言事，是時摘山煮海，方舟之漕，規制未備，故因其建白而從之，利甚博焉。 羲亦精心敏職，士大夫許其醞藉。 德權清廉強忮，矯名好威，然其斥謝泌以大臣非可受辱，識堂陛之分，長者之言哉。 延德而下，遘會進陟，迭居事任，其指使治跡，各有可取者焉。
The commentators say: When the age lacks men of complete talent, each man's strengths are noted and put to use, and all can still accomplish real work. Yungong was shrewd and fond of policy debate; at that time the systems for mountain tea, sea salt, and barge transport were still incomplete, so the court followed his proposals, and the gains were considerable. Xi too served with devoted care and alert competence, and the literati praised his cultured restraint. Dequan was incorruptible, forceful, and jealous, eager for reputation and fond of authority; yet in rebuking Xie Mi for saying a great minister must not be insulted, he showed he understood the difference between hall and steps—words worthy of an elder statesman. From Yande on down, these men rose when opportunity came and held office in turn; each left a record of governance with something worth taking.