1
包拯，字希仁，廬州合肥人也。 始舉進士，除大理評事，出知建昌縣。 以父母皆老，辭不就。 得監和州稅，父母又不欲行，拯即解官歸養。 後數年，親繼亡，拯廬墓終喪，猶裴徊不忍去，里中父老數來勸勉。 久之，赴調，知天長縣。 有盜割人牛舌者，主來訴。 拯曰：「第歸，殺而鬻之。」 尋復有來告私殺牛者，拯曰：「何為割牛舌而又告之？」 盜驚服。 徙知端州，遷殿中丞。 端土產硯，前守緣貢，率取數十倍以遺權貴。 拯命制者才足貢數，歲滿不持一硯歸。
Bao Zheng, whose courtesy name was Xiren, came from Hefei in Luzhou. After passing the jinshi examination, he was made an examiner in the Court of Judicial Review and sent out to serve as magistrate of Jianchang County. Both his parents were elderly, so he declined the appointment. He was given a post supervising the tax office at Hezhou, but his parents again did not want him to leave, so Zheng at once resigned and went home to care for them. Some years later his parents died one after another. Zheng kept vigil by their graves through the full mourning period, still lingering and unable to tear himself away, until the village elders came again and again to urge him on. After a long interval he reported for a new assignment and was appointed magistrate of Tianchang County. When someone stole and cut off another man's ox tongue, the owner came to bring suit. Zheng told him, "Go home, slaughter the beast, and sell the meat." Before long someone else came to report an illicit slaughter of an ox. Zheng said, "Why did you cut off the ox's tongue and then come here to accuse him?" The thief was struck with fear and confessed. He was transferred to Duanzhou as prefect and promoted to Defender-in-attendance of the Palace. Duanzhou was known for its inkstones, and previous prefects had used the tribute quota as a pretext to take many times the required amount and present them to powerful families. Zheng ordered the craftsmen to make only what the tribute required, and when his term ended he did not carry a single inkstone home.
2
尋拜監察御史裏行，改監察御史。 時張堯佐除節度、宣徽兩使，右司諫張擇行、唐介與拯共論之，語甚切。 又嘗建言曰：「國家歲賂契丹，非禦戎之策。 宜練兵選將，務實邊備。」 又請重門下封駁之制，及廢錮贓吏，選守宰，行考試補蔭弟子之法。 當時諸道轉運加按察使，其奏劾官吏多摭細故，務苛察相高尚，吏不自安，拯於是請罷按察使。
Soon he was appointed provisional investigating censor and then investigating censor in full. At that time Zhang Yaozuo was given both the military governorship and the palace commissionership, and Remonstrance Counselors Zhang Zexing and Tang Jie joined Zheng in opposing the appointments in the sharpest terms. He also once submitted a memorial saying, "The state's yearly payments to the Khitan are no way to defend the realm. We should train the army, choose capable generals, and earnestly strengthen the border defenses." He also asked that the Chancellery's power of sealed review and rebuttal be restored, that corrupt officials be barred from office, that prefects and magistrates be chosen carefully, and that examinations be required for hereditary privilege appointments. At the time transport commissioners on the circuits were also made surveillance commissioners, and their impeachments often seized on petty matters as officials competed in harsh scrutiny; clerks lived in constant anxiety, and Zheng therefore asked that the surveillance commissionership be abolished.
3
去使契丹，契丹令典客謂拯曰：「雄州新開便門，乃欲誘我叛人，以刺疆事耶？」 拯曰：「涿州亦嘗開門矣，刺疆事何必開便門哉？」 其人遂無以對。
On an embassy to the Khitan, their chief of reception said to Zheng, "Xiongzhou has just opened a side gate—are you trying to lure our defectors across so you can spy on border affairs?" Zheng replied, "Zhuozhou opened a gate too—if you wanted to spy on border affairs, why would you need a side gate?" The man had no answer.
4
曆三司戶部判官，出為京東轉運使，改尚書工部員外郎、直集賢院，徙陝西，又徙河北，入為三司戶部副使。 秦隴斜穀務造船材木，率課取於民； 又七州出賦河橋竹索，恒數十萬，拯皆奏罷之。 契丹聚兵近塞，邊郡稍警，命拯往河北調發軍食。 拯曰：「漳河沃壤，人不得耕，刑、洺、趙三州民田萬五千頃，率用牧馬，請悉以賦民。」 從之。 解州鹽法率病民，拯往經度之，請一切通商販。 除天章閣待制、知諫院。 數論斥權幸大臣，請罷一切內除曲恩。 又列上唐魏鄭公三疏，願置之坐右，以為高抬貴手。 又上言天子當明聽納，辨朋黨，惜人才，不主先入之說，凡七事； 請去刻薄，抑僥倖，正刑明禁，戒興作，禁妖妄。 朝廷多施行之。 除龍圖閣直學士、河北都轉運使。 嘗建議無事時徙兵內地，不報。 至是，請：「罷河北屯兵，分之河南兗、鄆、齊、濮、曹、濟諸郡，設有警，無後期之憂。 借曰戍兵不可遽減，請訓練義勇，少給餱糧，每歲之費，不當屯兵一月之用，一州之賦，則所給者多矣。」 不報。 徙知瀛州，諸州以公錢貿易，積歲所負十余萬，悉奏除之。 以喪子乞便郡，知揚州，徙廬州，遷刑部郎中。 坐失保任，左授兵部員外郎、知池州。 復官，徙江寧府，召權知開封府，遷右司郎中。
He served as a judicial secretary in the Ministry of Revenue of the Three Departments, then went out as transport commissioner for Jingdong, was made Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Works and a diarist in the Hall for Treasuring Worthies, transferred to Shaanxi and then Hebei, and finally returned to the capital as Vice Commissioner of the Ministry of Revenue. The Xiegu timber office on the Qin-Long circuit, which supplied shipbuilding materials, habitually levied the cost from the people; and seven prefectures were also assessed bamboo rope for river bridges, year after year in sums of hundreds of thousands. Zheng memorialized to abolish all of these levies. When the Khitan massed troops near the border and frontier prefectures grew uneasy, Zheng was ordered to Hebei to coordinate the dispatch of army provisions. Zheng said, "The rich soil along the Zhang River lies untilled because the people are not allowed to farm it. Fifteen thousand qing of farmland in Xing, Ming, and Zhao are largely used to pasture horses. I ask that all of it be turned over to the people." His request was approved. The salt laws of Jiezhou habitually burdened the people, so Zheng went to reorganize them and asked that salt trade be fully opened to merchants. He was appointed Hanlin academician-at-call in the Tianzhang Pavilion and put in charge of the Remonstrance Bureau. He repeatedly denounced powerful favorites at court and asked that all irregular inner appointments and petty favors be abolished. He also submitted the three memorials of Wei Zheng of Tang and asked that they be kept always at the emperor's right hand as models for enlightened judgment. He also urged that the Son of Heaven should listen openly to remonstrance, distinguish factions, cherish talent, and not cling to preconceived views—seven matters in all; and he asked that harshness be removed, opportunism curbed, punishments rectified and prohibitions clarified, extravagant construction restrained, and occult delusions forbidden. The court put most of these into effect. He was made Hanlin academician in the Longtu Pavilion and overall transport commissioner for Hebei. He had once proposed moving troops inland in peacetime, but received no reply. Now he asked, "Disband the garrison troops in Hebei and distribute them among Yan, Yun, Qi, Pu, Cao, and Ji in Henan, so that if an alarm arises there will be no fear of reinforcements arriving too late. Even if frontier garrisons cannot be cut at once, train local militia and give them smaller rations: the yearly cost would be less than one month's upkeep for stationed troops, and a single prefecture's tax revenue would supply far more than enough." Again there was no reply. He was transferred to Yingzhou as prefect. Several prefectures had used public funds for trade and run up debts of more than one hundred thousand over the years; he memorialized to cancel them all. After the death of his son he asked for a nearby prefecture, served as prefect of Yangzhou, was transferred to Luzhou, and was promoted to Director in the Ministry of Justice. Because he had failed in a guarantee responsibility, he was demoted to Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of War and made prefect of Chizhou. His rank was restored, he was moved to Jiangning Prefecture, summoned to act as prefect of Kaifeng, and promoted to Director in the Bureau of Military Affairs.
5
拯立朝剛毅，貴戚宦官為之斂手，聞者皆憚之。 人以包拯笑比黃河清，童稚婦女，亦知其名，呼曰「包待制」。 京師為之語曰：「關節不到，有閻羅包老。」 舊制，凡訟訴不得徑造庭下。 拯開正門，使得至前陳曲直，吏不敢欺。 中官勢族築園榭，侵惠民河，以故河塞不通，適京師大水，拯乃悉毀去。 或持地券自言有偽增步數者，皆審驗劾奏之。
At court Zheng was stern and unyielding; even imperial kinsmen and eunuchs drew back before him, and all who heard his name feared him. People said that a smile from Bao Zheng was as rare as the Yellow River running clear; even children and women knew his name and called him "Commissioner Bao." In the capital people said of him, "If the official seals never reach you, there is still Lord Yama Bao." Under the old rules, litigants were not allowed to go straight to the courthouse. Zheng opened the main gate so that people could come before him and state their grievances, and the clerks no longer dared to deceive them. Eunuchs and powerful families had built gardens and pavilions that encroached on the Huimin Canal and blocked its flow. When the capital was struck by a great flood, Zheng had all of these structures torn down. When anyone produced a land deed with a falsely inflated measurement, Zheng investigated, verified the fraud, and impeached the holder.
6
遷諫議大夫、權御史中丞。 奏曰：「東宮虛位日久，天下以為憂，陛下持久不決，何也？」 仁宗曰：「卿欲誰立？」 拯曰：「臣不才備位，乞豫建太子者，為宗廟萬世計也。 陛下問臣欲誰立，是疑臣也。 臣年七十，且無子，非邀福者。」 帝喜曰：「徐當議之。」 請裁抑內侍，減節冗費，條責諸路監司，御史府得自舉屬官，減一歲休暇日，事皆施行。
He was promoted to Remonstrance Counselor and acting Censor-in-chief. He memorialized, "The Eastern Palace has stood empty for a long time, and the realm is anxious. Why does Your Majesty delay so long in deciding?" Renzong said, "Whom do you wish to establish as heir?" Zheng said, "I am unworthy of my post, but I ask that an heir be named early for the sake of the ancestral temples for generations to come. When Your Majesty asks whom I wish to establish, that is to doubt my motives. I am nearly seventy and have no son. I am not seeking personal advantage." The emperor said with pleasure, "We shall discuss it in due course." He asked that inner attendants be restrained, wasteful spending reduced, circuit supervisors held to clear regulations, the Censorate allowed to nominate its own subordinates, and one year's holiday days cut from the calendar. All of these measures were put into effect.
7
張方平為三司使，坐買豪民產，拯劾奏罷之； 而宋祁代方平，拯又論之； 祁罷，而拯以樞密直學士權三司使。 歐陽修言：「拯所謂牽牛蹊田而奪之牛，罰已重矣，又貪其富，不亦甚乎！」 拯因家居避命，久之乃出。 其在三司，凡諸管庫供上物，舊皆科率外郡，積以困民。 拯特為置場和市，民得無擾。 吏負錢帛多縲系，間輒逃去，並械其妻子者，類皆釋之。 遷給事中，為三司使。 數日，拜樞密副使。 頃之，遷禮部侍郎，辭不受，尋以疾卒，年六十四。 贈禮部尚書，諡孝肅。
When Zhang Fangping served as Commissioner of the Three Departments, Zheng impeached him for buying property from a powerful family and had him removed from office; when Song Qi replaced Fangping, Zheng opposed him as well; Song Qi was removed, and Zheng, as Hanlin academician in the Secretariat, was made acting Commissioner of the Three Departments. Ouyang Xiu said, "Zheng is like the man who led his ox across another's field and then seized the ox as well: the punishment was already severe, yet he also covets the office's wealth—is that not going too far!" Zheng stayed at home to avoid the appointment and only after a long interval took up the post. At the Three Departments, all storehouses that supplied goods to the court had customarily levied them from outer prefectures, a practice that had long burdened the people. Zheng set up dedicated purchasing markets so that the people were no longer harassed. Clerks who owed money or silk were often bound in chains; when they fled, their wives and children were shackled as well. Zheng released nearly all of them. He was promoted to Attendant Gentleman and made Commissioner of the Three Departments. Within a few days he was appointed Vice Commissioner of the Military Affairs Council. Soon afterward he was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites, but declined the appointment; not long after he died of illness at the age of sixty-four. He was posthumously made Minister of Rites, with the posthumous name Xiaosu.
8
拯性峭直，惡吏苛刻，務敦厚，雖甚嫉惡，而未嘗不推以忠恕也。 與人不苟合，不偽辭色悅人，平居無私書，故人、親党皆絕之。 雖貴，衣服、器用、飲食如布衣時。 嘗曰：「後世子孫仕宦，有犯贓者，不得放歸本家，死不得葬大塋中。 不從吾志，非吾子若孫也。」 初，有子名繶，娶崔氏，通判潭州，卒。 崔守死，不更嫁。 拯嘗出其媵，在父母家生子，崔密撫其母，使謹視之。 繶死後，取媵子歸，名曰綖。 有奏議十五卷。
Zheng was stern and upright by nature. He detested harsh petty officials and strove for generous fairness; though he hated wrongdoing fiercely, he always treated people with loyalty and forbearance. He would not compromise lightly with others or put on a pleasant face to please them. In ordinary times he wrote no private letters, and he cut off contact even with old friends and relatives. Even after he rose high, his clothing, utensils, food, and drink were no different from those of his days as a commoner. He once said, "If any descendant in office commits graft, he shall not be returned to the family home, and when he dies he shall not be buried in the clan grave. Whoever does not follow my will is not my son or grandson." Earlier he had had a son named Chan, who married a woman of the Cui clan, served as vice prefect of Tanzhou, and died. Cui observed her husband's death and did not remarry. Zheng had once dismissed a concubine, who bore a child at her parents' home. Cui secretly supported the mother and had her care for the child attentively. After Chan died, they brought the concubine's son into the household and named him Yan. He left fifteen juan of memorials.
9
吳奎，字長文，濰州北海人。 性強記，於書無所不讀。 舉《五經》，至大理丞，監京東排岸。 慶曆宿衛之變，奎上疏曰：「涉春以來，連陰不解，《洪範》所謂'皇之不極，時則有下伐上'者。 今衛士之變，起於肘腋，流傳四方，驚駭群聽。 聞皇城司官六人，其五已受責，獨楊懷敏尚留。 人謂陛下私近幸而屈公法，且獲賊之際，傳令勿殺，而左右輒屠之。 此必其黨欲以滅口，不然，何以不奉詔？」 遂乞召對面論，仁宗深器之。 再遷殿中丞，策賢良方正入等，擢太常博士、通判陳州。
Wu Kui, whose courtesy name was Changwen, came from Beihai in Weizhou. He had a powerful memory and read every kind of book. He passed the Five Classics examination, rose to Assistant Director in the Court of Judicial Review, and supervised the Jingdong embankment office. During the Qingli mutiny of the palace guards, Kui submitted a memorial saying, "Since spring began the skies have remained overcast without clearing—the Hongfan speaks of a time when the sovereign lacks the mean and subordinates rise against their superiors. Now the guards' mutiny has arisen at the emperor's very side, spread in every direction, and shocked the whole realm. I hear that of the six officials of the Imperial City Bureau, five have already been punished, yet Yang Huaimin alone remains in office. People say that Your Majesty has favored intimates and bent the law, and that when the culprits were captured an order was issued not to kill them, yet those at your side promptly slaughtered them anyway. This must be their faction trying to silence witnesses. Otherwise why would they disobey the edict?" He then asked for a private audience to speak face to face, and Renzong came to value him highly. He was promoted again to Defender-in-attendance, entered the top grade in the Examinations for Worthy and Incorrupt, and was elevated to Erudite in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and vice prefect of Chenzhou.
10
入為右司諫，改起居舍人，同知諫院。 每進言，惟勸帝禁束左右奸幸。 內東門闌得賂遺物，下吏研治，而開封用內降釋之。 奎劾尹魏瓘，出瓘越州。 彭思永論事，詔詰所從受。 奎言：「御史法許風聞，若窮核主名，則後誰敢來告以事？ 是自塗其耳目也。」 上為罷不問。 郭承祐、張堯佐為宣徽使，奎連疏其不當，承祐罷使，出堯佐河中。
He entered the capital as Remonstrance Counselor in the Bureau of Military Affairs, was made Recorder of the Left, and Associate Chief of the Remonstrance Bureau. Whenever he spoke at court, he urged the emperor only to restrain the wicked favorites around him. At the inner east gate the guards seized goods offered as bribes. Subordinates investigated the case, but Kaifeng used an inner edict to release the offenders. Kui impeached the prefect Wei Guan and had him sent out to Yuezhou. When Peng Siyong spoke on state affairs, an edict demanded to know from whom he had received his information. Kui said, "The law allows censors to act on hearsay. If every informant must be traced to the source, who afterward will dare to report wrongdoing? That would be to stop up one's own ears and eyes." The emperor therefore dropped the inquiry. When Guo Chengyou and Zhang Yaozuo were made palace commissioners, Kui submitted successive memorials that the appointments were improper. Chengyou was removed from his commission and Yaozuo was sent out to Hezhong.
11
皇祐中，頗多災異，奎極言其徵曰：「今冬令反燠，春候反寒，太陽虧明，五星失度，水旱作沴，饑饉薦臻，此天道之不順也。 自東徂西，地震為患，大河橫流，堆阜或出，此地道之不順也。 邪曲害政，陰柔蔽明，群小紛爭，眾情壅塞，西、北貳敵，求欲無厭，此人事之不和也。 夫帝王之美，莫大於進賢退不肖。 今天下皆謂之賢，陛下知之而不能進； 天下皆謂之不肖，陛下知之而不能退。 內寵驕恣，近習回撓，陰盛如此，寧不致大異乎？ 又十數年來下令及所行事，或有名而無實，或始是而終非，或橫議所移，或奸謀所破，故群臣百姓，多不甚信，以謂陛下言之雖切而不能行，行之雖銳而不能久。 臣願謹守前詔，堅如金石，或敢私撓，必加之罪，毋為人所測度，而取輕於天下。」
During the Huangyou era there were many portents and disasters, and Kui spoke at length of what they signified: "Winter has turned unseasonably warm, spring unseasonably cold, the sun's light has dimmed, the five planets have lost their proper courses, floods and droughts have brought calamity, and famine has come again and again. This is Heaven's way out of harmony. From east to west earthquakes have struck, the Yellow River has burst its banks, and mounds of earth have risen from the ground. This is the earth's way out of harmony. The crooked harm government, soft influences obscure clear judgment, petty men quarrel among themselves, the people's will is stifled, and enemies on the western and northern frontiers grow restless and insatiable. This is human affairs out of harmony. Of all the virtues of an emperor, none is greater than promoting the worthy and removing the unworthy. Today everyone under Heaven calls certain men worthy, yet Your Majesty, though you know it, cannot promote them; and everyone calls certain men unworthy, yet Your Majesty, though you know it, cannot remove them. Inner favorites grow arrogant and unrestrained, and those close at hand twist affairs to their will. With yin influence so strong, how can great portents fail to follow? Moreover, for more than ten years your edicts and actions have sometimes been all name and no substance, sometimes right at the start and wrong at the end, sometimes overturned by reckless debate, sometimes undone by wicked plots. Ministers and commoners alike largely no longer trust them, saying that though Your Majesty speaks with urgency you cannot follow through, and though you follow through with vigor you cannot sustain it. I ask that Your Majesty strictly uphold your former edicts, firm as metal and stone. If anyone dares privately obstruct them, let punishment follow. Do not let others read your intentions and thereby hold you lightly in the eyes of the realm."
12
唐介論文彥博，指奎為黨，出知密州。 加直集賢院，徙兩浙轉運使。 入判登聞檢院、同修起居注、知制誥。 奉使契丹，會其主加稱號，要入賀。 奎以使事有職，不為往。 歸遇契丹使于塗，契丹以金冠為重，紗冠次之。 故事，使者相見，其衣服重輕必相當。 至是，使者服紗冠，而要奎盛服。 奎殺其儀以見，坐是出知壽州。
When Tang Jie criticized Wen Yanbo he named Kui as a partisan, and Kui was sent out to serve as prefect of Mizhou. He was made a diarist in the Hall for Treasuring Worthies and transferred to serve as transport commissioner for the Two Zhe circuits. He entered the capital to judge the Petition Office, helped compile the imperial diary, and was put in charge of drafting edicts. On an embassy to the Khitan, their ruler had just taken a new title and demanded that the Song envoy enter to offer congratulations. Kui, citing his duties as envoy, refused to go. On his return he met a Khitan envoy on the road. The Khitan regarded the gold cap as the more honored garment and the gauze cap as secondary. By precedent, when envoys met, the rank shown by their dress had to be equivalent. On this occasion the Khitan envoy wore a gauze cap but demanded that Kui appear in full ceremonial dress. Kui reduced the ceremony with which he met the envoy, and for this was sent out to serve as prefect of Shouzhou.
13
至和三年，大水，詔中外言得失。 奎上疏曰：「陛下在位三十四年，而儲嗣未立。 在禮，大宗無嗣，則擇支子之賢者。 以昭穆言，則太祖、太宗之曾孫，所宜建立，以系四海之望。 俟有皇子則退之，而優其禮於宗室，誰曰不然？ 陛下勿聽奸人邪謀，以誤大事。 若倉卒之際，柄有所歸，書之史冊，為萬世歎憤。 臣不願以聖明之資，當危亡之比。 此事不宜優遊，願蚤裁定。 定之不速，致宗祀無本，鬱結群望，推之咎罰，無大於此。」 帝感其言，拜翰林學士，權開封府。
In the third year of the Zhihe era there was a great flood, and an edict called on officials inside and outside the court to speak frankly about what had gone wrong. Kui submitted a memorial saying, "Your Majesty has reigned for thirty-four years, yet no heir has been established. According to ritual, when the main line has no heir, one chooses a worthy son from a collateral branch. In terms of the ancestral line, a great-grandson of Taizu or Taizong should be established to satisfy the hopes of all within the four seas. If a son is later born to Your Majesty, the heir may step aside, yet still be honored among the imperial clan. Who could object to that? Your Majesty must not listen to the wicked plots of evil men and thereby miss this great matter. If in a sudden crisis power falls into the wrong hands and that is written in the historical records, it will be a source of lament and outrage for ten thousand generations. I do not wish to see Your Majesty's sage brilliance tested at a moment comparable to national peril. This matter brooks no delay. I beg Your Majesty to decide it soon. If it is not decided quickly, the ancestral sacrifices will lack their foundation and the people's hopes will remain pent up. Of all faults that invite blame and punishment, none is greater than this." The emperor was moved by his words and appointed him Hanlin academician and acting prefect of Kaifeng.
14
奎達于從政，應事敏捷，吏不敢欺。 富人孫氏辜榷財利，負其息者，至評取物產及婦女。 奎發孫宿惡，徙其兄弟于淮、閩，豪猾畏斂。 居三月，治聲赫然。 除端明殿學士、知成都府，以親辭，改鄆州，復還翰林，拜樞密副使。 治平中，丁父憂，居喪毀瘠，廬於墓側，歲時潔嚴祭祀，不為浮屠事。
Kui was skilled in government, quick in handling affairs, and the clerks did not dare deceive him. The wealthy Sun clan had monopolized profits, and those who owed them interest were even forced to surrender property and women in settlement. Kui exposed the Sun clan's long-standing crimes and moved their brothers to Huai and Min. The powerful and unscrupulous were cowed into restraint. Within three months his reputation for good governance was widely known. He was appointed academician of the Duanming Hall and prefect of Chengdu, but declined on account of his parents and was instead made prefect of Yanzhou. He later returned to the Hanlin Academy and was appointed Vice Commissioner of the Military Affairs Council. During the Zhiping era he mourned his father, grew gaunt with grief, and lived in a hut beside the grave. At the proper seasons he performed solemn sacrifices and would have nothing to do with Buddhist rites.
15
神宗初立，奎適終制，以故職還朝。 逾月，參知政事。 時已召王安石，辭不至，帝顧輔臣曰：「安石曆先帝朝，召不赴，頗以為不恭。 今又不至，果病耶，有所要耶？ 曾公亮曰：「安石文學器業，不敢為欺。」 奎曰：「臣嘗與安石同領群牧，見其護短自用，所為迂闊。 萬一用之，必紊亂綱紀。」 乃命知江寧。
When Shenzong first ascended the throne, Kui had just completed his mourning period and returned to court in his former post. Within a month he was made Vice Grand Councillor. Wang Anshi had already been summoned but had not come. The emperor turned to his ministers and said, "Anshi served through my father's reign. When summoned he did not come, and I consider that rather disrespectful. Now again he has not come. Is he truly ill, or is he asking for something? Zeng Gongliang said, "In literary learning and capacity Anshi is not to be deceived about." Kui said, "I once served with Anshi in overseeing the herds and saw that he covers his faults and insists on his own way. His conduct is impractical and unrealistic. If he is ever put in power, he will surely throw the laws and institutions into disorder." Anshi was therefore appointed prefect of Jiangning.
16
奎嘗進言：「陛下在推誠應天，天意無他，合人心而已。 若以至誠格物，物莫不以至誠應，則和氣之感，自然而致。 今民力困極，國用窘乏，必俟順成，乃可及他事。 帝王所職，惟在於判正邪，使君子常居要近，小人不得以害之，則自治矣。」 帝因言：「堯時，四凶猶在朝。」 奎曰：「四凶雖在，不能惑堯之聰明。 聖人以天下為度，未有顯過，固宜包容，但不可使居要近地爾。」 帝然之。 御史中丞王陶，以論文德不押班事詆韓琦，奎狀其過。 詔除陶翰林學士，奎執不可。 陶又疏奎阿附。 陶既出，奎亦以資政殿大學士知青州。 司馬光諫曰：「奎名望清重，今為陶絀奎，恐大臣皆不自安，各求引去。 陛下新即位，于四方觀聽非宜。」 帝乃召奎歸中書。 及琦罷相，竟出知青州。 明年薨，年五十八。 贈兵部尚書，諡曰文肅。
Kui once said to the emperor, "Your Majesty should respond to Heaven by extending sincerity. Heaven's intent is nothing other than to align with the hearts of the people. If you reach all things with utmost sincerity, all things will respond with utmost sincerity, and the harmony of qi will come of itself. Now the people's strength is exhausted and state revenues are strained. Other matters must wait until the realm is once again in good order. An emperor's duty lies solely in distinguishing right from wrong, keeping gentlemen in important posts close at hand, and not letting petty men harm them. Then the state will govern itself." The emperor then said, "In Yao's time the Four Evils were still at court." Kui said, "Though the Four Evils were present, they could not confuse Yao's clarity. A sage measures all under Heaven broadly. If men have no conspicuous fault, they may be tolerated, but they must not be allowed to hold important posts close at hand." The emperor agreed with him. When Censor-in-chief Wang Tao attacked Han Qi over the matter of Wende's failure to join the procession, Kui memorialized Tao's own faults. An edict appointed Tao Hanlin academician, but Kui firmly opposed it. Tao in turn memorialized that Kui was partisan and fawning. After Tao was sent out, Kui too was made Grand Academician of the Zizheng Hall and prefect of Qingzhou. Sima Guang remonstrated, "Kui's reputation is pure and weighty. To demote him because of Tao may leave the great ministers ill at ease and each seeking to withdraw. Your Majesty has only just ascended the throne. This is not how the realm should see you." The emperor then summoned Kui back to the Secretariat. When Han Qi left the chancellorship, Kui was ultimately sent out to serve as prefect of Qingzhou. The following year he died at the age of fifty-eight. He was posthumously made Minister of War, with the posthumous name Wensu.
17
奎喜獎廉善，有所知輒言之，言之不從，不止也。 少時甚貧，，既通貴，買田為義莊，以賙族党朋友。 沒之日，家無餘資，諸子至無屋以居，當時稱之。
Kui delighted in encouraging integrity and goodness. Whenever he knew of someone worthy he would speak up, and if the court did not listen he would not stop. In his youth he was very poor. Once he rose high he bought land for a charity estate to support his clan, associates, and friends. On the day he died his family had no surplus wealth, and his sons had not even a house to live in. People praised him for this at the time.
18
趙抃，字閱道，衢州西安人。 進士及第，為武安軍節度推官。 人有赦前偽造印，更赦而用者，法吏當以死。 抃曰：「赦前不用，赦後不造，不當死。」 讞而生之。 知崇安、海陵、江原三縣，通判泗州。 濠守給士卒廩賜不如法，聲欲變，守懼，日未入，輒閉門不出。 轉運使檄抃攝治之，抃至，從容如平時，州以無事。
Zhao Bian, whose courtesy name was Yuedao, came from Xi'an in Quzhou. After passing the jinshi examination he served as investigating officer of the Wu'an military commission. A man had forged a seal before an amnesty and used it after a further amnesty. The legal officers sentenced him to death. Bian said, "Before the amnesty he did not use the seal, and after the amnesty he did not forge it. He should not die." The sentence was revised and the man was spared. He served as magistrate of Chong'an, Hailing, and Jiangyuan, and as vice prefect of Sizhou. The prefect of Hao had issued soldiers' grain allowances contrary to regulation, and there were rumors of mutiny. The prefect was so afraid that before sunset each day he shut the gates and would not go out. The transport commissioner ordered Bian to take charge. When Bian arrived he was as composed as ever, and the prefecture remained untroubled.
19
翰林學士曾公亮未之識，薦為殿中侍御史，彈劾不避權幸，聲稱凜然，京師目為「鐵面御史。」 其言務欲朝廷別白君子小人，以謂：「小人雖小過，當力遏而絕之； 君子不幸詿誤，當保全愛惜，以成就其德。」 溫成皇后之喪，劉沆以參知政事監護，及為相，領事如初。 抃論其當罷，以全國體。 又言宰相陳執中不學無術，且多過失； 宣徽使王拱辰平生所為及奉使不法； 樞密使王德用、翰林學士李淑不稱職； 皆罷去。 吳充、鞠真卿、刁約以治禮院吏，馬遵、呂景初、吳中復以論梁適，相繼被逐。
Hanlin academician Zeng Gongliang, who did not know him, recommended him as Attending Censor. In his impeachments he did not spare the powerful and favored, his reputation was formidable, and the capital called him the "Iron-faced Censor." He urged the court to distinguish clearly between gentlemen and petty men, saying, "Even small faults by petty men should be vigorously checked and cut off; but if gentlemen unfortunately err, they should be preserved and cherished so that their virtue may be fulfilled." At the mourning for Empress Wencheng, Liu Hang as Vice Grand Councillor supervised the rites. When he became chancellor he continued to direct the funeral affairs as before. Bian argued that he should withdraw from those duties to preserve the dignity of the state. He also said that Chancellor Chen Zhizhong was unlearned and incompetent and had committed many faults; that Palace Commissioner Wang Gongchen's conduct throughout his life and on embassy had been unlawful; and that Military Affairs Commissioner Wang Deyong and Hanlin academician Li Shu were unfit for their posts; all were removed from office. Wu Chong, Ju Zhenqing, and Diao Yue had been driven out for disciplining clerks of the Rites Academy, and Ma Zun, Lü Jingchu, and Wu Zhongfu for criticizing Liang Shi.
20
抃言其故，悉召還。 呂溱、蔡襄、吳奎、韓絳既出守，歐陽修、賈黯復求郡。 抃言：「近日正人端士紛紛引去，侍從之賢如修輩無幾，今皆欲去者，以正色立朝，不能諂事權要，傷之者眾耳。」 修、黯由是得留，一時名臣，賴以安焉。
Bian explained why they had been punished, and all were summoned back. Lü Zhen, Cai Xiang, Wu Kui, and Han Jiang had already been sent out as prefects, and Ouyang Xiu and Jia An were again asking for prefectural posts. Bian said, "Recently upright gentlemen have been withdrawing one after another. Worthy attendants like Xiu are few, and now they too wish to leave because they stand at court with integrity and will not flatter the powerful. Many have been wounded by this." Xiu and An were thereby able to remain at court, and the famous ministers of the age owed their stability to Bian.
21
請知睦州，移梓州路轉運使，改益州。 蜀地遠民弱，吏肆為不法，州郡公相饋餉。 抃以身帥之，蜀風為變。 窮城小邑，民或生而不識使者，抃行部無不至，父老喜相慰，奸吏竦服。 召為右司諫。 內侍鄧保信引退兵董吉燒煉禁中，抃引文成、五利、鄭注為比，力論之。 陳升之副樞密，抃與唐介、呂海、范師道言升之奸邪，交結宦，進不以道。 章二十餘上，升之去位。 抃與言者亦罷，出知虔州。 虔素難治，抃禦之嚴而不苛，召戒諸縣令，使人自為治。 令皆喜，爭盡力，獄以屢空。 嶺外仕者死，多無以為歸，抃造舟百艘，移告諸郡曰：「仕宦之家，有不能歸者，皆於我乎出。」 於是至者相繼，悉授以舟，並給其道裏費。 召為侍御史知雜事，改度支副使，進天章閣待制、河北都轉運使。 時賈昌朝以故相守魏，抃將按視府庫，昌朝使來告曰：「前此，監司未有按視吾藏者，恐事無比，若何？ 抃曰：「舍是，則他郡不服。」 竟往焉。 昌朝不悅。 初，有詔募義勇，過期不能辦，官吏當坐者八百餘人。 抃被旨督之，奏言：「河朔頻歲豐，故應募者少，請寬其罪，以俟農隙。」 從之。 坐者獲免，而募亦隨足。 昌朝始愧服。 加龍圖閣直學士、知成都，以寬為治。 抃向使蜀日，有聚為妖祀者，治以峻法。 及是，復有此獄，皆謂不免。 抃察其亡他，曰：「是特酒食過耳。」 刑首惡而釋余人，蜀民大悅。 會榮諲除轉運使，英宗諭諲曰：「趙抃為成都，中和之政也。」
He asked to serve as prefect of Muzhou, was made transport commissioner for the Zizhou circuit, and was then transferred to Yizhou. Shu was remote and its people weak. Officials acted lawlessly, and prefectures and districts openly exchanged gifts among themselves. Bian led by personal example, and the customs of Shu were transformed. In remote towns and small districts some people lived their whole lives without ever seeing an inspector. Bian on his tours went everywhere. The elders rejoiced to greet one another, and corrupt officials were awed into submission. He was summoned to the capital as Remonstrance Counselor in the Bureau of Military Affairs. When inner attendant Deng Baoxin had a retired soldier named Dong Ji conduct alchemical firing within the palace, Bian cited Wencheng, Wuli, and Zheng Zhu as precedents and argued forcefully against it. When Chen Shengzhi was made Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs, Bian joined Tang Jie, Lü Hai, and Fan Shidao in saying that Shengzhi was wicked and depraved, fraternized with eunuchs, and had advanced by improper means. More than twenty memorials were submitted, and Shengzhi was removed from office. Bian and those who had spoken with him were also dismissed, and Bian was sent out as prefect of Qianzhou. Qianzhou had always been hard to govern. Bian ruled it strictly but not harshly, summoned the county magistrates to admonish them, and let the people govern themselves. The magistrates were all pleased and strove to do their best, and the prisons were repeatedly empty. Officials who died beyond the ranges often had no means to return home. Bian built a hundred boats and sent notice to the various prefectures saying, "If any official family cannot return home, let them all depart from me." Thereafter they came in succession, and he gave them all boats and also provided their travel expenses. He was summoned as Attending Censor with charge of miscellaneous affairs, made Vice Commissioner of Revenue, and promoted to Hanlin academician-at-call in the Tianzhang Pavilion and overall transport commissioner for Hebei. At that time Jia Changchao was serving as military prefect of Wei on account of his former rank. Bian was about to inspect the prefectural treasury. Changchao sent a messenger to say, "Until now no circuit supervisor has ever inspected our stores. I fear there is no precedent for this—what shall we do? Bian said, "If I skip this, the other prefectures will not accept it." In the end he went anyway. Changchao was displeased. Earlier an edict had ordered the recruitment of local volunteers. When the deadline passed the quota still could not be filled, and more than eight hundred officials were liable for punishment. Bian received an imperial order to oversee the matter and memorialized, saying, "North of the Yellow River has had good harvests year after year, so few men have volunteered. I ask that their punishments be eased until the farming season ends." The emperor approved it. Those who would have been punished were pardoned, and the recruitment quota was soon filled as well. Only then did Changchao feel ashamed and submit. He was made academic expositor in the Hall of Dragon Designs and prefect of Chengdu, and he governed with lenience. When Bian had previously served in Shu, those who gathered for illicit cult sacrifices were punished under severe law. When such a case arose again, everyone assumed the offenders could not escape punishment. Bian looked into the matter and found nothing else amiss. He said, "This is merely an excess of food and drink." He punished the ringleaders and released the rest, and the people of Shu were greatly pleased. When Rong Yi was appointed transport commissioner, Emperor Yingzong told him, "Zhao Bian's government in Chengdu is balanced and harmonious government."
22
神宗立，召知諫院。 故事，近臣還自成都者，將大用，必更省府，不為諫官。 大臣以為疑，帝曰：「吾賴其言耳，苟欲用之，無傷也。」 及謝，帝曰：「聞卿匹馬入蜀，以一琴一鶴自隨，為政簡易，亦稱是乎？」 未幾，擢參知政事。 抃感顧知遇，朝政有未協者，必密啟聞，帝手詔褒答。
When Emperor Shenzong took the throne, Bian was summoned to head the Remonstrance Bureau. By precedent, when a close minister returned from Chengdu and was slated for high office, he had to pass through a provincial or central post first and not serve as a remonstrance official. The chief ministers thought this irregular, but the emperor said, "I rely on his counsel. If I wish to use him, there is no harm in it." When Bian paid his respects, the emperor said, "I hear you entered Shu alone on horseback, with only a zither and a crane for company, and governed simply and easily—is that also fitting?" Before long he was promoted to vice grand councilor. Grateful for the emperor's favor and trust, Bian would secretly report whenever he found court policy awry, and the emperor would reply with autograph edicts of praise.
23
王安石用事，抃屢斥其不便。 韓琦上疏極論青苗法，帝語執政，令罷之。 時安石家居求去，抃曰：「新法皆安石所建，不若俟其出。」 既出，安石持之愈堅。 抃大悔恨，即上言：「制置條例司建使者四十輩，騷動天下。 安石強辯自用，詆天下公論以為流俗，違眾罔民，順非文過。 近者台諫侍從，多以言不聽而去； 司馬光除樞密，不肯拜。 且事有輕重，體有大小。 財利於事為輕，而民心得失為重； 青苗使者于體為小，而禁近耳目之臣用舍為大。 今去重而取輕，失大而得小，懼非宗廟社稷之福也。」 奏入，懇乞去位，拜資政殿學士、知杭州，改青州，時京東旱蝗，青獨多麥，蝗來及境，遇風退飛，盡墮水死。
When Wang Anshi held power, Bian repeatedly criticized the harm in his policies. Han Qi submitted a memorial arguing forcefully against the Green Sprouts Law. The emperor told the chief ministers to abolish it. At that time Anshi was at home asking to resign. Bian said, "Anshi built all the new laws—it would be better to wait until he returns to office." Once Anshi returned, he held to them all the more firmly. Bian was deeply remorseful and at once submitted a memorial saying, "The Fiscal Planning Commission has established forty kinds of envoys, disturbing the whole empire. Anshi argues obstinately and acts on his own, dismissing public opinion throughout the empire as vulgar custom, defying the multitude and deceiving the people, following what is wrong and glossing over his faults. Recently censors, remonstrators, and attendant courtiers have mostly left office because their counsel went unheeded. Sima Guang was appointed to the Bureau of Military Affairs but refused to accept the post. Moreover, some affairs are light and others heavy, and some parts of government are small and others great. Financial gain is a light matter, but winning or losing the people's hearts is a heavy one. Green Sprouts envoys are a small matter in the structure of government, but the appointment and dismissal of close ministers who serve the emperor's eyes and ears is a great one. Now to abandon the heavy and take the light, to lose the great and gain the small—I fear this is no blessing to the ancestral temple and the altars of state." When the memorial was submitted, he earnestly asked to leave office. He was made academician of the Hall for Treasuring Governance and prefect of Hangzhou, then transferred to Qingzhou. Jingdong was then suffering drought and locusts, but Qingzhou alone had abundant wheat. When the locusts reached its border, a wind blew them back; they all fell into the water and died.
24
成都以戍卒為憂，遂以大學士復知成都。 召見，勞之曰：「前此，未有自政府往者，能為朕行乎？」 對曰：「陛下有言，即法也，奚例之問？」 因乞以便宜從事。 既至蜀，治益尚寬。 有卒長立堂下，呼諭之曰：「吾與汝年相若，吾以一身入蜀，為天子撫一方。 汝亦宜清謹畏戢以率眾，比戍還，得餘貲持歸，為室家計可也。」 人喜轉相告，莫敢為惡，蜀郡晏然。 劍州民私作僧度牒，或以為謀逆告，抃不師畀獄吏，以意決之，悉從輕比。 謗者謂其縱逆黨，朝廷取具獄閱之，皆與法合。 茂州夷剽境上，懼討乞降，乃縛奴將殺之，取血以受盟。 抃使易用牲，皆歡呼聽命。
Chengdu was troubled by its garrison soldiers, so he was again made grand academician and prefect of Chengdu. Summoned to audience, the emperor encouraged him, saying, "Until now no one has gone from the central government to that post—can you go for me?" He replied, "When Your Majesty speaks, that is law—why ask about precedent?" He therefore asked for discretionary authority to act as needed. Once he reached Shu, his government grew ever more lenient. A company chief stood below the hall. Bian called him forward and said, "You and I are about the same age. I came into Shu alone to soothe one region for the Son of Heaven. You too should be pure, careful, and restrained in awe to lead the men. When your term of service ends and you carry home what you have saved, you can provide for your household." The soldiers gladly passed the word along, none dared to do wrong, and the prefecture was tranquil. Commoners in Jianzhou had been forging monk ordination certificates, and some reported this as plotting rebellion. Bian did not hand the cases over to prison clerks but decided them himself, and all were punished leniently. Slanderers said he had indulged rebels, but the court reviewed the complete case records and found that all his judgments accorded with the law. Yi tribesmen from Maozhou raided the border. Fearing a punitive expedition, they begged to surrender and bound slaves they meant to kill, intending to use their blood to seal the oath. Bian had them use sacrificial animals instead, and all cheered and obeyed.
25
乞歸，越州。 吳越大饑疫，死者過半。 抃盡救荒之術，療病，埋死，而生者以全。 下令修城，使得食其力。 復徙杭，以太子少保致仕，而官其子屼提舉兩浙常平以便養。 屼奉抃遍游諸名山，吳人以為榮。 元豐七年，薨，年七十七。 贈太子少師，諡曰清獻。
He asked to retire and was appointed prefect of Yuezhou. The Wu-Yue region suffered great famine and plague, and more than half the people died. Bian used every famine-relief measure at his disposal, treated the sick, buried the dead, and thereby preserved the living. He ordered repairs to the city walls so the people could earn their food by their labor. He was transferred again to Hangzhou, retired as junior guardian of the heir apparent, and his son Wu was given the post of intendant of the Liang-Zhe Ever-Normal Granaries so he could care for his father. Wu accompanied Bian as he toured all the famous mountains, and the people of Wu took it as an honor. In the seventh year of Yuanfeng he died, aged seventy-seven. He was posthumously given the title of junior preceptor of the heir apparent, with the posthumous name Qingxian.
26
抃長厚清修，人不見其喜慍。 平生不治貲業，不畜聲伎，嫁兄弟之女十數、他孤女二十余人，施德煢貧，蓋不可勝數。 日所為事，入夜必衣冠露香以告於天，不可告，則不敢為也。 其為政，善因俗施設，猛寬不同，在虔與成都，尤為世所稱道。 神宗每詔二郡守，必以抃為言。 要之，以惠利為本。 晚學道有得，將終，與屼訣，詞氣不亂，安坐而沒。 宰相韓琦嘗稱抃真世人標表，蓋以為不可及雲。
Bian was generous, steadfast, and pure in conduct, and no one ever saw him show pleasure or anger. All his life he amassed no property and kept no entertainers. He married off more than ten daughters of his brothers and more than twenty other orphaned girls, and the kindness he showed the friendless and poor was beyond counting. Each day's deeds—at night he always dressed properly, burned incense, and reported them to Heaven. What he could not report, he dared not do. In government he was skilled at adapting measures to local custom. Sternness and lenience differed from place to place, but at Qianzhou and Chengdu he was especially praised. Whenever Emperor Shenzong summoned the prefects of those two prefectures, he always held up Bian as the model. In essence, he took the people's benefit as his foundation. Late in life he studied the Way and gained attainment. As death approached he took leave of Wu without disorder in word or tone, and died sitting peacefully. Grand councilor Han Qi once called Bian a true model for the world and considered him beyond compare.
27
子屼
Son: Wu
28
屼字景仁。 由蔭登第，通判江州，改溫州，代還，得見。 時抃已謝事，神宗命為太僕丞，擢監察御史。 以父老請外，提舉兩浙常平。 元祐中，復為御史。 上疏言：「治平以前，大臣不敢援置親党于要塗，子弟多處管庫，甚者不使應科舉，與寒士爭進。 自王安石柄國，持內舉不避親之說，始以子雱列侍從，由是循習為常。 資望淺者，或居事權繁重之地； 無出身者，或預文字清切之職，今宜杜絕其源。」 又言：「台諫之臣，或稍遷其位，而陰奪言責； 或略行其言，而退與善地； 或兩全並立，苟從講解； 或置而不問，外示包容。 使忠鯁之士，蒙羞難退，皆朝廷所宜深察也。」 傅堯俞、王岩叟、梁燾、孫升以事去，屼言：「諸人才能學術，為世推稱； 忠言嘉謨，見於已試，宜悉召還朝。」 所言皆切時務。
Wu, whose courtesy name was Jingren. Through hereditary privilege he passed the examinations, served as vice-prefect of Jiangzhou, was transferred to Wenzhou, and upon completing his tour of duty returned to court for an audience. At that time Bian had already retired. Shenzong appointed Wu vice director of the Imperial Stud and then promoted him to investigating censor. Because his father was elderly, he asked for an outside post and was made intendant of the Liang-Zhe Ever-Normal Granaries. In the Yuanyou era he again served as censor. He submitted a memorial saying, "Before the Zhiping era, great ministers did not dare place their kin in important posts. Sons and younger brothers mostly served in storehouse jobs, and in extreme cases were not even allowed to take the civil examinations, competing for advancement with poor scholars. Since Wang Anshi held power, advancing the doctrine that one should recommend relatives without avoiding kin, he first placed his son Fang among attendant courtiers, and from that it became customary practice. Men of shallow qualifications sometimes held posts of heavy authority. Men without examination credentials sometimes held refined clerical posts close to the emperor. Now this source should be cut off." He also said, "Censors and remonstrators may be given a slight promotion in rank while secretly stripped of the duty to speak. Or their words may be partly carried out while they are sent off to comfortable posts. Or both sides may be accommodated through easy compromise. Or matters may be set aside without inquiry, outwardly showing tolerance. Thus loyal and blunt men suffer shame yet find it hard to withdraw—all of this the court ought to examine deeply." When Fu Yaoyu, Wang Yansou, Liang Tao, and Sun Sheng left office over affairs, Wu said, "These men's talent and learning are praised throughout the world. Their loyal counsel and excellent plans have already been tested in office. All of them should be summoned back to court." Everything he said closely addressed the affairs of the day.
29
避執政親嫌，改都官員外郎，出提點京東刑獄。 元符中，曆鴻臚、太僕少卿。 曾布知樞密院，將白為都承旨，蔡卞摭其救傅堯俞事，遂不用。 未幾卒。
To avoid conflict with those in power through family ties, he was made vice director in the Bureau of Review and sent out as intendant of criminal justice for Jingdong. In the Yuanfu era he served successively as vice minister of ceremonial and vice director of the Imperial Stud. When Zeng Bu was commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, he was about to recommend Wu for appointment as director of reception, but Cai Bian dredged up his defense of Fu Yaoyu, and Wu was therefore passed over. Before long he died.
30
初，抃廬母墓三年，縣榜其裏曰「孝弟」。 處士孫侔為作《孝子傳》。 及屼執父喪，而甘露降墓木。 屼卒，子雲又以毀死，人稱其世孝。
Earlier, Bian kept vigil at his mother's grave for three years, and the county posted his neighborhood with the title "Filial and Brotherly." The recluse Sun Mou wrote a Biography of the Filial Son for him. When Wu observed mourning for his father, sweet dew descended on the trees at the grave. When Wu died, his son Yun also died from grief in mourning, and people called their family filial across generations.
31
唐介，字子方，江陵人。 父拱，卒漳州，州人知其貧，合錢以賻，介年尚幼，謝不取。 擢第，為武陵尉，調平江令。 民李氏貲而吝，吏有求不厭，誣為殺人祭鬼。 嶽守捕其家，無少長楚掠，不肯承。 更屬介訊之，無他驗。 守怒白於朝，遣御史方偕徙獄別鞫之，其究與介同。 守以下得罪，偕受賞，介未嘗自言。
Tang Jie, whose courtesy name was Zifang, came from Jiangling. His father Gong died at Zhangzhou. The people of the prefecture, knowing how poor they were, pooled money for the funeral, but Jie was still young and declined to accept it. He passed the examinations, served as aide of Wuling, and was transferred to be magistrate of Pingjiang. A commoner surnamed Li was wealthy but stingy. An official whose demands were never satisfied falsely accused him of killing people to sacrifice to ghosts. The prefect of Yuezhou arrested his entire family. Young and old alike were tortured, but they refused to confess. The case was transferred to Jie for interrogation, and he found no other evidence. The prefect angrily reported to court. The censor Fang Xie was sent to transfer the prisoners and interrogate them separately, but he reached the same conclusion as Jie. The prefect and his subordinates were punished. Xie received a reward, but Jie never spoke of it himself.
32
知莫州任丘縣，當遼使往來道，驛吏以誅索破家為苦。 介坐驛門，令曰：「非法所應給，一切勿與。 稍毀吾什器者，必執之。」 皆帖伏以去。 沿邊塘水歲溢，害民田，中人楊懷敏主之，欲割邑西十一村地豬漲潦，介築提蘭之，民以為利。 通判德州，轉運使崔嶧取庫絹配民而重其估。 介留牒不下，且移安撫司責數之。 嶧怒，數馳檄按詰，介不為動。 既而果不能行。
When he was magistrate of Renqiu in Mozhou, on the route traveled by Liao envoys, post station clerks suffered because exorbitant demands ruined families. Jie sat at the post gate and ordered, "Whatever is not legally required to be supplied—supply none of it. Whoever even slightly damages our implements must be seized." All submitted obediently and departed. Along the border, pond waters overflowed every year and harmed the people's fields. The eunuch Yang Huaimin was in charge and wished to cut off land from eleven villages west of the county seat to hold back the floods. Jie built dikes and sluice gates, to the people's benefit. As vice-prefect of Dezhou, the transport commissioner Cui Yi took silks from the government storehouse to assign to the people and inflated the valuation. Jie kept the document and would not issue it, and moreover shifted blame to the pacification commission. Yi was furious and repeatedly sent urgent dispatches to investigate and question him; Jie was unmoved. Before long it indeed could not be carried out.
33
入為監察御史裏行，轉殿中侍御史。 啟聖院造龍鳳車，內出珠玉為之飾。 介言：「此太宗神禦所在，不可喧瀆； 後宮奇靡之器，不宜過制。」 詔亟毀去。 張堯佐驟除宣徽、節度、景靈、群牧四使，介與包拯、吳奎等力爭之，又請中丞王舉正留百官班庭論，奪其二使。 無何，復除宣徽使、知河陽。 介謂同列曰：「是欲與宣徽，而假河陽為名耳，不可但已也。」 而同列依違，介獨抗言之。 仁宗謂曰：「除擬本出中書。」 介遂劾宰相文彥博守蜀日造間金奇錦，緣閹侍通宮掖，以得執政； 今顯用堯佐，益自固結，請罷之而相富弼。 又言諫官吳奎表裏觀望，語甚切直。 帝怒，卻其奏不視，且言將遠竄。 介徐讀畢，曰：「臣忠憤所激，鼎鑊不避，何辭於謫？」 帝急召執政示之曰：「介論事是其職。 至謂彥博由妃嬪致宰相，此何言也？ 進用塚司，豈應得預？」 時彥博在前，介責之曰：「彥博宜自省，即有之，不可隱。」 彥博拜謝不已，帝怒益甚。 梁適叱介使下殿，修起居注蔡襄趨進救之。 貶春州別駕，王舉正言以為太重，帝旋悟，明日取其疏入，改置英州，而罷彥博相，吳奎亦出。 又慮介或道死，有殺直臣名，命中使護之。 梅堯臣、李師中皆賦詩激美，由是直聲動天下，士大夫稱真御史，必曰唐子方而不敢名。
He entered office as supernumerary investigating censor and was transferred to palace censor. At Qisheng Monastery they were building dragon-and-phoenix carriages, with pearls and jade from the inner treasury for ornament. Jie said: "This is where Taizong's spirit tablet resides—it must not be profaned with noise; extravagant objects in the rear palaces should not exceed what regulations allow." An edict ordered them destroyed at once. Zhang Yaozuo was abruptly appointed to four posts—Xuanhui commissioner, military commissioner, Jingling commissioner, and director of the herds office. Jie, together with Bao Zheng, Wu Kui, and others, strove against it; they also asked the vice censor-in-chief Wang Juzheng to detain the full corps of officials in the court to debate, and two of the appointments were withdrawn. Before long he was again appointed Xuanhui commissioner and prefect of Heyang. Jie said to his colleagues: "This is intending to give him Xuanhui while using Heyang only as a pretext—it cannot simply be let go." His colleagues wavered; Jie alone resisted and spoke out. Renzong said: "The appointment draft originally came from the Secretariat." Jie then impeached the chief minister Wen Yanbo, saying that while Yanbo governed Shu he had woven gold brocades and sent them through eunuch attendants into the inner palace to gain power; now that Yaozuo was openly employed, Yanbo further strengthened his ties—Jie asked that Yanbo be removed and Fu Bi made chief minister. He also said that the remonstrance official Wu Kui was watching both ways; his language was very blunt. The emperor was angry, pushed aside the memorial without reading it, and said he would exile Jie far away. Jie read it through calmly and said: "I am stirred by loyal indignation—cauldrons and axes I do not avoid; what words would I have regarding banishment?" The emperor hurriedly summoned the chief ministers and showed them the memorial, saying: "For Jie to discuss affairs is his duty. To say that Yanbo became chief minister through imperial consorts—what kind of talk is this? Advancement and employment of the chief steward—how could he have been involved beforehand?" Yanbo was present at the time; Jie reproached him: "Yanbo ought to examine himself—if it is so, it cannot be hidden." Yanbo apologized repeatedly without end; the emperor's anger grew worse. Liang Shi shouted at Jie to leave the hall; the reviser of the imperial diary Cai Xiang rushed forward to intervene. He was demoted to assistant administrator of Chunzhou. Wang Juzheng said the penalty was too heavy; the emperor soon realized his error. The next day he took in Jie's memorial, changed the posting to Yingzhou, dismissed Yanbo as chief minister, and Wu Kui also left office. The emperor also feared that Jie might die on the road and they would bear the name of killing a straight official, and ordered palace envoys to escort him. Mei Yaochen and Li Shizhong both wrote poems praising him; thereby his reputation for integrity shook the realm, and when scholars spoke of a true censor they said Tang Zifang and did not dare use his personal name.
34
數月，起監郴州稅，通判潭州，知復州，召為殿中侍御史。 遣使賜告。 趣詣闕下。 入對，帝勞之曰：「卯遷謫以來，未嘗以私書至京師，可謂不易所守矣。」 介頓首謝，言事益無所顧。 他日請曰：「臣既任言責，言之不行將固爭，爭之重以累陛下，願得解職。」 換工部員外郎、直集賢院，為開封府判官，出知揚州，徙江東轉運使。 御史吳中復言，介不宜久居外。 文彥博再當國，奏：「介向所言，誠中臣病，願如中復言。」 然但徒河東。
Several months later he was recalled as supervisor of the Chenzhou tax office, vice-prefect of Tanzhou, prefect of Fuzhou, and summoned back as palace censor. Envoys were sent to grant him leave. He was urged to come to court. He entered audience; the emperor comforted him, saying: "Since your banishment you have never sent private letters to the capital—you may truly be called steadfast in what you hold." Jie kowtowed in thanks; in speaking of affairs he was ever more fearless. On another day he requested: "Your servant has undertaken the duty of speech; if my words are not followed I will surely contend further, and heavy contention would burden Your Majesty—I wish to be relieved of the post." He was transferred to outer-section member of the Ministry of Works with direct appointment to the Jixian Academy, made judicial officer of the Kaifeng prefecture, sent out as prefect of Yangzhou, and moved to transport commissioner of Jiangdong. The censor Wu Zhongfu said that Jie should not long remain outside the capital. Wen Yanbo again headed the government and memorialized: "What Jie said before truly struck at my fault—I wish it done as Zhongfu said." Yet he was only transferred to Hedong.
35
久之，入為度支副使，進天章閣待制，復知諫院。 帝自至和後，臨朝淵默。 介言：「君臣如天地，以交泰為理。 願時延群下，發德音，可否萬幾，以幸天下。」 又論：宮禁幹丐恩澤，出命不由中書，宜有以抑絕； 賜予嬪禦之費，多先朝時十數倍，日加無窮，宜有所朘損； 監司薦舉，多得文法小吏，請令精擇端良敦樸之士，毋使與憸薄者同進； 諸路走馬承受淩擾郡縣，可罷勿遣，以權歸監司； 兗國公主夜開禁門，宜劾宿衛主吏，以嚴宮省。 帝悉開納之。
After a long interval he entered office as vice commissioner of the fiscal bureau, was advanced to awaiting-edict at the Hanzhang Pavilion, and again headed the Remonstrance Academy. Since the Zhihe era the emperor at court had been deep and silent. Jie said: "Ruler and minister are like heaven and earth—mutual interaction is the principle of order. I wish Your Majesty would from time to time extend audience to officials below, issue virtuous pronouncements, and approve or reject the myriad affairs of state—to bless all under Heaven." He also argued that entreaties for favors from within the palace, with orders issued not through the Secretariat, ought to be blocked; gifts and expenses for consorts were often many times greater than under former reigns, increasing daily without end—they ought to be reduced; circuit intendant recommendations often produced petty legal clerks—he asked that upright, sincere, and plain men be carefully selected and not allowed to advance together with the sly and shallow; mounted couriers on the circuits harassed prefectures and counties—they could be abolished and not sent, returning authority to the intendant; the Princess of Yan opened the forbidden gate at night—the palace guard officers in charge ought to be impeached to tighten palace discipline. The emperor fully accepted these proposals.
36
御史中丞韓絳劾宰相富弼，弼家居求罷，絳亦待罪。 介與王陶論絳以危法中傷大臣，絳罷。 介嫌于右宰相，請外，以知荊南。 敕過門下，知銀台司何郯封還之，留權開封府。 旋以論罷陳升之，亦出知洪州。 加龍圖閣直學士、河北都轉運使，樞密直學士、知瀛州。
The vice censor-in-chief Han Jiang impeached the chief minister Fu Bi; Bi stayed at home and sought dismissal, and Han also awaited punishment. Jie and Wang Tao argued that Jiang had used dangerous statutes to wound a great minister; Jiang was dismissed. Ill at ease with the chief minister on the right, Jie requested an outside post and was made prefect of Jingnan. When the edict passed the Secretariat, the director of the Yintai Office He Yan sealed and returned it; Jie was retained as acting prefect of Kaifeng. Soon, for discussing the dismissal of Chen Shengzhi, he was also sent out as prefect of Hongzhou. He was given the additional titles of direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion and transport commissioner of Hebei, and Privy Council direct academician and prefect of Yingzhou.
37
治平元年，召為御史中丞。 英宗謂曰：「卿在先朝有直聲，故用卿，非繇左右言也。」 介曰：「臣無狀，陛下過聽，願獻愚忠。 自古欲治之主，亦非求絕世驚俗之術，要在順人情而已。 祖宗遺德餘烈，在人未遠，願覽已成之業以為監，則天下蒙福矣。 明年，以龍圖閣學士知太原府。 帝曰：「朕視河東，不在中執法下，暫煩卿往耳。」 夏人數擾代州邊，多築堡境上。 介遣兵悉撤之，移諭以利害，遂不敢動。
In the first year of Zhiping he was summoned as vice censor-in-chief. Yingzong said to him: "You had a reputation for straight speech in the former reign—therefore I employ you, not because of words from attendants at my side." Jie said: "Your servant is without merit; Your Majesty has over-listened—I wish to offer my foolish loyalty. Rulers of old who wished to bring order also did not seek world-shaking techniques—the key lies in complying with human feelings. The legacy virtue of the ancestors remains near in people's minds; I wish Your Majesty to view their completed achievement as a mirror—then all under Heaven will receive blessing. The next year he was made academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion and prefect of Taiyuan. The emperor said: "I regard Hedong as no less important than the central law officers—I temporarily trouble you to go there." The Western Xia repeatedly harassed the border of Dai Prefecture and often built forts on the frontier. Jie sent troops to dismantle them all and sent notice of the benefits and harms involved; the Xia then did not dare act.
38
神宗立，以三司使召。 熙甯元年，拜參知政事。 先時，宰相省閱所進文書于待漏舍，同列不得聞。 介謂曾公亮曰：「身在政府而文書弗與知，上或有所問，何辭以對？」 乃與同視，後遂為常。 帝欲用王安石，公亮因薦之，介言其難大任。 帝曰：「文學不可任耶？ 吏事不可任耶？ 經術不可任耶？」 對曰：「安石好學而泥古，故論議迂闊，若使為政，必多所變更。」 退謂公亮曰：「安石果用，天下必困擾，諸公當自知之。」 中書嘗進除目，數日不決，帝曰：「當問王安石。」 介曰：「陛下以安石可大用，即用之，豈可使中書政事決于翰林學士？ 臣近每聞宣諭某事問安石，可即行之，不可不行，如此則執政何所用，恐非信任大臣之體也。 必以臣為不才，願先罷免。」
When Shenzong succeeded to the throne, Jie was summoned as fiscal commissioner. In the first year of Xining he was appointed participant in governance. Previously the chief ministers reviewed submitted documents at the vigilance waiting lodge, and their colleagues were not allowed to know their contents. Jie said to Zeng Gongliang: "Being in the government yet not knowing the documents—if the sovereign should ask something, what words would we have to answer?" They then viewed them together, and afterward this became the custom. The emperor wished to employ Wang Anshi; Gongliang thereupon recommended him, but Jie said he was hard to entrust with great responsibility. The emperor said: "May literary learning not be entrusted? May administrative affairs not be entrusted? May classical learning not be entrusted?" He replied: "Anshi loves learning but is bound to antiquity, so his discussions are far-fetched; if he is allowed to govern he will surely change many things." Withdrawing, he said to Gongliang: "If Anshi is indeed employed, all under Heaven will surely be troubled—you will know that yourselves." The Secretariat once submitted a list of appointments; for several days there was no decision. The emperor said: "We should ask Wang Anshi." Jie said: "If Your Majesty thinks Anshi can be greatly used, then use him—how can the government's business of the Secretariat be decided by a Hanlin academician? I have lately often heard that when edicts instruct that certain matters be asked of Anshi, if he approves they are carried out at once and if he disapproves they are not—if it is thus, of what use are the chief administrators? I fear this is not the proper way to trust great ministers. If Your Majesty must regard me as without talent, I ask first to be dismissed."
39
安石既執政，奏言：「中書處分劄子，皆稱聖旨，不中理者十八九，宜止令中書出牒。」 帝愕然。 介曰：「昔寇准用劄子遷馮拯官不當，拯訴之，太宗謂：'前代中書用堂牒，乃權臣假此為威福。 太祖時以堂帖重於敕命，遂削去之。 今復用劄子，何異堂帖？ '張洎因言：'廢劄子，則中書行事，別無公式。」 太宗曰：'大事則降敕，其當用紮子，亦須奏裁。 '此所以稱聖旨也。 如安石言，則是政不自天子出，使輔臣皆忠賢，猶為擅命，苟非其人，豈不害國？」 帝以為然，乃止。 介自是數與安石爭論。 安石強辯，而帝主其說。 介不勝憤，疽發於背，薨，年六十。
After Anshi took charge of the government he memorialized: "The Secretariat's disposition memoranda all say 'imperial intention,' yet nine or eight of ten are unreasonable—it would be better to have only the Secretariat issue formal dispatches." The emperor was startled. Jie said: "Formerly Kou Zhun used a memorandum to transfer Feng Zheng to a post improperly; Zheng appealed. Taizong said: 'In former dynasties the Secretariat used hall posts—powerful ministers used this to wield prestige and favor. In Taizu's time hall notes weighed more heavily than edict commands, so they were cut off. To use memoranda again now—how is it different from hall posts? Zhang Zhi then said: 'If memoranda are abolished, the Secretariat has no other formula for conducting business.' Taizong said: 'For great affairs issue an edict; when memoranda should be used, they too must be memorialized for decision.' That is why they say 'imperial intention.' As Anshi proposes, government would not proceed from the Son of Heaven; even if the assisting ministers were all loyal and worthy it would still be usurping command, and if they were not such men would it not harm the state?" The emperor thought this right and stopped the proposal. From then on Jie repeatedly debated with Anshi. Anshi argued forcefully, and the emperor sided with his views. Jie could not overcome his anger; a carbuncle broke out on his back and he died, aged sixty.
40
介為人簡伉，以敢言見憚。 每言官缺，眾皆望介處之，觀其風采。 神宗謂其先朝遺直，故大用之。 然居政府，遭時有為，而扼于安石，少所建明，聲名減於諫官、御史時。 比疾亟，帝臨問流涕，復幸其第吊哭，以畫像不類，命取禁中舊藏本賜其家。 贈禮部尚書，諡曰質肅。 子淑問、義問，孫恕。
Jie as a man was simple and upright and was feared for his willingness to speak bluntly. Whenever a censor's post fell vacant, everyone looked to Jie to fill it and watched his bearing. Shenzong regarded him as a straight legacy of the former reign and therefore employed him on a large scale. Yet while in the government he encountered an activist age and was constrained by Anshi, so he established little—his renown was less than in his days as remonstrance official and censor. When his illness grew critical the emperor visited him in person and wept; he again favored Jie's residence to mourn and weep. Because the portrait was unlike him, he ordered the old copy kept in the forbidden storehouse to be taken out and bestowed on the family. He was posthumously made Minister of Rites; his posthumous name was Zhisu. His sons were Shuwen and Yiwen; his grandson was Shu.
41
子淑問
Son: Shuwen
42
淑問字士憲。 第進士，至殿中丞。 神宗以其家世，擢監察御史裏行，諭以謹家法、務大體。 淑問見帝初即位，銳於治，因言：「中旨數下，一出特斷，當謹出納、別枉直，使命令必行。 今詔書求直言，而久無所施用，必欲屈群策以起治道，願行其言。」 初，詔侍臣講讀。 淑問言：「王者之學，不必分章句、飾文辭。 稽古聖人治天下之道，歷代致興亡之由，延登正人，博訪世務，以求合先王，則天下幸甚。」 河北饑，流人就食京師，官振廩給食，來者不止。 淑問曰：「出粟不繼，是誘之失業而就死地也。」 條三策上之。
Shuwen's courtesy name was Shixian. He passed the examinations and rose to palace aide. Shenzong, because of his family's standing, promoted him to supernumerary investigating censor and instructed him to keep strict household discipline and attend to the larger pattern of affairs. Shuwen saw that the emperor had just succeeded and was keen on governance, and said: "Central edicts issue frequently, each a special decision—we ought carefully to control what goes out, distinguish crooked from straight, and ensure that orders are surely carried out. Now edicts seek blunt counsel, yet for long nothing has been applied—we must wish to bend the multitude of strategies to raise the way of order; I ask that the words be put into practice." Earlier, an edict had ordered attendant ministers to lecture and study. Shuwen said: "The learning of a king need not divide into chapter and sentence or adorn literary phrasing. Examine antiquity for the way the sages governed all under Heaven, the causes of rise and fall in successive ages; extend audience to upright men and broadly inquire into worldly affairs to seek conformity with the former kings—then all under Heaven would be greatly blessed." When Hebei suffered famine, refugees came to the capital to find food; the government opened granaries and gave grain, yet arrivals did not cease. Shuwen said: "Issuing grain without continuing supply is to lure people to lose their livelihood and go to their deaths." He set forth three policies and submitted them.
43
滕甫為中丞，淑問力數其短，帝以為邀名，乃詔避其父三司使，出通判復州。 久之，知真州，提點湖北刑獄，言新法不便，乞解使事，黜知信陽軍，以病免。 數年，起知宣州，徙湖州，入為吏部員外郎。 又引疾求外，帝以為避事，降監撫州酒稅。 哲宗立，司馬光薦其行己有恥，難進，召為左司諫，以病致仕，數月卒。
When Teng Fu was vice censor-in-chief, Shuwen repeatedly pressed his shortcomings; the emperor thought he was seeking a name and ordered him to avoid his father the fiscal commissioner—he was sent out as vice-prefect of Fuzhou. After a long while he was made prefect of Zhenzhou and intendant of Hubei judicial affairs; he said the new laws were inconvenient, begged to be relieved of intendant duties, was demoted to military prefect of Xinyang, and resigned on grounds of illness. Several years later he was recalled as prefect of Xuanzhou, moved to Huzhou, and entered office as outer-section member of the Ministry of Personnel. He again cited illness and sought an outside post; the emperor regarded it as shirking duty and demoted him to supervisor of the Fuzhou wine tax. When Zhezong succeeded, Sima Guang recommended that his conduct showed a sense of shame and that he was hard to advance; he was summoned as left remonstrance official, resigned on illness, and died several months later.
44
子義問
Son: Yiwen
45
義問字士宣。 善文辭，鎖廳試禮部，用舉者召試秘閣，父介引嫌罷之。 熙寧中，辟京西轉運司管勾文字。 神宗覽本道章奏，知義問所為。 以其名訪輔臣，因黃好謙領使事，諭之曰：「唐義問風力強敏，行且用矣，可面詔之。」 尋以為司農管當公事。 方行手實法，所在騷然。 義問言：「今造簿甫二歲，民不堪命，不宜復改為。」 從曾孝寬使河東，還奏事，記利害綱目於笏，帝取而熟視之，曆舉以問，應析如流。 帝喜曰：「欲見卿，非今日也。」 擢湖南轉運判官。 一路敷免役錢，又分戶五等，儲其羨為別賦，號「家力錢」，義問奏除之。 移使京西，文彥博守西都，義問求罷去。 彥博告以再入相時，嘗薦其父，晚同為執政，相得甚歡，故義問乃止。 時陝西大舉兵，多亡卒，所至成聚。 義問請令詣官自陳，給券續食，人以為便。 會有不悅之者，免歸。
Yiwen's courtesy name was Shixuan. Skilled in literary composition, he took the locked-hall examination in the Ministry of Rites; because of a recommender he was summoned to trial at the Secretariat Pavilion, but his father Jie cited conflict of interest and the summons was canceled. During the Xining era he was recruited to the Jingxi transport commission as clerk for documents. Shenzong reviewed memorials from that circuit and learned what Yiwen had done. He inquired about him among assisting ministers; because Huang Haoqian headed the commission, he instructed him: "Tang Yiwen is forceful and keen—he will soon be employed; you may inform him face to face by edict." Soon he was made clerk in charge of affairs in the Ministry of Revenue. Just as the household registration law was being implemented, everywhere was in turmoil. Yiwen said: "Registers have been compiled for only two years and the people cannot bear the burden—it is not fitting to change them again." He followed Zeng Xiaokuan on mission to Hedong; returning to report, he noted points of benefit and harm on his tablet. The emperor took it and studied it closely, going through each item and asking—he answered as if unraveling threads. The emperor said with pleasure: "I wished to see you—not only today." He was promoted to vice transport commissioner of Hunan. On that circuit exemption from corvée money was spread broadly, and households were divided into five grades to store the surplus as a separate levy called "household strength money"; Yiwen memorialized to abolish it. Transferred as commissioner of Jingxi, when Wen Yanbo guarded the western capital Yiwen sought to resign. Yanbo told him that when he entered the chief ministership again he had once recommended Yiwen's father, and in later years they served together in government and got on very well—so Yiwen stopped his request. At the time a great campaign was launched in Shaanxi and many soldiers deserted; wherever they went they gathered in bands. Yiwen asked that they be allowed to present themselves at government offices, be given certificates and continued rations—people regarded it as convenient. When someone who disliked him came to power, he was dismissed and returned home.
46
元祐中，起知齊州，提點京東刑獄、河北轉運副使。 屬邑尉因捕盜誤遺火，盜逸去，民家被焚，訟尉故縱火。 郡守執尉，抑使服，義問辨出之，方旱而雨。 用彥博薦，加集賢修撰，帥荊南，請廢渠陽諸砦。 蠻楊晟秀斷之以叛，即拜湖北轉運使，討降之，復砦為州。 進直龍圖閣，以集賢殿修撰知廣州。 章惇秉政，治棄渠陽罪，貶舒州團練副使。 後七年，復故官，知潁昌府，卒。
In the Yuanyou era he was recalled as prefect of Qizhou, intendant of Jingdong judicial affairs, and vice transport commissioner of Hebei. In a subordinate county a constable while pursuing bandits accidentally caused a fire; the bandits escaped and a commoner's house was burned—the people sued the constable for deliberately setting the fire. The prefect arrested the constable and pressured him to confess; Yiwen argued and secured his release—just then there was drought and it rained. On Yanbo's recommendation he was given the additional title of compiler of the Jixian Academy and commanded Jingnan; he asked to abolish the forts at Quyang. The Man chieftain Yang Shengxiu severed relations and rebelled; Yiwen was at once made transport commissioner of Hubei, campaigned and received their surrender, and restored the forts as prefectures. He was advanced to direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion and made Jixian Hall compiler and prefect of Guangzhou. When Zhang Dun held power he was punished for abandoning Quyang and was demoted to military vice-commissioner of Shuzhou. Seven years later his former rank was restored and he was made prefect of Yingchang; he died in office.
47
孫恕
Grandson: Shu
48
恕，崇甯初，為華陽令，以不能奉行茶法，忤使者，謝病免歸。 其弟意方為南陵令，亦以病自免，兄弟杜門躬耕。 恕尋以宣教郎致仕。 靖康元年，御史中丞許翰言其高行，詔起為監察御史。 意亦以宰相吳敏薦，召對，而貧不能行，竟餓死江陵山中。
Shu, in the early Chongning era, was magistrate of Huayang; because he could not enforce the tea law he offended the commissioner, resigned on illness, and returned home. His younger brother Yi was magistrate of Nanling and also resigned on illness; the brothers shut their doors and plowed for themselves. Shu soon retired as Instructor in the Promotion of Virtue. In the first year of Jingkang the vice censor-in-chief Xu Han spoke of his lofty conduct and an edict recalled him as investigating censor. Yi was also recommended by the chief minister Wu Min and summoned to audience, but being poor he could not travel and ultimately starved to death in the mountains of Jiangling.
49
論曰：拯為開封，其政嚴明，人到於今稱之。 而不尚苛刻，推本忠厚，非孔子所謂剛者乎：奎博學清重，君子人也。 抃所至善治，民思不忘，猶古遺愛。 介敢言，聲動天下，斯古遺直也。 夫聽諫者，明君所難，以唐文皇猶弗終於魏徵，觀四臣面諍，鯁吭逆心，或不能堪，而仁宗容之無咈，誠盛德之主哉！ 屼世孝，淑問難進，義問強敏，恕高行不隕家聲，有足美雲。
The commentators say: As prefect of Kaifeng, Bao's government was strict and clear, and people to this day praise him. Yet he did not esteem harshness; tracing his roots he was fundamentally generous and loyal—is this not what Confucius called being firm? Kui was broadly learned, pure and weighty—a man of the noble sort. What Bian attained was excellent governance; the people remember him and do not forget—like ancient lingering affection. Jie dared to speak and his voice shook the realm—he is the straight legacy of antiquity. To heed remonstrance is what a clear ruler finds difficult; even Tang Taizong did not carry through with Wei Zheng to the end. Watching these four ministers remonstrate to their faces, their throats blocked and words against the heart—some could not bear it—yet Renzong accommodated them without offense: truly a sovereign of magnificent virtue! Upholding filial virtue from generation to generation: Shuwen was hard to advance, Yiwen forceful and keen, and Shu's lofty conduct did not dim the family's reputation—there is ample praise in this.