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卷三百二十九 列傳第八十八 常秩 鄧綰 李定 舒亶 蹇周輔 徐鐸 王廣淵 王陶 王子韶 何正臣 陳繹

Volume 329 Biographies 88: Chang Zhi, Deng Wan, Li Ding, Shu Dan, Jian Zhoufu, Xu Duo, Wang Guangyuan, Wang Tao, Wang Zishao, He Zhengchen, Chen Yi

Chapter 329 of 宋史 · History of Song
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Chapter 329
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1
Chang Zhi, who styled himself Yifu, came from Ruyin in Ying Prefecture. He failed the jinshi examination, secluded himself in his neighborhood, and won fame for his mastery of the classics. In the Jiayou period he received a gift of silk, served as professor in Ying Prefecture, was appointed Direct Lecturer at the Imperial University, and was also named Assessor at the Court of Judicial Review. In the Zhiping period he was offered the posts of adjutant of the Zhongwu military commission and magistrate of Changge County, and declined them all.
2
使 使
After Shenzong took the throne, the court sent envoys three times to summon him, and each time he refused. In the third year of Xining, an edict told the prefecture to escort him to court with full ceremony and not to accept his excuses. The following year he finally appeared at court. The emperor asked, "The former emperor summoned you again and again—why did you stay away?" He answered, "The late emperor saw how limited I was, so I was allowed to live quietly in my neighborhood. Now Your Majesty's strict summons leaves me no choice, so I had to come—not because I weighed staying against serving." The emperor was pleased and asked gently, "What policy would free the people from cold and hunger?" He replied, "Without sound institutions, ordinary people live on what lords provide and wear what lords supply—that is the great evil of our age. My abilities are not fit for service; I ask permission to go home." The emperor said, "Now that you are here, how can you leave at once? When the day comes that I cannot employ you, then you may leave." He was immediately made Right Remonstrator, a direct academician of the Jixian Hall, and put in charge of the Imperial University; soon he also served in the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, was promoted to lecturer at the Hall of Heavenly Writings and concurrent compiler of the imperial diary, and was still expected to remonstrate. He again asked to retire and was transferred to judge the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
3
西
In the seventh year he was promoted to awaiting-orders academician at the Hall of Treasured Writings and concurrent lecturer, and his son Li was appointed proofreader at the Hall of Cultivated Talents. In the ninth year, too ill to attend court, he was assigned to the Central Great Unity Palace and made judge of the Western Capital remonstrance bureau, then went home to Ying. In the tenth year he died at fifty-nine and was posthumously honored as Right Remonstrance Grandee.
4
欿 宿
In private life Zhi studied to reach his own understanding. Wang Hui, a noted local gentleman, would sigh after every conversation with Zhi that he himself fell short. Ouyang Xiu, Hu Su, Lü Gongzhu, Wang Tao, Shen Kui, and Wang Anshi all praised and recommended him. For a time his reputation soared.
5
退 便
At first, while Zhi lived in seclusion and refused office, everyone assumed he would never serve. Later, when Wang Anshi became chief minister and reformed the laws, the empire boiled with opposition; Zhi at home, reading the new orders, alone approved them, and answered a single summons to office. At court he held remonstrance posts and served close to the throne, but bowed low and held his tongue, advancing nothing of note; his standing dwindled and people laughed at him. Zhi was expert in the Spring and Autumn Annals and even dismissed Sun Fu's scholarship as inhumane. He wrote dozens of commentaries and declared that the way of the sages lay entirely in them. When Anshi discarded the Spring and Autumn Annals, Zhi hid that scholarship entirely.
6
使 殿
Li, first named adjutant of the Tianping Army, after Zhi's death had his student Zhao Chong draft a conduct report saying that once Zhi and Anshi left office, officials everywhere quietly undermined the reforms and the people were ruined; court and country stayed silent while defeat ripened within, unseen and unheeded. Zhi had known the policy was doomed." In the Shaosheng period Cai Bian recommended Li as regular scribe of the Secretariat and lecturer in the princes' establishment, sought his appointment as lecturer at the Hall of Exalted Governance, secured an audience, and again asked that he be made a remonstrance official. Bian was then allied with Zhang Dun; Zeng Bu tried to bring him down and told Zhezong that Li had sided with both men, exposing the conduct report as an attack on the late emperor. The emperor at once ordered the History Academy to produce the text, called it insolent, and rebuked Dun and Bian; frightened, they asked that Li be demoted, and he was sent to supervise the wine tax at Yong Prefecture.
7
Deng Wan, who styled himself Wenyue, came from Shuangliu in Chengdu. He passed the jinshi examination and placed first in the Ministry of Rites competition. He rose gradually to vice director in the Ministry of Works. In the winter of the third year of Xining he was appointed vice prefect of Ning Prefecture. Wang Anshi then held the emperor's trust and dominated policy, listing dozens of reforms and arguing that after a century of Song rule grown soft with ease, those in power had to transform the state. He also wrote that the emperor had ministers like Yi Yin and Lü Shang and had enacted the Green Sprouts and corvée-exemption laws, so that the people everywhere praised imperial benevolence. From what I have seen in Ning Prefecture, I know the same holds for the whole circuit; and from one circuit I know it is true for the entire empire. These are truly unmatched policies; do not let loose talk move you, but hold firm to them. The memorial was plainly designed to please Wang Anshi. He also sent Anshi a letter of praise steeped in sycophancy.
8
退 使使
Anshi recommended him to Shenzong, who summoned him by fast courier for an audience. While Xia bandits troubled Qing Prefecture, Wan described the frontier in detail. The emperor asked Anshi and Lü Huizhang, who said they did not know him; the emperor said, "Anshi is the sage of our age; Huizhang is a worthy man. After the audience he met Anshi and greeted him like an old friend. Chief ministers Chen Shengzhi and Feng Jing, noting Wan's knowledge of frontier affairs, had Anshi arrange another audience and sent him back to Ning Prefecture. Wan was displeased and said, "You hurry me here only to send me back?" Someone asked, "What post will you get now?" He said, "At least a post in the palace academies." "Surely not a remonstrance post?" He said, "That is exactly what I should get." The next day he was appointed collation scholar of the Jixian Hall and inspector of the Zhongshu office of miscellaneous accounts. Townsmen in the capital laughed and cursed him; Wan said, "Mock me all you want—someone still has to take the good posts.
9
Soon he became vice director of the Remonstrance Bureau. He submitted his treatise on the Hongfan's teaching of establishing the ultimate and bestowing blessings. The emperor said, "The Hongfan is the great natural law linking Heaven and humanity; I mean to enact it across the empire and sweep away abuses. You must curb faction-makers and men who band by affinity, and counsel me in the work." Wan kowtowed and said, "I will do all I can to apply my learning to Your Majesty's teaching." The next year he was promoted to supervising censor with concurrent duties and made judge of the Ministry of Revenue.
10
使 便 簿
Ever-Normal Granary, waterworks, corvée exemption, and militia policies all issued from that ministry, and Anshi used Wan to intimidate opponents. Wan urged implementing corvée exemption first in the capital region, then in the provinces. Lizhou circuit needed ninety-six thousand strings a year, but transport commissioner Li Yu collected three hundred thousand; Wan said, "Corvée reform was meant to help the people, yet he hoards levies and surpluses—he deserves severe punishment. When Fu Bi in Bo refused to distribute Green Sprouts funds, Wan demanded an official inquiry. When capital-county residents protested assisted corvée, the court asked whether the policy helped or hurt and ordered both views tried; Wan and Zeng Bu immediately returned the office slip unsigned. Vice censor Yang Hui said he had never known the ministry to recall a memorial unanswered, and nothing was done. He dismissed every investigating officer and clerk Lü Gongzhu and Xie Jingwen had placed, and installed Cai Que and Tang Kan as censors.
11
使退
In the spring of the fifth year he was made censor-in-chief. Court precedent had never raised a supervising censor with concurrent duties to censor-in-chief; the emperor made an exception. He was also made awaiting-orders academician at the Dragon Diagram Hall. He proposed that dismissed censors had once still received other posts because careful selection meant talent should not be wasted even when views clashed; he asked that punished remonstrance officials and censors be listed and gradually reappointed so promotion and demotion would differ from ordinary clerks and they would give their all.
12
The Khitan came to dispute border territory, massed troops on the frontier, and threatened war; both Hebei circuits were alerted and ordered to ready fortifications. Wan said, "It is not only useless but ruinously expensive. The emperor accepted his advice and halted the work. He also said the Khitan invented border suits to probe the Song. They had massed troops for months last winter, then drifted away—their bluff was obvious. China should answer with firm strength so the two-state peace holds; if peace holds they will not suspect us and we can plan ahead. If we begin with fear and concession, they may press harder and China will suffer deep humiliation. The emperor read the memorial and commended it.
13
使 簿 使
When Anshi left office, Wan largely sided with Lü Huizhang. When Anshi returned as chief minister, Wan tried to bury his old ties and exposed Huizhang's Huating land purchases, and was sent out as prefect of Chen. He also accused Three Departments commissioner Zhang Dun of abetting the fraud and was transferred to Hu Prefecture. Earlier, Huizhang's brother Heqing had devised the household inventory law; Wan said, "Everything people need to live is what they use daily and keep at home. Forcing full disclosure would fill homes with mutual denunciation and people with fear of hiding things—they would have nowhere to turn. Merchants only move food, clothing, grain, hemp, silk, and cloth; stock held in spring may be gone by summer, autumn stores may vanish by winter—official registers cannot track that without driving everyone into violation. It would only send the quarrelsome to denounce enemies for reward while the timid suffered in silence." An edict abolished the law. He was promoted to Hanlin academician while remaining censor-in-chief.
14
婿
Fearing loss of influence if Anshi fell, Wan urged recording Anshi's son and son-in-law and granting them houses in the capital. The emperor told Anshi, who said, "Wan holds a state post yet begs private favors for a chief minister—that wounds the state and he should be removed. He also recommended Peng Yulü as censor; Anshi was angry and at once impeached himself for poor judgment. The emperor called Wan's mind crooked and his nature deceitful, said he overstepped his role in debate and patronage, and sent him out as prefect of Guo. A year later he was academician of the Jixian Hall and prefect of Heyang; under Yuanfeng he governed Jingnan, Chen, and Shan, then Yongxing, then Qingzhou. He reported a bumper harvest with grain at five to seven cash per dou. The emperor knew he was flattering and told supervisors to check market prices and report. He was promoted to direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall and prefect of Deng.
15
Early in Yuanyou he was transferred to Yang Prefecture. Critics denounced his treachery; he was reassigned to Chu but died in Deng at fifty-nine before he left. His sons were Xunren and Xunwu. Xunren became right vice minister of works in the Daguan period.
16
Son: Xunwu.
17
簿
Xunwu, who styled himself Zichang, earned the jinshi degree and served as clerk of Ruyang. In the Shaosheng period. Zhezong called him to court, appointed him regular scribe, collator, and national-history compiler, and put him to work on the History of Shenzong; he consistently backed Cai Bian and viciously defamed Empress Dowager Xuanren, and the great history scandal owed much to his efforts. He was promoted to attendant of the imperial diary.
18
Early in Huizong's reign he became vice director of the Secretariat, then on Cai Jing's recommendation returned to history work. Censors Chen Cisheng and Chen Shixi argued that Wan had flattered Wang Anshi in Xining and that Shenzong had often called him crooked—how could his son as grand historian write fairly, praise Shenzong's virtue, and still hide his father's sins? They added that his talent was mediocre and his scholarship shoddy, unworthy of the post. The emperor ignored them. He was promoted to attendant gentleman.
19
Han Zhongyan and Zeng Bu were then chief ministers; Xunwu told the emperor that Huizong was Shenzong's son while Zhongyan was Han Qi's son. Shenzong's new laws had helped the people, yet Qi had attacked them; now Zhongyan as chief minister reversed those laws, so Zhongyan could follow his father's wishes but the emperor could not. If the throne truly meant to continue Shenzong's work, only Cai Jing would suffice. Cai Jing was serving in the provinces and Huizong had not planned to recall him, but Xunwu said the court lacked anyone to help carry on Shenzong's legacy. He then drew up and presented his Chart of Beloved but Unhelped. The chart copied the Shiji annal tables with seven side-by-side ranks, left for Yuanfeng and right for Yuanyou, listing everyone from chief ministers and administrators through remonstrance officials, clerks, academicians, and school officers. The left column named supporters of Shenzong's legacy—only Wen Yi among administrators, plus a handful like Zhao Tingzhi, Fan Zhixu, Wang Nengfu, and Qian Yuzhi. The right column packed in scores of ministers and officials. Huizong showed the chart to Zeng Bu but removed one name from the left; when Bu asked who it was, the emperor said, Cai Jing. Xunwu insisted only Cai Jing could be chief minister and had removed the name because it disagreed with Bu. Bu replied that if Xunwu disagreed with him he dared not join the discussion. The next day the task went to Wen Yi, who eagerly compiled lists of dissenters, and the court resolved to appoint Cai Jing. Xunwu rose to secretariat drafter, gentlement attendant, and concurrent lecturer, helped compile Zhezong's veritable records, and became vice minister of personnel.
20
祿 使簿 祿
He memorialized that Shenzong had reorganized the bureaucracy and replaced hollow titles with salary ranks. He complained that clerks now juggled absurd combinations of posts—Anzhou magistrates doing Hedong errands, Hezhong recorders running salt pans, Yingzhou adjutants teaching in Pu—creating hopeless confusion. He urged new titles and matching salaries. An edict overhauled the system. Promoted to minister of justice, he also demanded penal-law exams for new officials. In Chongning's third year he became right vice minister of works, then left vice minister and secretariat vice director.
21
殿使殿 使使
When the Zhang Huaisu sorcery case broke, associates linked to Xunwu by marriage implicated him and he was sent out to govern Sui. After overseeing the Mingdao Palace and serving as Duanming academician in Bo and Henan, he returned as commissioner of the Central Great Unity Palace, rose to viewing-literature academician, and governed Daming. During Zhenghe he attended the summer imperial sacrifice. He stayed on as You-Shen observatory commissioner and concurrent lecturer to edit the national history, then became Baoda military commissioner. Soon he headed the Bureau of Military Affairs.
22
谿仿西
When Five Streams Miao raided the frontier, he copied the Shaanxi archer-militia model, recruited locals who knew the ravines, trained them to fight and farm, and fielded nearly ten thousand veterans to pacify the region. He received exceptional promotion, became junior guardian, was enfeoffed Duke of Xin, and enjoyed privileges equal to a chief minister's. In the first year of Xuanhe he died at sixty-five, posthumously honored as grand tutor with the temple name Wenjian.
23
From Wan's day the Dengs bred treachery through the generations, and Xunwu flattered the two Cais harder than any. The catastrophe of Cai Jing's ruin of the empire began with Xunwu.
24
便 便
Li Ding, who styled himself Zishen, came from Yang Prefecture. As a youth he studied under Wang Anshi. He passed the jinshi examination and served as constable of Dingyuan and judge of Xiu Prefecture. In Xining's second year Sun Jue recommended him; summoned to court, he called on remonstrance official Li Chang, who asked what southerners thought of the Green Sprouts policy. Ding said the people welcomed it and no one complained. Chang warned that the whole court was debating the policy and he should not say that. Ding went straight to Anshi and said he had only reported what he saw and had not known the capital forbade such talk. Anshi was delighted and told him to repeat it to the emperor at audience. He at once secured him an audience. Shenzong asked about Green Sprouts; Ding answered as before, and from then on Shenzong ignored critics of the reforms. The court ordered him into the Remonstrance Bureau; ministers noted no precedent for a selection candidate as remonstrator, so he became crown prince attendant and supervising censor in the inner bureau. Drafting officials Song Minqiu, Su Song, and Li Dalin returned the appointment edicts sealed, and all were removed.
25
簿 使 殿 殿
Censor Chen Jian charged that as Jing County clerk Ding had hidden his stepmother Lady Chou's death and refused mourning. Investigators reported that Ding had left office to care for his aged father and had never mentioned mourning for Lady Chou. Ding claimed he had not known Chou was his birth mother, had feared to mourn wrongly, and had resigned to nurse his father. Zeng Gongliang said Ding must mourn retroactively; Anshi overruled critics and made him lecturer at the Hall of Exalted Governance. Censors Lin Dan and Xue Changchao protested that an unfilial man should not lecture the throne and impeached Anshi repeatedly; Anshi had them dismissed. Uneasy himself, Ding sought relief as Jixian collator, Zhongshu clerical inspector, and concurrent judge of imperial sacrifices. In the eighth year he became compiler at the Hall of Cultivated Talents and prefect of Ming.
26
殿
Early in Yuanfeng he was recalled as treasured-writings academician and vice remonstrance director, then drafting official and censor-in-chief. He attacked Su Shi's Huzhou thank-you memorial as insolent and claimed that since Xining Su had written pieces that slandered the throne and courted imperial relatives. Su was jailed and investigated; though an amnesty neared, Ding kept arguing until Su was exiled to Huangzhou. Ding was prosecuting the case himself and would not relent. One day outside the Gate of Exalted Governance he told colleagues that Su Shi was a rare talent. No one answered.
27
He restored six-section inspection powers and let circuit supervisors conduct audits, and the court agreed. After a comet appeared in the east, the grand astrologer warned of mutiny and the emperor sent eunuchs to inspect guards' rations. Ding said a single meal could not buy loyalty and would only breed suspicion, and the inspections ended. When some proposed canceling the Bright Hall rite, the emperor asked Ding. Ding replied that triennial suburban or Bright Hall sacrifice had never changed since the founders. Whoever suggested abolition deserved punishment for recklessness. The emperor said Ding's word was enough. He was promoted to Hanlin academician. After misreporting metropolitan horse policy he was sent to Heyang, guarded Nanjing, then recalled as vice minister of revenue. Under Zhezong he became dragon-diagram academician and Qing prefect, then Jiangning prefect. Critics exposed his old crimes and he was demoted to Chu. He died in Yuanyou's second year.
28
Ding was generous to kin, shared his wealth, and left nothing behind. When he earned a yin privilege for a son, he gave it to his nephew first. When he died his sons wore only plain cloth. Because he clung to Wang Anshi for rapid promotion and destroyed Su Shi, public opinion despised him and his unfilial reputation stuck.
29
調 使 簿 使
Shu Dan, who styled himself Xindao, came from Cixi in Ming Prefecture. He topped the Ministry of Rites exam and became constable of Linhai. When a drunk cursed his stepmother before Dan, the man resisted arrest; Dan stood, beheaded him, impeached himself, and resigned. Wang Anshi, hearing of it, was impressed; Zhang Shangying praised him too, and he became chief clerk of the Court of Judicial Review. Surveying fields on the Xihe frontier, he performed well and was promoted to gentleman for court ceremony. When Zheng Xia was arrested again, Dan was ordered to seize him and intercepted him on the road. Searching Zheng's chest he found remonstrance drafts and letters on the reforms and prosecuted everyone named, exiling Zheng to Lingnan and implicating Feng Jing, Wang Anguo, and others. He was made crown prince attendant and put in charge of the two Zhejiang Ever-Normal Granaries.
30
Early in Yuanfeng he became acting supervising censor. When academy bribery surfaced, he was told to investigate and implicated anyone remotely connected, treating numbers as success. He was made Jixian collation scholar. With Li Ding he impeached Su Shi for poems that mocked current affairs. Dan also claimed Wang Shen's clique was treasonous; lesser men did not matter, but Sima Guang, Zhang Fangping, Fan Zhen, Chen Xiang, and Liu Zhi, though they could quote the sages, harbored the same dissent—should they go unpunished? The emperor thought him excessive but only demoted Su and Wang Shen while fining the others.
31
婿
Soon he compiled the imperial diary and headed the Remonstrance Bureau. Zhang Shangying, as Zhongshu inspection commissioner, sent Dan a private note about his son-in-law's writings. Dan reported that a minister's aide was lobbying the remonstrance office and Zhang was demoted to supervise Jiangling tax. Dan had originally risen on Zhang Shangying's recommendation; now he turned and destroyed him. He became supervising censor with concurrent duties and revenue judge, and within a month was gentlement attendant and acting academician. A month later he was censor-in-chief. His indictments were mostly personal grudges; his arrogance blazed and men shrank from him, though he feared Wang Anli alone.
32
As Hanlin academician he took kitchen funds illegally; the Three Departments reported him and the Court of Judicial Review took the case. Dan had first argued that the Secretariat should keep registers of every memorial slip. When officials failed to record them and then pretended disbursement ledgers were the register, Dan charged the chief ministers with fraud. The Secretariat checked the Censorate receipt book and found no headings either; Dan then shuffled in other papers, and the administrators exposed his own deceit. The Court of Judicial Review ruled the kitchen-funds case a mistake. Judge Wu Waihou objected; Censor Yang Wei said the records proved Dan's guilt beyond denial. The emperor said self-theft was embezzlement—lighter in intent but heavier in law; falsifying registers was graver in intent though lighter in statute. As a law officer he had lied so brazenly that he could not remain. He was stripped of two ranks and dismissed. For years Dan had built cases on suspicion to ruin scholar-officials; even minor punishments delighted the public. Only after more than ten years was he restored as master for direct communication.
33
使
Early in Chongning he governed Nankang. When Chenxi Miao rebelled, Cai Jing sent him to Jingnan for frontier glory; promoted from direct dragon-diagram academician, he died the next year and was posthumously made direct academician.
34
Jian Zhoufu.
35
使 使
Jian Zhoufu, who styled himself Panyong, came from Shuangliu in Chengdu. As a youth he befriended Fan Zhen and He Bin while they were still commoners. Before coming of age he failed the palace examination. After Fan and He rose high, Zhoufu finally passed by special presentation and twice earned the jinshi, governed Yibin and Shimen, served as Ansu vice prefect, and became a Censorate investigating officer. Skilled in interrogation, he traced hidden details until wit exposed the truth. Once an imperial case involving a palace treasure attendant stumped other offices for months until Zhoufu was assigned. Seeing arrest was impossible, he asked to confront the chief suspect with key evidence to force confession, which contemporaries praised as proper procedure. After closing the Li Feng case to universal agreement, Shenzong praised his skill, made him Kaifeng push officer, then Huainan vice transport commissioner. Bandit Liao En raided Fujian and killed soldiers and officials; reassigned to Fujian to direct suppression, Zhoufu accepted his surrender.
36
使 殿使 西
Early in Yuanfeng, following Tang practice, agency prisons returned to the Court of Judicial Review; he became vice director, then vice revenue commissioner of the Three Departments. Hunan had eaten Huai salt; Zhoufu first proposed shipping millions of shi of Guang salt to Chen, Quan, and Dao; he also increased Huai salt quotas in Tan and Heng, impoverishing central Hunan, then ran the policy from Revenue. As cultivated-talents compiler he became Hebei transport commissioner and treasured-writings academician, then vice minister of revenue and Kaifeng prefect, where he left many cases unsettled. Offered secretariat drafter, he refused and became vice minister of justice. Early in Yuanyou critics exposed his Jiangxi and Fujian salt laws as extortionate fraud that betrayed the public, and he was sent to He Prefecture. He was transferred to Lu Prefecture. He died at sixty-six.
37
A forceful scholar and fine writer, he once drafted the Reply to Goryeo for Shenzong, who praised it repeatedly. As an official he wrote law harshly and narrowly, and in old age earned blame. Son: Xuchen.
38
Son: Xuchen.
39
西 使 西西 殿
Xuchen, who styled himself Shouzhi, years after passing the exam became Si push officer overseeing Guangxi Ever-Normal Granary. While Zhoufu served in Fujian, he begged to move his son nearer because father and son both held distant posts. Xuchen was shifted to Jingxi, then put in charge of Jiangxi Ever-Normal Granary and continued his father's salt policy. He became supervising censor, then palace attending censor and right remonstrance official. Under Zhezong he became vice director of the ministry of rites for seals. When Zhoufu fell, Xuchen was demoted for completing his father's crimes to signing secretary of Lu. He was restored to Chu prefect and put in charge of Jiangdong judicial inspection.
40
使
In Shaosheng he rose to left department vice director, attendant gentleman, secretariat drafter, and national-history compiler. He memorialized that the court had already punished Sima Guang and other traitors and should preserve the record. They had overturned law, slandered the ancestral temple, and eyed the two palaces; though guilt was clear, eight years made investigation impossible. Their memorials and case papers were scattered among offices and would be lost without collection. He asked that treacherous ministers' acts be compiled into one volume as a warning to the realm and posterity. The court ordered him and Xu Duo to compile the files. From that project no Yuanyou official escaped ruin. He became minister of rites and with An Dun reviewed appeals. After misconduct on a Liao mission he was demoted to Huang Prefecture. Four months later he became dragon-diagram academician and Yang prefect.
41
使
Huizong's secretariat said Xuchen had twisted Yuanyou memorials into slander. He and Dun were struck from the rolls and sent home. When Cai Jing took power he returned as justice and rites vice minister, Hanlin academician, then expositor. Accused of playing music during Shenzong's mourning, he was sent to Ru Prefecture. In the second year he was transferred to Su Prefecture. For allowing subordinates to counterfeit coin he was banished to Dan as regiment vice commander and settled at Jiang. He was also moved to Yong for holding a banquet the day before Tianning coincided with his father's death day and refusing to stop music on the festival. After an amnesty he was restored to grandee of palace attendance and died. Xuchen too wrote well, excelled at flattery, and prosecuted harshly like his father.
42
Xu Duo, who styled himself Zhenwen, came from Putian in Xinghua. He topped the Xining jinshi, served as Zhendong Army signing secretary, and late in Shaosheng was gentlement attendant in the direct academy. When Jian Xuchen proposed compiling Yuanyou files, Duo was ordered to co-direct the project. Every document then in force was gathered, omitting nothing. He became vice minister of rites. Though called a reviewing officer, whenever a gentlement attendant refused to sign, Duo was ordered to sign instead. When examinees were caught with books, Kaifeng prefect Jiang Zhiqi wanted labor sentences; Duo protested and Jiang chose a lighter penalty. Zhang Dun still punished clerks and candidates; Duo fell silent and became a public joke. Later, when he was discussed for censor-in-chief, critics cited his silence and the appointment died.
43
歿
Under Huizong he became dragon-diagram academician and Qing prefect. Censor-in-chief Feng Ji charged that Duo had compiled cases to Zhang Dun's likes, exiling famous ministers living and dead; Xuchen had already been banished, but Duo's crime was no lesser. He was stripped of office and sent to Hu Prefecture. In Chongning he became minister of rites. During temple debates he urged nine chambers. Critics doubted re-enthroning removed ancestors; Duo cited Tang and Song precedents for restoring removed spirits and restoring Yizu while keeping Xuanzu in place. The court agreed. He rose to minister of personnel and died.
44
The historians remark that scholars who do not study for themselves but sway with the times cannot be expected to stand upright at court. Chang Zhi thrice declined court summons in Jiayou and Zhiping as if he sought to live by principle; yet when Wang Anshi took power one summons brought him, and for years he offered no worthy counsel while keeping high office. Li Ding's factionalism and Shu Dan's viciousness deserve the age's condemnation. The Deng and Jian clans fathered and sonned evil together; Xuchen and Duo compiled blacklist files that poisoned Yuanyou worthies, emptied loyal men, and helped bring the Jingkang disaster—lamentable indeed.
45
Wang Guangyuan.
46
Wang Guangyuan, who styled himself Caishu, came from Cheng'an in Daming. In Qingli he presented his great-grandfather's Collection for an Enlightened House; the throne offered office to descendants, but Guangyuan yielded to his brother Guanglian and took the jinshi path as a judicial-review law officer and Zhongshu compiler. He collated a thousand scrolls of imperial writings; Renzong pleased, offered him Shu Prefecture, but he stayed at court.
47
使 使 使
Shenzong's accession brought impeachment for leaking palace secrets; he went to Qi Prefecture, became Huaidong transport commissioner, and was allowed to relay memorials inside the palace. Zeng Gongliang and Wang Anshi blocked the privilege and it ended. He argued that spring farming began while the poor lacked cash, letting rich lenders profit; he asked to keep five hundred thousand strings to lend at interest of two hundred fifty thousand a year, and the court agreed. The plan matched Green Sprouts lending; Anshi first thought him useful and summoned him to court. Censor-in-chief Lü Gongzhu cited old crimes and he returned to his former post. Cheng Hao and Li Chang accused him of forced allotments and extortion to please the court and harm the people. When Liu Xiang refused to distribute Green Sprouts funds in Hebei, Anshi asked why Guangyuan was impeached for supporting reforms while Liu Xiang was not punished for opposing them. Hao and Chang were ignored. He became Hedong commissioner, then treasured-writings academician and Qing prefect.
48
使 使
When the pacification commissioner invaded Xia, Guangyuan was ordered to mobilize Qing troops. As armor was issued, company leader Wu Kui mutinied; Guangyuan summoned five camps to defend. Kui broke out with two thousand men; Guangyuan sent Yao Si and Lin Guang to pursue and accept surrender. Rouyuan garrison troops nearly joined the mutiny; Guangyuan feigned kindness, sent them back, then ambushed and slaughtered them. He still lost two ranks because rebellion erupted in his district. In the second year he became direct dragon-diagram academician and Wei prefect.
49
使
Guangyuan had modest talent but excelled at flattery and appointed unfit men. The emperor told ministers that Guangyuan's appointments were not noble sons but clerks, even Pu Palace scribes, likely because they were friends of powerful patrons. He ignored many qualified circuit officials for such men—was that not a court mistake? An edict had already rebuked him; ministers should write further warnings. He died at sixty and was posthumously honored as Right Remonstrance Grandee. Early in Yuanfeng, because Guangyuan had enjoyed Shenzong's favor, his brother Lin rose from imperial-city commissioner to war bureau director and Zhaowen academician, and his son Dejun received jinshi status.
50
Younger brother: Lin.
51
使 使 使沿
Lin, who styled himself Daguan, also earned the jinshi and served as Xiong signing secretary. Early in Jiayou, when Khitan envoys arrived, Lin argued they were too hungry and weak to threaten Song. Yet the Spring and Autumn principle of granting requests still required caution. They had once sought tame elephants and Song could have refused but did not; they had sought music texts and Song could have granted them but did not—both were mistakes. Now this envoy perhaps sought a sage image—which could not be granted. The court approved his argument. In Zhiping, recommended for military talent, he left the revenue vice directorship for honored-rites commissioner and Shun'an command, then Hebei frontier pacification. He submitted dozens of defense plans focused chiefly on strengthening Song itself.
52
使
Khitan raids drove tens of thousands of Shus people to defect to Song. Some wanted to return them; Lin said repatriation would breed rebellion, so they should be settled instead. The court agreed; more defectors followed and the Khitan regretted the policy. He became vice pacification commissioner and governed Jing, Zou, Guangxin, and Ansu.
53
使
After an audience he returned to civil rank, governed Qi, Cang, and Jingnan, became vice minister of revenue, then treasured-writings academician in Guangzhou and Hezhong, and died.
54
Wang Tao, who styled himself Ledao, came from Wannian in Jingzhao. He passed the jinshi and was grandee of imperial sacrifices when his father died. Because he had entered court after the suburban sacrifice, his father missed the favor; Tao asked to return his promotions and secure posthumous honors. The court specially allowed it and appointed him crown prince attendant after mourning.
55
使
Early in Jiayou he became acting supervising censor. Guards robbed Yanfu Palace; officials sought commuted sentences. Tao said palace crimes should not be reduced by outer-court amnesty precedents. They were exiled to the islands and responsible officials were punished. When a eunuch brought an alchemist into the palace, Tao cited Han and Tang rulers who executed such men. He asked that the man be expelled. Chen Shengzhi opposed the move; when Chen left, Tao was sent to Weizhou, then Cai. The next year he was recalled as right remonstrator. Tao asked that Tang Jie and Lü Hui be recalled with him since four men had been sent to prefectures but only two were summoned back.
56
使
Yingzong headed the imperial clan directorate but delayed taking office for over a year. Tao memorialized that since Yingzong's illness in Zhihe the realm had lacked a clear heir and memorials had begged for a worthy imperial clansman as successor. He asked whether such advocates were all disloyal schemers. He answered that they acted from sincerity for the state's long-term good. The emperor had followed public will to settle hearts by announcing succession plans. Later delays revived public anxiety. Rumors blamed palace women and eunuchs for confusing the emperor. Tao asked how women and favorites could grasp statecraft. He warned that the public might think the emperor first followed Heaven and the people, then listened to indulgent courtiers and invited treachery. He sought audience; Renzong said another title would be used. Han Qi soon secured his establishment as imperial son. When Yingzong succeeded, Tao became direct historiographer, imperial diary compiler, heir's tutor, drafting official, dragon-diagram academician, Yongxing prefect, then crown prince tutor.
57
西 使 殿
Under Shenzong he became bureau of military affairs academician direct and censor-in-chief. Guo Kui, signing secretary of the Bureau of Military Affairs and Shaanxi pacification commissioner, was ordered back to court. Tao charged that Han Qi had used Taizu precedent to let Guo Kui coerce the throne with military power. He asked that Guo Kui be demoted to Wei Prefecture. The emperor refused, saying dismissing Shenzong's appointee would expose the late emperor's error. Foiled, Tao impeached Qi for failing to stamp the Wende court roster. Tao had once owed his rise to Qi's patronage. Shenzong disliked dominating ministers; Tao hoped to seize high office and attacked Qi like an enemy while Qi awaited punishment behind closed doors. The emperor made him Hanlin academician, then Chen prefect, then acting Three Departments commissioner. Lü Gongzhu called him untrustworthy; he governed Cai, Henan, Xu, Ru, and Chen and received viewing-literature academician as an old palace tutor. The emperor ultimately despised him and never reused him. He died in Yuanfeng's third year at sixty-one, posthumously honored as personnel minister with the temple name Wenke.
58
In youth Tao was poor and taught elementary school in the capital. His friend Jiang Yu, generous and bold, once shoveled through snow for twenty li to visit Tao in poverty. Tao and his mother sat freezing with no fire by midday. Yu pawned his fur coat for food and fuel, warmed them, and gave hundreds of strings for Tao's marriage. When Tao governed Luoyang, blind old Yu came from Xinxiang expecting gratitude. Tao received him coldly and offered only wine. Yu went home disappointed and died. Observers despised Tao even more.
59
Wang Zishao.
60
調
Wang Zishao, who styled himself Shengmei, came from Taiyuan. He passed the jinshi but, still under age, waited for appointment, studied longer at the academy, and only later received a post. Wang Anshi brought him into the Regulations Office, made him acting supervising censor, and sent him to investigate Miao Zhen in Ming. Anshi hated Zu Wuzi; Zishao exposed Wuzi's Hangzhou conduct, had him summoned to court, and handed the Zhen case to Zhang Zai until Wuzi fell. When Lü Gongzhu and other censors debated the new laws, the whole bureau was dismissed. Zishao became Shangyuan magistrate, then Hunan vice transport commissioner. Zhang Shangying impeached him for failing to bury his parents and he was demoted to Gaoyou. From revenue aide he took charge of the two Zhejiang Ever-Normal Granaries. At audience Shenzong discussed philology with him and kept him to revise the Shuowen at the Hall of Cultivated Virtues. Under the new offices he was rites vice director, then moved to the storehouse department for late entry.
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使 殿 稿
In Yuanyou he served as personnel bureau director and guards vice director, then imperial-sacrifices remonstrance official. Liu Anshi said early Xining officials listed ten augers, calling Zishao the yamen auger for courting powerful men's sons. He also trapped Zu Wuzi with harsh law; how could such a man hold a ritual post? He was moved to director of the court of imperial guards. Anshi protested that leap promotion after impeachment encouraged opportunism. He was sent out to Cang Prefecture. As secretariat vice director escorting Khitan envoys, he treated subordinates harshly and drunken clerks wounded him and his son. Sent to Ji, he urged restoring former emperors' rites, returned as imperial-sacrifices vice director, rose to secretariat director and cultivated-talents compiler in Ming, and died. In Chongning's second year his son Xiang published Yuanyou memorials; the court posthumously made him displayed-counsel academician.
62
He Zhengchen.
63
He Zhengchen, who styled himself Junbiao, came from Xingan in Linjiang. At nine he passed the child prodigy exam and later the jinshi. In Yuanfeng, on Cai Que's recommendation, he became acting censor. With Li Ding and Shu Dan he impeached Su Shi, gained fifth-rank dress, and headed the Third Class Court. When censors specialized in six inspections, Zhengchen said remonstrance duty should not be mixed with other bureaus. Shenzong agreed, ended censor concurrent posts, made Zhengchen direct Jixian academician, and supervising censor with concurrent affairs.
64
便
Ordered to try Han Cunbao's failed Lu campaign, he had Han executed for delay and cowardice. He returned as treasured-writings academician and eastern personnel-review director, then personnel vice minister. After a year he grew negligent and appointments often conflicted. When reported, he blamed the law rather than himself. Wang Anli said bad law should be amended by officials, not blamed on the statute. He was sent out as Tan prefect. An edict then let counties let people trade salt with family property, but officials often mishandled enforcement. Zhengchen listed its harms, saying it helped neither people nor revenue; the policy was suspended and people were relieved. He later served as justice vice minister and Xuan prefect, then died.
65
Chen Yi, who styled himself Heshu, came from Kaifeng. After the jinshi he collated at the academy and Jixian Hall, worked on the Former Han History, and was ordered to proofread at home during mourning. When taciturn Yingzong took power, Yi offered five admonitions: decisive rule, clarity, breadth, restraint in change, and learning from antiquity. As concurrent justice judge he resolved cases where sentiment and law clashed. Some said the penal office should only judge right and wrong, not weigh severity. Yi said law officers must be fair; knowing a sentence was wrong, how could one stand by? Many convictions were overturned. The emperor praised his scholarship and made him veritable-records compiler.
66
西使 便
Under Shenzong he became Shaanxi vice transport commissioner, academy custodian, diary compiler, drafting official, Hanlin academician, and Deng prefect with lecturer title. Yi could not govern his household; his son and daughter-in-law were killed by soldiers in one night, yet he showed no shame. Summoned to head the Silver Terrace transmission bureau, the emperor told ministers Yi did not fear the powerful in debate. He was ordered to act as Kaifeng prefect. Small doubts in Kaifeng cases were usually reviewed centrally; Yi alone was allowed to decide conveniently. After a long interval. He returned to the Hanlin Academy while still heading the prefecture. While a revenue theft case remained open, Zhang E pressed delays; Yi showed a finished dossier. Critics said he favored ministerial aides and indulged crime, and he was sent to Chu. After suburban-sacrifice grace he regained drafting duties; critics objected again and he became secretariat director and Jixian academician.
67
Early in Yuanfeng he governed Guang Prefecture. He replaced a sandalwood Buddha in the treasury with wood. When discovered, officials judged it surplus profit on government goods. The emperor said serving Buddha could not excuse a grave statute. Already dragon-diagram academician and Jiangning prefect, he was demoted to Jianchang and stripped of office. Later restored to grandee of palace attendance, he died at sixty-eight.
68
Yi crushed powerful factions in office yet his conduct belied his look; in old age he played at plain virtue and wits called him Hot Cooked Yan Hui.
69
The historians say Guangyuan curried favor with the future Yingzong as a disloyal seeker of fame unworthy of attendant rank. Tao began under Han Qi's patronage and criticized policy as censor, but as censor-in-chief he followed court winds, attacked Qi like an enemy for promotion, and forgot Jiang Yu's kindness—hardly surprising. Zishao's ruin of Zu Wuzi and Zhengchen's attack on Su Shi were petty fame-seeking. Chen Yi flattered the powerful and is barely worth mention, yet he reversed many cases; pity his household was disorderly and shameless—official skill alone could not redeem him.
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