1
任顓，字誠之，青州壽光人。 舉進士，得同學究出身。 至衛尉丞。 上其文，乃賜第，擢鹽鐵判官。 陝西鑄康定大銅錢，顓曰：「壞五為一，以一當十，恐犯者眾。」 卒如其言。
Ren Zhuan, whose courtesy name was Chengzhi, came from Shouguang in Qingzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and entered service with the inferior tong xue jiu qualification. He advanced to the post of Vice Director of the Imperial Insignia Office. After he submitted his writings to the throne, he was granted a ranked place in the palace examination and was promoted to assistant commissioner of the Salt and Iron Commission. When Shaanxi cast the large Kangding copper coins, Zhuan remarked, "Melting five coins into one and valuing it at ten will surely multiply the number of lawbreakers." In the end events unfolded exactly as he had predicted.
2
夏人納款，遣使要請十一事，甚者欲去臣稱男。 顓押伴，一切曉以義，辭折而去。 又再遣使來欲自買賣，且通青鹽，增歲賜，詔許置榷場，其議多顓所發。 出為京西轉運使，奏計京師。 元昊為下所殺，遣楊守素來告哀。 守素，乃始為元昊謀不稱臣、納賜節者也。 仁宗記嘗屈其使者，復使押伴，顓問守素其主所以死，不能對，訖去，不敢肆。 改知鳳翔府。 帝語輔臣，顓宜備朝廷委任，留判三司恁由司。 為諒祚冊禮使，采摭西夏風物、山川、道里、出入攻取之要，為《治戎精要》三篇上之。
When the Western Xia tendered submission, they sent envoys demanding eleven concessions, the most extreme of which was to drop their status as subjects and be addressed as "male" instead. Zhuan served as escort commissioner and explained the principles of righteousness in every matter until the envoys withdrew, their arguments defeated. They sent envoys again seeking permission to trade on their own, to obtain green salt, and to increase the annual gifts; the court authorized monopoly markets, and many of these proposals had originated with Zhuan. He was appointed transport commissioner of the Jingxi circuit and traveled to the capital to present the annual accounts. Yuanhao was killed by his subordinates, and the Xia sent Yang Shousu to announce his death and seek mourning rites. Shousu was the very man who had first counseled Yuanhao to refuse the title of subject and to reject the imperial patent of investiture. Emperor Renzong recalled how their envoys had once been humiliated, and Zhuan was again assigned as escort commissioner. He asked Shousu how his lord had died; Shousu could not answer, and by the time he departed he no longer dared behave arrogantly. He was transferred to serve as prefect of Fengxiang. The emperor told his chief ministers that Zhuan ought to be prepared for important court appointments and kept him in the capital as acting director of the Minyou Bureau under the Three Departments. As investiture envoy for Liangzuo, he gathered material on Western Xia customs, terrain, routes, and strategic points for advance and withdrawal, and submitted three chapters entitled 《Essentials for Governing the Frontier》.
3
進直史館，遷河東轉運使。 帝嘗以禁帑金帛賜河北，亦欲與河東，顓辭曰：「受委制財用，而先有求，不敢。」 顓為使者，每行部，必擇僚佐之賢者一人與俱，凡事必與議，未嘗以胥吏自隨，人安其政。 入為鹽鐵副使，擢天章閣待制。
He was promoted to compiler in the Historiography Institute and appointed transport commissioner of Hedong. The emperor had once bestowed gold and silk from the privy treasury on Hebei and wished to do the same for Hedong. Zhuan declined, saying, "Having been entrusted to manage public funds, I dare not seek favors in advance." As a circuit commissioner, whenever he toured his jurisdiction he selected one capable aide to accompany him, consulted him on every matter, and never took clerks along with him, so that the people lived peacefully under his rule. He returned to the capital as vice commissioner of the Salt and Iron Commission and was promoted to Hanlin academician of the Tianzhang Pavilion.
4
儂賊犯嶺外，以知潭州。 宣撫司以宣毅卒有功，檄補軍校，顓察其色動，曰：「必有異志。」 執按之，具服為賊內應。 搜其家，得所記潭事甚悉，梟首以徇。 詔書褒激，賜白金五百兩，進龍圖閣直學士、知渭州。 坐在潭日，賤市死商珠，降為待制。 時四路以邊警聞，渭獨無所上，朝廷疑斥候不密，顓力言無他虞，帝使覘之，信。 乃還學士，徙徐州，以太子賓客致仕。 積官戶部侍郎，卒，年七十八。
When the Nong rebels raided the region south of the Ling ranges, he was appointed prefect of Tanzhou. The Pacification Commission ordered that a Xuanyi soldier who had distinguished himself be appointed a military officer. Zhuan noticed a change in his expression and said, "This man must harbor ulterior designs." Zhuan had him arrested and interrogated, and the man fully confessed to serving as the rebels' agent within the city. A search of his home turned up detailed records of affairs in Tanzhou, and his head was displayed as a warning to others. An imperial edict praised his achievement and rewarded him with five hundred taels of white silver; he was promoted to academician of the Longtu Pavilion and appointed prefect of Weizhou. Because while serving in Tanzhou he had bought at a low price pearls from a deceased merchant, he was demoted to Hanlin academician. At the time all four frontier circuits reported border alarms, yet Weizhou alone sent no reports, and the court suspected lax scouting. Zhuan insisted there was no cause for alarm; the emperor sent someone to investigate and found him correct. He was then restored to his academician rank, transferred to Xuzhou, and retired with the title Mentor to the Heir Apparent. Having risen to vice minister of revenue, he died at the age of seventy-eight.
5
李參，字清臣，鄆州須城人。 以蔭知鹽山縣。 歲饑，諭富室出粟，平其直予民，不能糴者，給以糟籺，所活數萬。
Li Can, whose courtesy name was Qingchen, came from Xucheng in Yanzhou. Through hereditary privilege he was appointed magistrate of Yanshan County. During a famine year he persuaded wealthy households to release grain and stabilized the price for the people; those who could not afford to buy grain he supplied with distillers' dregs and bran cakes, saving tens of thousands of lives.
6
通判定州，都部署夏守恩貪濫不法，轉運使使參按之，得其事，守恩謫死。 知荊門軍，荊門歲以夏伐竹，並稅簿輸荊南造舟，積日久多蠹惡不可用，牙校破產不償責。 參請冬伐竹，度其費以給，餘募商人與為市，遂除其害。
While serving as vice-prefect of Dingzhou, he investigated Regional Commander-in-Chief Xia Shou'en, who was corrupt and lawless, at the transport commissioner's order; the case was proved, and Shou'en was demoted and died in exile. As military commissioner of Jingmen, he found that each summer Jingmen cut bamboo and, along with tax registers, shipped it to Jingnan for boat-building; over the years much of it rotted and became unusable, and military officers were ruined trying to meet their obligations. Can proposed cutting bamboo in winter, estimating costs for local provision and contracting merchants for the surplus, thereby eliminating the abuse.
7
歷知興元府，淮南、京西、陝西轉運使。 部多戍兵，苦食少。 參審訂其闕，令民自隱度麥粟之贏，先貸以錢，俟穀熟還之官，號「青苗錢」，經數年，廩有羨糧。 熙寧青苗法，蓋萌於此矣。
He successively served as prefect of Xingyuan and as transport commissioner of Huainan, Jingxi, and Shaanxi. His jurisdiction had many garrison troops who suffered from chronic food shortages. Can examined the shortfall and ordered the people to estimate their surplus wheat and grain themselves, lending them money in advance to be repaid when the harvest came in; this was called "green seedlings money." After several years the granaries held surplus grain. The Green Seedlings Law of the Xining era had its origin in this practice.
8
朝廷患邊費益廣，參建議輦錢邊郡，以平估糴，權罷入中法。 比其去，省榷貨錢千萬計。 召為鹽鐵副使，以右諫議大夫為河北都轉運使。 與安撫使郭申錫相視決河，議不協； 又與真定呂溱相惡，二人皆得罪，參移使河東，知荊南。
As frontier expenses continued to mount, Can proposed shipping money to frontier prefectures to purchase grain at fair prices and temporarily suspending the tribute-entry method. By the time he left office, monopoly-goods expenditures had been reduced by tens of millions of strings of cash. He was recalled as vice commissioner of the Salt and Iron Commission and, with the rank of Right Remonstrance Grandee, appointed chief transport commissioner of Hebei. Together with Pacification Commissioner Guo Shenxi he inspected the Yellow River breach, but they could not agree on a course of action; he also clashed with Lü Zhen of Zhending; both men were punished, and Can was transferred to serve in Hedong and as military commissioner of Jingnan.
9
嘉祐七年，召為三司使，參知政事孫抃曰：「參為主計，外臺將承風刻剝天下，天下之民困矣。」 乃改群牧使。 詔王安石、王陶置局經度國計，參言：「官各有職，臣若不任事，當從廢黜。 不然，乞罷此局。」 從之。
In the seventh year of Jiayou (1062) he was summoned as commissioner of the Three Departments. Vice Grand Councillor Sun Bian said, "If Can takes charge of finance, the outer offices will follow his lead and exploit the empire, and the people will be driven to ruin." He was therefore reassigned as commissioner of the Pasturage Commission instead. An edict ordered Wang Anshi and Wang Tao to establish a bureau to plan state finances. Can said, "Each office has its proper duties; if I am unfit for mine, I should be dismissed. Otherwise, I beg that this bureau be abolished." The court granted his request.
10
治平初，加集賢院學士、知瀛州，賜黃金百兩，帥臣有賜自參始。 再遷樞密直學士、知秦州。 蕃酋藥家族作亂，討平之，得良田五百頃，以募弓箭手。 居鎮閱歲，未嘗以邊事聞。 英宗遣使問故，對曰：「將在邊，期於無事而已，不敢妄以寇貽主憂。」 以疾解邊任，判西京御史臺，起知曹、濮二州。 神宗久知其才，書姓名於殿柱。 以知永興軍，不行，卒，年七十四。
At the beginning of the Zhiping era (1064) he was given the additional title of academician of the Jixian Academy and appointed prefect of Yingzhou, and was granted one hundred taels of gold; the practice of bestowing gifts on frontier commanders began with Can. He was again promoted to academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs and appointed prefect of Qinzhou. When the tribal chieftain of the Yao clan rebelled, he suppressed the uprising and obtained five hundred qing of fertile land, which he used to recruit archer militia. He held the post for about a year without once reporting a frontier incident to the court. Emperor Yingzong sent an envoy to ask why. He replied, "A frontier commander should aim only to keep the border quiet and dare not lightly trouble his sovereign with alarms of enemy raids." Illness obliged him to leave his frontier post; he served as administrator of the Western Capital Censorate and was later appointed prefect of Cao and Pu. Emperor Shenzong had long recognized his ability and wrote his name on a palace pillar. He was appointed military commissioner of Yongxing but did not take up the post and died at the age of seventy-four.
11
參無學術，然剛果嚴深，喜發擿奸伏，不假貸，事至即決，雖簿書纖悉不遺，時稱能吏。
Can had little scholarly learning, yet he was resolute, strict, and penetrating, delighting in exposing hidden wrongdoing without mercy; when a case arose he decided it at once, and though he neglected no detail in official paperwork, contemporaries hailed him as a capable administrator.
12
郭申錫
Guo Shenxi
13
郭申錫，字延之，魏人。 自言唐代公元振之後。 第進士，為晉陵尉。 民訴弟為人所殺，申錫察其色懼而哭不哀，曰：「吾得賊矣，非汝乎？」 執而訊之，果然。 久之，知博州。 州兵出戍，有欲脅眾為亂者，申錫戮一人，黥二人，乃定。 奏至，仁宗曰：「小官臨事如此，豈易得？」 即為御史臺推直官。 數上疏論事，大臣不便。 鞫獄慶州。 京東盜執濮州通判井淵，遷知州事，未閱月，悉擒凶黨，斬以徇。
Guo Shenxi, whose courtesy name was Yanzhi, was a native of Wei. He claimed descent from Yuan Zhen of the Tang dynasty. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed sheriff of Jinling. A man reported that his younger brother had been murdered. Shenxi noticed that the man's expression showed fear and his weeping lacked genuine grief, and said, "I have found the killer—is it not you?" He had the man arrested and interrogated him, and the confession proved true. After some time he was appointed prefect of Bozhou. When the prefectural troops went out on garrison duty, some plotted to coerce the men into mutiny; Shenxi executed one and branded two, and order was restored. When the memorial reached the throne, Emperor Renzong said, "For a minor official to handle affairs with such decisiveness—is such a man easy to find?" He was immediately appointed investigating censor of the Censorate. He repeatedly submitted memorials on public affairs, to the discomfort of the chief ministers. He conducted a judicial investigation in Qingzhou. Bandits in Jingdong seized Puzhou Vice-Prefect Jing Yuan; Shenxi was transferred to administer the prefecture, and within less than a month he captured the entire gang and executed them as a warning.
14
召為侍御史，遂知雜事。 張貴妃追冊、起園陵，張堯佐為使相，陳執中嬖妾殺婢，余靖引胡恢有醜行，高若訥引范祥啟邊釁，申錫皆奏劾之，屢詆權幸無所避，帝謂之曰：「近世士大夫，方未達時，好指陳時事，及被進用則不然，是資言以進耳，卿勿為也。」
He was summoned as attending censor and then took charge of miscellaneous censorial business. When Consort Zhang was posthumously ennobled and a garden mausoleum was raised, when Zhang Yaozuo became commissioner-envoy and chancellor, when Chen Zhizhong's favorite concubine killed a maid, when Yu Jing recommended Hu Hui despite his disgraceful conduct, and when Gao Ruonu cited Fan Xiang for provoking border trouble, Shenxi memorialized impeachment in every case, repeatedly denouncing the powerful without fear. The emperor told him, "In recent times scholar-officials love to criticize current affairs before they attain office, but once promoted they cease—this is using words merely to advance. You must not do this."
15
諜稱契丹遣泛使，命體量安撫河北，還為鹽鐵副使。 相視決河，坐訟李參失實，黜知濠州。 帝明榜朝堂，稱其欺誣，以儆在位。 旋加直史館、知江寧府，再副鹽鐵，進天章閣待制、知鄧州河中。
Intelligence reported that the Khitan were sending a general envoy; he was ordered to assess and pacify Hebei, and on his return was appointed vice commissioner of the Salt and Iron Commission. While inspecting the Yellow River breach together, he was punished for prosecuting Li Can on false grounds and was demoted to prefect of Haozhou. The emperor posted a clear notice in the court hall denouncing his deceit, to warn those in office. He was soon given concurrent appointment in the Historiography Institute and appointed prefect of Jiangning, again served as vice commissioner of the Salt and Iron Commission, and was promoted to Hanlin academician of the Tianzhang Pavilion and prefect of Dengzhou and Hezhong.
16
种諤取綏州，申錫曰：「邊患將自此始。」 及諒祚死，請捐前故，聽其子襲爵，且言曰：「二虜賴歲幣甚厚，渝平豈其所利，必有以致之。 但得重將守邊，不要功生事，則善矣。」 著《邊鄙守禦策》。 以給事中致仕，卒，年七十七。
When Zhong E seized Suizhou, Shenxi said, "Frontier troubles will begin from this act." When Liangzuo died, he asked that past grievances be set aside and that his son be allowed to inherit the title, adding, "The two barbarian states depend heavily on the annual gifts; breaking the peace cannot benefit them—something must have provoked this. If only capable generals guard the frontier without seeking merit by stirring up trouble, that will suffice." He wrote 《Strategies for Defending the Frontier Borders》. He retired with the title Supervising Censor and died at the age of seventy-seven.
17
傅求，字命之，考城人。 進士甲科，通判泗州。 淮水溢，毀城。 朝廷遣中使護築，絕淮取土，道遠，度用兵六十萬。 求相汴堤旁有高埠，夷之得土，載以回舟，省工費殆半。
Fu Qiu, whose courtesy name was Mingzhi, came from Kaocheng. He passed the jinshi examination in the first class and was appointed vice-prefect of Sizhou. The Huai River overflowed and destroyed the city walls. The court sent a palace envoy to supervise reconstruction; earth was to be taken from across the Huai, the haul was long, and labor was estimated at six hundred thousand men. Qiu observed a high mound beside the Bian embankment; leveling it provided earth, which returning boats carried back, saving nearly half the labor costs.
18
徙大名府，府守呂夷簡委以事。 夷簡入相，薦其才，擢知宿州，提點江西、益州刑獄，為梓州路轉運使。 夷獠寇合江，鈐轄司會兵掩擊，求馳往按所以狀，乃縣吏冒取播州田，獠故恐而叛。 即黥吏置嶺南，夷人聞之，散去。 益州文彥博上其狀，進秩，徙陝西。
He was transferred to Daming Prefecture, where Prefect Lü Yijian entrusted him with important affairs. When Yijian became chief councillor he recommended Qiu's ability; Qiu was promoted to prefect of Suzhou, appointed judicial intendant of Jiangxi and Yizhou, and made transport commissioner of the Zizhou circuit. Yi and Liao tribes raided Hejiang; the commandery office gathered troops for a surprise attack. Qiu hurried there to investigate and found that county clerks had seized Bozhou land by fraud, provoking the tribes to rebel out of fear. He immediately branded the clerks and sent them to Lingnan; when the tribes heard of this they dispersed. Wen Yanbo of Yizhou reported his conduct to the court; Qiu was promoted in rank and transferred to Shaanxi.
19
關中行當十鐵錢，盜鑄不可計，求請變法。 時州縣已散二百八十萬緡，亟下令更為當三。 民出不意，蕩產失業，多自經死，然盜鑄遂止。 自康定用兵，移稅輸邊，民力大困，求令輸本州，而轉錢以供邊糴，民受其惠，而兵食亦足。 召為戶部副使。
In the Guanzhong region iron coins valued at ten were in circulation and illicit casting was beyond counting; Qiu requested a change in the currency law. By then the prefectures and counties had already distributed 2.8 million strings of cash; he urgently ordered that they be revalued at three. The people were caught unprepared; many were ruined and hanged themselves, yet illicit casting ceased. Since the Kangding campaigns, tax grain had been diverted to the frontier and the people were greatly strained. Qiu ordered that grain be delivered within the home prefecture while money was shipped to purchase frontier supplies; the people benefited and military rations were also sufficient. He was summoned as vice minister of revenue.
20
隴右蕃酋蘭氈獻古渭州地，秦州范祥納之，請繕城屯兵，又括熟戶田，諸羌靳之，相率叛。 夏人欲得渭地久，移文來索。 後帥張昇以祥貪利生事，請棄之。 詔求往視，求以為城已訖役，且已得而棄，非所以強國威。 乃詔諭羌眾，反其田，報夏人以渭非其有，不應索，正其封疆而還，兵遂解。 進天章閣待制，陝西都轉運使，加龍圖閣直學士、知慶州。
The tribal chieftain Lan Zhan of Longyou offered the territory of ancient Weizhou; Fan Xiang of Qinzhou accepted it, requested repairing the city and garrisoning troops, and also requisitioned fields belonging to assimilated households. The various Qiang tribes resented this and rebelled in succession. The Western Xia had long desired Weizhou and sent a dispatch demanding its return. Later Commander Zhang Sheng, holding that Xiang had stirred up trouble out of greed for profit, requested that the territory be abandoned. The emperor ordered Qiu to go and inspect the situation. Qiu argued that the fortifications were already finished, and that to gain territory only to surrender it would not strengthen the nation's prestige. The court then issued an edict to the Qiang, restored their fields, and told the Western Xia that Weizhou was not theirs and their demand should be refused. After the borders were set right the army withdrew, and the crisis ended. He was promoted to Hanlin academician of the Tianzhang Pavilion, appointed chief transport commissioner of Shaanxi, granted the title of academician in direct attendance at the Longtu Pavilion, and made prefect of Qingzhou.
21
環之定邊砦蕃官蘇恩，以小過疑懼而遁，將佐議致討。 涇原既出師境上，求謂恩非素攜二者，乘以兵，必起邊患。 但遣裨將從十數卒扣其帳，開以禍福，恩感泣，還砦如初。 入判太常寺，權發遣開封府，遷樞密直學士、知定州，復以龍圖閣學士權開封。
Su En, a tribal officer at Dingbian Stockade in Huanzhou, fled in fear over a minor offense. The commanders debated sending troops to punish him. Jingyuan circuit had already mobilized troops on the frontier. Qiu said that En was not by nature a troublemaker, and that sending soldiers against him would surely provoke border conflict. He sent only a vice general with a dozen soldiers to En's tent to explain the consequences of compliance and defiance. En wept in gratitude and returned to the stockade as before. He returned to the capital as vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices with concurrent authority over Kaifeng, was transferred to privy council academician and prefect of Dingzhou, and later served again as Longtu academician with concurrent control of Kaifeng.
22
求本有吏能幹局，至是，春秋浸高，且病聵。 三司大將錢吉密殺妹，為鄰所告，求不能決，反坐告者； 又斷獄數差失。 御史言其不勝任，出知兗州。 卒，年七十一。
Qiu had once been a capable and decisive administrator, but by now he was growing old and suffering from deafness. Qian Ji, a senior officer of the Three Departments, secretly murdered his younger sister and was reported by a neighbor. Qiu could not decide the case and instead punished the accuser; He also made several mistakes in deciding legal cases. The censorate reported that he was no longer fit for office, and he was sent out as prefect of Yanzhou. He died at the age of seventy-one.
23
張景憲
Zhang Jingxian
24
張景憲，字正國，河南人。 以父師德任淮南轉運副使。 山陽令鄭昉贓累巨萬，親戚多要人，景憲首案治，流之嶺外，貪吏望風引去。 徙京西、東轉運使。 王逵居鄆，專持吏短長，求請賄謝如所欲，景憲上其惡，編置宿州。 熙寧初，為戶部副使。
Zhang Jingxian, whose courtesy name was Zhengguo, came from Henan. Through his father Shide's influence he was appointed vice transport commissioner of Huainan. Zheng Fang, magistrate of Shanyang, had embezzled a fortune, and his relatives included many powerful men. Jingxian took the lead in prosecuting him and had him exiled beyond the Ling ranges, whereupon corrupt officials fled at the news. He was transferred to serve as transport commissioner of the Jingxi and Jingdong circuits. Wang Kui lived in Yunzhou and made a trade of holding officials' faults over them, demanding bribes and favors at will. Jingxian reported his crimes and had him assigned to Suzhou in penal exile. At the beginning of the Xining era he was appointed vice minister of revenue.
25
韓絳築撫寧、囉兀兩城，帝命景憲往視。 始受詔，即言城不可守，固不待到而後知也。 未幾，撫寧陷。 至延安，又言：「囉兀邈然孤城，鑿井無水，將何以守？ 臣在道，所見師勞民困之狀非一，願罷徒勞之役，廢無用之城，嚴飭邊將為守計。 令邊郡召生羌，與之金帛、官爵，恐黠羌多詐，緩急或為內應，宜亟止之。」 陝西轉運司議，欲限半歲令民悉納錢於官，而易以交子。 景憲言：「此法可行於蜀耳，若施之陝西，民將無以為命。」 其後卒不行。
Han Jiang built the two forts of Funing and Luowu, and the emperor ordered Jingxian to go and inspect them. As soon as he received the edict he declared that the forts could not be held. He hardly needed to visit them in person to know that. Before long Funing fell. When he reached Yan'an he again said, "Luowu is a distant, isolated fort. Wells are dug but yield no water. How can it be defended? On the road I have seen repeated signs of exhausted troops and distressed commoners. I pray that pointless labor be stopped, useless forts abandoned, and frontier generals strictly ordered to plan for defense. Border prefectures have been ordered to summon native Qiang and grant them gold, silk, and official rank. I fear that many cunning Qiang will feign loyalty and may serve as internal collaborators in an emergency. This should be stopped at once." The Shaanxi transport commission proposed that within half a year the people be required to turn in all cash to the government in exchange for jiaozi paper notes. Jingxian said, "This method may work in Shu, but if applied in Shaanxi the people will have no way to live." In the end the proposal was never carried out.
26
加集賢殿修撰，為河東都轉運使。 議者欲分河東為兩路，景憲言：「本道地肥磽相雜，州縣貧富亦異，正宜有無相通，分之不便。」 議遂寢，改知瀛州，上言：「比歲多不登，民積逋欠。 今方小稔，而官督使並償，道路流言，其禍乃甚於凶歲。 願以寬假。」 帝從之，仍下其事。
He was granted the title of compiler in the Jixian Hall and appointed chief transport commissioner of Hedong. Some proposed dividing Hedong into two circuits. Jingxian said, "This circuit mixes fertile and barren land, and its prefectures and counties differ in wealth and poverty. It is precisely suited to mutual aid between rich and poor regions; dividing it would be impractical." The proposal was dropped. He was transferred to prefect of Yingzhou and submitted a memorial saying, "In recent years harvests have often failed, and the people have accumulated tax arrears. There has just been a modest harvest, yet officials are pressing for full repayment at once. Rumors along the roads say the harm will exceed that of a famine year. I pray for leniency and deferral." The emperor agreed and issued orders to that effect.
27
元豐初年，知河陽。 時方討西南蠻，景憲入辭，因言：「小醜跳梁，殆邊吏擾之耳。 且其巢穴險阻，若動兵遠征，萬一饋餉不繼，則我師坐困矣。」 帝曰：「卿言是也，然朝廷有不得已者。」 明年，徙同州，以太中大夫卒，年七十七。
At the beginning of the Yuanfeng era he was appointed prefect of Heyang. While a campaign against the southwestern barbarians was underway, Jingxian entered to take leave and said, "These petty troublemakers are causing disturbances—likely it is merely border officials harassing them. Moreover, their lairs are rugged and hard to reach. If troops are sent on a distant expedition and supplies fail, our army will be trapped in place." The emperor said, "What you say is correct, yet the court has reasons beyond its control." The following year he was transferred to Tongzhou and died with the rank of Grandee of Palace Attendance at the age of seventy-seven.
28
景憲在仁宗朝為部使者，時吏治尚寬，獨多舉刺； 及熙寧以來，吏治峻急，景憲反濟以寬。 方新法之行，不劾一人。 居官不畏強禦，非公事不及執政之門。 自負所守，於人少許可，母卒，一夕鬚髮盡白，世以此稱之。
During the Renzong reign Jingxian served as a circuit commissioner. When official discipline was generally lenient, he alone frequently exposed and impeached wrongdoing; When from the Xining era onward official discipline became stern and severe, Jingxian instead tempered it with leniency. During the implementation of the New Policies he impeached not a single person. In office he did not fear the powerful, and except on public business he never visited the doors of those in power. Confident in his principles, he rarely approved of others. When his mother died, his beard and hair turned completely white overnight, and the world praised him for it.
29
竇卞，字彥法，曹州冤句人，進士第二，通判汝州。 秦悼王葬汝，宗室來祔者眾，役兵三千，郡守林濰以汝與其鄉近，因使輦薪芻、鐵石致其家。 眾怨憤，謀殺濰，會日暮門閉，不果，遂挾大校叛。 卞啟關招諭之，曰：「汝曹特醉酒狂呼爾，毋恐。」 眾少定，乃密推首惡羈之，請於朝，詔濰致仕，悉配徙亂者。
Dou Bian, whose courtesy name was Yanfa, came from Yuanju in Caozhou. He placed second in the jinshi examination and was appointed vice-prefect of Ruzhou. When Prince Zhaohui of Qin was buried at Ruzhou, many imperial clansmen came to join their tombs, and three thousand conscript soldiers were employed. Prefect Lin Wei, because Ruzhou was near his home district, had them haul firewood, fodder, iron, and stone to his house. The troops resented this and plotted to kill Wei, but at dusk the gates closed and the plan failed, so they seized a senior officer and rebelled. Bian opened the gates and summoned them to reason, saying, "You have merely been shouting drunkenly. Do not be afraid." When the crowd had calmed somewhat, he secretly identified the ringleaders and detained them. He reported to the court, an edict ordered Wei to retire, and all the mutineers were sent into penal exile.
30
加集賢校理、知太常院，知絳州，開封府推官。 方禁銷金為衣，皇城卒捕得之，屬卞治，以中禁為言。 奏曰：「真宗行此制，自掖廷始，今不正以法，無以示天下，且非祖宗立法意。」 英宗曰：「然。 文王『刑於寡妻，至於兄弟，以御於家邦』，正謂是也。」 從其請。
He was granted the title of collator in the Jixian Hall, made director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, appointed prefect of Jiangzhou, and served as investigating officer of the Kaifeng prefecture. While the prohibition on melting gold for clothing was in force, an imperial-city soldier was caught doing so and the case was assigned to Bian. The soldier cited the imperial precinct as grounds for leniency. Bian memorialized, "Emperor Zhenzong instituted this rule beginning with the inner palace. If it is not corrected by law now, there will be no way to show the realm, and it would not accord with the founders' intent in establishing the law." Emperor Yingzong said, "So it is. King Wen said, 'Begin with your wife, extend to your brothers, and thereby govern family and state'—that is precisely what is meant." His request was granted.
31
出知深州。 熙寧初，河決滹沱，水及郡城，地大震，流民自恩、冀來，踵相接，卞發常平粟食之。 吏白擅發且獲罪，卞曰：「俟請而得報，民死矣。 吾寧以一身活數萬人。」 尋以請，詔許之。 外間訛言水大至，卞下令敢言者斬。 一日，復報大水且至，吏請閉門，卞不可，既而果妄。 時發六州卒築武彊，陳卒惰，主者笞之，不服。 卞曰：「廂兵犯將校，法不至重，然興役聚工，不可拘以常法。」 命斬之以聞，有詔嘉獎。 還為戶部判官、同修起居注，進天章閣待制，判昭文館、將作監。
He was sent out as prefect of Shenzhou. At the beginning of the Xining era the Hutuo River burst its banks. Water reached the prefectural city and a great earthquake struck. Refugees from En and Ji arrived in an unbroken stream, and Bian issued grain from the Ever-Normal Granary to feed them. Clerks warned that distributing grain without authorization would incur punishment. Bian said, "If we wait to request permission and receive a reply, the people will be dead. I would rather save tens of thousands of lives at the cost of my own." Shortly afterward he submitted the request, and an edict approved it. Rumors spread outside that great floods were coming. Bian ordered that anyone who spread such talk would be executed. One day reports again came that great floods were imminent. Officials asked to close the gates, but Bian refused. In the end the reports proved false. At the time troops from six prefectures were conscripted to build embankments at Wuqiang. Soldiers from Chen were lazy; the overseer beat them, and they refused to submit. Bian said, "For garrison soldiers to offend their officers, the law does not prescribe severe punishment, yet when labor is mobilized and workers gathered, ordinary law cannot be rigidly applied." He ordered them beheaded and reported it to the court. An edict commended him. He returned to serve as judicial official of the Ministry of Revenue and concurrent compiler of the Daily Records, was promoted to Hanlin academician of the Tianzhang Pavilion, and served as vice director of the Zhaowen Hall and the Directorate of Public Works.
32
始，卞官汝時，與殿直王永年者相接頗厚，及在京師，永年求監金曜門庫，卞為禱提舉揚繪，繪薦為之。 永年置酒於家，延繪、卞至，出其妻侑飲，且時致薄餉。 永年以事繫獄死，御史發其私，卞坐奪職，提舉靈仙觀。 卒，年四十五。
Earlier, when Bian served at Ruzhou, he had been quite close with palace attendant Wang Yongnian. When in the capital Yongnian sought to supervise the Jinyao Gate treasury, and Bian pleaded with intendant Yang Hui, who recommended him for the post. Yongnian set out wine at his home, invited Hui and Bian, had his wife assist in serving drinks, and from time to time sent them small gifts. Yongnian died in prison over a matter. The censorate exposed his private dealings, and Bian was stripped of office and appointed superintendent of the Lingxian Abbey. He died at the age of forty-five.
33
張瓌，字唐公，洎之孫也。 舉進士，以婦父王欽若嫌，召試學士院，賜第，除秘閣校理、同知太常禮院。 諡錢惟演曰「文墨」，其子撾登聞鼓上訴，仁宗使問狀，瓌條奏甚切，朝廷不能奪，乃賜諡曰「思」。 溫成廟祠享如神御，請殺其禮。
Zhang Gui, whose courtesy name was Tangong, was the grandson of Zhang Ji. He passed the jinshi examination, but because of his father-in-law Wang Qinruo's influence he was summoned to the Hanlin Academy for examination, granted a ranked degree, and appointed collator in the Secretariat Pavilion and vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. The posthumous title "Wenmo" was conferred on Qian Weiyan. His son beat the Drum of Direct Appeal and petitioned the throne. Renzong sent someone to inquire into the matter, and Gui submitted a detailed and forceful memorial. The court could not overturn it and granted the posthumous title "Si" instead. Sacrifices at the Wencheng Temple were performed as for an imperial ancestral spirit, and he requested that the rites be reduced.
34
判吏部南曹，為開封府推官、知洪州。 營校督役苛急，其徒三百人將以夜殺之。 求不獲，持臿譟於門，請易校。 瓌召問諭遣，明日，推治黠十人，不為易校。 積閥當遷，十年不會課，文彥博為言，特遷之。 徙兩浙轉運使，加直史館、知潁州、揚州，即拜淮南轉運使。
He served as director of the Southern Bureau of the Ministry of Personnel, investigating officer of Kaifeng, and prefect of Hongzhou. A construction officer drove the laborers with extreme harshness, and three hundred of his men planned to kill him by night. Unable to find him, they brandished spades and raised an uproar at the gate, demanding a replacement officer. Gui summoned them, questioned them, and sent them away. The next day he prosecuted ten ringleaders but did not replace the officer. His accumulated merit qualified him for promotion, but for ten years he received no performance review. Wen Yanbo spoke on his behalf, and he was specially promoted. He was transferred to transport commissioner of the Liangzhe circuits, granted compiler in the Historiography Institute, appointed prefect of Yingzhou and Yangzhou, and immediately invested as transport commissioner of Huainan.
35
三司下諸道責羨財，淮南獨上金九錢，三司使怒，移文譙切，瓌以賦數民貧對。 入修起居注、知制誥。 草故相劉沆贈官制，頗言其附會取顯位。 沆子瑾帥子弟婦女衰絰詣闕，哭訴瓌挾私怨，且醜詆其人。 執政以褒贈乃恩典，瓌不當為貶詞，出知黃州，然瑾亦竟不敢請父諡。 還判流內銓。 英宗時，論第在先朝乞蚤定儲副者，進左諫議大夫、翰林侍讀學士。 劉瑾又訟其判銓日，調其子不應法，復出濠州。 歷應天府、河南、河陽，請為太平州。
The Three Departments ordered all circuits to submit surplus funds. Huainan alone submitted nine cents of gold. The Three Departments commissioner was enraged and sent a sharply worded dispatch, to which Gui replied that tax quotas were high and the people were poor. He entered the capital as compiler of the Daily Records and drafter of edicts. He drafted the edict conferring posthumous office on the late chief councillor Liu Hang, stating rather plainly that Hang had curried favor to obtain high rank. Hang's son Jin led sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law in mourning garments to the palace gate, weeping and accusing Gui of personal spite and slandering his father's character. The chief councillors held that conferring honors was an act of grace and that Gui should not have used deprecatory language. He was sent out as prefect of Huangzhou, yet Jin also in the end dared not request a posthumous title for his father. He returned to serve as director of the Outer Bureau of the Ministry of Personnel. Under Emperor Yingzong, in ranking those who in the previous reign had petitioned early for designation of the heir apparent, he was promoted to Left Remonstrance Councillor and Hanlin Reader-in-Waiting. Liu Jin again sued him, alleging that when he directed the bureau he had assigned his own son in violation of the regulations, and he was again sent out as prefect of Haozhou. He served successively at Yingtian Prefecture, Henan, and Heyang, and requested appointment to Taiping Prefecture.
36
瓌平生薦士，後雖不如所舉，未嚐以令自首，故再坐削階。 當官遇事輒言，觸忤勢要，至屢黜，終不悔。 卒，年七十。
Throughout his life Gui recommended scholars. Even when they later did not live up to his recommendation, he never ordered them to confess, and for this he twice suffered demotion in rank. In office he spoke out whenever matters arose, offending the powerful. Though repeatedly dismissed, he never regretted it. He died at the age of seventy.
37
孫瑜，字叔禮，博平人。 以父任為將作監主簿，賈昌朝薦為崇文檢討、同知禮院、開封府判官。
Sun Yu, whose courtesy name was Shuli, came from Boping. Through his father's patronage he became chief clerk of the Directorate of Public Works. Jia Changchao recommended him as collator in the Chongwen Hall, vice director of the Court of Rites, and vice magistrate of Kaifeng.
38
使契丹，適西討捷書至，館伴要入賀，啖以厚餉，瑜辭以奉使有指，不肯賀。 加秘閣校理、兩浙轉運使。 入辭，仁宗訪其家世，謂曰：「卿孫奭子邪？ 奭，大儒也，久以道輔朕。」 因面賜金紫。
On a mission to the Khitan, news of a western campaign victory arrived. The host commissioner wished to enter the capital to offer congratulations and tempted him with lavish gifts, but Yu declined on the grounds that his mission had specific instructions and refused to congratulate. He was granted collator in the Secretariat Pavilion and appointed transport commissioner of the Liangzhe circuits. Entering to take leave, Renzong inquired into his family background and said, "Are you the son of Sun Shi? Shi was a great Confucian who long assisted me with the Way." He was thereupon granted a gold seal and purple robe in person.
39
先是，郡縣倉庾以斗斛大小為奸，瑜奏均其制，黜吏之亡狀者，民大喜。 有言其變新器非便，下遷知曹州。 尋有言瑜所作量法均一誠便者，乃還其元資，徙知蔡州，毀吳元濟像，以其祠事裴度。 大水緣城隙入，瑜使囊沙數千扞其衝，城得弗壞。 更相、兗、濰、單四州，累官工部侍郎，卒，年七十九。
Previously, prefectural and county granaries had cheated by using pecks and hus of differing sizes. Yu memorialized to standardize the measures, dismissed dishonest clerks, and the people were greatly pleased. When someone reported that his switch to the new measuring vessels was impractical, he was demoted and appointed prefect of Caozhou. Before long someone reported that Yu's uniform system of measures was genuinely convenient; his original rank was restored, he was transferred to Caizhou, the image of Wu Yuanji was destroyed, and the shrine was rededicated to Pei Du. When floodwaters poured in through gaps in the city wall, Yu had thousands of sandbags piled to break the force of the current, and the wall held. He served in turn as prefect of Xiang, Yan, Wei, and Shan, rose through the ranks to Vice Minister of Works, and died at seventy-nine.
40
始，奭之亡，朝廷錄其子孫，時瑜之子為諸孫長，瑜曰：「吾忍因父喪而官吾子乎？」 以兄之孤上之。 瑜天資整敏，齊家以嚴稱。 善與人交，一受知終身不易。 所薦士有過，或教使自言，曰：「已知之而復擠之，吾不為也。」
Earlier, when Shi died, the court enrolled his descendants for office; Yu's son was then the eldest of the grandsons. Yu said, "How could I bear to secure an appointment for my son because of my father's death?" Instead he submitted his elder brother's orphaned son. Yu was by nature disciplined and sharp, and was renowned for the strictness with which he ran his household. He was skilled in friendship: once he had formed a bond of trust, he never broke it for the rest of his life. When a man he had recommended fell into error, some urged him to denounce the man himself. He said, "Having once trusted him, I will not turn and crush him — I will not do that."
41
論曰：宋至神宗，承平百餘年，風行政成，士皆守官稱職，雖上之化，亦下之氣習使然也。 當時仕於朝廷，出守方嶽，持節一道，專對四方者，各有其人，其政跡且多可紀，自顓至瑜是已。 顓能折夏人，屈元昊使者； 參擊貪除害，乃心邊事； 申錫除凶黨，詆權幸； 求黥黠吏，禁盜鑄； 卞以身活人； 瓌不貢羨財； 景憲因母死而髮白； 孫瑜不忍以父喪而得官，此其行尤昭昭者歟。
The commentary runs thus: By the time of Emperor Shenzong, the Song had enjoyed more than a century of peace; customs flourished and government prospered, and officials kept their posts and did their work. This owed something to imperial example, but also to the habits that had taken root below. In that age, whether one served at court, governed a great prefecture, held authority over a circuit, or handled foreign affairs on one's own, there was a man for each task, and most of their records of office are worth recounting — from Zhuan to Yu, these were such men. Zhuan could break the pride of the Xia and put Yuanhao's envoys to shame; Can struck down the greedy and cleared away harm, his heart fixed on frontier affairs; Shenxi uprooted vicious factions and denounced the powerful favorites at court; Qiu branded cunning clerks and forbade illicit coinage; Bian risked his own life to save another; Gui refused to send up surplus tribute money; Jingxian's hair turned white when his mother died; Sun Yu could not bear to gain office through his father's mourning — among their deeds, were these not the brightest of all?
42
許遵，字仲塗，泗州人，第進士，又中明法，擢大理寺詳斷官、知長興縣。 水災，民多流徙，遵募民出米振濟，竟以無患。 益興水利，溉田甚博，邑人便利，立石紀之。
Xu Zun, whose courtesy name was Zhongtu, came from Sizhou. He placed in the jinshi examination and also passed the examination in statutory law, then was promoted to detailed adjudication officer of the Court of Judicial Review and appointed prefect of Changxing County. When floods struck and many people were displaced, Zun recruited the people to contribute rice for relief, and in the end the district suffered no further harm. He expanded irrigation works on a broad scale, greatly benefiting the people of the county, who erected a stone monument to commemorate the achievement.
43
為審刑院詳議官，知宿州、登州。 遵累典刑獄，強敏明恕。 及為登州，執政許以判大理，遵欲立奇以自鬻。 會婦人阿云獄起。 初，云許嫁未行，嫌婿陋，伺其寢田舍，懷刀斫之，十餘創，不能殺，斷其一指。 吏求盜弗得，疑云所為，執而詰之，欲加訊掠，乃吐實。 遵按云納采之日，母服未除，應以凡人論，讞於朝。 有司當為謀殺已傷，遵駁言：「云被問即承，應為按問。 審刑、大理當絞刑，非是。」 事下刑部，以遵為妄，詔以贖論。 未幾，果判大理。 恥用議法坐劾，復言：「刑部定議非直，云合免所因之罪。 今棄敕不用，但引斷例，一切按而殺之，塞其自守之路，殆非罪疑惟輕之義。」 詔司馬光、王安石議。 光以為不可，安石主遵，御史中丞滕甫、侍御史錢顗皆言遵所爭戾法意，自是廷論紛然。 安石既執政，悉罪異己者，遂從遵議。 雖累問不承者，亦得為按問。 或兩人同為盜劫，吏先問左，則按問在左； 先問右，則按問在右。 獄之生死，在問之先後，而非盜之情，天下益厭其說。
He served as detailed deliberation officer of the Office of Scrutiny and Review, and was prefect of Suzhou and Dengzhou. Zun repeatedly presided over criminal cases, combining forceful intelligence with enlightened clemency. When he became prefect of Dengzhou, the chief ministers had promised him the post of administrator of the Court of Judicial Review, and Zun wished to make a striking legal ruling to advance himself. It happened that the case of the woman A Yun arose. At first Yun had been betrothed, though the marriage had not yet taken place. Finding her fiancé ugly, she waited until he was asleep in a farmhouse, then drew a knife and hacked at him more than ten times. She failed to kill him but severed one of his fingers. Officials searched for the assailant in vain, suspected Yun, seized and questioned her, and were about to apply torture under interrogation when she confessed. Zun held that on the day betrothal gifts were received, Yun was still in mourning for her mother and should be judged as an ordinary person rather than as a wife; he submitted his verdict to the court. The responsible offices assessed the crime as attempted murder with injury, but Zun objected: "Yun confessed as soon as she was questioned; the case should be treated as confession under interrogation. The Office of Scrutiny and Review and the Court of Judicial Review assessed strangulation — that is wrong." The case was sent down to the Ministry of Justice, which judged Zun's argument reckless; an edict ordered that he be punished by redemption. Before long he was indeed appointed administrator of the Court of Judicial Review. Humiliated at being impeached for invoking deliberative law, he argued again: "The Ministry of Justice's ruling is unjust; Yun should be exempted from punishment for the underlying offense. Now they set aside the edicts and rely only on precedent, treating every such case as confession under interrogation and imposing death — cutting off the path by which the accused may defend themselves. That can hardly accord with the principle that doubtful guilt should be treated leniently." An edict ordered Sima Guang and Wang Anshi to deliberate. Guang held that this could not be allowed; Anshi supported Zun; Censor-in-Chief Teng Fu and Attending Censor Qian Yi both said Zun's argument ran counter to the spirit of the law; from then on the court was torn by dispute. Once Anshi came to power, he punished all who opposed him and adopted Zun's position. Even those who did not confess after repeated questioning could be treated as having confessed under interrogation. If two men had committed robbery together and officials questioned the one on the left first, confession under interrogation applied to the one on the left; if they questioned the one on the right first, it applied to the one on the right. Whether a prisoner lived or died depended on the order in which he was questioned, not on the facts of the robbery, and people throughout the empire grew ever more disgusted with the doctrine.
44
熙寧間，出知壽州，再判大理寺，請知潤州，又請提舉崇福宮。 尋致仕，累官中散大夫。 卒，年八十一。
During the Xining era he went out as prefect of Shouzhou, served again as administrator of the Court of Judicial Review, requested appointment as prefect of Runzhou, and later asked to oversee Chongfu Palace. He soon retired, having risen to Grandee of Palace Attendance. He died at eighty-one.
45
盧士宗
Lu Shizong
46
盧士宗，字公彥，濰州昌樂人。 舉《五經》，歷審刑院詳議、編敕刪定官，提點江西刑獄。 侍講楊安國以經術薦之，仁宗御延和殿，詔講官悉升殿聽其講《易》。 明日，復命講《泰卦》，又召經筵官及僕射賈昌朝聽之。 授天章閣侍講，賜三品服，加直龍圖閣、天章閣待制、判流內銓。
Lu Shizong, whose courtesy name was Gongyan, came from Changle in Weizhou. He passed the examination in the 《Five Classics》, served successively as detailed deliberation officer of the Office of Scrutiny and Review and as an editor-reviser of the statutory codes, and was intendant of penal affairs for Jiangxi. Lecturer Yang Anguo recommended him for his mastery of the classics; Emperor Renzong held court in the Yanhe Hall and ordered all lecturing officials to ascend and hear him expound the Changes. The next day he was again ordered to lecture on the 《Tai》 hexagram, and the palace lecture officials and Vice Director Jia Changchao were summoned to listen. He was appointed Lecturer at the Tianzhang Pavilion, granted third-rank robes, made a direct associate of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion and appointee at the Tianzhang Pavilion, and put in charge of the Internal Appointments Bureau.
47
李參、郭申錫有決河訟，詔士宗劾之。 士宗言兩人皆為時用，有罪當驗問，不宜逮鞫。 於是但黜申錫為州。 進龍圖閣直學士、知審刑院、通進銀臺司。
Li Can and Guo Shenxi were embroiled in a lawsuit over river-control decisions; an edict ordered Shizong to investigate them. Shizong said both men were then in active service; if they were guilty they should be examined and questioned, and should not be immediately arrested and interrogated. Thereupon only Shenxi was demoted to serve as a prefect. He was promoted to Direct Academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion, made administrator of the Office of Scrutiny and Review, and put in charge of the Silver Terrace Office of Memorial Submission.
48
仁宗神主祔廟，禮院請以太祖、太宗為一世，而增一室以備天子事七世之禮。 詔兩制與禮官考議，孫抃等欲如之，士宗以為：「在禮，太祖之廟，萬世不毀； 其餘昭穆，親盡即毀，示有終也。 自漢以來，天子受命之初，太祖尚在三昭、三穆之次，祀四世或六世，其以上之主，屬雖尊於太祖，親盡則遷。 故漢元帝之世，瘞太上廟主於國，魏明帝遷處士主於國邑，晉武、惠祔廟，遷征西、豫章府君。 大抵過六世則遷其主，蓋太祖已正東向之位，則並三昭三穆為七世矣。 唐高祖初祀四世，太宗增祀六世，太宗祔廟則遷弘農府君，高宗祔廟又遷宣宗，皆前世成法，惟明皇九廟祀八世，於事為不經。 今大行祔廟，僖祖親盡當遷，於典禮為合，不當添展一室。」 詔抃等再議，卒從八室之說，議者咎之。
When Emperor Renzong's spirit tablet was placed in the ancestral temple, the Board of Rites proposed treating Taizu and Taizong as one generation and adding a chamber so that the Son of Heaven might observe the rite of serving seven generations. An edict ordered Hanlin academicians and ritual officials to investigate and deliberate. Sun Bian and others wished to follow the proposal, but Shizong argued: "According to ritual, Taizu's temple is never to be destroyed; the rest in the zhao and mu sequence, when the bond of kinship is exhausted, are removed — showing that even reverence has its limit. Since Han times, when a new Son of Heaven received the Mandate, the dynastic founder still stood within the sequence of the three zhao and three mu; four or six generations were served, and ancestors above that, though more exalted in rank than the founder, were relocated once kinship was exhausted. Thus in the reign of Emperor Yuan of Han the spirit tablet of the Grand August was buried in the state; in the reign of Emperor Ming of Wei the spirit tablet of the Founding Lord was moved to the state fief; and when Emperors Wu and Hui of Jin placed their tablets in the temple, the Lord of Western Expedition and the Lord of Yuzhang were relocated. In general, once six generations had passed the spirit tablet was relocated, for once the dynastic founder had taken the correct east-facing position, the three zhao and three mu together constituted seven generations. Tang Gaozu at first served four generations; Taizong increased the number to six; when Taizong's tablet was placed in the temple the Lord of Hongnong was relocated, and when Gaozong's tablet was placed Emperor Xuanzong was relocated — all precedents from earlier ages. Only Emperor Ming of Tang, with nine temples serving eight generations, departed from established practice. Now that the late emperor's tablet is to be placed in the temple, Prince Xi, whose kinship bond is exhausted, should be relocated; that accords with canonical ritual, and one should not add another chamber." An edict ordered Bian and the others to deliberate again; in the end they adopted the eight-chamber proposal, and critics blamed them for it.
49
出知青州，入辭，英宗曰：「學士忠純之操，朕所素知，豈當久處外。」 命再對，及見，論知人安民之要，勸帝守祖宗法。 御史言其罕通吏事，且衰病，改沂州。
When he went out as prefect of Qingzhou and came to take leave, Emperor Yingzong said, "Your loyal and upright character, Academician, is something I have long known — how could you long remain outside the capital?" He was ordered to audience again; when he appeared, he discussed the essentials of knowing men and pacifying the people, and urged the emperor to uphold the laws of the ancestors. Censors said he had little grasp of administrative affairs and was moreover frail and ill; he was transferred to Yizhou.
50
熙寧初，以禮部侍郎致仕，卒，年七十一。 士宗以儒者長刑名之學，而主於仁恕，故在刑部審刑，前後十數年。
At the beginning of the Xining era he retired as Vice Minister of Rites and died at seventy-one. Shizong, though a Confucian scholar, excelled in penal law yet upheld benevolence and clemency; for that reason he served in the Ministry of Justice and the Office of Scrutiny and Review for more than ten years in all.
51
錢象先
Qian Xiangxian
52
錢象先，字資元，蘇州人。 進士高第，呂夷簡薦為國子監直講，歷權大理少卿、度支判官、河北、江東轉運使，召兼天章閣侍講。 詳定一路敕成，當進勳爵，仁宗以象先母老，欲慰之，獨賜紫章服。 進待制、知審刑院，加龍圖閣直學士，出知蔡州。
Qian Xiangxian, whose courtesy name was Ziyuan, came from Suzhou. He graduated at the top of the jinshi examination. Lü Yijian recommended him as direct lecturer at the Directorate of Education; he served successively as acting Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review, assistant fiscal commissioner, transport commissioner of Hebei and Jiangdong, and was summoned concurrently as lecturer at the Tianzhang Pavilion. When the task of reviewing and finalizing a circuit's statutory codes was completed he was due to receive a merit noble rank, but Emperor Renzong, knowing Xiangxian's mother was elderly and wishing to comfort him, granted him purple official robes instead. He was promoted to appointee and administrator of the Office of Scrutiny and Review, made Direct Academician of the Dragon Diagram Pavilion, and sent out as prefect of Caizhou.
53
象先長於經術，侍邇英十餘年，有所顧問，必依經以對，反復諷諭，遂及當世之務，帝禮遇甚渥。 故事，講讀官分日迭進，象先已得蔡，帝猶諭之曰：「大夫行有日矣，宜講徹一編。」 於是同列罷進者浹日。 徙知河南府、陳州，復兼侍講、知審刑院。
Xiangxian excelled in classical learning and attended at the Erying Hall for more than ten years. Whenever the emperor consulted him he answered from the classics, admonishing by indirection until the discussion reached the affairs of the day; the emperor treated him with great honor. By precedent the lecturing and reading officials entered on alternating days. Xiangxian had already been appointed to Caizhou, yet the emperor still told him, "Your departure, Grandee, is near; you ought to finish lecturing through one complete text." Thereupon his colleagues who had ceased entering lectured day after day without interruption. He was transferred to Henan Prefecture and Chenzhou, and again served concurrently as lecturer and administrator of the Office of Scrutiny and Review.
54
象先旁通法家說，故屢為刑官，條令多所裁定。 嘗以為犯敕者重，犯令者輕，請移敕文入令者甚眾。 又議告捕法，以為罪有可去，有可捕，苟皆許捕，則奸人將倚法以害善良，因削去許捕百餘事。 其持心平恕類此。 復知許、潁、陳三州，以吏部侍郎致仕。 卒，年八十一。
Xiangxian was also versed in Legalist doctrine; for that reason he repeatedly served as a penal official and adjudicated many provisions of the code. He once argued that violating an edict was a serious offense while violating an ordinance was a lesser one, and requested that many edict provisions be moved into ordinances. He also deliberated on the law of reporting and apprehension, arguing that some offenses could be waived and some pursued; if every offense were permitted to be pursued, wicked men would use the law to harm the innocent, and so more than a hundred permitted-apprehension items were removed. His even-handed clemency was of this kind throughout. He again served as prefect of Xu, Ying, and Chen, and retired as Vice Minister of Personnel. He died at eighty-one.
55
韓璹，字君玉，衛州汲人。 登進士第，知定州安喜縣。 為政強力，能使吏不賄，守韓琦稱其才。 為開封司錄。 嘉祐寬恤諸道，分遣使者。 璹曰：「京師諸夏本，顧獨不蒙惠乎？」 乃具徭役利害上之，詔司馬光、陳洙詳定條式，遂革大姓漁并之弊。 提點利州路、河北刑獄，以開封府判官迎契丹使。 使問：「南朝不聞打圍，何也？」 璹曰：「我后仁及昆蟲，非時不為耳。」
Han Jun, whose courtesy name was Junyu, came from Ji in Weizhou. He passed the jinshi examination and served as magistrate of Anxi in Dingzhou. In governing he was forceful and effective, able to keep clerks from taking bribes; Prefect Han Qi praised his ability. He served as recorder of Kaifeng. During the Jiayou era of clemency and relief, envoys were dispatched to the various circuits. Jun said, "The capital is the root of all the realm — yet alone it receives no relief?" He then submitted a detailed account of the advantages and harms of corvée labor; an edict ordered Sima Guang and Chen Zhu to review and establish the regulations, and the abuse by great clans of preying on and swallowing up others was reformed. He was intendant of penal affairs for Lizhou Circuit and Hebei, and as an administrator of Kaifeng Prefecture received the Khitan envoy. The envoy asked, "In the Southern Court one never hears of the hunt enclosure — why is that?" Jun replied, "Our sovereign's benevolence extends even to insects; she simply does not hunt out of season."
56
熙寧初，為梓州路轉運使。 朝廷命諸道議更役法，璹首建併綱減役之制，綱以數計者百二十有八，衙前以人計者二百八十有三，省役人五百。 又請裁定諸州衙簿，於是王安石言：「璹所言皆久為公私病，監司背公養譽，莫之或恤，而獨能體上意，宜加賞。」 乃下褒詔，且賜帛二百。 入為鹽鐵副使，以右諫議大夫知澶州。 坐失舉，降太常少卿。 河決，晝夜捍禦。 神宗念其勞，復故官太中大夫，判將作監，轉正議大夫致仕。 卒，年七十七。
At the beginning of the Xining era he was transport commissioner of Zizhou Circuit. The court ordered the various circuits to deliberate on revising corvée law; Jun was the first to propose a system of merging categories and reducing corvée: one hundred twenty-eight categories by number, two hundred eighty-three yamen runners by headcount, and a reduction of five hundred corvée laborers. He also requested that yamen registers in the various prefectures be fixed. Thereupon Wang Anshi said, "What Jun proposes has long afflicted both public and private interests; supervisory commissioners turn their backs on the public to cultivate reputation, and none show concern, yet he alone embodies the emperor's intent and should receive added reward." An edict of commendation was issued, and two hundred bolts of silk were granted besides. He entered service as Vice Commissioner of Salt and Iron and, as Right Remonstrance Grandee, served as prefect of Cazhou. For a failure in selection he was demoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When the river breached its banks, he worked day and night to hold the line. Mindful of his exertions, Emperor Shenzong restored him to his former rank of Grandee of Palace Administration, assigned him to the Directorate of Palace Construction, then transferred him to Right Grandee of Discussion and granted retirement. He died at seventy-seven.
57
璹吏事絕人，閱按牘，終身不忘，澶州民懷思之。 他日，郡守或欲有所為，民必曰：「此已經韓太中矣。」 以故輒止。
Shu's administrative talent surpassed all others; once he had reviewed a case file, he never forgot it for the rest of his life, and the people of Cazhou cherished his memory. On another occasion, when the prefect wished to undertake something, the people would invariably say, "This matter has already been handled by Grandee Han of the Palace Administration." For this reason he would invariably abandon the plan.
58
杜純，字孝錫，濮州鄄城人。 少有成人之操，伯父沒官南海上，其孤弱，柩不能還。 純白父請往，如期而喪至。
Du Chun, whose courtesy name was Xiaoxi, came from Juancheng in Puzhou. From youth he showed the bearing of a grown man. His uncle had died in office on the South Sea coast, leaving weak orphans behind, and the coffin could not be brought home. Chun told his father and volunteered to go fetch it; the coffin arrived right on schedule.
59
以蔭為泉州司法參軍。 泉有蕃舶之饒，雜貨山積。 時官於州者私與為市，價十不償一，惟知州關詠與純無私買，人亦莫知。 後事敗，獄治多相牽繫，獨兩人無與。 詠猶以不察免，且檄參對。 純憤懣，陳書使者為訟冤，詠得不坐。
Through inherited privilege he was appointed judicial adjutant of Quanzhou. Quanzhou enjoyed the riches of foreign shipping, and miscellaneous goods piled up like mountains. Officials serving in the prefecture privately traded with them at a tenth of fair value or less. Only Prefect Guan Yong and Chun refrained from private purchases, though no one knew it at the time. Later, when the affair was exposed, the investigation implicated many, but these two alone were not involved. Yong was nevertheless dismissed for failing to supervise, and was summoned by edict to answer the charges. Indignant, Chun submitted a letter to the envoy pleading Yong's innocence, and Yong was not punished.
60
熙寧初，以河西令上書言政，王安石異之，引置條例司，數與論事，薦於朝，充審刑詳議官。 或議復肉刑，先以刖代死刑之輕者，純言：「今盜抵死，歲不減五十，以死懼民，民常不畏，而況於刖乎？ 人知不死，犯者益眾，是為名輕而實重也。」 事遂寢。
At the beginning of the Xining era, while serving as magistrate of Hexi he submitted a memorial on government policy. Wang Anshi was impressed, brought him into the Office of Regulation, often deliberated with him, and recommended him to court, appointing him detailed deliberation officer of the Office for the Scrutiny of Punishments. Some proposed restoring corporal mutilation, beginning with amputation in place of lighter death sentences. Chun said, "Today thieves are punished by death, and the number each year does not fall below fifty. If death itself does not frighten the people, how much less would amputation? Once people know they will not die, offenders will only grow more numerous — that is to make the penalty seem lighter in name while making it heavier in reality." The proposal was then shelved.
61
秦帥郭逵與其屬王韶成訟，純受詔推鞫，得韶罪。 安石主韶，變其獄，免純官。 韓絳為相，以檢詳三司會計。 安石再來，乃請監池州酒。 久之，為大理正。 上言：「朝廷非不惡告訐，而有覘事者以擿抉隱微，蓋京師聚萬姓，易以宿奸，於計當然，非擾人也。 比來或徒隸觖望，或民相怨仇，或意冒告賞，但泛云某有罪，某知狀，官不識所逮之囚，囚不省見逮之故。 若許有司先計其實，而坐為欺者以誣告，當無不竟矣。」
The Qin commander Guo Kui and his subordinate Wang Shao brought suit against each other. Chun received an edict to investigate and found Shao guilty. Anshi favored Shao, overturned the verdict, and dismissed Chun from office. When Han Jiang became chief councilor, Chun was appointed inspector and reviewer of the Three Departments' accounts. When Anshi returned to power, Chun requested appointment as supervisor of wine production in Chizhou. After a long interval, he was appointed chief of the Office of the Grand Censor. He submitted a memorial: "The court does not fail to loathe denunciation, yet there are those who watch for affairs in order to expose hidden wrongs. The capital gathers myriad households and harbors long-established villains, so such a policy is appropriate in principle and is not meant to harass the people. Lately, whether convict laborers nursing grievances, common people bearing mutual grudges, or those hoping falsely to claim reward for reporting, they merely say vaguely that so-and-so has committed a crime and so-and-so knows the circumstances. Officials do not know which prisoner is to be seized, and prisoners do not understand why they have been seized. If officials were permitted first to verify the facts and false reporters were punished for malicious accusation, there would surely be no unfinished cases."
62
隰州商尹奇貿溫泉礬有羨數，云官潤之，寺欲械訊河東。 純曰：「奇情止爾，若傅致其罪，恐自是民無復敢貨礬，則數百萬之儲，皆為土石。 請姑沒其羨而釋其人。」 曹州民王坦避水患，以車載貨入京，征商者以為匿稅，寺議黥坦，純復爭之，卿楊汲奏為立異，又廢於家。
At Xizhou, the merchant Yin Qi transported hot-spring alum in surplus quantity, saying the officials profited from it. The court proposed putting him in fetters and interrogating him in Hedong. Chun said, "Qi's circumstances extend only this far. If we manufacture his guilt, I fear the people will never again dare trade in alum, and stores worth millions will all turn to rubble. I ask that we temporarily confiscate the surplus and release the man." A man of Caozhou, Wang Tan, fleeing flood disaster, brought goods to the capital by cart. Tax collectors thought he was concealing taxes, and the court proposed tattooing him. Chun again argued against it. Vice Minister Yang Ji memorialized that he was being contrary, and Chun was again dismissed to his home.
63
元祐元年，范純仁、韓維、王存、孫永交薦之，除河北轉運判官。 初更役書，司馬光稱其論議詳盡，予之書曰：「足下在彼，朝廷無河北憂。」 純因建言：「河防舊隸轉運，今乃領屬都水外丞，計其決溢之變，前日不加多，今日不加少。 然出財之司，則常憂費而緩不急； 用財之官，則寧過計而無不及，不如使之歸一。」 後如其言。
In the first year of Yuanyou, Fan Chunren, Han Wei, Wang Cun, and Sun Yong jointly recommended him, and he was appointed vice transport commissioner of Hebei. When the corvée regulations were first revised, Sima Guang praised his deliberations as thorough and wrote him: "With you there, the court need not worry about Hebei." Chun accordingly submitted a proposal: "River defense formerly fell under the transport commission; now it is led by the outer vice-director of waterways. Considering the risk of breaches and overflows, the dangers were no fewer before than they are today. Yet the office that disburses funds constantly worries about expense and delays what is urgent; while the office that uses funds would rather overestimate than fall short. It would be better to unify them in one." Later it was done as he had proposed.
64
召為刑部員外郎、大理少卿，擢侍御史。 言者詆其不由科第，改右司郎中，尋知相州，徙徐州，陝西轉運使。 還，拜鴻臚、光祿卿，權兵部侍郎，謝病，以集賢院學士提舉崇福宮，改修撰。 卒，年六十四，弟紘。
He was summoned to serve as Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice and Vice Grand Censor of the Office of the Grand Censor, then was promoted to investigating censor. Detractors attacked him for not having come through the civil service examination; he was transferred to right bureau director, then soon served as prefect of Xiangzhou, was moved to Xuzhou, and became transport commissioner of Shaanxi. On his return he was appointed Minister of Ceremonial and Minister of Imperial Entertainments and given acting rank as Vice Minister of War. Citing illness, he was made academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies to superintend Chongfu Palace, then was changed to compiler. He died at sixty-four. His younger brother was Hong.
65
弟紘
Younger Brother Hong
66
紘，字君章，起進士，為永年令。 歲荒，民將他往，召諭父老曰：「令不能使汝必無行，若留，能使汝無饑。」 皆喜聽命。 乃官給印券，使稱貸於大家，約歲豐為督償，於是咸得食，無徙者。 明年稔，償不愆素。 神宗聞其材，用為大理詳斷官、檢詳樞密刑房，修《武經要略》。 以職事對，帝翌日語宰相，嘉其論奏明白，未果用。
Hong, whose courtesy name was Junzhang, passed the jinshi examination and served as magistrate of Yongnian. In a year of famine, the people were about to leave. He summoned the elders and said, "As magistrate I cannot guarantee that you will not leave, but if you stay, I can keep you from starving." All gladly accepted his orders. He then had the government issue stamped notes, enabling them to borrow from wealthy families on the promise that in a good year he would oversee repayment. Thus all obtained food, and none migrated. The next year the harvest was abundant, and repayment was made without delay. Emperor Shenzong heard of his talent and appointed him detailed adjudication officer of the Grand Censor's office, inspector of the Military Affairs Commission's penal section, and compiler of 《Essentials of Military Classics》. When he answered on official business, the emperor told the chief councilors the next day that he praised Hong's clear deliberations and memorials, though he was not ultimately appointed to higher office.
67
紘每議獄，必傅經誼。 民間有女幼許嫁，未行而養於婿氏，婿氏殺以誣人，吏當如昏法。 紘曰：「禮，婦三月而廟見，未廟見而死，則歸葬於家，示未成婦也。 律，定昏而夫犯，論同凡人。 養婦雖非禮律，然未成婦則一也。」 議乃定。 又論：「天下囚應死，吏懦不行法，輒以疑讞。 夫殺人而以疑讞，是縱民為殺之道也。 請治妄讞者。」 不從。 擢刑部郎中。
Whenever Hong deliberated on cases, he always applied the meaning of the classics. Among the people there was a girl betrothed in childhood. Before the marriage rites she was raised in her fiancé's household, and the fiancé's family killed her to frame another. The clerks would punish the offender according to marriage law. Hong said, "According to ritual, a wife presents herself at the ancestral temple after three months. If she dies before that temple visit, she is returned for burial at her family's home, showing that she was not yet a wife. In law, once betrothal is settled and the husband commits an offense, he is judged as an ordinary person. Raising the betrothed girl in the fiancé's household, though not prescribed by ritual or law, is the same in principle since she was not yet a wife." The deliberation was then settled. He also argued: "Prisoners throughout the realm who deserve death — clerks, being timid, fail to apply the law and repeatedly resort to doubtful verdicts. To kill someone through a doubtful verdict is to show the people a path to murder. I ask that those who use false doubtful verdicts be punished." His proposal was not accepted. He was promoted to Director of the Ministry of Justice.
68
元祐初，為夏國母祭奠使。 時夏人方修貢，入其國，禮猶倨，迓者至衣毛裘，設下人坐，蒙以黲，且不跪受詔。 紘責之曰：「天王吊禮甚厚，今不可以加禮。」 夏人畏懼加敬。 他日，夏使至，請歸復侵疆。 紘逆之至館，使欲入見有所陳，紘止之，答語頗不遜，紘曰：「國主設有請，必具表中，此大事也，朝廷肯以使人口語為可否乎？」 隨語連拄之，乃不敢言。
At the beginning of the Yuanyou era, he served as envoy to offer condolences to the Xia state's regent mother. At that time the Xia people were resuming tribute. Entering their country, he found the protocol still arrogant: those receiving him wore fur garments, set out seats for inferiors, covered him with a dark cloth, and would not kneel to receive the edict. Hong rebuked them: "The Son of Heaven's condolence rites are most generous; you cannot add to them now." The Xia people, fearful, showed greater respect. On another occasion, a Xia envoy arrived requesting the return of seized border territory. Hong went out to meet him at the guest house. The envoy wished to enter and have an audience to present something, but Hong stopped him. The reply was quite insolent. Hong said, "If the state lord has a request, it must be fully set forth in a memorial. This is a weighty matter. Would the court decide yes or no on an envoy's spoken words?" He repeatedly interrupted as the envoy spoke, and the envoy dared say no more.
69
遷右司郎中、大理卿，以直秘閣知齊、鄧二州，復為大理卿，權刑部侍郎，加集賢殿修撰，為江淮發運使、知鄆州。 獄繫囚三百人，紘至之旬日，處決立盡。 又以刑部召，未至，還之鄆。
He was transferred to right bureau director and Grand Censor of the Office of the Grand Censor; as Master of the Hidden Archive he governed Qi and Deng prefectures; again served as Grand Censor; acting Vice Minister of Justice; added as compiler of the Hall of Assembled Worthies; transport commissioner of Jianghuai; and prefect of Yanzhou. Three hundred prisoners were held in the prisons; within ten days of Hong's arrival, they were all tried and disposed of. He was again summoned to the Ministry of Justice, but before he arrived he was sent back to Yanzhou.
70
嘗有揭幟城隅，著妖言其上，期為變，州民皆震。 俄而草場白晝火，蓋所揭一事也，民又益恐。 或請大索城中，紘笑曰：「奸計正在是，冀因吾膠擾而發，奈何墮其術中？ 彼無能為也。」 居無何，獲盜，乃奸民為妖如所揣，遂按誅之。 徙知應天府，卒，年六十二。
Once a banner was posted at a corner of the city wall bearing seditious words and threatening upheaval, and the people of the prefecture were all alarmed. Soon the fodder yard caught fire in broad daylight — it was one of the things threatened on the banner — and the people grew still more fearful. Some asked for a great search of the city. Hong laughed and said, "The wicked scheme lies precisely in this — they hope that through our being tied up in confusion it will break out. Why fall into their trap? They can do nothing." Before long a thief was captured — it was wicked commoners creating portents just as he had surmised — and they were investigated and executed. He was transferred to serve as prefect of Yingtian Prefecture and died at sixty-two.
71
紘事兄純禮甚備。 在鄆州聞訃，泣曰：「兄教我成立，今亡不得臨，死不瞑矣。」 適詣闕，迎其柩於都門，哀動行路。 悉以奉錢給寡嫂，推其子恩，官其子若孫一人。 宦京師時，里人馬隨調選，病臥逆旅，紘載與歸，醫視之。 隨竟死，為治喪第中。 或以為嫌，不自恤，其風義蓋天性云。
Hong served his elder brother Chun with complete propriety. While in Yanzhou he heard the death notice and wept: "My brother raised and established me; now he is gone and I cannot attend him — I shall not close my eyes in death." Just then he was proceeding to court; he met the coffin at the capital gate, and his grief moved all who passed. He gave all his salary to his widowed sister-in-law, deferred his own son's favor, and had one of his brother's sons or grandsons given an official post. While serving in the capital, his neighbor Ma Sui was awaiting selection and lay ill at an inn; Hong carried him home in his cart and had him treated. Sui ultimately died, and Hong arranged his funeral in his own residence. Some thought this improper, but he did not care for himself — such moral character was surely inborn.
72
杜常，字正甫，衛州人，昭憲皇后族孫也。 折節學問，無戚里氣習。 嘗跨驢讀書，驢嗜草失道，不之覺，觸桑木而墮，額為之傷。 中進士第，調河陽司法參軍事，富弼禮重之。 積遷河東轉運判官，提點河北刑獄，歷兵部左司郎中、太常少卿、太僕太府卿、戶工刑吏部侍郎，出知梓州、青、鄆、徐州、成德軍。
Du Chang, whose courtesy name was Zhengfu, came from Weizhou and was a clansman-grandson of Empress Zhaoxian. He curbed himself to pursue learning and had none of the habits of imperial affines. Once he was reading while riding a donkey. The donkey, craving grass, strayed off the path unnoticed, bumped a mulberry tree, threw him off, and injured his forehead. He passed the jinshi examination, was assigned as judicial adjutant of Heyang, and Fu Bi treated him with great respect. He rose through posts including vice transport commissioner of Hedong, intendant of penal affairs for Hebei, left bureau director of the Ministry of War, Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Ministers of the Imperial Stud and Treasury, Vice Ministers of Revenue, Works, Justice, and Personnel, and served outside as prefect of Zizhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou, and Chengde Army.
73
崇寧中，至工部尚書，以龍圖閣學士知河陽軍。 苦旱，及境而雨，大河決，直州西上埽，勢危甚。 常親護役，徙處埽上，埽潰水溢，及常坐而止。 於是役人盡力，河流遂退，郡賴以安。 卒，年七十九。
During the Chongning era he reached Minister of Works and, as Academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall, governed Heyang Army. There was severe drought, but rain fell as he reached his jurisdiction. The Yellow River breached its banks directly at the upper embankment west of the prefecture, and the situation was extremely perilous. Chang personally supervised the laborers, moving to stand on the embankment. When the embankment collapsed and water overflowed, it reached only to where Chang was sitting and stopped. Thereupon the laborers exerted all their strength, the river receded, and the prefecture was saved. He died at seventy-nine.
74
謝麟，字應之，建州甌寧人。 登第，調會昌令。 民被酒夜與仇鬥，既歸而所親殺之，因誣仇。 麟知死者無子，所親利其財，一訊得實。 再調石首令，縣苦江水為患，堤不可禦，麟疊石障之，自是人得安堵，號「謝公堤」。
Xie Lin, whose courtesy name was Yingzhi, came from Ouning in Jianzhou. He passed the examination and was assigned as magistrate of Huichang. A man, drunk at night, fought with an enemy. After returning home, a close associate killed him and then framed the enemy. Lin knew the dead man had no son and that the associate coveted his property; one interrogation revealed the truth. Reassigned as magistrate of Shishou, he found the county suffering from the Yangzi and dikes that could not hold it back. Lin piled stones to block the river, and thereafter people lived in peace, calling it "Magistrate Xie's Dike."
75
通判辰州。 章惇使湖湘，拓沅州，薦麟為守，由太常博士改西上閤門副使。 徭賊犯辰溪，麟且捕且招，一方以寧。 詔使經制宜州獠，降其種落四千八百人，納思廣洞民千四百室，得鎧甲二萬，褒賜甚渥。 加果州刺史，知荊南、涇、邠二州。
He served as vice-prefect of Chenzhou. When Zhang Dun was envoy to Hunan-Hubei and expanded Yuanzhou, he recommended Lin as prefect. From Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Lin was changed to Vice Commissioner of the Western Upper Gate. When Yao bandits raided Chenxi, Lin pursued them with capture and conciliation alike, and the region was pacified. The throne dispatched him to manage the Liao of Yizhou as circumstances required. He subdued four thousand eight hundred tribal groups, brought in fourteen hundred households from Siguang Cave, seized twenty thousand suits of armor, and received lavish commendation and reward. He was given the additional title of Prefect of Guo Prefecture and appointed governor of Jingnan and of the two prefectures of Jing and Bin.
76
元祐初，復以朝議大夫、直秘閣知潭州，加直龍圖閣，歷徙江寧、鳳翔府、渭桂二州。 融江有夷警，將吏議致討，麟以計平之。 戍兵從北來，不能水土，麟部土人使極南，而北兵止屯近郡，賴以全者甚眾。 卒於官。
At the opening of the Yuanyou era he was again appointed governor of Tanzhou, bearing the titles of Grandee of Court Discussion and Direct Associate of the Secretariat Archive. He was then promoted to Direct Associate of the Dragon Diagram Hall and transferred in turn through Jiangning, Fengxiang Prefecture, and the two prefectures of Wei and Gui. When the Yi raised an alarm in Rongjiang, officers debated a punitive expedition, but Lin resolved the crisis by stratagem. Northern garrison troops could not endure the southern climate. Lin deployed local men to the far south while keeping the northern soldiers encamped only in nearby prefectures, and in this way saved a great many lives. He died in office.
77
王宗望
Wang Zongwang
78
王宗望，字磻叟，光州固始人。 以蔭累擢夔州路轉運副使。 哲宗即位，行赦賞軍，萬州彌旬不給。 庖卒朱明因眾怒，白晝入府宅，傷守臣，左右驚散，他兵籍籍謀兆亂。 宗望聞變，自夔疾驅至，先命給賞，然後斬明以徇，且竄視守傷而不救者。 乃自劾，朝廷嘉之。 歷倉部郎中、司農少卿、江淮發運使。
Wang Zongwang, whose courtesy name was Pansou, came from Gushi in Guangzhou. By inherited privilege he rose in stages to Vice Transport Commissioner of Kuizhou Circuit. When Emperor Zhezong ascended the throne, an amnesty was proclaimed and the troops were to be rewarded, but Wanzhou went more than ten days without paying them. A kitchen soldier named Zhu Ming, riding the troops' fury, entered the prefect's residence in broad daylight and wounded the governor. Attendants scattered in terror while other soldiers murmured of rebellion to come. Zongwang heard of the disturbance and galloped from Kuizhou. He first ordered the rewards paid, then executed Ming as a public warning, and banished those who had looked on while the governor was wounded without lifting a hand. He then submitted a self-censure, and the court commended him. He served in turn as Bureau Director in the Ministry of Revenue, Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Granaries, and Transport Commissioner for the Jiang-Huai region.
79
楚州沿淮至漣州，風濤險，舟多溺。 議者謂開支氏渠引水入運河，歲久不決，宗望始成之，為公私利。 代吳安持為都水使者。 自大河有東、北流之異，紛爭十年，水官無所適從。 宗望謂回河有創立金堤七十里，索緡錢百萬，詔從之。 右正言張商英論其誕謾，而宗望奏已有成績，遂增秩三等，加直龍圖閣、河北都轉運使，擢工部侍郎，以集賢殿修撰知鄆州。 卒，年七十七。 元符中，治其導河東流事，以為附會元祐，追所得恩典云。
From Chuzhou along the Huai to Lianzhou the wind and waves were treacherous, and many boats were lost. For years officials had debated opening the Zhi Clan Canal to feed water into the Grand Canal without reaching a decision. Zongwang finally completed the work, to the benefit of both public and private interests. He replaced Wu Anchi as Commissioner of the Directorate of Waterways. Once the Yellow River had split into eastern and northern courses, debate raged for ten years and the water officials had no settled course to follow. Zongwang proposed returning the river to its old course and building a golden dike seventy li long, requesting a million strings of cash. The throne approved. Right Remonstrator Zhang Shangying denounced the plan as extravagantly false, but Zongwang reported that results were already in hand. He was promoted three ranks, given Direct Associate of the Dragon Diagram Hall and Chief Transport Commissioner of Hebei, elevated to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and appointed Governor of Yanzhou as Academician Compiler of the Hall for Cherishing Worthies. He died at seventy-seven. During the Yuanfu era his project of directing the river eastward was investigated. He was judged to have pandered to the Yuanyou faction, and the honors he had received were revoked.
80
王吉甫
Wang Jifu
81
王吉甫，字邦憲，同州人。 舉明經，練習法律，試斷刑入等，為大理評事，累遷丞、正、刑部員外郎、大理少卿。
Wang Jifu, whose courtesy name was Bangxian, came from Tongzhou. He passed the Mingjing examination, trained thoroughly in law, and passed the criminal adjudication examination at full rank. He served as Assessor in the Court of Judicial Review and rose successively to Vice Director, Director, Vice Director in the Ministry of Justice, and Vice President of the Court of Judicial Review.
82
舒亶以官燭引至第，執政欲坐以自盜。 吉甫謂不可，執政怒，移獄他所，吉甫亦就辨。 亶乃用飲食論罪，不以燭也。 南郊起幔城，役卒急於畢事，董役者責之曰：「此殆類白露屋耳。」 卒訴之。 吏當非所宜言論死。 吉甫謂非咒詛不應死，遂求對。 神宗怒曰：「得非為白露屋事來邪？」 吉甫從容敷陳，不少懾，帝為霽怒，其人得釋。 蘇軾南遷，所過，郡守有延館之者，走馬使上聞，詔鞫之。 吉甫議當笞，宰相章惇不悅。 吉甫曰：「法如是，難以增加成罪。」 卒從笞。 太倉火，議誅守者十餘人，亦爭之，皆得不死。 其持論寬平，大抵類此。
Shu Dan had been escorted home by an official torch, and the chief ministers wished to convict him of misappropriating public property. Jifu said this would not stand. The chief ministers were angered and moved the case elsewhere, but Jifu followed to argue the point himself. Shu was convicted on charges of food and drink instead, not on the torch. When the tent city was raised for the Southern Suburban Sacrifice, the conscript laborers were pressed to finish quickly. The overseer scolded them, saying, "This is almost like a Bailu house." The laborers lodged a complaint. The clerks ruled that such speech was impermissible and merited death. Jifu held that without cursing or imprecation death was not warranted, and requested an audience with the emperor. Emperor Shenzong said angrily, "Have you come about the Bailu house affair?" Jifu calmly laid out his argument without the least timidity. The emperor's anger cleared, and the man was released. When Su Shi was exiled to the south, a prefect at one stop had lodged him. A mounted courier reported this to the throne, and an edict ordered an investigation. Jifu argued that flogging was the proper penalty, but Chief Councillor Zhang Dun was displeased. Jifu said, "The law is as it is; guilt cannot be piled on beyond it." In the end flogging was imposed. When the Imperial Granary burned, more than ten keepers were proposed for execution. Jifu contested this as well, and all were spared death. His positions were lenient and evenhanded; most of his cases were of this kind.
83
請知齊州、梓州。 梓在東川為壯藩，戶口最盛。 轉運使欲增折配以取羨餘。 吉甫謂其僚曰：「民力竭矣，一增之後，不可復減，吾寧貽使者怒，忍為國斂怨、為民基禍哉。」 竟卻之。 歷提點梓州路京畿刑獄、開封少尹、知同、邢、漢三州，以中大夫卒，年七十。
He requested appointment as governor of Qizhou and Zizhou. Zizhou was the strongest prefecture of Eastern Chuan and had the largest population. The transport commissioner wished to increase the supplementary tax levy to extract surplus revenue. Jifu told his colleagues, "The people's strength is exhausted. Once a levy is raised it cannot be lowered again. I would rather provoke the envoy's anger than heap resentment on the state or lay ruin upon the people." In the end he refused. He served successively as Judicial Commissioner for the Capital Region of Zizhou Circuit, Junior Administrator of Kaifeng, and governor of the three prefectures of Tong, Xing, and Han. He died with the title of Grandee of the Palace, at age seventy.
84
吉甫老於為吏，廉介不回，但一於用法，士恨其少緣飾云。
Jifu was long experienced in administration, upright and unyielding, yet single-minded in applying the law. Scholars regretted that he showed so little diplomatic polish.
85
論曰：宋取士兼習律令，故儒者以經術潤飾吏事，舉能其官。 遵惠政及民，而緩登州婦獄，君子謂之失刑。 士宗、象先皆執經勸講，其為刑官，論法平恕，宜哉！ 璹吏事絕人，民懷其德。 純以微官能著清節，紘議獄必傅經誼，風義藹然。 常坐護危埽，麟定徭、獠，宗望弭萬州之變，皆靖至難之事於談笑間。 吉甫一於用法，而廉介不回，有足稱云。
The commentators say: Because the Song recruited scholars trained in both the classics and the statutes, Confucians polished administrative work with classical learning and generally fulfilled their offices well. Zun's benevolent policies reached the people, yet he was lenient in the Dengzhou wife case, and gentlemen called this a failure of penal judgment. Shizong and Xiangxian both held to the classics and urged moral instruction. As judicial officials their legal reasoning was fair and forgiving — as it should be! Shu's administrative talent was unmatched, and the people cherished his virtue. Chun, though holding a minor post, was known for unsullied integrity; Chang, when hearing cases, always grounded his reasoning in classic principles — their moral bearing was luminous. Chang sat guarding a perilous embankment; Lin pacified Yao bandits and Liao tribes; Zongwang quelled the Wanzhou mutiny — each settled affairs of the utmost difficulty as if in casual conversation. Jifu was single-minded in applying the law, yet upright and unyielding — worth praise, indeed.