1
孫長卿
Sun Zhangqing
2
孫長卿，字次公，揚州人。 以外祖朱巽任為秘書省校書郎。 天禧中，巽守雍，命隨所取浮圖像入見。 仁宗方權聽天下事，嘉其年少敏占對，欲留侍東宮，辭以母疾。 詔遷官知楚州糧料院。 郡倉積米五十萬，陳腐不可食，主吏皆懼法，毋敢輕去，長卿為酌新舊均渫之，吏罪得免。
Sun Zhangqing, whose courtesy name was Cigong, came from Yangzhou. He entered service as a collator in the Secretariat through the influence of his maternal grandfather, Zhu Xun. During the Tianxi reign period, while Zhu Xun was prefect of Yong, he had Sun bring a Buddhist image he had acquired to present at court. Renzong was then regent of the realm. He admired the young man's quick wit in conversation and wished to keep him at the crown prince's side, but Sun begged off, pleading his mother's illness. An imperial edict promoted him and appointed him supervisor of the grain provisions office at Chuzhou. The prefectural storehouse held five hundred thousand bushels of rice that had rotted beyond use. The warehouse clerks feared prosecution and dared not discard any of it. Zhangqing arranged to blend the spoiled grain with fresh stock and draw it off evenly, sparing the clerks from punishment.
3
通判河南府。 秋，大雨，軍營壞，或言某眾將叛，洛中讙然，長卿馳諭之曰：「天雨敗屋廬，未能葺，汝輩豈有欲叛意，得無有乘此動吾軍者邪？」 推首惡一人誅之，留宿其所，眾遂定。 詔汰三陵奉先卒，汰者群譟府下，長卿矯制使還，而具言不可汰之故，朝廷為止。 知和州，民訴人殺弟，長卿察所言無理，問其資，曰：「上等也。」 「家幾人？」 曰：「惟此弟爾。」 曰：「然則汝殺弟也。」 鞫之，服，郡人神明之。
He served as vice-prefect of Henan Prefecture. That autumn, torrential rains wrecked the army camps. Rumors spread that certain units were about to mutiny, and panic swept Luoyang. Zhangqing galloped to the scene and rallied the men: "The rains have ruined our barracks before we could repair them. Do you truly mean to rebel? Or is someone trying to use this crisis to stir unrest in the ranks?" He arrested and executed the principal instigator, spent the night among the troops, and the army calmed at once. When an edict called for cutting the guard detachments at the Three Imperial Mausoleums, the men facing discharge raised a tumult at the prefectural gate. Zhangqing issued orders under emergency authority to send them back, laid out why the cutback would not work, and the court abandoned the plan. While prefect of He Prefecture, a man came forward claiming someone had murdered his younger brother. Zhangqing found the story implausible and asked the man's household rank. "First grade," the man replied." How many people live in your household?" Only this younger brother," he said." Then you must be the one who killed him," Zhangqing said. Under questioning the man confessed, and the people of the commandery hailed Zhangqing's judgment as inspired.
4
提點益州路刑獄，歷開封鹽鐵判官、江東淮南河北轉運使、江浙荊淮發運使。 歲漕米至八百萬，或疑其多，長卿曰：「吾非欲事羨贏，以備饑歲爾。」 議者謂楚水多風波，請開盱眙河，自淮趣高郵，長卿言：「地阻山回繞，役大難就。」 事下都水，調工數百萬，卒以不可成，罷之。 時又將弛茶禁而收其徵，召長卿議，長卿曰：「本祖宗榷茶，蓋將備二邊之糴，且不出都內錢，公私以為便。 今之所行，不足助邊糴什一，國用耗矣。」 乃條所不便十五事，不從。
He served as regional inspector of legal affairs in the Yizhou circuit, then as salt and iron commissariat judge at Kaifeng, transport commissioner for Jiangdong, Huainan, and Hebei, and grain-shipment commissioner for Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jing, and Huai. When annual shipments of grain reached eight million bushels, some questioned whether the figure was inflated. Zhangqing replied, "I am not padding the accounts for profit. This is a reserve against years of famine." Some argued that the Chu water route was too prone to storms and petitioned to open the Xuyi River, running from the Huai directly toward Gaoyou. Zhangqing objected that the land was broken by winding mountain barriers and that the project would demand enormous labor with little hope of success. The proposal went to the Directorate of Waterways, which deployed labor on a scale of millions. In the end the work could not be finished and was dropped. The court was also weighing a loosening of the tea monopoly, retaining only its tax levy. Zhangqing was called in to advise. "Our founders imposed the tea monopoly," he said, "precisely to fund grain purchases for the northern and western frontiers without drawing on the capital treasury—an arrangement both public and private interests found useful. What you propose now," he said, "would barely supply one tenth of frontier grain needs. The state coffers would be drained instead." He submitted a list of fifteen objections. The court did not heed him.
5
改陝西都轉運使。 逾年，知慶州。 州據險高，患無水，蓋嘗疏引澗谷汲城中，未幾復絕。 長卿鑿百井，皆及泉。 泥陽有羅川、馬嶺，上構危棧，下臨不測之淵，過者惴恐。 長卿訪得唐故道，闢為通塗。 加集賢院學士、河東都轉運使，拜龍圖閣直學士、知定州。
He was transferred to the post of grand transport commissioner for Shaanxi. A year later he was appointed prefect of Qingzhou. Qingzhou occupied high, defensible ground and chronically lacked water. An earlier effort had diverted mountain streams into the city, but before long the supply failed again. Zhangqing sank a hundred wells, each striking water. At Niyang, near the Luo River and Maliu Mountain, travelers crossed trestleways hung above dizzying depths, passing in terror. Zhangqing located an old Tang-era road and reopened it as a safe thoroughfare. He was made an academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies and grand transport commissioner for Hedong, then granted the title of direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall and appointed prefect of Dingzhou.
6
熙寧元年，河北地大震，城郭倉庾皆隤，長卿盡力繕補。 神宗知其能，轉兵部侍郎，留再任。 明年，卒，年六十六。
In the first year of the Xining reign, a massive earthquake struck Hebei, toppling city walls and state granaries. Zhangqing threw all his energy into repairs. Shenzong recognized his competence, promoted him to vice minister of war, and ordered him to serve another term. He died the following year at the age of sixty-six.
7
長卿無文學，而長於政事，為能臣。 性潔廉，不以一毫取諸人。 定州當得園利八十萬，悉歸之公。 既沒，詔中使護其喪歸葬。
Zhangqing possessed no particular literary fame, but he excelled at practical governance and ranked among the empire's capable officials. By nature he was scrupulously honest and never accepted even the smallest favor from anyone. Dingzhou was due eighty thousand in proceeds from public gardens; he turned every coin over to the state. After his death, the throne ordered an imperial envoy to escort his coffin home for burial.
8
周沆，字子真，青州益都人。 第進士，知渤海縣。 歲滿，縣人請留，既報可，而以親老求監州稅。 通判鳳翔，初置轉運判官。 沆使江西，求葬親，改知沂州。 歷開封府推官。
Zhou Hang, whose courtesy name was Zizhen, came from Yidu in Qingzhou. After taking his jinshi degree, he became magistrate of Bohai County. When his term expired, the people petitioned to retain him; once that was approved, he asked instead to oversee a prefectural tax office, pleading the need to care for his elderly parents. He served as vice-prefect of Fengxiang and was one of the first transport vice-commissioners appointed. While serving in Jiangxi, Hang obtained leave to bury his parents and was transferred to the prefecture of Yizhou. He served on the investigating magistrate's bench at Kaifeng Prefecture.
9
湖南蠻唐、盤二族寇暴，殺居民，官軍數不利，以沆為轉運使。 沆言：「蠻驟勝方驕，未易鬥力，宜須秋冬進兵。 且其地險氣毒，人驍悍，善用鋋盾，北軍不能𥒰。 請選邕、宜、融三州卒三千人習知山川技藝者，徑搗其巢，布餘兵絡山足，出則獵取之。 俟其勢窮力屈，乃可順撫。」 朝廷用其策，二族皆降。 加直史館、知潭州。 他道兵來戍者，率兩期乃代，多死瘴癘，沆請以期為斷，戍人便之。
In Hunan, the Tang and Pan barbarian clans had been marauding, killing civilians, and repeatedly defeating government troops. Hang was appointed transport commissioner. Hang argued, "Fresh from their victories, the barbarians are arrogant. Direct confrontation will not serve. We should wait until autumn and winter before moving troops. Their country is rugged and malarial, and their warriors are fierce, adept with hooked shields. Troops from the north cannot break them. Select three thousand men from Yong, Yi, and Rong who know the mountains and local fighting techniques. Send them straight at the enemy strongholds while the rest spread along the foothills to cut off anyone who tries to flee. Only when they are cornered and spent can we bring them peacefully to heel." The court adopted his strategy, and both clans submitted. He was made drafting historian in the Direct Historiography Office and appointed prefect of Tanzhou. Soldiers sent from other circuits to garrison the area usually had to serve two full rotations before relief, and many succumbed to the local miasma. Hang petitioned to limit service to a single rotation, greatly easing the burden on the troops.
10
徙河東轉運使。 民盜鑄鐵錢，法不能禁，沆高估錢價，鑄者以無利，自息。 入為度支副使。
He was transferred to transport commissioner for Hedong. Illegal iron coin casting plagued the region, and the law could not stop it. Hang sharply raised the official price of coin until casting brought no profit, and the illegal minting died away on its own. He was recalled to the capital as deputy commissioner of the Revenue Branch.
11
儂智高亂定，仁宗命安撫廣西，諭之曰：「嶺外地惡，非賊所至處，毋庸行。」 對曰：「君命，仁也； 然遠民罹塗炭，當布宣天子德澤。」 遂往，遍行郡邑。 民避寇棄業，吏用常法，滿半歲則聽人革佃。 沆曰：「是豈與凶年詭征役者同科？」 奏申其期。 擢天章閣待制、陝西都轉運使，改河北。
After Nong Zhigao's rebellion was suppressed, Renzong named him to pacify Guangxi and told him, "The country beyond the passes is savage. There is no need to venture where the rebels never went." Hang replied, "A sovereign's commission is an act of grace in itself; but the far-off people are still reeling from war and ruin. I should carry the Son of Heaven's kindness to every corner." He went anyway, visiting every prefecture and county in the region. People who fled the rebels and abandoned their fields were subject to the usual rule: after half a year their land could be reassigned to new tenants. Hang protested, "Surely this is not the same as evading corvée through fraud in a year of disaster?" He memorialized for an extension of the deadline. He was promoted to attendant gentleman of the Hall of Celestial Manifestations and appointed grand transport commissioner for Shaanxi, then transferred to Hebei.
12
李仲昌建六塔河之議，以為費省而功倍。 詔沆行視，沆言：「近計塞商胡，本度五百八十萬工，用薪芻千六百萬； 今才用功一萬，薪芻三百萬。 均一河也，而功力不相侔如是，蓋仲昌先為小計，以來興役爾。 況所規新渠，視河廣不能五之一，安能容受？ 此役若成，河必泛溢，齊、博、濱、棣之民其魚矣。」 既而從初議，河塞復決，如沆言。
Li Zhongchang championed the Six Towers River scheme, claiming it would cost less yet achieve twice the result. The throne ordered Hang to inspect the works in person. Hang reported, "The recent project to dam the Shanghu Reach was originally estimated at 5.8 million work units and 16 million in fodder and fuel; so far only ten thousand units of labor have been spent, with three million in fodder and fuel. It is the same river, yet the figures bear no comparison. Zhongchang obviously lowballed the estimate to get the project started. Besides, the channel he proposes is less than a fifth the width of the river. How could it possibly hold the volume? If this project is finished, the river will inevitably burst its banks. The people of Qi, Bo, Bin, and Di will be drowned like fish in a flood. The court went ahead with the original plan anyway. The dam failed again, exactly as Hang had warned.
13
又徙河東轉運使，遷龍圖閣直學士、知慶州，召知通進銀臺司、判太常寺。 英宗既即位，契丹賀乾元節使至，沆館客，欲取書柩前，使者以非典故，不可。 沆折之曰：「昔貴國有喪，吾使至柳河即反，今聽於几筵達命。 恩禮厚矣，尚何云？」 使者立授書。 朝廷未知契丹主年，沆乘間雜他語以問，得其實，使者悔之曰：「今復應兄事南朝矣。」
He was transferred again to transport commissioner for Hedong, then promoted to direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall and appointed prefect of Qingzhou, and finally summoned to head the Bureau for Transmission of Documents and Ectasy and to serve as director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. After Yingzong's accession, when the Khitan envoy arrived to offer congratulations on the Qianyuan Festival, Hang received him as chief host. Hang wished to present the letter of condolence before the coffin, but the envoy insisted this was not established precedent. Hang pressed back: "When your court was in mourning, our envoy turned back as soon as he reached Willow River. To let you deliver your message at the imperial bier is already an extraordinary courtesy. The honor shown you is more than ample. What objection remains? The envoy at once handed over the letter where he stood. The court did not yet know the Khitan emperor's age. Hang slipped the question into casual conversation and learned the truth. The envoy, realizing his mistake, lamented, "Now I must again acknowledge the Southern Court as elder brother."
14
進樞密直學士、知成德軍。 俗方棄親事佛。 沆閱按，斥數千人還其家。 以戶部侍郎致仕，卒，年六十九。
He was promoted to direct academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs and appointed military commissioner of Chengde. Local custom had people abandoning their parents to take Buddhist vows. Hang examined the rolls and sent several thousand of them home to their families. He retired as vice minister of the Households and died at the age of sixty-nine.
15
李中師
Li Zhongshi
16
李中師，字君錫，開封人。 舉進士，陳執中薦為集賢校理、提點開封府界。 境多盜，中師立賞格，督吏分捕，盡得之。 進秩，辭不受，乃擢度支判官，為淮南轉運使。 兩浙饑，移淮粟振贍，僚屬議勿與，中師曰：「朝廷視民，淮、浙等爾。」 卒與之。 徙河東，入為度支副使，拜天章閣待制、陝西都轉運使，知澶州、河南府。 召權三司使、龍圖閣直學士，復為河南。 前此多大臣居守，委事掾幕，吏習弛緩，中師一以嚴整齊之。 號為治辦。 然用法刻深，煩碎無大體，唯厚結中人。
Li Zhongshi, whose courtesy name was Junxi, was from Kaifeng. After passing the jinshi examination, he was recommended by Chen Zhizhong for appointment as collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies and regional inspector of the Kaifeng prefectural border. Bandits were rife in his jurisdiction. Zhongshi set bounty scales, divided his officers into search teams, and captured them all. When a promotion was offered, he refused it; he was then appointed a judge in the Revenue Branch and made transport commissioner for Huainan. When famine struck the Two Zhes, he was ordered to ship Huainan grain for relief. His staff argued against releasing the stores. Zhongshi said, "In the court's eyes, the people of Huai and Zhe are the same." He released the grain. He was transferred to Hedong, recalled as deputy commissioner of the Revenue Branch, made attendant gentleman of the Hall of Celestial Manifestations and grand transport commissioner for Shaanxi, and served as prefect of Chanzhou and Henan Prefecture. He was summoned to serve as acting commissioner of the Three Departments and direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall, then returned again to Henan Prefecture. Until then, the prefecture had usually been held by senior ministers who left daily business to their staff, and the clerks had grown slack. Zhongshi tightened every detail with rigorous discipline. He earned a reputation for running a tight, efficient office. Yet he enforced the law with punitive severity and petty fussiness, showing little sense of larger principle, and cultivated palace eunuchs with conspicuous favor.
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初，神宗嘗對宰相稱其治狀，富弼曰：「陛下何從知之？」 帝默然。 中師銜弼沮已，及再至，弼已老，乃籍其戶，令出免役錢與富民等。 又希司農指，多取餘，視他處為重，洛人怨之。 朝廷以中師率先推行，召為群牧使。 乞廢河南、北監牧，省國費，而養馬於民，不報。 後竟行其說，民不堪命。 權發遣開封府，卒，年六十一。 有女嫁陳執中子世儒，坐夫事誅死。
Once, Shenzong remarked to his chief minister that Zhongshi governed well. Fu Bi asked, "Your Majesty, how would you know?" The emperor fell silent. Zhongshi nursed a grudge against Fu Bi for blocking his reputation. When he returned to Henan, Bi was already advanced in years, and Zhongshi placed his name on the household rolls, requiring him to pay exemption-service fees on the same scale as the wealthiest men. He also courted the Finance Commission, extracting heavier surplus levies than anywhere else, and the people of Luoyang bitterly resented him. Because Zhongshi had been foremost in enforcing the new measures, the court summoned him to serve as commissioner of the Directorate of Horse Pastures. He petitioned to abolish the northern and southern pasture commissions, cut state costs, and shift horse breeding to private households. The throne never answered. In time his plan was adopted anyway, and the common people found it unbearable. While serving as acting chief administrator of Kaifeng Prefecture, he died at the age of sixty-one. He had a daughter who married Chen Zhizhong's son Shiyru; she was put to death when her husband's case brought capital punishment.
18
羅拯，字道濟，祥符人。 第進士，歷官知榮州。 州介兩江間，每江漲，輒犯城郭，拯作東西二堤除其患。 選知秀州，為江西轉運判官、提點福建刑獄。 泉州興化軍水壞廬舍，拯請勿徵海運竹木，經一年，民居皆復其舊。
Luo Zheng, styled Daoji, was a native of Xiangfu. He passed the jinshi examination and rose through office until he governed Rong Prefecture. The prefecture lay between two rivers, and whenever they flooded the waters would breach the city walls. Zheng built dikes to the east and west and eliminated the hazard. He was selected to govern Xiuzhou, then served as Jiangxi transport vice-commissioner and Fujian judicial intendant. When floods in Quanzhou and Xinghua Circuit destroyed dwellings, Zheng asked that the maritime levy on bamboo and timber be suspended. Within a year the people's homes had all been restored.
19
遷轉運使。 邵武之光澤不榷酒，以課賦民，號「黃麹錢」，拯均之他三邑，人以為便。 改江、淮發運副使。 江、淮故無積倉，漕船繫岸下，俟糴入乃得行，蓋官吏以淮南不受陳粟為逃譴計。 拯始請凡米至而不可上供者，以廩軍； 又貯浙西米於潤倉以時運，自是漕增而費省。 轉為使。
He was promoted to transport commissioner. In Shaowu, Guangze did not monopolize wine but taxed the people through a levy called the Yellow Ferment Fee. Zheng spread that burden evenly across the other three counties, and people welcomed the change. He was transferred to serve as vice-director of Jiang-Huai grain transport. Jiang-Huai had no reserve granaries; transport boats had to tie up at shore and wait for fresh purchases before they could sail. Officials had arranged this so that Huainan would not accept old grain, thereby evading accountability. Zheng first proposed that any grain arriving unfit for tribute be issued to garrison troops; He also stored Zhexi grain in Runzhou granaries for shipment on schedule. From then on transport volume rose while costs fell. He was promoted to commissioner.
20
拯使閩時，泉商黃謹往高麗，館之禮賓省，其王云自天聖後職貢絕，欲命使與謹俱來。 至是，拯以聞，神宗許之，遂遣金悌入貢。 高麗復通中國自茲始。 加天章閣待制。 居職七年，徙知永興軍、青、潁、秦三州，卒，年六十五。
While Zheng served in Fujian, the Quanzhou merchant Huang Jin traveled to Goryeo and was lodged at the Ministry of Rites for Hosting Guests. The Goryeo king said that tribute missions had ceased since the Tiansheng era and that he wished to send an envoy to return with Jin. Zheng reported this to the throne; Emperor Shenzong approved, and Goryeo then sent Jin Ti to present tribute. Goryeo's restored contact with China began from this point. He was given the additional title of Hanlin Associate at the Hall of Heavenly Manifestations. After seven years in office he was transferred to govern Yongxing Circuit and the prefectures of Qing, Ying, and Qin. He died at sixty-five.
21
拯性和柔，不與人校曲直。 為發運使時，與副皮公弼不協。 公弼徙他道，御吏劾其貸官錢，拯力為辨理。 錢公輔為諫官，嘗論拯短，而公輔姻黨多在拯部內，往往薦進之。 或譏以德報怨，拯曰：「同僚不協，所見異也； 諫官所言，職也。 又何怨乎？」 時論服其長者。
Zheng was gentle by nature and did not quarrel over right and wrong with others. When he was transport commissioner, he did not get along with his deputy Pi Gongbi. When Gongbi was transferred elsewhere, imperial censors impeached him for borrowing official funds. Zheng forcefully argued in his defense. Qian Gongfu, as a remonstrance official, had once criticized Zheng's faults, yet many of Gongfu's relatives and associates fell within Zheng's jurisdiction, and Zheng often recommended them for advancement. Some mocked him for repaying enmity with kindness. Zheng said, "When colleagues fail to get along, it is because their views differ; What a remonstrance official says is his duty. Why should I hold a grudge?" Contemporary opinion admired him as a man of forbearance.
22
馬仲甫
Ma Zhongfu
23
馬仲甫，字子山，廬江人，太子少保亮之子也。 舉進士，知登封縣。 轘轅道險厄，遂傭民鑿平為坦塗，人便其行，為刻石頌美。 通判趙州，知台州，為度支判官。
Ma Zhongfu, styled Zishan, was a native of Lujiang and the son of the Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent, Ma Liang. He passed the jinshi examination and became magistrate of Dengfeng County. The Huanyuan Pass road was perilous and treacherous, so he hired laborers to cut and level it into a smooth track. Travelers found the route easy, and they erected a stone monument in praise. He served as vice-prefect of Zhao Prefecture, prefect of Taizhou, and finance vice-commissioner.
24
內侍楊永德言漕舟淮、汴間，惟水遞鋪為便。 詔仲甫偕往訂可否，還言其害十餘條，議遂格。 出為夔路轉運使。 歲饑，盜粟者當論死，仲甫請罪減一等，詔須奏裁。 復言：「饑羸拘囚，比得報，死矣，請決而後奏。」
The palace eunuch Yang Yongde proposed that for transport boats between the Huai and Bian rivers, relying only on water courier stations would be most convenient. The emperor ordered Zhongfu to accompany him and assess the proposal. On returning, Zhongfu listed more than ten harms, and the plan was shelved. He was sent out as transport commissioner for Kui Circuit. In a year of famine, grain thieves were liable to the death penalty. Zhongfu requested that the offense be reduced one grade, but the edict required that this be submitted for imperial decision. He said again, "The starving and feeble are held in prison; by the time a reply arrives, they will be dead. I ask leave to decide first and report afterward."
25
徙使淮南。 真、揚諸州地狹，出米少，官糴之多，價常踴登，濱江米狼戾，而農無所售。 仲甫請移糴以紓其患，兩益於民，從之。 遂繇戶部判官為發運使。 自淮陰徑泗上浮長淮，風波覆舟，歲罹其患。 仲甫建議鑿洪澤渠六十里，漕者便之。
He was transferred to transport commissioner for Huainan. Zhen, Yang, and neighboring prefectures had little land and produced little rice, yet official purchases there were heavy and prices always soared. Along the river rice lay abundant and unsold, while farmers had no one to sell to. Zhongfu requested shifting purchases elsewhere to relieve the problem, a change that would benefit both regions. The request was granted. He then rose from finance vice-commissioner to transport commissioner. From Huaiyin boats went straight up the Si River onto the Long Huai, where storms capsized them year after year. Zhongfu proposed excavating a sixty-li channel at Hongze Lake, and transport crews found the route much easier.
26
拜天章閣待制、知瀛州秦州。 古渭介青唐之南，夏人在其北，中通一徑，小警則路絕。 仲甫得篳栗城故址，自雞川砦築堡，北抵南谷，環數百里為內地，詔賜名甘谷堡。 故時羌人入城貿易，皆僦邸，仲甫設館處之，陽示禮厚，實閑之也。
He was appointed Hanlin Associate at the Hall of Heavenly Manifestations and assigned to govern Ying and Qin Prefectures. Guwei lay south of Qingtang with Tangut people to the north. Only one narrow path ran between them, and at the slightest alarm the route was cut off. Zhongfu took the old site of Bili Fort and built a bastion from Jichuan Stockade north to Nangu Valley, enclosing several hundred li as interior territory. The court bestowed on it the name Gangu Fort. Formerly, when Qiang traders entered the city to trade, they all rented inns. Zhongfu established guesthouses to lodge them, outwardly showing generous courtesy while in fact keeping them under restraint.
27
熙寧初，守亳、許、揚三州，糾察在京刑獄，知通進銀臺司，復為揚州，提舉崇禧觀，卒。
At the beginning of the Xining era he governed Bo, Xu, and Yang Prefectures, inspected capital prisons, directed the Memorial Chancellery and Silver Terrace Office, returned to Yangzhou, was put in charge of the Chongxi Abbey, and died.
28
王居卿
Wang Juqing
29
王居卿，字壽明，登州蓬萊人，以進士至知齊州，提舉夔路京東刑獄、鹽鐵判官。 建言商賈轉百貨市塞上者，聽以家貲抵於官，為給長券，至賣所，並輸徵稅直，公私便之。
Wang Juqing, styled Shouming, was a native of Penglai in Deng Prefecture. After passing the jinshi examination he rose to prefect of Qi Prefecture, judicial intendant for Kui and Jingdong Circuits, and salt-and-iron vice-commissioner. He proposed that merchants transporting goods to sell on the frontier be allowed to pledge household assets with the government in exchange for long-term vouchers, then pay the full tax at the place of sale. Both public and private interests would benefit.
30
出知揚州，改京東轉運使。 青州河貫城中，苦泛溢為病，居卿即城立飛梁，上設樓櫓，下建門，以時閉啟，人誦其智。 徙河北路。 河決曹村，居卿立軟橫二埽以遏怒流，而不與水爭。 朝廷賞其功，建以為都水法。 召拜戶部副使、提舉市易，擢天章閣待制、河北都轉運使。 知秦州、太原府，卒，年六十二。 居卿俗吏，特以言利至從官。
He was sent out to govern Yangzhou, then transferred to transport commissioner for Jingdong Circuit. In Qing Prefecture a river ran through the city, and flooding had long been a scourge. Juqing built a flying bridge atop the city wall, with watch towers above and gates below that opened and closed according to season. People praised his ingenuity. He was transferred to Hebei Circuit. When the Yellow River burst at Caocun, Juqing erected two soft transverse embankments to check the raging current without fighting the water head-on. The court rewarded his achievement and made his method standard practice for the Directorate of Waterways. He was summoned and appointed vice-minister of revenue and commissioner for the market-trade monopoly, then promoted to Hanlin Associate and chief transport commissioner for Hebei. He governed Qin Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture, and died at sixty-two. Juqing was a vulgar bureaucrat who rose to high office solely through proposals for profit.
31
孫構字紹先，博平人。 中進士第，為廣濟軍判官，歲入圭田粟六百石，構止受百石，餘以畀學官。 久之，知黎州，夷年墨數擾邊，用間殺之。 蜀帥呂公弼上其事，擢知真州。 凶歲得盜，令各指黨伍，悉置諸法，境內為清。
Sun Gou, styled Shaoxian, was a native of Boping. He passed the jinshi examination and served as vice-magistrate of Guangji Circuit. The official fields yielded six hundred shi of grain each year; Gou accepted only one hundred shi and gave the rest to the school officials. After some time he became prefect of Li Prefecture. The Yi chieftain Nianmo repeatedly harried the border, and Gou used agents to have him killed. The Sichuan commander Lü Gongbi reported the affair, and Gou was promoted to prefect of Zhen Prefecture. In a bad year he captured thieves, made each identify his accomplices, and punished them all according to law until the territory was cleared.
32
遷度支判官。 夔州部夷梁承秀、李光吉、王兗導生獠入寇，轉運判官張詵請誅之。 選構為使，倍道之官，至則遣渝州豪杜安行募千人往襲，自督官軍及黔中兵擊其後，斬承秀，入討二族，火其居。 餘眾保黑崖嶺，黔兵從間道夜譟而進，光吉墜崖死，兗自縛降。 以其地建南平軍。 錄功加直昭文館。
He was transferred to finance vice-commissioner. In Qizhou Circuit, the Yi leaders Liang Chengxiu, Li Guangji, and Wang Yan led raw Liao raiders in invasion. Transport vice-commissioner Zhang Shen requested their execution. Gou was selected as commissioner and rushed to his post by forced marches. On arrival he sent the Yu Prefecture strongman Du Anxing to recruit a thousand men for a surprise attack, while he personally led government troops and Qianzhong forces to strike from the rear. Chengxiu was beheaded; Gou then invaded to punish the other two clans and burned their dwellings. The survivors held Black Cliff Ridge. Qianzhong troops advanced by a hidden path at night with loud clamor; Guangji fell from a cliff and died, and Yan bound himself and surrendered. On this territory Nanping Military Prefecture was established. His merit was recorded and he was given direct appointment to the Hall for Cherishing Literary Works.
33
徙湖北轉運使。 章惇興南、北江蠻事，構諭降懿、洽二州，納歸附州十四。 初，渡辰溪，舟毀而溺，得援者僅免，神宗憫之，賜帛三百。 北江酋彭師晏常持向背，構知向水酋彭儒武與有隙，檄使攻之。 師晏降，得其下溪州地，五溪皆平。 進集賢殿修撰，賜三品服。 交阯入寇，拜右諫議大夫、知桂州，聲言將掎角搗其巢穴，寇聞引去。 以疾提舉崇福宮，換太中大夫，卒，年六十四。
He was transferred to transport commissioner for Hubei Circuit. When Zhang Dun launched the southern and northern Jiang barbarian campaigns, Gou persuaded Yi and Qia Prefectures to submit and brought in fourteen surrendering prefectures. Earlier, crossing the Chen River, his boat was wrecked and he nearly drowned; only with rescue did he barely escape. Emperor Shenzong took pity on him and granted him three hundred bolts of silk. The northern Jiang chieftain Peng Shiyan often wavered in allegiance. Gou knew that the Xiangshui chieftain Peng Ruwu bore a grudge against him and ordered Ruwu to attack. Shiyan surrendered; Gou obtained the territory of Xi Prefecture, and the Five Streams region was pacified. He was promoted to Compiler at the Hall of Assembled Worthies and granted third-rank official robes. When Jiaozhi invaded, he was appointed Right Remonstrance Grandee and prefect of Gui Prefecture. He publicly declared that he would coordinate a pincer attack on their stronghold, and the invaders withdrew at the news. Ill, he was put in charge of the Chongfu Palace, exchanged his post for Grandee of Palace Attendance, and died at sixty-four.
34
構喜功名，勇於建立，西南邊事自此始云。
Gou loved fame and achievement and was bold in establishing new projects; the southwestern frontier campaigns are said to have begun with him.
35
張詵，字樞言，建州浦城人。 第進士，通判越州。 民患苦衙前役，詵科別人戶，籍其當役者，以差人錢為雇人充，皆以為便。 知襄邑縣，擢夔路轉運判官。 錄辟土之功，加直集賢院，改陝西轉運副使。 召對，帝曰：「朕未識卿，每閱章奏，獨卿與蔡挺有所論請，使人了然。 尋當以帥事相屬。」 及入辭，賜服金紫。
Zhang Shen, styled Shuyan, was a native of Pucheng in Jian Prefecture. He passed the jinshi examination and served as vice-prefect of Yue Prefecture. The people suffered under the yamen-runner corvée. Shen classified separate household categories, registered those liable for service, and used dispatch fees to hire substitutes. Everyone found the arrangement convenient. He served as magistrate of Xiangyi County and was promoted to transport vice-commissioner for Kui Circuit. His merit in opening territory was recorded; he was given direct appointment to the Hall of Assembled Worthies and transferred to vice-transport commissioner for Shaanxi Circuit. Summoned for audience, the emperor said, "I do not yet know you personally, but whenever I review memorials, only you and Cai Ting submit proposals that are immediately clear. Before long I shall entrust you with military command." When he came to take leave, he was granted gold-and-purple robes.
36
明年，直龍圖閣、知秦州。 前此將吏貪功，多從羌地獵射，因起邊患。 詵至，申令毋得犯，得一人，斬諸境上，群羌感悅，遷天章閣待制、知熙州。 董氈遣鬼章逼岷州，詵往討，董氈迎戰，破之於錯鑿城，斬首萬級。
The next year he was appointed direct at the Hall of Dragon Imprints and prefect of Qin Prefecture. Before this, officers and officials greedy for merit had often hunted in Qiang territory, thereby provoking border trouble. When Shen arrived, he issued orders forbidding encroachment; one offender was caught and executed at the border. The Qiang tribes were moved and pleased. He was transferred to Hanlin Associate and prefect of Xizhou. Dongzhan sent Guizhang to press Min Prefecture. Shen went to suppress him; Dongzhan came out to fight and was defeated at Cuozao Fort, with ten thousand heads taken.
37
元豐初，加龍圖閣直學士、知成都府，徙杭州。 將行，復命權經略熙河事，趣使倍道行。 時倉卒治戎，有司計產調夫，戶至累首，民多流亡。 詵中塗訴其狀，乞敕劍外招攜之，不報。 會靈武師罷，乃赴杭，道過京師，帝訪以西事，對曰：「彼勢雖弱，而我師未銳，邊備未飭，願以歲月圖功。」 累官正議大夫，卒，年七十二。
At the beginning of the Yuanfeng era he was made Direct Academician at the Hall of Dragon Imprints and prefect of Chengdu, then transferred to Hangzhou. As he was about to depart, he was again ordered to hold acting authority over frontier affairs in Xihe Circuit and urged to travel by forced marches. At the time military preparations were rushed; agencies assessed property and levied corvée labor until families were burdened head upon head, and many people fled. En route Shen reported the situation, begging an edict to recall and resettle those beyond Jianmen Pass. No reply came. When the Lingwu campaign was called off, he proceeded to Hangzhou. Passing through the capital, the emperor questioned him on western affairs. He answered, "Their power may be weak, but our army is not yet sharp and border defenses are not in order. I wish to achieve success over months and years." He rose through offices to Righteousness Grandee and died at seventy-two.
38
詵性孝友，廉於財，平生不殖田業。 既建拓瀘夷地被進用後，雖有善言可紀，終不逭清議云。
Shen was filial and brotherly by nature, scrupulous with money, and never accumulated farmland in his lifetime. After he was promoted for opening and expanding territory among the Luo tribes of Luzhou, though commendable words might be recorded of him, he could never entirely escape censure in public opinion.
39
蘇寀，字公佐，磁州滏陽人。 擢第，調兗州觀察推官，受知於守杜衍。 為大理詳斷官。 民有母改嫁而死，既葬，輒盜其柩歸祔，法當死。 寀曰：「子取母祔父，豈與發塚取財等？」 請而生之。
Su Shen, styled Gongzuo, was a native of Fuyang in Ci Prefecture. He passed the examinations, was assigned as investigative assistant in Yan Prefecture, and won the esteem of the prefect Du Yan. He served as detailed adjudication officer in the Court of Judicial Review. A man whose mother had remarried and died stole her coffin after burial so he could enshrine her with his father. The law called for the death penalty. Shen said, "A son who moves his mother's remains to lie beside his father's—is that the same as robbing a tomb for profit?" He petitioned the throne and had the death sentence commuted.
40
遷審刑院詳議、御史臺推真官，知單州，提點梓州益州路刑獄、利路轉運使。 文州歲市羌馬，羌轉買蜀貨，猾駔上下物價，肆為奸漁。 寀議置折博務，平貨直以易馬，宿弊頓絕。
He was promoted to detail deliberator at the Court of Review and verification officer at the Censorate, appointed prefect of Shanzhou, judicial intendant for the Zizhou-Yizhou circuit, and transport commissioner for the Lizhou circuit. Each year Wen Prefecture purchased Qiang horses at market. The Qiang would resell them to buy Shu goods, while shrewd brokers manipulated prices and freely committed fraud and extortion. Shen proposed setting up barter offices to exchange goods at fair value for horses, and longstanding abuses were eliminated at once.
41
入判大理寺，為湖北、淮南、成都路轉運使，擢侍御史知雜事，判刑部。 使契丹，還及半道，聞英宗晏駕，契丹置宴仍用樂，寀謂送者曰：「兩朝兄第國家，君臣之義，吾與君等一也。 此而可忍，孰不可忍。」 遂為之徹樂。
He entered service as vice director of the Court of Judicial Review, served as transport commissioner for the Hubei, Huainan, and Chengdu circuits, was promoted to secretariat censor with concurrent duties, and served as vice minister of Justice. While returning from an embassy to the Khitan, he heard halfway that Emperor Yingzong had died. The Khitan still held a banquet with music. Shen said to those escorting him, "Our two courts are brother states. In the bond between ruler and subject, you and I are alike. If this can be endured, what cannot be endured?" He then had the music stopped for them.
42
進度支副使，以集賢殿修撰知鳳翔。 還，糾察在京刑獄，又出知潭州、廣州，累轉給事中，知河南府，無留訟。 入知審刑院，卒。 寀長於刑名，故屢為法官，數以讞議受詔獎焉。
He was promoted to vice commissioner of the Revenue Commission and appointed prefect of Fengxiang as Academician of the Hall for Cultivating Worthies. On returning he supervised criminal cases in the capital, then served as prefect of Tanzhou and Guangzhou, rose to chief remonstrance official, and was appointed prefect of Henan, where no lawsuits lingered. He was appointed director of the Court of Review and died in office. Shen excelled in criminal law and was repeatedly appointed a judge. Several times he received imperial commendation for his legal deliberations.
43
馬從先
Ma Congxian
44
馬從先，字子野，祥符人。 少盡力於學。 父當任子，推以與其弟。 由進士累官太常少卿、知宿州。 宿在淮、汴間，素難治，從先以囊博者、重坐者厚賞以求盜。 禁屠牛、鑄錢，嚴甚。 大水，發廩振流亡，全活數十萬。 代還，知壽州，以老辭，英宗諭遣之曰：「聞卿治行籍甚，壽尤重於宿，姑為朕往。」 既至，治如曩時。 由太子賓客轉工部侍郎致仕。 從先性整嚴，雖盛夏不袒跣。 晚學佛，預言其終時，年七十六而卒。
Ma Congxian, courtesy name Ziye, was a native of Xiangfu. In youth he applied himself wholeheartedly to learning. When his father was entitled to appoint a son to office by privilege, he yielded the appointment to his younger brother. Through the jinshi degree he rose to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and prefect of Suzhou. Suzhou lay between the Huai and Bian rivers and had long been difficult to govern. Congxian offered heavy rewards to gamblers and repeat offenders for information leading to the capture of thieves. He strictly banned cattle slaughter and counterfeiting of coins. During a great flood he opened granaries to relieve displaced people, saving hundreds of thousands of lives. After completing his term he was appointed prefect of Shouzhou. He pleaded old age, but Emperor Yingzong personally urged him, saying, "I hear your record of governance is outstanding. Shouzhou is an even heavier assignment than Suzhou—go there for me for now." Once there, he governed as ably as before. He moved from Palace Mentor to Vice Minister of Works and then retired. Congxian was orderly and strict in character; even in midsummer he never went barefoot or with bared shoulders. Late in life he studied Buddhism, foretold the time of his death, and died at seventy-six.
45
論曰：長卿性務廉潔，以能臣稱，中師用法刻深，以治辨稱，雖均為材吏，而優劣自見。 拯及仲甫俱能為國興利除害。 構始開西南邊，詵遂拓瀘夷被進用，雖有他善，而不能逭清議。 至於沆決河議，綏遠民，折鄰使，歷有可稱述者，其最優歟。
Commentary: Zhangqing devoted himself to integrity and was praised as a capable minister. Zhongshi applied the law harshly and was famed for his governance and judgment. Though both were talented officials, their relative strengths and weaknesses are plain to see. Zheng and Zhongfu were both able to bring benefit to the state and remove harm from it. Gou first opened the southwest frontier, and Shen then expanded the Luzhou Yi territories and was promoted. Though they had other virtues, they could not escape censure from upright opinion. As for Hang's decisions on the Yellow River, his reassurance of distant peoples, and his handling of neighboring envoys, there were accomplishments worth recounting at every turn. Was he perhaps the finest of them all?
46
沈遘，字文通，錢塘人，以蔭為郊社齋郎。 舉進士，廷唱第一，大臣謂已官者不得先多士，乃以遘為第二。 通判江寧府，歸，奏《本治論》。 仁宗曰：「近獻文者率以詩賦，豈若此十篇之書為可用也。」 除集賢校理。 頃之，修起居注，遂知制誥。 以父扶坐事免，求知越州，徙杭州。
Shen Gou, courtesy name Wentong, was a native of Qiantang. Through yin privilege he was appointed hall officer for suburban and altar rites. He passed the jinshi examination and ranked first at the palace announcement, but grand counsellors held that one already holding office could not rank ahead of all the scholars, so Gou was placed second. While serving as assistant prefect of Jiangning he returned and submitted On Fundamental Governance. Emperor Renzong said, "Those submitting writings lately have mostly sent poetry and rhapsodies—how can that compare with the usefulness of this work in ten chapters?" He was appointed collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies. Before long he became compiler of the daily records and then draft edict officer. Because his father Fu was implicated and dismissed, he requested appointment as prefect of Yuezhou and was transferred to Hangzhou.
47
為人疏雋博達，明於吏治，令行禁止。 民或貧不能葬，給以公錢，嫁孤女數百人，倡優養良家子者，奪歸其父母。 善遇僚寀，皆甘樂傾盡為之耳目，刺閭巷長短，纖悉必知，事來立斷。 禁捕西湖魚鱉，故人居湖上，蟹夜入其籬間，適有客會宿，相與食之，旦詣府，遘迎語曰：「昨夜食蟹美乎？」 客笑而謝之。 小民有犯法，情稍不善者，不問法輕重，輒刺為兵，奸猾屏息。 提點刑獄鞫真卿將按其狀，遘為稍弛，而刺者復為民。
Open, brilliant, and broad in knowledge, he was skilled in administration; his orders were enforced and his prohibitions obeyed. When commoners were too poor to bury their dead he supplied public funds; he married off hundreds of orphaned girls; and where entertainers kept daughters of respectable families, he had them returned to their parents. He treated his subordinates well, and they gladly served as his eyes and ears throughout the neighborhoods, reporting even the smallest matters until nothing escaped him. When business arose he decided it at once. He banned fishing in West Lake. An old resident on the lake found crabs in his fence one night; a guest happened to be staying and they ate them together. At dawn the man went to the prefectural office, and Gou greeted him with, "Was the crab you ate last night good?" The guest laughed and apologized. When petty offenders broke the law under circumstances that seemed somewhat serious, he tattooed them for military service regardless of the legal penalty, and scoundrels fell silent. When judicial intendant Ju Zhenqing was about to investigate the practice, Gou relaxed it somewhat, and those who had been tattooed were restored to commoner status.
48
嘉祐遺詔至，為次於外，不飲酒食肉者二十七日。 召知開封府，遷龍圖閣直學士，治如在杭州。 蚤作視事，逮午而畢，出與親舊還往，從容燕笑，沛然有餘暇，士大夫交稱其能。 拜翰林學士、判流內銓。 丁母憂，英宗閔其去，賚黃金百兩，仍命扶喪歸蘇州。 既葬，廬墓下，服未竟而卒，年四十，世咨惜之。 弟遼，從弟括。
When the Jiayou testamentary edict arrived, he observed mourning outside the capital, abstaining from wine and meat for twenty-seven days. He was summoned to serve as prefect of Kaifeng, promoted to Academician of the Hall of Dragon Pictures, and governed as ably as he had at Hangzhou. He rose early to transact business and finished by noon, then went out to visit kin and friends at ease in conversation and laughter, with time to spare. Scholar-officials universally praised his ability. He was appointed Hanlin Academician and concurrently director of the inner bureau of appointments. While mourning his mother, Emperor Yingzong pitied his departure, bestowed one hundred taels of gold, and ordered him to escort the coffin home to Suzhou. After the burial he lived by the tomb, but before mourning ended he died at forty. The world mourned his loss. His younger brother was Liao; his younger cousin was Kuo.
49
弟遼
Younger Brother Liao
50
遼，字睿達，幼挺拔不群，長而好學尚友，傲睨一世。 讀左氏、班固書，小摹仿之。 輒近似，乃鋤植縱舍，自成一家。 趣操高爽，縹縹然有物外意，絕不喜進取。 用兄任監壽州酒稅。 吳充使三司，薦監內藏庫。 熙寧初，分審官建西院，以為主簿，時方重此官，出則奉使持節。 遼故受知於王安石，安石嘗與詩，有「風流謝安石，瀟灑陶淵明」之稱。 至是當國，更張法令，遼與之議論，浸浸咈意，日益見疏，於是坐與其長不相能，罷去。
Liao, courtesy name Ruida, was unusually gifted as a boy. Grown, he loved learning and honored friends, and looked down on the world with disdain. When he read Zuo's Commentary and Ban Gu's histories, he would briefly imitate them. When he came too close to them, he would uproot his imitation and start afresh, letting go freely until he formed a style of his own. His tastes were lofty and unburdened, with an ethereal air of one beyond worldly things, and he utterly disliked seeking office. Through his brother's appointment he supervised the Shouzhou wine tax. When Wu Chong headed the Fiscal Commission, he recommended Liao to supervise the Inner Storehouse. Early in the Xining era the Branch Court of Review established the Western Office and made him registrar. The post was then highly valued, and its holder, when sent out, served as envoy bearing credentials. Liao had long been favored by Wang Anshi, who once wrote him a poem praising him as "graceful as Xie Anshi, free-spirited as Tao Yuanming." When Anshi came to power and reformed the laws, Liao debated with him, gradually clashing until they grew daily more estranged. He was then dismissed for failing to get along with his superior.
51
久之，以太常寺奉禮郎監杭州軍資庫，轉運使使攝華亭縣。 他使者適有夙憾，思中以文法，因縣民忿爭相牽告，辭語連及，遂文致其罪。 下獄引服，奪官流永州，遭父憂不得釋。 更赦，始徙池州。 留連江湖間累年，益偃蹇傲世。 既至池，得九華、秋浦間，玩其林泉，喜曰：「使我自擇，不過爾耳。」 既築室於齊山之上，名曰「雲巢」，好事者多往遊。
Long afterward he served as Ceremonial Officer of the Grand Music Supervisor supervising the Hangzhou military provisions depot, and the transport commissioner had him act as magistrate of Huating County. Another transport envoy happened to hold an old grudge and sought to trap him through the law. When county people in angry disputes accused one another, their words tangentially implicated him, and charges were fabricated against him. Thrown into prison he confessed; his office was stripped and he was exiled to Yongzhou. His father's death intervened and he could not be released. After a general amnesty he was transferred to Chizhou. Lingering among rivers and lakes for years, he grew increasingly proud and defiant toward the world. Once at Chizhou he found the country between Jiuhua and Qiupu, delighted in its forests and springs, and said joyfully, "Had I chosen for myself, it could be no more than this." He built a house on Mount Qi called Cloud Nest, and many enthusiasts came to visit.
52
遼追悔平生不自貴重，悉謝棄少習，杜門隱几，雖筆硯亦埃塵竟日。 間作為文章，雄奇峭麗，尤長於歌詩，曾鞏、蘇軾、黃庭堅皆與唱酬相往來，然竟不復起，元豐末，卒，年五十四。
Liao regretted that in life he had not valued himself properly. He wholly abandoned his early habits, shut his door and leaned on his desk, and even brush and ink gathered dust all day. Occasionally he composed essays that were bold, strange, steep, and beautiful, and he was especially skilled in songs and poetry. Zeng Gong, Su Shi, and Huang Tingjian all exchanged verses with him, yet he never returned to office. Late in the Yuanfeng era he died at fifty-four.
53
從弟括
Younger Cousin Kuo
54
括，字存中，以父任為沭陽主簿。 縣依沭水，乃職方氏所書「浸曰沂、沭」者，故跡漫為汙澤，括新其二坊，疏水為百渠九堰，以播節原委，得上田七十頃。
Kuo, courtesy name Cunzhong, through his father's appointment became chief clerk of Shuyang. The county bordered the Shuyang River, where the Commandant's office recorded that floodwaters came from the Yi and Shu. Old traces had become stagnant marshes. Kuo rebuilt two embankments and dredged the water into a hundred channels and nine weirs to distribute and regulate the flow, gaining seventy qing of upper-grade fields.
55
擢進士第，編校昭文書籍，為館閣校勘，刪定三司條例。 故事，三歲郊丘之制，有司按籍而行，藏其副，吏沿以干利。 壇下張幔，距城數里為園囿，植采木、刻鳥獸綿絡其間。 將事之夕，法駕臨觀，御端門、陳仗衛以閱嚴警，遊幸登賞，類非齋祠所宜。 乘輿一器，而百工侍役者六七十輩。 括考禮沿革，為書曰《南郊式》。 即詔令點檢事務，執新式從事，所省萬計，神宗稱善。
He passed the jinshi examination, collated books at the Hall of Radiant Culture, served as library proofreader, and revised the Three Commissions regulations. By precedent, for the triennial suburban altar rites the departments proceeded by register, kept duplicate records, and clerks exploited the practice for profit. Below the altar they stretched awnings; miles from the city they laid out gardens, planted ornamental trees, and carved birds and beasts densely among them. On the eve of the rites the imperial carriage came to observe; at the Gate of Correctness guards were deployed to review security. Excursions and rewards of this sort were quite unsuitable for a fasting sacrifice. For one imperial vessel, sixty or seventy artisans stood in attendance. Kuo researched the evolution of ritual and wrote a book called Southern Suburban Formulas. An edict immediately ordered affairs inspected and carried out according to the new formulas. Savings ran into the tens of thousands, and Emperor Shenzong praised the result.
56
遷太子中允、檢正中書刑房、提舉司天監，日官皆市井庸販，法象圖器，大抵漫不知。 括始置渾儀、景表、五壺浮漏，招衛朴造新曆，募天下上太史占書，雜用士人，分方技科為五，後皆施用。 加史館檢討。
He was promoted to Junior Mentor, rectifier in the Secretariat Penal Section, and supervisor of the Astronomy Commission. The day officers were all marketplace peddlers, largely ignorant of instruments and charts. Kuo first installed an armillary sphere, gnomon table, and five-jar clepsydra; recruited Wei Pu to make a new calendar; solicited astrological texts from across the empire; mixed in scholars; and divided the technical disciplines into five categories—all of which were later adopted. He was additionally appointed historical compiler in the Historiography Office.
57
淮南饑，遣括察訪，發常平錢粟，疏溝瀆，治廢田，以救水患。 遷集賢校理，察訪兩浙農田水利，遷太常丞、同修起居注。 時大籍民車，人未諭縣官意，相挻為憂； 又市易司患蜀鹽之不禁，欲盡實私井而輦解池鹽給之。 言者論二事如織，皆不省，括侍帝側，帝顧曰：「卿知籍車乎？」 曰：「知之。」 帝曰：「何如？」 對曰：「敢問欲何用？」 帝曰：「北邊以馬取勝，非車不足以當之。」 括曰：「車戰之利，見於歷世。 然古人所謂兵車者，輕車也，五御折旋，利於捷速。 今之民間輜車重大，日不能三十里，故世謂之太平車，但可施於無事之日爾。」 帝喜曰：「人言無及此者，朕當思之。」 遂問蜀鹽事，對曰：「一切實私井而運解鹽，使一出於官售，誠善。 然忠萬、戎、瀘間夷界小井尤多，不可猝絕也，勢須列候加警，臣恐得不足償費。」 帝頷之。 明日，二事俱寢。 擢知制誥，兼通進銀臺司，自中允至是才三月。
During a Huainan famine he was sent to investigate. He released Ever-Normal Granary funds and grain, dredged channels, and reclaimed abandoned fields to relieve the flood disaster. He was promoted to collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, investigated farmland and waterworks in the Two Zhe circuits, and was promoted to Master of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and compiler of the daily records. At the time the government greatly expanded registration of civilian carts, and people, not understanding its intent, spread anxiety among themselves. The Market Exchange Office also worried that Sichuan salt was uncontrolled and wished to verify all private wells and transport Jiechi salt to supply them. Memorialists argued both matters at length, but no heed was taken. Kuo was attending at the emperor's side when the emperor turned and said, "Do you know about registering carts?" He said, "I do." The emperor said, "What of it?" He replied, "May I ask what use is intended?" The emperor said, "The northern frontier wins with horses; we cannot match them without carts." Kuo said, "The advantage of chariot warfare is seen through the ages. Yet what the ancients called war chariots were light vehicles, and the five driving skills in turning were advantageous for speed. Today's civilian supply carts are heavy and large and cannot cover thirty li in a day. Hence the age calls them Peace carts—fit only for untroubled days." The emperor, pleased, said, "No one has spoken to this point. I shall consider it." He then asked about Sichuan salt, and Kuo replied, "Fully verifying private wells and transporting Jiechi salt so that all sales come from the government would truly be good. Yet among the Yi borderlands of Zhongwan, Rong, and Lu, small wells are especially numerous and cannot be suddenly cut off. Guards would have to be posted and alerts increased, and I fear the gains would not repay the costs." The emperor nodded. The next day both matters were dropped. He was promoted to draft edict officer and concurrently Director of Palace Memorials—only three months from Junior Mentor to this.
58
為河北西路察訪使。 先是，銀冶，轉運司置官收其利，括言：「近寶則國貧，其勢必然； 人眾則囊橐奸偽何以檢頤？ 朝廷歲遺契丹銀數十萬，以其非北方所有，故重而利之。 昔日銀城縣、銀坊城皆沒於彼，使其知鑿山之利，則中國之幣益輕，何賴歲餉，鄰釁將自茲始矣。」
He served as commissioner inspecting the Hebei West Circuit. Earlier, in silver smelting the transport office had set officials to collect profits. Kuo said, "The nearer treasure lies, the poorer the state becomes—the tendency is inevitable. With more people involved, how can bags be inspected for fraud? The court annually sends the Khitan hundreds of thousands in silver. Because it is not native to the north, they value and profit from it. Formerly Yincheng County and Yinfang Fort fell to them. If they learn the profit of mining mountains, China's currency will grow lighter still. How can we rely on annual tribute? Border conflict will begin from this."
59
時賦近畿戶出馬備邊，民以為病，括言：「北地多馬而人習騎戰，猶中國之工強弩也。 今舍我之長技，強所不能，何以取勝。」 又邊人習兵，唯以挽強定最，而未必能貫革，謂宜以射遠入堅為法。 如是者三十一事，詔皆可之。
At the time households near the capital were levied to supply horses for border defense, and the people found it burdensome. Kuo said, "Northern lands have many horses and people skilled in mounted combat, just as China excels with strong crossbows. Now we abandon our strengths and force what we cannot do—how can we win?" He also said that frontier troops trained by drawing the bow hard for ranking, yet not necessarily piercing leather, and that shooting far and penetrating hard should be made the standard. Thirty-one such recommendations were all approved by edict.
60
遼蕭禧來理河東黃嵬地，留館不肯辭，曰：「必得請而後反。」 帝遣括往聘。 括詣樞密院閱故牘，得頃歲所議疆地書，指古長城為境，今所爭蓋三十里遠，表論之。 帝以休日開天章閣召對，喜曰：「大臣殊不究本末，幾誤國事。」 命以畫圖示禧，禧議始屈。 賜括白金千兩使行。 至契丹庭，契丹相楊益戒來就議，括得地訟之籍數十，預使吏士誦之，益戒有所問，則顧吏舉以答。 他日復問，亦如之。 益戒無以應，謾曰：「數里之地不忍，而輕絕好乎？」 括曰：「師直為壯，曲為老。 今北朝棄先君之大信，以威用其民，非我朝之不利也。」 凡六會，契丹知不可奪，遂舍黃嵬而以天池請。 括乃還，在道圖其山川險易迂直，風俗之純龐，人情之向背，為《使契丹圖》，抄上之。 拜翰林學士、權三司使。
The Khitan Xiao Xi came to negotiate Huangwei land in Hedong, stayed at the lodge refusing to leave, and said, "I must obtain approval before returning." The emperor sent Kuo on embassy. Kuo went to the Bureau of Military Affairs, reviewed old files, and found boundary documents from recent years fixing the old Great Wall as the border. The present dispute concerned about thirty li. He memorialized on this. On a rest day the emperor opened the Hall of Heavenly Manifestations for audience and, pleased, said, "Grand counsellors utterly failed to trace matters to their root and branch and nearly erred in state affairs." He ordered maps shown to Xi, and Xi's argument began to falter. Kuo was bestowed one thousand taels of white silver for the mission. At the Khitan court, Chancellor Yang Yijie came to negotiate. Kuo obtained dozens of land-dispute registers and had clerks memorize them beforehand. When Yijie asked a question, Kuo would look to a clerk who recited the answer. Another day Yijie asked again, and it was the same. Yijie had no response and said frivolously, "You cannot spare a few li of land, yet you would lightly break good relations?" Kuo said, "An army righteous is vigorous; one crooked is senile. Now the Northern Court abandons the great faith of former rulers and uses might on its people. That is not to our court's disadvantage." After six meetings the Khitan knew the land could not be taken; they yielded Huangwei and requested Tianchi instead. Kuo returned. On the road he mapped the terrain's difficulties, routes, customs both pure and rough, and the people's inclinations, compiled Map of Embassy to Khitan, and submitted a copy. He was appointed Hanlin Academician and acting Fiscal Commissioner.
61
嘗白事丞相府，吳充問曰：「自免役令下，民之詆訾者今未衰也，是果於民何如？」 括曰：「以為不便者，特士大夫與邑居之人習於復除者爾，無足恤也。 獨微戶本無力役，而亦使出錢，則為可念。 若悉弛之，使一無所預，則善矣。」 充然其說，表行之。
Once, reporting at the chief counsellor's office, Wu Chong asked, "Since the exemption corvée edict, public criticism has not yet faded. Is it truly good for the people?" Kuo said, "Those who find it inconvenient are merely scholar-officials and town dwellers accustomed to the old exemption system—not worth worrying over. Only petty households originally exempt from corvée duty yet also required to pay money—that is lamentable. If they were fully exempted so as to participate in nothing, that would be good." Chong approved the view and memorialized to implement it.
62
蔡確論括首鼠乖剌，陰害司農法，以集賢院學士知宣州，明年，復龍圖閣待制、知審官院，又出知青州，未行，改延州。 至鎮，悉以別賜錢為酒，命廛市良家子馳射角勝，有軼群之能者，自起酌酒以勞之，邊人歡激，執弓傅矢，唯恐不得進。 越歲，得徹劄超乘者千餘，皆補中軍義從，威聲雄他府。 以副總管种諤西討援銀、宥功，加龍圖閣學士。 朝廷出宿衛之師來戍，賞賚至再而不及鎮兵。 括以為衛兵雖重，而無歲不戰者，鎮兵也。 今不均若是，且召亂。 乃藏敕書，而矯制賜緡錢數萬，以驛聞。 詔報之曰：「此右府頒行之失，非卿察事機，必擾軍政。」 自是，事不暇請者，皆得專之。 蕃漢將士自皇城使以降，許承制補授。
Cai Que argued that Kuo was hedging and perverse and secretly undermining the Revenue Commissioner's law. He was made Academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies and prefect of Xuanzhou. The next year he was restored as Hanlin Pending Academician and director of the Review Office, then sent out as prefect of Qingzhou. Before he departed he was reassigned to Yanzhou. At his post he used all separately bestowed funds for wine and ordered sons of respectable families in the market to race, shoot, and compete. Those with outstanding ability he personally rewarded with wine. Border people were thrilled; they grasped bows and fitted arrows, fearing only that they could not advance. Within a year he obtained more than a thousand superb mounted archers, all of whom were enrolled as volunteer followers in the central army. His reputation towered over other prefectures. For Vice Commander Zhong Nu's western campaign relieving Yin and You he was given merit and promoted to Hanlin Academician. The court sent capital guard troops to garrison the frontier. Rewards were distributed twice but did not reach the garrison troops. Kuo held that though guard troops are esteemed, those who fight every year are the garrison troops. Such unequal distribution would invite disorder. He hid the edict, forged an order granting tens of thousands in cash, and reported by post relay. The edict in response said, "This was the Military Affairs Bureau's distribution error. Had you not discerned the situation, military order would surely have been disturbed." From then on, in matters not requiring prior approval, he was permitted to decide independently. Tang and Han officers from Court Building commissioner down were permitted to receive appointments by provisional order.
63
諤師次五原，值大雪，糧餉不繼，殿直劉歸仁率眾南奔，士卒二萬人皆潰入塞，居民怖駭。 括出東郊餞河東歸師，得奔者數千，問曰：「副都總管遣汝歸取糧，主者為何人？」 曰：「在後。」 即諭令各歸屯。 及暮，至者八百，未旬日，潰卒盡還。 括出按兵，歸仁至，括曰：「汝歸取糧，何以不持軍符？」 歸仁不能對，斬以徇。 經數日，帝使內侍劉惟簡來詰叛者，具以對。
Zhong Nu's army halted at Wuyuan during heavy snow when provisions failed. Palace Duty Officer Liu Guiren led the troops fleeing south, and twenty thousand soldiers all routed into the passes. Residents were terrified. Kuo went to the eastern suburbs to see off Hedong troops returning and encountered thousands of fugitives. He asked, "The vice commander sent you back for grain—who is in charge?" They said, "In the rear." He immediately instructed each man to return to camp. By dusk eight hundred had arrived; within ten days all the routed soldiers returned. Kuo went out to inspect the troops. When Guiren arrived, Kuo said, "You returned for grain—why did you carry no military tally?" Guiren could not answer and was executed as an example. After several days the emperor sent eunuch Liu Weijian to question the rebels, and Kuo reported fully.
64
大將景思誼、曲珍拔夏人磨崖葭蘆浮圖城，括議築石堡以臨西夏，而給事中徐禧來，禧欲先城永樂。 詔禧護諸將往築，令括移府幷塞，以濟軍用。 已而禧敗沒，括以夏人襲綏德，先往救之。 不能援永樂，坐謫均州團練副使。 元祐初，徙秀州，繼以光祿少卿分司，居潤八年卒，年六十五。
Generals Jing Siyi and Qu Zhen captured the Tangut towns Moyan, Jialu, and Fotu. Kuo proposed building Shibao to face Western Xia, but Chief Remonstrance Official Xu Xi arrived and wished first to fortify Yongle. An edict had Xi oversee the generals in building the fort and ordered Kuo to move his office to the frontier to supply military needs. Before long Xi was defeated and killed. When the Tanguts attacked Suide, Kuo went first to rescue it. Unable to relieve Yongle, he was demoted to militia vice commissioner of Junzhou. Early in the Yuanyou era he was transferred to Xiuzhou, then given nominal posting as Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Banquets. He resided at Run eight years and died at sixty-five.
65
括博學善文，於天文、方志、律曆、音樂、醫藥、卜算，無所不通，皆有所論著。 又紀平日與賓客言者為《筆談》，多載朝廷故實、耆舊出處，傳於世。
Kuo was broadly learned and skilled in writing. In astronomy, geography, law and calendar, music, medicine, and divination he mastered all and wrote on each. He also recorded his daily conversations with guests as Brush Talks, which contains much on court lore and the careers of elders and was passed down in the world.
66
李大臨
Li Dalin
67
李大臨，字才元，成都華陽人。 登進士第，為絳州推官。 杜衍安撫河東，薦為國子監直講、睦親宅講書。 文彥博薦為秘閣校理。 考試舉人，誤收失聲韻者，責監滁州稅。 未幾，還故職。
Li Dalin, courtesy name Caiyuan, was a native of Huayang in Chengdu. He passed the jinshi examination and served as investigating officer of Jiangzhou. Du Yan pacified Hedong and recommended him as lecturer in the Directorate of Education and tutor at the Mukqin Residence. Wen Yanbo recommended him as collator in the Secretariat Pavilion. While examining candidates he mistakenly admitted one who failed the rhyme rules and was punished by being assigned to supervise the Chuzhou tax. Before long he was restored to his former post.
68
仁宗嘗遣使賜館閣官御書，至大臨家，大臨貧無皂隸，方自秣馬，使者還奏，帝曰：「真廉士也。」 以親老，請知廣安軍，徙邛州。 還，為群牧判官、開封府推官。
Emperor Renzong once sent an envoy to bestow imperial writing on Hanlin officials. Arriving at Dalin's home, he found Dalin poor and without servants, personally feeding his horse. The envoy reported back, and the emperor said, "A truly incorruptible man." Because his parent was aged, he requested appointment as prefect of Guangan Jun and was transferred to Qiongzhou. On returning he served as livestock commissioner judge and Kaifeng investigating officer.
69
神宗雅知其名，擢修起居注，進知制誥、糾察在京刑獄。 言青苗法有害無益，王安石怒。 會李定除御史，宋敏求、蘇頌相繼封還詞命，次至大臨，大臨亦還之。 帝批：「去歲詔書，臺官不拘官職奏舉，後未審更制也。」 頌、大臨合言：「故事，臺官必以員外郎、博士，近制但不限此，非謂選人亦許之也。 定以初等職官超朝籍，躐憲臺，國朝未有。 幸門一開，名器有限，安得人人滿其意哉。」 復詔諭數四，頌、大臨故爭不已，乃以累格詔命，皆歸班，大臨以工部郎中出知汝州。
Emperor Shenzong had long known his name. He promoted him to compiler of the daily records and then to draft edict officer and supervisor of capital criminal cases. He stated that the Green Sprouts law harmed without benefit, and Wang Anshi was angry. When Li Ding was appointed censor, Song Minqiu and Su Song successively sealed and returned the draft appointments. When it came to Dalin, he also returned his. The emperor wrote in the margin, "Last year's edict said Censorate officials were not bound by office for memorial recommendations. It is unclear whether the regulation was later changed." Song and Dalin jointly stated, "By precedent, Censorate officials had to be outside-office appointees or Masters of Philosophy. The recent regulation merely did not limit this—it did not mean common selectees were also permitted. Ding, as an entry-level official, leapfrogged the court registry and skipped onto the Censorate—something never before seen in our dynasty. Once the gate of favor opens, prestigious posts are limited. How can everyone have his wish fulfilled?" Repeated edicts instructed them four times, but Song and Dalin still argued unceasingly. Then for repeatedly blocking edicts both returned to the ranks. Dalin went out as prefect of Ruzhou in the capacity of Director of the Ministry of Works.
70
辰溪貢丹砂，道葉縣，其二篋化為雙雉，鬥山谷間。 耕者獲之，人疑為盜，械送於府。 大臨識其異，訊得實，釋耕者。 徙知梓州，加集賢殿修撰，復天章閣待制。 甫七十，致仕七年而卒。
Chenxi tribute cinnabar passed through Ye County when two boxes turned into paired pheasants fighting in a mountain valley. Farmers caught them; people suspected they were thieves and had them shackled and sent to the prefecture. Dalin recognized the strangeness of the affair, interrogated and learned the truth, and released the farmers. He was transferred as prefect of Zizhou, added as Academician of the Hall for Cultivating Worthies, and restored as Hanlin Pending Academician. At just seventy he retired; seven years later he died.
71
大臨清整有守，論議識大體，因爭李定後名益重，世並宋敏求、蘇頌稱為「熙寧三舍人」云。
Dalin was pure, orderly, and principled, and his discourse grasped the larger whole. After contending over Li Ding his fame grew still greater, and the world jointly with Song Minqiu and Su Song called them the Three Hanlin Draft Officers of Xining.
72
呂夏卿
Lu Xiaqing
73
呂夏卿，字縉叔，泉州晉江人。 舉進士，為江寧尉。 編修《唐書》成，直秘閣、同知禮院。 仁宗選任大臣，求治道，夏卿陳時務五事，且言：「天下之勢，不能常安，當於未然之前救其弊； 事至而圖之，恐無及已。」 朝廷頗采其策。
Lu Xiaqing, courtesy name Jinshu, was a native of Jinjiang in Quanzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and served as Jiangning district captain. When the compilation of the New Tang History was completed, he became Direct Attendant of the Secretariat Pavilion and Associate Director of the Rites Court. Emperor Renzong selected and appointed grand counsellors and sought the way of governance. Xiaqing presented five matters of the times and said, "The empire's condition cannot always be safe; one should remedy its ills before they arise. When matters arrive and one then plans, I fear it will be too late." The court largely adopted his policies.
74
英宗世，歷史館檢討、同修起居注、知制誥。 帝嘗訪以政，對曰：「兩朝不惜金帛以和二邊，脫民鋒鏑之禍，古未有也。 願勿失前好。」 出知潁州，得奇疾，身體日縮，卒時才如小兒，年五十三。
In Yingzong's reign he served as historical compiler, compiler of the daily records, and draft edict officer. The emperor once consulted him on governance, and he replied, "Two reigns did not spare gold and silk to reconcile the two frontiers and freed the people from the calamity of spear and arrow—unprecedented in antiquity. I wish that former goodwill not be lost." Sent out as prefect of Yingzhou, he contracted a strange illness. His body shrank daily, and at death he was only the size of a child. He was fifty-three.
75
夏卿學長於史，貫穿唐事，博采傳記雜說數百家，折衷整比。 又通譜學，創為世係諸表，於《新唐書》最有功云。
Xiaqing's learning excelled in history. He penetrated Tang affairs, broadly gathered hundreds of biographies and miscellanies, and weighed and arranged them. He also mastered genealogy, created lineage tables, and contributed most to the New Tang History.
76
祖無擇
Zu Wuzhai
77
祖無擇，字擇之，上蔡人。 進士高第。 歷知南康軍、海州，提點淮南廣東刑獄、廣南轉運使，入直集賢院。 時封孔子後為文宣公，無擇言：「前代所封曰宗聖，曰奉聖，曰崇聖，曰恭聖，曰褒聖； 唐開元中，尊孔子為文宣王，遂以祖諡而加後嗣，非禮也。」 於是下近臣議，改為衍聖公。
Zu Wuzhai, courtesy name Zhezhi, was a native of Shangcai. He passed the jinshi examination with top rank. He successively served as prefect of Nankang Jun and Haizhou, judicial intendant for Huainan and Guangdong, transport commissioner for Guangnan, and entered the Hanlin in the Hall of Assembled Worthies. When Confucius's descendant was enfeoffed as Duke of Literary Propagation, Wuzhai said, "Former dynasties enfeoffed him as Duke of Ancestral Sage, Duke of Serving Sage, Duke of Honored Sage, Duke of Reverent Sage, and Duke of Commended Sage. In the Kaiyuan era of Tang, Confucius was honored as King of Literary Propagation, and then his ancestral posthumous title was applied to the descendant—not ritual propriety. Thereupon the matter was submitted to near ministers for deliberation, and the title was changed to Duke of Propagating Sage.
78
出知袁州。 自慶曆詔天下立學，十年間其敝徒文具，無命教之實。 無擇首建學官，置生徒，郡國弦誦之風。 由此始盛。 同修起居注、知制誥，加龍圖閣直學士、權知開封府，進學士，知鄭、杭二州。
He was appointed prefect of Yuan Prefecture. Ever since the Qingli edict had ordered schools established across the empire, a decade had passed in which the system had degenerated into empty paperwork, with no genuine instruction being provided. Wuzai was the first to establish school officials and enroll students, and from this the culture of chanting lessons in the prefectures and commanderies began. From that point it began to flourish. He co-compiled the Veritable Records and served as drafter of imperial edicts; he was promoted to Hanlin associate academician of the Longtu Hall and acting prefect of Kaifeng, advanced to full academician, and served as prefect of Zheng and Hang.
79
神宗立，知通進銀臺司。 初，詞臣作誥命，許受潤筆物。 王安石與無擇同知制誥，安石辭一家所饋不獲，義不欲取，置諸院梁上，安石憂去，無擇用為公費，安石聞而惡之。 熙寧初，安石得政，乃諷監司求無擇罪。 知明州苗振以貪聞，御史王子韶使兩浙，廉其狀，事連無擇。 子韶，小人也，請遣內侍自京師逮赴秀州獄。 蘇頌言無擇列侍從，不當與故吏對曲直，御史張戩亦救之，皆不聽。 及獄成，無貪狀，但得其貸官錢、接部民坐及乘船過制而已。 遂謫忠正軍節度副使。 安石猶為帝言：「陛下遣一御史出，即得無擇罪，及知朝廷於事但不為，未有為之而無效者。」 尋復光祿卿、秘書監、集賢院學士，主管西京御史臺，移知信陽軍，卒。
When Shenzong came to the throne, Wuzai was placed in charge of the Office for Memorials to the Throne. In those days, when literary officials drafted patent letters of appointment, they were allowed to accept gratuities. Wang Anshi and Wuzai served together as edict drafters. Anshi tried to refuse a gift from one family but could not; considering it improper to accept, he placed it on a beam in the office courtyard. When Anshi departed over the affair, Wuzai applied the gift to office expenses. Anshi heard of this and came to detest him. In the early Xining period, after Anshi had seized power, he prompted circuit commissioners to find grounds to charge Wuzai. Miao Zhen, prefect of Ming, had a reputation for corruption. The censor Wang Zishao was sent to the two Zhe circuits to investigate, and the case implicated Wuzai as well. Zishao, a base man, asked that an inner-court eunuch be sent from the capital to arrest Wuzai and bring him to the jail at Xiu Prefecture. Su Song argued that Wuzai, as a member of the imperial entourage, should not be tried in a petty dispute against a former subordinate; the censor Zhang Kan also intervened on his behalf—but the court would not listen. When the investigation concluded, no corruption was found—only that he had lent out official funds, been implicated in a subordinate's offense, and exceeded regulations governing his official boat. He was demoted to military commissioner deputy of the Zhongzheng Army circuit. Anshi still told the emperor, "Your Majesty dispatched a single censor and at once uncovered Wuzai's offenses. This shows that when the court fails in its affairs, it is simply because it chooses not to act—never because action yields no result." Before long he was restored to the posts of Director of the Imperial Household, Supervisor of the Imperial Library, and Hanlin academician of the Jixian Hall, and placed in charge of the Censorate at the Western Capital; he was later transferred to command Xinyang and died in office.
80
無擇為人好義，篤於師友，少從孫明復學經術，又從穆修為文章。 兩人死，力求其遺文彙次之，傳於世。 以言語政事為時名卿，用小累鍛煉放棄，訖不復振，士論惜之。
Wuzai was a man of righteous character and deep loyalty to teachers and friends. In youth he studied the classics under Sun Mingfu and later studied literary composition under Mu Xiu. After both men died, he worked hard to gather their surviving writings, compile them, and pass them on to posterity. Renowned in his day as a leading minister of speech and statecraft, he was broken on a minor charge and cast aside, never to rise again—a loss deeply regretted among the literati.
81
論曰：沈遘以文學致身，而長於治才。 沈括博物洽聞，貫乎幽深，措諸政事，又極開敏。 呂夏卿號稱史才，尤精譜諜之學。 宋之縉紳，士各精其能，學不苟且，故能然也。 李大臨官居繳駁，克舉其職； 祖無擇治郡所至，能修校官，是皆班班可紀者。 然大臨以論李定絀，無擇以忤安石廢棄終身，即是亦足以知二人之賢矣。
The commentator says: Shen Gou rose through literary learning and excelled in administrative talent. Shen Kuo was broadly learned and penetratingly informed, reaching into the deepest matters; when he turned to government affairs, he proved equally quick and perceptive. Lu Xiaqing was acclaimed as a historian and was especially skilled in genealogical studies. Among the gentry of the Song, each man mastered his own specialty; learning was never perfunctory—and that is why they achieved what they did. Li Dalin, in his post reviewing memorials, fully performed his duties; wherever Wuzai governed, he was able to restore and maintain schools—each of these is clearly worth recording. Yet Dalin was demoted for criticizing Li Ding, and Wuzai was cast aside for life for opposing Anshi—this alone suffices to show the worth of both men.
82
程師孟
Cheng Shimeng
83
程師孟，字公闢，吳人。 進士甲科。 累知南康軍、楚州，提點夔路刑獄。 瀘戎數犯渝州，邊使者治所在萬州，相去遠，有警率浹日乃至，師孟奏徙於渝。 夔部無常平粟，建請置倉，適凶歲，振民不足，即矯發他儲，不俟報。 吏懼，白不可。 師孟曰：「必俟報，餓者盡死矣。」 竟發之。
Cheng Shimeng, courtesy name Gongbi, was a native of Wu. He passed the jinshi examination in the top tier. He successively served as prefect of Nankang and Chuzhou, and as judicial intendant for the Kuizhou circuit. The Lu tribes repeatedly raided Yuzhou. Border commissioners were stationed at Wanzhou, far away, so that when alarms arose it generally took a full day for them to respond. Shimeng memorialized to move the seat to Yu. The Kuizhou region had no Ever-Normal Granary grain, so he memorialized to establish a storehouse. When famine struck, relief for the people proved insufficient, and he requisitioned other reserves on his own authority without awaiting approval. The clerks were alarmed and reported that this could not be done. Shimeng said, "If we must await approval, the starving will all be dead." In the end he released the grain.
84
徙河東路。 晉地多土山，旁接川谷，春夏大雨，水濁如黃河，俗謂之「天河」，可溉灌。 師孟出錢開渠築堰，淤良田萬八千頃，裒其事為《水利圖經》，頒之州縣。 為度支判官，知洪州，積石為江隄，浚章溝，揭北牐以節水升降，後無水患。
He was transferred to the Hedong circuit. The Jin region had many earthen hills adjoining valleys; in spring and summer, when heavy rains fell, the water ran muddy like the Yellow River. The people called it the "Heaven River," and it could be used for irrigation. Shimeng spent his own funds to open channels and build dikes, reclaiming eighteen thousand mu of fertile fields; he compiled an account of the work into the Waterworks Gazetteer and distributed it to prefectures and counties. As vice-director of the Revenue Bureau, he served as prefect of Hongzhou, piled stones to form a river dike, dredged the Zhang Canal, and raised the northern sluice gate to regulate the rise and fall of water; afterward there were no further flood disasters.
85
判三司都磨勘司。 接伴契丹使，蕭惟輔曰：「白溝之地當兩屬，今南朝植柳數里，而以北人漁界河為罪，豈理也哉？」 師孟曰：「兩朝當守誓約，涿郡有案牘可覆視，君舍文書，滕口說，遽欲生事耶？」 惟輔愧謝。
He served as director of the Three Departments General Audit Office. While receiving the Khitan envoy, Xiao Weifu said, "The land at the Bai Trench ought to belong to both sides equally. Now the Southern Court has planted willows for several li, yet condemns northerners for fishing in the border river—is this reasonable?" Shimeng replied, "Both courts should uphold their sworn covenant. At Zhuo Prefecture there are records that can be reviewed. You abandon the documents and speak empty words—do you suddenly wish to stir up trouble?" Weifu, ashamed, apologized.
86
出為江西轉運使。 盜發袁州，州吏為耳目，久不獲。 師孟械吏數輩送獄，盜即成擒。 加直昭文館、知福州。 築子城，建學舍，治行最東南。 徙廣州，州城為儂寇所毀，他日有警，民駭竄，方伯相踵至，皆言土疏惡不可築。 師孟在廣六年，作西城。 及交阯陷邕管，聞廣守備固，不敢東。 時師孟已召還，朝廷念前功，以為給事中、集賢殿修撰、判都水監。
He was appointed transport commissioner for Jiangxi. A robbery occurred in Yuan Prefecture; prefectural clerks served as informants, and for a long time the culprits were not captured. Shimeng shackled several clerks and sent them to jail; the robbers were immediately seized. He was promoted to direct access to the Zhaowen Hall and served as prefect of Fuzhou. He built an inner wall, constructed school buildings, and his administration ranked highest in the southeast. He was transferred to Guangzhou. The prefectural walls had been destroyed by the Nong rebels; when alarms arose later, the people fled in panic. Regional governors arrived one after another, all saying the soil was loose and poor and that walls could not be built. Shimeng spent six years at Guang and built the western wall. When Jiaozhi fell upon Yong and Guan, it heard that Guang's defenses were solid and did not dare advance eastward. By then Shimeng had already been recalled; the court, mindful of his earlier achievements, appointed him supervising censor, Hanlin compiler of the Jixian Hall, and director of the Directorate of Waterways.
87
賀契丹生辰，至涿州，契丹命席，迎者正南向，涿州官西向，宋使介東向。 師孟曰：「是卑我也。」 不就列。 自日昃爭至暮，從者失色，師孟辭氣益厲，叱儐者易之，於是更與迎者東西向。 明日，涿人餞於郊，疾馳過不顧； 涿人移雄州，以為言，坐罷歸班。 復起知越州、青州，遂致仕，以光祿大夫卒，年七十八。
While congratulating the Khitan emperor on his birthday, he reached Zhuo Prefecture; the Khitan arranged the seating—the greeters faced due south, the Zhuo officials faced west, and the Song envoys and attendants faced east. Shimeng said, "This demeans me." He would not take his place. From mid-afternoon they argued until evening; his attendants turned pale, but Shimeng's words and bearing grew fiercer. He rebuked the ushers to change the arrangement, and greeters and guests were then seated facing east and west. The next day the people of Zhuo saw him off in the suburbs; he galloped past without looking back; the Zhuo people reported this at Xiong Prefecture, and he was dismissed and returned to the regular roster. He was later reappointed prefect of Yue and Qing, then retired, and died as Grandee of Splendid Happiness at age seventy-eight.
88
師孟累領劇鎮，為政簡而嚴，罪非死者不以屬吏。 發隱擿伏如神，得豪惡不逞跌宕者，必痛懲艾之，至剿絕乃已，所部肅然。 洪、福、廣、越為生立祠。
Shimeng repeatedly held difficult prefectures; his government was simple yet strict, and for offenses short of death he did not hand cases to subordinate officials. In exposing hidden wrongs he was like a spirit; when he caught powerful evildoers who would not submit, he always punished them severely until they were utterly destroyed, and the regions under his rule were brought to order. Living shrines were erected to him in Hong, Fu, Guang, and Yue.
89
張問，字昌言，襄陽人也。 進士起家，通判大名府。 群牧地在魏，歲久冒入於民，有司按舊籍括之，地數易主，券不明，吏苟趣辦，持詔書奪人田，至毀室盧、發丘墓。 問至，則曰：「是豈朝廷意耶？」 其上以聞。 仁宗諭大臣曰：「吏用心悉如問，何患赤子之不安也。」 立罷之。
Zhang Wen, courtesy name Changyan, was a native of Xiangyang. He entered office through the jinshi and served as vice-prefect of Daming Prefecture. Pasture lands of the Horse Herds Office lay in Wei; over many years they had been encroached upon by commoners. The responsible office, following old registers, sought to reclaim them; the lands had changed hands many times and deeds were unclear; clerks hurried to finish the task, wielded the edict to seize people's fields, and even destroyed houses and opened tombs. When Wen arrived, he said, "Can this be the intent of the court?" He reported the matter to the throne. Emperor Renzong told the chief ministers, "If all clerks applied themselves as Wen does, what need would there be to fear that the people would not be secure?" The measure was immediately halted.
90
擢提點河北刑獄。 大河決，議築小吳，問言：「曹村、小吳南北相直，而曹村當水衝，賴小吳堤薄，水溢北出，故南堤無患。 若築小吳，則左強而右傷，南岸且決，水並京畿為害，獨可於孫、陳兩埽間起堤以備之耳。」 詔付水官議，久不決，小吳卒潰。
He was promoted to judicial intendant for Hebei. When the Yellow River broke its banks, there was discussion of building dikes at Xiao Wu. Wen said, "Caocun and Xiao Wu lie north and south in a straight line, and Caocun sits in the path of the current; relying on the thin dike at Xiao Wu, the water overflowed northward, so the southern dike had no trouble. If Xiao Wu is built up, the left bank will grow strong while the right is harmed; the southern bank will break, and the water will together harm the capital region. It would be enough merely to raise dikes between the Sun and Chen embankments as a precaution." An edict ordered water officials to discuss it; for a long time no decision was reached, and Xiao Wu ultimately burst.
91
徙江東、淮南轉運使，加直集賢院、戶部判官，復為河北轉運使。 所部地震，河再決，議者欲調京東民三十萬，自澶築堤抵乾寧。 問言：「堤未能為益，災傷之餘，力役勞民，非計也。」 神宗從之。 問十年不奏考課，詔特遷其官，入為度支副使，拜集賢殿修撰、河東轉運使。 坐誤軍須，貶知光化軍，未幾，復使河北。 諸葛公權之亂，郡縣株蔓，連逮至數百千人，問上疏申理，止誅首惡。
He was transferred to transport commissioner for Jiangdong and Huainan, promoted to direct access to the Jixian Hall and vice-director of the Revenue Bureau, and again served as transport commissioner for Hebei. Earthquakes struck his circuit, and the river broke its banks twice; advisers wished to mobilize three hundred thousand people from Jingdong to build dikes from Chan to Qianning. Wen said, "The dikes would not necessarily bring benefit; after disaster and injury, forced labor would further burden the people—this is no good plan." Shenzong followed his advice. Wen for ten years did not submit performance evaluations; an edict specially promoted his rank. He entered office as vice-director of the Revenue Bureau, was appointed Hanlin compiler of the Jixian Hall and transport commissioner for Hedong. For an error in military supplies he was demoted to prefect of Guanghua Army; before long he was again sent to Hebei. In the disorder of Zhuge Gongquan, prefectures and counties were implicated in chains, with several hundred or thousand people arrested in succession. Wen submitted a memorial to plead their case, and only the chief culprits were executed.
92
熙寧末，知滄州。 自新法行，問獨不阿時好。 歲饑，為帝言民苟免常平、助役之苦，反以得流亡為幸，語切直驚人。 元豐定官制，王安禮薦問可任六曹侍郎，帝以其好異論，不用。 歷知河陽、潞州。 元祐初，為秘書監、給事中，累官正議大夫，卒，年七十五。
At the end of the Xining period he served as prefect of Cangzhou. Once the new laws were implemented, Wen alone did not flatter the prevailing fashion. In a year of famine he told the emperor that if the people could only escape the hardships of the Ever-Normal and labor-levy policies, they would instead count exile as good fortune; his words were blunt and startling. When the Yuanfeng official system was fixed, Wang Anli recommended Wen as fit for vice-minister of one of the Six Boards; the emperor, because he favored dissenting views, did not appoint him. He successively served as prefect of Heyang and Luzhou. At the beginning of the Yuanyou period he served as Supervisor of the Imperial Library and supervising censor, rose to Righteousness Grandee, and died at age seventy-five.
93
問處己廉潔、嘗仕鄜延幕府，與种世衡善，父喪，世衡遺汝州田十頃，辭弗受。 使歸，未至而世衡卒。 其子古，用父治命，亦不納田，蕪穢者三十年。 後汝守請以給學，朝廷命反諸种氏。
Wen was personally incorrupt; he had once served on the Fuyan military staff and was on good terms with Zhong Shiheng. When his father died, Shiheng offered him ten qing of land in Ruzhou, but he declined and would not accept. When he was sent home, he had not yet arrived when Shiheng died. His son Gu, following his father's final instructions, also would not accept the land; it lay fallow for thirty years. Later the prefect of Ru asked that it be given to the school; the court ordered it returned to the Zhong clan.
94
熙寧時，有陳舜俞、樂京、劉蒙，亦以役法廢黜。
In the Xining period, Chen Shunyu, Le Jing, and Liu Meng were also dismissed over the labor-levy law.
95
陳舜俞
Chen Shunyu
96
舜俞，字令舉，湖州烏程人。 博學強記。 舉進士，又舉制科第一。 熙寧三年，以屯田員外郎知山陰縣，詔俟代還試館職。 舜俞辭曰：「爵祿名器，砥礪多士，宜示以至神，烏可要期，如付劑契？」 繳中書帖上之。
Shunyu, courtesy name Lingju, was a native of Wucheng in Huzhou. He was broadly learned and had a powerful memory. He passed the jinshi examination and also ranked first in the decree examination. In the third year of Xining, as Outer Director of the Directorate of Agriculture he served as prefect of Shanyin County; an edict ordered that upon the arrival of his replacement he return to test for a palace post. Shunyu declined, saying, "Rank and stipend are name-bearing vessels for sharpening many scholars—they should be shown through utmost sincerity. How can one fix a date in advance, as though delivering a contract?" He returned the Secretariat notice to the throne.
97
青苗法行，舜俞不奉令，上疏自劾曰：「民間出舉財物，取息重止一倍，約償緡錢，而穀粟、布縷、魚鹽、薪蔌、耰鋤、釜錡之屬，得雜取之； 朝廷募民貸取，有司約中熟為價，而必償緡錢，欲如私家雜償他物不可得，故愚民多至賣田宅、質妻孥。 有識耆老，戒其鄉黨子弟，未嘗不以貰貸為苦。 祖宗著令，以財物相出舉，任從書契，官不為理。 其保全元元之意，深遠如此。 今誘之以便利，督之以威刑，方之舊法，異矣。 詔謂振民乏絕而抑兼並，然使十戶為甲，浮浪無根者毋得給俵，則乏絕者已不蒙其惠。 此法終行，愈為兼並地爾！ 何以言之？ 天下之有常平，非能人人計口受餉，但權穀價貴賤之柄，使積貯者不得深藏以邀利爾。 今散為青苗，唯恐不盡，萬一饑饉薦至，必有乘時貴糶者，未知將何法以制之？ 官制既放錢取息，富室藏鏹，坐待鄰里逋欠之時，田宅妻孥隨欲而得，是豈不為兼並利哉。 雖分為夏秋二科，而秋放之月與夏斂之期等，夏放之月與秋斂之期等，不過展轉計息，以給為納，使吾民終身以及世世，每歲兩輸息錢，無有窮已。 是別為一賦以敝海內，非王道之舉也。」 奏上，責監南康軍鹽酒稅，五年而卒。
When the Green Sprouts policy was implemented, Shunyu did not carry out the order and submitted a memorial impeaching himself, saying, "Among the people, when lending property, interest taken was limited to no more than double the principal, with repayment agreed in cash; yet grain, cloth, fish, salt, firewood, hoes, and cauldrons and the like could be taken in mixed payment; the court now recruits the people to borrow and takes interest at the rate fixed for a middling harvest, yet repayment must be in cash; wishing to repay as private households do in mixed goods is impossible, so ignorant people often come to selling fields and houses and pawning wives and children. Knowledgeable elders warned the youth of their townships, never failing to speak of lending as a hardship. The founders established statutes allowing private lending of property by written contract, with officials not intervening. Their intent to preserve the common people was as far-reaching as this. Now the people are enticed by convenience and compelled by harsh penalties; compared with the old law, it is different. The edict says it is to relieve the people's want and restrain annexation, yet if ten households form a group and rootless drifters may not receive loans, then those in want already do not receive its benefit. When this law is fully enforced, it will only become ground for annexation all the more! How do I say this? The empire has Ever-Normal Granaries not so that every person can be rationed by mouth, but to hold the lever of grain prices high and low so that hoarders cannot hide grain deep to seek profit. Now it is dispersed as Green Sprouts loans, fearing only that it is not fully spent; should famine come in succession, there will surely be those who sell grain dear at the opportune moment—who knows by what law this will be restrained? Since the official system now lends money for interest, the wealthy hide their cash and sit waiting for the time when neighbors default; then fields, houses, wives, and children may be taken at will—is this not profit for annexation? Although divided into summer and autumn installments, the month of autumn disbursement equals the period of summer collection, and the month of summer disbursement equals the period of autumn collection—it is nothing but rolling over interest, using disbursement as collection, so that our people for life and for generation after generation pay interest twice each year without end. This is establishing a separate tax to exhaust the empire—not the conduct of true kingship. When the memorial was submitted, he was assigned to supervise the salt and wine tax at Nankang Army; five years later he died.
98
舜俞始嘗棄官歸，居秀之白牛村，自號「白牛居士」。 已而復出，遂貶死。 蘇軾為文哭之，稱其學術才能，「兼百人之器……慨然將以身任天下之事……而人之所以周旋委曲、輔成其天者不至」，一斥不復，士大夫識與不識，皆深悲之云。
Shunyu had once resigned office and returned home, living at Bainiu Village in Xiu and styling himself "Layman of the White Ox." Later he came out again and was ultimately demoted to death. Su Shi wrote a funeral elegy praising his scholarship and ability: "He united in himself the talents of a hundred men; he resolved to shoulder the affairs of the empire; yet those who should have worked tactfully at his side to bring his gifts to fulfillment never appeared." After a single dismissal he was never recalled; whether they knew him or not, all among the scholar-official class grieved deeply for him.
99
京，荊南人。 為布衣時，鄉里稱其行義，事母至孝。 妻張氏家絕，挾女弟自隨，京未嘗見其面。 妻死，京寢食於外，為嫁之。 嘉祐初，詔訪遺逸，以薦聞，得校書郎，為湖陽、赤水二縣令。 神宗求言，京上疏以畏天保民為請。 知長葛縣。 助役法行，京曰：「提舉常平官言不便。」 使之條析，又不報，且不肯治縣事，自列丐去。 提舉官劾之，詔奪著作佐郎。 經十年，乃復官，監黃州酒稅，以承議郎致仕。 元祐初，召赴闕，不至，終於家。
Le Jing was a man of Jingnan. While still a commoner, his village praised his conduct and righteousness; in serving his mother he was supremely filial. His wife's Zhang clan had no relatives left; she brought her younger sister with her, and Jing never once saw her face. When his wife died, Jing slept and ate outside and arranged a marriage for the younger sister. At the beginning of the Jiayou period, an edict sought recluses of talent; on recommendation he became known, was appointed collator, and served as magistrate of Huyang and Chishui counties. When Shenzong sought opinions, Jing submitted a memorial requesting reverence for Heaven and protection of the people. He served as magistrate of Changge County. When the labor-levy law was implemented, Jing said, "The intendant of the Ever-Normal says it is inconvenient." He had them itemize their analysis, but they gave no reply and also refused to administer county affairs; he listed his own faults and begged to leave. The intendant impeached him, and an edict stripped him of his post as Assistant Editor. After ten years his office was restored; he supervised the wine tax at Huangzhou and retired as Master of Discussion. At the beginning of Yuanyou he was summoned to court but did not come, and died at home.
100
蒙，字子明，渤海人。 恥為詞賦，不肯舉進士； 習茂才異等，又不欲自售。 都轉運使劉庠舉遺逸，召試第一，知湖陽縣。 常平使者召會諸縣令議免役法，蒙為不便，不肯與議，退而條上其害，即投劾去，亦奪官。 歸鄉教授，養親講學，從遊甚眾。 元豐二年，卒，才年四十。 門人朋友誄其行，號曰「正思先生」。 元祐初，賜其家帛五十匹。
Liu Meng, courtesy name Ziming, was a man of Bohai. Ashamed to compose regulated verse, he refused to take the jinshi; he studied for the "Outstanding Talent, Exceptional Grade" examination, yet also did not wish to sell himself. The metropolitan transport commissioner Liu Xiang recommended him as a recluse of talent; summoned for examination he ranked first and served as magistrate of Huyang County. The Ever-Normal envoy summoned the magistrates to discuss exemption from the labor-levy law; Meng said it was inconvenient and refused to join the discussion; he withdrew and submitted a detailed account of its harms, then immediately submitted an impeachment of himself and left; his office was also stripped. He returned home to teach, supporting his parents and lecturing; many followed him in study. In the second year of Yuanfeng he died at only forty. Students and friends composed elegies for his conduct and styled him "Master Righteous Thought." At the beginning of Yuanyou, his family was granted fifty bolts of silk.
101
苗時中
Miao Shizhong
102
苗時中，字子居，其先自壺關徙宿州。 以蔭主寧陵簿。 邑有古河久陻，請開導以溉田，為利甚博，人謂之「苗公河」。
Miao Shizhong, courtesy name Ziju, was descended from ancestors who moved from Huguan to Suzhou. Through yin privilege he served as recorder of Ningling. The district had an ancient river long silted up; he requested that it be opened and guided to irrigate fields, with benefit very broad; people called it "Magistrate Miao's River."
103
調潞州司法參軍。 郡守欲入一囚於死，執不可。 守怒，責甚峻，時中曰：「寧歸田里，法不可奪。」 守悟而聽之。 熙寧中，以司農丞使梓州路，密薦能吏十人，後皆進用，人卒莫之知。
He was transferred to judicial adjutant of Luzhou. The prefect wished to put one prisoner to death; Shizhong firmly refused. The prefect grew angry and rebuked him severely. Shizhong said, "I would rather return to the countryside—the law cannot be wrested away." The prefect understood and accepted his view. In the Xining period, as Director of the Directorate of Agriculture he was sent to the Zizhou circuit and secretly recommended ten capable officials; all were later promoted, yet people ultimately never knew of it.
104
交人犯邊，擢廣西轉運副使。 師討交人罪，次富良江，久不進。 時中曰：「師無進討意，賊必從間道來，乘我不備，冀萬一之勝，勢窮然後降耳。」 密備之，既而果從上流來，戰敗，始納款。
When the Jiaozhi people violated the border, he was promoted to vice transport commissioner for Guangxi. The army punished the Jiaozhi for their crimes and halted at the Fu Liang River, not advancing for a long time. Shizhong said, "The commander has no intention of advancing; the bandits will surely come by a hidden route, strike when we are unprepared, and hope for a one-in-ten-thousand victory; only when their strength is exhausted will they then submit." He secretly prepared; afterward they indeed came from upstream, were defeated in battle, and only then submitted.
105
徙梓州轉運副使。 韓存寶討蠻乞弟，逗遛不行。 時中曰：「師老矣，將士暴露，非計之善者。」 存寶不聽，卒坐誅。 林廣代存寶。 乞弟既降，復逸去，將士相視失色。 及暮，刁斗不鳴，時中問廣，廣曰：「既失賊，故縱兵追之，不暇恤爾。」 時中曰：「天子以十萬眾相付，豈以一死為勇耶。 今入異境，變且不測。」 廣悟，亟止追者，整軍以進。 會得詔班師，軍行，時中以糧道遠，創為攢運法，食以不乏。 遷兩階，為發運副使、河東轉運使，加直龍圖閣、知桂州，進寶文閣待制，至戶部侍郎，卒。
He was transferred to vice transport commissioner for Zizhou. Han Cunbao campaigned against the Man chieftain Qidi but lingered and would not advance. Shizhong said, "The commander is old; officers and soldiers are exposed to the elements—this is not a good plan." Cunbao would not listen and ultimately was executed for it. Lin Guang replaced Cunbao. Qidi had already submitted but fled again; officers and soldiers looked at one another and turned pale. At evening the watch drums did not sound; Shizhong asked Guang, and Guang said, "Since we lost the bandit, I therefore released the troops to pursue him and had no time to attend to that." Shizhong said, "The Son of Heaven entrusted you with a hundred thousand men—can courage consist in a single death alone? Now we enter foreign territory; disaster may come and cannot be foreseen." Guang understood, immediately halted the pursuers, and marched the army forward in order. An edict to withdraw the army arrived; as the army marched, Shizhong, because the supply route was long, devised a method of staged transport, and provisions were not lacking. He was promoted two ranks, served as vice grain-dispatch commissioner and transport commissioner for Hedong, was promoted to direct access to the Longtu Hall and prefect of Guizhou, advanced to Hanlin attendant of the Baowen Hall, reached Vice Minister of Revenue, and died.
106
韓贄，字獻臣，齊州長山人。 登進士第，至殿中侍御史。 坐微累，黜監江州稅。 道除知睦州，復為侍御史。 荊湖災，出持節安撫。 湘中自馬氏擅國，計丁輸米，身死產竭不得免，贄奏除之。 改知諫院，進天章閣待制。 宰相梁適以私容奸，狄青起卒伍、位樞密，內侍王守忠遷官不次，皆舉劾無所諱。
Han Zhi, courtesy name Xianchen, was a native of Changshan in Qizhou. He passed the jinshi and reached Palace Attendant Censor. For a minor offense he was dismissed to supervise the Jiangzhou tax. En route he was appointed prefect of Muzhou and again served as attendant censor. When Jinghu and Hunan suffered disaster, he went out bearing the staff as pacification commissioner. In Xiangzhong, since the Ma clan monopolized the state, rice was levied by head count; even when a person died and property was exhausted one could not be exempted. Zhi memorialized to abolish this. He was transferred to the Remonstrance Bureau and promoted to Hanlin attendant of the Tianzhang Hall. Chief Councillor Liang Shi privately shielded wrongdoers; Di Qing rose from the ranks to the Bureau of Military Affairs; inner attendant Wang Shouzhong was promoted out of turn—all were impeached without reserve.
107
出知滄、瀛二州，遷龍圖閣直學士、河北都轉運使。 河決商胡而北，議者欲復之。 役將興，贄言：「北流既安定，驟更之，未必能成功。 不若開魏金堤使分注故道，支為兩河，或可紓水患。」 詔遣使相視，如其策，才役三千人，幾月而畢。 入判都水監，權開封府，政簡而治。 知河南府，建永厚陵，費省而不擾，神宗稱之。 還知審刑院、糾察在京刑獄，知徐州，以吏部侍郎致仕。
He went out to serve as prefect of Cang and Ying, was transferred to Hanlin associate academician of the Longtu Hall and metropolitan transport commissioner for Hebei. The river broke north at Shanghu; advisers wished to restore the old course. Labor was about to begin when Zhi said, "The northern flow has already stabilized; if it is suddenly changed, success may not necessarily be achieved. It would be better to open the Wei Jin dike so that water divides into the old channel, branching into two rivers—perhaps water disasters could be relieved." An edict dispatched envoys to inspect together; following his plan, only three thousand laborers were used, and it was finished in several months. He entered office as director of the Directorate of Waterways, acting prefect of Kaifeng; his government was simple and orderly. As prefect of Henan he built the Yonghou Mausoleum, saving expense without disturbing the people; Shenzong praised him. He returned to direct the Court of Judicial Review and inspect capital punishments, served as prefect of Xuzhou, and retired as Vice Minister of Personnel.
108
贄性行淑均，平居自奉至約，推所得祿賜買田贍族黨，賴以活者殆百數。 退休十五年，謝絕人事，讀書賦詩以自娛。 年八十五，卒。
Zhi's nature and conduct were gentle and even; in ordinary life he was extremely sparing with himself; he used his salary and gifts to buy fields to support his clan, and those who relied on him for survival numbered nearly a hundred. For fifteen years in retirement he declined worldly affairs, reading books and composing poetry for his own pleasure. He died at age eighty-five.
109
楚建中
Chu Jianzhong
110
楚建中，字正叔，洛陽人。 第進士，知滎河縣。 民苦鹽稅不平，建中約田多寡以為輕重。 主管鄜延經略機宜文字。 夏人來正土疆，往蒞其事。 眾暴至，兩騎傅矢引滿向之，建中披腹使射，曰：「吾不憚死。」 騎即去，眾服其量。 元昊歸款，建中白府請築安定、黑水八堡以控東道，夏人果來，聞有備，不敢入。 累遷提點京東刑獄、鹽鐵判官。 昭陵建，命裁定調度，省數十萬計。 歷夔路、淮南、京西轉運使，進度支副使。
Chu Jianzhong, courtesy name Zhengshu, was a native of Luoyang. He passed the jinshi and served as magistrate of Xinghe County. The people suffered from unequal salt taxes; Jianzhong assessed fields by amount to determine light and heavy levies. He supervised strategic planning documents for the Fuyan frontier commission. When the Tangut people came to fix the border, he went to preside over the matter. A crowd suddenly arrived; two horsemen fitted arrows and drew their bows full toward him. Jianzhong bared his belly and had them shoot, saying, "I do not fear death." The horsemen immediately departed; the crowd admired his magnanimity. When Yuanhao submitted, Jianzhong reported to the commission requesting construction of the eight forts of Anding and Heishui to control the eastern route; the Tangut people indeed came, heard there were preparations, and did not dare enter. He was successively promoted to judicial intendant for Jingdong, and salt and iron vice-commissioner. When the Zhaoling Mausoleum was built, he was ordered to fix allocations and planning, saving several hundred thousand in costs. He served as transport commissioner for Kuizhou, Huainan, and Jingxi, and was promoted to vice-director of the Revenue Bureau.
111
神宗用事西鄙，以建中嘗為邊臣所薦，召欲用之，言不合旨，出知滄州。 久之，為天章閣待制、陝西都轉運使，知慶州、江寧、成德軍，以正議大夫致仕。 元祐初，文彥博薦為戶部侍郎，不拜。 卒，年八十一。
Shenzong was active on the western frontier; because Jianzhong had once been recommended by a frontier official, he was summoned with intent to employ him; his words did not accord with the imperial intent, and he was sent out as prefect of Cangzhou. After a long time he served as Hanlin attendant of the Tianzhang Hall and metropolitan transport commissioner for Shaanxi, prefect of Qingzhou, Jiangning, and Chengde Army, and retired as Righteousness Grandee. At the beginning of Yuanyou, Wen Yanbo recommended him as Vice Minister of Revenue, but he did not accept. He died at age eighty-one.
112
張頡，字仲舉，其先金陵人，徙鼎州桃源。 第進士，調江陵推官。 歲旱饑，朝廷遣使安撫，頡條獻十事，活數萬人。 知益陽縣，縣接梅山溪峒，多蠻獠出沒，頡按禁地約束，召徭人耕墾，上其事，不報。 累遷開封府判官、提點江西刑獄、廣東轉運使。
Zhang Jie, courtesy name Zhongju, was descended from ancestors of Jinling who moved to Taoyuan in Ding Prefecture. He passed the jinshi and was appointed judicial reviewer of Jiangling. In a year of drought and famine, the court dispatched envoys for relief; Jie submitted ten items in detail and saved tens of thousands of lives. As magistrate of Yiyang County, the county adjoined the Meishan streams and caves where many Man and Liao came and went; Jie enforced restrictions on forbidden lands, summoned the yao people to reclaim and cultivate, and reported upward—but received no reply. He was successively promoted to Kaifeng vice-prefect, judicial intendant for Jiangxi, and transport commissioner for Guangdong.
113
熙寧中，章惇取南江地，建沅、懿等州，克梅山，與楊光僭為敵。 頡居憂於鼎，移書朝貴，言南江殺戮過甚，無辜者十八九，浮屍蔽江，民不食魚者數月。 惇疾其說，欲分功啖之。 乃言曰：「頡昔令益陽，首建梅山之議，今日成功，權輿於頡。」 詔賜絹三百匹。 尋擢江淮制置發運副使，改知荊南，復徙廣西轉運使。 時建廣源為順州，將城之，頡謂無益，朝廷從其議。 坐捽罵參軍沈竦罷歸。
In the Xining period, Zhang Dun seized the Nanjiang lands, established Yuan, Yi, and other prefectures, conquered Meishan, and became enemies with Yang Guang. Jie was in mourning at Ding and wrote to court nobles, saying the slaughter in Nanjiang was excessive—eight or nine out of ten were innocent; floating corpses covered the river, and for months the people would not eat fish. Dun resented his argument and wished to share credit to buy him off. He therefore said, "Jie once served as magistrate of Yiyang and first proposed the Meishan plan; today's success originated with Jie." An edict granted three hundred bolts of silk. Soon he was promoted to vice commissioner for Jiang-Huai grain dispatch and military provisioning, transferred to prefect of Jingnan, and again moved to transport commissioner for Guangxi. At the time Guangyuan was being established as Shun Prefecture and was about to be walled; Jie said it would be of no benefit, and the court followed his view. For beating and reviling the adjutant Shen Song he was dismissed and returned home.
114
未幾，以直集賢院知齊、滄二州，進直龍圖閣、知桂州。 入覲，帝首言：「卿向者論順州不可守，信然。」 時有獻言者謂：「海南黎人陳被蓋五洞酋領，異時盛強，且為中國患。 今請出兵自效，宜有以撫納之。」 命頡處其事。 頡使一介往呼之出，補以牙校，喜而去。 詔問何賞之薄，對曰：「荒徼蠻蜒無他覬，得是足矣。」 尋罷兵，海外訖無事。
Before long, with direct access to the Jixian Hall he served as prefect of Qi and Cang, was promoted to direct access to the Longtu Hall and prefect of Guizhou. On entering audience, the emperor first said, "You formerly argued that Shun Prefecture could not be held—and so it proved." At the time a memorializer said, "Chen Bei of the Hainan Li, chieftain of the five caves, was once powerful and would become a trouble to China; now he asks to send troops to prove his loyalty—it is fitting that he be placated and received. " Jie was ordered to handle the matter. Jie sent one messenger to summon him out, appointed him a petty military officer, and he departed pleased. An edict asked why the reward was so meager; he replied, "In the wild frontier the barbarian serpents have no other designs—this is enough." Soon troops were withdrawn, and beyond the seas there was peace to the end.
115
久之，轉運使馬默劾其經理宜州蠻事失宜，罷職知均州。 哲宗立，還故職，知鳳翔、廣州，召為戶部侍郎。
After a long time, Transport Commissioner Ma Mo impeached him for mishandling the Man affairs at Yizhou; he was dismissed and served as prefect of Jun Prefecture. When Zhezong ascended, he was restored to his former post, served as prefect of Fengxiang and Guangzhou, and was summoned as Vice Minister of Revenue.
116
頡所歷以嚴致理，而深文狡獪。 右司諫蘇轍論其九罪，執政以頡雖無德而才可用，不報。 逾年，以寶文閣待制出為河北都轉運使，徙知瀛州。 湖北溪徭叛，朝廷託頡素望，復徙知荊南，至都門，暴卒。
In every post Jie governed through severity; yet he was deep in legalistic cunning. Right Remonstrance Officer Su Zhe enumerated nine crimes against him; the chief ministers held that although Jie lacked virtue he was talented and usable, and no reply was given. After a year, as Hanlin attendant of the Baowen Hall he went out as metropolitan transport commissioner for Hebei and was transferred to prefect of Ying Prefecture. When the stream Yao of Hubei rebelled, the court, relying on Jie's longstanding reputation, again transferred him to prefect of Jingnan; upon reaching the capital gate he suddenly died.
117
盧革，字仲辛，湖州德清人。 少舉童子，知杭州馬亮見所為詩，嗟異之。 秋，貢士，密戒主司勿遺革。 革聞，語人曰：「以私得薦，吾恥之。」 去弗就。 後二年，遂首選； 至登第，年才十六。
Lu Ge, courtesy name Zhongxin, was a native of Deqing in Huzhou. In youth he passed the child scholar examination; Ma Liang, prefect of Hangzhou, saw poems he had written and marveled at them. That autumn, when presenting scholars, he secretly warned the chief examiner not to omit Ge. Ge heard of it and told others, "To gain recommendation through private favor—I am ashamed of that." He departed and did not go. Two years later he ranked first; when he passed the jinshi he was only sixteen.
118
慶曆中，知龔州。 蠻入寇，桂管騷動，革經畫軍須，先事而集。 移書安撫使杜杞，請治諸郡城，及易長吏之不才者。 又言：「嶺外小郡，合四五不當中州一大縣，無城池甲兵之備，將為賊困，宜度遠近並省之。」 後儂智高來，九郡相繼不守，皆如革慮。
In the Qingli period he served as prefect of Gong Prefecture. When the Man raided, the Guiguan region was disturbed; Ge planned military supplies and gathered them beforehand. He wrote to the pacification commissioner Du Qi requesting that city walls of the various prefectures be repaired and that incompetent chief officials be replaced. He also said, "The small prefectures beyond the ridges—four or five together do not equal one large county of the central provinces; they have no city walls or armor and weapons for defense, and will be trapped by bandits—it is fitting to assess distance and combine and reduce them." Later when Nong Zhigao came, nine prefectures in succession could not be held—all as Ge had foreseen.
119
知婺、泉二州，提點廣東刑獄、福建湖南轉運使。 復請外，神宗謂宰相曰：「革廉退如是，宜與嘉郡。」 遂為宣州。 以光祿卿致仕。 用子秉恩轉通議大夫，退居於吳十五年。 秉為發運使，得請歲一歸覲。 後帥渭，乞解官終養。 帝數賜詔慰勉，時以為榮。 卒，年八十二。
He served as prefect of Wu and Quan, judicial intendant for Guangdong, and transport commissioner for Fujian and Hunan. He again requested an outside post; Shenzong told the chief councillor, "Ge is so incorrupt and retiring—it is fitting to give him a fine prefecture." He was therefore appointed to Xuan Prefecture. He retired as Director of the Imperial Household. Through his son Bing's grace he was transferred to Master of Discussion; he withdrew to live in Wu for fifteen years. Bing served as grain-dispatch commissioner and obtained permission to return once a year to visit his parents. Later as commander of Wei he begged to resign office and end his life in filial service. The emperor repeatedly sent editions to comfort and encourage him; at the time this was considered an honor. He died at age eighty-two.
120
子秉
His son Bing
121
秉，字仲甫，未冠，有雋譽。 嘗謁蔣堂，坐池亭，堂曰：「亭沼粗適，恨林木未就爾。」 秉曰：「亭沼如爵位，時來或有之； 林木非培植根株弗成，大似士大夫立名節也。」 堂賞味其言，曰：「吾子必為佳器。」
Bing, courtesy name Zhongfu, before reaching adulthood already had a reputation for excellence. He once visited Jiang Tang and sat in the pool pavilion; Tang said, "The pavilion and pool are roughly suitable—I regret only that the trees and forest are not yet complete." Bing said, "Pavilions and pools are like rank and office—when the time comes one may sometimes have them; trees and forests are not achieved without cultivating roots and stems—it greatly resembles a scholar-official establishing name and integrity. Tang savored his words and said, "My young friend will surely become an outstanding vessel."
122
中進士甲科，調吉州推官、青州掌書記、知開封府倉曹參軍，浮湛州縣二十年，人無知者。 王安石得其壁間詩，識其靜退，方置條例司，預選中。 奉使淮、浙治鹽法，與薛向究索利病，出本錢業鬻海之民，戒不得私鬻，還奏，遂為定制。
He passed the jinshi in the first rank, was appointed judicial reviewer of Jizhou, secretary of Qingzhou, and warehouse adjutant of Kaifeng Prefecture; he drifted through prefectures and counties for twenty years, and no one knew him. Wang Anshi saw poems he had written on the wall, recognized his quiet retirement, and when establishing the Regulations Office selected him among those chosen. Sent as envoy to Huai and Zhe to administer the salt law, together with Xue Xiang he investigated profits and losses, advanced capital to establish the sea-salt trade among the people, forbade private sale, returned and memorialized, and it became fixed regulation.
123
檢正吏房公事，提點兩浙、淮東刑獄，專提舉鹽事，持法苛嚴，追胥連保，罪及妻孥，一歲中犯者以千萬數。 進制置發運副使。 東南饑，詔損上供米價以糴。 秉言：「價雖賤，貧者終艱得錢，請但償糴本，而以其餘振贍。」 是歲上計，神宗問曰：「聞滁、和民捕蝗充食，有諸？」 對曰：「有之，民饑甚，殍死相枕籍。」 帝惻然曰：「前此獨趙抃為朕言之耳。」 先是，發運使多獻餘羨以希恩寵，秉言：「職在董督六路財賦，以時上之，安得羨。 今稱羨者，率正數也。 請自是罷獻，獨以七十萬緡償三司逋。」
As rectifier of the Clerks Office, judicial intendant for the two Zhe and Huaidong circuits, and commissioner exclusively for salt affairs, he enforced the law harshly; pursuing collectors through joint guarantee, guilt reached wives and children—in one year offenders numbered in the tens of thousands. He was promoted to vice commissioner for grain dispatch and military provisioning. When the southeast suffered famine, an edict reduced the price of tribute rice for purchase. Bing said, "Although the price is low, the poor still find cash hard to obtain—please only repay the purchase principal and use the remainder for relief." That year at the annual accounting, Shenzong asked, "I hear the people of Chu and He caught locusts to eat—is this so?" He replied, "It is so—the people were extremely famished, and corpses of the starved lay pillow to pillow." The emperor, moved, said, "Before this, only Zhao Bian told me of it." Earlier, grain-dispatch commissioners often presented surpluses to seek imperial favor; Bing said, "The duty is to supervise the six circuits' finances and deliver them on time—how can there be surplus? What is now called surplus is generally the regular quota. Please from now on cease presenting surpluses; only use seven hundred thousand strings of cash to repay the Three Departments' arrears."
124
加集賢殿修撰、知渭州。 五路大出西討，唯涇原有功，進寶文閣待制。 夏境胡盧川距塞二百里，恃險遠不設備，秉遣將姚麟、彭孫襲擊之，俘斬萬計。 遷龍圖閣直學士。 夏酋仁多嵬丁舉國入寇，犯熙河定西城，秉治兵瓦亭，分兩將駐靜邊砦，指夏人來路曰：「吾遲明坐待捷報矣。」 及明果至，見宋師，驚曰：「天降也。」 縱擊之，皆奔潰。 或言嵬丁已死，有識其衣服者，諸將請以聞。 秉曰：「幕府上功患不實，吾敢以疑似成欺乎？」 他日物色之，嵬丁果死，詔褒賜服馬、金幣，且使上所獲器甲。
He was promoted to Hanlin compiler of the Jixian Hall and prefect of Weizhou. The five circuits launched a great western campaign; only Jingyuan achieved merit, and he was promoted to Hanlin attendant of the Baowen Hall. The Tangut territory at Huluchuan was two hundred li from the border, relying on dangerous distance and making no preparations; Bing sent generals Yao Lin and Peng Sun to strike suddenly; captives and slain numbered in the tens of thousands. He was transferred to Hanlin associate academician of the Longtu Hall. The Tangut chieftain Renduowading led the whole state in invasion, attacking Dingxi City in Xihe; Bing arrayed troops at Wating, stationed two generals at Jingbian Fort, and pointed to the Tangut route of advance, saying, "Tomorrow at dawn I shall sit awaiting the report of victory." At dawn they indeed arrived; seeing the Song army, they exclaimed in alarm, "They have fallen from Heaven!" They were struck freely and all fled in rout. Some said Renduowading was already dead and that there were those who recognized his clothing; the generals asked to report it. Bing said, "The staff office, in reporting merit, fears untruth—how dare I achieve deception on suspicion?" Another day they sought him out and Renduowading was indeed dead; an edict praised and rewarded him with robes, horses, and gold and silk, and also ordered him to submit captured armor and weapons.
125
秉守邊久，表父革年老，乞歸。 移知湖州，行三驛，復詔還渭，慰藉優渥。 革聞，亦以義止其議。 已而革疾亟。 乃得歸。 元祐中，知荊南。 劉安世論其行鹽法虐民，降待制、提舉洞霄宮，卒。
Bing long guarded the frontier and memorialized that his father Ge was old and begged to return. He was transferred to prefect of Huzhou; after three post stations an edict again ordered him back to Wei with generous consolation. Ge heard of it and also stopped the request on grounds of righteousness. Before long Ge fell gravely ill. Only then was Bing permitted to return. In the Yuanyou period he served as prefect of Jingnan. Liu Anshi criticized his enforcement of the salt law as oppressive to the people; he was demoted to attendant, appointed to supervise the Dongxiao Palace, and died.
126
論曰：宋室之人才亦盛矣。 青苗法始行，滿朝耆壽故臣、法家拂士，引古今通誼，盡力爭之而不能止，往往多自引去。 及數年之後，憲令既成，天下亦莫如之何。 已而間守遠郡，尚能懇懇為民有言。 舜俞、京、蒙俱以區區一縣令，力抗部使者，視棄其官如弊屣，類非畏威懷祿者能之。 師孟活饑羸，興水利，擿奸誅惡，所歷可稱； 逮使契丹，正坐席禮，毅然不少屈。 時中止林廣縱兵追蠻，深達兵家之變。 贄居諫省，舉劾無所避，允有直臣之風。 建中雅量卻敵，辭嚴氣正，尤為奇偉。 頡雖有才，而深文狡獪，豈其天性然。 革始終廉退，秉不免於阿徇時好，行鹽法以虐民，父子之相遠哉！
The commentator says: The talent of the Song house was also abundant. When the Green Sprouts law was first implemented, venerable elders and old ministers throughout the court, legalists and dissenters, citing ancient and modern universal principles, strove with all their strength to oppose it yet could not stop it; many often withdrew of their own accord. After several years the statutes were established, and throughout the empire none could do anything about it. Yet when guarding distant prefectures, they could still earnestly speak for the people. Shunyu, Jing, and Meng all, as mere county magistrates, forcefully resisted circuit envoys, treating the abandonment of office like worn shoes—this is not what those who fear authority and cherish stipends can do. Shimeng saved the starving and weak, promoted waterworks, exposed wrongdoers and punished evildoers—what he achieved in his posts is worth naming; when serving as envoy to the Khitan, he corrected seating protocol and resolutely would not yield in the least. Shizhong stopped Lin Guang from releasing troops to pursue the Man and deeply understood the changes of military affairs. Zhi, while in the Remonstrance Bureau, impeached without avoidance and truly had the bearing of a straight minister. Jianzhong, with elegant magnanimity, repelled the enemy; his words were stern and his spirit upright—especially remarkable. Jie, though talented, was deep in legalistic cunning—is this truly his nature? Ge from beginning to end was incorrupt and retiring; Bing could not avoid flattering the prevailing fashion, enforcing the salt law to oppress the people—how far father and son differ!