Volume 424 Biographies 183: Lu Chizhi, Xu Luqing, Zhao Fenglong, Zhao Ruteng, Sun Mengguan, Hong Tianxi, Huang Shiyong, Xu Yuanjie, Sun Zixiu, Li Boyu

陸持之徐鹿卿趙逢龍趙汝騰孫夢觀洪天錫黃師雍徐元傑孫子秀李伯玉

Lu Chizhi, Xu Luqing, Zhao Fenglong, Zhao Ruteng, Sun Mengguan, Hong Tianxi, Huang Shiyong, Xu Yuanjie, Sun Zixiu, and Li Boyu

陸持之

Lu Chizhi

陸持之，字伯微，知荊門軍九淵之子也。七歲能爲文。九淵授徒象山之上，學者數百人，有未達，持之爲敷繹之。荊門郡治火，持之倉卒指授中程，九淵器之。

Lu Chizhi, whose courtesy name was Bowei, was the son of Lu Jiuyuan, former prefect of Jingmen. At the age of seven he could already write essays. When Jiuyuan lectured on Elephant Mountain to several hundred students, any who failed to grasp a point would have it explained by Chizhi. When fire struck the Jingmen prefectural compound, Chizhi took charge amid the crisis with steady judgment, and Jiuyuan thereafter regarded him with great esteem.

韓侂胄將用兵，持之憂時之懌，乃曆聘時賢，將有以告，見徐誼于九江，時議防江，持之請擇僚吏察地形，孰險而守，孰易而戰，孰隘而伏，毋專爲江守。具言：「自古興事造業，非有學以輔之，往往皆以血氣盛衰爲銳惰。故三國、兩晉諸賢，多以盛年成功名。公更天下事變多矣，未舉一事，而朝思夕惟，利害先入於中，愚恐其爲之難也。」誼憮然。又之鄂謁薛叔似、項安世，之荊謁吳獵，爭欲留之，尋皆謝歸。著書十篇，名《戇說》。

As Han Tuozhou prepared for war, Chizhi, alarmed by the era's complacency, set out to seek counsel from leading scholars of the day. At Jiujiang he met Xu Yi, who was then debating how to defend the Yangtze. Chizhi urged that staff be sent to survey the terrain: which positions were defensible, which favored attack, which narrow passes suited ambush—and that strategy not be reduced to river defense alone. He spoke at length: "Since antiquity, great enterprises undertaken without the support of learning have usually risen or fallen according to whether one's vital spirit was keen or spent. That is why so many eminent men of the Three Kingdoms and the two Jin eras won their renown in the vigor of youth. You have seen more turns of fortune than most men, yet before you move you weigh every matter day and night, with gain and loss already fixed in your mind. I fear that will make decisive action difficult." Yi was left unsettled. He then traveled to Ezhou to visit Xue Shusi and Xiang Anshi, and to Jingzhou to see Wu Lie. All urged him to remain, but he soon took his leave and returned home. He wrote ten essays collected under the title Blunt Discourse.

嘉定三年，試江西轉運司預選，常平使袁燮薦於朝，謂持之議論不爲空言，緩急有可倚仗。不報。豫章建東湖書院，連帥以書幣強起持之長之。嘉定十六年，甯宗特詔持之秘書省讀書，固辭，不獲。既至，又詔以迪功郎入省，乞歸，不許。理宗即位，轉修職郎，差幹辦浙西安撫司，以疾請致仕，特命改通直郎。所著有《易提綱》、《諸經雜說》。

In Jiading year 3 he entered the Jiangxi transport circuit's preliminary examination. Commissioner Yuan Xie recommended him to court, declaring that Chizhi's counsel was never mere rhetoric and that in crisis he could be depended upon. The court took no action. When Yuzhang founded the East Lake Academy, the circuit authorities repeatedly urged Chizhi, with letters and gifts, to serve as its head. In Jiading year 16 Emperor Ningzong specially ordered Chizhi to read at the Secretariat. He refused steadfastly, yet could not ultimately escape the summons. After he arrived, a further edict enrolled him in the Secretariat as a Di Gong Lang. He petitioned to go home and was denied. When Lizong succeeded to the throne, Chizhi was promoted to Xiuzhi Lang and posted as an aide on the Zhexi Pacification Commission. Citing illness, he sought retirement and was specially advanced to Tongzhi Lang. His works included Essentials of the Changes and Miscellaneous Expositions on the Classics.

徐鹿卿

Xu Luqing

徐鹿卿，字德夫，隆興豐城人。博通經史，以文學名於鄉，後進爭師宗之。嘉定十六年，廷試進士，有司第其對居二，詳定官以其直抑之，猶置第十。

Xu Luqing, courtesy name Defu, came from Fengcheng in Longxing circuit. Deeply learned in the classics and histories, he won literary renown in his home district, and younger scholars competed to study under him. In Jiading year 16, at the palace jinshi examination, the examiners first ranked his policy essay second. The reviewing officer lowered it for its blunt tone, yet he still finished tenth overall.

調南安軍學教授。張九成嘗以直道謫居，鹿卿摭其言行，刻諸學以訓。先是周惇頤、程顥與其弟頤皆講學是邦，鹿卿申其教，由是理義之學復明。立養士綱條，學田多在溪峒，異時征之無藝，農病之，鹿卿撫恤，無逋租者。其後盜作，環城屋皆毀，惟學宮免，曰：「是無撓我者。」

He was posted as instructor at the Nan'an military school. Zhang Jiucheng, exiled there for his integrity, became a model Luqing commemorated: he collected Zhang's words and deeds and had them inscribed at the school as a moral lesson. Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao, and Cheng Yi had once taught in that prefecture. Luqing revived their instruction, and the study of moral principle flourished again. He drew up rules for supporting students. Much school land lay in mountain valleys, where collectors had once levied without limit and farmers had suffered. Under Luqing's care, no rent went unpaid. When bandits later ravaged the district and burned the town around the walls, the school alone was left untouched. "These are not our enemies," the raiders said.

辟福建安撫司幹辦公事。會汀、邵寇作，鹿卿贊畫備禦，動中機會。避寇者入城，多方振濟，全活甚衆。郡多火災，救護有方。會都城火，鹿卿應詔上封事，言積陰之極，其征爲火，指言惑嬖寵、溺燕私、用小人三事尤切。真德秀稱其氣平論正，有憂愛之誠心。改知尤溪縣。德秀守泉，辟宰南安，鹿卿以不便養辭。德秀曰：「道同志合，可以拯民，何憚不來？」鹿卿入白其母，欣然許之。既至，首罷科斂之無名者，明版籍，革預借，決壅滯，達冤抑，邑以大治。德秀尋帥閩，疏其政以勸列邑。歲饑，處之有法，富者樂分，民無死徙。最聞，令赴都堂審察。以母喪去。

He was recruited as an aide on the Fujian Pacification Commission. When banditry broke out in Ting and Shao, he helped plan the defense and each move proved timely. Refugees flooded the city; he organized relief on many fronts and saved countless lives. Frequent fires struck the prefecture, yet his firefighting measures were always effective. After a great fire in the capital, Luqing submitted a sealed memorial in response to the emperor's call. He argued that extreme yin had manifested as fire, and singled out three evils: the sway of favored minions, indulgence in private pleasures, and the rise of petty men. Zhen Dexiu praised his even temper, upright argument, and the sincere loyalty behind his words. He was transferred to magistrate of Youxi County. When Dexiu became prefect of Quanzhou he invited Luqing to serve as Nan'an magistrate. Luqing declined, saying he could not neglect his mother's care. Dexiu said, "We share the same path. You can relieve the people's suffering—why hold back?" Luqing told his mother, who gladly gave her consent. On taking office he abolished unnamed levies, clarified household registers, ended advance collections, cleared backlogged cases, and heard suppressed grievances. The county was soon well governed. When Dexiu became Fujian circuit intendant, he memorialized Luqing's policies as a model for neighboring counties. During famine he managed relief systematically. The wealthy willingly contributed, and the people neither starved nor fled. His excellent record reached the court, and he was ordered to the Secretariat for review. He left office to observe mourning for his mother.

詔服闋赴樞密稟議，首言邊事、楮幣。主管官告院，幹辦諸司審計司。故相子以集英殿修撰食祠祿，又幫司農少卿米麥，鹿卿曰：「奈何爲一人壞成法。」持不可。遷國子監主簿。入對，陳六事，曰：「洗凡陋以起事功，昭勸懲以收主柄，清班著以儲實才，重藩輔以蔽都邑，用閩、越舟師以防海，合東南全力以守江。」上皆嘉納。改樞密院編修官，權右司，贊畫二府，通而守法。會右史方大琮、編修劉克莊、正字王邁以言事黜，鹿卿贈以詩，言者並劾之，太學諸生作《四賢詩》。知建昌軍，未上，而崇教、龍會兩保與建黎原、鐵城之民修怨交兵，鹿卿馳書諭之，斂手聽命。既至，則寬賦斂，禁掊克。汰贓濫，抑強禦，恤寡弱，黥黠吏，訓戍兵，創百丈砦，擇兵官，城屬縣，治行大孚，田裏歌誦。

When mourning ended, an edict summoned him to the Bureau of Military Affairs. He opened with frontier policy and paper currency. He served as director of the Office of Credentials and as an aide in the Office for Auditing the Various Bureaus. The son of a former chief minister drew a stipend as a Hall for Assembling Excellence compiler while also assisting the Vice Minister of Revenue on grain affairs. Luqing protested: "How can we break established law for one man's benefit?" He stood firm and would not yield. He was promoted to registrar of the Directorate of Education. At court he presented six reforms: purge vulgar habits to restore effective government; clarify rewards and punishments to recover imperial authority; fill high office with men of real ability; strengthen frontier commands to shield the capital; deploy Fujian and Yue naval forces against coastal threats; and concentrate the southeast's full strength on Yangtze defense. The emperor praised and adopted them all. He was appointed compiler at the Bureau of Military Affairs with acting authority in the Right Office, assisting both bureaus with insight while holding to the law. When Right Historian Fang Dacong, compiler Liu Kezhuang, and proofreader Wang Mai were dismissed for speaking out, Luqing sent them poems of solidarity. Critics impeached him as well, and Imperial Academy students composed the Four Worthies Poem in their honor. Named prefect of Jianchang before he had reported, he found the Chongjiao and Longhui guards and the people of Jianli Plain and Iron City locked in vendetta warfare. He sent an urgent letter of admonition, and both sides submitted. On arrival he eased taxes and forbade extortion. He purged corrupt officials, restrained the powerful, aided widows and orphans, branded deceitful clerks, trained garrison troops, built Baizhang stockade, selected capable officers, fortified subordinate counties, and won such trust that farmers sang his praise in the lanes.

督府橫取秋苗斛面，建昌爲米五千斛。鹿卿爭之曰：「守可去，米不可得。」民恐失鹿卿，請輸之以共命。鹿卿曰：「民爲守計則善矣。守獨不爲民計乎？」卒爭以免。召赴行在，將行，盜發南豐，捕斬渠首二十人，餘不問。擢度支郎官兼右司。入對，極陳時敝。改侍右郎官兼敕令刪修官，兼右司。鹿卿又言當時並相之敝。宰相以甘言誘鹿卿，退語人曰：「是牢籠也，吾不能爲宰相私人。」言者以他事詆鹿卿，主管雲台觀。越月，起爲江東轉運判官。歲大饑，人相食，留守別之傑諱不詰，鹿卿命掩捕食人者，屍諸市。又奏援真德秀爲漕時撥錢以助振給，不報。遂出本司積米三千余石減半賈以糶，及減抵當庫息，出緡錢萬有七千以予貧民，勸居民收字遺孩，日給錢米，所活數百人。宴集不用樂。

The commandery imposed a supplemental autumn grain levy; Jianchang was assessed five thousand hu of rice. Luqing objected: "Let the prefect leave office, but this grain will not be surrendered." Afraid of losing him, the people offered to pay the levy themselves. Luqing said, "It is good that you think of your prefect. But should the prefect not think of the people?" He argued until the levy was withdrawn. Summoned to the traveling court, he was about to depart when bandits rose in Nanfeng. He seized and executed twenty ringleaders and let the rest go. He was promoted to Director of Revenue with concurrent duty in the Right Office. At court he exposed the age's abuses without reserve. He became Vice Director of the Right Office, concurrently revising edicts and ordinances while retaining his Right Office post. Luqing again denounced the abuses of concurrent chief ministers. The chief minister tried to win him with smooth words. Luqing later told others, "That was a cage. I will not be any chief minister's private man." Critics attacked him on other grounds, and he was sidelined as director of the Yuntai Observatory. Within a month he was restored as Jiangdong transport judge. In a year of terrible famine people ate one another. Acting prefect Bie Zhijie concealed the horror and would not act. Luqing had cannibals arrested and displayed their corpses in the market. He also memorialized that Dexiu, as transport commissioner, had once allocated relief funds—a precedent the court ignored. He then released more than three thousand shi of office grain at half price, cut pawnshop interest, and distributed over seventeen thousand strings of cash to the poor. He urged families to take in abandoned infants and supplied daily rations, saving hundreds of lives. He held no music at his banquets.

會岳珂守當塗，制置茶鹽，自詭興利，橫斂百出，商旅不行，國計反屈于初。命鹿卿核之，吏爭竄匿。鹿卿寬其期限，躬自鉤考，盡得其實。珂辟置貪刻吏，開告訐以罔民，沒其財，民李士賢有稻二千石，囚之半歲。鹿卿悉縱舍而勸以其餘分，皆感泣奉命。珂罷，以鹿卿兼領太平，仍暫提舉茶鹽事。弛苛征，蠲米石、蕪湖兩務蘆稅。江東諸郡飛蝗蔽天，入當塗境，鹿卿露香默禱，忽飄風大起，蝗悉度淮。之傑密請移鹿卿浙東提點刑獄，加直秘閣兼提舉常平。鹿卿言罷浮鹽經界鹼地，先撤相家所築，就捕者自言：「我相府人。」鹿卿曰：「行法必自貴近始。」卒論如法。丞相史彌遠之弟通判溫州。利韓世忠家寶玩，籍之，鹿卿奏削其官。

Yue Ke governed Dangtu and controlled tea and salt, claiming to enrich the state while extorting on every side. Commerce stalled and revenue actually fell below earlier levels. Luqing was ordered to audit Yue Ke's accounts. Clerks fled and hid. Luqing extended the deadline, investigated personally, and uncovered the full truth. Ke had appointed rapacious clerks and encouraged informers to seize people's property. Commoner Li Shixian, who held two thousand shi of rice, was imprisoned for half a year. Luqing freed them all and urged the wealthy to share their surplus. They wept and obeyed. When Ke was removed, Luqing was concurrently placed over Taiping and temporarily charged with tea and salt affairs. He eased harsh exactions and abolished reed taxes at the Mizhou and Wuhu offices. Locusts darkened the sky across Jiangdong. As they entered Dangtu, Luqing prayed in silence with incense burning. A sudden gale rose and drove them all across the Huai. Zhijie secretly sought to transfer Luqing to Zhedong judicial intendant, with promotion to Direct Secretariat Drafter and concurrent Ever-Normal Commissioner. Luqing urged abolishing floating salt levies and fixing alkaline land boundaries. He first demolished a dike built by a chief minister's kin. The man arrested said, "I serve the chief minister's household." Luqing replied, "Law must begin with those nearest power." In the end the offender was punished according to law. Chief Minister Shi Miyuan's younger brother served as vice prefect of Wenzhou. He coveted the treasures of Han Shizhong's household and had them registered for confiscation. Luqing memorialized to strip him of office.

初，鹿卿檄衢州推官馮惟說決婺獄，惟說素廉平，至則辨曲直，出淹禁。大家不快其爲，會鄉人居言路，乃屬劾惟說。州索印紙，惟說笑曰：「是猶可以仕乎？」自題詩印紙而去。衢州鄭逢辰以繆舉，鹿卿以委使不當，相繼自劾，且共和其詩。御史兼二人劾罷之。及知泉州，改贛州，皆辭。遷浙西提點刑獄、江淮都大坑冶，皆以病固辭，遂主管玉局觀。及召還，又辭，改直寶章閣知甯國府，提舉江東常平，又辭。

Earlier Luqing had assigned Quzhou investigating officer Feng Weishuo to try a case in Wu. Weishuo, known for integrity, sorted right from wrong on arrival and freed long-imprisoned defendants. Powerful families resented his work. A fellow townsman then held a remonstrance post and arranged to impeach Weishuo. The prefecture demanded his official seal. Weishuo smiled and said, "Can one still serve under such conditions?" He inscribed a poem on the seal document and left. Quzhou's Zheng Fengchen had been promoted by mistake. Luqing, holding the appointment improper, repeatedly impeached himself and joined Fengchen in exchanging poems. A censor impeached both and secured their dismissal. Offered Quanzhou and then Ganzhou, he declined both. Named Zhexi judicial intendant and Grand Commissioner of Jiang-Huai mining, he refused both posts citing illness and was finally made director of the Jade Bureau Observatory. When recalled he declined again. He was offered Direct Drafter of the Baozhang Hall and the Ningguo prefecture with Jiangdong Ever-Normal duties, and declined once more.

淳祐三年，以右司召，猶辭。丞相杜范遺書曰：「直道不容，使人擊節。君不出，豈以馮惟說故耶？惟說行將有命矣。」鹿卿乃出。擢太府少卿兼右司。入對，請定國本、正紀綱、立規模，「時事多艱，人心易搖，無獨力任重之臣，無守節伏義之士，願蚤決大計」。上嘉納之。兼中書門下省檢正諸房公事，兼崇政殿說書。逾年，兼權吏部侍郎。時議使執政分治兵財，鹿卿執議不可。以疾丐祠，遷右文殿修撰、知平江府兼發運副使。力丐祠，上諭丞相挽留之。召權兵部侍郎，固辭，上令丞相以書招之，鹿卿至，又極言君子小人，切於當世之務。兼國子祭酒，權禮部侍郎，兼同修國史，兼實錄院同修撰，兼侍講，兼權給事中。鹿卿言「瑣闥之職無所不當問，比年命下而給捨不得知，請復舊制」。從之。

In Chunyou year 3 he was summoned to the Right Office and still refused. Chief Minister Du Fan wrote: "The upright path has no place at court—it makes one strike the table in admiration. Will you not emerge? Is it because of Feng Weishuo? Weishuo will soon receive an appointment." Only then did Luqing accept office. He was promoted to Vice Minister of the Imperial Treasury with concurrent duty in the Right Office. At court he urged fixing the imperial succession, restoring discipline, and setting a governing framework: "The times are hard and hearts are easily shaken. There is no minister who bears the full weight alone, no gentleman who dies for principle. I beg that the great decision be made soon." The emperor praised and accepted his counsel. He was concurrently made rectifier of Secretariat-Chancellery offices and lecturer at the Chongzheng Hall. After a year he was made acting Vice Minister of Personnel. Some proposed splitting military and fiscal authority between chief ministers. Luqing insisted it could not be done. Citing illness, he sought a temple post and was transferred to Right Culture Hall Compiler, prefect of Pingjiang, and transport vice commissioner. He earnestly sought retirement again. The emperor told the chief minister to keep him at court. Summoned as acting Vice Minister of War, he refused until the emperor ordered the chief minister to write him in. When he came he again spoke bluntly on gentlemen and petty men and the urgent needs of the age. He concurrently served as Chancellor of the Directorate of Education, acting Vice Minister of Rites, National History compiler, Veritable Records compiler, imperial lecturer, and acting Controller of the Secretariat. Luqing said, "The remonstrance office should question every matter. In recent years edicts have been issued without the drafters' knowledge. I ask that the old system be restored." The emperor agreed.

上眷遇冞篤而忌者浸多，有撰偽疏托鹿卿以傳播，曆詆宰相至百執事，鹿卿初不知也，遂力辨上前，因乞去，上曰：「去，則中奸人之計矣。」令臨安府根捕，事連勢要，獄不及竟。遷禮部侍郎。累疏告老，授寶章閣待制、知甯國府，而引年之疏五上，不允，提舉鴻禧觀，遂致仕，進華文閣待制。卒，遺表聞，贈四官。

Imperial favor deepened, but enemies multiplied. Someone forged a memorial in Luqing's name and circulated it, attacking the chief minister and the entire bureaucracy. Unaware at first, Luqing then defended himself before the throne and begged to resign. The emperor said, "If you leave, you will play into the plotters' hands." He ordered Lin'an authorities to investigate, but the case touched powerful interests and never reached a conclusion. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites. He repeatedly sought retirement and was granted Gentleman of the Baozhang Hall and the Ningguo prefecture, but five petitions citing his age went unanswered. He was placed over Hongxi Temple, then retired, and was advanced to Gentleman of the Huawen Hall. After his death his final memorial reached the throne, and four ranks of office were granted posthumously.

鹿卿居家孝友，喜怒不形，恩怨俱泯，宗族鄉黨，各得歡心。居官廉約清峻，豪發不妄取，一廬僅庇風雨。所著有《泉谷文集》、奏議、講義、《鹽楮議政稿》、《曆官對越集》，手編《漢唐文類》、《文苑菁華》，諡清正。

At home he was filial and kind, never showing anger or joy on his face, forgetting both favors and injuries. Clan and neighbors alike found joy in him. In office he was frugal and austere, never taking so much as a hair unjustly. A single cottage barely kept out wind and rain. His works included the Spring Valley Collection, memorials, lecture notes, Salt and Paper Currency Policy Drafts, Audience Memorials from His Offices, and his own compilations of Han-Tang literature and the Forest of Letters. His posthumous title was Upright and Pure.

趙逢龍

Zhao Fenglong

趙逢龍，字應甫，慶元之鄞人。刻苦自修，爲學淹博純實。登嘉定十六年進士第。授國子正、太學博士，曆知興國、信、衢、衡、袁五州，提舉廣東、湖南、福建常平。每至官，有司例設供張，悉命撤去，日具蔬飯，坐公署，事至即面問決遣。爲政務寬恕，撫諭惻怛，一以天理民彝爲言，民是以不忍欺。居官自常奉外，一介不取。民賦有逋負，悉爲代輸。尤究心荒政，以羨余爲平糴本。遷將作監，拜宗正少卿兼侍講。凡道德性命之蘊，禮樂刑政之事，縷縷爲上開陳。疏奏甚衆，稿悉焚棄。年八十有八終於家。

Zhao Fenglong, courtesy name Yingfu, was from Yin in Qingyuan circuit. Through rigorous self-cultivation he achieved learning that was broad, deep, and solid. He passed the jinshi examination in Jiading year 16. He served as Rectifier of the Directorate and Erudite of the Imperial Academy, then successively as prefect of Xingguo, Xin, Qu, Heng, and Yuan, and as Ever-Normal Commissioner in Guangdong, Hunan, and Fujian. At every post local offices customarily prepared lavish reception quarters. He had them all dismantled, ate simple vegetable meals daily, and sat in the public hall, deciding cases face to face as they arose. He governed with leniency, comforting people with sincere compassion and appealing always to heavenly principle and human moral nature, so that the people could not bring themselves to deceive him. Beyond his regular salary he accepted not a single coin in office. When taxpayers fell into arrears, he paid their debts himself. He devoted special attention to famine relief, using budget surpluses to fund grain stabilization. He was promoted to Director of Palace Construction and appointed Vice Minister of the Imperial Clan with concurrent duty as imperial lecturer. Whether on moral nature and destiny, or on rites, music, punishments, and government, he unfolded each topic in careful detail before the throne. He submitted many memorials, but burned every draft. He died at home at the age of eighty-eight.

逢龍家居講道，四方從遊者皆爲钜公名士。丞相葉夢鼎出判慶元，修弟子禮，常謂師門庳陋，欲市其鄰居充拓之。逢龍曰：「鄰里粗安，一旦驚擾，彼雖勉從，我能無愧於心！」逢龍寡嗜欲，不好名，揚曆日久，泊然不知富貴之味。或問何以裕後，逢龍笑曰：「吾憂子孫學行不進，不患其饑寒也。」

At home he lectured on the Way, and scholars who came from every direction to study with him were great ministers and eminent scholars. Chief Minister Ye Mengding, on leaving office to serve in Qingyuan, treated him as a teacher and often said the master's gate was too cramped, wishing to buy neighboring houses to enlarge it. Fenglong said, "The neighborhood is at peace. If we suddenly disturb it, neighbors may yield reluctantly—but could I face them without shame?" Fenglong had few desires and cared little for fame. Though he served in office for many years, he remained indifferent to wealth and rank. Asked how to provide for posterity, he smiled and said, "I worry that my descendants' learning and conduct will not advance. I do not worry that they will go hungry or cold."

趙汝騰

Zhao Ruteng

趙汝騰，字茂實，宗室子也。居福州。寶慶二年進士。曆官差主管禮、兵部架閣，遷籍田令，召試館職，授秘書省正字，升校書郎，尋升秘書郎兼史館校勘。輪對，言節用先自乘輿宮掖始。兼玉牒所檢討官，以直煥章閣知溫州，進直徽猷閣、江東提點刑獄，又進直寶文閣，差知婺州。召赴闕，遷起居舍人，兼權中書舍人，升起居郎，時暫兼權吏部侍郎，兼國史編修、實錄檢討，兼同修國史、實錄院同修撰，兼侍講，遷吏部侍郎兼侍講，權工部尚書兼權中書舍人，皆兼同修撰，以左司諫陳垓論罷。召爲禮部尚書兼給事中，兼修國史、實錄院修撰。入奏，言：「前後奸諛之臣，傷善害賢，自取穹官要職，何益于陛下，而深損於聖德。興利之臣，移東就西，順適宮禁，自遂溪壑無厭之欲，何益于陛下，而深戕于國脈。則陛下私惠群小之心，可以息矣。」又言：「陛下有用君子之名，無用君子之實。」

Zhao Ruteng, courtesy name Maoshi, was a member of the imperial clan. He made his home in Fuzhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Baoqing era (1226). In his official career he successively supervised the archival shelves of the Ministries of Rites and War, served as Director of the Sacrificial Field, was called for a probationary Hanlin post, and was appointed Secretary Rectifier, then Collator, and soon Secretary Gentleman with concurrent duty as historiography collator. In a palace audience he urged that frugality must begin with the emperor's own conveyances and the inner palace. He also served as examiner in the Imperial Genealogy Office, then with a direct Huazhang Hall appointment became prefect of Wenzhou; he rose to a direct Huiyou Hall post as Jiangdong judicial intendant, and again to a direct Baowen Hall appointment as prefect of Wuzhou. Recalled to court, he became Gentleman Attendant of the Bedchamber and acting Drafting Academician, then Attendant Gentleman; for a time he also acted as Vice Minister of Personnel while editing the national history, examining the veritable records, and serving as joint compiler in the Historiography Office and as lecturer; he rose to Vice Minister of Personnel with concurrent lecturing, then acting Minister of Works and acting Drafting Academician, always with joint compilation duties—until Left Remonstrator Chen Kai's memorial brought his dismissal. He was recalled as Minister of Rites and Reviewer, with concurrent duties in the Historiography and Veritable Records offices. In audience he said: 'Time and again treacherous flatterers have harmed the worthy and injured the good, yet seized the highest offices and key posts—what good does that do Your Majesty, while it deeply wounds your sagely virtue? Those who chase profit shift resources this way and that to please the inner palace, filling their own bottomless greed—what good does that do Your Majesty, while it deeply cuts the nation's lifeblood? In that case Your Majesty's inclination to show private favor to petty men can at last be laid to rest.' He also said: 'Your Majesty has the reputation of employing true gentlemen, but not the reality.'

兼直學士院，拜翰林學士兼知制誥，兼侍讀。辭歸故里，累召，力辭，以龍圖閣學士知紹興府、浙東安撫使。召至闕，以端明殿學士提舉佑神觀，兼翰林學士承旨，知泉州、知州南外宗正事，復提舉佑神觀兼侍讀。兼翰林學士承旨。景定二年，卒，遺表上，特贈四官。

With concurrent duty in the Academy of Scholars, he was made Hanlin Academician and drafter of edicts, and Reader-in-Waiting. He resigned and went home; though summoned again and again he firmly refused, and was finally made Dragon Diagram Hall academician, prefect of Shaoxing, and Eastern Zhejiang pacification commissioner. Called to court as Duanming Hall academician, he directed the Youshen Abbey while serving as Chief Hanlin Academician, prefect of Quanzhou, and director of the Southern Outer Imperial Clan Bureau; later he again directed the Youshen Abbey with concurrent Reader-in-Waiting. He also served as Chief Hanlin Academician. In the second year of Jingding (1261) he died; when his final memorial reached the throne he was specially posthumously promoted four ranks.

孫夢觀

Sun Mengguan

孫夢觀，字守叔，慶元府慈溪人。寶慶二年進士。調桂陽軍教授、浙西提舉司幹辦公事，差主管吏部架閣文字，爲武學諭。輪對，言：「人主不容有所憚，尤不容有所玩，憚則有言而不能容，玩則雖容其言而不能用。」力請外，添差通判嚴州，主管崇道觀，召爲武學博士、太常寺丞兼諸王宮大小學教授，大宗正丞兼屯田郎官、將作少監。知嘉興府，仍舊班兼右司郎官、將作監。轉對，極言：「風憲之地，未聞有十八疏攻一竦者。封駁之司，未聞有三舍人不肯草制者。道揆不明，法守滋亂，天下之權將有所寄，而倒持之患作。」當路者滋不悅。出知泉州兼提舉市舶，改知甯國府。蠲逋減賦，無算泛入者盡籍於公帑。戶部遣官督賦，急若星火，闔郡皇駭，莫知爲計。夢觀曰：「吾寧委官以去，毋寧病民以留。」力丐祠，且將以府印牒所遣官，所遣官聞之夜遁。他日夢觀去甯國，人言之爲之流涕。

Sun Mengguan, courtesy name Shoushu, was from Cixi in Qingyuan Prefecture. He received the jinshi degree in the second year of Baoqing (1226). He served as professor at Guiyang Commandery, clerk in the Western Zhejiang transport office, supervisor of Personnel Ministry archive documents, and Erudite of the Military School. In a palace audience he said: 'A ruler must fear nothing in his counsellors—yet he must never treat their words lightly. Fear means counsel spoken but not heard; levity means counsel heard but never acted upon.' He pressed for a provincial post, received an additional assignment as vice prefect of Yanzhou and director of the Chongdao Abbey, then was recalled as Military School erudite, Vice Director of Sacrifices with concurrent teaching in the imperial princes' schools, and Vice Director of the Imperial Clan Court with concurrent posts in the Grain Tax Bureau and Palace Construction. As prefect of Jiaxing he kept his former rank while also serving in the Right Department and as Director of Palace Construction. In another audience he said bluntly: 'At the censorial court one never hears of eighteen memorials aimed at a single man. At the seal-and-reject office one never hears of three drafting academicians refusing to draft an edict. The moral compass is clouded and the laws in disarray; power in the realm is being handed to others, and the disaster of holding the sword by the blade is upon us.' Those in power were only more displeased. Those in power were only more displeased. He was sent out as prefect of Quanzhou with concurrent maritime trade intendant, then transferred to Ningguo. He cancelled tax arrears and cut levies, and every irregular levy was entered into the public treasury. When Revenue officials came to press collection with fire-breath urgency, the whole prefecture was panic-stricken and at a loss. Mengguan said: 'I would rather give up my post than stay on and harm the people.' He begged hard for a temple appointment and was about to serve the Revenue agents with the prefectural seal; when they heard of it they fled overnight.

丞相董槐召還，帝問江東廉吏，槐首以夢觀對，帝說，乃遷司農少卿兼資善堂贊讀。輪對，謂：「今內外之臣，恃陛下以各遂其私，而陛下獨一無可恃，可爲寒心！」次論：「郡國當爲斯民計，朝廷當爲郡國計。乞命大臣應自前主計之臣奪州縣之利而歸版曹者，復歸所屬，庶幾郡國蒙一分之寬，則斯民亦受一分之賜。」帝善其言。遷太府卿、宗正少卿，兼給事中、起居舍人、起居郎。八上章辭免，以監察御史吳燧論罷，直龍圖閣與祠，授秘閣修撰、江淮等路提點鑄錢司公事。甫至官，即復召爲起居郎兼侍右侍郎、給事中兼贊讀，兼國子祭酒，權吏部侍郎。奏事抗論益切，以寵賂彰、仁賢逝、貨財偏聚爲言，且謂「未易相之前，敝政固不少；既易相之後，敝政亦自若。」在廷之士皆危之。夢觀曰：「吾以一布衣蒙上恩至此，雖捐軀無以報，利鈍非所計也。」

When he later left Ningguo, the people spoke of him with tears in their eyes. Chief Councillor Dong Huai had him recalled; when the emperor asked for honest officials in Jiangdong, Huai named Mengguan first. Pleased, the emperor made him Vice Minister of Revenue and reader in the Zishan Hall. In audience he said: 'Ministers inside and outside the court now rely on Your Majesty only so each may pursue his private ends, while Your Majesty alone has nothing to rely on—how chilling a thought! He went on: 'Prefectures should plan for the people; the court should plan for the prefectures.' The emperor approved his words. He was promoted to Minister of the Imperial Treasury and Vice Director of the Imperial Clan Court, with concurrent posts as Reviewer, Gentleman Attendant, and Attendant Gentleman. Eight times he memorialized to decline further promotion; Supervising Censor Wu Sui's attack brought his dismissal, a Dragon Diagram Hall academician's temple post, and appointment as Secretariat compiler in charge of coinage for the Huai-Jiang circuit and others. He had barely taken up that post when he was recalled as Attendant Gentleman, acting Vice Minister of the Right Secretariat, Reviewer and reader, Chancellor of the National University, and acting Vice Minister of Personnel. In memorials he argued ever more bluntly, denouncing displayed favoritism, departed worthies, and wealth piled in the wrong hands, and saying: 'Before the chief minister was replaced, abuses were already many; after he was replaced, the abuses were just as they had been.' Court officials all felt themselves in peril. Mengguan said: 'I began as a plain scholar and have received such grace from the throne that I could not repay it even with my life; I do not reckon gain or loss.'

力求補外，以集英殿修撰知建寧府。蠲租稅，省刑罰，郡人徐清叟、蔡抗以爲有古循吏風。民有夢從者甚郡，迎祠山神，出視之則夢觀也。俄而夢觀得疾，口授遺表，不忘規諫，遂卒。帝悼惜久之，賻銀帛三百。夢觀退然若不勝衣，然義所當爲，奮往直前；其居敗屋數間，布衣蔬食，而重名節云。

He pressed for an outside appointment and, as compiler of the Hall of Assembled Excellence, became prefect of Jianning. He cut rents and lightened punishments; the locals Xu Qingsou and Cai Kang said he had the manner of the old model magistrates. Some dreamed a vast crowd welcoming the god of Cishan; when they went out to look, it was Mengguan. Soon he fell ill, dictated a final memorial still full of remonstrance, and died. The emperor mourned him at length and granted three hundred units of silver and silk for his funeral. Mengguan in person seemed almost too slight for his robes, yet where duty called he went straight ahead; he lived in a few ruined rooms on plain food and coarse cloth, yet held name and integrity dear.

洪天錫

Hong Tianxi

洪天錫，字君疇，泉州晉江人。寶慶二年進士。授廣州司法。長吏盛氣待僚屬，天錫糾正爲多。丁內艱，免喪，調潮州司理。勢家奪民田，天賜言於守，還之。

Hong Tianxi, courtesy name Junchou, was from Jinjiang in Quanzhou. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Baoqing (1226). He was appointed judicial officer of Guangzhou. The chief official bullied his staff; Tianxi corrected him repeatedly. After his father's death he left office; when mourning ended he became judicial officer of Chaozhou. When powerful families seized commoners' land, Tianxi appealed to the prefect and had the land returned.

帥方大琮辟真州判官，留置幕府。改秩知古田縣。行鄉飲酒禮。邑劇，牒訴猥多，天錫剖決無留難。有倚王邸勢殺人者，誅之不少貸。調通判建寧府。大水，擅發常平倉振之。擢諸司糧料院，拜監察御史兼說書。累疏言：「天下之患三：宦官也，外戚也，小人也。」劾董宋臣、謝堂、厲文翁，理宗力護文翁，天錫又言：「不斥文翁，必爲王府累。」上令吳燧宣諭再三，天錫力爭，謂：「貴幸作奸犯科，根柢蟠固，乃遲回護惜，不欲繩以法，勢焰愈張，紀綱愈壞，異時禍成，雖欲治之不可得矣。」上又出御劄，俾天錫易疏，欲自戒飭之。天錫又言：「自古奸人雖憑怙，其心未嘗不畏人主之知，苟知之而止於戒飭，則憑怙愈張，反不若未知之爲愈也。」章五上，出關待罪。詔二人已改命，宋臣續處之。天錫言：「臣留則宋臣去，宋臣留則臣當斥，願早賜裁斷。」越月，天雨土，天錫以其異爲蒙，力言陰陽君子小人之所以辨，又言修內司之爲民害者。

Marshal Fang Dacong took him on as vice magistrate of Zhenzhou and kept him on his staff. His rank was changed and he became magistrate of Gutian County. He conducted the local drinking ceremony. The county was a difficult post with a tangle of suits; Tianxi disposed of them without delay. When a man who relied on a princely mansion's power committed murder, Tianxi executed him without mercy. He was transferred to vice prefect of Jianning. During a great flood he opened the Ever-Normal Granary on his own authority to relieve the people. He was promoted to the Grain Provisioning Institute and appointed Supervising Censor with concurrent Lecturer. In repeated memorials he said: 'The empire's three calamities are eunuchs, imperial in-laws, and petty men.' He impeached Dong Songchen, Xie Tang, and Li Weng; Emperor Lizong strongly shielded Weng, and Tianxi said again: 'Unless Weng is removed, he will surely become a burden to the imperial house.' The emperor had Wu Sui announce the imperial will again and again; Tianxi pressed his case, saying: 'When the favored commit crimes their roots run deep—yet the court hesitates and shields them rather than apply the law; their power only grows and discipline only rots, until when disaster comes it will be too late to mend.' The emperor again sent a personal note, asking Tianxi to revise his memorial so the emperor might take it as self-admonition. Tianxi replied: 'Since antiquity wicked men who enjoy favor still fear the ruler's knowledge; if the ruler knows them yet only admonishes himself, their hold grows only stronger—it would be better not to have known them at all.' After five memorials he left the capital to await punishment. An edict said the two men had already been reassigned and that Songchen would continue to be dealt with. Tianxi said: 'If I stay, Songchen must go; if Songchen stays, I must be dismissed—let Your Majesty decide quickly.' A month later earth fell from the sky; Tianxi took the omen as a cover and spoke forcefully on how yin and yang distinguish gentlemen from petty men, and again on how the Inner Works Office harms the people.

蜀中地震，浙、閩大水，又言：「上下窮空，遠近怨疾，獨貴戚巨閹享富貴耳。舉天下窮且怨，陛下能獨與數十人者共天下乎？」會吳民仲大論等列訴宋臣奪其田，天錫下其事有司，而御前提舉所移文謂田屬御莊，不當白台，儀鸞司亦牒常平。天錫謂：「御史所以雪冤，常平所以均役，若中貴人得以控之，則內外台可廢，猶爲國有紀綱乎？」乃申劾宋臣並盧允升而枚數其惡，上猶力護之。天錫又言：「修內司供繕修而已，比年動曰'御前'，奸贓之老吏，跡捕之凶渠，一竄名其間，則有司不得舉手，狡者獻謀，暴者助虐，其輾轉受害者皆良民也。願毋使史臣書之曰：'內司之橫自今始。 '」疏上至六七，最後請還御史印，謂：「明君當爲後人除害，不當留患以遺後人。今朝廷輕給舍台諫，輕百司庶府，而北司獨重，倉卒之際，臣實懼焉。」言雖不果行，然終宋世閹人不能竊弄主威者，皆天錫之力，而天錫亦自是去朝廷矣。改大理少卿，再遷太常，皆不拜。

When Shu was shaken by earthquake and Zhe and Min by flood, he said again: 'Court and country are bankrupt, resentment runs everywhere—only the great favorites and great eunuchs still enjoy wealth and rank. When the whole realm is poor and resentful, can Your Majesty share the empire with only a few dozen men?' When Wu commoners led by Zhong Dalun petitioned in succession that Songchen had seized their land, Tianxi referred the case to the proper offices; but the Imperial Advancement Office claimed the land as imperial estate and not to be reported to the censorate, and the Ceremonial Guard also sent papers to the Ever-Normal Office. Tianxi said: 'Censors exist to right wrongs and the Ever-Normal Office to balance labor—if inner favorites can control them, the censorate might as well be abolished; does the state still have discipline?' He then impeached Songchen together with Lu Yunsheng, itemizing their crimes; the emperor still shielded them. Tianxi said again: 'The Inner Works Office was meant only for palace repairs; lately it constantly invokes the "imperial front," and corrupt experienced clerks and tracked-down criminals are hidden under its name so that regular offices cannot act—the crafty plot, the violent help oppress, and good people are the ones who suffer. Do not let the historians write that the Inner Office's arrogance began today. When his memorials had reached six or seven, he at last asked to return the censor's seal, saying: 'A wise ruler removes harm for those who come after; he does not leave calamity for them.' The court now treats the drafting, review, and remonstrance offices and the hundred ministries lightly, while the Northern Office alone is heavy; in a sudden crisis I truly fear for the realm.' Though his proposals were not fully enacted, that eunuchs could not through the rest of the Song privately wield imperial authority was largely Tianxi's doing—and from this he himself left the central court. He was moved to Vice Director of Punishments, then twice offered Minister of Sacrifices—both times he declined.

改廣東提點刑獄，五辭。明年，起知潭州，久之始至官。戢盜賊，尊先賢，逾年大治。直寶謨閣，遷廣東轉運判官，決疑獄，劾貪吏，治財賦，皆有法。召爲秘書監兼侍講，以聵辭，升秘閣修撰、福建轉運副使，又辭。度宗即位，以侍御史兼侍讀召，累辭，不許，在道間，監察御史張桂劾罷之。乃疏所欲對病民五事：曰公田，曰關子，曰銀綱，曰鹽鈔，曰賦役。又言：「在廷無嚴憚之士，何以寢奸謀？遇事無敢諍之臣，何以臨大節？人物稀疏，精采銷耎，隱惰惜已者多，忘身徇國者少。」進工部侍郎兼直學士院，加顯文閣待制、湖南安撫使、知潭州，改潭州，皆力辭。

He was appointed Guangdong judicial intendant and declined five times. The next year he was summoned as prefect of Tanzhou and only after a long delay took up the post. He suppressed bandits, honored former worthies, and within a year brought the prefecture to good order. With direct Baomo Hall appointment he became Guangdong transport vice commissioner; he decided doubtful cases, impeached corrupt officials, and managed finances—all by sound methods. Recalled as Director of the Secretariat and Lecturer, he pleaded deafness and declined; promoted to Secretariat compiler and Fujian transport vice commissioner, he declined again. When Emperor Duzong ascended the throne Tianxi was summoned as Attendant Censor and Lecturer; he declined again and again but was not allowed; on the way Supervising Censor Zhang Gui impeached him and ended the appointment. He then memorialized the five afflictions of the people he wished to address: public fields, guanzi notes, silver convoys, salt certificates, and tax corvée. He also said: 'Without men of stern awe at court, how can wicked plots be quieted? Without ministers who dare remonstrate when crisis comes, how can great integrity be upheld? Talent is thin and spirits slack; many spare themselves, few forget themselves for the state. Promoted to Vice Minister of Works with concurrent Academy of Scholars appointment, made Awaiting Commissioner of the Xianwen Hall, Hunan pacification commissioner, and prefect of Tanzhou—every post firmly declined. The following year he was again made Fujian pacification commissioner; he declined firmly but was not allowed.' When salt-shop households had been ruined and even killed by compulsory salt purchases, Tianxi was the first to abolish the practice; the people held Buddhist rites in thanks.

又明年，改福建安撫使，力辭，不許。亭戶買鹽至破家隕身者，天錫首罷之，民作佛事以報。罷荔枝貢。召爲刑部尚書，詔憲守之臣趣行無虛日，不起。久之，進顯文閣直學士，提舉太平興國宮，三降御劄趣之，又力辭。逾年，進華文閣直學士，仍舊宮觀，尋致仕，加端明殿學士，轉一官。疾革，草遺表以規君相。上震悼，特贈正議大夫，諡文毅。

He abolished the lychee tribute. Where buying salt had ruined saltern households and cost lives, Tianxi was first to abolish it; the people held Buddhist rites to thank him. He ended the lychee tribute. Summoned as Minister of Punishments, he was urged by edict day after day to hurry—he did not go. After a long interval he was made Direct Academician of the Xianwen Hall and director of the Taiping Xingguo Palace; three imperial notes urged him on, and again he firmly declined. A year later he was made Direct Academician of the Huawen Hall at the same palace; soon he retired, was given Duanming Hall academician, and promoted one rank. As his illness turned grave, he drafted a death memorial to counsel ruler and ministers. The emperor was deeply shaken and grieved, and specially conferred posthumously the title Grandee of Corrective Discussion; he was given the posthumous name Wenyi.

天錫言動有準繩，居官清介，臨事是非不可回折。所著奏議、《經筵講義》，《進故事》、《通祀輯略》、《味言發墨》、《陽岩文集》。

Tianxi's words and acts had their measure; in office he was pure and unyielding; on matters of right and wrong he could not be turned aside. His writings include Memorials, Classics Lectures, Presenting Historical Cases, Comprehensive Sacrificial Summary, Flavorful Words Issuing Ink, and the Yangyan Collection.

黃師雍

Huang Shiyong

黃師雍，字子敬，福州人。少從黃斡學。入太學。寶慶二年，舉進士。詔爲楚州官屬。出盜賊白刃之沖，不畏不懾。李全反狀已露，師雍密結忠義軍別部都統時青圖之，謀泄，全殺青，師雍不爲動，全亦不加害。秩滿，朝議褒異，師雍恥出史彌遠門，不往見之。調婺州教授，學政一以呂祖謙爲法。李完勉、趙必願、趙汝談皆薦之。

Huang Shiyong, courtesy name Zijing, was from Fuzhou. In youth he studied under Huang Gan. He entered the Imperial University. In the second year of Baoqing (1226) he passed the jinshi examination. He was appointed to an official post in Chuzhou. He went out into the very teeth of bandit blades and was neither afraid nor shaken. When Li Quan's rebellion was already plain, Shiyong secretly allied with Shi Qing, commander of a separate Loyal Righteous Army detachment, to plot against him; the plot leaked and Quan killed Qing, yet Shiyong did not flinch and Quan did not harm him either. When his term ended the court praised him as exceptional; Shiyong was ashamed to be counted among Shi Miyuan's protégés and did not go to see him. Transferred as professor of Wuzhou, he ran the school wholly on Lü Zuqian's methods. Li Wanmian, Zhao Biyuan, and Zhao Rudan all recommended him.

師雍慕徐僑有清望，欲謁之，會其有召命，師雍曰：「今不可往也。」僑聞而賢之，至闕，以其學最聞，宗勉在政府，力言于丞相喬行簡，行簡已許以朝除。師雍以書見行簡，勸其歸老，行簡不悅，宗勉之請遂格。

Shiyong admired Xu Qiao's clean reputation and wished to visit him; when Qiao received a court summons Shiyong said: 'This is not the time to call on him.' Qiao heard of it and thought him worthy; when Shiyong reached court his learning was the most talked of; Wanmian, then in government, urged Chief Councillor Qiao Xingjian, who had already agreed to a central appointment. Shiyong wrote to Xingjian urging him to retire; displeased, Xingjian blocked Wanmian's recommendation.

知遂之龍溪，轉運使王伯大上其邑最。行簡罷，宗勉與史嵩之入相，召師雍審察，將至而宗勉卒。嵩之延師雍，密示相親意，師雍不領；遷糧料院，又曰：「料院與相府密邇，所以相處。」師雍亦不領。嵩之獨相，權勢浸盛，上下懼禍，未有發其奸者。博士劉應起首疏論嵩之，帝感悟，思逐嵩之。師雍與應起相善，故嵩之疑師雍左右之，諷御史梅杞擊師雍，差知興化軍，旋奪之，改知邵武軍。及應起爲監察御史，師雍遷宗正寺簿，尋亦拜監察御史。首疏削金淵秩，送外居住。再疏斥趙綸、項容孫、史肯之。嵩之終喪，正言李昴英、殿中侍御史章琰共疏乞竄斥之，師雍亦上疏論列，帝感悟，即其日詔勒令致仕。權直舍人院劉克莊封還詞頭，乞畀嵩之以貼職如宰臣去國故事，遂得守金紫光祿大夫、觀文殿學士致仕。議者曰：「大夫，官也。觀文，職也。元降御筆但云'守官'，無'本官職'之辭。觀文之命，自克莊啟之。朋邪顧望，不可赦。」師雍遂劾克莊臨事失身犯義，免所居官，琰亦繼劾克莊，師雍又乞籍嵩之家隸張叔儀，皆從之。

As magistrate of Longxi in Suizhou he was reported by Transport Commissioner Wang Boda as the foremost county. When Xingjian fell, Wanmian and Shi Songzhi came to power; Shiyong was summoned for examination and was about to reach the capital when Wanmian died. Songzhi invited Shiyong and secretly signaled favor; Shiyong would not acknowledge it; he was moved to the Grain Provisioning Institute and said again: 'The Grain Institute lies next to the chief councillor's office—that is how one is handled.' Again Shiyong would not acknowledge it. Songzhi held the chancellorship alone; his power grew daily; court and country feared disaster, yet no one exposed his crimes. Erudite Liu Yingqi was the first to memorialize against Songzhi; the emperor was moved and thought to drive him out. Shiyong was close to Yingqi, so Songzhi suspected Shiyong of aiding him and prompted Censor Mei Qi to attack him; Shiyong was sent to Xinghua, soon stripped of that post, then made prefect of Shaowu. When Yingqi became Supervising Censor, Shiyong was made registrar of the Imperial Clan Court and soon after Supervising Censor. His first memorial stripped Jin Yuan of rank and sent him to live in exile. A second memorial expelled Zhao Lun, Xiang Rongsun, and Shi Kenzhi. When Songzhi's mourning ended, Remonstrator Li Angying and Palace Attendant Censor Zhang Yan jointly begged his banishment; Shiyong also indicted him; moved, the emperor that very day ordered him to retire. Acting in the Academy Liu Kezhuang returned the draft edict, asking that Songzhi be given an attached rank by the precedent for a departing chief minister, and so he was allowed to retire as Grand Guardian of the Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon and Academician of the Observatory Hall. Critics said: 'Grand Guardian is an office. Observatory Hall is a post. The original imperial note said only "guard office," not "original office and post." The Observatory Hall appointment began with Kezhuang. Such partisan favor looking backward cannot be forgiven.' Shiyong then impeached Kezhuang for compromising himself in the affair and had him removed; Yan also impeached Kezhuang; Shiyong again asked to register Songzhi's household slave Zhang Shuyi—all were granted.

未幾，昴英劾臨安尹趙與𥲅及執政，琰亦劾執政，帝怒昴英並及琰。鄭采乘間劾琰、昴英，又嗾同列再疏，以昴英屬某人，琰屬師雍。師雍毅然不從，獨擊葉閶乃與𥲅腹心。琰、昴英去國，采於是薦周坦、葉大有入台，首劾程公許、江萬里，善類日危矣。未逾月，坦攻參政吳潛去，陳垓爲監察御史，時采、與𥲅、坦、垓、大有合爲一，師雍獨立。采惡之尤甚，思所以去師雍，未得，招四人共謀之。會大旱求言，應招者多指采、坦等爲起災之由，牟子才、李伯玉、盧鉞語尤峻。坦等偽撰匿名書，誣三士，師雍榻前辨，謂：「匿名書條令所禁，非公論也，不知何爲至前。」因發其偽撰之跡。適鉞疏譽師雍，采乃以鉞附師雍，帝不聽，擢師雍左司諫。

Before long Angying impeached the Lin'an prefect Zhao Yuchou and the chief ministers; Yan also impeached the chief ministers; the emperor's anger at Angying swept up Yan as well. Zheng Cai seized the moment to impeach Yan and Angying, and also urged his colleagues to memorialize again, claiming Angying belonged to one faction and Yan to Shiyong. Shiyong stood firm and refused to go along, singling out Ye Chang as a trusted inner ally of Zhao Yu'e. With Yan and Angying driven from court, Cai now advanced Zhou Tan and Ye Dayou into the Censorate, opening with impeachments of Cheng Gongxu and Jiang Wanli, and men of integrity found themselves in daily greater peril. In less than a month Tan had hounded Vice Administrator Wu Qian from office, and Chen Gai took up the post of Investigating Censor. Cai, Zhao Yu'e, Tan, Gai, and Dayou now moved as a single faction, with Shiyong the sole holdout. Cai loathed him all the more and cast about for a way to drive Shiyong out, yet could not manage it, and so called the four of them into joint counsel. When a severe drought prompted the court to invite criticism, most memorialists named Cai, Tan, and their circle as the source of the disaster, and the language of Mou Zicai, Li Boyu, and Lu Yue was especially cutting. Tan and his allies forged anonymous libels against the three scholars. Shiyong rebutted them at the imperial couch, saying, "Anonymous writings are barred by law; they are not the voice of public judgment—why have they been laid before Your Majesty?" He thereby laid bare the evidence of their fabrication. At that moment Lu Yue submitted a memorial commending Shiyong; Cai tried to lump Yue together with him, but the Emperor would not heed it and promoted Shiyong to Left Office Remonstrator.

未幾，采入政府，謝方叔、趙汝騰疏其奸，采遂罷去。師雍與丞相鄭清之故同舍，然以劾劉用行、魏峴皆清之親故，清之不樂。坦喜曰：「吾得所以去之矣。」遣其婦日造清之妻，譖曰：「彼去用行、峴，乃去丞相之漸也。」帝將以師雍爲侍御史，清之曰：「如此，則臣不可留。」遷起居舍人兼侍講，即力丐去。清之猶冀師雍少貶，師雍曰：「吾欲爲全人。」終不屈。數月，坦卒劾師雍及高斯得俱罷。久之，以直寶文閣奉祠，陳垓又嗾同列寢之。清之卒，起師雍爲左史，既而改江西轉運使，遷禮部侍郎，命下而卒於江西官舍。

Before long Cai took a seat in the central government, but Xie Fangshu and Zhao Ruteng exposed his misconduct in memorials, and he was soon removed. Shiyong and Chief Councillor Zheng Qingzhi had once roomed together as students, yet his impeachments of Liu Yongxing and Wei Xian—both men tied to Qingzhi by kinship and friendship—had left the chief councillor ill at ease. Tan exulted, saying, "I have found the way to get rid of him." He sent his wife daily to call on Qingzhi's wife with insinuations: "When he drove out Yongxing and Xian, he was only clearing the path to oust the chief councillor." The Emperor was on the point of naming Shiyong Attending Censor, but Qingzhi said, "If that appointment stands, then this subject cannot stay in office." Shiyong was shifted to Gentleman Attendant who Drafts Imperial Documents with a concurrent post as Court Lecturer, and immediately pleaded with all his strength to be released. Qingzhi still hoped Shiyong might accept a modest demotion; Shiyong replied, "I mean to remain a man whole and unbroken." In the end he would not yield. Several months later Tan finally secured the dismissal of both Shiyong and Gao Side through impeachment. Long afterward he was given the title Direct Gentleman for the Compilation of Exalted Literary Works with a temple-service stipend, and Chen Gai once more urged his colleagues to smother any word on his behalf. After Qingzhi's death Shiyong was recalled as Left Historiographer, then appointed Jiangxi Transport Commissioner and promoted to Vice Minister of Rites; the appointment reached him only to find him already dead in his Jiangxi quarters.

師雍簡淡寡欲，靖厚有守，言若不出口，而於邪正之辨甚明，視外物輕甚，故博采公論，當官而行，愛護名節，無愧師友云。

Shiyong lived simply, with few wants, and was grave, steadfast, and principled—so sparing of speech that he seemed hardly to speak at all, yet razor-clear in telling right from wrong and utterly indifferent to outward gain. He weighed the broad consensus of opinion, did in office what office demanded, and guarded his reputation and integrity without shame before his teachers and friends.

徐元傑

Xu Yuanjie

徐元傑，字仁伯，信州上饒人。幼穎悟，誦書日數千言，每冥思精索。聞陳文蔚講書鉛山，實朱熹門人，往師之。後師事真德秀。紹定五年，進士及第。簽書鎮東軍節判官廳公事。

Xu Yuanjie, courtesy name Renbo, came from Shangrao in Xin Prefecture. Even as a boy he was quick and penetrating; he could recite several thousand characters of text in a day, and would brood over each passage until he had grasped its marrow. Learning that Chen Wenwei was lecturing at Qianshan and was a genuine disciple of Zhu Xi, he went to become his student. He later studied under Zhen Dexiu as well. In the fifth year of Shaoding he passed the jinshi examinations. He was appointed to sign documents in the Eastern Garrison Military Commission.

嘉熙二年，召爲秘書省正字，遷校書郎。奏否泰、剝復之理，因及右轄久虛，非骨鯁耆艾，身足負荷斯世者，不可輕畀。又言皇子竑當置後及蚤立太子，乞蚤定大計。時諫官蔣峴方力排竑置後之說，遂力請外，不許，即謁告歸，丐祠，章十二上。三年，遷著作佐郎兼兵部郎官，以疾辭。差知安吉州，辭。召赴行在奏事，辭益堅。

In the second year of Jiaxi he was summoned to the Secretariat as Rectifier of Documents and soon promoted to Collator. He submitted a memorial on the cycles of adversity and prosperity, decay and renewal, and argued that the long-standing vacancy at the right vice-rank ought not be filled lightly: only a man of moral backbone, seasoned and venerable, whose shoulders could truly carry the age was fit for such an appointment. He also urged that Prince Qi be given an heir and that the crown prince be named without delay, pleading for an early settlement of the succession. The remonstrator Jiang Yan was then fiercely opposing any heir for Prince Qi, so Yuanjie pressed all the harder for an outside appointment. When the court refused, he took leave to return home and petitioned repeatedly for a temple stipend—twelve memorials in all. In the third year he was promoted to Assistant Compiler with a concurrent post in the Ministry of War, but resigned citing illness. He was ordered to serve as prefect of Anji but declined. When summoned to the capital to present himself on state affairs, he refused with still greater resolve.

丞相史嵩之丁父憂，有詔起復，中外莫敢言，惟學校叩閽力爭。元傑時適輪對，言：「臣前日晉侍經筵，親承聖問以大臣史嵩之起復，臣奏陛下出命太輕，人言不可沮抑。陛下自盡陛下之禮，大臣自盡大臣之禮，玉音賜俞，臣又何所容喙。今觀學校之書，使人感歎。且大臣讀聖賢之書，畏天命，畏人言。家庭之變，哀戚終事，禮制有常。臣竊料其何至於忽送死之大事，輕出以犯清議哉！前日昕庭出命之易，士論所以凜凜者，實以陛下爲四海綱常之主，大臣身任道揆，扶翊綱常者也。自聞大臣有起復之命，雖未知其避就若何，凡有父母之心者莫不失聲涕零，是果何爲而然？人心天理，誰實無之，興言及此，非可使聞於鄰國也。陛下烏得而不悔悟，大臣烏得而不堅忍？臣懇懇納忠，何敢詆訐，特爲陛下愛惜民彝，爲大臣愛惜名節而已。」疏出，朝野傳誦，帝亦察其忠亮，每從容訪天下事，以筵益申前議。未幾，夜降御筆黜四不才台諫，起復之命遂寢。

When Chief Councillor Shi Songzhi was mourning his father, an edict recalled him to office before the mourning term had ended. Throughout court and country none dared object openly, but the academies alone stormed the palace gates in fierce protest. When Yuanjie's turn came to address the throne he said, "Your servant recently attended the classics lecture and heard Your Majesty's own inquiry regarding the recall of the great minister Shi Songzhi from mourning. I answered that the command had been issued too lightly and that public opinion could not simply be stifled. Let Your Majesty fulfill every rite owed by the throne, and let the great minister fulfill every rite owed by a minister—the imperial voice assented, and what more was there for your servant to say? Yet to read the petitions from the schools now is enough to move one to tears. Great ministers, after all, study the books of the sages; they fear Heaven's mandate and they fear the judgment of men. When disaster visits the household, grief and mourning must be seen to the end; the rites prescribe what is fixed. I cannot believe he would treat so solemn a duty as laying the dead to rest with contempt and step lightly back into office in defiance of plain public conscience! The reason opinion at court turned so cold when the command was issued so easily at the dawn audience is simply this: Your Majesty is the guardian of the moral order under Heaven, and the great minister is charged with the Way and with upholding that order. From the moment the recall was announced, though no one yet knew whether he would accept or refuse it, every man who still cherished a parent's memory wept aloud without restraint—what, in truth, could stir such grief? Heaven's principle lives in every human heart—who lacks it? That the matter should rise to such a pitch is not something our neighbors ought to hear. How can Your Majesty fail to repent and awaken, and how can the great minister fail to hold firm and endure? Your servant offers this loyal counsel in earnest—how would he dare calumniate anyone? He speaks only so that Your Majesty may cherish the people's moral nature and the great minister may cherish his reputation and integrity." When the memorial was issued, it was copied and recited throughout court and countryside. The Emperor, too, perceived his loyalty and plain dealing, and would often in unhurried conversation ask his view of affairs under Heaven, using the lecture hall to press the earlier argument further. Before long, late one night, an imperial brush-note dismissed four incompetent censors and remonstrators, and the recall order was quietly set aside.

元老舊德次第收召，元傑亦兼右司郎官，拜太常少卿，兼給事中、國子祭酒，權中書舍人。杜範入相，復延議軍國事。爲書無慮數十，所言皆朝廷大政，邊鄙遠慮。每裁書至宗社隱憂處，輒閣筆揮涕，書就隨削稿，雖子弟無有知者。六月朔，輪當侍立，以暴疾謁告。特拜工部侍郎，隨乞納，詔轉一官致仕。夜四鼓。遂卒。

Veteran statesmen were called back to service one after another; Yuanjie was also given a concurrent post in the Right Office, appointed Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and named concurrently Supervising Secretary, National University Rector, and Acting Drafting Attendant of the Secretariat. When Du Fan became chief councillor, Yuanjie was again drawn into deliberations on military and civil affairs. He wrote dozens of letters, every one of them touching major court policy and long-range frontier concerns. Whenever he reached in writing those passages that voiced the dynasty's unspoken dread, he would set down the brush and weep; once the letter was done he destroyed the draft at once, so that not even his sons knew what he had written. On the first day of the sixth month, when his rotation required him to attend at the throne, he begged leave, claiming a sudden illness. He was specially promoted to Vice Minister of Works, but immediately petitioned to refuse the appointment; the court then advanced him one rank and granted retirement. At the fourth watch of the night. He died.

先，元傑未死之一日，方謁左丞相范鐘歸，又折簡察院劉應起，將以冀日奏事。是夕，俄熱大作，詰朝不能造朝，夜煩愈甚，指爪忽裂，以死。朝紳及三學諸生往吊，相顧駭泣。訃聞，帝震悼曰：「徐元傑前日方侍立，不聞有疾，何死之遽耶？」亟遣中使問狀，賻贈銀絹二百計。已而太學諸生伏闕訴其爲中毒，且曰：「昔小人有傾君子者，不過使之自死於蠻煙瘴雨之鄉，今蠻煙瘴雨不在領海，而在陛下之朝廷。望奮發睿斷，大明典刑。」於是三學諸生相繼叩閽訟冤，台諫交疏論奏，監學官亦合辭聞於朝。二子直諒、直方乞以恤典充賞格。有旨付臨安府逮醫者孫志甯及常所給使鞫治。既又改理寺，詔殿中侍御史鄭采董之，且募告者賞緡錢十萬、官初品。大理寺正黃濤謂伏暑證，二子乞斬濤謝先臣。然獄迄無成，海內人士傷之，帝悼念不已，賜官田五百畝、緡錢五千給其家。賜諡忠湣。

The day before his death Yuanjie had paid a visit to Left Chief Councillor Fan Zhong and, on his way home, sent a note to Liu Yingqi of the Investigation Office, planning to appear at court the following day. That evening a violent fever struck him; by morning he could not attend court. Through the night the illness worsened, his fingernails split open—and he was dead. Court officials and students of the three academies came to mourn, staring at one another in horror and tears. When word of his death arrived the Emperor was stricken with grief, saying, "Xu Yuanjie was in attendance only the other day—I heard nothing of illness. How could he die so suddenly? He immediately dispatched a palace envoy to investigate and granted two hundred strings' worth of silver and silk as funeral gifts. Then students of the Imperial University knelt at the palace gates claiming he had been poisoned, saying, "When petty men of old destroyed gentlemen, they merely drove them to die by their own hand in frontier lands of miasma and pestilence. Today that miasma and pestilence are not beyond the seas—they are in Your Majesty's own court. We beg that your sacred resolve be roused and justice be made fully manifest. Students of the three academies then came in waves to batter the palace gates and plead his cause; censors and remonstrators piled memorial upon memorial; and the academies' supervisory officers jointly reported the matter to court. His sons Zhiliang and Zhifang asked that the funeral honors be converted into examination privileges. An edict referred the case to the Lin'an prefecture to arrest and try the physician Sun Zhining and his usual personal attendants. The case was then shifted to the Court of Judicial Review, with an edict placing Attending Censor Zheng Cai in charge and promising one hundred thousand cash and an initial-rank appointment to any informer. The court's director Huang Tao ruled it a case of summer-heat sickness; the two sons petitioned that Tao be executed to appease their father's spirit. Yet the inquiry never reached a conclusion; scholars throughout the empire mourned him, and the Emperor's grief did not end—he granted the family five hundred mu of official land and five thousand strings of cash. He was granted the posthumous title Zhongmin, "Loyal and Sorrowing."

孫子秀

Sun Zixiu

孫子秀，字元實，越州余姚人。紹定五年進士。調吳縣主簿。有妖人稱「水仙太保」，郡守王遂將使治之，莫敢行，子秀奮然請往，焚其廬，碎其像，沈其人於太湖，曰：「實汝水仙之名矣。」妖遂絕。日詣學宮與諸生討論義理。辟淮東總領所中酒庫，檄督宜興縣圍田租。既還，白水災，總領恚曰：「軍餉所關，而敢若此，獨不爲身計乎？」子秀曰：「何敢爲身計，寧罪去爾。」力爭之，遂免。

Sun Zixiu, courtesy name Yuanshi, came from Yuyao in Yue Prefecture. In the fifth year of Shaoding he passed the jinshi examinations. He was appointed chief clerk of Wu County. A sorcerer styled himself "Grand Protector of the Water Immortal." Prefect Wang Sui meant to prosecute him, yet none dared act; Zixiu stepped forward boldly, burned the man's lodge, shattered his idol, and drowned him in Lake Tai, saying, "So this is what it truly means to be a water immortal. The cult was extinguished. Each day he went to the county school to debate moral principle with the students. He was recruited to the Huaidong General Commissariat's central wine depot and, by special dispatch, oversaw the encircled-field land rents of Yixing County. On his return a flood struck Baishui. The general commissary thundered, "Army rations hang on this—how dare you behave so? Have you no thought for your own safety?" Zixiu replied, "How could I think only of myself? I would rather accept punishment and go." He argued with all his force, and the exaction was waived.

調滁州教授，至官，改知金壇縣。嚴保伍，厘經界，結義役，一切與民休息。訟者使齎牒自詣裏正，並鄰證來然後行，不實者往往自匿其牒，惟豪黠者有犯，則痛繩不少貨。淮民流入以萬計，振給撫恤，樹廬舍，括田使耕，拔其能者分治之。崇學校，明教化，行鄉飲酒禮。訪國初茅山書院故址，新之，以待遠方遊學之士。

He was transferred to serve as instructor at Chuzhou, and upon arrival was reassigned as magistrate of Jintan County. He enforced the mutual-surveillance system rigorously, clarified land boundaries, organized corvée through neighborhood covenants, and in every way let the people breathe. Litigants were required to bring their petitions in person to the village head, and cases moved forward only after neighbors had come to testify; the dishonest often abandoned their writs of their own accord, while only the brutal and crafty who truly offended were flogged without mercy. Refugees from the Huai region streamed in by the tens of thousands; he fed them, comforted them, built shelters, assigned fields for cultivation, and elevated the able among them to share in local administration. He exalted the schools, made teaching and moral transformation explicit, and conducted the village drinking rite. He located the Maoshan Academy's original founding site, restored it, and opened it to scholars who came from afar.

通判慶元府，主管浙東鹽事。先是，諸場鹽百袋附五袋，名「五厘鹽」，未幾，提舉官以爲正數，民困甚，子秀奏蠲之。辟幹辦行在諸司糧料院。衢州冠作，水冒城郭，朝廷擇守，屬子秀行。子秀謂捕賊之責，雖在有司，亦必習土俗之人，乃能翦其憑依，裁其奔突。乃立保伍，選用土豪，首旌常山縣令陳謙亨、寓士周還淳等捍禦之勞，且表於朝，乞加優賞，人心由是競勸。未幾，盜復起江山、玉山間，甫七日，而衆禽四十八人以來。終子秀之任，賊不復動，水潦所及，則爲治橋樑，修堰閘，補城壁，浚水原，助葺民廬，振以錢米，招通鄰糴。奏蠲秋苗萬五千石有奇，盡代納其夏稅，並除公私一切之負；坍溪沙壅之田，請於朝，永蠲其稅，民用復蘇。

He was made vice-prefect of Qingyuan and put in charge of Zhedong salt administration. At the salt yards every hundred bags had carried an extra five, known as the "five-li salt"; soon the intendant made that surcharge a fixed quota, and the people were crushed under it—until Zixiu memorialized for its abolition. He was recruited as a staff officer in the capital's Liangliao Yuan. Banditry erupted in Quzhou while floodwaters swamped the walls; the court picked a new prefect and sent Zixiu. Zixiu argued that catching bandits was formally the magistrate's job, yet only men who knew local ways could strip rebels of their hideouts and stop their raids. He set up baowu militia and enlisted local strongmen, first commending Changshan magistrate Chen Qianheng and resident scholar Zhou Huanchun for holding the line, then petitioned the court for special rewards—whereupon everyone rushed to follow their example. Soon bandits flared up again between Jiangshan and Yushan; within a week forty-eight of them had been captured and delivered. For the rest of Zixiu's term the bandits stayed quiet. Wherever the floods had struck, he rebuilt bridges, repaired sluices, patched walls, dredged waterways, helped restore homes, distributed cash and grain, and bought grain from neighboring prefectures. He secured remission of more than fifteen thousand shi of autumn grain tax, paid the summer levy for the people himself, and wiped out every public and private debt owed them; for fields buried under collapsed dikes and silt he won a permanent tax exemption from the court, and life in the district recovered.

南渡後，孔子裔孫寓衢州，詔權以衢學奉祀，因循逾年，無專饗之廟。子秀撤廢佛寺，奏立家廟如闕里。既成，行釋菜禮。以政最遷太常丞，以言罷。未幾，遷大宗正丞，遷金部郎官。金部舊責州郡以必不可辨之泛數，吏顛倒爲奸欺。子秀日夜討論，給冊轉遞以均其輸，人人如債切身，不遣一字而輸足。遷將作監、淮東總領，辭。改知甯國府，辭。爲左司兼右司，再兼金部。與丞相丁大全議不合，去國。差知吉州，尋鐫罷。

After the court moved south, a descendant of Confucius resided in Quzhou; an edict had the prefectural school maintain his sacrifices on a temporary basis, yet years passed with no temple devoted to his cult. Zixiu tore down derelict Buddhist halls and petitioned to build a Confucian ancestral temple modeled on Queli. When the temple stood complete, he conducted the shicai offering rite. Rated highest for his governance, he was promoted to vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, then removed after speaking too bluntly at court. Shortly afterward he became vice director of the Imperial Clan Court, then secretary in the Revenue Section. The Revenue Section had long demanded from each prefecture vague lump sums no one could audit, and clerks inverted the figures into systematic fraud. Zixiu worked the problem day and night, issued rotating delivery registers to spread the burden evenly, and made each payer feel the debt on his own skin—yet without a harsh word from him every quota was filled. He was offered director of imperial construction and Huaidong chief steward, but declined both. He was reassigned to govern Ningguo Prefecture and declined again. He held the Left Section while also filling the Right, and once more doubled as Revenue secretary. He fell out with Grand Councilor Ding Daquan and left the capital. He was posted to Jizhou as prefect, then soon stripped of rank by engraved dismissal.

進大理少卿，直華文閣、浙東提點刑獄兼知婺州。婺多勢家，有田連阡陌而無賦稅者，子秀悉核其田，書諸牘，勢家以爲厲己，嗾言者罷之。尋遷湖南轉運副使，以迎養非便辭，移浙西提點刑獄。子秀冒暑周行八郡三十九縣，獄爲之清。安吉州有婦人訴人殺其夫與二僕，郡守捐賞萬緡，逮系考掠十餘人，終莫得其實。子秀密訪之，乃婦人賂宗室子殺其夫，僕救之，並殺以滅口。一問即伏誅，又釋偽會之連逮者，遠近稱爲神明。

He rose to vice director of the Court of Judicial Review, was made attendant of the Huawen Pavilion, Zhedong judicial intendant, and concurrently prefect of Wuzhou. Wuzhou teemed with powerful houses whose estates sprawled across whole districts yet paid no tax; Zixiu audited every such holding and entered it in the registers. The great families took this as a personal attack and set remonstrators on him until he was removed. He was soon named Hunan's vice transport commissioner but declined, saying it would be awkward to bring his parents there; he was shifted to Zhexi judicial intendant instead. Zixiu toured eight prefectures and thirty-nine counties in the midsummer heat, and the jails emptied in his wake. In Anji a woman charged that someone had murdered her husband and two servants; the prefect posted a ten-thousand-string reward, seized and tortured more than ten suspects, and still could not learn the truth. Zixiu investigated quietly and found that the woman had paid an imperial clansman to kill her husband; when the servants tried to intervene, they too were murdered to silence them. A single interrogation brought confession and execution; he also freed those swept up on false association charges, and people near and far called him uncannily just.

初，獄訟之滯，皆由期限之不應。使者下車，或親書戒州縣勿違，而違如故，則怒之。怒之，改匣，又違則又重怒之，至再三。而專卒四出，巡尉等司繳限抱匣費不貲，則其勢必違。子秀與州縣約，到限者徑詣庭下，吏不得要索，亦無違者。其後創迴圈總匣屬各州主管官，凡管內諸司報應皆併入匣，一日一遣，公移則又總實於匣以往。於是事無小大，纖悉畢具，而風聞者反謂專卒淩州縣，劾罷之，子秀笑而已。移江東提點刑獄。度宗即位，進太常少卿兼右司，尋兼知臨安府，以言罷。起知婺州，卒。

At first every delay in the courts came from missed reporting deadlines. When a commissioner arrived he might personally write prefectures and counties not to miss the deadline; they missed it all the same, and he grew furious. In his anger he would change the dispatch box; if they missed again he raged again, and again, even a third time. Meanwhile dedicated runners scoured every district; patrol officers and the like, charged with carrying the deadline box, could not afford the cost—so missing the deadline was inevitable. Zixiu struck a bargain with prefectures and counties: when the deadline came they were to appear directly in his hall, clerks were forbidden to extort fees—and no one was late. He then devised a rotating master dispatch box for each prefecture's chief officer: every report from offices under his charge went into the box and went out once a day; routine documents were likewise summarized, sealed in the box, and forwarded. Soon every matter, large or small, was on record in full detail—yet rumor-mongers accused his runners of bullying prefectures and counties, impeached him, and had him removed. Zixiu only smiled. He was moved to Jiangdong judicial intendant. When Emperor Duzong took the throne, Zixiu was made vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices with concurrent Right Section duties, then also prefect of Lin'an—only to be dismissed again after blunt remonstrance. He was recalled to Wuzhou as prefect and died there.

子秀少從上虞劉漢弼游，磊落英發，抵掌極談，神采飛動。與人交久而益親，死生患難，營救不遺力。聞一善則手錄之。

As a young man Zixiu studied with Liu Hanbi of Shangyu—bold, quick-spirited, slapping the table in heated talk, his face alive with energy. The longer he knew a friend, the closer they became; in life-or-death trouble he spent himself without reserve. Whenever he heard of a worthy act he copied it out in his own hand.

李伯玉

Li Boyu

李伯玉，字純甫，饒州餘幹人。端平二年，進士第二。初名誠，以犯理宗潛諱更今名。授觀察推官、太學正兼莊文府教授、太學博士。召試館職，曆詆貴戚大臣，直聲暴起。改校書郎，奏言：「台評迎合上意，論罷尤焴、楊棟、盧鉞三人，忠邪不辨，乞同罷。」帝不允。監察御史陳垓連劾罷之。

Li Boyu, styled Chunfu, came from Yugan in Raozhou. In the second year of Duanping (1235) he finished second on the jinshi rolls. He had first been named Cheng, but that clashed with Emperor Lizong's taboo name from his years as heir, so he adopted his present name. He was made surveillance investigating censor, director of the Imperial Academy with concurrent lectureship at the Zhuangwen Palace, and academy erudite. Summoned to a trial appointment for a palace post, he denounced noble kin and senior ministers one after another, and his reputation for blunt integrity exploded overnight. Promoted to collator, he memorialized: "The censorial reviewers have flattered the throne and driven out You Yu, Yang Dong, and Lu Qian without distinguishing loyal men from traitors—I ask that they be dismissed as well." The emperor refused. Supervisory censor Chen Kai impeached him again and again until he was removed.

奉雲台祠，差知南康軍，遷著作佐郎兼沂靖惠王府教授，兼考功郎官，兼尚書右司員外郎。引故事彈台臣蕭隸來，遷著作郎。帝怒，降兩官罷敘。復知邵武軍，改湖北提點刑獄，移福建，遷尚右郎官。侍御史何夢然論伯玉乃吳潛之死黨，奉祀，遷福建提舉常平、淮西轉運判官。召赴經筵，遷考功郎兼太子侍讀，拜太府少卿、秘書少監、起居郎、工部侍郎。

He took the Yuntai temple stipend, was posted as prefect of Nankang, then rose to assistant compiler with concurrent posts lecturing at the Yijinghui Prince's mansion, secretary in the Merit Section, and vice director in the Secretariat's Right Section. Invoking precedent he impeached censor Xiao Lai—and was promoted to compiler. The emperor was enraged; Boyu was demoted two ranks and barred from further appointment. He returned as prefect of Shaowu, became Hubei judicial intendant, was shifted to Fujian, and was promoted to secretary in the Right Section. Censor-in-waiting He Mengran charged that Boyu had been a diehard follower of the late Wu Qian; he was given a temple stipend, then made Fujian ever-normal commissioner and Huaidong transport vice commissioner. Called to the classics lecture, he became Merit Section secretary and lecturer to the crown prince, then vice director of the Imperial Treasury, vice director of the Imperial Library, diarist, and vice minister of works.

度宗即位，兼侍講，權禮部侍郎，升兼同修國史、實錄院同修撰。賈似道嘗集百官議事，忽厲聲曰：「諸君非似道拔擢，安得至此！」衆默然莫敢應者，伯玉答曰：「伯玉殿試第二名，平章不拔擢，伯玉地步亦可以至此。」似道雖改容而有怒色。既退，即治歸。以顯文閣待制知隆興府，右正言黃萬石論罷。召入覲，擢權禮部尚書兼侍讀。似道益專國柄，帝以伯玉舊學，進之臥內，相對泣下，欲用以參大政，似道益忌之，而伯玉尋病卒。

When Duzong ascended the throne, Boyu served concurrently as lecturer and acting vice minister of rites, and was elevated to joint compiler of the national history and veritable records. Jia Sidao once gathered the officials to discuss policy and suddenly barked: "None of you reached your posts without Sidao's favor—how else would you be here!" The hall went silent; no one answered. Boyu said: "Boyu placed second in the palace examination. Even without the grand councilor's patronage, Boyu's own merit could have brought him here." Sidao smoothed his expression, but anger showed in his eyes. As soon as the session ended, Boyu began arranging his withdrawal from office. As Xianwen Pavilion awaiting-draft gentleman he governed Longxing; Right Remonstrator Huang Wanshi impeached him and he was removed. Recalled to court, he was raised to acting minister of rites with concurrent lectureship. Sidao tightened his grip on power. The emperor, remembering Boyu as an old teacher, received him in the inner chamber; they wept together, and the emperor meant to bring him into high policy—but Sidao grew more hostile, and Boyu soon died of illness.

伯玉嘗請罷童子科，以爲非所以成人材，厚風俗。趙汝騰嘗薦八士，各有品目，于伯玉曰「銅山鐵壁」。立朝風節，大較似之。所著有《斛峰集》。

Boyu once asked to abolish the child-prodigy examination, arguing that it did not cultivate real talent or strengthen public morals. Zhao Ruteng once nominated eight scholars, each with a verdict; of Boyu he wrote "a bronze mountain, an iron wall." His conduct at court largely lived up to that praise. His writings survive as the Hufeng Ji.

論曰：陸持之學足以承其家，而不幸蚤喪，徐鹿卿論議明達，克施有政，趙逢龍之清操，汝騰之不撓，孫夢觀之平直，洪天錫、黃師雍、徐元傑、李伯玉皆悉心直言，不避權勢，孫子秀政績著見，皆當時之傑出云。

The historians comment: Lu Chizhi's learning was enough to sustain his house, yet he died young; Xu Luqing spoke with clarity and put good government into practice; Zhao Fenglong's integrity, Ruteng's refusal to bend, Sun Mengguan's plain dealing, and Hong Tianxi, Huang Shiyong, Xu Yuanjie, and Li Boyu—all spoke their minds without fear of power; Sun Zixiu's record in office was plain for all to see. Each was a standout of his day.

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