Volume 426 Biographies 185: Xun Li, Chen Jing, Zhang Lun, Shao Ye, Cui Li, Lu Youkai, Zhang Yi, Wu Zunlu, Zhao Shangkuan, Gao Fu, Cheng Shimeng, Han Jinqing, Ye Kangzhi, Song Ci

〇陳靖張綸邵曄崔立魯有開張逸吳遵路趙尚寬高賦程師孟韓晉卿葉康直宋慈

Chen Jing, Zhang Lun, Shao Ye, Cui Li, Lu Youkai, Zhang Yi, Wu Zunlu, Zhao Shangkuan, Gao Fu, Cheng Shimeng, Han Jinqing, Ye Kangzhi, and Song Ci.

宋法有可以得循吏者三：太祖之世，牧守令錄，躬自召見，問以政事，然後遣行，簡擇之道精矣；監司察郡守，郡守察縣令，各以時上其殿最，又命朝臣專督治之，考課之方密矣；吏犯贓遇赦不原，防閑之令嚴矣。

Song law offered three ways to produce virtuous officials: under Taizu, governors, prefects, and magistrates were registered, summoned in person, questioned on how they would govern, and only then sent out—selection had become exacting; circuit commissioners watched prefects, prefects watched county magistrates, and each reported merit rankings on schedule; court officials were also assigned to oversee governance directly—evaluation had grown rigorous; officials who took bribes were never restored by amnesty—safeguards against abuse were stern.

承平之世，州縣吏謹守法度以修其職業者，實多其人。其間必有絕異之績，然後別於賞令，或自州縣善最，他日遂為名臣，則撫子之長又不足以盡其平生，故始終三百餘年，循吏載諸簡策者十二人。作《循吏傳》。

In the long peace, many prefectural and county officers dutifully kept the law and did their jobs well. Only those with truly extraordinary service were singled out in reward edicts; some rose from excellent county or prefectural records to become famous ministers at court, and a standard biography could not hold their whole careers. Across more than three hundred years, only twelve virtuous officials earned a place in the annals. Hence this "Biographies of Virtuous Officials."

陳靖，字道卿，興化軍莆田人。好學，頗通古今。父仁壁，仕陳洪進為泉州別駕。洪進稱臣，豪猾有負險為亂者，靖徒步謁轉運使楊克巽，陳討賊策。召還，授陽翟縣主簿。契丹犯邊，王師數不利，靖遣從子上書，求入奏機略。詔就問之，上五策，曰：明賞罰；撫士眾；持重示弱，待利而舉；帥府許自辟士；而將帥得專制境外。太宗異之，改將作監丞，未幾，為御史臺推勘官。

Chen Jing, courtesy name Daqing, came from Putian in the Xinghua Commandery. He loved study and knew the past and present well. His father Renbi had served Chen Hongjin as vice magistrate of Quanzhou. After Hongjin submitted to the Song, local strongmen used the hills to raise trouble; Jing walked to Transport Commissioner Yang Kexun and laid out a plan to crush the rebels. Recalled to court, he was made registrar of Yangzhai County. When the Khitan raided the border and imperial armies kept losing, Jing sent a son by a concubine to memorialize the throne, asking leave to present strategy in person. The court called him in and he offered five measures: make rewards and punishments clear; steady the soldiers; stand firm, feign weakness, and strike only when the moment favors you; let commanders recruit their own staff; and give generals full discretion beyond the frontier. Taizong took notice and moved him to the Directorate for Palace Buildings; soon after he became an investigating officer of the Censorate.

時禦試進士，多擢文先就者為高等，士皆習浮華，尚敏速。靖請以文付考官第甲乙，俟唱名，或果知名士，即置上科。喪父，起復秘書丞，直史館，判三司開拆司。淳化四年，使高麗還，提點在京百司，遷太常博士。

In the palace examination for jinshi, candidates who finished their essays first were often ranked highest, so students prized flash and speed over depth. Jing proposed that examiners grade the papers as first or second class in advance, and only at the public roll call move a truly famous scholar into the top tier. When his father died he left mourning early, became a secretariat director and Hanlin academician, and oversaw the Three Departments document unsealing office. In Chunhua 4, returning from an embassy to Goryeo, he was made intendant of capital offices and then promoted to erudite of the Directorate of Sacrifices.

太宗務興農事，詔有司議均田法，靖議曰：「法未易遽行也。宜先命大臣或三司使為租庸使，或兼屯田制置，仍擇三司判官選通知民事者二人為之貳。兩京東西千里，檢責荒地及逃民產籍之，募耕作，賜耕者室廬、牛犁、種食，不足則給以庫錢。別其課為十分，責州縣勸課，給印紙書之。分殿最為三等：凡縣管墾田，一歲得課三分，二歲六分，三歲九分，為下最；一歲四分，二歲七分，三歲至十分，為中最；一歲五分，未及三歲盈十分者，為上最。其最者，令佐免選或超資；殿者，即增選降資。每州通以諸縣田為十分，視殿最行賞罰。候數歲，盡罷官屯田，悉用賦民，然後量人授田，度地均稅，約井田之制，為定以法，頒行四方，不過如此矣。」太宗謂呂端曰：「朕欲復井田，顧未能也，靖此策合朕意。」乃召見，賜食遣之。

Taizong pressed to revive farming and ordered officials to debate the equal-field system. Jing argued, "That law cannot be rushed into force. First appoint a senior minister or the Three Departments commissioner as rent-and-corvée commissioner, or add the title of frontier colony commissioner, and choose two Three Departments judges who understand rural affairs as deputies. For a thousand li east and west of the two capitals, survey wasteland and the property rolls of fugitives, recruit them to farm, and grant houses, oxen, plows, and seed; where that falls short, pay from the treasury. Divide their tax quota into tenths, hold prefectures and counties responsible for urging cultivation, and issue stamped documents to record it. Merit grades fell into three tiers: a county that brought wasteland under cultivation and met three-tenths of the quota in one year, six in two, nine in three, ranked lowest; four-tenths in one year, seven in two, full quota in three, ranked middle; five-tenths in one year, or exceeding the full quota before three years, ranked highest. Top performers won exemption from the regular promotion cycle or fast-track advancement; bottom ranks faced longer waits for promotion and demotion in rank. Each prefecture pooled its counties' fields as ten shares and rewarded or punished by the combined grade. After a few years, abolish government colony farms, tax the people directly, then allot fields by household and equalize tax by land, approximating the well-field model as permanent law for the empire—nothing more was needed." Taizong told Lü Duan, "I want to restore the well-field system but have not managed it; Jing's plan matches what I have in mind." He summoned Jing, gave him a meal, and sent him off.

他日，帝又語端。曰：「靖說雖是，第田未必墾，課未必入，請下三司雜議。」於是詔鹽鐵使陳恕等各選判官二人與靖議，以靖為京西勸農使，命大理寺丞皇甫選、光祿寺丞何亮副之。選等言其功難成，帝猶謂不然。既而靖欲假緡錢二萬試行之，陳恕等言：「錢一出，後不能償，則民受害矣。」帝以群議終不同，始罷之，出靖知婺州，再遷尚書刑部員外郎。

Another day the emperor spoke to Duan again. He said, "Jing may be right, but the land may never be opened and the tax may never arrive—send it to the Three Departments for joint review." An edict had Salt and Iron Commissioner Chen Shu and others each pick two judges to debate with Jing; Jing became agriculture commissioner for the western capital circuit, with Grand Court Judge Huangfu Xuan and Vice Director He Liang of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices as deputies. Xuan and the others said success was unlikely, but the emperor still disagreed. Soon Jing asked to borrow twenty thousand strings of cash for a trial run; Chen Shu and others said, "Once the money leaves the treasury, if it cannot be recovered the people will bear the loss." With the ministries still divided, the emperor dropped the plan; Jing was sent out as prefect of Wuzhou, then promoted to vice director in the Ministry of Punishments.

真宗即位，復列前所論勸農事，又言：「國家禦戎西北，而仰食東南，東南食不足，則誤國大計。請自京東、西及河北諸州大行勸農之法，以殿最州縣官吏，歲可省江、淮漕百餘萬。」復詔靖條上之，靖請刺史行春，縣令勸耕，孝悌力田者賜爵，置五保以檢察奸盜，籍遊惰之民以供役作。又下三司議，皆不果行。

When Zhenzong succeeded, Jing again laid out his farming proposals and said, "The empire guards the northwest but eats from the southeast; if southeastern grain runs short, the whole strategic plan fails. He asked to extend the farming program through the eastern and western capital circuits and Hebei, grading prefectural and county officials by results—saving more than a million piculs of Yangzi-Huai transport each year." The court again told Jing to draft details: prefects should tour in spring, magistrates urge plowing, grant ranks to the filial and diligent farmers, set up five-household security groups against crime, and register idlers for corvée. It went back to the Three Departments again, and again nothing was done.

歷度支判官，為京畿均田使，出為淮南轉運副使兼發運司公事，徙江南轉運使。極論前李氏橫賦於民凡十七事，詔為罷其尤甚者。徙知譚州，歷度支、鹽鐵判官。祀汾陰，為行在三司判官。又歷京西、京東轉運使，知泉、蘇、越三州，累遷太常少卿，進太僕卿、集賢院學士，知建州，徙泉州，拜左諫訴大夫。初，靖與丁謂善，謂貶，黨人皆逐去，提點刑獄、侍御史王耿乃言靖老疾，不宜久為鄉里官，於是以秘書監致仕，卒。

He served as a revenue judge, then capital-region equal-field commissioner, then vice transport commissioner of Huainan with charge of the tribute transport bureau, and finally Jiangnan transport commissioner. He detailed seventeen kinds of exactions the former Li regime had laid on the people; the court abolished the worst. He was moved to Tanzhou as prefect and later served as revenue and salt-and-iron judge. During the Fenyin sacrifice he was Three Departments judge with the traveling court. He later served as transport commissioner for the western and eastern capital circuits, governed Quanzhou, Suzhou, and Yuezhou, rose to vice director of sacrifices, then director of the imperial stud and scholar of the Hall of Assembled Worthies, governed Jianzhou and Quanzhou, and was made left remonstrator. Jing had once been close to Ding Wei; when Wei fell, his allies were purged. Judicial intendant and palace censor Wang Geng said Jing was old and infirm and should not stay long in a hometown post, so he retired as director of the secretariat and died.

靖平生多建畫，而於農事尤詳，嘗取淳化、咸平以來所陳表章，目曰《勸農奏議》，錄上之，然其說泥古，多不可行。

Jing spent his life proposing reforms, above all on farming; he once gathered his memorials from the Chunhua and Xianping eras into "Memorials on Encouraging Agriculture" and presented them, but his thinking clung to antiquity and much of it could not be carried out.

張綸，字公信，潁州汝陰人。少倜儻任氣。舉進士不中，補三班奉職，遷右班殿直。從雷有終討王均於蜀，有降寇數百據險叛，使綸擊之，綸馳報曰：「此窮寇，急之則生患，不如諭以向背。」有終用其說，賊果棄兵來降。以功遷右侍禁、慶州兵馬監押，擢閣門祗候，益、彭、簡等州都巡檢使。所部卒縱酒掠居民，綸斬首惡數人，眾乃定。徙荊湖提點刑獄，遷東頭供奉官、提點開封府界縣鎮公事。

Zhang Lun, courtesy name Gongxin, came from Ruyin in Yingzhou. As a youth he was bold and free-spirited. He failed the jinshi exam, entered service as a third-class attendant, and rose to right-class palace guard. With Lei Youzhong campaigning against Wang Jun in Shu, several hundred surrendered rebels held rough ground and rose again; Lun was sent against them but rode back saying, "These are desperate men; drive them hard and trouble follows—better explain which side they should join." Youzhong took his advice, and the rebels laid down their arms and surrendered. For this he was promoted to right palace guard and supervisor of Bingzhou's military horses, then made gate attendant and chief inspector for Yi, Peng, Jian, and neighboring prefectures. When his troops got drunk and looted civilians, Lun executed several ringleaders and order returned. He became judicial intendant for Jinghu and Hubei, then eastern head attendant and intendant of counties and towns in the Kaifeng metropolitan zone.

奉使靈夏還，會辰州溪峒彭氏蠻內寇，以知辰州。綸至，築蓬山驛路，賊不得通，乃遁去。徙知渭州。改內殿崇班、知鎮戎軍。奉使契丹，安撫使曹瑋表留之，不可。蠻復入寇，為辰州、澧鼎等州緣邊五溪十峒巡檢安撫使，諭蠻酋禍福，購還所掠民，遣官與盟，刻石於境上。

Returning from an embassy to Ling and Xia, he was appointed prefect of Chenzhou when the Peng clan of the Xi'ong in Chenzhou raided inward. Lun built the Pengshan courier road so the rebels could not move freely, and they withdrew. He was transferred to Weizhou as prefect. He was made inner-hall honored guard and prefect of Zhenyuan Army. On an embassy to the Khitan, pacification commissioner Cao Wei asked to keep him at post, but the court refused. When the tribes raided again he became pacification commissioner for the five streams and ten passes along the Chen, Li, and Ding borderlands; he warned chiefs of the consequences, paid ransoms for captives, sent officials to swear treaties, and carved the agreement on stone at the frontier.

久之，除江、淮制置發運副使。時鹽課大虧，乃奏除通、泰、楚三州鹽戶宿負，官助其器用，鹽入優與之直，由是歲增課數十萬石。復置鹽場於杭、秀、海三州，歲入課又百五十萬。居二歲，增上供米八十萬。疏五渠，導太湖入於海，復租米六十萬。開長蘆西河以避覆舟之患，又築漕河堤二百里於高郵北，旁錮鉅石為十達，以泄橫流。泰州有捍海堰，延袤百五十里，久廢不治，歲患海濤冒民田。綸方議修復，論者難之，以為濤患息而畜潦之患興矣。綸曰：「濤之患十九，而潦之患十一，獲多而亡少，豈不可邪？」表三請，願身自臨役。命兼權知泰州，卒成堰，復逋戶二千六百，州民利之，為立生祠。

After some time he was made vice commissioner for Jiang-Huai tribute transport. Salt revenues had collapsed; he memorialized to wipe old debts of salt households in Tong, Tai, and Chu, supply tools from the state, and pay fair prices for salt delivered—adding hundreds of thousands of piculs to the annual levy. He reopened salt works at Hang, Xiu, and Hai, bringing in another 1.5 million in annual revenue. Within two years he raised tribute rice to the capital by eight hundred thousand piculs. He dredged five canals to carry Tai Lake water to the sea and recovered six hundred thousand piculs of rent grain. He opened the western branch of the Changlu River to reduce shipwrecks, and built two hundred li of canal dikes north of Gaoyou, setting massive stones into ten sluice dams to bleed off cross-currents. Taizhou had a sea wall one hundred fifty li long, long neglected, and every year tides drowned farmland. Lun proposed rebuilding it, but critics objected that ending tidal flooding would invite inland flooding. Lun replied, "Tidal damage is nine parts in ten; inland flooding is barely one—far more gained than lost. How can that be wrong?" He memorialized three times, offering to oversee the work himself. Appointed acting prefect of Taizhou, he finished the wall, brought back twenty-six hundred fugitive households, and the people raised a living shrine in his honor.

居淮南六年，累遷文思使、昭州刺史。契丹隆緒死，為吊慰副使。歷知秦、瀛二州，兩知滄州，再遷東上閣門使，真拜乾州刺史，徙知潁州，卒。綸有材略，所至興利除害。為人恕，喜施予，在江、淮，見漕卒凍餒道死者眾，嘆曰：「此有司之過，非所以體上仁也。」推奉錢市絮襦千數，衣其不能自存者。

After six years in Huainan he rose to commissioner of the Office of Literary Endeavor and prefect of Zhao. When the Khitan ruler Longxu died, he served as deputy condolence envoy. He governed Qin and Ying, twice governed Cang, rose twice to eastern upper gate attendant, was formally appointed prefect of Gan, moved to Yingzhou, and died. Lun was capable and strategic; everywhere he went he advanced public good and removed abuses. He was gentle and generous; on the Jiang-Huai he saw transport workers frozen and starved along the roads and sighed, "This is official negligence, not how to embody the throne's kindness." He spent his salary to buy thousands of padded coats for those who could not survive on their own.

邵曄，字日華，其先京兆人。唐末喪亂，曾祖嶽挈族之荊南謁高季興，不見禮，遂之湖南。彭於刺全州，辟為判官。會賊魯仁恭寇連州，即署嶽國子司業、知州事，遂家桂陽。祖崇德，道州錄事參軍。父簡，連山令。

Shao Ye, courtesy name Rihua, came from a Jingzhao family. At the end of Tang, in the chaos of collapse, his great-grandfather Yue led the clan to Jingnan to see Gao Jixing, was treated coldly, and moved on to Hunan. When Peng Yu was posted to Quanzhou he took Yue on as administrative aide. When the bandit Lu Rengong attacked Lianzhou, Yue was made academician of the directorate of education and acting prefect, and the family settled at Guiyang. His grandfather Chongde was recording officer of Daozhou. His father Jian was magistrate of Lianshan.

曄幼嗜學，恥從辟署。太平興國八年，擢進士第，解褐，授邵陽主簿，改大理評事、知蓬州錄事參軍。時太子中舍楊全知州，性悍率蒙昧，部民張道豐等三人被誣為劫盜，悉置於死，獄已具，曄察其枉，不署牘，白全當核其實。全不聽，引道豐等抵法，號呼不服，再系獄按驗。既而捕獲正盜，盜豐等遂得釋，全坐削籍為民。曄代還引對，太宗謂曰：「爾能活吾平民，深可嘉也。」賜錢五萬，下詔以全事戒諭天下。授曄光祿寺丞，使廣南采訪刑獄。俄通判荊南，賜緋魚。遷著作佐郎、知忠州。歷太常丞、江南轉運副使，改監察御史。以母老乞就養，得知朗州。入判三司磨勘司，遷工部員外郎、淮南轉運使。

Ye loved study from boyhood and disdained taking a post through patronage alone. In Taiping Xingguo 8 he passed the jinshi examination, left private life, became registrar of Shaoyang, then grand court assessor and recording officer of Pengzhou. The prefect was Senior Court Attendant Yang Quan, brutal and crude; three men led by Zhang Daofeng were framed as bandits and sentenced to death. When the file was ready Ye saw the injustice, refused to sign, and told Quan the facts had to be checked. Quan ignored him, sent Daofeng and the others to execution—they shouted their innocence—and they were jailed again for reinvestigation. Soon the real bandits were caught; Daofeng and the others were freed; Quan was stripped of rank and made a commoner. When Ye returned for audience Taizong said, "You saved ordinary people of mine—that is deeply praiseworthy." He gave him fifty thousand cash and issued an edict using Quan's case to warn officials everywhere. Ye was made vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and sent to Guangnan to review criminal cases. Soon he was vice prefect of Jingnan and granted the crimson robe and fish tally. He was promoted to assistant compiler and made prefect of Zhongzhou. He held the posts of vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and deputy Jiangnan transport commissioner, then was made investigating censor. His mother being old, he asked for a post where he could care for her and was appointed prefect of Langzhou. He was assigned to judge the Three Offices Review Bureau, then promoted to vice minister of works and Huainan transport commissioner.

景德中，假光祿卿，充交址安撫國信使。會黎桓死，其子龍鉞嗣立，兄龍全率兵劫庫財而去，其弟龍廷殺鉞自立，龍廷兄明護率扶蘭砦兵攻戰。曄駐嶺表，以事上聞，改命為緣海安撫使，許以便宜設方略。曄貽書安南，諭朝廷威德，俾速定位。明護等即時聽命，奉龍廷主軍事。初，詔曄俟其事定，即以黎桓禮物改賜新帥。曄上言：「懷撫外夷，當示誠信，不若俟龍廷貢奉，別加封爵而寵賜之。」真宗甚嘉納。使還，改兵部員外郎，賜金紫。初受使，假官錢八十萬，市私覿物，及為安撫，已償其半，餘皆詔除之。嘗上《邕州至交州水陸路》及《宜州山川》等四圖，頗詳控制之要。

In the Jingde period he acted as director of the Court of Imperial Banquets and was sent to Jiaozhi as pacification commissioner and imperial envoy. Li Huan had just died when his son Long Yue took the throne; an elder brother, Long Quan, led soldiers to plunder the treasury and flee; a younger brother, Long Ting, killed Yue and declared himself ruler; Minghu, another elder brother of Long Ting, then led Futlan garrison troops into battle against him. Ye stayed in the Lingnan region, reported events to court, and was reassigned coastal pacification commissioner with discretion to devise strategy on the spot. Ye wrote to Annam, expounding the dynasty's power and benevolence and urging a swift settlement of who would rule. Minghu and his followers submitted at once and acknowledged Long Ting as military leader. At first the court ordered Ye to wait until affairs were settled, then confer on the new ruler the gifts intended for Li Huan. Ye submitted: "To win over outer tribes one must act in good faith; better to wait until Long Ting presents tribute, then grant him a separate title and imperial favor." Emperor Zhenzong warmly accepted the advice. When the embassy ended he was promoted to vice minister of war and given the gold seal and purple robe. At the outset of the mission he borrowed eight hundred thousand in government funds to purchase personal gifts; by the time he took up the pacification post he had repaid half, and an edict canceled the rest. He once presented four maps, among them routes by land and water from Yongzhou to Jiaozhou and the mountains and rivers of Yizhou, with considerable detail on how the region could be held.

俄判三司三勾院，坐所舉季隨犯贓，曄當削一官，上以其遠使之勤，止令停任。大中祥符初，起知兗州，表請東封，優詔答之。及遣王欽若、趙安仁經度封禪，仍判州事，就命曄為京東轉運使。封禪禮畢，超拜刑部郎中，復判三勾院，出為淮南、江、浙、荊湖制置發運使。四年，改右諫議大夫、知廣州。州城瀕海，每蕃舶至岸，常苦颶風，曄鑿內濠通舟，颶不能害。俄遘疾卒，年六十三。

He was soon assigned to the Three Offices Triple Audit Bureau; when a man he had recommended, Ji Sui, was convicted of graft Ye should have been demoted one rank, but the emperor, mindful of his arduous service abroad, merely suspended him from duty. Early in Dazhong Xiangfu he was recalled to serve as prefect of Yanzhou, petitioned for an eastern feng rite, and received a warm imperial response. When Wang Qinruo and Zhao Anren were sent to oversee the feng and shan ceremonies, Ye continued to administer the prefecture and was at the same time made Jingdong transport commissioner. After the rites he was promoted ahead of schedule to director of the Ministry of Justice, served again in the Triple Audit Bureau, and then became commissioner for prepared grain transport across Huainan, Jiang, Zhe, and Jinghu. In the fourth year he was appointed right remonstrating grandee and prefect of Guangzhou. The city lay on the sea, and foreign vessels that made port were often wrecked by typhoons; Ye cut an inner channel so ships could shelter inside, and the storms no longer did damage. Before long he took ill and died at sixty-three.

崔立，字本之，開封鄢陵人。祖周度，仕周為泰寧軍節度判官。慕容彥超叛，周度以大義責之，遂見殺。立中進士第。為果州團練推官，役兵輦官物，道險，乃率眾錢，傭舟載歸。知州姜從革論如率斂法，當斬三人，立曰：「此非私己，罪杖爾。」從革初不聽，卒論奏，詔如立議。真宗記之，特改大理寺丞，知安豐縣。大水壞期斯塘，立躬督繕治，逾月而成。進殿中丞，歷通判廣州、許州。

Cui Li, courtesy name Benzhi, came from Yanling in Kaifeng. His grandfather Zhou Du had served the Later Zhou as military judge on the Taining circuit. When Murong Yanchao rose in rebellion, Zhou Du condemned him on principle and was put to death. Li passed the jinshi examination. While serving as aide on the Guozhou militia commission, he saw corvée troops hauling government freight over a perilous route; he pooled their funds and hired boats to transport the cargo instead. Prefect Jiang Congge held that the act amounted to unlawful exaction and that three men should die; Li replied, "They did not enrich themselves—the offense warrants the rod alone." Congge refused at first, but the matter was eventually reported to court and an edict adopted Li's recommendation. Emperor Zhenzong remembered the case and specially made him assistant director of the Court of Judicial Review and magistrate of Anfeng County. When a great flood breached the Qisi embankment, Li personally oversaw the repairs and completed them in little more than a month. Promoted to palace attendant, he served successively as vice prefect of Guangzhou and Xuzhou.

會滑州塞決河，調民出芻楗，命立提舉受納。立計其用有餘，而下戶未輸者尚二百萬，悉奏弛之。知江陰軍，屬縣有利港久廢，立教民浚治，既成，溉田數千頃，及開橫河六十里，通運漕。累遷太常少卿，歷知棣、漢、相、潞、兗、鄆、涇七州。兗州歲大饑，募富人出谷十萬餘石振餓者，所全活者甚眾。

When Huazhou was sealing a river breach, the populace was called on for fodder and fascines, and Li was put in charge of receiving the supplies. Li reckoned that enough had been collected while poorer households still owed two million; he memorialized and had the entire remainder waived. As military prefect of Jiangyin he found Lijin Harbor in a subordinate county long neglected; he had the people dredge it, and when the work was done it irrigated thousands of qing of farmland; he also cut a lateral canal sixty li long to link the transport routes. He was promoted step by step to vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and governed in turn Di, Han, Xiang, Lu, Yan, Yun, and Jing—seven prefectures in all. When Yanzhou suffered a severe famine he persuaded wealthy households to donate more than one hundred thousand shi of grain to feed the hungry, saving a great many lives.

立性淳謹，尤喜論事。大中祥符間，帝既封禪，士大夫爭奏上符瑞，獻贊頌，立獨言：「水發徐州，旱連江、淮，無為烈風，金陵火，天所以警驕惰、戒淫泆也，區區符瑞，尚何足為治道言哉？」前後上四十餘事。以右諫議大夫知耀州，改知濠州，遷給事中。告老，進尚書工部侍郎致仕，卒。識韓琦於布衣，以女妻之，人嘗服其鑒雲。

Li was sincere and cautious by nature and especially fond of speaking out on public matters. In the Dazhong Xiangfu era, after the emperor's feng and shan rites, officials competed to report portents and submit praise; Li alone argued, "Floods at Xuzhou, drought across the Jiang and Huai, a fierce wind at Wuyang, fire at Jinling—these are heaven's warnings against arrogance and indulgence; what can petty omens possibly tell us about good government?" Over time he submitted more than forty such memorials. He served as right remonstrating grandee and prefect of Yaozhou, then was moved to Haozhou and promoted to attendant gentleman. He asked to retire, was promoted to vice minister of works in the Ministry of Revenue and granted leave to withdraw from office, then died. He spotted Han Qi's talent before Qi had risen in the world and gave him his daughter in marriage; people long admired his eye for men.

魯有開，字元翰，參知政事宗道從子也。好《禮》學，通《左氏春秋》。用宗道蔭，知韋城縣。曹、濮劇盜橫行旁縣間，聞其名不敢入境。知確山縣，大姓把持官政，有開治其最甚者，遂以無事。興廢陂，溉民田數千頃。富弼守蔡，薦之，以為有古循吏風。

Lu Youkai, courtesy name Yuanhan, was a nephew of the associate administrator Lu Zongdao. He devoted himself to ritual learning and mastered the Zuo Commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals. He entered office through Zongdao's hereditary privilege and became magistrate of Weicheng County. Violent bandits terrorized the counties around Cao and Pu, yet at the sound of his name they would not cross into his district. At Queshan County great families had seized control of local affairs; Youkai dealt with the worst of them, and the district thereafter stayed quiet. He rebuilt derelict irrigation works and watered several thousand qing of farmland. While governing Cai, Fu Bi recommended him, declaring that he had the spirit of the virtuous officials of antiquity.

知金州，有蠱獄，當死者數十人，有開曰：「欲殺人，衷謀之足矣，安得若是眾邪？」訊之則誣。天方旱，獄白而雨。知南康軍，代還。熙寧行新法，王安石問江南如何，曰：「法新行，未見其患，當在異日也。」以所對乖異，出通判杭州。

While prefect of Jinzhou he faced a witchcraft case in which dozens were sentenced to die; Youkai said, "If the aim was murder, a handful of plotters would be enough—how could the guilty be so numerous?" Under questioning the charges proved false. A drought was then afflicting the land; when the prisoners were cleared, rain came. He served as military prefect of Nankang and returned when his replacement arrived. When the Xining reforms began, Wang Anshi asked how Jiangnan was faring; Youkai answered, "The new laws have only just taken effect—the trouble is not yet apparent; it will show itself in time." Because his reply ran counter to official expectations, he was posted out as vice prefect of Hangzhou.

知衛州，水災，人乏食，擅貸常平錢粟與之，且奏乞蠲其息。徙冀州，增堤，或謂：「郡無水患，何以役為？」有開曰：「豫備不虞，古之善計也。」卒成之。明年河決，水果至，不能冒堤而止。朝廷遣使河北，民遮誦有開功狀，召為膳部郎中，元祐中，歷知信陽軍、洺滑州，復守冀，官至中大夫，卒。

At Weizhou, when floods left people without food, he on his own authority drew on Ever-Normal Granary funds and grain to lend to them and memorialized to cancel the interest. Moved to Jizhou, he raised the dikes; some asked, "This prefecture has no history of flooding—why call out labor?" Youkai replied, "To guard against the unexpected is an ancient and wise policy." The project was completed in the end. The following year the Yellow River broke its banks; the flood came but could not climb over the dikes and was halted. When imperial envoys traveled through Hebei, the people stopped them to praise Youkai's record of service; he was recalled as director in the Ministry of Rites for provisions; in the Yuanyou period he governed Xinyang and Ming-Hua in turn, returned to Ji, reached grandee of the palace, and died.

張逸，字大隱，鄭州滎陽人。進士及第，為試秘書省校書郎。知襄州鄧城縣，有能名。積州謝泌將薦逸，先設几案，置章其上，望闕再拜曰：「老臣為朝廷得一良吏。」乃奏之。他日引對，真宗問所欲何官，逸對曰：「母老在家，願得近鄉一幕職官，歸奉甘旨足矣。」授澶州觀察推官，數日，以母喪去。服除，引對，帝又固問之，對曰：「願得京官。」特改大理寺丞。帝雅賢泌，再召問逸者，用泌薦也。

Zhang Yi, courtesy name Dayin, came from Xingyang in Zhengzhou. Having passed the jinshi examination, he became a probationary collator in the Secretariat. As magistrate of Dengcheng in Xiangzhou he earned a name for competence. Xie Bi, the prefect, was about to recommend Yi; he set out a desk, laid the memorial on it, bowed twice toward the palace, and said, "Your old servant has secured a fine official for the dynasty." Then he sent in the memorial. On a later audience day Emperor Zhenzong asked what post he wanted; Yi answered, "My mother is old and at home; I ask only for a county staff appointment near my native place so I can go back and support her—that is all I want." He was given the post of investigating officer on the Chanzong observation commission; within days he resigned to mourn his mother. When the mourning period ended he was called in again; the emperor pressed him once more, and he replied, "I would like a capital appointment." He was specially appointed assistant director of the Court of Judicial Review. The emperor had always held Bi in high regard and questioned Yi again on Bi's recommendation.

知長水縣，時王嗣宗留守西京，厚遇之，及徙青神縣，貧不自給，嗣宗假奉半年使辦裝。既至縣，興學校，教生徒。後邑人陳希亮、楊異相繼登科，逸改其居曰桂枝裏。縣東南有松柏灘，夏秋暴漲多覆舟，逸禱江神，不逾月，灘為徙五里，時人異之。再遷太常博士、知尉氏縣。擢監察御史，提點益州路刑獄，開封府判官。使契丹，為兩浙轉運使。徙陜西，未赴，又徙河東，居數月，復徙陜西。以龍圖閣待制知梓州。

While magistrate of Changshui, he enjoyed the warm patronage of Wang Sizong, regent of the Western Capital; when he was moved to Qingshen he could barely support himself, and Sizong advanced him half a year's salary for travel expenses. On reaching the county he founded schools and taught students. Later two local men, Chen Xiliang and Yang Yi, passed the examinations in turn, and Yi renamed his home Gui Branch Lane. Southeast of the county lay Songbai Shoal, where summer and autumn floods often sank boats; Yi prayed to the river god, and within a month the shoal had shifted five li—a wonder to all who heard of it. He was promoted again to erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and appointed magistrate of Weishi County. He was raised to investigating censor, intendant of criminal cases on the Yizhou circuit, and judge in the Kaifeng prefectural office. He went on embassy to the Khitan and later became transport commissioner of the Two Zhes. He was posted to Shaanxi, reassigned to Hedong before he could take up the post, and after a few months sent back to Shaanxi. With the title drafting attendant at the Hall of Dragon Illustrations he became prefect of Zizhou.

累遷尚書兵部郎中，知開封府。有僧求內降免田稅，而逸固執不許。仁宗曰：「有司能守法，朕何憂也。」又言：「頃禁命婦幹禁中恩，比來稍通女謁，願令官司糾劾。」從之。

He was promoted step by step to director in the Ministry of War and appointed prefect of Kaifeng. A monk petitioned for an imperial exemption from land tax, but Yi steadfastly refused. Emperor Renzong said, "When the bureaucracy keeps the law, what need have I to worry?" He also said, "Consorts of officials were recently barred from seeking favors inside the palace, yet lately such petitions have crept back in; I ask that the offices investigate and prosecute them." The emperor agreed.

以樞密直學士知益州。逸凡四至蜀，諳其民風。華陽騶長殺人，誣道旁行者，縣吏受財，獄既具，乃使殺人者守囚。逸曰：「囚色冤，守者氣不直，豈守者殺人乎？」囚始敢言，而守者果服，立誅之，蜀人以為神。會歲旱，逸使作堰壅江水，溉民田，自出公租減價以振民。初，民饑多殺耕牛食之，犯者皆配關中。逸奏：「民殺牛以活將死之命，與盜殺者異，若不禁之，又將廢穡事。今歲少稔，請一切放還，復其業。」報可。未幾，卒於官。

As direct academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs he became prefect of Yizhou. Yi had been to Shu four times in all and knew its people and customs intimately. A stable chief in Huayang killed a man and framed a traveler on the road; county clerks took bribes, and when the case was closed they put the actual killer in charge of guarding the prisoner. Yi said, "The prisoner looks aggrieved, and the guard's manner is guilty—could the guard be the murderer?" Only then did the prisoner dare speak out; the guard confessed, was executed at once, and the people of Shu thought Yi almost supernatural. That year brought drought; Yi had a weir built to hold back river water and irrigate farmland, and from his own official income he sold grain at reduced prices to relieve the people. Earlier, in famine years many peasants had killed draft oxen for food, and offenders were all banished to Guanzhong. Yi memorialized, "Peasants who slaughter oxen to stave off starvation are not the same as thieves who steal and kill cattle; yet if the practice is unchecked, agriculture will collapse. This year the harvest is fair; I ask that all such exiles be pardoned and sent home to resume farming." The request was approved. Not long afterward he died in office.

吳遵路，字安道。父淑，見《文苑傳》。第進士，累官至殿中丞，為秘閣校理。章獻太后稱制，政事得失，下莫敢言。遵路條奏十餘事，語皆切直，忤太后意，出知常州。嘗預市米吳中，以備歲儉，已而果大乏食，民賴以濟，自他州流至者亦全十八九。累遷尚書司封員外郎，權開封府推官，改三司鹽鐵判官，加直史館，為淮南轉運副使。會罷江、淮發運使，遂兼發運司事。嘗於真楚泰州、高郵軍置斗門十九，以畜泄水利。又廣屬郡常平倉儲畜至二百萬，以待凶歲。凡所規畫，後皆便之。

Wu Zunlu, courtesy name Andao. His father Shu has a biography in the "Men of Letters" section. He passed the jinshi examination, rose through the ranks to palace attendant, and served as collator in the Secret Archive. While Empress Dowager Zhangxian ruled as regent, no one dared speak openly about what was going wrong in government. Zunlu submitted a memorial setting forth more than ten matters in language that was blunt and forthright, offending the Empress Dowager and earning his dismissal to serve as prefect of Changzhou. He had once bought up rice in advance in the Wu region against a coming lean year, and when famine did strike the people were saved by those stores; refugees who poured in from other prefectures were preserved as well, eight or nine out of ten of them. Through successive promotions he became vice director in the Ministry of Revenue's Bureau of Appointments, served as acting judicial officer in Kaifeng, was transferred to salt-and-iron commissioner in the Three Fiscal Offices, given a concurrent post in the Historiography Institute, and appointed deputy transport commissioner for Huainan. When the Jiang-Huai transport commissioner was abolished, he took on the duties of the transport administration as well. At Taizhou in Zhenchu and at Gaoyou Military Prefecture he built nineteen sluice gates to hold and release water for irrigation. He also enlarged the ever-normal granaries in the prefectures under his jurisdiction until they held two million units of grain, set aside against famine years. Every project he planned proved useful in the years that followed.

遷工部郎中，坐失按蘄州王蒙正故入部吏死罪，降知洪州。徙廣州，辭不行。是時發運司既復置使，乃以為發運使，未至，召修起居註。元昊反，建請復民兵。除天章閣待制、河東路計置糧草。受詔料揀河東鄉民可為兵者，諸路視以為法。進兵部郎中、權知開封府，馭吏嚴肅，屬縣無追逮。

Promoted to director in the Ministry of Works, he was demoted to prefect of Hongzhou for failing to investigate properly the case in which Wang Mengzheng of Qizhou had deliberately framed a department clerk for a capital offense. He was transferred to Guangzhou but declined the appointment and did not take up the post. The transport administration had by then restored the office of commissioner, and he was appointed to that post; before he could take up the assignment, however, he was recalled to compile the Daily Records. When Yuan Hao rebelled, he proposed restoring the militia. He was made an awaited appointee in the Hall of Heavenly Manifestations and charged with provisioning grain and fodder on the Hedong circuit. Ordered to assess and select village men in Hedong fit for military service, he carried out the task in a way that other circuits took as their model. Promoted to director in the Ministry of War and made acting prefect of Kaifeng, he kept his subordinates under strict discipline, and in the counties under his jurisdiction there was scarcely any need to hunt down offenders.

時宋庠、鄭戩、葉清臣皆宰相呂夷簡所不悅，遵路與三人雅相厚善，夷簡忌之，出知宣州。上《禦戎要略》、《邊防雜事》二十篇。徙陜西都轉運使，遷龍圖閣直學士、知永興軍，被病猶決事不輟，手自作奏。及卒，仁宗聞而悼之，詔遣官護喪還京師。

Song Qi, Zheng Yan, and Ye Qingchen were all out of favor with Chief Councilor Lü Yijian, and Zunlu was on intimate terms with all three; Yijian resented this and had him sent out as prefect of Xuanzhou. He submitted two works, "Essentials for Defense against Barbarians" and "Miscellaneous Matters on Border Defense," twenty chapters in all. Transferred to chief transport commissioner for Shaanxi and promoted to academician in the Hall of Dragon Diagrams as military prefect of Yongxing, he continued to decide cases without interruption even while ill, drafting his own memorials by hand. When he died, Emperor Renzong mourned him on hearing the news and ordered officials to escort his coffin back to the capital.

遵路幼聰敏，既長，博學知大體。母喪，廬墓蔬食終制。性夷雅慎重，寡言笑，善筆劄。其為政簡易不為聲威，立朝敢言，無所阿倚。平居廉儉無他好，既沒，室無長物，其友范仲淹分奉赒其家。

Zunlu was bright and quick-witted as a boy, and when he grew up he became broadly learned and understood affairs in their larger scope. When his mother died, he lived in a hut by her grave on plain food until the full mourning period was complete. By nature he was mild, dignified, and careful; he spoke and laughed little, and he wrote excellent letters. In office he governed simply and without ostentatious show of authority; at court he spoke boldly and leaned on no faction. In daily life he was frugal and had no other pursuits; when he died his home held scarcely anything, and his friend Fan Zhongyan shared his salary to support the family.

子瑛，為尚書比部員外郎，不待老而歸。

His son Ying served as vice director in the Ministry of Revenue's Bureau of Comparisons and retired before he was old enough to do so by rule.

趙尚寬，字濟之，河南人，參知政事安仁子也。知平陽縣。鄰邑有大囚十數，破械夜逸，殺居民，將犯境，尚寬趣尉出捕，曰：「盜謂我不能來，方怠惰，易取也。宜亟往，毋使得散漫，且為害。」尉既出，又遣僥巡兵躡其後，悉獲之。

Zhao Shangkuan, courtesy name Jizhi, was a native of Henan and the son of Vice Grand Councilor Anren. He served as magistrate of Pingyang County. In a neighboring county more than ten major convicts broke their shackles and fled by night, killing residents and heading toward his border; Shangkuan urged the constable to go out after them, saying, "The robbers think I cannot come — they are slack and off guard now, and easy to take. Go at once, before they scatter and do further harm." After the constable set out, he also sent patrol troops to follow in their tracks, and all of the fugitives were captured.

知忠州，俗畜蠱殺人，尚寬揭方書市中，教人服藥，募索為蠱者窮治，置於理，大化其俗。轉運使持鹽數十萬斤，譚民易白金，期會促，尚寬發官帑所儲副其須，徐與民為市，不擾而集。

As prefect of Zhongzhou, where the custom was to keep gu poisons for killing people, he posted prescriptions in the market, taught people how to take antidotes, offered rewards to hunt down gu-makers and punish them to the full extent of the law, and in this way greatly changed local ways. The transport commissioner held several hundred thousand jin of salt and demanded that the people exchange it for silver; the deadline was tight, so Shangkuan drew on government reserves to meet the immediate need and then traded with the people at an orderly pace, collecting the salt without causing unrest.

嘉祐中，以考課第一知唐州。唐素沃壤，經五代亂，田不耕，土曠民稀，賦不足以充役，議者欲廢為邑。尚寬曰：「土曠可益墾辟，民稀可益招徠，何廢郡之有？」乃按視圖記，得漢召信臣陂渠故跡，益發卒復疏三陂一渠，溉田萬餘頃。又教民自為支渠數十，轉相浸灌。而四方之民來者雲布，尚寬復請以荒田計口授之，及貸民官錢買耕牛。比三年，榛莽復為膏腴，增戶積萬餘。尚寬勤於農政，治有異等之效，三司使包拯與部使者交上其事，仁宗聞而嘉之，下詔褒焉，仍進秩賜金。留於唐凡五年，民像以祠，而王安石、蘇軾作《新田》、《新渠》詩以美之。

During the Jiayou reign period he was appointed prefect of Tangzhou after ranking first in his performance evaluation. Tangzhou had always been rich land, but after the chaos of the Five Dynasties its fields went untilled, its land lay empty and its people were few, and its tax revenue could not even meet corvée obligations; some officials proposed abolishing the prefecture and reducing it to a county. Shangkuan said, "Empty land can be opened further to cultivation, and a sparse population can be drawn in — why abolish the prefecture?" He then consulted maps and records, found the old traces of the Han official Zhaoxin Chen's reservoirs and channels, sent out more laborers to reopen three reservoirs and one canal, and irrigated more than ten thousand qing of farmland. He also taught the people to dig dozens of branch channels themselves, linking them in sequence for irrigation. As settlers poured in from all directions like clouds gathering, Shangkuan further requested that wasteland be allotted by head count and that government funds be lent to the people to buy plow oxen. Within three years thicket and scrubland had become rich farmland again, and more than ten thousand new households had been added. Shangkuan was tireless in agricultural administration, and his governance produced results of exceptional merit; Fiscal Commissioner Bao Zheng and the circuit envoys jointly reported his achievements, and when Emperor Renzong heard of them he issued an edict of praise, promoted Shangkuan in rank, and bestowed gold. He remained at Tangzhou for five years in all; the people erected his image in a shrine, and Wang Anshi and Su Shi wrote the poems "New Fields" and "New Channels" in praise of him.

徙同、宿二州，河中府神勇卒苦大校貪虐，刊匿名書告變，尚寬命焚之，曰：「妄言耳。」眾乃安。已而奏黜校，分士卒隸他營。又徙梓州。尚寬去唐數歲，田日加辟，戶日益眾，朝廷推功，自少府監以直龍圖閣知梓州。積官至司農卿，卒，詔賜錢五十萬。

Transferred to Tong and Su prefectures, he learned that at Hedong Prefecture the Shenyong garrison troops were suffering under their commander's greed and cruelty; they posted an anonymous letter reporting a mutiny, but Shangkuan ordered it burned, saying, "This is empty rumor." The troops then calmed down. He then memorialized to dismiss the commander and divide the troops among other camps. He was transferred again, this time to Zizhou. Several years after Shangkuan left Tangzhou, its fields were being opened day by day and its population was steadily growing; the court credited his earlier work, and he was promoted from director of the Imperial Manufactories to direct academician in the Hall of Dragon Diagrams and prefect of Zizhou. He rose through the ranks to Minister of Agriculture, and when he died an edict bestowed five hundred thousand cash on his family.

高賦子正臣，中山人。以父任為右班殿直。復舉進士，改奉禮郎，四遷太常博士。歷知真定縣，通判劍邢石州、成德軍。知衢州，俗尚巫鬼，民毛氏、柴氏二十餘家世蓄蠱毒，值閏歲，害人尤多，與人忿爭輒毒之。賦悉擒治伏辜，蠱患遂絕。

Gao Fu, courtesy name Zhengchen, was a native of Zhongshan. Through his father's yin privilege he entered service as a Right Guard Duty Attendant. He also passed the jinshi examination, was appointed Gentleman for Ceremonial Purposes, and was promoted four times to doctor in the Imperial Sacrificial Office. He served successively as magistrate of Zhending County and as vice prefect of Jian, Xing, and Shi prefectures and of Chengdé Military Prefecture. As prefect of Quzhou, where the people honored witchcraft and spirits, more than twenty households of the Mao and Chai clans had for generations kept poisonous gu; in intercalary years they harmed people especially often, and whenever they quarreled with someone they would poison that person. Fu captured them all, punished them according to law, and the gu scourge was ended.

徙唐州，州田經百年曠不耕，前守趙尚寬菑墾不遺力，而榛莽者尚多。賦繼其後，益募兩河流民，計口給田使耕，作陂堰四十四。再滿再留，比其去，田增辟三萬一千三百餘頃，戶增萬一千三百八十，歲益稅二萬二千二百五十七。璽書褒諭，宣布治狀以勸天下，兩州為生立祠。擢提點河東刑獄，又加直龍圖閣、知滄州。程昉欲於境內開西流河，繞州城而北註三塘泊。賦曰：「滄城近河，歲增堤防，猶懼奔溢，矧妄有開鑿乎？」昉執不從，後功竟不成。

Transferred to Tangzhou, he found that its fields had lain fallow for a century; the former prefect Zhao Shangkuan had opened wasteland with tireless effort, yet much land was still overgrown. Fu followed in his footsteps, further recruiting migrants from the regions along the two Yellow Rivers, allotting fields by head count for cultivation, and building forty-four reservoirs and dams. He completed two full terms and was kept on twice; by the time he left, newly opened fields had increased by more than 31,300 qing, households by 11,380, and annual tax revenue by 22,257. An imperial letter praised and commended him, proclaiming his record of governance to encourage officials throughout the empire, and both prefectures erected living shrines in his honor. He was promoted to judicial intendant of Hedong, then additionally made direct academician in the Hall of Dragon Diagrams and prefect of Cangzhou. Cheng Fang wanted to open the Xiliu River within the prefecture, routing it around the city to the north and into Santang Marsh. Fu said, "Cangzhou city lies close to the river; every year we raise the dikes, yet still fear a breach — how much more reckless would it be to dig open new channels?" Fang stubbornly refused to listen, and in the end the project was never completed.

歷蔡、潞二州，入同判太常寺，進集賢院學士。在朝多所建明，嘗言：「二府大臣或僦舍委巷，散處京城，公私非便。宜仿前代丞相府，於端門前列置大第，俾居之。」又言：「仁宗朝為兗國公主治第，用錢數十萬緡。今有五大長公主，若悉如前比，其費無藝。願講求中制，裁為定式。」請諸道提點刑獄司置檢法官，庶專平讞，使民不冤。乞於禁中建閣，繪功臣像，如漢雲臺、唐淩煙之制。言多施行。以通議大夫致仕，退居襄陽，卒年八十四。

He served in Cai and Lu prefectures, entered the capital as associate judge of the Imperial Sacrificial Office, and was promoted to academician of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies. While at court he proposed many reforms; once he said, "Grand councilors of the two administrations sometimes rent lodgings in back alleys, scattered across the capital — this is inconvenient for both public business and private life. We should follow the model of earlier dynasties' chief-minister mansions and set up great residences in rows before the Gate of Correct Demeanor for them to live in." He also said, "In Emperor Renzong's reign a residence was built for Princess Yan'guo at a cost of several hundred thousand strings of cash. There are now five great senior princesses; if all were treated on that scale, the expense would know no limit. I ask that a moderate standard be worked out and fixed as a permanent rule." He also requested that judicial intendant offices on all circuits appoint reviewing judges, so that case review would be specialized and fair and the people would not suffer injustice. He petitioned to build a hall within the palace precinct and paint portraits of meritorious ministers, following the models of the Han Cloud Terrace and the Tang Lingyan Pavilion. Many of his proposals were adopted and carried out. He retired with the rank of Master of Court Counsel and withdrew to Xiangyang, where he died at the age of eighty-four.

程師孟，字公辟，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，俄者盡死矣。」竟發之。

Cheng Shimeng, courtesy name Gongbi, was a native of Wu. He passed the jinshi examination in the top grade. He successively governed Nankang Military Prefecture and Chuzhou and served as judicial intendant of the Kuí circuit. The Lu tribes repeatedly raided the border of Yuzhou, but the judicial envoy's seat was at Wanzhou, far away; when an alarm arose, it usually took about ten days for help to arrive. Shimeng memorialized to move the envoy's seat to Yuzhou. The Kuí region had no ever-normal granary grain, so he proposed establishing granaries; when a famine year came and relief grain ran short, he immediately issued grain from other stores on his own authority without waiting for approval. The officials were alarmed and reported that this could not be done, but Shimeng said, "If we wait for approval, they will all be dead before it comes." In the end he issued the grain anyway.

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。師孟勸民出錢開渠築堰，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，積石為江堤，浚章溝，揭北閘，以節水升降，後無水患。

He was transferred to the Hedong circuit. The Jin region has many earthen hills linked to valleys; in spring and summer heavy rains turn the water muddy like the Yellow River, and local custom calls it the "Heaven River"; it can be used for irrigation. Shimeng urged the people to contribute money to open channels and build dams, bringing eighteen thousand qing of fine farmland under cultivation; he compiled an account of the project as the "Illustrated Record of Waterworks" and distributed it to prefectures and counties. He served as fiscal review commissioner in the Ministry of Revenue. As prefect of Hongzhou, he piled stone to build a river dike, dredged the Zhang Channel, and raised the north sluice gate to regulate the water's rise and fall; afterward the region suffered no more flood disasters.

判三司都磨勘司，接拌契丹使，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，騰口說，詎欲生事耶？」惟輔愧謝。

As judge of the Three Offices' Central Audit Bureau, he received the Khitan envoys; Xiao Weifu said, "The lands along the Bai Gou should belong to both sides; now the Southern Court has planted willows for miles, yet treats northerners fishing on the border river as a crime — is that reasonable?" Shimeng said, "Both courts should keep the sworn treaties; Zhuo Prefecture has documents that can be reviewed. You discard the written records and wag your tongue — do you mean to stir up trouble?" Weifu apologized in embarrassment.

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，及交址陷邕管，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 sent out to serve as transport commissioner of Jiangxi. When robbers struck in Yuanzhou, prefectural clerks served as their eyes and ears, and for a long time the culprits could not be caught; Shimeng shackled several clerks and sent them to prison, and the robbers were captured at once. Given direct appointment in the Hall of Brilliant Literature, he served as prefect of Fuzhou, built an inner city wall, and established school buildings; his record of governance ranked first in the southeast. Transferred to Guangzhou, he found the prefectural wall had been destroyed by Nong bandits; when another alarm came the people fled in panic, and successive governors had all said the soil was loose and poor and could not support construction. Shimeng spent six years at Guangzhou building the western wall; when Jiaozhi took Yong and Guan, the enemy heard that Guangzhou's defenses were strong and did not dare advance eastward. By then Shimeng had already been recalled to the capital; mindful of his earlier service, the court appointed him Supervising Secretary, compiler in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, and concurrent director of the Directorate of Waterways.

賀契丹主生辰，至涿州，契丹命席，迎者正南向，涿州官西向，宋使價東向。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，涿人錢於郊，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。

Sent to congratulate the Khitan ruler on his birthday, he arrived at Zhuo Prefecture, where the Khitan arranged the seating with those receiving the envoys facing due south, Zhuo officials facing west, and the Song envoys facing east. Shimeng said, "This is meant to demean me." He refused to take his seat and argued from mid-afternoon until evening; his attendants turned pale, but Shimeng's tone grew ever sharper; he shouted at the ushers to change the arrangement, and at last he and those receiving the envoys faced each other east and west. The next day the people of Zhuo offered money in the suburbs; he galloped past without stopping to acknowledge them; the Zhuo people complained to Xiongzhou, and for this he was dismissed and returned to the regular ranks. He was again appointed prefect of Yuezhou and Qingzhou, then retired; he died with the rank of Grandee for Splendid Happiness at the age of seventy-eight.

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、越為立生祠。

Shimeng repeatedly held important prefectures; his governance was simple yet stern, and he never delegated to subordinates cases that did not carry the death penalty. He uncovered hidden wrongs with uncanny skill; whenever he caught violent, overbearing scoundrels he punished them severely and did not stop until they were rooted out, and his jurisdictions were orderly and quiet. The prefectures of Hong, Fu, Guang, and Yue erected living shrines in his honor.

韓晉卿，字伯修，密州安丘人。為童子時，日誦書數千言。長以《五經》中第，歷肥鄉嘉興主簿、安肅軍司法參軍、平城令大理詳斷、審刑詳議官，通判應天府，知同州、壽州，奏課第一，擢刑部郎中。

Han Jinqing, courtesy name Boxiu, came from Anqiu in Mizhou. As a child he recited several thousand characters of text each day. As an adult he passed the Five Classics examination and rose through posts as registrar in Feixiang and Jiaxing, judicial adjutant at Ansujun, magistrate of Pingcheng, detailed adjudicator at the Court of Judicial Review, and deliberation officer at the Office of Scrutiny for Punishments, then served as administrative assistant at Yingtian Prefecture and prefect of Tongzhou and Shouzhou; when his performance reports ranked first, he was promoted to supervisor in the Ministry of Justice.

元祐初，知明州，兩浙轉運使差役法復行，諸道處畫多倉卒失敘，獨晉卿視民所宜而不戾法指。入為大理少卿，遷卿。

Early in the Yuanyou era, as prefect of Mingzhou, he faced the reintroduction of the corvée service law by the Two Zhe transport commissioner; most circuits rushed out plans in disorder, but Jinqing alone tailored arrangements to the people's needs without straying from the law's purpose. He was summoned to court as vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review and later promoted to minister.

晉卿自仁宗朝已典訟臬，時朝廷有疑議，輒下公卿雜議。開封民爭鶉殺人，王安石以為盜拒捕鬥而死，殺之無罪，晉卿曰：「是鬥殺也。」登州婦人謀殺夫，郡守許遵執為按問，安石復主之，晉卿曰：「當死。」事久不決，爭論盈庭，終持之不肯變，用是知名。

Jinqing had overseen legal cases since Emperor Renzong's reign; whenever the court faced a doubtful dispute, the case was sent down for joint deliberation among the chief ministers. In Kaifeng a man killed another in a quarrel over quail; Wang Anshi argued the victim had died resisting arrest as a thief and that the killer was innocent. Jinqing said, "This is brawling homicide." In Dengzhou a woman plotted her husband's murder; Prefect Xu Zun treated it as a case of interrogation under torture, and Anshi again backed him. Jinqing said, "She deserves death." The case dragged on unresolved while debate filled the court, but he held firm and would not yield—and through this he won renown.

元豐置大理獄，多內庭所付，晉卿持平考核，無所上下。神宗稱其才，每讞獄雖明，若事連貴要、屢鞠弗成者，必以委之，嘗被詔按治寧州獄，循故事當入對，晉卿曰：「奉使有指，三尺法具在，豈應刺候主意，輕重其心乎？」受命即行。

In the Yuanfeng era the Court of Judicial Review prison was restored, and many cases came down from the inner palace; Jinqing reviewed them evenhandedly, favoring no one. Emperor Shenzong praised his ability; though most case reviews were straightforward, any matter touching powerful figures that resisted repeated interrogation was always put in his hands. Once, ordered to investigate the Ningzhou prison, he was expected by precedent to enter court for an audience. Jinqing said, "The commission has its charge and the law is complete—why should I probe the emperor's mind and weigh my own advantage?" He accepted the order and set out immediately.

諸州請讞大辟，執政惡其多，將劾不應讞者。晉卿曰：「聽斷求所以生之，仁恩之至也。茍讞而獲譴，後不來矣。」議者又欲引唐日覆奏，令天下庶戮悉奏決。晉卿言：「可疑可矜者許上請，祖宗之制也。四海萬里，必須系以聽朝命，恐自今庾死者多於伏辜者矣。」朝廷皆行其說，故士大夫間推其忠厚，不以法家名之。卒於官。

When prefectures petitioned for review of capital sentences, the chief ministers resented the volume and were ready to impeach officials who failed to seek review. Jinqing said, "In judging cases, to seek every ground for sparing life is the height of humane governance. If seeking review brings punishment, officials will stop coming forward." Others proposed reviving the Tang practice of daily re-submission, so that every ordinary execution in the empire would require a memorial decision from court. Jinqing argued, "Permitting appeal in doubtful or pitiable cases was the institution of the founding emperors. Across the realm's ten thousand li, every prisoner would have to wait on the court's word—I fear more would die in custody than ever pay for their crimes." The court adopted his proposals, and among scholar-officials he was admired for his humane breadth rather than branded a Legalist. He died in office.

葉康直，字景溫，建州人。擢進士第，知光化縣。縣多竹，民皆編為屋，康直教用陶瓦，以寧火患。凡政皆務以利民。時豐稷為谷城令，亦以治績顯，人歌之曰：「葉光化，豐谷城，清如水，平如衡。」

Ye Kangzhi, courtesy name Jingwen, was a native of Jianzhou. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed magistrate of Guanghua County. Bamboo was abundant in the county and people wove it into their houses; Kangzhi taught them to use ceramic tiles instead, reducing the danger of fire. In every policy he sought the people's benefit. Feng Ji was then magistrate of Gucheng and likewise won renown for his governance; people sang of them, "Ye of Guanghua, Feng of Gucheng—clear as water, even as a balance scale."

曾布行新法，以為司農屬。歷永興、秦鳳轉運判官，徙陜西，進提點刑獄、轉運副使。五路兵西征，康直領涇原糧道，承受內侍梁同以餉惡妄奏，神宗怒，械康直，將誅之，王安禮力救，得歸故官。

When Zeng Bu carried out the New Policies, Kangzhi was appointed to the Ministry of Revenue. He served as transport commissioner for Yongxing and Qinfeng, transferred to Shaanxi, and rose to judicial intendant and vice transport commissioner. During the western campaign of the five-circuit armies, Kangzhi managed the grain route in Jingyuan; the palace attendant Liang Tong, responsible for receiving supplies, falsely reported that the rations were spoiled; Emperor Shenzong was enraged, had Kangzhi shackled, and was about to execute him; Wang Anli interceded forcefully, and he was restored to his former post.

元祐初，加直龍圖閣，知秦州。中書舍人曾肇、蘇轍劾康直諂事李憲，免官，究實無狀，改知河中府，復為秦州。夏人侵甘谷，康直戒諸將設伏以待，殲其二酋，自是不敢犯境。進寶文閣待制、陜西都運使。以疾請知亳州，通浚積潦，民獲田數十萬畝。召為兵部侍郎，卒，年六十四。

Early in the Yuanyou era he received direct appointment to the Longtu Pavilion and became prefect of Qinzhou. Vice Director of the Secretariat Zeng Zhao and Su Che impeached Kangzhi for currying favor with Li Xian; he was dismissed, but investigation found no basis for the charge; he was reassigned prefect of Hezhong and later returned to Qinzhou. When the Tangut Xi Xia raided Gangu, Kangzhi ordered the generals to set an ambush; two enemy chieftains were killed, and from then on they did not dare cross the border. He was promoted to drafter of the Baowen Pavilion and grand transport commissioner of Shaanxi. On grounds of illness he requested appointment as prefect of Bozhou; he dredged stagnant floodwaters, and the people recovered several hundred thousand mu of farmland. He was summoned as vice minister of war but died at sixty-four.

宋慈，字惠父，建寧建陽人。父鞏字宜卿，少性聰慧讀書不專務章句而詞藻煥發優於場屋；弱冠仕郡為幕客，嘉定七年進士除承事郎升廣州節度推官廉靖有政聲；十二年卒壽七十三。公於開禧元年入太學為博士真德秀所重收為徒，嘉定十年進士授鄞尉因父病未上；寶慶二年除信豐主簿時江西反亂頻仍唯信豐無事安撫使鄭性之奇之延入幕府參預軍事多所裨益。南安三峒賊亂雄贛南安三郡臬使決意剿賊，時副都統陳世雄擁重兵不進；公趨山前，先賑六堡飢民，使不從亂。乃提兵三百倡率隅總，破石門寨，俘其酋首。世雄恥之，逼戲下輕進，賊設覆誘之，兵將官死者十有二人。世雄走贛，賊得勢，三路震動。公欲用前賑六堡之策，白，數移文倉司。魏倉司大有置不問，聞公主議，銜之。公率義丁力戰，破高平寨，擒謝寶崇，降大勝峒曾志，皆渠魁也。三峒平特授舍人秩滿入江西提點刑獄使葉宰幕，閩盜起為真德秀所薦入招捕使陳韡幕府檄公與李君華同議軍事。主將王祖忠蔑公書生，謾與約分路克日會老虎寨。王、李全師從明溪柳楊，公提孤軍從竹洲，且行且戰三百餘里，卒如期會寨下。王驚曰：「君智勇過武將矣。」軍事多咨訪。時凶渠猾酋掎角來援，護軍主將矛盾不咸。公外攘卻，內調娛，先計後戰，所向克捷，直趨招賢、招德，擒王朝茂，破邵武者也。殺嚴潮降王從甫，與李君華克賊穴潭州瓦磜；賊首丘文通挾謀主吳叔夏、劉謙子逃石城平固，公疾馳平固執文通叔夏謙子以歸。昭德賊徐友文謀中道掩奪併俘友文以降，大盜無漏網者。功成劾疏下陳韡奏雪前誣復元秩，紹定四年長汀卒囚太守陳孝嚴反，韡檄公與李君華平之。公既至，先設備，密寫撫定旗牓。公與李君華坐堂下，引郡卒支犒，卒皆挾刃入，君華色動公雍容如常，命梟禍首出榜赦餘黨亂平遷知長汀縣。時舊運閩鹽踰年始至吏減斤重民苦抑配，公請改運於潮往返僅三月又下其估出售公私便之。端平三年入同簽書樞密院事魏了翁幕，嘉熙元年除邵武軍通判僅及周年民有餘念通判南劍州不就除諸軍糧料院，二年浙右飢奉詔賑災嘆曰：「郡不可為，我知其說矣，強宗巨室始去籍以避賦，終閉糶以邀利，吾當伐其謀爾。」命吏按訴旱狀，實各戶合輸米，禮致其人，勉以濟糶。析人戶為五等，上焉者半濟半糶，次糶而不濟。次濟糶俱免，次半糶半濟，下焉者全濟之。米從官給，眾皆奉令。又累乞蠲放詔閣半租，乃調守毗陵。明年大旱民禱而雨尚余米麥三千餘斛鏹二十萬楮四十萬遂擢司農丞知贛州當路以要官附公者公不答劾免，俄而果有附官而罷者遂除蘄州司農丞如故。次年遷提點廣東刑獄使公請事急得調遣駐軍從之，時官吏多不奉法，有留獄數年未詳覆者。公下條約，立期程，閱八月決辟囚二百餘件。四年移知江西刑獄使兼知贛州，贛民遇農隙率販鹺於閩、粵之境名曰鹽子各挾兵械所過剽掠州縣單弱莫敢誰何；公鱗次保甲禁其出入奸無所容，舉行之初人持異議事定乃服；旴江邊盜賊多發，諫者以此欲免公官經筵有為公辨明者事乃罷。淳佑五年轉知常州，俄而移知廣西提點刑獄使循行部內，所至雪冤禁暴，雖惡弱處所，轍跡必至。七年除直秘閣陳韡開閫湖南為參謀，以公手疏嶺外事宜繳奏：「宋某所陳確實可用，若能悉意助卿保釐南土，旌擢未晚。」鬼國與南丹州爭金坑，南丹言韃騎追境，宜守張皇乞師。公白陳公：「此虜無飛越大理、特磨二國直擣南丹之理。」已而果然。明年進寶謨閣直學士奉使四路，皆司臬事，聽訟清明，決事剛果，撫善良甚恩，臨豪猾甚威。屬部官吏以至窮閻委巷、深山幽谷之民，咸若有一宋提刑之臨其前。九年升煥章閣直學士廣東經略安撫使知廣州馬步軍都總管，持大體理冤獄威愛相濟，開閫屬兩月忽感末疾猶自力視事學宮祭孔賓佐請委官攝獻前往由此委頓於三月七日薨壽六十四贈官朝議大夫。著有《洗冤集錄》及重修《毗陵志》。

Song Ci, courtesy name Huifu, came from Jianyang in Jianning Prefecture. His father Gong, courtesy name Yiqing, was clever from boyhood; he did not grind over commentarial glosses, yet his writing blazed with talent and he excelled in the examination halls; At twenty he entered prefectural service as a staff officer; in the seventh year of Jiading he passed the jinshi, was appointed gentleman for managing affairs, and rose to military judge under the Guangzhou command—upright, restrained, and widely praised for his governance; He died in the twelfth year, aged seventy-three. Song Ci entered the Directorate of Education in the first year of Kaixi; Zhen Dexiu valued him and took him as a disciple; in the tenth year of Jiading he passed the jinshi and was appointed warden of Yin County, but his father's illness kept him from taking up the post; In the second year of Baoqing he was appointed chief clerk of Xinfeng County; rebellions raged across Jiangxi, yet Xinfeng alone remained quiet; Pacification Commissioner Zheng Xingzhi was struck by his ability, brought him onto his staff, and found his counsel invaluable in military affairs. When bandits in Nan'an's three dong rebelled and threatened Ganzhou, Nan'an, and the surrounding prefectures, the judicial commissioner resolved to exterminate them; but Vice Commander-in-Chief Chen Shixiong sat on a large army and would not move; Song Ci rushed to the mountain front and first fed the starving people of six forts so they would not join the rebels. He then led three hundred men at the head of the local garrison commander, stormed Shimen Stockade, and captured its chieftain. Shixiong, shamed by the comparison, forced his troops into a rash advance; the bandits laid an ambush and twelve officers and men were killed. Shixiong fled to Ganzhou; the bandits gained the upper hand and all three routes were shaken. Song Ci wanted to repeat his strategy of feeding the six forts; he reported upward and repeatedly petitioned the granary commissioner. Wei Dayou, the granary commissioner, paid no heed; when he heard Song Ci's plan, he took offense. Song Ci led local militia in fierce fighting, took Gaoping Stockade, captured Xie Baochong, and accepted the surrender of Zeng Zhi of Dasheng Dong—all principal ringleaders. After the three dong were pacified he received a special grant of gentleman rank; when his term ended he joined the staff of Ye Zai, judicial commissioner of Jiangxi; when bandits rose in Fujian, Zhen Dexiu recommended him to Pacification Commissioner Chen Han, who ordered Song Ci and Li Junhua to deliberate on military affairs together. Commander Wang Zuzhong looked down on Song Ci as a mere scholar and casually agreed to split forces and rendezvous at Laohu Stockade on a fixed day. Wang and Li marched their full armies by way of Mingxi, Liu, and Yang; Song Ci led a lone detachment through Zhuzhou, fighting all the way for more than three hundred li, and reached the stockade on the appointed day. Wang exclaimed, "Your wisdom and courage outmatch any general's." After that he was consulted on most military decisions. Fierce ringleaders and cunning chieftains then came to one another's aid, while the escort troops and the commander quarreled and could not cooperate. Outwardly Song Ci drove the enemy back; inwardly he soothed and unified the troops; he planned before he fought and won wherever he turned; pressing toward Zhaoxian and Zhaode he captured Wang Chaomao and broke through into Shaowu. He killed Yan Chao and accepted Wang Congfu's surrender; with Li Junhua he seized the bandits' stronghold at Waxi in Tanzhou; The bandit chief Qiu Wentong fled to Pinggu in Shicheng with his strategists Wu Shuxia and Liu Qianzi; Song Ci galloped to Pinggu, seized all three, and brought them back. The Zhaode bandit Xu Youwen plotted a mid-route ambush and seizure; Song Ci captured Youwen as well and accepted his surrender—not one major outlaw escaped the net. When the campaign succeeded an impeachment was lodged against him, but Chen Han memorialized to clear the earlier false charge and restore his rank; in the fourth year of Shaoding, prisoners in Changting killed Prefect Chen Xiaoyan and rose in revolt; Chen Han ordered Song Ci and Li Junhua to suppress them. When Song Ci arrived he made preparations first and secretly drafted placards of pacification and stabilization. Song Ci and Li Junhua sat below the hall and summoned the prefectural soldiers to receive their reward pay; the soldiers entered with blades drawn; Junhua's face changed but Song Ci remained calm; he ordered the ringleaders executed, posted placards pardoning the rest, the rebellion was quelled, and he was transferred to magistrate of Changting County. Under the old system Fujian salt took more than a year to arrive; officials shorted the weight and the people suffered forced purchase quotas; Song Ci petitioned to route transport through Chaozhou, cutting the round trip to three months, and lowered the sale price—benefiting both government and people. In the third year of Duanping he joined the staff of Wei Liaoweng, associate director of the Bureau of Military Affairs; in the first year of Jiading he was appointed military administrator of Shaowu Circuit, and after barely a year the people still missed him fondly; offered Nanjian he declined and was appointed to the commissary for provisions of all armies; in the second year western Zhejiang suffered famine and by imperial order he led relief; he sighed, "A prefecture is hard to govern—I see their game: powerful clans first drop from the tax rolls, then hoard grain and refuse to sell for profit; I must break their scheme." He ordered clerks to review drought petitions, verify each household's rice quota, courteously summon the owners, and urge them to sell grain for relief. He divided households into five grades: the wealthiest contributed half in relief grain and half in sale grain; the next grade sold but received no relief. The middle grade was exempt from both relief and sale duties; the next gave half in sale and half in relief; the poorest received full relief. Relief rice came from government stores, and everyone complied. He repeatedly petitioned for rent remission; the court granted half the rent by edict; he was then transferred to serve as prefect of Piling. The next year a great drought ended when the people prayed and rain fell; more than three thousand hu of rice and wheat, twenty thousand strings of cash, and four hundred thousand in paper money still remained; he was promoted to vice director of the Ministry of Revenue and appointed prefect of Ganzhou; powerful men tried to attach favored officials to his staff but he refused and was impeached and dismissed; soon those who had attached officials were themselves removed; he was reappointed vice director of the Ministry of Revenue at Qizhou as before. The following year he was transferred to judicial commissioner of Guangdong; Song Ci urgently requested garrison troops and the court complied; many officials then flouted the law, and some prisoners had languished for years without review. Song Ci issued regulations and deadlines; within eight months he resolved more than two hundred capital cases. In the fourth year he was transferred to judicial commissioner of Jiangxi and concurrently prefect of Ganzhou; in slack farming seasons Ganzhou people habitually smuggled salt into Fujian and Guangdong—they were called "salt sons," armed and plundering wherever they went; weak prefectures and counties dared not stop them; Song Ci organized the baojia system step by step to block their movements until wrongdoers had nowhere to hide; at first people objected, but once the policy took effect they submitted. Banditry flared along the Gan River frontier; remonstrators tried to use this to remove him from office, but someone at the imperial lecture hall spoke in his defense and the effort was dropped. In the fifth year of Chunyou he was transferred to prefect of Changzhou, then soon moved to judicial commissioner of Guangxi; touring his circuit he cleared wrongful convictions and suppressed violence—even in the most remote and dangerous places, his presence always reached. In the seventh year he received direct appointment to the Secretariat; Chen Han opened headquarters in Hunan and took him as strategist; the emperor forwarded Song Ci's handwritten memorial on frontier affairs with the comment, "What Song has reported is sound and usable; if you give him your full support in securing the south, promotion will come in good time." The Ghost Kingdom and Nandan Prefecture disputed gold mines; Nandan reported Tartar cavalry pressing the border; the prefect of Yizhou panicked and begged for reinforcements. Song Ci told Chen Han, "There is no way these barbarians could fly over Dali and Temo to strike Nandan directly." Before long events proved him right. The next year he was promoted to academician directly appointed to the Baomo Pavilion and commissioned over four circuits, all judicial posts; in hearing cases he was clear-minded, in deciding them firm and decisive; toward the good and weak he was deeply kind, toward the powerful and cunning deeply stern. From subordinate officials down to people in the poorest alleys and deepest mountain valleys, all seemed to have Judicial Commissioner Song standing before them. In the ninth year he was promoted to academician directly appointed to the Huanzhang Pavilion, grand coordinator and pacification commissioner of Guangdong, prefect of Guangzhou, and commander-in-chief of horse and foot; he held to broad principles in wrongful cases, blending sternness with kindness; barely two months after opening headquarters he was stricken with a terminal illness yet still forced himself to work; at the Confucian temple sacrifice his aides asked that a deputy perform the offering—he went himself; from that he collapsed; on the seventh day of the third month he died, aged sixty-four, and was posthumously granted the rank of grandee for court discussion. He wrote the Collected Records for Washing Away Injustices and revised the Gazetteer of Piling.

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