1
耶律伯堅，字壽之，桓州人。 氣豪俠，喜與名士遊。 用薦舉入官，為工部主事。 至元九年，轉保定路清苑縣尹。 初，安肅州苦徐水之害，訴於大司農司，大司農司欲奪水故道，導水使東。 東則清苑境也，地勢不利，果導之，則清苑被其害，而水亦必反故道為災。 伯堅陳其形勢，圖其利害，要大司農司官及郡守行視可否，事遂得已。 縣西有塘水，溉民田甚廣，勢家據以為磑，民以失利來訴。 伯堅命毀磑，決其水而注之田，許以溉田之餘月，乃得堰水置磑。 仍以其事聞於省部，著為定制。 縣居南北之衝，歲為親王大官治供帳於縣西，限以十月成，至明年復撤而新之，吏得併緣侵漁，其費不貲。 伯堅命築公館，以代供帳，其弊遂絕。 凡郡府賦役，於縣有重於他縣者，輒曰：「寧得罪於上，不可得罪於下。」 必詣府力爭之。 在清苑四年，民親戴之如父母，比去而猶思之，立石頌其德焉。 擢為恩州同知。
Yelü Bojian, courtesy name Shouzhi, was a native of Huanzhou. He was spirited and chivalrous by nature, and delighted in the company of eminent men of letters. Recommended for office, he was appointed principal clerk in the Ministry of Works. In the ninth year of the Zhiyuan reign (1272), he was transferred to serve as magistrate of Qingyuan County in Baoding Circuit. Earlier, Ansu Prefecture had long suffered from flooding on the Xu River and appealed to the Grand Secretariat for Agriculture, which proposed to seize the river's old channel and divert the water eastward. To the east lay Qingyuan territory, where the land lay lower and was ill suited to such a diversion; if the plan went ahead, Qingyuan would be inundated, and the water would inevitably break back into its old course and bring disaster again. Bojian explained the terrain, laid out the advantages and risks in a diagram, and insisted that Grand Secretariat for Agriculture officials and the circuit intendant inspect the site in person before deciding; the project was abandoned. West of the county stood a reservoir whose waters irrigated a vast stretch of farmland; powerful families had monopolized it to run water mills, and peasants came forward to sue because their irrigation had been cut off. Bojian ordered the mills torn down, opened the sluices, and sent the water back into the fields; only in the months when irrigation was not required might the water be dammed again for milling. He reported the matter to the provincial and central authorities as well, and it was enacted as a permanent regulation. The county stood on the main road between north and south; every year temporary lodging for imperial princes and high officials was erected west of the town, to be finished by the tenth month, then torn down and rebuilt the following year—giving clerks endless pretexts for graft until the cost became incalculable. Bojian ordered a permanent public lodge built to replace the yearly encampments, and the abuse ceased. Whenever the circuit or prefecture imposed levies on his county heavier than on others, he would say, "Better to offend my superiors than to wrong the people below." He would go in person to the prefectural seat and fight the matter with all his strength. During his four years in Qingyuan the people loved him as their own parents; long after he left they still missed him and set up a stone inscription in praise of his virtue. He was promoted to vice prefect of En Prefecture.
2
段直，字正卿，澤州晉城人。 至元十一年，河北、河東、山東盜賊充斥，直聚其鄉黨族屬，結壘自保。 世祖命大將略地晉城，直以其眾歸之，幕府承製，署直潞州元帥府右監軍。 其後論功行賞，分土世守，命直佩金符，為澤州長官。 澤民多避兵未還者，直命籍其田廬於親戚鄰人之戶，且約曰：「俟業主至，當析而歸之。」 逃民聞之，多來還者，命歸其田廬如約，民得安業。 素無產者，則出粟賑之； 為他郡所俘掠者，出財購之； 以兵死而暴露者，收而瘞之。 未幾，澤為樂土。 大修孔子廟，割田千畝，置書萬卷，迎儒士李俊民為師，以招延四方來學者。 不五六年，學之士子，以通經被選者，百二十有二人。 在官二十年，多有惠政。 朝廷特命提舉本州學校事，未拜而卒。
Duan Zhi, courtesy name Zhengqing, was a native of Jincheng in Ze Prefecture. In the eleventh year of Zhiyuan (1274), bandits overran Hebei, Hedong, and Shandong; Zhi rallied his neighbors and clansmen, built a fortified camp, and held out for their safety. When Kublai sent a great general to subdue the Jincheng region, Zhi brought his followers over to the Yuan side; the field headquarters, acting by imperial commission, appointed him right supervising general of the Lu Prefecture Marshal's headquarters. Later, when merits were rewarded with hereditary fiefs, he was granted a golden tally and appointed chief administrator of Ze Prefecture. Many in Ze Prefecture had fled the wars and not yet come home; Zhi had their fields and houses registered under the care of relatives and neighbors, with the pledge: "When the owners return, everything shall be divided and given back." Refugees who heard of this came back in large numbers; he restored their land and homes as promised, and the people were able to resume their livelihoods in peace. Those who had always been destitute he supplied with grain for relief; those seized and carried off into other prefectures he ransomed with his own funds; and those who had fallen in battle and lay unburied he gathered in and gave proper burial. Before long Ze had become a peaceful and thriving region. He undertook a major restoration of the Temple of Confucius, endowed a thousand mu of fields, assembled ten thousand scrolls of books, and invited the scholar Li Junmin to serve as master, thereby drawing students from far and wide. Within five or six years, one hundred and twenty-two students who had mastered the classics were selected for office. During twenty years in office he carried out many policies that benefited the people. The court specially appointed him superintendent of the prefectural schools, but he died before he could assume the post.
3
諳都剌，字瑞芝，凱烈氏。 祖阿思蘭，嘗從大將阿術伐宋，仕至冀寧路達魯花赤，子孫因其名蘭，遂以蘭為氏。 諳都剌通經史，兼習諸國語。 成宗時，為翰林院札爾里赤，職書制誥。 會有旨命書籓王添力聖旨，諳都剌曰：「此旨非惟有虧國體，行且為民殃矣。」 帝聞之，謂近臣曰：「小吏如此，真難得也。」 事乃止。 尋授應奉翰林文字，凡蒙古傳記，多所校正。 升待制。 時方選守令，除遼州達魯花赤，以最聞，賜上尊名幣，除集賢直學士。 至順元年，遷襄陽路達魯花赤。 山西大饑，河南行省恐流民入境為變，檄守武關，諳都剌驗其良民，輒聽其度關。 吏曰：「得無違上命乎？」 諳都剌曰：「吾防奸耳，非仇良民也，可不開其生路耶！」 既又煮粥以食之，所活數万人。 又城臨漢水，歲有水患，為築堤城外，遂以無虞。 元統二年，除益都路總管。 俗頗悍黠，而諳都剌務興學校，以平易治之。 有上馬賊白晝劫人，久不能捕，諳都剌生擒之，其黨賂宣慰使羅鍋，誣以枉勘，縱其賊。 已而賊劫河間，復被獲，乃盡輸其情，而諳都剌之誣始白，俾再任一考。 親王買奴鎮益都，其府屬病民，諳都剌裁抑之，民以無擾。 至正六年卒，年七十。
Andu'er, courtesy name Ruizhi, was of the Kailie clan. His grandfather Asilan had followed the great general Aju in the conquest of Song and rose to darughachi of Jining Circuit; his descendants took the syllable Lan from his name and adopted Lan as their surname. Andu'er was steeped in the classics and histories and was fluent in several languages of the realm. Under Emperor Chengzong he served in the Hanlin Academy as jarligchi, responsible for drafting imperial edicts and patents. Once an order came to draft an edict for the feudatory prince Tianli; Andu'er said, "This edict would not only compromise the dignity of the state—it would soon bring disaster upon the people as well." When the emperor heard of this, he told his close attendants, "For a junior clerk to speak so is truly rare." The matter was dropped. He was soon appointed Hanlin Academician for Imperial Composition and corrected numerous Mongolian historical texts. He was promoted to Academician-in-Attendance. When the court was selecting prefects and magistrates, he was appointed darughachi of Liao Prefecture; his reputation for excellence won him imperial wine and silks, and he was made Direct Academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies. In the first year of Zhishun (1330) he was transferred to serve as darughachi of Xiangyang Circuit. When Shanxi was stricken by famine, the Henan Branch Secretariat, fearing that refugees crossing the border might spark unrest, ordered Wuguan Pass held shut; Andu'er examined each applicant and let through all who were plainly honest folk. A clerk said, "Surely this violates our orders from above?" Andu'er replied, "I am guarding against wrongdoers, not making enemies of honest people—how can I deny them a way to survive?" He also had porridge cooked to feed them, saving tens of thousands of lives. The city also stood on the Han River and flooded every year; he built dikes outside the walls, and the floods ceased to threaten it. In the second year of Yuantong (1334) he was appointed circuit intendant of Yidu. The local customs were fierce and cunning, but Andu'er devoted himself to founding schools and governed with a plain, gentle hand. Mounted bandits had long robbed travelers in broad daylight without being caught; Andu'er captured one alive, but the gang bribed the Pacification Commissioner Luoguo to accuse him of a wrongful prosecution and secured the bandit's release. Later the bandits struck in Hejian and were captured again; they confessed the whole affair, Andu'er's innocence was established, and he was permitted to serve another term. When the imperial prince Mainu was stationed at Yidu, his household staff preyed on the people; Andu'er curbed their abuses, and the populace was left in peace. He died in the sixth year of Zhizheng (1346), at the age of seventy.
4
子燮徹堅，同知新喻州事，以孝稱。
His son Siechejian served as vice prefect of Xinyu Prefecture and was renowned for his filial devotion.
5
楊景行，字賢可，吉安太和州人。 登延祐二年進士第，授贛州路會昌州判官。 會昌民素不知井飲，汲於河流，故多疾癘； 不知陶瓦，以茅覆屋，故多火災。 景行教民穿井以飲，陶瓦以代茅茨，民始免於疾癘火災。 豪民十人，號十虎，干政害民，悉捕置之法。 乃創學舍，禮師儒，勸民斥腴田以膳士，弦誦之聲遂盛。 調永新州判官，奉郡府命，核民田租，除剷宿弊，姦欺不容，細民賴焉。 改江西行省照磨，轉撫州路宜黃縣尹，理白冤獄之不決者數十事。 升撫州路總管府推官，發擿姦伏，郡無冤獄。 金溪縣民陶甲，厚積而凶險，嘗屢誣陷其縣長吏罷去之，由是官吏畏其人，不敢詰治，陶遂暴橫於一郡。 景行至，以法痛繩之，徙五百里外。 金溪豪僧云住，發人塚墓取財物，事覺，官吏受賄，緩其獄，景行急按之，僧以賄動之，不聽，乃賂當道者，以危語撼之，一不顧，卒治之如法。 由是豪猾屏跡，良民獲安。 轉湖州路歸安縣尹，奉行省命，理荒田租，民無欺弊。 景行所歷州縣，皆有惠政； 所去，民皆立石頌之。 以翰林待制、朝列大夫致仕，年七十四卒。
Yang Jingxing, courtesy name Xiankai, was a native of Taihe Prefecture in Ji'an. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Yanyou (1315) and was appointed assistant prefect of Huichang in Ganzhou Circuit. The people of Huichang had never drawn drinking water from wells and took it from the river instead, so epidemics were common; nor did they know fired tiles and roofed their houses with thatch, so fires were frequent. Jingxing taught them to sink wells for drinking water and to use tiles instead of thatch; the people were finally spared epidemics and conflagrations. Ten powerful local bullies, known as the Ten Tigers, had meddled in government and preyed on the people; he arrested them all and punished them according to law. He then founded a school, honored Confucian teachers, and urged the people to set aside fertile land to support scholars; soon the sound of students reciting the classics filled the district. Transferred to assistant prefect of Yongxin, he carried out the circuit government's order to audit field rents, rooted out long-standing abuses, tolerated no fraud, and the common people came to rely on him. He was made archival reviewer of the Jiangxi Branch Secretariat, then magistrate of Yihuang County in Fuzhou Circuit, where he cleared dozens of long-standing wrongful convictions. Promoted to investigating censor of the Fuzhou circuit administration, he exposed hidden crimes until the prefecture held no wrongful cases. In Jinxi County a man named Tao Jia had grown rich and was brutal and cunning; he had repeatedly framed county magistrates until they were removed, so that officials feared him and dared not prosecute him, and Tao lorded it over the whole prefecture. When Jingxing arrived, he punished Tao severely under the law and exiled him more than five hundred li away. A powerful monk of Jinxi named Yunzhu had robbed graves for valuables; when the crime was exposed, officials took bribes and stalled the case. Jingxing pressed the investigation; the monk tried to bribe him, but he refused; then influential men were bribed to intimidate him with threats, yet he paid no heed and finally punished the monk according to law. Thereafter the violent and cunning vanished from sight, and honest folk lived in peace. Transferred to magistrate of Gui'an County in Huzhou Circuit, he carried out provincial orders to settle rents on abandoned fields, and the people were no longer cheated. In every prefecture and county he served, Jingxing left policies that benefited the people; and wherever he departed, the people set up stone inscriptions in his praise. He retired with the ranks of Hanlin Academician-in-Attendance and Grand Master of the Court for Ceremonials and died at the age of seventy-four.
6
林興祖，字宗起，福州羅源人。 至治二年，登進士第，授承事郎、同知黃岩州事，三遷而知鉛山州。 鉛山素多造偽鈔者，豪民吳友文為之魁，遠至江淮、燕薊，莫不行使。 友文姦黠悍鷙，因偽造致富，乃分遣惡少四五十人，為吏於有司，伺有欲告之者，輒先事戕之，前後殺人甚眾，奪人妻女十一人為妾，民罹其害，銜冤不敢訴者十餘年。 興祖至官，曰：「此害不除，何以牧民！」 即張榜禁偽造者，且立賞募民首告。 俄有告者至，佯以不實斥去； 又有告獲偽造二人並贓者，乃鞫之，款成。 友文自至官，為之營救，興祖命並執之。 須臾，來訴友文者百餘人，擇其重罪一二事鞫之，獄立具，逮捕其黨二百餘人，悉置之法。 民害既去，政聲籍甚。 江浙行省丞相別兒怯不花薦諸朝，升南陽知府，改建德路同知，俱未任。 至正八年，特旨遷為道州路總管，行至城外，撞賊已迫其後，相去僅二十里。 時湖南副使哈剌帖木兒屯兵城外，聞賊至，以乏軍需，欲退兵，興祖聞，即夜詣說留之。 哈剌帖木兒曰：「明日得鈔五千錠、桐盾五百，乃可破賊。」 興祖許之。 明日甫入城視事，即以恩信勸諭鹽商，貸鈔五千錠，且取郡樓舊桐板為盾，日中皆備。 哈剌帖木兒得鈔、盾，大喜，遂留，為御賊計。 賊聞新總管至，一日具五百盾，以為大軍且至，中夕遁去。 永明縣洞徭屢竊發為民害，興祖以手榜諭之。 皆曰：「林總管廉而愛民，不可犯也。」 三年不入境。 春旱，蟲食麥苗，興祖為文禱之，大雨三日，蟲死而麥稔。 已而罷興作，賑貧乏，輕徭薄斂，郡中大治，憲司考課，以道州為最。 以年老致仕，終於家。
Lin Xingzu, courtesy name Zongqi, was a native of Luoyuan in Fuzhou. In the second year of Zhizhi (1322) he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed Gentleman for Managing Affairs and vice prefect of Huangyan; after three promotions he became prefect of Qianshan. Qianshan had long been notorious for counterfeit paper money; a powerful local named Wu Youwen led the ring, and his notes circulated as far as the Jiang-Huai region and the Yan-Ji area. Youwen was cunning, fierce, and ruthless; enriched by counterfeiting, he placed forty or fifty ruffians as clerks in government offices to watch for accusers and kill them first; they murdered countless people and he seized eleven women as concubines; for more than ten years the people suffered under him, yet those who had grievances dared not bring suit. When Xingzu took office he said, "If this scourge is not uprooted, how can I govern the people?" He immediately posted notices forbidding counterfeiting and offered rewards for informants. Soon an informer appeared; he pretended to dismiss the charge as unfounded; then another report came that two counterfeiters had been seized with the evidence; he interrogated them until full confessions were obtained. Youwen came in person to the yamen to arrange their release; Xingzu ordered him arrested as well. Within moments more than a hundred people came forward to accuse Youwen; he tried one or two of the gravest charges, the case was swiftly concluded, more than two hundred accomplices were arrested, and all were punished according to law. With the people's scourge removed, his reputation for good government spread far and wide. The Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat chancellor Berkebua recommended him to the court; he was promoted to prefect of Nanyang and then appointed vice prefect of Jiande Circuit, but assumed neither post. In the eighth year of Zhizheng (1348) he was specially transferred by imperial order to circuit intendant of Daozhou; as he reached the outskirts of the city, he met bandits pressing close behind him—barely twenty li away. The Hunan Vice Commissioner Qaratemutur had his troops encamped outside the city; hearing the bandits were near and lacking supplies, he wished to withdraw; Xingzu went to him that very night and persuaded him to remain. Qaratemutur said, "If I have five thousand ingots of paper money and five hundred paulownia shields by tomorrow, then I can defeat the bandits." Xingzu promised to provide them. The next day, as soon as he entered the city to assume office, he persuaded the salt merchants with sincerity to lend five thousand ingots, and had old paulownia boards from the city tower fashioned into shields; by midday everything was ready. Qaratemutur received the money and shields and was overjoyed; he stayed and prepared to meet the bandits. The bandits heard that the new intendant had arrived and that five hundred shields had been readied in a single day; believing a great army was on its way, they fled at midnight. The Yao of the caves in Yongming County had repeatedly raided and harmed the people; Xingzu addressed them with a personal proclamation. They all said, "Prefect Lin is upright and loves the people; he must not be provoked." For three years they did not cross the border to raid. During a spring drought insects devoured the wheat seedlings; Xingzu composed a prayer, and for three days heavy rain fell; the insects died and the wheat ripened. He then halted wasteful public works, relieved the poor, lightened corvée labor and reduced levies; the prefecture was brought to good order, and in the surveillance commission's evaluation Daozhou ranked first. He retired on account of old age and died at home.
7
觀音奴，字志能，唐兀人氏，居新州。 登泰定四年進士第。 由戶部主事，再轉而知歸德府。 廉明剛斷，發擿如神。 民有銜冤不直者，雖數十年前事，皆千里奔走來訴，觀音奴立為剖決，旬日悉清。 彰德富商任甲，抵睢陽，驢斃，令郄乙剖之，任以怒毆郄，經宿而死。 郄有妻王氏、妾孫氏，孫訴於官，官吏納任賄，謂郄非傷死，反抵孫罪，置之獄。 王來訴冤，觀音奴立破械出孫於獄，呼府胥語之曰：「吾為文具香幣，若為吾以郄事禱諸城隍神，令神顯於吾。」 有睢陽小吏，亦預郄事，畏觀音奴嚴明，且懼神顯其事，乃以任所賂鈔陳首曰：「郄實傷死，任賂上下匿其實，吾亦得賂，敢以首。」 於是罪任商而釋孫妾。 寧陵豪民楊甲，夙嗜王乙田三頃，不能得。 值王以飢攜其妻就食淮南，而王得疾死，其妻還，則田為楊據矣。 王妻訴之官，楊行賄，偽作文憑，曰：「王在時已售我。」 觀音奴令王妻挽楊，同就崔府君神祠質之。 楊懼神之靈，先期以羊酒浼巫囑神勿洩其事，及王與楊詣祠質之，果無所顯明。 觀音奴疑之，召巫詰問，巫吐其實曰：「楊以羊酒浼我囑神曰：'我實據王田，幸神勿洩也。 '」觀音奴因訊得其實，坐楊罪，歸其田王氏，責神而撤其祠。 亳州有蝗食民禾，觀音奴以事至亳，民以蝗訴，立取蝗向天祝之，以水研碎而飲，是歲蝗不為災。 後升為都水監官。
Guanyinnu, courtesy name Zhineng, was of Tangut descent and lived in Xin Prefecture. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of Taiding (1327). Starting as principal clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, he was later appointed prefect of Guide Prefecture. Incorrupt, clear-sighted, and resolute, he uncovered hidden crimes with uncanny precision. People with old grievances that had never been redressed—even cases from decades past—would travel hundreds of miles to bring suit; Guanyinnu would hear them at once, and within ten days every backlog was cleared. A wealthy merchant of Zhangde named Ren Jia reached Suiyang; when his donkey died he ordered Qie Yi to butcher it, then beat Qie in a rage; Qie died overnight. Qie had a wife, Lady Wang, and a concubine, Lady Sun; when Sun brought suit, officials took Ren's bribes, declared that Qie had not died of the beating, charged Sun instead, and threw her in prison. Lady Wang came to plead her case; Guanyinnu at once had Sun released from prison, summoned a clerk, and said, "Prepare incense and offerings; go pray to the City God about Qie's death, and let the god reveal the truth to me." A petty clerk of Suiyang who had been involved in the case, fearing Guanyinnu's severity and that the god would expose the truth, presented the bribe money he had taken from Ren and confessed: "Qie truly died of the beating; Ren bribed officials up and down to cover it up, and I took a bribe as well—I come forward to confess." Ren the merchant was punished and Lady Sun was released. A powerful man of Ningling named Yang Jia had long coveted three qing of Wang Yi's land but could not get it. When famine struck, Wang took his wife to seek food in Huainan; Wang fell ill and died there, and when his wife returned she found Yang already in possession of the fields. Wang's wife brought suit; Yang bribed officials and forged a deed claiming that Wang had sold him the land while still alive. Guanyinnu had Wang's wife take Yang by the arm and go with him to the shrine of Lord Cui to settle the dispute before the god. Yang, fearing the god's power, had beforehand bribed the shaman with sheep and wine to beg the god not to expose him; when Wang and Yang went to the shrine, nothing was revealed. Guanyinnu grew suspicious and questioned the shaman, who confessed: "Yang bribed me with sheep and wine to tell the god, 'I have in fact seized Wang's land—please do not expose me. Through further inquiry Guanyinnu established the facts, punished Yang, restored the fields to the Wang family, rebuked the shrine, and had it torn down." When locusts were devouring the grain in Bozhou, Guanyinnu happened to be there on business; the people appealed to him; he took locusts at once, prayed heavenward over them, ground them in water and drank the mixture, and that year the locusts did no harm. He was later promoted to an office in the Directorate of Waterways.
8
周自強，字剛善，臨江路新喻州人。 好學能文，練於吏事，以文法推擇為吏。 泰定間，廣西洞徭反，自強往見徭酋，說以禍福，中其要害，徭酋立為罷兵，貢方物，納款請命。 事聞於朝，特旨超授廣西兩江道宣慰司都事。 轉饒州路經歷，遷婺州路義烏縣尹。 周知民情，而性度寬厚，不為刻深。 民有以爭訟訴於庭者，一見即能知其曲直，然未遽加以刑責，必取經典中語，反覆開譬之，令其誦讀講解。 若能悔悟首實，則原其罪； 若迷謬怙惡不悛，然後繩之以法不少貸。 民畏且愛，獄訟頓息。 民間田稅之籍多失實，以故差徭不平，自強出令履畝核之，民不能欺，文簿井井可考，於是賦役平均，貧富樂業。 其聽訟決獄，物無遁情，黠吏欲以片言欺惑之不可得。 由是政治大行，聲譽籍甚。 部使者數以廉能舉於朝，選授撫州路金溪縣尹，階奉議大夫，政績愈著。 以亞中大夫、江州路總管致仕。
Zhou Ziqiang, courtesy name Gangshan, was a native of Xinyu Prefecture in Linjiang Circuit. He loved learning and wrote well, was practiced in administrative affairs, and was selected for clerical service through examination of statutes. During the Taiding era the Yao of the Guangxi caves rebelled; Ziqiang went to the chieftain, explained the consequences of war and peace, and struck home; the chieftain at once laid down arms, presented tribute, and submitted to the court. When the court learned of this, he was specially promoted by imperial order to chief secretary of the Guangxi Liangjiang Pacification Commission. He was transferred to administrative aide of Raozhou Circuit and then appointed magistrate of Yiwu County in Wuzhou Circuit. He knew the people's circumstances thoroughly, yet his temperament was generous and mild, and he was never harsh or severe. When people brought disputes to his court, he could see at once who was right and who was wrong, yet he did not rush to punish; he would quote passages from the classics, explain them patiently, and have the parties recite and discuss them. If they repented and confessed fully, he would pardon them; only if they persisted in error and clung to wickedness would he apply the law without mercy. The people both feared and loved him, and lawsuits quickly died away. Land-tax registers were often false, making corvée and levies unfair; Ziqiang ordered fields measured and verified plot by plot; the people could not deceive him; the records were clear and auditable; levies were equalized and rich and poor alike prospered. In hearing cases nothing escaped him; no crafty clerk could mislead him with a single phrase. Good government flourished under him and his reputation spread far and wide. Department envoys repeatedly recommended him to the court for integrity and competence; he was appointed magistrate of Jinxi County in Fuzhou Circuit with the rank of Grand Master for Discussion, and his achievements grew still more notable. He retired with the rank of Grand Master for Proper Consultation after serving as circuit intendant of Jiangzhou.
9
白景亮，字明甫，南陽人。 明法律，善書算。 由征東行省譯史有勞，超遷南恩知州，升沔陽府尹，奏最於朝，特授衢州路總管。 先是，為郡者於民間徭役，不盡校田畝以為則，吏得併緣高下其手，富民或優有餘力，而貧弱不能勝者，多至破產失業。 景亮深知其弊，乃始核驗田畝以均之，役之輕重，一視田之多寡，大小家各使得宜，咸便安之，由是民不勞而事易集，他郡邑皆取以為法。 郡學之政久弛，從祀諸賢無塑像，諸生無廩膳，祭服樂器有缺，景亮皆為備之，儒風大振，縉紳稱頌焉。 景亮性廉介勤苦，自奉甚薄，妻尤儉約，惟以脫粟對飯而已。 部使者嘗上其事，特詔褒美，賜以宮錦，改授台州路總管。 卒於官。
Bai Jingliang, courtesy name Mingfu, was a native of Nanyang. He was versed in law and skilled in writing and calculation. For meritorious service as a translator-clerk in the Eastern Campaign Branch Secretariat he was promoted out of turn to prefect of Nan'en, then prefect of Mianyang; after reporting top marks to the court he was specially appointed circuit intendant of Quzhou. Previously, prefectural administrators levying corvée on the people did not fully verify field acreage as the standard; clerks manipulated the figures at will; the wealthy often bore less than their share while the poor and weak were ruined and driven from their livelihoods. Jingliang understood this abuse well; he verified field acreage and equalized levies so that corvée fell solely according to land held; large and small households alike were treated fairly; the people were not overburdened and tasks were easily completed, and other prefectures adopted his method as a model. The prefectural school had long been neglected: the sages in the temple had no statues, students had no stipends, and sacrificial robes and instruments were missing; Jingliang supplied them all; Confucian learning flourished, and the gentry praised him. Jingliang was incorrupt, upright, and frugal; he lived very simply, and his wife was especially thrifty—they ate nothing but plain grain. When a department envoy reported this to the court, an imperial edict specially commended him, granted palace brocade, and transferred him to circuit intendant of Taizhou. He died in office.
10
王艮，字止善，紹興諸暨人。 尚氣節，讀書務明理以致用，不苟事言說。 淮東廉訪司辟為書吏，遷淮西。 會例革南士，就為吏於兩淮都轉運鹽使司，以歲月及格，授廬州錄事判官。 淮東宣慰司辟為令史，以廉能稱。 再調峽州總管府知事，又辟江浙行省掾史。 會朝廷復立諸市舶司，艮從省官至泉州，建言：「若買舊有之船以付舶商，則費省而工易集，且可絕官吏侵欺掊克之弊。」 中書省報如艮言。 凡為船六宗，省官錢五十餘萬緡。
Wang Gen, courtesy name Zhishan, was a native of Zhuji in Shaoxing. He valued integrity, studied to grasp principle for practical use, and disdained empty talk. The Huaidong Surveillance Commission recruited him as a clerical officer, and he was later transferred to Huaixi. When regulations barred southern scholars from certain posts, he entered service as a clerk in the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commission; after qualifying by years of service he was appointed recording secretary and assistant judge of Luzhou. The Huaidong Pacification Commission recruited him as chief clerk, and he won a reputation for integrity and competence. He was transferred to administrative officer of the Xia Prefecture headquarters and then recruited as a secretariat clerk of the Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat. When the court re-established the maritime trade offices, Gen accompanied provincial officials to Quanzhou and proposed: "If we buy existing ships and assign them to merchant fleets, costs will be lower, work easier to organize, and officials' fraud and extortion can be stopped." The Central Secretariat approved Gen's proposal. Six ships were built in all, saving more than five hundred thousand strings of official cash.
11
歷建德縣尹，除兩浙都轉運鹽使司經歷。 紹興路總管王克敬，以計口食鹽不便，嘗言於，行省，未報，而克敬為轉運使，集議欲稍損其額，以紓民力。 沮之者以為有成籍不可改，艮毅然曰：「民實寡而強賦多民之錢，今死、徙已眾矣，顧重改成籍而輕棄民命乎！ 且浙右之郡，商賈輻輳，未嘗以口計也。 移其所賦，散於商旅之所聚，實為良法。」 於是議歲減紹興食鹽五千六百引。 尋有復排前議者，艮欲辭職去，丞相聞之，亟遣留艮，而議遂定。
He served as magistrate of Jiande County and was appointed administrative aide of the Liang-Zhe Salt Transport Commission. Wang Kejing, circuit intendant of Shaoxing, had found per-capita salt levies burdensome and reported to the branch secretariat without reply; when he became salt transport commissioner he convened a meeting to reduce the quota and ease the people's burden. Opponents said the established registers could not be altered; Gen declared firmly, "The population has shrunk yet we still levy heavily; many have died or fled—shall we prize the registers above the people's lives? Moreover the prefectures of western Zhejiang are crowded with merchants and have never been taxed by head count. Shifting the levy to where merchants and travelers congregate is truly the better method." The assembly agreed to reduce Shaoxing's annual salt quota by five thousand six hundred yin. When opponents revived the old proposal, Gen threatened to resign; the chancellor heard of this, urgently ordered him retained, and the reform stood.
12
遷海道漕運都萬戶府經歷。 紹興之官糧入海運者十萬石，城距海十八里，歲令有司拘民船以備短送，吏胥得併緣以虐民。 及至海次，主運者又不即受，有折缺之患。 艮執言曰：「運戶既有官賦之直，何復為是紛紛也！」 乃責運戶自載糧入運船。 運船為風所敗者，當核實除其數，移文往返，連數歲不絕，艮取吏牘披閱，即除其糧五萬二千八百石、鈔二百五十萬緡，運戶乃免於破家。
He was transferred to administrative aide of the Maritime Grain Transport Command. Shaoxing sent one hundred thousand shi of official grain by sea transport; the city stood eighteen li from the coast; every year officials requisitioned civilian boats for the short haul, giving clerks endless pretexts to abuse the people. At the coast the transport officers would not accept delivery promptly, causing shortages and spoilage. Gen insisted, "The transport households already receive official payment—why all this turmoil?" He required the transport households themselves to load the grain onto the transport ships. When transport ships were wrecked in storms, deductions were supposed to be verified, but documents shuttled back and forth for years; Gen read through the files and at once cancelled fifty-two thousand eight hundred shi of grain and two million five hundred thousand strings of cash, sparing the transport households from ruin.
13
遷江浙行省檢校官。 有詣中書訴松江富民包隱田土，為糧一百七十餘萬石； 沙盪，為鈔五百餘萬緡； 宜立官府糾察收追之。 中書移行省議，遣官驗視，而鬆江獨當十九。 艮至松江，條陳曲折，以破其誑妄，言其「不過欲竦朝廷之聽而報宿怨，且冀創立衙門，為徼名爵計耳。 萬一民心動搖，患生不測，豈國家培養根本之策哉！」 艮言上，事遂寢。
He was transferred to revising officer of the Jiang-Zhe Branch Secretariat. Someone petitioned the Central Secretariat claiming that wealthy men of Songjiang had concealed land worth more than 1.7 million shi in grain tax; and tidal flats worth more than five million strings of cash; and urging that a special office be set up to investigate and collect it. The Central Secretariat referred the matter to the branch secretariat and sent officials to verify; Songjiang alone would bear nine-tenths of the alleged sum. When Gen reached Songjiang he laid out the facts item by item and exposed the fraud, declaring that it "was merely an attempt to alarm the court, settle old scores, and win a new office for the sake of fame and promotion. If popular sentiment were shaken and unforeseen troubles arose, how would that serve the state's policy of nurturing its foundation?" When Gen's report reached the capital, the matter was dropped.
14
除江西行省左右司員外郎。 吉之安福有小吏，誣民欺隱詭寄田租九千餘石，初止八家，前後數十年，株連至千家，行省數遣官按問，吏已伏其虛誑，而有司喜功生事者，复勒其民報合徵糧六百餘石，憲司援詔條革去，終莫能止。 艮到官，首言：「是州之糧，比元經理已增一千一百餘石，豈復有欺隱詭寄者乎？ 準憲司所擬可也。」 行省用艮言，悉蠲之。 艮在任歲餘，以中憲大夫、淮東道宣慰副使致仕。 卒年七十一。
He was appointed vice director of the left and right secretariats of the Jiangxi Branch Secretariat. In Anfu of Ji Prefecture a petty clerk falsely accused peasants of concealing more than nine thousand shi of field rent; what began with eight households over decades implicated a thousand; the branch secretariat sent investigators repeatedly; the clerk had confessed the fraud, yet officials eager for credit again compelled the people to pay more than six hundred additional shi; the surveillance commission cited an imperial statute to cancel the levy, but could not stop it. When Gen took office he said at once, "This prefecture's grain quota has already risen by more than eleven hundred shi since the Yuan initial survey—how could concealment still be possible? The surveillance commission's proposal should be approved." The branch secretariat adopted Gen's view and remitted the levies entirely. After little more than a year in office he retired with the rank of Grand Master for Governance and as vice commissioner of the Huaidong Pacification Commission. He died at the age of seventy-one.
15
盧琦，字希韓，惠安人，登至正二年進士第。 十二年，稍遷至永春縣尹。 始至，賑饑饉，止橫斂，均賦役，減口鹽一百餘引，蠲包銀榷鐵之無徵者。 已而訟息民安，乃新學宮，延師儒課子弟，月書季考，文風翕然。 鄰邑仙遊盜發，琦適在邑境，盜遙見之，迎拜曰：「此永春大夫也。 為大夫百姓者，何幸之大乎！ 吾邑長乃以暴毒驅我，故至此耳。」 琦因立馬喻以禍福，眾皆投刃槊，請縛其酋以自新，琦許之。 酋至，琦械送帥府，自是威惠行於境外。 十三年，泉郡大饑，死者相枕籍。 其能行者，皆老幼扶攜，就食永春。 琦命分諸浮屠及大家使食之，所存活不可勝計。 十四年，安溪寇數万人來襲永春。 琦聞，召邑民喻之曰：「汝等能戰則與之戰，不能，則我當獨死之爾。」 眾皆感憤，曰：「使君何言也！ 使君父母，我民赤子，其忍以父母畀賊邪！ 且彼寇方將虜掠我妻子，焚毀我室廬，乃一邑深仇也。 今日之事，有進無退，使君其勿以為憂。」 因踴躍爭奮。 琦率以攻賊，大破之。 明日，賊复傾巢而至，又破之。 大小三十餘戰，斬獲一千二百餘人，而邑民無死傷者。 賊大衄，遂遁去。 時兵革四起，列郡皆洶洶不寧，獨永春晏然，無異承平時。 十六年，改調寧德縣尹而去。
Lu Qi, courtesy name Xihan, was a native of Hui'an; he passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Zhizheng (1342). In the twelfth year (1352) he was promoted to magistrate of Yongchun County. On taking office he relieved famine, halted illegal exactions, equalized taxes and corvée, cut the per-capita salt quota by more than one hundred yin, and remitted uncollected levies on packaged silver and the iron monopoly. Before long lawsuits ceased and the people were at peace; he rebuilt the school, invited Confucian teachers to instruct the young, held monthly compositions and quarterly examinations, and literary culture flourished. When bandits rose in neighboring Xianyou County, Qi happened to be near the border; the bandits saw him from afar, came forward and bowed, saying, "This is the magistrate of Yongchun. How fortunate the people are to have such a magistrate! Our own county chief drove us out with violence and cruelty—that is why we are here." Qi reined in his horse and explained the consequences of their course; they all cast down their weapons and asked to bind their leader and submit; Qi agreed. When the leader arrived, Qi had him shackled and sent to the marshal's headquarters; thereafter his authority and benevolence were felt beyond the county borders. In the thirteenth year Quan Prefecture suffered famine; the dead lay in heaps. Those who could still walk, old and young helping one another, came to Yongchun for food. Qi had them fed through Buddhist monasteries and wealthy households; the number saved was beyond counting. In the fourteenth year tens of thousands of bandits from Anxi attacked Yongchun. When Qi heard this, he summoned the people and said, "If you can fight, fight with me; if not, I alone will die for you." All were moved and indignant, crying, "My lord, why speak so! You are our parent and we your children—how could we hand our parent over to bandits! Moreover those bandits would seize our wives and children and burn our homes—they are the mortal enemy of our whole county. Today we advance and do not retreat—my lord, have no fear." They leaped forward, vying to be first. Qi led them against the bandits and won a great victory. The next day the bandits returned in full force and were defeated again. In more than thirty engagements they killed or captured more than twelve hundred of the enemy, yet not one townsman was killed or wounded. The bandits suffered a crushing defeat and fled. War was breaking out everywhere and every prefecture was in turmoil; Yongchun alone remained peaceful, no different from the days of good order. In the sixteenth year he was transferred to magistrate of Ningde County and took his leave.
16
鄒伯顏，字從吉，高唐人。 為建寧崇安縣尹。 崇安之為邑，區別其土田，名之曰都者五十，五十都之田上送官者，為糧六千石。 其大家以五十餘家，而兼五千石； 細民以四百餘家，而合一千石。 大家之田，連跨數都，而細民之糧，或僅升合。 有司常以四百之細民，配五十大家之役，故貧者受役旬日，而家已破。 伯顏曰：「貧弱之受困，一至此乎！」 乃取其糧籍而分計從，有糧一石者，受一石之役，有糧升斗者，受升斗之役。 田多者受數都之役而不可辭，田少者稱其所出而無倖免。 貧因無告之民，始得以休息。 崇安賦役之均，遂為四方最。 邑有宋趙抃所鑿溝，溉民田數千畝。 歲久，溝湮而田廢。 伯顏修長溝十里，繞楓樹陂，累石以為固，溝悉复抃遺跡，而田為常稔，民賴其利。 安慶路嘗得造偽鈔者，遣卒械其囚至崇安，求其黨而執之，囚與卒結謀，望風入良民家肆虐。 伯顏捕訊得其狀，即執而歸諸安慶，自是偽造之連逮無濫及崇安者。 於是行省帥府、御史憲府咸舉其能。 選調漳州路判官。
Zou Boyan, courtesy name Congji, was a native of Gaotang. He served as magistrate of Chong'an County in Jianning. In Chong'an the land was divided into fifty districts called du; the grain tax delivered to the government from all fifty du totaled six thousand shi. A little more than fifty great households together bore five thousand shi of this burden; while more than four hundred small households together bore only one thousand shi. Great families held fields stretching across several du, while some small households owed only a few sheng or he of grain. Officials routinely assigned corvée meant for the fifty great households to the four hundred small ones, so the poor, after only ten days of service, were often ruined. Boyan said, "The suffering of the poor and weak has come to this!" He took the grain registers and apportioned obligations by amount: one shi of grain meant one shi's corvée, sheng or dou meant corvée in proportion. Those with extensive holdings served corvée across several du and could not refuse; those with little land paid according to their yield with no exemptions. The destitute, who had nowhere to turn, were finally able to breathe. Chong'an's fair apportionment of taxes and corvée became the best in the region. The district had a canal dug by Zhao Bian of the Song, which irrigated several thousand mu of farmland. Over the years the canal silted up and the fields fell into ruin. Boyan restored the long canal for ten li, routing it around Maple Tree Dam and reinforcing it with stone; the watercourse fully recovered Bian's original layout, the fields yielded reliably again, and the people prospered from it. Anqing Circuit once captured counterfeiters and sent soldiers to escort a prisoner in fetters to Chong'an to round up accomplices; the prisoner and soldiers conspired and, seizing their chance, rampaged through innocent households. Boyan investigated, learned the truth, arrested them, and sent them back to Anqing; thereafter counterfeiting cases no longer swept up innocent people in Chong'an. The branch secretariat, marshal's headquarters, and surveillance commission all recommended him for his ability. He was selected and appointed assistant prefect of Zhangzhou Circuit.
17
劉秉直，字清臣，大都武清人。 至正八年，來為衛輝路總管，平徭役，興教化，敦四民之業，崇五土之利，養鰥寡，恤孤獨。 賊劫汲縣民張聚鈔一千二百錠而殺之，賊不獲，秉直具詞致禱城隍祠，而使人伺於死所，忽有村民阿蓮者，戰怖僕地，具言賊之姓名及所在，乃命尉襲之，果得賊於汴，遂正其罪。 秋七月，蟲螟生，民患之，秉直禱於八蜡祠，蟲皆自死。 歲大饑，人相食，死者過半，秉直出俸米，倡富民分粟，餒者食之，病者與藥，死者與棺以葬。 天不雨，禾且槁，秉直詣城北太行之蒼峪神祠，具詞祈祝，有青蛇蜿蜒而出，觀者異之。 辭神而還，行及數里，雷雨大至。 秩滿，以親老，去官侍養。
Liu Bingzhi, courtesy name Qingchen, was a native of Wuqing in Dadu. In the eighth year of Zhizheng (1348) he became circuit intendant of Weihui, where he equalized corvée, promoted education, encouraged the four classes in their trades, honored agriculture, and cared for widows, orphans, and the destitute. Bandits robbed and murdered Zhang Ju of Ji County for twelve hundred ingots of paper money, but could not be found; Bingzhi prayed at the City God shrine and posted men at the scene; a villager named Alian, shaking with fear, fell to the ground and named the culprits and where they hid; Bingzhi sent the bailiff after them, captured them in Bian, and punished them according to law. In the seventh month caterpillars and locusts appeared and plagued the people; Bingzhi prayed at the Eight Sacrifices shrine, and the pests died off. Famine struck that year; people ate the dead and more than half perished; Bingzhi distributed his salary grain, urged the wealthy to share their stores, fed the hungry, gave medicine to the sick, and coffins to bury the dead. When drought threatened the crops, Bingzhi went to the Cangyu God shrine in the Taihang foothills north of the city and prayed; a green snake emerged and wound its way forth, to the wonder of all who saw it. As he left the shrine and headed back, he had gone only a few li when thunder and heavy rain burst forth. When his term ended, his parents being elderly, he resigned to care for them at home.
18
許義夫，碭山人。 為夏邑縣尹，每親詣鄉社，教民稼穡。 見民勤謹者，出己俸賞之，怠惰者罰之。 三年之間，境內豐足。 後為封丘縣尹，值至正四年大饑，盜賊群起，抄掠州縣。 義夫聞賊至近境，乃單馬出郊十里外迎之，見賊數百人，義夫力言：「封丘縣小民貧，皆已驚惶逃竄，幸無入吾境也。」 言辭願款，賊遂他往。 封丘之民，得免於難。
Xu Yifu was a native of Dangshan. As magistrate of Xiayi County he personally visited village altars to teach the people how to farm. He rewarded the diligent from his own salary and punished the idle. Within three years the district was prosperous and well supplied. Later, as magistrate of Fengqiu County, in the fourth year of Zhizheng (1344) famine struck and bandits rose in bands, looting prefectures and counties. When Yifu heard bandits were nearing his border, he rode out alone ten li beyond the town to meet them; facing several hundred men, he pleaded earnestly: "Fengqiu is small and poor; the people have all fled in terror—please do not enter our district." His words were sincere and moving, and the bandits went elsewhere. The people of Fengqiu were spared the disaster.