子潚 Zǐsù

Zixiao

Zixiao, styled Qingqing, was a descendant of Prince Kanghui of Qin and the son of Lingao, Duke Xiaojing. He was orphaned at seven; his family was poor, and he studied hard. He passed the jinshi examination in the Xuanhe period. He was posted as Clerk of the Law Section of Zhen Prefecture, but after a dispute with the prefect over a criminal case he left office. He was then made Judicial Officer of Qu Prefecture. Hu Tanglao thought his talent remarkable and gave him responsibility. Those were troubled times; Zixiao helped Tanglao repair and complete the city's defences, and when the troops of Miao and Liu reached the walls they could not attack, for which he was promoted one grade. He rose through office to Director of the Bureau of Personnel, asked for a post outside the capital, and was promoted to Director in the Ministry of Revenue in general charge of the money and grain for the troops and horses of Jiang and Huai. The gifts sent to him by the various offices, worth a thousand strings a month, he handed over in full to the public treasury. He was appointed Auxiliary of the Imperial Archives and Vice Fiscal Commissioner of Liangzhe. When the court sent men to inspect the sandbank fields and reed flats, intending to raise their rents across the board, Zixiao argued that land bought under contract was not the same as land seized without right, and stopped it by his efforts. Edit

At that time some argued that the fields along Lake Tai were suffering from floods, and that the water should be divided and led through the various creeks into the river. An edict sent Zixiao to inspect. On his return he said, "Lake Tai is a vast body of water fed by several prefectures; how could the Song River alone drain it? Men of old opened twenty-four creeks north of Changshu to reach the Great River, and ten more creeks south-east of Kunshan to reach the sea; now they are all silted up, and they should be dredged." This was followed. The channel from the east barrier at Changshu to Zhipu, entering the Jinggu, was dredged; and the Fushan Embankment was cut through to Shangshi Bridge, flowing north into the Great River, so that the force of the water was divided and reduced, and the floods ceased. Edit

Zhao Shanji, Prefect of Ming Prefecture, governed the commandery cruelly, and Zixiao led the circuit supervisors in impeaching him and having him dismissed. Zixiao was appointed Auxiliary of the Fuwen Pavilion and Prefect of Lin'an Prefecture (acting); the clerks could not deceive him, and he forbade powerful households to hire other people's sons and daughters as servants and concubines. An edict made him acting Vice Minister of Revenue; he was promoted to Edict Attendant of the Fuwen Pavilion and again made Prefect of Lin'an Prefecture (acting). He called up soldiers of the Three Capital Commands to rebuild the city walls, and the work was done without disturbing the people. When Liang, ruler of the Jin, broke the treaty, Zixiao contributed a hundred and fifty thousand cash to the army, and was specially promoted one grade. When the emperor went to Jiankang, Zixiao served as Adviser to the Regent of the Travelling Palace. After escorting the emperor back, he was again Prefect of Lin'an Prefecture (acting). When the Jin came to discuss peace, Zixiao held that their true intentions could not be fathomed and that they should be received with military ceremony. Edit

When Xiaozong succeeded to the throne, he was set on recovering the lost lands. Zixiao trained troops and drilled them in the "goose-and-stork" and "fish-scale" formations; the emperor watched them from a side hall, praised him, and granted him a gold belt. He was raised to Auxiliary Academician of the Fuwen Pavilion and moved to be Prefect of Ming Prefecture (acting) and Coastal Regional Commander. The remonstrance officials Wang Shipeng and Wang Dabao sent up memorials urging that he be kept at court, but the emperor said, "I am entrusting him with the defence of the sea; he will be recalled before long." Earlier, the pirates had bribed the clerks of the commandery, and the clerks had instead become their tools, hiding their tracks, so that the pirates grew very bold and merchant ships could not get through. Zixiao courteously invited the local magnates and had them lead the commandery clerks out to sea by different routes, telling them, "Those who carry out orders will be richly rewarded; otherwise they will be put to death without mercy." The clerks were terrified and vied to point out where the pirates were, and all were captured. All the powerful and crafty men who had harboured the pirates were tried to the end, and the sea lanes were made safe. Edit

He was promoted to Auxiliary Academician of the Longtu Pavilion and Prefect of Fuzhou (acting). In a year of famine he asked the neighbouring commanderies to sell grain, and the price of rice fell at once, so that the people survived; he was promoted to Academician of the Longtu Pavilion and moved to be Prefect of Quan Prefecture (acting). A clerk had seized a commoner's daughter as a concubine; his wife, jealous and fierce, killed the girl and cut up her body, packed it in a jar, and sent it to her husband's elder brother, a clerk at Xinghua, where it was kept in his office. The concubine's father came to the commandery every day to complain, but the officials could not settle the case. Zixiao inquired and learned what had happened, and at once sent men to Xinghua; they did indeed find the jar and bring it back, and the case was decided. His exposure of hidden crimes was generally of this kind. He died in office in the second year of Qiandao, aged sixty-six. Edit