1
列傳第十七○酈瓊李成孔彥舟徐文施宜生張中孚張中彥宇文虛中王倫
Biography 17 — Li Qiong, Li Cheng, Kong Yanzhou, Xu Wen, Shi Yisheng, Zhang Zhongfu, Zhang Zhongyan, Yuwen Xuzhong, and Wang Lun
2
酈瓊，字國寶，相州臨漳人。 補州學生。 宋宣和間，盜賊起，瓊乃更學擊刺挽強，試弓馬，隸宗澤軍，駐於磁州。 未幾告歸，括集義軍七百人，複從澤，澤署瓊為七百人長。 澤死，調戍滑州。 時宗望伐宋，將渡河。 戍軍亂，殺其統制趙世彥，而推瓊為主。 瓊因誘眾，號為勤王，行且收兵。 比渡淮，有眾萬餘。 康王以為楚州安撫使、淮南東路兵馬鈐轄，累遷武泰軍承宣使。 未幾，率所領步騎十余萬附于齊，授靜難軍節度使，知拱州。 齊國廢，以為博州防禦使。 用廉，遷驃騎上將軍。 宗弼複河南，以瓊為山東路弩手千戶，知亳州事。 丁母憂，去官。
Li Qiong, whose courtesy name was Guobao, came from Linzhang in Xiangzhou. He entered training as a prefectural student. When bandits broke out during the Song Xuanhe period, Qiong turned to training in close combat and heavy archery, passed tests in mounted archery, and joined Zong Ze's army, which was stationed at Cizhou. Shortly afterward he took leave to return home, raised a force of seven hundred volunteer troops, and rejoined Zong Ze, who made Qiong their commander. After Zong Ze died, Qiong was reassigned to garrison Huazhou. At that time Prince Zongwang was invading the Song and preparing to cross the river. The garrison mutinied, killed their commander Zhao Shiyan, and made Qiong their leader. Qiong rallied the men under the banner of "rescuing the throne" and marched on, drawing more troops to him as he went. By the time he crossed the Huai, his following had grown to more than ten thousand. Prince Kang appointed him pacification commissioner of Chuzhou and military controller of Huainan East Circuit, and eventually promoted him to honorary commissioner of the Wutai Army. Before long he led his force of more than a hundred thousand foot and horse soldiers over to Qi, and was appointed military governor of the Jingnan Army with administrative charge of Gongzhou. When the Qi regime was abolished, he was made defensive commissioner of Bozhou. Recognized for integrity, he was promoted to chief general of the Flying Cavalry. When Zongbi reconquered Henan, Qiong was made commander of a thousand crossbowmen on the Shandong route and put in charge of Bozhou. He left office to observe mourning for his mother.
3
宗弼再伐江南，以瓊素知南方山川險易，召至軍與計事。 從容語同列曰：「瓊嘗從大軍南伐，每見元帥國王親臨陣督戰，矢石交集，而王免胄，指麾三軍，意氣自若，用兵制勝，皆與孫、吳合，可謂命世雄材矣。 至於親冒鋒鏑，進不避難，將士視之，孰敢愛死乎。 宜其所向無前，日辟國千里也。 江南諸帥，才能不及中人。 每當出兵，必身居數百裏外，謂之持重。 或督召軍旅，易置將校，僅以一介之士持虛文諭之，謂之調發。 制敵決勝委之偏裨，是以智者解體，愚者喪師。 幸一小捷，則露布飛馳，增加俘級以為己功，斂怨將士。 縱或親臨，亦必先遁。 而又國政不綱，才有微功，已加厚賞，或有大罪，乃置而不誅。 不即覆亡，已為天幸，何能振起耶？」 眾以為確論。 元帥，謂宗弼也。
When Zongbi launched another campaign against the south, he summoned Qiong to headquarters for planning because Qiong had long known the terrain and passes of the southern provinces. He said calmly to his colleagues, "I once marched south with the main army. Whenever our marshal prince came to the front in person to direct the fighting, arrows and stones flew everywhere, yet he would take off his helmet and command the three armies with perfect composure. The way he handled troops to win battles matched Sunzi and Wuzi—it was the work of a once-in-an-age champion. When the commander himself faces blades and arrows and never flinches, what soldier watching him will hold back his life? Small wonder he swept all before him and daily extended the realm by a thousand li. The Song commanders in the south are barely average in ability. Whenever they take the field, they stay hundreds of li to the rear and call it "prudence." When they need armies, they shuffle officers at will and dispatch a lone clerk with written orders—this they call "mobilization." They leave defeating the enemy to junior officers, so the capable lose heart and the foolish lose their armies. If they score even a small victory, they rush out victory bulletins and pad the prisoner and kill counts to claim credit, breeding resentment among their troops. Even when they appear in person, they are first to flee. Their government is in disorder too—petty merit wins lavish rewards, while great crimes go unpunished. That they have not already collapsed is sheer luck—how could they possibly recover?" Everyone present took this for the truth. "The marshal" here means Zongbi.
4
及宗弼問瓊以江南成敗，誰敢相拒者。 瓊曰：「江南軍勢怯弱，皆敗亡之餘，又無良帥，何以禦我。 頗聞秦檜當國用事。 檜，老儒，所謂亡國之大夫，兢兢自守，惟顛覆是懼。 吾以大軍臨之，彼之君臣，方且心破膽裂，將哀鳴不暇，蓋傷弓之鳥可以虛弦下也。」 既而江南果稱臣，宗弼喜瓊為知言。
When Zongbi asked Qiong about the prospects in Jiangnan, no one would dare stand in their way. Qiong said, "The southern armies are weak and cowardly—remnants of defeated forces with no capable commanders. How could they resist us? I understand that Qin Gui holds power in the government. Qin Gui is an elderly scholar-official of the sort that ruins kingdoms—cautious to the point of paralysis, terrified only of losing power. When our great army reaches them, their ruler and ministers will be heartsick with terror—they will barely have time to beg for mercy. They are like birds wounded by an arrow: even an empty bowstring will bring them down." Not long afterward the south did in fact submit as a vassal, and Zongbi was delighted that Qiong had judged the situation correctly.
5
李成，字伯友，雄州歸信人。 勇力絕倫，能挽弓三百斤。 宋宣和初，試弓手，挽強異等。 累官淮南招捉使。 成乃聚眾為盜，鈔掠江南，宋遣兵破之，成遂歸齊，累除知開德府，從大軍伐宋。 齊廢，再除安武軍節度使。
Li Cheng, whose courtesy name was Boyou, came from Guixin in Xiongzhou. His courage and strength were unmatched—he could draw a bow weighing three hundred jin. Early in the Song Xuanhe period he tested as an archer and ranked highest in drawing the heavy bow. He rose through the ranks to become pacification commissioner for Huainan. Cheng then gathered a band and raided Jiangnan; Song sent troops to defeat him, after which he submitted to Qi, was repeatedly made prefect of Kaide, and joined the main army in campaigns against the Song. When Qi was abolished, he was again appointed military governor of the Anwu Army.
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成在降附諸將中最勇鷙，號令甚嚴，眾莫敢犯。 臨陣身先諸將。 士卒未食不先食，有病者親視之。 不持雨具，雖沾濕自如也。 有告成反者，宗弼察其誣，使成自治，成杖而釋之，其不校如此。 以此士樂為用，所至克捷。
Among the surrendered generals, Cheng was the fiercest and most brutal; his commands were strict and none dared disobey. In battle he always led from the front, ahead of every other general. He would not eat until his soldiers had eaten, and when any fell ill he tended them himself. He carried no rain gear and was untroubled even when drenched. When someone accused Cheng of plotting rebellion, Zongbi saw the charge was false and had Cheng handle the matter himself—Cheng beat the accuser and let him go, so little did he trouble himself over such slights. For this reason his men were glad to follow him, and wherever he went he won victories.
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宗弼再取河南，宋李興據河南府。 成引軍入孟津。 興率眾薄城，鼓噪請戰，成不應。 日下昃，興士卒倦且饑，成開門急擊，大破之。 興走漢南，成遂取洛陽、嵩、汝等。 河南平，宗弼奏成為河南尹，都管押本路兵馬。 嘗取官羨粟充公費，坐奪兩官，解職。 正隆間，起為真定尹，封郡王，例封濟國公。 卒，年六十九。
When Zongbi reconquered Henan, the Song general Li Xing held Henan prefecture. Cheng led his army into Mengjin. Xing led his troops up to the walls, beating drums and shouting for battle, but Cheng did not respond. When the sun was low in the west, Xing's soldiers were weary and hungry; Cheng opened the gates and struck hard, routing them completely. Xing fled south of the Han, and Cheng then took Luoyang, Song, Ru, and the other prefectures. When Henan was pacified, Zongbi recommended Cheng as intendant of Henan and overall commander of military forces on that circuit. Once he used official salary grain to cover public expenses and was demoted two ranks and removed from office. During the Zhenglong era he was recalled as intendant of Zhending and enfeoffed as a commandery prince—in accordance with precedent, as Duke of Ji. He died at the age of sixty-nine.
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孔彥舟
Kong Yanzhou
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孔彥舟，字巨濟，相州林慮人。 亡賴，不事生產，避罪之汴，占籍軍中。 坐事系獄，說守者解其縛，乘夜逾城遁去。 已而殺人，亡命為盜。 宋靖康初，應募，累官京東西路兵馬鈐轄。 聞大軍將至山東，遂率所部，劫殺居民，燒廬舍，掠財物，渡河南去。 宋人複招之，以為沿江招捉使。 彥舟暴橫，不奉約束，宋人將以兵執之，彥舟走之齊，從劉麟伐宋，為行軍都統，改行營左總管。
Kong Yanzhou, whose courtesy name was Juji, came from Linlu in Xiangzhou. A wastrel who would not work for a living, he fled to Bian to escape punishment and enrolled in the army rolls. Imprisoned for an offense, he persuaded his guard to untie him and escaped over the wall by night. He then killed a man and took to the hills as an outlaw. Early in the Song Jingkang period he enlisted and eventually became military controller of the Jingdong and Jingxi circuits. Hearing that the Jin main army was approaching Shandong, he led his troops south across the river, killing and plundering civilians, burning homes, and seizing goods as he went. The Song court recruited him again and made him pacification commissioner along the river. Yanzhou was violent and defied orders; when the Song prepared to seize him by force, he fled to Qi, followed Liu Lin in campaigns against the Song as chief of the field army, and was later made left chief of the mobile camp.
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齊國廢，累知淄州。 從宗弼取河南，克鄭州，擒其守劉政，破孟邦傑于登封，授鄭州防禦使。 討平太行車轅嶺賊。 從征江南，渡淮，破孫暉兵萬餘人，下安豐、霍丘。 及攻濠州，以彥舟為先鋒，順流薄城，擒其水軍統制邵青，遂克濠州。 師還，累官工、兵部尚書，河南尹，封廣平郡王。 正隆例降金紫光祿大夫，改西京留守。
When Qi was abolished, he served repeatedly as prefect of Zizhou. Following Zongbi in the reconquest of Henan, he took Zhengzhou and captured its defender Liu Zheng, defeated Meng Bangjie at Dengfeng, and was appointed defensive commissioner of Zhengzhou. He suppressed the bandits at Chexuan Ridge in the Taihang Mountains. In the campaign against the south he crossed the Huai, routed Sun Hui's force of more than ten thousand, and took Anfeng and Huoqiu. When Haozhou was attacked, Yanzhou served as vanguard; sailing downstream he pressed the city, captured the naval commander Shao Qing, and took Haozhou. After the army returned, he rose to minister of works and of war, intendant of Henan, and was enfeoffed as Duke of Guangping. Under the Zhenglong precedent he was demoted to grand mentor of the golden violet and made garrison commander of the western capital.
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彥舟荒於色，有禽獸行。 妾生女姿麗，彥舟苦虐其母，使自陳非己女，遂納為妾。 其官屬負官錢，私其妻與折券。 惟破濠州時，諸軍凡系獲皆殺之，彥舟號令毋輒殺，免者數千人，人頗以此稱之。 然自幼至老常在行伍，習兵事，知利鈍。 海陵欲以為征南將佐，正隆五年，除南京留守。
Yanzhou was dissolute in lust and behaved like a beast. A concubine bore a daughter of striking beauty; Yanzhou cruelly abused the mother until she declared the child was not his, whereupon he took the girl as his own concubine. When a subordinate owed official money, Yanzhou took the man's wife in private settlement of the debt. Only when Haozhou fell did he order that captives not be killed at will—several thousand were spared, and people gave him some credit for this. Yet from youth to old age he lived in the ranks, versed in military affairs and knowing when to press and when to hold back. Emperor Hailing intended to use him as an assistant in the southern campaign; in the fifth year of Zhenglong he was made garrison commander of the southern capital.
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彥舟有疾，朝臣有傳彥舟死者，而彥舟尚無恙，海陵盡杖妄傳彥舟死者，以激勵之。 無何竟死於汴，年五十五。 遺表言「伐宋當先取淮南」雲。
Yanzhou fell ill; courtiers spread rumors that he had died, though he was still alive—Hailing had everyone who falsely reported Yanzhou's death beaten with rods to spur him on. Before long he did die at Bian, at the age of fifty-five. In his final memorial he wrote that "in attacking the Song one must first take Huainan."
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徐文，字彥武，萊州掖縣人，徙膠水。 少時販鹽為業，往來瀕海數州，剛勇尚氣，儕輩皆憚之。 宋季盜起，募戰士，為密州板橋左十將。 勇力過人，揮巨刀重五十斤，所向無前，人呼為「徐大刀」。 後隸王龍圖麾下，與夏人戰，生擒一將，補進武校尉。 東還，破群賊楊進等，轉承信郎。
Xu Wen, whose courtesy name was Yanwu, was from Ye County in Laizhou and later moved to Jiaoshui. In his youth he traded in salt along several coastal prefectures; bold and quick to take offense, his peers all feared him. When bandits rose at the end of the Song, he enlisted as a warrior and was made left ten-general of the Board Bridge in Mizhou. His strength surpassed others'; wielding a great blade weighing fifty jin, he swept all before him, and men called him "Xu the Big Blade." Later he served under Academician Wang; fighting the Western Xia he captured an enemy general alive and was made supplemental military cadet. Returning east, he defeated the bandits Yang Jin and others and was promoted to gentleman for fidelity in faith.
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東海縣人徐元、張旺作亂，縣人房真等三人走海州，及走總管府，上變。 州、府皆遣使效隨真等詣東海觀賊形勢，皆為賊所害。 州、府合兵攻之，累月不下。 海陵且欲伐宋，惡聞其事，詔文與步軍指揮使張弘信、同知大興尹李惟忠、宿直將軍蕭阿窊率舟師九百浮海討之，謂文等曰：「朕意不在一邑，將以試舟師耳。」 文等至東海，與賊戰，敗之，斬首五千餘級，獲徐元、張旺，餘眾請降。 是役也，張弘信行至萊州，稱疾留止，日與妓樂飲酒。 海陵聞之，師還，杖弘信二百。 文遷定海軍節度使。 房真三人官賞有差。 死賊者皆贈官三級，以銀百兩、絹百匹賜其家。
Xu Yuan and Zhang Wang of Donghai County rebelled; three local men, Fang Zhen and others, fled first to Haizhou and then to the circuit headquarters to report the uprising. The prefecture and circuit both sent envoys to follow Fang Zhen and the others to Donghai to scout the rebels, and all were killed. The prefecture and circuit combined forces to attack them but could not take them for months. Hailing, who was preparing to attack the Song and hated such disturbances, ordered Wen, infantry commander Zhang Hongxin, vice intendant of Daxing Li Weizhong, and imperial bodyguard Xiao A'wo to lead nine hundred warships by sea against them, telling Wen and the others, "My concern is not with one county—I mean to test the navy." Wen and his party reached Donghai, fought the rebels, defeated them, beheaded more than five thousand, captured Xu Yuan and Zhang Wang, and the rest surrendered. During this campaign Zhang Hongxin reached Laizhou, claimed illness, and stayed behind, spending his days drinking with singers and musicians. When Hailing heard of this, on the army's return he had Hongxin beaten two hundred strokes. Wen was promoted to military governor of the Dinghai Army. Fang Zhen and the other two received offices and rewards according to their merits. Those who died fighting the rebels were all posthumously promoted three ranks, and their families were granted one hundred taels of silver and one hundred bolts of silk.
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大定二年，詣闕自陳年老目昏，懇求致仕。 許之。 以覃恩遷龍虎衛上將軍，卒于家。
In the second year of Dading he came to court in person, saying that he was old and his eyesight failing, and earnestly requested retirement. His request was granted. By an amnesty grant he was promoted to chief general of the Dragon-Tiger Guard and died at home.
16
施宜生
Shi Yisheng
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四年冬，為宋國正旦使。 宜生自以得罪北走，恥見宋人，力辭，不許。 宋命張燾館之都亭，因間以首丘風之。 宜生顧其介不在旁，為廋語曰：「今日北風甚勁。」 又取幾間筆扣之曰：「筆來，筆來。」 於是宋始警。 其副使耶律辟離剌使還以聞，坐是烹死。
In the winter of the fourth year he served as New Year's envoy to the Song court. Yisheng, believing he had offended and fled north, was ashamed to face the Song; he pleaded hard to be excused but was refused. The Song appointed Zhang Tao to receive him at Duting and, in private, hinted that he should long for his homeland. Noticing his attendant was absent, Yisheng spoke in a double meaning: "Today the north wind blows very hard." He then took a brush from the table and tapped it, saying, "The enemy comes, the enemy comes." Only then did the Song grow alarmed. His vice-envoy Yelü Bilichi reported what had happened on his return, and for this Yisheng was executed by boiling.
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初，宜生困於場屋，遇僧善風鑒，謂之曰：「子面有權骨，可公可卿。 而視子身之毛，皆逆上，且覆腕，必有以合乎此而後可貴也。」 宜生聞其言，大喜，竟從范汝為於建、劍。 已而汝為敗，變服為傭泰之吳翁家三年。 翁異之，一日屏人詰其姓名，宜生曰：「我服傭事惟謹，主人乃亦置疑邪？」 翁固詰之，則請其故。 翁曰：「日者燕客，執事咸餕，而汝獨孫諸儕，且撤器有歎聲，是以識汝非真傭也。」 宜生遂告之故。 翁贐之金，夜濟淮以歸。 試《一日獲熊三十六賦》擢第一，其後竟如僧言。
Earlier, when Yisheng was struggling in the civil examinations, he met a monk skilled in reading faces who told him, "Your face bears the bone of authority—you may rise to duke or minister. But the hair on your body grows against the grain, and your wrists turn back—you must find something that fits this pattern before you can rise to greatness." Yisheng was delighted and eventually followed Fan Ruwei in the Jian and Jian circuits. When Ruwei was defeated, Yisheng disguised himself and worked as a hired laborer in Old Wu's household in Tai for three years. The old man found him odd; one day he sent everyone away and pressed him for his real name. Yisheng said, "I have served you diligently as a hired man—does my master doubt me too?" When the old man pressed him further, Yisheng asked why. The old man said, "When you entertained guests the other day, the other servants all hurried, but you alone lagged behind, and when you cleared the dishes you sighed—that is how I knew you were no real laborer." Yisheng then told him the whole story. The old man gave him gold for the journey, and he crossed the Huai by night to return home. He took first place in the examination with his essay "Thirty-Six Bears Taken in One Day," and afterward everything happened just as the monk had predicted.
19
張中孚
Zhang Zhongfu
20
張中孚，字信甫，其先自安定徙居張義堡。 父達，仕宋至太師，封慶國公。 中孚以父任補承節郎。 宗翰圍太原，其父戰歿，中孚泣涕請跡父屍，乃獨率部曲十余人入大軍中，竟得其屍以還。 累官知鎮戎軍兼安撫使，屢從吳玠、張浚以兵拒大軍。 浚走巴蜀，中孚權帥事。 天會八年，睿宗以左副元帥次涇州，中孚率其將吏來降，睿宗以為鎮洮軍節度使知渭州，兼涇原路經略安撫使。
Zhang Zhongfu, whose courtesy name was Xinfu, came from a family that had moved from Anding to Zhangyi Fort. His father Da had served the Song as grand preceptor and was enfeoffed as Duke of Qing. Zhongfu entered office through his father's privilege as gentleman for upholding integrity. When Zonghan besieged Taiyuan, his father was killed in battle. Zhongfu wept and begged permission to recover the body, then led a dozen of his men alone into the Jin camp and brought his father's corpse back. He rose to command Zhenrong Army and serve as pacification commissioner, repeatedly joining Wu Jie and Zhang Jun in resisting the Jin armies. When Zhang Jun fled to Ba-Shu, Zhongfu took command in his place. In the eighth year of Tianhui, Prince Ruizong was stationed at Jingzhou as left deputy marshal; Zhongfu led his officers to surrender, and Ruizong appointed him military governor of the Zhentao Army with charge of Weizhou and concurrent Jingyuan circuit commissioner and pacification commissioner.
21
齊國建，以什一法括民田，籍丁壯為鄉軍。 中孚以為涇原地瘠無良田，且保甲之法行之已習，今遽紛更，人必逃徙，只見其害，未見其利也。 竟執不行。 時齊政甚急，莫敢違，人為中孚懼，而中孚不之顧。 未幾齊國廢，一路獨免掊克之患。
When Qi was established, it used the tithe law to seize civilian land and enrolled able-bodied men as local militia. Zhongfu argued that Jingyuan was barren land with no good fields, and that the baojia system was already in place—sudden changes would only drive people to flee, with harm and no benefit. In the end he held firm and refused to implement it. Qi rule was harsh and no one dared disobey; people feared for Zhongfu, but he paid no heed. Before long Qi was abolished, and his circuit alone was spared the scourge of exactions.
22
中孚天性孝友剛毅，與弟中彥居，未嘗有間言。 喜讀書，頗能書翰。 其禦士卒嚴而有恩，西人尤畏愛之。 葬之日，老稚扶柩流涕蓋數萬人，至為罷市，其得西人之望如此。 正隆例封崇進、原國公。
Zhongfu was by nature filial, affectionate, and resolute; he lived with his younger brother Zhongyan and they never quarreled. He loved reading and was accomplished in calligraphy. He commanded his troops with strictness and kindness, and the people of the west especially revered and loved him. On the day of his burial, tens of thousands of old and young followed the coffin weeping, and markets closed in mourning—such was the esteem he won in the west. Under the Zhenglong precedent he was enfeoffed as Duke of Chongjin and Duke of Yuan.
23
張中彥
Zhang Zhongyan
24
張中彥，字才甫，中孚弟。 少以父任仕宋，為涇原副將，知德順軍事。 睿宗經略陝西，中彥降，除招撫使。 從下熙、河、階、成州，授彰武軍承宣使，為本路兵馬鈐轄，遷都總管。
Zhang Zhongyan, whose courtesy name was Caifu, was Zhongfu's younger brother. In his youth he entered Song service through his father's privilege as deputy general of Jingyuan and administrator of Deshun. When Prince Ruizong administered Shaanxi, Zhongyan surrendered and was made pacification commissioner. He followed the conquest of Xi, He, Jie, and Cheng prefectures, was made honorary commissioner of the Zhangwu Army and military controller of the circuit, and was promoted to metropolitan commander.
25
宋將關師古圍鞏州，與秦鳳李彥琦會兵攻之。 王師下饒風關，得金、洋諸州，以中彥領興元尹，撫輯新附。 師還，代彥琦為秦鳳經略使。 秦州當要衝而城不可守，中彥徙治北山，因險為壘，今秦州是也。 築臘家諸城，以扼蜀道。 帥秦凡十年，改涇原路經略使知平涼府。
When the Song general Guan Shigu besieged Gongzhou, Zhongyan joined Li Yanqi of Qin-Feng to attack him. The imperial army took Raofeng Pass and captured Jin, Yang, and other prefectures; Zhongyan was made intendant of Xingyuan to pacify the newly submitted territories. When the army returned, he replaced Yanqi as commissioner of Qin-Feng. Qinzhou lay on a vital route but its city could not be defended; Zhongyan moved the seat to North Mountain and built fortifications on the terrain—the Qinzhou of today. He built the Lajia fortresses and others to block the road into Shu. He commanded Qin for ten years, then was made Jingyuan circuit commissioner with charge of Pingliang.
26
朝廷以河南、陝西賜宋，中孚以官守隨例當留關中。 熙河經略使慕洧謀入夏，將窺關、陝，中彥與環慶趙彬會兩路兵討之，洧敗入于夏。 中彥與兄中孚俱至臨安，被留，以為龍神衛四廂都指揮使，清遠軍承宣使，提舉佑神觀，靖海軍節度使。
When the court ceded Henan and Shaanxi to the Song, Zhongfu, as an officeholder, should by precedent have remained in Guanzhong. The Xi-He commissioner Mu Wei plotted to defect to Western Xia and probe Guanzhong and Shaanxi; Zhongyan and Zhao Bin of Huanqing combined forces from both circuits to attack him; Wei was defeated and fled into Xia. Zhongyan and his elder brother Zhongfu both went to Lin'an and were detained, appointed commander of the four wings of the Dragon Spirit Guard, honorary commissioner of the Qingyuan Army, custodian of the Yougod Abbey, and military governor of the Jinghai Army.
27
皇統初，恢復河南，詔征中彥兄弟北歸，為靜難軍節度使，曆彰化軍、鳳翔尹，改尹慶陽，兼慶原路兵馬都總管、甯州刺史。 宗室宗淵毆死僚佐梁鬱。 鬱遠人，家貧無能赴告者。 中彥力為正其罪，竟置於法。 改彰德軍節度使，均賦調法，奸豪無所蔽匿，人服其明。
At the beginning of Huangtong, when Henan was recovered, an edict summoned the brothers north; Zhongyan was made military governor of the Jingnan Army, then served as military governor of Zhanghua and intendant of Fengxiang, then intendant of Qingyang with concurrent metropolitan commander of Qingyuan forces and prefect of Ningzhou. The imperial clansman Zongyuan beat his subordinate Liang Yu to death. Yu was an outsider from afar; his family was too poor to bring a complaint. Zhongyan pressed the case until Zongyuan was punished by law. He was transferred to military governor of the Zhangde Army, equalized taxes and levies, and left the powerful nowhere to hide—people admired his fairness.
28
正隆營汴京新宮，中彥采運關中材木。 青峰山巨木最多，而高深阻絕，唐、宋以來不能致。 中彥使構崖駕壑，起長橋十數裏，以車運木，若行平地，開六盤山水洛之路，遂通汴梁。 明年，作河上浮梁，複領其役。 舟之始制，匠者未得其法，中彥手制小舟才數寸許，不假膠漆而首尾自相鉤帶，謂之「鼓子卯」，諸匠無不駭服，其智巧如此。 浮梁巨艦畢功，將發旁郡民曳之就水。 中彥召役夫數十人，治地勢順下傾瀉於河，取新秫秸密佈於地，複以大木限其旁，淩晨督眾乘霜滑曳之，殊不勞力而致諸水。
During Zhenglong, when the new palace at Bianjing was built, Zhongyan gathered and transported timber from Guanzhong. Qingfeng Mountain had the finest giant timber, but the terrain was steep and inaccessible—since Tang and Song no one had been able to bring it out. Zhongyan bridged cliffs and spanned ravines, building bridges more than ten li long; carts moved timber as if on flat ground, opening the road from Liupan through Shuiluo to Bianliang. The next year he directed construction of a floating bridge on the river. When the first boats were designed the craftsmen could not get the method right; Zhongyan made a model boat only a few inches long, with bow and stern locking together without glue or lacquer—the "drum-child mortise"—and every craftsman was astonished at his ingenuity. When the floating bridge and great ships were finished, they planned to mobilize labor from neighboring prefectures to drag them to the water. Zhongyan summoned several dozen laborers, graded a slope down to the river, spread fresh sorghum stalks on the ground, and set timbers along the sides; at dawn he had them drag the ships on the frost-slick surface into the water with little effort.
29
逾年，除南京留守。 時淮楚用兵，土民與戍兵雜居，訟牒紛紜，所司皆依違不決。 中彥得戍兵為盜者，悉論如法，帥府怒其專決，劾奏之，朝廷置而不問。 秩滿，轉真定尹兼河北西路兵馬都總管。 未幾，致仕，西歸京兆。 明年，起為臨洮尹兼熙秦路兵馬都總管。 鞏州劉海構亂，既敗，籍民之從亂者數千人，中彥惟論為首者戮之。
A year later he was made garrison commander of the southern capital. At that time war raged in Huai-Chu; locals and garrison troops lived side by side, lawsuits piled up, and the offices wavered without deciding. When Zhongyan caught garrison soldiers who were thieves, he punished them all according to law; the marshal's headquarters was angry at his independent judgments and memorialized against him, but the court ignored it. When his term ended he was transferred to intendant of Zhending with concurrent metropolitan commander of Hebei West Circuit forces. Before long he retired and returned west to Jingzhao. The next year he was recalled as intendant of Lintao with concurrent metropolitan commander of Xi-Qin forces. Liu Hai of Gongzhou plotted rebellion; after his defeat, several thousand civilians who had joined were registered—Zhongyan executed only the ringleaders.
30
西羌吹折、密臧、隴逋、龐拜四族恃險不服，使侍御史沙醇之就中彥論方略，中彥曰：「此羌服叛不常，若非中彥自行，勢必不可。」 即至積石達南寺，酋長四人來，與之約降，事遂定，賞而遣之。 還奏，上大悅，遣張汝玉馳驛勞之，賜以球文金帶，用郊恩加儀同三司。 以疾卒官，年七十五。 百姓哀號輟市，立像祀之。
The four western Qiang clans Suizhe, Mizang, Longbu, and Pangbai held difficult terrain and refused submission; attendant censor Sha Chunzhi was sent to consult Zhongyan. Zhongyan said, "These Qiang submit and rebel without pattern—unless I go in person, it cannot be done." He went to Jishi and reached Nan Monastery; the four chieftains came, agreed to surrender, the matter was settled, and he rewarded and sent them away. On his return he reported to the throne; the emperor was delighted, sent Zhang Ruyu by post horse to reward him, granted a ball-pattern gold belt, and by suburban grace promoted him to honorary three excellencies. He died in office from illness at the age of seventy-five. The people wailed in grief and closed their markets; they set up images to worship him.
31
贊曰：自古健將武夫，其不才者，遭世變遷，賣降恐後。 此其常態，君子之所不責也，酈瓊、徐文是已。 施宜生反覆壬人，李成盜賊之靡，孔彥舟漁色親出，自絕人類，又何責也。 張中孚、中彥雖有小惠足稱，然以宋大臣之子，父戰沒于金，若金若齊，義皆不共戴天之仇。 金以地與齊則甘心臣齊，以地歸宋則忍恥臣宋，金取其地則又比肩臣金，若趨市然，唯利所在，于斯時也，豈複知所謂綱常也哉。 籲！
The appraisal says: Throughout history, among bold generals and warriors, the untalented, when times changed, rushed to surrender and feared to be last. That is their usual pattern, which gentlemen do not condemn—and Li Qiong and Xu Wen are cases in point. Shi Yisheng was a fickle schemer; Li Cheng a bandit's wastrel; Kong Yanzhou preyed on beauty and took his own kin—they had cut themselves off from humanity, and what more is there to blame? Zhang Zhongfu and Zhongyan, though they had small virtues worth noting, were sons of a Song minister whose father died fighting the Jin—whether toward Jin or Qi, by righteousness both were mortal enemies. When Jin gave land to Qi they gladly served Qi; when land went back to Song they swallowed shame and served Song; when Jin took the land they served Jin again side by side, like men rushing to market—wherever profit led. In such times, how could they still know moral principle? Alas!
32
宇文虛中
Yuwen Xuzhong
33
虛中恃才輕肆，好譏訕，凡見女直人輒以礦鹵目之，貴人達官往往積不能平。 虛中嘗撰宮殿榜署，本皆嘉美之名，惡虛中者擿其字以為謗訕朝廷，由是媒糵以成其罪矣。 六年二月，唐括酬斡家奴杜天佛留告虛中謀反，詔有司鞫治無狀，乃羅織虛中家圖書為反具，虛中曰：「死自吾分。 至於圖籍，南來士大夫家家有之，高士談圖書尤多於我家，豈亦反耶？」 有司承順風旨並殺士談，至今冤之。
Xuzhong relied on his talent and was reckless and mocking; whenever he saw Jurchens he treated them with contempt, and eminent officials often nursed deep resentment. Xuzhong once composed palace inscriptions—all originally auspicious names—but his enemies twisted the characters into slander of the court, and thus fabricated charges against him. In the second month of the sixth year, Tangguo Chouwo's slave Du Tianfoliu accused Xuzhong of plotting rebellion; the court ordered an investigation and found no case, so they fabricated evidence from Xuzhong's household books. Xuzhong said, "Death is my portion. As for books, every southern gentleman who came north has them; Gao Shitan's library is even larger than mine—is he a rebel too?" The offices, following the prevailing wind, killed Shitan as well—to this day he is regarded as wronged.
34
士談字季默，高瓊之後。 宣和末，為忻州戶曹參軍。 入朝，官至翰林直學士。 虛中、士談俱有文集行於世。
Shitan, whose courtesy name was Jimo, was a descendant of Gao Qiong. At the end of the Xuanhe period he was revenue clerk of Xinzhou. He entered court service and rose to Hanlin academician expectant. Both Xuzhong and Shitan left collected writings that circulated in their day.
35
王倫，字正道，故宋宰相王旦弟王勉玄孫。 俠邪無賴，年四十余尚與市井惡少群游汴中。 天會五年，宋人以倫為假刑部侍郎，與閣門舍人硃弁充通問使。 是時，方議伐宋，凡宋使者如倫及宇文虛中、魏行可、顧縱、張邵等，皆留之不遣。 居數年，倫久困，乃唱為和議求歸。 元帥府使人謂之曰：「此非江南情實，特汝自為此言耳。」 倫曰：「使事有指，不然何為來哉。 惟元帥察之。」
Wang Lun, whose courtesy name was Zhengdao, was the great-great-grandson of Wang Mian, younger brother of the former Song chancellor Wang Dan. Rakish and worthless, past forty he still roamed Bian with the town's rowdy youths. In the fifth year of Tianhui, the Song appointed Lun acting vice minister of justice and, with palace gate attendant Zhu Bian, envoys to open communications. At that time war against the Song was under discussion; all Song envoys such as Lun, Yuwen Xuzhong, Wei Xingke, Gu Zong, and Zhang Shao were detained and not sent back. After several years in detention, Lun, long distressed, began advocating peace talks in order to return home. The marshal's headquarters sent someone to tell him, "That is not the true situation in the south—you are only speaking for yourself." Lun said, "An envoy's mission has its purpose—otherwise why would I have come? Only let the marshal judge for himself."
36
天會十年，劉豫連歲出師皆無功，撻懶為元帥左監軍經略南邊，密主和議，乃遣倫歸。 先此，宋已遣使乞和，朝廷未之許也。 倫見康王言和議事，康王大喜，遷倫官，並官其子弟。 宋方與齊用兵，未可和。
In the tenth year of Tianhui, Liu Yu's campaigns had failed year after year; Tadun, left supervising general on the southern front, secretly favored peace talks and sent Lun back. Before this, the Song had already sent envoys begging for peace, but the court had not agreed. Lun met Prince Kang and spoke of peace talks; the prince was delighted, promoted Lun, and gave offices to his sons and younger brothers as well. The Song was still at war with Qi, so peace was not yet possible.
37
明年，宋以倫為端明殿學士，簽書樞密院事，進金器千兩、銀器萬兩，複來請天水郡王喪柩，及請母韋氏兄弟宗族等。 保信軍節度使藍公佐副之。 是歲，宗磐、宗雋、撻懶皆以謀反屬吏，熙宗誅宗磐、宗雋，以撻懶屬尊，赦其死，以為行台尚書省事左丞相，奪其兵權。 右副元帥宗弼奏曰：「撻懶、宗磐陰與宋人交通，遂以河南、陝西地與宋人。」 會撻懶複謀反，捕而殺之于祁州。 倫至上京，有司詳讀康王表文，不書年，閱進奉狀，稱禮物不言職貢，上使宰相責問倫曰：「汝但知有元帥，豈知有上國耶。」 遂留不遣，遣其副藍公佐歸。
The next year the Song appointed Lun academician of the Hall of Bright Clarity and co-signatory of the Bureau of Military Affairs, presented one thousand taels of gold vessels and ten thousand taels of silver vessels, and again came to request the coffin of the Prince of Tianshui and the return of his mother Lady Wei, his brothers, and his clansmen. Lan Gongzuo, military governor of the Baoxin Army, served as his deputy. That year Zongpan, Zongjun, and Tadun were all implicated in rebellion; Emperor Xizong executed Zongpan and Zongjun, but because Tadun was of honored lineage he spared his life, made him left chancellor of the mobile secretariat, and stripped him of military authority. Right deputy marshal Zongbi memorialized, "Tadun and Zongpan secretly communicated with the Song and gave Henan and Shaanxi to them." When Tadun plotted rebellion again, he was captured and killed at Qizhou. When Lun reached Shangjing, the offices examined Prince Kang's memorial in detail—it bore no year; the tribute presentation called them "gifts" rather than "tribute." The emperor had the chancellor rebuke Lun: "You know only the marshal—do you not know there is a supreme state?" Lun was detained and not sent back; only his deputy Lan Gongzuo was allowed to return.
38
四年，以倫為平州路轉運使，倫已受命，複辭遜，上曰：「此反復之人也。」 遂殺之於上京，年六十一。
In the fourth year Lun was appointed transport commissioner of Pingzhou Circuit; he had already accepted the post but declined again. The emperor said, "This is a fickle man." He was then executed at Shangjing, at the age of sixty-one.
39
贊曰：孔子雲：「行己有恥，使于四方不辱君命，可謂士矣」。 宇文虛中朝至上京，夕受官爵。 王倫紈袴之子，市井為徒。 此豈「行己有恥」之士，可以專使者耶？ 二子之死雖冤，其自取亦多矣。
The appraisal says: Confucius said, "To conduct oneself with a sense of shame, and when sent abroad not to disgrace one's ruler's commission—that is what may be called a gentleman." Yuwen Xuzhong reached Shangjing in the morning and accepted office and rank by evening. Wang Lun was a spoiled scion who ran with the marketplace rabble. How could such men be gentlemen "who conduct themselves with shame," fit to serve as sole envoys? Though the deaths of these two men were wrongful, they had also brought much of it upon themselves.