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石勒 （下）
Shi Le. Part Two.
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太興二年，勒偽稱趙王，赦殊死已下，均百姓田租之半，賜孝悌力田死義之孤帛各有差，孤老鰥寡谷人三石，大酺七日。 依春秋列國、漢初侯王每世稱元，改稱趙王元年。 始建社稷，立宗廟，營東西宮。 署從事中郎裴憲、參軍傅暢、杜嘏並領經學祭酒，參軍續咸、庾景為律學祭酒，任播、崔濬為史學祭酒。 中壘支雄、遊擊王陽並領門臣祭酒，專明胡人辭訟，以張離、張良、劉群、劉謨等為門生主書，司典胡人出內，重其禁法，不得侮易衣冠華族。 號胡為國人。 遣使循行州郡，勸課農桑。 加張賓大執法，專總朝政，位冠僚首。 署石季龍為單于元輔、都督禁衛諸軍事，署前將軍李寒領司兵勳，教國子擊刺戰射之法。 命記室佐明楷、程機撰《上党國記》，中大夫傅彪、賈蒲、江軌撰《大將軍起居注》，參軍石泰、石同、石謙、孔隆撰《大單于志》。 自是朝會常以天子禮樂饗其群下，威儀冠冕從容可觀矣。 群臣議請論功，勒曰：「自孤起軍，十六年於茲矣。 文武將士從孤征伐者，莫不蒙犯矢石，備嘗艱阻，其在葛陂之役，厥功尤著，宜為賞之先也。 若身見存，爵封輕重隨功位為差，死事之孤，賞加一等，庶足以尉答存亡，申孤之心也。」 又下書禁國人不聽報嫂及在喪婚娶，其燒葬令如本俗。
In 319, the second year of Taixing, Shi Le took the title of King of Zhao. He proclaimed an amnesty stopping short of capital offenses, cut the land levy for ordinary households by half, distributed graded silk awards to orphans noted for filial devotion, tireless farming, or parents lost in loyal service, allotted three shi of grain each to the isolated elderly and bereft, and declared seven days of public feasting. He followed the old convention—seen in the Spring and Autumn states and early Han fiefs—where each ruler began a new year count, and renamed the calendar to the first year of his Zhao kingship. He established the state altars of soil and grain, dedicated the imperial ancestral shrine, and built paired eastern and western palace halls. He put Pei Xian, Fu Chang, and Du Jia—in posts from senior administrator down to adjutant—in charge of the academy of the Classics; named the adjutants Xu Xian and Yu Jing to oversee legal scholarship; and charged Ren Bo and Cui Jun with the school of history. Zhi Xiong of the central rampart guard and Wang Yang, who led light raiders, were both given the “libationer for gate retainers” portfolio to hear only Hu people’s legal pleas; Zhang Li, Zhang Liang, Liu Qun, Liu Mo, and the like became registrar-scribes for those retainers, controlling Hu movement in and out of court under strict rules meant to keep them from lording it over genteel Han families. He officially rebranded the Hu as guoren, “people of the state.” He dispatched inspectors through the provinces to urge tillage and mulberry-raising. Zhang Bin was elevated to chief law officer with sweeping authority over administration, outranking the rest of the bureaucracy. Shi Hu was named senior aide to the Chanyu and given overall command of the household guards; General of the Van Li Han headed military evaluations and drilled the cadet sons of the elite in close combat and mounted shooting. He set Ming Kai and Cheng Ji to writing the Shangdang state annals; Fu Biao, Jia Pu, and Jiang Gui to keep the grand general’s court diary; and Shi Tai, Shi Tong, Shi Qian, and Kong Long to draft a record of the grand Chanyu’s affairs. Henceforth his levees borrowed imperial ritual and music to regale his ministers, and the spectacle of court dress grew as stately as any emperor’s. His officials debated how to reward past service; Shi Le said, “It has been sixteen years since I first took the field. Every commander and trooper who marched with me has faced missile fire and every sort of peril; those who fought at Gebei deserve pride of place in any grant of honors. For survivors, match titles and fiefs to what they earned; for children of the fallen, add one step to the bounty—so I may answer both the quick and the dead and show what I owe them.” He also banned levirate remarriage and weddings during mourning for his Hu subjects, while letting funeral pyres follow steppe custom.
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孔萇攻邵續別營十一，皆下之。 續尋為石季龍所獲，送于襄國。 劉曜將尹安、宋始據洛陽，降於勒。
Kong Chang stormed eleven of Shao Xu’s outlying stockades and reduced each one. Shao Xu was soon seized by Shi Hu and marched to the capital at Xiangguo. Yin An and Song Shi, holding Luoyang for Liu Yao, came over to Shi Le.
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晉徐州刺史蔡豹敗徐龕于檀丘，龕遣使詣勒，陳討豹之計。 勒遣將王步都為龕前鋒，使張敬率騎繼之。 敬達東平，龕疑敬之襲已也，斬步都等三百餘人，復降于晉。 勒大怒，命張敬據其襟要以守之。
Cai Bao, Jin governor of Xuzhou, routed Xu Kan near Tanqiu, whereupon Kan dispatched messengers to Shi Le with a scheme for destroying Cai Bao. Shi Le gave Wang Budu command of Xu Kan’s van and had Zhang Jing bring up the horse behind him. Reaching Dongping, Zhang Jing alarmed Xu Kan, who feared a stab in the back, executed Wang Budu and over three hundred men, and reverted to Jin allegiance. Shi Le, furious, told Zhang Jing to occupy Xu Kan’s chokepoints and bottle him up.
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大雨霖，中山、常山尤甚，滹沲汛溢，沖陷山谷，巨松僵拔，浮於滹沲，東至渤海，原隰間皆如山積。
Relentless downpours soaked Hebei; around Zhongshan and Changshan the Hutuo burst its banks, tearing gullies loose and tearing up ancient pines that rode the flood east toward the Bohai until driftwood lay in hills across plain and fen.
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孔萇攻陷文鴦十餘營，萇不設備，鴦夜擊之，大敗而歸。
Kong Chang overran a dozen of Wen Yang’s camps but grew careless; Wen Yang counterattacked at night and sent him fleeing in rout.
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勒始制軒懸之樂，八佾之舞，為金根大輅，黃屋左纛，天子車旗，禮樂備矣。
Shi Le introduced imperial-grade music and the eight-row dance, commissioned the gilded state coach with yellow awning and banner of rank, and copied the full panoply of regalia befitting a Son of Heaven.
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使石季龍率步騎四萬討徐龕，龕遣長史劉霄詣勒乞降，送妻子為質，納之。 時蔡豹屯於譙城，季龍攻豹，豹夜遁，季龍引軍城封丘而旋。
Shi Hu marched forty thousand mixed troops against Xu Kan, who dispatched chief clerk Liu Xiao to sue for peace, offering his family as hostages; Shi Le accepted the terms. While Cai Bao held Qiao, Shi Hu struck his camp; Bao slipped away under cover of dark, and Shi Hu fortified Fengqiu before marching home.
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徙朝臣掾屬已上士族者三百戶于襄國崇仁裏，置公族大夫以領之。 勒宮殿及諸門始就，制法令甚嚴，諱胡尤峻。 有醉胡乘馬突入止車門，勒大怒，謂宮門小執法馮翥曰：「夫人君為令，尚望威行天下，況宮闕之間乎！ 向馳馬入門為是何人，而不彈白邪？」 翥惶懼忘諱，對曰：「向有醉胡乘馬馳入，甚呵禦之，而不可與語。」 勒笑曰：「胡人正自難與言。」 恕而不罪。
He resettled three hundred elite-official families into Chongren Lane at Xiangguo and appointed “noble-clan” overseers for them. With his palaces and gates finished, Shi Le tightened the legal code and cracked down hardest on any mention of “Hu.” A drunken Hu rider crashed the coach-stop gate; Shi Le rounded on minor gate magistrate Feng Xu: “If a ruler’s word is to awe the realm, what of the palace itself! Someone just charged the gate on horseback—who was he, and why was he not reported?” Panicked, Feng Xu slipped and said “Hu”: “A drunk Hu burst through; I yelled at him to stop, but he would not listen.” Shi Le laughed: “You really cannot argue with a Hu in his cups.” And he let the matter drop.
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使石季龍擊托候部掘咄哪於岍北，大破之，俘獲牛馬二十餘萬。
Shi Hu smashed the Tuohou clansmen led by Judunuo beyond the Qian hills, taking more than two hundred thousand captives and animals.
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勒清定五品，以張賓領選。 復續定九品。 署張班為左執法郎，孟卓為右執法郎，典定士族，副選舉之任。 今群僚及州郡歲各舉秀才、至孝、廉清、賢良、直言、武勇之士各一人。 置署都部從事各一部一州，秩二千石，職准丞相司直。
Shi Le regularized the five-rank ladder and put Zhang Bin in charge of appointments. He extended the work to the full nine-grade system. Zhang Ban and Meng Zhuo became left and right law officers charged with fixing the roster of great families and backing Zhang Bin’s personnel office. He ordered every yamen and locality to nominate yearly one candidate apiece from the categories of cultivated talent, exemplary filial piety, clean integrity, worthiness, blunt counsel, and martial valor. Each province gained an investigator-general at two-thousand-shi rank, patterned on the Han chancellor’s inspector.
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勒下令曰：「去年水出巨材，所在山積，將皇天欲孤繕修宮宇也！ 其擬洛陽之太極起建德殿。」 遣從事中郎任汪帥使工匠五千采木以供之。 黎陽人陳武妻一產三男一女，武攜其妻子詣襄國上書自陳。 勒下書以為二儀諧暢，和氣所致，賜其乳婢一口，谷一百石，雜彩四十匹。
Shi Le proclaimed: “Last year’s floods washed down giant logs in drifts—is this Heaven telling me to finish my halls? Take Luoyang’s Taiji Hall as the model and raise Jiande Palace.” He dispatched Ren Wang with five thousand woodcutters to feed the project. Chen Wu of Liyang reported that his wife had delivered quadruplets—three sons and a daughter—and brought the whole family to Xiangguo to file notice. Shi Le treated it as cosmic concord and sent a nursemaid, a hundred shi of grain, and forty rolls of colored silk.
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石季龍攻段匹磾於厭次。 孔萇討匹磾部內諸城，陷之。 匹磾勢窮，乃率其臣下輿櫬出降。 季龍送之襄國，勒署匹磾為冠軍將軍，以其其弟文鴦、亞將衛麟為左右中郎將，皆金章紫綬。 散諸流人三萬餘戶，復其本業，置守宰以撫之，於是冀、並、幽州、遼西巴西諸屯結皆陷於勒。
Shi Hu besieged Duan Pidi in Yanci. Kong Chang rolled up the towns still loyal to Duan Pidi. Cornered, Duan Pidi emerged with his court bearing their own biers in token of submission. Shi Hu escorted him to Xiangguo, where Shi Le named him champion general and made his brother Wen Yang and adjutant Wei Lin left and right leaders of court gentlemen, each with gold seal and purple ribbon. He repatriated more than thirty thousand refugee households, reinstalled local officials to settle them, and thereby brought the fortified camps of Ji, Bing, You, western Liaoxi, and Baxi under his control.
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時晉征北將軍祖逖據譙，將平中原。 逖善於撫納，自河以南多背勒歸順。 勒憚之，不敢為寇，乃下書曰：「祖逖屢為邊患。 逖，北州士望也，儻有首丘之思。 其下幽州，修祖氏墳墓，為置守塚二家。 冀逖如趙他感恩，輟其寇暴。」 逖聞之甚悅，遣參軍王愉使於勒，贈以方物，修結和好。 勒厚賓其使，遣左常侍董樹報聘，以馬百匹、金五十斤答之。 自是兗豫乂安，人得休息矣。
Jin’s northern-expedition commander Zu Ti held Qiao, aiming to reconquer the heartland. South of the Yellow River his conciliatory rule drew many towns away from Shi Le. Shi Le avoided provoking him and announced: “Zu Ti has become a constant frontier threat. He is the north’s most respected gentleman; perhaps he longs to tend his ancestors’ graves. He ordered Youzhou to refurbish the Zu family cemetery and post two grave-keeping households. He hoped Zu Ti might respond as Zhao Tuo once did—with gratitude—and call off his raids.” Zu Ti, delighted, sent adjutant Wang Yu with gifts to seal a détente. Shi Le lavished gifts on the envoy and returned the courtesy through Dong Shu with a hundred horses and fifty jin of gold. Yan and Yu provinces thereafter knew a respite from war.
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從事中郎劉奧坐營建德殿井木斜縮，斬於殿中。 勒悔之，贈太常。
Adjutant Liu Ao was beheaded in court when support timbers for Jiande Palace warped. Shi Le regretted the deed and posthumously named him minister of rituals.
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建德校尉王和掘得員石，銘曰：「律權石，重四鈞，同律度量衡，有新氏造。」 議者未詳，或以為瑞。 參軍續咸曰：「王莽時物也。」 其時兵亂之後，典度堙滅，遂命下禮官為准程定式。 又得一鼎，容四升，中有大錢三十文，曰：「百當千，千當萬。」 鼎銘十三字，篆書不可曉，藏之於永豐倉。 因此令公私行錢，而人情不樂，乃出公絹市錢，限中絹匹一千二百，下絹八百。 然百姓私買中絹四千，下絹二千，巧利者賤買私錢，貴賣於官，坐死者十數人，而錢終不行。 勒徙洛陽銅馬、翁仲二于襄國，列之永豐門。
Wang He, a Jiande garrison officer, unearthed a carved round weight inscribed as a four-jun statutory measure from Wang Mang’s Xin dynasty.” Court scholars could not parse it; some hailed it as an omen. Xu Xian said flatly, “That is Wang Mang’s hardware.” With old standards lost in the wars, he told the ritual office to codify new benchmarks. Another find was a four-sheng cauldron holding thirty large coins inscribed “hundred equals thousand, thousand equals myriad.” Its thirteen seal characters could not be read, so the piece went into the Yongfeng treasury. He then pushed coinage on a reluctant populace, offering to buy cash with state silk at twelve hundred cash per bolt of medium grade and eight hundred for lower grade. Speculators undercut the official rates, bought private cash cheap, resold dear to the mint, and a dozen people died on the scaffold—yet the currency reform still failed. He hauled Luoyang’s bronze horses and paired stone colossi to Xiangguo and set them before Yongfeng Gate.
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祖逖牙門童建害新蔡內史周密，遣使降於勒。 勒斬之，送首于祖逖，曰：「天下之惡一也。 叛臣逃吏，吾之深仇，將軍之惡，猶吾惡也。」 逖遣使報謝。 自是兗豫間壘壁叛者，逖皆不納，二州之人率多兩屬矣。
Tong Jian, a gate captain under Zu Ti, murdered interior secretary Zhou Mi of Xincai and offered himself to Shi Le. Shi Le executed him and returned the head to Zu Ti with the message: “Villainy is the same everywhere. A traitor or runaway clerk is my bitter enemy; what offends you offends me.” Zu Ti sent thanks in reply. After that Zu Ti refused every turncoat from the border forts, and folk in Yan and Yu commonly owed both sides allegiance.
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勒令武鄉耆舊赴襄國。 既至，勒親與鄉老齒坐歡飲，語及平生。 初，勒與李陽鄰居，歲常爭麻池，迭相驅擊。 至是，謂父老曰：「李陽，壯士也，何以不來？ 漚麻是布衣之恨，孤方崇信于天下，寧讎匹夫乎！」 乃使召陽。 既至，勒與酣謔，引陽臂笑曰：「孤往日厭卿老拳，卿亦飽孤毒手。」 因賜甲第一區，拜參軍都尉。 令曰：「武鄉，吾之豐沛，萬歲之後，魂靈當歸之，其復之三世。」 勒以百姓始復業，資儲未豐，於是重制禁釀，郊祀宗廟皆以醴酒，行之數年，無復釀者。
He summoned Wuxiang’s leading clansmen to Xiangguo. There he sat among them by seniority, drank freely, and reminisced about old times. In youth he had feuded yearly with neighbor Li Yang over a hemp-soaking pool, trading blows. Now he asked the elders, “Where is Li Yang, that brave fellow? A peasant quarrel over soaking hemp is nothing now that I rule the realm—would I nurse a grudge against a villager?” He had Li Yang fetched. When Li Yang arrived, Shi Le seized his arm in drunken jest: “I used to dread your famous right hook; you tasted plenty of my knuckles too.” He then granted him a townhouse and a staff appointment. He decreed Wuxiang his spiritual home like Gaozu’s Feng and Pei, exempted its taxes for three generations, and vowed his ghost would return there.” Grain was still short, so he banned private brewing, supplied suburban and temple rites with sweet rice wine instead, and within a few years liquor had vanished from the market.
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尋署石季龍為車騎將軍，率騎三萬討鮮卑郁粥于離石，俘獲及牛馬十餘萬，郁粥奔烏丸，悉降其眾城。
Soon Shi Hu led thirty thousand cavalry against the Xianbei chief Yuzhu at Lishi, took a hundred thousand captives and animals, drove Yuzhu to the Wuhuan, and forced every town in his orbit to surrender.
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先是，勒世子興死，至是，立子弘為世子，領中領軍。
After the death of heir Shi Xing, Shi Le named Shi Hong crown prince and central guard commander.
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遣季龍統中外精卒四萬討徐龕，龕堅守不戰，於是築室返耕，列長圍以守之。 晉鎮北將軍劉隗降於勒，拜鎮南將軍，封列侯。 石季龍攻陷徐龕，送之襄國，勒囊盛于百尺樓自上Ξ殺之，令步都等妻子刳而食之，坑龕降卒三千。 晉兗州刺史劉遐懼，自鄒山退屯於下邳。 琅邪內史孫默以琅邪叛降於勒。 徐兗間壘壁多送任請降，皆就拜守宰。
Shi Hu invested Xu Kan with forty thousand veterans; Kan refused battle, so Hu’s men farmed behind siege lines and waited him out. Liu Wei, Jin’s northern guardian, defected and received a southern command and full marquisate. Shi Hu took Xu Kan alive to Xiangguo, where Shi Le sewed him into a sack, hoisted him to a hundred-foot tower, and had him executed from above; he then forced Wang Budu’s family to carve him up for food and buried three thousand of Kan’s surrendered troops alive. Yanzhou governor Liu Xia, unnerved, pulled back from Zou Mountain to Xiapi. Sun Mo, interior secretary of Langye, handed that commandery to Shi Le. Forts along the Xu–Yan border sent hostages and received magistrates in return.
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清河張披為程遐長史，遐甚委昵之，張賓舉為別駕，引參政事。 遐疾披去己，又惡賓之權盛。 勒世子弘，即遐之甥也，自以有援，欲收威重於朝，乃使弘之母譖之曰：「張披與張賓為遊俠，門客日百餘乘，物望皆歸之，非社稷之利也，宜除披以便國家。」 勒然之。 至是，披取急召不時至，因此遂殺之。 賓知遐之間己，遂弗敢請。 無幾，以遐為右長史，總執朝政，自是朝臣莫不震懼，赴于程氏矣。
Zhang Pi of Qinghe served Cheng Xia as chief clerk, won his confidence, and was promoted by Zhang Bin to aide-de-camp with a voice in policy. Cheng Xia bitterly resented Zhang Pi’s transfer off his staff and envied Zhang Bin’s ascendancy. Heir Shi Hong was Cheng Xia’s nephew; through his mother Cheng whispered to Shi Le that Zhang Pi and Zhang Bin still behaved like bravos with a hundred-horse retinue, drawing all prestige to themselves—“cut Pi away for the good of the state.” Shi Le agreed. Later, when Zhang Pi failed to answer an urgent summons, Shi Le used that excuse to put him to death. Seeing Cheng Xia’s malice toward him, Zhang Bin held his tongue and pressed no petition. Soon Cheng Xia became chief clerk of the right and ran the administration; the rest of the bureaucracy quailed and fell into line behind the Chengs.
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時祖逖卒，勒始侵寇邊戍。 勒征虜石他敗王師於酂西，執將軍衛榮而歸。 征北將軍祖約懼，退如壽春。 勒境內大疫，死者十二三，乃罷徽文殿作。 遣其將王陽屯於豫州，有窺窬之志，於是兵難日尋，梁鄭之間騷然矣。
Once Zu Ti was dead, Shi Le finally ventured to probe the frontier again. Shi Ta, Shi Le’s “captor of enemies” general, routed an imperial column west of Zan, took General Wei Rong prisoner, and marched back. Zu Yue, who held the northern command, lost his nerve and pulled back to Shouchun. Epidemic disease carried off perhaps a fifth of the population within his realm, forcing him to halt construction of the Huiwen Hall. He stationed Wang Yang in Yuzhou with an eye toward expansion; fighting flared almost daily, and the country between the Liang and Zheng regions seethed.
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又遣季龍統中外步騎四萬討曹嶷。 先是，嶷議欲徙海中，保根餘山，會疾疫甚，計未及就。 季龍進兵圍廣固，東萊太守劉巴、長廣太守呂披皆以郡降。 以石他為征東將軍，擊羌胡於河西。 左軍石挺濟師於廣固，曹嶷降，送于襄國。 勒害之，坑其眾三萬。 季龍將盡殺嶷眾，其青州刺史劉征曰：「今留征，使牧人也； 無人焉牧，征將歸矣。」 季龍乃留男女七百口配征，鎮廣固。 青州諸郡縣壘壁盡陷。
He again dispatched Shi Hu at the head of forty thousand mixed troops to bring Cao Yi to heel. Cao Yi had meant to evacuate into the offshore islands and fortify Mount Gengyu, but raging disease overtook him before the scheme could mature. Shi Hu closed the ring around Guanggu, whereupon Liu Ba of Donglai and Lü Pi of Changguang handed over their jurisdictions. He named Shi Ta eastern-expedition commander and sent him against the Qiang and Hu west of the Yellow River. Shi Ting’s left army forded the relief column into Guanggu; Cao Yi capitulated and was shipped to Xiangguo. Shi Le executed him and had thirty thousand of his followers thrown into a pit. As Shi Hu prepared to massacre Cao Yi’s army, Qingzhou governor Liu Zheng pleaded: “Station me here and I will govern this populace for you; without commoners I would have nothing to rule, and I would simply withdraw.” Shi Hu relented, leaving seven hundred men and women with Liu Zheng to hold Guanggu. Every walled town in Qingzhou fell to him.
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勒司州刺史石生攻晉揚武將軍郭誦于陽翟，不克，進寇襄城，俘獲千餘而還。
Shi Sheng, Shi Le’s Sizhou governor, failed against Guo Song at Yangdi, pushed on to plunder Xiangcheng, took more than a thousand captives, and withdrew.
26
勒以參軍樊垣清貧，擢授章武內史。 既而入辭，勒見坦衣冠弊壞，大驚曰：「樊參軍何貧之甚也！」 坦性誠樸，率然而對曰：「頃遭羯賊無道，資財蕩盡。」 勒笑曰：「羯賊乃爾暴掠邪！ 今當相償耳。」 坦大懼，叩頭泣謝。 勒曰：「孤律自防俗士，不關卿輩老書生也。」 賜車馬衣服裝錢三百萬，以勵貪俗。
Learning that adjutant Fan Yuan lived in upright poverty, Shi Le promoted him to interior secretary of Zhangwu. When Fan Yuan came to bid farewell, Shi Le saw his threadbare court dress and cried, “Counselor Fan, you are poorer than anyone I have seen!” Fan Yuan answered plainly: “The Jie raiders left me nothing—they stripped me clean.” Shi Le laughed: “So our Jie boys helped themselves that thoroughly? ” “Then let me make it up to you.” Fan Yuan went pale, kowtowed, and begged forgiveness in tears. ” Shi Le said, “Those laws are for coarse upstarts, not for a bookish elder like you.” He gave him a carriage, horses, robes, and three million cash to shame the grasping ways at court.
27
勒將兵都尉石瞻寇下邳，敗晉將軍劉長，遂寇蘭陵，又敗彭城內史劉續。 東莞太守竺珍、東海太守蕭誕以郡叛降於勒。
Colonel Shi Zhan struck Xiapi, routed Jin’s Liu Chang, pushed into Lanling, and beat Liu Xu, the Pengcheng interior secretary. Zhu Zhen of Dongguan and Xiao Dan of Donghai threw over Jin and opened their districts to Shi Le.
28
勒親臨大小學，考諸學生經義，尤高者賞帛有差。 勒雅好文學，雖在軍旅，常令儒生讀史書而聽之，每以其意論古帝王善惡，朝賢儒士聽者莫不歸美焉。 嘗使人讀《漢書》，聞酈食其勸立六國後，大驚曰：「此法當失，何得遂成天下！」 至留侯諫，乃曰：「賴有此耳。」 其天資英達如此。
He visited the primary and advanced academies in person, examined pupils on the Classics, and handed out silk prizes to the top scorers. He loved belles-lettres: on campaign he still had literati read histories to him, then held forth on which emperors were virtuous or wicked, to the delight of every adviser within earshot. Once, while listening to the Book of Han, he heard how Li Yiji pushed Liu Bang to restore the Six States’ lines and cried, “That policy should have ruined everything—how did they still conquer the realm?” When the reader reached Zhang Liang’s rebuke, he said, “Thank heaven someone stopped it.” Such flashes showed how keen his mind was.
29
勒征徐、揚州兵，會石瞻於下邳，劉遐懼，又自下邳奔於泗汭。
He drafted soldiers from Xu and Yang to rendezvous with Shi Zhan below Xiapi; Liu Xia, unnerved, bolted from Xiapi toward the Si marshes.
30
石生攻劉曜河內太守尹平于新安，斬之，克壘壁十餘，降掠五千餘戶而歸。 自是劉、石禍結，兵戈日交，河東、弘農間百姓無聊矣。
Shi Sheng caught Liu Yao’s Henei governor Yin Ping at Xin’an, killed him, stormed a dozen forts, and came back with five thousand surrendered households and spoils. After that Liu Yao and Shi Le were locked in endless war, and the people between Hedong and Hongnong knew no peace.
31
以右常侍霍皓為勸課大夫，與典農使者硃表、典勸都尉陸充等循行州郡，核定戶籍，勸課農桑。 農桑最修者賜五大夫。
He named Hu Hao right permanent attendant and commissioner for agriculture, paired him with agrarian agents Zhu Biao and Lu Chong, and sent them province-wide to audit registers and push tillage. The finest farming communities won the honorary rank of “senior grandee.”
32
使石生自延壽關出寇許潁，俘獲萬餘，降者二萬，生遂攻陷康城。 晉將軍郭誦追生，生大敗，死者千餘。 生收散卒，屯于康城。 勒汲郡內史石聰聞生敗，馳救之，進攻郭默，俘獲男女二千餘人。 石聰攻敗晉將李矩、郭默等。
Shi Sheng burst from Yanshou Pass into Xu and Ying, took ten thousand prisoners and twenty thousand capitulators, then seized Kangcheng. Guo Song chased Shi Sheng, broke his army, and left more than a thousand dead on the field. Shi Sheng rallied his broken units and dug in at Kangcheng. Shi Cong, Ji’s interior secretary under Shi Le, raced to relieve him, fell on Guo Mo, and took two thousand captives. Shi Cong went on to crush Li Ju, Guo Mo, and their allies.
33
勒將狩於近郊，主簿程琅諫曰：「劉、馬刺客，離布如林，變起倉卒，帝王亦一夫之敵耳。 孫策之禍可不慮乎！ 且枯木朽株盡能為害，馳騁之弊，今古戒之。」 勒勃然曰：「吾幹力自可，足能裁量。 但知卿文書事，不須白此輩也。」 是日逐獸，馬觸木而死，勒亦幾殆，乃曰：「不用忠臣言，吾之過也。」 乃賜琅朝服錦絹，爵關內侯。 於是朝臣謁見，忠言競進矣。
When Shi Le planned a hunt near the capital, Cheng Lang warned: “Liu and Ma still field killers; a surprise strike could leave even an emperor as helpless as any commoner. Have you forgotten how Sun Ce died? Even a dead branch can kill a rider; history is full of warnings about reckless hunts.” Shi Le snapped, “I am strong enough to judge such risks myself. ” “Stick to your documents—stay out of my sport.” That day his mount hit a tree and threw him; shaken, he said, “Ignoring loyal advice was my mistake.” He rewarded Cheng Lang with court silks and a marquis-within-the-passes title. After that his officials vied to speak frankly at audience.
34
晉都尉魯潛叛，以許昌降於勒。 石瞻攻陷晉兗州刺史檀斌于鄒山，斌死之。 勒西夷中郎將王勝襲殺并州刺史崔琨、上黨內史王昚，以并州叛於勒。 先是，石季龍攻劉曜將劉岳於石梁，至是，石梁潰，執岳送襄國。 季龍又攻王勝於并州，殺之。 李矩以劉嶽之敗也，懼，自滎陽遁歸。 矩長史崔宣率矩眾二千降於勒。 於是盡有司之地，徐豫濱淮諸郡縣皆降之。
Lu Qian, a Jin commandant, mutinied and handed Xuchang to Shi Le. Shi Zhan trapped Jin’s Yanzhou governor Tan Bin on Zou Mountain and killed him in the assault. Wang Sheng, Shi Le’s “western barbarian” court-gentleman leader, murdered Bingzhou governor Cui Kun and Shangdang interior secretary Wang Shen and seized Bingzhou in revolt. Earlier Shi Hu had besieged Liu Yue at Shiliang for Liu Yao; the bastion now fell, and Liu Yue was sent in chains to Xiangguo. Shi Hu then marched on Wang Sheng in Bingzhou and executed him. Li Ju, terrified by Liu Yue’s rout, abandoned Xingyang and ran. His chief clerk Cui Xuan led two thousand of his men over to Shi Le. He now held the whole Sizhou pocket, and every county along the Huai in Xu and Yu submitted.
35
勒命徙洛陽晷影于襄國，列之單于庭。 銘佐命功臣三十九人于石函，置於建德前殿。 立桑梓苑于襄國。
He transferred Luoyang’s gnomon and shadow scale to Xiangguo and set them up in the Chanyu yard. Thirty-nine founding ministers were named on stone tablets kept in a coffer before Jiande Hall. He laid out a “native-place” park of mulberries at Xiangguo.
36
勒嘗夜微行，檢察營衛，齎繒帛金銀以賂門者求出。 永昌門門候王假欲收捕之，從者至，乃止。 旦召假以為振忠都尉，爵關內侯。 勒如苑鄉，召記室參軍徐光，光醉不至。 以光物情所湊，常不平之，因此發怒，退為牙門。 勒自苑鄉如鄴，徐光侍直，慍然攘袂振紛，仰視不顧。 勒因而惡之，讓光曰：「何負卿而敢怏怏邪！」 於是幽光並其妻子于獄。
He once roamed the palisades at night in plain clothes, offering gold and silk to sentries to see whether they would let him pass. The Yongchang gate warden Wang Jia moved to arrest him until escorts arrived and revealed who he was. At dawn he promoted Wang Jia to “colonel who rouses loyalty” and enfeoffed him marquis within the passes. Visiting Yuanxiang, he called for Xu Guang; the secretary stayed drunk and ignored the summons. Xu Guang’s popularity had long irked him; this snub enraged him, and he busted Xu down to gate guard. When Shi Le rode on to Ye, Xu Guang—still on duty—sulkily rolled his sleeves, brushed off his gown, and stared past his sovereign. Shi Le, furious, snapped, “What grievance makes you wear that scowl?” He threw Xu Guang and his family into prison.
37
勒既將營鄴宮，又欲以其世子弘為鎮，密與程遐謀之。 石季龍自以勳效之重，仗鄴為基，雅無去意。 及修構三台，遷其家室，季龍深恨遐，遣左右數十人夜入遐宅，奸其妻女，掠衣物而去。 勒以弘鎮鄴，配禁兵萬人，車騎所統五十四營悉配之，以驍騎領門臣祭酒王陽專統六夷以輔之。
Planning new palaces at Ye and wanting crown prince Shi Hong to hold the city, he took Cheng Xia into his confidence. Shi Hu, confident in his battlefield record, treated Ye as his personal seat and had no wish to move. When the Three Terraces project forced Shi Hu’s household to relocate, he blamed Cheng Xia and sent dozens of thugs to rape Cheng’s women and loot his house by night. He installed Shi Hong at Ye with ten thousand household troops and attached all fifty-four camps of the chariotry command; Wang Yang was put over the “six barbarian” corps as his deputy.
38
石聰攻壽春，不克，遂寇逡遒、阜陵，殺掠五千餘人，京師大震。
Shi Cong failed at Shouchun but savaged Junqiu and Fuling, killing or seizing five thousand souls and rattling the capital.
39
濟岷太守劉闓、將軍張闔等叛，害下邳內史夏侯嘉，以下邳降于石生。
Liu Kai of Jimin and Zhang Ge mutinied, murdered Xiapi’s Xiahou Jia, and delivered the city to Shi Sheng.
40
石瞻攻河南太守王羨于邾，陷之。
Shi Zhan stormed Henan governor Wang Xian at Zhu and broke the defense.
41
龍驤將軍王國叛，以南郡降於勒。 晉彭城內史劉續復據蘭陵、石城，石瞻攻陷之。
Dragon-prancing general Wang Guo revolted and handed Nan commandery to Shi Le. Liu Xu, Pengcheng’s interior secretary, reoccupied Lanling and Shicheng until Shi Zhan retook both.
42
勒令州郡，有墳發掘不掩覆者推劾之，骸骨暴露者縣為備棺衾之具。 以牙門將王波為記室參軍，典定九流，始立秀、孝試經之制。
He told every province to rebury looted graves and supply coffins wherever bones still lay bare. He made gate general Wang Bo secretary, sorted the nine ranks of talent, and introduced classical exams for xiucai and xiaoliao candidates.
43
茌平令師歡獲黑兔，獻之于勒，程遐等以為勒「龍飛革命之祥，于晉以水承金，兔陰精之獸，玄為水色，此示殿下宜速副天人之望也。」 於是大赦，以咸和三年改年曰太和。
Chiping magistrate Shi Huan offered a black hare; Cheng Xia’s clique called it a portent of new mandate—water succeeding Jin’s metal, black matching water—and urged Shi Le to claim heaven’s mandate at once.” He proclaimed a general amnesty and, though Jin still called the year Xianhe 3, his court retitled the era Great Harmony.
44
石堪攻晉豫州刺史祖約于壽春，屯師淮上。 晉龍驤將軍王國以南郡叛降於堪。 南陽都尉董幼叛，率襄陽之眾又降於堪。 祖約諸將佐皆陰遣使附於勒。 石聰與堪濟淮，陷壽春，祖約奔曆陽，壽春百姓陷於聰者二萬餘戶。
Shi Kan besieged Zu Yue in Shouchun and camped the army along the Huai. Jin’s dragon-prancing general Wang Guo repeated his mutiny, yielding Nan commandery to Shi Kan. Nanyang commandant Dong You rose with the Xiangyang garrison and went over to Shi Kan as well. Zu Yue’s officers were secretly suing for Shi Le’s protection. Shi Cong joined Shi Kan across the Huai, seized Shouchun, drove Zu Yue toward Liyang, and enslaved more than twenty thousand city households.
45
劉曜敗季龍于高候，遂圍洛陽。 勒滎陽太守尹矩、野王太守張進等皆降之，襄國大震。 勒將親救洛陽，左右長史、司馬郭敖、程遐等固諫曰：「劉曜乘勝雄盛，難與爭鋒，金墉糧豐，攻之未可卒拔。 曜懸軍千里，勢不支久。 不可親動，動無萬全，大業去矣。」 勒大怒，按劍叱遐等出。 於是赦徐光，召而謂之曰：「劉曜乘高候之勢，圍守洛陽，庸人之情皆謂其鋒不可當也。 然曜帶甲十萬，攻一城而百日不克，師老卒殆，以我初銳擊之，可一戰而擒。 若洛陽不守，曜必送死冀州，自河已北，席捲南向，吾事去矣。 程遐等不欲吾親行，卿以為何如？」 光對曰：「劉曜乘高候之勢而不能進臨襄國，更守金墉，此其無能為也。 懸軍三時，亡攻戰之利，若鸞旗親駕，必望旌奔敗。 定天下之計，在今一舉。 今此機會，所謂天授，授而弗應，禍之攸集。」 勒笑曰：「光之言是也。」 佛圖澄亦謂勒曰：「大軍若出，必擒劉曜。」 勒尤悅，使內外戒嚴，有諫者斬。 命石堪、石聰及豫州刺史桃豹等各統見眾會滎陽，使石季龍進據石門，以左衛石邃都督中軍事，勒統步騎四萬赴金墉，濟自大堨。 先是，流澌風猛，軍至，冰泮清和，濟畢，流澌大至，勒以為神靈之助也，命曰靈昌津。 勒顧謂徐光曰：「曜盛兵成皋關，上計也； 阻洛水，其次也； 坐守洛陽者成擒也。」 諸軍集于成皋，步卒六萬，騎二萬七千。 勒見曜無守軍，大悅，舉手指天，又自指額曰：「天也！」 乃卷甲銜枚而詭道兼路，出於鞏、訾之間。 知曜陳其軍十餘萬於城西，彌悅，謂左右曰：「可以賀我矣！」 勒統步騎四萬人自宣陽門，升故太極前殿。 季龍步卒三萬，自城北而西，攻其中軍，石堪、石聰等各以精騎八千，城西而北，擊其前鋒，大戰于西陽門。 勒躬貫甲胄，出自閶闔，夾擊之。 曜軍大潰，石堪執曜，送之以徇於軍，斬首五萬餘級，枕屍于金穀。 勒下令曰：「所欲擒者一人耳，今已獲之，其敕將士抑鋒止銳，縱其歸命之路。」 乃旋師。 使征東石邃等帥騎衛曜而北。
Liu Yao routed Shi Hu at Gaohou and threw a cordon around Luoyang. Shi Le’s Xingyang governor Yin Ju and Yewang governor Zhang Jin capitulated to Liu Yao, sending shock waves through Xiangguo. When Shi Le prepared a personal relief march on Luoyang, Guo Ao and Cheng Xia argued hard: “Liu Yao is riding high; Jinyong’s granaries make Luoyang a tough nut—you cannot rush him. His army is a thousand li from home and cannot keep this up forever. Stay off the field—one misstep costs the whole realm.” Shi Le, livid, hand on sword, roared until the advisers fled. He then freed Xu Guang and asked, “Liu Yao has Luoyang ringed after Gaohou; cowards say his spear is unstoppable. Yet a hundred thousand men have stalled a hundred days before one wall; his troops are spent. One sharp blow from us finishes him. If Luoyang falls, he will hurl everything at Ji north of the river and sweep south—then we are lost. Cheng Xia does not want me to lead—what say you?” Xu Guang answered: “He won at Gaohou yet dares not march on Xiangguo; he hugs Jinyong instead—that is weakness. Three seasons in the field without a breakthrough—show the imperial banners in person and his host will scatter. The fate of the empire turns on this single throw. This is the opening Heaven sends; spurn it and disaster follows.” Shi Le laughed and said, “Xu Guang has the right of it.” The monk Fotucheng added: “March, and Liu Yao is yours.” Shi Le, delighted, declared full mobilization and threatened death to any adviser who objected. He massed Shi Kan, Shi Cong, and Tao Bao’s Yuzhou troops at Xingyang, sent Shi Hu to seize Shimen, put Shi Sui in charge of the center, and led forty thousand mixed troops toward Jinyong, crossing at the great dike. Ice had choked the river until his host arrived; then the floes parted and the ford cleared, only to slam shut again once he crossed—omens he christened the Spirit-Prosperity crossing. Shi Le told Xu Guang: “If Liu Yao blocks Chenggao Pass, he plays the best card; holding the Luo line is second best; sitting tight inside Luoyang hands him to us.” Sixty thousand infantry and twenty-seven thousand cavalry closed on Chengguo. Seeing no Liu Yao outposts, Shi Le pointed skyward, tapped his brow, and cried, “Heaven fights for me!” He muffled his men, doubled through byways, and burst from the hills between Gong and Zi. Learning that Liu Yao had stacked a hundred thousand men west of the walls, he grinned: “Send my congratulations!” He led forty thousand troops through Xuanyang Gate onto the old Taiji terrace. Shi Hu drove thirty thousand foot from the north wall against the enemy center while Shi Kan and Shi Cong swept eight thousand elite horse from the west against Liu Yao’s van at Xiyang Gate. Shi Le buckled on mail, rode out Changhe Gate, and closed the pincers himself. Liu Yao’s line collapsed; Shi Kan took him captive, paraded him through the ranks, and counted fifty thousand heads stacked toward the Metal Valley road. He proclaimed: “I wanted only one man; now that Liu Yao is mine, check the slaughter and let the rest flee.” Then he marched home. He ordered Shi Sui and other eastern commanders to herd Liu Yao north under cavalry guard.
46
及是，祖約舉兵敗，降於勒，勒使王波讓之曰：「卿逆極勢窮，方來歸命，吾朝豈逋逃之藪邪？ 而卿敢有靦面目也。」 示之以前後檄書，乃赦之。
Zu Yue, beaten after his revolt, sued for mercy; Shi Le sent Wang Bo to sneer: “You crawl in only when broken—is my court a hideout for fugitives? And you still show your face?” He flung Zu’s own edicts in his face, then spared him.
47
劉曜子熙等去長安，奔於上邽，遣季龍討之。
Liu Yao’s heir Liu Xi fled Chang’an for Shanggui; Shi Le sent Shi Hu after him.
48
勒巡行州諸郡，引見高年、孝悌、力田、文學之士，班賜穀帛有差。 令遠近牧守宣告屬城，諸所欲言，靡有隱諱，使知區區之朝虛渴讜言也。
He toured the province, interviewed elders, filial sons, diligent farmers, and scholars, and handed out grain and silk by rank. He told every governor to invite unvarnished memorials so the realm would see how hungry his court was for blunt counsel.
49
季龍克上邽，遣主簿趙封送傳國玉璽、金璽、太子玉璽各一於勒。 季龍進攻集木且羌於河西，克之，俘獲數萬，秦、隴悉平。 涼州牧張駿大懼，遣使稱籓，貢方物於勒，徙氐羌十五萬落于司、冀州。
After Shi Hu took Shanggui, chief clerk Zhao Feng brought the imperial jade seal, a gold seal, and the crown prince’s seal to Xiangguo. Shi Hu next crushed the Jumuqie Qiang beyond the Yellow River, took tens of thousands captive, and quieted Qin and Long. Zhang Jun of Liangzhou, terrified, acknowledged Shi Le’s overlordship, sent tribute, and resettled a hundred fifty thousand Di and Qiang families into Si and Ji.
50
勒群臣議以勒功業既隆，祥符並萃，宜時革徽號以答乾坤之望，於是石季龍等奉皇帝璽綬，上尊號於勒，勒弗許。 群臣固請，勒乃以咸和五年僭號趙天王，行皇帝事。 尊其祖邪曰宣王，父周曰元王。 立其妻劉氏為王后，世子弘為太子。 署其子宏持節、散騎常侍、都督中外諸軍事、驃騎大將軍、大單于，封秦王； 左衛將軍斌太原王； 小子恢為輔國將軍、南陽王； 中山公季龍為太尉、守尚書令、中山王； 石生河東王； 石堪彭城王； 以季龍子邃為冀州刺史，封齊王，加散騎常侍、武衛將軍； 宣左將軍； 挺侍中、梁王。 署左長史郭敖為尚書左僕射，右長史程遐為右僕射、領吏部尚書，左司馬夔安、右司馬郭殷、從事中郎李鳳、前郎中令裴憲為尚書，署參軍事徐光為中書令、領秘書監。 論功封爵，開國郡公文武二十一人，侯二十四人，縣公二十六人，侯二十二人，其餘文武各有差。 侍中任播等參議，以趙承金為水德，旗幟尚玄，牲牡尚白，子社醜臘，勒從之。 勒下書曰：「自今有疑難大事，八坐及委丞郎齎詣東堂，詮詳平決。 其有軍國要務須啟，有令僕尚書隨局入陳，勿避寒暑昏夜也。」
His ministers argued that omens demanded a new style; Shi Hu offered the Han imperial seals, but Shi Le refused the throne. Pressed again, in Jin’s fifth Xianhe year he took the unsanctioned title “Heavenly King of Zhao” while acting as emperor. He canonized his grandfather Shi Xie as King of Instruction and his father Zhou as Primal King. He named Lady Liu queen and Shi Hong crown prince. Shi Hong received credentials, cavalier rank, supreme command, title of agile cavalry general and grand Chanyu, and the princedom of Qin; Shi Bin became Prince of Taiyuan while holding the left guard; the younger son Shi Hui became supporting-state general and prince of Nanyang; Zhongshan duke Shi Hu became grand commandant, acting chief of the secretariat, and prince of Zhongshan; Shi Sheng was named prince of Hedong; Shi Kan became prince of Pengcheng; Shi Hu’s son Shi Sui took Ji province, the princedom of Qi, cavalier rank, and the martial guard generalship; Shi Xuan became general of the left van; Shi Ting became palace attendant and prince of Liang. He named Guo Ao left secretariat director, Cheng Xia right director with personnel portfolio, Kui An and Guo Yin marshals, Li Feng and Pei Xian masters of writing, and Xu Guang palace secretary with charge of the imperial library. Twenty-one founding ministers became ducal fiefs, plus twenty-four marquises, twenty-six county dukes, and twenty-two lesser marquises; everyone else took graded titles. Ren Bo’s faction argued that Zhao, succeeding Jin’s metal phase, should adopt water: black standards, white victims, and calendar tweaks for community and year-end rites—Shi Le agreed. He ordered: “Whenever policy stumps you, the eight high ministers and secretariat deputies must take the case to the eastern hall for joint adjudication. Military or state emergencies go straight to the secretariat at any hour, winter or summer.”
51
勒以祖約不忠於本朝，誅之，及其諸子至親屬百餘人。
Deeming Zu Yue a traitor to Jin, Shi Le executed him with more than a hundred sons and kinsmen.
52
群臣固請勒宜即尊號，勒乃僭即皇帝位，大赦境內，改元曰建平，自襄國都臨漳。 追尊其高祖曰順皇，曾祖曰威皇，祖曰宣皇，父曰世宗元皇帝，妣曰元昭皇太后，文武封進各有差。 立其妻劉氏為皇后，又定昭儀、夫人位視上公，貴嬪、貴人視列侯，員各一人； 三英、九華視伯，淑媛、淑儀視子，容華、美人視男，務簡賢淑，不限員數。
Forced again, he took the imperial seat, amnestied the realm, declared the Jianping era, and shifted the capital from Xiangguo to Linzhang. He stacked posthumous imperial titles on four generations and his mother, and promoted the peerage of his entire court. Lady Liu became empress; top consorts were ranked with senior dukes, next ranks with full marquises, one holder each; lesser harem grades matched earls, viscounts, and barons, filled for talent rather than by quota.
53
勒荊州監軍郭敬、南蠻校尉董幼寇襄陽。 勒驛敕敬退屯樊城，戒之使偃藏旗幟，寂若無人，彼若使人觀察，則告之曰：「自愛堅守，後七八日大騎將至，相策不復得走矣。」 敬使人浴馬於津，周而復始，晝夜不絕。 偵諜還告南中郎將周撫，撫以為勒軍大至，懼而奔武昌。 敬入襄陽，軍無私掠，百姓安之。 晉平北將軍魏該弟遐等率該部眾自石城降於敬。 敬毀襄陽，遷其百姓于沔北，城樊城以戍之。
Guo Jing, supervising Jingzhou troops for Shi Le, and southern-man colonel Dong You struck Xiangyang. Shi Le told Guo Jing to fall back to Fancheng, strike the colors, and if probed reply: “We mean to hold out; in a week a great cavalry host arrives—you will not get away.” Guo Jing’s men watered horses at the ford in endless circles day and night. Spies convinced Zhou Fu that a massive host was coming; he bolted to Wuchang. Guo Jing took Xiangyang without looting and calmed the populace. Wei Xia, brother of Jin’s northern pacifier Wei Gai, led Wei’s troops from Shicheng over to Guo Jing. Guo Jing razed Xiangyang, deported the people north of the Han, and fortified Fancheng as their new home.
54
秦州休屠王羌叛于勒，刺史臨深遣司馬管光帥州軍討之，為羌所敗，隴右大擾，氐羌悉叛。 勒遣石生進據隴城。 王羌兄子擢與羌有仇，生乃賂擢，與掎擊之。 羌敗，奔涼州。 徙秦州夷豪五千餘戶於雍州。
The Xiutu Qiang chief Wang Qiang rose in Qinzhou; governor Lin Shen’s marshal Guan Guang lost, the Long salient erupted, and every Di and Qiang clan mutinied. Shi Le sent Shi Sheng to seize Longcheng. Wang Zhuo, Wang Qiang’s nephew, hated his uncle; Shi Sheng bought him and coordinated a two-pronged strike. Wang Qiang broke and ran for Liangzhou. He deported five thousand Qinzhou tribal headmen’s households into Yongzhou.
55
勒下書曰：「自今諸有處法，悉依科令。 吾所忿戮、怒發中旨者，若德位已高，不宜訓罰，或服勤死事之孤，邂逅罹譴，門下皆各列奏之，吾當思擇而行也。」 堂陽人陳豬妻一產三男，賜其衣帛廩食，乳婢一口，復三歲勿事。 時高句麗、肅慎致其楛矢，宇文屋孤並獻名馬於勒。 涼州牧張駿遣長史馬詵奉圖送高昌、于闐、鄯善、大宛使，獻其方物。 晉荊州牧陶侃遣兼長史王敷聘於勒，致江南之珍寶奇獸。 秦州送白獸、白鹿，荊州送白雉、白兔，濟陰木連理，甘露降苑鄉。 勒以休瑞並臻，遐方慕義，赦三歲刑已下，均百姓去年逋調； 特赦涼州殊死，涼州計吏皆拜郎中，賜絹十匹，綿十斤。 勒南郊，有白氣自壇屬天，勒大悅，還宮，赦四歲刑。 遣使封張駿武威郡公，食涼州諸郡。 勒親耕藉田，還宮，赦五歲刑，賜其公卿已下金帛有差。 勒以日蝕，避正殿三日，令群公卿士各上封事。 禁州郡諸祠堂非正典者皆除之，其能興雲致雨，有益於百姓者，郡縣更為立祠堂，殖嘉樹，准嶽瀆已下為差等。
He announced: “Justice must follow the written code. If my temper strikes the wrong man—someone of high virtue or a war orphan—the gate offices must appeal before I carry it out.” A Tangyang woman bore triplets; Shi Le sent cloth, grain, a nursemaid, and three years’ tax relief. Koguryŏ and Sushen sent ritual arrows; the Wuyuwugu tribe added fine horses. Zhang Jun’s chief clerk Ma Shen brought maps and embassies from Gaochang, Khotan, Shanshan, and Ferghana with their gifts. Tao Kan of Jin dispatched Wang Fu with southern curios and rare animals. Qinzhou offered white deer and beasts, Jingzhou white pheasants and hares, Jiyin reported grafted trees, and sweet dew fell on Yuanxiang. Citing the flood of omens and foreign goodwill, he remitted light sentences and wrote off last year’s back taxes; he spared capital crimes in Liangzhou, named every Liangzhou clerk-reporter a gentleman of the palace, and gave each ten bolts of silk and ten jin of floss. At the southern altar a white beam rose to the sky; Shi Le, elated, amnestied sentences up to four years. He enfeoffed Zhang Jun duke of Wuwei with income from every Liangzhou county. After plowing the ritual field he freed convicts up to five years’ labor and showered gold and silk on the bureaucracy. An eclipse sent him from court for three days and brought a call for sealed advice. He tore down uncanonical shrines but ordered useful rain shrines rebuilt with fine trees, ranked below the great river and mountain cults.
56
勒將營鄴宮，廷尉續咸上書切諫。 勒大怒，曰：「不斬此老臣。 朕宮不得成也！」 敕御史收之。 中書令徐光進曰：「陛下天資聰睿，超邁唐虞，而更不欲聞忠臣之言，豈夏癸、商辛之君邪？ 其言可用用之，不可用故當容之，奈何一旦以直言而斬列卿乎！」 勒歎曰：「為人君不得自專如是！ 豈不識此言之忠乎？ 向戲之爾。 人家有百匹資，尚欲市別宅，況有天下之富，萬乘之尊乎！ 終當繕之耳。 且敕停作，成吾直臣之氣也。」 因賜咸絹百匹，稻百斛。 又下書令公卿百僚歲薦賢良、方正、直言、秀異、至孝、廉清各一人，答策上第者拜議郎，中第中郎，下第郎中。 其舉人得遞相薦引，廣招賢之路。 起明堂、辟雍、靈台于襄國城西。 時大雨霖，中山西北暴水，流漂巨木百餘萬根，集于堂陽。 勒大悅，謂公卿曰：「諸卿知不？ 此非為災也，天意欲吾營鄴都耳。」 於是令少府任汪、都水使者張漸等監營鄴宮，勒親授規模。
When he resumed the Ye palace project, commandant Xu Xian sent a blistering memorial. Shi Le roared, “Unless I kill this old fool, my palace will never rise!” and ordered the censor to arrest him. Xu Guang intervened: “You surpass Yao and Shun—must you mimic Jie and the last king of Shang? Use good advice or set it aside, but do not behead a minister for bluntness!” Shi Le sighed: “So an emperor cannot even bluster in peace! Did I miss how loyal he was? ” “I was only joking.” A family with a hundred bolts still buys a second house—why should an emperor stint? ” “I will build it yet.” ” “Hold the work and honor his integrity instead.” He then gave Xu Xian a hundred bolts of silk and a hundred hu of rice. He ordered yearly nominations of worthies, each category one man, with policy-test scores fixing whether they became deliberation advisers, palace gentlemen upper or middle grade. Nominees could chain-recommend others to widen the talent net. He broke ground for the Bright Hall, imperial academy moat, and observatory west of Xiangguo. Monsoon floods northwest of Zhongshan swept a million logs down to Tangyang. Shi Le asked his court, “Do you see? This is no calamity—Heaven is shipping timber for Ye.” He put Ren Wang and Zhang Jian in charge of Ye’s construction and sketched the plan himself.
57
蜀梓潼、建平、漢固三郡蠻巴降於勒。
The Ba tribes of Zitong, Jianping, and Hangu in Shu submitted to him.
58
勒以成周土中，漢晉舊京，復欲有移都之意，乃命洛陽為南都，置行台治書侍御史于洛陽。
Deeming Luoyang the ancient heart of Han and Jin, he named it southern capital and posted a mobile secretariat there.
59
勒因饗高句麗、宇文屋孤使，酒酣，謂徐光曰：「朕方自古開基何等主也？」 對曰：「陛下神武籌略邁于高皇，雄藝卓犖超絕魏祖，自三王已來無可比也，其軒轅之亞乎！」 勒笑曰：「人豈不自知，卿言亦乙太過。 朕若逢高皇，當北面而事之，與韓彭競鞭而爭先耳。 脫遇光武，當並驅于中原，未知鹿死誰手。 大丈夫行事當礌礌落落，如日月皎然，終不能如曹孟德、司馬仲達父子，欺他孤兒寡婦，狐媚以取天下也。 朕當在二劉之間耳，軒轅豈所擬乎！」 其群臣皆頓首稱萬歲。
Feasting Koguryŏ and Wuyuwugu envoys, he asked Xu Guang drunk: “How do I rank among the founders of old?” Xu Guang answered: “Your might and design outstrip Gaozu of Han, your brilliance tops Cao Cao—since the Three Kings none rival you; perhaps only the Yellow Emperor stands above.” Shi Le laughed: “A man should know himself—flattery that strong overshoots the mark. Face to face with Han Gaozu I would serve him as vassal and only race Han Xin and Peng Yue for second place. Against Guangwu I would match him stroke for stroke in the heartland—who bags the deer would be anyone’s guess. Great men move like sunlight—never like Cao Cao or the Simas, who foxed widows and orphans into an empire. I belong between the two Lius; the Yellow Emperor is no measure for me!” The courtiers kowtowed and shouted long life.
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晉將軍趙胤攻克馬頭，石堪遣將軍韓雍救之，至則無及，遂寇南沙、海虞，俘獲五千餘人。 初，郭敬之退據樊城也，王師復戍襄陽。 至是，敬又攻陷之，留戍而歸。
Zhao Yin took Matou before Han Yong arrived; Shi Kan’s relief column veered to raid Nansha and Haiyu and bagged five thousand captives instead. After Guo Jing fell back to Fancheng, Jin had reoccupied Xiangyang. Now Guo Jing retook it, posted a garrison, and withdrew.
61
暴風大雨，震電建德殿端門、襄國市西門，殺五人。 雹起西河介山，大如雞子，平地三尺，洿下丈餘，行人禽獸死者萬數，曆太原、樂平、武鄉、趙郡、廣平、钜鹿千餘里，樹木摧折，禾稼蕩然。 勒正服於東堂，以問徐光曰：「歷代已來有斯災幾也？」 光對曰：「周、漢、魏、晉皆有之，雖天地之常事，然明主未始不為變，所以敬天之怒也。 去年禁寒食，介推，帝鄉之神也，歷代所尊，或者以為未宜替也。 一人籲嗟，王道尚為之虧，況群神怨憾而不怒動上帝乎！ 縱不能令天下同爾，介山左右，晉文之所封也，宜任百姓奉之。」 勒下書曰：「寒食既并州之舊風，朕生其俗，不能異也。 前者外議以子推諸侯之臣，王者不應為忌，故從其議，倘或由之而致斯災乎！ 子推雖朕鄉之神，非法食者亦不得亂也，尚書其促檢舊典定議以聞。」 有司奏以子推歷代攸尊，請普復寒食，更為植嘉樹，立祠堂，給戶奉祀。 勒黃門郎韋謏駁曰：「案《春秋》，藏冰失道，陰氣發洩為雹。 自子推已前，雹者復何所致？ 此自陰陽乖錯所為耳。 且子推賢者，曷為暴害如此！ 求之冥趣，必不然矣。 今雖為冰室，懼所藏之冰不在固陰沍寒之地，多皆山川之側，氣泄為雹也。 以子推忠賢，令綿、介之間奉之為允，於天下則不通矣。」 勒從之。 於是遷冰室于重陰凝寒之所，并州復寒食如初。
A squall shattered the Jiande gate and the west gate of Xiangguo market, killing five. Hailstones egg-sized fell from Jie Mountain west of the river, piling three feet deep and drowning low ground; corpses of men and beasts littered a thousand li from Taiyuan through Julu, forests stripped and fields erased. In court robes at the eastern hall he asked Xu Guang how often history had seen a calamity like this.” Xu Guang said every dynasty had seen such omens; wise rulers always took them as Heaven’s rebuke. Last year you banned the Cold Food festival; Jie Zitui is a tutelary hero—many thought ending his rite unwise. A single cry can dent the kingly way—what of countless angry gods shaking Heaven? If you cannot please everyone, at least let the people of Mian and Jie keep honoring Jie Zitui, as Duke Wen once enfeoffed that ground.” Shi Le decreed: “Cold Food is Bingzhou’s custom; I was born there and will not forbid it outright. Counselors said a king need not mourn a subject like Jie Zitui, so I lifted the ban—maybe that invited this storm! He remains our local god, yet lawless feasting must stop—have the secretariat dig precedent and report.” Officials answered: restore Cold Food empire-wide for Jie Zitui, replant groves, rebuild shrines, and fund custodian households. Huangmen Wei Sou cited the Chunqiu: mis-stored ice releases yin and falls as hail. What caused hail before Jie Zitui ever lived? It is yin and yang out of joint—nothing more. Jie Zitui was a sage—would he slaughter thousands in spite? Probe the unseen: that cannot be his doing. Our ice houses may sit too warm; ice stacked near warm valleys vents qi and seeds hail. Let Mian and Jie alone honor him; a universal cult would not wash.” Shi Le accepted Wei Sou’s view. They relocated the royal ice vault to deep shade and reauthorized Cold Food in Bingzhou.
62
勒令其太子省可尚書奏事，使中常侍嚴震參綜可否，征伐刑斷大事乃呈之。 自是震威權之盛過於主相矣。 季龍之門可設雀羅，季龍愈怏怏不悅。
He had Crown Prince Shi Hong vet memorials with eunuch Yan Zhen; only wars and executions reached his sickbed. Yan Zhen’s power soon eclipsed the chief ministers’. Shi Hu’s gate grew so quiet you could catch sparrows there; he brooded in resentment.
63
郭敬南掠江西，晉南中郎將桓宣承其虛攻樊城，取城中之眾而去。 敬旋師救樊，追戰于涅水。 敬前軍大敗，宣亦死傷太半，盡取所掠而止。 宣遂南取襄陽，留軍戍之。
While Guo Jing raided Jiangxi, Huan Xuan slipped into empty Fancheng and marched its garrison away. Guo Jing doubled back and caught Huan Xuan at the Nie River. Guo Jing’s van lost heavily, yet Huan Xuan lost half his men before abandoning the loot and fleeing. Huan Xuan then drove south into Xiangyang and left a garrison.
64
勒如鄴，臨石季龍第，謂之曰：「功力不可並興，待宮殿成後，當為王起第，勿以卑小悒悒也。」 季龍免冠拜謝，勒曰：「與王共有天下，何所謝也！」 有流星大如象，尾足蛇形，自北極西南流五十餘丈，光明燭地，墜於河，聲聞九百餘里。 黑龍見鄴井中，勒觀龍有喜色。 朝其群臣於鄴。
Visiting Shi Hu in Ye, Shi Le said: “Finish my palace first, then yours—do not sulk at cramped quarters.” Shi Hu kowtowed thanks until Shi Le said they shared the empire—no thanks needed.” A meteor elephant-sized, serpent-tailed, streaked fifty yards from the pole toward the southwest, lit the ground like noon, splashed into the Yellow River with a boom heard three hundred miles away. A black dragon rose from a Ye well; Shi Le smiled at the omen. He held audience at Ye.
65
命郡國立學官，每郡置博士祭酒二人，弟子百五十人，三考修成，顯升台府。 於是擢拜太學生五人為佐著作郎，錄述時事。 時大旱，勒親臨廷尉錄囚徒，五歲刑已下皆輕決遣之，重者賜酒食，聽沐浴，一須秋論。 還未及宮，澍雨大降。
He ordered every commandery to open schools—two erudites, a hundred fifty students, three exams, then promotion to central posts. Five imperial students became assistant compilers to chronicle current events. In drought he sat in the commandant’s jail, paroled minor convicts, and postponed capital cases until autumn. Before he reached the palace a soaking rain fell.
66
勒如其灃水宮，因疾甚而還。 召石季龍與其太子弘、中常侍嚴震等待疾禁中。 季龍矯命絕弘、震及內外群臣親戚，勒疾之增損莫有知者。 詐召石宏、石堪還襄國。 勒疾小瘳，見宏，驚曰：「秦王何故來邪？ 使王籓鎮，正備今日。 有呼者邪？ 自來也？ 有呼者誅之！」 季龍大懼曰：「秦王思慕暫還耳，今謹遣之。」 數日復問之，季龍曰：「奉詔即遣，今已半路矣。」 更諭宏在外，遂不遣之。
He visited his lodge on the Fen River, then turned back as his illness worsened. He called Shi Hu, crown prince Shi Hong, Yan Zhen, and others to his bedside. Shi Hu forged edicts isolating Shi Hong, Yan Zhen, and the court from Shi Le’s sickroom—no one knew whether the emperor improved or failed. He forged an edict recalling Prince of Qin Shi Hong and Shi Kan to Xiangguo. When Shi Le briefly rallied and saw Shi Hong, he cried, “Why is the Prince of Qin here? I posted you princes on the marches for exactly this contingency. Did someone summon you? Or did you come on your own? Whoever called you here dies.” Shi Hu stammered that the prince had missed his father and would leave at once.” Days later Shi Le asked again; Shi Hu claimed the prince was already halfway home.” He kept Shi Hong outside the capital and never let him return to his command.
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廣阿蝗。 季龍密遣其子邃率騎三千游於蝗所。 熒惑人昴。 星隕于鄴東北六十里，初赤黑黃雲如幕，長數十匹，交錯，聲如雷震，墜地氣熱如火，塵起連天。 時有耕者往視之，土猶燃沸，見有一石方尺餘，青色而輕，擊之間聲如磬。
Locusts swarmed Guang’a. Shi Hu secretly sent Shi Sui with three thousand riders to “patrol” the swarm. Mars trespassed into the Pleiades. A meteor hit sixty li northeast of Ye, preceded by tricolor clouds, thunder, scorching wind, and dust pillars. A farmer found the crater still boiling and a light blue foot-square stone that rang like a bell when struck.
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勒疾甚，遺令：「三日而葬，內外百僚既葬除服，無禁婚娶、祭祀、飲酒、食肉，征鎮牧守不得輒離所司以奔喪，斂以時服，載以常車，無藏金寶，無內器玩。 大雅沖幼，恐非能構荷朕志。 中山已下其各司所典，無違朕命。 大雅與斌宜善相維持，司馬氏汝等之殷鑒，其務于敦穆也。 中山王深可三思周霍，勿為將來口實。」 以咸和七年死，時年六十，在位十五年。 夜瘞山谷，莫知其所，備文物虛葬，號高平陵。 偽諡明皇帝，廟號高祖。
His will demanded a three-day funeral, quick release from mourning, no ban on weddings or wine, no recall of frontier generals, plain shrouds and carts, no grave goods. Daya (Shi Hong) is too young to shoulder my design. From Shi Hu downward every minister must keep his post—obey my word. Shi Hong and Shi Bin must stand together; take the Simas as your warning and keep the peace. Let Zhongshan king Shi Hu think thrice of the Han regents Zhou and Huo—give posterity no excuse.” He died in Xianhe 7 at sixty after fifteen years on the throne. His corpse was slipped into a secret valley; a dummy mausoleum named Gaoling received the state regalia. He received the false posthumous title Ming emperor and temple name Gaozu.
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弘字大雅，勒之第二子也。 幼有孝行，以恭謙自守，受經于杜嘏，誦律于續咸。 勒曰：「今世非承平，不可專以文業教也。」 於是使劉征、任播授以兵書，王陽教之擊刺。 立為世子，領中領軍，尋暑衛將軍，使領開府辟召，後鎮鄴。
Shi Hong, courtesy Daya, was Shi Le’s second son. He was dutiful, modest, studied the Classics under Du Jia and law under Xu Xian. Shi Le said: “These are not peaceful times—book learning alone will not do.” He set Liu Zheng and Ren Bo to teach war manuals and Wang Yang to drill spear work. Named heir and central guard commander, soon palace guard general with independent recruitment, later posted to Ye.
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勒僭位，立為太子。 虛襟愛士，好為文詠，其所親昵，莫非儒素。 勒謂徐光曰：「大雅愔愔，殊不似將家子。」 光曰：「漢祖以馬上取天下，孝文以玄默守之，聖人之後，必世勝殘，天之道也。」 勒大悅。 光因曰：「皇太子仁孝溫恭，中山王雄暴多詐，陛下一旦不諱，臣恐社稷必危，宜漸奪中山威權，使太子早參朝政。」 勒納之。 程遐又言於勒曰：「中山王勇武權智，群臣莫有及者。 觀其志也，自陛下之外，視之蔑如。 兼荷專征歲久，威振外內，性又不仁，殘忍無賴。 其諸子並長，皆預兵權。 陛下在，自當無他，恐其怏怏不可輔少主也。 宜早除之，以便大計。」 勒曰：「今天下未平，兵難未已，大雅沖幼，宜任強輔。 中山佐命功臣，親同魯衛，方委以伊霍之任，何至如卿言也。 卿當恐輔幼主之日，不得獨擅帝舅之權故耳。 吾亦當參卿于顧命，勿為過懼也。」 遐泣曰：「臣所言者至公，陛下以私賜距，豈明主開襟納說，忠臣必盡之義乎！ 中山雖為皇太后所養，非陛下天屬，不可以親義期也。 杖陛下神規，微建鷹犬之效，陛下酬其父子以恩榮，亦以足矣。 魏任司馬懿父子，終於鼎祚淪移，以此而觀，中山豈將來有益者乎！ 臣因緣多幸，托瓜葛於東宮，臣而不竭言于陛下，而誰言之！ 陛下若不除中山，臣已見社稷不復血食矣。」 勒不聽。 遐退告徐光曰：「主上向言如此，太子必危，將若之何？」 光曰：「中山常切齒於吾二人，恐非但國危，亦為家禍，當為安國甯家之計，不可坐而受禍也。」 光復承間言於勒曰：「陛下廓平八州，帝有海內，而神色不悅者何也？」 勒曰：「吳、蜀未平，書軌不一，司馬家猶不絕於丹陽，恐後之人將以吾為不應符錄，每一思之，不覺見於神色。」 光曰：「臣以陛下為憂腹心之患，而何暇更憂四支手！ 何則？ 魏承漢運，為正朔帝王，劉備雖紹興巴、蜀，亦不可謂漢不滅也。 吳雖跨江東，豈有虧魏美？ 陛下既苞括二都，為中國帝王，彼司馬家兒復何異玄德，李氏亦猶孫權。 符籙不在陛下，竟欲安歸？ 此四支之輕患耳。 中山王藉陛下指授神略，天下皆言其英武亞于陛下，兼其殘暴多奸，見利忘義，無伊、霍之忠。 父子爵位之重，勢傾王室。 觀其耿耿，常有不滿之心。 近于東宮曲宴，有輕皇太子之色。 陛下隱忍容之，臣恐陛下萬年之後，宗廟必生荊刺，此心腹之重疾也，惟陛下圖之。」 勒默然，而竟不從。
When Shi Le took the imperial style, Shi Hong became crown prince. He courted literati, wrote poetry, and befriended only scholars. Shi Le told Xu Guang: “Daya is all gentleness—hardly a warrior’s son.” Xu Guang replied: “Gaozu conquered from the saddle; Wenjing ruled quietly—violence yields to culture; that is Heaven’s rhythm.” Shi Le beamed. Xu Guang added: “The crown prince is mild; Zhongshan king Shi Hu is brutal—when you die the state may fall; strip Shi Hu’s power and bring the heir into policy now.” Shi Le listened. Cheng Xia warned again: “Shi Hu’s courage and cunning outstrip every minister. Except for you he treats all men as dust. He has held independent command for years, tyrannizes court and camp, and knows no mercy. His grown sons all hold troops. While you live he behaves—but I doubt he will serve a boy emperor willingly. Remove him now for the dynasty’s sake.” Shi Le answered: “The realm is still at war; Daya needs a strong arm. Zhongshan is a founding pillar, kin as close as Lu and Wei; I mean to make him regent like Yi Yin or Huo Guang—why your panic? You only fear losing your monopoly as the empress’s uncle once a regency begins. I will name you to the testament too—do not dread so much.” Cheng Xia wept: “I speak for the state; you dismiss me as jealous—where is the ruler who hears truth? Shi Hu was raised by the empress dowager but is not your blood—do not trust kinship. He earned favor as your hound; you have paid his house enough. Wei trusted the Simas and lost the throne—how can Shi Hu benefit your line? I am tied to the heir by marriage—if I stay silent, who warns you? Unless you cut down Shi Hu, I see the dynasty’s sacrifices ending.” Shi Le ignored him. Cheng Xia told Xu Guang: “The way he brushed you off dooms the crown prince—what now?” Xu Guang answered: “Shi Hu hates us both; we must save the state and our skins—we cannot sit still.” Xu Guang tried again: “You rule eight provinces—why the long face?” Shi Le said: “Wu and Shu remain, the Simas still hold the south—I fear history will say I lacked the mandate; it shows on my face.” Xu Guang replied: “I thought you feared a gut wound—why worry about scratched fingers? What do you mean? Wei succeeded Han as the true line; Liu Bei’s Shu did not keep Han alive. Eastern Wu never disproved Wei’s legitimacy. You hold both capitals—southern Simas are no more than Liu Bei, and Li Xiong is another Sun Quan. If the mandate is not yours, whose can it be? They are only limb aches. Shi Hu, riding your prestige, passes for second only to you—yet he is treacherous, cruel, and no Yi Yin. Father and son hold such titles they overshadow the throne. His smoldering looks show discontent. At a recent heir’s banquet he openly sneered at the crown prince. You indulge him—after your death the temple will sprout thorns; this is the cancer to cure.” Shi Le stayed silent and did nothing.
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及勒死，季龍執弘使臨軒，命收程遐、徐光下廷尉，召其子邃率兵入宿衛，文武靡不奔散。 弘大懼，讓位于季龍。 季龍曰：「君薨而世子立，臣安敢亂之！」 弘泣而固讓，季龍怒曰：「若其不堪，天下自當有大議，何足預論！」 遂以咸和七年逼立之，改年曰延熙，文武百僚進位一等。 誅程遐、徐光。 弘策拜季龍為丞相、魏王、大單于，加九錫，以魏郡等十三郡為邑，總攝百揆。 季龍偽固讓，久而受命，赦其境內殊死已下，立季龍妻鄭氏為魏王后，子邃為魏太子，加使持節、侍中、大都督中外諸軍事、大將軍、錄尚書事； 宣為使持節、車騎大將軍、冀州刺史，封河間王； 韜為前鋒將軍、司隸校尉，封樂安王； 遵齊王，鑒代王，苞樂平王； 徙太原王斌為章武王。 勒文武舊臣皆補左右丞相閑任，季龍府僚舊昵悉署台省禁要。 命太子宮曰崇訓宮，勒妻劉氏已下皆居之。 簡其美淑及勒車馬、珍寶、服御之上者，皆入於己署。 鎮軍夔安領左僕射，尚書郭殷為右僕射。
At Shi Le’s death Shi Hu seized Shi Hong at audience, jailed Cheng Xia and Xu Guang, called Shi Sui’s troops into the palace, and the court scattered. Shi Hong, terrified, offered Shi Hu the throne. Shi Hu refused: “The heir succeeds the father—how could I usurp?” When Shi Hong wept and insisted, Shi Hu snarled that unfit rulers fall by public verdict—no need to debate now.” In Xianhe 7 he forced Shi Hong’s compliance, renamed the era Yanxi, and promoted every official one step. He killed Cheng Xia and Xu Guang. Shi Hong named Shi Hu chancellor, prince of Wei, grand Chanyu, with the nine insignia and thirteen commanderies as fief, running the whole administration. Shi Hu feigned refusal, then took power, amnestied capital crimes, made Lady Zheng queen of Wei, Shi Sui heir of Wei with full military and secretariat portfolios; Shi Xuan became chariot-cavalry general and prince of Hejian with Ji province; Shi Tao became vanguard general, metropolitan commandant, prince of Le’an; Shi Zun prince of Qi, Shi Jian prince of Dai, Shi Bao prince of Leping; he transferred Taiyuan prince Shi Bin to Zhangwu. Shi Le’s old guard got sinecure chancellorships while Shi Hu’s cronies took the real ministries. He renamed the heir’s palace “Exalted Instruction” and moved Lady Liu and Le’s harem inside. He cherry-picked Le’s women, chariots, and treasures for himself. Kui An became left secretariat director, Guo Yin right director.
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劉氏謂石堪曰：「皇祚之滅不復久矣，王將何以圖之？」 堪曰：「先帝舊臣皆已斥外，眾旅不復由人，宮殿之內無所措籌，臣請出奔袞州，據廩丘，挾南陽王為盟主，宣太后詔于諸牧守征鎮，令各率義兵同討桀逆，蔑不濟也。」 劉氏曰：「事急矣，便可速發，恐事淹變生。」 堪許諾，微服輕騎襲袞州，失期，不克，遂南奔譙城。 季龍遣其將郭太等追擊之，獲堪于城父，送襄國，炙而殺之。 征石恢還于襄國。 劉氏謀泄，季龍殺之。 尊弘母程氏為皇太后。
Lady Liu told Shi Kan: “The house is doomed—what will you do?” Shi Kan proposed fleeing to Yanzhou, rallying at Linyi behind the Prince of Nanyang, and issuing the empress’s call for loyal troops against Shi Hu.” Lady Liu said: “Move tonight—delay invites betrayal.” Shi Kan slipped out in disguise, failed to seize Yanzhou, and ran toward Qiao. Shi Hu’s Guo Tai ran him down at Chengfu, brought him to Xiangguo, and roasted him alive. He recalled Shi Hui to Xiangguo. When Lady Liu’s plot leaked, Shi Hu killed her. He named Shi Hong’s mother Cheng empress dowager.
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時石生鎮關中，石朗鎮洛陽，皆起兵於二鎮。 季龍留子邃守襄國，統步騎七萬攻郎于金墉。 金墉潰，獲朗，刖而斬之。 進師攻長安，以石挺為前鋒大都督。 生遣將軍郭權率鮮卑涉璝部眾二萬為前鋒距之，生統大軍繼發，次於蒲阪。 前鋒及挺大戰潼關，敗績，挺及丞相左長史劉隗皆戰死，季龍退奔澠池，枕屍三百餘里。 鮮卑密通于季龍，背生而擊之。 生時停蒲阪，不知挺之死也，懼，單馬奔長安。 郭權乃復收眾三千，與越騎校尉石廣相持於渭汭。 生遂去長安，潛於雞頭山。 將軍蔣英固守長安。 季龍聞生之奔也，進師入關，進攻長安，旬餘拔之，斬蔣英等。 分遣諸將屯於汧。 徙雍、秦州華戎十餘萬戶於關東。 生部下斬生於雞頭山。 季龍還襄國，大赦，諷弘命己建魏台，一如魏輔漢故事。
Shi Sheng in Guanzhong and Shi Lang in Luoyang rose simultaneously. Shi Hu left Shi Sui in Xiangguo and marched seventy thousand men on Shi Lang at Jinyong. Jinyong fell; Shi Hu mutilated Shi Lang and then beheaded him. He drove on Chang’an with Shi Ting as grand vanguard. Shi Sheng sent Guo Quan with twenty thousand Shegui Xianbei as van while he followed to Puyuan. The van clashed with Shi Ting at Tong Pass and broke; Shi Ting and Liu Wei died; Shi Hu fled to Mianchi over three hundred li of corpses. The Xianbei defected to Shi Hu and hit Shi Sheng from behind. Shi Sheng, still at Puyuan and unaware Shi Ting was dead, panicked and galloped alone to Chang’an. Guo Quan rallied three thousand men and stalled Shi Guang at the Wei ford. Shi Sheng abandoned Chang’an for Chicken Head Mountain. General Jiang Ying held Chang’an. Learning Shi Sheng had fled, Shi Hu stormed Chang’an, took it in ten days, and killed Jiang Ying. He posted generals along the Qian River. He deported a hundred thousand Yong and Qin households east of the pass. Shi Sheng’s own men beheaded him on Chicken Head Mountain. Back in Xiangguo he amnestied the realm and made Shi Hong charter a Wei-style advisory terrace like Cao Cao’s.
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郭權以生敗，據上邽以歸順，詔以權為鎮西將軍、秦州刺史，於是京兆、新平、扶風、馮翊、北地皆應之。 弘鎮西石廣與權戰，敗績。 季龍遣郭敖及其子斌等率步騎四萬討之，次於華陰。 上邽豪族害權以降。 徙秦州三萬餘戶於青、並二州諸郡。 南氐、楊難敵等送任通和。 長安陳良夫奔于黑羌，招誘北羌四角王薄句大等擾北地、馮翊，與石斌相持。 石韜等率騎掎句大之後，與斌夾擊，敗之，句大奔於馬蘭山。 郭敖等懸軍追北，為羌所敗，死者十七八。 斌等收軍還於三城。 季龍聞而大怒，遣使殺郭敖。 石宏有怒言，季龍幽之。
Guo Quan held Shanggui for the court and was named western guardian and Qinzhou inspector; five commanderies rallied to him. Shi Hong’s western commander Shi Guang lost to Guo Quan. Shi Hu sent Guo Ao and Shi Bin with forty thousand troops to Huayin. Shanggui magnates murdered Guo Quan and capitulated. He resettled thirty thousand Qinzhou households into Qing and Bing. Southern Di chiefs including Yang Nandi sent hostages for peace. Chen Liangfu of Chang’an fled to Black Qiang, roused chief Bo Judda to raid Beidi and Fengyi, and stalled Shi Bin. Shi Tao rode behind Bo Judda while Shi Bin struck frontally; the chief fled to Malan Mountain. Guo Ao’s pursuit column was ambushed by Qiang and lost eight men in ten. Shi Bin rallied the survivors back to Sancheng. Shi Hu, furious, had Guo Ao executed by messenger. The Prince of Qin, another clansman also named Shi Hong, muttered threats, so Shi Hu jailed him.
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弘齎璽綬親詣季龍，諭禪位意。 季龍曰：「天下人自當有議，何為自論此也！」 弘還宮，對其母流涕曰：「先帝真無復遺矣！」 俄而季龍遣丞相郭殷持節入，廢弘為海陽王。 弘安步就車，容色自若，謂群臣曰：「不堪纂承大統，顧慚群後，此亦天命去矣，又何言！」 百官莫不流涕，宮人慟哭。 咸康元年，幽弘及程氏並宏、恢于崇訓宮，尋殺之，在位二年，時年二十二。
Shi Hong brought the imperial seals to Shi Hu and offered abdication. Shi Hu said: “The realm will judge succession—do not speak of yielding!” Back in the palace Shi Hong wept to his mother that his father had left him defenseless.” Soon Shi Hu’s Guo Yin entered with credentials and demoted Shi Hong to prince of Haiyang. Shi Hong walked to his coach composed, telling the court he was unfit, ashamed before the lords, and yielding to fate. Officials wept; palace women howled. In Xiankang 1 Shi Hu caged Emperor Shi Hong, Lady Cheng, the Prince of Qin Shi Hong, and Shi Hui in Exalted Instruction Palace and soon murdered them; the emperor had reigned two years and died at twenty-two.
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張賓，字孟孫，趙郡中丘人也。 父瑤，中山太守。 賓少好學，博涉經史，不為章句，闊達有大節，常謂昆弟曰：「吾自言智算鑒識不後子房，但不遇高祖耳。」 為中丘王帳下都督，非其好也，病免。 及永嘉大亂，石勒為劉元海輔漢將軍，與諸將下山東，賓謂所親曰：「吾曆觀諸將多矣，獨胡將軍可與共成大事。」 乃提劍軍門，大呼請見，勒亦未之奇也。 後漸進規謨，乃異之，引為謀主。 機不虛發，算無遺策，成勒之基業，皆賓之勳也。 及為右長史、大執法，封濮陽侯，任遇優顯，寵冠當時，而謙虛敬慎，開襟下士，士無賢愚，造之者莫不得盡其情焉。 肅清百僚，屏絕私昵，入則格言，出則歸美。 勒甚重之，每朝，常為之正容貌，簡辭令，呼曰「右侯」而不名之，勒朝莫與為比也。
Zhang Bin, courtesy Mengsun, came from Zhongqiu in Zhao. His father Zhang Yao governed Zhongshan. He read widely, scorned pedantic glossing, and told his brothers he matched Zhang Liang in wit—only lacking a Liu Bang.” He served the prince of Zhongqiu as camp colonel, disliked it, and quit on grounds of illness. When chaos erupted, Shi Le was Liu Yuan’s assistant general invading Shandong; Zhang Bin told friends only the “Hu general” could build an empire.” He drew his sword at Shi Le’s gate and demanded an audience; Shi Le saw nothing special yet. As his stratagems piled up, Shi Le made him chief planner. His plots never misfired; every Shi Le victory owed Zhang Bin. As right chief clerk, grand law officer, and marquis of Puyang he stood highest at court yet stayed modest, heard every petitioner out, wise or dull. He cleansed the bureaucracy of cliques, spoke truth in council, and credited others outside it. Shi Le tidied his dress before every audience with Zhang Bin, called him “Lord Right” instead of his name, and favored him above all.
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及卒，勒親臨哭之，哀慟左右，贈散騎常侍、右光祿大夫、儀同三司，諡曰景。 將葬，送于正陽門，望之流涕，顧左右曰：「天欲不成吾事邪，何奪吾右侯之早也！」 程遐代為右長史，勒每與遐議，有所不合，輒歎曰：「右侯舍我去，令我與此輩共事，豈非酷乎！」 因流涕彌日。
Shi Le mourned at his bier, showered posthumous honors, and gave him the posthumous name Jing (“bright”). At the Zhengyang gate funeral he wept, “Heaven steals my right hand too soon!” Cheng Xia succeeded him; whenever Shi Le argued with Cheng Xia he groaned, “Right Lord gone—I must endure these mediocrities—cruel fate!” And he wept all day.