1
石季龍[石虎] （上）
Shi Jilong (known as Shi Hu) Part One
2
石季龍，勒之從子也，名犯太祖廟諱 〈（今注：名石虎，与唐高祖李渊之父李虎同名）〉 ，故稱字焉。 祖曰邪，父曰寇覓。 勒父硃幼而子季龍，故或稱勒弟焉。 年六七歲，有善相者曰：「此兒貌奇有壯骨，貴不可言。」 永興中，與勒相失。 後劉琨送勒母王及季龍于葛陂，時年十七矣。 性殘忍，好馳獵，遊蕩無度，尤善彈，數彈人，軍中以為毒患。 勒白王將殺之，王曰：「快牛為犢子時，多能破車，汝當小忍之。」 年十八，稍折節。 身長七尺五寸，趫捷便弓馬，勇冠當時，將佐親戚莫不敬憚，勒深嘉之，拜征虜將軍。 為娉將軍郭榮妹為妻。 季龍寵惑優僮鄭櫻桃而殺郭氏，更納清河崔氏女，櫻桃又譖而殺之。 所為酷虐。 軍中有勇幹策略與己俟者，輒方便害之，前後所殺甚眾。 至於降城陷壘，不復斷別善惡，坑斬士女，鮮有遺類。 勒雖屢加責誘，而行意自若。 然禦眾嚴而不煩，莫敢犯者，指授攻討，所向無前，故勒寵之，信任彌隆，仗以專征之任。
Shi Jilong was Shi Le's nephew, but his personal name was taboo because it matched the posthumous name of Le's grandfather Editors' note: his name was Shi Hu, identical to that of Li Hu, father of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan)〉 so he is referred to here by his courtesy name. His grandfather bore the name Xie; his father was Koumi. Because Shi Le's father Zhu had taken Jilong in as a son while still a boy, some sources describe him as Le's younger brother. When he was six or seven, a physiognomist declared, "The boy's face is striking and his frame robust—eminence beyond words awaits him." During the Yongxing era he lost contact with Shi Le. Later Liu Kun escorted Le's mother, Lady Wang, and Jilong to Gebei; Jilong was seventeen by then. He was vicious by temperament, addicted to the chase and to wandering without limit; he excelled with the sling and often struck men with it, and the host considered him a lethal menace. Shi Le told their lord he meant to execute him; the lord replied, "A spirited ox will wreck wagons while still a calf—you must bear with him awhile." At eighteen he began to curb his excesses. He stood seven feet five inches tall, agile and expert with bow and saddle; none of his day surpassed him in daring, and officers and kin alike stood in awe of him. Shi Le thought the world of him and named him General Who Subdues Barbarians. He married General Guo Rong's younger sister. Infatuated with the entertainer Zheng Yingtao, Jilong murdered Lady Guo, then married a daughter of the Qinghe Cui; Yingtao framed the new wife and had her put to death as well. His conduct was savage in the extreme. Anyone in camp whose nerve, skill, or stratagem rivaled his own soon met with a convenient accident; the toll of lives mounted. When towns capitulated or fortresses fell, he made no distinction between guilty and innocent—men and women alike were slaughtered or buried alive, with scarcely anyone spared. Shi Le scolded and cajoled him repeatedly, yet his habits never changed. Yet he kept his men in iron discipline without needless meddling, and none crossed him; wherever he aimed an attack, nothing stood in his way. Shi Le therefore lavished favor on him, deepened his trust, and vested him with independent command of expeditionary forces.
3
季龍徐州從事硃縱殺刺史郭祥，以彭城歸順。 季龍遣將王朗擊之，縱奔淮南。
In Xuzhou, clerk Zhu Zong murdered Inspector Guo Xiang and handed Pengcheng over to the Jin. Jilong dispatched Wang Lang against him; Zhu fled south into Huainan.
4
季龍荒遊廢政，多所營繕，使邃省可尚書奏事，選牧守，祀郊廟； 惟征伐刑斷乃親覽之。 觀雀台崩，殺典匠少府任汪。 復使修之，倍于常度。
Jilong abandoned himself to pleasure tours and left government idle while launching endless construction; he put Shi Sui in charge of Secretariat business—vetting memorials, appointing regional governors, and presiding over suburban and ancestral rites— while reserving military expeditions and criminal sentences for himself alone. When the Sparrow-Watching Terrace gave way, he executed Ren Wang, the master craftsman under the Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues. He ordered it rebuilt on twice the ordinary scale.
5
季龍自率眾南寇曆陽，臨江而旋，京師大震。 遣其征虜石遇寇中廬，遂圍平北將軍桓宣于襄陽。 輔國將軍毛寶、南中郎將王國、征西司馬王愆期等率荊州之眾救之，屯于章山。 遇攻守二旬，軍中饑疫而還。
Jilong led an army south against Liyang, withdrew when he reached the Yangzi, and the Jin court was thrown into panic. He sent General Who Subdues Barbarians Shi Yu to strike Zhonglu, then ringed Huan Xuan, General Who Pacifies the North, inside Xiangyang. Mao Bao, General Who Supports the State, Wang Guo, General of the Southern Gentlemen of the Household, Wang Yanqi, Western Campaign Major, and others marched Jingzhou troops to the rescue and camped on Zhang Mountain. After twenty days of attack and defense, Shi Yu pulled back as famine and disease ravaged his camp.
6
季龍以租入殷廣，轉輸勞煩，令中倉歲入百萬斛，餘皆儲之水次。
With tax grain pouring in and haulage a burden, Jilong capped the central granaries at one million hu per year and stockpiled the surplus at riverside warehouses.
7
晉將軍淳于安攻其琅邪費縣，俘獲而歸。
Jin commander Chunyu An struck Fei county in Langye, took captives, and withdrew.
8
石邃保母劉芝初以巫術進，既養邃，遂有深寵，通賄賂，豫言論，權傾朝廷，親貴多出其門，遂封芝為宜城君。
Liu Zhi, Shi Sui's wet nurse, had risen by sorcery; once she had raised him, she won extraordinary favor, traded in bribes, meddled in state talk, and tilted the court—nobles and imperial kin thronged her door—until she was enfeoffed as Lady of Yicheng.
9
季龍下書令刑贖之家得以錢代財帛，無錢聽以穀麥，皆隨時價輸水次倉。 冀州八郡雨雹，大傷秋稼，下書深自咎責。 遣御史所在發水次倉麥，以給秋種，尤甚之處差復一年。
Jilong decreed that families paying fines in lieu of punishment could tender cash instead of silk goods, or grain and wheat at market rates when coin was lacking, all deposited at waterfront granaries. Hailstorms struck eight Jizhou commanderies and ruined the autumn harvest; Jilong issued a self-reproaching edict. Censors were sent to release riverside wheat for seed grain; districts worst hit received a one-year tax remission.
10
季龍將遷于鄴，尚書請太常告廟，季龍曰：「古者將有大事，必告宗廟，而不列社稷。 尚書可詳議以聞。」 公卿乃請使太尉告社稷，從之。 及入鄴宮，澍雨周洽，季龍大悅，赦殊死已下。 尚方令解飛作司南車成，季龍以其構思精微，賜爵關內侯，賞賜甚厚。 始制散騎常侍已上得乘軺軒，王公郊祀乘副車，駕四馬，龍旗八旒，塑望朝會即乘軺軒。
As Jilong prepared to move the capital to Ye, the Secretariat asked the Minister of Ceremonies to report to the imperial shrine; Jilong replied, "The ancients proclaimed great undertakings before the ancestral temple, not before the altars of soil and grain. Have the Secretariat debate the matter thoroughly and memorialize." The high ministers then proposed that the Grand Commandant announce the move at the altars of soil and grain, and Jilong agreed. When he took up residence in the Ye palace, timely rain soaked the region; delighted, he proclaimed amnesty for all crimes short of capital offenses. Palace Workshop chief Xie Fei delivered a functioning south-pointing carriage; Jilong admired its ingenuity and enfeoffed him as Marquis Within the Passes with lavish gifts. Regulations now allowed Regular Attendants of Cavalry and above to ride light covered carts; princes and dukes used secondary four-horse carriages with eight-dragon banners at suburban rites, and the same light carts at calends and ides audiences.
11
時羌薄句大猶保險未賓，遣其子章武王斌帥精騎二萬，並秦、雍二州兵以討之。
The Qiang chieftain Bo Gouda still clung to the highlands and refused allegiance; Jilong sent his son, Prince of Zhangwu Shi Bin, with twenty thousand elite horsemen and combined Qin and Yong forces to subdue him.
12
季龍如長樂、衛國，有田疇不辟、桑業不修者，貶其守宰而還。
Touring Changle and Weiguo, Jilong demoted magistrates wherever farmland lay fallow or mulberry belts were neglected, then headed home.
13
咸康二年，使牙門將張彌徙洛陽鐘虡、九龍、翁仲、銅駝、飛廉於鄴。 鐘一沒於河，募浮沒三百人入河，系以竹絙，牛百頭，鹿櫨引之乃出。 造萬斛舟以渡之，以四輪纏輞車，轍廣四尺，深二尺，運至鄴。 季龍大悅，赦二歲刑，賚百官谷帛，百姓爵一級。
In Xian Kang 2 (336 CE), he had Bridle Gate general Zhang Mi haul Luoyang's bell racks, Nine Dragons statues, stone guardians, bronze camels, and Feilian figures to Ye. One bell slipped into the river; three hundred divers went down, ropes were passed under it, and a hundred oxen on winches dragged it ashore. A ten-thousand-hu barge ferried the cargo; four-wheeled carts with four-foot-wide ruts and two-foot-deep wheels rolled everything into Ye. Overjoyed, Jilong waived two-year sentences, showered officials with grain and silk, and raised commoners one rank in the nobility.
14
下書曰：「三載考績，黜陟幽明，斯則先王之令典，政道之通塞。 魏始建九品之制，三年一清定之，雖未盡弘美，亦縉紳之清律，人倫之明鏡。 從爾以來，遵用無改。 先帝創臨天下，黃紙再定。 至於選舉，銓為首格。 自不清定，三載於茲。 主者其更銓論，務揚清激濁，使九流咸允也。 吏部選舉，可依晉氏九班選制，永為揆法。 選畢，經中書、門下宣示三省，然後行之。 其著此詔書於令。 銓衡不奉行者，御史彈坐以聞。」
He proclaimed: "Triennial reviews that elevate the worthy and dismiss the dull are the ancient kings' enduring rule—the gauge of whether government thrives or falters. Wei instituted the nine-rank system, refreshed every three years; imperfect though it was, it gave the gentry a fair yardstick and society a clear mirror. Since then the practice has continued unchanged. When the late emperor founded the realm, he reaffirmed the rules on yellow edicts. In appointments, merit ranking comes first. Yet no fresh evaluation has been held for three full years. Let officials reappraise candidates, promoting integrity and purging corruption until every class of talent is satisfied. Personnel appointments shall follow the Jin nine-grade statute as the permanent standard. Once lists are drawn, route them through the Secretariat and Chancellery and broadcast them through the three bureaus before enactment. Record this order in the statute books. Anyone who disregards these ranking procedures shall be impeached by the censors and reported to the throne."
15
索頭郁鞠率眾三萬降于季龍，署鞠等一十三人親通趙王，皆封列侯，散其部眾于冀、青等六州。
The Suotou chief Yuju surrendered thirty thousand followers to Jilong; Yuju and thirteen companions were named companions to the Prince of Zhao and enfeoffed as full marquises, while their tribesmen were settled across Ji, Qing, and four other provinces.
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時眾役煩興，軍旅不息，加以久旱谷貴，金一斤直米二斗，百姓嗷然無生賴矣。 又納解飛之說，于鄴正南投石於河，以起飛橋，功費數千億萬，橋竟不成，役夫饑甚，乃止。 使令長率丁壯隨山津采橡捕魚以濟老弱，而復為權豪所奪，人無所得焉。 又料殷富之家，配饑人以食之，公卿已下出穀以助振給，奸吏因之侵割無已，雖有貸贍之名而無其實。
Corve labor mushroomed and campaigns never ceased; drought kept grain dear—two dou of rice cost a jin of gold—and the populace howled for want of a livelihood. Heeding Xie Fei's scheme, they dumped boulders into the river south of Ye to build a soaring bridge at astronomical cost; the span never materialized, starved laborers collapsed, and the project died. Magistrates were told to lead youths gathering acorns and netting fish in mountain fords for the elderly, yet magnates seized everything and commoners went empty-handed. Wealthy households were rostered to feed the starving; ministers donated grain for relief, yet venal clerks carved off endless cuts—relief existed in name only.
17
改直蕩為龍騰，冠以絳幘。
The guard corps "Direct Unfurling" was renamed "Dragon Soaring" and issued crimson headcloths.
18
于襄國起太武殿，於鄴造東西宮，至是皆就。 太武殿基高二丈八尺，以文石碎之，下穿伏室，置衛士五百人於其中。 東西七十五步，南北六十五步。 皆漆瓦、金鐺、銀楹、金柱、珠簾、玉壁，窮極枝巧。 又起靈風台九殿于顯陽殿后，選士庶之女以充之。 後庭服綺縠、玩珍奇者萬餘人，內置女官十有八等，教宮人星占及馬步射。 置女太史於靈台，仰觀災祥，以考外太史之虛實。 又置女鼓吹羽儀，雜伎工巧，皆與外侔。 禁郡國不得私學星讖，敢有犯者誅。
He erected the Grand Martial Hall at Xiangguo and paired eastern and western palaces at Ye; both projects now stood finished. The hall sat on a platform twenty-eight chi high, paved with crushed patterned stone; secret vaults beneath held five hundred guardsmen. It measured seventy-five paces east to west and sixty-five north to south. Lacquered tiles, gold roof bells, silver columns, gilded pillars, pearl curtains, and jade screens exhausted every artifice. Behind Xianyang Hall he stacked nine halls on the Spirit-Wind Terrace and filled them with maidens drawn from gentle and humble families alike. More than ten thousand rear-palace women flaunted gauze silks and curios; eighteen ranks of female officers drilled them in astrology and mounted and foot archery. Female astrologers atop the Spirit Terrace scanned omens to check the Grand Astrologer's reports. Female musicians, ceremonial guards, acrobats, and artisans matched anything beyond the palace walls. Commanderies and kingdoms were barred from private star lore and prophecy—violators faced execution.
19
左校令成公段造庭燎於崇杠之末，高十餘丈，上盤置燎，下盤置人，絙繳上下。 季龍試而悅之。 其太保夔安等文武五百九人勸季龍稱尊號，安等方入而庭燎油灌下盤，死者七人。 季龍惡之，大怒，斬成公段於閶闔門。
Left Workshops chief Cheng Gongduan mounted a court beacon on a mast taller than ten zhang—flames above, men below, hoisted on ropes. Jilong watched a trial run and delighted in it. Grand Mentor Kui An joined 509 officials urging a loftier title; as they entered, oil from the beacon flooded the lower platform and killed seven men. Jilong took it as an ill omen, flew into a rage, and executed Cheng Gongduan at the Changhe Gate.
20
於是依殷周之制，以咸康三年僭稱大趙天王，即位于南郊，大赦殊死已下。 追尊祖㔨邪為武皇帝，父寇覓為太宗孝皇帝。 立其鄭氏為天王皇后，以子邃為天王皇太子。 親王皆貶封郡公，籓王為縣侯，百官封署各有差。
Thereupon, aping Yin and Zhou precedent, in Xian Kang 3 (337 CE) he arrogated the title Heavenly King of Great Zhao, took the throne at the southern suburb, and offered amnesty for all crimes short of capital offenses. He canonized his grandfather Xie as Martial Emperor and his father Koumi as Filial Emperor Taizong. Lady Zheng became Heavenly Queen, and Prince Shi Sui was named Heavenly Crown Prince. Imperial princes were demoted to commandery dukes, frontier kings to county marquises, and the bureaucracy received graded titles.
21
太原徙人五百餘戶叛入黑羌。
Over five hundred relocated Taiyuan households broke away and fled to the Black Qiang.
22
武鄉長城徙人韓強獲玄玉璽，方四寸七分，龜紐金文，詣鄴獻之。 拜強騎都尉，復其一門。 夔安等又勸進曰：「臣等謹案大趙水德，玄龜者，水之精也； 玉者，石之寶也； 分之數以象七政，寸之紀以准四極。 昊天成命，不可久違。 輒下史官擇吉日，具禮儀，謹昧死上皇帝尊號。」 季龍下書曰：「過相褒美，猥見推逼，覽增恧然，非所望也，其亟止茲議。 今東作告始，自非京城內外，皆不得表慶。」 中書令王波上《玄璽頌》以美之。 季龍以石弘時造此璽，強遇而獻之。
Han Qiang, relocated from Changcheng in Wuxiang, unearthed a black jade seal four cun seven fen square, its turtle knob engraved in gold, and carried it to Ye as tribute. Han Qiang was named Captain of the Agile Cavalry and his entire clan was excused from labor service. Kui An again pressed him forward: "We observe that Great Zhao holds the virtue of Water; the dark tortoise is water's quintessence; jade is stone perfected; its proportions mirror the Seven Regulators; its inch-markings span the Four Extremities. Heaven's Mandate brooks no further delay. Let the court historians fix an auspicious day, stage the full rites, and memorialize the imperial title though it cost our lives." Jilong replied: "Such overwrought flattery shames me; this is not what I wished—halt these talks at once. Spring plowing has begun; only the capital and its suburbs may submit congratulatory memorials—the provinces may not." Secretariat Director Wang Bo offered an "Ode to the Dark Seal" to celebrate the omen. Jilong believed Shi Hong had commissioned the seal long ago and that Han Qiang had simply recovered and presented it.
23
邃自總百揆之後，荒酒淫色，驕恣無道，或盤游于田，懸管而入，或夜出於宮臣家，淫其妻妾。 妝飾宮人美淑者，斬首洗血，置於盤上，傳共視之。 又內諸比丘尼有姿色者，與其交褻而殺之，合牛羊肉煮而食之，亦賜左右，欲以識其味也。 河間公宣、樂安公韜有寵于季龍，邃疾之如仇。 季龍荒耽內游，威刑失度，邃以事為可呈呈之，季龍恚曰：「此小事，何足呈也。」 時有所不聞，復怒曰：「何以不呈？」 誚責杖捶，月至再三。 邃甚恨，私謂常從無窮、長生、中庶子李顏等曰：「官家難稱，吾欲行冒頓之事，卿從我乎？」 顏等伏不敢對。 邃稱疾不省事，率宮臣文武五百餘騎宴于李顏別舍，謂顏等曰：「我欲至冀州殺石宣，有不從者斬！」 行數里，騎皆逃散，李顏叩頭固諫，邃亦昏醉而歸。 邃母鄭氏聞之，私遣中人責邃。 邃怒，殺其使。 季龍聞邃有疾，遣所親任女尚書察之。 邃呼前與語，抽劍擊之。 季龍大怒，收李顏等詰問，顏具言始末，誅顏等三十餘人。 幽邃於東宮，既而赦之，引見太武東堂。 邃朝而不謝，俄而便出。 季龍遣使謂邃曰：「太子應入朝中宮，何以便去？」 邃逕出不顧。 季龍大怒，廢邃為庶人。 其夜，殺邃及妻張氏並男女二十六人，同埋於一棺之中。 誅其宮臣支党二百餘人。 廢鄭氏為東海太妃。 立其子宣為天王皇太子，宣母杜昭儀為天王皇后。
Once Shi Sui directed all government, he drowned in wine and women, riding roughshod over every norm—hunting for sport by day with musicians in tow, slipping into ministers' houses by night to violate their wives and concubines. He beheaded comely palace ladies, rinsed the gore, and passed the heads on platters for courtiers to inspect. He violated attractive Buddhist nuns, murdered them, then stewed their flesh with beef and mutton, shared the dish with attendants, and savored the flavor. Prince Xuan of Hejian and Prince Tao of Le'an enjoyed Jilong's favor, and Shi Sui loathed them as mortal foes. While Jilong frittered away his days indoors and justice lost all proportion, Shi Sui submitted anything he thought worth reporting; Jilong snapped, "Trifles like these—why clutter my desk?" Yet when something escaped his notice, he would rage, "Why was I not told?" Then came sneers, blame, and beatings—two or three rounds every month. Sui nursed a bitter grudge and whispered to his intimates Wuqiong and Changsheng and Household Aid Li Yan, "Our master cannot be pleased; I mean to repeat Modun's coup—are you with me?" They kowtowed and could not speak. Sui feigned illness and ignored his duties; he gathered five hundred palace guards on horseback at Li Yan's villa and declared over wine, "I ride to Jizhou to kill Shi Xuan—refuse, and you die!" Within a few li the riders had melted away; Li Yan begged on his knees until Sui, sodden with wine, turned back. Lady Zheng learned of it and sent a eunuch privately to scold her son. Enraged, Sui executed the envoy. Hearing that Sui was "ill," Jilong dispatched a trusted female secretary of the Court to examine him. Sui called her close, spoke briefly, then drew his sword and struck her down. Jilong flew into a rage, seized Li Yan and his circle, wrung the full story from them, and executed more than thirty. He confined Sui in the Eastern Palace, then pardoned him and received him at the east hall of the Grand Martial Hall. Sui attended but offered no thanks and stalked out almost at once. Jilong sent word: "The heir should attend court and pay respect at the empress's palace—why leave so abruptly?" Sui walked straight out without a glance. Jilong's fury peaked; he cashiered Sui to commoner status. That night he slaughtered Sui, Lady Zhang, and twenty-six sons and daughters, packing every corpse into a single coffin. More than two hundred of his household ministers and followers died with him. Lady Zheng was reduced to Grand Consort of Donghai. He named Shi Xuan Heavenly Crown Prince and raised Consort Du, Xuan's mother, to Heavenly Queen.
24
安定人侯子光，弱冠美姿儀，自稱佛太子，從大秦國來，當王小秦國。 易姓名為李子楊，游於鄠縣爰赤眉家，頗見其妖狀，事微有驗。 赤眉信敬之，妻以二女，轉相扇惑。 京兆樊經、竺龍、嚴諶、謝樂子等聚眾數千人于杜南山，子楊稱大黃帝，建元曰龍興。 赤眉與經為左右丞相，龍、諶為左右大司馬，樂子為大將軍。 鎮西石廣擊斬之。 子楊頸無血，十餘日而面色無異於生。
Hou Ziguang of Anding was young and striking; he styled himself the Buddha's crown prince, claimed descent from Daqin, and meant to rule "Lesser Qin." Adopting the alias Li Ziyang, he lodged with Yuan Chimei in Hu county; villagers caught glimpses of his sorcery, and a few predictions seemed to come true. Chimei believed him, married him to both daughters, and together they spread his cult. Fan Jing, Zhu Long, Yan Chen, Xie Yuezi, and others rallied thousands on Du South Mountain; Li Ziyang declared himself Grand Yellow Emperor and adopted the reign motto Longxing. Chimei and Fan Jing became left and right chancellors, Zhu Long and Yan Chen left and right grand marshals, and Xie Yuezi grand general. Western garrison commander Shi Guang crushed the rising and took Li Ziyang's head. No blood flowed from his severed neck, and for ten days his face looked as lifelike as before.
25
季龍將伐遼西鮮卑段遼，募有勇力者三萬人，皆拜龍騰中郎。 遼遣從弟屈雲襲幽州，刺史李孟退奔易京。 季龍以桃豹為橫海將軍，王華為渡遼將軍，統舟師十萬出漂渝津，支雄為龍驤大將軍，姚弋仲為冠軍將軍，統步騎十萬為前鋒，以伐段遼。 季龍眾次金台，支雄長驅入薊，遼漁陽太守馬鮑、代相張牧、北平相陽裕、上谷相侯龕等四十餘城並率眾降于季龍。 支雄攻安次，斬其部大夫那樓奇。 遼懼，棄令支，奔於密雲山。 遼右左長史劉群、盧諶、司馬崔悅等封其府庫，遣使請降。 季龍遣將軍郭太、麻秋等輕騎二萬追遼，及之，戰於密雲，獲其母妻，斬級三千。 遼單馬竄險，遣子乞特真送表及名馬，季龍納之。 乃遷其戶二萬餘于雍、司、兗、豫四州之地，諸有才行者皆擢敘之。 先是，北單于乙回為鮮卑敦那所逐，既平遼西，遣其將李穆擊那破之，復立乙回而還。 季龍入遼宮，論功封賞各有差。
Before marching against the Liaoxi Xianbei chieftain Duan Liao, Jilong drafted thirty thousand stalwarts and named them Gentlemen of Dragon Soaring. Duan Liao sent his cousin Quyun against Youzhou; Inspector Li Meng fell back to the fortress at Yijing. Tao Bao led a hundred-thousand-man fleet from Piaoyu Ford as General Who Spans the Sea, Wang Hua commanded as General Who Crosses the Liao, while Zhi Xiong and Yao Yizhong took a hundred thousand horse and foot as the spearhead against Duan Liao. Jilong's army camped at Golden Terrace while Zhi Xiong raced into Ji; more than forty commanderies—from Ma Bao in Yuyang to Zhang Mu in Dai, Yang Yu in Beiping, and Hou Kan in Shanggu—capitulated wholesale. Zhi Xiong stormed Anci and killed the local commander Nalou Qi. Panic-stricken, Duan Liao abandoned Lingzhi and fled into the Miyun hills. His senior advisers Liu Qun and Lu Chen and major Cui Yue sealed the Yan treasury and offered surrender. Guo Tai and Ma Qiu led twenty thousand light cavalry in pursuit, caught Duan Liao at Miyun, seized his mother and wife, and took three thousand heads. Duan Liao escaped alone into the rough hills and sent his son Qitezhen with a petition and prized horses; Jilong accepted the submission. He resettled more than twenty thousand Duan families across Yong, Si, Yan, and Yu, promoting anyone of proven ability. Earlier the northern chanyu Yi Hui had been driven out by the Xianbei chief Dunna; after conquering Liaoxi, Jilong sent Li Mu to crush Dunna, reinstall Yi Hui, and withdraw. Entering the Yan palaces, Jilong ranked his commanders for merit and distributed rewards.
26
初，慕容皝與段遼有隙，遣使稱籓于季龍，陳遼宜伐，請盡眾來會。 及軍至令支，皝師不出，季龍將伐之。 天竺佛圖澄進曰：「燕福德之國，未可加兵。」 季龍作色曰：「以此攻城，何城不克？ 以此眾戰，誰能禦之？ 區區小豎，何所逃也？」 太史令趙攬固諫曰：「燕城歲星所守，行師無功，必受其禍。」 季龍怒，鞭之，黜為肥如長。 進師攻棘城，旬餘不克。 皝遣子恪帥胡騎二千，晨出挑戰，諸門皆若有師出者，四面如雲，季龍大驚，棄甲而遁。 於是召趙攬復為太史令。 季龍旋自令支，過易京，惡其固而毀之。 還謁石勒墓，朝其群臣于襄國建德前殷，復從征文武有差。 至鄴，設飲至之禮，賜俘偏于丞郎。
Murong Huang had quarreled with Duan Liao; he pledged allegiance to Jilong, urged a strike on Duan, and promised to bring every spear to the rendezvous. When Jilong reached Lingzhi, Murong Huang kept his troops home; Jilong prepared to turn on him. The monk Fotucheng warned, "Yan enjoys heaven's favor—do not send armies there." Jilong snarled, "With such hosts I could crack any wall. Who could stand against this army? That petty upstart has nowhere to hide." Astrologer Zhao Lan insisted: "The Year Star guards Yan—campaign there fails and invites disaster." Jilong had him flogged and banished him to magistrate of Feiru. The siege of Ji dragged past ten days without success. Murong Huang sent Murong Ke with two thousand nomad horsemen to offer dawn challenge; every gate seemed to pour forth troops until Jilong, seeing clouds of banners on every side, panicked and fled, shedding his armor. He recalled Zhao Lan as Grand Astrologer. Retreating from Lingzhi through Yijing, Jilong razed the fortress he deemed too strong. He paid respects at Shi Le's tomb, held court before Jiande Hall in Xiangguo, and graded the officers who had marched with him. At Ye he hosted the victory banquet and distributed prisoners among the Secretariat deputies.
27
季龍謀伐昌黎，遣渡遼曹伏將青州之眾渡海，戍蹋頓城，無水而還，因戍於海島，運谷三百萬斛以給之。 又以船三百艘運穀三十萬斛詣高句麗，使典農中郎將王典率眾萬餘屯田于海濱。 又令青州造船千艘。 使石宣率步騎二萬擊朔方鮮卑斛摩頭破之，斬首四萬餘級。
Planning a strike on Changli, Jilong ordered Caofu Who Crosses the Liao to ferry Qingzhou troops across the sea to hold Tadun; finding no fresh water, they pulled back to offshore islets while three million hu of grain sailed out to sustain them. Three hundred ships carried another three hundred thousand hu toward Gaogouli, while Wang Dian led ten thousand colonists to open tidal paddies. He commissioned a thousand new hulls in Qingzhou. Shi Xuan took twenty thousand horse and foot against the Shuofang Xianbei chief Hushetou, shattered him, and piled up more than forty thousand heads.
28
冀州八郡大蝗，司隸請坐守宰，季龍曰：「此政之失和，朕之不德，而欲委咎守宰，豈禹、湯罪己之義邪！ 司隸不進讜言，佐朕不逮，而歸咎無辜，所以重吾之責，可白衣領司隸。」
Locusts swarmed eight Jizhou commanderies; the Metropolitan Superintendent wanted local heads punished, but Jilong replied, "Policy has lost balance and I lack virtue—how is it Yu's or Tang's spirit of self-blame to fault county officials? You offer no candid counsel and blame the innocent instead of supplementing my faults—you only deepen my shame. Strip your robes and serve as Metropolitan Superintendent as a commoner."
29
加其子司徒韜金鉦黃鉞，鑾輅九旒。
He bestowed on Minister of Education Shi Tao—his son—golden bells, yellow battle-axes, and an imperial carriage hung with nine pennants.
30
先是，使襄城公涉歸、上庸公日歸率眾戍長安，二歸告鎮西石廣私樹恩澤，潛謀不軌。 季龍大怒，追廣至鄴，殺之。
Earlier Princes Shegui and Rigui had garrisoned Chang'an; both memorialized that western commander Shi Guang was currying favor and plotting sedition. Jilong summoned Shi Guang to Ye and executed him.
31
段遼於密雲山遣使詐降，季龍信之，使征東麻秋百里郊迎，敕秋曰：「受降如待敵，將軍慎之。」 遼又遣使降于慕容皝曰：「胡貪而無謀，吾今請降求迎，彼終不疑也。 若伏重軍以要之，可以得志。」 皝遣子恪伏兵於密雲。 麻秋統眾三萬迎遼，為恪所襲，死者十六七，秋步遁而歸。 季龍聞之驚怒，方食吐餔，乃削秋官爵。
From Miyun Mountain Duan Liao feigned surrender; Jilong swallowed the ruse and told Ma Qiu to ride a hundred li to meet him, warning, "Treat a surrender like a battle—stay on guard." Duan Liao also messaged Murong Huang: "The Zhao barbarians are greedy and dull; if I beg surrender they will never suspect a trap. Ambush heavy troops along his route and you will break him." Murong Huang sent Murong Ke to hide troops at Miyun. Ma Qiu marched thirty thousand men to escort Duan Liao; Murong Ke ambushed him and slaughtered sixty or seventy percent of his force, sending Ma Qiu fleeing home on foot. Jilong flew into a rage—mid-meal he spat out his mouthful—and stripped Ma Qiu of title and fief.
32
下書令諸郡國立五經博士。 初，勒置大小學博士，至是復置國子博士、助教。 季龍以吏部選舉斥外耆德，而勢門童幼多為美官，免郎中魏ＫＪ為庶人。 以其太子宣為大單于，建天子旌旗。
He ordered every commandery and kingdom to appoint professors for the Five Classics. Shi Le had once founded academy chairs; Jilong now restored Directors of the Sons of State and their assistants. Because the Ministry of Personnel sidelined venerable talent while sons of powerful houses filled plum posts, Jilong cashiered Gentleman-of-the-Palace Wei—whose personal name is corrupted in the received text—to commoner status. He named Crown Prince Shi Xuan Grand Chanyu and issued him imperial banners.
33
以夔安為征討大都督，統五將步騎七萬寇荊揚北鄙。 石閔敗王師于沔陰，將軍蔡懷死之。 宣將硃保又敗王師于白石，將軍鄭豹、談玄、郝莊、隨相、蔡熊皆遇害。 季龍將張賀度攻陷邾城，敗晉將毛寶於邾西，死者萬餘人。 夔安進據胡亭，晉將軍黃沖、曆陽太守鄭進皆降之。 安於是掠七萬戶而還。
Kui An became Grand Commander for Punitive Expeditions, leading five generals and seventy thousand men against the northern Jin frontier of Jing and Yang. Shi Min broke the Jin army south of the Han; General Cai Huai fell in the fight. Shi Xuan's Zhu Bao crushed another Jin force at Baishi; generals Zheng Bao, Tan Xuan, Hao Zhuang, Sui Xiang, and Cai Xiong all died. Zhang Hedu took Zhu and routed Mao Bao west of the town, leaving more than ten thousand Jin soldiers dead. Kui An seized Huting; Huang Chong and Liyang's Zheng Jin surrendered. Kui An carried off seventy thousand households on the retreat.
34
時豪戚侵恣，賄托公行，季龍患之，擢殿中御史李矩為御史中丞，特親任之。 自此百僚震懾，州郡肅然。 季龍曰：「朕聞良臣如猛獸，高步通衢而豺狼避路，信矣哉！」
Magnates ran riot and bribes flowed openly; Jilong raised Palace Auditor Li Ju to chief censor and leaned on him heavily. Officialdom trembled and the provinces snapped to attention. Jilong declared, "They say a worthy minister is like a tiger on the highway—all lesser beasts slink aside. Now I believe it."
35
鎮遠王擢表雍、秦二州望族，自東徙已來，遂在戍役之例，既衣冠華胄，宜蒙優免，從之。 自是皇甫、胡、梁、韋、杜、牛、辛等十有七姓蠲其兵貫，一同舊族，隨才銓敘，思欲分還桑梓者聽之； 其非此等，不得為例。
General Wang Zhuo pleaded for Yong and Qin's eminent families, relocated east and unfairly dragooned like common militia; Jilong granted them relief. Seventeen great houses—from Huangfu and Hu to Wei and Xin—were freed from militia rolls like native Zhao families, ranked by talent; anyone wishing to go home could leave; others could not claim the same privilege.
36
以其撫軍李農為使持節、監遼西北平諸軍事、征東將軍、營州牧，鎮令支。
Li Nong, Army-Soothing Commander, became governor of Yingzhou with full credentials, overseeing Liaoxi and Beiping, and took charge at Lingzhi.
37
于時大旱，白虹經天，季龍下書曰：「朕在位六載，不能上和乾象，下濟黎元，以致星虹之變。 其令百僚各上封事，解西山之禁，蒲葦魚鹽除歲供之外，皆無所固。 公侯卿牧不得規占山澤，奪百姓之利。」 又下書曰：「前以豐國、澠池二冶初建，徙刑徒配之，權救時務。 而主者循為恆法，致起怨聲。 自今罪犯流徒，皆當申奏，不得輒配也。 京獄見囚，非手殺人，一皆原遣。」 其日澍雨。
Severe drought gripped the realm and a white rainbow spanned the sky; Jilong confessed that after six years on the throne he had failed heaven and the people, provoking such omens. He ordered frank memorials, lifted the Western Hills monopoly, and threw open rush beds and fisheries beyond the annual levy. Princes and prefects were forbidden to seize hills and wetlands from commoners." Another edict explained that convicts had been sent to the new Fengguo and Mianchi foundries as a wartime measure. Officials had turned the emergency rule into permanent practice, provoking outrage. Henceforth every sentence of exile or hard labor required imperial approval—no more arbitrary assignments. Everyone in the Ye jails who had not killed with his own hands was freed." That afternoon timely rain fell.
38
季龍將討慕容皝，令司、冀、青、徐、幽、、並、雍兼復之家五丁取三。 四丁取二，合鄴城舊軍滿五十萬，具船萬艘，自河通海，運穀豆千一百萬斛于安樂城，以備征軍之調。 徙遼西、北平、漁陽萬戶於兗、豫、雍、洛四州之地。
Mobilizing against Murong Huang, Jilong drafted three of every five able men from Si, Ji, Qing, Xu, You, Bing, and Yong among households owing duplicate service. Where four men were available, two were taken; with Ye's standing troops the host reached half a million. Ten thousand hulls linked river to sea, hauling eleven million hu of beans and grain to Anle to supply the campaign. He transplanted ten thousand households from Liaoxi, Beiping, and Yuyang into Yan, Yu, Yong, and Henan.
39
季龍僭位之後，有所調用，皆選司擬官，經令僕而後奏行。 不得其人，案以為令僕之負，尚書及郎不坐。 至是，吏部尚書劉真以為失銓考之體而言之，季龍責怒主者，加真光祿大夫，金章紫綬。
After claiming the throne, every appointment passed through the Selection Bureau and both ministers before reaching the throne. Bad hires were blamed on the two ministers; bureau directors escaped punishment. Personnel chief Liu Zhen protested that this betrayed merit assessment; Jilong punished the clerks who had distorted policy and promoted Liu Zhen to Superior Grand Master with gold seal and purple sash.
40
季龍如宛陽，大閱於曜武場。
Jilong traveled to Wanyang for a full-dress army review on the Yaowu parade ground.
41
慕容皝襲幽、冀，略三萬餘家而去。 幽州刺史石光坐懦弱征還。
Murong Huang struck Youzhou and Jizhou, swept away over thirty thousand households, and withdrew. Inspector Shi Guang of Youzhou was recalled for spinelessness.
42
賜征士辛謐几杖衣服，穀五百斛，敕平原為起甲第。
He honored the recluse Xin Mi with a cane, robe, five hundred hu of grain, and commanded Pingyuan to erect a noble residence for him.
43
先是，李壽將李宏自晉奔于季龍，壽致書請之，題曰趙王石君。 季龍不悅，付外議之，多有異同。 中書監王波議曰：「今李宏以死自誓，若得反魂蜀漢，當鳩率宗族，混同王化。 若遣而果也，則不煩一旅之師而坐定梁、益，就有進退，豈在逃命一夫。 壽既號並日月，跨僭一方，今若制詔，或敢酬反，則取誚戎裔。 宜書答之，並贈以楛矢，使壽知我遐荒必臻也。」 於是遣宏，備物以酬之。
Earlier Li Hong—general under Cheng's Li Shou—had defected from Jin to Shi Hu; Li Shou wrote asking his return, superscribing the envelope to "His Lordship the Zhao King." Shi Hu bridled and referred the letter to court debate; opinions split. Supervisor Wang Bo urged: "Li Hong vows to serve faithfully—should he regain Shu he will gather his clan and submit to civilization. Send him home and, if he delivers, Liang and Yi fall without a campaign; whatever happens, the risk is one man's life—not ours. Li Shou already plays emperor—if we dictate terms he may answer back and make us a laughingstock among the Yi. Better reply in kind and send ceremonial mulberry arrows to remind him our frontier authority reaches even his halls." He released Li Hong with rich gifts to repay Li Shou.
44
以石韜為太尉，與太子宣迭日省可尚書奏事。 自幽州東至白狼，大興屯田。
Shi Tao became Grand Commandant, rotating days with Crown Prince Shi Xuan to vet Secretariat business. East from Youzhou to Bailang he opened vast military colonies.
45
張駿憚季龍之盛，遣其別駕馬詵朝之。 季龍初大悅，及覽其表，辭頗蹇傲，季龍大怒，將斬詵。 侍中石璞進曰：「為陛下之患者，丹陽也。 區區河右，焉能為有無！ 今斬馬詵，必征張駿，則南討之師勢分為二，建鄴君臣延其數年之命矣。 勝之不為武，弗克為四夷所笑，不如因而厚之。 彼若改圖謝罪，率其臣職者，則我又何求！ 迷而不悟，討之未後也。」 季龍乃止。
Wary of Shi Hu's power, Zhang Jun dispatched Administrator Ma Shen to pay homage. Shi Hu first delighted in the embassy; reading the memorial's haughty tone, he reached for Ma Shen's neck. Attendant Shi Pu warned: "Your real foe sits at Danyang. The Hexi corridor cannot tip the balance. Kill Ma Shen and Zhang Jun marches—your southern front divides and Jiankang buys another few years. Crushing him proves little; losing makes the barbarians laugh—better lavish courtesy instead. If they repent and acknowledge vassalage, we need nothing more. Let stubbornness run its course—we can punish them whenever we choose." Shi Hu stayed his hand.
46
李宏既至蜀漢，李壽欲誇其境內，下令云：「羯使來庭，獻其楛矢。」 季龍聞之怒甚，黜王波以白衣守中書監。
When Li Hong arrived in Cheng, Li Shou staged a spectacle, proclaiming, "The Jie envoy kneels in audience and offers tribute arrows." Shi Hu roared with rage and stripped Wang Bo to commoner rank while keeping him as nominal Secretariat supervisor.
47
季龍志在窮兵，以其國內少馬，乃禁畜私馬，匿者腰斬，收百姓馬四萬餘匹以入於公。 兼盛興宮室於鄴，起台觀四十餘所，營長安、洛陽二宮，作者四十餘萬人。 又敕河南四州具南師之備，並、朔、秦、雍嚴四討之資，青、冀、幽州三五發卒，諸州造甲者五十萬人。 兼公侯牧宰競興私利，百姓失業，十室而七。 船夫十七萬人為水所沒、猛獸所害，三分而一。 貝丘人李弘因眾心之怨，自言姓名應讖，遂連結奸黨，署置百僚。 事發，誅之，連坐者數千家。
Determined to mobilize endless campaigns and starved for mounts, Shi Hu banned private horses—hiding one earned bisection—and seized forty thousand animals for the arsenal. He frenzied palace construction at Ye—forty towers and counting—and poured four hundred thousand laborers into twin capitals at Chang'an and Luoyang. He ordered south-facing arsenals along Henan, war stores on the northern marches, staggered levies in Qing, Ji, and You, and put half a million smiths to work on armor. Nobles and magistrates looted alongside him until seven households in ten were broken. Among a hundred seventy thousand boatmen, a third drowned or were torn apart by beasts. Li Hong of Beiqiu exploited popular rage, claimed the omens named him, knit together a rebel council, and handed out offices. When the plot surfaced he executed the ringleaders and extirpated thousands of linked households.
48
季龍畋獵無度，晨出夜歸，又多微行，躬察作役之所。 侍中韋謏諫曰：「臣聞千金之子坐不垂堂，萬乘之主行不履危。 陛下雖天生神武，雄據四海，乾坤冥贊，萬無所慮。 然白龍魚服，有豫且之禍； 海若潛游，罹葛陂之酷，深願陛下清宮蹕路，思二神為元鑒，不可忽天下之重，輕行斤斧之間。 一旦有狂夫之變，龍騰之勇不暇施也，智士之計豈及設哉！ 又自古聖王之營建宮室，未始不于三農之隙，所以不奪農時也。 今或盛功於耘藝之辰，或煩役於收穫之月，頓斃屬途，怨聲塞路，誠非聖君仁後所忍為也。 昔漢明賢君也，鐘離一言而德陽役止。 臣誠識慚昔士，言無可采，陛下道越前王，所宜哀覽。」 季龍省而善之，賜以穀帛，而興繕滋繁，游察自若。
Shi Hu hunted past all reason—dawn sorties, midnight returns—and skulked in disguise to spy on corvée gangs. Attendant Wei Xian pleaded: "Even a rich heir avoids sitting under the eaves; a Son of Heaven does not court peril. You were born formidable and rule the realm—heaven seems to smile on you. Yet the white dragon disguised as a fish met Yu Ju's hook; the river god who hid among fish tasted Gebei's cruelty—clear the roads, heed those omens, and do not wager the realm on reckless strolls through construction sites. If assassins strike, your elite guard cannot react in time—no stratagem saves you. Ancient kings built only between planting seasons so farmers never missed the crop. Yet you drag peasants from spring planting and autumn harvest—corpses litter the highways and curses choke the roads—no humane sovereign could stomach it. Even Han Mingdi stopped palace work on one minister's word. I am no Zhongli Yan, yet you surpass the Han emperors—please listen." Shi Hu praised Wei Xian and sent grain and silk—then doubled the building projects and kept touring the sites.
49
右僕射張離領五兵尚書，專總兵要，而欲求媚于石宣，因說之曰：「今諸公侯吏兵過限，宜漸削弱，以盛儲威。」 宣素疾石韜之寵，甚說其言，乃使離奏奪諸公府吏，秦、燕、義陽、樂平四公聽置吏一百九十七人，帳下兵二百人，自此以下，三分置一，余兵五萬，悉配東宮。 於是諸公咸怨，為大釁之漸矣。
Zhang Li, commanding the Ministry of Five Armies, flattered Shi Xuan: "Princely armies exceed statute—pare them back to magnify the throne." Shi Xuan, jealous of Shi Tao, gleefully ordered cuts: the four highest princes kept fixed quotas; lesser peers retained one-third of staff; fifty thousand surplus troops went to the crown prince's camp. Every prince fumed—the first crack before civil war.
50
遣征北張舉自雁門討索頭郁鞠，克之。
He sent Zhang Ju from Yanmen against Yuju the Suotou and broke him.
51
制：「征士五人車一乘，牛二頭，米各十五斛，絹十匹，調不辦者以斬論。」 將以圖江表。 於是百姓窮窘，鬻子以充軍制，猶不能赴，自經于道路死者相望，而求發無已。 會青州言濟南平陵城北石獸，一夜中忽移在城東南善石溝，上有狼狐千餘跡隨之，跡皆成路。 季龍大悅曰：「獸者，朕也。 自平陵城北而東南者，天意將使朕平蕩江南之征也。 天命不可違，其敕諸州兵明年悉集。 朕當親董六軍，以副成路之祥。」 群臣皆賀，上《皇德頌》者一百七人。 時妖怪尤多，石然于泰山，八日而滅。 東海有大石自立，旁有血流。 鄴西山石間血流出，長十餘步，廣二尺餘。 太武殿畫古賢悉變為胡，旬餘，頭悉縮入肩中。 季龍大惡之，佛圖澄對之流涕。
Edict: every five conscripts furnish a cart, two oxen, fifteen hu of grain, and ten bolts of silk—default earns death." The levy targeted the conquest of the south. Families sold children to meet quotas yet still fell short; suicides lined the highways while recruiters never stopped. Qingzhou reported stone beasts north of Pingling that overnight lurched southeast to Shanshi Gully, leaving a thousand wolf and fox prints like beaten paths. Shi Hu crowed, "The beast is me. North to southeast traces heaven's road for me to conquer the south. Destiny brooks no refusal—muster every province next year. I will command the hosts myself to fulfill the omen." Ministers cheered; a hundred seven scholars offered hymns to his virtue. Omens multiplied—a boulder on Mount Tai glowed eight days like fire. In Donghai a monolith reared upright while blood pooled beside it. West of Ye blood seeped from the cliffs for ten paces along a two-foot span. Portraits of sages in the Grand Martial Hall turned into barbarians; within days their heads sank into their shoulders. Shi Hu trembled at the sight; Fotucheng wept openly.
52
甯遠劉甯攻武都狄道，陷之。 使石宣討鮮卑斛穀提，大破之，斬首三萬級。
Liu Ning, General Who Pacifies the Distance, stormed Didao in Wudu and took it. Shi Xuan shattered the Xianbei chief Huguti and stacked thirty thousand heads.
53
中謁者令申扁有寵于季龍，而宣亦昵之。 扁聰辯明斷，專綜機密之任。 季龍既不省奏案，宣荒酒內游，石韜沈湎好獵，生殺除拜皆扁所決。 於是權傾內外，刺史二千石多出其門，九卿已下望塵而拜，唯侍中鄭系、王謨、常侍盧諶、崔約等十餘人與之抗禮。
Shen Bian, Director of Palace Gatekeepers, enjoyed Shi Hu's trust—and Shi Xuan's intimacy. Shen Bian was razor-sharp and ran confidential business alone. Shi Hu stopped reading memorials; Shi Xuan drowned in wine and women; Shi Tao hunted—Shen Bian decided every life and every office. Power flowed through Shen Bian—most governors flattered him while a dozen high ministers alone stood on ceremony.
54
季龍又取州郡吏馬一萬四千餘匹，以配曜武關將，馬主皆復一年。
He seized fourteen thousand government horses for Yaowu Pass garrisons and remitted a year's labor for prior owners.
55
鎮北宇文歸執送段遼之子蘭降于季龍，獻駿馬萬匹。
Yuwen Gui of the northern march dragged in Duan Lan, Duan Liao's son, with ten thousand horses.
56
季龍以平西張伏都為使持節、都督征討諸軍事，帥步騎三萬擊涼州。 既濟河，與張駿將謝艾大戰於河西，伏都敗績。
He named Zhang Fudu Pacifying the West with full credentials and thirty thousand men to attack Liangzhou. Across the Yellow River he met Xie Ai and suffered total defeat.
57
季龍雖昏虐無道，而頗慕經學，遣國子博士詣洛陽寫石經，校中經于秘書。 國子祭酒聶熊注《谷梁春秋》，列於學官。
For all his cruelty Shi Hu cultivated the canon—sent academicians to copy the Luoyang stone classics and collate texts in the palace. Libationer Nie Xiong annotated the Guliang commentary for the academy.
58
燕公石斌淫酒荒獵，常懸管而入。 征北張賀度以邊防宜警，每裁諫之。 斌怒，辱賀度。 季龍聞之大怒，杖斌一百，遣主書禮儀持節監之。 斌行意自若，儀持法呵禁，斌怒殺之。 欲殺賀度，賀度嚴衛馳白之，季龍遣尚書張離持節帥騎追斌，鞭之三百，免官歸第，誅其親任十餘人。
Prince Shi Bin drunk himself witless and hunted endlessly—musicians trailing wherever he went. Zhang Hedu, guarding the frontier, rebuked him for neglect. Bin retaliated with public insults. Shi Hu had Bin flogged and assigned clerk Liyi to rein him in. Bin ignored orders; when Liyi enforced rules Bin murdered him. Bin next moved on Zhang Hedu, who raced word to Ye; Shi Hu sent Zhang Li to arrest him, lashed him three hundred strokes, cashiered him, and executed a dozen cronies.
59
建元初，季龍饗群臣于太武前殿，有白雁百餘集于馬道南。 季龍命射之，無所獲。 既將討三方，諸州兵至者百餘萬。 太史令趙攬私于季龍曰：「白雁集殿庭，宮室將空，不宜行也。」 季龍納之，臨宣武觀大閱而解嚴。
Early in the Jianyuan era Shi Hu feasted his court in the Grand Martial Hall as a hundred white geese settled south of the avenue. He ordered them shot; none fell. With war looming on three fronts, mustered troops topped a million. Zhao Lan whispered that geese on the terrace meant hollow palaces—cancel the march." Shi Hu listened, reviewed troops at Xuanyang Gate, and stood down.
60
以燕公斌為使持節、侍中、大司馬、錄尚書事。 置左右戎昭、曜武將軍，位在左右衛上。 東宮置左右統將軍，位在四率上。 置上、中光祿大夫，在左右光祿上。 置鎮衛將軍，在車騎將軍上。
He restored Shi Bin as Grand Marshal with full credentials and Secretariat powers. He created left and right Martial Glory and Radiant Martial posts above the palace guards. The crown prince's compound gained senior commanders outranking the four cadet guards. He added upper and middle Grandees of the Palace over the usual pair. He invented a Garrison Guard general senior to chariot and cavalry commanders.
61
時石宣淫虐日甚，而莫敢以告。 領軍王朗言之于季龍曰：「今隆冬雪寒，而皇太子使人斫伐宮材，引于漳水，功役數萬，士眾籲嗟。 陛下宜因游觀而罷之也。」 季龍如其言。 既而宣知朗所為，怒欲殺之而無因。 會熒惑守房，趙攬承宣旨言于季龍曰：「昴者，趙之分也，熒惑所在，其主惡之。 房為天子，此殃不小。 宜貴臣姓王者當之。」 季龍曰：「誰可當者？」 攬久而對曰：「無復貴于王領軍也。」 季龍既惜朗，且猜之，曰：「更言其次。」 攬曰：「其次唯中書監王波耳。」 季龍乃下書追波前議遣李宏及答楛矢之愆，腰斬之，及其四子投于漳水，以厭熒惑之變。 尋湣波之無罪，追贈司空，封其孫為侯。
Shi Xuan's atrocities mounted while everyone stayed silent. Wang Lang warned that in deepest winter the crown prince had tens of thousands hauling timber to the Zhang River. A royal tour could halt the corvée." Shi Hu staged an inspection and stopped the work. When Shi Xuan learned Wang Lang had intervened, he burned to kill him but lacked pretext. When Mars hung over Fang, Zhao Lan—doing Shi Xuan's bidding—told Shi Hu that Mao marked Zhao's fate and Mars spelled doom for its lord. Fang houses the throne—this was grave. A high minister named Wang must absorb the omen." Shi Hu asked whom to sacrifice." Zhao Lan answered after a pause, "None nobler than Wang Lang." Shi Hu prized Wang Lang yet smelled treachery—"Name another." The next choice is Wang Bo of the Secretariat," said Zhao Lan. Shi Hu issued a bill of indictment against Wang Bo for the Li Hong affair and the mulberry-arrow reply, cut him in two at the waist, drowned his four sons in the Zhang as propitiation for Mars. Soon he regretted Wang Bo's innocence, posthumously named him Minister of Works, and ennobled a grandson.
62
平北尹農攻慕容皝凡城，不克而還。 黜農為庶人。
Yin Nong, Grand General Who Pacifies the North, besieged Murong Huang at Fancheng, failed, and withdrew. He reduced Yin Nong to commoner status.
63
時白虹出自太社，經鳳陽門，東南連天，十餘刻乃滅。 季龍下書曰：「蓋古明王之理天下也，政以均平為首，化以仁惠為本，故能允協人和，絹熙神物。 朕以眇薄，君臨萬邦，夕惕乾乾，思遵古烈，是以每下書蠲除徭賦，休息黎元，庶俯懷百姓，仰稟三光。 而中年已來變眚彌顯，天文錯亂，時氣不應，斯由人怨於下，譴感皇天。 雖朕之不明，亦群後不能翼獎之所致也。 昔楚相修政，洪災旋弭； 鄭卿厲道，氛祲自消，皆服肱之良，用康群變，而群公卿士各懷道迷邦，拱默成敗，豈所望於台輔百司哉！ 其各上封事，極言無隱。」 於是閉鳳陽門，唯元日乃開。 立二畤於靈昌津，祠天及五郊。
A white rainbow shot from the earth altar through Fengyang Gate and bridged the southeastern sky for minutes before fading. Shi Hu proclaimed: "The sage kings of old ruled by fairness and taught through mercy, harmonizing men and pleasing heaven. Though I am unworthy, I have tried to lighten taxes and spare the people, hoping to please heaven and earth. Yet omens worsen—stars wander and seasons fail—because resentment below has alarmed heaven. My faults aside, my ministers have failed to guide me. When Sunshu Ao reformed Chu the floods stopped; when Zichan disciplined Zheng the miasma fled—because ministers did their jobs—while you hide behind folded arms and watch the realm slip away! Memorialize frankly—hide nothing." He sealed Fengyang Gate except on New Year's. He raised twin altars at Lingchang Ford for Heaven and the five directions.
64
李壽以建寧、上庸、漢固、巴征、梓潼五郡降于季龍。
Li Shou yielded five Shu commanderies to Shi Hu.
65
先是，季龍起河橋於靈昌津，採石為中濟，石無大小，下輒隨流，用功五百餘萬而不成。 季龍遣使致祭，沈璧於河。 俄而所沈譬流於渚上，地震，水波騰上，津所殿觀莫不傾壞，壓死者百餘人。 季龍恚甚，斬工匠而止作焉。
Earlier he tried bridging the Yellow River at Lingchang; every stone washed away until half a million man-days accomplished nothing. He offered sacrifice and sank a ritual jade into the current. The jade bobbed up on a sandbar; an earthquake convulsed the river; waves smashed the riverside towers and killed a hundred workers. Shi Hu executed the builders and abandoned the bridge.
66
命石宣、石韜，生殺拜除皆迭日省決，不復啟也。 司徒申鐘諫曰：「度賞刑威，後皇攸執，名器至重，不可以假人，皆以防奸杜漸，以示軌儀。 太子國之儲貳，朝夕視膳而不及政也。 庶人邃往以聞政致敗，殷鑒不遠，宜革而弗遵。 且二政分權，鮮不及禍。 周有子頹之釁，鄭有叔段之難，此皆由寵之不道，所以亂國害親，惟陛下覽之。」 季龍不從。 太子詹事孫珍問侍中崔約曰：「吾患目疾，何方療之？」 約素狎珍，戲之曰：「溺中則愈。」 珍曰：「目何可溺？」 約曰：「卿目睕々，正耐溺中。」 珍恨之，以白宣。 宣諸子中最胡狀，目深，聞之大怒，誅約父子。 珍有寵于宣，頗預朝政，自誅約之後，公卿已下憚之側目。
He let Shi Xuan and Shi Tao alternate days judging life, death, and appointments without referring matters to him. Shen Zhong warned that rewards, punishments, and offices belong to the sovereign alone. An heir attends his father at meals—he does not co-rule. Shi Sui ruined us by meddling—that lesson is fresh. Split authority invites disaster. Zhou and Zheng fell to rival sons—unchecked favor destroys bloodlines, Majesty." Shi Hu ignored him. Sun Zhen asked Cui Yue how to cure his eyes." Cui Yue joked, "Wash them in urine." Sun Zhen asked how eyes could be bathed in urine." "Those deep-set sockets could stand it," Cui shot back." Sun Zhen told Shi Xuan, who already burned for revenge. Shi Xuan—the most "barbarian"-looking prince—raged at the slur on his eyes and slaughtered the Cui clan. Sun Zhen remained Shi Xuan's favorite and terrified the bureaucracy.
67
季龍子義陽公鑒時鎮關中，役煩賦重，失關右之和。 其友李松勸鑒，文武有長髮者，拔為冠纓，余以給宮人。 長史取發白之，季龍大怒，以其右僕射張離為征西左長史、龍驤將軍、雍州刺史以察之，信然，征鑒還鄴，收松下廷尉，以石苞代鎮長安。 發雍、洛、秦、并州十六萬人城長安未央宮。
Prince Shi Jian held Chang'an but crushed it with taxes and labor. Li Song urged him to shear officials' long hair for hat cords and feed the rest to palace women—sheer cruelty. The chief clerk exposed the scheme; Shi Hu sent Zhang Li west to investigate, recalled Shi Jian, jailed Li Song, and installed Shi Bao at Chang'an. He drafted a hundred sixty thousand laborers from four provinces to fortify Weiyang Palace.
68
季龍性既好獵，其後體重，不能跨鞍，乃造獵車千乘，轅長三丈，高一丈八尺，罝高一丈七尺，格獸車四十乘，立三級行樓二層於其上，克期將校獵。 自靈昌津南至滎陽，東極陽都，使御史監察，其中禽獸有犯者罪至大辟。 御史因之擅作威福，百姓有美女好牛馬者，求之不得，便誣以犯獸論，死者百餘家，海岱、河濟間人無寧志矣。
Too fat to ride, Shi Hu built a thousand hunting wagons—poles three zhang tall, snares almost as high—and staged battue drives from fixed schedules. From Lingchang to Xingyang and east to Yangdu, censors patrolled royal preserves where touching game meant death. Censors abused the law—when bribes failed they framed families for poaching; hundreds died from Shandong to the Yellow River.
69
又發諸州二十六萬人修洛陽宮。 發百姓牛二萬餘頭配朔州牧官。
He pressed two hundred sixty thousand men into rebuilding Luoyang palace. He drafted twenty thousand oxen for Shuozhou pasture officials.
70
增置女官二十四等，東宮十有二等，諸公侯七十餘國皆為置女官九等。 先是，大發百姓女二十已下十三已上三萬餘人，為三等之第以分配之。 郡縣要媚其旨，務於美淑，奪人婦者九千餘人。 百姓妻有美色，豪勢因而脅之，率多自殺。 石宣及諸公又私令采發者，亦垂一萬。 總會鄴宮。 季龍臨軒簡第諸女，大悅，封使者十二人皆為列侯。 自初發至鄴，諸殺其夫及奪而遣之縊死者三千餘人。 荊、楚、揚、徐間流叛略盡，宰守坐不能綏懷，下獄誅者五十餘人。 金紫光祿大夫逯明因侍切諫，季龍大怒，遣龍騰拉而殺之。 自是朝臣杜口，相招為祿仕而已。 季龍常以女騎一千為鹵簿，皆著紫綸巾、熟錦褲、金銀鏤帶、五文織成靴，游于戲馬觀。 觀上安詔書五色紙，在木鳳之口，鹿盧回轉，狀若飛翔焉。
He invented twenty-four ranks of palace ladies for himself, twelve for the heir, and nine for seventy princely houses. Earlier he had seized thirty thousand maidens aged thirteen to twenty and graded them for distribution. Magistrates eager to please stole more than nine thousand wives. When nobles coveted commoners' wives, the women often killed themselves. Shi Xuan and other princes dragooned another ten thousand girls privately. They packed Ye palace with captives. Shi Hu reviewed the girls from his balcony, delighted, and ennobled twelve recruiters as marquises. From roundup to arrival more than three thousand women hanged after husbands were murdered or they were cast aside. Jing, Chu, Yang, and Xu emptied as peasants fled; fifty magistrates died for failing to calm them. Lu Ming remonstrated at audience; Shi Hu had Dragon Soaring guards tear him apart. Officials fell silent—each angling for pay and survival. He paraded a thousand horsewomen in purple headcloths, brocade trousers, and patterned boots as his escort to the Play-Horse Terrace. Edicts on colored paper hung from a wooden phoenix whose pulley spun them like flying birds.
71
遣涼州刺史麻秋等伐張重華。
He sent Ma Qiu from Liangzhou against Zhang Chonghua.
72
尚書硃軌與中黃門嚴生不協，會大雨霖，道路陷滯不通，生因而譖軌不修道，又訕謗朝政，季龍遂殺之。 於是立私論之條，偶語之律，聽吏告其君，奴告其主，威刑日濫，公卿已下，朝會以目，吉凶之問，自此而絕。 軌之囚也，冠軍苻洪諫曰：「臣聞聖主之馭天下也，土階三尺，茅茨不翦，食不累味，刑措而不用。 亡君之馭海內也，傾宮瓊榭，象箸玉杯，截脛剖心，脯賢刳孕，故其亡也忽焉。 今襄國、鄴宮足康帝宇，長安、洛陽何為者哉？ 盤于游田，耽於女德，三代之亡恆必由此。 而忽為獵車千乘，養獸萬里，奪人妻女，十萬盈宮。 尚書硃軌，納言大臣，以道路不修，將加酷法，此自陛下政之失和，陰陽災沴，暴降霖雨七旬，霽方二日，縱有鬼兵百萬，尚未及修之，而況人乎！ 刑政如此，其如史筆何！ 其如四海何！ 特願止作徒，休宮女，赦硃軌，允眾望。」 季龍省之不悅，憚其強，但寢而不納，弗之罪也。 乃停二京作役焉。
When floods stalled the roads, eunuch Yan Sheng accused Minister Zhu Gui of sabotage and slander; Shi Hu executed Gui. He banned private debate, rewarded informers, and reduced the court to fearful glances. When Zhu Gui was jailed, Fu Hong pleaded that sages ruled frugally and seldom used punishment. Tyrants built marble towers and butchered ministers—thus they fell overnight. Xiangguo and Ye already suffice—why tear apart Chang'an and Luoyang? The Three Dynasties fell through hunts and harems. Yet you drive a thousand hunt carts, pen game across the realm, and pack the palace with a hundred thousand stolen women. Minister Zhu Gui dies for muddy roads after seventy days of rain—no army could pave them sooner—your policy unbalances heaven. How will history judge such cruelty? What will the realm think? Stop the works, free the women, spare Zhu Gui—that is what we beg." Shi Hu scowled but feared Fu Hong too much to punish him—his advice died unsigned. He did halt construction at the two western capitals.