Volume 102 Biographies 52: Ma Huaisu, Chu Wuliang, Liu Zixuan, Xu Jian, Yuan Xingchong, Wu Jing, Wei Shu

○李林甫楊國忠張暐王琚王毛仲陳玄禮附

Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, Zhang Wei, Wang Ju, and Wang Maozhong, with an appended biography of Chen Xuanli

=李林甫=李林甫，高祖從父弟長平王叔良之曾孫。叔良生孝斌，官至原州長史。孝斌生思誨，官至揚府參軍，思誨即林甫之父也。林甫善音律，初為千牛直長，其舅楚國公姜皎深愛之。開元初，遷太子中允。時源乾曜為侍中，乾曜侄孫光乘，姜皎妹婿，乾曜與之親。乾曜之男潔白其父曰：「李林甫求為司門郎中。」乾曜曰：「郎官須有素行才望高者，哥奴豈是郎官耶？」數日，除諭德。哥奴，林甫小字。累遷國子司業。

Li Linfu was the great-grandson of Prince Shuliang of Changping, a cousin of Emperor Gaozu's generation on the paternal line. Shuliang had a son Xiaobin, who served as Administrator of Yuan Prefecture. Xiaobin had a son Sihui, who served as Staff Officer of Yang Prefecture; Sihui was Li Linfu's father. Li Linfu was accomplished in music. He began as Chief of the Thousand-Ox Guard, and his uncle, Duke of Chu Jiang Jiao, was deeply fond of him. Early in the Kaiyuan reign, he was promoted to Companion to the Heir Apparent. At that time Yuan Qianyao served as Vice Director of the Secretariat. His nephew's grandson Guangcheng was married to a daughter of Jiang Jiao's sister, and Qianyao was on close terms with him. Qianyao's son Jie told his father, "Li Linfu is asking to be made Director of the Office of the Gates. Qianyao replied, "A bureau director must have an established reputation for integrity and real ability. Is Genu fit for such an office?" A few days later, Li Linfu was appointed Instructor to the Heir Apparent instead. Genu was Li Linfu's childhood name. He rose through several posts until he became Vice Director of the Directorate of Education.

十四年，宇文融為御史中丞，引之同列，因拜御史中丞，歷刑、吏二侍郎。時武惠妃愛傾後宮，二子壽王、盛王以母愛特見寵異，太子瑛益疏薄。林甫多與中貴人善，乃因中官白惠妃云：「願保護壽王。」惠妃德之。初，侍中裴光庭妻武三思女，詭譎有材略，與林甫私。中官高力士本出三思家，及光庭卒，武氏銜哀祈於力士，請林甫代其夫位，力士未敢言，玄宗使中書令蕭嵩擇相，嵩久之以右丞韓休對，玄宗然之，乃令草詔。力士遽漏於武氏，乃令林甫白休。休既入相，甚德林甫，與嵩不和，乃薦林甫堪為宰相，惠妃陰助之，因拜黃門侍郎，玄宗眷遇益深。

In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan, Yuwen Rong, then Vice Censor-in-Chief, brought him onto the same roster and secured his appointment as Vice Censor-in-Chief. Li Linfu later served as Vice Minister of Justice and Vice Minister of Personnel. At that time Consort Wu Hui's favor dominated the inner palace. Her sons, the Princes of Shou and Sheng, enjoyed exceptional affection because of their mother, while Crown Prince Ying grew increasingly distant from the emperor. Li Linfu cultivated many senior eunuchs. Through one of them he told Consort Hui, "I wish to protect the Prince of Shou. The consort was deeply grateful to him. Pei Guangting's wife was a daughter of Wu Sansi — clever, resourceful, and secretly involved with Li Linfu. The eunuch Gao Lishi had originally served the Wu family. After Guangting's death, his widow pleaded with Lishi to have Li Linfu succeed her husband, but Lishi did not dare raise it. The emperor ordered Chief Minister Xiao Song to recommend a new chief minister. Song finally named Han Xiu, the emperor agreed, and an edict was drafted. Lishi quickly leaked the news to the Wu widow, who had Li Linfu warn Han Xiu in advance. Once in office, Han Xiu felt indebted to Li Linfu. At odds with Xiao Song, he recommended Li Linfu for the chancellorship, and Consort Hui quietly backed the move. Li Linfu was appointed Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat, and the emperor's favor toward him deepened.

二十三年，以黃門侍郎平章事裴耀卿為侍中，中書侍郎平章事張九齡為中書令，林甫為禮部尚書、同中書門下三品，並加銀青光祿大夫。林甫面柔而有狡計，能伺侯人主意，故驟歷清列，為時委任。而中官妃家，皆厚結托，伺上動靜，皆預知之，故出言進奏，動必稱旨。而猜忌陰中人，不見於詞色，朝廷受主恩顧，不由其門，則構成其罪；與之善者，雖廝養下士，盡至榮寵。尋歷戶、兵二尚書，知政事如故。

In the twenty-third year, Pei Yaoqing became Vice Director of the Secretariat, Zhang Jiuling became Chief Minister of the Secretariat, and Li Linfu became Minister of Rites with concurrent appointment as Associate Chief Minister. All three received the title Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with Silver Seal. Li Linfu had a gentle manner but a cunning mind. Skilled at reading others' intentions, he rose rapidly through high office and won the court's trust. He cultivated close ties with eunuchs and the consort's family, learned the emperor's mind in advance, and so his memorials and advice almost always pleased him. He was secretly jealous and destructive, never showing it on his face. Officials who enjoyed imperial favor without passing through him found crimes fabricated against them. Those who won his friendship, even humble attendants and minor officials, rose to honor and favor. He soon served as Minister of Revenue and then Minister of War while continuing to direct state affairs.

尋又以太子瑛、鄂王瑤、光王琚皆以母失愛而有怨言，駙馬都尉楊洄白惠妃。玄宗怒，謀於宰臣，將罪之。九齡曰：「陛下三個成人兒不可得。太子國本，長在宮中，受陛下義方，人未見過，陛下奈何以喜怒間忍欲廢之？臣不敢奉詔。」玄宗不悅。林甫惘然而退，初無言，既而謂中貴人曰：「家事何須謀及於人。」時朔方節度使牛仙客在鎮，有政能，玄宗加實封，九齡又奏曰：「邊將馴兵秣馬，儲蓄軍實，常務耳，陛下賞之可也；欲賜實賦，恐未得宜。惟聖慮思之。」帝默然。林甫以其言告仙客，仙客翌日見上，泣讓官爵。玄宗欲行實封之命，兼為尚書，九齡執奏如初。帝變色曰：「事總由卿？」九齡頓首曰：「陛下使臣待罪宰相，事有未允，臣合盡言。違忤聖情，合當萬死。」玄宗曰：「卿以仙客無門籍耶？卿有何門閥？」九齡對曰：「臣荒僥微賤，仙客中華之士。然陛下擢臣踐臺閣，掌綸誥；仙客本河湟一使典，目不識文字，若大任之，臣恐非宜。」林甫退而言曰：「但有材識，何必辭學；天子用人，何有不可？」玄宗滋不悅。

Soon afterward Yang Hui, Chief Commandant of Horse, reported to Consort Hui that Crown Prince Ying and the Princes of E and Guang, whose mothers had fallen from favor, were voicing resentment. The emperor was furious and consulted his chief ministers about punishing them. Zhang Jiuling said, "Your Majesty, you cannot lightly discard three grown sons. The crown prince is the foundation of the state. He has long lived in the palace under your instruction, and no fault has been seen in him. How can you, in a moment of anger, resolve to depose him? I dare not obey such an order. The emperor was displeased. Li Linfu withdrew looking blank and said nothing at first. Later he told a senior eunuch, "Family matters — why consult outsiders about them? At that time Niu Xianke, military governor of Shuofang, was an able administrator, and the emperor wished to increase his substantive fief. Zhang Jiuling memorialized again, "Training troops and stockpiling supplies are a border general's ordinary duties. Your Majesty may reward him for that. But to grant him a substantive fief may not be appropriate. I beg Your Majesty to reconsider." The emperor fell silent. Li Linfu relayed Zhang's words to Niu Xianke, who appeared before the emperor the next day in tears and declined rank and titles. The emperor still wished to grant the substantive fief and appoint him Minister, but Zhang Jiuling objected as before. The emperor's face darkened. "Must everything be decided by you? Zhang Jiuling kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty appointed me chief minister to bear blame on your behalf. When something is not right, I am bound to speak plainly. If I have offended Your Majesty, I deserve death ten thousand times over." The emperor said, "Do you oppose Xianke because he lacks a distinguished pedigree? What distinguished lineage do you claim?" Zhang Jiuling answered, "I am a man of humble and obscure origin. Xianke is a man of the central provinces. Yet Your Majesty raised me to high office and entrusted me with drafting imperial edicts. Xianke was originally a minor clerk from the frontier west of the Yellow River who cannot read. If he is given a great appointment, I fear it would be unwise." Li Linfu withdrew and remarked, "Talent and judgment matter — why insist on literary learning? When the Son of Heaven appoints a man, what is impossible?" The emperor grew still more displeased.

九齡與中書侍郎嚴挺之善。挺之初娶妻出之，妻乃嫁蔚州刺史王元琰。時元琰坐贓，詔三司使推之，挺之救免其罪。玄宗察之，謂九齡曰：「王元琰不無贓罪，嚴挺之囑托所由輩有顏面。」九齡曰：「此挺之前妻，今已婚崔氏，不合有情。」玄宗曰：「卿不知，雖離之。亦卻有私。」玄宗籍前事，以九齡有黨，與裴耀卿俱罷知政事，拜左、右丞相，出挺之為洺州刺史，元琰流於嶺外。即日林甫代九齡為中書、集賢殿大學士、修國史；拜牛仙客工部尚書、同中書門下平章事，知門下省事。監察御史周子諒言仙客非宰相器，玄宗怒而殺之。林甫言子諒本九齡引用，乃貶九齡為荊州長史。

Zhang Jiuling was close to Yan Tingzhi, Vice Director of the Secretariat. Yan Tingzhi had once married and then divorced his wife, who later married Wang Yuanyan, Governor of Wei Prefecture. When Yuanyan was charged with corruption, the Three Offices were ordered to investigate. Yan Tingzhi intervened to secure his acquittal. The emperor saw through it and told Zhang Jiuling, "Wang Yuanyan was not innocent of corruption. Yan Tingzhi's intervention on his behalf was a disgrace to the officials involved. Zhang Jiuling replied, "She was Yan Tingzhi's former wife and is now married into the Cui family. There should be no improper attachment." The emperor said, "You do not understand. Even after divorce— —there can still be private feeling." Drawing on these earlier matters, the emperor judged Zhang Jiuling guilty of factionalism. He and Pei Yaoqing were removed from active chancellorship and given nominal posts as Left and Right Chief Ministers. Yan Tingzhi was sent out as Governor of Ming Prefecture, and Wang Yuanyan was exiled to the far south. That same day Li Linfu replaced Zhang Jiuling as Chief Minister of the Secretariat, Grand Academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies, and Compiler of the National History. Niu Xianke was appointed Minister of Works, Associate Chief Minister, and charged with the affairs of the Chancellery. Investigating Censor Zhou Ziliang declared that Niu Xianke was unfit to be chief minister. The emperor was furious and had him executed. Li Linfu argued that Zhou had been Zhang Jiuling's protégé, and Zhang was demoted to Administrator of Jing Prefecture.

玄宗終用林甫之言，廢太子瑛、鄂王瑤、光王琚為庶人，太子妃兄駙馬都尉薛銹長流瀼州，死於故驛，人謂之「三庶」，聞者冤之。其月，佞媚者言有烏鵲巢於大理獄戶，天下幾致刑措。玄宗推功元輔，封林甫晉國公，仙客豳國公。其冬，惠妃病，三庶人為崇而薨。儲宮虛位，玄宗未定所立。林甫曰：「壽王年已成長，儲位攸宜。」玄宗曰：「忠王仁孝，年又居長，當守器東宮。」乃立為皇太子。自是林甫懼，巧求陰事以傾太子。

The emperor finally followed Li Linfu's advice and deposed Crown Prince Ying and the Princes of E and Guang, reducing them to commoners. Xue Chou, the crown prince's brother-in-law and Chief Commandant of Horse, was exiled to Rang Prefecture and died at an old relay station. People called them "the three deposed princes," and many who heard of it felt the punishment unjust. That month flatterers reported that crows and magpies had nested in the gate of the Court of Judicial Review's prison, and the realm nearly reached a state in which punishments were unused. The emperor credited his chief ministers and enfeoffed Li Linfu as Duke of Jin and Niu Xianke as Duke of Bin. That winter Consort Hui fell ill and died, it was said, haunted by the spirits of the three deposed princes. The heir apparent's place stood empty, and the emperor had not yet chosen a successor. Li Linfu said, "The Prince of Shou is already grown. He is the fitting choice for the heir apparent. The emperor replied, "The Prince of Zhong is benevolent and filial, and as the eldest he should hold the Eastern Palace." He was thereupon named crown prince. From then on Li Linfu was afraid and contrived secret schemes to bring down the crown prince.

林甫既秉樞衡，兼領隴右、河西節度，又加吏部尚書。天寶改易官名，為右相，停知節度事，加光祿大夫，遷尚書左僕射。六載，加開府儀同三司，賜實封三百戶，而恩渥彌深。凡禦府膳羞，遠方珍味，中人宣賜，道路相望。與宰相李適之雖同宗屬，而適之輕率，嘗與林甫同論時政，多失大體，由是主恩益疏，以至罷免。黃門侍郎陳希烈性便佞，嘗曲事林甫，適之既罷，乃引希烈同知政事。林甫久典樞衡，天下威權，並歸於己，臺司機務，希烈不敢參議，但唯諾而已。每有奏請，必先賂遺左右，伺察上旨，以固恩寵。上在位多載，倦於萬機，恆以大臣接對拘檢，難徇私欲，自得林甫，一以委成。故杜絕逆耳之言，恣行宴樂，袵席無別，不以為恥，由林甫之贊成也。

Once Li Linfu held the reins of government, he also commanded the Longyou and Hexi frontier commands and was appointed Minister of Personnel. When official titles were revised in the Tianbao era, he became Right Chief Minister, relinquished his frontier commands, received the title Grand Master of Imperial Luminance, and was promoted to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. In the sixth year he received the title Defender-in-Chief with Equipage Equal to the Three Dukes and a substantive fief of three hundred households, and imperial favor toward him deepened still further. Imperial delicacies and rare foods from distant regions were constantly sent to him by eunuch couriers, one procession following another along the roads. He was related to Chief Minister Li Shizhi, but Shizhi was rash. When they discussed policy together, Shizhi often spoke without proper judgment, and the emperor's favor toward him waned until he was dismissed. Chen Xilie, Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat, was pliant and obsequious and had long curried favor with Li Linfu. After Li Shizhi's dismissal, Li Linfu brought Chen in as a fellow chief minister. Li Linfu had long controlled the government, and all power in the realm flowed to him. Chen Xilie dared not debate important matters in the central offices and merely assented. Before submitting any memorial, he first bribed those close to the emperor to learn his intentions and thereby secure his favor. The emperor had reigned many years and wearied of daily governance. He found senior ministers constraining and difficult to bend to his private wishes. Once he had Li Linfu, he entrusted everything to him. He therefore shut out unwelcome counsel, indulged in feasting and pleasure, made no distinction in his private life, and felt no shame — all with Li Linfu's encouragement.

林甫京城邸第，田園水硙，利盡上腴。城東有薛王別墅，林亭幽邃，甲於都邑，特以賜之，及女樂二部，天下珍玩，前後賜與，不可勝紀。宰相用事之盛，開元已來，未有其比。然每事過慎，條理眾務，增修綱紀，中外遷除，皆有恆度。而耽寵固權，己自封植，朝望稍著，必陰計中傷之。初，韋堅登朝，以堅皇太子妃兄，引居要職，示結恩信，實圖傾之，乃潛令御史中丞楊慎矜陰伺堅隙。會正月望夜，皇太子出遊，與堅相見，慎矜知之，奏上。上大怒，以為不軌，黜堅，免太子妃韋氏。林甫因是奏李適之與堅昵狎，及裴寬、韓朝宗並曲附適之，上以為然，賜堅自盡，裴、韓皆坐之斥逐。後楊慎矜權位漸盛，林甫又忌之，乃引王鉷為御史中丞，托以心腹。鉷希林甫意，遂誣罔密奏慎矜左道不法，遂族其家。楊國忠以椒房之親，出入中禁，奏請多允，乃擢在臺省，令按刑獄。會皇太子良娣杜氏父有鄰與子婿柳勣不葉，勣飛書告有鄰不法，引李邕為證，詔王鉷與國忠按問。鉷與國忠附會林甫奏之，於是賜有鄰自盡，出良娣為庶人，李邕、裴敦復枝黨數人並坐極法。林甫之苞藏安忍，皆此類也。

Li Linfu's mansions in the capital, together with his fields, gardens, and water mills, monopolized the richest land. East of the city stood the Prince of Xue's villa, whose secluded gardens were the finest in the capital; it was granted to him outright, along with two companies of female musicians. Countless rare treasures from across the realm were bestowed on him before and after. No chief minister since the Kaiyuan era had wielded power on such a scale. Yet he was meticulous in every matter, put affairs in order, strengthened regulations, and kept promotions and appointments within fixed standards at court and in the provinces. Yet he clung to favor and consolidated his own faction. Whenever anyone at court gained standing, he secretly plotted their ruin. When Wei Jian first rose at court, Li Linfu, knowing he was the crown prince's consort's brother, gave him an important post to feign friendship while secretly plotting his downfall. He ordered Vice Censor-in-Chief Yang Shenjin to watch for any opening against him. On the night of the Lantern Festival the crown prince went out and met Wei Jian. Yang Shenjin learned of it and reported to the throne. The emperor was furious, judged the meeting treasonous, dismissed Wei Jian, and removed the crown prince's Wei consort. Li Linfu then reported that Li Shizhi had been close to Wei Jian and that Pei Kuan and Han Chaozong had sided with Li Shizhi. The emperor believed him. Wei Jian was ordered to take his own life, and Pei and Han were driven from office. Later, as Yang Shenjin's power grew, Li Linfu grew jealous again and installed Wang Hong as Vice Censor-in-Chief, treating him as a trusted agent. Wang Hong, eager to please Li Linfu, fabricated charges that Yang Shenjin practiced forbidden arts and memorialized in secret. Yang's entire clan was destroyed. Yang Guozhong, a relative of the imperial consort clan, moved freely within the inner palace and won approval for most of his requests. He was promoted within the censorate and ordered to handle criminal investigations. The father of Crown Prince's secondary consort Du, Youlin, fell out with his son-in-law Liu Ji, who sent an urgent denunciation charging Youlin with wrongdoing and citing Li Yong as witness. The emperor ordered Wang Hong and Yang Guozhong to investigate. Wang Hong and Yang Guozhong framed their report to match Li Linfu's wishes. Youlin was ordered to kill himself, the secondary consort was reduced to a commoner, and Li Yong, Pei Dunfu, and several associates were executed. Li Linfu's secret malice and ruthless patience took such forms throughout.

林甫自以始謀不佐皇太子，慮為後患，故屢起大獄以危之，賴太子重慎無過，流言不入。林甫嘗令濟陽別駕魏林告隴右、河西節度使王忠嗣，林往任朔州刺史，忠嗣時為山東節度，自雲與忠王同養宮中，情意相得，欲擁兵以佐太子。玄宗聞之曰：「我兒在內，何路與外人交通？此妄也。」然忠嗣亦左授漢陽太守。八載，咸寧太府趙奉章告林甫罪狀二十餘條。告未上，林甫知之，諷御史臺逮捕，以為妖言，重杖決殺。

Li Linfu knew he had never supported the crown prince from the start and feared future retribution. He therefore repeatedly launched major prosecutions to endanger him, but the crown prince was cautious and without fault, and slander could not take hold. Li Linfu once had Wei Lin, Vice Prefect of Jiayang, denounce Wang Zhongsi, military governor of Longyou and Hexi. Wei Lin had formerly served at Shuo Prefecture. Zhongsi, then military governor of the eastern circuit, claimed that he and the Prince of Zhong had been raised together in the palace and were close, and that he wished to rally troops to support the crown prince. When the emperor heard this he said, "My son is inside the palace. How could he communicate with outsiders? This is nonsense. Yet Wang Zhongsi was still demoted and appointed Administrator of Hanyang. In the eighth year Zhao Fengzhang, Grand Provisioner of Xianning, submitted a list of more than twenty charges against Li Linfu. Before the report could be submitted, Li Linfu learned of it. He prompted the Censorate to arrest the man, denounced the charges as seditious rumor, and had him beaten to death.

十載，林甫兼領安西大都護、朔方節度，俄兼單於副大都護。十一載，以朔方副使李獻忠叛，讓節度，舉安思順自代。國家武德、貞觀已來，蕃將如阿史那杜爾、契苾何力，忠孝有才略，亦不專委大將之任，多以重臣領使以制之。開元中，張嘉貞、王晙、張說、蕭嵩、杜暹皆以節度使入知政事，林甫固位，誌欲杜出將入相之源，嘗奏曰：「文士為將，怯當矢石，不如用寒族、蕃人，蕃人善戰有勇，寒族即無黨援。」帝以為然，乃用思順代林甫領使。自是高仙芝、哥舒翰皆專任大將，林甫利其不識文字，無入相由，然而祿山竟為亂階，由專得大將之任故也。

In the tenth year Li Linfu added the posts of Protector-General of Anxi and Military Governor of Shuofang, and soon afterward also became Vice Protector-General of Chanyu. In the eleventh year, after Shuofang deputy commissioner Li Xianzhong rebelled, he resigned the military governorship and recommended An Sishun as his successor. Since the Wude and Zhenguan reigns, even foreign generals of loyalty and ability such as Ashina Duo'er and Qibi Heli had not been given sole command; instead senior ministers were usually appointed to oversee them. During the Kaiyuan era Zhang Jiazhen, Wang Jun, Zhang Yue, Xiao Song, and Du Xian had all risen from military governorships into the chief ministry. Seeking to secure his own position, Li Linfu resolved to cut off the path from frontier command to the chief ministership. He once memorialized, "When literary men serve as generals they flinch before enemy fire. It is better to appoint men from humble families or foreign origin. Foreigners fight well and bravely, and men from humble families have no faction to back them. The emperor agreed, and appointed An Sishun to replace Li Linfu in the frontier command. Thereafter Gao Xianzhi and Geshu Han each held sole military command. Li Linfu welcomed their illiteracy and lack of any path to the chief ministership, yet An Lushan ultimately became the agent of rebellion — precisely because such men had been granted unchecked command.

林甫恃其早達，輿馬被服，頗極鮮華。自無學術，僅能秉筆，有才名於時者尤忌之。而郭慎微、苑咸文士之闒茸者，代為題尺。林甫典選部時，選人嚴迥判語有用「杕杜」二字者，林甫不識「杕」字，謂吏部侍郎韋陟曰：「此云『杖杜』，何也？」陟俯首不敢言。太常少卿姜度，林甫舅子，度妻誕子，林甫手書慶之曰：「聞有弄麞之慶。」客視之掩口。

Li Linfu had risen early, and his carriages, horses, and clothing were lavishly splendid. He had no real scholarship and could barely wield a brush himself. He particularly hated anyone of recognized talent in his day. Petty literary men such as Guo Shenwei and Yuan Xian ghost-wrote his correspondence for him. While Li Linfu headed the Selection Bureau, a candidate named Yan Hui used the phrase didu in his examination essay. Not recognizing the character di, he asked Vice Minister of Personnel Wei Zhi, "This looks like zhangdu — what does it mean?" Wei Zhi lowered his head and said nothing. Jiang Du, Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Li Linfu's nephew by marriage, had a son born to his wife. Li Linfu sent a handwritten note of congratulation: "I hear there is the joy of handling a young stag. Guests who read it covered their mouths to hide their laughter.

初，楊國忠登朝，林甫以微才不之忌；及位至中司，權傾朝列，林甫始惡之。時國忠兼領劍南節度，會南蠻寇邊，林甫請國忠赴鎮。帝雖依奏，然待國忠方渥，有詩送行，句末言入相之意。又曰：「卿止到蜀郡處置軍事，屈指待卿。」林甫心尤不悅。林甫時已寢疾。其年十月，扶疾從幸華清宮，數日增劇，巫言一見聖從差減，帝欲視之，左右諫止。乃敕林甫出於庭中，上登降聖閣遙視，舉紅巾招慰之，林甫不能興，使人代拜於席。翌日，國忠自蜀還，謁林甫，拜於床下，林甫垂涕托以後事。尋卒，贈太尉、揚州大都督，給班劍、西園秘器。諸子以吉儀護柩還京師，發喪於平康坊之第。

At first, when Yang Guozhong entered court, Li Linfu thought him of little account and did not see him as a threat; Once he reached the Central Secretariat and his power overshadowed the court, Li Linfu began to hate him. Yang Guozhong then also held the Jiannan military governorship. When southern tribes raided the frontier, Li Linfu asked that Guozhong be sent to take up his post there. The emperor approved the request, but Yang Guozhong was then in high favor. The emperor wrote a farewell poem whose closing lines hinted that he would soon be called to the chief ministership. He added, "Go only as far as Shu Commandery to settle military affairs. I shall be counting the days until you return. Li Linfu was especially displeased at this. By then Li Linfu was already bedridden with a chronic illness. That October he accompanied the emperor to Huaqing Palace despite his illness. Within days his condition worsened. A shaman said that seeing the imperial retinue would ease his suffering. The emperor wanted to visit him in person, but attendants dissuaded him. The emperor then had Li Linfu brought out into the courtyard. From the Descending Sagely Pavilion he watched from afar, waving a red scarf in greeting and consolation. Li Linfu could not rise and had an attendant bow on his behalf from the mat. The next day Yang Guozhong returned from Shu, visited Li Linfu, and prostrated himself at the bedside. Li Linfu wept and entrusted his affairs after death to him. He soon died. He was posthumously made Grand Marshal and Area Commander of Yang Prefecture, and granted ceremonial swords and imperial funerary treasures. His sons escorted the coffin back to the capital with full ceremonial honors and held the funeral at his mansion in Pingkang Ward.

林甫晚年溺於聲妓，姬侍盈房。自以結怨於人，常憂刺客竊發，重扃復壁，絡板甃石，一夕屢徙，雖家人不之知。有子二十五人、女二十五人：岫為將作監，崿為司儲郎中，嶼為太常少卿；子婿張博濟為鴻臚少卿，鄭平為戶部員外郎，杜位為右補闕，齊宣為諫議大夫，元捴為京兆府戶曹。

In his later years Li Linfu indulged in music and courtesans until his chambers were filled with concubines. Having made many enemies, he constantly feared assassination. He reinforced doors, doubled walls, and paneled rooms with stone, changing his sleeping place several times in a single night without even his family knowing. He had twenty-five sons and twenty-five daughters. You served as Director of Palace Construction, E as Administrative Supervisor of the Granaries, and Yu as Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; His sons-in-law held posts as well: Zhang Boji was Vice Director of the Court of State Ceremonial, Zheng Ping Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue, Du Wei Right Remonstrance Official, Qi Xuan Remonstrance and Policy Advisor, and Yuan Zong Account Officer in the Revenue Section of the metropolitan prefecture.

初，林甫嘗夢一白晰多須長丈夫逼己，接之不能去。既寤，言曰：「此形狀類裴寬，寬謀代我故也。」時寬為戶部尚書、兼御史大夫，故因李適之黨斥逐之。是時楊國忠始為金吾胄曹參軍，至是不十年，林甫卒，國忠竟代其任，其形狀亦類寬焉。國忠素憾林甫，既得誌，誣奏林甫與蕃將阿布思同構逆謀，誘林甫親族間素不悅者為之證。詔奪林甫官爵，廢為庶人，岫、崿諸子並謫於嶺表。林甫性沈密，城府深阻，未嘗以愛憎見於容色。自處臺衡，動循格令，衣冠士子，非常調無仕進之門。所以秉鈞二十年，朝野側目，憚其威權。及國忠誣構，天下以為冤。

Early on Li Linfu dreamed of a fair-skinned, heavily bearded man towering over him and pressing close so that he could not break away. When he woke he said, "This man looks like Pei Kuan. Kuan must be plotting to take my place. Pei Kuan was then Minister of Revenue and also Censor-in-Chief, so Li Linfu used Li Shizhi's faction to have him driven from office. At that time Yang Guozhong was only an Army Cadet of the Golden Guard Regiment. Less than ten years later Li Linfu was dead and Guozhong had taken his place — and his appearance indeed resembled Pei Kuan's. Yang Guozhong had long resented Li Linfu. Once in power he falsely accused him of plotting rebellion with the foreign general Abu Si, and persuaded disgruntled members of Li Linfu's family to testify against him. An edict stripped Li Linfu of rank and reduced him posthumously to commoner status. You, E, and his other sons were all exiled to the far south. Li Linfu was secretive by nature and impenetrably guarded. He never revealed affection or dislike in his expression. Once he held chief ministerial power he strictly enforced regulations. Gentry officials without regular examination credentials had no path to advancement. He held power for twenty years, and throughout court and country people watched him in fear of his authority. When Yang Guozhong framed him, people throughout the empire regarded it as a grievous injustice.

=楊國忠=楊國忠，本名釗，蒲州永樂人也。父珣，以國忠貴，贈兵部尚書。則天朝幸臣張易之，即國忠之舅也。國忠無學術拘檢，能飲酒，蒱博無行，為宗黨所鄙。乃發憤從軍，事蜀帥，以屯優當遷，益州長史張寬惡其為人，因事笞之，竟以屯優授新都尉。稍遷金吾衛兵曹參軍。太真妃，即國忠從祖妹也。天寶初，太真有寵，劍南節度使章仇兼瓊引國忠為賓佐，既而擢授監察御史。去就輕率，驟履清貴，朝士指目嗤之。

Yang Guozhong — Yang Guozhong, original name Zhao, was a native of Yongle in Pu Prefecture. His father Xun was posthumously made Minister of War after Yang Guozhong rose to prominence. Zhang Yizhi, the favored courtier of Empress Wu's reign, was Yang Guozhong's maternal uncle. Yang Guozhong had no learning or self-restraint. He drank heavily, gambled recklessly, and was scorned by his clan. Indignant, he enlisted and served under a Shu commander. His performances as a camp entertainer should have earned him promotion, but Zhang Kuan, Chief Administrator of Yizhou, disliked his character, had him flogged on a pretext, and ultimately gave him a post as Administrator of Xindu on the strength of his camp performances alone. He was eventually promoted to Army Cadet of the Golden Guard Regiment. Consort Taizhen was Yang Guozhong's younger cousin. Early in the Tianbao era, when Consort Taizhen was in favor, Jiannan military governor Zhang Qiu Jianqiong brought Yang Guozhong on as an aide and soon had him appointed Supervising Censor. His rise was hasty and ill-considered. Thrust overnight into high office, he was pointed at and mocked by court officials.

時李林甫將不利於皇太子，掎摭陰事以傾之。侍御史楊慎矜承望風旨，誣太子妃兄韋堅與皇甫惟明私謁太子，以國忠怙寵敢言，援之為黨，以按其事。京兆府法曹吉溫舞文巧詆，為國忠爪牙之用，因深竟堅獄，堅及太子良娣杜氏、親屬柳勣、杜昆吾等，痛繩其罪，以樹威權。於京城別置推院，自是連歲大獄，追捕擠陷，誅夷者數百家，皆國忠發之。林甫方深阻保位，國忠凡所奏劾，涉疑似於太子者，林甫雖不明言以指導之，皆林甫所使，國忠乘而為邪，得以肆意。上春秋高，意有所愛惡，國忠探知其情，動契所欲。驟遷檢校度支員外郎，兼侍御史，監水陸運及司農、出納錢物、內中市買、召募劍南健兒等使。以稱職遷度支郎中，不期年，兼領十五餘使，轉給事中、兼御史中丞，專判度支事。是歲，貴妃姊虢國、韓國、秦國三夫人同日拜命，兄銛拜鴻臚卿。八載，玄宗召公卿百僚觀左藏庫，喜其貨幣山積，面賜國忠金紫，兼權太府卿事。國忠既專錢谷之任，出入禁中，日加親幸。

At that time Li Linfu intended to harm the crown prince and was gathering secret charges to bring him down. Supervising Censor Yang Shenjin took his cue from Li Linfu and accused the crown prince's brother-in-law Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming of secretly visiting the crown prince. Because Yang Guozhong, emboldened by imperial favor, was willing to speak out, he was enlisted as an ally to prosecute the case. Ji Wen, legal officer of the capital district, twisted the law to serve as Yang Guozhong's enforcer. He pursued Wei Jian's case relentlessly, and Jian, the crown prince's secondary consort Lady Du, and relatives such as Liu Ji and Du Kunwu were harshly condemned — all to build Yang Guozhong's power. A separate interrogation office was set up in the capital. Thereafter major prosecutions ran year after year. Pursuit, entrapment, and execution destroyed hundreds of families — all at Yang Guozhong's instigation. Li Linfu was then deep in schemes to hold his position. Every accusation Yang Guozhong brought that touched the crown prince, though Li Linfu never openly directed him, came at Li Linfu's instigation. Yang Guozhong seized the opportunity to do evil and act as he pleased. The emperor was advanced in years and his moods shifted unpredictably. Yang Guozhong discerned his inclinations and always aligned himself with what the emperor wanted. He was rapidly promoted to Checking Grand Coordinator of the Revenue Section and Supervising Censor, and was put in charge of land and water transport, agricultural revenues, treasury disbursements, palace purchases, and recruitment of Jiannan soldiers, among other duties. Deemed competent, he was promoted to Administrative Supervisor of the Revenue Section. Within a year he held more than fifteen concurrent commissions, was made Drafting Attendant and Vice Censor-in-Chief, and took sole charge of revenue affairs. That year the Noble Consort's sisters — the Ladies of Guo, Han, and Qin — were ennobled on the same day, and her brother Xian was appointed Director of the Court of State Ceremonial. In the eighth year Emperor Xuanzong summoned the whole court to view the Left Treasury. Delighted to see money and goods heaped like mountains, he personally awarded Yang Guozhong the gold-and-purple insignia of high rank and acting directorship of the Grand Treasury. Once Yang Guozhong controlled fiscal affairs, his access to the inner palace grew and imperial favor toward him increased daily.

初，楊慎矜希林甫旨，引王鉷為御史中丞，同構大獄，以傾東宮。既帝意不回，慎矜稍避事防患，因與鉷有隙。鉷乃附國忠，奏誣慎矜，誅其昆仲，由是權傾內外，公卿惕息。吉溫為國忠陳移奪執政之策，國忠用其謀，尋兼兵部侍郎。京兆尹蕭炅、御史中丞宋渾皆林甫所親善，國忠皆誣奏譴逐，林甫不能救。王鉷為御史大夫，兼京兆尹，恩寵侔於國忠，而位望居其右。國忠忌其與己分權，會邢縡事泄，乃陷鉷兄弟誅之，因代鉷為御史大夫，權京兆尹，賜名國忠。乃窮竟邢縡獄，令引林甫交私鉷、銲與阿布思事狀，而陳希烈、哥舒翰附會國忠，證成其狀，上由是疏薄林甫。

Earlier Yang Shenjin had sought to please Li Linfu, helped install Wang Hong as Vice Censor-in-Chief, and together they built a major prosecution to undermine the crown prince. When the emperor's mind could not be moved, Shenjin began to keep his distance to protect himself, and a breach opened between him and Wang Hong. Wang Hong then aligned with Yang Guozhong, falsely accused Shenjin, and had his brothers executed. Yang Guozhong's power now dominated court and harem alike, and senior officials trembled before him. Ji Wen outlined for Yang Guozhong a strategy for seizing governmental power. Guozhong adopted the plan and soon added the post of Vice Minister of War. Capital Intendant Xiao Jiong and Vice Censor-in-Chief Song Hun were both close to Li Linfu. Yang Guozhong falsely accused them and had them dismissed, and Li Linfu could not protect them. Wang Hong served as Censor-in-Chief and Capital Intendant. His favor matched Yang Guozhong's, and his rank even stood above his. Yang Guozhong resented him as a rival for power. When Xing Zai's plot was exposed, he framed Wang Hong's brothers and had them executed, then took Hong's posts as Censor-in-Chief and acting Capital Intendant and was granted the name Guozhong. He then pursued Xing Zai's case to the end, having him implicate Li Linfu's private dealings with Wang Hong and Abu Si. Chen Xilie and Geshu Han corroborated Yang Guozhong's account, and the emperor's trust in Li Linfu waned.

南蠻質子閤羅鳳亡歸不獲，帝怒甚，欲討之。國忠薦閬州人鮮于仲通為益州長史，令率精兵八萬討南蠻，與羅鳳戰於瀘南，全軍陷沒。國忠掩其敗狀，仍敘其戰功，仍令仲通上表請國忠兼領益部。十載，國忠權知蜀郡都督府長史，充劍南節度副大使，知節度事，仍薦仲通代己為京兆尹。國忠又使司馬李宓率師七萬再討南蠻。宓渡瀘水，為蠻所誘，至和城，不戰而敗，李宓死於陣。國忠又隱其敗，以捷書上聞。自仲通、李宓再舉討蠻之軍，其征發皆中國利兵，然於土風不便，沮洳之所陷，瘴疫之所傷，饋餉之所乏，物故者十八九。凡舉二十萬眾，棄之死地，只輪不還，人銜冤毒，無敢言者。國忠尋兼山南西道采訪使。十一載，南蠻侵蜀，蜀人請國忠赴鎮，林甫亦奏遣之。將辭，雨泣懇陳必為林甫所排，帝憐之，不數月召還。會林甫卒，遂代為右相，兼吏部尚書、集賢殿大學士、太清太微宮使、判度支、劍南節度、山南西道采訪、兩京出納租庸鑄錢等使並如故。

Geluofeng, a hostage prince of the southern tribes, escaped home and could not be recaptured. The emperor was furious and wanted to mount a campaign against him. Yang Guozhong recommended Xianyu Zhongtong of Lang Prefecture as Chief Administrator of Yizhou and sent him with eighty thousand elite troops against the southern tribes. At Lu South he fought Geluofeng and the entire army was destroyed. Yang Guozhong covered up the defeat, still reported it as a victory, and had Zhongtong petition for Yang Guozhong to add command of the Yi region. In the tenth year Yang Guozhong served as acting Chief Administrator of the Shu Area Command, as deputy military governor of Jiannan with full authority, and recommended Zhongtong to replace him as Capital Intendant. Yang Guozhong then sent Staff Officer Li Mi with seventy thousand men on another campaign against the southern tribes. Li Mi crossed the Lu River, was lured into a trap by the tribes, reached Hecheng, and was routed without a fight. Li Mi died on the field. Yang Guozhong again concealed the defeat and sent a report of victory to the throne. The two campaigns Zhongtong and Li Mi led were manned with the empire's best troops, yet the men were unsuited to the local climate. They drowned in marshes, succumbed to pestilence, and starved for lack of supplies. Eight or nine in ten died. In all, two hundred thousand men were sent to die — not a single chariot wheel returned. People burned with resentment, but none dared speak out. Yang Guozhong soon added the post of Investigating Commissioner of the Southwestern Mountain Circuit. In the eleventh year, when southern tribes invaded Shu, the people of Shu asked that Yang Guozhong take command, and Li Linfu also memorialized to send him away. When he was about to depart he wept and pleaded that Li Linfu would surely maneuver against him. The emperor took pity on him and recalled him within a few months. When Li Linfu died, Yang Guozhong succeeded him as Right Chief Minister while retaining his posts as Minister of Personnel, Grand Academician of the Hall for Assembling the Worthy, Commissioner of the Palaces of Grand Clarity and Grand Awe, chief of revenue affairs, military governor of Jiannan, Investigating Commissioner of the Southwestern Mountain Circuit, and commissioner of tax and coin operations in both capitals.

國忠本性疏躁，強力有口辯，既以便佞得宰相，剖決機務，居之不疑。立朝之際，或攘袂扼腕，自公卿已下，皆頤指氣使，無不詟憚。故事，宰相居臺輔之地，以元功盛德居之，不務威權，出入騎從簡易。自林甫承恩顧年深，每出車騎滿街，節將、侍郎有所關白，皆趨走辟易，有同案吏。舊例，宰相午後六刻始出歸第，林甫奏太平無事，以巳時還第，機務填委，皆決於私家。主書吳珣持籍就左相陳希烈之第，希烈引籍署名，都無可否。國忠代之，亦如前政。國忠自侍御史以至宰相，凡領四十餘使，又專判度支、吏部三銓，事務鞅掌，但署一字，猶不能盡，皆責成胥吏，賄賂公行。

Yang Guozhong was by nature crude and impulsive, aggressive and glib. Having reached the chief ministership through flattery, he handled state business with untroubled self-assurance. In court he might roll up his sleeves and clench his fist. From senior ministers downward, he ordered people about by gesture and tone, and all feared him. By custom chief ministers held their posts through founding merit and great virtue. They did not rely on intimidation, and their entourages were modest. Li Linfu had enjoyed imperial favor for many years. Whenever he went out the streets were filled with his carriages and horses. Frontier commanders and vice ministers reporting business all scurried aside like office clerks before a magistrate. Under old custom chief ministers did not leave for home until late afternoon. Li Linfu claimed that peace left nothing urgent and left at midday. Weighty affairs piled up and were all decided at his private residence. Chief Clerk Wu Xun brought the roster to Left Chief Minister Chen Xilie's house. Xilie signed it without question or objection. When Yang Guozhong replaced him, he did the same. From Supervising Censor to chief minister Yang Guozhong held more than forty concurrent commissions and also took sole charge of revenue and the Ministry of Personnel's three selection boards. Work piled up beyond his capacity — he could not even finish signing his name — and everything was left to clerks while bribery ran unchecked.

國忠既以宰臣典選，奏請銓日便定留放，不用長名。先天已前，諸司官知政事，午後歸本司決事，兵部尚書、侍郎亦分銓註擬。開元已後，宰臣數少，始崇其任，不歸本司。故事，吏部三銓，三註三唱，自春及夏，才終其事。國忠使胥吏於私第暗定官員，集百僚於尚書省對註唱，一日令畢，以誇神速，資格差謬，無復倫序。明年註擬，又於私第大集選人，令諸女弟垂簾觀之，笑語之聲，朗聞於外。故事，註官訖，過門下侍中、給事中。國忠註官時，呼左相陳希烈於座隅，給事中在列，曰：「既對註擬，過門下了矣。」吏部侍郎韋見素、張倚皆衣紫，是日與本曹郎官同咨事，趨走於屏樹之間。既退，國忠謂諸妹曰：「兩員紫袍主事何如人？」相對大噱。其所昵京兆尹鮮于仲通、中書舍人竇華、侍御史鄭昂諷選人於省門立碑，以頌國忠銓綜之能。

As chief minister overseeing appointments, Yang Guozhong petitioned that successful and rejected candidates be decided on the spot, without using the customary long roster. Before the Xiantian era, officials who handled state affairs returned to their own departments after noon to decide business, and the Minister and Vice Ministers of War also shared in proposing appointments. After the Kaiyuan era, with fewer chief ministers, their responsibilities were enlarged and they no longer returned to their home departments. By custom the Ministry of Personnel's three selection boards conducted three rounds of registration and announcement, and the process lasted from spring into summer. Yang Guozhong had clerks secretly decide appointments at his home, gathered officials at the Department of State Affairs for a public announcement, and finished the entire process in a single day to show off his speed. Qualifications were jumbled and proper order abandoned. The following year, during appointment deliberations, he again gathered candidates at his home and had his sisters watch from behind a curtain. Their laughter could be heard clearly outside. By custom, completed appointment lists were submitted to the attendants-in-chief and draft-reviewers of the Palace Secretariat. When Yang Guozhong finalized appointments he summoned Left Chief Minister Chen Xilie to one side while draft-reviewers stood by and said, "Since the list has already been announced, the Palace Secretariat review is done. Vice Ministers of Personnel Wei Jiansu and Zhang Yi, both in purple robes, spent the day scurrying among screens and trees alongside their bureau officials like common clerks. After they left, Yang Guozhong turned to his sisters and asked, "What do you make of those two officials in purple robes running the show? The sisters looked at each other and burst into loud laughter. His cronies—Metropolitan Prefect Xianyu Zhongtong, Secretariat drafter Dou Hua, and censor Zheng Ang—urged newly appointed officials to raise a monument at the ministry gate celebrating Guozhong's mastery of personnel appointments.

貴妃姊虢國夫人，國忠與之私，於宣義裏構連甲第，土木被綈繡，棟宇之盛，兩都莫比，晝會夜集，無復禮度。有時與虢國並轡入朝，揮鞭走馬，以為諧謔，衢路觀之，無不駭嘆。玄宗每年冬十月幸華清宮，常經冬還宮。國忠山第在宮東門之南，與虢國相對，韓國、秦國甍棟相接，天子幸其第，必過五家，賞賜宴樂。每扈從驪山，五家合隊，國忠以劍南幢節引於前，出有餞路，還有軟腳，遠近餉遺，珍玩狗馬，閹侍歌兒，相望於道。進封衛國公，食實封三百戶，俄拜司空。

Guozhong carried on an affair with Lady Guoguo, the consort's elder sister. In Xuanyi Ward they built a row of palatial residences draped in brocade, whose splendor surpassed anything in either capital. They held revels day and night with no regard for decorum. Sometimes he and Lady Guoguo rode into court abreast, lashing their horses and racing through the streets for sport. Onlookers along the road were universally appalled. Every year in the tenth month Emperor Xuanzong journeyed to Huaqing Palace and typically remained there through the winter before returning to the capital. Guozhong's villa south of the palace's east gate faced Lady Guoguo's residence, while the mansions of Ladies Hanguo and Qinguo stood roof-to-roof beside them. Whenever the emperor visited, he passed through all five households in turn, showering them with gifts, feasts, and entertainment. On every imperial visit to Mount Li the five households traveled as one procession, with Guozhong leading the way bearing the military banners of Jiannan. Farewell feasts lined the road on the way out; celebratory banquets awaited them on the return. Gifts poured in from every direction—rare treasures, horses, eunuchs, and singing boys—filling the highway as far as the eye could see. He was ennobled as Duke of Weiguo with three hundred taxable households and shortly thereafter named Minister of Works.

時安祿山恩寵特深，總握兵柄，國忠知其跋扈，終不出其下，將圖之，屢於上前言其悖逆之狀，上不之信。是時，祿山已專制河北，聚幽、并勁騎，陰圖逆節，動未有名，伺上千秋萬歲之後，方圖叛換。及見國忠用事，慮不利於己，祿山遙領內外閑廄使，遂以兵部侍郎吉溫知留後，兼御史中丞、京畿采訪使，內伺朝廷動靜。國忠使門客蹇昂、何盈求祿山陰事，圍捕其宅，得李超、安岱等，使侍御史鄭昂縊殺於御史臺。又奏貶吉溫於合浦，以激怒祿山，幸其搖動，內以取信於上，上竟不之悟。由是祿山惶懼，遂舉兵以誅國忠為名。玄宗聞河朔變起，欲以皇太子監國，自欲親征，謀於國忠。國忠大懼，歸謂姊妹曰：「我等死在旦夕。今東宮監國，當與娘子等並命矣。」姊妹哭訴於貴妃，貴妃銜土請命，其事乃止。及哥舒翰守潼關，諸將以函關距京師三百里，利在守險，不利出攻。國忠以翰持兵未決，慮反圖己，欲其速戰，自中督促之。翰不獲已出關，及接戰桃林，王師奔敗，哥舒受擒，敗國喪師，皆國忠之誤惑也。

An Lushan now enjoyed extraordinary favor and held sole command of the armies. Guozhong knew the general's arrogance and that he would never accept subordination, so he set out to destroy him. He repeatedly warned the emperor of Lushan's treachery, but Xuanzong refused to believe it. By then Lushan controlled all of Hebei and had assembled the finest cavalry of You and Bing, secretly planning treason. He had not yet acted because he lacked a pretext, intending to rebel only after the emperor's death. Seeing Guozhong in power and fearing for his own position, Lushan took nominal command of the imperial stables and stationed Vice Minister of War Ji Wen in the capital as acting prefect, assistant censor, and regional inspector—giving him eyes and ears inside the court. Guozhong dispatched his agents Jian Ang and He Ying to dig up evidence of Lushan's secret dealings, raided his residence, and captured Li Chao, An Dai, and others. Investigating Censor Zheng Ang then had them strangled in the Censorate. He further petitioned to have Ji Wen banished to Hepu, hoping to goad Lushan into rash action and thereby win the emperor's confidence. Xuanzong still failed to see through the scheme. Terrified, Lushan raised his armies under the pretext of executing Guozhong. When Xuanzong learned of the rebellion in Hebei, he proposed putting the crown prince in charge of the state while he personally led the campaign, and sought Guozhong's counsel. Guozhong was terrified. Returning home he told his sisters, "We are as good as dead. If the crown prince takes charge of the realm, you ladies will die with us. His sisters wept and begged the consort for help. She pleaded desperately on their behalf, and the plan was abandoned. While Geshu Han held Tong Pass, his generals argued that the pass stood three hundred li from the capital and that the wise course was to hold the fortified ground rather than sally forth. Guozhong feared that Han, holding the army in indecision, might turn against him, and wanted a quick engagement. From the capital he pressed Han to attack. Han had no choice but to leave the pass. At Taolin the imperial army was routed and Geshu Han captured. The destruction of the army and the ruin of the state were entirely Guozhong's doing.

自祿山兵起，國忠以身領劍南節制，乃布置腹心於梁、益間，以圖自全之計。六月九日，潼關不守。十二日淩晨，上率龍武將軍陳玄禮、左相韋見素、京兆尹魏方進，國忠與貴妃及親屬，擁上出延秋門，諸王妃主從之不及，慮賊奄至，令內侍曹大仙擊鼓於春明門外，又焚芻槁之積，煙火燭天。既渡渭，即令斷便橋。辰時，至咸陽望賢驛，官吏駭竄，無復貴賤，坐宮門大樹下。亭午，上猶未食，有老父獻麥，帝令具飯，始得食。翌日，至馬嵬，軍士饑而憤怒，龍武將軍陳玄禮懼亂，先謂軍士曰：「今天下崩離，萬乘震蕩，豈不由楊國忠割剝氓庶，朝野怨咨，以至此耶？若不誅之以謝天下，何以塞四海之怨憤！」眾曰：「念之久矣。事行，身死固所願也。」會吐蕃和好使在驛門遮國忠訴事，軍士呼曰：「楊國忠與蕃人謀叛。」諸軍乃圍驛擒國忠，斬首以徇。是日，貴妃既縊，韓國、虢國二夫人亦為亂兵所殺。御史大夫魏方進死，左相韋見素傷。良久兵解，陳玄禮等見上謝罪曰：「國忠撓敗國經，構興禍亂，使黎元塗炭，乘輿播越，此而不誅，患難未已。臣等為社稷大計，請矯制之罪。」帝曰：「朕識之不明，任寄失所。近亦覺悟，審其詐佞，意欲到蜀，肆諸市朝。今神明啟卿，諧朕夙誌，將疇爵賞，何至言焉。」

From the moment Lushan rebelled, Guozhong took personal command of the Jiannan circuit and planted trusted agents between Liang and Yi, laying plans for his own escape. On the ninth day of the sixth month, Tong Pass fell. Before dawn on the twelfth, the emperor fled through Yanchiu Gate with Longwu General Chen Xuanli, Chancellor Wei Jiansu, Metropolitan Prefect Wei Fangjin, Guozhong, the consort, and their kin. Imperial princesses and consorts could not keep pace. Fearing the rebels would overtake them, the emperor ordered eunuch Cao Daxian to beat the alarm drum outside Chunming Gate and had the hay stores set ablaze until smoke and flames filled the sky. After crossing the Wei River, he ordered the Bian Bridge destroyed behind them. At mid-morning they reached Wangxian Post in Xianyang. Officials had fled in panic without regard for rank, and the emperor sat beneath a great tree by the post gate. By noon the emperor still had not eaten. An old man brought him wheat, and only then was a meal prepared so that he could eat at last. The next day they reached Mawei. The soldiers, hungry and furious, alarmed Chen Xuanli, who addressed the troops first: "The realm is in chaos and the throne itself is shaken—is this not because Yang Guozhong has plundered the people and filled court and countryside with resentment? If we do not kill him to answer for these crimes, how can we still the anger of the empire? The soldiers replied, "We have wanted this for a long time. If it succeeds, we would gladly die for it. Just then Tibetan envoys on a peace mission stopped Guozhong at the post gate to lodge a complaint, and the soldiers cried out, "Yang Guozhong is plotting rebellion with the Tibetans!" The troops then stormed the post, captured Guozhong, and beheaded him before the army. That same day the consort was strangled, and Ladies Hanguo and Guoguo were killed by the mutineers. Censor-in-Chief Wei Fangjin was killed and Chancellor Wei Jiansu was wounded. After a long while the troops dispersed. Chen Xuanli and the others came before the emperor to beg forgiveness: "Guozhong undermined the state, stirred up rebellion, and brought ruin upon the people while driving the throne into exile. If such a man were not executed, the calamity would never end. We acted for the good of the realm and ask pardon for having exceeded our authority. The emperor said, "My judgment failed me and I placed my trust in the wrong man. I have lately come to my senses and seen through his deceit. I intended to reach Shu and have him executed in public. Heaven has sent you to fulfill my long-held wish. Rewards and honors await you—why speak of punishment? The emperor's words ended there.

是時，祿山雖據河洛，其兵鋒東止於梁、宋，南不過許、鄧。李光弼、郭子儀統河朔勁卒，連收恆、定，若崤、函固守，兵不妄動，則AT逆之勢，不討自弊。及哥舒翰出師，凡不數日，乘輿遷幸，朝廷陷沒，百僚系頸，妃主被戮，兵滿天下，毒流四海，皆國忠之召禍也。

At that point Lushan held the He-Luo region, but the vanguard of his army had advanced east only as far as Liang and Song, and south no farther than Xu and Deng. Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi commanded the crack troops of Hebei and had retaken Heng and Ding in succession. Had the passes at Xia and Han been held and the army kept steady, the rebel cause would have collapsed on its own without a fight. But once Geshu Han marched out, within days the emperor fled, the court fell, officials were led away in chains, consorts and princesses were slaughtered, and war engulfed the empire—all calamities that Guozhong had brought upon the realm.

國忠子：暄、昢、曉、晞。暄為太常卿兼戶部侍郎，尚延和郡主；昢為鴻臚卿，尚萬春公主。兄弟各立第於親仁裏，窮極奢侈。國忠娶蜀倡裴氏女曰裴柔，國忠既死，柔與虢國夫人皆自剄死。暄死於馬嵬；昢陷賊被殺；曉走漢中郡，漢中王瑀榜殺之；晞走至陳倉，為追兵所殺。

Guozhong had four sons: Xuan, Fen, Xiao, and Xi. Xuan was Chamberlain of Ceremonials and Vice Minister of Revenue, and married the Princess of Yanhe; Fen was Chamberlain for Dependencies and married Princess Wanchun. Each brother built a mansion in Qinren Ward, outdoing one another in extravagance. Guozhong had married a Sichuan courtesan named Pei Rou, daughter of the Pei clan. After his death, both she and Lady Guoguo took their own lives by cutting their throats. Xuan was killed at Mawei; Fen was captured by the rebels and killed; Xiao fled to Hanzhong, where Prince Wang Yu had him executed by public decree; Xi fled as far as Chencang, where pursuing troops killed him.

國忠之黨翰林學士張漸竇華、中書舍人宋昱、吏部郎中鄭昂等，憑國忠之勢，招來賂遺，車馬盈門，財貨山積；及國忠敗，皆坐誅滅，其斫喪王室，俱一時之沴氣焉。

Guozhong's allies—Hanlin scholar Zhang Jian, Dou Hua, Secretariat drafter Song Yu, and Personnel Director Zheng Ang among others—used his power to solicit bribes until their gates overflowed with carriages and horses and their wealth piled like mountains; When Guozhong fell, they were all executed. Their ruin of the imperial house was a baleful scourge of the age.

=張暐=張暐，汝州襄城人也。祖德政，武德中鄆州刺史。暐，景龍初為銅鞮令，家本豪富，好賓客，以弋獵自娛。會臨淄王為潞州別駕，暐潛識英姿，傾身事之，日奉遊處。及樂人趙元禮自山東來，有女美麗，善歌舞，王幸之，止於暐第，生廢太子瑛。唐隆元年六月，王清內難，升為皇太子，召暐拜宮門大夫，每與諸王、姜皎、崔滌、李令問、王守一、薛伯陽在太子左右以接歡。其年，擢拜左臺侍御史，數月遷左御史臺中丞。

Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei was a native of Xiangcheng in Ruzhou. His grandfather Dezheng served as prefect of Yanzhou during the Wude reign. In the early Jinglong era Wei served as magistrate of Tongdi. His family was wealthy, he loved entertaining guests, and he passed his leisure in archery and hunting. When the Prince of Linzi was serving as vice-prefect of Luzhou, Wei secretly recognized his noble bearing and devoted himself entirely to the prince, attending him daily in sport and companionship. When the musician Zhao Yuanli arrived from Shandong with a beautiful daughter skilled in song and dance, the prince took her as his mistress and lodged her at Wei's house, where she bore the future deposed Crown Prince Ying. In the sixth month of the first year of Tanglong, after the prince suppressed the internal crisis and was made crown prince, he summoned Wei and appointed him Palace Gate Grandee. Wei joined the princes, Jiang Jiao, Cui Di, Li Lingwen, Wang Shouyi, and Xue Boyang in the crown prince's inner circle for fellowship and amusement. That same year he was promoted to attending censor of the Left Censorate, and within months rose to vice censor-in-chief.

先天元年，太子即位，帝居武德殿。太平公主有異謀，廣樹朋黨，暐與僕射劉幽求請先為備。太平聞之，白於睿宗，乃流暐於嶺南峰州，幽求謫於嶺外。及太平之敗，幽求追拜尚書左僕射、兼侍中；暐為大理卿，封鄧國公，實封三百戶，逾月又加權兼雍州長史。其年十二月，改元開元，以雍州為京兆府，長史為尹。暐首遷京兆尹，入侍宴私，出主都政，以為榮寵之極。暐亦有應務才幹，遷太子詹事，判尚書左右丞，再除左羽林大將軍，三為左金吾大將軍，又為殿中監、太仆卿。

In the first year of Xiantian the crown prince ascended the throne, and the former emperor took up residence in Wude Hall. Princess Taiping harbored secret ambitions and built a wide network of allies. Wei and Chief Minister Liu Youqiu urged taking precautions against her. When Taiping learned of this, she reported it to Emperor Ruizong. Wei was exiled to Fengzhou in Lingnan and Youqiu was banished beyond the southern frontier. After Taiping's downfall, Youqiu was recalled and appointed Left Vice Minister of the Secretariat and concurrently Censor-in-Chief; Wei was made Minister of Justice, enfeoffed as Duke of Deng with three hundred taxable households, and a month later given the additional acting post of metropolitan prefect of Yongzhou. In the twelfth month of that year the era name was changed to Kaiyuan, Yongzhou was redesignated the Capital Prefecture of Jingzhao, and its chief administrator was given the title of Yin. Wei was the first appointee to the post of Jingzhao Yin. Attending the emperor at private banquets by night and governing the capital by day, he regarded this as the summit of imperial favor. Wei also had genuine administrative ability. He served as Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent, concurrently as vice director of the left and right secretariat bureaus, twice as General of the Left Pillar of State Army, three times as General of the Left Golden Guard, and also as Director of the Palace Administration and Minister of Imperial Studs.

二十年，以暐年高，加特進。子履冰、季良、弟晤皆居清列。天寶初，暐還鄉拜掃，特賜錦袍繒彩，禦賜詩以寵異之，乘傳來往，敕郡縣供擬。暐鬢髮華皓，在輿中，子弟車馬連接數里，衣冠榮之。中使中路追賜藥物。至襄城月餘，詔還京。五載薨，年九十餘，贈開府儀同三司。其後，履冰為金吾將軍，季良殿中監，俱列啟戟，時人美之。暐壽考。善保終始。

In the twentieth year of Kaiyuan, on account of his advanced age, Wei was granted the honorary rank of Grand Preceptor. His sons Lübing and Jiliang and his younger brother Wu all held distinguished posts at court. At the beginning of the Tianbao era, when Wei returned home to tend the family graves, the emperor specially granted him brocade robes and silk, composed a poem in his honor, and ordered him conveyed by imperial relay with local officials commanded to supply his needs along the way. Wei's hair and beard were snowy white. Riding in his carriage with the horses and carriages of his sons and kinsmen stretching for miles behind him, officials everywhere looked on with admiration. Imperial envoys caught up with him along the road to present him with medicinal gifts from the throne. After more than a month in Xiangcheng, an edict ordered him back to the capital. In the fifth year of Tianbao he died at over ninety, and was posthumously granted the title of Grand Master of the Palace with honors equal to the Three Excellencies. Thereafter Lübing became a Golden Guard general and Jiliang Director of the Palace Administration; both held posts entitling them to ceremonial halberds, and people of the time admired the family. Wei lived to a ripe old age. He knew how to preserve himself from first to last.

=王琚=王琚，懷州河內人也。叔父隱客，則天朝為鳳閣侍郎。琚少孤而聰敏，有才略，好玄象合煉之學。神龍初，年二十餘，嘗謁駙馬王同皎，同皎甚器之，益歡洽。言及刺武三思事，琚義而許之，與周璟、張仲之為忘年之友。及同皎敗，琚恐為吏所捕，變姓名詣於江都，傭書於富商家，主人後悟其非傭者，以女嫁之，資給其財。經四五年，睿宗登極，琚具白主人，厚資其行裝，乃至長安。遇玄宗為太子監國，為太平公主所忌，思立孱弱，以竊威權，太子憂危。沙門普潤先與玄宗筮，克清內難，加三品，食實封，常入太子宮。琚見之，說以天時人事，歷然可觀。普潤白玄宗，玄宗異之。及琚於吏部選補諸暨主簿，於東宮過謝，及殿，而行徐視高，中官曰：「殿下在簾下。」琚曰：「在外只聞有太平公主，不聞有太子。太子有大功於社稷，大孝於君親，何得有此聲？」玄宗遽召見之，琚曰：「頃韋庶人智識淺短，親行弒逆，人心盡搖，思立李氏，殿下誅之為易。今社稷已安，太平則天之女，兇狡無比，專思立功，朝之大臣，多為其用。主上以元妹之愛，能忍其過。賤臣淺識，為殿下深憂。」玄宗命之同榻而坐。玄宗泣曰：「四哥仁孝，同氣唯有太平，言之恐有違犯，不言憂患轉深，為臣為子，計無所出。」琚曰：「天子之孝，貴於安宗廟。定萬人。征之於昔，蓋主，漢帝之長姊，帝幼，蓋主共養帝於宮中，後與上官桀、燕王謀害大司馬霍光，不議及君上，漢主恐危劉氏，以大義去之。況殿下功格天地，位尊儲貳。太平雖姑，臣妾也，何敢議之！今劉幽求、張說、郭元振一二大臣，心輔殿下。太平之黨，必有移奪安危之計，不可立談。」玄宗又曰：「公有何小藝，可隱跡與寡人遊處？」琚曰：「飛丹煉藥，談諧嘲詠，堪與優人比肩。」玄宗益喜，與之為友，恨相知晚，呼為王十一。翌日，奏授詹事府司直、內供奉兼崇文學士，日與諸王及姜皎等侍奉焉，獨琚常預秘計。逾月，又拜太子舍人，尋又兼諫議大夫、內供奉，又贈其父故下邽丞仲友楚州刺史。

Wang Ju. Wang Ju was a native of Henei in Huai Prefecture. His uncle Yinké had served as Vice Director of the Phoenix Pavilion under Empress Wu. Ju lost his parents early but was clever and capable, with a talent for strategy and a passion for astrology and alchemy. At the beginning of the Shenlong era, when he was in his twenties, he visited the imperial son-in-law Wang Tongjiao, who took a great liking to him and grew increasingly close. When they spoke of assassinating Wu Sansi, Ju agreed out of loyalty and became close friends across the age gap with Zhou Jing and Zhang Zhongzhi. When Tongjiao's plot failed, Ju feared arrest, changed his name, and fled to Jiangdu, where he hired himself out as a scribe to a wealthy merchant. The merchant later realized he was no ordinary clerk, gave him his daughter in marriage, and provided him with funds. Four or five years later, when Emperor Ruizong ascended the throne, Ju explained everything to his host, who generously outfitted him for the journey, and he made his way to Chang'an. He found Xuanzong serving as regent while crown prince, envied by Princess Taiping, who sought to install a weak ruler so she could seize power for herself. The crown prince was in grave danger. The monk Purun had earlier divined for Xuanzong that he would prevail in the internal crisis. He was raised to the third rank with a fief income and regularly visited the crown prince's palace. Ju met him and spoke of the signs of heaven and the course of human affairs, which were clearly legible. Purun reported this to Xuanzong, who was greatly impressed. When Ju was appointed chief clerk of Zhuji through the Ministry of Personnel, he passed through the Eastern Palace to offer thanks. Entering the hall, he walked slowly with his eyes raised. A palace attendant said, "His Highness is behind the curtain. Ju replied, "Outside these walls one hears only of Princess Taiping—not of the crown prince. The crown prince has rendered great service to the state and shown supreme filial devotion to his sovereign and father—how can he be so little known?" Xuanzong immediately summoned him for an audience. Ju said, "Not long ago Empress Wei, shallow and shortsighted, personally committed regicide. The people's hearts were shaken and yearned for the House of Li. Your Highness could have destroyed her with ease. Now the realm is secure, but Taiping is a daughter of Empress Wu—vicious and cunning beyond compare, bent solely on making her mark. Many great ministers at court serve her interests. Because the emperor loves her as his younger sister, he tolerates her excesses. This humble subject, with my limited understanding, am deeply anxious on Your Highness's behalf." Xuanzong ordered him to sit beside him on the same couch. Xuanzong wept and said, "Fourth Brother is benevolent and filial, and among our kin there is only Taiping. To speak of her risks giving offense; to stay silent only deepens my dread. As both minister and son, I see no way forward. Ju replied, "A Son of Heaven shows filial devotion above all by securing the ancestral temple. It lies in bringing peace to the realm. Look to antiquity. The Princess of All was the Han emperor's elder sister. When the emperor was still a child, she helped raise him in the palace. Later she conspired with Shangguan Jie and the Prince of Yan against Grand Marshal Huo Guang. Their plot did not aim at the throne itself, yet the Han ruler, fearing for the House of Liu, cast her aside in the name of righteousness. Your Highness's merit matches heaven and earth, and your position as heir is supreme. Taiping may be your aunt, but she is still a subject of the throne—how could anyone dare move against her openly! Liu Youqiu, Zhang Yue, Guo Yuanzhen, and a few other great ministers now stand faithfully at Your Highness's side. Taiping's faction surely plots to overturn the balance of power. Such matters cannot be discussed standing in plain sight." Xuanzong asked again, "What lesser talents do you have that would let you keep a low profile and pass your days with me?" Ju replied, "I can refine cinnabar and brew elixirs, and I am handy at banter, jest, and verse—talents fit to rank with court entertainers." Xuanzong was delighted, took him as a friend, lamented that they had met so late, and called him Eleventh Wang. The next day he was appointed Supervising Secretary of the Household Administration, Internal Attendant, and Scholar of the Academy for the Glorification of Literature. Each day he attended with the princes and Jiang Jiao and the rest, but Ju alone was regularly drawn into secret counsel. Within a month he was made Crown Prince Household Aide, and soon afterward Remonstrating Censor and Internal Attendant as well. His late father, the former assistant magistrate of Xiagui Zhongyou, was posthumously granted the title Governor of Chuzhou.

先天元年七月，玄宗居尊位，在武德殿。八月，擢拜中書侍郎。時劉幽求、張暐並流於嶺外，琚見事迫，請早為之計。二年七月三日，琚與岐王範、薛王業、姜皎、李令問、王毛仲、王守一並預誅逆，以鐵騎至承天門。時睿宗聞鼓噪聲，召郭元振升承天樓，宣詔下關，侍御史任知古召募數百人於朝堂，不得入。頃間，琚等從玄宗至樓上，誅蕭至忠、岑義、竇懷貞、常元楷、李慈、李猷等。睿宗遜居百福殿。十日，拜琚銀青光祿大夫、戶部尚書，封趙國公，食實封五百戶；皎銀青光祿大夫、工部尚書，封楚國公，實封五百戶；令問銀青光祿大夫、殿中監、宋國公，實封三百戶；毛仲輔國大將軍、左武衛大將軍、檢校閑廄兼知監牧使、霍國公，實封五百戶；守一銀青光祿大夫、太常卿員外置同正員，進封晉國公，實封五百戶。琚、皎、令問並固讓尚書、殿中監，不上。十八日，琚、皎依舊官各加實封二百戶，通前七百戶。累日，玄宗宴於內殿，賜功臣金銀器皿各一床、雜彩各一千匹、絹一千匹，列於庭，宴慰終夕，載之而歸。

In the seventh month of the first year of Xiantian, Xuanzong took the throne and held court at Wude Hall. In the eighth month he was promoted to Vice Director of the Secretariat. Liu Youqiu and Zhang Wei had both been exiled beyond the Ling Mountains. Seeing events closing in, Ju urged that plans be made at once. On the third day of the seventh month of the second year, Ju joined Prince of Qi Fan, Prince of Xue Ye, Jiang Jiao, Li Lingwen, Wang Maozhong, and Wang Shouyi in putting down the rebels, riding iron-clad cavalry to Chengtian Gate. Ruizong heard the uproar of drums and summoned Guo Yuanzhen to Chengtian Tower, where an edict was proclaimed to open the gate. Supervising Censor Ren Zhigu mustered several hundred men in the court hall but could not get through. Before long Ju and the others followed Xuanzong up the tower and executed Xiao Zhizhong, Cen Yi, Dou Huaizhen, Chang Yuankai, Li Ci, Li You, and the rest. Ruizong abdicated and withdrew to Baifu Hall. On the tenth day Ju was made Silver-Gleaming Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Minister of Revenue, enfeoffed as Duke of Zhao with a fief income of five hundred households; Jiao was made Silver-Gleaming Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Minister of Works, enfeoffed as Duke of Chu with a fief of five hundred households; Lingwen was made Silver-Gleaming Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, Director of the Palace Domestic Service, and Duke of Song with a fief of three hundred households; Maozhong was made Assistant State Faithful General, Great General of the Left Martial Guard, Acting Commissioner of the Stud Farms and Supervisor of Pasture Administration, and Duke of Huo with a fief of five hundred households; Shouyi was made Silver-Gleaming Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Supernumerary Minister of Ceremonies with full standing, advanced to Duke of Jin with a fief of five hundred households. Ju, Jiao, and Lingwen all firmly declined the ministerial posts and the directorship of the Palace Domestic Service and did not take office. On the eighteenth day Ju and Jiao each received two hundred additional fief households in their existing offices, bringing the total to seven hundred. For several days Xuanzong held banquets in the inner palace, granting each meritorious man a full set of gold and silver vessels, one thousand bolts of variegated silk, and one thousand bolts of plain silk, all laid out in the courtyard. He feasted and consoled them until nightfall, and they loaded the gifts and went home.

琚轉見恩顧，每延入閣中，迄夜方出。歸休之日，中官至第召之。中官亦使尚宮就琚宅問訊琚母，時果珍味賫之，助其甘旨。琚在帷幄之側，常參聞大政，時人謂之「內宰相」，無有比者。又贈其父魏州刺史。或有上說於玄宗曰：「彼王琚、麻嗣宗譎詭縱橫之士，可與履危，不可得誌。天下已定，宜益求純樸經術之士。」玄宗乃疏之。

Ju grew ever more favored. Each time he was summoned into the inner cabinet he did not emerge until night. Even on his days of rest at home, palace attendants came to his residence to summon him. Palace attendants also sent palace ladies to Ju's home to inquire after his mother, bearing seasonal fruits and delicacies for her table. Ju sat at the emperor's side behind the curtain and regularly took part in great affairs of state. People of the day called him the "inner chief minister," and there was no one to equal him. His father was again posthumously granted the title Governor of Weizhou. Someone memorialized Xuanzong, saying, "Wang Ju and Ma Sizong are cunning schemers—useful in crisis, but not to be relied on once order is restored. The realm is already settled. Your Majesty ought rather to seek men of plain character and classical learning. Xuanzong then began to keep Ju at a distance.

十一月，令御史大夫持節巡天兵以北諸軍。十二月，改年號為開元，又改官名，與蘇颋同為紫微侍郎。二年二月回，未及京，便除澤州刺史，削封。歷衡、郴、滑、虢、沔、夔、許、潤九州刺史，又復其封。二十年，丁母憂。二十二年，起復右庶子，兼巂州刺史，又改同、蒲、通、鄧、蔡五州刺史。天寶後，又為廣平、鄴郡二太守。性豪侈，著勛中朝，又食實封，典十五州，常受饋遺，下檐帳設，皆數千貫。玄宗念舊，常優容之。侍兒二十人，皆居寶帳。家累三百餘口，作造不遵於法式。雖居州伯，與佐官、胥吏、酋豪連榻飲謔，或樗蒱、藏钅句以為樂。每移一州，車馬填路，數里不絕。攜妓從禽，恣為歡賞，垂四十年矣。

In the eleventh month, as Censor-in-Chief bearing the staff of office, he was ordered to inspect the armies north of Tianbing. In the twelfth month the era name was changed to Kaiyuan and official titles were revised. He served jointly with Su Ting as Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat. In the second month of the second year he returned, but before he reached the capital he was appointed Governor of Zezhou and stripped of his fief. He served in turn as governor of Heng, Chen, Hua, Guo, Mian, Kui, Xu, and Run—nine prefectures in all—and his fief was restored. In the twentieth year he went into mourning for his mother. In the twenty-second year he was recalled from mourning as Right Vice-President of the Crown Prince's Household and concurrently Governor of Xizhou. He was later transferred among the five prefectures of Tong, Pu, Tong, Deng, and Cai. After the Tianbao era he served again as prefect of Guangping and Ye Commandery. Extravagant by nature, honored at court for his merit, drawing income from a personal fief, and having governed fifteen prefectures, he regularly received gifts. When he pitched his lower pavilions and tents, each occasion cost several thousand strings of cash. Xuanzong remembered their old friendship and was usually indulgent toward him. He kept twenty serving girls, all housed in jeweled pavilions. His household numbered more than three hundred people, and his way of life paid little heed to propriety. Though he held the rank of prefect, he shared couches for drink and banter with assistant officials, clerks, and local magnates, or amused himself with dice and the finger-hook game. Each time he moved to a new prefecture, horses and carriages filled the road for miles without end. He traveled with entertainers and went hunting at will, indulging in pleasure for nearly forty years.

時李邕、王弼與琚皆年齒尊高，久在外郡，書疏尺題來往，有「譴謫留落」之句。右相林甫以琚等負材使氣，陰議除之。五載正月，琚果為林甫構成其罪，貶琚江華郡員外司馬，削階封。至任未幾，林甫使羅希奭重按之。希奭排馬牒至，琚懼，仰藥，竟不能死；及希奭至，遂自縊而卒。死非其罪，人用憐之。寶應元年，贈太子少保。

Li Yong, Wang Bi, and Ju were all by then advanced in years and long posted to distant prefectures. In their letters they exchanged phrases about banishment and being cast aside. Chief Minister of the Right Li Linfu, judging Ju and the others talented but proud, secretly plotted to remove them. In the first month of the fifth year Li Linfu indeed framed Ju, who was demoted to Acting Commandant of Jianghua Commandery and stripped of rank and fief. Shortly after Ju reached his post, Li Linfu sent Luo Xiyi to reopen the case. When Xiyi's warrant arrived by post-horse, Ju was terrified and swallowed poison, but failed to die; When Xiyi arrived, he hanged himself and died. He had not deserved to die, and people pitied him. In the first year of Baoying he was posthumously granted the title Junior Mentor to the Crown Prince.

=王毛仲=王毛仲，本高麗人也。父遊擊將軍職事求婁，犯事沒官，生毛仲，因隸於玄宗。性識明悟，玄宗為臨淄王，常伏事左右。及出兼潞州別駕，又見李宜德趫捷善騎射，為人蒼頭，以錢五萬買之。景龍三年冬，玄宗還長安，以二人挾弓矢為翼。

Wang Maozhong. Wang Maozhong was originally from Koguryo. His father Qiulou, a staff officer under a Mobile Corps General, committed an offense and was reduced to government bondage. Maozhong was born into that status and thus came to serve Xuanzong. Quick-witted and perceptive, he regularly attended Xuanzong when the latter was Prince of Linzi. When Xuanzong went out to serve concurrently as Vice-Prefect of Luzhou, Maozhong also saw Li Yide, agile and skilled in horsemanship and archery, serving as another man's household retainer, and bought him for fifty thousand cash. In the winter of the third year of Jinglong, when Xuanzong returned to Chang'an, he had the two of them carry bows and arrows as his escort.

初，太宗貞觀中，擇官戶蕃口中少年驍勇者百人，每出遊獵，令持弓矢於禦馬前射生，令騎豹文韉，著畫獸文衫，謂之「百騎」。至則天時，漸加其人，謂之「千騎」，分隸左右羽林營。孝和謂之「萬騎」，亦置使以領之。玄宗在籓邸時，常接其豪俊者，或賜飲食財帛，以此盡歸心焉。毛仲亦悟玄宗旨，待之甚謹，玄宗益憐其敏惠。

In the beginning, during Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan era, a hundred young and valiant men were chosen from official households and foreign tribes. Whenever the emperor went hunting, they carried bows before his horse to shoot game, rode leopard-pattern saddles, and wore robes painted with beast designs. They were called the "Hundred Riders." By Empress Wu's time their numbers were gradually increased. They were called the "Thousand Riders" and assigned to the Left and Right Forest-of-Feathers camps. Emperor Zhongzong called them the "Ten Thousand Riders" and also appointed commissioners to command them. When Xuanzong was at his princely residence, he regularly drew close their boldest men, sometimes granting them food, drink, and silks, and by this means won their complete loyalty. Maozhong also grasped Xuanzong's purpose and served him with great care. Xuanzong all the more favored his quick wit.

及四年六月，中宗遇弒，韋後稱制，令韋播、高嵩為羽林將軍，令押千騎營，榜棰以取威。其營長葛福順、陳玄禮等相與見玄宗訴冤，會玄宗已與劉幽求、麻嗣宗、薛崇簡等謀舉大計，相顧益歡，令幽求諷之，皆願決死從命。及二十日夜，玄宗入宛中，宜德從焉，毛仲避之不入。乙夜，福順等至，玄宗曰：「與公等除大逆，安社稷，各取富貴，在於俄頃，何以取信？」福順等請號而行，斯須斬韋播、韋璿、高嵩等頭來，玄宗舉火視之。又召鐘紹京領總監丁匠刀鋸百人至，因斬關而入，後及安樂公主等皆為亂兵所殺。其夜，少帝以玄宗著大勛，進封平王。以紹京、幽求知政事，署詔敕。崇簡、嗣宗及福順、宜德，功大者為將軍，次者為中郎將。其時，梓宮在殯，舉城縞素。及明，玄宗引新立功者皆衣紫衣緋，持滿鐵騎而出，傾城聚觀歡慰。其犯逆者，盡曝屍於城外。毛仲數日而歸，玄宗不責，又超授將軍。

In the sixth month of the fourth year Emperor Zhongzong was assassinated. Empress Wei assumed regency, appointed Wei Bo and Gao Song as Forest-of-Feathers generals, and put them in command of the Thousand Riders camp, using the lash to enforce their authority. Their camp chiefs Ge Fushun, Chen Xuanli, and others came together to Xuanzong to plead their grievances. Xuanzong had already plotted the great undertaking with Liu Youqiu, Ma Sizong, Xue Chongjian, and others. When they looked at one another their joy only deepened. Liu Youqiu was sent to persuade them, and all vowed to follow unto death. On the night of the twentieth Xuanzong entered the palace grounds. Yide accompanied him, but Maozhong held back and did not go in. At the second watch Fushun and the others arrived. Xuanzong said, "With you I will remove the great traitors and secure the realm. Wealth and rank will come in an instant—but how am I to know you will follow? Fushun and the others asked to go forth under a battle cry. In a moment they returned with the severed heads of Wei Bo, Wei Xuan, Gao Song, and the rest. Xuanzong raised a torch to look at them. He also summoned Zhong Shaojing to lead a hundred master craftsmen with blades and saws from the Directorate of Works. They cut through the gate and entered. Empress Wei, Princess Anle, and the others were all killed by the mutinous troops. That same night the Young Emperor, recognizing Xuanzong's great merit, advanced him to Prince of Ping. Zhong Shaojing and Liu Youqiu were entrusted with state affairs and authorized to draft edicts and orders. Chongjian, Sizong, Fushun, and Yide were rewarded according to merit: the greatest became generals, the next rank commandants of the palace guard. At that time the imperial coffin still lay in state, and the whole city was draped in mourning white. At dawn Xuanzong led out the newly rewarded men, all in purple robes and scarlet, iron cavalry with quivers full, while the whole city gathered to watch in rejoicing. Those who had committed treason were all left exposed as corpses outside the city walls. Maozhong returned several days later. Xuanzong did not reproach him and instead promoted him by exception to general.

及玄宗為皇太子監國，因奏改左右萬騎左右營為龍武軍，與左右羽林為北門四軍，以福順等為將軍以押之。龍武官盡功臣，受錫賫，號為「唐元功臣」。長安良家子避征徭，納資以求隸於其中，遂每軍至數千人。毛仲專知東宮駝馬鷹狗等坊，未逾年，已至大將軍，階三品矣。及先天二年七月，毛仲預誅蕭、岑等功，授輔國大將軍、左武衛大將軍、檢校內外閑廄兼知監牧使，進封霍國公，實封五百戶。毛仲奉公正直，不避權貴，兩營萬騎功臣、閑廄官吏皆懼其威，人不敢犯。苑中營田草萊常收，率皆豐溢，玄宗以為能。開元十四年，贈其父秦州刺史。

When Xuanzong served as regent for the crown prince, he memorialized to reorganize the Left and Right Ten Thousand Riders camps into the Dragon Martial Army. Together with the Left and Right Forest-of-Feathers, they formed the four Northern Gate armies, with Fushun and others appointed generals to command them. Officers of the Dragon Martial corps were all men of merit who received imperial gifts and were styled "Meritorious Officials of the Founding of Tang." Sons of good families in Chang'an, seeking to avoid conscription and corvée labor, paid fees to enroll among them, and each army thereby swelled to several thousand men. Maozhong was put exclusively in charge of the crown prince's camel, horse, hawk, and dog offices. Within a year he had already risen to great general, third rank. In the seventh month of the second year of Xiantian, for his merit in executing Xiao, Cen, and the others, Maozhong was made Assistant State Faithful General, Great General of the Left Martial Guard, Acting Commissioner of the Inner and Outer Stud Farms and Supervisor of Pasture Administration, and advanced to Duke of Huo with a fief of five hundred households. Maozhong served the public with upright fairness and did not shrink from the powerful. Meritorious men of the two Ten Thousand Riders camps and officials of the stud farms all feared his authority, and no one dared cross him. The farm fields and wild grasses within the imperial park were regularly harvested and always yielded abundantly. Xuanzong considered him highly capable. In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan his father was posthumously granted the title Governor of Qinzhou.

毛仲雖有賜莊宅，奴婢、駝馬、錢帛不可勝紀，常於閑廄側內宅住。每入侍宴賞，與諸王、姜皎等禦幄前連榻而坐。玄宗或時不見，則悄然如有所失；見之則歡洽連宵，有至日晏。其妻已邑虢國夫人；賜妻李氏又為國夫人。每入內朝謁，二夫人同承賜賫，生男，孩稚已授五品，與皇太子同遊，故中官楊思勖、高力士等常避畏之。七年，進位特進，行太仆卿，餘並如故。九年，持節充朔方道防禦討擊大使，仍以左領軍大總管王晙與天兵軍節度張說，東與幽州節度裴伷先等計會。

Though Maozhong had been granted estates and mansions, his slaves, camels, horses, and silks were beyond counting. He regularly lived in an inner residence beside the stud farms. Whenever he attended banquets at court, he sat on adjoining couches with the princes, Jiang Jiao, and the rest before the imperial curtain. When Xuanzong did not see him for a time, he grew quietly restless, as though something were missing; when he did see him, their delight ran through the night, sometimes until dusk. His wife had already been granted the title Lady of the State of Guo; His wife Lady Li was also granted the title of State Lady. Each time he entered for palace audience both ladies received gifts together. When a son was born, the infant was already granted fifth rank and played with the crown prince. For this reason palace attendants Yang Sixun, Gao Lishi, and others regularly kept their distance out of fear. In the seventh year he was advanced to Special Advancement and Acting Grand Master of the Stud, with all other offices unchanged. In the ninth year, bearing the staff of office he served as Grand Ambassador for Defense and Punitive Campaigns on the Shuofang Circuit, coordinating with Left Mobile Corps Commander-in-Chief Wang Hui, Tianbing Army Commander Zhang Yue, and in the east with Youzhou Commander Pei Xianxian and others.

毛仲部統嚴整，群牧孳息，遂數倍其初。芻粟之類，不敢盜竊，每歲回殘，常致數萬斛。不三年，扈從東封，以諸牧馬數萬匹從，每色為一隊，望如雲錦，玄宗益喜。於嶽下以宰相源乾曜、張說加左右丞相，毛仲加開府儀同三司。自玄宗先天正位後，以後父王同皎及姚崇、宋璟及毛仲十五年間四人至開府，又敕張說為《監牧頌》以美之。十七年，從朝五陵，又贈毛仲父益州大都督。毛仲益驕，嘗求為兵部尚書，玄宗不悅，毛仲怏怏，見於詞色。又福順子娶毛仲女，宜德、唐地文等數十人皆與毛仲善，倚之多為不法。中官等妒其全盛逾己，專發其罪，尤倨慢之。中官高品者，毛仲視之蔑如也；如卑品者，小忤意則挫辱如己之僮仆。力士輩恨入骨髓。毛仲承恩遇，妻產，嘗借苑中亭子納涼，玄宗借之。中官構之彌甚，曰：「北門奴官太盛，豪者皆一心，不除之，必起大患。」

Maozhong's command was stern and orderly, and the herds multiplied until they reached several times their original number. No one dared steal fodder or grain, and each year's surplus commonly reached tens of thousands of bushels. Within three years he accompanied the eastern feng sacrifice at Mount Tai, bringing tens of thousands of pastured horses. Each color formed its own column, and the sight was like clouds of brocade. Xuanzong was delighted. At the foot of the mountain, chancellors Yuan Qianyao and Zhang Yue were made Left and Right Chief Ministers, and Maozhong was granted Defender-in-Chief with Equipage Equal to the Three Dukes. From Xuanzong's accession after Xiantian, four men reached Defender-in-Chief rank within fifteen years: the empress's father Wang Tongjiao, Yao Chong, Song Jing, and Maozhong. He also ordered Zhang Yue to compose the "Ode on Pasture Supervision" in his praise. In the seventeenth year he attended worship at the five imperial tombs, and Maozhong's father was posthumously made Governor-General of Yizhou. Maozhong grew increasingly arrogant and once asked to be made Minister of War. Xuanzong was displeased, and Maozhong's resentment showed in his words and bearing. Fushun's son also married Maozhong's daughter. Yide, Tang Diwen, and dozens of others were all close to Maozhong and, relying on him, often broke the law. Palace eunuchs envied his surpassing power and made a point of exposing his crimes, treating him with especial insolence. Toward high-ranking eunuchs, Maozhong looked on them with contempt; toward low-ranking ones, if they slightly displeased him he would humiliate them as he would his own servants. Lishi and his associates hated him to the marrow. Maozhong enjoyed imperial favor. When his wife gave birth, he once borrowed a pavilion in the park to escape the heat, and Xuanzong lent it to him. The eunuchs slandered him all the more, saying, "The Northern Gate slaves have grown too powerful in office; the bold among them are of one mind. If they are not removed, great disaster will surely follow. The warning ended there.

後毛仲索甲仗於太原軍器監，時嚴挺之為少尹，奏之。玄宗恐其黨震懼為亂，乃隱其實狀，詔曰：「開府儀同三司、兼殿中監、霍國公、內外閑廄監牧都使王毛仲，是惟微細，非有功績，擢自家臣，升於朝位。恩寵莫二，委任斯崇。無涓塵之益，肆驕盈之誌。往屬艱難，遽茲逃匿，念深惟舊，義在優容，仍荷殊榮，蔑聞悛悔。在公無竭盡之效，居常多怨望之詞。跡其深愆，合從誅殛；恕其庸昧，宜從遠貶。可瀼州別駕員外置長任，差使馳驛領送至任，忽許東西及判事。」左領軍大將軍耿國公葛福順，貶壁州員外別駕；左監門將軍盧龍子唐地文，貶振州員外別駕；右武衛將軍成紀侯李守德，貶嚴州員外別駕，守德，本宜德也，立功後改名；右威衛將軍王景耀，貶黨州員外別駕；右威衛將軍高廣濟，貶道州員外別駕。毛仲男太子仆守貞，貶施州司戶；太子家令守廉，貶溪州司戶；率更令守慶，貶鶴州司倉；左監門長史守道，貶涪州參軍。連累者數十人。又詔殺毛仲，及永州而縊之。

Later Maozhong requested armor and weapons from the Taiyuan Military Equipment Directorate. Yan Tingzhi was then Vice Prefect and reported the matter. Xuanzong feared his faction would panic and rebel, so he concealed the true facts and issued an edict: "Wang Maozhong, Defender-in-Chief with Equipage Equal to the Three Dukes, concurrently Director of the Palace Administration, Duke of Huo, and Commissioner of the Inner and Outer Stud Farms and Supervisor of Pasture Administration, is but a petty man without merit, raised from household servitude to court rank. His favor was unmatched and his appointment supreme. He rendered no public service whatsoever and indulged an overweening will. In past hardship he suddenly fled and hid. Remembering the old bond, kindness called for leniency, yet he still received extraordinary honors and showed no sign of repentance. In office he rendered no devoted service; in daily life he often spoke words of resentment. Considering his grave offenses, he ought to be put to death; pardoning his dull ignorance, he should be banished to a distant post. He is demoted to Acting Vice Prefect of Rangzhou with permanent extra appointment. A messenger shall be dispatched by relay post to escort him to his post. He shall not be permitted to travel east or west or to conduct official business. Ge Fushun, Left Mobile Corps Great General and Duke of Geng, was demoted to Acting Vice Prefect of Bizhou; Tang Diwen, Left Gate Guard General of Lulong, was demoted to Acting Vice Prefect of Zhenzhou; Li Shoude, Right Martial Guard General and Marquis of Chengji, was demoted to Acting Vice Prefect of Yanzhou. Shoude had originally been named Yide and changed his name after establishing merit; Wang Jingyao, Right Majestic Guard General, was demoted to Acting Vice Prefect of Dangzhou; Gao Guangji, Right Majestic Guard General, was demoted to Acting Vice Prefect of Daozhou. Maozhong's son Shouzhen, Crown Prince's Stable Master, was demoted to Registrar of Shizhou; Crown Prince's Household Steward Shoulian was demoted to Registrar of Xizhou; Director of the Directorate of Water Clocks Shouqing was demoted to Granary Officer of Hezhou; Left Gate Guard Senior Administrator Shoudao was demoted to Administrator of Fuzhou. Dozens more were implicated. Another edict ordered Maozhong executed. When he reached Yongzhou he was strangled.

其後，中官益盛，而陳玄禮以淳樸自檢，宿衛宮禁，誌節不衰。天寶中，玄宗在華清宮，乘馬出宮門，欲幸虢國夫人宅，玄禮曰：「未宣敕報臣，天子不可輕去就。」玄宗為之回轡。他年在華清宮，逼正月半，欲夜遊，玄禮奏曰：「宮外即是曠野，須有備預，若欲夜遊，願歸城闕。」玄宗又不能違。及安祿山反，玄禮欲於城中誅楊國忠，事不果，竟於馬嵬斬之。從玄宗入巴蜀回，封蔡國公，實封三百戶。上元元年八月致仕。

Thereafter palace eunuchs grew ever more powerful, while Chen Xuanli kept himself simple and upright, guarding the palace precincts day and night, his resolve and integrity undiminished. During the Tianbao era, when Xuanzong was at Huaqing Palace, he mounted his horse and rode out the palace gate intending to visit the Lady of the State of Guo's residence. Xuanli said, "Your Majesty has not issued an edict or notified me. The Son of Heaven must not come and go so lightly. At that Xuanzong turned his horse back. Another year at Huaqing Palace, as the mid-first-month festival drew near, he wished to go out at night. Xuanli submitted: "Outside the palace lies open wilderness, and precautions are needed. If Your Majesty wishes to stroll at night, I beg that you return to the capital. Again Xuanzong could not overrule him. When An Lushan rebelled, Xuanli wished to kill Yang Guozhong in the city. The plan did not succeed, but in the end he beheaded him at Mawei. After accompanying Xuanzong into Ba-Shu and returning, he was enfeoffed Duke of Cai with a substantive fief of three hundred households. In the eighth month of the first year of Shangyuan he retired from office.

=【贊】=史臣曰：李林甫以諂佞進身，位極臺輔，不懼盈滿，蔽主聰明，生既唯務陷人，死亦為人所陷，得非彼蒼假手，以示禍淫者乎！楊國忠稟性奸回，才薄行穢，領四十余使，恣弄威權，天子莫見其非，群臣由之杜口，致祿山叛逆，鑾輅播遷，梟首覆宗，莫救艱步。以玄宗之睿哲，而惑於二人者，蓋巧言令色，先意承旨，財利誘之，迷而不悟也。開元任姚崇、宋璟而治，幸林甫、國忠而亂，與夫齊桓任管仲、隰朋，幸豎刁、易牙，亦何異哉！《書》曰：「臣有作福作威，害於而家，兇於而國。」孔子曰：「佞人殆。」誠哉是言也。張暐、王琚、王毛仲，皆鄧通、閎孺之流也。琚有締構之功，過多僭侈，死於非罪，亦何惜之！

[Praise] The historian writes: Li Linfu rose through flattery to the highest chancellorship. He did not fear overflowing fortune and obscured the sovereign's clear judgment. In life he devoted himself solely to entrapping others; in death he too was entrapped by others. Is this not Heaven borrowing another's hand to show the punishment of vice? Yang Guozhong was by nature treacherous and deceitful, his talent slight and his conduct foul. He headed more than forty commissioner offices and wantonly wielded power. The Son of Heaven never saw his faults, and officials therefore kept silent. This led to An Lushan's rebellion, the throne driven into exile, decapitation and the destruction of his clan, with no saving the realm from desperate straits. That one as sagacious as Xuanzong should have been misled by these two men was because, with clever words and pleasing looks, they anticipated his will and lured him with wealth and profit until he was lost and did not awaken. In Kaiyuan, employing Yao Chong and Song Jing brought order; entrusting favor to Linfu and Guozhong brought chaos. How does this differ from Duke Huan of Qi employing Guan Zhong and Xi Peng while entrusting favor to Shu Diao and Yi Ya? The Book of Documents says: "When ministers make blessings for themselves and make might for themselves, they harm your house and bring ruin to your state. Confucius said, "Flatterers are dangerous. How true these words are! Zhang Wei, Wang Ju, and Wang Maozhong were all men of the type of Deng Tong and Hong Ru. Ju had the merit of founding the undertaking, yet his excesses were overly presumptuous and extravagant. He died for a crime he did not commit—what is there to regret?

贊曰：天啟亂階，甫、忠當國。蔽主聰明，秉心讒慝。暐同二王，亦承恩德。籲哉僭逾，不知紀極。

Praise: Heaven opened the steps of disorder; Linfu and Guozhong held the state. They obscured the sovereign's clear judgment and harbored slanderous evil in their hearts. Wei, like the two Wangs, also received imperial grace. Alas for their presumptuous excess—they knew no limit.

Cite this Chapter