Volume 106 Biographies 56: Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, Zhang Wei, Wang Ju, Wang Maozhong, Chen Xuanli

李林甫楊國忠張暐王琚王毛仲陳玄禮附

Biographies of Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong, Zhang Wei, Wang Ju, Wang Maozhong, and Chen Xuanli (with appended notices).

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 a great-grandson of Prince Changping, Shuliang, who was a paternal cousin of Emperor Gaozu. Shuliang's son was Xiaobin, who rose to be administrator of Yuan Prefecture. Xiaobin had a son, Sihui, who served as a staff officer in Yang Prefecture; Sihui was Li Linfu's father. Li Linfu was accomplished in music. He began his career as chief of the Thousand-Ox Guard, and his uncle, the Duke of Chu, Jiang Jiao, was deeply fond of him. Early in the Kaiyuan reign, he was appointed a companion in the heir apparent's household. At that time Yuan Qianyao served as vice director of the Secretariat. His grandnephew Guangcheng had married a sister of Jiang Jiao, and Qianyao was on close terms with the family. Qianyao's son Jie told his father, "Li Linfu is asking to be made director of the Gate Office." Yuan Qianyao replied, "A director's post requires a man of established conduct and real standing. How could Genu ever qualify as a director?" A few days later, Li Linfu was named preceptor to the heir apparent. Genu was Li Linfu's childhood name. He rose in stages to become 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 year fourteen of Kaiyuan, when Yuwen Rong was censor-in-chief, he brought Li Linfu onto the same level of office. Linfu was then made censor-in-chief himself and later served as vice minister of justice and of personnel. At that time Consort Wu Hui's favor held sway over the inner palace. Her sons, the Princes of Shou and Sheng, were singled out for special affection on their mother's account, while Crown Prince Ying grew increasingly distant from the emperor. Li Linfu cultivated ties with many senior eunuchs and had one of them tell Consort Wu Hui, "I wish to safeguard the Prince of Shou." The consort was deeply obliged to him. Earlier, the wife of Vice Director Pei Guangting had been a daughter of Wu Sansi. She was cunning and capable, and carried on a secret affair with Li Linfu. The eunuch Gao Lishi had originally been attached to Wu Sansi's household. When Guangting died, the Wu woman, in mourning, begged Lishi to have Li Linfu take her husband's place. Lishi did not dare raise it. The emperor ordered Chief Minister Xiao Song to choose a new chancellor. Song hesitated a long while, then named Han Xiu, the right vice director. Xuanzong agreed and had the appointment edict drafted. Lishi quickly let the secret slip to the Wu woman, and she had Li Linfu warn Han Xiu. Once Han Xiu became chancellor, he felt greatly indebted to Li Linfu. At odds with Xiao Song, he recommended Linfu as chancellor material, while Consort Hui worked for him behind the scenes. Li Linfu was made vice director of the Palace Secretariat, and the emperor's regard for him deepened further.

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 of Kaiyuan, Pei Yaoqing, who had served as vice director of the Palace Secretariat with associate director status, was made vice director of the Secretariat; Zhang Jiuling, a Secretariat vice director with the same rank, was made chief of the Secretariat; and Li Linfu was made minister of rites and associate director of the Secretariat and Chancellery of the third rank, with the title Silver-Gleam Grand Master of Splendid Happiness conferred on all three. Li Linfu had a mild manner but a devious mind. He was adept at reading others' intentions, rose rapidly through the highest offices, and won the trust of his contemporaries. He also cultivated close ties with senior eunuchs and the consort's family, learning the emperor's moods in advance. Whatever he submitted in memorials invariably struck the right note. Yet he was suspicious and struck at people from the shadows, never betraying it in speech or expression. Anyone at court who enjoyed the emperor's favor but did not come through his door would find crimes fabricated against them; while those he favored, even stable boys and men of the lowest rank, could rise to the highest honors. He soon held the ministries of revenue and of war in succession, while continuing to direct state affairs as before.

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, because Crown Prince Ying and the Princes of E and Guang had all lost their mothers' favor and were heard to complain, Commandant-escort Yang Hui reported this to Consort Hui. Xuanzong was furious and took counsel with his chief ministers, intending to punish the princes. Zhang Jiuling said, "Your Majesty, you cannot afford to lose these three grown sons. The crown prince is the foundation of the state. He has long lived in the palace under Your Majesty's instruction, and no fault has been seen in him. How can Your Majesty, in a moment of anger, contemplate deposing him? I dare not obey such an order. The emperor was displeased. Li Linfu withdrew looking blank. At first he said nothing; then he told a senior eunuch, "Family matters — why consult outsiders about them? At that time Niu Xianke, military commissioner of Shuofang, was at his post and had proved capable. The emperor wished to add to his substantive fief. Zhang Jiuling memorialized again: "For a frontier commander to drill troops, provision horses, and stockpile supplies is routine duty — Your Majesty may reward that; but to grant him revenue from a substantive fief may not be appropriate. I ask Your Majesty to consider this carefully. The emperor said nothing. Li Linfu relayed Zhang's words to Niu Xianke, who the next day appeared before the emperor in tears and declined further honors. The emperor still meant to grant the substantive fief and appoint Xianke minister. Zhang Jiuling argued as before. The emperor's expression darkened. "Must everything be decided by you?" he said. Zhang Jiuling kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty appointed me chancellor on sufferance. When something is not right, it is my duty to speak plainly. If I have offended Your Majesty, I deserve death ten thousand times over." Xuanzong said, "Do you think Xianke lacks a distinguished lineage? What lineage do you claim?" Zhang Jiuling answered, "I am a man of humble and obscure birth. Xianke is a subject of the central heartland. Yet Your Majesty raised me to the highest offices and entrusted me with imperial edicts; Xianke was once a minor clerk from the Hehuang frontier and cannot even read. To give him a weighty post, I fear, would not be wise." Afterward Li Linfu remarked, "If a man has talent and judgment, why demand literary learning? When the Son of Heaven chooses his servants, 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 had once married a woman and then divorced her; she afterward married Wang Yuanyan, prefect of Yu Prefecture. When Yuanyan was accused of corruption, the Three Offices were ordered to investigate. Yan Tingzhi intervened and secured his acquittal. The emperor looked into the matter and told Zhang Jiuling, "Wang Yuanyan was not innocent of corruption. Yan Tingzhi's intervention shows that certain officials still had favors to repay. Zhang Jiuling replied, "She is Yan's former wife and is now married into the Cui family. There should be no lingering attachment." The emperor said, "You do not understand. Even after divorce, private feelings may remain. Drawing on these earlier matters, the emperor judged that Zhang Jiuling had formed a faction. He and Pei Yaoqing were both removed from directing state affairs and given the nominal posts of left and right chancellor. Yan Tingzhi was sent out as prefect of Ming Prefecture, and Wang Yuanyan was exiled to the far south. That same day Li Linfu replaced Zhang as chief of the Secretariat, grand academician of the Hall for Gathering Worthies, and compiler of the national history; Niu Xianke was made minister of works, associate director of the Secretariat and Chancellery of the second rank, and put in charge of Chancellery business. Investigating censor Zhou Ziliang declared that Niu Xianke was unfit to be chancellor. The emperor, enraged, had him executed. Li Linfu argued that Zhou had been Zhang Jiuling's protégé and had Jiuling demoted to administrator of Jing Prefecture.

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，衤任席無別，不以為恥，由林甫之贊成也。

Once Li Linfu held the reins of government, he also took charge of the Longyou and Hexi frontier commands and was made minister of personnel. When the Tianbao reign revised official titles, he became right chancellor, relinquished his frontier commands, received the title Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, and was promoted to left vice director of the Department of State Affairs. In the sixth year he was made palace equipage of the third rank and granted a substantive fief of three hundred households, while imperial favor toward him deepened still further. Imperial delicacies and rare foods from distant regions were sent to him by palace attendants in an unbroken stream along the roads. He and Chancellor Li Shizhi were related, but Shizhi was rash. When they discussed policy together, Shizhi often missed the larger point, and the emperor's favor toward him waned until he was dismissed. Chen Xilie, vice director of the Palace Secretariat, was pliant and obsequious by nature and had long curried favor with Li Linfu. After Shizhi's dismissal, Linfu brought Chen in to share direction of state affairs. Li Linfu had long controlled the government, and all real authority in the realm rested with him. In the routine business of the central offices Chen Xilie dared not offer opinions and merely assented. Before every memorial he bribed the emperor's attendants to learn the ruler's mood and thus secure his position. The emperor had reigned many years and wearied of the myriad affairs of state. He had always found audiences with senior ministers constraining and difficult for indulging private wishes. Once he had Li Linfu, he entrusted everything to him. He shut out unwelcome counsel, gave himself over to feasting and pleasure, made no distinction among his bed companions, and felt no shame in it — 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 town houses, estates, and water-powered mills in the capital consumed the richest lands in the region. East of the city stood a villa of the Prince of Xue, whose wooded pavilions were the finest in the capital; the emperor gave it to him specially, along with two troupes of female musicians. Rare treasures from across the empire were bestowed on him in such number that they could not all be recorded. No chancellor since the Kaiyuan era had wielded power on such a scale. Yet he was meticulous in every matter, set the administration in order, strengthened regulations, and kept promotions and dismissals at court and in the provinces to fixed standards. He clung to favor and entrenched his power. Anyone at court whose reputation began to rise would inevitably be struck down by his secret machinations. When Wei Jian first came to court, Li Linfu, knowing that Jian was the elder brother of the crown prince's consort, gave him an important post and feigned friendship while plotting his ruin. He secretly ordered Censor-in-Chief Yang Shenjin to watch for a chance to bring him down. On the night of the Lantern Festival the crown prince went abroad and met Wei Jian. Shenjin learned of it and reported to the throne. The emperor was furious and judged the conduct treasonous. Wei Jian was dismissed, and the crown prince's Wei consort was deposed. Li Linfu then reported that Li Shizhi had been on intimate terms with Wei Jian and that Pei Kuan and Han Chaozong had curried favor with Shizhi. The emperor believed him, ordered Wei Jian to take his own life, and had Pei and Han driven from office. Later, as Yang Shenjin's power grew, Li Linfu grew jealous again and installed Wang Hong as censor-in-chief, treating him as a trusted confidant. Wang Hong, eager to please Li Linfu, secretly memorialized that Shenjin practiced heterodox rites and broke the law. The entire Yang clan was destroyed. Yang Guozhong, a relative of the imperial consort clan, moved freely within the inner palace, and most of his requests were granted. He was promoted within the censorial and secretariat offices and put in charge of criminal investigations. It happened that Youlin, father of the crown prince's Du consort, was estranged from his son-in-law Liu Ji. Ji sent a secret letter accusing Youlin of wrongdoing and named Li Yong as a witness. The emperor ordered Wang Hong and Yang Guozhong to investigate. Wang Hong and Yang Guozhong shaped their report to suit Li Linfu. Youlin was ordered to kill himself, the consort was reduced to commoner status, and Li Yong, Pei Dunfu, and several of their associates were executed. Li Linfu's secret malice and ruthless patience were all of this sort.

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 that he had never supported the crown prince from the outset and feared future retribution. He repeatedly launched major prosecutions to threaten the heir, but the prince's own caution and innocence kept slander from taking hold. Li Linfu once had Wei Lin, vice prefect of Jiyang, accuse Wang Zhongsi, military commissioner of Longyou and Hexi. Lin had once served as prefect of Shuo when Zhongsi held the Shandong command. He claimed that he and Zhongsi had been raised together in the palace, were close in affection, and that Zhongsi meant to gather troops to support the crown prince. When Xuanzong heard this he said, "My son is inside the palace. How could he be in contact with outsiders? This is nonsense. Nevertheless Wang Zhongsi was demoted to prefect of Hanyang. In the eighth year of Tianbao, Zhao Fengzhang of the Xianning Grand Storehouse accused Li Linfu of more than twenty crimes. Before the accusation reached the throne, Li Linfu learned of it and had the Censorate arrest Zhao on charges of sorcery. He was 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 also took charge of the Anxi protectorate and the Shuofang command, and soon afterward the vice protectorate of Chanyu as well. In the eleventh year, when the Shuofang deputy Li Xianzhong rebelled, Li Linfu relinquished the command and recommended An Sishun as his replacement. Since the Wude and Zhenguan reigns, even frontier generals as loyal and capable as Ashina Du'er and Qibi Heli had not been given sole command. Weighty ministers at court usually held the commission posts to keep them in check. During Kaiyuan, Zhang Jiazhen, Wang Jun, Zhang Yue, Xiao Song, and Du Xian had all risen from military commissioner posts to direct state affairs. Secure in power, Li Linfu wished to cut off the path by which frontier commanders became chancellors. He once memorialized, "When literary men serve as generals, they shrink from arrows and stones. It is better to employ men of humble birth and non-Chinese commanders. The latter are brave in battle, and the former have no factional ties. The emperor agreed and appointed An Sishun to replace Li Linfu in command of the commission. Thereafter Gao Xianzhi and Geshu Han held sole command as great generals. Li Linfu counted on their illiteracy and lack of any route to the chancellorship. Yet An Lushan in the end became the agent of rebellion — precisely because such men had been given sole 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、苑鹹文士之阘茸者，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：「此雲『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, having risen early in his career, dressed his carriages and person in the utmost splendor. He had no learning himself and could scarcely write; he was especially hostile to anyone with contemporary renown for talent. Petty literati such as Guo Shenwei and Yuan Xian wrote his letters for him. While Li Linfu headed the Selection Bureau, an examiner's comment on candidate Yan Tong used the Book of Songs phrase *didi* (the lone pear tree). Not knowing the character *di*, Li Linfu asked Vice Minister of Personnel Wei Zhi, "This reads 'staff pear tree' — what does that mean?" Wei Zhi bowed his head and dared not answer. Jiang Du, Vice Director of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and Li Linfu's nephew by marriage, had a son born to his wife. Li Linfu wrote a congratulatory note in his own hand: "I hear there is the joy of playing with an elk. Guests who read it covered their mouths to stifle 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 did not regard this man of slight talent as a threat; but once Yang rose to censor-in-chief and dominated the court, Li Linfu began to resent him. Yang Guozhong was then also military commissioner of Jiannan. When the southern tribes raided the frontier, Li Linfu asked that Yang take up residence at his post. The emperor approved the request but favored Yang warmly, sending him off with a poem whose closing lines hinted that he would soon enter the chancellorship. It also read, "You need only go to Shu to manage military affairs; I shall count the days until you return. Li Linfu's heart was especially displeased. Li Linfu was by then bedridden. In the tenth month of that year he dragged himself along on the emperor's visit to Huaqing Palace. Within days he grew worse. Shamans said one glimpse of the imperial procession would ease him. The emperor wished to see him, but those around him dissuaded him. The emperor had Li Linfu carried into the courtyard, then ascended the Pavilion of Descending Sageliness to look down from afar, waving a red scarf in greeting. Li Linfu could not rise and had someone bow on his behalf from his couch. The next day Yang Guozhong returned from Shu, visited Li Linfu, and bowed at the foot of his bed. Li Linfu wept and entrusted his affairs to him. He soon died. He was posthumously made Grand Preceptor and Area Commander-in-Chief of Yangzhou, with the grant of ceremonial guard swords and imperial burial vessels. His sons bore the coffin back to the capital with full honors and began the mourning rites 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 drowned himself in music and courtesans; concubines filled every chamber. Knowing he had made many enemies, he lived in constant fear of assassins. He barred his doors, walled his chambers, and layered stone and timber defenses, moving his bed several times in a single night so that even his family did not know where he slept. He had twenty-five sons and twenty-five daughters: You was Director of Imperial Construction, E was Gentleman of the Bureau of Granaries, and Yu was Vice Director of the Imperial Ancestral Temple; his sons-in-law Zhang Boji was Vice Director of the Court for Diplomatic Receptions, Zheng Ping was assistant secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Du Wei was rectifier on the right, Qi Xuan was remonstrance grandee, and Yuan Cong was a revenue clerk in 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，衣寇士子，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。

Once Li Linfu dreamed of a tall, fair-skinned man with a heavy beard pressing upon him; he could not drive him away. When he woke, he said, "This man looks like Pei Kuan — Kuan means to take my place. Pei Kuan was then Minister of Revenue and concurrent Censor-in-Chief; Li Linfu used Li Shizhi's faction to drive him out. At that time Yang Guozhong had only begun as an aide in the Golden Guard Regiment. Less than ten years later Li Linfu died, and Yang Guozhong took his place — and his appearance too resembled Pei Kuan's. Yang Guozhong had long hated Li Linfu. Once in power, he falsely accused him of plotting rebellion with the Tangut general Abu Si and induced discontented members of Li Linfu's clan to testify. An edict stripped Li Linfu of rank and made him a commoner. You, E, and the other sons were exiled to the south. Li Linfu was secretive by nature, with schemes beyond measure, and never let love or hatred show on his face. Once he held the chancellorship, he kept to the rules, wore scholar's dress, and barred advancement to anyone outside the regular examination track. Thus he wielded power for twenty years while court and countryside looked on in fear of his might. When Yang Guozhong framed him, the realm regarded it as a grave injustice.

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, whose original name was Zhao, was from Yongle in Pu Prefecture. His father Xun was posthumously made Minister of War when Yang Guozhong rose to power. Zhang Yizhi, a favorite of Empress Wu, was his maternal uncle. Yang Guozhong had no learning or self-restraint. He drank heavily, gambled without shame, and was despised by his clan. He left in anger to join the army under the Shu commander. Though marked for promotion for his record in the garrison forces, Zhang Kuan, prefectural administrator of Yizhou, detested his character and had him flogged on a pretext, yet in the end appointed him magistrate of Xindu because of his garrison record. He was gradually promoted to military staff officer of the Golden Guard Regiment. Consort Taizhen — Yang Guifei — was his cousin on the father's side. In the early Tianbao era, when Yang Guifei was favored, the Jiannan commissioner Zhang Qiu Jianqiong took Yang Guozhong on staff and soon had him made supervising censor. His comings and goings were frivolous. Thrust suddenly into high office, courtiers pointed and laughed at him.

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。

Li Linfu was then plotting against the Crown Prince, gathering secret evidence to destroy him. Attending censor Yang Shenjin took his cue from this wind. He falsely accused the Crown Prince's brother-in-law Wei Jian and Huangfu Weiming of visiting the Crown Prince in secret. Yang Guozhong, emboldened by imperial favor, joined the faction to prosecute the case. Ji Wen of the metropolitan legal bureau twisted statutes to defame them and served as Yang Guozhong's enforcer. The case against Wei Jian was pressed to the hilt; Wei Jian, the Crown Prince's honored consort Lady Du, and kinsmen Liu Ji and Du Kunwu were punished severely to build Yang's power. A separate interrogation court was set up in the capital. Year after year great trials followed, with pursuit, entrapment, and executions wiping out hundreds of families — all at Yang Guozhong's instigation. Li Linfu was guarding his position through obstruction. Every impeachment Yang Guozhong filed that touched the Crown Prince, though Li Linfu did not openly direct him, came at Li Linfu's bidding. Yang Guozhong rode that current to do evil as he pleased. The emperor was advanced in years with shifting likes and dislikes. Yang Guozhong read his moods and shaped his actions to match them. He was swiftly made acting assistant in the Ministry of Revenue and concurrent attending censor, with charge of water and land transport, state granaries, treasury disbursements, inner-palace purchases, recruitment of Jiannan troops, and other duties. For competent service he was made gentleman of the Ministry of Revenue. Within a year he held more than fifteen commissions, became palace recepient and concurrent vice censor-in-chief, and took sole charge of revenue affairs. That year the consort's sisters, the Ladies of Guo, Han, and Qin states, were ennobled on the same day, and her brother Qian was made Director of the Court for Diplomatic Receptions. In the eighth year Emperor Xuanzong summoned officials to view the Left Vault and, pleased that treasure piled like mountains, personally granted Yang Guozhong the gold-and-purple insignia and acting charge of the Grand Vault. Once Yang Guozhong controlled finance, his comings and goings in the palace won him greater favor day by day.

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。

At first Yang Shenjin courted Li Linfu's favor, brought in Wang Hong as vice censor-in-chief, and together framed a great case to destroy the Crown Prince. When the emperor's mind did not change, Yang Shenjin grew cautious and fell out with Wang Hong. Wang Hong then attached himself to Yang Guozhong, falsely accused Yang Shenjin, and had his brothers executed. Thereafter power tilted entirely toward Yang Guozhong, and officials trembled before him. Ji Wen outlined for Yang Guozhong a plan to seize the chancellorship. Yang Guozhong adopted it and soon became vice minister of war as well. Metropolitan governor Xiao Jiong and vice censor-in-chief Song Hun were both favorites of Li Linfu. Yang Guozhong falsely accused each and had them banished; Li Linfu could not save them. Wang Hong was censor-in-chief and concurrent metropolitan governor. His favor rivaled Yang Guozhong's, and his rank stood above Yang's. Yang Guozhong resented Wang Hong's share of power. When Xing Zong's plot was exposed, he framed Wang Hong and his brother and had them executed, then took Wang's posts as censor-in-chief and acting metropolitan governor and was granted the name Guozhong. He then pressed the Xing Zong case to the end, extracting testimony that Li Linfu had secret dealings with Wang Hong, Wang Han, and Abu Si. Chen Xilie and Geshu Han backed Yang Guozhong's case and confirmed the charges, and the emperor thereafter grew cool toward Li Linfu.

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。

The southern tribal hostage Geluofeng fled home and could not be recaptured. The emperor was furious and wished to punish him. Yang Guozhong recommended Xianyu Zhongtong of Langzhou as administrator of Yizhou and sent him with eighty thousand elite troops against the southern tribes. He fought Geluofeng south of Lu, and the entire army was destroyed. Yang Guozhong concealed the defeat, still reported it as a victory, and had Zhongtong memorialize asking that Yang Guozhong be given concurrent command of Yizhou as well. In the tenth year Yang Guozhong was acting chief administrator of the Shu commandery, deputy military commissioner of Jiannan with full authority, and recommended Zhongtong to replace him as metropolitan governor. Yang Guozhong then sent staff officer Li Mi with seventy thousand men on a second campaign against the southern tribes. Li Mi crossed the Lu River, was lured by the tribes to He City, was routed without a fight, and died on the field. Yang Guozhong again concealed the defeat and reported a victory to the throne. From the two campaigns led by Zhongtong and Li Mi, every levy drew China's finest troops, yet they were unsuited to the terrain, mired in bogs, stricken by pestilence, and starved of supplies. Eight or nine in ten perished. In all, two hundred thousand men were raised and abandoned to die; not even a cart wheel came back. The people nursed bitter grievances, and none dared speak out. Yang Guozhong soon became investigation commissioner of Shannan West Circuit as well. In the eleventh year the southern tribes invaded Shu. The people of Shu asked that Yang Guozhong take command, and Li Linfu memorialized to send him there. As he was about to depart, he wept and pleaded that Li Linfu would surely destroy him. The emperor pitied him and recalled him within a few months. When Li Linfu died, Yang Guozhong succeeded him as right chancellor, retaining his posts as minister of personnel, grand academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies, commissioner of the imperial palaces, controller of revenue, military commissioner of Jiannan, investigation commissioner of Shannan West, and supervisor of tax and coinage affairs 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 rash and impulsive, forceful and glib. Having reached the chancellorship through flattery, he settled state affairs without hesitation. In court he would roll up his sleeves and clench his fists. From dukes and ministers downward, all obeyed his gestures and tone, and none did not fear him. By precedent, the chancellor held his post through founding merit and great virtue, did not pursue displays of power, and traveled with a modest escort. From the time Li Linfu had long enjoyed imperial favor, his processions filled the streets. Military commissioners and vice ministers who wished to petition him all ran to give way, like clerks before a magistrate. By old custom the chancellor left office only in late afternoon. Li Linfu reported that the realm was at peace and returned home at mid-morning; pressing affairs were all decided at his private residence. Chief clerk Wu Xun brought the register to Left Chancellor Chen Xilie's house. Chen Xilie merely signed it without approving or rejecting anything. Yang Guozhong succeeded him and governed in the same way. From attending censor to chancellor, Yang Guozhong held more than forty commissions and personally controlled revenue and all three personnel selections. Affairs were so numerous that he could not even sign his name to everything and left it all to clerks, while bribes flowed openly.

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 chancellor in charge of appointments, Yang Guozhong memorialized that candidates be approved or rejected on the day of selection, dispensing with the long register. Before the Xiantian era, officials who handled state affairs returned to their ministries in the afternoon to decide business, and the minister and vice ministers of war also shared in drafting appointments. After Kaiyuan, with fewer chancellors, the post grew more exalted and they no longer returned to their original ministries. By precedent the Ministry of Personnel's three selection boards required three rounds of drafting and announcement, and the process ran from spring into summer before it was done. Yang Guozhong had clerks secretly fix appointments at his mansion, then gathered officials at the Ministry of Personnel to announce them in a single day to boast of his speed. Qualifications were confused and proper order was lost. The next year, when drafting appointments, he again gathered candidates at his mansion and had his sisters watch from behind curtains; their laughter was clearly heard outside. By precedent, after officials were registered, the list passed through the Palace Secretariat to the attendant-in-chief and drafting attendants. When Yang Guozhong registered officials, he called Left Chancellor Chen Xilie to one side while drafting attendants stood by and said, "Since we have announced the appointments here, they have already passed through the Secretariat. Vice ministers of personnel Wei Jiansu and Zhang Yi, both in purple robes, that day consulted on business alongside their bureau gentlemen, hurrying among the screens and trees. After they left, Yang Guozhong said to his sisters, "What do you think of those two purple-robed chiefs of office? They looked at one another and burst into loud laughter. His favorites — metropolitan governor Xianyu Zhongtong, palace drafting attendant Dou Hua, and attending censor Zheng Ang — induced candidates to erect a stele at the ministry gate praising Yang Guozhong's skill in 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。

Yang Guozhong had an affair with the consort's sister, the Lady of Guo State. In Xuanyi Ward they built linked mansions draped in brocade, whose grandeur neither capital could match. They held revels day and night without regard for propriety. Sometimes he and the Lady of Guo rode side by side into court, whipping their horses in jest. Passersby on the streets were all shocked and amazed. Every year in the tenth month Emperor Xuanzong visited Huaqing Palace and usually stayed through the winter before returning. Yang Guozhong's hill mansion stood south of the palace's eastern gate, facing the Lady of Guo's residence, with the Ladies of Han and Qin adjoining. When the emperor visited, he passed all five households in turn, bestowing rewards and feasts. Whenever they escorted the emperor to Mount Li, the five households marched together, with Yang Guozhong leading under his Jiannan banners. Farewell feasts lined the road going out, and relay escorts on the return. Gifts of treasure, horses, eunuchs, and singing boys streamed along the route from far and near. He was advanced to Duke of Wei with a substantive fief of three hundred households, and soon after was made 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 then stood in extraordinary imperial favor and held all military power. Yang Guozhong knew his arrogance and that he would never accept subordination; Guozhong meant to destroy him and repeatedly warned the emperor of treason, but Xuanzong would not believe him. By then Lushan already ruled Hebei alone, mustered crack horsemen from You and Bing, and secretly planned revolt. He had not yet moved openly, biding his time until the emperor's death before turning traitor. When he saw Guozhong in power and feared for himself, Lushan retained the distant title of Commissioner of the Imperial Studs, appointed Ji Wen of the Ministry of War as acting commander with concurrent posts as vice censor and capital investigator, and used him to watch the court from within. Guozhong sent his clients Jian Ang and He Ying to uncover Lushan's secrets, surrounded his house, seized Li Chao, An Dai, and others, and had the censor Zheng Ang strangle them in the Censorate. He also had Ji Wen banished to Hepu to goad Lushan, hoping to unsettle him while winning the emperor's trust inwardly. Xuanzong never saw through it. Lushan, now afraid, raised his armies under the banner of punishing Yang Guozhong. When Xuanzong heard of the uprising in Hebei, he planned to leave the crown prince as regent and lead the campaign himself, and consulted Guozhong. Guozhong was terrified. He went home and told his sisters, "We are as good as dead. If the crown prince becomes regent now, we and you ladies will perish together. His sisters wept before the Noble Consort, who pleaded with earth in her mouth until the plan was abandoned. While Geshu Han held Tong Pass, his officers argued that the pass stood three hundred li from the capital: the wise course was to hold the terrain, not to attack. Guozhong feared that Han, holding the army but hesitating, might turn on him, and pressed from court for a swift battle. Han could not refuse and marched out; at Taolin the imperial army was routed and Geshu Han taken. The lost war was 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。」

After Lushan rebelled, Guozhong took personal command of Jiannan and planted his own men between Liang and Yi to secure an escape. On the ninth of the sixth month, Tong Pass fell. Before dawn on the twelfth the emperor fled through Yanqiu Gate with Chen Xuanli, Wei Jiansu, Wei Fangjin, Guozhong, the Noble Consort, and their kin. Princesses and consorts were left behind. To delay pursuit he had drums beaten at Chunming Gate and fodder stores burned until the sky blazed. Once across the Wei River, he ordered the floating bridge destroyed. By mid-morning they reached Wangxian Station at Xianyang. Officials had fled in panic; no one of rank or low degree remained. The court sat under the great tree by the palace gate. At noon the emperor had still not eaten. An old man brought wheat; only then was a meal prepared and he was fed. The next day at Mawei the troops were hungry and furious. Chen Xuanli, fearing mutiny, spoke to them first: "The realm is breaking apart and the throne shaken. Is this not because Yang Guozhong preyed on the people until court and countryside boiled with hate? If we do not kill him to answer the world, how can we quiet the fury of the empire? The men cried, "We have wanted this for a long time. If it is done, we are content to die. Just then Tibetan envoys at the gate were pleading with Guozhong. The soldiers shouted, "Yang Guozhong is plotting rebellion with the foreigners." The troops surrounded the station, seized Guozhong, and beheaded him before the army. That day the Noble Consort was strangled, and the Ladies of Han and Guo were killed by the mutineers. Censor-in-Chief Wei Fangjin was killed and Left Chancellor Wei Jiansu wounded. When the tumult subsided, Chen Xuanli and the others apologized to the emperor: "Guozhong wrecked the laws of the state and brought on disaster. The people burn and the throne is driven into exile. If he had not been killed, the calamity would never end. We acted for the realm and beg forgiveness for taking authority without your command. The emperor said, "I failed to see clearly and chose the wrong men. I have lately understood his deceit and meant, once we reached Shu, to expose him in the public square. Heaven has moved you to fulfill my wish. I will grant you rank and reward. Why speak of guilt?"

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。

Though Lushan held the Yellow and Luo valleys, his advance east halted at Liang and Song and south at Xu and Deng. Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi led Hebei's best troops and retook Heng and Ding. Had Xiaomian and Hangu been held and the army kept still, the rebels would have worn themselves out without a fight. Once Geshu Han marched out, within days the emperor fled, the capital fell, officials were bound, princesses slain, and war and ruin spread across the realm — all calamities Guozhong brought upon himself.

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's sons were Xuan, Kuai, Xiao, and Xi. Xuan was Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and Vice Minister of Revenue, married to the Princess of Yanhe; Kuai was Chamberlain for Dependencies and married the Princess of Wanchun. Each brother built a mansion in Qinren Ward and lived in boundless luxury. Guozhong had married the Shu singer Pei Rou. After his death she and the Lady of Guo killed themselves. Xuan died at Mawei; Kuai was caught by the rebels and killed; Xiao fled to Hanzhong, where Prince Yu had him hunted down and killed; Xi fled to Chencang and was killed by pursuers.

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。

His followers — the Hanlin scholar Zhang Jian, Dou Hua, the drafter Song Yu, the personnel director Zheng Ang, and others — traded on his power for bribes until their gates choked with carriages and their wealth rose like hills; when he fell they were all executed. Their ruin of the dynasty was the poison of a single age.

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 was from Xiangcheng in Ruzhou. His grandfather Dezheng had been prefect of Yanzhou under Emperor Gaozu. At the opening of the Jinglong era Wei was magistrate of Tongdi. His family was rich, he loved company, and he passed his days hunting. When the King of Linzi served as vice-prefect of Luzhou, Wei saw his promise and gave himself wholly to the prince, sharing his days of sport and travel. When the musician Zhao Yuanli came from the east with a beautiful daughter skilled in dance, the prince favored her and lodged her in Wei's house. There the future deposed Crown Prince Ying was born. In the sixth month of Tanglong, when the prince quelled the palace turmoil and became heir, he summoned Wei as Palace Gate Grandee. Wei joined the princes, Jiang Jiao, Cui Ti, Li Lingwen, Wang Shouyi, and Xue Boyang in the heir's inner circle. That year he was made attending censor of the Left Platform and within months 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 took the throne while the retired emperor remained at Wude Hall. Princess Taiping plotted treason and built a wide faction. Wei and the chief minister Liu Youqiu urged the emperor to prepare. Taiping learned of it and told Ruizong. Wei was exiled to Fengzhou in the far south and Youqiu banished beyond the mountains. When Taiping fell, Youqiu was recalled as left vice director of the Secretariat and palace attendant; Wei became minister of justice, was enfeoffed as Duke of Deng with three hundred households, and a month later was made acting prefect of Yongzhou. In the twelfth month of that year the era became Kaiyuan, Yongzhou was renamed Jingzhao Prefecture, and its prefect was titled yin. Wei was the first to hold the post of Jingzhao yin — feasting with the emperor within the palace, governing the capital without. Men called it the summit of favor. Wei was capable in office as well. He became crown prince steward, served concurrently as vice director of the Secretariat, twice commanded the Left Forest Army, thrice the Left Golden Host, and also directed the palace workshops and the imperial stables.

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 his twentieth year of service he was granted the honorary rank of tejin for his great age. His sons Lvbing and Jiliang and his brother Wu all held high, honorable offices. Early in Tianbao he returned home to sweep the tombs. The emperor gave him brocade robes and silks and composed a poem in his honor. He traveled by imperial relay and every county was ordered to supply him. Wei's hair was snow-white in his carriage while sons and kin stretched in a line of horses for miles. The gentry looked on with envy. Palace envoys overtook him on the road with imperial medicines. After a month at Xiangcheng he was ordered back to the capital. In the fifth year he died, past ninety, and was posthumously made Grand Master of the Palace with the rank of the Three Excellencies. Later Lvbing became a Golden Host general and Jiliang director of the palace workshops; both bore halberds at court, and men praised the family. Wei lived to great old age. He knew how to keep fortune from first to last.

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 was from Henei in Huaizhou. His cousin Yinke had been vice-director of the Phoenix Pavilion under Empress Wu. Orphaned young, Ju was clever and resourceful, drawn to astrology and the alchemist's arts. Early in the Shendragon era, in his twenties, he visited the imperial son-in-law Wang Tongjiao, who took a great liking to him and drew him close. When they spoke of killing Wu Sansi, Ju pledged himself on principle and became a sworn friend of Zhou Jing and Zhang Zhongzhi, though they were older. When Tongjiao fell, Ju fled under a false name to Jiangdu and copied books for a rich merchant. The man saw he was no common clerk, gave him his daughter, and set him up with money. Four or five years later Ruizong took the throne. Ju told his host everything; the man gave him a rich outfit for the road, and Ju reached Chang'an. He found Xuanzong serving as regent while the crown prince, hated by Princess Taiping, who meant to set up a weak ruler and seize power, lived in fear. The monk Puyun had divined victory over the palace foes for Xuanzong, was raised three ranks with a substantive fief, and often came to the Eastern Palace. Ju met him and spoke of heaven's signs and men's affairs as clear as daylight. Puyun told Xuanzong, and the prince marveled at him. When Ju was appointed chief clerk of Zhuji through the Ministry of Personnel, he called at the Eastern Palace to give thanks. He entered the hall walking slowly with his eyes raised. A eunuch said, "His Highness is behind the curtain. Ju said, "Outside these walls one hears only of Princess Taiping, not of a crown prince. The crown prince has saved the realm and shown supreme filial piety. How can his name be so dim?" Xuanzong summoned him at once. Ju said, "When Empress Wei murdered the emperor, the realm yearned for the House of Li. You could have destroyed her with ease. The realm is settled now, but Taiping is Wu Zetian's daughter — fierce beyond measure, hungry for power — and most of the great ministers serve her. The emperor loves her as his younger sister and forgives her faults. I am only a humble man, but I am deeply afraid for Your Highness." Xuanzong had him sit on the same couch. Xuanzong wept and said, "My brother the emperor is kind and filial. Of our blood there is only Taiping left. To speak against her is treason; to stay silent is worse. As son and subject I see no way. Ju said, "A son of heaven's true filial piety is to secure the ancestral temples and to give peace to the myriad people. Look to the past. Princess Gaoyang was the Han emperor's elder sister and raised him in the palace. Later she joined Shangguan Jie and the Prince of Yan against Huo Guang. The emperor, fearing for the Liu clan, cast her off for the sake of the realm. Your merit fills heaven and earth, and you stand as heir apparent. Taiping is your aunt, but she is still a subject. Who would hesitate to judge her? Liu Youqiu, Zhang Yue, Guo Yuanzhen, and other great ministers stand loyal to you. Her faction will surely move to seize power. This is not a matter to speak of openly." Xuanzong asked again, "What humble skills do you have, that you might keep close to me in secret?" Ju said, "Refining elixirs, jesting, and composing doggerel — skills fit to rank with the palace players." Xuanzong grew still more delighted, took him as a friend, lamented that they had met so late, and nicknamed him "Wang Eleven." The next day he was appointed registrar in the Heir Apparent's household, inner attendant, and scholar of the Chongwen Academy. Day after day he waited on the princes and Jiang Jiao and the rest, while Ju alone was regularly let in on confidential designs. Within a month he was made crown prince attendant, then censor and inner attendant as well. His father Zhongyou, formerly assistant magistrate of Xiaji, was posthumously honored as governor of Chu.

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 at Wude Hall. In the eighth month he was promoted to vice director of the Secretariat. Liu Youqiu and Zhang Wei had both been banished south of the Ling Mountains. Seeing events closing in, Ju urged that they act while there was still time. On the third day of the seventh month in the second year, Ju joined the Princes of Qi and Xue, Jiang Jiao, Li Lingwen, Wang Maozhong, and Wang Shouyi in putting down the traitors and rode armored cavalry to Chengtian Gate. Ruizong heard the uproar and summoned Guo Yuanzhen to Chengtian Tower to proclaim an edict down 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 to the upper tower and put to death Xiao Zhizhong, Cen Yi, Dou Huaihen, Chang Yuankai, Li Ci, Li You, and the rest. Ruizong withdrew to Baifu Hall. On the tenth day Ju was made silver-green grand master of splendid honor and minister of revenue, enfeoffed as Duke of Zhao with a substantive fief of five hundred households; Jiang Jiao received the same grand master rank and the ministry of works, was made Duke of Chu with five hundred households; Li Lingwen became grand master, director of the palace directorate, and Duke of Song with three hundred households; Wang Maozhong was made assistant state general and grand general of the left martial guard, with charge of the outer stud farms and pasture administration, Duke of Huo with five hundred households; Wang Shouyi received the grand master rank, was named vice minister of rites on an extra roster with full ministerial standing, and was advanced to Duke of Jin with five hundred households. Ju, Jiao, and Lingwen all firmly declined the ministerial posts and the palace directorship and never took them up. On the eighteenth day Ju and Jiao, retaining their former titles, were each granted two hundred more households in substantive fief, seven hundred in all. For days on end Xuanzong feasted them in the inner hall and gave each meritorious official a couch-load of gold and silver vessels, a thousand bolts of patterned silks, and a thousand bolts of plain silk, all set out in the courtyard. The revel lasted the whole night, and they drove home laden with gifts.

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. He was summoned into the inner quarters night after night and did not emerge until dawn. Even on his days off, eunuchs came to his house to fetch him. The eunuchs also sent palace women to Ju's home to inquire after his mother, bearing seasonal fruit and delicacies for her table. At the emperor's side Ju was privy to weighty affairs of state. Men of the day called him the "inner chancellor," and none could rival him. His father was again posthumously honored as governor of Wei. Someone urged Xuanzong, saying, "Wang Ju and Ma Sizong are devious schemers. They are fit for perilous times, not for bringing a realm to fulfillment. The empire is settled now. Your Majesty should look instead for men of plain integrity trained in the classics. Xuanzong thereupon kept them at arm's length.

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 he ordered the grand censor, bearing imperial credentials, to inspect the armies north of Tianbing. In the twelfth month the era name was changed to Kaiyuan and official titles were revised. Ju and Su Ting served together as vice directors of the Ziwei Secretariat. He returned in the second month of the second year, but before he reached the capital he was appointed governor of Ze and stripped of his noble rank. He served in turn as governor of Heng, Chen, Hua, Guo, Mian, Kui, Xu, and Run, and his noble title was eventually 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 director of the heir apparent's household and governor of Su, then served in turn at Tong, Pu, Tong, Deng, and Cai. After the Tianbao era he was again prefect of Guangping and of Ye. By nature he was lavish. He had earned merit at court, drew a substantive fief, and governed fifteen prefectures. Gifts poured in constantly, and the tents and furnishings of his lower halls each cost thousands of strings of cash. Remembering old ties, Xuanzong indulged him. Twenty serving women lived in jeweled pavilions. His household numbered more than three hundred souls, and his building projects ignored the regulations. Though he held a prefect's rank, he shared couches with aides, clerks, and local magnates, drinking and joking, or amused himself with pitch-pot and games of chance. Whenever he moved to a new prefecture, his train of carriages and horses filled the road for miles. He took courtesans on the hunt and gave himself over to 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 elderly by then and had long served in distant prefectures. In their letters they exchanged phrases about exile and being left behind. Chief minister Li Linfu, finding Ju and the others talented but overbearing, secretly plotted to destroy them. In the first month of the fifth year Linfu duly framed charges against Ju, who was demoted to acting administrator of Jianghua and stripped of rank and fief. He had barely taken up his post when Linfu sent Luo Xizhi to reopen the case. Xizhi's warrant arrived by relay horse. In terror Ju swallowed poison, but it did not kill him; when Xizhi arrived, he hanged himself and died. He had not deserved death, and the world pitied him. In the first year of Baoying he was posthumously made junior guardian of the heir apparent.

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 was a native of Goryeo. His father Youji, a strike-corps officer serving in Qiulou, was convicted and enslaved to the state. Maozhong was born in bondage and thus entered Xuanzong's household. Quick-witted by nature, he waited on Xuanzong constantly when the latter was Prince of Linzi. When Xuanzong went out to serve concurrently as vice prefect of Lu, he noticed Li Yide, a swift groom skilled in horsemanship and archery, and bought him for fifty thousand cash. In the winter of the third year of Jinglong, when Xuanzong returned to Chang'an, the two men bore bows at his side like wings.

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。

Under Taizong in the Zhenguan era, a hundred bold youths were chosen from official households and tribal levies. On the hunt they rode before the imperial horses with bows to bring down game, wore leopard-pattern saddles and painted beast tunics, and were called the Hundred Riders. Under Empress Wu their numbers grew until they were called the Thousand Riders and were divided between the left and right Feathered Forest camps. Emperor Zhong renamed them the Ten Thousand Riders and appointed commissioners to command them. While Xuanzong was still at his princely residence he cultivated their boldest men, sometimes bestowing food, drink, and money, and so won their complete loyalty. Maozhong too divined what Xuanzong wanted and served him scrupulously, and the prince grew fonder of his quick mind.

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 Zhongzong was murdered. Empress Wei seized power, made Wei Bo and Gao Song generals of the Feathered Forest, and put them over the Thousand Riders camp, using the lash to enforce their will. The camp chiefs Ge Fushun and Chen Xuanli came together to Xuanzong to plead their grievance. He had already been plotting with Liu Youqiu, Ma Sizong, and Xue Chongjian. Their eyes met in growing elation. Youqiu sounded the men out, and all swore to follow him to the death. On the night of the twentieth Xuanzong entered the imperial park. Yide went with him, but Maozhong held back and did not go in. In the second watch Fushun and the others arrived. Xuanzong said, "With you I will destroy these great traitors and secure the realm. Wealth and rank are yours in an instant. How can I convince you? They asked leave to charge under the battle cry. Moments later the heads of Wei Bo, Wei Jun, Gao Song, and the rest were brought in. Xuanzong held up a torch to look at them. He also summoned Zhong Shaojing with a hundred craftsmen bearing saws from the imperial workshops. They cut through the gate and poured in. The empress, Princess Anle, and the others were all slain by the mutinous troops. That same night the young emperor, honoring Xuanzong's great merit, advanced him to Prince of Ping. Shaojing and Youqiu were put in charge of state affairs and ordered to draft edicts. Chongjian, Sizong, Fushun, and Yide were rewarded according to merit: the greatest became generals, the rest commanders of the palace guard. The late emperor still lay in state, and the whole city wore mourning white. At dawn Xuanzong led out his newly honored men in purple coats and scarlet, armored cavalry with bows strung. The whole city poured out to watch and rejoice. The bodies of the traitors were displayed outside the walls. Maozhong returned after several days. Xuanzong did not reproach him and promoted him straight 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 became crown prince regent, he memorialized to rename the left and right Ten Thousand Rider camps the Dragon Martial Army and, together with the left and right Feathered Forest, to form the four northern gate armies, with Fushun and the others as their generals. The Dragon Martial corps was made up entirely of meritorious men who received imperial gifts and were styled "founders of the Tang restoration." Well-born youths of Chang'an paid to join the corps and escape corvee duty, and each army soon numbered several thousand. Maozhong was put in sole charge of the crown prince's camel, horse, hawk, and dog yards. In less than a year he had risen to grand general, third rank. In the seventh month of the second year of Xiantian, for his part in putting down Xiao Zhizhong, Cen Yi, and the rest, Maozhong was made assistant state general and grand general of the left martial guard, with charge of all stud farms and pasture administration, and was advanced to Duke of Huo with five hundred households. Maozhong was upright and fearless before the mighty. The meritorious men of both Ten Thousand Rider camps and the stud officials all feared him, and none dared cross him. The park farms and fallow ground under his charge yielded abundantly, and Xuanzong judged him capable. In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan his father was posthumously made governor of Qin.

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 he had been granted estates and mansions and possessed slaves, camels, horses, and treasure beyond reckoning, he usually lived in a private house beside the imperial stud. Whenever he attended banquets he sat on shared couches with the princes and Jiang Jiao before the imperial curtains. If Xuanzong did not see him for a time, he fell quiet as though something were missing; when he did, their joy ran through the night, sometimes until sundown. His wife had already been made Lady of Guo; and his consort Lady Li was likewise granted the title of state lady. Whenever he attended court audience both wives received imperial gifts together. His infant sons were given fifth rank while still in the cradle and played with the crown prince, so eunuchs such as Yang Sixun and Gao Lishi kept their distance in fear. In the seventh year he was advanced to exceptional grand master and acting minister of the imperial stud; his other offices remained unchanged. In the ninth year he bore imperial credentials as defense and strike commissioner on the ShuoFang circuit, while Wang Jun, grand commander of the left wing army, and Zhang Yue, commander of the Tianbing army, coordinated eastward with Pei Youxian of Youzhou and the rest.

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 administration was strict and orderly, and the herds multiplied until they were several times their former number. No one dared steal fodder or grain, and each year's surplus often ran to tens of thousands of hu. In less than three years he accompanied the eastern feng rites with tens of thousands of stud horses, each color formed into its own column, a sight like brocaded clouds, and Xuanzong was delighted. At the foot of the sacred mountain the chief ministers Yuan Qianyao and Zhang Yue were made left and right chancellors, and Maozhong was given the rank of same glory with the government as opening office. From Xuanzong's accession after Xiantian until this time, only four men in fifteen years had reached opening office: the empress's father Wang Tongjiao, Yao Chong, Song Jing, and Maozhong. The emperor also ordered Zhang Yue to compose an ode on pasture supervision in his praise. In the seventeenth year he followed the court to the five imperial tombs, and Maozhong's father was again posthumously made governor-general of Yi. Maozhong grew ever more arrogant and once asked to be minister of war. Xuanzong was displeased, and Maozhong's resentment showed in his words and bearing. Fushun's son married Maozhong's daughter, and Yide, Tang Diwen, and dozens of others were on close terms with him. Relying on his power, many of them broke the law. The eunuchs envied his surpassing glory and set about exposing his crimes, treating him with especial arrogance. High-ranking eunuchs he treated with contempt; low-ranking ones he humiliated at the slightest provocation like his own household slaves. Lishi and his fellows hated him to the bone. Honored by the emperor, Maozhong once borrowed a pavilion in the imperial park when his wife was in labor so she could keep cool, and Xuanzong granted it. The eunuchs slandered him all the more, saying, "The slave officials of the northern gate have grown too powerful. Their boldest men are of one mind. Unless they are removed, great disaster will follow."

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 requisitioned arms from the Taiyuan armory. Yan Tingzhi, then vice governor, reported it to the throne. Fearing that his faction might panic and rise in revolt, Xuanzong concealed the true facts and issued an edict: "Wang Maozhong, opening office of same glory with the government, director of the palace directorate, Duke of Huo, and superintendent of all stud farms and pastures, is a man of no account and no merit. Raised from a household slave to court rank, he has enjoyed favor beyond compare and trust beyond measure. He has rendered not the slightest service, yet indulged boundless pride. In former days of peril he fled and hid, yet remembering old ties I showed him indulgence and still heaped honor on him. He has shown no sign of repentance. In office he has never given his all; in private he utters constant complaint. Weighed against his grave offenses, he deserves death; yet pardoning his dull wits, he is banished to a distant post. He is appointed acting vice prefect of Rang for an indefinite term. A courier shall escort him to his post by relay horse. He is permitted to travel and to hear cases. Ge Fushun, grand general of the left wing army and Duke of Geng, was demoted to acting vice prefect of Bi; Tang Diwen, general of the left gate guard and son of Lu Long, to acting vice prefect of Zhen; Li Shoude, general of the right martial guard and Marquis of Chengji, to acting vice prefect of Yan—Shoude had originally been called Yide and took a new name after his merit; Wang Jingyao, general of the right majestic guard, to acting vice prefect of Dang; and Gao Guangji, general of the right majestic guard, to acting vice prefect of Dao. Maozhong's son Shouzhen, keeper of the crown prince's stud, was demoted to registrar of Shi; Shouli, chief of the crown prince's household, to registrar of Xi; Shouqing, vice director of the court of the imperial clan, to granary officer of He; and Shoudao, senior recorder of the left gate guard, to military adjutant of Fu. Several dozen others were implicated. An edict also ordered Maozhong's death. At Yong he was strangled.

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！

The historian writes: Li Linfu rose by flattery to the highest office. Unafraid of excess, he blinded his sovereign. In life he schemed only to destroy others; in death he was destroyed in turn. Was this not Heaven borrowing human hands to punish the wicked? Yang Guozhong was treacherous by nature, mean in talent and foul in conduct. He held more than forty offices and wielded power at will. The emperor saw no fault in him, and the ministers fell silent. He brought on An Lushan's rebellion, the flight of the throne, the display of his head and the ruin of his clan, and none could save the dynasty in its extremity. That even one as sagacious as Xuanzong was misled by these two men was because they spoke smoothly, looked pleasing, anticipated his wishes, and tempted him with wealth until he was lost and could not wake. In Kaiyuan he employed Yao Chong and Song Jing and the realm was governed; he favored Linfu and Guozhong and fell into chaos. How was this different from Duke Huan of Qi, who employed Guan Zhong and Xi Peng but favored Shu Diao and Yi Ya? The Book of Documents says, "When ministers make blessings and wield power for themselves, they harm your house and bring ruin to your state. Confucius said, "Flatterers are dangerous." How true those words are. Zhang Wei, Wang Ju, and Wang Maozhong were all men of the sort of Deng Tong and Hong Ru. Ju had helped bind the realm together, but his excess and presumption were great, and he died for crimes he had not committed. What is there to pity?

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 says: Heaven opened the way to chaos; Linfu and Guozhong held power. They blinded their sovereign's judgment and harbored slander in their hearts. Wei, like the two Wangs, also received imperial favor. Alas for their presumption beyond all bounds, heedless of measure and law.

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