1
韋臯韋臯，字城武，京兆人。 大歷初，以建陵挽郎調補華州參軍，累授使府監察御史。 宰相張鎰出為鳳翊隴右節度使，奏臯為營田判官，得殿中侍御史，權知隴州行營留後事。
Wei Gao, whose courtesy name was Chengwu, came from Jingzhao. Early in the Dali reign, after serving as a pallbearer at Jianling, he was assigned as an aide in Huazhou and gradually rose to become a surveillance commissioner on his patron's staff. When Zhang Yin left the capital to take command of Fengyi and Longyou, he recommended Gao as his agricultural commissioner. Gao also received appointment as an imperial attendant censor and was made acting rear-base commander at the Longzhou field headquarters.
2
，涇師犯闕，德宗幸奉天，鳳翔兵馬使李楚琳殺張鎰，以府城叛歸於硃泚，隴州刺史郝通奔於楚琳。 先是，硃泚自范陽入朝，以甲士自隨； 後泚為鳳翔節度使，既罷，留范陽五百人戍隴州，而泚舊將牛雲光督之。 時泚既以逆徒圍奉天，雲光因稱疾，請臯為帥，將謀亂，擒臯以赴泚。 臯將翟曄伺知之，白臯為備； 雲光知事泄，遂率其兵以奔泚。 行及汧陽，遇泚家僮蘇玉將使於臯所，蘇玉謂雲光曰：「太尉已登寶位，使我持詔以韋臯為御史中丞，君可以兵歸隴州。 臯若承命，即為吾人； 如不受詔，彼書生，可以圖之，事無不濟矣。」 乃反昪疾趨隴州。 臯迎勞之，先納蘇玉，受其偽命，乃問雲光曰：「始不告而去，今又來，何也？」 雲光曰：「前未知公心，故潛去； 知公有新命，今乃復還。 願與公戮力定功，同其生死。」 臯曰：「善。」 又謂雲光曰：「大使茍不懷詐，請納器甲，使城中無所危疑，乃可入。」 雲光以書生待臯，且以為信然，乃盡付弓矢戈甲。 臯既受之，乃內其兵。 明日，臯犒宴蘇玉、雲光之卒於郡舍，伏甲於兩廊。 酒既行，伏發，盡誅之，斬雲光、蘇玉首以徇。 泚又使家僮劉海廣以臯為鳳翔節度使，臯斬海廣及從者三人，生一人，使報泚。 於是詔以臯為御史大夫、隴州刺史，置奉義軍節度以旌之。 臯遣從兄平及弇繼入奉天城，城中聞臯有備，士氣增倍。
The mutineers from Jing rebelled and marched on the capital, forcing Emperor Dezong to take refuge at Fengtian. Li Chuolin, the Fengxiang troop commander, killed Zhang Yin and surrendered the city to Zhu Ci, while Longzhou's prefect Hao Tong defected to Chuolin. Earlier, when Zhu Ci had come to court from Fanyang, he had brought armored troops with him; Later, after Zhu Ci had served as military governor of Fengxiang and left that post, he left five hundred Fanyang troops to garrison Longzhou under his former general Niu Yunguang. By then Zhu Ci's rebels were besieging Fengtian. Yunguang pretended to be ill and proposed making Gao commander, planning a mutiny that would seize Gao and hand him over to Zhu Ci. Gao's officer Zhai Ye discovered the plot and warned Gao to prepare; When Yunguang learned the plot had been exposed, he led his troops away to join Zhu Ci. On the road at Qianyang he met Zhu Ci's household slave Su Yu, who was on his way to Gao with a message. Su Yu told Yunguang, "The Grand Preceptor has already taken the throne and has sent me with an edict making Wei Gao vice censor-in-chief. You can take your troops back to Longzhou. If Gao accepts the order, he will be on our side; if he refuses the edict, he is only a scholar—you can take him, and the plan cannot fail. They then turned back and, pretending illness, pressed on toward Longzhou. Gao went out to welcome them. He first admitted Su Yu and accepted the bogus appointment, then asked Yunguang, "You left without a word before—why have you come back now? Yunguang said, "Before, I did not know where you stood, so I left in secret; now that I know you have a new commission, I have come back. I wish to join forces with you to win glory and share life and death. Gao said, "Very well." He added to Yunguang, "If you truly mean no treachery, surrender your weapons and armor so the city will have no reason to fear you—only then may you enter." Taking Gao for a mere scholar and believing him, Yunguang surrendered all his bows, arrows, spears, and armor. After Gao took possession of the arms, he let the troops inside the walls. The next day Gao entertained Su Yu and Yunguang's men at the prefectural hall, with armed men hidden in both corridors. Once the wine was flowing, the ambush struck and all were killed. The heads of Yunguang and Su Yu were cut off and displayed as a warning. Zhu Ci again sent his slave Liu Haiguang to offer Gao the Fengxiang command. Gao executed Haiguang and three of his escorts, spared one man, and sent him back to Zhu Ci with the news. The court then appointed Gao censor-in-chief and prefect of Longzhou and created the Fengyi Army command to honor his loyalty. Gao sent his cousin Ping and Yan Ji into Fengtian. When the besieged city learned that Gao was secure, morale soared.
3
臯乃築壇於廷，血牲與將士等盟曰：「上天不吊，國家多難，逆臣乘間，盜據宮闈。 而李楚琳亦扇兇徒，傾陷城邑，酷虐所加，爰及本使，既不事上，安能恤下。 臯是用激心憤氣，不遑底寧，誓與群公，竭誠王室。 凡我同盟，一心協力，仗順除兇，先祖之靈，必當幽贊。 言誠則誌合，義感則心齊； 粉骨糜軀，決無所顧。 有渝此誌，明神殛之，迨於子孫，亦罔遺類。 皇天後土，當兆斯言。」 又遣使入吐蕃求援。 十一月，加檢校禮部尚書。 興元元年，德宗還京，征為左金吾衛將軍，尋遷大將軍。
Gao built an altar in the courtyard, offered a blood sacrifice, and swore an oath with his officers and men: "Heaven has turned away; the realm is beset with troubles. Traitors have seized their moment and seized the palace. Li Chuolin too has stirred up ruffians and overrun cities. His cruelty has reached even to our commissioner. A man who will not serve his sovereign cannot care for his subordinates. For this reason my heart burns and my anger will not rest. I swear with you all to give our full loyalty to the throne. Let all who stand with me unite in one purpose and, upholding the righteous cause, destroy these villains. The spirits of our ancestors will surely aid us. When speech is sincere, purpose aligns; when righteousness moves us, hearts unite; though our bones be ground to dust and our bodies destroyed, we shall not flinch. Whoever breaks this oath, may the spirits strike him down, even to his descendants, leaving not one survivor. May Heaven and Earth bear witness to these words. He also sent envoys to Tibet to request assistance. In the eleventh month he received the additional title of acting minister of rites. In the first year of Xingyuan, after Dezong returned to the capital, Gao was recalled as general of the Left Golden Crow Guard and soon promoted to grand general.
4
，拜檢校戶部尚書，兼成都尹、御史大夫、劍南西川節度使，代張延賞。 臯以雲南蠻眾數十萬，與吐蕃和好，蕃人入寇，必以蠻為前鋒。 四年，臯遣判官崔佐時入南詔蠻，說令向化，以離吐蕃之助。 佐時至蠻國羊咀咩城，其王異牟尋忻然接遇，請絕吐蕃，遣使朝貢。 其年，遣東蠻鬼主驃傍、苴夢沖、苴烏等相率入朝。 南蠻自巂州陷沒，臣屬吐蕃，絕朝貢者二十余年，至是復通。
He was appointed acting minister of revenue, concurrently made prefect of Chengdu, censor-in-chief, and military governor of western Jiannan, replacing Zhang Yanshang. Gao saw that the Yunnan tribes numbered hundreds of thousands, were allied with Tibet, and whenever Tibetans raided, they always used the tribesmen as their vanguard. In the fourth year Gao sent his adjutant Cui Zuoshi into Nanzhao to persuade the tribes to submit to the court and thus break Tibet's alliance with them. Zuoshi reached the tribal capital at Yangjumie. King Yimouxun welcomed him gladly, asked to sever ties with Tibet, and sent envoys to pay tribute at court. That year the eastern tribal spirit-lords Piaobang, Jumengchong, Juwu, and others led delegations to the capital. Since Xi Prefecture had fallen, the southern tribes had submitted to Tibet and ceased tribute for more than twenty years; now relations were restored.
5
五年，臯遣大將王有道簡習精卒以入蕃界，與東蠻於故巂州臺登北谷大破吐蕃青海、臘城二節度，斬首二千級，生擒籠官四十五人，其投崖谷而死者不可勝計。 蕃將乞臧遮遮者，蕃之驍將也，久為邊患。 自擒遮遮，城柵無不降，數年之內，終復巂州，以功加吏部尚書。 九年，朝廷築鹽州城，慮為吐蕃掩襲，詔臯出兵牽維之。 乃命大將董勔、張芬出西山及南道，破峨和城、通鶴軍。 吐蕃南道元帥論莽熱率眾來援，又破之，殺傷數千人，焚定廉城。 凡平堡柵五十余所，以功進位檢校右僕射。 臯又招撫西山羌女、訶陵、白狗、逋租、弱水、南王等八國酋長，入貢闕廷。 十一年九月，加統押近界諸蠻、西山八國兼雲南安撫等使。 十二年二月，就加同中書門下平章事。 十三年，收復巂州城。 十六年，臯命將出軍，累破吐蕃於黎、巂二州。 吐蕃怒，遂大搜閱，築壘造舟，欲謀入寇，臯悉挫之。 於是吐蕃酋帥兼監統曩貢、臘城等九節度嬰、籠官馬定德與其大將八十七人舉部落來降。 定德有計略，習知兵法及山川地形，吐蕃每用兵，定德常乘驛計事，蕃中諸將稟其成算。 至是，自以扞邊失律，懼得罪而歸心焉。
In the fifth year Gao sent General Wang Youdao to train picked troops and cross into Tibetan territory. Together with the eastern tribes he routed the Qinghai and Lachang Tibetan commands at the North Valley of Taideng in old Xi Prefecture, taking two thousand heads and forty-five officers alive, while countless others perished falling from cliffs and ravines. The Tibetan general Qizang Zhezhe was Tibet's most formidable fighter and had long terrorized the border. After Zhezhe was captured, fort after fort surrendered. Within a few years Xi Prefecture was recovered, and Gao was promoted to minister of civil office appointments for his achievements. In the ninth year the court fortified Yan Prefecture. Fearing a Tibetan raid, it ordered Gao to launch operations that would tie down Tibetan forces. He sent Generals Dong Kan and Zhang Fen along the western mountains and the southern route, capturing Ehe City and the Tonghe garrison. The Tibetan southern commander Lun Mangre marched to relieve them but was defeated again, with thousands killed or wounded, and Dinglian City was burned. More than fifty forts and stockades were taken in all. For this he was promoted to acting right vice director of the Imperial Secretariat. Gao also won over the chieftains of eight western mountain peoples—among them Qiangnu, Heling, Baigou, Bozu, Ruoshui, and Nanwang—who came to court with tribute. In the ninth month of the eleventh year he received the additional post of commissioner overseeing nearby tribes, the eight western mountain states, and Yunnan pacification. In the second month of the twelfth year he was made associate chief minister on the spot. In the thirteenth year the city of Xi Prefecture was recovered. In the sixteenth year Gao sent his generals into the field and repeatedly defeated Tibetan forces in Li and Xi prefectures. Enraged, Tibet mobilized on a large scale, building fortifications and boats for a planned invasion, but Gao foiled every move. Then the Tibetan chieftain who oversaw the Nangong, Lachang, and eight other commands, Ying, the tribal officer Ma Dingde, and eighty-seven senior generals surrendered with their tribes. Dingde was a skilled strategist who knew military doctrine and mountain terrain intimately. Whenever Tibet went to war, he often rode the post relays to plan campaigns, and Tibetan generals followed his designs. Now, believing he had failed on the frontier and fearing punishment, he turned to surrender.
6
十七年，吐蕃昆明城管些蠻千余戶又降。 贊普以其眾外潰，遂北寇靈、朔，陷麟州。 德宗遣使至成都府，令臯出兵深入蕃界。 臯乃令鎮靜軍使陳洎等統兵萬人出三奇路，威戎軍使崔堯臣兵千人出龍溪石門路南，維保二州兵馬使仇冕、保霸二州刺史董振等兵二千趨吐蕃維州城中，北路兵馬使邢玼等四千趨吐蕃棲雞、老翁城，都將高倜、王英俊兵二千趨故松州，隴東兵馬使元膺兵八千人出南道雅、邛、黎、巂路。 又令鎮南軍使韋良金兵一千三百續進，雅州經略使路惟明等兵三千趨吐蕃租、松等城，黎州經略使王有道兵二千人過大渡河，深入蕃界，巂州經略使陳孝陽、兵馬使何大海、韋義等及磨些蠻、東蠻二部落主苴那時等兵四千進攻昆明城、諾濟城。 自八月出軍齊入，至十月破蕃兵十六萬，拔城七、軍鎮五、戶三千，擒生六千，斬首萬余級，遂進攻維州。 救軍再至，轉戰千里，蕃軍連敗。 於是寇靈、朔之眾引而南下，贊普遣論莽熱以內大相兼東境五道節度兵馬都群牧大使，率雜虜十萬而來解維州之圍。 蜀師萬人據險設伏以待之，先出千人挑戰。 莽熱見我師之少，悉眾追之。 發伏掩擊，鼓噪雷駭，蕃兵自潰，生擒論莽熱，虜眾十萬，殲夷者半。 是歲十月，遣使獻論莽熱於朝； 德宗數而釋之，賜第於崇仁裏。 臯以功加檢校司徒，兼中書令，封南康郡王。
In the seventeenth year more than a thousand households of the Guanxi tribes under Tibetan Kunming City also surrendered. With his southwestern forces collapsing, the Tibetan emperor turned north to raid Ling and Shuozhou and captured Lin Prefecture. Dezong sent envoys to Chengdu ordering Gao to march deep into Tibetan territory. Gao deployed his forces on several axes: Chen Ji led ten thousand men along the Sanqi route; Cui Yaochan led one thousand along the Longxi Shimen southern road; Qiu Mian and Dong Zhen led two thousand against the Tibetan city of Wei Prefecture; Xing Qi led four thousand against Qiji and Laoweng; Gao Tong and Wang Yingjun led two thousand toward old Song Prefecture; and Yuan Ying led eight thousand along the southern route through Ya, Qiong, Li, and Xi. Wei Liangjin followed with thirteen hundred men. Lu Weiming led three thousand against Zu and Song; Wang Youdao led two thousand across the Dadu River deep into Tibetan lands; and Chen Xiaoyang, He Dahai, Wei Yi, and the Mosuo and eastern tribal chief Junashi led four thousand against Kunming and Nuoji. The armies marched out together in the eighth month. By the tenth month they had routed 160,000 Tibetan troops, taken seven cities and five garrisons, captured three thousand households and six thousand prisoners, and severed more than ten thousand heads, then advanced on Wei Prefecture. Relief columns arrived repeatedly, but after battles across a thousand li the Tibetan forces kept losing. The troops that had raided Ling and Shuozhou now turned south. The Tibetan emperor sent Lun Mangre, serving as inner chief minister and eastern-border commander, with one hundred thousand allied tribesmen to break the siege of Wei Prefecture. Ten thousand Shu troops took the high ground and laid an ambush, first sending out a thousand men to provoke a fight. Seeing how few Tang troops there were, Mangre pursued with his whole army. The ambush struck. Drums and shouts rolled like thunder and the Tibetan army broke. Lun Mangre was captured alive. Of the hundred thousand enemy troops, half were destroyed. In the tenth month of that year Gao sent Lun Mangre to the capital as a captive; Dezong rebuked him, then released him and granted him a house in Chongren Lane. For these achievements Gao was made acting minister of works and director of the Secretariat, and enfeoffed as Prince of Nankang.
7
順宗即位，加檢校太尉。 順宗久疾，不能臨朝聽政，宦者李忠言、侍棋待詔王叔文、侍書待詔王伾等三人頗幹國政，高下在心。 臯乃遣支度副使劉辟使於京師，辟私謁王叔文曰：「太尉使致誠於足下，若能致某都領劍南三川，必有以相酬； 如不留意，亦有以奉報。」 叔文大怒，將斬辟以徇； 韋執誼固止之，辟乃私去。 臯知王叔文人情不附，又知與韋執誼有隙，自以大臣可議社稷大計，乃上表請皇太子監國，曰：「臣聞上承宗廟，下鎮黎元，永固無疆，莫先儲兩。 伏聞聖明以山陵未祔，哀毀逾制，心勞萬幾，伏計旬月之間，未甚痊復。 皇太子睿質已長，淑問日彰，四海之心，實所倚賴。 伏望權令皇太子監撫庶政，以俟聖躬痊平，一日萬幾，免令壅滯。」 又上皇太子箋曰：
When Emperor Shunzong took the throne, Gao was further appointed acting grand commandant. Shunzong had been ill for a long time and could not preside over court. The eunuch Li Zhongyan, the chess attendant Wang Shuwen, and the calligraphy attendant Wang Pi largely ran state affairs as they saw fit. Gao sent his revenue deputy Liu Bi to the capital. Bi privately visited Wang Shuwen and said, "The Grand Preceptor sends his regards. If you can secure command of the three Jiannan circuits for him, he will reward you handsomely; if you refuse, he has other ways to repay you. Shuwen was furious and was about to execute Bi as a warning; Wei Zhiyi restrained him, and Bi slipped away. Gao knew Shuwen lacked support and that he was at odds with Wei Zhiyi. As a senior minister who could speak to the fate of the realm, he memorialized asking that the crown prince supervise the government: "I have heard that to uphold the ancestral temples above and secure the people below, nothing matters more than a secure heir. I understand that Your Majesty, with the imperial tomb not yet enshrined, mourns beyond measure while laboring over every affair of state. I fear that within the coming weeks you have not yet fully recovered. The crown prince's wisdom has matured, his reputation grows daily, and the empire truly relies upon him. I humbly ask that the crown prince be empowered to oversee government until Your Majesty recovers, so that the myriad affairs of state will not pile up unattended. He also wrote a letter to the crown prince:
8
殿下體重離之德，當儲貳之重，所以克昌九廟，式固萬方，天下安危，系於殿下。 臯位居將相，誌切匡扶，先朝獎知，早承恩顧。 人臣之分，知無不為，願上答眷私，罄輸肝鬲。 伏以聖上嗣膺鴻業，睿哲英明，攀感先朝，誌存孝理。 諒闇之際，方委大臣，但付托偶失於善人，而參決多虧於公政。 今群小得誌，隳紊紀綱，官以勢遷，政由情改，朋黨交構，熒惑宸聰。 樹置腹心，遍於貴位； 潛結左右，難在蕭墻。 國賦散於權門，王稅不入天府，褻慢無忌，高下在心。 貨賄流聞，遷轉失敘，先聖屏黜贓犯之類，鹹擢居省寺之間。 至令忠臣隕涕，正人結舌，遐邇痛心，人知不可。 伏恐奸雄乘便，因此謀動干戈，危殿下之家邦，傾太宗之王業。 伏惟太宗櫛沐風雨，經營廟朝，將垂二百年，欲及千萬祀； 而一朝使叔文奸佞之徒，侮弄朝政，恣其胸臆，坐致傾危。 臣每思之，痛心疾首！ 伏望殿下斥逐群小，委任賢良，悽悽血誠，輸寫於此！
Your Highness embodies the virtue of the second hexagram and bears the weight of the heir apparent. Through you the ancestral temples may flourish and the realm be secured. The safety of the empire rests upon you. I stand among your generals and ministers, resolved to support you. The late emperor favored me, and I have long enjoyed imperial grace. A subject's duty is to act on whatever he knows must be done. I wish to repay your kindness and lay bare my whole heart. Your Majesty has succeeded to the great enterprise, wise and perspicacious, clinging in grief to the late emperor and devoted to filial duty. In this period of mourning he has entrusted affairs to his ministers, but power has fallen by mischance into unworthy hands, and their decisions have harmed the public good. Now petty men have had their way, tearing down law and order. Offices change hands by influence, policy shifts by whim, factions weave plots, and the Son of Heaven's judgment is clouded. they plant their intimates throughout the highest offices; they secretly bind those around the throne—the danger is within the palace itself. State revenue is scattered among powerful houses; royal taxes never reach the treasury. They are brazen beyond measure and do as they please. Bribes circulate openly; promotions lose all order. Men the late emperor had banished as corrupt criminals now sit in the ministries and directorates. Loyal ministers weep, upright men fall silent, and grief spreads near and far. Everyone knows this cannot continue. I fear that villains may seize the moment, take up arms, endanger Your Highness's realm, and overturn the empire Taizong built. Taizong endured wind and rain to build the temples and the court, intending his line to endure two hundred years and reach ten thousand generations; yet in a single morning men like the treacherous Shuwen have been allowed to mock the court, indulge their whims, and bring ruin upon us all. Whenever I think of this, my heart aches and my head burns with grief! I beg Your Highness to drive out these petty men and entrust power to the worthy. In bitter sincerity I pour out my whole heart here!
9
太子優令答之。 而裴均、嚴綬箋表繼至，由是政歸太子，盡逐伾文之黨。 是歲，暴疾卒，時年六十一，贈太師，廢朝五日。
Crown Prince Li You ordered a reply. Memorial letters from Pei Jun and Yan Shou then arrived in succession. Power returned to the Crown Prince, and Shuwen's entire faction was driven out. That year he died suddenly of illness at the age of sixty-one. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grand Preceptor, and court was suspended for five days.
10
臯在蜀二十一年，重賦斂以事月進，卒致蜀土虛竭，時論非之。 其從事累官稍崇者，則奏為屬郡刺史，或又署在府幕，多不令還朝，蓋不欲泄所為於闕下故也。 故劉辟因臯故態，圖不軌以求三川，歷階之作，蓋有由然。 臯兄聿臯兄聿，時為國子司業，劉辟與盧文若據西川叛，臯侄行式，先娶文若妹，而聿不奏。 既收行式，以其妻沒官，詔御史臺按聿，聿下獄。 有司以行式妻在遠，不與兄同情，不當連坐，詔歸行式妻而釋聿。 附劉辟劉辟者，貞元中進士擢第，宏詞登科，韋臯辟為從事，累遷至御史中丞、支度副使。 八月，韋臯卒，辟自為西川節度留後，率成都將校上表請降節鉞。 朝廷不許，除給事中，便令赴闕。 辟不奉詔。 時憲宗初即位，以無事息人為務，遂授辟檢校工部尚書，充劍南西川節度使。 辟益兇悖，出不臣之言，而求都統三川，與同幕盧文若相善，欲以文若為東川節度使，遂舉兵圍梓州。 憲宗難於用兵，宰相杜黃裳奏：「劉辟一狂蹶書生耳，王師鼓行而俘之，兵不血刃。 臣知神策軍使高崇文，驍果可任，舉必成功。」 帝數日方從之。 於是令高崇文、李元奕將神策京西行營兵相續進發，令與嚴礪、李康掎角相應以討之，仍許其自新。
Gao governed Shu for twenty-one years, levying heavy taxes to supply the monthly tribute to the capital until the province was drained. Contemporary opinion condemned him for it. Staff members who rose in rank he would have appointed prefect of a subordinate commandery, or else keep in his office, mostly forbidding them to return to court—presumably so that his doings would not reach the capital. Hence Liu Pi, following Gao's old example, plotted rebellion to seize the Three River regions. His step-by-step rise surely had its causes. Gao's elder brother Yu, who at the time served as Vice Director of the Directorate of Education: when Liu Pi and Lu Wenruo held West River and rebelled, Gao's nephew Xingshi had already married Wenruo's sister, yet Yu did not report it. Once Xingshi was arrested, his wife was confiscated to the state. An edict ordered the Censorate to investigate Yu, and Yu was imprisoned. The authorities ruled that because Xingshi's wife was far away and did not share her brother-in-law's sentiments, she should not be punished by association. An edict returned Xingshi's wife and released Yu. Supplement: Liu Pi—Liu Pi passed the jinshi examination in the Zhenyuan era and succeeded in the Hongci examination. Wei Gao recruited him as a staff member, and he rose in succession to Vice Censor-in-Chief and Deputy Commissioner for Revenue and Expenditure. In the eighth month Wei Gao died. Pi made himself acting military governor of West River and led Chengdu officers in a memorial requesting the seal and battle-axe. The court did not approve. Instead it appointed him Palace Reminder and ordered him to come to the capital. Pi did not obey the edict. At this time Emperor Xianzong had just ascended the throne and made peace and the welfare of the people his priority. He therefore granted Pi the post of Inspector-General Minister of Works and appointed him military governor of Jiannan West River. Pi grew ever more violent and insolent, uttering disloyal words and demanding overall command of the Three River regions. On good terms with his fellow staff member Lu Wenruo, he wished to make Wenruo military governor of East River and raised troops to besiege Zizhou. Xianzong was reluctant to use troops. The chief minister Du Huangchang memorialized: "Liu Pi is merely a wild, frantic bookworm. Imperial troops marching in order can capture him without blades being bloodied. I know the Shence Army commissioner Gao Chongwen—bold and capable, fit for the task. Recommend him and success is certain. Several days passed before the Emperor consented. Thereupon he ordered Gao Chongwen and Li Yuanyi to lead the Shence Capital West expeditionary army to advance in succession, coordinating pincer movements with Yan Li and Li Kang to subdue Pi while still offering him the chance to reform.
11
正月，崇文出師。 三月，收復東川。 乃下詔曰：
In the first month Chongwen marched out. In the third month East River was recovered. An edict was then issued:
12
朕聞皇祖玄元之誡曰：「兵者，兇器也，不得已而用之。」 恭惟聖謨，常所祗服。 故惟文誥有所不至，誠信有所未孚，始務安人，必能忍恥，朕之此誌，亦可明征。 近者德宗皇帝舉柔服之規，授宰衡之傑，弘我廟勝，遂康巴、庸，故得南詔入貢，西戎寢患。 成績始究，元臣喪亡，劉辟乘此變故，坐邀符節。 朕以成狂命者雖乖於理體，從權便者所冀於輯寧，竟乖卿士之謀，遂允幸求之誌。 朕之於辟，恩亦弘矣。 曾不知恩，負牛羊之力，飽則逾兇； 畜梟獍之心，馴之益悖。 誑惑士伍，圍逼梓州； 誘陷戎臣，塞絕劍路。 師徒所至，燒劫無遺，幹紀之辜，擢發難數。 朕為人司牧，字彼黎元，如辟之罪，非朕敢舍，可削奪在身官爵。
I have heard our imperial ancestor the Mysterious Ancestor's admonition: "Arms are instruments of violence; one uses them only when there is no alternative. I reverently hold this sacred teaching in constant esteem. Therefore even when written decrees did not reach him and trust was not fully established, I first sought to pacify the people and was willing to bear humiliation. This purpose of mine can be clearly seen. Recently Emperor Dezong adopted a policy of gentle accommodation and entrusted a foremost statesman, extending our plan of victory at the ancestral temple. Ba and Yong were pacified, Nanzhao came to pay tribute, and the troubles of the western barbarians subsided. His achievements were just reaching completion when the great minister died. Liu Pi seized on this turn of events and boldly demanded the command seal. I considered that fulfilling a mad petition would violate proper principle, yet by exercising expedient power I hoped for restoration of peace. In the end I went against my ministers' counsel and granted his presumptuous request. My favor toward Pi was already great. he never knew gratitude; like an ox or sheep fed until sated, he grew all the more savage; he nursed the heart of an owl-devouring beast; the more he was indulged, the more rebellious he became. he deceived and stirred the ranks of soldiers and besieged Zizhou; he enticed and trapped frontier officials and blocked the road to Jian. Wherever his army went nothing was left unburned or unplundered. His crimes against law and order are too many to count even strand by strand of hair. I am shepherd to the people and must protect the black-haired masses. For crimes such as Pi's, I dare not pardon him. Let all offices and ranks he currently holds be stripped away.
13
六月，崇文破鹿頭關，進收漢州。 九月，崇文收成都府。 劉辟以數十騎遁走，投水不死； 騎將酈定進入水，擒辟於成都府西洋灌田。 盧文若先自刃其妻子，然後縋石投江，失其屍。 辟檻送京師，在路飲食自若，以為不當死。 及至京西臨臯驛，左右神策兵士迎之，以帛系首及手足，曳而入，乃驚曰：「何至於是？」 或紿之曰：「國法當爾，無憂也。」 是日，詔曰：「劉辟生於士族，敢蓄梟心，驅劫蜀人，拒扞王命。 肆其狂逆，詿誤一州，俾我黎元，肝腦塗地。 賊將崔綱等同惡相扇，至死不回，咸宜伏辜，以正刑典。 劉辟男超郎等九人，並處斬。」 辟入京城，上御興安樓受俘馘，令中使於樓下詰辟反狀。 辟曰：「臣不敢反，五院子弟為惡，臣不能制。」 又遣詰之曰：「朕遣中使送旌節官告，何故不受？」 辟乃伏罪。 令獻太廟、郊社，徇於市，即日戮於子城西南隅。
In the sixth month Chongwen broke through Loutou Pass and advanced to recover Hanzhou. In the ninth month Chongwen took Chengdu Prefecture. Liu Pi fled with several dozen horsemen. He threw himself into the water but did not die; the cavalry officer Li Dingjin entered the water and captured Pi in the irrigation fields west of Chengdu Prefecture. Lu Wenruo first killed his wife and children with his own blade, then lowered himself with a stone into the river. His corpse was never found. Pi was sent to the capital in a caged cart. On the road he ate and drank as usual, believing he did not deserve death. When he reached the Lingao post station west of the capital, Left and Right Shence soldiers came to receive him. They bound his head and limbs with silk and dragged him in. He cried out in alarm: "How can it come to this? Someone deceived him, saying: "That is what the law requires—have no fear." That day an edict said: "Liu Pi was born into the gentry class, yet dared to harbor treacherous intent. He drove and plundered the people of Shu and resisted the imperial command. He indulged his wild rebellion, misleading an entire province and leaving our people with their livers and brains smeared upon the ground. The rebel generals Cui Gang and others fanned one another's evil and would not turn back even unto death. All should suffer punishment to uphold the penal code. Liu Pi's sons Chaolang and the other nine were all executed." Pi entered the capital. The Emperor ascended Xing'an Tower to receive the captive and severed heads, and ordered a palace envoy below the tower to interrogate Pi on the facts of his rebellion. Pi said: "I did not dare rebel. The sons of the Five-Yard garrison did evil, and I could not control them. The Emperor again sent someone to interrogate him: "I sent a palace envoy to deliver the banner, seal, and commission—why did you not accept them?" Pi then confessed his guilt. He was presented at the Grand Temple and the altars of soil and grain, paraded through the market, and executed that same day at the southwest corner of the inner city.
14
初，辟嘗病，見諸問疾者來，皆以手據地，倒行入辟口，辟因礫裂食之； 惟盧文若至，則如平常。 故尤與文若厚，竟以同惡俱赤族，不其怪歟！ 張建封張建封，字本立，兗州人。 祖仁範，洪州南昌縣令，貞元初贈鄭州刺史。 父玠，少豪俠，輕財重士。 安祿山反，令偽將李庭偉率蕃兵脅下城邑，至魯郡； 太守韓擇木具禮郊迎，置於郵館。 玠率鄉豪張貴、孫邑、段絳等集兵將殺之。 擇木怯懦，大懼； 唯員外司兵張孚然其計，遂殺庭偉並其黨數十人，擇木方遣使奏聞。 擇木、張孚俱受官賞，玠因遊蕩江南，不言其功。 以建封貴，贈秘書監。
Earlier, when Pi once fell ill, he saw all who came to inquire after his health place their hands on the ground and crawl backward into his mouth, whereupon he would break them into gravel and eat them; only when Lu Wenruo came did things appear as usual. Hence he was especially close to Wenruo, yet in the end both were punished as fellow evildoers and their entire clans exterminated—is this not strange! Zhang Jianfeng, whose courtesy name was Benli, came from Yanzhou. His grandfather Renfan was magistrate of Nanchang County in Hongzhou and was posthumously enfeoffed as prefect of Zhengzhou at the beginning of the Zhenyuan era. His father Jie was bold and chivalrous in youth, freely spending his wealth and honoring men of talent. When An Lushan rebelled, he ordered the false general Li Tingwei to lead barbarian troops in coercing the surrender of cities and towns as far as Lu Commandery; the prefect Han Zemu received him with full ceremony in the suburban greeting and lodged him in the post station. Jie led local magnates Zhang Gui, Sun Yi, Duan Jiang, and others to gather troops intending to kill him. Zemu was cowardly and greatly afraid; only the supernumerary army officer Zhang Fu approved the plan. They then killed Tingwei and several dozen of his followers, after which Zemu sent an envoy to report to the throne. Zemu and Zhang Fu both received offices and rewards. Jie wandered through the Jiangnan region and did not speak of his achievement. Because Jianfeng became eminent, Jie was posthumously enfeoffed as Director of the Secretariat.
15
建封少頗屬文，好談論，慷慨負氣，以功名為己任。 寶應中，李光弼鎮河南，時蘇、常等州草賊，寇掠郡邑，代宗遣中使馬日新與光弼將兵馬同征討之。 建封乃見日新，自請說喻賊徒。 日新從之，遂入虎窟、蒸裏等賊營，以利害禍福喻之。 一夕，賊黨數千人並詣日新請降，遂悉放歸田裏。
Jianfeng in youth was fairly skilled in letters, loved discussion, and was generous and high-spirited, taking achievement and fame as his own charge. In the Baoying era Li Guangbi governed Henan. At that time bandits in Su, Chang, and other prefectures raided and plundered commandery cities, and Emperor Daizong sent the palace envoy Ma Rixin with Guangbi to lead troops jointly to suppress them. Jianfeng then went to see Rixin and volunteered to persuade the bandits. Rixin agreed. Jianfeng then entered the bandit camps at Huku, Zhengli, and elsewhere, explaining to them the gains and losses, blessings and disasters. In a single night several thousand bandits all came to Rixin to surrender, and they were all released to return to their fields and villages.
16
大曆初，道州刺史裴虬薦建封於觀察使韋之晉，辟為參謀，奏授左清道兵曹，不樂吏役而去。 滑亳節度使令狐彰聞其名，辟之； 彰既未曾朝覲，建封心不悅之，遂投刺於轉運使劉晏，自述其誌，不願仕於彰也。 晏奏試大理評事，勾當軍務。 歲餘，復罷歸。
At the beginning of the Dali era the Daozhou prefect Pei Qiu recommended Jianfeng to the observation commissioner Wei Zhijin, who recruited him as a staff adviser. He was memorialized for appointment as Left Qingdao Army Officer, but disliking clerical service he departed. The Huabo military governor Linghu Zhang heard his name and recruited him; Zhang had never attended court, and Jianfeng was displeased at heart. He therefore presented his calling card to the transport commissioner Liu Yan, stating his purpose and that he did not wish to serve under Zhang. Yan memorialized to appoint him on probation as Grand Court Assessor in charge of military affairs. After more than a year he was again dismissed and returned home.
17
建封素與馬燧友善，大歷十年，燧為河陽三城鎮遏使，辟為判官，奏授監察御史，賜緋魚袋。 李靈曜反於梁、宋間，與田悅掎角，同為叛逆，燧與李忠臣同討平之，軍務多咨於建封。 及燧為河東節度使，復奏建封為判官，特拜侍御史。 建中初，燧薦之於朝，楊炎將用為度支郎中，盧杞惡之，出為岳州刺史。
Jianfeng had long been on friendly terms with Ma Sui. In the tenth year of Dali Sui became commissioner for the defense of the Three Cities of Heyang and recruited Jianfeng as administrative aide. He was memorialized for appointment as surveillance censor and granted the crimson fish pouch. Li Lingyao rebelled between Liang and Song and coordinated pincer movements with Tian Yue as fellow rebels. Sui and Li Zhongchen jointly suppressed and pacified them, and military affairs were largely referred to Jianfeng for counsel. When Sui became military governor of Hedong, he again memorialized for Jianfeng as administrative aide and specially appointed him attendant censor. At the beginning of the Jianzhong era Sui recommended him to the court. Yang Yan was about to appoint him Revenue Section Director, but Lu Qi disliked him and had him sent out as prefect of Yuezhou.
18
時淮西節度使李希烈乘破滅梁崇義之勢，漸縱恣跋扈，壽州刺史崔昭數書疏往來。 淮南節度使陳少遊奏之，上遽召宰相令選壽州刺史。 盧杞本惡建封，是日蒼黃，遂薦建封以代崔昭牧壽陽。 李希烈稱兵，寇陷汝州，擒李元平，擊走胡德信、唐漢臣等，又摧破哥舒曜於襄城，連陷鄭、汴等州，李勉棄城而遁。 涇師內逆，駕幸奉天，賊鋒益盛。 淮南陳少遊潛通希烈，尋稱偽號，改元，遣將楊豐賫偽赦書二道，令送少遊及建封。 至壽州，建封縛楊豐徇於軍中。 適會中使自行在及使江南回者同至，建封集眾對中使斬豐於通衢，封偽赦書送行在，遠近震駭。 陳少遊聞之，既怒且懼。 建封乃具奏少遊與希烈往來事狀。 希烈又偽署其黨杜少誠為淮南節度使，令先平壽州，趣江都。 建封令其將賀蘭元均、邵怡等守霍丘秋柵。 少誠竟不能侵軼，乃南掠蘄、黃等州，又為伊慎所挫衄。 尋加建封兼御史中丞、本州團練使。 車駕還京，陳少遊憂憤而卒。
At this time the Huai West military governor Li Xilie, riding the momentum of his defeat and destruction of Liang Chongyi, gradually grew wanton and overbearing. The Shouzhou prefect Cui Zhao exchanged numerous letters and memorials with him. The Huainan military governor Chen Shaoyou memorialized about this. The Emperor immediately summoned the chief ministers and ordered them to select a Shouzhou prefect. Lu Qi had long disliked Jianfeng. That day in haste he recommended Jianfeng to replace Cui Zhao as governor of Shouyang. Li Xilie raised troops, invaded and captured Ruzhou, seized Li Yuanping, routed Hu Dexin, Tang Hanchen, and others, crushed Geshu Yao at Xiangcheng, and in succession captured Zheng, Bian, and other prefectures. Li Mian abandoned his city and fled. The Jing troops mutinied within. The Emperor fled to Fengtian, and the rebels' momentum grew ever stronger. Chen Shaoyou of Huainan secretly communicated with Xilie. Soon Xilie declared a false reign title and changed the era name, sending the general Yang Feng with two false amnesty edicts to deliver to Shaoyou and Jianfeng. When he reached Shouzhou, Jianfeng bound Yang Feng and paraded him before the army. It happened that palace envoys returning from the imperial camp and from missions to Jiangnan arrived at the same time. Jianfeng assembled the troops and, in the presence of the palace envoys, executed Feng in the public thoroughfare, sealed the false amnesty edicts, and sent them to the imperial camp. Near and far were shaken with terror. When Chen Shaoyou heard of this, he was both angry and afraid. Jianfeng then submitted a full memorial on the circumstances of Shaoyou's dealings with Xilie. Xilie also falsely appointed his follower Du Shaoqian as Huainan military governor, ordering him first to pacify Shouzhou and then hurry to Jiangdu. Jianfeng ordered his generals Helan Yuanjun, Shao Yi, and others to hold the Qiuchai stockade at Huoqiu. Shaoqian in the end could not break through. He then raided south through Qi, Huang, and other prefectures and was again repulsed by Yi Shen. Soon Jianfeng was additionally appointed Vice Censor-in-Chief and regimental commissioner of his own prefecture. When the imperial carriage returned to the capital, Chen Shaoyou died of grief and indignation.
19
興元元年十二月，乃加兼御史大夫，充濠壽廬三州都團練觀察使。 於是大修緝城池，悉心綏撫，遠近悅附，自是威望益重。 李希烈選兇黨精悍者率勁卒以攻建封，曠日持久，無所克獲而去。 及希烈平，進階封，賜一子正員官。
In the twelfth month of the first year of Xingyuan he was additionally appointed Censor-in-Chief and made overall regimental and observation commissioner of Hao, Shou, and Lu prefectures. Thereupon he greatly repaired and fortified the city walls, devoted himself to pacification and care, and people near and far gladly attached themselves to him. From this his prestige grew ever weightier. Li Xilie selected fierce and able men from his faction to lead crack troops against Jianfeng. The siege dragged on day after day without success, and they departed having gained nothing. When Xilie was pacified, Jianfeng was promoted in rank and enfeoffment, and one of his sons was granted a regular official post.
20
初，建中年，李涓以徐州歸附。 涓尋卒，其後高承宗父子、獨孤華相繼為刺史。 為賊侵削，貧困不能自存； 又咽喉要地，據江淮運路，朝廷思擇重臣以鎮者久之。 貞元四年，以建封為徐州刺史，兼御史大夫、徐泗濠節度、支度營田觀察使。 既創置軍伍，建封觸事躬親； 性寬厚，容納人過誤，而按據綱紀，不妄曲法貸人。 每言事，忠義感激，人皆畏悅。 七年，進位檢校禮部尚書。 十二年，加檢校右僕射。 十三年冬，入覲京師，德宗禮遇加等，特以雙日開延英召對，又令朝參入大夫班，以示殊寵。 建封賦《朝天行》一章上獻，賜名馬珍玩頗厚。
Earlier, in the Jianzhong era, Li Juan submitted Xuzhou in allegiance. Juan soon died. Afterward Gao Chengzong and his son, and then Dugu Hua, succeeded one another as prefect. it had been ravaged and stripped by bandits, impoverished and unable to sustain itself; moreover it was a vital strategic chokepoint, controlling the Jiang-Huai transport routes, and for a long time the court deliberated over choosing a senior minister to garrison it. In the fourth year of Zhenyuan, Jianfeng was appointed Prefect of Xuzhou, concurrently Censor-in-Chief, Military Commissioner of Xu, Si, and Hao, and Commissioner for fiscal support, military colonies, and observation. Having newly established military units, Jianfeng personally attended to every matter; By nature magnanimous, he tolerated people's faults, yet upheld the statutes and never casually bent the law to spare anyone. Whenever he spoke on affairs of state, his words stirred with loyal devotion, and all both feared and delighted in him. In the seventh year, he was advanced to Honorary Minister of Rites. In the twelfth year, he was given the additional title Honorary Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. In the winter of the thirteenth year he entered the capital for an audience. Dezong treated him with exceptional courtesy, specially convening him for audience in the Hall of Extended Excellence on the double day, and also ordered him to attend court in the senior ministers' rank as a mark of extraordinary favor. Jianfeng composed and presented a chapter entitled "Journey to Court," and was richly rewarded with fine horses and precious curios.
21
時宦者主宮中市買，謂之宮市，抑買人物，稍不如本估。 末年不復行文書，置白望數十百人於兩市及要鬧坊曲，閱人所賣物； 但稱宮市，則斂手付與，真偽不復可辨，無敢問所從來及論價之高下者。 率用直百錢物買人直數千物，仍索進奉門戶及腳價銀。 人將物詣市，至有空手而歸者，名為宮市，其實奪之。 嘗有農夫以驢馱柴，宦者市之，與絹數尺，又就索門戶，仍邀驢送柴至內。 農夫啼泣，以所得絹與之，不肯受，曰：「須得爾驢。」 農夫曰：「我有父母妻子，待此而後食； 今與汝柴，而不取直而歸，汝尚不肯，我有死而已。」 遂毆宦者。 街使擒之以聞，乃黜宦者，賜農夫絹十匹。 然宮市不為之改，諫宮御史表疏論列，皆不聽。 吳湊以戚裏為京兆尹，深言其弊。 建封入覲，具奏之，德宗頗深嘉納； 而戶部侍郎、判度支蘇弁希宦者之旨，因入奏事，上問之，弁對曰：「京師遊手墮業者數千萬家，無土著生業，仰宮市取給。」 上信之，凡言宮市者皆不聽用。 詔書矜免百姓諸色逋賦，上問建封，對曰：「凡逋賦殘欠，皆是累積年月，無可征收，雖蒙陛下憂恤，百姓亦無所裨益。」 時河東節度使李說、華州刺史盧微，皆中風疾，口不能言，足不能行，但信任左右胥吏決遣之。 建封皆悉聞奏，上深嘉納。 又金吾大將軍李翰好伺察城中細事，加諸聞奏，冀求恩寵，人畏而惡之。 建封亦奏之，乃下詔曰：「比來朝官或諸處過從，金吾皆有上聞。 其間如素是親故，或曾同僚友，伏臘歲序，時有還往，亦是常禮，人情所通。 自今以後，金吾不須聞。」
At that time eunuchs managed purchasing for the palace under the name Palace Market, forcing down purchases of goods and paying somewhat less than fair value. In the late years they no longer issued written documents, but posted several dozen or a hundred "white watchers" in the two markets and busy wards and alleys to inspect what people were selling; They need only say "Palace Market," and people would fold their hands and surrender the goods. Authenticity could no longer be distinguished, and none dared ask whence they came or dispute the price. As a rule they used goods worth a hundred cash to buy goods worth several thousand, and still demanded gate fees for tribute delivery and porterage silver. When people brought goods to market, some returned empty-handed. It was called the Palace Market, but in truth it was robbery. Once a farmer brought firewood on a donkey. A eunuch "bought" it, giving him several feet of silk, then demanded gate fees and still pressed the donkey to deliver the firewood inside the palace. The farmer wept and offered back the silk he had received, but the eunuch would not accept it, saying, "I must have your donkey." The farmer said, "I have parents, a wife, and children who depend on this to eat; now I have given you my firewood and taken no payment in return, and you still refuse. I have nothing left but to die." Then he beat the eunuch. The street commissioner seized him and reported the matter. The eunuch was dismissed, and the farmer was granted ten bolts of silk. Yet the Palace Market was not reformed on account of this. Memorials and petitions from remonstrating officials and censors were all ignored. Wu Zou, a relative by marriage of the imperial clan serving as Capital Magistrate, spoke forcefully about its abuses. When Jianfeng came to court for an audience, he submitted a full report, and Dezong greatly approved and accepted it; but Vice Minister of Revenue and fiscal commissioner Su Bian, seeking to please the eunuchs, entered to present affairs, and when the emperor questioned him, Bian replied, "In the capital there are tens of millions of idle households with no fixed livelihood who depend on the Palace Market for their sustenance." The emperor believed him, and all who spoke about the Palace Market went unheeded. An edict compassionately remitted the people's various overdue levies. The emperor asked Jianfeng, who replied, "All overdue and outstanding levies are accumulations of many years, with nothing left to collect. Though Your Majesty shows compassionate concern, the common people will gain no real benefit." At that time Hedong Military Commissioner Li Shuo and Hua Prefect Lu Wei both suffered strokes. They could not speak with their mouths or walk with their feet, but entrusted all decisions to their clerks and scribes. Jianfeng reported all of this in full, and the emperor greatly approved and accepted it. Also Grand General of the Golden Guard Li Han loved to spy on minor affairs in the city and add them to reports submitted upward, hoping to win imperial favor. People feared and detested him. Jianfeng also reported this, whereupon an edict was issued: "Recently, when court officials or others from various places paid visits to one another, the Golden Guard has reported everything upward. Among such cases, if they were old friends by nature or former colleagues, seasonal visits at the winter and summer festivals are also ordinary courtesy and what human feeling permits. From this day forward, the Golden Guard need not report such matters."
22
十四年春上巳，賜宰臣百僚宴於曲江亭，特令建封與宰相同座而食。 貞元已後，籓帥入朝及還鎮，如馬燧、渾瑊、劉玄佐、李抱真、曲環之崇秩鴻勛，未有獲禦制詩以送者，建封將還鎮，特賜詩曰：「牧守寄所重，才賢生為時。 宣風自淮甸，授鉞膺籓維。 入覲展遐戀，臨軒慰來思。 忠誠在方寸，感激陳清詞。 報國爾所尚，恤人予是資。 歡宴不盡懷，車馬當還期。 谷雨將應候，行春猶未遲。 勿以千里遙，而雲無已知。」 又令高品中使賫常所執鞭以賜之，曰：「以卿忠貞節義，歲寒不移，此鞭朕久執用，故以賜卿，表卿忠節也。」 建封又獻詩一篇，以自警勵。
In the spring of the fourteenth year, on the Shangsi festival, the emperor granted a banquet to chief ministers and the hundred officials at Qujiang Pavilion, and specially ordered Jianfeng to sit and eat at the same table as the chief ministers. After Zhenyuan, when frontier commanders entered court or returned to their posts—men such as Ma Sui, Hun Zhen, Liu Xuanzuo, Li Baozhen, and Qu Huan, honored with lofty rank and great merit—none had ever received an imperially composed poem as a parting gift. As Jianfeng was about to return to his post, he was specially granted a poem that read: "Governors bear the weight entrusted to them; talent and worth are born for their age. Spreading virtue from the Huai region, receiving the battle-axe as frontier lord. Entering court to show deep longing, at the throne comforting thoughts of return. Loyalty fills the heart; moved with gratitude, he states clear words. Serving the state is what you honor; caring for the people is what I provide. The feast cannot exhaust all feeling; horses must return on schedule. Grain Rain will soon answer to the season; the spring journey is not yet late. Do not, because a thousand li is far, say there is no one who knows you." The emperor also ordered a high-ranking palace envoy to present the whip he habitually carried and grant it to him, saying, "Because your loyalty, integrity, and steadfastness remain unchanged through cold years, this whip I have long held in use—therefore I give it to you, to show your loyal steadfastness." Jianfeng also submitted a poem as self-admonition.
23
建封在彭城十年，軍州稱理。 復又禮賢下士，無賢不肖，遊其門者，皆禮遇之，天下名士向風延頸，其往如歸。 貞元時，文人如許孟容、韓愈諸公，皆為之從事。
Jianfeng was at Pengcheng for ten years, and the army and prefecture were said to be well governed. Again he honored the worthy and humbled himself before scholars. Whether worthy or unworthy, all who came to his gate received courteous treatment. Famous men throughout the realm turned their heads toward him and came as if returning home. In the Zhenyuan era, literary men such as Xu Mengrong, Han Yu, and others all served under him as aides.
24
十六年，遇疾，連上表請速除代，方用韋夏卿為徐泗行軍司馬。 未至而建封卒，時年六十六，冊贈司徒。 子愔。 建封子愔愔以廕授虢州參軍。 初，建封卒，判官鄭通誠權知留後事。 通誠懼軍士謀亂，適遇浙西兵遷鎮，通誠欲引入州城為援。 事泄，三軍怒，五六千人斫甲仗庫取戈甲，執帶環繞衙城，請愔為留後。 乃殺通誠、楊德宗、大將段伯熊、吉遂、曲澄、張秀等。 軍眾請於朝廷，乞授愔旄節。 初不之許，乃割濠、泗二州隸淮南，加杜佑同平章事以討徐州。 既而泗州刺史張伾以兵攻埇橋，與徐軍接戰，伾大敗而還。 朝廷不獲已，乃授愔起復右驍衛將軍同正，兼徐州刺史、御史中丞，充本州團練使，知徐州留後。 仍以泗州刺史張伾為泗州留後，濠州刺史杜兼為濠州留後。 正授武寧軍節度、檢校工部尚書。 元和元年，被疾，上表請代，征為兵部尚書，以東都留守王紹為武寧軍節度代愔，復隸濠、泗二州於徐。 徐軍喜復得二州，不敢為亂，而愔遂赴京師，未出界卒。 愔在徐州七年，百姓稱理，詔贈右僕射。 盧群盧群，字載初，范陽人。 少好讀書，初學於太安山。 淮南節度使陳少遊聞其名，辟為從事。 建中末，薦於朝廷，會李希烈反叛，詔諸將討之。 以群為監察御史、江西行營糧料使。 興元元年，江西節度、嗣曹王臯奏為判官。 曹王移鎮江陵、襄陽，群皆從之，幕府之事，委以咨決，以正直聞。
In the sixteenth year he fell ill and repeatedly submitted memorials requesting swift replacement. Wei Xiaqing was appointed acting army marshal of Xu and Si. Before he arrived, Jianfeng died at the age of sixty-six. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grand Mentor. His son Yin. Jianfeng's son Yin received by privilege appointment as aide in Guo Prefecture. Earlier, when Jianfeng died, Judge-Advisor Zheng Tongcheng provisionally managed affairs as acting commissioner. Tongcheng feared the soldiers would plot rebellion. It happened that Zhexi troops were redeploying, and Tongcheng wished to bring them into the prefectural city as support. The plot leaked out, and the three armies were enraged. Five or six thousand men broke into the armory for weapons and armor, drew their swords, and surrounded the yamen, requesting Yin as acting commissioner. They then killed Tongcheng, Yang Dezong, and the great generals Duan Boxiong, Ji Sui, Qu Cheng, Zhang Xiu, and others. The army petitioned the court, begging that Yin be granted the staff of command. At first this was not granted. Then Hao and Si prefectures were transferred to Huainan, and Du You was made Equal Commissioner to attack Xuzhou. Then Si Prefect Zhang Fen attacked Yongqiao and clashed with the Xu army. Fen suffered a great defeat and retreated. The court, having no alternative, granted Yin resumed appointment as Right Brave Guards General of equal rank, concurrently Prefect of Xuzhou and Vice Censor-in-Chief, regimental commissioner of the prefecture, and provisional commissioner of Xuzhou. Zhang Fen was also made provisional commissioner of Si, and Du Jian provisional commissioner of Hao. He was formally appointed Military Commissioner of the Wuning Army and Honorary Minister of Works. In the first year of Yuanhe he fell ill and submitted a memorial requesting replacement. He was recalled as Minister of War, and Wang Shao, Eastern Capital Keeper, was made Military Commissioner of the Wuning Army to replace Yin. Hao and Si were again placed under Xu. The Xu army, glad to recover the two prefectures, dared not make trouble. Yin then set out for the capital but died before leaving the border. Yin was at Xuzhou for seven years, and the common people praised his governance. An edict posthumously granted him Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. Lu Qun, styled Zaichu, was a man of Fanyang. In youth he loved reading and first studied on Mount Tai'an. Huainan Military Commissioner Chen Shaoyou heard of his name and recruited him as an aide. At the end of the Jianzhong era he was recommended to the court. It happened that Li Xilie rebelled, and an edict ordered the generals to suppress him. Qun was made Supervising Censor and grain commissioner of the Jiangxi expeditionary camp. In the first year of Xingyuan, Jiangxi Military Commissioner and Heir Prince of Cao Li Gao memorialized appointing him judge. When the Prince of Cao moved his garrison to Jiangling and Xiangyang, Qun followed him. Affairs of the military commission were entrusted to his counsel and decision, and he was known for uprightness.
25
貞元六年，入拜侍御史。 有人誣告故尚父子儀嬖人張氏宅中有寶玉者，張氏兄弟又與尚父家子孫相告訴，詔促按其獄。 群奏曰：「張氏以子儀在時分財，子弟不合爭奪。 然張氏宅與子儀親仁宅，皆子儀家事。 子儀有大勛，伏望陛下特赦而勿問，俾私自引退。」 德宗從其言，時人嘉其識大體。 累轉左司、職方、兵部三員外郎中。
In the sixth year of Zhenyuan he entered the capital and was appointed Attendant Censor. Someone falsely accused the late Duke Guo's favorite Zhang's household of possessing precious jade. The Zhang brothers also sued the Duke Guo's sons and grandsons. An edict ordered a hasty investigation of the case. Qun memorialized, "The Zhang household divided property while Ziyi was alive; the sons and nephews should not contend and seize. Yet the Zhang household residence and Ziyi's Qinren residence are both household affairs of Ziyi. Ziyi had great merit. I hope Your Majesty will specially pardon and not inquire, allowing them to withdraw privately." Dezong followed his words, and contemporaries praised his grasp of the larger pattern. He was successively transferred through three outside director posts: Left Department, Bureau of Appointments, and Bureau of War.
26
淮西節度使吳少誠擅開決司、洧等水漕輓溉田，遣中使止之，少誠不奉詔。 令群使蔡州詰之，少誠曰：「開大渠，大利於人。」 群曰：「為臣之道，不合自專，雖便於人，須俟君命。 且人臣須以恭恪為事，若事君不盡恭恪，即責下吏恭恪，固亦難矣。」 凡數百千言，諭以君臣之分，忠順之義，少誠乃從命，即停工役。
Huaiwest Military Commissioner Wu Shaocheng unilaterally opened the Si, Wei, and other waterways for canal transport and irrigation of fields. The court sent a palace envoy to stop him, but Shaocheng did not obey the edict. The court ordered Qun to go to Caizhou to interrogate him. Shaocheng said, "Opening the great canal greatly benefits the people." Qun said, "The way of a subject does not permit self-willed action. Even if it benefits the people, one must await the ruler's command. Moreover a subject must take reverent respect as his service. If one does not serve the ruler with full reverent respect, then demanding reverent respect from subordinate officials is also difficult." Altogether several hundred to a thousand words, he instructed him on the division between ruler and subject and the meaning of loyalty and obedience. Shaocheng then obeyed the order and immediately halted the labor.
27
群博涉，有口辨，好談論，與少誠言古今成敗之事，無不聳聽。 又與唱和賦詩，自言以反側，常蒙隔在恩外，群於筵中醉而歌曰：「祥瑞不在鳳凰、麒麟，太平須得邊將、忠臣。 衛、霍真誠奉主，貔虎十萬一身。 江、河潛註息浪，蠻貊款塞無塵。 但得百僚師長肝膽，不用三軍羅綺金銀。」 少誠大感悅。 群以奉使稱旨，俄遷檢校秘書監，兼御史中丞、義成軍節度行軍司馬。
Qun was broadly learned, eloquent, and loved discourse. When he spoke with Shaocheng of success and failure in ancient and modern times, none failed to listen with rapt attention. They also exchanged poems in singing harmony. Shaocheng said that as a rebel he was often kept outside imperial grace. At the banquet Qun, drunk, sang: "Auspicious omens are not in phoenix and qilin; great peace must have frontier generals and loyal ministers. Wei and Huo sincerely serve their lord; tiger and leopard, a hundred thousand in one body. Rivers and streams pour in secret, waves subside; barbarians sincerely come to the border, dustless. Only need the hundred officials and commanders with liver and gall; need not the three armies with silk brocade, gold, and silver." Shaocheng was greatly moved and delighted. Because Qun's mission pleased the emperor, he was soon promoted to Honorary Director of the Secretariat, concurrently Vice Censor-in-Chief and expeditionary army marshal of the Yicheng Army.
28
貞元十六年四月，節度姚南仲歸朝，拜群義成軍節度、鄭滑觀察等使。 先寓居鄭州，典質良田數頃； 及為節度使至鎮，各與本地契書，分付所管令長，令召還本主，時論稱美。 尋遇疾，其年十月卒，時年五十九，廢朝一日，贈工部尚書，赗賻布帛、米粟有差。 史臣曰史臣曰：韋南康、張徐州，慷慨下位之中，橫身喪亂之際，力扶衰運，氣激壯圖，義風凜凜，聳動群醜，舂盜之喉，折賊之角，可謂忠矣！ 而韋公季年，惑賊辟之奸說，欲兼巴、益，則誌未可量。 徐州請覲，頗有規諫之言，所謂以道匡君，能以功名始終者。 盧載初喻少誠，還地券，君子哉！ 三子之賢，不可多得。
In the fourth month of the sixteenth year of Zhenyuan, when Military Commissioner Yao Nanzhong returned to court, Qun was appointed Military Commissioner of the Yicheng Army and Commissioner of Zheng and Hua observation, among other duties. Earlier he had lived at Zhengzhou and pawned several qing of fine land; when he became military commissioner and reached his post, he gave the contracts to each local magistrate under his jurisdiction and ordered them recalled to the original owners. Contemporary opinion praised this. Soon he fell ill. In the tenth month of that year he died at the age of fifty-nine. Court mourning was suspended for one day. He was posthumously granted Minister of Works, with differentiated funeral gifts of cloth, silk, grain, and rice. The historian comments: Wei of Nankang and Zhang of Xuzhou, from generous stations in low rank amid calamity and disorder, threw themselves into supporting a declining age. Their spirit stirred bold designs, their righteous bearing awe-inspiring, moving the crowd of villains—choking the throats of robbers, breaking the horns of rebels—can be called loyal! Yet in his later years Duke Wei was misled by a rebel's treacherous counsel and wished to annex Ba and Yi—then his ambition cannot be measured. At his court audience the man of Xuzhou offered much admonishing speech—what is called using the Way to correct the ruler, able to begin and end with merit and fame. Lu Zaichu instructing Shaocheng and returning land contracts—a gentleman indeed! The worth of these three men is not easily found in abundance.
29
贊曰：南康英壯，力匡交喪。 張侯義烈，誌平亂象。 見危能振，蹈利無謗。 韋德不周，張心可亮。
In praise: The heroic Prince of Nankang, who with his strength steadied the realm in its time of collapse. Marquis Zhang, righteous and fierce, resolved to pacify the signs of rebellion. They roused themselves when peril appeared and walked among profit without reproach. Wei's virtue fell short of perfection; Zhang's heart shines clear.