Volume 148 Biographies 98: Pei Ji, Li Jifu, Li Fan, Quan Deyu

裴垍字弘中，河東聞喜人。垂拱中宰相居道七代孫。垍弱冠舉進士。貞元中，制舉賢良極諫，對策第一，授美原縣尉。秩滿，籓府交辟，皆不就。拜監察御史，轉殿中侍御史、尚書禮部考功二員外郎。時吏部侍郎鄭珣瑜請垍考詞判，垍守正不受請托，考核皆務才實。

Pei Ji, whose style was Hongzhong, came from Wenxi in Hedong. He was seven generations removed from Chancellor Pei Judao of the Zhonggong reign. In his youth he passed the jinshi civil examination. During Zhenyuan he took the special examination for worthy remonstrators, placed first in the policy response, and was made magistrate of Meiyuan County. When his term ended, several provincial staffs sought him out in turn, yet he declined every offer. He was made an investigating censor, then promoted to palace attendant censor and concurrent assistant director in both the Rites and Personnel ministries for examinations and merit records. When Vice Minister Zheng Xunyu of Personnel asked him to grade examination papers, Ji held the line and refused favors, judging every candidate on genuine ability.

元和初，召入翰林為學士，轉考功郎中、知制誥，尋遷中書舍人。李吉甫自翰林承旨拜平章事，詔將下之夕，感出涕。謂垍曰：「吉甫自尚書郎流落遠地，十余年方歸，便入禁署，今才滿歲，後進人物，罕所接識。宰相之職，宜選擢賢俊，今則懵然莫知能否。卿多精鑒，今之才傑，為我言之。」垍取筆疏其名氏，得三十餘人。數月之內，選用略盡，當時翕然稱吉甫有得人之稱。三年，詔舉賢良，時有皇甫湜對策，其言激切；牛僧孺、李宗閔亦苦詆時政。考官楊於陵、韋貫之升三子之策皆上第，垍居中覆視，無所同異。及為貴幸泣訴，請罪於上，憲宗不得已，出於陵、貫之官，罷垍翰林學士，除戶部侍郎。然憲宗知垍好直，信任彌厚。

Early in Yuanhe he entered the Hanlin as an academician, became director of examinations with charge of edicts, and soon rose to Secretariat drafter. When Li Jifu was promoted from chief Hanlin academician to Grand Councilor, he wept the night the edict was to be promulgated. He told Ji, "After exile from a Secretariat post I wandered more than ten years before returning straight into the inner court. I have been back only a year and scarcely know the younger talents. A chancellor should elevate the able, yet I am in the dark about who can serve. You have a keen eye—name the outstanding men of our day for me." Ji wrote out more than thirty names at his dictation. Within months he had appointed nearly all of them, and contemporaries widely praised Jifu for knowing how to choose talent. In the third year the court called for worthy men; Huangfu Shi's policy response was fiercely blunt; Niu Sengru and Li Zongmin likewise assailed the government in harsh terms. Examiners Yang Yuling and Wei Guanzhi placed all three in the top tier; Ji's review as chief examiner found no reason to disagree. Favored courtiers wept before the emperor and demanded punishment; Xianzong reluctantly ousted Yang and Wei from office, stripped Ji of his Hanlin post, and made him Vice Minister of Revenue. Yet Xianzong knew Ji prized integrity, and trusted him all the more.

其年秋，李吉甫出鎮淮南，遂以垍代為中書侍郎、同平章事。明年，加集賢院大學士、監修國史。垍奏：「集賢御書院，請準《六典》，登朝官五品已上為學士，六品已下為直學士；自非登朝官，不問品秩，並為校理；其餘名目一切勒停。史館請登朝官入館者，並為修撰；非登朝官，並為直史館。仍永為常式。」皆從之。

That autumn Li Jifu took command in Huainan, and Ji replaced him as Secretariat vice director and associate grand councilor. The following year he was also named grand academician of the Jixian Institute and supervisor of the national history. Ji submitted: "For the Jixian Imperial Library, follow the Six Institutions: court officials of fifth rank and above should be academicians, sixth rank and below direct academicians; anyone not a court official, whatever rank, should be a collator; and all other titles abolished outright. At the History Office, court officials admitted to the institute shall all be compilers; non-court officials shall all be direct historians of the office. Let this stand as permanent practice. The emperor approved it all.

元和五年，中風病。憲宗甚嗟惜，中使旁午致問，至於藥膳進退，皆令疏陳。疾益痼，罷為兵部尚書，仍進階銀青。明年，改太子賓客。卒，廢朝，賻禮有加，贈太子少傅。

In Yuanhe 5 he suffered a stroke. Xianzong was deeply distressed; eunuch envoys called incessantly, and even his medicines and meals were to be reported in writing. As the illness worsened he was relieved as Minister of War but promoted in rank to silver and cyan. The next year he was made Mentor of the Heir Apparent. He died; the court suspended audience; funeral gifts were augmented; he was posthumously named Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent.

初，垍在翰林承旨，屬憲宗初平吳、蜀，勵精思理，機密之務，一以關垍。垍小心敬慎，甚稱中旨。及作相之後，懇請旌別淑慝，杜絕蹊徑，齊整法度，考課吏理，皆蒙垂意聽納。吐突承璀自春宮侍憲宗，恩顧莫二。承璀承間欲有所關說，憲宗憚垍，誡勿復言，在禁中常以官呼垍而不名。楊於陵為嶺南節度使，與監軍許遂振不和，遂振誣奏於陵，憲宗令追與慢官。垍曰：「以遂振故罪一籓臣，不可。」請授吏部侍郎。嚴綬在太原，其政事一出監軍李輔光，綬但拱手而已，垍具奏其事，請以李鄘代之。

Earlier, as chief Hanlin academician after Xianzong's pacification of Wu and Shu, he entrusted every confidential matter to Ji while striving to govern. Ji was meticulous and reverent, and fully satisfied the emperor's wishes. As chancellor his pleas to reward virtue and punish vice, close back doors, tighten law, and grade officials' performance all won the emperor's heed. Tutu Chenghuan had served Xianzong since his days as heir, and enjoyed unrivaled favor. Chenghuan tried to intervene on someone's behalf; Xianzong, wary of Ji, forbade him to speak further and in the palace often addressed Ji by title rather than name. As Lingnan commissioner Yang Yuling clashed with army supervisor Xu Suizhen, who slandered him; Xianzong ordered Yang recalled and demoted. Ji said, "We cannot punish a frontier minister on Suizhen's account. He asked that Yang be made Vice Minister of Personnel instead. At Taiyuan Yan Shou let army supervisor Li Fuguang run everything while he stood idle; Ji reported this in full and asked that Li Yong replace him.

王士真死，其子承宗以河北故事請代父為帥。憲宗意速於太平，且頻蕩寇孽，謂其地可取。吐突承璀恃恩，謀撓垍權，遂伺君意，請自征討。盧從史陰苞逆節，內與承宗相結約，而外請興師，以圖厚利。垍一一陳其不可，且言：「武俊有大功於朝，前授李師道而後奪承宗，是賞罰不一，無以沮勸天下。」逗留半歲，憲宗不決，承璀之策竟行。及師臨賊境，從史果攜貳，承璀數督戰，從史益驕倨反覆，官軍病之。時王師久暴露無功，上意亦怠。

When Wang Shizhen died, his son Chengzong invoked Hebei custom to succeed him as military governor. Eager for peace and having crushed rebels repeatedly, Xianzong thought the region could be seized. Tutu Chenghuan, trusting his favor, sought to undercut Ji and, reading the emperor's mood, volunteered to lead the campaign himself. Lu Congshi secretly nursed treason, allied with Chengzong within, yet outwardly urged war to reap rich gains. Ji laid out each objection and said, "Wang Wujun served the throne greatly; we first gave Li Shidao a command, then would deny Chengzong—rewards and punishments would be inconsistent and the realm could neither be warned nor encouraged." For half a year the court hesitated; in the end Chenghuan's plan prevailed. When the army reached the enemy frontier Congshi proved disloyal; Chenghuan kept pressing attacks while Congshi grew arrogant and erratic, to the army's dismay. The imperial forces had campaigned long without victory, and the emperor's ardor cooled.

後從史遣其衙門將王翊元入奏，垍延與語，微動其心，且喻以為臣之節，翊元因吐誠言從史惡稔可圖之狀。垍遣再往，比復還，遂得其大將烏重胤等要領。垍因從容啟言：「從史暴戾，有無君之心。今聞其視承璀如嬰孩，往來神策壁壘間，益自恃不嚴，是天亡之時也。若不因其機而致之，後雖興師，未可以歲月破也。」憲宗初愕然，熟思其計，方許之。垍因請密其謀，憲宗曰：「此唯李絳、梁守謙知之。」時絳承旨翰林，守謙掌密命。後承璀竟擒從史，平上黨，其年秋班師。垍以「承璀首唱用兵，今還無功，陛下縱念舊勞，不能加顯戮，亦請貶黜以謝天下」。遂罷承璀兵柄。

Later Congshi sent his staff general Wang Yiyuan to court; Ji drew him into talk, stirred his conscience, and taught him a subject's duty; Yiyuan then revealed that Congshi's crimes were ripe and could be seized. Ji sent him back a second time, and on his return secured the cooperation of Congshi's chief generals, including Wu Chongyin. Ji then said calmly, "Congshi is brutal and harbors disloyal intent. He treats Chenghuan like a child, wanders among the Shence camps unguarded, and grows reckless—Heaven's hour to destroy him has come. If we miss this chance, even another campaign may not break him for years. Xianzong was startled at first, weighed the plan, and then agreed. Ji asked that the plot be kept secret; Xianzong said, "Only Li Jiang and Liang Shouqian may know. Jiang was then chief Hanlin academician and Shouqian held confidential orders. Chenghuan later captured Congshi and pacified Shangdang; that autumn the army withdrew. Ji argued that Chenghuan had first urged war yet returned without merit; even if the emperor spared him capital punishment for old service, he should still be demoted to satisfy the realm. Chenghuan was then stripped of military command.

先是，天下百姓輸賦於州府：一曰上供，二曰送使，三曰留州。建中初定兩稅，時貸重錢輕；是後貨輕錢重，齊人所出，固已倍其初征。而其留州送使，所在長吏又降省估使就實估，以自封殖而重賦於人。及垍為相，奏請：「天下留州、送使物，一切令依省估。其所在觀察使，仍以其所蒞之郡租賦自給；若不足，然後征於支郡。」其諸州送使額，悉變為上供，故江淮稍息肩。

Previously the people paid taxes to their prefectures in three shares: tribute to the capital, delivery to commissioners, and retention by the prefecture. When the two-tax system was established early in Jianzhong, goods were dear and cash cheap; later goods grew cheap and cash dear, so what households paid had already doubled the original levy. Local officials then discounted official valuations and collected at market rates on retained and delivered shares, enriching themselves while burdening the people. As chancellor Ji petitioned that all retained and delivered goods empire-wide follow the official estimate. Observation commissioners should still fund themselves from the taxes of the prefectures they oversee; and only if that fell short levy subordinate prefectures. Delivery quotas from the prefectures were converted to central tribute, bringing modest relief to the Jiang-Huai region.

垍雖年少，驟居相位，而器局峻整，有法度，雖大僚前輩，其造請不敢幹以私。諫官言時政得失，舊事，操權者多不悅其舉職。垍在中書，有獨孤郁、李正辭、嚴休復自拾遺轉補闕，及參謝之際，垍廷語之曰：「獨孤與李二補闕，孜孜獻納，今之遷轉，可謂酬勞愧矣。嚴補闕官業，或異於斯，昨者進擬，不無疑緩。」休復悚恧而退。垍在翰林，舉李絳、崔群同掌密命；及在相位，用韋貫之、裴度知制誥，擢李夷簡為御史中丞，其後繼踵入相，鹹著名跡。其余量材賦職，皆葉人望，選任之精，前後莫及。議者謂垍作相，才與時會，知無不為，於時朝無幸人，百度浸理；而再周遘疾，以至休謝，公論惜之。

Though young and suddenly elevated to chancellor, Ji was stern and principled; even senior ministers dared not press private favors when they called. Remonstrance officials had long spoken on policy's strengths and flaws, yet men in power often resented their diligence. In the Secretariat Dugu Yu, Li Zhengc, and Yan Xiufu were promoted from remonstrator to supplementer; at their thanks audience Ji said in open court, "Dugu and Li have remonstrated tirelessly; this promotion is a reward that shames me. Supplementer Yan's conduct may differ; yesterday's nomination was not without hesitation. Xiufu withdrew, abashed. In the Hanlin he recommended Li Jiang and Cui Qun to share confidential edicts; as chancellor he used Wei Guanzhi and Pei Du as edict drafters, raised Li Yijian to chief censor, and each later entered the chancellorship with distinguished records. His other appointments matched talent to office and public expectation; none before or since matched the precision of his selections. Observers said that as chancellor Ji's talent met the moment and he left nothing undone; the court had no favorites and government gradually righted itself; yet within two years illness forced his retirement, to public regret.

李吉甫，字弘憲，趙郡人。父棲筠，代宗朝為御史大夫，名重於時，國史有傳。吉甫少好學，能屬文。年二十七，為太常博士，該洽多聞，尤精國朝故實，沿革折衷，時多稱之。遷屯田員外郎，博士如故，改駕部員外。宰臣李泌、竇參推重其才，接遇頗厚。及陸贄為相，出為明州員外長史；久之遇赦，起為忠州刺史。時贄已謫在忠州，議者謂吉甫必逞憾於贄，重構其罪；及吉甫到部，與贄甚歡，未嘗以宿嫌介意。六年不徙官，以疾罷免。尋授柳州刺史，遷饒州。先是，州城以頻喪四牧，廢而不居，物怪變異，郡人信驗；吉甫至，發城門管鑰，剪荊榛而居之，後人乃安。

Li Jifu, styled Hongxian, was from Zhao commandery. His father Li Qiyun had been censor-in-chief under Daizong and was celebrated in his day; the national history records him. Jifu loved learning from youth and wrote well. At twenty-seven he became a Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, erudite and especially versed in dynastic precedent; contemporaries praised him widely. He was made assistant director of agriculture while keeping his doctorate, then transferred to assistant director of equipage. Chancellors Li Bi and Dou Can valued his talent and received him warmly. When Lu Zhi became chancellor, Jifu was posted out as senior adjutant at Mingzhou; After long service he was recalled on amnesty as prefect of Zhongzhou. Lu Zhi was already exiled to Zhongzhou; observers expected Jifu to settle old scores and fabricate new charges; but when Jifu arrived they were on excellent terms and he never brooded over past grievances. Six years passed without transfer before illness forced his retirement. He was soon made prefect of Liuzhou, then transferred to Raozhou. The prefectural seat had been abandoned after four successive prefects died there; omens and strange events convinced the locals; Jifu opened the gates, cleared the thorn scrub, and moved in; afterward the people were reassured.

憲宗嗣位，征拜考功郎中、知制誥。既至闕下，旋召入翰林為學士，轉中書舍人，賜紫。憲宗初即位，中書小吏滑渙與知樞密中使劉光琦暱善，頗竊朝權，吉甫請去之。劉闢反，帝命誅討之；計未決，吉甫密贊其謀，兼請廣征江淮之師，由三峽路入，以分蜀寇之力。事皆允從，由是甚見親信。二年春，杜黃裳出鎮，擢吉甫為中書侍郎、平章事。吉甫性聰敏，詳練物務，自員外郎出官，留滯江淮十五餘年，備詳閭裏疾苦。及是為相，患方鎮貪恣，乃上言使屬郡刺史得自為政。敘進群材，甚有美稱。

When Xianzong ascended the throne, Jifu was summoned as director of examinations with charge of edicts. On reaching the capital he was soon made Hanlin academician, then Secretariat drafter, and granted purple robes. Early in Xianzong's reign Secretariat clerk Hua Huan and privy-council eunuch Liu Guangqi were close allies who usurped court power; Jifu asked that they be removed. When Liu Pi rebelled, the emperor ordered his suppression; while the plan was still unsettled Jifu secretly backed it and urged raising Jiang-Huai forces to enter through the Three Gorges and divide the Shu rebels' strength. All was approved, and from then on he enjoyed deep trust. In the spring of the second year, when Du Huangshang took a frontier command, Jifu was promoted to Secretariat vice director and grand councilor. Clever and practiced in affairs, Jifu had spent more than fifteen years in the Jiang-Huai after leaving the capital and knew the people's hardships intimately. As chancellor he deplored the greed of military governors and urged that subordinate prefects govern independently. He promoted talent widely and won high praise.

三年秋，裴均為僕射、判度支，交結權幸，欲求宰相。先是，制策試直言極諫科，其中有譏刺時政，忤犯權幸者，因此均黨揚言皆執政教指，冀以搖動吉甫，賴諫官李約、獨孤郁、李正辭、蕭俛密疏陳奏，帝意乃解。吉甫早歲知獎羊士諤，擢為監察御史；又司封員外郎呂溫有詞藝，吉甫亦眷接之。竇群亦與羊、呂善。群初拜御史中丞，奏請士諤為侍御史，溫為郎中、知雜事。吉甫怒其不先關白，而所請又有超資者，持之數日不行，因而有隙。群遂伺得日者陳克明出入吉甫家，密捕以聞；憲宗詰之，無奸狀。吉甫以裴垍久在翰林，憲宗親信，必當大用，遂密薦垍代己，因自圖出鎮。其年九月，拜檢校兵部尚書，兼中書侍郎、平章事，充淮南節度使，上御通化門樓餞之。在揚州，每有朝廷得失，軍國利害，皆密疏論列。又於高郵縣築堤為塘，溉田數千頃，人受其惠。

That autumn Pei Jun, as vice director and treasury chief, courted the powerful and sought the chancellorship. When the outspoken-remonstrance examination produced answers that attacked policy and offended favorites, Jun's faction claimed Jifu had orchestrated them; remonstrators Li Yue, Dugu Yu, Li Zhengc, and Xiao Fu secretly clarified matters and eased the emperor's suspicions. Jifu had early favored Yang Shiyu and made him an investigating censor; and he also favored Lü Wen, an assistant director of Seals noted for literary skill. Dou Qun was likewise close to Yang and Lü. On becoming censor-in-chief, Qun asked that Shiyu be attendant censor and Wen a director in charge of miscellaneous business. Jifu was angered that Qun had not consulted him first and sought overqualified appointments; he stalled the requests for days, and a breach opened between them. Qun then caught the day-selector Chen Keming visiting Jifu's house and secretly arrested and reported him; Xianzong investigated and found no wrongdoing. Seeing that Pei Ji, long trusted in the Hanlin, was bound for high office, Jifu secretly recommended him as his successor and planned to take a frontier command. That September he was made acting Minister of War, grand councilor, and Huainan commissioner; the emperor saw him off from the Tonghua Gate tower. From Yangzhou he sent secret memorials on every court matter and military concern of consequence. He also built dikes and ponds at Gaoyou that irrigated thousands of acres, to the people's benefit.

五年冬，裴垍病免。明年正月，授吉甫金紫光祿大夫、中書侍郎、平章事、集賢殿大學士、監修國史、上柱國、趙國公。及再入相，請減省職員並諸色出身胥吏等，及量定中外官俸料，時以為當。京城諸僧有以莊磑免稅者，吉甫奏曰：「錢米所征，素有定額，寬緇徒有餘之力，配貧下無告之民，必不可許。」憲宗乃止。又請歸普潤軍於涇原。

In winter of the fifth year Pei Ji retired on account of illness. The following first month Jifu was made grand councilor, grand academician of Jixian, supervisor of national history, Pillar of the State, and Duke of Zhao. On returning to office he sought to cut redundant staff and clerks and to standardize official salaries, which contemporaries judged appropriate. When capital monks sought tax exemption for estates and mills, Jifu argued that fixed quotas could not be relaxed for clerics at the expense of the destitute. The emperor then stopped it. He also asked that the Pujun army be reassigned to Jingyuan.

七年，京兆尹元義方奏：「永昌公主準禮令起祠堂，請其制度。」初，貞元中，義陽、義章二公主咸於墓所造祠堂一百二十間，費錢數萬；及永昌之制，上令義方減舊制之半。吉甫奏曰：「伏以永昌公主，稚年夭枉，舉代同悲，況於聖情，固所鐘念。然陛下猶減制造之半，示折衷之規，昭儉訓人，實越今古。臣以祠堂之設，禮典無文，德宗皇帝恩出一時，事因習俗，當時人間不無竊議。昔漢章帝時，欲為光武原陵、明帝顯節陵，各起邑屋，東平王蒼上疏言其不可。 ——東平王即光武之愛子，明帝之愛弟。賢王之心，豈惜費於父兄哉！誠以非禮之事，人君所當慎也。今者，依義陽公主起祠堂，臣恐不如量置墓戶，以充守奉。」翌日，上謂吉甫曰：「卿昨所奏罷祠堂事，深愜朕心。朕初疑其冗費，緣未知故實，是以量減。覽卿所陳，方知無據。然朕不欲破二十戶百姓，當揀官戶委之。」吉甫拜賀。上曰：「卿，此豈是難事！有關朕身，不便於時者，茍聞之則改，此豈足多耶！卿但勤匡正，無謂朕不能行也。」

In the seventh year the metropolitan governor Yuan Yifang reported that Princess Yongchang wished to build a memorial hall according to ritual law and asked what form it should take. Earlier, in the Zhenyuan era, the Princesses of Yiyang and Yizhang had each built one hundred twenty halls at their tombs at a cost of tens of thousands of strings of cash; when Yongchang's case arose, the emperor ordered Yifang to cut the earlier scale in half. Jifu replied that the princess, taken young, grieved the whole realm and was especially dear to the emperor's heart. Yet Your Majesty had still halved the scale, showing moderation and teaching frugality — a lesson rare in any age. Memorial halls, I believe, have no basis in the ritual canon; Emperor Dezong's favor was a momentary indulgence following custom, and people at the time whispered against it. Under Han Zhangdi, when the court wished to build walled settlements at Guangwu's Yuanling and Mingdi's Xianjieling tombs, the Prince of Dongping, Liu Cang, memorialized against it. — The Prince of Dongping was Guangwu's beloved son and Mingdi's beloved younger brother. A prince so worthy would not have begrudged the cost for his father and brother! He objected because improper rites are what a ruler must guard against. To follow the Princess of Yiyang in building a hall, I fear, is inferior to assigning tomb households in suitable number to maintain the grave. The next day the emperor told Jifu that his memorial to abolish the hall had deeply pleased him. I had first suspected waste and, not knowing the precedent, had only trimmed the scale. After reading your argument, I see there was no proper basis at all. Yet I do not wish to displace twenty common households; official households should be chosen for the duty instead. Jifu bowed his thanks. The emperor said, "Sir, is that so difficult! Whatever touches me or ill suits the times, if I hear of it I change it — why make so much of this! Keep advising me faithfully; do not think I cannot follow your counsel."

七年七月，上御延英，顧謂吉甫曰：「朕近日畋遊悉廢，唯喜讀書。昨於《代宗實錄》中，見其時綱紀未振，朝廷多事，亦有所鑒誡。向後見卿先人事跡，深可嘉嘆。」吉甫降階跪奏曰：「臣先父伏事代宗，盡心盡節，迫於流運，不待聖時，臣之血誠，常所追恨。陛下耽悅文史，聽覽日新，見臣先父忠於前朝，著在實錄，今日特賜褒揚，先父雖在九泉，如睹白日。」因俯伏流涕，上慰諭之。

In the seventh month of the seventh year, at Yanying, the emperor turned to Jifu and said he had given up hunting and now read constantly. Yesterday, in the Veritable Records of Daizong, I saw how discipline had failed and the court was beset — a warning worth heeding. Later I came upon your father's career and was deeply impressed. Jifu stepped down, knelt, and said his father had served Daizong with utter loyalty but died before this reign; the son had long grieved that devotion could not be fulfilled in his own time. Your Majesty loves letters and learns daily; to see my father's loyalty to the former reign recorded and praised today is for him, though under the earth, as if he saw the sun again. He prostrated himself in tears, and the emperor comforted him.

八年十月，上御延英殿，問時政記記何事。時吉甫監修國史，先對曰：「是宰相記天子事以授史官之實錄也。古者，右史記言，今起居舍人是；左史記事，今起居郎是。永徽中，宰相姚璹監修國史，慮造膝之言，或不可聞，因請隨奏對而記於仗下，以授於史官，今時政記是也。」上曰：「間或不修，何也？」曰：「面奉德音，未及施行，總謂機密，故不可書以送史官；其間有謀議出於臣下者，又不可自書以付史官；及已行者，制令昭然，天下皆得聞知，即史官之記，不待書以授也。且臣觀時政記者，姚璹修之於長壽，及璹罷而事寢；賈耽、齊抗修之於貞元，及耽、抗罷而事廢。然則關時政化者，不虛美，不隱惡，謂之良史也。」

In the tenth month of the eighth year, at Yanying, the emperor asked what the Current Affairs Record was for. Jifu, who supervised the national history, answered first that it was the chancellors' record of the emperor's affairs for the historiographers. In antiquity the right scribe recorded words; today that is the diarist of attendance; the left scribe recorded affairs; today that is the gentleman of attendance. In Yonghui, Chancellor Yao Guan, supervising the history, feared that intimate counsel might not reach the scribes and asked to note answers given at audience beneath the halberds for the historiographers — the origin of today's record. The emperor asked why it was sometimes neglected. He said that orders received in person but not yet enacted were treated as secret and could not be written for the historiographers; nor could ministers write down their own deliberations for the scribes; once measures were enacted, the edicts were public and the historiographers needed no separate transcript. Moreover, the record was kept when Yao Guan compiled it under Changshou and lapsed when he left office; Jia Dan and Qi Kang kept it in Zhenyuan, and it was abandoned when they departed. What truly governs the age is history that neither flatters nor conceals—that alone deserves the name of a good record."

是月，回紇部落南過磧，取西城柳谷路討吐蕃。西城防禦使周懷義表至，朝廷大恐，以為回紇聲言討吐蕃，意是入寇。吉甫奏曰：「回紇入寇，且當漸絕和事，不應便來犯邊，但須設備，不足為慮。」因請自夏州至天德，復置廢館一十一所，以通緩急。又請發夏州騎士五百人，營於經略故城，應援驛使，兼護党項。九年，請於經略故城置宥州。六胡州以在靈鹽界，開元中廢六州。曰：「國家舊置宥州，以寬宥為名，領諸降戶。天寶末，宥州寄理於經略軍，蓋以地居其中，可以總統蕃部，北以應接天德，南援夏州。今經略遙隸靈武，又不置軍鎮，非舊制也。」憲宗從其奏，復置宥州，詔曰：「天寶中宥州寄理於經略軍，寶應已來，因循遂廢。由是昆夷屢擾，党項靡依，蕃部之人，撫懷莫及。朕方弘遠略，思復舊規，宜於經略軍置宥州，仍為上州，於郭下置延恩縣，為上縣，屬夏綏銀觀察使。」

That month a Uyghur tribe crossed the desert southward and took the western Willow Valley route against Tibet. When the western defense commissioner Zhou Huaiyi reported in, the court was alarmed, suspecting the Uyghurs' talk of attacking Tibet masked an invasion. Jifu argued that invaders would first break off diplomacy and would not strike so abruptly; preparations sufficed and there was little cause for alarm. He asked to reopen eleven abandoned relay posts from Xia to Tiande for urgent dispatches. He also asked for five hundred Xia horsemen to camp at the old Jinglue headquarters to support couriers and protect the Tangut. In the ninth year he asked to re-establish You Prefecture at the old Jinglue site. The Six Hu prefectures had lain on the Ling-Salt frontier and were abolished in Kaiyuan. He explained that the state had once established You Prefecture — "lenient pardon" — to govern surrendered tribes. Late in Tianbao it had been administered from the Jinglue army, centrally placed to command the frontier tribes, linking Tiande to the north and Xia to the south. Now Jinglue answered remotely to Lingwu with no garrison — not the old arrangement. Xianzong approved and restored You Prefecture, decreeing that since Baoying inertia had let the Tianbao arrangement lapse. Barbarians raided repeatedly, the Tangut lacked a refuge, and frontier peoples could not be won by kindness. I now pursue a far-reaching policy and will restore the old rule: You Prefecture shall stand at Jinglue as a superior prefecture, with Yan'en County beneath the wall as a superior county under the Xia-Sui-Yin commissioner."

淮西節度使吳少陽卒，其子元濟請襲父位。吉甫以為淮西內地，不同河朔，且四境無黨援，國家常宿數十萬兵以為守禦，宜因時而取之。頗葉上旨，始為經度淮西之謀。

The Huai-Xi commissioner Wu Shaoyang died, and his son Wu Yuanji asked to succeed him. Jifu held that Huai-Xi lay in the interior, unlike the Hebei frontier, had no allies on its borders, and already cost the state hundreds of thousands of troops to garrison — it should be seized while the moment allowed. This ran against the emperor's inclination and opened the plan to pacify Huai-Xi.

元和九年冬，暴病卒，年五十七。憲宗傷悼久之，遣中使臨吊；常贈之外，內出絹五百匹以恤其家，再贈司空。吉甫初為相，頗洽時情，及淮南再徵，中外延望風采。秉政之後，視聽時有所蔽，人心疑憚之。時負公望者慮為吉甫所忌，多避畏。憲宗潛知其事，未周歲，遂擢用李絳，大與絳不協；而絳性剛評，訐於上前，互有爭論，人多直絳。然性畏慎，雖其不悅者，亦無所傷。服物食味，必極珍美，而不殖財產，京師一宅之外，無他第墅，公論以此重之。有司謚曰敬憲；及會議，度支郎中張仲方駁之，以為太優。憲宗怒，貶仲方，賜吉甫謚曰忠懿。

In the winter of Yuanhe 9 he died suddenly of illness at fifty-seven. Xianzong mourned him at length and sent a palace envoy to offer condolences; beyond the usual honors the inner palace gave five hundred bolts of silk to his family and posthumously made him Minister of Works. When Jifu first took office he won wide approval; on his second summons from Huainan, court and country alike awaited his return. Once in power, his judgment was sometimes clouded and men grew wary of him. Men of public standing feared his jealousy and mostly kept their distance. Xianzong knew this secretly; within the year he elevated Li Jiang, with whom Jifu clashed sharply; Jiang was blunt and spoke against him before the throne; they argued repeatedly, and most sided with Jiang. Yet he was cautious by nature and did not harm even those he disliked. He dressed and dined lavishly yet amassed no wealth beyond one house in the capital, and public opinion respected him for it. The authorities proposed the posthumous name Jingxian; at the review the treasury director Zhang Zhongfang objected that it was too generous. Xianzong was angered, demoted Zhongfang, and gave Jifu the posthumous name Zhongyi.

吉甫嘗討論《易象》異義，附於一行集註之下；及綴錄東漢、魏、晉、周、隋故事，訖其成敗損益大端，目為《六代略》，凡三十卷。分天下諸鎮，紀其山川險易故事，各寫其圖於篇首，為五十四卷，號為《元和郡國圖》。又與史官等錄當時戶賦兵籍，號為《國計簿》，凡十卷。纂《六典》諸職為《百司舉要》一卷。皆奏上之，行於代。子德修、德裕。

Jifu once discussed variant readings of the Changes' images, appended under Yixing's commentary; and compiled tales from Eastern Han through Sui, summarizing success and failure in thirty volumes titled Brief of Six Dynasties. He surveyed every command, recorded terrain and history, and placed a map at each section's head in fifty-four volumes titled Yuanhe Commandery and Principality Maps. With the historiographers he recorded current household taxes and military registers in ten volumes titled Ledger of National Accounting. He distilled the offices of the Six Institutions into one volume, Essentials of the Hundred Offices. All were submitted to the throne and circulated widely. His sons were Dexiu and Deyu.

李籓，字叔翰，趙郡人。曾祖至遠，天後時李昭德薦為天官侍郎，不詣昭德謝恩，時昭德怒，奏黜為壁州刺史。祖畬，開元時為考功郎中，事母孝謹，母卒，不勝喪死。至遠、畬皆以誌行名重一時。父承，為湖南觀察使，亦有名。

Li Fan, styled Shuhan, was from Zhao commandery. His great-grandfather Zhiyuan was recommended by Li Zhaode as vice director of the Heavenly Ministry under the Empress Wu but did not come to thank him; Zhaode had him demoted to prefect of Bibi. His grandfather She was director of evaluations in Kaiyuan, dutiful to his mother; when she died he could not survive the mourning and died. Zhiyuan and She were both renowned in their day for moral character. His father Cheng was commissioner of Hunan and likewise enjoyed repute.

籓少恬淡修檢，雅容儀，好學。父卒，家富於財，親族吊者，有挈去不禁，愈務散施，不數年而貧。年四十余未仕，讀書揚州，困於自給，妻子怨尤之，晏如也。杜亞居守東都，以故人子署為從事。洛中盜發，有誣牙將令狐運者，亞信之，拷掠竟罪。籓知其冤，爭之不從，遂辭出。後獲真盜宋瞿曇，籓益知名。

As a young man Li Fan was quiet and disciplined, graceful in his bearing, and passionately devoted to study. After his father's death the household was rich, yet relatives who came to mourn helped themselves freely and were not stopped; Fan only gave more lavishly away, and within a few years the family was ruined. Past forty he still held no office, studying at Yangzhou while barely able to feed himself; his wife and children reproached him, yet he remained utterly unperturbed. Du Ya was stationed at the Eastern Capital as regional commissioner and took Fan onto his staff as the son of an old friend. When a robbery occurred in Luoyang, someone falsely implicated the guard officer Linghu Yun; Du Ya believed the charge, tortured him under interrogation, and finally convicted him. Fan knew the man was innocent, pleaded in vain, and resigned his post. When the real thief, Song Qutan, was later captured, Fan's reputation grew still greater.

張建封在徐州，辟為從事，居幕中，謙謙未嘗論細微。杜兼為濠州刺史，帶使職，建封病革，兼疾驅到府，陰有冀望。籓與同列省建封，出而泣語兼曰：「僕射公奄忽如此，公宜在州防遏，今棄州此來，欲何也？宜疾去！不若此，當奏聞。」兼錯愕不虞，遂徑歸。建封死，兼悔所誌不就，怨籓甚。既歸揚州，兼因誣奏籓建封死時搖動軍中。德宗大怒，密詔杜佑殺之。佑素重籓，懷詔旬日不忍發，因引籓論釋氏，曰：「因報之事，信有之否？」籓曰：「信然。」曰：「審如此，君宜遇事無恐。」因出詔。籓覽之，無動色，曰：「某與兼信為報也。」佑曰：「慎勿出口，吾已密論，持百口保君矣。」德宗得佑解，怒不釋，亟追籓赴闕。及召見，望其儀形，曰：「此豈作惡事人耶！」乃釋然，除秘書郎。

Zhang Jianfeng, stationed at Xuzhou, recruited him to his staff; Fan served in the headquarters, modest and reserved, and never meddled in petty affairs. Du Jian was prefect of Haozhou with an additional envoy's commission; when Jianfeng fell gravely ill, Jian galloped to headquarters, nursing secret ambitions. Fan and his colleagues went to see the dying Jianfeng; as they left, Fan wept and said to Du Jian: "The Minister has fallen so suddenly—you should be at your prefecture keeping order. You have abandoned your post to come here—what do you intend? You must leave at once! If you do not, I shall report you to the throne." Du Jian was caught off guard and fled straight back to his prefecture. After Jianfeng's death, Du Jian bitterly regretted his thwarted ambitions and hated Fan with a passion. Back in Yangzhou, he filed a false report accusing Fan of destabilizing the army at the time of Jianfeng's death. Emperor Dezong flew into a rage and secretly ordered Du You to execute Fan. Du You had always held Fan in high regard; he kept the edict hidden for ten days, unable to act on it, then drew Fan into a discussion of Buddhism, asking: "Do you believe in karmic retribution?" Fan replied: "I do." Du You said: "If that is so, you need not fear whatever comes." Then he produced the secret edict. Fan read it without a flicker of emotion and said: "Du Jian and I were always bound to settle accounts this way." Du You said: "Say nothing of this—I have already pleaded your case in secret and pledge my family's lives to protect you. Dezong accepted Du You's explanation but would not let his anger go; he urgently summoned Fan to court. When Fan was brought before him, the emperor studied his bearing and exclaimed: "This is no villain!" His anger lifted, and he appointed Fan Secretary in the Palace Library.

王紹持權，邀籓一相見即用，終不就。王仲舒、韋成季、呂洞輩為郎官，朋黨輝赫，日會聚歌酒，慕籓名，強致同會，籓不得已一至。仲舒輩好為訛語俳戲，後召籓，堅不去，曰：「吾與仲舒輩終日，不曉所與言何也。」後果敗。遷主客員外郎，尋換右司。時順宗冊廣陵王淳為皇太子，兵部尚書王純請改名紹，時議非之，皆云：「皇太子亦人臣也，東宮之臣改之宜也，非其屬而改之，諂也。如純輩豈為以禮事上耶！」籓謂人曰：「歷代故事，皆自不識大體之臣而失之，因不可復正，無足怪也。」及太子即位，憲宗是也。宰相改郡縣名以避上名，唯監察御史韋淳不改。既而有詔以陸淳為給事中，改名質；淳不得已改名貫之，議者嘉之。

Wang Shao wielded great influence and promised Fan instant appointment if he would only call once; Fan never went. Wang Zhongshu, Wei Chengji, Lü Dong, and their circle were court gentlemen whose clique blazed with influence; they met daily for wine and song, admired Fan's reputation, and dragged him to their parties; he went once, unable to refuse. They loved obscene jokes and buffoonery; when they summoned Fan again he flatly refused, saying: "I can sit with them all day and still not understand a word they say." They were ruined soon after. He was promoted to vice director in the Bureau of Receptions, then soon transferred to the Right Division of the Secretariat. When Emperor Shunzong invested Prince Chun of Guangling as crown prince, the Minister of War Wang Chun asked to change his name to Shao; opinion turned against him, with many saying: "Even the crown prince is still a subject in name—his own household may change their names, but for outsiders to do so is pure flattery. Men like Wang Chun hardly serve their sovereign with proper ritual!" Fan told others: "Every dynasty's precedents were ruined by ministers who could not see the larger picture; once lost they cannot be restored—there is nothing surprising in this." When the crown prince took the throne—this was Emperor Xianzong. The chief ministers changed prefectural and county names to avoid the emperor's personal name; only Investigating Censor Wei Chun refused to change his. Soon an edict appointed Lu Chun Drafting Attendant and changed his name to Zhi; Wei Chun, left no choice, changed his name to Guanzhi, and public opinion applauded him.

籓尋改吏部員外郎。元和初，遷吏部郎中，掌曹事，為使所蔽，濫用官闕，黜為著作郎。轉國子司業，遷給事中。制敕有不可，遂於黃敕後批之。吏曰：「宜別連白紙。」籓曰：「別以白紙，是文狀，豈曰批敕耶！」裴垍言於帝，以為有宰相器，屬鄭絪罷免，遂拜籓門下侍郎、同平章事。籓性忠藎，事無不言，上重之，以為無隱。

Fan was soon made vice director in the Ministry of Personnel. Early in the Yuanhe reign he became director in the Ministry of Personnel and ran its affairs; swayed by visiting commissioners he abused vacant posts, and was demoted to Master of Writings. He became vice rector of the Imperial University, then was promoted to Drafting Attendant. When he found an edict unacceptable, he annotated it directly on the back of the yellow draft. A clerk said: "You should attach a separate sheet of white paper." Fan replied: "A separate sheet makes it a routine document—how is that 'annotating the edict'? Pei Ji told the emperor that Fan had the makings of a chief minister; when Zheng Yin was dismissed, Fan was appointed Vice Director of the Secretariat with concurrent status as Grand Councilor. Fan was loyal and forthright and spoke his mind on every matter; the emperor prized him as a man who hid nothing.

四年冬，顧謂宰臣曰：「前代帝王理天下，或家給人足，或國貧下困，其故何也？」籓對曰：「古人云：『儉以足用。』蓋足用系於儉約。誠使人君不貴珠玉，唯務耕桑，則人無淫巧，俗自敦本，百姓既足，君孰與不足！自然帑藏充羨，稼穡豐登。若人君竭民力，貴異物，上行下效，風俗日奢，去本務末，衣食益乏，則百姓不足！君孰與足！自然國貧家困，盜賊乘隙而作矣！今陛下永鑒前古，思躋富庶，躬尚勤儉，自當理平。伏願以知之為非艱，保之為急務，宮室輿馬，衣服器玩，必務損之又損，示人變風，則天下幸甚。」帝曰：「儉約之事，是我誠心；貧富之由，如卿所說。唯當上下相勖，以保此道，似有逾濫，極言箴規，此固深期於卿等也。」籓等拜賀而退。

That winter in his fourth year the emperor turned to his chief ministers and asked: "Why did some past emperors bring the realm to plenty while others left the state impoverished and the people in want?" Fan answered: "The ancients said, 'Frugality brings sufficiency. Sufficiency rests on thrift and restraint. If the sovereign does not prize gems and jade but devotes himself to farming and sericulture, the people shed vain cleverness, custom returns to the fundamentals, and once the common folk are provided for, how could the ruler lack for anything? The treasury fills of its own accord and the harvests run abundant. But if the ruler exhausts the people's strength and prizes exotic luxuries, example flows from above and custom grows ever more extravagant, the root is abandoned for the trivial, and food and clothing run short—then the common people have nothing left! How then could the ruler himself be provided for? The state grows poor, households fall into distress, and bandits rise to fill the breach! Your Majesty takes the past as your mirror, strives toward abundance, and personally honors diligence and thrift—order and peace should follow of themselves. I beg Your Majesty to treat knowing this as easy but keeping to it as urgent—palaces, carriages, dress, and ornaments must be pared again and again, so that by your example the realm may change its ways; then the empire would be blessed indeed." The emperor said: "Frugality is already my sincere intent; and the causes of wealth and want are just as you describe. We must encourage one another above and below to keep to this path; if anything runs to excess, speak out without reserve—I count deeply on you for that." Fan and his colleagues bowed in thanks and withdrew.

帝又問曰：「禳災祈福之說，其事信否？」籓對曰：「臣竊觀自古聖達，皆不禱祠。故楚昭王有疾，卜者謂河為祟，昭王以河不在楚，非所獲罪，孔子以為知天道。仲尼病，子路請禱，仲尼以為神道助順，系於所行，己既全德，無愧屋漏。故答子路云：『丘之禱久矣。』《書》云：『惠迪吉，從逆兇。』言順道則吉，從逆則兇。《詩》云：『自求多福。』則禍福之來，鹹應行事，若茍為非道，則何福可求？是以漢文帝每有祭祀，使有司敬而不祈，其見超然，可謂盛德。若使神明無知，則安能降福；必其有知，則私己求媚之事，君子尚不可悅也，況於明神乎！由此言之，則履信思順，自天祐之，茍異於此，實難致福。故堯、舜之德，唯在修己以安百姓。管仲云：『義於人者和於神。』蓋以人為神主，故但務安人而已。虢公求神，以致危亡，王莽妄祈，以速漢兵，古今明誡，書傳所紀。伏望陛下每以漢文、孔子之意為準，則百福具臻。」帝深嘉之。

The emperor asked again: "Do you believe in rituals to avert disaster and win blessings?" Fan answered: "In my humble view, the sages of every age never relied on prayer. When King Zhao of Chu fell ill, diviners blamed the River god; Zhao replied that the River lay outside Chu and could not be his to offend—Confucius praised him for understanding Heaven's way. When Confucius fell ill, Zilu asked to pray for him; Confucius held that the divine way aids the righteous and depends on conduct—having perfected his own virtue, he had nothing to hide even from the spirits under his roof. He told Zilu: 'I have prayed for a long time already.' The Book of Documents says: 'Virtue brings good fortune; rebellion brings ruin. That is to say, following the Way brings blessing, defying it brings disaster. The Book of Odes says: 'Blessings are won by one's own efforts. Fortune and misfortune alike answer to how one lives; if one persists in wrongdoing, what blessing can prayer obtain? That is why Emperor Wen of Han, whenever sacrifices were held, ordered officials to perform them reverently but not to pray—his vision was sublime, and may truly be called great virtue. If the spirits were without understanding, how could they grant blessings; yet if they do understand, private flattery that would shame a gentleman could hardly please the bright spirits! From this it follows that those who keep faith and follow the Way are blessed by Heaven; depart from that, and no prayer will win fortune. The virtue of Yao and Shun lay solely in perfecting themselves so as to bring peace to the people. Guan Zhong said: 'He who is just toward men harmonizes with the spirits. Men are the spirits' true concern; the ruler need only devote himself to the people's welfare. The Duke of Guo's appeal to the spirits brought ruin upon his state; Wang Mang's frantic prayers only hastened the Han armies—these are plain warnings of past and present, set down in every chronicle. I beg Your Majesty to take Emperor Wen and Confucius as your standard in all things, and every blessing will follow." The emperor praised him warmly.

時河東節度使王鍔用錢數千萬賂遺權幸，求兼宰相。籓與權德輿在中書，有密旨曰：「王鍔可兼宰相，宜即擬來。」籓遂以筆塗「兼相」字，卻奏上云：「不可。」德輿失色曰：「縱不可，宜別作奏，豈可以筆塗詔耶！」曰：「勢迫矣！出今日，便不可止。日又暮，何暇別作奏！」事果寢。李吉甫自揚州再入相，數日，罷籓為詹事。後數月，上思籓，召對，復有所論列。元和六年，出為華州刺史、兼御史大夫。未行卒，年五十八，贈戶部尚書。籓為相材能不及裴垍，孤峻頗後韋貫之，然人物清規，亦其流也。

At that time Wang E, military governor of Hedong, spent tens of millions in bribes to court favorites in hopes of adding the chief ministership to his post. Fan and Quan Deyu were at the Secretariat when a secret order arrived: "Wang E is to be appointed concurrent chief minister—draft the appointment at once." Fan crossed out the words "concurrent chief minister" with his brush and returned the draft with a single note: "Not acceptable." Quan Deyu blanched and cried: "Even if you refuse, you should draft a separate memorial—how can you deface an imperial order with your pen!" Fan said: "There is no time! Once it leaves today, nothing will stop it. Dusk is already here—who has time for another memorial!" The appointment was dropped. Li Jifu returned from Yangzhou to the chief ministership; within days Fan was dismissed to serve as administrator of the crown prince's household. Months later the emperor missed Fan, summoned him for audience, and again heard his forthright counsel. In the sixth year of Yuanhe he was sent out as prefect of Hua Prefecture with concurrent status as Grand Censor. He died before he could take up the post, at fifty-eight; the court posthumously appointed him Minister of Revenue. As a chief minister Fan lacked Pei Ji's ability and fell somewhat short of Wei Guanzhi's austere integrity, yet in character and moral clarity he belonged to the same company.

權德輿，字載之，天水略陽人。父臯，字士繇，後秦尚書翼之後。少以進士補貝州臨清尉。安祿山以幽州長史充河北按察使，假其才名，表為薊縣尉，署從事。臯陰察祿山有異志，畏其猜虐，不可以潔退，欲潛去，又慮禍及老母。天寶十四年，祿山使臯獻戎俘，自京師回，過福昌。福昌尉仲謨，臯從父妹婿也，密以計約之。比至河陽，詐以疾亟召謨，謨至，臯示已喑，瞪謨而瞑。謨乃勉哀而哭，手自含襲，既逸臯而葬其棺，人無知者。從吏以詔書還，臯母初不知，聞臯之死，慟哭傷行路。祿山不疑其詐死，許其母歸。臯時微服匿跡，候母於淇門；既得侍其母，乃奉母晝夜南去，及渡江，祿山已反矣。由是名聞天下。淮南采訪使高適表臯試大理評事，充判官。屬永王璘亂，多劫士大夫以自從，臯懼見迫，又變名易服以免。玄宗在蜀，聞而嘉之，除監察御史。會丁母喪，因家洪州。時南北隔絕，或逾歲不聞詔命。有中使奉宣至洪州，經時未復，過有求取，州縣苦之。時有王遘為南昌令，將執按之，因見臯白其事；臯不言，久之，垂涕曰：「方今何由可致一敕使，而遽有此言。」因掩涕而起，遘遽拜謝之。浙西節度使顏真卿表臯為行軍司馬，詔征為起居舍人，又以疾辭。嘗曰：「本自全吾誌，豈受此之名耶！」李季卿為江淮黜陟使，奏臯節行，改著作郎，復不起。兩京蹂於胡騎，士君子多以家渡江東，知名之士如李華、柳識兄弟者，皆仰臯之德而友善之。大歷三年，卒於家，年四十六。元和中謚曰貞孝。

Quan Deyu, whose style was Zaizhi, came from Lüeyang in Tianshui commandery. His father Quan Gao, style Shiyao, was descended from Yi, a minister of the Later Qin. In his youth, after passing the jinshi examination, he was appointed magistrate of Linqing district in Beizhou. An Lushan, serving as chief secretary of Youzhou and Hebei surveillance commissioner, coveted his reputation, recommended him as magistrate of Ji district, and took him onto his staff. Gao secretly perceived that Lushan harbored rebellious ambitions; fearing his suspicious cruelty, he could not resign openly, wished to flee in secret, yet dreaded that his aged mother would suffer for it. In the fourteenth year of Tianbao, Lushan sent Gao to present captives at court; on his return from the capital he passed through Fuchang. Zhong Mo, magistrate of Fuchang, was married to Gao's cousin's daughter; the two secretly agreed on a plan. Near Heyang he feigned a grave illness and urgently summoned Zhong Mo; when Mo arrived, Gao showed that he had lost his voice, stared at him, and closed his eyes as if dead. Mo forced himself to wail in mourning, placed the burial ornaments with his own hands, then helped Gao escape and buried the coffin in his place—no one was the wiser. The attendant returned with the imperial message; Gao's mother knew nothing at first, but when she heard her son was dead she wailed so bitterly that everyone on the road was moved to grief. Lushan never suspected the ruse and allowed his mother to go home. Gao went in disguise and hid his trail, waiting for his mother at Qimen; Once he could be with his mother again, he took her south without rest day or night; by the time they crossed the Yangzi, Lushan had already risen in rebellion. From that moment his name was known everywhere under heaven. Gao Shi, surveillance commissioner of Huainan, recommended Gao for a probationary post as evaluator in the Court of Judicial Review and appointed him judge-assessor on his staff. During the rebellion of the Yong Prince Li Lin, who seized many scholar-officials to follow him, Gao feared being forced into service and again changed his name and dress to slip away. Emperor Xuanzong, then in Shu, heard the story and praised him, appointing him investigating censor. When his mother died he entered mourning and settled his household in Hongzhou. North and south were then cut off from one another, and sometimes more than a year would pass without word of an imperial edict. A palace envoy came to Hongzhou on imperial business; he lingered for a long time without leaving and kept making demands, to the great distress of the prefecture and counties. Wang You was then magistrate of Nanchang and was about to arrest the envoy; he went to Gao and told him what he intended; Gao said nothing. After a long silence tears fell as he said, "In times like these, how could we ever hope to see even one imperial messenger again—and you speak so rashly of this?" He wiped his tears and stood; You at once bowed and apologized. Yan Zhenqing, military commissioner of Zhexi, recommended Gao as campaigning marshal; an edict summoned him as attendant of the left, but again he declined, pleading illness. He once said, "I only wanted to keep faith with my own purpose—why should I take such an office!" Li Jiqing, promotion-and-demotion commissioner for the Jianghuai region, memorialized Gao's integrity; he was made composition academician but again refused to take office. When the two capitals were overrun by rebel horsemen, many gentlemen crossed east of the Yangzi with their households; famous men such as Li Hua and the brothers Liu Shi all admired Gao's character and became his friends. In the third year of the Dali reign he died at home, aged forty-six. In the Yuanhe era he was given the posthumous title Pure and Filial.

初，臯卒，韓洄、王定為服朋友之喪，李華為其墓表，以為分天下善惡，一人而已。前贈秘書監，至是因子德輿為相，立家廟。至元和十二年，復贈太子太保。

When Gao died, Han Hui and Wang Ding mourned him as they would a close friend; Li Hua wrote his tomb inscription, declaring that to weigh good and evil in the world one needed only this single man. He had earlier been posthumously made director of the Secretariat; now, because his son Deyu became chief minister, a family ancestral temple was established. In the twelfth year of Yuanhe he was again posthumously made grand guardian of the heir apparent.

德輿生四歲，能屬詩；七歲居父喪，以孝聞；十五為文數百篇，編為《童蒙集》十卷，名聲日大。韓洄黜陟河南，辟為從事，試秘書省校書郎。貞元初，復為江西觀察使李兼判官，再遷監察御史。府罷，杜佑、裴胄皆奏請，二表同日至京。德宗雅聞其名，徵為太常博士，轉左補闕。八年，關東大水，上疏請降詔恤隱，遂命奚陟等四人使。

Deyu at four could compose verse; at seven, while mourning his father, he was already famed for filial devotion; at fifteen he had written several hundred pieces, gathered into ten scrolls titled Collected Writings of Youth, and his fame grew day by day. When Han Hui served as promotion commissioner for Henan he recruited Deyu to his staff and had him tried as collator in the Secretariat. Early in Zhenyuan he again served as judge-assessor under Li Jian, observation commissioner of Jiangxi, and was soon promoted to investigating censor. When that office was dissolved, both Du You and Pei Zhou memorialized asking for him, and the two petitions reached the capital on the same day. Emperor Dezong had long known his reputation and summoned him as erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, then transferred him to left supplementation attendant. In the eighth year a great flood struck east of the Pass; he memorialized asking that an edict be issued to relieve suffering, and the emperor sent Xi Zhi and three others as envoys.

裴延齡以巧幸判度支，九年，自司農少卿除戶部侍郎，仍判度支。德輿上疏曰：

Pei Yanling, through artful favor, was put in charge of the treasury; in the ninth year he was promoted from vice minister of agriculture to vice minister of revenue while still overseeing the treasury. Deyu submitted a memorial that read:

臣伏以爵人於朝，與眾共之，況經費之司，安危所系。延齡頃自權判，逮今間歲，不稱之聲，日甚於初。群情眾口，喧於朝市，不敢悉煩聖聽，今謹略舉所聞。多雲以常賦正額支用未盡者，便為剩利，以為己功。又重破官錢買常平先所收市雜物，遂以再給估價，用充別貯利錢。又雲邊上諸軍皆至懸闕，自今春已來，並不支糧。伏以疆場之事，所虞非細，誠聖謨前定，終事切有司。陛下必以延齡孤貞獨立，為時所抑，醜正有黨，結此流言，何不以新收剩利，征其本末，為分析條奏？又擇朝賢信臣，與中使一人巡覆邊軍，察其資儲有無虛實。倘延齡受任已來，精心勤力，每事省約，別收羨余，於正數各有區分，邊軍儲蓄，實猶可支，身自斂怨，為國惜費；自宜更示優獎，以洗群疑，明書厥勞，昭示天下。如或言者非謬，罔上實多，豈以邦國重務，委之非據！臣職在諫曹，合采群議，正拜已來，今已旬日，道路云云，無不言此。豈京師士庶之眾，愚智之多，合而為黨，共有仇嫉。陛下亦宜稍回聖鑒，俯察群心。況臣之事君，如子事父；今當聖明不諱之代，若猶愛身隱情，是不忠不孝，莫大之罪。敢瀝肝血，伏待刑書。

Your subject humbly reflects that to advance a man at court is a matter for all to judge together—and how much more the office that controls the state's funds, on which the realm's safety depends. Yanling has held acting charge of the office for nearly a year now, and complaints against him grow louder with each passing day. Public outrage fills the court and the markets; I dare not weary Your Majesty with every detail and will only summarize what I have heard. Many say that whenever regular tax revenues were not fully spent, he treated the remainder as surplus profit and claimed the credit for himself. Again he spent public funds to buy back miscellaneous goods the Ever-Normal Granaries had already purchased, then reissued them at appraised prices to pad separate profit accounts. They also say that frontier armies are utterly destitute and that since this spring no rations have been issued at all. Your subject humbly notes that frontier affairs are no small matter; though Your Majesty's strategy is settled in advance, carrying it out still depends on the responsible officials. If Your Majesty believes Yanling stands alone in integrity and has been slandered by a clique of the corrupt, why not trace the newly reported surpluses from beginning to end and submit an itemized account? Send a trusted minister of the court together with a palace envoy to tour the frontier armies and verify whether their stores are real or merely on paper. If, since taking office, Yanling has worked with scrupulous care, economized in every matter, kept surpluses separate from regular accounts, and left the frontier armies genuinely supplied while bearing resentment himself to save the state money; then he should receive still greater honors to clear away suspicion, with his achievements written plainly and proclaimed to the realm. But if the reports are true and he has deceived his superiors on a grand scale, how can the weightiest affairs of state be left in unworthy hands! Your subject serves in the remonstrance bureau and ought to gather public opinion; since Yanling's formal appointment ten days ago, travelers everywhere speak of nothing else. Could all the learned and common people of the capital, wise and foolish alike, have banded together in one faction out of shared spite? Your Majesty should also turn the mirror of your judgment and look down to see what the people truly feel. Moreover, a subject serves his ruler as a son serves his father; in an age as enlightened as this, when nothing is taboo, to cherish one's safety and hide the truth is the greatest disloyalty and unfiliality. I pour out my heart's blood and humbly await whatever punishment Your Majesty may decree.

十年，遷起居舍人。歲中，兼知制誥。轉駕部員外郎、司勛郎中，職如舊。遷中書舍人。是時，德宗親覽庶政，重難除授，凡命於朝，多補自禦劄。始，德輿知制誥，給事有徐岱，舍人有高郢；居數歲，岱卒，郢知禮部貢舉，獨德輿直禁垣，數旬始歸。嘗上疏請除兩省宮，德宗曰：「非不知卿之勞苦，禁掖清切，須得如卿者，所以久難其人。」德輿居西掖八年，其間獨掌者數歲。貞元十七年冬，以本官知禮部貢舉。來年，真拜侍郎，凡三歲掌貢士，至今號為得人。轉戶部侍郎。元和初，歷兵部、吏部侍郎，坐郎吏誤用官闕，改太子賓客，復為兵部侍郎，遷太常卿。

In the tenth year he was made attendant of the left. Later that year he was also put in charge of drafting edicts. He was transferred to vice director in the Transport Bureau and director in the Bureau of Merit Records, while keeping his former duties. He was promoted to secretariat draftsman. At that time Dezong personally oversaw every branch of government and weighed appointments with great care; most court offices were filled from his own brush notes. When Deyu first took charge of edicts, Xu Dai served as reviewing officer and Gao Ying as draftsman; After several years Dai died; Ying took charge of the civil examinations, and Deyu alone kept watch in the inner palace, sometimes going many weeks before he could return home. He once memorialized asking that additional staff be appointed in the two secretariats. Dezong replied, "It is not that I do not know your hardships. The inner palace demands precision and needs someone like you—that is why I have found no one to replace you for so long." Deyu served in the western secretariat for eight years, several of them with no colleague at all. In the winter of the seventeenth year of Zhenyuan he was put in charge of the civil examinations while retaining his existing post. The next year he was formally made vice minister; for three years he directed the examinations, and to this day he is remembered for choosing worthy men. He was transferred to vice minister of revenue. Early in Yuanhe he served in turn as vice minister of war and of personnel; when a clerk misused an office title he was demoted to mentor of the heir apparent, then restored as vice minister of war and promoted to director of imperial sacrifices.

五年冬，宰相裴垍寢疾，德輿拜禮部尚書、平章事，與李籓同作相。河中節度王鍔來朝，貴幸多譽鍔者，上將加平章事，李籓堅執以為不可。德輿繼奏曰：「夫平章事，非序進而得，國朝方鎮帶宰相者，蓋有大忠大勛。大歷已來，又有跋扈難制者，不得已而與之。今王鍔無大忠勛，又非姑息之時，欲假此名，實恐不可！」上從之。

In the winter of the fifth year chief minister Pei Ji fell gravely ill; Deyu was made minister of rites and grand councilor, serving as chief minister alongside Li Fan. Wang E, military commissioner of Hedong, came to court; many favorites praised him, and the emperor was about to make him grand councilor, but Li Fan firmly objected. Deyu followed with a memorial: "The office of grand councilor is not won by orderly promotion. In our dynasty, when a regional commander bore the title of chief minister, it was because he had shown great loyalty and great merit. Since the Dali era there have also been arrogant men too powerful to control, and the title was granted only because there was no choice. Wang E has shown no such loyalty or merit, and this is no longer an age of appeasement. To lend him that title would be a grave mistake!" The emperor agreed.

運糧使董溪、于臯謨盜用官錢，詔流嶺南。行至湖外，密令中使皆殺之。他日，德輿上疏曰：

Dong Xi and Yu Gaomo, grain-transport commissioners, embezzled public funds; an edict banished them to Lingnan. When they reached the lake districts, a secret order sent palace envoys to kill them all. On another occasion Deyu submitted a memorial that read:

竊以董溪等，當陛下憂山東用兵時，領糧料供軍重務，聖心委付，不比尋常；敢負恩私，恣其贓犯，使之萬死，不足塞責。弘寬大之典，流竄太輕，陛下合改正罪名，兼責臣等疏略。但詔令已下，四方聞知，不書明刑，有此處分，竊觀眾情，有所未喻。伏自陛下臨禦已來，每事以誠，實與天地合德，與四時同符，萬方之人，沐浴皇澤。至如於、董所犯，合正典章，明下詔書，與眾同棄，即人各懼法，人各謹身。

Your subject ventures that Dong Xi and his colleagues, at a time when Your Majesty was deeply concerned over the war in Shandong, held the grave responsibility of supplying the armies with grain—charges entrusted by the imperial heart, not ordinary offices; they betrayed that trust for private gain and gave free rein to corruption; even death ten thousand times over would not answer for their guilt. To apply the great law of magnanimity, exile is too light; Your Majesty should revise the charges and also hold your ministers accountable for our oversight. Yet the edict has already gone forth and the realm has heard of it; punishment was not set forth clearly, yet this disposition was made—your subject observes the public mood and finds much that people do not understand. Humbly, since Your Majesty ascended the throne you have acted with sincerity in every matter, truly sharing the virtue of Heaven and Earth and moving in harmony with the seasons, and the people of the realm have bathed in imperial grace. As for the crimes of Yu and Dong, they should be judged by the proper statutes; let an edict be issued plainly and they be cast out before all—then every man will fear the law and guard his conduct.

臣誠知其罪不容誅，又是已過之事，不合論辯，上煩聖聰。伏以陛下聖德聖姿，度越前古，頃所下一詔，舉一事，皆合理本，皆順人心。伏慮他時更有此比，但要有司窮鞫，審定罪名，或致之極法，或使自盡，罰一勸百，孰不甘心！巍巍聖朝，事體非細，臣每於延英奏對，退思陛下求理之言，生逢盛明，感涕自賀。況以愚滯樸訥，聖鑒所知，伏惟恕臣迂疏，察臣丹懇。

Your subject knows full well that their crimes deserve no mercy, and that this matter is already past and unfit to debate, burdening Your Majesty's ear. Humbly, Your Majesty's sage virtue and bearing surpass all previous ages; every edict you have lately issued, every act you have undertaken, has accorded with principle and followed the people's hearts. I fear that similar cases may arise hereafter; let the responsible offices investigate thoroughly, fix the charges, and either bring the guilty to the utmost penalty or have them take their own lives—punish one to warn a hundred, and who would not submit willingly! In this august sage court the matter is no small one; whenever I answer at court in the Yanying Hall and retire, I ponder Your Majesty's words on seeking good governance—born into such an age of brilliance, I am moved to tears and count myself fortunate. Moreover, as one slow-witted, blunt, and plain-spoken—as Your Majesty well knows—I humbly beg you to forgive my roundabout manner and perceive the earnestness of my heart.

及李吉甫自淮南詔徵，未一年，上又繼用李絳。時上求理方切，軍國無大小，一付中書。吉甫、絳議政頗有異同，或於上前論事，形於言色；其有詣於理者，德輿亦不能為發明，時人以此譏之。竟以循默而罷，復守本官。尋以檢校吏部尚書為東都留守，後拜太常卿，改刑部尚書。先是，許孟容、蔣乂等奉詔刪定格敕。孟容等尋改他官，乂獨成三十卷，表獻之，留中不出。德輿請下刑部，與侍郎劉伯芻等考定，復為三十卷奏上。十一年，復以檢校吏部尚書出鎮興元。十三年八月，有疾，詔許歸闕，道卒，年六十。贈左僕射，謚曰文。

When Li Jifu was summoned by edict from Huainan, within less than a year the emperor also brought in Li Jiang. At that time the emperor was urgently seeking good governance, and military and civil affairs great and small were all entrusted to the Secretariat. Jifu and Jiang often differed in council, sometimes debating before the throne until their disagreement showed plainly in word and face; when a point was sound, Deyu could not clarify it either, and contemporaries ridiculed him for it. In the end he was dismissed for following along in silence and returned to his former office. Soon he was made acting minister of personnel and guardian of the eastern capital; later he was appointed director of imperial sacrifices and then minister of justice. Earlier Xu Mengrong, Jiang Yi, and others had received an edict to revise the codified ordinances. Mengrong and the others soon moved to other posts; Yi alone completed thirty scrolls, memorialized and presented them, but the emperor kept them in the palace and did not release them. Deyu asked that the work be sent to the Ministry of Justice for review with Vice Minister Liu Bozhu and others; thirty scrolls were revised and submitted again. In the eleventh year he again went out as acting minister of personnel to take command at Xingyuan. In the eighth month of the thirteenth year he fell ill; an edict allowed him to return to court, but he died on the road, aged sixty. He was posthumously made left vice director of the Department of State Affairs and given the posthumous title Literary.

德輿自貞元至元和三十年間，羽儀朝行，性直亮寬恕，動作語言，一無外飾，蘊藉風流，為時稱向。於述作特盛，《六經》百氏，遊泳漸漬，其文雅正而弘博，王侯將相洎當時名人薨歿，以銘紀為請者什八九，時人以為宗匠焉。尤嗜讀書，無寸景暫倦，有文集五十卷，行於代。子璩，中書舍人。

For thirty years from Zhenyuan through Yuanhe Deyu was an ornament of the court; upright, candid, and forgiving by nature, he showed no outward affectation in bearing or speech, yet carried inward grace and refinement, and his age looked up to him. He was especially prolific as a writer, steeped in the Six Classics and the hundred schools; his prose was refined, correct, and vast. Eight or nine out of ten kings, marquises, generals, ministers, and famous men of the day who died asked him to write their epitaphs and records, and the age regarded him as a master craftsman. He especially loved reading and never rested even for a moment; his collected works ran to fifty scrolls and circulated widely in his time. His son Quan Ji served as secretariat draftsman.

史臣曰：裴垍精鑒默識，舉賢任能，啟沃帝心，弼諧王道。如崔群、裴度、韋貫之輩，鹹登將相，皆垍之薦達。立言立事，知無不為。吉甫該洽典經，詳練故實，仗裴垍之抽擢，致朝倫之式序。吉甫知垍之能別髦彥，垍知吉甫之善任賢良，相須而成，不忌不克。叔翰修身慎行，力學承家，批制敕有夕郎之風，塗御書見宰執之器；而乃輕財散施，天爵是期，偉哉，自待之意也！德輿孝悌力學，髫齔有聞，疏延齡恣行巧佞，論臯謨不書明刑，三十年羽儀朝行，實臯之余慶所鐘。此四子者，所謂經緯之臣，又何慚於王佐矣！

The historian writes: Pei Ji combined sharp judgment with quiet insight, promoted talent and put ability to use, nourished the emperor's mind, and aligned the realm with the kingly Way. Men such as Cui Qun, Pei Du, and Wei Guanzhi all reached the highest civil and military offices through Ji's patronage. In counsel and in action alike, he left nothing undone that he knew should be done. Jifu mastered the classics and precedents; with Pei Ji's help in elevating talent, he set court conduct in proper order. Jifu knew Ji could spot outstanding men; Ji knew Jifu could employ the worthy. They complemented each other without jealousy or rivalry. Shuhan cultivated himself with care, studied hard in the family tradition, drafted edicts with the polish of a Secretariat drafter, and wrote imperial calligraphy with the bearing of a chief minister; yet he treated wealth lightly and gave freely, aiming at honor from Heaven—how lofty was his self-regard! Deyu was filial, studious, and famed from boyhood; he denounced Yan Shouling's flattery, argued in discussing Gao Yao's counsel without recording capital punishment, and for thirty years adorned the court—a true heir to his father's legacy. These four were true architects of the state—what shame need they feel before the greatest of royal counselors!

贊曰：二李秉鈞，信為名臣。甫柔而黨，籓俊而純。裴公鑒裁，朝無屈人。權之藻思，文質彬彬。

The eulogy reads: The two Lis held the helm of state—worthy name indeed among ministers. Jifu was supple yet given to faction; Fan was brilliant yet upright. Lord Pei's eye for talent left no worthy man unrewarded at court. Quan's literary grace balanced refinement and substance in equal measure.

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