1
馬璘，扶風人也。 祖正會，右威衛將軍。 父晟，右司禦率府兵曹參軍。 璘少孤，落拓不事生業。 年二十余，讀《馬援傳》至「大丈夫當死於邊野，以馬革裹屍而歸」，慨然嘆曰：「豈使吾祖勛業墜於地乎！」 開元末，杖劍從戎，自效於安西。 以前後奇功，累遷至左金吾衛將軍同正。
Ma Lin was a native of Fufeng. His grandfather Zheng Hui had served as general of the Right Martial Majesty Guard. His father Sheng was registrar of military affairs in the Right Imperial Guard Training Corps. Lin lost his parents early and lived unconstrained, without taking up any regular occupation. In his early twenties he read the biography of Ma Yuan as far as the line that a great man ought to die on the frontier, his body wrapped in horsehide for the journey home, and exclaimed with feeling, "Am I to let my forebears' achievements come to nothing?" At the close of the Kaiyuan reign he took up the sword and entered military service, volunteering in the Anxi Protectorate. Through a series of remarkable feats he rose step by step to acting general of the Left Golden Crow Guard.
2
至德初，王室多難，璘統甲士三千，自二庭赴於鳳翔。 肅宗奇之，委以東討。 殄寇陜郊，破賊河陽，皆立殊效。 嘗從李光弼攻賊洛陽，史朝義自領精卒，拒王師於北邙，營壘如山，旌甲耀日，諸將愕眙不敢動。 璘獨率所部橫戈而出，入賊陣者數四，賊因披靡潰去。 副元帥李光弼壯之，曰：「吾用兵三十年，未見以少擊眾，有雄捷如馬將軍者。」 遷試太常卿。
Early in the Zhide era, as the dynasty faced grave troubles, Lin led three thousand armored men from the western garrisons to Fengxiang. Emperor Suzong was impressed by him and charged him with the eastern offensive. He wiped out enemy forces in the Shaan region and routed the rebels at Hanyang, winning exceptional distinction in both actions. On one occasion he served under Li Guangbi in the assault on rebel-held Luoyang. Shi Chaoyi led crack troops in person to hold the imperial forces on the Northern Mang Hills; their encampments rose like mountains and their banners and armor blazed in the sunlight, and the other generals stood stunned, afraid to advance. Lin alone led his men out with spears levelled, charging into the enemy lines again and again until the rebels broke and scattered. Deputy commander Li Guangbi admired him and said, "In thirty years of campaigning I have never seen anyone who, with inferior numbers, fought the enemy with such fierce speed as General Ma." He was promoted to acting Minister of Ceremonies.
3
明年，蕃賊寇邊，詔璘赴援河西。 廣德初，仆固懷恩不順，誘吐蕃入寇，代宗避狄陜州。 璘即日自河右轉鬥戎虜間，至於鳳翔。 時蕃軍雲合，鳳翔節度使孫誌直方閉城自守； 璘乃持滿外向，突入懸門，不解甲，背城出戰，吐蕃奔潰。 璘以勁騎追擊，俘斬數千計，血流於野，由是雄名益振。 代宗還宮，召見慰勞之，授兼御史中丞。
The following year, when Tibetan forces raided the borderlands, the court ordered Lin to reinforce Hexi. Early in the Guangde era, Pugu Huai'en turned disloyal and drew the Tibetans into an invasion, and Emperor Daizong withdrew to Shaanzhou to escape the northern threat. Lin set out at once from the west of the Yellow River, fighting his way through the enemy host until he reached Fengxiang. The Tibetan forces had massed like storm clouds, and Fengxiang military governor Sun Zhizhi was on the point of closing the gates and holding the city; Lin strung his bow facing outward, charged through the drawbridge gate without doffing his armor, and fought with the walls at his back; the Tibetans broke and fled. He pressed the pursuit with elite horsemen, taking thousands captive or slain until the fields ran with blood, and his renown as a warrior grew still greater. After Emperor Daizong returned to the palace, he received Lin in audience, praised and comforted him, and named him concurrent Vice Censor-in-Chief.
4
永泰初，拜四鎮行營節度，兼南道和蕃使，委之禁旅，俾清殘寇。 俄遷四鎮、北庭行營節度及邠寧節度使、兼御史大夫，旋加檢校工部尚書。 以犬戎浸驕，歲犯郊境，涇州最鄰戎虜，乃詔璘移鎮涇州，兼權知鳳翔隴右節度副使、涇原節度、涇州刺史，四鎮、北庭行營節度使如故。 復以鄭、滑二州隸之。 璘詞氣慷慨，以破虜為己任。 既至涇州，分建營堡，繕完戰守之具，頻破吐蕃，以其生口俘馘來獻，前後破吐蕃約三萬余眾。 在涇州令寬而肅，人皆樂為之用。 鎮守凡八年，雖無拓境之功，而城堡獲全，虜不敢犯，加檢校右僕射。 上甚重之，遷檢校左僕射知省事，詔宰臣百僚於尚書省送上，進封扶風郡王。
Early in the Yongtai era he was made commander of the Four Garrisons field army and concurrent envoy on the southern Tibetan route, with palace troops placed under him to mop up the remaining rebels. He was soon promoted to commander of the Four Garrisons and Beiting armies and military governor of Binning, with the concurrent post of Censor-in-Chief, and shortly thereafter was given the additional rank of acting Minister of Works. As the Tibetans grew increasingly bold and raided the outskirts of the capital each year, and Jingzhou lay nearest the frontier, the court ordered Lin to transfer his headquarters there, with concurrent acting deputy governor of Fengxiang-Longyou, command of Jingyuan circuit, and the prefecture of Jingzhou, while he retained his Four Garrisons and Beiting commands. The prefectures of Zheng and Hua were also placed under his jurisdiction. Lin spoke with fiery resolve and made the defeat of the invaders his own mission. On reaching Jingzhou he established outposts and forts, restored arms and stores for defense, and repeatedly routed Tibetan forces, sending captives and trophies to court; in total he destroyed roughly thirty thousand of the enemy. His rule at Jingzhou combined leniency with discipline, and the people served him willingly. He held command there for eight years. He won no new territory, but every fortress under him remained intact and the enemy dared not attack; he was promoted to acting Right Vice Minister. The emperor held him in high regard, promoted him to acting Left Vice Minister in charge of Secretariat business, had ministers and officials escort him to his new post at the Ministry of Personnel, and raised his title to Prince of Fufeng.
5
璘雖生於士族，少無學術，忠而能勇，武幹絕倫，艱難之中，頗立忠節，中興之猛將也。 年五十六，大歷十二年卒，德宗悼之，廢朝，贈司徒。
Though born into the gentry and largely without formal schooling in his youth, he was loyal and brave, with martial gifts beyond compare; through the dynasty's darkest years he proved a steadfast servant of the throne—a leading warrior of the restoration. He died at fifty-six in the twelfth year of Dali; Emperor Dezong grieved for him, canceled court audiences, and posthumously ennobled him as Grand Preceptor.
6
璘久將邊軍，屬西蕃寇擾，國家倚為屏翰。 前後賜與無算，積聚家財，不知紀極。 在京師治第舍，尤為宏侈。 天寶中，貴戚勛家，已務奢靡，而垣屋猶存制度。 然衛公李靖家廟，已為嬖臣楊氏馬廄矣。 及安、史大亂之後，法度隳弛，內臣戎帥，競務奢豪，亭館第舍，力窮乃止，時謂「木妖」。 璘之第，經始中堂，費錢二十萬貫，他室降等無幾。 及璘卒於軍，子弟護喪歸京師，士庶觀其中堂，或假稱故吏，爭往赴吊者數十百人。 德宗在東宮，宿聞其事； 及踐祚，條舉格令，第舍不得逾制，仍詔毀璘中堂及內官劉忠翼之第； 璘之家園，進屬官司。 自後公卿賜宴，多於璘之山池。 子弟無行，家財尋盡。
Lin had commanded frontier armies for many years, and when Tibetan raids troubled the west the court leaned on him as its shield along the border. Imperial gifts poured in without number, and he accumulated a family fortune beyond measure. In the capital he built a residence of exceptional scale and luxury. Even in the Tianbao period, when noble and meritorious houses already pursued luxury, their buildings still observed the prescribed limits. Yet even by then the ancestral shrine of Duke Li Jing of Wei had been turned into a stable for the Yang family's horses. After the An Lushan and Shi Siming rebellions, regulations fell into disuse; eunuchs and frontier commanders competed in extravagance, building pavilions and mansions until they could build no more—a fashion people called "wooden omens." Lin's main hall alone cost two hundred thousand strings of cash to build, and the other chambers were scarcely less lavish. When he died on campaign his sons brought his coffin back to the capital, and crowds of townspeople came to see the great hall; dozens or even hundreds pretended to be former retainers in order to join the funeral train. As crown prince, Dezong had long known of these excesses; once he ascended the throne he enforced the building codes strictly, forbidding mansions that exceeded the regulations, and ordered Lin's main hall and the residence of the eunuch Liu Zhongyi torn down; Lin's estate and gardens were confiscated for the state. Thereafter many imperial banquets for high officials were held at Lin's former park. His descendants proved dissolute, and the family fortune was soon spent.
7
郝廷玉者，驍勇善格鬥，事太尉李光弼，為帳中愛將。 乾元中，史思明再陷洛陽，光弼拔東都之師保河陽。 時三城壁壘不完，芻糧不支旬日； 賊將安太清等率兵數萬，四面急攻。 光弼懼賊勢西犯河、潼，極力保孟津以掎其後，晝夜嬰城，血戰不解，將士夷傷。 光弼召諸將訊之曰：「賊黨何面難抗？」 或對曰：「西北隅最為勍敵。」 乃亟召廷玉謂之曰：「兇渠攻西北者難奈，爾為我決勝而還。」 辭曰：「廷玉所領，步卒也，願得騎軍五百。」 光弼以精騎三百授之。 光弼法令嚴峻，是日戰不利而還者，不解甲斬之。 廷玉奮命先登，流矢雨集，馬傷不能軍而退。 光弼登堞見之，駭然曰：「廷玉奔還，吾事敗矣！」 促令左右取廷玉首來。 廷玉見使者曰：「馬中毒箭，非敗也。」 光弼命易馬而復，徑騎沖賊陣，馳突數四。 俄而賊黨大敗於河壖，廷玉擒賊將徐璜而還。 由是賊解中氵單之圍，信宿退去。 前後以戰功累授開府儀同三司，試太常卿，封安邊郡王。 從光弼鎮徐州。 光弼薨，代宗用為神策將軍。
Hao Tingyu was a fierce fighter skilled in hand-to-hand combat who served under Li Guangbi and became one of his most trusted commanders. During the Qianyuan era, when Shi Siming recaptured Luoyang, Guangbi withdrew the eastern capital forces to defend Hanyang. The fortifications of the three cities were unfinished, and fodder and grain would not last ten days; rebel generals including An Taiqing led tens of thousands in a fierce assault from every side. Guangbi feared the rebels would push west toward the Yellow River and Tong Pass, and threw all his strength into holding Mengjin to threaten their rear. Day and night the garrison clung to the walls in unrelenting, bloody combat, and casualties mounted on both sides. Guangbi called his generals together and asked, "Which sector of the enemy line is hardest to break?" One replied, "The northwest corner is the toughest." He immediately sent for Tingyu and said, "The enemy leaders pressing the northwest are more than we can hold—go break them and come back victorious." Tingyu replied, "My command is infantry—I need five hundred horsemen." Guangbi gave him three hundred picked cavalry. Guangbi's discipline was ruthless: that day anyone who came back defeated was executed on the spot, still in armor. Tingyu charged at the head of the column, but arrows fell like rain, his horse was wounded, and he had to pull back. Guangbi watched from the battlements and cried in alarm, "Tingyu is retreating—we are finished!" He ordered his men to bring him Tingyu's head. Tingyu told the messenger, "My horse was hit by a poisoned arrow—that is not defeat." Guangbi had him remount and go back in; he charged straight into the rebel lines and broke through four times. Before long the rebels were routed along the riverbank, and Tingyu returned with the rebel general Xu Huang as his prisoner. The rebels thereupon raised the siege at Zhongtan and withdrew within two days. For his repeated battlefield successes he was promoted to Grand Preceptor of the First Rank, acting Minister of Ceremonies, and enfeoffed as Prince of Anbian. He accompanied Guangbi to his posting at Xuzhou. After Guangbi's death, Emperor Daizong appointed him a general of the Shence Army.
8
永泰初，仆固懷恩誘吐蕃、回紇入犯京畿，分命諸將屯於要害，廷玉與馬璘率五千人屯於渭橋西窯底。 觀軍容使魚朝恩以廷玉善陣，欲觀其教閱。 廷玉乃於營內列部伍，鳴鼓角而出，分而為陣，箕張翼舒，乍離乍合，坐作進退，其眾如一。 朝恩嘆曰：「吾在兵間十余年，始見郝將軍之訓練耳。 治戎若此，豈有前敵耶？」 廷玉淒然謝曰：「此非末校所長，臨淮王之遺法也。 太尉善禦軍，賞罰當功過。 每校旗之日，軍士小不如令，必斬之以徇，由是人皆自效，而赴蹈馳突，有心破膽裂者。 太尉薨變已來，無復校旗之事，此不足軍容見賞。」
Early in the Yongtai era, Pugu Huai'en drew Tibetan and Uyghur forces against the capital, and the court posted generals at critical points; Tingyu and Ma Lin took five thousand men to camp west of Weiqiao at Yaodi. Army supervisor Yu Chao'en, knowing Tingyu's skill in battle formations, asked to watch a drill. Tingyu drew up his units inside camp, sounded drums and horns, and marched them out in formation—wings spreading and folding, units parting and rejoining, troops rising, sitting, advancing, and falling back as if they were a single body. Chao'en exclaimed, "I have been in the army more than ten years, and only now do I see drill like General Hao's. With troops trained like this, what enemy could stand before us?" Tingyu replied with humility, "This is not my own art—it is the method left by the Prince of Linhuai. The Grand Preceptor knew how to command men, and his rewards and punishments matched every deed. On inspection days, any soldier who fell even slightly short of orders was beheaded as an example, so that every man gave his utmost; men charged into battle with hearts ready to burst. Since the Grand Preceptor died there have been no more such inspections—this drill hardly deserves praise from the army supervisor."
9
王縉為河南副元帥，詔以廷玉為其都知兵馬使，累授秦州刺史。 大歷八年卒，追錄舊勛，贈工部尚書。
When Wang Jin served as deputy commander for Henan, the court named Tingyu his chief of staff for military affairs, and later appointed him prefect of Qinzhou. He died in the eighth year of Dali; the court honored his past service and posthumously named him Minister of Works.
10
王棲曜，濮州濮陽人也。 初遊鄉學。 天寶末，安祿山叛，尚衡起義兵討之，以棲曜為牙將。 下兗、鄆諸縣，軍威稍振。 進為衙前總管。 初，逆將邢超然據曹州，棲曜攻之。 超然乘城號令，棲曜曰：「彼可取也！」 一箭殞之，城中氣懾，遂拔曹州。 及衡居節制，授右威衛將軍、先鋒遊奕使。 隨衡入朝，授試金吾衛將軍。
Wang Qiyao was a native of Puyang in Puzhou. In his youth he studied at the local village school. At the end of the Tianbao reign, when An Lushan rebelled, Shang Heng raised loyalist forces against him and appointed Qiyao a guard officer. They captured the counties of Yan and Yun, and the army's morale began to recover. He was promoted to chief of the headquarters guard. When the rebel Xing Chaoran held Caozhou, Qiyao laid siege to the city. Chaoran appeared on the wall to direct the defense, and Qiyao said, "That man is ours for the taking!" He felled him with a single arrow, the defenders' spirit broke, and Caozhou fell. When Heng became military governor, Qiyao was made general of the Right Martial Majesty Guard and vanguard patrol commander. He accompanied Heng to the capital and was appointed acting general of the Golden Crow Guard.
11
上元元年，王玙為浙東節度使，奏為馬軍兵馬使。 廣德中，草賊袁晁起亂臺州，連結郡縣，積眾二十萬，盡有浙江之地。 御史中丞袁傪東討，奏棲曜與李長為偏將，聯日十余戰，生擒袁晁，收復郡邑十六，授常州別駕、浙西都知兵馬使。
In the first year of Shangyuan, when Wang Yu became military governor of Zhedong, he recommended Qiyao as commander of the cavalry. During the Guangde era the rebel Yuan Chao rose in Taizhou, rallied the surrounding districts, and mustered two hundred thousand men until he controlled all of Zhejiang. Vice Censor-in-Chief Yuan Kan led the eastern campaign and named Qiyao and Li Chang his deputy commanders. After more than ten days of continuous fighting they took Yuan Chao alive, recovered sixteen districts, and Qiyao was appointed vice prefect of Changzhou and overall military commander of western Zhejiang.
12
時江左兵荒，詔內常侍馬日新領汴滑軍五千鎮之。 日新貪暴，賊蕭庭蘭乘人怨訴，逐之而劫其眾。 時棲曜遊奕近郊，為賊所脅，進圍蘇州。 棲曜因其懈怠，挺身登城，率城中兵復出擊賊，其眾大潰。 遷試金吾大將軍。
The lower Yangtze region was then devastated by war, and the court ordered the palace attendant Ma Rixin to bring five thousand troops from Bian and Hua to garrison the area. Rixin ruled with greed and cruelty until the rebel Xiao Tinglan exploited the people's grievances, drove him out, and seized his army. Qiyao was then on patrol in the outskirts and was forced by the rebels to join the siege of Suzhou. When the rebels grew careless, Qiyao scaled the wall himself, rallied the garrison, and led a sortie that routed the enemy completely. He was promoted to acting Grand General of the Golden Crow Guard.
13
李靈曜叛於汴州，浙西觀察使李涵俾棲曜將兵四千為河南掎角。 以功加銀青光祿大夫，累加至御史中丞。 李希烈既陷汴州，乘勝東侵，連陷陳留、雍丘，頓軍寧陵，期襲宋州。 浙西節度使韓滉命棲曜將強弩數千，夜入寧陵。 希烈不之知，晨朝，弩矢及希烈坐幄，希烈驚曰：「此江、淮弩士入矣！」 遂不敢東去。
When Li Lingyao rebelled at Bianzhou, the Zhexi commissioner Li Han sent Qiyao with four thousand men to threaten the rebel flank in Henan. For his service he was promoted to Silver-Gleam Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and eventually to Vice Censor-in-Chief. After Li Xilie captured Bianzhou he pressed eastward, taking Chenliu and Yongqiu in turn and encamping at Ningling with Songzhou as his next target. Zhexi military governor Han Huang ordered Qiyao to take several thousand crossbowmen into Ningling under cover of night. Xilie knew nothing of it until morning, when bolts struck his command tent. He cried in alarm, "The Yangtze crossbowmen are inside our camp!" He did not dare advance eastward again.
14
貞元初，拜左龍武大將軍，旋授鄜坊、丹延節度觀察使、檢校禮部尚書、兼御史大夫。 貞元十九年卒於位。 子茂元。
Early in the Zhenyuan reign he was made Grand General of the Left Martial Dragon Guard, then military governor and observation commissioner of Fufang and Danyan, with the concurrent titles of acting Minister of Rites and Censor-in-Chief. He died in office in the nineteenth year of Zhenyuan. His son was Maoyuan.
15
茂元，幼有勇略，從父征伐知名。 元和中，為右神策將軍。 太和中，檢校工部尚書、廣州刺史、嶺南節度使。 在安南招懷蠻落，頗立政能。 南中多異貨，茂元積聚家財鉅萬計。 李訓之敗，中官利其財，掎摭其事，言茂元因王涯、鄭註見用。 茂元懼，罄家財以賂兩軍，以是授忠武軍節度、陳許觀察使。 會昌中，為河陽節度使。 是時河北諸軍討劉稹，茂元亦以本軍屯天井，賊未平而卒。
Maoyuan showed courage and tactical skill from youth and won fame campaigning with his father. During the Yuanhe reign he served as a general of the Right Shence Army. In the Taihe era he became acting Minister of Works, prefect of Guangzhou, and military governor of Lingnan. In Annan he won over the tribal peoples and governed with notable effectiveness. The south abounded in exotic goods, and Maoyuan accumulated a family fortune of many millions. After Li Xun's downfall the eunuchs coveted his wealth and denounced him, claiming he had risen through the patronage of Wang Ya and Zheng Zhu. Fearing ruin, Maoyuan spent his entire fortune bribing the two armies and was transferred to military governor of the Zhongwu Army and observation commissioner of Chen and Xu. During the Huichang reign he served as military governor of Hanyang. When the Hebei armies campaigned against Liu Zhen, Maoyuan encamped at Tianjing with his own troops but died before the rebellion was crushed.
16
劉昌，字公明，汴州開封人也。 出自行間，少學騎射。 及安祿山反，昌始從河南節度張介然，授易州遂城府左果毅。 及史朝義遣將圍宋州； 昌在圍中，連月不解，城中食盡，賊垂將陷之。 刺史李岑計蹙，昌為之謀曰：「今河陽有李光弼制勝，且江、淮足兵，此廩中有數千斤曲，可以屑食。 計援兵不二十日當至。 東南隅之敵，眾以為危，昌請守之。」 昌遂被鎧持盾登城，陳逆順以告諭賊，賊眾畏服。 後十五日，副元帥李光弼救軍至，賊乃宵潰。 光弼聞其謀，召置軍中，超授試左金吾衛郎將。 光弼卒，宰臣王縉令歸宋州，為牙門將。 轉太仆卿，兼許州別駕。
Liu Chang, courtesy name Gongming, was a native of Kaifeng in Bianzhou. He rose from the ranks and as a youth trained in horsemanship and archery. When An Lushan rebelled, Chang entered the service of Henan military governor Zhang Jieran and was appointed Left Militia Commander of Suicheng in Yizhou. When Shi Chaoyi sent generals to besiege Songzhou, Chang was trapped inside the city. The siege lasted for months, provisions ran out, and the rebels were on the point of capturing it. Prefect Li Cen was desperate, but Chang advised him: "Li Guangbi holds the advantage at Hanyang, and the Yangtze and Huai can supply troops. This granary holds several thousand jin of ferment that can be ground for food. Relief should arrive within twenty days at most. The southeast corner was thought the most dangerous sector, and Chang volunteered to hold it." Chang donned armor, took up his shield, and mounted the wall to lecture the rebels on loyalty and treason until they were cowed into submission. Fifteen days later Li Guangbi's relief force arrived, and the rebels fled under cover of night. Guangbi learned of his plan, brought him into his army, and promoted him directly to acting company commander of the Left Golden Crow Guard. After Guangbi's death, chief minister Wang Jin sent him back to Songzhou as a headquarters guard officer. He was made Minister of the Stud and concurrent vice prefect of Xuzhou.
17
李靈曜據汴州叛，刺史李僧惠將受靈曜牽制； 昌密遣曾神表潛說僧惠。 僧惠召昌問計，昌泣陳其逆順； 僧惠感之，乃使神表賫表詣闕，請討靈曜，遂翦靈曜左翼。 汴州平，李忠臣嫉僧惠功，遂欲殺昌，昌潛遁。 及劉玄佐為刺史，乃復其職。 又轉太常卿，兼華州別駕。 玄佐尋為宋亳潁宣武軍節度使； 昌自下軍為左廂兵馬使。
When Li Lingyao seized Bianzhou and rebelled, prefect Li Senghui was on the verge of submitting to him; Chang secretly sent Zeng Shenbiao to win Senghui over. Senghui summoned Chang for counsel, and Chang wept as he explained the stakes of loyalty and treason; Moved by his words, Senghui sent Shenbiao to court with a memorial calling for war on Lingyao, thereby severing the rebel's left flank. After Bianzhou fell, Li Zhongchen, jealous of Senghui's credit, tried to have Chang killed, and Chang fled in secret. When Liu Xuanzuo became prefect, he restored Chang to his former post. He was again made Minister of Ceremonies and concurrent vice prefect of Huazhou. Xuanzuo soon became military governor of the Song-Bo-Ying-Xu Xuanwu circuit; Chang rose from the ranks to command the left wing of the army.
18
李納反，以師收考城，充行營諸軍馬步都虞候，加檢校太子詹事、兼御史中丞。 明年，玄佐圍濮州，昌攝濮州刺史。 李希烈既陷汴州，玄佐遣將高翼以精兵五千保援襄邑； 城陷，翼赴水死。 自宋及江、淮，人心震恐。 時昌以三千人守寧陵，希烈率五萬眾陣於城下； 昌深塹以遏地道，凡四十五日，不解甲胄，躬勵士卒，大破希烈。 希烈解圍攻陳州，刺史李公廉計窮，昌從劉玄佐以浙西兵合三萬人救之。 至陳州西五十里與賊遇，昌晨壓其陣，及未成列，大破之，生擒其將翟曜。 希烈退保蔡州，自此不復侵軼。 詔加檢校左散騎常侍。 隨玄佐收汴州，加檢校工部尚書，增實封通前二百戶。 丁母憂，起復加金吾衛大將軍，贈其母梁國夫人。
When Li Na rebelled, Chang recovered Kaocheng, became overall commandant of cavalry and infantry for the field army, and was given the concurrent titles of acting Crown Prince Household steward and Vice Censor-in-Chief. The following year, when Xuanzuo besieged Puzhou, Chang served as acting prefect. After Li Xilie captured Bianzhou, Xuanzuo sent Gao Yi with five thousand elite troops to relieve Xiangyi; but the city fell and Gao Yi drowned himself. From Songzhou to the Yangtze and Huai, the populace was gripped by fear. Chang held Ningling with three thousand men while Xilie arrayed fifty thousand troops beneath the walls; Chang dug deep trenches to block enemy sappers, went forty-five days without removing his armor, rallied his men in person, and routed Xilie decisively. Xilie raised the siege and attacked Chenzhou. Prefect Li Gonglian was desperate, and Chang joined Liu Xuanzuo with thirty thousand men from western Zhejiang to relieve the city. Fifty li west of Chenzhou they met the enemy. At dawn Chang pressed their line before they could form ranks, routed them completely, and took their general Zhai Yao alive. Xilie retreated to Caizhou and never again raided the region. The court promoted him to acting Left Regular Attendant. He followed Xuanzuo in retaking Bianzhou and was promoted to acting Minister of Works with a total of two hundred taxable households in his fief. After his mother's death he was recalled from mourning, promoted to Grand General of the Golden Crow Guard, and his mother was posthumously ennobled as Lady of Liang.
19
貞元三年，玄佐朝京師，上因以宣武士眾八千委昌北出五原。 軍中有前卻沮事，昌繼斬三百人，遂行。 尋以本官授京西北行營節度使。 歲餘，授涇州刺史，充四鎮、北庭行營，兼涇原節度支度營田等使。 昌躬率士眾，力耕三年，軍食豐羨，名聞闕下。 復築連雲堡，受詔城平涼，以扼彈箏峽口。 昌命徒庀事，旬余而畢。 又於平涼西別築胡谷堡，名曰彰信。 平涼當四會之沖，居北地之要，分兵援戍，遏其要沖，遂以保寧邊鄙，加檢校右僕射。
In the third year of Zhenyuan, when Xuanzuo came to court, the emperor entrusted eight thousand Xuanwu troops to Chang for a northern campaign out of Wuyuan. When some soldiers faltered and tried to turn back, Chang executed three hundred of them in succession and the army marched on. He was soon appointed military governor of the Northwest Capital Region campaign. A year later he became prefect of Jingzhou, commander of the Four Garrisons and Beiting armies, and commissioner for supply, finance, and garrison farming on the Jingyuan circuit. Chang led his men in farming for three years until army stores overflowed, and his reputation reached the capital. He rebuilt Lianyun Fort and, by imperial order, fortified Pingliang to block the Tantong Pass. Chang set the laborers to work and finished the project in little more than ten days. West of Pingliang he built another fort at Hugu Valley, naming it Manifest Faith. Pingliang lay at a crossroads of four routes and guarded the northern frontier. By posting garrisons at the critical passes he kept the border secure and was promoted to acting Right Vice Minister.
20
昌初至平涼劫盟之所，收聚亡歿將士骸骨坎瘞之，因感夢於昌，有愧謝之意。 昌上聞，德宗下詔深自克責，遣秘書少監孔述睿及中使以禦饌、內造衣服數百襲，令昌收其骸骨，分為大將三十人，將士百人，各具棺槥衣服，葬於淺水原。 建二冢，大將曰「旌義冢」，將士曰「懷忠冢」。 詔翰林學士撰銘誌祭文。 昌盛陳兵設，幕次具牢饌祭之。 昌及大將皆素服臨之，焚其衣服紙錢，別立二石堆。 題以冢名。 諸道師徒，莫不感泣。
When Chang first reached the site of the Pingliang massacre, he gathered and buried the bones of the fallen. The dead appeared to him in dreams with looks of shame and gratitude. Chang reported the matter to court. Emperor Dezong issued a self-reproaching edict and sent Vice Director of the Secretariat Kong Shurui and a palace envoy with imperial food and hundreds of palace-made garments, ordering Chang to gather the remains of thirty senior officers and a hundred soldiers, provide each with coffin and burial clothes, and inter them on Qianshui Plain. He raised two burial mounds: one for the senior officers called the Mound of Proclaimed Righteousness, and one for the soldiers called the Mound of Cherished Loyalty. The court ordered Hanlin academicians to compose epitaphs and sacrificial texts. Chang drew up his troops in formation and offered a grand sacrifice with full ritual viands at the tent pavilion. Chang and his senior officers attended in plain white, burned offerings of clothing and paper money, and set up two stone markers. Each was inscribed with the name of its mound. Soldiers from every circuit wept at the ceremony.
21
昌在西邊僅十五年，強本節用，軍儲豐羨。 及嬰疾，約以是日赴京求醫，未發而卒，年六十四，廢朝一日，贈司空。 子士涇。
Chang spent nearly fifteen years on the western frontier, strengthening the base, practicing frugality, and filling the army granaries. When he fell ill he planned to go to the capital for treatment but died before he could depart, at sixty-four. The court suspended audiences for a day and posthumously ennobled him as Minister of Works. His son was Shijing.
22
士涇，德宗朝尚主，官至少列十余年，家富於財。 結托中貴，交通權幸。 憲宗朝，遷太府卿。 制下，給事中韋弘景等封還制書，言士涇不合居九卿，辭語激切。 憲宗謂弘景曰：「士涇父有功於國，又是戚屬，制書宜下。」 弘景奉詔。 士涇善胡琴，多遊權幸之門，以此為之助，時論鄙之。
Shijing married an imperial princess under Emperor Dezong, held junior court rank for more than a decade, and the family was immensely wealthy. He cultivated ties with powerful eunuchs and court favorites. Under Emperor Xianzong he was promoted to Minister of the Treasury. When the appointment was announced, Supervising Secretary Wei Hongjing and others returned the edict unapproved, declaring Shijing unfit for one of the Nine Ministries in language sharp and uncompromising. Xianzong told Hongjing, "Shijing's father served the state with distinction, and he is an imperial in-law. The appointment shall stand." Hongjing obeyed. Shijing was an accomplished player of the foreign lute and frequented the houses of the powerful, winning their patronage thereby. Public opinion held him in contempt.
23
李景略，幽州良鄉人也。 大父楷固。 父承悅，檀州刺史、密雲軍使。 景略以門廕補幽州功曹。 大歷末，寓居河中，闔門讀書。 李懷光為朔方節度，招在幕府。 五原有偏將張光者，挾私殺妻，前後不能斷。 光富於財貨，獄吏不能劾。 景略訊其實，光竟伏法。 既而亭午有女厲被髮血身，膝行前謝而去。 左右有識光妻者，曰：「光之妻也。」 因授大理司直，遷監察御史。 及懷光屯軍咸陽，反狀始萌。 景略時說懷光請復宮闕，迎大駕，懷光不從。 景略出軍門慟哭曰； 「誰知此軍一日陷於不義。」 軍士相顧甚義之，因退歸私家。
Li Jinglue was a native of Liangxiang in Youzhou. His great-grandfather was Kaigu. His father Chengyue was prefect of Tanzhou and commander of the Miyun garrison. Jinglue entered office through hereditary privilege as merit officer of Youzhou. At the end of the Dali era he lived in Hezhong, where his entire household devoted itself to study. When Li Huai'guang became military governor of Shuofang, he recruited Jinglue into his staff. At Wuyuan a deputy commander named Zhang Guang had murdered his wife in a private vendetta, and for years the case could not be resolved. Guang was wealthy, and the jailers dared not prosecute him. Jinglue investigated the facts, and Guang was executed. That noon a female ghost appeared with disheveled hair and blood-soaked body, crawled forward on her knees to thank him, and vanished. Someone present recognized her and said, "That was Guang's wife." He was appointed aide in the Court of Judicial Review and later promoted to Investigating Censor. When Huai'guang encamped at Xianyang, his rebellion first became apparent. Jinglue repeatedly urged Huai'guang to restore the capital and welcome the emperor back; Huai'guang refused. Jinglue went out the camp gate and wept aloud: "Who would have thought this army would one day sink into treason?" The soldiers looked at one another in admiration of his integrity, and he retired to private life.
24
尋為靈武節度杜希全辟在幕府，轉殿中侍御史，兼豐州刺史、西受降城使。 豐州北扼回紇，回紇使來中國，豐乃其通道。 前為刺史者多懦弱，虜使至則敵禮抗坐。 時回紇遣梅錄將軍隨中官薛盈珍入朝，景略欲以氣制之。 郊迎，傳言欲先見中使，梅錄初未喻。 景略既見盈珍，乃使謂梅錄曰：「知可汗初沒，欲申吊禮。」 乃登高壟位以待之。 梅錄俯僂前哭，景略因撫之曰：「可汗棄代，助爾號慕。」 虜之驕容威氣，索然盡矣，遂以父行呼景略。 自此回紇使至景略，皆拜之於庭，由是有威名。 杜希全忌之，上表誣奏，貶袁州司馬。 希全死，征為左羽林將軍，對於延英殿，奏對衎潔，有大臣風彩。
He was soon recruited by Lingwu military governor Du Xiquan, promoted to Palace Attendant Censor, and appointed concurrent prefect of Fengzhou and commissioner of the Western Surrender-Receiving City. Fengzhou guarded the northern route against the Uyghurs and lay on the envoys' path to China. Earlier prefects had been timid men who received barbarian envoys as equals and sat facing them on the same level. When the Uyghurs sent General Meilu with the eunuch Xue Yingzhen to court, Jinglue resolved to overawe them. He went out to greet them in the suburbs and sent word that the palace envoy must be received first; Meilu did not understand at first. After receiving Yingzhen, Jinglue sent word to Meilu: "Learning that your qaghan has just died, I wish to offer condolences." He mounted a high mound and waited there. Meilu bowed low and came forward weeping. Jinglue comforted him and said, "Your qaghan has passed from this world; let me share your grief." The envoys' arrogance vanished entirely, and they thereafter addressed Jinglue with the deference owed an elder. After that, every Uyghur envoy who came to Jinglue bowed in his courtyard, and his reputation for authority spread. Du Xiquan envied him, denounced him in a memorial, and had him demoted to vice prefect of Yuanzhou. After Xiquan's death he was recalled as a general of the Left Forest Guard. In audience at the Yanying Hall his replies were lucid and commanding, befitting a senior statesman.
25
時河東李說有疾，詔以景略為太原少尹、節度行軍司馬。 時方鎮節度使少征入換代者，皆死亡乃命焉，行軍司馬盡簡自上意。 受命之日，人心以屬。 景略居疑帥之地，勢已難處。 回紇使梅錄將軍入朝，說置宴會，梅錄爭上下坐，說不能遏，景略叱之。 梅錄，前過豐州者也，識景略語音，疾趨前拜曰：「非豐州李端公耶？ 不拜麾下久矣，何其瘠也。」 又拜，遂命之居次坐。 將吏賓客顧景略，悉加嚴憚。 說心不平，厚賂中尉竇文場，將去景略，使為內應。
When Hedong military governor Li Shuo fell ill, the court appointed Jinglue vice prefect of Taiyuan and marshal of the campaign army. Frontier governors were rarely recalled while alive; successors were named only after death, and campaign marshals were chosen directly by the throne. From the day of his appointment, the army's loyalty shifted to him. Jinglue stood in the delicate position of presumed heir to command, an awkward situation in itself. When the Uyghur envoy General Meilu came to court, Shuo held a banquet at which Meilu quarreled over seating precedence. Shuo could not control him, and Jinglue rebuked him sharply. Meilu, who had passed through Fengzhou before, recognized Jinglue's voice, rushed forward, and bowed. "Is this not Vice Prefect Li of Fengzhou? It has been so long since I paid my respects—how thin you have grown!" He bowed again and was directed to the seat of honor next below the host. The officers and guests looked at Jinglue with new respect and caution. Shuo resented this and bribed guard commandant Dou Wenchang to remove Jinglue, using him as an inside agent.
26
歲餘，風言回紇將南下陰山，豐州宜得其人。 上素知景略在邊時事。 上方軫慮，文場在旁，言景略堪為邊任，乃以景略為豐州刺史、兼御史大夫、天德軍西受降城都防禦使。 迫塞苦寒，土地鹵瘠，俗貧難處。 景略節用約己，與士同甘苦，將卒安之。 鑿鹹應、永清二渠，溉田數百頃，公私利焉。 廩儲備，器械具，政令肅，智略明。 二歲後，軍聲雄冠北邊，回紇畏之，天下皆惜其理未盡景略之能。 貞元二十年，卒於鎮，年五十五，贈工部尚書。
More than a year later, rumor spread that the Uyghurs would raid south of the Yin Mountains, and that Fengzhou needed the right man in command. The emperor had long known of Jinglue's record on the frontier. As the emperor worried over the frontier, Wenchang spoke up beside him and said Jinglue was fit for border service. Jinglue was appointed prefect of Fengzhou, concurrent Censor-in-Chief, and overall defender of the Western Surrender-Receiving City of the Tiande Army. The post was bitterly cold, the soil poor and salty, and the people impoverished. Jinglue practiced frugality and shared hardship with his men until officers and soldiers alike were content. He dug the Xianying and Yongqing canals, irrigating hundreds of acres of farmland to the benefit of the garrison and the people. Granaries were full, arms ready, orders strictly enforced, and strategy sound. Within two years his army's reputation stood foremost on the northern border and the Uyghurs feared him. The empire mourned that his talents had not been fully used. He died in office in the twentieth year of Zhenyuan, at fifty-five, and was posthumously ennobled as Minister of Works.
27
張萬福，魏州元城人。 自曾祖至其父，皆明經，止縣令州佐。 萬福以父祖業儒皆不達，不喜為書生，學騎射。 年十七八，從軍遼東有功，為將而還。 累攝舒廬壽三州刺史、舒廬壽三州都團練使。 州送租賦詣京師，至潁州界為盜所奪，萬福領輕兵馳入潁州界討之。 賊不意萬福至，忙迫不得戰，萬福悉聚而誅之，盡得其所亡物，並得前後所掠人妻子、財物、牛馬等萬計，悉還其家； 不能自致者，萬福給船乘以遣之。
Zhang Wanfu was a native of Yuancheng in Weizhou. From his great-grandfather through his father, the men of his family had passed the classics examination but rose no higher than county magistrate or prefectural aide. Seeing that his forebears' scholarly careers had come to nothing, Wanfu spurned the scholar's path and trained in horsemanship and archery. At seventeen or eighteen he campaigned in Liaodong with distinction and returned as an officer. He served repeatedly as acting prefect of Shu, Lu, and Shou and as overall regimental commissioner of those three prefectures. When tax grain bound for the capital was robbed at the Yingzhou border, Wanfu led light cavalry in pursuit. The bandits, caught unprepared, could not stand and fight. Wanfu rounded them up and executed them, recovered all the stolen goods, and returned to their families the thousands of captives, livestock, and valuables taken in earlier raids; those who could not make their own way home he sent off by boat and cart at his own expense.
28
尋真拜壽州刺史、淮南節度副使。 為節度使崔圓所忌，失刺史，改鴻臚卿； 以節度副使將千人鎮壽州，萬福不以為恨。
He was soon formally appointed prefect of Shouzhou and deputy military governor of Huainan. Military governor Cui Yuan envied him, stripped him of the prefecture, and made him Minister of Guests; yet as deputy governor he still commanded a thousand men at Shouzhou, and Wanfu bore no grudge.
29
許杲以平盧行軍司馬將卒三千人駐濠州不去，有窺淮南意。 圓令萬福攝濠州刺史。 杲聞，即提卒去，止當塗陳莊。 賊陷舒州，圓又以萬福為舒州刺史，督淮南岸盜賊，連破其黨。
Xu Gao, as Pinglu campaign marshal, held three thousand men at Haozhou and refused to leave, clearly eyeing Huainan. Yuan appointed Wanfu acting prefect of Haozhou. Gao withdrew at once and encamped at Chen village in Dangtu. When rebels captured Shuzhou, Yuan again named Wanfu prefect there and put him in charge of suppressing bandits along the Huainan coast, breaking up one gang after another.
30
大歷三年，召赴京師，代宗謂曰：「聞卿名久，欲一識卿面，且將累卿以許杲。」 萬福拜謝，因前奏曰：「陛下以一許杲召臣，如河北諸將叛，欲以屬何人？」 代宗笑謂曰：「且與吾了許杲事，方當大用卿。」 以為和州刺史、行營防禦使，督淮南岸盜賊。 至州，杲懼，移軍上元。 杲至楚州大掠，節度使韋元甫命萬福追討之。 未至淮陰，杲為其將康自勸所逐。 自勸擁兵繼掠，循淮而東，萬福倍道追而殺之，免者十二三，盡得其虜掠金帛婦人等，皆送致其家。 元甫將厚賞將士，萬福曰：「官健常虛費衣糧，無所事，今乃一小賴之，不足過賞，請用三之一。」 代宗發詔以勞之，賜衣一襲、宮錦十雙。
In the third year of Dali he was summoned to court. Emperor Daizong said, "I have long heard your name and wished to meet you in person. I mean to burden you with Xu Gao." Wanfu bowed and replied, "Your Majesty summons me for one Xu Gao. If the Hebei generals rebel, whom will you send?" Daizong laughed and said, "Deal with Xu Gao first, and then I shall give you greater employment." He was appointed prefect of Hezhou and campaign defense commissioner, with charge of bandits along the Huainan shore. When Wanfu reached his post, Gao withdrew in fear to Shangyuan. Gao then sacked Chuzhou, and military governor Wei Yuanfu ordered Wanfu to pursue him. Before Wanfu reached Huaiyin, Gao had been overthrown by his own general Kang Ziquan. Ziquan continued the plunder east along the Huai. Wanfu forced the march, overtook him, and killed him; only one or two in ten escaped. All the gold, silk, and captives were recovered and returned to their families. Yuanfu proposed a lavish reward for the troops. Wanfu said, "These soldiers usually waste rations doing nothing. This was only a minor bandit—not worth an extravagant reward. One-third will suffice." The emperor issued an edict of commendation and granted him one suit of clothes and ten pairs of palace brocade.
31
久之，詔以本鎮之兵千五百人防秋西京。 萬福詣揚州交所領兵，會元甫死，諸將皆願得萬福為帥，監軍使米重耀亦請萬福知節度事。 萬福曰：「某非幸人，勿以此相待。」 遂去之。 帶利州刺史鎮咸陽，因留宿衛。
Later the court ordered fifteen hundred of his troops to garrison the western capital for the autumn defense. Wanfu went to Yangzhou to turn over his command. When Yuanfu died, the generals all wanted Wanfu as their leader, and army supervisor Mi Chongyao asked him to take charge of the circuit. Wanfu said, "I am no favorite of fortune—do not treat me as such." And he departed. He held the title of prefect of Lizhou while garrisoning Xianyang and remained on palace guard duty.
32
李正己反，將斷江、淮路，令兵守埇橋、渦口。 江、淮進奏舡千余只，泊渦下不敢過。 德宗以萬福為濠州刺史，召見謂曰：「先帝改卿名『正』者，所以褒卿也。 朕以為江、淮草木亦知卿威名，若從先帝所改，恐賊不知是卿也。」 復賜名萬福。 馳至渦口，立馬岸上，發進奉舡，淄青兵馬倚岸睥睨不敢動，諸道舡繼進。 改泗州刺史。 魏州饑，父子相賣，餓死者接道。 萬福曰：「魏州吾鄉里，安可不救？」 令其兄子將米百車往饟之。 又使人於汴口，魏人自賣者，給車牛贖而遣之。
When Li Zhengyi rebelled and threatened to sever the Yangtze and Huai routes, he posted troops at Yongqiao and Wokou. More than a thousand tribute ships from the Yangtze and Huai lay anchored below the Wo, afraid to proceed. Dezong appointed Wanfu prefect of Haozhou and told him in audience, "The late emperor changed your name to Zheng as a mark of honor. I believe even the grass and trees along the Yangtze and Huai know your name. If we kept that change, the rebels might not know who had come." He restored the name Wanfu. He galloped to Wokou, stood on the bank, and sent the tribute fleet through. The Ziqing troops glared from the shore but did not stir, and ships from every circuit followed in succession. He was transferred to prefect of Sizhou. Famine struck Weizhou; fathers and sons sold one another into slavery, and the dead lined the roads. Wanfu said, "Weizhou is my homeland—how can I not help?" He sent his nephew with a hundred cartloads of grain for relief. At the Bian crossing he posted agents to redeem Weizhou people who had sold themselves and send them home in carts.
33
為杜亞所忌，征拜右金吾將軍。 召見，德宗驚曰：「杜亞言卿昏耄，卿乃如是健耶！」 詔圖形於淩煙閣，數賜酒饌衣服，並敕度支籍口畜給其費。 及陽城等於延英門外請對論事，伏閣不去。 德宗大怒，不可測。 萬福揚言曰：「國有直臣，天下太平矣！ 萬福年已八十，見此盛事。」 閣前遍揖城等，天下益重其名。
Du Ya envied him, and he was recalled as Right Golden Crow Guard general. At audience Dezong exclaimed, "Du Ya called you senile—but you are still this vigorous!" He was honored with a portrait in the Lingyan Pavilion, given wine, food, and clothing repeatedly, and the Ministry of Revenue was ordered to supply his household expenses. When Yang Cheng and others petitioned for audience outside the Yanying Gate and refused to leave, Emperor Dezong flew into a rage whose outcome no one could predict. Wanfu cried aloud, "The state has upright ministers—the realm will be at peace! I am eighty years old and have lived to see this glorious day." He bowed to Yang Cheng and the others before the gate, and the empire esteemed him all the more.
34
貞元二十一年，以左散騎常侍致仕。 其年五月卒，年九十。 萬福自始從軍至卒，祿食七十余年，未嘗病一日，典九郡皆有惠愛。 在泗州時，遇德宗幸奉天，李希烈反，陳少遊悉令管內刺史送妻子在揚州以為質。 萬福獨不送，謂使者曰：「為某白相公，萬福妻老且醜，不足煩相公寄意。」 終不之遣，由是為人所稱。
In the twenty-first year of Zhenyuan he retired as Left Regular Attendant. He died in the fifth month of that year, at ninety. From his first enlistment to his death, Wanfu drew salary for more than seventy years without a day of illness, and in the nine prefectures he governed he won the people's affection. While at Sizhou, when Dezong fled to Fengtian and Li Xilie rebelled, Chen Shaoyou ordered every prefect under him to send wives and children to Yangzhou as hostages. Wanfu alone refused and told the messenger, "Tell the commissioner for me that Wanfu's wife is old and homely and not worth his attention." He never sent her, and for this he won wide praise.
35
高固，高祖侃，永徽中，為北庭安撫使，有生擒車鼻可汗之功，官至安東都護，事具前錄。 固生微賤，為叔父所賣，展轉為渾瑊家奴，號曰黃芩。 性敏惠，有膂力，善騎射，好讀《左氏春秋》。 瑊大愛之，養如己子，以乳母之女妻之，遂以固名，取《左氏傳》高固之名也。
Gao Gu was descended from the High Ancestor Kan, who in the Yonghui era served as Beiting pacification commissioner, captured the Chebi qaghan alive, and rose to Protector-General of the Pacified East, as recorded in earlier annals. Gu was born in humble circumstances, sold by his uncle, and eventually became a slave in Hun Zhen's household, where he was called Huangqin. He was quick-witted and strong, skilled in horsemanship and archery, and loved reading the Zuo Commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals. Zhen cherished him, raised him as his own son, gave him his wet nurse's daughter in marriage, and named him Gu after Gao Gu in the Zuo Commentary.
36
少隨瑊從戎於朔方，德宗幸奉天，固猶在瑊麾下。 是時，賊兵已突入東壅門，固引甲士亂揮長刀，連斫數賊，拽車塞闔，一以當百，賊乃退去。 眾鹹壯之。 以功封渤海郡王。 李懷光既反，德宗再幸梁漢。 懷光發跡邠寧，至是，使留後張昕取將士萬余人以資援河中。 固時在軍中，乃伺便突入張昕帳中，斬首以徇。 拜檢校右散騎常侍、前軍兵馬使。 貞元十七年，節度使楊朝晟卒，軍中請固為帥，德宗念固功，因授檢校工部尚書。 順宗即位，就加檢校禮部尚書。 憲宗朝，進檢校右僕射。 數年受代，入為統軍，轉檢校左僕射，兼右羽林統軍。 元和四年七月卒，贈陜州大都督。
In youth he campaigned with Zhen in Shuofang, and when Dezong fled to Fengtian, Gu was still in Zhen's service. Rebel troops had already broken through the Eastern Barrier Gate. Gu led armored men swinging long blades, cut down several rebels in succession, dragged wagons to block the gate, and fought one against a hundred until the enemy withdrew. All who saw it admired his valor. For this feat he was enfeoffed as Prince of Bohai. After Li Huai'guang rebelled, Dezong again withdrew to the Liang-Han region. Huai'guang, who had risen in Binning, now sent his acting governor Zhang Xin with more than ten thousand troops to reinforce Hezhong. Gu was in the army at the time. Seizing his chance, he rushed into Zhang Xin's tent, cut off his head, and displayed it as a warning. He was appointed acting Right Regular Attendant and commander of the vanguard. In the seventeenth year of Zhenyuan, when military governor Yang Zhaosheng died, the army asked for Gu as commander. Mindful of his service, Dezong appointed him acting Minister of Works. When Shunzong ascended the throne, Gu was further promoted to acting Minister of Rites. Under Xianzong he rose to acting Right Vice Minister. After several years he was relieved, entered the capital as army commander, and was made acting Left Vice Minister with concurrent command of the Right Forest Guard. He died in the seventh month of the fourth year of Yuanhe and was posthumously ennobled as Grand Governor of Shaanzhou.
37
郝玼者，涇原之戍將也。 貞元中，為臨涇鎮將，勇敢無敵，聲振虜庭。 玼以臨涇地居險要，當虜要沖，白其帥曰：「臨涇草木豐茂，宜畜牧，西蕃入寇，每屯其地，請完壘益軍，以折虜之入寇。」 前帥不從。 及段佐節制涇原，深然其策。 元和三年，佐請築臨涇城，朝廷從之。 仍以為行涼州，詔玼為刺史以戍之。 自此西蕃入寇，不過臨涇。
Hao Ci was a garrison commander on the Jingyuan frontier. During the Zhenyuan era he commanded the Linjing garrison, fought with matchless courage, and his fame resounded among the barbarians. Ci observed that Linjing occupied a strategic pass on the enemy's main route and told his commander, "Linjing has rich pasture and fine grazing. The Tibetans camp there whenever they raid. I ask that we repair the fort and add troops to block their incursions." His commander refused. When Duan Zuo took command of Jingyuan, he strongly approved the plan. In the third year of Yuanhe, Zuo petitioned to build the city of Linjing, and the court approved. The post was designated acting Liangzhou, and Ci was appointed prefect to hold the garrison. Thereafter Tibetan invasions never got past Linjing.
38
玼出自行間，前無堅敵。 在邊三十年，每戰得蕃俘，必刳剔而歸其屍，蕃人畏之如神。 贊普下令國人曰：「有生得郝玼者，賞之以等身金。」 蕃中兒啼者，呼玼名以怖之。 十三年，檢校左散騎常侍、渭州刺史、御史大夫，充涇原行營節度、平涼鎮遏都知兵馬使，封保定郡王。 吐蕃畏其威，綱紀欲圖之，朝廷慮失驍將，移授慶州刺史，竟終牖下。
Ci had risen from the ranks, and no enemy could stand before him. For thirty years on the border, whenever he took Tibetan prisoners he had them flayed and sent the bodies back. The Tibetans feared him as they would a demon. The qaghan ordered his people: "Whoever takes Hao Ci alive shall receive a reward in gold equal to his height." Tibetan mothers quieted crying children by threatening them with Ci's name. In his thirteenth year of service he became acting Left Regular Attendant, prefect of Weizhou, and Censor-in-Chief, with command of the Jingyuan campaign army and overall military authority at Pingliang, and was enfeoffed as Prince of Baoding. The Tibetans feared him, but his own officers plotted against him. The court, unwilling to lose so fierce a general, transferred him to Qingzhou, where he ended his days at home.
39
段佐者，亦以勇敢知名。 少事汾陽王子儀為牙將，從征邊朔，績效居多。 貞元末，為涇原節度使，練卒保邊，亦為西蕃畏憚。 累至檢校工部尚書、右神策大將軍。 元和五年卒。
Duan Zuo was likewise famed for his courage. In youth he served Guo Ziyi, Prince of Fenyang, as a guard officer and campaigned on the northern frontier with repeated distinction. Late in the Zhenyuan era he became military governor of Jingyuan, drilled his troops to hold the border, and was feared by the Tibetans as well. He rose to acting Minister of Works and Grand General of the Right Shence Army. He died in the fifth year of Yuanhe.
40
史敬奉，靈武人，少事本軍為牙將。 元和十四年，敬奉大破吐蕃於鹽州城下，賜實封五十戶。 先是，西戎頻歲犯邊，敬奉白節度杜叔良請兵三千，備一月糧，深入蕃界； 叔良以二千五百人授之。 敬奉既行十余日，人莫知其所向，皆謂吐蕃盡殺之矣。 乃由他道深入，突出蕃眾之後。 戎人驚潰，敬奉率眾大破之，殺戮不可勝紀，驅其余眾於蘆河，獲羊馬駝牛萬數。
Shi Jingfeng was a native of Lingwu who entered service in his home army as a guard officer. In the fourteenth year of Yuanhe he routed the Tibetans beneath the walls of Yanzhou and was granted fifty taxable households in his fief. Earlier, when western tribes had raided the border year after year, Jingfeng asked military governor Du Shuliang for three thousand men with a month's rations for a deep strike into Tibetan territory; Shuliang gave him twenty-five hundred. After he had marched more than ten days with no word of his whereabouts, everyone assumed the Tibetans had wiped out his force. He had taken another route deep into enemy country and struck from behind the Tibetan host. The enemy broke in panic. Jingfeng routed them completely, slaughtered them beyond count, drove the survivors into the Lu River, and captured tens of thousands of sheep, horses, camels, and cattle.
41
敬奉形甚短小，若不能勝衣。 至於野外馳逐，能擒奔馬，自執鞍勒，隨鞍躍上，然後羈帶，矛矢在手，前無強敵。 甥侄及僮使僅二百人，每以自隨； 臨入敵，輒分其隊為四五，隨逐水草，每數日各不相知； 及相遇，已皆有獲虜矣。
Jingfeng was remarkably small and slight, as if his frame could scarcely fill his clothes. In the field he could catch a galloping horse, seize its saddle himself, vault aboard in stride, then bridle it with spear and bow ready, and no foe could stand before him. He kept some two hundred nephews and retainers with him at all times; before engaging the enemy he would split his force into four or five bands that followed pasture and water separately for days without contact; when they reunited, each band had already taken prisoners.
42
與鳳翔將野詩良輔、涇原將郝玼各以名雄邊上。 吐蕃嘗謂漢使曰：「唐國既與吐蕃和好，何妄語也！」 問曰：「何謂？」 曰：「若不妄語，何因遣野詩良輔作隴州刺史？」 其畏憚如此。
He shared frontier renown with Fengxiang general Ye Shi Liangfu and Jingyuan general Hao Ci. The Tibetans once told a Tang envoy, "Tang and Tibet are at peace—why do you speak falsely?" The envoy asked, "What do you mean?" They replied, "If you were not speaking falsely, why send Ye Shi Liangfu to be prefect of Longzhou?" Such was the fear these generals inspired.
43
史臣曰：自盜起中原，河、隴陷虜，犬戎作梗，屢犯郊畿。 謀臣運策以竭精，武士荷戈而不暇。 如璘、昌之材力，扼腕奮命，欲吞虜於胸中； 郝、史驍雄，斬將搴旗，將申威於塞外。 而竟不能北逾白道，西出蕭關，俾十九郡生民，竟淪左衤任，僅能自保，功何取焉！ 雖運使時然，亦將略有所未至。 棲曜、萬福之節概，景略之負氣，壯哉！
The historiographer writes: Since rebellion convulsed the central plains, the Yellow River region and Longyou fell to the enemy, and the Rong tribes repeatedly threatened the capital. Strategists exhausted their wits in counsel, and warriors had no respite from the spear. Men of talent and force such as Lin and Chang clenched their fists and risked their lives, eager to swallow the enemy whole; Hao and Shi, fierce champions who cut down enemy leaders and seized their banners, meant to assert Tang power beyond the frontier. Yet they never drove north beyond the White Road or west through Xiaoguan Pass, never recovered the nineteen commanderies whose people had fallen under barbarian rule, and could barely hold their own lines—what achievement can be claimed? Though fortune shaped the age, their strategic vision, too, fell short in places. The integrity of Qiyao and Wanfu, the proud spirit of Jinglue—how admirable!
44
贊曰：馬、劉、史、郝，氣雄邊朔。 力扞獯虜，終慚衛、霍。 萬福義勇，景略氣豪。 為人所忌，慷慨徒勞。
The encomium reads: Ma, Liu, Shi, and Hao—spirits that dominated the northern marches. They fought the northern tribes with all their might, yet must stand ashamed before Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. Wanfu was righteous and brave; Jinglue was proud and high-spirited. Envied by others, their generous zeal came to nothing.