1
孔巢父，冀州人，字弱翁。 父如珪，海州司戶參軍，以巢父贈工部郎中。 巢父早勤文史，少時與韓準、裴政、李白、張叔明、陶沔隱於徂來山，時號「竹溪六逸」。 永王璘起兵江淮，聞其賢，以從事辟之。 巢父知其必敗，側身潛遁，由是知名。
Kong Chaofu came from Jizhou; his courtesy name was Ruo'eng. His father Ru Gui had been Registrar of Haizhou; Chaofu's career earned him a posthumous appointment as Director in the Ministry of Works. From an early age Chaofu devoted himself to letters and learning. As a young man he lived in seclusion on Mount Culaith with Han Zhun, Pei Zheng, Li Bai, Zhang Shuming, and Tao Yan—they were known at the time as the "Six Recluses of Bamboo Creek." When Prince Yong Li Lin took up arms in the Jianghuai region, he heard of Chaofu's reputation and recruited him to his staff. Chaofu saw that the enterprise was doomed, slipped away unnoticed, and thereby made his name known.
2
廣德中，李季卿為江淮宣撫使，薦巢父，授左衛兵曹參軍。 大歷初，澤潞節度使李抱玉奏為賓幕，累授監察御史，轉殿中、檢校庫部員外郎，出授歸州刺史。 建中初，涇原節度留後孟皞表巢父試秘書少監，兼御史中丞、行軍司馬。 尋拜汾州刺史，入為諫議大夫，出為潭州刺史、湖南觀察使。 未行，會普王為荊襄副元帥，以巢父為元帥府行軍司馬，兼御史大夫。
During Guangde, when Li Jiqing was Pacification Commissioner for the Jianghuai region, he recommended Chaofu, who was then made Army Registrar of the Left Guard. Early in Dali, Li Baoyu, military governor of Ze and Lu, brought him onto his staff. He rose through the posts of Investigating Censor and Palace Censor to Acting Assistant Director in the Ministry of Treasury, then was sent out as prefect of Guizhou. Early in Jianzhong, Meng Hao, acting governor of Jingyuan, recommended Chaofu for probationary Vice Director of the Secretariat, with concurrent posts as Vice Censor-in-Chief and campaigning marshal. He was soon made prefect of Fenzhou, recalled to the capital as Remonstrating Adviser, then sent out again as prefect of Tanzhou and observation commissioner for Hunan. Before he could take up the Hunan post, Prince Pu was named deputy supreme commander for Jing and Xiang; Chaofu was appointed campaigning marshal on his staff with the concurrent title of Censor-in-Chief.
3
尋屬涇師之難，從德宗幸奉天，遷給事中、河中陜華等州招討使。 累獻破賊之謀，德宗甚賞之。 尋兼御史大夫，充魏博宣慰使。 巢父博辯多智，對田悅之眾，陳逆順利害君臣之道，士眾欣悚喜抃，曰：「不圖今日復睹王化！」 及就宴，悅酒酣，自矜其騎射之藝、拳勇之略，因曰：「若蒙見用，無堅不摧。」 巢父謂之曰：「若如公言而不早歸國者，但為一好賊耳。」 悅曰：「為賊既曰好賊，為臣當作功臣。」 巢父曰：「國方有虞，待子而息。」 悅起謝焉。 悅背叛日久，其下厭亂，且喜巢父之至。 數日，田承嗣之子緒以失職怨望，因人心之搖動，遂構謀殺悅，而與大將邢曹俊等稟命於巢父。 巢父因其眾意，令田緒權知軍務，以紓其難。
Soon afterward came the mutiny of the Jing army; he accompanied Dezong to Fengtian and was promoted to Attendant at the Secretariat and made pacification commissioner for Hezhong, Shaanxi, Huazhou, and neighboring prefectures. He submitted plan after plan for crushing the rebels, and Dezong was highly impressed. He was soon given the concurrent post of Censor-in-Chief and sent as reassurance commissioner to Weibo. Chaofu was eloquent and shrewd. Before Tian Yue's assembled forces he explained what loyalty and rebellion meant, the gains and losses at stake, and the obligations of subject to sovereign. The troops were thrilled and moved, exclaiming with joy, "We never thought we would live to see the court's authority restored! At the banquet Yue, well into his cups, boasted of his horsemanship and archery and of his strength and daring, and added, "If the throne would only use me, there is no fortress I could not break." Chaofu replied, "If what you say is true and you still will not submit to the court, you are nothing but an accomplished rebel." Yue answered, "If a rebel can be a 'fine rebel,' then a loyal minister ought to become a celebrated servant of the state." Chaofu said, "The realm is in turmoil; it is waiting for you to bring it peace." Yue rose and thanked him for the words. Yue had been in rebellion for years; his men were sick of the turmoil and welcomed Chaofu's arrival. A few days later Tian Chengsi's son Xu, angry over being stripped of his post, exploited the restlessness among the ranks and plotted to kill Yue, then sought Chaofu's approval together with the senior general Xing Cao Jun and others. Reading the mood of the army, Chaofu had Tian Xu take temporary charge of military affairs, which defused the crisis.
4
興元元年，李懷光擁兵河中。 七月，復以巢父兼御史大夫，充宣慰使。 既傳詔旨，懷光以巢父嘗使魏博，田悅死於帳下，恐禍及。 又朔方蕃渾之眾數千，皆在行列，頗驕悖不肅。 聞罷懷光兵權，時懷光素服待命，巢父不止之。 眾鹹忿恚，咄嗟曰：「太尉盡無官矣！」 方宣詔，喧噪，懷光亦不禁止，巢父、守盈並遇害。 上聞之震悼，贈尚書左僕射，仍詔收河中日備禮葬祭。 賜其家布帛米粟甚厚，仍授子正員官。 從子戡、戣、戢。
In the first year of Xingyuan (784), Li Huai'guang held Hezhong with his army. In the seventh month Chaofu was again named Censor-in-Chief and sent out as reassurance commissioner. When the edict was read aloud, Huai'guang remembered that Chaofu had once been envoy to Weibo and that Tian Yue had died in his camp; he feared the same fate awaited him. Several thousand Shuofang tribal cavalry were also in the ranks, arrogant and ill-disciplined. When they heard that Huai'guang was to be stripped of his command, the troops grew unruly even though Huai'guang sat in mourning garb awaiting the edict; Chaofu did nothing to stop them. The men erupted in fury, shouting, "The Grand Marshal has lost every post! As the edict was being proclaimed the camp erupted in uproar. Huai'guang made no move to restrain his men, and both Chaofu and Shou Ying were killed. When Dezong heard the news he was stunned with grief. Chaofu was posthumously made Left Vice Minister of the Department of State Affairs, and orders went out that his body be recovered in Hezhong and buried with full honors within a single day. The court gave his family a lavish grant of cloth, grain, and provisions and appointed his son to a regular court post. His nephews were Kong Kan, Kong Wei, and Kong Ji.
5
戡，巢父兄岑父之子。 方嚴有家法，重然諾，尚忠義。 盧從史鎮澤潞，辟為書記。 從史浸驕，與王承宗、田緒陰相連結，欲效河朔事以固其位。 戡每秉筆至不軌之言，極諫以為不可，從史怒戡，歲餘，謝病歸洛陽。 李吉甫鎮揚州，召為賓佐。 從史知之，上疏論列，請行貶逐。 憲宗不得已，授衛尉丞，分司洛陽。 初，貞元中籓帥誣奏從事者，皆不驗理，便行降黜。 及戡詔下，給事中呂元膺執之，上令中使慰喻元膺，制書方下。 戡不調而卒，贈駕部員外郎。
Kong Kan was the son of Chaofu's elder brother Cenfu. Stern and principled, he observed strict household discipline, kept his word, and prized loyalty. When Lu Congshi became military governor of Ze and Lu, he recruited Kan as his secretary. Congshi grew increasingly overbearing, secretly aligned himself with Wang Chengzong and Tian Xu, and sought to copy the semi-independent warlord model of the Hebei provinces to cement his own position. Whenever Kan was asked to draft disloyal proposals, he argued passionately that they must not be done. Congshi was furious; after a year and more Kan pleaded illness and retired to Luoyang. When Li Jifu governed Yangzhou he brought Kan onto his staff. Congshi learned of this and memorialized the court, demanding Kan's demotion and banishment. Xianzong reluctantly appointed him Assistant Director in the Court of the Imperial Stud, with nominal duty at Luoyang. Under Zhenyuan, when a regional commander slandered a staff member the court almost never investigated; the man was simply demoted. When the edict against Kan was drafted, Attendant Lu Yuanying blocked it. The emperor sent an envoy to persuade him, and only then was the appointment issued. Kan died before he could take up the post and was posthumously made Assistant Director in the Bureau of Imperial Accouterments.
6
戣，字君嚴。 登進士第，鄭滑節度使盧群辟為從事。 群卒，命戣權掌留務，監軍使以氣淩之，戣無所屈降。 入為侍御史，累轉尚書郎。 元和初，改諫議大夫，侃然忠讜，有諫臣體。 上疏論時政四條，帝意嘉納。
Kong Wei, courtesy name Junyan. He passed the jinshi examination and joined the staff of Lu Qun, governor of Zheng and Hua. When Lu Qun died Wei was left in charge of the circuit's affairs. The eunuch army supervisor tried to intimidate him, but Wei would not bend. He entered the capital as Attending Censor and rose through various posts in the Secretariat. Early in Yuanhe he was made Remonstrating Adviser—frank, loyal, and every inch the remonstrating official. He submitted a memorial on four points of current policy, and the emperor received it favorably.
7
六年十月，內官劉希光受將軍孫璹賂二十萬貫，以求方鎮。 事敗，賜希光死。 時吐突承璀以出軍無功，諫官論列，坐希光事出為淮南監軍使。 太子通事舍人李涉知上待承璀意未衰，欲投匭上疏，論承璀有功，希光無事，久委心腹，不宜遽棄。 戣為匭使，得涉副章，不受，面詰責之。 涉乃進疏於光順門。 戣極論其與中官交結，言甚激切。 詔貶涉為陜州司倉。 幸臣聞之側目，人為危之。
In the tenth month of the sixth year (811) the eunuch Liu Xiguang took a bribe of two hundred thousand cash strings from General Sun Guan in exchange for securing a military governorship. When the affair came to light Xiguang was sentenced to death. Tushi Chenghuan, who had led troops without success, was attacked by the remonstrators; implicated in the Liu Xiguang case, he was exiled as army supervisory commissioner in Huainan. Li She, Master of Ceremonies to the crown prince, saw that the emperor still favored Chenghuan and planned to drop a petition into the complaint box arguing that Chenghuan had served well, that Xiguang was innocent, and that a long-trusted confidant should not be cast aside so abruptly. Wei, as commissioner of the petition box, intercepted She's draft, refused it, and confronted him in person. She then submitted the memorial at the Guangshun Gate instead. Wei denounced him in the strongest terms for colluding with the eunuchs. An edict banished She to the post of granary officer in Shanzhou. The emperor's favorites glared at him; many feared for his life.
8
戣高步公卿間，以方嚴見憚。 俄兼太子侍讀，遷吏部侍郎，轉左丞。
Among the highest officials Wei carried himself with unbending dignity and was widely feared. He soon became Reader to the crown prince, then Vice Minister of Personnel, then Left Vice Director of the Secretariat.
9
九年，信州刺史李位為州將韋嶽讒譖於本使監軍高重謙，言位結聚術士，以圖不軌。 追位至京師，鞫於禁中。 戣奏曰：「刺史得罪，合歸法司按問，不合劾於內仗。」 乃出付御史臺。 戣與三司訊鞫，得其狀。 位好黃老道，時修齋箓，與山人王恭合煉藥物，別無逆狀。 以嶽誣告，決殺。 貶位建州司馬。 時非戣論諫，罪在不測，人士稱之。 愈為中官所惡，尋出為華州刺史、潼關防禦等使。 入為大理卿，改國子祭酒。
In the ninth year (814) the prefect of Xinzhou, Li Wei, was denounced by his military adjutant Wei Yue to the eunuch supervisory commissioner Gao Chongqian, who charged that Wei had gathered Daoist ritual specialists to plot rebellion. Li Wei was hauled to the capital and interrogated inside the palace. Wei memorialized: "When a prefect stands accused, the case belongs in the regular courts. He should not be tried before the inner guard. The case was thereupon turned over to the Censorate. Wei joined the Three Offices in the investigation and established the facts. Li Wei practiced Huang-Lao Daoism, observed ritual fasts, and compounded medicines with the recluse Wang Gong—nothing that amounted to sedition. Wei Yue was executed for his false accusation. Li Wei was demoted to vice administrator of Jianzhou. Without Wei's intervention Li Wei might have faced an unpredictable fate; contemporaries praised him for it. The eunuchs hated him; he was soon sent out as prefect of Huazhou and defender of Tong Pass. He returned as chief justice of the Court of Judicial Review, then was made Director of the Directorate of Education.
10
十二年，嶺南節度使崔詠卒，三軍請帥，宰相奏擬皆不稱旨。 因入對，上謂裴度曰：「嘗有上疏論南海進蚶菜者，詞甚忠正，此人何在，卿第求之。」 度退訪之。 或曰祭酒孔戣嘗論此事，度征疏進之。 即日授廣州刺史，兼御史大夫、嶺南節度使。
In the twelfth year (817) the military governor of Lingnan, Cui Yong, died. The army demanded a successor, but none of the names the chief ministers proposed satisfied the emperor. At an audience the emperor told Pei Du, "Someone once memorialized against sending delicacies from the southern seas—his words were thoroughly loyal. Find that man for me. Pei Du withdrew and made inquiries. He was told that Kong Wei, Director of Education, had raised the issue; Pei Du retrieved the memorial and presented it. That same day Wei was appointed prefect of Guangzhou, Censor-in-Chief, and military governor of Lingnan.
11
戣剛正清儉，在南海，請刺史俸料之外，絕其取索。 先是帥南海者，京師權要多托買南人為奴婢，戣不受托。 至郡，禁絕賣女口。 先是準詔禱南海神，多令從事代祠。 戣每受詔，自犯風波而往。 韓愈在潮州，作詩以美之。 時桂管經略使楊旻、桂仲武、裴行立等騷動生蠻，以求功伐，遂至嶺表累歲用兵。 唯戣以清儉為理，不務邀功，交、廣大理。
Upright, austere, and frugal, he governed the south by living on his official salary alone and forbidding every form of unauthorized levy. Previous governors had let influential families in the capital use them as brokers to buy southerners as slaves; Wei refused every such request. On reaching his post he outlawed the trafficking of women. Earlier governors, when ordered to perform rites to the god of the Southern Sea, usually sent subordinates in their place. Whenever the edict came Wei went in person, braving wind and sea. Han Yu, then in exile at Chaozhou, wrote a poem in his praise. Meanwhile Guiguan commissioners such as Yang Min, Gui Zhongwu, and Pei Xingli provoked the tribal peoples in pursuit of military glory, keeping the Lingnan frontier at war for years. Only Wei governed by honest austerity, seeking no glory on the battlefield, and brought peace to Jiao and Guang.
12
穆宗即位，召為吏部侍郎。 長慶中，或告戣在南海時家人受賂，上不之責，改右散騎常侍。 二年，轉尚書左丞。 累請老，詔以禮部尚書致仕，優詔褒美。 仍令所司歲致羊酒，如漢禮征士故事。 長慶四年正月卒，時年七十三。
When Muzong ascended the throne Wei was recalled as Vice Minister of Personnel. During Changqing someone accused his family of taking bribes while he was in the south. The emperor declined to punish him but transferred him to Right Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary. In the second year he was made Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. After repeated requests to retire he was permitted to leave office as Minister of Rites, with an edict warmly commending his service. The court also ordered the relevant offices to send him wine and mutton each year, following the Han precedent for honoring retired scholars. He died in the first month of the fourth year of Changqing (824), aged seventy-three.
13
子遵孺、溫裕，皆登進士第。 大中已後，叠居顯職。 溫裕位京兆尹、天平軍節度使。 遵孺子緯，自有傳。
His sons Zunru and Wenyu both passed the jinshi examination. After the Dazhong era they rose repeatedly to high office. Wenyu served as magistrate of the capital district and military governor of the Tianping army. Zunru's son Kong Wei has a separate biography.
14
戢，字方舉，戣母弟也。 以季父巢父死難，德宗嘉其忠，詔與一子正員官，因授戢修武尉。 以長兄戡未仕，固乞回授。 舉明經登第，判入高等，授秘書省校書郎、陽翟尉，入拜監察御史，轉殿中，分司東都。 時昭義節度判官徐玟，以狡慝助成從史之惡。 從史既得罪，孟元陽為昭義節度，復欲用玟為賓佐，戢遂牒澤潞收玟以俟命，然後列狀上聞，竟流玟播州。 轉侍御史、庫部員外郎。
Kong Ji, courtesy name Fangju, was Kong Wei's younger brother by the same mother. Because his uncle Chaofu had died in loyal service, Dezong honored the family's sacrifice with an edict granting a regular post to one son; Ji was given the sheriffdom of Xiuwu. Because his elder brother Kan had not yet taken office, he begged to transfer the appointment to him. He passed the mingjing examination with high marks, served as proofreader in the Secretariat and sheriff of Yangzhai, then entered the capital as Investigating Censor and Palace Censor, with nominal duty in the eastern capital. At the time Xu Min, judicial reviewer under the Zhaoyi governor, had used his cunning to strengthen Lu Congshi's misconduct. After Congshi fell, the new Zhaoyi governor Meng Yuanyang wanted to bring Xu Min back onto his staff. Ji ordered Ze and Lu to detain Min pending the court's decision, memorialized the case, and had Min exiled to Bozhou. He was promoted to Attending Censor and Assistant Director in the Ministry of Treasury.
15
初，涇師之亂，硃泚署彭偃為舍人。 至是偃子充符為鄜坊從事，或薦其才，執事者召至京師。 戢謂京兆尹裴武曰：「硃泚為偽詔，指斥乘輿，皆彭偃之詞也。 悖逆之子，不能鳥竄獸伏，乃違道以幹譽，子盍效季孫行父之逐莒仆，以勉事君者。」 武即日逐充符。
Earlier, during the Jingzhou army mutiny, Zhu Ci had appointed Peng Yan as a Secretariat drafter. By then Peng Yan's son Chongfu was on the staff of Fufang Circuit; when his abilities were recommended, the authorities summoned him to Chang'an. Ji told Metropolitan Governor Pei Wu, "The forged edicts Zhu Ci issued and the passages denouncing the emperor were all written by Peng Yan. The son of a traitor ought to lie low like a fugitive bird or beast, not flout propriety to burnish his own name. You should take your cue from Jisun Xingfu, who drove out Ju Pu—a model for loyal servants everywhere. Wu banished Chongfu the very same day.
16
遷京兆尹，出為汝州刺史、大理卿。 出為潭州刺史、湖南觀察使。 時兄戣為嶺南，兄弟皆居節鎮，朝野榮之。 入為右散騎常侍，拜京兆尹。 時累月亢旱，深軫聖情。 戢自禱雨於曲池，是夕大雨。 文宗甚悅，詔兼御史大夫。 大和三年正月卒，贈工部尚書。
He was made Metropolitan Governor, then sent out to serve as prefect of Ruzhou and chief judge of the Court of Judicial Review. He was sent out as prefect of Tanzhou and commissioner of Hunan Observation Circuit. At the time his elder brother Kai governed in Lingnan; with both brothers holding military commands, the court and the public looked on them with pride. He returned to the capital as Right Regular Attendant of the Palace Secretariat and was appointed Metropolitan Governor. Drought had persisted for months, and the emperor was deeply troubled. Ji prayed for rain at Quchi Pool himself; that very night a heavy rain fell. Emperor Wenzong was greatly pleased and appointed him concurrently as Censor-in-Chief. He died in the first month of Dahe 3 and was posthumously enfeoffed as Minister of Works.
17
子溫業，登進士第。 大中後，歷位通顯。 溫業子晦。
His son Wenye passed the jinshi examination. After the Dazhong era he rose through a series of high offices. Wenye's son was Hui.
18
許孟容，字公範，京兆長安人也。 父鳴謙，究通《易象》，官至撫州刺史，贈禮部尚書。 孟容少以文詞知名，舉進士甲科，後究《王氏易》登科，授秘書省校書郎。 趙贊為荊、襄等道黜陟使，表為判官。 貞元初，徐州節度使張建封辟為從事，四遷侍御史。 李納屯兵境上，揚言入寇。 建封遣將吏數輩告諭，不聽。 於是遣孟容單車詣納，為陳逆順禍福之計。 納即日發使追兵，因請修好。 遂表孟容為濠州刺史。 無幾，德宗知其才，征為禮部員外郎。
Xu Mengrong, styled Gongfan, came from Chang'an in Jingzhao. His father Mingqian had mastered the Images of the Changes, rose to prefect of Fuzhou, and was posthumously enfeoffed as Minister of Rites. Mengrong won early renown for his literary gifts. He passed the jinshi in the top grade, later took and passed the examination in Wang Bi's Commentary on the Changes, and was appointed a proofreader in the Secretariat. When Zhao Zan was Promotion-and-Demotion Commissioner for the Jing and Xiang circuits, he recommended Mengrong as his judicial reviewer. Early in Zhenyuan, Zhang Jianfeng, military governor of Xuzhou, brought him onto his staff; after four promotions he became Attending Censor. Li Na massed troops on the border and threatened invasion. Jianfeng sent several officers and officials to reason with him, but Li Na refused to listen. Jianfeng then sent Mengrong alone in a single carriage to Li Na to explain the consequences of rebellion and loyalty, of ruin and reward. Li Na that same day sent envoys to recall his troops and asked to restore friendly relations. Jianfeng then memorialized the court to appoint Mengrong prefect of Haozhou. Before long Emperor Dezong recognized his ability and summoned him to serve as Assistant Director in the Ministry of Rites.
19
有公主之子，請補弘文、崇文館諸生，孟容舉令式不許。 主訴於上，命中使問狀。 孟容執奏，竟得遷本曹郎中。 德宗降誕日，禦麟德殿，命孟容等登座，與釋、老之徒講論。 十四年，轉兵部郎中。 未滿歲，遷給事中。
When a princess's son asked to be enrolled as a student in the Hongwen and Chongwen halls, Mengrong cited the regulations and refused. The princess appealed to the emperor, who sent a palace envoy to investigate. Mengrong stood by his memorial and was eventually promoted to Director within his own ministry. On Dezong's birthday the emperor held court at Qinde Hall, seated Mengrong and others, and joined them in debate with Buddhist and Daoist masters. In the fourteenth year of Zhenyuan he was transferred to Director in the Ministry of War. Less than a year later he was promoted to Supervising Secretary.
20
十七年夏，好畤縣風雹傷麥，上命品官覆視，不實，詔罰京兆尹顧少連已下。 敕出，孟容執奏曰：「府縣上事不實，罪止奪俸停官，其於弘宥，已是殊澤。 但陛下使品官覆視後，更擇憲官一人，再令驗察，覆視轉審，隱欺益明。 事宜觀聽，法歸綱紀。 臣受官中謝日，伏請詔敕有須詳議者，則乞停留晷刻，得以奏陳。 此敕既非急，宣可以少駐。」 詔雖不許，公議是之。
In the summer of Zhenyuan 17 a hailstorm damaged the wheat crop in Haozhi County. The emperor ordered ranked officials to verify the damage, found the report inaccurate, and issued an edict punishing Metropolitan Governor Gu Shaolian and his subordinates. When the edict was issued, Mengrong held it back and memorialized: "When prefectural and county officials submit inaccurate reports, the proper penalty is confiscation of salary and suspension from office. To show mercy even in that case is already an extraordinary favor. But after Your Majesty sends ranked officials to reinspect, if you then choose one censorial official and order a second verification—each review uncovering more—the concealment and deceit would become all the clearer. Affairs should be open to public scrutiny, and the law should uphold proper order. On the day I took office and gave thanks at court, I humbly asked that whenever an edict required careful deliberation, it be held briefly so that I might submit a memorial. This edict is not urgent; its promulgation could wait a little. The emperor did not accept his request, but public opinion sided with Mengrong.
21
十八年，浙江東道觀察使裴肅卒，以攝副使齊總為衢州刺史。 時總為肅剝下進奉以希恩，遽授大郡，物議喧然。 詔出，孟容執奏曰：「陛下比者以兵戎之地，或有不獲已超授者。 今衢州無他虞，齊總無殊績，忽此超授，群情驚駭。 總是浙東判官，今詔敕稱權知留後，攝都團練副使，向來無此敕命。 便用此詔，尤恐不可。 若總必有可錄，陛下須要酬勞，即明書課最，超一兩資與改。 今舉朝之人，不知總之功能，衢州浙東大郡，總自大理評事兼監察御史授之，使遐邇不甘，兇惡騰口。 如臣言不切，乞陛下暫停此詔，密使人聽察，必賀聖朝無私。 今齊總詔謹隨狀封進。」 尋有諫官論列，乃留中不下。 德宗召孟容對於延英，諭之曰：「使百執事皆如卿，朕何憂也。」 自給事中袁高論盧杞後，未嘗有可否，及聞孟容之奏，四方皆感上之聽納，嘉孟容之當官。
In Zhenyuan 18 the Zhejiang East observation commissioner Pei Su died, and acting vice commissioner Qi Zong was appointed prefect of Quzhou. Qi Zong had been squeezing the people under Pei Su for tribute to the court in hopes of imperial favor; when he was suddenly given a major prefecture, public criticism erupted. When the edict was issued, Mengrong held it back and memorialized: "Your Majesty has lately, in regions torn by war, sometimes had no choice but to grant extraordinary promotions. But Quzhou faces no special threat, and Qi Zong has no outstanding achievements. This sudden extraordinary appointment has alarmed everyone. Qi Zong is only a judicial reviewer in Zhedong, yet the edict names him acting commissioner and acting deputy military training commissioner—an appointment without precedent. To issue this edict as written would, I fear, be wholly unacceptable. If Qi Zong truly deserves reward, Your Majesty should set out his merits in plain terms and advance him one or two ranks accordingly. The whole court knows nothing of Qi Zong's abilities, yet Quzhou is one of Zhedong's great prefectures. To appoint him from the lowly post of clerk in the Court of Judicial Review and concurrent Investigating Censor will breed resentment near and far and give the wicked room to speak. If my words miss the mark, I beg Your Majesty to withhold this edict for now and secretly send someone to listen to public opinion—you will surely be hailed for a court without favoritism. I respectfully enclose Qi Zong's edict with this memorial. Remonstrating officials soon joined in, and the edict was held at court and never issued. Dezong summoned Mengrong to an audience at Yanying Hall and told him, "If every official were like you, what would I have to worry about? Since Supervising Secretary Yuan Gao's remonstrance against Lu Qi, no such hold had ever been granted or denied; when Mengrong's memorial was heard, people everywhere were moved by the emperor's willingness to listen and praised Mengrong for doing his duty.
22
十九年夏旱，孟容上疏曰：
During the summer drought of Zhenyuan 19, Mengrong submitted a memorial that read:
23
臣伏聞陛下數月已來，齋居損膳，為兆庶心疲，又敕有司，走於群望，牲於百神，而密雲不雨，首種未入。 豈觴醪有闕，祈祝非誠，為陰陽適然，豐歉前定，何聖意精至，甘澤未答也？ 臣歷觀自古天人交感事，未有不由百姓利病之急者、切者，邦家教令之大者、遠者。 京師是萬國所會，強幹弱枝，自古通規。 其一年稅錢及地租，出入一百萬貫。 臣伏冀陛下即日下令，全放免之； 其次，三分放二。 且使旱涸之際，免更流亡。 若播種無望，征斂如舊，則必愁怨遷徙，不顧墳墓矣。 臣愚以為德音一發，膏澤立應，變災為福，期在斯須。 戶部所收掌錢，非度支歲計，本防緩急別用。 今此炎旱，直支一百余萬貫，代京兆百姓一年差科，實陛下巍巍睿謀，天下鼓舞歌揚者也。 復更省察庶政之中，有流移征防，當還而未還者，徒役禁錮，當釋而未釋者，逋懸饋送，當免而未免者，沈滯郁抑，當伸而未伸者，有一於此，則特降明命，令有司條列，三日內聞奏。 其當還、當釋、當免、當伸者，下詔之日，所在即時施行。 臣愚以為如此而神不監，歲不稔，古未之有。
I have heard that for many months now Your Majesty has lived in abstinence and reduced your meals, wearing yourself out for the sake of the people; that you have ordered officials to hurry to every sacred site and offer sacrifices to the hundred spirits—yet the clouds gather without rain, and the first planting has not gone in. Was the sacrificial wine insufficient, or the prayers insincere? Was it simply that yin and yang ran their course and plenty and famine were fated? Why, when Your Majesty's devotion has been so earnest, has the sweet rain not come in reply? In every case I have examined of Heaven and man responding to one another, the cause has always lain in what most urgently affects the people's welfare—in the great and far-reaching policies by which a state is governed. The capital is where all the realm gathers; strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches has been the rule since antiquity. Its annual tax levies and land rents come to more than one million strings of cash. I humbly urge Your Majesty to issue an order this very day remitting them entirely; or, failing that, remit two-thirds. That way, in this season of drought and desolation, the people may be spared further flight from their homes. If planting is hopeless yet the levies continue as before, the people will surely grow bitter, resentful, and displaced—even abandoning their ancestral graves. I believe that once a decree of grace is issued, nourishing rain will answer at once—disaster turned to blessing in a moment. The funds held by the Ministry of Revenue are not part of the Department of Public Works' annual budget; they were originally set aside for emergencies. In this scorching drought, to spend more than one million strings to relieve the capital people of a year's corvée and levies would be an act of towering wisdom—and all under Heaven would rejoice and sing Your Majesty's praise. Further examine the whole of government: soldiers on frontier duty who should be sent home but have not been; corvée laborers and prisoners who should be released but remain confined; overdue tribute and deliveries that should be remitted but have not been; grievances long suppressed that should be redressed but have not been. If any of these exist, issue a special clear command ordering the relevant offices to itemize them and report within three days. For all who should return, be released, be remitted, or be redressed—wherever they are, the order should take effect the very day the edict is issued. I believe that if all this were done and the spirits still did not look down in favor, and the year still did not yield a harvest, it would be without precedent in all antiquity.
24
事雖不行，物議嘉之。 貞元末，坐裴延齡、李齊運等讒謗流貶者，動十數年不量移，故因旱歉，孟容奏此以諷。 然終貞元世，罕有遷移者。
Though the proposal was not adopted, public opinion praised it. At the end of the Zhenyuan era, those exiled on the slander of Pei Yanling, Li Qiyun, and others often went more than ten years without compassionate relocation; amid drought and famine Mengrong submitted this memorial as an indirect admonition. Yet throughout the Zhenyuan era, such relocations remained rare.
25
孟容以諷諭太切，改太常少卿。 元和初，遷刑部侍郎、尚書右丞。 四年，拜京兆尹，賜紫。 神策吏李昱假貸長安富人錢八千貫，滿三歲不償。 孟容遣吏收捕械系，克日命還之，曰：「不及期當死。」 自興元已後，禁軍有功，又中貴之尤有渥恩者，方得護軍。 故軍士日益縱橫，府縣不能制。 孟容剛正不懼，以法繩之，一軍盡驚，冤訴於上。 立命中使宣旨，令送本軍，孟容系之不遣。 中使再至，乃執奏曰：「臣誠知不奉詔當誅，然臣職司輦轂，合為陛下彈抑豪強。 錢未盡輸，昱不可得。」 上以其守正，許之。 自此豪右斂跡，威望大震。 改兵部侍郎。 俄以本官權知禮部貢舉，頗抑浮華，選擇才藝。 出為河南尹，亦有威名。 俄知禮部選事，征拜吏部侍郎。
Because his indirect admonition had cut too close, Mengrong was transferred to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Early in Yuanhe he was promoted to Vice Minister of Justice and Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. In Yuanhe 4 he was appointed Metropolitan Governor and granted the purple robe of high rank. Li Yu, a clerk in the Shence Army, borrowed eight thousand strings of cash from a wealthy Chang'an merchant and failed to repay it for three years. Mengrong sent officers to arrest and imprison him, set a deadline for repayment, and declared: "If he misses the deadline, he dies. Since after Xingyuan, only palace soldiers with distinguished service—and above all those backed by favored eunuchs—could shield their men from the law. As a result the soldiers grew daily more lawless, and the prefectural and county authorities could not restrain them. Mengrong, upright and unafraid, held them to the law. The whole army was shaken and appealed to the emperor that an injustice had been done. The emperor immediately sent a palace envoy with an edict ordering Li Yu returned to his unit, but Mengrong kept him in chains and refused to release him. When the envoy came a second time, Mengrong held his ground and memorialized: "I know full well that disobeying an edict is punishable by death; yet my office governs the capital region—it is my duty to restrain the powerful on Your Majesty's behalf. Until the debt is fully paid, Li Yu cannot be released. The emperor, respecting his integrity, allowed it. From that point the powerful curbed their behavior, and his authority resounded throughout the realm. He was transferred to Vice Minister of War. Soon afterward he served concurrently as head of the Ministry of Rites examinations, where he strongly discouraged flashy writing and selected candidates for genuine talent. He was sent out as metropolitan governor of Henan, where he likewise earned a formidable reputation. Soon he took charge of Ministry of Rites selections and was summoned to serve as Vice Minister of Personnel.
26
會十年六月，盜殺宰相武元衡，並傷議臣裴度。 時淮夷逆命，兇威方熾，王師問罪，未有成功。 言事者繼上章疏請罷兵。 是時盜賊竊發，人情甚惑，獨孟容詣中書雪涕而言曰：「昔漢廷有一汲黯，奸臣尚為寢謀。 今主上英明，朝廷未有過失，而狂賊敢爾無狀，寧謂國無人乎？ 然轉禍為福，此其時也。 莫若上聞，起裴中丞為相，令主兵柄，大索賊黨，窮其奸源。」 後數日，度果為相，而下詔行誅。 時孟容議論人物，有大臣風彩。 由太常卿為尚書左丞，奉詔宣慰汴宋陳許河陽行營諸軍，俄拜東都留守。 元和十三年四月卒，年七十六，贈太子少保，謚曰憲。
In the sixth month of Yuanhe 10, assassins killed Chancellor Wu Yuanheng and wounded the remonstrating official Pei Du. At the time the Huai rebels were in revolt, their violence at its height, and the imperial campaign against them had not yet succeeded. Memorialists one after another submitted petitions calling for the army to be withdrawn. Bandits were striking everywhere and public sentiment was in turmoil. Mengrong alone went to the Secretariat, tears streaming down his face, and said: "In the Han court there was but one Ji An, and even treacherous ministers were forced to abandon their schemes. Our sovereign is enlightened and the court has done no wrong, yet these mad assassins dare such outrage—are we to say the empire has no worthy men? Yet to turn calamity into fortune—this is the moment. The best course is to report to the throne: appoint Vice Censor Pei as chancellor, put the military command in his hands, hunt down the assassins' faction, and trace the conspiracy to its root. Several days later Pei Du was indeed made chancellor, and an edict was issued ordering the pursuit and execution of the conspirators. At the time Mengrong's judgments of men and affairs had the bearing of a great minister. He rose from Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, received an edict to proclaim imperial consolation to the armies of the Bian-Song, Chen-Xu, and Heyang campaigning circuits, and was soon appointed commissioner of the Eastern Capital garrison. He died in the fourth month of the thirteenth year of Yuanhe, at the age of seventy-six. He was posthumously granted the title of Junior Mentor to the Heir Apparent, with the posthumous name Xian.
27
孟容方勁，富有文學。 其折衷禮法，考詳訓典，甚堅正，論者稱焉。 而又好推轂，樂善拔士，士多歸之。
Mengrong was upright and resolute, and richly accomplished in letters. In weighing ritual against law and scrutinizing canonical texts, he was notably firm and principled, and commentators spoke well of him. He also loved to promote others, took pleasure in doing good and raising up men of talent, and scholars flocked to him.
28
呂元膺，字景夫，鄆州東平人。 曾祖紹宗，右拾遺。 祖霈，殿中侍御史。 父長卿，右衛倉曹參軍，以元膺贈秘書監。
Lü Yuanying, whose courtesy name was Jingfu, came from Dongping in Yan Prefecture. His great-grandfather Shaozong served as Right Remonstrance Clerk. His grandfather Pei served as Palace Attending Censor. His father Changqing had been Army Adjutant of the Right Guard Storehouse Bureau; on Yuanying's account he was posthumously granted the title of Director of the Secretariat.
29
元膺質度瑰偉，有公侯之器。 建中初，策賢良對問第，授同州安邑尉。 同州刺史侯鐈聞其名，辟為長春宮判官。 屬浦賊侵軼，鐈失所，元膺遂潛跡不務進取。
Yuanying was imposing in bearing and stature, and showed the makings of a great noble. At the start of the Jianzhong era he passed the imperial examination on virtuous talent and policy questions and was appointed magistrate of Anyi in Tong Prefecture. Hou Qiao, prefect of Tong Prefecture, heard of his reputation and recruited him as recorder of Changchun Palace. When bandits from Pu raided the region, Qiao lost his position, and Yuanying withdrew from public life and made no effort to advance his career.
30
貞元初，論惟明節制渭北，延在賓席，自是名達於朝廷。 惟明卒，王棲曜代領其鎮。 德宗俾棲曜留署使職，咨以軍政。 累轉殿中侍御史，征入，真拜本官，轉侍御史。 丁繼母憂，服闋，除右司員外郎。 出為蘄州刺史，頗著恩信。 嘗歲終閱郡獄囚，囚有自告者曰：「某有父母在，明日元正不得相見。」 因泣下。 元膺憫焉，盡脫其械縱之，與為期。 守吏曰：「賊不可縱。」 元膺曰：「吾以忠信待之。」 及期，無後到者。 由是群盜感義，相引而去。
At the beginning of the Zhenyuan era Lun Weiming held military command north of the Wei River and kept Yuanying among his honored guests; from that time his name became known at court. After Weiming died, Wang Qiyao succeeded him in command of the circuit. Emperor Dezong had Qiyao continue to hold the commissioner's post in his name and consulted him on military affairs. He rose through successive appointments to Palace Attending Censor, was summoned to the capital, received formal appointment to that office, and was then transferred to the post of censor. After entering mourning for his stepmother and completing the mourning period, he was appointed Vice Director in the Right Bureau of the Department of State Affairs. He was sent out as prefect of Qi Prefecture, where he won a strong reputation for kindness and trustworthiness. Once, at the end of the year, he reviewed the prisoners held in the prefectural jail. One prisoner stepped forward and said, "I still have parents at home, and tomorrow, on New Year's Day, I will not be able to see them. With that he burst into tears. Yuanying was moved with pity, removed all his shackles, and released him on his word to return by an agreed date. The jail keeper said, "You cannot release a bandit. Yuanying replied, "I will treat him with loyalty and good faith. When the appointed day arrived, not one of them failed to return. Moved by his integrity, the bandits as a group left the region, one after another.
31
元和初，征拜右司郎中、兼侍御史，知雜事，遷諫議大夫、給事中。 規諫駁議，大舉其職。 及鎮州王承宗之叛，憲宗將以吐突丞璀為招討處置使。 元膺與給事中穆質、孟簡，兵部侍郎許孟容等八人抗論不可，且曰：「承璀雖貴寵，然內臣也。 若為帥總兵，恐不為諸將所伏。」 指諭明切，憲宗納之，為改使號，然猶專戎柄，無功而還。 出為同州刺史，及中謝，上問時政得失，元膺論奏，辭氣激切，上嘉之。 翌日謂宰相曰：「元膺有讜言直氣，宜留在左右，使言得失，卿等以為何如？」 李籓、裴垍賀曰：「陛下納諫，超冠百王，乃宗社無疆之休。 臣等不能廣求端士，又不能數進忠言，孤負聖心，合當罪戾。 請留元膺給事左右。」 尋兼皇太子侍讀，賜以金紫。
At the beginning of the Yuanhe era he was summoned and appointed Director in the Right Bureau, concurrently serving as censor with charge of miscellaneous business, and was later promoted to Remonstrance Adviser and Attendant at the Secretariat. In remonstrance, admonition, and review of memorials he fully discharged his office. When Wang Chengzong of Zhen Prefecture rebelled, Emperor Xianzong intended to appoint Tu Tu Chengcui as Pacification and Disposition Commissioner. Yuanying, together with Attendants Muzhi and Meng Jian, Vice Minister of War Xu Mengrong, and five others—eight men in all—argued strenuously against the appointment, saying, "Chengcui may be honored and favored, but he is a eunuch official. If he is made commander-in-chief, I fear the generals will not accept his authority. Their arguments were pointed and forceful. Xianzong accepted them and changed the commissioner's title, but Chengcui still retained sole control of the army and returned without success. He was sent out as prefect of Tong Prefecture. At his audience of thanks the emperor asked about the strengths and failings of current policy, and Yuanying spoke with fierce urgency. The emperor praised him. The next day the emperor said to the chancellors, "Yuanying speaks with blunt honesty and upright spirit. He should be kept at my side to speak freely of what is right and wrong. What do you think? Li Fan and Pei Ji congratulated him, saying, "Your Majesty's willingness to accept remonstrance surpasses that of the hundred kings of antiquity. This is boundless good fortune for the dynasty. We have failed to seek out worthy men broadly, and we have not offered loyal counsel often enough. We have betrayed Your Majesty's trust and deserve punishment. We ask that Yuanying be kept at Your Majesty's side as Attendant at the Secretariat. Soon afterward he was additionally appointed Lecturer to the Heir Apparent and granted the gold seal and purple robe.
32
尋拜御史中丞。 未幾，除鄂嶽觀察使，入為尚書左丞。 度支使潘孟陽與太府卿王遂叠相奏論，孟陽除散騎常侍，遂為鄧州刺史，皆假以美詞。 元膺封還詔書，請明示枉直。 江西觀察使裴堪奏虔州刺史李將順贓狀，朝廷不覆按，遽貶將順道州司戶。 元膺曰：「廉使奏刺史贓罪，不覆檢即謫去，縱堪之詞足信，亦不可為天下法。」 又封詔書，請發御史按問，宰臣不能奪。 代權德輿為東都留守、檢校工部尚書、兼御史大夫、都畿防禦使。 舊例，留守賜旗甲，與方鎮同。 及元膺受任不賜，朝論以淮西用兵，特用元膺守洛，不宜削其儀制，以沮威望，諫官論列，援華、汝、壽三州例。 上曰：「此數處並宜不賜。」 留守不賜旗甲，自元膺始。
He was soon appointed Vice Censor-in-Chief. Before long he was appointed Observation Commissioner of E and Yue, then recalled to the capital as Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. Revenue Commissioner Pan Mengyang and Director of the Court of the Imperial Granary Wang Sui repeatedly submitted memorials attacking each other. Mengyang was appointed Irregular Grand Master and Sui was made prefect of Deng Prefecture, both appointments couched in flattering language. Yuanying sealed and returned the edict, asking that the rights and wrongs of the case be made clear. Jiangxi Observation Commissioner Pei Kan memorialized the corrupt conduct of Qian Prefecture's prefect Li Jiangshun. The court did not reinvestigate the case and abruptly demoted Jiangshun to registrar of Dao Prefecture. Yuanying said, "When an integrity commissioner reports a prefect's corruption, to exile him without reinvestigation—even if Pei Kan's account is fully credible—cannot be made a precedent for the empire. Again he sealed and returned the edict and asked that censors be dispatched to investigate. The chancellors could not prevail against him. He replaced Quan Deyu as commissioner of the Eastern Capital garrison, Acting Minister of Works, concurrently Censor-in-Chief, and commissioner for the defense of the capital region. By longstanding precedent the Eastern Capital garrison commissioner was granted military banners and armor, the same as a regional military governor. When Yuanying took up his post, however, he was not granted them. Court opinion held that because the empire was waging war in Huaixi, Yuanying had been specially chosen to guard Luoyang and that his ceremonial insignia should not be reduced, lest his authority be undermined. Remonstrance officials argued the point at length, citing the precedents of Hua, Ru, and Shou prefectures. The emperor said, "None of these posts should receive them. The practice of withholding banners and armor from Eastern Capital garrison commissioners began with Yuanying.
33
十年七月，鄆州李師道留邸伏甲謀亂。 初，師道於東都置邸院，兵諜雜以往來，吏不敢辨。 因吳元濟北犯，郊畿多警，防禦兵盡戍伊闕。 師道伏甲百余於邸院，將焚宮室而肆殺掠。 已烹牛饗眾，明日將出。 會小將李再興告變，元膺追兵伊闕，圍之，半月無敢進攻者。 防禦判官王茂元殺一人而後進。 或有毀其墉而入者，賊眾突出，圍兵奔駭。 賊乃團結，以其孥偕行。 出長夏門，轉掠郊墅，奪牛馬，東濟伊水，望山而去。 元膺誡境上兵重購以捕之。 數月，有山棚賣鹿於市。 賊過，山棚乃召集其黨，引官兵圍於谷中，盡獲之。 窮理其魁，乃中嶽寺僧圓凈，年八十余，嘗為史思明將，偉悍過人。 初執之，使折其脛，錘之不折。 圓凈罵曰：「腳猶不解折，乃稱健兒乎！」 自置其足教折之。 臨刑嘆曰：「誤我事，不得使洛城流血！」 死者凡數十人。 留守防禦將二人，都亭驛卒五人，甘水驛卒三人，皆潛受其職署而為之耳目，自始謀及將敗無知者。 初，師道多買田於伊闕、陸渾之間，凡十余處，故以舍山棚而衣食之。 有訾嘉珍、門察者，潛部分之，以屬圓凈。 以師道錢千萬偽理佛寺，期以嘉珍竊發時舉火於山中，集二縣山棚人作亂。 及窮按之，嘉珍、門察皆稱害武元衡者。 元膺以聞，送之上都，賞告變人楊進、李再興錦彩三百匹、宅一區，授之郎將。 無膺因請募山河子弟以衛宮城，從之。 盜發之日，都城震恐，留守兵寡弱，不可倚，而元膺坐皇城門，指使部分，氣意自若，以故居人帖然。
In the seventh month of the tenth year of Yuanhe, Li Shidao of Yan Prefecture hid armed men in his Luoyang residence to plot an uprising. Earlier Shidao had established a residence compound in the Eastern Capital through which soldiers and spies passed freely, and local officials did not dare question them. When Wu Yuanji launched his northern offensive, the suburbs around the capital were thrown into alarm, and all the defense troops were posted at Yique. Shidao concealed more than a hundred armed men in the compound, intending to burn the palace halls and unleash slaughter and plunder. They had already slaughtered oxen to feast the men and planned to strike the following day. Then junior officer Li Zaixing reported the plot. Yuanying pursued the rebels to Yique and besieged them, but for half a month no one dared press the attack. Defense Recorder Wang Maoyuan killed one man and only then pressed forward. When some broke through the wall and entered, the rebels burst out, and the besieging troops fled in panic. The rebels then banded together and fled, taking their wives and children with them. They passed out through Changxia Gate, raided suburban estates, seized oxen and horses, crossed the Yi River to the east, and fled toward the mountains. Yuanying ordered the troops along the border to offer large rewards for their capture. Several months later a mountain shack dweller came to the market to sell deer. When the rebels passed by, the shack dweller summoned his confederates, led government troops to surround the rebels in a valley, and captured them all. When the investigation reached its end, the ringleader proved to be the monk Yuanjing of Zhongyue Temple, more than eighty years old, once a general under Shi Siming, and a man of towering stature and ferocious strength. When he was first seized, they tried to break his shins with hammers, but the bones would not break. Yuanjing cursed them, saying, "You cannot even break a leg and you call yourselves brave warriors! He placed his own foot and showed them how to break it. Facing execution he sighed and said, "You have ruined my plan—I was not able to make Luoyang run with blood! Several dozen men were executed. Two garrison defense generals, five runners at Duting Station, and three runners at Ganshui Station had all secretly accepted appointments from the conspirators and served as their informants. From the first plotting until the plot was nearly exposed, no one knew. Earlier Shidao had purchased extensive lands between Yique and Luhun—more than ten holdings in all—and lodged mountain shack dwellers there to support them with food and clothing. Two men named Zi Jiazhen and Men Cha secretly organized these men and placed them under Yuanjing's command. Using ten million cash from Shidao they built a Buddhist temple as a cover, planning that when Jiazhen launched the secret attack they would raise signal fires in the mountains and rally the mountain shack dwellers of two counties in rebellion. When the investigation was pursued to its end, Jiazhen and Men Cha both claimed to have been the killers of Wu Yuanheng. Yuanying reported the matter and sent the prisoners to the capital. He rewarded the informants Yang Jin and Li Zaixing with three hundred bolts of brocade and a residence, and appointed them commandants. Yuanying then asked permission to recruit local men from the hills and rivers to guard the palace city, and the request was granted. On the day the plot broke out the capital was gripped with fear. The garrison troops were few and weak and could not be relied upon, yet Yuanying sat at the gate of the Imperial City, directing the deployment with calm and untroubled bearing, and the residents were reassured.
34
數年，改河中尹，充河中節度等使。 時方鎮多事姑息，元膺獨以堅正自處，監軍使洎往來中貴，無不敬憚。 入拜吏部侍郎，因疾固讓，改太子賓客。 元和十五年二月卒，年七十二，贈吏部尚書。
Several years later he was made prefect of Hezhong and appointed military governor of the Hezhong circuit. At the time most regional commanders practiced indulgence, but Yuanying alone maintained himself with firm integrity. Army supervisors and eunuch envoys who passed through his domain all feared and respected him. He was summoned to the capital and appointed Vice Minister of Personnel, but because of illness he firmly declined the post and was instead made Mentor to the Heir Apparent. He died in the second month of the fifteenth year of Yuanhe, at the age of seventy-two. He was posthumously granted the title of Minister of Personnel.
35
元膺學識深遠，處事得體，正色立朝，有臺輔之望。 初遊京師時，故相齊映謂人曰：「吾不及識婁、郝，殆斯人之類乎！」 其業官行己，始終無缺云。
Yuanying's learning was deep and his judgment far-reaching. He handled affairs with propriety, stood at court with unwavering integrity, and was regarded as a man destined for the highest offices. When he first traveled in the capital, the former chancellor Qi Ying said to others, "I never had the chance to know Lou and Hao in their time—perhaps this man is of their kind! In his official career and personal conduct, from beginning to end he was without reproach.
36
劉棲楚，出於寒微，為吏鎮州，王承宗甚奇之。 後有薦於李逢吉，自鄧掾擢為拾遺。 性果敢。 逢吉以為鷹犬之用，欲中傷裴度及殺李紳。
Liu Qichu came from humble origins. He served as an official in Zhen Prefecture, and Wang Chengzong took a great liking to him. Later he was recommended to Li Fengji and was promoted from a staff aide in Deng Prefecture to Remonstrance Clerk. He was bold and resolute by nature. Fengji used him as a political enforcer, intending to ruin Pei Du and have Li Shen killed.
37
無何，遷起居郎，至諫議。 俄又宣授刑部侍郎。 丞郎宣授，未之有也。 改京兆尹，摧抑豪右，甚有鉤距，人多比之於西漢趙廣漢者。 後恃權寵，常以詞氣淩宰相韋處厚，遂出為桂州觀察使。 逾年，卒於任，時大和元年九月。
Before long he was promoted to Diarist and then to Remonstrance Adviser. Soon he was additionally appointed by direct edict as Vice Minister of Justice. A direct edict appointment to a vice-ministerial director post was unprecedented. He was made prefect of the Capital District, where he crushed the powerful elite with sharp investigative methods. Many compared him to Zhao Guanghan of the Western Han. Later, relying on power and imperial favor, he often spoke to Chancellor Wei Chuhou with overbearing arrogance, and was sent out as Observation Commissioner of Gui Prefecture. A little more than a year later he died in office, in the ninth month of the first year of Dahe.
38
張宿者，布衣諸生也。 憲宗為廣陵王時，因軍使張茂宗薦達，出入邸第。 及上在東宮，宿時入謁，辯譎敢言。 洎監撫之際，驟承顧擢，授左拾遺。 以舊恩數召對禁中，機事不密，貶郴州郴縣丞。 十余年征入，歷贊善大夫、左補闕、比部員外郎。 宰相李逢吉惡之，數於上前言其狡譎，不可保信，乃用為濠州刺史。 制下，宿自理乞留，乃追制。 上欲以為諫議大夫，逢吉奏曰：「諫議職重，當以能可否朝政者為之。 宿細人，不足以汙賢者位。 陛下必須用宿，請先去臣即可。」 上不悅。 又逢吉與裴度是非不同，上方委度討伐，乃出逢吉為劍南東川節度。 乃用宿權知諫議大夫，俄而內使宣授。
Zhang Su was a commoner and a student of the classics. When Xianzong was still Prince of Guangling, he gained access through the recommendation of Army Commissioner Zhang Maozong and came and went freely in the prince's residence. When the future emperor was in the Eastern Palace, Su often came to audience. He was eloquent, shrewd, and bold in speech. When the prince assumed the regency, he was suddenly favored with rapid promotion and appointed Left Remonstrance Clerk. Because of their old bond he was repeatedly summoned for private audience within the palace, but he failed to keep state secrets secure and was demoted to assistant magistrate of Chen County in Chen Prefecture. More than ten years later he was recalled to the capital, serving in succession as Mentor to the Heir Apparent, Left Supplementation Aide, and Vice Director in the Ministry of Revenue. Chancellor Li Fengji disliked him and repeatedly told the emperor that he was cunning and deceitful and could not be trusted. He was therefore sent out as prefect of Hao Prefecture. When the appointment edict was issued, Su petitioned on his own account to be allowed to stay at court, and the edict was withdrawn. The emperor wished to make him Remonstrance Adviser. Fengji memorialized: "The office of Remonstrance Adviser is a weighty one and should go to someone capable of passing judgment on court policy. Su is a small-minded man, unworthy to sully a post meant for the virtuous. If Your Majesty insists on employing Su, then remove me first—that is all I ask." The emperor was displeased. Fengji and Pei Du also stood on opposite sides of the issues, and as the emperor was then entrusting Du with military campaigns, Fengji was sent out as military governor of Jiannan East Circuit. Su was then made acting Remonstrance Adviser, and soon an inner palace envoy announced the formal appointment.
39
初，宰相崔群、王涯奏曰：「諫議大夫前時亦有拔自山林、起於卒伍者，其例則少，用皆有由。 或道義彰明，不求聞達； 或山林卓異，出於群萃。 以此選求，是愜公議。 或事跡未著，恩由一時，雖有例超升，即時議未允。 宿本非文辭入用，望實稍輕。 驟加不次之榮，翻恐以身為累。 臣等所以累有論諫，依資且與郎中，事冀適中，非於此人情有厚薄，請授職方郎中。」 上命如初，群等乃請權知，尋又宣援。 宿怨執政擯己，頗加讒毀。 依附皇甫镈等，傷害清正之士，陰事中要，以圖進取。
Earlier, chancellors Cui Qun and Wang Ya had memorialized: "There have indeed been Remonstrance Advisers drawn from reclusion in the mountains or raised from the ranks, but such cases are rare and always had clear justification. Some had manifest integrity and sought no fame or advancement; others were extraordinary recluses who stood out from the multitude. To choose men by such standards satisfies public opinion. Others whose achievements were not yet established received favor in a passing moment; though precedents existed for extraordinary promotion, contemporary opinion did not approve. Su was not originally brought into office on the strength of literary talent, and both his reputation and substance are rather slight. To heap extraordinary honor upon him all at once may instead become a burden to him. That is why we have repeatedly remonstrated that, according to seniority, he be given at least a directorship—we hope for a moderate appointment, not because we bear this man any personal favor or disfavor—and we ask that he be made Director in the Bureau of Appointments." The emperor held to his original order, whereupon Qun and the others asked that Su serve only in an acting capacity—but soon an inner envoy again announced the formal appointment. Su resented the ruling faction for shutting him out and heaped considerable slander upon them. He attached himself to Huangfu Bo and his circle, harmed upright officials, secretly handled weighty matters, and plotted his own advancement.
40
十三年正月，充淄青宣慰使，至東都，暴病卒，於是正人相賀。 詔贈秘書監。
In the first month of the thirteenth year he was appointed pacification commissioner to Ziqing. When he reached the Eastern Capital he suddenly fell gravely ill and died, and upright men congratulated one another. An edict posthumously enfeoffed him as Director of the Secretariat.
41
熊望者，登進士第。 粗有文詞，而性憸險。 有口辯，往往得遊公卿間，率以大言詭意，指抉時政。 既由此而得進士第，務進不已。 而京兆尹劉棲楚以不次驟居清貫，廣樹朋黨，門庭無晝夜填委不息。 望出入棲楚之門，為伺密機，陰佐計畫，人無知者。 昭湣嬉遊之隙，學為歌詩。 以翰林學士崇重，不可褻狎，乃議別置東頭學士，以備曲宴賦詩，令采卑官才堪任學士者為之。 棲楚以望名薦送，事未行而昭湣崩。
Xiong Wang passed the jinshi examination. He had some literary skill, but his character was crafty and treacherous. He was glib of tongue and often gained access among high ministers and nobles, generally using grand rhetoric and devious intent to expose and attack current policy. Having obtained his jinshi degree by such means, he strove for advancement without cease. Meanwhile Liu Qichu, prefect of Jingzhao, had through extraordinary promotion suddenly risen to a lofty and honored post. He built up a wide network of factional ties, and his gate was crowded day and night without pause. Wang came and went at Qichu's gate, spying on confidential affairs and secretly helping to devise plans, and no one knew of it. In the intervals of Emperor Zhaomin's pleasure-seeking, he learned to compose songs and poems. Because Hanlin Academicians were held in high honor and could not be treated casually, the court proposed establishing a separate corps of Eastern Academicians to attend private banquets and compose verse, selecting low-ranking officials whose talent suited the role. Qichu recommended Wang by name for the post, but before the plan could be carried out Emperor Zhaomin died.
42
柏耆者，將軍良器之子。 素負志略，學縱橫家流。 會王承宗以常山叛，朝廷厭兵，欲以恩澤撫之。 耆於蔡州行營以畫幹裴度，請以朝旨奉使鎮州，乃自處士授左拾遺。 既見承宗，以大義陳說。 承宗泣下，請質二男，獻兩郡，由是知名。
Bai Qi was the son of General Liang Qi. He had long possessed ambition and strategic talent and studied the persuasion school. When Wang Chengzong rebelled at Changshan, the court was weary of war and wished to win him back with imperial favor. At the field headquarters in Caizhou, Qi submitted a painted petition to Pei Du asking to be sent to Zhenzhou on imperial business, and was thereupon appointed Left Remonstrance Clerk from his status as a private scholar. Once he met Chengzong, he set forth the case in terms of moral principle. Chengzong wept, offered his two sons as hostages, and surrendered two commanderies, and thereby Qi became famous.
43
元和十年，王承宗歸國，移鎮滑州，朝廷賜成德軍賞錢一百萬貫，令諫議大夫鄭覃宣慰軍人，賞錢未至，浩浩然騰口。 穆宗詔耆往諭旨。 耆至，令承宗集三軍，宣導上旨，眾心乃安。 轉兵部郎中。
In the tenth year of Yuanhe, Wang Chengzong returned to allegiance and was transferred to Huazhou. The court granted the Chengde army a reward of one million strings of cash and ordered Remonstrance Adviser Zheng Tan to reassure the troops, but before the money arrived voices of complaint rose in a great clamor. Emperor Muzong ordered Qi to go and explain the imperial intent. When Qi arrived, he had Chengzong assemble the three armies and proclaim the emperor's message, and the troops' minds were calmed. He was transferred to Director in the Ministry of War.
44
太和初，遷諫議大夫。 俄而，李同捷叛，兩河籓帥加兵滄、德，宿師於野連年。 同捷窮蹙求降。 耆既宣諭訖，與節度使李祐謀。 耆乃帥數百騎入滄州，取同捷赴京。 滄、德平。 諸將害耆邀功，爭上表論列。 文宗不獲已，貶循州司戶判官，沈亞之貶虔州南康尉。 內官馬國亮又奏耆於同捷處取婢九人，再命長流愛州，尋賜死。
At the beginning of the Taihe era he was promoted to Remonstrance Adviser. Before long Li Tongjie rebelled. Military governors of the two He circuits reinforced their armies at Cang and De, and imperial troops camped in the field year after year. Tongjie, hard pressed, sought to surrender. After Qi had finished proclaiming the imperial message, he plotted with Military Governor Li You. Qi then led several hundred horsemen into Cangzhou, seized Tongjie, and escorted him to the capital. Cang and De were pacified. The generals resented Qi for stealing their credit and vied to submit memorials arguing against him. Emperor Wenzong, having no choice, demoted Qi to acting secretary of the revenue bureau in Xun Prefecture, and Shen Yazhi to marshal of Nankang in Qian Prefecture. The eunuch Ma Guoliang further reported that Qi had taken nine maidservants from Tongjie's household. Qi was again ordered into distant exile at Aizhou, and soon was granted death.
45
史臣曰：人臣事君，犯顏匡政，不避死亡之誅。 議者以為徇名，臣惡其訐也。 如許京兆之劾軍吏，呂尚書之封詔書，詞義可觀，聳動人聽，以為沽激，傷善何多！ 而棲楚、張宿之徒，鷹犬下材，為人鳴吠，誠可醜也。 柏耆恃縱橫之算，欲俯拾卿相，忘身蹈利，旋踵而誅，宜哉！ 巢父使不辱命，誌在致君，遭罹喪亂，竟陷虎吻。 而戣、戢諸子，世載忠貞，大中之後，郁為昌族。 為善之利，豈虛言哉！
The historian writes: When a minister serves his ruler, to speak bluntly to his face and set policy aright, not shrinking from the penalty of death— Critics may call it courting fame, but this historian detests such faultfinding. Men such as Xu, prefect of Jingzhao, who impeached army officials, and Lu, the minister, who sealed back an edict—their words were admirable and stirred all who heard them—yet to dismiss them as fishing for acclaim: how much good was lost! By contrast, Qichu, Zhang Su, and their like were base talent fit only to serve as hawk and hound, barking on others' behalf—truly contemptible. Bai Qi relied on the arts of the persuaders, hoped to stoop and pluck up ministerial rank, forgot himself in the rush for profit, and was executed within a turning of the heel—fitting indeed! Chaofu as envoy did not disgrace his mission; his aim was to bring his ruler to perfection. He met calamity and chaos and in the end fell into the tiger's maw. Yet Ke, Ji, and the other sons generation upon generation bore loyal integrity, and after the Dazhong reign they flourished into a noble clan. The reward of doing good—is that empty talk!
46
贊曰：君子重義，小人殉利。 巢殞耆誅，其道即異。 許、呂封駁，照耀黃扉。 死而可作，吾誰與歸？
In praise: The noble person esteems righteousness; the petty person dies for profit. Chaofu perished and Qi was executed—their paths were utterly unlike. Xu and Lu's sealed remonstrances shone upon the yellow gate of the palace. If the dead could yet act, with whom would I align myself?