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卷一百七十四 列傳第一百二十四: 李德裕

Volume 174, Biography 124: Li Deyu

Chapter 174 of 舊唐書 · Old Book of Tang
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Chapter 174
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1
西 殿 殿
Li Deyu, style name Wenrao, was a native of Zhao commandery. His grandfather Pei Qiyun served as Censor-in-Chief. His father Li Jifu, Duke Zhong of Zhao, had been chancellor at the start of the Yuanhe reign. His grandfather and father have their own biographies. As a boy he was ambitious, studied with intense dedication, and became especially adept in the Book of Han and the Zuo Tradition. He would not sit the district tribute exam alongside ordinary students and had no taste for the formal examination track. By the time he came of age, his studies and ambition were already fully formed. During the Zhenyuan period, when his father was exiled to the far south, he stayed at his father's side and sought no office. When Yuanhe began and his father again headed the government, he declined central posts to avoid suspicion and accepted a series of staff appointments in regional administrations. In 816 Zhang Hongjing left the chancellorship to govern Taiyuan and appointed him chief secretary. He rose from judicial reviewer in the Court of Judicial Review to Attending Censor within the Palace. When Hongjing's term ended in 819, he accompanied him to the capital and received formal appointment as Investigating Censor. The next year, when Muzong ascended in the first month, he was summoned to the Hanlin Academy as an academician. While still heir apparent the emperor had long known Li Jifu's name; meeting Deyu, he esteemed him even more highly. Major palace edicts and memorial drafts were often entrusted to Deyu to write. That month he was received in audience at the Hall of Reflection on Governance and awarded gold-and-purple insignia. A month later he was moved to vice director in the Ministry of Revenue's field administration.
2
Muzong did not maintain disciplined government. He bestowed favors widely; empress-clan kin and others pressed improper access through intrigue; they relayed the eunuchs' will and trafficked with powerful ministers—conduct Deyu deeply resented. In the first month of Changqing 1 (821) he memorialized: "I observe our dynasty's precedent that sons-in-law of the throne, as intimate kin, should not visit senior court officials privately. Under Emperor Xuanzong in the Kaiyuan era the ban was especially strict. I have learned that recently imperial sons-in-law have gone repeatedly to chancellors' and key officials' private homes. They have no real conversation to offer—only the leaking of palace secrets; their contact with court insiders and outsiders is widely known and regarded as a grave abuse. If the official in question is of lesser or mixed rank, the visits may be allowed. But if he holds a post in the elite ranks, how can he permit such associations? I beg that Your Majesty instruct the chancellors that henceforth sons-in-law and their kin should meet chancellors only at the Secretariat on public business and not be allowed at private residences." The emperor assented. Soon he was made director of examinations in the Ministry of Personnel and entrusted with drafting edicts. In the second month of 822 he became Secretariat Drafter while remaining a Hanlin academician.
3
調
Earlier, while Jifu was chancellor, Niu Sengru and Li Zongmin had taken the special examination on forthright criticism and utmost remonstrance. Their examination answers harshly criticized government failings; Jifu wept and lodged complaint before the throne. Thereupon the examiners were all demoted—the account is in Li Zongmin's biography. At the start of Yuanhe military campaigns against rebels began with Du Huangshang's pacification of Shu. Jifu had planned strategy to settle the two He provinces but died just as armies were to march. Wu Yuanheng and Pei Du followed in succession. Wei Guanzhi and Li Fengji blocked the policy and strongly opposed military action. Wei and Li were removed from office in succession, so Fengji nursed lasting resentment toward Jifu and Pei Du. During Yuanhe Deyu long went without advancement; Fengji, Sengru, and Zongmin, nursing private scores, kept blocking and sidelining him.
4
西使
At that time Deyu, Li Shen, and Yuan Zhen were all in the Hanlin—men of similar learning and fame—and were on affectionate terms. Fengji's faction hated them deeply. That month he was removed as academician and sent out as Vice Censor-in-Chief. About then Yuan Zhen left the inner palace and was appointed Vice Minister of Works and Associate Chief Minister. In the third month Pei Du returned from Taiyuan to serve again as chief minister. That month Li Fengji also entered from Xiangyang; he secretly paid informers and engineered cases in frontier jurisdictions. In the sixth month Yuan Zhen and Pei Du were both dismissed from the chancellorship. Zhen was sent out as governor of Tongzhou. Fengji replaced Pei Du as Secretariat Vice Director and Associate Chief Minister. Once in power he pressed revenge with sharp intent. Deyu and Niu Sengru both had standing; Fengji wished to elevate Sengru but feared Shen and Deyu in the palace would block him; in the ninth month Deyu was posted as Zhexi observation commissioner; soon Sengru was brought in as associate chief minister. From this mutual hatred only deepened.
5
使 輿
Runzhou, after Wang Guoqing's rebellion, had seen the prior commissioner Dou Yizhi drain the treasury in rewards; on return the troops grew arrogant and funds ran dry. Deyu was austere in personal spending and devoted the prefecture's receipts entirely to the troops; though distributions were not lavish, none in the ranks resented him. Within two years tax income and transport revenues were restored.
6
In the strength of youth he took office eager to govern; every local abuse harming the people he abolished. Between Yangzi and Nanling people trusted shamans and feared specters; families would abandon kin stricken with serious illness and flee. Deyu sought to change the custom: he chose knowledgeable locals, instructed and restrained them by law, and within years the vicious practice collapsed. For district shrines he followed gazetteers, enshrining former worthy ministers and worthy descendants. Across four prefectures he abolished illicit shrines—1,110 in all. He also abolished 1,460 private hill lodges in local communities to suppress banditry. The people welcomed his rule; the court issued a commendatory edict praising him.
7
西
Emperor Jingzong came to the throne young and was much given to extravagance. In the seventh month of his accession year an edict ordered Zhexi to present twenty silver toilet sets to the inner palace. Deyu submitted a memorial that read:
8
使
At the time a recent amnesty forbade such presentations. A month later, tribute envoys crowded the roads in succession. Therefore Deyu used his petition to remonstrate indirectly. The memorial was submitted but received no answer.
9
使 使 使
Another edict commanded the presentation of one thousand bolts of full-width coiled-pattern liao damask. Deyu again remonstrated, saying: Because of the previous imperial demand, I have already reported the annual military budget and recent material resources in full, and I trust Your Sagely Compassion will review them. I have now again received an imperial decree ordering the weaving of specified gauze robe segments and one thousand bolts of full-width coiled-pattern liao damask. On reading the edict, my alarm and distress doubled. I observe that in Taizong's reign a court envoy went to Liangzhou, saw a famous hawk, and hinted that Li Daliang should present it. Daliang secretly submitted a memorial stating his sincere view. Taizong bestowed an edict stating: "Had you sent it as tribute, you would not have been upright and compliant." He repeatedly praised and sighed over this, and it is recorded in the histories. Xuanzong also ordered palace eunuchs to gather mandarin ducks and other birds in Jiangnan. Ni Ruoshui, prefect of Bianzhou, memorialized against it, and Xuanzong bestowed an edict praising and accepting his advice; the birds were immediately all released. He also ordered Huangfu Xun to weave half-sleeve jackets, pipa plectra, and inlaid ivory boxes in Yizhou. Su Ting did not obey the edict and stopped the weaving on his own. Neither Taizong nor Xuanzong punished them, but gladly accepted what they said. I privately consider that mandarin ducks and inlaid ivory are extremely trivial matters, yet Ruoshui and others still regarded them as burdens on the people and injuries to virtue, and poured out their sincerity to show loyalty. In the reigns of our sage ancestors there were ministers like these. Could it be that in the age of an enlightened sovereign there are none? Surely those in office conceal matters and do not speak; it cannot be that Your Majesty refuses and will not accept remonstrance. I also respectfully note the virtuous pronouncement of the twenty-third day of the fourth month, which states: "Regional lords and ministers in office, let none abandon me thinking I cannot be taught. If any violate the Way and harm principle, follow desire and seek ease, let them criticize me to my face and attack me in court, concealing nothing." This shows that Your Majesty accepts admonition and follows the good, causing the glory of the ancestors to shine. If loyal remonstrance is not fully given, the fault lies with your ministers. Moreover, patterns of dark geese, heavenly horses, juniper leopards, and coiled dragons are colorful and rare, fit only for Your Sacred Person's own use. The one thousand bolts now ordered require enormous expense, which in my foolish sincerity I cannot understand. Formerly Emperor Wen of Han wore coarse black silk garments, and Emperor Yuan abolished light fine clothing; their benevolence, virtue, compassion, and thrift are praised to this day. I humbly beg Your Majesty to look closely at the acceptance shown by Taizong and Xuanzong and think back to the self-restraint of Han Wen and Emperor Yuan; to take my previous memorial and proclaim it to the ministers, to weigh what the material resources of my circuit can bear, and to grant further reduction. Then the people of the distant shores will all receive your bounty. I cannot express the extremity of my earnest anxiety and fearful trepidation.
10
The throne replied with a gracious edict. The silk tribute was halted.
11
使
Since Yuanhe repeated edicts had forbidden prefectures and circuits from ordaining clergy privately. Wang Zhixing, Xuzhou commissioner, insatiable for profit, on Jingzong's birthday month asked to establish an ordination altar at Sizhou to ordain the faithful for merit—and heavy fees. People of the Jiang-Huai region crossed the Huai in crowds. Deyu submitted a memorial stating: Wang Zhixing has established an ordination platform for monks and nuns in Sizhou under his jurisdiction. Since last winter, notices have been posted throughout the region south of the Jiang and Huai to recruit ordinations. South of the Jiang and Huai, since Yuanhe 2 private ordination has not been attempted. On hearing that Sizhou had a platform, households with three adult males would certainly have one take tonsure, intending to evade royal corvée and conceal family property. Since the first month of this year, those who have shaved their heads are beyond counting. I have now been checking those crossing at Suanshan ferry: more than a hundred pass in a single day. On investigation only fourteen were former novices; the rest were commoners from Suzhou and Changzhou without credentials from their home prefecture, and they have already been ordered back to their original registrations. On inquiry I learned the procedure at the Sizhou platform: each monk who arrives pays two strings of cash, receives a certificate, and returns at once; there are no other rites. If this is not specifically prohibited, by the time of the birthday festival it is estimated that south of the Jiang and Huai six hundred thousand able-bodied males will be lost. This matter is not trivial; it bears on the laws and institutions of the court.
12
When the memorial was in, that very day an edict ordered Xuzhou to cease.
13
使
Jingzong grew daily more dissolute in conduct; his tours had no fixed pattern; he distanced worthy men and drew near petty favorites. He sat court at most two or three times a month; great ministers rarely gained audience to speak. The realm was alarmed; some feared the throne itself might shift. Deyu, though on the frontier, turned his heart to the throne and sent envoys presenting six "Admonitions for the Crimson Screen," saying: I have heard, "The heart loves—though distant, is it not spoken?" This is how the worthy men of old showed their deep devotion in serving their lord. Those distant in person yet intimate in speech face danger; those far in place yet loyal in intent risk giving offence. Yet I privately reflect that, raised up by the late sage emperor and receiving special favor and glory, if I do not love my sovereign with loyalty I would fail the divine discernment above. I previously served the former court in a time of many hidden calamities and once presented the "Ode to Great Brightness" as remonstrance, which the former court graciously accepted. My complete devotion to the enlightened sovereign today also springs from this same heart. In the past Zhang Chang, guarding a distant command, and Mei Fu in a remote borderland still exhausted sincerity and loyalty, not avoiding blame and regret. How much more should I, who have studied the old histories and know something of admonition, though distant still think of offering suggestions and corrections. I respectfully present six "Admonitions for the Crimson Screen," raising them to Your sagely discernment, prostrate and full of trepidation.
14
The Early Rising admonition: "Former kings attended to government, waiting from first light. When the cocks had crowed full, at sunrise they looked forth. Yu the Great Sage treasured every inch of shadow. Guangwu the most benevolent did not shun the "negative branch" day for rest. Do not let an empress like Jiang go alone removing hairpins and earrings. The red tube records words—hold fast to the lessons of the past."
15
The Proper Dress admonition: "The sage fashioned dress with emblems one may read. Even at feast or hunt one does not sink into comfort. Ji An with stern bearing could correct one who wore no cap. Yang Fu with equal sternness rebuked pale silk finery. Each season's proper attire has its proper office. Wear no other—the ruler alone may be pressed."
16
The Ceasing Tribute admonition: "Emperor Wen of Han ended tribute; edict returned the dappled horses. The imperial carriage moves slowly—what need of horses for a thousand li? Later worthy kings likewise could restrain themselves. Once the marten cloak was burned, bamboo-cloth sheets were destroyed. Virtue as ornament, kindness and benevolence as beauty. Not to overstep Heaven's way—that is the highest principle."
17
The Receiving Remonstrance admonition: "Only when the sovereign heeds counsel can the middle way be found. Heeding good counsel as water flows downhill—only then can success be won. Emperor Ai of Han drowned in wine, raising cups while bells floated. Cao Rui of Wei was prodigal, erecting a Lingxiao Palace that scraped the heavens. Though loyal words gave no offense, good counsel was still not heeded. Treating remonstrance as ear-stoppers—this is what it means to deafen oneself."
18
The Discerning Evil admonition: "Sitting high and looking deep—to detect evil in its first sprouting. Though slanderers and schemers exist, they cannot hide the light. Under Han there was Emperor Zhao, whose virtue exceeded King Cheng of Zhou. He knew forged memorials for what they were and exposed treachery to the truth. Once the Yan and Gai factions were crushed, the royal enterprise ran smooth. A hundred generations on, his fair name still resounds."
19
The Guarding the Slight admonition: "The Son of Heaven's filial piety lies in reverently keeping royal rule. In peace one must think of peril—then no worry is left unattended. Rebellious ministers run riot—they cannot be numbered offhand. When black and yellow could not be told apart, it took a snapped zither-string to bring him down. An incognito tour through Bailu Valley found wolves and swine blocking the way. A stranger saw his face and offered a meal—such is the lesson that should inspire dread."
20
The emperor replied in his own hand: "You are a cultivated senior minister, entrusted with weighty charge in the provinces. You set the standard for every commandery and brought peace to all Wu. Your rule harmonized the land like spring itself; your governance was serene—and when I recall your good policies, admiration wells up in me. Your house has piled up renown for generations—two generations led the inner court, six in a row inherited marquisates and earldoms. You have truly roused a loyal heart and embodied the poets' intent. Though distant, you do not forget faithful remonstrance; in admonishing your sovereign, you ever dwell on nipping peril in the bud. You enlarged my mind with upright example and constrained me within ritual. I read your admonitions again and again and praised them night after night. I keep them beside my seat, as one might Wei Hong's counsel; I inscribe them on my heart—what is that but the force of healing stone and medicine? Now that you have shown such sincerity, I ever welcome frank counsel; should I err, do not fail to tell me in confidence. Though mountains and rivers lie between us, my regard for you does not cease; you must discipline yourself to match this sincerity."
21
Deyu meant to admonish earnestly; unwilling to speak plainly, he used these admonitions to say all he meant. Early Rising rebukes infrequent and tardy audiences; Correct Dress rebukes irregular court attire; Ceasing Tribute rebukes exactions of curios and luxuries; Receiving Remonstrance rebukes scorning honest counsel; Discerning Evil rebukes trusting petty men; Guarding the Slight rebukes rash excursions from the palace. Though the emperor could not adopt all he said, he had Academician Wei Chuhou draft a warm reply and clearly valued his intent. Deyu had long stayed in the lower Yangtze, yearning for the capital; in this matter he poured out his heart, hoping for favor from the throne. Yet Li Fengji held the helm, and thorns choked his road—he never won transfer back to court.
22
沿 使
In Baoli year 2, Bozhou reported holy water whose drinkers were healed of disease. Deyu submitted: "My inquiries show this water began with a rogue monk's deceit and a cunning scheme to extort money. For months, people south of the Yangtze have jammed the roads in their rush. Every twenty or thirty households together hired one man to fetch the water. Before fetching it, the sick gave up meat and blood; after drinking, they ate only plain fare for fourteen days more, and the critically ill waited to see if they improved. A dou of the water cost three strings of cash, yet fetchers adulterated it with other water and resold it along the road; the aged and ailing who drank it often grew critically ill. Yesterday I counted commoners from the two Zhe circuits and Fujian crossing the river—thirty to fifty a day. At Suanshan Ford I have already begun seizing them. Unless the root is cut off, the people will never be helped. In Wu there was holy water; in Song and Qi, holy fire—all sorcery, which the ancients rejected. I ask that Your Majesty order the observation commissioner of this circuit, Linghu Chu, to fill it in at once and stop this source of sorcery." His request was granted.
23
西 使 覿姿 使 使耀 使
Jingzong, urged by the Capital Daoist Zhao Guizhen, was told of immortal arts and advised to seek extraordinary men as teachers of the Way. The monks Weizhen, Qixian, and Zhengjian preached that rites and prayer earn merit and bring long life. All four moved in and out of the inner palace, daily pouring forth perverse counsel. The recluse Du Jingxian submitted a memorial asking that extraordinary men be sought in the south. In western Zhe he named a recluse, Zhou Xiyuan, said to be several hundred years old. The emperor immediately sent Gao Pin and Xue Jiling to Runzhou to escort him. He also ordered Deyu to provide an official carriage and send him on. Deyu, taking advantage of the palace envoy's return, submitted a memorial stating: I have heard that among those lofty in the Way none surpass Guangcheng and Xuan Yuan, and among the sagely among men none surpass the Yellow Emperor and Confucius. In the past the Yellow Emperor asked Guangchengzi: What is the essential principle for ordering the body to achieve longevity? He replied: "Do not look, do not listen; embrace the spirit in stillness. The form will naturally become correct; the spirit will naturally become clear. Do not labor your form, do not shake your essence; then you may attain long life. Carefully guard the One to dwell in harmony. Therefore I have cultivated my body for twelve hundred years, and my form has not yet decayed." He also said: "Those who attain my Way become emperors above and kings below." Xuan Yuan said to Confucius: "Discard your arrogance and many desires, your imposing manner and excessive ambitions; these are all of no benefit to your person. What I tell you ends here." Therefore the Yellow Emperor uttered a sigh reaching heaven, and Confucius expressed admiration as for a dragon. Were not the former sages ultimate in their pursuit of the Way? I humbly consider that Your Majesty, the Civil and Martial, Greatly Sagely and Filial Emperor, follows the teachings of the Mystic Ancestor and cultivates the arts of the Yellow Emperor; concentrating your spirit in a quiet lodge, you seek out extraordinary individuals; intending to behold their ice-and-snow demeanor and yield to the request of following the wind. Respectfully considering the imperial perception, a true immortal will certainly descend. If Guangcheng and Xuan Yuan were to arrive mingling with the crowd, speaking to Your Majesty of the Way and imparting words to Your Majesty, in my estimation nothing would surpass this. What I fear is that those who respond to the summons will be pedantic and eccentric individuals, opportunists who temporarily conform, who treat congealing ice as a minor art, flaunting heterodox and depraved ways and obscuring and deceiving intelligence. Like Wencheng and Wuli, they would have nothing to show for verification. This is why, within three years and upon receiving four imperial edicts, I have not dared to recommend a single person to fulfill the edict, truly because of these fears. I have also heard that former generations of emperors, though fond of masters of esoteric arts, none took their medicines. Therefore the Book of Han states that gold could be made, and using it for eating and drinking vessels would increase longevity. Also, during Gaozong's reign Liu Daohe and during Xuanzong's reign Sun Zengsheng both succeeded in making gold, yet the two ancestors ultimately did not dare to take it. Was it not because the weight of the ancestral temple and the state could not be treated lightly? This matter is clearly recorded in the dynastic histories. In my humble view, if Your Majesty, with profound discernment, diligently seeks, you may certainly attract a true recluse. Only inquire about techniques for preserving harmony; do not seek the merit of medicinal elixirs. Even if gold is certainly produced, it can only serve as curios and treasures. Then the numinous discernment of the Nine Temples will certainly be comforted and pleased; the myriad commoners within the seas—who would not rejoice? I wish to exhaust my foolish loyalty to assist the Mysterious Transformation, unable to bear the extreme trepidation and concern.
24
When Xiyuan reached the capital, the emperor housed him in a mountain pavilion and asked him about Daoist arts. He claimed acquaintance with Zhang Guo and Ye Jingneng; the emperor ordered the portrait artist Li Shifang to ask their likenesses and had pictures drawn and submitted. Xiyuan was a common rustic of the hills, with no true learning of the Way; his talk was absurd and out of touch with reason. When Jingzong fell to assassins, Wenzong sent him back to the lower Yangtze. Deyu's keen judgment and steadfast integrity were all of this kind.
25
使 西 西使西使 西 使
On Wenzong's accession, Deyu was immediately made acting Minister of Rites. In the eighth month of Taihe year 3, he was recalled as Vice Minister of War; Pei Du recommended him for the chancellorship. But Vice Minister of Personnel Li Zongmin had eunuch backing; that month he became Grand Counselor, fearing Deyu would be heavily used. In the ninth month, with acting rank as Minister of Rites, Deyu was sent out as commissioner of Zheng-Hua. Deyu, ostracized by Fengji, stayed in western Zhe eight years. Though distant from court, he often memorialized on public affairs. Wenzong had long known his loyalty and, heeding court opinion, recalled him. Within ten days of arrival he was again expelled by Zongmin; resentment filled him and he had no way to clear himself. Fortunately Zheng Tan lectured in the inner palace and was praised for his integrity; though factional rumor swirled, the emperor's regard for him did not die. Zongmin soon brought Niu Sengru in as fellow chancellor; the two grievances fused, and anyone who favored Deyu was pushed out of court. In the tenth month of year 4, Deyu was made acting Minister of War, Prefect of Chengdu, Jiannan West Circuit deputy commissioner with full circuit authority, observation commissioner within the circuit, and commissioner for the Western Mountain Eight Kingdoms, Yunnan pacification, and related duties. Pei Du was in Zongmin's debt. During Du's Huai-Xi campaign he had appointed Zongmin Zhangyi observation judge; thereafter Zongmin's rank rose steadily. Now he resented Du for supporting Deyu, stripped Du of the chancellorship, and sent him to Xingyuan; Niu and Li then dominated the empire.
26
西 西 西 西
Western Shu, after Man raids and plunder, had been ruled without skill by Guo Zhao; the people were destitute. Deyu restored frontier posts and defenses and put the army and garrisons back in order. He also sent envoys into Nanzhao to recover captured craftsmen, obtaining more than four thousand monks, artisans, and skilled workers and restoring them to Chengdu. In the ninth month of year 5, the Tibetan garrison commander of Weizhou, Xin Tuanmo, offered to surrender the city. South of the prefecture lay Jiangyang; westward the Min Mountains stretched in endless ridges. To the north one saw Long Mountains, snow heaped like jade. To the east one saw Chengdu as though from the bottom of a well. One side was a lone peak; three sides faced the river—the choke point by which western Shu held Tibet at bay. After Zhide, the He and Long regions fell to Tibet; only this prefecture remained. Tibet prized its terrain and married women to the men who kept its gates. Twenty years on, the women bore two sons who came of age. When Tibetan troops besieged the city, the two sons opened from within and the prefecture was lost. Tibet took it and named it the "City Without Care." Under Zhenyuan, Wei Gao held Shu and campaigned against the Western Mountain Eight Kingdoms; with ten thousand schemes he could not retake it—now Xin Tuanmo sent men to offer allegiance. Deyu suspected a ruse and sent envoys with a brocade robe and gold belt, claiming he was waiting for instructions; Xin Tuanmo then brought the entire prefecture back to Chengdu. Deyu then sent troops to secure the region and memorialized on the gains and risks of an offensive. Niu Sengru blocked the proposal, arguing that Tibet had just become an ally and the pact must not be broken; the fuller account is in his biography. The court then ordered Deyu to return Xin Tuanmo's people to Weizhou; when the Tibetan king received them, he inflicted savage punishments on them all. In his sixth year in command he rebuilt Qiong Gorge Pass and moved Xi Prefecture to Taideng to block the southern tribes.
27
西 使
In every post as frontier commissioner, his governance won renown. In Shu he checked Tibet in the west and pacified the Man and Yan peoples in the south. Within a few years the nights were so quiet that dogs never barked. A populace scarred by war was brought, however roughly, back to wholeness. When army supervisor Wang Jianyan entered court to serve on the Privy Council, he told the emperor that handing Xin Tuanmo over in bonds had gratified the Tibetans and destroyed the logic of defection; the emperor came to blame Sengru deeply. That winter Deyu was recalled as Minister of War. Sengru was removed from the chancellorship and sent out to govern Huainan. In the second month of year 7 he became chief minister while keeping his existing rank, was ennobled as Baron of Zanhuang, and received a fief of seven hundred households. In the sixth month Zongmin was dismissed as well; Deyu took his place as Vice Director of the Secretariat and Grand Academician of the Hall for Cherishing Worthies.
28
退 使 便使
In the twelfth month of that year Wenzong was stricken with a sudden violent illness and remained speechless for more than a month. On the sixteenth day of the first month of year 8 he at last dragged himself, still ill, to the Zichen Hall to face the full court. When the chief ministers withdrew and asked after his health, the emperor sighed at length that no master physician could be found. Thereupon Wang Shoucheng introduced Zheng Zhu. Earlier Zhu had engineered the Song Shenxi affair; the emperor loathed him and wanted the Jingzhao prefect to beat him to death. Now that the medicine was beginning to work, the emperor started to treat him with favor. Shoucheng also introduced Li Xun, who was adept in the Book of Changes. That autumn the emperor wished to make Xun a remonstrance official. Deyu submitted: "Li Xun is a base man and must not remain at Your Majesty's side. His misdeeds have accumulated for years and the whole empire knows them; to appoint him without cause would shock every eye and ear in the realm." The emperor said, "Who is without fault? Let him reform first. I cannot, for Fengji's sake, break the pledge he entrusted to me." Deyu said, "Even sages hold that faults may be corrected. But Xun is treacherous by nature; there is no reform in him." The emperor turned to Wang Ya and said, "Find him some other post." Xun was then made tutor of the Four Gates. When the appointment edict was issued, the supervising secretaries Zheng Su and Han Yi sealed it and refused to promulgate it. Wang Ya summoned Su and instructed him in person to let it through. Before long Zheng Zhu too arrived from Jiangzhou. Xun and Zhu resented Deyu for shutting them out; on the tenth day of the ninth month Zongmin was recalled from Xingyuan, made Vice Director and chief minister, and replaced Deyu. Deyu was sent out to serve as Xingyuan military commissioner. At his court leave-taking Deyu declared his longing for the capital and his unwillingness to go to the provinces; an urgent edict followed, leaving him Minister of War. Zongmin argued that the appointment had already been issued and Deyu must not bend the rules to suit himself; he was soon changed to acting Left Vice Director of the Secretariat, Prefect of Runzhou, Zhenhai military commissioner, and Suzhou-Changzhou-Hangzhou-Runzhou observation commissioner, replacing Wang Pu.
29
殿 西 祿 西使 西
On reaching his command Deyu carried out an edict placing palace woman Du Zhongyang in a Daoist abbey and supplying her needs. Zhongyang had been Prince Zhang's nurse; when the prince fell, she had been sent down to Runzhou for that reason. In the third month of year 9, Left Assistant Wang Pu and Vice Minister of Revenue Li Han memorialized that at his post Deyu had lavished bribes on Zhongyang and conspired with Prince Zhang to rebel. In the fourth month the emperor summoned Wang Ya, Li Guyan, Lu Sui, Wang Pu, Li Han, Zheng Zhu, and others to Penglai Hall to confront the charges. Pu and Han heaped on fabricated charges of conspiracy, their language fierce and exact. Lu Sui submitted: "Deyu has surely not gone so far. If what Pu and Han say is true, your unworthy servant deserves punishment as well." The uproar gradually died away. Soon Deyu was made Crown Prince's guest and posted to the eastern capital. That same month he was demoted to registrar of Yuanzhou. Lu Sui, for speaking up for Deyu, was stripped of the chancellorship and sent out to govern western Zhejiang. In the seventh month of that year Zongmin, for intervening for Yang Yuqing, was demoted to Chuzhou. Li Han, as Zongmin's partisan, was demoted to Fenzhou. In the eleventh month Wang Pu and Li Xun rose in rebellion and were executed; Wenzong then saw the earlier case clearly and knew Deyu had been framed by faction. In the third month of the following year Deyu was made Silver and Blue Light Chamberlain and transferred in grade to prefect of Chuzhou. In the seventh month he was made Crown Prince's guest again. In the eleventh month he was made acting Minister of Revenue and restored as western Zhejiang observation commissioner. Deyu governed western Zhejiang three times in all, for more than ten years altogether.
30
使使 使
In the fifth month of Kai Cheng year 2 he was made chief administrator of the Yangzhou metropolitan prefecture, Huainan deputy commissioner with full circuit authority, replacing Niu Sengru. When Sengru first learned Deyu would replace him, he handed headquarters affairs to deputy commissioner Zhang Lu and hurried to court. The Yangzhou treasury then held eight hundred thousand strings and pieces of cash and silk; when Deyu took command he reported receiving only four hundred thousand—half had already been spent by Zhang Lu. Sengru memorialized to dispute the account; the court ordered Deyu to audit again, and the total matched Sengru's. Deyu said that when he first arrived he had been ill and his clerks had concealed the truth; he asked to be punished. An edict excused him. The remonstrance officials Wang Ji and Wei Mo, the Cui partisan Wei Youyi, and the remonstrance official Linghu Tao all memorialized the Left Vice Director of the Secretariat. In the first month of year 5 Wuzong ascended the throne. In the seventh month Deyu was recalled from Huainan. In the ninth month he was made Vice Director of the Chancellery and fellow chief minister.
31
Earlier Deyu's father Jifu had gone out to govern Huainan at fifty-one and returned from Huainan to the chancellorship at fifty-four. Now Deyu governed Huainan and re-entered the chancellorship at the same ages—a remarkable echo of his father.
32
使 使退 便 退 便
In the first year of Huichang he also served as Left Vice Director of the Secretariat. At the end of the Kai Cheng era the Uyghurs were attacked by the Kirghiz. They were defeated in battle and their tribes scattered. Khan Wujie escorted Princess Taihe south. In the second month of Huichang year 2, encamped on the frontier, he sent envoys to beg troops and grain to recover his realm and asked to borrow the Tiande Army temporarily to protect the princess. The Tiande commissioner Tian Mou asked to attack with Shatuo and Tuyuhun tribal troops. The emperor had not decided; he referred the matter to the hundred officials, and most favored Mou's proposal. Deyu said: "In the empire's recent straits the Uyghurs rendered great service. Now their state is broken and their house ruined; they wander with nowhere to turn, encamped on the frontier themselves—they have not yet crossed into outright aggression. To slaughter them the moment they come in desperation is not the way Emperor Xuan of Han treated Hu Hanxie. Better to supply them with provisions for the moment and watch how matters develop." Chancellor Chen Yixing said, "That is to arm the foe and feed the robber—no strategy at all. Strike them at once." Deyu said, "Tian Mou and Wei Zhongping claim the Shatuo and Tuyuhun are eager to attack the enemy, but that cannot be trusted in a crisis. They advance when they see gain and scatter when they meet the foe—that is the usual way of mixed tribes; they will never truly hold the frontier for the state. Tiande is a single weakly garrisoned city, yet you would make an enemy of a fierce foe—it will surely be lost. Better to treat them fairly for now; when they overstep their bounds, then military action will be the better course." The emperor agreed and authorized lending thirty thousand shi of grain.
33
退 便
Before long the Uyghur chancellor Meilis killed the Chixin chancellor and came over with his followers. The Chixin tribes in turn fled to Youzhou. Wujie stood alone; denied grain, his men grew hungry and weak, drifted toward Zhenwu's Baoda stockade and Batou Peak, and broke into Shuozhou's territory. The Shatuo and Tuyuhun all hid their families in mountain strongholds; Zhang Xianjie at Yunzhou shut his walls and held out. The invaders looted at will; in the end no one stood against them. The emperor was alarmed and took counsel with his chancellors. Deyu said: "North of Batou Peak is open desert; fighting there requires cavalry. Pitting foot soldiers against them, victory is hard to secure by any logic. Wujie's strength is the princess; send bold commanders to seize her by surprise and the enemy will collapse of itself." The emperor assented and at once ordered Deyu to draft an edict directing the northern armies, tightening the passes, and entrusting Liu Mian with a surprise strategy. Liu Mian ordered his great general Shi Xiong to strike the khan swiftly at Kill-the-Hun Mountain; defeated him and escorted the princess back to the palace—the fuller account is in Shi's biography. Soon he was promoted to Minister of Works.
34
西 西 西西 西便 西 便 西 便
In the second month of year 3 Zhao Fan memorialized that the Kirghiz were attacking the Anxi and Beiting protectorates and that an army should be sent to their aid. Deyu submitted a memorial stating: According to geographical records, Anxi is seven thousand one hundred li from the capital and Beiting is five thousand two hundred li. In times of peace the westward route from Hexi and Longyou passed through the Yumen Gate; the whole stretch consisted of state prefectures and counties, each with heavy troop concentrations. The troops needed for Anxi and Beiting could easily be levied from nearby areas. Since the difficult times Hexi and Longyou have all fallen to Tibet. To reach Anxi and Beiting one must take the Uyghur route. Now the Uyghurs are destroyed, and it is not even known for certain whether they belong to the Kirghiz. Even if we could rescue them, we would then have to re-establish protectorates and garrison them with Han troops. Each place would require no less than ten thousand men. From where would ten thousand men be levied? By what route would supplies be transported? Today Tiande and Zhenwu are extremely close to the capital, yet military strength is constantly insufficient. In peacetime stored grain does not last three years, and the court's strength still cannot manage it. How much less could we protect Anxi seven thousand li away! This is why I say that even if we could obtain it, it would truly be useless now. In the time of Emperor Xuan of Han, Wei Xiang requested abandoning the fields at Jushi; in the time of Emperor Yuan of Han, Jia Juanzhi requested abandoning Zhuya commandery; in our own dynasty the worthy minister Di Renjie also requested abandoning the Four Garrisons and establishing Husailuo as qaghan, and further requested abandoning Andong and re-establishing the Koguryo ruling house. This was because they did not wish to covet external gains and empty the interior, exhausting the living populace. These three ministers, even when the territories were in our possession, still wished to abandon them to enrich the Central Kingdom. How much more when they are separated by ten thousand li—how could we rescue them? I fear the barbarians are full of schemes. Knowing the state's strength is insufficient, they might falsely agree while seeking gold and silk from the Central Kingdom. Your Majesty must not later regret this. This would use real expenditure to exchange for an empty matter—like destroying one Uyghur and giving birth to another. I fear this plan is not appropriate.
35
The proposal was dropped.
36
西 使 西 西 西使 便 使 使
Deyu further submitted a memorial on how in Taihe 5 the Weizhou garrison commander surrendered the city, was blocked by Niu Sengru, and Weizhou was ultimately lost. He stated: During the previous reign I was stationed in Western Shu. At that time the Weizhou chieftain Xin Tuanmo, though of mixed barbarian origin, had long admired the imperial influence and brought his fortified city to surrender to my circuit. I promptly dispatched troops, occupied the city, and sent a swift memorial to inform the court; the late emperor was astonished and sighed. At that time those ill-disposed toward me, catching wind of this, grew jealous and hastily offered misleading words that deceived the imperial ear, saying the covenant with Tibet could not be broken and fearing this would be used as a pretext to invade the borders. An edict ordered me to return the city and also to seize and send back Xin Tuanmo and the others so that they might be executed on the Tibetan side. A palace envoy was further sent to press for their speedy return. In antiquity Bai Qi's killing of surrendered troops ultimately brought disaster upon him at Du You; Chen Tang was exiled, which was seen as vengeance for Zhizhi. Reflecting on these past events, I felt shame all day long. Now, fortunately encountering a wise ruler and undeservedly holding high ministerial office, I venture to revisit this matter, humbly hoping for Your Majesty's consideration. Moreover, Weizhou stands atop a high mountain peak with rivers on three sides. It lies at the strategic point on the barbarian plain and is the route by which Han forces advance. Initially, when Hexi and Longyou were completely lost, this prefecture alone remained. The Tibetans secretly married women to the gatekeepers of this prefecture. Twenty years later, when the two sons had grown up, they secretly opened the fortress gates and led troops in at night, thus causing its fall; it was then renamed "Carefree." Consequently they could concentrate forces on the western frontier and have no worries about the southern route, encroaching on the near suburbs and causing successive courts anxiety day and night. During Zhenyuan, Wei Gao, wishing to manage the Hehuang region, needed to begin with this city; he exhausted elite troops numbering tens of thousands in fierce attacks for several years. The Tibetans, valuing it greatly, sent their maternal uncle Lun Mangre to its aid. The battlements were high and steep, making assault towers unable to reach the layered clouds; the winding bird paths caused many brave warriors to be crushed by rolling stones. Unable to display the ingenuity of Gongshu Ban, they merely captured Mangre and returned empty-handed. Later, when the Southern Man turned ungrateful and swept through plundering the land, I had just arrived in Western Shu. Public sentiment was unsettled; outwardly we had to display the state's majesty, while internally we had to organize border defenses. The people of Weizhou, trusting my orders, offered their allegiance. I informed them that we must await memorialization to the throne, hoping to ascertain their true intentions. Xin Tuanmo soon led the entire garrison of the city, along with the prefectural seal, armor, and weapons, filling the roads in succession and emptying the walls to return to my allegiance. I greatly deployed the yamen troops to receive their surrender. The Southern Man envoys present did not dare to look up. Furthermore, the Eight States of the Western Mountains, separated by this prefecture, though bearing the titles of envoys, had all become empty words. The various Qiang tribes had long suffered under Tibetan conscription and labor and wished to become subjects of the great kingdom. After Weizhou surrendered, they all said that if they merely received a letter and cap from me, they would submit in succession. The Tibetan frontier towns of Heshui, Qiji, and others, having lost their strategic stronghold, would naturally have to withdraw, allowing us to reduce garrison troops in eight places and effortlessly recover a thousand li of former territory. I saw immense benefit—the very foundation for restoration. I subsequently submitted a detailed memorial requesting rewards. I personally bestowed brocade robes and golden belts upon them, eagerly awaiting the imperial edict. Moreover, in the year before Weizhou under Tibet surrendered, they had still besieged Luzhou. Judging by this, how could they be keeping the covenant? Furthermore, I never used military force to attack and seize it; they came to surrender moved by our influence. Also, those who obstructed the proposal did not know the facts. The Dog Rong are slow-witted; their land is vast and sparsely populated. Whenever they wish to invade our borders in autumn, they must gather provisions for several years beforehand. For over a month after I obtained Weizhou, not a single envoy from them entered our territory. After this they should have been terrified. How could there be fear of their future resentment, inciting these idle words? When I accepted their surrender, I swore by heaven. How could I bear to abandon faith and seek personal ease by sacrificing the lives of over three hundred people? I repeatedly submitted memorials begging for compassionate pardon. The reply edict was stern and severe, ultimately ordering them seized and returned; moreover they were bound in fetters and carried on bamboo baskets. When they were about to set off on the road, they cried out to heaven in grievance. The officers and officials facing me could not hold back their tears. Those escorting them were ridiculed by the Tibetan commander, who said: "Since you have already surrendered to them, why send them back?" Then they took these surrendered people and slaughtered them on the Han border, indulging in cruel acts to solidify alienation among those who might defect. They even threw their infants and caught them on spear points. I have heard that King Ling of Chu deceitfully killed the Manzi, which the Spring and Autumn Annals clearly criticizes; King Wen of Zhou externally sent away Deng Shu, which the historical records deeply condemn. How much more for a great kingdom to betray such outsiders, sever the path of loyal submission, and gratify cruel and tyrannical sentiments? Since antiquity there has never been such a thing. I am truly pained that Xin Tuanmo and the entire city suffered such cruelty, and that through me these innocents were entrapped. I beg to comfort their loyal souls and specially confer posthumous honors upon them.
37
The emperor was deeply grieved and soon bestowed posthumous honors.
38
使 歿
That year Deyu was additionally appointed acting Minister over the Masses. In the fourth month Liu Congjian, military governor of Zelu, died. The army had his nephew Liu Zhen take charge of the post on his own, and the three armies petitioned for the commission of command. The emperor took counsel with his chancellors on whether to grant the request. Deyu said: "Zelu lies within the empire's heartland, unlike the Hebei circuits. Every prior appointment to command had gone to scholar-officials. When Li Baozhen first raised this army, Dezong after his death still refused hereditary succession and sent Li Jian to escort the funeral train to Luoyang. By the time Liu Wu held the post, in the Changqing years he had grown quite autonomous. Jingzong's lax rule allowed Congjian to inherit in the end.
39
便 使 便 便
Early in Kai Cheng he massed troops at his eldest son's base, planning to raise Jinyang's armies to cleanse the court; he was intimate with Zheng Zhu and Li Xun, pledging loyalty in public while secretly watching for his chance. As soon as illness took him he put Liu Zhen in charge of the army. If we do not strike, how can we command the realm? If we indulge them and confirm the succession, every garrison will follow suit—and imperial authority will slip away forever." The emperor asked: "Do you reckon the campaign is sure to win?" He answered: "Liu Zhen's strength is nothing but the three Hebei circuits. If Weibo stays out of his camp, he can be broken for certain. Send a senior minister to proclaim the throne's will: Zelu will receive its governor on terms unlike the three circuits. Since the troubles began, every sage emperor has allowed the three circuits to pass command from father to son—it is settled custom. Now the court means to march against Zhen, but the central armies are reluctant to leave the capital region for the east. Let Weibo take the three eastern prefectures with its own forces." The emperor agreed and sent Vice Censor-in-Chief Li Hui to announce the policy to the three circuits. The edict to Weibo read: "Do not plot for your heirs and cling to the mutual grip of wagon and linchpin." He Hongjing and Wang Yuankui took the edict and submitted at once. At first debate court officials flooded in with memorials urging Congjian's precedent and a peaceful succession; even among the four chancellors some argued that war was unwise. Deyu wrote: "If the campaign fails, let the blame fall on me alone—not on Li Shen, Li Rangyi, or the others." Once Hongjing and Yuankui took the field, Deyu memorialized again: "From Zhenyuan through Taihe, whenever the court suppressed rebellion it summoned allies from every circuit. The moment they crossed a border the treasury fed them—yet they dawdled and stalled until the state was drained. Some secretly dealt with the enemy, seizing a single county or stockade and calling it victory—that is why campaigns failed. Now restrain Yuankui and Hongjing: let them recover prefectural seats only, not ravage counties and towns." The emperor agreed. Wang Zai and Shi Xiong pressed the attack for a year without reducing Zelu. When Hongjing and Yuankui recovered Xing, Ming, and Ci, Zhen's party broke apart and the rebellion was crushed—exactly as Deyu had foreseen.
40
使 使 使 便
The imperial campaign against Zelu was still under way. In the twelfth month of year 3 the Hengshui garrison at Taiyuan, ordered to transfer to Yüshe, mutinied, marched into Taiyuan, expelled Military Governor Li Shi, and made their commandant Yang Bian acting governor. Wuzong, with Liu Zhen still unbeaten and Taiyuan in revolt, grew deeply uneasy. He dispatched the palace envoy Ma Yuanguan to Taiyuan to announce the court's will and spy out the situation. Yuanguan took Yang Bian's bribes and meant to shield him. In the first month of year 4 he returned and reported: "Yang Bian's host is immense—from the headquarters gate to Liuzi the ranks stretch more than fifteen li, bright armor sweeping the ground." Deyu replied: "Li Shi, finding the city bare, had only drawn fifteen hundred Hengshui men to Yüshe—how could he overnight muster fifteen li of steel?" Yuanguan said: "The men of Jin are fierce; any of them can fight—pay enough and they will come." Deyu said: "Recruits cost money. Yesterday's mutiny began over a single bolt of silk owed. Li Shi could not pay it—where would Yang Bian find the gold? Besides, Taiyuan owns one suit of mail for the campaign army—how could fifteen li of gleaming plate appear?" Yuanguan had no answer. Deyu insisted: "Yang Bian is a trifling bandit and must not be spared! If our strength will not stretch, let Liu Zhen go—but not this man." He immediately asked for edicts: Wang Feng was to rally the Yüshe troops; Wang Yuankui was to enter by Tumen and join forces at Taiyuan. Hedong's supervisory commissioner Lü Yizhong heard and the same day called up Yüshe's native troops, killed Yang Bian, and reported success.
41
使 使
From winter of Kai Cheng 5, when the Uyghurs reached Tiantede, to the eighth month of Huichang 4, when Zelu fell—five years in all—strategy, the choice of commanders, army edicts, and the flood of memorials: every dispatch and every order was Deyu's alone. The other chancellors had no share. For his service he was made acting Grand Preceptor, enfeoffed as Duke of Weiguo with three thousand households. In year 5, after Wuzong took his honorific epithet, Deyu repeatedly asked to retire; the throne refused. After more than a month of illness he pressed to leave the Secretariat and was sent out as chief minister by title, concurrently prefect of Jiangling and military governor of Jingnan. Within months he was recalled to govern again. When Xuanzong took the throne, Deyu was dismissed from the chancellorship and made Eastern Capital intendant and commissioner for the eastern metropolitan Runan defense.
42
Deyu had stood in Wuzong's special trust, holding the levers of power. In counsel and in war he scarcely misstepped; he took hardship on himself, and his achievements fed the realm. When Wuzong died, men of malice set themselves to tear down what he had built. Bai Minzhong and Linghu Tao: in Huichang Deyu had not treated them as factional foes but seated them in the Secretariat and favored them generously. When Deyu fell they rubbed their hands and joined blades to expel him; Cui Xuan too, removed from office late in Huichang, nursed a grudge.
43
Early in Dazhong, Minzhong restored Xuan to the Secretariat; together they manufactured charges and set their man Li Xian to accuse Deyu of hidden crimes from his years in power. Deyu was stripped of the intendant post and made Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, serving at Luoyang—in the autumn of Dazhong 1. Soon he was demoted again, to vice-prefect of Chaozhou. Minzhong's circle also had Wu Runa, former lieutenant of Yongning county, petition that Li Shen had misjudged capital cases while governing Yangzhou. The following winter he was demoted once more, to registrar of Chaozhou. Demoted, in Dazhong 2 he traveled from Luoyang by river through the Jiang and Huai toward Chaozhou. That winter he reached Chaoyang and was banished farther, to registrar of Yazhou. Not until the first month of year 3 did he reach Zhuya commandery. He died in the twelfth month, at sixty-three.
44
西
Deyu trusted his talent and stood apart from his peers. He loved books and essays, honored the worthy and despised the wicked; even at the pinnacle of office he never stopped reading. One Liu Sanfu excelled at memorial drafts and won his special regard. From his first posting in Zhexi through the Huai campaigns, Sanfu sat at his council table. Beyond military duty they spent whole days in verse together. In his Chang'an mansion he built a separate drafting court. Within it stood the Pavilion of Concentrated Thought; whenever the throne went to war and edicts had to be shaped, he sat alone in that pavilion, brush in hand, attendants barred from the work. South of Yique, east of Luoyang, he laid out the Pingquan villa: clear water, green bamboo, stone and timber strange and still. Before he took office he had studied there. Once he marched to the provinces and returned to the council he did not walk those paths again for thirty years, yet every poem he sent back was cut into stone. Two inscribed stones remain: the Record of Flowers and Trees and the Register of Songs and Poems. His collected writings ran to twenty juan. For history he left the Sequel to the Liu Family's Old Book, Essentials for Serving Ministers, Record of Supplanting Rebellion, and Record of Offerings and Replacements in circulation.
45
祿 宿 西 西 西
Even in the first rush of exile to Chaozhou he kept writing; several dozen miscellaneous prefaces, gathered as Records of Utter Want. His "Discourse on Hidden Destiny" states: Confucius seldom spoke of fate and did not speak of spirits—not because they do not exist. He wished people to strictly uphold the Three Bonds, revere the Five Constants, cultivate heavenly virtue and thereby attain human rank—not to place faith in wealth and honor as decreed by heaven's mandate, nor to entrust fortune and emolument to hidden destiny. In the past the divination of Wei harmonized with the sands and soldiers, and its posthumous title was long determined; the passes of Qin connected to Lintao, yet the naming of its sons showed no understanding; Chaoge had not yet fallen, yet the state flowed with the crimson crow; the White Emperor was still present, yet Han severed the white snake. All were omens that manifested first, with corresponding signs appearing later, which cannot be fathomed by wisdom. The Duke of Zhou and Confucius united their virtue with heaven and earth and were in harmony with the spirits; the numbers of the future held no secrets from them. Yet the wolf stumbled in Zhou and the phoenix declined in Chu—was it not that the duty of kinship could not be abandoned and the teachings of human relations could not be neglected? The nobility of Marquis Tiao and the wealth of Deng Tong—they could have died by arms or in the women's chambers, yet it was most unfitting that they should end in starvation; this again cannot be comprehended by reason. When fate coincides with the opportune moment, those who usurp name and rank say fortune and misfortune issue from their own minds and glory and decay are born from their lips. Complacent and at ease, suddenly laughing, they never know that the yellow oriole sporting in the lush tree has the catapult wielder behind it. In the year Yichou I was travelling from Jing-Chu to oversee the Eastern Capital, passing through Fangcheng. There was a recluse trapped in the muddy path, not knowing where he was going, who said to the chief of Fangcheng: "Two years after this official takes up his guardianship post, he will travel ten thousand li to the south." Then I knew that those who resented me would surely invoke heaven's condemnation, and those who slandered me were devising schemes like ghosts. Although I harbored the utmost grievance, I bore no hatred. I have three times encountered extraordinary men—not diviners or invocators, but all men who had withdrawn from the world. When I first held the post of recorder at the Northern Gate, a recluse from Guancen said to me: "Next year you will be by the sovereign's side in a literary and scholarly post, and you must serve a young ruler." Hearing this, I was startled and changed color; the recluse also regretted his slip of the tongue, rose from his mat, and asked to leave. I asked: "Why must I serve a young ruler?" He replied: "You and the young ruler already have a karmic bond from a past life." That autumn I ascended to court, and by the following first month Muzong succeeded to the throne and summoned me into the forbidden palace precincts. When I became vice censor-in-chief, a recluse from Min knocked at my gate requesting an audience. I set out a couch and spoke with him, saying: "Current affairs will not last long. If you, sir, do not leave early, by winter you will certainly become chief minister and calamity will befall you. If you urgently request an external post, then the one who replaces you will suffer the disaster. Ten years from now you will ultimately become chief minister, entering from the west." That autumn I went out to govern Wumen at the age of thirty-six. After eight years I again wielded the battle-axe in Nanyan. In late autumn a townsman named Yu Sheng brought a Daoist priest from Ye Commandery. He had just ascended the steps, before I could even invite him to be seated, when he said to me: "You, sir, will become military governor of the southwest. Before the full moon of the first winter month, the tally and insignia will arrive." All three of these prophecies coincided with events, not missing by a year or a month. From the Censorate, after exactly ten years, I occupied the chief ministership, entering from Western Shu; the one who replaced me in upholding the Censorate was soon also exiled. Only when I was exiled a second time to the southern wilds had no previously knowledgeable gentleman foretold it for me. Could it be that misfortunes which cannot be shifted are secrets of the divine way, not to be foreknown?
46
Such was his own preface. The piece is meant to warn the reckless and ambitious, and so it is set down at the close of his story.
47
歿
Deyu had three sons. The eldest, Ye, served as acting Vice Director in the Sacrificial Affairs Bureau and as aide to the Bian-Song-Bo observation commissioner. In Dazhong 2, implicated in his father's fall, he was demoted to lieutenant of Lishan county in Xiangzhou. The two younger boys were still children; they followed their father to Yazhou and died there. Ye, early in Xiantong, was transferred to lieutenant of Chen county in Chenzhou and died at Guiyang. His son was Yangu. [Historian's appraisal] The historiographer writes: In my boyhood I often heard old men tell of Duke Wei's deeds. The emperor then was martial and keen of judgment; the Duke too risked himself in person, repaying singular trust. Counsel was heeded, campaigns succeeded—lord and minister in a bond that comes once in a thousand years. Watch him thread the inner court with policy, open debate in the hall, read the enemy and seize victory with a mind that answered to no one—like Yang Youji's arrows, none falling short: a genius of the age. In letters he stood where Yan Anguo and Sima Xiangru lend the wheel; in statecraft Xiao He and Cao Shen would leave the mat. To charge him with seizing power is to press the indictment too far. What one may question is that he could not lay down old scores, repay injury with kindness, set aside the quarrel of right and wrong, or see foe and self as one within the round. That he fought market-town rivals over pennies and ended in the southern mists—there is heartbreak in that. The ancients said: a man who grabs gold beneath the capital forgets the crowd; Li Lou cannot see his own lashes. A talent, yes—but the Way is another matter. [Appraisal] The appraisal reads: His wit and resolve were keen as the Qingping sword. He shattered barbarians and rebels, swept the withered and poured from the eaves—irresistible. Triumph at the northern palace; bones in the southern ocean. Alas for the Hall of Portraits in mist—who will brush him into the scroll?
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