1
列傳第一百三十一史憲誠史憲誠，其先出於奚虜，今爲靈武建康人。 祖道德，開府儀同三司、試太常卿、上柱國、懷澤郡王。 父周洛，爲魏博軍校，事田季安，至兵馬大使、銀青光祿大夫、檢校太子賓客、兼御史中丞、柱國、北海郡王。 憲誠始以材勇，隨父歷軍中右職，兼監察御史。 元和中，田弘正討李師道，令憲誠以先鋒四千人濟河，累下其城柵。 復以大軍齊進，乘勢逐北，魏之全師迫於鄆之城下。 師道窮蹙，劉悟斬首投魏軍。 錄功，超授憲誠兼中丞。
Biography 131: Shi Xiancheng. The Xiancheng family originally sprang from the Xi people; in his day Shi Xiancheng was reckoned a man of Jiankang in Lingwu. His grandfather Daode had served as Grand General of the Palace with the Honorary Three Excellencies, Acting Minister of Ceremonies, Pillar of the State, and Prince of Huaize. His father Zhouluo was a Weibo army officer under Tian Ji'an and eventually rose to command the army's horse and foot, with the ranks of Silver-Gleaming Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, Acting Crown Prince's Guest, Concurrent Censor-in-Chief, Pillar of the State, and Prince of Beihai. Xiancheng first made his name through ability and valor, serving beside his father in senior army posts while also holding the post of Investigating Censor. During the Yuanhe reign, when Tian Hongzheng marched against Li Shidao, he sent Xiancheng ahead with four thousand vanguard troops to cross the Yellow River and take one fortified camp after another. The main army then advanced in concert, riding the momentum of victory in a northward pursuit until Wei's full force was pinned beneath the walls of Yan. With Shidao driven to desperation, Liu Wu cut off his head and presented it to the Wei forces. When his merits were entered on the rolls, Xiancheng was promoted out of turn to concurrent Censor-in-Chief.
2
鎮州王承宗死，弘正自魏移領鎮州。 居數月，爲王廷湊所殺，遂以兵叛。 朝廷以弘正子布爲魏博節度使，領兵討伐，俾復父冤。 時幽州硃克融援助廷湊，布不能制，因自引決，軍情囂然。
When Wang Chengzong of Zhenzhou died, Hongzheng left Wei to assume command of Zhenzhou. Within a few months Hongzheng was murdered by Wang Tingcou, who then rose in armed rebellion. The court made Hongzheng's son Bu military governor of Weibo and sent him to campaign against the rebels, that he might avenge his father's death. Zhu Kerong of Youzhou was then aiding Tingcou; Bu could not master the army, took his own life, and the troops fell into uproar.
3
憲誠爲中軍都知兵馬使，乘亂以河朔舊事動其人心，諸軍即擁而歸魏，共立爲帥，國家因而命之。 時克融、廷湊並據兵爲亂，憲誠喜得旄節，雖外順朝旨，而中與硃、王爲輔車之勢，長慶二年正月也。
Xiancheng, as chief controller of the central army's horse and foot, used the disorder to appeal to the old ways of the Hebei garrisons; the troops at once rallied back to Wei, set him up as their leader, and the throne confirmed the appointment. Kerong and Tingcou were both in arms against the court; Xiancheng was delighted to receive the commander's baton and banner. Outwardly he followed the court's orders, yet inwardly he and Zhu and Wang lent each other the support of linked chariots — all this in the first month of the second year of Changqing.
4
尋遣司門郎中韋文恪宣慰。 時李㝏爲亂，與憲誠書問交通。 憲誠表請與㝏節鉞，仍於黎陽艤舟，示欲渡河。 及見文恪，舉止驕倨，其言甚悖。 旋聞絺爲帳下所殺，乃從改過，謂文恪曰：「憲誠蕃人，猶狗也，唯能識主。 雖被棒打，終不忍離。」 其狡譎如此。 朝廷每爲優容，尋加左僕射。 敬宗即位，進秩司空。
Before long the court sent Wei Wenke of the Gate Division, Bureau of State Affairs, as an envoy to offer consolation and reassurance. Li Qi was then in rebellion and kept up a correspondence with Xiancheng. Xiancheng memorialized asking for the same command baton as Qi, and moored boats at Liyang as if preparing to cross the river. When he received Wenke, his manner was haughty and his words openly defiant. When he soon heard that Qi had been killed by his own officers, he changed his tune and told Wenke, "Xiancheng is a barbarian — no better than a dog — and a dog knows only its master. Beat him as you will with a stick, yet he cannot bear to leave his master's side. Such was the depth of his cunning. The court repeatedly indulged him, and soon promoted him to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. When Emperor Jingzong came to the throne, Xiancheng was advanced to Grand Minister of Works.
5
太和二年，滄景節度使李全略卒，其子同捷竊據軍城，表邀符節，舉兵伐之。 先是，憲誠與全略婚媾，及同捷叛，復潛以糧餉爲助。 上屢發使申諭，尋又就加平章事。 憲誠嘗遣驍將至闕下，恣爲張大，宰相韋處厚以語折剉之，憲誠不敢復與同捷爲應。 時憲誠示出師共討同捷。 及滄景平，加司徒。 憲誠心不自安，乃遣子孝章入覲，又飛章願以所管奉命。 上嘉之。 乃加侍中，移鎮河中。 憲誠素懷向背，不能以忠誠感激其眾。 未及出城，太和三年六月二十六日夜，爲軍眾所害，冊贈太尉。 憲誠子孝章孝章，幼聰悟好學。 元和中，李醞爲魏帥，取大將子弟列於軍籍。 孝章倡言願效文職，醞奇之，令攝府參軍。 及憲誠領節鉞，改士曹參軍、兼監察御史，賜緋。 孝章以父在鎮多違朝旨，嘗雪涕極諫，備陳逆順之理。 朝廷聞而嘉之，乃授檢校太子左諭德、兼侍御史，充節度副使。 累遷至散騎常侍、兼御史大夫，賜紫。 領本道兵同平滄景，加工部尚書。 尋請赴闕，文宗慰勞甚厚，憲誠亦因懇乞朝覲。 上知憲誠之入覲，自孝章之謀，遂加禮部尚書，分相、衞、澶三州別爲一鎮，俾孝章領之。 孝章未到鎮，憲誠遇害。 上以孝章有忠節，起復爲右金吾衞將軍。 間歲，授鄜坊節度使。 居四年，遷於滑。 一歲，入爲右領軍大將軍，改右金吾大將軍，俄授邠寧節度。
In the second year of Taihe, Li Quanlue, military governor of Cangjing, died; his son Tongjie seized the garrison city and memorialized for the commander's seal and baton, whereupon the court mobilized an army against him. Xiancheng had earlier been linked to Quanlue by marriage; when Tongjie rebelled, he again secretly supplied him with grain and fodder. The emperor sent envoys again and again to warn him, and soon added the title of Grand Councilor as well. Xiancheng once sent bold generals to the capital who swaggered without restraint; Grand Councilor Wei Chuhou put them down with sharp words, and Xiancheng no longer dared to act in concert with Tongjie. For a time Xiancheng made a show of marching out to join the campaign against Tongjie. When Cangjing was pacified, he was made Grand Tutor. Uneasy in his own mind, Xiancheng sent his son Xiaozhang to court and dispatched urgent memorials offering to place his command under the throne's orders. The emperor praised his loyalty. He was made Palace Attendant and transferred to Hezhong. Xiancheng had long wavered between loyalty and defiance and could not win his troops over with steadfast devotion. Before he could even leave the city, on the night of the twenty-sixth day of the sixth month in the third year of Taihe, his own soldiers killed him; the court posthumously enfeoffed him as Grand Preceptor. Xiancheng's son Xiaozhang was clever from childhood and devoted to study. During the Yuanhe reign, when Li Yun commanded Wei, he enrolled the sons of senior generals on the army rolls. Xiaozhang spoke up saying he wished to serve in the civil branch; Yun was impressed and appointed him acting headquarters adjutant. When Xiancheng took the command baton, Xiaozhang was made Staff Officer of the Personnel Section and concurrent Investigating Censor, with scarlet robes bestowed on him. Seeing that his father at his post often defied the court, Xiaozhang once wept as he remonstrated with all his strength, laying out in full the difference between loyalty and treason. When the court heard of this it praised him and appointed him Acting Left Mentor of the Heir Apparent, concurrent Attending Censor, and deputy military governor. He rose in time to Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary and concurrent Censor-in-Chief, and was granted purple robes. He led his circuit's troops in the pacification of Cangjing and was made Minister of Public Works. He soon asked leave to come to court; Emperor Wenzong received him with generous praise, and Xiancheng too pressed his petition to attend in person. The emperor understood that Xiancheng's wish to attend court came from Xiaozhang's counsel; he therefore made Xiaozhang Minister of Rites, carved out Xiang, Wei, and Chan as a separate command, and put Xiaozhang in charge of it. Before Xiaozhang could reach his new command, Xiancheng was killed. The emperor, honoring Xiaozhang's loyal conduct, recalled him from mourning to be General of the Right Jinwu Guard. A year later he was made military governor of Yan-Fang. After four years he was transferred to Hua. After a year he came to court as Grand General of the Right Leading Army, was reassigned as Grand General of the Right Jinwu Army, and soon received the Bian-Ning command.
6
孝章歷三鎮，雖無異績，而謹身畏法，以保初終。 開成三年十月卒，贈右僕射。 何進滔何進滔，靈武人也。 曾祖孝物，祖俊，並本州軍校。 父默，夏州衙前兵馬使，檢校太子賓客，試太常卿。 以進滔之貴，贈左散騎常侍。 進滔客寄於魏，委質軍門，事節度使田弘正。 弘正奉詔討鄆州，破李師道，時進滔爲衙內都知兵馬使，以功授兼侍御史。 太和三年，軍眾害史憲誠，連聲而呼曰：「得衙內都知兵馬使何端公知留後，即三軍安矣。」 推而立之。 朝廷因授進滔左散騎常侍、魏博等州節度觀察處置等使。 爲魏帥十餘年，大得民情，累官至司徒、平章事卒。 進滔子弘敬子弘敬襲其位。 朝廷時遣河中帥李執方、滄州帥劉約各遣使勸令歸闕，別俟朝旨。 弘敬不從，竟就加節制。 及劉稹反，不時起兵。 鎮州王元逵下邢、洺二州，兵次上黨，弘敬方出師壓境。 大中後，宣宗務其姑息，繼加官爵，亦至使相。 咸通初，卒。 子全皞嗣之。 朝廷尋降符節，累官亦至同平章事。 十一年，爲軍人所害。 子孫相繼，四十餘年。 韓允忠韓允忠，魏州人也。 舊名君雄，懿宗改賜今名。 父國昌，歷本州右職。 會昌中，從何弘敬破劉稹，以功爲貝州刺史、兼御史中丞。 以允忠故，累贈兵部尚書。 允忠少仕軍門，繼升裨校。 潞州之役，亦與其行。 咸通十一年，何全皞爲軍眾所殺，推允忠爲帥。 時僖宗爲普王，即降詔遙領節度，授允忠左散騎常侍、兼御史中丞，充節度觀察留後。 不數月，轉檢校工部尚書、魏州大都督府長史、充魏博節度觀察等使。 累加至檢校司空、同平章事。 乾符元年十一月卒，年六十一。 累贈太尉。 允忠子簡子簡，自允忠初授戎帥，便爲節度副使。 乾符初，累官至檢校工部尚書。 允忠卒，即起復爲節度觀察留後。 逾月，加檢校右僕射。 其後累加至侍中，封昌黎郡王。
Xiaozhang held three commands; though he won no striking victories, he kept himself within the law and preserved his position from first to last. He died in the tenth month of the third year of Kaicheng and was posthumously made Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. He Jintao. He Jintao came from Lingwu. His great-grandfather Xiaowu and his grandfather Jun had both been army officers in their home prefecture. His father Mo had served as horse-and-foot commissioner before the Xiazhou yamen, with the ranks of Acting Crown Prince's Guest and Acting Minister of Ceremonies. When Jintao rose to high rank, Mo was posthumously made Left Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary. Jintao had settled in Wei as an outsider, pledged himself to the army, and served under the military governor Tian Hongzheng. When Hongzheng marched on Yanzhou by imperial order and broke Li Shidao, Jintao was chief controller of horse and foot in the headquarters guard and was made concurrent Attending Censor for his service. In the third year of Taihe the soldiers killed Shi Xiancheng and cried out together, "Let Lord He of Duan, chief controller of the headquarters guard, take charge as acting governor, and the three armies will be settled." They pressed him forward and set him up as their leader. The court thereupon appointed Jintao Left Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary and military governor, observation commissioner, and disposition commissioner of Weibo and the associated prefectures. He commanded Wei for more than ten years and won deep popular affection, rose through the ranks to Grand Tutor and Grand Councilor, and died in office. Jintao's son Hongjing succeeded to his father's post. The court had Li Zhifang of Hezhong and Liu Yue of Cangzhou each send envoys urging him to come to court and await further imperial orders. Hongjing refused, and in the end received the full command baton anyway. When Liu Zhen rebelled, he failed to mobilize his troops promptly. Wang Yuankui of Zhenzhou had already taken Xing and Ming and halted his army at Shangdang before Hongjing at last marched out to menace the frontier. After the Dazhong reign, Emperor Xuanzong treated him with deliberate indulgence, heaping rank upon rank until he too stood among the commissioners who held councilor titles. Early in the Xiantong reign he died. His son Quanhao succeeded him. The court soon granted him the commander's seal and baton, and in time he too rose to Concurrent Grand Councilor. In the eleventh year of his rule his own soldiers killed him. Father and son held the post in succession for more than forty years. Han Yunzhong. Han Yunzhong came from Weizhou. He had formerly been called Junxiong; Emperor Yizong granted him his present name. His father Guochang had held senior posts in the prefecture. During the Huichang reign he followed He Hongjing in the defeat of Liu Zhen and for his service was made prefect of Bei and concurrent Censor-in-Chief. On Yunzhong's account, Guochang was repeatedly promoted posthumously to Minister of War. Yunzhong entered military service young and rose through the ranks to staff officer. He also took part in the campaign against Luzhou. In the eleventh year of Xiantong, when He Quanhao was killed by his soldiers, they set Yunzhong up as their leader. Emperor Xizong was then still Prince of Pu; an edict at once named him to hold the command in absentia and appointed Yunzhong Left Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary, concurrent Censor-in-Chief, and acting military governor and observation commissioner. Within a few months he was made Acting Minister of Public Works, chief administrator of the superior prefecture of Weizhou, and military governor and observation commissioner of Weibo. He rose in time to Acting Grand Minister of Works and Concurrent Grand Councilor. He died in the eleventh month of the first year of Qianfu, at the age of sixty-one. He was repeatedly promoted posthumously to Grand Preceptor. Yunzhong's son Jian had served as deputy military governor from the moment his father first took command. By the opening of the Qianfu reign he had risen to Acting Minister of Public Works. When Yunzhong died, Jian was recalled from mourning at once to serve as acting military governor and observation commissioner. After a month he was made Acting Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. He was later promoted to Palace Attendant and enfeoffed as Prince of Changli.
7
賊巢之亂，諸葛爽受其偽命河陽節度使。 時僖宗在蜀，寇盜蜂起，簡據有六州，甲兵強盛，竊懷僭亂之志，且欲啟其封疆，乃舉兵攻河陽，爽棄城而走。 簡遂留兵保守，因北掠邢、洺而歸，遂移軍攻鄆。 鄆帥曹全晸出戰，爲簡所敗，死之。 鄆將崔君裕收合殘眾，保鄆州。 簡進攻其城，半年不下，河陽復爲諸葛爽所襲。 簡因欲先討君裕，次及河陽，乃舉兵至鄆，君裕請降。 尋移軍復攻河陽，行及新鄕，爲爽軍逆擊，敗之。 簡單騎奔回，憂憤。 疽發背而卒，時中和元年十一月也。 樂彥禎樂彥禎，魏州人也。 父少寂，歷澶、博、貝三州刺史，贈工部尚書。 彥禎少爲本州軍校。 韓簡之領節旄也，以彥禎爲馬歩軍都虞候，轉博州刺史。 下河陽，走諸葛爽。 有功，遷澶州刺史。 簡再討河陽之敗也。 彥禎以一軍先歸，魏人遂共立之。 朝廷尋授檢校工部尚書，知魏博留後。 俄加戸部尚書，充節度觀察處置等使。 中和四年，累加至尚書左僕射、同平章事。 僖宗自蜀回，加開府儀同三司，冊拜司徒。
During Huang Chao's rebellion, Zhuge Shuang accepted a bogus appointment from him as military governor of Heyang. The emperor was then in Shu while rebels swarmed the land. Jian held six prefectures and a powerful army; nursing secret ambitions of rebellion and eager to enlarge his domain, he marched on Heyang, and Shuang abandoned the city and fled. Jian left troops to hold Heyang, raided north through Xing and Ming, then turned his army against Yan. Cao Quanzhen, governor of Yan, marched out to meet him, was defeated, and was killed. The Yan officer Cui Junyu rallied the survivors and held Yanzhou. Jian besieged the city for half a year without success, while Heyang was seized again by Zhuge Shuang. Jian resolved to deal with Junyu first and Heyang afterward; he marched on Yan, and Junyu offered to surrender. He soon marched on Heyang again, but near Xinxing Shuang's troops met him head-on and routed him. Jian fled back alone on horseback, sick with grief and rage. A carbuncle broke out between his shoulders and he died, in the eleventh month of the first year of Zhonghe. Le Yanzhen. Le Yanzhen came from Weizhou. His father Shaoji had governed Chan, Bo, and Bei in turn and was posthumously made Minister of Public Works. Yanzhen began his career as an army officer in his home prefecture. When Han Jian took command, he made Yanzhen chief commandant of the horse and foot armies and later made him prefect of Bo. He captured Heyang and drove Zhuge Shuang from the field. For this service he was transferred to Chan. This was during Han Jian's second, failed campaign against Heyang. Yanzhen brought one division home ahead of the rest, and the men of Wei promptly set him up as their leader. The court soon made him Acting Minister of Public Works and acting governor of Weibo. He was soon made Minister of Revenue and full military governor, observation commissioner, and disposition commissioner. By the fourth year of Zhonghe he had risen to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and Concurrent Grand Councilor. When Emperor Xizong returned from Shu, Yanzhen received the honorary rank of Grand General of the Palace with the Three Excellencies and was enfeoffed as Grand Tutor.
8
彥禎志滿驕大，動多不法。 一旦征六州之眾，板築羅城，約河門舊堤，周八十里，月餘而畢，人用怨咨。 彥禎子從訓又其子從訓天資悖逆。 王鐸自滑移鎮滄州，過魏郊，從訓見其女妓，利之，先伏兵於漳南高雞泊，俟鐸之至，圍而害之，掠其所有。 時朝廷微弱，不能詰。 魏人素知鐸名望，議者惜之，而罪從訓。 從訓又召亡命之徒五百餘輩，出入臥內，號爲「子將」，委以腹心。 軍人籍籍，各有異議。 從訓聞而忌之，易服遁出，止於近縣。 彥禎因命爲六州都指揮使。 未幾，又兼相州刺史。 到任之後，般輦軍器，取索錢帛，使人來往，交午塗路，軍府疑貳。
Once his ambitions were satisfied, Yanzhen grew proud and overbearing, and his conduct was often lawless. On one occasion he drafted the levies of all six prefectures to build an outer wall along the old Hemen embankment, eighty li around; though the work took only a month, the people groaned under it. Yanzhen's son Congxun was violent and defiant by nature. When Wang Duo was transferred from Hua to Cangzhou and passed through Wei's borderlands, Congxun saw his female entertainers and coveted them. He ambushed troops at Gaojipo south of Zhang, surrounded Duo when he arrived, killed him, and looted all he possessed. The court was then too weak to call him to account. The men of Wei had long respected Duo's standing; public opinion mourned him and condemned Congxun. Congxun also gathered more than five hundred outlaws who moved freely in and out of his private quarters, styled them "son-commanders," and treated them as his inner circle. Rumors spread through the ranks, and opinion was divided. Hearing of this, Congxun grew wary, disguised himself, slipped away, and lodged in a nearby county. Yanzhen then appointed him commander-in-chief over the six prefectures. Soon afterward he was made concurrent prefect of Xiang as well. Once in office he hauled off military stores and extorted cash and silk until couriers thronged the roads and the headquarters grew uneasy.
9
彥禎危憤而卒，眾推都將趙文㺹知留後事。 從訓自相州領兵三萬餘人至城下，文㺹按兵不出。 眾懷疑懼，復害文㺹，推羅弘信爲帥。 弘信以兵出戰，敗之。 從訓招集餘眾，次於洹水。 弘信遣將程公佐領兵討擊，大敗之，梟從訓首於軍門，時文德元年春也。 羅弘信羅弘信，字德孚，魏州貴鄕人。 曾祖秀，祖珍，父讓，皆爲本州軍校。 弘信少從戎役，歷事節度使韓簡、樂彥禎。 光啟末，彥禎子從訓忌牙軍，出居於外，軍眾廢彥禎，推趙文㺹權主軍州事。 眾復以爲不便，因推弘信爲帥。 先是，有鄰人密謂弘信曰：「某嘗夜遇一白鬚翁，相告雲，君當爲土地主。 如是者再三。」 弘信竊異之。 及廢文㺹，軍人聚呼曰：「孰願爲節度使者？」 弘信即應之曰：「白鬚翁早以命我。」 眾乃環而視之，曰：「可也。」 由是立之。 僖宗聞之，文德元年四月，詔加工部尚書，權知節度留後。 七月，復加金紫光祿大夫、檢校尚書右僕射，充魏博節度觀察處置等使。 龍紀中，加檢校司空、同平章事，封豫章郡公。
Yanzhen died, broken with anger and fear; the troops set up the chief commander Zhao Wenqing to manage affairs as acting governor. Congxun marched from Xiang with more than thirty thousand men and halted beneath the walls; Wenqing kept his army inside and refused battle. The army grew fearful and restless; they killed Wenqing in turn and set up Luo Hongxin as commander. Hongxin took the field and defeated him. Congxun rallied his survivors and encamped on the Huan River. Hongxin sent Cheng Gongzuo in pursuit, routed him utterly, and displayed Congxun's head before the army gate in the spring of the first year of Wende. Luo Hongxin. Luo Hongxin, styled Defu, came from Guixiang in Weizhou. His great-grandfather Xiu, grandfather Zhen, and father Rang had all been army officers in the prefecture. Hongxin entered military service young and served in turn under Han Jian and Le Yanzhen. Late in the Guangqi reign, Congxun, fearing the yajiun, withdrew to an outside post; the soldiers deposed Yanzhen and set Zhao Wenqing to govern the circuit provisionally. The troops soon found this arrangement unsatisfactory and set up Hongxin instead. Earlier a neighbor had told him in private, "One night I met a white-bearded old man who said you would become lord of this land. He said it again and again. Hongxin kept the story to himself and wondered at it. When Wenqing was removed, the soldiers cried out together, "Who will be military governor? Hongxin answered at once, "The white-bearded old man appointed me long ago. The men ringed him round and said, "He will do. So they set him up as their leader. When Emperor Xizong learned of it, in the fourth month of the first year of Wende he was made Minister of Public Works and authorized as acting military governor. In the seventh month he was further made Golden-Gleaming Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, Acting Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, and military governor, observation commissioner, and disposition commissioner of Weibo. During the Longji reign he was made Acting Grand Minister of Works, Concurrent Grand Councilor, and Duke of Yuzhang.
10
乾寧中，朱全忠急攻兗鄆，朱瑄求援於太原。 太原發軍，假道於魏，令大將李存信屯莘縣。 存信御軍無法，侵魏之芻牧，弘信不平之。 全忠復遣人謂之曰：「太原志吞河朔，回戈之日，貴道堪憂。」 弘信乃托好於汴，出師三萬攻存信，敗之。 太原怒，舉兵攻魏，營於觀音門外。 汴將葛從周援之，屯於洹水。 李克用子落落時爲鐵林軍使，爲從周所擒，乃退歸。 自是太原之師，每歲侵擾相、魏，魏人患之。
During Qianning, Zhu Quanzhong pressed Yan and Yun hard, and Zhu Xuan appealed to Taiyuan for help. Taiyuan marched an army through Wei and stationed the great general Li Cunxin at Shen county. Cunxin kept poor discipline and plundered Wei's fodder and pasture, to Hongxin's anger. Quanzhong sent word again: "Taiyuan means to swallow the Hebei region; when it turns homeward, your circuit will be in peril. Hongxin therefore courted Bian, marched out thirty thousand men against Cunxin, and defeated him. Taiyuan was furious, marched on Wei, and encamped outside the Guanyin Gate. Ge Congzhou of Bian came to his relief and encamped on the Huan River. Li Keyong's son Luoluo, then commander of the Iron Forest Army, was captured by Congzhou, and Taiyuan withdrew. Thereafter Taiyuan raided Xiang and Wei year after year, to the great distress of the Wei people.
11
朱全忠方事兗鄆，懼弘信離貳，每歲時賂遺，必卑辭厚禮答貺。 全忠對魏使北面拜而受之，曰：「六兄比予倍年已上，兄弟之國，安得以常鄰遇之。」 弘信以爲厚己，亦推心焉。 弘信累官至檢校太師、守侍中、臨清王。 光化元年九月卒，年六十三，贈太師，追封北平王，謚曰莊肅。 子威。 弘信子威威，字端己。 文德初，授左散騎常侍，充天雄軍節度副使。 自龍紀至乾寧，十年之中，累加官爵。 弘信卒，襲父位爲留後，朝廷從而命之。 天復末，累加至檢校太傅、兼侍中、長沙王。 天祐初，授檢校太尉、守侍中，進封鄴王，賜號「忠勤宣力致理功臣」。
Quanzhong was then busy with Yan and Yun and feared Hongxin might waver; every season he sent gifts, and Hongxin always replied with humble words and lavish return gifts. Quanzhong would face north and bow to receive Wei's gifts, saying, "Sixth Brother is more than twice my age; we are brothers in arms — how could I treat him as an ordinary neighbor? Hongxin took this as genuine regard and gave Quanzhong his full trust in return. Hongxin rose in time to Acting Grand Preceptor, Defender Palace Attendant, and Prince of Linqing. He died in the ninth month of the first year of Guanghua at sixty-three; the court posthumously made him Grand Preceptor, Prince of Beiping, with the posthumous title Zhuangsu. His son was Wei. Hongxin's son Wei, styled Duanji. At the opening of Wende he was made Left Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary and deputy military governor of the Tianxiong Army. From Longji through Qianning he accumulated rank upon rank for ten years. When Hongxin died, Wei succeeded as acting governor, and the court confirmed the appointment. By the end of Tianfu he had risen to Acting Grand Tutor, Concurrent Palace Attendant, and Prince of Changsha. Early in Tianyou he was made Acting Grand Preceptor and Defender Palace Attendant, advanced to Prince of Ye, and granted the title Meritorious Minister of Loyal Diligence in Ordering the Realm.
12
魏之牙中軍者，自至德中，田承嗣盜據相、魏、澶、博、衞、貝等六州，召募軍中子弟置之部下，遂以爲號。 皆豐給厚賜，不勝驕寵。 年代浸遠，父子相襲，親黨膠固。 其凶戾者，強買豪奪，逾法犯令，長吏不能禁。 變易主帥，有同兒戲，如史憲誠、何進滔、韓君雄、樂彥禎，皆爲其所立。 優獎小不如意，則舉族被害。 威懲其往弊，雖以貨賂姑息，而心銜之。
Wei's yajiun, the elite of the central army, dated from the Zhide era, when Tian Chengsi seized Xiang, Wei, Chan, Bo, Wei, and Bei and enrolled soldiers' sons in his personal following under that name. They were lavishly paid and richly favored until pride knew no bounds. Over the generations father succeeded son and kin cliques grew entrenched. The worst among them extorted and seized by force, broke the law with impunity, and their superiors could not restrain them. They changed commanders as casually as children at play; Shi Xiancheng, He Jintao, Han Junxiong, and Le Yanzhen had all been set up by them. If rewards fell the least bit short, whole clans were wiped out. Wei meant to break their old abuses; though he bought them off with gifts, he nursed hatred in his heart.
13
威嗣世之明年，正月，幽州劉仁恭擁兵十萬，謀亂河朔，進陷貝州，長驅攻魏。 威求援於汴。 朱全忠遣將李思安屯於洹水。 葛從周自邢、洺引軍入魏。 燕將劉守文、單可及攻汴軍於內黃。 思安逆戰，大敗之，乘勝追躡。 從周出會掩擊，覆敗燕軍，斬首三萬。 三年，威引汴軍攻滄州以報之。 自是，威感全忠援助之恩，合從景附。
In the first month of the second year of Wei's rule, Liu Rengong of Youzhou marched a hundred thousand men to stir trouble in Hebei, seized Bei, and drove straight at Wei. Wei appealed to Bian for help. Quanzhong sent Li Si'an to encamp on the Huan River. Ge Congzhou marched in from Xing and Ming. The Yan generals Liu Shouwen and Shan Keyi attacked the Bian forces at Neihuang. Si'an met them in battle, routed them, and pursued in victory. Congzhou came out to strike in concert, crushed the Yan army, and took thirty thousand heads. In the third year Wei led Bian's army against Cangzhou in reprisal. From then on Wei, grateful for Quanzhong's aid, clung to him in alliance.
14
天祐二年七月十三日夜，牙軍裨校李公佺作亂，威僅以身免。 公佺出奔滄州。 自是愈懼，遣使求援於全忠，密謀破之。 全忠遣李思安會魏博軍，再攻滄州。 全忠女妻威子廷規，先是卒。 全忠遣長直軍校馬嗣勳選兵千人，密於輿中實兵甲入魏，言助女葬事。 三年正月五日，嗣勳至，全忠親率大軍濟河，言視行營於滄景。 威欲因而出迎，至期，即假全忠帳下銳卒入而夾攻之。 牙軍頗疑，堅請不出。 威恐洩其事，慰納之。 是月十四日夜，率廝養百十輩，與嗣勳合攻之。 時宿於牙城者千人，遲明殺之殆盡； 凡八千家，皆破其族。 魏軍攻滄州者，在歷亭聞有變，其將史仁遇擁之，保於高唐。 六州之內，皆爲讎敵，累月平之。 威仕梁數年後卒，年三十四，位至守太師、兼中書令，贈尚書令，謚曰貞壯。
On the night of the thirteenth day of the seventh month in the second year of Tianyou, the yajiun officer Li Gongquan rebelled, and Wei barely escaped with his life. Gongquan fled to Cangzhou. Thereafter Wei grew ever more fearful, sent to Quanzhong for help, and secretly plotted their destruction. Quanzhong sent Li Si'an to join the Weibo army in a renewed attack on Cangzhou. Quanzhong's daughter had married Wei's son Tinggui and had died earlier. Quanzhong sent Ma Cixun of the long-service guard to choose a thousand men and smuggle arms into Wei in funeral litters, under the pretext of helping bury his daughter. On the fifth day of the first month in the third year Cixun arrived; Quanzhong himself led a great army across the river, saying he meant to inspect the Cangjing front. Wei planned to go out to meet him and, when the day came, borrow Quanzhong's crack troops to enter the city and strike the yajiun from within and without. The yajiun grew suspicious and insisted he not leave the city. Fearing his plot would leak, Wei soothed and reassured them. On the night of the fourteenth he led a hundred-odd personal retainers to join Cixun in the assault. A thousand yajiun were then quartered in the headquarters city; by dawn nearly all had been slaughtered; eight thousand households in all had their clans destroyed. The Wei troops besieging Cangzhou at Liting heard of the upheaval; their commander Shi Renyu held them together and defended Gaotang. Throughout the six prefectures every survivor became an enemy; months passed before order was restored. After several years in Liang service Wei died at thirty-four, having reached Defender Grand Preceptor and Concurrent Director of the Secretariat; the court posthumously made him Director of the Secretariat with the posthumous title Zhenzhuang.
15
威性明敏，達於吏道。 伏膺儒術，招納文人，聚書至萬卷。 每花朝月夕，與賓佐賦詠，甚有情致。 錢塘人羅隱者，有當世詩名，自號「江東生」。 威遣使賂遺，敘其宗姓，推爲叔父。 隱亦集其詩寄之。 威酷嗜其作，目己所爲曰《偷江東集》，凡五卷，今鄴中人士諷詠之。 史臣曰史臣曰：魏、鎮、燕三鎮，不能制之也久矣。 兵強地廣，合從連衡。 爵命雖假於朝廷，群臣自謀於元帥。 如史憲誠等五家，其初皆因此而得之，其後亦因此而失之。 蓋不知取之以權，守之以仁，則遠矣。 若善繼者，史氏、羅氏之二子有焉，其餘不足觀也。 贊贊曰：逆取順守，古亦有之。 如其逆守，滅亡必隨。 史、何、韓、樂，世數盛衰。 足以爲鑒，念茲在茲。
Wei was quick-witted and thoroughly versed in administrative practice. He honored Confucian learning, gathered scholars, and amassed a library of ten thousand scrolls. On spring evenings and moonlit nights he would compose poetry with his guests and staff, always with real elegance and charm. Luo Yin of Qiantang was a poet of his day with a contemporary reputation; he styled himself Jiangdong Sheng. Wei sent envoys with gifts, laid out their shared clan ties, and honored him as an uncle. Yin in turn gathered his own poems and sent them to Wei. Wei adored his poetry, titled his own compositions Collected Poems Stolen from Jiangdong in five volumes, and the people of Ye still recite them. The historiographer writes: The historiographer writes: The three commands of Wei, Zhen, and Yan have long been beyond the court's control. Their armies are strong and their territories vast; they league together in shifting alliances. Though rank and commission come from the throne, the ministers plot their own affairs under the warlords. The five houses, beginning with Shi Xiancheng, first rose by this means and later fell by it as well. They did not understand taking power through expedience and holding it through benevolence — how far they were from that wisdom. Where succession went well, the sons of the Shi and Luo families may serve as examples; the rest are scarcely worth notice. In praise it is said: In praise it is said: To seize by force and rule by righteousness — even antiquity knew such cases. But to hold power through rebellion is to invite ruin without fail. The houses of Shi, He, Han, and Le rose and fell through the generations. Let this be warning enough — and let it be kept ever in mind.