1
古今禦天下者，其政有四：五帝尚仁，體文德也； 三王仗義，立武功也； 五霸崇信，取威令也； 七雄任力，重刑名也。 蓋仁義既廢，然後齊之以威刑； 威刑既衰，而酷吏為用，於是商鞅、李斯譎詐設矣。 持法任術，尊君卑臣，奮其策而鞭撻宇宙，持危救弊，先王不得已而用之，天下之人謂之苛法。 降及兩漢，承其余烈。 於是前有郅都、張湯之徒持其刻，後有董宣、陽球之屬肆其猛。 雖然異代，亦克公方，天下之人謂之酷吏，此又鞅、斯之罪人也！ 然而網既密而奸不勝矣。 夫子曰：「刑罰不中，則人無所措手足。」 誠哉，是言也！
Throughout history, rulers who have held dominion over the realm have pursued four broad styles of governance: the Five Emperors prized benevolence and embodied the civilizing power of culture; the Three Kings relied on righteousness to establish their martial renown; the Five Hegemons upheld covenant and trust to secure awe-inspiring command; the Seven Warring States trusted brute force and elevated harsh penal codes above all else. Once benevolence and righteousness had fallen away, rulers turned to awe and harsh punishment to restore order; when awe and punishment lost their force, cruel officials rose to power, and thus Shang Yang and Li Si devised their schemes of deceit. They upheld the law and wielded statecraft, exalting the sovereign while humbling his ministers, driving their policies like a whip across the realm to shore up a failing order—something the sage kings resorted to only in extremity, though the people called it tyrannical law. By the time of the two Han dynasties, that fierce legacy still burned on. Earlier there had been Zhi Du and Zhang Tang, who wielded that severity; later came Dong Xuan and Yang Qiu, who unleashed its full ferocity. Though they lived in different ages, they too could be sternly impartial, yet the people called them cruel officials—yet another generation of disciples to Shang Yang and Li Si! Yet however tight the net was drawn, wrongdoing was never fully overcome. Confucius said, "When punishments miss the mark, the people do not know where to set hand or foot." How true indeed are those words!
2
唐初革前古之敝，務於勝殘，垂衣而理，且七十載，而人不敢欺。 由是觀之，在彼不在此。 逮則天以女主臨朝，大臣未附； 委政獄吏，剪除宗枝。 於是來俊臣、索元禮、萬國俊、周興、丘神勣、侯思止、郭霸、王弘義之屬，紛紛而出。 然後起告密之刑，制羅織之獄，生人屏息，莫能自固。 至於懷忠蹈義，連頸就戮者，不可勝言。 武後因之坐移唐鼎，天網一舉，而卒籠八荒； 酷之為用，斯害也已。 遂使酷吏之黨，橫噬於朝，制公卿之死命，擅王者之威力。 貴從其欲，毒侈其心，天誅發於脣吻，國柄秉於掌握。 兇慝之士，榮而慕之，身赴鼎鑊，死而無悔。 若是者，何哉？ 要時希旨，見利忘義也！
At the founding of Tang, the court swept away the abuses of earlier ages, striving to overcome cruelty and ruling with effortless grace; for nearly seventy years no one dared to deceive his neighbor. From this one may see that the secret lay in the ruler, not in the instruments of punishment. When Empress Wu came to rule as a female sovereign, the great ministers had not yet rallied to her; she entrusted power to prison officials and cut down the branches of the imperial clan. Then Lai Junchen, Suo Yuanli, Wan Guojun, Zhou Xing, Qiu Shenji, Hou Sizhi, Guo Ba, Wang Hongyi, and their kind came swarming forth. They then raised the punishment of secret denunciation and built prisons designed for framed convictions; the living held their breath, and none could feel secure. As for those who cherished loyalty and trod the path of righteousness, only to be led off in chains to execution—their number is beyond reckoning. Empress Wu thereby shifted the throne of Tang; once she cast the heavenly net, she at last held all within the eight directions in her grasp; the use of cruelty—what harm it wrought! Thus the faction of cruel officials preyed at will upon the court, holding the life and death of dukes and ministers in their hands and wielding power fit for a king. The powerful indulged their desires; malice swelled their hearts; a word from their lips could mean death, and the nation's power rested in their grasp. Vicious men gloried in them and sought to emulate them, throwing themselves into the executioner's cauldron without a second thought. Why was this so? They courted the moment's favor and forgot righteousness at the sight of profit!
3
嘗試而論之，今夫國家行斧鉞之誅，設狴牢之禁以防盜者，雖雲固矣，而猶逾垣掘冢，揭篋探囊，死者於前，盜者於後，何者？ 以其間有欲也！ 然所徇者不過數金之資耳！ 彼酷吏與時上下，取重人主，無怵惕之憂，坐致尊寵； 杖起卒伍，富擬封君，豈唯數金之利耶？ 則盜官者為幸矣！ 故有國者則必窒凱覦之路，杜僥幸之門，可不務乎！ 況乎樂觀時變，恣懷陰賊，斯又郅都、董宣之罪人也。 異哉，又有效於斯者！ 中興四十載而有吉溫、羅希奭之蠹政，又數載而有敬羽、毛若虛之危法。 朝經四葉，獄訟再起，比周惡黨，剿絕善人。 屢撓將措之刑，以傷太和之氣，幸災樂禍，茍售其身，此又來、索之罪人也！
Consider this: the state carries out executions by axe and halberd and sets prison barriers to guard against thieves—though the defenses are said to be secure, men still climb walls and dig tombs, lift lids and probe purses; the executed lie in front and thieves follow behind—why? Because desire still stirs among them! Yet what they pursue is no more than a few pieces of gold! Those cruel officials rose and fell with the times, winning favor from the sovereign without fear or caution, and sat idle while honor and wealth came to them; raised up from the ranks of common soldiers, their wealth rivaling that of enfeoffed lords—was this merely the profit of a few pieces of gold? Then those who plunder office were the fortunate ones! Surely any ruler who holds a state must block the path of covetous ambition and shut the gate of lucky chance—can this be neglected? How much more those who delighted in watching the times change and indulged dark treachery in their hearts—these too were disciples in the line of Zhi Du and Dong Xuan. Strange indeed—yet again there were those who proved its deadly efficacy! Forty years into the restoration came Ji Wen and Luo Xiya with their corrupt governance; a few years later came Jing Yu and Mao Ruoxu with their perilous legal methods. The court passed through four reigns; lawsuits and litigation flared again; wicked factions banded together and wiped out good men. Again and again they interfered with punishments about to be set aside, injuring the spirit of supreme harmony; they rejoiced in disaster and delighted in calamity, selling themselves for a moment's gain—these too were disciples of Lai Junchen and Suo Yuanli!
4
嗚呼！ 天道禍淫，人道惡殺，既為禍始，必以兇終。 故自鞅、斯至於毛、敬，蹈其跡者，卒以誅夷，非不幸也。
Alas! Heaven's way brings calamity upon the licentious; humanity's way hates killing. Having been the authors of calamity, they were bound to end in violence. From Shang Yang and Li Si down to Mao Ruoxu and Jing Yu, all who followed in their footsteps were in the end exterminated along with their clans—this was no misfortune.
5
嗚呼！ 執愚賈害，任天下之怨； 反道辱名，歸天下之惡。 或肆諸原野，人得而誅之； 或投之魑魅，鬼得而誅之。 天人報應，豈虛也哉！ 俾千載之後，聞其名者，曾蛇豕之不若。
Alas! Clinging to folly and buying harm, they bore the resentment of all under Heaven; they turned against the Way and disgraced their names, heaping all the realm's evil upon themselves. Some were exposed in the open fields, where any man might execute them; some were cast to demons and goblins, where even ghosts might execute them. Heaven and humanity's recompense—how could it be empty! So that a thousand years hence, those who hear their names will hold them lower than snakes and swine.
6
悲夫！ 昔《春秋》之義，善惡不隱，今為《酷吏傳》，亦所以示懲勸也。 語曰：「前事不忘，將來之師。」 意在斯乎！ 意在斯乎！
How lamentable! In the Spring and Autumn Annals, good and evil were never concealed; in composing these Biographies of Cruel Officials, we likewise intend to offer warning and encouragement. As the saying goes, "Do not forget past affairs—they are teachers for the future." Is not the meaning precisely here! Is not the meaning precisely here!
7
來俊臣，雍州萬年人也。 父操，博徒。 與鄉人蔡本結友，遂通其妻，因樗蒲贏本錢數十萬，本無以酬，操遂納本妻。 入操門時，先已有娠，而生俊臣。 兇險不事生產，反覆殘害，舉無與比。 曾於和州犯奸盜被鞫，遂妄告密。 召見奏，刺史東平王續杖之一百。 後續天授中被誅，俊臣復告密，召見，奏言前所告密是豫、博州事，枉被續決杖，遂不得申。 則天以為忠，累遷侍御史，加朝散大夫。 按制獄，少不會意者，必引之，前後坐族千余家。
Lai Junchen was a native of Wannian in Yong Prefecture. His father Cao was a professional gambler. He befriended a fellow townsman named Cai Ben, then seduced Ben's wife; through gambling he won several hundred thousand of Ben's cash, which Ben could not repay, so Cao took Ben's wife for himself. When she entered Cao's household she was already pregnant, and bore Junchen. Ferocious and treacherous, he would not engage in honest work; his cruelty and deceit were unmatched. Once in He Prefecture he was tried for adultery and theft; he then filed a false secret denunciation. When he was summoned to report his denunciation, the prefectural inspector, Prince Xu of Dongping, had him beaten one hundred strokes. Later Xu was executed during the Tianshou reign; Junchen again filed a secret denunciation and, when summoned, reported that his earlier denunciation had concerned affairs in Yu and Bo Prefectures, that he had been wrongly beaten by Xu, and thus had never been able to make his case. Empress Wu considered him loyal and repeatedly promoted him, eventually making him Attending Censor with the title Grand Master of the Morning Court. When investigating regulated prisons, if anyone slightly failed to suit his intent he would implicate them; in all, more than a thousand households suffered clan extermination through his cases.
8
二年，擢拜左臺御史中丞。 朝廷累息，無交言者，道路以目。 與侍御史侯思止、王弘義、郭霸、李仁敬，司刑評事康暐、衛遂忠等，同惡相濟。 招集無賴數百人，令其告事，共為羅織，千里響應。 欲誣陷一人，即數處別告，皆是事狀不異，以惑上下。 仍皆云：「請付來俊臣推勘，必獲實情。」 則天於是於麗景門別置推事院，俊臣推勘必獲，專令俊臣等按鞫，亦號為新開門。 但入新開門者，百不全一。 弘義戲謂麗景門為「例竟門」，言入此門者，例皆竟也。
In the second year he was promoted to Censor-in-Chief of the Left Bureau. The court held its breath; no one dared speak to another; in the streets people communicated only with their eyes. With Attending Censors Hou Sizhi, Wang Hongyi, Guo Ba, and Li Renjing, and Judicial Reviewers Kang Wei and Wei Suizhong and others, they aided one another in wickedness. He recruited several hundred ruffians and ordered them to file reports, weaving entrapment together; their network echoed for a thousand li. When they wished to frame someone, they would file separate reports from several places, all describing identical facts, to confuse the court above and below. They would all add, "Please assign the case to Lai Junchen for investigation—the true facts will surely be obtained." Empress Wu then established a separate investigation court at Lijing Gate; Junchen's investigations always produced convictions, and she put him and his associates in charge of interrogations—it was also called the Newly Opened Gate. Of those who entered the Newly Opened Gate, not one in a hundred came out alive. Hongyi jested that Lijing Gate should be called the "Gate of Finished Cases," saying that anyone who entered was, by rule, finished.
9
俊臣與其黨硃南山輩造《告密羅織經》一卷，皆有條貫支節，布置事狀由緒。
Junchen and his faction, including Zhu Nanshan, composed a scroll entitled the Classic of Secret Denunciation and Woven Entrapment, complete with systematic sections and step-by-step instructions for arranging cases from beginning to end.
10
俊臣每鞫囚，無問輕重，多以醋灌鼻，禁地牢中，或盛之甕中，以火圜繞炙之，並絕其糧餉，至有抽衣絮以啖之者。 又令寢處糞穢，備諸苦毒。 自非身死，終不得出。 每有赦令，俊臣必先遣獄卒盡殺重囚，然後宣示。
Whenever Junchen interrogated prisoners, regardless of the severity of the charge he often poured vinegar into their nostrils, confined them in underground dungeons, or placed them in jars and roasted them with fire all around; he cut off their food as well, until some pulled the cotton padding from their clothes to eat. He also made them sleep amid filth and excrement, subjecting them to every form of torment. Unless they died, they could never leave. Whenever an amnesty was issued, Junchen would first send prison guards to kill all prisoners facing serious charges, and only then proclaim the decree.
11
又以索元禮等作大枷，凡有十號：一曰定百脈，二曰喘不得，三曰突地吼，四曰著即承，五曰失魂膽，六曰實同反，七曰反是實，八曰死豬愁，九曰求即死，十曰求破家。 復有鐵籠頭連其枷者，輪轉於地，斯須悶絕矣。 囚人無貴賤，必先布枷棒於地，召囚前曰：「此是作具。」 見之魂膽飛越，無不自誣矣。 則天重其賞以酬之，故吏競勸為酷矣。 由是告密之徒，紛然道路； 名流僶俛閱日而已。 朝士多因入朝，默遭掩襲，以至於族，與其家無復音息。 故每入朝者，必與其家訣曰：「不知重相見不？」
He also had Suo Yuanli and others devise great cangues with ten designations: Fixing the Hundred Vessels, Cannot Breathe, Earth-Shaking Roar, Put On and Immediately Confess, Lost Soul and Gall, Fact Same as Rebellion, Rebellion Is the Fact, Dead Pig's Sorrow, Seek and Immediately Die, and Seek and Destroy the Family. There were also iron cage-heads linked to the cangues; when the prisoner was rolled on the ground, he would suffocate in an instant. Regardless of rank, every prisoner would first see cangues and clubs spread on the ground before him; he would be summoned forward and told, "These are the implements." At the sight their souls would flee and their courage fail; none failed to confess. Empress Wu richly rewarded them, and officials competed to outdo one another in cruelty. From this secret denouncers thronged the roads; noted men bowed low and merely counted the days until they might be spared. Many court gentlemen were seized in silent raids on their way to court, their clans exterminated; their families heard nothing more from them. Therefore every man who went to court would bid his family farewell, saying, "I do not know whether we shall meet again."
12
如意元年，地官尚書狄仁傑、益州長史任令暉、冬官尚書李遊道、秋官尚書袁智宏、司賓卿崔神基、文昌左丞盧獻等六人，並為其羅告。 俊臣既以族人家為功，茍引之承反，乃奏請降敕，一問即承，同首例得減死。 及脅仁傑等反，仁傑嘆曰：「大周革命，萬物惟新，唐朝舊臣，甘從誅戮。 反是實。」 俊臣乃少寬之。 其判官王德壽謂仁傑曰：「尚書事已爾，得減死。 德壽今業已受驅策，欲求少階級，憑尚書牽楊執柔，可乎？」 仁傑曰：「若之何？」 德壽曰：「尚書昔在春官時，執柔任某司員外，引之可也。」 仁傑曰：「皇天後土，遣狄仁傑行此事！」 以頭觸柱，血流被面，德壽懼而止焉。
In the first year of Ruyi, Di Renjie, Minister of Revenue; Ren Linghui, Chief Administrator of Yizhou; Li Youdao, Minister of Works; Yuan Zhihong, Minister of Justice; Cui Shenji, Chamberlain for Guests; and Lu Xian, Left Assistant of the Secretariat—six men in all—were all framed by his network of false reports. Junchen, having already built his reputation on clan exterminations, would try to make them admit rebellion and then memorialize for an imperial decree: one question and immediate confession—those who confessed first could have their death sentence reduced. When he coerced Renjie and the others to confess rebellion, Renjie sighed and said, "The Great Zhou has transformed the realm; all things are made new—a former minister of Tang, I willingly submit to execution. Rebellion is the fact." Junchen then eased his pressure slightly. His judicial officer Wang Deshou said to Renjie, "Minister, the matter is settled—you can have your death sentence reduced. Deshou has already been set to work on this case and hopes for a small promotion—could the Minister help by implicating Yang Zhirou?" Renjie said, "How could that be done?" Deshou said, "When the Minister was in the Ministry of Rites, Zhirou served as an outer official in your bureau—you could implicate him." Renjie cried, "Heaven and Earth—would they send Di Renjie to do such a thing!" He struck his head against a pillar until blood covered his face; Deshou, terrified, desisted.
13
仁傑既承反，有司但待報行刑，不復嚴備。 仁傑得憑守者求筆硯，拆被頭帛書之，敘冤苦，置於綿衣，遣謂德壽曰：「時方熱，請付家人去其綿。」 德壽不復疑矣，家人得衣中書，仁傑子光遠持之稱變，得召見。 則天覽之愕然，召問俊臣曰：「卿言仁傑等承反，今子弟訟冤，何故也？」 俊臣曰：「此等何能自伏其罪！ 臣寢處甚安，亦不去其巾帶。」 則天令通事舍人周綝視之。 俊臣遽令獄卒令假仁傑等巾帶，行立於西，命綝視之。 綝懼俊臣，莫敢西顧，但視東唯諾而已。 俊臣令綝少留，附進狀，乃令判官妄為仁傑等作謝死表，代署而進之。 鳳閣侍郎樂思晦男年八九歲，其家已族，宜隸於司農，上變，得召見，言「俊臣苛毒，願陛下假條反狀以付之，無大小皆如狀矣。」 則天意少解，乃召見仁傑曰：「卿承反何也？」 仁傑等曰：「不承反，臣已死於枷棒矣。」 則天曰：「何謂作謝死表？」 仁傑曰：「無。」 因以表示之，乃知其代署，遂出此六家。
Once Renjie had confessed to rebellion, the authorities merely awaited orders to execute him and no longer kept strict guard. Renjie persuaded the guards to bring him brush and ink; he tore silk from his quilt, wrote out his grievance, hid the message in the lining of his padded robe, and told Deshou, "It is hot—please give this to my family and have them remove the cotton padding." Deshou no longer had any doubts. The family recovered the message hidden in the robe; Di Renjie's son Guangyuan brought it forward as a petition of injustice and won an audience with the throne. Empress Wu read the petition and was stunned. She summoned Lai Junchen and asked, "You said Di Renjie and the others had confessed to rebellion—now their sons and kin are pleading their innocence. What is going on?" Lai Junchen replied, "How could men like these ever confess their crimes on their own! I sleep soundly at night and have not even removed their caps and sashes." Empress Wu ordered the Imperial Diarist Zhou Pin to go and see for himself. Junchen at once had the jailers dress Renjie and the others in official caps and sashes, parade them to the west side of the yard, and told Pin to inspect them there. Pin, afraid of Junchen, dared not look west at the prisoners; he only faced east toward Junchen and murmured his assent. Junchen detained Pin a moment longer, handed him a memorial to carry in, and meanwhile had his judicial officer forge for Renjie and the others a petition thanking the throne for the grace of execution, sign their names to it, and submit it. The eight- or nine-year-old son of Vice Minister Le Sihui of the Phoenix Pavilion, whose entire clan had been wiped out and who should have been enrolled as a bondsman under the Ministry of Agriculture, submitted a petition to the throne and was received in audience. He said, "Lai Junchen is cruel beyond measure. If Your Majesty would lend him the formulae for framing people as rebels and let him apply them freely, every case, great or small, will come out exactly as he wishes." The Empress's suspicions eased a little. She summoned Di Renjie and asked, "You confessed to rebellion—what was that about?" Di Renjie and the others replied, "If we had not confessed to rebellion, we would already have been beaten to death under the cangue and clubs." Empress Wu asked, "What is this about a petition thanking the throne for execution?" Di Renjie said, "There was no such thing." He then produced the petition for her to see. When she realized their names had been forged, she released all six men and their families.
14
俊臣復按大將軍張虔勖、大將軍內侍範雲仙於洛陽牧院。 虔勖等不堪其苦，自訟於徐有功，言辭頗厲。 俊臣命衛士以亂刀斬殺之。 雲仙亦言歷事先朝，稱所司冤苦，俊臣命截去其舌。 士庶破膽，無敢言者。
Junchen next put Grand General Zhang Qianxu and Grand General Palace Attendant Fan Yunxian through interrogation at the Luoyang Pasturage Office prison. Unable to endure the torture, Qianxu and the others appealed directly to Xu Yougong in language that was openly defiant. Junchen ordered his guards to hack them to pieces on the spot. Yunxian also protested that he had served the former dynasty and denounced the injustice of his treatment; Junchen ordered his tongue cut out. Officials and commoners alike were terrified into silence; no one dared raise his voice.
15
俊臣累坐贓，為衛吏紀履忠所告下獄。 長壽二年，除殿中丞。 又坐贓，出為同州參軍。 逼奪同列參軍妻，仍辱其母。
Junchen was repeatedly convicted of corruption and was reported by guard officer Ji Lüzhong, who had him thrown into prison. In the second year of the Changshou era, he was released and appointed Palace Censor. Convicted of corruption again, he was demoted to Military Adjutant of Tong Prefecture. He seized a fellow adjutant's wife by force and humiliated her mother as well.
16
萬歲通天元年，召為合宮尉，擢拜洛陽令、司農少卿。 則天賜其奴婢十人，當受於司農。 時西蕃酋長阿史那斛瑟羅家有細婢，善歌舞，俊臣因令其黨羅告斛瑟羅反，將圖其婢。 諸蕃長詣闕割耳剺面訟冤者數十人，乃得不族。 時綦連耀、劉思禮等有異謀，明堂尉吉頊知之，不自安，以白俊臣發之，連坐族者數十輩。 俊臣將擅其功，復羅告頊，得召見，僅而免。
In the first year of the Wansui Tongtian era, he was recalled as Commandant of Hegong and promoted in rapid succession to Luoyang Magistrate and Deputy Minister of Agriculture. Empress Wu granted him ten bond servants, who were to be registered through the Ministry of Agriculture. At that time the Western Turkic chieftain Ashina Queselo owned a slender maid who excelled at song and dance. Junchen had his agents fabricate a charge of rebellion against Queselo in order to seize the girl. Dozens of tribal leaders came to the capital, mutilated their ears and faces in protest, and pleaded their innocence at the gates; only then was the clan spared extermination. Qi Lianyao, Liu Sili, and others were plotting treason at the time. Bright Hall Commandant Ji Ting learned of it, could not feel secure, and reported the plot to Junchen to expose it. Dozens of families were wiped out through association. Junchen tried to claim all the credit for himself and fabricated charges against Ji Ting as well. Ting managed to obtain an audience with the Empress and narrowly escaped punishment.
17
俊臣先逼妻太原王慶詵女。 俊臣與河東衛遂忠有舊。 遂忠行雖不著，然好學，有詞辯。 嘗攜酒謁俊臣，俊臣方與妻族宴集，應門者紿云：「已出矣。」 遂忠知妄，入其宅，慢罵毀辱之。 俊臣恥其妻族，命毆擊反接，既而免之，自此構隙。
Junchen had earlier forced Wang Qingzhen of Taiyuan to give him his daughter in marriage. Junchen and Wei Suizhong of Hedong were old acquaintances. Suizhong's conduct was undistinguished, but he was studious and articulate in debate. Once he came with wine to visit Junchen. Junchen was entertaining his wife's relatives; the doorkeeper lied and said, "He has already gone out." Suizhong knew this was a lie, forced his way into the house, and showered Junchen with contempt and abuse. Humiliated before his in-laws, Junchen had him beaten and bound with his arms twisted behind him, then released him. From that day the two were enemies.
18
俊臣將羅告武氏諸王及太平公主、張易之等，遂相掎摭，則天屢保持之。 而諸武及太平公主恐懼，共發其罪。 乃棄市。 國人無少長皆怨之，競剮其肉，斯須盡矣。
Junchen was preparing to frame the Wu princes, Princess Taiping, Zhang Yizhi, and others. They in turn denounced one another before the throne, while Empress Wu repeatedly shielded Junchen. The Wu clan and Princess Taiping, terrified for their lives, joined forces to expose his crimes. He was executed in the public marketplace. People throughout the realm, young and old alike, hated him so fiercely that they fought over his flesh, carving him to pieces in moments.
19
中宗神龍元年三月八日，詔曰：
On the eighth day of the third month of the first Shenlong year of Emperor Zhongzong, an edict proclaimed:
20
國之大綱，惟刑與政。 刑之不中，其政乃虧。 劉光業、王德壽、王處貞、屈貞筠、鮑思恭、劉景陽等，庸流賤職，奸吏險夫，以粗暴為能官，以兇殘為奉法。 往從按察，害虐在心，倏忽加刑，呼吸就戮，曝骨流血，其數甚多，冤濫之聲，盈於海內。 朕唯布新澤，恩被人祇，撫事長懷，尤深惻隱。 光業等五人積惡成釁，並謝生涯，雖其人已殂，而其跡可貶，所有官爵，並宜追奪。 其枉被殺人，各令州縣以禮埋葬，還其官廕。 劉景陽身今見在，情不可矜，特以會恩，免其嚴罰，宜從貶降，以雪冤情，可棣州樂單縣員外尉。
The great pillars of the state are punishment and governance. When punishment misses the mark, governance itself is undermined. Liu Guangye, Wang Deshou, Wang Chuzhen, Qu Zhenyun, Bao Sigong, Liu Jingyang, and others were petty men in low posts, treacherous clerks and vicious agents who treated brutality as official competence and cruelty as faithful service of the law. In their investigations they nursed malice in their hearts, inflicted punishment in an instant, and brought men to execution with a breath. The bones they left exposed and the blood they shed were beyond counting, and cries of wrongful slaughter echoed across the realm. We now spread fresh grace across the land, that our mercy may reach all living souls. As we reflect on these affairs, our compassion runs especially deep. Guangye and four others accumulated evil until it brought ruin upon them; all have departed this life. Though the men themselves are dead, their records may still be condemned, and every office and title they held shall be posthumously stripped away. Those who were wrongly put to death shall be buried with proper rites by their local prefectures and counties, and their hereditary privileges of office shall be restored. Liu Jingyang is still alive, and his case admits no pity; yet in this season of grace his severe punishment is remitted. He shall be demoted instead to clear the record of injustice, and is appointed Staff Assistant in Ledan County, Di Prefecture.
21
自今內外法官，咸宜敬慎。 其文深刺骨，跡徇凝脂，高下任情，輕重隨意，如酷吏丘神勣、來子珣、萬國俊、周興、來俊臣、魚承曄、王景昭、索元禮、傅遊藝、王弘義、張知默、裴籍、焦仁亶、侯思止、郭霸、李仁敬、皇甫文備、陳嘉言等，其身已死，自垂拱已來，枉濫殺人，有官者並令削奪。 唐奉一依前配流，李秦授、曹仁哲，並與嶺南惡處。
Henceforth all judicial officers within and without the capital shall act with reverence and care. Those who write indictments that pierce to the bone, pursue cases with relentless cruelty, and fix guilt or innocence as they please—cruel officials such as Qiu Shenji, Lai Ziyin, Wan Guojun, Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, Yu Chengye, Wang Jingzhao, Suo Yuanli, Fu Youyi, Wang Hongyi, Zhang Zhimuo, Pei Ji, Jiao Renchan, Hou Sizhi, Guo Ba, Li Renjing, Huangfu Wenbei, and Chen Jiayan—are already dead. For the wrongful killings they committed from the Chui Gong era onward, every office they held shall be posthumously revoked. Tang Fengyi shall be exiled as before. Li Qinshou and Cao Renzhe shall both be sent to the harshest districts of Lingnan.
22
開元十三年三月十二日，御史大夫程行諶奏：
On the twelfth day of the third month of the thirteenth Kaiyuan year, Censor-in-Chief Cheng Xingchen submitted a memorial:
23
周朝酷吏來子珣、萬國俊、王弘義、侯思止、郭霸、焦仁亶、張知默、李敬仁、唐奉一、來俊臣、周興、丘神勣、索元禮、曹仁哲、王景昭、裴籍、李秦授、劉光業、王德壽、屈貞筠、鮑思恭、劉景陽、王處貞二十三人，殘害宗枝，毒陷良善，情狀尤重，子孫不許與官。 陳嘉言、魚承曄、皇甫文備、傅遊藝四人，情狀稍輕，子孫不許近任。」
The twenty-three cruel officials of the Zhou dynasty—Lai Ziyin, Wan Guojun, Wang Hongyi, Hou Sizhi, Guo Ba, Jiao Renchan, Zhang Zhimuo, Li Jingren, Tang Fengyi, Lai Junchen, Zhou Xing, Qiu Shenji, Suo Yuanli, Cao Renzhe, Wang Jingzhao, Pei Ji, Li Qinshou, Liu Guangye, Wang Deshou, Qu Zhenyun, Bao Sigong, Liu Jingyang, and Wang Chuzhen—ravaged the imperial clan and framed the innocent in the gravest cases. Their descendants shall be barred from office. Chen Jiayan, Yu Chengye, Huangfu Wenbei, and Fu Youyi committed somewhat lesser crimes. Their descendants shall be barred from appointments near the capital."
24
周興者，雍州長安人也。 少以明習法律，為尚書省都事。 累遷司刑少卿、秋官侍郎。 自垂拱已來，屢受制獄，被其陷害者數千人。 天授元年九月革命，除尚書左丞，上疏除李家宗正屬籍。 二年十一月，與丘神勣同下獄。 當誅，則天特免之，徙於嶺表。 在道為仇人所殺。
Zhou Xing was a native of Chang'an in Yong Prefecture. In his youth he distinguished himself in the study of law and became a Director in the Department of State Affairs. He rose through successive appointments to Deputy Minister of Justice and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Punishments. From the Chui Gong era onward he repeatedly took charge of the prisons, and the people he framed numbered in the thousands. When the dynasty was transformed in the ninth month of the first Tianshou year, he was appointed Left Assistant in the Department of State Affairs and memorialized to strike the Li clan from the imperial genealogy. In the eleventh month of the second year he and Qiu Shenji were imprisoned together. He was condemned to death, but Empress Wu specially spared him and exiled him beyond the Ling ranges. On the road he was killed by an enemy.
25
兄神童，為冬官尚書，兄弟並承榮寵。 逾月，除司禮少卿，停知政事。 夢登湛露殿，旦而陳於所親，為其所發，伏誅。 時人號為四時仕宦，言一年自青而綠，及於硃紫也。 希則天旨，誣族皇枝。 神龍初，禁錮其子孫。
His elder brother Shentong served as Minister of Works, and both brothers basked in imperial favor. Within a month he was appointed Deputy Minister of Rites and removed from active participation in government. He dreamed that he had ascended the Zhanlu Hall. At dawn he told his intimates, who reported him, and he was executed. Contemporaries called him the official of four seasons, meaning that in a single year he passed through every rank of robe from green to violet. Eager to please Empress Wu, he framed and exterminated members of the imperial clan. At the beginning of the Shenlong era, his descendants were placed under restriction.
26
初，遊藝請則天發六道使，雖身死之後，竟從其謀，於是萬國俊輩恣斬戮矣。
Earlier, Youyi had urged Empress Wu to dispatch the six-circuit envoys. Even after his death, the court carried out his plan, and men such as Wan Guojun were free to slaughter at will.
27
索元禮，胡人也。 光宅初，徐敬業起兵揚州，以匡復為名。 則天震怒，又恐人心動搖，欲以威制天下。 元禮探其旨，告事。 召見，擢為遊擊將軍，令於洛州牧院推案制獄。 元禮性殘忍，推一人，廣令引數十百人，衣冠震懼，甚於狼虎。 則天數召見賞賜，張其權勢，凡為殺戮者數千人。 於是周興、來俊臣之徒，效之而起矣。 時有諸州告密人，皆給公乘，州縣護送至闕下，於賓館以廩之。 稍稱旨，必授以爵賞以誘之，貴以威於遠近。 元禮尋以酷毒轉甚，則天收人望而殺之。 天下之人謂之來、索，言酷毒之極，又首按制獄也。
Suo Yuanli was a non-Han. At the beginning of the Guangzai era, Xu Jingye raised an army at Yangzhou under the banner of restoring the Tang. Empress Wu was furious and feared that hearts across the realm would waver. She resolved to rule the empire through terror. Yuanli divined her intent and began reporting alleged plots. He was summoned to audience, promoted to Mobile Cavalry General, and placed in charge of interrogations at the Luozhou Pasturage Office prison. Yuanli was by nature cruel. For every one man he investigated, he would implicate dozens or hundreds more. Officials trembled before him more than before wolves and tigers. Empress Wu repeatedly summoned and rewarded him, swelling his power until the men he killed numbered in the thousands. Thereupon Zhou Xing, Lai Junchen, and others took him as their model and rose to power in turn. Informants from the provinces were all provided official transport, escorted by local officials to the capital, and lodged and fed at state guesthouses. If their reports pleased her even slightly, they were showered with titles and rewards to encourage others, and held up as instruments of terror throughout the realm. Before long Yuanli's cruelty grew so extreme that Empress Wu recalled him to curb public outrage and had him executed. People throughout the realm spoke of "Lai and Suo," meaning the utmost in cruelty, and also the first men to take charge of the interrogation prisons.
28
載初元年十月，左臺御史周矩上疏諫曰：
In the tenth month of the first Zai Chu year, Left Censor Zhou Ju submitted a memorial of remonstrance, saying:
29
頃者小人告訐，習以為常，內外諸司，人懷茍免。 姑息臺吏，承接強梁，非故欲，規避誣構耳。 又推劾之吏，皆以深刻為功，鑿空爭能，相矜以虐。 泥耳籠頭，枷研楔轂，折脅簽爪，懸發熏耳，臥鄰穢溺，曾不聊生，號為「獄持」。 或累日節食，連宵緩問，晝夜搖撼，使不得眠，號曰「宿囚」。 此等既非木石，且救目前，茍求賒死。 臣竊聽輿議，皆稱天下太平，何苦須反。 豈被告者盡是英雄，以求帝王耶？ 只是不勝楚毒自誣耳。 何以核之？ 陛下試取所告狀酌其虛實者，付令推，微訊動以探其情，所推者必上下其手，希聖旨也。 願陛下察之。 今滿朝側息不安，皆以為陛下朝與之密，夕與之仇，不可保也。 聞有追攝，與妻子即為死訣。 故為國者以仁為宗，以刑為助。 周用仁而昌，秦用刑而亡，此之謂也。 願陛下緩刑用仁，天下幸甚！
Recently petty informers have made accusation a daily habit, and in every office within and without the capital men live in fear of being denounced. They indulge the censorial clerks and truck with the powerful—not from inclination, but to avoid being framed themselves. The interrogators, moreover, treat severity as merit. They invent charges out of thin air, compete in brutality, and boast to one another of their cruelty. They pack the ears with mud, cage the head, grind the limbs with cangue and wedge, break ribs and pry out fingernails, hang prisoners by the hair, smoke their ears, and force them to lie beside filth and excrement until life is unbearable. These methods are called "prison mastery." Others starve their prisoners for days on end, draw out questioning through the night, and shake and jolt them day and night until they cannot sleep. These are called "lodging prisoners." These men are not wood or stone. To survive the moment they will confess to anything, hoping only to postpone execution. I have listened to what people are saying in the streets, and they all ask: the realm is at peace—why would anyone choose rebellion? Are all the accused heroes plotting to seize the throne? They confess only because they cannot endure the torture and falsely incriminate themselves. How may this be verified? Your Majesty might take a sample of denunciations, judge which are false, and hand them to the interrogators with orders to probe gently. The investigators will surely manipulate the findings to match what they believe Your Majesty wishes to hear. I beg Your Majesty to examine this closely. Today the entire court lives in dread, believing that Your Majesty may be their confidant in the morning and their enemy by evening. No one feels secure. At the first rumor of arrest, a man takes leave of his wife and children as though he were already dead. Therefore the ruler of a state takes benevolence as his foundation and punishment as his instrument. The Zhou flourished through benevolence; the Qin perished through punishment. This is the lesson. I beg Your Majesty to ease punishment and govern through benevolence. The realm would be blessed indeed!
30
則天從之，由是制獄稍息。
Empress Wu accepted his advice, and from that time the reign of terror in the prisons eased somewhat.
31
侯思止，雍州醴泉人也。 貧窮不能理生業，乃樂事渤海高元禮家。 性無賴詭譎。 時恆州刺史裴貞杖一判司。 則天將不利王室，羅反之徒已興矣。 判司教思止說遊擊將軍高元禮，因請狀乃告舒王元名及裴貞反。 周興按之，並族滅。 授思止遊擊將軍。 元禮懼而曲媚，引與同坐，呼為侯大，曰：「國家用人以不次，若言侯大不識字，即奏云：『獬豸獸亦不識字，而能觸邪。』」 則天果如其言，思止以獬豸對之，則天大悅。 天授三年，乃拜朝散大夫、左臺侍御史。 元禮復教曰：「在上知侯大無宅，倘以諸役官宅見借，可辭謝而不受。 在上必問所由，即奏云：『諸反逆人，臣惡其名，不願坐其宅。』」 則天復大悅，恩澤甚優。
Hou Sizhi came from Liquan in Yong Prefecture. Too poor to earn his own living, he went to work as a servant in the household of Gao Yuanli of Bohai. By nature he was a rogue—cunning, shameless, and treacherous. Around that time Pei Zhen, prefect of Hengzhou, had beaten one of his judicial subordinates with the rod. Empress Wu was moving against the imperial clan, and informers who fabricated treason charges were already abroad. The beaten official coached Sizhi to win over Gao Yuanli, then had him file a denunciation charging Prince Shu, Yuanming, and Pei Zhen with treason. Zhou Xing investigated the case, and every accused family was wiped out to the last man. Sizhi was rewarded with appointment as Mobile Cavalry General. Yuanli, terrified, abased himself before Sizhi, seated him as an equal, and called him "Lord Hou." He advised: "The throne promotes men by leaps. If anyone objects that Lord Hou is illiterate, memorialize thus: 'The xiezhi, too, cannot read—yet it gores the wicked. Empress Wu took him at his word. When questioned, Sizhi answered with the tale of the xiezhi, and the Empress was delighted. In the third year of the Tianshou reign he received appointment as Gentleman for Miscellaneous Uses and Attending Censor of the Left Office. Yuanli coached him further: "The court knows you have no home. If they offer you a confiscated house, politely refuse. When she asks why, say: 'I cannot bear even the names of convicted rebels, much less live in their houses. The Empress was pleased once more and heaped favors upon him.
32
思止既按制獄，苛酷日甚。 嘗按中丞魏元忠，曰：「急認白司馬，不然，即吃孟青。」 白司馬者，洛陽有阪號白司馬阪。 孟青者，將軍姓孟名青棒，即殺瑯邪王沖者也。 思止閭巷庸奴，常以此謂諸囚也。
Once Sizhi gained control of the political prisons, his cruelty grew worse by the day. While interrogating Vice Censor Wei Yuanzhong he threatened: "Confess quickly, or you'll take a trip to White Horse Slope—or taste Meng Qing's club!" White Horse Slope" referred to a hill outside Luoyang known by that name—a place of execution. "Meng Qing" was General Meng Qingbang, executioner of Prince Langye Chong. Sizhi had been a street-corner thug; he bandied these threats at every prisoner he held.
33
元忠辭氣不屈，思止怒而倒曳元忠。 元忠徐起曰：「我薄命，如乘惡驢墜，腳為鐙所掛，被拖曳。」 思止大怒，又曳之曰：「汝拒捍制使，奏斬之。」 元忠曰：「侯思止，汝今為國家御史，須識禮數輕重。 如必須魏元忠頭，何不以鋸截將，無為抑我承反。 奈何爾佩服硃紫，親銜天命，不行正直之事，乃言白司馬、孟青，是何言也！ 非魏元忠，無人抑教。」 思止驚起悚怍，曰：「思止死罪，幸蒙中丞教。」 引上床坐而問之。 元忠徐就坐自若，思止言竟不正。 時人效之，以為談謔之資。 侍御史霍獻可笑之，思止以聞。 則天怒，謂獻可曰：「我已用之，卿笑何也？」 獻可具以其言奏，則天亦大笑。
Yuanzhong would not yield. Enraged, Sizhi dragged him headfirst across the floor. Yuanzhong got up slowly and said, "My fate is wretched—as when a man falls from a vicious mule and is dragged because his foot is still caught in the stirrup. Sizhi flew into a rage and hauled him again. "You dare defy an investigating commissioner! I shall memorialize your execution." Yuanzhong said, "Hou Sizhi, you wear the state's censor's robes. You ought to know what conduct befits your rank. If you must have my head, saw it off—but do not torture me into a false confession of treason. You wear the purple and scarlet of high office and bear the mandate of Heaven—yet instead of doing justice you threaten men with execution grounds and clubs. What kind of censor are you? Without Wei Yuanzhong, no one could teach you better manners." Sizhi leapt up, stricken with shame. "I deserve death," he said. "Thank you for instructing me, Vice Censor." He ushered Yuanzhong onto the couch and began the interrogation properly. Yuanzhong seated himself calmly, unruffled. Sizhi could not break him. The exchange became a favorite story in court circles—a standing joke. Attending Censor Huo Xianke mocked him; Sizhi lodged a complaint. Empress Wu was angry. "I have put him to use," she told Xianke. "What are you laughing at? Xianke repeated Yuanzhong's remarks in full. The Empress laughed too.
34
時來俊臣棄故妻，逼娶太原王慶詵女，思止亦奏請娶趙郡李自挹女，敕政事商量。 鳳閣侍郎李昭德撫掌謂諸宰相曰：「大可笑。」 諸宰相問故，昭德曰：「往年來俊臣賊劫王慶詵女，已大辱國。 今日此奴又請索李自挹女，無乃復辱國乎！」 竟為李昭德搒殺之。
Lai Junchen had abandoned his wife and seized the daughter of Wang Qingxun of Taiyuan for marriage. Sizhi petitioned to marry the daughter of Li Ziyi of Zhao; the throne ordered the ministers to consider it. Vice Chancellor Li Zhaode clapped his hands and told the chief ministers, "This is absurd beyond belief. When they asked why, Zhaode said, "Last year Lai Junchen robbed Wang Qingxun's daughter—that was shame enough for the empire. Now this wretch wants Li Ziyi's daughter as well. Must we suffer that insult twice?" Li Zhaode had him clubbed to death.
35
萬國俊，洛陽人。 少譎異險詐。 垂拱後，與來俊臣同為《羅織經》，屠覆宗枝朝貴，以作威勢。 自司刑評事，俊臣同引為判官。
Wan Guojun came from Luoyang. Even as a youth he was cunning and vicious. After the Chuigong era he and Lai Junchen co-authored the Manual of Framing, using it to destroy collateral princes and great clans of the court. Junchen recruited him from the Ministry of Justice as an investigating officer.
36
天授二年，攝右臺監察御史，常與俊臣同按制獄。 長壽二年，有上封事言嶺南流人有陰謀逆者，乃遣國俊就按之，若得反狀，便斬決。 國俊至廣州，遍召流人，置於別所，矯制賜自盡，並號哭稱冤不服。 國俊乃引出，擁之水曲，以次加戮，三百余人，一時並命。 然後鍛煉，曲成反狀，仍誣奏云：「諸流人咸有怨望，若不推究，為變不遙。」 則天深然其奏，乃命右衛翊二府兵曹參軍劉光業、司刑評事王德壽、苑南面監丞鮑思恭、尚輦直長王大貞、右武衛兵曹參軍屈貞筠等，並攝監察御史，分往劍南、黔中、安南等六道鞫流人。 尋擢授國俊朝散大夫、肅政臺侍御史。 光業等見國俊盛行殘殺，得加榮貴，乃共肆其兇忍，唯恐後之。 光業殺九百人，德壽殺七百人，其余少者鹹五百人。 亦有遠年流人，非革命時犯罪，亦同殺之。 則天後知其冤濫，下制：「被六道使所殺之家口未歸者，並遞還本管。」 國俊等俄亦相次而死，皆見鬼物為祟，或有流竄而終。
In the second year of Tianshou he served as acting Supervising Censor of the Right Office and routinely joined Junchen in the political prisons. In the second year of Changshou a sealed memorial claimed that exiles in Lingnan were plotting treason. Guojun was sent south with orders to execute anyone for whom evidence could be manufactured. At Guangzhou he rounded up every exile, confined them apart, and forged an edict ordering them to take their own lives. They wept and protested their innocence. He marched them to the riverbank and butchered them in batches—more than three hundred in a single day. Only then did he torture confessions out of survivors and fabricate a treason case, memorializing: "The exiles are full of grievance. Unless this is pursued, rebellion will follow soon. The Empress approved his report and dispatched Liu Guangye, Wang Deshou, Bao Sigong, Wang Dazhen, Qu Zhenyun, and others as acting Supervising Censors to six regions—Jiannan, Qianzhong, Annan, and the rest—to conduct the same slaughter among the exiled. Guojun was soon promoted to Gentleman for Miscellaneous Uses and Attending Censor of the Su Su-government Platform. Seeing that Guojun had been rewarded for mass murder, the others competed in cruelty, each afraid of being outdone. Guangye killed nine hundred; Deshou, seven hundred; the least successful among them still killed five hundred. Some victims had been exiled decades earlier for offenses unrelated to Wu's rise—they were murdered anyway. When the Empress learned how far the slaughter had gone, she ordered that surviving dependents of the victims be returned to their home districts. Guojun and his fellows soon died in turn, each tormented by visions of ghosts, or exiled until they perished miserably.
37
王弘義，冀州衡水人也。 告變，授遊擊將軍。 天授中，拜右臺殿中侍御史。 長壽中，拜左臺侍御史，與來俊臣羅告衣冠。 延載元年，俊臣貶，弘義亦流放瓊州，妄稱敕追。 時胡元禮為侍御史，使嶺南道，次於襄、鄧，會而按之。 弘義詞窮，乃謂曰：「與公氣類。」 元禮曰：「足下任御史，元禮任洛陽尉。 元禮今為御史，公乃流囚，復何氣類？」 乃搒殺之。
Wang Hongyi came from Hengshui in Jizhou. He won appointment as Mobile Cavalry General through a treason denunciation. During the Tianshou reign he became Attending Censor of the Right Office. In the Changshou era he rose to Attending Censor of the Left Office and helped Lai Junchen frame officials of the court. In the first year of Yanzai, when Junchen fell, Hongyi was exiled to Qiongzhou but pretended that the throne had summoned him back. Attending Censor Hu Yuanli was traveling to Lingnan and halted at Xiangyang and Dengzhou, where he intercepted and examined him. Cornered, Hongyi pleaded, "You and I are birds of a feather. Yuanli replied, "When you wore the censor's robes, I was a sheriff in Luoyang. Now I am the censor and you are a convicted fugitive. What kindred spirits?" He had him clubbed to death on the spot.
38
弘義每暑月系囚，必於小房中積蒿而施氈褥，遭之者斯須氣絕矣。 茍自誣引，則易於他房。 與俊臣常行移牒，州縣懾懼，自矜曰：「我之文牒，有如狼毒野葛也。」 弘義常於鄉里傍舍求瓜，主吝之，弘義乃狀言瓜園中有白兔，縣官命人捕逐，斯須園苗盡矣。 內史李昭德曰：「昔聞蒼鷹獄吏，今見白免御史。」
In summer Hongyi locked prisoners in a tiny cell stuffed with wormwood and topped with felt blankets; victims suffocated within moments. A quick false confession bought transfer to a less deadly cell. His writs, like Junchen's, struck terror through every prefecture. "My papers," he boasted, "are as deadly as wolf's-bane and wild aconite. He once demanded melons from a neighbor who refused. Hongyi filed a report that a white rabbit had been sighted in the melon patch. Officials sent to catch it trampled every plant in the garden. Interior Secretary Li Zhaode remarked, "We used to hear of the jailer called the Dark Eagle. Now we have the Censor of the White Rabbit."
39
時大夫魏元忠臥疾，諸御史盡往省之，霸獨居後。 比見元忠，憂懼，請示元忠便液，以驗疾之輕重。 元忠驚悚，霸悅曰：「大夫糞味甘，或不瘳。 今味苦，當即愈矣。」 元忠剛直，殊惡之，以其事露朝士。 嘗推芳州刺史李思征，搒捶考禁，不勝而死。 聖歷中，屢見思征，甚惡之。 嘗因退朝遽歸，命家人曰：「速請僧轉經設齋。」 須臾見思征從數十騎上其廷，曰：「汝枉陷我，我今取汝。」 霸周章惶怖，援刀自刳其腹，斯須蛆爛矣。 是日，閭裏亦見兵馬數十騎駐於門，少頃不復見矣。 時洛陽橋壞，行李弊之，至是功畢。 則天嘗問群臣：「比在外有何好事？」 舍人張元一素滑稽，對曰：「百姓喜洛橋成，幸郭霸死，此即好事。」
When Senior Master Wei Yuanzhong fell ill, every censor paid a call—except Guo Ba, who lingered behind. When he finally saw Yuanzhong, he fawned anxiously and asked to inspect his urine to gauge how grave the sickness was. Yuanzhong was revolted. Ba announced cheerfully, "Your stool tastes sweet—that often means you will not recover. But today it tastes bitter. You will be well soon. Yuanzhong, a man of iron integrity, loathed him and spread the story through the court. He once tortured Li Sizheng, prefect of Fangzhou, to death under the rods. During the Shenglu era he kept seeing Sizheng's ghost and was terrified. One day he rushed home after court and told his household, "Summon monks at once—sutras and a feast. Moments later he saw Sizheng at the head of a phantom troop riding into his yard. "You framed me," the ghost cried. "Now I have come for you." Ba flailed in terror, drew a knife, and disemboweled himself. Within moments his entrails writhed with maggots. Neighbors saw a phantom troop at his gate that day too—and then nothing. The Luoyang bridge had long been broken, vexing travelers. Now the repairs were finished. Empress Wu once asked her ministers, "What good news from the realm lately? Zhang Yuanyi, a wit among the attendants, answered, "The people are glad the Luo Bridge is done and doubly glad that Guo Ba is dead. That, Your Majesty, is good news."
40
吉頊，洛州河南人也。 身長七尺，陰毒敢言事。 進士舉，累轉明堂尉。 萬歲通天二年，有箕州刺史劉思禮，自雲學於張憬藏，善相，雲洛州錄事參軍綦連耀應圖讖，有「兩角騏麟兒」之符命。 頊告之，則天付武懿宗與頊對訊。 懿宗與頊誘思禮，令廣引朝士，必全其命。 思禮乃引鳳閣侍郎李元素、夏官侍郎孫元通、天官侍郎劉奇、石抱忠、鳳閣舍人王處、來庭、主簿柳璆、給事中周潘、涇州刺史王勔、監察御史王助、司議郎路敬淳、司門員外郎劉慎之、右司員外郎宇文全誌等三十六家，微有忤意者，必構之，楚毒百端，以成其獄。 皆海內賢士名家，天下冤之，親故連累竄逐者千余人。 頊由是擢拜右肅政臺中丞，日見恩遇。
Ji Tuo came from Henan in Luozhou. He stood seven feet tall, vicious, and bold in denunciation. A jinshi graduate, he rose through posts until he served as sheriff of the Bright Hall. In the second year of Wansui Tongtian, Liu Sili, prefect of Ji Province, claimed training under the physiognomist Zhang Jingzang. He denounced Qi Lianyao, a Luoyang clerk, as fulfilling a prophecy about "the horned qilin colt." Ji Tuo laid the charge. Empress Wu assigned Wu Yizong and Ji Tuo to examine him jointly. They promised Sili his life if he would implicate as many court officials as possible. Sili named thirty-six great houses—including Li Yuansu, Sun Yuantong, Liu Qi, and dozens more. Anyone who had crossed them was ensnared, tortured inventively, and driven into confession. They were among the empire's finest families. All China mourned them. More than a thousand kin and associates were banished in the fallout. Ji Tuo was promoted to Vice Censor of the Right Su Su-government Platform and grew daily in favor.
41
明年，突厥寇陷趙、定等州。 則天召頊檢校相州刺史，以斷賊南侵之路。 頊以素不習武為辭，則天曰：「賊勢將退，藉卿威名鎮遏耳。」
The following year Turkic raiders overran Zhao, Ding, and neighboring prefectures. The Empress summoned him to serve as acting prefect of Xiangzhou and block the Turks' path south. Ji Tuo pleaded inexperience in war. "The enemy will withdraw," she said. "I need only your name to frighten them."
42
初，太原有術士溫彬茂，高宗時老，臨死，封一狀謂其妻曰：「吾死後，年名垂拱，即詣闕獻之，慎勿開也。」 垂拱初，其妻獻之。 狀中預陳則天革命及突厥至趙、定之事，故則天知賊至趙州而退。 頊初至州募人，略無應者。 俄而詔以皇太子為元帥，應募者不可勝數。 及賊退，頊入朝奏之，則天甚悅。
Long before, the prognosticator Wen Binmao of Taiyuan, in his old age under Gaozong, sealed a document on his deathbed and told his wife, "After I die, when the era name becomes Chuigong, take this to court unopened. At the dawn of the Chuigong era she did so. It foretold Wu's takeover and the Turkic advance on Zhao and Ding—so when the raiders reached Zhao, she knew they would soon retreat. When Ji Tuo first tried to raise troops, scarcely anyone came forward. Then the throne named the Crown Prince commander, and volunteers swarmed beyond counting. When the raiders withdrew, Ji Tuo returned to court and reported the outcome; Empress Wu was greatly pleased.
43
聖歷二年臘月，遷天官侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。 時易之、昌宗諷則天置控鶴監官員，則天以易之為控鶴監。 頊素與易之兄弟親善，遂引頊，以殿中少監田歸道、鳳閣舍人薛稷、正諫大夫員半千、夏官侍郎李迥秀，俱為控鶴內供奉，時議甚不悅。
In the twelfth month of the second year of Shenli, he was promoted to Vice Minister of Heaven and appointed Associate Director of the Phoenix Pavilion and Crane Terrace. At that time Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong urged Empress Wu to establish the Crane-Control Office; she appointed Yizhi as its director. Ji Tuo had long been close to the Zhang brothers, and they now brought him in along with Tian Guidao, Xue Ji, Yuan Banqian, and Li Huixiu as inner attendants of the Crane-Control Office—a move that drew widespread disapproval.
44
初，則天以頊幹辯有口才，偉儀質，堪委以心腹，故擢任之。 及與武懿宗爭趙州功於殿中，懿宗短小俯僂，頊聲氣淩厲，下視懿宗，嘗不相假。 則天以為：「卑我諸武於我前，其可倚與！」 其年十月，以弟作偽官，貶琰川尉，後改安固尉。 尋卒。
Empress Wu had earlier promoted him because he was quick-witted, eloquent, and imposing in bearing—someone she believed she could trust as a confidant. When he disputed credit for the Zhao campaign with Wu Yizong in court, Yizong was short and stooped while Ji Tuo's voice rang harshly above him; he looked down on Yizong and would not yield an inch. Empress Wu concluded, "He humbles my Wu kinsmen before me—how can I rely on him!" That year in the tenth month, because his younger brother had forged an official appointment, he was demoted to sheriff of Yan River, later reassigned to Angu. He soon died.
45
初，中宗未立為皇太子時，易之、昌宗嘗密問頊自安之策。 頊云：「公兄弟承恩既深，非有大功於天下，則不全矣。 今天下士庶，鹹思李家，廬陵既在房州，相王又在幽閉，主上春秋既高，須有付托。 武氏諸王，殊非屬意。 明公若能從容請建立廬陵及相王，以副生人之望，豈止轉禍為福，必長享茅土之重矣！」 易之然其言，遂承間奏請。 則天知頊首謀，召而問之。 頊曰：「廬陵王及相王，皆陛下之子，先帝顧托於陛下，當有主意，唯陛下裁之。」 則天意乃定。 頊既得罪，時無知者。 睿宗即位，左右發明其事，乃下制曰：「故吏部侍郎、同中書門下平章事吉頊，體識宏遠，風規久大。 嘗以經緯之才，允膺匡佐之委。 時王命中否，人謀未輯，首陳返政之議，克副祈天之基。 永懷遺烈，寧忘厥效。 可贈左御史臺大夫。」
Earlier, before Zhongzong was named Crown Prince, Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong had secretly asked Ji Tuo how they might secure their own safety. Ji Tuo said, "You brothers have received the deepest favor—without a great service to the realm, you cannot remain secure. All the realm still yearns for the House of Li. Prince Luling is at Fangzhou and the Prince of Xiang remains in confinement. Our sovereign is advanced in years and must settle the succession. The Wu princes are not where her heart lies. If you gentlemen could calmly petition to restore Luling and the Prince of Xiang, fulfilling the people's hope, you would not merely turn danger into safety—you would secure your estates for generations!" Zhang Yizhi agreed and seized an opportune moment to present the petition. Empress Wu knew Ji Tuo had devised the plan and summoned him for questioning. Ji Tuo said, "Prince Luling and the Prince of Xiang are both Your Majesty's sons. The late emperor entrusted them to you—you alone must decide their fate." The Empress's mind was made up. After Ji Tuo fell from favor, no one at the time knew what he had done. When Emperor Ruizong took the throne, his attendants revealed the story, and he issued an edict: "The late Vice Minister of Personnel and Associate Director of the Secretariat Ji Tuo possessed far-reaching insight and enduring moral stature. He once bore the talent to order the realm and truly received the charge of aiding the throne. When the royal mandate faltered and counsel was divided, he was the first to urge restoration of the Tang house, fulfilling Heaven's intent. We forever cherish his departed merit and shall not forget what he accomplished. Let him be posthumously appointed Grand Master of the Left Censorate."