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卷十五 梁書15: 列傳五 韓建 李罕之 馮行襲 孫德昭 趙克裕 張慎思

Volume 15 Book of Later Liang 15: Biographies 5: Han Jian, Li Hanzhi, Feng Xingxi, Sun Dezhao, Zhao Keyu, Zhang Shensi

Chapter 15 of 舊五代史 · Old History of the Five Dynasties
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Chapter 15
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1
鹿 使使 使
Han Jian, styled Zuoshi, came from Changshe in Xuzhou. His father Shufeng served for generations as a guard officer. When Qin Zongquan held Caizhou he recruited fugitives; Jian joined as a soldier and rose to junior officer. Early in Zhonghe, Yang Fuguang of Zhongwu raised troops at Cai; Jian and townsman Wang Jian marched with Lu Yanhong to relieve the capital. After the rebels fell, Fuguang died suddenly. With Xizong in Shu, Yanhong marched to the court. Marching through the Qinling he raided towns and seized Xingyuan. Yanhong made himself commissioner and appointed Jian Shu prefect. Tian Lingzi lured Jian away from Yan Hong with rich promises. Fearing that Yan Hong would absorb him, Jian led his troops back to the traveling court, where Lingzi appointed him Shence column commander and Golden Guard general, then sent him out as Tong Pass defense commissioner and concurrently prefect of Huazhou. After the ravaging of He and Tong he cleared land, urged farming, and within years restored refugees and prosperity. Illiterate at first, he studied daily while governing. He labeled household goods with his name until he learned to read. Soon he became Hua-Shang commissioner, Tong Pass commander, honorary Grand Marshal, and chief minister.
2
使使 西 使
Qianning 2 he marched with Maozhen and Xingyu on the capital, forced Wang Gong on Hezhong, and killed ministers. Wang Ke called Jin aid; when Jin crossed the river Zhaozong fled to Shimen. Month 4, year 3, imperial princes attacked Maozhen, were beaten, and the emperor reached Wei Bridge. At Fuping Jian welcomed the emperor and persuaded him east to Hua. Month 7, day 15, the emperor reached Hua with the court in train. He became Grand Secretary, capital pacification commissioner, Jingzhao prefect, and intercept commander. Zhaozong had long been in Hua Prefecture and yearned to return to the palace. On flower mornings and moonlit evenings he would tour and feast at West Creek with his ministers, compose songs and poems, and weep with sighs. Jian said calmly, "Your servant will repair the great inner palace for Your Majesty and win the feudatories' trust—in one or two years restoration is sure." He put Jian in charge of rebuilding the capital and Daming Palace from Hua.
3
殿 宿 使
In month 2 of the fourth year someone accused eight princes including Prince Mu of plotting against Jian; he imprisoned them, dismissed twenty thousand rear guards, and killed Pengri chief Li Yun. The emperor grew weaker still and lost his guards. Month 8 he besieged the Sixteen Residences; Prince Tong and ten other princes were killed at Shidi Valley as alleged traitors. He also killed Ma Daoyin and Xu Yanshi and demoted Zhu Pu, all Zhaozong favorites. Jian soon added Tongzhou commissioner. Guanghua 1 elevated Hua to Xingde Prefecture and made Jian its intendant. Month 8 the emperor returned to the capital. Month 9 he became Grand Tutor, Duke of Xu, and received an iron certificate.
4
西 · 使 使 使 使 使 使 使使
Tianfu 1, month 11, Han Quanhui seized the emperor for Fengxiang; Jian helped. The Founder marched west from Hezhong. Sim Ye surrendered Tongzhou; the Founder besieged Hua and Jian surrendered. The Founder blamed him for intimidating the throne; Jian blamed Li Juchuan and the Founder killed Juchuan. (The 《Northern Dream》 says Jian admitted, "I cannot read; Juchuan wrote all my court papers and neighboring letters." So he was beheaded. The 《New Book of Tang》 says Juchuan came to submit and argued policy. Jing Xiang feared rivalry and told Quanzhong, "Juchuan is truly a rare talent, but he is not good to his lord—what then!" That day Quanzhong killed him.)〉 Old army brothers, they reconciled and Jian became Xu commissioner. When the emperor moved east Jian became Youguo commissioner and Jingzhao prefect. At a feast in Shan the empress toasted the Founder; Jian trod his foot and the Founder hastily rose saying, "Your subject is drunk and cannot bear it." He staggered away as if drunk. Jian whispered to the Founder, "The emperor and empress are whispering; I heard weapons beneath the curtain—they may be plotting against you." Tianyou 3 he was made Qing commissioner. At the abdication he became Minister of Works, chief minister, and salt-and-iron transport commissioner. Kaiping 2 he became Palace Secretary and Jianchang Palace commissioner. Year 3 he directed the Luo suburban rites. As chief minister he sometimes spoke bluntly to the throne. The stern Founder indulged Jian more than other ministers. Month 9 he became Grand Preceptor and left the government. (The 《Five Dynasties Institutes》 records limited court appearances as special favor.) A mark of favor.)〉 In the third month of the fourth year, he took Kuangguo and Chen-Xu-Cai with a pledge of no replacement. (The 《Institutes》 praises his rule at Xuchang and forbids replacement.) The court would not discuss replacing him.)〉 Qianhua 2, month 6, subordinate Zhang Hou murdered Jian in the yamen at fifty-eight.
5
Son Congxun, renamed Wenli, served as crown prince tutor at Hua and became Director of Fields. Early in the dynasty he was Capital Crimes director with purple robes before twenty. Sent to announce mourning at Chen and Xu, he died in the same mutiny as his father. Qianhua 3 he was posthumously named Grand Preceptor.
6
西 西 退 西
Li Hanzhi came from Xiangcheng in Chenzhou. His father Wen was a farming family for generations. Hanzhi was a fierce fighter of several men's strength. He failed as a scholar, became a monk, and was driven out everywhere for unruliness. Begging all day at Suozao without alms, he smashed his bowl, cast off his robes, and became a bandit. When Huang Chao rose he raided and became a bandit chief. When Chao crossed the Yangzi he defected to Tang; Gao Pian made him Guang commissioner. Zongquan drove him from Guang; he regrouped at Xiangcheng and Zhuge Shuang made him Huai commissioner. Guangqi opened with Shuang campaigning against Zongquan and posting Hanzhi at Song. Cai armies grew too strong to face. Zhonghe 4 Shuang made him Henan prefect and eastern capital regent. That year he lavishly hosted Keyong passing through Luoyang and bonded with him. He held three thousand men at Shengyi Monastery. Guangqi 1 Sun Ru besieged Luoyang; outnumbered, Hanzhi fled to Mianchi. Cai rebels held the capital a month, burning palaces and looting the people. They left only ashes and silence. Hanzhi rebuilt camps west of the market.
7
退 使 使 使 退
After Shuang died Liu Jing held Luoyang and feared Hanzhi. He killed officer Guo Qiu and lost the army's trust. Liu Jing ambushed him at Mianchi. Defeated, he held Qianhao. He beat Jing back and pursued to Luoyang. Jing held Jing'ai Monastery; Hanzhi held the imperial stable. He burned Jing'ai Monastery and slaughtered Jing's army. He pressed Heyang from Gong and crossed toward Sishui until Zhang Yan blocked the river. Young Zhongfang was ruled by Liu Jing; the officers were divided. Zhang Yan secretly allied with Hanzhi; Yan crossed to Hanzhi; together they attacked Heyang, lost, and fled to Huai. Winter brought Sun Ru's capture of Heyang. Zhongfang fled by boat; Sun Ru seized Heyang. Soon our armies beat Cai and Sun Ru abandoned Heyang. Hanzhi and Yan begged Taiyuan; Keyong sent An Jinjun and they retook Heyang. Keyong made Hanzhi commissioner and chief minister; and Yan Henan prefect and eastern capital regent. He and Yan swore blood brotherhood like Zhang Er and Chen Yu. Brave yet treacherous and greedy, he ruled without strategy and won no loyalty. He then raided Jin and Jiang from Heyang. His men lived by capture and cannibalism amid famine. Wang Youyu, prefect of Jiang Prefecture, surrendered the city; Hanzhi then advanced to attack Jin Prefecture, and Wang Chongying of Hezhong sent envoys requesting aid from the Founder. Zhang Yan supplied grain efficiently while Hanzhi demanded endlessly. When Yan could not meet his demands Hanzhi flogged Henan clerks. He seized eastern tribute and Chongying plotted with Yan against him. Wende 1 spring Yan seized Heyang while Hanzhi attacked Pingyang; Hanzhi fled alone and his clan was captured. Fleeing to Taiyuan, Keyong made him Ze prefect while he still claimed Heyang. Month 3 Keyong sent Li Cunxiao with thirty thousand against Huai and Meng. Starving, Yan sent hostages and begged the Founder; the Founder sent Ge Congzhou and Niu Cunjie to Liuhe Store. When An Xiuxiu defected to Cai, Cunxiao withdrew and Hanzhi held Ze. Thereafter he ravaged Huai, Meng, Jin, and Jiang until the land lay empty of officials and people. Hezhong peasants who ventured out for fuel or water were taken. Even mountain strongholds fell to his raiders. On Mount Cloud-Touching between Pu and Jiang peasants had built a refuge; he took it with a hundred men and was nicknamed Li Cloud-Touching. For more than ten years his cannibal raids left the region a dead wilderness.
8
Qianning 2 Keyong campaigned against Bin and Feng and made Hanzhi his deputy. After Xingyu's death Hanzhi became honorary Grand Marshal with a thousand-household fief. He told Gai Yu, "Since losing Heyang I have relied on great patronage, yet for years I have shown no achievement. In recent years I have wearied of campaigns—this old man is aged and can do no more. I beg our prince and the Grand Tutor to pity me with a small post to rest my troops and heal my illness—in one or two years I would retire to my rabbit burrow. That would be fortune." Gai Yu pleaded; Keyong was silent. Passed over for every command, he brooded until Gai Yu feared treachery and pleaded again. Keyong said, "It is not that I begrudge him a post; I keep him as Dong Zhuo kept Lü Bu—fierce but untrustworthy when fed."
9
使 使
Guanghua 1, month 12, after Xue Zhiqin died as Lu commander, Hanzhi marched from Ze into Lu, declared himself commissioner, and told Keyong, "With Zhiqin dead and no successor yet, I feared raiders and garrisoned Lu without orders." Keyong sent Li Zhaosi against him; Hanzhi seized Ma Gai, Yi Duo, He Wanyou, Fu Yao, and others and sent his son Hao to the Founder for help. (The 《New Book of Tang》 says Quanzhong made Hanzhi Zhaoyi commissioner.) Hanzhi then fell suddenly ill and could not govern. Next year, month 6, the Founder replaced him with Ding Hui and made Hanzhi Heyang commissioner; he died at a relay station in Huai at fifty-eight. Son Hao brought the coffin by boat to bury him in Heyin. Kaiping 2 spring he was posthumously named Chief Minister.
10
使 使 西 使 使 使
Feng Xingxi, styled Zhengchen, came from Wudang. He rose through local command posts. During Zhonghe, bandit Sun Xi threatened Wudang and prefect Lü Yu was helpless. Xingxi met Xi on the river and told him, "The people have a good shepherd and their hearts have turned to him, but your troops are many and the people fear plunder. If you camp north of the river and let me go ahead to calm soldiers and people, all can be settled at once." Xi agreed. Across the river Xingxi ambushed and beheaded Xi; his band fled. Liu Jurong rewarded him with Jun prefecture. He cleared Long Mountain bandits who robbed tribute on the road to Shu. Ge Zuo made him deputy and garrison commander at Gukou on the Shu road. He took Jin from Maozhen's adopted son Jizhen and became Jin commissioner. He crushed Yang Shouliang marching on the capital through Jin and Shang. Jin was raised to a circuit under Xingxi as Rongzhao commissioner.
11
西使 使 使
When the Founder marched west, Xingxi sent deputy Lu Chongju for orders. When Zhaozong went to Fengxiang the Founder marched to meet him but lingered outside. Han Quanhui sent Xi Wenyan and twenty eunuchs with forged orders to raise Jiang-Huai troops at Jin and threaten the Founder; Xingxi killed them and sent the edicts to the Founder. Tianyou 1 he added Yangzhou commissioner. In the Jing-Xiang campaign Xingxi sent son Xu by river to Jun and Fang; rewarded, he became Kuangguo commissioner. Taking office he executed clerk Zhang Cheng and terrified the prefecture. For three years at Xu he sent two hundred thousand piculs of extra grain beyond tribute. At the suburban rites Xingxi came to court with lavish gifts and exceptional honor. Du Xiao wrote his merit stele; he rose to concurrent chief minister and Grand Marshal. He died in Kaiping; mourning paused one day; posthumously Grand Tutor, loyal and respectful.
12
Harsh yet lucky, he saw locusts devoured by birds and gleanings appear when the people hungered. He used his power to serve the throne and kept his fame. Tall and imposing, with a blue mark on his face, he was called "Feng Blue-Face."
13
Son Xu governed Qi and Qin. Son Deyan became Golden Guard general.
14
使
Sun Dezhao of Wuyuan in Yanzhou came from a line of prefectural officers. His father Weijing served Tang with distant Jingnan commission and Shence command. Dezhao inherited rank as Right Shence commander. Guanghua 3 eunuchs deposed Zhaozong and set up Prince De while none could resist. Cui Yin allied with the Founder and secretly plotted restoration. Someone persuaded Dezhao, (The 《Zizhi Tongjian》 says Cui Yin sent Shi Kan to win Dezhao. Dezhao wept when drunk; Shi Kan secured his pledge.)〉 Moved, Dezhao joined Sun Chenghui and Dong Congshi to restore the throne; Cui Yin sealed the pact in writing.
15
使使使
Tianfu 1, New Year's dawn, Dezhao ambushed and killed Liu Jishu; Chenghui seized Wang Zhongxian's faction. Zhaozong, imprisoned in the eastern palace, heard the uproar and feared. Dezhao galloped up, knocked on the gate, and cried, "The rebel Liu Jishu has been executed—open the gate and restore the emperor!" The empress called out, "Bring the rebel's head—then the gate may open." They brought heads; Zhaozong wept and praised them. Cui Yin welcomed the emperor to Danfeng Tower, led the officials in self-reproach, and wept as he memorialized, "I held high office yet failed to punish treachery; thanks to Prince of the East Zhu Quanzhong's loyal stand and killing of palace agents, Dezhao and the rest could capture the rebels and clear the palace again." Dezhao became honorary Grand Guardian and Jinghai commissioner; his allies received circuits, Li surname, merit titles, and Lingyan portraits. Rewards and favor were unmatched in their day.
16
西 使 使
Month 11 Han Quanhui took the emperor to Fengxiang; Chenghui and Congshi turned traitor with the eunuchs. Only Dezhao held his troops and with Lou Jingsi shielded Cui Yin and the court east of the street. The Founder sent gifts and entrusted him to keep order. Officials at Hua begged the Founder to restore the court. When the Founder's banner entered the passes, Dezhao paid his respects with military rites and stood at the left of the road. The Founder ordered attendants to help him mount and escort him by the reins to Chang'an, gave him lavish gifts, and appointed him acting military commissioner of Tongzhou. The people kept him as capital disposition commissioner with a million cash. He gave eight thousand men to the Founder, received a mansion, and went first to Luoyang. When the emperor moved east he became Left Valiant Guard general, then retired ill to his villa. At the abdication he was summoned as Left Collar Guard general. Kaiping 4 he became Left Golden Guard general and street commissioner. The Last Emperor sent him to Zhe but he failed audience and did not go. He was shifted to Right Martial Guard, then back to Left Golden Guard. He died in office and was posthumously named Grand Tutor; court mourned one day.
17
使
With Chenghui and Congshi he was called one of the "Three Envoy-Chancellors" for restoring the throne. Chenghui became Jihui and Congshi Yanbi under Maozhen's adoption. Later the eunuchs' faction fell and both were killed at the capital. Only Dezhao died a natural death with honor.
18
使 使
Zhao Keyu came from Heyang. His grandfather and father were army clerks. A guard officer who loved books and decorum, he won every commander's favor. He rose to command Hulao Pass. During the Guangqi era, when Cai bandits captured Heyang, Keyu led his command over to the Founder and was attached to the Xuanyi Army. In eastern campaigns against Xu and Yan he never failed the Founder. Within years he held Bo and Zheng. While Cai ravaged the east he fed and protected the people better than other lords. He became Heyang commissioner, then governed Xu, and entered court as Golden Guard general and honorary Grand Marshal. As marshal's left adjutant and six-army commander he acted as Taining commissioner after Yan fell. Within months he died suddenly. Early Kaiping he was posthumously named Grand Tutor.
19
使 使 使 使
Zhang Shensi came from Qinghe. Defecting from Huang Chao, he rose through commands to overall army commander. He distinguished himself pacifying Chao, Cai, Yan, and Yun and became honorary Minister of Works and Song chief secretary. In Guanghua he became honorary Right Vice Director and acting Bo commissioner. Tianfu 3, for welcoming the emperor with the Founder, he received the title Welcome-the-Carriage Merit Minister and became Ruzhou commissioner. Tianyou 1 he became Left Dragon Martial commander. That winter he became Xu Kuangguo commissioner. Next year, month 11, he acted as Xuzhou Wuning commissioner. At the abdication he entered as Left Golden Guard great general. Kaiping 2 he governed Song, then again became Left Golden Guard great general. Winter, year 3, as Cai commissioner greed cost him popular support and he was recalled. Soon after returning from the northern campaign he fell ill at his Luoyang home. His household discipline failed and his son murdered him.
20
The historian says: Han Jian met the Tang house in its declining fortune and held the crucial ground of Tong Pass, yet he could not shield the royal house. Instead he devoted himself to cutting down the imperial branches. Though he had the ability to enrich local customs, how could that offset the fault of disloyalty? Keyong rightly compared Hanzhi to Lü Bu. Xingxi and Dezhao served loyally and ended well, as they should. Keyu and the rest merit no reproach.
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