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卷三十六 唐書12: 明宗本紀二

Volume 36 Book of Later Tang 12: Mingzong Annals 2

Chapter 36 of 舊五代史 · Old History of the Five Dynasties
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Chapter 36
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1
西 西 使使 使 殿 西使 殿 使 使 使
On bingwu in the fourth month of Tiancheng 1, Mingzong left Xingsheng Palace for the Western Palace; officials in white stood at their posts while he wore deepest mourning, bore the bier, set offerings, wept his fill, and took the throne before the coffin. Officials changed to court dress and lined up; Mingzong in imperial robes received the investiture scroll, and the court congratulated him. On dingwei officials in white went to the Western Palace to view the bier. An Chonghui, Privy Council commissioner, was made acting Grand Preceptor and Left Leading Infantry General while keeping the Privy Council post. Dou Luge and the chief ministers three times asked Mingzong to hold court; he agreed. Envoys announced Zhuangzong's death to the circuits and Huainan. On xinhai Mingzong first held court at Zhongxing Hall. On renzi Ren Yuan, Southwest deputy pacification commissioner and Minister of Works, led twenty-six thousand foot and horse to audience. On jiayin Mingzong received court at Wenhua Hall. A decree renamed Tongguang 4 as Tiancheng 1 and amnestied the realm. The inner palace was cut to one hundred posts, thirty eunuchs, one hundred musicians, twenty falconers, and fifty kitchen staff; the rest could leave as they chose. Nominal commissioner posts in the ministries were abolished. Armies were sent to forage near the capital to ease supply lines. Autumn-summer grain tax had taken one sheng per dou as shrinkage; hereafter only the full measure was due and shrinkage ended. Circuit and defense commissioners could send only modest festival gifts at New Year, solstice, Dragon Boat, and birthday from their own funds, not levy the people. Prefects were exempt from festival tribute even on those four days. Prefectures had to list taxable goods clearly and stop harassing merchants. The Rent and Corvée Office was ordered to recover all provincial funds it had lent for private trade and close the loophole. On yimao Bohai's King Da Yinse sent tribute envoys. That month Zhang Xian, Beiping deputy commissioner, was executed for losing his post.
2
西 使 使 使 使使使 使使 殿 使
On the bingchen new moon of the fifth month Mingzong skipped court and mourned at the Western Palace. Dou Luge became Left Vice Director; Wei Shuo became Gate Chamberlain, Revenue minister, and historiographer, both keeping Grand Councillor rank. Zhu Shouyin of Yan, acting grand preceptor, became Grand Councillor, Henan prefect, and commander of the six armies and guards; An Yuanxin, military commissioner of Cangzhou and acting Grand Preceptor, was additionally made Grand Councillor and transferred to command at Xuzhou; Mao Zhang of Bin, acting grand guardian, became Grand Councillor. Zheng Jue, crown prince mentor, became Gate Chamberlain, Punishments minister, and Grand Councillor; Ren Yuan became Gate Chamberlain, Works minister, Grand Councillor, and overseer of the three offices. Li Shaozhen, military commissioner of Xuzhou; Li Shaoying, prefect of Beizhou; Li Shaoqian, defense commissioner of Qizhou; Li Shaoqi, military commissioner of Heyang; Li Shaoneng, prefect of Mingzhou; and others memorialized that the previous dynasty had favored them by bestowing surnames and personal names, and they now begged to restore their old names. Li Shaogian added, "I was born Wang, then Du; Zhuangzong gave me Li Shaogian—I ask to be Wang again." Mingzong approved all. Li Shaozhen became Huo Yanwei, Li Shaoying Fang Zhiwen, Li Shaogian Wang Yanqiu, Li Shaoqi Xia Luqi, Li Shaoneng Mi Junli. Fu Xi of Qing, grand councillor, gained Palace Attendant; Huo Yanwei of Xu gained Palace Attendant and moved to Yan. On dingsi Mingzong ordered officials to attend the main hall as usual and also hold inner levee every five days. (The 《Institutions of the Five Dynasties》 cites a Tiancheng 1 edict of the third of the fifth month: aside from regular court, chancellors and officials should attend inner levee every five days. Urgent Secretariat business could still open Yanying Hall and was exempt.)〉 Lin reported commandant Zhang Yanchong had rebelled, looted the city, and been executed.
3
使使使使使 西 使 西 使使 西西使 使使 使 使 祿使 使使 使
On wuwu, Xia Luqi, military commissioner of Heyang, was made acting Grand Preceptor; Fang Zhiwen, prefect of Beizhou, was made military commissioner of Yanzhou; Wang Yanqiu, defense commissioner of Qizhou, was made military commissioner of Songzhou; and Mi Junli, prefect of Mingzhou, was made military commissioner of Xingzhou. On jiwei every official received one horse and one donkey. Zhang Qian, Western Capital prefect, presented seventy-two of Prince Jiji's polo ponies. Li Congwen, Beiping horse-and-foot commander, reported eunuchs were being killed on edict. After Zhuangzong's fall several hundred eunuchs had fled as monks; more than seventy reached Taiyuan and were now executed at Duting Post. On xinyou Mingzong ordered Huazhou to send Shu palace women home to their families. On renxu An Jinquan, former Xiang prefect and Beiping wing commander, became Pacifier of the North, Zhenwu commissioner, and Grand Councillor. On jiazi Zhang Yun, former Western Capital commissioner and Jingzhao prefect, became acting grand preceptor and Shanxi West commissioner; Li Shaowen of Kui was made Suizhou commissioner; former Deng acting commissioner Dai Siyuan was made Yang commissioner. On dingmao Zhang Shi became Jin defense commissioner. On wuchen Zhao Zaili, golden-glitter grand master and acting grand preceptor, was named Huazhou commissioner and acting grand guardian. Zaili refused the post, citing unrest in the army. Tao Qi of Xu became Deng acting commissioner; An Shentong, deputy overall horse-and-foot commander, became Qi defense commissioner. On gengwu, Fu Yanchao, acting administrator of the Northern Capital Military Prefecture and prefect of Fenzhou, was made acting military commissioner of Jinzhou; Liu Shenyin, former prefect of Chenzhou, was made acting military commissioner of Shanzhou. On guiyou Liu Yancong, former Ci prefect, became Tong acting commissioner. On jiaxu Wang Yanhan of Fu, acting grand preceptor, became acting grand guardian and Grand Councillor.
4
殿 使 西使使 使西 西使
On yihai Feng Dao and Zhao Feng, Hanlin academicians, became Duanming Hall academicians at rank. The Duanming post began here. (The 《Institutions of the Five Dynasties》 says when Mingzong first reigned, An Chonghui read most frontier memorials but lacked literary training. Kong Xun then proposed reviving Tang's lecture-reader title as Duanming academician and named Feng Dao and others.)〉 On bingzi an edict said: "Guo Chongtao, late western-campaign commander and palace attendant, might be buried and his estates returned to his family. Zhu Youqian, late Wan registrar, was restored as Huguo commissioner, grand preceptor, Heyang prefect, and Prince of Xiping, with estates returned to his kin." On dingchou Zhang Qian, Western Capital inner commandant, presented two rhinoceros-and-jade belts and one hundred fifty horses from the false Shu ruler Wang Yan. Zhuangzong had sent the eunuch Xiang Yansi to Chang'an to kill Wang Yan; after the palace coup Yansi vanished and Yan's goods and entertainers passed to Zhang Qian, who now offered a slice of the hoard for fear of exposure.
5
使使 退 西 使使 使 使 退
On wuyin An Chonghui was also named Xiangzhou commissioner. When the decree issued, his allies told An Chonghui Xiangzhou was too strategic to hold with the Privy Council." He asked to step down and Mingzong agreed. Zhang Zunhui, left Golden Crow general, became Western Capital deputy commissioner. On xinsi Li Yin, Court of the Imperial Stud director, became drafting officer and Hanlin academician. On renwu, Zhang Wen, former prefect of Weizhou, was made acting military commissioner of Zhenwu; Kang Yicheng, commander of the left and right wing assault formations, was made prefect of Fenzhou; and Suo Zitong, cavalry commander-in-chief of the left and right wings, was made prefect of Xinzhou. Qian Liu of Wuyue sent five hundred liang of gold vessels, ten thousand liang of silver, and ten thousand bolts of silk in thanks; Mingzong granted a jade book and gold seal. Late in Tongguang Qian Liu had secretly asked for a jade book and seal; Guo Chongtao opposed it, but Duan Hui of the Privy Council took heavy bribes and pushed it through; Zhuangzong granted it—hence the thank-offering. On jiashen Li Shaobin of You, acting grand guardian, became acting grand preceptor and Grand Councillor and was restored as Zhao Dejun. On yiyou Mingzong ordered officials on crescent days to enter the hall and restored corridor meals. Before the wars, regular-attendance officials had received daily "corridor meals" after court. After Qianfu the ministries could not afford daily grants; now hall days brought the meal back. (The 《Institutions of the Five Dynasties》 says Mingzong's five-day inner levee drew Li Qi's protest as nonprecedent. Li Qi asked that only the first and fifteenth bring hall entry and meals. Mingzong kept crescent-day meals and the five-day inner levee anyway, and that became fixed practice.)〉
6
使使 使 使 使 使 使 便殿 殿 殿 退
On wuzi in the sixth month Li Shaogong was recalled to Xiangzhou and restored as Liu Xun. Li Congke, Hedong acting commissioner, became Hedong commissioner; the court congratulated him. Lu Zhi, Hanlin edict-drafter and War minister, became acting grand preceptor and Tong commissioner. On jichou Li Qi, envoy minister and acting Ceremonies director, became censor-in-chief; Cui Xie of Rites became Ceremonies director and acting Personnel director; Cui Jujian became War vice minister; Xiao Qing, crown prince mentor, became Rites minister. The Secretariat asked that the ninth of the ninth, Mingzong's birthday, become the Yingsheng Festival with three days off." Approved. Zhang Quanyi, late Zhongwu commissioner and Prince of Qi, was posthumously made grand preceptor; Cui Yi became left assistant minister. On bingshen Zhang Tingyu of Xin and Gao Xinggui of Yun received full commissionerships. On dingyou an edict said: "Foreign rulers had always come to court, and each age had its rites scaled to their power. Great powers deserved full ceremony in the main hall; lesser ones received grace in the side hall. The Censorate and Rites Office had reviewed precedent and found clear rules for both. Main-hall ceremony could not be dropped entirely; side-hall reception should remain routine. Great embassies would follow the old rites: guards and officials in formation at the main gate and audience in the main hall." Li Qi had protested that after hall audience the court still received tributary envoys in the side hall; Rites reviewed the case and Mingzong issued this order.
7
使 使使 使使 使使 使 便
On wuxu An Chonghui became acting grand guardian while keeping acting War minister. Liu Yue, crown prince mentor, became War vice minister; Wang Quan, right vice mentor, Revenue vice minister; Ren Zan, left vice mentor, Works vice minister. On gengzi Gao Jixing of Jingnan—acting Grand Preceptor, Director of the Imperial Secretariat, and Prince of Nanping—became acting Grand Marshal with the directorate; Zelu commissioner Kong, acting Grand Marshal and co-equal councilor, also gained concurrent Palace Attendant. At Bian the garrisoned Crane-Control commanders Zhang Jian and others plotted revolt and were executed; Privy Council commissioner Kong Xun was made acting Bian commissioner. On jiachen Kong Xun became acting Grand Guardian and Master of Writing while keeping the Privy Council. On jisi Yao Hui became Left Regular Attendant; crown prince mentor Lu Chong became Right Regular Attendant; Xiao Xifu of Military Affairs became Left Remonstrator; Lü Mengqi, former Youzhou aide, became Right Remonstrator; Sun Yue, Yedu deputy regent, became Ying training commissioner. An edict said: "Antiquity weighed ritual to fix names lest usage be lost; What was hard to breach yet easy to sidestep was valued for the times. Moreover the taboo names Zheng and Zai already had precedent. When Taizong took the throne he kept his old style; minister Yu Shinan and the Minbu office stood without evasion—only double calling was barred. I am slight in person and rest on others above—I follow the sage model only and dare not exalt myself. In documents the two characters need not be avoided unless spoken in succession. Subjects who wish not to share characters with ruler and kin may change their names as they please." On dingwei the Secretariat memorialized: "The capital's former hidden-dragon residence should be named the Palace of Highest Virtue." Approved.
8
使 使使 西使使使 使 使 使 使西
On wushen Li Renfu of Xia—Grand Mentor equal to the Three Excellencies, acting Grand Preceptor, Secretariat director, and Prince of Shuofang—gained a thousand more households in fief. Gao Yuntao became Yan commissioner; Zhang Jingxun became Li commissioner. Meng Zhixiang of western Shu became acting Grand Marshal and Palace Attendant; Dong Zhang of eastern Shu became acting Grand Marshal. On renzi Li Congyan of Fengxiang—acting Grand Marshal and Secretariat director—became acting Grand Preceptor with the directorate. Kong Xun, acting Bian prefect, reported that the mutinous commanders led by Zhao Xu—three thousand men and below—had been wiped out to the clan. On jiayin Fu Yanchao became Beijing regent; Wang Jianli became Zhen acting commissioner; An Chongruan became Jin acting commissioner. Gao Jixing of Jingnan memorialized: "Kui, Zhong, and Wan were once under this circuit until western Shu seized them; we ask that they be returned to this jurisdiction." The court approved the request. For Kui, where false Shu had once set a commission, a prefect was to be appointed as before. (The 《Zizhi Tongjian Collated Variants》 cites the 《Annals of Jingnan in the Records of the Ten Kingdoms》: in the second month of Tiancheng 1, on renchen, he sought Zhong, Kui, Wan, and the Yun'an salt office; Zhuangzong approved. Before the edict arrived, Zhuangzong was killed. In the sixth month, on renchen, Gao asked again for the three prefectures and Mingzong approved.)〉
9
使 耀使 使 使殿便簿
On yimao, the first of the seventh month, the old Taiyuan residence became the Accumulated Celebration Palace. On gengshen Khitan and Bohai both sent tribute envoys. On jiazi an edict detached Hancheng and Heyang from their circuit and placed them under Tong. Several hundred soldiers of Hua's Honored Tusk and Long Sword units were killed and their clans wiped out for mutiny. Their commanders, led by Yu Kehong, reached the capital in turn and were beheaded in the market. On dingmao Wang Yan of false Shu—acting Works minister, gate councilor, co-equal councilor, and Duke of Jin—became acting Works minister and Ling prefect; Shi Tan of Guo became Yao training commissioner. On xinwei, an edict said: "Military commissioners, prefects, and civil and military officers of all circuits formerly submitted attendance memorials on the first day of each month. From now on, except for military commissioners, acting commissioners, training commissioners, and defense commissioners, who shall submit congratulatory memorials only at New Year and the winter solstice, the submissions in the four first months of the seasons shall all be stopped." On jiaxu the Secretariat said: "By instruction, new circuit aides and county officials should receive patents by edict alone, not by presentation. Formerly only generals and chancellors received patents; since Liang, every appointment brought a special grant. We propose: capital-appointed aides of the two bureaus and registry clerks should thank the throne in the inner hall and leave without patents; bureau chiefs should not again receive audience. After promulgation, handle it by old precedent." Approved.
10
涿 殿
On yihai Zhuangzong's coffin was moved; the Emperor in hemp mourning saw it off before the tower. That day Zhuangzong was buried at Yongling. Wang Jianli of Zhen reported that Zhuo prefect Liu Yinzhao refused transfer and rebelled; troops seized him yesterday; Liu and thirteen followers were captured and are under interrogation with legs broken. On jimao Yang Ningshi became Drafting Attendant, History Office reviser, and acting director; Yang Bin, Minister of Personnel of the false Shu, was made Supervising Secretary, appointed Academician of the Hall for Collecting Worthies, and placed in acting charge of the institute. Ying was raised to Zhangde circuit; Xingtang Army became Huan under Zhangde. Dou Lu Ge was demoted to Chen prefect and Wei Shuo to Xi—for Remonstrator Xiao Xifu's indictment—and both were ordered sent off at once. An edict summarized: "Ge let tenants kill; Shuo seized a neighbor's well; they ranked Yuan Heng first and changed Wang Can's name. One ran the Three Bureaus and handed affairs to Yuan Sui; another worked a hundred li and took a senior official's mulberry land. Both wronged commoners and showed favor to kin. Unfit appointments, insatiable bribes—to scheme on the state thus—where is the ruler's way! Blind to order and chaos, knowing neither restraint nor release. Office dossiers and remonstrance memorials piled up—their crimes plain, the bright court deeply stained. They should face the three punishments and be cast to the four borders. Henan's documents and Xiao Xifu's memorial should be shown to all officials." On gengchen Xiao Xifu received twenty bolts of silk and fifty taels of silver—for exposing Ge and Shuo. Zheng Jue and Ren Yuan again saw An Chonghui to free Ge and Shuo and stop the later orders; they memorialized three times—all held without reply.
11
使使 使使使
On xinsi Li Congzhang, Left Wing commander of the Support-the-Sacred Guard, became Rao prefect and inner-palace commissioner. The Secretariat said: "By rule acting officials pay Ministry of Rites fees; Grand Preceptor and Grand Marshal once paid forty thousand, later twenty; Grand Tutor and Grand Guardian once thirty thousand, later fifteen; Works and War ministers once twenty thousand, later ten; Vice directors and directors once fifteen thousand, later seven; Outside-office and bureau directors once ten thousand, now three thousand four hundred." An edict said: "Capital rank and dynastic favor—every new appointment pays ceremonial fees. In recent years the old system collapsed and the discipline office was neglected. Fees have been cut repeatedly; it is time to restore the rules. Meritorious guards and frontier commissioners raised by military merit are excepted. All others—commissioners without councilor rank, defense, training, and prefectural posts, deputies, campaign staff, Three Bureaus supervisors, and county officials—must pay. Acting officials from outside-office director through Vice Director pay only on first promotion; unchanged titles are exempt. Ministry departments shall investigate, keep monthly registers, and report to the Secretariat."
12
調
On guiwei Dou Lu Ge of Chen was demoted to Fei registrar in exile and Wei Shuo of Xi to Yi registrar—extra-status equal to regular rank—and both sent off at once. On jiashen another edict: "Dou Lu Ge of Fei and Wei Shuo of Yi, long at the councilor's bench, betrayed the late emperor's trust and failed the state's harmony. Since my accession I entrusted them with power, yet they showed no modesty—only greed. They sold offices, formed factions, lacked respect before me, and were arrogant toward others. The roads clamored; remonstrance piled up; crimes were plain—the extreme penalty should satisfy the crowd. Yet at the start of rule forbearance mattered; moved by concern for the fallen, the net was loosened and the later order made lenient. Ge was long exiled to Ling as commoner; Shuo to He as commoner; local authorities were to watch them. Doulu Sheng, Tongzhou Changchun Palace aide, Court Gentleman for Prolonging Grace, acting Director of the Secretariat, Director in the Ministry of Rites, and recipient of the purple-gold fish bag, and Wei Tao, Preparation Gentleman, acting Outer-Section Director of the Ministry of Revenue Bureau of State Farms, Academician of the Chongwen Hall, and recipient of the scarlet fish bag, had each relied on power and influence to enter official ranks suddenly. They had no talents or achievements worth commending, yet had long stolen favor and honor. This demotion stopped the worst offenses. At succession forbearance mattered; fathers having lenient orders, sons received grace—all current posts suspended." Sheng and Tao were Ge and Shuo's sons.
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