1
趙光逢，字延吉。 曾祖植，嶺南節度使。 祖存約，興元府推官。 父隱，右僕射。 光逢與弟光裔，皆以文學德行知名。 〈（《舊唐書》：光裔，光啟三年進士擢第，累遷司勳郎中、弘文館學士，改膳部郎中、知制誥。 季述廢立之後，旅遊江表以避患，嶺南劉隱深禮之，奏為副使，因家嶺外。）〉 光逢幼嗜墳典，動守規檢，議者目之為「玉界尺」。 僖宗朝，登進士第。 逾月，辟度支巡官，曆官台省，內外兩製，俱有能名，轉尚書左丞、翰林承旨。 昭宗幸石門，光逢不從，昭宗遣內養戴知權詔赴行在，稱疾解官。 駕在華州，拜御史中丞。 時有道士許岩士、瞽者馬道殷出入禁庭，驟至列卿宮相，因此以左道求進者眾，光逢持憲紀治之，皆伏法，自是其徒頗息。 改禮部侍郎、知貢舉。 光化中，王道浸衰，南北司為黨，光逢素惟慎靜，慮禍及己，因掛冠伊洛，屏絕交遊，凡五六年。 門人柳璨登庸，除吏部侍郎、太常卿。 〈（《唐摭言》云：光化二年，趙光逢放柳璨及第，後三年不遷，時璨自內庭大拜，光逢始以左丞征入。）〉 入梁為中書侍郎、平章事，累轉左僕射兼租庸使，上章求退，以太子太保致仕。 梁末帝愛其才，征拜司空、平章事。 無幾以疾辭，授司徒致仕。 〈（《唐摭言》云：光逢膺大用，居重地十餘歲，七表乞骸，守司空致仕。 居二年，復征拜上相。）〉
Zhao Guangfeng, whose style name was Yanji. His great-grandfather Zhi had served as military commissioner of Lingnan. His grandfather Cunyue had been a legal officer in Xingyuan Prefecture. His father Yin had risen to the post of right vice director of the Imperial Secretariat. Guangfeng and his younger brother Guangyi were both widely known for their scholarship and upright character. (According to the 《Old Book of Tang》: Guangyi passed the jinshi examination in the third year of the Guangqi reign, rose through the posts of director in the Bureau of Merit and academician of the Hongwen Institute, and was later made director of the Bureau of Provisions with charge of drafting imperial edicts. After the coup in which Jishu deposed and enthroned emperors, he traveled south of the Yangtze to escape the turmoil. Liu Yin of Lingnan received him with great honor and had him appointed deputy commissioner, and he thereafter settled his family in the far south.)〉 From childhood Guangfeng was devoted to the classical canon and unfailingly observed propriety in his conduct, so that contemporaries dubbed him the "Jade Measuring Rod." During the reign of Emperor Xizong he passed the jinshi examination. A month later he was appointed an inspector in the Revenue Bureau. He served in the central ministries and in both the inner and outer drafting offices, earning a name for competence at each step, until he was promoted to left vice director of the Imperial Secretariat and Hanlin academician-in-attendance. When Emperor Zhaozong went to Shimen, Guangfeng refused to accompany him. The emperor sent the inner attendant Dai Zhiquan with an edict ordering him to join the traveling court, but Guangfeng pleaded illness and resigned his post. While the court was at Hua Prefecture, he was appointed censor-in-chief. At that time the Daoist Xu Yanshi and the blind diviner Ma Daoyin moved freely in and out of the inner palace and were suddenly elevated to the highest ministerial ranks. Many others therefore sought advancement through occult practices. Guangfeng enforced the law against them, and all were executed; after that such followers largely disappeared. He was transferred to vice minister of rites with responsibility for the civil examinations. During the Guanghua era the imperial order waned and the northern and southern offices formed rival factions. Guangfeng had always been cautious by nature and, fearing that disaster would overtake him, resigned and withdrew to the Yi-Luo region, cutting off all social ties for five or six years. When his protégé Liu Can came to power, Guangfeng was appointed vice minister of personnel and director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. (According to the 《Miscellaneous Sayings of the Tang》: In the second year of Guanghua, Zhao Guangfeng had passed Liu Can in the examinations, yet for three years received no promotion. Only when Liu Can was elevated from within the inner court was Guangfeng at last recalled as left vice director.)〉 Under the Liang he became vice director of the Secretariat and grand councilor, was later promoted to left vice director while also serving as commissioner of land tax and corvée labor, submitted a memorial asking to retire, and was granted retirement with the title grand guardian of the heir apparent. The last emperor of Liang admired his talent and recalled him as minister of works and grand councilor. Before long he resigned on account of illness and was granted retirement with the title minister of education. (According to the 《Miscellaneous Sayings of the Tang》: Guangfeng held high office for more than ten years, submitted seven memorials requesting retirement, and finally retired while retaining the title minister of works. Two years later he was summoned back and again appointed chief minister.)〉
2
Early in the Tongguang era his younger brother Guangyun became grand councilor and called on him at his private residence, where they once discussed state affairs. On another day Guangfeng wrote on the door: "Please do not discuss Secretariat affairs." Such was his purity, restraint, and silence. A female Daoist priest had once left one yi of gold in his care. In the chaos of the times she died abroad. Twenty years later, with no heir to claim it, he turned the gold over to Zhang Quanyi, prefect of Henan, asking that it be delivered to the temples; the original seal was still intact. He twice entered the highest councils of state and four times retired to private life. In every virtue and moral constant he was upright even when unseen, and the gentry all regarded him as a moral exemplar. Early in the Tiancheng era he retired as grand guardian, was enfeoffed as duke of Qi, and died at Luoyang. He was posthumously granted the title grand tutor.
3
Guangyun was Guangfeng's younger brother. (Both the Old and New Books of Tang state: Zhao Yin had three sons—Guangfeng, Guangyi, and Guangyun. The one who became chief minister under Later Tang was Guangyun. The original text had Guangyi, which was an error.) Both were renowned for literary talent and also passed the jinshi examination. (According to the Old Book of Tang: in the second year of Dashun he passed the jinshi examination. At the beginning of Tianyou he rose through successive posts to director of the Bureau of Transport.) Guangyun served Liang in prominent offices. Among the brothers each held himself aloof with refined reserve, and northerners who heard their names all revered them from afar. When Zhuangzong pacified Bian and Luoyang, Lu Cheng was dismissed for arrogance and Guo Chongyao was appointed from among meritorious ministers. Commentators held that the dynasty's ritual and precedents required consulting celebrated masters of former ages, and all said Guangyun had the makings of a chief minister. Xue Tinggui and Li Qi, when the Martial Emperor was Prince of Jin, had once served as investiture envoys to Taiyuan and therefore both enjoyed longstanding reputation; at the time all said they were fit for the highest council posts. Guo Chongyao adopted the words of memorialists, saying Tinggui was decrepit and aged, showy without ministerial substance; and though Qi's literary learning was high, he was treacherous without the bearing of a gentleman—neither could be made chief minister, and the matter was dropped. In the eleventh month of the first year of Tongguang, Guangyun and Wei Yue were jointly appointed grand councilors.
4
Guangyun was born at the close of a dynasty and absorbed the habits of the age. Though he wished to soar like his forebears, his talents fell short and he could not reach their breadth. Whenever the court debated ritual, music, institutions, or reforms, he took such matters upon himself; but his colleagues were not deeply learned and, hearing his loose talk and sweeping pronouncements, could not tell whether he truly understood such matters. Doulu Ge, though he relied on his family's standing, had risen only modestly under the present dynasty and had long served in commissioner offices, so that he did not deeply understand court ritual and precedent. Whenever Guangyun launched into discussion, Ge could only murmur agreement. Later, when Ge's memorial opinions sometimes hit the mark, Guangyun told the assembled officials, "In yesterday's discussion the gentleman in the front row had one remark that was roughly correct. He has improved a little of late—must a student go on forever!" Such was the measure of his self-regard.
5
先是，條製：「權豪強買人田宅，或陷害籍沒，顯有屈塞者，許人自理。」 內官楊希朗者，故觀軍容使復恭從孫也，援例理復恭舊業。 事下中書，光允謂崇韜曰：「復恭與山南謀逆，顯當國法，本朝未經昭雪，安得論理？」 崇韜私抑宦者，因具奏聞。 希朗泣訴於莊宗，莊宗令自見光允言之。 希朗陳訴：「叔祖復光有大功於王室，伯祖復恭為張浚所構，得罪前朝，當時強臣掣肘，國命不行，及王行瑜伏誅，德音昭洗，制書尚在，相公本朝世族，諳練故事，安得謂之未雪耶！ 若言未雪，吾伯氏彥博，洎諸昆仲，監護軍鎮，何途得進！」 漸至聲色俱厲。 光允方恃名德，為其所折，悒然不樂。 又以希朗幸臣，慮摭他事危己，心不自安。 三年夏四月，病疽卒。 贈左僕射。
Earlier a regulation had provided: "When powerful families forcibly bought people's land and houses, or had them framed and their property confiscated, and injustice was plainly evident, the victims might plead their own case." The inner attendant Yang Xilang, a collateral descendant of the former army supervisor Fu Gong, cited this precedent to claim Fu Gong's former estates. When the matter reached the Secretariat, Guangyun said to Guo Chongtao, "Fu Gong conspired in rebellion with the Shannan faction and plainly deserved punishment under the law. Our dynasty has not yet cleared his name—how can his estates be claimed?" Chongtao privately blocked the eunuch's claim and submitted a full report to the throne. Xilang tearfully appealed to Emperor Zhuangzong, who ordered him to go in person and argue the matter before Guangyun. Xilang argued: "My grand-uncle Fuguang rendered great service to the throne. My elder grand-uncle Fu Gong was framed by Zhang Jun and fell afoul of the former dynasty, when powerful ministers constrained the throne and imperial orders could not be enforced. After Wang Xingyu was executed, an edict of grace publicly cleared the record, and that edict still survives. Your Excellency is a hereditary minister of our dynasty and well versed in precedent—how can you say his name has not been cleared! If his name were still uncleared, how could my elder clansman Yanbo and all our brothers hold supervisory posts in the military commissions and advance as they have!" His voice and manner grew increasingly fierce. Guangyun, who had relied on his reputation for virtue, was overmatched in the exchange and grew dispirited. Moreover, because Xilang was a favored attendant, he feared that other charges might be raised against him and could not set his mind at ease. In the fourth month of summer in the third year he died of a carbuncle. He was posthumously granted the title left vice director.
6
鄭玨，昭宗朝宰相綮之侄孫。 父徽，河南尹張全義判官。 光化中，登進士第， 〈（《歐陽史》云：玨少依全義居河南，舉進士數不中，全義以玨屬有司，乃得及第。）〉 曆弘文館校書、集賢校理、監察御史，入梁為補闕、起居郎，召入翰林，累遷禮部侍郎充職。 玨文章美麗，旨趣雍容，自策名登朝，張全義皆有力焉。 貞明中，拜平章事。 莊宗入汴，責授萊州司戶，未幾，量移曹州司馬。 張全義言於郭崇韜，將復相之，尋入為太子賓客。 明宗即位，任圜自蜀至，安重誨不欲圜獨拜宰輔，共議朝望一人共之。 孔循言玨貞明時久在中書，性畏慎而長者，美詞翰，好人物，重誨即奏與任圜並命為相。 有頃，玨以老病耳疾，不任中書事，四上章請，明宗惜之，久而方允，乃授開府儀同三司，行尚書左僕射致仕，仍賜鄭州莊一區。 明宗自汴還洛陽，遣中使撫問，賜錢二十萬，食羊百口。 長興初卒。 贈司空。
Zheng Jue was the grand-nephew of Zheng Qi, a chief minister under Emperor Zhaozong. His father Hui had been a legal officer under Zhang Quanyi, prefect of Henan. During the Guanghua era he passed the jinshi examination, (According to the 《Ouyang's History》: Jue in his youth lived under Zhang Quanyi's patronage in Henan. He failed the jinshi examination several times until Quanyi intervened with the authorities, after which he passed.)〉 He served as collator in the Hongwen Institute, collator in the Jixian Institute, and investigating censor. Under the Liang he became remonstrance officer and attendant of the imperial diary, was summoned to the Hanlin Academy, and rose to vice minister of rites. Jue's prose was elegant and his manner gracious. From the time he entered official life, Zhang Quanyi had advanced his career at every step. During the Zhenming era he was appointed grand councilor. When Emperor Zhuangzong took Bian, Jue was demoted to registrar of Lai Prefecture and soon afterward transferred to vice prefect of Cao Prefecture. Zhang Quanyi spoke to Guo Chongtao about restoring him as chief minister, and he was soon recalled as guest of the heir apparent. When Emperor Mingzong took the throne, Ren Yuan arrived from Shu. An Chonghui did not want Yuan to serve as chief minister alone and the court discussed appointing another eminent figure to share the post. Kong Xun said that Jue had long served in the Secretariat during the Zhenming era, was cautious and steady by nature, excelled at composition, and delighted in talented men. Chonghui thereupon memorialized to appoint him grand councilor alongside Ren Yuan. Before long Jue, citing old age, illness, and deafness, declared himself unfit for Secretariat duties and submitted four memorials asking to retire. Emperor Mingzong was reluctant but eventually consented, granting him the title kaifu yitong sansi and acting left vice director in retirement, together with an estate in Zheng Prefecture. When Emperor Mingzong returned from Bian to Luoyang, he sent a palace envoy to inquire after Jue's health and granted him two hundred thousand in cash and a hundred sheep. He died early in the Changxing era. He was posthumously granted the title minister of works.
7
When Jue first sat for the jinshi examination, nineteen years passed before he passed, ranking nineteenth on the rolls. Nineteen years after passing he became chief minister, and he was also the nineteenth child among his brothers—contemporaries regarded all this as remarkable. His son Gou served as a director of a bureau (zhenglang) during the Taiping Xingguo era.
8
Cui Xie, whose style name was Sihua. A remote ancestor, Yin, second son of the prefect of Qinghe, served the Northern Wei as crown prince groom and founded the lesser branch of the Qinghe Cui clan, which by the Tang had become a leading family. His great-grandfather Bin had been director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and his grandfather Guan minister of personnel. His father Yanrong had been prefect of Chu Prefecture. Yanrong had long been friendly with Cui Rao. When Yanrong was magistrate of Wannian County, Rao called at the yamen before Yanrong had come out and saw on the desk a list of names—all gifts to inner attendants. Rao understood his methods and came to despise him. When Yanrong was appointed director in the Bureau of Merit, Rao was left vice director. Yanrong sent a visiting card but was refused an audience. Rao said, "The director's conduct is vulgar and corrupt—that is why I will not receive him." The chief minister learned of the affair and transferred Yanrong to prefect of Chu Prefecture, where he died in office. He admonished his sons: "Never forget Rao, generation after generation." His descendants therefore often spoke of "the Cui feud."
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Xie was Yanrong's son. He was known from youth for filial devotion. After passing the jinshi examination he began as an inspector in the Revenue Bureau and magistrate of Weinan, served in the Historiography Institute, passed through three central offices, and under the Liang rose through director of the left department, magistrate of Wannian, and supervising secretary to vice minister of war. He encountered the secretariat drafter Cui Jujian in the curtain office and cried out, "Son of Cui Rao—how dare you show your face before me!" Jujian retorted in kind. He was demoted to supervisor of the household of the heir apparent but was soon appointed vice minister of personnel. Early in the Tongguang era he became censor-in-chief, but the memorials submitted by his office often contained textual errors, and he was repeatedly reprimanded. Xie had a grand manner and loved lofty discourse, but much of what he said was empty and unreasonable, and contemporaries regarded him as all show. Early in the Tiancheng era he was made minister of rites and director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and on the recommendation of privy council commissioner Kong Xun was appointed grand councilor.
10
初，豆盧革、韋說得罪，執政議命相，樞密使孔循意不欲河朔人居相位，任圜欲相李琪，而鄭玨素與琪不協，孔循亦惡琪，謂安重誨曰：「李琪非無藝學，但不廉耳。 朝論莫若崔協。」 重誨然之，因奏擇相。 明宗曰：「誰可？」 乃以協對。 任圜奏曰：「重誨被人欺賣，如崔協者，少識文字，時人謂之『沒字碑』。 臣比不知書，無才而進，已為天下笑，何容中書之內，更有笑端！」 明宗曰：「易州刺史韋肅，人言名家，待我嘗厚，置於此位何如？ 肅苟未可，則馮書記是先朝判官，稱為長者，與物無競，可以相矣。」 道嘗為莊宗霸府書記，故明宗呼之。 朝退，宰臣樞密使休於中興殿之廡下，孔循拂衣而去，曰：「天下事一則任圜，二則任圜，崔協暴死則已，不死會居此位。」 重誨私謂圜曰：「今相位缺人，協且可乎？」 圜曰：「朝廷有李琪者，學際天人，奕葉軒冕，論才校藝，可敵時輩百人。 而讒夫巧沮，忌害其能，必舍琪而相協，如棄蘇合之丸，取蛣蜣之轉也。」 重誨笑而止。 然重誨與循同職，循日言琪之短、協之長，故重誨竟從之。 而協登庸之後，廟堂代筆，假手於人。 朝廷以國庠事重，命協兼判祭酒事，協上奏每歲補監生二百為定，物議非之。 〈（《北夢瑣言》：明宗問宰相馮道：「盧質近日吃酒否？」 對曰：「質曾到臣居，亦飲數爵，臣勸不令過度，事亦如酒，過則患生。」 崔協強言於坐曰：「臣聞『食醫心鏡』，酒極好，不加藥餌，足以安心神。」 左右見其膚淺，不覺哂之。）〉 四年春，駕自夷門還京，從至須水驛，中風暴卒。 詔贈尚書左僕射，諡曰恭靖。
When Doulu Ge and Wei Yue fell from power, the court debated a new chief minister. Kong Xun did not want a man from the region north of the Yellow River in the post. Ren Yuan favored Li Qi, but Zheng Jue had long been at odds with Qi and Kong Xun also disliked him. Kong told An Chonghui, "Li Qi is learned enough, but he is not honest. In the court's view none was better than Cui Xie." Chonghui agreed and memorialized to select a chief minister. Emperor Mingzong asked, "Who is suitable?" They named Xie. Ren Yuan objected: "Chonghui is being duped. A man like Cui Xie can barely read—people call him the 'Stele Without Characters.' I myself am barely literate and advanced without real talent—I am already the laughingstock of the empire. How can the Secretariat hold yet another joke!" Emperor Mingzong said, "Wei Su of Yi Prefecture is said to come from a great family and once treated me generously—what if we put him in this post? If Su will not do, then Secretary Feng was a judge under the former emperor, is called a steady elder, and never quarrels with anyone—he could serve as chief minister." Feng Dao had once been secretary in Zhuangzong's chief commandery, which is why Emperor Mingzong addressed him as "Secretary." After court the chief ministers and privy commissioners rested in the corridor of the Zhongxing Hall. Kong Xun brushed his robes and left, saying, "The affairs of the realm: first Ren Yuan, second Ren Yuan. If Cui Xie dies suddenly, so be it; if he does not, he will end up in this post." Chonghui privately asked Yuan, "The chief minister's seat is vacant—would Xie do for now?" Yuan replied, "The court has Li Qi, whose learning spans heaven and man and whose family has worn high office for generations. Measured against any contemporary, he could match a hundred men. Yet slanderers obstruct him out of envy. To pass over Qi and appoint Xie would be like throwing away a ball of storax and choosing instead a ball rolled by a dung beetle." Chonghui laughed and said no more. Yet Chonghui and Kong Xun shared the same office, and Xun daily spoke of Qi's faults and Xie's virtues, so in the end Chonghui went along with him. After Xie took high office, court documents were drafted for him by others. Because the affairs of the national academy were deemed weighty, the court ordered Xie to serve concurrently as director of the Imperial Academy. He memorialized that two hundred new academy students should be admitted each year as a fixed quota, and public opinion condemned the proposal. (According to the 《Miscellaneous Notes from Northern Dreams》: Emperor Mingzong asked Chief Minister Feng Dao, "Has Lu Zhi been drinking lately?" Feng replied, "Zhi once visited my home and drank several cups. I urged him not to go too far. Affairs are like wine: excess breeds trouble." Cui Xie spoke up forcefully at the table: "I have read the 'Food Medicine Heart Mirror'—wine is excellent. Taken without medicines, it is enough to settle the heart and spirit." Those present, finding him shallow, could not help but smirk.)〉 In the spring of the fourth year, as the emperor returned from Yimen to the capital, Xie accompanied him as far as Xushui Post Station, where he suddenly died of a stroke. An edict posthumously conferred on him the title of left vice director of the Imperial Secretariat, with the posthumous name Gongjing, Reverent and Tranquil.
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Li Qi, whose style name was Taixiu. His fifth-generation ancestor Cheng, at the end of the Tianbao era, served as minister of rites and stay-behind regent of the Eastern Capital. When An Lushan seized the Eastern Capital, he was killed in the upheaval. He was posthumously promoted to grand marshal, with the posthumous name Zhongyi, Loyal and Virtuous. Cheng's grandson Cai rose during the Yuanhe reign to the post of supervising secretary. Cai's son Jingfang served as remonstrating censor under Emperor Wenzong. Jingfang's son Gu, during the Guangming era, served as judge on the military commission staff of Duke of Jin Wang Duo and, for his part in the recovery campaign, was made remonstrating censor.
13
琪即縠之子也，年十三，詞賦詩頌，大為王鐸所知，然亦疑其假手。 一日，鐸召縠宴於公署，密遣人以《漢祖得三傑賦》題就其第試之，琪援筆立成。 賦尾云：「得士則昌，非賢罔共，龍頭之友斯貴，鼎足之臣可重，宜哉項氏之敗亡，一范增而不能用。」 鐸覽而駭之，曰：「此兒大器也，將擅文價。」 〈（《太平廣記》：琪總角謁鐸。 鐸顧曰：「適蜀中詔到，用夏州拓跋思恭為收復都統，可作一詩否？」 即秉筆立製，云：「飛騎經巴棧，洪恩及夏台。 將從天上去，人自日邊來。 此處金門遠，何時玉輦回。 蚤平關右賊，莫待詔書催。」 鐸益奇之，因執琪手曰：「此真鳳手也。」 時年十四。 明年，丁母憂，因流寓、齊、魯。 然糠照薪，俾夜作畫，覽書數千卷，間為詩賦。 唐僖宗再幸梁、洋，竊賦云：「哀痛不下詔，登封誰上書。」）〉
Qi was Gu's son. At thirteen his rhapsodies, poems, and eulogies greatly impressed Wang Duo, though Duo also suspected that someone else was writing them for him. One day Duo summoned Gu to a banquet at his headquarters and secretly sent someone to Qi's home with the topic 'Rhapsody on the Han Ancestor Obtaining the Three Outstanding Men.' Qi took up his brush and finished the piece on the spot. The closing lines read: "Win men and the state flourishes; without the worthy none may govern together. A friend at the dragon's head is precious; ministers who form a tripod are weighty. Small wonder the house of Xiang fell—one Fan Zeng, and still he could not use him." Duo read it and was astonished. "This boy is destined for greatness," he said. "He will come to set the price of letters." (According to the 《Extensive Records of the Taiping Era》: While still a boy, Qi paid a call on Wang Duo. Duo turned and said, "An edict has just arrived from Shu appointing Tuoba Sigong of Xia Prefecture recovery grand marshal. Can you compose a poem?" Qi took up his brush at once and wrote: "Flying horsemen cross Ba's plank roads; imperial grace reaches the Xia platform. The general will descend from heaven; his men will come from the edge of the sun. From here the Golden Gate is far—when will the jade carriage return? Crush the rebels west of the Pass at once; do not wait for the edict to urge you on." Duo was still more amazed and, taking Qi's hand, said, "These are truly the hands of a phoenix." He was fourteen at the time. The next year, after his mother's death, he wandered through Qi and Lu. He studied by chaff-light and candle-glow, turning night into day, read several thousand volumes, and from time to time composed poems and rhapsodies. When Emperor Xizong again visited Liang and Yang, Qi privately composed a couplet: "In grief the throne issues no edict; who will submit the memorial for the feng and shan rites?")〉
14
During the reign of Emperor Zhaozong, Li Xi and his son were famed for their literary attainments. At eighteen Qi carried a scroll of rhapsodies in his sleeve and called on Li Xi. Xi read the rhapsody with astonishment, turned his shoes around to greet him at the door, and brought out Qi's 'Tuning the Mute Bell,' 'Holding Up the Sun,' and other pieces. He said to Qi, "I have often lamented that in recent years literati rhapsodies wander for several lines before the subject appears. Yours reveals its theme from the opening line, and the diction is classically splendid—marvelous! You are formidable indeed." From that time Qi grew still more famous and passed the jinshi examination. At the beginning of the Tianfu era he entered the Broad Learning and Eminent Rhetoric examination and placed in the fourth rank. He was appointed captain of Wugong County, then recruited as a transport circuit inspector, and later promoted to left remonstrating official and palace remonstrating censor. Once Qi held remonstrating and censorial posts, whenever current policy seemed wrong he submitted sealed memorials setting out his views. His prose was elegant and polished, and readers never tired of it.
15
琪兄珽，亦登進士第，才藻富贍，兄弟齊名，而尤為梁祖所知，以珽為崇政學士。 琪自左補闕入為翰林學士， 〈（《北夢瑣言》：梁李相國琪，唐末以文學策名，仕至御史。 昭宗播遷，衣冠蕩析，琪藏跡於荊、楚間，自晦其跡，號華原李長官。 其堂兄光符宰宜都，嘗厭薄之。 琪寂寞，每臨流踞石，摘樹葉而試草制詞，籲嗟怏悵，而投葉水中。 梁祖受禪，征入，拜翰林學士。）〉 累遷戶部侍郎、翰林承旨。 梁祖西抗邠、岐，北攻澤、潞，出師燕、趙，經略四方，暫無寧歲，而琪以學士居帳中，專掌文翰，下筆稱旨，寵遇逾倫。 是時，琪之名播於海內。 琪重然諾，憐才獎善，家門雍睦。 貞明、龍德中，曆兵、禮、吏侍郎，受命與馮錫嘉、張充、郗殷象同撰《梁太祖實錄》三十卷，遷御史中丞，累擢尚書左丞、中書門下平章事。 時琪與蕭頃同為宰相，頃性畏慎深密，琪倜儻負氣，不拘小節，中書奏覆，多行其志，而頃專掎摭其咎。 會琪除吏是試攝名銜，改「攝」為「守」，為頃所奏，梁帝大怒，將投諸荒裔，而為趙岩輩所援，罷相，為太子少保。
Qi's elder brother Ting also passed the jinshi examination. Both brothers were equally famed for their literary gifts, but Ting was especially noticed by the Founder of Liang, who made him a Chongzheng academician. Qi rose from left supplementing remonstrator to Hanlin academician, (According to the 《Miscellaneous Notes from Northern Dreams》: Li Qi, chief minister of Liang, won his name through letters in late Tang and rose to censor. When Emperor Zhaozong was driven into exile and the official class was scattered, Qi hid himself in the Jing and Chu region, kept out of sight, and styled himself Master Li of Huayuan. His elder cousin Guangfu, who governed Yidu, once treated him with contempt. Lonely and adrift, Qi would sit on stones by the stream, pluck leaves, and draft trial edicts upon them, sighing in frustration before casting the leaves into the water. When the Founder of Liang took the throne, Qi was summoned to court and appointed Hanlin academician.)〉 He was promoted in succession to vice minister of revenue and Hanlin academician-in-attendance. The Founder of Liang fought west against Bin and Qi, north against Ze and Lu, and sent armies into Yan and Zhao, campaigning on every front with scarcely a year of peace. Qi lived in the command tent as an academician, handling all literary work. Whatever he wrote pleased the emperor, and his favor exceeded that of all others. At that time Qi's name was known throughout the empire. Qi kept his word, cherished talent, rewarded virtue, and maintained a harmonious household. During the Zhenming and Longde eras he served in succession as vice minister of war, rites, and personnel. He was ordered, together with Feng Xijia, Zhang Chong, and Xi Yinxiang, to compile the thirty-volume 《Veritable Records of Emperor Taizu of Liang》. He was promoted to censor-in-chief and then repeatedly advanced to left vice director of the Imperial Secretariat and grand councilor of the Secretariat and Chancellery. At that time Qi and Xiao Qing served together as chief ministers. Qing was timid, cautious, and secretive; Qi was bold, proud, and careless of small proprieties. Most Secretariat reviews followed Qi's wishes, while Qing constantly picked at his faults and reported them. Once, while Qi was issuing an appointment with a probationary title, he changed the designation from 'acting' to 'holding the post.' Qing reported this, and the Liang emperor was furious and was about to banish him to the remote frontier. Zhao Yan and others intervened on his behalf. He was removed as chief minister and made crown prince junior tutor.
16
When Zhuangzong entered Bian, he had long heard of Qi's reputation and repeatedly wished to give him a great appointment. At the beginning of the Tongguang era he served in succession as minister of ceremonies and minister of personnel. In the autumn of the third year floods ravaged the empire and state revenues ran short. Zhuangzong issued an edict allowing all officials to submit sealed memorials setting forth the essentials of governing the realm. Qi thereupon submitted a memorial, saying:
17
臣聞王者富有兆民，深居九重，所重患者，百姓凋耗而不知，四海困窮而莫救，下情不得上達，群臣不敢指言。 今陛下以水潦之災，軍食乏闕，焦勞罪己，迫切疚懷，避正殿以責躬，訪多士而求理，則何思而不獲，何議而不臧？ 止在改而行之，足以擇其善者。
Your subject has heard that a ruler who possesses the myriad people, dwelling deep within the ninefold palace, should dread above all that the people waste away while he remains unaware, that the four seas fall into destitution while no one can save them, that the grievances below never reach the throne, and that his ministers dare not speak plainly. Now Your Majesty, faced with flood and military shortages, toils in self-reproach with an urgent and troubled heart, has left the main hall to accept blame and sought out learned men for counsel. Under such conditions, what counsel could fail to be heard, what proposal could fail to be sound? What remains is to reform and act—enough to choose what is good and put it into practice.
18
Your subject has heard the ancients say: grain is the arbiter of human life; land is where grain is produced; and people are what the ruler must govern. With grain the state's strength is secure; with land fixed the people's food is sufficient; with the people rightly assessed corvée and taxes are fair. To know these three things is the urgent business of governing the state. Before the eras of Xuanyuan and Huangdi the record cannot be traced in detail. From the time Yao controlled the great flood and Yu became minister of works, the fields were graded in nine classes and a tithe was collected. Household registers then numbered more than thirteen million, and reclaimed land was fixed at about nine million two hundred thousand qing—the greatest flourishing of the age of peace. When Shang replaced the Xia mandate it re-established the field system: for every ten mu of private land one mu of public land was planted, with flood and drought treated alike—the same principle of the tithe. By the Zhou dynasty the well-field system had been established. A state of roughly a hundred li enclosed ten thousand wells, furnished a hundred chariots, and four hundred war horses. Within the royal domain there were ten thousand chariots and forty thousand horses. Judged by the field system, this too was a tithe arrangement. Thus in the age of Kings Cheng and Kang, compared with the reigns of Yao and Shun, registered households increased by more than two hundred thousand. This was no other art: before the Three Dynasties all states measured receipts to set expenditures and counted farmers to raise armies, so that even when flood or drought struck they still had stores against famine.
19
By Qin and Han times merchants and craftsmen were heavily taxed, market dues were sharply increased, and levies on boats and carts were doubled. Registered households had already declined, yet the ancient system was still partly kept. Even then the population stood at more than twelve million households and reclaimed land at eight million qing. By the rise of the Three Kingdoms and after the Two Jin dynasties, farmers were fewer than soldiers and war horses outnumbered plow oxen. Army provisions had to be taken from farm grain, and horse fodder encroached on cattle feed. The empire's registered households fell to little more than two million four hundred thousand. Under Emperor Wen of Sui the population again rivaled the Two Han dynasties, but by the reign of Emperor Yang it had fallen to one-third of that level.
20
Our Tang Emperor Taizong, when the four quarters had just been pacified and the people were not yet prosperous, sought the views of his ministers. Wei Zheng alone urged him to practice the kingly way in earnest. Thereafter corvée was lightened and taxes reduced, farming seasons were not disturbed, worthy men were advanced, and loyal counsel was welcomed. Grain throughout the realm sold at two cash per dou. From the Zhenguan era to Kaiyuan the registers approached nineteen million households and fifty-three million persons, with fourteen million qing under cultivation—far beyond even Yao and Shun. This shows that to relieve the people's suffering one must treat heavy taxation as the root of the disease; and that to supply the army one must make benefiting agriculture the foundation of military policy. Confucius said, "When the people have enough, which ruler will not have enough?" What your subject has said is what Wei Zheng used to counsel Emperor Taizong. I respectfully ask Your Majesty to weigh it deeply in your sage judgment. If, because the Six Armies are still short of supplies, corvée cannot be lightened and heavy levies must continue beyond the two-tax system, then at least do not insist on payment in folded goods; let all dues be rendered in kind. Do not impose additional charges under the name of string-matching; limit extra collection to the regular official measure. Even then the people would still feel grateful and would not yet be driven into exile. Moreover, this is the season for spring planting. Emaciated oxen are about to be harnessed, yet grain must be transported a thousand li from several prefectures. Such corvée duties will surely obstruct the spring sowing. If there is no grain or fodder this autumn, how will the army be fed?
21
Your subject respectfully recalls that Emperor Wen of Han, wishing the people to devote themselves to farming, offered to ennoble men who contributed grain and to allow grain contributions to redeem crimes. Emperor Jing did the same. In Later Han, during the reign of Emperor An, when flood and drought left stores insufficient, the Three Excellencies memorialized that wealthy men who contributed grain might receive the rank of marquis within the passes or honorary posts of the Three Excellencies and ministers and below. In our dynasty, during the Qianyuan era, the same measure was once adopted. Even if Your Majesty does not wish to grant office for grain contributions, I ask that you clearly issue an edict to all circuits. Wherever the people are being conscripted to transfer grain, let it be announced that anyone who transports government goods to the capital at his own expense—for five hundred shi or more—a commoner shall receive an initial appointment as a county or prefecture official; an official shall be promoted according to qualification; and one awaiting appointment shall be granted selection at once. For one thousand shi up to ten thousand shi, without distinction between civil and military ranks, let rewards be clearly specified. This would keep farmers from scattering at the height of spring planting, and it is one way to relieve the people while moving grain and supplying the army.
22
莊宗深重之，尋命為國計使，垂為輔相，俄遇蕭牆之難而止。
Zhuangzong thought highly of the memorial and soon appointed Qi national planning commissioner, intending to make him chief minister. Before long, however, palace turmoil intervened and the appointment went no further.
23
When Emperor Mingzong took the throne, Doulu Ge and Wei Yue were punished. Ren Yuan memorialized requesting that Qi be made chief minister, but Kong Xun and Zheng Jue obstructed the appointment, and Cui Xie was made chief minister instead. Qi was then censor-in-chief. An Chonghui summarily executed palace attendant Ma Yan before the Censorate gate. Although Qi had memorialized in impeachment, his language was evasive and he dared not state the crime plainly. On this account he feigned illness and three times submitted memorials requesting retirement; The court did not approve and instead appointed him left vice director of the Department of State Affairs. From this time on he was especially resented by the chief ministers; whenever he submitted a memorial it was invariably blocked on sight. At the end of Tiancheng, when Emperor Mingzong returned from Bian Prefecture to Luoyang, Qi was the senior official of the Eastern Capital retention bureau and memorialized requesting to go as far as Yanshi to welcome him. At the time Qi's memorial contained the words "defeating the vicious faction of the Khitan and crushing the rebel bandits of Zhending." An edict said: "If the Khitan are a vicious faction, then Zhending are not rebel bandits. Li Qi is fined one month's salary." He also once, by imperial command, composed the spirit-way stele text for Huo Yanwei. Qi, a former chief minister of Liang, described Yanwei's successive offices under Liang without mentioning the illegitimate regime. The Secretariat memorialized: "Not distinguishing true from false confounds merit and reputation. We ask that he be ordered to rewrite it." The edict approved. There were many instances of this kind.
24
Though Qi was learned and gifted, he was poor at biding his time and keeping quiet. He knew when the times forbade action, yet still sought advancement by every path he could find; whenever he moved he met obstruction, because he could not keep himself still. He retired as crown prince grand tutor. During the Changxing era he died at his home in Fushan Lane, aged sixty. His son Zhen rose to the post of district magistrate. Qi compiled the edicts and proclamations he had drafted in the inner secretariat into ten volumes under the title 《Golden Gate Collection》, which circulated widely.
25
蕭頃，字子澄，京兆萬年人。 故相仿之孫，京兆尹廩之子。 頃聰悟善屬文，昭宗朝擢進士第，曆度支巡官、太常博士、右補闕。 時國步艱難，連帥倔強，率多奏請，欲立家廟於本鎮，頃上章論奏，乃止。 累遷吏部員外郎。 先是，張浚自中書出為右僕射，梁祖判官高劭使梁祖蔭求一子出身官，省寺皆稱無例，浚曲為行之，指揮甚急，吏徒惶恐。 頃判云：「僕射未集郎官，赴省上指揮公事，且非南宮舊儀。」 浚聞之，慚悚致謝，頃由是知名，梁祖亦獎之。 頃入梁，曆給諫、御史中丞、禮部侍郎、知貢舉，咸有能名。 自吏部侍郎拜中書門下平章事，與李琪同輔梁室，事多矛盾。 莊宗入汴，頃坐貶登州司戶，量移濮州司馬。 數年，遷太子賓客。 天成初，為禮部尚書、太常卿、太子少保致仕。 卒時年六十九。 輟朝一日，贈太子少師。
Xiao Qing, whose style name was Zicheng, was a native of Wannian in Jingzhao. He was the grandson of the former chief minister Fang and the son of Lin, governor of Jingzhao. Qing was quick-witted and skilled at prose. In the reign of Emperor Zhaozong he passed the jinshi examination and served in succession as inspector of the Census Bureau, doctor of the Grand Ceremonies, and right supplementing remonstrator. When the fortunes of the state were dire, regional commanders, headstrong and powerful, often memorialized to establish family temples in their own garrisons. Qing submitted a memorial opposing the practice, and the requests ceased. He was promoted in succession to vice director in the Ministry of Personnel. Earlier, when Zhang Jun left the Secretariat to become right vice director, Gao Shao, a judge on the staff of the Founder of Liang, had the Founder's yin request an initial appointment for a son. All the capital ministries and courts said there was no precedent, but Zhang Jun bent the rules to carry it out. His order was extremely urgent, and the clerks were terrified. Qing wrote in his decision: "The vice director has not assembled the bureau officials, yet goes to the ministry to deliver an ordered matter of public business—this is not the old procedure of the Southern Palace." When Zhang Jun heard of this, he was ashamed and alarmed and offered his thanks. Qing thereby gained a reputation, and the Liang founder also commended him. Under the Liang he served in succession as supervising secretary, censor-in-chief, vice minister of rites, and director of the civil examinations, earning a name for competence at each post. Promoted from vice minister of personnel to grand councilor, he served the Liang court alongside Li Qi, and the two often clashed. When Emperor Zhuangzong took Bian, Qing was demoted to registrar of Deng Prefecture and transferred by commutation of place to vice prefect of Pu Prefecture. Several years later he was appointed guest of the heir apparent. Early in the Tiancheng era he became minister of rites and director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, then retired as junior guardian of the heir apparent. He died at the age of sixty-nine. The court suspended audiences for one day, and he was posthumously granted the title junior tutor of the heir apparent.
26
The historiographer remarks: Men fit to serve as chief ministers have always been rare, because literary learning, administrative skill, personal conduct, and strategic counsel are alike indispensable. The gentlemen treated here each excelled in different respects and may be counted among the worthy ministers of recent times. The Duke of Qi's luminous integrity and Li Qi's literary mastery were enough to set a standard for the gentry and to lend grace to state documents; when such men entered the highest councils of government, they had nothing to be ashamed of!