1
孟方立， 〈（《歐陽史》雲邢州人，《通鑒》雲汧州人。）〉 中和二年，為澤州天井關戍將。 時黃巢犯關輔，州郡易帥，有同博奕。 先是，沈詢、高湜相繼為昭義節度，怠於軍政。 及有歸秦、劉廣之亂，方立見潞帥交代之際，乘其無備，率戍扶徑入潞州，自稱留後。 以邢為府，以審誨知潞州。 〈（案：此二句上下有脫文。 今無可復考。）〉 六月，李存孝下洺、磁兩郡，方立遣馬溉、袁奉韜盡率其眾，逆戰於琉璃陂。 存孝擊之盡殪，生獲馬溉、奉韜。 初，方立性苛急，恩不逮下，攻圍累旬，夜自巡城慰諭，守陴者皆倨。 方立知其不可用，乃飲鴆而卒。
Meng Fangli, (Ouyang Xiu's history says he was from Xingzhou; the Zizhi Tongjian says from Qianzhou.)〉 In 882 he was posted as garrison commander at Tianjing Pass in Zezhou. Huang Chao was then ravaging the capital region, and commanders changed across the provinces as unpredictably as at dice. Earlier Shen Xun and then Gao Shi had held the Zhaoyi command, both neglectful of military affairs. During the rebellions of Gui Qin and Liu Guang, Fangli seized the interval when the Lu commander was changing hands, caught the city off guard, marched his garrison forces straight into Luzhou, and proclaimed himself acting military governor. He established his seat at Xingzhou and appointed Shen Hui to administer Luzhou. (Editorial note: There is missing text before and after these two sentences. It can no longer be recovered.)〉 In the sixth month Li Cunxiao captured Mingzhou and Cizhou; Fangli sent Ma Gai and Yuan Fengtao with his entire army to give battle at Liuli Dam. Cunxiao annihilated their force and took Ma Gai and Fengtao alive. Fangli had long been harsh and impatient, and his favor never reached the ranks. After weeks of siege he toured the walls at night to rally the defenders, but the men on the battlements met him with insolence. Seeing that the troops were beyond recall, Fangli drank poison and died.
2
其從弟洺州刺史遷，素得士心，眾乃推為留後，求援於汴。 時梁祖方攻時溥，援兵不出。 〈（《通鑒》云：全忠遣大將王虔裕將精甲數百，間道入邢州共守。）〉 大順元年，遷執王虔裕等乞降，武皇令安金俊代之。 〈（案《孟方立傳》，原本闕佚。 考《新唐書》列傳云：孟方立，邢州人。 始為澤州天井戍將，稍遷遊奕使。 中和元年，昭義節度使高鄩擊黃巢，戰石橋，不勝，保華州，為裨將成鄰所殺。 還據潞州，眾怒，方立率兵攻鄰，斬之。 自稱留後，擅裂邢、洺、磁為鎮，治邢為府，號昭義軍。 潞人請監軍使吳全勖知兵馬留後。 時王鐸領諸道行營都統，以潞未定，墨製假方立檢校左散騎常侍、兼御史大夫，知邢州事。 方立不受，囚全勖，以書請鐸，願得儒臣守潞。 鐸使參謀、中書舍人鄭昌圖知昭義留事，欲遂為帥。 僖宗自用舊宰相王徽領節度。 時天子在西，河、關雲擾，方立擅地，而李克用窺潞州，徽度朝廷未能製，乃固讓昌圖。 昌圖治不三月輒去。 方立更表李殷銳為刺史，謂潞險而人悍，數賊大帥為亂，欲銷懦之，乃徙治龍岡州，豪傑重遷，有懟言。 會克用為河東節度使，昭義監軍祁審誨乞師求復昭義軍； 克用遣賀公雅、李筠、安金俊三部將擊潞州，為方立所破。 又使李克修攻敗之，殺殷銳，遂並潞州，表克修為節度留後。 初，昭義有潞、邢、洺、磁四州。 至是，方立自以山東三州為昭義，朝廷亦命克修，以潞州舊軍畀之，昭義有兩節自此始。 克修，字崇遠，克用從父弟。 精馳射，常從征伐，自左營軍使擢留後，進檢校司空。 方立倚朱全忠為助，故無用擊邢、洺、磁無虛歲，地為鬥場，人不能稼。 光啟二年，克修擊邢州，取故鎮，進攻武安，方立將呂臻、馬爽戰焦岡，為克修所破，斬首萬級，執臻等，拔武安、臨洺、邯鄲、沙河。 克用以安金俊為邢州刺史招撫之。 方立丐兵於王鎔，鎔以兵三萬赴之，克修還。 後二年，方立督部將奚忠信兵三萬攻遼州，以金啖赫連鐸與連和。 會契丹攻鐸師失期，忠信三分其兵，鼓而行，克用伏兵於險，忠信前軍沒，既戰，大敗，執忠信，餘眾走脫，歸者才十二。 龍紀元年，克用使李罕之、李存孝擊邢，攻磁、洺，方立戰琉璃陂，大敗，禽其二將，被斧钅質，徇邢壘，呼曰：「孟公速降，有能斬其首者，假三州節度使。」 方立力屈，又屬州殘墮，人心恐，性剛急，待下少恩，夜自行陴，兵皆倨告勞，自顧不可復振，乃還，引鴆自殺。 從弟遷，素得士心，眾推為節度留後，請援於全忠。 全忠方攻時溥，不即至，命王虔裕以精甲數百赴之，假道羅宏信，不許，乃趨間入邢州。 大順元年，存孝復攻邢，遷挈邢、洺、磁三州降，執王虔裕三百人獻之； 遂遷太原，表安金俊為邢、洺、磁團練使，以遷為汾州刺史。 《歐陽史》云：天復元年，梁遣氏叔琮攻晉，出天井關，遷開門降，為梁兵鄉道以攻太原，不克； 叔琮軍還過潞，以遷歸於梁。 梁太祖惡其反覆，殺之。）〉
His cousin Qian, prefect of Mingzhou, had long enjoyed the soldiers' trust; the army then acclaimed him acting governor and appealed to Bian for help. The Liang founder was then besieging Shi Pu, and no relief force was sent. (The Zizhi Tongjian records that Quanzhong dispatched his general Wang Yuyu with several hundred elite troops by a secret path into Xingzhou to help hold the city.)〉 In 890 Qian seized Wang Yuyu and his men and offered surrender; the Martial Emperor sent An Jinjun to take over. (The original biography of Meng Fangli is incomplete. The New Book of Tang biography records that Meng Fangli was a native of Xingzhou. He began as garrison commander at Tianjing in Zezhou and was later promoted to roaming patrol commissioner. In 881 the Zhaoyi governor Gao Yun attacked Huang Chao, was defeated at Shiqiao, withdrew to Huazhou, and was killed by his subordinate Cheng Lin. Cheng Lin then held Luzhou, but the army was furious; Fangli marched against him, killed him, and took the city. He proclaimed himself acting governor, carved Xing, Ming, and Ci into a separate command with his seat at Xingzhou, and styled it the Zhaoyi army. The people of Luzhou asked that army supervisor Wu Quanxu be appointed acting military governor. Wang Duo then commanded the allied armies; with Luzhou still unsettled, he issued an informal commission naming Fangli acting Left Regular Attendant and Grand Censor to govern Xingzhou. Fangli refused the commission, imprisoned Quanxu, and wrote to Duo asking that a scholar-official be sent to govern Luzhou. Duo sent his adviser, Secretariat Drafter Zheng Changtu, to handle Zhaoyi affairs, hoping eventually to take command himself. Emperor Xizong personally appointed the former chief minister Wang Hui as military governor. The emperor was then in the west, the Yellow River region in chaos, Fangli holding his own ground, and Li Keyong eyeing Luzhou. Wang Hui concluded the court could not enforce its will and firmly declined in favor of Changtu. Changtu governed less than three months before departing. Fangli then recommended Li Yinrui as prefect, arguing that Luzhou was rugged and its people fierce, that successive governors had rebelled, and that he would break their spirit by moving the seat to Longgangzhou; local magnates resented the move and murmured in protest. When Keyong became Hedong military governor, Zhaoyi army supervisor Qi Shenhui appealed for troops to restore the Zhaoyi command; Keyong sent He Gongya, Li Jun, and An Jinjun against Luzhou, but Fangli defeated them. He then sent Li Kexiu, who defeated Fangli's forces, killed Yinrui, seized Luzhou, and recommended Kexiu as acting governor. Originally the Zhaoyi circuit comprised Luzhou, Xingzhou, Mingzhou, and Cizhou. Fangli now held the three eastern prefectures as his own Zhaoyi command while the court appointed Kexiu over Luzhou with its former garrison—thus the circuit was split in two. Kexiu, courtesy name Chongyuan, was Li Keyong's paternal cousin. An expert horseman and archer, he campaigned constantly, rose from commander of the Left Camp to acting governor, and was promoted to acting Minister of Works. Fangli leaned on Zhu Quanzhong for support, yet Xing, Ming, and Ci were attacked every year without respite until the region was nothing but a battlefield and farming ceased. In 886 Kexiu attacked Xingzhou, recovered the old seat, and pressed on Wu'an; Fangli's generals Lü Zhen and Ma Shuang met him at Jiaogang and were routed—ten thousand heads were taken, Zhen captured, and Wu'an, Linming, Handan, and Shahe fell. Keyong appointed An Jinjun prefect of Xingzhou to pacify the region. Fangli appealed to Wang Rong for troops; Rong sent thirty thousand men, and Kexiu withdrew. Two years later Fangli led his general Xi Zhongxin with thirty thousand men against Liaozhou, bribing Helian Duo to join the campaign. When Khitan raids delayed Duo's army, Zhongxin split his force in three columns and marched with drums beating; Keyong ambushed him in a pass, destroyed his vanguard, and routed the main body; Zhongxin was captured, and only twelve men made it back. In 889 Keyong sent Li Hanzhi and Li Cunxiao against Xingzhou and into Ci and Ming; Fangli met them at Liuli Dam, was crushed, and lost both generals; the captives were shackled and displayed before the walls of Xing with the cry, "Lord Meng, surrender at once! Whoever brings me his head shall govern the three prefectures." His strength was spent, his prefectures in ruins, and morale shattered; harsh by nature and sparing of kindness, he toured the walls at night while the troops answered with insolent complaints of exhaustion. Convinced he could not recover, he went back inside, drank poison, and died. His cousin Qian, beloved by the troops, was acclaimed acting governor and appealed to Quanzhong for aid. Quanzhong was besieging Shi Pu and could not come immediately; he sent Wang Yuyu with several hundred elite troops by a secret path after Luo Hongxin refused passage, and they slipped into Xingzhou. In 890 Cunxiao attacked Xingzhou again; Qian surrendered the three prefectures of Xing, Ming, and Ci and handed over Wang Yuyu and three hundred of his men; Qian was then transferred to Taiyuan while An Jinjun was appointed training commissioner over the three prefectures and Qian named prefect of Fenzhou. Ouyang Xiu's history records that in 901 the Liang sent Shi Shuzong against Jin through Tianjing Pass; Qian opened the gates, guided the Liang army toward Taiyuan, and failed to take the city; on the return march Shuzong passed through Luzhou and delivered Qian to the Liang. The Liang founder despised his treachery and had him executed.)〉
3
張文禮，燕人也。 初為劉仁恭裨將，性凶險，多奸謀，辭氣庸下，與人交言，癖於不遜，自少及長，專蓄異謀。 及從劉守文之滄州，委將偏師。 守文省父燕薊，據城為亂。 及敗，奔於王鎔。 察鎔不親政事，遂曲事當權者，以求衒達。 每對鎔自言有將才，孫、吳、韓、白，莫己若也。 鎔賞其言，給遺甚厚，因錄為義男，賜姓，名德明，由是每令將兵。 自柏鄉戰勝之後，常從莊宗行營。 素不知書，亦無方略，惟於懦兵之中萋菲上將，言甲不知進退，乙不識軍機，以此軍人推為良將。
Zhang Wenli was a native of Yan. He began as a staff officer under Liu Rengong, a man fierce and treacherous, coarse in speech and habitually insolent in conversation; from youth he had nursed one conspiracy after another. When he followed Liu Shouwen to Cangzhou, he was given command of a detached force. Shouwen went up to Yan and Ji to visit his father, then seized the city and rebelled. When the rebellion collapsed he fled to Wang Rong. Seeing that Rong neglected government, he cultivated those in power to advance himself. He told Rong repeatedly that as a commander he stood with Sun Wu, Wu Qi, Han Xin, and Bai Qi—and that none surpassed him. Rong was impressed, lavished gifts on him, adopted him as a son, granted him the surname and the name Deming, and thereafter regularly put him in command. After the victory at Baixiang he often campaigned with Emperor Zhuangzong's headquarters. Illiterate and devoid of strategy, he won favor among timid soldiers by slandering their commanders—one knew nothing of advance or retreat, another nothing of tactics—and on that basis the men hailed him as a fine general.
4
初，梁將楊師厚在魏州，文禮領趙兵三萬夜掠經、宗，因侵貝郡。 師厚先率步騎數千人，設伏於唐店。 文禮大掠而旋，士皆卷甲束兵，夜凱歌，行至唐店，師厚伏兵四面圍合，殺戮殆盡，文禮單騎僅免。 自爾猶對諸將大言，或讓之曰：「唐店之功，不須多伐。」 文禮大慚。 在鎮州既久，見其政荒人僻，常蓄異圖； 酒酣之後，對左右每泄惡言，聞者莫不寒心。 惟王鎔略無猜間，漸為腹心，乃以符習代其行營，以文禮為防城使，自此專伺間隙。 及鎔殺李宏規，委政於其子昭祚。 昭祚性逼戾，未識人間情偽，素養名持重，坐作貴人，既事權在手，朝夕欲代其父，向來附勢之徒，無不族滅。
When the Liang general Yang Shihou held Weizhou, Wenli led thirty thousand Zhao troops on a night raid into Jing and Zong and pressed into Bei commandery. Shihou marched ahead with several thousand foot and horse and laid an ambush at Tangdian. Wenli looted heavily and withdrew with his men singing victory songs in the night, armor bundled on their backs; at Tangdian Shihou's ambush closed on every side and slaughtered them almost to a man—Wenli alone escaped on horseback. Even afterward he bragged before the other generals until one reproved him: "The affair at Tangdian is hardly something to boast about." Wenli flushed with shame. After long service at Zhenzhou he saw negligent government and an isolated populace, and constantly nursed rebellious designs; when drunk he would vent vicious threats to his attendants, chilling everyone who heard him. Wang Rong alone remained unsuspecting and drew him into his inner circle; he replaced Wenli in the field army with Fu Xi and made Wenli commissioner of city defense, after which Wenli watched only for his chance. When Rong executed Li Honggui he handed power to his son Zhaozuo. Zhaozuo was harsh and ignorant of human affairs, having long cultivated an air of lofty dignity; once power was his he plotted day and night to supplant his father and exterminated to the last man every courtier who had once curried favor.
5
初，李宏規、李藹持權用事，樹立親舊，分董要職，故奸宄之心不能搖動，文禮頗深畏憚。 及宏規見殺，其部下五百人懼罪，將欲奔竄，聚泣偶語，未有所之。 文禮因其離心，密以奸辭激之曰：「令公命我盡坑爾曹，我念爾十餘年荷戈隨我，為家為國，我若不即殺爾，則得罪於令公； 我若不言，又負爾輩。」 眾軍皆泣。 是夜作亂，殺王鎔父子，舉族灰滅，惟留王昭祚妻朱氏通梁人； 尋間道告於梁曰：「王氏喪於亂軍，普寧公主無恙。」 文禮徇賊帥張友順所請，因為留後，於潭城視事。 以事上聞，兼要節旄，尋亦奉箋勸進，莊宗姑示含容，乃可其請。
Earlier Li Honggui and Li Ai had held real power, placing kin and allies in every key post, so that would-be traitors could not stir—and Wenli feared them deeply. After Honggui's execution his five hundred followers, fearing punishment, gathered in tears and whispered among themselves, unsure where to flee. Wenli exploited their disaffection and secretly incited them: "The prince has ordered me to slaughter you all. I remember how for more than ten years you bore arms for me, for family and state alike; if I obey and kill you, I betray you; if I keep silent, I fail you. The soldiers wept. That night they rose in mutiny, killed Wang Rong and his son, and annihilated the clan—only Zhaozuo's wife Lady Zhu, who had connections with the Liang, was spared; she soon sent word by a secret path to the Liang: "The Wang house has fallen to mutineers, but Princess Puning is safe." Wenli acceded to the bandit leader Zhang Youshun's request, took the title of acting governor, and administered affairs from Tancheng. He reported to the throne and demanded the commissioner's insignia; he soon sent a memorial urging Zhuangzong's accession, and Zhuangzong, for the moment forbearing, granted his request.
6
文禮比廝役小人，驟居人上，行步動息，皆不自安。 出則千餘人露刃相隨，日殺不辜，道路以目，常慮我師問罪，奸心百端。 南通朱氏，北結契丹，往往擒獲其使，莊宗遣人送還，文禮由是愈恐。 是歲八月，莊宗遣閻寶、史建瑭及趙將符習等率王鎔本軍進討。 師興，文禮病疽腹，及聞史建瑭攻下趙州，驚悸而卒。 其子處瑾、處球秘不發喪，軍府內外，皆不知之，每日於寢宮問安。 處瑾與其腹心韓正時參決大事，同謀奸惡。 初，文禮疽未發時，舉家咸見鬼物，昏瞑之後或歌或哭，又野河色變如血，遊魚多死，浮於水上，識者知其必敗。
A menial who had risen overnight, Wenli could not compose himself in gait or breath. Whenever he went abroad more than a thousand men with drawn swords followed; he killed innocents daily until travelers dared only glance sideways; he constantly feared imperial retribution and spun endless plots. He courted the Zhu clan in the south and the Khitan in the north, often seizing their envoys until Zhuangzong returned them—which only deepened Wenli's terror. In the eighth month Zhuangzong sent Yan Bao, Shi Jiantan, and the Zhao general Fu Xi with Wang Rong's former army to suppress him. As the campaign opened Wenli lay ill with an abdominal abscess; when he heard that Shi Jiantan had taken Zhaozhou he died of shock. His sons Chujin and Chuqiu concealed the death; inside and outside headquarters none knew, and each day they sent greetings to the bedchamber as if their father still lived. Chujin and his confidant Han Zhengshi decided major affairs together and plotted further treachery. Before Wenli's abscess broke, his household saw apparitions; after dark there were songs and wails; the wild river turned the color of blood and fish died in shoals upon the surface—those who read omens knew he was doomed.
7
十九年三月，閻寶為處瑾所敗，莊宗以李嗣昭代之。 四月，嗣昭為流矢所中，尋卒於師，命李存進繼之。 存進亦以戰歿，乃以符存審為北面招討使，攻鎮州。 是時，處瑾危蹙日甚。 昭義軍節度判官任圜馳至城下，諭以禍福，處瑾登陴以誠告，乃遣牙將張彭送款於行台。 俄而符存審師至城下。 是夜，趙將李再豐之子衝投縋以接王師，故諸軍登城，遲明畢入，獲處瑾、處球、處琪，並其母及同惡人等，皆折足送行台，鎮人請醢而食之。 又發文禮之屍，磔之於市。
In the third month of the nineteenth year Yan Bao was defeated by Chujin, and Zhuangzong replaced him with Li Sizhao. In the fourth month Sizhao was struck by a stray arrow and died in camp; Li Cunjin was ordered to take his place. Cunjin too fell in battle, and Fu Cunshen was appointed northern campaign commissioner to besiege Zhenzhou. Chujin's situation grew more desperate by the day. Ren Yuan, administrative aide of the Zhaoyi circuit, rode to the walls and explained the consequences; Chujin mounted the battlements in apparent sincerity and sent his officer Zhang Peng to offer surrender to headquarters. Soon afterward Fu Cunshen's army reached the walls. That night Li Zaifeng's son Chong lowered a rope to admit the imperial army; the troops scaled the walls and by dawn had taken the city. Chujin, Chuqiu, Chuqi, their mother, and their accomplices were captured, their legs broken, and sent to headquarters; the townspeople begged that they be minced for food. Wenli's corpse was exhumed and dismembered in the marketplace.
8
董璋，本梁之驍將也。 幼與高季興、孔循俱事豪士李七郎為童仆。 李初名讓，常以厚賄奉梁祖，梁祖寵之，因畜為假子，賜姓朱，名友讓。 璋既壯，得隸於梁祖帳下，後以軍功遷為列校。 梁龍德末，潞州李繼韜送款於梁。 時潞將裴約方領兵戍澤州，不徇繼韜之命，據城以自固。 梁末帝遣璋攻陷澤州，遂授澤州刺史。 是歲，莊宗入汴，璋來朝，莊宗素聞其名，優以待之。 尋令卻赴舊任，歲餘代歸。 時郭崇韜當國，待璋尤厚。 同光三年夏，命為邠州留後，三年秋，正授旄鉞。 九月，大舉伐蜀，以璋為行營右廂馬步都虞候。 時郭崇韜為招討使，凡有軍機，皆召璋參決。 是冬，蜀平，以璋為劍南東川節度副大使，知節度事。 天成初，加檢校太傅。 二年，加同平章事。
Dong Zhang had been one of the Liang's fiercest generals. As a boy he served the swaggering Master Li the Seventh alongside Gao Jixing and Kong Xun as a household page. Li, originally named Rang, lavished bribes on the Liang founder until the emperor favored him, adopted him as a son, granted the Zhu surname, and named him Yourang. When Zhang came of age he entered the Liang founder's service and rose through battlefield merit to company commander. Near the end of the Longde reign Li Jitao of Luzhou surrendered to the Liang. The Lu general Pei Yue was then garrisoning Zezhou, refused Jitao's orders, and held the city on his own account. The last Liang emperor sent Zhang to capture Zezhou and appointed him its prefect. That year, when Zhuangzong entered Bian, Zhang came to court; Zhuangzong had long known his reputation and received him generously. He was soon sent back to his former post and returned to court a year later when relieved. Guo Chongtao then dominated the government and treated Zhang with exceptional favor. In the summer of Tongguang 3 he was named acting governor of Binzhou; that autumn he received the full commissioner's insignia. In the ninth month a major expedition against Shu was launched, with Zhang as superintendent of the right wing of the field army. Guo Chongtao commanded the expedition and summoned Zhang to every council on military affairs. Shu fell that winter, and Zhang was made deputy military governor of Eastern Chuan with full control of circuit affairs. At the opening of the Tiancheng reign he was promoted to acting Grand Tutor. In the second year he was made a Fellow of the Secretariat.
9
是時安重誨當國，采人邪謀，言孟知祥必不為國家使，惟董璋性忠義，可特寵任，令圖知祥。 又璋之子光業為宮苑使，在朝結托勢援，爭言璋之善，知祥之惡。 恩寵既優，故璋益恣其暴戾。 初，奉使東川者，皆言璋不恭於朝廷。 四年夏，時明宗將議郊天，遣客省使李仁矩齎詔示諭兩川，又遣安重誨馳書於璋，以征貢奉，約以五十萬為數。 既而璋訴以地狹民貧，許貢十萬而已。 翌日，璋於衙署設宴以召仁矩，日既中而不至，璋使人偵之，仁矩方擁倡婦與賓友酣飲於驛亭。 璋大怒，遽領數百人，執持戈戟，驟入驛中，令洞開其門。 仁矩惶駭，走入閣中，良久引出。 璋坐，立仁矩於階下，戟手罵曰：「當我作魏博都監，爾為通引小將，其時去就，已有等威。 今日我為藩侯，爾銜君命，宿張筵席，比為使臣，保敢至午不來，自共風塵耽酗，豈於王事如此不恭！ 隻如西川解斬客省使李嚴，謂我不能斬公耶！」 因目肘腋，欲令執拽仁矩，仁矩涕淚拜告，僅而獲免。 璋乃馳騎入衙，竟徹饌而不召。 洎仁矩復命，益言璋不法。 未幾，重誨奏以仁矩為閬州團練使，尋升為節鎮。
An Chonghui then held power and listened to slanderers who said Meng Zhixiang would never serve the throne, whereas Dong Zhang was loyal and should be specially favored to counter Zhixiang. Zhang's son Guangye, palace park commissioner, cultivated powerful allies at court and ceaselessly praised his father while denouncing Zhixiang. With imperial favor secure, Zhang grew ever more violent and overbearing. Envoys returning from Eastern Chuan had long reported Zhang's disrespect toward the court. In the summer of the fourth year, as Mingzong prepared for the suburban sacrifice, he sent palace envoy Li Renju with an edict to the two Chuan and dispatched An Chonghui with a letter demanding five hundred thousand in tribute from Zhang. Zhang protested that his territory was poor and narrow, and tribute was reduced to one hundred thousand. The next day Zhang gave a banquet at headquarters for Renju, but noon passed and he did not appear; spies found Renju in the relay station drinking with singing girls and guests. Zhang flew into a rage, led several hundred armed men into the relay station, and ordered the doors broken open. Renju fled in terror to an inner room and was dragged out only after a long delay. Zhang seated himself and made Renju stand below the steps, then pointed at him and raged: "When I was inspector of Weibo you were a mere escort officer—even then there was rank between us. Today I am a feudal lord and you bear the emperor's commission, yet you carouse in a relay station and dare not appear by noon for my feast—how can an envoy treat the throne's business with such contempt! Western Chuan executed the envoy Li Yan—do you think I cannot do the same to you!" He signaled his attendants to seize Renju, who wept and kowtowed until he barely escaped with his life. Zhang rode back to headquarters and dismissed the feast without ever summoning Renju. On his return Renju reported Zhang's misconduct at even greater length. Soon afterward Chonghui recommended Renju as training commissioner of Langzhou, then promoted him to full military governor.
10
長興元年夏，明宗以郊禋禮畢，加璋檢校太尉。 時兩川刺史嘗以兵為牙軍，小郡不下五百人，璋已疑間，及聞除仁矩鎮閬州，璋由是謀反乃決。 仍先與其子光業書曰：「朝廷割吾支郡為節制，屯兵三千，是殺我必矣。 爾見樞要道吾言，如朝廷更發一騎入斜穀，則吾必反，與汝決矣！」 光業以書呈樞密承旨李虔徽。 會朝廷再發中使荀鹹乂將兵赴閬州，光業謂虔徽曰：「鹹乂未至，吾父必反。 吾身不足惜，慮勞朝廷征發。 請停鹹乂之行，吾父必保常日。」 重誨不從，鹹乂未至，璋已擅追綿州刺史武虔裕，囚於衙署。 虔裕，安重誨之心腹也，故先囚之。 五月，璋傳檄於利、閬、遂等州，責以間諜朝廷。 尋率其兵陷閬州，擒節度使李仁矩、軍校姚洪等害之。 先是，璋欲謀叛，先遣使持厚幣於孟知祥，求為婚家。 且言為朝廷猜忌，將有替移，去則喪家，住亦致討，地狹兵少，獨力不任，願以小兒結婚愛女。 時知祥亦貳於朝廷，因許以為援。 既而知祥出師以圍遂州，故璋攻閬州得恣其毒焉。
In the summer of the first Changxing year, after Mingzong completed the suburban sacrifice, Zhang was promoted to acting Grand Marshal. The two Chuan governors each maintained guard armies of at least five hundred men even in small prefectures; Zhang already suspected encirclement, and when he learned Renju had been appointed to Langzhou his decision to rebel was fixed. He wrote first to his son Guangye: "The court has carved out my subordinate prefectures as a separate command and posted three thousand troops—that is a death sentence. Tell the grand councilors for me: if the court sends even one more rider through Xiegu Pass, I will rebel and break with you forever!" Guangye presented the letter to Secretariat drafter Li Qianhui. When the court again sent the inner envoy Gou Xianyi with troops to Langzhou, Guangye told Qianhui: "Before Xianyi arrives my father will rebel. I do not value my own life, but I fear burdening the court with a campaign. Stop Xianyi's march and my father will remain loyal." Chonghui refused; before Xianyi arrived Zhang had already recalled Mianzhou prefect Wu Qianyu and imprisoned him at headquarters. Qianyu was Chonghui's trusted agent, and was seized first for that reason. In the fifth month Zhang issued proclamations to Li, Lang, Sui, and neighboring prefectures accusing them of spying for the court. He soon marched on Langzhou, captured Governor Li Renju and the officer Yao Hong, and executed them. Before his rebellion Zhang had sent envoys with rich gifts to Meng Zhixiang proposing a marriage alliance. He said the court suspected him and would replace him; flight meant ruin, staying meant punishment; his territory was small and his army weak—he could not stand alone—and he asked to marry his son to Zhixiang's daughter. Zhixiang too was estranged from the court and promised him support. When Zhixiang later marched to besiege Suizhou, Zhang was free to ravage Langzhou at will.
11
其年秋，詔削奪璋在身官爵，命天雄軍節度使石敬瑭為東川行營招討使，率師以討之。 璋之子宮苑使光業並其族，並斬於洛陽。 及石敬瑭率師進討，以糧運不接，班師。 明宗方務懷柔，乃放西川進奏官蘇願、東川軍將劉澄各歸本道，別無詔旨，隻云「兩務求安」。 時孟知祥其骨肉在京師者俱無恙焉，因遣使報璋，欲連表稱謝。 璋怒曰：「西川存得弟侄，遂欲再通朝廷，璋之兒孫已入黃泉，何謝之有！」 自是璋疑知祥背己，始構隙矣。 三年四月，璋率所部兵萬餘人以襲知祥。 〈（《九國誌·趙季良傳》：季良嘗與知祥從容語曰：「璋性狼戾，若堅守一城，攻之難克。」 及聞璋起兵，知祥憂形於色。 季良曰：「璋不守巢穴，此天以授公也。」 既而璋果敗。）〉 知祥與諸將率師拒之，戰於漢州之彌牟鎮。 璋軍大敗，得數十騎，復奔於東川。 〈（《九國誌·趙廷隱傳》：董璋襲廣漢，將攻成都，時東川廩藏充實，部下多敢死之士，其來也，眾皆畏之。 知祥親督諸將，與璋戰雞縱橋前，頗為所挫。 廷隱偽遁，璋逐之，知祥與張公鐸繼進，璋軍亂不成列，廷隱整陣，與知祥合擊之，璋軍大敗。）〉 先是，前陵州刺史王暉為璋所邀，寓於東川，至是因璋之敗，率眾以害之，傳其首於西川。
That autumn an edict stripped Zhang of his ranks and appointed Tianxiong governor Shi Jingtang Eastern Chuan campaign commissioner to lead troops against him. Zhang's son Guangye, palace park commissioner, and his entire clan were executed at Luoyang. When Shi Jingtang marched against him, supply lines failed and the army withdrew. Mingzong pursued conciliation, released Western Chuan memorial officer Su Yuan and Eastern Chuan officer Liu Cheng to their circuits, and issued no further orders beyond the phrase "both sides seek peace." Zhixiang's kin in the capital had been spared; he sent word to Zhang proposing a joint memorial of thanks to the throne. Zhang raged: "Western Chuan still has brothers and nephews alive, so you wish to reopen ties with the court—my sons and grandsons are already in the grave; what thanks is there to offer!" From that moment Zhang suspected Zhixiang had betrayed him, and the rift between them began. In the fourth month of the third year Zhang led more than ten thousand men in a surprise attack on Zhixiang. (From the biography of Zhao Jiliang in the Records of the Nine Kingdoms: Jiliang once told Zhixiang in private, "Zhang is brutal and savage; if he holds a single city firm, he will be hard to defeat." When news came that Zhang had taken the field, worry showed on Zhixiang's face. Jiliang said, "Zhang has left his base undefended—Heaven is handing victory to you." Zhang was indeed defeated soon after.)〉 Zhixiang and his generals marched to meet him and fought at Mizhen in Hanzhou. Zhang's army was shattered; he escaped with only a few dozen horsemen back to Eastern Chuan. (From the biography of Zhao Tingyin in the Records of the Nine Kingdoms: Dong Zhang raided Guanghan and was marching on Chengdu; Eastern Chuan's stores were full and his men were fearless; his advance struck terror into every heart. Zhixiang personally led his generals against Zhang before Jizong Bridge and was driven back. Tingyin feigned retreat; Zhang pursued; Zhixiang and Zhang Gongduo pressed forward; Zhang's army fell into disorder; Tingyin reformed his line and joined Zhixiang in a combined assault that shattered Zhang's force.)〉 Earlier the former Lingzhou prefect Wang Hui, whom Zhang had brought to Eastern Chuan, took advantage of Zhang's defeat, led troops to kill him, and sent his head to Western Chuan.