1
李建及，許州人。 本姓王，父質。 建及少事李罕之為紀綱，光啟中，罕之謁武皇於晉陽，因選部下驍勇者百人以獻，建及在籍中。 後以功署牙職，典義兒軍，及賜姓名。 天祐七年，改匡衛軍都校。 柏鄉之役，汴將韓追周德威至高邑南野河上，鎮、定兵扼橋道，韓選精兵先奪之。 莊宗登高而望，鎮、定兵將衄，謂建及曰：「如賊過橋，則勢不可遏，卿計若何？」 建及於部選士二百，挺槍大噪，禦汴軍，卻之於橋下。 二月，王師攻魏，魏人夜出犯我營，建及設伏待之，扼其歸路，盡殪之。 劉鄩之營莘縣，月餘不出，忽一旦縱兵攻鎮、定之營，軍中騰亂，建及率銀槍勁兵千人赴之，擊敗汴軍，追奔至其壘。 元城之戰，建及首陷其陣，授天雄軍教練使。 八月，遷遼州刺史。 十四年，從擊契丹於幽州，破之。 十二月，從攻楊劉，自寅至午，汴軍嬰城拒守，建及自負葭葦堙塹，率先登梯，遂拔之。 胡柳之役，前軍逗撓，際晚，汴軍登土山，建及一戰奪之。 莊宗欲收軍，詰朝合戰。 建及橫槊當前，曰：「賊大將已亡，乘此易擊，王但登山，觀臣破賊！」 即引銀槍效節大呼奮擊，三軍增氣，由是王師復振，以功授檢校司空、魏博內外衙都將。
Li Jianji was from Xuzhou. His family name had originally been Wang; his father was named Zhi. As a young man Jianji served Li Hanzhi as a camp officer. During the Guangqi reign Hanzhi called on the Martial Emperor at Jinyang and presented a hundred picked warriors from his command; Jianji was among them. He later earned appointment to the guard staff, command of the adopted-sons corps, and the gift of a surname and given name. In the seventh year of Tianyou he was made commandant of the Kuangwei Army. At Baixiang the Bian commander Han Zhui pressed Zhou Dewei to the open country south of Gaoyi along the river. The Zhen and Ding forces blocked the bridge approach, and Han sent picked troops to take it first. Emperor Zhuangzong took a vantage point and saw the Zhen and Ding lines buckling. He asked Jianji, "If they get across that bridge we cannot stop them—what do you advise? Jianji picked two hundred men from his command, charged with leveled spears and a thunderous cry, and threw the Bian troops back from the bridge. In the second month the imperial army besieged Wei. Wei forces raided the camp by night; Jianji laid an ambush, cut off their retreat, and wiped them out. Liu Yan had camped at Huaxian and for more than a month refused battle, then one day suddenly struck the Zhen and Ding encampment. As the army churned in panic, Jianji rushed up with a thousand silver-spear veterans, routed the Bian force, and chased them to their walls. At Yuancheng Jianji led the breach of the enemy line and was made drill instructor of the Tianxiong Army. In the eighth month he was transferred to the prefecture of Liao. In the fourteenth year he joined the campaign against the Khitan at Youzhou and routed them. In the twelfth month he took part in the assault on Yangliu. From dawn to midday the Bian garrison held the walls. Jianji carried bundles of reeds to fill the ditch, was first on the scaling ladder, and the city fell. At Huliu the forward units stalled. Toward dusk the Bian troops seized a hillock; Jianji retook it in a single clash. Emperor Zhuangzong wanted to pull the army back and fight again at dawn. Jianji planted his spear in their path and said, "Their chief commander is already dead—this is the moment to hit them while they are easy prey. Your Majesty has only to take the hill and watch me smash the foe. He immediately led the silver-spear Xiaojie guard in a roaring charge; morale surged through the army, and the imperial force rallied. For this he received the acting title of Sikong and command of Weibo's inner and outer gate troops.
2
十六年，汴將賀瑰攻德勝南城，以戰船十餘艘，竹笮維之，扼斷津路，王師不得渡。 城中矢石將盡，守城將氏延賞危急，莊宗令積帛軍門，召能破賊船者。 津人有馬破龍者，能水遊，乃令往見延賞，延賞言：「危窘極矣，所爭晷刻。」 時棹船滿河，流矢雨集，建及被重鎧，執槊呼曰：「豈有一衣帶水，縱賊如此！」 乃以二船實甲士，皆短兵持斧，徑抵梁之戰艦，斧其笮； 又令上流具甕，積薪其上，順流縱火，以攻其艦。 須臾，煙焰騰熾，梁軍斷纜而遁； 建及乃入南城，賀瑰解圍而去。 其年十二月，與汴將王瓚戰於戚城，建及傷手，莊宗解禦衣金帶賜之。
In the sixteenth year the Bian commander He Gui assaulted the southern quarter of Desheng with a dozen warships roped together with bamboo hawsers, blocking the crossing and keeping the imperial army on the far bank. Missiles and stones inside the walls were almost gone, and the defender Shi Yanzhang was at the breaking point. Emperor Zhuangzong heaped silk at the camp gate and offered it to anyone who could destroy the enemy fleet. A local swimmer named Ma Polong was sent in to Yanzhang, who told him, "We are at the very edge—every instant counts. The river was thick with boats and arrows fell in sheets. Jianji in heavy mail gripped his spear and cried, "Is it only a strip of water wide, and we still let the enemy have their way?" He sent two boats packed with armored men armed with short weapons and axes straight at the Liang warships and cut through the bamboo hawsers. He also had men upstream ready earthen jars piled with kindling, set them afire, and floated them down against the fleet. Within moments smoke and flame towered up; the Liang crews cut their moorings and fled. Jianji then entered the southern city, and He Gui broke off the siege and withdrew. That twelfth month he fought the Bian commander Wang Zan at Qicheng. Jianji took a wound to the hand, and Emperor Zhuangzong took off his own court robe and gold belt and gave them to him.
3
建及有膽氣，慷慨不群，臨陣鞠旅，意氣橫壯，自莊宗至魏州，建及都總內外衙銀槍效節帳前親軍，善於撫禦，所得賞賜，皆分給部下，絕甘分少，頗洽軍情。 又累立戰功，雄勇冠絕，雌劣者忌讒之。 時宦官韋令圖監建及軍，每於莊宗前言：「建及以家財驟施，其趨向誌意不小，不可令典衙兵。」 莊宗因猜之。 建及性既忠藎，雖知讒構，不改其操。
Jianji was bold and high-spirited, generous and unlike ordinary men. On the battlefield his bearing was formidable. From Zhuangzong's arrival in Weizhou onward he commanded the silver-spear Xiaojie guard of the inner and outer gates and knew how to win soldiers' hearts. Every reward he shared with his men, refusing the choicest portion and taking the least—so he held the army's loyalty. He piled up victories and had no peer in bravery, and lesser men nursed envy and whispered against him. The eunuch Wei Lingtu was then overseeing Jianji's command and kept telling Zhuangzong, "Jianji is throwing his family fortune around in sudden largesse; his ambitions are larger than they look—he must not be left in charge of the gate army. Zhuangzong took the hint and began to distrust him. Jianji was by nature steadfast and loyal; even when he knew men were weaving plots against him, he did not change how he served.
4
十七年三月，授代州刺史。 八月，與李存審赴河中，解同州之圍。 建及少遇禍亂，久從戰陣，矢石所中，肌無完膚，後有功見疑，私心憤鬱。 是歲，卒於太原，時年五十七。
In the third month of the seventeenth year he was made prefect of Dai. In the eighth month he marched with Li Cunshen to Hezhong and raised the siege of Tong. He had grown up in chaos and spent his life in the field; arrow and stone had left scarcely an unmarked inch of skin. When merit only brought suspicion, he nursed a private bitterness. That year he died at Taiyuan, at the age of fifty-seven.
5
石君立，趙州昭慶人也，亦謂之石家財。 初事代州刺史李克柔，後隸李嗣昭為牙校，曆典諸軍。 夾城之役，君立每出挑戰，壞汴軍柵壘，俘擒而還。 八年，與汴軍戰於龍化園，敗之，獲其大將卜渥以獻。 嗣昭每出征，俾君立為前鋒，敵人畏之。 王檀之逼晉陽也，城中無備，安金全驅市人以登陴，保聚不完。 時莊宗在魏博，救應不暇，人心危懼，嗣昭遣君立率五百騎，自上黨朝發暮至。 王檀遊軍扼汾橋，君立一戰敗之，徑至城下，馳突斬擊，出入如神，大呼曰：「昭義侍中大軍至矣！」 是夜入城，與安金全等分出諸門擊殺於外，遲明，梁軍敗走。 十七年，將兵屯德勝。 時汴軍自滑州轉餉以給楊村寨，莊宗親率騎軍於河外，循岸而上，邀擊之。 汴人距楊村五十里，於河曲潘張村築壘以貯軍儲，莊宗令諸軍攻之。 汴人設伏於要路，逆戰偽敗，王師乘之，蹙入壘門，梁伏兵起，因與血戰。 君立與鎮州大將王釗陷入賊壘，時諸將部校陷賊者十餘人，君立被執，送於汴。 梁祖素知其驍勇，欲用之為將，械而下獄。 久之，梁主遣人誘之，君立曰：「敗軍之將，難與議勇，如欲將我，我雖真誠效命，能信我乎？ 人皆有君，吾何忍反為仇人哉！」 既而諸將被戮，尚惜君立不之害。 同光元年，莊宗至汴前一日，梁主始令殺之。
Shi Junli came from Zhaqing in Zhao Prefecture and was also known as Shi Jiacai. He first served Li Kerou, prefect of Dai, then entered Li Sizhao's guard and rose through commands over several armies. At Jiacheng he repeatedly rode out to challenge the foe, tore up Bian stockades and walls, and came back with prisoners. In the eighth year he met the Bian army at Longhua Garden, routed them, and sent up their commander Bu Wo as a captive. Whenever Sizhao took the field he put Junli in the van, and enemies learned to dread the name. When Wang Tan closed on Taiyuan the city was unprepared. An Jinquan pressed townsfolk onto the ramparts, but the defenses were still patchwork. Zhuangzong was in Weibo and could not break away to help; panic spread. Sizhao dispatched Junli with five hundred cavalry from Shangdang—they left at dawn and reached Taiyuan by nightfall. Wang Tan's scouts held the Fen Bridge; Junli smashed them in one clash, raced to the wall, and wheeled through the Bian ranks like a force of nature, roaring, "The Grand Preceptor of Zhaoyi is here with the main host! He entered the city that night. With An Jinquan and others he sent parties out every gate to cut down the enemy outside; by first light the Liang army broke and ran. In the seventeenth year he garrisoned Desheng with his troops. The Bian forces were shipping grain from Huazhou to Yangcun village; Zhuangzong himself led cavalry along the north bank upstream to intercept the convoys. Fifty li short of Yangcun the enemy threw up a depot at Panzhang Village in the river bend; Zhuangzong ordered a general assault. The Bian laid an ambush on the approach, offered a sham retreat, and drew the imperial troops charging through the gate. Liang men hidden inside sprang up and a savage melee followed. Junli and the Zhen commander Wang Zhao were caught inside the enemy fort along with more than a dozen other officers. Junli was taken and sent to Bian. The Liang founder had long admired his fighting name and wanted him as a commander; they shackled him and threw him in prison. After a long interval the Liang ruler sent envoys to win him over. Junli answered, "A beaten general is no one to talk bravery with. Even if I meant every word of loyalty, would you believe me? Every man already has his sovereign—how could I stomach serving the man who is my foe? Before long the other captured officers were put to death, but they still kept Junli alive. In the first year of Tongguang, the day before Zhuangzong entered Bian, the Liang ruler finally had him executed.
6
高行珪，燕人也。 家世勇悍，與弟行周俱有武藝，初仕燕為騎將，驍果出諸將之右。 燕帥劉守光僭逆不道，莊宗令周德威征之，守光大懼，以行珪為武州刺史，令張犄角之勢。 時明宗將兵助德威平燕，俄聞行珪至，率騎以禦之。 明宗諭以逆順之理，行珪乃降。 守光將元行欽在山北，聞行珪有變，即率部下軍眾以攻行珪。 行珪遣弟行周告急於周德威，德威命明宗、李嗣本、安金全將兵援之。 明宗破行欽於廣邊軍，行欽亦降。 尋以行珪為朔州刺史，曆忻、嵐二郡，遷雲州留後。 天成初，授鄧州節度使，尋移鎮安州。 行珪性貪鄙，短於為政，在安州日，行事多不法。 副使範延策者，幽州人也，性剛直，累為賓職，及佐行珪，睹其貪猥，因強諫之，行珪不從。 後延策因入奏，獻封章於闕下，事有三條：一請不禁過淮豬羊，而禁絲綿匹帛，以實中國； 一請於山林要害置軍鎮，以絕寇盜； 一述藩侯之弊，請敕從事明諫諍之，不從，令諸軍校列班廷諍。 行珪聞之，深銜之。 後因戍兵作亂，誣奏延策與之同謀，父子俱戮於汴，聞者冤之。 未幾，行珪以疾卒。 詔贈太尉。
Gao Xinggui was a native of Yan. The Gaos were a fighting clan for generations; he and his younger brother Xingzhou were both skilled in arms. They first served Yan as cavalry officers and stood out even among Yan's hardiest commanders. When the Yan warlord Liu Shouguang seized power unlawfully, Zhuangzong sent Zhou Dewei against him. Shouguang in alarm made Xinggui prefect of Wu and set him to brace the frontier. Mingzong was then assisting Dewei in the Yan campaign; when word came that Xinggui was advancing, he rode out to confront him. Mingzong laid out the difference between rebellion and rightful service, and Xinggui submitted. Shouguang's officer Yuan Xingqin was in the northern hills; when he heard Xinggui had turned, he marched at once with his troops to attack him. Xinggui sent Xingzhou in haste to Zhou Dewei; Dewei ordered Mingzong, Li Siben, and An Jinquan to march to his relief. Mingzong routed Xingqin at Guangbian and took his surrender as well. He was soon made prefect of Shuo, then served Xin and Lan in turn, and was promoted to acting military commissioner of Yun. At the opening of the Tiancheng era he was made military commissioner of Deng, then shifted to An. Xinggui was grasping and coarse, a poor administrator; at An his rule was repeatedly outside the law. His deputy Fan Yanji came from Youzhou, blunt and upright, and had served many lords as staff officer. Under Xinggui he saw the corruption and pressed him hard in counsel, but Xinggui would not listen. Later Yanji went to court and filed a memorial at the palace with three proposals: first, stop banning pigs and sheep south of the Huai but ban silk and cotton instead, to strengthen the heartland; second, post garrisons at mountain passes and forests to choke off banditry; third, describe the abuses of regional commanders and order their staffs to speak plainly, and if they would not, require their officers to remonstrate in open court. When Xinggui heard of the memorial he hated Fan Yanji bitterly. Later, when garrison troops mutinied, he falsely accused Yanji of complicity; father and son were both executed at Bian, and public opinion called it a gross injustice. Not long after, Xinggui died of illness. The court posthumously enfeoffed him as Grand Preceptor.
7
張廷裕，代北人也。 幼事武皇於雲中，從平黃巢，討王行瑜，自行間漸升為小將。 莊宗定魏，補天雄軍左廂馬步都虞候，曆蔚、慈、隰三州刺史。 同光三年，除新州節度使。 塞上多事，廷裕無控製之術，邊鄙常聳。 天成三年，卒於治所。 詔贈太保。
Zhang Tingyu came from the northern frontier of Dai. As a youth he served the Martial Emperor at Yunzhong, followed him against Huang Chao and Wang Xingyu, and slowly rose from the ranks to junior command. When Zhuangzong secured Wei he was made left-wing horse-and-foot commandant of the Tianxiong Army and later held the prefectures of Wei, Ci, and Xi in succession. In the third year of Tongguang he was appointed military commissioner of Xin. The northern marches were in constant turmoil; Tingyu lacked the skill to hold them, and the frontier stayed on edge. In the third year of Tiancheng he died in office. The court posthumously enfeoffed him as Grand Guardian.
8
王思同，幽州人也。 父敬柔，曆瀛、平、儒、檀、營五州刺史。 思同母即劉仁恭之女也，故思同初事仁恭為帳下軍校。 會劉守光攻仁恭於大安山，思同以部下兵歸太原，時年十六，武皇命為飛騰指揮使。 從莊宗平定山東，累典諸軍。
Wang Sitong was a native of Youzhou. His father Jingrou had been prefect in turn of Ying, Ping, Ru, Tan, and Ying. Sitong's mother was a daughter of Liu Rengong, so he first served Rengong as an officer in his personal guard. When Liu Shouguang besieged Rengong at Mount Da'an, Sitong brought his men over to Taiyuan. He was sixteen; the Martial Emperor made him commander of the Feiteng guard. He followed Zhuangzong in the pacification of Shandong and held a series of army commands.
9
思同性疏俊，粗有文，性喜為詩什，與人唱和，自稱薊門戰客。 魏王繼岌待之若子。 時內養呂知柔侍興聖宮，頗用事，思同不平之。 呂為終南山詩，末句有「頭」字，思同和曰：「料伊直擬衝霄漢，賴有青天壓著頭。」 其所為詩句，皆此類也。 每從征，必在興聖帳下，然同光朝，位止鄭州刺史。 明宗在軍時，素知之，即位後，用為同州節度使，未幾，移鎮隴右。 思同好文士，無賢不肖，必館接賄遺，歲費數十萬。 在秦州累年，邊民懷惠，華戎寧息。 長興元年，入朝，見於中興殿。 明宗問秦州邊事，對曰：「秦州與吐蕃接境，蕃部多違法度。 臣設法招懷，沿邊置寨四十餘所，控其要害。 每蕃人互市、飲食之界上，令納器械。」 因手指畫秦州山川要害控扼處。 明宗曰：「人言思同不管事，豈及此耶！」 時兩川叛，欲用之，且留左右，故授右武衛將軍。 八月，授西南面行營馬步都虞候。 九月，遷京兆尹、西京留守。 伐蜀之役，為先鋒指揮使。 石敬瑭入大散關。 思同恃勇先入劍門，大軍未相繼，復被董璋兵逐出之。 及敬瑭班師，思同以曾獲劍門之功，移鎮山南西道。
Sitong was easy in manner and not without book learning; he loved to write verse, traded poems with friends, and called himself the Battle Guest of Jimen. The Prince of Wei, Jiji, treated him almost as a son. The palace eunuch Lü Zhirou, who served the Xingsheng Palace, had grown powerful; Sitong chafed at it. Lü wrote a poem on Mount Zhongnan ending with the word "head"; Sitong answered, "You seem ready to punch through the sky—lucky for you the blue heaven still weighs on your head." His verses were all barbs of that kind. He campaigned always in the Xingsheng train, yet under Tongguang he rose no higher than prefect of Zheng. Mingzong had known him in the field; once enthroned he made him commissioner of Tong, then soon moved him to Longyou. Sitong cultivated scholars high and low, housed them and showered gifts until he spent hundreds of thousands each year. Through long years at Qin the frontier people felt his kindness, and Chinese and tribesmen alike kept the peace. In the first year of Changxing he came to court and was received in the Zhongxing Hall. Mingzong asked about the Qin frontier. He answered, "Qin marches on Tibet, and many tribesmen ignore our laws. I devised ways to win them and strung more than forty stockades along the border to hold the passes. Whenever Tibetans came to market or ate at the border markets, I required them to hand over their arms. As he spoke he traced with his finger the mountains, rivers, and choke points of Qin on the map. Mingzong said, "They say Sitong never tends to business—yet look at this! With both Sichuan circuits in revolt the court wanted his service but also wanted him close, so they made him General of the Right Martial Guard. In the eighth month he was named horse-and-foot commandant of the southwestern expedition. In the ninth month he became metropolitan magistrate of Jingzhao and custodian of the western capital. In the Shu campaign he commanded the vanguard. Shi Jingtang pushed through Dasan Pass. Sitong, trusting his bravery, rushed into Jianmen before the main host could follow and was thrown back out by Dong Zhang's men. When Jingtang pulled the army back, Sitong was shifted to Shannan West Circuit for his earlier success at Jianmen.
10
三年，兩川交兵，明宗慮並在一人，則朝廷難製，密詔思同相度形勢，即乘間用軍，事未行而董璋敗。 八月，復為京兆尹兼西京留守。 時潞王鎮鳳翔，與之鄰境，及潞王不稟朝旨，致書於秦、涇、雍、梁、邠諸帥，言：「賊臣亂政，屬先帝疾篤，謀害秦王，迎立嗣君，自擅權柄，以致殘害骨肉，搖動藩垣。 懼先人基業，忽焉墜地，故誓心入朝，以除君側，事濟之後，謝病歸藩。 然藩邸素貧。 兵力俱困，欲希國士，共濟急難。」 乃令小伶女十人以五弦技見思同，因歡諷動，又令軍校宋審溫者，請使於雍，若不從命，即獨圖之。 又令推官郝昭、府吏朱延乂以書檄起兵。 會副部署藥彥稠至，方宴，而妓、使適至，乃擊之於獄。 彥稠請誅審溫，拘送昭赴闕。 時思同已遣其子入朝言事，朝廷嘉之，乃以思同為鳳翔行營都部署，起軍營於扶風。
In the third year the two Sichuan warlords fought each other. Mingzong feared that if one man held both circuits the court could not restrain him, and secretly told Sitong to survey the ground and strike when a chance opened. Before the plan moved, Dong Zhang was already beaten. In the eighth month he again took Jingzhao and the western capital in tandem. The Prince of Lu held Fengxiang on Sitong's border. When he defied the court he wrote the governors of Qin, Jing, Yong, Liang, and Bin: "Wicked ministers have thrown the government into chaos. As the late emperor lay dying they plotted against the Prince of Qin, installed a puppet heir, and seized power for themselves, wounding the imperial family and unsettling the frontiers. I feared our forefathers' legacy would crumble overnight, so I swore to march to court and cut down the men at the emperor's side. Once the work is done I will plead illness and return to my fief. Yet the prince's household has always been poor. Our forces are spent; we ask the empire's loyal soldiers to help us through the crisis. He sent ten young women skilled on the five-string zither to perform for Sitong, stirring him with song and mockery, and dispatched the officer Song Shenwen to Yong with an ultimatum: obey, or he would act alone. He also ordered his staff officer Hao Zhao and clerk Zhu Yanyi to raise troops by proclamation. Deputy commander Yao Yanchou arrived during a feast just as the entertainers and envoy appeared; Sitong had them beaten and thrown in jail. Yanchou urged that Shenwen be executed and Zhao sent to the capital in chains. Sitong had already sent his son to court with a loyal report; the throne commended him and made him overall commander against Fengxiang, encamping the army at Fufeng.
11
三月十四日，與張虔釗會於岐下，梯衝大集。 十五日，進收東西關城，城中戰備不完，然死力禦捍，外兵傷夷者十二三。 十六日，復進攻其城，潞王登陴泣諭於外，聞者悲之。 張虔釗性褊，詰旦，西南用軍，與都監皆血刃以督軍士，軍士齊詬，反攻虔釗，虔釗躍馬避之。 時羽林指揮使楊思權引軍自西門先入，思同未之知，猶督士登城。 俄而嚴衛指揮使尹暉呼曰：「西城軍已入城受賞矣，軍士可解甲！」 棄仗之聲，振動天地。 日午，亂軍畢集，涇州張從賓、邠州康福、河中安彥威皆遁去。 十七日，思同與藥彥稠、萇從簡俱至長安，劉遂雍閉關不內，乃奔潼關。
On the fourteenth of the third month he joined Zhang Qianjie below Qi; siege ladders and rams crowded the field. On the fifteenth they seized the eastern and western gate towns. The city was ill prepared, yet the garrison fought to the last; one or two soldiers in ten of the besiegers were hit. On the sixteenth they assaulted the main wall again. The Prince of Lu mounted the ramparts and wept down to the army below; men who heard him were heartsick. Zhang Qianjie was hot-tempered. At dawn he threw troops at the southwest corner and, with every inspector, drew steel to drive the men forward. The soldiers cursed him in chorus and turned on him; he spurred his horse away. Imperial-guard commander Yang Siquan had already slipped in through the west gate. Sitong knew nothing of it and still drove his men up the ladders. Soon Yin Hui of the strict guard shouted, "The men from the west gate are already inside taking their reward—drop your arms! The clatter of discarded weapons shook heaven and earth. By midday the mutineers had massed. Zhang Congbin of Jing, Kang Fu of Bin, and An Yanwei of Hezhong all ran. On the seventeenth Sitong, Yao Yanchou, and Chang Congjian reached Chang'an, but Liu Suiyong shut the gates against them and they fled toward Tong Pass.
12
二十二日，潞王至昭應，前鋒執思同來獻。 王謂左右曰：「思同計乖於事，然盡心於所奉，亦可嘉也。」 顧謂趙守鈞曰：「思同爾之故人，可行迓之於路，達予撫慰之意。」 思同至，潞王讓之曰：「賊臣傾我國家，殘害骨肉，非予弟之過。 我起兵岐山，蓋誅一二賊臣耳，爾何首鼠兩端，多方誤我，今日之罪，其可逃乎！」 思同曰：「臣起自行間，受先朝爵命，秉旄仗鉞，累曆重藩，終無顯效以答殊遇。 臣非不知攀龍附鳳則福多，扶衰救弱則禍速，但恐瞑目之後，無麵見先帝。 釁鼓膏原，縲囚之常分也。」 潞王為之改容，徐謂之曰：「且憩歇。」 潞王欲用之，而楊思權之徒恥見其面，屢啟劉延朗，言「思同不可留，慮失士心。」 又，潞王入長安時，尹暉盡得思同家財及諸妓女，故尤惡思同，與劉延朗亟言之。 屬王醉，不待報，殺思同並其子德勝。 潞王醒，召思同，左右報已誅之矣。 潞王怒延朗，累日嗟惜之。 及漢高祖即位，詔贈侍中。
On the twenty-second the Prince of Lu reached Zhaoying; the van took Sitong and brought him in as prisoner. The prince told his attendants, "Sitong chose the losing side, but he gave his whole heart to his lord—that still deserves praise. He said to Zhao Shoujun, "Sitong is your old friend—go meet him on the road and tell him I mean to treat him kindly." When Sitong came up, the Prince of Lu rebuked him: "Traitors have wrecked the realm and hurt the imperial house—that is not my brother's fault. I marched from Qishan to kill only a handful of villains. Why did you hedge like a cornered rat and lead me astray at every turn? Can you escape punishment today?! Sitong answered, "I came up from the ranks, took titles from the late emperor, bore commander's insignia, and held one great post after another, yet never repaid that grace with any deed worth the name. I know perfectly well that siding with the winner brings fortune and backing the loser brings ruin—but when I shut my eyes I could not face the late emperor. War drums and the executioner's field, the captive's proper fate—that is the law of such days." The prince's face softened. He said gently, "Rest awhile." The prince meant to keep him, but Yang Siquan and the others could not bear to look on him. They told Liu Yanlang again and again, "Sitong must not stay or we will lose the army's loyalty." When the prince entered Chang'an, Yin Hui had plundered Sitong's house and his singing girls, so he hated Sitong all the more and pressed Liu Yanlang to act. While the prince was drunk they did not wait for orders and killed Sitong and his son Desheng. When the prince woke he called for Sitong; his attendants said the man was already dead. The prince raged at Yanlang and mourned the deed for days. When Gaozu of Later Han came to the throne, the court posthumously made him Palace Attendant.
13
索自通，字得之，太原清源人也。 父繼昭，以自通貴，授國子監祭酒致仕。 自通少能騎射，嘗於山墅射獵，莊宗鎮太原時，遇之於野，訊其姓名，即補右番廳直軍使。 後因從獵，射中走鹿，轉指揮使。 佐周德威攻燕軍於涿州，擒燕將郭在鈞。 從莊宗定魏博，改突騎指揮使。 明宗即位，自隨駕左右廂馬軍都指揮授忻州刺史。 歲餘召還，復典禁兵，領韶州刺史，出為大同軍節度使。 累歲移鎮忠武，改京兆尹、西京留守。 楊彥溫據河中作亂，自通率師討平之，授河中節度使。 尋自鄜州入為右龍武統軍。 初，自通既平楊彥溫，代末帝鎮河中，臨事失於周旋，末帝深銜之。 〈（《通鑒》：自通至鎮，承安重誨指，籍軍府甲仗數上之，以為從珂私造，賴王德妃居中保護，從珂由是得免。）〉 及末帝即位，自通憂悸求死。 清泰元年七月，因朝退涉洛，自溺而卒。
Suo Zitong, courtesy name Dezhi, came from Qingyuan in Taiyuan. His father Jizhao, through Zitong's rise, was made libationer of the Directorate of Education and retired. As a youth Zitong was skilled in horsemanship and archery. Hunting at a mountain lodge while Zhuangzong held Taiyuan, he met the prince in the field; asked his name, Zhuangzong at once made him an officer of the Right Barracks guard. On a later hunt he brought down a running stag and was promoted to commandant. He fought under Zhou Dewei against Yan forces at Zhuo and took the Yan general Guo Zaijun. He followed Zhuangzong in the pacification of Weibo and was made commander of the assault cavalry. When Mingzong succeeded, Zitong left his post as commander of the imperial escort's left and right horse wings to become prefect of Xin. A year later he was recalled, took the forbidden army again, served as prefect of Shao, and went out as commissioner of Datong. He shifted to Zhongwu for several years, then became metropolitan magistrate of Jingzhao and custodian of the western capital. When Yang Yanwen seized Hezhong, Zitong marched against him, crushed the revolt, and was made commissioner of Hezhong. Soon he left Fuzhou for the capital as commander-in-chief of the Right Dragon Martial Army. After he crushed Yang Yanwen, Zitong replaced the Last Emperor as governor of Hezhong. He handled affairs clumsily, and the Last Emperor nursed a deep grudge. (《Comprehensive Mirror》: On reaching his command Zitong followed An Chonghui's orders, counted the arsenal's arms and armor and reported them to court as proof that Congke was forging weapons in secret. Only Consort De's intervention saved Congke from ruin.)〉 When the Last Emperor came to the throne, Zitong lived in dread and longed for death. In the seventh month of the first year of Qingtai he left court, waded into the Luo, and drowned.
14
子萬進，周顯德中，曆任方鎮。
His son Wanjin, under Later Zhou in the Xiande era, held several frontier commands in turn.