1
豆盧革，祖籍，同州刺史。 父瓚，舒州刺史。 〈（《宣和書譜》云：失其世係。）〉 革少值亂離，避地鄜、延，轉入中山，王處直禮之，辟於幕下，有奏記之譽。 因牡丹會賦詩，諷處直以桑柘為意，言甚古雅，漸加器仰，轉節度判官。 而理家無法，獨請謁處直，處直慮布政有缺，有所規諫，斂版出迎，乃為嬖人祈軍職矣。
Dou Luge — a forebear in his line had served as prefect of Tongzhou; the ancestral name is not preserved in the received text. His father Zan was prefect of Shu. (The Xuanhe Calligraphy Catalogue notes that his pedigree is lost.)〉 In his youth Ge lived through war and exile, taking refuge in Fu and Yan before moving on to Zhongshan. Wang Chuzhi honored him and brought him onto his staff, where he gained a reputation for polished memorials and dispatches. At a peony festival he wrote a poem that, through mulberry and ramie, gently admonished Chuzhi. The verse was so refined and archaic in tone that Chuzhi came to esteem him ever more highly and promoted him to adjutant of the military commission. Yet he ran his household without discipline. When he alone sought an audience with Chuzhi, the lord, worried that his own governance might be at fault, came to remonstrate with him. Ge put away his tablet and came out to receive him — only to ask a military appointment for a favorite.
2
天祐末，莊宗將即位，講求輔相，盧質以名家子舉之，征拜行台左丞相。 同光初，拜平章事。 及登廊廟，事多錯亂，至於官階擬議，前後倒置，屢為省郎蕭希甫駿正，革改之，無難色。 莊宗初定汴、洛，革引薦韋說，冀諳事體，與己同功。 說既登庸，復事流品，舉止輕脫，怨歸於革。 又革、說之子俱授拾遺，父子同官，為人所刺，遂改授員外郎。 革請說之子濤為宏文館學士，說請革之子升為集賢學士，交易市恩，有同市井，識者醜之。 革自作相之後，不以進賢勸能為務，唯事修煉，求長生之術； 嘗服丹砂，嘔血數日，垂死而愈。
Near the end of the Tianyou reign, as Emperor Zhuangzong prepared to take the throne, he looked for chief ministers. Lu Zhi recommended Ge as a scion of a great house, and he was summoned and appointed Left Chief Minister of the Mobile Imperial Secretariat. At the opening of the Tongguang era he was made Grand Councilor. Once he entered the highest councils, affairs were often in disorder; in drafting ranks and offices he would reverse precedence, and Secretariat officer Xiao Xifu repeatedly corrected him. Ge made the changes without show of resentment. When Zhuangzong first secured Bian and Luoyang, Ge recommended Wei Shuo, hoping that Shuo knew how the court worked and would share the burden of office with him. After Shuo took office he again occupied himself with pedigree and rank, and his manner was careless and flippant; public resentment fell on Ge. Moreover, both Ge's and Shuo's sons were appointed Reminders, father and son holding office together — a thing people ridiculed — so their posts were changed to outside Secretariat members. Ge asked that Shuo's son Tao be made an academician of the Hongwen Institute; Shuo asked that Ge's son Sheng be made an academician of the Jixian Institute. They traded favors like peddlers in a market, and thoughtful observers were disgusted. After Ge himself became chief minister, he did not make recommending the worthy and encouraging ability his concern, but devoted himself solely to alchemical refinement in search of the art of long life; He once ingested cinnabar, vomited blood for days, and was near death before he recovered.
3
天成初，將葬莊宗，以革為山陵使。 及木主歸廟，不出私第，專俟旄鎮，數日無耗，為親友促令入朝。 安重誨對眾辱之曰：「山陵使名銜尚在，不候新命，便履公朝，意謂邊人可欺也。」 側目者聞之，思有所中。 初，蕭希甫有正諫之望，革嘗阻之，遂上疏論革與說苟且自容，致君無狀。 復誣其縱田客殺人，冒元亨上第。 遂貶為辰州刺史，仍令所在馳驛發遣。 後鄭玨、任圜等連上三章，請不行後命，乃下製曰：「豆盧革、韋說等，身為輔相，手握權衡，或端坐稱臣，或半笑奏事，於君無禮，舉世寧容。 革則暫委利權，便私俸祿，文武百辟皆從五月起支，父子二人偏自正初給遣。 說則自居重位，全紊大綱。 敘蔭貪榮，亂兒孫於昭穆； 賣官潤屋，換令錄之身名。 醜行疊彰，群情共怒，雖居牧守，示塞非尤。 革可責授費州司戶參軍，說可夷州司戶參軍，皆員外置同正員，並所在馳驛發遣。」 尋貶陵州長流百姓，委長吏常知所在。 天成二年夏，詔令逐處刺史監賜自盡，其骨肉並放逐便。
Early in Tiancheng, as Zhuangzong was to be interred, Ge was appointed commissioner for the imperial tomb. When the spirit tablet had been installed in the ancestral temple, he stayed in his private house, waiting only for a frontier command. After days without news, relatives and friends pressed him to go to court. An Chonghui humiliated him before the court, saying, "You still bear the title of tomb commissioner. Without waiting for a new appointment you walk into open court — as though you thought a man from the marches could be fooled." Those who already watched him with suspicion heard this and looked for a chance to strike. Earlier Xiao Xifu had hoped for a post as straight remonstrator; Ge had once blocked him. He now submitted a memorial charging Ge and Shuo with making shift for their own comfort and serving the ruler without due propriety. He further accused Ge of letting tenant retainers commit murder and of fraudulently claiming first place in the jinshi examination. Ge was therefore demoted to prefect of Chen and ordered sent off immediately by post relay from wherever he was. Later Zheng Jue, Ren Huan, and others submitted three memorials in succession asking that the later order not stand. An edict was then issued: "Dou Luge, Wei Shuo, and the like, as chief ministers holding the scales of power, would sometimes sit stiffly and call themselves subjects, sometimes report affairs with a half-smile — discourtesy to the ruler that the world could not abide. Ge, meanwhile, had temporarily delegated profitable authority and helped himself to salary and emoluments: every civil and military official was paid from the fifth month onward, but he and his son alone were paid from the first. Shuo, for his part, held a weighty post yet threw the great administrative framework into disorder. Greedy for glory in granting hereditary privilege, he scrambled the proper order of sons and grandsons in the ancestral halls; sold offices to enrich his household and traded the personal names recorded on orders and registers. Their shameful conduct piled up in plain sight and public anger rose together. Though they were sent to regional governorships, this was meant to answer criticism, not as excessive punishment. Ge is demoted to Army Adjutant of Feizhou; Shuo to Army Adjutant of Yizhou — both as supernumerary posts with regular status — and both are to be sent off immediately by post relay from wherever they are." Soon they were reduced to long-term exiles registered as commoners of Lingzhou, with local chiefs ordered always to know where they were. In the summer of the second year of Tiancheng an edict ordered the prefect of each place where they were held to supervise and grant them death by their own hand; their families were banished at once as well.
4
子升，官至檢校正郎，服金紫，尋亦削奪。 〈（《寶晉齋法書讚》載豆盧革《田園帖》云：大德欲要一居處，畿甸間舊無田園，鄜州雖有三兩處莊子，緣百姓租佃多年，累有令公大王書請，卻給還人戶，蓋不欲侵奪疲民，兼慮無知之輩，妄有影庇包役云云。 嶽珂曰：此帖乃與僧往還書，其畏強藩避罪罟，蓋栗栗淵冰，然其後卒以故縱田客貶夜郎，正坐所畏，信乎亂邦之不可居也。 是時據鄜乃高萬興，官檢校太師、中書令，封北平王，即革所謂「令公大王」者。 官故梁授，唐命維新，而顓麵正朝者，不能致褫鞶之誅，而反竊貢秉旄之佞，唐之不競，有自來矣。）〉
His son Sheng had risen to proofreader in the Secretariat and wore gold and purple insignia, but these too were soon stripped from him. (The Baojin Studio Calligraphy Eulogy preserves Dou Luge's "Letter on Fields and Gardens," in which he writes that his correspondent Great Virtue wants a residence; he has no estate near the capital, and though Fuzhou has two or three manor farms, the common people have rented them for years. The Prince and Great King have repeatedly written to claim them, yet Ge returned them to the registered households — not wishing to seize from exhausted commoners and fearing that ignorant men might falsely shelter others to evade corvée, and so forth. Yue Ke comments: This letter was exchanged with a monk. In fearing powerful feudatories and avoiding the net of punishment he was as cautious as if treading on thin ice — yet in the end he was still banished to Yelang for indulging tenant retainers who killed, suffering precisely what he had feared. Truly, a chaotic age is no place to live. At that time Fu was held by Gao Wanxing, who bore the titular ranks of Grand Preceptor and Director of the Secretariat and was enfeoffed as Prince of Beiping — the "Prince and Great King" of whom Ge spoke. His offices had been granted under the Liang; though the Tang mandate was renewed, the court could not inflict the disgrace of stripping his girdle ornaments, while he usurped tribute and clutched a commander's baton — Tang's loss of vigor had been long in the making.)〉
5
韋說，福建觀察使岫之子也。 〈（案：以下有闕文。）〉 莊宗定汴、洛，說與趙光允同製拜平章事。 說性謹重，奉職常不造事端。 時郭崇韜秉政，說等承順而已，政事得失，無所措言。 初，或有言於崇韜，銓選逾濫，選人或取他人出身銜，或取父兄資緒，與令史囊橐罔冒，崇韜乃條奏其事。 其後郊天，行事官數千人，多有告敕偽濫，因定去留，塗毀告身者甚眾，選人號哭都門之外。 議者亦以為積弊累年，一旦澄汰太細，懼失惟新含垢之意。 時說與郭崇韜國列，不能執而止之，頗遭物議。 說之親黨告之，說曰：「此郭漢子之意也。」 及崇韜得罪，說懼流言所鍾，乃令門人左拾遺王鬆、吏部員外郎李慎儀等上疏，云：「崇韜往日專權，不閑故實，塞仕進之門，非獎善之道。」 疏下中書，說等覆奏，深詆崇韜，識者非之。 又有王傪者，能以多岐取事，納賂於說，說以其名犯祖諱，遂改之為「操」，擬官於近甸。 及明宗即位，說常慮身危，每求庇於任圜，常保護之。 說居有井，昔與鄰家共之，因嫌鄙雜，築垣於外。 鄰人訟之，為希甫疏論，以為井有貨財，及案之本人，惟稱有破釜一所，反招虛妄。 初貶敘州刺史，尋責授夷州司戶參軍。
Wei Shuo was the son of Wei Zhou, military commissioner of Fujian. (Editor's note: the text below is defective.)〉 When Zhuangzong secured Bian and Luoyang, Shuo and Zhao Guangyun were appointed Grand Councilors by edict on the same day. Shuo was by nature cautious and grave; in office he usually stirred up no incidents. Guo Chongtao then held real power; Shuo and his colleagues only followed along and had nothing to say about what the government did right or wrong. Someone had told Chongtao that appointments had grown wildly lax — candidates using others' credentials, borrowing fathers' or brothers' qualifications, while clerks took bribes to pass false claims. Chongtao then submitted a detailed memorial on the abuses. Later, at the suburban sacrifice to Heaven, among thousands of ritual officers many held forged or improper commissions. When retention and dismissal were decided, countless appointment documents were defaced, and rejected candidates wailed outside the capital gates. Critics also argued that abuses had accumulated for years, yet to purge them so thoroughly at a stroke risked abandoning the spirit of renewal that forgives past faults. Shuo then shared chief-ministerial rank with Guo Chongtao yet could not stand firm and stop the purge, and he drew considerable criticism. When Shuo's kinsmen and associates told him of the criticism, he said, "This is that Guo fellow's doing." After Chongtao was condemned, Shuo feared gossip would turn on him and had his protégés — Left Reminder Wang Song and outside member of the Ministry of Personnel Li Shenyi — submit memorials saying, "Chongtao once monopolized power, ignored precedent, blocked the path of office, and did not reward merit as he should." The memorials went to the Secretariat; Shuo and his colleagues replied with further denunciations of Chongtao, which thoughtful observers condemned. There was also a Wang Can who won favor by devious means and paid bribes to Shuo. Because his name violated Shuo's ancestral taboo, Shuo changed it to "Cao" and proposed an appointment for him in the districts near the capital. When Emperor Mingzong took the throne, Shuo often feared for his life and repeatedly sought shelter from Ren Huan, who regularly protected him. Shuo's residence had a well once shared with a neighbor; finding the mingling vulgar, he built a wall to shut it off. The neighbor brought suit. In a memorial Xiao Xifu argued that Shuo treated the well as a source of profit; when the case was examined Shuo himself could only point to a single broken cauldron — which made him look all the more false. He was first demoted to prefect of Xu, then stripped further and appointed Army Adjutant of Yizhou.
6
初，說在江陵，與高季興相知，及入中書，亦常通信幣。 自討西蜀，季興請攻峽內，莊宗許之：「如能得三州，俾為屬郡。」 西川既定，季興無尺寸之功。 洎明宗纘承，季興頻請三郡，朝廷不得已而與之。 革、說方在中書，亦預其議。 及季興占據，獨歸其罪，流於合州。 明年夏，詔曰：「陵州、合州長流百姓豆盧革、韋說，頃在先朝，擢居重任，欺公害物，黷貨賣官。 靜惟肇亂之端，更有難容之事，且夔、忠、萬三州，地連巴蜀，路扼荊蠻，藉皇都弭難之初，徇逆帥僭求之勢，罔予視聽，率意割移。 將千之土疆，開通狡穴； 動兩川之兵賦，禦捍經年。 致朕莫遂偃戈，猶煩運策。 近者西方鄴雖復要害，高季興尚固窠巢，增吾旰食之憂，職爾朋奸之計。 而又自居貶所，繼出流言。 苟刑戮之稽時，處忠良於何地？ 宜令逐處刺史監賜自盡。」 〈（《歐陽史》：說子濤，晉天福初，為尚書膳部員外郎，卒。）〉
Earlier, while Shuo was at Jiangling, he knew Gao Jixing well; after he entered the chief minister's office he still exchanged letters and gifts with him. During the campaign against Western Shu, Jixing asked to attack the gorges within the passes. Zhuangzong agreed: "If you can take the three prefectures, they shall be made your dependent commanderies." When Western Shu was pacified, Jixing had achieved nothing at all. When Mingzong succeeded, Jixing repeatedly demanded the three commanderies, and the court, unable to refuse, granted them. Ge and Shuo were then in the Secretariat and took part in the decision as well. When Jixing seized and held the territories, blame fell on them alone and they were exiled to Hezhou. The following summer an edict declared: "The long-exiled commoners Dou Luge of Lingzhou and Wei Shuo of Hezhou were recently elevated to heavy responsibility under the former court, yet they cheated the public, preyed on the realm, took bribes, and sold offices. On reflection, the seeds of disorder lie in deeds still harder to forgive: the three prefectures of Kui, Zhong, and Wan border Ba-Shu and choke the routes into Jing and the south. Exploiting the capital's first efforts to restore peace, they bowed to a rebellious commander's grasping demands, ignored Our authority, and ceded territory at will. They would have opened a thousand li of territory to treacherous strongholds; and mobilized the armies and revenues of the Two Shu for years of defense. This kept Us from laying down Our arms and still forced Us to labor over strategy. Though the western stronghold of Ye was recently recovered, Gao Jixing still clings to his lair, deepening Our anxiety that steals sleep from Our meals — a plot of your villainous faction. And though you sit in places of exile, slander still flows from you. If punishment is delayed, what place is left for the loyal and worthy? Let the prefect of each place where they are held supervise and grant them death by their own hand." (Ouyang Xiu's History of the Five Dynasties: Shuo's son Tao, early in the Jin Tianfu era, served as outside member of the Provisioners Section in the Ministry of Rites and died in office.)〉
7
盧程，唐朝右族。 祖懿，父蘊，曆仕通顯。 程，天復末登進士第，崔魏公領鹽鐵，署為巡官。 昭宗遷洛陽，柳璨陷右族，程避地河朔，客遊燕、趙，或衣道士服，幹謁藩伯，人未知之。 豆盧革客遊中山，依王處直，盧汝弼來太原。 程與革、弼皆朝族知舊，因往來依革，處直禮遇未優，故投於太原； 汝弼因為延譽，莊宗署為推官，尋改支使。 程褊淺無他才，惟矜恃門第，口多是非，篤厚君子尤薄之。
Lu Cheng came from a great Tang clan. His grandfather Yi and his father Yun both held distinguished offices through their careers. Cheng passed the jinshi examination late in the Tianfu era. When Duke Wei of Cui headed the Salt and Iron Commission, he appointed Cheng an inspector. When Emperor Zhaozong moved to Luoyang and Liu Can brought down great families, Cheng took refuge in Heshuo and wandered as a guest in Yan and Zhao, sometimes wearing Daoist robes as he sought audiences with regional lords — and was still unknown. Dou Luge wandered as a guest in Zhongshan under Wang Chuzhi; Lu Rubi came to Taiyuan. Cheng, Ge, and Rubi were all old acquaintances from court families. Cheng therefore attached himself to Ge for a time, but since Chuzhi did not treat him generously he went on to Taiyuan; Rubi recommended him, and Zhuangzong appointed him investigating officer, soon promoting him to staff adjutant. Cheng was narrow-minded and shallow, with no other real talent; he prided himself only on birth and was quick to gossip. Men of solid character especially despised him.
8
初，判官王緘從軍掌文翰，胡柳之役，緘歿於軍。 莊宗歸寧太原，置酒公宴，舉酒謂張承業曰：「予今於此會取一書記，先以卮酒辟之。」 即舉酒屬巡官馮道，道以所舉非次，抗酒辭避。 莊宗曰：「勿謙挹，無逾於卿也。」 時以職列序遷，則程當為書記，汝弼亦左右之。 程既失職，私懷憤惋，謂人曰：「主上不重人物，使田里兒居餘上。」 先是，莊宗嘗於帳中召程草奏，程曰：「叨忝成名，不閑筆硯。」 由是文翰之選，不及於程。 時張承業專製河東留守事，人皆敬憚。 舊例，支使監諸廩出納，程訴於承業曰：「此事非仆所長，請擇能者。」 承業叱之曰：「公稱文士，即合飛文染翰，以濟霸國，嘗命草辭，自陳短拙，及留職務，又以為辭，公所能者何也？」 程垂泣謝之。 後曆觀察判官。
Earlier the adjutant Wang Jian had followed the army as chief secretary; at the battle of Huliu he died in camp. When Zhuangzong returned to Taiyuan for a family visit he held a public feast. Raising his cup to Zhang Chengye he said, "At this gathering I shall choose a secretary — let this cup announce my choice." He then offered the cup to the inspector Feng Dao. Dao, finding the appointment out of proper sequence, refused the cup and declined. Zhuangzong said, "Do not be modest — no one is better suited than you." By seniority in office Cheng should have been secretary, and Rubi had been promoting him as well. Having lost the post, Cheng privately nursed resentment and told others, "Our lord does not value talent — he lets a village lad rank above me." Earlier Zhuangzong had summoned Cheng to his tent to draft a memorial. Cheng said, "I am unworthily famous, but I am no hand with brush and ink." From that point on he was never considered for literary posts. Zhang Chengye then controlled the Hedong regent's affairs single-handedly, and everyone feared him. By custom the staff adjutant supervised granary receipts and disbursements. Cheng appealed to Chengye: "This is not my strength — please choose someone capable." Chengye snapped at him: "You call yourself a scholar — you should wield the brush to aid our hegemonic enterprise. Ordered to draft a text you pleaded incompetence; left with duties you plead again — what are you good for?" Cheng wept as he apologized. He later served in turn as adjutant to several military commissioners.
9
及汴將王彥章陷德勝南城，爭攻楊劉，莊宗禦軍苦戰，臣下憂之，鹹白宰臣，欲連章規諫，請不躬禦士伍。 豆盧革言及漢高臨廣武事，矢及於胸，紿雲中足。 程曰：「此劉季失策。」 眾皆縮頸。 嘗論近世士族，或曰：「員外郎孔明龜，善和宰相之令緒，宣聖之係孫，得非盛歟！」 程曰：「止於孔子之後，盛則吾不知也。」 親黨有假驢夫於程者，程帖府給之，府吏訴雲無例，程怒鞭吏背。 時任圜為興唐少尹，莊宗從姊婿也，憑其寵戚，因詣程。 程方衣鶴氅、華陽巾，憑幾決事，見圜怒詈曰：「是何蟲豸，恃婦力耶！ 宰相取給於府縣，得不識舊體！」 圜不言而退，是夜，馳至博平，麵訴於莊宗。 莊宗怒，謂郭崇韜曰：「朕誤相此癡物，敢辱予九卿。」 促令自盡。 崇韜亦怒，事幾不測，賴盧質橫身解之，遂降為右庶子。 莊宗既定河南，程隨百官從幸洛陽，沿路墜馬，因病風而卒。 贈禮部尚書。
When the Bian general Wang Yanzhang captured the southern city of Desheng and pressed the attack on Yangliu, Zhuangzong led the army in bitter fighting. His ministers were alarmed and all urged the chief ministers to submit joint memorials asking him not to command the ranks in person. Dou Luge cited how Emperor Gaozu of Han, at Guangwu, took an arrow in the chest yet deceived the enemy into thinking he had been wounded in the foot. Cheng said, "That was Liu Bang's mistake." Everyone shrank back in alarm. Once, discussing recent great families, someone said, "The outside member Kong Minggui of Shanhe — descended from a chief minister's line and collateral kin of Confucius — surely that is splendid!" Cheng said, "He only amounts to being a descendant of Confucius — as for being splendid, I could not say." A relative had asked Cheng to lend him a donkey driver; Cheng sent a note to the prefecture ordering one supplied. When a clerk protested that there was no precedent for it, Cheng flew into a rage and had the man flogged. At that time Ren Huan served as Vice Mayor of Xingtang. As the husband of one of Emperor Zhuangzong's older cousins by the paternal line, he counted on his privileged connection and went to call on Cheng. Cheng was dressed in a crane-feather cloak and Huayang cap, lounging at his writing table while conducting business. At the sight of Ren Huan he burst out in fury: "What vermin is this, trading on his wife's influence! A chief minister requisitioning goods from prefectural and county offices — does he not even know the old proprieties!" Ren Huan said nothing and withdrew. That same night he rode hard to Boping, where he kowtowed and laid his grievance before Emperor Zhuangzong. Zhuangzong was furious. He said to Guo Chongtao, "I was wrong to make this idiot my chief minister. How dare he humiliate one of my Nine Ministers!" He ordered Cheng to take his own life at once. Chongtao was angry as well, and the affair nearly spun out of control. Only Lu Zhi's intervention — he literally stepped between them — settled matters. Cheng was demoted to Right Vice Guardian of the Heir Apparent. After Zhuangzong secured Henan, Cheng accompanied the court on the journey to Luoyang. He fell from his horse along the way and died of a stroke. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Minister of Rites.
10
趙鳳，幽州人也。 少為儒。 唐天祐中，燕帥劉守光盡率部內丁夫為軍伍，而黥其面，為儒者患之。 多為僧以避之，鳳亦落發至太原。 頃之，從劉守奇奔梁，梁用守奇為博州刺史，表鳳為判官。 〈（案：下有闕文。）〉 為鄆州節度判官。 唐莊宗聞鳳名，得之甚喜，以為護鑾學士。 後莊宗即位，拜鳳中書舍人。 及入汴，改授禮部員外郎。 莊宗及劉皇后幸張全義第，後奏曰：「妾五六歲失父母，每見老者，思念尊親泣下，以全義年德，妾欲父事之，以慰孤女之心。」 莊宗許之，命鳳作箋上全義，定往來儀注。 鳳上書極諫，不納。 天成初，置端明殿學士，鳳與馮道俱任其職。 時任圜為宰相，為安重誨所傾，以至罷相歸磁州。 及朱守殷以汴州叛，馳驛賜圜自盡。 既而鳳哭謂安重誨曰：「任圜，義士也，肯造逆謀以讎君父乎？ 如此濫刑，何以安國！」 重誨笑而不責。 是冬，權知貢舉。
Zhao Feng was a native of Youzhou. In his youth he trained as a Confucian scholar. During the Tang Tianyou reign, the Yan commander Liu Shouguang drafted every able-bodied man in his domain into the army and branded their faces. Confucian scholars were appalled. Many took tonsure to escape conscription; Feng shaved his head and fled to Taiyuan as well. Before long he followed Liu Shouqi in defecting to Liang. The Liang court appointed Shouqi prefect of Bozhou and recommended Feng as his adjutant. (Editor's note: text is missing below.)〉 He served as adjutant to the military commissioner of Yanzhou. When Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang heard of Feng's reputation and secured his services, he was delighted and made him Guardian of the Imperial Procession Academician. After Zhuangzong took the throne, Feng was appointed Palace Drafting Officer. When the court entered Bian, he was reassigned as Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites. Emperor Zhuangzong and Empress Liu visited Zhang Quanyi's home. The empress said, "I lost my parents when I was five or six. Whenever I see an elderly person, I think of them and weep. Given Zhang Quanyi's age and standing, I wish to honor him as a father — to ease the loneliness of a girl without kin." Zhuangzong agreed and ordered Feng to draft the formal letter to Zhang Quanyi and set the ceremonial protocol for their relationship. Feng submitted a forceful memorial of protest. The emperor would not hear it. Early in the Tiancheng reign the post of Hall of Radiant Clarity Academician was created; Zhao Feng and Feng Dao both held it. At that time Ren Huan served as chief minister, but An Chonghui undermined him until he was removed from office and sent back to Cizhou. When Zhu Shouyin rebelled at Bianzhou, an urgent courier was dispatched ordering Ren Huan to take his own life. Afterward Feng wept and said to An Chonghui, "Ren Huan is a man of honor. Would he truly plot rebellion against his sovereign and father-figure? With punishments this reckless, how can the realm be kept at peace!" Chonghui only smiled and did not reprove him. That winter he served as acting chief examiner.
11
明年春，有僧自西國取經回，得佛牙大如拳，褐漬皴裂，進於明宗。 鳳揚言曰：「曾聞佛牙錘鍛不壞，請試之。」 隨斧而碎。 時宮中所施已逾數千緡，聞毀乃止。 及車駕還洛，留知汴州事，尋授中書侍郎、平章事。 〈（李之儀《姑溪居士集》：鳳為《莊宗實錄》，將何挺論劉煦疏不載，句既相，遂引鳳共政事。）〉 長興中，安重誨出鎮河中，人無敢言者，惟鳳極言於上前曰：「重誨是陛下家臣，其心終不背主，五年秉權，賢豪俯伏，但不周防，自貽浸潤。」 明宗以為朋黨，不悅其奏。 重誨獲罪，乃出邢州節度使。 及閔帝蒙塵於衛州，鳳集賓佐軍校，垂涕曰：「主上播遷，渡河而北，吾輩安坐不赴奔問，於禮可乎？」 軍校曰：「唯公所使。」 將行，聞閔帝遇弑而止。 清泰初，召還，授太保。 既而病足，不能朝謁。 疾篤，自為蓍筮，卦成，投蓍而歎曰：「吾家世無五十者，而復窮賤； 吾年已五十，又為將相，豈有遐壽哉！」 清泰二年三月卒。
The following spring a monk returning from the Western Regions with scriptures brought back a Buddha's tooth the size of a fist — brown, stained, and fissured — and presented it to Emperor Mingzong. Feng said openly, "I have heard that a Buddha's tooth cannot be broken by hammer or forge. Let us put it to the test." It splintered the moment the axe fell. By then the palace had already spent several thousand strings of cash on offerings for the relic. When they learned it had been destroyed, the expenditures ceased. When the emperor returned to Luoyang, Feng was left to administer Bianzhou. Soon afterward he was appointed Vice Director of the Secretariat and Chief Minister. (According to Li Zhi's Collected Works of Master Guniangxi: while Feng was compiling the Veritable Records of Zhuangzong, He Ting's memorial on Liu Xu was omitted; once both men had become chief ministers, Feng was brought in to share in governance.)〉 During the Changxing reign An Chonghui was sent out to command Hezhong, and no one dared speak for him — except Feng, who argued forcefully before the throne: "Chonghui is Your Majesty's own household servant. At heart he would never betray you. For five years he wielded power and even the great submitted to him, but because he failed to guard against slander, he brought ruin on himself." Mingzong took this for factional advocacy and was displeased with the memorial. When An Chonghui was condemned, he was sent out as military commissioner of Xingzhou. When Emperor Min fell into exile at Weizhou, Feng gathered his staff and officers and said through tears, "Our sovereign has been driven from the capital and fled north across the river. Can we sit here in comfort and fail to go to him? Where is the propriety in that?" The officers replied, "We are yours to command." They were about to depart when word came that Emperor Min had been assassinated, and they abandoned the plan. Early in the Qingtai reign he was recalled to court and appointed Grand Preceptor. Before long his feet failed him and he could no longer attend court. When his illness turned grave he divined for himself with yarrow stalks. When the hexagram was cast he threw down the stalks and sighed, "No one in my family has ever lived past fifty, and all have died poor and obscure; I am already fifty, and I have risen to general and minister — how can I expect a long life!" He died in the third month of the second year of Qingtai.
12
鳳性豁達，輕財重義，凡士友以窮厄告者，必傾其資而餉之，人士以此多之也。
Feng was open-handed by nature and valued honor over money. Whenever a scholar friend came to him in hardship, he gave freely of whatever he had. Men admired him greatly for it.
13
李愚，字子晦。 自稱趙郡平棘西祖之後，家世為儒。 父瞻業，應進士不第，遇亂，徙家渤海之無棣，以詩書訓子孫。 愚童齔時，謹重有異常兒，年長方誌學，遍閱經史。 慕晏嬰之為人，初名晏平。 為文尚氣格，有韓、柳體。 厲誌端莊，風神峻整，非禮不言，行不苟且。 愚初以艱貧，求為假官，滄州盧彥威署安陵簿。 丁憂，服闋，隨計之長安。 屬關輔亂離，頻年罷舉，客於蒲、華之間。 光化中，軍容劉季述、王奉先廢昭宗，立裕王，五月餘，諸侯無奔問者。 愚時在華陰，致書於華帥韓建，其略曰：「仆關東一布衣耳，幸讀書為文，每見君臣父子之際，有傷教害義之事，常痛心切齒，恨不得抽腸蹀血，肆之市朝。 明公居近關重鎮，君父幽辱月餘，坐視凶逆，而忘勤王之舉，仆所未喻也。 仆竊計中朝輔弼，雖有誌而無權； 外鎮諸侯，雖有權而無誌。 惟明公忠義，社稷是依。 往年車輅播遷，號泣奉迎，累歲供饋，再復朝廟，義感人心，至今歌詠。 此時事勢，尤異於前，明公地處要衝，位兼將相，自宮闈變故，已涉旬時，若不號令率先，以圖反正，遲疑未決，一朝山東侯伯唱義連衡，鼓行而西，明公求欲自安，如何決策！ 此必然之勢也。 不如馳檄四方，諭以逆順，軍聲一振，則元凶破膽，浹旬之間，二豎之首傳於天下，計無便於此者。」 建深禮遇之，堅辭還山。 天復初，駕在鳳翔，汴軍攻蒲、華，愚避難東歸洛陽。 時衛公李德裕孫延古在平泉舊墅，愚往依焉。 子弟親采梠負薪，以給朝夕，未嘗幹人。 故少師薛廷珪掌貢籍之歲，登進士第； 又登宏詞料，授河南府參軍，遂下居洛表白沙之別墅。
Li Yu, courtesy name Zihui. He claimed descent from the western branch of the Pingji line in Zhao commandery. His family had been Confucian scholars for generations. His father Zhan Ye failed the Presented Scholar examination. When turmoil came he moved the family to Wudi in Bohai and raised his descendants on poetry and the classics. Even as a child Yu was unusually solemn and self-possessed. When he reached the age of serious study he read widely in the classics and histories. He admired Yan Ying and originally bore the name Yan Ping. His prose prized vigor and structure and showed the influence of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan. He disciplined his will and carried himself with dignity. His bearing was austere and composed. He would not speak outside propriety, nor act with casual indifference. At first, pressed by poverty, Yu sought a provisional appointment. Lu Yanwei of Cangzhou made him secretary of Anling. After completing mourning for his father, he traveled to Chang'an for the examinations. But Guanzhong was in chaos, and the examinations were suspended year after year. He lived as a guest between Pu and Hua. During the Guanghua reign, Army Supervisors Liu Jishu and Wang Fengxian deposed Emperor Zhaozong and enthroned Prince Yu. For more than five months not a single regional lord came to the emperor's aid. Yu was then at Huayin and wrote to Han Jian, military commissioner of Hua. The letter read in part, "I am only a commoner from east of the Pass, fortunate enough to have learned to read and write. Whenever I see the bonds between ruler and minister, father and son, violated in ways that corrupt teaching and destroy righteousness, I am sick with rage. I would tear out my own entrails and trample them in blood before the court if that could set things right. You hold a strategic post at the gateway to the capital. Our sovereign has languished in captivity for more than a month, yet you sit by and watch these criminals without raising the banner of loyal rescue. I cannot understand it. It seems to me that the ministers at court may have the will but not the power; while the regional lords may have the power but not the will. Only you, my lord, combine loyalty and righteousness — the realm depends on men like you. When the imperial carriage was driven into exile in years past, you wept as you welcomed it home, supplied the court for years, and restored the ancestral temples. Your loyalty moved the hearts of men and is still praised in song. The present crisis is graver still. You stand at a strategic crossroads with the rank of both general and minister. More than ten days have passed since the palace coup. If you do not take the lead — issue the call, march first, and restore the rightful order — and if you hesitate, then one day the lords east of the mountains will raise the banner of righteousness in alliance and march west with drums beating. How then will you keep yourself safe? What choice will remain to you? That is the inevitable course of events. Better to send proclamations in every direction, teaching men the difference between treason and loyalty. Once your army's name resounds, the chief villain will lose heart. Within ten days the heads of those two usurpers could be displayed throughout the realm. No plan would serve better." Han Jian received the letter with great respect, but Yu firmly declined further involvement and returned to his retreat in the hills. Early in the Tianfu reign the emperor was at Fengxiang while the Bian army attacked Pu and Hua. Yu fled east to Luoyang. Li Deyu's grandson Yangu was living at the old Pingquan estate. Yu went to stay with him. He and the younger members of the household gathered acorns and carried firewood to get by from day to day. He never importuned anyone for help. In the year when Xue Tinggui, the former Junior Mentor, oversaw the examination registry, Yu passed the Presented Scholar examination; he also passed the Hongci examination, was appointed aide to the Henan prefecture, and settled at a villa in Baisha below Luoyang.
14
梁有禪代之謀，柳璨希旨殺害朝士，愚以衣冠自相殘害，乃避地河朔，與宗人李延光客於山東。 梁末帝嗣位，雅好儒士，延光素相款奉，得侍講禁中，屢言愚之行高學贍，有史魚、蘧瑗之風。 召見，嗟賞久之，擢為左拾遺。 俄充崇政院直學士，或預谘謀，而儼然正色，不畏強禦。 衡王入朝，重臣李振輩皆致拜，惟愚長揖。 末帝讓之曰：「衡王，朕之兄。 朕猶致拜，崇政使李振等皆拜，爾何傲耶！」 對曰：「陛下以家人禮兄，振等私臣也。 臣居朝列，與王無素，安敢諂事。」 其剛毅如此。 晉州節度使華溫琪在任違法，籍民家財，其家訟於朝，製使劾之，伏罪。 梁末帝以先朝草昧之臣，不忍加法，愚堅按其罪。 梁末帝詔曰：「朕若不與鞫窮，謂予不念赤子； 若或遂行典憲，謂予不念功臣。 為爾君者，不亦難乎！ 其華溫琪所受贓，宜官給代還所訟之家。」 貞明中，通事舍人李霄傭夫毆僦舍人致死，法司案律，罪在李霄。 愚白：「李霄手不鬥毆。 庸夫致死，安得坐其主耶！」 以是忤旨。 愚自拾遺再遷膳部員外郎，賜緋，改司勳員外郎，賜紫，至是罷職，曆許、鄧觀察判官。
When Liang plotted to seize the throne, Liu Can slaughtered court officials to curry favor. Seeing the scholar-official class turn on itself, Yu fled to Hebei and lived as a guest in Shandong with his clansman Li Yanguang. When the Last Emperor of Liang succeeded, he greatly favored Confucian scholars. Yanguang, who had long been close to him, gained appointment to lecture within the palace and repeatedly praised Yu's moral stature and erudition, comparing him to Shi Yu and Qu Yuan. Yu was summoned to audience. The emperor admired him at length and promoted him to Left Remonstrance Censor. Soon he was made Direct Academician of the Chongzheng Hall. Even when consulted on policy he maintained a grave bearing and did not flinch before the powerful. When the Prince of Heng came to court, senior ministers including Li Zhen all prostrated themselves. Yu alone gave a formal bow with hands folded. The Last Emperor rebuked him: "The Prince of Heng is my elder brother. Even I bow to him. Li Zhen and the other commissioners all bow. Why are you so insolent!" Yu replied, "Your Majesty treats your brother with family courtesy. Li Zhen and the others are your personal servants. I stand in the court ranks and have no prior acquaintance with the prince. How dare I abase myself in flattery?" Such was his uncompromising integrity. Hua Wenqi, military commissioner of Jinzhou, broke the law in office by confiscating a commoner's property. The family appealed to court, an imperial commissioner investigated, and Hua confessed his guilt. The Last Emperor, unwilling to punish a veteran of the founding days, hesitated to apply the law. Yu insisted that the crime be prosecuted. The Last Emperor issued an edict: "If I do not investigate this thoroughly, men will say I have no care for the common people; yet if I carry out the full penalty, men will say I have no gratitude for my meritorious servants. To be your sovereign — is that not a hard thing! The property Hua Wenqi seized shall be restored to the aggrieved family from official funds." During the Zhenming reign, a laborer hired by Palace Herald Li Xiao beat a lodger to death. The legal office applied the statutes and held Li Xiao responsible. Yu argued, "Li Xiao did not strike the blow himself. A hired man killed someone — how can his employer be held guilty!" For this he offended the emperor. Yu had risen from Remonstrance Censor to Vice Director of the Board of Provisioners with scarlet robes, then to Vice Director of the Board of Merits with purple robes. Now he was removed from office and served successively as adjutant to the observation commissioners of Xu and Deng.
15
初在內職，慈州舉子張礪依焉。 貞明中，礪自河陽北歸莊宗，補授太原府掾，出入崇闥之間，揄揚愚之節概，及言愚之所為文《仲尼遇》、《顏回壽》、《夷齊非餓人》等篇，北人望風稱之。 洎莊宗都洛陽，鄧帥俾奏章入朝，諸貴見之，禮接如舊。 尋為主客郎中，數月，召為翰林學士。 三年，魏王繼岌征蜀，請為都統判官，仍帶本職從軍。 時物議以蜀險阻，未可長驅，郭崇韜問計於愚，愚曰：「如聞蜀人厭其主荒恣，倉卒必不為用。 宜乘其人二三，風馳電擊，彼必破膽，安能守險。」 及前軍至固鎮，收軍食十五萬斛，崇韜喜，謂愚曰：「公能料事，吾軍濟矣！」 招討判官陳乂至寶雞，稱疾乞留在後。 愚厲聲曰：「陳乂見利則進，懼難則止。 今大軍涉險，人心易惑，正可斬之以徇。」 由是軍人無遲留者。 是時，軍書羽檄，皆出其手。 蜀平，就拜中書舍人。 師還，明宗即位。 時西征副招討使任圜為宰相，雅相欽重，屢言於安重誨，請引為同列； 屬孔循用事，援引崔協以塞其請。 俄以本職權知貢舉，改兵部侍郎，充翰林承旨。 長興初，除太常卿，屬趙鳳出鎮邢台，乃拜中書侍郎、平章事，轉集賢殿大學士。
While Yu still held an inner-court post, the Cizhou examination candidate Zhang Li came to study under him. During the Zhenming reign Zhang Li returned north from Heyang to Zhuangzong's court and was appointed a staff officer in Taiyuan. Moving in court circles, he praised Yu's moral character and spoke of Yu's essays — "Confucius Encounters," "Yan Hui's Longevity," "Boyi and Shuqi Were Not Men Who Starved" — and others. Northerners heard of them and admired Yu from afar. When Zhuangzong made Luoyang his capital, the military commissioner of Deng had Yu submit a memorial at court. The great officials received him with the same respect as before. Soon he was appointed Director of the Bureau of Receptions. After a few months he was summoned to serve as Hanlin Academician. In the third year of Tongguang, the Prince of Wei, Jiji, marched against Shu. Yu asked to serve as army superintendent and adjutant, retaining his existing post while accompanying the expedition. Public opinion held that Shu was too rugged and perilous for a headlong advance. Guo Chongtao asked Yu's counsel. Yu said, "From what I hear, the people of Shu are sick of their ruler's reckless indulgence. In a crisis they will not stand by him. We should strike while they are divided, moving like wind and lightning. They will lose heart and cannot hold the mountain passes. When the vanguard reached Guyin and collected 150,000 hu of army grain, Chongtao was delighted. He told Yu, "You read events aright — our army is saved!" The pacification adjutant Chen Yi reached Baoji, pleaded illness, and asked to stay behind with the rear guard. Yu said sharply, "Chen Yi advances when he sees gain and halts when he fears danger. The main army is crossing dangerous ground and morale is easily shaken. He should be executed as an example to the troops. After that no soldier dared hang back. At that time every military dispatch and urgent report came from his hand. When Shu was pacified, he was immediately appointed Secretariat Drafter. The army returned home, and Mingzong took the throne. Ren Huan, deputy pacification commissioner of the western campaign and now chief minister, admired Yu and repeatedly urged An Chonghui to bring him into the council of chief ministers; but Kong Xun was then in power and brought in Cui Xie to shut the door on the request. Soon he was given provisional charge of the civil examinations in his existing post, promoted to Vice Minister of War, and made Hanlin Academician Expositor. Early in the Changxing reign he was made Minister of Rituals. When Zhao Feng departed to command Xingtai, Yu was appointed Vice Director of the Secretariat and Co-administrator of Affairs, then transferred to Grand Academician of the Hall for Collecting Worthies.
16
長興季年，秦王恣橫，權要之臣，避禍不暇，邦之存亡，無敢言者。 愚性剛介，往往形言，然人無唱和者。 後轉門下侍郎，監修國史，兼吏部尚書，與諸儒修成《創業功臣傳》三十卷。 愚初不治第，既命為相，官借延賓館居之。 嘗有疾，詔近臣宣諭，延之中堂，設席惟筦秸，使人言之，明宗特賜帷帳茵褥。 〈（《職官分紀》云：長興四年，愚病，明宗遣中使宣問。 愚所居寢室，蕭然四壁，病榻弊氈而已。 中使具言其事，帝曰：「宰相月俸幾何？ 而委頓如此。」 詔賜絹百匹、錢百千、帷帳什物一十三事。）〉
In the closing years of Changxing the Prince of Qin ran wild. Powerful ministers were too busy saving themselves to speak of the state's survival or ruin. Yu was stern and uncompromising by nature and often spoke out plainly, yet no one took up his cause. Later he was made Vice Director of the Chancellery, put in charge of compiling the national history, and concurrently served as Minister of Personnel. With other scholars he completed the Record of Founding Meritorious Servants in thirty juan. Yu had never built a private mansion. Once he was made chief minister, the government lent him the Yansin Guesthouse as his residence. Once when he fell ill, the emperor sent a nearby minister to convey his sympathy. Yu received him in the central hall with only coarse straw matting for a seat. When the messenger reported this, Mingzong specially sent curtains, bedding, and cushions. (Records of Offices and Functions states: In the fourth year of Changxing Yu fell ill, and Mingzong sent a palace envoy to inquire after him. Yu's bedchamber was bare on all four walls — nothing but a sickbed with a threadbare rug. The envoy reported the whole affair. The emperor said, "How much is a chief minister's monthly salary? Yet he is worn down to this state. An edict bestowed one hundred bolts of silk, one hundred thousand cash, curtains, bedding, and thirteen sets of household goods.)〉
17
閔帝嗣位，誌修德政，易月之制才除，便延訪學士讀《貞觀政要》、《太宗實錄》，有意於致理。 愚私謂同列曰：「吾君延訪，少及吾輩，位高責重，事亦堪憂，奈宗社何！」 皆惕息而不敢言。 以恩例進位左僕射。 清泰初，徽陵禮畢，馮道出鎮同州，愚加特進、太微宮使、宏文館大學士。 宰相劉句與馮道為婚家，道既出鎮，兩人在中書，或舊事不便要厘革者，對論不定。 愚性太峻，因曰：「此事賢家翁所為，更之不亦便乎！」 句憾其言切，於是每言必相折難，或至喧呼。 無幾，兩人俱罷相守本官。 清泰二年秋，愚已嬰疾，率多請告，累表乞骸，不允，卒於位。
When Emperor Min succeeded to the throne, he set his heart on virtuous government. Hardly had the mourning period ended when he summoned academicians to read the Essentials of Governance from the Zhenguan Era and the Veritable Record of Emperor Taizong — he meant to bring the realm to good order. Yu privately told his colleagues, "Our lord seeks counsel yet seldom reaches us. Our rank is high and our burden heavy — the situation is troubling. What will become of the altars of state! All held their breath and dared not answer. By imperial grace he was promoted to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. Early in the Qingtai reign, when rites at Huai Mausoleum were complete, Feng Dao departed to command Tongzhou. Yu was granted the special advancement title, made commissioner of the Taibei Palace, and Grand Academician of the Hongwen Hall. Chief minister Liu Xu was connected by marriage with Feng Dao. After Dao left for his command, the two men remained in the Secretariat. On certain old arrangements that were awkward to overhaul, they debated back and forth without reaching agreement. Yu was blunt by nature and said, "Your worthy father-in-law set this up — would it not be simpler to change it! Xu resented the sharpness of his words. From then on every exchange ended in mutual refutation, sometimes rising to shouting. Before long both were removed as chief ministers and retained only their original posts. In the autumn of the second year of Qingtai Yu was already gravely ill. He mostly stayed away on sick leave and repeatedly memorialized begging to retire, but was not permitted. He died in office.
18
任圜，京兆三原人。 祖清，成都少尹。 父茂宏，避地太原，奏授西河令； 有子五人，曰圖、回、圜、團、冏，風彩俱異。 武皇愛之，以宗女妻團，歷代、憲二郡刺史。
Ren Huan was a native of Sanyuan in Jingzhao. His grandfather Qing served as vice governor of Chengdu. His father Maohong fled the turmoil to Taiyuan, where he was appointed by memorial as magistrate of Xihe. He had five sons — Tu, Hui, Huan, Tuan, and Jiong — each with a striking bearing. Emperor Wu favored the family and married an imperial clanswoman to Tuan, who served successively as prefect of Dai and Xian.
19
李嗣昭典兵於晉陽，與圜遊處甚洽，及鎮澤潞，請為觀察支使，解褐，賜朱紱。 圜美姿容，有口辯。 嗣昭為人間諜於莊宗，方有微隙，圜奉使往來，常申理之，克成友於之道，圜之力也。 及丁母憂，莊宗承製起復潞州觀察判官，賜紫。 常山之役，嗣昭為帥，卒於軍，圜代總其事，號令如一，敵人不知。 莊宗聞之，倍加獎賞。 是秋，復以上黨之師攻常山，城中萬人突出，大將孫文進死之，賊逼我軍，圜麾騎士擊之，頗有殺獲。 嘗以禍福諭其城中，鎮人信之，使乞降。 及城潰，誅元惡之外，官吏鹹保其家屬，亦圜所庇護焉。 莊宗改鎮州為北京，以圜為工部尚書兼真定尹、北京副留守，行留守事。 明年，郭崇韜兼鎮，改行軍司馬，充北面水陸轉運使，仍知府事。 同光三年，歸朝，守工部尚書。
Li Siyao commanded troops at Jinyang and was on very close terms with Huan. When Siyao took command of Ze and Lu, he requested Huan as observation staff officer. Huan entered official service and was granted vermilion insignia. Huan was handsome and skilled in debate. Siyao sent intermediaries between himself and Zhuangzong. When a slight rift opened between them, Huan shuttled back and forth as envoy and constantly argued for reconciliation, restoring their bond of friendship — this was Huan's achievement. When he entered mourning for his mother, Zhuangzong recalled him to service by imperial rescript as adjutant to the Lu observation commissioner and granted him purple robes. In the Changshan campaign Siyao served as commander and died in the field. Huan took over command of all affairs. Orders continued as before, and the enemy never knew. When Zhuangzong heard of it, he doubled his rewards. That autumn he again led the Shangdang army against Changshan. Ten thousand men burst from the city; the great general Sun Wenjin fell in the fighting. As the rebels pressed our army, Huan directed cavalry against them and killed or captured a good number. He once preached fortune and calamity to those in the city. The garrison believed him and sent envoys to sue for surrender. When the city fell, apart from executing the ringleaders, all officials and their families were spared — also through Huan's protection. Zhuangzong redesignated Zhenzhou as the Northern Capital and made Huan Minister of Works, concurrently true prefect of Zhending and deputy northern regent, administering regent affairs. The next year, when Guo Chongtao took concurrent command of the region, Huan was made army superintendent and northern water-and-land transport commissioner, while still governing prefectural affairs. In the third year of Tongguang he returned to court and retained the post of Minister of Works.
20
崇韜伐蜀，奏令從征，西蜀平，署圜黔南節度使，懇辭遂止。 魏王班師，行及利州，康延孝叛，以勁兵八千回劫西川。 繼岌聞之，夜半命中使李廷安召圜，圜方寢，廷安登其床以告之，圜衣不及帶，遽見繼岌。 繼岌泣而言曰：「紹琛負恩，非尚書不能制。」 即署圜為招討副使，與都指揮使梁漢顒等率兵攻延孝於漢州，擒之。 旋至渭南，繼岌遇害。 圜代總全師，朝於洛陽。 明宗嘉其功，拜平章事，判三司。 圜揀拔賢俊，杜絕幸門，百官俸入為孔謙減折。 圜以廷臣為國家羽儀，故優假班行，禁其虛估，期月之內，府庫充贍，朝廷修葺，軍民鹹足。 雖憂國如家，而切於功名，故為安重誨所忌。 嘗與重誨會於私第，有妓善歌，重誨求之不得，嫌隙自茲而深矣。 先是，使人食券，皆出於戶部，重誨止之，俾須內出，爭於御前，往復數四，竟為所沮， 〈（《通鑒》：安重誨與圜爭於上前，往復數四，聲色俱厲。 上退朝，宮人問上：「適與重誨論事為誰？」 上曰：「宰相。」 宮人曰：「妾在長安宮中，未嘗見宰相、樞密奏事敢如是者，蓋輕大家耳！」 上愈不悅。）〉 因求罷三司。
When Chongtao campaigned against Shu he memorialized that Huan should accompany the expedition. After western Shu was pacified he appointed Huan military commissioner of Qiannan, but Huan earnestly declined and the appointment was dropped. As the Prince of Wei's army withdrew, having reached Lizhou, Kang Yanxiao rebelled and turned back with eight thousand crack troops to raid western Chuan. When Jiji heard of it, he sent the palace envoy Li Ting'an to summon Huan at midnight. Huan was asleep; Ting'an climbed onto his bed to tell him. Huan dressed without waiting for his belt and rushed to see Jiji. Jiji wept and said, "Shaochen has betrayed us. Only you, Vice Director, can bring him to heel. He immediately appointed Huan deputy pacification commissioner. With commander-in-chief Liang Hanyong and others he led troops against Yanxiao at Hanzhou and captured him. Soon afterward they reached Weinan, where Jiji was murdered. Huan took command of the entire army and presented himself at court in Luoyang. Mingzong commended his achievement and appointed him Co-administrator of Affairs with charge of the Three Departments. Huan selected the worthy and talented and shut the door on favor-seekers. Officials' salaries had been cut and discounted under Kong Qian. Huan held that court ministers were the ceremonial face of the state, so he treated the official ranks generously and forbade inflated valuation. Within a month the treasury was full, the court was refurbished, and both army and people were provided for. Though he cared for the state as for his own household, he was eager for fame and achievement, and therefore earned An Chonghui's resentment. Once he met Chonghui at a private residence where a courtesan skilled in song was present. Chonghui asked for her but could not have her. From that their rift grew deep. Previously envoy ration certificates had all issued from the Ministry of Revenue. Chonghui stopped this and required them to come from the inner palace instead. They disputed before the emperor back and forth several times, and in the end Huan was thwarted, (Zizhi Tongjian: An Chonghui and Huan disputed before the emperor back and forth several times, both voice and expression fiercely stern. After the emperor left court, a palace woman asked him, "With whom were you just now arguing with Chonghui? The emperor said, "The chief minister." The palace woman said, "When I was in the Chang'an palace, I never saw a chief minister or privy council commissioner dare to present business like that. They must look down on Your Majesty!" The emperor grew even more displeased.)〉 Huan thereupon asked to be relieved of the Three Departments.
21
天成二年，除太子少保致仕，出居磁州。 及朱守殷叛，重誨乘間誣其結構，立遣人稱製就害之，乃下詔曰：「太子少保致仕任圜，早推勳舊，曾委重難，既退免於劇權，俾優閑於外地，而乃不遵禮分，潛附守殷，緘題罔避於嫌疑，情旨頗彰於怨望。 自收汴壘，備見蹤由，若務含宏，是孤典憲，尚全大體，止罪一身。 宜令本州於私第賜自盡。」 圜受命之日，聚族酣飲，神情不撓。 清泰中，製贈太傅。
In the second year of Tiancheng he was made Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent and retired to live at Cizhou. When Zhu Shouyin rebelled, Chonghui seized the chance to falsely accuse Huan of collusion. He immediately sent a man bearing an imperial rescript to put him to death and issued an edict: "Retired Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent Ren Huan, long honored as an old meritorious servant and once entrusted with grave duties, was granted ease in a distant post after retiring from pressing power. Yet he failed to observe ritual propriety and secretly joined Zhu Shouyin. His sealed letters did not avoid suspicion, and their tone plainly showed resentment. Since the capture of the Bian ramparts his movements have been fully traced. To show magnanimous tolerance would betray the canonical law. Yet wishing to preserve the larger principle, We punish only his person. Let him be granted death by his own hand at his private residence in his prefecture. On the day Huan received the order, he gathered his clan for a hearty drink. His composure did not falter. In the Qingtai era an imperial rescript posthumously made him Grand Mentor.
22
子徹，仕皇朝，位至度支郎中，卒。
His son Che served the imperial court, rising to Director of the Bureau of Revenue, and died in office.
23
史臣曰：革、說承舊族之胄，佐新造之邦，業雖謝於財成，罪未聞於昭著，而乃為權臣之所忌，顧後命以無逃，靜而言之，亦可憫也。 盧程器狹如是，形渥攸宜。 趙鳳、李愚，咸以文學之名，俱踐岩廊之位，校其貞節，愚復優焉。 任圜有縱橫濟物之才，無明哲保身之道，退猶不免，籲可悲哉！
The court historian writes: Dou Luge and Wei Shuo inherited the standing of old clans and served a newly founded state. Their work fell short of completion and no conspicuous guilt was laid against them, yet powerful ministers resented them and they perished by later command with no escape. Considered quietly, their fate is pitiable. Lu Cheng's talents were so narrow — his rank and salary suited him well enough. Zhao Feng and Li Yu both rose on the reputation of literary learning to seats in the highest council. Comparing their integrity, Yu again had the advantage. Ren Huan had the talent to move across the realm and aid the world, yet lacked the wisdom to preserve himself. Even in retirement he could not escape — ah, how lamentable!