1
三年,討蜀,以延孝為西南行營馬步軍先鋒、排陣斬斫等使。 延孝性驍健,徇利奮不顧身。 以前鋒下鳳州,收固鎮,降興州,敗王衍軍於三泉,所俘蜀軍皆諭而釋之,自是晝夜兼行。 王衍自利州奔歸成都,斷吉柏津浮梁,以絕諸軍。 延孝復造浮梁以渡,進收綿州,王衍復斷綿江浮梁而去。 水深無舟楫可渡,延孝謂招撫使李嚴曰:「吾懸軍深入,利在急兵。 乘王衍破膽之時,人心離沮,但得百騎過鹿頭關,彼即迎降不暇。 如俟修繕津梁,便留數日,若王衍堅閉近關,折吾兵勢,儻延旬浹,則勝負莫可知也,宜促騎渡江。」 因與李嚴乘馬浮江,於是得濟者僅千人,步軍溺死者亦千餘人。 延孝既濟,長驅通鹿頭,進據漢州。 居三日,部下後軍方至。 偽蜀六軍使王宗弼令人持牛酒幣馬歸款。 旬日,兩川平定,延孝止漢州以俟繼岌。 平蜀之功,延孝居最。
In the third year of the campaign against Shu, Yanxiao was appointed vanguard of the Southwest Campaign Army's horse and foot forces and commissioner for battle formation and close combat. Yanxiao was fierce and hardy by nature, and greedy for profit; in battle he threw himself forward without thought for his own life. Leading the vanguard, he took Feng Prefecture, seized Gu Town, accepted the surrender of Xing Prefecture, and routed Wang Yan's army at Sanquan. Every Shu soldier taken captive was reasoned with and then set free. From that point he pressed on day and night without pause. Wang Yan fled from Lizhou to Chengdu, destroyed the pontoon bridge at Jibai Ford, and thereby severed the route of the invading armies. Yanxiao built another pontoon bridge and crossed, then advanced to take Mian Prefecture. Wang Yan once more destroyed the pontoon bridge on the Mian River and withdrew. The river was too deep and there were no boats to ferry them across. Yanxiao said to the pacification commissioner Li Yan, "We have driven a detached force deep into enemy country. Our advantage lies in striking fast. While Wang Yan is still shaken and his men are losing heart, even a hundred horsemen who get through Deer Head Pass will find the enemy too busy surrendering to resist us. If we wait to repair the bridge and lose several days, and Wang Yan seals the passes nearby and blunts our momentum, then in ten days' time no one can say who will win. We must get the cavalry across the river immediately." He and Li Yan then rode their horses across the swollen river. Only about a thousand men made it over; more than a thousand foot soldiers drowned. Once across, Yanxiao drove hard through Deer Head Pass and seized Han Prefecture. Three days passed before the rest of his army caught up. Wang Zongbi, commander of the Six Armies of the Shu regime, sent envoys with cattle, wine, silks, and horses to offer surrender. Within ten days both the eastern and western circuits of Shu were pacified. Yanxiao held Han Prefecture to await Prince Siji. Of all who had helped conquer Shu, Yanxiao's achievement stood foremost.
2
時邠州節度使董璋為行營右廂馬步使,華州節度使毛璋為行營左廂馬步使,以軍禮當事延孝。 郭崇韜以私愛董璋,及西川平定之後,崇韜每有兵機,必召璋參決,延孝不平。 時延孝軍於城西,毛璋軍於城東,董璋軍於城中。 閏十二月,延孝因酒酣謂董璋曰:「吾有平蜀之功,公等仆蔌相從,反首鼠於侍中之門,謀相傾陷,吾為都將,公乃裨校,力能斬首。」 璋惶恐,謝之而退。 酒罷,璋訴於郭崇韜,崇韜陰銜之,乃署董璋為東川節度使,落軍職。 延孝怒,謂毛璋曰:「吾冒白刃,犯險阻,平定兩川,董璋何功,遽有其地!」 二人因謁見崇韜,曰:「東川重地,宜擇良帥,工部任尚書有文武才幹,甚洽眾心,請表為東川帥。」 崇韜怒曰:「紹琛反耶? 敢違吾節度!」 延孝等惶恐而退。 未幾,崇韜為繼岌所害,二人因責董璋曰:「公復首鼠何門?」 璋俯首祈哀而已。
At the time Dong Zhang, military governor of Bin, served as right-wing horse-and-foot commander of the campaign army, and Mao Zhang, military governor of Hua, as left-wing commander. By military protocol both should have deferred to Yanxiao. Guo Chongtao favored Dong Zhang personally. After western Sichuan was pacified, Chongtao consulted Zhang on every military matter, which rankled Yanxiao. Yanxiao's troops camped west of the city, Mao Zhang's east of it, and Dong Zhang's inside the walls. In the intercalary twelfth month, Yanxiao, deep in his cups, said to Dong Zhang, "I won Shu. You tagged along behind me like lackeys, yet you play both sides at the Chief Councilor's door and plot my ruin. I am the chief commander and you a mere subordinate — I could take your head whenever I chose." Zhang was terrified, apologized, and withdrew. After the banquet Zhang complained to Guo Chongtao. Chongtao already bore a private grudge against Yanxiao and now appointed Dong Zhang military governor of Dongchuan, stripping him of his field command. Yanxiao flew into a rage and told Mao Zhang, "I faced naked steel and treacherous passes to conquer both circuits of Shu. What has Dong Zhang done to deserve that territory!" The two went to Chongtao and said, "Dongchuan is too important to leave in the wrong hands. Minister of Works Ren has civil and military ability and the full trust of the men. We ask that you recommend him as governor of Dongchuan." Chongtao snapped, "Has Shaochen turned rebel? How dare he defy my orders!" Yanxiao and his companions withdrew in alarm. Before long Chongtao was killed on Siji's orders. The two men then turned on Dong Zhang. "Which door will you straddle now?" they demanded." Zhang could only bow his head and plead for his life.
3
四年正月甲申,大軍發成都,繼岌令延孝以一萬二千人為後軍。 二月癸巳,中軍次武連,中使詔至,諭以西平王朱友謙有罪伏誅,命繼岌殺其子遂州節度使令德,延孝大驚。 俄而董璋率兵之遂州,遇延孝不謁,延孝怒,謂諸校曰:「南平梁汴,西定巴邛,畫策之謀,始於郭公,而汗馬之勞,力摧強敵,即吾也。 若以背偽歸國,犄角而成霸業,即西平王之功第一。 西平與郭公皆以無罪赤族,歸朝之後,次當及我矣!」 丙申,延孝次劍州。 時延孝部下皆鄜、延、河中舊將,焦武等知西平王被禍,兼誅令德,號哭軍門,訴於延孝曰:「西平無罪,二百口伏誅,河中舊將,無不從坐,某等必死矣!」 時魏王繼岌到泥溪,延孝報繼岌云:「河中兵士號哭,欲為亂。」 丁酉,延孝至劍州,遂擁眾回,自稱西川節度、三川製置等使,以檄招諭蜀人,三日間,眾及五萬。 己亥,繼岌至利州。 是夜,守吉柏津使密告魏王曰:「得紹琛文字,令斷吉柏浮梁。」 繼岌懼,乃令梁漢顒以兵控吉柏津。 延孝已擁眾急趨西川,繼岌遣人馳書諭之。 夜半,令監軍使李廷安召任圜,因署為副招討使。 令圜率兵七千騎,與都指揮使梁漢顒、監軍李廷安討之。 辛丑,先令都將何建崇擊劍門,下之。 甲寅,圜以大軍至漢州,延孝來逆戰,圜令董璋以東川懦卒當其鋒,伏精兵於其後,延孝擊退東川之兵,急追之,遇伏兵起,延孝敗,馳入漢州,閉壁不出。 西川孟知祥以兵二萬,與圜合勢攻之。 〈(《九國誌·李延厚傳》:康延孝入漢州,知祥遣延厚率兵二千會李仁罕討之,將行,誓士卒曰:「今出師不三旬必破賊,乃立功圖賞之日也。 士卒忠奮者立東廂,衰疾者立西廂,無自苦也。」 得請行者七百人,逐延孝西寨,斬首百餘級,竟拔其城。)〉 漢州四面樹竹木為柵。
On the jiashen day of the first month of the fourth year, the main army marched out of Chengdu. Siji assigned Yanxiao twelve thousand men as the rear guard. On the guisi day of the second month the main force reached Wulian. An imperial messenger arrived with an edict: Zhu Youqian, Prince of Western Pacification, had been executed for treason, and Siji was ordered to kill his son Lingde, military governor of Suizhou. Yanxiao was stunned. Soon afterward Dong Zhang marched to Suizhou and, meeting Yanxiao on the road, failed to pay his respects. Yanxiao raged at his officers. "We pacified Liang and Bian in the south and secured Ba and Qiong in the west. Lord Guo drew up the plans, but the hard fighting and the breaking of strong enemies — that was my work. If merit lay in abandoning a false master for the true dynasty and helping from two sides to build the empire, then the Prince of Western Pacification deserved first place. The Prince of Western Pacification and Lord Guo were both wiped out though guilty of nothing. Once we are back at court, my turn will come next!" On the bingshen day Yanxiao reached Jian Prefecture. Yanxiao's officers were mostly veterans from Fu, Yan, and Hezhong. When Jiao Wu and the others learned of the Prince of Western Pacification's fate and Lingde's impending execution, they wept at the camp gate and pleaded with Yanxiao, "The Prince was innocent, yet two hundred of his kin were slaughtered. Every old officer from Hezhong will be implicated. We are as good as dead!" Prince Siji had by then reached Nixi. Yanxiao sent word to him, "The Hezhong troops are wailing in the camp and are on the verge of mutiny." On the dingyou day Yanxiao reached Jian Prefecture, then turned his army around. He declared himself military governor of Xichuan and commissioner for the Three Rivers region, issued proclamations to rally the people of Shu, and within three days had gathered fifty thousand men. On the jihai day Siji reached Lizhou. That night the officer guarding Jibai Ford secretly warned the prince, "I have a written order from Shaochen to destroy the pontoon bridge at Jibai." Alarmed, Siji sent Liang Hanyong with troops to seize control of the ford. Yanxiao was already driving west with his rebel host. Siji sent a fast courier with a letter urging him to submit. At midnight he had the army supervisor Li Ting'an summon Ren Yuan and appointed him deputy pacification commissioner. Yuan was to lead seven thousand cavalry, together with the chief commander Liang Hanyong and the supervisor Li Ting'an, against the rebel. On the xinchou day he first sent the chief commander He Jianchong against Sword Gate, which fell. On the jiayin day Yuan reached Han Prefecture with the main army. Yanxiao met him in battle. Yuan put Dong Zhang's weaker eastern-Sichuan troops in the path of the charge and hid elite forces behind them. Yanxiao broke the eastern-Sichuan line and pursued recklessly until the ambush sprang up. Defeated, he galloped into Han Prefecture and shut himself behind the walls. Meng Zhixiang of western Sichuan brought twenty thousand men and joined Yuan in a combined assault. (According to the Annals of the Nine States, biography of Li Yanhou: When Kang Yanxiao seized Han Prefecture, Zhixiang sent Yanhou with two thousand men to join Li Renhan against him. Before marching, Yanhou swore to his troops, "We will break the rebels within thirty days. This is the day to win glory and rewards. Let the loyal and eager stand on the east side, and the weak and sick on the west — spare yourselves needless hardship." Seven hundred men stepped forward. They stormed Yanxiao's western camp, took more than a hundred heads, and at last captured the city.)〉 Han Prefecture was ringed with palisades of bamboo and timber on every side.
4
三月乙丑,圜陣於金雁橋,即率諸軍鼓噪而進,四面縱火,風焰亙空。 於是延孝危急,引騎出戰,遇陣於金雁橋,又敗之,以十數騎奔綿州; 何建崇追及,擒之,任圜命載以檻車。 時孟知祥與任圜、董璋置酒高會,因引令延孝檻車至會。 知祥問曰:「明公頃自梁朝脫身歸命,才平汴水,節制陝郊,近領前鋒,克平劍外,歸朝之後,授爵冊勳,巨鎮尊官,誰與為競! 奈何躁憤,自毀功庸,入此檻車,還為鄧艾,深可痛惜,誰肯湣之!」 知祥因手自注杯以飲之。 延孝曰:「自知富貴難消,官職已足。 然郭崇韜佐命元勳,輔成大業,不動干戈,收獲兩川,自古殊功,但恐不及,一旦何罪,闔門被誅; 延孝之徒,何保首領。 以此思慮,不敢歸朝,天道相違,一旦至此,亦其命也,夫復何言!」 及圜班師,行次鳳翔,中使向延嗣齎詔至,遂誅之。 部下懷其首級,瘞於昭應縣民陳暉地。 天成初,其子發之攜去。
On the yichou day of the third month Yuan drew up his lines at Golden Goose Bridge, then led the army forward with drums and war cries. Fire was set on every side until flames and smoke blotted out the sky. Yanxiao, now desperate, led his cavalry out to fight, met the enemy again at Golden Goose Bridge, was beaten once more, and fled toward Mian Prefecture with only a dozen horsemen. He Jianchong overtook and captured him. Ren Yuan had him loaded into a barred cart. Meng Zhixiang, Ren Yuan, and Dong Zhang were holding a victory banquet and had Yanxiao brought to the feast in his cage. Zhixiang asked him, "You left the Liang, came over to us, helped pacify Bian, governed Shaan, led the vanguard and conquered the lands beyond the passes. Back at court you were ennobled and richly rewarded with the highest posts. Who could have rivaled you? Why then let rash anger destroy everything you had won, and end in this cage like Deng Ai of old? It is a bitter waste. Who could pity you now?" Zhixiang filled a cup with his own hand and offered it to him. Yanxiao said, "I knew that fortune is hard to survive and that my rank was already enough. Yet Guo Chongtao was a founding minister who helped build the empire and took both circuits of Shu without a battle — a feat unmatched since antiquity. In a single day, for what crime, was his whole household slaughtered? How could men like me hope to keep our heads? That is why I dared not return to court. Heaven turned against me, and in a day I came to this. It was my fate. What more can I say?" When Yuan marched home and reached Fengxiang, the imperial envoy Xiang Yansi arrived with an edict, and Yanxiao was executed. His men kept his head and buried it on land belonging to a commoner named Chen Hui in Zhaoying County. Early in the Tiancheng era his son Fa disinterred it and took it away.
5
朱守殷,小字會兒。 莊宗就學,以廝養之役給事左右。 及莊宗即位,為長直軍使,雖列戎行,不聞戰攻。 每構人之短長,中於莊宗,漸以心腹受委。 河上對壘,稍遷蕃漢馬步都虞候。 守殷守德勝寨,為梁將王彥章所攻,守殷無備,遂陷南寨。 莊宗聞之曰:「駑才大誤予事!」 因撤北寨,往固楊劉。 明宗在鄆州,密請以覆軍之罪罪之,莊宗私於腹心,忍而不問。 同光二年,為振武節度使,不之任,仍兼領蕃漢馬步軍。 京城初定,內外警巡,恃憑主恩,蔑視勳舊,與景進互相表裏,又強作宿德之態,言語遲緩,自謂沉厚。 及郭從謙犯興教門,步軍始亂,中使急召騎士,守殷按甲不進,莊宗獨領宦官斫射,屢退,而騎軍終不至。 莊宗既崩,守殷擁眾方在北邙,憩於茂林之下。 迨聞凶問,乃入內,選嬪御及珍寶以歸,恣軍士劫掠京都,翌日方定,率諸校迎明宗於東郊。 天成初,授河南尹,判六軍諸衛事,加侍中,移汴州節度使。 車駕將巡幸,外議喧然,初以為平吳,又云製置東諸侯。 守殷乃生雲夢之疑,遂殺都校馬彥超、副使宋敬。 〈(《歐陽史》:守殷將叛,召都指揮使馬彥超與計事,彥超不從,守殷殺之。 明宗憐彥超之死,以其子承祚為洺州長史。)〉 守殷驅市人閉壁以叛,明宗途次京水,聞之,親統禁軍,倍程直抵其壘,長圍夾攻,縋城甚眾。 守殷力屈,盡殺其族,引頸令左右盡其命。 王師入城,索其黨,盡誅之。 詔鞭守殷屍,梟首懸於都市,滿七日,傳送洛陽。
Zhu Shouyin, whose childhood name was Huier. While Zhuangzong was still a student, Shouyin served him as a groom in his household. When Zhuangzong became emperor, Shouyin was made commander of the Long-Direct Guard. He held military rank but was never known for seeing combat. He constantly played on people's faults and virtues until he had Zhuangzong's ear, and gradually became one of his most trusted intimates. During the standoff on the Yellow River he was promoted to chief adjutant of the combined barbarian and Han cavalry and infantry. Shouyin held Desheng Stockade when the Liang general Wang Yanzhang attacked. Caught unprepared, he lost the southern stockade. Zhuangzong said when he heard the news, "That worthless fool has ruined my campaign!" He pulled back from the northern stockade and went to reinforce Yangliu. Mingzong, then at Yan Prefecture, privately urged that Shouyin be punished for losing the army. Zhuangzong, speaking only with his closest confidants, let the matter pass. In the second year of Tongguang he was appointed military governor of Zhenwu but never took up the post, continuing to command the combined barbarian and Han forces. After the capital was secured he took charge of internal and external patrols. Secure in the emperor's favor, he scorned the old meritocrats, worked hand in glove with Jing Jin, and affected the air of a seasoned elder — speaking slowly and calling himself grave and steady. When Guo Congqian stormed Xingjiao Gate the infantry broke first. Palace envoys urgently summoned the cavalry, but Shouyin held his men back. Zhuangzong fought on alone with his eunuchs, was driven back again and again, and the horsemen never came. When Zhuangzong died, Shouyin was camped with his troops on North Mang, resting in a wooded grove. Only when word of the death reached him did he enter the palace, seize concubines and treasures, and let his soldiers loot the capital at will. Order was restored only the next day, when he led his officers to welcome Mingzong at the eastern suburb. Early in the Tiancheng era he was made metropolitan governor of Henan with authority over the Six Armies and palace guards, promoted to Palace Attendant, and transferred to military governor of Bian. When the emperor prepared to go on tour, rumor ran wild outside the city — first that he meant to pacify Wu, then that he meant to reorganize the eastern lords. Shouyin grew suspicious — like the king of Chu who dreamed of Yunmeng — and killed the chief commander Ma Yanchao and the deputy Song Jing. (According to Ouyang Xiu's New History of the Five Dynasties: When Shouyin was plotting rebellion, he summoned the chief commander Ma Yanchao to consult him. Yanchao refused, and Shouyin killed him. Mingzong pitied Yanchao and appointed his son Chengzuo long secretary of Luo Prefecture.)〉 Shouyin forced the townspeople to shut the gates and rebel. Mingzong was at Jingshui on the road; hearing the news, he led the palace guard himself, marched at double speed to the rebel stronghold, invested it on all sides, and many defenders fled down ropes from the walls. When his strength gave out, Shouyin killed every member of his clan, bared his neck, and told his attendants to finish him. The imperial army entered the city, hunted down his followers, and executed them all. An edict ordered Shouyin's corpse flogged and his head displayed in the marketplace. After seven days the head was sent on to Luoyang.
6
楊立者,潞州之小校。 初事李嗣昭及李繼韜,皆畜養甚厚。 繼韜被誅,憤憤失誌。 同光二年四月,有詔以潞兵三萬人戍涿州,將發,其眾謀曰:「我輩事故使二十年,衣食豐足,未嘗邊塞征行,苟於邊上差跌,白骨何歸? 不如據城自固,事成則富貴耳。」 因聚徒百餘輩,攻子城東門,城中大擾。 副使李繼珂及監軍張機祚出奔。 立自稱留後,率軍民上表請旄節。 莊宗怒,命明宗與李紹真攻討,一月拔之,生擒立及其同惡十餘人,送於闕下,皆磔於市。 潞州城峻而隍深,攻立輒敢據之,莊宗因茲詔諸道撤防城之備焉。
Yang Li was a junior officer in Luzhou. He had first served Li Sizhao and then Li Jiyao, both of whom treated him with exceptional generosity. When Jiyao was executed, Yang Li was bitter and lost heart. In the fourth month of the second year of Tongguang an edict ordered thirty thousand Luzhou troops to garrison Zhuo Prefecture. As they prepared to march, the men plotted among themselves. "We have served our old commissioner for twenty years in comfort and have never fought on the frontier. If we fail out there, where will our bones lie? Better to hold the city. If we succeed, wealth and rank will follow." They gathered more than a hundred men, stormed the east gate of the inner city, and threw the town into chaos. The deputy Li Jike and the army supervisor Zhang Jizuo fled the city. Li declared himself acting commissioner and led soldiers and civilians in a memorial requesting formal appointment. Zhuangzong was furious and ordered Mingzong and Li Shaozhen to attack. Within a month the city fell. Li and more than ten of his accomplices were taken alive, sent to the capital, and dismembered in the marketplace. Luzhou's walls were high and its moat deep, yet Li had dared to hold it. Zhuangzong therefore ordered every circuit to dismantle its outer defensive works.
7
竇廷琬者,世為青州牙將,梁祖擢置左右。 同光初,為復州遊奕使,奸盜屏跡,曆貝州刺史。 未幾,請製置慶州鹽池,逐年出絹十萬匹,米十萬斛,遂以廷琬為慶州防禦使。 俾製置之,由是嚴刑峻法,屢撓邊人。 課利不集,詔移任於金州。 廷琬據慶州叛,詔邠州節度使李敬周率兵討平之,夷其族。
Dou Tingwan came from a family of military aides in Qing Prefecture. Emperor Taizu of Liang brought him into his personal service. Early in Tongguang he served as patrol commissioner of Fu Prefecture, where bandits and thieves disappeared from his district. He later became prefect of Bei. Before long he petitioned to take charge of the salt ponds of Qing Prefecture, pledging an annual yield of one hundred thousand bolts of silk and one hundred thousand hu of grain. Tingwan was then appointed defender of Qing. Once put in charge, he ruled with harsh punishments and severe laws and repeatedly oppressed the frontier population. When the expected revenues failed to materialize, an edict transferred him to Jin Prefecture. Tingwan rebelled and held Qing Prefecture. An edict sent Li Jingzhou, military governor of Bin, to suppress him. When the revolt was crushed, his entire clan was wiped out.
8
張虔釗,遼州人也。 〈(《九國志》云:虔釗,遼州榆社人。 父簡,唐檢校尚書左僕射。)〉 初為太原牙校,以武勇聞於流輩,武皇、莊宗之世,累補左右突騎軍使。 〈(《九國志》:莊宗嘗以偏師取鎮陽,命虔釗率騎為先鋒,屢挫賊銳,遂陷其城。)〉 明宗素聞虔釗有將帥才,及即位,擢為護駕親軍都指揮使,領春州刺史。 天成中,與諸將圍王都於中山,大敗契丹於嘉山之下,及定州平,以功授滄州節度使。 〈(《北夢瑣言》:虔釗鎮滄州日,因亢旱民饑,發廩賑之,方上聞,帝甚嘉獎。 他日秋成,倍鬥征斂,朝論鄙之。)〉 移鎮徐州。 長興中,為山南西道節度使兼西面馬步軍都部署。 及末帝起於鳳翔,閔帝詔令虔釗帥部兵會王師於岐下。 洎西師俱變,虔釗憤惋,退歸興元,因與洋州節度使孫漢韶俱送款於蜀。 孟知祥待之尤厚,偽授本鎮節度使,俾知祥坐獲山南之地,由虔釗之故也。 〈(《北夢瑣言》:入蜀,取人產業,黷貨無厭,蜀民怨之。)〉 孟昶嗣偽位,加檢校太師、兼中書令。 晉開運末,蜀人聞契丹入洛,令虔釗率眾數萬,將寇秦、雍。 俄聞漢高祖已定中原,虔釗無功而退。 〈(《九國志》云:曆左右匡聖馬步軍都指揮使,出為昭武軍節度使。 及漢祖即位,乃移鎮梁州,以觀朝廷之變。 會晉昌軍節度使趙匡讚、鳳翔節度使侯益俱謀歸蜀,遂以虔釗為北面行營招討使,應接經營。 俄而趙匡讚、侯益請昶出師,掠定三秦,因命虔釗與韓保貞等總師五萬出散關,雄武軍節度使何重建出隴右,奉鑾肅衛都虞候李廷珪出子午穀,會於雍州。 廷珪始出子午穀,聞匡讚為王景崇所逼,棄城自拔東去,遂先退師。 時虔釗、福誠、保貞師次陳倉,謀不相葉,而侯益聞匡讚已去,廷珪班師,亦誠款中變,閉壘不出。 司天監趙廷樞累以雲氣不利為諷,保貞乃與福誠率所部取隴州道,會重建歸蜀,虔釗留寶雞,以勢孤不可深入,遂班師。)〉 行至興州,感憤而卒。
Zhang Qianzhao was a native of Liao Prefecture. (According to the Annals of the Nine States: Qianzhao was from Yushe in Liao Prefecture. His father Jian had served as Honorary Left Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat under Tang.)〉 He began as a military aide at Taiyuan and won a reputation for courage among his peers. Under Emperor Wuzong and Zhuangzong he rose repeatedly to command the Left and Right Flying Cavalry. (According to the Annals of the Nine States: Zhuangzong once took Zhenyang with a detached column and made Qianzhao lead the cavalry vanguard. Qianzhao repeatedly broke the enemy's best troops and finally captured the city.)〉 Mingzong had long heard of Qianzhao's gifts as a commander. When he took the throne he made Qianzhao chief commander of the imperial guard and prefect of Chun. During Tiancheng he joined other generals in besieging Wang Du at Zhongshan and routed the Khitan below Mount Jia. When Ding Prefecture fell, he was rewarded with the military governorship of Cang. (According to Miscellaneous Tales from Northern Dreams: While Qianzhao governed Cang, a severe drought brought famine. He opened the granaries to feed the people. When the report reached court, the emperor praised him warmly. Later, after the autumn harvest, he doubled the tax levies, and court opinion turned against him.)〉 He was transferred to Xuzhou. During Changxing he served as military governor of Shannan West Circuit and chief deployer of the western horse and foot armies. When the Last Emperor rose at Fengxiang, Emperor Min ordered Qianzhao to lead his troops and join the imperial army at Qi. When the western armies all turned, Qianzhao withdrew to Xingyuan in anger and grief. He and Sun Hanzhao, military governor of Yang, then both submitted to Shu. Meng Zhixiang treated him with exceptional generosity and invested him as military governor of his former circuit. It was largely through Qianzhao that Zhixiang gained the lands of Shannan without a fight. (According to Miscellaneous Tales from Northern Dreams: Once in Shu he seized people's property, took bribes without limit, and earned the hatred of the Shu populace.)〉 When Meng Chang succeeded to the Shu throne, Qianzhao was made Honorary Grand Preceptor and Concurrent Director of the Secretariat. Late in the Kaiyun era of Jin, when Shu heard that the Khitan had entered Luoyang, Chang ordered Qianzhao to lead tens of thousands against Qin and Yong. Soon word came that Emperor Gaozu of Han had secured the Central Plains, and Qianzhao withdrew without accomplishing anything. (According to the Annals of the Nine States: He had served in turn as chief commander of the Left and Right Kuangsheng armies and then as military governor of Zhaowu. When the Han founder took the throne, he was moved to Liang Prefecture to watch how events at court would unfold. When Zhao Kuangzan of Jinchang and Hou Yi of Fengxiang both plotted to defect to Shu, Qianzhao was made northern-campaign pacification commissioner to coordinate the effort. Soon Zhao and Hou urged Chang to march and seize the Three Qin. Chang ordered Qianzhao and Han Baozhen to lead fifty thousand men through San Pass, He Chongjian of Xiongwu to advance through Longyou, and Li Tinggui of the Imperial Escort to march through Ziwu Valley. All were to converge on Yong. Tinggui had barely left Ziwu Valley when he learned that Kuangzan was being driven by Wang Jingchong, abandoned his position, and fled east. He was the first to withdraw. By then Qianzhao, Fucheng, and Baozhen had halted at Chencang and could not agree among themselves. Hou Yi heard that Kuangzan was gone and Tinggui had withdrawn, changed his mind about submitting, and shut himself behind his walls. The director of the Astronomical Bureau, Zhao Tingshu, repeatedly warned that the omens were unfavorable. Baozhen and Fucheng then led their men toward Long Prefecture. When He Chongjian returned to Shu, Qianzhao held Baoji but, finding his force too isolated to advance, withdrew.)〉 He reached Xing Prefecture and died there, overcome with grief and anger.
9
楊彥溫,汴州人,本梁朝之小校也。 莊宗朝,累遷裨將。 天成中,為河中副指揮使,及末帝鎮河中,尤善待之,因奏為衙內都指揮使。 長興元年四月,乘末帝閱馬於黃龍莊,據城謀叛。 末帝遣人詰之曰:「吾善待汝,何苦為叛?」 彥溫報曰:「某非敢負恩,緣奉樞密院宣頭,令某拒命,請相公但歸朝廷。」 數日,詔末帝歸朝。 明宗疑其詐,不欲興兵,授彥溫絳州刺史。 安重誨堅請出師,即命西京留守索自通、侍衛步軍指揮使藥彥稠等帥兵攻之。 五日而拔,自閉門及敗,凡十三日。 初,彥稠出師,明宗戒之曰:「與朕生致彥溫,吾將自訊之。」 及收城,斬首傳送,明宗深怒彥稠等。 時議者以當時四海恬然,五兵載戢,蒲非邊郡,近在國門,而彥溫安敢狂悖。 皆以為安重誨方弄國權,尤忌末帝之名,故巧作窺圖,究莫能傾陷也。 彥溫愚昧,為人所嗾,故滅其族焉。
Yang Yanwen was a native of Bian and had begun as a junior officer in the Liang army. Under Zhuangzong he rose repeatedly to deputy commander. During Tiancheng he served as deputy commander at Hezhong. When the Last Emperor governed there, he treated Yanwen with special favor and had him appointed chief commander of the inner guards. In the fourth month of the first year of Changxing, while the Last Emperor was inspecting horses at Yellow Dragon Manor, Yanwen seized the city and rebelled. The Last Emperor sent a messenger to demand, "I have treated you well. Why turn rebel?" Yanwen replied, "I do not mean to repay your kindness with treachery. I am acting on an order from the Bureau of Military Affairs telling me to resist you. I ask only that you return to court." Within days an edict ordered the Last Emperor back to court. Mingzong suspected a ruse and refused to send troops. He appointed Yanwen prefect of Jiang. An Chonghui insisted on military action. Mingzong ordered Suo Zhitong, military governor of the western capital, Yao Yanchou, commander of the palace guard infantry, and others to attack. The city fell in five days. From the closing of the gates to defeat, the affair lasted thirteen days. Before Yao Yanchou marched out, Mingzong warned him, "Bring Yanwen to me alive. I mean to question him myself." When the city fell, they beheaded Yanwen and sent his head to court. Mingzong was furious with Yao Yanchou and his officers. Contemporaries noted that the realm was at peace and arms had been laid aside. Pu was no frontier post but lay at the capital's doorstep. How could Yanwen dare such madness? Most believed that An Chonghui, who was then wielding state power and especially feared the Last Emperor's standing, had engineered the affair as a probe — yet in the end failed to bring him down. Yanwen was a fool used by others, and for that his whole clan was destroyed.
10
史臣曰:《春秋傳》云:「夫不令之臣,天下之所惡也。」 故不復較其優劣焉。 唯虔釗因避地以偷生,彥溫乃為人之所嗾,比諸叛臣,亦可矜也。
The historiographer remarks: The Zuo Commentary says, "An unworthy minister is hated by all under Heaven." I therefore do not weigh their relative merits and faults. Only Qianzhao, who fled to preserve his life, and Yanwen, who was driven by others, deserve some pity when set beside the other rebels in this chapter.