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卷九十九 漢書1: 高祖本紀上

Volume 99 Book of Later Jin 1: Gaozu Annals 1

Chapter 99 of 舊五代史 · Old History of the Five Dynasties
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Chapter 99
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1
西
Gaozu, the Sagely, Cultured, Sacred, Martial, Illustrious, and Solemnly Filial Emperor, was of the Liu clan; his taboo name was Gao. He had been born Zhiyuan and took the present taboo name when he came to the throne. His forebears were originally of the Shatuo tribe. His fourth-generation ancestor was named Tuan; once the emperor held the realm, Tuan was posthumously honored as Emperor Mingyuan, with the temple name Wenzu and the tomb Yiling; (Five Dynasties Essentials records that Tuan was descended from Bing, Prince of Huaiyang, the eighth son of Emperor Xianzong of Eastern Han.))〉 His great-grandmother, Lady Li of Longxi, was posthumously titled Empress Mingzhen. His great-grandfather Ang was posthumously made Grand Guardian by Jin and honored as Emperor Gongxi, with the temple name Dezu and the tomb Peiling; (Five Dynasties Essentials notes that Yiling and Peiling had no known burial sites and were worshipped only from a distance.))〉 His great-grandmother, Lady Yang of Guo, was posthumously titled Empress Gonghui. His grandfather Zhuan was posthumously made Grand Tutor by Jin and honored as Emperor Zhaoxian, with the temple name Yizu and the tomb Weiling; His grandmother, Lady Li of Lu, was posthumously titled Empress Zhaomu. His father Juan had served Later Tang's Emperor Wu as a field officer; Jin posthumously made him Grand Preceptor and honored him as Emperor Zhangsheng, with the temple name Xianzu and the tomb Suling; His mother, Lady An of Wu, was posthumously titled Empress Zhangyi. He was born at Taiyuan on the fourth day of the second month of 895, the second year of Tang Qianning.
2
殿
As a boy he was delicate and uninterested in games, solemn and taciturn; in adulthood his complexion was purplish and his eyes showed much white. He first entered the service of Tang Mingzong and served in his entourage. When Mingzong faced the Liang behind palisades at Desheng, Jin Gaozu was ambushed by Liang troops and the leather straps of his horse armor snapped in succession. The future emperor gave up his own horse for Gaozu, mounted another whose straps had already broken, and fell in slowly at the rear. Gaozu was deeply moved and impressed by his valor. After Mingzong acceded, Jin Gaozu was stationed at the Northern Capital as military governor; remembering the emperor's earlier rescue, he had him transferred to his own command and appointed him commander of the gate guards. Early in the Yingshun era, while Jin Gaozu held Changshan, Tang Mingzong summoned him to court. Emperor Min was then fleeing, and the two met on the road; they entered Weizhou together and stayed at a relay inn. Min's courtiers plotted to kill Jin Gaozu. The future emperor secretly posted the guard Shi Gan behind him with a hammer hidden in his sleeve. When the attack came, Gan hustled Gaozu into a room, barred the door with a heavy beam, and was killed in the fight. He then led his men in slaughtering Min's entire retinue and so saved Jin Gaozu from the plot. (Zizhi Tongjian Collation, citing the Veritable Record of Han Gaozu, says that night he learned the young emperor had hidden troops and meant with his followers to kill Jin Gaozu; he pretended to dismiss everyone for a private talk and was sitting in the corridor. He secretly posted Shi Gan behind Gaozu with a hammer in his sleeve. Moments later the ambush sprang; Gan, a man of great strength, dragged Gaozu into a room, wedged the door with a beam, held the attackers at bay, and was killed. He drew his sword; in the darkness he snatched up an unlit reed torch from the ground and struck wildly. The assailants took it for a close weapon and fled. He hid along a long wall and heard the imperial general Li Hongxin tell someone, "Grand Marshal Shi is dead." He called over the wall to Hongxin, "The Grand Marshal is safe." He climbed the wall, joined Hongxin's force, protected Jin Gaozu together with them, killed the conspirators, and delivered the young emperor to Wang Hongzan.))〉
3
使 使 殿 使 使
In the fourth month of summer 937 he was made Acting Grand Guardian. In the eighth month he was reassigned as military governor of Xuzhou while retaining command of his army. In the fourth month of summer of the following year he was made Acting Grand Tutor. In the tenth month of winter he was named commander-in-chief of the palace guard horse and foot. In the eleventh month he was reassigned to Songzhou and made Acting Grand Marshal. In the twelfth month he was made co-manager of affairs of the Secretariat-Chancellery. He and Du Chongwei had been honored by the same edict. He was furious and refused the appointment, staying behind closed doors for days. (Zizhi Tongjian: Zhiyuan believed he had earned founding merit, while Chongwei had risen only as an imperial in-law without major deeds; he was ashamed to be honored in the same edict. For days after the edict he stayed indoors and memorialized again and again that he would not accept.))〉 Jin Gaozu in anger summoned Chancellor Zhao Ying and others to discuss stripping him of command and confining him to private life. Zhao Ying and the others dissuaded him, and He Ning of the Duanming Hall was sent to announce the decision at his home; only then did he accept. In the third month of the fifth year he was made military governor of the Ye capital and retained command of the palace guard horse and foot. In the ninth month he answered a summons to court, and Jin Gaozu paid a visit to his home. In the seventh month of the sixth year he was made military governor of the Northern Capital and commissioner of the Hedong circuit. In the first month of the seventh year he was made Palace Attendant. Locusts plagued the empire that year, yet they did not cross into Hedong. In the sixth month Jin Gaozu died at Ye; when the young emperor succeeded, he was made Acting Grand Preceptor. In the third month of the eighth year he was promoted to Director of the Secretariat.
4
使 退 · 使
In the first month of 944 the Khitan invaded the south; their ruler marched a great host to Chunzhou and sent the tribal general Prince Wei through Yanmen Pass. The court named him campaign commander on the Youzhou front, and he routed Prince Wei at Xinkou. He was soon ordered to march to Tumen; his army reached Leping, but the Khitan had already withdrawn, and he turned back. In the third month he was created Prince of Taiyuan. In the seventh month he was also made overall commander of the northern campaign. In the fourth month of the second year he was created Prince of Beiping. In the fifth month of the third year he was made Defender Grand Marshal. That month he executed four hundred people from five Togon clans led by Bai Chengfu and put the survivors under Wang Yizong of another division. In the ninth month, when the Khitan raided the border, he personally led his guard to Nanyangwu Valley south of Shuozhou and crushed them. (Eastern Capital Outline, Biography of Guo Jin: After the Khitan sacked Anyang, Gaozu sent Jin to fight them off; the Khitan were routed, and he was made prefect for his service.))〉 In the eleventh month the Khitan ruler led a mixed tribal and Han host from Yi and Ding to Zhenzhou, while Du Chongwei and others took position at Zhongdu Bridge to block him. On the tenth day of the twelfth month Du Chongwei surrendered his entire army to the Khitan. On the seventeenth Zhang Yanze of Xiangzhou, acting on Khitan orders, took the capital and removed the young emperor to Kaifeng. On hearing this he was deeply alarmed and posted troops along his borders to guard against attack.
5
殿 使 使使 使使 · 使使
On New Year's Day of the twelfth year of Tianfu the Khitan ruler entered the Eastern Capital. On guisi the young emperor of Jin was held captive at Fengchan Temple. On guimao the young emperor was sent north. On New Year's Day of the second month the Khitan ruler put on Chinese court robes, held audience in Chongyuan Hall, renamed Jin as Great Liao, declared a general amnesty, and proclaimed the tenth year of Huitong. That month he sent Wang Jun with a memorial to the Khitan court; the Khitan ruler replied with praise, called him "son," and gave him a wooden staff. By Khitan custom only the most honored ministers received such a gift, the equivalent in Han ritual of granting a seat and staff. Wang Jun carried it home, and Khitan onlookers cleared the road at the sight of it. When Jun reached Taiyuan and reported that Khitan rule was falling apart, the emperor began to consider proclaiming a new dynasty. That month He Jian of Qinzhou surrendered his territory to Shu. On wuchen Zhang Yanwei of Hedong and the civil and military officers, seeing the Central Plains without a ruler and the emperor's prestige growing daily, submitted a memorial urging him to take the throne; he modestly refused. Thereafter officials memorialized three times, and officers, clergy, and elders pressed him in turn until an edict in reply accepted. On gengwu Zhao Hui of the Fengguo command at Shaan, Hou Zhang, and Wang Yan killed the Khitan supervisor Liu Yuan and his deputy; Hui declared himself acting military governor. The Khitan then appointed Hui military governor of Shaan, Hou Zhang commander of local horse and foot, and Wang Yan his deputy, but they refused the orders. (Song History, Biography of Wang Yan: At the end of Kaiyun he was posted to Shaanzhou with Zhao Hui, commander of the main force, Hou Zhang of the Zhongwei guard, and others. When the Khitan reached Bian they sent Liu Yuan to hold Shaan, and he ravaged the people. Yan said to Hui and the others, "The Khitan are invading the south and the realm is in uproar; men of spirit ought to seize the moment. We hear that Lord Liu of Taiyuan's fame reaches far and the people look to him. If we kill Yuan and submit to Hedong, leading the realm, wealth and rank will come as easily as turning one's hand!" Hui and the others agreed. Yan led a few daredevils over the wall by night into the government compound, seized weapons from the arsenal, and armed his men. At dawn they beheaded Yuan and hung his head outside the gate. The troops made Hui commander, Zhang vice commander and patrol commissioner, and sent Hanlun to Jinyang with a memorial of submission.))〉
6
使使使 使使 使 使 沿 使
On xinwei he received the seal at the Taiyuan palace and took the throne, renaming Jin's fourth year of Kaiyun as the twelfth year of Tianfu. (Khitan State Chronicle says the Han founder kept the Tianfu reign title, saying, "I cannot yet forget Jin."))〉 On jiaxu, learning that the Jin emperor and his entire clan had been sent north, he brooded in anger and grief for a long while. That same day he led his personal guard toward Tumen to intercept the Jin emperor, reaching Shouyang, but hearing the party had already passed, he turned back. When the Khitan learned he had proclaimed a dynasty, they issued a counterfeit edict stripping him of rank and office. They appointed Geng Chongmei to Luzhou, Gao Tangying to Xiangzhou, and Cui Tingxun to Heyang to hold the strategic passes. On dingchou the bandit leader Liang Hui of Cizhou seized Xiangzhou. On jimao he sent Shi Hongzhao against Daizhou and pacified it. Wang Hui of Daizhou had earlier defected to the Khitan; Hongzhao took the city at the first assault and executed Wang Hui as an example. On gengchen Zhang Yanhong, acting military governor of Jinzhou, reported that the garrison had mutinied, killed Vice Prefect Luo Conglang and Tax Commissioner Zhao Xi, and surrendered the city. Liu Zaiming of Jinzhou had gone to the Eastern Capital to pay court to the Khitan, leaving Conglang in charge; when the emperor sent Zhang Yanhong and Xin Chuming to announce his accession, Conglang imprisoned them in the city. General Yao Keshou killed Conglang in the government hall; the townspeople killed Zhao Xi; the army then asked for Yanhong as acting governor and Chuming as chief supervisor. On xinsi Zhao Hui of Shaan and Wang Shouen of Lu both submitted memorials of allegiance. On guiwei the bandit Wang Qiong of Chunzhou cut the pontoon bridge with his followers; Qiong was defeated and killed. The Khitan had appointed their kinsman Lang'e military governor of Chunzhou; greedy and brutal, he made life miserable for officials and commoners alike. Qiong, a river-transport chief, allied with the bandit Zhang Yi of Xiajin and raised more than a thousand men. They moved upriver and struck at midnight, killing the southern garrison commander, severing the pontoon bridge, and entering the north city while Lang'e barricaded himself in the headquarters. Within days Khitan reinforcements arrived; Qiong was defeated and killed. When the Khitan ruler first heard of the uprising he was deeply alarmed and lost any wish to stay south of the Yellow River; he soon sent Du Chongwei of Tianxiong back to his command.
7
殿使 使 使 宿 使使使使使使使使 使耀使 使
On New Year's Day of the third month an edict remitted all miscellaneous levies in Hedong beyond the established taxes. That day the Khitan ruler held the entering-the-pavilion ceremony in Chongyuan Hall and appointed his uncle Xiao Han military governor of Xuanwu. On xinmao Gao Yunquan of Yanzhou reported through his aide Li Bin that Military Governor Zhou Mi had been expelled by the army and that he had taken charge and submitted allegiance. Soon afterward the emperor summoned Zhou Mi to court. On renchen Gao Yanqi of Danzhou killed the Khitan-appointed prefect and surrendered the city. On renyin the Khitan ruler left the Eastern Capital for home. That day he camped at Chigang; in late afternoon a thunderous roar erupted from beneath the tents. The Khitan crossed at Liyang and marched on Xiangzhou. On gengxu the emperor appointed Liu Chong prefect of Taiyuan, Guo Congyi defender of Zhengzhou, Li Hongxin prefect of Chenzhou, Shang Hongqian prefect of Shanzhou, Gai Wan prefect of Caizhou, Zhou Hui prefect of Puzhou, and Zhu Fengqian prefect of Suizhou, with the appropriate acting ranks. On xinhai Wang Yizong of the Togon was made Acting Grand Marshal and the former Xinzhou prefect Qin Xi was made regimental commissioner of Yaozhou. On guichou Bai Wenke, deputy governor of the Northern Capital, was made military governor of Hezhong and Acting Grand Marshal.
8
使使使 使使 使使使 使使使使 使 使 使 使 使使 · 使 使 使宿使使使使使使 殿 使使使 使使 使 使 使 使使 沿使使 使 使 西使 退 使 使 使使 使使使使使使使
In the fourth month, on jiwei, Liu Xin was made military governor of Huazhou and commander of the palace guard cavalry with the rank of Acting Grand Tutor; Yang Bin was made acting Commissioner of Military Affairs and Acting Grand Guardian; Shi Hongzhao was made military governor of Xuzhou and commander of the palace guard infantry with the rank of Acting Grand Tutor; Chang Si was made military governor of Dengzhou, Acting Grand Tutor, and acting commander of the Northern Capital forces and inspector of the three cities; Zhang Yanwei was made military governor of Tongzhou and Acting Grand Guardian; Guo Wei was made acting Commissioner of Military Affairs and Acting Minister of Works; Hu Yanke was made commissioner of the Southern Bureau of the Palace Secretariat and Acting Minister of Works; Wang Hao was made commissioner of the Northern Bureau of the Palace Secretariat and Acting Minister of Works; Wang Zhang was made acting Commissioner of the Three Departments and Acting Grand Guardian. That day the Khitan ruler took Xiangzhou and killed Liang Hui, the acting governor. (Song History, Biography of Li Gu: Li Gu secretly sent the Hebei leader Hui to hold Anyang. The Khitan ruler, alarmed, planned to withdraw north, but when someone reported the city was weakly defended, he turned back, took Anyang, and captured it.))〉 Hui was from Fuyang in Cizhou and had been a bandit in his youth. When the Khitan entered Bian he rallied his followers, took Cizhou without looting it, and sent envoys to submit to the emperor. Learning that Xiangzhou held large stores of weapons but was poorly defended, he scaled the walls with his men on the night of the twenty-first of the third month, killed dozens of Khitan, seized tens of thousands of arms, and seized the city. The Khitan ruler first sent the puppet governor Gao Tangying against him. Soon the Khitan ruler arrived, stormed the city on the fourth of the month, and put it to the sword. The next day the Khitan ruler marched north and left Gao Tangying in charge; a count of survivors found only seven hundred men and women. During Qianyou, when Wang Jihong governed Xiangzhou, he reported finding more than a hundred thousand skulls in the city — from which the scale of the slaughter may be guessed. On gengshen the emperor appointed Yi Quanzhang regimental commissioner of Mingzhou, An Zhen of Suzhou, Meng Xingchao of Yingzhou, Wu Yanhong defender of Caozhou, Murong Xin defender of Qizhou, Xue Qiong defender of Bozhou, and Li Hantao defender of Ruzhou. On guihai Lady Li of Wei was enthroned as empress. On jiazi the eldest son Chengxun was made general-in-chief of the Left Guard, Chengyou great general of the Left Guard, and Chengxun the third son great general of the Right Guard; Lady Song of Pengcheng was created Princess Yongning, and the nephew Chengyun was made general-in-chief of the Right Guard. Su Fengji was made vice director of the Secretariat, co-manager of affairs, and grand academician of the Hall for Assembling the Worthy; Su Yugui was made vice director and co-manager of affairs. Fuzhou was elevated to a full military commission under the title Yong'an army. Zhe Congruan was made military governor of Yong'an, acting prefect of Fuzhou, and Acting Grand Marshal; Liu Zhu was made military governor of Heyang; Han Zuo was made Left Remonstrance Grandee and academician directly attached to the Military Affairs Commission. On yichou Shi Hongzhao was dispatched with ten thousand men toward Luzhou. On bingyin Wang Shouen was made military governor of Luzhou and Acting Grand Guardian; Gao Yunquan was made military governor of Yanzhou and Acting Grand Guardian; Zheng Qian was made prefect of Xinzhou, titular military governor of Yingzhou, and overall deployer of the volunteer forces of Xin and Dai. On dingmao Yan Wanjin was made prefect of Lanzhou, titular military governor of Shuozhou, and overall commander of the volunteer forces of Lan and Xian. On wuchen Wu Xingde of Heyang surrendered his city. When the Khitan ruler prepared to leave the Eastern Capital, he loaded captured arms onto boats from Bian to ship north and sent Wu Xingde of Fengguo to escort them with more than a thousand soldiers and their families. At Heyin the troops mutinied, seized the weapons, killed the Khitan overseers, and made Xingde their leader; joining the Heyin garrison, they marched from Sishui to Heyang. The puppet governor Cui Tingxun resisted and was defeated; Xingde pursued him, Tingxun fled, and Xingde took the city. (Eastern Capital Outline, Biography of Wu Xingde: Captured by the Khitan, Xingde pretended to serve them and was sent north with several dozen officers to escort seized imperial armor. At Heyin he told the men, "Are we to become ghosts on the northern frontier?" The men, who had long respected him, answered, "We follow your lead." They attacked Mengzhou, routed Cui Tingxun, divided the treasury among the officers, and Xingde took charge of the prefecture. He sent his brother Xingyou to Jinyang to urge the emperor to take the throne.))〉 The puppet Western Capital regent Liu Xi abandoned Luoyang, fled south to Xuzhou, then to the Eastern Capital; Fang Tai, patrol commissioner of Luoyang, declared himself acting regent. Soon Fang Tai was killed by Wu Xingde. That day the Khitan general Geng Chongmei held Zezhou; Shi Hongzhao sent Ma Hui against him, and Chongmei fell back to Huaizhou. Cui Tingxun attacked Wu Xingde at Heyang with Khitan troops and defeated him in battle. Xiao Han of Bian sent the tribal general Gao Mouhan to escort Liu Xi back to Luoyang. When Mouhan arrived he killed the former Chunzhou governor Pan Huan in Luoyang. On xinwei Wu Xingde was made military governor of Heyang and Acting Grand Marshal and overall commander of the campaign horse and foot. On jiaxu Wang Shouen was made Acting Grand Marshal and the former Dizhou prefect Murong Yanchao was made military governor of Chunzhou and Acting Grand Guardian. On bingzi the Khitan ruler Yelü Deguang died at Luancheng in Zhen prefecture. At Zhenzhou Zhao Yanshou declared himself acting administrator of state affairs. On xinsi Zhao Hui was made Acting Grand Marshal, Hou Zhang Acting Grand Tutor, Wang Yan military governor of Jinzhou and Acting Grand Tutor, and Gao Yanqi prefect of Danzhou.
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