1
史宏肇，字化元，鄭州滎澤人也。 父潘，本田家。 宏肇少遊俠無行，拳勇健步，日行二百里，走及奔馬。 梁末，每七戶出一兵，宏肇在籍中，後隸本州開道都，選入禁軍。 嘗在晉祖麾下，遂留為親從，及踐阼，用為控鶴小校。 高祖鎮太原，奏請從行，升為牙校，後置武節左右指揮，以宏肇為都將，遙領雷州刺史。 高祖建號之初，代州王暉叛，以城歸契丹，宏肇征之，一鼓而拔，尋授許州節度使，充侍衛步軍都指揮使。 會王守恩以上黨求附，契丹主命大將耿崇美率眾登太行，欲取上黨，高祖命宏肇以軍應援。 軍至潞州，契丹退去，翟令奇以澤州迎降。 會河陽武行德遣人迎宏肇，遂率眾南下，與行德合。 故高祖由蒲、陜赴洛如歸，宏肇前鋒之功也。
Shi Hongzhao, whose courtesy name was Huayuan, came from Xingze in Zhengzhou. His father Pan had been a farmer by birth. As a young man Hongzhao lived as an unruly bravo—fierce with his fists and light on his feet, he could cover two hundred li in a day and keep pace with a galloping horse. In the closing years of the Liang, one man in seven households was drafted for service; Hongzhao was registered, later assigned to his prefecture's Kaidao command, and then chosen for the palace guard. He had served under the founding emperor of Jin and was kept on as a personal attendant; when that ruler took the throne, Hongzhao was made a junior officer in the Crane-Control guard. When Emperor Gaozu was stationed at Taiyuan, he requested that Hongzhao accompany him and promoted him to a staff captain; later, when the Left and Right Wujie commands were formed, Hongzhao was made their chief commander and given the nominal post of prefect of Leizhou. Early in Emperor Gaozu's reign, Wang Hui of Daizhou rebelled and handed his city over to the Khitan. Hongzhao attacked him and captured the place at the first stroke; he was soon made military governor of Xuzhou and commander of the palace guard infantry. When Wang Shou'en offered to surrender Shangdang, the Khitan ruler sent the general Geng Chongmei with an army over the Taihang passes to take the region. Emperor Gaozu ordered Hongzhao to march to its relief. When the army reached Luzhou, the Khitan withdrew, and Zhai Lingqi came out to surrender Zezhou. Wu Xingde of Heyang then sent envoys to welcome Hongzhao, who led his forces south to join him. It was thanks to Hongzhao's work as vanguard that Emperor Gaozu was able to advance from Pu and Shaan to Luoyang as smoothly as a man coming home.
2
宏肇嚴毅寡言，部轄軍眾，有過無舍，兵士所至，秋毫不犯。 部下有指揮使，嘗因指使少不從命，宏肇立撾殺之，將吏股栗，以至平定兩京，無敢幹忤。 從駕征鄴回，加同平章事，充侍衛親軍都指揮使，兼鎮宋州。 高祖大漸，與樞密使楊邠、周太祖、蘇逢吉等同受顧命。 隱帝嗣位，加檢校太師、兼侍中。 居無何，河中、永興、鳳翔連橫謀叛，關輔大擾，朝廷日有征發，群情憂揣，亦有不逞之徒，妄構虛語，流布京師。 宏肇都轄禁軍，警衛都邑，專行刑殺，略無顧避，無賴之輩，望風匿跡，路有遺棄，人不敢取。 然而不問罪之輕重，理之所在，但雲有犯，便處極刑，枉濫之家，莫敢上訴。 巡司軍吏，因緣為奸，嫁禍脅人，不可勝紀。 〈（《宋史·邊歸讜傳》：史宏肇怙權專殺，閭裏告訐成風，歸讜言曰：「邇來有匿名書及言風聞事，構害良善，有傷風化，遂使貪吏得以報復私怨，讒夫得以肆其虛誕。 請明行條制，禁遏誣妄，凡顯有披論，具陳姓名。 其匿名書及風聞事者，並見止絕。」 論者韙之。）〉 時太白晝見，民有仰觀者，為坊正所拘，立斷其腰領。 又有醉民抵忤一軍士，則誣以訛言棄市。 其他斷舌、決口、斫筋、折足者，僅無虛日。 故相李崧為部曲誣告，族戮於市，取其幼女為婢。 自是仕宦之家畜仆隸者，皆以姑息為意，而舊勛故將失勢之後，為廝養輩之所脅制者，往往有之。 軍司孔目吏解暉，性狡而酷，凡有推劾，隨意鍛煉。 人有抵軍禁者，被其苦楚，無不自誣以求死所，都人遇之，莫敢仰視。 有燕人何福殷者，以商販為業。 嘗以十四萬市得玉枕，遣家僮及商人李進賣於淮南，易茗而回。 家僮無行，隱福殷貨財數十萬，福殷責其償，不伏，遂杖之。 未幾，家僮詣宏肇上變，言契丹主之入汴也，趙延壽遣福殷賫玉枕陰遺淮南，以致誠意。 宏肇即日遣捕福殷等系之。 解暉希旨，榜掠備至，福殷自誣，連罪者數輩，並棄市。 妻女為宏肇帳下分取之，其家財籍沒。
Hongzhao was stern, resolute, and taciturn. He brooked no offense in the troops under his command, and his men would not touch so much as a blade of grass where they passed. Once a commandant under him refused a minor assignment; Hongzhao had him beaten to death on the spot. Officers and clerks shook with fear, and through the pacification of the two capitals no one dared defy him. After returning from the emperor's campaign against Ye, he was made a co-equal councilor, appointed commander of the palace guard, and given concurrent command of Songzhou. When Emperor Gaozu lay dying, Hongzhao received the emperor's final charge along with Yang Bin, commissioner of military affairs, Guo Wei, and Su Fengji. When Emperor Yindi came to the throne, Hongzhao was further honored as grand preceptor and made concurrent palace secretary. Before long Hezhong, Yongxing, and Fengxiang entered into a joint rebellion, throwing the Guanfu region into turmoil. The court issued levy after levy for campaigns, and the people grew anxious; meanwhile unruly elements spread wild rumors through the capital. Hongzhao commanded the palace guard and policed the capital, meting out executions without scruple. Ruffians hid at his approach, and even goods left in the street went untouched for fear of him. Yet he paid no heed to whether a crime was grave or slight or whether justice supported the charge—if anyone was said to have offended, he imposed the death penalty, and families who suffered wrongful punishment did not dare appeal. Patrol officers and military clerks used the occasion to practice every kind of villainy, framing the innocent and extorting the helpless—cases beyond numbering. (From the Biography of Bian Guiran in the 《History of Song》: Shi Hongzhao abused his power and killed at will, until neighborhood denunciation became epidemic. Guiran said, "Of late anonymous letters and hearsay reports have been used to destroy the innocent and corrupt public morals, allowing greedy officials to settle private scores and slanderers to spread their fabrications at will. I ask that clear regulations be issued to forbid false accusations, and that in every open accusation the accuser's name be recorded in full. Anonymous letters and hearsay reports should all be prohibited. Commentators approved of his proposal.))〉 When Venus appeared in daylight, any commoner who looked up to watch was seized by the ward head and beheaded on the spot. A drunken commoner who had brushed against a soldier was falsely accused of spreading sedition and put to death in the marketplace. Tongues cut out, mouths split open, sinews severed, feet broken—hardly a day passed without such punishments. The former chancellor Li Song was framed by his own retainers; his entire clan was executed in the marketplace, and his young daughter was taken as a servant girl. After this, official households who kept servants learned to indulge them, and it became common for descendants of once-powerful generals to be bullied and controlled by their own menials. Xie Hui, a military bureau clerk, was by nature cunning and cruel; in every case he investigated he fabricated evidence as he saw fit. Anyone who ran afoul of military law and fell into his hands confessed to whatever he wanted simply to be put out of his misery; people in the capital did not dare even meet his gaze. There was a man from Yan named He Fuyin who earned his living as a merchant. He once bought a jade pillow for one hundred forty thousand cash and sent his house slave and a merchant named Li Jin to sell it in Huainan, trading it for tea before returning. The house slave was dishonest and embezzled several hundred thousand of Fuyin's money; when Fuyin demanded repayment the slave refused, and Fuyin had him flogged. Before long the slave went to Hongzhao with a denunciation, claiming that when the Khitan ruler entered Bian, Zhao Yanshou had sent Fuyin with the jade pillow as a secret gift to Huainan to win their favor. Hongzhao that same day sent men to arrest Fuyin and the others and throw them into prison. Xie Hui, eager to please, tortured them without mercy until Fuyin confessed; several others implicated in the case were all executed in the marketplace. His wife and daughters were divided among Hongzhao's retainers, and his property was confiscated to the state.
3
宏肇不喜賓客，嘗言：「文人難耐，輕我輩，謂我輩為卒，可恨可恨！」 宏肇所領睢陽，其屬府公利，委親吏楊乙就府檢校，貪戾兇橫，負勢生事，吏民畏之，副戎已下，望風展敬。 聚劍刻剝，無所不至，月率萬緡，以輸宏肇，一境之內，嫉之如仇。 〈（《東都事略·薛居正傳》：史宏肇領侍衛親軍，威震人主，殘忍自恣，人莫敢忤其意。 其部下吏告民犯鹽禁，法當死。 居正疑其不實，召詰之，乃其吏以私憾而誣之也。 逮捕吏鞫之，具伏，以吏抵法。 宏肇雖怒甚，竟亦無以屈也。）〉 周太祖平河中班師，推功於眾，以宏肇有翊衛鎮重之功，言之於隱帝，即授兼中書令。 隱帝自關西賊平之後，昵近小人，太后親族，頗行幹托，宏肇與楊邠甚不平之。 太后有故人子求補軍職，宏肇怒而斬之。 帝始聽樂，賜教坊使玉帶，諸伶官錦袍，往謝宏肇，宏肇讓之曰：「健兒為國戍邊，忍寒冒暑，未能遍有沾賜，爾輩何功，敢當此賜！」 盡取袍帶還官，其兇戾如此。
Hongzhao disliked entertaining guests and once said, "Literary men are unbearable—they look down on men like us and call us common soldiers. Detestable, detestable!" Hongzhao governed Suiyang and entrusted its prefectural revenues to his intimate clerk Yang Yi, who inspected the accounts at the prefectural office. Greedy, cruel, and violent, Yang abused his master's power to make trouble; officials and commoners alike feared him, and even deputy commanders bowed low at his approach. He extorted and exploited without limit, sending ten thousand strings a month to Hongzhao, and throughout the region he was hated as bitterly as a mortal foe. (From the Biography of Xue Juzheng in the 《Eastern Capital Summary》: Shi Hongzhao commanded the palace guard, his power so great it awed the throne itself; cruel and willful, none dared cross him. One of his subordinate clerks reported a commoner for violating the salt monopoly, a capital offense. Juzheng doubted the charge, summoned the man, and questioned him; it turned out the clerk had framed him out of private spite. Juzheng arrested the clerk, interrogated him until he confessed fully, and had the clerk punished in his place. Hongzhao was furious, but in the end he could do nothing to override him.))〉 When Emperor Taizu of Zhou pacified Hezhong and returned with his army, he gave credit to his commanders and told Emperor Yindi that Hongzhao deserved recognition for guarding the throne and stabilizing the realm; the emperor thereupon made him concurrent Zhongshuling. After the rebellion in Guanxi was put down, Emperor Yindi grew close to petty favorites and the empress dowager's kin, who frequently used their influence to secure appointments; Hongzhao and Yang Bin were deeply displeased. When the empress dowager's old acquaintance sought a military post for his son, Hongzhao had the young man beheaded in a rage. When the emperor began patronizing music and gave the director of the music office a jade belt and brocade robes to the players, they went to thank Hongzhao. He rebuked them: "Our soldiers endure cold and heat on the frontier and cannot all receive such rewards—what have you done to deserve this!" He seized the robes and belt and returned them to the palace stores—such was his brutal arrogance.
4
周太祖有鎮鄴之命，宏肇欲兼領機樞之任，蘇逢吉異其議，宏肇忿之。 翌日，因竇貞固飲會，貴臣悉集，宏肇厲色舉爵屬周太祖曰：「昨晨廷論，一何同異！ 今日與弟飲此。」 楊邠、蘇逢吉亦舉大爵曰：「此國家之事也，何足介意！」 俱飲釂。 宏肇又厲聲言曰：「安朝廷，定禍亂，直須長槍大劍，至如毛錐子，焉足用哉！」 三司使王章曰：「雖有長槍大劍，若無毛錐子，贍軍財賦，自何而集？」 宏肇默然，少頃而罷。 未幾，三司使王章於其第張酒樂，時宏肇與宰相、樞密使及內客省使閻晉卿等俱會。 酒酣，為手勢令，宏肇不熟其事，而閻晉卿坐次宏肇，屢教之。 蘇逢吉戲宏肇曰：「近坐有姓閻人，何憂罰爵！」 宏肇妻閻氏，本酒妓也，宏肇謂逢吉譏之，大怒，以醜語詬逢吉。 逢吉不校，宏肇欲毆逢吉，逢吉策馬而去，宏肇遽起索劍，意欲追逢吉。 楊邠曰：「蘇公是宰相，公若害之，致天子何地，公細思之！」 邠泣下。 宏肇索馬急馳而去，邠慮有非常，連鑣而進，送至第而還。 自是將相不協如水火矣。 隱帝遣王峻將酒樂於公子亭以和之，竟不能解。 其後李業、郭允明、後贊、聶文進居中用事，不悅執政。 又見隱帝年漸長，厭為大臣所制，嘗有忿言，業等乃乘間譖宏肇等，隱帝稍以為信。 業等乃言宏肇等專權震主，終必為亂，隱帝益恐。 嘗一夕，聞作坊鍛甲之聲，疑外有兵仗卒至，達旦不寐。 自是與業等密謀禁中，欲誅宏肇等。 議定，入白太后，太后曰：「此事豈可輕發耶！ 更問宰臣等。」 李業在側，曰：「先皇帝言，朝廷大事，莫共措大商量。」 太后又言之，隱帝怒曰：「閨門之內，焉知國家之事！」 拂衣而出。 內客省使閻晉卿潛知其事，乃詣宏肇私第，將欲告之，宏肇以他事拒之不見。 乾祐三年冬十一月十三日，宏肇入朝，與樞密使楊邠、三司使王章同坐於廣政殿東廡下，俄有甲士數十人自內而出，害宏肇等於閣，夷其族。 先是，宏肇第數有異，嘗一日，於階砌隙中有煙氣蓬勃而出。 禍前二日昧爽，有星落於宏肇前三數步，如迸火而散，俄而被誅。 周太祖踐阼，追封鄭王，以禮葬，官為立碑。
When Emperor Taizu of Zhou was ordered to govern Ye, Hongzhao wanted to keep the military affairs commission for himself; Su Fengji disagreed, and Hongzhao bore a grudge. The next day, at a banquet given by Dou Zhengu with all the great ministers present, Hongzhao raised his cup with a dark expression and addressed Guo Wei: "Yesterday's debate in court—what a disagreement that was! Today let us drink this together, younger brother." Yang Bin and Su Fengji also raised their cups and said, "This is a matter of state—why take it to heart!" They all drained their cups. Hongzhao spoke up again in a harsh voice: "To secure the court and quell disorder you need long spears and great swords—what use are writing brushes!" Wang Zhang, commissioner of the three departments, replied, "You may have long spears and great swords, but without writing brushes, where would the funds and taxes to supply the army come from?" Hongzhao fell silent, and after a moment the gathering broke up. Before long Wang Zhang gave a banquet with wine and music at his residence, attended by Hongzhao, the chancellors, the commissioner of military affairs, and Yan Jinqing, commissioner of the inner service, among others. As the drinking warmed up they played a hand-gesture drinking game; Hongzhao did not know the rules, and Yan Jinqing, seated beside him, kept coaching him. Su Fengji teased Hongzhao: "You have a man surnamed Yan sitting right beside you—why worry about drinking a forfeit!" Hongzhao's wife was surnamed Yan and had once been a tavern entertainer; Hongzhao thought Fengji was mocking her, flew into a rage, and showered him with foul abuse. Fengji did not answer back, but Hongzhao tried to strike him; Fengji spurred his horse and fled while Hongzhao leaped up for a sword, intent on chasing him down. Yang Bin said, "Master Su is a chancellor—if you kill him, what will become of the emperor? Think carefully!" Bin wept as he spoke. Hongzhao seized a horse and galloped off; Bin, fearing worse trouble, rode after him in haste and escorted him home before returning. From that day the generals and chancellors were as incompatible as fire and water. Emperor Yindi sent Wang Jun with wine and music to the Prince's Pavilion to reconcile them, but the breach could not be healed. Afterward Li Ye, Guo Yuming, Hou Zan, and Nie Wenjin held sway within the palace and resented the chief ministers. They also saw that Emperor Yindi was growing older and resented being controlled by his ministers; when he spoke in anger, they seized the chance to slander Hongzhao and the others, and the emperor gradually came to believe them. They told the emperor that Hongzhao and his colleagues monopolized power, overshadowed the throne, and would surely bring rebellion; Emperor Yindi grew more afraid. One night he heard armor being hammered in the workshops, imagined that troops were about to march on the palace, and lay awake until dawn. From then on he plotted secretly within the palace with Ye and the others to kill Hongzhao and his colleagues. When the plan was set, he went to tell the empress dowager. She said, "How can you launch such a thing lightly! Consult the chancellors again first." Li Ye, standing beside him, said, "The late emperor said that great affairs of state must not be discussed with those fellows." The empress dowager spoke again, and Emperor Yindi flared up: "What does the inner quarters know of affairs of state!" He flung his sleeve and stormed out. Yan Jinqing, commissioner of the inner service, learned of the plot in secret and went to Hongzhao's house to warn him, but Hongzhao refused to see him, pleading other business. On the thirteenth day of the eleventh month of winter in the third year of Qianyou, Hongzhao came to court and sat with Yang Bin and Wang Zhang under the eastern veranda of the Guangzheng Hall. Suddenly several dozen armored soldiers emerged from within the palace, killed Hongzhao and his colleagues in the pavilion, and exterminated their families. Before this Hongzhao's residence had shown several omens; once smoke billowed up from a crack in the stone steps. Two days before his death, at dawn, a star fell a few paces before him and scattered like bursting flame; soon afterward he was killed. When Emperor Taizu of Zhou took the throne, he posthumously enfeoffed Hongzhao as Prince of Zheng, buried him with full honors, and had a stele erected at his tomb.
5
宏肇子德充，乾祐中，授檢校司空，領忠州刺史。 粗讀書，親儒者，常不悅父之所為。 貢院嘗錄一學科於省門叫噪，申中書門下，宰相蘇逢吉令送侍衛司，請痛笞刺面。 德充聞之，白父曰：「書生無禮，有府縣御史臺，非軍務治也。 公卿如此，蓋欲彰大人之過。」 宏肇深以為然，即破械放之。 後之識者尤嘉德充之為人焉。
Hongzhao's son Dechong, during the Qianyou reign, was made honorary Sikong and given Zhongzhou as his prefecture. He had some schooling, cultivated the company of scholars, and was often ashamed of his father's conduct. Once a group of examination candidates raised a disturbance at the provincial gate; the matter was reported to the Secretariat, and Chancellor Su Fengji ordered them sent to the palace guard for severe flogging and facial branding. When Dechong heard of this, he told his father, "These were unruly scholars—there are prefectural offices and the censorate to deal with them; this is not a matter for the military. If the high ministers act this way, they only make your faults more visible." Hongzhao saw the force of this and at once had their shackles removed and set them free. Later commentators especially praised Dechong's character.
6
楊邠，魏州冠氏人也。 少以吏給事使府，後唐租庸使孔謙，即其妻之世父也。 謙領度支，補勾押官，歷孟、華、鄆三州糧料使。 高祖為鄴都留守，用為左都押衙，高祖鎮太原，益加親委。 漢國建，遷檢校太保、權樞密使。 汴、洛平，正拜樞密使、檢校太傅。 及高祖大漸，與蘇逢吉、史宏肇等同受顧命，輔立嗣君。 隱帝即位，宰臣李濤上章，請出邠與周太祖為藩鎮，邠等泣訴於太后，由是罷濤而相邠，加中書侍郎兼吏部尚書、同平章事，仍兼樞密使。 時中書除吏太多，訛謬者眾。 及邠居相位，帝一以委之，凡南衙奏事，中書除命，先委邠斟酌，如不出邠意，至於一簿一掾，亦不聽從。 邠雖長於吏事，不識大體，常言：「為國家者，但得帑藏豐盈，甲兵強盛，至於文章禮樂，並是虛事，何足介意也。」 平河中，邠加右僕射。 邠既專國政，觸事苛細，條理煩碎。 前資官不得於外方居止，自京師至諸州府，行人往來，並須給公憑。 所由司求請公憑者，朝夕填咽，旬日之間，民情大擾，行路擁塞，邠乃止其事。 時史宏肇恣行慘酷，殺戮日眾，都人士庶，相目於路，邠但稱宏肇之善。 太后弟武德使李業求為宣徽使，隱帝與太后重違之，私訪於邠，邠以朝廷內使，遷拜有序，不可超居，遂止。 隱帝所愛耿夫人，欲立為後，邠亦以為太速。 夫人卒，隱帝欲以後禮葬，邠又止之，隱帝意不悅，左右有承間進甘言者，隱帝益怒之。 〈（案：此下疑有闕文。）〉 邠繕甲兵，實帑廩，俾國用不闕，邊鄙粗寧，亦其功也。 〈（《宣和書譜》云：邠末年留意縉紳，延客門下，知經史有用，乃課吏傳寫。）〉
Yang Bin came from Guanshi in Weizhou. In his youth he served as a clerk in a commissionerer's office; Kong Qian, Later Tang's grain-and-corvée commissioner, was his wife's uncle. When Qian headed the revenue bureau, Bin was appointed a checking clerk and served in turn as grain commissioner for Meng, Hua, and Yan prefectures. When Emperor Gaozu was military governor of Yedu, he made Bin his left chief military adjutant; when Gaozu took up his post at Taiyuan, he relied on him even more closely. When the Han state was founded, he was made honorary grand guardian and acting commissioner of military affairs. After Bian and Luoyang were pacified, he was formally appointed commissioner of military affairs and honorary grand mentor. When Emperor Gaozu lay dying, he received the final charge along with Su Fengji, Shi Hongzhao, and the others, and helped install the heir to the throne. When Emperor Yindi came to the throne, Chancellor Li Tao memorialized asking that Yang Bin and Guo Wei be sent out to govern border regions as military governors. Bin and his allies wept before the empress dowager; Tao was dismissed, Bin was made chancellor with the titles of vice director of the Secretariat, minister of personnel, and Tongpingzhangshi, and he retained the military affairs commission. At that time the Secretariat was appointing too many officials, and mistakes were common. Once Bin held the chancellorship, the emperor entrusted everything to him. Every report from the southern offices and every Secretariat appointment passed through Bin first; if it did not suit him, not even the smallest clerkship was approved. Bin was skilled in administration but lacked breadth of vision. He often said, "To govern a state you need only a full treasury and strong armies; literature, rites, and music are empty things—why bother with them?" After Hezhong was pacified, Bin was made right vice director of the Imperial Secretariat. Once Bin controlled the government, he was harsh and petty in every matter, piling regulation upon regulation. Former officials were forbidden to live outside the capital, and from the capital to every prefecture travelers had to carry official passes. The offices that issued the passes were overwhelmed day and night; within ten days the people were in an uproar and the roads jammed, and Bin abandoned the policy. Shi Hongzhao was killing freely and the executions multiplied daily; people in the capital exchanged fearful glances in the streets, yet Bin spoke only of Hongzhao's virtues. The empress dowager's brother Li Ye, Military Virtue Commissioner, sought the post of palace secretariat commissioner. Emperor Yindi and the empress dowager were reluctant to refuse and consulted Bin privately; Bin said inner-service posts had a fixed order of promotion and could not be skipped, and the appointment was blocked. The emperor wished to make his beloved Lady Geng empress; Bin thought it premature. When she died the emperor wished to bury her with empress honors; Bin again objected. The emperor was displeased, and when flatterers seized the chance to whisper in his ear, his anger at Bin only grew. (Note: Text below this point is believed missing.))〉 Bin repaired arms and filled the granaries, kept state finances solvent, and brought rough peace to the borders—these were his merits as well. (The 《Catalogue of Xuanhe Calligraphy》 says: In his later years Bin cultivated the company of scholars, kept guests at his door, recognized the value of the classics and histories, and set his clerks to copying them.))〉
7
王章，大名南樂人也。 少為吏，給事使府。 同光初，隸樞密院，後歸本郡，累職至都孔目官。 後唐清泰末，屯駐捧聖都虞候張令昭作亂，逐節度使劉延皓，自稱留後，章以本職為令昭役使。 末帝遣範延光討平之，搜索叛黨甚急。 章之妻即白文珂之女也，文珂與副招討李敬周善，以章為托。 及攻下逆城，敬周匿之，載於橐駝褚中，竄至洛下，匿於敬周之私第。 及末帝敗，章為省職，歷沔陽糧料使。 高祖典侍衛親軍，詔為都孔目官，從至河東，專委錢谷。 國初，授三司使、檢校太傅，從征杜重威於鄴下。 明年，高祖崩，隱帝即位，加檢校太尉、同平章事。 居無何，蒲、雍、岐三鎮畔。 是時，契丹犯闕之後，國家新造，物力未充。 章與周太祖、史宏肇、楊邠等盡心王室，知無不為，罷不急之務，惜無用之費，收聚財賦，專事西征，軍旅所資，供饋無乏。 及三叛平，賜與之外，國有餘積。 然以專於權利，剝下過當，斂怨歸上，物論非之。 舊制，秋夏苗租，民稅一斛，別輸二升，謂之「雀鼠耗」。 乾祐中，輸一斛者，別令輸二斗，目之為「省耗」。 百姓苦之。 又，官庫出納緡錢，皆以八十為陌，至是民輸者如舊，官給者以七十七為陌，遂為常式。 〈（《歸田錄》：用錢之法，自五代以來，以七十七為百，謂之「省陌」。 今市井交易，又克其五，謂之「依除」。）〉 民有訴田者，雖無十數戶，章必命全州覆視，幸其廣有苗額，以增邦賦，曾未數年，民力大困。 章與楊邠不喜儒士，郡官所請月俸，皆取不堪資軍者給之，謂之「閑雜物」，命所司高估其價，估定更添，謂之「擡估」，章亦不滿其意，隨事更令更添估。 章急於財賦，峻於刑法，民有犯鹽礬酒曲之令，雖絲毫滴瀝，盡處極刑。 吏緣為奸，民不堪命。
Wang Zhang came from Nanle in Daming. In his youth he served as a clerk in a commissionerer's office. Early in the Tongguang reign he served in the Bureau of Military Affairs; later he returned home and rose to chief registry clerk. At the end of the Qingtai reign in Later Tang, Zhang Lingzhao, assistant commander of the Sacred Guard garrison, rebelled, expelled Military Governor Liu Yanhao, and declared himself acting governor; Wang Zhang served him in his former capacity. The Last Emperor sent Fan Yanguang to put down the rebellion and hunted rebel associates relentlessly. Wang Zhang's wife was the daughter of Bai Wenke, who was friendly with Deputy Pacification Commissioner Li Jingzhou and asked him to protect Zhang. When the rebel city fell, Jingzhou hid him in a camel-load bag, smuggled him to Luoyang, and concealed him in his private house. After the Last Emperor's defeat, Zhang held a provincial post and served as grain commissioner of Mianyang. When Emperor Gaozu commanded the palace guard, Zhang was made chief registry clerk, accompanied him to Hedong, and was put in charge of finances and supplies. At the founding of the dynasty he was made commissioner of the three departments and honorary grand mentor, and joined the campaign against Du Chongwei at Ye. The following year Emperor Gaozu died and Emperor Yindi succeeded; Zhang was made honorary grand marshal and Tongpingzhangshi. Before long Pu, Yong, and Qi rebelled. The Khitan had lately sacked the capital, the dynasty was newly founded, and resources were scarce. Zhang, together with Guo Wei, Shi Hongzhao, Yang Bin, and others, devoted themselves wholly to the throne, cutting nonessential spending, gathering revenue, and focusing on the western campaign; the army was never short of supplies. When the three rebellions were put down, the state had surplus funds beyond rewards and gifts. Yet because he was obsessed with power and profit and squeezed the people too hard, popular resentment fell on the throne, and public opinion condemned him. Under the old system, for autumn and summer field rents the people paid an extra two sheng per hu of tax, called the "sparrow-and-rat allowance." During Qianyou, for each hu delivered the people had to pay an additional two dou, called the "provincial allowance." The people suffered bitterly under this. Official cash had long been counted at eighty per hundred; now the people still paid at eighty, but the government paid out at seventy-seven, and this became permanent practice. (The 《Record of Retirement》: Since the Five Dynasties, money has been counted at seventy-seven to the hundred, called "provincial per-hundred." In market trade today five more are deducted, called "rule-based deduction."))〉 When peasants sued over land, even if fewer than a dozen households were involved, Zhang ordered a full prefectural resurvey, hoping to expand the tax rolls and increase state revenue; within a few years the people were exhausted. Zhang and Yang Bin disliked scholars; prefectural officials' monthly salaries were paid in goods unfit for military use, called "miscellaneous goods." The responsible offices were ordered to overvalue them, then mark them up again—called "inflated valuation"—and Zhang was still not satisfied and ordered further mark-ups on every occasion. Zhang was frantic about revenue and harsh in law; violations of salt, alum, wine, or yeast monopolies, however slight, brought the death penalty. Officials used the laws to practice every kind of extortion, and the people could not endure it.
8
章與楊邠同郡，尤為親愛，其獎用進拔者，莫非鄉舊。 常輕視文臣，曰：「此等若與一把算子，未知顛倒，何益於事！」 後因私第開宴席，召賓客，史宏肇、蘇逢吉乘醉喧詬而罷。 章自是忽忽不樂，潛求外任。 邠與宏肇深沮其意。 而私第數有怪異，章愈懷憂恐。 乾祐三年冬，與史宏肇、楊邠等遇害，夷其族。 妻白氏，禍前數月而卒。 無子，惟一女，適戶部員外郎張貽肅，羸疾逾年，扶病就戮。
Zhang and Yang Bin were from the same commandery and were especially close; everyone Zhang promoted was a fellow townsman. He often despised civil officials and said, "Give these fellows an abacus and they would not know which end is up—what use are they?" Later he gave a banquet at his home; Shi Hongzhao and Su Fengji, drunk, shouted abuse and the party broke up in disorder. After this Zhang grew depressed and secretly sought a post outside the capital. Bin and Hongzhao firmly blocked his wish. Strange omens appeared repeatedly at his house, and Zhang grew ever more fearful. In winter of the third year of Qianyou he was killed along with Shi Hongzhao, Yang Bin, and the others, and his clan was exterminated. His wife, née Bai, had died several months before the massacre. He had no sons, only a daughter married to Zhang Yisu of the Ministry of Revenue; ill for more than a year, she was dragged to execution while barely able to stand.
9
閻晉卿者，忻州人也。 家世富豪，少仕並門，歷職至客將，高祖在鎮，頗見信用。 乾祐中，歷閣門使，判四方館。 未幾，關西亂，郭從義討趙思綰於京兆，晉卿偏師以攻賊壘。 〈（《宋史·李韜傳》：周祖征三叛，韜從白文珂攻河中，兵傅其城。 文珂夜詣周祖議犒軍，留韜城下。 時營柵未備，李守貞乘虛來襲，營中忽見火發，知賊驟至，惶怖失據。 客省使閻晉卿率左右數十人，遇韜於月城側，謂韜曰：「事急矣。 城中人悉被黃紙甲，為火光所照，色俱白，此殊易辨，奈軍士無鬥志何！」 韜憤怒曰：「豈有食君祿而不為國致死耶！」 即援槊而進，軍中死士十餘輩，隨韜犯賊鋒。 蒲有猛將，躍馬持戈擬韜，韜刺之，洞胸而墜，又連殺數十人，蒲軍遂潰，因擊大破之。）〉 賊平，為內客省使，丁父憂，起復前職。 時宣徽使闕，晉卿以職次事望，合當其任，既而久稽拜命，晉卿頗怨執政。 會李業等謀殺楊、史，詔晉卿謀之。 晉卿退詣宏肇，將告其事，宏肇不見。 晉卿憂事不果，夜懸高祖御容於中堂，泣禱於前，遲明戎服入朝。 內難既作，以晉卿權侍衛馬軍都指揮使。 北郊兵敗，晉卿乃自殺於家。
Yan Jinqing came from Xinzhou. His family had been wealthy for generations. He entered service young at Taiyuan, rose to guest general, and won Emperor Gaozu's trust when Gaozu governed there. During Qianyou he served as gate commissioner and director of the Four Quarters Office. Before long Guanxi rebelled; Guo Congyi campaigned against Zhao Sijian at Jingzhao, and Jinqing led a detached force against the rebel camps. (From the Biography of Li Tao in the 《History of Song》: When the Zhou founder campaigned against the three rebellions, Tao followed Bai Wenke in attacking Hezhong and pressed the army against its walls. Wenke went by night to discuss army rewards with the Zhou founder and left Tao below the walls. The camp palisade was not yet finished when Li Shouzhen attacked by surprise; fire broke out in the camp, the men knew the enemy was upon them, and panic seized them. Guest-reception Commissioner Yan Jinqing led several dozen men, met Tao by the moon wall, and said, "This is urgent. Everyone in the city wears yellow-paper armor; in the firelight it all looks white and is easy to tell apart—but what can we do when the soldiers have no will to fight!" Tao said angrily, "How can men who eat the ruler's grain refuse to die for the state!" He seized his spear and charged forward; a dozen die-hard soldiers followed him into the enemy line. A fierce Hezhong general spurred his horse and leveled his halberd at Tao; Tao ran him through the chest and he fell; Tao killed several dozen more in succession, the Hezhong army broke, and the attackers won a great victory.))〉 After the rebels were defeated he was made commissioner of the inner service; when his father died he mourned, then was recalled to his former post. The post of palace secretariat commissioner was vacant; by seniority Jinqing expected it, but the appointment was long delayed and he resented the chief ministers. When Li Ye and others plotted to kill Yang Bin and Shi Hongzhao, the emperor ordered Jinqing to take part. Jinqing withdrew and went to warn Hongzhao, but Hongzhao refused to see him. Fearing the plot would succeed, Jinqing hung Emperor Gaozu's portrait in his hall that night and wept before it in prayer; at dawn he entered court in armor. When the palace coup began, Jinqing was made acting commander of the palace guard cavalry. When the army was defeated at the northern suburb, Jinqing killed himself at home.
10
聶文進，并州人。 少給事於高祖帳下，高祖鎮太原，甚見委用，職至兵馬押司官。 高祖入汴，授樞密院承旨，歷領軍、屯衛大將軍，遷右衛大將軍，仍領舊職。 遇周太祖出征，稍至驕橫，久未遷改，深所怨望，與李業輩構成變亂。 史宏肇等遇害之前夕，文進與同黨預作宣詔，制置朝廷之事，凡關文字，並出文進之手。 明日難作，文進點閱兵籍，征發軍眾，指揮取舍，以為己任，內外咨稟，前後填咽。 太祖在鄴被構，初謂文進不預其事，驗其事跡，方知文進亂階之首也，大詬詈之。 太祖過封丘，帝次於北郊，文進告太后曰：「臣在此，請宮中勿憂。」 兵散之後，文進召同黨痛飲，歌笑自若。 遲明，帝遇禍，文進奔竄，為軍士所追，梟其首。
Nie Wenjin was from Bingzhou. In youth he served in Emperor Gaozu's household; when Gaozu governed Taiyuan he was greatly trusted and rose to horse-and-army custody clerk. When Gaozu entered Bian he was made director of the Bureau of Military Affairs, served as army general and garrison guard general, was promoted to right guard general, and retained his former duties. When Guo Wei went on campaign Wenjin grew arrogant; long without promotion, he nursed a deep grievance and with Li Ye and others engineered the coup. On the eve of Shi Hongzhao's murder, Wenjin and his allies drafted proclamations in advance and arranged court affairs; every document came from Wenjin's hand. The next day, when the coup broke out, Wenjin inspected the rolls, mobilized troops, and directed everything himself; the court was overwhelmed with his orders. When Guo Wei at Ye was framed, he first thought Wenjin was innocent; when he verified the facts he learned Wenjin had been the chief instigator and cursed him bitterly. As Guo Wei passed Fengqiu, the emperor camped at the northern suburb; Wenjin told the empress dowager, "I am here—there is no need for alarm within the palace." After the army broke up, Wenjin summoned his allies for a drunken feast, singing and laughing as if nothing had happened. At dawn the emperor was killed; Wenjin fled, was pursued by soldiers, and his head was displayed.
11
後贊，為飛龍使。 贊母本倡家也，與父同郡，往來其家，生贊。 從職四方，父未嘗離郡，贊既長，疑其所生。 及為內職，不欲父之來，寓書以致其意。 父自郡至京師，直抵其第，贊不得已而奉之。 乾祐末，宰相楊祐、侍衛親軍使史宏肇執權，贊以久次未遷，頗懷怨望，乃與樞密承旨聶文進等構變。 及難作，贊與同黨更侍帝側，剖判戎事，且防間言。 北郊兵敗，贊竄歸兗州，慕容彥超執之以獻，有司鞫贊伏罪，周太祖命誅之。
Hou Zan served as commissioner of the Flying Dragon guard. Zan's mother had been an entertainer; his father, from the same commandery, visited her house, and Zan was born. The father served in posts across the realm but never left their home commandery; when Zan grew up he doubted his parentage. Once he held an inner-service post he did not want his father to visit and sent a letter to make this clear. His father came from the commandery to the capital, went straight to his house, and Zan had no choice but to receive him. At the end of Qianyou, Chancellor Yang Bin and Palace Guard Commander Shi Hongzhao held power; Zan, long passed over for promotion, nursed a grievance and joined Military Affairs Director Nie Wenjin and others in plotting the coup. When the coup broke out, Zan and his allies attended the emperor in shifts, directed military affairs, and guarded against rumors. After the defeat at the northern suburb, Zan fled to Yanzhou; Murong Yanchao seized him and handed him over; the courts tried him until he confessed, and Emperor Taizu of Zhou ordered his execution.
12
郭允明者，小名竇十，河東人也。 幼隸河東制置使範徽柔，被誅，允明遂為高祖廝養，服勤既久，頗得高祖之歡心。 高祖鎮太原，稍歷牙職，及即位，累遷至翰林茶酒使兼鞍轡庫使。 隱帝嗣位，尤見親狎，每恃寵驕縱，略無禮敬。 與相州節度使郭謹以同宗之故，頗交結。 謹在鎮，允明常賫禦酒以遺之，不以僭上犯禁為意。 其他輕率，悉皆類此，執政大臣頗姑息之。 嘗奉使荊南，車服導從，有同節度使將，州縣郵驛，奔馳畏懾，節度使高保融承迎不暇。 允明潛使人步度城壁之高庳、池隍之廣隘，以動荊人，冀得重賄。 乾祐末，兼飛龍使。 未幾，與李業輩構變，楊邠等諸子，允明親刃之於朝堂西廡下。 王章女婿戶部員外郎張貽肅，血流逆註，聞者哀之。 及北郊之敗，允明迫帝就民舍，手行弒逆，尋亦自殺。
Guo Yuming, nicknamed Dou Ten, was from Hedong. As a boy he served Military Commissioner Fan Huirou of Hedong; when Fan was executed, Yuming became Emperor Gaozu's household servant, and after long loyal service won the emperor's favor. When Gaozu governed Taiyuan he rose through staff posts; at his accession Yuming was promoted to Hanlin tea-and-wine commissioner and commissioner of the saddle and bridle storehouse. When Emperor Yindi succeeded, Yuming became especially intimate with him; trusting in favor, he was arrogant and showed no respect. He was on close terms with Guo Jin, military governor of Xiangzhou, because they shared a clan name. While Jin governed his region, Yuming often sent him imperial wine as gifts without a thought for the crime of misusing the emperor's property. His other reckless acts were all of this sort, and the chief ministers largely indulged him. Once on a mission to Jingnan his carriage, dress, and escort rivaled a military governor's; prefectures and postal stations scrambled in fear, and Military Governor Gao Baorong could barely keep pace with his receptions. Yuming secretly sent men to measure the height of the walls and the breadth of the moats to intimidate the people of Jingnan, hoping for heavy bribes. At the end of Qianyou he was also made commissioner of the Flying Dragon guard. Before long he joined Li Ye and others in the coup; Yang Bin and his colleagues Yuming killed with his own hand under the western veranda of the court hall. Wang Zhang's son-in-law Zhang Yisu of the Ministry of Revenue bled so profusely that blood seemed to flow backward; all who heard of it were moved to pity. After the defeat at the northern suburb, Yuming forced the emperor into a commoner's house and murdered him with his own hand; soon afterward he killed himself as well.
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劉銖，陜州人也。 少事梁邵王朱友誨為牙將。 晉天福中，高祖為侍衛親軍都指揮使，與銖有舊，乃表為內職。 高祖出鎮並門，用為左都押牙。 銖性慘毒好殺，高祖以為勇斷類己，深委遇之。 國初，授永興軍節度使，從定汴、洛、移鎮青州，加同平章事。 隱帝即位，加檢校太師、兼侍中。 銖立法深峻，令行禁止，吏民有過，不問輕重，未嘗貸免。 每親事，小有忤旨，即令倒曳而出，至數百步外方止，膚體無完者。 每杖人，遣雙杖對下，謂之「合歡杖」； 或杖人如其歲數，謂之「隨年杖」。 在任擅行賦斂，每秋苗一畝率錢三千，夏苗一畝錢二千，以備公用，部內畏之，脅肩重跡。 乾祐中，淄、青大蝗，銖下令捕蝗，略無遺漏，田苗無害。 先是，濱海郡邑，皆有兩浙回易務，厚取民利，自置刑禁，追攝王民，前後長吏利其厚賂，不能禁止。 銖即告所部，不得與吳越征負，擅行追攝，浙人惕息，莫敢幹命。 朝廷懼銖之剛戾難制，因前浙州刺史郭瓊自海州用兵還，過青州，遂留之，即以府彥卿代銖，銖即時受代。 〈（《隆平集》《郭瓊傳》云：劉銖守平盧，稱疾不朝，隱帝疑其叛，詔瓊領兵屯青州。 銖將害之，張宴伏兵幕下，瓊無懼色，銖亦不敢發。 瓊為言去就禍福，銖趨召。）〉 離鎮之日，有私鹽數屋，雜以糞穢，填塞諸井，以土平之。 彥卿發其事以聞，銖奉朝請久之，每潛戟手於史宏肇、楊邠第。 會李業輩同誅宏肇等，銖喜，謂業輩曰：「君等可謂僂羅兒矣。」 尋以銖權知開封府事，周太祖親族及王峻家，並為銖所害。 周太祖入京城，執之下獄。 銖謂妻曰：「我則死矣，君應與人為婢耳！」 妻曰：「明公所為如是，雅合為之。」 周太祖遣人讓銖曰：「昔日與公常同事漢室，寧無故人之情，家屬屠滅，公雖奉君命，加之酷毒，一何忍哉！ 公家亦有妻子，還顧念否？」 銖但稱死罪。 遂啟太后，並一子誅之，而釋其妻。 周太祖踐阼，詔賜銖妻陜州莊宅各一區。 〈（《五代史闕文》：漢隱帝朝，銖為開封尹，周祖自鄴起兵，銖盡誅周祖之家子孫婦女十數人，極其慘毒。 及隱帝遇害，周祖以漢太后令，收銖下獄，使人責之。 銖對曰：「某為漢家戮叛族耳，不知其他。」 周祖怒，遂殺之。）〉
Liu Zhu came from Shaanzhou. In his youth he served Prince Shao of Liang, Zhu Youhui, as a staff general. During the Tianfu reign of Jin, when Emperor Gaozu was commander of the palace guard, he and Zhu were old acquaintances, and Gaozu recommended him for an inner-service post. When Gaozu was posted to govern Taiyuan, Zhu was made his left chief military adjutant. Zhu was cruel and bloodthirsty by nature; Gaozu thought him bold and resolute like himself and relied on him deeply. At the dynasty's founding he was made military governor of Yongxing; he helped pacify Bian and Luoyang, was transferred to Qingzhou, and made Tongpingzhangshi. When Emperor Yindi came to the throne, Zhu was made honorary grand preceptor and concurrent palace secretary. Zhu's laws were harsh and strictly enforced; officials and commoners alike who offended, whether gravely or slightly, were never spared. Whenever he handled a case in person, the slightest offense would bring an order to drag the offender head-down for hundreds of paces; not an inch of skin was left whole. When he flogged someone, he had two clubs strike together, calling it the "joyous union flogging"; or he flogged a man once for each year of his age, calling it the "age-matching flogging." In office he levied taxes at will—three thousand cash per acre of autumn crop and two thousand per acre of summer crop for public expenses. His domain feared him; men walked with hunched shoulders and heavy tread. During Qianyou a great locust plague struck Zi and Qing; Zhu ordered a locust hunt so thorough that scarcely one escaped, and the crops were saved. Coastal districts had long housed exchange offices of the Two Zhe, which extorted the people, enforced their own punishments, and seized imperial subjects at will; successive governors took their heavy bribes and could not stop them. Zhu at once forbade his jurisdiction to collect debts for Wu and Yue or to pursue people on their behalf; the Zhe merchants held their breath in fear and none dared defy him. The court feared Zhu's brutal obstinacy; when former Zhe Prefect Guo Qiong returned from campaigning at Haizhou and passed through Qingzhou, he was kept there and Fu Yanqing replaced Zhu, who accepted the transfer at once. (The 《Longping Collection》, Biography of Guo Qiong, says: Liu Zhu held Pinglu, claimed illness, and refused to come to court; Emperor Yindi suspected rebellion and ordered Qiong to encamp at Qingzhou with troops. Zhu planned to kill him and set an ambush beneath the banquet tent, but Qiong showed no fear, and Zhu did not dare strike. Qiong spoke to him of the consequences of staying or leaving, and Zhu hurried to obey the summons.))〉 On the day he left his post he had several rooms of illicit salt mixed with filth, filled every well with it, and covered them with earth. Yanqing exposed the affair and reported it; Zhu attended court for a long time as a court gentleman and would secretly clench his fists outside the homes of Shi Hongzhao and Yang Bin. When Li Ye and his allies killed Hongzhao and the others, Zhu rejoiced and told them, "You fellows have shown yourselves true hard men." Soon Zhu was made acting prefect of Kaifeng; he murdered the kin of Guo Wei and the household of Wang Jun. When Guo Wei entered the capital, Zhu was arrested and thrown into prison. Zhu told his wife, "I am as good as dead—you will have to become someone's servant girl!" His wife replied, "Given what you have done, my lord, it is only fitting." Guo Wei sent a man to rebuke Zhu: "We once served the Han house together—was there no bond of old friendship? You slaughtered my family; though you followed the emperor's order, to add such cruelty—how could you be so ruthless! You have a wife and children of your own—have you no thought for them?" Zhu could only plead guilty and await death. He then reported to the empress dowager, executed Zhu and one son, but released his wife. When Emperor Taizu of Zhou took the throne, he decreed that Zhu's wife be given an estate and a residence in Shaanzhou. (The 《Supplementary Texts to the History of the Five Dynasties》: During Emperor Yindi's reign Zhu was prefect of Kaifeng; when the Zhou founder raised troops from Ye, Zhu slaughtered more than a dozen of Guo Wei's kin, men and women alike, with extreme cruelty. After Emperor Yindi was killed, Guo Wei, by order of the Han empress dowager, arrested Zhu and sent a man to rebuke him. Zhu replied, "I merely executed a rebel clan for the house of Han—I know nothing beyond that." Guo Wei in anger had him killed.))〉
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史臣曰：臣觀漢之亡也，豈系於天命哉！ 蓋委用不得其人，聽斷不符於理故也。 且如宏肇之淫刑，楊邠之秕政，李業、晉卿之設計，文進、允明之狂且，雖使成王為君，周公作相，亦不能保宗社之安，延歲月之命，況隱帝、逢吉之徒，其能免乎！ 《易》曰：「大君有命，開國承家，小人勿用，必亂邦也。」 當乾祐之末也，何斯言之驗歟！ 惟劉銖之忍酷，又安能逭於一死乎！
The historian comments: In my view, was the fall of Han really a matter of Heaven's mandate? Rather, the wrong men were put in power, and decisions no longer accorded with reason. Consider Hongzhao's savage punishments, Yang Bin's worthless governance, the plots of Li Ye and Jinqing, the reckless arrogance of Wenjin and Yuming—even with King Cheng on the throne and the Duke of Zhou as chancellor, the dynasty could not have been saved; how then could Emperor Yindi, Fengji, and men like them have escaped ruin! The 《Book of Changes》 says: "The great ruler has a mandate to found states and establish families—petty men must not be employed, for they will surely bring the state to ruin." At the end of Qianyou, how fully those words were fulfilled! As for Liu Zhu's cruelty, how could he have escaped death?