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楊行密，廬州人。 少孤貧，有膂力，日行三百里。 唐中和之亂，天子幸蜀，郡將遣行密徒步奏事，如期而復。 〈（《北夢瑣言》：鄭綮嘗典楊行密為本州步奏官。）〉 光啟初，秦宗權擾淮右，頻寇廬、壽，郡將募能致戰擒賊者，計級賞之，行密以膽力應募，往必有獲，得補為隊長。 行密乃自募百餘人，皆璟勇無行者，殺都將，自權州兵，郡將即以符印付之而去，朝廷因正授行密廬州刺史。
Yang Xingmi was a native of Luzhou. He lost his parents early and grew up poor, but he was powerfully built and could cover three hundred li on foot in a single day. During the Tang Zhonghe disorders, when the emperor fled to Shu, the local commander sent Xingmi on foot to deliver reports to the court, and he returned exactly on time. (The 《Beimeng Suoyan》 records that Zheng Zhen and Yang Xingmi had once both served as foot couriers for their prefecture.)〉 Early in Guangqi, Qin Zongquan ravaged the Huai region and repeatedly struck Luzhou and Shouzhou. The prefect recruited men who could fight and bring back prisoners, paying by the head. Xingmi enlisted on the strength of his nerve and brawn; every sortie brought captures, and he was made a squad leader. Xingmi then raised over a hundred men of his own, every one a ferocious fighter who would not keep ranks. They killed the garrison commander and took command of the prefectural army. The prefect surrendered his seal and left, and the court formally appointed Xingmi prefect of Luzhou.
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光啟三年，揚州節度使高駢失政，委任妖人呂用之輩。 牙將畢師鐸懼為用之所譖，自高郵起兵以襲廣陵，為用之所卻，乃乞師於宣州秦彥，且言事克之日，願以揚州帥之。 彥先遣將秦稠以兵三千人助師鐸攻陷廣陵，高駢署師鐸為行軍司馬。 未幾，秦彥率大眾並家屬渡江，入揚州軍府，自稱節度使。 初，揚州未陷，呂用之詐為高駢檄，征兵於廬州，及城陷，行密以萬人奄至。 畢師鐸之入廣陵也，呂用之出奔於外，至是委質於行密。 行密攻廣陵，營於大明寺，秦、畢出兵以攻行密之營，短兵才接，行密偽遁，秦、畢之兵爭入其柵，以取金帛，行密發伏兵以擊之，秦、畢大敗，退走其壁，自是不復出戰。 其年九月，秦、畢害高駢於幽所，少長皆死，同坎痤於道院北垣下。 行密攻圍彌急，城中食盡，米斗四十千，居人相啖略盡。 十月，城陷，秦、畢走東塘，行密入廣陵，輦外寨之粟以食饑民，即日米價減至三千。 十一月，蔡賊孫儒以眾萬人自淮西奄至，還據外寨，行密輜重牛羊軍食未入城者，皆為儒所有。 時秦、畢來自東塘，與儒軍合，自是西門之外，復為敵境矣。 初，呂用之遇行密於天長，紿行密曰：「用之有白金五千鋌，瘞於所居之廡下，寇平之日，願備將士倡樓一醉之資。」 至是，行密閱兵，用之在側，謂用之曰：「僕射許此輩銀，何負心也！」 遽命斬於三橋之下，夷其族。 行密既有廣陵，遣使至大梁，陳歸附之意。 是時，梁祖兼領淮南，乃遣牙將張廷範使於淮南，與行密結盟，尋遣行軍司馬李璠權知淮南留後，令都將郭言以兵援送。 行密初則厚禮廷範，及聞李璠之行，勃然有拒命之意。 廷範懼，易衣夜遁，遇梁祖於宋州，備言行密不軌之心，酌其兵勢未可圖也，乃追李璠等還，即表行密為淮南留後。
In the third year of Guangqi, Gao Pian, military governor of Yangzhou, misgoverned and put his trust in charlatans like Lü Yongzhi. Guards general Bi Shiduo, fearing Lü Yongzhi would frame him, marched from Gaoyou against Guangling but was driven back. He then asked Qin Yan of Xuanzhou for reinforcements, promising that if they won, Yan could have the Yangzhou command. Yan first sent Qin Chou with three thousand men to help Shiduo take Guangling. Gao Pian named Shiduo acting army marshal. Soon afterward Qin Yan crossed the Yangzi at the head of a large force, families in tow, seized the Yangzhou headquarters, and declared himself military governor. Before Yangzhou fell, Lü Yongzhi had forged an order in Gao Pian's name to raise troops in Luzhou. When the city collapsed, Xingmi swept in with ten thousand men. When Bi Shiduo took Guangling, Lü Yongzhi had fled into the countryside; now he surrendered to Xingmi. Xingmi besieged Guangling and pitched camp at Daming Temple. Qin and Bi attacked his lines; at the first clash Xingmi pretended to flee. Their men stormed his camp for loot, and his ambushers cut them down. Qin and Bi were routed back to their walls and never offered battle again. That September, Qin and Bi murdered Gao Pian in confinement, killing his household to the last, and buried them together in a single pit below the north wall of the abbey. Xingmi tightened the siege until the city was starving; rice sold for forty thousand cash a dou, and the people had nearly eaten one another. In the tenth month the city fell. Qin and Bi fled to Dongtang while Xingmi entered Guangling, hauled grain from the outer camps to feed the hungry, and the same day rice fell to three thousand cash a dou. In the eleventh month the Cai bandit Sun Ru swept in from west of the Huai with ten thousand men, seized the outer camps again, and took everything Xingmi had left outside the walls—baggage, livestock, and army stores. Qin and Bi now came up from Dongtang and joined Sun Ru, so everything beyond the west gate was enemy country once more. Earlier, at Tianchang, Lü Yongzhi had told Xingmi a lie: he claimed five thousand ingots of silver were buried under his quarters and promised that once the rebels were crushed he would pay for a feast for the whole army." Now, as Xingmi reviewed the troops with Yongzhi beside him, he said, "You promised these men silver, Vice Director—where is your word?" He had him beheaded at once below the Three Bridges and wiped out his family. After Xingmi secured Guangling, he sent envoys to Daliang to declare his submission. The Liang Founder then held Huainan as well. He sent guards officer Zhang Tingfan to ally with Xingmi, then dispatched acting army marshal Li Fan as provisional regent of Huainan, with commander Guo Yan escorting him at the head of an army. Xingmi first received Tingfan with full honors, but when he learned Li Fan was coming he flared up and made clear he would not obey. Tingfan, terrified, changed clothes and fled by night. He met the Liang Founder at Songzhou and reported Xingmi's rebellious mood. Judging that Xingmi's forces could not yet be crushed, the Founder recalled Li Fan and memorialized to make Xingmi Huainan regent.
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文德元年正月，孫儒殺秦彥、畢師鐸於高郵，引軍襲廣陵，下之，儒自稱節度使，行密收其眾歸於廬江。 十一月，梁祖遣大將龐師古自潁上渡淮，討孫儒之亂，師古引兵深入淮甸，不利，還。 龍紀元年，孫儒出攻宣州，行密乘虛襲據揚州，北通時溥，孫儒引兵復攻行密。 大順元年，行密危蹙，率眾夜遁，出據宣州，儒復入揚州。 二年，乃蒐練兵甲以攻行密，屬江、淮疾疫，師人多死，儒亦臥病，為部下所執，送於行密，殺之。 行密自宣城長驅入於廣陵，盡得孫儒之眾。 自光啟末，高駢失守之後，行密與畢師鐸、秦彥、孫儒遞相窺圖，六七年中，兵革競起，八州之內，鞠為荒榛，圜幅數百里，人煙斷絕。 行密既並孫儒，乃招合遺散，與民休息，政事寬簡，百姓便之，蒐兵練將，以圖霸道。 所得孫儒之眾，皆淮南之驍果也，選五千人豢養於府第，厚其衣食，驅之既戰，靡不爭先。 甲胄皆以黑繒飾之，命曰「黑雲都」。
In the first month of Wende 1, Sun Ru killed Qin Yan and Bi Shiduo at Gaoyou, stormed and took Guangling, and declared himself military governor. Xingmi gathered what forces he could and fell back to Lujiang. In the eleventh month the Liang Founder sent Pang Shigu from Yingshang across the Huai against Sun Ru. Shigu pushed deep into the Huai country, met reverses, and withdrew. In Longji 1, Sun Ru marched on Xuanzhou. Xingmi seized the opening, stormed Yangzhou, and allied northward with Shi Pu. Sun Ru turned back to attack him. In Dashun 1, Xingmi was hard pressed, broke out by night, and held Xuanzhou while Ru reoccupied Yangzhou. The next year he mustered arms to strike Xingmi again, but plague swept the Jiang-Huai country and decimated his army. Ru himself fell ill, was seized by his own men, handed to Xingmi, and executed. Xingmi swept from Xuancheng into Guangling and absorbed Sun Ru's entire army. From late Guangqi, after Gao Pian's fall, Xingmi, Bi Shiduo, Qin Yan, and Sun Ru had eyed one another's territories in turn. For six or seven years war never stopped; across eight prefectures the land turned to wilderness, and for hundreds of li in every direction no smoke rose from any hearth. After defeating Sun Ru, Xingmi gathered the displaced, gave the people respite, and ruled with a light hand that the common folk welcomed. He rebuilt his armies and trained his commanders, aiming at supremacy. Sun Ru's soldiers were the hardiest fighters in Huainan. Xingmi picked five thousand, housed them in his mansion, fed and clothed them lavishly, and whenever he sent them into battle they fought to be first. Their armor was trimmed in black silk, and he named them the Black Cloud Corps.
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乾寧二年，行密盡有淮南之地，昭宗乃降制授行密淮南節度副大使知節度事、管內營田觀察處置等使、開府儀同三司、檢校太傅、同中書門下平章事、兼揚州大都督府長史、上柱國、宏農郡王，食邑三千戶，食實封一百戶。 四年，梁祖平兗、鄆，朱瑾及沙陀將李承嗣、史儼等皆奔淮南，行密待之優厚，任以為將，瑾與承嗣皆位至方伯。 是歲，行密縱兵侵掠鄰部，兩浙錢镠、江西鐘傳、鄂州杜洪皆遣使求救於梁。 梁祖遣朱友恭率部騎萬人渡江，取便討伐。 行密先令都將翟章據黃州，及梁師至，即棄郡南渡，固守武昌寨，行密遣將馬珣以精兵五千助之，友恭與杜洪大破其眾，遂拔武昌寨，擒翟章並淮軍三千餘人，獲馬五百匹，淮夷大恐。 八月，梁祖遣葛從周領步騎萬人自霍丘渡淮，遣龐師古率大軍營於清口。 淮人決堰縱水，流潦大至。 又令朱瑾率勁兵以襲汴軍，汴軍大敗，師古死之。 葛從周聞師古之敗，自濠梁班師，至淠河，為淮人所乘，諸軍僅得北歸。
In Qianning 2, Xingmi held all of Huainan. Emperor Zhaozong issued an edict making him vice military governor of Huainan with full authority, commissioner of farming, observation, and disposal, Bearer of the Golden Bellow, acting Grand Mentor, Grand Councillor, concurrent administrator of Yangzhou metropolis, Pillar of the State, and Prince of Hongnong, with a nominal fief of three thousand households and a substantive enfeoffment of one hundred. In the fourth year the Liang Founder conquered Yan and Yun. Zhu Jin and the Shatuo officers Li Chengsi and Shi Yan fled to Huainan. Xingmi received them generously, made them generals, and Jin and Chengsi both rose to regional lord rank. That year Xingmi's armies raided his neighbors. Qian Liu of the two Zhes, Zhong Chuan of Jiangxi, and Du Hong of Ezhou all sent envoys to the Liang for help. The Liang Founder sent Zhu Yougong with ten thousand horsemen across the Yangzi to strike wherever he could. Xingmi had posted commander Zhai Zhang at Huangzhou, but when the Liang army came Zhang abandoned the city, crossed south, and held Wuchang Stockade. Xingmi sent Ma Xun with five thousand picked men to reinforce him. Yougong and Du Hong routed them, took the stockade, captured Zhai Zhang and more than three thousand Huai soldiers, seized five hundred horses, and panic spread through Huainan. In the eighth month the Liang Founder sent Ge Congzhou with ten thousand foot and horse from Huoqiu across the Huai, and posted Pang Shigu with the main army at Qingkou. The Huai forces broke the dikes and let the floods rush in. Zhu Jin then led elite troops against the Bian army. The Bian forces were routed and Shigu was killed. Hearing of Shigu's defeat, Ge Congzhou withdrew from Haoliang, but at the Pi River the Huai caught him and his men barely escaped north.
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光化二年，行密北侵，遣張歸厚禦之而退。 天復三年，青州王師範叛，乞師於淮南，行密遣將王景仁率師二萬以援之，攻討密州。 七月，梁祖大破師範及景仁之眾，景仁遁還，追至輔唐，殺數千人，進取密州。 天祐元年十一月，淮人攻光州，梁祖率軍抵霍丘，略地於廬、壽之境，淮人遁去。 二年正月，進攻壽州，淮人閉壁不出，大掠而還。 是月，行密攻陷鄂州，擒節度使杜洪，戮於揚州市，梁之戍兵數千人亦陷焉。 其後，江西鐘傳、宣州田頵俱為行密所並。 三年，行密以疾卒於廣陵。 及其子渭僭號，偽追尊為太祖武皇帝。
In Guanghua 2, Xingmi raided northward. The Liang sent Zhang Guihou against him and drove him back. In Tianfu 3, Wang Shifan of Qingzhou rebelled and asked Huainan for troops. Xingmi sent Wang Jingren with twenty thousand men to support him and besiege Mizhou. In the seventh month the Liang Founder crushed Shifan and Jingren. Jingren fled, was chased to Futang, and thousands were killed before the Liang took Mizhou. In the eleventh month of Tianyou 1, Huainan attacked Guangzhou. The Liang Founder marched to Huoqiu and raided Luzhou and Shouzhou until the Huai forces withdrew. In the first month of Tianyou 2 he attacked Shouzhou. The Huai shut themselves in, so he ravaged the countryside and withdrew. That month Xingmi took Ezhou, captured military governor Du Hong, and executed him at Yangzhou. Several thousand Liang garrison troops fell with the city. Afterward Xingmi absorbed both Zhong Chuan of Jiangxi and Tian Jun of Xuanzhou. In the third year Xingmi died of illness at Guangling. When his son Wei declared himself emperor, the court of Wu posthumously honored him as Grand Ancestor Martial Emperor.
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渥，字奉天，行密長子也。 行密卒，渥遂襲偽位，自稱吳王，委軍政於大將張顥。 渥性猜忌，不能禦下。 天祐五年六月，渥為顥所殺，顥將納款於梁，遂自稱留後，委別將徐溫握兵柄。 居無何，溫復殺顥，立行密次子渭為主。 及渭僭號，偽追尊為景帝。
Wo, courtesy name Fengtian, was Yang Xingmi's eldest son. After Xingmi's death Wo took the Wu throne, styled himself King of Wu, and handed civil and military power to general Zhang Hao. Wo was suspicious by nature and could not command his officers. In the sixth month of Tianyou 5, Zhang Hao killed Wo, planned to submit to the Liang, declared himself regent, and put deputy general Xu Wen in charge of the army. Before long Xu Wen killed Hao as well and installed Xingmi's second son Wei as ruler. When Wei declared himself emperor, Wo was posthumously honored as Emperor Jing.
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渭，渥之弟也。 既立，政事鹹委於徐溫。 時溫為鎮海軍節度、內外馬步軍都指揮使，乃於上元縣置升州，盛開幕府，自握兵柄於上流，其子知訓等於揚州居以秉政，凡十餘年。 溫乃冊渭為天子，國號大吳，改唐天祐十六年為武義元年。 渭以溫為大丞相、都督中外諸軍事。 渭僭號凡三年而卒，謚為惠帝。
Wei was Wo's younger brother. Once enthroned, he left all government to Xu Wen. Wen was military governor of Zhenhai and commander of all horse and foot. He set up Shengzhou in Shangyuan, built up a large staff, kept the army under his own hand upstream, and left his sons Zhixun and the rest at Yangzhou to run the government—for more than ten years. Wen then enthroned Wei as emperor, named the state Great Wu, and declared the first year of Wuyi in place of Tang Tianyou 16. Wei made Xu Wen Grand Chancellor and supreme commander of all armies. Wei reigned only three years before he died and was given the posthumous title Emperor Hui.
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溥，行密幼子也。 初封丹陽王，渭卒，徐溫乃推溥為主，後僭偽號。 唐同光元年，莊宗平梁，遷都於洛陽。 十二月，溥遣使章景來朝，稱「大吳國主致書上大唐皇帝」，其辭旨卑遜，有同箋表。 明年八月，又遣其司農卿盧蘋貢方物，及獻貞簡太后珍玩，莊宗命左藏庫使王居敏、通事舍人張朗等以名馬報之。 郭崇韜之平西川也，淮人大懼，將去偽號，稱藩於唐。 時崇韜欲陳舟師下峽，為平吳之策，會崇韜既誅，洛城有變，淮人聞之，比屋相慶。 明宗纂嗣，溥復遣使修好，安重誨奏曰：「楊溥既不稱藩，無足與之抗禮，來偵國情，不如辭絕。」 乃謝其使，不受所貢，遣之。 唐天成二年十月，徐溫卒，追封為齊王。 溫之養子李昪代溫佐輔，秉政數年，位至太尉、中書令、錄尚書事，襲封齊王，偽加九錫。 晉天福二年，溥不得已遜位於昪。 昪遷溥於潤州，築丹陽宮以處之。 溥自是服羽衣，習辟谷之術，年餘以幽死。 昪又遷其族於海陵，吳人謂其居為永寧宮。 周顯德中，李景聞周師渡淮，慮氏為變，使人盡殺之。 自唐大順二年，行密始有淮南之地，至溥遜位，凡四十七年而亡。 〈（《五代史補》：楊行密嘗命宣州刺史田頵領兵圍錢塘。 錢珝危急，遣其子元皞修好於行密。 元頵風神俊邁，行密見之甚喜，因以其女妻之，遽命頵罷兵。 初，頵之圍城也，嘗遣使候錢珝起居，珝厚待之。 將行，復與之小飲，時羅隱、皮日休在坐，意以頵之師無能為也，且欲譏之。 於是日休為令，取一字，四面被圍而不失其本音，因曰：「『其』字上加『鳷』為萁菜，下加『石』為鋋子，左加『玉』為琪玉，右加『月』為期會。」 羅隱取「於」字上加「雨」為舞雩，下加「皿」為盤盂，左加「玉」為於玉，右加「邑」為於阝地。）〉 使者取「亡」字譏錢镠必亡。 然「亡」上加「勣」為芒，下加「心」為忘，右加「邑」為邙，左加「心」為忙，其令不通，合坐皆嘻笑之，使大慚而去。 未幾，頵果班師。 先是，行密與镠勢力相敵，其為忿怒，雖水火之不若也。 行密嘗命以大索為錢貫，號曰「穿錢眼」，镠聞之，每歲命以大斧科柳，謂之「斫楊頭」。 至是，以元蒨通婚，二境漸睦，穿眼、斫頭之論始止。
Pu was Yang Xingmi's youngest son. He was first made Prince of Danyang. When Wei died, Xu Wen put him on the throne, and he later declared himself emperor. In Tongguang 1, Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang conquered the Liang and moved the capital to Luoyang. In the twelfth month Pu sent Zhang Jing to court with a letter addressed to "the Great Tang Emperor" from "the Lord of Great Wu." The tone was abject, like a formal petition. The next year, in the eighth month, he sent Minister of Agriculture Lu Ping with local tribute and curios for Empress Dowager Zhenjian. Zhuangzong sent treasury officer Wang Jumin and relay officer Zhang Lang back with famous horses in return. When Guo Chongtao conquered western Shu, Huainan was terrified and prepared to drop its imperial pretensions and submit as a Tang vassal. Chongtao had planned to send a fleet down the Yangzi gorges to conquer Wu, but he was executed and turmoil broke out in Luoyang. When Huainan heard the news, every household celebrated. When Mingzong took the throne, Pu sent envoys again. An Chonghui memorialized: "Yang Pu will not call himself a vassal, so he does not deserve equal ceremony. He comes to spy on us—we should refuse him." The court turned the envoys away, refused their gifts, and sent them home. In the tenth month of Tiancheng 2, Xu Wen died and was posthumously made Prince of Qi. Wen's adopted son Li Bian took his place as chief minister, ruled for years, rose to Grand Marshal, Secretariat Director, and Recorder of the Masters of Writing, inherited the title Prince of Qi, and received the Nine Bestowals in the Wu court. In Tianfu 2 of Later Jin, Pu was forced to abdicate in Bian's favor. Bian moved Pu to Runzhou and built the Danyang Palace for him. Pu then took to Daoist robes and breatharian practice; a little over a year later he died in confinement. Bian then moved Pu's clan to Hailing, where the Wu people called their residence the Palace of Eternal Tranquility. During Zhou Xiande, Li Jing heard that Zhou armies had crossed the Huai. Fearing Pu's clan might rebel, he had them all killed. From Dashun 2, when Xingmi first held Huainan, until Pu's abdication, the Yang regime lasted forty-seven years. (The 《Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties》 records that Yang Xingmi once ordered Xuanzhou prefect Tian Jun to besiege Qiantang. Qian Liu was in desperate straits and sent his son Yuanhao to sue for peace with Xingmi. Yuanhao was striking and poised. Xingmi was delighted, gave him his daughter in marriage, and at once ordered Jun to lift the siege. Earlier, during the siege, Jun had sent an envoy to inquire after Qian Liu's health, and Liu received him generously. Before the envoy left, Liu shared another cup with him. Luo Yin and Pi Rixiu were present, convinced Jun's army could do nothing and eager to mock him. Rixiu then proposed the rule: pick one character and add radicals on all four sides without changing how it is read. He said, "Put zhi above qi for 'bean stalk,' shi below for 'spearhead,' yu to the left for 'fine jade,' and yue to the right for 'appointed time.' Luo Yin chose yu: rain above for 'rain sacrifice,' a vessel below for 'bowls and dishes,' jade to the left for 'jade ornament,' and a town radical to the right for 'place name.'")〉 The envoy chose wang to imply that Qian Liu was doomed. But wang with ji above gave mang, heart below gave 'forget,' a town radical right gave Mang mountain, heart left gave 'busy'—none of it worked. The whole table laughed, and the envoy left in shame. Before long Jun did withdraw his army. Before this, Xingmi and Qian Liu had been evenly matched rivals, and their mutual hatred burned hotter than fire against water. Xingmi once had heavy ropes made into strings for Qian's coins and called them "piercing the coin's eye." Liu responded by having willows hacked each year with great axes and calling it "chopping Yang's head." Now, through Yuanhao's marriage, the two realms grew friendly, and the taunts about piercing eyes and chopping heads finally stopped.
9
李昪，本海州人。 偽吳大丞相徐溫之養子也。 溫字敦美，亦海州人，初從淮南節度使楊行密起師於廬州，漸至軍校。 唐末，青州王師範為梁祖所圍，乞師於淮南，楊行密發兵赴之，溫時為小將，亦預其行。 師次青之南鄙，師範已敗，淮兵大掠而還。 昪時幼稚，為溫所擄，溫愛其慧黠，遂育為己子，名曰知誥。 天祐初，行密卒，其子渥嗣，會左衛都指揮使張顥殺渥，欲歸命於梁。 溫謂顥曰：「此去梁國，往復三千里，不月餘事不成，軍國未有主，無主將亂，不如有所立，徐圖其事。」 顥然之，乃立渥弟渭為帥。 溫尋殺顥，渭授溫常州刺史、檢校司徒。 溫留廣陵，遣昪知州事。 是歲，唐天祐五年也。 七年，丁母憂，起復授檢校太尉、溫州刺史，充本州團練觀察使。 八年，宣州叛，溫與都將柴再用討平之，加同中書平章事，充淮南行軍司馬、內外馬步都指揮使、鎮海軍節度、浙江西道觀察等使。 十二年八月，溫出鎮潤州，以其子知訓知政事，加溫鎮海軍管內水陵馬步軍都軍使，兼寧國軍節度、宣歙池等州觀察使。 時昪為溫屬郡升州刺史，乃大理郡廨，溫表移其府於金陵，偽授升州大都督府長史，充鎮海軍節度副大使，知節度事，以昪為鎮海軍節度副使、行潤州刺史，充本州團練使。 十五年，知訓授淮南行軍副使、內外馬步軍都指揮使，通判軍府事。 居無何，知訓為大將朱瑾所殺，溫以昪代知政事。 明年，溫冊楊渭為天子，僭稱大吳，改唐天祐十六年為武義元年。
Li Bian was a native of Haizhou. He was the adopted son of Xu Wen, Grand Chancellor of Wu. Xu Wen, courtesy name Dunmei, was also from Haizhou. He first followed Yang Xingmi when Xingmi raised his army at Luzhou and slowly rose to field officer. In the late Tang, Wang Shifan of Qingzhou was besieged by the Later Liang founder. He asked Huainan for relief, and Yang Xingmi marched to his aid. Xu Wen was then a junior officer and went on the expedition as well. The army reached the southern edge of Qingzhou only to find Shifan already defeated. The Huainan troops plundered heavily and marched home. Li Bian was still a small boy when Xu Wen captured him. Wen was taken with the child's wit and intelligence and adopted him as his own son, giving him the name Zhigao. Early in Tianyou, Yang Xingmi died and his son Wo succeeded him. Left Guard commander Zhang Hao then killed Wo and tried to surrender to the Liang. Xu Wen told Zhang Hao, "The Liang capital is three thousand li away and back—we won't finish this in a month. The army and state have no master, and without one they will fall into chaos. Better to set someone up for now and pursue the rest at leisure. Zhang Hao agreed, and they installed Wo's younger brother Wei as leader. Xu Wen soon killed Zhang Hao. Wei then made Wen prefect of Changzhou and acting Minister of Education. Xu Wen stayed at Guangling and put Li Bian in charge of the prefecture. That year was Tianyou 5 of the Tang. In the seventh year he went into mourning for his mother, was recalled to duty, and was made acting Grand Commandant and prefect of Wenzhou, with command of the prefecture's regimental training and observation forces. In the eighth year Xuanzhou rebelled. Xu Wen and chief general Chai Zaiyong put down the revolt. He was made Associate Director of the Department of State Affairs, Huainan campaign deputy, commander of all cavalry and infantry, military governor of Zhenhai, and observation commissioner of Zhejiang West Circuit. In the eighth month of the twelfth year Xu Wen took up his post at Runzhou and put his son Zhixun in charge of affairs of state. Wen was also made overall commander of Zhenhai's naval and land forces and concurrently military governor of Ningguo and observation commissioner of Xuan, She, Chi, and neighboring prefectures. Li Bian was then prefect of Shengzhou, one of Wen's subordinate prefectures, and he rebuilt the prefectural offices on a grand scale. Wen petitioned to move his headquarters to Jinling and had himself appointed chief secretary of the Shengzhou Grand Protectorate, with the title of deputy military governor of Zhenhai and charge of military affairs. Bian was made deputy military governor of Zhenhai, acting prefect of Runzhou, and regimental training commissioner there. In the fifteenth year Xu Zhixun was made Huainan campaign deputy and commander of all cavalry and infantry, with overall charge of military headquarters affairs. Before long, Xu Zhixun was killed by the general Zhu Jin, and Xu Wen put Li Bian in charge of government affairs in his place. The next year Xu Wen enthroned Yang Wei as emperor. The Yang regime usurped the title Great Wu and changed Tianyou 16 to the first year of Wuyi.
10
昪前夢溫負登山，逾年溫卒，昪乃偽授輔政興邦功臣，知內外左右事、開府儀同三同、守太尉、中書令、宣城公。 昪自平朱瑾之亂，遂執吳政。 天成四年，偽吳改太和元年，是歲昪出鎮金陵，尋封東海王。 至清泰二年改天祚元年，其年以金陵為齊國，封昪為齊王，乃追謚溫為忠武王，廟號太祖。 昪又進位太尉、錄尚書事，留鎮金陵，以其子景總政於揚州。 未幾，偽加昪九錫，建天子旌旗，改金陵為西都，以揚州為東都。 昪開國依齊、梁故事。 用徐玠為齊國右丞相，宋齊丘為左丞相，以為謀主。 偽吳天祚三年，楊溥遜位於昪，國號大齊，改元為升元，建都於金陵，時晉氏天福二年也。 昪乃冊楊溥為讓皇，其冊文曰「受禪老臣知誥，謹上冊皇帝為高尚思元宏古讓皇」云。 仍以其子遙領平廬軍節度使，遷於海陵。 昪自雲唐明皇第六子永王璘之裔。 唐天寶末，安祿山連陷兩京，明皇幸蜀，詔以璘為山南、嶺南、黔中、江南四道節度采訪等使，璘至廣陵，大募兵甲，有窺圖江左之志，後為官軍所敗，死於大庾嶺北，故昪指之以為遠祖。 因還姓李氏，始改名昪，國號大唐，尊徐溫為義祖。 昪僭位凡七年，子景立。
Li Bian had earlier dreamed that Xu Wen carried him up a mountain. A little over a year later Wen died, and Bian had himself invested as Merit Minister Who Assists the Government and Builds the State, with charge of all internal and external affairs, Grand Preceptor with ceremonial honors equal to the Three Departments, acting Grand Commandant, Director of the Department of State Affairs, and Duke of Xuancheng. From the time Li Bian put down Zhu Jin's rebellion, he held the reins of the Wu regime. In Tiancheng 4 the Wu regime changed its era name to Taihe. That year Li Bian took up his post at Jinling and was soon enfeoffed as Prince of Donghai. By Qingtai 2 the era had been changed to Tianzuo. That year Jinling was made the state of Qi, Li Bian was enfeoffed as Prince of Qi, and Xu Wen was posthumously honored as Taizu with the title King Zhongwu. Li Bian was further promoted to Grand Commandant and Recorder of Affairs for the Department of State Affairs. He stayed at Jinling and put his son Jing in overall charge of government at Yangzhou. Before long he had Li Bian invested with the Nine Bestowals, granted him imperial banners and flags, made Jinling the Western Capital, and Yangzhou the Eastern Capital. Li Bian founded his state according to the precedents of Qi and Liang. He made Xu Jie Right Chancellor of Qi and Song Qiqiu Left Chancellor, and relied on them as his chief advisers. In Tianzuo 3 of Wu, Yang Pu abdicated in favor of Li Bian. The state was renamed Great Qi, the era name was changed to Shengyuan, and the capital was set at Jinling—corresponding to Tianfu 2 under the Later Jin. Li Bian then invested Yang Pu as the Abdication Emperor. The investiture text read, "The old minister who received the abdication, Zhigao, respectfully presents this investiture to the emperor as the Lofty, Virtuous, Reflective, Primordial, Grand, and Ancient Abdication Emperor." He also had Pu's son given the nominal post of military governor of Pinglu and moved him to Hailing. Li Bian claimed descent from Prince Yong Li Lin, the sixth son of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. At the end of Tianbao, An Lushan seized both capitals and Emperor Xuanzong fled to Shu. An edict made Lin military governor and regional inspector of Shannan, Lingnan, Qianzhong, and Jiangnan. Lin reached Guangling, raised a large army, and set his sights on the lower Yangzi, but government forces defeated him and he died north of Dayu Ridge. Li Bian therefore claimed him as a distant ancestor. He then reclaimed the Li surname and took the name Bian. The state was renamed Great Tang, and Xu Wen was honored as Founding Ancestor by Right. Li Bian held the throne for seven years, and then his son Jing succeeded him.
11
景，本名璟，及將臣於周，以犯廟諱，故改之。 昪之長子也， 〈（《釣磯立談》云：烈祖一日晝寢，夢一黃龍出殿之西楹，矯首內向，如窺伺狀。 烈祖驚起，使人偵之，顧見元宗方倚楹而立，遣人候上動靜，於是立嫡之意遂決。）〉 昪卒，乃襲偽位，改元為保大。 以仲弟遂為皇太弟，季弟達為齊王，仍於父柩前設盟約，兄弟相繼。 景僭號之後，屬中原多事，北土亂離，雄據一方，行余一紀。 其地東暨衢、婺，南及五嶺，西至湖湘，北據長淮，凡三十餘州，廣袤數千里，盡為其所有，近代僭竊之地，最為強盛。 又嘗遣使私賂契丹，俾為中國之患，自固偷安之計。 〈（《南唐書》云：契丹遣二使來告曰：「晉少主逆命背約，自貽廢黜，吾主欲與唐繼先世之好，將冊君為中原主。」 嗣主曰：「孤守江、淮，社稷已固，與梁、宋阻隔。 若爾主不忘先好，惠賜行人，受賜多矣，其他不敢拜命之辱。」）〉
Jing's original given name used the character meaning 'fine jade'; when he was about to pay court to Zhou he changed it because it violated the dynastic taboo. He was Li Bian's eldest son, (The 《Diaoji Litán》 records that one day the Founding Ancestor napped at midday and dreamed of a yellow dragon emerging from the hall's western pillar, raising its head and turning inward as if watching something. The Founding Ancestor woke with a start and sent men to investigate. He found Yuanzong leaning against a pillar, with attendants posted to watch his movements. From that moment his decision to name the legitimate heir was made.)〉 When Li Bian died, Jing succeeded to the throne and changed the era name to Baoda. He made his second brother Sui Imperial Younger Brother and his youngest brother Da Prince of Qi. Before their father's coffin they swore a covenant that the brothers would succeed one another in turn. After Jing took the imperial title, the Central Plains were in turmoil and the north was in chaos. He held his ground as a regional power for more than twelve years. His realm stretched east to Quzhou and Wuzhou, south to the Five Ridges, west to Hunan and the Xiang basin, and north to the Huai River—more than thirty prefectures across thousands of li, all under his control. Among the separatist states of recent times, none was stronger. He also sent secret envoys to bribe the Khitan, hoping they would harry the Central Plains and leave him secure in his own complacency. (The 《History of Southern Tang》 records that the Khitan sent two envoys with this message: "The Later Jin emperor defied his obligations and brought deposition on himself. Our lord wishes to renew the old friendship with Tang and will invest you as ruler of the Central Plains." The Successor Lord replied, "I hold the Yangzi and Huai, my realm is already secure, and I am separated from Liang and Song by distance. If your lord remembers our old friendship and honors my envoys with gifts, that is gift enough. As for the rest, I dare not accept so humiliating a commission.")〉"
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周顯德二年冬，世宗始議南征，以宰臣李穀為前軍都部署。 是冬，周師圍壽春。 三年春，世宗親征淮甸，大敗淮寇於正陽，遂進攻壽州。 尋又今上敗何延錫於渦口，擒皇甫暉於滁州。 景聞之大懼，遣其臣鐘謨、李德明等奉表於世宗，乞為附庸之國，仍歲貢百萬之數，又進金銀器幣及犒軍牛酒。 未幾，又遣其臣孫晟、王崇質等奉表修貢，且言：「景願割濠、壽、泗、楚、光、海等六州之地，隸於大朝，乞罷攻討。」 世宗未之許。 時李德明等見周師爭攻壽春，慮不能保，乃奏云：「寬臣等五日之誅，容臣等自往江南，取本國表章，舉江北諸州，盡獻於大朝。」 世宗許其行。 久之，德明等不至，乃權議回鑾，惟留偏師數千圍守壽春而已。 四年春，世宗再駕南征。 三月，大敗江南援軍於紫金山，尋下壽州，乃命班師。 是歲冬十月，世宗復臨淮甸，連下濠、泗二郡，進攻楚州。 明年春正月，拔之，遂移幸揚州，駐大軍於迎鑾，將議濟江。 景聞之，自謂亡在朝夕，乃謀欲傳位其世子，使稱藩於周。 〈（《南唐書》：正月，改無交泰。）〉 遣其臣陳覺奉表陳情，且順世宗之旨焉。 覺至，世宗召對於禦幄。 是時江北諸州，唯廬、舒、蘄、黃四郡未下，世宗因謂覺曰：「江南國主若能以江北之地盡歸於我，則朕亦不至窮兵黷武。」 覺聞命欣然，即遣人過江取景表，以廬、舒、蘄、黃等四州來上，乞畫江為界，仍歲貢地征數十萬。 世宗許之，乃還京。 自是景始行大朝正朔，上章稱唐國主臣景，累遣使修貢，亦不失外臣之禮焉。
In the winter of Xiande 2, Emperor Shizong of Zhou began planning a southern campaign and made chief minister Li Gu overall commander of the vanguard. That winter Zhou armies besieged Shouchun. In the spring of the third year the emperor led the campaign in person in the Huai region, routed the Huai enemy at Zhengyang, and then pressed the attack on Shouzhou. Soon after, Zhao Kuangyin routed He Yanshi at Wokou and captured Huangfu Hui at Chuzhou. Jing was terrified. He sent his ministers Zhong Mo and Li Deming with a memorial to Shizong, begging to become a vassal state and offering a million in annual tribute, along with gold and silver vessels and currency and cattle and wine to reward the army. Soon he sent Sun Sheng, Wang Chongzhi, and others with another memorial, offering to cede Hao, Shou, Si, Chu, Guang, and Hai to the Zhou and begging them to stop the campaign." Shizong refused. Li Deming and his colleagues, seeing Shouchun hard pressed, feared all was lost and pleaded: "Give us five days' grace; let us return to Jiangnan, bring back our ruler's formal submission, and surrender every prefecture north of the Yangzi." Shizong let them go. When Deming failed to return, Shizong decided to withdraw, leaving only a few thousand men to keep Shouchun under siege. In the spring of the fourth year Shizong marched south again in person. In the third month he routed the Jiangnan relief force at Purple Gold Mountain, took Shouchun, and ordered the army to withdraw. That winter, in the tenth month, Shizong returned to the Huai country, took Hao and Si in succession, and advanced on Chuzhou. The next spring he took Chuzhou, moved to Yangzhou, massed his army at Yingluan, and prepared to cross the Yangzi. Jing believed his end was near and planned to abdicate in favor of his heir and submit to Zhou as a vassal. (The 《History of Southern Tang》 records that in the first month the era name was changed to Wujiaotai.)〉 He sent Chen Jue with a memorial pleading his case and bowing to Shizong's will. When Jue arrived, Shizong received him in the imperial tent. Only Lu, Shu, Qi, and Huang north of the Yangzi still held out. Shizong told Jue, "If your master surrenders all the north bank, I will not grind on with endless war." Jue gladly crossed the river for Jing's formal submission, offering Lu, Shu, Qi, and Huang, asking that the Yangzi be the border and promising several hundred thousand in annual land tax. Shizong agreed and returned to the capital. From then on Jing adopted the Zhou calendar, styled himself "Minister Jing, Lord of Tang," sent tribute repeatedly, and observed every courtesy owed a vassal.
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皇朝建隆二年夏，景以疾卒於金陵，時年四十六。 以其子煜襲偽位，其後事具皇家日曆。 〈（《五代史補》：李掞，本為徐溫所養，溫殺張顥，權出於己，自稱大丞相、中書令、都統。 及出居金陵，以嫡子知訓為丞相，掞為潤州節度。 掞始為宣州，忽得潤州，甚怏怏，將白溫辭之。 宋齊丘素與掞善，因謂掞曰：「知訓驕倨，不可大用，殆必有損足焚巢之患。 宣州去江都遠，難為應，潤州方隔一水爾，有急則可以立功，慎勿辭也。」 昪聞之釋然，遂行。 至潤州，未幾知訓果為朱瑾所殺，是夜，江都亂，火光亙天，掞望之曰：「宋公之言中矣。」 遂引軍渡江，盡誅朱瑾之黨。 後解甲去備，以待徐溫。 溫至，且喜且怒，謂掞曰：「猶幸汝在潤州，不然吾家大勢將去矣。 汝於兄弟中有大功者耶！」 即日用掞為左僕射，知政事，以代知訓。 掞善於撫禦，內外之心翕然而歸之，故徐溫卒未幾而江南遂為掞所有。 先是，江南童謠云：「東海鯉魚飛上天。」 東海即徐之望也，鯉者李也，蓋言李掞一旦自溫家起而為君爾。 初，掞既蓄異志，且欲諷動僚屬。 雪天大會，酒酣，出一令，須借雪取古人名，仍詞理通貫。 時齊丘、徐融在坐，掞舉杯為令曰：「雪下紛紛，便是白起。」 齊丘曰：「著屐過街，必須雍齒。」 融意欲挫掞等，遽曰：「明朝日出，爭奈蕭何。」 掞大怒，是夜收融投於江，自是與謀者惟齊丘而已。 宋齊丘，豫章人，父嘗在鐘傳幕下。 齊丘素落魄，父卒，家計蕩盡，已在窮悴，朝夕不能度。 時姚洞天為淮南騎將，素好士，齊丘欲謁之，且囊空無備紙筆之費，計無所出，但於逆旅社門而坐，如此殆數日。 鄰房有散樂女尚幼，問齊丘曰：「秀才何以數日不出？」 齊丘以實告，女嘆曰：「此甚小事，秀才何吝一言相示耶！」 乃惠以數緡。 齊丘用市紙筆，為詩詠以投洞天，其略曰：「某學武無成，攻文失誌，歲華蹭蹬，身事蹉跎。 胸中之萬仞青山，壓低氣宇； 頭上之一輪紅日，燒盡風雲。 加以天步淩遲，皇綱廢絕，四海淵黑，中原血紅。 挹飛蒼走黃之辯，有出鬼沒神之機。」 洞天怒其言大，不即接見。 齊丘窘急，乃更其啟，翌日復至，其略曰：「有生不如無生，為人不若為鬼。」 又云：「其為誠懇萬端，只為饑寒兩字。」 洞天始憫之，漸加以拯救。 徐溫聞其名，召至門下。 及掞之有江南也，齊丘以佐命功，遂至將相，乃上表以散樂女為妻，以報宿惠，許之。 韓熙載仕江南，官至諸行侍郎。 晚年不羈，女仆百人，每延請賓客，而先令女仆與之相見，或調戲，或毆擊，或加以爭奪靴笏，無不曲盡，然後熙載始緩步而出，習以為常。 復有醫人及燒煉僧數輩，每來無不升堂入室，與女仆等雜處，偽主知之，雖怒，以其大臣，不欲直指其過，因命待詔畫為圖以賜之，使其自愧，而熙載視之安然。）〉
In the summer of Jianlong 2 of the Song, Jing died of illness at Jinling at the age of forty-six. His son Yu took the throne; later events are recorded in the imperial annals. (The 《Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties》 records that Li Bian, then called Li Shan, was Xu Wen's adopted son. After Wen killed Zhang Hao he seized power as Grand Chancellor, Secretariat Director, and supreme commander. When he moved to Jinling he made his son Zhixun chancellor and Shan military governor of Runzhou. Shan had governed Xuanzhou and was displeased to be shifted to Runzhou; he was about to ask Wen to release him. Song Qiqiu, who was close to Shan, told him, "Zhixun is arrogant and unfit for high office; he will burn down his own nest. Xuanzhou is too far from the capital to help in a crisis, but Runzhou is just across the water—you can save the day if trouble comes. Do not resign." Bian took heart and went. At Runzhou he soon learned Zhixun had been killed by Zhu Jin. That night Jiangdu blazed with fire. Shan looked across the water and said, "Song was right." He crossed the river with his army and exterminated Zhu Jin's faction. Then he laid aside armor and guard to await Xu Wen. Wen arrived, both grateful and angry, and told Shan, "Thank heaven you were at Runzhou, or our house would have been finished. You have done the greatest service of all my sons!" That same day he made Shan Left Vice Director and head of government, in Zhixun's place. Shan won men over inside and out, and not long after Xu Wen's death all Jiangnan fell into his hands. A Jiangnan children's rhyme had run, "The Eastern Sea carp flies up to heaven." "Eastern Sea" pointed to the Xu clan's homeland; "carp" (li) meant Li—foretelling that Li Bian would rise from the Xu house to become ruler. Shan had long harbored larger ambitions and wanted to sound out his staff. At a snowy banquet, when the wine was flowing, he proposed a drinking game: use "snow" in a riddle naming a historical figure, with coherent wording. Qiqiu and Xu Rong were present. Shan raised his cup and said, "Snow falling thick—that's Bai Qi (White Rise)." Qiqiu answered, "Clogs in the street—that's Yong Chi (Yong Teeth)." Rong, trying to cut them down, shot back, "When the sun rises tomorrow—what about Xiao He?" implying their day would end." Shan was furious. That night he had Rong thrown into the river, and afterward Qiqiu alone shared his plots. Song Qiqiu was from Yuzhang. His father had once served under Zhong Chuan. Qiqiu had always been down on his luck. After his father died the family fortune vanished and he was destitute, barely surviving day to day. Yao Dongtian, a Huainan cavalry officer who loved scholars, was someone Qiqiu wanted to meet, but he had no money even for paper and ink. For days he simply sat at the inn gate, unable to think of a way forward. A young traveling entertainer in the next room asked him, "Scholar, why haven't you left your room for days?" He told her the truth. She sighed and said, "That's nothing—you only had to ask!" She gave him a few strings of cash. Qiqiu bought paper and brush and sent Dongtian a poem that began, "I studied arms without success and letters without reward; the years slip by and my life goes nowhere. Ten-thousand-ren green mountains in my breast weigh down my spirit; one red sun above my head burns away every storm; Heaven itself staggers, imperial order lies in ruins, the four seas sink into darkness, the heartland runs red with blood; I wield a huntsman's eloquence and a wit that appears and vanishes like spirits." Dongtian took offense at such grand language and refused to see him at once. Desperate, Qiqiu rewrote his letter and came back the next day with a plea that ran, "Better never to have lived than to live; better to be a ghost than a man." He added, "My earnestness knows no end--all for two words: hunger and cold." Dongtian took pity on him and little by little pulled him back from ruin. Xu Wen heard of him and took him into his household. When Li Bian held Jiangnan, Qiqiu rose to general and chancellor for helping found the regime. He memorialized the throne to marry the traveling entertainer who had once helped him, and the request was granted. Han Xizai served in Jiangnan and rose to Vice Director of Miscellaneous Affairs. In old age he lived without restraint, keeping a hundred maidservants. Whenever he entertained guests he had the maids appear first--flirting, brawling, snatching boots and tally sticks--every spectacle played out in full before Xizai strolled out at last. It became routine. Physicians and alchemist monks also came and went freely through his halls, mingling with the maids. The court knew and was furious, but because Xizai was a senior minister it did not rebuke him openly. Instead it had a court painter record the scene and sent him the picture to shame him. Xizai looked at it without a flicker of embarrassment.〉
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王審知，字信通，光州固始人。 父恁，世為農民。 唐廣明中，黃巢犯闕，江、淮盜賊蜂起。 有賊帥王緒者，自稱將軍，陷固始縣，審知兄潮時為縣佐，緒署為軍正。 蔡賊秦宗權以緒為光州刺史，尋遣兵攻之，緒率眾渡江，所在剽掠，自南康轉至閩中，入臨汀，自稱刺史。 緒多疑忌，部將有出己之右者皆誅之。 潮與豪首數輩共殺緒，其眾求帥，乃刑牲歃血為盟，植劍於前，祝曰：「拜此劍動者為將軍。」 至潮拜，劍躍於地，眾以為神異，即奉潮為帥。 時泉州刺史廖彥若為政貪暴，軍民若之，聞潮為理整肅，耆老乃奉牛酒，遮道請留。 潮因引兵圍彥若，歲餘克之，又平狼山賊帥薛蘊，兵鋒日盛。 唐光啟二年，福建觀察使陳巖表潮為泉州刺史。 大順中，巖卒，子婿範暉自稱留後，潮遣審知將兵攻之，逾年，城中食盡，乃斬暉而降，由是盡有閩、嶺五州之地。 潮即表其事，昭宗因建威武軍於福州，以潮為節度、福建管內觀察使，審知為副。 審知為觀察副使，有過，潮猶加捶撻，審知無怨色。 潮寢疾，舍其子延興、延虹、延豐、延休，命審知知軍府事。 十二月丁未，潮薨，審知以讓其兄審邽，審邽以審知有功，辭不受。 審知自稱福建留後，表於朝廷。 唐末，為威武軍節度、福建觀察使，累遷檢校太保，封瑯邪郡王。 梁朝開國，累加中書令，封閩王。 〈（《王審知德政碑》云：潮付公以戎旅，仍具表奏，尋加刑部尚書、威武軍留後，俄授金紫光祿大夫、右僕射、本軍節度使，又改光祿大夫、檢校司空，轉特進、檢校司徒，又轉檢校太保、瑯邪郡王，食邑四千戶，食實封一百戶。）〉 是時，楊氏據江、淮，故閩中與中國隔越，審知每歲朝貢，泛海至登萊抵岸，往復頗有風水之患，漂沒者十四五。 後唐莊宗即位，遣使奉貢，制加功臣，進爵邑。
Wang Shenzhi, courtesy name Xintong, was a native of Gushi in Guang Prefecture. His father Ren came from a farming family. During Tang Guangming, Huang Chao stormed the capital and bandits swarmed across the Jiang-Huai region. A bandit leader named Wang Xu styled himself general, seized Gushi county, and appointed Shenzhi's elder brother Chao, then a county aide, as army rectifier. Qin Zongquan of Cai made Xu prefect of Guangzhou, then attacked him. Xu led his men across the Yangtze, looting as he went from Nankang into Fujian and on to Lin Ting, where he styled himself prefect. Xu was suspicious and jealous and killed any subordinate who outshone him. Chao and several bold leaders killed Xu. The army wanted a new commander, so they sacrificed an animal, swore a blood oath, planted a sword before them, and prayed, "Whoever makes this sword move when he bows shall be general." When Chao bowed, the sword sprang from the ground. The men took it as a sign and made Chao their leader. Quanzhou prefect Liao Yanruo ruled with greed and cruelty, and the people hated him. When they heard that Chao governed with discipline, elders met him on the road with oxen and wine and begged him to stay. Chao besieged Yanruo and took the city after more than a year. He also crushed Lang Mountain bandit chief Xue Yun, and his army grew stronger by the day. In Tang Guangqi 2, Fujian observation commissioner Chen Yan recommended Chao for Quanzhou prefect. During Dazhong, Chen Yan died and his son-in-law Fan Hui declared himself acting governor. Chao sent Shenzhi to besiege him. After more than a year the city ran out of food, Hui was killed, and the garrison surrendered. Chao then held all five prefectures of Fujian and the surrounding hills. Chao reported this to court. Emperor Zhaozong established the Weiwu Army at Fuzhou, made Chao its military commissioner and Fujian observation commissioner, and appointed Shenzhi his deputy. As observation vice commissioner, Shenzhi was beaten by Chao even for minor faults, yet he never showed resentment. When Chao fell ill he passed over his sons Yanxing, Yanhong, Yanfeng, and Yanxiu and put Shenzhi in charge of the army headquarters. On dingwei day of the twelfth month Chao died. Shenzhi offered command to his elder brother Shengui, but Shengui refused, saying Shenzhi had earned it. Shenzhi declared himself Fujian acting governor and reported it to court. By the end of Tang he was Weiwu Army military commissioner and Fujian observation commissioner, rose to honorary Grand Guardian, and was enfeoffed Prince of Langya. When Liang was founded he was made Director of the Secretariat and enfeoffed Prince of Min. (The 《Wang Shenzhi Virtue-Governance Stele》 records that Chao put Shenzhi in command of the army and memorialized court together with him; soon Shenzhi was made Minister of Justice and Weiwu Army acting governor, then Grand Master of Golden Brightness and Purple Splendor, Right Vice Director, and military commissioner of the army; later Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and honorary Minister of Works; then Superlative Pillar and honorary Minister of Education; then honorary Grand Guardian and Prince of Langya, with a nominal fief of four thousand households and an actual fief of one hundred.)〉 The Yang clan then held the Jiang-Huai region, isolating Fujian from the central court. Shenzhi sent tribute every year by sea to Deng and Lai. The voyage was perilous; fourteen or fifteen ships in every hundred were lost. When Later Tang Zhuangzong came to the throne, Shenzhi sent tribute envoys and received an edict adding merit titles and enlarging his fief.
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審知起自隴畝，以至富貴。 每以節儉自處，選任良吏，省刑惜費，輕徭薄斂，與民休息。 三十年間，一境晏然。 同光元年，審知卒，子延翰嗣，為弟延鈞所殺。
Shenzhi rose from the fields to great wealth and rank. He lived frugally, appointed capable officials, eased punishments and spending, lightened labor and taxes, and let the people recover. For thirty years his domain remained at peace. In Tongguang 1 Shenzhi died. His son Yanhan succeeded him but was killed by his younger brother Yanjun.
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延鈞，審知次子。 後唐長興三年，上言吳越國王錢镠薨，乞封為吳越王，不報。 未幾，自稱帝，國號大閩，改元龍啟，然猶稱藩於朝廷。 清泰元年，遇弒。 子昶嗣。
Yanjun was Shenzhi's second son. In Later Tang Changxing 3 he memorialized that Wuyue king Qian Liu had died and asked to be made Prince of Wuyue. Court did not reply. Before long he declared himself emperor, named his state Great Min, and changed the era to Longqi, while still presenting himself as a vassal of the central court. In Qingtai 1 he was assassinated. His son Chang succeeded him.
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昶，嗣偽位，朝廷因授昶福建節度使。 晉天福三年，遣使貢奉至闕，止稱閩王。 其子繼恭稱節度使，晉祖乃下制封昶為閩王。 改元通大，後遇弒，審知少子延羲嗣。
Chang took the throne, and the court invested him as Fujian military commissioner. In Jin Tianfu 3 he sent tribute envoys to court and styled himself only Prince of Min. His son Jigong styled himself military commissioner, so the Jin founder issued an edict making Chang Prince of Min. He changed the era to Tongda, was later assassinated, and Shenzhi's youngest son Yanxi succeeded.
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延羲，嗣偽位，改元永隆，在位六年遇弒。 兄延政，自稱帝於福州，晉開運三年，為李景所滅。 〈（《五代史補》：王潮之來福建也，值連帥陳巖卒，子婿範暉自稱留後，潮攻拔之，盡有其地，遂為福建觀察使。 至其弟審知立，雖天下多事，猶能修其職貢，朝廷嘉之，封閩王。 審知卒，子延鈞嗣，無識，輒改審知制度，僭稱大閩，改元龍啟，其後為子昶殺。 昶多行不道，閩人殺之。 立從父延羲，改元永隆，延羲不恤政事，國亂，為其將連重遇所殺，王氏之族遂滅。 先是，梁朝有王霸者，即王氏之遠祖，為道士，居於福州之怡山時，愛二皂莢樹，因其下築壇，為朝禮之所，其後丹成沖虛而去，霸嘗云：「吾之子孫，當有王於此方者。」 乃自為讖，藏之於地。 唐光啟中，爛柯道士徐景元，因於壇東北隅取土，獲其詩，曰：「樹枯不用伐，壇壞不須結。 不滿一千年，自有系孫列。」 又曰：「後來是三王，潮水蕩禍殃。 巖逢二乍間，未免有銷亡。 子孫依吾道，代代封閩疆。」 議者以為：潮蕩禍殃，謂王潮除其禍患以開基業也； 巖逢二乍間，謂陳巖逢王潮未幾而亡，土地為其所有也； 代代封閩疆，謂潮與審知也，代代蓋兩世之稱，明封崇不過潮與審知兩世耳。 初，王潮嘗假道於洪州，時鐘傳為洪州節度使，以王潮若得福建，境土相接，必為己患，陰欲誅之。 有僧上藍者，通於術數，動皆先知，大為鐘所重。 因入謁，察傳詞氣，驚曰：「令公何故起惡意，是欲殺王潮否？」 傳不敢隱，盡以告之。 上藍曰：「老僧觀王潮與福建有緣，必變，彼時作一好世界。 令公宜加禮厚待，若必殺之，令公之福去矣。」 於是傳加以援送。 及審知之嗣位也，楊行密方盛，常有吞東南之志氣。 審知居常憂之，因其先人嘗為上藍所知，乃使人賫金帛往遺之，號曰「送供」，且問國之休咎。 使回，上藍以十字為報，其詞曰：「不怕羊入屋，只怕錢入腹。」 審知得之嘆曰：「羊者楊也，腹者福也，得非福州之患，不在楊行密而在錢氏乎？ 今內外將吏無姓錢者，必為子孫後世之憂矣。」 至延羲為連重遇所殺，諸將爭立，江南乘其時命查文徽領兵伐之，經年不能下。 會兩浙救兵至，文徽腹背受敵，遂大敗。 自是福州果為錢氏所有，入腹之讖始應。 蓋國之興衰，皆冥數決定矣。 徐寅，登第歸閩中，途徑大梁，因獻太祖《遊大梁賦》。 時梁祖與太原武皇為讎敵，武皇眇一目，而又出自沙陀部落，寅欲曲媚梁祖，故詞及之，云：「一眼匈奴，望英威而膽落。」 未幾，有人得其本示太原者，武皇見而大怒。 及莊宗之滅梁也，四方諸侯以為唐室復興，奉琛為慶者相繼。 王審知在閩中，亦遣使至，遽召其使問曰：「徐寅在否？」 使不敢隱，以無恙對，莊宗因慘然曰：「汝歸語王審知，父母之讎，不可同天，徐寅指斥先帝，今聞在彼中，何以容之？」 使回，具以告，審知曰：「如此則主上欲殺徐寅爾，今殺則未敢奉詔，但不可以用矣。」 即日戒閽者不得引接，徐寅坐是終身止於秘書正字。 江為，建州人，工於詩。 乾祐中，福州王氏國亂，有故人任福州官屬，恐禍及，一旦亡去，將奔江南，乃間道謁為。 經數日，為且與草投江南表。 其人未出境，遭邊吏所擒，仍於囊中得所撰表章，於是收為與奔者，俱械而送。 為臨刑，詞色不撓，且曰：「嵇康之將死也，顧日影而彈琴，吾今琴則不暇彈，賦一篇可矣。」 乃索筆為詩曰：「衙鼓侵人急，西傾日欲斜。 黃泉無旅店，今夜宿誰家？」 聞者莫不傷之。 黃滔，在閩中為王審知推官。 一旦饋之魚，時滔方與徐寅對談，遂請代為謝箋。 寅援筆而成，其略曰：「銜諸斷索，才從羊續懸來； 列在雕盤，便到馮歡食處。」 時人大稱之。）〉
Yanxi took the throne, changed the era to Yonglong, and was assassinated in his sixth year. His elder brother Yanzheng declared himself emperor at Fuzhou. In Jin Kaiyun 3 Li Jing destroyed him. (The Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties records that when Wang Chao entered Fujian, regional commander Chen Yan had just died and his son-in-law Fan Hui had declared himself acting governor. Chao captured the territory, took possession of the whole province, and became Fujian observation commissioner. When his brother Shenzhi took over, he kept up regular tribute despite the chaos throughout the realm, and the court rewarded him with the title King of Min. After Shenzhi's death his son Yanjun succeeded him. Shortsighted and rash, Yanjun overturned his father's institutions, proclaimed the state Great Min, and adopted the era name Longqi; later his son Chang killed him. Chang ruled wickedly, and the people of Min put him to death. They enthroned his uncle Yanxi, who adopted the era name Yonglong. Yanxi neglected government, the realm fell into turmoil, and his general Lian Chongyu killed him — ending the Wang line. Earlier, in the Liang dynasty, a distant Wang forebear named Wang Ba had been a Daoist priest on Mount Yi in Fuzhou. He cherished two honeylocust trees and built an altar beneath them for ritual devotions. When his elixir-work was complete he ascended as an immortal and vanished. Ba once declared, "A descendant of mine will reign as king in this place. He wrote his own prophecy and buried it in the earth. During the Tang Guangqi era, the Lankao Daoist Xu Jingyuan took soil from the altar's northeast corner and recovered the verse. It read: "Let the trees die — no need to cut them; let the altar crumble — no need to mend it. In less than a thousand years, a line of heirs will arise in turn. Another line ran: "Three kings will follow; the tidal wave will scour away doom and ruin. When Yan meets the span between two 'moments,' some destruction cannot be avoided. Heirs who keep to my path will hold Min's domain, generation after generation. Commentators interpreted "the tide scouring doom and ruin" as Wang Chao clearing away threats to lay his foundations; "Yan meeting the span between two 'moments'" meant Chen Yan encountering Wang Chao and dying soon after, his territory passing into Wang hands; "Holding Min from generation to generation" referred to Chao and Shenzhi alone — "generation after generation" being a way of counting two reigns, showing that royal favor reached only those two men. Once, when Wang Chao was passing through Hongzhou, Zhong Chuan was its military governor. Chuan feared that if Chao secured Fujian their lands would border each other and Chao would become a permanent threat, and he secretly planned to kill him. A monk named Shanglan, versed in divination and prophecy, seemed to know events before they happened and was held in great esteem by Zhong Chuan. On a visit to pay respects, Shanglan detected malice in Chuan's manner and cried out, "Why this dark intent, my lord? Do you mean to kill Wang Chao? Chuan did not dare hide the truth and confessed the whole plan. Shanglan said, "I see that Wang Chao is bound to Fujian by fate. He will change that land and one day make a flourishing realm of it. Treat him with honor and generous support. If you kill him, your own good fortune will vanish. Chuan thereupon furnished Chao with extra support and safe passage. By the time Shenzhi inherited rule, Yang Xingmi was at the height of his power and often spoke of conquering the southeast. Shenzhi lived in constant anxiety over this threat. Remembering that Shanglan had once aided his brother, he sent gold and silk as a "sustaining offering" and asked what lay in store for the realm. When the messenger returned, Shanglan answered in ten characters: "Fear not the sheep entering the house — fear only money entering the belly. Reading the answer, Shenzhi sighed and said, "Sheep stands for Yang, and belly for Fu — does this mean Fuzhou's danger lies not with Yang Xingmi but with the house of Qian? We have no commanders or officials surnamed Qian today — yet this must be a warning for generations yet to come." When Yanxi was slain by Lian Chongyu, rival generals fought over the succession. The Southern Tang took advantage and sent Cha Wenhu with an army; for more than a year he failed to capture the city. Relief forces from the Two Zhes arrived, and Wenhu, caught between two armies, was routed. From then on Fuzhou fell indeed to the Qian clan — and the prophecy of money entering the belly came true. So it seemed that a realm's rise and fall were fixed by fate beyond human sight. Xu Yin, having passed the examinations, was returning to Min when he stopped at Daliang and presented the Liang founder with his Rhapsody on Sojourning in Daliang. The Liang founder and the Martial Emperor of Taiyuan were bitter foes; Li Keyong was blind in one eye and of Shatuo origin. Seeking favor with the Liang court, Yin wrote, "The one-eyed barbarian of the north, beholding your martial glory, loses heart and nerve. Before long a copy reached Taiyuan. Li Keyong read it and exploded in fury. When Emperor Zhuangzong overthrew the Liang, regional lords across the empire hailed the revival of Tang and sent one congratulatory embassy after another. Wang Shenzhi sent an envoy from Min as well. Zhuangzong summoned him at once and asked, "Is Xu Yin among you? The envoy admitted that Yin was alive and well. Zhuangzong's face darkened. "Go back and tell Wang Shenzhi," he said, "the debt owed a murdered father cannot be forgotten while one lives under the same sky. Xu Yin slandered the late emperor; you still shelter him — how can that be?" When the messenger reported this, Shenzhi said, "The throne clearly wants Xu's death. I dare not yet carry out the order, but neither can I keep him in office." That very day he barred the gates to Yin. Xu Yin never rose again beyond the humble post of Secretary Regular — and kept it for life. Jiang Wei of Jianzhou was an accomplished poet. During the Qianyou era, as the Wang regime in Fuzhou collapsed, an old friend serving in its administration feared he would be swept up in the bloodshed. He fled secretly toward the Southern Tang and came by back roads to see Jiang Wei. After several days Wei also drafted a memorial pledging submission to the Southern Tang. Before the fugitive could cross the border, frontier guards seized him, found the memorial in his bag, and arrested both men. They were sent off in chains. At the execution ground Jiang Wei's voice never faltered. "When Ji Kang faced death," he said, "he watched the sun's shadow and played his qin. I have no time for music now — but a poem, perhaps. He asked for a brush and wrote: "The yamen drums press hard; the western sun sinks toward night. No inn waits on the road to the grave — tonight, whose roof will shelter me? Every witness was moved to grief. Huang Tao served Wang Shenzhi in Min as a judicial aide. One day a gift of fish arrived while Tao was deep in conversation with Xu Yin; he asked Yin to write the thank-you note for him. Yin took up the brush and wrote at once: "Bearing the severed cord, talent hangs from Yang Xu's legacy; set on the carved platter, it reaches Feng Huan's place at table." The people of the time greatly praised it.)〉
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史臣曰：昔唐祚橫流，異方割據，行密以高材捷足啟之於前，李昪以履霜堅冰得之於後，以偽易偽，逾六十年。 洎有周興薄伐之師，皇上示懷柔之德，而乃走梯杭而入貢，奉正朔以來庭，如是則長江之險，又何足以恃哉！ 審知僻據一隅，僅將數世，始則可方於吳芮，終則竊效於尉佗，與夫穴蜂井蛙，亦何相遠哉！ 五紀之亡，蓋其幸也。
The historian writes: When the Tang mandate collapsed and warlords carved up the realm, Yang Xingmi with talent and speed opened the way, and Li Bian by slow, careful steps took it after him—one usurpation succeeding another for more than sixty years. When the Zhou sent a punitive expedition and the emperor showed forbearance, the southern rulers hurried tribute by sea to Hangzhou and accepted the imperial calendar at court. In that case, what good was the Yangzi as a barrier? Shenzhi held a remote corner for only a few generations. At first he might be compared to Wu Rui, but in the end his house imitated Zhao Tuo—no different from bees in a hole or frogs in a well. The fall of the Five Dynasties was, in a sense, their good fortune.