1
蕭阿剌耶律義先 〈（信先）〉 蕭陶隗蕭塔剌葛耶律敵祿
Xiao Ala; Yelu Yixian (Xinxian)〉 Xiao Taowei; Xiao Talage; Yelu Dilu
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蕭阿剌，字阿裏懶，北院樞密使孝穆之子也。 幼養宮中，興宗尤愛之。 重熙六年，為弘義宮使。 累遷同知北院樞密使，加同中書門下平章事，出為東京留守。 二十一年，拜西北路招討使，封西平郡王。 尋尚秦晉國王公主，拜駙馬都尉。 清寧元年，遺詔拜北府宰相，兼南院樞密使，進王韓。 明年，改北院樞密使，徙王陳，與蕭革同掌國政。 革諂諛不法，阿剌爭之不得，告歸。 上由此惡之，除東京留守。 會行瑟瑟禮，入朝陳時政得失。 革以事中傷，帝怒，縊殺之。 皇太后營救不及，大慟曰：「阿剌何罪而遽見殺？」 帝乃優加賻贈，葬乾陵之赤山。
Xiao Ala, styled Alailan, was the son of Northern Court Privy Commissioner Xiao Xiaomu. Raised in the palace from childhood, he was especially beloved by Emperor Xingzong. In the sixth year of Chongxi he was appointed Hongyi Palace commissioner. He rose to associate Northern Court privy commissioner, was given the additional title of Associate Grand Councilor of the Secretariat and Chancellery, and was sent out as Eastern Capital regent. In the twenty-first year he was made Northwest Route pacification commissioner and enfeoffed Prince of Xiping Commandery. Soon afterward he married the Princess of the King of Qin and Jin and was appointed imperial son-in-law commandant. In the first year of Qingning, by testamentary edict he was made Northern Court chancellor and Southern Court privy commissioner and was advanced to Prince of Han. The next year he became Northern Court privy commissioner, was moved to Prince of Chen, and shared control of government with Xiao Ge. Ge was sycophantic and lawless; Ala argued with him in vain and asked to retire. The emperor took a dislike to him for this and made him Eastern Capital regent. During the sese ritual he came to court and laid out what was right and wrong in current policy. Ge used the affair to strike at him; the emperor flew into a rage and had him strangled. The empress dowager could not save him in time and wailed, "What crime did Ala commit that he should be killed so suddenly?" The emperor then granted generous funeral gifts and buried him at Red Mountain beside Qianling.
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阿剌性忠果，曉世務，有經濟才。 議者以謂阿剌若在，無重元、乙辛之亂。
Ala was loyal and upright by nature, well versed in public affairs, and possessed real talent for governing the state. Commentators held that had Ala still lived, the Chongyuan rebellion and the Yixin faction would never have arisen.
4
耶律義先，於越仁先之弟也。 美風姿，舉止嚴重。 重熙初，補祗候郎君班詳穩。 十三年，車駕西征，為十二行糺都監，戰功最，改南院宣徽使。 時蕭革同知樞密院事，席寵擅權，義先疾之。 因侍宴，言於帝曰：「革狡佞喜亂，一朝大用，必誤國家！」 言甚激切，不納。 它日侍宴，上命群臣博，負者罰一巨觥。 義先當與革對，憮然曰：「臣縱不能進賢退不肖，安能與國賊博哉！」 帝止之曰：「卿醉矣！」 義先厲聲詬不已。 上大怒，賴皇后救，得解。 翌日，上謂革曰：「義先無禮，當黜之。」 革對曰：「義先天性忠直，今以酒失而出，誰敢言人之過？」 上謂革忠直，益加信任。 義先郁郁不自得，然議事未嘗少沮。 又於上前博，義先祝曰：「向言人過，冒犯天威。 今日一擲，可表愚款。」 俄得堂印。 上愕然。 十六年，為殿前都點檢，討蒲奴裏，多所招降，獲其酋長陶得裏以歸，手詔褒獎，以功改南京統軍使，封武昌郡王。 奏請統軍司錢營息，以贍貧民。 未期，軍器完整，民得休息。 二十一年，拜惕隱，進王富春，薨，年四十二。
Yelu Yixian was the younger brother of the yuyue Renxian. Handsome in appearance and solemn in manner. Early in the Chongxi era he entered the Attendant Prince Guard Corps as a detail officer. In the thirteenth year, during the emperor's western campaign, he was made commander-in-chief of the twelve columns and won the greatest military merit; he was then promoted to Southern Court palace commissioner. Xiao Ge was then associate administrator of the Privy Council, privileged and grasping power, and Yixian loathed him. At a palace banquet he told the emperor, "Ge is cunning, servile, and fond of turmoil; the moment he is given great authority, he will surely ruin the realm!" He spoke with fierce urgency, but the emperor would not heed him. On another banquet day the emperor ordered the ministers to play at dice; whoever lost had to drink a huge goblet as penalty. Yixian was matched against Ge. He flushed with anger and said, "I may not be able to promote the worthy and remove the unworthy, but how could I cast dice with a traitor to the state!" The emperor cut him off: "You are drunk!" Yixian kept on hurling abuse at Ge in a loud voice. The emperor flew into a rage; only the empress's intervention saved him. Next day the emperor told Ge, "Yixian was insolent and ought to be removed from office." Ge answered, "Yixian is upright by nature; if he is dismissed for a drunken lapse, who will dare point out anyone else's faults?" The emperor took Ge for loyal and straightforward, and trusted him all the more. Yixian brooded and felt ill at ease, yet he never flagged in council debates. Gambling again before the throne, Yixian said in prayer, "When I spoke of another man's faults I offended your majesty. With this one cast today I can show my humble loyalty." He promptly threw the Hall emblem. The emperor was astonished. In his sixteenth year as Palace Front Command inspector he campaigned against Punnuli, won many surrenders, and returned with the tribal chief Taodeli; the emperor wrote him a personal commendation, and for his merit he was made Nanjing military governor and enfeoffed Prince of Wuchang Commandery. He memorialized that the command headquarters' funds be lent at interest to support the destitute. Before his term was out, the armory was in good order and the people were given relief. In the twenty-first year he was appointed tiyin, promoted to Prince of Fuchun, and died at forty-two.
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義先常戒其族人曰：「國中三父房，皆帝之昆弟，不孝不義尤不可為。」 其接下無貴賤賢否，皆與均禮。 其妻晉國長公主之女，每遇中表親，非禮服不見，故內外多化之。 清寧間，追贈許王。 弟信先。
Yixian often admonished his kin: "In the realm the three paternal houses are all the emperor's uterine brothers; nothing is more forbidden than filial impiety and unrighteous conduct." Toward everyone beneath him, noble or humble, worthy or not, he showed the same courtesy. His wife was a daughter of the Princess of Jin; whenever she received imperial collaterals she refused an audience unless properly robed, and so manners spread through the household and beyond. In the Qingning period he was posthumously created Prince of Xu. His younger brother was Xinxian.
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信先，興宗以其父瑰引為刺血友，幼養於宮。 善騎射。 重熙十四年為左護衛太保，同知殿前點檢司事。 十八年，兼右祗候郎君班詳穩。 上問所欲，信先曰：「先臣瑰引與陛下分如同氣，然不及王封。 儻使蒙恩地下，臣願畢矣。」 上曰：「此朕遺忘之過。」 追封燕王。 是年，從蕭惠伐夏，敗於河南，例被責。 清寧初，為南面林牙，卒。
Xinxian: Emperor Xingzong had sworn blood brotherhood with his father Guiyin, and Xinxian was raised in the palace from boyhood. He was skilled in riding and archery. In the fourteenth year of Chongxi he became Left Guard Protector Grand Steward and associate administrator of the Palace Front Command. In the eighteenth year he was concurrently Right Attendant Prince Guard Corps detail officer. The emperor asked his wish; Xinxian said, "My late father Guiyin was as close to Your Majesty as a uterine brother, yet never received a royal title. If he could receive your grace in the nether world, this subject's desire would be complete." The emperor said, "That was my forgetfulness." Guiyin was posthumously created Prince of Yan. That year, campaigning against Xia under Xiao Hui, he was among those defeated south of the Yellow River and was censured according to regulation. At the opening of Qingning he served as Southern Court linya and died.
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蕭陶隗，字烏古鄰，宰相轄特六世孫。 剛直有威重。 咸雍初，任馬群太保。 素知群牧名存實亡，悉閱舊籍，除其羸病，錄其實數，牧人畏服。 陶隗上書曰：「群牧以少為多，以無為有。 上下相蒙，積弊成風。 不若括見真數，著為定籍，公私兩濟。」 從之。 畜產歲以蕃息。 大康中，累遷契丹行宮都部署。 上嘗謂群臣曰：「北樞密院軍國重任，久闕其人，耶律阿思、蕭斡特剌二人孰愈？」 群臣各譽所長，陶隗獨默然。 上問：「卿何不言？」 陶隗曰：「斡特剌懦而敗事； 阿思有才而貪，將為禍基。 不得已而用，敗事猶勝基禍。」 上曰：「陶隗雖魏征不能過，但恨吾不及太宗爾！」 然竟以阿思為樞密使。 由是阿思銜之。 九年，西圉不寧，阿思奏曰：「邊隅事大，可擇重臣鎮撫。」 上曰：「陶隗何如？」 阿思曰：「誠如聖旨。」 遂拜西南面招討使。 阿思陰與蕭阿忽帶誣奏賊掠漠南牧馬及居民畜產，陶隗不急追捕，罪當死，詔免官。 久之，起為塌母城節度使。 未行，疽發背卒。
Xiao Taowei, styled Wugulin, was a sixth-generation descendant of Chancellor Xiate. Upright and stern, he carried real moral weight. At the start of the Xianyong era he was made Horse Herds Grand Steward. Knowing the herd offices had long been hollow in name, he combed every old register, culled the sick and weak, wrote down true counts, and the herders bowed to him in respect. Taowei wrote, "The herds are reported as many when they are few, as existing when there are none. Superiors and subordinates conceal the truth from each other until abuse has hardened into custom. Better to total the true counts on the ground, set them as a fixed register, and serve both state and herdsmen." The court approved his plan. Livestock grew every year thereafter. In the Dakang period he rose to Khitan Mobile Palace deployment director. The emperor once asked the ministers, "The Northern Privy Council carries the weight of army and realm, yet the post has stood empty; between Yelü Asi and Xiao Wotela, which man is superior?" Each minister praised his favorite; only Taowei said nothing. The emperor asked, "Why do you not speak?" Taowei answered, "Wotela is timid and will ruin affairs; Asi has ability but is greedy; he will be the seed of calamity. If you have no choice but to use him, a ruined policy is still better than planting disaster." The emperor said, "Taowei could not be outdone even by Wei Zheng — I only wish I were no less a ruler than Emperor Taizong of Tang!" Yet in the end Asi was appointed Privy Commissioner. From then on Asi resented him. In the ninth year, when the western border was troubled, Asi memorialized, "The frontier is grave business; send a senior minister to steady it." The emperor asked, "What of Taowei?" Asi replied, "Precisely as Your Majesty says." Taowei was promptly made Southwest Route pacification commissioner. Asi conspired with Xiao Ahudai to accuse him falsely of failing to pursue raiders who had seized herd horses and civilian livestock in the Southern Desert; the offense was capital, but an edict merely removed him from office. After a long interval he was recalled as military commissioner of Tamu city. Before he set out, a carbuncle on his back burst and he died.
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陶隗負氣，怒則須髯輒張。 每有大議，必毅然決之。 雖上有難色，未嘗遽已。 見權貴無少屈，竟為阿思所陷，時人惜之。 二子，曰圖木、轄式。 阿思死，始獲進用。
Taowei had a fierce temper; when angered his beard would bristle. On every major issue he decided with unflinching resolve. Even when the throne showed hesitation, he did not quickly back down. Before the mighty he never yielded an inch; in the end Asi brought him down, and contemporaries mourned him. He had two sons, Tumu and Xiashi. Only after Asi's death did they come into favor.
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蕭塔剌葛，字陶哂，六院部人。 素剛直。 太祖時，坐叔祖臺哂謀殺於越釋魯，沒入弘義宮。 世宗即位，以舅氏故，出其籍，補國舅別部敞史。 或言泰寧王察割有無君心。 塔剌葛曰：「彼縱忍行不義，人孰肯從！」 他日侍宴，酒酣，塔剌葛捉察割耳，強飲之曰：「上固知汝傲狠，然以國屬，曲加矜憫，使汝在左右，且度汝才何能為。 若長惡不悛，徒自取赤族之禍！」 察割不能答，強笑曰：「何戲之虐也！」 天祿末，塔剌葛為北府宰相，及察割作亂，塔剌葛醉詈曰：「吾悔不殺此逆賊！」 尋為察割所害。 耶律敵祿，字陽隱，孟父楚國王之後。 性質直，多膂力。 察割作亂，敵祿聞之，入見壽安王，慷慨言曰：「願得精兵數百，破賊黨。」 王嘉其忠。 穆宗即位，為北院宣徽使。 上以飛狐道狹，詔敵祿廣之。 明年，將兵援河東，至太原，與漢王會於高平，擊周軍，敗之，仍降其眾。 忻、代二州叛，將兵討之。 會耶律撻烈至，敗周師於忻口。 師還，卒。
Xiao Talage, styled Taoshen, was from the Six Yuan Division. By nature he was upright and unyielding. Under Taizu he was implicated when his granduncle Taishan plotted to murder yuyue Shilu and was entered into the Hongyi Palace rolls. When Emperor Shizong took the throne, because of his maternal kinship he was removed from the rolls and appointed chanshi of the imperial maternal uncle separate division. Some said Prince of Taining Chaguo harbored disloyal thoughts toward the throne. Talage said, "Even if he could endure acting unjustly, who would follow him!" On another banquet day, when the wine was deep, Talage seized Chaguo by the ear and forced him to drink, saying, "The emperor surely knows you are arrogant and fierce, yet because you are of the imperial clan he has bent to show compassion, kept you at his side, and judged what your talents could accomplish. If you persist in evil without reform, you will bring annihilation on your house for nothing!" Chaguo could not answer and forced a laugh, saying, "Why such cruel jesting!" At the end of the Tianlu era Talage was Northern Court chancellor; when Chaguo rebelled, Talage drunkenly cursed, saying, "I regret I did not kill this traitor!" Soon afterward Chaguo killed him. Yelü Dilu, styled Yangyin, was a descendant of the Mengfu Prince of Chu. Plain and upright by nature, he possessed great physical strength. When Chaguo rebelled, Dilu heard the news, went to see Prince Shou'an, and declared passionately, "Give me several hundred crack troops and I will smash the rebel band." The prince praised his loyalty. When Emperor Muzong took the throne, he was appointed Northern Court palace commissioner. Because the Feihu route was narrow, the emperor ordered Dilu to widen it. The next year he led troops to relieve Hedong, reached Taiyuan, joined the King of Han at Gaoping, attacked the Zhou army, defeated it, and also won the surrender of its troops. When Xin and Dai prefectures rebelled, he led troops to suppress them. When Yelü Talie arrived, the Zhou army was defeated at Xinkou. When the army returned, he died.
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論曰：忠臣惟知有國，而不知有身，故惡惡不避其患。 阿剌以諂諛不法折蕭革，陶隗以用必基禍言阿思，塔剌葛以忍行不義徒自取赤族之罪責察割，其心可謂忠矣。 言一出而禍輒隨之。 籲，邪正既不辨，國焉得無亂哉！
The commentators write: A loyal minister thinks only of the state, not of himself; that is why in denouncing evil he does not shun its cost. Ala denounced the sycophantic, lawless Xiao Ge; Taowei warned that using Asi would sow calamity; Talage, by tolerating injustice, brought annihilation on his house while blaming Chaguo — yet their devotion to the realm was genuine. Yet as soon as they spoke, ruin followed. Alas, when the court could no longer tell straight from crooked, what wonder that the realm fell into disorder!