1
耶律棠古蕭得裏底蕭酬斡耶律章奴耶律術者
Yelü Tanggu, Xiao Delidi, Xiao Chouwo, Yelü Zhangnu, and Yelü Paizhe
2
耶律棠古，字蒲速宛，六院郎君葛剌之後。 大康中，補本班郎君，累遷至大將軍。 性坦率，好別白黑，人有不善，必盡言無隱，時號「強棠古」。 在朝數論宰相得失，由是久不得調，後出為西北戍長。 乾統三年，蕭得裏底為西北路招討使，以後族慢侮僚吏。 棠古不屈，乃罷之。 棠古訟之朝，不省。 天慶初，烏古敵烈叛，召拜烏古部節度使。 至部，諭降之。 遂出私財及發富民積，以振其困乏，部民大悅，加鎮國上將軍。 會蕭得裏底以都統率兵與金人戰敗績，棠古請以軍法論。 且曰：「臣雖老，願為國破敵。」 不納。 保大元年，乞致仕。 明年，天祚出奔，棠古謁於倒塌嶺，為上流涕，上慰止之，復拜烏古部節度使。 及至部，敵烈以五千人來攻，棠古率家奴擊破之，加太子太傅。 年七十二卒。
Yelü Tanggu, whose courtesy name was Pusuwan, was descended from Gela, a langjun of the Six Tribes. During the Dakang reign he entered service as a standard-attendant langjun and rose in due course to the rank of grand general. He was forthright by nature and quick to distinguish right from wrong; whenever he saw misconduct he spoke out plainly and held nothing back, for which men of the day nicknamed him "Stubborn Tanggu." At court he repeatedly aired his views on the chief ministers' conduct, and for this he languished long without promotion until he was finally posted as commander of a northwest frontier garrison. In the third year of Qiantong, Xiao Delidi became pacification commissioner of the Northwest Route and, trading on his connection to the empress's clan, treated his fellow officials with arrogance. Tanggu refused to submit, and Delidi thereupon had him removed from office. Tanggu appealed to the court, but no inquiry was made. Early in the Tianqing reign, when the Wugu and Dilie tribes rose in revolt, he was recalled and appointed military commissioner of the Wugu tribe. Upon taking up his post he persuaded them to surrender. He then drew on his own funds and called up the reserves of wealthy households to relieve their hardship, winning the deep gratitude of the tribesmen and promotion to Suppressing-the-State Senior General. When Xiao Delidi, serving as supreme commander, led the army against the Jin and met with defeat, Tanggu asked that he be tried under military law. He added, "Though I am old, I am still willing to smash the enemy for the realm. His offer was not accepted. In the first year of Baoda he asked to retire from office. The following year, when Emperor Tianzuo took flight, Tanggu met him at Daotao Ridge and wept before the throne; the emperor comforted him and stayed his grief, then reappointed him military commissioner of the Wugu tribe. On returning to his post, the Dilie attacked with five thousand men; Tanggu led his household retainers, routed them, and was promoted to heir-apparent grand tutor. He died at seventy-two.
3
女直初起，廷臣多欲乘其未備，舉兵往討，得裏底獨沮之，以至敗衄。 天祚以得裏底不合人望，出為西南面招討使。 八年，召為北院樞密使，寵任彌篤。 是時，諸路大亂，飛章告急者絡繹而至，得裏底不即上聞，有功者亦無甄別。 由是將校怨怒，人無鬥志。 保大二年，金兵至嶺東。 會耶律撒八、習騎撒跋等謀立晉王敖盧斡事泄，上召得裏底議曰：「反者必以此兒為名，若不除去，何以獲安。」 得裏底唯唯，竟無一言申理。 王既死，人心益離。 金兵逾嶺，天祚率衛兵西遁。 元妃蕭氏，得裏底之侄，謂得裏底曰：「爾任國政，致君至此，何以生為！」 得裏底但謝罪，不能對。 明日，天祚怒，逐得裏底與其子麼撒。
When the Jurchens first rose, many at court urged a strike while they were still unprepared, but Delidi alone blocked the plan, and defeat was the outcome. Because Delidi had lost public confidence, Tianzuo posted him out as Southwest Route pacification commissioner. In the eighth year he was recalled to serve as Northern Court privy commissioner, and the emperor's trust in him deepened further. By then every frontier was in turmoil and urgent reports poured in without cease, yet Delidi neither forwarded them promptly nor singled out men who had distinguished themselves. Officers grew resentful, and the army lost its fighting spirit. In the second year of Baoda the Jin forces reached the country east of the mountain passes. When the plot of Yelü Saba, Xiqisaba, and others to enthrone Prince of Jin Ao Luwo came to light, the emperor called Delidi in council and said, "The rebels will surely rally under this prince; unless he is removed, how can the realm be secure? Delidi murmured assent but never spoke a word in the prince's defense. After the prince was put to death, loyalty drained away still faster. The Jin crossed the passes, and Tianzuo fled westward at the head of his palace guards. Senior Consort Xiao, who was married to Delidi's nephew, said to him, "You held the government in your hands and brought the sovereign to this ruin—how can you bear to go on living! Delidi could only beg forgiveness and had nothing to say in reply. The next day, in anger, Tianzuo banished Delidi and his son Mosai.
4
得裏底既去，為耶律高山奴執送金兵。 得裏底伺守者怠，脫身亡歸，復為耶律九斤所得，送之耶律淳。 時淳已僭號，得裏底自知不免，詭曰：「吾不能事僭竊之君！」 不食數日，卒。 子麼撒，為金兵所殺。
Once Delidi had left office, Yelü Gaoshannu seized him and delivered him to the Jin. Delidi waited until his guards grew careless, broke free and fled homeward, was seized again by Yelü Jiujin, and sent on to Yelü Chun. Chun had already proclaimed himself emperor; knowing he could not escape punishment, Delidi declared, "I will not serve a usurper who has stolen the throne! He refused food for several days and died. His son Mosai was slain by the Jin.
5
蕭酬斡，字訛裏本，國舅少父房之後。 祖阿剌，終采訪使。 父別裏剌，以後父封趙王。 酬斡貌雄偉，性和易。 年十四，尚越國公主，拜駙馬都尉，為祗候郎君班詳穩。 年十八，封蘭陵郡王。 時帝欲立皇孫為嗣，恐無以解天下疑，出酬斡為國舅詳穩，降皇后為惠妃，遷於乾州。 初酬斡母入朝，擅取驛馬，至是覺，奪其封號； 復與妹魯姐為巫蠱，伏誅。 詔酬斡與公主離婚，籍興聖宮，流烏古敵烈部。 天慶中，以妹復尊為太皇太妃，召酬斡為南女直詳穩，遷征東副統軍。 時廣州渤海作亂，乃與駙馬都尉蕭韓家奴襲其不備，平之，復敗敵將侯槩於川州。 是歲，東京叛，遇敵來擊，師潰； 獨酬斡率麾下數人力戰，歿於陣，追贈龍虎衛上將軍。
Xiao Chouwo, whose courtesy name was Eliben, came from the Younger Father branch of the Imperial Uncle clan. His grandfather Ala rose to the post of investigation commissioner. His father Bielili, as the emperor's father-in-law, was enfeoffed as Prince of Zhao. Chouwo was imposing in bearing and gentle in temperament. At fourteen he married the Princess of Yue, was made imperial son-in-law commandant, and became detailed commander of the attendant langjun company. At eighteen he was enfeoffed as Prince of Lanling. The emperor then wished to name his grandson heir but feared he could not quiet public suspicion; he posted Chouwo out as detailed commander of the imperial-uncle guard, reduced the empress to Graceful Consort, and moved her to Qian Prefecture. Earlier, when Chouwo's mother had come to court she had seized relay horses without leave; this was now discovered and her title was revoked; she and her younger sister Lujie were again found practicing witchcraft and were put to death. An edict divorced Chouwo from the princess, registered his household with the Xingsheng Palace, and banished him to the Wugu and Dilie tribes. During the Tianqing reign, when his younger sister was again elevated as Grand Imperial Senior Consort, Chouwo was recalled as detailed commander of the Southern Jurchen and promoted to deputy commander of the Eastern Expeditionary Army. When the Bohai of Guang Prefecture rose in revolt, he and imperial son-in-law commandant Xiao Hanjianu caught them off guard, put down the rebellion, and later defeated the enemy general Hou Kai at Chuan Prefecture. That year, when the Eastern Capital rebelled, the army met the enemy's attack and broke in rout; Chouwo alone led a handful of his men and fought to the end, falling on the field; he was posthumously honored as Dragon-Tiger Guard Senior General.
6
耶律章奴，字特末衍，季父房之後。 父查剌，養高不仕。 章奴明敏善談論。 大安中，補牌印郎君。 乾統元年，累遷右中丞，兼領牌印宿直事。 六年，以直宿不謹，降知內客省事。 天慶四年，授東北路統軍副使。 五年，改同知咸州路兵馬事。 及天祚親征女直，蕭胡篤為先鋒都統，章奴為都監。 大軍渡鴨子河，章奴與魏國王淳妻兄蕭敵裏及其甥蕭延留等謀立淳，誘將卒三百餘人亡歸。 既而天祚為女直所敗，章奴乃遣敵裏、延留以廢立事馳報淳。 淳猶豫未決。 會行宮使者乙信持天祚御劄至，備言章奴叛命，淳對使者號哭，即斬敵裏、延留首以獻天祚。 章奴見淳不從，誘草寇數百攻掠上京，取府庫財物。 至祖州，率僚屬告太祖廟云：「我大遼基業，由太祖百戰而成。 今天下土崩，竊見興宗皇帝孫魏國王淳道德隆厚，能理世安民，臣等欲立以主社稷。 會淳適好草甸，大事未遂。 邇來天祚惟耽樂是從，不恤萬機。 強敵肆侮，師徒敗績。 加以盜賊蜂起，邦國危於累卵。 臣等忝預族屬，世蒙恩渥，上欲安九廟之靈，下欲救萬民之命，乃有此舉。 實出至誠，冀累聖垂佑。」 西至慶州，復祀諸廟，仍述所以舉兵之意，移檄州縣、諸陵官僚，士卒稍稍屬心。 時饒州渤海及侯概等相繼來應，眾至數萬，趨廣平澱。 其黨耶律女古等暴橫不法，劫掠婦女財畜。 章奴度不能制，內懷悔恨； 又攻上京不克，北走降虜。 順國女直阿鶻產率兵追敗之，殺其將耶律彌裏直，擒貴族二百餘人，其妻子配役繡院，或散諸近侍為婢； 余得脫者皆遁去。 章奴詐為使者，欲奔女直，為邏者所獲，縛送行在，伏誅。
Yelü Zhangnu, whose courtesy name was Temoyan, came from the Younger Father branch of the imperial clan. His father Zhala lived in cultivated seclusion and never took office. Zhangnu was quick-witted and an able debater. During the Da'an reign he entered service as a seal-and-signet langjun. In the first year of Qiantong he rose in due course to right vice censor-in-chief and was also put in charge of palace seal-and-signet night duty. In the sixth year, for negligence on night duty, he was demoted to director of the Inner Guests Office. In the fourth year of Tianqing he was made deputy commander of the Northeast Route army. In the fifth year he was reassigned as associate commissioner of military affairs on the Xianzhou Route. When Tianzuo led a personal campaign against the Jurchen, Xiao Hudu was made vanguard supreme commander and Zhangnu army inspector. As the main army crossed the Yazi River, Zhangnu joined with Xiao Dili, elder brother of Prince of Wei Chun's wife, and his nephew Xiao Yanliu and others in a plot to enthrone Chun, persuading more than three hundred officers and men to desert and march home. When Tianzuo was soon after defeated by the Jurchen, Zhangnu dispatched Dili and Yanliu to carry word of the planned deposition and enthronement to Chun. Chun hesitated and could not bring himself to decide. Just then the mobile-palace envoy Yixin arrived with an imperial rescript from Tianzuo detailing Zhangnu's treason; Chun wept before the envoy and immediately beheaded Dili and Yanliu, sending their heads to Tianzuo. When Chun refused to join him, Zhangnu rallied several hundred marauders to raid the Upper Capital and seize the treasury stores. At Zu Prefecture he led his officers before the temple of Taizu and declared, "The foundation of our Great Liao was won through the hundred battles of Taizu. Now the realm is crumbling; we have seen that Emperor Xingzong's grandson, Prince of Wei Chun, is a man of deep virtue who can govern the age and bring peace to the people, and we wish to set him up to rule the state. But Chun happened to be away on the grasslands at sport, and the great design came to nothing. Of late Tianzuo has given himself only to pleasure and neglected the affairs of government. A powerful foe presses the borders, and our armies suffer defeat after defeat. Bandits rise everywhere, and the state stands in peril as fragile as a tower of eggs. We, though unworthy members of the imperial clan, have received grace through generations; above we seek to secure the spirits of the ancestral temples, below we seek to save the lives of the people—this is why we have taken this step. Our purpose is wholly sincere, and we pray that the successive sage emperors will grant their blessing. He marched west to Qing Prefecture, sacrificed again at the various temples, reiterated his reasons for taking up arms, and sent proclamations to the prefectures, counties, and tomb officials; soldiers gradually rallied to his cause. The Bohai of Rao Prefecture, Hou Kai, and others then came over one after another; his force swelled to tens of thousands and marched toward Guangping Marsh. His followers, including Yelü Nügu, grew violent and lawless, seizing women, livestock, and goods. Zhangnu saw he could not control them and was filled with remorse; he then failed to take the Upper Capital and fled north to surrender to the enemy. The Shunguo Jurchen Ahechan pursued him, routed his force, killed his general Yelü Milizhi, and captured more than two hundred nobles; their wives and children were sent to labor in the embroidery bureau or distributed among the palace attendants as servants; those who escaped fled in all directions. Zhangnu disguised himself as an envoy and tried to flee to the Jurchen, but patrols seized him, bound him, and sent him to the mobile court, where he was put to death.
7
耶律術者，字能典，於越蒲古只之後，魁偉雄辨。 乾統初，補祗候郎君。 六年，因柴冊，加觀察使。 天慶五年，受詔監都統耶律斡裏朵戰。 及敗，左遷銀州刺史，徙咸州糺將。 嘗與耶律章奴謀立魏國王淳。 及聞章奴自鴨子河亡去，即引麾下數人往會之。 道為遊兵所執，送行在所。 上問曰：「予何負卿而反？」 術者對曰：「臣誠無憾。 但以天下大亂，已非遼有，小人滿朝，賢臣竄斥，誠不忍見天皇帝艱難之業一旦土崩。 臣所以痛入骨髓而有此舉，非為身計。」 後數日，復問，術者厲聲數上過惡，陳社稷危亡之本，遂殺之。
Yelü Paizhe, whose courtesy name was Nengdian, was descended from Yuyue Puguzhi; he was imposing in stature and forceful in debate. Early in the Qiantong reign he entered service as an attendant langjun. In the sixth year, for his service at the firewood-register ceremony, he was promoted to investigation commissioner. In the fifth year of Tianqing he was ordered to oversee the campaign of supreme commander Yelü Woliduo. After the defeat he was demoted to prefect of Yin and reassigned as jiujiang commissioner at Xian Prefecture. He had once joined Yelü Zhangnu in a plot to enthrone Prince of Wei Chun. When he learned that Zhangnu had deserted from the Yazi River, he immediately took a few of his men and went to join him. On the way he was seized by roving troops and brought to the mobile court. The emperor asked, "What wrong have I done you that you would rebel? Paizhe answered, "Your servant bears no personal grievance. But the realm is in chaos and Liao no longer holds it; petty men fill the court while worthy ministers are driven into exile. I could not bear to watch the Heaven Emperor's hard-won enterprise collapse in a single day. My grief went to the bone, and that is why I acted—not for my own gain." Several days later the emperor questioned him again; Paizhe raised his voice, listed the emperor's faults one by one, laid bare the roots of the state's ruin, and was then executed.
8
論曰：遼末同事之臣，其善惡何相遠也！ 棠古骨鯁不屈權要，兩鎮烏古，恩威並著。 酬斡平亂渤海，又以討叛力戰而死，忠可尚矣。 得裏底縱女直而不討，寢變告而不聞，其蔽主聰明，為國階亂，莫斯之甚也。 章奴、術者乘時多艱，潛謀廢立，將求寵幸，以犯大逆，其得免於天下之戮哉！
Commentary: Among the ministers who served together at the end of Liao, how vast was the distance between good and evil! Tanggu was unbending before the mighty, governed Wugu twice, and won renown through both kindness and sternness. Chouwo put down the Bohai rebellion and later died fighting rebels in the field—loyalty worthy of respect. Delidi indulged the Jurchen without striking, buried urgent reports without hearing them, clouded the ruler's judgment, and set the state on the path to ruin—none did more harm. Zhangnu and Paizhe, seizing a time of hardship, secretly plotted deposition and enthronement in hope of personal gain, and by committing high treason—how could they hope to escape the punishment of the realm!