1
蕭陶蘇斡耶律阿息保蕭乙薛蕭胡篤
Xiao Taosuwo, Yelu Axibao, Xiao Yixue, and Xiao Hudu
2
蕭陶蘇斡，字乙辛隱，突呂不部人。 四世祖因吉，發長五尺，時呼為「長發因吉」。 祖裏拔，奧隗部節度使。 陶蘇斡謹願，不妄交。 伯父留哥坐事免官，聞重元亂，挈家赴行在。 時陶蘇斡雖幼，已如成人，補筆硯小底。 累遷祗候郎君，轉樞密院侍御。 咸雍五年，遷崇德宮使。 會有訴北南院聽訟不直者，事下，陶蘇斡悉改正之，為耶律阿思所忌。 帝欲召用，輒為所沮。 八年，歷漠北滑水馬群太保，數年不調，嘗曰：「用才未盡，不若閑。」 乾統中，遷漠南馬群太保，以大風傷草，馬多死，鞭之三百，免官。 九年，徙天齊殿宿衛。 明年，谷價翔踴，宿衛士多不給，陶蘇斡出私廩赒之，召同知南院樞密使事。
Xiao Taosuwo, whose courtesy name was Yixin'yin, came from the Tielubu tribe. A fourth-generation forebear, Yinji, wore his hair five feet long and was known in his day as "Long-haired Yinji." His grandfather Liba served as military commissioner for the Aowei tribe. Taosuwo was cautious by nature and would not cultivate casual acquaintances. His uncle Liuge had been stripped of his post for an offense; when word came of Chongyuan's revolt, he took his household to the emperor's camp. Though still a boy, Taosuwo already comported himself like a grown man and was assigned as a junior clerk in charge of writing materials. He rose through successive posts to Attendant Gentleman and then became a palace attendant in the Privy Council. In the fifth year of the Xianyong era, he was appointed director of the Chongde Palace. When a petitioner alleged that the North and South Councils had heard cases unfairly, the matter came before Taosuwo, who corrected every ruling—earning the enmity of Yelu Asi. The emperor wished to bring him into higher office, but each time Yelu Asi blocked it. In the eighth year he was posted as grand guardian of the northern Huashui horse herds beyond the desert; for years he received no promotion, and remarked, "When one's abilities go unused, idleness is preferable. Under the Qiantong reign he was made grand guardian of the southern horse herds; when a violent wind ruined the pasture and many horses died, he was given three hundred lashes and removed from office. In the ninth year he was reassigned as a palace guard of the Tianqi Hall. The following year grain prices shot up, and many guards could not make ends meet; Taosuwo opened his private stores to feed them and was thereupon appointed associate director of the Southern Council Privy Council.
3
天慶四年，為漢人行宮副部署。 時金兵初起，攻陷寧江州。 天祚召群臣議，陶蘇斡曰：「女直國雖小，其人勇而善射。 自執我叛人蕭海裏，勢益張。 我兵久不練，若遇強敵，稍有不利，諸部離心，不可制矣。 為今之計，莫若大發諸道兵，以威壓之，庶可服也。」 北院樞密使蕭得裏底曰：「如陶蘇斡之謀，徒示弱耳。 但發滑水以北兵，足以拒之。」 遂不用其計。 數月間，邊兵屢北，人益不安。 饒州渤海結構頭下城以叛，有步騎三萬餘，招之不下。 陶蘇斡帥兵往討，擒其渠魁，斬首數千級，得所掠物，悉還其主。 及耶律章奴叛，陶蘇斡與留守耶律大悲奴為守禦。 章奴既平，陶蘇斡請曰：「今邊兵懈弛，若清暑嶺西，則漢人嘯聚，民心益搖。 臣愚以為宜罷此行。」 不納，乃命陶蘇斡控扼東路，招集散卒。 後以太子太傅致仕，卒。
In the fourth year of Tianqing he was named deputy commissioner of the bureau for the Chinese palace. The Jin armies had just risen in force and taken Ningjiang Prefecture. Emperor Tianzuo called his ministers into council; Taosuwo said, "Small though the Jurchen realm may be, its warriors are fierce and expert archers. Ever since they took our defector Xiao Hai'li into their ranks, their strength has only swelled. Our forces have long neglected drill; should we meet a formidable foe and suffer the slightest reverse, the tribes will lose heart and slip beyond control. The sound course now is to muster armies from every commandery at once and overawe them by sheer weight—only then might they yield. Xiao Delidi, privy commissioner of the Northern Council, replied, "A scheme like Taosuwo's would only broadcast our weakness. Troops raised north of the Huashui alone will suffice to hold them off. His counsel was rejected. Within months the border armies were beaten again and again, and popular alarm deepened. The Bohai people of Raozhou rose at a subordinate city under Goutou, fielding more than thirty thousand infantry and cavalry; no summons could make them submit. Taosuwo marched against them, seized their leaders, decapitated several thousand rebels, recovered all stolen property, and returned every item to its rightful owner. When Yelu Zhangnu rose in revolt, Taosuwo and the capital's garrison commander Yelu Dabeinu organized the city's defense. Once Zhangnu was crushed, Taosuwo pleaded, "The border forces are slack; if Your Majesty crosses west of Qinghu Ridge, Han subjects will flock together in defiance and the people's hearts will quail the more. This humble servant believes the expedition ought to be called off. The counsel went unheeded; instead Taosuwo was ordered to hold the eastern front and rally scattered troops. He later retired as Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent and died in office.
4
耶律阿息保，字特裏典，五院部人。 祖胡劣，太祖時徙居西北部，世為招討司吏。 阿息保慷慨有大志，年十六，以才幹補內史。 天慶初，轉樞密院侍御。 金人起兵，城境上，遣阿息保問之，金人曰：「若歸阿疏，敢不聽命。」 阿息保具以聞。 金兵陷寧江州，邊兵屢敗，遣阿息保與耶律章奴等賫書而東，冀以脅降。 阿息保曰：「臣前使，依詔開諭，略無所屈。 將還，謂臣曰：『若所請不遂，無相見。』 今臣請獨往。」 不聽。 將行，別蕭得裏底曰：「不肖適異國，必無生還，願公善輔國家。」 既至，阿息保見執。 久乃遁歸。
Yelu Axibao, whose courtesy name was Telidian, came from the Five-Yuan tribe. His grandfather Hulu, in the reign of Taizu, resettled in the northwest, and for generations the family served as clerks in the pacification commission. Axibao was openhanded and ambitious; at sixteen he was appointed Inner Scribe on the strength of his abilities. At the opening of the Tianqing era he was transferred to palace attendant in the Privy Council. When the Jin took up arms and fortified the frontier, Axibao was dispatched to inquire; the Jin replied, "If you hand back Ashu, we would not dare refuse your command. Axibao reported the full exchange to the throne. After the Jin captured Ningjiang and the border armies suffered defeat after defeat, Axibao was sent east with Yelu Zhangnu and others bearing letters, hoping to intimidate the enemy into submission. Axibao said, "On my last embassy I delivered the imperial message as instructed and would not yield an inch. As I was leaving they told me, 'If our demands are not met, we shall not meet again.' I beg now to go alone. The court would not hear of it. Before he set out he bade farewell to Xiao Delidi, saying, "Your unworthy servant is bound for a foreign land and will surely not return alive; may you govern the realm well in my stead. On arrival he was taken prisoner. Only after a long captivity did he escape and make his way home.
5
及天祚敗績，遷都巡捕使。 六年，從阿疏討耶律章奴，加領軍衛大將軍。 阿疏將兵而東，阿息保送至軍，乃還。 天祚怒其專，鞭之三百。 尋為奚六部禿裏太尉。 後阿疏反，阿息保以偏師進擊，臨陣墜馬，被擒。 因阿疏有舊得免。 時阿疏頗好殺，阿息保謂曰：「欲舉大事，何以殺為！」 由是全活者眾。 會阿疏敗，乃還。 以戰失利，囚中京數歲。 保大二年，金兵至中京，始出獄。 尋為敵烈皮室詳穩。 是時，魏王淳僭號，屢遣人以書來招。 阿息保封書以獻，因諫曰：「東兵甚銳，未可輕敵。」 及石輦鐸之敗，天祚奔竄，召阿息保，不時至，疑有貳心，並怒為淳所招，殺之。
After Tianzuo's crushing defeat, he was appointed metropolitan patrol commissioner. In the sixth year he followed Ashu against Yelu Zhangnu and was additionally made general-in-chief of the Army Guard. Ashu marched east with his army; Axibao escorted him to the encampment and then turned back. Tianzuo, angered that he had acted on his own authority, had him flogged three hundred strokes. He was soon appointed grand guardian tuli of the Six Xi tribes. When Ashu later rebelled, Axibao led a detached column against him, was thrown from his horse in battle, and taken captive. Thanks to his old friendship with Ashu he was spared. Ashu was then inclined to slaughter; Axibao told him, "If you mean to accomplish a great undertaking, why make killing your way! Because of this counsel a great many lives were spared. When Ashu was defeated, he made his way back. For the defeat he was imprisoned at Zhongjing for several years. In the second year of Baoda, when Jin forces reached Zhongjing, he was at last released from prison. He was soon made chief of the Dilie pishi guard. At this time Prince Chun of Wei had usurped a royal title and repeatedly sent envoys with letters to win him over. Axibao sealed the letter and presented it to the throne, admonishing, "The eastern armies are very sharp; they must not be underestimated. After Shinian Duo's defeat, as Tianzuo fled in disarray he summoned Axibao, who failed to arrive promptly; suspecting disloyalty and enraged that Chun had tried to recruit him, Tianzuo had him executed.
6
初，阿息保知國將亡，前後諫甚切。 及死以非罪，人尤惜之。
From the first, Axibao had seen that the state was doomed and remonstrated again and again with desperate urgency. When he was put to death without just cause, the people mourned him all the more.
7
蕭乙薛，字特免，國舅少父房子後。 性謹願。 壽隆間，累任劇官。 天慶初，知國舅詳穩事，遷殿前副點檢。 金兵起，為行軍副都統。 以戰失利，罷職。 六年，出為武定軍節度使，遷西京留守。 明年，討劇賊董厖兒，戰易水西，大破之。 以功為北府宰相，加左僕射，兼東北路都統。 十年，金兵陷上京，詔兼上京留守、東北路統軍使。 為政寬猛得宜，民之窮困者，輒加振恤，眾咸愛之。 保大二年，金兵大至，乙薛軍潰，左遷西南面招討使。 以部民流散，不赴。 及天祚播遷，給侍從不闕，拜殿前都點檢。 凡金兵所過，諸營敗卒復聚上京，遣乙薛為上京留守以安撫之。 明年，盧彥倫以城叛，乙薛被執數月，以居官無過，得釋。 後為耶律大石所殺。
Xiao Yixue, whose courtesy name was Temian, was a descendant of the junior imperial uncle's younger son. He was cautious and steady by nature. During the Shoulong era he held one weighty post after another. At the opening of Tianqing he oversaw imperial-uncle guard affairs and was promoted to deputy director of palace inspection. When the Jin armies rose, he was made deputy commanding general on campaign. After a defeat in battle he was removed from office. In the sixth year he was posted as military commissioner of the Wuding army and transferred to garrison commissioner of the Western Capital. The following year he campaigned against the fierce bandit Dong Mang'er, fought west of the Yishui, and routed him utterly. For his merit he was made chancellor of the Northern Prefecture, with the additional title of left vice director and concurrent commander of the Eastern Route army. In the tenth year, when Jin forces captured Shangjing, he was ordered to serve concurrently as Shangjing garrison commissioner and commander of the Eastern Route army. In office he balanced lenience and severity; whenever the people fell into want he gave relief, and all held him in affection. In the second year of Baoda, when Jin armies came in overwhelming force, Yixue's army collapsed and he was demoted to southwest pacification commissioner. Because his tribal subjects had scattered, he did not take up the post. When Tianzuo wandered in exile, he supplied attendants without fail and was appointed director of palace inspection. Wherever Jin armies passed, defeated soldiers from the camps regathered at Shangjing; Yixue was sent as Shangjing commissioner to pacify them. The following year Lu Yanlun rebelled with the city; Yixue was held for several months and released because he had committed no fault in office. He was later killed by Yelu Dashi.
8
蕭胡篤，字合術隱。 其先撒葛只，太祖時願隸宮分，遂為太和宮分人。 曾祖敵魯，明醫。 人有疾，觀其形色即知病所在。 統和中，宰相韓德讓貴寵，敵魯希旨，言德讓宜賜國姓，籍橫帳，由是世預太醫選。 子孫因之入官者眾。
Xiao Hudu, whose courtesy name was Heshu'yin. His forebear Sagezhi, in the reign of Taizu, asked to be enrolled in palace household service and thus became a man of the Taihe palace household. His great-grandfather Dilu was a renowned physician. When a patient fell ill, he could tell at a glance from complexion and bearing where the affliction lay. During the Tonghe era, Chancellor Han Derang enjoyed the highest favor; Dilu read the imperial mood and argued that Derang should be granted the imperial surname and enrolled in the horizontal registers, whereupon the family for generations entered the imperial physician rolls. Many of his descendants entered office by this connection.
9
胡篤為人便佞，與物無忤。 清寧初，補近侍。 大安元年，為彰湣宮太師。 壽隆二年，轉永興宮太師。 天慶初，累遷至殿前副點檢。 五年，從天祚東征，為先鋒都統，臨事猶豫，凡隊伍皆以圍場名號之。 進至剌離水，與金兵戰，敗，大軍亦卻。 及討耶律章奴，以籍私奴為軍，遷知北院樞密使事，卒。
Hudu was smooth and ingratiating by nature and gave offense to no one. At the opening of Qingning he was appointed to palace attendance. In the first year of Da'an he was made grand master of the Zhangmin Palace. In the second year of Shoulong he was transferred to grand master of the Yongxing Palace. At the opening of Tianqing he rose step by step to deputy director of palace inspection. In the fifth year he followed Tianzuo on the eastern campaign as vanguard commanding general; in action he was irresolute, and every unit was named after a hunting park. Advancing to the Chali River, he fought the Jin and was defeated, and the main army fell back as well. When campaigning against Yelu Zhangnu he mustered his private bondsmen as an army; he was transferred to oversight of Northern Council privy council affairs and died.
10
胡篤長於騎射，見天祚好遊畋，每言從禽之樂，以逢其意。 天祚悅而從之。 國政隳廢，自此始雲。
Hudu excelled at mounted archery; seeing Tianzuo's love of the hunt, he always spoke of the pleasures of the chase to please him. Tianzuo was delighted and followed his lead. The ruin of state administration, it is said, began from this.
11
論曰：甚矣，承平日久，上下狃於故常之可畏也！ 天慶之間，女直方熾，惟陶蘇斡明於料敵，善於忠諫，惜乎天祚痼蔽，不見信用。 阿息保不死阿疏之難，乙薛甘忍盧彥倫之執，大節已失矣，他有所長，亦奚足取。 胡篤以遊畋逢迎天祚而隳國政，可勝罪哉！
The commentary says: How grave a matter! When peace endures too long, those above and below grow attached to the familiar—and that is what should terrify us! During the Tianqing years the Jurchen were in full ascent; only Taosuwo was clear-eyed in judging the foe and steadfast in loyal remonstrance—yet Tianzuo was set in blindness and would not heed him. Axibao did not perish in Ashu's disaster, and Yixue submitted to Lu Yanlun's capture—their paramount integrity was already gone; whatever other talents they possessed, what is there to esteem? Hudu ruined the governance of the realm by hunting and hawking to win Tianzuo's favor—what punishment would not be too light!