2
Liu Shilong, styled Yanxu, was a man of Jie in Hedong. His grandfather Ping had been administrator of Fengyi. His father Shuzong died young.
3
Shilong showed talent and bearing from youth. His uncle Yuanjing, who under Song had been director of the masters of writing in the Daming era, singled him out for affection above his own sons. Yuanjing spoke of him to Emperor Xiaowu, and Shilong was summoned to court. The emperor said: "One of the Three Dukes—this boy will be that man in time to come." When Prince of Hailing Xiu Mao held Yong province, he took Shilong on as welcoming chief clerk. He was named acting aide in the law bureau on Prince of Xiyang's pacification staff, then sent out as general of tiger might and administrator of Shangyong. The emperor told Yuanjing: "You once held the tiger might title in Sui; I now give it again to Shilong, so your line may never lack a duke." Yuanjing was put to death in the Jinghe purge; Shilong, posted far away, escaped.
4
In the first years of Taishi, when the provinces rose in revolt, Shilong's clan was cleared of guilt through Emperor Ming; he then seized his commandery, raised arms, and sent envoys to the throne. Liu Senglin of Hongnong likewise raised a force in support. He mustered ten thousand men and struck suddenly at Wanshan outside Xiangyang, but Kong Daocun routed him; the army broke and fled, and he barely escaped alive, living in hiding among common folk until order returned. He returned to court as gentleman of ceremonies in the masters of writing; Emperor Ming honored his loyalty and promoted him by edict to groom of the heir apparent, then sent him out as general who pacifies the distance and administrator of Zitong in Baxi. He came back as colonel of the rapid steeds, became advising staff officer on Prince of Jianping's pacifying-north staff while holding South Taishan, then marshal and administrator of Donghai, and entered court as attendant cavalier in direct service.
5
Soon after he was chief of staff on Prince of Jinxi's pacifying-west staff, with the additional rank general who pacifies the north. Shizu was then chief of staff; he and Shilong took to each other at once. When the Grand Ancestor plotted a crossing at Guangling, he told Shizu to bring the army downriver to the capital; Shilong, with Xiao Xianxian and other senior commanders, stood to arms for the appointed day—but the scheme came to nothing.
6
The court then feared Shen Youzhi and quietly braced against him; arms and gear were stockpiled in every prefecture and province. As Shizu prepared to go to the capital, Liu Huaizhen said to the Grand Ancestor: "Xiakou is the hinge of the armies; the man there must be the right one." The Grand Ancestor agreed and wrote to Shizu: "When you come to court you will need someone who unites civil and martial gifts and thinks as you do, to leave affairs in his hands—and that is Shilong." Shizu put Shilong forward in his own place. He was made chief of staff on Prince of Wuling's vanguard staff, interior minister of Jiangxia, and acting inspector of Ying.
7
冬，攸之反，遣輔國將軍中兵參軍孫同、寧朔將軍中兵參軍武寶、龍驤將軍騎兵參軍朱君拔、寧朔將軍沈惠眞、龍驤將軍騎兵參軍王道起三萬人爲前驅，又遣司馬冠軍劉攘兵領寧朔將軍外兵參軍公孫方平、龍驤將軍騎兵參軍朱靈眞、沈僧敬、龍驤將軍高茂二萬人次之，又遣輔國將軍王靈秀、丁珍東、寧朔將軍中兵參軍王彌之、寧朔將軍外兵參軍楊景穆二千匹騎分兵出夏口，據魯山。 攸之乘輕舸從數百人先大軍下住白螺洲，坐胡牀以望其軍，有自驕色。 旣至郢，以郢城弱小不足攻，遣人告世隆曰：「被太后令，當蹔還都。 卿旣相與奉國，想得此意。」 世隆使人答曰：「東下之師，久承聲問。 郢城小鎮，自守而已。」 攸之將去，世隆遣軍於西渚挑戰，攸之果怒，令諸軍登岸燒郭邑，築長圍攻道，顧謂人曰：「以此攻城，何城不剋！」 晝夜攻戰，世隆隨宜拒應，衆皆披却。 世祖初下，與世隆別，曰：「攸之一旦爲變，焚夏口舟艦沿流而東，則坐守空城，不可制也。 雖留攻城，不可卒拔。 卿爲其內，我爲其外，乃無憂耳。」 至是世祖遣軍主桓敬、陳胤叔、苟元賔等八軍據西塞，令堅壁以待賊疲。 慮世隆危急，遣腹心胡元直潛使入郢城通援軍消息，內外竝喜。 尚書符曰：
That winter Youzhi rose in revolt. He sent Sun Tong, pacifying state general and central corps staff officer; Wu Bao, pacifying north general and central corps staff officer; Zhu Junba, flying dragon general and cavalry corps staff officer; Shen Huizhen, pacifying north general; and Wang Daoqi, flying dragon general and cavalry corps staff officer—with thirty thousand men as vanguard. He sent champion marshal Liu Rangbing at the head of Gongsun Fangping, pacifying north general and outer corps staff officer; Zhu Lingzhen and Shen Sengjing, flying dragon generals and cavalry corps staff officers; and Gao Mao, flying dragon general—with twenty thousand in the second wave. He sent pacifying state general Wang Lingxiu, Ding Zhendong, pacifying north general and central corps staff officer Wang Mizhi, and pacifying north general and outer corps staff officer Yang Jingmu with two thousand horse to split from Xiakou and hold Lushan. Youzhi went ahead in a light boat with a few hundred men, moored at White Snail Islet before the main host, and sat on a camp chair to watch his army—plainly pleased with himself. At Ying he thought the town too small and weak to bother with; he sent word to Shilong: "The empress dowager has ordered me to return to the capital for the moment. You serve the realm as I do—you will surely take my meaning." Shilong answered: "We have long had word of your host coming east. This little fortress of Ying can only defend itself." When Youzhi was ready to go, Shilong provoked a fight at the western crossing; Youzhi flew into a rage, had his men land and burn the outer town, threw up a long siege line, and told his officers: "With this way of war, what wall will not fall!" They attacked day and night; Shilong answered each thrust as the moment required, and the enemy was beaten back again and again. When Shizu first marched downstream he took leave of Shilong and said: "If Youzhi turns rebel at once, burns the fleet at Xiakou, and drifts east on the current, you will sit in an empty city with no hold on him. Even if he stays to besiege you, he cannot storm it in a day. You inside and I outside—then we need not worry." Now Shizu sent Huan Jing, Chen Yingshu, Gou Yuanbin, and other commanders with eight armies to hold the western forts, with orders to stand behind strong walls until the rebels were spent. Afraid Shilong was hard pressed, he sent his intimate Hu Yuanzhi secretly into Ying with news of the relief force; city and camp alike took heart. The ministry dispatch reads:
8
Shen Youzhi came up from the plowlands; his line had been obscure for generations. The late minister of works Lord Shen took him in under a kinsman's wing and loved him as a son; favored and pushed forward, he rose rung by rung in office. Jinghe was mad and cruel, fearful of his great ministers; Youzhi was savage and greedy, eager for gain and glad of ruin—he begged the edict and with his own hand turned on the man who had raised him. Youzhi, Tan Jin, Tong Taiyi, and others had been wildly favored in that deranged court; they were heart and sinew together, one body in merit—the age named them the "Three Marquises." Their bond then outdid Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya; when the throne changed, the guilty feared the axe, and Youzhi turned every trick to save himself and walked away. He killed a kinsman and tormented true friends; Lü Bu who sold his ruler and Li Ji who sold his friend—beside this man they hardly count as cruel. At the opening of Taishi the law forgave the great offender; his violence was passed over and only his teeth were used—so he rose whole from rebellion and made calamity his ladder:
9
:攸之稟性空淺，躁而無謀，濃湖土崩，本非己力，彭城、下邳，望旗宵遁，再棄王師，久應肆法，值先帝宥其回溪之恥，冀有封崤之捷，故得幸會推遷，頻煩顯授。 內端戎禁，外綏萬里。 聖去鼎湖，遠頒顧命，託寄崇深，義感金石。 而攸之始奉國諱，喜形于顏，普天同哀，己以爲慶。 累登蕃岳，自郢遷荊。 晉熙王以皇弟代鎮，地尊望重，攸之斷割候迎，肆意陵略。 料擇士馬，簡算器械，權撥精銳，竝取自隨。 郢城所留，十不遺一。 專恣鹵奪，罔顧國典。 踐荊已來，恒用姦數，旣懷異志，興造無端。 乃蹙迫羣蠻，騷擾山谷，揚聲討伐，盡戶上丁。 蟻聚郭邑，伺國衰盛，從來積年，求不解甲。 遂四野百縣，路無男人，耕田載租，皆驅女弱。 自古酷虐，未聞於此。
Youzhi is shallow and rash, without counsel. At Nonghu the ramparts gave way—no strength of his; at Pengcheng and Xiapi he ran at the first banner by night, twice deserting the imperial host. He should have died by statute long since; the late emperor spared the disgrace of Huixi, hoping he might yet win a victory like Feng and Yao—so fortune lifted him, and high posts came again and again. Within he held the inner armies; without he quieted the realm for ten thousand li. When the sage went to Ding Lake, a dying charge reached him from afar; the trust was profound, the bond strong as metal and stone. Yet when Youzhi first took up the state mourning, joy sat plain on his face; the empire mourned as one, and he made it his feast. He climbed repeatedly to great provincial commands, from Ying to Jing. Prince of Jinxi, the emperor's brother, came to relieve him—rank high, name weighty; Youzhi choked off his welcome, seized what he pleased, and rode over him at will. He picked over men and horses, tallied arms and gear, stripped the best troops on his own authority, and kept them all for himself. What he left in Ying did not amount to one man in ten. He plundered as he pleased and trampled the laws of the realm. Since he took Jing he had lived by trickery; disloyalty was already in his heart, and he stirred up trouble without end. He harried the hill tribes, roiled the valleys, cried war on every side, and levied every able man from every door. They massed at the walled towns like ants, weighing the realm's strength year by year, and for years on end would not lay arms aside. A hundred counties across the countryside went without men on the roads; only women and the frail were left to till the fields and haul the tax grain. Since antiquity, cruelty like this has never been heard of.
10
Last year Guiyang rebelled from within and the ancestral temple stood on the edge of ruin. Youzhi held the upper Yang with strong armies and wide territory; the call to save the throne should have been answered in full. He sent only the feeble, fewer than three thousand men; once at Ying he would take orders so that, when the verdict came, guilt would fall on the Prince of Jinxi. He recruited bravos and detained wayfarers; deserters who slipped in he shielded at once, and anyone who fled across the border he hunted to the end. Officials he treated as foes and common folk as weeds; he took more than half in tax, punished with the cruellest laws, flogged men of rank, and ruled wholly by barbarian ways—one fugitive, and the whole clan was dragged in. He would not heed the court's amnesties; the throne's mercy never reached his province; resentment ran so deep that nine houses in ten were bitter. Now he turns his arms inward while treason blazes abroad—the hour when his wickedness has ripened and his guilt is full, the day to cut the sore and drain the poison. This headquarters, charged beyond measure with the court's trust, burns with righteous wrath; it commands the host and carries out heaven's judgment.
11
:今遣新除使持節郢州司州之義陽諸軍事平西將軍郢州刺史聞喜縣開國侯黃回、員外散騎常侍輔國將軍驍騎將軍重安縣開國子軍主王敬則、屯騎校尉長壽縣開國男軍主王宜與、屯騎校尉陳承叔、右軍將軍葛陽縣開國男彭文之、驃騎行參軍振武將軍邰宰，精甲二萬，衝其首旆。 又遣散騎常侍游擊將軍湘南縣開國男呂安國、持節寧朔將軍越州刺史孫曇瓘、屯騎校尉寧朔將軍崔慧景、寧朔將軍左軍將軍新亭侯任候伯、龍驤將軍虎賁中郎將尹略、屯騎尉南城令曹虎頭、輔國將軍驍騎將軍蕭順之、新除寧朔將軍游擊將軍下邳縣開國子垣崇祖等，舳艫二萬，駱驛繼邁。 又遣屯騎校尉苟元賔、撫軍參軍郭文考、撫軍中兵參軍程隱雋、奉朝請諸襲光等，輕艓一萬，截其津要。 驍騎將軍周盤龍、後將軍成買、輔國將軍王敕勤、屯騎校尉王洪範等，鐵騎五千，步道繼進，先據陸路，斷其走伏。 持節、督雍梁二州郢州之竟陵司州之隨郡諸軍事、征虜將軍、寧蠻校尉、雍州刺史、襄陽縣開國侯、新除鎮軍將軍張敬兒，志節慷慨，卷甲樊、鄧，水步俱馳，破其巢窟。 持節、督司州諸軍事、征虜將軍、司州刺史、領義陽太守、范陽縣侯姚道和，義烈梗概，投袂方隅，風馳電掩，襲其輜重。 萬里建旍，四方飛旆，莫不總率衆師，雲翔雷動。 人神同憤，遠邇并心。
We now send the newly appointed Bearer of the Staff, General Who Pacifies the West and Inspector of Ying, Marquis of Wenxi, Huang Hui; Outer Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry, General Who Assists the State and General of Valiant Cavalry, Baron of Chong'an, army commander Wang Jingze; Commandants of Valiant Cavalry Wang Yixing, Baron of Changshou, and Chen Chenshu; General of the Right Army Peng Wenzhi, Baron of Geyang; and Flying-Cavalry adjutant Tai Zai, General Who Quells Martial Foes—with twenty thousand elite troops to break his van. We also send Lu Anguo, Outer Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry and General of Raiding Attack, Baron of Xiangnan; Sun Tanxuan, Bearer of the Staff, General of Pacifying the North and Inspector of Yue; Commandants of Valiant Cavalry Cui Huijing and Ren Houbo, Marquis of Xinting; Yin Lue, General of the Flying Dragon; Cao Hutou, Commandant of Valiant Cavalry and magistrate of Nancheng; Xiao Shunzhi, General Who Assists the State and General of Valiant Cavalry; and Yuan Chongzu, newly appointed General of Pacifying the North and General of Raiding Attack, Baron of Xiapi—with twenty thousand warships driving forward without pause. We also send Gou Yuanbin, Commandant of Valiant Cavalry; Guo Wenkao and Cheng Yinjun, staff officers of the Pacifying Army; Zhu Xiguang, Court Gentleman for the Dynasty; and others—with ten thousand light craft to seize his crossings and choke points. Zhou Panlong, General of Valiant Cavalry; Cheng Mai, Rear General; Wang Chiqin, General Who Assists the State; Wang Hongfan, Commandant of Valiant Cavalry; and others—with five thousand iron horsemen and infantry columns behind, to seize the roads first and block his escape and ambushes. Zhang Jinger'er, Bearer of the Staff, commander of Yong and Liang, General Who Punishes the Barbarians, Inspector of Yong, Marquis of Xiangyang, newly made General of the Pacifying Army—with fierce loyalty he gathers his armor at Fan and Deng, races by river and road alike, and breaks the rebel's lair. Yao Daohe, Bearer of the Staff, commander of Sizhou, General Who Punishes the Barbarians, Inspector of Si and Administrator of Yiyang, Marquis of Fanyang—with stern honor he springs to the frontier, strikes like storm and lightning, and falls on the rebel's supply train. Standards rise ten thousand li; banners fly from every quarter—every host is mustered, moving like clouds, roaring like thunder. Men and spirits burn with the same wrath; near and far are of one mind.
12
The throne is wise and clear; generals and ministers are humane; law is restrained to its essentials, punishments are mild and taxes light; harvests run full and homes are at ease; grace flows from above, and below there is no joy in rebellion. Youzhi cannot read the times and dreams of treason; he marches without just cause and leads men who hate him—so court and country alike see him as easy prey, and every clear eye knows the trap has already closed. The people of that region have borne his poison for years; now they are driven again straight onto the swords. When blades meet, friend and foe will be hard to tell apart; the choice is yours in an instant—think while there is still time, and do not let one man's hesitation drag nine generations to ruin. Our promise of mercy stands bright as the sun.
13
郢城旣不可攻，而平西將軍黃回軍至西陽，乘三層艦，作羌胡伎，泝流而進。 攸之素失人情，本逼以威力，初發江陵，已有叛者，至是稍多。 攸之日夕乘馬歷營撫慰，而去者不息。 攸之大怒，召諸軍主曰：「我被太后令，建義下都，大事若剋，白紗帽共著耳； 如其不振，朝廷自誅我百口，不關餘人。 比軍人叛散，皆卿等不以爲意。 我亦不能問叛身，自今軍中有叛者，軍主任其罪。」 於是一人叛，遣十人追，竝去不反。 莫敢發覺，咸有異計。 劉攘兵射書與世隆許降，世隆開門納之。 攘兵燒營而去，火起乃覺。 攸之怒，銜鬚咀之。 收攘兵兄子天賜、女婿張平虜斬之。 軍旅大散。 攸之渡魯山岸，猶有數十匹騎自隨。 宣令軍中曰：「荊州城中大有錢，可相與還取，以爲資糧。」 郢城未有追軍，而散軍畏蠻抄，更相聚結，可二万人，隨攸之，將至江陵，乃散。 世隆乃遣軍副劉僧驎道追之。
Ying still held, but Huang Hui, General Who Pacifies the West, reached Xiyang with triple-deck warships, Qiang and Hu music playing, rowing upriver against the stream. Youzhi had lost the hearts of his men long before and ruled only by terror; deserters appeared as soon as he left Jiangling, and now they grew by the day. Day and night he rode the lines to hearten the troops, yet men kept slipping away. Youzhi flew into a rage and called his commanders: "The Empress Dowager charged me to raise a righteous host and march on the capital. If we win, we shall wear the white gauze cap together; if we fail, the court will kill my household to the last—it has nothing to do with the rest of you. Soldiers have been deserting because none of you cared to stop it. I cannot chase down every runaway; hereafter, any man who deserts—his commander answers for it." After that, one deserter would send ten pursuers after him—and none of the ten came back. No one dared speak of it; every man nursed his own design. Liu Rangbing shot a message over the wall offering surrender; Shilong opened the gate and let him in. Rangbing fired the camp and withdrew; the army knew only when the flames climbed. Youzhi raged and chewed at his beard until it tore. He seized Rangbing's nephew Tianci and his son-in-law Zhang Pingfu and had them beheaded. The host broke and fled in chaos. Youzhi forded to the bank at Lushan with only a few dozen riders still at his side. He called to the army: "Jingzhou holds great wealth—come back with me and we will take it for supplies." Ying had not yet sent pursuers, but the broken troops, fearing tribal raids, clustered again—some twenty thousand—and trailed Youzhi until, near Jiangling, they melted away. Shilong then sent his deputy Liu Senglin after them on the road.
14
Youzhi was already dead; Shilong was summoned to court as Palace Attendant. He was then made Right Vice Director of the Masters of Writing and enfeoffed as Marquis of Zhenyang with a fief of two thousand households. He went out as General of the Left and Administrator of Wu, with stipend raised to two thousand shi. He went into mourning for his mother. When the Founding Emperor took the throne, Shilong was called back from mourning as Bearer of the Staff, overall commander of Southern Yu and Si, General Who Pacifies the South, and Governor of Southern Yu, and was raised to duke. The emperor sent a handwritten edict to Minister of Works Chu Yuan: "I have just seen Shilong—grief has wasted him past bearing, nearly past knowing. It is not only pitiful; he is a living treasure of the realm." Yuan answered: "Shilong's nature is pure and deep, and his mourning goes beyond the rites. In danger he served Your Majesty with full loyalty; in bereavement he leaned on his staff before he could rise—both are the root of humanity, and in both he stands at the limit. To heap honor upon him is to temper custom and thicken the wind of the age."
15
In the second year of Jianyuan, his title was advanced to General Who Pacifies the South. The enemy were then raiding Shouyang. The emperor ordered Shilong: "Liyang is a great city and may not be made ready in a rush. You should divide and seal it off and hold it in depth. Set the people in order: if they are not to bring their households to the wall, a lone man is hard to trust with the defense." Soon another edict: "We are strengthening Liyang's outer works. If raiders come, force the people to hold them at once—that will be better than giving ground piecemeal."
16
After Huan Chongzu had routed the enemy, the emperor wished to fold the two Yu provinces into one. He told Shilong: "The lands west of the Yangtze have grown thin; to run both Yu provinces at once is hard. Counselors mostly say that to drop one and keep one would be the practical course. I do not think that wrong. What is your view? Lay it out fully for Us." Soon after he was named Rear General and Right Vice Director of the Masters of Writing; he declined the post. Shilong loved learning and ranged widely in his reading. He asked the Founding Emperor to lend him palace archive books; the throne sent two thousand scrolls.
17
In the third year he went out as Bearer of the Staff, commander of Southern Yan, Yan, Xu, Qing, and Ji, General Who Pacifies the North, and Governor of Southern Yan. North of the river they feared northern raids, and the countryside would not settle. The emperor wrote Shilong: "Word from the north says the enemy still drill at Pengcheng. Their years are almost spent; they may not come to throw their lives away. Yet wolves are not argued into peace—our guard must not slacken. Their outer rampart is not strategically vital; clear it, and leave thirty zhang from the inner metal wall—that is best. Set the people to the work; there is no objection. If you must feed three thousand men, how much grain is already in store? Put the figures on a slip and return it with the courier. Where households have many men of service age and few mouths to feed, garrison them all—without hesitation." Another edict: "Last night a northern courier reported that the enemy have crossed the Huai near Zhongli. They mean to fight to the death—organize pursuit and strike at once. Keep close watch. If it turns urgent, pull every minor post back to the main forts—you must not be taken unawares. Once they are south of the Huai they cannot melt away at once; somewhere they will throw lives into the assault—and Shouyang is the mark. We will send relief." He also sent troops to Shilong's aid and issued army grain.
18
When the enemy withdrew, the emperor wished to register native land north of the river and again wrote Shilong: "Lü An'guo has lately, in the west, registered stray households on the Ying and Si borders—with excellent effect; the people were scarcely alarmed. We have also ordered Huan Chongzu, as Governor of Yu, to do the same within his province; his memorial, when consulted, shows the work finished and no fresh trouble—very much the old policy done right. Tell Us whether the same can be carried out in your Yan command. If it will not stir unrest, take it in hand this spring." Such was the favor and charge he bore.
19
When Shizu took the throne, Shilong was made Supernumerary Palace Attendant. Shilong was skilled at divination; for a choice tortoise carapace he would pay as much as ten thousand cash. When the Yongming reign title was proclaimed, Shilong inscribed the wall of his prefectural study with the words "the eleventh year of Yongming." He told the registry clerk Li Dang, "I shall not live to see it." He entered court as Palace Attendant and Defender-General, was moved to Right Vice Director of the Masters of Writing, and was also named Right Leader of the Heir Apparent's Guard and Chief Rectifier of Yong Province. He declined, and was instead made Supernumerary Palace Attendant and Left Vice Director of the Masters of Writing, with Chief Rectifier unchanged.
20
When the Xiang barbarians rose, Shilong was sent in his existing rank to command all armies against them, and was then made Bearer of the Staff, overall commander of Xiang, General Who Guards the South, and Governor of Xiang, with Palace Attendant unchanged. At his post he pacified them by strategy. In the province he set up lodges for private gain; the Censor Yü Gao impeached him, and an edict pardoned him without further inquiry. He returned as Left Vice Director of the Masters of Writing and was also named Minister of the Guard; he declined. He was then made Director of the Masters of Writing.
21
Shilong had built merit and fame in youth; in later years he gave himself wholly to pure talk. He played the zither with mastery; the age called him Lord Liu's twin jades and set him first among cultivated men. He used to rank himself: first the cavalry lance, second pure talk, third the zither. In court he would not touch the day's business; behind his curtain he played the zither, clear and remote in bearing, and won the age's praise. Illness made him yield his post; he was offered Palace Attendant and Guardian General, declined, and was made Left Household Grandee instead, with Palace Attendant unchanged.
22
九年，卒，時年五十。 詔給東園祕器，朝服一具，衣一襲，錢一十万，布三百匹，蠟三百斤。 又詔曰：「故侍中左光祿大夫貞陽公世隆，秉德居業，才兼經緯。 少播清徽，長弘美譽。 入參內禁，出贊西牧，專寄郢郊，剋挫巨猾，超越前勳，功著一代。 及總任方州，民頌寬德，翼教崇闥，朝稱元正。 忠謨嘉猷，簡于朕心，雅志素履，邈不可踰。 將登鉉味，用燮鴻化，奄至薨殞，震慟良深。 贈司空，班劔三十人，鼓吹一部，侍中如故。 諡曰忠武。」 上又敕吏部尚書王晏曰：「世隆雖抱疾積歲，志氣未衰，冀醫藥有效，痊差可期。 不謂一旦便爲異世，痛怛之深，此何可言。 其昔在郢，誠心夙悃，全保一蕃，勳業克著。 尋准契闊，增泣悲咽。 卿同在情，亦當無已已耶！」
In the ninth year he died, at the age of fifty. An edict granted him Eastern Garden funeral regalia, a full set of court robes, one suit of garments, a hundred thousand cash, three hundred bolts of cloth, and three hundred jin of wax. Another edict read: "The late Palace Attendant, Left Household Grandee, Duke of Zhenyang Shilong, bore virtue in his work and joined talent to the warp and woof of rule. In youth he cast a clear name abroad; in his prime he widened a fair renown. Within he served the inner palace; without he aided the western governor; left alone to hold the approaches to Ying, he broke a great villain, outdid former merit, and fixed his fame for a generation. When he held a whole province, the people sang of his gentle rule; at the high gates he helped shape the teaching, and the court hailed him as the court's standard. His loyal counsel and fine designs were plain to Our heart; his high purpose and plain walk were beyond reach. He was on the verge of tasting the cauldron of state and harmonizing the great transformation, when death came suddenly—Our grief is very deep. He was posthumously made Minister of Works, with thirty halberd-bearers, one suite of ceremonial music, and Palace Attendant as before. His posthumous name was Zhongwu." The emperor again instructed Wang Yan, Minister of Personnel: "Though Shilong had been ill for years, his spirit had not waned; We hoped the physicians would prevail and recovery was still in sight. We never thought that in a single morning he would pass to another world—the depth of pain is beyond words. Long ago at Ying he showed old and earnest loyalty and kept a whole frontier safe; his merit stood clear. Now, to Our sorrow, We must part again, and Our weeping only deepens. You share this bond—surely your grief knows no end either!"
23
Shilong was versed in number-craft; at Nitang he laid out a tomb and walked the ground with guests—whether ten visits or five, he always sat in the same place. When he died, the tomb was set exactly where he had sat. He wrote The Secret Essentials of the Tortoise Classic in two juan, which circulated in his day.
24
His eldest son Yue died young.
26
Zhang Gui, styled Zuyi, came from Wu in Wu Commandery. His grandfather Yu had been Song Household Grandee with the Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon. His father Yong was Right Household Grandee. Yong understood music; Emperor Xiaowu of Song asked him why the bell before the Hall of Supreme Pole sounded hoarse, and Yong answered, "The bell still has copper slag in it." He struck the bell to find the flaw, chiseled it out, and the tone rang clear and bright.
27
Gui first served as acting staff under Prince Jiangxia's Grand Marshal, was assigned to outer military affairs, and when the headquarters shifted became a Five Offices aide under the Grand Tutor, where Yigong favored him. He rose to Crown Prince Attendant, Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat, Attendant Gentleman of the Fast Cavalry, and Right Chief Clerk of the Minister of Education. Earlier Yong had held the Guiyang rebels at Baixia and been routed; Ruan Tianfu and others wanted him punished, but the Founding Emperor spoke firmly in his defense—Gui bound himself to the throne in gratitude. He became Directly Attached Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary and General of Valiant Cavalry. When his father died he returned to Wu to observe mourning.
28
In Shengming 1 Liu Bing nursed treasonous designs; his younger brother Xia held Wu Commandery and secretly moved in step with him. Using Shen Youzhi's rebellion as cover, they gathered three thousand men and made siege gear. The Founding Emperor secretly sent Palace Captain Bian Bailong to order Gui to take Xia. The Zhangs had been a bold house for generations; Gui kept several hundred of his father's old retainers in his residence. Xia summoned Gui; Gui feigned acceptance and, with his uncle Shu and eighteen men, entered the commandery seat. With Guo Luoyun, chief of the defense corps and a Strong Bow General, he pressed into the central hall to seize Xia. Xia bolted through the window, but Gui's retainer Gu Xianzi struck him down on the spot; in the whole commandery no one stirred. When the victory was reported, the Founding Emperor told Commandant Zhang Chong, who said, "Gui staked a hundred lives on one cast—and on his first throw drew the winning lot." At once Gui was made General Who Pacifies the State and Administrator of Wu Commandery, and enfeoffed as Marquis of Yicheng with a fief of a thousand households. The Founding Emperor had deliberately granted a name of good omen.
29
He was named Champion General and Administrator of Donghai and Dongguan, but declined. In the first year of Jianyuan, his fief was raised by two hundred households. Soon he was re-enfeoffed as Marquis of Pingdu. He was promoted to Attendant-in-Ordinary and additionally put in charge as Commandant of Footsoldiers. In the second year he became Director of Capital Officials while keeping his commandant post. He went out as General Who Punishes the Barbarians and Administrator of Wuxing. In the third year Gu Changxuan, magistrate of Wucheng, was guilty of a crime; Gui was faulted for not investigating and was removed from office. The following year he became Director of Revenue. When Emperor Shizu took the throne, he was Champion General, chief aide to the Prince of Poyang as Northern Palace Cadet, Administrator of Xiangyang, and acting head of Yongzhou and its headquarters; when the headquarters moved he became chief aide of the expeditionary force. In the fourth year he was again made Bearer of the Staff, Commander of military affairs in Yong, Liang, North and South Qin, the Jingling sector of Yingzhou, and the Suixiang sector of Sizhou, General Who Pacifies the State, and Governor of Yongzhou, and soon also Commandant Who Pacifies the Barbarians. He returned as Director of the Left Secretariat and also commanded the Right Army, then was promoted to Champion General and chief aide to the Grand Marshal.
30
In the tenth year he was made Minister of Ceremonies. He pleaded illness and asked to live at ease in retirement; the next year he was made Regular Attendant of the Scattered Riders and Grand Master for Splendid Happiness. Before long the throne meant to use Gui again and named him General of the Rear Guard and Administrator of Southern Donghai, at two-thousand-dan rank, with acting charge of Southern Xuzhou headquarters and of the Prince of Hedong's kingdom. Once he took office he pleaded illness again and came back as Regular Attendant of the Scattered Riders and Grand Master for Splendid Happiness. When Yulin took the throne, Gui received the golden seal and purple cord. In the first year of Longchang, he was also granted twenty personal attendants. When Yulin was deposed, the court came to the palace gate to attend on Gaozong; Gui claimed a foot ailment and stayed away. When Hailing was raised to the throne, Gui was made General of the Right. Gaozong feared the outer commanderies would rebel and put Gui in Shitou with overall command of the armies. Gui saw the court drowning in trouble and took to his bed, feigning illness without cease. In the first year of Jianwu, he was moved to Supervising Palace Attendant and Grand Master of Splendor, with his personal attendants as before. Each month he drew an extra grant of twenty thousand cash. In year 2 the northern foe pressed hard; an edict kept Gui in his present rank, lent him the staff of authority, and set him over Guangling armies with acting charge of Southern Yanzhou—he came back when the barbarians withdrew.
31
Gui lived in great wealth; singers and concubines packed his halls; he had more than ten sons and would say, "Surely some of them will turn out well." Late in Jianwu he kept asking Gaozong to let him go home to Wu, and at last was allowed. He took his ease and found his pleasures; some jeered that Gui in his decline still kept performers. Gui said, "I loved music when I was young and only now, old, begin to understand it. Every other taste of my life is gone—only this one I cannot yet send away."
32
When Gaozong lay near death and feared Grand Marshal Wang Jingze, he gave Gui—long famed for practical talent—General Who Pacifies the East and the Wu commandery as a hedge. When Jingze rose, Gui sent three thousand officers and clerks to hold him on the Song River; at the sound of Jingze's drums they broke and ran, and Gui left the commandery and vanished among the people. After the revolt was crushed Gui went back to his post; the authorities impeached him, stripped his office, and took his title.
33
At the opening of Yongyuan he was again Grand Master of Splendor. Soon he was also made General of the Van, with golden seal and purple cord. In year 3 the righteous army came south; the Marquis of Donghun lent Gui his staff and set him to hold Shitou. When the righteous army reached Xinting, Gui threw away the fortress and ran back to the palace. At the rise of Liang he was again Grand Master of Splendor. He died in the fourth year of Tianjian.
34
【史論】
Historical appraisal
35
The historian writes: Letters win the crowd, arms set the awe—a field commander's gift is what men call a pillar of the realm. Shen Youzhi drilled armies ten years and rose in arms with white hair; Jing and Chu held the upper stream while Jiangdong lay below. That was the great labor of expulsion, an emperor's chief foe. Liu Shilong held the middle kingdom, young in years and slight in rank; he met the whole army first, dared attack from a lone city, gave strategy from the wall, and never needed a horse to sweat—the fierce enemy faltered and bent on the high ramparts; broken wheels fought to lead, surrender poured down the road to Ying—nothing Lu Xun did to Liu Bei surpassed it. When the world grew calm he governed abroad and aided within, clothed in plain style and seated in gentle virtue—a house's true splendor.
36
In praise: Loyal and martial, he steadied the throne; his posthumous name said he held both gifts. In the hall he parsed right and wrong; on high walls he tore down flags. He roamed the arts and knew their craft; he tuned strings and swept the divining shell. Yicheng graced his fief's land; his merit laid the emperor's base.
37
案
Note