1
李昉，字明遠，深州饒陽人。 父起，晉工部郎中、集賢殿直學士。 從大父右資善大夫超無子，以昉為後，蔭補齋郎，選授太子校書。 漢乾祐舉進士，為秘書郎。 宰相馮道引之，與呂端同直弘文館，改右拾遺、集賢殿修撰。
Li Fang, whose style was Mingyuan, came from Raoyang in Shen Prefecture. His father Qi had served under the Jin as a director in the Ministry of Works and as a direct academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. His mother's uncle, Chao, who held the title Right Virtuous Grandee, had no son, so Fang was adopted as his heir. Through hereditary privilege he received appointment as a qi lang, and by selection he became collator to the crown prince. During the Qianyou reign of the Later Han he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed a secretary. Chancellor Feng Dao brought him forward; he served in the Hongwen Pavilion alongside Lü Duan, then was promoted to Right Reminder and compiler at the Hall of Assembled Worthies.
2
周顯德二年，宰相李穀征淮南，昉為記室。 世宗覽軍中章奏，愛其辭理明白，已知為昉所作，及見《相國寺文英院集》，乃昉與扈蒙、崔頌、劉袞、竇儼、趙逢及昉弟載所題，益善昉詩而稱賞之曰：「吾久知有此人矣。」 師還，擢為主客員外郎、知制誥、集賢殿直學士。 四年，加史館修撰、判館事。 是年冬，世宗南征，從至高郵，會陶穀出使，內署書詔填委，乃命為屯田郎中、翰林學士。 六年春，丁內艱。 恭帝嗣位，賜金紫。
In the second year of Xiande under the Later Zhou, Chancellor Li Gu marched against Huainan, and Fang served as his recorder. Emperor Shizong read the army's memorials, admired their lucid argument, and already knew Fang had written them. When he saw the Collected Works of the Wenyin Academy at Xiangguo Temple—inscribed by Fang together with Hu Meng, Cui Song, Liu Gun, Dou Yan, Zhao Feng, and Fang's younger brother Zai—he admired Fang's poetry all the more and exclaimed, "I have long known such a man existed." After the army returned, he was promoted to vice director of the Bureau of Receptions, made drafter of edicts, and appointed direct academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. In the fourth year he was also made a compiler of the Historiography Institute and put in charge of its affairs. That winter, when Shizong marched south, Fang accompanied him as far as Gaoyou. Tao Gu was away on a mission, and the inner secretariat was overwhelmed with edicts to draft, so Fang was appointed director of the Bureau of State Farms and Hanlin academician. In the spring of the sixth year he entered mourning for his mother. When Emperor Gong succeeded, Fang was granted the gold-and-purple insignia of high rank.
3
宋初，加中書舍人。 建隆三年，罷為給事中。 四年，平湖湘，受詔祀南嶽，就命知衡州，逾年代歸。 陶穀誣奏昉為所親求京畿令，上怒，召吏部尚書張昭面質其事。 昭老儒氣直，免冠上前，抗聲云：「穀罔上。」 上疑之不釋，出昉為彰武軍行軍司馬，居延州，為生業以老。 三歲當內徙，昉不願。 宰相薦其可大用，開寶二年，召還，復拜中書舍人。 未幾，直學士院。 三年，知貢舉。 五年，復知貢舉。 秋，預宴大明殿，上見昉坐盧多遜下，因問宰相，對曰：「多遜學士，昉直殿爾。」 即令真拜學士，令居多遜上。 昉之知貢舉也，其鄉人武濟川預選，既而奏對失次，昉坐左遷太常少卿，俄判國子監。 明年五月，復拜中書舍人、翰林學士。 冬，判吏部銓。 時趙普為多遜所構，數以其短聞於上，上詢於昉，對曰：「臣職司書詔，普之所為，非臣所知。」 普尋出鎮，多遜遂參知政事。
At the founding of the Song he was promoted to Grandee of the Secretariat. In the third year of Jianlong he was removed from office and appointed Supervisor of the Secretariat. In the fourth year, after Hunan was pacified, he was ordered to perform sacrifices at Mount Heng. He was appointed on the spot to govern Hengzhou, and returned when his term ended. Tao Gu falsely accused Fang of seeking a capital-region magistracy for a kinsman. The emperor was furious and summoned Minister of Personnel Zhang Zhao to confront the charge in person. Zhao, an elderly Confucian of blunt integrity, doffed his cap, stepped forward, and declared in a loud voice, "Gu has deceived Your Majesty." The emperor remained unconvinced and did not drop the case. Fang was sent out as acting marshal of the Zhangwu army and lived at Yanzhou, supporting himself in retirement. After three years he was due for reassignment inland, but Fang did not want to leave. The chancellor recommended him as fit for high office. In the second year of Kaibao he was recalled and again made Grandee of the Secretariat. Before long he was assigned to serve directly in the Hanlin Academy. In the third year he served as chief examiner for the civil service examinations. In the fifth year he again presided over the examinations. That autumn, at a banquet in the Hall of Great Brightness, the emperor noticed Fang seated below Lu Duosun and asked the chancellor why. The chancellor replied, "Duosun holds the title of academician; Fang only serves in the hall." The emperor at once ordered Fang formally appointed academician and seated above Duosun. While Fang was chief examiner, his fellow townsman Wu Jichuan was among the candidates chosen. Later Wu blundered in his palace audience, and Fang was demoted to vice director of the Court of Sacrifices, then soon put in charge of the Directorate of Education. In the fifth month of the following year he was again made Grandee of the Secretariat and Hanlin academician. That winter he was assigned to oversee personnel selection at the Board of Civil Office. At that time Zhao Pu was undermined by Duosun, who repeatedly reported his faults to the throne. When the emperor asked Fang, he replied, "My duty is to draft edicts; I do not know what Pu has been doing." Zhao Pu was soon sent out to govern a military prefecture, and Duosun became associate administrator of the Secretariat.
4
雍熙元年郊祀，命昉與琪並為左右僕射，昉固辭，乃加中書侍郎。 王師討幽薊不利，遣使分詣河南、東，籍民為兵，凡八丁取一。 昉等相率奏曰：「近者分遣使籍河南、東四十餘郡之民以為邊備，非得已也。 然河南之民素習農桑，罔知戰鬥，一旦括集，必致動搖，若因而嘯聚，更須剪除。 如此，則河北閭閻既困於戎馬，河南生聚復擾於萑蒲，矧當春和，有妨農作。 陛下若以明詔既頒，難於反汗，則當續遣使臣，嚴加戒飭，所至點募，人情若有不安，即須少緩，密奏取裁，庶免後患。」 上嘉納之。
For the Yongxi suburban sacrifice, Fang and Qi were both named left and right vice directors, but Fang firmly declined and was made vice director of the Secretariat instead. When the campaign against You and Ji faltered, envoys were dispatched to Henan and the eastern circuits to register civilians as soldiers, drafting one man from every eight households. Fang and his colleagues jointly submitted a memorial: "Envoys have lately been sent to register the people of more than forty commanderies in Henan and the east for frontier defense. The measure was unavoidable. Yet the people of Henan have long practiced farming and sericulture and know nothing of war. Once they are rounded up, turmoil is inevitable; if they rise in bands, still more bloodshed will follow. Hebei will already be exhausted by war-horses, while Henan's population will again be harried by rebellion—and all this at the height of spring, when the plough should not be idle. If Your Majesty feels bound by an edict already promulgated, send further envoys with stern instructions: wherever levies are made, if the people show distress, ease the burden and report secretly for imperial decision, so that later troubles may be averted." The emperor approved and adopted their advice.
5
端拱初，布衣翟馬周擊登聞鼓，訟昉居宰相位，當北方有事之時，不為邊備，徒知賦詩宴樂。 屬耤田禮方畢，乃詔學士賈黃中草制，罷昉為右僕射，且加切責。 黃中言：「僕射，百僚師長，實宰相之任，今自工部尚書而遷是職，非黜責也。 若曰文昌務簡，以均勞逸為辭，斯為得體。」 上然之。 會邊警益急，詔文武群臣各進策備禦，昉又引漢、唐故事，深以屈己修好、弭兵息民為言，時論稱之。
Early in the Duangong era, a commoner named Zhai Mazhou beat the Denunciation Drum, charging that Fang, though chief minister, had made no frontier preparations while the north was in crisis and had done nothing but write poetry and hold banquets. The ploughing rite had just concluded, and the emperor ordered Academician Jia Huangzhong to draft an edict demoting Fang to right vice director with a sharp rebuke. Huangzhong argued: "The vice director is mentor to the hundred officials and in substance holds a chancellor's duties. To move him from Minister of Works to this office is no disgrace. If the edict speaks of easing the Secretariat's burdens and sharing the toil for balance, that would be proper in tone." The emperor accepted this. As border alarms intensified, the court ordered civil and military officials to submit defense plans. Fang again drew on Han and Tang precedents, urging humility, renewed peace, and respite for the people, and won praise from his peers.
6
淳化二年，復以本官兼中書侍郎、平章事，監修國史。 三年夏，旱蝗，既雨。 時昉與張齊賢、賈黃中、李沆同居宰輔，以燮理非材，上表待罪，上不之罪。 四年，昉以私門連遭憂戚，求解機務，詔不允，遣齊賢等諭旨，復起視事。 後數月，罷為右僕射。 先是，上召張洎草制，授昉左僕射，罷相，洎言：「昉居燮理之任，而陰陽乖戾，不能決意引退，俾居百僚師長之任，何以示勸？」 上覽奏，乃令罷守本官。
In the second year of Chunhua he again held his former rank while also serving as vice director of the Secretariat, grand councillor, and supervisor of the national history. In the third summer drought and locusts struck; then rain fell. Fang then shared power with Zhang Qixian, Jia Huangzhong, and Li Hang. Judging themselves unfit to harmonize the state, they asked to be punished; the emperor did not reproach them. In the fourth year Fang, his family stricken by repeated mourning, asked to leave high office. The throne refused; Zhang Qixian and others were sent to convey the imperial will and urge him back to duty. Several months later he was removed as right vice director. Earlier the emperor had Zhang Bi draft an edict making Fang left vice director and removing him from the chancellorship. Bi objected: "Fang held the charge of harmonizing the state, yet heaven and earth were out of balance and he would not step down—how can he stand as teacher to the hundred officials and still be held up as an example?" Reading Bi's memorial, the emperor ordered Fang dismissed from high office but allowed to keep his original rank.
7
晉侍中崧者，與昉同宗且同里，時人謂崧為東李家，昉為西李家。 漢末，崧被誅。 至是，其子璨自蘇州常熟縣令赴調，昉為訟其父冤，且言：「周太祖已為昭雪贈官，還其田宅，錄璨而官之。 然璨年幾五十，尚淹州縣之職，臣昔與之同難，豈宜叨遇聖明。 儻推一視之仁，澤及衰微之祚，則已往之冤獲伸於下，而繼絕之恩永光簡冊矣。」 詔授璨著作佐郎，後官至右讚善大夫。
The Jin palace attendant Song was Fang's clansman and fellow townsman; contemporaries called Song the eastern Li family and Fang the western Li family. At the end of the Later Han, Song was put to death. By then Song's son Can had come up from his post as magistrate of Changshu in Suzhou. Fang pleaded his kinsman's innocence, noting that Emperor Taizu of Zhou had already cleared Song's name, granted posthumous rank, restored his lands and house, and enrolled Can for office. Yet Can is nearly fifty and still stuck in county office. I once shared his misfortune—how can I accept such favor under a sage reign? If Your Majesty extends one impartial kindness to a fallen house, past wrongs will be righted below and the grace of continuing a severed line will shine forever in the records. An edict appointed Can assistant compiler; he later reached right director of the Court of Appanages.
8
二年，陪祀南郊，禮畢入賀，因拜舞仆地，臺吏掖之以出，臥疾數日薨，年七十二。 贈司徒，諡文正。
In the second year he attended the southern suburban sacrifice. After the rites he entered to offer congratulations, bowed, and collapsed. Censorate clerks helped him out; he lay ill several days and died at seventy-two. He was posthumously made Minister of Works with the posthumous title Wenzheng, "Cultivated Uprightness."
9
昉和厚多恕，不念舊惡，在位小心循謹，無赫赫稱。 為文章慕白居易，尤淺近易曉。 好接賓客，江南平，士大夫歸朝者多從之遊。 雅厚張洎而薄張佖，及昉罷相，洎草制深攻詆之，而佖朔望必詣昉。 或謂佖曰：「李公待君素不厚，何數詣之？」 佖曰：「我為廷尉日，李公方秉政，未嘗一有請求，此吾所以重之也。」
Fang was gentle, tolerant, and slow to remember old slights. In office he was careful and scrupulous, winning no dazzling reputation. In prose he took Bai Juyi as his model, especially favoring language that was plain and readily understood. He delighted in entertaining guests; after the south was pacified, many scholar-officials returning to court sought his company. He treated Zhang Bi warmly but Zhang Yi coldly. When Fang left office, Bi's edict attacked him bitterly, yet Yi called on Fang at every new and full moon without fail. Someone asked Yi, "Master Li has never favored you—why do you visit so often?" Yi replied, "When I was commandant of the court, Master Li held power and never once asked me for a favor—that is why I esteem him."
10
昉所居有園亭別墅之勝，多召故人親友宴樂其中。 既致政，欲尋洛中九老故事，時吏部尚書宋琪年七十九，左諫議大夫楊徽之年七十五，郢州刺史魏丕年七十六，太常少卿致仕李運年八十，水部郎中朱昂年七十一，廬州節度副使武允成年七十九，太子中允致仕張好問年八十五，吳僧讚寧年七十八，議將集，會蜀寇而罷。
His residence boasted gardens, pavilions, and villas of rare beauty, and he often gathered old friends and kin for feasting there. After retirement he hoped to revive the Nine Elders of Luoyang. Song Qi, minister of personnel, was seventy-nine; Yang Weizhi, left reminder, seventy-five; Wei Pi, prefect of Ying, seventy-six; Li Yun, retired vice director of sacrifices, eighty; Zhu Ang, director of waterways, seventy-one; Wu Yuncheng, deputy commissioner of Luzhou, seventy-nine; Zhang Haowen, retired palace attendant, eighty-five; the Wu monk Zanning, seventy-eight. They were about to gather when unrest in Shu forced the plan to be dropped.
11
昉素與盧多遜善，待之不疑，多遜屢譖昉於上，或以告昉，不之信。 及入相，太宗言及多遜事，昉頗為解釋。 帝曰：「多遜居常毀卿一錢不直。」 昉始信之。 上由此益重昉。
Fang had long been close to Lu Duosun and trusted him without reserve. Duosun repeatedly slandered Fang to the throne, and though others warned him, Fang would not believe it. When Fang became chief minister, Taizong spoke of Duosun's conduct, and Fang offered a good deal of explanation in his defense. The emperor said, "Duosun used to say you were not worth a single cash." Only then did Fang believe it. From this the emperor esteemed Fang all the more.
12
昉居中書日，有求進用者，雖知其材可取，必正色拒絕之，已而擢用； 或不足用，必和顏溫語待之。 子弟問其故，曰：「用賢，人主之事； 若受其請，是市私恩也，故峻絕之，使恩歸於上。 若不用者，既失所望，又無善辭，取怨之道也。」
While Fang held office in the Secretariat, if someone sought promotion and he judged the man fit, he would refuse him sternly—then promote him later. If the man was unfit, he would meet him with a gentle face and kind words. His sons asked why. He said, "Employing the worthy is the ruler's affair. To accept their plea is to trade in private favor, so I refuse them harshly and let the credit belong to the throne. If they are not employed, they have lost what they hoped for and received no gracious reply—that is how resentment is bred."
13
初，超未有子，昉母謝方娠，指腹謂伯母張曰：「生男當與伯母為子。」 故昉出繼於超。 昉再相，因表其事，求贈所生父母官。 詔贈其祖溫太子太傅，祖母權氏莒國太夫人，起太子太師，謝氏鄭國太夫人。
Earlier, when Chao had no son, Fang's mother Xie was pregnant. Pointing at her belly she told her sister-in-law Zhang, "If this is a boy, he shall be yours." Thus Fang was given in adoption to Chao. When Fang became chancellor again, he memorialized on the matter and asked posthumous rank for his birth parents. An edict posthumously made his grandfather Wen grand preceptor of the crown prince, his grandmother Lady Quan grand lady of Ju, his father Qi grand preceptor of the crown prince, and Lady Xie grand lady of Zheng.
14
昉素病心悸，數歲一發，發必彌年而後愈，蓋典誥命三十餘年，勞役思慮所致。 及居相位，益加憂畏。 有文集五十卷。 子四人：宗訥、宗誨、宗諤、宗諒。 宗誨，右讚善大夫。 宗諒，主賓客員外郎。
Fang had long suffered heart palpitations; every few years they would flare, and each flare lasted a full year before he recovered—thirty years of drafting edicts and the strain of anxious labor were the cause. Once he reached the chancellorship, his anxiety only deepened. He left collected works in fifty juan. He had four sons: Zongne, Zonghui, Zonge, and Zongliang. Zonghui served as right director of the Court of Appanages. Zongliang was vice director of the Bureau of Guests.
15
子宗訥
Son: Zongne
16
宗訥，字大辨，以蔭補太廟齋郎，遷第四室長。 代謁吏部銓，邊光範意其年少，未能屬辭，語之曰：「苟援筆成六韻詩，雖不試書判，可入等矣。」 宗訥易之，光範試詩賦，立就。 明日，遂擬授秘書省正字； 又明日，上命擢國子監丞。 蓋上居藩邸時，每有篇詠，令昉屬和，前後數百章，皆宗訥繕寫，上愛其楷麗，問知為宗訥所書，故有是命。 太平興國初，詔賈黃中集《神醫普救方》，宗訥暨劉錫、吳淑、呂文仲、杜鎬、舒雅皆預焉。 雍熙初，昉在相位，上欲命宗訥為尚書郎，昉懇辭，以為非承平故事，止改秘書丞，歷太常博士。
Zongne, whose style was Dabian, entered service through hereditary privilege as a qi lang of the Imperial Ancestral Temple and rose to chief of the fourth chamber. Substituting at the Board of Civil Office selections, Bian Guangfan thought him too young to write official prose and said, "If you can compose a regulated verse of six rhymes on the spot, you may pass the grade even without the document test." Zongne agreed; Guangfan tested him in poetry and fu, and he finished on the spot. The next day he was slated for appointment as collator of the Secretariat. The day after, the emperor ordered him promoted to vice director of the Directorate of Education. While still heir apparent, the emperor often composed verses and had Fang match them—several hundred pieces in all, copied out by Zongne. The emperor admired the calligraphy and, learning it was Zongne's hand, issued this order. Early in Taiping Xingguo an edict ordered Jia Huangzhong to compile the Divine Physician's Universal Relief Formulas; Zongne joined Liu Xi, Wu Shu, Lü Wenzhong, Du Gao, and Shu Ya in the work. Early in Yongxi, while Fang was chancellor, the emperor wished to make Zongne a ministry director. Fang declined firmly, saying it was not precedent in settled times; Zongne was made only a secretary, then rose through posts to director of the Court of Sacrifices.
17
宗訥頗習典禮。 淳化中，呂端掌禮院，引宗訥同判，累遷比部郎中。 咸平六年，卒，年五十五。 子昭迴，大中祥符五年獻文，召試賜進士第，後為屯田員外郎。 昭遜，太子中舍。
Zongne was well versed in ritual. During Chunhua, Lü Duan directed the Court of Ritual and brought Zongne in as associate director; Zongne rose to director in the Ministry of Revenue. In the sixth year of Xianping he died at fifty-five. His son Zhaohui, in the fifth year of Dazhong Xiangfu, presented a literary work, was examined at court, granted the jinshi degree, and later became vice director in the Bureau of State Farms. Zhaoxun was palace attendant.
18
子宗諤
Son: Zonge
19
宗諤，字昌武，七歲能屬文，恥以父蔭得官，獨由鄉舉，第進士，授校書郎。 明年，獻文自薦，遷秘書郎、集賢校理、同修起居注。 先是，後苑陪宴，校理官不與，京官乘馬不得入禁門。 至是，皆因宗諤之請復之，遂為故事。
Zonge, whose style was Changwu, could compose prose at seven. Ashamed to take office through his father's privilege, he entered by provincial examination alone, passed the jinshi examination, and was appointed collator. The following year he submitted his own writings in self-recommendation and was promoted to secretary, collator of the Hall of Assembled Worthies, and co-compiler of the Diary of Activity and Repose. Earlier, collators had been excluded from banquets in the rear park, and capital officials were not permitted to enter the forbidden gates on horseback. On Zonge's petition all these privileges were restored, and the practice became established precedent.
20
真宗即位，拜起居舍人，預重修《太祖實錄》。 從幸大名，上疏曰：「國家馭邊之術，制勝之謀，將帥之短長，兵衛之眾寡，宸算廟謨，盡在吾術中矣。 今之言事者，不過請陛下益兵貯糧，分道掩殺，言之甚易，行之則難。 始受命則無不以攻堅陷陣為壯圖，及遇敵則惟以閉壘塞關為上計，孤君父之重委，致生靈之重困，興言及此，誠可歎息。 自古行軍出師，無不首擇將帥。 夫將帥隨材任使，守一郡，控一城，分領驍勇，爭據要害，又豈直三路主帥之名，然後能制六師生死之命乎？ 今陛下選任非不至也，權位非不重也，告戒非不丁寧也，處置非不專一也； 而外敵犯塞，車駕親征，曾不聞出一人一騎為之救助，不知深溝高壘，秣馬厲兵，欲安用哉？ 臣以為臨軍易帥，拔卒為將，在此時也。 有功者拔於朝，不用者戮於市，亦此時也。 惟陛下圖之。 然後下哀痛之詔，行蠲復之恩。 回鸞上都，垂衣當寧，豈不盛哉。」
When Emperor Zhenzong came to the throne, Zonge was appointed attendant of the Diary of Activity and Repose and helped revise the Veritable Records of Emperor Taizu. While accompanying the emperor to Daming, he submitted a memorial: "The state's frontier policy, plans for victory, the merits and faults of commanders, and the strength of the armies—the throne's calculations and the court's strategy are all matters we understand. Those who advise Your Majesty today ask only for more troops, stored grain, and divided attacks—easily said, but hard to carry out. When first appointed, every commander vows to storm walls and break ranks; when the enemy appears, the best plan becomes only to shut the fort and block the passes—betraying the throne's heavy trust and inflicting great suffering on the people. It is truly lamentable. From antiquity, no army has marched without first choosing its commanders. Commanders should be assigned by talent—to hold a prefecture, control a city, lead picked troops, and seize vital ground. Must one bear the title of commander of the three frontier circuits before one can decide whether the armies live or die? Your Majesty's appointments are not lacking, their authority not slight, your warnings not perfunctory, your dispositions not divided; yet when foreign enemies breach the frontier and the emperor himself takes the field, not one man or horse is sent to help. Of what use are deep moats, high walls, fed horses, and sharpened arms? Your subject believes that replacing commanders in the field and promoting soldiers to generalship should be done now. Promoting the meritorious at court and executing the worthless in the marketplace should also be done now. I ask Your Majesty to consider this. Then issue an edict of compassion and grant tax remissions and relief. Return to the capital, rule in tranquil majesty—would that not be glorious?"
21
遷知制誥、判集賢院，纂《西垣集制》，刻石記名氏。 嘗牒御史臺不平空，中丞呂文仲移文詰之，往復再三。 宗諤執言兩省故事與臺司不相統攝者凡八。 事聞，卒如宗諤議。
He was promoted to drafter of edicts and put in charge of the Hall of Assembled Worthies, compiled the Collected Western Enclosure Edicts, and had the names inscribed in stone. Once he memorialized the Censorate over a disputed grievance; Vice Censor-in-Chief Lü Wenzhong sent an official inquiry, and they exchanged letters several times. Zonge argued that eight established precedents showed the Two Departments and the Censorate were not subject to one another. When the matter reached the throne, the court adopted Zonge's view.
22
景德二年，召為翰林學士。 是秋，將郊，命判太常大樂、鼓吹二署。 先是，樂工率以年勞遷補，至有抱其器而不知聲者。 宗諤素曉音律，遂加審定，奏斥謬濫者五十人。 因修完器具，更署職名，條上利病二十事，帝省閱而賞歎之。 事具《樂志》。 又著《樂纂》以獻，命付史館，自是月再肄習焉。
In the second year of Jingde he was appointed Hanlin academician. That autumn, with the suburban sacrifice approaching, he was ordered to oversee the Court of Imperial Sacrifices' grand music office and martial music and trumpet office. Previously musicians had usually been promoted on seniority alone, until some carried instruments without knowing how to play them. Zonge was well versed in music, so he reviewed the roster and memorialized the removal of fifty unqualified musicians. He restored the instruments, revised the official titles, and submitted twenty recommendations for reform; the emperor read them and commended him. The matter is recorded in full in the Treatise on Music. He also wrote the Compendium on Music and presented it to the throne; it was deposited in the Historiography Institute, and thereafter rehearsals were held twice each month.
23
時諸神祠壇多闕外壝之制，因深塹列樹以表之，營葺齋室，舊典因以振起。 屬契丹遣使來賀承天節，詔宗諤為館伴使，自郊勞至飲餞，皆刊定其儀。
Many spirit-shrine altars then lacked the prescribed outer enclosures, so he dug trenches, planted trees to mark the boundaries, and restored the fasting halls, reviving neglected ritual practice. When Khitan envoys came to congratulate the emperor on his birthday, Zonge was appointed host commissioner and standardized the ceremonies from the suburban welcome through the farewell feast.
24
大中祥符初，從封泰山，改工部郎中。 二年，始建昭應宮，命副丁謂為同修宮使。 三年，知審官院。 屬祀汾陰后土，命為經度制置副使，同權河中府事。 禮成，優拜右諫議大夫。
Early in Dazhong Xiangfu he accompanied the emperor to Mount Tai for the feng and shan sacrifices and was promoted to director in the Ministry of Works. In the second year, when construction of the Zhaoying Palace began, he was appointed associate commissioner under Ding Wei. In the third year he became director of the Bureau for Review of Appointments. During the Fenyin sacrifice to the earth, he was made associate planning commissioner and concurrently given charge of Hezhong Prefecture. After the rites were completed he was specially promoted to right remonstrance and reform officer.
25
嘗侍宴玉宸殿，上謂曰：「聞卿至孝，宗族頗多，長幼雍睦。 朕嗣守二聖基業，亦如卿之保守門戶也。」 又曰：「翰林，清華之地，前賢敭曆，多有故事，卿父子為之，必周知也。」 宗諤嘗著《翰林雜記》以紀國朝制度，明日上之。
Once, while attending a banquet in the Hall of Jade Purity, the emperor said, "I hear you are deeply filial, that your clan is large, and that young and old live in harmony. In inheriting and guarding the legacy of the two sage emperors, I too am like you in keeping the household intact." The emperor added, "The Hanlin Academy is a place of refined distinction; eminent predecessors who passed through it left many precedents—you and your father served there and must know them thoroughly." Zonge had written the Miscellaneous Hanlin Records to record the dynasty's institutions and presented it the next day.
26
宗諤究心典禮，凡創制損益，靡不與聞。 修定皇親故事、武舉武選入官資敘、閣門儀制、臣僚導從、貢院條貫，餘多裁正。
Zonge devoted himself to ritual; he took part in nearly every new institution or revision. He revised precedents for imperial clansmen, rules for military-examination appointments, gate-ceremony protocol, officials' processional order, and examination regulations, among many other corrections.
27
五年，迎真州聖像，副丁謂為迎奉使。 五月，以疾卒，年四十九。 帝甚悼之，謂宰相曰：「國朝將相家，能以聲名自立，不墜門閥，唯昉與曹彬家爾。 宗諤方期大用，不幸短命，深可惜也。」 既厚賻其家，以白金賜其繼母，又錄其子若弟以官焉。
In the fifth year, when the sacred image was welcomed from Zhenzhou, he served as associate welcoming commissioner under Ding Wei. In the fifth month he died of illness at forty-nine. The emperor mourned him deeply and told the chancellor, "Among the great military and ministerial families of our dynasty, only the houses of Fang and Cao Bin have maintained their standing by their own reputations. Zonge was on the verge of great appointment when his life was cut short—it is deeply regrettable." The emperor then granted generous funeral gifts to the family, gave silver to Zonge's stepmother, and enrolled his sons and younger brothers in office.
28
初，昉居三館、兩制之職，宗諤不數年，皆踐其地。 風流儒雅，藏書萬卷。 內行淳至，事繼母符氏以孝聞。 二兄早世，奉嫂字孤，恩禮兼盡。 與弟宗諒友愛尤至，覃恩所及，必先群從，及歿而己子有未仕者。 程宿早卒，有弟無所依，宗諤為表請於朝而官之。 勤接士類，無賢不肖，恂恂盡禮，獎拔後進，唯恐不及，以是士人皆歸仰之。
Li Fang had held posts in the Three Institutes and the Drafting Office; within a few years Zonge had held them all. Cultivated and elegant, he kept a library of ten thousand scrolls. In private life he was utterly sincere; his filial service to his stepmother, Lady Fu, was renowned. His two elder brothers died young; he supported his sister-in-law and treated the orphans with full kindness and ritual propriety. He was especially close to his younger brother Zongliang; whenever imperial favor was granted he gave priority to his kinsmen, and at his death some of his own sons had still not entered office. Cheng Su died young, leaving a younger brother with no support; Zonge memorialized the court and had him appointed to office. He welcomed scholars warmly, treating all with respectful courtesy regardless of rank; he encouraged juniors and feared only that he might not help them enough, and scholars looked up to him.
29
宗諤工隸書。 有文集六十卷，《內外制》三十卷。 嘗預修《續通典》、《大中祥符封禪汾陰記》、《諸路圖經》，又作《家傳》、《談錄》，並行於世。 子昭遹、昭述、昭適。
Zonge excelled at clerical script. He left collected works in sixty scrolls and the Inner and Outer Drafts in thirty scrolls. He helped compile the Continued Comprehensive Institutions, the Record of the Dazhong Xiangfu Feng and Chan at Fenyin, and the Gazetteers of the Various Circuits, and also wrote the Family Biography and the Talks Recorded, all of which circulated widely. His sons were Zhaoyuan, Zhaoshu, and Zhaoshi.
30
孫昭述
Grandson: Zhaoshu
31
昭述，字仲祖，以父蔭為秘書省校書郎。 召試學士院，賜進士出身，為刑部詳覆官，累遷秘書丞。 群牧制置使曹利用薦為判官，鄆州牧地侵於民者凡數千頃，昭述悉復之。 以太常博士知開封縣，特遷尚書屯田員外郎、開封推官。 坐嘗被曹利用薦，出知常州，遷為三司度支判官，改河北轉運使。 江陵屯兵讙言倉粟陳腐，欲以動眾。 昭述取以為奉，且以飯其僚屬，眾遂定。
Zhaoshu, whose style was Zhongzu, entered service through his father's privilege as collator of the Secretariat. Examined at the Academy of Academicians, he was granted jinshi status, appointed reviewing officer in the Ministry of Justice, and rose to secretary. Cao Li'yong, commissioner for pasturage, recommended him as aide; several thousand qing of Yanzhou pasturage land had encroached on private holdings, and Zhaoshu restored all of it. As director of the Court of Sacrifices he governed Kaifeng County, was specially promoted to vice director in the Bureau of State Farms, and appointed investigating officer of Kaifeng. Because he had been recommended by Cao Li'yong, he was sent out as prefect of Changzhou, then became budget aide in the Finance Commission and transport commissioner of Hebei. At Jiangling the garrison loudly claimed the granary grain was rotten and tried to stir up the troops. Zhaoshu ate the grain himself and fed it to his staff as well, and the troops were pacified.
32
徙湖南潭州，戍卒憤監軍酷暴，欲構亂，或指昭述謂曰：「如李公長者，何可負？」 其謀遂寢。 昭述聞之，以戒監軍。 監軍自是不復為暴。 比去，眾遮道羅拜，指妻子曰：「嚮非公，無噍類矣。」
Transferred to Tanzhou in Hunan, the garrison, enraged by their commander's cruelty, plotted mutiny; someone pointed to Zhaoshu and said, "How could we betray a man of integrity like Lord Li?" The plot then collapsed. When Zhaoshu learned of this he warned the supervising commander. The supervising commander thereafter ceased his abuses. As he was leaving, the people blocked the road and bowed, pointing to their wives and children and saying, "But for you, sir, none of us would be alive."
33
徙淮南轉運使兼發運使，加直史館。 徙陝西轉運使，糾察在京刑獄，為三司戶部副使，累遷刑部郎中。 陝西用兵，提點陝西計置糧草，還授度支、鹽鐵副使，以右諫議大夫為河北都轉運使。
He became transport commissioner of Huainan and concurrent grain-dispatch commissioner, with direct appointment in the Historiography Institute. Transferred to Shaanxi transport commissioner, he inspected capital criminal cases, became vice commissioner of the Finance Commission's household bureau, and rose to director in the Ministry of Justice. During the Shaanxi campaign he supervised grain and fodder; on his return he became vice commissioner of budget and salt and iron, and as right remonstrance and reform officer was made chief transport commissioner of Hebei.
34
河決澶淵，久未塞。 會契丹遣劉六符來，乃命昭述城澶州，以治堤為名，調兵農八萬，逾旬而就。 初，六符過之，真以為堤也，及還而城具，甚駭愕。 初置義勇軍，人情洶洶，昭述乘疾置日行數舍，開諭父老，眾始安。 宣撫使表其能，除龍圖閣直學士、知澶州，又為樞密直學士、陝西都轉運使。
The Yellow River breached its banks at Chanyuan and remained unsealed for a long time. When the Khitan envoy Liu Liufu arrived, Zhaoshu was ordered to fortify Chazhou under the guise of repairing the dikes; he mobilized eighty thousand soldiers and farmers and finished in little more than ten days. When Liufu first passed through he took it for dike work alone; on his return the city stood complete, and he was deeply astonished. When the Righteous and Brave Army was first established, public sentiment was unsettled; though ill, Zhaoshu rode relay horses several stops a day to explain matters to local elders, and the people were reassured. The pacification commissioner praised his competence; he was made direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall and prefect of Chazhou, then direct academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs and chief transport commissioner of Shaanxi.
35
河北始置四路，以為真定府路安撫使、知成德軍。 大水，民多流亡，籍僧舍積粟為粥糜，活饑民數萬計。 改龍圖閣學士、知秦州。 諫官、御史言昭述庸懦，不可負重鎮，留真定府。 居四年，入領三班院，以翰林侍讀學士知鄭州。 未幾，知通進銀臺司，判太常寺，復領三班，累遷尚書右丞。 從祫享致齋於朝堂，得暴疾卒。 贈禮部尚書，諡恪。
When Hebei was first divided into four circuits he was made pacification commissioner of the Zhending circuit and military prefect of Chengde. During severe flooding many people fled; he requisitioned grain stored in monasteries to make gruel and saved tens of thousands of starving people. He was made academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall and prefect of Qinzhou. Remonstrance and censorate officials said Zhaoshu was mediocre and timid and unfit for a major frontier post, so he remained at Zhending. After four years he took charge of the Three Classes Bureau and, as Hanlin attendant reader, became prefect of Zhengzhou. Soon he became director of the Office for Transmission and Silver Terrace and was put in charge of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; he again headed the Three Classes Bureau and rose to right vice director of the Ministry of Works. While observing the fasting rites for the collective sacrifice in the court hall he was struck by sudden illness and died. He was posthumously made minister of rites and given the posthumous title Ke.
36
李氏居京城北崇慶里，凡七世不異爨，至昭述稍自豐殖，為族人所望，然家法亦不隳。
The Li clan lived at Chongqing Lane in the northern capital; for seven generations they shared one kitchen, and though Zhaoshu had brought the family modest prosperity and become the clan's pillar, its rules remained intact.
37
孫昭遘
Grandson: Zhaoyou
38
昭遘，字逢吉，宗諤從子也，以蔭為將作監主簿。 幼時，楊億嘗過其家，出拜，億命為賦，既成，億曰：「桂林之下無雜木，非虛言也。」 其後薦之，召試，授館閣校勘，改集賢院校理。 坐失誤落秩。 未幾，復為鹽鐵判官。
Zhaoyou, whose style was Fengji, was Zonge's nephew; through privilege he was made chief clerk of the Directorate of Imperial Construction. As a boy, when Yang Yi visited his home Zhaoyou came out to greet him; Yi asked him to compose a fu, and when it was done said, "Under the osmanthus grove no miscellaneous trees grow—it is no empty saying." Yi later recommended him; examined at court, Zhaoyou was appointed palace-library collator and then collator of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. After an administrative error he was demoted in rank. Soon he was restored as salt and iron administrative aide.
39
初，議罷天下職田及公使錢，昭遘以為不可。 三司使姚仲孫惡其異己，請詰所以興利之實，昭遘爭不屈，遂罷判官，為白波發運使。 因入奏事，仁宗謂曰：「前所論罷職田等事，卿言是也。」 遷直史館、知陝州。 諫官歐陽修言：「陝府，關中要地，昭遘無治劇材，不宜遣。」 改判三司理欠司，徙度支判官。
When the court first debated abolishing official fields and public-service funds empire-wide, Zhaoyou argued against it. Finance Commissioner Yao Zhongsun, resenting his opposition, demanded proof of how his proposals would increase revenue; Zhaoyou refused to yield and was removed as administrative aide and made grain-dispatch commissioner on the White River. When he came to report on affairs, Emperor Renzong said, "On the earlier proposal to abolish official fields and the like, you were right." He was given direct appointment in the Historiography Institute and made prefect of Shaan Prefecture. Remonstrance officer Ouyang Xiu said, "Shaan Prefecture is a vital point in the Guanzhong region; Zhaoyou lacks the ability to govern a demanding post and should not be sent there." He was reassigned to direct the Finance Commission's office for recovering arrears and made budget administrative aide.
40
使契丹還，道除陝西轉運使。 坐家僮盜遼人銀酒杯，降知澤州。 陽城冶鑄鐵錢，民冒山險輸礦炭，苦其役，為奏罷鑄錢。 又言：「河東鐵錢真偽淆雜，不可不革。」
On his return from an embassy to the Khitan, he was appointed en route transport commissioner of Shaanxi. After a household servant stole a Khitan envoy's silver wine cup, he was demoted to prefect of Ze Prefecture. At Yangcheng iron cash was being cast, and the people, braving mountain hazards to haul ore and charcoal, suffered under the labor; he memorialized to stop the minting. He also said, "In Hedong genuine and counterfeit iron cash are mingled together, and this must be reformed."
41
後復直史館、知陝州。 城中舊無井，唐武德中，刺史長孫操始疏廣濟渠水入城，眾賴其利。 昭遘至，立廟祠之。 歸為三司戶部判官，糾察在京刑獄，進直龍圖閣，改集賢殿修撰，累遷尚書工部郎中。 歷知鳳翔、河中府、晉州，遷管勾登聞檢院。 擢天章閣待制、知滄州，用諫官吳及言，復改知陝州，徙鄭州卒。 昭遘性和易，不忤物，能守家法。
Later he was again given direct appointment in the Historiography Institute and made prefect of Shaan Prefecture. The city had long lacked wells; in the Wude era of Tang, Prefect Changsun Cao first diverted water from the Guangji Canal into the city, and the people benefited greatly. When Zhaoyou arrived, he erected a shrine in Changsun Cao's honor. On returning to the capital he became administrative aide of the Finance Commission's household bureau and inspected capital criminal cases; he was promoted to direct academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall, made compiler of the Hall of Assembled Worthies, and rose to director in the Ministry of Works. He served successively as prefect of Fengxiang, Hezhong Prefecture, and Jin Prefecture, then was put in charge of the Appeal and Investigation Bureau. He was promoted to attendant academician of the Hall of Celestial Manifestations and made prefect of Cang Prefecture; on remonstrance officer Wu Ji's recommendation he was again assigned to Shaan Prefecture, then transferred to Zheng Prefecture, where he died. Zhaoyou was easygoing, gave no offense, and upheld the family rules.
42
呂蒙正
Lü Mengzheng
43
呂蒙正，字聖功，河南人。 祖夢奇，戶部侍郎。 父龜圖，起居郎。 蒙正，太平興國二年，擢進士第一，授將作監丞，通判昇州。 陛辭，有旨，民事有不便者，許騎置以聞，賜錢二十萬。 代還，會征太原，召見行在，授著作郎、直史館，加左拾遺。 五年，親拜左補闕、知制誥。
Lü Mengzheng, whose style was Shenggong, was a native of Henan. His grandfather Mengqi was vice minister of the household bureau. His father Qitu was attendant of the Diary of Activity and Repose. In the second year of Taiping Xingguo, Mengzheng ranked first among jinshi, was appointed vice director of the Directorate of Imperial Construction, and served as supervising prefect of Sheng Prefecture. At his farewell audience the emperor decreed that wherever civil affairs were burdensome he might report by relay horse; he was also granted two hundred thousand cash. When his term ended he returned just as the Taiyuan campaign was underway; summoned to the imperial camp, he was made Master of Composition with direct appointment in the Historiography Institute and the additional title Left Eraser. In the fifth year he was personally appointed Left Supplements and drafter of edicts.
44
初，龜圖多內寵，與妻劉氏不睦，並蒙正出之，頗淪躓窘乏，劉誓不復嫁。 及蒙正登仕，迎二親，同堂異室，奉養備至。 龜圖旋卒，詔起復。 未幾，遷都官郎中，入為翰林學士，擢左諫議大夫、參知政事，賜第麗景門。 上謂之曰：「凡士未達，見當世之務戾於理者，則怏怏於心； 及列於位，得以獻可替否，當盡其所蘊，雖言未必盡中，亦當僉議而更之，俾協於道。 朕固不以崇高自恃，使人不敢言也。」 蒙正初入朝堂，有朝士指之曰：「此子亦參政耶？」 蒙正陽為不聞而過之，同列不能平，詰其姓名，蒙正遽止之曰：「若一知其姓名，則終身不能忘，不若毋知之為愈也。」 時皆服其量。
At first Qitu kept many concubines and was estranged from his wife, Lady Liu; together they drove Mengzheng out, and he fell into great hardship; Liu vowed never to remarry. Once Mengzheng entered office he brought both parents home; they lived under one roof in separate rooms, and he supported them with every care. Qitu soon died, and an edict ordered Mengzheng to resume office without completing mourning. Before long he became director in the Ministry of Justice, entered service as Hanlin academician, was promoted to Left Remonstrance and Reform Officer and associate chief councilor, and was granted a mansion at Lijing Gate. The emperor said to him, "Before a gentleman has risen, he is troubled whenever he sees the affairs of the age run against reason; once in office and able to approve or reject policy, he should bring forth all he holds; even if his words are not wholly right, the court should discuss them together and revise them until they accord with the Way. I do not rely on my lofty station to keep men from speaking." When Mengzheng first entered the court hall, a court gentleman pointed at him and said, "This fellow is also chief councilor?" Mengzheng pretended not to hear and walked on; his colleagues, unable to contain their anger, asked the man's name, but Mengzheng quickly stopped them: "If I learn his name even once, I shall never forget it; better not to know at all." All present admired his magnanimity.
45
李昉罷相，蒙正拜中書侍郎兼戶部尚書、平章事，監修國史。 蒙正質厚寬簡，有重望，以正道自持。 遇事敢言，每論時政，有未允者，必固稱不可，上嘉其無隱。 趙普開國元老，蒙正後進，歷官一紀，遂同相位，普甚推許之。 俄丁內艱，起復。
When Li Fang left the chief councilorship, Mengzheng was appointed vice director of the Secretariat concurrently minister of the household bureau and chief councilor, and supervised compilation of the National History. Mengzheng was plain, generous, and unpretentious, enjoyed great prestige, and held himself to the upright path. When matters arose he spoke boldly; whenever policy was debated, if something was wrong he always firmly said it could not stand, and the emperor praised his frankness. Zhao Pu was a founding elder of the dynasty and Mengzheng a later arrival, yet after twelve years in office Mengzheng reached the same chief councilorship; Pu greatly approved of him. Soon he entered mourning for his mother and was recalled to office without completing mourning.
46
先是，盧多遜為相，其子雍起家即授水部員外郎，後遂以為常。 至是，蒙正奏曰：「臣忝甲科及第，釋褐止授九品京官。 況天下才能，老於巖穴，不霑寸祿者多矣。 今臣男始離襁褓，膺此寵命，恐罹陰譴，乞以臣釋褐時官補之。」 自是宰相子止授九品京官，遂為定制。
Earlier, when Lu Duoxun was chief councilor, his son Yong upon first entering office was immediately made vice director of the Waterworks Bureau, and afterward this became customary. At this time Mengzheng memorialized, "Your subject, though ranked first among jinshi, upon first taking office received only a ninth-rank capital post. Moreover, many men of talent throughout the empire grow old in mountain retreats without receiving so much as a thread of salary. Now my son has just left the cradle and receives this favored appointment; I fear hidden reproach and beg that he be given the post I received upon first taking office." From then on chief councilors' sons received only ninth-rank capital posts, and this became established rule.
47
朝士有藏古鏡者，自言能照二百里，欲獻之蒙正以求知。 蒙正笑曰：「吾面不過楪子大，安用照二百里哉？」 聞者歎服。
A court gentleman who owned an antique mirror claimed it could illuminate two hundred li and wished to present it to Mengzheng to gain favor. Mengzheng laughed and said, "My face is no larger than a saucer—what use is a mirror that sees two hundred li?" Those who heard it sighed in admiration.
48
淳化中，左正言宋沆上疏忤旨，沆，蒙正妻族，坐是罷為吏部尚書，復相李昉。 四年，昉罷，蒙正復以本官入相。 因對，論及征伐，上曰：「朕比來征討，蓋為民除暴，苟好功黷武，則天下之人熸亡盡矣。」 蒙正對曰：「隋、唐數十年中，四征遼碣，人不堪命。 煬帝全軍陷沒，太宗自運土木攻城，如此卒無所濟。 且治國之要，在內修政事，則遠人來歸，自致安靜。」 上韙之。
In the Chunhua era, Left Direct Remonstrance Song Hang submitted a memorial contrary to the emperor's intent; Hang was related to Mengzheng's wife, and for this Mengzheng was removed and made minister of personnel while Li Fang was again made chief councilor. In the fourth year Fang left office and Mengzheng again entered the chief councilorship with his former title. In audience they discussed military campaigns; the emperor said, "My recent expeditions have been to remove tyranny for the people; if one loves merit and abuses arms, the people of the empire would be utterly destroyed." Mengzheng replied, "Within several decades of Sui and Tang they campaigned four times against Liaodong, and the people could not bear the burden. Emperor Yang's entire army was destroyed; Emperor Taizong of Tang personally hauled earth and timber to assault cities—yet in the end nothing was achieved. Moreover, the essentials of governing a state lie in improving governance at home; then distant peoples will come to submit and peace will follow of itself." The emperor approved his words.
49
嘗燈夕設宴，蒙正侍，上語之曰：「五代之際，生靈凋喪，周太祖自鄴南歸，士庶皆罹剽掠，下則火災，上則彗孛，觀者恐懼，當時謂無復太平之日矣。 朕躬覽庶政，萬事粗理，每念上天之貺，致此繁盛，乃知理亂在人。」 蒙正避席曰：「乘輿所在，士庶走集，故繁盛如此。 臣嘗見都城外不數里，饑寒而死者甚眾，不必盡然。 願陛下視近以及遠，蒼生之幸也。」 上變色不言。 蒙正侃然復位，同列多其直諒。
Once at the Lantern Festival a banquet was held; Mengzheng attended, and the emperor said, "In the Five Dynasties era the people were wasted away; when Emperor Taizu of Zhou returned south from Ye, officials and commoners alike suffered pillage; below there were fires, above there were comets, and observers feared there would never again be days of peace. I personally oversee the myriad affairs of government; all matters are roughly in order; whenever I think of Heaven's gift that has brought this prosperity, I know that order and chaos depend on men." Mengzheng left his seat and said, "Where the imperial carriage is, officials and commoners flock together, and so it is prosperous as this. Your subject has seen, only a few li outside the capital, many who died of hunger and cold—it is not everywhere so. I ask Your Majesty to look from the near to the far—that would be the common people's good fortune." The emperor changed color and said nothing. Mengzheng composedly resumed his seat, and his colleagues admired his frank integrity.
50
上嘗欲遣人使朔方，諭中書選才而可責以事者，蒙正退以名上，上不許。 他日，三問，三以其人對。 上曰：「卿何執耶？」 蒙正曰：「臣非執，蓋陛下未諒爾。」 固稱：「其人可使，餘人不及。 臣不欲用媚道妄隨人主意，以害國事。」 同列悚息不敢動。 上退謂左右曰：「蒙正氣量，我不如。」 既而卒用蒙正所薦，果稱職。
The emperor once wished to send an envoy to Shuofang and ordered the Secretariat to choose a man of talent who could be charged with the task; Mengzheng withdrew and submitted a name, but the emperor did not approve. On another day the emperor asked three times, and three times Mengzheng named the same man. The emperor said, "Why are you so stubborn?" Mengzheng said, "Your subject is not being stubborn—it is simply that Your Majesty has not yet understood." He firmly said, "That man can be sent; no one else matches him. Your subject does not wish to use flattery and recklessly follow another's preference to harm state affairs." His colleagues trembled and dared not stir. The emperor withdrew and said to those around him, "Mengzheng's breadth of spirit—I am not his equal." In the end he employed the man Mengzheng had recommended, who indeed proved equal to the task.
51
至道初，以右僕射出判河南府兼西京留守。 蒙正至洛，多引親舊歡宴，政尚寬靜，委任僚屬，事多總裁而已。
At the beginning of the Zhidao era he left office as right vice director and was assigned to govern Henan Prefecture concurrently as Western Capital regent. When Mengzheng reached Luoyang he often feasted with kin and old friends; his governance favored leniency and quiet, he entrusted affairs to his staff, and mostly made final decisions only.
52
真宗即位，進左僕射。 會營奉熙陵，蒙正追感先朝不次之遇，奉家財三百餘萬以助用。 葬日，伏哭盡哀，人以為得大臣體。 咸平四年，以本官同平章事、昭文館大學士。 國朝以來三入相者，惟趙普與蒙正焉。 郊祀禮成，加司空兼門下侍郎。 六年，授太子太師，封萊國公，改封徐，又封許。
When Emperor Zhenzong ascended the throne, Mengzheng was promoted to left vice director. When construction was undertaken for Yongxi Mausoleum, Mengzheng, recalling with gratitude the earlier court's extraordinary favor, contributed more than three million in family wealth to assist the work. On the burial day he prostrated himself and wept to the full extent of grief; people considered this proper conduct for a great minister. In the fourth year of Xianping he became chief councilor with his former title and grand academician of the Hall of Broad Culture. Since the founding of the dynasty, only Zhao Pu and Mengzheng had thrice entered the chief councilorship. When the suburban sacrifice rites were completed, he was made minister of works concurrently vice director of the chancellery. In the sixth year he was made grand mentor of the heir apparent, enfeoffed as Duke of Lai, then re-enfeoffed as Duke of Xu, and again as Duke of Xu.
53
景德二年春，表請歸洛。 陛辭日，肩輿至東園門，命二子掖以升殿，因言：「遠人請和，弭兵省財，古今上策，惟願陛下以百姓為念。」 上嘉納之，因遷從簡太子洗馬，知簡奉禮郎。 蒙正至洛，有園亭花木，日與親舊宴會，子孫環列，迭奉壽觴，怡然自得。 大中祥符而後，上朝永熙陵，封泰山，祠后土，過洛，兩幸其第，錫賚有加。 上謂蒙正曰：「卿諸子孰可用？」 對曰：「諸子皆不足用。 有侄夷簡，任潁州推官，宰相才也。」 夷簡由是見知於上。
In spring of the second year of Jingde he submitted a memorial requesting return to Luoyang. On the day of his farewell audience he was carried in a sedan chair to the Eastern Garden Gate, had his two sons support him up the steps to the hall, and said, "When distant peoples sue for peace, ceasing arms and saving resources is the supreme policy of every age; I only ask that Your Majesty keep the common people in mind." The emperor praised and accepted this and thereupon promoted Cong Jian to Groom of the Heir Apparent and Zhi Jian to Master of Ceremonies. When Mengzheng reached Luoyang he had gardens, pavilions, and flowers; daily he feasted with kin and old friends; his sons and grandsons ranged around him, each in turn offering cups of longevity wine, and he was content and at ease. After the Dazhong Xiangfu era, when the emperor went to pay court at Yongxi Mausoleum, performed the fengshan at Mount Tai, and sacrificed to Earth, passing through Luoyang he twice visited Mengzheng's mansion and bestowed extraordinary gifts. The emperor said to Mengzheng, "Among your sons, which can be employed?" He replied, "None of my sons is adequate. I have a nephew, Yijian, serving as judicial investigator in Ying Prefecture—he has the talent of a chief councilor." Yijian was thereby noticed by the emperor.
54
富言者，蒙正客也。 一日白曰：「兒子十許歲，欲令入書院，事廷評、太祝。」 蒙正許之。 及見，驚曰：「此兒他日名位與吾相似，而勳業遠過於吾。」 令與諸子同學，供給甚厚。 言之子，即弼也。 後弼兩入相，亦以司徒致仕。 其知人類如此。
Fu Yan was Mengzheng's retainer. One day he reported, "My son is about ten years old; I wish to have him enter the academy and serve as court reviewer and grand invocator." Mengzheng agreed. When he saw the boy he exclaimed, "This child will one day hold rank and title similar to mine, yet his achievements will far surpass mine." He had him study together with his own sons and provided for him very generously. Yan's son was Bi—that is, Fu Bi. Later Bi twice entered the chief councilorship and also retired as minister over the masses. His discernment of men was of this sort.
55
許國之命甫下而卒，年六十八。 贈中書令，諡曰文穆。
The appointment as Duke of Xu had just been issued when he died, aged sixty-eight. He was posthumously made director of the Secretariat and given the posthumous title Wenmu.
56
蒙正初為相時，張紳知蔡州，坐贓免。 或言於上曰：「紳家富，不至此，特蒙正貧時勾索不如意，今報之爾。」 上命即復紳官，蒙正不辯。 後考課院得紳實狀，復黜為絳州團練副使。 及蒙正再入相，太宗謂曰：「張紳果有贓。」 蒙正不辯亦不謝。 在西京日，上數遣中貴人將命至，蒙正待之如在相位時，不少貶，時人重焉。
When Mengzheng first became chief councilor, Zhang Shen was prefect of Cai Prefecture and was dismissed for corruption. Someone told the emperor, "Shen's family is wealthy and would not have come to this; it is simply that when Mengzheng was poor Shen's demands for payment were unsatisfactory, and now he is repaying him." The emperor ordered that Shen's office be immediately restored; Mengzheng did not argue. Later the Evaluation Bureau obtained the facts of Shen's case and he was again dismissed and made deputy military training commissioner of Jiang Prefecture. When Mengzheng again entered the chief councilorship, Emperor Taizong said to him, "Zhang Shen truly had corrupt gains." Mengzheng neither argued nor thanked him. During his days in the Western Capital the emperor repeatedly sent palace eunuchs bearing orders; Mengzheng received them as when he was chief councilor, without any lessening of regard, and people of the time respected this.
57
子從簡，再為國子博士； 惟簡，太子中舍； 承簡，司門員外郎； 行簡，比部員外郎； 務簡，亦國子博士； 居簡，殿中丞； 知簡，太子右讚善大夫。 蒙正弟蒙休，咸平進士，至殿中丞。
His son Cong Jian again served as an erudite of the Directorate of Education. Wei Jian was a palace aide in the household of the heir apparent. Cheng Jian was vice director in the Gate Department. Xing Jian was vice director in the Audit Bureau. Wu Jian also served as an erudite of the Directorate of Education. Ju Jian was vice director in the Palace Reception. Zhi Jian was right administrative aide in the household of the heir apparent. Mengzheng's younger brother Mengxiu, a jinshi of the Xianping era, rose to vice director in the Palace Reception.
58
龜圖弟龜祥，殿中丞、知壽州。 子蒙亨，舉進士高等，既廷試，以蒙正居中書，故報罷。 後歷下蔡、武平主簿。 至道初，考課州縣官，蒙亨引對，文學、政事俱優，命為光祿寺丞，改大理寺丞，卒。 次子蒙巽，虞部員外郎； 蒙周，淳化進士及第。 蒙亨子即夷簡也。 次子宗簡，亦進士及第。
Qitu's younger brother Guixiang served as vice director in the Palace Reception and prefect of Shou Prefecture. His son Mengheng ranked high in the jinshi examination, but after the palace examination he was rejected because Mengzheng was serving in the chief council. He later served successively as registrar of Xiaocai and Wuping. At the beginning of the Zhidao era, when county and prefectural officials were evaluated, Mengheng was summoned for audience and proved outstanding in both literary and administrative performance. He was appointed vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, transferred to vice director of the Court of Judicial Review, and died in office. The second son, Mengxun, was vice director in the Bureau of Forestry and Crafts. Mengzhou passed the jinshi examination in the Chunhua era. Mengheng's son was Yijian. The second son, Zong Jian, also passed the jinshi examination.
59
慶曆中，居簡提點京東刑獄，時夏竦有憾於石介，介死，竦言於上曰：「介未嘗死，北走鄰國矣。」 乃遣中使發棺驗之。 居簡謂曰：「萬一介果死，則朝廷為無故發人之墓，奈何？」 中使曰：「於君何如？」 居簡曰：「介死，當時必有內外親族及門生會葬，問之可也。」 中使乃令結狀保證以聞，介事乃白。 居簡長者，其行事多類此。
During the Qingli era, Ju Jian served as judicial intendant of Jingdong Circuit. At that time Xia Song bore a grudge against Shi Jie. When Jie died, Song told the emperor, "Jie never died; he fled north to a neighboring state." The emperor then sent a palace envoy to open the coffin and verify. Ju Jian said, "If by chance Jie is indeed dead, the court will have opened a man's tomb for no reason. What then?" The palace envoy said, "What about you in this?" Ju Jian said, "If Jie died, there would surely have been relatives and students at the burial. One could simply ask them." The palace envoy then had written guarantees sworn and reported up, and the matter concerning Jie was cleared. Ju Jian was a man of mature judgment, and many of his actions were of this kind.
60
徐州妖人孔直溫挾左道誘軍士為變，或詣轉運使告，不受詞。 居簡令易其牒，盡捕究黨與，貸詿誤者，請於朝，斬直溫等。 濮州復叛，都民驚潰，居簡馳往，獲首惡誅之。 因大閱兵享勞，姦不得發。 用二事，遷秩鹽鐵判官，拜集賢院學士、知梓州、應天府，徙荊南，進龍圖閣直學士、知廣州，陶甓甃城，人以為便。 以兵部侍郎判西京御史臺，卒，年七十二。
At Xuzhou the sorcerer Kong Zhiwen used heterodox arts to lure soldiers into mutiny. Someone reported it to the transport commissioner, but the complaint was not accepted. Ju Jian had the report re-filed, arrested and investigated all accomplices, pardoned those who had been misled, sought orders from the court, and had Zhiwen and others executed. When Puzhou rebelled again, the people of the prefectural capital panicked and scattered. Ju Jian rushed there, captured the ringleader, and executed him. He then held a grand review of troops and feasted them in reward, so no further mischief could break out. For these two achievements he was promoted to salt and iron commissioner, appointed academician in the Academy of Scholarly Worthies and prefect of Zizhou and Yingtian Prefecture, transferred to Jingnan, and advanced to draft academician of the Longtu Hall and prefect of Guangzhou. He paved the city walls with fired tiles, which people found convenient. As vice minister of war he served as chief of the Western Capital Censorate and died at seventy-two.
61
張齊賢
Zhang Qixian
62
張齊賢，曹州冤句人。 生三歲，值晉亂，徙家洛陽。 孤貧力學，有遠志，慕唐李大亮之為人，故字師亮。 太祖幸西都，齊賢以布衣獻策馬前，召至行宮，齊賢以手畫地，條陳十事：曰下幷、汾、曰富民、曰封建、曰敦孝、曰舉賢、曰太學、曰籍田、曰選良吏、曰慎刑、曰懲姦。 內四說稱旨，齊賢堅執以為皆善，上怒，令武士拽出之。 及還，語太宗曰：「我幸西都，唯得一張齊賢爾。 我不欲爵之以官，異時可使輔汝為相也。」
Zhang Qixian was a native of Yuanqu in Cao Prefecture. At the age of three, amid the chaos of the Jin dynasty, his family moved to Luoyang. Orphaned and poor, he studied diligently. He had far-reaching ambition, admired the character of Tang's Li Daliang, and therefore took the style Shiliang. When Emperor Taizu visited the Western Capital, Qixian, as a commoner, presented a memorial before the emperor's horse. Summoned to the temporary palace, he traced on the ground with his hand and set forth ten items in order: annexing Bing and Fen, enriching the people, enfeoffment, promoting filial piety, elevating the worthy, the Imperial Academy, the ceremonial plowing field, selecting good officials, cautious punishment, and punishing wickedness. Four of his points pleased the emperor, but Qixian stubbornly maintained that all were good. The emperor grew angry and ordered warriors to drag him out. When he returned, he told Emperor Taizong, "On my visit to the Western Capital I gained only one Zhang Qixian. I do not wish to ennoble him with office now; in time you may have him assist you as chief councilor."
63
太宗擢進士，欲置齊賢高第，有司偶失掄選，上不悅，一榜盡與京官，於是齊賢以大理評事通判衡州。 時州鞫劫盜，論皆死，齊賢至，活其失入者五人。 自荊渚至桂州，水遞鋪夫數千戶，困於郵役，衣食多不給，論奏減其半。 四年，代還，會親征晉陽，齊賢上謁，遷秘書丞。 忻州新下，命知州事。 明年召還，改著作佐郎，直史館，改左拾遺。 冬，車駕北征，議者皆言宜速取幽薊，齊賢上疏曰：
When Emperor Taizong elevated jinshi, he wished to place Qixian in the top rank, but the office mishandled the selection. The emperor was displeased and gave the entire list capital offices, so Qixian became judicial reviewer in the Court of Judicial Review and supervising prefect of Heng Prefecture. At the time the prefecture was trying bandits and robbers, and all were sentenced to death. When Qixian arrived, he spared five who had been wrongly implicated. From Jing's embankments to Guizhou, several thousand households of water relay couriers were strained by postal service and often could not supply food and clothing. He memorialized and had the burden reduced by half. In the fourth year he returned upon replacement of office. When the emperor personally campaigned against Jinyang, Qixian presented himself and was promoted to secretary of the Secretariat. When Xin Prefecture had newly fallen, he was ordered to administer prefectural affairs. The next year he was recalled, made assistant in the Bureau of Compilation, entered duty at the Historiography Office, and was changed to left reminder. In winter the imperial carriage went north on campaign. Debaters all said it was best to seize You and Ji quickly. Qixian submitted a memorial saying:
64
「方今海內一家，朝野無事。 關聖慮者，豈不以河東新平，屯兵尚眾，幽燕未下，輦運為勞？ 臣愚以為此不足慮也。 自河東初下，臣知忻州，捕得契丹納米典吏，皆云自山後轉般以授河東。 以臣料，契丹能自備軍食，則於太原非不盡力，然終為我有者，力不足也。 河東初平，人心未固，嵐、憲、忻、代未有軍砦，入寇則田牧頓失，擾邊則守備可虞。 及國家守要害，增壁壘，左控右扼，疆事甚嚴，恩信已行，民心已定，乃於雁門陽武谷來爭小利，此其智力可料而知也。 聖人舉事，動在萬全，百戰百勝，不若不戰而勝，若重之慎之，則契丹不足吞，燕薊不足取。
"At present within the seas all is one family, and court and countryside are without disturbance. What fills the sage mind with concern—is it not that east of the river has only newly been pacified, troops remain numerous, You and Yan are not yet taken, and transport by cart is exhausting? Your subject foolishly believes this is not worth worrying over. From when east of the river was first taken, when I was prefect of Xin, we captured Khitan grain-collection clerks who all said grain was transferred from beyond the mountains to supply east of the river. By my reckoning, if the Khitan could supply their own army provisions, they would not have failed to do their utmost at Taiyuan. Yet in the end it became ours because their strength was insufficient. When east of the river was first pacified, hearts were not yet firm. Lan, Xian, Xin, and Dai had no military stockades. If invaded, fields and herds would at once be lost; if the border were harassed, defenses would be doubtful. When the state holds key positions and strengthens ramparts, controlling left and blocking right, frontier affairs are very strict, benevolence and trust have been applied, and popular hearts are settled, then for them to come to Yang Gate and Yangwu Valley to fight over small gains—their intelligence and strength can be calculated and known. When the sage undertakes affairs, his actions are in every case secure. Though victorious in a hundred battles, better still is victory without fighting. If treated with weight and caution, the Khitan need not be swallowed, and You and Ji need not be taken.
65
自古疆埸之難，非盡由敵國，亦多邊吏擾而致之。 若緣邊諸砦撫御得人，但使峻壘深溝，畜力養銳，以逸自處，寧我致人，此李牧所以用趙也。 所謂擇卒不如擇將，任力不如任人。 如是則邊鄙寧，邊鄙寧則輦運減，輦運減則河北之民獲休息矣。 民獲休息，則田業增而蠶績廣，務農積穀，以實邊用。 且敵人之心固亦擇利避害，安肯投諸死地而為寇哉？
Since antiquity border difficulties have not all been caused by enemy states; often frontier officials by harassment have brought them about. If the various stockades along the border are well governed and defended, keeping only high ramparts and deep ditches, storing strength and nurturing keenness, and resting at ease—better that I should move against others—this is how Li Mu used Zhao. What is called choosing soldiers is not as good as choosing generals; relying on force is not as good as relying on men. If so, the frontier will be secure; if the frontier is secure, cart transport will diminish; if cart transport diminishes, the people of Hebei will gain rest. When the people gain rest, farming will increase and silk production expand. Cultivate agriculture and accumulate grain to solidify frontier needs. Moreover the hearts of the enemy also surely choose profit and avoid harm. How would they willingly throw themselves into dead ground to become raiders?
66
臣聞家六合者以天下為心，豈止爭尺寸之事，角強弱之勢而已乎？ 是故聖人先本而後末，安內以養外。 人民，本也，疆土，末也。 五帝三王，未有不先根本者也。 堯、舜之道無他，在乎安民而利之爾。 民既安利，則遠人斂衽而至矣。 陛下愛民人、利天下之心，真堯、舜也。 臣慮群臣多以纖微之利，克下之術，侵苦窮民，以為功能。 至於生民疾苦，見之如不見，聞之如不聞，斂怨速尤，無大於此。 伏望慎擇通儒，分路采訪兩浙、江南、荊湖、西川、嶺南、河東，凡前日賦斂苛重者，改而正之，因而利之，使賦稅課利通濟，可經久而行，為聖朝定法； 除去舊弊，天下諸州有不便於民者，委長吏以聞。 敢循故常者，重置之法。 使天下耳目皆知陛下之心，戴陛下之惠，以德懷遠，以惠利民，則遠人之歸，可立而待也。」
Your subject has heard that one who embraces the six directions takes the empire as his heart—is it only about contesting inches of territory and measuring strength against weakness? Therefore the sage first attends to the root and afterward to the branches, securing the interior to nurture the exterior. The people are the root; territory is the branch. The Five Emperors and Three Kings—there is none who did not first attend to the root. The way of Yao and Shun has nothing else to it; it lies in securing the people and benefiting them. When the people are secured and benefited, distant peoples will draw up their sleeves and come. Your Majesty's heart to love the people and benefit the empire is truly that of Yao and Shun. Your subject fears that many ministers focus on minute profit, techniques of prevailing over subordinates, oppressing and afflicting the destitute people, and take this as accomplishment. As for the suffering of the living people, they see yet do not see, hear yet do not hear—nothing gathers resentment and hastens blame more than this. I humbly hope you will carefully choose broadly learned scholars and send them by separate routes to visit and investigate the Two Zhe, Jiangnan, Jinghu, Sichuan, Lingnan, and east of the river. Wherever earlier levies and collections were harsh and heavy, reform and correct them and thereby bring benefit, so that tax levies and commercial duties flow without obstruction and can be maintained long, establishing law for the holy court. Remove old abuses. Throughout the empire's prefectures, wherever anything inconveniences the people, let senior officials report it. Whoever dares follow old practice shall face severe penalty. Let all under heaven's eyes and ears know Your Majesty's heart and receive Your Majesty's grace. With virtue cherish the distant, with bounty benefit the people, and the return of distant peoples can be awaited standing."
67
六年，為江南西路轉運副使，冬，改右補闕，加正使。 齊賢至官，詢知饒、信、虔州土產銅、鐵、鉛、錫之所，推求前代鑄法，取饒州永平監所鑄以為定式，歲鑄五十萬貫，凡用銅八十五萬斤，鉛三十六萬斤，錫十六萬斤，詣闕面陳其事，敷奏詳確，議者不能奪。
In the sixth year he was deputy transport commissioner of Jiangnan West Circuit. In winter he was changed to right supplementation aide and made chief commissioner. When Qixian took office he inquired and learned where Rao, Xin, and Qian prefectures produced copper, iron, lead, and tin. He investigated former dynasties' minting methods, took the Yongping Directorate of Rao's casting as the fixed standard, and cast five hundred thousand strings per year, using in all eight hundred fifty thousand jin of copper, three hundred sixty thousand jin of lead, and one hundred sixty thousand jin of tin. He went to court and presented the matter in person, reporting in detail, and debaters could not overturn him.
68
先是，諸州罪人多錮送闕下，路死者十常五六。 齊賢道逢南劍、建昌、虔州所送，索牒視之，率非首犯，悉伸其冤抑。 因力言於朝，後凡送囚至京，請委強明吏慮問，不實，則罪及原問官屬。 自是江南送罪人者為減太半。
Previously, convicts from various prefectures were often shackled and sent to the capital, and on the road one or two in five or six often died. Qixian on the road encountered prisoners sent from Nanjian, Jianchang, and Qian prefectures. He demanded the documents and looked at them; almost none were principal offenders, and he fully vindicated their wrongful suffering. He therefore vigorously spoke in court. Afterward, whenever prisoners were sent to the capital, able and clear officials were requested to examine them, and if the charges were not substantiated, the original questioning officials would be punished. From this, prisoners sent from Jiangnan to the capital were reduced by more than half.
69
先是，江南諸州小民，居官地者有地房錢，吉州緣江地雖淪沒，猶納勾欄地錢，編木而浮居者名水場錢，皆前代弊政，齊賢悉論免之。
Previously, common people in various prefectures of Jiangnan who lived on official land paid land-house money. In Ji Prefecture along the river, though land was submerged they still paid corral land money, and those who floated dwellings on rafts paid water station money—all abuses of former dynasties. Qixian memorialized and had all exempted.
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初，李氏據有江南，民戶稅錢三千已上者戶出丁一人，黥面，自備器甲輸官庫，出即給之，日支糧二升，名為義軍。 既內附，皆放歸農。 至是，言者以為此輩久在行伍，不樂耕農，乞遣使選充軍伍，並其家屬送闕下。 齊賢上言：「江南義軍，例皆良民，橫遭黥配，無所逃避。 克復之後，便放歸農，久被皇風，並皆樂業。 若逐戶搜索，不無驚擾。 法貴有常，政尚清淨，前敕既放營農，不若且仍舊貫。」 齊賢居使職，勤究民弊，務行寬大，江左人思之不忘。 召還，拜樞密直學士，擢右諫議大夫、簽書樞密院事。
At first, when the Li house held Jiangnan, households paying three thousand cash or more in tax supplied one man per household, tattooed on the face, furnished their own armor into the state storehouse, and when deployed it was issued to them, with two sheng of grain per day. They were called righteous armies. After submitting to the interior, all were released to return to farming. At this time memorializers thought these men had long been in the ranks and did not enjoy farming. They requested that envoys be sent to select them for military service and send them with their families to the capital. Qixian submitted, "The righteous armies of Jiangnan are in every case good common people, forcibly tattooed and assigned, with no escape. After recovery they were at once released to farming. Long bathed in the imperial wind, all delight in their occupations. If household by household they are searched out, there will inevitably be alarm and disturbance. Law values constancy; government prefers purity and tranquility. Since the prior edict already released them to camp farming, it is better for now to keep the old practice." When Qixian held commissioner office, he diligently investigated popular abuses and strove to practice leniency. People of Jiangzuo remember him and do not forget. Recalled, he was appointed draft academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs, promoted to right remonstrance and grand councilor, and signed at the Bureau of Military Affairs.
71
雍熙初，遷左諫議大夫。 三年，大舉北伐，代州楊業戰沒。 上訪近臣以策，齊賢請行，即授給事中、知代州，與部署潘美同領緣邊兵馬。 是時遼兵自湖谷入寇，薄城下，神衛都校馬正以所部列南門外，眾寡不敵，副部署盧漢贇畏懦，保壁自固。 齊賢選廂軍二千，出正之右，誓眾慷慨，一以當百，遼兵遂卻。
At the beginning of Yongxi he was promoted to left remonstrance and councilor. In the third year a great northern campaign was launched, and Yang Ye of Dai Prefecture died in battle. The emperor consulted close ministers for strategy. Qixian requested to go and was at once appointed supervising attendant and prefect of Dai Prefecture, jointly leading frontier troops and horses with deployment commissioner Pan Mei. At that time Liao troops entered through Hugu Valley to raid, pressing to the foot of the city. Shenwei Commander Ma Zheng drew up his troops outside the south gate, but they were too few to match the enemy. Deputy deployment commissioner Lu Hanyun was timid and cowardly, securing the walls and holding himself fast. Qixian selected two thousand garrison troops, went out to Ma Zheng's right, and vowed to the masses with passionate zeal, each man matching a hundred. The Liao troops then withdrew.
72
先是，約潘美以幷師來會戰，無何，間使為遼人所得。 齊賢以師期既漏，且虞美眾為遼所乘。 既而美使至，云師出并州，至柏井，得密詔，東師敗績於君子館，幷之全軍不許出戰，已還州矣。 於時遼兵塞川，齊賢曰：「賊知美之來，而不知美之退。」 乃閉其使密室，中夜發兵二百，人持一幟，負一束芻，距州城西南三十里，列幟然芻。 遼兵遙見火光中有旗幟，意謂幷師至矣，駭而北走。 齊賢先伏步兵二千於土磴砦，掩擊大敗之，擒其北大王之子一人，帳前錫利一人，斬數百級，獲馬二千、器甲甚眾。 捷奏，且歸功漢贇。
Previously they had agreed that Pan Mei would join forces from Bing to meet in battle. Before long, a secret messenger was captured by the Liao. Qixian thought the campaign schedule had leaked and feared Mei's army would be exploited by the Liao. Soon Mei's messenger arrived, saying the army had left Bing Prefecture and reached Baijing, where it received a secret edict: the eastern army had been defeated at Junzi Pavilion, Bing's entire army was forbidden to go out to fight, and had already returned to the prefecture. At that time Liao troops filled the valleys. Qixian said, "The bandits know Mei is coming but do not know Mei has withdrawn. He then shut their messenger in a secret room. At midnight he sent out two hundred soldiers, each man holding one banner and carrying one bundle of fodder. Thirty li southwest of the prefectural city they set up banners and burned fodder. The Liao troops from afar saw banners in the firelight and thought Bing's army had arrived. Terrified, they fled north. Qixian had first hidden two thousand foot soldiers at Tudeng Stockade. They struck from cover and routed the enemy completely, capturing one son of the Northern Great King and one Xili before the tent, beheading several hundred, seizing two thousand horses and a great quantity of armor and weapons. He reported the victory and also credited Hanyun.
73
二年，置屯田，領河東制置方田都部署，入拜刑部侍郎、樞密副使。 淳化二年夏，參知政事，數月，拜吏部侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 齊賢母孫氏年八十餘，封晉國太夫人，每入謁禁中，上歎其福壽、有令子，多手詔存問，加賜與，搢紳榮之。
In the second year he established military colonies and headed the Hedong directorate for field-allotment settlements chief deployment, then entered court as vice minister of justice and vice commissioner of the bureau of military affairs. In the summer of Chunhua 2 he became vice director of the secretariat-chancellery, and after several months was appointed vice minister of personnel and concurrent manager of affairs with the secretariat-chancellery. Qixian's mother, Lady Sun, was over eighty and was enfeoffed as grand lady of Jin. Whenever she entered the palace to pay respects, the emperor sighed at her good fortune, longevity, and excellent son, often sending personal edicts to inquire after her and granting additional gifts. Court officials regarded this as a great honor.
74
初，王延德與朱貽業同掌京庾，欲求補外，貽業與參政李沆有姻婭，託之以請於沆，沆為請於齊賢，齊賢以聞。 太宗以延德嘗事晉邸。 怒其不自陳而干祈執政，召見詰責。 延德、貽業皆諱不以實對，齊賢不欲累沆，獨任其責。 四年六月，罷為尚書左丞。 十月，命知定州，以母老不願往，未幾，丁內艱，水漿不入口者七日，自是日啖粥一器，終喪不食酒肉蔬果。 尋復轉禮部尚書、知河南府。 時獄有大辟將決，齊賢至，立辨而釋之。 三日，徙知永興軍。 時閣門祗候趙讚以言事得幸，提點關中芻糧，所為多豪橫。 齊賢論列其罪，卒抵於法。 俄徙襄州，移荊南，又徙安州。 逾年，加刑部尚書。
Earlier, Wang Yande and Zhu Yiye jointly managed the capital granaries and wished to obtain outside appointments. Yiye was related by marriage to Vice Director Li Hang and asked him to intercede; Hang made the request of Qixian, and Qixian reported it to the throne. Because Yande had once served in the household of the Prince of Jin, Taizong was angry that he had not stated his case himself but had importuned the chief ministers. He summoned Yande for an audience and interrogated and rebuked him. Yande and Yiye both evaded giving truthful answers. Unwilling to implicate Hang, Qixian alone accepted responsibility. In the sixth month of the fourth year he was dismissed and made left assistant director of the department of state affairs. In the tenth month he was ordered to serve as prefect of Ding Prefecture, but because his mother was old he did not wish to go. Before long he entered mourning for his mother and for seven days took no water or food; thereafter he ate one bowl of gruel daily. Throughout the mourning period he consumed no wine, meat, or vegetables. Soon he was again transferred to minister of rites and prefect of Henan Prefecture. At the time a capital case was about to be decided; when Qixian arrived he immediately distinguished the facts and released the prisoner. Three days later he was transferred to serve as prefect of Yongxing Army. At the time Ceremonial Gateway Attendant Zhao Zan, who had gained favor by memorializing on affairs of state, was intendant of Guanzhong fodder and grain, and his conduct was largely overbearing and violent. Qixian enumerated his crimes, and in the end Zhao Zan was punished according to law. Soon he was transferred to Xiang Prefecture, then to Jingnan, and again to An Prefecture. After more than a year he was promoted to minister of justice.
75
四年，李繼遷陷清遠軍，命為涇、原等州軍安撫經略使，以右司諫梁顥為之副。 齊賢上言謂：「清遠軍陷沒以來，青岡砦燒棄之後，靈武一郡，援隔勢孤，此繼遷之所覬覦而必至者也。 以事勢言之，加討則不足，防遏則有餘。 其計無他，蕃部大族首領素與繼遷有隙者，若能啖以官爵，誘以貨利，結之以恩信，而激之以利害，則山西之蕃部族帳，靡不傾心朝廷矣。 臣所領十二州軍，見二萬餘人，若緣邊料柬本城等軍，更得五萬餘人，招致蕃部，其數又逾十數萬。 但彼出則我歸，東備則西擊，使之奔走不暇，何能為我患哉？ 今靈武軍民不翅六七萬，陷於危亡之地，若繼遷來春於我兵未舉之前，發兵救援靈武，盡驅其眾，並力攻圍，則靈州孤城必難固守。 萬一失陷，賊勢益增，縱多聚甲兵，廣積財貨，亦難保必勝矣。 臣所以乞封潘羅支為六谷王而厚以金帛者，恐繼遷旦暮用兵斷彼賣馬之路也。 苟朝廷信使得達潘羅支，則泥埋等族、西南遠蕃，不難招集。 西南既禀命，而緣邊之勢張，則鄜、延、環、慶之淺蕃，原、渭、鎮戎之熟戶，自然歸化。 然後使之與對替甲兵及駐泊軍馬互為聲援，則萬山聞之，必不敢於靈州、河西頓兵矣。 萬山既退，則賀蘭蕃部亦稍稍叛繼遷矣。 若曰名器不可以假人，爵賞不可以濫及，此乃聖人為治之常道，非隨時變易之義也。」
In the fourth year, after Li Jiqian captured Qingyuan Army, Qixian was appointed commissioner for appeasement and military strategy of Jing, Yuan, and other prefectures and armies, with Right Remonstrance Official Liang Hao as his deputy. Qixian submitted a memorial saying, "Since Qingyuan Army fell and Qinggang Stockade was burned and abandoned, Lingwu Prefecture alone has been cut off from support and stands isolated. This is what Jiqian covets and is certain to reach. Judging by the situation, launching a punitive campaign would be insufficient, but defending and blocking would be more than enough. The plan is otherwise simple: among the great frontier tribal clans and chieftains who have long been at odds with Jiqian, if one can entice them with office and rank, lure them with goods and profit, bind them with grace and trust, and spur them with advantage and harm, then the frontier tribal encampments west of the mountains will all incline their hearts to the court. The twelve prefectures and armies under my command currently have more than twenty thousand men. If troops are selected from border garrisons and the like, another fifty thousand or more can be obtained, and if frontier tribes are recruited their numbers would exceed several hundred thousand more. But when they go out we withdraw; when they guard the east we strike the west, making them rush about without rest. How could they become a threat to us? Now the soldiers and people of Lingwu Army number no less than sixty or seventy thousand, trapped in a place of peril and ruin. If Jiqian next spring, before our troops have mobilized, sends troops to rescue Lingwu, drives out all its people, and concentrates his forces in a siege, then the lone city of Ling Prefecture will be hard to hold. If by any chance it falls, the enemy's strength will increase all the more; even if many armored troops are gathered and vast stores of wealth amassed, victory will still be hard to guarantee. The reason I beg to enfeoff Pan Luozhi as King of the Six Valleys and reward him generously with gold and silk is that I fear Jiqian may at any moment use troops to cut off his route for selling horses. If the court's envoys can truly reach Pan Luozhi, then the Niman and other tribes and the distant frontier peoples of the southwest will not be hard to recruit. Once the southwest has received orders and the border forces grow strong, then the shallow tribes of Fu, Yan, Huan, and Qing and the registered households of Yuan, Wei, and Zhenrong will naturally submit. Then have them and the rotating garrison troops and stationed armies mutually support one another, and Wanshan, hearing of it, will certainly not dare to station troops at Ling Prefecture and west of the River. Once Wanshan withdraws, the Helan frontier tribes will also gradually turn against Jiqian. If one says that titles and honors must not be lent to others and that ranks and rewards must not be bestowed indiscriminately, that is the constant way by which sages govern; it is not the principle of changing with the times."
76
齊賢又請調江淮、荊湘丁壯八萬以益防禦，朝議以為動搖，兼澤國人民，遠戍西鄙亦非便，計遂寢。
Qixian also requested that eighty thousand able-bodied men from the Jianghuai and Jingxiang regions be mobilized to strengthen defenses. Court discussion held that this would cause unrest and that marsh-country people would also find distant service on the western frontier inconvenient, so the plan was dropped.
77
齊賢又言：「靈州斗絕一隅，當城鎮完全、磧路未梗之時，中外已言合棄，自繼遷為患已來，危困彌甚。 南去鎮戎約五百餘里，東去環州僅六七日程，如此畏途，不須攻奪，則城中之民何由而出，城中之兵何由而歸？ 欲全軍民，理須應接。 為今之計，若能增益精兵，以合西邊屯駐、對替之兵，從以原、渭、鎮戎之師，率山西熟戶從東界而入，嚴約師期，兩路交進。 設若繼遷分兵以應敵，我則乘勢而易攻。 且奔命途道，首尾難衛，千里趨利，不敗則禽。 臣謂兵鋒未交，而靈州之圍自解。 然後取靈州軍民，而置砦於蕭關、武延川險要處以僑寓之，如此則蕃漢士人之心有所依賴。 裁候平寧，卻歸舊貫，然後縱蕃漢之兵，乘時以為進退，則成功不難矣。」 時不能用。 未幾，靈武果陷。
Qixian also said, "Ling Prefecture stands utterly isolated in a corner. When its walls were intact and the desert routes unobstructed, both court and countryside already said it ought to be abandoned. Since Jiqian became a threat, its peril has grown ever worse. South to Zhenrong is about five hundred li or more; east to Huan Prefecture is only six or seven days' journey. On such a fearful road, unless the city is taken by assault, how can the people inside get out and how can the soldiers inside return? To preserve both army and people, relief must by principle be provided. The plan for the present is this: if elite troops can be increased and combined with the garrison and rotating troops stationed on the western border, together with the armies of Yuan, Wei, and Zhenrong, leading registered households west of the mountains to enter from the eastern frontier, setting a strict date for the campaign, and advancing by two routes together— then if Jiqian divides his troops to meet the enemy, we can seize the opportunity and attack where it is easy. Moreover, rushing to obey orders over long distances makes it hard to guard both head and tail; racing a thousand li for gain, if one is not defeated one is captured. I say that before the armies clash, the siege of Ling Prefecture will resolve itself. Then take the soldiers and people of Ling Prefecture and establish stockades at strategic points such as Xiaoguan and Wuyanchuan to lodge them temporarily; in this way the hearts of frontier Chinese and tribal people will have something to rely on. Wait only until peace is restored, then return them to their former places; then release frontier Chinese and tribal troops to advance and withdraw as opportunity allows, and success will not be hard." At the time this could not be adopted. Before long Lingwu indeed fell.
78
閏十二月，拜右僕射、判邠州，不行，改判永興軍兼馬步軍部署。 時薛居正子惟吉妻柴氏無子早寡，盡畜其貨產及書籍論告，欲改適齊賢。 惟吉子安上訴其事，上不欲置於理，命司門員外郎張正倫就訊，柴氏所對與安上狀異。 下其事於御史，乃齊賢子太子中舍宗誨教柴氏為詞。 齊賢坐責太常卿、分司西京，宗誨貶海州別駕。
In the intercalary twelfth month he was appointed right vice director and assigned to Bin Prefecture, but did not go and was instead made prefect of Yongxing Army and concurrent horse and foot deployment commissioner. At the time the wife of Xue Juzheng's son Weiji, Lady Chai, was childless and had long been a widow. She gathered all her property and books and brought suit, wishing to remarry Qixian. Weiji's son Anshang appealed the matter. The emperor did not wish to put it before the law and ordered Supervisory Gate Outer Official Zhang Zhenlun to investigate on the spot; Lady Chai's answers differed from Anshang's petition. The matter was referred to the censorate, and it turned out that Qixian's son, crown prince household aide Zong Hui, had coached Lady Chai in her testimony. Qixian was punished by being demoted to director of the court of imperial sacrifices and commissioner in the Western Capital; Zong Hui was demoted to vice prefect of Hai Prefecture.
79
景德初，起為兵部尚書、知青州。 上幸澶淵，命兼青、淄、濰州安撫使。 二年，改吏部尚書。 上疏言曰：「臣在先朝，常憂靈、夏，兩鎮終為繼遷並吞，言事者以臣所慮為太過，略舉既往之事以明本末。 當時臣下皆以繼遷只是懷戀父祖舊地，別無他心，先帝與以銀州廉察，庶滿其意。 爾後攻劫不已，直至降麟、府州界八部族蕃酋，又脅制賀蘭山下帳族，言事者猶謂封獎未厚。 洎陛下賜以銀、夏土壤，寵以節旄，自此姦威愈滋，逆志尤暴。 屢斷靈州糧路，復撓緣邊城池，數年之間，靈州終為吞噬。 當靈池、清遠軍垂欲陷沒，臣方受經略之命。 臣思繼遷須是得一兩處強大蕃族與之為敵，此乃以蠻夷攻蠻夷，古今之上策也。 遂請以六谷名目封潘羅支，俾其展效。 其時近臣所見，全與臣謀不同，多為沮撓。 及繼遷為潘羅支射殺，邊患謂可少息。 今其子德明依前攻劫，析逋遊龍缽等盡在部下，其志又似不小。 臣慮德明乘大駕東幸之際，去攻六谷，則瓜、沙、甘、肅、于闐諸處漸為控制矣。 向使潘羅支尚在，則德明未足為虞； 今潘羅支已亡，廝鐸督恐非其敵。 望委大臣經制其事。」
At the beginning of the Jingde era he was recalled and made minister of war and prefect of Qing Prefecture. When the emperor went to Chanyuan, Qixian was ordered to serve concurrently as commissioner for appeasement of Qing, Zi, and Wei prefectures. In the second year he was changed to minister of personnel. He submitted a memorial saying, "When I was at the previous court I often feared that the Ling and Xia garrisons would in the end be swallowed up by Jiqian. Those who spoke on affairs thought my concern excessive. Let me briefly cite past events to show cause and effect. At that time all officials below thought Jiqian only longed for his father and grandfather's old lands and had no other intent; the previous emperor gave him the prefectural commission of Yin Prefecture, hoping this would satisfy him. Afterward he raided without cease, until he subjugated the eight tribal chieftains of the Lin and Fuzhou border region and coerced the encampment tribes beneath Helan Mountain; those who spoke on affairs still said the enfeoffment and rewards had not been generous enough. When Your Majesty granted him the lands of Yin and Xia and honored him with a military commission, from that time his treacherous power grew ever stronger and his rebellious intent became all the more violent. Repeatedly he cut Ling Prefecture's grain routes and again harassed the border cities; within several years Ling Prefecture was at last swallowed up. When Lingchi and Qingyuan Army were on the verge of falling, I had just received appointment as frontier commissioner. I thought Jiqian must be given one or two powerful frontier tribes as enemies; this is using barbarians to attack barbarians—the supreme strategy of antiquity and the present. I therefore requested that Pan Luozhi be enfeoffed under the title of the Six Valleys so that he might show results. At that time the views of close ministers were entirely unlike my plan, and most obstructed it. When Jiqian was shot and killed by Pan Luozhi, the border trouble was thought able to subside somewhat. Now his son Deming raids as before; Xibo, Youlongbo, and the like are all under his command, and his ambition again seems no small matter. I fear Deming may take advantage of the great procession's eastern journey to attack the Six Valleys, and then Gua, Sha, Gan, Su, Khotan, and other places will gradually come under his control. If Pan Luozhi had still been alive, then Deming would not have been worth worrying about; now that Pan Luozhi is dead, Siduodu probably cannot match him. I hope a chief minister may be entrusted to manage this affair."
80
從東封還，復拜右僕射。 時建玉清昭應宮，齊賢言繪畫符瑞，有損謙德，又違奉天之意，屢請罷其役。
Returning from the eastern fengshan ceremony, he was again appointed right vice director. At the time the Yujing Zhaoying Palace was being built. Qixian said that painting auspicious omens would impair modest virtue and also violate the intent of the fengshan at Mount Tai, and repeatedly requested that the work be stopped.
81
三年，出判河陽，從祀汾陰還，進左僕射。 五年，代還，請老，以司空致仕。 入辭便坐，方拜而仆，上遽止之，許二子扶掖升殿，命益坐茵為三。
In the third year he went out to serve as prefect of Heyang; returning from attendance at the fengshan at Fenyin, he was promoted to left vice director. In the fifth year, when his term as replacement ended, he requested retirement and retired as minister of works. Entering to take leave at the informal audience seat, just as he bowed he collapsed. The emperor hastily stopped him, permitted his two sons to support him up the steps, and ordered an additional seat cushion, making three.
82
歸洛，得裴度午橋莊，有池榭松竹之盛，日與親舊觴詠其間，意甚曠適。 七年夏，薨，年七十二。 贈司徒，諡文定。
Returning to Luoyang, he obtained Pei Du's Wuchao estate, with pools, pavilions, pines, and bamboo in great abundance. Day after day he drank and composed poetry there with relatives and old friends, his mood very free and at ease. In the seventh year, in summer, he died at the age of seventy-two. He was posthumously appointed minister of education and given the posthumous title Wending.
83
齊賢姿儀豐碩，議論慷慨，有大略，以致君自負。 留心刑獄，多所全活。 喜提獎寒雋。 少時家貧，父死無以為葬，河南縣吏為辦其事，齊賢深德之，事以兄禮，雖貴不替也。 仲兄昭度嘗授齊賢經，及卒，表贈光祿寺丞。 又嘗依太子少師李肅家，肅死，為營葬事，歲時祭之。 趙普嘗薦齊賢於太宗，未用，普即具前列事，以謂：「陛下若進齊賢，則齊賢他日感恩，更過於此。」 上大悅，遂大用。 种放之起，齊賢所薦也。 齊賢四踐兩府，九居八座，以三公就第，康寧福壽，時罕其比。 居相日，數起大獄，又與寇準相傾，人或以此少之。
Qixian's bearing was imposing and his physique large; his discourse was passionate and he had broad strategy, taking upon himself the task of bringing the ruler to sagehood. He devoted attention to criminal cases and preserved many lives. He delighted in promoting talented men of humble origin. In youth his family was poor; when his father died there was no means for burial, and a clerk of Henan County arranged the funeral. Qixian was deeply grateful and treated him with the courtesy due an elder brother; even when exalted he did not change this. His second elder brother Zhaodu had once taught Qixian the classics; when he died, Qixian memorialized to have him posthumously granted vice director of the court of imperial sacrifices. He had also once relied on the household of Junior Preceptor to the Crown Prince Li Su; when Su died, Qixian arranged his burial and sacrificed to him at the seasonal festivals. Zhao Pu once recommended Qixian to Taizong, but he was not employed. Pu then fully set forth the foregoing matters, saying, "If Your Majesty advances Qixian, then Qixian's gratitude in days to come will exceed even this." The emperor was greatly pleased and then employed him on a large scale. Zhong Fang's rise to office was through Qixian's recommendation. Qixian four times tread the two departments and nine times occupied one of the eight chief seats; he retired to his estate as one of the three dukes, enjoying health, peace, good fortune, and long life—rarely matched in his time. While chief minister he several times initiated major prosecutions and also contended with Kou Zhun; some for this reason thought somewhat less of him.
84
齊賢諸子皆能有立：宗信，內殿崇班； 宗理，大理寺丞； 宗諒，殿中丞； 宗簡，閣門祗候； 宗訥，太子中舍； 宗禮最賢，雖累資登朝，而畏羈束，故多居田里。
All of Qixian's sons were able to establish themselves: Zongxin, Inner Hall Honored Officer; Zongli, aide of the Court of Judicial Review; Zongliang, palace aide; Zongjian, Ceremonial Gateway Attendant; Zongne, Crown Prince Household Aide; Zong Li was the most worthy; though he repeatedly rose by seniority to court office, he feared restraint and therefore mostly lived in the countryside.
85
子宗誨
Son: Zong Hui
86
宗誨，字習之，齊賢第二子也。 少喜學兵法，陰陽、象緯之書無不通究。 以父蔭為秘書省正字，遷至太子中舍，貶海州別駕。 嘗通判河陽，徙知富順監。 會夷人斗郎春叛，群獠皆騷動，宗誨將郡兵攻破之。 擢開封府判官、三司度支勾院。 宗誨在開封日，御史王沿劾其嗜酒廢事，及為河北轉運使，乃發沿居喪假官舟賈販，朝論惡之。 會以調發擾民，徙知徐州。 累遷太常少卿，後為永興軍兵馬鈐轄，又徙鄜延路兼知鄜州。 元昊寇延安，劉平、石元孫敗沒，鈐轄黃德和遁還，延州不納，又走鄜州。 宗誨曰：「軍奔將無所歸，激之則為亂矣。」 乃納之，拘德和以聞。 是時鄜城不完，且無備，傳言寇兵至，人心不安。 宗誨乃嚴斥候，籍入而禁出，使老幼倂力守禦之，敵亦自引去。 領興州防禦使，復徙永興鈐轄兼知邠州，以秘書監致仕。
Zong Hui, courtesy name Xizhi, was Qixian's second son. In youth he delighted in studying military methods and thoroughly mastered books on yin and yang, astronomy, and calendrics. Through his father's privilege he became a proofreader in the Secretariat and rose to crown prince household aide; he was demoted to vice prefect of Hai Prefecture. He once served as transit judge of Heyang and was transferred to serve as superintendent of Fushun Superintendency. When the Yi tribesman Doulangchun rebelled and all the mountain tribes were disturbed, Zong Hui led the prefectural troops and defeated them. He was promoted to judicial administrator of Kaifeng Prefecture and review officer of the fiscal affairs commission of the three departments. While Zong Hui was at Kaifeng, Censor Wang Yan impeached him for loving wine and neglecting duties; when he became transport commissioner of Hebei, he then exposed that Yan, while in mourning, had used an official boat for trade. Court opinion despised this. When his mobilization of labor disturbed the people, he was transferred to serve as prefect of Xu Prefecture. He was repeatedly promoted to vice director of the court of imperial sacrifices, later served as military controller of Yongxing Army, and was again transferred to Fuyan Circuit with concurrent service as prefect of Fu Prefecture. When Yuan Hao attacked Yan'an, Liu Ping and Shi Yuansun were defeated and killed. The qianxia Huang Dehe fled back, but Yan Prefecture refused to receive him, and he fled on to Fu Prefecture. Zonghui said, "When routed soldiers and their commander have nowhere to go, stirring them up will only make them rebel." He therefore admitted them, detained Dehe, and reported the matter. At that time the walls of Fu were unfinished and the city was unprepared. When word spread that enemy troops were approaching, the populace grew anxious. Zonghui then tightened the scouts, registered entrants and barred departures, and had young and old alike join in the defense. The enemy withdrew of their own accord. He served as Defender of Xing Prefecture, was later transferred to qianxia of Yongxing while also governing Bin Prefecture, and finally retired with the rank of Secretary Director.
87
嘗事干謁，其子曰：「昔賀秘監以道士服東歸會稽，明皇賜以鑒湖，以為休老之地。 今洛下雖無鑒湖，而嵩、少、伊，天下佳處，雖非朝廷所賜，皆閑逸之人所有爾。 大人盍衣羽服以優遊，何必更事請謁乎？」 宗誨曰：「吾作白頭老監秘書而眠，何以賀老流沙之服為哉？」 時以為名言。
He had once busied himself with calls and visits. His son said, "Long ago Supervising Secretary He returned east to Kuaiji dressed as a Taoist, and Emperor Ming of Tang granted him Mirror Lake as a place to spend his old age in peace. Today Luoyang may lack Mirror Lake, but Song, Shao, and Yi are among the finest places in the realm. Though the court did not grant them, they are all held by men who live at ease. Why not put on Taoist robes and wander freely? Why must you go on calling and paying visits?" Zonghui replied, "I am content to sleep out my days as a white-haired old supervising secretary. Why should I wear Old He's flowing-sand robes?" At the time this was regarded as a memorable remark.
88
初，齊賢守代州，宗誨嘗預計畫，其保任親族不問疏近，以年為先後。 然性貪，雖謝事，猶事貨殖，以至於卒。
When Qixian had earlier served as governor of Dai Prefecture, Zonghui had taken part in his planning. In recommending relatives he made no distinction between close and distant kin, ordering them only by age. Yet he was greedy by nature. Even after leaving office he continued to pursue trade and profit until he died.
89
子二人。 子皋，字叔謨，少有才名而不自負，人樂與之遊。 最善尹洙，洙曰：「吾交天下士多矣，不以通否易意者，子皋也。」 舉進士，試秘書郎、知新鄭縣。 以齊賢相，遷校書郎，館閣獻頌，擢著作佐郎，進直史館，累官至尚書司封員外郎。
He had two sons. Zi Gao, whose style was Shumo, won a name for talent in his youth but was never self-important, and people were glad to keep his company. He was especially close to Yin Zhu, who said, "I have known men of talent throughout the realm, but the one who never alters his regard according to success or failure is Zi Gao." He passed the jinshi examination, served probation as a secretary, and was appointed magistrate of Xinzheng County. When Qixian became chancellor, he was promoted to proofreader. He submitted panegyrics to the palace institutes, was raised to assistant compiler, entered regular duty at the History Institute, and eventually rose to Vice Director in the Ministry of Personnel.
90
子憲，字彥章，以蔭將作監主簿，以獻文賜同進士出身，累遷尚書刑部郎中、知光化軍。 戍卒逐其帥韓綱，餘黨作亂，子憲招降之。 征稅重，人多逋負，子憲奏除之。 歷太常少卿、三司鹽鐵判官、直史館、知洪州。 遷右諫議大夫、知桂州，不赴，御史劾之，降秘書監。 復為光祿卿，加直秘閣、知廬州，遷秘書監，累職徙揚州，卒。
Zi Xian, whose style was Yanzhang, entered service through inherited privilege as chief clerk of the Directorate of Palace Buildings. After submitting a literary work he was granted jinshi standing by imperial favor, and by successive promotions he became Director in the Ministry of Justice and military prefect of Guanghua. The garrison soldiers expelled their commander Han Gang, and the remaining ringleaders rose in revolt. Zi Xian persuaded them to surrender. Taxes were heavy and many people had fallen into arrears. Zi Xian memorialized for their remission. He served in succession as Vice Minister of Rites, judge of the Salt and Iron Commission, on duty at the History Institute, and prefect of Hongzhou. He was promoted to Right Remonstrance Censor and appointed prefect of Guizhou, but he did not take up the post. Censors impeached him, and he was demoted to Secretary Director. He was later restored as Director of Imperial Entertainments, given concurrent duty in the Secret Archive and appointment as prefect of Luzhou, promoted to Secretary Director, and after further transfers ended as prefect of Yangzhou, where he died.
91
賈黃中
Jia Huangzhong
92
賈黃中，字媧民，滄州南皮人，唐相耽四世孫。 父玭，字仲寶，晉天福三年進士，解褐。 宋初，為刑部郎中，終水部員外郎、知浚儀縣，年七十卒。 玭嚴毅，善教子，士大夫子弟來謁，必諄諄誨誘之。 初，通判鎮州，葬鄉黨群從之未葬者十五喪，孤貧不自給者，咸教育而婚嫁之。
Jia Huangzhong, whose style was Huamin, came from Nanpi in Cang Prefecture and was a fourth-generation descendant of the Tang chancellor Jia Dan. His father Bin, whose style was Zhongbao, passed the jinshi examination in the third year of the Tianfu era of Jin and entered official service. At the founding of the Song he served as Director in the Ministry of Justice. He ended his career as Vice Director in the Ministry of Works and magistrate of Junyi County, and died at the age of seventy. Bin was stern and resolute and skilled in educating his children. Whenever the sons of scholar-officials came to visit, he always counseled and guided them with patient earnestness. Early in his career, while serving as vice-prefect of Zhen Prefecture, he buried fifteen unburied coffins among his kinsmen in the village. Orphans and the poor who could not support themselves he educated and saw properly married.
93
黃中幼聰悟，方五歲，比每旦令正立，展書卷比之，謂之「等身書」，課其誦讀。 六歲舉童子科，七歲能屬文，觸類賦詠。 父常令蔬食，曰：「俟業成，乃得食肉。」 十五舉進士，授校書郎、集賢校理，遷著作佐郎、直史館。
Huangzhong was bright from childhood. When he was only five, Bin had him stand upright each morning, unrolled book scrolls to measure against his height, called them "body-length books," and tested his recitation. At six he was entered for the boys' examination, and at seven he could compose prose and write verses on whatever theme was set before him. His father often made him eat vegetables, saying, "Wait until your studies are complete; only then may you eat meat." At fifteen he passed the jinshi examination, was appointed collator and proofreader at the Hall of Assembled Worthies, and was promoted to assistant compiler with duty at the History Institute.
94
建隆三年，遷左拾遺，歷左補闕。 開寶八年，通判定州，判太常禮院。 黃中多識典故，每詳定禮文，損益得中，號為稱職。
In the third year of the Jianlong era he was promoted to Left Reminder and later served as Left Complementer. In the eighth year of the Kaibao era he served as vice-prefect of Ding Prefecture and concurrently adjudicated the Ritual Court of the Grand Ceremonies Commission. Huangzhong knew a great many institutional precedents. Whenever he scrutinized and revised ritual texts, his additions and deletions struck the proper balance, and he was praised as thoroughly competent.
95
嶺南平，以黃中為采訪使，廉直平恕，遠人便之。 還奏利害數十事，皆稱旨。 會克江表，選知宣州。 歲饑，民多為盜，黃中出己奉造糜粥，賴全活者以千數，仍設法弭盜，因悉解去。
After Lingnan was pacified, Huangzhong was appointed touring commissioner. Upright, fair, and lenient, he made things easier for the people of the distant south. On his return he submitted memorials on several dozen matters of public benefit and harm, all of which met with imperial approval. When the Jiang region was conquered, he was chosen to serve as prefect of Xuanzhou. During a famine year many people turned to banditry. Huangzhong spent his own salary to prepare gruel, saving thousands of lives. He also devised measures to suppress robbery, and in the end all the offenders were released.
96
太宗即位，遷禮部員外郎。 太平興國二年，知昇州。 時金陵初附，黃中為政簡易，部內甚治。 一日，案行府署中，見一室扃鑰甚固，命發視之，得金寶數十匱，計直數百萬，乃李氏宮閣中遺物也，即表上之。 上覽表謂侍臣曰：「非黃中廉恪，則亡國之寶，將汙法而害人矣。」 賜錢三十萬。 丁父憂，起復視事。 五年，召歸闕。
When Taizong came to the throne, he was promoted to Vice Director in the Ministry of Rites. In the second year of the Taiping Xingguo era he was appointed prefect of Shengzhou. At that time Jinling had only recently submitted to the dynasty. Huangzhong governed with simplicity and ease, and his jurisdiction was very well ordered. One day, while inspecting the prefectural offices, he noticed a room locked with unusual care. He ordered it opened and found several dozen chests of gold and jewels worth millions—the leftover treasures of the Li palace. He immediately memorialized and surrendered them to the throne. The emperor read the memorial and told his attending ministers, "Had Huangzhong not been upright and scrupulous, the treasures of a fallen dynasty would have corrupted the law and brought harm to the people." Huangzhong was granted three hundred thousand strings of cash. When his father died he entered mourning, but was recalled from mourning to resume office. In the fifth year he was summoned back to the capital.
97
有薦黃中文學高第，召試中書，拜駕部員外郎、知制誥。 八年，與宋白、呂蒙正等同知貢舉，遷司封郎中，充翰林學士。 雍熙二年，又知貢舉，俄掌吏部選。 端拱初，加中書舍人。 二年，兼史館修撰。 凡再典貢部，多柬拔寒俊，除擬官吏，品藻精當。 淳化二年秋，與李沆並拜給事中、參知政事。 太宗召見其母王氏，命坐，謂曰：「教子如是，真孟母矣。」 作詩以賜之，頒賜甚厚。
Someone recommended Huangzhong's literary attainments as outstanding. He was summoned for examination at the Secretariat and appointed Vice Director in the Ministry of Chariots with responsibility for drafting edicts. In the eighth year he served with Song Bai and Lü Mengzheng as joint supervisor of the civil examinations, was promoted to Director in the Ministry of Personnel, and was appointed a Hanlin academician. In the second year of the Yongxi era he again supervised the examinations, and soon afterward took charge of personnel selections in the Ministry of Personnel. At the beginning of the Duangong era he was additionally appointed Secretariat Drafter. In the second year he was also made compiler of the History Institute. In all he twice presided over the examination bureau. He often selected talented men from humble backgrounds, and in recommending and appointing officials his judgments were precise and apt. In the autumn of the second year of the Chunhua era he and Li Kan were jointly appointed Supervising Censor and Vice Director of the Administration. Taizong summoned his mother, Lady Wang, had her seated, and said, "To raise a son like this is truly the work of a Mencius's mother." He composed a poem to bestow upon her and granted her lavish rewards.
98
黃中素重呂端為人，屬端出鎮襄陽，黃中力薦於上，因留為樞密直學士，遂參知政事。 當世文行之士，多黃中所薦引，而未嘗言，人莫之知也。 然畏慎過甚，中書政事頗留不決。
Huangzhong had always admired Lü Duan's character. When Duan was sent out to govern Xiangyang, Huangzhong strongly recommended him to the throne. Duan was retained as direct academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs and thus became Vice Director of the Administration. Many of the leading literary and upright men of the age owed their advancement to Huangzhong's recommendations, yet he never spoke of it, and people did not know. Yet he was excessively cautious and apprehensive, and at the Secretariat many affairs were left undecided.
99
四年冬，與沆並罷守本官。 明年，知襄州，上言母老乞留京，改知澶州。 辭日，上戒之曰：「夫小心翼翼，君臣皆當然； 若太過，則失大臣之體。」 黃中頓首謝。 上因謂侍臣曰：「朕嘗念其母有賢德，七十餘年未覺老，每與之語，甚明敏。 黃中終日憂畏，必先其母老矣。」 因目參知政事蘇易簡曰：「易簡之母亦如之。 自古賢母不可多得。」 易簡前謝曰：「陛下以孝治天下，獎及人親，臣實何人，膺茲榮遇。」
In the winter of the fourth year he and Li Kan were both dismissed from the administration and retained their original ranks. The following year he was appointed prefect of Xiangzhou. He memorialized that his mother was old and begged to remain in the capital, and was reassigned as prefect of Chanzhou. On the day of his farewell audience, the emperor admonished him, "To be cautious and apprehensive is right for both ruler and minister; but if it goes too far, one loses the bearing proper to a great minister." Huangzhong prostrated himself and thanked him. The emperor then told his attending ministers, "I have often reflected that his mother is a woman of virtue. Though more than seventy, she does not seem old, and whenever I speak with her she is remarkably clear-minded. Huangzhong lives in constant apprehension—surely because he puts his mother's age first." He then looked at Vice Director Su Yijian and said, "Yijian's mother is much the same. Worthy mothers have always been hard to find." Yijian stepped forward and thanked him, "Your Majesty governs the realm through filial piety and extends reward even to others' parents. What sort of man am I to receive such an honor?"
100
至道初，黃中遘疾，詔令歸闕。 會建儲宮，擇大臣有德望者為賓友，黃中在選中。 以久疾，改命李至、李沆兼賓客，黃中亦特拜禮部侍郎，代至兼秘書監。 黃中素嗜文籍，既居內閣，甚以為慰。
At the beginning of the Zhidao era Huangzhong fell ill, and an edict ordered him to return to the capital. When the heir apparent's palace was established, eminent ministers of virtue and standing were chosen as his companions, and Huangzhong was among those selected. Because of his long illness, Li Zhi and Li Kan were instead appointed companions to the heir apparent. Huangzhong was specially promoted to Vice Director in the Ministry of Rites, replacing Li Zhi while also serving as Secretary Director. Huangzhong had always loved books and records, and once he held a post in the inner cabinet he found great satisfaction in it.
101
二年，以疾卒，年五十六，其母尚無恙，卒如上言。 贈禮部尚書。 上聞其素貧，別賜錢三十萬。 既葬，其母入謝，又賜白金三百兩。 上謂之曰：「勿以諸孫為念，朕當不忘也。」
In the second year he died of illness at the age of fifty-six. His mother was still in good health, and he died just as he had foretold. He was posthumously granted the title of Minister of Rites. Learning that he had always lived in poverty, the emperor separately granted three hundred thousand strings of cash. After the burial his mother came to court to give thanks and was granted a further three hundred taels of silver. The emperor said to her, "Do not worry about your grandsons. I shall not forget them."
102
黃中端謹，能守家法，廉白無私。 多知臺閣故事，談論亹亹，聽者忘倦焉。 在翰林日，太宗召見，訪以時政得失，黃中但言：「臣職典書詔，思不出位，軍國政事，非臣所知。」 上益重之，以為謹厚。 及知政事，卒無所建明，時論不之許。 有文集三十卷。
Huangzhong was upright and careful, upheld his family's standards, and was incorruptible and without private interest. He knew a great many precedents of the central offices. His conversation was fluent and inexhaustible, and listeners forgot their fatigue. While serving in the Hanlin Academy, Huangzhong was summoned by Taizong and asked about the strengths and weaknesses of current policy. Huangzhong replied only, "Your subject's duty is to manage documents and edicts. My thoughts do not go beyond my office, and military and state affairs are not matters I know." The emperor valued him all the more and regarded him as cautious and dependable. Once he entered the administration, however, he ultimately offered no notable initiatives, and contemporary opinion did not approve of him. He left a collected works in thirty scrolls.
103
子守謙，雍熙二年進士； 守正，獻文召試，賜進士第，後為虞部員外郎； 守約，國子博士； 守文，殿中丞； 守訥，右讚善大夫。
His son Shouqian passed the jinshi examination in the second year of the Yongxi era; Shouzheng, after submitting a literary work, was summoned for examination and granted jinshi standing, and later became Vice Director in the Ministry of Public Works; Shouyue, an erudite of the National University; Shouwen, a palace aide; and Shoune, Right Officer of Goodness.
104
論曰：《詩》云：「允也天子，降予卿士，實為阿衡，實左右商王。」 言有是君則有是臣，有是臣則足以相是君也。 太宗勵精庶政，注意輔相，以昉舊德，亟加進用，繼擢蒙正、齊賢，迭居相位； 復進黃中，俾參大政。 而四臣者將順德美，修明庶政，以致承平之治，可謂君臣各盡其道者矣。 君子謂李昉為多遜所毀而不校，蒙正為張紳所汙而不辨，齊賢為同列所累而不言，黃中多所薦引而不有其功，此固人之所難也。 而況四臣者皆賢宰輔，又能進退有禮，皆以善終，非盛德君子，其孰能與於斯？
The commentary says: The Odes states, "Truly this Son of Heaven—Heaven sends down to him ministers, truly to be the Aheng, truly to assist the King of Shang." This means that when there is such a ruler, there will be such ministers; and when there are such ministers, they will suffice to assist such a ruler. Taizong applied himself zealously to governance and paid close attention to his chief ministers. Because Li Fang was a man of long-standing virtue, he was promptly promoted and employed; Lü Mengzheng and Zhang Qixian were then raised in succession and alternated in the chancellorship; and Huangzhong was later advanced to participate in great affairs of state. These four ministers supported their ruler's virtue, refined ordinary governance, and thereby brought about an age of sustained peace. One may say that ruler and ministers each fulfilled their proper role. Men of discernment say that Li Fang was slandered by Lu Duoxun yet did not contend with him; Lü Mengzheng was maligned by Zhang Shen yet did not defend himself; Zhang Qixian was wronged by colleagues yet did not protest; and Jia Huangzhong recommended many men yet never claimed the credit. These are things people find hard to do. Moreover, all four were worthy chief ministers who knew how to advance and withdraw with propriety and all ended their lives well. If they were not men of the highest virtue, who could have achieved such a record?