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世家四○南漢劉氏
Hereditary Houses 4: The Southern Han Liu.
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南漢劉鋹，其先蔡州上蔡人，高祖安仁，仕唐為潮州刺史，因家嶺表。 安仁生謙，為廣州牙校，累遷封州刺史、賀水鎮遏使。 謙生隱，謙卒，隱代領其任。 唐昭宗以薛王知柔鎮南海，辟為行軍司馬，委以兵柄。 及宰相徐彥若代知柔，以為節度副使。 時唐室已季，彥若威令不振，事皆決於隱。 彥若卒，遺表薦隱自代，昭宗不從，以崔遠代之。 遠至江陵，遷延不進，乃以隱為留後，未幾，授以節旄。 梁開平初，兼靜海軍節度使，封南海王。 隱卒，弟陟襲位。 貞明三年，僭帝號，國稱大漢，改元乾亨，行郊祀禮。 改名岩，又改龔，終改龑。 「龑」讀為「儼」，字書不載，蓋其妄作也。 晉天福七年，卒，子玢嗣，為弟晟所殺。 晟遂自立，性尤酷暴，周顯德五年，卒，事具《五代史》。
Liu Chang of Southern Han came from a line originally of Shangcai in Cai Prefecture. His great-grandfather Anren had served the Tang as prefect of Chaozhou and settled his family in Lingnan. Anren's son Qian served as a military aide at Guangzhou and rose through successive appointments to prefect of Feng and commissioner at Hesui. Qian's son Yin succeeded him when Qian died and assumed his command. When Emperor Zhaozong posted the Prince of Xue, Zhi Rou, to the South Seas, Yin was made his chief of staff on campaign and given control of the army. When Chief Minister Xu Yanruo succeeded Zhi Rou, Yin was appointed deputy military commissioner. The Tang dynasty was already in decline, and Yanruo's authority no longer commanded obedience; Yin decided everything. On Yanruo's death he recommended Yin to succeed him in a final memorial, but Zhaozong refused and appointed Cui Yuan instead. Cui Yuan reached Jiangling but lingered without advancing, so Yin was made acting commissioner; shortly afterward he received the full commission. Early in the Liang Kaiping period he was also made military commissioner of the Jinghai army and created Prince of the Southern Sea. After Yin died, his younger brother Zhi took the throne. In the third year of Zhenming he took an imperial title, named his state Great Han, adopted the era Qianheng, and performed suburban sacrifices. He changed his name first to Yan, then to Gong, and at last to a character of his own devising. The character 龑 was pronounced "yan," like the ordinary graph for that sound; it appears in no dictionary and was plainly his own fabrication. He died in the seventh year of Later Jin's Tianfu. His son Bin succeeded him but was killed by his younger brother Sheng. Sheng then seized power himself. He was exceptionally cruel and violent, and died in the fifth year of Later Zhou's Xiande; the full story is given in the History of the Five Dynasties.
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Chang was Sheng's eldest son, originally named Jixing and enfeoffed Prince of Wei. On succeeding his father he took his present name and proclaimed the era Dabao. He was dull and timid by nature and left government to the eunuch Gong Chengshu and the talented concubine Lu Qiongxian; whenever he weighed what might be done, Qiongxian's finger decided it. Chang passed his days in games with palace women, Persian women, and the like. The inner attendant Chen Yanshou introduced the witch Fan Hu, who claimed the Jade Emperor had sent her to name Chang Crown Prince Emperor. Within the palace they hung silken curtains, displayed rare treasures, and set out a throne for the Jade Emperor. Fan Hu wore a traveling cap, purple robes, and a purple cloud skirt, sat proclaiming fortune and disaster, and made Chang bow twice to receive her commands; She once declared that Qiongxian, Chengshu, and Yanshou had all been sent by the Jade Emperor to assist the Crown Prince Emperor and that he must not punish them even if they erred. Others such as Liang Shanshi, Old Woman Ma, and He Ni also moved freely through the inner palace. Every woman in the palace wore official cap and sash and took charge of outside affairs.
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At first, even though that ruler favored eunuchs, their number was barely three hundred, and none rose above the chiefs and assistants of the palace bureaus. Under Sheng they numbered more than a thousand, and titles such as inner regular attendant and various commissioners were gradually introduced. Under Chang they eventually exceeded seven thousand. Some held the ranks of the Three Preceptors and Three Excellencies with only the prefix "inner" added; commissioner titles alone numbered no fewer than two hundred, and female officials too bore titles of tutor, steward, and chief steward. He called the civil officials "people outside the gate." Officials guilty of minor faults, and any scholar, Buddhist, or Daoist with talent worth consulting, were castrated and made to enter and leave the inner palace at will. He invented punishments of boiling alive, flaying, dismemberment, and mountains of blades and forests of swords, or set criminals to fight tigers and elephants. His levies were oppressive as well: every person entering the capital at Yong paid one cash, and a peck of rice at Qiong Prefecture carried a tax of four or five cash. He set up the Meichuan Command, fixed its levy, and ordered divers five hundred feet into the sea to collect pearls. The palaces where he lived were decorated with pearls and tortoise shell. Chen Yanshou devised all manner of lewd contrivances, spending tens of thousands in gold every day. Dozens of detached palaces stood on either side of the capital, and Chang's pleasure tours often lasted a month or more, sometimes ten days at a stretch. Wealthy families were designated tax households to pay for banquets and rewards.
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During Qiande the Founding Emperor sent troops to take Chen Prefecture and captured more than a dozen of Chang's inner attendants. Among them was Yu Yanye, a man of slight build and puny stature. The Emperor asked him, "What office did you hold in Lingnan?" He answered, "I was an officer of the imperial escort archers." The Emperor had a bow and arrows handed to him, but Yanye strained with all his might and could not draw the string. The Emperor laughed and asked how Chang governed. Yanye described his extravagance and cruelty in full, and the Emperor cried out in alarm, "I must save the people of that region."
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Earlier, Sheng had exploited the turmoil of Hunan's Ma clan to seize Gui, Chen, He, and other prefectures. Early in Kaibao, Chang again marched against Dao Prefecture, and Prefect Wang Jixun memorialized the throne. Chang's rule was benighted and brutal, and the people were suffering under him; he asked that an expedition be launched. The Founding Emperor hesitated to act and ordered Li Yu of Jiangnan to send envoys with a letter urging Chang to submit as a vassal and restore the old Hunan territories. Chang refused. Yu then sent his Supervising Secretary, Gong Shenyi, with another letter that read:
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煜與足下叨累世之睦，繼祖考之盟，情若弟兄，義敦交契，憂戚之患，曷嘗不同。 每思會麵而論此懷，抵掌而談此事，交議其所短，各陳其所長； 使中心釋然，利害不惑，而相去萬里，斯願莫伸。 凡於事機不得款會，屢達誠素，冀明此心； 而足下視之，謂書檄一時之儀，近國梗概之事，外貌而待之，泛濫而觀之，使忠告確論如水投石，若此則又何必事虛詞而勞往復哉？ 殊非宿心之所望也。
You and I enjoy the friendship of many generations and inherit the pact our forefathers made. We are as close as brothers, bound by deep obligation, and in joy and sorrow alike — when have we not shared the same fate? I often wish we could meet face to face to speak our minds, clap hands together in debate, each airing the other's faults and each stating his own strengths; so that our hearts might be eased and gain and loss made plain — yet we are ten thousand li apart, and this wish cannot be fulfilled. Whenever circumstances denied us a meeting, I wrote again and again in all sincerity, hoping you would see my heart; Yet you treated them as mere diplomatic formality, scraps of news about a neighboring state — greeting them outwardly and reading them superficially, so that earnest counsel fell like water on stone. If that is so, why trouble with empty words and weary exchanges at all? That is far from what I have long hoped for.
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今則復遣人使罄申鄙懷，又慮行人失辭，不盡深素，是以再寄翰墨，重布腹心，以代會麵之談與抵掌之議也。 足下誠聽其言如交友諫爭之言，視其心如親戚急難之心，然後三復其言，三思其心，則忠乎不忠，斯可見矣，從乎不從，斯可決矣。
Now I send another envoy to lay out my thoughts in full, yet I fear he may miss his words and fail to convey what is deepest in me. I therefore write again and lay bare my inmost heart, in place of meeting face to face and debating hand in hand. If you truly hear these words as a friend's frank counsel and read this heart as kin in urgent need, then read them three times and ponder my heart three times — whether I am loyal or not will be plain, and whether to heed me or not can be decided.
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Recently the Great Dynasty marched south to recover Chu territory. Since our armies clashed, a breach has opened between us. Watching events closely, I am deeply troubled. I long to see the Great Dynasty's armies stilled and our wish for close, benevolent ties fulfilled. For years now I have strained southward in hope. When my envoy went recently to pay tribute to the Great Dynasty, its emperor declared on this very matter: "If they treat me with the deference due a greater power, why should I trouble to attack them? But if they wish to take up arms and fight me, I shall measure success only by total conquest." He is mustering his great host even now, with late autumn still set as the deadline, and has ordered my humble state to reply in writing restating our former understanding. That is why I hurry envoys to you and speak frankly without delay. I am convinced the Great Dynasty is not driven by greed for gain alone, but by anger that men will not submit; You have no unavoidable cause and no plan that cannot be changed — this is likely no more than a passing fit of anger.
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觀夫古之用武者，不顧小大強弱之殊而必戰者有四； 父母宗廟之仇，此必戰也； 彼此烏合，民無定心，存亡之機以戰為命，此必戰也； 敵人有進，必不舍我，求和不得，退守無路，戰亦亡，不戰亦亡，奮不顧命，此必戰也； 彼有天亡之兆，我懷進取之機，此必戰也。 今足下與大朝非有父母宗廟之仇也，非同烏合存亡之際也，既殊進退不舍、奮不顧命也，又異乘機進取之時也。 無故而坐受天下之兵，將決一旦之命，既大朝許以通好，又拒而不從，有國家、利社稷者當若是乎？
In antiquity, those who took up arms fought regardless of relative strength in only four circumstances: vengeance for one's parents and ancestral temple — then one must fight; when each side is a mere rabble, the people have no settled loyalty, and survival itself depends on fighting — then one must fight; when the enemy presses on and will not let us be, peace is impossible and retreat offers no escape — to fight is death and not to fight is death — then one stakes life without regard and must fight; when the foe shows signs that Heaven has doomed him and we hold a chance to advance — then one must fight. You and the Great Dynasty bear no feud over parents or ancestral temple. You are not a rabble fighting for survival. You are not trapped with no retreat, staking life in desperation. Nor are you in a moment when Heaven has doomed the foe and you may seize your chance. Without cause you would sit and invite the armies of the empire, staking everything on a single throw. The Great Dynasty has offered peace, yet you refuse. Should anyone who cares for his state and altar act thus?
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To call oneself emperor or king and stand rival among the great has always been common enough; to cede territory for peace and send silks and jades in tribute is equally common in every age. Fortune rises and falls, giving and taking expand and contract — the ways to bend and stretch are endless, and the choice is yours alone. Why cling rigidly to force, lightly invite disaster, and fight for supremacy? You govern the Hundred Yue with an air of brilliance. The Five Ridges guard you to the north and the deep sea lies to the south. You rest on foundations laid over generations and rule with grace that reaches your people. Your hosts number hundreds of thousands, with mountains and rivers all around. No wonder you feel proud and confident. Yet to defy Heaven brings ill fortune, and love of war is perilous. Heaven now favors Chu, and the time to fight has not come. I respectfully hold that the Great Dynasty's martial armies and able ministers are Heaven's own endorsement. It climbed the Taihang to attack Shangdang, and its soldiers showed no fear; it cut through Jian'ge and conquered Yong and Shu in less than a season. From this you may know the Great Dynasty's strength cannot be measured, and a realm ten thousand li wide cannot be held against it. Nine victories in ten battles still leave one defeat to dread; five stratagems succeed out of six — what good does one failure make up for!
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況人自以我國險，家自以我兵強，蓋揣於此而不揣於彼，經其成而末經其敗也。 何則？ 國莫險於劍閣，而庸蜀已亡矣； 兵莫強於上黨，而太行不守矣。 人之情，端坐而思之，意滄海可涉也，及風濤驟興，奔舟失馭，與夫坐思之時蓋有殊矣。 是以智者慮於未萌，機者重其先見； 圖難於其易，居存不忘亡，故曰計禍不及，慮福過之。 良以福者人之所樂，心樂之，故其望也過； 禍者人之所惡，心惡之，故其思也忽。 是以福或修於慊望，禍多出於不期。
Moreover, every man trusts his state's rugged terrain and every house trusts its army's strength — they reckon only their own side, not the other, and have known success but not yet defeat. Why? No state was more perilous than at Jian'ge, yet Yong and Shu are already lost; no army was stronger than at Shangdang, yet the Taihang could not be held. Human nature is such that sitting at ease one imagines the ocean can be crossed; when wind and waves rise suddenly and the boat loses its helm, that is quite another matter from quiet reflection. That is why the wise plan before trouble sprouts, and the quick value foresight; they tackle difficulty while it is still easy and in security do not forget ruin. Hence the saying: we reckon too little for disaster and too much for good fortune. For fortune is what men love, and because the heart loves it, hope runs too high; calamity is what men hate, and because the heart hates it, thought of it is slight. Thus good fortune sometimes grows from modest hopes, while disaster often strikes unlooked for.
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又或慮有矜功好名之臣，獻尊主強國之議者，必曰：「慎無和也。 五嶺之險，山高水深，輜重不並行，士卒不成列； 高壘清野而絕其運糧，依山阻水而射以強弩，使進無所得，退無所歸。」 此其一也。 又或曰：「彼所長者，利在平地，今舍其所長，就其所短，雖有百萬之眾，無若我何。」 此其二也。 其次或曰：「戰而勝，則霸業可成，戰而不勝，則泛巨舟而浮滄海，終不為人下。」 此大約皆說士孟浪之談，謀臣捭闔之策，坐而論之也則易，行之如意也則難。
You may also hear ministers hungry for glory, urging you to exalt your throne and strengthen your state. They will surely say, "Take care — do not make peace. The Five Ridges are perilous — mountains high and waters deep, baggage trains cannot march abreast, and soldiers cannot keep formation; raise high walls and strip the countryside to cut their supply lines, hold the mountains and waters and shoot them down with powerful crossbows, so that advancing they gain nothing and retreating they have nowhere to go." That is the first argument. Others will say, "Their strength lies on open ground. If we draw them off their strength and fight them in terrain that favors us, even a million men can do nothing against us." That is the second. Still others will say, "If we fight and win, we can build a hegemony. If we fight and lose, we launch great ships upon the open sea and never bow to another." These are roughly the reckless talk of itinerant persuaders and the stratagems of scheming ministers — easy to debate at leisure, hard to execute as planned.
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何則？ 今荊湘以南、庸蜀之地，皆是便山水、習險阻之民，不動中國之兵，精卒已逾於十萬矣。 況足下與大朝封疆接畛，水陸同途，殆雞犬之相聞，豈馬牛之不及？ 一旦緣邊悉舉，諸道進攻，豈可俱絕其運糧，盡保其城壁？ 若諸險悉固，誠善莫加焉； 苟尺水橫流，則長堤虛設矣。 其次曰，或大朝用吳越之眾，自泉州泛海以趣國都，則不數日至城下矣。 當其人心疑惑，兵勢動搖，岸上舟中皆為敵國，忠臣義士能復幾人？ 懷進退者步步生心，顧妻子者滔滔皆是。 變故難測，須臾萬端，非惟暫乖始圖，實恐有誤壯誌，又非巨舟之可及，滄海之可遊也。 然此等皆戰伐之常事，兵家之預謀，雖勝負未知，成敗相半。 苟不得已而為也，固斷在不疑； 若無大故而思之，又深可痛惜。
Why? South of Jing and Xiang and throughout Yong and Shu live peoples at home in mountains and rivers and practiced in rugged terrain. Without even moving the central armies, crack troops already exceed a hundred thousand. Moreover, your borders touch the Great Dynasty's, with the same routes by land and water — your realms are almost within hearing of each other's dogs and chickens. How could their horses and oxen fail to reach you? Once frontier posts all rise and armies from every circuit press the attack, how could you cut off every supply line and hold every wall and rampart at once? If every strongpoint were fully held, nothing could be better; But let a trickle break through anywhere, and the long dike becomes useless. The next argument runs that the Great Dynasty might use Wu and Yue troops, sail from Quanzhou across the sea straight toward your capital, and reach your walls within days. When hearts waver and the army's spirit falters, every shore and every deck becomes enemy ground — how many loyal ministers and steadfast men would remain? Men weighing retreat would second-guess every step; men thinking of wives and children would be everywhere. Disaster is hard to foresee; in an instant ten thousand things can go wrong — not merely a brief departure from the original plan, but a ruin of grand ambition. And this is no simple matter of launching great ships upon the open sea. Yet these are ordinary matters of war, the sort of plans strategists prepare in advance — victory and defeat unknown, success and failure each as likely as the other. If there is truly no alternative, resolve must be firm and doubtless; To entertain such thoughts without grave cause is deeply to be lamented.
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且小之事大，理固然也。 遠古之例不能備談，本朝當楊氏之建吳也，亦入貢莊宗。 恭自烈祖開基，中原多故，事大之禮，因循未遑，以至交兵，幾成危殆。 非不欲憑大江之險，恃眾多之力，尋悟知難則退，遂修出境之盟； 一介之使才行，萬里之兵頓息，惠民和眾，於今賴之。 自足下祖德之開基，亦通好中國，以闡霸圖。 願修祖宗之謀，以尋中國之好，蕩無益之忿，棄不急之爭； 知存知亡，能強能弱，屈己以濟億兆，談笑而定國家，至德大業無虧也，宗廟社稷無損也。 玉帛朝聘之禮才出於境，而天下之兵已息矣，豈不易如反掌，固如太山哉？ 何必扼腕盱衡，履腸蹀血，然後為勇也。 故曰：「德如毛，民鮮克舉之，我儀圖之。」 又曰：「知止不殆，可以長久。」 又曰：「沈潛剛克，高明柔克。」 此聖賢之事業，何恥而不為哉？
Moreover, the lesser serving the greater is the way of nature itself. Ancient precedents are too many to recount, but in our own dynasty, when the Yang clan founded Wu, they too sent tribute to Zhuangzong. Since our founding ruler opened the realm, the central plains have been in turmoil and the rites owed the greater power were repeatedly deferred — until arms were crossed and our state nearly perished. It was not that we did not wish to rely on the Yangtze's defenses and trust in our numbers; we soon saw the difficulty and withdrew, and then concluded a treaty beyond our borders; A single envoy had barely departed when armies ten thousand li away stood down — the people were spared and the realm calmed; to this day we rely on that peace. Since your forebears founded your realm, you too have kept friendly ties with the central state to advance your power. I urge you to follow your forebears' design, renew friendship with the central state, sweep away useless anger, and abandon quarrels that need not be fought; Know when to survive and when to perish, when to stand firm and when to yield, bend yourself to save your people, and settle the state with a smile — supreme virtue and great enterprise would suffer no loss, and your ancestral temples and altars no harm. Once the rites of tribute and court audience have barely crossed the border, the armies of the empire would stand down — would that not be as easy as turning the hand, as secure as Mount Tai? Why must one clench one's fist and glare about, tread entrails and wade through blood, before that counts as courage? Therefore it is said, "Virtue is light as a feather, yet the people can rarely lift it — I will take it as my model." Again it is said, "Knowing when to stop brings no peril; one may endure long." Again it is said, "Hidden depth conquers hardness; lofty brightness conquers softness." These are the deeds of sages and worthies — what shame could there be in not doing them?
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況大朝皇帝以命世之英，光宅中夏，承五運而乃當正統，度四方則咸偃下風； 獫狁、太原固不勞於薄伐，南轅返旆更屬在於何人。 又方且遏天下之兵鋒，俟貴國之嘉問，則大國之義斯亦以善矣，足下之忿亦可以息矣。 若介然不移，有利於宗廟社稷可也，有利於黎元可也，有利於天下可也，有利於身可也。 凡是四者無一利焉，何用棄德修怨，自生仇敵，使赫赫南國，將成禍機，炎炎奈何，其可向邇？ 幸而小勝也，莫保其後焉，不幸而違心，則大事去矣。
Moreover, the Great Dynasty's emperor is a hero born for the age, illuminating the central lands, inheriting the five cycles and holding the orthodox succession; look to the four quarters and all bow beneath his sway; The Xianyun and Taiyuan hardly require a strenuous campaign; for whom else would the imperial chariot wheel south and the banners turn homeward? Moreover, he is now holding back the edge of war across the empire, awaiting a gracious message from your state — then the great state's righteousness would be fulfilled, and your anger could also be stilled. If you stand unmoved, it might benefit your ancestral temples and altars, your people, all under Heaven, or even yourself. Yet of these four, not one would gain — why abandon virtue and nurture enmity, create enemies yourself, and let your glorious southern state become a seed of disaster? With such blazing peril, how could one draw near? Even a small victory could not secure what follows; if fortune turns against you, the great affair is lost.
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Again I recall how recently armies clashed at Huai and Si, the borders bristled with forts, and Wu and Yue — despite generations of friendship — became the first to open the way to disaster; Only your state has been bound to us by ever closer ties and ever deeper alliance. The former court was moved by righteousness and felt true indignation; I who have inherited the throne can hardly betray such virtue — unable to restrain myself, I send this letter once more. Recently I received an edict from the Great Dynasty stating that you, sir, have no mind for renewed friendship and will surely resume last autumn's campaign; it ordered our humble state at once to sever our alliance. Though our wish for good neighborliness hoped to preserve it forever; yet the duty owed the greater power — how could we stubbornly refuse? I fear that Yu may no longer serve you, sir — hence the anguish I cannot put into words; my humble sincerity lies in this letter. Again I reflect that the bond between subject and ruler does not extend beyond three remonstrances — Yu has spoken to the utmost, now three times. A subject may flee, a son may weep, a friend may grieve and break off — and so it must be.
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and Chen Shouzhong, Chang's prefect of He, reported the emergency to him. By then many veteran generals had been executed on slander; the imperial clan was nearly wiped out; only a handful of eunuchs held military authority. Since Shen's time he had indulged in feasts and revelry; city walls and moats were largely turned into palaces, lodges, and ponds; tower ships were destroyed and weapons left to rot — within and without, all were shaken with fear. He then sent Gong Chengshu to He, Guo Chongyue to Gui, and Li Tuo to Shao to devise defensive plans.
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九月，美與崇珂圍賀州，澄樞遁歸。 鋹遣大將伍彥柔領兵赴賀，美等以奇兵伏南鄉岸。 彥柔夜至，艤舟岸側，遲明挾彈登岸，踞胡床指麾。 伏兵卒發，彥柔眾大亂，死者千人。 擒彥柔斬之，梟首以示城中。 翌日，城陷。 美等督戰艦，聲言順流趨廣州，鋹令都統潘崇徹將兵五萬屯賀江。 十月，美等次昭州，破開建砦，殺卒數百，擒砦將靳暉，昭州刺史田行稠遁去，城遂陷。 桂州刺史李承進棄城亦奔。 十一月，連州陷，招討使盧收率眾退保清遠。 十二月，美等攻韶州，都統李承渥以兵數萬陣蓮華山下。 初，鋹教象為陣，每象載十數人，皆執兵仗，凡戰必置陣前，以壯軍威。 至是與美遇，美盡索軍中勁弩布前以射之，象奔踶，乘象者皆墜，反踐承渥軍，遂大敗，承渥僅以身免。 韶州陷，擒刺史辛延渥、諫議大夫卿文遠。 鋹始令塹廣州東壕，遣郭崇嶽統兵六萬屯馬逕，列柵以拒之。
In the ninth month Mei and Chongke besieged He Prefecture; Chengshu fled home. Chang sent the great general Wu Yanrou with troops to relieve He; Mei and the others laid ambush troops on the southern bank. Yanrou arrived by night, moored his boats along the shore, and at dawn came ashore with a crossbow, seated on a folding camp chair to direct the battle. The ambush sprang; Yanrou's force fell into chaos, and a thousand men died. They captured Yanrou and beheaded him, displaying his head before the city. The following day the city was taken. Mei and the others led the war fleet, proclaiming they would sail downstream toward Guangzhou; Chang ordered Commander-in-Chief Pan Chongche to lead fifty thousand troops to encamp on the He River. In the tenth month Mei and the others reached Zhao Prefecture, broke Kaijian Fort, killed several hundred soldiers, and captured the fort commander Jin Hui; Zhao Prefect Tian Xingchou fled and the city fell. Gui Prefect Li Chengjin abandoned the city and fled as well. In the eleventh month Lian Prefecture fell; Pacification Commissioner Lu Shou withdrew his forces to hold Qingyuan. In the twelfth month Mei and the others attacked Shao Prefecture; Commander-in-Chief Li Chengwo drew up an army of tens of thousands below Lianhua Mountain. Earlier Chang had trained elephants for battle; each elephant carried a dozen armed men and was placed at the front of every formation to bolster the army's prestige. Now they met Mei, who gathered every powerful crossbow in the army and arrayed them forward to shoot; the elephants stampeded, their riders fell, and they trampled Chengwo's army in turn — utter defeat; Chengwo barely escaped with his life. Shao Prefecture fell; Prefect Xin Yanwo and Remonstrance Grandee Qing Wenyuan were captured. Chang at last ordered trenches dug along Guangzhou's eastern moat and sent Guo Chongyue to command sixty thousand troops at Majing, setting palisades to resist.
22
四年正月，美等破英、雄二州，都統潘崇徹來降。 翌日，次瀧頭，鋹遣使請和，且求緩師。 瀧頭山水險惡，美等疑有伏兵，乃挾鋹使速度諸險。 二月，過馬逕，去廣城十里，砦於雙女山下。 鋹聞之，取舶船十餘艘，載金寶、妃嬪欲入海。 未及發，宦官樂範與衛兵千餘盜舶船走。 美等將至城，鋹懼，遣其右僕射蕭漼奉表詣軍門乞降。 美諭太祖意，語在《美傳》。 使者乞部送赴闕，師遂頓城外。 鋹又遣其弟保興率百官奉迎，為郭崇嶽所遏。 崇嶽無謀勇，但祈禱鬼神，復為拒捍之備。 美等乃進攻，保興迎戰，大為所敗，美乘風縱火，煙埃坌起，崇嶽死於亂兵。 城既破，鋹盡焚其府庫。 美擒鋹及龔澄樞、李托、薛崇譽與宗室文武九十七人，同縻於龍德宮。 保興逃於民家，亦獲之，悉部送闕下。 斬閹工五百餘人。 凡得州六十、縣二百十四、戶十七萬。 鋹至江陵，邸吏龐師進迎謁，學士黃德昭侍鋹，鋹問師進何人，德昭曰：「本國人也。」 鋹曰：「何為在此？」 曰：「先主歲貢大朝，輜重比至荊州，乃令師進至邸，於此造車，以給饋運爾。」 鋹歎曰：「我在位十四年，未嘗聞此言，今日始知祖宗山河及大朝境土也。」 因泣涕久之。
In the first month of the fourth year Mei and the others took Ying and Xiong prefectures; Commander-in-Chief Pan Chongche surrendered. The next day they halted at Longtou; Chang sent envoys to sue for peace and ask that the advance be slowed. Longtou's terrain was rugged and perilous; Mei and the others suspected ambush and forced Chang's envoy to hurry them through the dangerous passes. In the second month they passed Majing, ten li from the capital, and encamped below Shuangnv Mountain. When Chang heard of it, he took more than ten ocean-going ships, loaded them with gold, treasures, and concubines, and prepared to flee to sea. Before they could depart, the eunuch Yue Fan and more than a thousand guards stole the ships and fled. As Mei and the others were about to reach the city, Chang in fear sent his Right Vice Director Xiao Hun to present a memorial at the army gate begging to surrender. Mei conveyed Taizu's intent — the account appears in Mei's biography. The envoy asked to be escorted to the capital; the army thereupon halted outside the city. Chang again sent his younger brother Baoxing leading the officials to welcome them, but Guo Chongyue blocked them. Chongyue lacked strategy and courage; he only prayed to spirits and gods and again prepared to resist. Mei and the others then pressed the attack; Baoxing met them in battle and was utterly defeated. Mei took the wind to set fires; smoke and dust billowed up; Chongyue died in the melee. Once the city fell, Chang burned all the treasuries. Mei captured Chang along with Gong Chengshu, Li Tuo, Xue Chongyu, and ninety-seven members of the imperial clan and the civil and military elite, all held together in Longde Palace. Baoxing hid in a commoner's home but was also captured; all were escorted to court. More than five hundred eunuch craftsmen were beheaded. In all they took sixty prefectures, two hundred fourteen counties, and one hundred seventy thousand households. When Chang reached Jiangling, lodge clerk Pang Shijin came to greet him; academician Huang Dezhao attended Chang, who asked who Shijin was; Dezhao said, "He is a man of our own state." Chang said, "Why is he here?" He said, "The former ruler sent yearly tribute to the Great Dynasty; when the baggage train reached Jingzhou, Shijin was posted to the lodge here to build carts for the supply transport — that is all." Chang sighed, "In my fourteen years on the throne I never heard this — today I first learn the extent of our forebears' realm and the Great Dynasty's territory." He wept for a long time.
23
When he reached the capital he was lodged at Yujin Garden; Taizu sent Vice Grand Councilor Lu Yuqing to question him about his treachery and the burning of the treasuries, and Chang blamed Chengshu, Tuo, and Chongyu. The next day the responsible offices bound Chang and his officials with silk cords and presented them before the Imperial Ancestral Temple and the Altar of Soil and Grain. Taizu took his seat at the Gate of Bright Virtue and dispatched Acting Minister of Justice Lu Duoxun to proclaim the edict reproaching Chang; Chang replied, "Your subject at sixteen usurped a false throne; Chengshu and the others were all my father's old retainers — in every matter I could not decide alone. In the state I was the subject and Chengshu was the sovereign." He then prostrated himself to await judgment. Taizu ordered Acting Chief Justice Gao Jishen to lead Chengshu, Tuo, and Chongyu out and behead them outside the Gate of a Thousand Autumns. He pardoned Chang, bestowed formal robes, cap and belt, ritual objects, and a saddled horse, appointed him Grandee of the Golden Seal and Purple Girdle, Acting Grand Guardian, General of the Right Palace Guard Cavalry, with extra-staff status equal to regular appointment, and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Gracious Pardon, ranking in court assemblies below full generals. His younger brother Baoxing was made Colonel of the Right Gate Guard; Left Vice Director Xiao Hun was made Principal in the Crown Prince's household; Drafting Attendant Zhuo Weiqiu was made Assistant Director of the Imperial Stud — the rest were assigned as senior aides in prefectures, magistrates, and clerks.
24
Earlier, in the time of the emperor with the invented name, Director of the Astronomical Bureau Zhou Jie was summoned to divine by the Book of Changes; he obtained Hexagram Fu (Return) changing to Feng (Abundance). That ruler asked, "How many years will the dynasty endure?" Jie said, "In both hexagrams earth is the corresponding line; earth's number is five — two fives make ten; upper and lower each five — will it be five hundred fifty-five?" When Chang fell it was indeed fifty-five years — Jie had given a round number to escape immediate harm. A children's rhyme also circulated in Guangzhou: "Sheep's head, two-four — by day the heavenly rain arrives." Those who interpreted omens held that sheep corresponds to the sign wei; that year was xinwei, and on the fourth day of the second month Chang was captured. "Heavenly rain" meant the royal army coming like timely rain. Also on the evening of the eighth day of the ninth month the year before, all the stars flowed northward; one versed in stars said it was an omen of the Liu house returning to the court.
25
In the fourth year an edict raised Chang's monthly stipend by fifty thousand cash and fifty hu of millet and wheat. In the eighth year, after Li Yu's realm was pacified, he was made General-in-Chief of the Left Gate Guard and advanced to Duke of Pengcheng commandery. Early in the Taiping Xingguo era he was further promoted to Duke of Weiguo. In the fifth year he died at the age of thirty-nine. Court was suspended for three days in mourning; he was posthumously made Grand Preceptor and enfeoffed as King of Southern Yue.
26
Chang was a large, heavyset man with keen, alert eyes and brows. He was quick with words and possessed extraordinary craftsmanship. Once he fashioned saddle trappings from pearls in the shape of a frolicking dragon with exquisite skill and presented them to Taizu. Taizu displayed the work to the palace officials, who were all struck with wonder. He paid one million five hundred thousand cash for it and told his attendants, "Chang loves craftsmanship so deeply that it has become second nature to him. If he had applied that same diligence to governing his state, how could he have fallen?"
27
Once Taizu went in a sedan chair with a dozen mounted attendants to the Drill Pool. His retinue had not yet gathered when Chang arrived ahead of them, and Taizu offered him a cup of wine. Chang feared it was poisoned wine and wept, saying, "Your subject inherited my grandfather's realm, defied the Han court, and brought the imperial army down upon me — a crime that surely deserved death. Your Majesty spared my life; now that I live to see peace, it is enough to be an ordinary subject of Great Liang. I beg only to live out my days and honor Your Majesty's mercy in sparing me. I dare not drink this wine." Taizu laughed and said, "I give men my full trust — how could I do such a thing!" He had Chang's cup brought and drank from it himself, then poured a fresh cup for Chang. Deeply ashamed, Chang kowtowed in gratitude.
28
When Taizong prepared to attack Jinyang, he summoned his close ministers to a banquet at which Chang was present. Chang declared, "The court's authority reaches to the farthest corners — every usurping ruler in the realm is seated here tonight. Taiyuan will fall any day now, and Liu Jiyuan will follow. Your subject was the first to submit; let me lead the procession of surrendered kings with staff in hand." Taizong roared with laughter and rewarded him handsomely. His humor ran in this vein.
29
Chang's sons Shoujie and Shouzheng both rose to Deputy Commissioner of Chongyi. When Shouzheng died, the Emperor learned that his family was destitute and ordered a monthly stipend of ten thousand cash. Shousu served as a Palace Attendant during the Xianping era and was likewise impoverished. Zhenzong granted him one hundred taels of silver and told the chief ministers, "The descendants of the former usurping rulers are mostly in want — bred to extravagance, they never learned the labor that fills the granary." He later rose to the Inner Hall Honored Class, and in the Tianxi era was appointed Gate Attendant. Shoutong served as a Tribute Official. Shouzheng's son Kechang held the rank of Third-Rank Attendant; Guochang held only a provisional acting commission.
30
Gong Chengshu came from Nanhai in Guangzhou. He was upright and cautious by nature and kept few companions. In his youth he entered service under the emperor with the invented name as an Inner Tribute Official and rose through successive posts to Inner Provisioner. When Shen took the throne, he made the eunuch Lin Yanyu Commissioner of the Sweet Spring Palace, and Lin came to wield considerable influence over state affairs. On his deathbed Yanyu told Shen, "When I am gone, only Gong Chengshu is fit to serve you." That same day Shen promoted him to head the Presentation Court while also serving in the Palace Domestic Service, then made him Commissioner of the Virtue Mausoleum and Commissioner of the Dragon Virtue Palace. When Chang succeeded to the throne, Chengshu received Special Advancement, Grandee Equal in Honor to the Three Dukes, Commissioner of the Myriad Splendor Palace, and Cavalry Grand General, then Grand General, Army Observer of the Left Dragon-Tiger Army, and Inner Grand Preceptor. Every matter of war and state passed through his hands. Chengshu, Li Tuo, and Xue Chongyu instituted instruments of torture, and the people endured terrible suffering.
31
32
Li Tuo came from Fengchuan in Feng Prefecture. He trained in horsemanship and archery from youth and entered service under the emperor with the invented name as Director of an Inner Treasury Bureau, distinguished by his dutiful temperament. When Shen took the throne, Tuo was made a Palace Attendant in the Palace Domestic Service, assigned to the palace guard rotation and Commissioner of the Splendid Beauty Palace. When Chang took the throne, Tuo became Commissioner of the Playful Splendor Palace and Superintendent of the Palace Domestic Service, while also overseeing the Liesheng and Jingyang ancestral palaces. Tuo gave two daughters to Chang in marriage; the elder became Honored Consort and the younger a Beauty. No policy moved forward until Tuo had been consulted. He received Special Advancement, Grandee Equal in Honor to the Three Dukes, Commissioner of the Sweet Spring Palace, Army Observer of the Six Armies, and Acting Inner Captain, then rose to Cavalry Grand General and Inner Grand Preceptor.
33
When Taizu sent his army against Chang and Shao Prefecture fell, army commander Li Chenwo was killed in battle. Deputy commissioner Xin Yanwo sent an envoy by a secret route to urge surrender, but Tuo firmly blocked the proposal. After their capture and arrival at Xutian, Taizu sent an envoy to question Tuo and his associates: "You had already agreed to surrender, yet you rallied troops to fight again, and when defeated you set fire to the storehouses. Who planned this?" Tuo hung his head and had no answer. Chang's Remonstrating Censor Wang Gui said to Tuo, "In Guangzhou you and your faction controlled every decision; the fire was lit from within the palace. Now the Son of Heaven sends an envoy to investigate — who else do you mean to blame?" He spat in Tuo's face and struck his cheek. Tuo confessed on the spot and was later executed when they reached the capital.
34
Xue Chongyu came from Qujiang in Shao Prefecture. He was versed in Sunzi's Five Methods of Calculation. Shen appointed him Inner Gate Commissioner and Grand Granary Commissioner. When Chang took the throne, Chongyu became Inner Captain, received Special Advancement and Grandee Equal in Honor to the Three Dukes, and was appointed Secretary of Inspection Bureau Affairs. When Taizu's army took Guangzhou, Chongyu set fire to the granaries. Captured and brought to the capital, he was executed alongside Li Tuo.
35
Pan Chongche came from Nanhai in Guangzhou. He entered service under the emperor with the invented name as a Bureau Assistant in the Palace Domestic Service. He studied military texts and won distinction in battle. Shen once sent the general Wu Huai'en to conquer Gui Prefecture. When Wu was killed by his own men, Shen put Chongche in command. When Chang took the throne, Chongche was made Commander-in-Chief of the Northwest Area. After a year Chang grew suspicious of Chongche and sent Xue Chongyu to his camp to investigate. On his return Chongyu reported that Chongche spent his days with more than a hundred performers in brocade robes, playing jade flutes and feasting through the night while neglecting military affairs. Enraged, Chang recalled him and stripped him of command. Thereafter Chongche lived in perpetual resentment. When Taizu's army crossed the mountains, Chang again put Chongche in charge of fifty thousand troops to guard the He River, but Chongche refused to fight with any zeal. After Chang's defeat Chongche was brought to the capital. Taizu, knowing what had transpired, granted him a special pardon and appointed him Vice-Governor of Ru Prefecture, where he later died.