1
Xiao Xian was a great-grandson of Emperor Xuan of the Later Liang. His grandfather Yan, in the early Kaihuang reign, rebelled against Sui and went over to Chen; when Chen fell, Emperor Wen of Sui had him put to death. In his youth Xian was poor and made his living copying books; he was devoted in caring for his mother. Emperor Yang promoted him to magistrate of Luochuan because of his connection as an imperial in-law.
2
In the thirteenth year of Daye, the Yuezhou adjutant Dong Jingzhen and Lei Shimeng, together with the itinerant commanders Zheng Wenxiu, Xu Xuanche, Wan Zan, Xu Deji, Guo Hua, Zhang Xiu of Mian, and others, plotted to rebel against Sui and meant to set up Jingzhen as their leader. Jingzhen said, "I have always been insignificant; even if we borrow a title for me, the people will not be content. The magistrate of Luochuan is a descendant of the old Liang, broad-minded and generous, and still carries something of Emperor Wu's bearing. Besides, I have heard that when emperors arise, there is always a token of Heaven's mandate. Every Sui official's cap and belt is marked 'Rise of Liang'—a sign that the house of Xiao will rise again. If we now set him at the head, to answer Heaven and win the people—would that not be right?" With that they sent someone to tell Xian. Xian at once wrote back to Jingzhen: "My forefathers once served Sui and never failed in tribute, yet Sui coveted our lands and destroyed our ancestral temple. That is why I am heartbroken and sick with grief, determined to wash away that disgrace. Now Heaven has turned our hearts toward this day, and you have bent your will to the cause—we shall restore the line of Liang and may yet share in my forefather's blessing. How could I refuse to rally soldiers and follow you!" He immediately raised several thousand men, claiming he would hunt down bandits, and prepared to join Jingzhen.
3
會潁川賊沈柳生寇縣，銑出戰不利，謂其下曰：「岳陽豪傑將推我為主，今天下叛隋，吾能守節獨完哉？ 且吾先人國於此，若徇其請復梁祚，因以半紙檄召群盜，誰敢不從？」 眾悅。 乃以十月稱梁公，旗幟服色悉用其舊。 柳生以眾歸銑，用為車騎大將軍。 不五日，遠近爭附，眾數萬，乃趨巴陵。 景珍遣徐德基、郭華率強姓百迎謁，而先見柳生。 柳生與其下謀曰：「梁公起，我最先附，勛第一。 今岳陽兵眾而位多，誰肯為我下？ 不如殺德基，質其人，獨挾梁主以進，則吾誰先？」 因殺德基，詣中軍白銑。 銑驚曰：「今欲撥亂，遽自相屠，我不能為若主矣！」 步出軍門。 柳生懼，伏地請罪。 銑責宥之，陳兵而進。 景珍曰：「德其倡義竭誠，柳生擅殺之，不誅，無以為政。 且兇賊與共處，必為亂。」 銑因斬柳生。 於是築壇城南，柴上帝，自稱梁王。 有異鳥至，建元為鳳鳴。
Just then the Yingchuan bandit Shen Liusheng raided the county. Xian went out to fight and was beaten. He told his men, "The heroes of Yueyang mean to make me their leader. The empire is in revolt against Sui—how can I alone cling to loyalty and stay whole? Our ancestors once had a kingdom here. If I accept their plea and restore the house of Liang, a half-sheet of proclamation will summon every outlaw in the land—who would dare refuse?" The men were delighted. In the tenth month he took the title Duke of Liang; flags, standards, and dress all followed the old Liang style. Liusheng brought his troops over to Xian, who made him Grand General of Cavalry. In fewer than five days men from near and far flocked to him until his force numbered in the tens of thousands, and he marched on Baling. Jingzhen sent Xu Deji and Guo Hua with a hundred leading clansmen to welcome him, but they met Liusheng first. Liusheng plotted with his men and said, "When the Duke of Liang rose, I was the first to join him—my merit comes first. Now the army at Yueyang is large and there are many high posts—who will willingly rank below me? Better kill Deji, take his men hostage, and march forward alone with the Lord of Liang—then who could get ahead of me?" He killed Deji and went to the main camp to tell Xian. Xian was shocked and said, "We mean to put down disorder, yet you butcher one another at once—I cannot be your leader!" He walked out of the camp gate. Terrified, Liusheng threw himself on the ground and begged forgiveness. Xian rebuked him but spared him, then drew up his army and marched on. Jingzhen said, "Deji was the one who launched this cause with all his heart. Liusheng murdered him on his own—if he is not punished, there can be no rule. Besides, if we keep violent men among us, they will surely bring ruin." Xian then had Liusheng beheaded. He built an altar south of the city, offered sacrifice to the Supreme Lord, and declared himself King of Liang. A strange bird appeared, and he took the era name Fengming, "Phoenix Cry."
4
In the second year of Yining he declared himself emperor, appointed officials at every level, and followed Liang institutions throughout. He gave posthumous titles to his father's cousin Cong as Emperor Xiaojing, his grandfather Yan as Prince Zhonglie of Hejian, and his father Xuan as Prince Wenxian. He made Jingzhen Prince of Jin, Lei Shimeng Prince of Qin, Zheng Wenxiu Prince of Chu, Xu Xuanche Prince of Yan, Wan Zan Prince of Lu, Zhang Xiu Prince of Qi, and Yang Daosheng Prince of Song. The Sui generals Zhang Zhenzhou and Wang Renshou attacked Xian but could not defeat him. After Sui fell, they and Ning Changzhen and others led the prefectures and counties of Lingnan in submission to him. Lin Shihong then held the lower Yangtze. Xian sent Su Hu'er to seize Yuzhang, Yang Daosheng to take Nan commandery, and Zhang Xiu to bring the far south under control. From the Three Gorges in the west to Jiaozhi in the south and the Han River in the north, all submitted to him; his field army reached four hundred thousand.
5
In the first year of Wude he moved his capital to Jiangling and restored the ancestral temples of the house of Liang. He brought in Cen Wenben as Vice Director of the Secretariat to handle confidential affairs. He sent Daosheng against Xiazhou, but the prefect Xu Shao routed him and more than half his men were killed.
6
In the third year Emperor Gaozu ordered the Prince of Zhao, General-in-Chief of Kuizhou Li Xiaogong, to attack him. Xiaogong took Tong and Kai prefectures and beheaded the false Prince of Dongping, Zheti. His generals abused their armies and acted as they pleased. Xian feared he would lose control of them, so he openly proposed standing the troops down for farming in order to curb their power. The younger brother of Grand Marshal Dong Jingzhen, who was himself a general, resented this and plotted a revolt. When the plot was exposed, he was executed. Jingzhen was then holding Changsha. Xian issued a pardon and summoned him back to Jiangling. Jingzhen was afraid, sent envoys to Xiaogong, and surrendered his territory. Xian sent Zhang Xiu to attack Jingzhen. Jingzhen said, "Years ago Peng Yue was boiled alive; not long ago Han Xin was killed—have you alone never heard of it? Why turn on each other now?" Xiu made no reply and laid siege to him. Jingzhen was broken and fled, but his own men killed him. Xian promoted Zhang Xiu to Director of the Imperial Secretariat. Xiu, trusting in his achievements, grew insolent as well, and Xian had him executed too. Xian was mild in manner but jealous at heart and could not bear rivals. Soon his senior ministers and veteran generals were estranged; many rebelled and left, and he could not stop them. His power dwindled from that point on.
7
In the fourth year an edict sent Xiaogong and Li Jing down the Yangtze with the armies of Ba and Shu, the Prince of Lujiang Li Yuan along the Xiangyang road, and the prefect of Qianzhou Tian Shikang by the Chenzhou road, all to converge on Xian. The false general Zhou Faming surrendered with four prefectures and was at once made General-in-Chief of Huangzhou. He pressed along the Xiakou route, attacked Anzhou, and took it. The false general Lei Changying surrendered with Lushan. Xian sent Wen Shihong to block Xiaogong. They fought at the mouth of the Qing River; Xiaogong won a crushing victory, seized a thousand warships, and took Yichang, Dangyang, Zhijiang, and Songzi. The false Jiangzhou general Gai Yanju surrendered his city. Xiaogong and Li Jing drove straight for his capital.
8
Xian had earlier released his troops and kept only a few thousand palace guards. When he tried to rally them in haste, his armies in the distant Jiang and Ling regions could not reach him in time. Xiaogong drew a long encirclement around the city. Within days he stormed their river fort and captured several thousand tower ships. The Jiaozhou commander Qiu He, senior recorder Gao Shilian, and army supervisor Du Zhisong came to Li Jing and surrendered. Seeing that relief would not come, Xian told his officers, "Has Heaven abandoned Liang? If we hold out until the end and only then yield, the people will surely suffer. If we surrender before the walls fall, we may still spare them slaughter and chaos. As for you—will you lack a ruler to serve?" He waved his hand and gave the command. Every man on the walls wept. He offered the great sacrifice in the ancestral temple, then led his officials in hemp mourning and plain headcloth to the enemy camp and said, "Let only Xian die. The people are innocent—please do not kill or plunder them!" Xiaogong accepted his surrender and sent him to the capital under guard. A few days later his relief armies arrived—more than a hundred thousand men. When they learned Xian had submitted, they too offered their allegiance. When Xian was brought before Emperor Gaozu, the emperor reproached him. Xian answered, "Sui lost the empire, and heroes raced to seize it. I lacked Heaven's mandate, so Your Majesty took me captive. It is like Tian Heng still facing south as a king—how could that be a reproach to Han?" The emperor was enraged by his defiance and ordered him beheaded in the public market. He was thirty-nine. From the day he claimed a kingdom until his fall, five years in all.
9
贊曰：銑，故梁子孫，起文吏，掩東南而有之，荊、楚好亂，氣俗然也。 觀銑武雖不足，文有余矣，大抵盜仁義，詭世亂俗者，聖人所必誅。 若銑力困計殫，以好言自釋於下，系虜在廷，抗辭不屈，偽辯易窮，卒以殊死，高祖聖矣哉！ 輔公祏，齊州臨濟人。 隋季與鄉人杜伏威為盜，轉掠淮南。 伏威兵浸盛，自號總管，以公祏為長史。 賊李子通據江都，伏威使公祏以精卒數千度江擊之。 子通拒戰，眾十倍，銳甚。 公祏選甲士千人，操長刀居前，別以千人隨之，令曰：「卻者斬！」 公祏以眾殿。 俄而子通方陣而進，長刀千人皆決死鬥，公祏縱左右翼搏之，子通大潰，降其眾數千。 伏威既遣使歸國，武德二年，詔授公祏淮南道行臺尚書左仆射，封舒國公。
The appraiser writes: Xian was a scion of the old Liang who rose from the clerical ranks, seized the southeast, and held it. Jing and Chu have always loved turmoil; that is the temper of the place. As for Xian, he was wanting in martial force but ample in rhetoric. Men who steal the names of benevolence and righteousness to mislead the age and corrupt custom are precisely those the sages must punish. When his strength was spent and his schemes failed, he tried to win his men with fine words; brought bound into court, he still spoke defiantly. Hollow eloquence soon runs dry, and he died by the sword. In this Gaozu showed true sagacity. Fu Gongduo was a native of Linji in Qizhou. Late in the Sui he and his fellow townsman Du Fuwei turned bandit and ranged through Huainan, plundering as they went. Fuwei's force grew steadily. He styled himself Commissioner-in-Chief and made Gongduo his chief clerk. The rebel Li Zitong held Jiangdu. Fuwei sent Gongduo with several thousand picked troops across the river to attack him. Zitong met them in battle with a force ten times larger and in high fighting trim. Gongduo chose a thousand armored men with long sabers to lead the column and another thousand to follow behind, with the order: "Anyone who falls back will be beheaded!" Gongduo himself commanded the rear guard. Soon Zitong advanced in tight formation. The thousand sabermen fought as if they had no lives to lose. Gongduo threw in his left and right wings, and Zitong's army collapsed. Several thousand of his men surrendered. After Fuwei had sent envoys to submit to the Tang court, in the second year of Wude an edict made Gongduo Left Vice-President of the Masters of Writing on the Huainan executive secretariat and enfeoffed him as Duke of Shu.
10
Fuwei and Gongduo had been close since youth, and Fuwei treated him as an elder brother. The army called him Elder Fu, and the honor shown him was nearly equal to Fuwei's own. Fuwei slowly grew jealous. He made his adopted son Kan Ling Left General and Wang Xiongdan Right General, raised Gongduo to Vice President in name, and quietly stripped him of real power. Gongduo seethed inside. He and his old friend Zuo Youxian pretended to practice grain-avoidance dietetics so as to lie low.
11
六年，伏威入朝，留公祏居守，復令雄誕握兵副之，陰誡曰：「吾至京不失職，無容公祏為變。」 後左遊仙說公祏反，會雄誕以疾臥家，公祏奪其兵，紿言伏威移書令舉事。 八月，遂僭位，國稱宋，即陳故宮都之； 殺王雄誕，署百官，以左遊仙為兵部尚書、東南道大使、越州總管； 增修器械，轉廩食，遣將徐紹宗侵海州，陳正通寇壽陽。 詔越郡王孝恭趨九江，嶺南大使李靖下宣城，懷州總管黃君漢出譙，齊州總管李世勣繇淮、泗討之。 孝恭取蕪湖，下梁山三鎮。 河南安撫大使任瑰拔揚子城，降偽將龍龕，遂據揚州。 公祏復遣將馮惠亮、陳當世屯博望山，陳正通、徐紹宗屯青州山以拒戰，孝恭率諸將破之，惠亮、正通走，李靖躡追百餘里，眾悉潰，正通等以五百騎奔丹陽。 公祏懼，棄城奔左遊仙於會稽，兵尚數萬。 夜至毘陵，能從者裁五百。 偽將吳騷、孫安謀執之，公
In the sixth year Fuwei went to court and left Gongduo behind as guardian. He again put Wang Xiongdan in command as his deputy and secretly warned him, "I shall keep my post in the capital—you must not let Gongduo stir up trouble." Later Zuo Youxian talked Gongduo into rebellion. Xiongdan happened to be ill at home, and Gongduo seized his army, falsely claiming Fuwei had written ordering a rising. In the eighth month he declared himself emperor, named his state Song, and made his capital in the old Chen palace. He killed Wang Xiongdan, appointed officials at every rank, and made Zuo Youxian Minister of War, commissioner of the southeastern circuit, and general-in-chief of Yuezhou. He expanded his armories, moved grain from the public granaries, and sent Xu Shaozong against Haizhou and Chen Zhengtong against Shouyang. An imperial edict sent Li Xiaogong, Prince of Zhao Commandery, to Jiujiang; Li Jing, Grand Ambassador for Lingnan, down from Xuancheng; Huang Junhan, Area Commander of Huaizhou, out from Qiao; and Li Shiji, Area Commander of Qizhou, by way of the Huai and Si rivers to campaign against him. Xiaogong took Wuhu and reduced the three forts on Liangshan. The Henan pacification commissioner Ren Gui seized Yangzi and subdued the false general Long Kan, then held Yangzhou. Gongduo sent Feng Huiliang and Chen Dangshi to hold Bowang Mountain and Chen Zhengtong and Xu Shaozong to hold Qingzhou Mountain. Xiaogong and his generals broke them; Huiliang and Zhengtong fled. Li Jing chased them more than a hundred li until their armies scattered. Zhengtong and the rest escaped to Danyang with five hundred horsemen. Gongduo panicked, abandoned his city, and fled to Zuo Youxian in Kuaiji. He still had tens of thousands of men. He reached Piling by night with barely five hundred followers. The false generals Wu Sao and Sun An plotted to seize him. Fu
12
Gongduo abandoned his wife and children, broke through the barrier, and fled. With a few dozen trusted men he reached Wukang, where country people seized him and delivered him to Danyang. Xiaogong beheaded him and sent the head to the capital as a warning when Li Zitong was attacked. From the day Gongduo helped Fuwei seize the lower Yangtze until his death, thirteen years had passed. Shen Faxing was a native of Wukang in Huzhou. His father Ke had been inspector-general of Guangzhou under Chen. At the end of the Sui, Faxing was administrator of Wuxing. The Dongyang rebel Lou Shigan raided his commandery, and Emperor Yang ordered Faxing, together with the imperial stud vice director Yuan You, to suppress him.
13
In the second year of Yining, when Jiangdu fell into chaos, Faxing thought himself rooted in the south: his clan numbered thousands of households, and men far and near looked to him. With You's generals Sun Shihan and Chen Guoren he seized You, claiming to execute Yuwen Huaji. In the third month he marched from Dongyang, gathering troops as he went toward Jiangdu and down into Yuhang. By the time he reached Wucheng he had sixty thousand men. The Piling defender Lu Daode barred his way. Faxing offered alliance, then ambushed and killed him, took his city, and soon controlled more than ten prefectures south of the Yangtze. He styled himself commissioner of the Jiangnan circuit on his own authority. When he heard that Prince Yue Yang Tong had been set up at Luoyang, he sent a memorial styling himself grand marshal, recorder of the masters of writing, and Duke of Tianmen, and issued edicts appointing a full bureaucracy: Chen Guoren as minister of education, Sun Shihan as minister of works, Jiang Yuanchao as left vice-president of the masters of writing, Yin Qian as left assistant, Xu Lingyan as right assistant, Liu Ziyi as vice director of selections, and Li Baiyao as a secretarial officer. Later, when he learned Tong had been deposed, in the second year of Wude he declared himself King of Liang, took the era name Yankang, and reshaped court ritual, drawing heavily on Chen practice.
14
Faxing believed the southern cities would fall at a single step. He ruled by terror, executing men for the smallest fault, until his officers and soldiers lost heart. Soon he sent his son Lun to rescue Chen Cheng and attack Li Zitong, but Zitong defeated him in turn. Zitong pressed his advantage across the river and stormed Jingkou. Faxing sent Jiang Yuanchao to fight at Chengting. Yuanchao was routed and killed. In fear Faxing abandoned his city and fled with a few hundred men to the Wu bandit Wen Ren Sui'an. Sui'an sent Ye Xiaobian to receive him. Halfway there Faxing changed his mind and meant to kill Xiaobian and push on to Kuaiji, but he was found out. In terror he threw himself into the river and drowned. From his rising in Yining until his fall under Wude, three years in all. Li Zitong was a native of Cheng in Yizhou. He was poor in his youth and lived by fishing and hunting. In his home village, whenever he saw gray-haired elders carrying loads he would take the burden from them. If his family had a little extra he gave it away, and he loved to settle scores for others.
15
At the end of the Sui, the Changbai Mountain bandit Zuo Caixiang styled himself Duke of Boshan. Zitong joined him and rose to the top of the band by sheer fighting strength. When men from his village were caught up among the bandits, Zitong would go in person to shield them. In those days the rebels were brutal, but Zitong alone showed kindness, and men flocked to him; within six months he commanded ten thousand. Caixiang grew wary of him, and Zitong marched his forces south across the Huai to ally with Du Fuwei. Defeated by the Sui commander Lai Zheng, he retreated to Hailing, raised twenty thousand troops, and proclaimed himself a general. In the eleventh year of Daye he declared himself King of Chu.
16
宇文化及殺煬帝，以右禦衛將軍陳棱為江都太守，已而棱降，高祖授以總管，即守其郡。 子通攻棱，棱窮，乞師於沈法興、杜伏威。 伏威自將屯清流，法興遣子綸屯揚子，間數十里。 子通納言毛文深請募吳人詐為法興兵夜襲伏威，二人遂交惡，無敢先戰者。 子通得悉力取江都，遂據之，棱奔而免。 子通僭即皇帝位，國號吳，建元明政。 齊賊樂伯通先為化及守丹陽，即以眾萬余降之，子通用為尚書左仆射。 又敗法興兵，遂取晉陵，以法興所署掾李百藥為內史侍郎，典文檄，尚書左丞殷芊為太常卿，司禮樂，繇是江南士人多歸之。 會伏威命輔公祏拔丹陽，進屯溧水，子通戰敗，糧且盡，棄江都，保京口，伏威盡得其地。 俄東走太湖，裒散兵二萬人，復張，襲法興吳郡，破之。 據余杭。 東舉會稽，南距嶺，西抵宣城，北太湖，悉有之。
After Yuwen Huaji murdered Emperor Yang, he installed Chen Leng of the Right Imperial Guard as prefect of Jiangdu; Chen Leng soon submitted to Gaozu, who confirmed him as regional commander and left him in charge of the district. Zitong besieged Chen Leng, who, hard pressed, appealed to Shen Faxing and Du Fuwei for relief. Fuwei marched in person and encamped at Qingliu, while Faxing posted his son Lun at Yangzi, their camps scarcely thirty li apart. Zitong's counselor Mao Wenshen urged him to raise Wu men disguised as Faxing's army for a night attack on Fuwei; the two allies turned on each other, and neither would commit to battle. Free to concentrate his full strength on Jiangdu, Zitong took the city; Chen Leng broke out and escaped. Zitong declared himself emperor of Wu, with the reign title Mingzheng. Yue Botong of Qi, who had guarded Danyang for Yuwen Huaji, came over with ten thousand men; Zitong made him Left Vice Director of the Secretariat. After another victory over Shen Faxing he seized Jinling, installed Li Baiyao—once Faxing's clerk—as Vice Director of the Secretariat to draft state papers, and Yin Qian, formerly Left Assistant of the Imperial Secretariat, as Director of Ceremonies to oversee ritual music; learned men across the lower Yangtze flocked to his court. Fuwei sent Fu Gongshi to seize Danyang and press on to Lishui; Zitong was beaten, his stores nearly gone, abandoned Jiangdu for Jingkou, and lost the rest of his domain to Fuwei. He soon fled east to Lake Tai, rallied twenty thousand scattered soldiers, struck Shen Faxing's Wu commandery, and routed it. He occupied Yuhang. His sway ran east to Kuaiji, south to the mountain passes, west to Xuancheng, and north to Lake Tai.
17
In the fourth year of Wude, Du Fuwei dispatched Wang Xiongqian against Li Zitong. Defeated at Suzhou, Zitong fell back on Yuhang while Xiongqian laid siege. Zitong was at his wit's end. He surrendered; Fuwei received him and sent him and Yue Botong to the capital. Gaozu treated his offense leniently, granted a house and five qing of fields, and rewarded him handsomely. When Du Fuwei went to court, Zitong told Botong, "The southeast is still unsettled, yet Fuwei has left for the capital. Most of our old troops are still south of the river; rally them and we can win glory again." Both men fled. Near Lantian the frontier guards seized them, and both were put to death. While Zitong and his peers were at their peak, Zhu Can, Lin Shihong, and Zhang Shian also carved out titles between the Huai and the Chu country. Zhu Can was born in Chengfu, Bozhou. He began as a county clerk. In the Daye era he served in the campaign against the Changbai rebels, then deserted, styled himself the "Kedahan Bandit" and King Garuda, and gathered a hundred thousand men. Crossing the Huai he sacked Jingling and Mianyang, then swept through the southern hills, slaughtering every place he touched. He proclaimed himself Emperor of Chu with the era name Changda. He captured Nanyang.
18
Late in the Yining period he met Ma Yuangui, the Shannan pacifier, at Guanjun and was shattered; rallying his survivors he swelled again to two hundred thousand. Wherever he conquered he emptied the granaries to feed his troops, never staying long: on departure he burned storehouses, wrecked walls, ignored agriculture, and lived by raiding alone. Famine stalked the land and corpses choked the roads; his own army ran dry, and he began kidnapping children to steam for rations. He told his men, "What delicacy surpasses human flesh? So long as other states still have people, why should I fret over provisions!" He forced his troops to seize women and children for communal cooking and taxed the frail in every town to swell his larder. Lu Congdian, a Sui adjunct in the Author's Bureau, and Yan Mintu, a Palace Herald, both exiled to Nanyang, were welcomed as guests—then his soldiers devoured both families to the last. Terror spread through the towns, and the populace fled.
19
顯州首領楊士林、田瓚起兵攻粲，旁郡響赴，戰淮源，粲大敗，挈殘士奔菊潭，遣使乞降。 高祖以前御史大夫段確假散騎常侍勞之。 確醉，戲粲曰：「君膾人多矣，若為味？」 粲曰：「啖嗜酒人，正似糟豚。」 確悸，罵曰：「狂賊，歸朝乃一奴耳，復得噬人乎？」 粲懼，收確於坐，並從者數十悉饔之，以饗左右。 遂屠菊潭，奔王世充，署龍驤大將軍。 東都平，斬洛水上。 士庶競擲瓦礫擊其屍，須臾若冢。 林士弘，饒州鄱陽人。 隋季與鄉人操師乞起為盜。 師乞自號元興王，建元天成，大業十二年據豫章，以士弘為大將軍。 隋遣治書侍御史劉子翊討賊，射殺師乞，而士弘收其眾，復戰彭蠡，子翊敗，死之。 遂大振，眾十余萬，據虔州，自號南越王。 俄僭號楚：稱皇帝，建元為太平。 侍御史鄭大節以九江郡下之。 士弘任其黨王戎為司空。 臨川、廬陵、南康、宜春豪傑皆殺隋守令以附，北盡九江，南番禺，悉有之。 後蕭銑以舟師破豫章，士弘獨有南昌、虔、循、潮之地。 銑敗，其亡卒稍歸之，復振。 趙郡王孝恭招慰，降循、潮二州。
Yang Shilin and Tian Zan of Xianzhou rose against him; neighboring districts joined in; defeated at Huaiyuan, Can fled with his survivors to Jutan and sued for peace. Gaozu sent the former Censor-in-chief Duan Que, acting as Regular Attendant, to accept his submission. Drunk, Duan joked, "You have butchered so many—how do they taste?" Can replied, "A drunkard is rather like pickled pork." Duan, shaken, cursed him: "Mad rebel! In the capital you are only a bondsman—would you dare eat men again?" Terrified, Can seized Duan at the feast and, with several dozen of his escort, cooked them all to regale his officers. He massacred Jutan, fled to Wang Shichong, and was named Dragon-Flying Grand General. When the eastern capital fell, he was executed on the banks of the Luo. Citizens pelted his body with brick and stone until it rose like a barrow. Lin Shihong came from Poyang in Raozhou. Near the end of the Sui he and a townsman, Cao Shiji, turned bandit. Shiji called himself King Yuanxing with the era Tiancheng; in the twelfth year of Daye he seized Yuzhang and made Shihong his Grand General. The court sent Investigative Censor Liu Ziyi, who killed Shiji in battle; Shihong rallied the remnant, met Liu again on Poyang Lake, and slew him. His power surged past a hundred thousand; he held Qianzhou and styled himself King of Southern Yue. He soon declared the Chu dynasty, took the imperial title, and adopted the era Taiping. Censor Attendant Zheng Dajie delivered Jiujiang to him. Shihong named his partisan Wang Rong Minister of Works. Local strongmen in Linchuan, Luling, Nankang, and Yichun killed Sui officials to join him; his realm stretched from Jiujiang north to Panyu south. When Xiao Xian's fleet seized Yuzhang, Shihong kept only Nanchang, Qian, Xun, and Chao. After Xiao Xian's fall his fugitives drifted back, and Shihong revived. Prince Xiaogong of Zhao offered terms and won Xun and Chao.
20
In the fifth year of Wude his brother Yaoshi, Prince of Poyang, invested Xunzhou with twenty thousand men; Yang Shilue destroyed the force and killed him, and Shihong sued for peace. Wang Rong yielded Nanchang as well; the court made him regional commander of Nanchang. Shihong slipped to Bao'ancheng Mountain, gathered deserters, and plotted a comeback; Yuanzhou men answered his call, but Zhang Shian uncovered the scheme and marched against him. Shihong died before the plot matured, and his party dissolved. Zhang Shian was from Fangyu in Yanzhou. At seventeen he became an outlaw and roamed Huainan as a bandit. After Meng Rang's defeat he picked up eight hundred survivors and stormed Lujiang. Serving under Lin Shihong without trust, he turned on him, burned his outer ramparts, and withdrew to Nankang. When Xiao Xian seized Yuzhang he left Su Hu'er to guard it; Shian drove him out, submitted to Tang, and was made regional commander of Hongzhou.
21
武德六年反，輔公祏以為西南道大行臺。 善安掠孫州，執總管王戎，襲殺黃州總管周法明。 會李大亮兵至，為開曉禍福，答曰：「善安初不反，為部下詿誤。 降，今易耳，恐不免，奈何？」 大亮曰：「總管定降，吾固不疑。」 因獨入其陣，與善安握手語，乃大喜，將數十騎詣大亮營。 大亮引入，命壯士執之。 騎皆驚，引去，悉兵來戰。 大亮諭以善安自歸，無庸鬥。 其黨罵曰：「總管賣我！」 遂潰。 送善安京師，稱不與公祏謀，高祖赦之。 公祏破，得其書，遂伏誅。 梁師都，夏州朔方人。 為郡豪姓。 仕隋鷹揚府郎將。 大業末罷歸，結徒起為盜，殺郡丞唐世宗，據郡稱大丞相，聯兵突厥。 與隋將張世隆戰，敗之，因略定雕陰、弘化、延安。 自為梁國，僭皇帝位，祭天於城南，坎地瘞玉得印，以為瑞，建元永隆。 始畢可汗遺以狼頭纛，號大度毘伽可汗、解事天子，遂導突厥兵居河南地，拔鹽川郡。
In the sixth year of Wude he rebelled; Fu Gongshi named him Grand Commander of the Southwest Circuit. He plundered Sunzhou, seized Wang Rong, and killed Huangzhou commander Zhou Faming in an ambush. Li Daliang arrived and explained the stakes; Shian said, "I never meant to rebel—my officers misled me. Surrender is easy now, yet I fear I may not be spared—what am I to do?" Daliang said, "If you mean to submit, I never doubted you." He rode alone into Shian's ranks, clasped his hand in talk, and Shian, delighted, followed with a few dozen horsemen to Daliang's camp. Daliang ushered him inside and had braves seize him. His escort fled in alarm and returned with the whole army to fight. Daliang proclaimed that Shian had come over willingly and that battle was needless. His men shouted, "Our commander has sold us!" They broke and ran. Shian was sent to the capital, swore he had not conspired with Fu Gongshi, and Gaozu pardoned him. When Gongshi fell, letters implicating Shian surfaced, and he was executed. Liang Shidu was a man of Shuofang in Xiazhou. His family was a leading house of the district. Under the Sui he held a captaincy in the Hawk-raiser Guard. Dismissed late in Daye, he returned home, raised a band, killed Assistant Prefect Tang Shizong, seized the commandery as Grand Chancellor, and allied with the Turks. He defeated the Sui general Zhang Shilong and overran Diaoyin, Honghua, and Yan'an. He declared the Liang state, took the imperial title, and sacrificed to Heaven south of the city; burying jade in a pit he unearthed a seal and hailed it as a portent, adopting the era Yonglong. Shibi Qaghan gave him a wolf-head standard and named him Great Khan Dubi Qaghan, "Capable Son of Heaven"; he led Turk forces into the Ordos and seized Yanchuan.
22
In the second year of Wude he raided Lingzhou; Chief Administrator Yang Ze drove him off. Again he camped at Wild Boar Ridge with a thousand Turk horsemen; Duan Decao of Yanzhou held back until Shidu's men slackened, then struck; as the fight peaked Decao swept in with light cavalry from the flank, shattered Shidu, pursued two hundred li north, and took a vast toll of captives and heads. Soon he returned with five thousand infantry and cavalry; Decao annihilated the force and accepted the surrender of fortress commanders Zhang Ju and Liu Min. Fearing ruin, Shidu sent Minister Lu Jilan to Qulü Qaghan: "Sui is gone; China is broken into four or five weak rivals, each courting the Turks. Tang has just destroyed Liu Wuzhou and grows stronger by the day, sending armies in every direction. I shall fall soon, but you will be next. I beg the Qaghan, as Emperor Xiaowen of Wei once did, to march south—I will guide your way." Qulü agreed: Moheduo She would enter Wuyuan, Nibu She advance with Shidu on Yanzhou, Qulü strike Taiyuan, Tuli Qaghan lead Xi, Mohe, Khitan, and Malgal down the Youzhou road, and Dou Jiande march from Fukou toward Jin and Jiang. Qulü died before the armies moved; Shidu was beaten again by Decao.
23
In the sixth year his generals He Sui and Suo Zhou surrendered twelve prefectures with their forces. Decao attacked in full strength, took the eastern city, and penned Shidu in the western citadel; Shidu begged Ilü Qaghan, who came with ten thousand elite horsemen. Earlier the Jiihu leader Liu Shancheng had joined him; slandered, he was executed, and his followers, fearful, deserted in droves. Growing desperate, Shidu went to court Ilü in person and urged raids south; Turk incursions plagued the frontier for years until they probed Wei Bridge.
24
When Turk politics later collapsed, Taizong saw Shidu weakening and wrote urging submission; he refused. The court ordered Xiazhou Chief Administrator Jian Min and Vice Prefect Jian Lan to conduct the campaign. They took prisoners and released them as agents of discord until lord and ministers split. Light horsemen trampled his fields, and hunger emptied the city. A "heavenly dog" omen struck the walls as well. His best generals—Xin Laor, Li Zhengbao, and Feng Duan—plotted to seize him and surrender; the plot failed, but Zhengbao escaped to the Tang alone.
25
貞觀二年，旻、蘭表可取狀，詔柴紹、薛萬均並力，令旻以勁卒直據朔方東城。 頡利來援，會大雪，羊馬死，紹逆戰，破之，進屯城下。 其從父弟洛仁斬師都降，擢洛仁為右驍衛將軍、朔方郡公。 自起至滅十二年。 以其地為夏州。 始師都據郡時，劉季真、郭子和者亦俱起，子和自有傳。 劉季真，離石胡人。 父龍兒，大業十年舉兵自稱王，以季真為太子，弟六兒為永安王。 鋒甚銳，將軍潘長文連年擊，不能下。 後虎賁郎將梁德破殺龍兒，眾乃散。 唐兵起，六兒復聚為盜，附劉武周，季真從之，自號太子王，六兒為拓定王，叠為邊害。 西河公張綸、真鄉公李仲文合兵討之，季真降，詔以為石州總管，賜姓李，封彭山郡王。 宋金剛戰澮州，勢未決，遂復連武周。 及敗，秦王執六兒斬之，季真奔高滿政，俄被殺。
In the second year of Zhenguan, Min and Lan reported him ripe for conquest; Chai Shao and Xue Wanjun were ordered to unite, with Min's picked troops to seize Shuofang's eastern city. Ilü marched to relieve the siege, but blizzards killed his herds; Chai Shao met and routed him, then encamped beneath the walls. His cousin Luoren slew Shidu and submitted; Luoren was made General of the Right Swift-Cavalry Guard and Duke of Shuofang. From his rise to his fall was twelve years. His lands were reorganized as Xiazhou. When Shidu first seized the commandery, Liu Jizhen and Guo Zihe had also risen; Zihe has a separate biography. Liu Jizhen was a Hu of Lishi. His father Long'er rebelled in the tenth year of Daye, crowned himself king, made Jizhen crown prince, and his younger brother Liu'er Prince of Yong'an. Their raids were fierce; General Pan Changwen campaigned for years without breaking them. Tiger Guard commandant Liang De finally killed Long'er and the band scattered. When the Tang rose, Liu'er banded together again under Liu Wuzhou; Jizhen followed, styling himself King of the Crown Prince while Liu'er became King of Tuoding, and together they ravaged the frontier. Zhang Lun, Duke of Xihe, and Li Zhongwen, Duke of Zhenxiang, jointly suppressed them; Jizhen submitted, was made regional commander of Shizhou, granted the surname Li, and enfeoffed as Prince of Pengshan. While Song Jingang fought at Kuaizhou with the issue still in doubt, he rejoined Liu Wuzhou. After the defeat the Prince of Qin captured Liu'er and beheaded him; Jizhen fled to Gao Manzheng and was killed soon after.