1
__FORCETOC__崔融崔融，字安成，齊州全節人。 擢八科高第。 累補宮門丞、崇文館學士。 中宗為太子時，選侍讀，典東朝章疏。 武后幸嵩高，見融銘《啟母碣》，歎美之。 及已封，即命銘《朝覲碑》。 授著作佐郎，遷右史，進鳳閣舍人。 時有司議關市，行人盡征之，融上疏謂：「《周官》九賦，其七曰關市。 以市多淫巧，而關通末遊，欲止抑之，故加稅耳。 然唯斂工商，而不及往來。 今一切通取，則事不師古。 且四人異業舊矣，復動而搖之。 市者，兼受善惡也。 若甚，則細人無所容，細人無所容，久必為亂。 天下之關必險道，市必要津，豪宗、惡少在焉，聞一旦變法，或致騷動，恐南走蠻，北走狄。 今江津、河滸列鋪率稅，檢覆稽留，加主司僦略邀丐，則商人廢業。 魏、晉、齊、隋所不行，況陛下乎？ 有如師興費廣，雖倍算商旅、加斂齊人可也。」 後納之。
__FORCETOC__Cui Rong, whose style name was Ancheng, was a native of Quanjie in Qizhou. He passed the Eight Subjects examination with top honors. He rose through successive posts as vice-director of the palace gates and scholar of the Chongwen Hall. While Zhongzong was still crown prince, Rong was selected as a lecturing attendant and oversaw memorials for the Eastern Palace. When Empress Wu visited Mount Song, she read Rong's inscription on the Qi Mother stele and praised it warmly. Once her enfeoffment was complete, she at once commissioned him to compose the Court Audience stele. He was made assistant compiler, then promoted to right historiographer and advanced to attendant of the Phoenix Pavilion. When officials proposed levying market tolls at the passes on all travelers without exception, Rong submitted a memorial arguing: "The Offices of Zhou lists nine levies; the seventh is the pass-market levy. That levy was meant to curb extravagant goods in the markets and the petty traffic that passed through the passes—not to tax ordinary travelers as well. It was imposed only on artisans and merchants, not on people merely passing through. To levy it on everyone indiscriminately would abandon the precedent of antiquity. Moreover, the four classes of society have long had their separate callings; to disturb them again would unsettle the whole order. Markets accommodate both the worthy and the base alike. If the burden is too heavy, the humble will have no room to survive; and when the humble have no room to survive, disorder will follow before long. The empire's passes lie on dangerous roads and its markets at vital crossings, where powerful clans and rowdy youths gather. News of a sudden change in the law could spark unrest, driving people south toward the barbarians or north toward the Di. Already at river crossings and along the banks, tax stations levy fixed rates, inspections cause long delays, and supervising officials extort and beg for bribes until merchants abandon their livelihoods. Even Wei, Jin, Qi, and Sui did not adopt such measures—how much less should Your Majesty? If armies must be raised and costs mount, then even doubling the levy on traveling merchants and imposing extra taxes on the people of Qi would be justified." The court later accepted his advice.
2
張易之兄弟頗延文學士，融與李嶠、蘇味道、麟台少監王紹宗降節佞附。 易之誅，貶袁州刺史。 召授國子司業。 與脩《武后實錄》勞，封清河縣子。 融為文華婉，當時未有輩者。 朝廷大筆，多手敕委之，其《洛出寶圖頌》尤工。 譔《武后哀冊》最高麗，絕筆而死，時謂思苦神竭雲。 年五十四。 贈衛州刺史，諡曰文。 膳部員外郎杜審言為融所獎引，為服緦麻。
Zhang Yizhi and his brothers cultivated literary men, and Rong joined Li Jiao, Su Weidao, and Wang Shaozong, vice-director of the Lin Terrace, in abasing themselves to flatter and attach to them. After Yizhi was executed, Rong was demoted to prefect of Yuanzhou. He was recalled and appointed vice-director of the Directorate of Education. For his work compiling the Veritable Records of Empress Wu, he was enfeoffed as Viscount of Qinghe. Rong's prose was ornate and graceful, and in his day he had no peer. Major state compositions were often entrusted to him by imperial edict, and his "Eulogy on the Precious Diagram Emerging from the Luo" was especially masterful. While composing the Lament for Empress Wu—his most exalted work—he set down his brush and died; contemporaries said he had worn out mind and spirit in the effort. He was fifty-four years old. He was posthumously appointed prefect of Weizhou, with the posthumous name Wen. Du Shenyan, vice-director of the Board of Provisions, whom Rong had mentored, wore three-month mourning for him.
3
六子，其聞者禹錫、翹。 禹錫，開元中，中書舍人，贈定州刺史，諡曰貞。 翹，禮部尚書，贈荊州大都督，諡曰成。
He had six sons; those of note were Yuxi and Qiao. Yuxi served as secretariat attendant under Kaiyuan and was posthumously made prefect of Dingzhou, with the posthumous name Zhen. Qiao rose to minister of rites and was posthumously made grand protector-general of Jingzhou, with the posthumous name Cheng.
4
孫巨，右補闕，亦有文。 曾孫從曾孫從。 從字子乂，少孤貧，與兄能偕隱太原山中。 會歲饑，拾橡實以飯，講學不廢。 擢進士第。 從山南嚴震府為推官，以母喪免。 兄弟廬墓，手藝松柏。 喪闋，不應辟命。 久之，韋皋引為西山運務使。 奏遷判官，攝守邛州。 前刺史有以盜繫獄，辭已具。 從疑其冤，縱不治，俄得真盜。 皋卒，劉辟反，欲並東川。 從以書諭止辟，辟怒，從乃募兵嬰城守。 辟方悉兵拒高崇文，戰而敗，從完州自如。 盧坦表宣州副使。
His grandson Ju served as right remonstrator and was likewise accomplished in letters. His great-grandson was Cong. Cong, whose style name was Ziyi, lost his father early and grew up in poverty; he and his elder brother Neng withdrew together to live in the mountains near Taiyuan. During a famine year they subsisted on gathered acorns yet never interrupted their studies. He passed the jinshi examination. Cong served as investigating officer on Yan Zhen's staff in Shannan and left office when his mother died. The brothers built mourning huts by the grave and planted pines and cypresses with their own hands. When the mourning period ended, he declined all summons to office. After some time Wei Gao appointed him transport commissioner for the western hills. He was promoted on memorial to staff judge and served as acting prefect of Qiongzhou. The previous prefect had been imprisoned for theft, and the case against him was already complete. Cong suspected a miscarriage of justice, released the man without proceeding, and soon captured the real thief. After Gao died, Liu Pi rebelled and sought to annex Dongchuan as well. Cong wrote urging Pi to desist; when Pi grew enraged, Cong raised troops and held the city under siege. Pi had massed his forces against Gao Chongwen, but after defeat Cong kept the prefecture intact as before. Lu Tan recommended him as vice-commissioner of Xuanzhou.
5
入為殿中侍御史，遷吏部員外郎。 異時，史給選者成牒，以先後丐賕，從一限出之，後遂為法。 裴度為御史中丞，奏以右司郎中知雜事。 度已相，代為中丞。 所彈治，不屈權幸。 事系台閣而付仗內者，必請還有司。 薦引御史，務取質重廉退者。 李翛以寵得京兆尹，為莊憲太后山陵橋道使，務以減末徭費為功，至不治道輴車留渭橋，久不得進。 從三劾之，無少貸。
He entered the capital as palace attendant censor and was promoted to vice-director of the Ministry of Personnel. Formerly, clerks who handled appointments would complete the registers and solicit bribes according to order of priority; Cong required all selections to be issued within one deadline, and this thereafter became standard practice. When Pei Du served as censor-in-chief, he had Cong, as right bureau director, manage the bureau's miscellaneous affairs. After Du became chief minister, Cong succeeded him as censor-in-chief. In his impeachments he never yielded to the powerful or the favored. Whenever cases under the censorate's jurisdiction were transferred to the inner palace guard, he insisted they be returned to the proper offices. In recommending censors he sought men of solid character, dignity, and retiring integrity. Li Xiao, favored at court, became metropolitan magistrate of Jingzhao and commissioner for the mausoleum roads of Empress Dowager Zhuangxian; he made a show of cutting minor corvée costs, so that he neglected the road and the funeral carriage was stranded at Weiqiao for a long time. Cong impeached him three times without the slightest leniency.
6
俄授陝虢觀察使。 遷尚書右丞。 王承宗請割德、棣而遣子入侍也，憲宗選堪使者，以命從。 議者謂承宗狠譎，非單使可屈。 次魏，田弘正請以五百騎從，辭之，惟童騎十數，疾趨鎮。 集軍士球場宣詔，為陳逆順大節禍福之效，音辭暢厲，士感動，承宗自失，貌愈恭，至泣下，即按二州戶口、符印上之。 還為山南西道節度使。 帝欲遂相，監軍使揣知，為用事者求金，從不肯答，用是不得相。 長慶初，繇尚書左丞領鄜坊節度。 屬部多神策屯軍，數亂法驕橫，吏不能制，從一繩以法，下皆重足畏之。 党項互市羊馬，類先遺帥守，從獨不取，而厚慰待之，羌不敢盜境。 寶曆初，為東都留守。 故事，留司官入宮城門列晨衙見留守。 吏誕傲，久廢，至是復行。
He was soon appointed observation commissioner of Shan and Guo. He was promoted to right vice-director of the Department of State Affairs. When Wang Chengzong offered to surrender De and Di prefectures and send his son to court as hostage, Xianzong chose a capable envoy and appointed Cong. Critics said Chengzong was fierce and treacherous and could not be swayed by a lone envoy. At Wei, Tian Hongzheng offered five hundred horsemen as escort, but Cong declined and rode on with only a dozen youths, pressing swiftly to the garrison. He gathered the troops on the drill ground, read the edict, and expounded the great principles of loyalty and rebellion and the consequences of fortune and ruin; his voice rang clear and forceful. The soldiers were moved; Chengzong was thrown off balance, grew ever more deferential, even to tears, and at once submitted the household registers and seals of the two prefectures. On his return he was made military commissioner of Shannan West Circuit. The emperor meant to appoint him chief minister, but the army supervisor guessed this and, acting for those in power, demanded a bribe; Cong refused, and for that reason never received the post. At the start of the Changqing era he moved from left vice-director of the Department of State Affairs to military commissioner of Bian and Fang. His jurisdiction held many Shence encampments whose troops repeatedly broke the law in arrogant defiance; officials could not control them, but Cong applied the law without exception until all below trembled before him. When Tangut tribes came to trade sheep and horses, commanders usually accepted gifts in advance; Cong alone refused them yet treated the traders generously, and the Qiang did not dare raid his border. At the start of the Baoli era he became defender of the Eastern Capital. By precedent, capital staff who entered the palace-city gate would line up for morning audience with the defender. Officials had grown arrogant and the custom had long lapsed; Cong restored it.
7
召拜戶部尚書。 宰相李宗閔以從裴度、李德裕所善，內不喜。 從求致仕，除太子賓客，分司東都，告滿百日去。 於是眾嘩語不平，宗閔懼，復授檢校尚書左僕射、淮南節度副大使，知節度事。 揚州凡交易貲產、奴婢有貫率錢，畜羊有口算，又貿曲牟其贏，以佐用度，從皆蠲除之。 官吏俸帛常加倍以給，獨節度使則否，從皆與之同。 大和六年卒，年七十二。 下有刲股肉以祭者。 贈司空，諡曰貞。
He was summoned and appointed minister of revenue. Chief Minister Li Zongmin disliked Cong inwardly because he was close to Pei Du and Li Deyu. Cong asked to retire and was made guest of the heir apparent with duty at the Eastern Capital; after completing the required hundred-day notice he left office. The public outcry was so loud that Zongmin grew alarmed and reappointed him acting left vice-director of the Department of State Affairs and vice commissioner of Huainan with control of the circuit. At Yangzhou every transaction in property or slaves carried a per-string levy, every sheep a head tax, and officials also profited on yeast sales to pad expenses; Cong abolished all of these. Officials' salary silks were usually paid at double rate, but the military commissioner alone was excluded; Cong extended the double payment to himself as well. He died in the sixth year of Dahe, at the age of seventy-two. Some of his subordinates cut flesh from their thighs as a mourning sacrifice. He was posthumously made minister of works, with the posthumous name Zhen.
8
從為人嚴偉，立朝棱棱有風望，不喜交權利，忠厚而讓。 階品當立門戟，終不請。 位方鎮，內無聲妓娛玩。 士大夫賢之。 曾孫能能，字子才。 硃泚之亂，渾瑊以朔方軍戰武功，引佐幕府。 進累侍御史。 河東鄭儋表為判官。 累遷黔中觀察使，以讒坐貶。 從為中丞，奏以自代。 繇將作監授嶺南節度使，與從皆秉節居鎮，世傳為榮。 卒，年六十八，贈禮部尚書。
Cong was stern and imposing in bearing; in court he stood out with commanding dignity, shunned dealings in power and profit, and was loyal, generous, and self-effacing. His rank entitled him to ceremonial gate halberds, yet he never requested them. Though he held a frontier command, he kept no singers or entertainers in his household. Men of letters esteemed him. His great-grandson was Neng, whose style name was Zicai. During Zhu Ci's rebellion, Hun Jian fought at Wugong with the Shuofang army and brought Neng onto his staff. He rose through successive appointments as attending censor. Zheng Dan of Hedong recommended him as staff judge. He rose to observation commissioner of Qianzhong but was demoted after falling victim to slander. When Cong became censor-in-chief, he memorialized that Neng should succeed him. He advanced from director of palace construction to military commissioner of Lingnan; he and Cong both held frontier commands at the same time, a distinction their family long prized. He died at sixty-eight and was posthumously made minister of rites.
9
從子慎由、安潛。 能子彥曾。 能從子慎由慎由，字敬止。 聰警強記，資端厚，有父風采。 繇進士第擢賢良方正異等。 鄭滑高銖辟府判官。 入為右拾遺，進翰林學士。 授湖南觀察使。 召還，由刑部侍郎領浙西。 入遷戶部侍郎，判戶部。 始，慎由苦目疾，不得視，醫為治刮，適愈而召。
Cong's nephews were Shenyou and An Qian. Neng's son was Yanzeng. Neng's nephew Shenyou, whose style name was Jingzhi. He was quick-witted with a formidable memory, upright and steady in character, and bore his father's dignity. After passing the jinshi examination he was elevated to the highest grade in the Worthy and Upright examination. Gao Chu of Zheng-Hua recruited him as a staff judge. He entered the capital as right reminder and was promoted to Hanlin academician. He was appointed observation commissioner of Hunan. He was recalled and, as vice-director of the Ministry of Justice, took charge of Zhexi. He entered the capital, was promoted to vice-director of the Ministry of Revenue, and assumed control of the ministry. Earlier Shenyou had suffered a painful eye ailment that left him blind; a physician scraped his eyes to treat him, and he had just recovered when the summons came.
10
俄進工部尚書、同中書門下平章事。 與蕭鄴有隙，鄴輔政，引劉瑑，而出慎由為東川節度使。 初，宣宗餌長年藥，病渴且中躁，而國嗣未立。 帝對宰相欲肆赦，患無其端。 慎由曰：「太子，天下本。 若立之，赦為有名。」 帝惡之，不答。 鄴等乘是譖去之，時大中十二年也。
He was soon promoted to minister of works and associate chief minister. He had fallen out with Xiao Ye; when Ye took power he brought in Liu Zhuan and transferred Shenyou to military commissioner of Dongchuan. Earlier Xuānzong had taken longevity elixirs, which left him thirsty and irritable, while the succession remained unsettled. The emperor told his chief ministers he wished to proclaim a general amnesty but lacked a suitable pretext. Shenyou said: "The crown prince is the foundation of the realm. If you establish him, the amnesty will have a proper justification. The emperor took offense and made no reply. Ye and his allies used the remark to slander him out of office; this was in the twelfth year of Dazhong.
11
咸通初，徙華州刺史，改河中節度使。 以吏部尚書請老，授太子太保，分司東都。 卒，贈司空，諡曰貞。 子胤，別傳。 能從子安潛安潛，字進之。 進士擢第。 咸通中，曆江西觀察、忠武節度使。 乾符初，王仙芝寇河南，安潛募人增陴繕械，不以力費仰朝廷。 首請會兵討捕，號令精明，賊畏之，不犯陳許境。 使大將張自勉將兵七千援宋州。 時宋威屯曹州，而官軍數卻，賊圍宋益急。 自勉收南月城，斬賊二千級，仙芝夜解去。 宰相鄭畋建言：「請以陳許兵三千隸宋威。」 而威忌自勉，乞盡得安潛軍，使自勉隸麾下。 畋謂威有疑忿，必殺自勉，奏言：「今以兵悉畀威，是自勉以功受辱。 安潛抗賊有功，乃取銳兵付威，後有緩急，何以戰？ 是勞不蒙賞，無以示天下。」 詔止以四千付威，餘還自勉。
At the start of the Xiantong era he was transferred to prefect of Huazhou and then made military commissioner of Hezhong. As minister of personnel he asked to retire and was made grand guardian of the heir apparent with duty at the Eastern Capital. He died and was posthumously made minister of works, with the posthumous name Zhen. His son Yin is treated in a separate biography. Neng's nephew An Qian, whose style name was Jinzhi. He passed the jinshi examination. During the Xiantong era he served successively as observation commissioner of Jiangxi and military commissioner of Zhongwu. At the start of the Qianfu era, when Wang Xianzhi raided Henan, An Qian raised troops, strengthened the walls, and repaired arms without asking the court to bear the cost. He was the first to call for combined forces to hunt the rebels; his commands were precise, the bandits feared him, and they did not enter the Chen-Xu circuit. He sent his chief general Zhang Zimian with seven thousand men to relieve Songzhou. Song Wei was then encamped at Caozhou, but government forces had suffered repeated setbacks and the rebels tightened their siege of Songzhou. Zimian recaptured Nanyue City and killed two thousand rebels; Xianzhi raised the siege overnight and withdrew. Chief Minister Zheng Tian proposed: "Let three thousand Chen-Xu troops be placed under Song Wei. But Wei resented Zimian and asked to take all of An Qian's troops and place Zimian under his own command. Tian said Wei was jealous and would surely kill Zimian; he memorialized: "To hand all these troops to Wei would humiliate Zimian despite his achievements. An Qian has fought the rebels with distinction; if you strip him of his best troops for Wei, how will he meet the next emergency? Merit would go unrewarded, and the court would lose credibility throughout the realm. The court ordered only four thousand men transferred to Wei; the rest returned to Zimian.
12
俄代高駢領西川節度。 吏倚駢為奸利者，安潛皆誅之，數更除繆政，於是盜賊衰，蜀民以安。 宰相盧攜素厚駢，乃誣以罪，罷為太子賓客，分司東都。
He soon replaced Gao Pian as military commissioner of Xichuan. He executed officials who had profited through Pian's patronage, repealed corrupt policies one after another, and banditry waned until the people of Shu lived in peace. Chief Minister Lu Xie, who had long favored Pian, trumped up charges against An Qian and demoted him to guest of the heir apparent with duty at the Eastern Capital.
13
僖宗避賊劍南，召為太子少師。 王鐸任都統，表以自副。 鐸解兵，安潛復為少師、東都留守。 青州王敬武卒，詔拜平盧節度使，檢校太師兼侍中。 會敬武子師範專地，不得入而還。 後遷太子太傅。 卒，贈太子太師，諡貞孝。
When Xizong fled the rebels to Jiannan, An Qian was summoned as junior tutor of the heir apparent. When Wang Duo became supreme commander, he recommended An Qian as his deputy. After Duo laid down his command, An Qian again became junior tutor and defender of the Eastern Capital. When Wang Jingwu of Qingzhou died, the court appointed An Qian military commissioner of Pinglu with the acting titles of grand preceptor and palace attendant. But Jingwu's son Shifan controlled the territory and barred his entry, so he turned back. He was later promoted to grand tutor of the heir apparent. He died and was posthumously made grand preceptor of the heir apparent, with the posthumous name Zhenxiao.
14
安潛于吏事尤長，雖位將相，閱具獄，未嘗不身聽之。 能子彥曾彥曾，咸通初，繇太僕卿為徐州觀察使。 曉律令，然卞急，為政剛猛。 徐軍素驕，而彥曾長於撫民，短治軍，士多怨之。
An Qian excelled above all in administrative affairs; even at ministerial rank he personally heard every completed case brought before him. Neng's son Yanzeng, at the start of the Xiantong era, moved from director of the imperial stud to observation commissioner of Xuzhou. He knew the law well but was brusque and impatient, governing with harsh severity. The Xuzhou garrison had long been unruly; Yanzeng was adept at winning over civilians but poor at managing troops, and the men resented him.
15
初，蠻寇五管，陷交趾，詔節度使孟球募兵三千往屯，以八百人戍桂林。 舊制，三年一更。 至期請代，而彥曾親吏尹戡、徐行儉貪不恤士，乃議稟賜乏，請無發兵，復留屯一年。 戍者怒，殺都將王仲甫，脅糧料判官龐勳為將，取庫兵，剽湘、衡，虜丁壯，合眾千餘北還，自浙西趨淮南，達泗口。 所過先遣俳兒弄木偶，伺人情，以防邀遏。 彥曾命牙將田厚簡慰勞，而用都虞候元密伏甲任山館擊賊。 勳遣吏紿言士思歸，不敢遏，請至府解甲自歸，彥曾斬其吏。 勳陷宿州，發廥錢募兵，亡命者從亂如歸，船千艘，與騎夾岸，噪而進。 彥曾料丁男乘城。 或勸率眾奔兗州，彥曾曰：「我，方帥也，奉命守此，惟有死爾。」 斬議者一人號於眾。 俄而勳傅城，城中大霧如墮。 彥曾悉誅賊家屬，勳眾四面超墉入，囚彥曾大彭館。 有曹君長者說勳曰：「貴者不並處，今朝廷未以留後命公，蓋觀察使存爾。」 勳乃殺彥曾於寢，自監軍使逮官屬皆死。 始，彥曾治第鄭州，引水灌沼，水十步忽化為血。 署張佛筵，液蜜為人，一昔鼠齧皆斷首。 徐有子亭，下瀦水為沱，彥曾導清河灌之，鐫石龍首注溜，蔽以屋。 徐人謂屋覆龍，于文為「龐」； 清河，崔望也，為吞噬雲。 贈刑部尚書。 乾符中，錄其子祐之為滎陽尉。
Earlier, when southern tribes raided the Five Circuits and captured Jiaozhi, the court ordered Military Commissioner Meng Qiu to raise three thousand men for the campaign and garrison eight hundred at Guilin. By regulation they were rotated every three years. When their term ended they asked to be relieved, but Yanzeng's trusted clerks Yin Kan and Xu Xingjian, greedy and indifferent to the soldiers' welfare, claimed funds for rations and rewards were short, refused to send replacements, and kept the garrison another year. The garrison rose in fury, killed Commander Wang Zhongfu, and forced grain-supply judge Pang Xun to lead them; they seized arsenal weapons, raided Xiang and Heng, took captives, and with more than a thousand men marched north from Zhexi through Huainan to Sikou. Along the route they sent jesters ahead with puppet shows to gauge local sentiment and avoid interception. Yanzeng sent his adjutant Tian Houjian with words of comfort while setting Chief Commandant Yuan Mi in ambush at Renshan Lodge to attack the rebels. Xun sent an envoy falsely claiming his men only wanted to go home and asking to surrender at the prefectural seat; Yanzeng had the envoy beheaded. Xun captured Suzhou, spent treasury funds to recruit troops, and fugitives flocked to him; a thousand boats and horsemen lined both banks, advancing with a clamor. Yanzeng drafted every able-bodied man onto the walls. Some urged him to abandon the city and flee to Yanzhou; Yanzeng replied: "I am a frontier commander charged to hold this post. I can only die here. He beheaded one adviser and displayed the head before the troops. Soon Xun invested the city, and a dense fog settled over it as if the sky had fallen. Yanzeng had executed the rebels' families; Xun's men scaled the walls on every side, seized the city, and imprisoned Yanzeng in the Great Peng Lodge. A man named Cao Junzhang told Xun: "Two masters cannot share one seat. The court has not named you acting commissioner because the observation commissioner is still alive. Xun then killed Yanzeng in his quarters, and every official from the army supervisor down was put to death. Earlier, while building a mansion in Zhengzhou, he had water led into a pond; within ten paces the water suddenly turned to blood. He prepared a Buddhist offering with figures molded from honey; overnight rats gnawed off every head. Xuzhou had the Zi Pavilion with a dammed pool beneath it; Yanzeng diverted the Qing River to fill it, carved a stone dragon head for the outlet, and roofed it over. Locals said a roof covering a dragon (long) formed the character for "Pang"; and the Qing River, homophone for the Cui clan's surname, foretold devouring and ruin. He was posthumously made minister of justice. During the Qianfu era his son Youzhi was appointed magistrate of Xingyang.
16
徐吏有路審中者，彥曾知其能，頗任之。 既遇害，賂守卒，斂藏其屍。 張玄稔攻徐州； 審中率死士應官軍，開南白門，官兵入，因得破勳。 後位嵐州刺史。 鄭畋謂審中節貫神明，請擢為右羽林將軍，詔可。
Among Yanzeng's staff was Lu Shenzhong, whom he recognized as capable and entrusted with important duties. After Yanzeng was killed, Shenzhong bribed the guards and secretly recovered his body. When Zhang Xuanchen attacked Xuzhou, Shenzhong led a suicide squad to aid the government forces, opened the south White Gate, let the troops in, and helped break Xun's rebellion. He later became prefect of Lanzhou. Zheng Tian declared Shenzhong's integrity almost supernatural and recommended him as general of the Right Yulin Guard; the court approved.
17
有許鐸者，罷武城令，客于徐，勳脅以官，不從。 彥曾官屬被囚，鐸潛饋資糧，及死，為收瘞，匿免其子弟，賊平，乃皆歸其喪。 詔拜石首令，賜銀緋。 僚官焦璐、溫廷皓、李棁、崔蘊、柳秦、盧崇嗣、韋廷範贈官有差，錄其子官之。 徐彥伯徐彥伯，兗州瑕丘人，名洪，以字顯。 七歲能為文。 結廬太行山下。 薛元超安撫河北，表其賢，對策高第。 調永壽尉、蒲州司兵參軍。 時司戶韋皓善判，司士李亙工書，而彥伯屬辭，時稱「河東三絕」。 遷職方員外郎，奉迎中宗房州，進給事中。 武后撰《三教珠英》，取文辭士，皆天下選，而彥伯、李嶠居首。 遷宗正卿，出為齊州刺史。 帝復位，改太常少卿。 以脩《武后實錄》勞，封高平縣子。 為衛州刺史，政善狀，璽書嘉勞。 移蒲州，以近畿，會郊祭，上《南郊賦》一篇，辭致黃縟。 擢脩文館學士、工部侍郎。 曆太子賓客。 以疾乞骸骨，許之。 開元二年卒。
A former magistrate of Wucheng named Xu Duo was staying in Xuzhou when Xun tried to force an office on him; he refused. While Yanzeng's staff lay imprisoned, Duo secretly supplied them; after Yanzeng's death he buried the body, sheltered his sons and brothers, and when the rebellion ended restored their remains to the family. The court appointed him magistrate of Shishou and awarded him silver seals and scarlet robes. Staff members Jiao Lu, Wen Tinghao, Li Zhi, Cui Yun, Liu Qin, Lu Chongsi, and Wei Tingfan received posthumous offices in varying ranks, and their sons were granted official appointments. Xu Yanbo was a native of Xiaqiu in Yanzhou; his personal name was Hong, but he was known by his style name. At the age of seven he could already write essays. He built a hut at the foot of Mount Taihang. When Xue Yuanchao pacified Hebei he recommended Yanbo's talent, and Yanbo took top honors in the policy examination. He was appointed magistrate of Yongshou and military staff officer in Puzhou. Wei Hao, revenue registrar, excelled at legal judgments; Li Gen, records clerk, at calligraphy; and Yanbo at literary composition—they were known as the "Three Unsurpassed of Hedong." He was promoted to vice-director of the Bureau of Appointments, welcomed Zhongzong at Fangzhou, and advanced to drafting attendant. When Empress Wu compiled the 《Pearls of the Three Teachings》, she chose literary men from across the empire; Yanbo and Li Jiao ranked first. He was promoted to director of the imperial clan and then sent out as prefect of Qizhou. When the emperor was restored to the throne, Yanbo was made vice-director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. For compiling the 《Veritable Records of Empress Wu》, he was enfeoffed as Viscount of Gaoping. As prefect of Weizhou he earned excellent evaluations, and the emperor sent a letter of praise and reward. Transferred to Puzhou near the capital, he submitted his "Rhapsody on the Southern Suburb" for the suburban sacrifice—its diction sumptuous and ornate. He was promoted to scholar of the Xiūwen Hall and vice-director of the Ministry of Works. He later served as guest of the heir apparent. Illness led him to request retirement, and the request was granted. He died in the second year of Kaiyuan.
18
彥伯事寡嫂謹，撫諸侄同己子。 秉筆累朝，後來翕然慕仿。 晚為文稍強澀，然當時不及也。
Yanbo treated his widowed sister-in-law with scrupulous care and raised his nephews as if they were his own sons. He served as court writer through several reigns, and later generations emulated him wholesale. His late style grew somewhat forceful and austere, yet in his day he still had no equal.
19
始，武后時，大獄興，王公卿士以語言為酷吏所引，死徙不可計。 彥伯著《樞機論》以謂：「言者，德之柄，行之主，志之端，身之文也。 君子之樞機，動則物應，得失之見也。 可以濟身，亦以覆身，否泰榮辱一系之。 能審思而應，精慮而動，擇其交以後談，則悔吝何由而生？ 怨惡何由而至？ 如此乃可以言也。」 以為戒世雲。 蘇味道蘇味道，趙州欒城人。 九歲能屬辭，與裏人李嶠俱以文翰顯，時號「蘇李」。 逮冠，州舉進士，中第。 累調咸陽尉。 吏部侍郎裴行儉才之，會征突厥，引管書記。 裴居道為左金吾衛將軍，倩味道作章，攬筆而具，閑徹清密，當時盛傳。
Earlier, under Empress Wu, great political persecutions arose; princes, ministers, and officials were ensnared by their words through cruel investigators, and the dead and exiled were beyond counting. Yanbo wrote the 《Discourse on the Pivot》, arguing: "Speech is the handle of virtue, the master of action, the outward edge of intent, and the ornament of the self. For the gentleman it is the pivot: when it moves, the world responds, and gain and loss become visible. It can sustain a life or ruin one; fortune and misfortune, honor and shame all depend upon it. If one thinks carefully before speaking, reflects deeply before acting, and chooses one's company before confiding, how could regret or shame arise? How could hatred and malice arise? Only then is speech permissible." He intended this as a warning to his age. Su Weidao was a native of Luancheng in Zhaozhou. At nine he could already compose literary pieces; he and his fellow townsman Li Jiao won fame for their writing and were known together as "Su and Li." Upon reaching adulthood he was recommended by the prefecture for the jinshi examination and passed. He was repeatedly posted as magistrate of Xianyang. Pei Xingjian, vice-director of the Ministry of Personnel, recognized his talent and, during the campaign against the Turks, took him on as chief secretary. When Pei Judao served as general of the Left Golden Crow Guard, he asked Weidao to draft a memorial; Weidao took up the brush and finished it at once in language lucid and refined, and the piece was widely admired.
20
延載中，以鳳閣舍人檢校侍郎、同鳳閣鸞台平章事，歲餘為真。 證聖元年，與張錫俱坐法系司刑獄。 錫雖下吏，氣象自如，味道獨席地飯蔬，為危惴可憐者。 武后聞，放錫嶺南，才降味道集州刺史。 召為天官侍郎。 聖曆初，復以鳳閣侍郎、同鳳閣鸞台三品。 更葬其親，有詔州縣治喪事。 味道因役庸過程，遂侵毀鄉人墓田，蕭至忠劾之，貶坊州刺史。 遷益州大都督府長史。 張易之敗，坐黨附，貶眉州刺史。 復還益州長史，未就道卒，年五十八，贈冀州刺史。
During the Yanzai era he served as attendant of the Phoenix Pavilion with acting vice-director rank and as associate chief minister; after a year he received the full appointment. In the first year of Zhengsheng he and Zhang Xi were both imprisoned under the Ministry of Justice on legal charges. Though Xi remained composed even in custody, Weidao alone sat on the bare ground eating vegetables, a pitiable figure of constant dread. When Empress Wu heard of this, she exiled Xi to Lingnan and merely demoted Weidao to prefect of Jizhou. He was recalled as vice-director of the Bureau of the Heavens. At the start of the Shenglì era he again became vice-director of the Phoenix Pavilion and third-rank associate chief minister. When he reburied his parents, an edict ordered the local authorities to manage the funeral. Weidao's corvée work ran over schedule and he damaged a neighbor's grave land; Xiao Zhizhong impeached him and he was demoted to prefect of Fangzhou. He was transferred to chief administrator of the Yizhou grand protectorate. After Zhang Yizhi's fall he was punished for partisan association and demoted to prefect of Meizhou. He was reassigned as chief administrator of Yizhou but died before taking up the post at fifty-eight; he was posthumously made prefect of Jizhou.
21
味道練台閣故事，善占奏。 然其為相，特具位，未嘗有所發明，脂韋自營而已。 常謂人曰：「決事不欲明白，誤則有悔，摸棱持兩端可也。」 故世號「摸棱手」。 性友愛。 其弟味元，味元嘗請托不遂，因慢折之，味道怡然不屑。 所論著行于時。 豆盧欽望豆盧欽望，雍州萬年人。 祖寬，隋文帝外孫，為梁泉令。 高祖定關中，與郡守蕭瑀率豪姓進款。 擢累殿中監。 子懷讓，尚萬春公主。 詔寬用魏太和詔，去「豆」姓，著「盧」。 貞觀中，遷禮部尚書、左衛大將軍，芮國公。 卒，贈特進、并州都督，陪葬昭陵，諡曰定。 復其舊姓。
Weidao mastered Secretariat precedents and excelled at memorials and reports. Yet as chief minister he merely occupied the seat, advanced no notable policies, and devoted himself only to self-preservation and flattery. He often said: "Do not decide matters too clearly; mistakes bring regret. It is best to stay equivocal and keep both sides open. For this the age called him "the equivocator." He was affectionate by nature. His younger brother Weiyuan, when a request went unfulfilled, treated him with contempt; Weidao remained calm and unperturbed. His writings circulated widely in his day. Doulu Qinwang was a native of Wannian in Yongzhou. His grandfather Kuan, a grandson by marriage of Emperor Wen of Sui, served as magistrate of Liangquan. When Gaozu secured Guanzhong, Kuan and the prefect Xiao Yu led the local magnates in submitting allegiance. He rose through repeated promotions to director of the palace. His son Huairang married Princess Wanchun. An edict ordered Kuan, following the Northern Wei Taihe precedent, to drop the character Dou from the surname and bear Lu instead. Under Zhenguan he became minister of rites and great general of the Left Guard, with the title Duke of Rui. He died and was posthumously made special advance and protector-general of Bingzhou, buried with attendant honors at Zhaoling, with the posthumous name Ding. His original surname was restored.
22
欽望累官越州都督、司賓卿。 長壽二年，拜內史，封芮國公。 李昭德被罪，有司劾奏欽望阿順昭德不執正，附臣罔君，貶趙州刺史。 入為司府卿，遷秋官尚書。 中宗還東宮，拜太子宮尹。 進文昌右相、同鳳閣鸞台三品。 罷為太子賓客。 帝復位，擢尚書左僕射、平章軍國重事。 欽望居宰相積十餘年，方易之、三思等怙勢宣烝，窺間王室，戮忠戚，觖冀非常，不能有所裁抑，獨謹身諄諄自全。 進開府儀同三司，檢校安國相王府長史。 卒，年八十，贈司空、并州大都督，陪葬乾陵，諡曰元。
Qinwang successively served as protector-general of Yuezhou and director of guests. In the second year of Changshou he was appointed inner scribe and enfeoffed as Duke of Rui. When Li Zhaode was condemned, officials impeached Qinwang for flattering Zhaode instead of upholding justice and for deceiving the ruler; he was demoted to prefect of Zhaozhou. He entered the capital as director of the Court of the Imperial Clan and was promoted to minister of autumn. When Zhongzong returned to the Eastern Palace, Qinwang was appointed director of the heir apparent's household. He was promoted to right chancellor of the Secretariat and third-rank associate chief minister. He was dismissed and made guest of the heir apparent. When the emperor was restored to the throne, Qinwang was promoted to left vice-director of the Department of State Affairs with charge of weighty military and state affairs. Qinwang served as chief minister for more than ten years while Yizhi, Sansi, and their faction abused power, eyed the throne, killed loyal princes and ministers, and pursued extravagant ambitions; he could not restrain them and devoted himself only to cautious self-preservation. He was promoted to grandee of the state with ceremonial privileges equal to the Three Excellencies and made acting chief administrator of the Anguo Prince of Xiang's household. He died at eighty and was posthumously made minister of works and grand protector-general of Bingzhou, buried with attendant honors at Qianling, with the posthumous name Yuan.
23
武后時，宰相又有史務滋、崔元綜、周允元，略可述者附左方。 附史務滋史務滋，宣州溧陽人。 累吏勞，遷司賓卿，進拜納言。 後革命，詔務滋等十人分行天下。 雅州刺史劉行實兄弟為侍御史來子珣誣其反，詔務滋與來俊臣雜治，俊臣言務滋與囚善，掩其反狀，後命俊臣並治，遂自殺。 附崔元綜崔元綜，鄭州新鄭人。 祖君肅，武德中為黃門侍郎、鴻臚卿。 元綜，天授初以鸞台侍郎、同鳳閣鸞台平章事。 性恪慎，坐政事堂，束帶，終日不休偃，尤護細概。 外若謹厚，而中刻薄。 每受制鞫獄，必澡垢索疵，不入死不肯止，人畏鄙之。 未幾，坐事流振州，搢紳為慶。 會赦還，除監察御史。 遷蒲州刺史，致仕。 善攝生，年九十餘卒。 附周允元周允元字汝良，豫州安城人。 自右肅政御史中丞，拜檢校鳳閣侍郎、同鳳閣鸞台平章事。 武后宴宰相，詔陳書傳善言，允元曰：「恥其君不如堯、舜。」 武三思劾奏語指斥，後曰：「聞其言足以誡，安得為過？」 卒，贈貝州刺史。
Under Empress Wu there were also chief ministers Shi Wuzi, Cui Yuanzong, and Zhou Yun'yuan; brief accounts of those worth noting are appended below. Appendix: Shi Wuzi was a native of Liyang in Xuanzhou. Through long service in administrative posts he rose to director of guests and then drafting attendant. After the dynastic revolution, an edict ordered Wuzi and nine others to tour the realm in separate circuits. The Liu brothers of Yazhou were framed for rebellion by attending censor Lai Zixun; Wuzi and Lai Junchen were ordered to try the case together. Junchen accused Wuzi of favoring the prisoners and concealing evidence of rebellion; when Wuzi was later placed under Junchen's jurisdiction as well, he committed suicide. Appendix: Cui Yuanzong was a native of Xinzheng in Zhengzhou. His grandfather Junsu served under Wude as vice-director of the Yellow Gate and director of the Court of State Ceremonial. Yuanzong, at the start of the Tianshou era, served as vice-director of the Crane Terrace and associate chief minister. He was scrupulous by nature; in the Hall of Government Affairs he kept his belt fastened and never relaxed all day, guarding every minute detail. Outwardly he seemed careful and generous, but inwardly he was harsh and mean. Whenever ordered to interrogate a case, he hunted for every flaw and would not stop short of a death sentence; people feared and despised him. Soon he was banished to Zhenzhou for an offense, to the relief of the gentry. After an amnesty brought him back, he was made investigating censor. He was transferred to prefect of Puzhou and then retired. Skilled in nurturing his health, he died in his nineties. Appendix: Zhou Yun'yuan, whose style name was Ruliang, was a native of Ancheng in Yuzhou. From censor-in-chief of the Right Bureau for Rectifying Governance he was appointed acting vice-director of the Phoenix Pavilion and associate chief minister. At a feast for her chief ministers, Empress Wu asked them to cite worthy passages from the classics; Yun'yuan quoted: "To feel shame that one's ruler is not like Yao and Shun. Wu Sansi accused him of insolent rebuke, but the Empress replied: "His words are admonition enough—how can that be a fault?" He died and was posthumously made prefect of Beizhou.