1
裴劉魏李吉
Pei, Liu, Wei, Li, and Ji
2
◎裴劉魏李吉
Pei, Liu, Wei, Li, and Ji
3
裴炎，字子隆，絳州聞喜人。 寬厚，寡言笑，有奇節。 補弘文生，休澣，它生或出遊，炎讀書不廢。 有司欲薦狀，以業未就，辭不舉，服勤十年，尤通《左氏春秋》。 舉明經及第。 補濮州司倉參軍，歷御史、起居舍人，浸遷黃門侍郎。 調露二年，同中書門下三品。 進拜侍中。 高宗幸東都，留皇太子京師，以炎調護。 帝不豫，太子監國，詔炎與劉齊賢、郭正一於東宮平章政事，及大漸，受遺輔太子，是為中宗。 改中書令。 舊，宰相議事門下省，號政事堂，長孫無忌以司空、房玄齡以仆射、魏徵以太子太師皆知門下省事，至炎，以中書令執政事筆，故徙政事堂於中書省。
Pei Yan, styled Zilong, came from Wenxi in Jiang Prefecture. He was broad-minded and steady, spoke little and laughed less, and bore a singular moral resolve. Appointed a Hongwen Academy student, he kept to his books on rest days while his fellows went out to wander. When the authorities sought to recommend him with a formal petition, he declined because his work was unfinished. After ten years of tireless study, he mastered the Zuo Tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals. He passed the Mingjing examination and received his degree. He served as secretary of the Si Cang section in Puzhou, then as censor and diarist-attendant, rising by degrees to vice minister of the Huangmen. In the second year of the Tiaolu era, he was made one of the Three Chiefs of the Secretariat and Chancellery. He was promoted further to attendant-in-ordinary. When Emperor Gaozong went to the Eastern Capital, he left the crown prince in the capital and entrusted Yan with his care. When the emperor fell ill, the crown prince supervised the realm. An edict named Yan, Liu Qixian, and Guo Zhengyi to deliberate on state affairs at the Eastern Palace. As the emperor's illness turned critical, they received his deathbed charge to assist the crown prince, who then ascended as Emperor Zhongzong. His title was changed to chief of the Secretariat. By old custom, chancellors deliberated at the Chancellery in what was called the Hall of Administration. Sun Wuji as minister of works, Fang Xuanling as vice director of the Department of State Affairs, and Wei Zheng as grand tutor of the crown prince had all handled Chancellery business. Under Yan, the chief of the Secretariat held the administrative brush, and so the Hall of Administration was moved to the Secretariat.
4
中宗欲以後父韋玄貞為侍中及授乳媼子五品官，炎固執不從，帝怒曰：「我意讓國與玄貞，豈不可？ 何惜侍中邪？」 炎懼，因與武後謀廢帝。 後命炎洎劉祎之率羽林將軍程務挺、張虔勖勒兵入宮，宣太后令，扶帝下殿，帝曰：「我何罪？」 後曰：「以天下與玄貞，安得無罪？」 乃廢帝為盧陵王，更立豫王為皇帝。 以定策功，封永清縣男。
Zhongzong wished to appoint his father-in-law Wei Xuanzhen attendant-in-ordinary and grant fifth-rank posts to his wet nurse's sons. Yan stood firm and refused. The emperor flared up: "I mean to yield the empire to Xuanzhen—would that not be allowed? Why quibble over the post of attendant-in-ordinary? Yan, alarmed, joined Empress Wu in plotting to depose the emperor. The empress ordered Yan and Liu Yizhi to lead Yulin generals Cheng Wuting and Zhang Qianxu with troops into the palace, proclaim the empress dowager's command, and bring the emperor down from the throne. The emperor cried, "What crime have I committed? The empress replied, "To give the empire to Xuanzhen—how could that be guiltless?" They deposed him as Prince of Luling and enthroned Prince Yu in his place. For his role in fixing the succession, he was enfeoffed Baron of Yongqing.
5
後已持政，稍自肆，於是武承嗣請立七廟，追王其先，炎諫曰：「太后天下母，以盛德臨朝，宜存至公，不容追王祖考，示自私。 且獨不見呂氏事乎！」 後曰：「呂氏之王，權屬生人，今追崇先世，在亡跡異，安得同哉！」 炎曰：「蔓草難圖，漸不可長。」 後不悅而罷。 承嗣又諷太后誅韓王元嘉、魯王靈夔，以絕宗室望，劉祎之、韋仁約畏默不敢言，炎獨固爭，後愈銜怒。 未幾，賜爵河東縣侯。
Once the empress held power, she grew ever bolder. Wu Chengsi then asked to establish seven ancestral temples and ennoble his forebears. Yan remonstrated: "Your Majesty is mother to the realm and governs with great virtue. You should preserve absolute fairness. You must not ennoble your grandfather and father, for that would show self-interest. Have you not seen what became of the Lü clan! The empress answered, "When the Lü were ennobled, power still rested with the living. To honor ancestors now is a matter of the dead, not the same at all—how can you equate them?" Yan said, "Weeds are hard to root out once they spread. What grows by degrees must not be indulged." The empress was displeased and let the matter drop. Chengsi also urged the empress dowager to execute the Prince of Han, Yuanjia, and the Prince of Lu, Lingkai, to extinguish hope among the imperial clan. Liu Yizhi and Wei Renyue, afraid, kept silent. Yan alone contested the matter stubbornly, and the empress's resentment deepened. Not long after, he was granted the title Marquis of Hedong.
6
豫王雖為帝，未嘗省天下事。 炎謀乘太后出遊龍門，以兵執之，還政天子。 會久雨，太后不出而止。 徐敬業兵興，後議討之，炎曰：「天子年長矣，不豫政，故豎子有辭。 今若復子明辟，賊不討而解。」 御史崔詧曰：「炎受顧托，身總大權，聞亂不討，乃請太后歸政，此必有異圖。」 後乃捕炎送詔獄，遣御史大夫騫味道、御史魚承曄參鞫之。 鳳閣侍郎胡元範曰：「炎社稷臣，有功於國，悉心事上，天下所知，臣明其不反。」 納言劉齊賢、左衛率蔣儼繼辨之，後曰：「炎反有端，顧卿未知耳。」 元範、齊賢曰：「若炎反，臣輩亦反矣。」 後曰：「朕知炎反，卿輩不反。」 遂斬於都亭驛。
Though Prince Yu sat on the throne, he had never handled the affairs of the realm. Yan plotted to seize the empress dowager by force when she went out to Longmen and restore rule to the Son of Heaven. Prolonged rain kept the empress dowager indoors, and the plan came to nothing. When Xu Jingye raised arms, the empress discussed suppressing him. Yan said, "The Son of Heaven is already grown, yet does not govern. That is why this upstart has words to justify himself. If you now restore the son and make the succession clear, the rebels will dissolve without a fight. Censor Cui Cha said, "Yan received the emperor's dying charge and holds supreme power himself. Hearing of rebellion, he does not suppress it, yet asks the empress dowager to return rule. He must harbor some other design." The empress had Yan seized and sent to the imperial prison, dispatching vice censor-in-chief Qian Weidao and censor Yu Chengyao to examine him. Fengge vice minister Hu Yuanfan said, "Yan is a pillar of the state. His service to the throne is known throughout the realm. I know he did not rebel. Remonstrance officer Liu Qixian and Left Guard commander Jiang Yan argued for him in turn. The empress said, "Yan's rebellion has its grounds—you simply do not yet know them." Yuanfan and Qixian said, "If Yan rebelled, then we have rebelled too." The empress said, "I know Yan rebelled. You did not." He was beheaded at Duting Station.
7
炎被劾，或勉其遜辭，炎曰：「宰相下獄，理不可全。」 卒不折節，籍其家，無擔石之贏。 初，炎見裴行儉破突厥有功，沮薄之，乃斬降虜阿史那伏念等五十餘人，議者恨其冒克，且使國家失信四夷，以為陰禍有知雲。 睿宗立，贈太尉、益州大都督，謚曰忠。
When Yan was impeached, some urged him to soften his words. He said, "When a chancellor enters prison, it is unreasonable to expect to leave whole. He never yielded. When his household was searched, there was not even a full load of grain to his name. Earlier, when Pei Xingjian won merit defeating the Turks, Yan belittled him and executed more than fifty surrendered captives, including Ashina Funician. Critics resented his false claim to glory and held that he had made the state lose the trust of the four quarters; many thought hidden retribution had taken notice. When Ruizong took the throne, Yan was posthumously ennobled grand commandant and grand protector of Yizhou, with the posthumous name Loyal.
8
元範者，申州義陽人。 介廉有才，以炎故，流死巂州。
Yuanfan came from Yiyang in Shen Prefecture. Upright, incorruptible, and talented, he was exiled because of Yan and died in Xizhou.
9
炎從子伷先。 伷先未冠，推蔭為太仆丞。 炎死，坐流嶺南。 上變求面陳得失，後召見，盛氣待之，曰：「炎謀反，法當誅，尚何道？」 伷先對曰：「陛下唐家婦，身荷先帝顧命，今雖臨朝，當責任大臣，須東宮年就德成，復子明辟，奈何遽王諸武、斥宗室？ 炎為唐忠臣，而戮逮子孫，海內憤怨。 臣愚謂陛下宜還太子東宮，罷諸武權。 不然，豪傑乘時而動，不可不懼！」 後怒，命曳出，杖之朝堂，長流州。
Yan's grandnephew was Xianxian. Xianxian had not yet come of age when he entered office by inherited privilege as vice director of the Imperial Stud. After Yan's death, Xianxian was implicated and banished to Lingnan. He submitted a petition of grievance asking to speak face to face. The empress summoned him and met him with fierce bearing. "Yan plotted rebellion and by law deserved death," she said. "What more is there to say? Xianxian answered, "Your Majesty is a daughter-in-law of the house of Tang and received the late emperor's dying charge. Though you hold court, you should entrust great affairs to senior ministers. When the crown prince reaches maturity in years and virtue, restore the son and clarify the throne. Why so hastily ennoble the Wu and cast out the imperial clan? Yan had been a faithful servant of Tang, yet the killing reached his descendants—and anger spread across the empire. I believe Your Majesty should return the crown prince to the Eastern Palace and strip the Wu of power. Otherwise bold men will seize the moment. You cannot but fear what follows! The empress, enraged, had him dragged out and beaten in the court hall, then exiled to a distant prefecture.
10
歲餘，逃歸，為吏跡捕，流北庭。 無復名檢，專居賄，五年至數千萬。 娶降胡女為妻，妻有黃金、駿馬、牛羊，以財自雄。 養客數百人。 自北庭屬京師，多其客，廞诇朝廷事，聞知十常七八。 時補闕李秦授為武後謀曰：「讖言『代武者劉』，劉無強姓，殆流人乎？ 今大臣流放者數萬族，使之葉亂，社稷憂也。」 後謂然，夜拜秦授考功員外郎，分走使者，賜墨詔，尉安流人，實命殺之。 伷先前知，以橐駝載金幣、賓客奔突厥。 行未遠，都護遣兵追之，與格鬥，為所執。 械系獄，以狀聞。 會武後度流人已誅，畏天下姍誚，更遣使者安撫十道，以好言自解釋曰：「前使使慰安有罪，而不曉朕意，擅誅殺，殘忍不道，朕甚自咎。 今流人存者一切縱還。」 繇是伷先得不死。
More than a year later he fled back, was tracked down and seized, and was exiled to Beiting. He cast off all regard for reputation and devoted himself to bribery. Within five years he amassed tens of millions. He married a surrendered barbarian woman who possessed gold, fine horses, cattle, and sheep; with her wealth he made himself a local power. He maintained several hundred clients. From Beiting down to the capital, many of his clients watched the court; seven or eight times in ten he knew what was afoot. At the time remonstrance supplement Li Qinshou plotted for Empress Wu and said, "A prophecy reads, 'He who replaces Wu is Liu.' Among powerful lines surnamed Liu, perhaps it means an exile? Exiled great ministers now number tens of thousands of clans. If they are driven to disorder, the altars of state will be in peril. The empress agreed. That night she promoted Qinshou to outer court official of the Ministry of Personnel and sent envoys in all directions with sealed edicts to comfort the exiles—in fact ordering them killed. Xianxian learned of it beforehand, loaded gold and coins onto camels with his guests, and fled toward the Turks. He had not gone far when the protectorate sent soldiers after him. After a fight, they seized him. They put him in chains and prison and reported the case. Empress Wu, judging the exiles already executed and fearing mockery throughout the realm, sent envoys again to comfort the ten circuits with kind words of self-explanation: "The earlier envoys were sent to comfort the guilty, yet without understanding my intent they executed people on their own authority—cruel and contrary to the Way. I deeply reproach myself. All exiles who still survive are now to be released and sent home. Thus Xianxian was spared death.
11
中宗復位，求炎後，授先太子詹事丞。 遷秦、桂、廣三州都督。 坐累且誅，賴宰相張說右之，免官。 久乃擢范陽節度使，太原、京兆尹。 以京師官冗，奏罷畿縣員外及試官。 進工部尚書。 年八十六，以東京留守累封翼城縣公，卒官下。
When Zhongzong regained the throne, he sought out Yan's heirs and made Xianxian vice director of the crown prince's household. He was transferred to grand protector of the Qin, Gui, and Guang prefectures. Implicated in a case and nearly executed, he was spared only because chancellor Zhang Yue supported him and was dismissed from office. After a long while he was promoted military commissioner of Fanyang and concurrently mayor of Taiyuan and Jingzhao. Finding the capital overstaffed, he memorialized to abolish supplemental and probationary posts in the capital commanderies. He was promoted minister of public works. At eighty-six, as regent of the eastern capital he was repeatedly enfeoffed Baron of Yicheng and died in office.
12
劉祎之，字希美，常州晉陵人。 父子翼，字小心，在隋為著作郎。 峭直有行，嘗面折僚友短，退無餘訾。 李伯藥曰：「子翼詈人，人都不憾。」 貞觀初，召之，辭以母老，詔許終養。 江南道巡察使李襲譽嘉其孝，表所居為孝慈裏。 母已喪，召拜吳王府功曹參軍，終著作郎、弘文館直學士。
Liu Yizhi, styled Ximei, came from Jinling in Chang Prefecture. His father Ziyi, styled Xiaoxin, served in Sui as director of the Imperial Library. Severe, upright, and principled, he would rebuke colleagues' faults to their faces, yet none lingered in resentment after he withdrew. Li Boyao said, "When Ziyi scolds people, they bear no resentment. In the early Zhenguan period he was summoned but declined because his mother was old. An edict permitted him to remain and care for her to the end. Jiangnan circuit inspector Li Xiyu praised his filial devotion and had his neighborhood named Filial and Kind Lane. After his mother died he was summoned and appointed aide to the Prince of Wu's household, ending as director of the Imperial Library and direct scholar of the Hongwen Academy.
13
祎之少與孟利貞、高智周、郭正一俱以文辭稱，號「劉孟高郭」，並直昭文館。 俄遷右史、弘文館直學士。 上元中，與元萬頃等偕召入禁中，論次新書凡千餘篇。 高宗又密與參決時政，以分宰相權，時謂「北門學士」。 兄懿之，亦給事中，同兩省。 先是，姊為內官，武後遣至外家問疾，祎之因賀蘭敏之私省之，坐流巂州。 後為丐還，除中書舍人。
As a young man Yizhi, with Meng Lizhen, Gao Zhizhou, and Guo Zhengyi, won fame for elegant writing and was known as "Liu, Meng, Gao, and Guo." All served as direct scholars in the Zhaowen Academy. Soon he was moved to right historiographer and direct scholar of the Hongwen Academy. In the Shangyuan period, together with Yuan Wanqing and others, he was summoned into the inner palace and arranged more than a thousand new books. Emperor Gaozong also secretly brought him into deliberations on current policy to split the chancellors' power; at the time they were called the "Northern Gate Academicians." His elder brother Yizhi the elder was also a supervising secretary; both held posts in the two departments. Earlier his elder sister had served in the inner palace. When Empress Wu sent her to her natal home on a sick visit, Yizhi used Helan Minzhi to visit her in secret and was exiled to Xizhou. Later he begged permission to return and was appointed drafting secretary of the Secretariat.
14
儀鳳中，吐蕃寇邊，帝訪侍臣所以置之、討之之宜，人人異謀，礻之獨勸帝：「夷狄猶禽獸，雖被馮陵，不足校，願戢威，紓百姓之急。」 帝內其言。 俄拜相王府司馬。 檢校中書侍郎，帝謂曰：「卿家忠孝，朕子賴卿以師矩，冀蓬在麻不扶而挺也。」
In the Yifeng period, when Tibet raided the frontier, the emperor asked attendant ministers how to settle and suppress them. Each offered a different plan. Liu Yizhi alone urged the emperor, "Barbarians are like beasts. Though they have been insulted, it is not worth contending over. I wish you would sheathe your might and ease the people's distress. The emperor inwardly accepted his words. Before long he was named marshal of the Prince of Xiang's household. As acting vice minister of the Secretariat, the emperor told him, "Your house is known for loyalty and filial piety. My son depends on you as his teacher and measure. I hope that among hemp, like rushes, he will stand straight without being propped."
15
後既立王為帝，以其參奉大議，愈親之，擢中書侍郎、同中書門下三品，賜爵臨淮縣男。 方是時，詔令叢繁，祎之思致華敏，裁可占授，少選可待也。 司門員外郎房先敏坐累貶衛州司馬，訴於相府，內史騫味道謂曰：「太后旨。」 祎之曰：「乃上從有司所奏雲。」 後聞，以味道歸非於上，貶青州刺史，加祎之太中大夫，賜物百段。 後因曰：「君為元首，臣為股肱，以手足疾移於腹背，尚為一體乎？ 礻之引咎於已，忠臣也。」 納言王德真推順曰：「戴至德無異才，惟能歸善於君，為時所服。」 後曰：「善。」 後私語鳳閣舍人賈大隱曰：「後能廢昏立明，盍反政以安天下？」 大隱表其言，後怒曰：「祎之乃負我！」 垂拱中，或告祎之，受歸誠州都督孫萬榮金，與許敬宗妾私通，太后遣肅州刺史王本立鞫治，以敕示祎之，祎之曰：「不經鳳閣鸞臺，何謂之敕！」 後以為拒制使，賜死於家，年五十七。
After the empress enthroned the prince, she drew still closer to him for his part in weighty deliberations, promoted him to vice minister of the Secretariat and one of the Three Chiefs of the Secretariat and Chancellery, and enfeoffed him Baron of Linhuai. In those days edicts and orders piled up in profusion. Yizhi's mind was polished and quick: he could draft and approve on the spot, and in a little while one had only to wait for him to finish. Outer gate vice director Fang Xianmin, implicated in a case, was demoted marshal of Weizhou. He appealed at the chancellor's office. Inner scribe Qian Weidao said to him, "It is the empress dowager's intent. Yizhi said, "It is simply that the sovereign followed what the department submitted." When the empress heard this, she held that Weidao had shifted blame onto the sovereign, demoted him to prefect of Qingzhou, promoted Yizhi to grand master of the palace, and bestowed a hundred rolls of goods. Later she also said, "The ruler is the head; ministers are the arms and legs. If illness in the hands and feet moves to the belly and back, are they still one body? Liu Yizhi took the blame upon himself—a loyal minister indeed. Remonstrance officer Wang Dezhen deferentially said, "Dai Zhide had no extraordinary talent, yet he alone knew how to attribute good to the ruler, and the age respected him." The empress said, "Well said." Later she privately said to Fengge drafting officer Jia Dayin, "The empress was able to depose the dim and establish the bright—why not return power to settle the realm?" Dayin reported her words. The empress angrily said, "Yizhi has betrayed me!" In the Chuigong period someone reported that Yizhi had received gold from Sun Wanrong, military commissioner of Guicheng, and had a private affair with Xu Jingzong's concubine. The empress dowager sent Sizhou inspector Wang Benli to investigate. When the edict was shown to Yizhi, he said, "Without passing through Fengge and Luantai, how can this be called an edict!" The empress considered this refusal of the imperial commissioner and ordered him executed at home. He was fifty-seven.
16
初，祎之得罪，睿宗以舊屬申理之，姻友冀得釋。 祎之曰：「吾死矣。 太后威福由己，而帝營救，速吾禍也！」 在獄上疏自陳。 臨誅，洗沐，神色自若。 命其子執筆占為表，子號塞不能書，祎之乃自捉筆，得數紙，詞懇哀到，人皆傷之。 麟臺郎郭翰、太子文學周思鈞悵嘆其文，後惡之，貶翰巫州司法參軍，思鈞播州司倉參軍。 睿宗嗣位，贈祎之中書令。
When Yizhi first fell afoul of the law, Ruizong, as an old associate, spoke in his defense, and kin and friends hoped he would be freed. Yizhi said, "I am already as good as dead. The empress dowager holds power and favor in her own hands, yet the emperor tries to rescue me—that will hasten my ruin! In prison he submitted a memorial stating his case. As death approached, he washed, composed himself, and looked untroubled. He told his son to take brush and draft a memorial, but the boy choked with sobs and could not write. Yizhi then took the brush himself and filled several sheets; the plea was sorrowful and sincere, and all who read it grieved. Lin Tai Lang Guo Han and crown prince literary scholar Zhou Sijun mourned the quality of his writing. The empress resented this and demoted Han to judicial aide in Wuzhou and Sijun to secretary of the Si Cang section in Bozhou. When Ruizong succeeded to the throne, Yizhi was posthumously named chief of the Secretariat.
17
翰者，嘗為御史，巡察隴右。 多所按劾。 次寧州，時狄仁傑為刺史，民爭言有異政。 翰就館，以筆紙置於案，謂僚屬曰：「入其境，其政可知，願薦使君美於朝，毋久留。」 即命駕去。 性寬簡，讀《老子》至「和其光，同其塵」，慨然曰：「大雅君子，以保其身。」 乃辭憲官，改麟臺郎雲。
Han had once served as censor, inspecting Longyou. He brought many impeachments. When he stopped at Ningzhou, Di Renjie was then prefect, and the people all clamored to praise his unusual good governance. Han went to the guest lodge, placed brush and paper on the desk, and said to his staff, "Entering this district, its governance can be known. I wish to recommend the prefect's excellence to the court—do not stay long. He then ordered his carriage and departed. By nature he was broad and simple. Reading the Laozi to the line "blend your light and be one with the dust," he sighed and said, "The great elegant gentleman preserves himself." He then resigned his censorial post and changed to Lin Tai Lang.
18
方今人不加富、盜賊未衰、禮誼浸薄者，下吏不稱職，庶官非其才，取人之道有所未盡也。 武德、貞觀，庶事草創，人物固乏。 天祚大聖，享國永年，異人間出。 諸色人流，歲以千計，官有常員，人無定限，選集猥至，十不收一，取舍淆紊。
Today the people do not grow richer, bandits have not declined, and ritual and righteousness grow ever thinner—because lower officials fail their posts, ordinary officials lack the right talents, and the way of selecting men remains incomplete. In the Wude and Zhenguan periods, affairs were newly established and talented men were indeed scarce. Heaven has blessed us with a sage; the dynasty enjoys enduring years, and extraordinary men rise one after another. Men of every sort pour in by the thousand each year. Offices have fixed quotas, yet candidates have no fixed limit. Selection lists overflow; fewer than one in ten is chosen. Acceptance and rejection fall into confusion.
19
夏、商以前，制度多闕。 至周，煥然可觀。 諸侯之臣不皆命天子，王朝庶官不專一職。 穆王以伯冏為太仆正，命曰：「慎簡乃僚。」 此乃自擇下吏之言也。 太仆正，特中大夫耳，尚以僚屬委之，則三公、九卿亦當然也。 故太宰、內史並掌爵祿廢置，司徒、司馬別掌興賢詔事。 是分任群司而統以數職，王命其大者，而自擇其小者。
Before Xia and Shang, institutions were largely incomplete. By the Zhou, they shone forth and could be admired. Feudal lords' ministers were not all appointed by the Son of Heaven, and royal court officials did not each hold a single post. King Mu made Bo Jiong grand master of the Imperial Stud and commanded him, "Carefully choose your subordinates. This is language about choosing lower officials for oneself. The grand master of the Imperial Stud was only a grand master of the palace, yet even his subordinates were entrusted to him—how much more, then, for the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers. Thus the grand minister and inner scribe together handled enfeoffment, salary, dismissal, and appointment, while the minister of education and minister of war separately handled raising the worthy and issuing edicts. This divided responsibility among the offices under several posts: the king commanded great matters and chose lesser ones himself.
20
漢制，諸侯自置吏四百石以下，其傅、相大臣則漢為置之； 州郡掾史、督郵、從事，悉任之牧守。
Under Han law, feudal lords appointed their own officials below four hundred shi, while tutors, chancellors, and great ministers were appointed by the Han court; prefectural and district clerks, postal inspectors, and attendants were all left to governors and prefects.
21
自魏、晉以後，始歸吏部，而迄於今。 以刀筆量才，簿書察行，法與世弊，其來久矣。 尺丈之量，鍾庾之器，非所及則不能度，非所受則無以容，況天下之大、士類之眾，可委數人手乎！ 又屍厥任者，間非其選，至為人擇官，為身擇利，下筆系親疏，措情觀勢要，悠悠風塵，此焉奔競，使百行折之一面，九能斷之數言，不亦難乎。
From Wei and Jin onward it passed to the Ministry of Personnel, and so it has remained to this day. Measuring talent with the brush and testing conduct through ledgers—law and age decay together; this has gone on for long. A foot-rule and ten-foot rod, a bell measure and granary vessel—what they cannot reach they cannot measure, what they cannot hold they cannot contain. How much less can the vast realm and multitude of scholars be placed in a few men's hands! Moreover, those who occupy their posts in name alone are sometimes not the right choice. Some choose offices for others and profit for themselves; the brush ties itself to kin and distance, and feeling watches power and influence. Through drifting dust and wind they rush to compete here, making a hundred virtues fold into one face and nine abilities judged by a few words—is this not difficult?
22
且臣聞蒞官者，不可以無學。 傳曰：「學以從政，不聞以政入學。」 今貴戚子弟一皆早仕，弘文、崇賢、千牛、輦腳之類，程較既淺，技能亦薄，而門閥有素，資望自高。 夫所謂胄子者，必裁諸學，少則受業，長而入官，然後移家事國，謂之德進。 夫少仕則不務學，輕試則無才。 又勛官、三衛、流外之屬，不待州縣之舉，直取書判，非先德後言之誼。
Moreover, I have heard that one who holds office cannot do so without learning. The Classic of Documents says, "Study in order to enter government; one does not hear of entering government in order to study. Now sons of noble houses all enter office early. For Hongwen, Chongxian, Thousand-Ox, and Palace Escort posts, their training is shallow and their skills meager, yet their gates and clans have long standing and their prestige is naturally high. What are called scions must be shaped through study: taught in youth, entering office when grown—only then do they turn from family to state. That is advancing through virtue. Enter office too young and one neglects study; tested too lightly and one lacks ability. Merit officials, Three Guards, and outer-stream ranks do not wait for prefectural recommendation but enter directly by document judgment—not putting virtue before words.
23
臣聞國之用人，如人用財，貧者止糟糠，富者餘粱肉。 故當衰弊之乏，則磨策朽鈍以馭之； 太平多士，則遴柬髦俊而使之。 今選者猥多，宜以簡練為急。 竊見制書，三品至九品並得薦士，此誠仄席旁求意也。 但褒貶不明，故上不憂黜責，下不盡搜揚，莫慎所舉，而茍以應命。 且惟賢知賢，聖人篤論。 臯陶既舉，不仁者遠。 身茍濫進，庸及知人？ 不擇舉者之緊，而責所舉之濫，不可得已。 以陛下聖明，國家德業，而不建經久之策，但顧望魏、晉遺風，臣竊惑之。 願少遵周、漢之規，以分吏部選，即所用詳，所失鮮矣。
I have heard that a state using men is like a man using wealth: the poor make do with chaff; the rich have grain and meat to spare. When decline and want prevail, one drives men with worn whips and blunt blades; In times of peace, when scholars abound, one picks out the outstanding and puts them to use. Candidates are now too many; selection and refinement must be urgent. I have seen edicts allowing ranks from third to ninth to recommend scholars—truly the spirit of rising from one's seat to seek widely. But praise and blame are unclear, so superiors do not fear demotion and inferiors do not fully search and promote. None carefully weighs whom they recommend, but merely answers the command. Only the worthy know the worthy—the sages insisted on this. Once Gao Yao had chosen, the unkind stood far away. If one advances recklessly oneself, how can one know others? Without tightening standards on those who recommend, yet demanding that the recommended not be reckless—that cannot be achieved. With Your Majesty's sagely clarity and the state's virtue and achievement, yet no lasting policy is built, only looking back to Wei and Jin survivals—I am privately baffled. I wish you would follow Zhou and Han precedents in part, divide the Ministry of Personnel's selections—and then what is chosen will be careful and what is missed will be few.
24
不納。 進拜文昌左丞、鸞臺侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺三品。 遷地官尚書，檢校納言。 玄同與裴炎締交，能保終始，故號「耐久朋」。
The proposal was not accepted. He was promoted left director of Wenchang, Luantai vice minister, and one of the Three Chiefs of Fengge and Luantai. He was moved to minister of the terrestrial department and concurrently served as acting remonstrance officer. Xuantong and Pei Yan made a friendship that endured to the end; they were called "long-lasting friends."
25
先是，狄仁傑督太原運，失米萬斛，將坐誅，玄同救免。 而河陽令周興未知也，數於朝堂聽命。 玄同曰：「明府可去矣，毋久留。」 興以為沮己，銜之，至是誣玄同言「太后老矣，當復皇嗣」。 後不察，賜死於家，年七十三。 初，監察御史房濟監刑，謂曰：「丈人盍上變？ 冀召見，得自陳。」 玄同曰：「人殺與鬼殺等耳，不能為告事人！」 玄同子恬，字安禮，事親以孝聞。 第進士，為御史主簿。 開元中。 至潁王傅。
Earlier, when Di Renjie supervised grain transport at Taiyuan and lost ten thousand dan, he faced execution. Xuantong intervened and had him spared. Heyang magistrate Zhou Xing did not know this and repeatedly waited for orders in the court hall. Xuantong said, "Magistrate, you may go—do not stay long. Xing thought this obstructed him and resented it. At this time he falsely accused Xuantong of saying, "The empress dowager is old and should restore the imperial heir." The empress did not investigate and ordered him executed at home. He was seventy-three. Earlier, when surveillance censor Fang Ji supervised the execution, he said, "Elder, why not submit a petition of grievance? Perhaps you would be summoned and could state your case yourself. Xuantong said, "Being killed by men and being killed by ghosts are the same—I cannot become an informer!" Xuantong's son Tian, styled Anli, was famed for filial service to his parents. He passed the jinshi examination and became chief clerk of the censorate. In the Kaiyuan era. He rose to tutor of the Prince of Ying.
26
李昭德，雍州長安人。 父乾祐，貞觀初為殿中侍御史。 鄃令裴仁軌私役門卒，太宗欲斬之，乾祐曰：「法令與天下共之，非陛下獨有也。 仁軌以輕罪致極刑，非畫一之制。 刑罰不中，則民無所措手足。」 帝意解，繇是免死。 遷侍御史。 母卒，廬墓側，負土成墳。 帝遣使就吊，表異其閭。 歷治書侍御史，有能名。 永徽初，擢御史大夫，為褚遂良所惡，出為邢、魏二州刺史。 乾祐雖強直，而昵小人。 嘗為書與所善吏，刺取朝廷事，迷隱其辭，為吏所賣，遂良白髮於朝，坐流州。 臺拜滄州刺史。 入為司刑太常伯，舉雍州司功參軍崔擢為尚書郎，不得報，私語擢所以然。 後擢犯罪，告乾祐漏禁中語以自贖，詔免官，卒。
Li Zhaode came from Chang'an in Yong Prefecture. His father Qianyou served as palace attendant of the Department of State Affairs from the early Zhenguan era. Magistrate Pei Rengui of Yu privately used gate soldiers for labor. Emperor Taizong wished to execute him. Qianyou said, "Law and command belong to the realm together—they are not the sovereign's alone. For a light offense Rengui would receive the utmost penalty—that is not one uniform standard. When punishments miss the mark, the people do not know where to stand. The emperor's mind eased, and thereby Rengui was spared death. He was promoted to attendant censor. When his mother died he built a hut beside the tomb and carried earth until the mound was complete. The emperor sent an envoy to condole and marked his lane as exceptional. He served successively as attendant censor of judicial matters and won a name for ability. In the early Yonghui period he was promoted censor-in-chief, but Chu Suiliang disliked him and he was sent out as prefect of Xing and Wei. Though Qianyou was forceful and upright, he was close to petty men. He once wrote a favored clerk, probing court affairs in hidden wording; the clerk betrayed him. Suiliang reported it at court, and he was exiled to Zhou. The censorate named him prefect of Cangzhou. He entered office as grand minister of justice and imperial worship, recommended Yongzhou secretary Cui Zhuo for a ministry post, received no reply, and privately told Zhuo why. Later, when Zhuo ran afoul of the law, he claimed Qianyou had leaked palace secrets to save himself. An edict stripped Qianyou of office, and he died.
27
昭德強幹有父風，擢明經，累官御史中丞。 永昌初，坐事貶振州陵水尉。 還為夏官侍郎。 如意元年，拜鳳閣侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。 武後營神都，昭德規創文昌臺及定鼎、上東諸門，標置華壯。 洛有二橋，司農卿韋機徙其一直長夏門，民利之，其一橋廢，省巨萬計。 然洛水歲淙嚙之，繕者告勞。 昭德始累石代柱，銳其前，廝殺暴濤，水不能怒，自是無患。 俄檢校內史。 薛懷義討突厥，以昭德為行軍長史，不見虜還。
Zhaode was forceful and capable in his father's mold. He passed the Mingjing examination and rose to vice censor-in-chief. In the early Yongchang era he was punished for an offense and demoted to magistrate of Lingshui in Zhenzhou. After returning to court he became vice minister of the summer department. In the first year of Ruyi he joined the council as Fengge vice minister, co-equal with Fengge and Luantai. When Empress Wu built the divine capital, Zhaode planned the Wenchang Platform and the Dingding, Shangdong, and other gates, marking them in splendid grandeur. Luoyang had two bridges. Minister of agriculture Wei Ji moved one straight to Changxia Gate to the people's benefit; the other was abandoned, saving tens of millions. Yet the Luo gnawed at them year by year, and those who repaired them complained of exhaustion. Zhaode first piled stones in place of pillars and sharpened their fronts to cut the violent surges, so the water could not rage—and thereafter there was no trouble. Before long he was made acting inner scribe. When Xue Huaiyi campaigned against the Turks, Zhaode served as chief of staff and returned without meeting the enemy.
28
武承嗣任文昌左相，昭德諫曰：「承嗣已王，不宜典機衡，以惑眾庶。 且父子猶相篡奪，況姑侄乎？」 後矍然曰：「我未之思也。」 乃罷承嗣為太子少保。 洛陽人王慶之率險佞數百人請以承嗣為皇太子，後不許； 固請，後遣昭德詰其故。 昭德笞殺慶之，餘黨散走。 因奏曰：「自古有侄為天子而為姑立廟乎？ 以親親言之，天皇，陛下夫也； 皇嗣，陛下子也。 當傳之子孫為萬世計。 陛下承天皇顧托而有天下，又立承嗣，臣見天皇不來食矣。」 後乃止。 承嗣恨，譖短之。 後曰：「吾任昭德而獲安枕，是代我勞，非而所知也。」 有人獲洛水白石而赤文者，獻闕下曰：「此石赤心，故以獻。」 昭德叱曰：「洛水余石豈盡能反邪？」 時來俊臣、侯思止舞文法，數誅陷大臣，人皆懾懼。 昭德每奏其誣罔不道狀，卒榜殺思止，其黨稍摧沮。
Wu Chengsi held the post of left director of Wenchang. Zhaode remonstrated, "Chengsi is already ennobled as king and should not manage the pivot of state, lest he mislead the multitude. Moreover, even father and son still usurp and seize from one another—how much more aunt and nephew? The empress started and said, "I had not thought of that." Chengsi was then removed as grand tutor of the crown prince. Wang Qingzhi of Luoyang led several hundred crafty sycophants to ask that Chengsi be made crown prince. The empress did not permit it; When they pressed hard, the empress dispatched Zhaode to demand their reasons. Zhaode had Qingzhi beaten to death, and his followers fled in all directions. He then memorialized, "Since antiquity has there ever been a nephew who became Son of Heaven and yet set up temples for his aunt? In terms of kinship, the Heavenly Emperor was Your Majesty's husband; The crown prince is your son. Power should pass to sons and grandsons as a plan for ten thousand generations. Your Majesty received the Heavenly Emperor's dying charge and gained the realm—yet if you establish Chengsi, I see the Heavenly Emperor will not come to receive offerings. The empress then stopped. Chengsi bore a grudge and spoke against him. The empress said, "I entrust myself to Zhaode and gain peaceful sleep—he takes my labor on himself. This is not something you understand. Someone obtained a white stone from the Luo River with red markings and presented it at court, saying, "This stone has a red heart, therefore it is offered." Zhaode rebuked him, "Are all the leftover stones of the Luo River able to turn over?" At the time Lai Jun Chen and Hou Sizhi twisted the law with florid wording and repeatedly framed and destroyed great ministers, and all men feared them. Zhaode repeatedly memorialized their false and unfilial conduct and in the end had Sizhi beaten to death; their faction gradually weakened.
29
然昭德頗怙權，為眾指目。 魯王府功曹參軍丘愔上疏曰：「臣聞魏冉誅庶族以安秦，忠也。 弱諸侯以強國，功也； 然出入自專，擊斷無忌，威震人主，不聞有王，張祿一言而卒用憂死。 向使昭王不即覺悟，則秦之霸業或不傳子孫。 陛下天授以前，萬機獨斷，公卿百執具職而已。 自長壽以來，厭怠細政，擢委昭德，乘總權綱，而才小任重，負氣強愎，聾盲下民，芻狗同列，刻薄慶賞，多所矯虔，聲威翕習，天下杜口。 臣伏見南臺敕目，群臣奏請，陛下制已曰『可』，而昭德建言不可，制又從之。 且人臣參奉機密，獻可替否，事或便利，不豫咨謀，而畫可已行，方興駁異，是揚露擅命，以示於人，歸美引咎，誼不類此，一切奏讞，皆承風指，陰相傅會。 臣觀其膽，乃大於身，鼻息所沖，上拂雲漢。 夫小家治生，有千百之貲，將以托人，尚憂失授，況天下之重，可輕委寄乎？ 履霜堅冰，須防其漸。 大權一去，收之良難。 願陛下察臣之言。」 又果毅鄧註著《石論》數千言，述其專恣，鳳閣舍人逄弘敏以聞。 後由是惡之，謂姚璹曰：「誠如所言，昭德固負國矣！」 乃貶欽州南賓尉。 俄召授監察御史。
Yet Zhaode leaned heavily on power and became the target of many eyes. Qiu Yin, aide to the Prince of Lu's household, submitted a memorial saying, "I have heard that Wei Ran executed the collateral clan to settle Qin—that was loyalty. Crippling the feudal lords to make the state strong—that too was merit; yet going in and out on his own authority, striking and judging without restraint, his authority shaking the ruler till no king was heard of—Zhang Lu with one word was finally employed and died in worry. Had King Zhao of Qin not woken at once, Qin's dominion might never have reached his heirs. Before you received Heaven's mandate, you alone ruled; the great ministers and hundred offices simply did their jobs. Since the Changshou period you have grown weary of minute governance, elevated and entrusted Zhaode, and seized the full reins—yet his talent was small and his burden heavy, proud and obstinate, deaf to the people below, treating colleagues like straw dogs, harsh in rewards and punishments, correcting many matters until his authority gathered and the realm fell silent. I have seen in the Southern Censorate's edict items that when ministers memorialized and Your Majesty's decision already read 'approved,' Zhaode argued it should not be so and the decision then followed him. When ministers share secrets and offer approval or rejection, convenient matters should be consulted beforehand; yet when approval is already marked and underway, he raises objections—exposing unauthorized command to the world. The principle of attributing beauty and drawing blame is not like this. All memorials and judgments follow the wind of his finger, secretly echoing one another. I observe that his gall is larger than his body, and the breath of his nostrils strikes up to the Milky Way. In a small household managing livelihood, if one has a thousand or hundred in assets and wishes to entrust them to another, one still fears misplacing trust—how much more the weight of the realm? Step on frost and frozen ground comes after—you must stop things at the beginning. Once authority slips away, it is hard to gather it back. I wish Your Majesty to examine your subject's words. Also resolute Deng Zhu wrote the "Stone Discourse" in several thousand words, describing his arbitrary willfulness, and Fengge drafting officer Pang Hongmin reported it. The empress therefore hated him and said to Yao Shu, "If it is truly as they say, then Zhaode has indeed betrayed the state! He was then demoted to magistrate of Nanbin in Qinzhou. Not long after he was recalled and made surveillance censor.
30
萬歲通天二年，來俊臣誣以逆謀，既而俊臣亦下獄，同日誅。 時甚雨，眾庶莫不冤昭德而快俊臣。 神龍二年，贈左御史大夫。 建中三年，加贈司空。
In the second year of Wansui Tongtian, Lai Jun Chen falsely accused him of treason. Soon Jun Chen also entered prison, and on the same day both were executed. Rain poured that day, and common opinion held that Zhaode had been wronged and Jun Chen justly punished. In the second year of Shenlong he was posthumously named left censor-in-chief. In the third year of Jianzhong he received a further posthumous promotion to minister of works.
31
吉頊，洛州河南人。 長七尺，性陰克，敢言事。 舉進士及第。 調明堂尉。 父哲為易州刺史，坐賕當死，頊往見武承嗣，自陳有二女弟，請侍王巾盥者。 承嗣喜，以犢車迎之。 三日未言，問其故，答曰：「父犯法且死，故憂之。」 承嗣為表貸哲死，遷頊龍為監。
Ji Xu came from Henan in Luo Prefecture. He stood seven feet tall, was dark and harsh by nature, and dared speak on affairs. He took the jinshi examination and passed. He was posted as magistrate of Mingtang. His father Zhe served as prefect of Yizhou and, implicated in bribery, faced death. Xu went to see Wu Chengsi and said he had two younger sisters and asked to serve the prince at towel and basin. Delighted, Chengsi sent an ox cart to fetch them. For three days they did not speak. When asked the reason, they answered, "Our father violated the law and is about to die, therefore we grieve. Chengsi submitted a memorial to spare Zhe from death and transferred Xu to supervisor of the imperial dragon stables.
32
劉思禮謀反，頊上變事，後命武懿宗雜訊，因諷囚引近臣高閥生平所牾者凡三十六姓，捕系詔獄，搒楚百慘，以成其獄，同日論死，天下冤之。 擢右肅政臺中丞。
When Liu Sil's plot was reported by Xu in a petition of grievance, the empress ordered Wu Yizong to examine the case in mixed interrogation. Through prompting prisoners he implicated all thirty-six clans among close ministers whom Gao Que had opposed in life, seized them in the imperial prison, tortured them with a hundred cruel torments, and completed the case. On the same day they were sentenced to death, and the realm thought it a miscarriage of justice. He was promoted director of the right Sucheng Platform.
33
來俊臣下獄，司刑當以死，狀三日不下。 頊從武後遊苑中，因間言：「臣為陛下耳目，知俊臣狀入不出，人以為疑。」 後曰：「朕以俊臣有功，徐思之。」 頊曰：「於安遠告虺貞反，今為成州司馬。 俊臣誣殺忠良，罪惡如山，國蝥賊也，尚何惜？」 於是後斬俊臣，而召安遠為尚食奉禦。
When Lai Jun Chen entered prison, the Ministry of Justice judged death, yet the report was not issued for three days. Xu followed Empress Wu touring the garden and interposed, "Your subject serves Your Majesty as eyes and ears and knows Jun Chen's report has gone in but not come out. People think this suspicious. The empress said, "I consider Jun Chen has merit and will think on it slowly." Xu said, "Yu Anyuan reported Hui Zhen's rebellion and now serves as marshal of Chengzhou. Jun Chen falsely killed the loyal and good; his crimes pile like mountains. He is a locust of the state—why still spare him? Thereupon the empress executed Jun Chen and summoned Anyuan to be director of imperial food service.
34
突厥陷趙、定，授檢校相州刺史，且募兵制虜南向。 頊辭不知武，後曰：「賊方走，藉卿坐鎮耳。」 初，太原溫彬茂死高宗時，封一笥書，諉妻曰：「吾死後，須年及垂拱獻之。」 垂拱初，妻上其書，言後革命事及突厥至趙去，故後知虜且還。 頊至，募士無應者，俄詔以皇太子為元帥，應募日數千。 頊還言狀，後曰：「人心若是耶？ 卿可為群臣道之。」 頊誦語於朝，諸武惡之。
When the Turks took Zhao and Ding, he was named acting prefect of Xiangzhou and told to raise troops to block the enemy's march south. Xu declined on the grounds that he did not know military affairs. The empress said, "The bandits are already fleeing—I borrow you to sit and hold the place. Earlier, when Wen Binmao of Taiyuan died in Emperor Gaozong's time, he sealed a box of writings and entrusted it to his wife, saying, "After my death, wait until the year reaches Chuigong and then present it." In the early Chuigong period his wife presented the book, which spoke of the empress's revolution and the Turks reaching Zhao and departing—therefore the empress knew the barbarians would return. When Xu got there, no one answered his call for men. Then the crown prince was made commander-in-chief by edict, and thousands enlisted each day. Xu returned and reported the situation. The empress said, "Is the people's heart really like this? You may tell the ministers this. Xu recited the words at court, and the Wu clan hated him.
35
始，頊善張易之、殿中少監田歸道、鳳閣舍人薛稷、正諫大夫員半千、夏官侍郎李迥秀，皆為控鶴內供奉。 頊又強敏，故後倚為腹心。 聖歷二年，進天官侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。 為刺史時，武懿宗討契丹，退保相州。 後爭功殿中，懿宗陋短俯僂，頊嚴語侵之，無所容假。 後怒曰：「我在，乃藉諸武，它日安可保？」 銜之。
At first Xu stood close to Zhang Yizhi, Tian Guidao, Xue Ji, Yuan Banqian, and Li Huixiu, all of them inner attendants of the Crane-Control Office. Bold and quick-witted, Xu became one the empress trusted above all others. In the second year of Shengli he was promoted vice minister of the celestial department and co-equal with Fengge and Luantai. During his tenure as prefect, Wu Yizong fought the Khitan and fell back to defend Xiangzhou. Later they contended for merit in the hall. Yizong was short and stooped; Xu spoke harshly and insulted him, giving him no quarter. The empress angrily said, "While I live you rely on the Wu—on other days how can you be preserved? From then on she hated him.
36
張易之兄弟以寵盛，思自全，問頊計安出。 頊曰：「公家以幸進，非有大功於天下，勢必危。 吾有不朽策，願效之，非止保身，且世世不絕胙。」 易之流涕請，頊曰：「天下思唐久矣！ 廬陵斥外，相王幽閉。 上春秋高，武諸王，非海內屬意。 公盍從容請相王、廬陵，以副人望？ 易吊為賀之資也。」 易之、昌宗乘間如頊教，後意乃定。 既而知頊與謀，召見問狀，頊對：「廬陵、相王皆陛下子，先帝顧托於陛下，當速有所付。」 乃還中宗。
The Zhang Yizhi brothers, at the height of favor, sought a way to survive and asked Xu what to do. Xu said, "Your house advanced through favor, not through great merit for the realm. Your position must be perilous. I have an immortal plan and wish to offer it—not only to preserve the body, but to keep sacrificial meat for generation after generation. Yizhi wept and begged. Xu said, "The realm has long yearned for Tang! The Prince of Luling was exiled abroad while the Prince of Xiang languished under guard. Your Majesty is advanced in years, and the Wu princes are not whom the empire would choose. Why not at leisure ask for the Prince of Xiang and the Prince of Luling to meet the people's hope? That would give you the means to turn grief into celebration." Yizhi and Changzong seized an opportunity as Xu taught and the empress's mind was settled. When she learned Xu had joined the plot, she summoned him and asked the situation. Xu answered, "The Prince of Luling and the Prince of Xiang are both Your Majesty's sons. The late emperor entrusted them to Your Majesty—you should quickly decide whom to invest. Thereupon Zhongzong was restored.
37
明年，頊坐弟冒偽官貶琰川尉，及辭，召見，泣曰：「臣去國，無復再謁，願有所言。 然疾棘，請須臾間。」 後命坐，頊曰：「水土皆一盎，有爭乎？」 曰：「無。」 曰：「以為塗，有爭乎？」 曰：「無。」 曰：「以塗為佛與道，有爭乎？」 曰：「有之。」 頊頓首曰：「雖臣亦以為有。 夫皇子、外戚，有分則兩安。 今太子再立，而外家諸王並封，陛下何以和之？ 貴賤親疏之不明，是驅使必爭，臣知兩不安矣。」 後曰：「朕知之，業已然，且奈何？」 頊尋徙始豐尉，客江都，卒。
The next year Xu was demoted to magistrate of Yanchuan for his younger brother's false claim to office. When he took leave, he was summoned and wept, saying, "Your subject leaves the state and will never again attend audience. I wish to speak, yet my illness is urgent—I ask a moment's interval. The empress ordered him seated. Xu said, "Are earth and water in one bowl in contention?" She said, "No." He said, "If made into paste, is there contention?" She said, "No." He said, "If the paste is made into Buddha and Dao, is there contention?" She said, "There is." Xu bowed his head and said, "Even your subject thinks there is." Xu bowed his head and said, "Even I think there is. Princes of the blood and maternal relatives can both live at ease only if their roles are clearly divided. The crown prince has been restored twice, and every prince of the maternal line has been enfeoffed—how will you keep peace between them? If noble and base, close and distant are unclear, that drives them to contend. I know both will be insecure." The empress said, "I know it. The deed is already done—what then can be done?" Soon Xu was transferred to magistrate of Shifeng. As a guest in Jiangdu he died.
38
中宗之立，頊實倡之，會得罪，無知者。 睿宗初，有發明其忠，乃下詔贈御史大夫。
Xu had actually set Zhongzong on the throne, but after he fell from favor almost no one knew. Early in Ruizong's reign his loyalty came to light, and an edict posthumously made him censor-in-chief.
39
贊曰：異乎，炎之暗於幾也！ 知中宗之不君，不知武後之盜朝，假虎翼而責其搏人，死固宜哉！ 昭德、頊進不以道，君子恥之。 雖然，一情區區，抑武興唐，其助有端，則賢炎遠矣。 祎之、玄同漏言及誅，不失所以事君者雲。
The commentator writes: How strange—Pei Yan could not read the moment when fortune turned! He knew Zhongzong was no fit ruler, yet did not see that Empress Wu was stealing the court; he lent the tiger its wings, then blamed it for mauling men—death was only fitting! Zhaode and Xu rose by unworthy means—a gentleman would be ashamed. Even so, in their narrow private way they checked the Wu and raised the Tang; their help had its grounds—they were far worthier than Yan. Yizhi and Xuantong were executed for words that leaked out, yet they never lost what it means to serve one's ruler.