3
Cui Yuan, styled Youyu, came from Wucheng in Beizhou and was the eighth-generation descendant of Cui Liang, who had served as Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs under the Northern Wei. Orphaned in youth and raised in poverty, he harbored lofty ambitions and took pleasure in studying the military classics. During the Kaiyuan reign an edict called up neglected men of talent; Yuan passed the policy examination on military strategy at the top grade, served as an aide in the capital prefecture, won recommendation from Prefect Xiao Jiong, and was promoted to assistant magistrate of Huichang. Yang Guozhong held the Jiannan circuit in absentia and brought Yuan in as left chief military administrator with charge of the rear headquarters. When Emperor Xuanzong marched west and halted at Fufeng, Yuan was promoted to vice censor-in-chief and deputy military commissioner of the Jiannan circuit. Ambitious for merit and fame, Yuan took the first news of rebellion as a cue to Yang Guozhong's intentions: he fortified the city, deepened the moat, set up lodges, and stockpiled provisions and equipment. When the emperor halted at Hechi, Yuan submitted a detailed memorial arguing that "the soil of Shu is rich and grain plentiful—stores and supplies are easy to prepare." The emperor read the memorial, wept, and said, "In troubled times one learns who the loyal ministers are." That same day Yuan was appointed vice director of the Secretariat, grand councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery, while retaining his post as military commissioner of the Jiannan circuit. When the Son of Heaven arrived, the halls, curtains, and furnishings of every court office were already in place, and his admiration for Yuan only grew. After Emperor Suzong took the throne, Yuan was ordered to join Fang Guan and Wei Jiansu at the mobile court; the emperor had a stele of enduring favor carved in Shu to honor him.
4
In the second year of the Zhide era he was promoted to director of the Secretariat, enfeoffed as Duke of Zhao with five hundred taxable households. In the first year of Qianyuan he was removed from office, made grand mentor of the heir apparent, and left to guard the Eastern Capital. At that point none of the chancellors the retired emperor had appointed still held office. After the imperial army's defeat at Xiangzhou, the troops were allowed to loot wherever they marched; frightened, Yuan abandoned the Eastern Capital and fled to Xiangyang, and an edict stripped his rank and enfeoffment. He was soon recalled and appointed tutor to the Prince of Ji. Li Guangbi recommended him as prefect of Huaizhou; he was later transferred to Fenzhou, where his administrative record won praise. He was transferred to military commissioner of Huainan; after six years in the circuit he asked to attend court in the capital, but officials and commoners begged him to stay, so an edict made him acting minister of the right and sent him back. Only after a long interval was he made acting minister of the left and entered the Secretariat to handle its business. He died in the Dali era at sixty-four, was posthumously made grand preceptor of the heir apparent, and received the posthumous title Zhaoxiang.
6
苗晉卿，字元輔，潞州壺關人，世以儒素稱。 擢進士第，調為修武尉，累進吏部郎中、中書舍人，知吏部選事。 選人訴索好官，厲言倨色紛於前，晉卿與相對，終日無慍顏。 久之，進侍郎，積寬縱，而吏下因緣作奸。 方時承平，選常萬人，李林甫為尚書，專國政，以銓事委晉卿及宋遙，然歲命它官同較書判，核才實。 天寶二年，判入等者凡六十四人，分甲、乙、丙三科，以張奭為第一。 奭，御史中丞倚之子，倚新得幸於帝，晉卿欲附之，奭本無學，故議者囂然不平。 安祿山因間言之，帝為禦花萼樓覆實，中裁十一二，奭持紙終日，筆不下，人謂之「曳白」。 帝大怒，貶倚淮陽太守，遙武當太守，晉卿安康太守。 明年，徙魏郡，即充河北采訪使。 居三年，政化大行。 嘗入計，謁歸壺關，望縣門輒步，吏諫止，晉卿以「公門當下，況父母邦乎」？ 郡太守迎犒，使所屬令行酒，酒至，必立飲白釂，侍老有獻，降西階拜而飲，時美其恭。 改河東郡，兼河東采訪使。 徙撫風郡，封高平縣男。 遷工部尚書、東都留守。 召為憲部，兼左丞。 安祿山反，竇廷芝棄陜郡不守，楊國忠本忌其有望，即奏「東道賊沖，非大臣不可鎮遏」，授陜郡太守、陜虢防禦使，晉卿見帝，以老辭，忤旨，聽致仕於家。 車駕入蜀，搢紳多陷賊，晉卿間道走金州。
Miao Jinqing, styled Yuanfu, was a native of Huguan in Luzhou; his family had long been known for plain Confucian scholarship. He passed the jinshi examination, was appointed magistrate of Xiuwu, and rose through the posts of director in the Ministry of Personnel and secretariat drafter until he was put in charge of personnel selection. Candidates who came to complain and demand better posts pressed him with harsh words and arrogant faces; Jinqing sat opposite them all day without a trace of anger. After a long while he was promoted to vice minister; laxness accumulated, and subordinate clerks seized the opening to commit fraud. In those peaceful years selections often involved ten thousand men; Li Linfu, as minister, monopolized state affairs and entrusted the examination process to Jinqing and Song Yao, yet each year other officials were ordered to join in reviewing papers and passes to verify true ability. In the second year of Tianbao, sixty-four candidates were judged to have passed, divided into three grades—A, B, and C—with Zhang Shi placed first. Shi was the son of censor-in-chief Zhang Yi, who had newly won the emperor's favor; Jinqing wished to curry favor with him, but Shi was utterly without learning, and critics erupted in outrage. An Lushan seized the chance to bring it up; the emperor held a verification at the Hua'e Tower, and more than nine-tenths failed; Shi held his examination paper all day without setting brush to paper—people called it "dragging the blank." The emperor was furious and demoted Yi to prefect of Huaiyang, Yao to prefect of Wudang, and Jinqing to prefect of Ankang. The following year he was transferred to Weijun and appointed regional inspector of Hebei. After three years in office, his policies had taken deep root throughout the region. Once, on returning from the capital to present accounts, he visited Huguan; whenever he saw the county gate he would dismount and walk; clerks urged him to stop, but Jinqing said, "One dismounts at the public gate—how much more in one's native home!" When the commandery prefect came out to welcome and feast him, he had the subordinate magistrates pass the wine; whenever a cup arrived he would rise and drain it to the dregs; when village elders offered wine he would descend the western steps, bow, and drink—contemporaries praised his reverence. He was transferred to Hedong commandery and made concurrent regional inspector of Hedong. He was moved to Fufeng commandery and enfeoffed as Baron of Gaoping. He was promoted to minister of works and defender of the Eastern Capital. He was summoned to the Ministry of Justice and made concurrent left vice director. When An Lushan rebelled, Dou Tingzhi abandoned Shaan commandery without defending it; Yang Guozhong, who had long resented Jinqing's standing with the people, immediately memorialized that "the eastern route is where the rebels will strike—only a great minister can hold them back," and appointed him prefect of Shaan commandery and defense commissioner of Shan-Guo; when Jinqing saw the emperor he pleaded old age and declined, contravened the imperial will, and was permitted to retire at home. When the imperial carriage entered Shu, most of the gentry and officials fell into rebel hands; Jinqing took hidden routes and fled to Jinzhou.
7
When Emperor Suzong reached Fufeng, Jinqing was summoned to the temporary court and appointed left chancellor. When the capital was pacified, he was enfeoffed as Duke of Han with an income of five hundred households and made palace attendant. Soon afterward he petitioned to retire on grounds of age and infirmity and was dismissed to serve as grand tutor of the heir apparent. Not long after, he was again appointed palace attendant. When Emperor Xuanzong died and Emperor Suzong was gravely ill, an edict appointed Jinqing acting chief minister (zhongzai); he firmly declined, saying: "The late emperor's testamentary edict states that the emperor shall hold court after three days; consulting ancestral precedent, there is no provision for a chief minister; following the testamentary edict, he should attend court. May Your Majesty alone accommodate the change of circumstances so that the myriad states may be blessed." The emperor did not listen. Several days later Emperor Daizong ascended; again he was ordered to act as chief minister (zhongzai), and only after firmly declining was he released from the duty. At the time he was very old and infirm; he requested to enter the Hall of Administration on alternate days; the emperor was gracious and allowed him to enter the inner gate without hurrying, and for him specially convened audiences in the Small Yanying Hall. Chancellors attending court in the Small Yanying Hall began with Jinqing. When Tibetans invaded the capital, Jinqing lay ill at home; the rebels had him carried in a litter and coerced him, but he kept silent and refused to speak, and they did not dare harm him. When the emperor returned, Jinqing was appointed grand mentor and dismissed from government affairs. In the beginning of the Yongtai era he died at age eighty-one; he was posthumously made grand preceptor, with the vice governor of Jingzhao overseeing his funeral; his posthumous title was Yi Xian; when Yuan Zai was still obscure he had been favored by Jinqing, and when Yuan Zai became chancellor he prompted the office to change the posthumous title to Wen Zhen.
8
Jinqing was generous and mild; wherever he served he was known for benevolent government. The people of Wei built a living shrine to him and erected a stone praising his virtues. Serving as chief minister a second time for seven years in all, he was cautious and restrained and rarely denounced others' rights and wrongs or gains and losses—thus he was able to preserve favor and reputation in safety. Yet he was thoroughly versed in the workings of government; the ledgers of the hundred offices—he could survey them all at a glance without omission—and critics compared him to Hu Guang of Han. When Emperor Suzong wished to make Li Fuguo a palace attendant, Jinqing memorialized: "The palace attendant's post is intimate and close; only the worthy should hold it—how can someone of that sort be appointed?" The appointment was cancelled. When the court wished to debate putting Chen Xilie and others to death, Jinqing said, "Your Majesty has already obtained Zhang Tongru, An Shouzhong, Sun Xiaozhe, and the rest—how can you add further punishment?" The emperor did not agree. Before long Shi Siming rebelled and used this episode to win followers. He once composed an epitaph for his father himself; magpies nested on the stele. When rebels entered Shangdang they burned and ravaged nearly everything, yet the Miao clan's pine and cypress groves alone were left untouched. In the seventh year of Dali he was granted joint sacrifice in the temple court of Emperor Suzong.
10
Can, under Emperor Dezong, reached the office of director; Lu Zhi wished to promote him, but the emperor refused, saying, "When Jinqing served as regent he uttered words of disloyalty. Moreover he named his sons with the same names as emperors; Can and his brothers should receive only posts outside the capital." Zhi memorialized: "A king who ennobles a man must do so in court; who punishes must do so in the market—meaning the matter is shared with the multitude. To reward without stating what is good is called crooked favor; to punish without recording what is evil is called slanderous injury. Crooked favor leaves grant and acceptance unclear and opens the gate to private favor; slanderous injury leaves right and wrong undistinguished and lets the way of calumny prevail. Can one not be cautious in this! If Your Majesty holds Jinqing treacherous and evil and Can and his brothers deserve punishment, then their crime should be debated in public; if you know he was slandered, you should also promote Can and his brothers to show the realm. Moreover Jinqing rose from the ranks of literary scholars to the highest offices; humble, gentle, and sincere, he was esteemed through three reigns—how would he ever consent to a plan that would destroy his entire clan? Even the wildest and most reckless would not do such a thing—how much less an old minister?" The emperor agreed, yet Can's career never rose to prominence.
11
Pei Mian, styled Zhangfu, came from Hedong in Hezhong; his family was of eminent official lineage, and through yin privilege he was twice appointed magistrate of Weinan. When Wang Hong served as regional inspector of the capital region, Mian was entered on his staff as aide and later served as palace attendant censor. Mian had little scholarly learning, yet he was sharp and keen and decisive in affairs; everyone regarded him as competent in office, and Hong relied on him greatly. When Hong fell from favor an edict ordered a court debate; though Mian's rank was very low, he spoke out against the false charges. When Hong died, Li Linfu had just come to power; his staff were afraid and all withdrew, but Mian alone arranged the burial—thereby he gradually made a name for himself. Geshu Han, military commissioner of Hexi, recruited him as campaigning chief military administrator.
12
玄宗入蜀，詔皇太子為天下兵馬元帥，拜冕御史中丞兼左庶子副之。 初，冕在河西，方召還，而道遇太子平涼，遂從至靈武，與杜鴻漸、崔漪同辭進曰：「主上厭於勤，且南狩蜀，宗社神器，要須有歸。 今天意人事，屬在殿下，宜正位號。 有如逡巡，失億兆心，則大事去矣。」 太子曰：「我平寇逆，奉迎乘輿還京師，退居涼貳，以侍膳左右，豈不樂哉！ 公等何言之過！」 對曰：「殿下居東宮二十年，今多難啟聖，以安社稷，而所從將士皆關輔人，日夜思歸，大眾一騷，不可復集，不如因而撫之，以就大功。 臣等昧死請。」 太子固讓，凡五請，卒見聽。 太子即位，進冕中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 乃建言賣官、度僧道士，收貲濟軍興。 時取償既賤，眾不為宜。
When Emperor Xuanzong entered Shu, an edict made the crown prince commander-in-chief of all armies; Mian was appointed vice censor-in-chief and concurrent left subordinate of the heir apparent to assist him. Mian had been in Hexi and was just being recalled when on the road he met the crown prince at Pingliang; he followed on to Lingwu and, with Du Hongjian and Cui Yi, jointly urged him: "The sovereign is weary of rule and has gone south to hunt in Shu; the altars of state and the sacred regalia must find a home. Heaven's intent and the affairs of men now rest with Your Highness; you should take the throne. If you hesitate and lose the hearts of the myriad people, the great enterprise will be lost." The crown prince said, "I shall pacify the rebels, welcome the imperial carriage back to the capital, withdraw to a secondary place, and attend the sovereign at table—would that not be joy enough! Why do you speak so extravagantly!" They replied, "Your Highness has dwelt in the Eastern Palace twenty years; now in these many troubles you should inaugurate sagely rule to settle the altars of state—yet the generals and soldiers who follow you are all men of the Guan region and the capital approaches; day and night they long for home; if the great host is once stirred, it cannot be gathered again—better to reassure them now and thereby accomplish the great enterprise. We your ministers beg this at the risk of our lives." The crown prince firmly declined; they urged him five times in all before he finally assented. When the crown prince took the throne, Mian was promoted to vice director of the Secretariat and grand councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery. He then proposed selling offices and ordaining monks and Daoist priests, collecting fees to fund the war effort. At the time the fees demanded were already low, and many regarded the policy as improper.
13
When Emperor Suzong reached Fengxiang, Mian was removed from state affairs and appointed minister of the right. When the two capitals were recovered, he was enfeoffed as Duke of Ji with five hundred taxable households and sent out as military commissioner of the Sword River West circuit. He was again made minister of the right and served as awaiting-orders scholar at the Hall of Assembled Worthies. Before long he was appointed commissioner for the imperial tombs. At this time the secretariat drafter Liu Xuan was favored by Li Fuguo; Mian memorialized that he be made his aide. Xuan violated the law, and Mian was implicated and demoted to prefect of Shizhou, then transferred to Lizhou.
14
In the Dali era Guo Ziyi said to Emperor Daizong, "Mian was the first to assist the late emperor, galloping to Lingwu; he earned merit for the altars of state; Cheng Yuanzhen resented his talent and framed him with false charges—the realm was wronged on his account. Your Majesty should recall Mian to court and again make him chancellor—he will surely bring orderly rule and accomplished transformation." At that time Yuan Zai held power; Mian had long ago selected and promoted him; Zai was grateful and also took advantage of Mian's feeble illness and of his standing below himself, so Mian was appointed minister of the left and grand councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery. When he entered audience he could not rise to bow; Zai himself supported him and spoke the words of thanks in his stead. Before long he was concurrently made deputy commander-in-chief of Henan and the Jiang-Huai region and defender of the Eastern Capital. In less than a month he died; an edict posthumously made him grand marshal.
15
Mian conducted himself with loyalty and diligence, yet did not understand the great principles of a chancellor. By nature he was extravagant; long accustomed to high rank, his carriages, food, clothing, and drink were all lustrous and lavish; he kept a dozen or more stable horses worth several hundred strings of cash each; at his grand banquets for guests he could not even name every dish; the headcloth he designed himself was so finely made that people competed to copy it, calling it the "Vice Minister's Cap." His concurrent commissions were numerous; when a clerk reported that his monthly salary ledger came to two thousand strings of cash, Mian looked it over with visible delight—later ages reviled his greed. At first only Miao Jinqing received joint sacrifice in Emperor Suzong's temple; more than twenty years after Mian's death a man named Su Zhengyuan memorialized: "When Emperor Suzong was commander-in-chief his forces numbered but a single brigade; amid the founding struggle Mian discerned the great principle of urging him to take the throne and raised nearly a hundred thousand fierce warriors. More than a month later Fang Guan arrived; and a year after that Jinqing arrived. Now Jinqing shares in sacrifice, yet Mian is excluded." An edict ordered Mian granted joint sacrifice in Emperor Suzong's temple.
16
17
裴遵慶，字少良，絳州聞喜人。 幼強學，該綜圖傳，外晦內明，不幹當世。 年既長，始以仕家推蔭為興寧陵丞，調大理丞。 邊將蕭克濟督役苛暴，役者有醜言，有司以大逆論，遵慶曰：「財不足聚人，力不足加眾，焉能反？」 由是全救數十族。 頻擢吏部員外郎，判南曹。 天寶時，選者歲萬計，遵慶性強敏，視簿牒，詳而不苛，世稱吏事第一。 肅宗時，為吏部侍郎。 蕭華輔政，屢薦之，拜黃門侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 代宗初，仆固懷恩反，帝以遵慶忠厚大臣，故奉詔宣慰，懷恩聽命將入朝，既而為其將范志誠沮止。 時帝在陜，遵慶脫身赴行在。 帝還，遷太子少傅。 罷為集賢院待制，改吏部尚書，以尚書右僕射復知選事，朝廷優其老，聽就第註官，時以為榮。
Pei Zunqing, styled Shaoliang, came from Wenxi in Jiangzhou. From youth he studied strenuously and mastered charts and chronicles; outwardly retiring yet inwardly sharp, he kept aloof from worldly affairs. Only when he was older did he enter office through yin privilege as deputy of Xingning Mausoleum, then transfer to aide in the Court of Judicial Review. The frontier general Xiao Keji supervised corvée labor with harsh cruelty; the laborers spoke rebelliously, and the authorities charged them with high treason; Zunqing said, "Without wealth one cannot gather followers, and without strength one cannot overcome the multitude—how could they rebel?" Thereby he saved several dozen entire clans. He was repeatedly promoted to outer director in the Ministry of Personnel and assigned to judge the Southern Bureau. In the Tianbao era annual selections ran to ten thousand candidates; forceful and keen by nature, Zunqing reviewed ledgers with thoroughness but without harshness—the age ranked him first in personnel administration. Under Emperor Suzong he served as vice minister of personnel. When Xiao Hua held power he repeatedly recommended him; Zunqing was appointed vice director of the gate and grand councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery. Early in Emperor Daizong's reign Pugu Huai'en rebelled; the emperor, deeming Zunqing a loyal and sincere senior minister, sent him with an edict to console the rebels; Huai'en agreed to submit and was about to enter court, but was then blocked by his general Fan Zhicheng. The emperor was then at Shan; Zunqing escaped and hastened to the mobile court. When the emperor returned to the capital, Zunqing was promoted to junior tutor of the heir apparent. He was dismissed to awaiting-orders scholar at the Hall of Assembled Worthies, then made minister of personnel; as minister of the right he again handled selections; the court favored his age and permitted him to register appointments from home—contemporaries regarded this as a signal honor.
18
Once a junior clansman, deranged by illness, accused him of plotting rebellion; the emperor recognized the absurdity and took no notice. Sincere and upright by nature, he grew only more cautious in old age. Whenever he recommended talent, he felt ashamed if anyone came to thank him. When he remonstrated and was heeded, he grew only more inwardly fearful. Even those close to him knew only how many draft memorials he submitted, not what they contained. He died in the tenth year of Dali at more than ninety. When he first served as a court gentleman he wrote "Records of Royal Government," surveying the governing structures of past and present; those who knew him recognized the makings of a chief minister. His son was Xiang.
19
Xiang, styled Siren, entered office through yin privilege. At the beginning of the Jianzhong era Li Shu, as prefect of Tongzhou, had him entered on staff as aide. When Li Huai'guang rebelled in Hezhong he sent his general Zhao Guixian to build fortifications at Tongzhou; Shu fled to Fengtian while Xiang took charge of the prefecture. Guixian coerced clerks to drive the labor; when the deadline was missed he was about to behead a man as warning, and the people fled in terror; Xiang alone went to Guixian's camp and persuaded him, and Guixian then surrendered. That Tongzhou did not fall was Xiang's doing. He successively served as magistrate of Liyang and Weinan; in every performance report he ranked first and was promoted to outer director in the Ministry of Revenue. Late in Emperor Dezong's reign deputies for frontier commands were often chosen from the capital to await emergencies and then assigned in turn; Xiang was thus selected as junior prefect of Taiyuan and campaigning chief military administrator, later served as regional inspector of Shan-Guo, and retired as minister of personnel. Xiang upheld his household through learning and conduct; more than a hundred kin within and without the family shared salaries and stipends equally—the age praised his filial devotion and harmony. He died at eighty and was posthumously made junior guardian of the heir apparent. His son Yin rose to censor-in-chief. Yin's son was Shu.
20
Shu, styled Jisheng, passed the jinshi examination in the Xiantong era. When Du Shenquan governed Hezhong he had Shu entered on his staff; Shu was twice promoted to magistrate of Lantian. Chancellor Wang Duo took notice of him and had him appointed directly to the Hongwen Hall. When Duo left office Shu went long without reassignment. He followed Emperor Xizong into Shu and was promoted to palace attendant censor. At the beginning of the Zhonghe era Duo served as supreme commander and had him entered on staff as secretary for Zheng-Hua. At the beginning of the Longji era he was advanced to supervising secretary and made prefect of the capital. He was close friends with Kong Wei; when Wei was demoted for a crime Shu was made right subordinate of the heir apparent and sent out as prefect of Shezhou. He was promoted to right regular attendant and made imperial emissary to console Bianzhou.
21
樞素與朱全忠相結納，故全忠聽命，修貢獻不絕。 昭宗悅，遷兵部侍郎。 時崔胤亦倚全忠專朝柄，因與樞善。 俄以戶部侍郎同中書門下平章事。 帝在鳳翔，貶胤官，樞亦罷為工部尚書。 已還宮，拜檢校尚書右仆射、同平章事。 出為清海節度使。 全忠言樞有經世才，不宜棄外，復拜門下侍郎平章事，監修國史。 累進右僕射、諸道鹽鐵轉運使。 哀帝嗣位，柳璨方用事，全忠以牙將張廷範為太常卿，樞以為廷範勛臣，自宜任方鎮，何用為卿，恐非王意，持不下。 全忠怒謂賓佐曰：「吾常器樞不浮薄，今乃爾。」 璨聞，即罷樞政事，拜左僕射。 俄貶登州刺史，又貶瀧州司戶參軍。 至滑州，全忠遣人殺之白馬驛，投屍於河，年六十五。 初，全忠佐吏李振曰：「此等自謂清流，宜投諸訶，永為濁流。」 全忠笑而許之。
Shu had long been allied with Zhu Quanzhong; Quanzhong therefore obeyed his orders and kept tribute flowing without interruption. Emperor Zhaozong was pleased and promoted him to vice minister of war. At the time Cui Yin also relied on Quanzhong to monopolize court power and therefore befriended Shu. Before long he was made vice minister of revenue and grand councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery. When the emperor was at Fengxiang, Yin was demoted and Shu was also removed to minister of works. After the emperor returned to the palace Shu was appointed acting minister of the right and concurrent councillor. He was sent out as military commissioner of Qinghai. Quanzhong said Shu had talent to govern the age and should not be cast out; Shu was again appointed vice director of the gate, councillor, and supervisor of compiling the national history. He was successively advanced to minister of the right and commissioner for salt and iron transport in all circuits. When Emperor Aidi succeeded, Liu Can was in power; Quanzhong wished to make his military officer Zhang Tingfan director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; Shu held that as a meritorious minister Tingfan ought to hold a frontier command—what use was there in making him court director? He feared this was not the king's intent and withheld the appointment. Quanzhong angrily told his staff: "I always thought Shu was not shallow and frivolous—now look at him." When Can heard, he immediately removed Shu from state affairs and appointed him minister of the left. Before long he was demoted to prefect of Dengzhou, then again to revenue aide at Luzhou. When he reached Huazhou, Quanzhong sent men to kill him at Baima Post Station and cast his body into the river; he was sixty-five. At first Quanzhong's aide Li Zhen said, "These men call themselves the pure stream—they ought to be thrown into the Yellow River and become the muddy stream forever." Quanzhong laughed and agreed.
22
Lü Yin came from Hedong in Hezhong. From youth he strove in study; his aims and conduct were orderly and disciplined. Orphaned and poor, he could not support himself; a wealthy Cheng clansman in the district gave him his daughter in marriage and, believing Yin's talent would not long remain in hardship, generously supplied his needs—hence his reputation spread. At the end of the Kaiyuan era he entered the capital, passed the jinshi examination, was appointed magistrate of Ningling, and was entered on the staff of regional inspector Wei Zhi as branch commissioner. When Geshu Han governed Hexi he memorialized Yin as aide for branch supplies. He served as communications aide of the heir apparent. Quiet and cautious by nature, he was diligent in clerical duties; when fellow officials went out on pleasure trips Yin alone sat bent over his desk scrutinizing ledgers; Han grew all the more fond of him. He cumulatively served as palace attendant censor. When Han was defeated at Tong Pass, Yin hurried west to Lingwu; recommended by a eunuch, Emperor Suzong valued his talent and appointed him vice censor-in-chief; whatever he proposed was accepted. He followed the emperor to Fengxiang and was promoted to vice minister of war.
23
When the emperor recovered the two capitals an edict ordered all officials who had served the rebels imprisoned; vice censor-in-chief Cui Qi, vice minister of justice Han Zemu, and chief justice Yan Xiang were made commissioners of the Three Offices to judge their crimes; another edict ordered censor-in-chief Li Xian and Yin to lead the commission. Yin was inferior to Xian in grasping expedient principles, yet in applying law and citing classics he went too far; contemporaries feared his rigor, yet because of Xian many sentences were reversed.
24
In the second year of Qianyuan the armies of nine military commissioners were defeated, and the emperor was deeply troubled. Yin was promoted to grand councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery and put in charge of the gate department; the next day Li Xian, Li Kui, and Diwu Qi were again made chancellors while Miao Jinqing and Wang Yu were dismissed. When his mother died he left office for mourning; after three months he was recalled to handle gate department affairs, concurrently judge the Department of Revenue, and return to power. He was cumulatively enfeoffed as Earl of Xuchang and promoted to vice director of the gate. At the beginning of the Shangyuan era he was given third rank concurrent with the Secretariat and Chancellery; when court halberds were to be bestowed some urged that receiving an auspicious gift in mourning garb was improper; Yin removed his hemp mourning dress and bowed to receive the gift—people ridiculed his breach of ritual.
25
Yin brought in his wife's father Chu Bin as vice director of the Court of Imperial Regalia; Bin's son Zhen served as a court gentleman. The eunuch Ma Shangyan had long been sheltered by Yin; he sought offices for others, and Yin memorialized that he be made magistrate of Lantian. When the affair was exposed the emperor was furious, ordered Jing Yu to investigate thoroughly, executed Shangyan, gave his flesh to attending officials, and dismissed Yin to guest of the heir apparent. After several months he was appointed chief administrator of Jingzhou and military commissioner of the five prefectures Li, Lang, Xia, Zhong, and the rest. Yin was the first to propose establishing a southern capital at Jingzhou; an edict approved. The district was renamed Jiangling Prefecture with Yin as prefect; the Ever-Peace Army of ten thousand men was established to block the route between Wu and Shu; the seven prefectures Yue, Tan, Chen, Dao, Shao, and Lian in Hunan and Fu in Qianzhong were placed under his circuit. At first chief administrator Zhang Weiyi of Jingzhou made the Man chieftain of Hengzhou Chen Xi'ang his military administrator with a thousand household troops for self-defense; Weiyi's intimate general Mou Suijin quarreled with him; Xi'ang led troops to seize Suijin at Weiyi's residence; frightened, Weiyi beheaded Suijin to apologize and turned all his troops over to Xi'ang, who then withdrew; thereafter government issued entirely from Xi'ang; later Xi'ang entered court and was made prefect of Changzhou; passing Jiangling he came to pay respects; Yin set ambush soldiers and killed him, executed several dozen of his partisans, and piled corpses at the prefectural gate—inside and outside were awed into submission.
26
The sorcerer Shen Taizhi used heterodox arts to serve Li Fuguo and was promoted to remonstrance councillor; troops were placed between Shao and Dao with Taizhi in overall command; he collected gold from the Man tribes, rewarded them with crimson and purple robes, and produced edicts from his sleeve to bestow imperial garments; cowed by rewards yet lacking funds, the Man turned again to plunder—and officials dared not restrain them. Tanzhou prefect Pang Chengding hated his wickedness; when Taizhi passed through Tan he bound him and handed him to the authorities, impeached him for bribes in the tens of thousands, obtained heterodox prognostic texts, and memorialized the whole case. Fuguo forged an order recalling Taizhi to the capital; after an audience Taizhi slandered Chengding for framing the innocent; an edict ordered Yin to investigate. Yin sent his aide Yan Ying to complete the case file and expose Taizhi's crimes. The emperor would not listen; he sentenced Chengding to death and exiled Ying to Jianzhou. Later Taizhi ultimately died in exile for bribery; Chengding was posthumously cleared of the false charge.
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In governing Yin did not fuss over small matters; in deciding great affairs he was firm and unyielding. When he was first in Hexi he knew every general's strengths and weaknesses; as prefect he memorialized that several dozen able men command the guard troops—hence both awe and favor prevailed. As chancellor Yin was on bad terms with Li Kui; after his dismissal he became known for good governance. Kui feared the emperor would recall him and falsely memorialized that establishing an army in Hunan was inadvisable; he also secretly sent men to probe Yin's faults. Yin submitted a memorial pleading his case; the emperor was angry, drove Kui out, and openly listed his crimes. Yin suffered from wasting illness and died at fifty-one; he was posthumously made minister of personnel.
28
At court Yin was not regarded as fit for the chancellorship; as prefect of Jingzhou his orders were clear and his levies even-handed. His rule rested on prestige and trust; soldiers obeyed without question, bandits vanished from the circuit, and the people sang his praises. From the Zhide era onward dozens of men held frontier commands, but none was more renowned than Yin. The people of Jing built a shrine to him of their own accord; when he died officials collected a hundred thousand strings of cash and moved the shrine west of the prefectural seat. Yin early recognized the talent of Du Hongjian and Yuan Zai and recommended them to court; both later became chancellors.
29
永泰中，嚴郢以故吏請謚有司，博士獨孤及謚曰「肅」，郢以故事宰相謚皆二名，請益曰「忠肅」。 及執奏，謂：「謚在義美惡，不在多名。 文王伐崇，周公殺三監、淮夷，重耳一戰而霸，而謚曰文。 冀缺之恪，寧俞之忠，隨會不忘其君，而謚曰武。 故知稱其大、略其細也。 且二名謚，非古也。 漢興，蕭何、張良、霍去病、霍光以文武大略，佐漢致太平，一名不盡其善，乃有文終、文成、景桓、宣成之謚。 唐興，參用漢制，魏徵以王道佐時近『文』，愛君忘身近『貞』，二者並優，廢一莫可，故曰文貞。 蕭瑀端直近『貞』，性多猜近『褊』，言『褊』則失『貞』，稱『貞』則遺『褊』，故曰貞褊。 蓋有為為之也。 若跡無異稱，則易以一字。 故杜如晦曰成，封德彜曰明，王珪曰懿，陳叔達曰忠，溫彥博曰恭，岑文本曰憲，韋世源曰昭，皆當時赫赫居宰相位者，謚不過一名。 而言故事宰相必以二名，固所未聞。 宜如前謚。」 遂不改。
In the Yongtai era Yan Ying, as a former subordinate, requested a posthumous title from the authorities; academician Dugu Ji proposed "Su"; Ying, citing precedent that chancellors' posthumous titles always had two characters, asked that it be expanded to "Zhongsu." When he presented the memorial he said, "Posthumous titles praise good and condemn evil—they do not depend on many characters. King Wen attacked Chong; the Duke of Zhou killed the Three Overseers and the Huaiyi; Chong'er became hegemon after a single battle—yet their posthumous titles were "Wen." Ji Que's reverence, Ning Yu's loyalty, Sui Hui's faithfulness to his lord—yet their posthumous titles were "Wu." Thus titles praise what is great and pass over what is small. Moreover two-character posthumous titles are not ancient practice. When Han rose, Xiao He, Zhang Liang, Huo Qubing, and Huo Guang—with grand civil and military strategies—helped Han to peace; one character could not exhaust their excellence, hence the posthumous titles Wenzong, Wencheng, Jinghuan, and Xuancheng. When Tang rose it adopted Han institutions; Wei Zheng's kingly assistance to the age approached "Wen," his love of the lord and forgetfulness of self approached "Zhen"—both excellences together, neither could be dropped—hence he was called Wenzhen. Xiao Yu's uprightness approached "Zhen," his suspicious nature approached "Pian"—to say "Pian" loses "Zhen," to say "Zhen" omits "Pian"—hence he was called Zhenpian. These were all deliberate exceptions. Where the record offered no special distinction, a single character would suffice. Thus Du Ruhui was posthumously Cheng; Feng Deyi, Ming; Wang Gui, Yi; Chen Shuda, Zhong; Wen Yanbo, Gong; Cen Wenben, Xian; Wei Shiyuan, Zhao—all illustrious chancellors of their day, each with no more than one posthumous character. To claim that by precedent chancellors must have two-character titles is something never heard of. The earlier posthumous title should stand." It was not changed.
30
The encomium says: Confucius declared that talent is hard to find. Yet human talent has its limits—not everyone can excel in everything. Consider Yuan's keen ambition, yet he lost his post and fled; Jinqing's elegant generosity, yet little force in judging others; Mian's clarity and strength, yet greed without grasp of the larger principles; Yin's service as chancellor—his merit and fame did not match his record as a regional governor. Yet each made his strengths known in his own time. Therefore the sage employs men according to their capacities, not demanding what they cannot give—and only then achieves good government. Zunqing had few flaws—he was the worth of an average good man.