1
李楊崔柳韋路
Li, Yang, Cui, Liu, Wei, and Lu.
2
李麟，裔出懿祖，於屬最疏。 父濬，歷潤、虢、潞三州刺史，以誠信號良吏。 開元中，終劍南節度按察使，贈戶部尚書，謚曰誠。
Li Lin traced his descent from Emperor Yizong and stood among the most remote branches of the imperial clan. His father Jun served in turn as prefect of Run, Guo, and Lu, and was renowned as an upright official for his integrity. During the Kaiyuan reign he ended his career as military commissioner and inspection commissioner of Jiannan; posthumously he was made Minister of Revenue with the posthumous name Cheng (Sincere).
3
麟好學，善文辭。 以父蔭補京兆府戶曹參軍，舉宗室異能，轉殿中侍御史。 累擢兵部侍郎，與楊國忠同列，國忠怙權，疾之，改權禮部貢舉。 國忠遷，麟復本官。 改國子祭酒。 出為河東太守，有清政。 安祿山反，朝廷以麟儒者，非禦侮才，還為祭酒，封渭源縣男。 玄宗入蜀，麟走見帝，再遷憲部尚書、同中書門下平章事。 時宰相韋見素、房琯、崔渙、崔圓踵赴肅宗行在，獨麟以宗室子留總百司。 上皇還京，進同中書門下三品，封褒國公。 張皇后挾李輔國浸橈政，苗晉卿、崔圓等畏其權，皆附離取安，獨麟守正不阿順，輔國忌恚。 乾元初，罷為太子少傅。 明年卒，年六十六，贈太子太傅，謚曰德。
Lin was devoted to learning and excelled at literary composition. Through his father's privilege he entered service as a household-registration aide in the Jingzhao prefectural office; recommended for exceptional talent among imperial clansmen, he was promoted to palace censor. He rose repeatedly to Vice Minister of War; he served alongside Yang Guozhong, who, relying on his power, took offense at him and had him reassigned to oversee the Ministry of Rites examinations. When Guozhong was transferred away, Lin returned to his former post. He was appointed Chancellor of the Directorate of Education. Posted as prefect of Hedong, he governed with notable integrity. When An Lushan rebelled, the court judged Lin a scholar rather than a man fit to repel invasion, recalled him as Chancellor of Education, and enfeoffed him as Baron of Weiyuan County. When Emperor Xuanzong fled into Shu, Lin rushed to join him and was twice promoted—to Minister of Justice and Associate Councilor. At that time the chief ministers Wei Jiansu, Fang Guan, Cui Huan, and Cui Yuan followed one after another to Emperor Suzong's mobile court; only Lin, as a member of the imperial clan, stayed behind to oversee all government offices. When the Retired Emperor returned to Chang'an, Lin was promoted to Third Rank Associate Councilor and enfeoffed as Duke of Bao. Empress Zhang, leaning on Li Fuguo, gradually encroached on government; Miao Jinqing, Cui Yuan, and others feared his power and kept their distance to stay safe; only Lin held to rectitude without currying favor, and Fuguo came to hate him. At the start of the Qianyuan era he was removed and made Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent. The following year he died at sixty-six; posthumously he was made Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent with the posthumous name De (Virtuous).
4
楊綰，字公權，華州華陰人。 祖溫玉，在武后時為顯官。 世以儒聞。 綰少孤，家素貧，事母謹甚。 性沈靖，獨處一室，左右圖史，凝塵滿席，淡如也。 不好立名，有所論著，未始示人。 第進士，補太子正字。 舉詞藻宏麗科，玄宗已試，又加詩、賦各一篇，綰為冠，由是擢右拾遣。 制舉加詩、賦，繇綰始。 天寶亂，肅宗即位，綰脫身見行朝，拜起居舍人，知制誥。 累遷中書舍人，兼修國史。 故事，舍人年久者為閣老，其公廨雜料獨取五之四。 至綰，悉均給之。 歷禮部侍郎，建復古孝廉、力田等科，天下高其議。 俄遷吏部，品裁清允，人服其公。 是時，元載秉政，忌綰望高，疏薄之。 宦者魚朝恩判國子監，既誅，因是建言太學當得天下名儒汰其選，即拜綰國子祭酒，外示尊重，而實以散地處之。 載日貪冒，天下士議益歸綰，帝亦知之，自擢為太常卿，充禮儀使。 載得罪，拜中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事，修國史。 制下，士相賀於朝，綰固讓，帝不許。
Yang Guan, courtesy name Gongquan, was a native of Huayin in Hua Prefecture. His grandfather Wenyu had been a prominent official under Empress Wu. The family had been renowned for Confucian learning for generations. Guan lost his father early; his family had long been poor, and he attended his mother with scrupulous devotion. By nature he was reserved and tranquil; he lived alone in one room, histories and maps at hand, dust thick on the mats, and remained utterly indifferent to such things. He cared little for reputation; whatever he wrote he never showed to anyone. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed proofreader to the Heir Apparent. He entered the examination for magnificent literary style; after the emperor had already tested the candidates, he added one poem and one fu apiece—Guan ranked first and was promoted to Right Reminder. The addition of poetry and fu to the special examinations began with Guan. During the Tianbao upheaval, when Emperor Suzong took the throne, Guan made his way to the mobile court and was appointed Master of Documents with charge of drafting edicts. He rose repeatedly to Secretariat Drafter and concurrently edited the national history. By custom the senior drafter was called Pavilion Elder and alone claimed four-fifths of the office's miscellaneous supplies. When Guan took office, he divided everything equally among them. As Vice Minister of Rites he revived the ancient examinations for Filial and Incorrupt candidates and for Strength in Farming, among others, and scholars throughout the empire praised his proposals. Soon he was moved to the Ministry of Personnel; his assessments were clear and fair, and people respected his impartiality. At that time Yuan Zai held power, envied Guan's high standing, and treated him coldly. The eunuch Yu Chaoen had overseen the Directorate of Education; after he was executed, it was proposed that the Imperial Academy should be staffed with renowned scholars from across the realm to refine its selections—Guan was promptly made Chancellor of the Directorate, a show of respect that in fact parked him in a post without real authority. Zai grew ever more corrupt; scholarly opinion across the empire increasingly favored Guan, and the emperor knew it, personally promoting him to Minister of Ceremonies and appointing him Commissioner of Ritual. When Zai fell from power, Guan was appointed Vice Director of the Secretariat and Associate Councilor and continued to edit the national history. When the appointment was announced, scholars congratulated one another at court; Guan firmly declined, but the emperor would not hear of it.
5
時諸州悉帶團練使，綰奏：「刺史自有持節諸軍事以掌軍旅； 司馬，古司武，所以副軍，今副使； 司兵參軍，即今團練判官。 官號重復，可罷天下團練、守捉使。」 詔可。 又減諸道觀察判官員之半。 復言：「舊制，刺史被代若別追，皆降魚書，乃得去。 開元時，置諸道采訪使，得專停刺史，威柄外移，漸不可久。 其刺史不稱職若贓負，本道使具條以聞，不得擅追及停，而刺史亦不得輒去州詣使所。 如其故闕，使司無署攝，聽上佐代領。」 帝善其謀，於是高選州上佐，定上、中、下州，差置兵員，詔郎官、御史分道巡覆。 又定府、州官月稟，使優狹相均。 始，天下兵興，從權宜，官品同而祿例差。 及四方粗定，元載、王縉當國，偷以為利，因不改，故江淮大州至月千緡，而山劍貧險，雖上州刺史止數十緡。 及此始復太平舊制。
At that time every prefecture had a regimentation commissioner; Guan memorialized: "Prefects already hold the authority of commander-in-chief over military affairs; the prefectural marshal, in antiquity the overseer of military affairs, was meant to assist the army—the present deputy commissioner; the military staff officer is today's regimentation adjutant. The titles duplicate one another—regimentation and garrison commissioners throughout the realm should be abolished." The edict approved the proposal. He also cut the adjutants of circuit observation commissioners by half. He added: "Under the old system, when a prefect was replaced or separately summoned, fish tally documents had to be issued before he could leave office. In the Kaiyuan era circuit investigation commissioners were created with power to suspend prefects on their own authority—power had shifted outward and could not be sustained indefinitely. If a prefect was incompetent or guilty of corruption, the circuit commissioner was to report the particulars and might not on his own summon or suspend him; nor might the prefect leave the prefecture on his own to visit the commissioner's office. If the post fell vacant and the commissioner's office had filed no acting appointment, the senior aide might be allowed to take charge." The emperor approved his plan; thereupon senior prefectural aides were chosen with care, upper, middle, and lower prefectures were classified, troop quotas were set accordingly, and an edict ordered palace officials and censors to tour and review the circuits by separate routes. He also standardized the monthly allowances of prefectural and district officials so that prosperous and poor posts would be balanced. At first, when warfare spread across the realm, expedients were followed—ranks were the same but salary scales varied widely. When the empire was roughly pacified, Yuan Zai and Wang Jin held power and quietly profited from the disparity, and therefore left it unchanged—so wealthy Jiang-Huai prefectures received up to a thousand strings a month, while in the poor and rugged Shu region even upper-grade prefects received only a few dozen strings. Only now was the old Taiping-era system restored.
6
綰素痼疾，居旬日浸劇，有詔就中書療治，每對延英殿，許挾扶。 於時厘補穿敝，唯綰是恃。 未幾薨，帝驚悼，詔群臣曰：「天不使朕致太平，何奪綰之速邪？」 即日詔贈司徒，遣使者冊授，欲及其未斂也。 詔百官如第吊，遣使會吊，賻絹千匹、布三百匹。 太常謚曰文貞，比部郎中蘇端，憸人也，持異議，宰相常袞陰助之，帝以其言醜險不實，貶端巴州員外司馬，猶賜謚曰文簡。
Guan had long suffered a chronic illness; within ten days it grew worse; an edict ordered that he be treated at the Secretariat, and whenever he attended audience in the Hall of Prolonged Brilliance he was allowed to be supported on either side. At that time, in sorting out and repairing what was torn and worn, the court relied on Guan alone. Before long he died; the emperor was shocked and grieved and told the assembled ministers: "Heaven will not let Us bring peace—why take Guan so soon?" That same day an edict posthumously made him Grand Preceptor; envoys were sent to invest him by patent, hoping to reach him before the body was encoffined. An edict ordered all officials to mourn at his residence; envoys were sent to join in the mourning, with condolence gifts of a thousand bolts of silk and three hundred bolts of cloth. The Ministry of Ceremonies proposed the posthumous name Wen Zhen (Cultivated and Upright); Su Duan, a bureau director in the Ministry of Revenue and a crafty man, dissented; Chief Minister Chang Gun secretly backed him; the emperor judged his words malicious and false and demoted Duan to acting prefectural marshal in Ba Prefecture, yet still granted the posthumous name Wen Jian (Cultivated and Simple).
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綰儉約，未嘗問生事，祿稟分姻舊，隨多寡輒盡。 造之者，清談終晷，而不及榮利，欲幹以私，聞其言，必內愧止。 經誥微趣，學家疑晦者，一見既詣其極。 始輔政，御史中丞崔寬本豪侈，城南別墅池觀堂皇，為當時第一，即日遣人毀之； 京兆尹黎幹，出入從騶馭百數，省損才留十餘騎； 中書令郭子儀在邠州行營，方大會，除書至，音樂散五之四； 它聞風靡然自化者，不可勝紀。 世以比楊震、山濤、謝安雲。
Guan lived frugally and never troubled himself about livelihood; he divided his salary among kin and old friends and spent whatever he had to the last. Visitors found him engaged in pure conversation through the day without a word of rank or profit; anyone who came hoping to press a private request, hearing him speak, invariably withdrew inwardly ashamed. Subtle points in the classics and edicts that scholars found obscure—at a single meeting he would reach their heart. When he first took office as chief minister, Censor-in-Chief Cui Kuan had been extravagant; his suburban villa south of the city, with pools and halls magnificent beyond any of the day, was destroyed that very day on Guan's orders; Jingzhao Intendant Li Gan, who went abroad with more than a hundred mounted attendants, was ordered to keep only a dozen or so riders; Secretariat Director Guo Ziyi was at the field headquarters in Bin Prefecture, just holding a great banquet—when word of the appointment arrived, four-fifths of the musicians were dismissed; others who took the cue and reformed themselves cannot be fully counted. His contemporaries compared him to Yang Zhen, Shan Tao, and Xie An.
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崔祐甫，字貽孫，太子賓客孝公沔之子也。 世以禮法為聞家。 第進士，調壽安尉。 安祿山陷洛陽，祐甫冒矢石入私廟，負木主以逃。 自起居舍人累遷中書舍人。 性剛直，遇事不回。 時侍郎闕，祐甫攝省事，數與宰相常袞爭議不平。 袞怒，使知吏部選，每擬官，袞輒駁異，祐甫不為下。 會朱泚軍中貓鼠同乳，表其瑞，詔示袞，袞率群臣賀，祐甫獨曰：「可吊不可賀。」 詔使問狀，對曰：「臣聞《禮》：『迎貓，為其食田鼠。』 以其為人去害，雖細必錄。 今貓受畜於人，不能食鼠而反乳之，無乃失其性邪？ 貓職不修，其應若曰法吏有不觸邪，疆吏有不捍敵。 臣愚以為當命有司察貪吏，誡邊候，勤僥巡，則貓能致功，鼠不為害。」 代宗異其言，袞益不喜。
Cui Youfu, courtesy name Yisun, was the son of the Heir Apparent's Mentor, Duke Xiao of Mian. For generations the family had been renowned for ritual propriety. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed sheriff of Shou'an. When An Lushan seized Luoyang, Youfu braved arrows and stones to enter the family ancestral temple and fled carrying the spirit tablet. From Master of Documents he rose repeatedly to Secretariat Drafter. By nature he was firm and upright and would not bend in a dispute. When the vice directorship was vacant, Youfu handled its affairs and repeatedly clashed with Chief Minister Chang Gun without yielding. Gun grew angry and put him in charge of personnel selection; whenever Youfu proposed an appointment, Gun would object, and Youfu would not back down. It happened that in Zhu Ci's army a cat and a rat nursed together; this was reported as an auspicious omen; an edict showed it to Gun, who led the ministers in congratulation—Youfu alone said: "This calls for mourning, not congratulation." An edict envoy asked his reasoning; he replied: "Your servant has read in the Rites: 'Welcoming the cat is because it eats field mice. Because it removes harm for people—even small matters must be recorded. Now the cat is kept by men, cannot eat mice, yet nurses them instead—has it not lost its nature? The cat's duty is unfulfilled; the corresponding sign is as if legal officers do not touch evil and frontier officers do not repel the enemy. Your servant believes the authorities should be ordered to investigate corrupt officials, warn the frontier posts, and conduct diligent patrols—then the cat can do its work and mice will not be harmful." Emperor Daizong was struck by his words; Gun disliked him all the more.
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帝崩，袞與禮官議：「禮，為君斬衰三年。 漢文帝權制三十六日。 我太宗文皇帝崩，遺詔亦三十六日，群臣不忍，既葬而除，略盡四月。 高宗如漢故事。 玄宗以來，始變天子喪為二十七日。 乃者，遺詔雖曰『天下吏民，三日釋服』，群臣宜如皇帝服二十七日乃除。」 祐甫曰：「遺詔無臣、庶人之別，是皇帝宜二十七日，而群臣三日也。」 袞曰：「賀循稱，吏者，官長所署，非公卿百官也。」 祐甫對：「《傳曰》『委之三吏』，乃三公也。 史稱循吏、良吏，豈胥吏歟？」 袞曰：「禮非天降地出，人情而已。 且公卿在臣膺受寵祿，今與黔首同，信宿而除，於公安乎？」 祐甫曰：「若遺詔何？ 詔而可改，孰不可改？」 意象殊厲。 袞方入臨，遣從吏扶立殿墀上，祐甫指之謂眾曰：「臣哭君前，有扶禮乎？」 袞不勝怒，乃劾祐甫率情變禮，橈國典，請貶潮州刺史。 德宗以為重，改河南少尹。 始肅宗時，天下務劇，宰相更直掌事，若休沐還第，非大詔命，不待遍曉，則聽直者代署以聞。 是時郭子儀、朱泚俱以平章事當署敕尾，而不行宰相事。 帝新即位，袞如故事代署。 子儀、泚入，言祐甫不宜貶，帝曰：「卿向何所言？ 今雲非邪？」 二人對初不知。 帝怒，以袞為罔上。 是日，群臣苴绖立月華門外，即兩換職，以袞河南少尹，而拜祐甫門下侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 俄改中書侍郎。
When the emperor died, Gun discussed with the ritual officers: "By ritual, mourning for a ruler requires the severest grade for three years. Emperor Wen of Han by expedient rule set thirty-six days. When Our Taizong the Cultivated Emperor died, the testamentary edict also set thirty-six days; the ministers could not bear it and, after burial, removed mourning—roughly four months in all. Emperor Gaozong followed the Han precedent. From Emperor Xuanzong onward, the Son of Heaven's mourning was first shortened to twenty-seven days. Recently, although the testamentary edict said 'Officials and commoners throughout the realm, release mourning in three days,' the assembled ministers ought, like the emperor, to wear mourning twenty-seven days before removing it." Youfu said: "The testamentary edict makes no distinction between ministers and commoners—the emperor ought to observe twenty-seven days, while the assembled ministers three days." Gun said: "He Xun said that li refers to those appointed by office heads, not the public ministers and hundred officials." Youfu replied: "The Commentary says 'entrust to the three li'—these are the Three Dukes. Histories speak of orderly officials and good officials—are these petty clerks?" Gun said: "Ritual does not fall from heaven or rise from earth—it is human feeling alone. Moreover, as ministers the dukes and secretaries receive favor and stipends; now to be treated like commoners and shed mourning after a night or two—how can that be fitting for gentlemen?" Youfu said: "What of the testamentary edict then? If an edict may be changed, what may not be changed?" His bearing and intent were exceptionally stern. Gun was just entering to mourn; he sent attendant clerks to support him standing on the hall terrace—Youfu pointed at them and said to the assembly: "When a minister weeps before his ruler, is there ritual for supporting him?" Gun could not contain his anger and memorialized that Youfu followed personal feeling to alter ritual, bent the national statutes, and requested demotion to prefect of Chaozhou. Emperor Dezong considered the penalty too harsh and changed the assignment to Vice Intendant of Henan. From the time of Emperor Suzong, affairs throughout the realm were pressing; chief ministers took turns on duty—if on rest days they returned home, unless it was a major edict or command, without waiting until all were informed, the minister on duty might substitute signatures and report. At that time Guo Ziyi and Zhu Ci, though both Grand Councilors, were only to sign the end of edicts and did not actually conduct the business of chief ministers. The emperor had just taken the throne; Chang Gun, following established practice, signed in their stead. Guo Ziyi and Zhu Ci came in and argued that Youfu should not be demoted. The emperor said, "What did you tell me earlier? And now you say that was wrong?" The two answered that they had not known at the time. The emperor flew into a rage and charged Gun with deceiving the throne. That day the officials stood outside the Yuehua Gate in hemp mourning dress; the two men were immediately exchanged in office—Gun was sent to be Vice Intendant of Henan, while Youfu was appointed Vice Director of the Chancellery and Grand Councilor. Before long he was reassigned as Vice Director of the Secretariat.
10
自至德、乾元以來，天下戰討，啟丐填委，故官賞繆紊。 永泰後，稍稍平定，而元載用事，非賄謝不與官，刬塞公路，綱紀大壞。 載誅，楊綰相，未幾卒。 袞當國，懲其敝，凡奏請一杜絕之，惟文辭入第乃得進，然無所甄異，賢愚同滯焉。 及祐甫，則薦舉惟其人，不自疑畏，推至公以行，未逾年，除吏幾八百員，莫不諧允。 帝嘗謂曰：「人言卿擬官多親舊，何邪？」 對曰：「陛下令臣進擬庶官，夫進擬者必悉其才行，如不與聞知，何由得其實？」 帝以為然。 神策軍使王駕鶴者，典衛兵久，權震中外，帝將代之，懼其變，以問祐甫，祐甫曰：「是無足慮。」 即召駕鶴留語移時，而代者已入軍中矣。 淄青李正己畏帝威斷，表獻錢三十萬緡，以觀朝廷。 帝意其詐，未能答。 祐甫曰：「正己誠詐，陛下不如因遣使勞其軍，以所獻就賜將士。 若正己奉承詔書，是陛下恩洽士心； 若不用，彼自斂怨，軍且亂。 又使諸藩不以朝廷為重賄。」 帝曰：「善。」 正己慚服。 時議者韙其謨謀，謂可復貞觀、開元之治。
From the Zhide and Qianyuan eras onward the empire had been torn by war; petitions and requests flooded in, and appointments and rewards fell into chaos. After the Yongtai era the realm gradually quieted, but Yuan Zai held sway: no bribe, no appointment. He choked off the open path to office, and public order collapsed. Zai was put to death; Yang Wan became chief minister but died soon after. When Gun took charge of the state, he tried to cure these ills by shutting down every such request; only candidates whose literary compositions passed the examination could advance—yet he made no distinction among them, and the worthy and the worthless languished alike. Under Youfu, recommendations went only to the right men; he acted without hesitation or fear, pushing fairness to its limit. In less than a year he appointed nearly eight hundred officials, and every choice met with general approval. The emperor once asked him, "People say you nominate mostly kin and old friends. Why is that?" He answered, "Your Majesty commanded me to propose candidates for ordinary posts. To propose someone I must know his talent and character thoroughly—if I have no personal knowledge of him, how can I learn the truth?" The emperor accepted the point. Wang Jiahe, commissioner of the Shence Army, had long held command of the palace guards, and his power awed both court and countryside. When the emperor planned to replace him, fearing trouble he consulted Youfu, who said, "There is nothing to worry about." He at once summoned Jiahe and detained him in long conversation, while the new appointee was already inside the army camp. Li Zhengji of Ziqing, intimidated by the emperor's firm resolve, submitted a memorial offering three hundred thousand strings of cash to probe the court's response. The emperor suspected a trick but did not know how to answer. Youfu said, "Zhengji is indeed testing you. Your Majesty should seize the moment to send an envoy to comfort his troops and distribute the money he offered directly to the officers and men. If Zhengji accepts the edict and complies, Your Majesty's kindness will win the soldiers' hearts; if he refuses, his men will turn resentful on their own, and the army will soon fall into disorder. It will also teach the other frontier commands not to treat the court as a prize to be bought with lavish bribes." The emperor said, "Excellent." Zhengji, shamed, submitted. Contemporaries applauded his counsel and said the governance of the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan eras might be restored.
11
是歲被疾，詔肩輿至中書，臥而承旨，若還第，即遣使咨決。 薨，年六十，贈太傅，謚曰文貞。 故事，門下侍郎未有贈三師者，帝以其有大臣節，特寵異之。 朱泚亂，祐甫妻王陷賊中，泚嘗與祐甫同列，遺以繒帛菽粟，受而緘鐍之，帝還京，具封以獻，士君子益重其家法雲。
That year he took ill. An edict ordered him brought by sedan chair to the Secretariat, where he lay abed and received the emperor's instructions; whenever he returned home, messengers were sent to consult him on decisions. He died at sixty. He was posthumously made Grand Mentor and given the posthumous name Wen Zhen. By precedent no Vice Director of the Chancellery had ever received posthumous appointment to one of the Three Preceptors; the emperor, holding that he had shown the mettle of a great minister, made an exception in his favor. During Zhu Ci's rebellion, Youfu's wife, Lady Wang, was caught behind rebel lines. Ci had once served with Youfu and sent her silk and grain; she accepted the gifts but sealed them untouched. When the emperor returned to the capital, she presented the packages intact, still sealed—and men of honor admired her household's rectitude all the more.
12
子植嗣。 植字公修，祐甫弟廬江令嬰甫子也。 祐甫病，謂妻曰：「吾歿，當以廬江次子主吾祀。」 及卒，護喪者以聞，帝惻然，召植，使即喪次終服。 補弘文生。 博通經史，於《易》尤邃。 與鄭覃同時為補闕，皆賢宰相後，每朝廷有得失，兩人者更疏論執，譽望蔚然。
His son Zhi carried on the line. Zhi, styled Gongxiu, was the son of Youfu's younger brother Yingfu, magistrate of Lujiang. When Youfu fell ill he told his wife, "When I am gone, let the second son in Lujiang head my ancestral rites." When he died, those managing the funeral reported the matter. The emperor was deeply moved, summoned Zhi, and had him go straight to the mourning hall to complete the full period of filial observance. He was enrolled as a student of the Hongwen Academy. He mastered the classics and histories and was especially profound in the Book of Changes. He and Zheng Tan served together as Reminders—both sons of distinguished chief ministers. Whenever the court erred or excelled, the two took turns submitting memorials setting out their views, and their reputations flourished.
13
元和中，為給事中。 時皇甫镈判度支，建言減百官奉稟，植封還詔書。 镈又請天下所納鹽酒利增估者，以新準舊，一切追償。 植奏言：「用兵久，百姓雕罄，往雖估逾其實，今不可復收。」 於是議者咸罪镈，镈懼而止。
During the Yuanhe reign he became Supervising Censor. At the time Huangfu Bo was in charge of fiscal affairs and proposed cutting the salaries of all officials. Zhi sealed and returned the edict. Bo also asked that everywhere salt and wine profits had been paid at inflated valuations, the new rates be applied retroactively and the difference recovered in full. Zhi submitted a memorial: "The war has dragged on and the people are drained. Even if past assessments exceeded the true value, those sums cannot be collected again." The critics then all condemned Bo, and Bo, alarmed, abandoned the plan.
14
長慶初，拜中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 穆宗問：「貞觀、開元中治道最盛，何致而然？」 植曰：「太宗資上聖，興民間，知百姓疾苦，故厲精思治，又以房玄齡、杜如晦、魏徵、王珪為之佐，君明臣忠，聖賢相維，治致升平，固其宜也。 玄宗在天後時，身踐憂患，既即位，得姚崇、宋璟，此二人蚤夜孜孜，納君於道。 珪嘗手寫《尚書》《無逸》，為圖以獻，勸帝出入觀省以自戒。 其後朽暗，乃代以山水圖，稍怠於勤，左右不復箴規，奸臣日用事，以至於敗。 昔德宗嘗問先臣祐甫開元、天寶事，先臣具道治亂所以然，臣在童鹴，記其說。 今願陛下以《無逸》為元龜，則天下幸甚。」 他日又問：「司馬遷言漢文帝惜十家產而罷露臺，身衣弋綈，履革舄，集上書囊為殿帷，信乎？ 何太儉邪？」 植曰：「良史非兒言。 漢承秦侈縱之餘，海內雕窶，文帝從代來，知稼穡艱難，是以躬履儉約，為天下守財。 景帝遵而不改，故家給戶足。 至武帝時，錢朽貫，谷紅腐，乃能出師征伐，威動四方； 然侈靡不節，末年戶口減半，稅及舟車，人不聊，乃下哀痛詔，封丞相為富人侯。 然則帝王不可以不示儉而天下足。」 帝曰：「卿言善，患行之為難耳！」 時朝廷悉收河朔三鎮，而劉總又以幽、薊七州獻諸朝，且懼部將構亂，乃先籍豪銳不檢者送京師，而朱克融在籍中。 植與杜元穎不知兵，謂蕃鎮且平，不復料天下安危事，而克融等羈旅塞躓，願得官自效，日訴於前，皆抑不與。 及遣張弘靖赴鎮，縱克融等北還，不數月，克融亂，復失河朔矣。 天下尤之，植內慚。 罷為刑部尚書，旋授嶽鄂觀察使。 未幾，遷嶺南節度使，還拜戶部尚書。 終華州刺史，贈尚書左僕射。
At the opening of the Changqing era he was made Vice Director of the Secretariat and Grand Councilor. Emperor Muzong asked, "Under the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan reigns governance reached its peak—what made that so?" Zhi said, "Taizong possessed the highest wisdom, came up from among the people, and understood the people's suffering; so he applied himself tirelessly to governance. He had Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, and Wang Gui as his aides—ruler clear-sighted, ministers loyal, sage and worthy men supporting one another—so peace and order were only to be expected. Xuanzong, in Empress Wu's time, had himself lived through hardship; once enthroned he gained Yao Chong and Song Jing, who toiled day and night to keep the ruler on the right path. Wang Gui once copied by hand the "Against Dissolute Leisure" from the Book of Documents and had it made into a hanging scroll, urging the emperor to read it whenever he passed in or out as a warning to himself. In time the scroll rotted and faded, and a landscape painting took its place. The emperor grew lax; those around him ceased to remonstrate; corrupt ministers gained ground day by day—and ruin followed. Emperor Dezong once asked my late father Youfu about the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods, and my late father explained in full how order and chaos came about. I was still a boy then, but I remember what he said. I pray Your Majesty will take "Against Dissolute Leisure" as your great mirror—the realm would be blessed indeed." On another day the emperor asked again, "Sima Qian says that Emperor Wen of Han, to spare the livelihood of ten households, canceled the Terrace of Dew; that he wore coarse silk, leather shoes, and made hall curtains from bundles of memorial satchels—is that true? Was he not far too austere?" Zhi said, "A fine historian does not write childish tales. Han rose on the ruins of Qin's extravagance; the land was destitute. Emperor Wen came from Dai and knew how hard farming was, so he lived plainly himself and hoarded wealth for the empire. Emperor Jing kept to the same course, and households grew prosperous. By Emperor Wu's day strings of cash rotted unused and grain soured in the granaries—only then could he march armies abroad and shake the four quarters. Yet he spent without limit. In his last years the population was halved, taxes fell even on boats and carts, and people could barely live. He then issued his lamentation edict and enfeoffed his chancellor as Marquis Rich Man. So it is that an emperor must show frugality if the realm is to prosper." The emperor said, "Well said—but the hard part is doing it!" At that time the court had brought the three Hebei garrisons back under its control, and Liu Zong had also surrendered seven prefectures of You and Ji. Fearing mutiny among his officers, he first listed unruly elite troops and sent them to the capital—Zhu Kerong was among them. Zhi and Du Yuanying understood nothing of war. They assumed the frontier would soon be settled and stopped weighing the empire's safety. Kerong and his men, stranded far from home and desperate, begged daily for posts in which to prove themselves—but Zhi and Du turned them all away. When Zhang Hongjing was dispatched to take command and Kerong and the others were allowed to go north, within months Kerong rose in rebellion and Hebei was lost again. The empire held them responsible; Zhi was consumed with shame. Stripped of the chancellorship, he was made Minister of Justice, then soon sent out as Regional Inspector of Yue and E. Not long after he was transferred to military commissioner of Lingnan; on returning to court he was made Minister of Revenue. He ended his career as prefect of Hua and was posthumously made Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs.
15
倰，字德長，祐甫從子也。 性介潔，矜己之清，視贓負者若讎。 以蘇州刺史奏課第一，遷湖南觀察使。 湖南舊法，雖豐年，貿易不出境，鄰部災荒不恤也。 倰至，謂屬吏曰：「此豈人情乎？ 無閉糴以重困民。」 削其禁，自是商賈流通，貲物益饒。 入為戶部侍郎，判度支。 時田弘正徙鎮州，以魏兵二千行。 既至，留自衛，請度支給歲糧，穆宗下其議，倰固執不與，弘正不得已，遣魏卒。 俄而鎮兵亂，弘正遇害，倰之為也。 時天子失德，倰黨與盛，有司不敢名其罪。 出為鳳翔節度使。 逾年，徙河南尹。 以戶部尚書致仕，卒，贈太子少保，謚曰肅。
Jun, styled Dechang, was Youfu's nephew. He was rigid and scrupulous by nature, proud of his own integrity, and looked on the corrupt as enemies. As prefect of Suzhou his annual evaluation ranked first, and he was promoted to Regional Inspector of Hunan. An old Hunan regulation barred trade from crossing the border even in good harvest years, leaving neighboring regions in famine to fend for themselves. When Jun took office he told his staff, "Is this any way to treat one's fellow men? Do not shut down grain trade and deepen the people's hardship." He lifted the ban; from then on commerce flowed freely and goods grew plentiful. He entered court as Vice Minister of Revenue with concurrent charge of fiscal affairs. At the time Tian Hongzheng was transferred to Zhenzhou, bringing two thousand Wei soldiers with him. Once there he kept the troops for his own protection and asked the fiscal office for annual grain rations. Emperor Muzong referred the request for deliberation, but Jun stubbornly refused. Hongzheng had no choice but to dismiss the Wei soldiers. Before long the Zhenzhou garrison mutinied and Hongzheng was killed—Jun had brought it about. The emperor had fallen into moral decline; Jun's clique was strong, and the officials dared not charge him openly. He was sent out as military commissioner of Fengxiang. A year later he was transferred to Intendant of Henan. He retired as Minister of Revenue and died. He was posthumously made Junior Mentor to the Crown Prince and given the posthumous name Su.
16
贊曰：植輔政，當有為之時，無經國才，履危防淺，機不知其潰而發也，手弛檻緤，縱虎狼焉，一日而亡地數千里，為天下笑； 倰吝財資賊。 又皆幸不誅。 天以河北亂唐，故君臣不肖，勃繆其謀，惜哉！
Comment: Zhi held power when the state needed bold action, yet he lacked the talent to govern a nation. He walked the edge of peril with feeble precautions, never seeing the dam burst until it broke—he himself loosened the cage and let the tiger and wolf loose; in a single day thousands of li of territory were lost, and the empire laughed. Jun hoarded the public purse—a knave. Yet both, by luck, escaped punishment. Heaven meant Hebei to undo Tang, and so ruler and ministers alike proved unworthy, tangling their plans in chaos—what a pity!
17
柳渾，字夷曠，一字惟深，本名載，梁僕射惔六世孫，後籍襄州。 早孤，方十餘歲，有巫告曰：「兒相夭且賤，為浮屠道可緩死。」 諸父欲從其言，渾曰：「去聖教，為異術，不若速死。」 學愈篤，與遊者皆有名士。 天寶初，擢進士第，調單父尉，累除衢州司馬。 棄官隱武寧山。 召拜監察御史，臺僚以儀矩相繩，而渾放曠不樂檢局，乃求外職。 宰相惜其才，留為左補闕。 大歷初，江西魏少遊表為判官。 州僧有夜飲火其廬者，歸罪瘖奴，軍候受財不詰，獄具，渾與其僚崔祐甫白奴冤，少遊趣訊僧，僧首伏，因厚謝二人。 路嗣恭代少遊，渾遷團練副使。 俄為袁州刺史。 祐甫輔政，薦為諫議大夫、浙江東西黜陟使。 入為尚書右丞。 朱泚亂，渾匿終南山。 賊素聞其名，以宰相召，執其子搒笞之，搜索所在。 渾羸服步至奉天，改右散騎常侍。 賊平，奏言：「臣名向為賊汙，且『載』於文從戈，非偃武所宜。」 乃更今名。
Liu Hun, styled Yikuang and also Weishen, originally named Zai, was a sixth-generation descendant of Tan, Vice Director under Liang; his family later registered in Xiangzhou. He lost his father young. When he was barely past ten a shaman said, "This boy's face marks him for early death and low rank; take the Buddhist path and death may be delayed." His uncles wanted to heed this, but Hun said, "To abandon the sage's teaching for alien arts—I would rather die at once." He applied himself to learning all the harder, and everyone he kept company with was a man of reputation. In the early Tianbao era he passed the jinshi examination, was appointed magistrate of Shanfu, and rose in time to Vice Prefect of Quzhou. He resigned his post and withdrew to Mount Wuning. He was summoned and made Investigating Censor. The censorate bound its members with strict protocol, but Hun was free-spirited and chafed at confinement, so he asked for an outside appointment. The chief minister valued his ability and retained him as Left Reminder. At the start of the Dali era, Wei Shaoyou of Jiangxi recommended him as administrative aide. A monk in the prefecture, drunk one night, burned his own quarters and blamed a mute slave. The military inspector took a bribe and closed the inquiry; the case was judged. Hun and his colleague Cui Youfu reported the slave's innocence. Shaoyou hurried to interrogate the monk, who confessed outright, and he richly rewarded the two men. When Lu Sichong replaced Shaoyou, Hun was promoted to deputy commissioner of militia training. Before long he became prefect of Yuanzhou. When Youfu took power, he recommended Hun as Remonstrance Grand Master and Investigating Commissioner for Zhejiang East and West. He entered court as Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. When Zhu Ci rebelled, Liu Hun went into hiding on Mount Zhongnan. The rebels had long known his reputation. They summoned him to serve as chief minister, seized his son and flogged him, and searched everywhere for his hiding place. Emaciated and in threadbare clothes, Hun walked to Fengtian, where he was appointed Right Regular Attendant. After the rebellion was suppressed, he submitted a memorial: "My name has been tainted by the rebels, and moreover the character for Zai, in its written form, carries the spear radical—hardly fitting for an era meant to sheathe the sword." He then took his present name.
18
貞元元年，遷兵部侍郎，封宜城縣伯。 李希烈據淮、蔡，關播用李元平守汝州，渾曰：「是夫衒玉而賈石者也。 往必見禽，何賊之攘？」 既而果為賊縛。 三年，以本官同中書門下平章事，仍判門下省。 帝嘗親擇吏宰畿邑，而政有狀，召宰相語，皆賀帝得人，渾獨不賀，曰：「此特京兆尹職耳。 陛下當擇臣輩以輔聖德，臣當選京兆尹承大化，尹當求令長親細事。 代尹擇令，非陛下所宜。」 帝然之。 玉工為帝作帶，誤毀一銙，工不敢聞，私市它玉足之。 及獻，帝識不類，擿之，工人伏罪。 帝怒其欺，詔京兆府論死，渾曰：「陛下遽殺之則已，若委有司，須詳讞乃可。 於法，誤傷乘輿器服，罪當杖，請論如律。」 由是工不死。 左丞田季羔從子伯強請賣私第募兵助討吐蕃，渾曰：「季羔，先朝號名臣，由祖以來世孝謹，表闕於門，隋時舊第，惟田一族耳。 討賊自有國計，豈容不肖子毀門構，僥一時幸，損風教哉！ 請薄責以示懲沮！」 帝嘉納。
In the first year of the Zhenyuan era, he was promoted to Vice Minister of War and enfeoffed as Baron of Yicheng County. Li Xilie held Huai and Cai. Guan Bo put Li Yuanping in charge of defending Ruzhou. Hun said, "That man is the sort who shows jade but sells stone. Send him and he will surely be captured—how will that drive off the rebels?" Before long Li Yuanping was indeed seized by the rebels. In the third year he was made Associate Councilor of the Secretariat and Chancellery at his existing rank, and concurrently placed in charge of the Chancellery. The emperor once personally chose an official to govern a district in the capital region. When that man's administration proved effective, he summoned the chief ministers to discuss it. All congratulated the emperor on finding the right man, but Hun alone withheld his praise, saying, "This is simply the Jingzhao Intendant's job. Your Majesty should choose us ministers to assist your sagely virtue; we should choose the Jingzhao Intendant to carry out the great transformation; the Intendant should find district magistrates to handle detailed affairs in person. For Your Majesty to step in and choose magistrates in the Intendant's place is not fitting." The emperor agreed. A jade craftsman making a belt for the emperor accidentally broke one link. The craftsman dared not report it and secretly bought other jade to make up the loss. When the belt was presented, the emperor recognized that the jade was not the same and exposed the fraud. The craftsman confessed his crime. The emperor, furious at the deception, ordered the Jingzhao office to sentence the craftsman to death. Hun said, "If Your Majesty executes him at once, so be it; but if the matter is entrusted to the officials, a full inquiry must be completed first. Under the law, accidentally damaging the emperor's carriage fittings and regalia calls for beating with the rod. I ask that he be sentenced accordingly." As a result the craftsman was not put to death. Tian Jigao, the Left Assistant Director, had a nephew named Baqiang who asked to sell the family residence to raise troops for the campaign against Tibet. Hun said, "Jigao was renowned as a distinguished minister in the previous reign. For generations, from his grandfather's time, the Tian family has been filial and scrupulous, with honor plaques at their gate. That old Sui-era mansion is the sole property of the entire Tian clan. Campaigns against the enemy are matters of state policy—how can an unworthy son be permitted to tear down the family gate and halls, gambling on a moment's favor and damaging public morals! I ask that he receive light punishment as a warning to others!" The emperor approved and accepted his advice.
19
韓滉自浙西入朝，帝虛己待之，奏事或日晏，他相取充位，滉遂省中搒吏自若。 渾雖為滉所引，惡其專，質讓曰：「省闥非刑人地，而搒吏至死。 公家先相國以狷察，不滿歲輒罷，今公柰何蹈前非，顓立威福？ 豈尊主卑臣義邪？」 滉悔悟，稍褫其威。 白誌貞除浙西觀察使，渾奏：「誌貞興小史，縱嘉其才，不當超劇職。 臣以死守，不敢奉詔。」 會渾移疾出，即日詔付外施行。 疾間，因乞骸骨，不許。 門下吏白過官，渾愀然曰：「既委有司，而復橈之，豈賢者用心邪？ 士或千里辭家以幹祿，小邑主辦，豈慮不能？」 是歲擬官，無退異者。
Han Huang came to court from Zhexi. The emperor received him with deferential humility. When Huang reported on affairs, sessions sometimes lasted until dusk, while the other chief ministers were little more than figureheads. Huang then beat clerks in the Secretariat at will. Though Hun owed his advancement to Huang, he detested Huang's autocratic ways and confronted him directly: "The Secretariat is no place for corporal punishment, yet you beat clerks to death. Your family's former chief minister was removed within a year for being narrow and harsh in his scrutiny—why do you now repeat that mistake and monopolize power and favor? Is this what it means to honor the ruler and keep ministers in their proper place?" Huang took the rebuke to heart and gradually moderated his arrogance. Bai Zhizhen was appointed observation commissioner of Zhexi. Hun submitted a memorial: "Zhizhen rose from a minor clerk. Even if one admires his talent, he should not be jumped into so demanding a post. Your servant would rather die than comply—I dare not obey this edict." Just as Hun took sick leave, an edict was issued that same day ordering the appointment implemented without further review. When his illness abated, he asked to retire, but the request was denied. A Chancellery clerk reported a routine appointment for approval. Hun said grimly, "Once a matter is entrusted to the proper officials, only to have it overturned—is that how a worthy man should conduct himself? A gentleman may travel a thousand li from home seeking office—is a district magistrate, handling local affairs, really unable to manage?" That year, not a single proposed appointment was rejected or changed.
20
渾瑊與吐蕃會平涼，是日，帝語大臣以和戎息師之便。 馬燧賀曰：「今日已盟，可百年無虜患。」 渾跪曰：「五帝無誥誓，三王無盟詛，蓋盟詛之興皆在季末。 今盛明之朝，反以季末事行於夷狄。 夫夷狄人面獸心，易以兵制，難以信結，臣竊憂之。」 李晟繼言曰：「蕃戎多不情，誠如渾言。」 帝變色曰：「渾，儒生，未達邊事，而大臣亦當爾邪？」 皆頓首謝。 夜半，邠寧節度使韓遊瑰飛奏吐蕃劫盟，將校皆覆沒。 帝大驚，即以其表示渾。 明日，慰之曰：「卿，儒士，乃知軍戎萬里情乎？」 益禮異之。
Hun Zhen met with the Tibetans at Pingliang. That same day the emperor told his ministers of the benefits of making peace with the barbarians and standing down the armies. Ma Sui offered congratulations: "The alliance is made today—we may be free of barbarian trouble for a hundred years." Hun knelt and said, "The Five Emperors knew no proclamations and oaths; the Three Kings knew no covenants and curses. Such oaths arise only at the end of an age. Yet in this flourishing and enlightened age, we resort to practices of a decadent era in dealing with barbarians. Barbarians have the faces of men but the hearts of beasts. They are easily controlled by force and hard to bind with trust. I am deeply troubled by this." Li Sheng added, "The Fan barbarians are mostly faithless—exactly as Hun says." The emperor's expression darkened. "Hun is a Confucian scholar who does not understand frontier affairs—and should senior ministers speak this way as well?" All prostrated themselves and apologized. At midnight an urgent dispatch arrived from Han Yougui, military commissioner of Binning, reporting that the Tibetans had broken the alliance and that officers and commanders had been wiped out. The emperor was greatly alarmed and immediately showed the dispatch to Hun. The next day he comforted him, saying, "You are a Confucian scholar—yet you knew what was happening a thousand li away on the frontier?" From then on the emperor treated him with special regard.
21
宰相張延賞怙權，嫉渾守正，遣親厚謂曰：「明公舊德，弟慎言於朝，則位可久。」 渾曰：「為吾謝張公，渾頭可斷，而舌不可禁。」 卒為所擠，以右散騎常侍罷政事。 渾警辯好談謔，與人交，豁如也。 情儉不營產利。 免後數日，置酒召故人出遊，酣肆乃還，曠然無黜免意。 時李勉、盧翰皆以舊相闔門奉朝請，嘆曰：「吾等視柳宜城，真拘俗之人哉！」 五年卒，年七十五，謚曰貞。
Chief Minister Zhang Yanshang, relying on his power, resented Hun's rectitude and sent a close associate to tell him, "With your long-standing merit, sir, if you are careful in what you say at court, your position may endure." Hun replied, "Give my thanks to Lord Zhang. Hun's head may be cut off, but his tongue cannot be silenced." In the end he was driven out and removed from office, retaining only the title of Right Regular Attendant. Hun was quick-witted and fond of banter. In his dealings with others he was open and unreserved. By nature he was frugal and did not seek profit in property. A few days after his dismissal he set out wine, invited old friends on an outing, and returned drunk and carefree, showing not the slightest trace of one who had been removed from office. At the time Li Mian and Lu Han, both former chief ministers, brought their entire households to attend court as idle retainers. They sighed, "When we look at Lord Liu of Yicheng, are we not the ones truly bound by vulgar convention?" In the fifth year he died at seventy-five. His posthumous name was Zhen, Upright.
22
渾母兄識，字方明，知名士也。 工文章，與蕭穎士、元德秀、劉迅相上下，而識練理創端，往往詣極，雖趣尚非博，然當時作者伏其簡拔。 渾亦善屬文，但沈思不逮於識雲。
Hun's maternal elder cousin Shi, styled Fangming, was a man of established reputation. He was skilled in literary composition and ranked with Xiao Yingshi, Yuan Dexiu, and Liu Xun. Yet Shi mastered principle and opened new themes, often reaching their utmost expression. Though his interests were not wide-ranging, writers of the age respected his terse brilliance. Hun could also write well, but in depth of thought he did not match Shi.
23
韋處厚，字德載，京兆萬年人。 事繼母以孝聞，親歿，廬墓終喪。 中進士第，又擢才識兼茂科，授集賢校書郎。 舉賢良方正異等，宰相裴垍引直史館。 改咸陽尉。
Wei Chuhou, styled Dezai, was a native of Wannian in Jingzhao. He was known for filial devotion to his stepmother. When his parents died, he kept a mourning hut at their tomb through the full mourning period. He passed the jinshi examination and was also selected in the Magnificent Talent and Comprehensive Knowledge special examination, then appointed collator in the Palace Library. Recommended as Exceptionally Excellent in the Filial and Incorrupt examination, he was brought into the History Institute as a direct compiler by Chief Minister Pei Ji. He was transferred to magistrate of Xianyang.
24
憲宗初，擢左補闕。 禮部尚書李絳請間言：「古帝王以納諫為聖，拒諫為昏。 今不聞進規納忠，何以知天下事？」 帝曰：「韋處厚、路隋數上疏，其言忠切，顧卿未知爾。」 由是中外推其靖密。 歷考功員外郎，坐與宰相韋貫之善，出開州刺史。 以戶部郎中入知制誥。
At the beginning of Emperor Xianzong's reign he was promoted to Left Reminder. Minister of Ceremonies Li Jiang asked for a private audience and said, "Ancient emperors were deemed sage when they accepted remonstrance and benighted when they rejected it. Today we hear no one offering counsel and serving loyally—how then can we know what is happening under heaven?" The emperor said, "Wei Chuhou and Lu Sui have submitted memorials repeatedly. Their words are loyal and earnest—you simply did not know of them." From this, inside and outside the court, people respected his quiet discretion. He served as Assistant Director in the Ministry of Personnel. Because of his friendship with Chief Minister Wei Guanzhi, he was sent out as prefect of Kaizhou. He returned to court as Bureau Director in the Ministry of Revenue and took charge of drafting edicts.
25
穆宗立，為翰林侍講學士。 處厚以帝沖怠不向學，即與路隋合《易》、《書》、《詩》、《春秋》、《禮》、《孝經》、《論語》，掇其粹要，題為《六經法言》二十篇上之，冀助省覽。 帝稱善，並賜金幣。 再遷中書舍人。 張平叔以言利得幸於帝，建言官自鬻鹽，籠天下之財。 宰相不能詰，下群臣議，處厚發十難誚其迂謬，平叔愧縮，遂寢。
When Emperor Muzong came to the throne, he was made Hanlin Attendant Lecturer. Because the emperor was young, idle, and disinclined to study, Chuhou joined with Lu Sui to extract the essential teachings from the Changes, Documents, Odes, Spring and Autumn, Rites, Classic of Filial Piety, and Analects. They compiled these into twenty chapters titled Selected Explications of the Six Classics and presented them to the throne, hoping to aid his reading. The emperor praised the work and granted gold and silk to both men. He was promoted again to Secretariat Drafting Officer. Zhang Pingshu won the emperor's favor through talk of profit and proposed that the government monopolize the sale of salt to gather the wealth of the realm. The chief ministers could not refute him, so the proposal was sent down for discussion among the ministers. Chuhou raised ten objections exposing its absurdity. Pingshu shrank in shame, and the plan was dropped.
26
敬宗初，李逢吉得柄，構李紳，逐為端州司馬。 其黨劉棲楚等欲致紳必死，建言當徙醜地。 處厚上言：「逢吉黨與，以紳之斥猶有餘辜，人情危駭。 《詩》云『萋兮斐兮，成是貝錦。 彼譖人者，亦已太甚』，『讒言罔極，交亂四國』。 此古人疾讒之深也。 孔子曰：『三年無改於父之道，可謂孝矣。』 按紳先朝舊臣，就令有過，尚當祓瑕洗釁，成無改之美，況被讒乎！ 建中時，山東之亂興，宰相朋黨，楊炎為元載復讎，盧杞為劉晏償怨，兵連禍結，天下騷然。 此陛下親所聞見，得不深念哉！」 紳繇是免。 逢吉怒，至寶歷三月赦書，不言左降官未量移者，以沮紳內徙。 處厚復奏：「逢吉緣紳一人而使近歲流斥皆不蒙澤，非所以廣恩於天下。」 帝悟，追改其條。 進翰林承旨學士、兵部侍郎。 方天子荒暗，月視朝才三四。 處厚入見，即自陳有罪，願前死以謝。 帝曰：「何哉？」 對曰：「臣昔為諫官，不能死爭，使先帝因畋與色而至不壽，於法應誅。 然所以不死者，陛下在春宮，十有五矣。 今皇子方繈褓，臣不敢避死亡之誅。」 帝大感悟，賜錦彩以慰其意。 王廷湊之亂，帝嘆宰相不才，而使奸臣跋扈，處厚曰：「陛下有一裴度不能用，乃當饋而嘆，恨無蕭、曹，此馮唐所以謂漢文帝有頗、牧不能用也。」
At the beginning of Emperor Jingzong's reign, Li Fengji seized power, framed Li Shen, and banished him as vice prefect of Duanzhou. His faction, including Liu Qichu, sought to ensure Shen's death and proposed transferring him to a harsher region. Chuhou submitted a memorial: "Fengji's faction treats Shen's banishment as if his guilt were still not fully punished. The people are alarmed and frightened. The Odes say, 'How lush, how luxuriant—thus is brocade fashioned. Those who slander others have gone too far,' and, 'Slander knows no limit, throwing the four states into turmoil.' This shows how deeply the ancients hated slander. Confucius said, 'Three years without altering his father's way may be called filial. Shen is an old minister of the previous reign. Even if he had faults, one should still cleanse his blemishes and wash away his guilt to preserve the beauty of unchanging loyalty—how much more so when he has been slandered! In the Jianzhong era rebellions broke out in Shandong. Chief ministers formed factions: Yang Yan avenged Yuan Zai, Lu Qi settled a grudge against Liu Yan. War followed disaster, and the realm was in turmoil. Your Majesty heard and saw this yourself—you must reflect on it deeply!" Li Shen was thereby spared. Fengji was furious. When the third-month amnesty edict of the Baoli era was issued, it made no mention of demoted officials not yet eligible for transfer—a move intended to block Shen's return from exile. Chuhou submitted another memorial: "Because of Shen alone, Fengji would deny every official banished in recent years the benefit of the amnesty. That is no way to spread grace throughout the realm." The emperor understood and amended that clause retroactively. He was promoted to Hanlin Chief Academician and Vice Minister of War. Just then the Son of Heaven was dissolute and neglectful of duty, holding court only three or four times a month. Chuhou entered audience and immediately declared himself guilty, asking to die first as atonement. The emperor said, "What do you mean?" He replied, "When I served as a remonstrance officer, I failed to argue to the death and allowed the late emperor, through hunting and women, to die before his time. By law I deserve execution. Yet the reason I did not die was that Your Majesty was in the Eastern Palace, already fifteen years old. Now the crown prince is still in swaddling clothes. I dare not avoid the penalty of death." The emperor was deeply moved and granted him brocade to comfort him. During Wang Tingcou's rebellion the emperor lamented that his chief ministers lacked talent and allowed wicked ministers to run rampant. Chuhou said, "Your Majesty has a Pei Du whom you cannot use, yet you sigh over your meal, wishing you had men like Xiao He and Cao Shen. This is why Feng Tang said that Emperor Wen of Han had generals like Li Mu and Lian Po but could not employ them."
27
後禁中急變，文宗綏內難，猶豫未即下詔，處厚入，昌言曰：「《春秋》大義滅親，內惡必書，以明逆順； 正名討罪，何所避諱哉？」 遂奉教班諭。 是夕，號令及它儀矩不暇責有司，一出處厚，無違舊章者。 進拜中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事，封靈昌郡公。 堂史湯鉥數招權納財賂，處厚笑曰：「此半滑渙也。」 斥出之，相府肅然。 初，貞元時宰相齊抗奏罷州別駕及當為別駕者引處之朝。 元和後，兩河用兵，裨將立功得補東宮王府官，朱紫淆並，授受不綱。 處厚乃置六雄、十望、十緊等州，悉補別駕，由是流品澄別。 帝雖自力機政，然驟信輕改，搖於浮論。 處厚嘗獨對曰：「陛下不以臣不肖，使待罪宰相，凡所奏可，中輒變易。 自上心出邪，乃示臣不信； 得於橫議邪，即臣何名執政？ 且裴度元勛舊德，輔四朝，竇易直長厚忠實，經事先帝，陛下所宜親重委信之。 臣乃陛下自擢，今言不見納，宜先罷。」 即趨下頓首，帝矍然曰：「何至是？ 卿之忠力，朕自知之，安可遽辭以重吾不德？」 處厚趨出，帝復召問所欲言，乃對：「近君子，遠小人，始可為治。」 諄復數百言。 又言：「裴度忠，可久任。」 帝嘉納之。 自是無復橫議者。 時李同捷叛，詔諸軍進討。 魏博史憲誠懷向背，裴度待以不疑。 憲誠遣吏白事中書，處厚召語曰：「晉公以百口保爾帥於天子，我則不然，正須所為，以邦法從事耳。」 憲誠懼，不敢貳，卒有功。 李載義數破滄、鎮兵，皆刳剔以獻，處厚戒之，前後完活數百千人。 大和二年，方奏事，暴疾，仆香案前，帝命中人翼扶之，輿還第，一昔薨，年五十六，贈司空。
Later, when an urgent crisis broke out in the palace, Emperor Wenzong was suppressing an internal revolt but hesitated to issue an edict at once. Chuhou entered and spoke boldly: "The Spring and Autumn Annals enshrine the great principle that kin may be destroyed when duty requires it; inner evil must be recorded to make clear what is rebellion and what is loyalty; To rectify names and punish guilt—what is there to conceal?" He then received the imperial command and issued proclamations in turn. That evening, commands and other ritual protocols were issued too quickly to hold the responsible offices to account; all came from Chuhou alone, and none departed from established precedent. He was promoted to Vice Director of the Secretariat and Co-Chief Minister of the Chancellery and Secretariat, and enfeoffed as Duke of Lingchang Commandery. The chancellery clerk Tang Bo repeatedly usurped authority and accepted bribes. Chuhou laughed and said, "This is half a Huà Huàn." He expelled him, and the chancellor's office became solemn and disciplined. Earlier, during the Zhenyuan era, Chief Minister Qi Kang had memorialized to abolish provincial vice-prefects and to summon to court those who were due to serve in that office. After the Yuanhe era, with war in the Two He, staff officers who won merit were appointed to Eastern Palace and princely household posts; purple and crimson robes mingled without distinction, and appointments and transfers fell into disorder. Chuhou then designated the Six Heroes, Ten Prominent, Ten Strategic, and other prefectures, filling them all with vice-prefects, and thereby restored clarity to official ranks and distinctions. Although the emperor applied himself diligently to affairs of state, he was quick to believe and quick to change course, swayed by idle talk. Chuhou once had a private audience and said, "Your Majesty, not deeming your servant unworthy, appointed me to serve as chief minister at peril of my life. Whatever I memorialized and Your Majesty approved is then altered midway. If the change comes from Your Majesty's own mind, does that not show your servant that I am not trusted? If it comes from reckless talk, then what title have I as one who governs? Moreover, Pei Du is a founding minister of old virtue who served four reigns; Dou Yizhi is generous, steady, loyal, and sincere and served the previous emperor. Your Majesty ought to hold them close, honor them, and place your trust in them. Your servant was personally elevated by Your Majesty. If my words are not heeded, I ought to be dismissed first." He immediately hurried down and kowtowed. The emperor started and said, "How could it come to this? Your loyalty and strength—I know them myself. How can you abruptly resign and redouble my lack of virtue?" Chuhou hurried out. The emperor summoned him again and asked what he wished to say. He replied, "Draw near to gentlemen and keep petty men at a distance—only then may good government begin." He earnestly expounded for several hundred more words. He added, "Pei Du is loyal and may be long entrusted with office." The emperor praised and accepted his counsel. From then on there were no more reckless talkers. At that time Li Tongjie rebelled, and an edict ordered the various armies to advance and attack. Shi Xiancheng of Weibo wavered between loyalty and defection; Pei Du treated him without suspicion. Xiancheng sent a clerk to report affairs at the Chancellery. Chuhou summoned him and said, "The Duke of Jin pledges the lives of his entire household to vouch for your commander to the Son of Heaven. I am not so. I need only do what is right and deal with you according to state law." Xiancheng was afraid, dared not waver, and in the end achieved merit. Li Zaiyi repeatedly defeated the armies of Cangzhou and Zhenzhou and had the captives gutted and flayed for presentation. Chuhou admonished him, and in all several hundred to a thousand people were spared alive. In the second year of Dahe, while reporting on affairs, he suddenly fell ill and collapsed before the incense stand. The emperor ordered eunuchs to support him on either side, had him carried back to his residence, and he died that same night at age fifty-six. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Minister of Works.
28
處厚姿狀如甚懦者，居家亦循易，至廷爭，嶷然不可回奪。 剛於禦吏，百僚謁事，畏惕未嘗敢及以私。 推擇官材，往往棄瑕錄善，時亦譏其太廣。 性嗜學，家書讎正至萬卷。 為拾遺時，撰《德宗實錄》。 後又與路隋共次《憲宗實錄》，詔分日入直，創具凡例，未及成而終。 本名淳，避憲宗諱，改今名。
Chuhou's bearing and appearance were like that of a very timid man; at home too he was meek and mild. Yet when disputing matters at court, he stood firm and could not be turned aside. He was stern in controlling clerks. When officials came on business, in fear and caution they never dared bring up private matters. In recommending and selecting talent for office, he often overlooked flaws and recorded virtues; at times he was criticized for being too broad. By nature he loved learning; his family library, collated and corrected, reached ten thousand scrolls. When he served as Reminder, he compiled the Veritable Records of Emperor Dezong. Later he joined Lu Sui in compiling the Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong. An edict ordered them to enter duty on alternating days; they drafted the general principles, but before the work was finished he died. His original name was Chun; to avoid the taboo name of Emperor Xianzong, he changed to his present name.
29
路隋，字南式，其先出陽平。 父泌，字安期，通《五經》，端亮寡言，以孝悌聞。 建中末，為長安尉。 德宗出奉天，棄妻子奔行在，扈狩梁州，排亂軍以出，再中流矢，裂裳濡血。 以策說渾瑊，召置幕府。 東討李懷光，奏署副元帥判官。 從瑊會盟平涼，為虜所執，死焉。 時隋嬰孺，以恩授八品官。 逮長，知父執虜中，日夜號泣，坐必西向，不食肉。 母告以貌類泌者，終身不引鏡。 貞元末，吐蕃請和，隋三上疏宜許，不報。 舉明經，授潤州參軍事。 李锜欲困辱之，使知市事，隋怡然坐肆，不為屈。 韋夏卿高其節，辟置東都幕府。 元和中，吐蕃款塞，隋五上疏請脩好，冀得泌還。 詔可。 遣祠部郎中徐復報聘，而泌以喪至，帝湣惻，贈絳州刺史，官為治喪。 服除，擢隋左補闕、史館脩撰，以鯁亮稱。
Lu Sui, styled Nanshi, traced his descent to Yangping. His father Bi, styled Anqi, mastered the Five Classics, was upright and bright and sparing of words, and was known for filial piety and brotherly respect. At the end of the Jianzhong era, he served as warden of Chang'an. When Emperor Dezong went out to Fengtian, he abandoned wife and children and fled to the mobile court, escorting the imperial hunt at Liangzhou, breaking through disorderly troops to get out. He was twice struck by stray arrows, his robe torn and soaked with blood. With his stratagem he persuaded Hun Zhen and was summoned to serve on his staff. Campaigning east against Li Huaiguang, he was memorialized and appointed staff judge to the deputy commander. Following Zhen to the alliance meeting at Pingliang, he was seized by the barbarians and died there. At that time Sui was an infant; by grace he was granted an eighth-rank office. When he grew up, knowing his father was held captive among the barbarians, he wept day and night, always faced west when seated, and ate no meat. When his mother told him his appearance resembled Bi's, he never looked in a mirror for the rest of his life. At the end of the Zhenyuan era, Tibet requested peace; Sui three times memorialized that it should be granted, but received no response. He passed the Mingjing examination and was appointed assistant military adjutant of Run Prefecture. Li Qi wished to humiliate him and made him overseer of market affairs; Sui serenely sat at the shop, unbowed. Wei Xiaqing held his integrity in high esteem and recruited him to the Eastern Capital staff. During the Yuanhe era, Tibet came in friendship to the frontier; Sui five times memorialized requesting restored good relations, hoping to get Bi back. An edict approved it. Bureau Director of the Court of Sacrifices Xu Fu was dispatched on a return mission, and Bi arrived as a corpse. The emperor was moved to pity, posthumously enfeoffed him as Prefect of Jiang Prefecture, and officials arranged his funeral. When mourning ended, Sui was promoted to Left Supplements Censor and Historiography Compiler, famed for blunt integrity.
30
穆宗立，與韋處厚並擢侍講學士，再遷中書舍人、翰林學士。 每除制出，以金幣來謝者，隋卻之曰：「公事而當私貺邪？」 進承旨學士，遷兵部侍郎。
When Emperor Muzong ascended, he and Wei Chuhou were both promoted to Palace Lecturer and Erudite, then twice transferred to Secretariat Drafting Official and Hanlin Academician. Whenever appointment edicts were issued, those who came with gold and silk to thank him—Sui refused and said, "Is this public business, yet you would offer private gifts?" He was promoted to Lead Academician and transferred to Vice Minister of War.
31
文宗嗣位，以中書侍郎同中書門下平章事，監脩國史。 初，韓愈撰《順宗實錄》，書禁中事為切直，宦豎不喜，訾其非實，帝詔隋刊正。 隋建言：「衛尉卿周居巢、諫議大夫王彥威、給事中李固言、史官蘇景胤皆上言改脩非是。 夫史冊者，褒勸所在，匹夫美惡尚不可誣，況人君乎？ 議者至引雋不疑、第五倫為比，以蔽聰明。 臣宗閔、臣僧孺謂史官李漢、蔣系皆愈之婿，不可參撰，俾臣得下筆。 臣謂不然。 且愈所書已非自出，元和以來，相循逮今。 雖漢等以嫌，無害公誼。 請條示甚謬誤者，付史官刊定。」 有詔擿貞元、永貞間數事為失實，餘不復改，漢等亦不罷。 進門下侍郎、弘文館大學士。 久之，辭疾，不聽，冊拜太子太師。 明年，李德裕貶袁州長史，不署奏，為鄭註所忌，乃檢校尚書右僕射、同中書門下平章事、鎮海節度使。 道病卒，年六十。 贈太保，謚曰貞。
When Emperor Wenzong succeeded, he was made Vice Director of the Secretariat, Co-Chief Minister, and superintendent of compiling the National History. Earlier, Han Yu compiled the Veritable Records of Emperor Shunzong; in recording palace affairs his language was sharp and direct. The eunuch minions disliked it and denounced it as untrue; the emperor ordered Sui to revise and correct it. Sui submitted: "Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Zhou Juchao, Remonstrating Advisor Wang Yanwei, Palace Aide Li Guyin, and historiographer Su Jingyin all memorialized that revising it was wrong. Histories are where praise and encouragement reside; even a common man's good and evil cannot be falsified—how much more a ruler? Those arguing even cited Jun Buyi and Di Wu Lun as parallels, to obscure clear judgment. Your ministers Zongmin and Sengru say the historiographers Li Han and Jiang Xi are both Han Yu's sons-in-law and may not participate in compilation, enabling your servant to put brush to paper. Your servant holds this is not so. Moreover, what Han Yu wrote was not of his own invention; since the Yuanhe era it has been handed down to the present. Though Han and the others have a connection by marriage, this does no harm to public principle. Please itemize what is grossly erroneous and hand it to the historiographers to revise and fix." An edict singled out several matters between the Zhenyuan and Yongzhen eras as inaccurate; the rest was not further changed, and Han and the others were not dismissed. He was promoted to Vice Director of the Chancellery and Grand Academician of the Hongwen Pavilion. After a long while he submitted illness and asked to retire; this was not granted, and he was invested by edict as Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. The next year, when Li Deyu was demoted to secretary of Yuan Prefecture and Sui refused to sign the memorial, Zheng Zhu bore a grudge against him; he was then made provisional Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Co-Chief Minister, and military governor of Zhenhai. He died of illness on the road at age sixty. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grand Tutor and given the posthumous title Upright.
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贊曰：綰以德服人，而人自化，可謂賢矣。 其論議渾大，雖古王佐無以加。 祐甫發正己隱情，渾策吐蕃必叛，伐謀知幾，君子哉！ 處厚事穆、敬、文三宗，主皆弗類，而一納以忠，寧不謂以堯事君者邪？ 隋輔政十年，歷牛、李、訓、註用事，無所迎將，善保位哉！
The eulogist says: Wan won people through virtue, and they reformed themselves—he may be called worthy. His discourse was vast and comprehensive; even ancient prime counselors could not surpass it. Youfu exposed Zhengji's hidden designs; Hun foresaw that Tibet would surely rebel—foiling plots and discerning the moment, true gentlemen! Chuhou served Emperors Muzong, Jingzong, and Wenzong—masters none alike—yet served each with single-minded loyalty. Is he not one who served his lord as Yao would? Sui assisted government for ten years, through the ascendancies of the Niu, Li, Xun, and Zhu factions—never courting or accommodating any—and yet preserved his position well!