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◎ Biographies of Lai, Tian, Hou, Cui, and Yan. Lai Zhen was a native of Yongshou in Binzhou. His father Yao had distinguished himself in arms; late in the Kaiyuan reign he served with imperial credentials as deputy commissioner of the Western Regions and military governor of the Four Garrisons, won renown on the frontier, and died as Grand General of the Right Palace Guard. Zhen knew something of fiscal administration, prized honor and integrity, and carried himself with stern dignity and high ambition. Early in the Tianbao period he held demanding posts with the Four Garrisons and rose in turn to palace censor and military affairs secretary for Yixi and Beiting. When the throne sought men of decisive counsel able to lead troops, Remonstrance Official Zhang Hao urged that Zhen could settle weighty matters and repel invasion; he was made prefect of Yingchuan and appointed pacification commissioner. When his mother died he left office to mourn and won a reputation for filial devotion.
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After An Lushan rose in rebellion, Zhang Ji recommended him again; recalled from mourning, he was named prefect of Runan. Before he could take up the post, his appointment was changed to Yingchuan. Rebels besieged Yingchuan just as the granaries were full; Zhen calmly strengthened the walls, drew his bow himself, and every shaft he loosed dropped an enemy. The rebels sent the defector Bi Sichen, once his father's officer, to parley beneath the walls with tears and condolences; Zhen ignored him and in repeated sorties took and slew a great number of the enemy. The rebels came to fear him and nicknamed him "Lai the Iron-Biter." For these services he was further made defense commissioner and pacification commissioner over the Henan–Huainan patrol and frontier commands. He was shifted to military governor of Shannan East to replace Lu Jiong, but when Li Ju, the heir Prince of Guo, reported that Jiong was still holding his ground, he was returned to his former command. When rebels tightened their siege of Nanyang, Zhen marched with Wei Zhongxi to relieve the city but failed to break through; though panic spread, he steadied and disciplined his men, and his calm bearing kept the enemy from pressing further gains. He was reassigned as military governor of Huainan West. After the eastern and western capitals were recovered, he was created Duke of Ying with a fief income of two hundred households.
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乾元二年，徙河西。 未行，王師敗於相州，詔拜陜虢節度，兼潼關防禦團練鎮守使。 明年，襄州部將張維瑾等殺其使史翙，徙瑱山南東道襄、鄧、均、房、金、商、隨、郢、復十州節度使。 既至，維瑾降。 上元二年春，破史思明餘黨於魯山，俘賊渠，又戰汝州，獲馬、牛、橐駝，凡兩戰，斬首萬級。 明年，詔瑱還，瑱安襄、漢，士亦宜其政，因諷眾留己，而外示行； 至鄧，復詔歸鎮。 肅宗聞其謀，惡之，呂諲、王仲昇等皆言「瑱得士心，不可以留』，乃改山南東道襄、鄧、唐、復、隨、郢六州節度。 俄而仲昇與賊戰申州，為賊禽。 初，仲昇被圍，而江陵呂諲病，瑱顧望不即救，及師出，仲昇已沒。 行軍司馬裴奰表其狀，且言：「瑱善謀而勇，恐後難制，即除之，可一戰禽也。」 帝頗謂然，遂改瑱淮西申、安、蘄、黃、光、沔兼河南陳、豫、許、鄭、汴、曹、宋、穎、泗十五州節度以寵之，陰奪其權，加奰襄、鄧等七州防禦使代瑱。 瑱懼，釋言「淮西無糧，須麥收可上道」，又諷眾固留。
In 759 he was ordered to the Hexi command. Before he could leave, the court army was routed at Xiangzhou; he was named military governor of Shanzhou and Guozhou and put in charge of Tong Pass defense and training. The following year, after Xiangzhou officers led by Zhang Weijin murdered their commissioner Shi Hui, Zhen was made military governor of ten prefectures—Xiang, Deng, Jun, Fang, Jin, Shang, Sui, Ying, and Fu—on the Shannan East circuit. On his arrival Zhang Weijin submitted. In the spring of 761 he routed Shi Siming's remnants at Lushan, took rebel leaders prisoner, and fought again at Ruzhou, seizing horses, cattle, and camels; in two engagements he claimed ten thousand heads. The next year the court recalled him; having settled Xiang and Han to the troops' satisfaction, he quietly urged the men to keep him in place while pretending to obey the summons; but when he reached Deng, a new edict sent him back to his post. Suzong learned of the maneuver and took offense; Lü Yin, Wang Zhongsheng, and others argued, "Zhen has won the army's loyalty and must not be left in place," so his command was reduced to six prefectures on the Shannan East circuit. Soon afterward Wang Zhongsheng fought the rebels at Shenzhou and was taken prisoner. When Zhongsheng was first surrounded, Lü Yin at Jiangling lay ill and Zhen delayed sending relief; by the time his army set out, Zhongsheng had already fallen into enemy hands. His military affairs secretary Pei Yi reported the affair and urged: "Zhen is resourceful and bold; if he is not removed now he may prove uncontrollable—strike promptly and he can be taken in one fight." The emperor largely agreed and, ostensibly to honor him, transferred Zhen to a grand fifteen-prefecture command spanning Huai West and Henan while secretly curtailing his power by making Pei Yi defense commissioner of seven prefectures including Xiang and Deng in his stead. Alarmed, Zhen pleaded, "Huai West lacks grain and I cannot march until the wheat harvest," and again stirred the troops to keep him where he was.
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代宗立，復授襄州節度、奉義軍渭北兵馬使； 密詔奰圖之。 奰自均州率眾浮漢下。 會日入，候者白瑱，瑱與帳下謀，其副薛南陽曰：「公奉詔留鎮，而奰以兵脅代，是無名也。 奰智勇非公敵，而眾心不附。 彼若乘我不虞，縱火夜攻，誠可憂也。 若須明，則破之必矣。」 明日，奰督軍五千陣谷水北，瑱以兵迎之，呼其軍，告曰：「爾何事來？」 曰：「公不受命，故中丞伐罪。」 瑱曰：「詔還鎮此州。」 乃以詔書示之。 皆曰：「偽也。 吾千里討賊，豈空歸邪？」 爭射之，瑱走旗下。 薛南陽曰：「請公勒兵勿戰。」 乃以三百騎為奇兵，旁萬山，出其背夾擊之，其眾幾盡，奰脫身走，至申口，禽之，送京師。 瑱因入朝謝罪，帝待之無疑，拜兵部尚書、同中書門下平章事，充山陵使。 是時，程元振居中用事，疾瑱，乃告與巫祝言不順。 會王仲昇歸，又言由瑱與賊合，故陷賊。 帝積怒，遂下詔削除官爵，貶播川尉，員外置。 及鄠，賜死，籍其家。 瑱之死，門下客散去，掩屍於坎，校書郎殷亮獨後至，哭屍側，為備棺衾以葬。 帝徐悟元振誣，以它罪流溱州。
After Daizong came to the throne, Zhen was again made military governor of Xiangzhou and commander of the Fengyi army north of the Wei; while a secret order set Pei Yi to bring him down. Pei Yi led his force from Junzhou down the Han River by boat. At sunset scouts warned Zhen, who consulted his staff; his deputy Xue Nanyang said, "You hold this post by imperial command, yet Pei Yi comes with an army to displace you—that is an unjust act. He is no match for you in wit or valor, and the men do not follow him. If he catches us off guard with a night assault and fire attack, that would be grave indeed. But meet him in open daylight and you are sure to break him." The next day Pei Yi drew up five thousand men north of the Gu River; Zhen advanced to meet him and called across to the ranks, "What brings you here?" They answered, "You refused the transfer, so the vice censor has come to punish your offense." Zhen said, "The edict orders me to remain and guard this prefecture." He showed them the edict. They cried, "It is a forgery. We marched a thousand li to punish a rebel—do you think we will go home empty-handed?" They loosed a volley at him, and Zhen dashed beneath his standard. Xue Nanyang said, "Hold the line, my lord—do not engage yet." He then sent three hundred horsemen by a hidden route around Mount Wan to strike from the rear; Pei Yi's army was nearly destroyed, Yi fled alone, was seized at Shenkou, and sent to the capital. Zhen then went to court to apologize; the emperor received him without mistrust, made him minister of war and chief councilor, and appointed him commissioner for the imperial tomb works. Cheng Yuanzhen then dominated the court, hated Zhen, and accused him of disloyal dealings with sorcerers. When Wang Zhongsheng returned from captivity he added that Zhen had colluded with the rebels and deliberately left him to be taken. The emperor's wrath boiled over; an edict stripped his titles and banished him as assistant magistrate of Bochuan on a supernumerary posting. On reaching Hu County, he was ordered to take his own life, and his property was confiscated. When Zhen died his clients fled, leaving the body in a shallow grave; only collator Yin Liang came later, wept beside the corpse, and provided coffin and shroud for burial. The emperor slowly realized he had been deceived and banished Yuanzhen to Zhenzhou on another charge.
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Earlier, Zhen's secretary Pang Chong had been stationed in Henan with two thousand men; at Ruzhou he learned of Zhen's death, marched back to seize Xiangzhou, was checked by subordinate Li Zhao, and fled toward Fangling. Zhao, Xue Nanyang, and Liang Chongyi refused to obey one another; Chongyi killed Zhao, and the throne made him military governor in Zhen's stead. He later erected a shrine to Zhen with seasonal offerings, refused to sit in Zhen's hall of audience, and tearfully petitioned for honorable burial, which the court granted. In 763 his rank and titles were posthumously restored.
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裴奰者，始以蔭為京兆司錄參軍。 瑱鎮陜州，引為判官，移襄州，又為行軍司馬，遇之厚。 及瑱私漢上，奰欲得其處，故背瑱言狀，帝倚以圖瑱。 而性輕褊少謀，師興，給用無節。 及敗，有詔流費州，至藍田，賜死。 田神功，冀州南宮人。 天寶末，為縣史。 會天下兵興，賊署為平盧兵馬使，率眾歸朝，從李忠臣收滄、德，攻相州，拒杏園。 後守陳留，戰不勝，與許叔冀降於史思明。 思明使與南德信、劉從諫南略江淮，神功襲德信，斬之，從諫脫身走，乃並將其兵。 詔拜鴻臚卿。 襲敬釭鄆州，不克。 劉展反，鄧景山引神功助討，自淄青濟淮，眾不整，入揚州，遂大掠居人貲產，發屋剔窖，殺商胡波斯數千人。 俄而禽展送京師，遷淄青節度使。 會侯希逸入青州，更徙兗鄆。 時賊圍宋州急，李光弼奏神功往救，賊解去。 又破法子營，復攻敬釭，降之。 朝義聞，乃奔下博。 進封信都郡王，徙河南節度、汴宋八州觀察使。
Pei Yi had first entered office through hereditary privilege as recorder of the metropolitan prefecture. When Zhen governed Shanzhou he took Yi on as aide; at Xiangzhou he made him military secretary and treated him with great favor. When Zhen clung to his command on the Han, Yi coveted his post, turned informer against him, and won the emperor's trust for the plot to remove him. But he was rash, petty, and shortsighted; once his campaign began, he spent supplies without restraint. After his defeat he was banished to Feizhou and ordered to die at Lantian. Tian Shengong was a native of Nangong in Jizhou. Late in the Tianbao period he served as a county clerk. When rebellion spread, the rebels made him Pinglu military commissioner; he then led his men back to the Tang side, followed Li Zhongchen in recovering Cangzhou and Dezhou, fought at Xiangzhou, and held Xingyuan Garden. Later, defending Chenliu, he was beaten and surrendered with Xu Shuji to Shi Siming. Siming sent him south with Nan Dexin and Liu Congjian to overrun Jianghuai; Shengong ambushed Dexin and killed him, and when Congjian fled he absorbed both armies. The court appointed him minister of diplomatic reception. He assaulted Jing Gang at Yunzhou but failed to take the city. When Liu Zhan rebelled, Deng Jingshan called on Shengong. Marching from Ziqing across the Huai in disorder, he entered Yangzhou and looted the city, breaking into houses, digging out hidden stores, and slaughtering several thousand foreign merchants, including Persians. He soon captured Zhan and sent him to the capital, and was made military governor of Ziqing. When Hou Xiyi took Qingzhou, his command was shifted to Yanzhou and Yunzhou. Rebels were pressing Songzhou hard; Li Guangbi urged that Shengong relieve the city, and the siege was raised. He routed Fa Zi's camp, attacked Jing Gang again, and accepted his surrender. Shi Chaoyi, hearing this, fled to Xiabo. He was advanced to prince of Xindu and made military governor of Henan and observer of the eight Bian-Song prefectures.
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In 767 he came to court and was made acting right vice director of the Department of State Affairs; the chief ministers and the whole bureaucracy were ordered to escort him to the ministry. He also served as left vice director in charge of routine business, was named grand preceptor of the heir apparent, and returned to his command. Shengong was devoted to his mother. He had once been insufferably proud, but after watching Li Guangbi treat his staff with measured courtesy he learned to humble himself. When he fell ill, the officers of Song offered prayers for his recovery in gratitude.
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八年，自力入朝，卒，代宗為徹樂，贈司徒，詔其弟曹州刺史神玉知汴州留事，賻絹千匹、布五百端，百官吊喪，賜屏風茵褥，飯千桑門追福。 至德後，節度使不兼宰相者，惟神功恩禮最篤。 神玉終汴宋節度留後。 侯希逸，營州人。 長七尺，豐下銳上。 天寶末為州裨將，守保定城。 安祿山反，使中人韓朝敭傳命，希逸斬以徇。 祿山又以親將徐歸道為節度使，希逸率兵與安東都護王玄誌斬之，遣使上聞，詔拜玄誌平盧節度使。 玄誌卒，副將李正己殺其子，共推希逸，有詔就拜節度使，兼御史大夫。 與賊確，數有功。 然孤軍無援，又為奚侵掠，乃拔其軍二萬，浮海入青州據之，平盧遂陷。 肅宗因以希逸為平盧、淄青節度使。 自是淄青常以平盧冠使。 寶應初，與諸軍討平史朝義，加檢校工部尚書，賜實戶，圖形淩煙閣。
In the eighth year he dragged himself to court and died; Daizong suspended court music, posthumously made him minister of education, left Bianzhou affairs to his brother Shenyu, prefect of Cao, granted a thousand bolts of silk and five hundred of cloth, ordered the bureaucracy to mourn, gave screens and bedding, and fed a thousand monks for his soul. After the Zhide period, of the military governors who were not also chief ministers, none received court favor so lavish as Shengong. Shenyu ended his career as acting military governor of Bian and Song. Hou Xiyi was a native of Yingzhou. He stood seven feet, broad below and sharp-featured above. Late in Tianbao he was a deputy commander of the prefecture, holding Baoding City. When An Lushan rebelled he sent the eunuch Han Chaoyang with orders; Xiyi executed him and exposed the head as a warning. Lushan then installed his favorite Xu Guidao as military governor; Xiyi joined Andong protector Wang Xuanzhi in killing him, reported to the court, and Xuanzhi was appointed military governor of Pinglu. When Xuanzhi died, deputy Li Zhengji killed his son and the army acclaimed Xiyi; he was appointed military governor on the spot and made grand censor as well. He fought the rebels again and again with repeated success. But isolated and without relief, and harried by Xi raids, he withdrew twenty thousand men, crossed the sea to seize Qingzhou, and Pinglu was lost. Suzong then made him military governor of Pinglu and Ziqing. Thereafter the Ziqing commission usually prefixed the Pinglu title. Early in Baoying he helped crush Shi Chaoyi, was made acting minister of works, granted a substantive fief, and had his portrait hung in the Lingyan Pavilion.
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希逸始得青，治軍務農有狀。 後稍怠肆，好畋獵，佞佛，興廣祠廬，人苦之。 夜與巫家野次，李正己因眾怨閉闔不內，遂奔滑州。 召還，檢校尚書右僕射，知省事。 大歷末，封淮陽郡王。 建中二年，遷司空。 未及拜，卒，年六十二，遺敕其子上還前後實封，贈太保。 崔寧，本貝州安平人，後徙衛州。 世儒家，而獨喜縱橫事，因落魄，客劍南，以步卒事鮮于仲通。 又從李宓討雲南，無功，還成都，行軍司馬崔論悅之，薦為牙將。 歷事崔圓、裴冕。 冕被謗，朝廷疑之，遣使者問狀，寧部兵剺耳白其冤，使者以聞。 寧亦還京師，留為折沖郎將。 寶應初，蜀亂，山賊乘險，道不通。 嚴武白寧為利州刺史，既至，賊遁去，由是知名。 及武為劍南節度使，過州，心欲與俱西，而利非所屬，使寧自為計。 寧曰：「節度使張獻誠見疑，難輒去。 然獻誠嗜利，若厚賂之，寧可以從大夫矣。」 武然之，以奇錦珍貝遺獻誠，且求寧，獻誠果喜，令自移疾去。 武遂奏為漢州刺史。 吐蕃引雜羌寇西山，破柘、靜等州，有詔收復。 於是武遣寧將而西，既薄賊城，城皆累石，不得攻，惟東南不合者丈許，諜知之，乃為地道，再宿而拔，拓地數百里。 虜眾驚相謂曰：「寧，神兵也！」 及還，武大悅，裝七寶輿迎入成都，以誇於軍。
When he first took Qingzhou he governed troops and promoted farming with real success. Later he grew slack, devoted himself to hunting and Buddhist patronage, and built shrines everywhere until the people groaned under the burden. One night he camped in the open with a shaman's household; Li Zhengji, playing on popular anger, shut him out of the city, and he fled to Huazhou. Recalled to court, he was made acting right vice director in charge of routine business. Late in the Dali era he was created prince of Huaiyang. In 781 he was appointed minister of works. He died at sixty-two before he could take office, directing his son to surrender his substantive fiefs, and was posthumously made grand guardian. Cui Ning was originally from Anping in Beizhou and later moved to Weizhou. Though his family were scholars for generations, he favored political stratagems; down on his luck, he wandered into Jiannan and served Xianyu Zhongtong as a foot soldier. He followed Li Mi's failed Yunnan campaign, returned to Chengdu, won the favor of military secretary Cui Lun, and was made a guard officer. He served in turn under Cui Yuan and Pei Mian. When Pei Mian was slandered and the court grew suspicious, an envoy was sent to investigate; Ning's soldiers cut their ears to proclaim Pei's innocence, and the envoy reported back. Ning too returned to the capital and was kept on as a resolute-assault colonel. Early in Baoying, with Shu in turmoil, mountain bandits held the passes and cut the roads. Yan Wu recommended Ning for prefect of Lizhou; on his arrival the bandits dispersed, and he won a name for himself. When Yan Wu became military governor of Jiannan and passed through Lizhou, he wanted Ning to accompany him west, but Lizhou lay outside his circuit, so he told Ning to find his own way. Ning said, "Governor Zhang Xiancheng is suspicious of me, so I cannot simply leave. But he is greedy; bribe him heavily and I can follow you west." Yan Wu agreed, sent rare silks and jewels to Xiancheng and asked for Ning; delighted, Xiancheng let Ning resign on grounds of illness. Yan Wu then had him appointed prefect of Hanzhou. Tibetans led allied Qiang tribes against the western mountains, overran Zhezhou, Jingzhou, and others, and the court ordered their recovery. Yan Wu sent Ning west; the stone-walled rebel stronghold could not be stormed until spies found a one-zhang gap in the southeast; Ning dug a tunnel, took the city in two nights, and extended Tang control for hundreds of li. The enemy cried in alarm, "Ning commands supernatural troops!" On his return Yan Wu was overjoyed, met him in Chengdu with a jeweled carriage, and paraded the honor before the army.
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In 765 Yan Wu died. Du Ji, Guo Yinggan, and Guo Jialin all urged making Yinggan's elder brother Yingyi military governor; Ning and his army asked for the senior general Wang Chongjun instead. All the petitions arrived, but the court had already chosen Yingyi. Yingyi resented them; on taking office he framed and killed Chongjun and summoned Ning. Ning, afraid, claimed he was holding the frontier against Tibet and refused to return. Enraged, Yingyi marched out, claiming to aid Ning while planning to destroy him, moved Ning's family to Chengdu, and violated his concubines. Ning grew more fearful and entrenched himself. Yingyi led the campaign himself, but a blizzard killed many horses, the army fell apart, and he retreated in defeat. Learning that Yingyi had cut pay and rations, angering the troops, and had destroyed a statue of Xuanzong, Ning told the army, "Yingyi has rebelled and seized the former emperor's palace." He then marched on Chengdu. Yingyi drew up west of the city with Maolin in front, Yinggan on the left, and Jialin in reserve; defeated, much of his army went over to Ning. Ning commissioned the defectors to counterattack; Yingyi was beaten, fled to Lingchi, and was killed by Han Cheng.
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Jiannan fell into chaos as Yang Zilin rose in Luzhou and joined Bai Zhenjie of Qiongzhou against Ning. The next year Daizong appointed chief minister Du Hongjian deputy commander over the western circuits and military governor of Jiannan West to suppress the rebellion. Leaving Luo Valley, an adviser urged, "Hold at Langzhong, denounce Yingyi in repeated memorials, praise Ning's strategy, and confirm the prefects he has appointed so he will trust you. Then join Zhang Xiancheng of East River and the other commanders to harry him; within a year Ning will be cornered and must submit." Du Hongjian wavered. When Ning sent envoys with lavish silks and abject words, Du Hongjian's greed drew him into Chengdu; he handed all affairs to Ning and spent his days feasting with Du Ya and Yang Yan. He memorialized Zhenjie as prefect of Qiongzhou and Zilin as prefect of Luzhou to settle the feud. He repeatedly recommended Ning at court. Earlier Ning had fought Zhang Xiancheng and kept his command insignia, so the court made him mayor of Chengdu, western-mountain defense commissioner, and military secretary of West River. When Du Hongjian returned to court, Ning became military governor.
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In 768 he came to court. His original name was Gan; at this point the court granted him the name Ning. When Yang Zilin seized Chengdu, the emperor sent Ning back to Shu. Zilin was soon defeated. Seeing that Shu was rugged, wealthy, and poorly governed from afar, Ning taxed it ruthlessly; he kept his brother Kuan in the capital to bribe the powerful and court Yuan Zai's faction, so Kuan rose swiftly to vice censor-in-chief and his brother Shen to palace attendant. Long in Shu, his army grew strong while he indulged every excess and forced himself on many officers' wives; the court looked away and dared not call him to account. He was repeatedly promoted to left vice director of the Department of State Affairs. In the fourteenth year he came to court, was made acting minister of works and chief councilor, and appointed commissioner for the imperial tomb works. Soon made grand censor while retaining his councilorship, he argued that censor appointments should rest with the censorate alone, not with the chief ministers. He nominated Li Heng, Yu Jie, and others as censors; Yang Yan blocked the appointments in anger. As Yang Yan attacked Liu Yan, Ning pleaded for Liu at court; though both men had ties to Yuan Zai's faction, Yan resented Ning and bided his time.
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是歲十月，南蠻與吐蕃合兵入文川、方維、邛郲，覆沒州縣，民逃匿山谷中。 寧方在朝，軍無帥，德宗促寧進鎮。 炎業與有嫌，恐已入蜀不可制，即說帝曰：「蜀，天下之奧壤，自寧擅制，朝廷失外府十四年矣。 今寧雖來，以全師守蜀，賦稅入天子者與無地同。 寧本與諸將等夷，獨因叛亂得位，不敢自有，以恩柔煦育，故威令不行。 今雖歸之，必無功，是徒遣也； 若其有功，誼不容奪。 則西蜀之奧，敗固失之，勝亦非國家所有。 惟陛下孰察。」 帝曰：「卿策雲何？」 炎曰：「請無歸寧。 今朱泚所部范陽勁卒戍近甸，趨與禁兵雜往，舉無不克，因是役得以親兵內其腹中，則蜀將破膽不敢動，然後換授他帥，以收其權，得千里肥饒之地，是謂因小禍受大福也。」 帝曰：「善。」 遂罷寧西川節度，改兼京畿觀察使、靈州大都督、單於鎮北大都護、朔方節度、鄜坊丹延州都團練觀察等使，托言重臣綏靜北陲，而每道置留後，使得自奏事，杜希全靈州，王翃振武，李建徽鄜州，及戴休顏、杜從政、呂希倩皆炎署置，使伺寧過失。 寧至夏州，與希倩招党項，降者甚眾。 炎惡之，即奏希倩無綏邊才，而以神武將軍時常春代之，更拜寧尚書右僕射、知省事，司空如故。
That tenth month, southern tribes and Tibetans overran Wenchuan, Fangwei, and Qiongxi, destroying prefectures and counties while the people fled into the hills. With Ning at court and Shu leaderless, Dezong pressed him to return to his command. Yang Yan, already hostile, feared Ning would become uncontrollable in Shu and told the emperor, "Shu is the empire's richest redoubt; Ning has held it autonomously for fourteen years. Even now, if he returns with his full army, the court will receive no more revenue than if Shu did not exist. Ning had originally been no higher than the other generals. Because he alone had gained his position amid the rebellions, he did not dare assert his own authority; he governed through favors and indulgence, so his commands carried no weight. Send him back now and he is sure to fail—that would be a wasted dispatch; and if he succeeds, propriety forbids stripping him of the prize. Thus the strategic heartland of western Shu would be lost either way: defeat would lose it outright, while even victory would leave it outside the state's control. Your Majesty must weigh this carefully." The emperor asked, "What do you propose?" Yan said, "Do not send Ning back. Zhu Ci's Fanyang veterans garrison the capital approaches; march them with the palace guard and they cannot fail. Use that campaign to plant loyal troops in Ning's rear, terrify Shu into inaction, then replace him and recover a thousand li of rich land—turn a small risk into a great gain." The emperor said, "Good." Ning was stripped of West River and given nominal commands over the capital region and the northern frontier while Yang Yan installed loyal acting commissioners—Du Xiquan, Wang Hong, Li Jianhui, Dai Xiuyan, Du Congzheng, and Lü Xiqian—to watch his every move. At Xiazhou, Ning and Lü Xiqian won over many Tangut tribes. Yang Yan, alarmed, replaced Xiqian with Shi Changchun and recalled Ning as right vice director while leaving his minister of works title intact.
14
朱泚亂，帝出居奉天，寧後數日至，帝喜甚。 寧謂所親曰：「上聰明，從善如轉規，但為盧杞所惑至此爾。」 因潸然涕下。 杞聞之，思有以構寧於帝。 會王翃赴難時，與寧俱出延平門而西，寧數下馬趨廁，輒迂久。 翃懼賊追，即呼曰：「既至此，而欲顧望乎？」 杞微聞，即諷翃以聞。 會泚行反間，而除柳渾為宰相，署寧中書令。 時朔方掌書記康湛為盩厔尉，翃逼湛詐作寧遺泚書獻之，杞遂奏：「寧初無效順心，向聞與賊盟署中書令，今果後至，復得所與賊書，反狀明甚。 若兇渠外逼，奸臣內謀，則大事去矣。」 因俯伏歔欷曰：「臣備位宰相，危不能持，顛不能扶，罪當死。」 帝命左右扶起之，乃召寧至朝堂，雲使宣慰江淮。 俄而中人引寧幕後，使二力士縊殺之，年六十一。
When Zhu Ci rebelled and the emperor fled to Fengtian, Ning arrived a few days later to the emperor's great relief. Ning told his intimates, "The emperor is wise and receptive to good counsel, but Lu Qi has led him to this pass." He wept as he said it. Qi heard of this and began plotting to destroy Ning. During the flight west from Yanping Gate with Wang Hong, Ning kept dismounting for long visits to the privy. Fearing pursuit, Wang Hong shouted, "We've come this far—will you still hang back?" Qi overheard and urged Wang Hong to report it. Zhu Ci spread disinformation, Liu Hun was made chief minister, and Ning was named director of the Secretariat. Wang Hong forced Kang Zhan to forge a letter from Ning to Zhu Ci; Qi then memorialized, "Ning had never been loyal, had long been rumored to have accepted a rebel appointment as director of the Secretariat, had arrived late, and now the forged letter proved treason beyond doubt. With the rebel pressing outside and a traitor within, the dynasty is lost." He prostrated himself, weeping, "I hold the post of chief minister yet could neither steady the throne in peril nor right it in collapse—I deserve death." The emperor had him raised, summoned Ning to court, and pretended to send him to console Jianghuai. Eunuchs then led him behind the screen, where two brawny executioners strangled him; he was sixty-one.
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初，命陸贄草制，贄索寧與泚書，將坐其事。 杞復云：「書已亡。」 寧死，籍其家，中外冤之。 帝乃赦寧親屬，而歸其資雲。 貞元十二年，寧故將夏綏銀節度使韓潭請以所加禮部尚書雪寧罪，有詔聽其家收葬。 始，寧入朝，留其弟寬守成都，楊子琳乘間起瀘州，以精騎數千襲據其城。 寬戰力屈，寧妾任素驍果，即出家財十萬募勇士，得千人，設部隊，自將以進。 子琳大懼，會糧盡，且大雨，引舟至廷，乘而去。 子琳者，本瀘南賊帥，既降，詔隸劍南節度，屯瀘州，杜鴻漸表為刺史。 既敗，收餘兵沿江而下，諸刺史震栗，備餼牢以饗士。 過黃草峽，守捉使王守仙伏兵五百，子琳前驅至，悉禽之，遂入夔州，殺別駕張忠，城守以請罪。 朝廷以其本謀近忠，故授峽州刺史，移澧州鎮遏使。 後歸朝，賜名猷。
The emperor first ordered Lu Zhi to draft the edict; Lu Zhi asked for Ning's letter to Zhu Ci, intending to use it as evidence. Qi replied, "The letter is already lost." After Ning's death his property was confiscated, and the whole court regarded it as a grievous injustice. The emperor then pardoned Ning's kin and restored his family's property. In 796, Han Tan, Ning's former subordinate and military governor of Xia-Sui-Yin, offered to relinquish his newly granted post of Minister of Rites in exchange for clearing Ning's name; the court then allowed Ning's family to recover and bury his body. When Ning went to court he left his brother Kuan in Chengdu; Yang Zilin seized the moment, marched from Luzhou with thousands of elite horsemen, and took the city by surprise. Kuan was beaten back, but Ning's concubine Lady Ren, who was known for her courage and resolve, spent one hundred thousand cash of her own to raise a thousand warriors, formed them into units, and led the counterattack herself. Zilin panicked; his grain ran out, rain poured down, and he boarded boats at the palace court and fled downstream. Zilin had been a bandit chief south of Luzhou. After surrendering, he was placed under Jiannan command and stationed at Luzhou, and Du Hongjian had him appointed prefect. Defeated, he gathered his remnants and sailed downriver; terrified prefects stocked food and livestock to feed his men. At Huangcao Gorge, Defense Commissioner Wang Shouxian lay in ambush with five hundred men. When Zilin's vanguard arrived, it captured them all; Zilin then entered Kuizhou, killed vice prefect Zhang Zhong, and held the city while asking pardon. Because his original intent had bordered on loyalty, the court appointed him prefect of Xiazhou (Gorges Prefecture) and then transferred him to be suppression commissioner at Lizhou. He later returned to court and was granted the name You.
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17
Li, style name Yueqing, served as vice minister of revenue in the Kaicheng era. He successfully petitioned to end the practice of all officials offering incense on taboo days and received imperial praise. He served as military governor of Pinglu and Tianping and ended as left assistant director of the Department of State Affairs.
18
His son Rao, style name Yefu, in the Qianfu era was vice minister of personnel; gifted in letters and eloquent debate but poor at personnel selection, he was sent out as observer of Shanzhou and Guozhou. While Wang Xianzhi ravaged the Han River region and Henan swarmed with bandits, Rao was shallow and incompetent, prized only his own air of refinement, left affairs to lackeys, and ignored the people's suffering. When petitioners complained of drought, he pointed to the courtyard trees and said, "The leaves are still green—what drought?" He had them beaten on the spot, and his officers and people turned against him. Soon his own officers seized him and shaved off his beard. Rao bowed repeatedly for mercy and was finally allowed to go. Parched with thirst, he begged water from the people, and they gave him urine to drink. For losing his command he was demoted to military adjutant of Duanzhou and ended as Left Regular Attendant.
19
An, style name Zhiqing, early in Kaicheng, served as investigating censor and reported negligent suburban and ancestral rites. Emperor Wenzong told his chief ministers, "The ancestral rites ought to be performed by me in person. But with a thousand chariots and ten thousand riders the treasury cannot bear it, so the responsible offices attend in my stead—yet on those days I dress properly and sit waiting for dawn. Now I hear the officiants are irreverent and the vessels shabby—is that how I mean to honor the spirits? You should instruct the responsible offices to convey my meaning." An then laid out the details in a memorial. He was promoted to outside affairs officer and eventually to remonstrance grand master.
20
Que and Yan both rose to court gentleman. Yan Li, style name Yuanming, was a paternal cousin of Yan Zhen. As a youth he studied Buddhism; the prefect admired his ability and recommended him as captain of Xuanwu. When Yan Zhen served in Shannan he made Li a guard officer. During Emperor Dezong's flight from Chang'an he distinguished himself managing supplies. But he was rash, scheming, and prided himself on sycophantic cleverness. He rose through successive promotions to become prefect of Xingzhou. When Yan Zhen died, Li took charge of the headquarters; on Zhen's deathbed recommendation he was immediately made military governor of the circuit. The court ordered remonstrance officials, attendants, and remembrancers to deliberate; all agreed that "Li was too shallow in qualification and too light in reputation to command a circuit," but the emperor overruled them.
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In office he was greedy and grasping, and the people could not endure his exactions. He had long hated Fengzhou prefect Ma Xun, framed him in a memorial, and had him demoted to registrar at Hezhou. When Liu Pi rebelled, his long-standing stockpiles earned him appointment as acting left vice director and military governor of East River. He seized more than a hundred properties from officials and commoners and extorted hundreds of thousands in cash and grain beyond regular taxes. He died in 809 and was posthumously made minister of works. Later, investigating censor Yuan Zhen, on mission to East River, exposed his corruption and asked that a demeaning posthumous title be granted. Because he was already dead, the court only ordered his seized lands, houses, and slaves returned to their owners and remitted all extralegal levies.