Volume 166 Biographies 91: Jia, Du, Linghu

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◎賈杜令狐

Biographies: Jia, Du, and Linghu

=賈耽=

= Jia Dan =

賈耽，字敦詩，滄州南皮人。天寶中，舉明經，補臨清尉。上書論事，徙太平。河東節度使王思禮署為度支判官。累進汾州刺史，治凡七年，政有異績。召授鴻臚卿，兼左右威遠營使。俄為山南西道節度使。梁崇義反東道，耽進屯谷城，取均州。建中三年，徙東道。德宗在梁，耽使司馬樊澤奏事。澤還，耽大置酒會諸將。俄有急詔至，以澤代耽，召為工部尚書。耽納詔於懷，飲如故。既罷，召澤曰：「詔以公見代，吾且治行。」敕將吏謁澤。大將張獻甫曰：「天子播越，而行軍以公命問行在，乃規旄鉞，利公土地，可謂事人不忠矣。軍中不平，請為公殺之。」耽曰：「是何謂邪？朝廷有命，即為帥矣。吾今趨覲，得以君俱。」乃行，軍中遂安。

Jia Dan, whose courtesy name was Dunshi, came from Nanpi in Cangzhou. During the Tianbao reign he passed the Mingjing examination and was appointed assistant magistrate of Linqing. After he submitted a memorial discussing state affairs, he was transferred to Taiping. Wang Silü, military governor of Hedong, appointed him adjutant for fiscal affairs. He rose through repeated promotions to prefect of Fenzhou, and in seven years of governance achieved remarkable results. He was summoned to court and made Director of the Court for Diplomatic Relations, while also commanding the Left and Right Weiyuan camps. Before long he was appointed military governor of the Shannan West circuit. When Liang Chongyi rebelled in the eastern circuit, Dan advanced to encamp at Gucheng and captured Junzhou. In the third year of the Jianzhong era he was transferred to the eastern circuit. While Emperor Dezong was at Liang, Dan dispatched his chief of staff Fan Ze to report to the throne. When Ze returned, Dan gave a grand banquet for his generals. An urgent edict soon arrived appointing Ze to replace Dan and summoning Dan to serve as Minister of Works. Dan slipped the edict into his robe and continued drinking as though nothing had happened. When the banquet ended he summoned Ze and said, "The edict appoints you to take my place; I shall soon prepare to leave. He then ordered his officers and clerks to pay their respects to Ze. Grand general Zhang Xianfu said, "The Son of Heaven is wandering in exile, and the army sent you on his orders to learn where the court has gone—yet you plot for a commander's baton and staff, scheming to seize his territory. That is disloyalty to your lord. The troops are angry; allow me to kill him for you. Dan said, "What sort of talk is that? When the court issues its command, he is our commander. I am hurrying to court now, and you may all come with me." Then he set out, and the army was calmed.

俄為東都留守。故事，居守不出城，以耽善射，優詔許獵近郊。遷義成節度使。淄青李納雖削偽號，而陰蓄奸謀，冀有以逞。其兵數千自行營還，道出滑，或謂館於外。耽曰：「與我鄰道，奈何疑之，使暴於野？」命館城中，宴廡下，納士皆心服。耽每畋，從數百騎，往往入納境。納大喜，然畏其德，不敢謀。

Before long he was made custodian of the Eastern Capital. By custom a custodian did not leave the city, but because Dan was skilled at archery, a special edict allowed him to hunt in the nearby suburbs. He was transferred to serve as military governor of Yicheng. Li Na of Ziqing had abandoned his false title, yet secretly nursed treacherous schemes, hoping for a chance to carry them out. Several thousand of his troops were returning from their own camp and passed through Hua; some suggested quartering them outside the city. Dan said, "They are from a neighboring circuit—why treat them with suspicion and leave them exposed in the open? He ordered them lodged inside the city and entertained them below the hall, and Li Na's men were won over in heart. Whenever Dan went hunting he took several hundred horsemen and often rode into Li Na's territory. Li Na was greatly pleased, yet feared Dan's moral authority and dared not plot against him.

貞元九年，以尚書右僕射同中書門下平章事，俄封魏國公。常以方鎮帥缺，當自天子命之，若謀之軍中，則下有背向，人固不安。帝然之，不用也。順宗立，進檢校司空、左僕射。時王叔文等幹政，耽病之，屢移疾乞骸骨，不許。卒，年七十六，贈太傅，謚曰元靖。

In the ninth year of Zhenyuan he was appointed Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs with concurrent status as Grand Councilor, and soon enfeoffed as Duke of Wei. He often argued that when a frontier command lacked a leader, the appointment ought to come from the Son of Heaven; if the choice were plotted out in the army, subordinates would turn in different directions and no one could feel secure. The emperor agreed with him and did not adopt the practice. When Emperor Shunzong came to the throne, Dan was promoted to honorary Grand Preceptor and Left Vice Director. Wang Shuwen and his faction were meddling in government; Dan was disgusted and repeatedly asked to retire on grounds of illness, but his requests were denied. He died at the age of seventy-six and was posthumously made Grand Tutor with the posthumous title Yuanjing.

耽嗜觀書，老益勤，尤悉地理。四方之人與使夷狄者見之，必從詢索風俗，故天下地土區產、山川夷岨，必究知之。方吐蕃盛強，盜有隴西，異時州縣遠近，有司不復傳。耽乃繪布隴右、山南九州，且載河所經受為圖，又以洮湟甘涼屯鎮頟籍、道里廣狹、山險水原為《別錄》六篇、《河西戎之錄》四篇，上之。詔賜幣馬珍器。又圖《海內華夷》，廣三丈，從三丈三尺，以寸為百里。並撰《古今郡國縣道四夷述》，其中國本之《禹貢》，外夷本班固《漢書》，古郡國題以墨，今州縣以朱，刊落疏舛，多所厘正。帝善之，賜予加等。或指圖問其邦人，咸得其真。又著《貞元十道錄》，以貞觀分天下隸十道，在景雲為按察，開元為采訪，廢置升降備焉。至陰陽雜數罔不通。

Dan loved to read, and he grew only more diligent in old age; he was especially expert in geography. Anyone who came from the four quarters or served as envoy to the barbarian tribes, upon meeting him, was invariably questioned about local customs; thus the products of every region, its mountains and rivers, its heights and marshes—he sought to master them all. While Tibet was strong and had seized Longxi, the old distances between prefectures and counties were no longer reported by the authorities. Dan then painted and distributed maps of the nine prefectures of Longyou and Shannan, and also drew a chart of the courses rivers take; using garrison records and registers from Tao, Huang, Gan, and Liang, together with distances broad and narrow and the hazards of mountains and sources of water, he compiled six fascicles of Separate Records and four of Records of the Western Frontier Rong, and submitted them to the throne. An edict rewarded him with silks, horses, and precious objects. He also drew the Chart of Chinese and Barbarians Within the Seas, three zhang wide and three zhang three chi in length, using one inch to represent one hundred li. He also wrote An Account of Commanderies, Counties, Roads, and the Four Barbarians, Ancient and Modern, taking the Yu Gong as his foundation for China and Ban Gu's Book of Han for foreign peoples; ancient commanderies and states he marked in black, present prefectures and counties in red, pruning errors and correcting many mistakes. The emperor praised his work and granted him an enhanced reward. If one pointed on the map and questioned a native of that region, the answers were invariably accurate. He also wrote Records of the Ten Circuits in the Zhenyuan Era, based on the Zhenguan division of the empire into ten circuits; under Jingyun they became surveillance commissions and under Kaiyuan investigation commissioners, with every abolition, establishment, promotion, and demotion fully recorded. As for yin-yang lore and miscellaneous numerology, there was none he did not understand.

其器恢然，蓋長者也，不喜臧否人物。為相十三年，雖安危大事亡所發明，而檢身厲行，自其所長。每歸第，對賓客無少倦，家人近習，不見其喜慍。世謂淳德有常者。

His bearing was broad and magnanimous; he was fundamentally a man of long view and did not care to pass judgment on others. As chief minister for thirteen years, though he originated nothing on great matters of national safety and peril, in personal discipline and rigorous conduct he excelled in his own way. Whenever he returned home he entertained guests without the least sign of weariness; family and close attendants never saw him show pleasure or anger. His contemporaries regarded him as a man of pure and steadfast virtue.

=杜佑=

= Du You =

杜佑，字君卿，京兆萬年人。父希望，重然諾，所交遊皆一時俊傑。為安陵令，都督宋慶禮表其異政。坐小累去官。開元中，交河公主嫁突騎施，詔希望為和親判官。信安郡王漪表署靈州別駕、關內道度支判官。自代州都督召還京師，對邊事，玄宗才之。屬吐蕃攻勃律，勃律乞歸，右相李林甫方領隴西節度，故拜希望鄯州都督，知留後。馳傳度隴，破烏莽眾，斬千餘級，進拔新城，振旅而還。擢鴻臚卿。於是置鎮西軍，希望引師部分塞下，吐蕃懼，遺書求和。希望報曰：「受和非臣下所得專。」虜悉眾爭檀泉，希望大小戰數十，俘其大酋，至莫門，焚積蓄，卒城而還。授二子官。時軍屢興，府庫虛寡，希望居數歲，芻粟金帛豐余。宦者牛仙童行邊，或勸希望結其，答曰：「以貨藩身，吾不忍。」仙童還奏希望不職，下遷恒州刺史，徙西河。而仙童受諸將金事泄，抵死，畀金者皆得罪。希望愛重文學，門下所引如崔顥等皆名重當時。

Du You, whose courtesy name was Junqing, came from Wannian in the capital district of Jingzhao. His father Xiwang placed great weight on keeping his word; everyone he befriended was a leading figure of the day. While serving as magistrate of Anling, Governor Song Qingli memorialized his exceptional governance. He left office after a minor infraction. During the Kaiyuan reign Princess Jiaohe was married to the Turgesh, and an edict appointed Xiwang commissioner for the marriage alliance. Prince Xin'an Jun Yi recommended him as vice-prefect of Lingzhou and adjutant for fiscal affairs on the Guannei circuit. Recalled to the capital from his post as governor of Daizhou, he answered questions on frontier affairs and Emperor Xuanzong recognized his ability. When Tibet attacked Bolor and Bolor sought to submit, Chief Minister Li Linfu was then in charge of the Longxi command, so Xiwang was appointed governor of Shanzhou with acting authority. He rode post-haste across Long, defeated the Wumang forces, beheaded more than a thousand men, advanced to capture Xincheng, and returned with his army in good order. He was promoted to Director of the Court for Diplomatic Relations. The Western Garrison Army was then established; Xiwang led troops to divide and block the passes below, and Tibet, alarmed, sent a letter seeking peace. Xiwang replied, "Accepting peace is not something a subject may decide on his own. The enemy mustered all their forces to contest Tanquan; Xiwang fought dozens of engagements large and small, captured their great chief, reached Momen, burned their stores, completed the fortifications, and returned. His two sons were granted official posts. Campaigns were frequent at the time and the treasury was empty and depleted; after several years under Xiwang, fodder, grain, gold, and silks were in surplus. When the eunuch Niu Xiantong toured the frontier, some urged Xiwang to win him over with gifts, but he replied, "To buy my safety with goods—I cannot bear it. Xiantong returned and reported that Xiwang was derelict in duty; he was demoted to prefect of Hengzhou and transferred to Xihe. But when it was revealed that Xiantong had accepted gold from the generals, he was put to death, and all who had given him gold were punished. Xiwang loved and valued literature; those he brought into his service, such as Cui Hao, were all celebrated figures of the age.

佑以蔭補濟南參軍事、剡縣丞。嘗過潤州刺史韋元甫，元甫以故人子待之，不加禮。它日，元甫有疑獄不能決，試訊佑，佑為辨處，契要無不盡。元甫奇之，署司法參軍，府徙浙西、淮南，表置幕府。入為工部郎中，充江淮青苗使，再遷容管經略使。楊炎輔政，歷金部郎中，為水陸轉運使，改度支兼和糴使。於是軍興饋漕，佑得剸決。以戶部侍郎判度支。建中初，河朔兵挐戰，民困，賦無所出。佑以為救敝莫若省用，省用則省官，乃上議曰：

You entered office through yin privilege as military adjutant of Jinan and assistant magistrate of Shan county. Once he visited Runzhou prefect Wei Yuanfu, who treated him merely as the son of an old acquaintance and showed him no special courtesy. On another day Yuanfu had a doubtful legal case he could not resolve and tried questioning You; You analyzed and disposed of it, covering every essential point without omission. Yuanfu was astonished and appointed him judicial adjutant; when the prefecture was transferred to Zhexi and Huainan, he memorialized to place You on his staff. He entered the capital as a bureau director in the Ministry of Works, served as green-sprout commissioner for the Jianghuai region, and was promoted again to frontier commissioner of Rongguan. When Yang Yan came to power, You served as bureau director of the Revenue Section, then as commissioner for water and land transport, and was reassigned as director of the treasury with concurrent commissioner for government grain purchases. With the army mobilized and supply transport under way, You proved able to decide matters swiftly and decisively. He served as vice minister of revenue with concurrent authority over the treasury. At the beginning of the Jianzhong era the armies of Hebei and Shuo fought one another; the people were in distress and taxes could not be collected. You held that to relieve distress nothing was better than cutting expenditure, and cutting expenditure meant reducing officials; he therefore submitted a proposal saying:

漢光武建武中廢縣四百，吏率十署一；魏太和時分遣使者省吏員，正始時並郡縣；晉太元省官七百；隋開皇廢郡五百；貞觀初省內官六百員。設官之本，以治眾庶，故古者計人置吏，不肯虛設。自漢至唐，因征戰艱難以省吏員，誠救弊之切也。

Emperor Guangwu of Han, in the Jianwu era, abolished four hundred counties and reduced officials to roughly one for every ten posts; under Wei in the Taihe era commissioners were sent out to reduce the number of clerks, and under Zhengshi commanderies and counties were merged; under Jin in the Taixuan era seven hundred offices were cut; under Sui in the Kaihuang era five hundred commanderies were abolished; and at the beginning of Zhenguan six hundred inner offices were cut. The purpose of establishing offices is to govern the people; in antiquity they counted the population to determine how many clerks to appoint and would not create posts needlessly. From Han through Tang, in times of the hardships of war they reduced the number of clerks—truly the most urgent remedy for distress.

昔咎繇作士，今刑部尚書、大理卿，則二咎繇也。垂作共工，今工部尚書、將作監，則二垂也。契作司徒，今司徒、戶部尚書，則二契也。伯夷為秩宗，今禮部尚書、禮儀使，則二伯夷也。伯益為虞，今虞部郎中、都水使司，則二伯益也。伯冏為太僕，今太僕卿、駕部郎中、尚輦奉御、閑廄使，則四伯冏也。古天子有六軍，漢前後左右將軍四人，今十二衛、神策八軍，凡將軍六十員。舊名不廢，新資日加。且漢置別駕，隨刺史巡察，猶今觀察使之有副也。參軍者，參其府軍事，猶今節度判官也。官名職務，直遷易不同爾，詎有事實哉？誠宜斟酌繁省。欲致治者先正名。神龍中，官紀蕩然，有司大集選者，既無闕員，則置員外官二千人，自是以為常。當開元、天寶中，四方無虞，編戶九百餘萬，帑藏豐溢，雖有浮費，不足為憂。今黎苗雕瘵，天下戶百三十萬，陛下詔使者按比，才得三百萬，比天寶三分之一，就中浮寄又五之二，出賦者已耗，而食之者如舊，安可不革？

In antiquity Gao Yao served as minister of crime; today the Minister of Justice and the chief judge of Dali make two Gao Yaos. Chui served as minister of works; today the Minister of Works and the director of imperial construction make two Chuis. Qi served as minister of education; today the Minister of Education and the Minister of Revenue make two Qis. Bo Yi served as director of rites; today the Minister of Rites and the commissioner of ceremonies make two Bo Yis. Bo Yi served as director of forestry; today the bureau director of forestry and the commissioner of waterways make two Bo Yis. Bo Jiong served as grand master of the stud; today the grand master of the stud, the bureau director of the imperial carriage, the palace attendant of the imperial carriage, and the commissioner of the pasture stud make four Bo Jiongs. The ancient Son of Heaven had six armies; Han had four generals of the front, rear, left, and right; today the Twelve Guards and the Eight Divine Strategy Armies account for sixty generalships in all. Old titles are not abolished while new stipends are added day by day. Moreover Han established vice-prefects to accompany prefects on inspection tours, much as today's surveillance commissioners have deputies. The post of military adjutant meant taking part in a prefecture's military affairs, much as today's circuit military judge does. Office titles and duties had simply shifted with the times—what substantive difference could there be? The court should seriously weigh what to keep and what to cut. Whoever seeks good government must first set names and offices right. During the Shenlong era official discipline collapsed; when the authorities gathered candidates for appointment and found no vacancies, they created two thousand supernumerary posts, and that practice then became routine. Under Kaiyuan and Tianbao the realm was at peace, registered households stood above nine million, and the treasury was flush; even with some waste, there was little to fear. Today the people are worn down and sickly; the books list only 1.3 million households empire-wide, yet when Your Majesty sent officials to check and compare, they found only three million—one third of the Tianbao count—and two fifths of even that were fictitious registrations. The taxpayers are drained while the eaters of public grain are as numerous as ever. How can this go unreformed?

議者以天下尚有跋扈不廷，一省官吏，被罷者皆往托焉。此常情之說，類非至論。且才者薦用，不才者何患其亡，又況顧姻戚家產哉！建武時公孫述、隗囂未滅，太和、正始、太元時吳、蜀鼎立，開皇時陳尚割據，皆羅取俊乂，猶不慮失人以資敵。今田悅輩繁刑暴賦，惟軍是恤，遇士人如奴，固無范睢業秦、賈季強狄之患。若以習久不可以遽改，且應權省別駕、參軍、司馬，州縣額內官，約戶置尉。當罷者，有行義，在所以聞；不如狀，舉者當坐；不為人舉者，任參常調。亦何患哉？如魏置柱國，當時宿德盛業者居之，貴寵第一；周、隋間授受已多，國家以為勛級，才得地三十頃耳。又開府儀同三司、光祿大夫，亦官名，以其太多，回作階級。隨時立制，遇弊則變，何必因循憚改作耶？

Some argued that unruly warlords still defied the court, and that officials cut from one province would simply flock to them for patronage. That is ordinary talk, not serious policy. Besides, men of talent are recommended and used—why worry about losing the incompetent? And why fret over their kin or estates? Under Jianwu, Gongsun Shu and Wei Xiao had not yet fallen; in the Taihe, Zhengshi, and Taiyuan reigns Wu and Shu still divided the realm; under Kaihuang Chen still held out—all those states recruited the able and never worried that trimming offices would arm their foes. Men like Tian Yue rule by harsh law and crushing taxes, think only of their armies, and treat literati like slaves—there is no real risk of a Fan Ju defecting to Qin or a Jia Ji strengthening a foreign power. If long custom cannot be overturned overnight, at least provisionally eliminate vice-prefects, adjutants, and military aides, keep prefectural and county staffs within authorized quotas, and appoint constables according to household counts. Those slated for dismissal should be men whose conduct and integrity are known where they serve; if they fail to match their recommendation, the recommender should be punished; and those whom no one will recommend should be left to ordinary routine appointments. What harm could that do? When Wei created the rank of Pillar of State, only men of long-standing virtue and great achievement held it, and they stood first in honor and favor; but between Zhou and Sui the title had been handed out so often that the dynasty treated it merely as a merit grade worth only thirty qing of land. Likewise Grand Preceptor of State with the Three Insignia and Grand Master of Splendid Happiness were real offices; when holders grew too numerous, they were reduced to rank grades. Institutions should be made for their time; when abuse appears, change them—why cling to precedent and dread reform?

議入，不省。

The memorial went in, and the emperor ignored it.

盧杞當國，惡之，出為蘇州刺史。前刺史母喪解，佑母在，辭不行，改饒州。俄遷嶺南節度使。佑為開大衢，疏析廛闬，以息火災。朱厓黎民三世保險不賓，佑討平之。召拜尚書右丞。俄出為淮南節度使，以母喪解，詔不許。

Lu Qi, who then dominated the government, disliked him and had him posted out as prefect of Suzhou. The outgoing prefect had left because of his mother's mourning; since You's mother was still alive, he declined the appointment and was transferred to Raozhou instead. Before long he was made military governor of Lingnan. He opened wide streets, cleared and divided lanes and market wards, and thereby reduced the danger of fire. The peoples of Zhuya and Li had for three generations held difficult country and refused submission; You campaigned and pacified them. He was recalled and appointed vice director of the Department of State Affairs. Soon afterward he was posted as military governor of Huainan; when he asked to leave office for his mother's mourning, the throne refused.

徐州節度使張建封卒，軍亂，立其子愔，請於朝，帝不許，乃詔佑檢校尚書左僕射、同中書門下平章事，節度徐泗討定之。佑具舠艦，遣屬將孟準度淮擊徐，不克，引還。佑於出師應變非所長，因固境不敢進，乃招授愔徐州節度使，析濠、泗二州隸淮南。初，佑決雷陂以廣灌溉，斥海瀕棄地為田，積米至五十萬斛，列營三十區，士馬整飭，四鄰畏之；然寬假僚佐，故南宮僔、李亞、鄭元均至爭權亂政，帝為佑斥去之。

When Zhang Jianfeng, military governor of Xuzhou, died, the army mutinied and set up his son Yin, then petitioned the court for approval. The emperor refused, and ordered You—now acting minister of the left and associate director of the Department of State Affairs—to take the Xu-Si command and put the rebellion down. You fitted out light warships and sent his subordinate Meng Huai across the Huai to attack Xuzhou, but the assault failed and the force withdrew. Campaign improvisation was not You's strength; he held his lines and dared not advance, then negotiated Yin into the Xuzhou command and detached the Hao and Si prefectures to Huainan. Earlier he had breached the Leibo reservoir to expand irrigation, reclaimed coastal wasteland for fields, stockpiled grain to five hundred thousand hu, laid out thirty camp districts, and kept soldiers and horses in good order so that neighboring circuits feared him; yet he was indulgent toward his staff, so Nangong Pu, Li Ya, and Zheng Yuanjun fought for power and threw the administration into disorder, and the emperor removed them for his sake.

十九年，拜檢校司空、同中書門下平章事。德宗崩，詔攝冢宰。進檢校司徒，兼度支鹽鐵使。於是王叔文為副，佑既以宰相不親事，叔文遂專權。後叔文以母喪還第，佑有所按決，郎中陳諫請須叔文，佑曰：「使不可專耶？」乃出諫為河中少尹。叔文欲搖東宮，冀佑為助，佑不應，乃謀逐之，未決而敗。佑更薦李巽以自副。憲宗在諒暗，復攝冢宰，盡讓度支鹽鐵於巽。始，度支嗇，用度多，署吏權攝百司，繁而不綱；佑以營繕還將作，木炭歸司農，湅染還少府，職務簡修。明年，拜司徒，封岐國公。

In the nineteenth year he was made acting minister of works and associate director of the Department of State Affairs. When Emperor Dezong died, an edict named You steward of the royal corpse. He was promoted to acting minister of education and made concurrent commissioner of revenue and of the salt and iron monopolies. Wang Shuwen then served as his deputy; because You as chief minister no longer handled affairs himself, Shuwen seized sole control. Later, when Shuwen went home for his mother's mourning, You took up certain investigations and rulings; bureau director Chen Jian asked that Shuwen be consulted, and You said, "May the commissioner not decide on his own?" He then transferred Chen Jian out as vice-governor of Hezhong. Shuwen tried to undermine the crown prince and hoped for You's support; You would not answer, so Shuwen plotted to remove him, but the plot collapsed before it was carried out. You then recommended Li Xun as his deputy in place of Shuwen. While Emperor Xianzong was still in mourning seclusion, You again served as steward of the corpse and handed the revenue and salt-and-iron offices entirely to Xun. At first the Revenue Bureau was tight-fisted while spending was heavy; its clerks by delegated authority ran the hundred offices—many hands with no clear thread; You returned construction to the Directorate of Imperial Works, charcoal to the Directorate of Agriculture, dyeing and finishing to the Directorate of Palace Manufactories, and simplified duties into good order. The following year he was appointed minister of education and enfeoffed as Duke of Qi.

党項陰導吐蕃為亂，諸將邀功，請討之。佑以為無良邊臣，有為而叛，即上疏曰：

The Tangut secretly incited Tibet to revolt; generals eager for glory asked permission to attack. You believed the frontier lacked good officials and that rebellion had been provoked by their misconduct, and submitted a memorial saying:

昔周宣中興，獫狁為害，追之太原，及境而止，不欲弊中國，怒遠夷也。秦恃兵力，北拒匈奴，西逐諸羌，結怨階亂，實生謫戍。蓋聖王之治天下，惟欲綏靜生人，西至於流沙，東漸於海，在北與南，止存聲教，豈疲內而事外耶？昔馮奉世矯詔斬莎車王，傳首京師，威震西域，宣帝議加爵土，蕭望之獨謂矯制違命，雖有功不可為法，恐後奉使者為國家生事夷狄。比突厥默啜寇害中國，開元初，郝靈佺捕斬之，自謂功莫與二，宋璟慮邊臣由此邀功，但授郎將而已，繇是訖開元之盛，不復議邊，中國遂安。此成敗鑒戒之不遠也。

When King Xuan restored Zhou, the Xianyun raided; he pursued them to Taiyuan and halted at the border, unwilling to wear out the central states or provoke distant tribes in anger. Qin trusted force alone, held off the Xiongnu in the north and drove the Qiang tribes in the west, piled up hatred until disorder followed, and in the end bred the exiled frontier garrisons. A sage king governs the realm only to settle and quiet the living; west to the Moving Sands, east to the sea, north and south he extends only civilizing influence. Why exhaust the interior to serve the frontier? Long ago Feng Fengshi, acting on a forged edict, beheaded the king of Shache and sent his head to court, and his fame shook the Western Regions. Emperor Xuan thought to reward him with a fief, but Xiao Wangzhi alone argued that usurping command, however meritorious, must not become precedent, lest later envoys embroil the state with the barbarians. When the Turk Mo-chuo ravaged China, in early Kaiyuan Hao Lingxian captured and killed him and boasted that no deed could surpass his. Song Jing feared frontier officers would chase such glory and made him only a court gentleman; from then until Kaiyuan's zenith the frontier was left undebated, and the realm stayed secure. That lesson of success and failure lies close at hand.

党項小蕃，與中國雜處，間者邊將侵刻，利其善馬子女，斂求繇役，遂致叛亡，與北狄西戎相誘盜邊。《傳》曰：「遠人不服，則修文德以來之。」管仲有言：「國家無使勇猛者為邊境。」此誠聖哲識微知著之略也。今戎醜方強，邊備未實，誠宜慎擇良將，使之完輯，禁絕誅求，示以信誠，來則懲禦，去則謹備。彼當懷柔，革其奸謀。何必亟興師役，坐取勞費哉？

The Tangut are a small people intermingled with the Chinese; lately frontier generals have squeezed them, coveting their fine horses and their sons and daughters, piling on labor and levies until they fled into rebellion and, with northern Di and western Rong, lure one another into border raids. The Documents say, "When distant peoples do not submit, cultivate civil virtue to win them. Guan Zhong said, "A state should not station fierce and valiant men on its borders." That is the sage's way of reading the subtle and foreseeing what follows. Now the Rong are growing strong and the frontier is not yet secure; the court should choose good generals carefully, have them complete their defenses, forbid extortion, show sincerity and good faith, punish arrivals and guard carefully when they withdraw. They will accept gentle handling and abandon their plots. Why rush to raise armies and campaigns, only to sit in weariness and waste?

帝嘉納之。

The emperor praised the memorial and adopted it.

歲餘，乞致仕，不聽，詔三五日一入中書，平章政事。佑每進見，天子尊禮之，官而不名。後數年，固乞骸骨，帝不得已，許之。仍拜光祿大夫、守太保致仕，俾朝朔望，遣中人錫予備厚。元和七年卒，年七十八，冊贈太傅，謚曰安簡。

After more than a year he asked to retire; the throne refused, but ordered him to enter the Secretariat every three to five days to deliberate on affairs of state. Whenever he came to audience the emperor honored him with full ceremony and addressed him by title rather than by name. Some years later he pressed again to retire for good; the emperor, unable to refuse further, allowed it. He was still made grand master of splendid happiness and retired as guardian grand master, attending court on the first and fifteenth of each month while palace envoys sent him lavish gifts. In the seventh year of Yuanhe he died at seventy-eight; the court posthumously enfeoffed him grand tutor and gave him the posthumous title Anjian.

佑資嗜學，雖貴猶夜分讀書。先是，劉秩摭百家，侔周六官法，為《政典》三十五篇，房琯稱才過劉向。佑以為未盡，因廣其闕，參益新禮，為二百篇，自號《通典》，奏之，優詔嘉美，儒者服其書約而詳。

He loved learning by nature; even after he rose high in office he still read far into the night. Earlier Liu Zhi had drawn on the hundred schools and, paralleling the Zhou model of six offices, written thirty-five chapters of the Administrative Canon; Fang Guan said his talent surpassed Liu Xiang's. You judged the work incomplete, broadened its gaps, added new ritual material, and produced two hundred chapters under the title Comprehensive Institutions; when he presented it the throne answered with a warm edict of praise, and scholars admired the book as concise yet thorough.

為人平易遜順，與物不違忤，人皆愛重之，方漢胡廣，然練達文采不及也。朱坡樊川，頗治亭觀林，鑿山股泉，與賓客置酒為樂。子弟皆奉朝請，貴盛為一時冠。天性精於吏職，為治不察，數斡計賦，相民利病而上下之，議者稱佑治行無缺。惟晚年以妾為夫人，有所蔽雲。子式方式方，字考元，以蔭授揚州參軍事。再遷太常寺主簿，考定音律，卿高郢稱之。佑既相，出為昭應令，遷太僕卿。子悰，尚公主。式方以右戚，輒病不視事。穆宗立，授桂管觀察使。弟從郁痼疾，躬為營方藥羞膳，及死，期而泣，世稱其篤行。卒，贈禮部尚書。式方弟從郁從郁，元和初為左補闕，崔群等以宰相子為嫌，再徙秘書丞。終駕部員外郎。子牧。式方子悰悰，字永裕，以門蔭三遷太子司議郎。權德輿為相，其婿翰林學士獨孤郁以嫌自白。憲宗見郁文雅，嘆曰：「德輿有婿乃爾！」時岐陽公主，帝愛女。舊制，選多戚裏將家，帝始詔宰相李吉甫擇大臣子，皆辭疾，唯悰以選召見麟德殿。禮成，授殿中少監、駙馬都尉。太和初，由澧州刺史召為京兆尹，遷鳳翔忠武節度使。入為工部尚書，判度支。會公主薨，悰久不謝，文宗怪之。戶部侍郎李玨曰：「比駙馬都尉皆為公主服斬衰三年，故悰不得謝。」帝矍然，始詔杖而期，著於令。

In person he was mild and accommodating, never at odds with others; everyone loved and respected him, and men compared him to Hu Guang of Han—though he lacked Hu's seasoned mastery and literary finish. At his estates at Zhupo and Fanchuan he laid out pavilions, towers, woods, and gardens, cut mountain channels for springs, and with guests raised cups for pleasure. His sons and younger kin all held court appointments, and their eminence was unmatched in their day. By nature he excelled at official business; in governing he was not finicky, repeatedly intervened in tax assessments, weighed the people's hardships and benefits and adjusted policy accordingly, and critics said his administrative record had no flaw. Only in his later years did he elevate a concubine to wife, and it is said he showed partiality. His son Shifang, courtesy name Kaoyuan, entered office through yin privilege as military adjutant of Yangzhou. He rose twice to clerk in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, where he examined and fixed pitch and measure, and Director Gao Ying praised his work. After You became chief minister, Shifang was posted out as magistrate of Zhaoying and then promoted to director of the Imperial Stud. His son Cong married an imperial princess. As a maternal relative by marriage, Shifang repeatedly pleaded illness and neglected his duties. When Emperor Muzong ascended the throne, Shifang was appointed surveillance commissioner of Guiguan. His younger brother Congyu suffered a chronic illness; Shifang personally prepared prescriptions, medicines, and fine foods, and when Congyu died he observed the full mourning period in tears—the age praised his devotion. At his death he was posthumously made minister of rites. Shifang's younger brother Congyu, in early Yuanhe, served as left remonstrator; Cui Qun and others, seeing him as a chief minister's son, twice moved him down to secretary of the Palace Library. He ended his career as vice director in the Ministry of Tribute Carriages. His son was Mu. Shifang's son Cong, courtesy name Yongyu, through family yin privilege rose in three steps to secretary for remonstrance of the crown prince. When Quan Deyu was chief minister, his son-in-law, Hanlin academician Dugu Yu, disclosed the relationship on grounds of conflict of interest. The emperor, seeing Yu's refinement, sighed and said, "Deyu has such a son-in-law! At that time Princess Qiyang was the emperor's beloved daughter. By old custom matches fell chiefly to imperial kin and generals' sons; the emperor for the first time ordered Chief Minister Li Jifu to choose from ministers' sons—all pleaded illness except Cong, who alone accepted and was summoned to audience in Linde Hall. After the rites were completed he was appointed vice director of the Palace Domestic Service and commissioner of the consort horse. In early Taihe he was recalled from prefect of Li to governor of the capital, then made military governor of Fengxiang and Zhongwu. He entered the capital as minister of works with concurrent control of the Revenue Bureau. When the princess died Cong long failed to attend court in thanksgiving audience, and Emperor Wenzong thought it odd. Vice Minister of Revenue Li Jue said, "Formerly all commissioners of the consort horse office wore the deepest mourning for princesses for three years, so Cong could not attend court. The emperor started, then ordered mourning with the staff and a fixed term, and wrote the rule into law.

會昌初，為淮南節度使。武宗詔揚州監軍取倡家女十七人進禁中，監軍請悰同選，又欲閱良家有姿相者，悰曰：「吾不奉詔而輒與，罪也。」監軍怒，表於帝。帝以悰有大臣體，乃詔罷所進伎，有意倚悰為相矣。逾年，召拜檢校尚書右僕射、同中書門下平章事，仍判度支。劉稹平，進左僕射、兼門下侍郎。未幾，以本官罷，出為劍南東川節度使，徙西川，復鎮淮南。時方旱，道路流亡藉藉，民至漉漕渠遺米自給，呼為「聖米」，取陂澤茭蒲實皆盡，悰更表以為祥。獄囚積數百千人，而荒湎宴適不能事。罷，兼太子太傅，分司東都。逾歲，起為留守，復節度劍南西川。召為右僕射，判度支，進兼門下侍郎同平章事。

In early Huichang he was military governor of Huainan. Emperor Wuzong ordered the Yangzhou army supervisor to take seventeen singing-girls from a brothel into the palace; the supervisor asked Cong to help select them and also wanted to inspect respectable families for good looks, and Cong said, "If I join you without obeying the edict, that is a crime. The supervisor was furious and memorialized the throne against him. Judging that Du Cong carried himself like a statesman of the first rank, the emperor ordered the performers Cong had sent withdrawn from court and began to lean toward making him chief minister. A year later he was recalled to serve as acting Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and associate grand councilor, while continuing to head the finance commission. After the suppression of Liu Zhen's rebellion he was promoted to Left Vice Director and concurrent Chancellery Vice Minister. Soon afterward he left those offices, was appointed military commissioner of eastern Jiannan, then transferred to the west and finally returned to hold Huainan once more. A drought was on. Refugees packed the highways; people sifted stray grain from the transport canal to survive and called it "sacred rice." When even pond and marsh sedges were picked bare, Cong still submitted a memorial treating the hardship as a good omen. Hundreds and thousands of prisoners crowded the jails, yet he drowned himself in banquets and wine and could not manage his duties. Removed from office, he received the concurrent title Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent and was posted to the eastern capital in a nominal role. A year later he was reappointed garrison commander of the eastern capital and once more made military commissioner of western Jiannan. Recalled as Right Vice Director with charge of the finance commission, he was then promoted to concurrent Chancellery Vice Minister and associate grand councilor.

始，宣宗世，夔王以下五王處大明宮內院，而鄆王居十六宅。帝大漸，樞密使王歸長、馬公儒等以遺詔立夔王，而左軍中尉王宗實等入殿中，以為歸長等矯詔，乃迎鄆王立之，是為懿宗。久之，遣樞密使楊慶詣中書，獨揖悰，它宰相畢諴、杜審權、蔣伸不敢進，乃授悰中人請帝監國奏，因諭悰劾大臣名不在者抵罪。悰遽封授使者復命，謂慶曰：「上踐祚未久，君等秉權，以愛憎殺大臣，公屬禍無日矣。」慶色沮去，帝怒亦釋，大臣遂安。未幾，冊拜司空，封邠國公，以檢校司徒為鳳翔、荊南節度使，加兼太傅。會黔南觀察使秦匡謀討蠻，兵敗，奔於悰，悰囚之，劾不能伏節，有詔斬之。悰不意其死，駭愕得疾卒，年八十，贈太師。葬日，詔宰相百官臨奠。

Earlier, under Xuanzong, the five princes beginning with the Prince of Kui had been lodged in Daming Palace's inner compound, while the Prince of Yun resided in the Sixteen Mansions. As the emperor lay dying, Commissioners Wang Guichang and Ma Gongru tried to enthrone the Prince of Kui by testamentary edict. Left Army Commandant Wang Zongshi and his faction entered the palace, denounced the edict as forged, and installed the Prince of Yun instead—the man who became Emperor Yizong. Some time later Commissioner Yang Qing came to the Secretariat-Chancellery, bowed to Du Cong alone while Bi Yan, Du Shenquan, and Jiang Shen hung back, and handed him a palace memorial asking the new emperor to assume regency. He then told Cong to indict every senior minister whose name was omitted from the list. Cong immediately resealed the document and sent it back with the messenger, telling Qing, "The Son of Heaven has only just taken the throne. You wield power and slay ministers as whim dictates—disaster will find you soon enough." Qing left crestfallen; the emperor's wrath cooled as well, and the senior ministers were left in peace. Shortly afterward he was created Minister of Works and Duke of Bin, then posted as acting Grand Mentor with military command over Fengxiang and Jingnan and the added title of Grand Tutor. When Qiannan observation commissioner Qin Kuangmou marched against the southern tribes, suffered defeat, and fled to Cong's jurisdiction, Cong had him imprisoned and charged with dereliction. An edict condemned him to death. Cong had not expected the sentence to be carried out. Shocked and undone, he took ill and died at eighty. He was posthumously honored as Grand Preceptor. On the day of his burial the court ordered chancellors and officials to attend the rites.

悰於大議論往往有所合，然才不周用。雖出入將相，而厚自奉養，未嘗薦進幽隱，佑之素風衰焉，故時號「禿角犀」。悰子裔休子裔休，懿宗時歷翰林學士、給事中，坐事貶端州司馬。弟孺休，字休之。累擢給事中。大順初，錢镠遣弟銶率兵擊徐約於蘇州，破之，以海昌都將沈粲行刺史事，而昭宗更命孺休為之，以粲為制置指揮使。镠不悅，密遣粲害焉。始，孺休見攻也，曰：「勿殺我，當與爾金。」粲曰：「殺爾，金焉往？」與兄述休同死。悰弟慆悰弟慆。慆，咸通中為泗州刺史。會龐勛反，圍城，處士辛讜自廣陵來見慆，勸出家屬，獨以身守。慆曰：「吾出百口求生，眾心搖矣，不如與將士生死共之。」眾聞皆泣下。慆之聞難，完濬城隍，閱器械無不具。

On weighty questions of policy he often hit the mark, yet his abilities never quite matched the demands placed on him. Though he rose to general and minister, he pampered himself extravagantly and never lifted hidden talent into office. The frugal tradition of his grandfather Du You withered in him, and men called him the "bald-horned rhinoceros." Cong's son Yi-Xiu served under Yizong as Hanlin academician and chief drafting attendant until an offense sent him down to prefectural aide in Duanzhou. His younger brother Ru-Xiu, styled Xiuzhi. He rose step by step to chief drafting attendant. Early in the Dazhun era Qian Liu sent his brother Qian with an army against Xu Yue at Suzhou. After the victory he left Haichang garrison commander Shen Can in charge of the prefecture, but Emperor Zhaozong reassigned the post to Ru-Xiu and made Shen commander of the pacification headquarters. Liu took offense and secretly ordered Shen Can to murder him. As the attack began Ru-Xiu cried, "Do not kill me—I will give you gold." Can replied, "Kill you, and where will the gold go?" He and his elder brother Shu-Xiu perished together. Cong's younger brother Tao. During the Xiantong period Tao served as prefect of Sizhou. When Pang Xun rose in rebellion and laid siege to the city, the recluse Xin Dan came from Guangling and advised Tao to evacuate his household and defend the walls himself. Tao said, "If I march a hundred dependents out to safety, the garrison's heart will break. I would rather stand or fall with the troops." At those words the defenders wept. As soon as word of the uprising reached him, Tao had strengthened walls and moats and inventoried arms until nothing was wanting.

賊將李圓易慆，馳勇士百人欲入封府庫，慆為好言厚禮迎勞，賊不虞慆之謀也。明日，伏甲士三百，宴球場，賊皆殲焉。圓怒，傅城戰，慆殺數百人，圓退壁城西。勛聞，益其兵，而以書射城中促降。會夜，慆擊鼓乘城大呼，圓氣奪，奔還徐州。未幾，賊焚淮口，晝夜戰不息，讜乃請救於戍將郭厚本，賊解去。浙西節度使杜審權遣將以兵千人來援，反為圓軍所包，一軍盡沒。慆使人間道走京師，詔戴可師以沙陀、吐渾兵二萬招討。淮南節度使令狐遣牙將李湘屯淮口，與郭厚本合，為圓所敗，湘等並沒，於是援絕。賊乃以鐵鎖絕淮流，梯沖乘城。糧盡，為薄饘以給。懿宗遣使加慆檢校右散騎常侍，勉以堅守。勛遣圓入城見慆約降，慆怒殺之。勛復遺之書，答書言安祿山、朱泚等終底覆滅者，以陰攜其黨。勛累攻不得志，會招討使馬舉率兵至，遂解去。圍凡十月，慆拊循士，皆殊死奮，而辛讜冒圍出入，糾輯援師，卒完一州，時稱為難。賊平，慆遷義成軍節度使，檢校兵部尚書，卒。從郁子牧牧，字牧之，善屬文。第進士，復舉賢良方正。沈傳師表為江西團練府巡官，又為牛僧孺淮南節度府掌書記。擢監察御史，移疾分司東都，以弟顗病棄官。復為宣州團練判官，拜殿中侍御史內供奉。

Rebel commander Li Yuan despised Tao and sent a hundred picked men at full gallop to seize the treasury. Tao received them with smooth speech and rich gifts, and they never guessed his intent. The next day he hid three hundred armored men and gave a feast on the drill field. Every rebel in the trap was killed. Yuan flew into a rage and assaulted the walls. Tao cut down hundreds of attackers and Yuan pulled back to entrench west of the city. Pang Xun, hearing of it, sent more troops and shot a letter into the city demanding capitulation. One night Tao beat the drums, climbed the ramparts, and roared defiance until Yuan's nerve broke and he retreated to Xuzhou. Soon the rebels torched the Huai estuary and battle raged without pause. Xin Dan appealed to garrison commander Guo Houben for aid, and the besiegers drew off. Zhexi commissioner Du Shenquan sent a general with a thousand men to relieve the city, but Yuan's troops enveloped them and the entire detachment was wiped out. Tao sent a messenger by secret paths to the capital. The court ordered Dai Keshi to take the field with twenty thousand Shatuo and Togon horsemen. Huainan commissioner Linghu Chu dispatched adjutant Li Xiang to hold the Huai estuary alongside Guo Houben. Yuan routed them; Xiang and his men were lost, and outside help ceased. The rebels then spanned the Huai with iron chains and brought up scaling ladders and assault towers against the walls. When stores ran out they fed the garrison thin gruel. Emperor Yizong sent envoys to grant Tao the acting rank of Right Regular Attendant and to urge him to hold fast. Xun sent Yuan into the city to treat for surrender. Tao, enraged, had him executed. Xun wrote again. Tao's answer reminded him how An Lushan, Zhu Ci, and such rebels had ended in total ruin—a message meant to unsettle the rebel ranks. Pang Xun assaulted the city again and again without gain. When pacification commissioner Ma Ju arrived with his army, the rebels finally broke off the siege and withdrew. The siege ran ten months. Tao rallied his men until they fought as if death meant nothing, while Xin Dan slipped through the lines again and again to marshal relief. In the end the prefecture stood intact—men called it a triumph born of ordeal. After the rebellion was crushed Tao was made military commissioner of Yicheng and acting Minister of War, and died in that post. Tao's son by the concubine Yu was Mu, styled Muzhi, a master of literary composition. He took the jinshi degree and was later selected in the "excellent and upright" civil-service examination. Shen Chuanshi recommended him as Jiangxi circuit patrol officer, and he later served as secretarial aide on Niu Sengru's Huainan staff. Promoted to investigating censor, he soon pleaded illness and withdrew to a nominal post in the eastern capital to nurse his younger brother Yi. He returned as aide on the Xuancheng training commission and was named Palace Attendant in the inner service.

是時，劉從諫守澤潞，何進滔據魏博，頗驕蹇不循法度。牧追咎長慶以來朝廷措置亡術，復失山東，鉅封劇鎮，所以系天下輕重，不得承襲輕授，皆國家大事，嫌不當位而言，實有罪，故作《罪言》。其辭曰：

At that time Liu Congjian held Zelu and He Jintao held Weibo; both were proud and scorned imperial law. Du Mu traced the ruin to court blunders since the Changqing years and the renewed loss of the Shandong heartland. The great frontier circuits that anchor the empire's balance, he argued, must never pass by casual inheritance or casual appointment. Though his office made such speech improper, he felt himself guilty of silence and composed "Words of Guilt." The essay reads:

生人常病兵，兵祖於山東，羨於天下。不得山東，兵不可去。山東之地，禹畫九土曰冀州；舜以其分太大，離為幽州，為并州。程其水土，與河南等，常重十二，故其人沈鷙多材力，重許可，能辛苦。魏晉以下，工機纖雜，意態百出，俗益卑弊，人益脆弱，唯山東敦五種，本兵矢，他不能蕩而自若也。產健馬，下者日馳二百里，所以兵常當天下。冀州，以其恃強不循理，冀其必破弱；雖已破，冀其復強大也。并州，力足以並吞也。幽州，幽陰慘殺也。聖人因以為名。

Mortals are forever sick with war. War is born in Shandong and coveted by all under Heaven. Without Shandong, war will not leave the realm. The Shandong region: in Yu's partition of the nine provinces it was Jizhou; Shun, finding its territory too vast, split off Youzhou and Bingzhou. Measured against the central plain, its soil and water ranked a full twelve parts heavier in martial virtue. Its people were grave, fierce, and strong; they prized their word and could bear hardship. From Wei and Jin onward the world turned to fine contrivance and shifting fashion; manners sank and constitutions weakened. Only Shandong clung to the five grains and the source of bow and blade. Nothing could wash it away; it remained itself. It breeds war-horses; even the poor stock gallops two hundred li in a day. That is why its armies have always matched the empire. Jizhou: because it trusts in force and scorns principle, men wished it broken and humbled; yet even when broken they still feared it would rise strong again. Bingzhou: power enough to swallow rivals whole. Youzhou: shadow, chill, cruelty, and killing. The sages named the provinces from these very qualities.

黃帝時，蚩尤為兵階，自後帝王多居其地。周劣齊霸，不一世，晉大，常傭役諸侯。至秦萃銳三晉，經六世乃能得韓，遂折天下脊；復得趙，因拾取諸國。韓信聯齊有之，故蒯通知漢、楚輕重在信。光武始於上谷，成於鄗。魏武舉官渡，三分天下有其二。晉亂胡作，至宋武號英雄，得蜀，得關中，盡有河南地，十分天下之八，然不能使一人度河以窺胡。至高齊荒蕩，宇文取之，隋文因以滅陳，五百年間，天下乃一家。隋文非宋武敵也，是宋不得山東，隋得山東，故隋為王，宋為霸。由此言之，山東，王者不得不為王，霸者不得不為霸，猾賊得之，足以致天下不安。

In the age of the Yellow Emperor, Chiyou was the threshold of war. Afterward emperors and kings made their seat there again and again. Zhou waned while Qi held hegemony for a single generation; Jin grew mighty and constantly drafted the feudal lords to its wars. Qin honed the Three Jins' keen edge; only after six reigns could it seize Han and snap the backbone of the empire; then took Zhao and gathered the rest of the realm in its hand. When Han Xin held Qi, Kuai Tong told the contending courts that the balance of empire rested on him alone. Guangwu rose from Shanggu and finished his work at Hao. Cao Cao fought at Guandu and came to hold two thirds of the world. Jin's collapse let the northern tribes in. Even Emperor Wu of Song, hailed as a hero, won Shu and Guanzhong and held eight tenths of Henan—eight tenths of the realm—yet could not send one man across the river to probe the barbarians. When Northern Qi collapsed into chaos the Yuwen seized it; Sui Wen used that base to destroy Chen, and within five hundred years the realm was one house again. Sui Wendi was no equal to Song Wu-di; but Song lacked Shandong while Sui held it. That is why Sui ruled as king and Song only as hegemon. So viewed: Shandong is ground a true king cannot reign without, a hegemon cannot dominate without. Let a cunning outlaw take it, and the realm will not know peace.

天寶末，燕盜起，出入成臯、函、潼間，若涉無人地。郭、李輩兵五十萬，不能過鄴。自爾百餘城，天下力盡，不得尺寸，人望之若回鶻、吐蕃，義無敢窺者。國家因之畦河修障戍，塞其街蹊。齊、魯、梁、蔡被其風流，因以為寇。以裏拓表，以表撐裏，混澒回轉，顛倒橫邪，未常五年間不戰。生人日頓委，四夷日日熾，天子因之幸陜，幸漢中，焦焦然七十餘年。運遭孝武，澣衣一肉，不畋不樂，自卑冗中拔取將相，凡十三年，乃能盡得河南、山西地，洗削更革，罔不能適。唯山東不服，亦再攻之，皆不利。豈天使生人未至於怗泰邪？豈人謀未至邪？何其艱哉！

At the close of Tianbao the Yan rebels rose and moved through Chenggao, Hangu, and Tong as if no one stood on the earth. Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and their hosts—five hundred thousand strong—could not break through at Ye. After that a hundred-odd cities stood beyond reach. The empire exhausted its strength and won not a span of ground. Men gazed on the rebels as they did on Uyghur and Tibetan hosts—no one dared even look their way. The court walled off the Yellow River, rebuilt frontier posts, and choked every road they might use. Qi, Lu, Liang, and Cai caught the contagion and turned raider in their turn. Heartland propped frontier, frontier propped heartland; the realm churned and spun, upside down and awry—scarcely five years passed without war. The people wasted day by day; the border peoples waxed day by day. Emperors fled to Shaan and Hanzhong, harried and worn, for more than seventy years. Fate brought Emperor Xiaowu of Tang. He wore one robe, ate one dish, hunted no more and feasted no more, and plucked generals and ministers from the humble ranks. In thirteen years he recovered Henan and Shanxi, scoured the realm clean, and bent every part to his will. Only Shandong would not bow. He struck it twice and failed both times. Had Heaven decreed that the people were not yet due for peace? Had human wisdom not yet found its hour? How bitter the road was!

今日天子聖明，超出古昔，誌於平治。若欲悉使生人無事，其要先去兵。不得山東，兵不可去。今者，上策莫如自治。何者？當貞元時，山東有燕、趙、魏叛，河南有齊、蔡叛，梁、徐、陳、汝、白馬津、盟津、襄、鄧、安、黃、壽春皆戍厚兵十餘所，才足自護治所，實不輟一人以他使，遂使我力解勢弛，熟視不軌者無可奈何。階此，蜀亦叛，吳亦叛，其他未叛者，迎時上下，不可保信。自元和初至今二十九年間，得蜀，得吳，得蔡，得齊，收郡縣二百餘城，所未能得，唯山東百城耳。土地人戶，財物甲兵，較之往年，豈不綽綽乎？亦足自以為治也。法令制度，品式條章，果自治乎？賢才奸惡，搜選置舍，果自治乎？障戍鎮守，干戈車馬，果自治乎？井閭阡陌，倉廩財賦，果自治乎？如不果自治，是助虜為虜。環土三千里，植根七十年，復有天下陰為之助，則安可以取？故曰：上策莫如自治。中策莫如取魏。魏於山東最重，於河南亦最重。魏在山東，以其能遮趙也。既不可越魏以取趙，固不可越趙以取燕。是燕、趙常取重於魏，魏常操燕、趙之命。故魏在山東最重。黎陽距白馬津三十里，新鄉距盟津一百五十里，陴壘相望，朝駕暮戰，是二津，虜能潰一，則馳入成臯，不數日間。故魏於河南亦最重。元和中，舉天下兵誅蔡，誅齊，頓之五年，無山東憂者，以能得魏也。昨日誅滄，頓之三年，無山東憂，亦以能得魏也。長慶初誅趙，一日五諸侯兵四出潰解，以失魏也。昨日誅趙，罷如長慶時，亦以失魏也。故河南、山東之輕重在魏。非魏強大，地形使然也。故曰：取魏為中策。最下策為浪戰，不計地勢，不審攻守是也。兵多粟多，驅人使戰者，便於守；兵少粟少，人不驅自戰者，便於戰。故我常失於戰，虜常困於守。山東叛且三五世，後生所見言語舉止，無非叛也，以為事理正當如此，沈酣入骨髓，無以為非者，至有圍急食盡，啖屍以戰。以此為俗，豈可與決一勝一負哉？自十餘年凡三收趙，食盡且下。郗士美敗，趙復振；杜叔良敗，趙復振；李聽敗，趙復振。故曰：不計地勢，不審攻守，為浪戰，最下策也。

Today's emperor is sage and luminous, exceeding the ancients, his heart set on universal order. If he would truly free the people from care, he must first drive war away. Without Shandong, war will not leave the realm. At present the supreme strategy is to govern the realm aright. How so? Under Zhenyuan, Yan, Zhao, and Wei rebelled in Shandong while Qi and Cai rebelled in Henan. Liang, Xu, Chen, Ru, the Baima and Meng fords, Xiang, Deng, An, Huang, and Shouchun each held a dozen heavy garrisons—barely enough to guard their own prefectural seats, never sparing a single soldier for elsewhere. Our force splintered, our energy drained, and we could only stand by while outlaws did as they pleased. On that foundation Shu rose in revolt, then Wu; even those who had not yet rebelled swayed with every shift of fortune, and no loyalty could be counted on. In the twenty-nine years since Yuanhe began we have won back Shu, Wu, Cai, and Qi and retaken more than two hundred commanderies and counties. Only the hundred-odd cities of Shandong still elude us. Territory, population, treasure, arms, and armor—measured against former days, are we not flush with strength? By those measures alone one might call the realm well ordered. Do our laws, ranks, regulations, and statutes truly answer to the throne, or to local strongmen? Are the appointment and dismissal of the worthy and the wicked truly in the court's hands? Do frontier garrisons, weapons, chariots, and horses obey the center? Do fields, villages, granaries, and tax grain flow to the capital as they should? If the answer is no, we are arming our enemies to act as enemies. Three thousand li of entrenched soil, seventy years of deep roots, and half the empire secretly abetting them—how could such ground be seized by force alone? Hence the supreme strategy: put the realm in order at home. The second-best strategy: secure Wei. Wei holds the greatest weight in Shandong and the greatest weight in Henan alike. In Shandong, Wei matters because it blocks Zhao. You cannot march past Wei to strike Zhao, nor past Zhao to strike Yan. Yan and Zhao therefore depend on Wei for leverage, and Wei holds their fate in its hands. That is why Wei is paramount in Shandong. Liyang lies thirty li from Baima Ford, Xinxiang a hundred fifty li from Meng Ford. Fortresses stare across at one another; armies fight at dawn and dusk. If the enemy breaks either ford, they ride into Chenggao within days. For the same reason Wei is paramount in Henan. Under Yuanhe the court mobilized the realm against Cai and Qi. For five years Shandong gave no trouble—because Wei was won. When Cangzhou was crushed recently, Shandong stayed quiet for three years—for the same reason: Wei was held. Early in Changqing, when Zhao was attacked, the five allied commands marched out and shattered in a single day—because Wei had been lost. The recent campaign against Zhao stalled as at Changqing—for the same reason: Wei was lost. The balance of Henan and Shandong therefore turns on Wei. This is not because Wei is mighty in itself, but because geography makes it so. Hence the middle strategy: take Wei. The worst strategy is reckless war: ignoring terrain and misjudging when to strike or hold. Abundant troops and grain, with soldiers driven to battle, favor the defender. Few troops and little grain, with men who fight of their own will, favor the attacker. We therefore keep losing in open battle while the enemy keeps winning behind walls. Shandong has been in revolt for three to five generations. The young know no speech or gesture but treason; they take rebellion for the natural order, steeped to the bone, with none to call it shame—even eating the dead when sieges leave them starving. Where such ways are custom, how can a single pitched battle settle the matter? In little more than a decade we have thrice brought Zhao to starvation's edge. When Xi Shimei was beaten, Zhao rose again. When Du Shuliang was beaten, Zhao rose again. When Li Ting was beaten, Zhao rose again. Hence the verdict: to ignore terrain and misjudge attack and defense is reckless war—the worst of strategies.

累遷左補闕、史館修撰，改膳部員外郎。宰相李德裕素奇其才。會昌中，黠戛斯破回鶻，回鶻種落潰入漠南，牧說德裕不如遂取之，以為：「兩漢伐虜，常以秋冬，當匈奴勁弓折膠，重馬免乳，與之相校，故敗多勝少。今若以仲夏發幽、并突騎及酒泉兵，出其意外，一舉無類矣。」德裕善之。會劉稹拒命，詔諸鎮兵討之，牧復移書於德裕，以「河陽西北去天井關強百里，用萬人為壘，窒其口，深壁勿與戰。成德軍世與昭義為敵，王元逵思一雪以自奮，然不能長驅徑搗上黨，其必取者在西面。今若以忠武、武寧兩軍益青州精甲五千、宣潤弩手二千，道絳而入，不數月必覆賊巢。昭義之食，盡仰山東，常日節度使率留食邢州，山西兵單少，可乘虛襲取。故兵聞拙速，未睹巧之久也」。俄而澤潞平，略如牧策。歷黃、池、睦三州刺史，入為司勛員外郎，常兼史職。改吏部，復乞為湖州刺史。逾年，以考功郎中知制誥，遷中書舍人。

He rose through Left Remonstrator and historiographical compiler to Vice Director of the Board of Rites. Chief Minister Li Deyu had long prized his ability. During Huichang the Kirghiz shattered the Uyghurs, and Uyghur tribes poured into the southern steppe. Mu urged Deyu to strike at once: "Han campaigns against the northern tribes usually came in autumn and winter, when Xiongnu bows stiffened and brood mares dried up—against such seasons our forebears won few battles. Send Youzhou and Bingzhou shock cavalry now, in midsummer, with Jiuquan troops, and catch them unprepared—one stroke could wipe them out. Deyu approved the plan. When Liu Zhen rebelled and the court ordered the circuits to march, Mu wrote again to Deyu: "A hundred li northwest of Heyang lies Tianjing Pass. Ten thousand men could fortify it, seal the gap, and refuse battle. Chengde and Zhaoyi have been enemies for generations. Wang Yuankui burns to redeem his honor in one thrust, yet he cannot plunge straight at Shangdang—his road lies on the western flank. Add five thousand Qingzhou armored troops and two thousand crossbowmen from Xuan and Run to the Zhongwu and Wuning armies, march through Jiangzhou, and within months the nest will fall. Zhaoyi lives on grain from Shandong; its commissioner usually hoards food at Xingzhou while Shanxi is thinly garrisoned—strike the empty belly. In war, as the saying goes, a clumsy rush beats a clever delay." Soon Ze and Lu were pacified, much as Mu had foretold. He governed Huang, Chi, and Mu in turn, then entered court as Vice Director of the Board of Revenue, usually doubling as historiographer. He moved to the Board of Civil Office, then petitioned again to serve as prefect of Huzhou. A year later, as Director of the Bureau of Merit with charge of edicts, he was promoted Secretariat Drafter.

牧剛直有奇節，不為齪齪小謹，敢論列大事，指陳病利尤切至。少與李甘、李中敏、宋元阝善，其通古今，善處成敗，甘等不及也。牧亦以疏直，時無右援者。從兄悰更歷將相，而牧困躓不自振，頗怏怏不平。卒，年五十。初，牧夢人告曰：「爾應名畢。」復夢書「皎皎白駒」字，或曰「過隙也」。俄而炊甑裂，牧曰：「不祥也。」乃自為墓誌，悉取所為文章焚之。

Mu was blunt and unbending, careless of small proprieties, bold on great matters, and piercing when he laid out harm and profit. In youth he befriended Li Gan, Li Zhongmin, and Yuan Ying. None matched his grasp of past and present or his reading of rise and fall. His very bluntness left him without powerful patrons at court. His cousin Cong climbed to general and chancellor while Mu, stalled and unable to rise, nursed a bitter unease. He died at fifty. Earlier he dreamed a voice saying, "Your destined name is spent. He dreamed next the words "Bright bright the white colt," and someone said it meant "a fleeting span." Soon his rice pot split. Mu said, "An ill omen. He wrote his own epitaph and burned every piece he had written.

牧於詩，情致豪邁，人號為「小杜」，以別杜甫云。牧弟顗顗，字勝之，幼病目，母禁其為學。舉進士，禮部侍郎賈餗語人曰：「得杜顗足敵數百人。」授秘書省正字。李德裕奏為浙西府賓佐。德裕貴盛，賓客無敢忤，惟顗數諫正之。及謫袁州，嘆曰：「門下愛我皆如顗，吾無今日。」太和末，召為咸陽尉，直史館。常語人曰：「李訓、鄭註必敗。」行未及都，聞難作，疏辭疾歸。顗亦善屬文，與牧相上下。竟以喪明卒。

In verse his passion ran bold and high; posterity called him "Little Du" to set him apart from Du Fu. Mu's younger brother Yi, styled Shengzhi, had been half-blind since childhood; his mother barred him from books. He took the jinshi degree. Vice Director of Rites Jia Su said, "One Du Yi is worth hundreds of candidates. He was made Secretariat Rectifier. Li Deyu appointed him staff officer in Zhexi. At the height of Deyu's power no guest dared oppose him—only Yi spoke up again and again. Demoted to Yuanzhou, he sighed, "Had every man under my roof advised me like Yi, I would not stand here ruined. Late in Taihe he was recalled as magistrate of Xianyang and attached to the Historiographical Institute. He often warned, "Li Xun and Zheng Zhu are doomed to fall. Before he reached the capital the Sweet Dew coup erupted; he pleaded illness and turned back. Yi wrote nearly as well as Mu. He died at last of blindness.

=令狐楚=

Linghu Chu

令狐楚，字殼士，德棻之裔也。生五歲，能為辭章。逮冠，貢進士，京兆尹將薦為第一，時許正倫輕薄士，有名長安間，能作蜚語，楚嫌其爭，讓而下之。既及第，桂管觀察使王拱愛其材，將辟楚，懼不至，乃先奏而後聘。雖在拱所，以父官并州不得奉養，未嘗豫宴樂。滿歲謝歸。李說、嚴綬、鄭儋繼領太原，高其行，引在幕府，由掌書記至判官。德宗喜文，每省太原奏，必能辨楚所為，數稱之。儋暴死，不及占後事，軍大歡，將為亂。夜十數騎挺刃邀取楚，使草遺奏，諸將圜視，楚色不變，秉筆輒就，以遍示，士皆感泣，一軍乃安。由是名益重。以親喪解，既除，召授右拾遺。

Linghu Chu, styled Keshi, traced his line to Linghu Defen. At five he could already write polished prose. At his capping he sat for the jinshi. The capital intendant meant to rank him first, but Xu Zhenglun—a flashy man famous in Chang'an for poisonous gossip—wanted the honor. Chu disliked the quarrel and stood down. After he passed, Guiguan commissioner Wang Gong, admiring his talent, meant to hire him. Fearful Chu would refuse, Gong memorialized the court before issuing the summons. Even under Gong he would not feast or make merry, for his father served at Bingzhou and he could not attend his parents. When his tour ended he went home. Li Shuo, Yan Shou, and Zheng Dan, each in turn governing Taiyuan, prized his character and drew him into staff service—from chief secretary to administrative aide. Emperor Dezong loved letters. In every Taiyuan memorial he could pick out Chu's hand and praised it again and again. Zheng Dan died suddenly before the mourning memorial was written. The army erupted in joy and neared mutiny. That night a dozen horsemen with naked blades dragged Chu out and ordered him to write the last memorial while the generals ringed him. His face never changed; he wrote at a stroke. When the text was read aloud the men wept, and the army quieted. His fame rose sharply from that hour. Parental mourning took him from office; when it ended he was recalled as Right Remonstrator.

憲宗時，累擢職方員外郎，知制誥。其為文，於箋奏制令尤善，每一篇成，人皆傳諷。皇甫镈以言利幸，與楚、蕭俛皆厚善，故薦於帝。帝亦自聞其名，召為翰林學士，進中書舍人。方伐蔡，久未下，議者多欲罷兵，帝獨與裴度不肯赦。元和十二年，度以宰相領彰義節度使，楚草制，其辭有所不合，度得其情。時宰相李逢吉與楚善，皆不助度，故帝罷逢吉，停楚學士，但為中書舍人。俄出為華州刺史。後它學士比比宣事不切旨，帝抵其草，思楚之才。

Under Xianzong he rose to Vice Director of the Board of War with charge of edicts. He excelled at memorials, reports, and edicts; each finished piece was copied and recited through the capital. Huangfu Bo won the throne by promising profit. He was close to Chu and Xiao Mian and pushed them forward. The emperor had heard his name and summoned him to the Hanlin, then promoted him Secretariat Drafter. The war on Cai dragged on; many at court urged withdrawal, but the emperor and Pei Du alone refused to relent. In Yuanhe twelve Du served as chancellor and Zhangyi commissioner. Chu drafted the commission; the wording betrayed his mind, and Du saw it. Chief Minister Li Fengji favored Chu; neither helped Du. The emperor removed Fengji and stripped Chu of his Hanlin post, leaving him drafter only. Soon he was sent out as prefect of Huazhou. Later academicians repeatedly missed the emperor's meaning; he threw down their drafts and remembered Chu's pen.

镈既相，擢楚河陽懷節度使，代烏重胤。始，重胤徙滄州，以河陽士三千從，士不樂，半道潰歸，保北城，將轉掠旁州。楚至中潬，以數騎自往勞之。眾甲而出，見楚不疑，乃皆降。楚斬其首惡，眾遂定。度出太原，镈薦楚為中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事。穆宗即位，進門下侍郎。镈得罪，時謂楚緣镈以進，且嘗逐裴度，天下所共疾，會蕭俛輔政，乃不敢言。方營景陵，詔楚為使，而親吏韋正牧、奉天令於翚等不償傭錢十五萬緡，楚獻以為羨余，怨訴系路。詔捕翚等下獄誅，出楚為宣歙觀察使。俄貶衡州刺史，再徙，以太子賓客分司東都。長慶二年，擢陜虢觀察使，諫官論執不置，楚至陜一日，復罷，還東都。

Once Bo became chancellor he made Chu military commissioner of Heyang and Huaizhou, replacing Wu Chongyin. When Chongyin was moved to Cangzhou three thousand Heyang men marched with him. Unhappy, half the force deserted midway, seized the north wall, and prepared to raid neighboring prefectures. Chu reached Zhongtan and rode out alone with a handful of escorts to face them. They came out armed, saw he did not flinch, and laid down their weapons. Chu executed the ringleaders and the troops quieted. When Du left Taiyuan, Bo recommended Chu as Vice Director of the Secretariat and associate grand councilor. On Muzong's accession, Linghu Chu was promoted to Vice Director of the Chancellery. When Duan Bo fell, many said Chu had climbed on his patron's back and had once hounded Pei Du from office—crimes the empire shared in loathing. Xiao Fu now held the reins, and for a time the court held its tongue. While the Jing Mausoleum was under construction, Chu was named commissioner. His intimates Wei Zhengyu and Fengtian magistrate Yu Hui, among others, withheld a hundred and fifty thousand strings in wages. Chu booked the sum as surplus; petitioners clogged the highways with their grievances. The throne had Yu Hui and his fellows arrested and put to death, and exiled Chu to the Xuanchen post as surveillance commissioner. Shortly he was demoted to prefect of Hengzhou, transferred once more, and finally kept the title Honored Guest of the Heir Apparent while serving at Luoyang. In Changqing year two he was named Shaan-Guo surveillance commissioner, but the remonstrators blocked the appointment. Chu reached his post for a single day, was removed, and went back to Luoyang.

會逢吉復相，力起楚，以李紳在翰林沮之，不克。敬宗立，逐出紳，即拜楚為河南尹。遷宣武節度使。汴軍以驕故，而韓弘弟兄務以峻法繩治，士偷於安，無革心。楚至，解去酷烈，以仁惠鐫諭，人人悅喜，遂為善俗。入為戶部尚書，俄拜東都留守，徙天平節度使。始，汴、鄆帥每至，以州錢二百萬入私藏，楚獨辭不取。又毀李師古園檻僭制者。久之，徙節河東。召為吏部尚書，檢校尚書右僕射。故事，檢校官重，則從其班；楚以吏部自有品，固辭，有詔嘉允。俄兼太常卿，進拜左僕射、彭陽郡公。

Li Fengji returned to the chancellery and pressed hard to restore Chu, but Li Shen in the Hanlin Academy stood in the way, and the effort failed. Jingzong's accession brought Li Shen's expulsion and Chu's immediate appointment as Henan Intendant. He was made military commissioner of Xuanwu. Bianzhou's troops had long been arrogant; Han Hong and his brothers ruled them with pitiless statutes until the men clung to comfort and would not change their ways. Chu lifted the harshest punishments and won the ranks with measured mercy until joy spread through the camps and decent custom took root. He was recalled as Minister of Revenue, soon made regent of the Eastern Capital, then transferred to Tianping as military commissioner. Earlier commanders of Bian and Yan had each pocketed two million strings of prefectural revenue; Chu alone refused the custom. He tore down Li Shigu's garden railings and other pretensions to princely splendor. In time he was shifted to the Hedong command. He was recalled as Minister of the Civil Service and given the acting rank of Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. Precedent held that when an acting appointment outranked one's regular post, one took the higher court precedence; Chu argued that the civil-service ministry carried its own proper rank and firmly declined; the throne commended his scruple. He was soon made Grand Master of Splendid Happiness as well, then promoted to Left Vice Director and Duke of Pengyang.

會李訓亂，將相皆系神策軍。文宗夜召楚與鄭覃入禁中，楚建言：「外有三司御史，不則大臣雜治，內仗非宰相系所也。」帝頷之。既草詔，以王涯、賈餗冤，指其罪不切，仇士良等怨之。始，帝許相楚，乃不果，更用李石，而以楚為鹽鐵轉運使。先是，鄭註奏建榷茶使，王涯又議官自治園植茶，人不便，楚請廢使，如舊法，從之。元和中，出禁兵畀左右街使衛宰相入朝，至建福門。及是亂，乃罷。楚即奏：「鎮帥初拜，必戎服屬仗詣省謁辭，本於鄭註，實為亂兆，故王璠、郭行余驅將吏蹀血京師，所宜停止。」詔可。開成元年上巳，賜群臣宴曲江。楚以新誅大臣，暴骸未收，怨沴感結，稱疾不出，乃請給衣衾槥櫝，以斂刑骨，順陽氣。是時，政在宦豎，數上疏辭位，拜山南西道節度使。卒，年七十二，贈司空，謚曰文。

When Li Xun's plot erupted, ministers and generals alike were held in the Shence barracks. That night Wenzong called Chu and Zheng Tan into the palace. Chu urged: "Let the Three Offices and the censorate judge this outside the palace—or at least a bench of senior ministers. The inner guard is no jail for chancellors. The Emperor nodded. When Chu drafted the edict he treated Wang Ya and Jia Su as men wrongfully killed and named their crimes too mildly; Qiu Shiliang and his faction turned on him. Wenzong had meant to name Chu chancellor, but the appointment never came; Li Shi took the post instead, and Chu was sent to oversee salt and iron transport. Zheng Zhu had once proposed a tea monopoly; Wang Ya wanted officials to run government tea gardens—both schemes burdened the people. Chu persuaded the court to abolish the monopoly and restore the old rules. Under Yuanhe, palace troops had been lent to the Street commissioners to escort chancellors to court as far as Jianfu Gate. After the upheaval that practice was ended. Chu memorialized at once: "New military commissioners should not be required to appear in armor at the ministries—that custom began with Zheng Zhu and foretold chaos. Wang Fan and Guo Xingyu used it to march armed men through the capital. Let it be abolished. The edict approved. On the Kaicheng year's shangsi festival the court feasted the ministers at Qujiang. Fresh executions had left bodies unburied in the streets; Chu pleaded illness and stayed away, then asked the throne for shrouds and coffins to bury the dead and ease the season's ill air. Eunuchs held the government; Chu resigned again and again until he was sent out as military commissioner of Shannan West. He died at seventy-two and was posthumously made Minister of Works with the temple name Wen.

楚外嚴重不可犯，而中寬厚，待士有禮。客以星步鬼神進者，一不接。為政善撫禦，治有績，人人得所宜。疾甚，諸子進藥，不肯禦，曰：「士固有命，何事此物邪？」自力為奏謝天子，召門人李商隱曰：「吾氣魄且盡，可助我成之。」其大要以甘露事誅譴者眾，請霽威，普見昭洗。辭致曲盡，無所謬脫。書已，敕諸子曰：「吾生無益於時，無請謚，勿求鼓吹，以布車一乘葬，銘誌無擇高位。」是夕，有大星隕寢上，其光燭廷。坐與家人訣，乃終。有詔停鹵簿以申其志。

He seemed forbidding in public yet was warm within, and treated men of letters with full courtesy. He would not admit a single guest who traded in astrology or ghost lore. He governed with a soothing hand and left a record of real achievement; under him each man found his proper place. As he lay dying his sons brought medicine; he refused it. "A gentleman has his allotted span," he said. "What need of this? He forced himself to draft a final memorial to the throne and called Li Shangyin: "My strength is almost gone—help me complete this." The heart of it pleaded that the Sweet Dew purge had slain too many and begged a general amnesty to wash the realm clean. The prose was polished to the last degree and never slipped into falsehood. When the draft was finished he told his sons: "I did little for my time—seek no posthumous name, no funeral band; bury me in one plain cart and let no great minister write my stone. That night a great star fell on his chamber and lit the courtyard. He bade his household farewell and died. The throne withheld the full funeral escort to honor his wish.

子緒、綯，顯於時。子緒緒以蔭仕，歷隋、壽、汝三州刺史，有佳政。汝人請刻石頌德，緒以綯當國，固讓。宣宗嘉其意，乃止。子綯綯，字子直，舉進士，擢累左補闕、右司郎中。出為湖州刺史。

His sons Xu and Tao both rose to prominence. His son Xu entered service by inherited privilege and governed Sui, Shou, and Ru in turn with a fine record. The people of Ru wanted a stone inscription in his praise; Xu refused, not wishing to trade on his brother Tao's power at court. Xuanzong admired his restraint and let the project die. His son Tao, styled Zipzhi, took the jinshi and rose through Left Suppleant Censor to Right Director in the Department of State Affairs. He was posted as prefect of Huzhou.

大中初，宣宗謂宰相白敏中曰：「憲宗葬，道遇風雨，六宮百官皆避，獨見頎而髯者奉梓宮不去，果誰耶？」敏中言：「山陵使令狐楚。」帝曰：「有子乎？」對曰：「緒少風痹，不勝用。綯今守湖州。」因曰：「其為人，宰相器也。」即召為考功郎中，知制誥。入翰林為學士。它夜，召與論人間疾苦，帝出《金鏡》書曰：「太宗所著也，卿為我舉其要。」綯擿語曰：「至治未嘗任不肖，至亂未嘗任賢。任賢，享天下之福；任不肖，罹天下之禍。」帝曰：「善，朕讀此嘗三復乃已。」綯再拜曰：「陛下必欲興王業，舍此孰先？《詩》曰：『惟其有之，是以似之。』」進中書舍人，襲彭陽男。遷御史中丞，再遷兵部侍郎。還為翰林承旨。夜對禁中，燭盡，帝以乘輿、金蓮華炬送還，院吏望見，以為天子來。及綯至，皆驚。俄同中書門下平章事，輔政十年。懿宗嗣位，由尚書左僕射、門下侍郎再拜司空。未幾，檢校司徒平章事，為河中節度使。徙宣武，又徙淮南副大使。安南平，以饋運勞，封涼國公。

Early in Dazhong, Xuanzong asked Bai Minzhong: "At Xianzong's burial a storm struck the procession. Palaces and officials alike took shelter—yet one tall, bearded man never left the bier. Who was he? Minzhong answered: "The tomb commissioner Linghu Chu." The Emperor asked whether he had any sons. He replied: "Xu has been crippled by wind paralysis since youth and is unfit for office. Tao now governs Huzhou. Tao presently serves as prefect of Huzhou." He added: "In character he has the makings of a chancellor." Tao was summoned at once as Director in the Ministry of Personnel with charge of drafting edicts. He entered the Hanlin Academy as academician. Another night the Emperor called him to speak of the people's hardships and produced The Golden Mirror. "Taizong wrote this," he said. "Give me its heart. Tao quoted: "Perfect order never rests on unworthy men; perfect chaos never rests on worthy men. Choose the worthy and the empire prospers; choose the unworthy and the empire falls. Choose the worthy, and the empire prospers; choose the unworthy, and the empire falls." The Emperor said: "Well said. I have read that passage thrice over and still return to it." Tao bowed again. "If Your Majesty means to build a true kingship, where else would you begin? The Odes say: 'Because he has such men, he is like them.' He was promoted to Drafting Attendant in the Secretariat and inherited the barony of Pengyang." He rose to Vice Censor-in-Chief, then to Vice Minister of War. He returned to the Hanlin as Academician-in-Chief. One night audience ran until the candles burned out; the Emperor sent him home with the imperial carriage and golden lotus torches. From a distance the Hanlin clerks thought the Son of Heaven himself was approaching. When Tao appeared, they were all astonished. He was soon made Associate Chief Minister and held real power for ten years. At Yizong's accession he rose from Left Vice Director and Vice Director of the Chancellery to Minister of Works. Soon he was Acting Minister of Education and Associate Chief Minister, then military commissioner of Hezhong. He was shifted to Xuanwu, then to Huainan as deputy ambassador. After the pacification of Annan he was enfeoffed Duke of Liang for his work on supply lines.

龐勛自桂州還，道浙西白沙入濁河，剽舟而上。綯聞，遣使慰撫，且饋之。裨將李湘曰：「徐兵擅還，果反矣。雖未有詔，一切制亂，我得專之。今其兵不二千，而廣盤艦，張旗幟，示侈於人，其畏我甚。高郵厓峭水狹，若使荻曹火其前，勁兵乘其後，一舉可覆。不然，使得絕淮泗，合徐之不逞，禍亂滋矣。」綯懦緩不能用，又自以不奉詔，因曰：「彼不為暴，聽其度淮，何豫我哉？」勛還，果盜徐州，其眾六七萬。徐乏食，分兵攻滁、和、楚、壽，陷之，糧盡，啖人以飽。詔綯為徐州南面招討使。賊方攻泗州，杜慆堅守，綯命湘率兵五千救之。勛謾辭謝綯曰：「數蒙赦，所以未即降者，一二將為異耳，願圖去之，以身聽命。」綯喜，即請假勛節，而敕湘曰：「賊已降，第謹戍淮口，無庸戰。」湘乃徹警釋械，日與勛眾歡言。後賊乘間直襲湘壘，悉俘而食之，醢湘及監軍郗厚本。時浙西杜審權使票將翟行約率千兵與湘會，未至而湘覆，賊偽建淮南旌幟誘之，亦皆陷。

Pang Xun marched back from Guizhou, entered the Huai via Zhexi's White Sand channel, and seized boats heading upstream. Tao sent envoys to comfort the column and even furnished supplies. Lieutenant Li Xiang urged: "These Xuzhou troops left their post without orders—they mean to rebel. Even without an edict, quelling disorder is within my commission. Even without an edict, quelling disorder is within my commission. They number fewer than two thousand yet parade a vast fleet and bright banners to overawe us—they fear us more than we fear them. At Gaoyou the channel narrows between steep banks. Send fire ships of reeds ahead and strike troops behind, and we can destroy them in a single blow. Otherwise they will cross the Huai and Si, join Xuzhou's malcontents, and the disaster will spread. Tao was too timid to act and, having no orders from the throne, waved the danger away: "If they do no harm, let them cross the Huai—what is that to me?" Pang Xun did turn on Xuzhou with a host of sixty or seventy thousand. Starving Xuzhou, he sent columns against Chu, He, Chu, and Shou and seized them; when grain ran out his men ate human flesh to survive. The throne named Tao southern pacification commissioner against Xuzhou. The rebels were besieging Sizhou; Du Yin held the walls; Tao ordered Xiang to march five thousand men to its relief. Pang Xun sent a smooth letter to Tao: "The throne has pardoned me again and again; I delay only because a few officers stand in the way. Remove them and I will submit in person. Tao rejoiced, sought a token commission for Pang Xun, and told Xiang: "The rebels have surrendered. Hold the Huai crossing and do not engage." Xiang stood down the watches, stacked arms, and spent his days feasting with the rebel camp. The rebels then rushed his camp, took every man alive, devoured them, and pickled Xiang and army supervisor Chi Houben. Du Shenquan of Zhexi had sent Zhai Xingyue with a thousand ticket troops to reinforce Xiang; before they arrived Xiang was gone. The rebels flew Huainan colors to lure them in and destroyed that force as well.

綯既師敗，乃以左衛大將軍馬舉代之。以為太子太保，分司東都。僖宗初，拜鳳翔節度使。頃之，就加同平章事，徙封趙。卒，年七十八，贈太尉。子滈、渙、沨。綯子滈滈避嫌不舉進士。輔政，而滈與鄭顥為姻家，怙勢驕偃，通賓客，招權，以射取四方貨財，皆側目無敢言。懿宗嗣位，數為人白髮其事，故去宰相。因丐滈與群進士試有司，詔可，是歲及第。諫議大夫崔瑄劾奏以十二月去位，而有司解牒盡十月，屈朝廷取士法為滈家事，請委御史按實其罪。不聽。滈乃以長安尉為集賢校理。稍遷右拾遺、史館修撰。詔下，左拾遺劉蛻、起居郎張雲交疏指其惡，且言：「用李琢為安南都護，首亂南方，贓虐流著，使天下兵戈調斂不給。琢本進賂於滈，滈為人子，陷於惡，顧可為諫臣乎？」又劾：「綯，大臣，當調護國本，而大中時，乃引諫議大夫豆盧籍、刑部侍郎李鄴為夔王等侍讀，亂長幼序，使先帝貽厥之謀幾不及陛下。且滈居當時，謂之『白衣宰相』。滈未嘗舉進士，而妄言已解，使天下謂無解及第，不已罔乎？」滈亦懼，求換它官，改詹事府司直。方守淮南，上奏自治，帝為貶雲為興元少尹，蛻華陰令。滈亦湮厄不振死。綯子渙、沨渙、沨皆舉進士，渙終中書舍人。弟定定，字履常，楚弟。及進士第。太和末，以駕部郎中為弘文館直學士。李訓亂，王遐休方以是日就職，定往賀，為神策軍並收，欲殺者屢矣，已而免。終桂管觀察使。

After his defeat Tao was replaced by Left Guard Grand General Ma Ju. He was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and kept at Luoyang. Early in Xizong's reign he was named military commissioner of Fengxiang. Soon he was given the additional title Associate Chief Minister and his fief was shifted to Zhao. He died at seventy-eight and was posthumously made Grand Preceptor. He had three sons: Hao, Huan, and Feng. Tao's son Hao declined the jinshi examination lest he be thought to trade on family favor. While Tao held power, Hao married into Zheng Hao's clan and, trusting in his father's station, grew proud and grasping. He entertained clients, sold influence, and extorted wealth from every quarter until men watched in silence and none dared protest. Once Yizong took the throne, the scandal was aired again and again until Linghu Chuo was forced from the chancellorship. Hao then petitioned to sit the jinshi with the rest of the candidates; the throne assented, and he placed that same year. Remonstrance Adviser Cui Xuan impeached him: Chuo had quit in the twelfth month, but the Board of Rites had backdated Hao's discharge papers to the tenth—warping the civil-service code for a family favor. Cui urged the censors to investigate and fix the offense. The court took no action. Hao was appointed from his post as defender of Chang'an district to collator in the Imperial Library. In time he rose to Right Reminder and compiler in the Historiography Institute. After the appointment was announced, Left Reminder Liu Tuo and Attendant Gentleman Zhang Yun filed memorial on memorial denouncing him: 'By making Li Zhuo protector-general of Annan you loosed the first disorders in the south. His rapacity was notorious, and soon armies and revenue alike could not keep pace. Zhuo had bought his way in through bribes to Hao. A son who shares that stain—what claim has he to speak truth to power?' They went on: "As a chief minister Chuo should have guarded the succession. In the Dazhong years he installed Dou Lu Ji and Li Ye as tutors to Prince Kui, scrambling the line of precedence so that the late emperor's design almost never reached you. In those days men called Hao the 'chancellor in plain robes.' He had never truly sat the jinshi, yet boasted an exemption until the empire thought degrees could be won without the exam—is that not rank deceit? Hao, alarmed, asked for another post and was shifted to court gentleman in the heir apparent's household. While Chuo held Huainan he sent up a memorial pledging self-restraint; the emperor punished the critics instead, demoting Zhang Yun to vice governor of Xingyuan and Liu Tuo to magistrate of Huayin. Hao, too, languished in obscurity and died without recovering his standing. Chuo's sons Huan and Feng both took the jinshi; Huan finished his career as a drafter in the Secretariat. His younger brother Ding, whose style was Lüchang, was a younger brother of Linghu Chu. He, too, passed the jinshi. Late in the Taihe reign he served as vice director in the Ministry of Rites for chariotry and was made a bachelor of the Hongwen Hall. During Li Xun's coup Wang Youxiu was taking office that same day; Ding went to offer congratulations and was swept up with him by the Shence Army. More than once they were ready to execute him, yet in the end he was released. He died in office as military commissioner of Guiguan.

=贊=

Commentary

贊曰：耽、佑、楚皆惇儒，大衣高冠，雍容廟堂，道古今，處成務，可也；以大節責之，蓋䃉中而玉表歟！悰、世當國，亦無足譏。牧論天下兵曰：「上策莫如自治。」賢矣哉！

The historians comment: Jia Dan, Du You, and Linghu Chu were grave Confucians in court robes, at ease in the ancestral hall, versed in antiquity and the business of state—so far, so fair; but judged by the sternest standard of public virtue, were they not stone at the core beneath a jade polish? When Linghu Cong and Linghu Shi governed, there was little worth reproach. Du Mu, writing on the empire's armies, declared: 'The supreme strategy is to govern oneself well. How rightly spoken!

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