1
李鄭二王賈舒
Li, Zheng, the two Wangs, Jia, and Shu
2
李訓，字子垂，始名仲言，字子訓，故宰相揆族孫。 質狀魁梧，敏於辯論，多大言，自標置。 擢進士第，補太學助教，辟河陽節度府。 從父逢吉為宰相，以仲言陰險善謀事，厚昵之。 坐武昭獄，流象州。 文宗嗣位，更赦還，以母喪居東都。 鄭註佐昭義府，仲言慨然曰：「當世操權力者皆齪齪，吾聞註好士，有中助，可與共事。」 因往見註，相得甚歡。 時逢吉方留守，怏怏不樂，思復用，知與註善，付金幣百萬，使西至京師厚結註。 註喜，介之謁王守澄。 守澄善遇之，即以註術、仲言經義並薦於帝。
Li Xun, whose courtesy name was Zichui, had originally been called Zhongyan and styled Zixun; he was a kinsman of the former chief minister Li Kui. He was tall and imposing, quick in debate, given to grandiloquence, and eager to set himself apart. He passed the jinshi examination, served as an assistant instructor at the Imperial University, and entered the staff of the He-Yang military commission. His father's younger cousin Li Fengji was chief minister and, seeing that Zhongyan was devious and skilled at intrigue, grew very close to him. Caught up in the Wu-Zhao case, he was exiled to Xiangzhou. After Emperor Wenzong took the throne, a general amnesty brought him back, and he remained in the Eastern Capital for his mother's mourning. While Zheng Zhu was on the staff at Zhaoyi, Zhongyan said with feeling, 'The men who hold power today are all small-minded. I hear Zhu loves scholars and has Zhongzhu behind him—we could work with them. He went to visit Zhu, and the two took to each other at once. Fengji was then serving as regent in Luoyang and was unhappy; eager to return to office and knowing Zhu was close to Zhongyan, he gave him a million in gold and silver to go west to the capital and win Zhu over completely. Zhu was delighted and introduced him to Wang Shoucheng. Shoucheng treated him well and recommended both Zhu's arts and Zhongyan's mastery of the classics to the emperor.
3
仲言持詭辯，激卬可聽，善鉤揣人主意，又以身儒者，海內望族，既見識擢，誌望不淺。 始，宋申錫謀誅守澄不克，死。 宦尹益橫，帝愈憤恥。 而憲祖之弒，罪人未得，雖外假借，內不堪，欲夷絕其類，顧在位臣持祿取安，無仗節死難者。 註陰知帝指，屢建密計，引仲言葉力。 帝外托講勸，又皆以守澄進，故與之謀則其黨不疑。 仲言尚缞粗，帝使衣戎服，號「王山人」，挾註出入禁中。 服除，起為四門助教，賜緋袍、銀魚，時太和八年也。 其十月，遷《周易》博士，兼翰林侍講學士。 入院，詔法曲弟子二十人侑宴，示優寵。 於是給事中鄭肅、韓佽、諫議大夫李珝、郭承嘏、中書舍人高元裕、權璩等共劾仲言憸人，天下共知，不宜在左右。 帝不聽。 仲言數進講，至閹寺，必感憤申重，以激帝心。 帝見其言縱橫，謂果可任，遂不疑，而待遇莫與比，因改名訓。 帝猶慮宦人猜忌，乃疏《易》五義示群臣，有能異訓意者賞，欲天下知以師臣待訓。
Zhongyan argued with a specious eloquence that stirred and lifted his hearers, and he was skilled at sounding out what others meant. He also presented himself as a Confucian from one of the empire's great families; once he was recognized and advanced, his ambitions were far from modest. Earlier Song Shenxi had plotted to kill Shoucheng but failed and was put to death. The eunuch overseers grew still more domineering, and the emperor's anger and shame deepened. Yet the murderers of Emperor Xianzong had never been punished; though he had to feign accommodation outwardly, inwardly he could not endure it and wished to wipe out their whole class—yet the ministers in office clung to their salaries and comfort, and none would uphold principle and die for the cause. Zhu secretly understood what the emperor wanted and repeatedly offered secret plans, drawing Zhongyan in to share the effort. The emperor outwardly relied on them for lectures and counsel, yet all had entered through Shoucheng—so when he plotted with them, Shoucheng's faction did not grow suspicious. Zhongyan was still in rough mourning garb; the emperor had him wear military dress, called him 'Master Wang the Recluse,' and let him enter and leave the inner palace with Zhu. When his mourning ended he was appointed assistant instructor at the Four Gates, and was given a crimson robe and silver fish tally—it was the eighth year of the Taihe reign. In the tenth month he was promoted to Doctor of the Book of Changes and also made a Hanlin attendant lecturer. On entering the Hanlin Academy, the emperor ordered twenty students of the court music office to attend his banquets as a mark of special favor. Thereupon the supervising secretariat attendants Zheng Su and Han Qi, the remonstrating officials Li Xu and Guo Chenggu, the secretariat draftsmen Gao Yuanyi and Quan Zhu, and others jointly impeached Zhongyan as a sycophant known throughout the realm, unfit to remain at the emperor's side. The emperor would not heed them. Zhongyan lectured again and again; whenever his topic touched the eunuchs he would speak with moving earnestness and heavy emphasis to stir the emperor's heart. The emperor, hearing how boldly he ranged in speech, decided he could indeed be trusted and no longer doubted him; no one received treatment like his—and he was given the name Xun. The emperor still feared the eunuchs' suspicion, so he circulated five expositions of the Changes to the ministers, promising a reward to anyone who disagreed with Xun's reading, wanting the whole realm to know he treated Xun as a teacher-minister.
4
明年秋七月，進翰林學士、兵部郎中，知制誥，居中倚重，實行宰相事。 宦人陳弘誌時監襄陽軍，訓啟帝召還，至青泥驛，遣使者杖殺之。 復以計白罷守澄觀軍容使，賜鴆死。 又逐西川監軍楊承和、淮南韋元素、河東王踐言於嶺外，已行，皆賜死。 而崔潭峻前物故，詔剖棺鞭屍。 元和逆黨幾盡。
In the seventh month of the following autumn he was promoted to Hanlin academician and bureau director in the Ministry of War with authority to draft edicts; he leaned on the court's inner weight and in practice carried out the chief minister's work. The eunuch Chen Hongzhi was then supervising the Xiangyang army; Xun urged the emperor to recall him, and when he reached Qingni Post the emperor sent an envoy who beat him to death with staves. By another stratagem he had Shoucheng removed as army supervisor and given poisoned wine to die. He also drove the western Sichuan army supervisor Yang Chenghe, the Huainan supervisor Wei Suanyuan, and the Hedong supervisor Wang Jianyan to distant posts; once they had set out, all were ordered to die. Cui Tanjun had died earlier; an edict ordered his coffin opened and his corpse flogged. The Yuanhe conspirators were nearly all eliminated.
5
訓本挾奇進，及大權在己，銳意去惡，故與帝言天下事，無不如所欲。 與註相朋比，務報恩復仇，素忌李德裕、宗閔之寵，乃因楊虞卿獄，指為黨人，嘗所惡者，悉陷黨中，遷貶無闋日，班列幾空，中外震畏。 帝為下詔開諭，群情稍安。 不逾月，以禮部侍郎同中書門下平章事，賜金紫服，仍詔三日一至翰林，以終《易》義。
Zhu had originally risen by trading on novelty; once great power was his, he zealously uprooted evil—so whenever he spoke with the emperor of affairs under Heaven, nothing failed to go as he wished. He and Zhu were partners in alliance, bent on repaying favors and settling scores; he had long resented the favor shown Li Deyu and Niu Zongmin, so through the Yang Yuqing case he denounced them as factionists; everyone he had hated was swept into the faction, and transfers and demotions came day after day without pause—the court ranks were nearly empty, and inside and outside the palace all trembled in fear. The emperor issued an edict of open reassurance, and public feeling eased somewhat. Within a month he was made vice minister of rites with concurrent appointment as grand councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery and granted gold-purple dress; an edict still required him to come to the Hanlin every three days to complete his exposition of the Changes.
6
訓起流人，一歲至宰相，謂遭時，其志可行。 欲先誅宦豎，乃復河、湟，攘夷狄，歸河朔諸鎮。 意果而謀淺，天子以為然。 俄賜第勝業裏，賞賚旁午。 每進見，它宰相備位，天子傾意，宦官衛兵皆慴憚迎拜。 天下險怪士僥取富貴，皆憑以為資。 訓時時進賢才偉望，以悅士心，人皆惑之。 嘗建言天下浮屠避傜賦，耗國衣食，請行業不如令者還為民。 既執政，自白罷，因以市恩。
Xun had risen from exile to chief minister in a single year; he believed the times favored him and that his aims could be carried out. He wished first to kill the eunuch minions, then recover the He and Huang regions, drive back the barbarians, and bring the Hebei garrisons back under the throne. His aims were bold but his plans shallow—and the Son of Heaven believed him. Before long he was granted a mansion in Shengye Lane, with rewards heaped one upon another. Whenever he came to audience the other chief ministers were mere placeholders; the Son of Heaven bent his full attention to him, and eunuch guards all cowered and bowed in welcome. Adventurers throughout the realm who hoped for wealth and rank by crooked paths all used him as their ladder. Xun from time to time advanced men of talent and lofty reputation to please scholarly hearts, and people were all taken in. He once proposed that Buddhist monks who evaded corvée and taxes consumed the state's food and clothing, and asked that those whose profession fell short of the regulations be returned to commoner status. Once in power he himself proposed abolishing the measure, thereby to win favor.
7
始，註先顯，訓藉以進，及勢相埒，賴寵爭功，不兩立。 然方事未集，乃出註使鎮鳳翔，外為助援，內實猜克，待逞，且殺之。 擢所厚善分總兵柄，於是王璠為太原節度使，郭行余為邠寧節度使，羅立言權京兆尹，韓約金吾將軍，李孝本權御史中丞。 陰許璠、行余多募士及金吾臺府卒，劫以為用。
At first Zhu had risen first and Xun advanced by leaning on him; once their power was equal they relied on imperial favor and fought for credit, and could not coexist. Yet while the affair was still unfinished he sent Zhu out to command Fengxiang—outwardly as supporting aid, inwardly in fact suspicious and hostile—intending to kill him once success was achieved. He promoted his close favorites to divide military power among them: Wang Fan as Taiyuan military commissioner, Guo Xingyu as Binning commissioner, Luo Liyan as acting metropolitan magistrate, Han Yue as Gold Crow guard general, and Li Xiaoben as acting censor-in-chief. He secretly promised Fan and Xingyu that they would recruit many men and soldiers from the Gold Crow guard and the tribunal offices for use in the coup.
8
十一月壬戌，帝御紫宸殿，約奏甘露降金吾左仗樹，群臣賀。 訓、元輿奏言：「甘露近在禁中，陛下宜親往以承天祉。」 許之。 即輦如含元殿，詔宰相群臣往視。 還，訓奏言：「非甘露。」 帝曰：「豈約妄邪？」 顧中尉仇士良、魚誌弘等驗之，訓因欲閉止諸宦人，使無逸者。 時璠、行餘皆辭赴鎮，兵列丹鳳門外，彀而待，訓傳呼曰：「兩鎮軍入受詔旨！」 聞者趨入，邠寧軍不至，璠懼，弗能前，獨行余拜殿下。 宦人至仗所，約流汗不能舉首，士良等怪之曰：「將軍何為爾？」 會風動廡幕，見執兵者，士良等驚，走出。 閽者將闔扉，為宦侍叱爭，不及閉。 訓急連呼金吾兵曰：「衛乘輿者，人賜錢百千！」 於是有隨訓入者。 宦人曰：「急矣，上當還內！」 即扶輦決罘罳下殿趨，訓攀輦曰：「陛下不可去！」 士良曰：「李訓反！」 帝曰：「訓不反。」 士良手搏訓而躓，訓壓之，將引刀靴中，救至，士良免。 立言、孝本領眾四百東西來，上殿與金吾士縱擊，宦官死者數十人。 訓持輦愈急，至宣政門，宦人郗誌榮揕訓，仆之，輦入東上閣，即閉，宮中呼萬歲。 元輿雖知謀，不以告涯，曰：「上將開延英邪？」 而群臣見宰相問故。 會士良遣神策副使劉泰倫、陳君奕等率衛士五百挺兵出，所值輒殺。 涯等惶遽易服步出。 殺諸司史六七百人，復分兵屯諸宮門，捕訓黨千餘人，斬四方館，流血成渠。 宦豎知訓事連天子，相與怨嘖，帝懼，偽不語，故宦人得肆誌殺戮。 俄而元輿、涯皆為兵所執。 涯實不知謀，士良榜笞急，乃自署反狀。 詔出衛騎千餘，馳咸陽、奉天捕亡者，大索都城，分掩涯、訓等第，兵遂大掠，入黎埴、羅讓、渾鐬、胡證等家及賈耽廟，貲產一空。 兩省印、簿書輒持去，秘館圖籍，蕩然無余者。
On renxu day of the eleventh month the emperor held court in Zichen Hall; Han Yue reported that sweet dew had descended on the tree by the Gold Crow left guard, and the ministers offered congratulations. Xun and Wang Ya memorialized, 'The sweet dew is close within the inner palace—Your Majesty should go in person to receive Heaven's blessing. The emperor agreed. The carriage went at once to Hanyuan Hall, and he ordered the chief ministers and the court to go view it. On their return Xun memorialized, 'It is not sweet dew. The emperor said, 'Could Yue be lying?' He turned to the commandant-in-chief Qiu Shiliang, Yu Zhihong, and others to examine it; Xun then wished to shut in all the eunuchs so none could escape. Fan and Xingyu were then taking leave for their posts; troops were drawn up outside Danfeng Gate lying in wait. Xun called out, 'The armies of the two circuits enter to receive the edict! Hearing this they rushed in; the Binning army did not arrive—Fan was afraid and could not advance; only Xingyu bowed below the hall. When the eunuchs reached the guard station Han Yue was sweating and could not raise his head; Shiliang and the rest said in surprise, 'General, why are you like this? Then the wind stirred the corridor screens and they saw armed men; Shiliang and the rest were startled and ran out. The gatekeepers were about to shut the doors, but eunuch attendants shouted in contention and they did not close in time. Xun urgently called again to the Gold Crow troops, 'Whoever guards the carriage gets a hundred thousand in cash each! Thereupon some who had followed Xun in entered. The eunuchs cried, 'It is urgent—the sovereign must return inside! They at once supported the carriage, broke through the hanging screen below the hall, and hurried off; Xun clung to the carriage crying, 'Your Majesty must not leave!' Shiliang cried, 'Li Xun has rebelled!' The emperor said, 'Xun has not rebelled.' Shiliang grappled with Xun hand to hand and stumbled; Xun pressed him down and was about to draw a knife from his boot when rescuers arrived and Shiliang escaped. Luo Liyan and Li Xiaoben led four hundred men from east and west; they mounted the hall and with Gold Crow soldiers struck freely—several tens of eunuchs died. Xun clung to the carriage ever more urgently; at Xuanzheng Gate the eunuch Xi Zhihong struck Xun down and he fell; the carriage entered the Upper Eastern Gate, which was shut at once, and within the palace they cried 'Long live!' Wang Ya knew the plot though he did not tell others, saying, 'Will the sovereign open Yanying? Meanwhile the court group, seeing the chief minister, asked what was happening. Presently Shiliang sent the Shence deputy commissioners Liu Tailun, Chen Junyi, and others leading five hundred guards with bared weapons; whom they met they killed. Ya and the rest in panic changed clothes and slipped out on foot. They killed six or seven hundred clerks of various offices, again divided troops to garrison the palace gates, captured more than a thousand of Xun's party and beheaded them at the Four Directions hostel—blood formed channels in the ground. The eunuch minions knew Xun's affair touched the Son of Heaven and murmured together in resentment; the emperor was afraid and pretended not to speak, so the eunuchs could slaughter at will. Before long Wang Ya and the rest were both seized by the troops. Ya had in truth not known the plot; under Shiliang's urgent flogging with the placard he signed his own confession of rebellion. An edict sent out over a thousand guard cavalry to gallop to Xianyang and Fengtian pursuing fugitives, searched the capital extensively, and raided the mansions of Ya, Xun, and others in turn—the troops then plundered on a great scale, entering the homes of Li Zhi, Luo Rang, Hun Hui, Hu Zheng, and others and Jia Dan's temple until property was utterly empty. The seals and registers of the two secretariats were carried off whenever met; the archive collections of the secret depot were swept bare, nothing remaining.
9
明日，召群臣朝，至建福門，從者不得入，光範門尚閉，列兵誰何，乃繇金吾右仗至宣政衙，兵皆露持。 是時無宰相、御史中丞，久之，閣門使馬元贄啟宣政扉傳詔，張仲方可京兆尹，而吏皆前死，群臣不能班。 帝初未知涯等被系，猶遲其不朝，既而士良白涯與訓謀逆，將立鄭註。 遽召僕射令狐楚、鄭覃、兵部尚書王源中、吏部侍郎李虞仲等至，帝對悲憤，因付涯訊牒曰：「果涯書邪？」 楚曰：「然！ 涯誠有謀，罪應死。」
The next day the emperor summoned the court to assembly at Jianfu Gate; followers could not enter; Guangfan Gate was still shut—troops lined up challenging who passed—and they went by way of the Gold Crow right guard to the Xuanzheng yamen; the soldiers all bore weapons openly. At that time there was no chief minister or censor-in-chief. After a long while the gate attendant Ma Yuanyan opened the Xuanzheng doors and transmitted the edict appointing Zhang Zhongfang metropolitan magistrate—but the clerks had all died earlier and the court group could not form ranks. At first the emperor did not know Ya and the rest had been seized; he still delayed at their failure to attend court—then Shiliang reported that Ya and Xun had plotted rebellion and would install Zheng Zhu. He hastily summoned the vice directors Hu Linghu Chu, Zheng Qin, Minister of War Wang Yuanzhong, Vice Minister of Personnel Li Yuzhong, and others; facing them the emperor spoke in grief and anger and handed them Ya's interrogation document, saying, 'Is this truly Ya's writing? Chu said, 'It is! Ya did indeed have a plot; the crime deserves death.'
10
是日，京師兵剽劫未止，民乘亂，往往復私怨，相戕擊，人死甚眾。 帝遣楊鎮、靳遂良等屯兵大衢，鼓而儆之，兵乃止。 帝逼宦官，於是下詔暴訓、涯等罪。 孝本易綠誇，猶金帶，以帽障面，奔鄭註，至咸陽，追騎及之。 餗匿民間，羸服乘驢自歸。 璠聚河東兵環第自衛，弘誌使偏將攻之，呼曰：「王涯等得罪，起尚書為相。」 璠喜，啟關納之。 既行，知見紿，泣曰：「李訓累我。」 俄行余、立言皆得。 自涯十餘族並奴婢悉系左右軍。 璠見涯，恚曰：「公何見引？」 涯曰：「君昔漏宋丞相謀於守澄，今焉逃死？」
That day the capital troops' plunder had not ceased; the people, taking advantage of the disorder, often settled private grudges and struck one another—very many died. The emperor sent Yang Zhen, Jin Suiliang, and others to station troops at the great thoroughfares and beat drums to warn them, and the soldiers then stopped. Pressed by the eunuchs, the emperor thereupon issued an edict exposing the crimes of Xun, Ya, and the rest. Li Xiaoben had changed out of his green-flowered finery but still wore the gold belt; he covered his face with a hat and fled toward Zheng Zhu—at Xianyang pursuing horsemen overtook him. Jia Su hid among the people, dressed in ragged clothes, and returned on a donkey of his own accord. Wang Fan gathered Hedong troops to ring his mansion in self-defense; Hongzhi sent a partial general to attack and called out, 'Wang Ya and the others have offended—the emperor has made you chief minister. Fan was pleased, opened the gate, and admitted them. Once on the road he knew he had been deceived and wept, 'Li Xun has ruined me. Before long Xingyu and Liyan were also captured. From Ya onward more than ten clans together with male and female slaves were all bound in the Left and Right Armies. Fan, seeing Ya, said in rage, 'Sir, why did you draw me in? Ya said, 'You once leaked Chief Minister Song's plot to Shoucheng—how now do you escape death?'
11
訓既敗，被綠衣，詭言黜官，走終南山，依浮屠宗密。 宗密欲匿之，其徒不可，乃奔鳳翔，為盩厔將所執，械而東。 訓恐為宦人酷辱，祈監者曰：「得我者有賞，不如持首去。」 乃斬之，傳其首，餘黨悉禽。
After Xun's defeat he wore green robes, lied that he had been demoted, fled to Zhongnan Mountain, and took refuge with the monk Zongmi. Zongmi wished to hide him, but his disciples would not allow it; Xun then fled to Fengxiang, was seized by a Zhouzhi garrison officer, shackled, and sent east. Xun feared cruel humiliation by the eunuchs and pleaded with his escort: 'Whoever captures me alive will be rewarded—better take my head and go. They then beheaded him, sent his head ahead, and captured all his remaining followers.
12
後一日，兩神策兵將涯等赴郊廟，過兩市，皆腰斬梟首以徇。 餗臨刑憤叱，獨元輿曰：「晁錯、張華尚不免，豈特吾屬哉？」 約最後捕得，責以反狀，不服，斬之。 殺訓弟仲褒、元臯。 始，元臯以屬疏自解，得去，士良訊奴，言事前一昔宿訓第，遣人追斬之。 訓死，士良捕宗密，將殺之，怡然曰：「與訓遊久，浮屠法遇困則救，死固其分。」 乃釋之。 是時暴屍旁午，有詔棄都外，男女孩嬰相雜廁。 淹旬，許京兆府瘞斂，作二大冢，葬道左右。
The next day the two Shence armies escorted Ya and the others to the suburban temples; passing through the two markets, all were cut in two at the waist and their heads displayed as a warning. Jia Su at execution raged and shouted; only Shu Yuanyu said, 'Chao Cuo and Zhang Hua could not escape unscathed—how much less only our sort? Han Yue was captured last; charged with rebellion, he refused to confess and was beheaded. They killed Xun's younger brothers Zhongbao and Yuantao. Earlier Yuantao, pleading distant kinship, had been allowed to leave; Shiliang questioned a slave who said that on the eve of the affair he had stayed at Xun's mansion—pursuers were sent and he was beheaded. After Xun's death Shiliang arrested Zongmi and was about to kill him; Zongmi said calmly, 'I traveled long with Xun; in the Buddhist law one saves those in distress—death is my portion. He was then released. At that time corpses lay piled everywhere; an edict ordered them cast outside the capital, boys and girls and infants mingled in heaps. After ten days the metropolitan government was permitted to bury them, making two great mounds on either side of the road.
13
它日，帝頗思訓，數為李石、鄭覃稱其才。 而宦豎益熾，帝末以制，居常忽忽不懌，每遊燕，雖倡樂雜沓，未嘗歡，顏慘不展，往往瞋目獨語，或裴回眺望，賦詩以見情，自是感疢，至棄天下雲。
Another day the emperor rather missed Xun and repeatedly praised his talent to Li Shi and Zheng Qin. Yet the eunuch minions grew still more rampant; the emperor could not control them in the end and was habitually depressed. Whenever he went out for pleasure, though singers and musicians crowded about, he was never merry; his face stayed grim, often glaring and talking to himself, or pacing and gazing afar, composing poems to show his mood—thereafter he fell ill and at last abandoned the realm.
14
鄭注，絳州翼城人。 世微賤，以方伎遊江湖間。 元和末，至襄陽，依節度使李愬。 為愬煮黃金餌之，浸親遇，署衙推，從至徐州，稍參處軍政。 注多藝，詭譎陰狡，億探人廋隱，輒中所欲。 為籌事，未嘗不用，挾邪市權，舉軍患之。 監軍王守澄白愬，愬曰：「然彼奇士也，將軍試與語。」 守澄始拒不納，既坐，機辯橫生，鉤得其意，守澄大驚，引至後堂，語終夕，恨相見晚。 謝曰：「誠如公言。」 即署巡官。
Zheng Zhu was from Yicheng in Jiangzhou. His family was humble; he wandered the rivers and lakes practicing occult arts. At the end of the Yuanhe reign he reached Xiangyang and attached himself to the military commissioner Li Su. He prepared a golden elixir for Su to take; gradually he won intimate favor, was appointed yamen aide, followed him to Xuzhou, and gradually took part in military administration. Zhu had many skills, was crafty and treacherous, guessed at people's hidden thoughts, and usually hit what they desired. In planning affairs he was always used; he traded on wickedness to sell power, and the whole army resented him. The army supervisor Wang Shoucheng reported to Su; Su said, 'Yet he is an extraordinary man—General, try speaking with him. Shoucheng at first refused to receive him; once seated, clever argument poured forth and he hooked Shoucheng's intent; Shoucheng was greatly startled, led him to the rear hall, and talked all night, regretting they had met so late. He apologized, saying, 'It is truly as you say. He was at once appointed patrol officer.
15
守澄入總樞密，與俱至京師，厚加贍恤，日夜為守澄計議，因陰通賂遺。 初士纖巧者附離，後要官貴人亦趨往。 既陷宋申錫，搢紳側目。 金吾將軍孟文亮鎮邠寧，取為司馬，不肯行，御史中丞宇文鼎劾奏，乃上道，過奉天輒還。 御史復言注奸狀，請付有司治罪。 始，王涯用注力再輔政，又憚守澄，遏其奏。 更擢通王府司馬、右神策判官，士議讙駭。 劉從諫惡其人，欲因斥去之，即表副昭義節度。 至府不旬月，文宗暴眩，守澄復薦注，即日召入，對浴堂門，賜賚至渥。 是夜，彗出東方，長三尺，芒耀怒急。 俄進太僕卿，兼御史大夫。
When Shoucheng entered to head the Privy Council he brought Zhu with him to the capital, treated him with great generosity, and day and night made plans for Shoucheng, while secretly communicating bribes. At first clever minor scholars attached themselves; later important officials and nobles also hurried to him. Once he had trapped Song Shenxi, the gentry looked askance. The Gold Crow general Meng Wenliang was military commissioner of Binning and took Zhu as his aide; Zhu refused to go. The censor-in-chief Yu Wendding impeached him, and only then did he take the road—but passing Fengtian he turned back. The censors again reported Zhu's wicked conduct and asked that he be handed to the authorities for punishment. Earlier Wang Ya had used Zhu's strength to become chief minister twice, yet also feared Shoucheng and blocked the memorial. He was further promoted to Prince of Tong's staff aide and right Shence adjutant; scholarly opinion was shocked and outraged. Liu Congjian hated the man and wished to have him driven out; he memorialized him as deputy to the Zhaoyi military commission. He had not been at headquarters a month when Wenzong suddenly fell ill; Shoucheng again recommended Zhu, and that same day he was summoned in, received audience at the Bath Hall gate, and gifts were lavished to the utmost. That night a comet appeared in the east, three feet long, its rays fierce and urgent. Before long he was advanced to Minister of the Imperial Stud and concurrent Censor-in-chief.
16
注資貪沓，既藉權寵，專鬻官射利，貲積鉅萬，不知止。 起第善和裏，通永巷，飛廡復壁，聚京師輕薄子、方鎮將吏，以煽聲焰。 間入神策，與守澄語必終日，或夜艾乃罷。 險人躁夫有所幹謝，日走門。 李訓既附注進，於是兩人權震天下矣。 尋擢工部尚書、翰林侍講學士，時訓已在禁中，日日議論帝前，相倡和，謀鉏翦中官，自謂功在晷刻，帝惑之。 乘是進退士大夫，撓骫朝法，賢不肖淆亂，以為弛張當然。 眾策其必亂。
Zhu was greedy and grasping by nature; once he leaned on favor and power he monopolized the sale of offices and pursuit of profit, amassing tens of thousands in wealth without cease. He built a mansion in Shanhe Lane connected to the Eternal Lane, with flying eaves and double walls, gathering the capital's frivolous youths and frontier generals to fan his renown. He would enter the Shence barracks from time to time; talks with Shoucheng always lasted all day, sometimes until midnight before ending. Wicked and rash men with requests came daily to his gate. Once Li Xun had advanced by attaching to Zhu, the two men's power shook the realm. Before long he was promoted to Minister of Works and Hanlin attendant lecturer; Xun was already in the inner palace, discussing daily before the emperor, singing in unison, plotting to cut down the inner eunuchs, deeming success within the hour—the emperor was beguiled. Seizing this he advanced and dismissed scholar-officials, bent and twisted court law, good and bad mingled in confusion, deeming laxity and tightening natural. The multitude predicted he would surely bring disorder.
17
帝問富人術，以榷茶對。 其法欲置茶官，籍民圃而給其直，工自擷暴，則利悉之官。 帝始詔王涯為榷茶使。 又言秦、雍災，當興役厭之。 帝嘗詠杜甫《曲江辭》，有「宮殿千門」語，意天寶時環江有觀榭宮室，聞註言，即詔兩神策治曲江、昆明，作紫雲樓、采霞亭，詔公卿得列舍堤上。
The emperor asked the method of enriching the people; he answered with monopoly on tea. The method wished to set up tea officials, register the people's gardens and pay them price; the workers would pick and process themselves, and all profit would go entirely to the government. The emperor first ordered Wang Ya as tea monopoly commissioner. He also said Qin and Yong had disasters and labor projects should be raised to suppress them. The emperor once chanted Du Fu's 'Qujiang' lines with 'palaces of a thousand gates'; thinking that in the Tianbao era pavilions and palace halls ringed the river, hearing Zhu's words he at once ordered the two Shence armies to work on Qujiang and Kunming, building the Purple Cloud Tower and the Cai Xia Pavilion, and ordered that chief ministers and court might set lodges on the embankment.
18
注本姓魚，冒為鄭，故當時號「魚鄭」。 及用事，人廋謂曰「水族」。 貌寢陋，不能遠視，常衣粗裘，外示質素。 始，李愬病痿，註治之有狀，守澄神其術，故中人皆昵愛。
Zhu's original surname was Yu; he falsely took Zheng, so at the time he was called 'Fish Zheng.' When he held power people secretly called him 'Aquatic Tribe.' His appearance was homely and ugly; he could not see far and usually wore coarse furs, outwardly showing simplicity. Earlier Li Su was ill with paralysis; Zhu treated him with effect; Shoucheng marveled at his arts, so the inner eunuchs all grew fond of him.
19
俄檢校尚書左僕射、鳳翔隴右節度使，詔月入奏事。 請寮屬於訓，訓與舒元輿謀終殺注，慮其豪俊為助，更擇臺閣長厚者，以錢可復為副，李敬彜為司馬，盧簡能、蕭傑為判官，盧弘茂為掌書記。 舊制，節度使受命，戎服詣兵部謁，後浸廢，注請復之，而王璠、郭行餘皆踵為常。 是日，度支、京兆等供帳。 入辭，帝賜通天犀帶。 出都門，旗幹折，注惡之。
Before long he was made acting Left Vice Director and Fengxiang-Longyou military commissioner, with orders to enter court monthly to report. He asked staff from Xun; Xun and Shu Yuanyu plotted finally to kill Zhu, fearing his bold followers as aid, and instead chose long-standing and generous men of the secretariat: Qian Kefu as deputy, Li Jingyi as aide, Lu Jianneng and Xiao Jie as adjutants, Lu Hongmao as chief secretary. By old regulation when a military commissioner received appointment he wore military dress to visit the Ministry of War; later this was gradually abandoned; Zhu asked to restore it, and Wang Fan and Guo Xingyu all followed as custom. That day the revenue commission, metropolitan government, and others supplied encampments. On farewell audience the emperor granted a belt of penetrating-heaven rhinoceros horn. Outside the capital gate the flagpole broke; Zhu took it as ill omen.
20
先是，守澄死，以十一月葬滻水，注奏言：「守澄，國勞舊，願身護喪。」 因群宦者臨送，欲以鎮兵悉禽誅之。 訓畏注專其功，乃先五日舉事。 注率五百騎至，扶風令韓遼知其謀，奔武功。 注聞訓敗，乃還。 其屬魏弘節勸注殺監軍張仲清及大將賈克中等十餘人，注驚撓不暇聽。 仲清與前少尹陸暢用其將李叔和策，訪注計事，斬其首，兵皆潰去。 注妻兄魏逢尤佻險，贊注為奸，數顧賕，為率更令、鳳翔少尹。 遣逢至京師與訓約，被誅。 可復等及親卒千餘人皆族矣。 擢仲清內常侍，遼咸陽令，叔和檢校太子賓客，賜錢千萬，暢鳳翔行軍司馬。
Earlier Shoucheng had died and was to be buried at Chan water in the eleventh month; Zhu memorialized, 'Shoucheng was an old merit of the state—I wish to escort the funeral myself. Thus with the eunuch hosts attending the send-off he wished to use garrison troops to seize and execute them all. Xun feared Zhu would monopolize the credit and so moved the affair five days earlier. Zhu led five hundred horsemen there; the Fufeng magistrate Han Liao knew the plot and fled to Wugong. Zhu heard Xun had failed and then returned. His follower Wei Hongjie urged Zhu to kill the army supervisor Zhang Zhongqing and the great generals Jia Kezhong and more than ten others; Zhu was too flustered to listen. Zhongqing and the former junior metropolitan magistrate Lu Chang used their general Li Shuhe's stratagem, visited Zhu on the pretext of planning affairs, and beheaded him; the troops all scattered and fled. Zhu's wife's brother Wei Feng was especially frivolous and dangerous, aiding Zhu in wickedness, repeatedly looking to bribes; he was made director of the imperial workshops and junior prefect of Fengxiang. He sent Feng to the capital to arrange with Xun and was executed. Kefu and the rest together with close soldiers more than a thousand were all clan-extinguished. Zhongqing was promoted to inner attendant; Liao made Xianyang magistrate; Shuhe made acting Crown Prince guest; a gift of ten million in cash; Chang made Fengxiang campaigning staff aide.
21
梟注首光宅坊，三日瘞之，群臣皆賀，乃夷其家。 初，未獲注，京師戒嚴，涇原、鄜坊節度使王茂元、蕭弘皆勒兵備非常。 及是人相慶。 籍其貲，得絹百萬匹，它物稱是。 注敗前，菌生所服帶上，褚中藥化為蠅數萬飛去。
Zhu's head was displayed at Guangzhai Ward; after three days it was buried; the court group all congratulated, and then his family was exterminated. Earlier, before Zhu was taken, the capital was under strict guard; the Jingyuan and Zhenfang military commissioners Wang Maoyuan and Xiao Hong both mobilized troops against the unexpected. When it was done people congratulated one another. His property was registered: a million bolts of silk were obtained, and other goods in proportion. Before Zhu's defeat fungus grew on the belt he wore, and medicine in his bag turned into tens of thousands of flies that flew away.
22
可復，徽子也，為禮部郎中。 簡能者，簡辭弟，駕部員外郎。 傑者，俛弟也，主客員外郎。 弘茂，右拾遺。 可復將死，女年十四，為祈免，女曰：「殺我父，何面目以生！」 抱可復求死，亦斬之。 弘茂妻蕭，臨刑詬曰：「我太后妹，奴輩可來殺！」 兵皆斂手，乃免。 弘節勇而多謀，始在鄜坊趙儋節度府，為注所辟。 敬彜為路隋所辟，隋卒，客江淮，以未赴免，因擢兵部員外郎，終衢州刺史。
Kefu was Hui's son and served as bureau director in the Ministry of Rites. Jianneng was Jian's younger brother, an aide in the Ministry of Transport. Jie was Fu's younger brother, an aide in the Ministry of Receptions. Hongmao was a right remonstrating censor. When Kefu was about to die his daughter, fourteen years old, prayed for his release; the girl said, 'You kill my father—how can I face living! She embraced Kefu and begged to die and was also beheaded. Hongmao's wife Xiao at execution cursed, 'I am the empress dowager's sister—you slaves dare come kill! The soldiers all stayed their hands and she was spared. Hongjie was brave and full of schemes; he had first been in the Zhenfang Zhao Dan military commission and was recruited by Zhu. Jingyi was recruited by Lu Sui; when Sui died he sojourned on the Jiang-Huai, was excused for not having gone, and was then promoted to aide in the Ministry of War, ending as Quzhou prefect.
23
王涯，字廣津，其先本太原人，魏廣陽侯冏之裔。 祖祚，武后時諫罷萬象神宮知名； 開元時，以大理司直馳傳決獄，所至仁平。 父晃，歷左補闕、溫州刺史。
Wang Ya, styled Guangjin, his ancestors were originally from Taiyuan, descendants of the Wei Guangyang Marquis Tong. His grandfather Zuo was famed in Empress Wu's time for remonstrating to abolish the Palace of Myriad Images; in the Kaiyuan era, as assistant director in the Court of Judicial Review he traveled post-haste to decide cases, and wherever he went was humane and fair. His father Huang served as left remonstrator and Wenzhou prefect.
24
涯博學，工屬文。 往見梁肅，肅異其才，薦於陸贄。 擢進士，又舉宏辭，再調藍田尉。 久之，以左拾遺為翰林學士，進起居舍人。 元和初，會其甥皇甫湜以賢良方正對策異等，忤宰相，涯坐不避嫌，罷學士，再貶虢州司馬，徙為袁州刺史。 憲宗思之，以兵部員外郎召，知制誥，再為翰林學士，累遷工部侍郎，封清源縣男。
Ya was broadly learned and skilled at literary composition. He went to see Liang Su; Su marveled at his talent and recommended him to Lu Zhi. He passed the jinshi and also passed the macro-elocution examination, and was twice transferred as Lantian county aide. After a long while he was made Hanlin academician from left remonstrator and advanced to attendant on the emperor's movements. In the early Yuanhe era his nephew Huangfu Shi passed the extraordinary erudite policy examination with highest rank, offending the chief minister; Ya was punished for not avoiding suspicion, removed as academician, twice demoted to Guozhou aide, and transferred to Yuanzhou prefect. Xianzong thought of him, summoned him as aide in the Ministry of War with draft edicts, again made Hanlin academician, and repeatedly promoted him to Vice Minister of Works, enfeoffed as Baron of Qingyuan.
25
涯文有雅思，永貞、元和間，訓誥溫麗，多所稿定。 帝以其孤進自樹立，數訪逮，以私居遠，或召不時至，詔假光宅裏官第，諸學士莫敢望。 俄拜中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事，坐循默不稱職罷。 再遷吏部侍郎。
Ya's writing had elegant purpose; in the Yongzhen and Yuanhe eras his edicts and orders were warm and beautiful, and many were drafted by him. The emperor, because he had risen alone and established himself, frequently sought him out; because his private residence was far, sometimes when summoned he did not arrive in time—an edict lent him an official mansion in Guangzhai Lane that no other academician dared match. Before long he was made Vice Director of the Secretariat with concurrent appointment as Grand Councillor of the Secretariat and Chancellery, but was dismissed for routine silence and not fitting the post. He was again transferred to Vice Minister of Personnel.
26
穆宗立，出為劍南東川節度使。 時吐蕃寇邊，西北騷然，又略雅州，涯調兵拒之。 上言：「蜀有兩道直搗賊腹，一繇龍川清川以抵松州，一繇綿州威蕃柵抵棲雞城，皆虜險要地。 臣願不愛金帛，使信臣持節與北虜約曰：『能發兵深入者，殺某人，取某地，受某賞。』 開懷以示之，所以要約諄熟異它日者，則匈奴之銳可出，西戎之力衰矣。」 帝不報。
When Muzong succeeded he went out as Eastern Sichuan military commissioner. At that time the Tibetans raided the frontier and the northwest was disturbed; they also seized Yazhou; Ya mobilized troops to resist them. He submitted a memorial: "Shu offers two routes straight into the enemy heartland—one through Longchuan and Qingchuan to Songzhou, another through Mianzhou and Weifan Stockade to Qiji Castle—each a strategic stronghold held by the foe. I am willing to spend gold and silk freely and send a trusted envoy with imperial credentials to treat with the northern tribes, promising: 'Whoever can march deep into enemy country—kill this man, seize that place, and receive this reward. Lay the terms open before them and bind the agreement in careful detail unlike any past arrangement, and the Xiongnu's best troops can be brought out while the Western Rong's power wanes. The emperor made no response.
27
長慶三年，入為御史大夫，遷戶部尚書、鹽鐵轉運使。 寶歷時，復出領山南西道節度使。 文宗嗣位，召拜太常卿，以吏部尚書代王播，復總鹽鐵，政益刻急。 歲中，進尚書右僕射、代郡公。 而御史中丞宇文鼎以涯兼使職，恥為之屈，奏：「僕射視事日，四品以上官不宜獨拜。」 涯怒，即建言：「與其廢禮，不如審官，請避位以存舊典。」 帝難之，詔尚書省雜議。 工部侍郎李固言謂：「《禮》：君於士不答拜，非其臣則答，不臣人之臣也； 大夫於其臣，雖賤必答拜，避正君也； 大夫於獻不親，君有賜不面拜，為君之答己也。 古者列國君猶與大夫答拜，所以尊事天子，別嫌明微也。 議者謂『僕射代尚書令，禮當重。 凡百司州縣皆有副貳，缺則攝總，至著定之禮，則不可越，僕射由是也』。 按令，凡文武三品拜一品，四品拜二品。 《開元禮》，京兆河南牧、州刺史、縣令上日，丞以下答拜。 此禮令相戾，不可獨據。」 又言：「受冊官始上，無不答拜者，而僕射亦受冊，禮不得異。 雖相承為故事，然人情難安者，安得弗改？ 請如禮便。」 帝不能決，涯竟用舊儀。
In the third year of Changqing he returned to court as Censor-in-Chief, then became Minister of Revenue and Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner. During the Baoli reign he was again sent out as military commissioner of the Shannan West Circuit. When Emperor Wenzong took the throne, Wang Ya was summoned as Minister of Imperial Sacrifices, then replaced Wang Bo as Minister of Personnel while resuming control of salt and iron; his policies grew increasingly severe. Before the year was out he was promoted to Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and enfeoffed as Duke of Dai commandery. Censor-in-Chief Yuwen Ding, resenting that Ya also held a commissioner's portfolio, refused to submit and memorialized: "On the day the Vice Director takes up his duties, officials of fourth rank and above should not bow to him alone. Ya was furious and countered: "Rather than discard proper ceremony, let us examine the office itself—I ask to step aside so the old precedent may stand." The emperor could not settle the matter and ordered the Department of State Affairs to debate it jointly. Vice Minister of Works Li Guyan argued: "The Rites teach that a ruler does not return a bow to a common officer, but does return one to someone who is not his subject—meaning, not the subject of another man's subject; a grand officer to his own subordinate, however humble, must return the bow, deferring to the true sovereign; a grand officer does not personally receive tribute; when the ruler bestows a gift one does not bow facing him—for the ruler has already returned the bow to oneself. In ancient times even feudal lords exchanged bows with grand officers, thereby honoring their service to the Son of Heaven and marking distinctions with precision. Some argued that 'the Vice Director stands in for the Director of the Department, and the ceremony ought to carry full weight. Every office in the provinces and counties has a deputy who assumes charge when the chief is absent, yet once ritual is formally fixed it may not be overridden—the Vice Director is such a case.' Under statute, civil and military officials of third rank bow to those of first rank, and those of fourth rank bow to those of second rank. The Kaoyuan Rites prescribe that on the inaugural day of the Metropolitan and Henan governors, prefects, and county magistrates, their deputies and subordinates return the bow. These ritual codes and administrative regulations contradict one another and cannot be cited in isolation." He added: "Every official invested with a seal on first assuming office receives returned bows, and the Vice Director receives a seal as well—the ceremony cannot be an exception. It may have become custom, but where custom unsettles men's hearts, how can we refuse to amend it? Let the rites be followed as they prescribe. The emperor could not reach a decision, and Ya kept the old practice after all.
28
自李師道平，三道十二州皆有銅鐵官，歲取冶賦百萬，觀察使擅有之，不入公上。 涯始建白：「如建中元年九月戊辰詔書，收隸天子鹽鐵。」 詔可。 久之，以本官同中書門下平章事，合度支、鹽鐵為一使，兼領之。 乃奏罷京畿榷酒錢以悅眾。 俄檢校司空，兼門下侍郎。 罷度支，真拜司空。 始變茶法，益其稅以濟用度，下益困，而鄭註亦議榷茶，天子命涯為使，心知不可，不敢爭。 李訓敗，乃及禍。 初，民怨茶禁苛急，涯就誅，皆群詬詈，抵以瓦礫。
After Li Shidao's defeat, the twelve prefectures of three circuits each maintained copper and iron offices that collected a million in smelting taxes every year; the observation commissioners kept the revenue for themselves instead of forwarding it to the throne. Ya first proposed: "Follow the edict of the wuchen day of the ninth month in the first year of Jianzhong—bring salt and iron revenues back under imperial control. The emperor approved. In time he was made Grand Councillor while retaining his existing post, and the revenue and salt-and-iron commissions were combined into one office under his direction. He then proposed abolishing the capital's wine monopoly tax to win public favor. Soon afterward he was appointed acting Inspector of Works and Vice Director of the Chancellery. The revenue commission was dissolved, and he received formal appointment as Inspector of Works. He revised the tea law, raising its tax to cover state expenses, and the people suffered all the more. Zheng Zhu likewise urged a tea monopoly; the emperor named Ya commissioner. Ya knew it was unwise but dared not object. When Li Xun fell, Wang Ya was swept into ruin. The people had long resented the harsh tea monopoly; when Ya was executed they mobbed his corpse, cursing him and pelting it with rubble.
29
涯質狀頎省，長上短下，動舉詳華。 性嗇儉，不畜妓妾，惡卜祝及它方伎。 別墅有佳木流泉，居常書史自怡，使客賀若夷鼓琴娛賓。 文宗惡俗侈靡，詔涯懲革。 涯條上其制，凡衣服室宇，使略如古，貴戚皆不便，謗訕囂然，議遂格。 然涯年過七十，嗜權固位，偷合訓等，不能絜去就，以至覆宗。 是時，十一族貲貨悉為兵掠，而涯居永寧裏，乃楊憑故第，財貯鉅萬，取之彌日不盡。 家書多與秘府侔，前世名書畫，嘗以厚貨鉤致，或私以官，鑿垣納之，重復秘固，若不可窺者。 至是為人破垣剔取奩軸金玉，而棄其書畫於道。 籍田宅入於官。
Wang Ya was tall and lean, with long torso and short legs, and carried himself with polished grace. He was austere by nature, kept no concubines or entertainers, and despised fortune-tellers and every sort of occult craft. His country estate boasted fine timber and running water; he passed his days among books and histories, and had his guest He Ruoyi play the zither for company. Emperor Wenzong loathed vulgar luxury and charged Ya with curbing it. Ya drafted detailed regulations, prescribing clothing and dwellings roughly in ancient style; the great families all chafed at the restrictions, outcry mounted, and the plan was shelved. Yet past seventy Wang Ya still hungered for power, clinging to office and colluding with Li Xun and his circle rather than keeping his hands clean—until his whole house was destroyed. By then soldiers had looted the estates of all eleven clans. Ya's residence in Yongning Lane—once Yang Ping's mansion—held wealth counted in the tens of thousands; plundering it took days and still did not finish. His library nearly rivaled the imperial collection; he often paid lavish sums for celebrated paintings and calligraphy of earlier ages, sometimes trading official favor for them, breaking through walls to smuggle pieces inside and sealing them away as though invisible. Now looters smashed his walls, stripped out jewel caskets and scroll mounts, and left his books and paintings strewn in the streets. His fields and houses were inventoried and confiscated by the state.
30
子孟堅為工部郎中、集賢殿學士，仲翔太常博士，季琰校書郎，皆死。 仲翔始匿侍御史裴鐇家，鐇執以赴軍，仲翔曰：「業不見容，當自求生，奈何反相噬邪？」 聞者哀之。 後令狐楚見帝，從容言：「向與臣並列者，既族滅矣，而露胔不藏，深可悼痛。」 帝惻然，詔京兆尹薛元賞葬涯等十一人，各賜襲衣。 仇士良使盜竊發其冢，投骨渭水。 涯女為竇紃妻，以痼病免，家人紿告涯當貶，忽夢涯自提首告曰：「族滅矣，惟若存，歲時無忘我。」 女驚號墮地，乃以實告。 涯從弟沐，客江南，困窮來京師謁涯，二歲乃得見，許以祿仕，難作，亦死。
His sons Mengjian, an aide in the Ministry of Works and Hanlin academician; Zhongxiang, an Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; and Jiyan, a collator—all perished. Zhongxiang first hid with Assistant Censor Pei Zhen, but Zhen seized him and handed him over to the troops. Zhongxiang cried: "Our house is already doomed—I should be trying to save myself; why turn on me like this? All who heard were moved to pity. Later Linghu Chu saw the emperor and said gently: "Those who recently served beside me have been wiped out to the last kin, yet their bodies lie exposed and unburied—a sight too painful to bear. The emperor was stricken with sorrow and ordered Capital Intendant Xue Yuanshang to bury Wang Ya and the other ten men, granting each a burial robe. Qiu Shiliang sent thieves to break open the graves and throw the bones into the Wei River. Wang Ya's daughter, wife of Dou Xuan, was spared because of chronic illness. Her family lied that Ya was merely being demoted; then she dreamed Ya holding his severed head and saying: "The clan is gone and only you survive—do not forget me at the seasonal offerings. She screamed and collapsed; only then was she told what had really happened. Wang Ya's cousin Mu, living as a guest in the south, came penniless to the capital to see him; only after two years did he obtain an audience, and Ya promised him office and salary. When disaster struck, he died as well.
31
昭宗天復初，大赦，明涯、訓之冤，追復爵位，官其後裔。
Early in the Tianfu era under Emperor Zhaozong, a general amnesty cleared the wrong done to Wang Ya and Li Xun, restored their ranks, and appointed their descendants to office.
32
賈餗，字子美，河南人。 少孤，客江淮間。 從父全觀察浙東，餗往依之，全尤器異，收恤良厚。 舉進士高第，聲稱籍甚。 又策賢良方正異等，授渭南尉、集賢校理。 擢累考功員外郎，知制誥。 餗美文辭，開敏有斷，然褊急，氣陵輩行。 李渤為諫議大夫，惡其人，為宰相言之，而李逢吉、竇易直愛餗才，得不斥。
Jia Su, courtesy name Zimei, came from Henan. He lost his parents young and wandered the Jiang-Huai region. His uncle Quan served as observation commissioner of Zhedong; Su went to live under his patronage. Quan admired him greatly and treated him with exceptional generosity. He passed the jinshi examination at the top of his class and won wide renown. He also passed the extraordinary erudite upright and exceptional policy examination and was appointed aide of Weinan county and Hanlin collator. He rose through successive posts to aide in the Ministry of Personnel and imperial edict drafter. Jia Su wrote elegantly, was alert and decisive, yet was touchy and overbearing toward colleagues. Remonstrating Censor Li Bo loathed him and complained to the chief minister, but Li Fengji and Dou Yizhi prized Jia Su's talent, so he kept his place.
33
穆宗崩，告哀江、浙，道拜常州刺史。 舊制，兩省官出使，得朱衣吏前導。 餗赴州，猶用之，觀察使李德裕敕吏還，怏怏為憾。 入為太常少卿，復知制誥，歷禮部侍郎，凡三典貢舉，得士七十五人，多名卿宰相。 再遷京兆尹、兼御史大夫、姑臧縣男。 太和九年上巳，詔百官會曲江。 故事，尹自門步入，揖御史。 餗自矜大，不徹扇蓋，騎而入。 御史楊儉、蘇特固爭，餗曰：「黃面兒敢爾！」 儉曰：「公為御史，能嘿嘿耶？」 大夫溫造以聞。 坐奪俸，不勝恚，求出為浙西觀察使。 未行，拜中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 俄為集賢殿大學士、監修國史。 既得位，會李宗閔得罪，而指儉、特為黨，斥去之。
When Emperor Muzong died, Jia Su was sent to announce mourning in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and, while on the road, was appointed prefect of Changzhou. Under longstanding custom, envoys from the two secretariats were preceded by clerks in vermilion robes. Jia Su still employed them on his way to Changzhou; Observation Commissioner Li Deyu sent the clerks back, leaving Su simmering with resentment. He returned to court as Vice Minister of Imperial Sacrifices, resumed drafting edicts, served as Vice Minister of Rites, and presided over the civil examinations three times, selecting seventy-five men, many of whom became leading ministers. He was promoted again to Capital Intendant, concurrent Censor-in-Chief, and enfeoffed as Baron of Guzang county. On the shangsi festival in the ninth year of Taihe, the emperor ordered the whole bureaucracy to gather at Qujiang. By custom the Capital Intendant entered on foot through the gate and exchanged bows with the censors. Jia Su, swollen with pride, did not fold his parasol canopy and rode straight in. Censors Yang Jian and Su Te protested fiercely. Jia Su snapped: "You yellow-faced whelps dare behave like this!" Yang Jian retorted: "And you, a censor—can you really say nothing?" Vice Censor-in-Chief Wen Zao reported the affair to the emperor. He was fined a month's salary; unable to swallow the humiliation, he asked to leave the capital as observation commissioner of Zhexi. Before he could depart he was made Vice Director of the Secretariat and Grand Councillor. Soon afterward he became Grand Academician of the Hanlin Academy and chief editor of the national history. Once in power, after Li Zongmin's fall he marked Yang Jian and Su Te as faction men and had them removed.
34
少與沈傳師善，傳師前死，嘗夢云：「君可休矣！」 餗寤而祭諸寢，復夢曰：「事已爾，叵奈何！」 劉蕡以賢良方正對策，指中人為禍亂根本，而餗與馮宿、龐嚴為考官，畏避不敢聞，竟罹其禍。
In his youth he was close to Shen Chuanshi; before Chuanshi died Jia Su once dreamed him saying: "You can stop now! Jia Su woke, made offerings in his bedchamber, and dreamed again: "It is already settled—what can you do?" Liu Zao's extraordinary policy examination answer indicted the inner-court eunuchs as the root of chaos; Jia Su, Feng Su, and Pang Yan served as examiners, shrank from reporting it, and ultimately shared the disaster.
35
餗本中立，不肯身犯顏排奸幸以及誅，與王涯實不知謀，人冤之。
Jia Su had always kept to the middle path and would not risk his life remonstrating against corrupt favorites; he and Wang Ya truly knew nothing of the conspiracy, and the public regarded their deaths as a grievous wrong.
36
舒元輿，婺州東陽人。 地寒，不與士齒。 始學，即警悟。 去客江夏，節度使郗士美異其秀特，數延譽。
Shu Yuanyu came from Dongyang in Wuzhou commandery. His family was poor and obscure, and he did not stand among the gentry. From the moment he took up learning he showed unusual quickness of mind. He traveled to Jiangxia, where Military Commissioner Xi Shimei was struck by his brilliance and repeatedly commended him.
37
元和中，舉進士，見有司鉤校苛切，既試尚書，雖水炭脂炬餐具，皆人自將，吏一倡名乃得入，列棘圍，席坐廡下，因上書言：「古貢士未有輕於此者，且宰相公卿繇此出，夫宰相公卿非賢不在選，而有司以隸人待之，誠非所以下賢意。 羅棘遮截疑其奸，又非所以求忠直也。 詩賦微藝，斷離經傳，非所以觀人文化成也。 臣恐賢者遠辱自引去，而不肖者為陛下用也。 今貢珠貝金玉，有司承以棐笥皮幣。 何輕賢者，重金玉邪？」 又言：「取士不宜限數，今有司多者三十，少止二十，假令歲有百元凱，而曰吾格取二十，謂求賢可乎？ 歲有才德才數人，而曰必取二十，謬進者乃過半，謂合令格可乎？」
During the Yuanhe era he passed the jinshi examination. He found the examiners' scrutiny pitiless: at the Ministry of Personnel test even water, firewood, candles, and tableware had to be carried in by hand; a clerk called each name before entry; candidates sat beneath the eaves within thorn fences. He memorialized: "Never in antiquity were tribute scholars treated so lightly—and since prime ministers and high nobles rise from this gate, only the worthy belong in the selection. Yet officials treat them like servants. That is no way to honor talent. Ringing candidates with thorn hedges as though they were criminals is no way to seek loyal and upright men. Poetry and fu are minor accomplishments that cut the classics apart—they do not reveal a man's cultivation. I fear the worthy will withdraw in humiliation while the unworthy are the ones Your Majesty ends up employing. When tribute pearls, jade, and gold are presented, officials receive them on lacquered trays wrapped in leather. Why treat scholars so cheaply and treasure gold and jade so dearly?" He added: "Recruitment should not be capped by quota. Examiners now take thirty at most, twenty at least. Suppose a year produced a hundred top candidates and an official said, 'I take twenty by rule'—would that be seeking talent? In a given year only a handful may truly have talent, yet twenty must be chosen—so more than half are promoted by mistake. Can that satisfy law and precedent?"
38
俄擢高第，調鄠尉，有能名。 裴度表掌興元書記，文檄豪健，一時推許。 拜監察御史，劾按深害無所縱。 再遷刑部員外郎。
Soon he passed with highest honors and was appointed aide of E county, earning a name for ability. Pei Du recommended him as secretary at Xingyuan; his dispatches were vigorous and forceful, and for a time he was widely admired. He was made investigating censor and prosecuted cases relentlessly, sparing no one. He was promoted again to aide in the Ministry of Justice.
39
元輿自負才有過人者，銳進取。 太和五年，獻文闕下，不得報。 上書自言：「馬周、張嘉貞代人作奏，起逆旅，卒為名臣。 今臣備位於朝，自陳文章，凡五晦朔不一報，竊自謂才不後周、嘉貞，而無因入，又不露所缊，是終無振發時也。 漢主父偃、徐樂、嚴安以布衣上書，朝奏暮召，而臣所上八萬言，其文鍛煉精粹，出入今古數千百年，披剔剖抉，有可以輔教化者未始遺，拔犀之角，擢象之齒，豈主父等可比哉？ 盛時難逢，竊自愛惜。」 文宗得書，高其自激卬，出示宰相，李宗閔以浮躁誕肆不可用，改著作郎，分司東都。
Shu Yuanyu believed his talent surpassed others and pushed hard for promotion. In the fifth year of Taihe he submitted writings at the palace and received no answer. He memorialized on his own behalf: "Ma Zhou and Zhang Jiazhen began with memorials drafted for them in humble inns and ended as celebrated statesmen. I now hold office at court. I have offered my writings myself, yet for five months I have received no answer. I do not think my talent falls short of Ma Zhou or Zhang Jiazhen, but I have no way in, and I will not display the talent I keep bundled away—so I shall never have my moment to rise. In Han times Zhufu Yan, Xu Le, and Yan An wrote as plain commoners: memorials submitted at dawn brought summons by dusk. My own memorial runs to eighty thousand characters, hammered fine and distilled, ranging across millennia, sifting and parsing what might aid moral instruction—prizing the rhinoceros horn, the elephant tusk. How are men like Zhufu Yan my equals? A golden age is rarely met; I must cherish this chance while I can." When Wenzong read the memorial he admired its fervor, showed it to his chief ministers, and Li Zongmin judged him volatile and unfit for office. He was reassigned as Drafting Gentleman and posted to the Eastern Capital branch.
40
時李訓居喪，尤與元輿善。 及訓用事，再遷左司郎中。 御史大夫李固言表知雜事。 固言輔政，權知御史中丞。 會帝錄囚，元輿奏辨明審，不三月即真，兼刑部侍郎。 專附鄭註，註所惡，舉繩逐之。 月中，以本官同中書門下平章事。 詭謀謬算，日與訓比，敗天下事，二人為之也。 然加禮舊臣，外釣人譽。 先時，裴度、令狐楚、鄭覃皆為當路所軋，致閑處。 至是，悉還高秩。
Li Xun was then in mourning and was especially close to Shu Yuanyu. Once Li Xun gained influence, Yuanyu was promoted again to Left Department Director. Censor-in-Chief Li Guyan recommended Yuanyu to handle miscellaneous censorial business. With Guyan assisting in government, Yuanyu was made acting Vice Censor-in-Chief. During an imperial review of prisoners Yuanyu's rulings were lucid and careful. In less than three months he received full appointment and was also made Vice Minister of Justice. He clung exclusively to Zheng Zhu; anyone Zhu disliked he would impeach and expel. That same month he was appointed Concurrent Grand Councilor while retaining his existing post. Scheming foolishly and calculating badly, he daily joined Li Xun in wrecking the empire—those two men did it. Yet he showed extra deference to senior ministers and outwardly courted public praise. Earlier Pei Du, Linghu Chu, and Zheng Tan had all been pushed aside by the men in power and left in inactive posts. Now all were restored to high rank.
41
元輿為《牡丹賦》一篇，時稱其工。 死後，帝觀牡丹，憑殿闌誦賦，為泣下。
Yuanyu wrote a "Rhapsody on the Peony," which contemporaries praised as masterly. After Yuanyu's death the emperor, viewing the peonies, leaned on the palace rail and recited the rhapsody until he wept.
42
弟元褒、元肱、元迥，皆第進士。 元褒又擢賢良方正，終司封員外郎。 余及誅。
His younger brothers Yuanbao, Yuangong, and Yuanjiong all passed the jinshi examination. Yuanbao was also chosen through the Exemplary and Upright examination and eventually served as Assistant Director in the Department of Enfeoffment. The others were executed as well.
43
王璠，字魯玉。 元和初舉進士、宏辭，皆中，遷累監察御史。 儀宇峻整，著稱於時。 以起居舍人副鄭覃宣慰鎮州。 長慶末，擢職方郎中，知制誥。
Wang Fan, courtesy name Luyu. Early in Yuanhe he passed both the jinshi and Hongci examinations and rose through the ranks to Investigating Censor. Tall and imposing in manner, he enjoyed a strong reputation in his day. As Attendant Gentleman of the Imperial Diary he accompanied Zheng Tan on a pacification mission to Zhenzhou. Near the end of Changqing he became Director in the Bureau of Appointments and was entrusted with drafting edicts.
44
時李逢吉秉政，特厚璠，驟拜御史中丞。 璠挾所恃，頗橫恣，道直左僕射李絳，交騎不避。 絳上言：「左右僕射，師長庶官，開元時，名左右丞相，雖去機務，然猶總百司，署位不著姓。 上日班見百官，而中丞、御史在廷。 元和中，伊慎為僕射，太常博士韋謙以慎位緣恩進，削其禮，至僕射就臺見中丞，或立廷中，中丞乃至。 憲度倒置，不可為法。」 逢吉憚絳正，遏其事不奏，但罷璠為工部侍郎，而絳亦用太子少師分司東都，議者不直之。 初，璠按武昭獄，意逢吉德己，及罷中丞，乃失望。
Li Fengji then held power, favored Fan greatly, and had him abruptly appointed Vice Censor-in-Chief. Fan, emboldened by patronage, grew arrogant. Meeting Left Vice Director Li Jiang on the road, their mounted escorts refused to give way. Jiang memorialized: "The Left and Right Vice Directors are superiors to all officials. In Kaiyuan they were called Left and Right Chief Ministers. Though removed from day-to-day power, they still oversaw every bureau, and their seats were not marked with personal names. On days when the emperor received the hundred officials in audience, the vice censor-in-chief and censors stood in the hall. In Yuanhe, when Yi Shen became Vice Director, Grand Ceremonial Doctor Wei Qian—holding that Shen had advanced through favor—stripped his ceremonial rank so that a Vice Director would come to the censorate to wait on the vice censor-in-chief, sometimes standing in the courtyard until the vice censor-in-chief appeared. The hierarchy was turned upside down and could not stand as precedent." Fengji, wary of Jiang's integrity, suppressed the memorial, merely demoting Fan to Vice Minister of Works while Jiang was also sent to the Eastern Capital as Junior Mentor to the Heir Apparent. Observers thought neither man had been treated fairly. Fan had earlier handled the Wuzhao investigation and assumed Fengji was in his debt; when he lost the vice censorate he felt betrayed.
45
久之，出為河南尹。 時內廄小兒頗擾民，璠殺其尤暴者，遠近畏伏。 入為尚書右丞，再遷京兆尹。 自李諒後，政條隳斁，奸豪浸不戢，璠頗修舉，政有名。
After some time he was posted out as Intendant of Henan. Stable boys from the imperial stud were harassing the people; Fan executed the worst offenders, and the region fell quiet in fear. He returned to court as Right Vice Director of Revenue, then was promoted again to Intendant of Jingzhao. Since Li Liang's time Jingzhao's rules had decayed and local bullies had grown brazen; Fan restored discipline and earned a name for effective government.
46
鄭註奸狀始露，宰相宋申錫、御史中丞宇文鼎密與璠議除之，璠反以告王守澄，而註由是傾心於璠。 進左丞，判太常卿事。 出為浙西觀察使。 李訓得幸，璠於逢吉舊故，故薦之，復召為左丞，拜戶部尚書，判度支，封祁縣男。 李宗閔得罪，璠亦其黨，見註求解，乃免。 訓將誅宦人，乃授河東節度使，已而敗。
When Zheng Zhu's misconduct first surfaced, Chief Minister Song Shenxi and Vice Censor-in-Chief Yuwen Ding secretly plotted with Fan to remove him. Fan instead informed Wang Shoucheng, and Zhu thereafter placed his trust in Fan. He was promoted to Left Vice Director and concurrently directed the Ministry of Ceremonies. He was posted out as Military Commissioner of Zhexi. When Li Xun rose to favor, Fan—Fengji's old associate—recommended him and was recalled as Left Vice Director, appointed Minister of Revenue with charge of the treasury, and enfeoffed Baron of Qi county. When Li Zongmin was ruined Fan, as his ally, appealed to Zhu and was spared punishment. As Li Xun prepared to kill the eunuchs Fan was made Military Commissioner of Hedong; the plot failed shortly after.
47
璠子遐休，直弘文館，所善學士令狐定及劉軻、劉軿、仲無頗、柳喜集其所，皆被縛。 定等自解辯，得釋。 遐休誅。 璠鑿潤州外隍，得石刻曰：「山有石，石有玉，玉有瑕。」 術家謂璠祖名，生礎，礎生璠，盡遐休，蓋其應雲。
Fan's son Xiaxiu, serving at the Hongwen Institute, had gathered his friends—the academicians Linghu Ding, Liu Ke, Liu Pi, Zhong Wupian, and Liu Xi—and all were seized. Ding and the others defended themselves and were released. Xiaxiu was executed. While digging Runzhou's outer moat Fan uncovered a stone inscription: "Mountains hold stone; stone holds jade; jade holds a flaw." Diviners said the lines tracked Fan's family names—Sheng begot Chuo, Chuo begot Fan, ending with Xiaxiu—and declared the prophecy fulfilled.
48
郭行余者，元和時擢進士。 河陽烏重胤表掌書記。 重胤葬其先，使誌冢，辭不為，重胤怒，即解去。 擢累京兆少尹。 嘗值尹劉棲楚，不肯避，棲楚捕導從系之。 自言宰相裴度，頗為諭止。 行余移書曰：「京兆府在漢時有尹，有都尉，有丞，皆詔自除，後循而不改。 開元時，諸王為牧，故尹為長史，司馬即都尉、丞耳。 今尹總牧務，少尹副焉，未聞道路間有下車望塵避者，故事猶在。」 棲楚不能答。
Guo Xingyu passed the jinshi examination during Yuanhe. Wu Chongyin of Heyang recommended him as chief secretary. When Chongyin buried his ancestors he asked Xingyu to write the tomb inscription. Xingyu refused; enraged, Chongyin dismissed him on the spot. He rose in succession to Junior Intendant of Jingzhao. Once he met Intendant Liu Qichu and refused to give way; Qichu had his attendants arrested and bound. Xingyu appealed to Chief Minister Pei Du, who largely intervened to stop Qichu. Xingyu wrote: "In Han times Jingzhao had an intendant, a commandant, and an aide, all appointed by imperial edict—a practice later unchanged. Under Kaiyuan, when imperial princes served as prefects the intendant became chief administrator while the aide corresponded to commandant and deputy. Today the intendant oversees the prefecture and the junior intendant assists; no one has heard of junior officials on the road dismounting to yield in the dust—the old precedent still holds." Qichu had no answer.
49
遷楚、汝二州刺史、大理卿，擢邠寧節度使。 李訓在東都，與行余善，故用之。
He served as prefect of Chu and Ru, then as Director of Punishments, and was promoted Military Commissioner of Binning. Li Xun was then in the Eastern Capital and friendly with Xingyu; for that reason Xingyu was brought into the plot.
50
韓約，朗州武陵人，本名重華。 誌勇決，略涉書，有吏幹。 歷兩池榷鹽使、虔州刺史。 交趾叛，領安南都護。 再遷太府卿。 太和九年，代崔鄯為左金吾衛大將軍，居四日，起事。 約繇錢谷進，更安南富饒地，聚貲尤多。
Han Yue, a native of Wuling in Langzhou, had originally been named Chonghua. Bold and resolute, he had some learning and real talent for administration. He served successively as Salt Monopoly Commissioner of the Two Ponds and as Prefect of Qianzhou. When Jiaozhi rebelled he was appointed Protector-General of Annan. He was promoted again to Minister of the Treasury. In the ninth year of Taihe he replaced Cui Shan as Grand General of the Left Golden Guard; four days later the coup began. Han Yue had risen through finance and grain offices; his term in wealthy Annan left him with enormous wealth.
51
羅立言者，宣州人。 貞元末擢進士，魏博田弘正表佐其府。 改陽武令，以治劇遷河陰。 立言始築城郭，地所當者，皆富豪大賈所占，下令使自築其處，吏籍其闊狹，號於眾曰：「有不如約，為我更完！」 民憚其嚴，數旬畢。 民無田者，不知有役。 設鎖絕汴流，奸盜屏息。 河南尹丁公著上狀，加朝散大夫。 然倨下傲上，出具弓矢呵道，宴賓客列倡優如大府，人皆惡之，以是稀遷，然自放不衰。
Luo Liyan was a native of Xuanzhou. Late in Zhenyuan he passed the jinshi; Tian Hongzheng of Weibo brought him onto his staff. He became magistrate of Yangwu and, for handling difficult cases well, was transferred to Heyin. When Liyan first raised the city walls, every required stretch lay in the hands of rich merchants. He ordered each owner to build the section on his own land, had clerks measure the widths, and announced to the crowd: "Fall short of the mark and rebuild it yourselves!" The people feared his severity and finished within weeks. Peasants without land never even knew corvée had been imposed. He installed locks to choke the Bian River, and piracy and smuggling ceased. Henan Intendant Ding Gongzhu memorialized on his behalf and Liyan was granted the added rank Grand Master of Palace Leisure. Yet he looked down on subordinates and defied superiors, paraded with bow and arrows and a cleared road, and entertained guests with singers and actors like a grand prefect—all resented him, so promotions were rare, but he never moderated his ways.
52
改度支河陰留後，坐平糴非實，沒萬九千緡，鹽鐵使惜其幹，止奏削兼侍御史。 繇廬州刺史召為司農少卿，以財事鄭註，亦與李訓厚善。 訓以京兆多吏卒，擢為少尹，知府事，以就其謀。
He became Treasury Reserve Officer at Heyin; falsifying grain purchases cost him nineteen thousand strings of cash. The Salt and Iron Commissioner, valuing his competence, merely stripped his concurrent censor title. Recalled from Luzhou as Vice Director of Agriculture, he handled finances for Zheng Zhu and was close to Li Xun as well. Li Xun, needing Jingzhao's clerks and soldiers, made Liyan Junior Intendant with charge of the prefecture to advance the plot.
53
李孝本，宗室子。 元和時第進士，累遷刑部郎中。 依訓得進，於是御史中丞舒元輿引知雜事。 元輿入相，擢權知中丞事。
Li Xiaoben was a member of the imperial clan. In Yuanhe he passed the jinshi and rose to Director in the Ministry of Justice. He rose through Li Xun's patronage; Vice Censor-in-Chief Shu Yuanyu then put him in charge of miscellaneous censorial business. When Yuanyu became chief minister, Xiaoben was promoted to acting head of the censorate.
54
顧師邕，字睦之，少連子。 性恬約，喜書，寡遊合。 第進士。 累遷監察御史。 李訓薦為水部員外郎、翰林學士。 訓遣宦官田全操、劉行深、周元稹、薛士幹、似先義逸、劉英誗按邊，既行，命師邕為詔，賜六道殺之，會訓敗，不果。 師邕流崖州，至藍田，賜死。
Gu Shiyong, courtesy name Muzhi, was a son of Gu Shaolian. Quiet and abstemious by nature, he loved books and kept to himself. He passed the jinshi examination. He rose in succession to Investigating Censor. Li Xun recommended him as Assistant Director in the Bureau of Waterways and as Hanlin Academician. Li Xun dispatched eunuchs Tian Quancao, Liu Xingshen, Zhou Yuanzhen, Xue Shigan, Sixian Yiyi, and Liu Ying to inspect the frontier. After they left he ordered Shiyong to draft an edict authorizing the six circuits to kill them; the plot failed and the order never went out. Shiyong was exiled to Yazhou; at Lantian he was ordered to take his own life.
55
李貞素，嗣道王實子。 性和裕，衣服喜鮮明。 漢陽公主妻以季女。 累遷宗正少卿，由將作監改左金吾衛將軍。 韓約之詐，貞素知之。 流儋州，至商山，賜死。
Li Zhensu was a son of Prince Shi of the Dao line. Mild and easygoing by nature, he favored bright clothing. Princess Hanyang gave him her youngest daughter in marriage. He rose to Vice Director of the Imperial Clan Court, then moved from Director of Imperial Construction to General of the Left Golden Guard. Li Zhensu knew of Han Yue's fraud. He was exiled to Danzhou; at Shangshan he was ordered to die.
56
贊曰：李訓浮躁寡謀，鄭註斬斬小人，王涯暗沓，舒元輿險而輕，邀幸天功，寧不殆哉！ 李德裕嘗言天下有常勢，北軍是也。 訓因王守澄以進，此時出入北軍，若以上意說諸將，易如靡風，而反以臺、府抱關遊僥抗中人以搏精兵，其死宜哉！ 文宗與宰相李石、李固言、鄭覃稱：「訓稟五常性，服人倫之教，不如公等，然天下奇才，公等弗及也。」 德裕曰：「訓曾不得齒徒隸，尚才之雲！」 世以德裕言為然。 《傳》曰：「國將亡，天與之亂人。」 若訓等持腐株支大廈之顛，天下為寒心豎毛，文宗偃然倚之成功，卒為閹謁所乘，天果厭唐德哉！
The appraisal reads: Li Xun was impulsive and short on strategy; Zheng Zhu a cunning petty man; Wang Ya obtuse and muddled; Shu Yuanyu treacherous and reckless—banking on heaven-sent success, how could they not court disaster? Li Deyu once observed that the empire has a fixed order—and the Northern Army is that order. Li Xun had risen through Wang Shoucheng and already moved freely in the Northern Army; had he spoken as the emperor's voice to the generals, persuasion would have been effortless—yet he chose instead to pit court clerks and gate guards against the eunuchs for control of the crack troops. Small wonder he died as he did. Emperor Wenzong told chief ministers Li Shi, Li Guyán, and Zheng Tan: "Li Xun may not match you in innate virtue or in the discipline of human relations; yet as a singular talent in the realm, none of you equals him. Li Deyu said, 'Li Xun could not even rank with menial attendants—yet you still speak of his talent!' The age deemed Li Deyu's words correct. The Classic of History says, 'When a state is about to perish, Heaven gives it men of disorder. When men like Li Xun propped a rotting stump beneath the pinnacle of a great hall, the realm shuddered and its hair stood on end; Emperor Wenzong complacently leaned on them for success, yet in the end was ridden by the eunuch minions—did Heaven truly weary of Tang virtue?