Volume 185 Biographies 110: Zheng, two Wangs, Wei, Zhang

鄭二王韋張

Zheng, the Two Wangs, Wei, and Zhang

鄭畋，字臺文，系出滎陽。父亞，字子佐。爽邁有文，舉進士、賢良方正、書判拔萃，三中其科。李德裕為翰林學士，高其才，及守浙西，辟署幕府。擢監察御史，李回任中丞，薦為刑部郎中知雜事，拜給事中。德裕罷宰相，出為桂管觀察使，坐吳湘獄不能直冤，貶循州刺史，死於官。

Zheng Tian, whose courtesy name was Taiwen, came from the Xingyang line of the Zheng clan. His father Zheng Ya used the courtesy name Zizuo. Uninhibited and gifted in letters, he passed the jinshi examination and also excelled in the xianliang fangzheng and shupan bacui competitions, winning distinction in all three. Li Deyu, then a Hanlin academician, admired his ability; when Li later held Zhexi, he brought him into his provincial headquarters. He rose to supervising censor; when Li Hui served as vice censor-in-chief, Li recommended him as bureau director of the Ministry of Justice with charge of miscellaneous cases, after which he was appointed Imperial Attendant-in-Waiting. After Deyu lost the premiership and was posted to Guiguan as observation commissioner, he was punished in the Wu Xiang affair for failing to secure justice; he was demoted to prefect of Xunzhou and died there in office.

畋舉進士，時年甚少，有司上第籍，武宗疑，索所試自省，乃可。奏為宣武推官，以書判拔萃擢渭南尉。父喪免。宣宗時，白敏中、令狐繼當國，皆怨德裕，其賓客並廢斥，故畋不調幾十年，外更帥鎮幕府。去位，始為虞部員外郎。右丞鄭薰誣畋罪，不可任郎官，出之。久乃入為刑部員外郎。劉瞻為宰相，薦授戶部郎中，入翰林為學士，俄知制誥。會討徐州賊龐勛，書詔紛委，畋思不淹晷，成文粲然，無不切機要，當時推之。勛平，以戶部侍郎進學士承旨。瞻以諫迕懿宗，賜罷，畋草制書多褒言，韋保衡等怨之，以為附下罔上，貶梧州刺史。僖宗立，內徙郴、絳二州，以右散騎常侍召還。故事，兩省轉對延英，獨常侍不與。畋建言宜備顧問，詔可，遂著於令。以兵部侍郎進同中書門下平章事。故時，宰相騶哄聯數坊，呵止行人。畋敕導者止百步，禁百官仆史不得擅至宰相府。交、廣、邕南兵，舊取嶺北五道米往餉之，船多敗沒。畋請以嶺南鹽鐵委廣州節度使韋荷，歲煮海取鹽直四十萬緡，市虔、吉米以贍安南，罷荊、洪等漕役，軍食遂饒。後以王師甫為嶺南供軍副使，師甫請兼總兵，而歲加獻錢二十萬緡。畋曰：「荷且有功，而師甫以利啖朝廷，謀奪其兵，不可。」罷之。再遷門下侍郎，封滎陽郡侯。以星變求去位，不許。

Tian passed the jinshi while still very young; when the Board listed him among those awarded degrees, Emperor Wuzong was doubtful and had his examination papers brought from the Ministry of Rites for review before confirming the result. He was nominated as a legal aide at Xuanwu and, on the strength of his shupan bacui standing, was promoted to assistant magistrate of Weinan. He left office to observe mourning for his father. Under Emperor Xuānzong, Bai Minzhong and Linghu Tao in turn directed the government, each nursing a grudge against Deyu; his associates were all cast out, and for nearly ten years Tian received no capital appointment, serving instead on one frontier commissioner's staff after another. Not until they had left power was he first appointed an assistant director in the Ministry of Works. The vice director Zheng Xun trumped up charges against Tian, declared him unfit for a bureau post, and had him expelled. Only after a long interval was he recalled as assistant director in the Ministry of Justice. Liu Zhan, on becoming chief minister, recommended him as bureau director of the Ministry of Revenue; Tian entered the Hanlin Academy as an academician and soon gained charge of drafting imperial pronouncements. When the court campaigned against Pang Xun of Xuzhou, edicts and orders piled up without respite; Tian never needed more than a day to bring a text to polished completion, and every draft struck exactly what the moment required—contemporaries ranked him first among draftsmen. Once Pang was suppressed, he was promoted from vice minister of revenue to Hanlin academician-in-charge. Liu Zhan lost his post after remonstrance angered Emperor Yizong; Tian's draft edicts had spoken highly of him, and Wei Baoheng and others, taking offense, accused Tian of siding with subordinates against superiors and had him demoted to prefect of Wuzhou. When Emperor Xizong came to the throne, Tian was moved within the interior to Chen and Jiang, then summoned back as Right Regular Attendant of the Cavalry-in-Waiting. By custom, when officials of the Secretariat and Chancellery made their rounds of audience at the Yanying Hall, the regular attendants alone were excluded. Tian proposed that they too should stand ready as imperial advisers; the throne assented, and the rule was entered in statute. He rose from vice minister of war to Associate Grand Councilor. Formerly a chief minister's outriders would racket through ward after ward, shouting passersby to the curb. Tian directed his ushers to stop a hundred paces short and barred officials' runners and clerks from entering a chief minister's compound without leave. Troops in Jiaozhi, Guangzhou, and Yongnan had long been fed with grain shipped from the five northern Ling circuits, and countless transports foundered on the way. Tian urged putting Lingnan salt-and-iron receipts under Guangzhou commissioner Wei He: each year boiling sea salt should raise four hundred thousand strings in cash, with which to purchase Qian and Ji rice for Annan; when the Jing and Hong transport corvées were abolished, the troops at last had food in plenty. Later Wang Shifu was appointed deputy supply commissioner for Lingnan; Shifu asked also to take all military command and to forward an extra two hundred thousand strings annually as tribute. Tian said, "Wei He has already done the realm service; Shifu would bribe the court with lucre and scheme to seize his troops—that must not stand. The proposal was struck down. He was promoted again to vice director of the Chancellery and enfeoffed as Marquis of Xingyang. Citing prodigies in the sky, he asked to relinquish office; the throne would not allow it.

乾符六年，黃巢勢浸盛，據安南，騰書求天平節度使。帝令群臣議，咸請假節以紓難。畋欲因授嶺南節度使，而盧攜方倚高駢，使立功，乃曰：「駢才略無雙，淮南天下勁兵，又諸道之師方至，蕞爾賊，奈何舍之，令四方解體邪？」畋曰：「不然。巢之亂本於饑，其眾以利合，故能興江、淮，根蔓天下。國家久平，士忘戰，所在閉壘不敢出。如以恩釋罪，使及歲豐，其下思歸，眾一離，即巢機上肉耳，法謂不戰而屈人兵也。今不伐以謀，而怖以兵，恐天下憂未艾也。」僕射於琮言：「南海以寶產富天下，如與賊，國藏竭矣。」天子內亦屬駢，乃然攜議。畋曰：「安危屬吾等，而公倚淮南用兵，吾不知所稅駕。」會駢奏：「南蠻方強，請如西戎，以公主下嫁。」攜又議從之。畋以為損國威靈，不可，即抗論，至相詬嫚。攜怒，拂衣去，裾蔑於硯，因抵之。帝以大臣爭口語，無以示百官，乃俱罷，以畋為太子賓客，分司東都。俄召拜吏部尚書。

In the sixth year of Qianfu, Huang Chao's power swelled; he held Annan and sent a memorial demanding the Tianping commission. The emperor charged the ministers to debate, and all urged granting him a commission in hope of relief. Tian meant to appoint him commissioner of Lingnan instead, but Lu Xie, counting on Gao Pian to win the day, said, "Pian's genius is unmatched; Huainan commands the realm's finest troops, and columns from every circuit are already marching—why abandon all that over some puny rebels and let the provinces lose heart? Tian replied, "No. Chao's uprising began in hunger; his host bands together for gain, which is why they could blaze up along the Jiang-Huai and send roots and runners through the entire empire. The empire had known peace so long that fighting men had forgotten war; everywhere outposts shut their walls and would not stir. If you pardon them with grace and wait for a full harvest, his soldiers will long for home; once the masses scatter, Chao will be meat on the chopping block—that is what the Art of War calls defeating the enemy army without fighting. If we forgo stratagem and try to scare them with steel alone, I fear the world's worries are nowhere near spent. Vice Director Yu Cong said, "The Southern Sea's precious goods enrich the whole realm—hand it to bandits and the national coffers are empty." The emperor too leaned on Pian in private, and Lu Xie's view carried the day. Tian said, "The realm's safety rests with us, yet you bank everything on Huainan—I cannot see where this carriage is headed. Just then Pian memorialized that the southern barbarians were waxing powerful and asked, as with the western tribes, to marry a princess to them. Lu Xie again urged consent. Tian judged it a blow to national majesty and would not hear of it; the dispute grew hot until the two were hurling insults at each other. Xie stormed out, his sleeve brushing the inkstone, which he struck in passing. Ashamed that his chief ministers had come to vulgar shouting before the court, the emperor dismissed them both, naming Tian Guardian of the Heir Apparent with assignment to the Eastern Capital. Before long he was recalled as Minister of Personnel.

明年，為鳳翔隴西節度使，募銳兵五百，號「疾雷將」；境中盜不敢發，發輒得。會巢陷東都，遣兵戍京師，以家財勞行，妻自纴戎衣給戰士。帝出梁、洋，畋上謁斜谷，泣曰：「將相誤國，臣請死以懲無狀。」帝勞遣之，且曰：「公謹扼賊沖，無令得西向。」畋曰：「方艱虞時，事有機急，不可中覆，請便宜從事，臣當以死報國。」帝曰：「利社稷，無不可。」畋還，搜士卒，繕器械，浚城隍，使於梁者道相屬。俄而賊使至，諸將皆欲附賊，畋開諭不可，即悉出金帛，請得脫身去，復不聽。而使以偽赦令示軍中乃去。明日，詔使至，畋召監軍袁敬柔以逆順曉諸將，乃聽命，刺血以盟。畋遣子凝績從帝，有詔進同中書門下平章事。賊將又至，畋斬於軍，餘黨數百人皆捕誅之。遷檢校尚書右僕射、西面行營都統。軍中承制除拜。乃以前靈武節度使唐弘夫為行軍司馬。

The following year he became commissioner of Fengxiang and Longxi, recruiting five hundred picked troops dubbed the Swift Thunder Guard; within his territory no bandit dared strike, and any who did was seized at once. When Chao seized the Eastern Capital, Tian dispatched troops to hold the capital; he spent his household fortune on the march and his wife spun military jackets for the men herself. As the emperor fled toward Liang and Yang, Tian presented himself at Xiegu in tears: "Ministers and commanders have failed the realm; let me die to answer for our shame. The emperor comforted him and sent him off, adding, "Hold the rebels' line with care; do not let them drive west." Tian said, "In crisis there is no time for round-trip memorials; grant me discretionary power—my life is pledged to the throne." The emperor said, "Whatever serves the altars of state—nothing is forbidden you." Tian returned to raise troops, mend arms, deepen moat and wall, and envoys bound for Liang coursed the roads without pause. Soon Huang's envoys arrived; the commanders all thought to go over; Tian argued them back and, when they offered their gold and silks to buy their way out, still refused. Only when the envoys showed the troops a forged amnesty edict did they leave. Next day imperial envoys came; Tian summoned the army supervisor Yuan Jingrou to set loyalty and treason before the commanders; they submitted, and blood sealed the oath. Tian sent his son Ningji to attend the emperor; an edict promoted him again to Associate Grand Councilor. Rebel officers came again; Tian beheaded them before the ranks, and several hundred associates were hunted down and killed. He was named Acting Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and supreme commander of the Western Front. In camp he wielded provisional appointment powers. He named the former Lingwu commissioner Tang Hongfu as camp marshal.

弘夫取咸陽，以桴濟兵渭水。賊伏甲偽走，弘夫與宗楚乘勝入都門，為賊所覆。畋數敕無輕進，二人不聽，果敗。以鄜、夏兵屯東渭橋。再進司空、兼門下侍郎、京城四面行營都統，賜禦袍犀帶。拜而不賀。

Hongfu recovered Xianyang and rafted his men across the Wei. The rebels laid an ambush and pretended flight; Hongfu and Zong Chu pressed in through the capital gates and were crushed. Tian had warned them repeatedly against rash advance; they ignored him and met defeat. He posted the Bingzhou and Xiazhou forces at the Eastern Wei Bridge. He was promoted again to Grand Preceptor while retaining the Chancellery vice directorship and supreme command of the capital's four-sided camps, and was granted an imperial robe and rhinoceros-horn belt. He took the seals but received no celebratory visit.

行軍司馬李昌言者屯興平，遣麾下求為南面都統，輒引兵趨府。畋不意見襲，登城好語曰：「吾方入朝，公能戢兵愛人，為國滅賊乎？能，則守此矣。」遂委軍去。昌言自為留後，衛畋出境。既半道，內慚負，即辭疾。詔授太子少傅，分司東都，便醫於興元。

Camp marshal Li Changyan, holding Xingping, sent aides demanding the southern supreme command and abruptly marched on headquarters. Caught by surprise, Tian mounted the wall and said gently, "I am bound for court—can you restrain your men, cherish the people, and destroy the rebels for the realm? If you can, keep this command. With that he turned the army over and departed. Changyan made himself acting commissioner and escorted Tian beyond the circuit border. Halfway along the road shame overtook him and he pleaded illness. He was named Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent with assignment to the Eastern Capital and leave to convalesce at Xingyuan.

明年，召至行在，以王鐸將兵，復拜畋司空、門下侍郎、平章事，軍務一以咨決。興州戍將孫鄴坐贓抵死，畋奏言：「方關輔失守，鄴護褒斜有功，請免死。陳秋兒保嵯峨山拒賊，農不廢耕，請以檢校散騎常侍隸奉天軍。」制皆可。舊制，使府校書郎以上，滿三歲遷；監察御史裏行至大夫、常侍，滿三十月遷。雖節度兼宰相，亦不敢越。自軍興，有歲內數遷者，畋以為不可，請：「行營節度，繇裏行至大夫，許滿二十月遷；校書郎以上，滿二歲乃奏。非軍興者如故事。」從之。

The next year he was summoned to the traveling court; with Wang Duo in command of the armies, Tian was again named Grand Preceptor, Chancellery vice director, and Grand Councilor, with every military matter referred to him. Sun Ye, garrison commander of Xingzhou, faced death for graft; Tian wrote, "While the capital approaches were lost, Ye guarded Bao and Xie with merit—spare his life. Chen Qiuer held Mount Cuie against the rebels without interrupting the fields; Tian asked that he be named Acting Regular Attendant of the Cavalry-in-Waiting and attached to the Fengtian command. Both requests were granted. Formerly, staff secretaries and higher ranks in a commissioner's office transferred after three full years; and supervising censors on staff detail through bureau directors and regular attendants transferred after thirty months. Even a commissioner who doubled as chief minister dared not exceed those terms. Since war had begun, some men had been promoted several ranks within a year; Tian deemed that wrong and proposed that for expedition commissioners a staff track from censor-in-service through administrator should require twenty months, while secretaries and higher should wait two full years before memorial. Peacetime cases should follow the old rules. The throne agreed.

時田令孜恃權有所千請，畋不應。陳敬瑄欲以官品居宰相上，畋曰：「外宰相安得論品乎？」卒不肯處其下。令孜、敬瑄內常銜之。賊平，帝將還，而李昌言自以襲畋而奪之鎮，今畋當國，內不喜，故三人相結，而遣客上畋過咎。帝得其情，不許。畋乃引疾去位，入見帝曰：「乘輿東還，繇大散關幸鳳翔，供張頓峙，一委昌言，乃可安。臣若以宰相從，彼且猜阻，非所以靖反側也。請以散官養疾。或群臣有疑，願出臣章示之，使知天子於臣無纖芥者。」帝以其誠，乃授檢校司徒、太子太保，罷政事。以凝績為壁州刺史，留養。徙龍州，卒，年六十三，贈太尉。後帝思畋忠力，又贈太傅。凝績數歲亦卒。始，李茂貞以博野裨將戍奉天，畋召隸麾下，委以遊邏，厚禮之。茂貞感其飾擢，及畋還葬鄭，表為請謚曰文昭。天復初，與李思恭配饗僖宗廟廷，又贈宗楚、弘夫官。

Tian Lingzi then abused his influence with private asks; Zheng Tian refused them. Chen Jingxuan wanted to rank his office grade above the chief ministers; Tian said, "How does an outside commissioner argue precedence with the Grand Councilors? To the end he would not stand beneath him. Lingzi and Jingxuan nursed a steady grudge. After the rebels were crushed, as the emperor prepared to return, Li Changyan—who had wrested Tian's commission by surprise and now saw Tian back in power—was ill at ease; the three united and sent agents to denounce Tian. The emperor saw through it and refused. Tian then pleaded illness and resigned, telling the emperor in audience: "When Your Majesty returns east by the Great Sanguan route to Fengxiang, provisions and encampments should rest entirely with Changyan—that is how the journey will be secure. If I follow as chief minister he will read it as suspicion—that will not quiet men whose loyalty wavers. Let me keep a nominal title while I convalesce. If any minister still doubts, publish my memorial so all know the throne bears me no grudge whatever. Moved by his sincerity, the emperor named him Acting Minister of Works and Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent and released him from government. Ningji was made prefect of Bi and stayed to care for him. He was reassigned to Longzhou, where he died at sixty-three; the court posthumously honored him as Grand Commandant. Later, remembering Tian's loyal service, the emperor further posthumously ennobled him as Grand Tutor. Ningji died as well a few years later. In the beginning Li Maozhen was a Boliye subordinate general on garrison duty at Fengtian. Tian brought him into his own command, put him in charge of roaming patrols, and honored him generously. Maozhen never forgot how Tian had splendidly advanced him; when Tian's body was returned to Zheng for burial, Maozhen memorialized the throne to grant him the posthumous title Wenzhao. In the opening years of Tianfu, Tian was paired with Li Sigong in offerings at Emperor Xizong's ancestral temple, and the court also posthumously restored office to Zongchu and Hongfu.

畋為人仁恕，姿采如峙玉。凡與布衣交，至貴無少易。鄭縠者，薰子也。方畋秉政，擢為給事中，至侍郎。其損怨類如此。巢之難，先諸軍破賊，雖功不終，而還相天子，坐籌帷幄，終能復國雲。

Tian was by nature humane and forgiving, with a presence as poised and luminous as polished jade. Those he had known as plain commoners found him unchanged in the least even after he rose to the highest honors. Zheng Gu was the son of Zheng Xun. While Tian directed the government, he raised him from Attendant-in-Waiting all the way to Vice Minister. This was typical of how he turned old grievances into goodwill. During Huang Chao's rebellion he was the first of the imperial armies to break the rebels; though victory eluded him in the field, he returned to counsel the emperor from the command tent and in the end helped restore the dynasty.

王鐸，字昭範。宰相播昆弟子也。會昌初，擢進士第，累遷右補闕、集賢殿直學士。白敏中辟署西川幕府。咸通後，仕浸顯，歷中書舍人、禮部侍郎。所取多才實士，為世稱挹。拜御史中丞，以戶部侍郎判度支。十二年，繇禮部尚書進同中書門下平章事，加門下侍郎、尚書左僕射，超拜司徒。韋保衡緣恩幸輔政，始由鐸得進士，故謹事之。雖竊政權，將大斥不附者，病鐸持其事，不得肆，搢紳賴焉。鐸亦上疏祈解，乃以檢校左僕射出為宣武節度使。

Wang Duo, whose courtesy name was Zhaofan. He was a nephew on the younger branch of Chancellor Wang Bo's family. In the early Huichang period he took the jinshi degree and rose through Right Remonstrance-censor to Direct Academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. Bai Minzhong brought him onto the staff of the Xichuan headquarters. After Xiantong his career steadily advanced through Secretariat Drafter and Vice Minister of Rites. The men he chose were largely men of real ability, and the world spoke of him with respect. He was made Vice Censor-in-Chief and, as Vice Minister of Revenue, took charge of the Department of Expenditure. In the twelfth year of Xiantong he rose from Minister of Rites to Associate Chief Minister, received the additional ranks of Vice Minister of the Chancellery and Left Vice Minister of Works, and was promoted straight to Minister of Education. Wei Baohong had come to power through the emperor's favor; Duo had originally helped him pass the jinshi, and Wei therefore treated him deferentially. Though Wei seized real power and meant to drive out all who would not bow to him, Duo checked his hand and kept him from running unchecked, and the court elite took comfort in that. Duo too memorialized asking to be relieved, whereupon he was named Acting Left Vice Minister of Works and posted out as Xuanwu military commissioner.

僖宗初，以左僕射召。始，鐸當國，練制度，智慮周密，時論推允。會河南盜起，天下跂鐸入輔，又鄭畋數言其賢，復拜門下侍郎、平章事。乾符六年，賊破江陵，宋威無功，諸將觀望不進，天下大震。朝廷議置統帥，鐸因請自率諸將督群盜。帝即以鐸為侍中、荊南節度使、諸道行營都統，封晉國公。綏納流冗，益募軍，完器鎧，武備張設。李系者，西平王晟諸孫。敏辯善言兵，然中無有。鐸信之，舉為將，分精兵使守湖南。俄而賊舍廣州，鼓而北，系望風未戰輒潰，鐸退營襄陽。於是以高駢代之，貶太子賓客，分司東都。

When Emperor Xizong first took the throne, Duo was recalled to serve as Left Vice Minister of Works. In his first tenure at the helm Duo knew the institutions well, thought with careful precision, and contemporaries judged him sound. When rebellion broke out in Henan the empire looked to Duo to return to court, and after Zheng Tian repeatedly praised his ability he was again made Vice Minister of the Chancellery and Chief Minister. In the sixth year of Qianfu the rebels overran Jiangling; Song Wei won no success; commanders hung back and refused to move; the realm was convulsed with fear. The court debated naming a supreme commander, and Duo volunteered to lead the generals himself against the rebels. The emperor at once named Duo Palace Attendant and Jingnan military commissioner, made him Supreme Commander of All Circuit Campaign Armies, and enfeoffed him as Duke of Jin. He took in displaced people, raised more troops, restored arms and armor, and put the army on a full war footing. Li Xi was a grandson in the line of Prince Xiping Wang Sheng. He was sharp-tongued and talked war well, but there was nothing solid behind it. Duo believed in him, made him a general, and detached picked troops for him to hold Hunan. Soon the rebels quit Guangzhou and marched north to the beat of drums; Xi broke and ran before a blow was struck; Duo pulled back to encamp at Xiangyang. Gao Pian was then put in his place; Duo was demoted to Honorary Companion of the Heir Apparent with nominal duty at the Eastern Capital.

未幾，召拜太子少師，從天子入蜀，拜司徒、門下侍郎、平章事，加侍中。復以太子太保平章事。是時，誅討大計悉屬駢，駢內幸多難，數偃蹇，而外逗撓。鐸感慨王室，每入對，必噫嗚流涕，固請行。時中和二年也。乃以檢校司徒、中書令為義成節度使，諸道行營都統，判延資、戶部、租庸等使。於是表崔安潛自副，鄭昌圖、裴贄、裴樞、王摶等在幕府，以周岌、王重榮、諸葛爽、康實、安師儒、時溥六節度為將佐，而中尉西門思恭為監軍，率衛兵洎梁、蜀師三萬壁盩厔，移檄天下。先是，諸將雖環賊，莫肯先。及鐸檄至，號令殷然，士氣皆起，急欲破賊，故巢戰數蹙。宦人田令孜策賊必破，欲使功出於己，乃構鐸於帝，罷為檢校司徒，以義成節度還屯。鐸功危就，而讒見奪，然卒因其勢困賊。後數月，復京師，策勛居關東諸鎮第一。四年，徙義昌節度使。

Not long after he was recalled as Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and followed the emperor into Shu, where he was made Minister of Education, Vice Minister of the Chancellery, and Chief Minister, with the added rank of Palace Attendant. He again served as Chief Minister in the capacity of Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. By then the whole plan to destroy the rebels rested on Gao Pian, who quarreled constantly with the emperor's eunuch favorites and repeatedly dragged his feet while giving every outward sign of delay. Duo grieved for the throne; at every audience he wept aloud and begged to be sent into the field. This was in the second year of Zhonghe. He was then named Acting Minister of Education and Grand Preceptor, made Yicheng military commissioner and Supreme Commander of All Circuit Campaign Armies, and put in charge of the Yanzi Fund, the Ministry of Revenue, and corvée taxation. He then nominated Cui Anqian as his deputy, gathered Zheng Changtu, Pei Zuan, Pei Shu, Wang Tuan, and others on his staff, and took Zhou Ji, Wang Chongrong, Zhuge Shuang, Kang Shi, An Shiru, and Shi Pu—the six military commissioners—as field lieutenants, with Chief Eunuch Ximen Sigong as army supervisor. With thirty thousand palace guards plus Liang and Shu troops he fortified Zhaochi and sent a call to arms across the empire. Before this the generals had hemmed in the rebels but none would strike first. Once Duo's proclamation went out, commands rang with authority, spirits lifted, and every man burned to smash the rebels, so Huang Chao's army was driven back again and again. The eunuch Tian Lingzi, sure the rebels would fall, wanted the credit for himself; he poisoned the emperor's mind against Duo, stripped him of the Acting Minister of Education title, and left him only as Yicheng commissioner in camp. Duo was on the verge of success when slander cost him command, yet in the end others used the momentum he had built to corner the rebels. A few months later the capital was retaken, and when honors were apportioned Duo stood first among the eastern commands. In the fourth year he was transferred to serve as Yichang military commissioner.

鐸世貴，出入裘馬鮮明，妾侍且眾。過魏，樂彥禎子從訓心利之。李山甫者，數舉進士被黜，依魏幕府，內樂禍，且怨中朝大臣，導從訓以詭謀，使伏兵高雞泊劫之，鐸及家屬吏佐三百餘人皆遇害。朝廷微弱，不能治其冤，天下痛之。

Duo was born to great wealth; he traveled in bright furs and fine horses and kept a large household of concubines. When he passed through Wei, Le Yanzhen's son Congxun set his heart on Duo's riches. Li Shanfu had failed the jinshi again and again and lived on Wei's staff; he welcomed disaster and hated the great ministers at court. He fed Congxun a treacherous plan, set an ambush at Gaojipo, and waylaid the party. Duo and more than three hundred kin, clerks, and attendants were slaughtered. The throne was too feeble to avenge the crime, and the empire mourned.

弟鐐，累官汝州刺史。乾符中，王仙芝來攻，鐐拒之，自督勇士與別將董漢勛守南、北門。城陷，漢勛力戰死，鐐貶韶州司馬。終太子賓客。

His younger brother Wang Liao rose to become prefect of Ruzhou. During Qianfu, when Wang Xianzhi besieged the city, Liao held him off, personally leading picked men with deputy commander Dong Hanxun at the south and north gates. When the walls gave way Hanxun fought to the death; Liao was demoted to secretary of Shaozhou. He ended his career as Honorary Companion of the Heir Apparent.

王徽，字昭文，京兆人。第進士，授校書郎。沈詢判度支，徐商領鹽鐵，皆辟署使府。始，宣宗詔宰相選可尚主者，或以徽聞。徽本淡聲利，聞不喜，往見宰相劉彖曰：「徽年過四十，又多病，不應在選。」彖為言，乃罷。從令狐署宣武、淮南掌書記，召授右拾遺。書二十餘上，言無回忌，公議浩然歸重。徐商罷政事，守江陵，心欲表徽在幕府，恐其不樂外，忍不言。徽自往曰：「公知徽，安得不從？」商大喜，表為殿中侍御史，署節度府判官。御史中丞高湜薦知雜事，進考功員外郎。故事，考簿以朱註上下為殿最，歲久易漫，吏輒竄易為奸。徽始用墨，遂絕妄欺。擢翰林學士。

Wang Hui, courtesy name Zhaowen, was a native of Jingzhao. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed a collator. Shen Xun, who ran the Department of Expenditure, and Xu Shang, who headed Salt and Iron, both brought him onto their commissioner staffs. Early on Emperor Xuanzong told his chancellors to choose men fit to marry a princess, and Hui's name was put forward. Hui cared little for rank or gain and took no pleasure in the news; he went to Chancellor Liu Yan and said, "I am past forty and often ill—I am no fit candidate." Liu pleaded his case, and the selection was dropped. He served Linghu Tao as secretarial aide at Xuanwu and Huainan, then was recalled and made Right Collector of Remonstrances. He sent up more than twenty memorials, speaking bluntly and without fear, and public esteem for him grew strong. When Xu Shang left court to guard Jiangling he wanted to keep Hui on his staff but feared Hui would dislike provincial service, and so he held his tongue. Hui came to him and said, "You know me—how could I refuse?" Xu was delighted, recommended him as Palace Censor, and made him legal officer of the headquarters. Vice Censor-in-Chief Gao Yan put him in charge of miscellaneous cases, and he rose to Assistant Director in the Ministry of Personnel. By custom, personnel files marked top and bottom ranks in cinnabar ink; over time the marks faded and clerks tampered with them for profit. Hui switched to black ink, and the fraud stopped. He was promoted to Hanlin Academician.

廣明元年，盧攜罷宰相，以徽為戶部侍郎、同中書門下平章事。是日，黃巢入關，僖宗西狩，冒夜出。徽與崔沆、豆盧彖、僕射於琮詰朝乃知，追帝不及，墮崖樾間，為賊所執，迫還，將汙以官。徽陽喑不答，以刃環脅，卒不動。賊令歸第，使醫護視。久之，守者懈，乃奔河中，裂縑書章，遣人間走蜀。詔拜兵部尚書、京城四面宣慰催陣使。

In the first year of Guangming, when Lu Xie was removed as chancellor, Hui was made Vice Minister of Revenue and Associate Chief Minister. That same day Huang Chao broke through the pass; Emperor Xizong fled west and stole away in the night. Hui, Cui Hang, Doulu Yan, and Vice Director Yu Cong learned of the flight only at the morning audience; they raced after the emperor but could not overtake him. Hui fell among cliffs and trees, was seized by rebels, dragged back, and was to be forced into office under them. Hui feigned muteness and would not reply; they threatened him with ringed blades, but he never yielded. The rebels sent him home and posted a doctor to watch over him. When the guards slackened he fled to Hezhong, tore silk into strips to compose a sealed memorial, and sent a messenger by hidden paths into Shu. An edict made him Minister of War and Commissioner for Pacifying and Rallying the Four Quarters of the Capital, charged with pressing the battle lines.

昭義高潯與賊戰石橋，敗績。其將劉廣擅還，據潞州。別將孟方立殺廣，因取邢、洺、磁三州貳於己。昭義所隸，唯澤一州。帝以兵部侍郎鄭昌圖權守潞，士心多附方立，昌圖不能制。朝議以大臣鎮撫，即授徽檢校尚書左僕射、同中書門下平章事，領昭義節度使。是時，李克用亦爭澤、潞，徽商朝廷力未能以兵抗之，奉表固辭，詔可。更為諸道租庸供軍使。因說行營都監楊復光，請赦沙陀罪，令赴難。其夏，沙陀會諸軍，遂平京師，徽助為多，遷右僕射。

Gao Xun of Zhaoyi fought the rebels at Shiqiao and suffered a crushing defeat. His general Liu Guang withdrew on his own and seized Luzhou. Deputy commander Meng Fangli killed Liu Guang and then kept Xing, Ming, and Ci for himself in defiance of the court. Of all Zhaoyi's territory, only Ze Prefecture still obeyed the court. The emperor put Vice Minister of War Zheng Changtu in temporary charge of Luzhou, but the soldiers' loyalty leaned to Fangli and Changtu could not master the situation. The court decided a senior minister should restore order, and Hui was at once named Acting Left Vice Minister of Works, Associate Chief Minister, and Zhaoyi military commissioner. Li Keyong was also fighting for Ze and Lu; Hui told the court it lacked the force to resist and firmly declined the post by memorial; the emperor agreed. He was reassigned as Commissioner for supplying corvée tax to the armies of all circuits. He then urged Supreme Army Supervisor Yang Fuguang to ask pardon for the Shatuo and call them to the empire's aid. That summer the Shatuo joined the allied armies and retook the capital; Hui's help was great, and he was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Works.

大亂之後，宮觀焚殘，園陵皆發掘，鞠為丘莽，乘輿未有東意，詔徽充大明宮留守、京畿安撫制置脩奉使。徽外調兵食，內撫綏流亡，逾年，稍稍完聚，興復殿寢，裁制有宜，即奉表請帝東還。又進檢校司空、御史大夫，仍權京兆尹。宦要家爭遣人治第，侵冒齊民，訟訴滿前，徽不屈勢幸，一平以法，繇是為帝左右所憎，以其黨薛杞為少尹，輕其權。杞方居喪，徽奏止不使到府。眾忿，共譖罷徽，令赴行在。俄授太子少師。徽遂移疾河中，滿百日免。帝還京師，復申前授，稱疾不任奉謁。宰相疾其怨望，貶集州刺史。會帝避沙陀，出次寶雞。帝念徽無罪，拜吏部尚書，封瑯邪郡侯。未行而嗣襄王煴作亂，帝進次漢中。煴逼召徽，以尫廢自言。及煴僭號，迫群臣作誓牒，徽托手弱，卒不肯署。煴平，帝至鳳翔，召徽為御史大夫，固辭足痺，復拜太子少師。

After the great upheaval palaces and temples lay in ashes, imperial tombs had been opened and looted, and the land was heaped rubble; the emperor still showed no wish to return east. Hui was ordered to serve as Guardian of Daming Palace and Commissioner for Pacifying, Organizing, and Restoring the Capital Region. He raised troops and grain from outside while comforting refugees within; after more than a year the city slowly came back to life, palace halls were rebuilt with sound judgment, and he memorialized asking the emperor to return east. He was further promoted to Acting Minister of Works and Censor-in-Chief and continued as acting Jingzhao governor. Eunuch grandees vied to build mansions that encroached on commoners' land, and Hui's docket overflowed with suits; he would not bend to the powerful and applied the law evenly. For this the emperor's intimates turned against him; they installed his rival Xue Qi as Junior Governor to cut his power. Qi was in mourning, and Hui memorialized to bar him from taking up office. His enemies were furious; they joined in slander to remove him and ordered him to the emperor's traveling court. He was soon named Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent. Hui then pleaded illness at Hezhong and, after the hundred-day term, was released from office. When the emperor came back to the capital he renewed the old appointment, but Hui pleaded illness and declined to attend court. The chief minister, angered by what he took for sullen discontent, demoted Hui to prefect of Ji. When the emperor fled the Shatuo threat he withdrew and halted at Baoji. Remembering that Hui had done no wrong, the emperor named him Minister of Personnel and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Langye. Before Hui could take up the post, Li Yun, claimant to the title of Xiang Wang, rebelled, and the emperor withdrew to Hanzhong. Yun urgently summoned Hui, who pleaded that he was feeble and crippled. When Yun declared himself emperor, he forced the officials to sign pledge documents; Hui claimed his hands were too weak to write and ultimately refused to sign. After Yun's rebellion was crushed, the emperor reached Fengxiang and summoned Hui to serve as Censor-in-Chief; Hui firmly declined, citing paralysis in his legs, and was instead reappointed Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent.

昭宗立，見便殿，進對詳洽，帝顧宰相曰：「徽神氣尚強，可用。」乃復授吏部尚書。是時，銓選失序，吏肆為奸，補調重復不可檢。徽為手藉，一驗實之，遂無奸滯。進右僕射。大順元年卒，贈司空，謚曰貞。

When Emperor Zhaozong took the throne, Hui was received in the informal hall; his answers were thorough and fluent. The emperor turned to the chancellor and said, "Hui's vigor is still strong — he can be put to use." He was accordingly reappointed Minister of Personnel. At that time the appointment rolls were in chaos: clerks ran wild with fraud, and duplicate postings and transfers could no longer be audited. Hui compiled a handwritten register and checked every entry against the facts, clearing away fraud and backlog alike. He was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Works. He died in the first year of Dashun and was posthumously awarded Minister of Works with the posthumous title Zhen.

譜言其先本魏諸公子，秦滅魏，至漢徙關中霸陵，以其故王家，為王氏。十世祖羆，仕周為同州刺史，死葬咸陽鳳政原，子孫因家杜陵。曾祖擇從，昆弟四人，曰易從、朋從、言從，皆擢進士第。至鳳閣舍人者三人，故號「鳳閣王氏」。自是訖大中時，登進士者十八人，位臺省牧守者三十餘人。徽有雅望，拜宰相一日而京師亂，故其設施無可道者。

The family genealogy records that his ancestors were originally sons of a Wei prince; after Qin destroyed Wei, they moved by Han times to Balin in Guanzhong, and because they had once been a royal house they took the surname Wang. His tenth-generation ancestor Pi served the Zhou dynasty as prefect of Tongzhou; after he died and was buried on Fengzheng Plain in Xianyang, his descendants settled at Dulung. His great-grandfather Zecong was one of four brothers — Yicong, Pengcong, and Yancong being the others — and all four passed the jinshi examination. Three of them rose to the post of Fengge Attendant, and for this reason the clan was known as "the Wang of Fengge." From that time down to the Dazhong era, eighteen clan members passed the jinshi examination and more than thirty held posts in the central administration or as regional governors. Hui enjoyed a fine reputation, but he served as chancellor for only a day before the capital fell into chaos, so there was little worth recording in his official career.

韋昭度，字正紀，京兆人。擢進士第，踐歷華近，累遷中書舍人。僖宗西狩，以兵部侍郎、翰林學士承旨從。未幾，同中書門下平章事。還京，授司空。再狩山南，還次鳳翔。李昌符亂興倉卒，昭度質家族於禁軍，誓共討賊，士感動，乃平昌符。遷太保，兼侍中。昭宗即位，守中書令，封岐國公。

Wei Zhaodu, courtesy name Zhengji, was a native of Jingzhao. He passed the jinshi examination, served in prestigious posts close to the throne, and was promoted step by step to Drafting Attendant of the Secretariat. When Emperor Xizong fled west, Zhaodu accompanied him as Vice Minister of War and Chief Hanlin Academician. Before long he was appointed co-chancellor. After returning to the capital he was made Minister of Works. When the emperor again fled south of the mountains, the court withdrew and halted at Fengxiang. When Li Changfu's rebellion broke out in haste, Zhaodu left his family as hostages with the imperial guard and swore to join in suppressing the rebel; the troops were deeply moved, and Changfu was duly pacified. He was promoted to Grand Mentor and concurrently appointed Palace Attendant. When Emperor Zhaozong took the throne, Zhaodu served as Grand Councilor and was enfeoffed as Duke of Qi.

閬州刺史王建攻陳敬瑄於成都，以昭度為西川節度使。敬瑄不內，詔東川顧彥朗與建合兵以討，拜昭度兼行營招撫使。乃建幢節行城下，諭其眾曰：「毋久閉壘。」敬瑄遣人詈曰：「鐵券，先帝所命，若何違之？」淹半歲，始拔漢州。建紿昭度曰：「公暴師遠出，事蠻夷地，方山東兵連禍結，朝廷不能治，腹心疾也，宜亟還定之。敬瑄小鬼，當責建等可辨。」昭度信之，請還。未半道，建以重兵守劍門，急攻成都。囚敬瑄，自稱留後。罷昭度為東都留守。

Wang Jian, prefect of Langzhou, besieged Chen Jingxuan at Chengdu, and Zhaodu was appointed military governor of Xichuan. Jingxuan refused to admit him; the court ordered Gu Yanlang of Dongchuan to join Wang Jian's forces in the campaign and additionally appointed Zhaodu Pacification Commissioner of the mobile camp. He then raised banners and insignia beneath the city walls and addressed the garrison: "Do not keep your defenses shut for long." Jingxuan sent a messenger to revile him in reply: "The iron certificate was granted by the late emperor — how dare you defy it?" After half a year they finally took Hanzhou. Wang Jian deceived Zhaodu, saying, "You have marched your army far abroad into barbarian country, while disasters multiply in the east and the court cannot govern — this is a sickness at the empire's heart; you should hurry back to restore order there. Jingxuan is a petty foe — leave him to me and my men and we shall settle the matter." Zhaodu believed him and asked to withdraw. Before Zhaodu was halfway home, Wang Jian sealed Jianmen Pass with a heavy force and pressed the attack on Chengdu. He imprisoned Jingxuan and declared himself acting military governor. Zhaodu was removed from office and appointed Guardian of the Eastern Capital.

杜讓能既被害，以司徒、門下侍郎復為平章事，進太傅。王行瑜求為尚書令，昭度建言：「太宗由是即位，後人臣無復拜者。郭子儀有大功，嘗授之，固辭免，況行瑜乎？」乃更號尚父。行瑜怨。會用李磎輔政，而崔昭緯密語行瑜曰：「前公已為尚書令，昭度持不可。今又引磎葉力，此奸人務立黨與，惑上聽，恐事復有如杜太尉時。」行瑜乃與李茂貞數上書譏詆朝政。昭度懼，稱疾，罷為太傅，致仕。行瑜、茂貞、韓建聯兵至闕下，言昭度伐蜀失謀，請貶之。未及報，而行瑜收昭度於都亭驛殺之。天子不得已，下詔暴其罪。行瑜誅，乃追復官爵，許其家收葬，贈太尉。

After Du Rangneng had been killed, Zhaodu was restored to the chancellorship as Secretary of State and Vice Director of the Chancellery and was promoted to Grand Preceptor. Wang Xingyu sought appointment as Director of the Imperial Secretariat; Zhaodu advised, "Taizong came to the throne through that office, and afterward no subject was ever again given it. Guo Ziyi, for all his great merit, was once offered the post and firmly declined — how much less should Xingyu receive it?" He was given the alternate title of Revered Father instead. Xingyu resented the refusal. When Li Xi was brought in to assist in government, Cui Zhaowei secretly told Xingyu, "You had already been made Director of the Imperial Secretariat, but Zhaodu blocked it. Now he is bringing in Li Xi and Ye Li — schemers bent on building factions and misleading the throne. I fear we shall see a repeat of what happened to Grand Marshal Du." Xingyu then joined Li Maozhen in repeatedly submitting memorials ridiculing and denouncing the court. Zhaodu grew afraid, pleaded illness, was removed to Grand Preceptor, and retired from office. Xingyu, Maozhen, and Han Jian joined forces and marched to the palace gates, charging that Zhaodu's Sichuan campaign had failed through bad planning and demanding his demotion. Before the court could respond, Xingyu seized Zhaodu at the Capital Pavilion Station and killed him. The emperor, left with no choice, issued an edict publicly listing Zhaodu's crimes. After Xingyu was executed, Zhaodu's offices and titles were posthumously restored, his family was permitted to recover his body for burial, and he was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Marshal.

張濬，字禹川，本河間人。性通脫無檢，泛知書史，喜高論，士友擯薄之。不得志，乃羸服屏居金鳳山，學從橫術，以捭闔幹時。樞密使楊復恭遇之，以處士薦為太常博士，進度支員外郎。黃巢之亂，稱疾，挾其母走商山。僖宗西出，衛士食不給，漢陰令李康獻糗餌數百馱，士皆厭給。帝異之，曰：「爾乃及是乎？」對曰：「臣安知為此，張濬教臣也。」乃急召濬至行在，再進諫議大夫。宰相王鐸任行營都統，奏署都統判官。

Zhang Jun, courtesy name Yuchuan, was originally from Hejian. Unrestrained and undisciplined by nature, he had a broad but shallow knowledge of books and history and loved grand talk; men of learning shunned and looked down on him. Frustrated in his ambitions, he put on humble dress and withdrew to Mount Jinfeng, where he studied coalition diplomacy and sought to win his way in the world through intrigue. The Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, Yang Fugong, encountered him and recommended him as a recluse scholar for the post of Doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices; Jun was then promoted to external administrator in the Department of Revenue. During Huang Chao's rebellion he pleaded illness, took his mother, and fled into the Shangshan hills. When Emperor Xizong fled west, the imperial guard ran short of food; Li Kang, magistrate of Hanyin, presented several hundred pack-loads of dried provisions, and the troops were at last fully fed. The emperor was astonished and said, "You can manage even this?" He replied, "Your servant would never have known to do this — Zhang Jun taught me." Jun was urgently summoned to the imperial camp and was promoted again to Supervisory Censor. The chancellor Wang Duo served as overall commander of the mobile camp and memorialized to appoint Jun as judge on his staff.

時王敬武在平盧，軍最強，累召不肯應。濬往說之，而敬武已臣賊，不迎使者。浚責之曰：「公為天子守藩，今使者賫詔至，不北面俯伏而敢侮慢，公乃未識君臣大分，何以長吏民哉？」敬武愕眙愧謝。濬宣詔已，士按兵默默。濬召將佐至鞠場，倡言：「忠義之士當審利害。黃巢，販鹽虜耳。舍天子而臣之，何利邪？今諸侯勤王者踵相接，公等據一州以觀成敗，後賊平，將安往？誠能此時共誅大盜，迎天子，功名富貴可反手而取。吾憐公等舍安而陷危也。」諸將雜然曰：「諫議語是！」敬武即引軍從浚西。擢濬為會軍使。賊平，以戶部侍郎判度支。後再狩山南，拜同中書門下平章事，仍判度支。

At that time Wang Jingwu held Pinglu; his army was the strongest in the land, yet repeated imperial summonses he refused to answer. Jun went to persuade him, but Jingwu had already submitted to the rebels and refused to receive the envoy. Jun rebuked him: "You hold a frontier post for the Son of Heaven; now an envoy arrives bearing an edict, yet you do not face north and prostrate yourself but dare to show insolence. You do not yet grasp the great distinction between sovereign and subject — how can you long govern officials and people?" Jingwu stared in shock, ashamed, and apologized. After Jun proclaimed the edict, the troops stood in silence with weapons in hand. Jun summoned the officers to the drill ground and declared, "Men of loyalty and righteousness ought to weigh gain against loss. Huang Chao is nothing but a salt-smuggling bandit. To abandon the Son of Heaven and serve him — what profit is there in that? Now feudatories rushing to aid the throne follow one after another; you hold a single province and watch how things turn out — when the rebels are crushed, where will you go? If you join now in destroying the great bandit and welcoming the emperor, fame, merit, wealth, and rank can be seized in the turning of a hand. I pity you for leaving safety and falling into danger." The generals clamored in reply, "The Supervisory Censor speaks rightly!" Jingwu immediately led his army west in Jun's train. Jun was promoted to Commissioner for Assembling the Armies. After the rebels were pacified, he served as Vice Minister of Revenue with concurrent charge of the Department of Revenue. Later, when the emperor again fled south of the mountains, he was appointed co-chancellor while continuing to oversee revenue.

是時，朱全忠威振關東，而安居受殺李克恭，以潞州歸全忠。全忠乃與幽州李匡威、雲州赫連鐸上言：「先帝幸梁，繇李克用與朱玫連和，請舉兵誅之，願帥兵為掎角。」帝詔文武四品以上議，皆言：「王室未寧，雖得太原，猶非所有。」濬固爭：「先帝時，身播屯亂，蓋克用、全忠不相下也。請因其弱討之，斷兩雄勢。」帝曰：「平巢，克用功第一。今乘危伐之，天下其謂我何？」久不決。孔緯曰：「濬言萬世之利，陛下所顧一時事爾。臣見師度河，賊必破。今軍中費尚足支數年，幸聽勿疑。」既濬、緯相倡和，帝乃決出師，詔濬為河東行營兵馬招討制置使，京兆尹孫揆為昭義節度使副之，韓建為供軍使；以全忠、匡威、鐸並為招討使，樞密使駱全諲為行營都監，以汴甲三千為帳下；發五十二軍，邠、寧、鄜、夏雜虜合五萬。帝置酒安喜樓臨餞，濬飲酣，泣下曰：「陛下逼於賊，臣願以死除之。」復恭聞不懌，率中尉等餞長樂阪，以酒屬濬，浚不肯舉。是役也濬外幸成功，而內制復恭，故銜之。

At that time Zhu Quanzhong's prestige shook the region east of the Pass; An Jushou killed Li Kegong and surrendered Luzhou to Quanzhong. Quanzhong then joined Li Kuangwei of Youzhou and Helian Duo of Yunzhou in a memorial: "When the late emperor fled to Liang, it was because Li Keyong allied with Zhu Mei. We ask permission to raise troops and execute him, and volunteer our armies as pincers." The emperor ordered civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above to debate the matter; all said, "The royal house is not yet secure — even if we took Taiyuan, it would not truly be ours." Jun insisted: "In the late emperor's time the throne was cast into turmoil because Keyong and Quanzhong would not yield to each other. I ask that we strike him while he is weak and break the power of these two rival strongmen." The emperor said, "In pacifying Huang Chao, Keyong's merit ranked first. Now to attack him in his straits — what will the realm say of me?" For a long time no decision was reached. Kong Wei said, "Jun speaks of benefit for ten thousand generations, while Your Majesty is concerned only with a moment's affair. I see the army crossing the river and the enemy surely broken. Military expenses now suffice for several years — I pray Your Majesty heed us and do not doubt." Once Jun and Wei spoke in unison, the emperor decided to send out the army. Jun was appointed Commander and Commissioner for the Hedong Mobile Camp; Sun Kui, governor of Jingzhao, was made deputy military governor of Zhaoyi; Han Jian was made provision officer; Quanzhong, Kuangwei, and Duo were all made pacification commissioners; the Commissioner of Military Affairs Luo Quanyin was made overall supervisor of the camp, with three thousand Bian troops as his personal guard; Fifty-two armies were mobilized, with mixed tribal forces from Bin, Ning, Fu, and Xia totaling fifty thousand men. The emperor set out wine at Anxi Tower to send them off; Jun, well drunk, wept and said, "Your Majesty is pressed by rebels — your servant wishes to remove them even at the cost of his life." Fugong heard this with displeasure; he led the commandants of the palace armies to bid farewell at Changle Slope and offered wine to Jun, but Jun would not raise the cup. In this campaign Jun outwardly hoped for success but inwardly sought to check Fugong; for this reason Fugong harbored a grudge against him.

先是，汴、華、邠、岐兵絕河會平陽。汴將朱崇節已戍潞，濬慮汴人遂據有之，乃令揆分兵趨潞，以中人韓歸範持節護送至軍。會太原將李存孝方攻潞，揆至長子，為存孝所禽，汴人亦棄城去。浚次陰地關，諸軍壁平陽。存孝擊之，皆大北，委仗械去。濬斂眾夜遁，比明，軍失太半。存孝進掠晉、絳、慈、隰，其鋒甚盛。濬間道出王屋，奔河清，桴而濟，麾下略盡。全諲飲藥死，建遁去。克用上書請罪，其辭悖慢，因韓歸範以聞。朝廷震動，即日下詔罷濬為武昌軍節度使，三貶繡州司戶參軍。全忠為申請，詔聽使便。濬乃至藍田依韓建。及韋昭度死，復用緯為宰相，故濬亦拜兵部尚書，領天下租庸使。將復用，克用上言：「若朝以濬為相，暮請以兵見。」乃止。

Earlier, armies from Bian, Hua, Bin, and Qi had crossed the river and assembled at Pingyang. The Bian general Zhu Chongjie was already garrisoning Lu; Jun feared the Bian troops would simply keep it for themselves, so he ordered Sun Kui to split his forces and hurry to Lu, with the inner attendant Han Guifan bearing insignia to escort him to the army. Just then the Taiyuan general Li Cunxiao was attacking Lu; when Sun Kui reached Changzi he was captured by Cunxiao, and the Bian troops also abandoned the city and fled. Jun halted at Yindi Pass while the armies encamped at Pingyang. Cunxiao struck them; all suffered crushing defeat, abandoning weapons and armor as they fled. Jun gathered what troops he could and fled by night; by dawn more than half the army was gone. Cunxiao advanced, raiding Jin, Jiang, Ci, and Xi; his momentum was fierce. Jun took a bypath through Wangwu, fled to Heqing, crossed the river by raft, and nearly all his followers were gone. Quan Qian took poison and died; Han Jian escaped. Li Keyong memorialized asking forgiveness in language so insolent that Han Guifan carried it to the court. The court reeled; the same day an edict stripped Jun of the Wuchang commission and demoted him three ranks to army registrar of Xiuzhou. Zhu Quanzhong interceded for him, and the throne allowed him to travel as he saw fit. Jun made his way to Lantian and took refuge with Han Jian. After Wei Zhaodu died, Kong Wei returned to the premiership, and Jun was named Minister of War and put in charge of empire-wide rent and corvée. As he was about to be recalled, Li Keyong wrote, "If the court names Jun chief minister, by evening I shall come with an army. The appointment was dropped.

乾寧中，罷使，拜尚書右僕射。上疏乞骸骨，遷左僕射致仕，居洛長水墅。雖自屏處，然朝廷得失，時時言之。劉季述亂，濬徒步入洛，泣諭張全義，並致書諸藩，請謀王室之難。王師範起兵青州，欲取濬為謀主，不克。全忠脅帝東遷，濬聞曰：「乘輿卜洛，則大事去矣。」蓋知其將篡也。全忠畏濬構它鎮兵，使全義遣牙將如盜者夜圍墅殺之，屠其家百餘人，實天復二年十二月。

During Qianning he was relieved of the commission and named Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. He asked leave to retire, was made Left Vice Director emeritus, and lived at his Changshui villa in Luoyang. Though he kept apart from office, he still spoke out now and then on what the court did right or wrong. When Liu Jishu rebelled, Jun walked alone into Luoyang in tears to plead with Zhang Quanyi and wrote to the provinces urging them to rescue the throne. Wang Shifan raised an army in Qingzhou hoping to make Jun his strategist, but failed. When Quanzhong forced the emperor east, Jun said, "If the imperial carriage is sent to Luoyang, the dynasty is finished. He had seen that usurpation was coming. Fearing Jun would rally other provinces, Quanzhong had Quanyi send men like robbers to surround the villa by night and kill him, slaughtering more than a hundred of his kin—in the twelfth month of Tianfu year two.

始，濬素厚永寧史葉彥，彥知其謀，以告濬子格。濬度不免，父子相持泣曰：「留則俱死，不如去以存吾嗣。」格拜而辭，彥率士三十人送之，溯漢入蜀，後事王建。少子播，間道走淮南，依楊行密。時行密得承制除拜，播請每除吏，必紫極宮玄宗像前致制誥於案，乃出之，示不忘朝廷，且欲雪家冤而不克。終廣陵。

Jun had long been close to Ye Yan of Yongning; Yan learned of the plot and warned Jun's son Ge. Seeing no escape, father and son wept in each other's arms: "If we stay we die together—go, and save our line. Ge bowed farewell; Yan led thirty men to escort him up the Han into Shu, where he later served Wang Jian. The younger son Bo stole away to Huainan and attached himself to Yang Xingmi. Xingmi then held provisional appointment powers; Bo insisted that every commission be laid before Emperor Xuanzong's image in the Ziji Palace before issue—a sign he had not forgotten the throne and a vain hope of avenging his family. He died at Guangling.

贊曰：唐之季，嗣君暗庸，天穢其德久矣。纖人柄朝，靡謀不乖。如畋、鐸皆社稷之才，當大過之世，為天下倡。扶支王室，幾致中興。俄而為逆豎亂宦所乘，功業無所成就。浚以亂止亂，悖繆厥心，悲夫！

The encomium reads: In Tang's decline the heirs were dull and inept; Heaven had long withheld favor from their house. Petty men held the court, and counsel went wrong at every turn. Men like Tian and Duo were pillars of the state; in an age of excess they stood as examples for the realm. They braced the throne and nearly restored the dynasty. Soon they were undone by rebel chiefs and meddling eunuchs, and their work came to nothing. Jun would end chaos with chaos; his heart was perverse—how lamentable!

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