'''卷二百二十四上''' 列傳第一百四十九上叛臣上

◎叛臣上仆固懷恩仆固懷恩，鐵勒部人。貞觀二十年，鐵勒九姓大首領率眾降，分置瀚海、燕然、金微、幽陵等九都督府，別為蕃州，以仆骨歌濫拔延為右武衛大將軍、金微都督，訛為仆固氏。生乙李啜；乙李啜生懷恩，世襲都督。

◎ Rebellious Ministers, Part One — Pugu Huai'en. Pugu Huai'en came from the Tiele confederation. In 646, the great chieftains of the nine Tiele tribes submitted with their followers. The court set up nine protectorates—among them Hanhai, Yanshan, Jinwei, and Youling—and a separate Fan prefecture. Pugu Gelanbayan was appointed General of the Right Martial Guard and Jinwei Protector; the clan name later came to be written as Pugu. His son was Yili Chuo; Yili Chuo fathered Huai'en, who inherited the protectorate as his family's hereditary office.

懷恩善戰鬥，曉識戎情，部分謹嚴。安祿山反，從朔方節度使郭子儀討賊雲中，破之；敗薛忠義於背度山，殺七千騎，禽忠義子，下馬邑。進會李光弼，戰常山、趙郡、沙河、嘉山，走史思明。肅宗即位，與子儀赴靈武。時同羅部落叛，祿山北掠朔方，子儀率懷恩迎擊。懷恩子玢戰敗降虜，已而自拔歸，懷恩怒，叱斬之。將士股栗，皆殊死戰，遂破其眾，收馬、橐它、器械甚眾。帝又詔與敦煌王承寀使回紇請師，回紇聽命。至德二載，從子儀下馮翊、河東，走賊將崔乾祐，襲潼關，破之。賊將安守忠、李歸仁苦戰二日，王師敗績。懷恩至渭水，無舟，抱馬鬛以逸，收散卒還河東。子儀赴鳳翔，歸仁以勁兵邀戰三原，子儀使懷恩與王升、陳回光、渾釋之、李國貞五將軍伏白渠下，賊至遇伏，敗而走。又戰清渠，不利，引還。

Huai'en excelled in combat, understood frontier warfare, and kept his units under tight discipline. When An Lushan rose in rebellion, he followed Shuofang commissioner Guo Ziyi against the rebels at Yunzhong and routed them; he defeated Xue Zhongyi at Beidu Mountain, slew seven thousand cavalry, captured Zhongyi's son, and seized Mayi. He advanced to join Li Guangbi and fought at Changshan, Zhao, Shahe, and Jiashan, putting Shi Siming to flight. When Emperor Suzong ascended the throne, he accompanied Guo Ziyi to Lingwu. The Tongluo tribes had rebelled, and Lushan was raiding north into Shuofang; Guo Ziyi led Huai'en out to meet them. Huai'en's son Bin was defeated and captured, but later broke free and came back. Huai'en flew into a rage and had him executed on the spot. The officers and men were terrified into fighting with abandon; they broke the enemy force and took vast numbers of horses, camels, and arms. The emperor also sent him with Prince of Dunhuang Cheng Cai as envoy to the Uyghurs to request military aid, and the Uyghurs agreed. In 757 he followed Guo Ziyi into Fengyi and Hedong, put the rebel general Cui Qianyou to flight, stormed Tong Pass, and carried the day. The rebel generals An Shouzhong and Li Guiren fought fiercely for two days, and the imperial forces were defeated. Huai'en reached the Wei with no boats available; he clutched his horse's mane and swam across, rallied scattered troops, and withdrew to Hedong. Guo Ziyi marched to Fengxiang; Li Guiren barred his way at Sanyuan with elite troops. Guo Ziyi sent Huai'en and four other generals—Wang Sheng, Chen Huiguang, Hun Jiezhi, and Li Guozhen—to lie in ambush along the White Canal. The rebels walked into the trap, were routed, and fled. They fought again at Qing Canal without success and pulled back.

時回紇使葉護、帝得以四千騎濟師，南蠻、大食等兵亦踵至。帝乃詔廣平王為元帥，使懷恩統回紇兵，從王戰香積寺北。賊以一軍伏營左，懷恩馳掩之，馘斬無遺者，賊氣沮。既合戰，以回紇夾攻賊，戰酣，脫甲援矛直搗陣，殺十餘人，眾驚靡，亦會李嗣業鏖鬥尤力，賊大崩敗。會日暮，懷恩見王曰：「賊必棄城走，願假壯騎二百，縛安守忠、李歸仁等致麾下。」王曰：「將軍戰疲，且休矣；迨明，與將軍圖之。」對曰：「守忠等皆天下驍賊，驟勝而敗，此天與我也，奈何縱之？使復得眾，必為我患，雖悔無逮。」王不從，固請，通夕四五反。遲明，諜者至，守忠等果遁去。又從王破賊於新店。以復兩京有殊功，詔加開府儀同三司、鴻臚卿，封豐國公，賜封二百戶。

The Uyghur envoy Yehu and the emperor were then able to cross with four thousand cavalry as reinforcements, and troops from the southern tribes, the Arabs, and elsewhere followed in turn. The emperor appointed the Prince of Guangping supreme commander and placed the Uyghur forces under Huai'en; they followed the prince into battle north of Xiangji Temple. The rebels had hidden a force to the left of the camp; Huai'en charged and wiped them out to the last man, shattering the enemy's morale. Once battle was joined, the Uyghurs hit the rebels from both flanks. In the thick of the fight Huai'en stripped off his armor, seized a spear, and charged straight into the enemy ranks, killing more than ten men and throwing their line into panic. Li Siye fought with equal fury, and the rebels broke completely. At dusk Huai'en told the prince, "The rebels are sure to abandon the city and flee. Give me two hundred picked horsemen, and I will bind An Shouzhong, Li Guiren, and the rest and bring them before you. The prince replied, "General, you are exhausted from battle; rest for now; at daybreak we will decide what to do together. Huai'en answered, "Shouzhong and the others are the fiercest rebels in the realm. To win so suddenly and then let them slip away—this is heaven's gift; how can we release them? If they rally their troops again they will surely become our ruin, and regret will come too late. The prince refused; Huai'en pressed his case four or five times through the night. Near dawn scouts reported that Shouzhong and the others had indeed escaped. He again followed the prince to defeat the rebels at Xindian. For his signal service in recovering the two capitals, he was made Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with ceremonial rank equal to the Three Excellencies and appointed Minister of Ceremonial Reception; he was enfeoffed as Duke of Feng with an income of two hundred households.

從郭子儀破安太清，下懷、衛二州，攻相州，戰愁思岡，常為先鋒，勇冠軍中。乾元二年，拜朔方行營節度使，進封大寧郡王。

He followed Guo Ziyi to defeat An Taiqing, captured Huai and Wei, attacked Xiangzhou, and fought at Chousi Ridge; he often led the van, and none in the army matched his courage. In 759 he was appointed military commissioner of the Shuofang field army and advanced to Prince of Daning.

懷恩為人雄重寡言，應對舒緩，然剛決犯上，始居偏裨，意有不合，雖主將必折詬。其麾下皆蕃、漢勁卒，恃功多不法。子儀政寬，能優容之。及李光弼代子儀，懷恩仍為副。光弼守河陽，攻懷州，降安太清。又子玚，亦善鬥，以儀同三司將兵，每深入多殺，賊憚其勇，號猛將。太清妻有色，玚劫致於幕，光弼命歸之，不聽，以卒環守。復馳騎趨之，射殺七人，奪妻還太清。懷恩怒曰：「公乃為賊殺官卒邪？」光弼持法嚴，少假貸。初，會軍汜水，朔方將張用濟後至，斬纛下。懷恩心憚光弼，自用濟誅，常邑邑不樂。及光弼與史思明戰邙山，不用令，以覆王師。帝思其功，召入為工部尚書，寵以殊禮。代宗立，拜隴右節度使，未行，改朔方行營節度，以副子儀。

Huai'en was a man of imposing presence who spoke little and answered slowly, yet he was stubborn and defiant toward his superiors. Even as a junior officer, if he disagreed he would rebuke his commander without hesitation. His troops were elite barbarian and Han fighters who, trusting in their battle honors, frequently broke the law. Guo Ziyi's rule was lenient, and he indulged them. When Li Guangbi replaced Guo Ziyi, Huai'en continued as his deputy. Guangbi held Heyang, attacked Huaizhou, and accepted An Taiqing's surrender. His son Chang was likewise a formidable fighter; holding ceremonial rank as Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, he led troops deep into enemy territory and killed heavily. The rebels feared his valor and called him a fierce general. Taiqing's wife was beautiful; Chang abducted her to his tent. Guangbi ordered her returned, but Chang refused and posted guards around her. Guangbi rode in again, shot seven men dead, took the woman back, and restored her to Taiqing. Huai'en raged, "You would kill imperial soldiers for a rebel's sake? Guangbi enforced the law strictly and showed little forbearance. Earlier, when the army gathered at Sishui, the Shuofang general Zhang Yongji arrived late and was executed beneath the command banner. Huai'en inwardly feared Guangbi; after Yongji's execution he was often sullen and discontented. When Guangbi fought Shi Siming at Mount Mang, Huai'en disobeyed orders and helped bring defeat on the imperial army. Mindful of his past service, the emperor summoned him to court as Minister of Works and honored him with exceptional favor. When Emperor Daizong ascended the throne, Huai'en was appointed commissioner of Longyou; before he could take up the post he was reassigned as Shuofang field commissioner, serving under Guo Ziyi.

初，肅宗以寧國公主下嫁毗伽闕可汗，又為少子請婚，故以懷恩女妻之。少子立，號登裏可汗，而懷恩女為可敦。寶應元年，帝召兵於回紇，而登裏可汗已為史朝義所誘，引眾十萬盜塞，關中大震。帝遣殿中監藥子昂勞之，可汗因請見懷恩及其母，有詔報可。懷恩避嫌不往，帝賜鐵券，手詔固遣，乃行。與可汗會太原，可汗大悅，遂請和，助討朝義，即引兵屯陜州，待師期。

Earlier, Emperor Suzong had married Princess Ningguo to the Qaghan Bögü, and when the qaghan's younger son also sought a bride, Huai'en's daughter was given to him in marriage. When the younger son succeeded as Qaghan Dengli, Huai'en's daughter became the qatun. In 762 the emperor called for Uyghur troops, but Qaghan Dengli had already been won over by Shi Chaoyi and led a hundred thousand men to raid the passes; all of Guanzhong was thrown into alarm. The emperor sent Palace Director Yao Zi'ang to greet them; the qaghan then asked to see Huai'en and his mother, and the court assented. Huai'en stayed away to avoid suspicion; the emperor granted him an iron certificate of mercy and wrote a personal edict insisting he go, and only then did he set out. He met the qaghan at Taiyuan; the qaghan was delighted, agreed to peace, offered to help fight Chaoyi, and encamped his army at Shazhou to await the campaign.

於是雍王以元帥為中軍，拜懷恩同中書門下平章事為之副，乃與左殺為先鋒。時諸節度皆以兵會，次黃水，賊堅壁自固。懷恩陣西原，多張旗旝，使突騎與回紇稍南出繚賊左，舉旗為應，破賊壁，死者數萬。朝義擁精騎十萬來援，埋根決戰，短兵接，殺獲相當。魚朝恩令射生五百攢矢註射，賊多死，而陣堅不可犯。馬璘怒，單騎援旗直進，奪兩盾，賊辟易，大軍乘以入，眾囂不止，朝義敗。斬首萬六千級，禽四千餘人，降者三萬。轉戰石榴園、老子祠，賊再敗，自相奔蹂死，填尚書谷幾滿，朝義輕騎走。懷恩進收東都、河陽，封府庫，無所私。釋賊所署許叔冀、王伷等，眾皆按堵。留回紇屯河陽，使玚及北庭兵馬將高輔成以萬騎逐北，懷恩常壓賊而次。至鄭州，再戰再捷，賊帥張獻誠以汴州降，下滑州。朝義至衛州，與其黨田承嗣、李進超、李達廬合，有眾四萬，據河以戰。玚濟師登岸薄之，賊黨奔潰。進次昌樂，朝義逸，偽帥達廬降，薛高、李寶臣舉相、衛、深、定等九州獻款。朝義至貝州，得其黨薛忠義，引眾三萬拒玚於臨清。賊氣盛，玚勒兵挫其鋒，令高彥崇、渾日進、李光逸設三伏以待，賊半度，伏發，擊之，朝義走。會回紇以輕騎至，玚卷甲馳之，大戰下博，賊背水陣，師奔擊，賊大崩，積屍蔽流而下。朝義退守莫州。於是都知兵馬使薛兼訓、郝廷玉、兗鄆節度使辛雲京會師城下，朝義與田承嗣數挑戰，不勝，臨陣斬偽黨敬榮。朝義懼，率殘眾奔幽州。王追躡，朝義走平州，自經死，河北平。懷恩與諸將皆罷兵，以功遷尚書左僕射兼中書令、河北副元帥、朔方節度使，加封戶四百。

The Prince of Yong served as supreme commander with the center army; Huai'en was made Associate Director of the Department of State Affairs as his deputy and, with Zuo Sha, led the vanguard. The various commissioners converged with their armies and halted at Huangshui while the rebels held their fortifications. Huai'en formed his line on the western plain, raised many banners, and sent shock cavalry with the Uyghurs to swing south and envelop the rebels' left flank; at the signal of raised flags they broke the enemy fortifications, and tens of thousands were killed. Chaoyi brought a hundred thousand elite cavalry to relieve the siege; both sides fought a pitched battle at close quarters, and casualties were heavy on both sides. Yu Chao'en ordered five hundred archers to pour concentrated volleys into the enemy; many rebels fell, but their formation held and could not be broken. Ma Lin, enraged, charged alone with the standard, seized two enemy shields, and threw their line into confusion; the main force poured through the gap with a roar, and Chaoyi was defeated. Sixteen thousand heads were taken, more than four thousand men captured, and thirty thousand surrendered. The fighting moved to Shiliu Garden and Laozi Shrine; the rebels were beaten again and trampled one another to death in flight until Shangshu Valley was nearly choked with bodies; Chaoyi fled on a swift horse. Huai'en advanced to recover Luoyang and Heyang, sealed the treasuries, and took nothing for himself. He released Xu Shuji, Wang You, and others whom the rebels had appointed, and the populace settled peacefully. He left the Uyghurs encamped at Heyang and sent Chang with Beiting cavalry general Gao Fucheng and ten thousand horsemen in pursuit; Huai'en himself kept pressing the enemy from behind. At Zhengzhou they won two battles in succession; rebel commander Zhang Xiancheng surrendered Bianzhou, and they took Huazhou. Chaoyi reached Weizhou and joined Tian Chengsi, Li Jinchao, and Li Dalu; with forty thousand men they held the river line. Chang ferried the army across, landed, and closed on them; the rebel forces broke and fled. They advanced to Changle; Chaoyi escaped, the rebel commander Dalu surrendered, and Xue Gao and Li Baochen offered the submission of nine prefectures, including Xiang, Wei, Shen, and Ding. Chaoyi reached Beizhou, rallied his partisan Xue Zhongyi, and with thirty thousand men barred Chang's way at Linqing. The rebels were in high spirits; Chang drew up his line to blunt their charge and had Gao Yanchong, Hun Rijin, and Li Guangyi lay three ambushes. When the enemy was half across, the ambushes struck; Chaoyi fled. The Uyghurs arrived with light cavalry; Chang pressed the pursuit in full armor. At Xiabo a great battle was fought with the rebels trapped against the water; the imperial forces charged, the enemy collapsed, and corpses choked the river downstream. Chaoyi withdrew to defend Mozhou. Army inspector Xue Jianxun, Hao Tingyu, and Yan-Yun commissioner Xin Yunjing then united their forces before the city. Chaoyi and Tian Chengsi offered battle repeatedly without success; Chaoyi executed the rebel partisan Jing Rong before the ranks. Terrified, Chaoyi fled to Youzhou with his remaining troops. The prince pursued; Chaoyi fled to Pingzhou and hanged himself, and Hebei was pacified. Huai'en and the other generals stood down their armies. For his service he was made Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and concurrently Director, deputy supreme commander of Hebei, and Shuofang commissioner, with four hundred additional enfeoffed households.

初，帝有詔但取朝義，其它一切赦之。故薛嵩、張忠誌、李懷仙、田承嗣見懷恩皆叩頭，願效力行伍。懷恩自見功高，且賊平則勢輕，不能固寵，乃悉請裂河北分大鎮以授之，潛結其心以為助，嵩等卒據以為患雲。

The emperor had earlier decreed that only Chaoyi was to be taken and all others were to be pardoned. So when Xue Song, Zhang Zhongzhi, Li Huaixian, and Tian Chengsi met Huai'en, they all kowtowed and offered to serve under his command. Huai'en saw that his merits were great but that once the rebels were crushed his influence would wane and he could not hold the court's favor; he therefore asked that Hebei be divided into great military commands and given to them, secretly winning their loyalty as allies. Song and the others ultimately held those territories and became a lasting scourge.

未幾，加太子少師，增戶五百，第一區，與一子五品官。詔護回紇歸國，道太原，辛雲京內忌懷恩，又以其與回紇親，疑可汗見襲，閉關不敢犒軍。懷恩既父子新立功，舉河朔若拾遺，名出諸將遠甚，而為雲京所拒，大怒，表上其狀。頓軍汾州，使裨將李光逸以兵守祁，李懷光據晉州，張如嶽據沁州，高暉等十餘人自從。會監軍駱奉先自雲京所歸，雲京已厚結其歡，因言懷恩與可汗約反狀明白。奉先過懷恩，升堂拜母，母讓曰：「若與我兒約兄弟，今何自親雲京？然前事勿論，自今宜如初。」酒酣，懷恩舞，奉先厚納以幣。懷恩未及酬，奉先亟辭去，懷恩即遣左右匿其馬。奉先疑圖己，乘夜遁歸。懷恩驚，追與其馬。奉先還，具奏懷恩反狀，懷恩亦請誅雲京、奉先，詔兩解之。懷恩之過潞，李抱玉贈以幣馬，懷恩答之。俄抱玉表懷恩私有所結。

Soon he was made Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent, granted five hundred additional households, a first-rank residence, and a fifth-rank office for one of his sons. He was ordered to escort the Uyghurs home. Passing Taiyuan, Xin Yunjing bore him a private grudge and, because of Huai'en's ties to the Uyghurs, feared an attack on the qaghan; he closed the passes and refused to supply the army. Huai'en and his sons had just won fresh honors and held sway over Heshuo as if it were theirs for the taking; his renown far outstripped the other generals, yet Yunjing had snubbed him. Furious, he memorialized the throne. He halted his army at Fenzhou, posted subordinate Li Guangyi to hold Qi, Li Huaiguang to occupy Jinzhou, Zhang Ruyue to hold Qinzhou, and more than ten others including Gao Hui followed him of their own accord. Army supervisor Luo Fengxian returned from Yunjing's camp; Yunjing had already won him over and reported that Huai'en and the qaghan had clearly agreed to rebel. Fengxian called on Huai'en and bowed to his mother in the hall. She rebuked him: "If you pledged brotherhood with my son, why are you now cozy with Yunjing? Let the past be past; from now on behave as you did at first. As the wine flowed, Huai'en danced; Fengxian accepted lavish gifts of silk. Before Huai'en could return the favor, Fengxian hurried to leave; Huai'en at once had his attendants hide Fengxian's horse. Fengxian suspected a trap and fled by night. Alarmed, Huai'en pursued him to return his horse. Fengxian returned and reported Huai'en's treason in full; Huai'en in turn asked that Yunjing and Fengxian be executed. An edict ordered both sides to stand down. Passing through Lu, Huai'en received gifts of silk and horses from Li Baoyu and returned the courtesy. Soon afterward Baoyu memorialized that Huai'en was secretly building alliances.

廣德初，進拜太保，與一子三品、一子四品官，增封戶五百。玚與一子五品官，封戶百。仍賜鐵券，以名藏太廟，畫象淩煙閣。又以玚檢校兵部尚書、朔方行營節度使。然懷恩怏怏，又性強固，不肯為讒毀屈，無以自解，乃上書陳情曰：「臣世本夷人，少蒙上皇驅策。祿山之亂，臣以偏裨決死靜難，杖天威神，克滅強胡。思明繼逆，先帝委臣以兵，誓雪國讎，攻城野戰，身先士卒，兄弟死於陣，子姓沒於軍，九族之內，十不一在，而存者創痍滿身。陛下龍潛時，親總師旅，臣事麾下，悉臣之愚。是時數以微功，已為李輔國讒間，幾至毀家。陛下即位，知臣負謗，遂開獨見之明，杜眾多之口，拔臣於汧、隴，任臣以朔方，遊魂反幹，朽骨再肉。前日回紇入塞，士人未曉，京輔震驚，陛下詔臣至太原勞問，許臣一切處置，因得與可汗計議，分道用兵，收復東都，掃蕩燕、薊。時可汗在洛，為魚朝恩猜阻，已失歡心。及臣護送回紇，雲京閉城不出，潛使攘竊，蕃夷怨怒，彌縫百端，乃得返國。臣還汾州，休息士馬雲京亦不使一介相聞，畏臣劾奏，故構為飛謗，以起異端。陛下不垂明察，欲使忠直之臣，陷讒邪之黨，臣所為拊心泣血者也。然臣之罪有六，無所逃死：往者同羅背逆，以騷河曲，兵連不解，臣不顧老母，從先帝於行在，募兵討賊，同羅奔殄，是臣不忠於國，罪一也；斬子玢以令士眾，舍天性之愛，是臣不忠於國，罪二也；二女遠嫁，為國和親，合從殄滅，是臣不忠於國，罪三也；又與子玚躬履行陣，誌寧邦家，是臣不忠於國，罪四也；河北新附，諸鎮皆握強兵，臣之撫綏，反側時定，是臣不忠於國，罪五也；協和回紇，戡定中原，二陵復土，使陛下勤孝兩全，是臣不忠於國，罪六也。」又言：「來瑱之誅，不暴其罪，天下為疑。四方奏請，陛下皆云與驃騎議之，可否不出宰相。」詞言慢很，帝一不為慊，且欲其悔過，故推心待之。詔宰相裴遵慶臨諭詔旨，因察其去就。

Early in the Guangde era he was promoted to Grand Preceptor, granted a third-rank office for one son and a fourth-rank office for another, and given five hundred additional enfeoffed households. Chang received a fifth-rank office for one of his sons and a hundred enfeoffed households. He was also granted an iron certificate of mercy; his name was entered in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and his portrait was hung in the Lingyan Pavilion. Chang was also made acting Minister of War and commissioner of the Shuofang field army. Yet Huai'en was bitter at heart; stubborn by nature, he refused to yield to slander and could find no way to clear his name. He submitted a memorial pleading his case: "Your servant comes from a barbarian line; in youth I served under the Former Emperor. In Lushan's rebellion I, a junior officer, pledged my life to quell the uprising and, by heaven's majesty, crushed the rebel hosts. When Siming carried on the rebellion, the Former Emperor gave me command of troops and charged me to avenge the realm. I stormed cities and fought in the open field, always at the head of the ranks. Brothers fell in battle; sons and kinsmen died in the army. Of my nine generations, fewer than one in ten survived, and the living were scarred from head to foot. When Your Majesty was still heir in waiting, you personally led the armies. I served under your command and gave you everything I had, however slight. Even then, for trifling victories, Li Fuguo slandered me and nearly destroyed my family. When Your Majesty ascended the throne, knowing I had been wronged, you saw clearly for yourself, silenced my accusers, pulled me out of Qian and Long, and gave me Shuofang—as though a lost soul had returned to its body and dead bone had been made flesh again. When the Uyghurs crossed the border lately, the court did not understand their intent and the capital was thrown into alarm. Your Majesty sent me to Taiyuan to receive them, with full authority to act as I saw fit. I was able to consult with the khan, divide our forces, retake the Eastern Capital, and drive the rebels from Yan and Ji. The khan was then at Luoyang, but Yu Chao'en's suspicion and interference had already turned his goodwill sour. When I escorted the Uyghurs home, Yunjing shut his gates and refused to receive them, while secretly sending men to plunder their baggage. The tribes were furious; only after I smoothed matters every way I could were they persuaded to return home. When I returned to Fenzhou to rest my men and horses, Yunjing would not so much as send a messenger. Fearful that I would impeach him, he spread wild rumors to stir up trouble. Your Majesty will not look into this clearly and would let a loyal minister be destroyed by slanderers—that is why I beat my breast and weep blood. Yet I have six crimes, and death cannot be escaped. When the Tongluo rebelled and ravaged the Yellow River bend and the war would not end, I left my aged mother and followed the Former Emperor to the field court, raised troops against the rebels, and destroyed the Tongluo—that was my first crime of disloyalty to the state; I executed my son Bin to enforce discipline and cast aside a father's love—that was my second crime of disloyalty; I sent two daughters far away in marriage alliances for the state and broke up enemy coalitions—that was my third crime; I marched into battle with my son Chang, determined to secure the realm—that was my fourth crime; When Hebei had just submitted and every commandery held powerful armies, I pacified them and kept restless factions quiet—that was my fifth crime; I worked with the Uyghurs, pacified the central plains, restored the imperial tombs, and let Your Majesty fulfill both duty to the state and filial devotion—that was my sixth crime of disloyalty." He added: "When Lai Mei was executed, his crimes were never made public, and the whole realm is left in doubt. For every petition from the provinces Your Majesty says you will consult the Champion Cavalry General alone; nothing is decided through the chief ministers." The tone was arrogant and defiant. The emperor was deeply displeased, yet still hoped Huai'en would repent, and so continued to treat him with apparent trust. The emperor ordered Chief Minister Pei Zunqing to deliver the imperial message in person and gauge whether Huai'en would submit or rebel.

遵慶至，懷恩抱其足，泣且訴。遵慶道帝所以不疑，即勸入朝，懷恩許諾。副將範誌誠諫，以為「嫌隙成矣，奈何入不測之朝，獨不見來瑱、李光弼乎？二臣功高不賞，瑱已及誅。」懷恩乃止。欲使一子入宿衛，誌誠固止。御史大夫王翊使回紇還，懷恩慮泄其交通狀，因留不遣。即使玚攻雲京，雲京敗，進攻榆次。

When Zunqing arrived, Huai'en seized his feet and wept as he poured out his grievances. Zunqing explained why the emperor still trusted him and urged him to come to court; Huai'en agreed. His deputy Fan Zhicheng warned him: "The breach is already complete—why enter a court you cannot trust? Have you forgotten Lai Mei and Li Guangbi? Both men were too meritorious to be rewarded; Mei has already been put to death." Huai'en held back. He wanted to send a son to serve in the palace guard, but Zhicheng firmly refused to allow it. Censor-in-Chief Wang Yi was returning from an embassy to the Uyghurs; fearing he would expose their secret dealings, Huai'en detained him and would not let him proceed. He sent Chang to attack Yunjing. Yunjing was defeated, and the army pushed on to Yuci.

初，帝幸陜，顏真卿請奉詔召懷恩。至是，帝使往，辭曰：「臣往請行，時也，今無及矣！」帝問故，對曰：「頃陛下避狄於陜，臣見懷恩，責以《春秋》義，不奔問官守，故懷恩來朝，以助討賊，則其辭順。今陛下即宮京邑，懷恩進不勤王，退不釋眾，其辭曲，必不來矣！」「然則奈何？」曰：「今言懷恩反者，獨辛雲京、李抱玉、駱奉先、魚朝恩四人耳，自餘盛言其枉。然懷恩將士，皆郭子儀舊部曲，陛下若以子儀代之，喻以逆順，必相率而歸。」從之。

Earlier, when the emperor withdrew to Shaan, Yan Zhenqing volunteered to carry an edict summoning Huai'en to court. Now the emperor sent him again. He declined: "When I asked to go before, the moment was right. Now it is too late!" The emperor asked why. He answered: "When Your Majesty withdrew to Shaan before, I confronted Huai'en with the Spring and Autumn principle that a minister must not abandon his post. He came to court then to help suppress the rebels, and his words were proper. Now that Your Majesty is back in the capital, Huai'en neither marches to save the throne nor disbands his army. His excuses will be twisted, and he will not come." "Then what should be done?" He said: "Only Xin Yunjing, Li Baoyu, Luo Fengxian, and Yu Chao'en accuse Huai'en of rebellion. Everyone else insists he has been wronged. Huai'en's troops are all old followers of Guo Ziyi. If Your Majesty sends Ziyi in his place and teaches them loyalty from rebellion, they will come over in a body." The emperor agreed.

子儀至河中，玚攻榆次，未拔，追兵於祁，責其緩，鞭之，眾怒。是夕，偏將焦暉、白玉等斬其首，獻闕下。懷恩聞，以告母。母曰：「我戒汝勿反，國家酬汝不淺，今眾變，禍且及我，奈何？」懷恩再拜出，母提刀逐之曰：「吾為國殺此賊，取其心以謝軍中。」懷恩走，乃與部曲三百北度河，走靈武，稍稍引亡命，軍復振。帝念舊勛，不加罪，詔輦其母歸京師，厚恤之，以壽終。又下詔拜懷恩太保兼中書令、大寧郡王，罷餘官。

Guo Ziyi reached Hezhong while Chang was still besieging Yuci without success. Reinforcements caught up at Qi; Chang blamed them for delay and had them flogged, and the troops erupted in fury. That night deputy commanders Jiao Hui, Bai Yu, and others beheaded him and sent his head to the capital. When Huai'en heard the news, he told his mother. His mother said, "I warned you not to rebel. The state has rewarded you richly. Now the army has turned against you, and even I will be caught in the ruin. What can be done?" Huai'en bowed and withdrew. His mother seized a knife and chased him, crying, "I will kill this traitor for the state and cut out his heart to satisfy the troops." Huai'en fled. With three hundred followers he crossed the river north to Lingwu, gradually gathering fugitives until his force rallied again. Mindful of Huai'en's past service, the emperor imposed no punishment on the family. He had the mother brought to the capital in an imperial carriage, gave her generous support, and she lived out her years in comfort. Another edict made Huai'en Grand Preceptor and Director of the Secretariat, Prince of Daning, and stripped him of his other posts.

懷恩固惡不能改，遂誘吐蕃十萬入塞，豐州守將戰死。進掠涇、邠，祭來瑱墓。度涇水，邠寧節度使白孝德禦之，覆其陣，懷恩泣曰：「曩皆為我子，反為人致死於我。」入侵奉天，子儀拒退之。永泰元年，帝集天下兵防秋。懷恩誘合諸蕃號二十萬入寇，吐蕃自北道逼醴泉，搖奉天；任敷、鄭廷、郝德自東道寇奉先，以窺同州；羌、渾、奴剌自西道略盩厔，趣鳳翔。京師震駭。詔子儀屯涇陽，渾日進、白元光屯奉天，李光進屯雲陽，馬璘、郝廷玉屯便橋，董秦屯東渭橋，駱奉先、李日越屯盩厔，李抱玉屯鳳翔，周智光屯同州，杜冕屯坊州，帝御六軍屯苑中，下詔親征。懷恩至鳴沙，病甚，還死靈武，部曲焚其屍以葬。部將張韶、徐璜玉不能定其軍，皆前死。範誌誠統眾寇涇陽。時諸屯堅壁，大雨，溪垘流潰，賊不得進。吐蕃既持久，又與回紇爭長，更相疑，莫適先進，因焚廬舍，驅男女數萬去。周智光邀戰澄城，破之，收馬牛軍資萬計。回紇乃詣子儀降，請擊吐蕃自效。子儀分兵隨之，破其眾於涇州。任敷走，羌、渾詣李抱玉降。

Huai'en's nature would not change. He lured a hundred thousand Tibetans across the border, and the Fengzhou garrison commander was killed in the fighting. They pushed on to raid Jing and Bin, and Huai'en offered sacrifice at Lai Mei's tomb. Crossing the Jing River, Binqing commissioner Bai Xiaode met them and routed their line. Huai'en wept: "They were all once my men, and now they die fighting me for someone else." They invaded Fengtian, but Guo Ziyi beat them back. In the first year of Yongtai the emperor mobilized armies from across the empire for the autumn defense. Huai'en rallied the frontier peoples in a force said to number two hundred thousand. The Tibetans took the northern route toward Liquan and menaced Fengtian; Ren Fu, Zheng Ting, and Hao De struck along the eastern route against Fengxian, probing toward Tongzhou; the Qiang, Hun, and Nula swept along the western route through Zhouzhi toward Fengxiang. The capital was thrown into panic. Guo Ziyi was ordered to Jingyang; Hun Rijin and Bai Yuanguang to Fengtian; Li Guangjin to Yunyang; Ma Lin and Hao Tingyu to Bianqiao; Dong Qin to the Eastern Wei Bridge; Luo Fengxian and Li Yueyue to Zhouzhi; Li Baoyu to Fengxiang; Zhou Zhiguang to Tongzhou; Du Mian to Fangzhou. The emperor led the Six Armies into camp within the imperial park and proclaimed that he would take the field himself. Huai'en reached Mingsha, fell gravely ill, turned back, and died at Lingwu. His followers burned his body for burial. His commanders Zhang Shao and Xu Huangyu could not hold the army together and had already died. Fan Zhicheng took command and attacked Jingyang. The imperial camps held behind their walls. Heavy rain burst the streams and dikes, and the rebels could not advance. The Tibetans had been at it too long and were now quarreling with the Uyghurs over precedence. Mutual suspicion kept each side from advancing. They burned their camps and drove off tens of thousands of captives as they withdrew. Zhou Zhiguang intercepted them at Chengcheng, routed them, and seized vast numbers of horses, cattle, and military supplies. The Uyghurs then came to Guo Ziyi to submit and offered to attack the Tibetans in proof of their loyalty. Guo Ziyi sent troops with them and routed the Tibetan force at Jingzhou. Ren Fu fled. The Qiang and Hun submitted to Li Baoyu.

始，懷恩立功，門內死王事者四十六人。及拒命，士不弛甲凡三年。帝隱忍，數下詔，未嘗聲其反。及死，為之惻然曰：「懷恩不反，為左右所誤耳！」俄而從子名臣以千騎降。大歷四年，冊懷恩幼女為崇徽公主，嫁回紇雲。周智光周智光，少賤，失其先系，以騎射從軍，起行間為裨將。魚朝恩鎮陜州，與相昵款，數稱薦之，累遷同、華二州節度使。

From the beginning of his career, forty-six members of Huai'en's household had died in the state's service. After he defied the throne, his troops did not lay down their armor for three full years. The emperor restrained himself and issued repeated edicts, but never once declared openly that Huai'en had rebelled. When he died, the emperor said with genuine sorrow, "Huai'en never meant to rebel. Those around him led him astray!" Soon afterward his nephew Mingchen came over with a thousand cavalry. In the fourth year of Dali, Huai'en's young daughter was made Princess Chonghui and given in marriage to the Uyghur leader Yun. Zhou Zhiguang came from humble origins and had lost track of his ancestry. He entered the army as a mounted archer and rose from the ranks to deputy commander. Yu Chao'en, when posted to Shaanzhou, took a liking to him, praised him repeatedly at court, and had him promoted until he held the Tong and Hua commanderies.

永泰元年，吐蕃、回紇、党項羌、渾、奴剌眾十餘萬寇奉天，智光邀戰澄城，破之，獲駝馬軍貲萬計，逐北至鄜州。素與杜冕仇嫌，時冕屯坊州，家在鄜，智光入殺刺史張麟，害冕宗屬八十人，火民三千舍而去。朝廷召，懼不赴。更詔冕使梁州避讎，冀其來。偃然不聽命，聚不逞數萬，恣剽掠以甘其欲，結固之。殺陜州監軍張誌斌及前虢州刺史龐充。初，誌斌自陜入奏，智光慢不為禮，誌斌責之，怒曰：「仆固懷恩豈反者邪？皆鼠輩弄威福趣之禍也。我本不反，今為爾反！」遂叱斬誌斌，饗帳下。時崔圓自淮南納方物百萬，盜頡其半；天下貢奉輸漕，劫留之；士沿調當西者懼何詰，間道走同者，遣部將邀捕斬之。代宗未暴其罪，命中使余元仙持詔拜尚書左僕射。既受詔，恚語曰：「吾有大功，上不與平章事，且同、華地狹，不足申腳，若加陜、虢、商、鄜、坊五州，差可。」因言：「諸子皆彎弓二百斤，有萬人敵，挾天子令諸侯，非智光尚誰可？」即歷詆大臣，元仙震汗。徐遺百縑遣之。自立生祠，俾其下襘賽。

In the first year of Yongtai, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Tangut Qiang, Hun, and Nula—well over a hundred thousand strong—attacked Fengtian. Zhiguang met them at Chengcheng, routed them, seized vast stores of camels, horses, and supplies, and pursued them north to Fuzhou. He had long hated Du Mian. Mian was posted at Fangzhou while his family remained at Fu. Zhiguang marched in, killed prefect Zhang Lin, slaughtered eighty of Mian's kinsmen, burned three thousand homes, and withdrew. The court summoned him, but he was afraid to come. The court then sent Mian to Liangzhou to remove the feud, hoping Zhiguang would finally answer the summons. He ignored the orders all the same, gathered tens of thousands of outlaws, and fed his appetites with unchecked pillage until they were bound to him. He killed the Shaanzhou army supervisor Zhang Zhibin and the former prefect of Guo, Pang Chong. Earlier, when Zhibin came from Shaan to report at court, Zhiguang treated him with open contempt. Zhibin rebuked him, and Zhiguang burst out: "Was Pugu Huai'en really a rebel? Petty men playing with power and favor drove him to ruin. I had no thought of rebelling—now I rebel because of you!" He ordered Zhibin executed on the spot and held a feast for his officers. When Cui Yuan forwarded a million in tribute goods from Huainan, Zhiguang seized half; he intercepted tribute and grain shipments from across the empire; soldiers on rotation westward, fearing interrogation, tried to slip through by back roads toward Tongzhou, and he sent officers to ambush and execute them. Emperor Daizong had not yet denounced his crimes openly and sent palace envoy Yuan Yuansian with an edict appointing him Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. After receiving the edict he raged: "I have rendered great service, yet the court will not make me chief minister. Tong and Hua are too cramped even to stretch my legs. Add Shaan, Guo, Shang, Fu, and Fang, and that might suffice." He went on: "My sons can each draw a two-hundred-jin bow and are match for ten thousand men. If anyone is to hold the Son of Heaven and command the lords, who but Zhiguang?" He then abused the chief ministers one by one until Yuansian was shaking with fear. After a while he sent him away with a gift of a hundred bolts of silk. He built a living shrine to himself and ordered his men to worship there with offerings.

大歷二年，帝詔郭子儀密圖之。同、華路閉，詔書不能通，乃召子儀婿趙縱受口詔，書帛內蜜丸，遣家童走間道傳詔。子儀得詔，聲言討之。未行，其眾大攜，部將李漢惠自同州降子儀。乃貶智光澧州刺史，聽百人隨身，貸將吏一切不問。尋為帳下斬其首，並斬子元耀、元幹來獻，詔梟首皇城南街。判官邵賁、別將蔣羅漢並伏誅。敕有司具儀告太清宮、太廟、七陵。

In the second year of Dali the emperor secretly ordered Guo Ziyi to bring him down. The roads through Tong and Hua were cut and imperial orders could not get through. The emperor summoned Guo Ziyi's son-in-law Zhao Zong, gave him the command orally, wrote it on silk sealed inside a honey pellet, and sent a household servant by a secret route to deliver it. Guo Ziyi received the order and publicly announced that he would march against Zhiguang. Before Guo Ziyi even marched, Zhiguang's army collapsed. His officer Li Hanhui defected from Tongzhou to Guo Ziyi. Zhiguang was demoted to prefect of Lingzhou, allowed only a hundred attendants, and all his officers were pardoned without question. Soon his own officers cut off his head, beheaded his sons Yuanyao and Yuangan as well, and sent them to the capital. An edict ordered the heads spiked on the south street of the imperial city. His aide Shao Fen and deputy commander Jiang Luohan were also executed. The emperor ordered the proper rites performed and the victory reported to the Supreme Clear Palace, the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the seven imperial tombs.

先是，淮西李忠臣入朝，次潼關，聞智光反，率兵討之。會敗，忠臣因入華大掠，自赤水至潼關畜產財物皆盡，官吏至衣紙自蔽、累日不食者。梁崇義梁崇義，京兆長安人。以概量業於市，力能舒鉤。後為羽林射生，事來瑱。沈默寡言。瑱自襄陽朝京師，分諸將戍福昌、南陽。瑱誅，戍者潰，崇義自南陽勒眾還襄州，與李昭、薛南陽相讓為長，眾曰：「非梁卿莫可。」遂總其軍，殺昭及南陽，脅制眾心。代宗因即拜節度使。舉七州兵二萬，與田承嗣、李正己、薛嵩、李寶臣相輔車，根牙槃結。然獨以地褊兵少，法令最治，折節遇士以自振，襄、漢間人識教義。親厚數諷入朝，答曰：「來公有大功，畏閹豎讒，逡巡辭召。至代宗立，不待駕而朝，即見族。吾釁盈矣，若何欲見上乎？」

Earlier, Li Zhongchen of Huaixi was on his way to court and had stopped at Tong Pass. Hearing of Zhiguang's rebellion, he marched to attack him. When Zhiguang fell, Zhongchen swept into Hua and plundered it bare. From Chishui to Tong Pass every animal and scrap of wealth was taken. Officials were reduced to wrapping themselves in paper and going days without food. Liang Chongyi was a native of Chang'an in Jingzhao. He earned his living measuring grain in the marketplace, and was strong enough to unbend an iron hook. He later joined the Imperial Guard as an archer and served under Lai Tian. He was quiet and spoke little. When Lai Tian went from Xiangyang to the capital, he posted his generals to garrison Fuchang and Nanyang. After Lai Tian was executed the garrison collapsed. Chongyi rallied the troops at Nanyang and marched back to Xiangzhou. He, Li Zhao, and Xue Nanyang each yielded the lead to the others, until the men cried, "No one but Lord Liang will do." He took command, killed Zhao and Nanyang, and bent the army to his will. Emperor Daizong promptly appointed him military commissioner. He fielded twenty thousand men from seven prefectures and was bound to Tian Chengsi, Li Zhengji, Xue Song, and Li Baochen like wheels locked together, their interests deeply intertwined. Yet his domain was small and his army thin. He enforced the strictest discipline, humbled himself before scholars to rebuild his reputation, and between the Xiang and Han rivers his rule was known for decency. Friends close to him often urged him to go to court. He answered, "Lord Lai had rendered great service, yet he feared the eunuchs' slander and lingered, refusing the summons. When Emperor Daizong succeeded, Lai went to court without waiting for the new emperor—and was destroyed root and branch. My offenses are already more than enough. Why do you want me to face the throne?"

建中元年，李希烈請討之。崇義懼，整飭軍旅。男子郭昔上變事，德宗欲示以信，流昔遠方，詔金部員外郎李舟諭旨。初，劉文喜之難，舟奉詔入涇州，俄而帳下斬文喜以聞，四方傳舟能覆軍殺將，反側者皆惡之。舟至，以入朝勸崇義，崇義不悅。明年，遣使尉撫諸道，舟復如崇義所，遂不肯內，請易它使。更命給事中廬翰往，崇義益不安，跋扈甚，諫者多死。朝廷以不疑示天下，乃加同中書門下平章事，妻及子悉封賞，賜鐵券，擢其將藺杲為鄧州刺史，遣御史張著以手詔召崇義。崇義使卒持滿，乃受命。杲奉詔不敢發，詣崇義自言。崇義對著號哭，遂拒詔。

In the first year of the Jianzhong era, Li Xilie asked to lead a campaign against him. Chongyi was alarmed and drilled his troops. When a man named Guo Xi denounced a plot, Dezong wished to show his trustworthiness, banished Xi to a distant post, and sent Li Zhou of the Ministry of Revenue to explain the court's intentions. Earlier, during the Liu Wenxi affair, Zhou had entered Jing Prefecture on imperial orders; before long his own men beheaded Wenxi and reported it. Word spread that Zhou could turn armies and strike down commanders, and every wavering rebel feared him. Zhou reached his headquarters and pressed him to come to court; Chongyi took offense. The following year the court dispatched envoys to reassure the circuits. Zhou was sent to Chongyi again, but Chongyi would not let him in and asked that someone else be sent. Lu Han, a supervising secretary, was sent in his place. Chongyi grew more anxious, turned increasingly overbearing, and many who advised against it were killed. To show the empire it had no doubts, the court made him Grand Councilor of the second rank, enfeoffed and rewarded his wife and children, granted him an iron certificate, promoted his general Lan Gao to prefect of Deng, and sent Censor Zhang Zhu with an edict in the emperor's own hand to summon him to court. Chongyi had his men stand with bows drawn full before he accepted the summons. Lan Gao received the appointment but dared not leave; he went to Chongyi and told him so. Facing Zhang Zhu, Chongyi broke into loud weeping—and then defied the edict.

帝命李希烈率諸道兵進討。崇義先攻江陵，欲通黔、嶺，敗於四望而還。殺希烈臨漢屯兵千餘，希烈怒，引兵循漢而上。崇義使翟崇暉、杜少誠戰蠻水，折北至涑口，大敗。二將降，希烈寵之，使部降兵徇襄陽，約百姓按堵。崇義閉壁，守者斬關出，不可止，乃與妻赴井死，傳首京師。希烈誅其親族及軍從臨漢役者三千人。

The emperor ordered Li Xilie to march against him at the head of forces from several circuits. Chongyi struck first at Jiangling, hoping to open a path into Qian and Ling, but was beaten at Siwang and driven back. He slaughtered more than a thousand of Xilie's men posted along the Han at Linhan. Xilie flew into a rage and marched upriver. Chongyi sent Zhai Chonghui and Du Shaocheng to give battle at Manshui, then swung north to Sukou, where they were routed. Both commanders surrendered. Xilie treated them well and sent them ahead with the defectors into Xiangyang, pledging that the populace would not be disturbed. Chongyi shut the city gates, but his own garrison broke out and fled beyond his control. He and his wife leapt into a well and died; his head was forwarded to the capital. Xilie put his kin to death and executed three thousand men who had served under him at Linhan.

崇義孫叔明，養於李納，後從劉悟為昭義將，從諫死，遣進旄節，有詔誅之。李懷光李懷光，渤海靺鞨人，本姓茹。父常，徙幽州，為朔方部將，以戰多賜姓，更名嘉慶。

Chongyi's grandson Shuming was reared by Li Na and later served Liu Wu as an officer of Zhaoyi. After Wu's death Shuming was sent to present the military commission; the court ordered him put to death. Li Huai'guang was a Mohe tribesman from Bohai; his family name had been Ru. His father Chang migrated to Youzhou and served as a Shuofang officer. For repeated victories in battle he was granted a surname and renamed Jiaqing.

懷光在軍，積勞至開府儀同三司，為都虞候。勇鷙敢誅殺，雖親屬犯法，無所回貸。節度使郭子儀仁厚，不親事，以紀綱委懷光，軍中畏之。會母喪，起兼邠、寧、慶都將。德宗罷子儀副元帥，以所部兵分諸將，故懷光檢校刑部尚書，為寧、慶、晉、絳、慈、隰等州節度使。引眾城長武，據原首，臨涇水，以扼吐蕃空道，自是不敢南侵。建中初，楊炎欲城原州，使懷光兼帥涇原，遂其功。原州宿將史抗、溫儒雅等，故子儀麾下，嘗在懷光右，及處其下，意郁郁，懷光因罪誅之，由是涇軍迎畏。劉文喜者，因眾懼，遂叛。詔與朱泚討平之，加檢校太子少師。明年，徙朔方節度使，實封戶四百，仍領邠寧。

In service Huai'guang rose through accumulated merit to Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with ceremonial parity to the Three Excellencies, and became chief army inspector. He was fierce and ruthless, ready to kill; even relatives who broke the law received no mercy. Guo Ziyi, the commissioner, was mild and did not attend to daily affairs himself; he left discipline to Huai'guang, and the troops feared him. On his mother's death he was called back from mourning to command the Bin, Ning, and Qing armies. Dezong stripped Guo Ziyi of the vice command and split his forces among other generals. Huai'guang was made acting Minister of Justice and commissioner over Ning, Qing, Jin, Jiang, Ci, Xi, and neighboring prefectures. He led his men to build up Changwu, seized Yuan Shou, and stood above the Jing River, choking the Tibetans' open corridor—after which they no longer dared push south. Early in Jianzhong, Yang Yan wanted to rebuild Yuanzhou and had Huai'guang take Jingyuan as well to carry the work through. Yuanzhou's old commanders Shi Kang and Wen Ruya had served under Guo Ziyi and once outranked Huai'guang. Subordinated to him, they brooded; Huai'guang had them executed on trumped-up charges, and the Jing troops learned to fear him. Liu Wenxi rebelled when he saw how frightened the men were. He and Zhu Ci were ordered to suppress the revolt, and Huai'guang was named acting Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince. The following year he was moved to Shuofang commissioner with four hundred taxable households and retained Bin-Ning.

時馬燧、李抱真討田悅，未克，詔懷光以朔方兵萬五千並力。懷光至魏，未及營，與朱滔等戰連篋山，為賊所敗，悅因決水灌軍，燧等退屯魏縣。尋進同中書門下平章事，益戶二百。與滔等相持，久不戰。

Ma Sui and Li Baozhen were then besieging Tian Yue without result. The court ordered Huai'guang to march with fifteen thousand Shuofang troops to reinforce them. Huai'guang reached Wei, but before his camp was pitched he fought Zhu Tao and others at Lianqieshan and was beaten. Yue broke the dikes to flood the allied army, and Ma Sui fell back on Weixian. He was soon promoted to Grand Councilor of the second rank and given two hundred more enfeoffed households. He and Zhu Tao remained locked in stalemate, neither side giving battle for a long while.

帝狩奉天，懷光率所部奔命。方雨淖，奮厲軍士倍道進，自蒲津絕河，敗泚軍於醴泉。將抵奉天，前遣裨將張韶以蠟韜表，隨賊攻城，叩壘呼曰：「我朔方使也！」縋而上，比登，身被數十矢。時帝被圍急，聞之喜，即持韶大號城上，人心乃安。又敗賊於魯店，泚解圍去。進加副元帥、中書令。

When the emperor withdrew to Fengtian, Huai'guang marched his command to the rescue. The roads were churned to mud by rain, but he drove his men forward at forced march, crossed the Yellow River at Pujin, and routed Zhu Ci's force at Liquan. Near Fengtian he sent his deputy Zhang Shao ahead with a memorial sealed in wax. Shao slipped in among the rebels besieging the city, beat on the wall, and shouted, "I am from Shuofang!" They hauled him up on a rope; by the time he gained the top he had taken dozens of arrows. The emperor was hard pressed in the siege; when he heard, he rejoiced, lifted Shao high above the parapet for all to see, and the city's panic eased. He defeated the rebels again at Ludian, and Zhu Ci broke off the siege and withdrew. He was promoted to vice commander-in-chief and Director of the Secretariat.

懷光為人疏而愎，誦言：「宰相謀議乖剌，度支賦斂重，京兆尹刻薄軍食，天下之亂皆由此。吾見上，且請誅之。」或以告王翃，翃等計：「懷光有大功，上且訪以得失，使其言入，豈不殆哉！」遂告盧杞，杞即說帝曰：「懷光兵威已振，逆賊破膽，若席勝，可一舉滅賊。今入朝，則必宴勞留連，賊得從容完備，卒難圖也！」帝不得其情，因然之。乃敕懷光屯便橋，督諸將進討。懷光自以徑千里赴難，為奸臣拫隔不得朝，頗恚悵，去屯咸陽。明日，李晟會陳濤斜，壁壘未具，賊大至。晟說懷光曰：「賊保宮苑，攻之良難。今敢離窟穴，與公薄戰，此天以賊賜公也。」懷光曰：「吾馬未秣，士未飯，可遽戰哉？姑養吾勇以待之。」晟不得已，閉壁不出。懷光數暴杞等罪，帝為貶杞與趙贊、白誌貞，又劾奏中人翟文秀，亦殺之以尉懷光。然益自疑，堅壁八旬不出戰，屢詔使進軍，以伺釁為解，陰連朱泚。

Huai'guang was blunt and stubborn. He said again and again, "The chancellors plot crookedly, the Revenue Board taxes too heavily, and the intendant of Jingzhao pinches our rations—every calamity in the realm comes from this. When I see His Majesty I will ask that they be put to death." Word reached Wang Hong. Hong and his circle said, "Huai'guang has saved the throne; the emperor will ask his judgment on affairs. If that talk reaches the throne, we are finished!" They went to Lu Qi. Qi at once told the emperor, "Huai'guang's army is at full heat and the rebels are terrified. Let him press the advantage and the rebellion can be ended in one blow. But if he is summoned to court he will be wined and detained while the rebels recover their strength—then they will be far harder to crush!" The emperor, not seeing their motive, agreed. Huai'guang was ordered to hold Bianqiao and drive the other generals forward. Huai'guang believed he had raced a thousand li to save the emperor, only to be shut out by scheming ministers. Bitter and resentful, he withdrew his camp to Xianyang. Next day Li Sheng engaged at Chen Taoxie. His defenses were not finished when the rebels arrived in strength. Sheng urged Huai'guang: "The rebels are dug into the imperial parks—hard ground to storm. But now they have come out of their hole to meet you hand to hand. Heaven is handing them to you." Huai'guang replied, "My horses are unfed and my men unfed. How can we fight now? Let me rest my men and hoard their fury for the moment." Li Sheng had no choice but to shut the gates and hold still. Huai'guang kept denouncing Lu Qi and his allies. The emperor demoted Qi, Zhao Zan, and Bai Zhizhen for him, and even executed the eunuch Zhai Wenxiu to placate him. Yet he grew more suspicious still, sat behind his walls eighty days without battle, pleaded he was waiting for an opening whenever ordered forward, and secretly treated with Zhu Ci.

初，崔漢衡使吐蕃求助兵，尚結贊曰：「吾法，進軍以本兵大臣為信。今制書不署懷光，未敢前。」帝乃命翰林學士陸贄詣懷光議事，懷光陳三不可，且言：「吐蕃舍人馬重英陷長安，贊普責其不焚爇，今其來，必肆宿誌，一不可。彼雲引兵五萬，既用其人，則同漢士，儻邀我厚賞，何以致之？二不可。虜人雖來，義不先用，勒兵自固，以觀成敗，王師勝則分功，敗則圖變，狡詐多端，不可信，三不可。」卒不肯署。又謾罵贄曰：「爾何能？」

When Cui Hanheng first asked Tibet for troops, Shang Jiezan said, "By our law we advance only when the chief minister of the native force is our pledge. Your edict is not countersigned by Huai'guang. I dare not march." The emperor sent Hanlin Academician Lu Zhi to negotiate. Huai'guang listed three reasons to refuse and said, "Ma Chongying of Tibet held Chang'an, yet the qaghan faulted him for not burning it. If they come now they will surely act on old grudges—that is the first objection. They say they bring fifty thousand men; once we rely on them they are no different from our own troops. If they demand lavish payment, how will we afford it? That is the second. Even when they arrive they will not fight first by custom; they will hold their men back and watch how the war goes. If we win they claim a share; if we lose they turn against us. They are treacherous in a hundred ways and cannot be trusted—that is the third." In the end he would not sign. He also abused Lu Zhi to his face: "What are you good for?"

興元元年，詔加太尉，賜鐵券。懷光赫然怒曰：「凡疑人臣反，則賜券。今授懷光，是使反也！」抵於地。時部將韓遊瑰將兵衛奉天，懷光約令為變，遊瑰以聞。數日，又密書趣之，門者捕送。又遣將趙升鸞諜於奉天，升鸞告渾瑊曰：「懷光遣達奚承俊火乾陵，使我為內應，以脅乘輿。」瑊白髮其奸，請帝決幸梁州。帝令瑊戒嚴，未畢，帝自西門出，詔戴休顏守奉天。懷光遣將孟廷寶、惠靜壽、孫福率輕騎趨南山，糧料使張增遇之。三人計曰：「吾屬以叛聞，不如緩軍，彼怒，不過不吾將耳。」使增紿眾曰：「由此東，吾有見糧可食也。」廷寶等引而東，縱卒大掠，而百官遂入駱谷。追帝不及。還白懷光，懷光怒，悉罷其兵。懷光乃奪李建徽、陽惠元等軍，屯好畤，然其下稍稍攜貳。泚始憚之，至是欲遂臣懷光。懷光怒，告絕，益不安，乃引兵掠涇陽、三原、富平，遂如河中，留張昕守咸陽。而孟涉、段威勇擁兵降李晟，韓遊瑰殺昕，以邠州歸。戴休顏自奉天令於軍曰：「懷光反。」乃城守。

In the first year of Xingyuan he was named Grand Marshal and given an iron certificate. Huai'guang erupted in fury. "Whenever the court suspects a minister of rebellion," he said, "it grants an iron certificate. Now you give one to me—that is telling me to rebel!" He dashed it to the floor. His officer Han Yougui was then guarding Fengtian. Huai'guang tried to win him to mutiny; Yougui reported the plot. Days later another secret letter pressed him; the gate watch seized it and sent it in. He also sent Zhao Shengquan to spy at Fengtian. Shengquan informed Hun Zhen, "Huai'guang sent Daxi Chengjun to fire Ganling and made me his man inside to threaten the emperor." Zhen laid the plot bare and urged the emperor to withdraw to Liangzhou. The emperor told Zhen to ready the defenses, but before the order was complete he slipped out the west gate and left Dai Xiuyan to hold Fengtian. Huai'guang sent Meng Tingbao, Hui Jingshou, and Sun Fu with light horse toward the southern hills; Zhang Zeng, the supply officer, ran into them. The three conspired: "We are already marked as traitors. Better to drag our feet—at worst he stops using us." They had Zeng trick the men: "Grain lies just ahead to the east." Tingbao led them east and let them loot freely while the court party escaped into Luogu Valley. They failed to catch the emperor. They returned and told Huai'guang, who in rage stripped them of command. Huai'guang then took over Li Jianhui's and Yang Huiyuan's forces and encamped at Haozhi, but his men slowly fell away. Zhu Ci had once feared him; now he wanted Huai'guang to submit. Huai'guang raged, broke with him, grew more unsettled, marched to ravage Jingyang, Sanyuan, and Fuping, then moved on Hezhong, leaving Zhang Xin at Xianyang. Meng She and Duan Weiyong meanwhile surrendered to Li Sheng; Han Yougui killed Zhang Xin and brought Bin back to the throne. Dai Xiuyan, magistrate of Fengtian, announced to the troops: "Huai'guang has turned traitor." The garrison then walled the city and stood on the defense.

有詔以懷光為太子太保，許其麾下擇功高者一人統其兵。不奉詔。懷光至河中，取同、絳二州，按兵觀望。京師平，命給事中孔巢父、中人啖守盈召之，皆為懷光帳下所害，於是繕兵嚴守。帝乃遣渾瑊討之。度支欲罷其軍歲中稟賜，帝曰：「朔方軍累有功，豈以懷光拒命而眾不被恩邪？」詔所司別貯縑錢，須事定乃給。瑊破同州，屯軍不得進，數為懷光所衄。帝以河東節度使馬燧威名白著，乃拜副元帥，與瑊及鎮國駱元光、邠寧韓遊瑰、鄜坊唐朝臣會兵進討。燧拔絳州，諸軍遂圍河中。

The court named him Grand Mentor of the Crown Prince and allowed him to choose one accomplished subordinate to take command of his army. He refused the order. Huai'guang withdrew to Hezhong, seized Tong and Jiang, and camped his forces in watchful waiting. After the capital was secured, the emperor sent Supervising Secretary Kong Chaofu and the eunuch Dan Shouying to summon him. Huai'guang's camp had them killed; he then rearmed his men and shut the gates. The emperor then sent Hun Jian against him. The Revenue Board wanted to suspend the Shuofang troops' mid-year stipends. The emperor said, "That army has served the throne again and again—are its soldiers to lose their pay because Huai'guang rebels?" He ordered the ministries to set silk and cash aside in a separate fund and pay only once the crisis ended. Jian captured Tongzhou, yet his stalled camp could not push forward and was beaten back again and again. Ma Sui of Hedong was famed across the realm, so the emperor made him deputy commander-in-chief. He marched with Jian, Luo Yuanguang of Zhenguo, Han Yougui of Binning, and Tang Zhaochen of Zhengfang to press the campaign. Sui took Jiangzhou, and the combined hosts closed on Hezhong.

貞元元年八月，朔方部將牛名俊斬懷光，傳首以獻，年五十七。帝念其功，詔許一子嗣，賜莊、第各一區，聽以禮葬，妻王徙澧州。初，懷光死，其子隹盡殺其弟乃死，故懷光無後。五年，詔曰：「懷舊念功，仁之大也；興滅繼絕，義之至也。昔蔡叔圯族，周封其子；韓信幹紀，漢爵其孥；侯君集不率，太宗存其祀。考先王之道，烈祖之訓，皆以刑佐德，俾人向方。曩者盜臣竊發，朕狩近郊，懷光夙駕千里，奔命行在，假雷霆之威，破虎狼之眾。守節靡終，潛構禍胎，大戮所加，自貽伊戚，孤魂無歸，懷之恍然。宜以外孫燕賜姓李，名曰承緒，以左衛率府胄曹參軍繼懷光後。」乃賜錢百萬，置田墓側，以備祭享；還妻王，使就養雲。陳少遊陳少遊，博州博平人。幼習老子、莊周書，為崇玄生，諸儒推為都講。有冒者欲對廣眾切問以屈少遊。及升坐，音吐清辯，據引淹該，問窮而對有餘。大學士陳希烈高其能。既擢第，補南平令，治有聲。累遷侍御史、回紇糧料使，加檢校職方員外郎充使。檢校郎官自少遊始。仆固懷恩表署河北副元帥判官，遷晉、鄭二州刺史。

In the eighth month of Zhenyuan 1, the Shuofang officer Niu Mingjun killed Huai'guang and presented his head. He was fifty-seven. Mindful of past service, the emperor allowed one son to inherit, granted a manor and a mansion, permitted a state funeral, and sent his wife Wang to Lizhou. Before this, when Huai'guang fell, his son Wei had murdered every younger brother and then died himself, leaving the line extinct. In the fifth year an edict declared, "To honor old service and recall merit is the crown of benevolence; to raise the fallen house and continue the severed line is the summit of righteousness. When Zhou wiped out Uncle Cai's house, it still enfeoffed his son; when Han Xin broke the statutes, Han ennobled his family; when Hou Junji rebelled, Taizong kept his line on the altars. The ways of the ancient kings and the teaching of our founding emperors all joined punishment to virtue so men would face the right path. When treason broke out and We withdrew to hunt the near suburbs, Huai'guang raced a thousand li at first light to the mobile court and, in thunder's fury, broke a wolfish rebel host. He could not keep faith to the end, secretly nursed rebellion, and when the great sentence fell brought grief on himself alone. His shade wanders homeless; We cannot recall him without a haze of sorrow. Let his grandson-by-marriage Yan take the surname Li and the name Chengxu, and as Army Aide in the Left Guard office succeed to Huai'guang's house." A million cash was granted, fields set beside his tomb for sacrifice; his wife Wang was returned to a life of sheltered support. Chen Shaoyou was a man of Boping in Bozhou. As a youth he mastered Laozi and Zhuangzi, entered the Chongxuan academy, and the Confucians made him head lecturer. A swaggering scholar meant to corner him with sharp questions before a great assembly. Once seated, his voice rang clear and his citations ran deep; his challengers were exhausted while his replies still had margin. Grand Academician Chen Xilie held his ability in high regard. After taking his degree he was appointed magistrate of Nanping, where his rule won praise. He rose through Attending Censor and Uyghur grain commissioner to Acting Director of the Bureau of Appointments while on embassy. The custom of acting Secretariat directors began with Shaoyou. Pugu Huai'en named him judge to the Hebei deputy command; he later governed Jin and Zheng.

少遊長權變，所至一切幹濟，賄謝權幸，以是數遷。李抱玉表澤潞副使，為陳鄭留後。永泰中，復奏為隴右行軍司馬，擢桂管觀察使。少遊不樂遠去，規徙近鎮。時宦官董秀有寵，掌樞近，少遊乃宿其裏，候歸沐，入謁，因鄙語諂謂秀曰：「七郎親屬幾何？月費幾何？」秀謝曰：「族甚大，歲用常過百萬。」少遊曰：「審如是，奉入不足為數日費，當數外營乃辦耳。吾雖不才，請獨取濟，歲輸錢五千萬。今具其半，請先入之。」秀大喜，與厚相結。少遊因泣曰：「嶺南瘴癘，恐不得生還見顏色。」秀遽曰：「公美才，不當遠出，請少待。」時少遊已納賂元載子仲武，於是內外更薦之，改宣歙池觀察使。大歷五年，徙浙東，封潁川縣子，遷淮南節度使。

Shaoyou was skilled in shifts of fortune; in every post he made affairs run and paid off the powerful, and so climbed from office to office. Li Baoyu nominated him Ze-Lu deputy commissioner; he served as Chen-Zheng acting governor. In the Yongtai period he was named Longyou campaign staff officer and then Guilin intendant. Shaoyou hated exile to the far south and plotted a transfer to a nearer post. The eunuch Dong Xiu then held the emperor's ear. Shaoyou stayed in his quarter, caught him after his bath, and in blunt flattery asked, "Seventh Lord, how large is your clan? What does a month cost you?" Xiu demurred, "The family is vast; yearly expenses often pass a million." Shaoyou said, "Then your stipend will not last a week—you must raise money on the side. I am no great man, but I can keep you supplied—fifty million cash a year. Half is ready now; please take it first." Xiu was delighted and tied himself to Shaoyou in close alliance. Shaoyou wept, "Lingnan's pestilence—I may never come back alive to see you." Xiu said at once, "A man of your gifts should not be sent so far—wait awhile." He had already paid Yuan Zai's son Zhongwu; with inside and outside recommendation he was shifted to Xuan-She-Chi intendant. In Dali 5 he was transferred to Zhedong, enfeoffed Viscount of Yingchuan, and made Huainan commissioner.

喜譎數，行小惠，群吏任職。三總藩，皆天下富饒處，以是斂求貿易無虛日，積財寶巨億萬。初結元載，賂金帛歲無慮十萬緡；又事宦官駱奉先、劉清潭、吳承倩及秀，故能久其任。後載以過見疑，少遊亦疏之。載子伯和謫揚州，少遊陽善之，陰奏其罪，代宗以為忠。建中初，朝廷經費不充，始請本道稅錢千增二百，鹽鬥加百錢，度支因請諸道並增焉。李納拒命，少遊出師收徐、海等州，俄棄之，退屯盱眙。累進檢校尚書左僕射，賜封戶三百，加同中書門下平章事。時宰相關播、盧杞與少遊有雅故，故驟兼臺司。

He delighted in schemes and petty favors and let his clerks handle their posts. Three times he governed the richest circuits in the realm; tolls and trade never rested, and his treasure mounted to hundreds of millions. He first courted Yuan Zai with yearly gifts of gold and silk worth at least a hundred thousand strings; he also served the eunuchs Luo Fengxian, Liu Qingtan, Wu Chengqian, and Xiu, and so kept his post for years. When Zai later fell under suspicion, Shaoyou drew away as well. Zai's son Bohe was exiled to Yangzhou; Shaoyou played the friend while denouncing him in secret, and Daizong read it as loyalty. Early in Jianzhong the treasury ran dry; this circuit was first told to add two hundred per thousand in tax and a hundred cash per peck of salt, and the Revenue Board soon demanded the same everywhere. When Li Na rebelled, Shaoyou marched to retake Xu, Hai, and neighboring prefectures, then dropped them and fell back on Xuyi. He rose to Acting Minister of the Left, received three hundred fief households, and was made Associate Director of the Department of State Affairs. Chancellors Guan Bo and Lu Qi were his intimates, and so he suddenly held a seat in the central government too.

德宗幸奉天，度支汴東兩稅使包佶寓揚州，所儲財賦八百萬緡將輸京師，少遊意朱泚勢盛，不遽平，欲肋取其財，使判官崔䪻就佶索文簿，貸二百萬緡。佶以非敕命，拒之。䪻怒曰：「君善，得為劉長卿；不爾，為崔眾矣！」長卿嘗任租庸使，為吳仲孺所囚，崔眾以倨李光弼被殺，故䪻以為言。佶謁少遊，欲諫止，不得語，即遣去，於是財用悉為少遊所掠。佶奔白沙，少遊遣幕中房孺復召之。佶驚走度江，伏妻子案牘中以免。佶有禦遏兵三千，令高越、元甫將焉，少遊奪之。能隨佶者，至上元，復為韓滉所留。佶但諸史如江、鄂州，以表內蠟丸以聞。會少遊使至，帝詰其事，辭以不知。時禍難煽結，帝未能制，乃曰：「少遊，國守臣，取佶之財，防它盜耳，庸何傷！」遠近聞之，咸稱帝得其機雲。少遊聞之，果自安不疑。

When Dezong withdrew to Fengtian, Bao Jie, commissioner for Bian and eastern dual-tax revenues, lay at Yangzhou with eight million strings bound for the capital. Shaoyou judged Zhu Ci too strong to fall quickly and meant to seize the hoard; he sent his judge Cui Bei to demand Jie's books and "borrow" two million strings. Jie refused—there was no edict. Bei snarled, "Behave, and you may end like Liu Changqing; misbehave, and you will be Cui Zhong! Changqing had been Rent and Corvée commissioner and was jailed by Wu Zhongru; Cui Zhong was executed for defying Li Guangbi—hence the threat. Jie came to plead and could not speak; he was dismissed, and every coin went to Shaoyou. Jie fled to Baisha; Shaoyou sent Fang Rufu of his staff to fetch him. Jie ran across the river in terror and hid wife and children among the document chests to slip away. Jie's three thousand blocking troops under Gao Yue and Yuanfu were taken over by Shaoyou. The handful who stayed with Jie reached Shangyuan and were held again by Han Huang. Jie sent only minor clerks to Jiang and E prefectures, smuggling memorials in wax pellets. When Shaoyou's messenger came, the emperor asked after the seizure and was told Shaoyou knew nothing of it. Rebellion was spreading and the throne could not yet curb him, so the emperor said, "Shaoyou guards the state; taking Jie's funds only keeps them from worse thieves—what injury is there?" Men near and far heard it and praised the emperor for seizing the moment with subtle judgment. Shaoyou heard the words and took comfort, suspecting nothing.

李希烈陷汴，聲言襲江淮。少遊懼，遣參謀溫述送款曰：「豪、壽、舒、廬，既韜刃卷鎧，惟君命。」又使巡官趙詵如鄆州，厚結李納。希烈僭號，遣將楊豐賫偽赦令送少遊。壽州刺史張建封邏得之，斬豐，以偽赦送行在。會佶入朝，具言少遊脅財賦狀。少遊慚，上表言所取以贍軍興，請償之。而州府殘破，不能償，乃與腹心吏設法重稅，民皆苦之。劉洽取汴州，得希烈偽起居註，書「某月日，陳少遊上表歸順。」少遊聞，羞悸發病死，年六十一，贈太尉。

Li Xilie seized Bian and threatened to sweep the Jiang-Huai. Shaoyou, afraid, sent staff officer Wen Shu with surrender: "Hao, Shou, Shu, and Lu have sheathed sword and stowed armor—we wait only on your command." He also sent touring officer Zhao Shen to Yanzhou to buy Li Na with heavy gifts. Xilie took the imperial title and sent Yang Feng with a forged amnesty for Shaoyou. Shou prefect Zhang Jianfeng caught him on patrol, killed Feng, and forwarded the forged amnesty to the mobile court. When Jie reached court he laid out how Shaoyou had extorted the treasury. Ashamed, Shaoyou memorialized that the money had gone to the war effort and offered repayment. The circuit lay in ruins and could not pay; he and his trusted clerks invented crushing levies until the people groaned. Liu Qia took Bianzhou and found Xilie's forged court diary, which read, "On such-and-such a day Chen Shaoyou memorialized his submission." When word reached him, shame and dread killed him at sixty-one; he was posthumously made Grand Marshal.

贊曰：懷恩與賊百戰，闔宗死事至四十六人，遂汛掃燕、趙無餘埃，功高威重，不能防患，凶德根於心，弗得其所輒發，果於犯上，惜哉！其母拔刀逐賊，烈婦人也。懷光提萬眾，振天子於難，一為讒人所沮，忿戾不自還，身首殊分，然讒人亦可疾矣，所謂「交亂四國」者也。李锜李锜，淄川王孝同五世孫。以父國貞蔭調鳳翔府參軍。貞元初，遷至宗正少卿。嘗與卿李幹爭議，锜以直不坐，德宗兩置之。自雅王傅出為杭、湖二州刺史。方李齊運用事，锜以賂結其歡，居三歲，遷潤州刺史、浙西觀察、諸道鹽鐵轉運使。多積奇寶，歲時奉獻，德宗昵之。锜因恃恩驁橫，天下攉酒漕運，锜得專之，故朝廷用事臣，锜以利交，餘皆乾沒於私，國計日耗。浙西布衣崔善貞上書闕下暴其罪，帝械以賜锜；锜豫浚大坎，至則並械瘞坎中，聞者切齒。

The appraisal runs: Huai'en battled rebels a hundred times; forty-six of his clan died in the cause; he scoured Yan and Zhao clean. Such merit, such weight—and still he could not ward off ruin. Cruelty rooted in his heart; denied his will, he struck upward. A pity! His mother seized a knife and chased the foe—a heroine in her own right. Huai'guang led ten thousand men and pulled the emperor from peril; one whisper from court turned his fury inward until he could not retreat; head and trunk were parted—yet those who whispered deserve blame as well. As the saying has it, they "threw four realms into turmoil." Li Qi was a fifth-generation descendant of Prince Xiaotong of Zichuan. Through his father Guozhen's yin privilege he entered service as an officer at Fengxiang. Early in Zhenyuan he became Vice Director of the Imperial Clan. He once quarreled with Court Gentleman Li Gan; Qi's bluntness went unpunished, and Dezong dropped the case twice. Leaving the tutorship of the Prince of Ya, he governed Hang and Hu. While Li Qiyun ruled the inner court, Qi bought his goodwill; in three years he was Runzhou prefect, Zhexi intendant, and commissioner of salt, iron, and transport for all circuits. He hoarded curios and sent them as seasonal tribute; Dezong grew fond of him. Drunk on favor, he turned arrogant; the realm's wine monopoly and canal transport passed wholly into his hands. Ministers in power traded profit with him; the rest he skimmed, and the treasury thinned day by day. A Zhexi commoner, Cui Shanzhen, petitioned at the palace gate to expose his crimes; the emperor had him shackled and handed over to Qi; Qi had already dug a deep pit; when Cui arrived he was buried in his chains, and listeners ground their teeth in rage.

锜得志，無所憚，圖久安計，乃益募兵，選善射者為一屯，號「挽硬隨身」，以胡、奚雜類虬須者為一將，號「蕃落健兒」，皆锜腹心，稟給十倍，使號锜為假父，故樂為其用。帝於是復鎮海軍，以锜為節度使，罷領鹽鐵轉運。锜喜得節，而忘其權去，暴踞日甚，屬吏死不以過甚眾；又逼汙良家，寮佐力諫不能得，遽遁去。

Secure in power and afraid of nothing, he planned for the long term: he raised more troops, formed a corps of crack archers called "Draw-Hard Personal Guard," and another of Hu and Xi men with fierce beards called "Frontier Braves"—all his creatures, paid tenfold, taught to call him foster father, and glad to obey. The court then restored the Zhenhai army, made Qi its commissioner, and stripped him of the transport post. Delighted with his new commission, Qi forgot that real power was slipping away. His tyranny deepened by the day, and he executed subordinates on slight pretexts until the toll was enormous. He preyed on respectable households as well. His aides pleaded with all their strength and gained nothing, then fled overnight.

憲宗即位，不假借方鎮，故倔強者稍稍入朝。锜不自安，亦三請覲。有詔拜尚書左僕射，以御史大夫李元素代之。中使馳驛勞問，兼撫慰其軍。锜署判官王淡為留後。锜無入朝意，稱疾遷延不即行。淡及中使數趣之，锜不悅，乘淡視事有所變更者，諷親兵圖淡。因給冬服，锜坐幄中，以挽硬、蕃落自衛，淡與中使入謁，既出，眾持刃謾罵，殺淡食之。監軍使遣牙將趙琦慰諭，又食之。以兵註中使頸，锜陽驚扈解，乃囚別館。蕃落兵，薛頡主之；挽硬兵，李鈞主之。又以公孫玠、韓運分總餘軍。室五劍，授管內鎮將，令殺五州刺史。屬別將庾伯良兵三千築石頭城，謀據江左。

Xianzong's accession brought no more indulgence for recalcitrant governors, and the stiff-necked among them began drifting back to court. Uneasy, Qi asked three times to be received at court. An edict named him Minister of the Left and sent Censor-in-Chief Li Yuansu to replace him. A palace envoy raced the post roads with greetings and orders to reassure the army. Qi named his chief judge Wang Dan acting commissioner. Qi had no intention of going to the capital. He pleaded illness and lingered. Dan and the envoy pressed him again and again until Qi grew angry. When Dan altered something in the course of business, Qi whispered to his personal guard to plot against him. At the distribution of winter kit Qi sat in his pavilion behind Draw-Hard and Tribal troops. Dan and the envoy came in to pay their respects; once they had left, the men drew steel, cursed them, killed Dan, and devoured his body. The army supervisor sent adjutant Zhao Qi to calm the troops. They killed and ate him as well. Blades were laid to the envoy's throat. Qi pretended alarm, escorted him aside, and then held him prisoner in a guest lodge. The Tribal corps answered to Xue Jie; the Draw-Hard to Li Jun. Gongsun Jie and Han Yun were given joint command of the rest of the army. He kept five swords on hand, gave them to the circuit's garrison commanders, and ordered the five prefects killed. He put deputy commander Yu Bolang in charge of three thousand men to raise Stone City, intending to seize the lower Yangtze.

常州刺史顏防用其客李雲謀，矯詔稱招討副使，殺鎮將李深，傳檄蘇、杭、湖、睦四州同討锜。湖州辛秘亦殺鎮將趙惟忠。而蘇州李素為鎮將姚誌安所執，釘舷上，獻於锜，锜敗而免。

Changzhou prefect Yan Fang took a scheme from his client Li Yun, forged an edict naming himself deputy pacification commissioner, killed garrison commander Li Shen, and called on Su, Hang, Hu, and Mu to march against Qi. In Huzhou, Xin Mi killed garrison commander Zhao Weizhong as well. At Suzhou, Li Su was taken by garrison commander Yao Zhian, nailed to a boat's side, and sent up to Qi. Qi fell before the order could be carried out, and Li Su survived.

憲宗以淮南節度使王鍔為諸道行營兵馬招討處置使，中官薛尚衍為都監招討宣慰使，發宣武、武寧、武昌、淮南、宣歙、江西、浙東兵，自宣、杭、信三州進討。初，锜以宣州富饒，遣四院隨身兵馬使張子良、李奉仙、田少卿領兵三千分下宣、歙、池，锜甥裴行立雖預謀，而欲效順，故相與約還兵執锜，行立應於內。子良等既行，其夕，諭軍中曰：「僕射反矣，精兵四面皆至，常、湖鎮將幹首通衢，勢蹙且敗，吾輩徒死，不如轉禍希福。」部眾大悅，遂回趣城。行立舉火，內外合噪，行立攻牙門。锜大驚，左右曰：「城外兵馬至。」锜曰：「何人邪？」曰：「張中丞也。」锜怒甚，曰：「門外兵何人也？」曰：「裴侍御也。」锜拊膺曰：「行立亦叛吾邪！」跣足逃於女樓下。李鈞引兵三百趨出庭院格鬥，行立兵貫出其中，斬鈞，傳首城下。锜聞之，舉族慟哭。子良以監軍命曉諭城中逆順，且呼锜束身還朝，左右以幕縋而出之。锜以僕射召，數日而反狀至，下詔削官爵，明日而敗，送京師。神策兵自長樂驛護至闕下，帝御興安門問罪，對曰：「張子良教臣反，非臣意也。」帝曰：「爾以宗臣為節度使，不能斬子良然後入朝邪？」锜不能對。以其日與子師回腰斬於城西南，年六十七。屍數日，帝出黃衣二襲，葬以庶人禮。

Xianzong named Huainan commissioner Wang E overall pacification commissioner, made eunuch Xue Shangyan his overseer and consolation envoy, and sent armies from Xuanwu, Wuning, Wuchang, Huainan, Xuan-She, Jiangxi, and Zhedong to close from Xuan, Hang, and Xin. Qi had thought Xuanzhou rich and sent Zhang Ziliang, Li Fengxian, and Tian Shaoqing of his Four-Yard guard with three thousand men into Xuan, She, and Chi. His nephew Pei Xingli had helped plan the revolt but meant to turn loyal, so they agreed to bring the troops back, seize Qi, and let Xingli strike from inside. The night they marched out, Ziliang told the troops: "The Commissioner has rebelled. Crack armies are closing in from every quarter; Chang and Hu have garrison heads on poles in the streets. We're trapped and finished. A pointless death gains nothing—better trade ruin for reward." The men roared approval and wheeled back on the city. Xingli lit signal fires. Inside and out the camp erupted. He stormed the headquarters gate. Qi panicked. Someone at his side said, "Horsemen are outside the walls." "Who?" Qi demanded." "Vice Commissioner Zhang," came the answer." Qi, enraged, asked, "And who stands at the gate?" "Attendant Pei," they said." Qi struck his chest. "Xingli has turned on me as well!" Barefoot, he ran to the women's pavilion below. Li Jun rushed three hundred men into the courtyard to fight. Xingli's soldiers cut through them, took Jun's head, and flung it over the wall. Qi heard the news and his household broke into wailing. By the supervisor's commission Ziliang preached loyalty and treason through the streets and called on Qi to surrender for the capital. His men let him down on ropes from a canopy. He had been summoned as Minister of the Left. Within days his rebellion was reported; an edict stripped his offices. The next day he was broken and sent east to the capital. Shence guards brought him from Changle Post to the palace. The emperor sat at Xing'an Gate to hear his crime. Qi said, "Zhang Ziliang urged me to rebel. It was never my wish." The emperor said, "You were a royal clansman made commissioner. Could you not have killed Ziliang before you came?" Qi had no reply. That day he and Zishi Hui were cut in two at the waist southwest of the walls. He was sixty-seven. Days later the emperor sent two yellow robes, and he was buried as a commoner.

擢子良檢校工部尚書、左金吾將軍，封南陽郡王，賜名奉國；田少卿檢校左散騎常侍、左羽林將軍，代國公；李奉仙檢校右常侍、右羽林將軍，邠國公；裴行立泌州刺史。贈王淡給事中，趙琦和州刺史，崔善貞睦州司馬。削锜屬籍，從弟宋州刺史铦、通事舍人銑、從子師偃流嶺南。

Ziliang was made Acting Minister of Works and general of the Left Golden Guard, enfeoffed Prince of Nanyang, and given the name Fengguo; Tian Shaoqing Acting Left Regular Attendant and Left Forest Guard general, Duke of Dai; Li Fengxian Acting Right Attendant and Right Forest Guard general, Duke of Bin; Pei Xingli was made prefect of Bian. Wang Dan was posthumously honored as Supervising Secretary; Zhao Qi made prefect of He; Cui Shanzhen made aide at Mu. Qi was struck from the imperial genealogy. His cousin Songzhou prefect Qian, Palace Service Officer Qian, and nephew Shiyan were banished to Lingnan.

贊曰：語曰「出入之吝，謂之有司」，賤之也。德宗平朱泚，京師府藏耗竭，諸道始有進奉助經費，而詔書亦往往宣索於天下。以人主規規財利，下行有司之事，天下無事，賦取猶不息。劍南、江西有日月之進，杜亞、劉贊、王緯及锜歲時進奉，以固其寵，號稱「賦外羨餘」。又亦托中旨，以盜庫物。然獻才十二三，餘皆私之。江、淮以南，物力大屈，人人憔然忘生。貞元以後，中官市物都下，謂之「宮市」，不持符牒，口含詔命，取濫縑惡布紅紫之，倍其估，裂以償直。市之良賈精貨，皆逃去不出；列廛闬者，惟粗雜苦窳而已。又有強驅入禁中，罄所車輦，賣者不平，因共歐笞之。蒼頭女奴，名馬工車，惴惴常畏捕取。而德宗蔽於左右前後，莫知也。故善貞因锜並論其事，卒不知锜顓鹽鐵之利，以養兵圖叛，曾不及庸有司之吝遠甚。

The appraisal says: The proverb calls tightfisted bookkeeping "having a clerk's mind"—and means to despise it. When Dezong crushed Zhu Ci, the capital stores were empty. Circuits began sending tribute to cover costs, yet edicts still reached everywhere with fresh demands. Once the throne itself haggled over cash and did a clerk's work, peace brought no pause in exaction. Jiannan and Jiangxi sent monthly gifts. Du Ya, Liu Zan, Wang Wei, and Qi sent seasonal tribute to hold imperial favor, calling it "surplus beyond the levy." They also forged inner-court orders to loot the treasuries. Only a tenth or so ever reached the emperor. The rest they kept. South of the rivers, the land was bled white. Men grew gaunt and forgot what it was to live. After Zhenyuan, eunuchs bought in the capital under the name "palace market." Without documents they spoke edicts from memory, seized cheap, shoddy cloth dyed scarlet and purple, doubled the valuation, and paid by ripping yardage. Honest traders with quality goods vanished from the stalls; only coarse, worthless junk remained in the lanes. Some were driven into the palace and stripped of entire carts. Merchants who resisted were beaten in gangs. Servants, slave girls, prize horses, and craftsmen's wagons—all lived in dread of being taken. Dezong, walled in by attendants, never learned of it. So Shanzhen, in denouncing Qi, spoke of these abuses together, yet never saw that Qi had seized the salt-and-iron monopoly to arm rebellion—a miserliness of petty clerks was nothing beside that.

◎叛臣下李忠臣李忠臣，本董秦也，幽州薊人。少籍軍，以材力奮，事節度使薛楚玉、張守珪、安祿山等，甄勞至折沖郎將。平盧軍先鋒使劉正臣殺偽節度呂知晦，擢秦兵馬使，攻長楊，戰獨山，襲榆關、北平，殺賊將申子貢、榮先欽，執周釗送京師。從正臣赴難，復敗李歸仁、李鹹、白秀芝等。潼關失守，秦整軍北還。奚王阿篤孤初引眾與正臣合，已而紿約皆攻范陽，至後城，夜乘間襲秦。秦接戰，敗之，追奔至溫泉山，禽首領阿布離，斬以釁鼓。至德二載，節度使王玄誌使秦率兵三千自雍奴桴葦絕海，擊賊將石帝廷、烏承洽，轉戰累日，拔魯城、河間、景城，收糧貲以實軍。又與田神功下平原、樂安，禽偽刺史以獻。於是防河招討使李銑承制假秦德州刺史。

◎ Rebellious Ministers, Part Two — Li Zhongchen. Li Zhongchen had been Dong Qin, born in Ji, Youzhou. He entered the ranks young and fought his way up under commissioners Xue Chuyu, Zhang Shougui, An Lushan, and others until merit made him Colonel of the Broken Charge. When Pinglu vanguard Liu Zhengchen killed the puppet commissioner Lü Zhihui, Qin became army commander. He stormed Changyang, fought at Dushan, hit Yuguan and Beiping, killed rebel generals Shen Zigong and Rong Xianqin, and sent Zhou Zhao to the capital in chains. He followed Zhengchen in the crisis and again routed Li Guiren, Li Xian, Bai Xiuzhi, and the rest. When Tong Pass fell, Qin drew the army north. The Xi chieftain Adugu first marched with Zhengchen, then tricked him with talk of a joint strike on Fanyang. At Houcheng he hit Qin's camp in a night gap. Qin met them, broke them, chased to Wenquan Mountain, seized the chieftain Abu Li, and beheaded him to stain the drums. In Zhide 2, Commissioner Wang Xuanzhi sent Qin with three thousand men from Yongnu. They poled rafts of reeds across the sea, struck rebel generals Shi Diting and Wu Chengqia, and fought for days until Lucheng, Hejian, and Jingcheng fell. He seized grain to feed the host. With Tian Shengon he took Pingyuan and Le'an and sent the puppet prefects up as captives. River-Defense pacification commissioner Li Xian then named Qin prefect of De by emergency warrant.

史思明自歸，河南節度使張鎬督秦軍合諸將平河南州縣，與裨將陽惠元破安慶緒將王福德於舒舍，肅宗下詔褒諭，令屯濮州，又徙韋城。從郭子儀圍相州，軍潰，秦至滎陽，破賊將敬釭，取糧艘二百柁以餉汴軍。未幾，授濮州刺史，屯杏園渡。許叔冀以汴下史思明，秦力屈，亦降。思明撫背曰：「始吾有左手，得公今完矣！」與俱寇河陽，秦夜挈五百人冒圍歸李光弼。詔加殿中監，封戶二百，召至京師，賜今氏名，給良馬、甲第。時陜西、神策兩節度使郭英乂、衛伯玉屯陜，故以忠臣為兩軍兵馬使，戰永寧、莎柵，與賊將李感義等數十遇，皆破之。淮西節度使王仲升為賊執，以忠臣為汝、仙、蔡六州節度使，兼安州。合諸軍平東都，進御史大夫。

When Shi Siming submitted, Henan commissioner Zhang Hao led Qin's troops with other commanders to recover Henan's prefectures. With lieutenant Yang Huiyuan he beat An Qingxu's general Wang Fude at Shushe. Suzong praised him by edict and posted him at Pu, then at Weicheng. He followed Guo Ziyi against Xiangzhou; when the army broke, Qin reached Xingyang, killed rebel general Jing Gang, and seized two hundred grain barges for the Bian force. Soon he was named Pu prefect and held Xingyuan Ford. When Xu Shuji faced Shi Siming below Bian, Qin's strength failed and he surrendered as well. Siming clapped his shoulder and said, "I once had only my left hand. With you I am whole again!" They raided Heyang together. Qin slipped five hundred men through the lines by night and rejoined Li Guangbi. An edict made him Palace Supervisor, granted two hundred households, called him to court, gave him the surname he bears today, and rewarded him with fine horses and a house. With Guo Yingyi and Wei Boyu holding Shan for Shaanxi and Shence, Zhongchen commanded both armies. At Yongning and Shazha he fought rebel generals like Li Ganyi dozens of times and won each clash. When Huaixi commissioner Wang Zhongsheng was taken by rebels, Zhongchen was made commissioner of Ru, Xian, Cai, and six neighboring prefectures, with An added. He joined the allied armies that recovered the eastern capital and rose to Censor-in-Chief.

回紇可汗既歸，留其下安恪、石帝廷居河陽守貲廥，因是招亡命為盜，道路畏澀。詔忠臣討定之。吐蕃犯京師，天子追兵，秦方宴鞠場，使者至，即整師引道。諸將白：「須良日。」忠臣怒曰：「君父在難，方擇日救患乎？」時召兵無先忠臣至者。代宗嘉之，加本道觀察使，賚與倍等。

After the Uyghur qaghan went home, his men An Ke and Shi Diting stayed at Heyang guarding depots. They drew deserters into banditry until travel grew perilous. An edict sent Zhongchen to crush them. When Tibet raided the capital the emperor recalled armies. Qin was feasting on the polo ground when the messenger arrived; he formed ranks at once and marched. His officers said, "We must wait for a lucky day." Zhongchen snapped, "The Son of Heaven is in danger, and you would choose a calendar day?" No summoned force reached the throne before his. Daizong praised him, made him intendant of his own circuit as well, and doubled his rewards.

周智光為帳下所殺，忠臣提兵入華州，所過大掠，自赤水距潼關二百里無居人。大歷五年，加蔡州刺史。陜虢李國清為下所逐，掠府庫，國清遍拜諸將乃免。會忠臣入朝，次陜，詔訊於眾。眾懼忠臣，不敢搖，即圍棘，約士投所掠物圍中，一日盡獲。

When Zhou Zhiguang was killed by his own men, Zhongchen marched into Hua and plundered every step. From Chishui to Tong Pass, two hundred li lay empty of inhabitants. In Dali 5 he was named prefect of Cai. Li Guoqing of Shaan-Guo was expelled by his troops, who sacked the treasury. He bowed to each general in turn before they let him live. Zhongchen came to court and halted at Shan. An edict put the matter to the troops. The men feared Zhongchen and would not move. They fenced a thorn ring and swore that anyone who had stolen must throw the goods inside. In a day everything was back.

討李靈耀也，戰西梁固，敗之。復與馬燧軍合，敗賊於汴州。田悅以援兵三萬屯汴郛，忠臣勒裨將李重倩夜率百騎襲之，貫其營而還，殺數十百人。悅間道走，靈耀開城亡去，軍遂潰。以忠臣為汴州刺史，加檢校司空、同中書門下平章事，封西平郡王。

Campaigning against Li Lingyao, he fought at Xilianggu and won. He joined Ma Sui and broke the rebels at Bian. Tian Yue held thirty thousand reinforcements outside Bian. Zhongchen sent lieutenant Li Chongqian with a hundred horsemen to strike by night, run their camp through, and withdraw, killing scores on the way. Yue slipped away by a back road. Lingyao opened the gates and ran. The rebel army dissolved. Zhongchen was named Bian prefect, made Acting Minister of Works and Associate Director of the Department of State Affairs, and enfeoffed Prince of Xiping.

忠臣資婪沓嗜色，將士婦女逼與亂，所至人苦之。以女弟妻張惠光，用為牙將，恃勢殘克。或白忠臣，不之信。又以惠光子居牙下，愈橫肆。十四年，大將李希烈因眾怒，與少將丁暠、賈子華等共斬惠光父子，以兵脅逐忠臣。跳奔京師，帝素寵之，不責也。復授檢校司空、同中書門下平章事，奉朝請。

Zhongchen was greedy, grasping, and lecherous. He took soldiers' wives by force, and every place he touched groaned under him. He married his younger sister to Zhang Huiguang and made him a camp adjutant. Backed by that tie, Huiguang robbed and bullied without mercy. People warned Zhongchen, but he would not believe them. Huiguang's son served on Zhongchen's staff, and grew even more brazen. In the fourteenth year, Li Xilie, the army's senior commander, stirred the men's wrath. With junior officers Ding Hao, Jia Zihua, and others he cut down Huiguang and his son, then drove Zhongchen out at spearpoint. He bolted for the capital. The emperor had always doted on him and let the matter drop. He was restored as Acting Minister of Works, Associate Director of the Department of State Affairs, and a court attendant.

德宗立，散騎常侍張涉以贓得罪，帝怒不赦。涉故侍讀東宮者，忠臣曰：「陛下貴為天子，先生以乏財觸法，非過也。」帝意解，免涉歸田裏。湖南觀察使辛京杲私怒部曲，殺之，有司劾當死。忠臣曰：「京杲應死久矣！」帝問故，對曰：「京杲諸父戰某所死，兄弟戰某所死，渠從行獨得存，以故知之。」帝淒然悟，釋之，下除王傅。

When Dezong took the throne, Imperial Attendant Zhang She was convicted of graft. The emperor was furious and refused mercy. She had once been the crown prince's reader. Zhongchen said, "Your Majesty stands above all men as Son of Heaven. The Master broke the law only because he lacked money—that is no true crime. The emperor's anger cooled. She was spared and sent back to her village. Xin Jinggao, observation commissioner of Hunan, killed a soldier in a private fit of rage. The judicial offices charged him with a capital offense. Zhongchen said, "Jinggao should have been put to death long ago! The emperor asked why. He answered, "Jinggao's uncles fell in battle here, his brothers fell there. Of all who marched, only he came back alive. That is how I know. The emperor grasped it with sorrow and set him free, demoting him to Wang Fu.

忠臣戇直不通書。帝嘗謂：「卿耳大，真貴兆。」對曰：「臣聞驢耳大，龍耳小。」帝喜其野而誠。然既失兵，怫郁不顧藉。朱泚反，偽署司空兼侍中。泚攻奉天，以忠臣居守。泚敗，系有司，與其子俱斬。喬琳喬琳，并州太原人。少孤苦誌學，擢進士第。性誕蕩無禮檢。郭子儀表為朔方府掌書記。與聯舍畢曜相掉訐，貶巴州司戶參軍。歷果、綿、遂、懷四州刺史，治寬簡，不親事。嘗謂錄事參軍任紹業曰：「子綱紀一州，能劾刺史乎？」紹業出條所失示之，驚曰：「能知吾失，御史材也。」

Zhongchen was rough, obstinate, and illiterate. The emperor once told him, "Your ears are large—a sure sign of high fortune. He answered, "I have heard donkeys have large ears and dragons small ones. The emperor was pleased by his rustic candor. But he had lost his command, and brooded in sullen disregard of decorum. When Zhu Ci rose in rebellion, Ci gave him the false titles of Minister of Works and Palace Attendant. When Ci marched on Fengtian, he left Zhongchen to hold Chang'an. When Ci fell, the authorities seized him and beheaded him with his son. Qiao Lin. Qiao Lin came from Taiyuan in Bingzhou. Orphaned and poor in youth, he bent himself to study and passed the jinshi examination. He was reckless, dissolute, and without the least restraint of ritual. Guo Ziyi recommended him as secretary at the Shuofang command. He traded accusations with his barracks-mate Bi Yao and was demoted to registrar of Ba prefecture. He held the prefectures of Guo, Mian, Sui, and Huai in turn. His rule was loose and light; he never troubled himself with the work. He once asked his registrar Ren Shaoye, "You keep order for a whole prefecture. Could you impeach the prefect?" Shaoye produced a written list of his failings. Lin started in alarm. "To know my faults—that is censorate timber."

琳素善蒲人張涉。涉以國子博士侍太子讀，太子即位，召訪政事，不淹日，詔入翰林，遷散騎常侍。薦琳任宰相，乃拜御史大夫、同中書門下平章事。天下矍然駭之。琳年高且聵，每進封失次，所言不厭帝旨，在位閱八旬，以工部尚書罷。帝由是亦疏涉。

Lin had always been close to Zhang She of Puzhou. She served the crown prince as a National University erudite. When the prince took the throne, he was called in to discuss policy. Within days an edict placed him in the Hanlin Academy, then made him Imperial Attendant. He urged Lin for the chancellorship. Lin was made Censor-in-Chief and Associate Director of the Department of State Affairs. The empire was suddenly appalled. Lin was elderly and deaf. His memorials came out of order, and his words never pleased the throne. After eighty days he was removed as Minister of Works. The emperor grew cool toward She as well.

琳從幸奉天，再遷太子少師；進幸梁州，次盩厔，詭言馬殆不進。帝素以舊老禮之，給乘輿馬，辭病力。帝賜所執策曰：「勉為良圖，與卿別矣！」不數日，祝髯發舍仙遊佛廬。泚聞，遣數十騎取之，署吏部尚書，令姻家源休衣以朝服，食以肉，琳亦不辭。士有訴官非便者，琳曰：「子謂此選便乎？」及收京師，李晟憫其老，表貰死。帝曰：「琳，故宰相，失節背義，不可赦。」臨刑嘆曰：「我以七月七日生，以此日死，非命耶？」

Lin followed the emperor to Fengtian and was twice promoted, ending as Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent; When the court pressed on to Liangzhou and stopped at Zhouzhi, he lied that his horse was spent and refused to go farther. The emperor, who had always honored him as an elder, offered a horse from the imperial train. Lin pleaded illness with stubborn force. The emperor handed him the whip he carried and said, "Make what plans you can. This is where we part! A few days later he shaved his beard, unbound his hair, and moved into the Xianyou monastery. Ci heard and sent several dozen riders to seize him. He named him Minister of Personnel, had his kinsman by marriage Yuan Xiu robe him for court, and set meat before him. Lin accepted all of it. When one official protested that his post was wrong, Lin said, "Do you call this selection fitting? After the capital was retaken, Li Sheng pitied his years and petitioned to commute the death sentence. The emperor said, "Lin was a former chancellor. He broke faith and betrayed the throne. He cannot be spared. On the scaffold he sighed, "I was born on the seventh day of the seventh month. To die on this day—is that not destiny?"

時又有蔣鎮者，洌子也，與兄鏈俱以文辭顯。擢賢良方正科，累轉諫議大夫。大歷中，淫雨壞河中鹽池，味苦惡。韓滉判度支，慮減常賦，妄言池生瑞鹽，王德之美祥。代宗疑不然，命鎮馳驛按視。鎮內欲結滉，故實其事，表置祠房，號池曰「寶應靈慶」雲。再進工部侍郎。妹婿源溥者，休弟也，故鎮與休交。泚叛，竄於鄠，傷足不能進。泚先得鏈，而鎮左右逃歸，語所在，源休聞，白泚，以二百騎求得之。知不免，懷刃將自刺，鏈止之。復謀出奔，懦不決。中朝臣遁伏者，休多所誅殺，賴鎮救原十五。初，洌與弟渙在安史時皆汙偽官，鏈兄弟復屈節於賊雲。高駢高駢，字千里，南平郡王崇文孫也。家世禁衛，幼頗修飭，折節為文學，與諸儒交，硁硁譚治道，兩軍中人更稱譽之。事朱叔明為司馬。有二雕並飛，駢曰：「我且貴，當中之。」一發貫二雕焉，眾大驚，號「落雕侍御」。後歷右神策軍都虞候。党項叛，率禁兵萬人戍長武。是時諸將無功，唯駢數用奇，殺獲甚多。懿宗嘉之，徙屯秦州，即拜刺史兼防禦使。取河、渭二州，略定鳳林關，降虜萬餘人。

About the same time there was Jiang Zhen, son of Jiang Li. He and his elder brother Lian were known for their writing. He passed the Exemplary and Direct examination and advanced to remonstrance and policy offices. Under Dali, long rains wrecked the Hezhong salt pools and the brine turned bitter and foul. Han Huang, judging fiscal affairs, feared the regular levy would fall. He falsely reported that the pools had yielded auspicious salt, a blessed sign of royal virtue. Suzong doubted the story and sent Zhen by urgent relay to inspect on the spot. Zhen meant to curry favor with Huang, so he swore the tale true, memorialized for a shrine, and named the pool "Treasured Response, Spiritual Blessing." He was promoted again to Vice Minister of Works. His sister's husband was Yuan Pu, Xiu's younger brother, so Zhen was on close terms with Xiu. When Ci rebelled, he hid out in E, but a wounded foot kept him from fleeing farther. Ci had already taken Lian. Zhen's servants slipped away, reported his whereabouts, and Xiu told Ci. Two hundred riders were sent and found him. Seeing no escape, he tucked a blade to kill himself. Lian restrained him. They plotted to run once more, but fear would not let them choose. Xiu slaughtered many hidden court officials. Through Zhen's pleas, fifteen were spared. Earlier, Li and his brother Huan had both taken false rebel posts in the An Lushan years, and the Lian brothers had again submitted to the rebels. Gao Pian. Gao Pian, style name Qianli, was grandson of Prince Nanping, Gao Chongwen. His house had long served in the palace guards. As a youth he was strict with himself, turned to letters, kept company with scholars, lectured stubbornly on statecraft, and men in both armies praised him without end. He served Zhu Shuming as army secretary. Two hawks flew side by side. Pian said, "I am soon to be exalted. I shall hit the one between. One arrow ran through both. The company was thunderstruck and named him Falling-Hawk Attendant. He later became chief adjutant of the Right Divine Strategy Army. When the Tangut rose, he led ten thousand palace troops to hold Changwu. Other generals won nothing, but Pian again and again struck by stratagem and piled up kills and captives. Yizong was pleased, shifted his camp to Qinzhou, and at once named him prefect and defense commissioner. He seized He and Wei prefectures, roughly pacified Fenglin Pass, and accepted the surrender of more than ten thousand men.

咸通中，帝將復安南，拜駢為都護，召還京師，見靈臺殿。於是容管經略使張茵不討賊，更以茵兵授駢。駢過江，約監軍李維周繼進。維周擁眾壁海門，駢次峰州，大破南詔蠻，收所獲贍軍。維周忌之，匿捷書不奏。朝廷不知駢問百餘日，詔問狀。維周劾駢玩敵不進，更命右武衛將軍王晏權往代駢。俄而駢拔安南，斬蠻帥段酋遷，降附諸洞二萬計。晏權方挾維周發海門，檄駢北歸。而駢遣王惠贊傳酋遷首京師，見艟艫甚盛，乃晏權等，惠贊懼奪其書，匿島中，間關至京師。天子覽書，禦宣政殿，群臣皆賀，大赦天下。進駢檢校刑部尚書，仍鎮安南，以都護府為靜海軍，授駢節度，兼諸道行營招討使。始築安南城。由安南至廣州，江漕梗險，多巨石，駢募工刂治，由是舟濟安行，儲餉畢給。又使者歲至，乃鑿道五所，置兵護送。其徑青石者，或傳馬援所不能治。既攻之，有震碎其石，乃得通，因名道曰「天威」雲。加檢校尚書右僕射。

In Xiantong, when the throne planned to recover Annan, Pian was made Protector-General, recalled to the capital, and received at Lingtai Hall. Zhang Yin, frontier commissioner of Rongguan, would not hunt the rebels, so his troops were transferred to Pian. Pian crossed the river and arranged for Military Commissioner Li Weizhou to come after him. Weizhou camped his men behind the seawall at Haimen. Pian stopped at Fengzhou, broke the Nanzhao tribes, and used the booty to supply the army. Weizhou resented him and suppressed the victory reports. For over a hundred days the court heard nothing and sent orders asking for a report. Weizhou charged Pian with dallying before the enemy and refusing to advance. The court named Right Martial Guard General Wang Yanquan to replace him. Before long Pian recovered Annan, beheaded the tribal chief Duan Qiuchuan, and tallied some twenty thousand cave settlements that came in. Yanquan was only just leaving Haimen with Weizhou when a dispatch ordered Pian back north. Pian had already sent Wang Huizan with Qiuchuan's head to the capital. Huizan saw a vast line of warships and knew it was Yanquan. Afraid they would take his papers, he hid on an island and at last reached the capital by a desperate route. The Son of Heaven read the memorial in Xuanzheng Hall. The ministers all offered felicitations, and a great amnesty was proclaimed. Pian was made Acting Minister of Justice and kept at Annan. The protectorate became the Jinghai Army. He received the command seal as military commissioner and overall expedition commander. He built the city of Annan for the first time. From Annan to Guangzhou the river route was treacherous and choked with boulders. Pian hired workers to cut them, so boats could run safely and supplies flowed without fail. Because imperial envoys came every year, he cut five roads and stationed soldiers to guard each. On one stretch of blue stone, tradition said even Ma Yuan had failed to clear it. When he attacked it, thunder shattered the stone and a way opened. He named the road "Heaven's Might." He was further made Acting Right Vice Minister of Works.

駢之戰，其從孫潯常先鋒冒矢石以勸士。駢徙節天平，薦潯自代，詔拜交州節度使。僖宗立，即其軍加同中書門下平章事。

In battle his nephew Sun Xun often took the van, braving arrows and stones to steel the men. When Pian moved to the Pingping command, he urged Xun as his successor. An edict made Xun military commissioner of Jiaozhou. When Xizong took the throne, he was made Associate Director of the Department of State Affairs while keeping his army.

南詔寇巂州，掠成都，徙駢劍南西川節度，乘傳詣軍。及劍門，下令開城，縱民出入。左右諫：「寇在近，脫大掠，不可悔。」駢曰：「屬吾在安南破賊三十萬，驃信聞我至，尚敢邪！」當是時，蠻攻雅州，壁廬山，聞駢至，亟解去。駢即移檄驃信，勒兵從之。驃信大懼，送質子入朝，約不敢寇。

Nanzhao attacked Xi and looted Chengdu. Pian was shifted to military commissioner of Jiannan West Circuit and rode post-haste to join the army. At Jianmen he ordered the gates opened and let the people pass in and out. His staff warned, "The raiders are close. If they sack the city, there will be no undoing it. Pian said, "In Annan I smashed three hundred thousand rebels. When Biaoxin hears I am here, will he still dare mischief!" Just then the tribes were pressing Ya and had walled up on Mount Lu. When word came that Pian was near, they broke camp at once. Pian immediately sent a summons to Biaoxin and drove the army in pursuit. Biaoxin was terrified, sent a royal hostage to court, and swore not to raid again.

蜀有突將，分左右二廂，廂有虞候，詰火督盜賊，有兵馬虞候，主調發。駢罷其一，各置一虞候。又以蜀兵孱，詔蠻新定，人未安業，罷突將月稟並餐錢，約曰：「府庫完，當如舊。」又團練兵戰者，厚其衣稟；不團練者，但掌文書、倉庫，衣稟減焉。駢曰：「皆王卒，命均之。」戰士大望。於時天平、昭義、義成戍軍合蜀兵凡六萬。駢之自將出屯也，突將亂，乘門以入，駢匿於圊，求不得。天平軍聞變，其校張桀以士五百格戰，不勝。監軍慰撫之，皆曰：「州雖更蠻亂，戶口尚完，府庫方實，公削軍稟以自養，不堪其虐，故亂。」監軍懼，講解之。取役夫數百，名叛卒，藉斬其首，乃定。駢徐出，以金帛厚賞士，開府庫悉還其衣稟。然密籍所給姓名，夜遣牙將擊殺之，夷其族，雖孕者不貰，投屍於江。有一婦方踞而乳子，將就刑，媼傷之，疑其畏死，謂曰：「以子丐我，一詣曹司也。」婦蹶起曰：「我知之，且飽吾子，不可使以饑就戮也。」見刑者拜曰：「渠有節度使奪戰士食，一日忿怒，淫刑以逞，國家法令何有也？我死當訴於天，使此賊闔門如今日冤也！」逮死，神色晏然。蜀人聞者為垂泣。駢復錄突將戍還者，丸名貯器中，意不懌，則探之，或十或五，授將李敬全斬決。親吏王殷說駢曰：「突將在行者，初不知謀，公當赦之。」駢悅，投丸池中，人乃安。

Shu kept crack troops in left and right wings. Each wing had a duty officer to watch fires and hunt thieves, and a horse-and-arms officer to handle mobilization. Pian abolished one wing and placed one duty officer over each side. Again, because Shu forces were depleted and the court had only just pacified the tribes, the people had not yet returned to their trades. He cut the shock troops monthly pay and meal allowance, promising: "When the treasury is whole again, pay will be restored. He also gave heavier clothing allotments to militia who saw combat; those who did not drill, and only kept papers and warehouses, had their allotments cut. Pian said, "They are all the king's soldiers—share alike. The fighters were bitterly let down. At that time the Tianping, Zhaoyi, and Yicheng garrisons together with Shu troops numbered sixty thousand in all. When Pian led the army out to camp in person, the shock troops rioted, forced the gates, and Pian hid in the latrine—they could not find him. The Tianping troops heard the uproar. Their officer Zhang Jie took five hundred men to meet them in battle and was beaten. The army supervisor tried to calm them. They said, "The prefecture has seen tribal raids again and again, yet households remain and the treasury is still stocked. You shaved army pay to feed yourself—we cannot endure such abuse, and so we rose. The supervisor was afraid and talked them into standing down. He seized several hundred laborers, called them mutineers, and beheaded them on that pretext; only then did calm return. Pian came out at last, heaped gold and silk on the men, opened the treasury, and paid back every clothing allotment. Yet he secretly listed every name that had taken payment, and at night sent adjutants to strike them down and wipe out their families—even women with child were not spared—and threw the corpses into the river. One woman was squatting to nurse her child when the execution came. An old woman pitied her, thinking she clung to life, and said, "Give me the boy—I will plead once before the magistrate. The woman leapt up and said, "I know. Let me feed my child first—I will not send him to the blade hungry." She bowed to the headsman and said, "That creature is a commissioner who stole the soldiers food. In one days rage he poured out obscene punishments—where are the laws of the realm? When I die I will accuse him before Heaven, that this villain's whole clan may know today's wrong!" When she died, her face was calm. All who heard it in Shu wept. Pian again registered shock troops returning from garrison, rolled their names into balls in a jar, and when his mood turned foul would draw out ten or five and hand them to Li Jingquan to behead. His close clerk Wang Yin urged him, "The shock troops still in the field knew nothing of the plot at first—you should spare them. Pian was pleased, cast the balls into a pool, and the men were reassured.

蜀之土惡，成都城歲壞，駢易以磚甓，陴堞完新，負城丘陵悉墾平之，以便農桑。訖功，筮之得《大畜》。駢曰：「畜者，養也。濟以剛健篤實，輝光日新，吉孰大焉！文宜去下存上。」因名大玄城。進檢校司徒，封燕國公，徙荊南節度。

Shu soil was treacherous and Chengdus walls crumbled every year. Pian rebuilt them in brick, making parapets whole and new, and leveled every hillock by the walls for farming. When the work was done, divination gave the hexagram Great Taming. Pian said, "To tame is to nourish. Joined with firm strength, sincerity, and weight, brilliance renewed day by day—what blessing could be greater! In the character wen, take away what is below and keep what is above. He therefore named it the Great Mystery City. He was made Acting Minister of Works, enfeoffed Duke of Yan, and moved to the Jingnan command.

梁纘者，本以昭義兵西戍，駢表隸麾下。王仙芝之敗，殘黨過江，帝以駢治鄆威化大行，且仙芝黨皆鄆人，故授駢鎮海節度使。駢遣將張潾與纘分兵窮討，降其驍帥畢師鐸數十人，賊走嶺表。帝美其功，加諸道行營都統、鹽鐵轉運等使。又詔駢料官軍義營鄉團，歸其老弱傷夷，裁制軍食；刺史以下小罪輒罰，大罪以聞。賊更推黃巢南陷廣州，駢建遣潾以兵五千屯郴扼賊西路，留後王重任以兵八千並海進援循、潮，自將萬人繇大庾擊賊廣州，且請起荊南王鐸兵三萬壁桂、永，以邕管兵五千壁端州，則賊無遺類。帝納其策，而駢卒不行。

Liang Zuan had come west with Zhaoyi troops on garrison duty. Pian memorialized to place him under his command. After Wang Xianzhi was broken, remnant bands crossed the river. The emperor, seeing how Pian's rule at Yan had spread reform far and wide, and that Xianzhi's partisans were all men of Yan, made Pian military commissioner of Zhenhai. Pian sent Zhang Lin and Zuan with split columns in relentless pursuit, accepting the surrender of dozens of their fiercest chiefs, among them Bi Shiduo; the rebels fled beyond the passes into Lingnan. The emperor praised his merit and added overall expedition commander and salt-and-iron transport commissioner. He also ordered Pian to review government troops, volunteer camps, and local militias, send home the aged, weak, and wounded, and trim army rations; for prefects and below, minor crimes he might punish at once; major ones he was to report. The rebels then set up Huang Chao, who marched south and took Guangzhou. Pian proposed sending Lin with five thousand to hold Chen and choke the western road, deputy Wang Zhongren with eight thousand along the coast to relieve Xun and Chao, and himself leading ten thousand through Dayu to strike Guangzhou—while asking Wang Duo in Jingnan to raise thirty thousand to fortify Gui and Yong and five thousand Yongguan troops to hold Duanzhou, so that no rebel would escape. The emperor accepted the plan, but Pian never moved.

俄徙淮南節度副大使。駢繕完城壘，募軍及土客，得銳士七萬，乃傳檄召天下兵共討賊，威震一時，天子倚以為重。廣明初，潾破賊大雲倉，詐降巢。巢不意其襲，遂大奔，引殘黨壁上饒，然眾亡幾。會疫癘起，人死亡，潾進擊之，巢大懼，以金啖潾，騰書於駢，丐歸命。駢信之，許為求節度。當此時，昭義、武寧、義武兵數萬赴淮南，駢欲專己功，即奏賊已破，不須大兵。有詔班師。巢知兵罷，即絕駢請戰，擊殺潾，乘勝度江攻天長。

Soon he was shifted to deputy military commissioner of Huainan. Pian repaired walls and ramparts, recruited soldiers and locals, and raised seventy thousand crack troops. He then issued proclamations summoning armies from across the realm to join in suppressing the rebels. His prestige shook the age, and the Son of Heaven leaned on him as a pillar. Early in the Guangming era, Lin smashed the rebels at Great Cloud Granary and pretended to surrender to Chao. Chao did not expect the ambush and broke into flight, leading the remnant host to hold the heights at Shangrao, but his force was nearly spent. Plague broke out and men died in heaps. Lin pressed the attack. Chao was terrified, stuffed Lin with gold, and sent a swift letter to Pian begging to submit. Pian believed him and promised to seek a command seal on his behalf. Just then tens of thousands from Zhaoyi, Wuning, and Yiwu were marching to Huainan. Pian wanted the glory for himself alone and memorialized that the rebels were already broken and no great force was needed. An edict ordered the armies to withdraw. Chao learned the armies had stood down, broke off his plea to Pian, resumed fighting, killed Lin, and in victory crossed the river to attack Tianchang.

始，巢在廣州，求天平節度，宰相廬攜善駢，以有討賊功，不肯赦巢，與鄭畋爭於朝，故巢怨不得節度。而駢聞議不一，亦不平，至是欲縱賊以聳朝廷，然後立功。畢師鐸諫曰：「朝廷所恃，誰易於公？制賊要害，莫先淮南。今不據要津以滅賊，使得北度，必亂中原。」駢矍然，下令將出師。嬖將呂用之畏師鐸有功，諫曰：「公勛業極矣，賊未殄，朝廷且有口語。況賊平，挾震主之威，安所稅駕？不如觀釁求福，為不朽資也。」駢入其計，托疾未可以出屯，嚴兵保境。巢據滁、和，去廣陵才數百里，乃求援陳許。

At first, when Chao was at Guangzhou he had asked for the Tianping command. Chancellor Lu Xi favored Pian; because Pian had merit in hunting rebels, Xi would not pardon Chao and quarreled with Zheng Yin in court—so Chao nursed a grudge at being denied a seal. Pian heard the court was split and was himself aggrieved. Now he meant to let the rebels swell to frighten the throne, then win fresh merit by crushing them. Bi Shiduo urged him, "On whom does the court lean if not you? To choke the rebels, no ground matters before Huainan. If you do not hold the crossings now and wipe them out, but let them cross north, the heartland will surely fall into chaos. Pian jolted awake and ordered his generals to march. His favorite Lü Yongzhi feared Shiduo's rising credit and urged, "Your merit has reached its peak. If the rebels are not yet destroyed, the court will already murmur against you. And once the rebels are gone, you will hold the awe of a sovereign you yourself rescued—where then will you rein yourself in? Better to watch for chance and hoard blessing, building capital for a name that will not die. Pian took his advice, pleaded illness as reason not to camp out, and kept his border under tight guard. Chao held Chuzhou and Hezhou, only a few hundred li from Guangling, yet still begged aid from Chenxu.

巢逼揚州，眾十五萬。駢將曹全晸以兵五千戰不利，壁泗州以待援，駢兵終不出。賊北趨河洛，天子遣使者促駢討賊，冠蓋相望也。俄而兩京陷，天子猶冀駢立功，眷寄未衰，詔刺史若諸將有功，自監察御史至常侍，許墨制除授。尋進檢校太尉，東面都統，京西、京北神策軍諸道兵馬等使。會二雉雊署寢，占者曰：「軍府將空。」駢惡之，悉兵出營東塘，舟二千艘，戈鎧完銳，日討金鼓，以侈士誌。與浙西節度使周寶檄，欲連和而西，寶大喜。有謂寶：「彼欲並江東為孫策三分計。」寶未之信。俄而駢請寶至軍議事，寶怒，辭疾不出，釁隙遂構。駢屯東塘百日，托以寶及浙東劉漢宏將為不利，乃還，以應其變。

Chao pressed on Yangzhou with a host of one hundred fifty thousand. Pian's general Cao Quanzhen fought with five thousand men and failed, walled up at Sizhou waiting for relief—yet Pian's army never stirred. The rebels drove north toward the Yellow and Luo. The Son of Heaven sent envoy after envoy to hurry Pian to strike—the roads were thick with official coaches. Soon both capitals fell. The emperor still hoped Pian would win merit, and his favor had not cooled. An edict allowed commissioners and generals with merit to appoint men from Secretariat Drafter through Regular Attendant by ink edict. Soon he was made Acting Grand Marshal, Eastern Commander-in-Chief, and commissioner over the Jingxi and Jingbei Shence armies and all circuit troops. Two pheasants crowed in his headquarters bedroom. The diviner said, "The military prefecture will be emptied. Pian hated the omen and moved every soldier to camp at East Bund—two thousand boats, armor complete and sharp, daily drills with gongs and drums to fire the men's hearts. He exchanged proclamations with Zhou Bao, military commissioner of Zhexi, intending to join forces and march west. Bao was overjoyed. Someone told Bao, "He means to swallow Jiangdong in Sun Ce's scheme to split the realm three ways. Bao did not believe it. Soon Pian asked Bao to come to camp for council. Bao was furious, pleaded illness, and would not go; bad blood formed. Pian camped at East Bund a hundred days, then pleaded that Bao and Liu Hanhong of eastern Zhejiang meant him harm and withdrew—to answer whatever turn might come.

帝知駢無出兵意，天下益殆。乃以王鐸代為都統，以崔安潛副之。詔韋昭度領諸道鹽鐵轉運使，加駢侍中，增實戶一百，封渤海郡王。駢失兵柄利權，攘袂大詬，即上書謾言不恭，詆鐸乃敗軍將，而安潛狼貪，有如橈敗，詒千古之悔。又引更始刮席、子嬰軹道事以激帝。帝怒，下詔切責。當此時，王室微，不絕如帶。駢都統三年，無尺寸功，幸國顛沛，大料兵，陰圖割據，一旦失勢，威望頓盡，故肆為醜悖，脅邀天子，冀復故權。而吳人顧雲以文辭緣澤其奸，偃然無所忌畏。又請帝南幸江淮。會平賊，駢聞，縮氣悵恨，部下多叛去，郁郁無聊，乃篤意求神仙，以軍事屬用之。

The emperor knew Pian had no will to march; the realm grew more desperate. Wang Duo was made commander-in-chief in his stead, with Cui Anqian as deputy. Wei Zhaodu was ordered to lead salt-and-iron transport for all circuits. Pian was made Palace Attendant, given a hundred added taxable households, and enfeoffed Prince of Bohai. Stripped of command and profit, Pian flung up his sleeves and cursed aloud, then memorialized in reckless insolence, calling Duo a beaten general and Anqian a wolfish glutton—like a rotted oar that sinks the boat, bequeathing shame for a thousand years. He also cited how the Gengshi Emperor scraped his seat and how Ziying met the chariot on the road—to sting the emperor. The emperor was enraged and sent down an edict of sharp rebuke. At that time the royal house was frail, hanging by a thread. Pian had held command three years without a hair's breadth of merit while the realm stumbled in ruin. He had raised vast armies and secretly plotted to carve out his own ground. Once power slipped from his hands, his prestige collapsed at once—so he poured out ugly outrage, coerced and importuned the Son of Heaven, hoping to win back his old sway. Yet the Wu man Gu Yun used polished prose to varnish his treachery, and stood at ease without the least fear. He also urged the emperor to tour south to the Yangtze and Huai. When the rebels were pacified, Pian heard and shrank in spirit, bitter and aggrieved. Many of his followers deserted. Despondent and idle, he turned his heart to immortals and left military affairs to Yongzhi.

用之者，鄱陽人，世為商儈，往來廣陵，得諸賈之。既孤，依舅家，盜私其室，亡命九華山，事方士牛弘徽，得役鬼術，賣藥廣陵市。始詣駢親將俞公楚，驗其術，因得見駢，署幕府，稍補右職。用之既少賤，具知閭裏利病、吏得失，頗班班言政事，以將左道，駢愈器之。乃廣樹朋黨，刺知駢動息，持金帛還結左右，日為誕妄以動駢。又薦狂人諸葛殷、張守一為長年方，並署牙將。初，殷將見，用之紿曰：「上帝以公為人臣，慮機事廢，使神人來備羽翼，且當以職縻之。」明日，殷以褐衣見，辯詐無窮，駢大驚，號「葛將軍」。其陰狡過用之遠甚。有大賈居第華壯，殷求之不得，謂駢曰：「城中且有妖，當築壇禳卻之。」因指賈居。駢敕吏即日驅徙，殷入居之。

Yongzhi was a man of Poyang. His family for generations were merchants who traveled to Guangling and knew every trader there. Orphaned, he lived with his mother's kin, stole from their house, fled to Mount Jiuhua, served the adept Niu Honghui, learned arts to command ghosts, and sold medicine in the Guangling market. At first he went to Pian's intimate officer Yu Gongchu to prove his arts, and so gained audience with Pian, entered his staff, and was slowly raised to higher posts. Yongzhi, having been lowborn, knew every neighborhood grievance and every officials failing, and spoke often and plainly on government. Together with his heterodox arts, Pian prized him all the more. He then spread a wide clique, spied on Pian's every move, used gold and silk to bind those around him, and daily spun wild tales to move Pian. He also recommended the madmen Zhuge Yin and Zhang Shouyi as longevity masters, and both were made adjutant generals. When Yin was first to appear, Yongzhi tricked Pian: "Heaven, seeing you as a minister and fearing state business would fail, sent a divine man to brace you—you should tie him down with office. The next day Yin came in coarse cloth, his sophistry endless. Pian was thunderstruck and called him "General Ge." His secret cunning far outstripped Yongzhi's. A great merchant had a splendid mansion. Yin could not get it and told Pian, "There is a demon in the city—we must build an altar to drive it off. He pointed at the merchant's house. Pian ordered officials to drive the family out that very day. Yin moved in.

駢造迎仙等樓，皆廣高八十尺，飾以金珠渠玉，侍女衣羽衣，新聲度曲，以擬鈞天，薰齋其上，祈與仙接。用之自謂與仙真通，對駢叱咤風雨，或望空顧揖再拜，語言俚近，左右或竊議，輒殺之，後無敢出口者。蕭勝納賄用之，求鹽城監，駢不肯。用之曰：「仙人言鹽城有寶劍，須真人取之，唯勝可往。」駢許諾。數月，勝獻銅匕首，用之曰：「此北帝所佩也，得之者兵不敢犯。」駢寶秘之，常持以坐起。用之憚其術窮且見詰，乃刻青石手板為龍蛇隱起，文曰：「帝賜駢。」使人潛植機上，駢得之大喜。為寓鵠廷中，設機關，觸人則飛動，駢衣羽服，乘之作仙去狀。用之懼有擿其奸者，乃曰：「仙人當下，但患學者真氣虧沮耳。」駢始棄人間事，絕妾媵，雖將吏不得見。客至，先遣薰濯，詣方士祓除，謂之解穢，少選即引去。自是內外無敢言者，惟梁纘屢為駢言，駢不聽。纘懼，解所領兵，駢還其軍於昭義，纘不復事矣。

Pian built towers such as Welcome to the Immortals, each eighty feet broad and high, adorned with gold, pearls, jade, and inlay. Serving girls wore feather robes; new tunes were set in the mode of Heaven's Harmony. He burned incense and fasted on the heights, praying to meet the immortals. Yongzhi claimed to speak with true immortals, shouted at wind and rain before Pian, or gazed into the sky bowing again and again. His speech was coarse and low. If attendants whispered, he had them killed—after that none dared speak. Xiao Sheng bribed Yongzhi to seek the salt-works post at Yancheng. Pian refused. Yongzhi said, "The immortals say Yancheng holds a treasure sword. Only a true man can fetch it—only Sheng may go. Pian agreed. Months later Sheng presented a bronze dagger. Yongzhi said, "This was worn by the North Emperor. Whoever holds it, armies dare not attack. Pian treasured it in secret and kept it always in hand, sitting or rising. Yongzhi feared his tricks would run dry and he would be called to account. He carved a green stone tally with raised dragon and serpent designs, inscribed: "The Emperor bestows upon Pian— He had someone secretly fix it to the rigging. When Pian found it he was overjoyed. He set a mechanical swan in the courtyard with hidden gears that stirred when touched. Pian donned feather robes and rode it, playing at ascending as an immortal. Yongzhi feared someone would expose his fraud and said, "The immortal ought to descend—but only if the student's vital breath has not been drained away. Pian then turned his back on worldly affairs, dismissed his concubines, and would not even receive his generals and staff. When guests came he had them fumigated and washed first, then sent them to adepts for purification—"removing defilement"—and dismissed them before long. After that none inside or outside dared speak up. Only Liang Zuan pleaded with Pian again and again, and Pian would not heed him. Zuan grew afraid, gave up the troops he commanded, and Pian returned his army to Zhaoyi. Zuan never served again.

用之既自任，淫刑重賦，人人思亂。乃擢廢吏百餘，號「察子」，厚稟食，令居衢哄間，凡民私鬩隱語莫不知，道路箝口。誅所惡者數百族。又募卒二萬，為左、右「鏌邪軍」，與守一分總，置官屬如駢府。用之每出入，騶禦至千人；建大第，軍胥營署皆備。建百尺樓，托雲占星，實窺伺城中之有變者。左右姬侍百餘，皆娟秀光麗，善歌舞，巾束帶以侍。月二十宴，其費仰於民，不足，至苛留度支運物。誘人上變，則許入貲產贖罪。俞公楚數規戒其失，不聽。姚歸禮謀殺之，弗克。用之因譖二人於駢，使以驍雄兵三千督盜於外，密使兵襲之，舉師殲焉。駢從子澞密疏用之罪，諫駢曰：「不除之，高氏且無種。」駢怒，命左右扶出，以狀授用之。用之誣澞貣貰不能滿，故妄言。因出澞筆驗之，駢敕吏禁澞出入。俄署舒州刺史，未幾為下所逐，用之構之也。駢使人殺澞。

Once Yongzhi felt secure in power, he imposed cruel punishments and crushing taxes until everyone yearned for revolt. He raised more than a hundred cashiered clerks, called them "Inspectors," paid them generously, and posted them in the crowded streets. No private quarrel or whisper escaped them, and people sealed their lips on the roads. He wiped out the clans of hundreds whom he hated. He also raised twenty thousand men as the Left and Right "Moye Armies," sharing command with Shouyi's division, and staffed them with officers mirroring Pian's own establishment. Whenever Yongzhi went abroad, his escort ran to a thousand men; he built a great mansion with military clerks, camps, and offices all in place. He built a hundred-foot tower, claiming to read the stars through the clouds, but in truth to watch for trouble in the city. More than a hundred maid attendants at his side were graceful and radiant, skilled in song and dance, with scarves and sashes as they waited on him. He held twenty feasts a month, paid for by the people; when that was not enough, he even seized goods in transit from the treasury bureau. He baited people into lodging denunciations, then let them buy their way out with property. Yu Gongchu warned him again and again of his errors, but he would not listen. Yao Guili plotted to kill him but failed. Yongzhi slandered the two to Pian, sent them with three thousand crack troops to police bandits in the field, then secretly attacked and wiped out the entire command. Pian's nephew Yu secretly reported Yongzhi's crimes and warned Pian, "Unless you remove him, the Gao line will be extinguished. Pian flew into a rage, had attendants drag him out, and handed the memorial to Yongzhi. Yongzhi claimed Yu's greed for bribes had gone unsatisfied and that he had lied out of spite. He produced samples of Yu's hand to prove it, and Pian ordered officials to confine Yu. Soon Yu was named prefect of Shuzhou, but before long his own men drove him out—Yongzhi had engineered it. Pian had Yu killed.

嗣襄王煴之亂，駢上書勸進，偽假駢中書令、諸道兵馬都統、江淮鹽鐵轉運使，以用之為嶺南節度使。駢久觖望，至是大喜，貢賦不絕。用之始開府置官屬，禮與駢均矣。以鄭杞、董僅、吳邁為腹心，駢之親信皆偪使附己，政事未嘗關決駢。駢內悔，欲收其權，不能也。用之問計於杞、僅，謀請駢齋於其第，密縊之，紿為升天，事不克。

During the revolt of the Heir Apparent Prince of Xiang, Li Yun, Pian memorialized urging his enthronement. The puppet regime named Pian Grand Counselor, supreme commander of all circuits' armies, and Jiang-Huai salt commissioner, and made Yongzhi military commissioner of Lingnan. Pian had long nursed thwarted ambitions; now he was overjoyed, and tribute and levies flowed without end. Yongzhi for the first time opened his own office and staffed it; his ceremonial rank now matched Pian's. He made Zheng Qi, Dong Jin, and Wu Mai his inner circle, bullied Pian's confidants into siding with him, and never let Pian decide a matter of state. Pian regretted it inwardly and tried to take back power, but could not. Yongzhi asked Qi and Jin for counsel: lure Pian to fast at his mansion, strangle him in secret, and claim he had ascended as an immortal. The plot failed.

光啟三年，蔡賊孫儒兵略定遠，聲言涉淮。壽州刺史張翺奔告駢，命畢師鐸率騎三百戍高郵。師鐸者，故仙芝黨，以善騎射稱。駢敗巢於浙西，用其力，故寵待絕等。用之厚啖以利，欲其諧附，然不肯情。師鐸有妾美，用之請見，不可，狙其出，觀焉，怒而棄之；內忿懼，為子結婚於高郵將張神劍，陰倚為援。朱全忠方攻秦宗權，駢慮其奔突，使師鐸率兵逾都梁山，不見賊還。師鐸見駢府宿將多以讒死，憂甚。用之益加禮，師鐸愈恐，謀於神劍。神劍不然其言，而猜嫌日結。用之亦慮其變，內欲除之，亟請罷屯。其母密擿師鐸使去，曰：「毋顧家室。」師鐸憂，未知所出。而駢子怒用之專恣，覬師鐸與諸將發其奸，遣使謂師鐸曰：「用之欲因此行圖君，既授書神劍矣，君其備之！」師鐸驚，軍中稍稍傳言。諸將介而見，請殺神劍，並其軍，驅市人以濟亂。師鐸曰：「不可，我若重擾百姓，復一用之也。鄭漢璋素與我善，兵精士強，以用之用事，常不平。今若告之謀，彼必喜，則事濟矣。」眾然之。神劍未知，方椎牛釃酒，且將犒師。師鐸潛師夜出，士皆絳繒抹首，且行且掠。漢璋聞，以麾下出迎，師鐸諗以計，大喜。留其妻守淮口，帥兵及亡命數千至高郵，見神劍，詰其變，神劍辭不知。師鐸語稍侵，神劍瞋目曰：「大夫何晚計！彼一妖人，前假嶺南節，不肯行，誌圖淮海，令君既奪魄，彼一日得誌，吾能握刀頭北面事之邪！吾前未量君意，故不出口，尚何疑？」漢璋喜，取酒割臂血而盟，推師鐸為大丞相，作誓告神，乃移檄州縣，以誅呂用之、張守一、諸葛殷為名。神劍以高郵兵諸校倪詳、褾並以天長子弟會，唐宏為先鋒，駱玄真主騎，趙簡主徒，王朗為殿，得勝兵三千。將發，神劍中悔，繆曰：「公兵雖精，然城堅，旬日不下則糧乏，眾心搖矣。神劍請按軍高郵，為公聲援而督糧道。」師鐸曰：「民稟尚多，何患資儲？城中攜離無鬥誌，何事聲援？君意不行，孰敢違？」漢璋內忌神劍，恐不為己下，勸許其計，約城破玉帛子女共之。

In the third year of Guangqi, the Cai rebel Sun Ru's army overran Dingyuan and announced that it would cross the Huai. Shouzhou prefect Zhang Ao fled to warn Pian, who ordered Bi Shiduo to take three hundred horsemen and hold Gaoyou. Shiduo had belonged to Zhang Xianzhi's faction and was famed as a mounted archer. Pian had defeated Huang Chao in Zhexi with his help and favored him beyond all others. Yongzhi heaped profit on him to win his loyalty, but Shiduo would not warm to him. Shiduo had a beautiful concubine. Yongzhi asked to see her and was refused. He spied on her when she went out, stared at her, and in a rage cast her off; burning with fear and resentment inside, he married his son to the daughter of the Gaoyou officer Zhang Shenjian and quietly looked to him for backing. Zhu Quanzhong was attacking Qin Zongquan. Fearing a sudden raid, Pian sent Shiduo with troops over Duliang Mountain. He found no enemy and came back. Shiduo saw how many of Pian's veteran generals had been destroyed by slander and grew deeply uneasy. Yongzhi heaped still more honors on him. Shiduo grew more afraid and took counsel with Shenjian. Shenjian did not accept his plan, yet suspicion between them deepened day by day. Yongzhi also feared a revolt and inwardly meant to destroy him, urgently pressing to withdraw the garrison. His mother secretly urged him to flee, saying, "Do not think of wife or home. Shiduo was torn with anxiety and did not know what course to take. Pian's son, furious at Yongzhi's arrogance, hoped Shiduo and the other generals would expose his crimes. He sent a messenger who told Shiduo, "Yongzhi means to use this march to destroy you. He has already written to Shenjian. You must be ready! Shiduo was shaken, and whispers began to spread through the ranks. The generals came before him in armor and urged him to kill Shenjian, seize his troops, and rouse the townspeople to join the revolt. Shiduo said, "No. If I terrorize the people again, I am no better than Yongzhi. Zheng Hanzhang has always been friendly to me. His troops are first-rate and his men are strong. He has long resented Yongzhi's rule. If we tell him our plan now, he will surely join us, and the thing will be done. The others agreed. Shenjian knew nothing of it. He was slaughtering cattle and broaching wine to feast his men. Shiduo stole away by night with his men, all with crimson silk bound about their heads, looting as they marched. Hanzhang heard and marched out with his men to meet him. When Shiduo confided the plan, Hanzhang was overjoyed. He left his wife to hold Huaikou, led several thousand troops and outlaws to Gaoyou, confronted Shenjian, and demanded to know why he had turned. Shenjian swore he knew nothing. Shiduo's tone turned sharp. Shenjian glared and said, "Sir, why did you wait so long! That sorcerer was given a false post in Lingnan and would not leave. His aim is the Huai and the sea. He has already broken your nerve. If he ever gets his way, do you think I would sheath my sword and bow north to serve him? I did not know where you stood before, so I held my tongue. What is there left to doubt? Hanzhang rejoiced. They poured wine, cut their arms, and mixed blood in oath. They made Shiduo Great Chancellor, swore before the gods, and issued proclamations to the prefectures and counties in the name of executing Lü Yongzhi, Zhang Shouyi, and Zhuge Yin. Shenjian rallied the Gaoyou garrison under officers Ni Xiang and Biao, joined by youths from Tianchang. Tang Hong led the van, Luo Xuanzhen the horse, Zhao Jian the foot, and Wang Lang the rear. They mustered three thousand seasoned men. As they were about to march, Shenjian had second thoughts and invented an excuse: "Your men are strong, but the walls are stout. If the city does not fall in ten days, grain will run out and morale will crack. Let me hold Gaoyou, he said, to support you from the rear and keep the supply line open. Shiduo said, "The people's granaries are still full. Why worry about supplies? The city is already splitting apart and has no will to fight. What need is there for reinforcements? If you will not march, who dares defy you?" Hanzhang secretly resented Shenjian and feared he would not submit afterward. He urged Shiduo to accept the plan and promised that when the city fell they would divide the loot, silk, women, and children between them.

其四月，兵傅城，營其下。城中駭亂，用之分兵守，且自督戰。令曰：「斬一級，賞金一餅。」士多山東人，堅悍頗用命。師鐸懼，退舍自固。用之稍堙塞諸門。駢登延和閣，聞囂甚，左右告之故，大驚，召用之問狀，徐曰：「師鐸眾思歸，為門衛所軋，隨已處置，不爾，煩玄女一符耳！」駢曰：「吾覺爾之誕多矣，善自為之，勿使吾為周寶也！」時寶已為下所逐出奔雲。用之慚，不復有言。師鐸見城未下，頗懼，求救於宣州秦彥，約事平迎以代駢。

In the fourth month the army reached the walls and pitched camp beneath them. Panic seized the city. Yongzhi divided his forces to man the defenses and took command of the fighting himself. He proclaimed, "One head cut off, one gold cake in reward. Most of his men were Shandongers, hard and fierce, and they fought with grim obedience. Shiduo grew afraid, pulled back, and entrenched his camp. Yongzhi began to fill in and seal the city gates one by one. Pian climbed the Yanhe Pavilion and heard a great uproar. When his attendants told him why, he was thunderstruck. He summoned Yongzhi and asked what was happening. Yongzhi said calmly, "Shiduo's men only wanted to go home and were stopped at the gates. It is already taken care of. Otherwise I would need but one talisman from the Dark Lady! Pian said, "I have caught you in too many lies already. See to it yourself, and do not make me another Zhou Bao!" By then Zhou Bao had already been driven out by his own men and fled toward Yun. Yongzhi was shamed into silence. Shiduo, seeing the city still untaken, grew afraid and begged Qin Yan of Xuanzhou for aid, promising to install him in Pian's place once the city fell.

駢數責用之曰：「始吾以心腹任君，君禦下無方，卒誤我。今百姓饑饉，不可虐用，當遣大將賫吾書諭之，使罷兵。」用之疑諸將不為用，以其黨許戡奉書往。始師鐸意駢令宿將勞軍，因得口陳用之罪。及戡至，大怒曰：「梁纘、韓問安在？若何庸來！」即斬之。乃系書射城內，用之不發，即火之。它日以甲士百人入謁，駢驚匿內寢，少選乃出，叱曰：「得非反邪？」命左右驅出。用之至南門，舉策曰：「吾不復入是矣！」始與駢貳。

Pian rebuked Yongzhi again and again: "I once trusted you as my own flesh. You ruled your men without sense and have ruined me in the end. The people are starving. You must not abuse them further. Send a senior general with my letter to order them to lay down arms. Yongzhi feared the generals would not obey him and sent his own man Xu Kan with the letter. At first Shiduo thought Pian had sent veteran generals to reason with the army so he could speak Yongzhi's crimes aloud. When Kan arrived, Shiduo flew into a rage and cried, "Where are Liang Zuan and Han Wen'an? Why send this worthless man! He had Kan beheaded on the spot. He tied Pian's letter to an arrow and shot it into the city. Yongzhi would not open it and had it burned. On another day Yongzhi entered with a hundred armored men. Pian fled in alarm to his inner chamber, then came out after a moment and shouted, "Are you rebelling? He ordered his attendants to throw them out. At the south gate Yongzhi raised his whip and cried, "I will never pass through here again! From that moment he and Pian were at odds.

師鐸壁揚子，發民廬舍治攻具。用之大索居人馬及丁壯，驍將以長刀擁脅乘城，晝夜不得息。又疑為間，數易區處，家有馌餉，皆相失，至饑死者相枕藉。駢召大將古鍔賫師鐸母書及其子出諭，師鐸遣子還曰：「不敢負恩，朝斬兇人，夕還屯，願以妻子為質。」駢恐用之屠其家，乃收置署中。會秦彥遣秦稠率兵與師鐸合，攻益急，守陴者夜焚南柵以應於外，師鐸入，守將張全乃戰死，用之距三橋，殺傷相當。駢從子傑率牙兵將執用之以畀師鐸，左鏌邪兵復斷其後，用之懼，乃出奔。

Shiduo encamped on the Yangzi bank, tore down people's houses, and built siege engines. Yongzhi combed the city for horses and able-bodied men. Fierce officers drove them onto the walls at sword point, day and night without rest. He also suspected treachery and kept shifting people from quarter to quarter. Families bringing food to the walls lost one another, and the dead from hunger lay piled in heaps. Pian sent the general Gu E with a letter from Shiduo's mother and with Shiduo's son to plead with him. Shiduo sent his son back with the reply, "I have not forgotten your kindness. Slay the villain at dawn and I will return to camp by dusk. Let my wife and children stand as hostages. Fearing Yongzhi would slaughter them, Pian took the family into his own compound for safekeeping. Qin Yan sent Qin Chou with reinforcements to join Shiduo, and the assault grew fiercer. Defenders burned the southern palisade by night to signal the allies outside. Shiduo broke in. The defender Zhang Quan fell fighting. Yongzhi held the Three Bridges, and casualties mounted on both sides. Pian's nephew Jie led the guard to seize Yongzhi and hand him to Shiduo, but the Left Moye Army cut off their rear. Yongzhi panicked and fled the city.

駢召梁纘謝曰：「初不用子計以及此，庸何追？」授以兵，使保子城。遲明師鐸縱火大掠，駢乃命徹備，改服須其入。師鐸見延和閣，駢待之如賓，即署師鐸節度副使，漢璋、神劍以次授署，秦稠封府庫以待，師鐸去丞相號。於時何衛未謹，駢愛將申及說駢曰：「逆人兵少弛，願奉公夜出，發諸鎮兵，還刷大恥，賊不足平也。若不決，則及將不得侍公。」因泣下。駢恇怯不能用其策，及乃匿去。

Pian summoned Liang Zuan and said in apology, "I ignored your counsel and have come to this. What good is regret now? He gave him troops and ordered him to hold the inner citadel. At dawn Bi Shiduo set fire and looted the city. Gao Pian ordered the guard stood down, changed his robes, and waited for him to enter. Bi Shiduo came to the Yanhe Pavilion, where Pian received him as an honored guest. He at once made Shiduo his deputy commissioner, appointed Zheng Hanzhang and Zhang Shenjian in their turn, and had Qin Chou seal the treasury. Shiduo abandoned the title of prime minister. He Wei was then careless in his guard. Shen Ji, a favored general, urged Pian: "The rebels' lines have slackened. Let me lead you out by night, summon troops from the neighboring prefectures, and wash away this disgrace—the enemy will not stand. If you hesitate, your officers may no longer be able to reach you. He broke down weeping. Cowed and timid, Pian refused the plan. Shen Ji slipped away in secret.

師鐸誅用之支黨數十，使孫約迎秦彥。彥者，徐州人，本名立，隸伍籍。乾符中，以盜繫獄且死，夢謼曰：「秦彥，而從我去！」寤而視械破，因得亡命，即名彥。聚徒百人，殺下邳令，取其貲，入黃巢黨中。既敗，與許降駢，累表和州刺史。中和初，宣歙觀察使竇潏病，彥襲而代之。師鐸之召彥也，或計曰：「足下向誅妖人，故下樂從。今軍府已安，宜還政高公，足下身典兵，權在掌握，四鄰聞之，不失大義，諸將未敢謀也。若令彥為帥，兵非足下有也。且秦稠封府庫，勢已相疑。足下如厚德彥，宜以金玉子女報之，勿聽度江。假足下能下彥，楊行密夕聞而朝必至。」師鐸不決，以告漢璋。漢璋曰：「善。」

Shiduo executed dozens from Yongzhi's faction and sent Sun Yue to bring in Qin Yan. Qin Yan was a native of Xuzhou, born Li, and had served under Wu Ji. During the Qianfu reign he was jailed for robbery and doomed to die, but dreamed a voice crying, "Qin Yan, come away with me! He woke to find his fetters shattered, fled for his life, and took the name Yan. He gathered a hundred men, killed the magistrate of Xiapi and seized his goods, and joined Huang Chao's cause. After defeat he surrendered with Xu to Pian and through repeated petitions became prefect of Hezhou. In the early Zhonghe reign Dou Yu, commissioner of Xuanshe, fell ill; Yan seized the post and replaced him. When Shiduo summoned Qin Yan, an advisor said, "You slew the sorcerer and the men followed you gladly. The headquarters are secure. Restore authority to Lord Gao while you keep command—the neighbors will call it righteous and no officer will dare plot against you. If Yan becomes commander, the army will no longer be yours. Besides, Qin Chou has sealed the treasury—you are already at odds. If you owe Yan a debt of gratitude, repay him with gold, jade, and marriage gifts, but do not let him cross the Yangtze. Even if you could send Yan away, Yang Xingmi would hear by nightfall and be here by dawn. Shiduo could not decide and consulted Hanzhang. Hanzhang said, "Well said."

師鐸出駢，囚南第。稠麾下求無厭，燒貢奉樓數十楹，取珍寶。始駢自乾符以來，貢獻不入天子，貲貨山積，私置郊祀、元會供帳什器，殫極功巧，至是為亂兵所剽略盡。師鐸徙駢東第。禽諸葛殷，腰下得金數斤，百姓交唾，拔須發無遺，再縊乃絕，仇家其目雲，市人投瓦礫擊屍，俄而成冢。駢出金遺守者，師鐸知之，加兵苛督，復入囚署中，子弟十餘人同幽之。顧雲入見，駢猶自若曰：「吾復居此，天時人事必有在。」意師鐸復推立之。

Shiduo removed Pian and imprisoned him in the southern compound. Chou's men were insatiable—they burned dozens of bays of the tribute hall and looted the treasures. Since the Qianfu era Pian had withheld tribute to the throne and heaped wealth like mountains, privately amassing regalia for state rites—all of it was now stripped bare by the mutineers. Shiduo moved Pian to the eastern compound. They seized Zhuge Yin and found several jin of gold on him. The crowd spat on him, tore out every hair and whisker, and hanged him twice before he died. Enemies gouged out his eyes, townsfolk pelted the corpse with rubble until it lay in a mound. Pian bribed his guards with gold. Shiduo found out, redoubled the watch, and thrust him back into the jail compound with more than a dozen kin imprisoned beside him. Gu Yun came to visit. Pian was still unruffled. "I will dwell here again—heaven and circumstance must yet have their turn. He expected Bi Shiduo to restore him to power.

用之既出，以兵攻淮口未下，鄭漢璋擊之，遂奔天長。初，用之詐為駢書，召兵於廬、壽，城陷，而楊行密兵萬人次天長，用之自歸。

Yongzhi had fled and was besieging Huaikou without success when Zheng Hanzhang routed him; he fled to Tianchang. Yongzhi had forged letters in Pian's name to summon troops from Lu and Shou. The city was lost, Yang Xingmi had ten thousand men at Tianchang, and Yongzhi surrendered to him.

張神劍求賂於師鐸，辭以彥未至。神劍怒，與別將高霸將攻師鐸。彥之來，召池州刺史趙锽守宣，自將入揚州，稱節度使，以師鐸為行軍司馬，居用之第，不得在牙中。師鐸怏怏失誌。行密與神劍等連和，自江北至槐家橋，柵壘相聯。彥登城望之，色沮，乃授鄭漢璋、唐宏等兵屯門，樵蘇道絕，食且乏。稠及師鐸以勁卒八千出戰，大敗，稠死之，士奔溺死者十八。彥大出金求救於張雄，雄引兵至東塘，得金，不戰去。彥使師鐸率兵二萬陣城下，漢璋為前鋒，宏次之，駱玄真、樊約又次之，師鐸、王朗以騎為左右翼。既成列，久之，行密乃出，委輜重於壁，以羸兵守之，伏精卒數千其旁。行密先犯玄真，短兵接，偽北，師鐸諸軍奔其壁，爭取金玉貲糧。伏噪而出，行密引輕兵躡其尾，俘殺旁午，橫屍十里。師鐸等奔還，玄真戰死。師鐸雅倚玄真驍敢能拒敵，既失之，惋沮彌日，不復議出戰矣。

Zhang Shenjian demanded a payoff from Shiduo, who put him off saying Qin Yan had not yet arrived. Shenjian flew into a rage and with the officer Gao Ba marched against Shiduo. Qin Yan arrived, left Zhao Wei of Chizhou to hold Xuancheng, and entered Yangzhou in person as self-styled commissioner. He made Shiduo his campaigning marshal, gave him Yongzhi's old quarters, and barred him from headquarters. Shiduo seethed, his ambition undone. Yang Xingmi joined Shenjian and the rest, ranging from the north bank to Huaijia Bridge with linked camps and palisades. Qin Yan climbed the wall to look and his spirit faltered. He posted Zheng Hanzhang, Tang Hong, and others at the gates. Foraging routes were cut and provisions nearly gone. Qin Chou and Shiduo led eight thousand elite troops out and were crushed. Chou was killed, and eight or nine in ten of the army drowned in flight. Qin Yan poured out gold to beg Zhang Xiong for aid. Xiong marched to Dongtang, took the gold, and withdrew without fighting. Qin Yan sent Shiduo with twenty thousand men to deploy beneath the walls—Hanzhang in the van, Hong behind him, then Luo Xuanzhen and Fan Yue, with Shiduo and Wang Lang commanding the cavalry wings. When the lines were set, Yang Xingmi at last came forth. He left his baggage at the wall with weak troops to guard it and hid several thousand veterans nearby. Xingmi engaged Xuanzhen in close fighting, then feigned retreat. Shiduo's entire host rushed the wall to seize gold, jade, grain, and stores. The ambush erupted with a shout. Xingmi's light troops took them from behind. Captives and corpses piled up until the dead lay across ten li. Shiduo and the rest fled in rout. Xuanzhen was killed in the fight. Shiduo had always leaned on Xuanzhen's fierce prowess in battle. With him gone, Shiduo brooded for days and would not speak of fighting again.

駢久囚拘，供億窘狹，群奴徹延和閣闌楯為薪，煮革帶以食。駢召幕府盧涚曰：「予粗立功，比求清凈，非與此世爭利害，今而及此，神道何望邪？」涕下不能已。師鐸既敗，慮駢內應。有女巫王奉仙謂師鐸曰：「揚州災，有大人死，可以厭。」彥曰：「非高公邪？」命左右陳賞等往殺之。侍者白有賊，駢曰：「此必秦彥來。」正色須之。眾入，駢罵曰：「軍事有監軍及諸將在，何遽爾？」眾辟易，有奮而擊駢者，曳廷下數之曰：「公負天子恩，陷人塗炭，罪多矣，尚何雲？」駢未暇答，仰首如有所伺，即斬之。左右奴客遁歸行密，行密舉軍縞素，大臨而祭，獨用之缞服哭三日。

Long confinement had left Pian destitute. His slaves tore down the Yanhe Pavilion's balustrades for firewood and boiled leather belts to eat. Pian summoned his aide Lu Song. "I won some merit and sought only peace, not strife with the world. That it has come to this—what can heaven intend? Tears streamed down without end. After his defeat Shiduo feared Pian might stir rebellion within the walls. A shamaness, Wang Fengxian, told Shiduo, "Yangzhou's doom requires a great man's death to lift the curse. Qin Yan said, "Surely that means Lord Gao?" He ordered Chen Shang and his men to go and kill him. A servant cried that bandits were approaching. Pian said, "That must be Qin Yan. He composed himself and waited. They burst in. Pian shouted, "The army inspector and the generals still hold authority—what is this haste? The mob fell back, then someone struck him, dragged him into the courtyard, and reviled him: "You betrayed the Son of Heaven and plunged the realm into misery—your crimes are beyond reckoning. What more is there to say?" Before he could reply, he lifted his face as if watching the sky—and they struck off his head. Pian's servants fled to Yang Xingmi, who draped his army in mourning white and held a grand memorial. Yongzhi alone wore hemp and mourned three days.

彥屢敗，軍氣摧喪，與師鐸抱膝相視無它略，更問奉仙，賞罰輕重皆自出。彥遣漢璋擊神劍，破之。神劍奔高郵，漢璋欲窮追，會大雨還。行密以城尚堅，師且老，議解去。用之裨將晨伏兵四壕，伺守者休代，引而登，殺數十人於門，以招外兵。守軍亦厭苦，皆委兵潰。師鐸與其家及彥奔東塘，人爭出，相騰藉死，壕塹幾滿，王朗踣而殞。行密既入，殺梁纘於牙門，以不死高氏難。韓問聞之，赴井死。居人臒惙奄奄，兵不忍加暴，反斥餘糧救之。

Repeated defeats broke the army's spirit. Yan and Shiduo sat knee to knee with no plan left but to ask Fengxian again—for rewards and punishments alike followed her word. Yan sent Hanzhang against Shenjian and routed him. Shenjian fled to Gaoyou. Hanzhang meant to run him down but turned back in a torrential rain. Yang Xingmi, seeing the walls still strong and his troops worn, considered raising the siege. At dawn Yongzhi's lieutenant hid men by the four ditches, waited until the reliefs rested, scaled the wall, killed dozens at the gate, and signaled the army outside. The defenders too were exhausted and threw down their arms in rout. Shiduo fled with his kin and Qin Yan toward Dongtang. The crowd crushed one another at the gates until the moats nearly filled; Wang Lang was trampled to death. Once inside, Yang Xingmi slew Liang Zuan at headquarters as revenge for not dying with the Gao house. Han Wen heard of it and drowned himself in a well. The townspeople were skeletal, barely breathing. The troops would not harm them further and instead shared spare grain to keep them alive.

彥、師鐸與唐宏、倪詳焚白砂，將度江，會秦宗權使孫儒引兵三萬襲揚州，次天長，彥等與之合，還攻行密，取行密輜重牛羊數千計。儒以食乏，乃屠高郵，據之。張神劍奔還，行密授之館，而高郵戍兵七百潰而來，行密責有謀，悉擊殺之，因殺神劍。用之始詐行密曰：「廡下有瘞金五千斤，事平願備一日乏。」行密掘地無埋金，但得銅人三尺，身桎梏，釘刺其口，刻駢名於背，蓋用蠱厭駢也。行密責其罪，並張守一斬於三橋，妻子皆死，著其罪於路。

Yan, Shiduo, Tang Hong, and Ni Xiang burned Baisha and were about to cross the river when Qin Zongquan sent Sun Ru with thirty thousand men against Yangzhou, halting at Tianchang. They joined Ru, turned on Xingmi, and seized thousands of his pack animals and cattle. Ru, short of food, massacred Gaoyou and occupied it. Zhang Shenjian returned and Xingmi gave him quarters—but when seven hundred Gaoyou garrisoners fled in, he accused them of conspiracy, slaughtered them all, and killed Shenjian as well. Yongzhi had first tricked Xingmi: "Five thousand jin of gold lie buried under the hall—when all is settled let me provision you for a day. Xingmi dug and found no gold—only a three-foot bronze figure in shackles, nails through its mouth, and Pian's name on its back: Yongzhi's curse upon him. Yang Xingmi condemned his crimes and beheaded him with Zhang Shouyi at the Three Bridges; their families were executed and the charges posted along the road.

儒攻城未得誌，慮彥、師鐸有異謀，稍並其兵。唐宏度不免，即告儒曰：「師鐸密遣人至汴。」儒大恐。明日，召彥、師鐸、漢璋會軍中，彥、師鐸先至，壯士捽之至儒所，儒質彥反駢罪，斬之。至師鐸，呼曰：「丈夫成則王，敗則虜，君何多責為？吾嘗將數萬兵，不死常人手，得公之劍，瞑目矣！」儒罵曰：「庸賊欲汙我手邪！」趣斬之。漢璋至，奮臂擊殺數人，乃死，身首糜散。儒使宏主騎兵，厚賜之。文德元年，儒諜知行密糧乏，自高郵襲之。行密拔其眾還廬州，儒遂據揚州。

Sun Ru could not take the city and feared Yan and Shiduo might plot against him, so he steadily absorbed their troops. Tang Hong, seeing no escape, told Ru, "Shiduo has secretly sent envoys to Bian. Ru was terrified. The next day Ru summoned Yan, Shiduo, and Hanzhang. When Yan and Shiduo came first, braves dragged them to Ru, who accused Yan of turning on Pian and beheaded him. When Shiduo's turn came he shouted, "Success makes a king, failure a prisoner—why heap reproaches on me? I once led tens of thousands—I will not die by common hands. Your blade is enough; I can close my eyes. Ru spat, "Wretched thief—would you stain my sword?" And ordered him cut down. When Hanzhang came he struck down several before he died—body and head torn apart. Ru put Hong in charge of the cavalry and heaped rewards on him. In the first year of Wende, Ru learned Yang Xingmi was short of grain and struck from Gaoyou. Xingmi withdrew to Luzhou, and Ru took Yangzhou.

駢之死，裹以故氈，與子弟七人一坎而瘞。行密擢駢孫愈為副使，令主喪事，未克葬，愈暴死，至是故吏鄺師虔收葬之。

At his death they wrapped Gao Pian in old felt and buried him in one pit with seven kin. Yang Xingmi made Pian's grandson Yu his deputy and put him in charge of the funeral, but before burial Yu died suddenly; an old retainer, Kuang Shiqian, finally interred them.

揚州雄富冠天下，自師鐸、行密、儒叠攻叠守，焚市落，剽民人，兵饑相仍，其地遂空。朱玫朱玫，邠州人。少以材武為州戍將。黃巢盜長安，有王玫者為偽節度使，方調兵，玫陽事之，乘間斬王玫，以留後讓李重古，約合兵討巢。廣明二年，玫襲賊，戰開遠門，槍洞咽，不死。以多擢晉州刺史，進邠寧節度使，合涇、原、岐、隴兵八萬屯興平，號定國砦。戰澇上，敗走邠，詔益靈、鹽軍，拜河南都統。引兵屯中橋，列五壁，進西北面都統。賊平，授同中書門下平章事，封吳興侯。

Yangzhou had been the richest city under heaven, but Shiduo, Yang Xingmi, and Sun Ru attacked and defended it in turn, burning the markets and looting the people until famine and war left the land barren. Zhu Mei. Zhu Mei was a native of Binzhou. In youth his martial skill made him a garrison officer of the prefecture. When Huang Chao seized Chang'an, a Wang Mei ruled Binzhou in rebellion and was raising troops. Zhu Mei feigned loyalty, struck when he could, beheaded Wang Mei, yielded the post to Li Chonggu, and pledged to join against the rebels. In the second year of Guangming he attacked the rebels at Kaiyuan Gate—a spear pierced his throat yet he lived. For his valor he rose to Jinzhou prefect, then Binning commissioner, gathering eighty thousand men from Jing, Yuan, Qi, and Long at Xingping in a camp called the Fortress of Stabilizing the State. Defeated on the Lao River he retreated to Bin; the court reinforced him with Ling and Yan troops and named him supreme commander of Henan. He encamped at Middle Bridge with five walled camps and was promoted to commander of the northwest front. After the rebels were crushed he was made a grand councilor and enfeoffed Marquis of Wuxing.

田令孜議討王重榮，以兵屬玫，合鄜、延、靈、夏軍三萬保沙苑。重榮上疏乞誅玫、令孜。既戰，玫輒北，因縱軍還掠。僖宗蒼黃幸鳳翔避其鋒。玫反與重榮、李克用連和，請誅令孜。宰相蕭遘密召玫迎帝，玫趨鳳翔，令孜劫乘輿走陳倉，遂至興元。玫追不及，劫嗣襄王煴，奉為帝。玫自號大丞相，專決萬機。

Tian Lingzi planned to punish Wang Chongrong and gave Mei command of thirty thousand from Fu, Yan, Ling, and Xia to hold Sha Yuan. Wang Chongrong memorialized the throne demanding the execution of Zhu Mei and Tian Lingzi. Once fighting began, Zhu Mei would retreat northward and allow his troops to turn back and loot. Emperor Xizong fled in panic to Fengxiang to escape Zhu Mei's assault. Zhu Mei then allied with Wang Chongrong and Li Keyong, calling for Tian Lingzi's death. Chancellor Xiao Sui secretly summoned Zhu Mei to escort the emperor back; Mei hurried toward Fengxiang, but Tian Lingzi seized the imperial carriage and fled by way of Chencang to Xingyuan. Zhu Mei could not catch up, so he seized Li Yun, heir to the Prince of Xiang, and proclaimed him emperor. Zhu Mei proclaimed himself Grand Chancellor and seized control of all government affairs.

始與李昌符共謀挾煴，至是反為讎，昌符乃自歸天子，人心浸離。及王行瑜敗於大唐峰，懼歸且見殺，又聞購能得玫者以邠寧節度畀之，行瑜謂其下曰：「今敗歸必以無功死，若斬玫，與北軍迎天子，取富貴，可乎？」眾曰：「諾。」即勒兵倍道趨長安。玫居孔緯第，方據幾署事，聞兵入，趣召行瑜叱曰：「公擅歸，反邪？」行瑜厲聲曰：「我非反者，將得君首為邠寧節度耳！」玫遽起，左右斬之，殺其徒數百。諸軍遂大亂，燒京師。時盛寒，吏民被剽兌攵，僵死屍相藉。即傳首興元，帝為受俘馘。宦者偽樞密使王能著等皆坐誅。王行瑜王行瑜，邠州人。少隸軍，從朱玫為列校，討黃巢數有功。煴即位，授行瑜天平節度使，令率兵守大散關，為李鋋所破，即奉款行在，還取玫首以獻，擢邠寧節度使。

He had first conspired with Li Changfu to control the puppet emperor, but they now turned on each other; Changfu submitted to the throne, and support for Zhu Mei steadily crumbled. After Wang Xingyu's defeat at Great Tang Peak, he feared execution on his return and heard that whoever captured Zhu Mei would receive the Binning commission. He told his men: "If we go back defeated, we'll be killed for accomplishing nothing. If we behead Zhu Mei and join the northern armies to welcome the emperor, we can win riches and rank—is that not better?" His followers answered, "Agreed." He immediately forced his troops on a forced march toward Chang'an. Zhu Mei was staying in Kong Wei's mansion, conducting affairs at his desk, when he heard soldiers approach. He summoned Wang Xingyu and demanded: "You returned without leave—are you rebelling?" Wang Xingyu thundered back: "I'm no rebel—I'm going to take your head and win the Binning commission!" Zhu Mei leaped to his feet, but his guards were cut down; Wang Xingyu slew him and killed hundreds of his men. The armies then fell into chaos and burned the capital. In the depths of winter, officials and civilians were looted; frozen bodies lay heaped upon one another. His head was sent to Xingyuan, where the emperor received it in the ritual of triumph over rebels. The eunuch Wang Nengzhu, who had posed as acting commissioner of the Privy Council, and others were all executed. Wang Xingyu. Wang Xingyu was a native of Binzhou. As a youth he joined the army, served under Zhu Mei as a company officer, and won repeated credit fighting Huang Chao. When Li Yun was enthroned, Wang Xingyu was made commissioner of Tianping and ordered to hold Great Scatter Pass. Defeated by Li Gang, he submitted to the court, beheaded Zhu Mei and presented his head, and was promoted to Binning commissioner.

景福元年，與李茂貞、韓建及弟同州節度使行實請討楊守亮於山南，且言不敢仰度支費，止請假茂貞招討一節。宦官難之，昭宗亦顧茂貞等得山南則益橫，不許。行瑜等因擅興軍擊取之。

In the first year of Jingfu he joined Li Maozhen, Han Jian, and his brother Wang Xingshi, commissioner of Tongzhou, in asking to campaign against Yang Shouliang in the south. They claimed they would not burden the treasury, requesting only that Li Maozhen lend them his expeditionary commission. The eunuchs opposed it, and Emperor Zhaozong feared that if Li Maozhen held Shannan he would grow more powerful—permission was denied. Wang Xingyu and his allies then marched on their own authority and seized the territory by force.

後茂貞拒覃王，殺宰相，行瑜參有力，得賜鐵券。稍憑兵跋扈，求為尚書令，宰相韋昭度執不可，但加號尚父，行瑜望甚。會河中王重榮喪，李克用請以其子珂嗣節度，而行瑜、建、茂貞請授王珙，因各以兵陳闕下，欲廢天子，不克，即殺昭度、李磎，留弟行約宿衛。克用悉兵度河問行瑜等罪，行實棄同州趨長安，與行約謀劫乘輿，又不克，皆奔邠州。行瑜屯梨園，克用與戰，破行實等軍，執其母及行瑜子，俘大校。帝下詔削行瑜官爵。行瑜以銳卒五千營龍泉，茂貞壁其西。克用夜發精騎擾餉道，岐軍走，行瑜歸邠州，嬰城守，厚賂克用求自歸。克用軍環其城，行瑜窮，登城哭語克用曰：「我無罪，昨殺大臣，脅天子，岐人也。行實止宿衛，而有司妄以劫遷罪歸之，今公討亂者，當問茂貞，願得束身歸，聽命天子。」克用曰：「尚父何自卑？吾被命討三賊，公其一也。如歸國者，當從中決，老夫敢專之邪？」行瑜度不免，悉族奔慶州，為麾下斬於路，傳首京師，帝禦延喜門納之，於是乾寧二年也。其屬二百人，克用獻於朝。

Later, when Li Maozhen defied the Prince of Tan and killed chancellors, Wang Xingyu played a major part and was rewarded with an iron certificate of immunity. He grew arrogant with military might and sought the post of Director of the Imperial Secretariat. Chancellor Wei Zhaodu refused, granting only the honorific "Exalted Father." Wang Xingyu was deeply disappointed. When Wang Chongrong of Hezhong died, Li Keyong asked that his son Wang Ke succeed the command. Wang Xingyu, Han Jian, and Li Maozhen supported Wang Gong instead. They massed troops at the palace gates in a bid to depose the emperor. When that failed, they killed Wei Zhaodu and Li Yong and stationed Wang Xingyu's brother Xingyue as palace guard. Li Keyong crossed the Yellow River at the head of his full army to punish them. Wang Xingshi abandoned Tongzhou for Chang'an, and he and Wang Xingyue plotted to seize the emperor. That too failed, and all fled to Binzhou. Wang Xingyu held Pear Garden. Li Keyong attacked, routed Wang Xingshi's force, captured Wang Xingyu's mother and son, and took many senior officers prisoner. The emperor stripped Wang Xingyu of rank and title. Wang Xingyu camped at Dragon Spring with five thousand elite troops; Li Maozhen fortified to his west. Li Keyong sent elite cavalry by night to cut their supply lines. The Qi forces fled. Wang Xingyu retreated to Binzhou and walled the city, offering Li Keyong rich bribes to let him surrender. Li Keyong encircled the city. In desperation Wang Xingyu mounted the walls and called out: "I am innocent. It was the man of Qi who killed the ministers and threatened the emperor. Wang Xingshi merely guarded the palace, yet the court wrongly blamed us for kidnapping the emperor. If you mean to punish rebels, you should question Li Maozhen. I am willing to surrender myself and await the emperor's judgment." Li Keyong replied: "Exalted Father, why so humble? I was ordered to crush three rebels, and you are one of them. If you wish to return to the throne's grace, the court must decide. How dare an old soldier like me judge alone?" Seeing no escape, Wang Xingyu fled with his clan toward Qingzhou. His own men cut him down on the road. His head reached Chang'an, and the emperor received it at Yanxi Gate—in the second year of Qianning. Li Keyong presented two hundred of his followers to the court.

始，行瑜亂，宗正卿李涪盛陳其忠，必悔過。至是帝怒，放死嶺南。陳敬瑄陳敬瑄，田令孜兄也。少賤，為餅師，得隸左神策軍。令孜為護軍中尉，敬瑄緣藉擢左金吾衛將軍、檢校尚書右僕射、西川節度使。性畏慎，善撫士。

Earlier, during Wang Xingyu's rebellion, Director of the Imperial Clan Li Fou had insisted on his loyalty and predicted he would repent. Now the emperor's wrath exiled Li Fou to Lingnan, condemned to death. Chen Jingxuan. Chen Jingxuan was the elder brother of Tian Lingzi. Born to humble origins, he worked as a baker before joining the Left Divine Stratagem Army. When Tian Lingzi became commissioner of the protecting army, Chen Jingxuan rose through his patronage to general of the Left Golden Crow Guard, acting Minister of Works of the Right, and military commissioner of Xichuan. Timid by nature, he was skilled at winning soldiers' loyalty.

黃巢亂，僖宗幸奉天，敬瑄夜召監軍梁處厚，號慟奉表迎帝，繕治行宮。令孜亦倡西幸，敬瑄以兵三千護乘輿。冗從內苑小兒先至，敬瑄知素暴橫，遣邏士伺之。諸兒連臂歡咋行宮中，士捕系之，謼曰：「我事天子者！」敬瑄殺五十人，屍諸衢，由是道路不嘩。帝次綿州，敬瑄謁於道，進酒，帝三舉觴，進檢校左僕射、同中書門下平章事。時雲南叛，請遣使與和親，乃聽命。敬瑄奉行在百官諸吏無敢乏，帝欲命判度支，固讓，再加檢校司徒兼侍中，封梁國公。以弟敬珣為閬州刺史。討定邛州首望阡能、涪州叛校韓秀升，再進兼中書令，封潁川郡王，實封四百戶，賜一歲上輸錢及上都田宅邸硙各十區，鐵券恕十死。巢平，進潁川王，增實戶二百。車駕東，敬瑄供億豐餘，又進檢校太師。

When Huang Chao's rebellion drove Emperor Xizong to Fengtian, Chen Jingxuan summoned the military inspector Liang Chuhou by night, wept as he memorialized to welcome the emperor, and prepared the traveling palace. Tian Lingzi also urged the western flight; Chen Jingxuan escorted the imperial carriage with three thousand men. Idle attendants and inner-park youths reached the palace first. Knowing their habitual violence, Chen Jingxuan sent patrols to watch them. The youths linked arms and caroused through the traveling palace. Soldiers seized them, shouting: "We serve the Son of Heaven!" Chen Jingxuan executed fifty of them and displayed the bodies in the streets, and the roads fell quiet. When the emperor halted at Mianzhou, Chen Jingxuan met him on the road and offered wine. The emperor raised his cup three times and promoted him to acting Left Minister of Works and grand councilor. When Yunnan rebelled, he asked to send an envoy to negotiate a marriage alliance and then obeyed the court's command. At the traveling court Chen Jingxuan supplied every need of the officials and clerks. When the emperor wished to put him in charge of the treasury, he firmly declined. He was then made acting Defender-in-chief and Palace Attendant and enfeoffed Duke of Liang. His younger brother Chen Jingxun was appointed prefect of Langzhou. He pacified the Qiongzhou chieftain Wang Qianneng and the Fuzhou rebel Han Xiuzheng, was again promoted to chancellor, and enfeoffed Prince of Yingchuan with a fief of four hundred households. He received a year's revenue from the capital tribute, ten estates and mills in the capital, and an iron certificate forgiving ten capital offenses. After Huang Chao was crushed, he was advanced to Prince of Yingchuan and his fief increased by two hundred households. When the court returned east, Chen Jingxuan provisioned the journey lavishly and was promoted to acting Grand Preceptor.

俄而令孜得罪，敬瑄被流端州。會昭宗立，敬瑄拒詔，帝召為左龍武統軍，以宰相韋昭度代領節度。使者至，敬瑄使百姓遮道剺耳訴己功，且言鐵券恕死。使者馳還。令孜勸敬瑄募黃頭軍為自守計。

Soon Tian Lingzi fell from favor, and Chen Jingxuan was exiled to Duanzhou. When Emperor Zhaozong took the throne, Chen Jingxuan defied the recall. The emperor named him commander of the Left Dragon Martial Guard and sent Chancellor Wei Zhaodu to replace him as commissioner. When the envoy arrived, Chen Jingxuan had the people block the road, mutilating their ears to plead his merits and citing the iron certificate that forgave capital crimes. The envoy galloped back to report. Tian Lingzi urged Chen Jingxuan to recruit the Yellow-Head Army to defend himself.

時王建盜據閬、利，故令孜召建。建至綿州，發兵拒之，激建攻諸州，以限朝廷。或言：「建鴟視狼顧，惟利是賴，公何用之？」不聽。建詒顧彥朗書曰：「十軍阿父召我，欲依太師丐一大州。」即寄孥梓州，身引兵入鹿頭關。敬瑄不納，漢州刺史張頊逆戰，敗，建入漢州。成都嚴守，建走城下遙謝令孜曰：「父召我，及門而拒我，尚誰容？」與諸將斷髮再拜辭曰：「今作賊矣！」因請兵於彥朗，攻成都，殘掠州縣。彥朗亦畏建，表請大臣代敬瑄。建自請討敬瑄贖罪，詔立永平軍，授建節度使，以昭度為行營招討使，山南西道節度使楊守亮副之，彥朗為行軍司馬。有詔暴敬瑄殺孟昭圖罪，削官爵。昭度使建屯學射山，敬瑄迎戰不克，又戰蠶厓，大敗。

Wang Jian had seized Lang and Li by force, so Tian Lingzi summoned him. When Wang Jian reached Mianzhou, Chen Jingxuan raised troops against him and goaded him to attack the surrounding prefectures, checking the court's power. Someone warned: "Wang Jian has the eyes of an owl and the glance of a wolf—he follows profit alone. Why employ him?" Chen Jingxuan would not listen. Wang Jian wrote deceitfully to Gu Yanlang: "The Adopted Father of the Ten Armies summoned me; I mean to rely on the Grand Preceptor to beg a large prefecture." He sent his family to Zizhou and personally led his army through Deer-Head Pass. Chen Jingxuan refused him entry. The Hanzhou prefect Zhang Shu met him in battle and was defeated; Wang Jian entered Hanzhou. Chengdu stood under tight guard. Wang Jian walked below the walls and called out to Tian Lingzi: "You summoned me, Father, yet shut me at the gate—who else will take me in?" He and his generals cut their hair and bowed again in farewell, declaring: "Today I become a rebel!" He then asked Gu Yanlang for troops, attacked Chengdu, and ravaged the surrounding prefectures and counties. Gu Yanlang too feared Wang Jian and memorialized asking that a senior minister replace Chen Jingxuan. Wang Jian volunteered to attack Chen Jingxuan to atone for his crimes. The court established the Yongping army, made Wang Jian its commissioner, named Wei Zhaodu campaign commander, Yang Shouliang of Shannan West-Circuit as his deputy, and Gu Yanlang campaign marshal. An edict publicized Chen Jingxuan's murder of Meng Zhaotu and stripped him of rank and title. Wei Zhaodu had Wang Jian camp at Archery-Practice Mountain. Chen Jingxuan met him in battle and failed; fighting again at Silkworm Cliff, he was routed.

龍紀元年，昭度至軍中，持節諭人，約開門。守陴者詬曰：「鐵券在，安得違先帝意！」今孜籍城中戶一人乘城，夜循行，晝浚濠伐薪。敬瑄屯彌牟、德陽，樹二壁拒建。使富人自占貲多少，布巨梃，搒不實者，不三日輸錢如市。建、昭度傅城而壘，簡州刺史張造攻笮橋，大敗，死之。

In the first year of Longji, Wei Zhaodu arrived at the army, bore the imperial staff to address the people, and negotiated for the gates to be opened. The defenders on the walls shouted back: "The iron certificate still stands—how dare we defy the late emperor's will!" Tian Lingzi registered one man from every household in the city for wall duty; by night he patrolled the ramparts, by day he dug the moat and gathered firewood. Chen Jingxuan encamped at Mimu and Deyang and built two walled camps to block Wang Jian. He made the wealthy declare their assets, set out heavy clubs, and beat those who underreported; within three days money poured in as if at market. Wang Jian and Wei Zhaodu built siege lines against the walls. The Jianzhou prefect Zhang Zao attacked Bamboo Bridge, was routed, and died.

大順元年，建稍擊降諸州。邛州刺史毛湘本令孜孔目官，謂其下曰：「吾不忍負軍容，以頭見建可也。」乃沐浴以須，吏斬其首降。敬瑄戰浣花，不勝，明日復戰，將士皆為建俘。城中謀降者，令孜支解之以怖眾。會大疫，死人相藉。

In the first year of Dashun, Wang Jian gradually attacked and brought the surrounding prefectures to surrender. The Qiongzhou prefect Mao Xiang had been Tian Lingzi's chief clerk. He told his men: "I cannot betray the Military Commissioner—let my head answer to Wang Jian." He bathed and waited; an officer beheaded him and surrendered his head. Chen Jingxuan fought at Washing-Flower Pavilion and lost. The next day he fought again, and his officers and soldiers were all taken by Wang Jian. When men inside the city plotted to surrender, Tian Lingzi had them dismembered to terrify the rest. A great plague followed, and the dead lay heaped upon one another.

明年三月，詔還敬瑄官爵，召昭度還，諭建罷兵，建不奉詔。帝更以建為西川行營招討制置使。建知敬瑄可禽，欲遂有蜀地，即脅說昭度曰：「公以數萬眾討賊，糧數不屬，關東諸節度相吞噬，朝廷危若贅斿，與其勞師遠方，不如先中國，公宜還為天子謀之。」昭度未決。會吏盜減諸軍稟食，建怒其眾曰：「招討吏之謀也。」縱士執之，醢食於軍。昭度大駭，是日授建符節，跳馳出劍門。建絕棧梯，東道不通。因急擊敬瑄，分親騎為十團，所當輒披靡，烽塹相望幾百里，縱諜入城，以搖眾心。建好謂軍中曰：「成都號『花錦城』，玉帛子女，諸兒可自取。」謂票將韓武等：「城破，吾與公遞為節度使一日。」下聞之，戰愈力。圍凡三歲，城中糧盡，以筒容米，率寸鬻錢二百。敬瑄出家貲給民，募士出剽麥，收其半。民亦夜至建壘市鹽，不可禁，吏請殺之。敬瑄曰：「民饑無以恤，使求生可也。」人至相暴以相啖，敬瑄不能止，乃行斬、劈二法，亦不為戢。敬瑄自將出犀浦，列二營邀建。建軍偽遁，遇伏，敬瑄敗，建破斜橋、昝街二屯。明日戰，又破一壁，降其將。建屯七里亭，敬瑄攻之。建將張武馳入城，戰子城下，守陴皆噪，不能克。張破浣花營，敬瑄諸將或死或降且盡。凡五十戰，敬瑄皆北，乃上表以病丐還京師。令孜素服至建軍。建入自西門，以張為斬斫使，建徇於軍曰：「與而等累年鬥死，今日如誌。若橫恣有犯者，吾能全之；即為所斬，吾不得救也！」軍中肅然。囚敬瑄、令孜，建自稱留後，表於朝。詔以建為西川節度副大使，知節度事。

The following March an edict restored Chen Jingxuan's rank, recalled Wei Zhaodu, and ordered Wang Jian to stand down. Wang Jian refused. The emperor then named Wang Jian campaign commander and provisioning commissioner for Xichuan. Wang Jian knew Chen Jingxuan could be taken and meant to seize Shu for himself. He pressed Wei Zhaodu: "You lead tens of thousands against a rebel, yet supplies never reach you. The eastern commissioners devour one another, and the court hangs by a thread. Rather than wear out your army in a distant province, secure the heartland first—return and plot for the Son of Heaven." Wei Zhaodu hesitated. When a clerk was caught stealing army rations, Wang Jian roused his troops: "This was the campaign commander's plot." He let his men seize the man, mince him, and feed the army. Wei Zhaodu was horrified. That same day he handed Wang Jian the commissioner's seal and banner and fled through Sword Gate. Wang Jian cut the plank roads and ladders, blocking the eastern route. He then pressed the attack on Chen Jingxuan, dividing his personal cavalry into ten squadrons that swept all before them. Beacon fires and trenches stretched for nearly a hundred li. He sent spies into the city to shake morale. Wang Jian rallied the army: "Chengdu is called the Brocade City—silks, jewels, women and children are yours for the taking." He told his deputy generals Han Wu and others: "When the city falls, you and I shall each be military commissioner for a day in turn." The soldiers heard this and fought all the harder. The siege lasted three years. When grain inside the city ran out, rice was measured in tubes—about an inch selling for two hundred cash. Jingxuan spent his family fortune to feed the people, recruited men to raid for wheat, and kept half the harvest. Civilians also slipped by night to Jian's camp to buy salt; nothing could stop them, and officials urged execution. Jingxuan said, "The people are starving and we cannot save them all; let them do what they must to survive. People turned on one another and cannibalized the dead; Jingxuan could not stop it. He imposed beheading and dismemberment as punishments, yet the horror did not cease. Jingxuan led the army out to Xipu himself, set two camps, and blocked Jian's path. Jian's army pretended to flee, sprang an ambush, and routed Jingxuan; he then overran the garrisons at Xieqiao and Zanjie. The next day he fought again, breached another redoubt, and accepted its commander's surrender. Jian encamped at Qili Pavilion, and Jingxuan attacked. Jian's general Zhang Wu charged into the city and fought below the inner gate; the defenders on the walls roared, and he could not break through. Zhang overran the Huanhua camp; Jingxuan's generals were killed or surrendered until almost none remained. After fifty battles Jingxuan had lost every one; he memorialized the throne, citing illness, and begged to return to the capital. Lingzi came to Jian's camp dressed in white mourning garb. Jian entered through the west gate, appointed Zhang chief executioner, and addressed the army: "We have fought one another to the death for years; today that wish is fulfilled. If any of you run wild and break the law, I can still protect you; but once Zhang executes you, I cannot save you! The army fell silent. He imprisoned Jingxuan and Lingzi, declared himself acting commissioner, and memorialized the court. The court appointed Jian deputy military commissioner of Xichuan with full authority over the circuit.

建以敬瑄居新津，食其租賦，累表請誅，不報。景福二年，陰令左右告敬瑄、令孜養死士，約楊晟等反，於是斬敬瑄於家。初，敬瑄知不免，嘗置藥於帶，至就刑，視帶，藥已亡矣。自是建盡有兩川、黔中地。李巨川李巨川，字下己，逢吉從曾孫。乾符中舉進士。方天下崩騷，乃去京師，河中王重榮辟為掌書記。重榮討黃巢，書檄奏請日紛沓，須報趣發，皆屬巨川。神安思敏，言輒中理，鄰藩皆驚。會賊走出關，收京師，人言巨川有助力。重榮死於亂，貶為興元參軍，節度使楊守亮喜曰：「天以生遺我邪！」復管記室。守亮為韓建所禽，巨川械以從，題木葉遺建祈哀。建動容，因釋縛，置幕府。昭宗幸華，建患一州供億不能濟，使巨川傳檄天下，督轉餉。

Jian kept Jingxuan at Xinjin and lived off his tax revenues; he memorialized again and again for his execution, but the court did not respond. In 893 he secretly had his men accuse Jingxuan and Lingzi of training diehard troops and plotting rebellion with Yang Sheng; Jingxuan was executed at his residence. Jingxuan had known he could not escape and had kept poison in his belt; at the moment of execution he found the pouch empty—the poison was gone. From then on Jian held all of the Two Chuan and Qianzhong. Li Juchuan. Li Juchuan, courtesy name Xiaji, was a collateral descendant of Li Fengji. During the Qianfu era he passed the jinshi examination. As the empire slid into chaos he left the capital; Wang Chongrong of Hezhong took him on as chief secretary. When Chongrong marched against Huang Chao, proclamations and memorials poured in daily and urgent dispatches had to go out at once—all were Juchuan's work. Composed and quick-witted, his words always struck true, and neighboring circuits marveled. When the rebels fled beyond the passes and the capital was retaken, people credited Juchuan with a major share of the effort. Chongrong died in the upheaval; Juchuan was demoted to adjutant at Xingyuan. Commissioner Yang Shouliang exclaimed, "Has Heaven sent this man to me alive! He again headed the secretariat. When Shouliang was captured by Han Jian, Juchuan was shackled and led away; he wrote a plea on a leaf and sent it to Jian begging for mercy. Jian was moved, had his bonds cut, and took him onto his staff. When Emperor Zhaozong visited Hua, Jian feared one province could not sustain the court; he had Juchuan issue proclamations across the empire to hurry supplies.

初，帝在石門，數遣嗣延王、通王將親軍，大選安聖、奉宸、保寧、安化四軍，又置殿後軍，合士二萬。建惡衛兵強，不利己，與巨川謀，即上飛變，告八王欲脅帝幸河中，因請囚十六宅，選嚴師傅督教，盡散麾下兵。書再上，帝不得已，詔可。又廢殿後軍，且言「無示天下不廣」。詔留三十人為控鶴排馬官，隸飛龍坊。自是天子爪牙盡矣。建初懼帝不聽，以兵環宮，請誅定州行營將李筠。帝懼，斬筠，兵乃解。又言：「七國災漢，八王亂晉，永王帥江左謀不軌，吐蕃、朱玫亂，首立宗支搖人望。今王室多故，渠可使諸王將命四方，惑征鎮？」於是詔諸王奉使者，悉赴行在。巨川日夜導建不臣，乃請立德王為皇太子，文掩其惡。帝還京，拜諫議大夫。

Earlier, at Shimen, the emperor had repeatedly sent the princes of Siyan and Tong to lead the imperial guard, reorganized the An Sheng, Fengchen, Baoning, and Anhua corps, and added a Rear Guard—twenty thousand men in all. Jian resented the palace guard's strength and, with Juchuan, filed an urgent report claiming the eight princes meant to force the emperor to Hezhong; he asked to confine the imperial clansmen in the Sixteen Mansions, appoint strict tutors, and disband all their troops. The memorial came again; the emperor had no choice and assented. The Rear Guard was abolished as well, on the pretext that the court must not appear petty before the realm. An edict left only thirty Crane-Control horse officers under the Flying Dragon Ward. From then on the emperor had no armed force of his own. Jian first feared refusal; he ringed the palace with troops and demanded the execution of Dingzhou camp commander Li Yun. Terrified, the emperor had Yun executed, and the troops withdrew. He argued further: "The seven states ruined Han, the eight princes ruined Jin, Prince Yong raised the lower Yangtze in rebellion, and in the Tibetan and Zhu Mei disorders the first step was always to elevate a prince to sway men's hopes. The throne is beset with troubles—how can we let princes take commands across the realm and unsettle the commissioners? An edict then ordered every prince on mission to return to the emperor's camp. Day and night Juchuan urged Jian toward treason; he petitioned to make Prince De heir apparent, his prose papering over Jian's crimes. When the emperor returned to the capital, Juchuan was appointed Remonstrance Grand Master.

光化初，朱全忠陷河中，將攻潼關，建懼，使巨川往詣軍納款，因言當世利害。全忠屬官敬翔以文翰事左右，疑巨川用則全忠待己或衰，乃詭說曰：「巨川誠奇才，顧不利主人，若何？」是日，全忠殺之。

Early in the Guanghua era Zhu Quanzhong seized Hezhong and threatened Tong Pass; terrified, Jian sent Juchuan to submit and discuss the balance of power. Quanzhong's adviser Jing Xiang handled his correspondence; fearing Juchuan would displace him, he whispered, "Juchuan is a genius, but geniuses do not serve their masters well—what then? That same day Quanzhong had him killed.

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