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卷十二 周本紀第十二: 世宗 恭帝

Volume 12 Later Zhou Annals 3: Shizong, Emperor Gong

Chapter 12 of 新五代史 · New History of the Five Dynasties
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Chapter 12
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Volume 12 — Annals of Zhou, Chapter 12
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使 使 使 使广
Shizong, temple name the Sagacious Martial Filial Civil Emperor, was born of the Chai clan at Longgang in Xingzhou. A Chai clanswoman wed Taizu and was enthroned as Empress Shengmu. Rong, Shouli’s son and the empress’s nephew, was raised from boyhood in Taizu’s house through his aunt; his sober loyalty won affection, and Taizu adopted him as a son. As Taizu’s star rose, Rong matured into a man of striking looks and presence, expert in the saddle and bow, with a modest grounding in the classics, histories, and Daoist texts, and a temperament grave and quiet. While Taizu served Later Han as privy commissioner, Rong held the post of Grand General of the Left Gate Guard. When Taizu took command at Tianxiong, Rong became prefect of Guizhou and commander-in-chief of the Tianxiong inner guard. In the winter of Qianyou 3 the Zhou army rose in Wei and struck for the capital; Rong stayed behind to guard Wei. After Taizu seized the throne, Rong was made prefect of Cao, military commissioner of Zhenning, honorary grand tutor, and associate grand councilor. Privy Commissioner Wang Jun had long resented Rong; when Rong came to court in the first month of Guangshun 3, he was sent back and not allowed to remain. Jun was soon condemned and put to death; in the third month Rong became Mayor of the Eastern Capital and Prince of Jin. That winter auguries fixed the southern suburb rite for dawn on the coming new year, yet Taizu fell ill and went long without holding court.
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使 使 使使簿使使使 使使 使 使 使 使 使
On bingzi in the first month of Xiande 1 the suburban sacrifice was rushed through; the Prince of Jin was then put in charge of all military affairs within and without. On renchen Taizu died; the court concealed the death and withheld the mourning proclamation. On bingshen the mourning was proclaimed and the new emperor took the throne before the bier. Wei Renpu, Grand General of the Right Gate Guard, became vice privy commissioner. On gengxu in the second month Uyghur envoys arrived. On dingmao Feng Dao was named mausoleum commissioner for the late emperor; Tian Min, Minister of Rites, oversaw ritual; Zhang Zhao, Minister of War, insignia; Zhang Xu, Vice Censor-in-Chief, ceremonial guards; and Wang Min, junior mayor of Kaifeng acting as mayor, bridges, roads, and relays. Northern Han forces marched to punish Zhou, advancing from Luzhou. On xinsi in the third month a general amnesty was proclaimed. On guimao Zheng Renhui was posted to guard the Eastern Capital. On yiyou the emperor marched on Luzhou against Northern Han. On renchen he stopped at Ze Prefecture and held a military review north of the city. On guisi he met Liu Chong on the high plain, routed him, chased him to Gaoping, and routed him again. On dingyou he went in person to Luzhou. On jihai Fan Aineng, commander of the palace horse guard, and He Hui, commander of the palace foot guard, were put to death. On renyin Fu Yanqing, military commissioner of Tianxiong, was appointed overall commander of the Hedong campaign. On yimao in the fourth month Taizu, the Sagely, Divine, Martial, Civil, Reverent, Filial Emperor, was interred at Songling. Dong Xiyan, defense commissioner of Fen Prefecture, broke with Northern Han and defected to Zhou. On bingchen Liao Prefecture prefect Zhang Hanchao rebelled against Northern Han and submitted to Zhou. On xinyou Lan and Xian prefectures fell. On renxu Lady Fu of Wei was enthroned as empress. Shi and Bi prefectures were captured. On yichou Feng Dao died. On gengwu Luzhou prisoners sentenced to exile or below were pardoned. The emperor marched on Taiyuan. Li Qiong, Xin Prefecture’s military supervisor, killed Prefect Zhao Gao, turned on Northern Han, and defected to Zhou. On bingzi in the fifth month Dai’s garrison commander Zheng Chuqian rebelled against Northern Han and submitted; the Khitan marched to relieve Han. On dingyou the Uyghur envoy Yinandielue arrived. Fu Yanqing met the Khitan at Xinkou and was beaten; Vanguard Commander Shi Yanchao fell in the fight. On yisi in the sixth month the army marched home. On yichou he stopped at Xinzheng and visited Songling to mourn Taizu. On gengwu he came back from the Taiyuan campaign. On gengchen in the seventh month he inspected the harvest at the Southern Imperial Farm. On guisi Privy Council academician and Vice Minister of Works Jing Fan became vice director of the Secretariat and associate grand councilor; Wei Renpu was named privy commissioner. On jiachen in the tenth month Meng Hanqing, Grand General of the Left Feathered Forest, was put to death.
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使 使 使 殿使
In the first month of Xiande 3 the capital fortifications were extended. On gengzi Xiang Xun was posted to guard the Eastern Capital. On renyin the emperor launched the southern campaign. On xinhai Li Chongjin, commander of the palace personal guard, met Southern Tang forces at Zhengyang and routed them. On jiayin Li Chongjin was appointed overall commander of the Huainan campaign. On bingyin in the second month he inspected the floating bridge at Xiacai. On renshen Chu Prefecture fell. On jiaxu Li Jing of Southern Tang sued for peace; the court gave no reply. On renwu Li Jing sent his minister Zhong Mo with a formal petition. On bingxu Yang Prefecture was captured. On xinmao Tai Prefecture fell. On gengzi Yuan Yan, chief of the inner and outer horse and foot forces, was named commander of the bamboo-dragon formation. That month Guang, Shu, and Chang prefectures were captured. In the fourth month Chang and Tai prefectures slipped back to Southern Tang control. On yimao in the fifth month he returned from Huainan and granted amnesty to capital prisoners. On renshen in the sixth month a lenient edict freed Huainan prisoners. In the seventh month the empress died. Yang, Guang, Shu, and Chu prefectures reverted to Southern Tang. On yichou in the eighth month the court ordered households to plant grain and leeks. On bingwu in the ninth month Duanming Hall academician and Left Regular Attendant Wang Pu became Vice Minister of Revenue and vice privy commissioner. On xinyou in the tenth month Empress Xuanyi was interred at Yiling. On gengyin in the eleventh month unauthorized local cults were shut down. On yisi Sun Sheng, a Southern Tang minister of Li Jing, was put to death.
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寿 寿 使 使 使 使 使 使
On the new-year day jichou in the first month of Xiande 4, all prisoners short of capital crimes were pardoned. On jiaxu in the second month Wang Pu was posted to guard the Eastern Capital. On yihai the emperor launched the southern campaign again. On dingwei in the third month Shou Prefecture fell. On jisi in the fourth month he returned from the Shouzhou campaign. On jimao eight hundred captives were sent home to Shu. On guimao Lady Liu of Pengcheng was posthumously enthroned as empress. On bingshen in the fifth month Mi Prefecture defense commissioner Hou Xijin was put to death. On yihai in the eighth month Li Gu left office and Wang Pu became privy commissioner. On guimao Shu sent back Hu Li, Zhou’s prefect of Pu Prefecture. On jisi in the tenth month Wang Pu guarded the Eastern Capital while Zhang Mei, head of the three fiscal departments, was named chief inspector of the inner palace. On renshen the southern campaign resumed. On yimao in the twelfth month Si Prefecture commander Fan Zaiyu turned on Southern Tang and surrendered his prefecture. On gengshen Hao Prefecture training commissioner Guo Tingwei surrendered his prefecture. On dingchou Tai Prefecture was captured. On dinghai in the first month of Xiande 5 Hai Prefecture fell. On renchen the Jinghai command was captured. On dingwei Chu Prefecture fell; its defenders Zhang Yanqing and Zheng Zhaoye died in the assault. On jiayin Xiong Prefecture was captured. On dingmao the emperor traveled to Yang Prefecture. On guiyou he went on to Guazhou. On the new-year day renwu in the third month he went to Tai Prefecture. On dinghai he went back to Yang Prefecture. On xinmao he toured Yingluan. On jihai fourteen Huainan prefectures were secured, the Yangzi River set as the border. On xinhai in the third month Li Jing came in person to tender submission at a feast. On gengshen in the fourth month the five ancestral tablets were installed in the new imperial temple. On renshen he returned from Huainan; envoys arrived from the Uyghurs and the Tatars. On xinwei in the sixth month 4,600 captives were sent back to Southern Tang. On yiyou in the seventh month Han Yanqing of the Water Ministry was dispatched to buy copper in Goryeo. On dinghai the court issued the Equal-Field Diagram. In the ninth month the king of Champa, Shili Yinde Man, dispatched the envoy Puhesan. In winter, on dingyou in the tenth month, the court levied grain rents from the people. In the eleventh month on gengxu the court compiled the Comprehensive Rites and the Correct Music. In the twelfth month on bingxu the court abolished tax-account and salary households in prefectures and counties.
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Emperor Gong was Zongxun, the fourth son of Shizong. After Shizong’s accession his ministers urged that the princes be enfeoffed as kings, but he long refused out of modest restraint. When he marched north to recover the Three Passes he fell ill and returned to the capital; only then did he enfeoff Zongxun as Prince of Liang, at the age of seven.
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In the first month of spring in the seventh year, on jiachen, he abdicated the throne. The Song arose.
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使 使 使
Alas! The annals of the Five Dynasties stand complete—what can fully be told of the bond between ruler and subject! When Liang’s Yougui rebelled, Later Tang slew Kening and put Cunyi and Congcan to death—the tie between father and son, bone and blood, was all but severed. They halted court when the imperial dowager died, yet enthroned Liu and Feng as empresses—the marriage bond was all but wrecked, not far from the conduct of beasts. Cold Food sacrifices in the open with spirit money burned, a new reign title proclaimed amid mourning while music played, Ma Yanji and Ren Yuan put to death—ritual, music, punishments, and policy were all but destroyed. Thunder-Mountain contests, passing the arrow, trampling horses—the Middle Kingdom had all but turned barbarian. Truly it may be called an age of chaos! Yet in only five or six years Shizong seized Qin and Long, pacified the Huai west, and recovered the Three Passes; his martial fame shook both barbarians and Chinese, while within the realm he gathered Confucian scholars, examined institutions, compiled the Comprehensive Rites, fixed the Correct Music, and debated the Penal Code—institutions fit to govern generations yet unborn. He was clear-sighted and resolute, bold in counsel and grand in debate. The year after he took the throne he abolished 3,336 Buddhist temples across the realm. Coin was scarce in China then, and an edict ordered every copper Buddha image in the realm melted for cash. He once said, “I have heard the Buddha call body and worldly life illusion, and urge us to benefit others—had his true body remained, and the world gained from cutting it apart, he would still have it severed; how much less would he spare these copper statues?” After that none of his ministers dared object. One night, reading, he came upon Tang Yuan Zhen’s Equal-Field Diagram and sighed: “Here is the root of good order—royal government begins with this!” He ordered the diagram’s rules published so officials and people could study them in advance, setting a year to equalize fields across the realm—an ambition that was anything but small! When he marched against Southern Tang he consulted Chancellor Li Gu on strategy; After Huainan fell he produced Gu’s memorial, had Academician Tao Gu compose an encomium, and kept it in a brocade pouch at his side. His martial gifts were truly heroic; that he listened with an open mind and employed men without suspicion—was this not the mark of a worthy sovereign? In recovering the Three Passes his armies scarcely drew blood, yet historians still faulted him for gambling the altars of state on a rash stroke—never seeing that he had gauged strength and weakness, weighed foe against self, and struck when Shulü was failing, seizing a moment that would not come again. Who but a man clear in the art of decision could have done it? Truly the historians themselves could not have matched him!
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