1
符習，趙州昭慶人也。 少事趙王王镕為軍校，自晉救趙，破梁軍柏鄉，趙常遣習將兵從晉。 晉軍德勝，張文禮弒趙王王镕，上書莊宗，求習歸趙。 莊宗遣之，習號泣曰：「臣世家趙，受趙王恩，王嘗以一劍與臣使自效，今聞王死，欲以劍自裁，念卒無益，請擊趙破賊，報王冤。」 莊宗壯之，乃遣閻寶、史建瑭等助習討文禮，以習為鎮州兵馬留後。 習攻文禮不克，莊宗用佗將破之。 拜習成德軍節度使，習辭不敢受，乃以相、衛二州為義寧軍，以習為節度使，習辭曰：「魏博六州，霸王之府也，不宜分割以示弱，願授臣河南一鎮，得自攻取之。」 乃拜習天平軍節度使、東南面招討使，習亦未嘗攻取。 後徙鎮安國，又徙平盧。
Fu Xi came from Zhaqing in Zhao prefecture. In youth he served Wang Rong of Zhao as a military officer. When Jin marched to save Zhao and broke Liang at Baixiang, Zhao often sent Xi with Jin’s host. After Jin’s victory at Desheng, Zhang Wenli murdered Wang Rong of Zhao and petitioned Zhuangzong to send Xi home to Zhao. Zhuangzong sent him off. Xi wept and said: “My house has served Zhao for generations, and the king once gave me a sword to spend my life in his service. Now that he is dead I mean to fall on that sword—but what good would that do? Let me strike Zhao, break the rebels, and avenge my king.” Zhuangzong was moved. He sent Yan Bao and Shi Jiantan to help Xi crush Wenli and made Xi acting commander of Zhenzhou’s forces. Xi besieged Wenli without success; Zhuangzong sent other commanders and broke him. They offered Xi the Chengde command; he refused. They carved Xiang and Wei into the Yining army and made him its governor. He refused again: “Weibo’s six prefectures are a hegemon’s seat—split them and you look weak. Give me one command south of the river and I will win it myself.” They made him military governor of Tianping and southeast pacification commissioner—but he never took a command by force. Later he moved to An’guo, then to Pinglu.
2
趙在禮作亂，遣習以鎮兵討賊。 習未至魏，而明宗兵變，習不敢進。 明宗遣人招之，習見明宗於胙縣，而以明宗舉兵不順，去就之意未決，霍彥威紿習曰：「主上所殺者十人，公居其四，復何猶豫乎？」 習意乃決。 平盧監軍楊希望聞習為明宗所召，乃以兵圍習家屬，將殺之。 指揮使王公儼素為希望所信，紿希望曰：「內侍盡忠朝廷，誅反者家族，孰敢不效命！ 宜分兵守城，以虞外變，習家不足慮也。」 希望信之，乃悉分其兵守城，公儼因擒希望斬之，習家屬由是獲免。 而公儼宣言青人不便習之嚴急，不欲習復來，因自求為節度使。 明宗乃以房知溫代習鎮平盧，拜公儼登州刺史。 公儼不時承命，知溫擒而殺之。 習復鎮天平，徙鎮宣武。
When Zhao Zaili rose in rebellion, Xi was sent with his garrison to put him down. Before Xi reached Wei, Mingzong’s army turned on him. Xi halted and would not go on. Mingzong sent for him. Xi met him at Zuo county, but Mingzong’s rebellion still left him torn. Huo Yanwei lied to him: “The emperor killed ten men—and you were four of them. What is there to hesitate over?” Xi made up his mind. Yang Xiwang, the Pinglu army monitor, heard Xi had gone over to Mingzong. He surrounded Xi’s family with troops and meant to kill them. Wang Gongyan, a commander Xiwang trusted, tricked him: “You serve the throne faithfully by destroying a rebel’s kin—who would not follow you? Split your force and hold the walls against trouble outside. Xi’s family is no concern.” Xiwang believed him and sent his men to the walls. Gongyan seized him and cut off his head. Xi’s family was spared. Gongyan then declared that Qing’s people hated Xi’s harsh rule and would not have him back—and asked for the command himself. Mingzong replaced Xi with Fang Zhiwen at Pinglu and made Gongyan prefect of Deng. Gongyan would not obey. Zhiwen took him and killed him. Xi returned to Tianping, then moved to Xuanyu.
3
習素為安重誨所不悅，希其旨者上言習厚斂汴人，乃以太子太師致仕，歸昭慶故里，明宗以其子令謙為趙州刺史以奉養之。 習以無罪，怏怏失職，縱獵劇飲以自娛。 居歲餘，中風卒，贈太師。
An Chonghui had never liked Xi. Men eager to please Chonghui accused him of bleeding Bian dry. Xi was made Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and sent home to Zhaqing. Mingzong made his son Lingqian prefect of Zhao to provide for him. Innocent in his own eyes, Xi brooded over his fall and drowned his days in hunting and wine. A little more than a year later he suffered a stroke and died. He was posthumously made Grand Preceptor.
4
習二子：令謙、蒙。 令謙有勇力，善騎射，以父任為將，官至趙州刺史，有善政，卒於州，州人號泣送葬者數千人，當時號為良刺史。 蒙少好學，性剛鯁，為成德軍節度副使。 後事晉，官至禮部侍郎。
Xi had two sons: Lingqian and Meng. Lingqian was strong, brave, and a fine mounted archer. His father’s rank made him a general; he rose to prefect of Zhao and ruled well. He died in office, and thousands wept at his funeral. Men called him a model prefect. Meng loved books as a boy and was stiff-necked by nature. He became deputy military governor of Chengde. Later he served Jin and rose to Vice Minister of Rites.
5
烏震，冀州信都人也。 少事趙王王镕為軍卒，稍以功遷裨校，隸符習軍。 習從莊宗於河上，而镕為張文禮所弒，震從習討文禮，而家在趙，文禮執震母妻及子十餘人以招震，震不顧。 文禮乃皆斷其手鼻，割而不誅，縱至習軍，軍中皆不忍正視。 震一慟而止，憤激自勵，身先士卒。 晉軍攻破鎮州，震以功拜刺史，歷深、趙二州。 震為人純質，少好學，通《左氏春秋》，喜作詩，善書。 及為刺史，以廉平為政有聲，遷冀州刺史，兼北面水陸轉運使。 明宗聞其名，擢拜河北道副招討使，領寧國軍節度使，代房知溫戍於盧臺軍。 始至而戍兵龍至等作亂，見殺，贈太師。
Wu Zhen came from Xindu in Ji prefecture. In youth he served Wang Rong of Zhao as a common soldier, won promotion to captain, and joined Fu Xi’s command. Xi followed Zhuangzong on the river while Wenli murdered Wang Rong. Zhen marched with Xi against Wenli, but his kin were still in Zhao. Wenli seized Zhen’s mother, wife, and more than ten children to force him over. Zhen would not look. Wenli cut off their hands and noses, maimed but did not kill them, and sent them to Xi’s camp. No soldier could meet their eyes. Zhen wept once, then checked himself. Shame hardened him; he took the van and fought at the head of the line. When Jin broke Zhenzhou, Zhen won a prefecture for his deeds and served at Deep and Zhao in turn. Zhen was plain and honest. As a young man he studied the Zuo Commentary, wrote verse, and practiced calligraphy. As prefect he ruled with clean hands and a fair scale and won a name for it. He became prefect of Ji and north water-and-land transport commissioner. Mingzong heard of him, made him deputy Hebei pacification commissioner and military governor of Ningguo, and sent him to Lutai in Fang Zhiwen’s place. He had barely arrived when Long Zhi and other garrison troops mutinied and killed him. He was posthumously made Grand Preceptor.
6
嗚呼！ 忠孝以義則兩得，吾既已言之矣，若烏震者，可謂忠乎？ 甚矣，震之不思也。 夫食人之祿而任人之事，事有任，專其責，而其國之利害，由己之為不為，為之雖利於國，而有害於其親者，猶將辭其祿而去之。 矧其事眾人所皆可為，而任不專己，又其為與不為，國之利害不系焉者，如是而不顧其親，雖不以為利，猶曰不孝，況因而利之乎！ 夫能事其親以孝，然後能事其君以忠，若烏震者，可謂大不孝矣，尚何有於忠哉！
Alas! By righteousness, loyalty and filial piety can both be kept—I have said as much already. But can a man like Wu Zhen be called loyal? Wu Zhen did not think at all. A man who eats another’s salary and bears another’s charge owns a fixed duty. The state rises or falls on what he does or refuses to do. Even when action helps the realm but hurts his kin, he should give up rank and go. How much worse when anyone could do the work, the charge is not yours alone, and the realm’s fate does not hang on your choice! To abandon your kin even then is already unfilial—what name is left when you do it for gain? Only a filial son can be a loyal minister. Wu Zhen was deeply unfilial—what loyalty could he claim?
7
孔謙，魏州人也，為魏州孔目官。 魏博入於晉，莊宗以為度支使。 謙為人勤敏，而傾巧善事人，莊宗及其左右皆悅之。 自少為吏，工書算，頗知金谷聚斂之事。 晉與梁相拒河上十餘年，大小百餘戰，謙調發供饋，未嘗闕乏，所以成莊宗之業者，謙之力為多，然民亦不勝其苦也。
Kong Qian came from Weizhou and served as a clerical officer there. When Weibo submitted to Jin, Zhuangzong made him fiscal commissioner. Qian was quick and clever, slick at pleasing men. Zhuangzong and his court liked him. Raised as a clerk, he was skilled at ledgers and knew how to squeeze the treasury. For more than ten years Jin and Liang fought on the river in a hundred battles, large and small. Qian kept the levies and the grain flowing and never failed Zhuangzong’s cause—but the people groaned under him.
8
莊宗初建大號，謙自謂當為租庸使，而郭崇韜用魏博觀察使判官張憲為使，以謙為副。 謙已怏怏。 既而莊宗滅梁，謙從入汴，謂崇韜曰：「鄴，北都也，宜得重人鎮之，非張憲不可。」 崇韜以為然，因以憲留守北都，而以宰相豆盧革判租庸。 謙益失望，乃陰求革過失，而革嘗以手書假租庸錢十萬，謙因以書示崇韜，而微泄其事，使革聞之。 革懼，遂求解職以讓崇韜，崇韜亦不肯當。 莊宗問：「誰可者？」 崇韜曰：「孔謙雖長於金谷，而物議未可居大任，不若復用張憲。」 乃趣召憲。 憲為人明辯，人頗忌之，謙因乘間謂革曰：「租庸錢谷，悉在目前，委一小吏可辦。 鄴都天下之重，不可輕以任人。」 革以語崇韜，崇韜罷憲不召，以興唐尹王正言為租庸使。 謙益憤憤，因求解職。 莊宗怒其避事，欲寘之法，賴伶官景進救解之，乃止。 已而正言病風，不任事，景進數以為言，乃罷正言，以謙為租庸使，賜「豐財贍國功臣」。
When Zhuangzong took the imperial title, Qian expected to become grain-and-corvée commissioner. Guo Chongtao instead made Zhang Xian, secretary to the Weibo observation commissioner, commissioner—with Qian as his deputy. Qian was already bitter. When Zhuangzong destroyed Liang and entered Bian, Qian told Chongtao: “Ye is the northern capital and needs a heavy hand. Only Zhang Xian will do.” Chongtao agreed. He left Xian at the northern capital and put Chief Minister Dou Lu’ge over grain and corvée. Qian grew more disappointed and hunted for Ge’s faults. Ge had once borrowed a hundred thousand in grain funds in his own hand. Qian showed the note to Chongtao and let the story leak until Ge heard it. Ge was frightened and offered to step aside for Chongtao. Chongtao would not take the post either. Zhuangzong asked, “Who should have it?” Chongtao said, “Kong Qian knows the ledgers, but men say he is unfit for high office. Better to recall Zhang Xian.” They hurried a summons to Xian. Xian was sharp-tongued and clear-minded, and many resented him. Qian seized the moment and told Ge, “The grain money is all here in the office. A petty clerk could run it. Ye is the weight of the empire. You cannot put it in the wrong hands.” Ge repeated this to Chongtao. Chongtao dropped the recall and made Xingtang governor Wang Zhengyan grain-and-corvée commissioner. Qian grew angrier still and asked to quit. Zhuangzong raged at his shirking and meant to punish him by law. Only Jing Jin, the eunuch-official, talked him out of it. Before long Zhengyan was struck with paralysis and could not serve. Jing Jin kept pressing the point. Zhengyan was removed, Qian got the commission, and the throne gave him the title Meritorious in Enriching Wealth and Nourishing the State.
9
謙無佗能，直以聚斂為事。 莊宗初即位，推恩天下，除百姓田租，放諸場務課利欠負者，謙悉違詔督理。 故事：觀察使所治屬州事，皆不得奪達，上所賦調，亦下觀察使行之。 而謙直以租庸帖調發諸州，不關觀察，觀察使交章論理，以謂：「制敕不下支郡，刺史不專奏事，唐制也。 租庸直帖，沿偽梁之弊，不可為法。 今唐運中興，願還舊制。」 詔從其請，而謙不奉詔，卒行直帖。 又請減百官俸錢，省罷節度觀察判官、推官等員數。 以至鄣塞天下山谷徑路，禁止行人，以收商旅征算； 遣大程官放豬羊柴炭，占庇人戶； 更制括田竿尺； 盡率州使公廨錢。 由是天下皆怨苦之。 明宗立，下詔暴謙罪，斬於洛市，籍沒其家。 遂罷租庸使額，分鹽鐵、度支、戶部為三司。
Qian had no other gift. He lived to squeeze. When Zhuangzong first ascended he cancelled land tax and wiped market debts across the realm. Qian ignored every word and kept collecting. By old custom, observation commissioners controlled their subordinate prefectures and no one could bypass them. Imperial levies also passed through them. Qian instead issued grain-and-corvée orders straight to the prefectures, cutting observation commissioners out. They protested in joint memorials: “Edicts do not go to branch prefectures, and prefects do not memorialize on their own—that is Tang law. Direct grain posts copy false Liang’s abuse and must not become precedent. Tang is rising again. Restore the old way.” The throne agreed—but Qian ignored the edict and kept issuing direct orders. He also asked to cut every official’s pay and abolish posts such as observation commissaries and legal assessors. He blocked mountain roads across the empire, barred travelers, and taxed merchants on the move; sent circuit officers to monopolize pigs, sheep, firewood, and charcoal and seize protected households; changed the rods used to measure fields for taxation; and drained every prefecture’s envoy office fund. The whole realm groaned under him. When Mingzong took the throne he published Qian’s crimes, beheaded him in the Luoyang market, and seized his property. They abolished the grain-and-corvée commission and split Salt Iron, Fiscal Affairs, and Household into three bureaus.
10
張延朗
Zhang Yanlang
11
張延朗，汴州開封人也。 事梁，以租庸吏為鄆州糧料使。 明宗克鄆州，得延朗，復以為糧料使，後徙鎮宣武、成德，以為元從孔目官。 明宗即位，為莊宅使、宣徽北院使、忠武軍節度使。 長興元年，拜三司使。 唐制：戶部度支以本司郎中、侍郎判其事，而有鹽鐵轉運使。 其後用兵，以國計為重，遂以宰相領其職。 乾符已後，天下喪亂，國用愈空，始置租庸使，用兵無常，隨時調斂，兵罷則止。 梁興，始置租庸使，領天下錢谷，廢鹽鐵、戶部、度支之官。 莊宗滅梁，因而不改。 明宗入立，誅租庸使孔謙而廢其使職，以大臣一人判戶部、度支、鹽鐵，號曰判三司。 延朗因請置三司使，事下中書。 中書用唐故事，拜延朗特進、工部尚書，充諸道鹽鐵轉運等使，兼判戶部度支事。 詔以延朗充三司使，班在宣徽使下。 三司置使自此始。
Zhang Yanlang came from Kaifeng in Bian prefecture. Under Liang he served as a grain-and-corvée clerk and became Yingzhou grain commissary. When Mingzong took Yingzhou he kept Yanlang as grain commissary. Later, at Xuanyu and Chengde, he made him clerical officer to the original followers. At Mingzong’s accession he became palace-estate commissioner, northern Xuanwei commissioner, and military governor of Zhongwu. In Changxing 1 he was made three-bureaus commissioner. Under Tang, Household and Fiscal affairs were judged by their bureau directors and vice directors, and a Salt Iron transport commissioner stood apart. Later war made state finance paramount, and a chief minister took charge. After Qianfu the realm collapsed and the treasury hollowed out. They created a grain-and-corvée commissioner whose levies rose and fell with war and vanished when the armies rested. When Liang rose it put one grain-and-corvée commissioner over all finance and abolished Salt Iron, Household, and Fiscal. Zhuangzong destroyed Liang and kept the system. When Mingzong seized the throne he executed Kong Qian and abolished the grain-and-corvée commission. One great minister then judged Household, Fiscal Affairs, and Salt Iron—the “three bureaus.” Yanlang asked to restore a three-bureaus commissioner, and the matter went to the Secretariat. The Secretariat followed Tang precedent and made Yanlang specially advanced and Minister of Works, circuit salt-and-iron transport commissioner, and concurrent judge of Household and Fiscal affairs. An edict named Yanlang three-bureaus commissioner, ranking below the Xuanwei commissioner. The three-bureaus commission began here.
12
延朗號為有心計，以三司為己任，而天下錢谷亦無所建明。 明宗常出遊幸，召延朗共食，延朗不至，附使者報曰：「三司事忙，無暇。」 聞者笑之。 歷泰寧、雄武軍節度使。 廢帝以為吏部尚書兼中書門下平章事，判三司。
Yanlang was known for cleverness and made the three bureaus his charge, yet he left the realm’s ledgers no clearer than before. Mingzong often went touring and asked Yanlang to dine with him. Yanlang stayed away and sent word: “The three bureaus are buried in work. I have no time.” Men who heard it laughed. He later commanded Taining and Xiongwu in turn. The Deposed Emperor made him Minister of Personnel, co-equal grand councilor, and judge of the three bureaus.
13
晉高祖有異志，三司財貨在太原者，延朗悉調取之，高祖深以為恨。 晉兵起，廢帝欲親征，而心畏高祖，遲疑不決，延朗與劉延朗等勸帝必行。 延朗籍諸道民為丁及括其馬，丁馬未至，晉兵入京師，高祖得延朗，殺之。
Gaozu of Later Jin already nursed designs of his own. Yanlang seized every coin and store the Three Departments had at Taiyuan, and Gaozu never forgave him. When Jin’s armies rose, the deposed emperor meant to take the field himself—but he feared Gaozu and hung back. Yanlang, Liu Yanlang, and others pressed him to march. Yanlang drafted men from every circuit and seized their horses. Before either men or mounts arrived, Jin troops were already in the capital. Gaozu took Yanlang and killed him.
14
李嚴，幽州人也，初名讓坤。 事劉守光為刺史，後事莊宗為客省使。 嚴為人明敏多藝能，習騎射，頗知書而辯。 同光三年，使於蜀，為王衍陳唐興復功德之盛，音辭清亮，蜀人聽之皆竦動。 衍樞密使宋光嗣召嚴置酒，從容問中國事。 嚴對曰：「前年天子建大號於鄴宮，自鄆趨汴，定天下不旬日，而梁之降兵猶三十萬，東漸於海，西極甘涼，北懾幽陵，南逾閩嶺，四方萬里，莫不臣妾。 而淮南楊氏承累世之強，鳳翔李公恃先朝之舊，皆遣子入侍，稽首稱藩。 至荊、湖、吳越，修貢賦，效珍奇，願自比於列郡者，至無虛月。 天子方懷之以德，而震之以威，天下之勢，不得不一也。」 光嗣曰：「荊、湖、吳越非吾所知，若鳳翔則蜀之姻親也，其人反覆，其可信乎？ 又聞契丹日益強盛，大國其可無慮乎？」 嚴曰：「契丹之強，孰與偽梁？」 光嗣曰：「比梁差劣爾！」 嚴曰：「唐滅梁如拉朽，況其不及乎！ 唐兵布天下，發一鎮之眾，可以滅虜使無類。 然而天生四夷，不在九州之內，自前古王者，皆存而不論，蓋不欲窮兵黷武也。」 蜀人聞嚴應對，愈益奇之。
Li Yan came from Youzhou; he was first called Rangkun. He served Liu Shouguang as regional inspector, then Zhuangzong as commissioner of the guest bureau. Bright and quick, he mastered many crafts, rode and shot well, read widely, and spoke with force. In Tongguang 3 (925) he went to Shu as envoy and before Wang Yan laid out the glory of Tang’s restoration. His voice rang clear; every Shu listener felt a shiver run through him. Wang Yan’s chief of military affairs, Song Guangsi, called Yan to wine and, at ease, asked how things stood in the Central Realm. Yan answered: “Two years ago the Son of Heaven took the great title at Ye. From Yan he drove on Bian and settled the realm in less than ten days—and Liang’s surrendered troops still numbered three hundred thousand. East to the sea, west to Gan and Liang, north to You and Ling, south beyond Min Ridge: for ten thousand li in every direction, all bowed as subjects. The Yangs of Huainan, heirs to generations of power, and Lord Li of Fengxiang, leaning on old ties to the throne, both sent sons to court to serve and bowed as vassals. Jing, Hu, Wu, and Yue sent tribute and curiosities, asking to be counted no more than common prefectures—not a month passed without gifts. The Son of Heaven now draws them with kindness and shakes them with force. The realm’s drift is toward unity, and nothing can turn it back.” Guangsi said: “Jing, Hu, Wu, and Yue I cannot speak for. But Fengxiang is Shu’s kin by marriage—and kin who shift with every wind. Can you trust them? And I hear the Khitan grow stronger every day. Should a great power not worry?” Yan said: “Tell me—which is stronger, Khitan or false Liang?” Guangsi said: “A little weaker than Liang, that is all!” Yan said: “Tang broke Liang like pulling rotten timber. These are less still! Tang soldiers cover the land. Raise one circuit’s host and you could wipe the barbarians from the earth. Yet Heaven set the Four Barbarians beyond the Nine Provinces. From the earliest kings, wise rulers let them be and never spoke of finishing them off—because no throne should drown the realm in endless war. Shu listeners who heard Yan’s answers thought him stranger and more formidable than before.
15
是時，蜀之君臣皆庸暗，而恃險自安，窮極奢僭。 嚴自蜀還，具言可取之狀。 初，莊宗遣嚴以名馬入蜀，市珍奇以充後宮，而蜀法嚴禁以奇貨出劍門，其非奇物而出者，名曰「入草物」，由是嚴無所得而還，惟得金二百兩、地衣、毛布之類。 莊宗聞之，大怒曰：「物歸中國，謂之『入草』，王衍其能免為『入草人』乎？」 於是決議伐蜀。
Shu’s court was dull and small-minded, trusting its mountains for safety while luxury ran to excess. When Yan came back from Shu, he laid out in detail how the state could be taken. Zhuangzong had first sent Yan into Shu with fine horses to buy treasures for the inner palace. Shu forbade precious goods from passing Sword Gate; anything ordinary enough to leave was called “grass-bound goods.” Yan came back with almost nothing—two hundred taels of gold, moss cloth, hair-felt, and little else. Zhuangzong heard and raged: “Treasure bound for the Central Realm is ‘going into the grass.’ Can Wang Yan himself escape becoming grass-bound flesh?” And so they resolved to march on Shu.
16
冬，魏王繼岌西伐，以嚴為三川招討使，與康延孝以兵五千先行，所過州縣皆迎降。 延孝至漢州，王衍告曰：「得李嚴來即降。」 眾皆以伐蜀之謀自嚴始，而衍怨嚴深，不宜往。 嚴聞之喜，即馳騎入益州。 衍見嚴，以妻母為托，即日以蜀降。 嚴還，明宗以為泗州防禦使，客省使如故。
That winter the Prince of Wei marched west on Shu. Yan was named Three Rivers suppression commissioner and with Kang Yanxiao took five thousand men ahead. Every prefecture and county they reached opened its gates. When Yanxiao reached Han prefecture, Wang Yan sent word: “Send Li Yan and I surrender at once.” Everyone said the war on Shu had begun with Yan, and Wang Yan hated him bitterly—he should not go. Yan heard and was glad. He galloped straight into Yizhou. Wang Yan met Yan, entrusted wife and mother to his care, and that day Shu surrendered. When Yan returned, Mingzong made him defense commissioner of Sizhou and kept him as guest bureau commissioner.
17
其後孟知祥屈強於蜀，安重誨稍裁抑之，思有以制知祥者，嚴乃求為西川兵馬都監。 將行，其母曰：「汝前啟破蜀之謀，今行，其以死報蜀人矣！」 嚴不聽。 初，嚴與知祥同事莊宗，時知祥為中門使，嚴嘗有過，莊宗怒甚，命斬之，知祥戒行刑者少緩，入白莊宗曰：「嚴小過，不宜以喜怒殺人，恐失士大夫心。」 莊宗怒稍解，命知祥監笞嚴二十而釋之。 知祥雖與嚴有舊恩，而惡其來。 蜀人聞嚴來，亦皆惡之。 嚴至，知祥置酒從容問嚴曰：「朝廷以公來邪？ 公意自欲來邪？」 嚴曰：「君命也。」 知祥發怒曰：「天下藩鎮皆無監軍，安得爾獨來此？ 此乃孺子熒惑朝廷爾！」 即擒斬之，明宗不能詰也，知祥由此遂反。
Later Meng Zhixiang grew bold in Shu. An Chonghui reined him in where he could and looked for a man to hold him in check. Yan asked to be made military inspector of Xichuan horse and foot. Before he left, his mother said: “You were the one who opened the road to break Shu. Go now, and Shu will repay you with death.” Yan would not hear her. Long ago Yan and Zhixiang had served Zhuangzong together. Zhixiang was then middle gate attendant. Yan once offended, and Zhuangzong in fury ordered his head. Zhixiang told the executioners to hold, went in, and said: “Yan’s fault is small. A ruler should not kill in heat and lose the scholar-officials’ hearts.” Zhuangzong’s rage cooled. He had Zhixiang oversee twenty strokes and set Yan free. Zhixiang owed Yan an old debt of life, but he hated seeing him come. When Shu heard Yan was coming, the hatred was general. Yan arrived. Zhixiang poured wine and asked, calmly: “Did the court send you? Or did you choose to come yourself?” Yan said: “The ruler’s command.” Zhixiang erupted: “No frontier post in the realm keeps a military inspector. Why should you alone come here? Some brat has bewitched the throne!” He seized Yan and killed him. Mingzong could not call him to account. From that day Zhixiang turned rebel.
18
李仁矩
Li Renju
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李仁矩，不知其世家。 少事明宗為客將，明宗即位，以為客省使、左衛大將軍。 明宗祀天南郊，東、西川當進助禮錢，使仁矩趣之。 仁矩恃恩驕恣，見藩臣不以禮。 東川節度使董璋置酒召仁矩，仁矩辭醉不往，於傳舍與倡妓飲。 璋怒，率衙兵露刃之傳舍，仁矩惶恐，不襪而靴走庭中，璋責之曰：「爾以西川能斬李嚴，謂我獨不能斬爾邪！」 顧左右牽出斬之。 仁矩涕泣拜伏謝罪，乃止。 明日，璋置酒召仁矩，見其妻子，以厚謝之。 仁矩還，言璋必反。 仁矩素為安重誨所親信，自璋有異志，重誨思有以制之，乃分東川之閬州為保寧軍，以仁矩為節度使，遣姚洪將兵戍之。 璋以書至京師告其子光業曰：「朝廷割我支郡，分建節髦，又以兵戍之，是將殺我也。 若唐復遣一騎入斜谷，吾反必矣！ 與汝自此而決。」 光業私以書示樞密承旨李虔徽，使白重誨，重誨不省。 仁矩至鎮，伺璋動靜必以聞，璋益疑懼，遂決反。 重誨又遣荀咸乂將兵益戍閬州，光業亟言以為不可，重誨不聽。 咸乂未至，璋已反，攻閬州，仁矩召將校問策，皆曰：「璋有二心久矣，常以利啖吾兵，兵未可用，而賊鋒方銳，宜堅壁以挫之。 守旬日，大軍必至，賊當自退。」 仁矩曰：「蜀懦，安能當我精銳之師！」 即驅之出戰，兵未交而潰，仁矩被擒，並其家屬皆見殺。
Li Renju—nothing is known of his house. As a young man he served Mingzong as guest general. When Mingzong took the throne he was made commissioner of the guest bureau and Left Guard grand general. When Mingzong sacrificed to Heaven at the southern suburb, East and West Circuit owed ritual aid money. Renju was sent to collect it. Renju traded on imperial favor and grew proud and reckless. He showed frontier lords no courtesy. Dong Zhang, military governor of Dongchuan, sent wine and called Renju in. Renju claimed he was too drunk and stayed away, drinking at the relay station with singing girls instead. Zhang in fury marched his guard, blades bare, to the relay station. Renju in terror ran into the courtyard in boots but no stockings. Zhang raged at him: “Because Xichuan killed Li Yan, you think I cannot kill you?” He signaled his men to drag Renju out and take his head. Renju wept, threw himself down, and begged pardon. Only then did Zhang stay his hand. The next day Zhang called Renju to wine, brought out his wife and children, and made lavish amends. When Renju returned he said Zhang would rebel for certain. Renju had long stood in An Chonghui’s trust. Once Zhang turned disloyal, Chonghui looked for a way to pin him. He split Lang prefecture from Dongchuan to form the Baoning army, made Renju its military governor, and sent Yao Hong to garrison it. Zhang wrote to the capital and told his son Guangye: “The court has carved away my subordinate command, raised a new military governorship, and posted troops against me. They mean to kill me. If Tang sends one more rider through Xiegu Pass, I rebel! After this we are finished. Guangye quietly showed the letter to chief of military affairs Li Qianhui and had him warn Chonghui. Chonghui ignored it. Renju reached his post and reported Zhang’s every move. Zhang grew more afraid and more sure, and chose rebellion. Chonghui also sent Xun Xianyi with more troops to Lang. Guangye pleaded that it must not be done. Chonghui would not listen. Before Xianyi arrived Zhang had rebelled and struck Lang. Renju called his officers for counsel. All said: “Zhang has meant treason for years. He buys our soldiers with silver. The men cannot be trusted, and the enemy’s edge is bright. Hold the walls and wear them down. Hold ten days and the main force will come. The enemy will break on their own.” Renju said: “Shu men are soft. How can they face my picked host?” He drove them out at once. Before the lines met they collapsed and ran. Renju was taken, and his whole household was killed.
20
毛璋，滄州人也。 梁末，戴思遠為橫海軍節度使，璋事思遠為軍校。 晉已下魏博，思遠棄滄州出奔，璋以滄州降晉，以功為貝州刺史。 璋為人有膽勇，自晉與梁相拒河上，璋累戰有功。 莊宗滅梁，拜璋華州節度使。 在鎮多不法，議者疑其有異志，乃徙璋鎮昭義。 璋初欲拒命，其判官邊蔚切諫諭之，乃聽命。 璋累歷藩鎮，又在華州得魏王繼岌伐蜀余貲，既富而驕，益為淫侈。 嘗服赭袍飲酒，使其所得蜀奴為王衍宮中之戲於前。 明宗聞而惡之，召為金吾上將軍。 東川董璋上書言璋遣子廷赟持書往西川，疑其有奸。 明宗乃遣人追還廷赟，並璋下御史獄。 廷赟款稱實璋假子，有叔父在蜀，欲往省之，而無私書。 璋無罪名，有司議：「璋前任藩鎮，陰畜異圖，及處班行，不慎行止。」 乃停璋見任官，勒還私第。
Mao Zhang came from Cangzhou. At Liang’s end Dai Siyuan held Henghai. Zhang served him as a camp officer. After Jin took Weibo, Siyuan abandoned Cangzhou and fled. Zhang surrendered Cangzhou to Jin and for his deed was made prefect of Bei. Zhang was bold and brave. From the day Jin and Liang faced each other on the river he fought again and again with credit. When Zhuangzong broke Liang, Zhang was made military governor of Hua. In office he broke the law often. Critics suspected disloyalty, and he was moved to Zhaoyi. At first Zhang meant to refuse the transfer. His aide Bian Wei argued him down, and he obeyed. Zhang had held one frontier post after another. At Hua he also took the Prince of Wei’s leftover spoils from the Shu campaign. Wealth made him proud, and his excess grew worse. Once he drank in a vermilion robe and made his Shu slaves perform Wang Yan’s palace shows before him. Mingzong heard and loathed it. He recalled Zhang to be Grand General of the Golden Guard. Dong Zhang of Dongchuan wrote that Zhang had sent his son Tingyun west to Xichuan with a letter, and suspected treason. Mingzong sent men to bring Tingyun back and threw Zhang into the censor’s prison. Tingyun confessed he was Zhang’s adopted son. He had an uncle in Shu and meant only to visit him. There was no secret letter. No crime could be pinned on Zhang. The officials ruled: “As military governor he secretly nursed disloyal designs; in court rank he was careless in conduct.” He was removed from office and sent home.
21
初，廷赟之蜀，與其客趙延祚俱，及召下獄，延祚多捃璋陰事欲言之，璋許延祚重賂以滅口。 既出而責賂於璋，不與，延祚乃詣臺自言，並璋復下獄，鞫之無狀。 中丞呂夢奇議曰：「璋前經推劾，已蒙昭雪，而延祚以責賂之故，復加織羅。」 乃稍宥璋。 璋款上，有告者言夢奇受賂而劾獄不盡，乃移軍巡獄。 獄吏希旨，鍛煉其事，璋具伏：許賂延祚而未與，嘗以馬借夢奇而無受賂。 璋坐長流儒州，已而令所在賜自盡。
When Tingyun first went to Shu his guest Zhao Yanzuo went with him. When both were called in and jailed, Yanzuo collected Zhang’s hidden deeds and meant to speak. Zhang promised him a heavy bribe to stay silent. Once free he demanded payment. Zhang refused. Yanzuo went to the censorate on his own and spoke out. Zhang was jailed again. Under questioning nothing held. Vice censor Lu Mengqi ruled: “Zhang was tried once and cleared. Yanzuo, denied his bribe, has spun a new net.” Zhang was given a little lenience. Zhang petitioned from below. An informer said Mengqi had taken a bribe and stopped the inquiry short. The case went to the military patrol prison. The jail clerks shaped the case to order. Zhang confessed everything: he had promised Yanzuo a bribe and never paid; he had lent Mengqi a horse, but taken no bribe. Zhang was sentenced to lifelong exile in Ruzhou. Before long the order came that he should take his own life wherever he stood.