1
豆盧革
Dou Luge
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豆盧革，父瓚，唐舒州刺史。 豆盧為世名族，唐末天下亂，革避地之中山，唐亡，為王處直掌書記。 莊宗在魏，議建唐國，而故唐公卿之族遭亂喪亡且盡，以革名家子，召為行臺左丞相。 莊宗即位，拜同中書門下平章事。 革雖唐名族，而素不學問，除拜官吏，多失其序，常為尚書郎蕭希甫駁正，革頗患之。 莊宗已滅梁，革乃薦韋說為相。 說，唐末為殿中侍御史，坐事貶南海，後事梁為禮部侍郎。 革以說能知前朝事，故引以佐己，而說亦無學術，徒以流品自高。
Dou Luge’s father Zan had served Tang as prefect of Shu. The Dou Lu were a great house. When Tang collapsed into chaos, Ge fled to Zhongshan. After the dynasty fell he became chief secretary to Wang Chuzhi. Zhuangzong was at Wei, planning to raise Tang again. The old Tang nobility had been wiped out in the wars. Ge, a famous name, was called to serve as Left Chancellor of the Field Secretariat. At Zhuangzong’s accession Ge became Co-Signatory of the Secretariat and Grand Councillor. Ge came from a great Tang clan but had no learning. His appointments were often out of order, and Attendant Secretary Xiao Xifu kept correcting him. Ge hated it. Once Liang was destroyed, Ge put forward Wei Shuo as chief councillor. Shuo had been a palace censor under late Tang, was banished to the South Seas for a crime, and later served Liang as vice-minister of Rites. Ge wanted Shuo for his knowledge of the old court, but Shuo was no scholar either—he only traded on birth.
3
是時，莊宗內畏劉皇后，外惑宦官、伶人，郭崇韜雖盡忠於國，而亦無學術，革、說俯仰默默無所為，唯諾崇韜而已。 唐、梁之際，仕宦遭亂奔亡，而吏部銓文書不完，因緣以為奸利，至有私鬻告敕，亂易昭穆，而季父、母舅反拜侄、甥者，崇韜請論以法。 是時唐新滅梁，朝廷紀綱未立，議者以為宜革以漸，而崇韜疾惡太甚，果於必行，說、革心知其未可，而不能有所建言。 是歲冬，選人吳延皓改亡叔告身行事，事發，延皓及選吏尹玫皆坐死，尚書左丞判吏部銓崔沂等皆貶，說、革詣閣門待罪。 由是一以新法從事，往往以偽濫駁放而斃踣羈旅、號哭道路者，不可勝數。 及崇韜死，說乃教門人上書言其事，而議者亦以罪之。
Zhuangzong feared Empress Liu at home and listened to eunuchs and actors abroad. Chongtao was loyal but unlearned. Ge and Shuo nodded along and did nothing but agree with him. Between Tang and Liang, fleeing officials left the Ministry of Personnel’s files in tatters. Men turned the gap into profit—selling edicts, swapping senior and junior lines, even making uncles bow to nephews. Chongtao demanded legal punishment. Tang had just taken Liang; the court had no settled order. Some said reform should come step by step, but Chongtao’s hatred of abuse was too sharp and he would brook no delay. Shuo and Ge knew better but said nothing. That winter the candidate Wu Yanhao forged credentials for a dead uncle. Exposed, he and examiner Yin Mei were executed; Cui Yi and others in Personnel were demoted. Shuo and Ge waited at the gate to confess fault. Thereafter the new rules were enforced to the letter. Countless men were turned away for fraud, stranded on the roads to die wailing. When Chongtao fell, Shuo had a protégé memorialize the matter—and was blamed for it.
4
是歲，大水，四方地連震，流民殍死者數萬人，軍士妻子皆采穭以食。 莊宗日以責三司使孔謙，謙不知所為。 樞密小吏段徊曰：「臣嘗見前朝故事，國有大故，則天子以朱書御劄問宰相。 水旱，宰相職也。」 莊宗乃命學士草詔，手自書之，以問革、說。 革、說不能對，第曰：「陛下威德著於四海，今西兵破蜀，所得珍寶億萬，可以給軍。 水旱，天之常道，不足憂也。」 革自為相，遭天下多故，而方服丹砂煉氣以求長生，嘗嘔血數日，幾死。 二人各以其子為拾遺，父子同省，人以為非，遽改佗官，而革以說子為弘文館學士，說以革子為集賢院學士。
That year floods and earthquakes ravaged the realm. Tens of thousands of wanderers starved; soldiers’ families ate chaff. Zhuangzong daily blamed Kong Qian, commissioner of the Three Departments. Qian did not know what to do. A junior clerk in Military Affairs, Duan Hui, said: “I have seen old precedent—when the realm suffers great disaster, the emperor writes the chief councillors a personal note in red ink. Flood and drought are the chief councillors’ business.” Zhuangzong had the academicians draft an edict, copied it in his own hand, and sent it to Ge and Shuo. Ge and Shuo had no reply. They said only: “Your Majesty’s power is known everywhere. The western army has taken Shu and its treasure in the hundreds of millions—enough to pay the troops. Flood and drought are heaven’s way—nothing to fear. Ge had become chief councillor amid endless crisis, yet he swallowed cinnabar to cultivate breath and seek long life. Once he vomited blood for days and nearly died. Each placed his son as a remonstrator; father and son in one office drew criticism. They hurriedly shifted the boys to other posts—Ge made Shuo’s son a Hongwen academician, Shuo made Ge’s son a Jixian academician.
5
莊宗崩，革為山陵使，莊宗已祔廟，革以故事當出鎮，乃還私第，數日未得命，而故人賓客趣使入朝。 樞密使安重誨詬之於朝曰：「山陵使名尚在，不俟改命，遽履新朝，以我武人可欺邪！」 諫官希旨，上疏誣革縱田客殺人，說坐與鄰人爭井，遂俱罷。 革貶辰州刺史，說漵州刺史，所在馳驛發遣。 宰相鄭玨、任圜三上章，請毋行後命，不報。 革復坐請俸私自入，說賣官與選人，責授革費州司戶參軍，說夷州司戶參軍，皆員外置同正員。 已而竄革陵州，說合州，皆長流百姓。
Zhuangzong died; Ge was made tomb overseer. Once the late emperor was enshrined, custom called for Ge to take a provincial command. He went home and waited days for orders. Old associates pressed him to come to court. Chief Military Commissioner An Chonghui reviled him at court: “Your title as tomb overseer is still on the books—you did not wait for new orders but hurried into the new reign. Do you take us soldiers for fools!” Flattering remonstrators accused Ge of letting tenant farmers commit murder; Shuo was blamed for a quarrel over a well with a neighbor. Both lost office. Ge was demoted to prefect of Chen and Shuo to prefect of Xu; relay horses hurried them on their way. Chief councillors Zheng Jue and Ren Huan thrice memorialized to revoke the later punishments. The throne did not answer. Ge was charged with keeping salary he had requested for himself; Shuo with selling posts to candidates. Ge became registrar of Fei and Shuo registrar of Yi—both supernumerary with full rank. Then Ge was banished to Ling and Shuo to He—long exile among the people.
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初，說嘗以罪竄之南海，遇赦，還寓江陵，與高季興相知，及為相，常以書幣相問遺。 唐兵伐蜀，季興請以兵入三峽，莊宗許之，使季興自取夔、忠、萬、歸、峽等州為屬郡。 及破蜀，季興無功，而唐用佗將取五州。 明宗初即位，季興數請五州，以謂先帝所許，朝廷不得已而與之。 及革、說再貶，因以其事歸罪二人。 天成二年夏，詔陵、合州刺史監賜自盡。
Shuo had once been banished to the South Seas, then pardoned and stayed at Jiangling, where he knew Gao Jixing. In office he kept up letters and gifts with him. During the Shu campaign Jixing asked to enter the Three Gorges with troops. Zhuangzong agreed and promised him Qian, Zhong, Wan, Gui, and Xia as subject prefectures. Shu fell, but Jixing won nothing; Tang sent other generals to seize the five prefectures. At Mingzong’s accession Jixing demanded the five prefectures again, citing Zhuangzong’s pledge. The court yielded. When Ge and Shuo were punished once more, the court pinned the matter on them. In summer of Tiancheng 2 an edict ordered the Ling and He prefects to oversee their suicides.
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革子升，說子濤，皆官至尚書郎，坐其父廢。 至晉天福初，濤為尚書膳部員外郎，卒。 ○盧程
Ge’s son Sheng and Shuo’s son Tao had both risen to Attendant Secretary before their fathers’ fall ruined them. At the start of Jin’s Tianfu era Tao was Attendant Secretary of Provisions and died in post. Lu Cheng
8
盧程，不知其世家何人也。 唐昭宗時，程舉進士，為鹽鐵出使巡官。 唐亡，避亂燕、趙，變服為道士，遊諸侯間。 豆盧革為王處直判官，盧汝弼為河東節度副使，二人皆故唐時名族，與程門地相等，因共薦之以為河東節度推官。 莊宗嘗召程草文書，程辭不能。 其後戰胡柳，掌書記王誠歿於陣，莊宗還軍太原，置酒謂監軍張承業曰：「吾以卮酒辟一書記於坐。」 因舉卮屬巡官馮道。 程位在道上，以嘗辭不能，故不用，而遷程支使。 程大恨曰：「用人不以門閥而先田舍兒邪！」
Lu Cheng’s lineage is unknown. Under Tang Zhaozong he passed the jinshi and served as an inspection officer on the Salt and Iron commission. When Tang fell he fled to Yan and Zhao, dressed as a Daoist, and wandered among the warlords. Dou Luge was Wang Chuzhi’s aide and Lu Rubi Hedong’s deputy governor—both old Tang great houses, Cheng’s equals in rank. Together they made him Hedong investigating officer. Zhuangzong once asked Cheng to draft documents. Cheng refused—he could not write them. At Huliu chief secretary Wang Cheng fell in battle. Zhuangzong returned to Taiyuan, poured wine, and told army supervisor Zhang Chengye: “With this cup I will appoint a secretary from those seated here.” He lifted the cup and offered it to inspection officer Feng Dao. Cheng outranked Dao, but having once refused to write, he was passed over. Cheng was made dispatch officer. Cheng was furious: “Men are chosen not by pedigree but for a farm boy!”
9
莊宗已即位，議擇宰相，而盧汝弼、蘇循已死，次節度判官盧質當拜，而質不樂行事，乃言豆盧革與程皆故唐時名族，可以為相，莊宗以程為中書侍郎、同平章事。 是時，朝廷新造，百度未備，程、革拜命之日，肩輿導從，喧呼道中。 莊宗聞其聲以問左右，對曰：「宰相檐子入門。」 莊宗登樓視之，笑曰：「所謂似是而非者也。」
When Zhuangzong reigned they chose chief councillors. Lu Rubi and Su Xun were dead; Lu Zhi, the circuit aide, was next, but he did not want the post and said Dou Luge and Cheng, both old great houses, could serve. Zhuangzong made Cheng Vice Director of the Secretariat and Co-Signatory Grand Councillor. The court was new and its rites unsettled. The day Ge and Cheng took office, sedan chairs and attendants clamored through the streets. Zhuangzong heard the uproar and asked what it was. They said: “The chief councillors’ litters are coming through the gate.” He climbed a tower to look and laughed: “So this is ‘seems so, but isn’t.’”
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程奉皇太后冊，自魏至太原，上下山險，所至州縣，驅役丁夫，官吏迎拜，程坐肩輿自若，少忤其意，必加笞辱。 人有假驢夫於程者，程帖興唐府給之，府吏啟無例，程怒笞吏背。 少尹任圜，莊宗姊婿也，詣程訴其不可。 程戴華陽巾，衣鶴氅，據幾決事，視圜罵曰：「爾何蟲豸，恃婦家力也！ 宰相取給州縣，何為不可！」 圜不對而去，夜馳至博州見莊宗。 莊宗大怒，謂郭崇韜曰：「朕誤相此癡物，敢辱予九卿！」 趣令自盡，崇韜亦欲殺之，賴盧質力解之，乃罷為右庶子。 莊宗入洛，程於路墜馬，中風卒，贈禮部尚書。
Cheng escorted the empress dowager’s patent from Wei to Taiyuan over steep passes. Every county he pressed corvée; officials bowed. He rode his litter at ease and whipped or abused any who crossed him. A man asked to borrow a donkey driver. Cheng posted an order on Xingtang Prefecture to supply one. The clerk said there was no precedent. Cheng had him flogged. Junior Prefect Ren Huan, Zhuangzong’s brother-in-law, went to Cheng to say this would not do. Cheng wore a Huayang cap and crane cloak, sat at his desk, looked at Huan and snarled: “What vermin are you, leaning on your wife’s kin! Chief councillors draw on prefectures and counties—why not!” Huan said nothing and left, then rode through the night to Bozhou to see Zhuangzong. Zhuangzong raged and told Guo Chongtao: “I made this idiot chief councillor—and he insults my Nine Ministers!” He ordered Cheng to kill himself on the spot. Chongtao wanted him dead too, but Lu Zhi pleaded hard and Cheng was reduced to Right Guardian of the Heir Apparent. On the road to Luoyang Cheng fell from his horse, suffered a stroke, and died. He was posthumously made Minister of Rites.
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張文禮弒王镕，莊宗遣嗣昭討之。 嗣昭戰歿，圜代將其軍，號令嚴肅。 既而文禮子處球等閉城堅守，不可下，圜數以禍福諭鎮人，鎮人信之。 圜嘗擁兵至城下，處球登城呼圜曰：「城中兵食俱盡，而久抗王師，若泥首自歸，懼無以塞責，幸公見哀，指其生路。」 圜告之曰：「以子先人，固難容貸，然罰不及嗣，子可從輕。 其如拒守經年，傷吾大將，一朝困竭，方布款誠，以此計之，子亦難免。 然坐而待斃，曷若伏而俟命？」 處球流涕曰：「公言是也！」 乃遣子送狀乞降，人皆稱圜其言不欺。 既而佗將攻破鎮州，處球雖見殺，而鎮之吏民以嘗乞降，故得保其家族者甚眾。
Zhang Wenli killed Wang Rong. Zhuangzong sent Sizhao against him. Sizhao fell in battle. Huan took his army and kept iron discipline. Wenli’s son Chuchiu and others barred the city and would not yield. Huan again and again spoke of reward and ruin to the townsmen, and they trusted him. Huan once marched to the walls. Chuchiu climbed the ramparts and called: “Soldiers and grain are gone, yet we long resisted the throne. If we bow in submission we may not atone. Show us mercy—point us a path to live.” Huan answered: “Your father’s crime is hard to forgive—but guilt does not pass to sons, so you may be treated lightly. Yet you held out a year, killed our commander, and only now, spent, offer loyalty—weigh that, and you too may not escape. Still, to sit and die—is that better than bowing and awaiting judgment?” Chuchiu wept: “You speak truth!” He sent his son with a surrender petition. All said Huan’s words were honest. Later another general took Zhenzhou. Chuchiu was killed, but many who had sought surrender kept their families.
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其後以鎮州為北京，拜圜工部尚書，兼真定尹、北京副留守知留守事，為政有惠愛。 明年，郭崇韜兼領成德軍節度使，改圜行軍司馬，仍知真定府事。 圜與崇韜素相善，又為其司馬，崇韜因以鎮州事托之，而圜多所違異。 初，圜推官張彭為人傾險貪黷，圜不能察，信任之，多為其所賣。 及崇韜領鎮，彭為圜謀隱其公廨錢。 莊宗遣宦者選故趙王時宮人百餘，有許氏者尤有色，彭賂守者匿之。 後事覺，召彭詣京師，將罪之，彭懼，悉以前所隱公錢簿書獻崇韜，崇韜深德彭，不殺，由是與圜有隙。 同光三年，圜罷司馬，守工部尚書。
Zhenzhou became the Northern Capital. Huan was made Minister of Works, prefect of Zhending, and deputy regent of the Northern Capital with full authority—his rule was kind. Next year Chongtao took Chengde as well. Huan became army march warden but still ran Zhending. Huan and Chongtao had been close; as march warden Huan was entrusted with Zhenzhou—but he often crossed him. Huan’s investigating officer Zhang Peng was scheming and greedy. Huan did not see it, trusted him, and was often betrayed. When Chongtao governed the circuit, Peng urged Huan to hide public funds. Zhuangzong sent eunuchs to choose more than a hundred palace women from the old Zhao court. One Lady Xu was especially fair. Peng bribed the keepers to conceal her. When it was discovered Peng was called to the capital to be punished. In fear he handed Chongtao the ledgers of all he had hidden. Chongtao was grateful and spared him—and broke with Huan. In Tongguang 3 Huan lost the march warden post and remained Minister of Works.
13
魏王繼岌暨崇韜伐蜀，懼圜攻己於後，乃辟圜參魏王軍事。 蜀滅，表圜黔南節度使，圜懇辭不就。 繼岌殺崇韜，以圜代將其軍而旋。 康延孝反，繼岌遣圜將三千人，會董璋、孟知祥等兵，擊敗延孝於漢州，而魏王先至渭南，自殺，圜悉將其軍以東。 明宗嘉其功，拜圜同中書門下平章事，兼判三司。 是時，明宗新誅孔謙，圜選辟才俊，抑絕僥幸，公私給足，天下便之。
Jiji and Chongtao marched on Shu. Jiji feared Huan might strike from the rear and made him staff officer on the Wei Prince’s campaign. Shu fell; Jiji nominated Huan for Qiannan South. Huan refused firmly. Jiji killed Chongtao and put Huan in command of the army for the march home. Kang Yanxiao rebelled. Jiji sent Huan with three thousand men to join Dong Zhang and Meng Zhixiang and crush Yanxiao at Han. The Wei Prince reached Weinan and killed himself. Huan brought the whole army east. Mingzong honored his service and made Huan Co-Signatory Grand Councillor, also running the Three Departments. Mingzong had just killed Kong Qian. Huan recruited able men and shut out flatterers; public and private stores filled and the realm breathed easier.
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是秋，韋說、豆盧革罷相，圜與安重誨、鄭玨、孔循議擇當為相者，圜意屬李琪，而玨、循雅不欲琪為相，謂重誨曰：「李琪非無文藝，但不廉耳！ 宰相，端方有器度者足以為之，太常卿崔協可也。」 重誨以為然。 佗日，明宗問誰可相者，重誨即以協對。 圜前爭曰：「重誨未諳朝廷人物，為人所賣。 天下皆知崔協不識文字，而虛有儀表，號為『沒字碑』。 臣以陛下誤加采擢，無功幸進，此不知書，以臣一人取笑足矣，相位有幾，豈容更益笑端？」 明宗曰：「宰相重位，卿等更自詳審。 然吾在藩時，識易州刺史韋肅，世言肅名家子，且待我甚厚，置之此位可乎？ 肅或未可，則馮書記先朝判官，稱為長者，可以相矣！」 馮書記者，道也。 議未決，重誨等退休於中興殿廓下，孔循不揖，拂衣而去，行且罵曰：「天下事一則任圜，二則任圜，圜乃何人！」 圜謂重誨曰：「李琪才藝，可兼時輩百人，而讒夫巧沮，忌害其能，若舍琪而相協，如棄蘇合之丸而取蜣蜋之轉也！」 重誨笑而止。 然重誨終以循言為信，居月余，協與馮道皆拜相。 協在相位數年，人多嗤其所為，然圜與重誨交惡自協始。
That autumn Wei Shuo and Dou Luge left office. Huan met with An Chonghui, Zheng Jue, and Kong Xun to choose a chief councillor. Huan wanted Li Qi; Jue and Xun did not. They told Chonghui: “Li Qi has talent but no honesty! The post needs a man of dignity and measure—Director of Ceremonies Cui Xie will serve.” Chonghui agreed. Another day Mingzong asked whom to make chief councillor. Chonghui named Xie. Huan spoke up: “Chonghui does not know the court—someone has sold him a lie. All the realm knows Cui Xie cannot read and is only a handsome shell—they call him the ‘Stele Without Characters.’ Your Majesty raised me without merit—one illiterate to mock is enough. How many chief councillor seats are there to add another joke?” Mingzong said: “Chief councillor is a heavy post—look again with care. When I was in the provinces I knew Wei Su, prefect of Yi—a man of a great house who treated me well. Could he serve? If Su will not do, then Secretary Feng—the old Tang aide, called a man of worth—could be chief councillor!” Secretary Feng was Feng Dao. Before they decided, Chonghui and the rest retired to the Zhongxing Hall corridor. Kong Xun did not bow, shook out his sleeves and left, cursing: “The realm—first Ren Huan, second Ren Huan! Who is Ren Huan!” Huan told Chonghui: “Li Qi’s gifts outmatch a hundred of our peers, yet slanderers block him from envy. To drop Qi for Xie is to throw away musk for dung-beetle balls!” Chonghui laughed and dropped the matter. Yet Chonghui trusted Kong Xun in the end. A month later, Cui Xie and Feng Dao both became chief councillors. Xie sat as chief councillor for years while men laughed at his deeds. Yuan’s breach with Chonghui began there.
15
故事，使臣出四方，皆自戶部給券，重誨奏請自內出，圜以故事爭之，不能得，遂與重誨辨於帝前，圜聲色俱厲。 明宗罷朝，後宮嬪御迎前問曰：「與重誨論者誰？」 明宗曰：「宰相也。」 宮人奏曰：「妾在長安，見宰相奏事，未嘗如此，蓋輕大家耳！」 明宗由是不悅，而使臣給券卒自內出，圜益憤沮。 重誨嘗過圜，圜出妓，善歌而有色，重誨欲之，圜不與，由是二人益相惡。 而圜遽求罷職，乃罷為太子少保。 圜不自安，因請致仕，退居於磁州。
By old rule, envoys abroad drew travel vouchers from the Ministry of Revenue. Chonghui asked that they come from the palace instead. Yuan fought him on precedent and lost, then quarreled with Chonghui before the throne—voice and face both hard. Court ended. Palace consorts met Mingzong and asked: "Who was arguing with Chonghui?" Mingzong said: "The chief councillor." A palace woman said: "In Chang’an I watched chief councillors report to the throne—I never saw such a scene. They must hold Your Majesty cheap!" Mingzong took offense. Envoys’ vouchers were issued from the palace after all, and Yuan sank deeper into rage and despair. Chonghui once called on Yuan, who produced a courtesan—fair and fine of voice. Chonghui wanted her; Yuan refused. Their hatred deepened. Yuan begged to leave office at once and was made Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Uneasy in his post, Yuan asked to retire and went home to Cizhou.
16
朱守殷反於汴州，重誨誣圜與守殷連謀，遣人矯制殺之。 圜受命怡然，聚族酣飲而死。 明宗知而不問，為下詔，坐圜與守殷通書而言涉怨望。 湣帝即位，贈圜太傅。
Zhu Shouyin rose at Bianzhou. Chonghui charged Yuan with plotting alongside him and sent killers bearing a forged edict. Yuan took the order calmly, gathered his kin for a last feast, and died in his cups. Mingzong knew and said nothing. An edict charged Yuan with writing Shouyin in tones of grievance and disaffection. When Emperor Min succeeded, Yuan was posthumously made Grand Tutor.
17
莊宗及劉皇后幸河南尹張全義第，酒酣，命皇后拜全義為父。 明日，遣宦者命學士作箋上全義，以父事之，鳳上書極言其不可。 全義養子郝繼孫犯法死，宦官、伶人冀其貲財，固請籍沒，鳳又上書言：「繼孫為全義養子，不宜有別籍之財，而於法不至籍沒，刑人利財，不可以示天下。」 是時，皇后及群小用事，鳳言皆不見納。
Zhuangzong and Empress Liu visited Henan governor Zhang Quanyi at home. Deep in wine, Zhuangzong had the empress bow and call Quanyi father. Next day a eunuch ordered an academician to draft a memorial honoring Quanyi as a father. Feng memorialized that it could not be done. Quanyi’s adopted son Hao Jisun died for a crime. Eunuchs and actors eyed his estate and pressed for confiscation. Feng wrote again: "Jisun was Quanyi’s adopted son. He ought not to hold wealth under a separate register, and the law does not call for seizure. To profit from a condemned man’s goods is no lesson for the realm." The empress and her petty favorites ruled; none of Feng’s words was heard.
18
明宗武君，不通文字，四方章奏，常使安重誨讀之。 重誨亦不知書，奏讀多不稱旨。 孔循教重誨求儒者置之左右，而兩人皆不知唐故事，於是置端明殿學士，以馮道及鳳為之。
Mingzong was a soldier who could not read. Memorials from every quarter were usually read aloud by An Chonghui. Chonghui could not read either. His readings often missed the mark. Kong Xun urged Chonghui to keep Confucian scholars close. Neither man knew Tang precedent, so they created Duanming Hall academicians and named Feng Dao and Zhao Feng to the posts.
19
鳳好直言而性剛強，素與任圜善，自圜為相，頗薦進之。 初，端明殿學士班在翰林學士下，而結銜又在官下。 明年，鳳遷禮部侍郎，因諷圜升學士於官上，又詔班在翰林學士上。 圜為重誨所殺，而誣以謀反。 是時，重誨方用事，雖明宗不能詰也，鳳獨號哭呼重誨曰：「任圜天下義士，豈肯謀反！ 而公殺之，何以示天下？」 重誨慚不能對。
Feng loved blunt truth and had a hard nature. He and Ren Yuan had long been friends; once Yuan became chief councillor, he pushed Feng forward. At first Duanming Hall academicians ranked below the Hanlin, and even their title lines sat beneath their offices. The next year Feng became Vice Minister of Rites and nudged Yuan to lift the academicians’ titles above their offices. An edict also set them above the Hanlin. Chonghui killed Yuan and smeared him with a charge of treason. Chonghui then held the reins; even Mingzong could not press him. Feng alone wept and shouted at Chonghui: "Ren Yuan is a man of honor under heaven—would he rebel! You killed him—what do you show the realm?" Chonghui flushed and had no reply.
20
術士周玄豹以相法言人事多中，莊宗尤信重之，以為北京巡官。 明宗為內衙指揮使，重誨欲試玄豹，乃使佗人與明宗易服，而坐明宗於下坐，召玄豹相之，玄豹曰：「內衙，貴將也，此不足當之。」 乃指明宗於下坐曰：「此是也！」 因為明宗言其後貴不可言。 明宗即位，思玄豹以為神，將召至京師，鳳諫曰：「好惡，上所慎也。 今陛下神其術而召之，則傾國之人，皆將奔走吉兇之說，轉相惑亂，為患不細。」 明宗遂不復召。
The physiognomist Zhou Xuanbao often read men correctly. Zhuangzong trusted him deeply and made him touring officer of the northern capital. While Mingzong commanded the inner guard, Chonghui tested Xuanbao. He had another man swap clothes with Mingzong and set Mingzong in a low seat, then called Xuanbao in. Xuanbao said: "The inner guard is a great commander’s post—this man cannot fill it." He pointed to Mingzong below: "This is the man!" Then he told Mingzong his rise would be beyond telling. Mingzong took the throne, thought Xuanbao miraculous, and meant to summon him to court. Feng warned: "Likes and dislikes are what a ruler must guard. If Your Majesty treats his craft as sacred and calls him in, the whole realm will run after omens of luck and ruin, trading lies until the court is poisoned—the harm is not small." Mingzong never summoned him again.
21
朱守殷反，明宗幸汴州，守殷已誅，又詔幸鄴。 是時，從駕諸軍方自河南徙家至汴，不欲北行，軍中為之洶洶。 而定州王都以為天子幸汴州誅守殷，又幸鄴以圖己，因疑不自安。 宰相率百官詣閣，請罷幸鄴，明宗不聽，人情大恐，群臣不復敢言。 鳳手疏責安重誨，言甚切直，重誨以白，遂罷幸。
Zhu Shouyin rebelled. Mingzong went to Bian; Shouyin was already dead, yet an edict still ordered a visit to Ye. The armies with the throne had just moved their families from Henan to Bian and did not want to march north. The camps seethed. Wang Du of Dingzhou thought the emperor had come to Bian to kill Shouyin and now meant to visit Ye against him. He turned fearful and restless. The chief councillor led the hundred officials to the gate and begged that the Ye visit be dropped. Mingzong would not hear it. Fear spread through the court; no one else dared speak. Feng wrote a private memorial scolding An Chonghui in the sharpest terms. Chonghui passed it to the throne, and the Ye visit was cancelled.
22
有僧遊西域，得佛牙以獻，明宗以示大臣。 鳳言：「世傳佛牙水火不能傷，請驗其真偽。」 因以斧斫之，應手而碎。 是時，宮中施物已及數千，因鳳碎之乃止。
A monk back from the Western Regions brought a Buddha’s tooth as tribute. Mingzong showed it to his ministers. Feng said: "They say a Buddha’s tooth cannot be touched by fire or water. Let us test it." He took an axe to it; it broke at a blow. Palace relic offerings had already passed several thousand; after Feng shattered this one, the gifts stopped.
23
天成四年夏，拜門下侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 秘書少監於嶠者，自莊宗時與鳳俱為翰林學士，而嶠亦訐直敢言，與鳳素善。 及鳳已貴，而嶠久不遷，自以材名在鳳上而不用，因與蕭希甫數非斥時政，尤詆訾鳳，鳳心銜之，未有以發。 而嶠與鄰家爭水竇，為安重誨所怒，鳳即左遷嶠秘書少監。 嶠因被酒往見鳳，鳳知其必不遜，乃辭以沐發，嶠詬直吏，又溺於從者直盧而去。 省吏白鳳，嶠溺於客次，且詬鳳。 鳳以其事聞，明宗下詔奪嶠官，長流武州百姓，又流振武，天下冤之。
In the summer of Tiancheng’s fourth year he became Vice Director of the Chancellery and Co-Grand Councillor. Yu Qiao, Vice Director of the Secretariat, had been Hanlin academician with Feng since Zhuangzong’s day. Qiao was blunt and fearless too, and the two were old friends. Feng rose while Qiao stalled. Qiao thought himself the better man by talent and name, yet sat idle. He and Xiao Xifu began to rail at the times and especially at Feng. Feng brooded but had no opening. Qiao quarreled with a neighbor over a water sluice and angered An Chonghui. Feng at once demoted him to Vice Director of the Secretariat. Drunk, Qiao went to Feng’s door. Feng knew he would be rude and begged off, saying he was washing his hair. Qiao cursed the clerks and pissed in the attendants’ hall on his way out. Office clerks told Feng that Qiao had urinated in the guest hall and cursed him by name. Feng reported it. Mingzong stripped Qiao of rank, exiled him as a commoner of Wuzhou, then sent him farther to Zhenwu. The realm cried injustice.
24
其後安重誨為邊彥溫等告變，明宗詔彥溫等廷詰，具伏其詐，即斬之。 後數日，鳳奏事中興殿，啟曰：「臣聞奸人有誣重誨者。」 明宗曰：「此閑事，朕已處置之，卿可無問也。」 鳳曰：「臣所聞者，系國家利害，陛下不可以為閑。」 因指殿屋曰：「此殿所以尊嚴宏壯者，棟樑柱石之所扶持也，若折其一棟，去其一柱，則傾危矣。 大臣，國之棟樑柱石也，且重誨起微賤，歷艱危，致陛下為中興主，安可使奸人動搖！」 明宗改容謝之曰：「卿言是也。」 遂族彥溫等三家。
Later Bian Yanwen and others denounced An Chonghui for treason. Mingzong had them questioned in open court; they confessed the frame-up and were beheaded at once. Days later Feng was reporting business in the Zhongxing Hall and began: "I have heard that knaves falsely accused Chonghui." Mingzong said: "That is a small matter. I have already settled it—you need not inquire." Feng said: "What I heard touches the state’s weal and woe. Your Majesty cannot call it small." He pointed at the hall: "This hall stands tall because beams, pillars, and stones hold it up. Break one beam, pull one pillar, and it falls. Great ministers are the state’s beams and pillars. Chonghui rose from nothing, passed through danger, and helped Your Majesty become the Restorer—how can knaves be allowed to shake him!" Mingzong’s face changed and he apologized: "You are right." The clans of Yanwen and his fellows were wiped out.
25
其後重誨得罪，群臣無敢言者，獨鳳數言重誨盡忠。 明宗以鳳為朋黨，罷為安國軍節度使。 鳳在鎮所得俸祿，悉以分將校賓客。 廢帝入立，召為太子太保。 病足居於家，疾篤，自筮，投蓍而嘆曰：「吾家世無五十者，又皆窮賤，吾今壽過其數而富貴，復何求哉！」 清泰二年卒於家。
When Chonghui later fell, no minister dared speak for him—only Feng, again and again, said he had been utterly loyal. Mingzong marked Feng as a partisan and sent him out as military governor of the Anguo Army. In the provinces Feng divided his entire salary among officers and guests. When the Deposed Emperor succeeded, Feng was recalled as Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. His feet failed him and he kept to his house. Near death he divined for himself, cast the stalks, and sighed: "No one in my line has ever seen fifty; all died poor and obscure. I have outlived that count and tasted wealth—what more is there to want!" He died at home in Qingtai’s second year.
26
李襲吉
Li Xiji
27
李襲吉，父圖，洛陽人，或曰唐相林甫之後也。 乾符中，襲吉舉進士，為河中節度使李都搉鹽判官。 後去之晉，晉王以為榆次令，遂為掌書記。 襲吉博學，多知唐故事。 遷節度副使，官至諫議大夫。 晉王與梁有隙，交兵累年，後晉王數困，欲與梁通和，使襲吉為書諭梁，辭甚辨麗。 梁太祖使人讀之，至於「毒手尊拳，交相於暮夜，金戈鐵馬，蹂踐於明時」，嘆曰：「李公僻處一隅，有士如此，使吾得之，傅虎以翼也！」 顧其從事敬翔曰：「善為我答之。」 及翔所答，書辭不工，而襲吉之書，多傳於世。 襲吉為人恬淡，以文辭自娛，天祐三年卒。 以盧汝弼代為副使。
Li Xiji’s father Tu came from Luoyang; some say he descended from the Tang chief councillor Lin Fu. In the Qianfu era Xiji passed the jinshi and became salt-assessment aide to Hedong governor Li Du. He later went to Jin. The Prince of Jin made him magistrate of Yuci, then chief secretary. Xiji was widely read and knew Tang precedent well. He rose to deputy military governor and reached Remonstrating Censor. The Prince of Jin and Liang feuded and fought for years. When Jin grew hard pressed, the prince sought peace and had Xiji draft the letter to Liang—eloquent and sharp. The Liang Founding Emperor had it read aloud. At "Poisoned hands and iron fists in the midnight dark; golden spears and iron horses trampling the bright age," he sighed: "Master Li holds one corner of the realm yet keeps men like this—had I won him, it would be wings on a tiger!" He told his aide Jing Xiang: "Answer him well for me." Xiang’s answer was clumsy, but Xiji’s letter passed hand to hand across the realm. Xiji was calm by nature and amused himself with letters. He died in Tianyou’s third year. Lu Rubi replaced him as deputy governor.
28
莊宗即位，贈襲吉禮部尚書、汝弼兵部尚書。
At Zhuangzong’s accession Xiji was posthumously made Minister of Rites and Rubi Minister of War.
29
莊宗幸東都，定州王都來朝，莊宗命憲治鞠場，與都擊鞠。 初，莊宗建號於東都，以鞠場為即位壇，於是憲言：「即位壇，王者所以興也。 漢高阝南、魏繁陽壇，至今皆在，不可毀。」 乃別治宮西為鞠場，場未成，莊宗怒，命兩虞候亟毀壇以為場。 憲退而嘆曰：「此不祥之兆也！」
Zhuangzong visited the eastern capital. Wang Du of Dingzhou came to court. Zhuangzong had Xian ready the cuju ground and play with Du. When Zhuangzong first took the title at the eastern capital, the cuju ground had been his enthronement altar. Xian said: "An enthronement altar is where a king rises. Han Gaozu’s altar at Zannan and Wei’s altar at Fanyang still stand—they must not be destroyed." They built a new ground west of the palace. Before it was done Zhuangzong raged and ordered both camp commanders to tear down the altar and make the field. Xian withdrew and sighed: "This is an ill omen!"
30
初，明宗北伐契丹，取魏鎧仗以給軍，有細鎧五百，憲遂給之而不以聞。 莊宗至魏，大怒，責憲馳自取之，左右諫之乃止。 又問憲庫錢幾何。 憲上庫簿有錢三萬緡，莊宗益怒，謂其嬖伶史彥瓊曰：「我與群臣飲博，須錢十餘萬，而憲以故紙給我。 我未渡河時，庫錢常百萬緡，今復何在？」 彥瓊為憲解之乃已。
When Mingzong marched north against the Khitan, he drew on Wei’s stores to arm the host. Five hundred sets of fine armor passed through Xian’s hands without report. Zhuangzong reached Wei in a fury and ordered Xian to ride and fetch the armor himself. Attendants talked him down. He also asked how much cash the treasury held. Xian showed the books: thirty thousand strings. Zhuangzong burned hotter and told his favorite actor Shi Yanqiong: "When I drink and gamble with my ministers I need more than a hundred thousand strings, and Xian feeds me dead ledgers. Before I crossed the river the vault held a million strings—where did it go?" Yanqiong pleaded for Xian and the storm passed.
31
郭崇韜伐蜀，薦憲可任為相，而宦官、伶人不欲憲在朝廷，樞密承旨段徊曰：「宰相在天子面前，事有非是，尚可改作，一方之任，茍非其人，則為患不細。 憲材誠可用，不如任以一方。」 乃以為太原尹、北京留守。
Guo Chongtao, campaigning in Shu, said Xian could serve as chief councillor. Eunuchs and actors did not want him at court. Pivot Bureau chief Duan Hui said: "Before the throne, wrong can still be righted. Put the wrong man in a region and the harm is not small. Xian’s talent is real—better give him a command. So he was made governor of Taiyuan and regent of the northern capital.
32
趙在禮作亂，憲家在魏州，在禮善待其家，遣人以書招憲，憲斬其使，不發其書而上之。 莊宗遇弒，明宗入京師，太原猶未知，而永王存霸奔於太原。 左右告憲曰：「今魏兵南向，主上存亡未可知，存霸之來無詔書，而所乘馬斷其鞦，豈非戰敗者乎！ 宜拘之以俟命。」 憲曰：「吾本書生，無尺寸之功，而人主遇我甚厚，豈有懷二心以幸變，第可與之俱死爾！」 憲從事張昭遠教憲奉表明宗以勸進，憲涕泣拒之。 已而存霸削髮，見北京巡檢符彥超，願為僧以求生，彥超麾下兵大噪，殺存霸。 憲出奔沂州，亦見殺。
Zhao Zaili rebelled. Xian’s family was in Weizhou; Zaili treated them kindly and sent a letter to win Xian over. Xian killed the bearer, left the letter sealed, and sent it up. Zhuangzong was murdered. Mingzong entered the capital while Taiyuan still did not know. Prince of Yong Cunba fled there. Men around Xian said: "Wei troops march south; the emperor’s fate is unknown. Cunba came without an edict, and his horse broke its girth—a beaten man! Detain him and wait for word." Xian said: "I am a scholar by birth with no merit to my name, yet my lord treated me generously. How could I turn traitor and pray for chaos? I can only die with him!" His aide Zhang Zhaoyuan urged him to memorialize Mingzong and press for enthronement. Xian wept and refused. Soon Cunba shaved his head, sought northern-capital inspector Fu Yanchao, and begged to take the tonsure and live. Yanchao’s soldiers roared and killed him. Xian fled to Yizhou and was killed as well.
33
嗚呼！ 予於死節之士，得三人而失三人焉。 鞏廷美、楊溫之死，予既已哀之。 至於張憲之事，尤為之痛惜也。 予於舊史考憲事實，而永王存霸、符彥超與憲傳所書始末皆不同，莫得而考正。 蓋方其變故倉卒之時。 傳者失之爾。 然要其大節，亦可以見也，憲之志誠可謂忠矣。 當其不顧其家，絕在禮而斬其使，涕泣以拒昭遠之說，其志甚明。 至其欲與存霸俱死，及存霸被殺，反棄太原而出奔，然猶不知其心果欲何為也。 而舊史書憲坐棄城而賜死，予亦以為不然。 予之於憲固欲成其美誌，而要在憲失其官守而其死不明，故不得列於死節也。
Alas! Of men who died for principle, I have won three and lost three. I have already mourned Gong Tingmei and Yang Wen. Zhang Xian’s story grieves me most of all. I searched the old histories for the truth of Xian’s case, but Prince of Yong Cunba, Fu Yanchao, and Xian’s own biography each tell a different story—nothing can be verified. It was simply the rush of sudden crisis. Those who passed the tale on got it wrong. Yet the broad outline still shows it—Xian’s resolve was truly loyal. He set his household aside, broke with Zaili and killed his envoy, and wept as he refused Zhaoyuan’s counsel—his purpose was plain. He meant to die with Cunba; when Cunba was killed he abandoned Taiyuan and fled—what his heart truly meant, no one can say. The old histories say Xian was executed for abandoning the city; I hold that wrong. I wished to honor Xian with a fine record, but he lost his post and his death is unclear—he cannot stand among those who died for principle.
34
蕭希甫
Xiao Xifu
35
蕭希甫，宋州人也。 為人有機辯，多矯激，少舉進士，為梁開封尹袁象先掌書記。 象先為青州節度使，以希甫為巡官。 希甫不樂，乃棄其母妻，變姓名，亡之鎮州，自稱青州掌書記，謁趙王王镕。 镕以希甫為參軍，尤不樂，居歲餘，又亡之易州，削髮為僧，居百丈山。 莊宗將建國於魏，置百官，求天下隱逸之士，幽州李紹宏薦希甫為魏州推官。
Xiao Xifu came from Song Prefecture. Quick-witted and disputatious, prone to extravagant provocation, he passed the jinshi in youth and served Liang’s Kaifeng governor Yuan Xiangxian as chief secretary. When Xiangxian became military governor of Qingzhou, he made Xifu a circuit inspector. Xifu was displeased. He abandoned mother and wife, changed his name, and fled to Zhen Prefecture, posing as Qingzhou’s chief secretary to gain audience with Wang Rong of Zhao. Rong made him a staff officer; he liked it even less. A year later he fled to Yi Prefecture, shaved his head, and became a monk on Mount Baizhang. As Zhuangzong prepared to found his state at Wei, fill the hundred offices, and seek hidden worthies, Li Shaohong of Youzhou recommended Xifu as legal officer at Wei.
36
莊宗即帝位，欲以知制誥，有詔定內宴儀，問希甫：「樞密使得坐否？」 希甫以為不可。 樞密使張居翰聞之怒，謂希甫曰：「老夫歷事三朝天子，見內宴數百，子本田舍兒，安知宮禁事？」 希甫不能對。 由是宦官用事者皆切齒。 宰相豆盧革等希宦官旨，共排斥之，以為駕部郎中，希甫失誌，尤怏怏。
When Zhuangzong took the throne he meant to make Xifu drafter of edicts. An edict fixed the rites of inner banquets, and Xifu was asked: “May the Bureau of Military Affairs commissioner be seated?” Xifu said no. Commissioner Zhang Juhuan heard and was furious. He told Xifu: “I have served three dynasties and seen hundreds of inner banquets. You were a farm boy—what do you know of palace affairs?” Xifu had no reply. From this every eunuch in power gnashed his teeth at him. Chief councillors Dou Luge and the rest, courting the eunuchs, joined in driving him out and made him director in the Department of Imperial Transport. Xifu lost his aim and grew sullen.
37
莊宗滅梁，遣希甫宣慰青齊，希甫始知其母已死，而妻袁氏亦改嫁矣。 希甫乃發哀服喪，居於魏州，人有引漢李陵書以譏之曰：「老母終堂，生妻去室。」 時皆傳以為笑。
When Zhuangzong destroyed Liang he sent Xifu to console Qing and Qi. Only then did Xifu learn his mother was dead and his wife, Lady Yuan, had remarried. Xifu put on mourning and observed the rites at Wei. Someone quoted Li Ling’s letter to mock him: “My old mother still in the hall; my living wife has left the house.” Everyone passed it around as a joke.
38
明宗即位，召為諫議大夫。 是時，復置匭函，以希甫為使，希甫建言：「自兵亂相乘，王綱大壞，侵欺淩奪，有力者勝。 凡略人之妻女，占人之田宅，奸臟之吏，刑獄之冤者，何可勝紀？ 而匭函一出，投訴必多，至於功臣貴戚，有不得繩之以法者。」 乃自天成元年四月二十八日昧爽已前，大辟已上，皆赦除之，然後出匭函以示眾。 初，明宗欲以希甫為諫議大夫，豆盧革、韋說頗沮難之。 其後革、說為安重誨所惡，希甫希旨，誣奏：「革縱田客殺人，而說與鄰人爭井，井有寶貨。」 有司推劾，井中惟破釜而已，革、說終皆貶死。 明宗賜希甫帛百匹、粟麥三百石，拜左散騎常侍。
When Mingzong took the throne, Xifu was summoned as Remonstrating Censor. The petition box was restored and Xifu was made its commissioner. He proposed: “War and rebellion have followed one upon another; royal norms lie in ruins; seizure and plunder go to the strong. Men who seize wives and daughters, occupy fields and houses, corrupt officials, prisoners wronged in the courts—who could count them all? Yet once the petition box appears, complaints will flood in—even meritorious ministers and imperial kin may escape the law.” Before dawn on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month of Tiancheng 1, all capital crimes and above were pardoned; only then was the petition box opened to the people. At first, when Mingzong wished to make Xifu Remonstrating Censor, Dou Luge and Wei Shuo strongly obstructed it. Later Ge and Shuo fell under An Chonghui’s hatred. Xifu courted the throne and falsely memorialized: “Ge let tenant farmers kill men; Shuo quarreled with a neighbor over a well said to hold treasure.” The offices investigated; the well held only a broken cauldron. Ge and Shuo were demoted and died. Mingzong rewarded Xifu with a hundred bolts of silk and three hundred shi of grain and wheat, and made him Left Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary.
39
希甫性褊而躁進，嘗遣人夜叩宮門上變，言河堰牙官李筠告本軍謀反，詰旦，追問無狀，斬筠，軍士詣安重誨求希甫啖之。 是時，明宗將有事於南郊，前齋一日，群臣習儀於殿廷，宰相馮道、趙鳳，河南尹秦王從榮，樞密使安重誨候班於月華門外。 希甫與兩省班先入，道等坐廓下不起，既出，希甫召堂頭直省朝堂驅使官，責問宰相、樞密見兩省官何得不起，因大詬詈。 是夜，托疾還第。 月余，坐告李筠事動搖軍眾，貶嵐州司戶參軍，卒於貶所。
Xifu was narrow-minded and eager to advance. Once he sent a man by night to knock at the palace gate and report an emergency: river-dam officer Li Jun had denounced his army for plotting rebellion. At dawn the charge proved empty; Jun was beheaded, and the soldiers went to An Chonghui demanding Xifu’s flesh. Mingzong was about to perform the southern suburban rites. On the eve of the preliminary fast the ministers rehearsed in the hall. Chief councillors Feng Dao and Zhao Feng, Henan governor Prince of Qin Congrong, and Bureau commissioner An Chonghui waited in formation outside the Moon Gate. Xifu entered first with the two departments’ ranks. Dao and the others sat in the corridor and did not rise. When they came out, Xifu summoned the head hall usher and demanded why chief councillors and the Bureau commissioner had not risen before officials of the two departments—then cursed them savagely. That night he pleaded illness and went home. A month later, charged with shaking the army by his report on Li Jun, he was demoted to Lanzhou revenue assistant and died in exile.
40
劉贊，魏州人也。 父比為縣令，贊始就學，衣以青布衫襦，每食則比自肉食，而別以蔬食食贊於床下，謂之曰：「肉食，君之祿也，爾欲之，則勤學問以幹祿； 吾肉非爾之食也。」 由是贊益力學，舉進士，為羅紹威判官，去為租庸使趙巖巡官，又為孔謙鹽鐵判官。 明宗時，累遷中書舍人、御史中丞、刑部侍郎。 守官以法，權豪不可幹以私。
Liu Zan came from Wei Prefecture. His father Bi had been a county magistrate. When Zan first studied, Bi dressed him in blue cloth jacket and trousers. At each meal Bi ate meat himself and fed Zan vegetables beneath the bed, saying: “Meat is the ruler’s stipend. If you want it, study hard and win office through merit; My meat is not food for you.” Zan studied harder, passed the jinshi, and served Luo Shaowei as adjutant. He left to inspect under grain-and-corvée commissioner Zhao Yan, then became salt-and-iron adjutant under Kong Qian. Under Mingzong he rose to Secretariat drafter, censor-in-chief, and vice minister of justice. He held office by the law; the powerful could not sway him with private favor.
41
是時，秦王從榮握兵而驕，多過失，言事者請置師傅以輔道之。 大臣畏王，不敢決其事，因請王得自擇，秦王即請贊，乃拜贊秘書監，為秦王傅。 贊泣曰：「禍將至矣！」 秦王所請王府元帥官屬十餘人，類多浮薄傾險之徒，日獻諛諂以驕王，獨贊從容諷諫，率以正道。 秦王嘗命賓客作文於坐中，贊自以師傅，恥與群小比伍，雖操筆勉強，有不悅之色。 秦王惡之，後戒左右贊來不得通，贊亦不往，月一至府而已，退則杜門不交人事。
Prince of Qin Congrong held troops, grew arrogant, and piled up faults. Memorialists asked that a tutor be appointed to guide him. The great ministers feared the prince and dared not decide, so they let him choose. Congrong named Zan at once; Zan was made Director of the Secretariat and tutor to the prince. Zan wept: “Disaster is coming!” More than ten staff officers Congrong had chosen for his princely headquarters were mostly frivolous, treacherous men who daily flattered him to puff up his pride. Only Zan, at ease, offered indirect remonstrance along the upright path. Once the prince ordered his guests to compose essays before him. Zan, as tutor, was ashamed to rank with petty men; though he wrote, his face showed displeasure. The prince hated him. He warned his attendants not to admit Zan; Zan stopped coming, visiting only once a month. In retirement he shut his doors and kept out of affairs.
42
已而秦王果敗死，唐大臣議王屬官當坐者，馮道曰：「元帥判官任贊與秦王非素好，而在職不逾月，詹事王居敏及劉贊皆以正直為王所惡，河南府判官司徒詡病告家居久，皆宜不與其謀。 而諮議參軍高輦與王最厚，輦法當死，其餘可次第原減。」 朱弘昭曰：「諸公不知其意爾，使秦王得入光政門，當待贊等如何？ 吾徒復有家族邪！ 且法有首從，今秦王夫婦男女皆死，而贊等止其一身幸矣！」 道等難之。 而馮赟亦爭不可，贊等乃免死。 於是論高輦死，而任贊等十七人皆長流。
Before long the prince fell and died. Tang’s great ministers debated punishment for his staff. Feng Dao said: “Marshal adjutant Ren Zan was no old friend of the prince and served less than a month. Household tutor Wang Jumin and Liu Zan were hated for their uprightness. Henan adjutant Situ Xu had long been on sick leave. None should be charged with plotting. Advisory aide Gao Nian was closest to the prince; by law he should die, and the rest may be reduced in turn.” Zhu Hongzhao said: “You do not know his mind. If the prince had entered Guangzheng Gate, what would he have done with Zan and the rest? Would any of us still have had families! The law distinguishes leaders from followers. The prince, his wife, sons, and daughters are all dead—Zan and the rest keeping their lives is already fortune!” Dao and the others had no answer. Feng Yun also argued against it, and Zan and the rest were spared death. Gao Nian was sentenced to death; Ren Zan and seventeen others were sent into long exile.
43
初，贊聞秦王敗，即白衣駕驢以俟，人有告贊奪官而已，贊曰：「豈有天子冢嗣見殺，而賓僚奪官者乎，不死幸矣！」 已而贊長流嵐州百姓。 清泰二年，詔歸田里，行至石會關，病卒。
When Zan heard the prince had fallen, he put on plain clothes and drove a donkey to wait. Someone told him he would only lose office. Zan said: “The heir of the Son of Heaven was killed—can his staff merely lose their posts? Not to die is already fortune!” In the end Zan was long exiled to Lan Prefecture as a commoner. In Qingtai 2 an edict recalled him home. On the road at Shihui Pass he fell ill and died.
44
何瓚，閩人也，唐末舉進士及第。 莊宗為太原節度使，辟為判官。 莊宗每出征伐，留張承業守太原，承業卒，瓚代知留守事。 瓚為人明敏，通於吏事，外若疏簡而內頗周密。 莊宗建大號於鄴都，拜瓚諫議大夫，瓚慮莊宗事不成，求留守北京。 瓚與明宗有舊，明宗即位，召還，見於內殿，勞問久之，已而以瓚為西川節度副使。 是時，孟知祥已有二誌，方以副使趙季良為心腹，聞瓚代之，亟奏留季良，遂改瓚行軍司馬。 瓚恥於自辭，不得已而往，明宗賜予甚厚。 初，知祥在北京為馬步軍都虞候，而瓚留守太原，知祥以軍禮事瓚，瓚常繩以法，知祥初不樂，及瓚為司馬，猶勉待之甚厚。 知祥反，罷瓚司馬，置之私第，瓚飲恨而卒。
He Zan came from Min. At the end of Tang he passed the jinshi examination. When Zhuangzong was military governor of Taiyuan, he recruited Zan as adjutant. Whenever Zhuangzong marched on campaign he left Zhang Chengye at Taiyuan. When Chengye died, Zan took charge of the regency. Zan was bright and quick, skilled in administration; outwardly loose and simple, inwardly thorough. When Zhuangzong established his great title at Ye, he made Zan Remonstrating Censor. Zan feared Zhuangzong’s cause might fail and asked to remain regent of the northern capital. Zan was old friends with Mingzong. When Mingzong took the throne he summoned him back, received him in the inner hall, questioned him at length, and made him deputy military governor of Xichuan. Meng Zhixiang already had two minds and had made deputy governor Zhao Jiliang his confidant. Hearing Zan would replace him, he urgently memorialized to keep Jiliang and had Zan made army campaign aide instead. Zan was ashamed to decline and went against his will. Mingzong rewarded him richly. At first Zhixiang was chief inspector of horse and foot at the northern capital while Zan held Taiyuan as regent. Zhixiang treated him with military courtesy; Zan often bound him by law. Zhixiang was displeased at first; when Zan became campaign aide, he still treated him generously. When Zhixiang rebelled he stripped Zan of his post as campaign aide, kept him in a private residence, and Zan died nursing his grievance.