2
Sang Weihan, styled Guoqiao, came from Henan. He was homely and odd—short-bodied, long-faced. He would study himself in a mirror and say: “Seven feet of body cannot match one foot of face.” He burned to reach the highest councils of state. At his first jinshi attempt the chief examiner disliked his surname—“Sang” echoed “funeral.” Friends said he need not sit the jinshi and could find office elsewhere. Weihan, stung, wrote “Rising Sun over the Mulberry” to show his resolve. He cast an iron inkstone and said: “When this wears through, I change course—but not before.” He passed the jinshi in the end. The Jin High Ancestor made him chief secretary at Heyang and kept him close thereafter.
3
The High Ancestor refused transfer from Taiyuan to Tianping and plotted rebellion. He asked his staff; all feared and were silent. Only Weihan and Liu Zhiyuan urged him on. Weihan wrote to the Khitan for aid. Yelü Deguang had promised—but Zhao Dejun bribed him to put himself on Tang’s throne instead. Fearing failure, the High Ancestor sent Weihan to Deguang. Weihan argued the stakes so well that Deguang committed. Tang fell and Jin rose—chiefly through Weihan. At enthronement Weihan became Hanlin academician, Vice Minister of Rites, and Military Affairs director, then Vice Grand Councillor, co-signer, and chief councillor of Military Affairs. Tianfu year four he governed Xiangzhou; a year later he moved to Taining.
4
吐浑白承福为契丹所迫，附镇州安重荣以归晋，重荣因请与契丹绝好，用吐浑以攻之。 高祖重违重荣，意未决。 维翰上疏言契丹未可与争者七，高祖召维翰使者至卧内，谓曰：「北面之事，方挠吾胸中，得卿此疏，计已决矣，可无忧也。」 维翰又劝高祖幸邺都。 七年，高祖在邺，维翰来朝，徙镇晋昌。 出帝即位，召拜侍中。 而景延广用事，与契丹绝盟，维翰言不能入，乃阴使人说帝曰：「制契丹而安天下，非用维翰不可。」 乃出延广于河南，拜维翰中书令，复为枢密使，封魏国公，事无巨细，一以委之。 数月之间，百度浸理。 初，李瀚为翰林学士，好饮而多酒过，高祖以为浮薄。 天福五年九月，诏废翰林学士，按《唐六典》归其职于中书舍人，而端明殿学士、枢密院学士皆废。 及维翰为枢密使，复奏置学士，而悉用亲旧为之。
Bai Chengfu of the Tuyuhun, harried by the Khitan, joined An Chongrong at Zhen and submitted to Jin. Chongrong asked to break with the Khitan and strike them with Tuyuhun allies. The High Ancestor hesitated to cross Chongrong. Weihan listed seven reasons not to fight the Khitan. The High Ancestor called the messenger to his bedside: “The north has tormented me. This memorial settles it.” Weihan also urged a royal progress to Ye. Year seven the High Ancestor was at Ye. Weihan attended court and was sent to Jinchang. The Deposed Emperor made him Palace Attendant. Yanguang ruled and broke the Khitan pact. Weihan’s voice was shut out. He secretly urged the throne: “Only Weihan can tame the Khitan and steady the realm.” Yanguang went to Henan; Weihan became Grand Secretary and Military Affairs chief, Duke of Wei. Every matter passed through his hands. Within months government found its rhythm again. Li Han of the Hanlin loved wine and drank too deep. The High Ancestor found him flighty. Tianfu five, ninth month: Hanlin posts were abolished and their work returned to Secretariat drafters; Duanming and Military Affairs academics went too. As Military Affairs chief Weihan restored the academics—and stocked them with kin and cronies.
5
His power swelled; bribes from every quarter piled into the tens of thousands yearly. Li Yantao of the Inner Service and Feng Yu of Duanming ruled the whispering gallery against him. The emperor meant to oust Weihan at once. Liu Xu and Li Song forbade it. Feng Yu took Military Affairs, then the chief councillor’s seat; Weihan faded. The emperor drank himself ill. Weihan secretly told the empress dowager to name tutors for Prince Chongrui. Recovered, he learned of the plot and in rage made Weihan mayor of Kaifeng. Weihan pleaded bad feet and rarely came to court. Khitan troops held Zhongdu Ferry and took Luan City; Du Chongwei’s host was severed. Weihan said: “We are at the brink!” He sought Feng Yu and the rest—but they would not agree. He begged audience; the emperor was flying hawks in the park. Weihan withdrew: “Jin’s altars will run dry!”
6
自契丹与晋盟，始成于维翰，而终败于景延广，故自兵兴，契丹凡所书檄，未尝不以此两人为言。 耶律德光犯京师，遣张彦泽遗太后书，问此两人在否，可使先来。 而帝以继翰尝议毋绝盟而己违之也，不欲使维翰见德光，因讽彦泽图之，而彦泽亦利其赀产。 维翰状貌既异，素以威严自持，晋之老将大臣，见者无不屈服，彦泽以骁捍自矜，每往候之，虽冬月未尝不流汗。 初，彦泽入京师，左右劝维翰避祸，维翰曰：「吾为大臣，国家至此，安所逃死邪！」 安坐府中不动。 彦泽以兵入，问：「维翰何在？」 维翰厉声曰：「吾，晋大臣，自当死国，安得无礼邪！」 彦泽股栗不敢仰视，退而谓人曰：「吾不知桑维翰何如人，今日见之，犹使人恐惧如此，其可再见乎？」 乃以帝命召维翰。 维翰行，遇李崧，立马而语，军吏前白维翰，请赴侍卫司狱。 维翰知不免，顾崧曰：「相公当国，使维翰独死？」 崧惭不能对。 是夜，彦泽使人缢杀之，以帛加颈，告德光曰：「维翰自缢。」 德光曰：「我本无心杀维翰，维翰何必自致。」 德光至京师，使人检其尸，信为缢死，乃以尸赐其家，而赀财悉为彦泽所掠。
The Khitan pact with Jin began with Weihan and ended with Yanguang; once war came, every Khitan letter named them both. Deguang reached the capital and sent Zhang Yanzhe to the empress dowager: were they alive? Send them first. The emperor had ignored Weihan’s counsel to keep the pact and did not want him before Deguang. He nudged Yanzhe—and Yanzhe wanted his estate. Weihan looked uncanny and ruled by sheer presence; Jin’s veterans bowed low. Yanzhe, swaggering in his brutality, sweated through winter visits. Yanzhe entered the capital; aides urged flight. Weihan said: “I am a great minister. The realm is fallen—where would I hide?” He sat still in his yamen. Yanzhe marched in: “Where is Weihan?” Weihan’s voice cracked like iron: “I am Jin’s minister. I die for the state—show respect!” Yanzhe’s knees buckled; he could not meet his eyes. Outside he said: “Who knew Sang Weihan was such a man? Once was enough—I could not face him twice.” Then he summoned Weihan in the emperor’s name. Weihan met Li Song on the road and spoke from horseback. An officer said he was bound for the Guard Bureau prison. Weihan knew the end. He said to Song: “You ran the realm—must I die alone?” Song flushed and was silent. That night Yanzhe had him strangled with silk and reported: “Weihan took his own life.” Deguang said: “I never meant to kill him—why force my hand?” When Deguang reached the capital, he had the body inspected, accepted that Weihan had hanged himself, and returned the corpse to the family, but Yanzhe had stripped the estate bare.
7
Jing Yanguang, styled Hangchuan, came from Shaanzhou. His father Jian was a master bowman and taught him: “If you cannot pierce iron, do not shoot.” He became famous for the heavy bow. He served Liang’s Prince of Shao Youhai; when Youhai rebelled and was jailed, Yanguang fled. He followed Wang Yanzhang at Zhongdu; Yanzhang fell and Yanguang was riddled with wounds, barely alive.
8
明宗时，朱守殷以汴州反，晋高祖为六军副使，主诛从守殷反者。 延广为汴州军校当诛，高祖惜其才，阴纵之使亡，后录以为客将。 高祖即位，以为侍卫步军都指挥使，领果州团练使，从领宁江军节度使。 天福四年，出镇义成，又徙保义，复召为侍卫马步军都虞候，徙镇河阳三城，迁马步军都指挥使，领天平。 高祖崩，出帝立，延广有力，颇伐其功。 初，出帝立，晋大臣议告契丹，致表称臣，延广独不肯，但致书称孙而已，大臣皆知其不可而不能夺。 契丹果怒，数以责晋，延广谓契丹使者乔莹曰：「先皇帝北朝所立，今卫子中国自册，可以为孙，而不可为臣。 且晋有横磨大剑十万口，翁要战则来，佗日不禁孙子，取笑天下。」 莹知其言必起两国之争，惧后无以取信也，因请载于纸，以备遗忘。 延广敕吏具载以授莹，莹藏其书衣领中以归，具以延广语告契丹，契丹益怒。
Under Mingzong, Zhu Shouyin rebelled at Bian. The Jin High Ancestor commanded punishment of the rebels. Yanguang was marked for death. The High Ancestor prized him, let him slip away, and later took him as a guest officer. At enthronement Yanguang commanded the palace foot guard and governed Guo, then Ningjiang. Tianfu four he held Yicheng, then Baoyi; he returned as deputy commander of horse and foot, held Heyang’s three cities, then Tianping. The High Ancestor died; the Deposed Emperor rose. Yanguang had clout and trumpeted his deeds. At the new reign Jin’s ministers meant to notify the Khitan as subjects. Yanguang alone refused—he wrote as grandson, not vassal. Everyone knew disaster would follow; none could stop him. The Khitan raged and rebuked Jin again and again. Yanguang told envoy Qiao Ying: “Your court made our last emperor. Weizi’s Son of Heaven enthrones himself—we are grandson, not subject. Jin keeps a hundred thousand “horizontal-grinding” great swords. If you want war, come. One day you may fail to leash your grandson—and the world will laugh.” Ying knew this would kindle war and feared he would not be believed. He asked for it in writing. Yanguang had it written and handed over. Ying hid it in his collar, repeated every word at home, and the Khitan fury doubled.
9
Autumn, Tianfu eight: the emperor feasted at Yanguang’s house after Danian Manor. His gifts—vessels, saddles, tea tables, couches—were sheathed in gold and silver, dragon- and phoenix-trimmed. He added five thousand bolts of silk, fourteen hundred catties of cotton, twenty-two horses, jade gear and gold belts for the court—from Chongrui to the humblest attendant, each by rank. The emperor matched gifts to Yanguang’s household and staff. Drought and locusts killed hundreds of thousands yearly—yet court and emperor competed in waste.
10
Next spring the Khitan invaded. Yanguang marched north as imperial camp commissioner, facing them between Chan and Wei. Vanguard Shi Gongba met the enemy at Weicheng. Gao Xingzhou and Fu Yanqing could not break through and begged Yanguang for troops. He would not move. The three were ringed many deep. The emperor rode to save them; they emerged weeping. Yanguang held the imperial guard, arrogant with merit. Every general answered to him; the emperor could not check him. The Khitan shouted at Jin troops: “Yanguang called us—why delay the fight?” Others fought; Yanguang never faced the foe. When the Khitan left, Yanguang alone barred his gates. One speech from Yanguang poisoned Jin and Khitan. Orders and campaigns were his alone; ministers had no share. Every Khitan letter named him. The Khitan withdrew; the emperor sent Yanguang to govern Henan and hold the western capital. Next year he marched to Chanyuan with Yanguang—to no gain.
11
In Luoyang he brooded, thwarted. Jin crumbled daily; he knew it could not hold. He drank through the nights, built a palace, filled gardens with music, and indulged every whim. The emperor repented and sent Zhang Hui to submit. Deguang answered: “Send Weihan and Yanguang; cede Zhen and Ding—then peace.” Jin knew it was impossible and desisted. Khitan troops reached Zhongdu Ferry. Yanguang held Heyang, heard Chongwei had surrendered, and turned back.
12
Deguang marched on the capital. At Xiangzhou he sent thousands of horse with Jin units toward Luoyang for Yanguang: “If he flees to Wu or Shu, take him.” He could not leave his family. Khitan horse swept in. He and aide Yan Pi rode to Deguang at Fengqiu; Pi was chained too. Yanguang said: “Pi serves by duty—why chain him?” Pi was freed. Deguang rebuked him: “You broke north and south.” He called Qiao Ying. Yanguang denied until Ying produced the paper from his collar. Then he yielded. Ten charges, one tally each confession. At eight Yanguang lay facedown, unable to look up. They bound him. They were sending him north; at Chen Bridge he lodged in a common house. At night, guards slack, he seized his throat and died. He was fifty-six. Later Han posthumously made him Palace Attendant.
13
Alas—fortune and ruin never proved themselves so plainly as in Jin! They rose by the Khitan and fell by the Khitan. Yet in the days of rebellion—besieged, unreinforced, with one life and one tongue—Weihan moved the Khitan to march as if by covenant, pulled Jin through, and built the dynasty. Then his was the greater share. The Young Lord’s reign tied enmity to war; the broken pact began with Yanguang. Jin rose by Weihan and broke by Yanguang—different hearts, the same ruin. Why? When order is upside down and you lean on barbarians, you see ruin far more often than reward. Take warning! Take warning again!
14
Wu Luan, styled Baochuan, came from Lu County in Yun Prefecture. He failed the Mingjing in youth. Under Qingtai he was chief secretary to Sha Yanxun of Datong. The Jin High Ancestor rose at Taiyuan and called in the Khitan. They passed Yun; Yanxun went out to greet them and was captured. The city made Luan governor. He shut the gates and held. The Khitan besieged him. The High Ancestor ceded Yun to the Khitan—but Luan still would not yield. The siege lasted seven months. The High Ancestor admired his stand and asked the Khitan to withdraw. He summoned Luan, made him deputy governor of Wuning, Remonstrating Censor, and defender of Fu.
15
出帝即位，与契丹绝盟，河北诸州皆警，以谓贝州水陆之冲，缓急可以转饷，乃积刍粟数十万，以王令温为永清军节度使。 令温牙将邵珂，素骄很难制，令温夺其职。 珂闲居无憀，乃阴使人亡入契丹，言贝州积粟多而无兵守，可取。 令温以事朝京师，心颇疑珂，乃质其子崇范以自随。 晋大臣以峦前守云州七月，契丹不能下，乃遣峦驰驿代令温守贝州。 峦善抚士卒，会天大寒，裂其帷幄以衣士卒，士卒皆爱之。 珂因求见峦，愿自效，峦推心信之。 开运元年正月，契丹南寇，围贝州，峦命珂守南门。 契丹围三日，四面急攻之，峦从城上投薪草焚其梯冲殆尽。 已而珂自南门引契丹入，峦守东门方战，而左右报珂反，峦顾城中已乱，即投井死。 而令温家属为契丹所虏，出帝悯之，以令温为武胜军节度使，后累历方镇，周显德中卒。 令温，瀛州河间人也。 王令温疑邵珂而质其子矣，峦不能察其奸，反委以兵。 及契丹入贝州，又不拒战，遽投井死，其死不足贵，故不列于死事。
The Deposed Emperor broke with the Khitan; the north was on edge. Beizhou sat on land and water routes—fodder could be rushed there in crisis. They piled hundreds of thousands of bundles and made Wang Lingwen governor of Yongqing. Adjutant Shao Ke was proud and ungovernable. Lingwen removed him. Idle and bitter, Ke sent word to the Khitan: Beizhou was full of grain and bare of troops—ripe for the taking. Lingwen went to court, uneasy about Ke, and brought his son Chongfan as surety. Ministers remembered Luan’s seven months at Yun; they sent him by relay to replace Lingwen at Beizhou. Luan cared for his men. In bitter cold he ripped curtains and tents for their coats; they loved him for it. Ke asked audience and pledged loyalty. Luan took him at his word. Kaiyun 1, first month: the Khitan besieged Beizhou. Luan put Ke on the south gate. Three days they assaulted every wall. Luan hurled fuel and straw and burned ladders and rams to ash. Ke opened the south gate to the Khitan. Luan fought at the east until word came of treason. The city was lost; he threw himself into a well. Lingwen’s family was captured. The emperor pitied him and made him governor of Wusheng; he served on until Zhou’s Xiande era. Lingwen came from Hejian in Ying Prefecture. Lingwen suspected Ke and held his son hostage. Luan failed to see the treachery and gave him command. When the Khitan took Beizhou, he would not fight and threw himself into a well. His death was not honorable, so he is omitted from the martyrs.