1
王镕，其先回鶻阿布思之遺種，曰沒諾幹，為鎮州王武俊騎將，武俊錄以為子，遂冒姓王氏。 沒諾幹子曰末垣活，末垣活子曰升，升子曰廷湊，廷湊子曰元達，元達子曰紹鼎、紹懿，紹鼎子曰景崇。 自升以上三世，常為鎮州騎將，自景崇以上四世五人，皆為成德軍節度使。 景崇官至守太尉，封常山郡王，唐中和二年卒。 子镕立，年十歲。 是時，晉新有太原，李匡威據幽州，王處存據中山，赫連鐸據大同，孟方立據邢臺，四面豪傑並起而交爭。 镕介於其間，而承祖父百年之業，士馬強而畜積富，為唐累世藩臣。 故镕年雖少，藉其世家以取重，四方諸鎮廢立承繼，有請於唐者，皆因镕以聞。
Wang Rong traced his line to Mo Nuogan, a survivor of the Uyghur chief Abu Si. Mo Nuogan served Wang Wujun of Zhenzhou as a mounted officer; Wujun adopted him, and the family took the name Wang. Mo Nuogan begat Mo Yuanhuo, who begat Sheng, then Tingcou, then Yuanda. Yuanda had Shaoding and Shaoyi; Shaoding begat Jingchong. For three generations before Sheng the family held cavalry commands at Zhenzhou; for four generations from Jingchong, five men in succession ruled Chengde. Jingchong rose to Acting Grand Marshal and Prince of Changshan; he died in Zhonghe 2 of Tang. His son Rong succeeded him at the age of ten. Jin had just secured Taiyuan. Li Kuangwei held Youzhou, Wang Chucun Zhongshan, Helian Duo Datong, Meng Fangli Xingtai—warlords sprang up on all sides and tore at one another. Rong sat in the middle of them all, heir to a century of Wang power: strong cavalry, deep granaries, a Tang vassal line for generations. Young as he was, the Wang name gave him weight. Whenever a circuit asked the court to confirm a change of ruler, the word passed through Rong.
2
初，匡威悅其弟匡儔之婦美而淫之，匡儔怒，及其救镕也，誘其軍亂而自立。 匡威內慚不敢還，乃以符印歸其弟，而將奔於京師。 行至深州，镕德匡威救己，使人邀之，館於梅子園，以父事之。
Li Kuangwei had taken his brother Kuangchou’s wife and seduced her; Kuangchou burned with anger. When he marched to save Rong he turned the troops against his brother and seized Youzhou for himself. Too ashamed to face his men, Kuangwei handed the seals to Kuangchou and set out for the capital. At Shenzhou, Rong—mindful that Kuangwei had saved him—sent for him and housed him at Meizi Garden, honoring him like a parent.
3
匡威客李正抱者，少遊燕、趙間，每徘徊常山，愛之不能去。 正抱、匡威皆失國無聊，相與登城西高閣，顧覽山川，泫然而泣，乃與匡威謀劫而代之。 因詐為忌日，镕去衛從，晨詣館慰，坐定，甲士自幕後出，持镕兩袖，镕曰：「吾國賴公而存，誠無以報厚德，今日之事，是所甘心。」 因叩頭以位與匡威。 匡威素少镕，以謂無能為也，因與镕方轡詣府，將代其位。 行過親事營，軍士閉門大噪，天雨震電，暴風拔木，屋瓦皆飛。 屠者墨君和望見镕，識之，從缺垣中躍出，挾镕於馬，負之而走，亂軍擊殺匡威、正抱，燕人皆死。 匡儔雖憾其兄，而陽以大義責镕甚急。 镕既失燕援，而晉軍急攻平山，劫镕以盟，镕遂與晉和。
One of Kuangwei’s companions was Li Zhengbao. As a young man he had wandered Yan and Zhao; each time he passed Changshan he lingered, unable to tear himself away. Zhengbao and Kuangwei, both landless and idle, climbed the western tower, gazed over the landscape until they wept, and hatched a plan to seize Rong by force. They staged a memorial day. Rong came at dawn without escort to comfort Kuangwei at the lodge. As he sat down, soldiers in armor rushed from behind the screen and gripped his sleeves. Rong said: “You preserved our house—I could never repay you. Do as you will; I submit.” He kowtowed and offered Kuangwei the command. Kuangwei had always despised the boy and thought him harmless. He rode beside Rong to the yamen, ready to replace him. Passing the household guard camp, the troops slammed the gates and roared. Rain poured, lightning split the sky, wind tore up trees, and tiles flew from the roofs. Mo Junhe the butcher spotted Rong, knew him, scrambled through a broken wall, hauled him onto a horse, and fled. The rebels killed Kuangwei and Zhengbao; every man from Yan died with them. Kuangchou hated his brother, yet in public he rebuked Rong in the name of justice. Cut off from Yan, Rong faced a fierce Jin attack on Pingshan. Jin held him to ransom for peace, and he submitted.
4
其後梁太祖下晉邢、洺、磁三州，乃為書詔镕，使絕晉而歸梁，镕依違不決。 晉將李嗣昭復取洺州，梁太祖擊敗嗣昭，嗣昭棄洺州走。 梁獲其輜重，得镕與嗣昭書，多道梁事，太祖怒，因移兵常山，顧謂葛從周曰：「得鎮州以與爾，爾為我先鋒。」 從周至臨城，中流矢，臥輿中，梁軍大沮。 梁太祖自將傅城下，焚其南關，镕懼，顧其屬曰：「事急矣！ 奈何？」 判官周式，辨士也，對曰：「此難與力爭，而可以理奪也。」 式與梁太祖有舊，因請入梁軍。 太祖望見式，罵曰：「吾常以書招镕不來，今吾至此，而爾為說客，晚矣！ 且晉吾仇也，而镕附之，吾知李嗣昭在城中，可使先出。」 乃以所得镕與嗣昭書示式，式進曰：「梁欲取一鎮州而止乎，而欲成霸業於天下也？ 且霸者責人以義而不私，今天子在上，諸侯守封睦鄰，所以息爭，且休民也。 昔曹公破袁紹，得魏將吏與紹書，悉焚之，此英雄之事乎！ 今梁知兵舉無名，而假嗣昭以為辭。 且王氏五世六公撫有此士，豈無死士，而待嗣昭乎？」 太祖大喜，起牽式衣而撫之曰：「吾言戲耳。」 因延式於上坐，議與镕和。 镕以子昭祚為質，梁太祖以女妻之。 太祖即位，封镕趙王。
When Liang Taizu seized Xing, Ming, and Ci from Jin he wrote Rong demanding he abandon Jin for Liang. Rong hesitated. Li Sizhao of Jin retook Mingzhou. Liang Taizu routed him, and Sizhao abandoned the city and fled. Liang took the supply train and found Rong’s letters to Sizhao, full of talk about Liang. Taizu flew into a rage, marched on Changshan, and told Ge Congzhou: “Zhenzhou is yours—lead the van.” At Lincheng Congzhou took an arrow and had to be carried in a litter; Liang’s army lost heart. Taizu himself pressed the siege and fired the south gate. Rong, terrified, turned to his officers: “This is the end! What can we do? Zhou Shi, a gifted speaker, answered: “You cannot beat them in battle. You may yet move them with argument. Shi was an old acquaintance of Taizu’s and asked leave to go to the Liang lines. Taizu spotted him and raged: “I wrote Rong again and again—he ignored me. Now I am at his gates and you come as a go-between? It is too late! Jin is my enemy, and Rong sides with them. I know Sizhao is inside—send him out first. He flung the letters before Shi. Shi stepped forward: “Does Liang want one prefecture—or the realm? A true conqueror judges by duty, not spite. The Son of Heaven still reigns; the circuits hold their borders and live as neighbors—that is how wars end and the people breathe. When Cao Cao crushed Yuan Shao he found his officers’ letters to the enemy and burned them—is that not how a great man acts? Liang knows this war has no just cause and hides behind Sizhao’s name. Five generations of Wangs have ruled this soil—do you imagine they have no loyal dead, and that only Sizhao stands between you and them?” Taizu laughed with delight, rose, took Shi by the sleeve, and said: “I was only testing you. He gave Shi the seat of honor and opened talks for peace with Rong. Rong sent his son Zhaozuo as hostage; Taizu married him to a Liang princess. When Taizu became emperor he made Rong Prince of Zhao.
5
镕祖母喪，諸鎮皆吊，梁使者見晉使在館，還言趙王有二誌。 是時，魏博羅紹威卒，梁因欲盡取河北，開平四年冬，遣供奉官杜廷隱監魏博將夏諲，以兵三千襲深、冀二州，以王景仁為北面行營招討使。 镕懼，乞兵於晉。 晉人擊敗景仁於柏鄉，梁遂失鎮、定，而莊宗由此益強，北破幽、燕，南並魏博，镕常以兵從。 镕德晉甚。 明年，會莊宗於承天軍，奉觴為壽，莊宗以镕父友，尊禮之，酒酣為镕歌，拔佩刀斷衣而盟，許以女妻镕子昭誨。
At his grandmother’s funeral every circuit sent mourners. A Liang envoy saw Jin’s envoy at the same guesthouse and reported that the Zhao prince was playing both sides. Luo Shaowei of Wei Bo had just died, and Liang aimed to swallow Hebei. In the winter of Kaiping 4 Taizu sent Du Tingyin with Xia Yin and three thousand Wei Bo troops to strike Shen and Ji, and appointed Wang Jingren to command the northern front. Terrified, Rong begged Jin for aid. Jin routed Jingren at Bocheng. Liang lost Zhen and Ding; Zhuangzong grew mighty—conquering You and Yan in the north, swallowing Wei Bo in the south—with Rong’s armies often at his side. Rong owed Jin a deep debt of gratitude. The next year he met Zhuangzong at Chengtian Army and toasted his health. Zhuangzong, who had known Rong’s father, treated him with ceremony. Drunk, he sang for Rong, drew his blade, cut his own robe for a blood oath, and pledged his daughter to Rong’s son Zhaohui.
6
镕為人仁而不武，未嘗敢為兵先，佗兵攻趙，常藉鄰兵為救。 當是時，諸鎮相弊於戰爭，而趙獨安，樂王氏之無事，都人士女褒衣博帶，務誇侈為嬉遊。 镕尤驕於富貴，又好左道，煉丹藥，求長生，與道士王若訥留遊西山，登王母祠，使婦人維錦繡牽持而上。 每出，逾月忘歸，任其政於宦者。 宦者石希蒙與镕同臥起。 天祐十八年冬，镕自西山宿鶻營莊，將還府，希蒙止之。 宦者李弘規諫曰：「今晉王身自暴露以親矢石，而大王竭軍國之用為遊畋之資，開城空宮，逾月不返，使一失閉門不納從者，大王欲何歸乎？」 镕懼，促駕，希蒙固止之。 弘規怒，遣親事軍將蘇漢衡率兵擐甲露刃於帳前曰：「軍士勞矣！ 願從王歸。」 弘規繼而進曰：「惑王者希蒙也，請殺之以謝軍士！」 镕不答，弘規呼镕甲士斬希蒙首，擲於镕前，镕懼，遽歸。 使其子昭祚與大將張文禮族弘規、漢衡，收其偏將下獄，窮究反狀，親軍皆懼。 文禮誘以為亂，夜半，親軍千餘人逾垣而入，镕方與道士焚香受箓，軍士斬镕首，袖之而出，因縱火焚其宮室，遂滅王氏之族。
Rong was gentle and no soldier; he never led from the front. Whenever Zhao was attacked he called on neighboring armies to save him. While the other circuits bled one another dry, Zhao alone stayed quiet. In the capital, men and women dressed in flowing silks and turned luxury into pastime. Rong flaunted his riches and dabbled in occult arts, brewing elixirs in search of immortality. With the Daoist Wang Ruone he toured West Mountain, climbed the Queen Mother temple, and had women in embroidered silks haul him up by rope. He would be gone for months at a time and leave the realm to his eunuchs. The eunuch Shi Ximeng slept and rose at his side. In the winter of Tianyou 18 Rong stayed at Gull Camp Manor on the road back from West Mountain. When he tried to return to the yamen, Ximeng barred him. Li Honggui warned him: “The Prince of Jin fights in person under fire, while you spend the treasury on pleasure. You leave the walls unmanned and the palace empty for months. If they lock the gates and turn you away, where will you sleep? Rong grew afraid and ordered his carriage; Ximeng would not let him go. Honggui in fury sent Su Hanheng of the household guard with armored men and naked swords to the tent: “The troops are exhausted! They want to escort you home. Honggui pressed on: “Ximeng is the one who led you astray—kill him and appease the men!” Rong said nothing. Honggui ordered the guards to behead Ximeng and fling the head at Rong’s feet. Rong fled home in terror. He sent his son Zhaozuo and Zhang Wenli to wipe out Honggui’s and Hanheng’s kin, jailed their officers, and hunted the plot to its roots. The household guard trembled. Wenli turned their fear into revolt. After midnight a thousand guards poured over the wall. Rong was receiving a Daoist talisman when they struck off his head, hid it in a sleeve, and torched the palace. The Wang line ended that night.
7
镕小子昭誨，年十歲，其軍士有德镕者，藏之穴中，亂定，髡其發，被以僧衣，遇湖南人李震，匿昭誨於茶籠中，載之湖南，依南嶽為浮圖，易名崇隱。 明宗時，昭誨已長，思歸，而镕故將符習為宣武軍節度使，震以歸習，習表於朝。 昭誨自稱前成德軍中軍使以見，拜考功郎中、司農少卿。 周顯德中，猶為少府監云。
Rong’s son Zhaohui was ten. Men who remembered Rong’s kindness hid him in a pit; when order returned they tonsured him and clothed him as a novice. A Hunanese named Li Zhen hid him in a tea crate and took him south. On South Mountain he entered the clergy as Chongyin. Under Mingzong, Zhaohui was grown and longed for home. Fu Xi, once Rong’s officer, now commanded Xuanwu. Li Zhen delivered the boy to him, and Fu Xi reported to court. Zhaohui appeared as Chengde’s former central-army commander and received office as Reviewing Affairs cadre and Vice Minister of Agriculture. As late as Zhou Xiande he still held the post of Vice Director of Palace Manufactories.
8
張文禮者，狡獪人也，镕惑愛之，以為子，號王德明。 镕已死，文禮自為留後。 莊宗初納之，後知其通於梁也，遣趙故將符習與閻寶擊之。 文禮家鬼夜哭，野河水變為血，游魚皆死，文禮懼，病疽卒。 子處瑾秘喪拒守，擊敗習等。 以李嗣昭代之，嗣昭中流矢卒，以李存進代之，存進輒復戰歿，乃以符存審為招討使，遂破之。 執文禮妻及子處瑾、處球、處琪等，折足歸於晉。 趙人請而醢之，磔文禮屍於市。
Zhang Wenli was cunning. Rong doted on him, adopted him, and gave him the name Wang Deming. When Rong was dead Wenli declared himself acting commissioner. Zhuangzong confirmed him at first, then learned he was dealing with Liang and sent Fu Xi and Yan Bao, old officers of Zhao, to bring him down. Spirits wailed in Wenli’s hall at night; the river outside turned to blood and the fish died. Wenli took fright and died of an abscess. His son Chujin hid the corpse and held the city; he beat back Fu Xi’s force. Li Sizhao was sent to succeed him and died of an arrow wound. Li Cunjin followed and fell in the same fighting. At last Fu Cunshen took command and broke the holdout. They captured Wenli’s wife and his sons Chujin, Chuqiu, and Chuqi, shattered their legs, and sent them to Jin. The Zhao people begged leave to pickle them alive; Wenli’s body was torn apart in the marketplace.
9
羅紹威
Luo Shaowei
10
羅紹威，字端己，其先長沙人。 祖讓，北遷為魏州貴鄉人。 父弘信，為牧監卒。 文德元年，魏博牙軍亂，遂殺其帥樂彥貞，立其將趙文建為留後，已而又殺之。 牙將未知所立，乃聚呼曰：「孰能為我帥者？」 弘信從眾中出應曰：「我可為君等帥也。」 弘信狀貌奇怪，面色青黑，軍中異之，共立為留後。 唐昭宗即位，拜弘信節度使。
Luo Shaowei, courtesy name Duanyi, came of Changsha stock. His grandfather Rang migrated north and settled at Guixiang in Weizhou. His father Hongxin had served as a clerk to a pasture inspector. In Wende 1 the Wei Bo guard mutinied, slew their commissioner Yue Yanzhen, and raised the general Zhao Wenjian—only to kill him in turn. The guard officers could agree on no one. They assembled and shouted: “Who will lead us?” Hongxin pushed forward from the ranks: “I will be your commander.” He was a strange-looking man, his face greenish black; the troops marveled and made him acting commissioner. When Zhaozong came to the throne he confirmed Hongxin as military commissioner.
11
梁太祖將攻晉，乞糴於弘信，弘信不與，由是有隙。 梁兵攻魏，取黎陽、淇門、衛縣。 戰於內黃，魏兵五戰五敗，弘信懼，請盟，乃止。 是時，梁方東攻兗、鄆，北敵晉，晉遣李存信救朱宣，假道於魏。 太祖聞，遣使語弘信曰：「晉人志在河朔，兵還滅魏矣。」 弘信以為然，乃發兵擊存信於莘縣，太祖遣葛從周助之。 梁兵擒晉王子落落，送於魏，弘信殺之，乃與晉絕。 太祖猶疑弘信有二心，乃以兄事弘信，常為卑辭厚幣以聘魏。 魏使者至梁，太祖北面拜而受幣，謂使者曰：「六兄於我有倍年之長，吾何敢慢之。」 弘信大喜，以為厚己。 以故太祖往來燕、趙之間，卒有河北者，魏不為之患也。 弘信死，紹威立。
Liang Taizu prepared to strike Jin and asked Hongxin for grain. Hongxin refused, and the breach began. Liang marched on Wei and seized Liyang, Qimen, and Weixian. At Neihuang the Wei army lost five times in five days. Hongxin sued for peace, and the campaign ended. Liang was fighting east in Yan and Yun while Jin pressed from the north. Jin sent Li Cunxin to save Zhu Xuan and asked to march through Wei. Taizu sent word to Hongxin: “Jin wants all of Hebei. When they march home they will swallow Wei. Hongxin believed him, attacked Cunxin at Shenxian, and Taizu sent Ge Congzhou to reinforce him. Liang took Jin’s prince Luoluo and sent him to Wei. Hongxin executed him and cut ties with Jin. Taizu still doubted Hongxin’s loyalty. He called him “elder brother,” flattered him, and showered Wei with gifts. When Wei’s envoys came to Liang, Taizu bowed toward the north to accept their gifts and said: “Sixth Elder is a year older than I—how could I treat him lightly? Hongxin was delighted and believed himself cherished. Because of this, when Taizu campaigned between Yan and Zhao and finally took Hebei, Wei never stood in his way. Hongxin died, and Shaowei took his place.
12
紹威好學工書，頗知屬文，聚書數萬卷，開館以延四方之士。 弘信在唐，以其先長沙人，故封長沙郡王，紹威襲父爵長沙。 紹威新立，幽州劉仁恭以兵十萬攻魏，屠貝州，紹威求救於梁，大敗燕軍於內黃。 明年，梁太祖遣葛從周會魏兵攻滄州，取其德州，遂敗燕軍於老鴉堤，紹威以故德梁助己。
Shaowei studied and wrote well, kept tens of thousands of books, and opened his doors to men of letters from everywhere. In Tang, Hongxin’s Changsha ancestry had won him the title Prince of Changsha; Shaowei inherited it. Not long after his accession Liu Rengong of Youzhou marched on Wei with a hundred thousand men, sacked Beizhou, and Shaowei called on Liang—who routed the Yan army at Neihuang. The next year Taizu sent Ge Congzhou with Wei’s army against Cangzhou. They took Dezhou and crushed Yan at Laoya Embankment. Shaowei never forgot Liang’s aid.
13
魏博自田承嗣始有牙軍，牙軍歲久益驕，至紹威時已二百年，父子世相婚姻以自結。 前帥史憲誠、何全皞、韓君雄、樂彥貞等，皆由牙軍所立，怒輒遂殺之。 紹威為人精悍明敏，通習吏事，為政有威嚴，然其家世由牙軍所立。 天祐二年，魏州城中地陷，紹威懼有變。 已而牙校李公牷作亂，紹威誅之，乃間遣使告梁乞兵，欲盡誅牙軍。 梁太祖許之，為遣李思安等攻滄州，召兵於魏，紹威因悉發魏兵以從，獨牙軍在。
Wei Bo’s guard corps dated from Tian Chengsi. Century by century it grew more arrogant; by Shaowei’s day it had ruled for two hundred years, its families knit by intermarriage. Commissioners like Shi Xiancheng, He Quanhao, Han Junxiong, and Yue Yanzhen had all been installed by the guard—and killed by the guard when it pleased. Shaowei was clever, knew the paperwork, and ruled with a firm hand—yet his own family owed the throne to the guard. In Tianyou 2 the earth opened in Weizhou. Shaowei feared a reckoning was at hand. Soon a guard officer named Li Gongjun mutinied; Shaowei put him to death, then sent secret envoys to Liang begging for soldiers—he meant to wipe out the guard army to the last man. Taizu agreed and dispatched Li Si’an against Cangzhou, calling up Wei’s levies. Shaowei sent every Wei soldier to march with them, leaving only the guard behind.
14
紹威子廷規娶梁女，會梁女卒，太祖陰遣客將馬嗣勛選良兵實輿中，以長直軍千人雜輿夫入魏，詐為助葬，太祖以兵繼其後。 紹威夜以奴兵數百，會嗣勛兵擊牙軍，並其家屬盡殺之。 太祖自內黃馳至魏，魏兵從攻滄州者行至歷亭，聞之皆反，入澶、博諸州，魏境大亂，數月，太祖為悉平之。 牙軍死，魏兵悉叛，紹威勢益孤，太祖乃欲奪其地，紹威始大悔。 是歲，太祖復攻滄州，宿兵長蘆，紹威饋給梁兵，自滄至魏五百里，起亭堠，供帳什物自具，梁兵數十萬皆取足，紹威以此重困。 昭宗東遷洛陽，詔諸鎮繕理京師，紹威營太廟成，加拜守侍中，進封鄴王。
Shaowei’s son Tinggui had married into the Liang house. When the princess died, Taizu secretly sent Ma Sixun to pick elite soldiers and pack them into the funeral train, a thousand veterans disguised as bearers entering Wei to “help with the burial,” with an army close behind. That night Shaowei led a few hundred household troops, joined Ma Sixun, and fell on the guard—soldiers and families alike, none left alive. Taizu raced from Neihuang to Wei. The Wei detachments bound for Cangzhou heard the news at Liting and turned on their masters, seizing Chan, Bo, and the rest. For months Wei boiled in revolt until Taizu himself beat every faction down. With the guard gone and the field armies in revolt, Shaowei stood alone. Taizu now meant to take his land, and Shaowei saw at last what he had done. That year Taizu besieged Cangzhou again and camped at Changlu. Shaowei fed the Liang host for five hundred li from Cang to Wei—beacon towers, camps, every comfort at his own expense. Hundreds of thousands of Liang mouths ate their fill, and Wei was bled white. When Zhaozong moved the court to Luoyang, each circuit was told to restore the capital. Shaowei finished the Imperial Ancestral Temple, was made Acting Palace Attendant, and raised to Prince of Ye.
15
燕王劉守光囚其父仁恭，與其兄守文有隙，紹威馳書勸守光等降梁。 太祖聞之笑曰：「吾常攻燕不能下，今紹威折簡，乃勝用兵十萬。」 太祖每有大事，多遣使者問之，紹威時亦馳簡入白，使者相遇道中，其事往往相合。
The Yan king Liu Shouguang held his father Rengong prisoner and feuded with his brother Shouwen. Shaowei dashed off a letter urging them to surrender to Liang. Taizu laughed when he heard it: “I have hammered at Yan for years without success. Shaowei sends one letter—and that beats an army of a hundred thousand.” On every great decision Taizu sent envoys to consult Shaowei; Shaowei rushed his own reports back. Messengers passed one another on the road, and their word usually matched.
16
紹威自以魏久不用兵，願伐木安陽淇門為船，自河入洛，歲漕谷百萬石，以供京師。 太祖益以紹威盡忠，遣將程厚、盧凝督其役。 舟未成而紹威病，乃表言：「魏故大鎮，多外兵，願得梁一有功重臣臨之，請以骸骨就第。」 太祖亟命其子周翰監府事，語使者曰：「亟行，語而主，為我強飯，如有不諱，當世世貴爾子孫。 今使周翰監府事，尚冀卿復愈耳。」 紹威仕梁，累拜太師兼中書令，卒年三十四，贈尚書令，謚曰貞壯。
Shaowei thought Wei had been at peace too long. He offered to fell timber at Anyang and Qimen, build boats, sail the Yellow River to Luoyang, and ship a million piculs of grain to the capital every year. Taizu took this as proof of utter loyalty and sent Cheng Hou and Lu Ning to oversee the work. The boats were not yet done when Shaowei fell ill. He memorialized: “Wei is a great old circuit, thick with outside troops. Send me a proven Liang minister of rank to hold it—I ask only to go home and die in my bed.” Taizu at once put Shaowei’s son Zhouhan in charge of the circuit and told the envoy: “Go quickly. Tell your master to eat for my sake. If he does not recover, his line shall be honored for generations. Zhouhan holds the circuit for now—I still hope you will rise from this bed.” Under Liang he rose to Grand Preceptor and Chief Councilor. He died at thirty-four, was posthumously made Minister of Works, and given the posthumous name Zhenzhuang—Upright and Strong.
17
子三人，廷規，官至司農卿卒。 周翰襲父位，乾化二年八月為楊師厚所逐，徙為宣義軍節度使，卒於官，年十四。 周敬代為宣義軍節度使，年十歲，徙鎮忠武。 明年，為秘書監、駙馬都尉、光祿卿。 唐莊宗時為金吾大將軍，明宗以為匡國軍節度使，罷為上將軍。 晉天福二年卒，年三十二。 廷規娶梁太祖二女，一曰安陽公主，一曰金華公主。 周翰娶末帝女，曰壽春公主，周敬亦娶末帝女，曰晉安公主。
He had three sons. Tinggui rose to Director of the Imperial Granaries and died in that post. Zhouhan took his father’s seat. In the eighth month of Qianhua 2 Yang Shihou drove him out; he was shifted to Xuanyi commissioner and died in office at fourteen. Zhou Jing, ten years old, succeeded him at Xuanyi, then was moved to Zhongwu. The next year he became Director of the Secretariat, chief commandant of the imperial sons-in-law, and Minister of the Imperial Household. Under Zhuangzong he was Grand General of the Golden Guards; Mingzong made him Kuangguo commissioner, then retired him to Senior General. He died in Jin Tianfu 2, aged thirty-two. Tinggui married two of Taizu’s daughters—the Princesses of Anyang and Jinhua. Zhouhan married the Last Emperor’s daughter, the Princess of Shouchun; Zhou Jing married his sister, the Princess of Jin’an.
18
王處直
Wang Chuzhi
19
王處直，字允明，京兆萬年人也。 父宗，善殖財貨，富擬王侯，為唐神策軍吏，官至金吾大將軍，領興元節度使，子處存、處直。 處存以父任為驍衛將軍、定州已來制置內閑廄宮苑等使。 乾符六年，即拜義武軍節度使。 黃巢陷長安，處存感憤流涕，率鎮兵入關討賊。 巢敗第功，而收城擊賊，李克用為第一； 勤王倡義，處存為第一。 乾寧二年，處存卒於鎮，三軍以河朔故事，推處存子郜為留後，即拜節度使，加檢校司空、同中書門下平章事。 處直為後院中軍都知兵馬使。
Wang Chuzhi, courtesy name Yunming, came from Wannian in the capital district. His father Zong knew how to pile up money until his wealth rivaled princes. He served in the Shence Army, rose to Grand General of the Golden Guards and commissioner of Xingyuan, and fathered Chucun and Chuzhi. Chucun inherited his father’s favor and became a Valiant Guard general and commissioner over the inner stables and palace parks from Dingzhou south. In Ganfu 6 he was appointed military commissioner of Yiwu. When Huang Chao seized Chang’an, Chucun wept with rage and led his troops through the passes against the rebels. When the rebels were broken, rewards were tallied. For retaking the city and striking the bandits, Li Keyong ranked first; for rallying loyal troops and raising the righteous standard, Chucun ranked first. In Qianning 2 Chucun died at his post. The army, by Hebei custom, made his son Gao acting commissioner; the court confirmed him, added Acting Minister of Works and Chief Councilor. Chuzhi commanded the rear courtyard’s central army.
20
處直好巫，而客有李應之者，妖妄人也。 處直有疾，應之以左道治之而愈，處直益以為神，使衣道士服，以為行營司馬，軍政無大小，咸取決焉。 初，應之於陘邑闌得小兒劉雲郎，養以為子，而處直未有子，乃以雲郎與處直，而紿曰：「此子生而有異。」 處直養以為子，更名曰都，甚愛之。 應之由此益橫，乃籍管內丁壯，別立新軍，自將之，治第博陵坊，四面開門，皆用左道。 處直將吏知其必為患，而莫能諫也。 是時，幽州李匡儔假道中山以如京師，處直伏甲城外，以備不虞。 匡儔已去，甲士入城圍應之第，執而殺之，因詣處直請殺都，處直不與。 明日，第功行賞，因陰疏甲士姓名，自隊長已上藏於別籍，其後因事誅之，凡二十年，無一人免者，而處直終為都所殺。
Chuzhi doted on shamans. Among his hangers-on was Li Yingzhi, a fraud and a charlatan. When Chuzhi fell ill, Yingzhi cured him with forbidden rites. Chuzhi then called him a god, dressed him as a Taoist, made him camp marshal, and let him rule every military decision, large or small. Yingzhi had once taken a boy named Liu Yunlang from a Xingyi barrier and raised him. Chuzhi had no heir, so Yingzhi presented the boy and lied: “This child was born under strange signs.” Chuzhi adopted him, renamed him Du, and loved him like his own blood. Yingzhi grew insolent. He levied every able man in the circuit, raised a private army, built a mansion in Boling Ward with gates on every side, and filled it with sorcery. Chuzhi’s officers saw the disaster coming and could not make him listen. Li Kuangchou of Youzhou asked to march through Zhongshan on his way to court. Chuzhi hid troops outside the walls, fearing treachery. Once Kuangchou had passed, the soldiers entered the city, besieged Yingzhi’s house, and killed him. They then begged Chuzhi to kill Du as well. He refused. The next day he handed out rewards—and quietly copied every soldier’s name from squad leader up into a secret roll. For twenty years he killed them one by one, never sparing a man. In the end Du killed him anyway.
21
都為人狡佞多謀，處直以為節度副使。 張文禮弒王镕，莊宗發兵討文禮，處直與左右謀曰：「鎮，定之蔽也，文禮雖有罪，然鎮亡定不獨存。」 乃遣人請莊宗毋發兵，莊宗取所獲文禮與梁蠟書示處直曰：「文禮負我，師不可止。」 處直有孽子郁，當郜之亡於晉也，郁亦奔焉，晉王以女妻之，為新州防禦使。 處直見莊宗必討文禮，益自疑，乃陰與郁交通，使郁北招契丹入塞以牽晉兵，且許召郁為嗣，都聞之不說。 而定人皆言契丹不可召，恐自貽患，處直不聽。 郁自奔晉，常恐處直不容，因此大喜，以為乘其隙可取之，乃以厚賂誘契丹阿保機。 阿保機舉國入寇，定人皆不欲契丹之舉，小吏和昭訓勸都舉事，都因執處直，囚之西宅，自為留後，凡王氏子孫及處直將校殺戮殆盡。 明年正月朔旦，都拜處直於西宅，處直奮起揕其胸而呼曰：「逆賊！ 吾何負爾？」 然左右無兵，遂欲嚙其鼻，都掣袖而走，處直遂見殺。
Du was sly, flattering, and scheming. Chuzhi made him deputy commissioner. Zhang Wenli murdered Wang Rong, and Zhuangzong marched to punish him. Chuzhi told his intimates: “Zhen and Ding are one shield. Wenli may be guilty, but if Zhen falls, Ding cannot stand alone.” He sent envoys begging Zhuangzong to stay his hand. Zhuangzong showed him the wax-sealed letters Wenli had sent Liang: “Wenli has betrayed me. The campaign does not stop.” Chuzhi had a bastard son, Yu. When Gao fell to Jin, Yu fled there as well; the Prince of Jin gave him a princess and made him defender of Xinzhou. Seeing Zhuangzong would not relent, Chuzhi grew afraid and wrote secretly to Yu, telling him to bring the Khitan across the border to pin Jin’s armies, and promised to name him heir. Du was not pleased. Everyone in Ding said the same: do not call the Khitan, or you invite ruin. Chuzhi would not hear it. Yu had fled to Jin and always feared Chuzhi would never forgive him. Now he rejoiced, thinking the moment ripe to take Ding, and bribed Abaoji of the Khitan with heavy gifts. Abaoji invaded with the whole Khitan nation. Ding wanted no part of it. A clerk named He Zhaoxun urged Du to strike. Du seized Chuzhi, locked him in the west hall, declared himself acting commissioner, and butchered nearly every Wang and every loyal officer. On New Year’s morning Du made Chuzhi bow to him in the west hall. Chuzhi lunged up and drove at his chest, shouting, “Traitor! What wrong did I ever do you?” He had no weapon but his teeth and tried to tear Du’s nose off. Du wrenched free and ran. They killed Chuzhi where he stood.
22
初，有黃蛇見於碑樓，處直以為龍，藏而祠之，又有野鵲數百，巢麥田中，處直以為己德所致，而定人皆知其不祥，曰：「蛇穴山澤，而處人室，鵲巢烏，降而田居，小人竊位，而在上者失其所居之象也。」 已而處直果被廢死。
A yellow snake had once appeared at the tablet tower; Chuzhi called it a dragon, hid it, and worshipped it. Hundreds of magpies nested in the wheat—Chuzhi took that as proof of his virtue. The people of Ding knew better and said: “Snakes belong in the hills, not in a man’s hall. Magpies belong in trees, not in the grain. A thief climbs high while his betters lose their seat—that is what heaven is showing you.” Soon enough Chuzhi was overthrown and killed.
23
莊宗已敗契丹於沙河，追奔過定州，與都相得歡甚，以其子繼岌娶都女，以都為義武軍節度使。 同光二年，莊宗幸鄴，都來朝，賜與巨萬。 莊宗以繼岌故，待都甚厚，所請無不從。 及明宗立，頗惡都為人，而安重誨每以法繩之，都始有異志。 是時，唐兵擊契丹，數往來定州，都供饋多闕，益不自安。 和昭訓為都謀曰：「天子新立，四方未附，其勢易離，可為自安之計。」 已而朱守殷反於汴州，都遂亦反，遣人以蠟書招青、徐、岐、潞、梓五鎮，約皆舉兵，而五鎮不應。 明宗遣王晏球討之。 都復與王郁招契丹為援，契丹遣禿餒將萬騎救都。 都遣指揮使鄭季璘、龍泉鎮將杜弘壽以二千人迎契丹，為晏球所敗。 季璘、弘壽被執，晏球責曰：「吾嘗使人招汝，何故不降？」 弘壽對曰：「受恩中山兩世矣，不敢有二心。」 遂見殺，弘壽臨刑，神色自若。 晏球屯軍望都，與都及契丹戰，大敗之曲陽，都及禿餒得數騎遁去，閉城不復出。
Zhuangzong had beaten the Khitan at Shahe and, chasing the rout, came to Dingzhou. He and Du took to each other at once. He married his son Jiji to Du’s daughter and confirmed Du as Yiwu commissioner. In Tongguang 2 Zhuangzong visited Ye. Du came to court and received gifts worth tens of thousands. For Jiji’s sake Zhuangzong indulged him; Du’s every request was granted. Mingzong despised Du’s character. An Chonghui bound him with regulations. Du began to dream of rebellion. Tang armies marched against the Khitan and passed through Ding again and again. Du could not feed them properly and grew afraid. He Zhaoxun whispered to him: “The throne is new. The realm is not yet bound to it. The court can be broken. You should save yourself while you can.” Soon Zhu Shouyin rose at Bianzhou. Du rose too, sending wax-sealed letters to Qing, Xu, Qi, Lu, and Zi, calling on five circuits to rebel together. None answered. Mingzong sent Wang Yanqiu against him. Du again joined Wang Yu in calling the Khitan. Tuyu came with ten thousand horsemen to save him. Du sent Zheng Jilin and the Longquan commander Du Hongshou with two thousand men to meet the Khitan. Yanqiu crushed them. Jilin and Hongshou were taken. Yanqiu demanded: “I sent envoys offering terms. Why did you refuse?” Hongshou answered: “Zhongshan favored me for two reigns. I could not betray it.” They killed him. Hongshou went to the block without flinching. Yanqiu camped at Wangdu and met Du and the Khitan at Quyang, breaking them utterly. Du and Tuyu fled with a handful of riders, barred the gates, and would not come out again.
24
初，處直為都所囚，幼子威北走契丹。 契丹謂晉高祖曰：「吾欲使威襲其先人爵士，如何？」 高祖對曰：「中國之法，自將校為刺史，升團練防禦而至節度使，請送威歸中國，漸進之。」 契丹怒曰：「爾自諸侯為天子，豈有漸乎？」 高祖聞之，遽徙廷胤鎮義武，曰：「此亦王氏之後也。」 後徙鎮海而卒。
When Du seized Chuzhi, his young son Wei fled north to the Khitan. The Khitan asked Jin Gaozu: “Let Wei take back his family’s circuit. What say you?” Gaozu answered: “By Central Realm custom a man rises from regimental officer to prefect, then to training commissioner and defender, and only then to military commissioner. Send Wei home and promote him in due order.” The Khitan snapped: “You went from warlord to Son of Heaven overnight. Where is your ‘step by step’?” Alarmed, Gaozu at once moved Tingyin to Yiwu, saying: “He is Wang blood as well. Later he was shifted to Zhenhai and died there.
25
劉守光
Liu Shouguang
26
劉守光，深州樂壽人也。 其父仁恭，事幽州李可舉，能穴地為道以攻城，軍中號「劉窟頭。」 稍以功遷軍校。 仁恭為人有勇，好大言。 可舉死，子匡威惡其為人，不欲使居軍中，徙為瀛州景城縣令。 瀛州軍亂，殺刺史，仁恭募縣中得千人，討平之，匡威喜，復以為將，使戍蔚州。 戍兵過期不得代，皆思歸，出怨言。 匡威為弟匡儔所逐，仁恭聞亂，乃擁戍兵攻幽州，行至居庸關，戰敗，奔晉、晉以為壽陽鎮將。
Liu Shouguang came from Leshou in Shenzhou. His father Rengong served Li Keju of Youzhou and could mine tunnels under city walls; the troops called him “Liu the Burrower.” He rose by merit to army officer. Rengong was brave and loved to boast. When Keju died, his son Kuangwei disliked Rengong and pushed him out of the army, making him magistrate of Jingcheng in Yingzhou. The Yingzhou garrison mutinied and killed the prefect. Rengong raised a thousand county men, put the mutiny down, and Kuangwei was so pleased he made him a general again and sent him to garrison Weizhou. The garrison’s term expired with no relief in sight. The men grumbled and yearned for home. Kuangchou drove Kuangwei out. Rengong heard of the chaos, led his garrison against Youzhou, was beaten at Juyong Pass, fled to Jin, and Jin made him defender of Shouyang.
27
仁恭父子率兩鎮兵十萬，號稱三十萬以擊魏，屠貝州。 羅紹威求救於梁，梁遣李思安救魏，大敗守文於內黃，斬首五萬。 仁恭走，梁軍追擊之，自魏至長河，橫屍數百里。 梁軍自是連歲攻之，破其瀛、漠二州，仁恭懼，復附晉。
Father and sons marched a hundred thousand men from two circuits—they claimed three hundred thousand—against Wei and sacked Beizhou. Luo Shaowei begged Liang for aid. Liang sent Li Si’an to relieve Wei and shattered Shouwen at Neihuang, taking fifty thousand heads. Rengong fled. The Liang pursuers chased from Wei to Changhe until the road was carpeted with dead for hundreds of li. Liang attacked year after year, took Ying and Mo, and Rengong, afraid, submitted to Jin again.
28
天祐三年，梁攻滄州，仁恭調其境內凡男子年十五已上、七十已下，皆黥其面，文曰「定霸都」，得二十萬人，兵糧自具，屯於瓦橋。 梁軍壁長蘆，深溝高壘，仁恭不能近。 滄州被圍百餘日，城中食盡，人自相食，析骸而爨，或丸墐土而食，死者十六七。 仁恭求救於晉，晉王為之攻潞州以牽梁圍，晉破潞州，梁軍乃解去。
In Tianyou 3 Liang besieged Cangzhou. Rengong called up every male from fifteen to seventy, branded their faces with “Settling the Hegemon’s Capital,” and raised two hundred thousand men who fed and armed themselves, camping at Waqiao. The Liang host dug in at Changlu behind deep trenches and high walls. Rengong could not reach them. Cangzhou starved for more than a hundred days. Men ate one another, boiled bones for broth, kneaded clay into balls to swallow. Six or seven in ten died. Rengong begged Jin for help. The Prince of Jin struck Luzhou to pull Liang away. Jin took Luzhou, and the siege broke.
29
然仁恭幸世多故，而驕於富貴，築宮大安山，窮極奢侈，選燕美女充其中。 又與道士煉丹藥，冀可不死。 令燕人用墐土為錢，悉斂銅錢，鑾山而藏之，已而殺其工以滅口，後人皆莫知其處。
Rengong trusted chaos to protect him and swaggered in his riches. He built a palace on Mount Da’an of impossible luxury and stocked it with Yan’s fairest women. He brewed elixirs with Taoist priests, hoping never to die. He forced Yan to use clay coins, seized every copper cash, mined a mountain to bury the hoard, then killed the laborers to seal the secret. No one ever found it again.
30
仁恭有愛妾羅氏，其子守光烝之，仁恭怒，笞守光，逐之。 梁開平元年，遣李思安攻仁恭，仁恭在大安，守光自外將兵以入，擊走思安，乃自稱盧龍節度使，遣李小喜、元行欽以兵攻大安山，執仁恭而幽之。 其兄守文聞父且囚，即率兵討守光，至於盧臺，為守光所敗，進戰玉田，又敗，乃乞兵於契丹。 明年，守文將契丹、吐渾兵四萬人戰於雞蘇，守光兵敗，守文陽為不忍，出於陣而呼其眾曰：「毋殺吾弟！」 守光將元行欽識守文，躍馬而擒之，又囚之於別室，既而殺之。 守文將吏孫鶴、呂兗等，立守文子延祚以距守光，守光圍之百餘日，城中食盡，米斛直錢三萬，人相殺而食，或食墐土，馬相食其駿尾，兗等率城中饑民食以麹，號「宰務」，日殺以餉軍。 久之，延祚力窮，遂降。
Rengong kept a favorite, Lady Luo. His son Shouguang took her. Rengong beat him and cast him out. In Kaiping 1 Liang sent Li Si’an against Rengong, who was on Mount Da’an. Shouguang marched in from outside, routed Si’an, named himself Lulong commissioner, and sent Li Xiaoxi and Yuan Xingqin to take Mount Da’an, seize Rengong, and lock him away. His brother Shouwen heard their father was taken and marched to punish Shouguang. At Lutai Shouguang broke him; at Yutian he broke him again. Shouwen turned to the Khitan for soldiers. The following year Shouwen marched forty thousand Khitan and Tuhun troops to Jisu. Shouguang was routed. Shouwen made a show of mercy, rode out before the lines, and cried to his men: “Spare my brother!” Yuan Xingqin, a Shouguang general who knew Shouwen by sight, charged, pulled him from the saddle, and shut him in a side room—then killed him. Sun He, Lu Yan, and Shouwen’s other officers put his son Yanzuo on the throne to hold Shouguang off. The siege lasted more than a hundred days. Grain failed; a peck of rice fetched thirty thousand cash. Men butchered one another for meat, or gnawed plaster from the walls; horses ate the tails of the finer stock. Yan and his fellows fed the starving with fermented mash in what they called “Slaughter Duty”—daily killings to keep the garrison fed. At last Yanzuo had nothing left and opened the gates.
31
守光素庸愚，由此益驕，為鐵籠、鐵刷，人有過者，坐之籠中，外燎以火，或刷剔其皮膚以死，燕之士逃禍於佗境。 守光身衣赭黃，謂其將吏曰：「我衣此而南面，可以帝天下乎？」 孫鶴切諫以為不可。 梁攻趙，趙王王镕求救於守光，孫鶴曰：「今趙無罪，而梁伐之，諸侯救趙之兵，先至者霸，臣恐燕軍未出，而晉已先破梁矣，此不可失之時也。」 守光曰：「趙王嘗與我盟而背之，今急乃來歸我； 且兩虎方鬥，可待之，吾當為卞莊子也。」 遂不出兵。 晉王果救趙，大敗梁兵於柏鄉，進掠邢、洺，至於黎陽。 守光聞晉空國深入梁，乃治兵戒嚴，遣人以語動鎮、定曰：「燕有精兵三十萬，率二鎮以從晉，然誰當主此盟者？」 晉人患之，謀曰：「昔夫差爭黃池之會，而越入吳； 項羽貪伐齊之利，而漢敗楚。 今吾越千里以伐人，而強燕在其後，此腹心之患也。」 乃為之班師。
Shouguang had never been bright; victory only swelled his pride. He built iron cages and iron brushes—offenders were locked in the cage while fire was lit outside, or their skin was scraped away until they died. The gentry of Yan fled across the borders to escape him. Shouguang dressed himself in imperial ochre-yellow and asked his commanders: “Clothed like this and facing south, could I not rule the realm?” Sun He pleaded with him to abandon the thought. When Liang struck Zhao, Wang Rong of Zhao begged Shouguang for aid. Sun He said: “Zhao has done no wrong, yet Liang invades. Among the warlords, the first to rescue her will take the lead. I fear Jin will break Liang before our columns even march—this chance will not come again.” Shouguang replied: “Wang Rong swore alliance with me and broke it; only now, desperate, does he crawl back. Besides, two tigers are already at each other’s throats. Let them fight. I mean to play Bian Zhuangzi.” He sent no troops. Jin did rescue Zhao, crushing Liang at Boxiang, then raiding through Xing and Mo as far as Liyang. Learning that Jin had stripped its home garrisons and plunged deep into Liang, Shouguang mustered his army, tightened discipline, and sent envoys to Zhen and Ding: “Yan can field thirty thousand picked men. I will march with your two circuits in Jin’s wake—but who leads this alliance?” Jin was alarmed. Its officers said: “Long ago Fuchai raced for precedence at Huangchi—and Yue walked into Wu. Xiang Yu chased profit against Qi, and Han broke Chu. We are a thousand li from home, fighting far afield, with powerful Yan at our back—that is a knife at the heart.” For his sake they turned back.
32
守光益以為諸鎮畏其強，乃諷諸鎮共推尊己，於是晉王率天德宋瑤、振武周德威、昭義李嗣昭、義武王處直、成德王镕等，以墨制冊尊守光為尚書令、尚父。 守光又遣告於梁，請授己河北兵馬都統，以討鎮、定、河東。 梁遣閣門使王瞳拜守光河北采訪使。 有司白守光，尚父受冊，用唐冊太尉禮儀，守光問曰：「此儀註何不郊天改元？」 有司曰：「此天子之禮也，尚父雖尊，乃人臣耳。」 守光怒曰：「我為尚父，誰當帝者乎？ 且今天下四分五裂，大者稱帝，小者稱王，我以二千里之燕，獨不能帝一方乎？」 乃械梁、晉使者下獄，置斧钅質於其庭，令曰：「敢諫者死！」 孫鶴進曰：「滄州之敗，臣蒙王不殺之恩，今日之事，不敢不諫。」 守光怒，推之伏钅質，令軍士割而啖之。 鶴呼曰：「不出百日，大兵當至！」 命窒其口而醢之。 守光遂以梁乾化元年八月自號大燕皇帝，改元曰應天，以王瞳、齊涉為左右相。 晉遣太原少尹李承勛賀冊尚父，至燕，而守光已僭號。 有司迫承勛稱臣，承勛不屈，以列國交聘禮入見，守光怒，殺之。
Shouguang took this as proof that every circuit feared him and began pressing them to elevate him together. The Prince of Jin then had Song Yao of Tiande, Zhou Dewei of Zhenwu, Li Sizhao of Zhaoyi, Wang Chuzhi of Yiwu, Wang Rong of Chengde, and others issue ink edicts naming Shouguang Director-in-Chief and Imperial Father. Shouguang also petitioned Liang to make him overall commander of Hebei armies and cavalry, with orders to strike Zhen, Ding, and Hedong. Liang sent palace gate commissioner Wang Tong to invest him Hebei outreach commissioner. The clerks told Shouguang that an Imperial Father’s investiture followed Tang’s rites for enfeoffing a Grand Marshal. Shouguang demanded: “Why does the manual say nothing about sacrificing to Heaven or changing the era name?” They answered: “Those are the Son of Heaven’s rites. However honored the Imperial Father may be, he remains a subject.” Shouguang flared: “I am Imperial Father—who then is emperor? The realm is broken four and five ways; the mighty take the title of emperor, the lesser the title of king. With two thousand li of Yan, why should I alone not reign over my quarter?” He had Liang and Jin envoys shackled and thrown into prison, set an axe and execution block in the courtyard, and announced: “Whoever advises against this dies!” Sun He stepped forward: “After Cangzhou fell you spared my life. For what you mean to do today I cannot stay silent.” Shouguang had him thrown to the block and ordered the troops to carve off his flesh and eat it. Sun He shouted: “In less than a hundred days a great army will come!” They stuffed his mouth and pickled what remained of him. In the eighth month of Liang Qianhua 1 Shouguang proclaimed himself emperor of Great Yan, declared the era Yingtian, and made Wang Tong and Qi She his left and right chancellors. Jin dispatched Li Chengxun, vice governor of Taiyuan, to congratulate the Imperial Father’s investiture; by the time he reached Yan, Shouguang had already seized the throne. The court forced Chengxun to declare himself a subject. He refused and entered audience by the protocol due a foreign envoy. Shouguang had him killed.
33
明年，晉遣周德威將三萬人，會鎮、定之兵以攻燕，自祈溝關入，其澶、涿、武、順諸州皆迎降。 守光被圍經年，累戰常敗，乃遣客將王遵化致書於德威曰：「予得罪於晉，迷而不復，今其病矣，公善為我辭焉。」 德威謂遵化曰：「大燕皇帝尚未郊天，何至此邪？ 予受命以討僭亂，不知其佗也。」 守光益窘，乃獻絹千匹、銀千兩、錦百段，遣其將周遵業謂德威曰：「吾王以情告公，富貴成敗，人之常理； 錄功宥過，霸者之事也。 守光去歲妄自尊崇，本不能為朱溫下耳，豈意大國暴師經年，幸少寬之。」 德威不許。 守光登城呼德威曰：「公三晉賢士，獨不急人之危乎？」 遣人以所乘馬易德威馬而去，因告曰：「俟晉王至則降。」 晉王乃自臨軍，守光登城見晉王，晉王問將如何？ 守光曰：「今日俎上肉耳，惟王所為也！」 守光有嬖者李小喜，勸其毋降，守光因請俟佗日。 是夕，小喜叛降於晉軍。 明旦，晉軍攻破其城，執仁恭及其家族三百口。
The next year Jin sent Zhou Dewei with thirty thousand men, joined by the armies of Zhen and Ding, against Yan. They came through Qigou Pass; Chan, Zhuo, Wu, Shun, and the other prefectures opened their gates. Besieged for a year and beaten in fight after fight, Shouguang sent his client-officer Wang Zunhua to Dewei with a letter: “I have wronged Jin and lost my way; now I am sick. Plead my case with your lord.” Dewei told Zunhua: “The Great Yan Emperor has not yet sacrificed to Heaven—how does he come to such words? My orders are to crush rebellion—nothing more.” Still more cornered, Shouguang sent a thousand bolts of silk, a thousand taels of silver, a hundred lengths of brocade, and his general Zhou Zunye to Dewei with this message: “My lord speaks plainly: rise and fall are the common lot; to reward service and forgive error is what a hegemon does. Last year Shouguang overreached; he never meant to serve Zhu Wen. He never imagined your great state would camp here a full year—surely you can show some mercy.” Dewei would not hear it. Shouguang mounted the wall and cried to Dewei: “You are a worthy of the Three Jins—will you not aid a man at the edge of ruin?” He sent a man to swap his own mount for Dewei’s and ride off, adding: “When the Prince of Jin comes, I will submit.” The Prince of Jin came to the camp in person. Shouguang looked down from the wall; the Prince asked what he intended. Shouguang said: “I am meat on the block—do with me as you please!” His favorite Li Xiaoxi urged him to hold out; Shouguang asked for one more day. That night Xiaoxi slipped over to Jin. At dawn Jin stormed the city and took Rengong and three hundred members of his house.
34
守光與其妻李氏、祝氏，子繼珣、繼方、繼祚等，南走滄州，迷失道，至燕樂界中，數日不得食，遣其妻祝氏乞食於田家，田家怪而詰之，祝氏以實告，乃被擒送幽州。 晉王方大饗軍，客將引守光見，晉王戲之曰：「主人何避客之遽也？」 守光叩頭請死，命械守光並其父仁恭以從軍。 軍還過趙，趙王王镕會晉王，置酒，酒酣請曰：「願見仁恭父子。」 晉王命破械出之，引置下坐。 飲食自若，皆無慚色。
Shouguang fled south toward Cangzhou with Lady Li, Lady Zhu, and his sons Jixun, Jifang, and Jizuo. They lost the road and wandered the borderlands of Yan and Le, days without food. He sent Lady Zhu to beg at a farmhouse; the farmers questioned her, she confessed, and they were seized and sent to Youzhou. The Prince of Jin was feasting the troops when Shouguang was brought in. He mocked him: “Why does the host flee his guest so fast?” Shouguang kowtowed and begged for death. The Prince had him shackled to his father Rengong and marched them with the army. On the march home through Zhao, Wang Rong entertained the Prince of Jin. When the cups were warm he asked: “Let me see Rengong and his son.” The Prince had their bonds removed and them brought out to sit below the dais. They ate and drank as if nothing had happened, without a trace of shame.
35
晉王至太原，仁恭父子曳以組練，獻於太廟。 守光將死，泣曰：「臣死無恨，然教臣不降者，李小喜也，罪人不死，臣將訴於地下。」 晉王使召小喜，小喜瞋目曰：「囚父弒兄，蒸其骨肉，亦小喜教爾邪？」 晉王怒，命先斬小喜。 守光知不免，呼曰：「王將復唐室以成霸業，何不赦臣使自效？」 其二婦從旁罵曰：「事已至此，生復何為？ 願先死！」 乃俱死。 晉王命李存霸執仁恭至雁門，刺其心血以祭先王墓，然後斬之。
At Taiyuan the Prince had father and son Rengong dragged forward in ropes and presented at the ancestral temple. Facing execution, Shouguang wept: “I die without complaint—but the man who told me not to surrender was Li Xiaoxi. If he lives, I will accuse him in the underworld.” The Prince summoned Xiaoxi. Xiaoxi glared: “You jailed your father, killed your brother, boiled your own flesh for food—did I teach you that?” The Prince ordered Xiaoxi beheaded first. Knowing he could not live, Shouguang cried: “You mean to restore Tang and build an empire—why not spare me and use me?” His two wives cursed from the side: “It has come to this—what is there to live for? Let us die first!” All three were executed together. The Prince sent Li Cunba to take Rengong to Yanmen, draw blood from his heart to offer at the tomb of the late Prince, and then behead him.